Chapter 3: Swapping Stories
Elec scouted the areas around Helen's house for a place to sleep. He figured that it would be best to avoid being spotted by humans, given what happened earlier that day. He would have preferred somewhere out of the way, but the town was too active and too small for that. Eventually Elec decided that he'd tie himself to a tree in Helen's yard, figuring that if he was spotted there Helen would vouch for him. As he was walking past a mansion, Elec heard a big splash. He wondered what could have made that noise, so he jumped over the wall to have a look. He didn't get there in time to see what the noise was though and retreated after a quick look turned up some stray water as the only unusual thing. Elec heard a child's voice asking someone if he wanted to use the bed. Another voice replied that he would be fine outside. Elec thought he'd heard the second voice somewhere on a recording back in mobius, but decided he wouldn't risk exposure to see if he was right. Elec made it back to his hiding place and drew out some wire from his utility belt. Using his electrical abilities, Elec "wired" himself to the tree. As he fell asleep, Elec thought of his heroic actions and felt more whole then he ever had since his parent's deaths.
Elec slept in the next morning. By the time he woke up, live reports of Cream and Cheese being captured had already finished airing and the news crews had moved on. As he rubbed his eyes, Elec wondered why he'd slept so much. Maybe it was because he was tired from yesterday's work he thought, but he knew that wasn't the reason. He spent the next day trying to find out more about the human's world. He learned they called it Earth and he observed a few of their customs. Sadly, they only news he found about other Mobians was the blue blur story from last night. Elec guessed that that was the Sonic the Hedehog he'd heard about. He reflected that he might have disliked Sonic's attitude, based on the rumors he'd heard about it, but as far as Elec was concerned Sonic had earned the right to boast if he wanted to. Elec found food in the woods where he'd met Helen and slept in the same tree again that night. The next day he wanted to continue his search for other Mobians.
Author's note: When I wrote this story I hadn't seen any episodes of Sonic X featuring Helen as more then a background character, thus I had to improvise.
As Helen was driven to school by her close friend/aid Jenny, the two of them went over their cover story. Helen looked normal but Jenny had a welt on her arm where Elec had shocked it and still had a bandage on her head. "I hit my head and you called the paramedics" recited Jenny."You also got a rash" added Helen, and continued "at least that's what we are going to say." She paused, remembering. "Who would believe the truth?" she questioned aloud. They had told the cops what they'd seen after they had reported the kidnapping, prefacing the story as strange but true. The police had found the thugs unconscious and tied to a tree, which corroborated Helen and her family's story. Figuring that they should focus on unsolved cases rather than strange incidents, the police had move on.
Later that day in art class, Chris Thorndyke tore himself away from thinking about Sonic and Tails, and looked over at what his friend Helen was drawing. It was a picture of her next to a yellow fox that stood on its hind legs. The fox's feet were hidden by black running shoes. He had a utility belt and a futuristic watch on. Also he had black gloves on that looked like they belonged to a secret agent. He was holding a gadget with a blade in one hand and held sparks in his other hand. Chris guessed that the character in the drawing was about as tall as Sonic, though he looked more like Tails, though this fox only had one tail. Helen was trying to draw Elec the Fox and doing a pretty good job of it. "What are you drawing?" asked Chris. Helen looked up at him. "Oh nothing" she said unconvincingly. Chris noticed Jenny had a bandage on her head. "What happened Jenny?" Chris asked. Jenny gave the prepared lie about hitting her head and Chris looked concerned. Then he studied the drawing again. "Wow, for 'nothing' that's really detailed." Chris thought the drawing looked like someone from Sonic's world. Jenny was getting nervous. "We have to go now, right Helen?" She said quickly and turned so the welt on her arm was showing. "What's that?" asked Chris. "Oh, a rash" said Jenny. "It looks more like an electric shock wound to me" Chris responded, " my grandpa gets them all the time". Helen had had enough of lying to her friend. Before Jenny could wheel her away, Helen said "Meet me at the park after school and I'll tell you the truth, but you must keep it secret." Chris had never seen her act like that before so he agreed to the meeting.
Eventually the final bell rang and Chris found Helen and Jenny in the park. Helen retold her story of almost being held for ransom. Jenny talked about the fox that broke into her house to bring Helen her emergency phone. Chris was surprised, but hoped he'd found another of Sonic's friends. "You don't believe me do you?" Helen said solemnly. "No, I believe you" Chris replied, "and I want you to meet someone" he added. " He's my new friend" was all Chris said before asking them to come to his house.