For the last couple days, Jet had been trying to find someone who he could race. Jet wanted a real challenge. For days he had been trying to find Shadow the Hedgehog, who had in a past encounter proven himself a respectable extreme gear rider. Problem was, no matter where he looked the edgy hedgy could not be found. That is, when he was not sleeping at a cheap roach infested motel that Wave had rented, eating budget tuna and crackers for every meal. He just needed one race, one victory, then he would be content and the Babylon Rogues could leave the stupid city they found themselves in.
Jet the Hawk walked alongside a busy downtown market street, alone with his thoughts as he passed by various shops and restaurants. A succulent smell wafted through the air as Jet approached a restaurant's open air dining area.
Jet's stomach rumbled. "Man, I am hungry. I should grab a bite, I'll need stamina if I want to perform my best." Jet walked into an eastern cuisine restaurant, put his board along the wall next to a coat rack, entered the food line, grabbed a giant bowl and started filling it with all kinds of protein, vegetables, rice and noodles, as well as spices and his favorite sauce. Jet drooled as he looked at his bowl overflowing with food. He pushed down on the bowls contents, squishing them so he could fit even more food. He repeated this step at least twice more. When Jet was satisfied with his bowls contents, he took a step and staggered but quickly caught his footing before he could fall down. "Huh, must be pretty low on fuel." Jet mumbled to himself, not hearing a bell ring signifying another customer entering the store behind him.
After Jet got to the front of the line, he gave his bowl to the employee who then gave it to the chefs to cook on a massive stove. The food was dumped on the grill and cooked all together. Jet was mesmerized by the talent, the smells, the visceral satisfaction of watching his food be cooked to perfection, as it was spread out, tossed, and flipped.
At the store checkout, the employee told Jet his total.
Jet froze.
His left eye twitched.
He realized Wave was right. He was an idiot.
He was not wearing pants so his wallet was back on the ship that was currently surrounded by federation police that were waiting for them to return. This was the same police that was responsible for Jet eating nothing but crackers and tuna for the last three horrible days. The same police who were hunting him and his two rouges down, all for a harmless little prank they had pulled at the airport.
Jet thought about his options. Should he stall for time then reach across the counter and steal the food?
"No." Jet said to himself. The Babylon Rogues were not petty thieves. They have standards. Still, this standard meant his stomach was going to be empty until he got back to Wave, the roaches, and the smelly tuna.
An angry growl started to build up from his gut.
"S-sir? Is everything okay?" The Cashier lady asked with genuine concern as the look of anger and exhaust that Jet portrayed..
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Jet screamed as he threw his hands in the air then slammed them down while he stomped the ground with one foot in a fit of rage.
The employee jumped backwards, startled, more out of surprise than any sense of fear.
"Forget it. Just forget it. I wasn't hungry anyway." Jet said as he turned and stormed off. His stomach rumbled as he grabbed his board.
The Cashier began to shout out an order placed for the next customer. "Order to go for-"
-The exit door swung closed behind Jet as he held his extreme gear board in one hand. He paused outside the doorway, feeling miserable. All he wanted was to eat some good food, race, steal a treasure, and retire filthy rich at the age of 17. "Why does life have to be so hard?" He said with a sigh.
Jet mused over where he should go and what he should do to find Shadow.
"You're in the way." A familiar voice said.
"Yeah yeah I'm moving. Don't blow a gasket." Jet stepped aside as a black and red hedgehog walked past Jet holding a to-go-order of food, he secured the food on the back seat of his motorcycle, then drove off.
It all happened so fast, Jet was in awe of his luck. By the time he came to his senses he screamed, "Ah! He's getting away!" Jet threw his extreme gear, the Type-J, a green and yellow custom board onto the ground. It floated and Jet jumped onto it, posed and ready to blast off in pursuit of Shadow the Hedgehog at mach speeds.
Only instead of shooting forward at blazing speeds, he heard an irritating beeping noise.
"You've got to be kidding me. This day cannot get any worse."
Red and blue lights turned on as a siren wailed behind him.
"I just had to say it."
Jet was moving very slowly when the cop car pulled up next to him, silenced the siren, and lowered his window.
"Hey kid." The cop began, "Why don't you hop off that floating board for a minute, I just want to ask you a couple questions. Then you'll be on your way."
"Do you really think I'm that stupid? If I do that it's as good as turning myself in." Jet said.
"Not at all. I just want to ask you a couple harmless questions, I've never seen a floating board like that before. Where are you from?"
"Do you think I am stupid? I know your playbook, copper. You have no idea who you are dealing with. Do you even know who I am?"
"No, can't say I do." The cop answered casually.
"I'm Jet the Hawk and don't you forget the name! Known as the Legendary Wind Master. The Legendary Wind Rider. Leader of the infamous Babylon Rogues. I'm the fastest thing in the Air."
The cop laughed mockingly, "Fastest thing in the air? Could have fooled me. You are moving at a light jog, at best."
Jet's eye twitched again, as he suppressed his temper. "You think I'm some kind of joke? Don't you? You really don't have any idea who you are dealing with, do you." Jet barked back.
"I'm just concerned that you are going to hurt yourself and get a boo boo. Now hop off that thing so we can have a peaceful conversation." The officer changed from a friendly tone of voice to one of blunt aggression. "Otherwise, you might get hurt."
"I don't have to take these… these… these, veiled threats from you. I'm leaving." Jet shouted back with barely contained rage. He leaned forward and went ever so slightly faster.
"Whoa there kid. Slow down. You'll get in an accident." The cop said sarcastically.
The cop pulled out his radio, "HQ, you tracking this eagle-
"I'm a Hawk! Jet the Hawk!"
"-Whatever. HQ… Yeah, I might need backup, we're going to need a bed of feathers for the kid to fall onto, with the speed he's going he might clip a wing." The officer of the peace then burst out laughing. A fact that annoyed Jet to no end.
The police car's radio blared to life, "Copy that unit 7. Be advised, that suspect has been listed as wanted for flying an unregistered aircraft and public endangerment. He is to be put under immediate arrest. Over."
Another cop car pulled up on the opposite side of Jet and the first cop.
The first cop turned to Jet and maneuvered his car closer to him, "Okay kid, jokes over. We're going to bring you in. Consider this our formal declaration of placing you under arrest. Now quit the games and halt. We don't want to hurt a kid, but if you're going to resist our orders, we'll make you comply."
Jet kept moving forward on his extreme gear, still moving at a snail's pace. The cop tried to grab Jet but the dexterous hawk dodged the attempted grab.
"Stop moving around kid, you're going to go and hurt yourself."
"Don't you patronize me, don't you dare patronize me or I am going to lose it." Jet said as rage continued to build up inside him.
"Okay. Okay… sheesh… cool your jets."
Jet screamed in anger.
The first cop turned to the second, "Hey pal, let's box him."
"10-4."
The first cop pulled ahead of Jet and blocked his path, not that he could drive his car any slower, while the second cop moved to the right to try to grab the flightless bird.
"Screw this." Jet said as he put his goggles over his eyes.
Jet got off his extreme gear and began running toward the cop car, he threw his board on the car then jumped onto the hoverboard and floated over the top of the car. Once on the hood of the car Jet jumped with the board into the air and did a front flip, nailing the landing roughly.
Upon landing Jet's board stopped beeping and both board and Jet the Hawk were sent forward with a new burst of speed, though, Jet being an extreme gear master, knew the speed would not last long if he did not keep getting airtime. Jet saw an oncoming cop car, he moved in front of the car and repeated the previous maneuver, to the horror of the officer, except this time Jet did a three-hundred-sixty horizontal spin. As he landed he shot forward with even greater speed and acceleration.
Jet grinned.
The cops eyes shot open in surprise, "Holy ravioli… Attention HQ. We have a 23109 in progress. Suspect is a Green Hawk, with red and black boots and goggles with yellow lenses. I am in pursuit. Be advised, the suspect is a teenager and riding some weird floating board. He just went from four to fifty in just a few seconds. Over."
"Copy that unit 7. I'll mark the heading and coordinates and send out a call for any nearby patrols to help bring in the suspect. Also, FYI, I've seen weirder. Over."
The radio went silent then came to life once more, "Attention all units! Suspect seen heading south, move in from all major roads and capture the suspect."
The police officers floored the pedal and after a minute had nearly caught up to their suspect.
Jet looked behind him as he approached an intersection. Traffic slowed down and stopped after Jet and the two Cops entered the intersection. Jet could hear them right on his Tail.
Jet smiled and leaned back on the Extreme Gear, causing the extreme gear to almost come to a snail's pass as potential energy built up. Jet turned ninety degrees then shot forward just as the cop cars sped past him.
"Hahahahaha later losers!" Jet said as he entered a second busy intersection a few blocks away. "Remember the name of the one who bested you. Jet the Hawk-"
A cop car slammed it's brakes, black tire marks trailing behind the car, despite the officers best efforts he was unable to slow down fast enough. The two ton cop car of solid steel slammed into Jet sending him and his board flying through the air. Jet's and his board landed on the ground and floated to a stop while Jet hit the ground then rolled to a stop.
The cop parked his vehicle nearby, got out of his car in a panic, approached the seemingly lifeless bird while apologizing profusely.
"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. This can't be real. Are you okay? Oh my gosh. I didn't see you. I didn't mean to-"
"-I'm Jet the… the Hawk. Fastest thing alive." Jet said as he began to move, he pretended to be in a daze as he glanced around, making a note of where his extreme gear had come to a stop nearby.
The officer saw Jet fall to the ground, his back laid flat on the concrete. His body had a few scraps and bruises the officer could see but he did not see any broken bones… "what if the poor kid had internal injuries?" The officer thought.
"Oh my gosh." The cop said as he kneeled down to check the bird for injuries more closely. "HQ, we need an immediate 10-52. Over." The cop leaned over Jet and inspected him for injuries once more, as he struggled to process what was happening. "Don't worry kid we have an ambulance in route, you're going to be-"
Jet smirked as he moved like lightning, snatching the police officer's wallet from his pocket. Jet jumped to his feet, grabbed his board and prepared to leave the police officer eating his dust.
"Hey- that's my wallet. Give that back!" the cop shouted.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Consider this reimbursement for damages done. Smell you later loser."
"You… you thief." The cop shouted. "You can't take that. Do you know how hard I worked for that money? What I had to sacrifice for that pay? I gave up time with my family, you bird brained scum!"
"That sucks, but there is a lesson here somewhere... oh well. This is going into my retirement account ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Well guess what. I only have a debit card so screw you." The cop shouted across the street.
Jet stopped for a moment, he stood hovering on his extreme gear, turned, then shouted back down the street, "Guess what? I have a genius friend who can hack it. Thanks for the free dinner and movie. I'll mail you a postcard. Jet rode off as he laughed maniacally.
Jet took off down the street, outpacing the cop cars that followed in pursuit. When they were off his tail, he slowed down, made sure his path ahead was safe, then pulled out the wallet and the cards therin. Jet was immediately disappointed in the lack of cash, gold coins, or valuable gemstones. He flipped through family photos, grocery store discount cards, a chaotix detective agency business card, and a debit card. Jet tossed all the worthless cards on the road as he glided down the street on his extreme gear. "Trash, garbage, would rather die than hire or work with them, well pluck my feathers and call me a chicken dinner, look at you beautiful!" Jet held up the debit card admiring it. He then tightened his grip as he made a sharp turn, and narrowly avoided crashing into a minivan.
Jet turned onto the highway, jumped the overpass, doing several tricks as he descended to the ground, still holding the debit card tightly in his hand. Upon landing and seeing the coast was clear and his trajectory forward was unobstructed, Jet slowed down as he looked at the card more closely.
"Huh, what is this?" Jet moved the card in front of his eyes and squinted. "Card is protected by Super Prower Encryption™. One hundred percent protection. One hundred percent money back guarantee in the case of theft. You've got to be kidding me? Why does Sonic and his stupid friends allways have to be goodie two-shoes?"
Jet hurled the card through the air, "Trash! Wave has never been able to hack Tail's encryption. She'd just get angry and lecture me if I even asked her to try. What a waste of a day. Now I'm not a cent richer, I'm still hungry, and I haven't been able to find- THERE HE IS!" Jet screamed joyfully as he began following Shadow's motorcycle. He quickly caught up to him. "Wait… I'm getting an idea… I CAN STEAL HIS FOOD THEN EXCHANGE IT BACK TO HIM FOR A RACE! WHAT COULD GO WRONG? AH HA HA HA HA HA!"
Jet caught up to Shadow and the moment he raced past the red and black hedgehog Jet snatched the food from the motorcycle's back seat.
"AH HA HA HA HA! Too easy. It's like taking candy from a baby." Jet looked behind him.
Both of Shadow's hands were off the motorcycle handlebars as he perfectly balanced his bike driving straight ahead, flooring the pedal to maintain his current distance with Jet. In the same moment Shadow pulled out a semi automatic pistol and placed the side of the firearm flat in front of his chest at a horizontal angle so the barrel faced the ground, Shadow then racked the slide sending the chambered round flying forward, caught the round with his free hand in one seamless motion, then ejected the magazine before putting it and the spare round in a motorcycle side compartment pouch. He then grabbed a new magazine from his belt, inspected the ammo type, fed the magazine into his gun, racked the slide then let the gun hang to the side of his motorcycle facing the ground on his right as he kept the firearm aimed away from anyone he did not want to kill or harm. The entire process took no more than three seconds causing jet to almost wet himself at the display of skill and focus.
Jet swallowed nervously as Shadow kept his distance from Jet, like a predator observing his prey. At that moment, in Jet's mind, Shadow looked like a Grim Reaper.
Shadow raised his gun and fired at Jet below his midsection-
-before Jet had the chance to blink let alone scream a rubber bullet hit his thigh. It took everything he had not to keel over as he grunted loudly, then weezed in pain while still maintaining his balance on his J-Type Extreme Gear.
"Oh Chaos. The pain. Oh, You gotta be freaking kidding me. Rubber bullets? Seriously!? Who in their right mind would use rubber bullets on a kid like me- oh wait. I am a thief and I did steal your food. Fair enough I guess."
"No one steals from me and gets away with it. No one." Shadow shouted ominously. Shadow then opened fire causing Jet to be ruthlessly assaulted with rubber bullets.
"I'm sorry!"
"Then give. It. Back!" Shadow opened fire once more. Rubber bullets whizzed by Jet as he jumped, dipped, and dodged, swerving as much as he could. Still, two or three rounds found their mark. "Ow. Ow. Ow Ow Ow kee-eeeee-arr!" Jet screeched in pain, he was glad Wave and Storm were not with him. He sounded like a wuss. "Stop shooting me." Jet shouted behind him. "I only wanted to race you."
"I'll race you to hell!" Shadow screamed back as he loaded another magazine of rubber bullets and continued opening fire on Jet the Hawk.
Jet was slowly gaining speed, putting ever more distance between himself and the determined hedgehog who pursued him. Unfortunately for Jet the Hawk, due to the busy traffic, he was not quite fast enough to outrace speeding rubber bullets. As jet turned a corner onto an vacant back road he did a 360 degree spin in an attempt to keep his extreme gear topped with air-
-Shadow fired three times in rapid succession hitting Jet in his foot, toe, and kneecap causing the green hawk to reflexively recoil in pain, thus shifting his footing enough for Jet to lose his balance, then fall and roll into a high speed tumble. Shadow came to a stop beside a motionless Jet, holstered his gun, and looked at the downed bird with restrained anger.
"Give me my food." Shadow said threateningly.
"Yeah. Okay. Sheesh. Take it already. Chaos, the pain. When I fell I… I think I broke my beak." Jet said.
Shadow examined Jet's bruised beak. "It's fine. Though I can't say the same for the rest of your face."
I didn't hurt the rest of my… not cool Shades. Not cool."
"Heh."
"You don't pull punches, do you?" Jet said.
"Actually, you'd be surprised how often I hold back. Now, why did you do something so stupid as to steal from me? Don't you know who I am?" Shadow struck a pose as he looked down at Jet.
"Ya, ya, cool line, I use it all the time myself. No one is impressed. Anyway, I just wanted to race you. I've been cooped up for weeks traveling until we got here. I just wanted to stretch my feathers in a demonstration of skill and athleticism. To race against a somewhat competent opponent. That's all."
"Have you tried Sonic?"
"Yeah."
"So Sonic is still out of action huh?"
Jet sighed. "Yeah. He is. It sucks. I mean, of course he gets put under medical house arrest right before I show up. Just my luck." A lightbulb went off in Jet's mind as he remembered he could still ask Shadow if he would like to race. Maybe he'd even say yes despite the attempted robbery. To Jet it was worth a try.
"So hot sauce… what are you doing today?" Jet asked with baited breath.
"Don't call me that. Unfortunately for you, I have plans to train with a friend today…I mean apprentice. Well, good luck with finding someone to race with."
Shadow turned, put the food securely back on his motorcycle then was about to hop on the bike when Jet spoke up.
"Can't say I expected anything else. This really sucks." A flash of devious inspiration glimmered in Jet's eyes before dissipating. "Well, compared to Sonic, it's not like you'd be a real challenge anyway."
Shadow turned around to face Jet. "What did you say to me?"
"I mean, heh, what's the point of racing the third fastest thing alive. I'd just be wasting my time racing you. I'm better off waiting for Sonic to heal… but I understand. You have a friend to train with. You need to take things slow."
Jet looked away from Shadow for a moment to grin and cackle mischievously as he rubbed his gloved hands together, before turning back to face Shadow.
Shadow scoffed, a look of disgust swept across his face. "That's hilarious, so you are both a world class thief, treasure hunter, and a world class comedian. You're a hawk of many talents it would seem. Alright. We'll race so long as my apprentice gets to tag along and race too."
Jet feigned trepidation while internally his body and spirit experienced an explosion of revelry. "Hmmm. I might as well. Who is your apprentice anyway?
Shadow was silent for several seconds as he pressed several buttons in quick succession on his smartwatch, moments after his wristwatch vibrated indicating a message had been sent. "Hmph. She's tougher than you. A word of warning though. When I tell you who it is you better not laugh…"
…
"Cream, we have guests." Vanilla the Rabbit shouted upstairs before turning to face Shadow and Jet. "Please step inside, make yourselves at home."
Vanilla nodded to Shadow. "Mr. Shadow, good to see you again."
Shadow said hello then reluctantly introduced Jet. Vanilla glanced toward the green hawk and upon seeing the physical appearance Jet was in, gasped, "Oh my. Those welts on your legs and that bruise on your beak looks terribly painful. Do you need any ice Mr. Jet?"
Jet looked at himself. "Nah, I'm fine. I'm getting used to constant pain and disappointment."
"Oh, well, I hope your fortunes change for the better. Remember, even during the darkest of days, so long as you persevere, a new day will come and bring the opportunity for peace, love, and joy in your life."
Jet, still staring at his welt covered feet and the ground beneath him was surprised, not expecting her poetic words. "I was exaggerating, I've just had a rough time of it lately, you make it sound like the world is ending. Everythings fine. I'm fine. I got my future all figured out. I'm going to create my own destiny, and by destiny I mean make piles and piles of gold and treasure and retire by seventeen. Then I can race to my heart's content while everyone else is working for decades as their joy for life slowly drains away. Meanwhile, I'll be riding high through life free as a bird! Ah ha ha- oh the pain."
"My, how admirable. The spirit, dedication, and optimism the youth of today have is so inspiring. No wonder my daughter loves tagging along with you kids whenever she is able." Vanilla said.
As the tall rabbit spoke, Jet looked at Vanilla in earnest, his eyes practically bulged out of his head. "T-thank you very much ma'am." Jet said as he got a full look at Cream's Mother for the first time. At that exact moment Shadow noticed that Jet's posture, tone, and vocabulary were blatantly altered.
"Please, call me Mrs. Vanilla. I'm not that old." The Motherly rabbit said with a heartfelt chuckle.
"S-sure. I-I mean yes ma'am. I mean Mrs. Vanilla. Gah. Idiot."
Shadow face palmed.
After Shadow and Jet entered the house, the door was closed behind them. Shadow extended his hands and handed over a gift to Vanilla the Rabbit. "Here, the food went for a tumble on the way over but it should still be fine to eat."
"Why thank you Mr. Shadow. How kind of you. You didn't need to do that." Vanilla looked genuinely moved by Shadow's kind act.
"It means nothing to me. Spare it no thought." Shadow said curtly.
"It certainly means something to me, thank you again Mr. Shadow." Vanilla said with a smile.
Jet meanwhile stood silently beside Shadow when his stomach grumbled, breaking the moment of generosity and appreciation that had filled the room.
"Dear me, it looks like someone is hungry. Mr. Shadow and Mr. Jet, please take a seat in the dining room. We'll eat as soon as my daughter and you two wash up."
"Oh… uh, th-thanks. I mean, thank you very much Mrs. Vanilla." Jet said.
Jet and Shadow followed Vanilla to the dining room and took their seats. Vanilla stood at the end of the table as the trio waited for her daughter to come down from her room.
"Oh dear, I do hope Cream will hurry to join us, I would hate for the food to get cold before you all can eat." As Vanilla fretted, she crossed her arms underneath her chest and pulled her arms closer to her body out of worry. Oblivious to this subconscious nervous tic, Vanilla had unintentionally caused her chest to protrude.
It was at this moment Jet got to take a closer look at Vanilla's form and figure. He could not help but notice Vanilla's modest motherly attire, the reserved and gentle air about her, her hourglass figure with just enough fat on her body to look both sexy and healthy. Lastly, Jet stared at her other motherly and voluptuous assets.
After ogling Mrs. Vanilla for several seconds while everyone waited on Cream to join them, Jet suddenly felt uncomfortably hot. Being a bird, he could not sweat or he surely would have by now. Thus, he decided to look away and collect his thoughts so as to not embarrass himself by panting loudly to remove excess heat from his body.
"Massive mommy milkers." Jet said to himself as he stared at his empty plate and glass of water.
Vanilla froze along with her previously worn smile on her face. Shadow turned toward the hawk with a look of utter disbelief across his face before quickly switching to giving Jet a death glare.
Jet sensed this and looked at both Shadow, then Vanilla, then Shadow once again.
"Did… did I not say that in my head?" Jet asked.
Vanilla simply smiled awkwardly, not even moving one millimeter.
Shadow looked like he was about to set Jet on fire with the intensity of the glare he aimed toward Jet. Shadow leaned closer to Jet's face. "Apologize. Right. Now." Shadow whispered through gritted teeth. His whispering voice promising death and ruin should he not comply.
"Heh… heh… Sorry. My bad. You're very… ahem. Nevermind…" Jet swallowed nervously,then began to pant in an attempt to release heat from his lungs to cool his body.
"Mr. Jet. It is quite alright. I understand how you boys can be at your age. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Allow me to disagree." Shadow began, "And stop panting, you're embarrassing everyone with your lewd perversion."
"I -pant- can't -pant- help it" Jet managed to say between ragged breaths.
Shadow squeezed Jet's shoulder roughly, then whispered, "If you don't stop this foolishness right now I'll fix the problem by knocking the wind out of you. You are embarrassing me in front of Cream's Mother."
After a moment Jet collapsed backwards into his chair and resumed normal breathing patterns. "Oh thank my lucky stars-"
-Cream the Rabbit slid down the stairs railing then landed on the ground. She wore an orange tank dress that had a single white line at the bottom and a single yellow star above the white line. She wore orange shorts that matched her tank dress, and had on her head a orange and yellow sun visor, completing her attire, were her white gloves and orange and yellow shoes.
"Well, look who is all dressed up and ready for adventure. Where do you think you are going little lady?" Vanilla said towards Cream.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Cream stared nervously at Shadow..
As Vanilla's back was toward Shadow, the red and black hedgehog began to mouth the word, "Safe."
Cream squinted her eyes confused, not making out what Shadow was trying to communicate.
"Safe. Board. Ride. S-A-F-E." Shadow slowly mouthed while making exaggerated hand movements.
"Uh, safe, boy-fight?"
Shadow crossed his arms making a giant X as he vigorously shook his head left and right mouthing, "Noooooooo."
Shadow repeated mouthing Safe. Board. Ride. This time using his kitchen knife, plate, and his cup in an impromptu charade.
"Oh! We are all going on a safe-"
"-very safe-" Shadow added calmly as Vanilla glanced toward Shadow before turning back to face her daughter.
"-a very safe hoverboard ride."
Vanilla's smile disappeared for a moment, then quickly returned. "Oh. That sounds like fun. Be sure Cream gets home before it gets dark and watch out for traffic. Understood?"
"Yes. Mrs. Vanilla" Cream, Jet, and Shadow said.
"Wonderful. One more thing then we can dig in. Mr. Jet…"
"Y-yes Mrs. Vanilla?"
"Gemerl and I will need to speak with you privately before you leave. It's nothing to worry about. Just a motherly lecture is all." Vanilla said with a smile.
"N-not a problem at all. Whatever you want." Jet stammered.
"Great. Now let's eat."
…
Cream and Jet exited Vanilla's house. Shadow pulled up on his motorcycle, parked in the driveway, then hopped off and grabbed his extreme gear, Black Shot, from his motorcycle.
"I'm back. How did your talk with Mrs. Vanilla go?"
"I thought I was going to be plucked and turned into a turkey dinner. That was terrifying."Jet said, still shook from Vanilla's motherly lecture.
Cream gently patted Jet on the back, while her face recoiled in a similar dark memory from her past. "My mother can be quite scary if she is angry. I can count on one hand the number of times she's talked sternly to me. After that I never snuck a cookie before dinner again." Cream said with a shiver.
"Heh, I think your Mom was a little more stern with me."
"If you are going to spend any amount of time with Cream, It's natural Mrs. Vanilla would remind you of the responsibility that entails. Also, you're not exactly what Vanilla would call a good influence." Shadow said.
Jet rolled his eyes and tisked, "You're one to talk."
Cream jumped between the two of them and grabbed their hands, "I think both of you are good people, with good hearts, and a lot to offer the world," Cream said cheerfully as she began to put their hands together only for Shadow and Jet to pull their hands apart before they could touch.
Jet scowled at no one in particular. "Hmph, I don't owe the world anything. If anyone comes asking me for help they can just kiss my feathery butt. Unless they pay me first, of course. Then I might consider helping." Jet said.
"Truly, a role model of our time." Shadow deadpanned.
Cream stared at Jet, puzzled. "Mr. Jet, haven't you ever wanted to do something just to be nice? To make the world a better place?"
"Not particularly." Jet said matter of fact.
Cream furrowed her brow. "But… didn't you help save the world once or twice during the grand prix?"
"Eh? It was after the grand prix, I think." Jet began as he picked his ear with his pinkie, then flicked the removed contents onto the pavement. "To be honest, I was only interested in the lost treasure of my people but that turned out to be a dud. Then thanks to my efforts Sonic was able to stop a black hole from consuming the planet. What pisses me off-.
"-Language." Shadow said.
Jet rolled his eyes. "What really ticks me off, is when Sonic saves the world, girls practically throw themselves at his feet and, on top of that, he gets all he can eat chili dogs, but when I save the world all I get are speeding tickets, no money, not even a thank you. Freaking lame. I just want to be justly compensated for saving humanity. Is that so wrong?"
"I suppose not Mr. Jet." Cream said.
"Yeah. It's not. Treasure hunting isn't exactly steady work you know."
"He means grand theft." Shadow said.
"Quite you." Jet barked back.
"Oh…" Cream said as she looked at the ground. Her ears drooped, her voice full of dismay, as a sad revelation was deciphered in her mind.
"So… you steal like Miss Rouge used to?"
Jet's voice was suddenly much more somber and heavy as he spoke, "It's more complicated than that. I just take what the world failed to provide me."
A brief moment of silence passed as Cream connected the dots in her mind. When she had finished, Cream sweetly and purposefully asked, "Mr. Jet. Do you have any other family aside from your friends?"
Jet did a double take as he turned to stare at the small rabbit. "What are you on about? I'm here to race you two not get interrogated a second time. So drop it and let's get moving.
Jet took a single step then hopped on his extreme gear, floating in place as he looked behind him, while Shadow and Cream stood by silently.
"Mr. Jet," Cream said tentatively as she walked closer to the green hawk.
Jet stepped off his board as she approached. His voice when he spoke was labored, as he attempted to hide his growing annoyance with the small rabbit. "What is it kid?"
Cream wrapped Jet in a hug. "I know what it's like to grow up without a father. Shadow told me you were having a hard time of it. If you need someplace to stay for a day or two I'm sure I could convince my Mother to let you stay in our guest room. I could make pancakes for us all in the morning?"
Jet silently tried to clear his throat as he attempted to resist getting choked up. "My Father isn't dead. I… I just haven't seen him in a few years. Besides, he would have just gotten in my way and slowed me down. That's all. You're reading me all wrong."
"Was it hard?"
"Was what hard?"
"Having to grow up so fast?"
Jet ground his teeth. "Listen, I'm not some charity case. I'm a leader. A proud leader. An extreme gear master. I rule the sky. I-
Long buried memories of his Father flashed across his eyes.
-Jet gently pushed Cream away. "You're cramping my style. This conversation is over. If you're going to race, then try to keep up."
Jet stepped on his extreme gear and took off.
Cream stared at Jet as he got to the end of the street, stopped, then turned around angrily and yelled, "Are you going to race or not?"
Shadow walked up behind Cream. He hesitated, then put a hand on her head. "You're too good for this world Cream. Please, don't ever change." With that said, Shadow jumped on his extreme gear and turned back to Cream. "Ready to make him eat our dust?"
Cream wiped at tears that had begun to form on her eyes, and smiled. "Yeah!"