Chapter 3: Miles Apart (II)

Sonic had returned to the now quiet back patio of the beach house, looking for a way to the top of its roof without jumping around too much.

The two alien guys had stopped giving chase pretty much as soon as they'd started, and Sonic had idled around the island for a bit. At first, he'd tried thinking of a decent way to approach them again, but then he figured he could instead just as well try to get into their plane first and figure out everything else later. Being on an island with a Star Post around was nice and all, but as long as he had no idea what to do with it, any other place was just as good—especially if it meant less boredom and more people who could potentially know about stuff in general. By now Sonic had a feeling that Shirt and Cap had even less of a clue than he had himself.

…Now he just hoped they weren't on vacation for the next three weeks or so.

Sonic got on top of a low wall that circled one half of the patio and pulled himself onto the roof from there. Its tiles radiated warmth and creaked softly beneath his shoes as he moved closer to the gable to peek across.

From the front of the house came a muffled conversation and the occasional chinking of glass. A white parasol stood below, beneath it two wooden beach chairs and a side table inbetween. Both chairs roughly faced the sea, and the two guys had gotten comfortable, each one with a bottled drink in hand.

Sonic frowned. They weren't supposed to get comfortable. Especially not with their eyes on the plane.

At least the plane was still there. And he could still spot that one crate on the jetty. So, either they hadn't bothered to settle in yet, or they weren't planning to. There was only one bed after all—one huge bed, alright, but it didn't look as if two people their size would want to share it. Of course there were still two doors he hadn't looked into, and behind one of them might as well've been another bedroom, but somehow it didn't feel right. He'd rather gotten the impression that the two were prepping the place for somebody else.

Unfortunately, he had no idea how the other side of the plane looked like. Did they leave the hatch open? Was it locked? Was there even a spot for him to hide until they took off?

Ah, well, he'd figure that out once he was there.

The guy with the cap started getting up and Sonic shrunk behind the gable, pricking his ears. They talked some more, then there was the brief clanking of wood and the occasional scraping noise as one of them apparently began to carry one of the chairs back behind the house. The other guy seemed to go inside.

If Sonic wanted to get into that plane, now sounded like the perfect moment.

He took another peek across the gable. The path looked clear. Almost too easy. He slid down to the front of the roof, saw and heard no one directly below, then jumped off and dashed straight across the beach and along the jetty, scrambling around its corner and skidding to a halt on the jetty's short end.

Two hatches—both wide open. Now what?

Sonic slipped inside through the first, firing up his senses. No yelling or other frantic noises from the house, so he was probably good for now.

The inside of the plane looked pretty bare: two seats in front of the console and a bit of empty space where Sonic had entered. Towards the back the inside walls had just enough room for two jump-seats on each side, then came a separating wall that looked removable with the right tools. There was no other hatch or storage compartment or whatever. If he wanted those guys to not discover him in this part of the plane, he'd better turn into a chameleon this instant…

Getting into the back of the plane was probably his best shot. Time to head for the other hatch.

Sonic turned to get out again, catching a glimpse of movement behind the windshield. He hesitated, peeking out. The guy in the shirt had taken off towards the plane on brisk steps, obviously stirred up by something. Perhaps they'd caught him dashing out here after all. No way the guy was gonna miss him in here.

Sonic's eyes latched to the console. Could he just…take off? He could fly the Tornado alright, so it couldn't be that hard. Sure, there were about three times as many gauges and indicators on this one (and he didn't even know which of those symbols were numbers…) but most of the time he didn't pay attention to that stuff anyway. As long as the stick worked the same?

…And then he'd run out of chaos in the middle of nowhere because he didn't even know which direction to head off to since there wasn't a single speck of land in sight aside from those two frickin' islands. Being stuck on a desert island for a while longer was slightly more preferable than crashing a plane into the middle of the ocean.

Shirt was halfway onto the jetty then suddenly turned to face his friend calling from the house's doorway. Cap seemed annoyed, dropping a large bag to the ground in front of the door, then Shirt seemed annoyed for being interrupted. They were annoyed back and forth for a while until Shirt waved off Cap and continued along the jetty. The other picked up the bag again, face crumpled with annoyance, and hobbled with the heavy-looking thing after him.

Sonic blinked.

He got out of the front of the plane, dropped onto the plane's float below, then got back in through the other hatch in the back, hearing Shirt's steps approach.

The back of the plane was some kind of cargo area about as wide as Sonic was tall and with an extra elevated surface towards the very rear of the plane. A single crate was strapped there with a bit of empty space behind it. Sonic could probably squeeze into that niche, but those guys would be complete idiots if this wasn't the first spot they'd go look for him. He'd have to deal with this some other way. Maybe the guy being actually prepared to find him here this time improved Sonic's chances with communication.

He stepped into the hatch's opening right as Shirt hopped onto one of the plane's floats, making the plane sway. They both locked eyes.

»I knew it!« the guy said. Then he lunged for one of Sonic's legs.

"Whoa!" Sonic danced away, retreating back into the cargo. "Dude, take it easy. I just wanna talk."

Shirt seemed unimpressed, apparently not understanding anything either. He began crawling inside after Sonic, eventually leaving him with his back against the wall, then he reached for Sonic's leg again. Sonic hopped across the guy's passing hand then evaded a second attempt much the same way. Shirt's face darkened.

"I can do this for a while, you know—," Sonic said, glad that the guy didn't try going for his torso instead. Talk about undignified, being carried out on one of the shoulders of that giant. Maybe the guy didn't want to get too close?

"—Doesn't mean I want to, though." Sonic added, dodging another attempt then flattening one the guy's flailing hand under his shoe.

»Ow, fuck,« Shirt roared through clenched teeth.

Sonic felt a tug under his foot as the guy tried to pull his hand out, and shifted his weight. He didn't want to properly hurt the guy, but maybe he could annoy him enough to actually try and listen for a sec. There had to be a way for him to hitch a ride without clinging to one of the floats below.

Shirt began clutching at Sonic's shoe with his other hand and Sonic had to resist pulling his foot away. You didn't grope about other people's shoes! He'd have to get the other hand pinned, too, if that went on.

Shirt grabbed Sonic's lower leg and tugged, slightly rocking him off-balance but only managing to get more weight on his pinned hand. He cursed again. Probably.

»How can you be this heavy?« the guy said through a clenched jaw.

Sonic had expected the guy to just throw him off like a stack of empty boxes, but apparently he wasn't as strong as he looked. Couldn't hurt to keep that in mind…

Cap appeared in front of the hatchway, drawing their attention. »Dude, next time you start chasing critters, at least take a bag with y—« he broke off, blinking.

Shirt chose this moment of distraction to yank at Sonic's leg, finally getting him off-balance. Sonic dropped to his behind, back sliding down the cargo's wall with one leg still in Shirt's grip. He readied the other leg for a kick and Shirt raised his now free hand in defense.

»What the heck are you doing?« came Cap's voice. He'd removed his cap and ran a hand across his bald head.

»Trying to get the thing out of our plane?« Shirt replied with some strain.

»…It's wearing pants, have you tried talking?«

»Sorry, my gibberish isn't up to snuff.«

Sonic kept his foot aimed, glaring. Shirt narrowed his eyes.

»Get out,« Cap said, putting his cap back on, vaguely beckoning.

Shirt's face twisted, then he tossed Sonic's leg aside and retreated out of the hatch, rubbing his hand. »Good luck,« he said, stepping out of the way and towards the back of the float, gesturing into the cargo.

Sonic climbed to his feet, dusting himself off. He took a few steps towards the hatch, eying them both. "So," Sonic said. "Guess it got kinda awkward now, but I'm still okay talking about this." He was pretty sure those guys understood about as much as he did from them. But it was still nice talking to something other than a rock for a change.

Cap frowned, then exchanged a quick look with Shirt who just shrugged.

»Er—,« Cap began, facing Sonic and clearing his throat. »You… can come out now?« He beckoned. »Out,« he said slowly. He made some room on the float, both guys now standing at the sides of the hatch like a pair of guards.

The gestures seemed clear enough. Maybe this guy was gonna go about this a little differently. Sonic would rather take some time to try and figure this out by communication than end up with two knocked out aliens and a plane he couldn't fly.

…Or the other way around, anyway…

Now, if they could look a little less as if they wanted to pounce him the moment he left the plane…?

Sonic approached the hatch and Cap stepped aside, walking a few steps backwards along the float when Sonic began descending the narrow steps. Even Shirt backed up a bit. It probably counted as progress.

The moment Sonic set his feet on the float, something slammed into his back, knocking him over face first and pinning his body to the rubbery surface of the float. He didn't need that piece of colored fabric hanging into his vision to know who it was. The guy might've been lacking in strength, but he definitely had weight. Also, he'd apparently gotten lucky with his angle on Sonic's quills, kneeling just between the ones on his back, and flattening the ones on the back of his head with his torso. Great. Sonic gasped out a breath he couldn't hold any longer, struggling against Shirt's mass without jerking too much. Water sloshed against the underside of the float. Way too close for comfort.

Cap seemed to be about as startled as Sonic was. »What the hell did you do that for?« he yelled.

Shirt grunted. »Don't argue and get a rope or something.«

Cap stared at him.

Sonic pushed himself off the ground just enough to take a decent breath. He tensed up, bristling his quills and straining them against the guy's clothes. It was worth a shot.

"Has no one ever told you," Sonic wheezed, "that you don't grab a hedgehog… from behind?" A couple of his quills whipped loose and into Shirt's face. The guy shrieked and almost let go but then immediately scrambled and changed position. His shin now pressed even harder into Sonic's back, and he now used one hand to steady himself against the jetty and the other to pin Sonic's cheek to the float, doing a dubious version of some sort of sideways plank exercise.

Sonic's arms were sort of free now, though. If he pushed just right, he could get the guy off-balance, dropping him into the water below. …And then probably end up in it with him.

Shirt awkwardly rubbed his now red-streaked cheek against his shoulder and glared at Cap, spurring him into action. Cap climbed halfway into the plane and came back with a roll of thin rope. Fantastic.

»Great job getting on good terms with that thing,« Cap said, tossing the rope with visible contempt.

»Well, maybe I don't wanna be on good terms with ›that thing‹,« Shirt said. »Now help me hold the head down.«

Cap hesitated, grinding his teeth, then came to help anyway and replaced Shirt with pressing Sonic's face into float only somewhat more carefully. Sonic worked his jaw into a more tolerable position, grunting. Shirt grabbed one of Sonic's hands, twirling rope around his wrist, then began connecting it with the other behind Sonic's back. Sonic resisted the urge to draw his arms from the guy's grasp. It would only lead to him being pinned down even longer. Plus, he needed his strength if they decided to tie up his legs. No way he'd let that happen.

»Is there anything you know about this?« Cap asked. »Anything to do with Eff?«

»Nope. No idea,« Shirt said. »But if it does it's gonna stay on this island, one way or the other.«

»…Whatever.«

Shirt began climbing to his feet, motioning for Cap to let go. Then he tugged at the loose end of the rope he'd apparently decided to keep as a leash, awkwardly pulling Sonic to his feet.

"Hey, watch it," Sonic just managed to catch his balance on the narrow float while Shirt had already crossed over to the jetty and tugged again. So much frickin' water everywhere. Couldn't that thing have landed on the beach?

Sonic followed him onto the jetty, rope halfway wrapped around his body as he turned to face Shirt. There were only a handful of paces between them, but it was probably enough to gain some momentum and tackle the guy into the water.

…Only he'd probably not let go of the rope and pull Sonic with him in the process.

Was every attempt at defending himself going to result in an unplanned bath around here? Sonic decided to glower instead.

Shirt tugged, forcing Sonic to follow him to the end of the jetty and to a bollard Shirt could wrap the rope around. It had a nook, of course, preventing the rope from sliding off at the tip. When he was done, he slipped past Sonic and back to the plane. He tenderly touched his still lit up cheek.

Sonic sat down on the jetty, lightly rubbing his sore legs together and rolling his shoulders. Those guys were big and heavy, alright, but if he could keep his distance (and avoid getting surprised again…), he had a feeling he could actually take them on; get them off-balance; leap off of something to land a punch in their face. At least enough to have them out of his way if needed. Sonic began fumbling the rope around his wrists.

Shirt had grabbed one of the bags and wordlessly heaved it into the cargo. Cap still stood there, arms crossed, and watching Sonic with a frown on his face. »So, when Eff comes here, to his fancy remote holiday lodge,« Cap said, obviously addressing his friend. »This'll be the first thing he sees?«

Shirt emerged from the cargo as Cap gestured a hand at Sonic, not entirely moving his arms. His gaze followed the gesture and he looked at Sonic, lips forming a line. He grumbled. »Jeez. Just… throw him a knife or something before we leave.« He picked up the second bag and disappeared back inside.

»Do you have any idea what we found here?«

»Still no. You?« came the muffled response.

»No. But you realize this is the stuff that gets you famous, right?«

Shirt stuck his head out. »Unless it gets me rich and famous, I'm not interested.« He disappeared again for a moment, then climbed out fully, heading for the house. »Besides, if Eff is aware of this, I'm not going to be the one responsible if this guy disappears.«

»I guess.« Cap hummed. »We should try and cut a deal, tho', when we're back. Who knows?«

Shirt nodded. »There's plenty of time to think until we're back.«

They took another another trip to the house, where they apparently checked all the doors and windows. Then they headed back with two more crates to store in the cargo.

Sonic curled up and dragged his tied arms to the front of his body, trying to use his teeth to pull at the rope. He managed to get it loose in some places, but only to have it tighten up in others. What kind of frickin' super-knot had that guy made? Sonic let his arms drop, groaning in frustration and involuntarily locking gaze with Cap staring at him again the moment he had returned. Sonic narrowed his eyes.

Cap pulled his gaze away and entered the plane through the front hatch. A couple of moments later the engines roared up and his hand protruded from one of the front windows, giving a thumbs up. Shirt, who'd put the crates into the back, began untying the ropes they'd secured the plane with.

Damn, he had to hurry. He had to get on that plane if they wanted or not.

Sonic tugged at the rope again with his teeth, then stopped. He was an idiot. He basically had his hands free now. Why hadn't he just untied himself from that frickin' bollard already? He darted back to the edge of the jetty, looking for the loose end of the rope.

Behind him the engine's roar grew louder and Sonic took a peek over his shoulder to see Shirt disappear inside the plane. Sonic pulled the rope free from one hoop, then found it tangled up in another one and kept pulling from there. He hadn't heard the hatch fall shut yet, so he risked another glance behind. Shirt had climbed out again, took two steps along the jetty and placed some longish object on one of the planks, always keeping an eye on Sonic. Then he jumped back on the float, kicked the plane off and climbed inside.

What had that been about now? Did that thing look like a jackknife? Sonic had almost unraveled the rope from the bollard, but now it seemed as if he could just as well cut his hands free. Sonic's gaze switched between the bollard and the knife. He licked his lips.

The plane drifted off towards the shallow waters along the shore, getting ready to make a U-turn, and Sonic began pulling at the loose end of the rope again then frantically unwound it from the bollard. It better be faster than trying to cut himself loose now.

The rope unraveled and he drew it in to not have it catch on anything, then he fetched the knife, awkwardly holding it and the bundle of rope in front of his hips. The plane was already on its way back, and, with a bit of distance, now floated roughly parallel to the jetty again, gradually gaining speed. It would pass the protruding end of the jetty's L in a moment.

With the right timing, he could jump.

Screw landing in water again.

Sonic fumbled the knife into one of his pockets, bouncing on his feet and backing up on the short end of the jetty. Then he took off.

He reached the edge just as the plane was passing through, digging his soles into the jetty's wooden rim and propelling himself off and across the water headfirst. His angle was good, but the plane kept accelerating. At this rate he was going to hit its side with nothing to hold on to, then smack right into the rear wing.

Aw, crap. This was gonna hurt.

…Unless he could bounce off and land on top of the float fast enough.

Sonic stretched his hands and feet out in front of him, bracing for impact. He hit the side of the plane on all fours, clinging to it for a tiny moment until the difference in his and the plane's velocity registered and he began to peel off again. He nudged himself towards the float below, surrounded by gushing water.

The plane began lifting off and his soles hit the float's surface faster than he'd anticipated. A spray of water splashed into his face, throwing him off balance, then he was dunked into the sea below and everything went blank.

At this point I don't think this is the kind of fic that works well with cliffhangers, but it was hard to pass this one up :b.