In the subterranean part of the xerox-compound, Future City...
“Bill, SHUT UP!!!” Terra, an angelic-looking गुलाबी hedgehog with long wavy hair, laughed with her boyfriend in the underwater museum. “Nothing could ruin tonight! Why would आप even say that?”
“I don't know,” Claude shrugged. “Two nights पूर्व a wallaby was kidnapped from the Mystic Ruins. I guess I'm just nervous about it. That, and the fact that the-” His voice suddenly stopped. His eyes began to gaze past Terra. “Sweetie,” he began to shake. “Sweetie, get behind me. Now! There's a...” He couldn't finish the sentence. His dark red complexion washed away.
“There's a...what?” Terra giggled. “A big scary girlfriend of the past behind me? Come on!” She laughed. “You almost look like you've seen a...” She suddenly got the feeling that they were being watched. Terra spun around. “Oh my god!” She screamed. “Claude!”
A gigantic robot was crashing down the halls towards them. Water broke through the protective glass walls of the underwater museum. Claude found his strength again and leapt in the way of the robot. “Remember when that hedgehog Sonic saved the day?” He called back to Terra. “I'm gonna save the-” He crumpled to the ground, dead. The robot's gun smoked.
“OMIGOSH!” Terra screamed. “YOU KILLED CLAUDE!!” Then, it was all black.
***
Lil tapped her fingers on the desk. She was beginning to grow impatient. Her 30th job interview strolled along at a snail's pace. No wonder, because the person she had asked a job for was a turtle! He slowly wrote on her resume with pen to clarify points. To contain sanity, Lil pulled out her ब्लैकबेरी phone and started pressing the keyboard to the tune of “Ode to Joy.” The clock ticked. Then it tocked. Tick-tock....tick-tock...
“I'm...very...sorry...” The कछुआ, कछुए pronounced every syllable like he was trying to make Lil late for another interview. “I...can...not...hire...today...maybe...next...time.” He put the resume in the trash. Lil's eyes watered a little. She had spent almost five hours on that piece. Didn't he recognize an organized black cat when he saw one?
“Good timing too.” Lil snapped, insulted. “I had just begun the 5th chorus of Ode to Joy. My talents are better off with keyboards!” She jumped up, collected her things and remarked, “I can't believe you're even an owner of a restaurant! I was looking for a fast-paced job! Not one that took up five hours just to correct a grammatical error!” She spun on her heels and stormed out of the office before the कछुआ, कछुए could reply.
Almost swearing out loud, she found Phoenix at a फव्वारा waiting for her. “CHEW!” Phoenix cried in delight, holding up a lunchbox.
“PHOENIX!” Lil hissed. “What are आप doing here??? Did Sky bring आप here?”
“Chewchew.” The chao innocently replied. Suddenly, Sky ran right into Lil, causing her to fall over. Phoenix was sent flying. Sky screamed, running behind a soda/pop machine to hide. Things stayed quiet for a सेकंड as Lil stood up again. She bounded over to Phoenix, who was dripping wet from the fountain. Lil picked her chao up and hugged her to get her dry.
Lil flicked her tail in annoyance. “Don't be afraid, Sky!” She called, striding up to the girl's side. “It's just me.”
“Oh. Just you.” Sky breathed out. Her face was almost white, probably with fear. Something wasn't right.
“Something eating you, hon?” Lil raised an eyebrow. “What's up?” She took off her जैकेट and began wiping Phoenix off. Kinda embarrassing to be reduced to a red cammi in the middle of the mall, Lil thought to herself, but if Sky hadn't of bumped me this wouldn't have happened!
“Umm...I'm okay Lil.” Sky replied, trying to hide emotions. Lil looked even और suspiciously at the hedgehog. Sky had the look of a dazed girl after a rock संगीत कार्यक्रम या what someone might look like after being hit द्वारा a rocket. Lil didn't like it one bit.
“When are आप going to permanently हटाइए in?” Lil asked, trying to ease the younger girl's emotions. Besides, she needed to know this if she was going to continue job hunting.
“In a few days.” Sky replied. “I still have to get a few things from Dad's. Hey, did आप see a tall black and red hedgehog?” I knew it, Lil thought, you ran into Shadow!!
“You mean, Shadow, right?” Lil tried very hard not to दिखाना that she knew. “Hello? Sky? आप there?” Lil waved her hand in front of the hedgehog’s face. “Dazed, huh?”
“Here ya go, sis!” An obnoxiously bubbly hedgehog-girl strolled over and handed Sky a baby chao. Sky took it, still not focused on the world. “Oh yeah! I'm Cleo, nice to meet ya! आप must be Lil! Don't worry about my sister. She always does this.”
“Uh-huh.” Lil said. Suddenly, a snapping noise from the photo-booth behind them sounded. Lil spun around on her heels. “This just got interesting.” She remarked. Then, before she could stop Sky, the hedgehog dashed over and grabbed the photos. A tear ran down Sky's cheek as she crumpled them up, then throwing them in the trash.
“Let me see that!” Lil snapped. She hastily snatched the चित्रो from the trash. They were pictures of Shadow and Rouge kissing, making funny faces, and sticking their tongues out. “That's disgusting!” She pulled Sky over. “You actually believe these are real?”
“Why not?” Sky's lower lip trembled. “I saw Shadow and Rouge over here!”
“But look!!” Lil shoved them in the black hedgehog's face. “They're photoshopped! Fakes! I can prove it too!” In case anyone's wondering about Lil's remark, the police had arrested a teen-computer hacker who often times hacked into photo-booths at malls to fake pictures of celebrities. He was released a week previously, which meant he was on probation and yet again hacking into photo-booth computers.
Lil pulled away the curtain of the photo-booth. There the penguin-teen sat, jaw open with a computer on his lap. Lil glared. “How dare you!” She snapped. “You know that's against the law! Putting Shadow and Rouge together, my foot! I have the right to...” Lil stopped herself. You're no longer allowed to arrest people, She reminded herself. “To...call the police, so they can detain you! So, there!”
“Oh, well, they won't believe you!” The penguin-hacker replied hastily. “You see, आप tore up my pictures, so it's now shriveled up evidence!” The बैंगनी, वायलेट bird thought for a मिनट then added, “I think you're just jealous because I'M purple, and I have freedom! You're just a DARK cat who must be a criminal! Yeah! You're just defending Shadow because he's just DARK!”
Lil's hand formed a fist. “I can't believe you! आप get your hands off Shadow's personal life, creep!”
“I'm right! आप ARE defending Shadow! HA!” The पेंगुइन laughed until he wheezed. Lil's eyes began to sting from glaring. The बैंगनी, वायलेट bird began to cackle in victory...only to get punched in the nose. Lil's fist hurt, but her goal was accomplished. The penguin's nose looked multicolored; black and blue with blood trickling down his face. “&^%$ you!!!” He swore loudly.
“You can किस my fat DARK butt if आप don't like it!” Lil spoke through her teeth and slammed the cloth closed. She then began to sniffle a little, eyes water, only to get a large hug from Sky. “Thanks,” Lil gently pushed the hedgehog away. “But, I don't need a hug right now.” She looked down, “Please take Phoenix home. I'm going to try to find a job, though I think I just ruined any possibility of that...” Her voice began to tremble at the end, so she sucked it up as to not upset Sky या Phoenix. Then, she left
***
“Kissing me on the lips isn't exactly what I call 'protection', Rouge.” Shadow spit for the fifth time that afternoon. For those who wouldn't understand, Shadow almost never went to malls. In fact, this was his first time, because he needed to see Lil again for her life may have depended on it. “On another note,” he continued, trying to remove pink-glitter from Rouge's lip gloss off of his mouth, “NEVER call me 'Shad'! I might आग आप if आप try to do that again!”
“You can't आग me!” Rouge re-applied her lip-gloss. “Besides, we came to find Lil because she's the person who has been popping-up in your dreams, remember? I just wanted to keep आप focused. आप saw how that strange girl looked at you! And आप just stood there gawking at her!”
“Which concludes why your किस wasn't exactly 'innocent'.” Shadow hissed. “Besides, I don't think we could ever make a nice couple. We would've torn each other apart द्वारा now if it was romantic.” He shuddered, realizing what thoughts he had begun to think.
“Your whistling at the girl wasn't exactly what I call 'innocent' either!” Rouge snapped. “Okay, I agree with you. No और making out with hedgehogs in shopping malls!”
***
2:30PM, Eggman's Secret Lab in Transylvania, Haunted Town.
“Let me out, आप whoppin' big magpie*!” Cassidy, age thirteen, jumped up and down in her cage. “Nigel's gonna skin ya alive like the anacondas! You'll be up the gumtree for sure, mate!” (*Magpie is an Australian slang term describing the black या yellow “Canary” uniforms worn द्वारा Aussie convicts. In this sentence, Cassidy is calling Eggman a convict.)
Eggman didn't reply right away. He checked his machine. “You're a feisty one, aren't you?” He कहा after awhile. “Shut up! You're detracting me!” He went over to the wallaby's cage. “You hardly touched your dinner!”
“It's got poison in it!” Cassidy folded her arms in it. “I can smell it! Nigel couldn't find a grand पियानो in a one-roomed house*, but as far as survivin' goes, he's ace!” She glared as Eggman walked off. “I'm gonna get out! And when I do, Nigel will have your head!” (*More Aussie slang.) She began to jump again. Then, summoning all of her strength, she stood on her thick tail, pulled her legs in, and PUSHED! The cage door opened.
Before Eggman could react, Cassidy leaped out of the cage and down the hall which he had dragged her earlier. An alarm went off. The wallaby-joey screamed in terror as she bounded down और hallways. Robots began to chase her. “Leave me alone!” She called back. This only made them go faster. Fear grabbed her द्वारा the neck. Cassidy quickened her hops. Then, she saw her escape! An open window. She leaped up to it, breaking through the boards that kept it shut.
Then, as she fell through the air to the ground below, she screamed yet again. She had escaped, but would she live to see herself back with Nigel?
“Bill, SHUT UP!!!” Terra, an angelic-looking गुलाबी hedgehog with long wavy hair, laughed with her boyfriend in the underwater museum. “Nothing could ruin tonight! Why would आप even say that?”
“I don't know,” Claude shrugged. “Two nights पूर्व a wallaby was kidnapped from the Mystic Ruins. I guess I'm just nervous about it. That, and the fact that the-” His voice suddenly stopped. His eyes began to gaze past Terra. “Sweetie,” he began to shake. “Sweetie, get behind me. Now! There's a...” He couldn't finish the sentence. His dark red complexion washed away.
“There's a...what?” Terra giggled. “A big scary girlfriend of the past behind me? Come on!” She laughed. “You almost look like you've seen a...” She suddenly got the feeling that they were being watched. Terra spun around. “Oh my god!” She screamed. “Claude!”
A gigantic robot was crashing down the halls towards them. Water broke through the protective glass walls of the underwater museum. Claude found his strength again and leapt in the way of the robot. “Remember when that hedgehog Sonic saved the day?” He called back to Terra. “I'm gonna save the-” He crumpled to the ground, dead. The robot's gun smoked.
“OMIGOSH!” Terra screamed. “YOU KILLED CLAUDE!!” Then, it was all black.
***
Lil tapped her fingers on the desk. She was beginning to grow impatient. Her 30th job interview strolled along at a snail's pace. No wonder, because the person she had asked a job for was a turtle! He slowly wrote on her resume with pen to clarify points. To contain sanity, Lil pulled out her ब्लैकबेरी phone and started pressing the keyboard to the tune of “Ode to Joy.” The clock ticked. Then it tocked. Tick-tock....tick-tock...
“I'm...very...sorry...” The कछुआ, कछुए pronounced every syllable like he was trying to make Lil late for another interview. “I...can...not...hire...today...maybe...next...time.” He put the resume in the trash. Lil's eyes watered a little. She had spent almost five hours on that piece. Didn't he recognize an organized black cat when he saw one?
“Good timing too.” Lil snapped, insulted. “I had just begun the 5th chorus of Ode to Joy. My talents are better off with keyboards!” She jumped up, collected her things and remarked, “I can't believe you're even an owner of a restaurant! I was looking for a fast-paced job! Not one that took up five hours just to correct a grammatical error!” She spun on her heels and stormed out of the office before the कछुआ, कछुए could reply.
Almost swearing out loud, she found Phoenix at a फव्वारा waiting for her. “CHEW!” Phoenix cried in delight, holding up a lunchbox.
“PHOENIX!” Lil hissed. “What are आप doing here??? Did Sky bring आप here?”
“Chewchew.” The chao innocently replied. Suddenly, Sky ran right into Lil, causing her to fall over. Phoenix was sent flying. Sky screamed, running behind a soda/pop machine to hide. Things stayed quiet for a सेकंड as Lil stood up again. She bounded over to Phoenix, who was dripping wet from the fountain. Lil picked her chao up and hugged her to get her dry.
Lil flicked her tail in annoyance. “Don't be afraid, Sky!” She called, striding up to the girl's side. “It's just me.”
“Oh. Just you.” Sky breathed out. Her face was almost white, probably with fear. Something wasn't right.
“Something eating you, hon?” Lil raised an eyebrow. “What's up?” She took off her जैकेट and began wiping Phoenix off. Kinda embarrassing to be reduced to a red cammi in the middle of the mall, Lil thought to herself, but if Sky hadn't of bumped me this wouldn't have happened!
“Umm...I'm okay Lil.” Sky replied, trying to hide emotions. Lil looked even और suspiciously at the hedgehog. Sky had the look of a dazed girl after a rock संगीत कार्यक्रम या what someone might look like after being hit द्वारा a rocket. Lil didn't like it one bit.
“When are आप going to permanently हटाइए in?” Lil asked, trying to ease the younger girl's emotions. Besides, she needed to know this if she was going to continue job hunting.
“In a few days.” Sky replied. “I still have to get a few things from Dad's. Hey, did आप see a tall black and red hedgehog?” I knew it, Lil thought, you ran into Shadow!!
“You mean, Shadow, right?” Lil tried very hard not to दिखाना that she knew. “Hello? Sky? आप there?” Lil waved her hand in front of the hedgehog’s face. “Dazed, huh?”
“Here ya go, sis!” An obnoxiously bubbly hedgehog-girl strolled over and handed Sky a baby chao. Sky took it, still not focused on the world. “Oh yeah! I'm Cleo, nice to meet ya! आप must be Lil! Don't worry about my sister. She always does this.”
“Uh-huh.” Lil said. Suddenly, a snapping noise from the photo-booth behind them sounded. Lil spun around on her heels. “This just got interesting.” She remarked. Then, before she could stop Sky, the hedgehog dashed over and grabbed the photos. A tear ran down Sky's cheek as she crumpled them up, then throwing them in the trash.
“Let me see that!” Lil snapped. She hastily snatched the चित्रो from the trash. They were pictures of Shadow and Rouge kissing, making funny faces, and sticking their tongues out. “That's disgusting!” She pulled Sky over. “You actually believe these are real?”
“Why not?” Sky's lower lip trembled. “I saw Shadow and Rouge over here!”
“But look!!” Lil shoved them in the black hedgehog's face. “They're photoshopped! Fakes! I can prove it too!” In case anyone's wondering about Lil's remark, the police had arrested a teen-computer hacker who often times hacked into photo-booths at malls to fake pictures of celebrities. He was released a week previously, which meant he was on probation and yet again hacking into photo-booth computers.
Lil pulled away the curtain of the photo-booth. There the penguin-teen sat, jaw open with a computer on his lap. Lil glared. “How dare you!” She snapped. “You know that's against the law! Putting Shadow and Rouge together, my foot! I have the right to...” Lil stopped herself. You're no longer allowed to arrest people, She reminded herself. “To...call the police, so they can detain you! So, there!”
“Oh, well, they won't believe you!” The penguin-hacker replied hastily. “You see, आप tore up my pictures, so it's now shriveled up evidence!” The बैंगनी, वायलेट bird thought for a मिनट then added, “I think you're just jealous because I'M purple, and I have freedom! You're just a DARK cat who must be a criminal! Yeah! You're just defending Shadow because he's just DARK!”
Lil's hand formed a fist. “I can't believe you! आप get your hands off Shadow's personal life, creep!”
“I'm right! आप ARE defending Shadow! HA!” The पेंगुइन laughed until he wheezed. Lil's eyes began to sting from glaring. The बैंगनी, वायलेट bird began to cackle in victory...only to get punched in the nose. Lil's fist hurt, but her goal was accomplished. The penguin's nose looked multicolored; black and blue with blood trickling down his face. “&^%$ you!!!” He swore loudly.
“You can किस my fat DARK butt if आप don't like it!” Lil spoke through her teeth and slammed the cloth closed. She then began to sniffle a little, eyes water, only to get a large hug from Sky. “Thanks,” Lil gently pushed the hedgehog away. “But, I don't need a hug right now.” She looked down, “Please take Phoenix home. I'm going to try to find a job, though I think I just ruined any possibility of that...” Her voice began to tremble at the end, so she sucked it up as to not upset Sky या Phoenix. Then, she left
***
“Kissing me on the lips isn't exactly what I call 'protection', Rouge.” Shadow spit for the fifth time that afternoon. For those who wouldn't understand, Shadow almost never went to malls. In fact, this was his first time, because he needed to see Lil again for her life may have depended on it. “On another note,” he continued, trying to remove pink-glitter from Rouge's lip gloss off of his mouth, “NEVER call me 'Shad'! I might आग आप if आप try to do that again!”
“You can't आग me!” Rouge re-applied her lip-gloss. “Besides, we came to find Lil because she's the person who has been popping-up in your dreams, remember? I just wanted to keep आप focused. आप saw how that strange girl looked at you! And आप just stood there gawking at her!”
“Which concludes why your किस wasn't exactly 'innocent'.” Shadow hissed. “Besides, I don't think we could ever make a nice couple. We would've torn each other apart द्वारा now if it was romantic.” He shuddered, realizing what thoughts he had begun to think.
“Your whistling at the girl wasn't exactly what I call 'innocent' either!” Rouge snapped. “Okay, I agree with you. No और making out with hedgehogs in shopping malls!”
***
2:30PM, Eggman's Secret Lab in Transylvania, Haunted Town.
“Let me out, आप whoppin' big magpie*!” Cassidy, age thirteen, jumped up and down in her cage. “Nigel's gonna skin ya alive like the anacondas! You'll be up the gumtree for sure, mate!” (*Magpie is an Australian slang term describing the black या yellow “Canary” uniforms worn द्वारा Aussie convicts. In this sentence, Cassidy is calling Eggman a convict.)
Eggman didn't reply right away. He checked his machine. “You're a feisty one, aren't you?” He कहा after awhile. “Shut up! You're detracting me!” He went over to the wallaby's cage. “You hardly touched your dinner!”
“It's got poison in it!” Cassidy folded her arms in it. “I can smell it! Nigel couldn't find a grand पियानो in a one-roomed house*, but as far as survivin' goes, he's ace!” She glared as Eggman walked off. “I'm gonna get out! And when I do, Nigel will have your head!” (*More Aussie slang.) She began to jump again. Then, summoning all of her strength, she stood on her thick tail, pulled her legs in, and PUSHED! The cage door opened.
Before Eggman could react, Cassidy leaped out of the cage and down the hall which he had dragged her earlier. An alarm went off. The wallaby-joey screamed in terror as she bounded down और hallways. Robots began to chase her. “Leave me alone!” She called back. This only made them go faster. Fear grabbed her द्वारा the neck. Cassidy quickened her hops. Then, she saw her escape! An open window. She leaped up to it, breaking through the boards that kept it shut.
Then, as she fell through the air to the ground below, she screamed yet again. She had escaped, but would she live to see herself back with Nigel?
