The Underground Game – a 50 Phrases collection

"You could get us both killed!"

DISCLAIMER: Okay, confession time (and hear you silent readers go "like we didn't know already"): I am not a huge Sonia fan. I think she's a massive canon-Sue and a massive hypocrite when it comes to her priorities, but… but I have to remember that she is a good person who cares about her brothers. She's just… pragmatic when it comes to anyone but herself. I must remember this. I must.

With the rain pouring down outside, offsetting the Robotropolis humidity to a comfortable level, and no missions pressing on her, it was hard not to be in a good mood. Add in the fact she had some work to do on her motorcycle and her afternoon was nearly perfect.

"Hey, sis'," Sonic greeted as he appeared behind her. She grunted in response, preoccupied with greasing a gear properly, and he sat down on a crate behind her. "I thought that thing blew up last week?"

"No, that was MatthewSix," she said absently. "This is MarciaSeven."

He scratched in front of his ear. "I thought it was MarkTwo?"

"That one fell apart just before we went to Ruhyplon."

"And three, four and five?"

"Lost in a mudslide, crushed beneath some boulders, and I think Dingo ate the combustion drive."

"Harsh," he commented, and then frowned. "Do I not pay attention?"

"Apparently not," she said, but she wasn't judging. Sonic had barely noticed when they had to get a new van last month, and even then it was only because he was the one that had to make sure it had everything they needed. Vehicles weren't really something he considered a priority. And why would it be? He was faster on foot than anything they could pick up.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Sonic watching her work with the quiet impatience he did on afternoons like this. He never wanted to go outside in the rain, but he got bored with their various safe houses fairly quickly. If he had come out to watch her work, it meant he was probably about an hour from risking the water to go spend time in the Homeless Quarter.

"Why do you even need that thing, anyway?" he asked suddenly. "I mean, it's not that hard for me to cart you around when you need a ride."

"Well, for one thing, I enjoy it," she said as she removed the starter. She shifted back and took up a cloth to begin cleaning. "For another, I can't always rely on you."

"Hey!"

"What I mean is, you have your own life," she said, and ignored the look that flashed over his face at that. She was getting very good at ignoring that particular look and pretending it didn't mean what it probably did. "You aren't going to spend your life running me from place to place after the war, so why should you start now?"

"Okay, okay, fair point," he said, sitting back on his hands.

"And thirdly –"

"Third?" he cried, and she pointed the starter at him.

"Manic and I were not meant to move at the speed of sound."

He blinked. "Huh?"

"Exactly what I say: you run too fast for me and Manic. Sometimes you forget and it makes us sick, or hurt, or just plain freaked out," she said simply. "It's convenient, but the way you scoop us up sometimes is dangerous. You could get us both killed."

He opened his mouth, shoulders already rising defensively, but she hurried to wave him off. She was in too good of a mood to get into an argument today.

"It's not an insult. Your speed is amazing and you totally make us both a whole lot safer than we would be without you!" she said quickly. "We rely on you a lot and your speed is a great retreat. But I'm just saying that if we can go other ways… we probably should."

He closed his mouth again with a frown, looking over the motorbike now like it was a rival, but didn't say anything for a few minutes. Eventually, though, he added mulishly, "I always slow down for you guys."

"We know," she said patiently. "But not enough."

"You guys are just so slow," he whined, and she tried not to feel offended. "I mean… what's your top speed? Like… fifty miles an hour?"

"I can spin that fast," she said, reminding herself that he wasn't trying to annoy her. "I think we could run maybe thirty miles an hour if we sprinted."

"Geez…" He got up and walked a few steps away, toward the open garage door. He stared out at the rain for a moment, then looked over his shoulder. "And that's normal?"

"Manic is considered quite fast for your average hedgehog," she said, looking back down at the starter.

"Geez," he said again. He didn't speak for a long few minutes, and when she glanced up at him, the part of his face that she could see had that expression on it she liked to ignore. He didn't look back at her, but murmured, "I guess I am too fast for you."

"Yup," she said, and slid the starter back into place. When she looked up again, it was to see Sonic looking at her with a strange expression – one she'd never seen from him before. She frowned, not sure how to read it, but before she could comment it was gone, and he abruptly turned away again.

"I'm gonna go check out something. Might be home late. Later!" he said, and disappeared into the rain.

She stared after him for a second, then shrugged and went back to her bike.

This is a challenge to myself, inspired by my friend Jkateel, who told me to stop complaining about how I can't write anything and just do it.

And so, at least once a week, I will write a fic based around one of the 50 phrases. I will post it, whether I like it or not (so sorry for the spam). And to further force myself, I'm going to say it will be in my head canon of Sonic Underground merged with the Sonic games, because that's a canon that's stayed with me for years, so it's not like I'll lose interest.

I'm not actually doing it on LiveJournal because for one, I can't find the community again, and for another, I don't think I'm actually matching the rules. I just copied down the challenges once and still have it.

No restrictions on length. It does not need to have a point. Just a story or a thought. And the phrase, of course.

Because fanfic should be about fun, not whether it's fabulous or not.