I do not own any of this. Paranorman belongs to Laika and Sonic The Hedgehog belongs to Sega.
The ringing of the dismissal bell resonated beautifully in every child's ear as they all poured out of the school in groups. They all couldn't wait to head home, hang out with their friends, or engage in whatever clubs or activities they were signed up for.
It didn't take long for the herd of kids to thin out in number, until Norman was the last and only one left to emerge.
He's happy the school day is finally over. It has been such a long day of getting hit in the back of the head by flying spitballs, being shoved into lockers, being picked last and then being pelted by dodgeballs during gym class, sitting alone at lunch, and practicing for Mrs. Henscher's upcoming play based on the witch's curse that they will all be performing in just two days from now.
Norman or anyone else for that matter didn't really care about the play, but it is mandatory so they are forced to do it if they didn't want a failing grade. Honestly, how sad is it that this town's whole identity is based around the death of a supposed witch, was there seriously nothing else in the town's history to look back on and admire?
He supposes, however, it could be worse. He could have more of a speaking role or heaven forbid the lead role, which Salma has unfortunately been assigned to. Or even more worse, play a tree like Neil who very surprisingly doesn't seem to mind about his role in the play. Whatever makes Neil happy, Norman isn't going to question him.
But enough about worrying over the play or his troubles at school. He is finally free and now he can finally head on back home with nothing to worry about except for the task of finding a good horror movie that he hasn't already seen a million times.
The only thing that could derail this plan is that he has homework to do, and his sister or parents may lay claim to the TV by the time he is finished with it. If that happens, Norman guesses he can just settle with acting out a zombie apocalypse with his action figures and several Lego City sets. It's either that or read one of his favorite zombie-themed comic books.
Whatever he was going to do in the evening, Norman knew one thing - he would be enjoying it alone.
"Hey Norman!" Neil's voice suddenly called out to him. Glancing up, Norman saw him waving right at him from across the street, with his cat-themed lunchbox in hand.
Looking quickly both ways, Neil happily crossed the street toward Norman's direction. Holding in a sigh and eye roll, Norman couldn't understand why that lately Neil had been wanting to hang out with him. Neil is a very nice guy, Norman knew that much, but he just wasn't the type to have friends. Firsthand experience proved to him that once people saw him talking to a spirit, they would just ditch him without even a moment's notice or the usual of labeling him as a freak. It was because of these past experiences that Norman found it better to just be by himself.
Regardless of that, he wasn't going to stiff Neil who had finally reached him. "Hey, Neil."
"Boy! It sure has been a long day at school. Hasn't it?"
"I guess." Norman replied with a small shrug.
"You know, after such a long day, I have quite an appetite. How about we head on over to Witchy Weiner and grab ourselves a couple of hot dogs?"
"I would love to Neil, but I am not particularly hungry right now. So, I'm gonna have to decline on that offer."
Looking down a bit disappointed, but quickly getting himself together with a large smile that he always had. He then said to Norman, "That's okay. Perhaps we can do it some other time."
"Sure, Neil," without another word, Norman walked off. Leaving Neil behind as he frowned in sympathy toward him. If there was anyone in town who truly needed a friend, it had to be Norman. He may deny it all he wants, but deep down, Neil knew that Norman was longing for someone to spend time with, and he was determined to become that person. Not only because he wanted a genuine friendship, but also because of the rumors that he could see ghosts, which was the most awesomeness thing he had ever heard. Yet, even if it weren't true, Norman would still be a cool guy to hang out with.
He'll have to figure out another way to spend time with him tomorrow. As for right now, though, he really was in the mood for some hot dogs.
Returning home, Norman immediately went up to his room to begin his homework. To be honest, he had quite a lot to do tonight: a three-page essay on social studies, several math problems, studying for an upcoming science test, and reading a few chapters of Frankenstein, which he actually liked because it had something to do with horror. It's Frankenstein, for crying out loud. That's one of the principles of horror.
However with this much homework he had to do. Norman wasn't so sure if he would even have enough time to head downstairs to watch a movie. He guesses that he'll look at the time once he was finished, speaking of which he better get started if he wanted some free time.
Behind him, his grandmother rose up through the floor to check in on her grandson. "Hello, Norman. Have a good day at school?"
Despite his previous thoughts, Norman couldn't be rude to his grandmother, so he set down his pencil and turned to address her. "It was a typical day."
Nodding in understanding of what he meant by that, his grandmother gave him a very sympathetic look. "The usual jackasses picking on you?"
"Yep"
"Honestly, what is with the school letting these thugs pick on you?" If she were still alive, she would march right into the principal's office and give that dinglehead a good piece of her mind.
"It's alright, grandma. I'm used to it." He says with slumped shoulders and his head looking to the floor a bit, while not missing the still sympathetic look on her face.
Drifting closer to him, she placed a loving hand on his shoulder. "Boys like you shouldn't be picked on," she said. "Mark my words, Norman. One day this town is going to realize just how great you really are, and if for some reason they don't, then everyone in this town will be nothing more than overgrown chimps."
A small chuckle escapes from Norman. He can always count on his grandmother to help him feel better, along with her snarky remarks. Seeing him smile, she gives him a wink and drifts on down through the floor, until she stops midway upon remembering something.
"Oh yes, I just remembered. If you were planning on going downstairs to watch television, you might as well forget it because Courtney laid claim to it. Honestly, I don't see the appeal in those shows; it's just a bunch of snobs competing in fancy clothes that look utterly ridiculous."
Well, there goes that plan, but at least he had an early warning so when he went into the living room, he wouldn't be disappointed on finding his sister comfy on the couch. "Thanks for letting me know, Grandma."
"Anytime, kiddo." Disappearing through the floorboards, she leaves Norman to do his homework. Taking hold of his pencil, Norman opens up his social studies book and began to work. Meanwhile in the back of his mind, Norman thinks that at least he has his backup plan to look forward to.
Deciding that a good evening stroll might help him clear his mind, Sonic zipped into the park, where he ducks himself behind a bush that he slowly peered out of. From here he watches as the few remaining children finishing up their activities before heading home for the night. The sun had already set by this time, and the streetlights are illuminating the darkening streets.
From what he saw, the kids were holding frisbees, baseball equipment, and whatever else they had brought with them. It didn't take long for all of the kids to leave the park, allowing Sonic to emerge from the bushes and walk around the darkened park. This was the usual routine whenever he wanted to go for a walk; it was safer to do so at this hour than during the daylight hours, as it prevented him from being spotted by anyone.
It's a very big bummer though, because despite running around here all the time, Sonic would love to see it more often during the day for a much clearer observation. He would be able to see the flowers blooming, insects and bugs buzzing around, birds flying above him, and take a nice relaxing nap on the branch of a tree while feeling the warm breeze against his fur.
Unfortunately, that would never happen, which made him sigh sadly as he stood next to a bench. Continuing onward through the park, he passed by many curbs that led him to various areas of the dark, lonely park. Eventually, Sonic reached the stone wall surrounding the park; lifting himself up, Sonic rested himself on his elbows while he gazed across the street at a brightly lit house displaying a family sitting down for dinner through the right window.
Watching them laugh and talk with each other silently, Sonic's emotions were a flurry of sadness, frustration, and loneliness. It looked so warm and cozy in there with them being so close to one another. Unlike him being out here in the cold with no one looking out for him.
It just wasn't fair! He was always going to be alone! No one would want to hang out with a blue, alien hedgehog. Hopping off the wall, he held back some tears as he automatically ran around the outer area of the park at top speed. His speed increased with every passing moment, leaving behind a blindingly bright blue, blazing trail. He is going so fast it seemed as if there were multiple Sonics moving together, creating the illusion of a spinning animation wheel.
The fast speeds also began to pick up wind, which steadily picked up enough to have leaves flying, branches swaying, and dirt being kicked up. But that wasn't all; through Sonic's body, blue electricity crackled along his quills, while his eyes turned blue.
The electricity glowed brighter and brighter with every passing second, until at last it exploded out of him in a blue flash. The burst of power unleashed a powerful EMP wave that quickly spread throughout the town, knocking out the power in an instant.
Motioning a zombie action figure towards another unfortunate victim in this zombie apocalypse, Norman allowed himself to let out a couple zombie-like groans as he sat himself down on the floor, surrounded by books and cardboard boxes filled with his action figures.
Lowering the zombie to his latest victim, Norman prepared for it to take a good bite out of the forehead; however, all of a sudden, the lights went out, surprising him a bit as he now sat there in the dark, blinking his eyes.
Throughout the rest of the house, Norman could hear Courtney groaning in frustration as the power turned off during the climax of her show. That inconvenience didn't compare to what his dad had been doing at the time for he had been using the shower. Judging by the swearing and shouts of pain he cried out from the bathroom, he was most likely washing his hair with shampoo at the time.
Ignoring the cries of both outrage and pain, Norman got off the floor and stepped up to the window, whereupon looking out he sees that the entire town appeared to have lost power. "What happened?"
Standing amidst his study, Mr. Prenderghast is pacing around, muttering to himself about both the eventual capture of that speedy rodent and also reminding himself that he needs to approach his nephew soon. The chest pains he's been experiencing today are a crucial reminder that his time is coming and that he must pass down his duty to the next in line before it was too late.
Suddenly, the lights cut off; what followed shortly was a loud crash as he walked right into his desk. "Ah! My foot!"
The blue energy eventually reached Sonic's cave; it struck against the neighboring twisted tree before continuing on for miles.
The energy surged into the ground in great crackles, where it crashed right through a dimly glowing outline of a figure. Zaps and crackles emitted from the figure as the body reacted to it. Two glowing eyes then opened up in surprise as the figure had woken up much earlier than what was usually scheduled for her.
Back at the epicenter, Sonic looked around uncomfortably. "Oops. I sure hope no one took notice of that."
Not wanting to be at the scene of the crime, Sonic zooms away before anyone comes out to investigate the sudden power outage.
Alarms blared out loudly within a very high-tech lab located on the eastern coast of the United States.
This lab has metal walls with symbols decorated on them. Throughout the lab many complex machinery beyond anything the world has ever seen before laid flashing and beeping, right along with robots who could do some very serious damage to someone or much worse if given the order.
Only one incredible genius owns this lab. A genius who's IQ is way beyond the idiots he's forced to deal with on a daily occurrence. This genius is of course the one and only Doctor Robotnik; who's mustache is as superb as pure usual.
Robotnik was awakened by the sudden alarm. He marched into the lab wearing only his pajamas, as he had been rudely interrupted from his necessary genius sleep. Reaching his main computer, he immediately began typing on the keyboard. "Alright. What's so important enough to interrupt my required eight hours of sleep?"
On the computer, various warnings about a sudden power outage on the East Coast ranging from Maine to Pennsylvania came into view. "Hmm...interesting. Fortunately, I've installed several backup generators in case something like this happens. But now, what exactly caused this outage?"
Typing in more commands on the keyboard, Robotnik quickly deduced that it wasn't caused by any natural phenomenon, man-made errors, or any planned attacks. In fact, whatever had caused this had been a very powerful source of energy; a power he had never seen before, but very much wanted for himself. With that kind of power, his machines could be put into their full potential.
Looking to the source of the power, he found that its origin has came from a small, unimportant, pathetic town in Massachusetts.
"Looks like I'm going to Massachusetts." Smiling to himself; Robotnik would waste no time on gathering up his forces for the upcoming trip to a tacky little town that no one cared about.
