When the Chaotix returned, they found me huddled in a corner with Sonic doing his best to soothe me through the earbud, and a drawer full of strange powders and liquids open near me. After Sonic convinced them I WASN'T having a drug overdose, and after some consoling from the detectives, I did my best to describe what happened. The problem was, it was a little fuzzy... I remembered the eyes, a cold, hard blue, like ice. I couldn't tear myself away from them, they were filled with such... anger. And while whoever it was stared at me, stared INTO me, a sort of inner, primal panic began to well up inside, getting stronger and stronger. I felt paralyzed. I didn't even realize I had fled into a corner until Vector literally shook me, calling my name. But despite the terror I felt, I could hardly remember a thing. Everything seemed blurry when I tried to think back, like looking at a badly taken photo.
"And you don't remember anything else about them?" Mighty asked, rubbing my back slowly. I closed my eyes again.
"...Green... I don't know, there was green," I said slowly, shaking my head, "But I don't know if it was their clothes or their fur or what..."
"Don't worry about it bud," Sonic consoled, "But maybe no more solo investigating, stay with the Chaotix."
"Y-Yeah..." I mumbled, nodding my head. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath. "I'm ok, I just had a... um..." I paused... what did I just have? "...A panic attack I guess?" I finally said, shrugging.
"Told ya you're stressed," Vector said, wagging a finger at me before reaching back and grabbing a fast food bag from Charmy. He plunked it down onto a metal table. "Come sit with us and eat somethin', the game's about to begin." He invited, holding out his hand. I nodded, letting Vector help me stand and guide me back to my chair. He sat next to me and turned his attention to his own bag of food. I reached into the bag Vector set down, unwrapped a large and slightly greasy cheeseburger, tried not to think about where the meat came from in a world inhabited by animals, and ate. I watched the monitors as Sonic sat down at the poker table with all the other players. He sat right across from Mr. Boddy, an old-looking beagle with eyebrows so bushy you couldn't see his eyes (Though, to be fair, he had very small eyes for a Mobian). Just think "cartoon-old-man-looking-guy." He even had a bushy mustache that moved when he spoke instead of his mouth, like the Mayor from the Powerpuff Girls.
"Welcome everybody," He began as he looked around the blue velvet poker table, his voice deep and sonorous, sounding much younger than his looks let on, "And welcome to our annual poker game!" Everyone clapped, a couple of people even whooped and cheered. "And a special welcome to our guests this evening, Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog, and Ms. Scharlachrot!" More clapping. "Mr. Hedgehog has been invited to play in the place of Rush, who, unfortunately, won't be joining us tonight. It's a pleasure to have you with us Sonic."
"Likewise Mr. Boddy," Sonic nodded politely to the old dog, then to everyone else at the table.
"...Who's Rush?" I asked out loud, talking around a mouthful of food.
"Blitz' friend," Espio said from his corner of the room, *Rush is a big magician working in another casino. He was slated to play, but when Blitz told him your situation, he let Sonic take his place."
"Well then, let's not waste any time shall we?" The dog produced a deck of unopened cards and tore open the seal. He fanned the cards out face up, letting everyone see. Espio carefully inspected his screen as Sonic glanced over the cards.
"All different... it's a fair deck," He confirmed, looking over at Vector. The crocodile nodded.
"Ok everyone... Showtime..." He called out, leaning forward and popping an entire burger into his mouth, his gaze leveling on the monitor in front of him. I took a deep breath, doing my best to shake the thoughts of the mysterious stranger from my head. Sonic needed my help.
"I fold," Ms. White said, throwing her cards away from her and smoothing out her white suit, looking a bit disappointed as she ran her fingers through the long head fur that fell over her shoulders. I couldn't remember a lot of their first names, so I started referring to everyone by their surnames. It was easier, considering the pattern, they all had names from CLUE. Weird coincidence but hey, made it easier for me. Also, it was fun to realize that Sonic, the blue player, would end up being Mrs. Peacock if I continued the pattern.
"Fold," Mr. Green slid his cards into the middle, "This is just not my game..." He slugged back another shot of whiskey. Despite the incredible amount he'd been drinking, he didn't seem to show any signs of drunkenness, at all. Either that, or he was an incredible functioning drunk.
"You and me both," Prof. Plum grumbled, tossing away his cards and removing his glasses to wipe his eyes. He looked tired, though I suspected it was less because he didn't sleep well, and more because he was just one of those people who were always a bit exhausted no matter what they did. Sonic lifted up his cards again. A 2 of clubs and a 7 of spades... He looked over at Colonel Mustard, who was peeking at his cards again through his bifocals.
"Hm... no need for me to play," The elephant replied, carefully sliding his cards across the table to Mr. Boddy. He'd been playing fairly conservatively most of the night, though it seemed to be less about strategy, and more to enjoy the company of his friends around the table without being distracted by strategy.
"I'll play," Ms. Natalia (why did her last name have to break the pattern?) purred in a thick accent, entering a number into a small, black, numeric keypad she held in her lap. A small section in the middle of the table flipped over, displaying a number, the bet the black cat just made. Because Rings were a digital currency, rather than using chips as we do on Earth, Mobians made bets using small, wireless keypads. Apparently most tables just had a digital readout in the middle, but this one was fancy. Every time the panel in the middle flipped over, the new pot total was displayed.
"She's got the small blind," Mighty stated, "Of course she's going to throw in the rest to play." Now, I knew much less about poker than I realized when we did the practice rounds before the game, so I ended up learning quite a bit of jargon, like the blinds, for example. I learned that the blinds referred to a set amount of Rings that two players were required to throw into the pot before each hand. One player paid the big blind, and the other paid the small blind, which was about half the amount of the big one. If anyone wanted to play in any given hand, they would have to put in at least as much as the big blind. For this hand, Sonic had the big blind and Natalia had the small blind. Since she'd already put in half, all she had to do if she wanted to play was throw in the rest.
"Hey, Sonic..." I squinted a bit, leaning forward. My Creepy Senses, we learned, are dulled when I'm not physically near whatever is triggering them, so it was sometimes hard to tell if I was feeling something or if it was just me being a sweaty person in a warm room next to a crocodile that was radiating heat. But this time... "I'm pretty sure she's bluffing, at least for now. Keep an eye on her."
"Check," Sonic said, tapping the table twice. Checking in poker is like passing in a way. It meant you still wanted to play, but you didn't want to make a bet. You could only do this if no one else on the table had made a bet prior to you, or, like in Sonic's case, you had the big blind at the start of the hand and no one had made a bet larger than that.
"You sure she's bluffing?" Vector asked me quietly. I shrugged.
"Am I ever?" I looked up at Vector, flashing him a tight smile. "A 70% chance of being right has a 30% of failing."
"Where'd you pull 70% from anyway?" Mighty asked, looked over at me. "Seems kinda arbitrary."
"When I was younger, my brother and I actually kept track of how many times my Creepy Senses were right, and how many times it was either a false alarm, or I didn't catch something that my Senses should have picked up on," I smiled a bit. Me and Jake were pretty proud of ourselves, we felt like scientists doing some grand experiment. "We would keep track month by month. We did it for about a year, totaled it all up, and... 70% was the average."
"Here comes the flop..." Vector said, turning my attention back to the monitor. Mr. Boddy, who'd been acting as dealer the entire game, burned the top card of the deck and dealt out three more. 2 of Spades, 4 of Diamonds, 5 of Diamonds.
"Well, he's got a pair of twos," Espio mumbled, rubbing his lips thoughtfully. I stared at the 2 in the middle of the table. It was better than having nothing, but a pair of two's was still a weak hand. It wouldn't take much to beat it.
"Bet. 1600," Ms. Natalia said, entering the amount into her keypad… I couldn't figure out what language her accent was supposed to be. The Chaotix all leaned back a bit in their seats, expressing amazement in their own ways.
"Looks like she's got a 3 and 6," Mighty said after whistling a bit, "A straight..." It was certainly possible, the 2, 4, and 5 on the table set someone up nicely for a straight, if they had the right cards. But...
"...No, she's still bluffing..." I said, feeling a bit more sure of myself. "Sonic, call." Calling in poker means you'll match the most recent bet that was made, in this case, 1600.
"I'll call," Sonic said, pushing a designated "call" button on the keypad and watching the panel in the table flip to the new total. Mr. Boddy nodded, burned the next card, and dealt another next to the other three. The 2 of Hearts.
"Three of a kind!" I cheered, pointing to the monitor, "He's won this hand!"
"Not yet," Espio warned, "She could have a pocket pair, and if it matches anything-"
"A pocket pair?" I asked, trying to politely cut in.
"She had a pair dealt to her," The chameleon explained, "And if it matches anything in the middle..."
"...she could tie or beat our three of a kind with her own..." I said slowly. I looked back at the table as the cat made her next bet, 5000 Rings.
"She could still have a straight," Vector said, rubbing his chin as Sonic called, "She's betting like she is." The final community card came, 9 of spades.
"Bet... all in," Natalia purred, pressing a button. The rest of the woman's rings went to the middle. More Creepy Senses.
"What is she doing...?" I muttered.
"I'm telling you, she has a straight, Sonic get out of there," Vector said into the microphone. Sonic paused before pushing another button.
"Call," He said quietly. We watched as all of Sonic's Rings appeared in the middle of the table. Vector groaned.
"Alright you two, showdown," Mr. Boddy announced, pointing to Sonic and Natalia. Sonic flipped over his cards, then looked over at the black cat's.
"What...?" I muttered, feeling my eyes widen.
The 8 of Hearts, and the Jack of Spades. She had, basically, nothing. Sonic won the hand, earned over 10,000 Rings, and knocked Natalia out of the game. The Chaotix whooped and cheered, Vector clapping me hard on the back.
"Shouldn't have doubted you, kid!" He grinned at me, patting me a couple more times before standing.
"We'll take an hour-long break, we shall resume at 8:15 sharp," Mr. Boddy announced, standing up and motioning for the others to do the same, "Please be punctual, we shall proceed whether or not all of our players have returned," Vector crossed the room to the door.
"Alright boys, snacks are on me this time," He announced, which prompted everyone to scramble to the door. The crocodile turned back to me. "You comin'?"
"I'm alright," I smiled, "I'm a little tired, think I might just rest my eyes for a bit." Vector nodded before turning to the door. He waved a hand as he walked out.
"Great work today kid!" He called over his shoulder as the door closed. I sat in silence for a while.
"...Sonic?"
"I know... that play didn't sit right with me either..." He muttered, putting a gloved hand over his mouth to hide his talking.
"She went all-in with nothing in her hand," I said, shaking my head. "It's almost like she was..."
...Woah. I felt a tingle run through my body as I sat up and pulled the cat's papers over to me again. Almost no information... not even some of the basics. "She wanted out of there."
"My thoughts exactly," Sonic said, standing and stretching out, "She's up to something."
"Do you think she ordered the chemist?" I asked.
"There's only one way to find out," He said, looking around the room. He quickly caught sight of the cat as she was making her way out the door of the room. "Hey, does she seem familiar to you?"
"Sonic, I've never met any talking black cats until now," I said.
"Right," He chuckled a bit, following the woman down the hall. She was waiting in front of an elevator, making notes in her glass phone.
"Get close, I think Espio has a facial recognition thingy I can run... maybe we'll find out more about her this way," I said, moving over to Espio's station and poking around his computer, finding that he did, indeed, have a facial recognition "thingy." Lucky for me, it seemed fairly user-friendly. I pulled up Sonic's contact lens camera feed on the monitor, watching as he hustled over to the elevator as the door opened. He quickly slipped in.
"Mind if I join you?" He asked. I could almost hear the charming smile on his face. The cat seemed a bit surprised but nodded after regaining her faculties, flashing him a rather flirtatious smile of her own. I quickly began running the facial recognition software.
"Of course," She replied, her ear flicking. The door closed on them, and Sonic reached down and pushed a button. Before Natalia could push her own, he spoke up.
"You lost that last hand on purpose…" He said quietly. The cat froze. Her ears flattened a bit. Busted. Sonic leaned towards her, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. "Now… you're gonna come with me. My friends and I have a few questions."
Natalia cleared her throat before she spoke, quietly, and without any trace of an accent. "Whatever you think I've done... you've got the wrong girl..." Both Sonic and I felt our brains hiccup for just a moment at the sudden change. The computer dinged. I looked over at the screen blankly, staring at the image that came up.
"Uh... Sonic... she's not Natalia Sharla-" My tongue got tied. "...Scharle-" I shook my head. "She's not who we thought she was."
"I thought you looked familiar," Sonic chuckled, sitting opposite the cat who was nursing at a bottle of water. He looked down at the info I printed out. "Channel 6 news, Natalie Scarlet, Investigative Reporter."
"Your cover name is terrible," Espio shook his head a bit. He didn't mean it rudely, he was just stating the fact. "It's just your name translated into a foreign language."
"Fooled you guys," She replied, crossing her arms. Espio huffed grumpily, looking away, trying to hide a blush. The entire Chaotix team seemed to be having a hard time looking at Natalie... I think they were attracted to her. And, I guess it wasn't hard to see why. She was aware of the effect she had on the boys, throwing them small smiles or winks every now and then to keep them on their toes. The only two that didn't seem affected were me and Sonic. I mean, I personally wasn't really attracted to animals, and Sonic was probably used to resisting Amy, so this was nothing for him.
"What are you doing here Ms. Scarlet?" I asked, leaning back in my chair, "And why adopt a fake name? Especially if you're a TV reporter, wouldn't people recognize your face?"
"Casinopolis doesn't get Channel 6," She explained, turning to me and relaxing her posture, "So it was unlikely anyone would know who I was. Even if they did get Channel 6, I'm... yet to get a big break," She shifted in her seat a bit, averting her gaze, "Most of the things I report on aren't things people really pay attention to." She shook it off. "I took on the fake name as an extra precaution, I didn't want anyone to know I was here."
"Which brings me back to what exactly you're doing here," I said again, leaning forward, "And why you were trying to leave the game so quickly." The cat looked around, as if checking to see if anyone was listening, before leaning forward as well.
"I think someone's planning to kill Mr. Boddy," She replied, lowering her voice. No one spoke for a moment.
"That's a pretty... bold claim," Vector said, starting to sound uneasy. "You got proof?"
"I got this on my desk a few days ago," Natalie carefully stuck her fingers down the front of the dress (Vector had to turn away again) and pulled out a tightly folded up piece of paper. She stood, placing the paper on a table and opening it, smoothing it out. A short, typed note: "I will kill Mr. Boddy during the Poker Game."
"...Yeah... that looks like proof to me," Mighty replied, turning the note towards him to examine it. "Why not take this to the police?"
"I did, but they told me that Mr. Boddy spared no expense on security," The cat replied, "This hasn't been his first death threat."
"I didn't see much security down there," I said thoughtfully.
"Exactly," Natalie looked over at me, "You can't plan against something you can't see."
"Why would you announce that they're going to kill someone?" Sonic asked, crossing his arms and shaking his head, "If this is a real threat, it's like this guy's asking to be stopped."
"Some people get a kick out of it," Natalie said, stepping back, "The thrill of knowing you're being chased, that someone's on your tail and could send your whole plan toppling down in seconds." Sonic hummed a bit. He didn't really seem satisfied with the answer, and to be honest, neither did I. But it was the only answer we had at the moment. I crossed over to the desk I had stashed the chemicals in, pulling out the test tube of the yellow stuff.
"Well, whoever it is, I think we already stopped them," I said, placing the tube down next to the note. The cat stared at the tube for a moment.
"Where did you find this?" She asked quietly, gingerly picking it up and studying it.
"Someone ordered a chemist to come up here and make it in one of the empty stores," I explained. "I don't know what it is but... apparently a couple of drops is all it takes." Natalie stared at it for a while more before reaching down and lifting up her dress a bit, revealing a pistol strapped against her lower leg. She took off the strap, putting it on the table.
"I found this in a hotel room near the game room. It was set on a timer and aimed to shoot through the wall," She said, crossing her arms again.
"Whoever did this was thorough..." Vector replied, resting his hands on the table and tapping his index finger on it. "...And where there's two, there's probably more..."
"You think whoever's behind this has set up more ways to kill Mr. Boddy than just these?" Mighty asked, handing the note back to Natalie, who folded it up and tucked it back into her dress.
"That's why I was trying to leave the game, I saw a large gorilla start patrolling the hallway outside the room," Scarlet explained, "I thought something might be happening." I winced a bit.
"Sorry, that was my fault," I said, raising my hand, "Mungo was guarding the room the chemist guy was in, I convinced him to go guard the game room."
"His name is Mungo?" Espio asked. I shrugged.
"I dunno, I just started to call him that," I replied.
"Look, there's an unknown number of potential deaths our killer set up for Mr. Boddy," Vector cut in, "Which means we gotta get movin' boys." The crocodile immediately set into motion, the rest of the Chaotix hurrying to lock computers, turn off monitors, and tidy up.
"Wait, are you guys going to search... right now?" I asked, standing up.
"What about Josh, you're not going to leave him here alone again, are you?" Sonic asked incredulously.
"Not a chance, especially if someone was looking for him," Vector replied, "You're taking him with you."
"Um, is that the best idea?" I asked, "Apparently some people think I look a bit... disconcerting." I thought back to the chemist calling me a weird monkey...
"I'd rather you stick with me bud," Sonic said, moving to stand at my side. "Besides, maybe we can use your story to make everyone feel bad and let us win!"
"Or my looks will throw everyone off and they'll make a bunch of costly mistakes," I added.
"Speaking of, don't you have to get back to the game?" Espio asked as he looked up at a clock hanging on the wall. "Your break is almost up." Sonic groaned a bit.
"Yeah, yeah..." He patted my shoulder a couple of times before motioning for the door. "Shall we?"
"May I leave first?" Natalie nodded to the two of us, "People might wonder why you and I wandered off together."
"Whatever you say, Scarlet," Sonic replied, motioning for her to leave.
"...You realize this means that there's a murderer in the casino..." I said quietly, watching the cat compose herself before slinking out the door.
"Maybe," Sonic nodded, "Which is why I need you to stick close to me. Got it?"
"Got it," I nodded back, feeling a bit of a knot start to form in my stomach. I wasn't sure what was making me nervous, the thought of a killer running around, or the thought that I was going to be in a room full of people who were going to look at me funny. Sonic examined me for a moment before taking my hand.
"Hey," He said quietly, bringing our hands up and squeezing mine a bit, "I'll be right there with you, ok?" He smiled confidently, shaking my hand a bit. "Let's face this together."
The knot untwisted. I smiled a bit and squeezed back, nodding a little more confidently. "Ok." I finally replied. Sonic grinned at me, letting go of my hand and wrapping it around my shoulder, jostling me as he walked me out the door.
"Let's go eat some fancy food!" He cheered, pumping his other fist in the air.
I sat with Natalie on a couch, dressed in a nice tuxedo (thank you Tails), sipping on a "mocktail" (I guess it's a cocktail without alcohol? All I knew was it was GOOD) as I watched the players around the table focus intently on the current hand. Mr. Green and Ms. White were just in a bidding war, constantly one-upping each other, until they were both all in. Everyone held their breath as they waited to see who would come out on top.
"I still don't understand though," I said quietly, looking over at Natalie, "If you thought there was a killer, why didn't you just start by looking for them rather than get yourself into the game?"
"I did both," She simply replied, taking a sip of her drink. It took me a moment to understand what she said.
"...you think the killer's one of them?" I asked a bit louder than I meant to. Luckily, it seemed the winner of the hand had been revealed at that moment, the players at the table erupting into cheers.
"They're each wealthy, they know Mr. Boddy's routines and schedules, likes and dislikes, and it's the perfect time to plan to kill someone when you know exactly where they're going to be for the next few hours," She explained. "Each person in this room ticks off all the boxes for a potential murderer in my opinion."
"What about motive?" I asked, "I thought they were all friends."
"Oh sure," The cat leaned back, swirling her drink a bit, "Unless Mr. Boddy happens to have some dirt on one of them," She said it so casually, it almost didn't register.
"...you think he's blackmailing one of them?" I hissed, looking over at the woman.
"Potentially," She replied, watching as the old dog dealt out the next round, "Wouldn't surprise me. People like them aren't really friends, they just get together to show off their wealth and gloat about the great things they did this year."
"Really...?" I asked. When I was watching the monitors, none of them seemed to be gloating… they were just having a normal conversation. Plus, call me crazy... but something about her theory didn't sit well with me. It wasn't like my Creepy Senses were going off... just a weird gut feeling. "Is there anyone you're thinking might be the blackmail victim?"
"My money's on the Colonel," She replied, jerking her chin slightly in the elephant's direction. I watched Col. Mustard gazing at his cards, jovially elbowing Mr. Boddy seated directly at his right. "There's a rumor that's been going around that he's involved in a gun-trafficking operation."
"But... it's just a rumor, right?" I asked, looking back at the cat. She looked back at me, a gleam in her eye.
"And if it's not?" She purred. I stared at her for a moment before looking back at the game.
"Why don't you tell Mr. Boddy about the threat?" I asked, "Show him the note?"
"If the killer's really in this room, and they sent me the note," She swirled her drink for a moment, "They probably have a contingency plan if I say anything. Mr. Boddy will be dead, and the killer will probably be free in the wind." I nodded, staring at the game without really paying attention to it. Her theory was a bit... theatric, but then again, so is leaving a note saying you're going to kill someone. Still, something about this whole thing didn't quite fit... it was too... too-
"Josh!"
I quickly sat up, looking around for a moment before focusing on Sonic, who was trying to get my attention. He chuckled. "Spacing out there bud?"
"Sorry!" I laughed sheepishly, "Just thinking about... stuff."
"Mr. Boddy asked if you want to play!" Sonic said, motioning me over.
"Um... I-I don't have any Rings!" I replied, looking at the table.
"Already taken care of," Prof. Plum replied, standing and grabbing a chair from the wall and pulling it over, seating it between him and Sonic.
"...taken care of?" I asked, slowly standing.
"We all pitched in a bit to get you started!" Mr. Green said.
"Y-You didn't have to do that-"
"Oh c'mon, it's fine," Ms. White said, waving me over a bit excitedly, "It's all for charity anyway!" I blinked a couple of times.
"...charity?" I asked, walking over to the table.
"John organizes this charity game every year," The Professor explained, handing me a keypad.
"And John is...?" I asked, pointing at Mr. Boddy. The dog nodded, chuckling.
"John Boddy," He replied, formally introducing himself to me.
"Uh, Josh," I responded, nodding politely, "The ad didn't mention this was for charity, sorry."
"Ad?" Mr. Green turned to look at me, the rest of the table looking confused as well.
"Did someone make an advertisement for this?" Ms. White looked around the table, the others shaking their heads.
"There was a poster talking about the game," Sonic explained, looking around, "You don't know about this?" Mr. Boddy thought for a moment before shrugging.
"Perhaps one of my daughters made it," He suggested, "Sarah is going into graphic design, and you all know her habit of misplacing things," The group chuckled knowingly, "In any case, that poster has done us some good! It brought new friends into our midsts, such as yourselves and Ms. Scharlachrot."
"...yes... it did..." I said quietly, glancing over at Sonic. He was looking at me out of the corner of his eye, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing as I was.
"This is all going according to someone's plan," I said, pacing the restroom slowly during our next break, "Someone wanted all of us in that room." Sonic was leaning against a wall, watching me walk.
"Who?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"I don't know, Natalie thinks it's someone playing the game, but I'm not so sure," I replied, shaking my head, "She says Col. Mustard is gun trafficking and Mr. Boddy is trying to blackmail him or something, and so Mustard wants to kill him."
"Do you believe that?" Sonic asked again.
"No, I didn't feel Creeped out by him, and it just..." I floundered for words a bit, huffing in frustration, "Just-"
"Doesn't feel right in your gut?" Sonic asked.
"Exactly," I nodded, stopping and looking over at him, "Something about this whole thing just feels weird, I can't figure out what."
"I agree," Sonic replied, "But we can't find out more from where we're sitting, Vector?"
"I'm here," Vector's voice rang through our earpieces, "We've found a few more traps... they're weird though."
"Weird?" Sonic asked.
"One's a machine in the room right above you guys that'll cut into the floor, we think it'd cut down the chandelier if it activated," Vector replied, "And we found another chemistry set in another hotel room, but Espio ran the ingredients, it's the same stuff the liquid smoke used in smoke machines is made of."
"Is that dangerous?" I asked.
"Not unless you're allergic to it," Mighty said, "And get this, that cutting machine wouldn't have worked anyway, it was going to use a throwing knife, it wouldn't have been able to penetrate the floor, let alone cut deep enough."
"...maybe these are red herrings?" I asked, looking at Sonic, who shrugged, "A couple of fake ones to distract you from the real ones?"
"We'll keep looking," Espio said, "The cutting machine was hooked to a timer, like the gun Scarlet said she found. It was only a few seconds from going off. We've been lucky."
"Thanks, guys, we'll see if we can find out anything down here," Sonic said.
"This is really elaborate..." I huffed, rubbing my forehead, "It's like some kind of really crummy attempt at a mystery story." Sonic pursed his lips for a moment before reaching behind him and pulling his phone out of... somewher-Ok, hold on.
"Hey, Sonic?" I asked, standing up a bit straighter, "Where are you... putting your phone?"
"Hm?" Sonic looked up, "What'd you say bud?"
"Your phone," I pointed, "Where are you putting it? You're wearing slacks with pockets now but before you just hold stuff behind you back and it disappears."
"Oh, Hammerspace," Sonic explained, "It's this extradimensional space where we can put stuff."
I stared blankly at Sonic for a moment, trying to digest that little nugget of information. "...I have questions."
"So do we," Sonic quickly replied, "But we aren't getting answers any time soon. Only person who understands it is Amy, and she isn't telling."
"Huh..."
"C'mon, let's head back, break's almost over," Sonic waved me over to follow him. "You look good by the way."
"Thanks, you do too."
"Thanks, bud."