I just realized that there might be folks out there who don't know how to pronounce Xaun's name. It's sounds like you're trying to say the name Shawn and John at the same time.

On we go to Town Folx, City Folx and finally Foreign Folx.

I'm sure you understand that writing a physical injury for someone doesn't make a very interesting chapter. So while Sonic is recovering, we're going to pay attention to the extras.

Peace out. :D


-Chapter 51: Town Folx-


Staci sat at her vanity and applied dark purple eyeshadow. "Are you sure you don't want to go with us tonight?" She looked at her sister's reflection in the mirror next to her.

Perci sat on her bed across the room. She laid the book she was enjoying at her side. "I'd love to, but I really need to finish this book report. It's due tomorrow. Why isn't The Chameleon going with you?"

Staci huffed and folded her arms. "We aren't speaking at the moment. He chose to attend a stupid Lightning Bolt Society meeting over seeing Mina's interview tonight." She reached into her makeup drawer, grabbed dark mascara and applied a heavy coat. "We may never speak again. I've had enough of his lackadaisical ambition; it's a huge turn off. He's had multiple opportunities to move up the chain of command, but doesn't because his work load would increase. Who wants to be an underling their whole life? Not this chick," she said and poked a thumb in the middle of her chest.

"That's a shame. Can you get your money back, or maybe sell it? I'm sure it'll go fast," she suggested with a shrug.

"No, I'll find someone." She examined how lovely her reflection looked. Staci grabbed perfume from another drawer and spritzed herself. "You know who I'm thinking is an untapped resource? That lug, Knuckles. You know what they say: The dumb ones fuck harder."

"I've never heard anyone but you say that." She laughed. "He actually has a girlfriend now."

She spun around to look at her sister. "What? Who? Since when? I'll fight her."

"He got off the boat with her nearly a week ago. She must be from the mainland."

Staci tossed her hands in the air. "Well, dammit." She tried to remember if she'd seen Knuckles with anyone recently. "I haven't seen any of Team Sonic since they got back; and I was way too hammered at the luau to recall much."

"Her name is Julie-Su. She's a lavender coloured echidna. Chick is stacked and probably four feet tall. If you think you can take her, you can't. I watched her scrap five robots in a row."

"Balls." She rose to her feet and walked over to her window and looked at her neighbour's house. Bunny girl's bedroom light was still on. Staci raised an eyebrow. "I thought he was the only echidna left," she said.

"I asked him about that at the robo-fights. Apparently, there are still a few families of echidna who live on the main continent. Their trip to the mainland was actually to go and find them. He also got a bitchin tattoo while he was there. It's a sight to behold."

She slumped. "I bet."

"There's actually a third echidna that lives on the island now. His name is Xaun, spelled with an X at the beginning. He's pretty cute-"

"Dibbs!" She cut her sister off.

She laughed again. "I wasn't interested. He's all yours. He also has a few tattoos. I think they're crop circles. And he's not red like Knuckles, he's tan coloured."

Staci half folded her arms and tapped a single finger on her chin. "I suppose if I can't have Knuckles, I'll just get with his cousin."

Perci thought about it. "I don't think he said that they were related at all."

"And I thought you said there weren't many echidnas left. They're probably all related by now."

"Oh my god, racist much?" Perci shook her head in disgust.

"No, I'm not judging. Just saying, numbers are numbers." She brushed off her sister's eyeroll and headed for the door. "Don't wait up." She grabbed a black evening bag and left to find her date.

"I won't," she said and went back to her book.

Staci leaned back in the door. "So we're clear, I'm not racist towards echidna's, just the Gogogba's; fucking smelly sand-rats."

Perci laughed again and threw her pillow at the door. "You're terrible! Leave!"

Staci shut the door before she was hit. "Hahaa!" She took to the streets and sauntered over to Bunny girl's house. She let herself in. "Hey, Bonnie. Is BG ready?"

The woman sat at the kitchen table with a cigarette and her phone. "Almost. She's in her room with her sister," she said and blew smoke out a nearby window.

"Thanks." Staci knocked on the bedroom door and heard a 'come in'. "Sup, chicky? Ready to bounce?"

BG nodded and put new rainbow hoops in the tips of her ears. "I'm pumped."

"Me too," she said and noticed the younger of the sisters playing with a small electronic toy. "You coming too?"

Cream shook her head and didn't look up. "All of the tickets were sold out by the time I got to town."

"If I knew you were coming, I'd have got you one," BG said curtly.

"It's no problem," she said sweetly. Cream put the electronic keychain away. "I can see her on TV. Plus we're going to her concert in a few weeks. I'll get to see her in person then, hopefully, maybe. You two have fun."

"It's way early," BG said as she checked her phone.

"We have to leave a little early, I got to go pick up my date." Staci looked at the garish orange dress Cream was wearing. "We have time. Why don't we give your sister a makeover before we go?"

"Why?" They both asked at the same time.

"If you're going to be going to a Songoose concert with us, you have to look the part. You need to have cool threads, hot makeup and a bitchie attitude. You'll get eaten alive by other chicks if you show weakness."

"Uh, I'm not sure," Cream said with a blush.

BG got up and threw open her wardrobe. "Perci has a point. The thought of sitting next to you at the concert, in that ugly little school girl dress, makes me throw up in my own mouth."

"Can't you just take an antacid?" she shyly asked.

"No, it's just an expression," she said with an eye roll. "Here, try these pants on. They're kind of short on me, but you're small, they should fit you fine."

She looked at the blue skinny jeans with worry. "Do I change right here?"

Staci folded her legs on BG's bed and faced the wall. "Boom, instant privacy."

"You're such a wet blanket. We really need to work on your 'lack of attitude'. Here, I know you don't have much to put in it, but this should fit too," she said and tossed her little sister a white spaghetti strap tank top. It had a deep 'V' neckline.

"...it's kind of low," Cream asked while she held the garment up to herself.

"That's the point. Then put this over it." She gave her an orange fishnet halter top.

"Ya decent?" Perci asked after she heard a bit of shuffling.

"Uhhh, I think," she said with worry. "My bra straps are showing."

"That's no big deal, so are mine." Perci turned to look at her. "Look at you! Are you a rabbit or a fox?" Staci gave an enthusiastic growl.

"It needs bling," she said and looked at Cream's ears. "Why aren't your ears pierced?"

Cream held her ears to herself. "It's gonna hurt," she said quietly.

"Whatever," BG said. She adorned her sibling with various colored bands on her wrists and a chunky necklace, with a rainbow pixel heart. She topped the outfit off with light blue, silver rimmed sunglasses on her head. "There. Now you pass."

Cream looked at herself in the mirror and saw a stranger staring back. "I may need to get used to it first. I look good though," she said but didn't quite convince herself. She turned to the side and noticed her tail hadn't gone all the way into the back opening. She straightened herself out.

"Wear those for the rest of the night. We'll get you used to skinny geans now, then we move you up to bum hugging yoga pants. Then it's the makeup, then your attitude; after that, there might be hope for you." BG shrugged.

The two girls left for Mina's interview. "You and your sister are polar opposites."

"Ugh, half sister."

Staci hesitated but decided to pipe up anyway. "Perci and I don't get along all the time but I still care about her."

BG gave her sideways glance, "Say what you're gonna say."

"Fine. Why were you being a cunt to her?" She asked unabashedly.

She stopped in her tracks and spun around. "Because that bitch nearly broke my mom and dad up permenantly. If they didn't get back together, she'd have been dead to me."

Staci pointed a finger directly in her face. "Chill out or I'm not buying you a drop to drink tonight." Her friend calmed down. "Cream seems like a sweet girl. Do you think someone like her wants to break up someone's family? No. She wouldn't. Besides, let's point that misdirected anger at the people who actually did something. Cream's just a bystander. No one asks to be here," she finished her thought.

"Pff...you're right." They walked past the hospital. "...she's still lame though. That girl needs an overhaul."

"A bit," Staci laughed. "Nothing confidence won't fix," she said and put her hands on her hips.

Someone from the hospital ran up to them, "Excuse me, have either of you seen a bat, female, white and peach in colour?"

They shook their heads.

"Spread the word, would you please, girls? Code yellow: Missing patient. She has an agressive form of pneumonia. If she doesn't get back on the antibiotics soon, we can't guarantee she'll survive."

"Holy shit, you mean Rouge? Of course," Staci said and they continued on. They told every villager along the way about the missing patient.

They approached the police station where Knuckles walked out with Xaun close behind. "There he is!" Staci pulled BG off to the side to seem inconspicuous. "Look cool," she said.

"Who are we looking at? Knuckles? He's a litte too old for my tastes."

"Not him, the guy behind him."

Her eyes shot open. "Is that another echidna? No way!"

"Yeah it is. He's my date for tonight," she said and wrung her hands in anticipation.

"If he's your date, why are we over here?"

"Because he doesn't know he's my date yet. Perci told me about him. He is pretty cute."

"What are you two up to?" A familiar voice sounded from behind them.

The two girls turned to look at him. "Charlie? Your back."

"Yes, we finished our dig early so I got to leave a few weeks sooner than anticipated. It works out well because there's an important meeting tonight. Are you two going?"

Stacy shook her head. "We made previous arrangements that couldn't be canceled. We'll have to get caught up tomorrow sometime. Now, if you'll excuse us, I have to go and pick up my date for tonight." They walked off.

Charlie continued on to the meeting and walked by the hospital. He was accosted by the same staff, for the same reason. He caught a conversation from the main desk, "Mr. Shadow, sir, the work associate you dropped off seems to be missing. Do you potentially know where she's at?"

He continue to the Lightning Bolt Society meeting. He heard some shuffling in some bushes and the scurrying of fast feet. Charlie quickly went up the steps and let himself into the building. "Damn strays."

Willy the walrus was the first to greet him. "Welcome back Charlie, you've missed quite a bit."

"I'm not the only one. The hospital is currently looking for a missing patient. Sounds like there's a lot going on nowadays."

Charlie walked to meet his wife at the end of the table. She stood and hugged him. "I missed you, honey," she said and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"I missed you too, dear." They all sat down.

"Is anyone else coming?" Belinda asked.

"I know that Piercy and BG won't be here, due to prior engagements," The Chameleon said with a frustrated sigh.

"Then we're all here." Belinda cleared her throat. "As you all know, our villainy has grinded to a halt. The recent uprising in the south has become a huge issue. Unfortunately, we're unable to terrorize the villagers, and the subsequent guests that come here, if we want to continue living peacefully on this island. I'm unsure of how long this period will last. Until further notice, any villainy must take place online only. That means no pickpocketing, no swindling and above all else, no mech suits," she said with a hint of grievance.

Barker threw his hands up. "If I can't shake down shmucks, how am I supposed to survive? Eat dirt?"

"We'll hold two weekly pot lucks so we're sure everyone is eating," Belinda said.

"And I can bring the leftovers in at the end of the day," Dave said.

Barker turned his nose up, "I'll stick with dirt."

"I heard a stray animal run past me on the way here. Maybe you should try to catch it and display it as some crazy jungle beast for tourists. It's not underhanded if it's legitimately an animal from the island," Charlie said.

"Great idea." He got up. "I'd love to stay but apparently my livelihood is about to scurry away. All right Charlie, which way did it go and how big was it?" He took the directions and left.

Barker went to his van and got an appropriately sized net. "That should be good enough; give him a bit of wiggle room." Barker slinked around the back of the building, through a couple alley ways, around the town hall and back towards the hospital once again.

"...it looks like it isn't here anymore, damn it all...hold the phone." He saw something out of the corner of his eye. "Fast little bugger, aren't ya?" He readied the net above his head, rested on a shoulder and quickly got into position. He pulled a blow dart gun from his vest pocket pointed it at the tiny shadow of a creature hiding underneath the hospital's patio. "Nap time." He quickly blew the dart and hit his target. The target winced and bolted at a speed Barker could barely follow with his eyes. "What the hell? Are these duds?" He reloaded and turned to the nearest villager, Wildcat, and hit him with the stun dart. The guy dropped like a fly. "Nope. Fast and resilient! You're going to make a marvelous attraction!"

Barker bolted after the beast who ran into the fenced-in backyard of the hospital. "I've got you right where I want you." He shut and latched the gate of the iron bared area and effectively locked them both in. "Now I don't want to be too aggressive, but when it comes down to it, I bite too. Let's just go peacefully, no one has to get hurt," he spoke softly and quietly as he followed the crumpled grass around the back of the hospital.

The creature no longer had anywhere to run. It turned and locked eyes with Barker with a snarl.

"You don't have to be like that. I treat my attractions with respect. Only the finest living accomidations and foods...even if the discount version gives my people food poisoning. Come on, it was a one time thing." He saw it was mostly black in color, with red stripes. It walked on all fours. The beast snarled more and backed into the moonlight. Crimson eyes lit up and his appearence was more visible. "What the hell...Shadow...no, you're different."

Though the creature was obviously feral, it's countenance was strikingly close to Shadow the Hedgehog's. A few differences we're visible. The red around his eyes was pointed, the red stripes on his arms extended to his middle finger coloring it red. The same markings were on his feet and middle toes. His quills were ruffled and shaggy from living out in the jungle, but like Shadow, they were all tipped in red.

He calmly put the net down and held his hands up to show they were empty. "Are you able to communicate?"

The feral hedgehog growled at him.

"Hard 'no'. Alright, let's do this the sleepy way. I guess your quills are a good defense agains these." He took out his blowdart gun and reload it. "I won't hit them this time." He blew the dart. The creature caught it midair and threw it to the side. "That's not good. That's not good at all," his voice quivered as he backed away.

The creature looked to the full moon and then back to Barker. His body swelled and fur lengthened. His eyes bulged as his teeth grew pointed. The claws on his hands and feet, now elongated, became razor sharp and dug into the dry earth below. His frame now towered over Barker. He roared loudly with jaws were large enough to engulf his assailant's head.

Barker's only response was to faint.

The creature took off into the night to find his prey. Though it possessed no speech, it was a spiteful being who proceeded to leave claw marks on every building in the small town.


It's going to go from the extras chapters, back into a main plot chapter and back again. Kind of my way to show how the extras keep it going. Don't know where I'll put all those chapters. We'll wait and see.

I wish I could draw, I have so many scenes I'd love to doodle out. Like werehog Shadow clone with Barker's head nearly in his mouth as he roars. He's a circus dude, so this is kind of a crack at putting your head in a lion's mouth. Oh well, writing will have to suffice. ;D