"How is he alive? I thought I ended it all back at school," said Sonic, clenching his fists together.
"I don't know, but he's back. And what's worse is that Mighty is nowhere to be found," Tails replied.
"Wow. What do you think could have happened to him?" Amy asked, referring to Mighty.
Tails shook his head. "I don't know. But whatever it is, we shouldn't be thinking it. We should focus on getting to the bottom of this."
"I have an idea," said Lucas from the doorway, leaning against the left side of it. He wore a red t-shirt with a goat's head design on it, blue jeans, and red sneakers.
"And what idea would that be?" Sonic spat, obviously angry with Lucas.
"Wow, calm down, blue brains! What did I ever do to piss you off?" Lucas asked sarcastically.
"That's it! I'm gonna-" Sonic started, before Amy and Tails pulled him back from moving any further.
"Get off me. I don't want to hurt you," Sonic said, turning to Tails. "Either of you."
"Just listen to what he has to say instead of rushing into it," said Tails seriously. Sonic stopped his struggling, and Amy and Tails released him from their grasps, allowing Sonic to take a breather before he looked up to Lucas directly.
"So, spit it out," the blue hedgehog said.
"Well, if you guys used to go to Mobius High, then why not go back there and investigate? I'm sure we all still have some time left before the teachers get back here, anyway," Lucas said.
"That's actually not a bad idea," Tails said, thoughtfully.
"There might be a slight problem," Amy said.
"What's that?" Sonic asked.
"We don't know how long we'll be gone for. We could get in so much trouble if this isn't done carefully," the pink hedgehog replied. "We'll need a distraction, or some way to stall the teachers."
"Leave that to me," Lucas said. "If they're still asleep, I can probably hack their dreams and keep them asleep for a while."
The whole room went silent before Lucas explained what he meant. "Relax, I'm not going to kill them. I'll just put them under for a little while longer. Now, any questions?"
"Yeah... I have one," Sonic said.
"I should have seen that one coming," Lucas replied with a chuckle.
"Why are you helping us?" the blue hedgehog asked.
"Because if anyone's going to try and fuck your life up, it's going to be me," the giraffe replied, more seriously now as he walked over to Sonic, extending his hand. "Truce?"
Sonic sighed before reaching his own hand out, shaking Lucas' hand before grunting "Truce."
"Good. I'm glad that that is settled. Now, you guys had better get your asses over to the school before you get found out."
Sonic flashed a smile at Lucas before releasing his hand. Soon after, Sonic, Tails, and Amy walked past Lucas and out the door, waiting for the giraffe to walk through so Sonic could lock the door behind them all.
"Do you think we should take anyone else with us for out little trip?" asked Amy.
"Nah. I think we can handle this one. But switch your phones on and call whoever you want if you feel the need," Sonic replied as he started walking further away from them.
"Whoa, where are you off to in such a hurry?" Tails asked, making Sonic stop.
"I just think it's better if I go after him alone," the blue hedgehog replied as he turned around.
"And what makes you think we can't take care of ourselves if something happens while we're with you?" the yellow fox replied.
"This darkness bullshit, that's what," Sonic replied. "And besides, what do you care?"
"I don't care. But I know you're not weak, Sonic. You can beat this. I've seen you go through worse and get through it, so why did that change last night, hmm?" Tails asked, pressuring Sonic into an answer. "What changed in you, Sonic?"
"Believe me, you do not want to know."
"Try me," Tails said.
Sonic was about to reply, but then he bent slightly over and held his hands to his stomach. He growled in harsh pain for a few seconds before he started groaning. "Holy fuck, this hurts!"
"Sonic? What's wrong?" Amy asked worriedly.
"I... I don't know," Sonic replied with a harsh tone, still in pain. "But it feels bad. And I don't just mean the sick kind of bad, either."
"You'll get over it, dude. Let's face it; you have had a lot worse," Tails said, earning a grimace from the blue hedgehog
"Yes, but that was more external pain. This is a little different," Sonic replied as he stood back up, taking a deep breath.
"Are you okay now?" Tails asked.
Sonic still felt a little dazed from it before shrugging it off. "Um, y-yeah, I'll be fine. Come on, let's head back to school," Sonic said, failing to hold back a small smile as he said it.
Instead of running there and back, Sonic decided to stay put and wait for Amy and Tails to catch up with him. When they did, Amy took Sonic's hand in her own and gave it a small squeeze as they walked down the stairs and past the college double doors, glad to be taking in fresh air. The early morning sun shined bright and hot in the sky, it's rays of light beaming down on Sonic, Amy, and Tails.
"You know, I forgot how much I love the Mobius sun," Sonic said.
"Yeah," Tails replied. "I remember when you and I were kids and we used to all chill under that big oak tree back at Mobius high all day."
"Those were the days where you to really became friends, I take it?" Amy asked with a suggestive smirk as they reached the bottom of the staircase.
"Um... I guess you could say that," Sonic said, using his free hand to rub the back of his neck nervously. The blue hedgehog then turned to Tails and simple said "I'm sorry for how I acted."
"I'm sorry too, Sonic. I just guess I got tired of seeing you so angry about this whole situation and seeing you smoke that shit just sent me over the edge," the yellow fox replied. "Are we cool?"
"Yeah, we're cool."
"This doesn't change that I'm not your friend anymore. You know that, right?" Tails said.
"I know. But we'll work on it," Sonic replied with a smirk.
"So... can we carry on walking to the school when you two are done with your reminiscing?" Amy joked.
"Yeah, sorry," Sonic said.
"I guess we got a bit carried away," the blue hedgehog replied with a small chuckle.
"Sorry if I sounded bitchy, but as much as I would hate to interrupt your little moment, we have a dead guy to interrogate," Amy said.
Sonic smiled and the three of them continued walking until they passed the double doors of the college. As they carried on, Sonic wondered in the back of his mind if Lucas would hold true to his promise. The more the blue hedgehog thought about it, the more he felt a headache coming on. As they all got halfway to the college, Sonic groaned and let go of Amy's hand, causing both the pink hedgehog and the yellow fox to turn around and look at him with concern on their faces.
"Are you okay, Sonic?" Amy asked.l
"Y-yeah. I just have a bit of a headache, that's all. Let's keep going," the blue hedgehog replied.
"Are you sure?" asked his pink hedgehog girlfriend.
"Yes, I am sure," Sonic answered, still groaning a bit from his headache. "Come on, let's go. There's no time to waste."
The three of them continued walking to the college, passing by some of their old hang-out spots as well as taking in the sights of the city. Sonic came to realize that he had been cooped up in the college for too long, and rarely went out with his friend or alone. The thought made him smile and chuckle, causing Amy to look at him.
"What's the matter?" asked the pink hedgehog.
"It's stupid..." Sonic replied.
"Aw, come on. Tell me," Amy pleaded.
"It's just that... it feels like it has been forever since I've been outside. It feels good. I mean, I rarely even went to the Chili Out anymore, and I had to get you or someone else in our little group to grab me some grub from there. I guess I'm just trying to savour this while I still can," Sonic answered as they approached the grey stone walkway that led to the school entrance. "I mean, after all, you never really know how long all of this will last."
As they kept walking, they noticed many police cars and vans from various publications all over Mobius. Apparently, Eggman's mysterious return was a pretty major event that he needed security for it.
"Wow. Could he be any more full of himself?" Sonic thought out loud.
"I know. What does he need all this protection for, anyway?" Tails replied. "He got on fine before you killed him."
"I don't know... maybe he's just a little paranoid that someone might put him away for good?" the blue hedgehog replied darkly.
"Hmm... that is a very good point," the yellow fox answered.
Not long after, the three made it to the large marble archway that was suspended over the school entrance gates, which were pained red, and the archway read "Welcome To Mobius High: Building The Brightest Futures Possible." As it was still class time, the gates were closed, so Tails had to resort to flying himself, Amy, and Sonic over the gates so the trio could make it into the school. Luckily the yellow fox was strong enough to carry all three of them over, which was a major testament due to him being shorter and skinnier than Sonic and Amy.
At the very moment their feet touched the ground, they heard a faint voice over what sounded like a PA system. As they approached the direction of the aforementioned voice, they felt it grow louder and started to remember more of it the further they went.
"Is... is that who I think it is?" asked Tails curiously.
"I think it could be, but let's not make any judgments just yet," Sonic replied.
The blue hedgehog didn't really have to say much else beyond that. As soon as they turned a corner, they instantly saw a large group of students and teachers from the school gathered around a pedestal, which was a few feet away from the fountain in case any water from the fountain could short out one of the many electrical wires leading to the microphones on the pedestal.
Despite the fact that the evidence was right under his nose, Sonic still wanted to see it to believe it, which was hard to tell because he was practically face to face with Eggman's back to him as the mad doctor's focus was on the crowd in front of him. Slowly, Sonic, Tails, and Amy backed away and his behind some bushes, being careful not to make any sounds as they eavesdropped on the event.
"Now, are there any other questions?" asked Eggman, proving that the voice was indeed his, along with his round, egg-shaped body.
"Yes sir," said Antoine, wearing a light brown suit, "Are you planning to reinstate yourself as principle of the school?"
"I am just going to cut straight to the chase on that one and say that I am planning to do just that. With Mighty's tragic passing recently, I am happy that I was the first person who came to mind to take over," Eggman replied.
"Tragic passing? You don't think he's really..." Amy suggested.
"Nah, he can't be. Eggman's got to be lying," Sonic replied, reassuringly.
"And by take over, you mean temporarily, right?" the coyote asked again.
"Yes, of course I do. As much as I did enjoy teaching here, I think retirement might be a good option for me as soon as my run as principle is over at this school."
"And what of the police?" asked Honey the cat, who was wearing a red blouse, black skirt, and red sandals.
"The police are merely to look into a possible investigation in relation to Mighty's death; they have reason to believe that he was murdered. Upon discovering his body, they found many bruises on his arms as well as puncture wounds from needles possibly inflicted by force. Whoever did it made a damn good job of trying to make it look like suicide."
"And who do you suspect of performing this heinous act?" asked Antoine.
"Well, at present, we have no leads, except for this," Eggman said, reaching into his back pocket to pick out a small plastic container. Inside the container was a small pile of dark blue fur. "It is possible that a former student by the name of Sonic did this. Thanks to his speed, he was able to get in and out of there quick enough to perform the act."
"That's a freaking lie!" yelled Antoine.
"I beg your pardon?" said Eggman with mock shock.
"Sonic was a good kid. He wasn't perfect, but I would never pick him as the type for murder," Antoine replied. "What reason would he have to kill Mighty, anyway?"
"Well, for what it's worth, it may not entirely be Sonic's fault. In fact, due to his family lineage, as of last night he was expected to start undergoing some changes to his personality... violent changes. It is possible he may have come back to the school to talk to someone about his problems, but his other self took over and forced Sonic into killing the first person who tried to help him, who just so happened to be Mighty," Eggman replied. "As we speak, there are police officers investigating Mobius University, trying to get to the bottom of this."
"Oh shit! We gotta get back to the college!" Sonic whispered harshly to Tails and Amy, who nodded in agreement.
"Now, are there any further questions?" Eggman asked. After almost a minute of almost deafening silence, Eggman nodded and said "Fair well," before turning around, finally letting Sonic see his face. It was true; Eggman was indeed alive and well, and had somehow just framed Sonic for murdering Mighty.
I apologize if this chapter was somewhat confusing, but with the ending coming ever closer, I figured it could use a little something out of my comfort zone. Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and the next one will come soon. Until then, stay tuned.