Rays of sunlight shone through into the office where Sonic laid sprawled out on the lone couch, snoring to hell and leaving a poor spider constantly panicking above his open mouth. His alarm rang out, landing on his head from the crate it was perched on above.
A broody suit wearing hedgehog is never pleased when smacked by a small metal machine. Never. Sipping at a mug of the precious hot bean juice, he spun in his chair before picking up the phone on his desk. His dear assistant needed instructions.
"Stupid machine…! Oh, hello? Who is it?" Blaze had spent the majority of her morning trying her best to get her old desk fan working, her tail narrowly avoiding it each time it spun its way back around. She was now seated and typing, but turned to answer to the phone on her desk.
"It's me, your boss. Sonic."
"Ah, what do you need, Mr. Hedgehog?"
"I need you to add the current information to our publicity fliers! The winner of the Singing competition will receive…" He turned to the metal box on the counter, flipping it open and counting the bills inside.
"Two thousand and thirty dollars… Oh." A sort of pout spread across his face as he thumbed the bills, his other hand rubbing a small circle in the root of his spine. That couch really didn't do wonders for his aging back...
"Hmph. Gonna need more than that." He shut the box before speeding around his office, rolling up his rug and gathering a few more things to put into a large chest. He wrapped said chest over in a number of chains and locks to make it look a bit more authentic, prying it shut and locking it with a rather loud grunt.
"Three thousand dollars! Entry fee is five dollars, refreshments will be served!"
"Three thousand- RREOW!" She bolted, or attempted to as her tail got caught within the fans propellers. Her hand slammed down on the keyboard, a few more zeros added onto what was once easily the prize money.
Three hundred thousand dollars.
"Blaze?! Stars, let me help you… I swear, the A/C company is supposed to stop by later on…" The printer sounded off as Sonic rushed into the room, bright green sheets of paper making their way through the printer.
"Mr. Hedgehog, maybe the wisest decision would be to, perhaps TURN THE FAN OFF FIRST?!"
"The fan! Right, the fan- Nonono!" The open window. All the printed paper was blown over by the pure strength of the fan, the windy day outside easily carrying the flyers with gusts of pure cool air. The cord was yanked out, Blaze's tail was detangled, and they sprinted to the window to see exactly what was going on.
"Well…"
"That is certainly one way to get the word out, wouldn't you say so, Mr. Hedgehog?"
"I think so, Blaze… I think so. Now, let's get that death machine to Tails, huh? I can run there real quick-"
"We're taking my car and if I have to pull over I swear I'm replacing all of your coffee with green tea." Blaze left no room for argument, turning around and wrapping the death trap with its own cord. Her eyes were serious as she stared the older man down, easily topping his height by a few inches.
"... Alright, we'll drive."
Not as if he had a choice.
All over town the flyers fluttered, many looking up in awe at the strange spectacle. Wave after wave of green papers fluttered through the air, confusing those in traffic, even more outside for their walks. The wind easily carried them all about, from the actual rough breeze to the cars and bikes revving past, to the subway…
Where two hedgehogs were waiting to get on, a motorcycle short and tickets already paid for. Exhaustion rested in Amy's eyes, on her face, her entire body was slumped. When they weren't doing gigs, she managed to balance the two jobs needed to keep her apartment, leaving her boyfriend to brood and work on his music at their place.
I know I make this look easy babe, but trust me, it's not.
Stupid bike, not being ready till tomorrow… Useless hunk of metal-
Smack.
"The hell… Hey Manic, look at this!" A flutter of flyers flew past them, some getting stuck on her face, others getting caught within their quills. She ever so gently pried one off her own face to look at as the train came to a halt in front of them, too engrossed to notice him getting on.
"Ames, babe, hey!" As soon as he realised that Amy didn't walk on board next to him, he turned and quickly yanked her on board. A second closer and she would have definitely been left behind.
"What were you-"
"Shhh! Look! This could be our break! Wait, who's phone is that…"
"It ain't mine." Manic only shrugged, quick to turn back to typing whatever he was looking at on his own phone. Amy huffed and pulled out hers, clearing her throat before she answered.
"Amy Rose speaking… Yes, again, this is her. No problem, who is this?... Of course, we are still looking hard! Are you calling about that?..." She had gone quiet hearing the person at the other end, a grin slowly spreading across her face.
"You can definitely come tomorrow! Rent's not due for three days, I appreciate this greatly! Can't wait to meet you?... Silver, sweet! I'll be sure to be there to pick you up! Ooo Manic, someone answered the roommate ad!"
"Didn't a girl come by earlier for the ad? She was pretty cool, Rosy was it?" Manic seemed to be typing out something as he spoke, squinting at his phone before loosening up into a soft smile.
"Yeah, but she was being a little creepy with both of us. Super uncomfortable. This guy's willing to pay both his part AND your part of the rent as soon as he gets here!" Amy swung her case around, looking back at the flyer in her hand before looking up to her dear boyfriend.
"C'mon, we can go down tomorrow and you can play your song! It could get us inside and in the competition, with your talent~" Flattery, that was one thing Amy knew would get Manic's attention. He raised an eyebrow in interest, and finally looked away from his phone.
Thank the Gods.
"Sweet, I'm down. My song can get us famous, I bet."
Sure, that can totally work. One hundred percent.
The police were still circling the area and speeding around, but with a grand leap Shadow yanked shut the garage door. The others were already counting and putting away cash in the back, obviously giving him the cold shoulder from the whole getting caught moment.
Right as the metal clanged against the concrete did a bright green piece of paper slip underneath, fluttering down and resting by his feet like some sort of omen or sign of good will.
He didn't believe in any of those things, of course, but it got his attention nonetheless.
Carefully lifting it from the ground he scanned it over, reading the qualifications again and again. All you really needed was an I.D and five bucks, he could grab that no problem. With that cash…
It's okay Shadow, everything is going to be okay! Close your eyes Shadow, your eyes-
Her voice rang out in his head, pleading for him to stay safe and look after himself. To keep going. And with the prize money, he could do that. He could grab the cash, bounce before the gang could ever catch wind of him. Maybe even leave the country.
Anything to get away, and with the money he could… He felt like humming again.
"You've got to make the proper withdrawal!" Mephiles' voice echoed through the garage as they finally came from the back, and he wasted no time with shoving the flyer into his jacket. Fiddling with the lock on the garage door, he managed to look inconspicuous.
Even as a sharp right hook connected with his cheek.
A night on the town had worked Scourge down to the bone, even more so as he glanced down at his case. For the day he made pretty decent tips, and doing the occasional trick or gimmick would cause quite a few to rain down. Still, what he would give to earn a little more-
"Hey hey hey! The hell you think you're-" Some Mobian with a leaf blower sent a number of flyers in his direction, many of them coming into contact with his face. By the time he could pry one off he was fuming, growling out as the paper crumpled in his gloved hand.
His entire attitude changed upon seeing what was on it.
"Three hundred… Three! Hundred! Grand! Shit, how did I miss this?!" The flyer and everything else are shoved into his suitcase, his beloved sax tucked away with care compared to the rest, and he didn't hesitate to jump onto his board to zoom his way home.
Beating traffic is never that hard when he can just fly above the rest. And immediately get ticketed for it.
"C'mon man, I was goin' under the speed limit!"
"And the entire time, I had to make sure that dimwit one and dimwit two didn't end up tripping the alarm on the Emerald, like a proper security guard should. But! He kept on trying to climb over the fence Rouge, I shit you not!" Coming home after a long day of guarding the Master Emerald at the infamous museum had left him weary, but with stories to tell and dinner to devour.
"Daddy, you swored! Put a dollar in the Swearing Jar!"
"I swore, sweetheart. And… You're right." Knuckles grumbled and dug around for a dollar, it quick to be snatched away as one of his precious bats fluttered up to stuff it into the decorated jar. Given, it was made to avoid another school calling and to monitor their own cursing, but they sure were on his-
"Poor guy, he probably wanted to see about those crazy healing things and magical abilities it grants towards the special ones~" Rouge winked and giggled at the blush that covered his face, turning back to the dishes she was doing. The plates and such were hers, while he covered pots and pans. Every other week, they switched.
Monotonous for the both of them, sure, and they sometimes ended up slipping a bit. But it typically got the work done and left them with clean dishes to use. Usually.
"Mama, Mama, your phone's ringin'!" Iris, one of their few fusions, managed to flutter up high enough to hand her mother the phone. In return she received a well earned forehead smooch, which she immediately rubbed against her father's own.
"Iris what-"
"Spreadin' the looooove, Daddy!... Hey, I saw that! Put Princess Fluffybottoms back!" As fast as she was there, she was gone again, chasing two of her siblings around the house. Rouge had wrestled the phone into the crook of her neck as her husband came from behind, a sigh rising from her as she felt a pair of chapped lips against the back of her neck.
"Rouge speaking… Hmn, really? Let me guess, I look away for two seconds and somehow, someone managed to swap out a rare ruby in exchange for a fake. Yeah, uh-huh-" Her eyes darted towards the window in front of the sink, attention caught by a sudden flash of green.
"Rouge?... Babe, you still there- SHIT YOUR PHONE." A hand dove out to slide around in the sink, retrieving the device as it fell from her shoulder. "Rouge!"
"Baby… Your day off is tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, but what was-"
"Look."