Chili with Aroma of a Hedgehog
Chapter 22: Dr. Pickle's Shadow
So I have calculated and I discovered that the second plot climax (or "bomb") will be scheduled for Chapter 26! Which also marks the end of the first half of the story :D
Here we go!
Bartleby smiled as Sally nodded, disappointed that it hadn't been Sonic.
As Bartleby dialed the number and began talking on it, Sally got a call on her cellphone.
"Hello!?" she said, hoping to hear Sonic. "Oh... hi Wave, any news?"
Bartleby ended his call but pretended to stay on the phone so that he can overhear Sally.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BOTH OF THEM WERE PARKED OUTSIDE OF HER APARTMENT! WHAT WERE THEY DOING!?"
Wave had followed Sonic and Amy and kept an eye on them to see anything strange, she then told Sally how it looked like they were arguing but then that they were crying.
"Crying? For what?"
"I don't know. But that's what I saw, Sonic left not too long ago, they didn't do anything inappropriate though."
"Okay, well then I'm sure it must've been something that had to do with work."
"I don't know Mrs. The Hedgehog. I wouldn't be too sure."
"Well thank you anyway Wave, we'll keep in touch," Sally said as she hung up on the phone.
Bartleby hung up a while later and thanked Sally for letting him use it.
"No problem," Sally said as she led him toward the door.
"Oh, and by the way," Bartleby said as he turned around. "If you ever have problems with your husband and you need someone to talk to, I'm right across the hall," he said as he winked and left.
Sally indignantly looked at him and shut the door.
Was her dysfunctional marriage with Sonic THAT obvious?
She then heard the door open and shut and turned to Sonic who had walked in the room.
"LOOK AT WHAT TIME IT IS SONIC!? WHAT MAKES YOU THINK IT'S OKAY TO ARRIVE AT THIS TIME!?"
Sonic rubbed a hand through his quills and shut his eyes tightly, "Not now Sally I have a headache."
"Where were you?" she demanded as she crossed her arms.
"I took Amy home, that's it."
"YOU TOOK AMY HOME!? Well! Some special treatment there don't you think?"
"We had some important things to discuss."
"Right, maybe about where you're going to take her out on a date!"
Sonic rolled his eyes and turned away from her, "I'm not going to argue about this with you, I'm going to bed."
"Remember when we were friends Sonic?"
Sonic stopped and turned towards Sally. "What?"
"I want you to forget that I'm your wife and see me as a friend. Are you okay Sonic? You haven't been yourself. Open up to me, I want to be there for you."
Sonic frowned and shook his head, "I'm fine. But, thanks for asking."
With that, he left the room and Sally crossed her arms. "You and I are having that child Sonic, even if I have to sweet talk my way into it."
Green Hill Zone Hospital
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER!?" Knuckles yelled as he approached Pachacamac with Tails and Amadeus at his side.
Pachacamac stood up and raised his hands defensively, "I did nothing. What did YOU do to her?"
Knuckles lunged himself at the echidna but was held back by Tails and Amadeus.
"Tikal the Echidna."
Pachacamac turned and walked toward the doctor, "Yes, I'm her father. How is she?"
Knuckles scoffed at the hypocrisy of the older echidna.
"She'll be fine, she survived the operation."
The four Mobians in the room sighed in relief, one because he won't end up in jail anymore and the other three for Tikal's health.
"But."
Knuckles widened his eyes, "But what?"
"The impact on her head caused her to get amnesia, we don't know when she's going to get her memory back."
Knuckles grabbed his locks in horror at that announcement, Is she going to remember me?
Station Square
Sonic and Amy both woke up willing to go to work.
Now that the air between was cleared it was easier for them to feel comfortable with one another.
Amy walked into her office with flowers in her desk.
She immediately put them in a vase, something Sonic noticed and felt like he scored points for.
"Amy, Sonic needs to see you in his office," Wave said as Amy nodded and headed toward Sonic's.
"You called Sonic?" Amy asked, but grew confused when Sonic was staring at a document with concentration. "What's wrong?"
"I just got the transcript from Dr. Pickle's order..."
"And?"
Sonic didn't respond as he read it over, suddenly widening his eyes. "HOLY CRAP!"
"What!?" Amy questioned, startled with his outburst.
"DR. PICKLE NEVER GOT HIS ORDER THROUGH!"
"WHERE IS SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG!?" Dr. Pickle demanded as he bolted into Sonic's office.
Sonic and Amy confusedly looked at each other and looked back at Pickle. "Is something wrong?"
"SHADOW STOLE MY CHUN-NAN CLIENTS! MY CORPORATION IS BANKRUPT!"
Amy gasped as Sonic looked back down at the transcript, indeed confirming that The Hedgehog's Spicy Pepper Chili had gone through instead of Pickle's Chili.
"This can't be..." Sonic muttered.
"THIS WAS YOUR FAMILY'S PLAN THE WHOLE TIME!" Dr. Pickle accused as he pointed at Sonic. "You agreed to help me so that you can swoop in and take my clients!"
"No! That's not true! I swear Dr. Pickle, we didn't mean for this to happen! T-there must be a mistake..."
"LIAR! Your family did this on purpose!"
Amy couldn't take it and stood up, "Dr. Pickle, sir, Sonic had nothing to do with this and I'm sure his family wasn't either. If there is anyone here that should be questioned it's Shadow, he's the only one who was in charge of that affair."
At the sound of Amy's voice, Dr. Pickle relaxed and took a deep breathe. "You're a good person Amy, I'm sorry that you had to be entangled with these Mobians," he said as he left the office.
Amy turned back to Sonic and noticed him smiling at her, "Thank you for that."
"I just don't understand. Would Shadow really do something like that?"
"I hate to say it, but I think he would."
Charles shook his head as Cocoa walked into the room.
"What's wrong, why do you look like your chao got hit by a bus?"
Charles sighed as he looked at Cocoa, "I asked Shadow to give me the transcript of the latest exports, and he hasn't done it. I need to revise them."
"Why do you need to look at them? Do you not trust Sonic?"
"The one I don't trust is YOUR SON Cocoa."
Cocoa gasped and put a hand on her heart, "I beg your pardon Chuck! Don't express yourself like that about your son! You're acting like if he's a stranger."
"He doesn't act like he used to anymore Cocoa, that hedgehog we call our son didn't turn out like I had raised him. I'm worried about the Corporation in his hands. It's like giving a 12 year old the privilege to driving a car with the entire family inside."
"You're exaggerating!"
"Exaggerating!? Cocoa, YOU are the reason he's turning out like this! He used to be such a good boy until you clouded his mind with morals of greed and deception!"
"I did no such thing! Have you ever stopped to think that YOU are the reason he's like this? You don't trust him, so he's slowly becoming bitter, trust your son Charles, FOR ONCE!" Cocoa exclaimed as the phone rang.
Charles picked it up, "Hello? Sonic? What's wrong?"
Cocoa glanced at Charles and noticed Charles widening his eyes.
"I'LL BE THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!"
"What happened?" Cocoa asked as Charles put on his coat.
"YOUR SON JUST COMMITTED AN UTTER STUPIDITY!"
Amy sat in her office and thought about Dr. Pickle.
"I can't just leave him like that. He's my friend," Amy told herself as she grabbed the phone.
"Hello can I speak to Dr. Pickle? This is Amy Rose. Okay, thank you!"
"Amy..."
"Dr. Pickle?"
Dr. Pickle sat on his desk, several empty bottles of liquor on the floor.
"Are you okay?"
"No... the RCC took away my company Amy."
"WHAT!? I didn't think it was that serious!"
"I'm bankrupt, those Chun-Nan clients were my last chance to save my Corporation... I'm finished."
"You know what you need? A distraction while we find a way to help you. When can I come over to speak to you and your wife for a bit?"
"Amy, you don't need to bother..."
"No I want to! I'll be there at 9!"
"Well, okay, if you insist."
Charles rubbed a hand through his quills as Sonic finished updating him on Dr. Pickle.
"MY SON HAS CROSSED THE LINE!" Charles said as he slammed his hand on the table.
"Calm down Uncle Chuck!"
"Don't you understand Sonic! We have burned his business to the ground! I'm not surprised he hates us! I need to have a serious conversation with my son!"
"Isn't he coming back today for a visit?"
"Yes, he is, and he and I are going to have a SERIOUS CHAT!"
"What should I do?"
"This is a problem Shadow must face head on, I'd rather you not get involved Sonic."
"But I want to help!"
"Sonic, please, do as I say. Besides, you and Amy have a lot of paperwork to complete for the exports we've done for the past month. I want a copy of the report given to me understood?"
Sonic nodded as Charles groaned and left the office just as Amy was walking in.
Sonic's face lit up as he saw her, and she gave him a concerned look.
"How'd it go?"
"He told me to not get involved and that you and I need to complete the paperwork for the exports of the month. You don't mind staying late tonight do you?"
Amy blinked, "Well, if it's for work then no I don't, but I promised to meet up with Dr. Pickle at 9 pm. The poor man isn't doing well."
Sonic shrugged, "That's fine with me."
Dr. Pickle was the only Industrialist that Sonic wasn't jealous of, the guy was a happily married man who seemed to seek nothing but friendship from Amy.
Wait, if he was going to be working with Amy until late at night... might as well treat her with a surprise no?
"I'll excuse you for now so that you can go home, tell Angela and get ready. Be back here at 6 pm."
Wave gasped as she eavesdropped from outside the office, and wasted no time to call Sally to inform her of the situation.
Amy nodded in agreement as she excused herself from the room.
Once she had left, Sonic grabbed the phone, and called for catering.
Elena sat on her couch with the house phone in her hand, staring at nothing.
"Are you okay Grandma?" Manic asked as he and Elvis walked into the room.
"No... your Uncle Chuck just called..." Elena said as Sonia walked into the room.
"And?" Manic asked.
Elena turned to look at Elvis and rudely asked, "Do you mind?"
Elvis held his hands up in the air defensively as Manic turned to Elena. "Don't talk to him like that Grandma!"
"No Manic it's okay, this is a family matter, I'll see you tomorrow okay?" Elvis smiled as he kissed Manic in the cheek and left the house.
"You didn't have to kick him out like that!" Manic angrily stated as he crossed his arms.
"Elvis should be the least of our problems Manic! We have more important things to deal with."
"What happened Grandma?" Sonia asked. "Cut to the chase."
"Shadow... I don't know what that boy did but... you know how Dr. Pickle asked us to help him with his chili?"
"Yes," Manic answered.
"His order never went through... his Corporation is bankrupt. The RCC took it away from him, he's ruined!"
Sonia and Manic gasped as they looked at each other, "Wasn't Dr. Pickle a close friend of Grandpa's?"
"Yes and that's what makes this so horrible! The Pickles despise us now! They think we played them dirty!"
Sonia frowned in worry as the phone rang and she picked it up.
"Hello? Sally? You want me to come over? For what? Oh... okay. I'll be right there," Sonia said as she hung up and looked at her Grandmother apologetically.
"Go ahead," said Elena as Sonia nodded and left the house.
Hours Later
Sonic had made sure that no employee was in the Corporation so that he and Amy could be alone.
He spent the past few hours calling caterers to set up a fancy dinner for him and Amy.
He had told them to hide behind the back office and told them not to come out until he gave them the cue.
Don't get him wrong, he and Amy DID need to get lots of work done, but he hasn't had the chance to have a proper dinner for awhile, so he figured it would be a nice detail.
Eventually Amy did arrive and she and Sonic automatically got to work.
After an hour of working Amy glanced at some documents confusedly.
"What's wrong?"
"This exportation document seems a bit out of proportion..."
"Why?"
"I don't know, it's probably nothing though. I think Shadow knows what he's doing," she said as she set the document back.
Sonic nodded, he honestly wouldn't know, business wasn't really his thing.
"Are you hungry?" Sonic asked as Amy's stomach grumbled.
She blushed as Sonic chuckled, "Guess ya are, go wash your hands while I order us some food," he said as Amy nodded and left the room.
He then took that as his cue and let the catering into the room.
They set up a table and placed two plates on the table with a dimly lit candle.
They then left and Sonic told them to wait until he gave them the cue to clean everything up.
Amy walked back in and was taken aback with the new display.
"Dinner is served," Sonic jokingly said as he bowed.
"Sonic, I don't think this is a good idea."
"C'mon Amy, we're just eatin, nothing bad."
"Um... I guess it couldn't hurt..." she said as she sat down.
Sonic smiled and internally felt accomplished because he had managed to convince her.
Sonia walked into Sally and Sonic's home and noticed Sally was nervously pacing back and forth.
"Woah calm down Sal what's wrong?"
"I just found out that Sonic and Amy were going to stay late for work... alone."
"So?" Sonia questioned as she crossed her arms.
"What if she tries something on him?"
"She won't. Sally you promised you wouldn't do this."
"I wasn't but Sonic's secretary is telling me to start keeping my guard up because she thinks something suspicious is going on and..."
"Wait? You asked Wave to spy on my brother!?" Sonia exclaimed.
"Look, I just want to be reassured. Ugh first I had to worry about Rosy the Rascal returning at The Grounds and now I have to worry about Amy Rose."
"I think you're exaggerating."
"Well I think I'm not."
"Call him then," Sonia said as she handed Sally the phone. "So that you can see that you're just being paranoid."
"No, I think we should go over there and see for ourselves," Sally said as she grabbed her bag, causing Sonia to sigh and follow after her.
As the caterers began putting the table away Amy thanked Sonic for the meal and he nodded.
"Just figured I'd do a little something for you for having to put up with me."
Amy smiled as the phone started ringing, "I'll take it."
"Hello?" Amy asked with a smile, only for her smile to fade. "WHAT!? HE WHAT!?"
Sonic confusedly looked at Amy and noticed that her eyes were watering.
"I'll be right there!" she said as she hung up.
"What happened!?"
"DR. PICKLE HAD A HEART ATTACK! HE'S DEAD AND THEY'RE HAVING HIS FUNERAL RIGHT NOW!" Amy said as she cried, causing Sonic to widen his eyes.
"What!? That can't be!"
"I knew he wasn't doing well but... he was my friend..." Amy said as she covered her face with her hands.
Sonic sighed and approached Amy, giving her a comforting hug.
It was then that the door opened abruptly, and Sally and Sonia walked into the room.
"BEAUTIFUL!" Sally exclaimed as she clapped her hands. "What a wonderful sight!"
Amy turned and widened her eyes as she got off of Sonic.
Sonic rolled his eyes and glanced at his sister angrily.
Sonia shrugged and pointed at Sally as Sally glared at Amy.
"What do you have to say for yourself Sonic!?" Sally interrogated as Amy shook her head and grabbed her things.
"Look, I have to go!" she said as she left the office.
"Amy wait!" Sonic called but to no avail. "That was rude Sally!"
"RUDE!? YOU WERE HUGGING HER!"
"I was comforting her because we just got a call that Dr. Pickle had died due to a heart attack, he was a close friend of hers!"
Sonia gasped, "HE HAD A HEART ATTACK!?"
"Yes, so call Grandma, I'm going to the funeral," Sonic said as he left the room.
Sally huffed and looked through the documents on the desk.
"See, they were working," Sonia said. "This isn't going to lie well with Sonic. We made a mistake coming here."
"Let's go to the funeral, there's no way I'm leaving those two alone again! I'll be back, I'm going to the restroom." Sally exclaimed as she left the office.
Sonia sighed as she saw Sally head for the restroom.
She turned and noticed Sonic was standing in front of the elevator.
"Sonic..."
Sonic turned and scowled, "Can you please explain to me why in your right mind did you decide to bring her?"
"She found out you and Amy were going to work here late and she got a little scared. I tried to knock some sense into her, trust."
Sonic shook his head and looked at the elevator again.
"Sonic, be honest, what happened between you and Amy?"
"Nothing, Sonia. Can we not talk about this right now? I have more important things to worry about," Sonic said as he stepped onto the elevator and closed it.
The Hedgehog Family didn't take the news lightly.
Elena was devastated and Manic went with her to comfort her.
Charles was shocked and Cocoa had to stop him from strangling Shadow.
Shadow had already gotten an ear sore from the scolding he had gotten from Charles, and he said he would have to explain what happened later.
When Shadow heard what had happened to Pickle, he refused to go to the funeral but Rouge said that he should because otherwise it would look like he really was at fault for his death.
Amy arrived to the room first and approached Mrs. Pickle who gladly accepted her comfort.
"I'm so sorry this happened," Amy said with tears in her eyes.
"It wasn't your fault," Mrs. Pickle started. "It was The Hedgehog Family's fault. They killed my husband!"
Elena and Manic walked in first and approached Mrs. Pickle.
"We are so sorry this happened," Elena said as Mrs. Pickle shook her head.
"No you're not. This was your plan all along. To destroy my husband's Corporation and completely kill him."
Elena didn't respond as Manic squeezed her shoulders and led her towards one of the couches in the room.
Charles and Cocoa walked in next and paid their condolences to Mrs. Pickle, only to have her tell them the same thing.
"I don't know why we even came, just to get mistreated, hmph the indecency!" Cocoa criticized as she and Charles sat next to Manic and Elena.
"When I get my hands on that boy..." Charles muttered, referring to Shadow.
Amy turned and noticed Sonic, Sally and Sonia walked in next.
Amy and Sonic nodded at each other and Sonic approached Mrs. Pickle, paying his condolences.
"Yeah, right. Thanks for nothing."
"Mrs. Pickle, I know for a fact that Sonic feels really bad about what happened. He honestly didn't want any of this to happen. He wanted to help Dr. Pickle and he did, he did the best that he could," Amy said as she defended Sonic.
Mrs. Pickle sighed, "That still doesn't change anything."
Amy frowned and gave Sonic and apologetic look as he nodded in understanding and headed back, only to realize that Sally was glaring at him.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm ending this once and for all," Sally said as she walked toward Amy, ignoring Sonic's calls.
"Look," Sally said as she pointed at Amy. "Stay away from my husband. Your relationship with him should be one of strictly business and you've just stepped on thin ice!"
Amy widened her eyes at such an inappropriate disruption and Mrs. Pickle glared at Sally, "Just as I thought, you The Hedgehogs should have never been trusted! LEAVE IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE MAKING A SCENE!" Mrs. Pickle yelled as Sonic approached Sally and grabbed her by the arm.
"Sorry about that," he said as he roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her back to their spot.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Sonic whispered angrily in her ear.
"Amy, come with me as I pray to Chaos for my husband," Mrs. Pickle softly said as Amy nodded and they both kneeled in front of the casket, their backs turned away from the doorway.
"Sally!" Elena whispered in an angry but hushed tone. "That was inappropriate! One more outburst like that and you're out of here! Understood?"
Sally nodded as Sonic let go of her arm and told her to sit down.
Just as Sonic sat Shadow and Rouge walked into the room.
Rouge squeezed Shadow comfortingly on the arm as she headed towards Cocoa to greet her, while Shadow walked towards Mrs. Pickle.
Mrs. Pickle then felt someone behind her and turned around as she stood up.
"Mrs. Pickle..."
"LOOK AT HIM!" she yelled as she pointed at the casket. "TAKE A GOOD LOOK SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG! HE'S DEAD! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED! IS THAT WHY YOU CAME? TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DEED HAD BEEN DONE!? WELL THERE YOU HAVE IT YOU MURDERER! MURDERER!"
Cocoa and Rouge stood up from their seats defensively as Shadow froze in front of Mrs. Pickle.
"MURDERER! MURDERER! GET OUT! I DON'T EVEN WANT TO LOOK AT YOU! GET OUT!"
Shadow shook his head as he left the room, causing Amy to stand up and hug Mrs. Pickle.
"Mrs. Pickle please... I know your mixed emotions are causing you to say those things but it's not good for you to yell like that. Why don't I bring you a glass of water?" Amy softly asked as she and Mrs. Pickle sat down on their seats.
Mrs. Pickle nodded as Amy left the room.
Charles took this as an opportunity to follow Shadow.
"Charles where are you going!?" Cocoa exclaimed.
"To talk to your son!"
"Take it easy Chuck! Did you not see what he was just accused of?" Cocoa asked as Charles shook his head.
"He deserves that and MUCH MORE!" Charles said as he left the room.
Elena worriedly turned to Sonic, "Sonic. Follow your uncle and make sure he and Shadow don't commit anything stupid."
"That's code for: Go rescue Shadow before he gets choked to death by our very own Uncle Chuck," Manic added as Sonic nodded and went after Charles.
Funeral Ballroom Cafeteria
"One coffee," Shadow said as the bartender nodded and handed him one.
Shadow sighed as he sat down on one of the seats and took a sip.
Dramatic old lady.
He knew it wasn't over though, he knew Charles was going to walk in through that door any second now.
"Shadow."
Make that a millisecond.
Shadow rolled his eyes and turned to his father who was standing by the doorway with his arms crossed.
"What's up old man?"
"Don't 'what's up' me Shadow," Charles darkly said as he approached Shadow, causing the latter to stand.
"Look old man, a mistake was made. I don't know what the old lady is making a fuss about. I tried to fix it but it was impossible!"
"DR. PICKLE IS DEAD SHADOW! AND YOU'RE WONDERING WHY MRS. PICKLE IS MAKING A FUSS ABOUT IT!?"
"I just don't see why she has to go around pointing fingers at me when she hasn't even heard my side of the story! So yeah, she IS making a pointless fuss about this!"
"WHY I OUTTA!" Charles yelled as he raised his hand but was stopped by Sonic who held his hand back.
"Don't make a scene Uncle Chuck!" Sonic exclaimed.
Charles then took a deep breathe and brought his hand down.
"C'mon," Sonic said. "Let's all sit down and talk about this."
The three hedgehogs were so busy dealing with one another that they hadn't noticed Amy walk into the room.
"One glass of water please," she ordered as the bartender gave it to her.
"And one for me too," Dr. Fink said as he walked in.
"Dr. Fink," she greeted as he smiled at her.
"Hello Amy, how's Mrs. Pickle?"
Amy's smiled faded as she shook her head, "She's not doing well as you can imagine. How's the RCC?"
"Not doing well with this loss. Dr. Pickle was a great contender."
"I feel like I'm at fault... I should've kept a closer eye..." Amy said as Dr. Fink shook his head.
"No Amy, this wasn't your fault at all. The ones who should be feeling guilty are The Hedgehog Family," he said as he motioned at the three hedgehogs with his head. "Shadow made a HUGE mistake, I just hope Mrs. Pickle finds it in her heart to forgive him."
Amy nodded as they both went back to the Funeral room.
"You need to make it up to her Shadow!" Sonic scolded as Shadow rolled his eyes.
"Yes Sonic, I'm magically going to hire Tinker Bell to bring Dr. Pickle back to life."
"That's not what I meant!" Sonic angrily scolded. "Give Mrs. Pickle the money you gained from the Exportation made in Chun-Nan. Maybe that can help her stabilize her life now that she has no one to maintain her."
Shadow gave Sonic a look of disgust, "Always the naive and stupid one aren't you Sonic? You seriously don't know how to do business!"
"I hate to admit it but he's right Sonic, it's too late for that now..."
"Then cut ties with the Chun-Nan clients! Tell them we will no longer be doing business with them, because I don't know about you guys, but it's going to look pretty shady if we keep Dr. Pickle's clients after what happened," Sonic said.
"He's right," Charles said as he looked at Shadow. "I want you to cut ties with them IMMEDIATELY!"
"That would be foolish! We're talking big! This client is huge! Why would we want to cut ties with them?"
"Because stealing a client from another Corporation and causing its demise is not what The Hedgehog Chili Industries is about Shadow. This goes completely against Grandpa's morals!" Sonic exclaimed as Charles nodded in agreement.
"I completely agree with Sonic, you are cutting ties with those clients, PERIOD!"
Sorry for the late update, just as I was typing this I got a review telling me to hurry up and I was like ahhhh I'm going as fast as I can! xD
Well, lots of things happened here, what are your opinions?
REVIEW!
Next Time on Chili with Aroma of a Hedgehog...
"Damn you... Amy Rose..." Sally told herself as she stared at the spot where Sonic had once stood.
"I hate you... I hate you more than I hate ROSY THE RASCAL! I HATE YOU AMY ROSE!" she screamed as she stood up and grabbed her pillows, angry with the incoming divorce. "I HATE YOU!" she said as she threw the pillows. "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOUUUUUU!"