Sonic Boom!

In The Midnight Hour

Sticks let out a yell as she punched the canvas with her fists, painting some sort of picture on it. The badger grinned as she held the masterpiece in her hands. "Sticks, you are a mixed martial artist." She picked up the canvas and frowned. "Don't lie to me, me. THIS THING STINKS!" She hissed, tossing it aside.

Hearing a strange sound, Sticks turned around to see a strange creature floating around, wearing a hood with strange swirling red eyes. She tried to sneak up on it, but the creature turned to face her.

Sticks ran away, screaming. She ran straight to Sonic and Penny's shack and up to Sonic, who was snoozing in his hammock with a smile on his face. Sticks ran up to him, shaking him. "Sonic! Wake up!"

"What did you say, sugarplum?" Sonic hummed.

Sticks hissed. "Don't call me sugarplum I'm not Penny!" She grabbed his nose and Sonic jolted awake. "Ow! Sticks! Let go of my face!"

"You've gotta come with me to the TV studio; there's a red-eyed prowler up to no good!"

Sonic frowned. "I was in the middle of a really sweet dream! I was dancing with sugarplums!" He realized what he said and mumbled, "You know, when I say it out loud, I kinda regret having said it out loud."

"What's going on?" Penny yawned, walking down the stairs. She was half asleep and in her nightgown, stuffed animal in her hand.

"Sticks thinks that there is a red-eyed prowler up to no good," Sonic said sarcastically.

"THERE IS!" Sticks shrilled. "And I'll prove it to ya!" She ran up to Penny and grabbed her hand, and then Sonic's. She dragged them off, ignoring their protests.

Penny whined, falling in Sonic's arms as the three stood in an empty village at night. Sonic yawned.

Sticks' eyes widened when she saw that the creature was no longer there. "But I saw him with my own two eyes! I smelled him with my nose! I smurfed him with my sixth sense!"

Sonic shook his head. "I'm taking Penny back home and we're both going to bed," he murmured with a yawn, and walked off, leaving Sticks stunned.

"That's the trouble with being a paranoid kook;" Sticks muttered. "When something really is going on, no one believes you! You can say that again. I know, right?"

...............................................................................

At Meh Burger....

Amy frowned at Sticks' story. "And you saw him by yourself all night in the empty Village Center while finger painting?"

"It's called Jujutsu Realism," Sticks corrected her. "and it is the purest form for expressing the depths of my soul. Plus, I found forty paint cans in my burrow and couldn't find anything else to do with them."

She let out a yawn. Penny glanced at Sticks worriedly.

"Tired, huh?" Knuckles asked. "Not me. I slept like a baby last night! No really. An abandoned crib washed up on the beach."

Tails glanced at Sticks. "You know, Sticks, sleep deprivation has been linked to an increase in delusional behavior."

"That can't be it." Sticks frowned at him. "I never sleep! But I'm telling ya, there's something fishy going on at that station and I'm gonna prove it."

After lunch, Penny told Sonic she'd catch up with him later, and she ran up to Sticks. "Sticks!" Penny yelled. "Wait!"

"Whatdya want?" Sticks muttered, glancing at the human girl. Penny grasped Sticks' hands. "Let's search for him together."