Drink Up
"You know right now, being chased by Swat-Bots sounds like more fun then this" Matt grimaced.
The aching flex of his tired fingers tightly grappled the slipping plastic bonds of the grocery bags that dangled like dewdrops from his hands, tugging and tearing at his sagging arms. With no job and 4 room mates who can't even be seen in public without being attacked by the National Enquirer, Matt was running low on money and he knew it.
"Maybe……maybe I can go with them when they" Matt shook his head.
The human's desires lay deep in the endless layers of fantasies, built upon absurdity and foolish dreams. Matt wanted an escape from this cold, harsh, unforgiving world. Everywhere Matt looked he saw suffering, pain, agony, hatred, crime, death, racism, and no end to any of these in sight. The rotting faces of the homeless burned deeply into the aching wounds of Matt's brain. Matt felt like he was drowning, drowning in a world of darkness and tears.
No sight could give Matt an anchor to hold onto, no face could draw him into the beauty beneath the beastly nature of this city. People may still be walking in it, but the world is dead and has dissolved into nothing but shadows and dust for poor, lonely souls like Matt to choke and gag on.
Matt sighed "Finally".
The first sign of joy in this bitter black world, Matt had made it home. The human dropped the bags to the ground as he entered the doorway and sighed with relief. The released tension from Matt's hands felt wonderful, a minor and inane pleasure but one thoroughly enjoyed it seemed by the look in Matt's dazed and shimmering silver eyes. Matt called out to the others.
Sonic half smiled "Oh h-h-hi Matt, welcome home buddy, old pal, old friend of mine".
Matt blinked "Gee thanks……say where's Tails? I got dinner for you guys".
The hedgehog nervously laughed as he fumbled his white gloved fingers, sweat drops dribbled off Sonic's blue, spiky brow. Matt started to get worried.
"Sonic, what happened to Tails?" Matt asked.
Tails appeared, sheepishly replying "I'm right here Matt, I'm fine, it's just that……uh……it's just that".
Matt groaned "OUT WITH IT, what the hell is going on you guys?".
"It's Bunnie" Sally said.
Matt turned around and saw Sally by the bathroom door, clutching tightly in her furry brown hands a glass bottle with a white, foamy liquid inside that smelled like sweet memories of pain and sorrow. Matt gasped.
Matt gulped "Where did you guys find that?".
Sonic sighed "You remember that big stash you had in the bathtub? Well, we were getting kind of antsy when you didn't come home and Bunnie was really, really thirsty. We looked all around the place but couldn't find anything. Eventually Bunnie checked the bathroom and found……that".
Sally added "She drank it and started to act kind of……funny. Bunnie wanted more but we wouldn't let her and that's when she got a little".
Matt looked around the room and just now realized that half of the furniture was flipped over, broken, busted, or smashed. The human groaned and smacked his head into the wall with a hard thump, depressed moans slip out of his lips like a dying animal.
"Rough" Tails said, idly staring at his feet and flickering his twin tails.
Matt frowned "I REALLY don't want to know the answer to this but I must ask it, nevertheless, did Bunnie happen to say where she was going?".
15 minutes later……
"Are you guys completely INSANE? You guys let her go bar hopping, what the hell were you thinking?" Matt shouted.
Bitter fingers angrily tightened their grip across the steering wheel as the clunking, smoke sputtering vehicle on 4 wheels dragged its rusted mechanical carcass downtown Chicago. Sonic, Sally, and Tails sat in the back seats, bitterly scowling and crossing their arms over their chests. Matt was hoping to find Bunnie by driving by all the big name bars in his car.
Sonic frowned "Excuse us Matt, but we didn't LET her do anything, she flipped us like pancakes".
Tails nodded "Bunnie is way too strong, we didn't stand a chance. Besides it's not like we know what a bar is anyway".
Matt gasped "Then how did SHE know what one is in the first place?".
Tails hummed "I think she heard it off that weird box you have with the pointy ears, you know, the one that shows all those strange pictures".
"You mean a television set?" Matt moaned, angrily grinding his teeth.
Tails nodded "Yeah, that's it, I always forget what that thing's called. She saw a picture about a bar and she figured if she walked around the city long enough, she could find a place that looks like the one in that box".
Sally glared curiously at Matt from the car's backseat; her piercing, luminous eyes stared at Matt like diamond encrusted daggers. A thick gulp swallowed down Matt's nervous throat as he felt the eyes burn a hole in the back of his body. Matted black hair tingled with sprouting drops of heated sweat, festering and crawling over Matt's forehead like termites.
"Matt, just exactly what is a bar? Does it have anything to do with that special drink Bunnie tried?" Sally asked.
Matt groaned "The uh……special drink is called alcohol. It's a numbing kind of relaxation drink that humans consume in order to get dizzy, hammered, plastered, or as it's officially known as, being drunk".
Tails scratched his furry head in confusion "It makes you dizzy? Why would anyone want to drink something that makes them all woozy and stuff?".
Matt replied "Lots of people have problems. Jobs, girlfriends, boyfriends, money, school, it can really weigh down on a person's mind, so they drink this stuff so they can forget all their bad memories and ignore their responsibilities, even if just for a little while".
Blank stares and empty lips shed not a single sound or syllable, moments of absolute silenced chilled the inside of the car like an empty shell. Sonic and the others were unable to understand what was so important about this drink.
Sonic rubbed his forehead as he asked "Whoa, hold the chili dog for one sec. If this alky stuff takes more then one gulp to make people dizzy, how come Bunnie wigged out after only one drink?".
Matt shrugged "How should I know? And by the way it's alcohol, not alky Sonic".
The hedgehog rolled his eyes "Whatever".
"Will you knock it off you guys? I'm dead serious, we've got to find her before she blows her cover or gets hurt, or hurts someone or whatever" Matt said.
Sally frowned "If this stuff is dangerous Matt, why did you leave it just lying around?".
The human screamed with frustration "Because they were MINE, every last one of em, I get drunk sometimes, okay, you happy? I couldn't take this crap anymore so I downed a few drinks and let my hangover do the rest. I didn't want Bunnie to find it, or any of you guys. I also didn't think she'd get buzzed after one drink, maybe alcohol affects you guys differently then me".
The car slowly crawled to a slow, gentle drive; Matt's eyes were wandering across the dark and seedy sights of this very unpleasant looking neighborhood.
"Holy crap, that's her" Matt screamed.
The human out stretched his finger and pointed to two men carrying someone smaller, and furrier between them.
Sonic blinked "Those guys are taking Bunnie into that nasty looking place".
Matt groaned as he stuck his head out of his car window and examined the name of the bar. The bar name read vividly in a grungy, half busted neon sign that read: The Dead Plug bar.
Tails curiously asked "So, what are we going to do now?".
Sally nodded "There's only one thing to do, we've got to go in there and get Bunnie out, no matter what".
Mat turned to Sally and blurted out "WHAT? Do you have any idea how knee deep in trouble we are? If we go in there and try to take Bunnie out, those guys might try and stop us or worse, Bunnie could flip out on us".
"But we can't just leave her in there either" Sally replied.
Bitter nightmares and frustrated fears started to cloud and suffocate Matt's mind like a choking fog of doubt, dread, and darkness. Matt screamed and bashed his fists against his steering wheel, repressed rage savagely being hammered out as he closed his eyes. Everything was falling apart right before Matt's very eyes. The human slowly opened his eyes and took a deep breath, he then turned to face his furry room mates and blinked softly.
Matt nodded "You're right, let's go get our friend back. But, we do it my way and my way only. You guys stay outside and wait for me to call you in, the less trouble we start in there the better. I think things will go a lot more smoothly if I try to get Bunnie by myself".
Sally agreed "He's right, Bunnie's already walked into the spotlight, no sense in dragging ourselves into it unless it's absolutely necessary".
Sonic frowned "Fine, I still don't like this one little bit".
Matt sighed "Just relax Sonic, if you guys hear me scream or hear some kind of glass breaking, that's your cue. In the meantime sit tight and I'll hopefully be back with Bunnie in a few minutes".
Matt opened the car door and took a deep breath as he exited the vehicle and closed the door. The entrance to the bar looked more menacing then inviting, subliminal pictures of pain and blood already stained Matt's fragmented and frantic mind. The inevitable future confrontation Matt was about to endure was almost absolute. Matt took another deep breath and entered the bar, fearing what troubles await him in the deep, jagged jaws of the Dead Plug.
CRACK!
The smacking snap of a pool cue striking a billiards ball caused Matt to flinch, everything in here caused him to be on edge. Bald, angry, dangerous looking men and women surrounded the seedy bar, tattoos and pitchers of alcohol blinded Matt's gray eyes everywhere. There were people by the pool table, people by the band stage, people by the bar, and even a beat up old karaoke machine. Matt walked cautiously, quickly looking left and right.
Matt didn't want to stay in here any longer then he had to, he could sense the anger in the eyes of the staring bar mates. Not a soul walked by Matt without at least giving off one dirty little glare at him.
"HIC, y'all know how to show a gal a party, YEE HAW" a female voice shouted.
Matt gasped "Is that……Bunnie?".
The man looked around for the source of the sweet but slurred voice, a lair pair of peach colored rabbit ears stretched high above most of the people in the bar. Matt groaned and walked over to find a drunken and intoxicated Bunnie.
The bald, bearded man next to Bunnie laughed "Whatever you say cupcake, just keep on drinking".
A smirking, blue haired man with a scar on his left cheek laughed "Whoever thought Halloween could be so……attractive".
Matt pushed the men aside and grabbed Bunnie by the shoulders, the cyborg rabbit giggled in a dizzy little spin and smiled at Matt.
"Hey there sugar……y-y-y-you s-s-some sauce t-t-too?" Bunnie squeaked.
Matt sighed "No thanks Bunnie, uh sorry guys but its WAY past her bedtime and we really need to be going now".
THUMP!
A powerful, tattoo covered forearm blocked off the doorway from Matt's path, it was the bald, bearded man that sat next to Bunnie. The man growled a grunt like snarl at Matt and pushed him back closer to the bar.
"Little Miss Cotton tail is with us slick, so why don't you just back the hell off?" the man sneered.
The blue haired man laughed "Now, now Mike, no need to be playing hard ball so soon. Perhaps our druggy looking friend would like to join us?".
Matt blinked a confused glance back at the blue haired man, almost baffled by his statement. The man was wearing a dark, rusty colored brown jacket over a white wife beater with grease stains on it. The jacket had a name embroidered on the front of the upper left pocket by the shoulder. The name read in bronze colored stitching: Sirius.
Sirius laughed "Yeah I can see it in those baby Bambi eyes of his, this boy needs to get tapping".
Matt frowned "What exactly are you talking about?".
Sirius smirked "There's plenty of sweets to go around my friend, after all, she certainly does seem to be too frazzled enough to care".
Cracking knuckles snapped as Matt clenched a fist behind his back, he tugged Bunnie to stay behind him as he growled angrily.
"She's just a kid for Christ's sake" Matt hissed.
Sirius shrugged "Labels are nothing more then stickers my friends, if she's old enough to talk and walk, she's old ENOUGH".
Matt snapped "You're disgusting".
"Just because she's dressed like rabbit, doesn't make you her keeper, so why don't you just do us all a favor and BUG OFF" Sirius shouted.
The blue haired man smashed his fist into Matt's face, knocking the human down and crashing the back of his head into a wall. Mike laughed and smashed a booze bottle into hundreds of little pieces. Matt's gray eyes widened as he spotted the razor sharp, broken bottle in Mike's hands.
Matt gulped "Uh guys, we got ourselves a big problem in here".
To be continued……