I do not own any of this. Paranorman belongs to Laika and Sonic The Hedgehog belongs to Sega.
The bustling streets of New York are as busy as ever. Cars honk with sirens blaring from emergency vehicles heading off to whatever emergencies they've been called to, while people go about their business amidst the loud echoes of footsteps and chatter.
For those living in the city, they have seen just about everything - the good, the bad, and the weird. But a topless van driving down the city streets is perhaps one of the most head-turning sights.
From inside the van, Sonic looked thoughtfully around at the sights with a large smile. Being the first major city he has ever been in; the tall skyscrapers really captured his imagination for they practically touched the sky.
He wasn't the only one to be mesmerized by the sights of New York; like him, Neil took in everything they passed, however this was the second city he has been in, the first being was when his family went to Boston on vacation last year. Meanwhile, Courtney and Mitch were looking around for entirely different reasons; Courtney was looking for any major stores to shop at, after all, when you're in a city like New York, you might as well enjoy it to the fullest.
Mitch, however, is fully intent on finding an auto shop to fix up his poor, poor van. It'll probably take weeks to fix, but his baby needs desperate repairs that he simply cannot ignore.
Meanwhile Norman chose to simply look up at the sky, he was also caught by the sights of New York, but chose to relax for the time being.
Turning a street corner, Mitch parked the van in a very good spot before stepping out with the others and looked up at the impressive Empire State Building, which was only two buildings away.
"Well, here we are. The famous Empire State Building," said Neil excitedly, with his arms stretched out wide as if he were presenting something on a game show.
"Wow" Seeing this building up close, Sonic could now see why gorillas loved to climb it for the view must be very breathtaking all the way up there.
"I can't believe we actually made it. I was totally positive that crazy scientist was going to capture us." The highway pursuit certainly made Courtney think like that, but because they were so lit, that doofus never had a chance of catching them.
"So how do we get up there exactly?" Mitch asked.
"I'm sure there's a nice elevator for us to use." Norman answered being fully aware that the top is a major attraction for tourists.
"Good, because I'm not using the stairs." Courtney shivered at the mere thought; her poor legs wouldn't be able to handle it. There was another thing they needed to address, though; they couldn't just walk right in with Sonic. They needed a disguise for him, and after looking back in the van for a brief moment, a brilliant idea came to mind.
The people on the elevator minded their own business as they either looked at their phones, watches, or paperwork. None of them took notice of the ponytail-blond, muscular guy, the chubby boy, the other boy with the sticking-up hair, or the kid wearing a long blue hoodie standing in front of them.
"So, this leads straight to the top right?" The hooded kid asked a random business man.
"Yep" He lowly muttered without looking up from his wrist watch.
"Cool. Very cool. By any chance, has there been any recent giant gorilla attacks?"
Looking up from his wristwatch with a very perplexed expression, the man wondered if he had heard that right? "Pardon me?"
"You have to excuse him." The girl said, turning to him with a sheepish smile while placing a hand on the boy's head. "He has a very active imagination."
The elevator soon stopped with a ding and opened up to the man's floor. Excusing himself out of the elevator, the man glanced one last time at the hooded kid before the doors closed and thought the kid had some rather large green eyes.
Continuing upward, the elevator dropped off more of its riders until only the five remained in the elevator. Once they were finally alone, Sonic took off the hoodie and shook his head to straighten out his quills.
"Phew! That sure feels good." Looking up to the floor numbers, Sonic impatiently began to tap his foot a bit. "So how much further is it?"
"Shouldn't be too long. We only have a few floors left." Mitch replied.
"So do tell me, where are we supposed to find your bag anyways?" Courtney now asked him.
Thinking very hard about it for the whole event happen so quickly, Sonic really only remembers a few important details. "All I know is that my bag landed on one of the ledges."
"Do you know which ledge exactly?" Norman asked for if Sonic could remember where exactly his bag has landed, it will really help narrow down their search.
To his dismay however, Sonic shook his head no. "Not really, but hey; I'm sure from all the way up there, we can spot my bag in no time."
"You say that, but can we actually do it?" Mitch questioned, which shortly afterwards the elevator stops with a ding.
"Only one way to find out." The elevator doors opened up, and the first thing they see as they stepped out of the elevator is a window that looked out over the city right along with the sea and landscape. Zipping over to the window, Sonic takes in the wonderful view. From all the way up here the cars and people looked like bugs, perhaps he can even spot a place selling chili dogs for he would really want to have another one of those delicious foods sometime later.
Meanwhile, the others looked for a way to get out to the outside balcony; it was the best way to look down on the ledges. Mitch eventually found the door and happily informed the rest of his discovery before opening the door and stepping outside with the others. They all looked down, but Neil quickly looked away, remembering he had a huge phobia of heights.
"So Sonic," Norman began, "do you see-"
"Found them!" Sonic joyfully exclaimed before hopping right over the balcony without any hesitation. Everyone gasped and went over to the spot Sonic had jumped, fearing that they may see him plummeting down towards the streets like a bag of bricks, but stopped just short of the ledge after Sonic happily reappeared with the bag held safely in his hand. "There we go. Finally back to their rightful owner."
Standing there with perplexed emotions from Sonic suddenly hopping off the balcony, then to his quick reappearance. They all slowly switched their gazes over to the bag that they had traveled so far to get; it honestly felt too easy that they actually reunited Sonic with it. They really just got here and they did it just like that; talk about anti-climactic.
"So, that's the bag?" Norman asked in disbelief on how easy it was.
"Yep!" Reaching into the bag, Sonic pulls out a ring and happily shows them all the small golden object. He felt himself smiling even more upon seeing the very fascinated looks over the ring.
"It's pretty." Neil commented.
"Thanks Curly Hair. It's really too bad that I can't give you some. You would've loved to travel through one of these babies."
"How in the world do you even use that thing exactly?" Courtney asked, although in her great opinion that beautiful ring would be much more better around her finger.
"It's actually very simple. All you need to do is think up the place you wanna go to and throw it." Sonic explained.
"Really? It's that simple?" Norman asked, he kinda thought it would be a bit more complicated than that.
"Yep." Sonic nodded before getting a bit down. "But now; I suppose it's time for me to leave for the Mushroom Planet." Sadly turning away from the group, Sonic goes to throw the ring, but stops in hesitation.
"What's the matter Sonic?" Mitch asked.
Standing there for a second, Sonic lets out a small sigh and looks back at them. "I... I really don't want to leave Earth. I've made so many awesome memories here; I had a nice home, but most importantly, I finally feel like I have gained some friends. Now I'm going to lose all that."
"Maybe you don't have to go." Neil suggested for perhaps they can find a place for him to hide from that Robotnik guy back home.
"If he stays here though. That evil guy would be very relentless on hunting him down to the ends of the Earth." Courtney pointed out for although she is very sympathetic to Sonic and has grown to like him. She has to look at the grim reality of what would happen if he stays here.
"Maybe we can think of a way to trick Robotnik into thinking Sonic left Earth." Norman suggested for he to has grown to care about Sonic enough to actually consider him as a friend.
However, his suggestion is shot down by Sonic, who raises his hand in a stop gesture. "No. Your sister's right. As long as I'm here, you will always be in danger. I can't bear to think of anything happening to any of you. I won't like living on the Mushroom Planet, but at least you all will be safe and be able to get back to your normal lives."
"If that's what you really want to do. Then I suppose we can't stop you." Norman proclaimed.
"Yeah. But I can't go without giving you all my thanks. I know these past few days have been very intense for all of you, but I really appreciate that you took your time out of your lives to help me out."
"It was our pleasure Sonic." Neil happily remarked, while trying in vain to hold back a couple of tears for it was always so hard to say goodbye to a friend.
"Have a good life, man." Mitch added with a raised fist for an inviting fist pump, which Sonic happily gave before taking a couple steps backwards. "Well, goodbye Ghost Boy and everyone else."
"Goodbye Sonic."
Giving them one last wink, Sonic turns and throws the ring, that flew through the air, then bounced off a hovering EggDrone, interrupting its process of opening up a portal.
Swiftly hovering up into place, Sonic and the others found themselves surrounded by the drones that had all hovered into position. They all felt dread; here they go again for with all these drones here it meant only one thing. Sure enough, an aircraft came into view, turning towards them as it came to a stop directly in front of Sonic and his companions.
The glass hatch opens to reveal Robotnik with a very wide grin. "Hello there kids. Enjoying the Big Apple? It's very lovely this time of year."
"You again?" Courtney groaned for how many times do they have to deal with this guy? "Didn't we loose you back at that highway?"
"That's where you made a very big miscalculation. I am very hard to get rid of, I am like the itch on your back or those pesky cockroaches. You are very foolish to think that you would've been able to loose me that easily, just as foolish into thinking you can get away with hitting me with that chair."
"Wait, you hit him with a chair?" Mitch spoke up a bit impressed, completely not noticing the blush spreading across Courtney's cheeks or the smile slightly forming. This was step one in getting Mitch's attention, she just needed to find something else to impress him even more.
"Oh look. You gained two companions; a fat boy and a pea brain jock. You really know how to pick them don't you." Robotnik mocked.
"Hey! That's not a very nice thing to say." Neil remarked with a slight scowl, which Robotnik only found amusing. "Oh look. It can bark."
"Now I can see why you hit him with a chair." Mitch muttered to Courtney.
"You should've seen it! It was awesome!" Sonic proclaimed as he kept picturing the scene over and over again in his head.
"Oh yes. Marvel at my unfortunate assault." Robotnik growled. "Which is your second, but your biggest misjudgement of error. The last person who ever assaulted me was the school bully. He hit me in the cafeteria, causing a blunt-force contusion to the soft tissue surrounding my orbital bone. Humiliated me in front of the entire school! And you know what I did in response?"
"Ignored him or told a teacher?" Norman hopefully asked, but already knew that he didn't do any of those things.
"No, I examined the inefficiency of a world where brawn trumped brain, and I used technology to resolve that inefficiency. The boy ate his meals through a straw for a year. And I have never lost a fight... until Yesterday."
"Don't you think that's going a bit too far?" Norman asked in horror. Now he admitted that there were times when he thought about getting revenge on those who bullied him, but never would he have done anything like what Dr. Robotnik did. It just wasn't right.
"No. In fact thinking about it further. I should've had that idiot bully live out the rest of his life in a iron lung." Having that in mind, Robotnik should really pay that bully a visit for a little reunion.
"You're really messed up in the head, you know that." Courtney uneasily remarked.
Robotnik however had just about enough of all this chattering, it was wasting valuable time of blasting them all into sticky red messes. "Enough! Now it's time to push some buttons. Enjoy your last few minutes alive as much as you can."
"Your Egg-shaped drones are impressive Eggman, but just face it! You'll never catch me!" Sonic stated with a smirk while placing his hands on his hips.
"That's Doctor Robotnik to you." He sneered.
"Eh, Eggman sounds better." Sonic boastfully shrugged.
"So much confidence. A fools substitute for intelligence." Snapping his fingers. All of his drones switched into attack positions making them all step back with audible gasps as the drones got ready to fire their payloads.
Unable to take his eyes off the drones, Norman stepped back until he bumped right against Sonic's back. "Um Sonic. I know you have the super speed, but we're about to"
"Get blasted into a bloody mess." Sonic finished while also keeping his eyes on these pesky drones.
"Pretty much sums it up." Neil remarked with a slight shiver.
"Don't worry guys. I got the perfect plan." Before any of them can react, Sonic suddenly zipped right behind them and pushed them all off of the balcony in one great leap.
Robotnik was caught off guard by the unexpected move. He looked down at them as they fell toward the streets below, screaming out loudly in terror before looking back up to Sonic with the same surprised expression. "I wasn't expecting that, but it doesn't count since I wasn't expecting anything." Robotnik shrugged off.
The drones fired their weapons of bullets and missiles that all sped towards Sonic, getting very close to him before suddenly stopping in slow motion. Smirking at the incoming weapons, Sonic tapped his foot while pretending to look at an imaginary wristwatch.
Moving his gaze to the missiles and bullets in front of him, Sonic casually swept them aside as if they were nothing. He then grabbed two missiles and used them like drumsticks by beating them against other incoming bullets and missiles. After his drumbeat, Sonic rushed forward and jumped onto a drone, where he slammed the missiles into it, slowly engulfing it in a fireball.
Grabbing hold of other missiles, Sonic proceeded to do the same thing to five other drones before turning his attention to the back of another drone and gleefully pushed it towards another one. Going up to three other drones, he rolled himself into a ball and smashed into each of them in three separate jumps. This sure was fun! And with several more drones left to destroy, Sonic rushed for the next one without realizing that Robotnik had been reaching for a button this entire time.
Despite taking his time because of the slow motion, Robotnik finally manages to push the button which activates the placed in quill, sending out blue electricity into the Eggpod. A large hum escapes from the aircraft as it enters itself into Sonic's speed, smiling greatly; Robotnik moves the vehicle upwards before turning it around to face the hedgehog who was currently turning two of his drones to face each other, so that they would be firing at each other instead of him.
Pressing another button on his left side, a energized gun with red energy wrapped around it, popped out from the bottom, ready to fire at the hedgehog.
Catching sight of the crackling electricity from the corner of his eyes, Sonic fully turned to look at it and went wide eyed at the speeding, incoming aircraft. The gun fires a pulse that struck the side of the building just inches away from Sonic, sending him as well as his rings, (that fell out of his bag), and rubble towards the city streets below.
Momentarily closing his eyes in pain, as well as having the wind knocked right out of him, the sounds of Norman and the others screaming in terror brought Sonic out of his daze. His vision was temporarily blurry, but once it cleared enough for him to see them plummeting even closer to the ground, Sonic quickly looked around for anything to save them. Finally, after searching frantically, he found a ring nearby, but just out of arm's reach.
They were now getting more dangerously closer to the ground. If he didn't do something quickly, Norman and the others were going to become a huge bloody mess, and Norman would finally know what it would be like to be a ghost.
Thankfully getting a quick idea, Sonic reached up and pulled out a loose quill. Reaching for the ring again, he strained himself as the quill barely touched it, but with one final thrust, he caught it in the middle and pulled it over to him.
Now with a ring in his hand. Sonic gets himself on the side of the building and sped on down at top speeds, he was easily catching up to them, but he needed to time this quickly for now people are becoming visible as well as street signs.
They needed a safe place, a place far away from Eggman and there was only one place Sonic can think of.
Reaching five feet away from them, Sonic throws the ring with all his might, which went passed them and opened up a portal that lead right to the woods of Blithe Hallow.
Going through the portal, Norman and the others suddenly found themselves flying a few inches off the ground as if they were being catapulted. Up ahead of them was a very large pile of leaves.
Crashing into the pile, leaves flew everywhere with some swirling around in a vortex before finally settling down and land gently throughout the impact site, where at the epicenter; Norman, Neil, Courtney, and Mitch breathed heavily with all their hair messed up with several leaves clinging to them, and very wide eyed expressions.
That was the most terrifying experience they had ever encountered; their lives flashed before their eyes as the overwhelming fear of falling 1,250 feet from the Empire State Building consumed them. They were absolutely certain in that very moment that they would die.
Laying there with their heavy breathing being the only sign of movement. Courtney somehow managed to find her voice, between her breaths. "I'm so... going... to... get Sonic back!" Honestly! Who would push people off the Empire State Building?
Besides her, after emptying out today's lunch on the left side of the leaf pile. Neil, who's a bit disoriented, glances around their new, but somewhat familiar surroundings. "Where are we?"
"I think we're back home." Norman answered as he shakily raised himself back up on his feet.
"Whoa! You mean to tell me that ring brought us all the way back here." Mitch exclaimed in amazement as a couple leaves fell off his shoulders.
A flash of lighting fallowed by the boom of thunder gets their attention. Looking up to the sky; all they could see are swirling storm clouds. This certainly wasn't what they expected on seeing upon coming back home, but on the other hand, where even were they anyway?
Getting up from the leaf pile, they walked through the woods a bit before coming to a stop on top of a hill that looked down on their town, with smoke rising from some areas and a few buildings clearly missing.
"What's been going on around here, while we were away?" Neil pondered out loud.
"I have no idea, but I think it has something to do with this weather." Norman answered, although a bit unsure of his explanation.
"We might as well see what's been going on." Mitch stated for he is very curious on what happened to the town. He wondered if his favorite gym is alright?
They didn't have much to do at the moment, what with Sonic in New York with that Robotnik guy, which made them extremely worried about whether he would be okay or not. Would that guy dissect him like a frog? Oh! How they hoped that Sonic's speed would get him out of that mess, along with those rings of his. They could only hope, but again, with him all the way over there and them here, they began making their way towards town by following the road.
They had only managed to reach the first bend when, suddenly, the ground began to shake violently; so violently that they could barely stand on their feet.
"Earthquake!" Neil cried in terror while holding his head to protect it from any falling debris.
"Here?" Norman proclaimed in question for violent earthquakes don't happen in Massachusetts. Suddenly with a crack! Several large tree spikes bursts through the road, sending asphalt everywhere as well as separating Norman from the rest of the group.
Sitting on his bottom with terror of what was going on? Norman found himself frozen on the spot as he stared at the sudden barricade blocking him from the others. Meanwhile on the other side of it; Neil, Mitch, and Courtney are in a equal state of mind with Courtney growing very concern over what was happening with Norman on the other side of this thing?
Then much to her's; as well as Neil's and Mitch's shock. A transparent figure with lightning for hair and electricity zapping out from her body, descended down from the cloudy sky and hovered only a few inches from the ground on their side of the barrier.
She couldn't believe her eyes, but it was as clear as day! Courtney was actually seeing a ghost with her own two eyes! Looks like her brother wasn't so crazy about seeing ghosts after all.
As for the ghost herself, she slightly turned her head to regard them with a slight glare before turning back to the barricade and went completely through it as if it were nothing.
"Norman look out! You have company incoming!" Neil shouted in fear over Norman's safety for that ghost looked hostile.
Although Agatha was back to her usual angry, ghostly self, she didn't feel like going back to her tree; she just had too much on her mind at the moment. So she had simply been flying above the forest, hoping that it would somehow help her sort through all that had happened and the emotions she'd been experiencing lately.
It did help her, but not much to clear her head. She wondered what else she could do when her ears picked up a commotion below her. Curious, she headed on down past the treeline, stopping near the high branches. There, to her surprise, was that magical ring portal closing, and that boy lying in a pile of leaves right alongside the other group of people she had seen back in that room.
He must have come through that magic ring to get back here; this meant that the hedgehog had helped them after recovering his bag, which was very good because at least he got back the item she had unintentionally made him lose.
However she didn't see any sign of that hedgehog anywhere in that pile of leaves. He must've stayed behind at wherever he ended up in. It's a real big shame to because she was hoping to convince him of getting her into that wonderful physical form again.
It's a downer, but at least she can still talk to the boy; which she finds a bit amusing. Just yesterday, during the first few hours of her awakening, she wouldn't give him the time of day - she was pretty sure that she would've blasted him off a building with one good strike of her lightning. Then again, how would it lead to that type of situation? She has no idea, but the point is that she would've done whatever she could to get him away from her.
But now, after two days, she is willing to talk. Others can technically see her due to her own current state of power, but they would just run away upon the first sight of her, which is why she needs someone who is used to seeing and talking with the dead. Besides with the man who used to tell her that story now gone; the boy is her best and only option.
It was better anyway to speak with someone about her age, than with an adult. He can possibly understand her better.
Keeping this in mind, she followed the boy and his group until they came around the bend in the road, where she used her powers to uproot a massive wall of tree roots to separate him from the others, mainly because she wanted their conversation to be private without any interruptions.
After regarding the other people in his group, she phased through the barricade and met the boy, who took a couple of steps back with a wide-open mouth of shock. It was very clear he had never met a ghost like her before.
Norman couldn't understand what was happening. First, this barricade had come out of nowhere; then, Neil had warned him about incoming company. Now, a ghostly girl with lightning for hair and electricity shooting out from her body phased through the barricade before stopping just a few feet in front of him.
She was certainly a ghost he had never seen before in Blithe Hallow, and she certainly stood out amongst all of them. The sudden thought of what Sonic had said about the ghost who had visited him came to Norman's mind rather quickly. She very certainly fits Sonic's description, and upon closer inspection, Norman could make out the pilgrim outfit she was wearing. Could it be that this was Agatha Prenderghast, the poor girl who had been accused of witchcraft and hung all those years ago, and who had visited him in his dreams?
He very much hopes that she wasn't angry at him for coming back. And call it a hunch, but he is very sure that she is responsible on the current state of the town and the strange weather. The last thing he needed is having a powerful ghost angry at him, but perhaps he could talk to her, it sounded like a very foolish idea, but he is very good with chatting with ghosts.
Raising his hand up to the ghost nervously with a very visible shake. Norman could feel his instincts telling him to run in the other direction as fast as he can. "H...hello," he stammered. "Um, look, I don't mean you any harm. If you want, we can have a nice talk or something."
"Good; because I do want to talk to you." She spoke in a echo.
"You do?" Norman asked in surprise for he pretty much figured from what happened back at the motel. She wouldn't be in the chatting mood at all, he thought that he would at least have to convince her to listen to him.
"Yes. It may seem strange that I would want to talk to you, especially after I made sure to scare you enough to keep you away from here." Suddenly with a sad, confused state of emotion. She drifts on down to the ground to the point where it looked like her feet was touching it, all the while; her hair lowered halfway down to the point it looked like a plastic bag drifting in the wind. "But these unexplained emotions have recently came up and I have no idea why. I'm hoping that maybe perhaps you can help me sort them out."
The confused, sorrowful look she cast over to him. Made Norman frown in sympathy for her life had been so unfairly cut short. He couldn't even imagine on how that would feel like, but he does know that she must be so sad and lonely, which he can easily relate to. He perhaps can show that she isn't alone and that there is at least someone who can help her.
"I can help you the best I can. You can tell me everything and I'll listen very closely."
"You will?" She didn't think he would be so willingly to listen to her, after what she did to him.
Norman kindly nodded, which caused her to form a small smile of gratitude as some of the electricity around her began to slowly dissipate.
"Thank you. However before I start, can you at least tell me on who you are? I would at least like to learn your name."
"I'm Norman. Norman Babcock. And I'm assuming you are Agatha Prenderghast?"
Her eyes widen in surprise for she hadn't heard that name in a very long time. She has in fact nearly forgotten about it from how long it has been. "How do you know my name?"
"I heard it being called during the vision I had last night." He answered without adding in the detail of her scaring him at the end as she didn't need to be reminded of that.
"Oh yes. You did witness my trial before I gave you that scare." Lowering her gaze with a sadden look, she speaks now in a low tone that sounded like she was about to burst out into tears at any second. "I don't need to assume you saw on what had happened to me."
"I did." Norman said with his very own sad frown. "I couldn't believe anyone would do something like that to a kid, while also calling you a witch. I know very well that you aren't a witch."
"You don't think so?" She asked in a low voice. That's the first time in years someone said she isn't a witch.
"I believe your just a little kid with a very special gift; that no one could understand."
"You know that I could once speak to the dead?"
"I had my suspicions." Norman answered honestly.
"You are the second of the only people who spoke positivity about my ability." It honestly felt very nice someone is saying that it was special.
"Who was the other person? If you don't mind me asking."
Not answering him at first, Agatha looked away from Norman as more flashes of her mother came into her mind. One specific memory was of when she and her mother were washing the dishes, smiling to each other as they happily talked about Agatha's wonderful gift. "My mommy. Out of everyone in my village, she was the only one who loved me. No matter what I can do."
A sudden flash of anger appeared on her face as her hair stood straight back up again, while her eyes glowed brightly. "Then those awful men took me away! And I never saw her again!"
Stepping back in fright from the sudden anger she displayed and the cold glare she gave him. Norman silently watched as her anger disappeared just as quickly as when it appeared. "But now, I'm only confused for when I have finally taken my revenge on them by showing everyone on how really rotten they are. I was very ecstatic upon seeing them getting ripped apart over and over again, but now when I watched them getting viciously attacked. I only feel this strange emptiness and I don't know why?"
Sitting herself down, Agatha places her hands underneath her chin with a sad sigh escaping her. This was all just so confusing. Looking up to Norman, she sees him slowly approach her with his hand clasped in front of him, fidgeting his fingers while deep in his thoughts over her problem. "I think the reason you're feeling like this is because that it simply isn't you."
Shifting her eyes in puzzlement, Agatha felt herself tilting her head a bit. "What do you mean?"
"The people who did this to you; very much deserved the punishment you gave them. Don't get me wrong. However; I do think that deep down in all your hatred, you know that it's not you, you don't really like hurting others."
She wanted to argue, she could feel her body energize to scream at him, but she instead found herself holding it back because he was right. While she doesn't mind hurting her accusers, well that is what she thought at first. The other people who live here now didn't deserve to live in constant anger and terror as they constantly hunt them down, while she looks down at them from above in her storm clouds.
"I thought that I would enjoy watching them suffer for eternity. But now it's no fun at all." Sighing even deeper, Agatha's ghostly form now began to change even more with the electricity completely dissipating, her hair going down, and her body changing into the green, ghostly form Norman is used to seeing on a daily basis.
Silently watching her, Norman politely waits for her to get it all out of her system. Really looking at her now, Norman thought she looked much more nicer in this form than in her electric spirit form. She soon turns to him again with sad, watery eyes and gently patted down the spot next to her. "Can you sit down next to me?"
"Sure"
Taking two steps over to Agatha, Norman slowly and gently sets himself down with a very gentle smile to reassure her that he is here for her. She in turn gives him a very sad glance for a brief moment before turning away from him and towards the town with Norman looking on as well. After everything that has transpired, it was nice to just sit down silently and stare out towards the horizon.
Meanwhile up in the sky; the storm clouds slowly began to clear; because due to her no longer providing any energy for them, the storm dies and with them no longer covering up the sky, they had a good view of the starting sunset. It was very nice, if you ignored the smoke still rising from the town.
"Do you mind if I ask you another question?" She then suddenly asked him.
"Of course not Agatha. You can ask me anything." He gently replied.
"Call me Aggie."
"Huh?"
"People I trust called me Aggie. It's what I just recently remembered." Aggie softly informed.
"Ok." Norman understandably nodded for at least he got her to trust him. "What do you want to ask me Aggie?"
"I noticed before I scared you; that you were with that blue hedgehog. Why were you with him?"
"We were helping him get his rings back. It was a long travel to New York, especially with that Robotnik guy after us, but at the end we managed to get them back for him." Norman explained, while finding himself fondly remembering all the moments he had with Sonic during the whole trip.
"Who's Robotnik?" Aggie never heard anyone with that name before, but whoever he was, she had a feeling he wasn't a nice man.
Norman meanwhile thought about on how to explain someone like Robotnik to a three hundred year old ghost, he suppose that it will be good to go down the simple explanation. "He's this evil government scientist, who's been trying to catch Sonic in order to dissect him." Finding himself holding his forehead from the encounters he had with that guy, Norman sighed in frustration. "One thing's for sure. The guy is smart. I've seen robots that I thought only existed in movies or video games."
"Robots?" She had no idea what Norman was talking about. Movies? Video games? What exactly are those things? Yet, if there's one thing she can understand is that this Robotnik sounded bad, perhaps even worse than the judge or any of the people who accused her of witchcraft.
"Sorry. I forgot that these things weren't around during your time. The robots are these metal things and extremely dangerous, especially those egg shaped drones. Still don't know why he made them egg shape?"
"Egg shape?" Thinking a bit, Aggie quickly remembers those strange metal beasts that visited her just shortly after her storm clouds came to the village. "I encountered those things."
"You have?" That's a big surprise. Norman pretty much figured all those drones were after them.
"Yes. They tried to hurt me, but I dealt with them rather quickly." How silly it was that those robots thought they could hurt a ghost. Another thought then came to her mind, this time directed at the hedgehog. "You said the hedgehog's name is Sonic?"
Norman nodded with a smile. "He's a very nice guy. He's very kind, cares for others, talks a lot, and very fast." He ended with a chuckle.
Aggie understood the last part, she had a snippet of how fast he was earlier, after all he had left his cave in less than a second, but she is still curious. "How fast is he exactly?"
"Very fast. He is so fast that it seems like that he can slow down time or even outright stop it." He remembered what had happened at the bar and grill. He still couldn't comprehend on how Sonic had moved him without him or the others feeling anything or seeing himself being moved for that matter.
Aggie however had the look of absolute amazement and wonder, he was even more impressive than what she originally thought of him. It was also at this moment, Norman looked down and notice the blue quill held in her hand.
"You have one of his quills?"
Looking down at it, she has completely forgotten about it for the time being. "Oh yes. He dropped it after I met him. I only held on to it because this quill can make me physical to the point where it makes me feel alive again. It's a very wonderful feeling." She smiled.
"I didn't know Sonic's quills can do that." Well wonders ever cease.
"Unfortunately; this seems to only work when it lights up." Aggie continued. "But do tell me. Where is he now?"
Her innocent question causes Norman to widen his eyes for he had completely forgotten on how he came home in the first place. "Oh gosh! Last time I saw him was when Robotnik came in with a army of drones and Sonic pushed me off the Empire State Building."
"He did what?" She asked in alarm for why would Sonic push Norman off of a building?
"I think he did it to protect us from the drones. He just barely saved us from becoming puddles on the ground by throwing one of his rings to transport us back here."
"Do you think he's okay now?" Aggie asked with worried hands clenched in front of her chin.
"I hope so Aggie. I really hope so." But with someone like Robotnik, it's very unclear if Sonic can make it out.
