Sonic Runaways

"Raster… My name is Raster, now," the last Sungazer mumbled to herself meekly. "I'm homeless."

Trip took a deep breath, and looked out the window as the ferry docked. Looking out at the twilight sky, she struggled to cope with the idea that she would never see it from the North Star Islands again. When she lost her name, her old life, she also lost her right to stay in her home. The North Star Islands were owned by Dodon Pa, who only allowed visitors unless you were a legal inhabitant of the islands before his takeover. Now that she had to be a new person due to her "death" in the Dodon Games, she would basically be trespassing if she was found living there. All she had was her purse, some money she cobbled together in Pinball Carnival, and her childhood metal doll. In her exhaustion from traveling all day to catch the ferry in time, she found her memories of departure hazy. Still, she knew the last words she left her friends there with would haunt her the next morning. Probably forever.

Trip stumbled out of the ferry, onto the Central City docks. She stared incredulously at the huge urban labyrinth ahead of her, rain splattering against her scales. Right… there was no time to drag her feet, she had to get a new living situation sorted. Her backpack felt extra heavy as she stepped foot into the nighttime city. All she knew about the United Federation was that their airplanes were loud, and according to people at the games, it was ludicrously expensive to live there. The large buildings and scent of oil was much more overwhelming than even Speed Jungle. Despite having just gone to space to compete in a glitzy tournament, Trip had never felt as alienated as she did in that very moment, facing the reality of what the planet outside of her home island was like.

Trip shielded her eyes from the bright flashing Donpa Motors ads, as she made her way to a motel. Knocking on the sliding glass door, she saw the guy at the front desk roll his eyes and get up to open it for her. "Hello, sir. I hope it's not too late, but…" Trip trailed off, and looked the man in the eyes. He was visibly tired, certainly he couldn't care how late it was anymore. "I need a room."

"Alright, just lemme just see your ID. This ain't exactly a daycare, so if you're at all underage then you're not getting a key to your room's drink cooler," the man said. 

"Ah… is that so? If you won't take my word for it, then I guess it's for the best," Trip lifted her purse to the man, before he slapped it out of her hands. She expected it to fall, but it just stayed attached to the man's open palm… There were suction cups on his hands, as his fingers morphed into small gray tentacles. Trip looked up, what was once a human was now an octopus!

"HAHA! Thanks, idiot!" Mimic the Octopus cackled, squeezing out the window and sifting through the purse hyperactively. "Forget this lousy job, I have ALL her money- whoa there really isn't much cash in here." Mimic sighed, booking it down Battle Highway. "Ehh, bronze trinkets could go for something, somewhere… I have her ID, so nobody could tell if I took her form." Mimic looked back, and saw Trip chasing after him. "Unless she tattles. Oh well." Mimic took out a handgun and shot Trip in the chest. The bullet ricocheted off of her armor, but the impact knocked her onto her butt. Mimic tried to shoot again, before a striped tail snatched the gun from his hand. It then whacked him, leaving some strange pink powder on his face. "GAH! What— what is this?! I think I'm allergic…!" Mimic sneezed and coughed at the same time, as two girls landed behind him. 

"Tangle and Whisper?" Trip mumbled, trying to catch her breath.

"Yikes, that might have been a bit uncalled for," Tangle said, dusting the powdery conditioning product off her tail. "What do youuu think, Whisper?"

"It wasn't uncalled for ENOUGH," Whisper replied, homing onto the breathless Mimic with her mask's eye and pulling out a military White Wispon. "Mimic, you're done for. Tell me where Smithy's Variable Wispon is, and I'll give you a headstart." Mimic scowled, then laughed.

"I stashed it somewhere you'll NEVER find it. I had a good thing going, and I was hoping you'd never find me," Mimic chuckled, putting his pursed lips against the White Wispon's barrel. "So go ahead, pull that trigger. You'll finally be the LAST Diamond Cutter." Whisper's hand shook, and she hesitated just long enough for Mimic to bite the Wispon and pull it out of her hands. He spat it onto the road, and ran.

"You jerk! Come back!" Tangle shouted, running after Mimic down the bustling highway. Once she caught up, she shot her tail to the other side of the road to block him off, but he just slid right under it and hopped away atop the now stopped cars. Tangle screamed through gritted teeth, only for Trip to get her leg caught on her tail. "Whoops! Sorry about that…"

"That guy! He has all my money! I need it back!" Trip cried, Tangle stopping to help her up. When they looked down the highway again, Mimic was nowhere to be found. "Gosh, I'm such a screw-up. If only Sonic was here… he could definitely catch up to that guy."

"Hey, you were saying?" Sonic's voice asked behind Trip. Delighted, Trip twirled towards him. Whisper arrived by their side, clutching the Wispon tightly.

"Sonic… thank goodness, it's you!" Trip exclaimed, putting her arms on his shoulders and jumping up and down. Sonic laughed. He then punched Whisper in the face. "Wha—?"

"Got your hopes up?" Mimic's voice asked through his Sonic facade's lips. Trip screamed, backing away as Mimic dove off the bridge and swam into the river's current under fire from Whisper.

"Damn it…" Whisper muttered, lowering her Wispon as he disappeared into the water. "I should've pulled the trigger when I had the chance." She sat down by the side of the road and took a deep breath. Trip stared off at the river, exhausted. Tangle stood over the two awkwardly.

"Hey, it's alright. We'll get him next time, right?" Tangle asked, putting a hand on Whisper's head. Whisper glanced up at the lemur, and smiled.

"Right. We'll make him pay," Whisper replied.

"And you there, sorry for getting in the way," Tangle chuckled nervously, extending her tail for a handshake from Trip. Trip obliged, but now her hand was covered in pink powder… and it was itchy? "Hey, weren't you at the Dodon Games?" Trip stood up, and put a hand on her own shoulder.

"That's right, I believe we were on the same squad in The Dirty Victory," Whisper followed up. "Raster, right?" Trip looked away and held her neck.

"I was, but I'm not really supposed to talk about it," Trip yawned. Tangle frowned.

"You look like you had a rough day. We can take you back to our hotel room for the night if you have nowhere else to go," Tangle offered. Whisper looked her in the eye.

"CAN we??" Whisper hissed.

"Yeah, why not?" Tangle replied. Trip took a deep breath, and smiled a little. "Come on, we have all the channels, and tons of snacks!" Tangle grabbed Trip's hand with her tail by surprise and pulled her along, Trip trying to keep her footing.

…

"Welcome to Summit Hotel, your home away from home!" Tangle shouted, Tail-Springing into a glamorous hotel lobby. Trip walked into the warm building, looking up at a big golden chandelier.

"Home… away from home…" Trip mumbled, looking ahead. Tangle had already struck up a conversation with the receptionist. 

"Yeah, yeah. I know welcoming people in is your thing," Tangle said, her elbow propped up on the front desk as she popped a green peppermint into her mouth from a bowl.

"If you keep it up, you may take my job from me!" The lady replied with a smile. Tangle chuckled, Whisper catching up. "I see you've brought a friend, that'll sadly be extra."

"Of course," Whisper gasped, looking back at Trip. The two made eye contact for a second, before shielding their faces.

"There's going to be a great view of the sky tonight from your room," the receptionist had told them. Trip reminisced on her words, they felt like they were bouncing off the walls back into her ear. "You girls should keep an eye out for a Starfall Plus!"

"Tangle? What's a Starfall Plus?" Trip asked, tugging on Tangle's tail.

"I dunno! Whisper, what's that?" The lemur asked as well, barely able to catch Whisper's attention.

"Oh… It's a special meteor shower. You could only see something like it on the Starfall Islands before, but it appears to be occurring worldwide now. Curious how it's at the same time as Little Planet's arrival," Whisper replied, arriving at their room.

"Right, Whisper's super-into space stuff. Her Wisps would tell her all about their planet, before… Mimic stole them AND her Wispon," Tangle trailed off, as she noticed Whisper was now glaring at her. "We've been trying to get them back ever since. You were there during the Speed Jungle round, right? Any chance you saw someone taking off with a Wispon? Anyone at all?"

"Speed Jungle? I'm from…!" Trip bit her tongue. She had to think of something else to say! "From… from. I'm from—?" Tangle and Whisper eyed her, now puzzled.

"Ooookay. Never mind, let's go look at some shooting stars!" Tangle exclaimed, cartwheeling into the hotel room and then carefully stepping onto the balcony to watch stars fall. "Oh! There's one! And another! That one's green, and—!" Whisper looked on from the other side of the room, with a smile.

"Whisper?" Trip asked, taking off her bronze chestplate. "Where do I sleep?" Whisper seemed caught off-guard. There were only two beds.

"Is the floor okay for you?" Whisper asked. Trip looked upset. "Ah— I mean, maybe you and Tangle could share a bed…? No. That would be uncouth. Tangle? We have a situation."

"AAAAND I wish Whisper had a flexible tail, too! So we could—!" Tangle screamed into the colorful night sky. Whisper turned red.

"You're not supposed to say a wish aloud—!" Whisper hissed, pulling Tangle into the room. "We need to rest if we're to hunt Mimic tomorrow, but one of us will have to give up a bed."

"Oh, okay. I'll take one for the team!" Tangle exclaimed, spinning her tail around herself and falling onto the floor. "A pillow… a cushion… and a blanket…." Tangle began to snore. Trip and Whisper stared at her, before collapsing into their beds.

…

"Well, guys… this is goodbye."

Trip stood on the edge of Sky Temple, looking down at the industrial district of the Northstar Islands, her backpack turned to her many Colossal animal buddies. Trip wanted to say more, but knew it wouldn't make this any easier. They wouldn't understand, they were only animals. Even still, Trip hardly felt like she could make sense of her situation either. Stepping over to the Sky Temple stairs, her animal buddies followed her… Quickening her pace, she walked down the ancient spiral staircase. Until suddenly, she lost her footing…!

And was caught by a balloon from the Pinball Carnival below. Her animal friends continued down the stairwell after her, swarming, spiraling, Trip felt like she was inside a tornado of unwanted emotions. Kicking her legs, she set the balloon veering towards her destination, floating off into the fog…

"And how do you feel about that?" Ariem asked, appearing before Trip in the mist. Trip screamed, and held on tighter to the balloon's string. "Ah! I'm sorry, I did not mean to scare you."

"A… sheep?" Trip asked, untensing and reaching out to feel her ear. "You're so fluffy." Trip pulled her hand back, only to find she was now holding a Dream Orb.

"Thank you, Trip. I'm Ariem, the guardian of dreams. I think you may benefit from my services… wanna join a therapy group?"