Chapter 15
JJ: Herro everyone!
Josh: Nuh-uh, not today, you are too sick.
JJ: No I'b not! I'b perfectly fibe.
Josh: ...Just go to bed.
JJ: Tank you.
Josh: ...He's obnoxious and a bit of a jerk at times, but you can't help but pity him. Poor guy.
"So, tell me one more time how this is going to help you get a Chaos Emerald." Knuckles said tiredly, laying on the hotel bed.
"Blitz has the Yellow Chaos Emerald on him, but we aren't sure where." I explained. "If we watch his act, we may be able to figure out where on him he hides it."
"But the only way we can do that is if we actually go to the circus," Sonic continued, "So if we're lucky enough to figure out his secret, we can confront him after the show and get it from him."
"Look, whatever, I know this is just some lame attempt to spend time with each other." Knuckles closed his eyes.
"Aaaaw, did someone gamble away all of their money?" I asked.
"Shut up." Knuckles rolled away from us. I smiled.
"See ya Knuckles." I waved as me and Sonic walked out the door. He waved his hand dismissively.
…...
"Why are we leaving so early?" Sonic asked, looking at an electronic clock on one of the buildings. 7:00
"Oh, I'm sorry, we could just go back to the hotel and spend more time with Knuckles." I said.
"Point taken." Sonic said, snickering a bit.
"Besides, it'll be a good way to get to know the place, see the different performers, and, you know, just have fun." I said, smiling. I really didn't want to tell him, but I loved spending time with him. He may not be my actual brother, but he sure as heck acted like one. But what would I tell him? Hey, I like spending time with you? That would come across a little awkwardly.
"Should be right around he-" Sonic stopped. His eyes were wide, and I was pretty sure my mouth was to the ground. If we thought the grounds were impressive last night, tonight's grounds were nothing less then spectacular. Colorful lights stringed cobblestone walkways, with a ton of food stands and midway games. The Circus tent glowed multiple colors from spotlights illuminating it from the inside.
"This place looks awesome!" I exclaimed.
"No kidding! Come on, let's check it out!" Sonic dashed towards the park.
"Uh, Sonic?" I said, limping as fast as I could to catch up. Sonic turned and looked at me.
"Oh, right." He walked back to me. "Ready?" I nodded and we walked/limped over to the crowded booths.
…...
"Woah! Josh, come look at this!" Sonic motioned me over to a small black building. "It's a Haunted House!" I looked at the sign.
"The Nightshade Circus?" I read. "Uh... I dunno."
"Come on man, it'll be fun!" Sonic said, walking over to the entrance.
"Ah, well, uh, I've never been in one before." I said, slowly walking back.
"A Haunted House?" Sonic asked, looking at me with disbelief. I nodded. "Well come on! It'll be your first one!"
"Uh, nah, I think I'll pass." I said, waving it off.
"Oh, come on!" Sonic went down and grabbed my arm. "You'll like it!"
"Uh, no, Sonic, WAIT!" I was quickly (and slightly painfully) dragged to the entrance.
"Entry for two please!" Sonic said into a darkened ticket booth. He pulled out his cash card from my backpack and held it out.
"Only accept tickets." A creepy voice said from within the booth.
"Oh, uh..." Sonic put the card back in my pack and pulled out the two tickets Blitz gave us. "Will these work?" He held them out. A snarled, green hand slid out of the darkness of the booth and took the tickets.
"...Welcome." The ticket attendant handed Sonic back the tickets. The door in front of us slowly opened, creakily.
"...Sweet! Come on, let's go!" Sonic started to walk in, but I kept my feet firmly planted. I was shivering from fear. "Josh, come on, you'll have fun!" Sonic quickly grabbed my arm again and yanked me in. The doors slammed shut behind us. The room was pitch black.
"...Sonic, I don't think this is a good idea." I said, quietly and squeakily.
"Relax, nothing scary's happening... yet." I couldn't see him, but I could almost guarantee he was smirking his signature smirk.
"Look, whatever, just stay close." I said, grabbing his arm.
"Alright. Grab my arm or something." Sonic said.
"...I am." I said, getting more and more scared.
"No you're not..." Sonic sounded a bit excited.
"Then who-?" I was interrupted when a white clown face, with sharp yellow teeth lit up next to me and growled. I screamed. Like a girl. Soon, the whole room lit up to reveal all sorts of decaying and monstrous clowns, all lunging at us with chainsaws.
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" I screamed, clinging to Sonic's arm and closing my eyes. Sonic walked forward, occasionally jumping back and yelping a bit before laughing and moving on. We finally made it out of the room and were in a black lit hallway. Sonic was laughing.
"See, that wasn't so bad Jo-...Josh?" Sonic realized I wasn't on his arm anymore. He looked around. "Where are you man, I don't see you!" I don't know when he got the idea to look down, (He probably heard me whimpering) but he looked down to see me crouching down on the ground, eyes shut tight, with my hands over my ears. "H-hey!" Sonic reached down and touched my shoulder, which scared me again. I sighed when I realized it was just Sonic. "Are you really that scared?" Sonic asked me. I nodded a bit. I couldn't bring myself to look at him. He probably thought I was the funniest thing, a sixteen year old reduced to the fetal position, almost in tears. I don't care how much of a good person you are, you can't look at a person like me without thinking "wimp."
At least, that's what I thought.
Sonic gently pulled me up and turned me to look at him. He looked concerned, and apologetic. He pulled me in to a hug.
"I'm sorry man. I shouldn't drag you into things you don't want to do." He said quietly.
"It's okay. You were thought I would enjoy it." I replied, hiccuping slightly.
"Aaaw, well isn't that sweet?!" A voice yelled from in front of us. I whipped around to see a giant clown on stilts, wielding a machete. I started to turn in the opposite direction and run before Sonic grabbed me and pulled me past it.
"Just stay close to me." He put an arm around me. "I'll try to show where all the people will jump out. Just remember, everything's fake." I nodded. Sonic smiled and squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. We then proceeded down the hallway.
…...
While I probably won't go into a Haunted House ever, ever, again, Sonic made the experience a ton better. Sonic kept a sharp eye out for any and all hiding places and pointed them out to me. And for the ones he didn't get, his hand on my shoulder helped calm me enough that only a small whimper would escape from my lips. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it out of the Haunted House. I looked up at Sonic, and he looked down at me, smiling.
"It's all over." He said comfortingly.
"...Thank you. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I scare easily." I said, embarrassed.
"Why would I be uncomfortable?" Sonic asked.
"I dunno... you hugged me, put your arm around me... people could have considered that... romantic." I trailed off, feeling awkward even talking about that. Because of me, everyone in the Haunted House probably thought that we were a couple.
"...Josh, I can't believe you'd even think that!." Sonic crossed his arms and looked at me sternly. I looked at the ground.
"I know. Look, I'm so-"
"Why would I get romantically involved with my little brother?" I suddenly looked up at him. He was smiling.
"...You seriously consider me your little brother?" I tried to see if he was lying. His eyes weren't shifting.
"Course I do. Why wouldn't I?" Sonic put his arms down. "I said I didn't mind back when we first met, remember?" Still no sign of him lying. He looked comfortable.
"I thought you just said that so you wouldn't hurt my feelings." I pressed on, trying to catch him in the act. I needed to make sure he was telling the truth. If he was, and something happened to him, it would be like my parents all over again.
"Josh," Sonic walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. He looked me square in the eye. "I would never lie to you like that. I've barely gotten to know you, and I like the person I see. You would do anything for your little brother. You try to treat people with respect. Except Knuckles, but, no one does really." He snickered a bit, and I let out a small giggle. "I couldn't be more proud to be called your big brother. I don't want to let anything happen to you."
He was telling the truth.
I smiled.
"Thank you." I didn't know what else to say. I never really thought he took the brother thing seriously. I honestly thought he just considered it cute and shrugged it off.
"Now come on. Let's get out of here." Sonic said.
"Yes, let's." I said enthusiastically, wanting to get away from the House of Horror.
"Oh, and don't look behind you." Sonic said, turning and looking at something behind me. I stiffened.
"...Whyyyy?" I asked, getting very, very, very nervous.
"Uh, no reason, just keep walking." Sonic grabbed my wrist and started to walk, with me in tow. And I was very, very, very, very, veeeeeeery careful not to look behind me. I don't care what sort of creature was following me, I didn't want to see it.
…...
"Sonic, is it gone?" I asked after we had walked a ways away.
"Should be." Sonic turned his head around as I did.
Let's just say he was wrong.
"Oh man, I didn't think they were allowed to go that far away from the house." Sonic laughed a bit. "That was kinda scary."
"No kidding." A small voice from a nearby trashcan whimpered. Sonic pulled me out and dusted off the garbage as best he could. "Looks like Stilts has a thing for us." I said, watching the clown rampage back to the house.
"Stilts?" Sonic looked at the clown. "You named him?"
"Things are less scary when they have weird names I think. Not creepy weird names though, just funny weird names." I started thinking. "Although, you know what would be scary is if a clown named Stilts had stilts with sword blades or something on the bottom and he went on a killing spree." Sonic gave me a "What the heck?" look.
"So... you can't go through a haunted house on your own, but you came up with that." Sonic crossed his arms.
"Hey, I can control what happens if it's in my head. That, and I went through a bit of a dark stage when I was younger." I shuddered thinking back to my dark period. Fun for the whole family, let me tell ya. All Sonic did was stare at me for a bit more before continuing on.
"So where are we on time?" Sonic asked.
"Well," I checked a clock, "The most terrifying 10 hours of my life took just about 30 minutes. It's about 7:40."
"So, what do you wanna do for an hour and twenty minutes?" Sonic put his hands behind his head and looked at me.
"Scout around for clues, eat, meet the cast, eat, relax my injuries, eat, and, oh yes, eat." I walked over to a food booth and bought whatever they were selling. "Fried ice cream?" I handed Sonic a small round ball of fried goodness from the bag I bought.
"They can fry ice cream?" Sonic investigated the ball before popping it into his mouth.
"It's something to do with the batter I think. I don't know." I ate one. "It's good right?"
"Yeah, it's rare when I want something more than a chili dog." Sonic grabbed another one and ate it.
"This isn't going to be a new food fetish is it?"
"Why? What's wrong with liking this?"
"You're going to be eating this and chili dogs everyday for the rest of your life! There's going to be a point where you're too old to run and work off all of the extra calories."
"Please, I'll always be running!"
"We'll see. I can see it now, 'Sonic Geezers,' where you try to beat Eggman at checkers and Shadow at Gin Rummy."
"Nah, I don't think so."
…...
We spent a bit too much time eating, and not enough time looking for clues. By the time we realized we needed to get going, it was already 8:30.
"We have thirty minutes to find something that can help us." I said, panicking.
"What do you expect to find anyway? We're looking for where a Chaos Emerald is on someone's body, not who killed Mr. X." Sonic said.
"I don't know, maybe a receipt of some kind from the tailors, or a needle and thread." I saw what I assumed to be Blitz's trailer and started hurrying towards it.
"You still think it's hidden in his pocket?" Sonic hurried after me.
"A magician tries to distract his audience from his dirty work. He tried to make sticking a hand in his pocket seem like a natural pose, but when I accused him of hiding the Emerald in his pocket, he pulled his hand out fast, as if something bit him. He realized it was noticeable and he self-consciously corrected it. If it were his natural pose, he probably would have at least looked at his hand before removing it, or else he wouldn't have done anything." I finished.
"How did you know that?" Sonic looked at me wide eyed.
"...I watch a lot of T.V." I walked a bit faster.
…...
I knocked on the trailer door.
"Why are you knocking, I thought we were going to sneak in?" Sonic looked at me like I had a screw loose.
"I don't want to break in if he's home. Now shush, remember, bats have great hearing!" I checked all of the windows. No one seemed to be in. "He's gone. Do you know how to pick a lock?" I looked at Sonic expectantly.
"Don't you have a plan to get in?" Sonic asked.
"I was just glad to get this far!" I replied.
"Well, maybe the door's unlocked." Sonic walked over to the door.
"Oh please, that only happens in crime comedies and really bad fanfiction."
…...
"Do you feel like we're being watched." Sonic teased, looking through Blitz's dresser.
"Shut up." I sifted through the garbage can, looking for anything that could help us. "Nothing in the trash can."
"I don't see any sort of hidden lining in the pockets." Sonic closed the dresser.
"Then I guess this was all a wa-"
"Shh..." Sonic slowly crossed to the window and looked outside. "Josh, hide, Blitz is coming!"
"No, let's just try to get out, now!" I said running to the door.
"He's coming from the front, he'll see you leave!" Sonic locked the door. "Get behind that plant!" A small tree was growing in the corner. I ran behind and tried to hide behind the branches. Sonic quickly got behind the couch.
The doorknob jiggled.
Some mumbling.
Keys entered the lock.
The door slowly opened.
Blitz stepped inside and shut the door behind him. He sighed and took off his top hat.
"Well, that was exhausting." He said. He took a moment as if he was listening. "I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, I'm just saying that it was really tiring. There were so many people today." He listened for a bit more. "You're right, it was worth it. I just need a little rest I guess. I'm a bit on edge. That human almost discovered you. If he took you from me, I'd be ruined. My career would be down the drain." He sat down on the couch. "Sorry, I know you don't like it when I gripe. Here, we both need some rest." He started to move, when his ear twitched. "Who's there?!" Blitz quickly stood up and looked around the trailer. "I can hear you breathing." I looked at Sonic behind the couch. We both held our breaths.
And we waited.
Blitz slowly paced the trailer, cocking his head from side to side, listening for any sound. I quickly realized that I would soon be unable to hold my breath. I looked at Sonic with panic in my eyes. He looked back with worry. Any second now, I would probably be in big trouble. My lungs screamed for air. I needed to take a breath.
I was saved by a knock on the door.
Blitz took one last look around the room before answering it and stepping out. I took a huge gulp of air.
"That was too close." Sonic stood up and checked the window. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"Well, this wasn't a total waste." I said stepping out of the trailer. "We know for a fact that he's hiding the Emerald on him. Now we just have to figure out where."
"Can't we just demand it out of him?" Sonic asked. "We know he has it."
"How do we know Sonic." I asked.
"We heard him while he was talking to it... in his trailer." Sonic realized.
"Exactly. We can't let him know we broke in now. The only thing we can do is to beat him at his own game."
"What is his game exactly?"
"A magician... I think."
"I guess we'll find out at the show. What time is it?" Sonic looked at a clock. 8:55. "Come on, let's get out of here. We've got a show to see." I nodded and we headed towards the circus tent.
"I feel like this could have been resolved a lot easier if we just beat him up." I said, thinking aloud.
"He really hasn't done anything evil, I don't see why we should." Sonic shrugged. "By the way, I'm having a hard time getting a hold of your logic."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm still not sure how knowing where he hides the Emerald will help us get it."
"Didn't I explain this part to you?" I looked a Sonic, who shook his head. "We pick-pocket him." I replied, a mischievous grin spreading across my face.
Josh: ...Yeah, the plan is weird, but JJ doesn't really do his best writing when he's sick.
JJ: I hearb dat!
Josh: Just go back to bed! Okay, so JJ wanted me to tell you guys that, with school starting, he won't be able to write as many chapters as he did. He will try to post as many as he can, but don't expect a whole ton. Homework comes first. See you guys around!
