Sonichero: Thanks for the reviews :D. English is not my native language, so it's doubly nice to hear that I'm doing well. Tails is gonna show up, but much later (as will most of the characters, actually). I had a bit too much fun thinking about Sonic being stuck alone on Earth, so it's gonna be a while ^^;.

This one is quite long. Have fun :)!

Chapter 5: I Wanna See the Dinosaurs!

Sonic had made it into the center of the city in no time, now running at an easy pace across the rooftops—just fast enough to have enough momentum for the jumps between buildings, and slow enough to have his mind free for thinking about something else. The massive buildings not only made for a nice obstacle course (and a cool view) but also kept him relatively out of sight. …Although he probably shouldn't have whooped when he leapt across that four-lane road some ways back.

He'd spent half of the morning digging through his memory again, trying to come up with some place to start looking for Star Posts. On Mobius they were just there —remnants of another time. The only thing he remembered was, when back home the Star Post had just geared up out of nowhere, he'd felt a strange surge. As if it had tried to suck in all the energy from its surroundings and pooled it up inside the sphere on its top. It seemed like a real struggle. But that wasn't much of an insight. Star Posts consumed energy—big deal.

There was just… something odd about this planet when it came to Chaos energy. There was plenty, he could sense that much—not that he knew what it felt like when it wasn't there entirely—but it still seemed to behave differently in some way. The island he'd been on should've teemed with rings. It was far enough out, lots of plants and not too much wildlife (or people…)—just the kind of place where excess Chaos began to 'manifest' in ring form. But he hadn't found a single one… Had the Star Post just drawn in all the excess when it activated? Had he just left the island too early and not given the area enough time to recover for it to work again…?

But then, if it took so much energy, how would the Star Posts right in the middle of Metropolis or Casino Night ever have worked, where the plant-life-people-balance was pretty much a lasting issue? It just didn't make sense.

Man, trying to think on a basically empty stomach was such a waste.

There was still that one vision to mull over, though. Some egg-shaped dude walking around in a cave sparkling with Emerald shards. By now Sonic had no doubt that the shape he'd seen back there was one of the aliens from this planet. Even if the guys that had flown the plane hadn't been of any help in matters of 'Star Post', there obviously had to be someone with knowledge. Could he figure out who the guy was? He really had to find a way to communicate somehow—preferably without them starting to whip out ropes and brooms at some point.

…Piece of cake.

Sonic leapt off the ledge of a gravel-covered roof, dropped about two stories down and caught himself in a roll. Then he sprinted sideways up the wall of another building and wall-jumped further up until he emerged on a huge but empty roof paved like a gigantic terrace. He had no idea why those guys wasted so much space with virtually nothing when they could've just put some gardens up here. But at least this way he didn't accidentally run into people.

From the roof's edge Sonic had a good view on a four-lane crossroads that was filled with people, vehicles and all sorts of noises. At first glance he felt like standing above a city to the far east, but the differences sank in almost the same moment. Like, how the people down there only looked as diverse as they did because they wore layers upon layers of clothes, or how the cars seemed to emit a constant muted drone that he only knew from planes or old work machines.

A blue and white vehicle started pushing its way through the traffic, turning on flickering blue lights in intervals. It apparently got impatient after a moment and switched to a shrill siren, shoving past the cars in its way and racing off into another part of the city. It was probably some kind of police.

Opposite, a large yellow bus came to a halt beside the road, and a bunch of samey-aged people piled out. When the bus left they got an announcement from a gray-haired man, who then ushered them along the road to some unknown destination. Apparently even aliens couldn't escape school. Heh.

Sonic's eyes wandered back to where the bus had stopped. The small shelter had some kind of advertising on its side, and something about the combination of red and blue on the poster caught his eye. It was probably just his one-track mind working overtime, but he had to go and check it out anyway. Sonic rounded the housetop and took a run-up for a leap across the road and to the neighboring building slightly below. On the other side his momentum carried him across a parapet down to an even lower roof that picked a really lousy moment to inform him it was actually a parking lot. The moment his feet touched the ground he scrambled out of sight into the space between two cars at the edge of the roof.

He crouched, taking a peek underneath both cars to check if someone was passing by. The parking lot looked positively deserted and he straightened up again with a huff, momentarily irritated with himself. It didn't matter if anyone saw him, did it? So why did he feel like having to be on guard all the time? He'd be gone in a breeze anyway.

In a way, he knew the answer already. To him, it was perfectly clear that there wasn't much of a difference between himself and the people living here. But if they really weren't used to seeing other sentient species, it probably took them some time to figure out the same thing for themselves. Especially if he couldn't just talk to them. Man, this was gonna suck.

From the car beside him a pair of tiny hands curled around the rim of the open passenger window. They belonged to a black-haired kid who was now poking its head out and began studying him with comparatively large eyes. It was probably the first one of their species that didn't look taller than Sonic himself…

»Who're you?« she asked.

Sonic opened his mouth for a response then closed it again, stifling a groan. Nope, talking to kids wasn't gonna work either.

She stuck her arm out and tried again, apparently. »I'm Emily.«

He stared at her outstretched hand. Was he supposed to do something? Oh, right, those guys on TV had been shaking hands all the time. Whatever worked. He edged closer and gently took her hand into three of his fingers, pausing for a moment. She squeezed a little, then let go again, grinning a tiny-toothed grin.

Someone approached the car and Sonic tensed. The girl followed his gaze and watched for a moment while the someone in question opened the trunk and began putting stuff inside. The girl spun back and put a finger to her lips, wide-eyed.

Sonic grinned.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "I gotta leave now, anyways. Nice meeting you."

He gave her a curt wave, then took off across the low railing behind him, crossing the narrow gap to the next building's lower roof.

At least communication wasn't entirely hopeless.

#

From his new vantage point on another roof and between a bunch of tubes and vents Sonic had a clean look at the poster on the side of the bus stop. It showed what looked like a historical artwork of the intersection he'd watched before from above—and the bus stop was replaced by a Star Post of all things.

Sometimes he really had more luck than brains.

…Or…not. Because the bus stop in its place meant that the Star Post wasn't there anymore.

Sonic sat down and crossed his arms, somehow torn between feeling lucky and feeling frustrated. Now he knew that the Star Post on the island hadn't been the only one. But now he also knew that those things could be found virtually anywhere, just like back home.

There were a bunch of markings in one of the poster's corners that looked like a description or an address of sorts. But it wasn't like those symbols meant anything to him. At some point (preferably at night) he probably had to try and 'ask' someone about it. Until then though, he could try to get lucky.

…And figure out where to find something to eat on the way.

#

Sonic stomped through a patch of green in another residential area, muttering under his breath. He'd spent some time scouting the city for more hints on that Star Post but found nothing. Then, when he also hadn't managed to find anything to eat, it had taken him the rest of the day to make his way out of the city center again. Not because he was lousy at finding his way (he was actually pretty good at that), but because unlike in the morning there were people frickin' everywhere. He could cover a lot of ground staying on roofs, but the further out he got, the further apart the buildings were—with roads pretty much everywhere in-between. Whenever he passed by the odd patch of green, he waited for a quiet moment to check it out, but apparently parks and backyards weren't the kind of places those guys went to grab something to eat either, so he'd been completely out of luck. At least most of the taller buildings had water hoses on their roofs, otherwise he'd been this close to just hopping down and stealing drinks from the hands of passerbys, which… did work sometimes. But most of the time, whatever he grabbed ended up as a pile of glop.

Maybe this was just the moment for him to start practicing…

He found another backyard to pick some greens from, but he simply couldn't get as excited about vegetables again as he had the day before— especially not when there was this stupid scent in the air. Someone around the neighborhood was having a barbecue—or whatever those people had. And the smell of grilled meat was frickin' everywhere. He needed to find a place to sleep, but he needed to find the source of that scent first and then get as far away from it as possible.

Sonic ran both hands across his face, groaning with frustration.

He was going to take the whole fricking grill if he had to.

#

Sonic found the place and made it to their roof, now vaguely hidden as he leaned back in the shade of one of its corners.

It was a full-fledged garden party going on below—a good thirty people chatting, eating, and drinking around a pool that nobody used. The grill in question stood at the far end of the garden in front of a relatively high fence and tormented him with its scent whenever the guy in front of it lifted the lid. If anyone was going to point him out up here, it was going to be because of his growling stomach.

The people down there looked young-ish—as far as Sonic could tell anyway—which didn't exactly help him in judging their reaction. But he was fairly sure there'd be enough time for them to actually have one if he decided to get down and raid the grill. The party was kind of crowded, and the fence behind the grill was too tall for him to just reach across from the other side. Also, there was a (currently unoccupied) pool not too far from it. A stupid pit filled with lots of stupid water you couldn't even drink. He'd rather have some space between it and himself.

A clang snapped him out of his thoughts. A bit to his right, at the lowest part of the roof and facing the pool, someone was putting up a ladder. It began to tremble slightly.

A bunch of partiers turned their heads, some cheering or raising their cups. One of them, a girl with a haircut that couldn't decide between long and short, pointed a fist-sized, shiny gadget in the general direction of the ladder. It was probably another camera. Sonic unconsciously edged further into the roof's shade. Had they pointed him out or what?

A hand emerged from below the roof, then another holding a cup partly spilling its drink. The climber seemed to talk to someone below as he slowly approached the rooftop, then he turned around and immediately locked eyes with Sonic.

The guy screamed as if he'd gotten his tail under a rock.

Sonic dug his feet into the roof and made a dash for the ridge. He flipped across, slid down the other side and landed softly on the lawn below. Then he sped across the empty street and was on top of the opposite house in an eye-blink.

After a few moments, two figures emerged from the shadow of the house across. One of them didn't seem to wear any pants.

It was the guy who'd been on the ladder before, followed by the girl with the camera. He was pacing and looking around while she only stared at the screen in her hands. She seemed pretty puzzled. And when the guy went to look at the screen with her, they shared a series of frustrated shrugs and head-shakes.

A third one made it to the street and looked around for a bit, then he imitated the guy's shriek and broke down on the sidewalk in a fit of laughter.

Sonic rolled onto his back with a groan. Now he had to wait forever for them to calm down again. If he went over now, they'd probably even manage to film him properly, and he wasn't too eager to show up on their version of the internet before gaining at least some confidence about having ended up here.

Maybe there'd be leftovers in the morning. No decent party ended with people cleaning up afterward. Right…?

#

Sonic awoke covered in a sheet of chilly morning mist. He was still on the other roof, a dim haze shrouding the entire neighborhood. The world was still asleep.

He peeled himself off the shingles and gently shook the dampness out of his fur and muscles. Waking up before the sun could warm you up was definitely one of the downsides of spending the night in the open. Sonic stretched, stifling a yawn, then descended onto the lawn in front of the house. The house opposite looked just as asleep as the others.

Sonic took a breath, then simply walked across the street and into the other home's backyard.

The place was only a minor mess—someone had obviously tried to pick up the trash afterward—but the most important thing was still there: the grill. He gave the pool a wide berth and went to lift the grill's lid. A rough, warm scent of coal and spice wafted out and he could almost feel it settle on his tongue. But the grillage was empty.

Chaos! Sonic resisted the urge to cry out, clenching his teeth. Why'd they have to clean it all up?

He gave the place another look. On a flimsy looking table nearby (an actual table table this time…) were tipped over cups, smudged paper plates, dirty tissues and whatever still lying around, but not one fricking bit of anything that looked edible.

His gaze fell on a large bin by the side of the grill. All the half-eaten bits and perfectly grilled leftovers were probably in there. But he wasn't desperate enough to dig in someone's trash already, was he? Sonic's face pulled into a grimace.

…He could take a look, at least…

The upper half of the bin was filled up with a puffed up, semi-clear plastic bag. It looked as if someone had just shoved all the easy to grab stuff into it then tied it up—clearly nothing he wanted to dig deeper into. Next came a bunch of dirty tissues which he gingerly picked up and dropped beside the bin. He paused at a silver and yellow-ish bag that still looked half-full, but then his attention got drawn to a crumpled stack of newspaper sheets that still held a white piece of meat in them. It had the tell-tale stripes of a hot grill iron—just what he'd hoped for. Sonic pulled it out with the care of a jeweler, weighing it in his hands. He spread the paper and took a tentative smell at the meat cradled inside. It seemed well enough. Then he tried to shift it and it kept sticking to the paper like glue. The underside was still raw.

"Oh, come on," he groaned. He tossed the bundle back into the bin, ready to dump his stupid idea with it, then caught a glimpse of the paper's backside. It showed a bunch of banners, one of them looking exactly like the image he'd seen at the bus stop. Beside the banners was the photo of a building and a strange, slim tower he thought he recognized after spending the day in the city. Sonic reached back into the bin and peeled the sheet from the rest of the newspaper, not touching the meat.

Behind him, something clattered to the ground and Sonic spun, fist clenching around the paper. On the other side of the pool beneath a roofed niche stood a young-ish guy with messed-up hair frozen in mid-crouch. His eyes were glued on Sonic while he blindly felt for some object on the ground. He held some white stick between the fingers of his other hand.

Eventually the guy got hold of the thing he'd dropped and rose again, but only just enough to stay on Sonic's eye level. He stood there, hunched over and chewing on his lips, apparently trying to find something to say. After a moment he settled on a drawn-out, doubtful »Hello?«

Sonic let out the air he'd been holding in and rolled his eyes. He really wasn't in the mood for dealing with one of those freaks right now—especially not before getting some frickin' food into himself. His stomach had probably turned the size of a cashnut by now.

…He wouldn't mind having some of those now, though.

Sonic shook his head and turned around. In his mind he'd already scaled the fence, but then his eyes got drawn to the small, shiny bag in the bin and he reached to grab it before he took off through the neighborhood.

#

He was far out on a hill and by the edge of a forest when he relaxed again and sat down on a patch of grass. He put the bag at his side and un-crumpled the piece of paper still in his hands: An image of a square-ish building and a slender tower next to a row of banners. He could find the place again, pretty sure. Couldn't be too hard to find the Star Post once he was there.

Sonic stuck the sheet into his pocket and picked up the bag again, carefully opening it. A strong, spicy scent wafted out and prickled his nose fiercely enough he had to turn his head. Either the stuff was really intense, or he'd been way too long without spices. Hopefully it was just the latter.

He reached inside and pulled out a single, thin chip. When he put it into his mouth it almost stung his tongue and he had to blink away a couple of tears welling up. This definitely wasn't supposed to happen. But then the spice waned, and the chip turned starchy in his mouth and he realized he'd already put another one in without thinking. He could get used to this.

The bag was gone far too quickly and Sonic lay down in the still somewhat damp grass, staring into a brightening sky and idly running his tongue along his teeth. He could've done with a toothbrush ages ago, and those chips hadn't exactly made it any better. Hopefully he could at least find a stream or a spring or something before going back again. But he'd have to make himself familiar with the surroundings sooner or later, anyway—especially if the city area only left him with plundering vegetable beds.

The line of trees was enough to assure him that the area he'd ended up at had a whole different climate than the island. Instead of being short and gnarly, the trees were tall and strong, and the grass had rich soil underneath, unlike the sandy earth on the island. It was close to what he was used to from home, which meant there'd be a whole different range of plants around—which also meant he had to figure out which ones were edible all over again… But then there were probably also animals other than fish and birds around, and that meant he could increase his chances of finally finding one of the 'could bear to kill'-variety.

Maybe today was hunting-, not gathering-time for a change.

#

Sonic knew he was a lousy tracker. But he also knew how to make up for it: randomly bursting into a group of critters and giving chase (or being chased…) afterward. There was nothing on Mobius that could match his speed on its own feet, and it looked as if this planet didn't stand much of a chance either.

Now he had his arms wrapped around a wriggling, fluffy bundle of fur that suspiciously looked like a bunny, and he struggled to shift himself into a sitting position without losing his grip. When he finally held the creature in his lap it began to calm down somewhat, sniffing curiously as he tentatively ran a hand through its fur. Sonic was ready to hold it tight if it tried to escape.

But now what? He had go get that bunny dead before he could eat it, obviously…

He had a knife, alright. But he couldn't just stab the animal with it, could he? Was the head a good spot? Or the throat? That'd make a mess. He was probably supposed to break its neck first then use the knife to cut it open afterward, right…?

Sonic adjusted his grip, licking his lips in concentration. The bunny looked at him with beady eyes, tilted its head, then snuggled into his lap.

Sonic let his head hang with a sigh and loosened his hold. How was he supposed to do this? He loved meat. Meat was awesome. Apparently though, he still wasn't desperate enough to provide himself with it by his own hand. He felt like a frickin' hypocrite now.

The creature stayed in his lap for a while, then jumped to its feet, took a look around, and darted away. Sonic's gaze stayed glued to the bush it had disappeared into until he positively stared through. He should've taken the semi-raw piece of meat from the bin and roasted it into an edible state himself. Now he was back to nuts and berries again—at least until he got really desperate. And that'd better not happen before he found a way back home.

#

When night came Sonic made it back into the city, now lurking on top of a box-shaped building that belonged to a roughly u-shaped complex surrounding a wide inner yard the size of a sports field. Towards its entrance—a now closed-off gate—stood a couple of tall, arched structures that softly illuminated several pathways leading through and across a shallow pool that took up most of the yard's ground.

If the bright, wiry tower nearby was any indication, this was the place he'd seen in the paper. There were even a couple of banners hanging on the outside walls that had the same style as the one he'd seen, though none of them showed a Star Post.

The complex itself was dark, but some of the buildings had tall enough windows for the surrounding city lights to shine through. Sonic had seen the vague shapes of several stands and displays inside and figured the place had to be a museum or an exhibition of some kind. But from outside he had no way of telling whether the Star Post was in there or not. He had to find a way inside.

A couple of doors seemed to lead into the buildings from the inner yard, but he'd be surprised if any of them were open. Not that it hurt to try, though…

From the inner yard below came the metallic click of a lock unlatching, followed by a creak and something scraping against the ground. There were footsteps and some shuffling until it was quiet again. Sonic leaned over the roof's ledge.

A guy in what looked like a uniform came out of the building and sat down on a stone bench on the pathway leading towards the door Sonic couldn't see. He ignited what was apparently a cigarette that soon began to fill the air with a faint, stinging scent. Then he pulled something from a belt pouch and flipped it open. He pushed a bunch of buttons and held it to his ear, waiting. After a moment, he began talking quietly.

Sonic craned his neck some more. The door the guy had come from stood wide open and there were a good a couple of paces between him and the door. He also sat there with his back turned towards Sonic, giving him a chance to get in there and zip out of sight before the guard even got to his feet. Sonic shrugged. "That works."

He skipped over to the spot right above the door, flung himself over the edge of the roof, slid down the building's beveled front, and swung into the tall opening.

Then he crashed into a stack of bulky stuff like a wrecking ball, toppling it over and landing on the ground with it in a heap. Sonic threw his arms in front of his already stinging face, but nothing else came.

…Aside from frickin' guard guy, of course. Somewhere in the corner of his eye, Sonic noticed him jump up, fumbling to get his phone back into his pocket.

Sonic clambered to his feet, eyes adjusting to the dim room. He was in a large hall filled with numerous tables that had chairs stacked on top (minus one now, anyway…). It looked like a cafeteria or restaurant of some sort. At the far end to his left a faint green glow pointed to an open doorway further inside. Good enough. Guard guy flicked on a torch.

Sonic evaded the light, slipping through the open doorway and into an even larger hall filled with all sorts of displays and constructs that were faintly illuminated by the outside lights. There was another exit marked with a green glow at the other end of the hall and a dim light that guided down a flight of stairs at the center. Not much time to take in the displays, though—guard's torch already bounced through the cafeteria. Sonic began weaving past the displays, scanning for anything vaguely shaped like a Star Post on his way, but nothing caught his eye. He emerged in the opposite hall before Guard had even passed the first doorway.

The guy's voice came from behind. It sounded as if he was trying really hard to sound commanding and collected—not that it made a difference. But hey, the guy could keep doing that. Didn't hurt if Sonic knew where he was currently stalking around.

The hall Sonic had entered was dimmer than the one before. Most light came through a wide, windowed door facing the inner yard. He could make out the outlines of several pedestal-supported displays around, but it wasn't enough to actually see what was in them without getting close. But then the Star Post wouldn't fit inside one of those anyway.

A circle of empty space at the center of the room drew him close. Above, a huge globe hung from the ceiling, illuminated by dimmed lamps set into the floor. It turned out to be display of their globe, of course. Sonic couldn't help but pause to stare at it.

At first glance, everything looked familiar, but then it just looked wrong … Sonic was sure he'd seen a map of the planet before at home, but even in the dim light he could tell that this one had a ton more detail than what he knew. He rounded it, staring up from below, then rounded it a second time, trying not to feel queasy. This was where he was now. He had to make sure his stay was short.

Guard guy had reached the doorway and Sonic reflexively ducked behind one of the panels, inwardly cursing. Good job wasting all that time ogling—now he had to check out the rest of the room while dodging the guy's light. Sonic slipped from display to display until he'd reached the far end of the room where he spotted an open double door leading to yet another hall. But he wasn't done in this one yet. Some exhibit about space seemed to be the kind of spot you'd find a Star Post at.

Guard guy approached, and Sonic waited for him to come close before speed-sneaking to the other end of the hall again. He wanted the guy to be as far from that double door as possible when he eventually passed through. No Star Post in sight, though. Yet.

Sonic paused in front of a semi-circular railing that had several differently sized spheres lined up on top. He didn't need to be a genius to realize that it was a display of the solar system. He counted.

Ten.

Ten was good. Ten meant Mobius had to be common knowledge around here and not some kind of conspiracy theory.

But what did they know? And why was Mobius at the fourth spot and not in line with Lum, anyway? Sonic got to the first half of the display and gently turned the fourth of the spheres on its pointy mount. Its print didn't have a lot of detail, but Mobius' stretched-out main continent was clearly recognizable. He really wanted to know what that placard underneath said right now.

Behind him the torchlight grew dimmer, and Sonic turned to take a look, frowning. Guard guy stood inside the other doorway, shape sharply illuminated by the light he aimed into the other room. His occasional calls had turned into annoyed muttering along the way.

This wasn't where the guy was supposed to go. Sonic put one hand around the first planet of the row, then spun it, touching each of the rest along the way. The noise was enough to startle the guy, torch honing in on the spot Sonic just stood at. Sonic heard the guy's steps approach as he ducked behind another panel.

Sonic rounded the room again on silent feet then slipped into the other hall. It opened up to his left, filled with large panels, model buildings, and even a plane hanging from the ceiling, looking like a one-winged Tornado minus the red paint job. Through the tall windows came enough light to scan most of the rest of the displays from afar, and Sonic didn't need to check twice to recognize the shape at the hall's other end.

He jogged over, then reminded himself to pause a couple of steps in front of the Star Post's display. It stood on some kind of broad pedestal in front of a curved panel that showed all sorts of info as well as an artwork of the intersection the Post was apparently meant to visually add into (ignoring proportions). Sonic took a few careful steps closer, ready for the thing to take over his vision again, but nothing seemed to happen no matter how close he got. …Not that he was surprised.

For all he knew they'd unearthed the Star Post and put it here. Chances were it wasn't going to work normally anymore.

…Whatever 'working normally' was, anyway.

He let his gaze wander across the curved panel. The leftmost half showed a rough map, probably the city grounds, and a couple of grainy photos of people digging something up. In the map's center was a marked spot along with some of the usual foreign text. By its side, a large schematic showed a drawing of the Star Post above ground, and a maze of bars and struts below, reaching straight into the ground like a drill. They went down at least twenty times the height of the Post where a bunch of markers pointed to different parts of the construct. Next to them, in a mounted glass container of some sort, a couple of actual pieces of the Post's 'roots' were on display. Either those guys knew exactly what they were doing, or the Star Post definitely didn't work anymore.

At the right-most end of the display was another map, apparently showing part of the continent. Sonic recognized its roughly triangular shape from the large globe in the hall before, but this one had markers. An arrow pointed to a place on the continent's western coast, accompanied by another little drawing of the intersection. It gave him a rough idea where he'd ended up at.

There were more than a dozen other spots marked on the map, each with a small drawing by their side. A river, some tall trees, a gigantic waterfall, another city, a mountain— He paused.

Mountains.

That seemed like a good place to start. The person he'd seen in his vision had been in a cave after all. The closest spot in the mountains had the drawing of a distinctive, u-shaped crag by its side—definitely something he'd recognize when he got there. But first—

Sonic climbed on top of the pedestal, then wrapped his fingers around one of the struts of the Post's bottom cage. It gave way almost instantly, and he barely needed more than one finger to spin it.

Nothing happened.

Sonic watched the cage come to a halt again, deflating slightly. He had been prepared to become disappointed, sort of, but, well…

The flashlight honed in on him and Sonic shielded his eyes, slowly facing the guard. The guy gaped at him, then inched closer, one hand raised in a calming gesture.

"Hey," Sonic said before the guy could decide on anything further. "Just checking out that Star Post over here. No need to freak out, I'll be going now." He hopped off the pedestal, ready to head for one of the doors.

Guard frowned, following Sonic's movement with his torch and the kind of expression that fought between confusion and the distinct feeling of 'crap, I have to do something'. Then his eyes became drawn to the windowed doors facing the inner yard. Sonic automatically looked the same way, spotting three figures hanging out at the center of one of the footbridges that crossed the pond covering about half of the yard outside.

The guard groaned. »Man, this gotta be the shittiest night ever.« He stomped towards the door with new-found focus, threw it open, then began marching towards the footbridge, midway stashing the torch and pulling out a nightstick instead.

Apparently, dealing with those guys was more important than an actual alien running around in your museum.

Sonic's feet carried him into the shade by the open doorway while something at the back of his mind tried to inform him that this was the moment he was supposed to take off, not linger around and give the guard a chance to change his mind. But it couldn't hurt knowing how this one guy was gonna deal with three others of his kind first.

The group on the bridge, one short-haired guy in a hoodie, a bald guy in an enormous vest, and a long-haired girl in some kind of leather jacket, seemed pretty unfazed. Each of them opened a can, raised them above their heads, and chinked them against each other. Then Vest saluted the approaching guard and took a sip. Guard held his stick low, walking steady now, and probably gave his best impression of somebody who had stuff under control. Whatever he called out to those three, though, they didn't seem to care. Hoodie-guy offered him a drink.

Guard ignored him and kept talking. »—Guys, I'm not gonna repeat myself. You can't stay here, so don't make stuff complicated. I'll let you out and we can forget about this.«

Hood gave him what looked like a ridiculous pout, withdrawing the drink. »Aww… come on. We're just going to check this place out for a while. Why don't you let us inside instead?«

»Yeaah,« the girl chimed in. »I wanna see the dinosaurs!«

Guard drew a strained breath through his nose, keeping his voice steady. »If you keep loitering on the premises, I'll have to call the police. You're trespassing.«

Hood lifted his finger as if to make an important announcement. »In that case,« he let the words linger for am moment. »We'll have to hurry. Let's go!«

He made for a jog, but guard stepped into his path. »Guys, I'm serious.« He tightened his grip on the stick.

Hood came to a halt again, slumping slightly. »Dude, she wants to see the dinosaurs. Don't be an ass.« It sounded unnecessarily dramatic. Maybe that wasn't the first drink they'd had.

Guard put one hand against the other's chest. »Listen—« he began. Then Vest stepped in and put a fist to his face. Sonic grimaced.

Guard dropped to the ground like a wet sack. The three exchanged confused glances, Vest still admiring his fist, then he burst out into laughter. Hood grinned and shrugged. He stepped across the guard and began jogging towards the door. The girl let out a cheer and followed, tugging the one in the vest behind her when she passed him.

Sonic ran a hand across his face and retreated a tad further into the hall. Apparently this was the moment he found out whether 'a bit of momentum' really was enough to deal with one of those guys. He stretched.

The three approached the hall, still snickering, but went quiet the moment they stepped through the doorway. They took in the room for a while, then Hood beckoned them to follow.

Sonic stepped onto the pathway, thumbing at the splayed out guard outside. "Y'know the guy's just doing his job, right?"

Hood stopped dead and his friends bumped into him from behind. »Uh?« He blinked, frozen for a moment.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Sonic was vaguely aware of the irony of a trespasser kicking out other trespassers. But hey, he would've left if the guard asked him nicely.

"Well, let's see how this goes." Sonic rolled his shoulders and charged forward, leaping into a somersault then flying feet-first into the guy's chest where he kicked himself off and and landed back on the ground with a casual back-flip. Hood stumbled backwards, arms flailing and throwing his friends off balance, then he tumbled to the ground between them, even rolling over twice before coming to a halt. He squirmed, yapping for air and clutching his chest. The girl hurried to his side.

Sonic flinched. "Uh, guess you guys are more breakable than you look…"

»What the hell? You little freak!«

Sonic spun at the voice. He barely had time to tense his muscles before a kick came flying towards his chest. It hit him just below the ribs, lobbed him off the ground, and dropped him on his heels again before he could even begin flailing. He tripped backwards for a couple of steps then caught himself, rubbing his midriff. Dang, this was gonna be sore for a while.

Vest stared in disbelief. »What the hell!?« he repeated, then stalked after Sonic, ready for another kick. His moves were sluggish, missing Sonic by an arms length this time. How had the guy even managed to hit him before? Well, he had to immobilize him somehow. The guy stomped towards him, then seemed to try some sort of one-legged jump kick, drink splashing from the can he still had in his hand. His aim was decent, but Sonic could practically watch the kick coming in slow-motion. He stepped into it and shoved Vest's leg to the side, sending the guy into a clumsy twirl. Then Sonic hooked his foot into the one still on the ground and the guy sprawled unceremoniously to the floor. To his credit, he'd kept the can upright.

To his other credit, he didn't waste any time getting up on his feet again. Staggering him wasn't gonna be enough.

»Hey,« the girl cried. Everyone paused.

Guard had made it back into the building and had somehow managed to grab her from behind. She writhed for a moment, then gave up with a wince. »Oh, great…«

»That's it,« guard said, now standing between both guys. He put up his best glare from a slightly swollen face.

Vest loosened his impression of a combat stance and tried to exchange a look with his friends, side-eying Sonic. Hood currently made a groaning attempt at getting on all fours, while Girl decided to stomp her heel into the guard's boot. Guard didn't even flinch, shooting her a dubious glance. Safety shoes, obviously. Guard's gaze latched on Sonic for a moment before he seemed to remember his job again.

»Yo, guys. That's it,« he repeated. »You're gonna get picked up. Gather outside.« He nodded his head towards the door.

Vest snorted. »Pff. The police isn't gonna get here this fast anyway.« He began rounding the guard somewhat carefully and headed towards Hood still on the ground beside him.

Outside by the gate a soft flicker of blue and red reflected off the tall arcs of the inner yard. Two guys in what looked like uniform stood at the other side of the gate, gesturing, then one of them began to unlock it.

Vest paused midway helping up his still hunched-over friend. »Come on. Seriously?!« He stared at the ceiling for a moment.

Guard shrugged. »Tough luck. That one was here ahead of ya.« He cocked his head towards Sonic.

Hood groaned, still doubled over and palms propped against his own thighs. »What kind of asshole pet is that anyway?« he croaked.

»Not your problem,« guard said. »Now move.«

Guard watched until Hood and Vest began trudging for the door, bickering quietly, then he steered Girl into the same direction, craning his head to face Sonic again. He jutted his chin into the general direction of another door and mouthed a couple of words. »Yo. Get off. Now's your chance.«

Wait, what?

When Sonic didn't react, the guy's gaze became a tad more intense, jumping between Sonic and the doorway to the hall he'd initially come from. Sonic grinned.

"Gotcha," he mouthed back, saluting the guy while turning to head for the doorway. He felt the guard's eyes on him for a moment longer, but kept walking until the hall quieted and all of them had passed the door to the inner yard. Sonic paused, turning around again to see a beginning discussion between the figures outside.

That had gone… weird.

All the encounters he'd had so far had felt as if they'd revolved entirely around him. But this time he'd mostly felt like just another participant… It was probably simply because those guys had been too busy with themselves rather than dealing with the fact that they were actually making 'first contact', but it was still odd… Guard even seemed like the kind of guy patient enough to reason with. If he now also knew something about that Star Post…

Sonic took a breath, turning on his heels. He passed by the dismantled Star Post again, giving the map another once-over, then back-tracked his way through the museum and scaled the roof. He settled down against a warm air-duct roughly above where the discussion went on, and began his wait until the guy was alone again.