A/N: Hi! Welcome to "Boredom: the Sequel," the (obvious) sequel to the original "Boredom" posted six/seven years ago! A few notes before we begin...

(1) Despite what the title implies, this story does have a plot; every single chapter is vital to the development of the climax!
(2) The original "Boredom" is in my writing LJ and there's a link to it in my profile if anyone's interested.

Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Any comments will be appreciated. =D

Boredom: the Sequel! :: Ch.1; Hobo in the Alleyway

"What... is... THAAAAAT!?"

Sonic looked horrified. "No Tails, put it back! Don't touch it; you might get an infection!"

Tails ignored them and dragged the body closer to him and Knuckles, who just backed up further. "But look, he's bleeding!"

Knuckles wrinkled his nose. The body's stench was starting to become overwhelming. "Er, I think it's a liiittle too late for help..."

"Maybe he's still alive. Shad, check for a pulse!" Sonic shoved Shadow forward.

"No."

"Maaan."

Tails's eye twitched at them all. "Guys, seriously!" He brought the body even closer, examining. "Oh heeey, he's still breathing! Guys! He's still breathing—"

Then it grabbed Tails's ankle.

"P-Please help me—"

"AAAHHH LEAVE ME ALOOONE!"

Knuckles popped up with his wooden plank. "DON'T EVEN TRIP, TAILS! I GOTCHU!" he started smacking the hobo again for a second time.

Sonic started cheering in the background. "Yeaah! Go Knux! Go Knux! Beat that harassment-addicted hobo! WOOOO!"

Meanwhile Shadow was massaging his forehead in the background.

He looked around; it was a beautiful, bright winter day and instead of enjoying the sunshine the four furries were standing in a dark alley in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. Shadow's gaze to his 'friends;' the guy was unconscious again and the Tails, Knuckles and Sonic were cabbage patching.

Shadow sighed. How did they get into this mess again?

Well, let's go back to about one hour ago...

x - x - x

About one hour ago...

x - x - x

"Hey Shadow, I'm bored."

Shadow ignored the hedgehog behind him, just continuing to knit.

"... And why are you knitting?"

"Why, is it bad!?"

"No, just weird. Anyway, go with me to get something to drink."

"We have a refrigerator, you know."

"But I want a SMUSHY!" Sonic reached over and took Shadow's arm. "Please?"

"Leave me alone."

"Come on, don't be anti-social!"

Shadow twitched. Sonic was starting to test his patience! "Go away! Let me knit in peace!"

The blue hedgehog snickered. Shadow shoved him off, but it was sort of useless since Sonic just grabbed him again. "I promise it'll just take five minutes—(gets punched) OWWW!"

"I SAID. GO. AWAY."

Sonic stared. Shadow stared back, unmoving.

"... I'm going to ignore the fact that you just struck me. Let's try this again. Go with me to get a drink!"

Finally Shadow slammed his knitting kit down. "GAH, FINE! FINE! FOR THE LOVE OF MARIA, IF IT'LL SHUT YOU UP, I'LL GO WITH YOU TO GET A STUPID SMUSHY!"

"YAAAAY~!" Sonic giggled and hooked his arm around Shadow's.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"Aw maaaaan..."

x
x - x

And so Sonic and Shadow walked down the street, and for some reason a red echidna was following them too.

"Hey guys, thanks a lot for letting me go with you," Knuckles called. "I mean, you know, Tails is a pretty cool roommate most of the time... but those mood swings he has..."

Sonic eyed him. "Why, what'd he do this time?"

"..."

- flashback! -

"Look Knux, I started on everyone's Christmas presents!" Tails held up a headless teddy bear. "This one's yours! Do you like it so far?!"

The echidna eyed the red-stained needles sticking out of it. "..."

- end flashback! -

Knuckles sobbed into his hands.

Shadow gave him a 'wtf' look and Sonic sweatdropped. "Err, nevermind." Then Sonic squee-ed like a little girl when he saw the convenience store up ahead. "YAY, THERE'S 11-SEVEN!" He sped inside and in two seconds he was out again holding a large blueberry Smushy.

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "That was quick."

"Of course. I am Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Did you even pay for it?"

"Ohohoho..."

The echidna almost fell over. Sonic sipped at his Smushy happily. He held it out to Shadow. "Want some?"

"I refuse to consume your revolting sugar-laden beverage."

"Psh, whateeevs." Sonic held it towards Knuckles. "How 'bout you?"

"Nah, I'm fine."

"C'mon Knux, try it."

"I said, I'm fine..."

"Just a sip!"

"..."

Shadow sighed in the background. For some reason Sonic was being a stupid baby today and wouldn't quit asking for stuff until he got what he wanted... he sighed and covered his ears, just looking at the passing cars.

Then all of a sudden, something bright and shiny from across the street caught his attention. It was barely sticking out of a dark alley, and had the sun glinting off its surface, enchanting the hedgehog...

"It's really good!"

"NO THANKS, I'M OKAY..."

Shadow stood at the stoplight, tapping his foot while waiting for the walk sign.

"Here, just taste it!"

"No—MMPHMPHFFH GRHMMPHH!"

Tails came running by with the headless teddy bear. "KNUCKLLLESS! You didn't tell me what you thought about my gift!"

Knuckles shoved Sonic off and ran away flailing his arms. "GAHHH! LEAVE ME BE, YA CRAZY WEIRDOS!"

By this time Shadow had reached the other side of the street, entering the alley.

There it was, the shiny thing! Slowly he approached it, and as he got closer, he noticed that the shiny thing was actually a bracelet... and somebody was wearing it. The guy looked like a furry of some kind, like him and the other guys, but his fur was too dirty to tell what species... Shadow squinted his eyes.

"W... what the hell—"

Then it grabbed his ankle.

Shadow gasped. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Both Sonic and Tails stopped chasing Knuckles, looking Shadow's direction. The hedgehog was screaming like a lunatic and blasting something with his chaos spear...

"Oh no, a homeless guy's trying to take Shadow's money! WE MUST HELP OUR FRIEND!" Sonic ditched the other two and ran straight across the street, making cars crash into each other trying to avoid him. Knuckles sighed in relief and Tails giggled at the destruction.

"Get your hands off me, you crazy hobo! GET OFF! AGGHH!" Shadow growled as he shook his leg like a chicken.

Sonic popped up beside him. "Awh yeah, Shads! Shake it like a Polaroid picture!"

"DAMMIT SONIC THIS IS NOT THE (BEEP!)IN' TIME—"

"Okay okay, sheesh..." The blue hedgehog went over and kicked the thing in the face. It screamed, letting go of Shadow's ankle and clutching his own face instead.

Suddenly Knuckles popped up too with a wooden plank. "YO HOMIES STAND BACK, I GOT DIS!" he started smacking the hobo with the plank.

"Dude you're kinda late," Tails murmured. Knuckles ignored him and kept smacking.

Soon the guy knocked out completely due to several hits to the head. The boys were quiet for a bit before asking Tails to check it out (since Tails was so scarred that he couldn't be scarred no' mo'), and so Tails did, then it grabbed his ankle and Knuckles beat it again while Sonic cheered, which brings us to the present time where Shadow was asking how the heck they got into this mess in the first place...

Shadow sighed heavily as he remembered. "Ah. Of course. All cuz of me."

Tails nodded. "Of course."

Shadow's eye twitched. "You know what Tails, why don't you just take your big fat head and sh—"

"YOU GUYS!" Knuckles yelled conveniently. Conveniently because if Shadow finished we'd have to bump the rating again... anyway Knuckles dropped his wooden plank, eyeing the motionless hobo on the ground. "Oh no... I think I really killed it this time...!"

Sonic cackled. "Ooooohhh maaan, you are so getting arrested."

"What? Killing a hobo is illegal?!"

Shadow stared. "Are you stupid?"

"Are you?!" Though Knuckles shut up when Shadow started charging up his chaos power. "... Juuuust kidding, Shadow. Haha! It was a joooke! Haha Shad, you be so cute when you're mad—AAHH!" The echidna sobbed as he barely dodged a spear.

Sonic ignored them and eyed his watch. "Anyways, let's just go to the police." He looked around the alley. "I mean Knux is my friend and everything, but if ya kill a hobo, that be a no-no, so ya gotta pay FO'SHO! BAHAHA, see how I rhymed all those words—OH GOD TAILS WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Tails looked up from giving the hobo mouth-to-mouth. "I'm saving his life!"

"But what if he has mono or something."

"..." Tails immediately sprang up, running away screaming.

"Actually Sonic, even if we call the police they won't care too much about a homeless guy like him," Knuckles mumbled from beside the hedgehog. He gestured at the unconscious guy. "And I'm totally not saying this to get out of going to jail... okaymaybealittle, but SERIOUSLY..." The hedgehogs sweatdropped at him. Knuckles continued. "If at all, the police'll just make sure the hobo doesn't have any major injuries. Then they'll dump him out on the streets again."

Sonic's expression fell at that. "What? Seriously...?"

"Yeah, unfortunately."

Shadow nodded in agreement. "The world's a tough place, faker. You can't save everyone."

"..." The blue hedgehog paused for a moment before looking at the unconscious hobo again. He went over, inspecting him a bit; it was a young hedgehog with golden bracelets on his wrists. And since Sonic kicked him in the face, Shadow chaos spear-ed his ass and Knuckles beat him with a wooden plank (twice), the kid was in pretty bad shape. Plus he was covered with so much dirt and grime that his fur color wasn't even recognizable...

Sonic's eyes softened. "Aw man, poor guy..."

Shadow didn't say anything, just standing quietly. Tails continued to run around screaming and Knuckles ended up looking around for a place to hide the bloody plank.

After a moment Sonic turned and looked at Shadow with a certain expression... Shadow raised an eyebrow.

But then slowly, he realized... "... Dude. Sonic. Are you serious."

"Completely."

"No. The answer's no."

"Pleeaase?"

"I said, NO."

"Shad. Shadoooow. Please?"

"Dammit Sonic what the hell's wrong with you today? Are you deaf!?"

"Are you?!" Knuckles popped up out of nowhere. Shadow punched him in the face.

Sonic ignored the violence and just pouted, crossing his arms. "Shadow T. Hedgehog, I am extremely disappointed in you! We gave you a chance—just where did your heart go!?"

"I threw it away when Maria died..."

Both Sonic and Knuckles gave Shadow exasperated, "you're-so-emo" looks. Tails started playing sad music on a violin.

"... And I'm not emo, I literally threw it away because it started rotting in my thoracic cavity—"

Sonic grabbed the hobo's ankle anyway. "You can make up stories all you want, Shads; either way, you were the one that found him, so you should take responsibility. We're taking him home and that's final!"

"What—NO! He smells! And do you not remember how he grabbed my ankle, then grabbed Tails too; what if he's a murderer or something!? Or what if he's a robot sent by Eggman to trick you into trusting him so he could backstab you at the last second, and then WHO'S GONNA FEEL LIKE A FOOL, HUH?! WHO—"

But Sonic was running away already, dragging the unconscious kid along behind him. Shadow twitched. "HEY! I WAS TALKING TO YOU, DAMMIT! SONIC YOU ASKDJKDF, AJHRFDJFF!" and with a bunch of pissed off, incomprehensible blabbering, Shadow took off after him.

Knuckles looked around the area. He grabbed a nearby rag, draped it over the bloody wooden plank, then grabbed Tails and sprinted out of there too.

A/N: First chapter's a little short but they'll get waaay longer as we progress, hehe.
Anyways, so for the next chapter, we'll meet the girls and find out who the hobo-kid really is!

Peace. 8D

- nagami c.