Pediophobia

Chapter Four: Bargaining

I flipped the bird as Huggy poked his head out of the vent. I swear to Chaos that the blue monster appeared to be confused as to why I wasn't being "it" in his sick, twisted, fucked up game of hide and seek. Well, I may be Sonic's daughter, but I don't have a .exe counterpart... I think. "How about we play tag? You catch me, you keep me. If you can't catch me for any reason at all, you let me and my kids go. Good luck." I suggested, watching those dark eyes gleam curiously. Then I leaped off of the red machine, performing a perfect backflip and taking off running. I watched as his stiff gait sped up, turning into a dead run on all fours. I flicked my ring off, running through the pain. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGGGH! FUCKING CHAOS, THIS HURTS!" I screamed, running back into the Playtime area. I screeched to a halt, leaping up and spinning around the room. Huggy seemed frustrated as he tried (unsuccessfully) to catch me.

"Mommy!" I hear five little voices cry from the theater, "Mommy, help us! Huggy plans on eating us!" I saw red as I smashed the door in rage. I see my five little children cowering against the far wall, their identical hazel eyes wide in terror. I ran back out. I needed to lure that blue thing away from my children before he hurts them.

"It'll be okay. Mama's handling this!" I called back as I noticed Huggy stalking towards the door, his blue fur gleaming in the moonlight. "Don't touch my kids!" I yelled, charging. Huggy spread his long arms apart, stopping me from running left or right. Naturally, I did the most logical thing: I slid between his legs. "Come at me, bro!" I yelled, then I glanced to see the gangly blue bastard approaching my kids. "Oh, no you don't!" I yelled, unaware that I was changing... again. I wrapped an arm around the gargantuan toy and body slammed the blue body with all of my might. I yelled over my shoulder, "RUN!"

My kids obeyed me, thankfully, since they usually question my orders; I guess the sight of a furry, blue monster does not leave much room up for debate. Huggy staggered to his feet, then he gawked. "What in the name of-!?" Huggy began to exclaim; I didn't give the monster a chance to finish his sentence. His gaze was stunned as I continued throwing him around. I was too busy kicking his nonexistent tail to realize that something was off. I ended the fight by flinging him against a wall and growling at him. Huggy was too stunned to answer, thankfully.

I jogged in the direction of my children, and I found them all trapped in the gift shop. "Thalia." I greeted, then I narrowed my eyes at them. All of my little children were cowering in fear, and when I stepped closer, their hazel eyes went wide with unspoken terror and their tiny bodies trembled. "Didn't I tell you to run?" I asked.

"Mommy? Is that... you?" Thalia asked, her voice quavering. She sounded ready to cry. I don't blame her; if a blue monster cornered me in a theater and threatened to eat me, I'd want to cry too. "You're so big and scary now..." She whispered, then she turned to Sirius. "Sirius... we're going to die. Huggy got Mommy." She told him. I noticed Sirius turn the color of ash at the sound of what Thalia said.

"Wait, what? Honey, I'm not Huggy Wuggy. I beat him up a while ago." I told Thalia as I wrapped an arm around her. She screamed, trying to kick and buck away from me. "Thalia! It's me!" I grumbled, exasperated. Then I had a stupid idea: do something that only I would do. So, I started trying to convince them with something simple. I caressed Thalia's soft cheek, then I froze.

My hand did not look right to me at all. It was canary yellow and something black was on my palm. Then I slowly gazed at my arms. They were blue, hairy, and long. It reminded me of a spider's leg. Then I glanced at my body. My legs were equally long, thin, and gangly, just like my arms. My feet were now yellow and bare. Then I glanced towards a window. I whispered, "Oh, shit."

My face... ugh. My lips were large, bright red and wide open, revealing two rows of long, sharp teeth. My head was triangular shaped, and I couldn't see my nose. My pupils were green and dilated so that I could barely see the whites of my eyes. I was covered in thick blue fur, and around my neck was a yellow bow tie. If I wasn't so damn terrifying, I would say that I was adorable.

Then I tried something else. I turned to Sirius and told him, "I know that you are scared of the word 'watermelon,' Sirius."

My precious boy shuddered, then he whispered, "It's Mommy! I knew it was her the minute she dropped a curse word." All five of my kids rushed at me, pulling my now long arms as we started heading back towards the entrance. I froze, realizing that there was a problem. Huggy was blocking my exit, and his grin was malicious.

"So, pumpkin, this feast you are leading away are your five children?" Huggy asked, his goofy voice full of suspicion.

"Absolutely. I don't feel like kicking your ass again, so I'm going to make a deal with you." I shot back, mad that he would see my kids as a casserole. "My kids leave... and I stay. The only caveat is that you will not eat anyone." I told him, making my tone firm. Huggy's face lit up, and he nodded. I added, "On your end, I will patch you up from our fight and be loyal to you."

Huggy's red lipped grin was malicious as he purred, "You drive a hard bargain, pumpkin. I accept." Then he gestured towards me and asked, "So why are you like me? Last I checked, you didn't fall into the build a friend machine." I glanced at myself and shrugged. "But you got a deal." He turned towards my kids and told them threateningly, the goofy voice making it a bit more sinister, "If I catch you in here, I'm bringing you straight to Kissy Missy." They cowered and ran for the exit. That was my opportunity to join them. I kicked Huggy in the shins, and he toppled like a domino.

"Come on, Huggy Wuggy. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, and you also forgot about the original deal. You were supposed to catch me, and you didn't. See ya." I purred coyly, following my children into the bright sunshine of Green Hill Zone. I blinked as the ring portal dissolved like mist on a warm day. I ran, my feet hitting the ground. I didn't want to spend another second inside of that cold, dark factory. I felt the reality of my situation hit me: Sonic does not know of my... situation yet.

I glanced at my hands, wondering aloud, "How am I going to explain this shit to Sonic? What am I supposed to do with this now?"