Two Nights at Crazy Carl's - Part Two

"So, no hard feelings, right Carl?" Sonic said nervously. He certainly wasn't afraid of Crazy Carl - definitely not. What gave you that idea? He also certainly wasn't hiding behind Ozzie either and hugging him tightly in the furthest corner of Carl's living room, considering if he could still catch up to Tom's truck and somehow stowaway in his carry-on luggage. That was silly, where did you get that idea?

But Carl just laughed, surprising Sonic.

"Course not, kiddo! You saved us from that evil robot doctor, after all."

Sonic relaxed a bit, but only a bit, still clinging to Ozzie.

"Say, do you believe in ghosts?"

"Ghosts?" Sonic's ears perked up a bit. "Aren't they just... stories?"

"Stories!" Carl said and laughed, "Stories, my butt! I've seen them with my own two eyes."

"You have?" Sonic was genuinely impressed.

"Yessiree! Been hunting ghosts and all sorts of paranormal critters since I was about your age, actually. Got a whole trophy room filled with all the evidence I've collected over the years."

"You do? Can I see?"

"You want to see my trophy room?" Carl seemed genuinely surprised, "Nobody's ever been interested in it before. Everybody around town just thinks I'm crazy."

"Well, you were right about a certain handsome blue devil," Sonic said with a knowing grin, "Who knows? Maybe you're onto something?"

"A true believer!" Carl exclaimed. "Sure! C'mon, I'll show you my latest find!"

Sonic followed Carl to a room at the end of a long hallway, Ozzie trailing happily behind him, sniffing at all of the strange objects lining the hallway.

"Whoa, is this real?" Sonic pointed up at the taxidermy grizzly bear. It towered over him and it uncomfortingly reminded him of a certain biker from a certain Piston Pit. Ozzie sniffed at its feet.

"Yep, my grand-pappy Ernest Hopper, God rest his soul, fought Old Grizz here with his bare hands."

"Wait, your grandpa had bear hands?"

"Not bear hands! Bare! As in empty! No weapons! Just pure muscles and fighting instinct. Grand-pappy Ernest wrestled Old Grizz into submission."

"Uh-huh," Sonic said non-committedly, having a hard time picturing anyone like Carl wrestling any kind of wildlife - you know, other than maybe some raccoons or possums.

The door to Carl's "trophy room" was layered in warning signs like "ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK" and "STAY OUT" and "Bigfoot X-ing" and "This Area monitored by CCTV."

"Be careful what you touch," Carl said as he swung open the door, "I've got some cursed items in here too."

"Cursed?!"

"Yep, but don't worry, I've locked the worst offenders up," Carl gestured to a row of glass display cases that were locked with large combination padlocks. Each was lit by a single light inside the display box. Ozzie began sniffing around, but then suddenly whined a bit and backed off.

"Ozz? You okay?" Sonic asked, reaching out a hand to pet him.

Ozzie quickly trotted out of the room, back to the living room, tail tucked between his legs.

"What's gotten into him?"

"Dogs have the sixth sense," Carl explained, tapping his forehead, "They can sense things we can't, especially ghosts!"

"Whoa…"

Sonic cautiously approached the display cases that Ozzie had run away from. Inside each case was an old object, though Sonic couldn't see what was so cursed about all this junk. There was a broken flower pot inside one, another had a tall glass oil lamp, the bottom section filled with an amber liquid and a thick red wick. Inside another was a small wooden box that was wrapped in chains, and inside the last one was a porcelain doll wearing a fancy pink dress that had faded over time. Its eyes were dark and reflective, and Sonic found himself looking closer. He could almost see himself reflected inside them.

Carl pulled him back, making him flinch, "Whoa there! Don't go messing with Betsy."

"It's just a doll," Sonic said, but he was beginning to doubt his own words.

"Exactly! That's just what old Betsy wants you to think!" Carl said, "Then as soon as you open her case, she'll escape."

A sudden chill ran down Sonic's spine. "Did you just turn on the A/C in here?"

Betsy's eyes blinked shut and Sonic jumped a little, stumbling back. Carl either didn't seem to notice or was used to this kind of behavior from her.

"Betsy's a clever one, alright. Gave me some trouble a few years back the last time she got loose. Took me a whole week to track her down! Finally found her behind the diner in a dumpster. Never could find the poor soul who put her in there though. Neither could Tom, come to think of it..."

Sonic swallowed hard, taking an extra step back from Betsy's display.

"Now c'mere," Carl took his hand and pulled him over to a large desk under a bulletin board.

The entire board was covered in a huge map of Green Hills. Strung across it were instant photos, newspaper clippings, and yellowing pages of monster illustrations ripped from books, each carefully pinned, along with colorful strings wrapped tightly around the pins, tying certain locations together. Carl lifted Sonic up onto the wooden chair so he could take a closer look.

"Whoa," Sonic said, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff. His eyes zipped around, taking it all in, trying to follow Carl's train of thought.

"I had no idea Green Hills had so much weird stuff going on!" Sonic climbed up, kneeling on the desk so he could examine one of the pinned photos closely. This one was older than some of the others, he could tell by the yellow edges of the instant photo, and the colors were washed out. Emerging from some bushes was a tall, blurry creature. Sonic at first thought it was a man, but it was awfully hairy - way too hairy to be an ordinary human.

"Yep, most people tend not to notice - or they do notice and convince themselves 'there's a perfectly natural explanation for this,'" He imitated Tom's voice, making Sonic laugh.

He pointed at the photo Sonic was looking at. "That right there is what we call a bigfoot - or sasquatch."

"Sas-quatch! I love it!" Sonic said, saying the word a few more times to himself.

"I'm not the only one who's seen one round here, but I am the only one who's ever gotten a clear photo of him," Carl said proudly.

"So what did you want to show me?"

"Oh, right! The Ghost of Pumpkin Hill!" Carl opened a desk drawer and pulled out the manilla folder he had shoved at Tom. It was still bursting with instant photos.

Sonic's eyes widened, and he whispered, "Cool," as he opened the folder and began picking up the photos, examining each of them, holding them under Carl's desk lamp. Most of them were out-of-focus, or quick snaps where the subject was mostly hidden in bushes or a tree canopy or zipping around the edge of a building or caught through a flashing window that was definitely taken from inside Carl's living room.

"That ghost has been pestering me for months! It keeps knocking things over and making the most awful racket you've ever heard, but everytime I try to catch it, it runs off - just like a certain blue devil," he smiled and winked, patting Sonic's head. "I figure, why not fight fire with fire! I bet you could catch up to it."

Sonic looked closely at the clearest photo, the one that showed a blurry white figure with a red light in the middle. There was something about it that seemed familiar, but the white figure was long and wispy, you could see parts of it rippling, maybe like a hanging dress caught in a breeze on a clothesline.

"Whaddya think? You wanna help me catch the ghost?" Carl interrupted Sonic's thoughts.

"Uh, yeah! This sounds awesome!" He set the photo carefully down in the folder.

"That's the spirit!" Carl winked.

Sonic laughed, "Spirit! Ha! I get it!"

Carl lifted him down from the desk. "Okay, the first thing you gotta know about this ghost is that it only comes out at night."

Sonic glanced out the window of the trophy room above the desk and saw that while it was still light out, the sun would be setting in a few hours. "Aw... I hate waiting," he said.

"You want to watch a movie in the meantime?" Carl offered and Sonic grinned, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"I love movies!"

"C'mon! I'll show you my collection." Carl waved him out of the room.

Sonic took one last look around before following him. Maybe he was wrong about Carl. Sure, he was definitely a little odd, but so was Sonic! At the very least, he was certain that Carl did genuinely want to be friends and that made him less anxious. Tom was right. He felt silly for distrusting him.

"Wow!" Sonic turned around, looking at all of the towering bookshelves. They were full of VHS tapes. Carl surprisingly kept them neatly displayed, almost like a video rental store. Sonic vaguely remembered the old video rental place in town, but he had never gone in and it had closed down about four years ago. "So cool!"

"See anything you want to watch?" Carl asked.

"Yeah! I want to watch all of them," Sonic spun around, gesturing to all of the shelves surrounding him, laughing.

"Well, I reckon we got just enough time for one, before the sun goes down."

"Oh, don't make me pick just one!" Sonic zipped around the room, scanning the covers and backs of each of the cases.

To Carl, it seemed like only a few seconds, but Sonic had looked carefully at each of the tapes. Now he was deep in thought, arms folded. "I can't decide."

"Well, since we're hunting ghosts, how about this one?" He immediately plucked a tape off the shelf and handed it down to Sonic. "It's a classic."

Sonic's gaze immediately focused on the small blonde girl kneeling in front of an old television sit, her fingers splayed wide and pressing against the glowing blue TV screen. The title was written in large white-outlined letters that said "POLTERGEIST."

"They're here?" Sonic said quietly, reading the tag-line below the title. It was the only other words printed on the front of the box. "Who's they?"

"You'll see!" Carl patted his shoulder, "You're gonna love it!"

Sonic smiled nervously, turning it over, "A circus of light and magic… A superior, spectacular ghost story!" He read the critic's quotes, staring at the screenshots from the film, "Cool."

He knew Tom was pretty strict about him watching any of what Maddie called "grown-up" movies, but Sonic quickly spied the "PG" rating in the corner and smiled. Tom and Maddie would definitely let him watch something like this! How scary could it be if it's PG anyway? Tom was only really hesitant about him watching "R-rated" stuff anyway.

"Let's do it!" Sonic said, handing Carl the tape.

Soon enough, Carl and Sonic were sitting on his old couch. Sonic looked to his left to see that Ozzie was sleeping lazily on his back in front of his Carl's fireplace, legs spread up in the air, with his paws slightly bent, enjoying the warmth. Sonic smiled, glad he was doing okay. He had woofed down the canned dinner that Sonic had fed him, and was happy enough just to hang out nearby.

In lieu of a traditional dinner, Carl had opened a couple open bags of snacks, dumping them into big plastic bowls. He offered Sonic a tall, aluminum can of a drink called "Monster" which Carl assured Sonic would keep them both awake and alert to catch the ghost. Sonic could feel the effects almost immediately after the first few sips. He had never felt like this before, like he was a rocket about to launch into space. It made him a little antsy and twitchy, but the movie kept him occupied as he shoveled a mixture of popcorn, chips, and cheese puffs into his mouth.

They watched in (mostly) silence, with Carl having to shush Sonic whenever he got too excited and asked a bunch of questions. Eventually, he settled down and was enraptured by the film.

"Best. Night. Ever!" Sonic exclaimed with his mouth full, before burping loudly.

"Shhh! This is the good part!" Carl said, opening his second Monster energy drink of the evening.

"Good part!? What are you talking about? The movie's practically over. They rescued Carol Anne. See? They're moving out and everything!" Sonic turned his attention away from the screen, looking at Carl with a skeptical look.

"Shh! Keep watching!" Carl motioned frantically, and Sonic quieted down.

Sonic eventually crawled down onto the carpet, looking up at Carl's old CRT-TV, watching with rapt fascination, almost as much as the character Carol Anne herself, hugging a throw pillow to his chest.

"Okay, I'm calling it! That clown is evil!"

"SHHH!" Carl threw some cheese puffs at him and Sonic laughed, catching them out of the air and eating them before they could hit him. This made Carl laugh too. "You're too fast for your own good, kiddo."

Sonic quieted down and continued to watch intensely, his heart beating much faster than it usually did. He had no idea movies could be this nerve-wracking! He'd definitely have to convince Tom to watch this one with him when he got home from the wedding.

Sonic screamed when the clown grabbed the kid around the neck and dragged him under the bed, causing Ozzie to bark and run over, licking him.

"Help! I'm being eaten!" Sonic flailed, but stopped and began laughing when he realized it was Ozzie. "Oh, it's just you, Ozz!"

Carl started laughing too, but a crash outside made him sit up straight and pause the movie, right as the mother character was being pulled along the ceiling. Her mouth was frozen in a silent scream, her arms flailing for anything to grab onto.

"Did you hear that?" Carl scrambled off the couch, spilling the remains of the popcorn onto the old carpet as he rushed to the living room window.

"Down Ozzie, down! I'm okay, bud!" Sonic finally got him to settle, but his ears were folded back and suddenly Ozzie ran to the door, bowing low, growling. Normally, he would have gobbled up the spilled popcorn, but he was looking intensely at the door. He barked loudly.

"Ozzie? What is it, boy?" Sonic had never seen him act like that before and it actually made him a little nervous.

Carl gently split two of the old, yellowed blinds with his fingers, his eyes wide and peering back and forth across his front yard. Sonic rushed up beside him, standing on his tiptoes to peek through the bottom row of the blinds.

"Something's out there," Carl said in a low voice.

"What? I don't see any-"

"SHHH!" Carl flipped the light switch, and now the only glow was coming from the TV. Thinking quickly, Carl pulled the plug on that too, quickly drenching them in darkness.

"Look," Carl said quietly. And now, with the lights fully off, Sonic could see it, "Right there."

Sonic stared open-mouthed at the long wispy form gliding across Carl's lawn. Most of it was translucent, except for the top, which was dark, save for a red light.

"They're here," Sonic quoted quietly, but there was a grin of excitement on his face. "A real ghost!"

The form suddenly turned towards them, and Carl pulled Sonic down, the venetian blinds rattling loudly as they swung back and forth. A red light grew brighter as it came towards them.

Carl didn't have to shush Sonic this time. Both of them held their breath as it lingered for a few moments and then floated away. It took Sonic a few seconds to get his courage back before peeking between the blinds again.

"It's gone!"

"Not yet! C'mon!" Carl stood up and nearly burst out the front door, Sonic following.

"C'mon Ozzie!"

Ozzie whined, hiding next to the couch. He covered his nose with his paws.

"Scaredy cat! Fine. I'll go without my second best friend!"

"Sonic! C'mon!"

Sonic rushed out to join Carl, who now had a shotgun.

"Uh, aren't ghosts supposed to be uh… untouchable?"

"Immaterial."

"Yeah, that word!"

"Yes, except this ain't no normal ghost. It's a poltergeist, so it can materialize itself and manipulate objects - just like in the movie! This is just in case it decides to possess something," Carl said, patting the shotgun.

"Quick question: Let's just say it possesses me. You won't shoot me..." Sonic paused a moment, "Right?"

"I can't make any promises." He cocked the shotgun and Sonic gulped.

Sonic shuddered, remembering the creepy clown doll from the movie. "I really hope it's not a clown. Please don't be a ghost clown."

"There it is! This way!" Carl pointed and Sonic saw the tail end of the ghost vanishing around the corner of the house.

They quickly followed behind it, peering carefully around the corner. The red light swept around, seeming to be searching for something.

Carl pulled Sonic back around the corner. "Sonic, I've got a trap set up for it on the other side of the house. I want you to run over there and lure it in!"

"Wait, how is a ghost gonna activate the trap? It's flying around, remember?"

"That's why I need you to trigger the trap!"

"Uh, why don't you just get a really long stick? Why me?"

"Because you're quicker than my trap!"

Sonic certainly wasn't expecting that answer, but it pleased him greatly. "What kind of trap is it?"

"You remember the old flour clothesline?"

"Oh yeah! That was a good one!" Sonic laughed, remembering Carl completely doused in flour, but then realized Carl was glaring at him.

"This time, it's that ghost that's gonna wind up in all that flour, not me!"

"Why do you want to cover it in flour?"

"To track it, of course! C'mon, we need to move now, before it disappears!"

"Aye, aye, Captain Carl!" Sonic saluted, and in an instant, he was on the other side of the house, leaving Carl a bit bewildered in his wake.

The ghost was slowly floating, seeming to examine every little thing in Carl's backyard - which, to be fair, there was a ton of interesting junk. Sonic knew Carl's backyard well, had navigated it many times trying to catch a peek of Carl inside his house. It was very strange now that he was not only a welcome guest in Carl's house, but that he was actually helping Carl to catch something that wasn't himself. "If I told little me we'd be helping Crazy Carl, he'd never believe me," Sonic muttered to himself, "All right, here goes!"

Sonic whistled sharply and the ghost spun around. He was nearly being blinded by its red light, which flashed brighter.

"Hey, over here!" He called, and to his surprise, the ghost gave chase.

The ghost began making a horrible screeching noise, causing Sonic to cover his sensitive ears. The ghost rattled, hissing, some steam wisping out of it. Sonic ran towards a large white X marked with flour on the ground, going slow enough so the ghost would follow.

"Okay, gotta time this just right," he muttered, watching the ghost as it dipped and swayed. It was almost like it was having some kind of seizure, the screeching increasing. "Geez, no wonder Carl couldn't sleep!"

Sonic carefully stepped around the activator of the trap, waiting for it to come in range. "Just a little closer."

"A little closer…"

Time slowed as Sonic slid forward, slapping the white X hard with his glove. As he skidded under the ghost, he looked up to see if he could see through it.

He stopped immediately and backed up a few steps, craning his neck as things continued to slowly inch forward. The trap inching towards release.

"What the…"

He reached a hand carefully up and grabbed onto the ghost. There was nothing immaterial about this ghost. He tugged on the material a few times, realizing it was just a torn, white bed-sheet.

"You're no ghost!" He yanked hard on the sheet, but it was stuck on something, he could feel a force grinding and pulling against it. He gripped it hard and ran backwards with all his might, digging into the dirt. The sheet finally ripped free and he stumbled back onto the ground.

He threw the sheet off himself and looked up to see that the last bit of sheet was crumpled up inside the air-intake valve of one of Dr. Robotnik's egg-looking spy bots. The kind that had invaded Tom's house the first day he met Sonic. The same kind that was definitely armed and- WHAT THE HECK WAS IT DOING HERE!?

The spy bot had definitely seen better days. All of its weapon ports were open, but they didn't look functional at all. It had likely used up all of its ammo months ago. Its whole body was no longer pristinely white, covered in a variety of scratches, dents, pine needles, even the outtake valves were sputtering out bits of leaves, and it was flying a bit lopsided, giving it this unsettling, almost ethereal movement. No wonder Carl had thought it was a ghost!

Sonic didn't even realize time had restarted until the sack of flour was propelled by the clothesline, slamming into the screeching bot, exploding in a white cloud, showering him with the fine powder as well.

Sonic sniffled and sneezed, sending more flour flying.

The spy bot shuddered, sparking a bit, igniting some of the flour The screeching noise faded into a low honk as the bot dropped out of the sky, tumbling across the ground until it hit an overturned wheelbarrow. The red light on the front fizzled off.

Sonic just sat there in disbelief, frowning, as Carl came running up to him. Before Sonic could open his mouth to reply, Carl's camera flashed, followed by the slow motor buzzing as it spit out an instant photo. Carl put his hand over his mouth, trying to contain his laughter.

"Go on, let it out," Sonic sighed, folded his arms. His big frown only made him look even sillier.

Carl started howling with laughter, slapping his thighs, but ended up coughing when he couldn't get enough air to breathe. He finally calmed down a bit, gently patting Sonic's head. Then he looked at his flour-covered hand and started laughing all over again, crying and gripping his stomach.

Sonic vigorously shook himself for a few moments, to clear all of the flour off himself. "Are you done yet?"

Carl wiped his eyes, nodding. "Hoo-wee!"

Sonic, meanwhile, was more interested in the robot. It was a lot heavier than it looked. He managed to flip it over and examined the darkened eye, seeing himself reflected in it. At the very least, this one wouldn't be bothering anyone ever again.

"Looks like your ghost was one of Robotnik's spy bots," Sonic said, prying off one of the loose metal plates, discovering all of the ammo was indeed gone. That was a relief too.

"Drat," Carl said, "Was hoping I finally caught me a real ghost. Oh well," he said, "At least now that darn contraption won't keep me up at night anymore."

Sonic took one last look at the deactivated bot and stood up. What was an old Robotnik bot doing around Carl's place for the past few weeks? A thousand more questions swirled in his head, but he also began to feel the sugar crash from the Monster energy drinks. Maybe he was just being paranoid. If anything, this was probably just an isolated incident. The bot had probably been wandering alone for months now in the forest. Without Robotnik to guide it around, it was probably just... lost. In a way, that was kind of sad, but Sonic brushed off the feeling.

Carl began heading back inside. "C'mon, kiddo. Don't you wanna finish the movie?"

"Nah, I think I've had enough 'ghosts' for one night," Sonic said, yawning and stretching.

"Fair enough," Carl patted his back, "I'll get the spare bedroom ready for you."

If Sonic or Carl had bothered to turn around, they may have spotted a perfectly functional spy bot floating from just behind the trees, watching them silently as they headed back inside, the camera iris growing and shrinking, focusing on Sonic in particular.

A few miles away, a silhouetted figure was stationed inside a long black truck with no windows, parked along a secluded road into the forest. The interior was mostly darkened as well, to conserve what precious little power remained in the truck. The figure was sitting on a desk chair watching a bright screen, sipping a home-made latte from a black mug as the computer calculated. The computer finally finished, beeping, and the figure set the latte down, learning forward to see the results flash on the screen:

TARGET IDENTIFIED. HEDGEHOG. MATCH PROBABILITY... 99.9%.

"Finally!"

Agent Stone paused the camera, leaning forward and dipping his finger into the latte's foam, drawing a white X on the screen across Sonic's back as he followed Carl inside. He downed the rest of his latte in one long gulp, dribbling a bit on his collar. His outfit was much more disheveled as of late, and there were dark bags under his eyes, from many nights of little sleep. But for the first time since Robotnik mysteriously disappeared, Agent Stone smiled.

He could picture it now: Dr. Robotnik triumphantly returning through a shimmering golden portal and Agent Stone waiting there to greet him, handing over his hated enemy on a silver platter. "Good work catching the hedgehog, Agent Stone," he said aloud, imitating Robotnik perfectly, patting himself on the back. "Oh Doctor, I didn't do anything! It was only thanks to your brilliant drones and technology!"

"Nonsense my good man, you deserve a promotion!" The months of solitude spent inside Robotnik's truck had not been kind to his sanity.

"Oh doctor, you shouldn't! I couldn't possibly!" He spun around in Robotnik's old chair, giggling to himself.

All he needed now was just one of Sonic's precious golden rings. Then "Operation: Homecoming" could begin.

Author's Note: Thanks for your patience everyone! Life turned upside down for a few days with all the chaos going on in the world the past few weeks. I hope this tale brings you a little sunshine in the days ahead.