Author's note: "Have a nice, abuse-free day." Come to think of it, have I EVER had one of those? Oh well. And just to clarify, the original was deleted because it was in "script format."
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Chapter 2: How It Started
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The whole incident began one Sunday in uptown Bodopolis, as Sally, Theta, and Kelly were taking a walk together to keep their bodies in shape. "Hey, Theta," Sally asked, "did you catch the episode of Sonic X yesterday? I loved it!"
"You love EVERY episode of Sonic X," Kelly reminded Sally.
"I didn't have time, so I taped it," Theta explained. "I was too busy tinkering in my basement workshop, and after what happened last week, I know better than to leave one of my experiments unattended for more than three minutes."
"Right," Kelly responded, smirking. "Wouldn't want that to happen again. My arm is STILL sore. Hey, what say we take the path down Emerald Avenue and go by the recreation center?"
"Sure." "Okay." The girls turned left at the next intersection and walked down Emerald Avenue. As they passed the recreation center, Sally noticed someone inside. She didn't get a good look, but whoever it was had bright red hair.
Sally turned to face her sisters. "Girls, there's someone inside."
"Impossible," Theta retorted, adjusting her glasses. "The recreation center is closed on Sundays. How could anyone be in there?"
"Let's investigate," Kelly suggested. "Problem is, all the doors and windows are shut and latched. Anyone know any other ways in?"
Theta looked around. She glanced at the skylight windows inside, at Kelly, and at the edge of the roof. A gleam filled her eyes, and Sally and Kelly knew exactly what that meant. Without hesitation, Theta whispered something in Kelly's ear, then Sally's. "Yeah," Kelly agreed, "that's a great idea. Good work, Theta."
Kelly got her grappling hook out of her backpack and thrusted it at the roof's edge. It hooked perfectly. Sally went first and climbed up the grappling hook's rope. Theta went next, then Kelly. At the top, Kelly packed up her grappling hook while Theta took a trading card out of her pocket and slid it under the frame of one skylight.
Carefully but quickly, Theta slid the trading card back and forth until- CLICK!- she hit the latch and knocked it loose. She then opened the skylight, and all three sisters jumped in. They landed in the main lobby of the recreation center.
Sally spoke first. "Hey, I'm hearing odd noises from the runner's track upstairs. It's like someone's running that thing at Mach 3 or something."
"You know," Theta added, "now that you mention it, I'm noticing something odd too. The light from that skylight is being blocked in a funny way. Sally, you investigate the track. Kelly, check out the gym, where Sally saw someone earlier. I'll check out what's blocking the skylight."
The girls split up. As Sally rushed up the stairs to the runner's track, whoever or whatever was running laps dashed by again, blowing Sally's long hair into her face. "Wow, this guy is fast," she muttered as she reset her hair. "I wonder how I can stop him."
Sally acted on her first thought, and jumped in front of the unknown racer. The next she knew, she was flat on the ground with footprints all over her dress. "Mental note," she muttered, "never act on your first thought."
After getting up and moving out of the way, Sally looked around again. A fire hose was on the wall, and it looked usable. She removed it from the spool it was stored on and carried the nozzle end up to the track. At just the right moment, she ran across the track and tied the hose taut to the banister.
The little trap worked. The next time the unknown racer came around, he hit the hose, choked, and fell to the ground. Sally smirked. "Theta isn't the only one who can come up with great ideas. Now, let's see who our mystery runner is."
Sally approached the runner, and was shocked when she found out who it was. "OH MY GOODNESS! SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE YOU IN THE FLESH! THIS HAS TO BE A DREAM OR SOMETHING! I- I-" She fainted.
That's right, it was actually Sonic. He looked at the fallen Sally. "Man, this girl has some self-control issues. I'd better get her to the lobby and wake her up."
Meanwhile, Theta had reached the area right below the skylight. She started up her propeller beanie and flew up a good distance, where she settled on a windowsill. "Now, who or what might be blocking the skylight? It's time I found out."
Theta looked up, and gasped as she recognized the figure. "WHAT IN THE WORLD? IS IT REALLY YOU? TAILS? NO WAY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST A VIDEO GAME CHARACTER! I DON'T THINK I CAN-" She passed out, and fell off the sill.
Tails saw Theta fall, and caught her just in time. "I haven't seen such an excited girl since Amy first spotted Sonic. This girl has some issues. I'd better take her to the lobby and see if she's okay."
Kelly's misadventure was similar. Upon entering the gym, she heard a constant noise. She knew by the sound of things that someone was climbing the motorized climbing wall. Before she could investigate, however, Kelly's jewel radar beeped. She wandered around the room until she could find what the radar was yelling at her about.
The radar's signal was strongest when she got near the treadmill near the back. She peered under, and found something very familiar which she retrieved. "Hm, looks like a Chaos Emerald. But that's ridiculous. Why would a Chaos Emerald end up here … unless …"
Realizing the importance of what she had just found, Kelly took a quick route back to the climbing wall. She hooked the light fixture with her grappling hook and hang-glided over to the top of the wall. Looking down at the climber, Kelly's excitement got the better of her. "KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA? NO WAY! IS THIS A DREAM? I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY! I JUST-"
Kelly fainted just like her sisters. She dropped off the top of the climbing wall, fell right on top of Knuckles, and knocked him to the floor. Knuckles got up. "I don't know who this girl is, but I think I should take her to the lobby before she wakes up and goes crazy again."
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles grouped together in the lobby. Sonic spoke first. "Tails, Knuckles, you each found girls too?"
"Yeah," Tails agreed. "This is too strange to be a coincidence. Maybe they know each other."
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Maybe they do, indeed. Stay tuned!