See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 4: The Bucket List

It had been about thirty minutes since Tom started driving again in order to get Sonic and Penelope to San Francisco so they could get back the rings and leave Earth. After the long silence, Tom decided to speak.

"All right, there's gonna be rules on this trip. Number one: do exactly as I say, all the time. Got it?", he said.

"Got it, Donut Lord", Sonic and Penelope said in unison.

"Would you two stop with the "Donut Lord"? I have a name. It's Tom", said Tom indignantly.

"My name's Penelope".

"I'm Sonic".

"Penelope and Sonic, okay. So, Sonic...you two have been spying on us all for years?", asked Tom.

"No...sheesh, Tom. What do you we are? A couple of creepy stalker fans? Or TMZ?", asked Penelope.

"I mean, I wouldn't call it spying. We're all just hanging out, only we weren't invited and no one knew we were there", said Sonic.

Tom sighed, "I can't believe Crazy Carl was right all this time", he said.

"The dude knows his stuff...", said Penelope.

"Yeah, you call him Super Observant Carl instead. Oh, my God! Stop the car, right now!", Sonic said as he suddenly looked out the window. "What? What?! What?", Tom asked nervously. "The World's Largest Rubberband Ball"?! We gotta see it!", said Sonic as he was reading from a road sign.

Tom shook his head, "No. No, no, this is not some fun family road trip, okay? The government wants to dissect you, and arrest me and Penelope. This is serious!", he said but then noticed that Sonic was gone. Penelope chuckled, "Yeah...Sonic was never any good at following instructions. One time I had to give him CPR because he went for a swim in the river even though I told not to go in without me. Turns out, the poor fella can't swim. And don't worry, he'll be back", she said.

As if on cue, Sonic suddenly zipped back into the car, holding several rubberband balls in his lap and wearing a cap. "Eh, you're right. It was lame. Gift shop was cool, though. Hey sis, I got you one of these", he said as gave Penelope one of those ball-in-a-cup toys. She smiled as she took it and began playing with it.

Then Sonic turned to Tom, "Oh and I got you a mouse pad. Hey when are we gonna get there?", he said as he began playing with a paddle ball toy. "We will get there when we get there", said Tom. "I hope it'll be soon because I'm starving", said Penelope.

Sonic just continued playing his new toy, smiling all the way, which was annoying Tom a fair bit. Later that day, night had fallen; Tom parked his car by a gas station, decked out with a shop and a phone booth. He opened his door, got out and put on a cap, "Alright. Now I gonna check in with Wade, see if he knows what's going on", he said to the two teens.

"You're gonna see Wade in that glass thing? What is it, a teleportation box?", asked Sonic pointing at the phone booth. Penelope started laughing, "Sonic, he's gonna call him. He's not gonna zap himself to his location, what do think we're in? An episode of Doctor Who?", she said.

"She's right: it's a payphone. It's mostly for drug dealers and fugitives from the law, which is us. Stay in the car, I don't want anybody seeing you two", said Tom as he walked over to the phone.

In the car, Sonic was behind the driving wheel, simulating a race and making motor noises, while Penelope sat in the front passenger seat playing with the ball-in-a-cup toy. That was when they both started hearing what sounded like real motor noises; on the other side of the road, there was a restaurant, the Piston Pit. Several motorbikes were parked in front of it and several old-fashioned cars were running their motors.

With an awestruck look on her face, Penelope dropped her toy while Sonic pressed his face against the glass of the window. "Oh...my...God...!", muttered Penelope. "Ooooh!Okay, okay, that is the coolest place on Earth, but we have to stay in the car!", Sonic said. However, both of their resolve was beginning to crumble as they just fun and exciting the Piston Pit was.

Outside, bikers greet each other via headbutts and there was an arm wrestling match; a monster truck arrived and someone was doing tricks on a motorcycle. Penelope felt herself want to scream at how awesome it all was and Sonic was on the brink of hyperventilating.

"Okay we are not missing out on that! But how do we get you in without anyone seeing you're a...hedgehog...", Penelope trailed off as she looked at her backpack where she had her old clothes and then at a pair of glasses hanging above Sonic's head. "Little bro, I've got a brilliant idea!", she said.

A few minutes later, after Tom had gotten off the phone with Wade, though the call had been hijacked midway by Robotnik, he walked back to his car holding several snacks in his hands. "Okay, not the healthiest meal ever but...", he trailed off when he looked inside his car to see it was empty.

"Sonic? Penelope?", he called out. He then looked over to the Piston Pit, putting two and two together; Tom put his groceries on the front of the car and ran to the restaurant, "No, no, no, no, no, no!", he said frantically. He stepped inside and looked around, seeing a mechanical cow and eventually Sonic, sitting next to Penelope at a nearby table, wearing a cowboy hat. Tom walked towards them and bumps against the hedgehog, clearing his throat. Both Penelope and Sonic turned around, the latter wearing the shades his sister found.

"Howdy partner", said Sonic tipping his hat. "Fancy meeting y'all here, ain't it?", said Penelope.

"I'm not your partner. Come on, we're leaving", said Tom as he tried to get the two teens to leave. "But there's a ZZ Top cover band. You gotta see their beards", said Sonic excitedly. "And they take requests, dude! Requests!", said Penelope. "Weird enough to catch them some other time. Let's go, get up", said Tom clearly not having any of it.

"Please! Can't we stay? For forty five minutes, tops!", said Penelope. "If we stay, I promise I won't say another word for the rest of the trip, starting...now", said Sonic as Penelope nodded as well, also agreeing to do the same. That was when a waitress came up to their table, "Welcome to the Piston Pit. What can I get you, folks?", she said.

"Oh, I want nachos and buffalo wings...oh, and guac. Funny word, isn't it? Guac, guac. Guac", said Sonic. "And I'll the same, minus the guac. I'm actually allergic to avocados", said Penelope. "Hey, no kids allowed in here. What's he got on, some kind of mask?", said the waitress to Tom.

Which was odd because Penelope was a teenage and therefore also wasn't supposed to be in a restaurant where alcoholic beverages were served, but its probably because her tall height, slim frame and rugged appearance that the waitress didn't comment on her too. She more than likely thought Penelope was a woman in her mid twenties.

That's when Tom, however, thought up an excuse to cover for Sonic. "Oh, he...uh...he's actually forty-three years old and, um, suffers from a very rare skin disease, that stunts his growth and makes him look, um, like... like that", he lied. "The face, I was born with. The confidence, I picked up along the way", said Sonic. "But don't let that fool you, deep down he's a real sweetheart", said Penelope.

"Make his a Mellow Yellow, please", said Tom to the waitress who now looked visibly uncomfortable. "And I'll have a diet Dr. Pepper with a twist of lemon, please", said Penelope as the waitress then left. Penelope sat casually in her chair while Sonic playfully admired his, "I never sat in a barstool before. So squishy! Oh, look at this! It spins!", he said as he spun around in the stool before stopping, "Woah, woah, woah! I feel sick".

Penelope laughed at his childish antics while Tom just glared at them, "Are you two having fun? You're gonna check this of the old bucket list, huh? Big night for ya", he said. "Never made one, honestly", said Penelope. "What's a bucket list?", asked Sonic. "A bucket list is, uh... It's a list of things you wanna do in your life before you, well, kick the bucket", Tom sighed.

"I've never kicked a bucket either. Oh, I gotta make my list!", said Sonic as he quickly ran through the establishment, finding a receipt and a pencil before coming back to the table. "Hey, mind sharing that? We pretty want to do the same things so I wanna make my bucket list too", said Penelope. Sonic smiled as he and Penelope began writing, passing the pencil back and forth between the two of them, wide grins plastered on their faces.

But when they got to the bottom of the paper, their smiles almost instantly dropped into saddened frowns. "What? What's the matter?", asked Tom. "There's so much stuff we've never done", Penelope said sadly. "And now that we're leaving Earth forever, I guess we missed our chance", said Sonic. Tom looked around the bar for a moment, "Well, I guess this is the kind of place you can get a lot of living done in a short period of time. I suppose we could spare an hour", he said.

This made the two teens smile widely, "Are you serious!?", said Penelope. "What? You're gonna "bucket list" with us?", asked Sonic. "Sure why not?", said Tom. Penelope squealed in excitement while Sonic smiled, "Thank you so much! You won't regret this", he said. "Pretty sure I will", muttered Tom.

Then the three of them began partaking in all the activities written on the bucket list: Sonic, Penelope and Tom were dancing in the bar, playing darts. Tom hit the bullseye, looking over smugly at his companions; Penelope threw a dart, hitting just near Tom's, a smug grin on her face. Then Sonic grabbed a cup filled with darts and fired them in succession, completely missing the board and hitting the wood around it, as well as the drinks the waitress was holding.

They then partook in a hoop shot game; Tom threw the balls, making each basket. Penelope then threw a ball, which turned out to be Sonic curled up; the hedgehog sat down onto the ring and ran his feet through the hoop, racking up points. "Yeah, new highscore", he said as he and his sister gave each a thumbs-up.

Sonic then proceeded to take a ride on the electric bull, Penelope stood by watching and cheering him on. "Wait a second. Is this bull missing a head or does it have two butts?", asked Sonic. Penelope laughed while Tom made a yawn gesture.

"Oh-ho! This is easy!", said Sonic. "Okay...", said Tom as he put in a coin and changed the speed on the control panel from "Shaken Not Steered" to "Deadly Desperado". "Wait a are you...", Penelope trailed off as she saw what he was doing. Suddenly, Sonic started to sway and fly up, "Oh-ho-ho, I'm a cowboy, baby!", he said. Tom laughed out loud, before Sonic flew off the thing; Tom seemed concerned, but Sonic quickly got back on top of the bull, "I'm okay!", he said giving a thumbs up. "When he's done, I'm going next...on the same setting!", said Penelope.

Tom looked at her like she was crazy but didn't question it. When Sonic was done, Penelope jumped onto the bull immediately afterwards; she clung to the bull, doing pretty well while Sonic stood off to the side cheering her on. Tom then set the bull to the "Deadly Desperado" setting, causing Penelope to hang off for dear life until she got flung to the floor.

Sonic ran over to her, "Whoa sis! Are you okay?", he said in concern. Penelope sat up, looking dazed before she shook her head. "That...was...awesome! Can I do it again?!", she said with a smile on her face. Sonic laughed while Tom just shook his head.

Soon they were sitting at the table again, just laughing and talking, "Glad you're both having a good time", Tom said sarcastically. "A good time? This is the most fun I've had in my whole life!", said Penelope. "I am having a good time! I'm having the best time! What could go wrong?", said Sonic.

Just then, they were approached by three bikers. "Uh...can we help you?", asked Tom as he held up his hands to show he meant no trouble. "We don't like your kind around here", said the bald biker. Penelope sat up straight and looked at him with an angry expression, "Excuse me? You wanna clarify?", she asked. "Yeah, our kind? What kind is that?", asked Sonic. The bald man leaned forward and said "Hipsters".

The two teens looked at the man, thoroughly offended. "How dare you?", said Sonic. "Ugh, I am so sick of people assuming that because of how I look! Listen pal, I'm not dressed this way because I'm a hipster! I'm dressed this way because this is literally all I can afford to wear", Penelope said angrily.

Tom, taken aback by what she said and sensing the rising tension, decided to break it up. "Oh, hey, you know what? We were just leaving anyway, weren't we? There's not, not a problem", he said. "No, no, no! It's okay. I know exactly how to handle this situation", said Sonic. He then picked up an empty bottle and stood up on the stool, clearing his throat. "Pop quiz, hot shot. You just picked a fight with a poorly disguised hedgehog who's seen way too many action movies. What do you do? What do you do?", he said to the bald man before jumping up to hit him on the head with the bottle.

The man only grunted, the bottle didn't do anything but make him angry. "Huh. Am I crazy? It's supposed to break, right?", asked Sonic as he tried again and again, tapping the bottle against the thug's head, "Dink. Dink, dink. Break, please. Break, please. Break this bottle, please. Please, please, please, please, please..."

"Uh...Sonic..."

"Little Bro, I think you should stop!"

The thug pulled his arm back, Sonic quickly jumped out of the way but the fist found another target: Tom. He was knocked back against some other patrons and a brawl soon started; Tom got into the fight and punches another man, he and Sonic are driven into a metaphorical corner while Penelope hid herself underneath a table to avoid the fight. "Nice going!", said Tom. "Thanks! It's awesome, right?! Alright, who's next? Who wants some? Who do I get to beat up?", said Sonic as he shook his fists.

That's when he noticed Penelope hiding beneath a table, "Hey sis, come on! Join in, we can take these clowns", said Sonic. Penelope just looked at him, "Sorry bro, but I ain't a fighter and I'm not gonna be stupid enough to try, so leave me out of it. Though...you think you could snag me some food?", she said rubbing her growling stomach. "Yeah that's a good point! Hey, has anybody seen our waitress? Still waiting on those Buffalo Wings!", he said looking around.

That was when the same burly man from before approached him, cracking his knuckles. "Why, you...", said Sonic as he charged towards him and, as he jumped over the man, repeatedly hit his head with his gloved hands. With a flip, he landed behind his opponent, but the thug was unaffected; he then turned around, outraged and growling like an animal. The man charged at him before he suddenly froze, suddenly everyone in the entire room was frozen; this was because Sonic was actually moving so fast that everything else around looked as though it was moving extremely slowly.

Sonic smirked and sped out of his disguise; he took action, first taking a selfie with someone whose tooth had been knocked out, before colliding with a rogue boot. Sonic then saw Tom; worried, he sped to his partner and the two men who are holding him. He pulled the cap of one of them over his eyes and gave the other one a wedgie, hanging the end on an eagle ornament.

He then pushed Tom towards the bar, passed him a drink and ran to the waitress, who has dropped a platter of chili dogs and mini cheeseburgers. He quickly eats them and burps, then grabbed a couple of the burgers, wrapping them in napkins before he ran to the table Penelope was hiding under. Sonic placed the burgers in her hands before he grabbed two sparklers and sauce bottles; he partied with the sparkles while showering some other patrons with sauce, drawing a the face of one of them and putting the fireworks into his ears.

Sonic wound two other men in toilet paper, then pulled a bunting line through the legs of the remaining customers, walking along the ceiling and winding the end around a fan. For his last act, he grabbed a nearby bear head, hopped over the heads of the customers and placed it over the thug's face. The hedgehog then put his jacket and hat back on, grabbed a napkin and did a bull tamer's pose as everything went back to real time. Virtually everyone but Tom, Penelope and the thug collapsed onto the ground, the latter continues to run towards Sonic.

"Olé!", said Sonic. The thug flew through the window and landed outside, Tom looked around, holding his drink, dumbfounded; Penelope also looked around dumbfounded before noticing the cheeseburgers in her hands, smiling as she unwrapped them and began eating them. One of the guys wrapped in toilet paper stumbled forward before falling down. The hedgehog sped onto the bar, "So, should we get outta here?", asked Sonic. "Yeah, time to go", said Tom. "I seconded that, let's blow this taco stand!", Penelope said climbing out of her hiding spot while still eating her burgers.

They left the Piston Pit, being chased by the other patrons. "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho! That was amazing! Oh, wait a second. Did we even pay our tip? It doesn't matter! Oh, watch this, watch this! I always wanna do this", said Sonic as he slid over the hood of Tom's car and threw himself into the passenger seat. Penelope grabbed the snacks Tom left on the hood and jumped into the backseat before Tom quickly drove away, escaping the angry patrons and luckily none of them were smart enough to chase after them with their own vehicles.

The trio were all laughing, "I can't say for sure, but I think they liked me", said Sonic. "Yeah I think you were the life of the party", said Penelope as she took a sip of one of the coffees Tom got earlier, "Mmm...french vanilla. Good choice, Tom". Tom laughed and winched while holding the part of his face he was punched in.

Later as the night wore on, the trio found a motel to stay in. Inside one of the rooms, Tom put some ice into a towel to ease the pain at the side of his head. Sonic, excited as ever, was jumping on the bed he and Penelope were sharing while she just took her flannel jacket off, tossed it to the side and laid down.

"The floors were sticky, the crowd was rough and the odds were against us, but there was no stopping Donut Lord and the Blue Blur! Scratch another one of my list!", said Sonic. Penelope laughed, "I never wanted to know what it's like to be in a fight, but I have to say that was pretty fun. However, that was also a scary experience and I never wanna do that again", she said.

Tom looked at both of them before sitting down on his bed, handing the hedgehog an ice pack; Sonic grabbed the towel with ice, Tom pressed his against his cheek and grunted while Sonic imitated him. Penelope smiled as she watched this go on for quite some time. "Okay...", Tom said which was basically a que for Sonic to stop imitating him. "No, Tom. Let him going, he looks so cute when he does it", said Penelope.

"I'm not cute!", Sonic said playfully.

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"You're the sweetest, most adorable little hedgehog ever!", said Penelope as she hugged him while tickling his belly. Sonic laughed as he tried to push her away, "Why do you like to tease and baby me so much?", he asked. "Because I'm your big sis, it's fun and because I love you", said Penelope as she gave him a tiny kiss on his cheek which made him smile.

"So, what are we gonna do now?", Sonic asked Tom. "I'm gonna pass out watching TV. You guys should too", said Tom. "Dude, I just drank a cup of coffee. I ain't tired", said Penelope. "And besides, this is our last night on Earth. I wanna soak up every last second", said Sonic. "Alright, well, anything you can find to do in this room, you knock yourself out", said Tom. And so he does: he sprinted around, changing channels on the TV, balancing on one of the lights, playing with toilet paper, holding a pillow fight with himself and several other things, before disappearing into the bathroom. He then comes back out, wearing slippers and towels wrapped around his chest and quills.

"Good times", he said. "You...you look like a magazine model!", Penelope chuckled. That's when Sonic farted, which made her laugh even harder. Tom, however, wasn't so amused. "Oh, come on. That's awful, what did you eat?", he asked. "I think it's called a chili dog", said Sonic. "Guess it ate it's way right through you, huh?", said Penelope. "You might wanna check your fur on that one, buddy", said Tom as he laid down.

As Sonic took his improvised bathrobe off, Tom kept talking to them. "Hey, so, what's this next planet you're supposed to go to like", he asked. "Let me tell you, its not exactly a beautiful utopia of a planet to live, that's for sure!", said Penelope. "Yeah, it's no Earth, I can tell you that. There's no people, just breathable air and giant mushrooms and stuff", said Sonic. "Well, look at it this way. At least, you won't be the only fungi", said Tom.

Penelope then groaned while face palming at Tom's dumb joke. "No. Don't ever do that again!", said Sonic as Tom chuckled. Then Sonic and Penelope looked around the motel room in sadness, "I'm really gonna miss this place. I know we have to leave Earth to be safe, but what if Longclaw was wrong? Maybe I could have a life here...I mean, look at the last ten years...", Sonic trailed off as he looked at Penelope.

She sat up and gently placed her hand on his cheek, "Well...it was fun while it lasted. I mean, there's still a lot of things I've wanted to do. Places to go, people to see, food to eat! I especially wanted to try new foods in other countries, but...you're my family, Sonic. And if I have to ditch my home to make sure you're safe then so be it. You're the only thing I care about", she said as she hugged him. Sonic smiled as he hugged her back, feeling comforted by the fact that his big sister will always be there for him.

Tom looked at them before sitting up, "Alright… You two should get some sleep", he said. "You sleep. Don't worry about us. We're gonna stay up all night, enjoying Earth while we can", said Sonic. "That's right, we're rebels! We don't need to sleep! It's like the song goes 'sleep is for the weak!'", said Penelope. Tom stood up to put his ice pack away, "Sure, kiddos. As long as we're on the road by eight", he said.

But when as he turned back around, he saw that Sonic and Penelope were fast asleep, snoring and mumbling, the latter of which had her right arm draped over the former in a comforting embrace. Tom walked over to them and gently removed Penelope's glasses from her face, placing them on the table before tucking the two teens in. He looked at their shared bucket list and saw a lot of stripes, though one line caught his attention; it read "Make Some Real Friends" and it was the only thing on the list not scratched off.

Tom looked at the list almost sympathetically until a news broadcast on the TV caught his attention, "...Tom Wachowski, along with his young unnamed accomplice, accused of committing an act of domestic terrorism. Wachowski himself is considered armed and dangerous. Any information regarding their whereabouts should be reported to the local authorities immediately", said the news reporter.

Tom felt uneasiness creep into the pit of his gut before shutting the TV off and going to bed.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 4, come back soon for Chapter 5. Until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!