Zip Zap Zoom ʚɞ Sonic the Hedgehog

ʚɞ Five - 5 seconds ʚɞ

Tom and Robotnik arrive in the kitchen to find a raccoon on top of the counter, chomping away at the cake. Alex is trying to shoo the racoon out while sending the two men a smile.

"Here's the thing," Robotnik announced. "I'm never wrong."

Tom pats Robotnik's shoulder, "Well, first time for everything, I guess." As Tom walks over to the counter while the raccoon leaves through a doggie door, he notices Alex standing in front of the blue creature, hiding him. "Would you like some cake? I hear raccoons have the cleanest mouths of any animal that routinely eats garbage."

Robotnik chuckles and gives Tom a chagrined look. He turns away, intending to leave but then notices the blue quill on the table. He picks it up, a sinister smirk on his face.

"Look at that. I was right. Note the lack of surprise," Robotnik chuckled before his face turned angry. "Shall we try this again?"

Robotnik whistles to the tune of Ride of the Valkyries and a flying drone slowly approaches Tom and Alex. Alex edges closer to the counter, which is where Sonic is hiding underneath. The drone arms its weapons and aims them at Tom and Alex. 

Robotnik strokes the blue quill as he inches closer to the pair, "I'm going to give you five seconds to tell me where it is. Five."

"We don't know what you're talking about," Alex said quickly.

"Four," Robotnik continued.

"Hey, tough guy. I'm a cop. And you're threatening an officer," Tom said, showing his badge. 

"How can you threaten somebody who never existed? Three," Robotnik remarked. "Come on! Rack your brain! You might be able to come up with some lame excuse to go on living, in two..."

Tom glances at the drone and quickly stands in front of Alex in protective stance.

"One!" Robotnik snapped.

But before Robotnik can do anything, Sonic zips out, revealing himself. "Wait! Don't hurt them!"

Robotnik lets out a loud screech in terror. Tom sees a chance and punches Robotnik in the face, which causes the drone to prepare to fire. Tom grabbed onto Alex and Sonic and pulled them behind the table.

"This feels excessive!" the blue devil commented. The drone then pauses to reload. 

"Stay behind me," Tom whispered to Alex and Sonic. However, upon turning around, he noticed only Alex was behind him. 

Tom then noticed Sonic climbing on top of a shelf, preparing to commence his attack. Tom shakes his head urgently but Sonic just nods and gives him a smug look before jumping onto the drone.

"Don't worry, I got it right where I want it!" Sonic calls out while Tom and Alex scramble for cover. "Can you believe Amazon is gonna deliver packages with these things?"

However, as the drone keeps spinning, it is obvious Sonic is starting to feel dizzy.

"This was a horrible plan! What was I thinking?" Sonic cried as the drone begins to try throwing him off. "I'm gonna puke!"

Alex quickly stands up, ignoring Tom's whispers to get back. She grabs the baseball bat nearby and, using all of her might, swings the bat against the drone, destroying the machine. Tom goes to Sonic and carries him out of the house while he is acting loopy from the fight, while Alex is close behind, holding onto the baseball bat.

"Oh, don't tell me that's all you got! I'm just getting started!" Sonic called out to Robotnik as the three of them approached Tom's truck. "Let me know if you want to go round two with the blue!"

Tom puts Sonic in the passenger seat and gets into the truck. Alex gets into the back seat just as Tom starts the car and begins to drive away. 

Alex notices a group of black cars arriving at their house as they begin driving down the road.

■■■

"All right, pal, you need to start talking right now," Tom said after a few minutes of silent driving. "Who are you? What are you?"

"I'm a hedgehog," Sonic answered. "I feel like that's obvious. And I'm in big trouble."

"Oh, you're in big trouble?" Tom scoffed. "You're not the one who punched some government weirdo back there."

"You think you have problems?" Sonic replied. "I lost my Rings!"

"Rings?" Alex asked. "What are you on about?"

"Okay, Rings are how all advanced cultures travel between worlds," Sonic explained. "And now mine are on top of a pointy building I've only ever seen on your dad's skin-tight T-shirt! So, I'd like you to take me to San Francisco so I can get back my Rings and use them to go to the Mushroom Planet."

"Mushroom Planet," Tom repeated.

Sonic nodded, "Yes!"

"Right..." Tom let out before he pulled over. He then opened Sonic's door. "Okay, pal, out you go."

"I'm sorry, what?" Sonic asked.

"He thinks you're crazy," Alex piped in.

"I don't," Tom replied quickly. "Look, this is the worst possible time for me to get myself into trouble, okay? You asked me to save your life, I saved your life. Now, please, go find your Rings and your mushroom land. Hopefully, I'm gonna wake up in a hospital bed and the doctor's gonna tell me that my colonoscopy was a big success. Okay? So, goodbye."

"Okay. Goodbye," Sonic steps out of the truck.

"Goodbye," Tom replied. Alex gave a small wave, feeling a little disappointed she'd never see this extraordinary hedgehog again. Tom quickly notices that Sonic isn't leaving. "Why aren't you leaving?"

"I don't know where San Francisco is," Sonic replied.

"It's west," Alex decided to give the hedgehog a hand.

"West?" Sonic repeated, looking over at the curly-haired girl.

"Straight shot, can't miss it," Tom replied.

"Fine. That's cool," Sonic smiled. "I'm totally cool saying goodbye now."

Sonic speeds off in the direction Tom gave him, but he comes back to the truck only a few moments later, now soaking wet and covered in seaweed with a fish on his head. Alex bites her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"So, as I crashed into the cold, dark water of the Pacific, I realized a few things," Sonic began with a light-hearted sigh. "A: I have no idea where I'm going. B: saltwater stings. C: I shouldn't even be on this planet right now, but I am! Why? Because you shot me."

"I know," Tom nodded.

"You shot me!" Sonic snapped.

"All right, I heard you the first time. You don't have to... pile it on. Good grief," Tom mumbled.

"I'm wet. I'm cold. There's a fish on my head!" Sonic listed. "And clearly, I'm not going to be able to do this on my own."

Alex bit her cheek, knowing the feeling. She remembered how lonely and stuck she'd been before she met Ashley.

Tom seemed to be thinking the same thing as he let out a sigh, "All right, get in the truck."

"Really?" Sonic smiled, shaking himself off quickly, which led to his fur becoming very puffy. "You're gonna help me?"

"I guess it is a little bit my fault that all this is happening to you," Tom admitted.

"No, not a little bit. Entirely," Sonic replied. "It is ENTIRELY your fault."

"Okay, it's entirely my fault," Tom said quickly. "Are you coming?"

"Yes," Sonic shakes himself off again, his fur going back to normal before he climbs back into the truck. "Road trip! Whoop, whoop!"

Tom let out another sigh, "What am I doing?"

"I don't know," Alex answered. "But this is the craziest and coolest day ever!"