Chapter One:
Jenn's POV
I woke up with a suddenly gold, glancing around my dark room. A cold sweat ran down the back of my neck. I sighed happily, realizing it wasn't a dream anymore. I was awake. The dream I had was unusual. In my dream, I was in this parallel universe with a blonde haired girl and she was running from something. Something I could not figure out. The weirdest part about this dream is: I was her. Sighing quietly to myself, I slowly got up out of bed, glancing the clock which read 3 am on it. Great. I quietly made my way downstairs, walking toward the living room. Once there, I seated myself on the sofa and turned on the TV. I turned my attention to the TV, moving to sit closer. The news report that was playing was about a strange disturbance in Eastopolis.
"Thank you, Tom. There seems to be strange black creatures flying around and destroying buildings and killing innocent people" the reported explained as a black creature came into view and barely grazed her head.
I yawned softly, picking up the remote to switch off the TV, and made my way into the kitchen. I took a seat at the table, laying my head down gently. I slowly closed my eyes and soon fell into a deep sleep.
James' POV
I lived a short distance from the city north of my small 'home'. It wasn't much, but it was relatively livable. It was a small brick building that had been abandoned ages ago. The only furniture in my place was a small dusty table and a few broken chairs. There was only one floor. There was two, but the ceiling of the first floor caved in before I got here, so if there was any other furniture, it was crushed and I hadn't found it when I removed the rubble. I had made a small bed out of some cushions from the broken chairs and had brought myself a small necklace. It wasn't mine, but I thought I might as well hold onto it, it had a picture of a blond girl in a blue dress on it. I didn't know who she was, but I'd like to return it to the owner if I ever found them.
I woke up shortly after the sun had risen that morning, assuming it was about 7 o'clock. It was the middle of summer; thankfully I managed to keep myself warm over the winter in a motel not far from the city. I headed to the door and looked out of the morning sky. It was a magnificent sight, colors of red, yellow and orange covered the sky. It was almost enchanting. I walked out the door and sat on the small set of stairs that led to the ground below me. I stretched and looked over at the city. A cloud of smoke filled the skies over the eastern part of the town. There had been some weird attacks on the city recently, part of the reason I didn't live in that sad city. I got up and thought about getting a coffee to start my morning. I hopped down and walked briskly towards the city, the wind blowing threw my fur. It felt nice as I headed toward the city, towards my favorite coffee shop, well newly made favorite; the Tim's had been blown-up by the weird creatures. What did it ever do to them? Maybe it ran out of their favorite doughnuts; well it wasn't my business. I just kept walking and thought of reasons of why they would destroy such a great place.
Jenn's POV
I woke up 4 hours later to the sound of the birds singing. Yawning, I stretched and got up off the chair, heading to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Once I was done, I gathered my jacket, my car keys and wallet, heading toward my car, thinking I should pick up some groceries and a cup of coffee. I got in my car and turned it on, sighing happily as it started instead of making noise and not doing anything like it usually did. What can you expect from a beat up car thats been around since my mother passed. I shifted into gear and headed to town, dodging the odd pothole and made sure not to run over anyone.
After 10 mins or so, I slowed to a crawl and eased myself into a parking spot close to the store, Food Basics. Once parked, I got out of the car and went inside the store, getting all the items I required. A few minutes later I emerged from the store, bags in hand, and went to place them in my car, not bothering to lock it since no one was around. I then proceeded to the Crispy Cream coffee shop and ordered a large espresso, sitting down in my regular seat in the back of the coffee shop. I sipped my coffee thoughtfully, thinking about what I was going to do for the rest of the day.
James' POV
After a few minutes of walking, I finally made it to the city. I made my way over to the slightly damaged Starbucks, walking into the establishment. I was the only regular anymore, everyone else was afraid to show-up. The only reason I came was because I was also the only remaining staff. The manager told me I could keep the place until things calmed down if I kept it in tact. I walked in, not bothering to putting on my uniform. Why bother? It's not like anyone else was going to show up. I made my way to the closet pulling out the broom and started sweeping the floor. Once I was done, I made myself a coffee and watched out the window, wondering why Starbucks coffee always seemed to need more sugar then regular coffee. The streets were empty, except for a few rats and crows picking at a bunch of dead corpses that were spread across the road. I yawned and finished my coffee, walking toward the door and made my way out, locking the door behind me.
I looked down the road and saw a weird looking person; they had green hair, cut up clothes and half their face was burnt. I watched as they stared and suddenly turned, rushing in a particular direction. I walked around the corner to see them breaking the back window of a beaten old car. It looked like the car has abandoned any way, but he was pulling out a bunch of brown bags full of food, so I assumed it was someone's car. I walked down the street and entered the building across from were the car was parked, a coffee stop of some sort. I looked around, the place was mostly empty. I walked to the counter.
"Do you know who that car belongs to that is out there?" I asked the girl at the counter. The girl looked toward the car that I pointed it out to her. She turned away from me to shout at the only other person in the small building. She was a short, pale purple hedgehog, dressed in a silver dress.
Jenn's POV
I glanced up from my coffee, turning my attention to the girl at the counter who was standing with a blue hedgehog with red streaks. I got up out of my seat and headed towards them.
"Yea it's my car what's wrong with- " I broke off, turning my attention to my car that was being broken into, "HEY THOSE ARE MY GROCERIES!" I screamed, dashing outside to the freak invading my car. I growled as I pounced on him, punching him in the face several times. The guy screamed in pain, trying to shake me off, but had no such luck. He then proceeded to run around like mad, with me clutching on to his back. He finally managed to pry me off with some difficulty, grabbing me by the quills and tossed me like a rag doll on to the ground. The man then turned on his heels, making a run for it with some of the groceries he had stolent. I watched him leave, clutching my arm in pain.
James' POV
I watched the brawl between the two citizens and watched as the guy bolted down the street, leaving the purple girl on the ground by her car. I walked out and saw a few of the bags on the ground, having fallen from the guy's clutches. I stood over a bag and tilted my head looking into it. I picked up the bag, after deciding it was safe and placed it back into the car through the now broken window. I looked over at the girl and then back at the ground. I gathered up the few things that fell from the remaining bags that had been ripped. I noticed a bag of baby carrots that was opened and snatched one before tossing the bag back in the car. I looked over at the girl and tilted my head. She was holding her arm and I could make out a few bruises on one of her legs.
"Are you hurt?" I questioned, watching her intently.
"I'm fine..." she muttered, glancing away from my gaze.
I looked at the now destroyed foods on the ground and the packaging of some of the open and stolen food. I quickly calculated the amount she had lost, which was about 45 dollars, but with these attacks going on, food was scarce. I unzipped a small pocket on the back of my glove and took out three $20 bills. I placed them on her roof and headed back towards my house, looking back again to see if she noticed the money I left her before leaving.
Jenn's POV
I watched the blue and red street hedgehog as he made his way on the other side of the car and began gathering the remaining food. I gasped in pain when I moved my arm slightly the wrong way, sitting up to glance over at him, as he walked down the road. I sighed, and struggled to my feet, limping over to the other side of the car, noticing he had placed the groceries back in the car. I looked at the roof and caught sigh of money laying there. I glanced over at where he was walking, taking the bills and shouted in his direction.
"HEY WAIT! COME BACK!" I started to limp towards the direction he was heading, clutching the money tightly in my hand.
James' POV
I saw the pale purple hedgehog heading towards me and I signaled for her to stay where she was.
"KEEP IT!" I yelled to her. I turned and walked around the corner, waving at her as she left my sight. I headed back towards my 'house' and stopped. If she was going to keep following me, I should probably get going. I shut my eyes and activated Chaos Control, a skill I was born with. I don't remember how I got it, or why I could use it, I did know what it did however. It froze time. When I was a safe distance from the city I de-activated Chaos Control and headed into my house, walking over to the pile of cushions that I had serving as a bed and layed down.
Jenn's POV
I watched as the stranger turned the corner and I turned back to my car, debating whether or not to follow him. I decided not to and got into my car carefully, turning on the ignition and began making my way back to my house with my remaining groceries and probably a broken arm. Unfortunately, on the way home, I hit a bump in the middle of the road and blew my engine, great. Sighing, I got out and pulled up the hood, smoke streaming out of it. I shook my head and sat down next to the car, waiting for someone to come.
Shadow's POV
Shadow the hedgehog. An agent of GUN, the Ultimate Life Form, I was created for unknown reasons. I was being sent to this small city to investigate the attacks caused by these weird creatures. On my way I came across a girl who was on the side of the road with a busted-up, un-useable car. I walked over to see what was wrong.
Jenn's POV
I looked up at the form that was standing before me. He was a black hedgehog with red streaks and weird looking shoes. I smiled slightly and attempted to get up.
"Umm, hi there" I began "My car kind of broke down. Do you by any change know where I could find a bus or something to get home?" He glanced at me and chuckled.
"That would be nice wouldn't it? No, I'm afraid there is no buses anymore because of the attacks that have been going on. If you want I could escort you to your house." He extended his hand to me. I looked at his hand then back at him and took it
"Uh, my house is west of here, but it will take a while to get there." I stood up. I saw him look me over and seem to stare at my arm.
"You alright?" he asked. I looked down at my arm, then back at him.
"Yea, I guess I'm fine, well I might have a broken arm but that's about it. Some idiot broke into my car and stole most of my groceries." I trailed off, glancing at the expression on his face, blushing slightly. He looked around my car. I looked and realized he was examining the broken window. He looked back at me and seemed to frown.
"A broken arm is about it, well that's useful" he said, turning to my car "Did you even try to fix the engine?" he asked looking at it a bit "I looks like it just over heated from age, easily fixed if you poor water on it or let it cool down. How long has it been sitting here?" Before I could answer he put his hand on part of the engine and shook his head "It's cooled down now, you should be able to drive it again." He acted like he knew everything. I rolled my eyes and moved towards my car, getting into it, pretending to turn it on.
"Um, it doesn't work" I said, looking out at him, chuckling. He lowered his eye lids and walked over, closing the hood of the car. He looked at the key and frowned.
"Very funny, now get going" he said in an annoyed voice as he continued walking down the sidewalk. I snapped my fingers and turned the car on, making a U-turn and made my way towards my house, waving on my way by. I slammed on the breaks when I noticed that he was ignoring me.
"What's your problem? You got a stick up your butt or something?" He blinked and shook his head. He crossed his arms and muttered something and suddenly he was gone. I jumped in surprise and looked around, wondering where he went. I shrugged and drove off towards my house, still wondering where he had disappeared to.