Hello everybody! I'm sorry for this particular story having been dead for more than a year! it just kind of fell out of my writing routine as I had and still am concentrating on school. That and I was really and still am into my other Sonic mystery called Sonic the Hedgehog: Attorney of Law. However, I have decided to try and bring this story back to life. What better way to make that happen than by making a new chapter for this story? I mean, this is a story that I'm happy to have created, so I figured I just bring this back. Hopefully, I can remember how I decided to make the story flow and what the plot was. If not, then I can always recreate it as I go along. Oh, the joy of creating a story from scratch!
I hope you all remember how this story has so far went about. If not, then feel free to read the previous three chapters. After all, it's just three chapters to refresh on and not like thirty. Still, I'll bet that most of you are really just new readers who just happened to see this story pop onto the grid after a year's worth of hiatus. Oh well, I hope you all enjoy this new chapter all the same. And to the new readers who decided to check this story out for curiosity's sake, I welcome you to this story and hope that you'll also read my other stories I have on this site.
For those of you who tend to know me for making somewhat long to really long chapters, you'll notice that this along with some other chapters to this story in the future will be somewhat shorter. The reason for that is because this isn't like the hardcore mystery story like my other Sonic story. There really isn't any clues to write about nor are there going to be those extensive cross-examination moments. However, there is going to be some action scenes like you've probably already read back in the second chapters. Of course, action doesn't really make that long of a chapter. Just a heads-up in case you're wondering why there's a downgrade to the length of my stories. After all, action can't be bogged down with so many details or it'll become so dense and thick you won't be able to get into the story without running away in search of something else to read.
You might also notice from this chapter onward that there's a change to my writing style in comparison to my other three chapters. The reason for that is because I have been in college and still am in college. Between the time I stopped writing this to now, I had taken college classes on creative fiction writing. As such, I've been implementing what I've learned from those classes into this chapter. I hope you all like the improvement to the writing and the lack of irrelevant redundancies.
Anyway, I'll go ahead and shut up now. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter. Please don't forget to leave me a review before you move onto the next story that you want to read. They are always helpful in letting me know what you guys see in terms of mistakes and whatever kind of other suggestions that you might have to better the story. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories everybody!
Chapter 4: The Next Morning
After trying to forget about the events from last night that had left Sonic both dead yet still living at the same time, both he and Tails were in the living room eating breakfast. Because of all the excitement that they were subjected to, both looked pretty tired and were just picking at their cereal. Then again, neither had expected to get any amount of sleep since it was not every day where you found yourself getting shot to death one minute and practically having that death erased in the next. Even the most stoic person in the world would probably have a hard time coming to terms with such an event.
Another thing that the two were kind of expecting the morning to bring was a newscast of some sort detailing the blood that was found at Dead-End Park. After all, the sound of a gunshot is pretty hard for anyone to not have heard. Something like a puddle of dried blood was a pretty standout added feature nobody would have been happy to find in a supposedly family-friendly park. However, all they heard that morning where of normal morning things such as the traffic and weather reports among other non-important events that happened overnight. Apparently, the man who had murdered the blue hedgehog regained consciousness after the great beating he received between then and the next morning.
"I told you the rain last night was going to be strong enough to wash the blood at the park," Sonic told Tails as he shuffled a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. He then said while crunching away, "Even that man who tried to murder us managed to make a run for it after we just left him there."
"I still say you went a bit overboard when you gone and punched his lights out," Tails responded as he got up from a chair he was sitting on in the living room and headed off towards the kitchen. "You could have just kept him from running away and called the cops so they could arrest him. Anyway, what do you think we should do now? Shouldn't we bring this up to the police? I mean, there's a man out there who did murder both of us. It's kind of hard to pretend that last night never happened."
"Uh, I don't think that the police is going to believe us if we tell them about that," the blue hedgehog responded with a frown as he set his now empty bowl on the coffee table in front of him. "I may work with the department, but that's hardly enough for them to start believing me about all this freaky spiritual occult stuff. I don't think anybody apart from a supernatural believer would take me seriously.
"Besides, you're still alive and are not considered legally dead ever since I changed your fate," he added with a small yet cocky smile. "They'd probably think you're insane if you told them how I somehow managed to reverse your death. If you think about it, I'm the only one here who could be considered legally dead. However, they'd probably I just suddenly fainted if I left my body in front of them all."
"But what about your gunshot wound?" the young fox suggested. "It's not like I'm saying you should just go up to them and say you're actually dead, I really doubt they'll ignore something like that if the topic comes up. At the least, you can act like you were non-fatally shot when you go in and say that the culprit managed to run away."
"Um, about that… I don't really know how to say this, but there technically isn't any gunshot wound to show them anymore. I don't know how it happened, but it somehow managed to…completely disappear."
"What?!" the fox exclaimed as he came rushing back into the living room and stood in front of Sonic. He then began pawing at the hedgehog's chest in search of the fatal wound. "But how is that possible? You weren't able to erase your own death. You should still have a wound on you somewhere!"
"Hey, stop trying to feel me up, Tails! You're not going to find it by patting down my chest. I have no idea how it managed to just disappear on its own like that. I only noticed it when I took a shower last night, but I didn't want to tell you about it since I figured you'd freak out like you are now."
"Can you blame me? I thought I've seen it all when I saw my own death being erased, but then comes this mysterious healing thing your body just did. I think I have a right to be freaking out and feeling you up!"
"…Okay, now that just sounded totally wrong when you're saying it," Sonic said with a screwed up look as he lightly shoved his brother away. "Look, let's just try to forget everything that happened last night. It's just way too complicated to understand, not to mention creepy what with everything being a result of ghostly powers. I doubt we'll ever be in a situation like that where I have to use those powers to keep your death from happening.
"More importantly, let's concentrate on how I should start explaining to everybody that I'm actually supposed to be dead now," he quickly changed the subject. "The police department is bound to figure it out sooner or later; a dead body will rot over time and start stinking up the place!" he added with a look of disgust. "And even if I somehow manage to keep myself from smelling and decaying into a pile of rotten dirt, I'd still have to go to the physicals they make us take every six months. I can't just tell the physician that I've been living with a bullet lodged in my chest for a long time! Not only would that not make sense, but this particular physician took a look at my chest when I was still in the middle of police training. He'll know something's up when he sees it again."
"Well, perhaps you can retire from the force before your next scheduled physical comes up. The only check-up you'll need to take then is when you visit your doctor, but you can at least avoid that by not setting up an appointment."
"But I only just started working six months ago!" the hedgehog retorted as he took his bowl into the kitchen and washed it. "Unless I somehow got injured badly enough that I was forced to quit, I doubt they'll accept my resignation without a fight. That and Knuckles is going to keep bugging me as to why I just suddenly decided to quit."
Just as he shut off the water, there was a knock coming from the door. Tails took it upon himself to answer the door as Sonic was drying his hands.
"Oh, hi Knuckles!" the fox greeted with slight surprise in his tone. "I didn't think I'd see you this morning. Come on in! Can I get you anything?"
"Knuckles?" the other repeated as he reentered the living room and saw a red echidna with a brown vest on walking towards the couch. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be working today."
"Believe it or not, I am at work right now," Knuckles explained with a sigh before taking a seat. "In fact, I'm just here investigating a claim we got an hour ago of shots being fired last night in the neighborhood at around ten."
"Sh-shots were fired? Um, why are you investigating it now? Wouldn't it have been better to have start the investigation last night right when it happened?"
"Didn't I already tell you that we received the call not only an hour ago?" the echidna repeated in annoyance. "You really need to start paying more attention if you want to become a great detective like me, Sonic. It's a good trait to be able to remember details like that the first time around. Anyway, I only came over to ask you some questions since you two happened to live within the general area. Did either of you hear or see anything strange happen a little before ten last night?"
"Uh…, I didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary," Tails explained, trying his best not to make mention of the paranormal phenomenon that took place at the time. "I was taking a shower at the time, so it probably drowned out the sound of bullets. Do you know where this shooting happened?"
"Vector's right now looking into that himself. He has a feeling that it probably came from the park. I've worked with him long enough to know that his guesses are usually on the nose whether or not they're substantiated with evidence. I'm supposed to be asking around the neighborhood for any information regarding this incident. How about you, Sonic? Did you hear gunshots or see anything fishy?"
"If I did, then I would've called it in to the department immediately," Sonic quickly explained, an action that might have seemed suspicious were it not a known part of his rather impatient attitude. "I don't think it'd look good on my record if I heard such an incident taking place and failed to report it. Do you really think I'd jeopardize my new job by not doing something as simple as that?"
"Hmm, I suppose you would've called the department if you heard something. Sorry to bother you about this on your day off buddy. Just make sure to call me if you hear anything or remember something since I'm assigned to this disturbance call. I swear; last night seemed to be nothing but a magnet for trouble."
"What do you mean, Knuckles?" the hedgehog asked. "I didn't hear anything about crimes happening on the morning news. What else went on besides this supposed shooting last night?"
"Well, both a robbery and attempted robbery took place sometime after midnight," Knuckles explained as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "The attempted robbery was the first to be called in and took place in some rich guy's mansion. Thankfully, one of his personal guards managed to find and chase the robber away before anything was stolen. Still, they wanted to file a report since the thief somehow managed to bypass this man's rather tight security.
"The successful robbery was at a bank in Downtown Mobius. Apparently, the person managed to avoid getting caught by the cameras while breaking into one of the high security vaults. Once they were in, they only stole one item. I've only been assigned to the attempted robbery case, so I don't know exactly what was stolen from the bank."
"The robbers didn't take any money?" the fox repeated in confusion. "What kind of thieves are they if they went through all that trouble to break into a bank vault and leave with just one thing? It doesn't make any sense."
"I don't know and I don't care," the detective simply replied as he got to his feet. "All I know is that both victims in the case made it clear that they didn't want the news media to catch wind of this. Apart from members of the police involved, nobody in the force knows about this. I guess I should consider myself lucky that Vector lets me in on some of the details being that he's both my friend and superior.
"Speaking of which, I should get back to that crocodile before he chews me out for wasting my time talking with colleagues. I'll see you guys around," he said as he made his way to the door. Just before opening it, he turned his head towards Sonic. "By the way, don't forget that you have to make that trip into Station Square this afternoon. I know it's your day off, but you have to go to the training academy to pick up the last of your initialization papers. The department here needs them in order to make your position official. They're in no shape to be receiving important documents by mail and filing them away what with the current lack of secretarial workers right now."
"Oh, I forgot all about that!" Sonic exclaimed as he looked at a nearby clock before sprinting up the stairs in a panic. "Damn it; I only have forty-five minutes to make the eleven o'clock train! I need to board that one if I'm going to want to turn my papers in on time! God, I hope traffic isn't a killer now!"
"…Why am I not surprised that he managed to forget about that? Tails, do you mind going along with him and make sure he doesn't forget anything? It'll make me feel a lot better if you're there to keep him grounded."
"I'd have gone along with him even if you hadn't asked," Tails stated with a shake of his head in annoyance. "I needed to go shopping at the specialty store for some tools, anyway. To be honest with you, I can't really blame him for being scatterbrained this time around. He and I…kind of had an interesting moment last night."
"By the way you said that, it doesn't sound like a good kind of interesting. I don't mean to pry, but did you two have an argument about something? You did seem a bit hesitant when you were telling me about what happened last night."
"Oh, it's nothing like that, Knuckles!" the fox quickly explained before walking up the stairs. "It's just…something that we agreed to no talk about with anyone outside of this house. I guess you can basically say that it's just a personal thing between us. Anyway, I better get ready before Sonic makes a run for the train station without me. If you're going to leave now, then make sure you close the door."
"Alright, you guys be careful when you're in Station Square," Knuckles warned before leaving the house and closing the door as he was instructed. He then murmured to himself while making his way back to the park, "I really hope that hedgehog doesn't somehow manage to fail in getting those papers. I'm going to pummel him so hard in his next police training to the point he can't even remember his own name. Now I better get back to the park and see what Vector managed to dig up."