Sonic The Hopeful

Chapter 1: Tom Attempts Vehicular Assault

Out of all of the ways Thomas Wachowski expected family game night to go down, running over a teenage girl with a monster truck while pretending to be a magical girl was most likely not one of them.

"Okay, the monster truck you jacked has a handling rating of minus three. What is your dexterity plus drive?"

Tom looked at his character sheet, realizing in horror that his dedication to making a healer had once again bit him in his stupid ass. "Three." Tom sheepishly admitted. Knowing what this meant, he rolled a ten-sided die, hoping that this die would prevent him from being humiliated in front of his wife and children. Unfortunately for Tom, fate had other plans that Saturday.

"As a result of your dramatic failure, you lose your nerve while charging at the pineapple princess and make a sharp swerve, causing the truck to overturn and flip over her head before finally landing on top of everyone else in the party like a doomed pancake falling to the kitchen floor."

Everything collapsed around Tom into a black hole of embarrassment where time slowed to a crawl, the only things escaping being the words "dramatic" and "failure." A million desperate questions exploded in Tom's head, the most volatile being "How did this happen?"

—

For family game night, the dinner table had been converted into a tabletop for playing Princess: The Hopeful. Books, pencils, phones, and paper were set across the table, and at its narrow end sat one Miles "Tails" Prower, hoping that his game mastering could rope the rest of the family into his new obsession with magical girls. "So, have you all finished creating your princesses, or maybe princes?" Tails asked excitedly as he poured dice on the table.

"Yes!" Knuckles replied eagerly. "Julia Jewelton was the rich girl in Helena, wondering if she had any control over her life. However, everything changed when she blossomed into a Princess, and realized that she could take charge when she transforms into a Grace for the Queen of Hearts! With her loyal Shikigami companion, she will fulfill her destiny!"

"Well good for you." Tom complimented. "My character's name is Sara Branford. She is a Mender of Clubs. She wants to be a doctor. What about you, Maddie?"

"My character is a Champion of Mirrors." noted Maddie. Everyone else at the table went silent, waiting. "That is all I have that's important."

"So if I have this right, ideals, desires, backstories, dreams, and even names are not important? Good to know, good to know." Sonic dryly countered.

"Well not in the middle of a fight."

"Alright, you have fun with your girl who exists only to kill. My character is Mina Morrison: Troubadour of Spades. She is a rockstar, a superhero, who'll get up, get up and show them what she's made of."

"Alright, we're ready to go!" exclaimed Tails. "So, school has-"

"Wait, wait, wait, before we begin, there is one thing we absolutely need!" Sonic interjected. "Awesome superhero names for our magical girl forms! I'm thinking of Blue Justice!"

"Wow, you really want that name used." Tails replied.

"Eh, has too much superhero, not enough magical girl." Tom noted.

"Okay, okay, okay. How about…. Blue Happy? No, sounds stupid. Blue Spring? Nah, that sounds like a car part. Errmm.. GOT IT!" Sonic dramatically stood on the table to coronate his princess with a regal name. "From here on out, Mina Morrison shall be known as Blue Cosmo!"

"I like it!"
"A worthy title!"

"Get your feet off the table."

"Sorry about that, but it seems everyone likes Blue Cosmo!" said Sonic as he returned to his chair. "What about you guys?"

"I think I will be.. White Rose." declared Tom.

"I shall dub thee as Red Garland!" exclaimed Knuckles.

Maddie was continuing to check her character sheet. "Oh. I guess I will go with…. Harold Flower."

"GOOD ENOUGH!" shouted Knuckles. "Anaway, where were we, fox?"

"As I was saying, the four of you have just been let out of school for the weekend. Lately, Sara has been having mysterious dreams concerning a monster truck rally that is happening on Sunday. It would be in your best interest to investigate."

"How do we investigate the rally, though?" Sonic wondered.

"Perhaps the rally's sponsors would be a good place to start." Tom noted. I will use my phone to look them up.

"The top sponsor you see is a restaurant called Fuyukame Ramen and Izakaya."

"Then to Fuyukame we shall go."

—

"As you get out of the car, a small plush fox sticks his head out of Julia's bag." Tails narrated.

"What is it, Mint?" asked Knuckles.

"The poor Shikigami is shaking. 'Be careful. I sense that there is some amount of taint here. Dangerous people might be inside.'"

"Well, at least it means we have to spend less time searching." Sonic cheerfully replied.

"As you enter the building, a petite Japanese woman in a uniform greets you. 'Welcome. Will you be seating four today?'"

"We were actually hoping that we could conduct an interview with the owner of the restaurant about the monster truck rally's sponsorship." Knuckles asked. "We are gathering news for our school's newspaper."

"Roll Manipulation plus Persuasion."

Knuckles rolled six dice. "I have rolled… eight or more is a success, right?"

"Right."

"Two successes!"

"The server squints for a bit, and then says 'It would be great if the restaurant was popular with students. I will ask the owner if an interview would be possible.'"

"Alright, lets get us some grub while we wait!" Sonic cheered.

"The server seats you at a table for four people. Today is a slow business day, with the tables being sparsely filled, mainly by groups of men wearing suits. You order your food. Anything you want to do while you wait for it to be prepared?"

"I will check around the restaurant." Tom replied. "I am still wary about Mint's warning."

"Roll Intelligence plus Investigation."

Tom rolled six dice. "I got three successes."

"You walk around the restaurant, checking anything you find interesting. You pass by a group of men and notice one of them flashing a pin to another covertly."

"Can I look up the pin's design?"

"Yes. You google the pin's description, and you notice that it is the symbol of the Kuroyuki Family, a yakuza group with some influence here in Helena."

Tom angrily slapped his lap. "Why? Every time I go to a decent restaurant it ALWAYS turns out to be a front for the mob! Even when it's in a tabletop game!"

"Has this happened before?" Tails asked sheepishly.

"It is a VERY long story." groaned Maddie.

"Sorry about my outburst. I return to my table and quietly tell the others about my discovery."

"So, this establishment is a front for organized crime." Knuckles noted. "Do you think this relates to the rally?"

"I think we should fight our way to the top and find out." suggested Maddie.

"I don't think we could handle an entire restaurant staffed by yakuza." Tom replied.

"We can handle it. My character is optimized to fight."

"What about the rest of our characters?"

"Harold can defeat the mobsters before they get hurt."

"Still, it is a bad idea to disturb a yakuza family. We should get the information we need and deal with them later."

"Are you two arguing in the game or out of it?" inquired Tails.

"I… think we are." replied Tom. "Why?"

"As the two of you argue, you notice a burly Japanese man in a uniform walking up to your table. 'I'm sorry, but you are disturbing the other customers. I believe it would be in your best interest to leave.'"

"I have to use the bathroom. Not in real life, but in the game." said Maddie.

Everyone at the table grew nervous, wondering what Maddie was planning to do. "The man lets you go to the bathroom before forcing you out."

"Great. While I am in the bathroom, I transform."

Tom groaned while Sonic and Knuckles cheered, happy to get into a fight. "I ambush the goon with my rapier."

"Roll to attack."

"Alright. What's his defense?"

"Two."

Maddie then held up enough dice to look as though they were about to spill from her palm.

"Wait a minute, how many dice are there?"

"Fourteen."

Tails' eyes dramatically turned to horizontal slits. "Let me check your character sheet for just one moment."

Maddie passed Tails her sheet. His eyes darted around the sheet, his expression changing from suspicion to shock. "Yep, everything checks out." admitted the defeated fox. "You may roll."

"Alright, you got this!"

"Strike hard and true!"

Maddie threw her clump of dice to the table. "All right, seven hits!"

Tails sighed. "What damage does your rapier deal?"

"Lethal."

"Congratulations, you have lethally depleted all of this man's health and he will die unless he receives immediate medical attention. The whole restaurant is freaking out at the crazy woman who nearly killed Kenji."

Tom slapped himself on the head. "Alright, my character has medical training. I will call for help and attempt to stabilize him."

"You do receive some help, but it is not enough to advance you. Roll Dexterity plus Medicine."

"Does my first aid specialty apply?"

"Of course! That means you can add one extra die."

Tom rolled seven dice. "I got four successes."

"Roll again!"

Tom obeyed. "Three!"

"You have successfully stabilized the man, and not a moment too soon. Since you were fulfilling your dream for everyone to have medical care, take a beat."

"Smooth moves, Donut Doctor!" Sonic cheered.

"And Maddie, you did nearly kill a yakuza who was trying to get you out of the restaurant nonviolently, so I am going to have you roll a compromise."

"Wait, what's a compromise?"

Everyone at the table stared at Maddie, waiting for her to finish her joke. "Seriously, I don't know what a compromise roll is." a statement followed by a chorus of facepalms.

Tails sighed. "Okay, so as a Princess, you are sworn to uphold the oaths of the light. Whenever you break said oaths to fulfill your duties, you have to make a compromise roll to see if breaking the oath has compromised your values. Is that clear?"

"Yes, how many dice do I roll?"

"Four, five if you have a dot in Circle."

Maddie rolled four dice. "Shoot, I didn't get a single success!"

"Aw, that's too bad. You can downgrade to a dramatic failure for a beat."

"Eh, I'll take it."

"Take a beat, lose a dot of Belief, and take the Shattered Confidence condition."

"What does that do?"

"Oh, it just locks you out of your magic until you gain a dot of Belief."

Maddie was shocked, stunned, and surprised. She slowly began to sink into her chair and mind, slipping into a trance.

"You transform back into your mundane self. Fortunately, nobody noticed your detransformation in the panic."
"What do we do?" asked Sonic. "I hate to admit it, but Pretzel Lady's basically dead weight until she regains her confidence, and I don't want to launch an attack unless all of us can fight."

"As you consider your next move, the server from earlier walks toward you. 'What's all this commotion?'"

"Alas, this poor man was stabbed." lamented Knuckles. "My friend Sara has stabilized him, so he will continue breathing until an ambulance arrives and properly treats him."

"Well, I am glad he will be safe. I came here to tell you that the restaurant's owner will be happy to speak with all of you immediately. He prefers to not have his time wasted, so I strongly suggest you accept his gracious offer."

Sonic and Tom glanced nervously at each other. Knuckles was undeterred. "Very well. We shall meet with this restaurant's owner."

"Excellent. Follow me upstairs."

—-

AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS STORY IS BASED ON THE TABLETOP ROLEPLAYING GAME PRINCESS THE HOPEFUL. PLEASE SUPPORT THE GAME. IT CAN BE FOUND AT: site/princessthehopeful/princess-the-hopeful?authuser=0

I DO NOT OWN THE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG FRANCHISE OR PRINCESS THE HOPEFUL GAMELINE, BUT WITH THE UNIMAGINABLE WEALTH AND POWER I AM CERTAIN I WILL OBTAIN BY WRITING FANFICTION, IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE I DO!

STRIKE ME DOWN WITH ALL OF YOUR CRITICISM! I ONLY GROW STRONGER FROM IT!

Akira Toriyama

1955-2024