Chapter 1: Attic Discovery
It was a cool summer evening on a Friday of the week. While most Mobian citizens were most likely having dinner with their families, or relaxing in front of the television, or getting their children ready for bed, inside a small two bedroom blue home with white roof shingles and window frames, a duo made of a blue hedgehog and an orange twin-tailed fox had pulled down the steps leading up to the home's attic. The fox whirled his tails around and around as if they were the blades of a helicopter, giving him the gift of flight as he flew through the hole into the attic, while the hedgehog had to take the more boring and normal route as he climbed up the steps.
"Thanks for helping me out with this, Tails." He said to his friend as the fox took a hold of his hand and helped pull him up the rest of the way. "I've never really been in the attic before, so I don't really know what's up here."
"No problem, Sonic." Tails chuckled once the hedgehog was standing on his own two feet. "Attics can be creepy, as well as basements, so I understand if you were too afraid to be up here alone."
At this, Sonic blushed in embarrassment, his muzzle turning hot red.
"I'm not afraid, Tails." Sonic rolled his eyes. "It's just that when I moved in, the original owner of the house told me that she had left some stuff behind that she didn't want, so I thought we could look through it together and maybe if there was something heavy that needs to be moved, there were two people for the job."
"Uh-huh, sure." Tails crossed his arms, smirking knowingly. "And are you sure it's not because you're afraid to be alone in case there's a Ouija Board up here like seen in the movies and tv shows?"
"Hey, those things are scary and dangerous and you know it." Sonic frowned, pointing an accusing finger at the smug fox.
Tails laughed. "It's funny. A few years ago, you would've said those things were nothing but baloney."
"Yeah, well that incident on Earth with Chris's mom and those ghosts in that castle really messed me up."
"I'll say." Tails shook his head. "Well anyway, you wanted to look around, so let's look around."
"Sure thing, Tails." Sonic smiled with his signature thumbs up.
Right off first glance, the two brothers could tell that there really wasn't much. A few cardboard boxes were stacked on top of each other, containing old books and clothes. Manikins stood by the wall all by themselves, a few lamps standing around them. There was even an old black wardrobe that was filled with old medieval costumes in the corner. But, what caught Sonic's attention the most, was a nice little cedar chest without a key to it.
"Huh," He frowned as he knelt next to the chest, brushing dust and dirt off it. "I wonder what's in here."
"You don't have a key to it?" Tails asked.
"Nu-uh." Sonic shook his head. "The original owner didn't leave behind any keys of any kind, especially to a cedar chest."
"Well… maybe we can try to get it open without a key."
"How? I don't wanna just break it."
"Lock picking, Sonic."
Sonic raised an eyeridge at him.
"Since when did you know how to lock pick?"
"Well…" Tails blushed nervously.
"Rouge taught you, didn't she?" Sonic frowned with disapproval.
"Only in case of emergencies!" Tails quickly answered.
"And?"
"And… in case we're curious of what's inside." The fox admitted.
"I'm so going to have a talk with Rouge about this." Sonic sighed. "Alright, let's get it open."
And so, in just under five minutes, using a paperclip and a screwdriver, Tails was able to get the cedar chest open. Together, the two lifted the lid and peered inside. A black cloth was covering everything, but as Sonic reached inside to move it away, his eyes widened in shock and excitement at what he saw.
"Oh no way!"
Inside the cedar chest was a whole entire Dungeons and Dragons set, complete with dice, rulebooks, character figurines, maps, and character sheets.
"Wow, this is so cool!" Sonic squealed like a kid in a candy shop as he pulled out one of the rulebooks discussing about monsters. "The original owner never told me she had a DnD set in here!"
"A what?" Tails asked in confusion as he pulled out a bag full of dice, looking at them curiously.
"A Dungeons and Dragons set." Sonic explained. "It's an old role-playing game that people have played for years. I always saw people playing it when I was growing up. I've always wanted to join, but I was always either too young or too busy to learn how to play. Plus… nobody really wanted to play with me anyway."
Tails felt bad as he watched his brother sigh sadly with a look of longing set in his eyes as he flipped through the book of monsters. He hated seeing his brother this way, and if there was a way to fix it, then he was going to. And luckily, there was a way to fix it.
"Well," Tails started. "Eggman hasn't really been all that active lately since you hospitalized him last week…"
"That was an accident!" Sonic quickly defended.
"And you're a lot older than you were before, so, if you still wanna play, I'll play with you."
"That's really nice of you Tails." Sonic smiled, then sighed. "But it won't be enough, you need at least four players to play the game, including the Dungeon Master."
"The what?"
"The one who tells the story and controls everything besides the players."
"Oh, well," Tails scratched his head in thought. Then he had an idea. "What if there's six of us playing?"
"That would definitely be enough, especially for battles." Sonic nodded. "But where are you gonna get four more players?"
"Amy, Knuckles, Shadow, and Rouge of course."
At this, Sonic just had to laugh.
"That's very nice, Tails, but I don't think that's gonna work." Sonic chuckled. "I know Amy is willing to do anything that involves me, and maybe Rouge would join in, but I have my doubts about old knucklehead and Faker."
"Oh don't you worry, Sonic, I have a plan." Tails chuckled. "You just focus on reading up on the rules and thinking of a story, and I'll take care of the rest."
"Well, if you say so." Sonic shrugged before he started pulling out the entire set, an excited smile on his face. "Oh boy, this is gonna be so much fun!"