Chapter 4: Races and Reunions
Elec was scouting for traces of mobian activity when he saw something blue zoom past. Since it didn't seem like a normal occurrence for Earth, Elec decided to follow it. Elec pushed his electric shoes and his endurance to their limits as he raced after the blue blur, who was steadily widening the distance between them.
Chris and Helen were en route to Chris's parent's mansion. Helen's parents had been reluctant to let her go out after the previous weekend's events, but she had won them over in the end. Once they arrived Chris showed Helen and Jenny around and Ella brought them some snacks. Once Ella was out of earshot Chris explained that what he really wanted to show them was a secret as well.
Elec had almost lost the trail of the blue blur he was racing after when his shoes overloaded. He managed to slow down without tripping and hurting himself, but then he realized that without his electric shoes he couldn't move quickly enough to avoid detection by humans. Elec was wondering what to do when his sensor watch informed him that it had detected mobian technology nearby. He tied his shoes to his utility belt and followed the reading to a mansion. He'd searched this area before, but not since his first night on Earth. Once he was hidden near what looked like a garage, Elec heard voices, including one he recognized!
Chris, Helen, and Jenny were outside Chris's grandfather's garage. Chris walked over to a ladder and Helen reminded him that she couldn't go up there. Chris replied "It's ok, I'll have them come down here." Helen wondered what he was talking about. Helen heard Chris call for someone named "Sonic" and someone named "Tails", followed by a short conversation which she couldn't make out. Chris came back down the ladder. Then Helen and Jenny stared as a two tailed fox, though Helen noted its coloring was normal, climbed down after Chris. "You must be Chris's friend Helen. My name's Tails" it said to them. Helen and Jenny stared. Tails continued "Chris said you met someone from my world". Then he asked, "What did he look like?" Helen showed Tails the picture she drew in art class and explained her story. Tails listened with interest, but from his expression he didn't know who Helen was talking about. Helen noticed and looked sad. "It's OK," Tails reassured her, "there's lot of people from Mobius I don't know." He paused and then continued, "but maybe Sonic knows." Tails explained that Sonic was out running and would be back later. Helen looked even sadder. "I never got to thank him so I drew this for him as a thank you" she said. Then from behind some bushes, a voice said "I didn't know how much you cared". Everyone turned to look but Helen already knew that voice.
Elec could hear the conversation clearly starting from when Tails came down the ladder. He was surprised to see the same fox that he had seen flying the biplane back on Mobius, but Elec's instincts from his time as an agent told him not to show himself unless he needed to, especially since his shoes were fried. However when Helen had shown her emotions, Elec knew he had to respond to them. "Its Elec!" Helen said a little too loudly after Elec had stepped out of hiding. Quick introductions were made. Helen asked "What happened to your shoes?" Elec was about to answer when they heard a woman's voice, everyone but Elec recognized it as Ella's. The voice asked what Chris and Helen were doing. Ella was within sight but luckily was looking the other way and hadn't seen them yet. Elec thought quickly and pointed at a car across the street. The car's alarm went off and Ella walked over to investigate. "This way" Tails said and disappeared up the ladder he had come down from before. Elec followed him. Cream and Cheese had fallen asleep behind some furniture so Elec didn't notice them yet. Elec and Tails listened and watched from a window as Chris and Helen talked to Ella."We were just playing make believe" lied Chris, and he did a mangled impression of Tails. Tails cringed and Elec noticed. Elec whispered to him "You sound better than that, he's just not a very good actor". Tails smiled at the complement. Ella said that she'd baked a cake and asked Chris and his friends to try some of it, so they walked or in Helen's case were wheeled off.
Once the cost was clear, Tails said "That was lucky the alarm went off". Elec responded, "No, that was me". Tails looked confused. Elec made his hand spark a bit and clarified "My parents gave me gifts, shall we say". Tails got the impression that Elec didn't want to elaborate, then he got a proper look at Elec's gear. Elec knew the look on Tail's face since Elec had seen it in photos of himself working with technology when he was a child. "You like making things too?" Elec asked Tails. "Yep" replied Tails, "but I've never seen gadgets like these before". Elec smiled and then took a breath. "This is a sensor watch" Elec began and pointed to the gadget on his wrist, "it's very light because I power it directly". Tails listened intently.