*Sigh*
Okay
So for the last couple of months, I've done a last-minute editing before updating these chapters.
But I've hit officially a really, REALLY bad point in both my mental state and in my writing burnout/block.
So any chapters within the next month or two may be a bit off in characterization, wording, grammar, and possibly continuity.
I plan on going through the story and editing through everything whenever this writing burnout/block finally ends.
But for now, I hope you guys don't mind chapters that are a bit rougher.
Oh, and this IS a two-part chapter.
Technically I could just post this as a big single-part, but splitting it up gives me more of a buffer (which gives me more time to hopefully get over this burnout/block)
I hope you all enjoy, despite the mistakes and errors that may lie within!
(Edit notes! Hey! I actually fucking did it! Enjoy ya'll!)
Daylight streamed into the empty kitchen/living room the next morning, Marylin humming as she glanced out the glass doors.
The streets weren't as busy as she expected, but there were still people and odd cars rushing from place to place.
…Oh, there was an awful lot of frost on the window.
Ooh, walking in the city isn't going to be fun…
Marylin sighed again, taking a sip of the odd tea that was in one of the cabinets of the tiny kitchenette.
It was earthy and green as leaves, with an oddly sweet taste that made her feel warm inside.
Marylin had felt relieved to see that their apartment had a few things to start with.
The futons, a small pot and pan, and a few non-perishables like tea, beans, and rice….
But, if they were going to live here for an uncertain amount of time, they were going to need more food.
Especially considering Ed's appetite.
That boy eats like a horse whenever he stays for dinner!
Makes her think Helen isn't feeding him.
Hah…
Marylin frowned at the thought, knowing her 'friend's' usual methods of punishing her children.
Somehow, she really wouldn't put it past her…
A knock at the door made Marylin pause, slowly moving over to the door.
"Ya awake, Marylin?" Teruya called from the other side of the door, making the older woman chuckle again.
Marylin could see Teruya's bright grin as she opened the door, making her chuckle again.
The blue-haired woman before her had a black jacket and ripped grey jeans with brown combat boots, her hair pulled up into twin buns and a portion of her bangs clipped back with an orange clip.
She was also joined by Monica and an odd mouse-mobian, the former wearing a cyan sweater and blue shorts and the latter wearing a pink off-the-shoulder shirt with a long black skirt.
Wait, why was Monica wearing shorts-
"Morning!" Teruya greeted with a wave, before gesturing to the mouse, "This is Ji! Moni's wife!"
"Not bothering with the small-talk, huh Eru?" Ji sighed, making Teruya huff.
"Alex is annoying, and I wanna go." The overlander grumbled, making the two mobians chuckle.
Marylin chuckled too, before blinking at a gloved hand.
Ji had reached a gloved hand out, the pink-gold ring on her wrist glimmering in the light as she grinned just a bright, "Nice to meet you, ma'am. Like Eru said, I'm Ji. Moni's wife and professional model."
"Professional model?" Marylin gasped as she took the hand, "That's amazing!"
"I'd rather own a salon, but Moni keeps getting transferred." Ji gestured her other hand to her wife, who blushed, "But this is year three, so I think we're finally in the clear."
"Boys up?" Teruya cut in, making Marylin snort.
"Awake? At 8 or 9 in the morning during summer vacation? There isn't a chance in-" Marylin started, before a crash from inside caught her attention.
Teruya giggled as Marylin sighed and began inside, gesturing for the three Mobians to join her.
There were muffled yells from the largest bedroom, making Marylin sigh as she poured herself another cup of tea.
"Oh! What kind of tea is that?" Ji questioned, making Marylin blink in surprise.
She glanced down at her drink, then looked sheepish as she scratched at the back of her head, "To be honest? I'm not quite sure! I was looking through the cabinets to see how much space I had, and I ran into these two boxes of-"
"Green Hill Palm Tea." Teruya answered without a second thought, before knocking on the sliding door, "Hey! You awake?"
"OH CRUD, THIS ISN'T A DREAM!" Eddy's voice exclaimed, alongside an unmistakable groan from Double D.
"OF COURSE THIS WASN'T A DREAM, EDDY!" He yelled in return, making Marylin let out a sigh, "WHAT ON EARTH MADE YOU THINK IT WAS!?"
"WISHFUL THINKING, I GUESS!?"
The yelling grew louder and then quieted down as Ed walked out of the bedroom, looking confused and very conflicted.
He was staring at the ground, clearly trying to think about something.
But then noticed Marylin and grinned.
"Hi, Ms. Eddy's mom!" Ed waved happily at his best friend's mom.
Marylin chuckled, shaking her head as she waved with a free hand, "Good morning, Ed. How are you doing?"
Ed was silent for a moment, hearing another particularly loud yell from the bedroom.
"…Eddy's mad." Ed told, glancing back at the sliding bedroom door with a frown, "Double D's really mad too, but I think that's because he doesn't wanna be sad."
"I wasn't asking how Eddy and Eddward were, Ed." Marylin softly scolded, placing her tea onto a free spot on the kitchenette and walking over to Ed, "I was asking how you were doing."
Ed looked a bit uncomfortable at the question, shifting slightly as he tried to look away.
"Ed… sweetheart, look at me. Please?" Marylin coaxed, Ed slowly turning his face to hers, "Are you doing okay?"
Ed sniffed, wiping his nose with his sleeve, "M-Ms. Eddy's mom, what if I never see Sarah again?"
"You'll see her again, Ed." Marylin reassured, pulling the boy into a hug, "You'll see Sarah, and I bet she'll be so worried and so happy to see that you're okay."
Ed was stiff for a moment, before relaxing into the embrace, "You promise, Ms. Mom?"
"Oh, of course I do." Marylin promised, before pulling away from the hug and winking as she chuckled, "I bet we'll be home faster than it took the aliens in Cyclops Eaters 6 to take down General Majoro!"
Ed gasped at the reference, a bright smile spreading on his face as he exclaimed, "Ms. Eddy's mom, you know Cyclops Eaters 6?!"
"You kidding me?!" Marylin laughed, "I've been watching them since the first movie! Back when the series was called-"
"Attack of the Mutant Men from Planet 19!" Ed practically vibrated in excitement, making Marylin laugh.
"…Since when did you like monster movies?"
Ed and Marylin glanced over at the half-open door, seeing Eddy and Double D staring at them with mildly confused looks.
They looked frustrated still, but their focus was clearly on Marylin's interest in monster movies.
Marylin huffed in mild offense, placing a hand on her hip, "Eddy, didn't I teach you not to judge a book by its cover? I've loved monster movies ever since I was your age!"
Eddy blinked twice, not entirely processing the statement.
"Your grandma never approved, but it was the only thing your grandad and I ever bonded over." Marylin told, making Eddy's eyes slowly widen, "I actually have a few tapes stored away in the closet somewhere, thinking about-"
"YOU LIKED MONSTER MOVIES ALL THIS TIME AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME?!" Eddy exclaimed, having grabbed his mom's shirt to shove himself into her face.
He hovered in the air, his mom letting out a slightly annoyed huff.
There was a clattering sound from behind them, but they didn't particularly care as they focused on their own shenanigans.
"…Is he floating?" Teruya whispered to the other two, who looked similarly baffled.
Double D was mumbling something to himself, having taken out a notebook.
And then he grinned.
"Eureka!" He exclaimed, much to his friends' confusion.
"Bless you!" Ed chirped, while Eddy raised a brow as he released his mom's shirt and landed back on the ground.
"What's your deal, Sockhead?" He huffed, before Double D quickly stepped towards Marylin with a half-sheepish grin.
"M-Ms. McGee! Whenever we return home, c-could you perhaps help us in renting a particular robotic-based monster movie that we-" Double D started to ask, being cut off as Marylin let out a loud snort.
And then she was laughing.
Hard.
The Eds exchanged confused looks, especially as Marylin held her stomach.
What was so funny about them wanting to rent a movie?
She let out a 'whew' before finally smiling at the boys with a shake of her head, "Oh, I'm absolutely not renting that travesty of a remake. The original Robot Rebel Ranch will always be better than that overly gory nightmare. I think I own an original vhs that Eddy's father stole from some video store back in the day."
"Own?" Eddy squeaked, sounding as if he'd discovered the secrets of life, "As in… we've had it the whole time?"
Marylin blinked at her son in confusion, before sighing, "Ah, we shouldn't get too distracted. We have a lot to do today. And this includes getting us all some new clothes, so we aren't just wearing the same thing every day!"
"Like we do anyway?" Ed asked, unaware to the mental crisis that Eddy was going through.
"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Double D gasped, clearly ecstatic at the idea of clean clothes, "We should leave right away! Where's the nearest department store!?"
"Uh, w-we aren't going to a department store, kiddo!" Ji called, she and the other two women still looking a bit shocked at something, "We're heading to a resale place a few blocks away! Clothes are a lot cheaper there, and we can find you guys some furniture and maybe some comic books too!"
"Comic books?" Ed whipped his head up, clearly excited at the idea of getting more comic books.
Eddy let out a few stammers, incomplete gestures only slightly indicating what he was trying to say.
Teruya nervously laughed, taking out her phone with a wink.
"Well, let's get going then!" Her phone read out, "I wanna get to Old Roots before the lunch rush!"
Double D nodded, practically running to the door.
"The writer didn't give me a line last time, guys!"
Ed was quick behind him, as was Marylin.
The three Mobian ladies glanced at Eddy, who was still stammering.
"So… uh… is it… is it just something about your world that just lets you just… hover like that or…" Ji questioned, breaking Eddy out of his stammering.
He was silent for a moment, before shrugging, "…Yeah, pretty much."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Double D rubbed his hands against his bare arms to try and warm himself, the cold winter not particularly kind to he and his friends' summer apparel.
Minus Ed, who was running through the wintery streets as per usual.
Makes him wonder how warm that unwashed jacket of his is…
Would it be worth further dirtying himself if it meant he could keep warm?
…No.
No, don't think such…
Such horribly desperate things.
Instead, he'll focus on the oddly festive city around them.
They had known this world was only a week or so off from what was likely their world's equivalent to Christmas, but he never expected any sort of large city like this to have such a degree of festive decorations!
Lampposts, stop signs, stop lights, and trees with unlit lights…
And that's not even considering the non-festive elements of decorations!
The chalk drawings on the sidewalks of both professional and unprofessional standards, the similarly judgable graffiti across the walls and scaling up some corporate or apartment skyscrapers, the colorful decorations in the windows of the many diverse businesses on the ground!
It was an incredible sight, especially since he hasn't been in a city like this since before he moved to the Cul-De-Sac!
…Not that he could particularly remember those days before Peach Creek, but by the little he can remember!
"…So there's a farmer's market during the warm seasons, and a flea market during the cold season?" Marylin confirmed to Monica and Ji, who grinned.
"Technically the flea market is around all year long, but during the winter it usually gets moved across town so it's a bit more of a hassle to get to." Ji told, flicking her wrist in the mentioned direction, "But yeah, there's always a market of some kind at the park behind us! Not to mention the AMF Show at Main Streets' park-"
"AMF?" Eddy blinked at Ji, making Teruya snort.
"Art, Music, Fireworks." She typed, rolling her eyes, "Every second Sunday, the Tomoko Empire sponsors an all-day art market and music exhibition, and then ends it with this big fireworks show."
Double D snapped himself out of his thoughts, rushing forward to catch up with the others.
"B-But didn't Alex mention yesterday that your Tomoko Empire is-" Double D started to protest, making Monica giggle into her hand, "Wh-What's so funny?"
"Eggman does it because a few years back he and the rest of the chosen nearly flooded the city and caused tens of trillion in damages." Monica told, wincing as she saw the horror on the three outversers' faces, "Trillion in our currency. That's… probably a lot less in those 'dollars' you were talking about."
"R-Right." Marylin put her hand over her chest as she sighed, "I-I keep forgetting about that."
"But because of that catastrophe, the Empire and the Kingdom sponsor events and celebrations for Station Square. There's even an annual fundraiser in both places to help someday pay off the damage debt." Monica chuckled, shaking her head, "The AMF Festival is one of those events. The Kingdom sponsors a lot less events, but they tend to send us more resources and funds every year."
Double D shook his head with an awed expression, "Incredible… I could never imagine something so…"
"Yeah, don't finish that thought, kiddo." Teruya typed with a sigh aloud, "We got monsters, and the United Federation is literally a dictatorship at this point. The Tomoko Empire's whole deal is about trying to give power back to the overlanders who are losing everything living in the Federation, and they're really not the greatest either! Nowhere is perfect."
Monica shuddered, clearly remembering something terrible, "I still don't know what was worse. The underfunded UF schools, or the blatant overworking issue in TE schools"
"The Federation, Moni. They overwork their students too." Ji sighed, holding up her hand as Monica tried to speak, "The Empire's got some really fucked up overworking problems, yeah, but at least students get free meals and the teachers are actually paid."
"Still doesn't excuse how horrible it was, seeing all those students slowly break down under the pressure…" Monica groaned into her hands, "They were 12, Ji! 12 year old kids, and they were already burnt out! The Empire's only been around since after the Chaos Incident! And this is just… normal there?!"
"Moni, Moni, hey." Ji softly tried to calm her wife down, gesturing for the others to continue without them, "It'll be alright, darling…"
Teruya hissed as she gestured too for the Eds and Marylin to keep moving forward.
"The Empire is… it's better than most other 'Eggman Empires', but that doesn't mean it's good." Teruya told, slowly typing on her phone with another sigh, "They got supports so nobody's homeless, but a lot of people work 50-hour workweeks in order to survive comfortably! It's ridiculous!"
Marylin's eyes widened, stopping dead in her tracks.
Eddy and his friends stopped too, and even Ed looking baffled.
After a moment, Eddy gritted his teeth.
Oh, you're kidding, right?
"But… but that's…" Double D stammered, which only served to confuse Teruya further.
"What's wrong?" She asked aloud, seeing that the four outversers had stopped.
"…Teruya." Eddy started, eyes twitching to his mom as he questioned, "Do you have any idea how long my mom works back home?"
"No?" Teruya's eyes shifted from side to side, her nervousness growing by the minute.
"I worked," Marylin started, her voice a bit strained as she tried desperately not to yell, "55 hours a week. To support myself, my son, and 'help' pay for my parents' retirement apartment."
Teruya gasped, hands whipping over her mouth.
"Oh mother fucker." Ji mumbled as she and Monica caught up, "Are you serious?"
Marylin let out an unstable breath, Double D letting out a confused sound.
"W-Were you minimum wage!?" Teruya questioned, her horror only growing when Marylin shook her head, "Wh- H-How much then!?"
"14 dollars an hour." Marylin told, her voice a hiss at this point, "With a yearly bonus of a whopping 75 dollars."
"That's only a week's worth of pay!" Ji exclaimed after a moment, pausing as her wife shook her head, "…Oh yeah, I gotta times the hour pay by… the total hours, right?"
Monica sighed into her hand, before walking over to Marylin and patting the poor woman's back.
"Clearly our world's perspective of 'wrong' either isn't as messed up as we believe… or maybe our standards are higher than we thought." Monica told her wife and friend, who both nodded.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
An older, tan-colored building stood between two large business buildings.
The building itself was only three stories tall, the fancy-looking windows and doors a dark brown with deep blue along the ledges and frame.
The inside, as seen in the window, looked a bit cluttered and unorganized.
But there was an odd charm to the building, even from seeing it on the outside.
Now, if only the atmosphere among the group wasn't so heavy…
Eddy mumbled to his friends about the oddities of this world, while Ji and Monica quietly talked about what they'd learned oh-so-abruptly about work hours outside of their universe.
Leaving Marylin with Teruya, who struggled to find something to say to the older woman.
Eventually, she landed on a tense conversation about Marylin's home.
And, of course, that only made Teruya more anxious.
What the hell was wrong with Marylin's home universe?
55-hour workweeks, constant torment from co-workers and boss with no way to properly report it, hospital bills that are probably larger than what Teruya's mom had to pay for their emergency visit all those years ago…
What kind of hellhole did Marylin escape from!?
And why is she so insistent on going back?!
Teruya cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention as she stepped in front of the group and held her arms out for emphasis.
"Welcome to Old Roots!" She grinned as best she could, "Best resale in Station Square!"
Ji and Monica chuckled to each other, before nodding in confirmation.
"Yeah, this place is pretty good." Ji told, before Monica suddenly let out a forced laugh.
"Amber's here!" She exclaimed with her laugh, pointing at a green bike chained to a nearby fence, making Teruya snort.
"Didn't she quit like… three weeks ago!?" Ji laughed too, making Teruya cackle.
"Guess it didn't work!"
The three Mobians laughed for a minute, Ed joining them despite having no idea why he was laughing.
Monica sighed, wiping away a tear.
And then she waved to Teruya, Ji dragging her wife off.
Teruya blinked, before groaning.
"Scaredy-deer." She grumbled, before typing on her phone, "Come on, I'll show you where their clothes are."
She then started towards the door, Marylin quick to follow after.
On the end was the Eds, who were still mumbling to each other.
Teruya was an overlander-Mobian, sure.
But that didn't mean her hearing wasn't better than a typical human's.
So this time, in her own silence, she could hear the mumblings of the three boys.
"…I think we might wanna stay, at least for a little-"
"But what about Ed and I's parents!? They will never agree to something like this-!"
"Sarah's gonna be worried guys. I don't wanna scare her too bad, or she might get angry-worried-"
And none of it was reassuring her.
"We don't gotta tell your parents, we already got an out-"
"But once those monsters are caught, we have to return-!"
"Hey guys, how's Sarah gonna know we almost got kidnapped?"
Like at all.
"Sockhead left a note, but if I know Kevin, he ain't gonna-"
"W-Wait, are you saying that if we go home too soon they won't-!?"
"You think nobody knows yet, Eddy?"
Because she's starting to think these four should never go back to their world.
"No. I don't think they know. And they won't know until somebody finds that note… if Kevin or Mandy didn't throw it away when they saw that you wrote it. Either somebody outside those two find it and report it, or nobody realizes we're gone for a week or two."
"Well… you're certainly giving our neighbors the benefit of a doubt…"
"Who says I'm talking about our neighbors realizin' it?"
Ever.
Teruya sighed as she stepped into the resale place, making the leopard at the desk sigh as well.
But the two sighs… they didn't particularly mean the same thing in this case.
"Teruya." The leopard greeted, putting down her magazine to glance at the outversers beside her, "Newcomers, huh? Lucky for you lot, Mr. Kintobor is having a Winter Festival sale. 50% off all clothes, 25% off books, and 10% off everything else…"
The leopard hummed to herself, before rolling her eyes, "Oh, and anything with a purple dot on the tag are 50% off. These don't stack, so don't even try it. Ms. Kintobor might kill you if you try."
"Oh, fuck yeah!" Teruya grinned, before remembering herself with a sheepish chuckle as she glanced at the Eds, "Clothes are upstairs. Right and then right again, okay?"
"Where's the comic books?" Ed asked Amber, who blinked at the tall teen.
"…What kind you looking for?" She asked after a minute, "Wait, lemme guess. Sci-fi?"
"He's looking for monster-based comic books, and my friend Eddy may want to find some sort of magazine while we're here." Double D explained, making Amber hum.
"Alright, didn't catch'ya as that sorta nerd." She mumbled, before gesturing upstairs, "All of our 'normal' books are on the third floor. Comic books are on the furthest wall to the right and our magazines are on the left. The list after that is fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, and horror, that's on each side of the wall by the way, and if you go past horror written by 'Madam Fox' or mystery by 'St. John' you'll hit some raunchy stuff so…"
Amber then shrugged, "Don't go past that. Not unless you wanna see some fucked-up and frankly terrible writing."
Eddy had looked interested for a moment, before blinking.
"What about the raunchy magazines?" He asked, making Amber scoff.
"Kid, you're too young to be reading those. Besides, nobody ever sells those sorts of magazines." She pulled her own magazine back to her face and waved them off, "Go grab a coloring book or something."
"A coloring-!?" Eddy started, before being pulled away by Ed.
Double D sighed in relief, he and Ed starting their way to the upstairs.
That was far too close, especially considering Eddy's temper.
"You know, he's actually the oldest of the boys." He could hear Eddy's mother tell the cashier, who let out an amused snort.
"No shit, really?" He could hear echoed from downstairs, "Must be a really late bloomer. Man, I feel that…"
Eddy huffed, quietly mumbling, "What a jerk."
The upstairs had walls of shelves and racks of clothes, alongside a white bat, a blue hedgehog, and what was either a squirrel or a chipmunk looking over dresses.
Well, less so looking and more so arguing.
"I think this would look good on you, Sonic." The squirrel-chipmunk told, holding out a pale peach dress.
The hedgehog shook his head, pushing the dress away, "I don't do pink, remember? Last time I did pink, Antione wouldn't stop calling me Sonic the Pinkhog for weeks. Find something in blue, maybe green."
"Stop being so damn picky." The bat sighed, shaking her head, "Besides, Antione isn't even gonna be there. We still gotta go look at suits for me too."
"I thought you already had a suit, Rouge?" Sonic huffed, before fake gasping, "Oh, yeah! You ruined it, and my Winter Festival dress, when you poured gravy on us-!"
Rouge shoved her face into Sonic's with a scowl, half-growling, "Would you just shut up about that already!? I said I was sorry, didn't I!?"
Eddy scrunched up his nose at the sight.
"Okay, this universe has officially hit a new level of weird." Eddy grumbled, he and his friends unaware to the three ears twitching up, "Dudes wearing dresses, chicks wearing suits, what the actual-"
"Focus, Eddy." Double D cut in, "We're here for clothes."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
"Universe, universe, universe- Sonic, Rouge, they said universe-"
"We know!" Rouge hissed to Sally, who was struggling to stay calm.
Sonic's quills were almost marbled with black and gold, his eyes twitching between white and red as he desperately fought to stay in control.
"How is this even possible!?" Sonic hissed out, his voice distorting in spots as his other parts tried to shove themselves to the front, "Th-The doors on-only opened this past week!"
Rouge wracked her mind for possible explanations, something that could explain the appearance of outsiders-
"Susanna." Rouge gasped, making Sonic and Sally whip their heads over to her.
"Do… D-Do you think-!?" Sally gasped too, before hearing a quiet grunt from Sonic, "Keep Sonic in control, please! Fleetway is still banned, remember?!"
"Shit, she's right." Fleetway's voice mumbled, before Sonic stumbled back and onto the ground.
*Whoops. Sorry.*
The three outversers glanced over at them, seeing the blue hedgehog with a hand over his face.
Sally and Rouge both sighed, the latter trying to lean on the wall behind her…
And missing entirely, slamming her back into a rack and falling to the ground with a loud clatter.
"…You're all not that bright, are you?" The short one called, the hatted one scolding him before dragging them back to their clothes shopping.
Sally sighed again, helping Sonic to his feet.
Sonic let out a sound akin to buzzing, one of his hands still on head.
*Fleetway…*
*Sups, come on! It wasn't that-*
*You're going to the fucking shadow realm, Fleetway.*
*WAIT HOLD ON-*
"Well, that got them back until control at least. Thanks Sal." Sonic grumbled in thanks, one eye closed as he glanced over at Rouge, "What the fuck were you trying to do, Rouge-"
"I THOUGHT I WAS CLOSER TO THE WALL, OKAY?!" Rouge snapped, sitting up with a groan, "FUCK! I ALMOST GOT AWAY WITH IT TOO!"
The three boys were staring again, as was Sonic and Sally.
Until the two mobians realized what their cousin was talking about.
And they started cackling.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I OWE KNUCKLES NOW!?" Rouge shot to her feet, hands covering her burning face, "FUCKED! FUCKED! I'M SO FUCKED!"
Sally wrapped her arms around her stomach, while Sonic collapsed back to the ground again.
Rouge let out another loud groan, and before removing her hands and seeing the three outverse boys staring at her.
Eddy huffed, seeing the bat staring at them.
"A bunch of weirdos, that's what they are." Eddy grumbled, much to Double D's disapproval.
"Eddy! Did you or did you not hear your mother tell you not to judge a book by its cover this morning!?" Double D asked, Eddy mocking his words as he spoke, "Eddy! Your mother specifically stated-"
"You know that brand sucks, right?"
Eddy and Double D yelped as the bat appeared before them, her face still red but purely focused on the jeans in Eddy's hands.
"Nacall jeans are literally the worst on the market right now unless you like disintegrating pants." Rouge scoffed, fluttering over to a shelf and taking out another pair of jeans, "I'd recommend Vhecin. Better wear and tear, and I've had a Vhecin denim jacket take on a metal blade and survive. Not to mention they're super comfy."
Eddy reluctantly took the pants, raising a brow at the bat.
She stared back for a moment, before blushing.
"My new years resolution was to stop tripping over shit trying to look 'cool', and one of my cousins called my bluff." She explained, gesturing to the fallen rack, "And because I did that, and both of my other cousins are assholes, I now owe him ¥30k and for me to state that my coolness always gets me into trouble. On video."
Eddy snorted, putting the apparently bad pants onto a shelf and starting to try and pull the pants on.
"You know, there's a changing room over by the stairs." Rouge snorted too, before glancing at her still-laughing cousins and yelling, "WOULD YA'LL STOP LAUGHING ALREADY!? IT STOPPED BEING FUNNY FIVE MINUTES AGO!"
"Don't care. Besides, the only people here are me, my friends, and you and your cousins." Eddy told, barely not tripping over a pant leg, "And your cousins are walking around without pants."
Rouge was silent for a moment, before shrugging, "Fair enough."
"Ma'am?" Double D started, making the bat hum to indicate he has her attention, "What is this… Winter Festival that everyone is talking about?"
"Is it something like Christmas?" Eddy asked, pulling up the jeans and grinning, "Dang, these are comfy."
"Told ya!" Rouge grinned, "Vhecin's are one of the best!"
She then chuckled, glancing at Double D with a knowing look.
As if she knew something that they didn't.
Or… maybe she knew they weren't…
But then that look was gone, with a far softer look on her face.
"The Winter Festival is… well, I suppose it's kinda like Christmas. There's no jolly red man or blue hedgehog substitute though. It's just…" Rouge hesitated for a moment, before humming, "The Winter Festival celebrates the start of Winter on the 24th, and then celebrates family and togetherness on the 25th. Almost everyone exchanges gifts on the 25th too. Something about an old tradition that we can't quite remember."
"Sounds like a cop-out to me." Eddy mumbled, making Double D hush him.
"Almost all zones celebrate Christmas, the few that don't either apocalyptic or worse." Rouge told, letting out a sigh, "Actually, this year a friend of mine is helping some of those zones celebrate Christmas for the first time in ages. She wants us to stop by at some point to talk to her parents about it, and… one of those zones… well… they haven't celebrated anything but survival since Bug showed up-"
"Alright, what's the deal with this 'Bug' guy?" Eddy questioned, having switched out of the pants and was now trying on a shirt, "Been hearing about this guy since those… jerks got us."
Rouge sighed, looking a bit irritated, "Not surprised. The Beetle is from one of Rom's allied zones, and Alex is from Rom itself."
"Rom?"
"The Rom Zone." Rouge sighed again, "Known as… as the metaphorical 'prison' for the first and most dangerous Void Construct in our universe, Bug. And Bug is-"
"A dangerous creature from the planet of mutant bugs that eat souls and feed off of the fear of its victims!" Ed cut in suddenly, making everyone jolt in surprise.
The tall teen was tangled in a shoelace, making Rouge snort.
Eddy started cackling, while Double D snickered as he tried to release his friend from his makeshift prison.
"Not too far off, kid." Sonic sighed, he and Sally walking towards the trio and their older cousin, "Bug tortures people because it sees it as, and I'm quoting one of its' victims here, 'A bonding experience'."
Eddy let out a few snickers, shaking his head, "What is he, a creepypasta?"
"Nah, Dusk says they're not using torture for bonding anymore." Sonic huffed, making his cousins poke at him, "I know, I know, auntie says I gotta stop trying to get Dusk to quit 'em. I get it."
Eddy sobered up a little, something oddly… familiar about the hedgehog in front of him.
It was kinda bothering him actually.
Did he know that hedgehog somewhere?
Was there some sorta copycat that he's just not remembering?
"Oh god, I know that brand." Sally winced suddenly, seeing the shoe that the shoelace had come from, "You might be better off using scissors to get him untangled."
"B-But if we do that we-" Double D started to protest, before Sally gently pushed the boy aside.
"These shoelaces are destined for the garbage bin, kiddo." Sally sighed, shaking her head, "Sonic, Rouge, which one of you borrowed my scissors again?"
Eddy froze in his tracks.
"That'd be Sonic." Rouge snorted, turning her focus back to the short boy, "So yeah, Bug's pretty much fucked- huh? Something wrong, hun?"
Eddy's eyes had gone wide, his pink face having paled a few shades.
He took a horrified step back, before gulping down his fear as best he could.
"Th-That's not… uh… t-the Sonic from the… th-the Coalition, right?" Eddy questioned Rouge, who froze.
Double D and Ed had both gone pale too, exchanging terrified looks.
Sally yipped in alarm, having almost snipped her finger when she heard Eddy's question.
Sonic had jolted, his eyes flickering in shades again.
"Are you… are you talking about Prime?" Sonic started, a dangerous white-and-red shade overtaking his green pupils, "A-Are you…?!"
"Uh-oh." Rouge gulped, glancing at the three boys, "You… you three aren't leaders, are you?"
Double D looked reluctant, but still sighed out, "The Peach Creek Villains, at your service."
Rouge leaned on a shelf, hand slapping her forehead as she groaned.
"Aw crap."
...Boy, can you tell this is kinda a self-indulgence fic
Quick reminder that Sonic's bold, italics and bold-italic dialog is his other 'parts', who is Dark, Super, and Fleetway respectively.
Actually I never stated it specifically, did I?
Yeah.
Whenever I can, I'm updating my start/end notes with my chapters.
I hope ya'll have a great Cinco de Mayo and Mother's Day, and I'll see ya'll for part 2 in June!
(SO I ACTUALLY FUCKING EDITED.
This isn't the inevitable edit-edit, but its closer!
Also the random '-'s between paragraphs is part of a theory I have about the paragraphing issues here.
It may or may not be a mainstay, depending on if it works so... sorry lol.
Anyway, so my writing burnout was because of how bad my mental state got!
...Yeah, I'm trying to get better.
Hopefully from here on out I'll send out pre-edited chapters.
I'll see ya'll in a week for part 2!)