Chapter 4: Threatening Investigation From Robotnik

After the little encounter, Tom has the unconscious Sonic Ozzy's dog cage. He gently pocks Sonic with a spatula and moves his head a little. Since the cage isn't big enough, Tom has Eve next to the cage, and one of her wrists is handcuffed to the cage. He then does the same to Sonic with the spatula. He gently pokes her head and tilts her head. Seeing that they're not waking up, Tom places the spatula down and picks up the two quills he found. He holds it in front of the caged hedgehog and sees that they're a match.

Soon, Tom makes an intriguing discovery, "The Blue Devil."

He then looks at Eve and holds the black and red color quill towards her.

And realizes, "The Red Witch."

Tom then walks to the counter and ponders on what he should do. He never expects to have met the Blue Devil and the Red Witch, and that Crazy Carl is right about them being real. While Tom is pondering, Sonic and Eve regain consciousness. Sonic then opens the cage and climbs out as Eve is able to sit up, but notices the handcuff attached to her wrist and is linked to the cage. Sonic struggles to stand up as he uses the cage for support. Once he's done with that, he helps Eve back on her feet. They're both still a little out of it from the tranquilizer gun. Tom grabs his cellphone and turns around back to the cage, but gets startled to see the two hedgehogs up. Causing him to stumble back to the counter and drop his phone.

A little out of it, Sonic says, "Donut Lord?"

"It can talk. You're not…" Tom says, flabbergasted.

Then quickly asks, "You're not here to abduct me, are you?"

Eve narrows her eyes and says, "No. We're not. In fact, this is the opposite."

"You abducted US!" Sonic adds.

"Okay, that's a fair point," Tom replies.

Then asks, "What are you? Why were you hiding out in my garage?"

"We needed somewhere safe. And you're the only person I could think of, Donut Lord," Sonic answers.

"Why do you keep calling me Donut Lord?" Tom asks.

"'Cause you talk to donuts and then eat them if they get out of line," Sonic says.

"Which we find funny," Eve adds.

"Again, fair," Tom replies.

Suddenly, Sonic notices, Wait, wait, wait. Where are all the mushrooms? Why am I still on Earth? What is-"

He soon notices, "Oh, no! I lost my Rings!"

"What?!" Tom says, confused.

Eve sighs and says, "He's talking about a small satchel full of rings. I vaguely remember Sonic trying to open the ring to make a portal and you shot us both with a gun and got knocked out," and Eve doesn't sound happy with it.

"Oh right," Tom says, realizing what he did.

"Yeah," Eve says.

She then lifts her handcuffed wrist, "And I appreciate it you get this off of me. I promise I won't do anything harm to you."

"Oooookay," Tom says, reluctant.

Tom then brings out the key and uncuffs her, and rubs her wrist. Tom calms down a bit because Eve is living by her words.

Suddenly, Tom and the two hedgehogs hear a sound of a vehicle approaching outside. That vehicle is Dr. Robotnik's truck

Tom begins to ask, "What's happening? Is this your mother ship? I'm not in the mood to get probed."

"You think you're worried? I'm not even wearing pants!" Sonic says, worried.

Eve says, "This is serious bro, and that doesn't sound like a mothership. It sounds like a truck."

Tom walks towards the curtains and moves it aside to see Robotnik's truck parked outside, "What the…"

Sonic and Eve look outside as well, and quickly cover the windows with the curtains.

Sonic panics, "They're coming for us!

"Who's coming for you? What does that got to do with me?" Tom asks, panicking.

"We don't have time to explain, but you have to help us!" Sonic says.

"No, I don't! Why?" Tom questions.

"Well, my legs, which normally would be classified as lethal weapons, feel like spaghetti," Sonic says.

"Same with my arm. I mean, I can use my legs and my other arm, but it will be difficult for me to fight without both of them," Eve adds.

She sighs and says, "The point is we really need your help."

"Please. It's life or death," Sonic says.

Tom looks at the two hedgehogs, then back to the window.

With that, Tom decides, "Fine. Come with me."

Tom then walks out while Eve jumps off the table to the floor. Sonic tries to walk, but falls faceplants on the floor after falling down from the table.

"Uh, little help?" Sonic says.

Eve sighs and picks up Sonic, "Come on."

Then carries Sonic and follows Tom.

Outside of the house, Robotnik kneels down to examine more footprints on the dirt. He lifts his hand over the two prints to have them scanned. Then moves his finger around and to the palm of his hand.

Back in the house, Tom is able to have Sonic and Eve in the attic.

"All right, stay here. And be quiet," Tom says.

"Good plan. Great plan! We're already working so well together! Practically finishing each other's sentences," Sonic says.

Eve covers Sonic's mouth, "Sonic!" then removes his mouth.

Then softly says, "We need to be quiet or he'll find us."

Tom then walks downstairs, closing the attic door on his way out.

"Okay, bye," Sonic says.

Eve whispers to Sonic, "I hope he'll be alright."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Sonic says.

Outside, Robotnik is still looking around.

Till he hears Tom call out, "Hello there! Can I help you?"

Robotnik turns to see Tom at the doorway, and walks over.

Robotnik walks over the doorsteps and says, "Good morning, my rural chum. I'm… from the power company, investigating the blackout."

Then quickly walks up the steps, "If you don't mind, I'd like to take a few readings inside your house?"

"No kidding! You're from the power company? You must know my buddy Spencer. We play softball together," Tom says.

Deciding to play along, Robotnik says, "Ah, Spence. He's a good man."

"Yeah. Come on in!" Tom says, allowing him inside.

"Great," Robotnik says.

Robotkin trots up the stairs and onto the porch as Tom says, "Take all the readings you need. Except,"

Tom then blocks Robotnik from entering, "doesn't the power company usually take their readings from outside the house? That way they can check them even if you're not home. Also, my buddy Spencer works for the gas company, and he's more of an Ultimate Frisbee guy. So, you want to tell me why you think I'm dumb enough to just let you walk inside my house?"

Robotnik then puts one hand behind his back and uses his glove control to send a few of his drones to search the house. Meanwhile, Robotnik and Tom continue to have the conversation.

"I'm sorry, Mister…" Robotnik replies.

"Wachowski. But everyone just calls me Tom," Tom answers.

Then says, "Except my dentist, he calls me Tim. But it's gone on for so long that it would be weird if I corrected him."

"Well, Tom Whose Dentist Calls Him Tim, you may have noticed that this entire town has been experiencing a power outage," Robotnik responds.

"Yep, no lights. Picked up on that," Tom says.

Then Robotnik explains, "Twenty minutes ago, I tracked a couple of energy pulses with similar signatures to the one that caused this disruption."

As the two men talk, Robotnik's drones continue to search the house. One of them finds their way into the house through an open window into the attic. Soon, it begins to scan the attack. Still hiding, Sonic and Eve see the drone scanning the area and are doing their best to stay out of sight.

Back outside, Tom says, "Listen, Mister-"

"Doctor. Dr. Robotnik. But my dentist calls me Rob," Robotnik says.

"Look, uh, Dr. Robotskeez," Tom says, "Um, I'm sure what you're here for is very serious, but it's got nothing to do with me. You can ask anyone in town. Everyone knows me."

"-I bet they do. I'm sure you're hella popular with the Jebs and the Merles and Billy Bobs in this glorified gas-station rest stop. Betcha go way back to the days of tippin' cows and playin' in a jug band!" Robotnik says.

Then imitates a jug band player.

And says, "And maybe someday you'll achieve your goal of getting a Costco card or adopting a Labradoodle. But the reality is, I surpassed everything you're ever going to do… before I was a toddler. I was spitting out formulas while you were still spitting up formulas."

"I was breastfed, actually," Tom says.

"Nice. Rub that in my orphan face," Robotnik says, though and signs of being offended.

Then questions, "Mr. Wachowski, are you familiar with US Code 904, Title 10, Article 104?"

"Yeah, who isn't-" Tom says.

Robotnik interrupts, ""Anyone who attempts to aid an enemy of the United States shall suffer death." And if I'm the one who catches you, it'll be even worse."

"Worse than death?" Tom questions.

Meanwhile, back in the attic, Sonic and Eve are both curled up and are hiding in a pile of balls close by. They try to blend in with the others to avoid being detected.

"Okay, I'm a ball, just a normal ball. I'm blending in like a ball," Sonic softly says.

Eve whispers, "Shh, stop talking."

Sonic whispers back, "No, you stop talking."

Then Eve, "Be quiet, Sonic."

"No YOU be quiet Eve!" Sonic whispers back.

"Oh, I hope they aren't scanning me with X-rays. I had a kind of an embarrassing lunch," Sonic says to himself.

Eve then rolls her eyes in reply.

Then, another scanner flies into the attack and begins to scan the area. Soon, they both are getting close to the blue ball, and the black and red ball.

"Don't freak out. Don't freak out, don't freak out," Sonic softly says to himself.

The scanners soon get closer, "Don't freak out, don't freak out."

Just before the scanner can reach them, Sonic panics, "I'm freaking out!"

Sonic then leaps out of his hiding place as he pushes Eve. and they both fumble out of the attack and roll down the stairs. Soon, the two also roll down the other staircase leading to the lower floor of the house.

Sonic panics, "Why don't you have your staircase carpeted?!"

"That's the least of our worries," Eve says.

Soon, they both roll into the kitchen and bump into the counter.

Meanwhile, tom and Robotnik are still at the door way

"Compared to what I-" Robotnik says, but stops to hear the noise.

Both Robotnik and Tom look for the source of the noise.

Tom then says, "Old pipes."

"Yeah. Probably just the house settling. Nothing to see here!" Robotnik says.

He then pushes Tom and rushes into the house to find the source of the noise.

Tom follows after him, "Hey!"

Soon, the two find a raccoon on the top of the counter and chomping away at the cake.

"Here's the thing. I'm never wrong," Robotnik says.

Tom then pats Robotnik on the shoulder, "Well, first time for everything, I guess."

Tom then walks over to the counter as the racoon runs away and through the doggie door.

Then Tom asks, "Would you like some cake? I hear raccoons have the cleanest mouths of any animal that routinely eats garbage."

Robotnik chuckles a little and gives Tom a chagrined look. Then he turns away and about to leave, only to find Sonic and Eve's quills left on the table. He then picks them up and makes a sinister smirk on his face.

He then presents the quills to Tom, "Look at that. I was right."

Then waves his hand, "Note the lack of surprise."

Then make an angry expression on his face,"Shall we try this again?"

Then Robotnik whistles to a tune as another flying drone slowly flies into the house and approaches Tom. Sonic and Eve watch from underneath the counter as they see the drone approach Tom, arms his weapons, and aims them at Tom.

Robotnik strokes the quills as he's inchest close to Tom, "I'm going to give you five seconds to tell me where it is. Five."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tom says.

Robotnik says, "Four."

"Hey, tough guy. I'm a cop. And you're threatening an officer," Tom says, and brandishes his badge.

"How can you threaten somebody who never existed?" Robotnik questions.

And continues to count, "Three."

Tom continues to not say anything.

Then Robotnik says, "Come on! Rack your brain! You might be able to come up with some lame excuse to go on living, in two…"

Tom then glares at the drone.

Then Robotnik counts, "One!"

Sonic and Eve quickly rush out as Sonic calls out, "Wait! Don't hurt him!"

Seeing the two hedgehogs, Robotnik screams in fright, "AAH!"

Seeing his chance, Tom punches Robotnik in the face, knocking him down. The drone then aims towards Tom and the hedgehogs. Tom takes both of the hedgehog's hands and runs off as the drone fires at them. The drone fires its weapons everywhere, breaking objects and knocking things over as Tom and the Hedgehogs scramble for cover.

"This feels excessive!" Sonic says.

Sonic then notices the drone and has an idea.

Tom whispers, "Stay behind me."

But Tom and Eve notice Sonic is no longer with them. Then notices Sonic climbing on the shelf and prepares to commence his attack on the drone. Tom shakes his head urgently, but Sonic nods his head and gives him a smug look.

With that, Sonic jumps onto the drone, "Hiyah!"

Sonic is now on top of the drone and is in control, "Sonic: Don't worry, I got it right where I want it!"

Tom and Eve scramble for cover while Sonic is having a blast riding on the dron.

Sonic shouts with excitement, "Can you believe Amazon is gonna deliver packages with these things?!"

Just then, the drone tries to shake Sonic off.

Seeing his plan is failing, Sonic panics, "This was a horrible plan! What was I thinking?!"

Just then, Eve whispers, "I have an idea. Can you grab that thing?"

Tom notices something Eve is looking at and understands the idea.

At the same time, Sonic continues to fight the drone as Sonic screams, "I'm gonna puke!"

And Sonic falls off. Tom then grabs what looks like a round bowl and whacks the drone with it. The drone is pushed back and is able to fly, but the glass area is breaking. Suddenly, Eve jumps at it as she lifts her arm up. Then bright red energy appears on her hand to create what looks like a spear.

Eve shouts, "Take this!"

Then pierces her energized spear at the robot and pins it to the ground. Tom is shocked to see Eve is able to do that, and is stronger than she looks.

Tom snaps out of it as he picks up Sonic and takes Eve's hand, Come on! We gotta get out of here."

Tom then takes the two hedgehogs out of the house.

Sonic calls out, "Oh, don't tell me that's all you got! I'm just getting started! Let me know if you want to go round two with the blue!"

"Sonic, now's not the time!" Eve says.

Tom opens the door to his truck and puts the two hedgehogs on the passenger side. He then hurries to the front of the car, gets into the car, starts it, and begins to drive away as quickly as possible.

Soon, Agent Stone and the other agents arrive just as Tom and the two hedgehogs are getting away. Agent Stone gets out of the car as he sees the truck driving away. Agent Stone then rushes into the house and notices Robotnik on the floor.

Agent Stone then rushes to the doctor, "Doctor! Are you okay?" and helps him on his feet, "I saw a guy race out of here and thought-"

"That you should stop them? Open your mouth and say you thought that you should stop them," Robotnik says, displeased.

"No, I thought that maybe I should check to see if you were okay…!" Agent Stone explains.

But then Robotnik grabs Stone by his lower jaw and pulls him close, "You know what's hard about being the smartest person in the world?"

"Everyone else seems stupid," Stone replies.

"Stupid, yes! Way to go! You got that one," Robotnik says, and releases Agent Stone.

He then wipes his glow on Stone's coat.

He then says, determined, "Whatever these creatures are, it's our job to secure them, neutralize them, uncover the source of their power. And if they resist… we take them apart... piece by piece.

Then puts his sunglasses on, "See what makes them tick."

Then says, "Stone?"

"Doctor?" Stone says.

"Call Optical Illusions," Robotnik says, and takes off his glasses, "Tell them I need new frames."

Then tosses the glasses to the floor, "They know what kind I like."

He then walks away, but stops and says, "Oh, and bring those quills." And walks away.

"Yes, Doctor," Agent Stone says, and gets to work.