Greetings! Thank you for checking out A Bridge Between Worlds. Before we get started, I should mention the following:
First, this story is a sequel to my recently completed longfic A Prelude to Chaos Control. If you haven't already read it, I would highly recommend checking it out first before reading this one. While it is not a requirement to have read the prior story, it would greatly enhance your experience, and you'll miss several references to previous events.
Second, this story is a "reimagining" of Sonic X immediately following the events of Prelude, which was a Sonic X prequel. This means the story will only be very loosely based on the anime, as it primarily follows the continuity I established in the first story. Needless to say, a ton of creative liberties will be taken in this fic. While I will make references to the anime throughout the story, it is not a requirement to have watched the show.
Finally, I hope you enjoy this fic! As with Prelude, I anticipate this story to be at least 100,000 words by the time it's concluded. My goal is to generally update this piece once every couple of weeks, but if you ever want to reach out for updates, feel free to PM me or reach out via social media (my accounts are listed on my profile).
With all these prefaces out of the way, let us begin!
Chapter 1: Welcome to Station Square
Slowly waking from what felt like a long overdue slumber, a young fox opened his eyes, finding nothing but darkness all around him.
"W…where am I?"
Feeling around with his gloved hands, he found himself lying on an uneven surface across what felt like a heap of random objects. As his senses returned to him, he registered an unpleasant odor and the gentle sound of rain crashing over the surface above. Contorting his face, he fought the urge to squeeze his small, black nose, instead raising his wrist to his face and activating his communicator. Tapping a few buttons on his watch, a display projected from the device.
"Call Sonic," he said to his watch.
"No service available, Tails," it said in a feminine, robotic voice.
"That's strange." He opened his settings app with a few flicks of his fingers. "My signal towers are strong enough to reach nearly every part of Mobius." A stark possibility came across Tails' mind, his finger freezing mid-swipe. "Which must mean…"
His thought was interrupted as the ground beneath him began to rise. He grabbed hold of the bags on either side of him as he started tipping.
"Ahhhh!"
Once tilted nearly upside down, the door above him swung open by force of gravity, and the young fox fell headfirst into another dark pit. He was then gradually covered by what he now determined to be garbage. He heard the crash of the dumpster returning to the ground below and the sound of metallic arms retracting. Finally, the garbage truck began to move, taking with it an unwitting passenger.
The fox's body was now half-buried in filth, his furry, orange legs, red and white sneakers, and twin tails sticking out from the pile. With a grumble from below, Tails activated his rotary namesakes, garbage flying all about as his tails began to spin. As he slowly lifted himself out of the heap, he freed his arms and pushed against the uneven surface with his dirty, gloved hands, eventually unearthing himself from the heap.
Now upright, Tails bent his knees to keep himself steady. He pulled a banana peel from his hair, tossing it to the side in disgust before peering around. Glancing up, he pressed his hands against the retractable lid, which slowly folded outward until it was fully opened.
"There we go…" The orange kitsune jumped up, grabbing hold of the ledge and pulling himself up, steadying his feet and pinwheeling his arms to keep himself from falling off the moving truck. He felt the refreshing rain against his fur as he inhaled the relatively fresh air of the unknown city.
With a screech, the truck came to a stop.
"Woahh!" Caught off-guard by the sudden halt, the young fox fell back into the truck, faceplanting against the heap he escaped from moments earlier. As he was pulling himself up once more, his triangular ears twitched at the sound of the mechanical arms lifting another dumpster, tipping its contents into the truck, and covering the unsuspecting kitsune with another layer of filth.
"Oh, just my luck."
Clawing his way to the surface, Tails climbed out of the truck once more, this time better steadying himself on the roof as he peered around. The roads were surrounded by tall buildings, the late-afternoon sun obscured by dark clouds. Passersby carried umbrellas, their eyes trained on the sidewalks as they went about their business, and other vehicles, mostly small cars, drove on either side.
Wiping the water from his brow, the young fox shielded his eyes from the rain as he attempted to get a good look at the nearby pedestrians. His jaw dropped when he found a young couple sharing an umbrella, walking down the sidewalk with a leashed dog in tow.
"Are those…humans?" Tails shook his head. "Just like…Eggman?" He raised his palm to his chin in thought. "But I thought he was the only one around." Peering around once more, he got a good look at the drivers and passengers in the nearby vehicles, all of whom shared the general characteristics of a human: smooth skin, little hair, fully clothed, and heads that were proportionally smaller to their torsos relative to Mobians.
"I wasn't aware of any human colonies on Mobius…unless…" Tails gasped. "The Chaos Emera—"
He was interrupted by another sudden stop from the garbage truck. While he stammered, he was prepared enough to prevent himself from falling into the filth once more. With a sigh, he watched as the arms lifted the nearby dumpster, poured its contents into the truck, and placed the dumpster back on the ground.
"But why would the Chaos Emeralds transport us here? And where even is here?" He gasped once more. "And where's Soni—ahhhh!" The truck accelerated rapidly, a move which caught the young fox off-guard, sending him careening off the roof. He landed on the hood of the car directly behind the garbage truck, denting its sleek metal. He bounced off and crashed through the windshield, glass spewing everywhere as the fox landed in the passenger seat upside down, his head holding up the rest of his body.
"Oh my god!" the human man exclaimed. He pulled off to the side of the road, engaged his emergency lights, and got out of the car, quickly circling to the passenger side. He watched as the alien twisted himself around, his gloved hand massaging his head.
"Oh, hi there!" Tails greeted from below with a bright smile.
"Ahhhhh!" The human screamed. "What the hell is that!? A talking fox…thing?" He grabbed hold of Tails' namesakes and yanked him out of the car, throwing him to the side of the road. "Ewww, I touched it, I touched it!" Diving back into the vehicle, he sped away, splashing a puddle of mud over the weary fox.
Tails sighed, allowing himself to recover from the ordeal as he rested his face against his furry arms. "Some things never change, huh?"
Suppressed memories filled his mind, back in the days when he roamed from town to town, bullied and ridiculed for his two-tailed mutation wherever he went, hardly able to scrape by on bits of food he found in dumpsters and the fruit and meat he harvested in nature. His eyes began to glisten.
"No…" He pulled himself up, drying his tears with his arms. "That was a long time ago. These people are just scared of outsiders is all." Glancing down at himself, he found he was none the worse for wear save for his dirty fur. Satisfied, he looked around, what little sunlight radiating through the dark clouds above rapidly fading as the afternoon transitioned into evening, the streetlights illuminating the sidewalk enough to guide him while keeping himself mostly incognito.
"The first thing I need to do is hide out somewhere, maybe find some food and get some rest before I search for my friends." Tails closed his eyes and folded his arms, putting his head down in thought. "Sonic…where are you? You were in my arms moments before Chaos Control, but where did you g—"
He felt a sharp pain in his namesakes.
"Yeoww!" Tails turned his head to find a small human child staring back at him, an umbrella handle in one hand, a cell phone in the other, and a sneaker across a single tail. He straightened his face and forced a weak smile. "Uhhh, hi?" The fox suppressed his pain, hoping to cause as little of a scene as possible.
"A…monster…ahhhhh!" The kid ran away, throwing his cell phone and umbrella in the air as he fled.
"Wait!" Tails yelled, extending his arm to catch the device. "You forgot your…" He sighed as the kid turned at the next block, now obscured by the tall building separating the two.
"Ahh, a wild animal!"
The orange kitsune spun around to find an adult woman with a transparent umbrella.
"It attacked a kid! Someone help!"
All eyes were now on the young fox; pedestrians looked out from their umbrellas, apartment dwellers opened their windows to get a good view of the feral beast, and vehicles stopped on the side of the road, the humans within staring in disbelief. One of these cars was painted black and white, a set of flashing red and blue lights on top.
Tails watched, stepping back a few paces and raising his defenses as two humans in dark blue uniforms exited the car. One was holding a donut while the other was munching on a half-eaten burger. The former was tall and slender, and the latter was wider around the waist and sporting a moustache. Both had guns and portable communicators affixed to their belts.
"Well look what we have here," the taller human said, "it's a little bit early to go dressing up for Halloween, isn't it?"
"Or maybe it's his pajamas?" asked the smaller one. The two shrugged their shoulders and approached the orange kitsune, who tightened his fists and fluttered his namesakes from behind.
"Say…sergeant?" the taller one asked, dropping his donut in disbelief, "if that's just a costume…how did that tail…move?"
"Ummm…" The superior officer peered around the fox, who maintained eye contact as he gave a small snarl under his breath and prominently and menacingly displayed a single tooth for the humans to see. "I don't think…that's a…real boy."
"I'm warning you," Tails said, taking a few more steps back as the officers stepped forward, freezing at the sound of his voice, "one more move, and I'll be forced to defend myself."
"Did it…just talk?" the sergeant asked. The taller human nodded slowly with a gulp. Wracking his brain, the shorter officer reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of food in the shape of a bone. He bent his knees to lower himself slightly.
"Do you want a treat?" The man smirked. "I bet you're hungry, huh? Out here in the city away from the forest?" He extended his arm, the piece of food resting in his open palm. Tails slowly dropped his own arms and approached the human. Reaching up on his tippy toes, he sniffed the treat before grabbing it, observing its rigid texture.
Well, it doesn't smell the best, but…
Tails clutched his belly with his free hand, his stomach grumbling to remind him how long it'd been since he'd eaten anything. With a sigh, he plopped the snack into his mouth. Chewing thoughtfully, his face contorted at the disgusting taste, spitting it out to his side.
"Now!"
The man caught him in an oversized animal net, catching the orange kitsune by surprise.
"Good work, officer," the sergeant said.
"Thank you, sir!" he replied as he spun the handle and pulled the net-side closer in. He peered into the net to find Tails glaring at him with his arms folded. "We'll take you to Animal Control to see what to do with you."
"Oh, I don't think so." With a grin, the fox wrapped himself into an orange sphere, preparing himself to perform a technique taught to him by his older brother long ago: the spindash. He spun his body in place rapidly, his namesakes sticking out from the spherical blur as he slashed through the net with ease. Still spinning as he fell to the sidewalk, he sped away, halfway down the block within seconds.
The two humans stood dumbfounded, watching their captive get away. After shaking the daze from their eyes, the officers ran to their car, activated their lights, and followed the wild animal down the sidewalk. Round the corner, however, the officers found no trace of the feral creature. They slowed their pace, the passenger scanning the sidewalks as the driver kept his eyes on the road.
Shortly after they passed by an alleyway between two tall buildings, Tails peered from behind a large dumpster, his heart pounding with adrenaline. When it was clear the cops were gone and not coming back, he sighed in relief, wiping the sweat from his brow as he rested his back against the brick wall.
"Now all I need is some shelter…" The young fox looked around. He found some water-soaked cardboard boxes down the alley. Shaking his head at this initial idea, he turned around to face the dumpster, sighed, and hopped in. He tried his best to ignore the putrid smell within as he closed the lid and found a garbage bag soft enough to serve as a makeshift chair. Finally, resting his back against the cold metal of the dumpster, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes, reflecting on everything that had happened.
"Chaos Control." He vividly remembered the white veil of nothingness engulfing Eggman's base, eventually overtaking him and his friends. "Knuckles said our fate was bound to the will of the Chaos Emeralds. Why did they take us here? Was it a freak accident, or was there a purpose?" Tails opened his eyes as he raised a finger to his chin in thought. "Where exactly did the Chaos Emeralds take us," he rested his head against the cold metal side of the dumpster once more, "and why did my friends get transported somewhere else? Are they in the same city? World?" The thought of being all alone in a place without his companions sent shivers down his spine. "Sonic…"
He sat in silence, attempting to hypothesize a reason for their teleportation as he reflected on the words Knuckles spoke to him back on Mobius as he was studying the Master Emerald in the hopes of learning enough about its properties to get his Chaos Emerald detector to work.
"I think you're approaching the Master Emerald all wrong. You're trying to study it scientifically. To unlock its secrets, you have to go beyond logic and reason."
"Trust the Master Emerald. Place your faith in the Master Emerald. Treat it like a friend instead of an experiment."
With more questions than answers, Tails stored these unresolved inquiries in the back of his mind to focus on the cell phone he inadvertently acquired from the human child. He activated the device with the power button and opened the main menu. Just below the top of the screen, which read "Timothy's Phone" in bold letters, Tails opened the map application, showing an accurate pinpoint of where the orange kitsune was in the city. "Now I just gotta zoom out…" Spreading two fingers out across the screen, he found himself in the middle of what appeared to be a large, metropolitan city labeled "Station Square". "I've never seen this place before." Zooming out once more, he continued until he could see the entire map of the world.
"Strange…" He furrowed his brow as he analyzed his findings. "These land masses are quite similar to the ones back on Mobius, but there are some…differences." He traced the blue gap between two large masses of land, labeled as the Atlantic Ocean, before returning his finger to the dot signifying his location: on the east coast of a continent in the western portion of the map. Zooming in, he clicked a Station Square hyperlink leading him to an informational webpage. The orange kitsune cleared his throat.
"Station Square is the capital city of the United States of America (U.S., U.S.A.). It is located on the Potomac River bordering the states of Maryland and Virginia. As the seat of the U.S. federal government and several international organizations, the city is an important world political capital." Tails rested the phone between his legs and placed a palm over his forehead with a groan. "I don't think I'm on Mobius anymore…"
Twisting the phone around the gloved fingers of his free hand, he noticed a small hole on the back. Pulling out his Miles Electric portable computer from his namesakes, he used the brightness of its screen to peer within, revealing a small screw.
"Sorry, Timothy…" Wrapping his ambidextrous namesake around his belly, he inserted the tip of his tail into the hole and gently unscrewed it, repeating this pattern for a few other screws on each corner of the back of the device. Pulling the back case away, he scanned the internal components and pulled a small card from a slot. Carefully observing it in his hands, he inserted it into a slot in his tablet. Performing a few more functions, he heard a pleasant chime emanate from the device.
"Bingo!" he cheered. "I didn't think that'd work. What're the odds this human technology is compatible with my own?" With a chuckle, he wirelessly updated his wristwatch communicator, syncing the new settings between the devices so he could connect to the human network with both. "Now time to locate everyone…" A holographic image displayed over his wrist, but to his dismay, no blips appeared on the map. "Shoot…" He raised a finger to his chin in thought once more. "Their devices are not connected to the human network, so I won't be able to find them…but maybe…" Pressing a few more buttons, he smirked at the sight of a blinking dot on the map. "…Ah, good! All of my devices are linked to the Tornado, so finding it was a piece of cake." The thought of food made his stomach gurgle, forcing the young fox to clutch his belly.
Peering around the inside of the dumpster, he found a small, brown bag with a large, yellow "M" inked on its side. He found a half-eaten burger within. Smelling the old lunch, his stomach cried out for nourishment with greater ferocity, not caring if it was previously discarded.
"I have no human money and no guarantee I'll find food anywhere else…" Peering down at the burger once more, the hungry fox started salivating. "Doesn't appear moldy or rotten…ah, what the heck." He took several greedy bites until the burger was completely devoured. "Never thought I'd have to go dumpster diving again…" Pulling himself up, the orange kitsune pushed open the lid and jumped out, landing in the alleyway beyond. Dusting himself off, he pulled up his map application once more.
"The Tornado appears to be in some sort of suburban area several dozen miles west of here." Putting his wrist down, the young fox furrowed his brow. "Well, here goes nothing." Stepping out of the alley, the orange kitsune ventured forth, on a mission to reunite with his beloved biplane.
Slowly opening his eyes, Sonic the Hedgehog found himself sprawled out across a hard, concrete surface. Shaking his head, he pulled himself up and stretched his arms up before reaching down to his blue and white sneakers.
Looking ahead, the blue hedgehog found himself in the middle of a road surrounded by tall buildings on either side, pedestrians packing the sidewalks and holding umbrellas in the rain.
Hearing a honk from behind, Sonic spun around to find a truck barreling toward him. With a spindash, he dodged the truck, only to find himself obstructing the path of a car coming from the opposite direction. With a hop, the blue blur dodged this vehicle as well, only to face plant against the windshield of a large semi-truck.
"What the hell is that thing?!" cried the driver. Pulling a black bar near the side of his steering wheel, Sonic was pushed away by the truck's windshield wiper, falling to the street below. The trucker drove away, leaving the blue hedgehog face down along the curb.
"Ahh, rude!" Sonic pulled himself up once more, spitting out dirt and dusting himself off before taking another look around. He was surrounded by a group of surprised onlookers, a sight which equally confused him.
"…Humans? Like Egghead? No way…" The blue hedgehog bent his legs as he shook his head. "There's no use standin' 'round here! I gotta find my friends 'n get to the bottom of this!" With a grin, he ran on, joining the traffic cutting through the heart of downtown, dodging cars to maintain his momentum. "Maybe if I were higher up…" Veering to the right, he ran up the side of a tall building, reaching the roof with practiced ease.
"I've never been here before," Sonic said to himself as he scanned the area. He found tall buildings scattered for as far as the eye could see, save for a long bridge extending over a river to the north. "The faster I can get outta this city 'n get some fresh air, the better." Charging a spindash, Sonic launched himself off the roof, free falling to the street below, grabbing hold of a traffic light bar extending across the width of the road, twirling around it several times, and jumping off, angled toward the road.
He seamlessly continued his trek as he landed back on the cement, a blue blur to pedestrians and drivers alike as he exited onto a much wider interstate highway leading to the bridge, eventually crossing its entire length and turning off onto another raised interstate, jumping over a large "Do Not Enter" sign.
"But how did I get here? And what happened to Tails? Last thing I remember was…" The blue hedgehog recalled the moments before he slipped out of consciousness; he was shot in the back, trying to protect Tails from a horde of Egg Pawn robots. His memory was fuzzy up until the point where he was suspended in the air, his younger brother floating alongside him, a yellow, glowing aura partially veiling him. He still remembered the warmth emanating from Tails' hands as he used the powers granted to him by the Chaos Emeralds to heal his wounds.
"You'll be okay. Let me take care of things from here."
"You got this…hero."
A small tear formed in Sonic's eye as a smile appeared on his face. "Tails…you did it. I never thought you could go super, but you did it. I'm proud of you. Now if only I knew where you were…" Scanning the road ahead, he found the path obstructed yet again by a set of red and yellow signs, which the blue hedgehog jumped over with ease. Shortly after, he found the elevated road reached an abrupt end. With a smirk, he launched himself off, extending his arms out as he got a breathtaking view of the suburbs below, the sparkling lights, flashing signs, and various passersby creating a picturesque scene for Sonic to enjoy from above, flying almost as a bird in the night sky.
"Wherever I am…it's not so bad…I could almost get used to this!" As his trajectory began to dip, his eyes widened at what he found directly below: one of two large, lighted pools in the gated perimeter of a fancy estate.
"Uh…ohhh…" Flapping his arms, Sonic attempted to change his course, but to no avail. Frantically looking around for anything to lock on to for a potential homing attack, his search was in vain.
Falling like a brick, the hedgehog landed in the pool with a massive splash and quickly sank to the bottom.
He tried running to the nearby pool ladder, but he only succeeding in jogging in place, generating bubbles around him as he brought himself to a stop. Next, he bent his knees and jumped up, only reaching halfway to the surface.
Think Sonic, think…I've gotten out of stickier situations before…
Folding his arms, and closing his eyes, he wracked his brain for a solution, but none came. Before he knew it, his lungs started burning, begging for more oxygen that the hedgehog was unable to provide.
I guess this is it…what a way to go, huh? At least Tails won't be needin' me anymore.
He's got this…he ain't a lil' kid anymore. He can handle himself, I'm sure of it.
Unable to hold his breath any longer, he opened his mouth, his face contorting and his hands gripping his neck before he passed out.
Leaning back in his computer desk chair, a human boy ran his hands through his disheveled brown hair as he stared at his monitor.
"So Mom and Dad said I can get whatever I want…but I can't decide…" He raised a hand to his chin in thought. "I already own an entire island off the coast of Station Square. Maybe I could get a second amusement park built there?" He pulled out his cell phone and opened his contact list. "I know just who to ask." He raised the phone to his ear, tapping his sneakers against the floor in impatience after the second ring. "C'mon, pick up. It's not like you got anything better to do." The fifth ring ceased as the recipient answered the call.
"Ummm, hello?"
"Hey Danny, it's Mr. Thorndyke."
"Ummm, Chris?" The friend on the other line yawned into his arm. "Ya know how late it is?"
"Oh, come on! 11 PM isn't that late," he replied, "and don't call me Chris. You are to refer to me by Mr. Thorndyke and Mr. Thorndyke only. Hear me?"
"Okay, whatever," Danny replied with a sigh. "What do you need this time?"
"Well," Chris began, "my parents said I can get anything I want, but I don't know what to choose. I require some brainstorming assistance."
Danny groaned. "Can we do this tomorrow? We've got school in the morning."
"Absolutely not!" Chris yelled. "May I remind you of the contract we signed? You're my friend on retainer, meaning my family ensures yours has a roof over their heads in exchange for your on-demand friendship."
Danny scoffed. "You know that's not how friendships are supposed to work, right?"
"Silence, peasant!" Chris shouted, nearly spilling his energy drink in anger. "One more peep out of you, and I'll cut off the gravy train. Wouldn't want that, now would ya?"
"No, don't do that!" Danny yelled, rolling out of bed and pacing from one end of his bedroom to the other. "Okay, I'm awake. Have you narrowed down what kind of gift you want?"
"Heh, better." Chris smirked, always getting a kick out of manipulating others with money. "Anyway, I was thinking a second resort on my island…or maybe even a second island entirely. Thoughts?"
"What is this for again?" Danny asked. "Your birthday isn't for another eight months."
Chris shrugged. "Nothing in particular. You know how my parents are."
Danny facepalmed before running his palm up to his short, back hair. "Sure. Anyway…do you need a second island?"
It was Chris' turn to scoff. "Of course I need a second island! I just need to figure out if I should develop my first island a bit more or if I should branch out now."
"I don't know, man," Danny sighed, "maybe ask for…both?"
Chris pondered this suggestion for a few moments, raising a hand to his chin once more. "Danny, you're a genius! Yeah, I'll just ask for both! See, this is why we keep ya around."
"Is there anything else I can assist you with this evening?" Danny asked, his voice monotone.
"I'm good. Just be sure to have my homework completed by the first bell tomorrow."
"As always…Mr. Thorndyke." Danny stopped himself from gagging.
Chris hung up the call and threw his phone on the bed before jumping in himself and sprawling across the mattress with his hands behind his head. He peered around his oversized room.
"Eh, I'll just call in sick tomorrow." He smirked to himself once more. "The school would be bankrupt if I didn't bankroll it anyway." He rolled to the side of the bed and opened a mini freezer within arms' reach, pulling out a tub of ice cream. Leaning against the bed board and grabbing a spoon from the end table, he consumed nearly a full pint before hearing a loud splash from outside.
"What was that?" Chris asked with a full mouth. Swallowing his last bite of ice cream, he put the container back in the freezer and peered out the window to reveal a clear disturbance in one of his two personal swimming pools. "Ah, maybe it's an intruder!" He smirked with glee. "I've been wanting to test out the Taekwondo I learned from Tanaka." He punched the air in front of him before performing a backward roundhouse kick, overextending his leg and falling to the floor.
"Heh, just a fluke!" he declared as he stood back up and ran out of the bedroom, sliding down the railing of the long, spiral staircase leading to the base level of his mansion. He stealthily made his way to the backdoor, careful not to wake his butler and maid. Stepping into the courtyard, he peered around, finding no intruders. Chris approached to the pool and peered within, finding an animal-like figure still as a log, fully submerged in the water. The young boy sighed.
"And here I thought I'd be takin' down some bad guys tonight." With a groan, he grabbed a pool net from the ground and clumsily pried the animal from the pool floor like a hamburger, pulling him out of the water and rolling him to the side. Chris approached the blue alien entity slowly, eventually crawling on all fours to get a better look.
"Hey…" The young boy gently slapped the anthropomorphic hedgehog across the face. "You okay there?"
No response.
He poked the black nose protruding from its muzzle.
Still nothing.
"Well…I think it's safe to say it's dead." He pulled himself up and turned around. "I'm sure Tanaka will throw it away tomorrow morning." As he took a few steps back to the mansion, he froze at the sound of raspy coughing coming from behind. Swinging around, he found the animal coughing up water.
The boy ran back to its side. "Hey, you're alive after all!"
"Well of course I am!" Sonic replied between bouts of hacking. He got a good look at the boy above him before shifting his attention to the net at his side. "You saved my life?"
"Ummm…yeah, I guess I did." A wicked smirk grew along Chris' lips. "I mean…yes, of course I saved your life! Whatcha gonna do to repay me?" While he was intrigued the animal could talk, the lust for money outweighed his curiosity.
"Huh?" The hedgehog was confused and still a bit disoriented from nearly drowning.
"How much is your life worth? Maybe $100,000? A million?"
The anthropomorphic alien cocked his head in confusion before reaching his gloved hands into his spines. "Sorry, must've left my wallet at home."
"Heh, likely story…" With a sigh, Chris pulled the alien up off the ground. "What's your name?"
"Ummm, Sonic."
"Well, Sonic, it's nice to make your acquittance." He pulled him by the arm back to the mansion.
"Hey, where ya takin' me, bub?" Sonic protested as he was dragged away.
"You've got a lot of work to do around the house to make up for me saving your life. I'm sure Ella could make you a nice butler outfit, too."
Sonic pulled his wrist away. "Hey, I'm not some butler! I'm glad you saved my life, but where I come from, we don't expect a reward for saving others."
"Oh?" Chris smirked as he chuckled from above. "And just where is that exactly?"
"Well…" Sonic started to lose his balance. "I'm from…ohh, my head hurts…" He collapsed against the concrete floor, his body sprawled out as exhaustion overtook him.
"Hmph…freeloader." Shaking his head, the young boy pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.
"Hello, Animal Control? I have a weird…animal thing you should probably come take away. Don't know when it's gonna wake up, but I don't want it loitering around my estate." Providing his address, the person on the other line scheduled an immediate dispatch. The boy ended the call, turned to face the blue hedgehog one last time, audibly scoffed, and retired back to his bedroom.
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Bridge! It turns out writing the first chapter to a sequel is a bit tricky, but I hope it turned out okay. Also, dirtbag Chris is fun to write. :O
I don't know what it is about Tails and dumpsters, but it just seems to work. Anyway, Irritable Fabulamancer's Dumpster Kid came to mind while writing the introduction of this story, as did the first chapter of my other ongoing fanfic, Tails and the Abandoned Fox Cubs. If you've read Prelude, I'm sure you'd enjoy the fluff both have to offer.
See you next time!