Angel: I have to work tomorrow the whole day, so I will not be updating that day for this story. So I decided to do it today! Friday's update is still happening, though.
Tom drives over to Rachel's car with his truck still a mess while Sophia is holding Sonic in her arms. He quickly gets out of the car, running over to her side and opening the door. She steps out as he gets a blanket from the back.
"Come on, buddy. You're gonna be all right. You'll be all right." They rush over to the front door. He knocks on it and Rachel answers it.
"Is Maddie here?"
"No, no. Not today. Goodbye," She quickly dismisses them.
"Aunt Rachel!" Sophia has a pleading look in her eyes.
"It's an emergency!" Tom insists to the woman, but she tries to shut the door, and Tom stops her.
"Bye bye!"
"Rachel, stop! Maddie!" He calls out for her.
"Mom!" Sophia shouts at the top of her lungs, and she thankfully comes running over.
"Don't do this! This is important!"
"Oh, my god! Rachel, let them in," She pushes past and gets them inside.
"I am calling the police," Rachel warns them. "No, I am calling the FBI. I am calling the CIA."
"Stop, don't do that," Tom pleads with her, but she doesn't listen.
"I am calling your mother."
"Okay, got it," Maddie stops her.
"Maddie, can we talk?" Tom speaks up.
"Tom, what is going on with you two?" She asks in a panic. "You-you're both all over the news. I've been trying to call you both!"
"We had to ditch our phones so they couldn't track us," Tom explains quickly.
"But it's a long story that we can't get into right now, we need your help," Sophia adds in.
"Ditch their phones/track you?" The two women ask almost at the same time.
"Uncle Tommy! Sophia!" Jojo runs up to them and hugs them.
"Jojo! Hey!" He greets her happily.
"Hi Jojo," Sophia says quickly and Maddie squints, finally noticing her scar.
"Oh my god, Sophia, what happened to your face?!" Maddie holds her face with both hands, examining the cut she got from the harpoon.
"Did he lay a hand on her?!"
"No!" Sophia groans at Rachel. "It was from a harpoon—"
"Uh uh!" Rachel pulls Jojo away from them upon hearing that. "Now your niece and your own daughter are accessories to treason! Not to mention you're also guilty of negligent supervision!"
"No, she's not, and no, I'm not. I would never lay a hand on Sophia, it was something I could never expect happening," Tom defends and Sophia lightly touches her cheek.
"He didn't even have anything to do with it. Stop trying to make my father look like the bad person you keep thinking him as."
"Would you calm down?" Maddie asks her sister in annoyance.
"Calm down?! I will not calm down!"
Sophia places a hand on her forehead, annoyed and also having another dumb headache that she can't even describe...
"Enough!" Maddie and Rachel start arguing while Ozzy walks in.
"Yes, calm down. Stop talking," Tom tries to change the subject and Ozzy barks, causing both of them to flinch. "No. Ozzy, please. Good to see you too," He tries to push him away from Sophia, because the dog is interested in what she's holding. "No, no, no, no."
"Oh, little Lord Baby Jesus," Rachel finally notices it. "What is that, Tom? Is that plutonium?! Is it emails?"
"What?" Sophia asks in utter confusion.
"Yes, it's plutonium," Tom replies sarcastically to the woman, turning to Maddie. "Can we please go in the other room and talk-"
Ozzy barks while trying to get to Sonic and Sophia tries to push him away. "Stop it, Ozzy! Quit it!" Tom tells him.
"Good boy," Sophia steps back a bit, clutching onto Sonic.
"This is why I told you he was no good! He's got an innocent teenager doing whatever he's guilty of!" Rachel accuses him.
"I'm not engaging," Maddie denies while Ozzy grips the blanket with his teeth.
"Ozzy, no!" Sophia tries to wrestle it away.
"No, Ozzy, quit it," Tom warns him. Everyone then starts arguing while Sophia tries to get Ozzy away. "Ozzy, no! Ozzy, no!"
He yanks the blanket off, and everyone stops talking as the two women see Sonic. "Great," Sophia mutters at this.
"Oh, catch me, Jojo," Rachel faints right there on the spot. Tom pants in relief.
"Oh, thank god." Maddie pulls Jojo close while staring at the three. "Can I get a glass of water?" Tom questions, earning a facepalm from Sophia. This was definitely something that they would be looking back on later in life...
Back in his truck, Robotnik places a pair of headphones over his head. He opens up his playlist, scrolling through the various songs and places Tunes of Anarchy. He spins around in his chair as the music plays and then he analyzes Sonic's quill. He slides back and then opens a container to put it in. He goes back to the quill, slides backwards, and taps into its power, causing the lights to go out. But then he holds up a lighter to help him see and he finds the panel before turning on the backup power. The music turns back on, but this time with the lights flashing. He smirks and dances a bit, spinning around and putting the quill in a capsule.
He starts playing holographic videos, putting up a snow mountain behind him. He pretends as if he's skiing, jumping back and forth while the quill gets examined. Then he acts as if he's being chased by a T-Rex. He turns around to the dinosaur and acts like his head got chomped by it. He keeps dancing while the lights keep flashing like strobelights, as if he's at a concert.
The sample is finalizing as he keeps dancing, and then it's ruined when he turns around and screams upon seeing Agent Stone dancing with him. The music and flashing lights stop.
"I just thought you might like a latte with steamed Austrian goat milk," He's holding up two coffee cups.
"What do I look like, an imbecile? Of course I want a latte!" He grabs the coffee cup. "I LOVE THE WAY YOU MAKE 'EM!"
They hear a beeping noise and they look to see the sample of Sonic's quill. The power analysis is deemed unlimited. He smiles evilly at all of the possibilities with this new information.
"Ready the prototype. With this kind of power, my machines can finally reach their full potential."
In Rachel's house, Sonic is lying unconscious on the kitchen table. Tom places an assuring hand on Sophia's shoulder.
"He's gonna be okay, girls."
Sophia smiles weakly up at him, and when she turns back to Sonic, she pets his head sadly.
Maddie comes in with the first aid kit. "Oh, thank god. He's gonna be okay, right?" Tom steps back with Sophia so that the woman can examine him.
"I'm a vet, Tom. I don't even know what I'm looking at here."
"He's a hedgehog," He informs her. "Or so he says."
"It talks?"
"Almost constantly," He answers, glancing away.
"But it's kind of cute. Because he's been so alone all these years," Sophia smiles sadly, Maddie glancing between her and Sonic. Tom stares at her and she clears her throat. "A-At least, that's how other people might interpret it, not me..."
"Okay," Maddie feels Sonic's pulse, and the results surprise her. "Holy..."
"What?"
"His pulse is super fast," She furrows her eyebrows.
"That actually might be normal for him. I don't know. You gotta help him, Maddie."
"I don't know his physiology," Maddie starts examining him. "He doesn't seem to have any broken bones. He's just really banged up."
"That's because it's another long story that we don't have time for. But Mom, please, there has to be something," Sophia looks at her mother pleadingly.
Maddie takes off Sonic's worn off shoes. "Oh, look at his poor little feet!" His socks also have some tears into them, because he didn't have a way to replace them. Jojo picks up the shoes and stares at them. He's been running for so long that he either hasn't noticed or just doesn't comment about it.
"Hang in there, buddy. You're gonna be all right."
Jojo gets up from her chair and walks off past her mother, who has been tied to a chair so that she won't call the police on Tom or Sophia. "Jojo? Untie your mother. Jojo!" Jojo ignores her and walks up the stairs. "Untie Mommy~ Sweetie! Jojo!" She looks around, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I have to go to the bathroom..."
"He's gonna be okay, right?" Tom asks for confirmation. "He'll snap out of this. He'll wake up soon? Oh, smelling salts! Don't you have, like, vet smelling salts, like for cats or parakeets or something?"
"No. They don't make cat...smelling salts," Maddie slowly shakes her head.
"They should."
"Would that even work on him?" Sophia asks skeptically.
"I mean, he ate chili dogs, and he was fine," Tom points out to her, gesturing to Sonic.
"I have human smelling salts in my human first-aid kit." She reaches out towards her bag, opens it, and takes out the smelling salts. "Okay." She cracks it and then places it underneath Sonic's nose. "Here we go."
"Come on, buddy," Tom encourages and as soon as Sonic smells them, his eyes go wide.
"Gotta go fast!" He sits up and speeds around the room. He stands on the table facing them. "Where am I? What year is it? Is the Rock President?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, buddy, you're okay," Tom assures him.
"Sonic, calm down," Sophia places her hands on his shoulders, smiling in relief. "You're at my Aunt Rachel's house, you were pretty banged up from the bomb, but you're okay. And...no the Rock...isn't president."
"Bomb?!" The girl flinches as she realizes that her mother is in earshot.
"Sunshine!" Sonic smiles upon seeing her before looking to Maddie. "Oh, hi Pretzel Lady!"
"Hi...Tom?"
"Yeah?" He turns to her as Sonic waves and she reaches out her hand towards him.
"Can I talk to you, please?" She leads him away from the two into the living room. "Space hedgehog, stay there with Sophia. Try to rest," She then closes the doors as Sophia sits down in a chair.
"You got it. I am great at resting. I rest faster than anybody," He's still speaking as the doors are closed.
Tom chuckles, gesturing to the kitchen. "Still talking."
"Uh, first of all, can we take a moment to acknowledge how under control I've been?" Maddie asks calmly.
"Uh, amazing."
"Didn't freak out," She acknowledges to him.
"No," He shakes his head.
"Totally calm."
Tom holds out his fist and they fist bump. "Thank you."
"Second of all..." She takes a deep breath before officially freaking out. "What the heck is going on? Is that thing an alien?!"
"Okay, so, remember how Crazy Carl is always going on about the blue devil?"
"The Blue Devil!" She whispers in realization. "That's him?" Tom nods in confirmation. "He's real?"
"Yeah."
"What is he doing here? What are you and Sophia doing here?" She asks in concern.
"I...kinda sorta...shot our little blue friend with your tranq gun."
Maddie narrows her eyes at him. "No, you did not."
"I didn't-I didn't mean to," He insists as she gives him a suspicious look, crossing her arms. "This is kinda hard for me to explain." Well, Sophia was right—he was having a hard time explaining this to her. "And it's gonna sound a little bit crazy. He has to get to the Transamerica building, and I promised I'd take him. Sophia...kinda walked into this when she came home while this government guy was looking for him. It wasn't like I could just leave her there!"
"Uh-uh!" Rachel denies as she has heard the whole thing. "Aliens? Maddie, your husband's lost your mind. Use this as an opportunity to leave him. No one would judge you! And you can take custody of Sophia!"
The two ignore her and Maddie turns to Tom. "Have you...realized that our daughter might seem to be having feelings for him?"
"What? I..." He rubs the back of his neck. "I mean...there were some signs, but I didn't think it would happen. But maybe it's just a phase?"
The two open the door a bit to watch the two.
Sophia stands up and then groans, a hand on her head as she's experiencing another headache. "I could really use some aspirin…"
"What's wrong?" Sonic asks in concern, looking at her up and down. He suddenly realizes that she looks about two inches shorter than he remembers. "Were you always this short?"
"What?" She questions in slight pain.
"Aspirin! I'll go find some!" He speeds off and searches through the cabinets really quickly, and then he comes back to her, holding up every single pill bottle. "Just take all of these and you'll be okay, right?"
She giggles at him, petting his head. "Not exactly what I meant, but...thanks," She takes the pile of bottles and then kisses his cheek. "I'm just glad you're okay."
He smiles up at her, holding his cheek. Maddie closes the door, looking back to Tom. "Does that look like a phase to you?"
"...No," Tom sighs a bit. "Okay, yeah, they do like each other. But I don't know what to do about it. I've never had to worry about her and...boys. Even alien ones." Sophia was always hanging around with her friends or her parents, she never really seemed interested in dating in general; and she got quite a few boys asking her out in the past.
"Obviously we're gonna support her, right?" Maddie asks him. "She is our daughter, we love her, and we did kinda spring her with the move and all."
"Yeah...about that...she actually doesn't want to."
Her eyes widen as she glances between the door and him. "She only said she wanted to because she was doing it for me. And...I want this job still, but...if it makes my daughter unhappy, I don't know, Maddie. I'm starting to rethink this whole thing."
"Then we'll just...pretend that we're not moving for her sake. But no matter what happens with this, I just want her to be happy."
Tom nods in agreement.
Jojo walks up to Sonic as Sophia takes an aspirin in relief, though getting shorter was still a concern. "My parents are taking their sweet time in there..." She looks towards the door. The little girl stops in front of the hedgehog as she's hiding something behind her back. She shows them new red shoes with white straps on them.
"So you won't hurt your feet anymore," She explains and Sophia looks up, grinning softly.
"Really?"
"Uh-huh," She tells him with a small smile. He takes them into his hands, feeling touched.
"No one's ever given me a gift before. I gotta check that off my bucket list."
Sophia giggles slightly and they watch as he tries them on. He feels excited as he stands up on the table, running in place and laughing. "All right! Looking good!" He starts dancing on the table and they laugh at him. The 17-year-old turns to her cousin.
"That's really sweet of you, Jojo," Sophia pats her head with a smile, earning a hug from the girl. "Why don't you go and show me the pictures you drew with my mom and Aunt Rachel?"
Jojo nods and runs off. "She's your cousin, right?" Sonic asks casually, earning a small nod.
"Yeah. I don't get to see her often since her mom hates my dad. Never said why," She furrows her eyebrows in confusion.
"Does that hate…"
"Apply to me? Yeah," Sophia pinches her nose. "She literally texted my mom to give me up for adoption the day I was born. But I get by. She doesn't treat me nearly as bad as my father."
"Still isn't fair, though! People love you!" Sonic argues back and she smiles at him.
"Thanks..." She stands up and rubs a temple. "I'm really not feeling too well all of a sudden..."
"Ah!" Sonic gasps in worry, speeding around. He places every single snack in front of her. "You eat these, right?"
"Sonic, I can't eat all that, and that won't do much anyway...I just have to stick it out..."
He frowns in worry, since she doesn't seem to be recovering...
"Okay, you said you wanted to help people in real trouble, right?" He nods to Maddie. "Well, that's what you're doing. Blue alien hedgehogs...still count as people, right?"
"I think so," He smiles gratefully for her acceptance and help.
"Yeah."
"I think."
"Okay," She nods slowly.
"I love you, and I love our daughter. Did I tell you that already?" She starts leading him away with a small smile on her face. "I don't deserve you guys. You know that?"
They walk past Rachel holding hands. "I know that," She remarks loud enough for them to hear, but they ignore her.
Sonic is staring face-to-face with Ozzy. "So, you're supposed to be Tom's 'best friend' that he won't shut up about."
Ozzy just has his tongue out, not seeming to notice the 'interrogation.' Sophia snickers as she watches them.
"Well, I don't see the appeal."
Ozzy starts licking him, making the hedgehog laugh. "Stop! That is very gross!"
Jojo giggles as Sophia bends down and pets him. "Ah, Ozzy, you've always managed to make anyone laugh..." She rubs a temple again and Ozzy whimpers, resting his head on Sophia's shoulder. She hugs him and Sonic notices something from the back of her neck. He gasps as he sees a pink quill...similar to his own...growing from it.
"Soph...is it possible for you to grow pink hairs out of your neck?"
"What?" She asks in confusion and before he could elaborate, Tom and Maddie walk down the steps, getting her attention.
"Hey. So, my truck still runs, but it's pretty much totaled. You think your sister would mind if we borrowed her car?"
"You have got to be kidding me!" Rachel interrupts as she's within earshot.
"...She'll be fine," Maddie shrugs it off.
"Yeah, let's do that."
"Mmhmm," The two walk off without acknowledging Rachel at all.
"This is my house!" Rachel shouts at the top of her lungs.