A crisp morning breeze blew through the sunny sky in Sunset City. It was quite the nice name for a town, even though the actual sunset occurs only once a day. Sunset City houses many shops and restaurants, but one new place in particular was the one of the most recognized.
Midway between the main plaza and the outskirts of Sunset City dwelled a cute restaurant called "The Home Kitchen". It was a restaurant based on homemade recipes and designed to look like someone's modern kitchen in their own home.
Even though it was the early morning, the restaurant was packed with people wanting the head chef's best breakfast dishes. You practically needed a reservation a month in advance just to get seats.
The main dining room led to the kitchen through a set of double doors. It was here that the two owners worked together.
The main chef wiped her hands, panting furiously. She had just finished cooking a remarkably hard dish. She turned to her co-owner, who was responsible for setting up the dishes to look presentable and appealing. "This one's ready. Could you get a deep bowl for it?"
Before she had finished speaking, her pot was empty and a bowl was filled with the steaming food. In another second, the entire dish was gone and the door was swinging shut.
She rolled her eyes and started on the next order, which was slightly simpler than the previous one.
A breeze ruffled her quills and a silky voice spoke in her ear. "You've gotta be faster than that."
She took a swipe with her spatula at the voice, but they simply sped away, chuckling.
She wiped her brow. "I don't see you doing any of the hard work, Sonic."
A blue hedgehog rested his elbows against the counter and peered up at the chef. He had dark, almost black eyes with white streaks outlining them on his quills. He wore a faded brown cloak with its hood partly pulled up over his face.
"Amy, you know that being this handsome is hard work in itself."
Amy was a pink hedgehog with quills that went slightly past her shoulders, which was held back from her forehead with a rose hairband. She turned back to her task.
A strong hand covered her own. "You work too hard, Ames. Why don't we take a vacation?"
She stared up at him. "You know I can't close down. We have reservations for the next two months. The only day I can close early is Wednesday, which is today. You know why."
She felt Sonic stiffen at her side. She set down her spatula and placed her hands on Sonic's shoulders.
"You know that what you're doing is the only way to stay as safe as possible. What you're doing is risky enough as it is because you're getting the absolute minimum amount possible. You shouldn't feel guilty about this; it's more humane than…other alternatives."
He gently took her hands in his own, making an effort to be slow so as not to startle her. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"
"Every day. It never gets old." She planted a quick kiss on his cheek and then turned back to her task. "This one requires a medium-sized plate. Could you–"
A plate landed at her side.
She smirked. "Thanks."
It was 1:50 PM. The last guests of The Home Kitchen were mozying out, thanking Amy again and again for the wonderful meal and leaving huge tips. Amy thanked them for coming and waved them out. As soon as the last customer was out, she locked all the doors except the front one and drew the curtains over the windows.
She turned to Sonic. "Ready to go?"
He nodded, and was at the door in a split second, opening it for Amy.
"You gentleman," she teased and walked out. Sonic closed the door once he was outside and locked it. Then, they started down the street together.
"Are you nervous?" Amy asked cautiously, looking sideways at Sonic.
He kept his eyes diverted. "I've been doing this for a while, Ames."
"That doesn't make it any less nerve-racking," she retorted, and then immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean to snap at you."
She felt his arms wrap around her. Even though they've been married for a while and his…transformation…happened three months ago, she couldn't get used to the feeling of his cold, stone-like arms.
"You're stressed for me. That's okay," he replied.
Regardless of how cold he was, she leaned his head against his chest. They continued walking in silence until they reached a towering courthouse.
A few Mobians were standing guard outside the courthouse. They nodded at the two and opened the door for them.
Sonic pulled away from Amy. "I'll see you after," he muttered and vanished. Amy knew exactly where he had gone.
The courthouse was already filled with chattering people. Everyone had come to see this trial.
Amy's eyes scanned the crowd until she found who she was looking for. She walked down the rows until she reached the second one from the front. She took a seat next to a white hedgehog, who turned to look at her. "Amy!" he said, hugging her quickly. "You guys are cutting it close this time. It's about to start."
"You'd think a super-speedy hedgehog would never be late," she laughed. But then she quickly sobered up. "How are you, Silver?"
"I'm doing good," Silver replied. He was a white hedgehog with five quills going every which way on top of his head. He had half-amber, half-red eyes and wore white gloves with a circle insignia on the front and back.
"I thought last week was your turn?" Amy asked.
"It was, but Shadow got called away for a last-minute solo mission. Rouge called on his behalf and explained the situation."
"It seems that the Commander is assigning him a mission on the day he's not supposed to get one more often than not," Amy muttered. But then, a hush settled over the courthouse as an elderly judge walked to the podium. He was a possum with gray fur and striking blue eyes.
"Bring in the convicted," the judge called.
Another set of doors opened. Two bear guards were walking in a tiger prisoner. His hateful red eyes were darting around the room, especially focusing on the front row.
Behind the trio walked in a cloaked figure. The only thing that the cloak revealed was his muzzle, which bared fanged teeth.
Of course, both Amy and Silver knew who it was. It was Sonic.
Sonic walked with them until they reached the judge, and he remained by the judge's side. The possum turned and smiled down at Sonic encouragingly for one moment, and then refocused his attention on the prisoner.
The guards had chained the tiger to the table and now stood behind him. The judge began to speak.
"I am Judge Harry, and I am holding the trial for Minus the Tiger, who has been convicted of second-degree manslaughter of Chelsea the Mink and Otto the Bat."
Once these names were uttered, people in the front row sobbed. It was clear that these people were friends and family of the victims. The tiger's head whipped around and he fixed a beady eye on the mourning, snarling at them.
"Do you deny these claims, Minus?" the judge continued.
"Yes," the tiger growled. "I did nothing wrong."
"Yet I see that no lawyer was willing to defend you. Interesting…" Judge Harry mused. He then spoke to the courthouse. "Is any individual willing to come up and defend the accused?"
The silence had never been heavier.
"I now call on witnesses for the event. Eddie the Crocodile, please come up and state your case."
A green crocodile rose from the first row and walked over to the witness podium.
"Do you agree to speak the truth, only the truth, and nothing but the truth?"
"Yes, your Honor," the crocodile said quietly.
"Please describe the event."
"I am a friend of Chelsea and Otto, and they were hosting a party together. I decided to drive up a little early and help them out with some things." The crocodile's voice started shaking. "But, when I pulled into their driveway, I could tell something was wrong. I could hear screaming. Even though it was a horror-themed party, this sounded too real. Sure enough, the front door burst open and this vile…thing –" he pointed shakily at Minus – "rushed out with a bloodied knife and ran as fast as he could. I snapped a picture of him as he was fleeing, but he didn't see me, or I probably would've been dead too. Knowing what I was going to find inside, I walked inside the house…and…" He was then overcome with sobs. However, he found enough strength to continue. "...they were dead. Stabbed."
He completely broke down then.
"Thank you, Eddie. You may return to your seat." Judge Harry's eyes were furious. A security guard came after Eddie was seated and handed him a folder. The judge opened it, and showed it to the courthouse.
It was snapped pictures of Minus fleeing from the house with a bloodied knife. The similarity was obvious.
"Do you still deny these charges?" Judge Harry asked Minus.
The tiger bowed his head, signifying defeat. "I do not, your Honor."
"Because this was second-degree manslaughter and you had killed two people, I sentence you to death." Judge Harry said. Minus's head shot up in horror. "It will be carried out by this courthouse's executioner."
At that moment, Sonic stepped forward out of the shadows and faced Minus, baring his teeth. Minus reared back in shock, nearly crashing into the two bear guards behind him. The courthouse also flinched, for they were aware how effective this new executioner was. He had only been active for two months, but he got the job done in less than five minutes from the get-go. However, his method didn't seem to be pleasant. Inmates swore that they could hear screams that were abruptly cut off.
The only people who didn't flinch were Judge Harry, Amy, and Silver. They all knew what he was and what he could do.
"I hereby close this case," Judge Harry said, banging his gavel. "Convicted, you may get an hour to say goodbye to family and friends and have a last meal before your execution. This case is concluded." He banged his gavel again and rose, coming down from the podium. The courthouse disbanded, talking with each other. The people in the front row still huddled together, crying.
Minus was hauled away by the guards to his jail cell, where he will say goodbye to his family and eat his last meal.
Judge Harry turned to Sonic. "Do what you need to do, son. Which brother will you be bringing this time?"
"It should've been Shadow today, but it's Silver instead. I guess he had a mission," Sonic replied.
Harry nodded. "Good luck, son. See you next Wednesday. I hope that it doesn't end in the convicted getting sentenced to death next week." He shook his head in sadness, smiled at Sonic, and walked away.
Amy turned to Silver. "I'm assuming that you're going to go with him?"
"As always," Silver replied. "See you later, Amy."
"See you," she said as he walked away. "Keep him safe."
Nearly an hour had passed. Silver and Sonic were waiting in the execution room together, waiting for the guards to bring Minus in.
"Are you okay?" Silver asked.
"No, not really," Sonic replied. "You know how hard this job is."
"Morally, but definitely not physically." Silver eyed Sonic's fangs. "But you also didn't have a case last week. You've got to be feeling it now."
"Definitely. I increased my sap intake, but it's barely keeping my control alive."
"Oh, here he comes!" Silver said, making Sonic snap his head up.
The same guards as before were bringing Minus in. They opened the door, shoved Minus in, and locked it behind him.
Minus took in the sights. "No table? I thought I was going to die by injection, or something."
Silver silently walked to Minus and took off his cuffs, dropping them on the floor.
"Whoa, what are you doing? Is this some sort of escape mission?"
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Sonic spoke for the first time in front of Minus, and the tiger flinched again. "You can either try to fight your way out of this and make your suffering painful, or you can stand there and this will be quick and easy. You won't feel a thing, I'll make sure of that. So, what's it going to be?"
Minus silently surveyed Silver and Sonic, and then smirked, letting his own fangs show. He took a fighting stance. "I'd rather go down fighting."
"That's a big mistake, man," Silver hissed at Minus, who ignored him.
Sonic shrugged. "Have it your way." He removed the cloak from his shoulders and flung it aside, revealing his cold black eyes and muscular body, which hunched down in a predator-like stance.
Minus looked like he was reconsidering, but then he swung at Sonic, attempting to knock him unconscious.
Sonic quickly sped away from him and grabbed that same offending fist, twisting it.
Minus yelled in shock and swung another fist, but Sonic caught that one two. He then shoved his foot against the tiger's chest, knocking him down.
Silver took that as his cue and raised a protective shield around him with his psychokinesis.
Sonic seemed to turn feral. A true ferocious snarl ripped through his throat as he gave himself entirely to his instincts. He bared his teeth, and his mind seemed to only concentrate on Minus.
He shot forward, teeth poised. A true scream of fear escaped Minus, and that was the last anybody ever heard from him.
To be continued…
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