Eyes Of A Rookie (Infinite and Rookie)

Chapter 30

Zero wanted me to visit him at the new park the town had built to commemorate the victory of the good guys. Heroes Park, they called it, very dumb name, but they had statues of Sonic, Tails, and the best of all, ME. Well, I WAS staring at the statues, Zero wasn't there yet, PROBABLY got lost strumming guitar... AGAIN. But it was peaceful, to say the least, a nice turning-seasons weather, some trees already changing their leaves, and the sunset was prettier than... I don't know. Oh yeah, I was working on a new gadget... pun 100% intended, that would enable me to have flying capabilities comparable to Tails.

Reworking thruster wires, rotating the thrusters themselves, and soldering wires that allowed me to activate them at the press of a button. It was difficult work, one because I was working on them with ONLY a sheet of cardboard balanced on my legs, and two was because of the expected wind gusts every so often. But I kept working, working, and it felt like it was paying off. Just one problem, I didn't have a source of power for it. The best thing I thought of was D-batteries, and that would only power them for about five seconds.

Me: Well there goes that idea. Out the window again. So I've tried batteries, I've thought about gasoline, but that's more fire hazard than anything else. Oh well, guess I can't fly like Tails for a while. Another thing I want to do, but I don't have the right things to make it. Like wanting to take CJ to those BMX races, but I didn't have enough money.

Tucking my gloves in my satchel and reaching for mom's journal, a small notecard fell out and onto the concrete pathway. Scooping it up in my hand and flipping it around, I noticed it was from dad's old office building.

Me: "Harley Stanford's Municipal Banking. Just because our founder is female doesn't mean we're giving all our money away." Hah, that actually makes sense, considering... this card's from four years ago. That time was when that one ugly chick was the Treasurer, when she gave all that money away. Wow, what times we've came from.

Tucking the card back into the journal, I kept flipping through plenty of pages, up until I found one that surprised me. It was half ripped out, and there were some claw markings on the subsequent ten pages. It was very rushed, frantic chicken scratch, something I couldn't decipher.

Me: Let's see what I can read... "September 23... somebody... bomb factory... ammunition... dark nights... Western ports of the village..." Hmmm... I'm thinking this has to do with the whole "Exterminate the Pesticides Movement" from a decade ago. That was when... when the people halfway across the world wanted to "remove harmful insects" from their crop-housing, and they wanted to do so by harsh force rather than pesticides. And by "harmful insects," they were talking about the terrorizing forces from all around, and by "crop-housing," it was illegal drug trades.

???: How you remember that, I would have no idea... "Wolfie."

My ears flicked straight up as I heard that deep, soothing voice, and my gaze went from the statues to my favorite canine in the world. I set the journal in my satchel as Zero stepped over to me and fell right down right next to me. He pulled me closer towards his thin, yet muscular frame, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and scooted closer as he rubbed his claw up and down my side. It felt... calming to be within his grasp again, the first time in a month, but something felt different. Like he found a state of euphoria mixed with uncertainty.

Me: Zero, so good to see you out and about. I missed you, my jackal boyfriend.

Zero: Take it a bit easy, Gadget. We are not completely together yet, however many would say the opposite.

Me: Have you been keeping track of how many times I said "I love you?" I already lost count.

Zero: So have I, Wolf. You're crazy for me, as I am for you. Did you by chance run into my old boss? Eggman, I can never trust him, Hell, I couldn't even WHEN I was working for him.