Strangers
The warm rays of the sun blissfully shined down upon the once dreary and darkened streets of the sleeping city of Chicago. Matt yawned as he stretched out his aching limbs, blinking his flickering eyes.
The man groaned "Oh man what a night, but I wonder if".
Matt turned around and blinked as he heard another yawn, a feminine and softer sounding yawn.
"Ugh, nope, it was real" Matt said.
Metallic toes gently clicked across the floor as they approached Matt.
Bunnie yawned "Hey there sugar, you an early worm too?".
The human laughed and simply smiled at the sweet southern creature, he still couldn't believe everything that had happened to him. In one night, everything Matt knew about reality and life had changed in ways he never even thought possible. Aching muscles cracked as Matt flexed his bare feet on the cold, rough, wooden floor.
Matt smiled "Not usually, but I had a good night's sleep, the best I've had in a long time actually".
The human looked up at Bunnie and almost thought he was still dreaming, in the light, somehow, Bunnie actually appeared as attractive as the women he had always dreamed about. Matt turned his eyes away and blushed. Bunnie blinked curiously and flexed her long brown ears.
"Something wrong sugar?" Bunnie asked, innocently and sweetly as always.
Matt gulped "No, no, no it's n-n-n-n-nothing I just……was looking for my paper. Yeah, yeah, that's it, my paper".
Bunnie blinked "Your paper?"
Matt chuckled a bit "Duh, new guys in town. We have a thing here called a newspaper, it's this well……kind of packet of information that's delivered to people's houses everyday. We use it to find out news about stuff that's going on in the world, the weather, uh look for jobs. Stuff like that. The paper gets tossed out in front of everyone's driveway during the morning".
Bunnie smiled "Well didn't ya'll say so? I'll be glad to go get it for you sugar".
Matt gasped as he realized what Bunnie had meant, the cyborg girl was heading towards the outside world. Bunnie opened the door and started to exit.
"NO, wait, wait Bunnie I forgot to tell you something, you can't" Matt shouted out.
Bunnie nodded "Oh it's no problem at all silly, it's the least I can do".
Matt slapped his face and groaned watching Bunnie cheerfully skip out the door and down his front porch to the streets. The rabbit girl smiled as she spotted the white paper wrapped in plastic. That must be the paper she thought. Bunnie grabbed it and noticed another man coming out of his house to get his paper. Bunnie smiled and waved to him, flexing her cyborg arm. The man's eyes widened and he screamed before running back inside.
Matt groaned "Greeeeat".
Bunnie blinked and entered Matt's house with bewildered look on her young, furry face.
Bunnie shrugged "Golly, what's his problem? All I did was give em a friendly holler".
Matt rubbed his aching temples "Ugh, it's not that simple okay it's……sigh……complicated. You see Bunnie".
Stirring sounds continued as it became obvious to Matt that the brave new world was calling out to his other furry room mates. The man smiled, he spotted Sonic, Tails, and Sally exiting the bedroom and entering the kitchen. Matt nodded and rubbed the sides of his face before standing up to stretch.
Sally smiled "Good morning Matt, sleep well?".
Matt nodded shyly "Very well your majesty, I hope the beds were comfortable enough".
The princess laughed "There fine but please, just Sally, I never was one for all that royal stuffy princess stuff".
Tails scrounged through Matt's cabinets as he was searching for food, his white gloved hands fumbled through containers and boxes. The young fox however was getting discouraged. Tails had no idea if this world's food was anything like his own, and he was getting awfully hungry.
Matt coughed "Oh Tails, if you're hungry I've got some cereal in the cabinets".
Tails blinked "Serial?".
The human scratched his sticky, dark pillow hair, he then grabbed a box of some "Lucky Charms" and poured Tails and Sonic a bowl. Matt then grabbed some milk into them and started to work on his own breakfast. Sonic blinked suspiciously at the cereal bowl, casually poking it with his gloved finger.
"Uh you sure this stuff tastes good? Looks all wet and goopy" Sonic said.
Matt sighed "Just try it you guys, trust me you'll like it. Soon as we get done eating there's a couple things I need to tell you guys about, some rules you need to obey while you're in this world".
Sally nodded "Matt's right, after breakfast we'll discuss our plans for trying to find a way back home".
The 2 tailed fox chomped into his spoon and went bright eyed, smiling eagerly at the marshmallow's flavors.
"MMMMM but first, food" Tails said as he happily ate some more.
15 minutes later……
Matt and the wayward Mobian's were finishing their fill of Matt's average based cooking, though they said it was delicious, Matt seriously doubted his skills. Sonic's mind was still lost back in that dark, dreary little night that he found Matt ranting and raving, lost in a sea of fear and anxiety. The sight of all those empty bottles and those strange pills all made Sonic feel uneasy. Sure, Sonic was worried but he felt Matt was trustworthy, and not a crook.
But something in the hedgehog's mind refused to give up, something that continued to circle around that disturbing night. What had happened to Matt that one late night? What was in those pills? And how long has he been like this? Matt coughed a bit as he tried to get everyone's attention.
Matt frowned "Okay guys, we've got to set some ground rules here. I don't know how long you're gonna be here but no matter how little or how long, we can't have you guys causing a panic. You're strangers in a strange land with creatures who have NEVER seen anything like you guys before.
There gonna freak out, scream, and possibly even get violent. I don't want you guys going anywhere or talking to anyone unless I'm with you. Anyone asks or sees you, just say you're wearing an early Halloween costume or something".
Sonic blinked "But I don't get it. Why do we have to hide who we are from these people? We've got no beef with them".
Matt nodded "Yes but they don't know that. For all they know, you're brain sucking aliens in disguise from the planet Vulcan or something. You guys have powers, destructive and bizarre powers that are only gonna make you look worse.
Just stick with me, do what I do, and I'll keep your guys butts safe until you figure out a way to get back to your world. Last thing you or I need is some wacko with a rifle or a video camera hoping to get their greedy little hands on you".
The others nodded and agreed with Matt's decision. This was a strange, weird new world and they have no idea how it operates or how to survive in it. Sally's first plan of action was to head out towards the highway where they first landed, maybe they could find some clue of how they can get back. Matt and the others headed outside, walking towards the highway crash site.
Sonic grumbled "This hood is driving my spines crazy, I feel like a bug stuck in a cocoon or something".
Matt laughed a little, noticing the trouble Sonic was having with his raincoat. Sally and the others were all dressed in raincoats. This wasn't the best solution to Sonic's appearance problem, but it was the best Matt could do on short notice.
Tails blinked "How much farther till we get there?".
Matt replied, walking towards the highway "Not much. Stay close to me guys, we don't want to attract any".
The human stopped talking as he saw flashing red and blue lights, along with a tangled mess of yellow tape. Matt shoved everyone into an alley and silently cursed "Shit" under his breath. Sally, Bunnie, Tails, and Sonic were pressed against the wall of the alley, Matt begged them to stay quiet.
Sally whispered "What's going on Matt?".
The panicked human regretfully replied "Uh, well, you guys wouldn't happen to have any cops in your world, would you?".
The police were swarming over the highway, they had been there all night and all day, scrounging through mangled cars, baffled witnesses, and all kinds of weird reports. Officers strung out yellow police tape banners across the scene. Helicopters and black suited federal agents circled the highway as people were thoroughly questioned. One officer examined the car Bunnie struck, a perfect indentation of her mechanical fist was on the car's hood.
"And she slammed her fist RIGHT into my car, and I……I just flipped. I hit her at 60 MPH and she flips my entire car over with one punch" the driver said.
Crime scene investigators plucked samples of fur and blood off the ground, steel tweezers grasped around miniature samples of DNA. One gruff, white haired cop blinked at the people plucking up fur samples. The cop was stopped by a woman. Dark short hair, brick red lips, piercing brown eyes, Asian heritage, and a white lab coat covering over a red shirt.
The cop groaned "Rose, how many times do I have to tell you? Get your people out of my crime scenes, this is none of your damn business".
Rose frowned "First off it's Professor, Professor Selene Rose if you don't mind and secondly Frank, I have every scientific right and privilege to inspect any and all interdimensional anomalies and occurrences".
Frank growled fiercely "You've gotta be kidding. This is just a freaking highway accident, nothing more. You can save you're spooky science for the next X-Files convention. Now pack up and get the hell out of here, or I'll cuff YOU and you're people for interfering with private police business".
The Asian woman was just about to snap back at the irritating officer, when she spotted a pair of straggling shadows watching her from afar.
Matt gasped "Crap, guys move out of here, now, NOW. We'll come back later".
Tails cried out as a broken piece of wood tore a piece of his fur off as he was running. Sonic kept his little buddy's mouth shut with his white gloved hand, as he followed the girls and Matt down the alley and out of sight.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Rose called as she approached the alley.
The small chunk of orange fur remained stuck to the busted box in the seedy alleyway. Rose frowned and examined it curiously, she grabbed it with a pair of tweezers she removed from her coat pocket. The woman held the fur sample up to her intrigued brown eyes and stared at it, wondering.
Rose smirked "Something tells me this was much more then a mere highway accident. And as soon as I find out what secrets this little fur ball is hiding, you'll be begging me for my spooky science Officer Frank. Trevor, Grant, pack up, were heading out. I found what I was looking for".
To be continued……