Sonic and his friends always managed to triumph over Dr. Robotnik and his metallic minions. This time, however, the Doctor had had enough. He retreated into his laboratory and uncovered the machine he had built a long time ago, but never dared to activate.
"Just accept the loss, Egghead! If you follow us willingly, they might shorten your life sentence to only two lifetimes!" Sonic quipped, wandering the halls of the building, trying to find where the mad scientist had disappeared.
Not thrilled about the meddling hedgehog getting closer, Dr. Robotnik took a breath, hoped for the best, and slammed his fist on the big red button, labeled 'RETRY'.
He was a genius, sure. But time was not to be messed with. He had not traveled a week backwards as he had planned, oh no. He rewrote history.
The genesis wave swept over the planet, enveloping everyone and everything. The people closest to the source were hit with the following nausea the hardest - the Doctor, Sonic and his friends, and the car heading for the building.
That's how, by accident, history was rewritten. It was as if everything was turned into a completely alternate universe. Now everyone was doomed to live a life of working for money, paying bills and wearing clothes - even the guys. How tragic.
''Ow, ow... my head'', whined Slushie, a fluffy arctic fox, after falling out of her bed with a thud. Dizzy and confused, she looked around her.
''What happened? Where am I?''
She started to panic.
''Did I crash the car? This doesn't look like a hospital, though.''
Then a scary thought entered her mind.
''...where are the Chaotix...?''
Still trying to make sense of her half-awoken mind, Slushie was interrupted by a female chipmunk around her age.
''Hey? Slush? I heard a crash from your room. Is everything okay?''
For a moment Slushie was utterly confused, staring at the other girl with a blank expression. Then she was hit with a second wave of dizziness and had to sit back down on the bed. When the feeling passed, her head was almost immediately clear as day.
''I... don't know... Maybe I had a nightmare, fell and hit my head'', she shrugged with a smile. ''At least I woke up in time before my shift. I'll be ready in a minute, want to walk with me?''
Just a minute ago the chipmunk seemed like a complete stranger. Now Slushie recognized and remembered her; she was Briar - short for Sweetbriar - her best friend since childhood and housemate for the past six months.
After getting ready for the day, the girls headed for work. Or, to be more precise, Slushie's work; Briar liked to come along before her day started. They shared an interest in reading and had a pleasant conversation on the way to Café Chaotix.
Entering with a cheerful chime of the bell, Briar gave the nearest employee, Charmy Bee, a peppy greeting, earning one back, and headed for the counter. Slushie also greeted everyone with a double 'hello' and went to the back to get changed.
''I'll have the usual... as usual!'' Briar chirped to the cashier, always cheery and confident.
''Coming right up'', Espio replied and quickly got to work, preparing Briar's favourite drink and gathering the snacks she has ordered since the café opened several years ago. A few minutes later Slushie appeared again, still tying her black apron.
''Anything special happening today?'' she asked while conveniently focusing her eyes on her attire.
''Lunch hour will be busy, we got a last-minute party reservation'', Espio replied matter-of-factly, and Slushie nodded in acknowledgement.
After finally rolling her sleeves up, she was ready for the day.
''Okay then! I'll go clean up some tables for now. Can't wait for Vector to start jamming now that the piano is finally in tune again.''
''Neither can he'', Espio sighed, looking at his friend and the owner of the place. Vector was clearly eager to start, circling the piano, polishing every small smudge and straightening the sheets on the music stand. Finally, he sat down and started playing, and calming, slow jazz filled the café. Not the kind of music one would expect from the guy, but his usual genre wouldn't really fit the place.
Charmy served the people around the floor while Slushie gathered the dishes of the previous customers and started to wipe down their tables. The striped youngest member of the team wasn't around every day, but helped whenever the rest of the team weren't available. A certain blue hedgehog had taken the other two staff members on one of his travels again.
''I'll say it again, I just love the atmosphere here!'' Briar said with a smile, enjoying her drink and the smooth jazz in the background. ''If I didn't already have a great job, I would come and work here in a heartbeat!''
Slushie was nearby and quick to retort.
''Don't even think about it! Cream and the kids need you! Without you the place would be torn to shreds!''
Briar sighed but knew she was right. She was the head of the town's only daycare and loved her job - kids have always been close to her heart. Sometimes the little brats were a bit too much for the few workers, though.
As Slushie switched tables and the girls' pleasant conversation died down, Espio came up to her.
''I'm sorry, but our pastries are starting to run low. Could you go and make some more? I think we'll be fine on this side for now.''
"Of course we will! There's nothing the three of us can't handle!" Charmy chirped and struck a heroic pose.
"Two, actually, but I appreciate the sentiment", Espio added, "Vector is just doing his own thing".
Slushie accepted her new task with an eye contact-less grin and was about to go for a few final sweeps of the table, but the polite-as-usual Espio had other plans.
''I'll do it, you can go'', he said ever-so-calmly and reached for the bucket Slushie was holding. She moved to hand it over, and accidentally brushed a finger against his. Though the contact lasted barely a millisecond, the usually very pale furred Slushie flushed a bright pink and quickly pulled her hand close to her chest. Her reaction immediately drew Briar's attention. She said nothing but grinned widely - she had acquired some quality teasing material.
Espio was taken aback as well. Not by the touch itself, but by Slushie's reaction- he wondered if he had given her a static shock. She had to really be taken by surprise to react that way. To some she might seem like an open book, but Espio wasn't exactly an expert in the emotional field.
Slushie struggled to find and form her words.
''Okay.. so.. I guess I'm.. going.. then? Thank you?''
Still red and avoiding eye contact, she pointed to the back with both hands and then hurried into the safe little kitchen corner, far from anyone's eyes. After Slushie's not-so-elegant escape Briar kept a close eye on Espio, but he kept his usual, calm demeanor as if nothing had happened. He was still confused by the exchange, but his attention was soon caught by the clutter of a fallen teacup.
Now in the safety of the kitchen walls, Slushie leaned face first into the door, cursed her awkwardness, and took several slow, long breaths to try to calm down. Since she was from the colder region of the planet, she was very pale, and even the smallest blush was clearly visible on her nearly white fur. And, if she was truly caught off-guard like she just was, her color changing ability came second only to a chameleon's.
Baking a fresh batch of pastries for the café took a good while, but it gave Slushie time to gather herself and get prepared for meeting the unfairly calm Espio again.
Though Slushie and Briar were both tomboys as kids and preferred to play with guys, nowadays one of them gets along with them very well and the other... not so much. Slushie hangs out with them, sure, but avoids eye contact with most men, especially those near her age, even if she doesn't have any particular feelings towards them. With Espio on the other hand... They might have known each other for only six months, but he seemed to become more and more charming as the days passed.
Slushie slapped her face with both hands to psyche herself up before carrying the pastries out and asking Espio what she should do next. The café was getting busy since everyone was getting off work and school and the party was still in full swing, so a second floor worker was needed. Prime hour for some sweet, sweet revenue!
It did take some serious math and many rounds of serving and cleaning, but soon another day at Café Chaotix was wrapped up and the employees said their goodbyes. The day had been quite busy, but the three workers had handled everything well. If the going got really rough, even Vector had to do more than just play the piano and handle the paperwork, even if it was inconvenient sometimes with his tail getting in people's way. Once he even knocked a table down. And a few customers. And, well, a server holding hot liquids. Everyone prefers him as a pianist rather than a floor worker.
Now that the work day was finished, the only person Slushie was going to serve food to was herself and maybe Briar, if she played nice. The next day's happenings would soon be discussed over a nice gourmet meal called 'leftovers'.