6 months later . . .
Sonic the Hedgehog was resting in a white hammock, sipping a glass of cold lemonade. The summers on Earth were so peaceful and quiet, and he didn't want to miss a minute of it.
"Sooooonnniiiicccc!"
Sonic opened one eye lazily. He scanned the area around the house with that one eye, looking for the source of the noise. When he didn't see anyone, the blue hedgehog shrugged and closed his eye again. Only a split second after doing so, Sonic reopened his eye and barely escaped a flash of bright pink followed by a hard blow to his chest as he hit the ground below the hammock.
"Geez, Amy, you could at least give me a warning!" he muttered. Amy Rose grinned widely, holding her massive mallet behind her.
"It's time for dinner, sleepyhead! Don't be late!" Sonic rubbed his head and picked up the now-empty glass and accompanying straw and paper umbrella. Amy raised an eyebrow and smiled coyly. "Mrs. Charis made your favorite, you know . . ."
Sonic lightened up and widened his eyes.
"She made chili dogs?"
Amy nodded proudly.
"Yep! She knows you all too well."
"Well, we've been stuck here for months now," Sonic pointed out. Amy looked at the ground sadly and sighed.
"Will we ever get back to Mobius, Sonic?"
Sonic shrugged.
"Eh, who knows? We'll find some way to go back home, just wait, Amy."
Amy sighed dreamily.
"I love it when you say my name . . ."
The blue hedgehog backed away slowly.
"Uh . . . yeah, sure . . ." he stuttered. With that, Amy chased Sonic into the house for dinner.
Mrs. Charis set a plate of hot dogs and a bowl of steaming-hot chili on the kitchen table. Sonic's tongue hung out of his mouth.
"All right! Another masterpiece, Mrs. Charis!"
The middle-aged woman smiled, showing her pearly white teeth and emerald-green eyes.
"Why, thank you, Sonic!"
Mrs. Charis, known for her kind and hospitable nature, was also one woman who seemed to have no visible sign of aging. Her face was round and sweet, and her hair fell to her mid-back in a long deep brown braid.
The other Mobians sat around the large table, also eying the food. Tails and Cream had already begun to stab at the hot dogs with their forks and bite off huge chunks, like any hungry children would do when presented with food. Knuckles scolded them and demonstrated how to properly eat a hot dog; a pure giggle fest for the kids as they saw him chewing his food and watched chili dribble down his chin. Amy gingerly picked up her salad and bit pieces of the lettuce off while watching intently as Sonic messily gobbled down two chili dogs. Mrs Charis called up the stairs for her own two teenage children.
"Agatha! Gabriel! Time for dinner!"
"Coming, mom!" the two voices called in unison. The first one to descend down the stairs was Agatha, a sixteen-year-old girl with a slim figure and long wavy black hair that flew behind her as she rushed down the stairs. She wore a navy blue tank top with a pair of modestly cut jean shorts that went down to her mid-thigh. Her eyes were bright blue.
"Wow, this looks great, mom!" she said without exaggeration. Her mother chuckled.
"Thanks, honey."
Agatha sat down next to Amy and dug in. Sonic was chomping on his fifth chili dog when he attempted to greet Gabriel with his mouth full.
"Hey, schport!"
"Sonic, close your mouth and chew your food first, hon," Mrs. Charis said. Sonic nodded and continued to fill his cheeks with spicy goodness.
Gabriel slowly stepped down the wooden stairs, yawning.
"Geez, you guys woke me up just by chomping on that food," he joked. Cream waved sweetly.
"Hi, Gabriel! Come and get it before Sonic takes the last few chili dogs!"
"Hey!" Sonic exclaimed, surprised.
Gabriel laughed.
"He won't, sweetheart. Don't worry." Winking, Gabriel sat down and took a hot dog for himself.
Gabriel was the oldest of the Charis children. He stood at a height of six-foot-two, being eighteen years old. Gabriel had dirty blond hair and a dashing smile and charming voice that often attracted swooning girls.
Mrs. Charis noticed the endangered hot dogs and decided to leave some in the oven to stay warm for the last few people who needed to eat.
"This is probably a pointless question, but has anyone seen Shadow and Rouge lately?"
The dinner table went silent as everyone looked at each other, each one looking to see if the other had an answer. Agatha shook her head.
"No, I don't think anyone has, mom."
Mrs. Charis bit her lip nervously.
"They're worse than my teenagers," she muttered. Knuckles, being ever so cynical, crossed his arms.
"Probably went off to cause trouble," he concluded grimly. Gabriel shrugged as he wiped chili from his lip.
"You know, I think that Rouge and Shadow are just more adventurous than the rest of us," he said. Tails spoke up as well.
"They did want to check out this planet pretty thoroughly when we first arrived," he pointed out.
"And now they're just exploring," Cream piped up. Cheese agreed.
"Chao! Chao!"
Mrs. Charis shook her head.
"I worry about those two. They seem so . . . I don't know . . ." Everyone's eyes focused on Mrs Charis as she tried to find the right words. ". . . adult-like. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, well, you're right, Mrs. Charis. I think I'll go look for them." Sonic said, rising from his seat and finally stuffed with spicy chili dogs.
"Me too!" Knuckles volunteered.
Agatha glanced nervously at the two volunteers.
"You should probably wait for them, guys. After all, they always bounce back eventually."
"And they should arrive at the time I asked them to return," Mrs. Charis gazed at the kitchen clock.
Sonic seemed eager for some action as he rushed to put his plate on the counter.
"I'll go look for them with Knuckles, Mrs Charis! We'll find them, don't worry!" Before the mother could say anything, Sonic ran to the door, which he realized was open after bouncing off a black furry mass and falling to the ground.