AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Hey everyone, this is the first story I'm posting publicly from my Sonic AU/fanfic called Endurance.

The Endurance Arc and by extension, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (which is the introductory story for the arc), takes place during the Sonic franchises' IDW comics timeline and is designed to fit in as neatly as possible. This first chapter takes place a month after the war in Forces, when Dr. Eggman has dissapeared and is now living as "Mr. Tinker" with Belle in Windmill Village. He has yet to be discovered by the Restoration or the Chaotix.

If you want to know more about the OCs being used in this story, please visit the Toyhouse page linked in my account's bio.

Also, I wanted to dedicate this story to all my friends who have listened to me ramble about these ideas, bounce ideas off of them, drawn art for me or otherwise supported it over the years during its development. It's been too long but it's finally ready and I'm super excited to be sharing it with you all. Thanks a lot, it means the world to me.

Without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 1.

END OF NOTES

At first there was complete silence, and nothing but void. Whether it was a minute or an hour, Penelope didn't know. She didn't know how she found herself there, only that there was an indescribable feeling that it was where she was supposed to be. Suddenly, without any prior warning, the loud mechanical 'cathunk' of a spotlight activating filled the void and illuminated a narrow section of a gymnasium floor with Penelope standing dead-center on an otherwise empty podium. The grey lop-eared rabbit stood alone, her bright-blue eyes scanning the shadows on the edge of the room for any signs of life. She failed to see anyone out beyond the cone of light beating down upon her. She glanced down at her own body and noticed she was still wearing her red volleyball uniform, complete with the "C" for captain.

Disturbed by the nonsensical situation she found herself in, Penelope yelled to the void beyond the spotlight. "Hey! Is anyone there?" Her nervous callout was punctuated by a shrill crack in her voice. She did indeed receive a response, but nothing like what she wanted. An almost cartoonish-sounding announcer responded from beyond the pitch-black. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Let's hear it for our Tri-City Memorial Volleyball Tournament champion… Penelope Robinson!" Confetti in a dazzling array of colours began fluttering down from nowhere as disembodied cheering rang out from the blackness. Penelope's heart fluttered in terror as her eyes darted about frantically, desperate to see something… anything to explain what was going on.

It was then when Penelope finally looked forward once again. A dark silhouette approached from beyond the void, holding what appeared to be a trophy in its hands. It drew closer, step by step. Penelope found herself unable to approach it in curiosity, or to even run in fear. She was simply frozen in place on the podium. Just as the figure was about to cross into the light, she could make out one ear on its head standing tall, and another in a crooked bend. Penelope, recognizing their distinct shapes quite clearly, called out for her older brother. "Jason? Is that you?" Her voice shook, and the figure did not answer back. Instead, it simply and callously turned away. Penelope called out again. "Jason? Jason! Please don't go!" The panic in her voice grew with each desperate call. The cheers turned to laughter as the figure evaporated. "JASON!" Penelope let out one last desperate scream as she shot awake, panting heavily and into the arms of the cat who sat beside her.

"Woah, hey! Penelope!" The brown cat with streaks of various greys and browns in her hair held her close as she continued to recover from the panicked state she awoke in. Penelope tightly squeezed the cat back as she slowly recovered from her immense fear and returned to reality. After a few long minutes, Penelope finally raised her head; her blue eyes bloodshot and in tears as she looked into the cat's gentle gaze. "Autumn?" Penelope squeaked as she looked up nervously. "Yep, right here, Penny. I've got you. Just breathe…" Penelope slowly untangled herself from Autumn's embrace as she looked up and around the coach bus they were currently on, the rest of the girls on Albert A. Aardvark Secondary School's volleyball team stared right back at her anxiously.

Penelope, embarrassed, ducked back into her seat and out of view as Autumn followed suit. "It was that same nightmare again, wasn't it?" Autumn promptly asked with deep concern for her friend. "Yeah…" Penelope replied as her breathing and heartbeat were mostly normal once again. "The whole podium, Jason showing up and vanishing, that creepy announcer, everything." Autumn's face turned to a frown as she consoled her friend. "Penelope, you know us losing in the semi-finals wasn't your fault. We lost as a team, that's not on you."

Penelope shrugged and turned to look out the window of the bus as she somewhat ignored her friend. "I should have done better, You saw it yourself, I sucked out there and if I was rested up better, we could have won." The grey rabbit sighed in defeat and buried her head into her arms. "It's all my fault."

Autumn put her hand on her friend's shoulder and consoled her once more. "Hey, I know you miss Jason a lot. Everyone does, but the Restoration isn't finished with the search and rescue yet. They'll find him and the rest of the crew, don't worry." Autumn noticed her friend was barely responsive, so she continued. "Nobody on the team blames you, Penny. I swear. Everyone's had a tough time because of the war." Penelope slowly looked back to Autumn; her friend's typically sharp green eyes washed with concern. She simply muttered "Thanks…" weakly as she stared back out the window once again.

The skyline of Sunset City came into view across the bay. Large cranes and scaffolding covered the high-rises along the city's shoreline as the Restoration continued with reconstruction efforts following the Resistance War. Eggman and his empire were swiftly defeated once Sonic had triumphantly returned from exile on the Death Egg several months ago, bringing the planet back from near-total conquest. As the war had reached nearly every corner of the world, the fledgeling peacetime organization which formed out of the Resistance had untold work ahead of them. However, they were making great strides in slowly returning the world to normal following the devastation of the past six months.

Autumn scooted closer to Penelope and looked out the window as well. "Isn't that incredible? Just a few months and they've already fixed so much of the skyline. It's exactly like how we all remember it, too." Penelope took in the moment as the Red Gate Bridge drew closer and the bus turned off of the main highway onto the ramp. "Yeah, it really is. Just hope it can be like that everywhere soon." Autumn closed her eyes and gave a smug grin as she returned to facing forwards in her seat. "You know, Caliper Industries' newest line of LiDAR surveying scanners have been incredibly beneficial to the Restoration and the construction in Sunset City!" Penelope rolled her eyes at Autumn's nerdy demeanor. Sure, she was the rich girl at Albert Aardvark, but she knew her stuff. Her parents made sure of that since she was next in line to take over her family's scientific instruments company. "Geez, Autumn. You sound just like your dad's sales brochure." Penelope joked with a small chuckle.

The coach bus continued over the Red Gate Bridge, slowly weaving its way through the traffic. The bridge, vital to Sunset City's economy, was one of the first completed projects by the Restoration. Work started before the war had even officially ended once Sunset City was liberated, and it now allowed free-flowing traffic and vital deliveries in and out once again. The setting Friday sun gleamed over the bay as the bus began to merge onto the ramp off of the bridge, and it continued on through the congested streets. Dump trucks, heavy machinery, and hundreds of public servants in safety vests and hardhats lined the streets further away from the shore as they worked tirelessly around the clock to restore the damaged buildings. Penelope looked at Autumn as she gazed around the construction. She liked to tease her friend when she geeked out, but she had to have been proud that something with her family name on it was being used to make such a huge difference in the world. Thanks in part to it, everything in Sunset City was almost normal again.

As the construction passed and the buildings grew shorter, the coach bus turned into a sleepy neighbourhood of Sunset City beside a large public park. Across the street and their destination was Albert A. Aardvark, the school which was represented by the returning yet defeated girls' volleyball team. As the bus pulled into the parking lot, Penelope and Autumn's attention was directed towards a large grey Walrus wearing a sun visor and whistle who was scootching down the aisle towards them.

The walrus leaned in and gave a quiet cough to clear her throat before speaking. "Uhm, Penelope. I know what happened earlier, but would you like to address the team before they go?" Penelope hung her head and sighed in response. "Sorry, Mrs. Branson, I'm not really feeling up to it today." The coach leaned in and patted Penelope on the shoulder. "Of course, no… I totally understand. I hope everything's back to normal soon." she said in her incredibly deep, yet comforting voice. She turned back to the team as the bus doors finally opened and they had arrived home. "Alright girls, not the result I know we all wanted, but you played your hearts out over the week. I'm really proud of you all for getting to the semis. Now go get some rest, we have practice on Tuesday night!"

The whole team exhaustedly let out a "yes, coach." and rose from their seats after such a long trip. They began shuffling down the narrow aisle of the bus and into the parking lot, where families in their cars were waiting to pick them up and take them home for dinner. Autumn got up to exit, so Penelope slung her bag over her shoulder and slowly hauled herself out of her seat as well. As Penelope descended the stairs of the bus herself, Clarissa, the assistant captain, came to hand her a card. The pink pig twirled her curly hair anxiously. "Uh, hey Pen. We didn't really know what to say as a team, so we made this card for you. I hope everything's better soon. We believe in you…" She handed it to Penelope and awkwardly waved as she walked towards the minivan waiting for her. Penelope nodded and waved back as she looked down at the card. It was a sketch of a Becky, hanging onto a clothesline, with the words "Hang in there!" and signed by the whole team. Penelope sighed, but she appreciated the gesture and felt better knowing the team didn't blame her.

Autumn popped up behind Penelope and made her jump a little. "Whatcha got there?" the brown cat teased as she looked over Penelope's shoulder. Penelope flashed her the card and put it in her bag. "Oh, it's nothing. Just a little thing from the team I guess, telling me not to lose hope and all that." Penelope noticed Autumn was still grinning and nudged her playfully. "You got Avery to sketch that, didn't you?" Autumn laughed a little and covered her mouth. "Haha, yeah. I thought how lame it is might brighten your mood a little." Penelope thanked Autumn and turned to look towards the road once more. Most of the cars had left at this point. "So, hey. Penelope. I'm having a party tonight and some of the girls are coming over after dinner. Do you want to come too?" Penelope turned to Autumn and rubbed the back of her head. "Uh, sorry. I can't. I promised Luna I'd help at the bookstore this weekend. So, I was just going to stay overnight there."

"Oh, no worries then. I understand." Autumn said, a little disappointed. "Mari was going to be there." Penelope sighed when she realized the third (and equally as important) member of their childhood trio was going as well, they still hadn't hung out since before the war. "Oh, well then tell her I'm doing alright, would you? We'll hang out again soon." Autumn hugged Penelope before she began walking. "Of course. See you later, Penny… and be kind to yourself." Penelope started towards the street and waved back at Autumn. "Yeah, for sure. See you Monday."

Penelope continued quietly down the street with her hands in her pockets and passed by the many old brick buildings in the mid-town of Sunset City. She wished she had her trademark skateboard, but Luna's bookstore was in this neighbourhood, so it wasn't too far of a walk. Mid-town wasn't as bustling as downtown, and the damage here was lighter, but several Restoration-sponsored construction workers still dotted the roadside working on power lines as cars rolled by and folks went about their business. As Penelope walked, she noticed the TV in the window of a convenience store playing the six o'clock news. There sat Jeannette Gianopoulos behind her desk. She had long been the most prolific reporter in Sunset City, and Penelope was glad to see such a familiar face unharmed and back at work. The confident fox in her trademark pink makeup and professional pantsuit faced the camera with confidence after the SCNN intro rolled.

"This just in… The Restoration has confirmed it has concluded search and rescue operations in the countryside surrounding Spagonia. The search and rescue force has been deployed all over the world and has received praise for saving many survivors of the war since it was formed approximately one month ago. However, despite their successes, many still remain unaccounted for since the conflict ended. We here at SCNN, the Sunset City News Network, extend out our deepest well-wishes and support during this difficult time." As Jeanette continued on with the news, Penelope noticed the scrolling text in the red ribbon below her on the screen. Restoration confirms Airship Endurance personnel and wreckage not located in the Spagonia region. Penelope shook her head as she turned away from the window and continued walking, her large lop-ears flopping slightly in the motion. Everything was almost normal again… Almost.