Encounters: Beastly (Sonic the Hedgehog AU)

The End

The station's lamp lit their way back to the parking lot.

Sonic wanted to kiss the pavement the moment he saw it. His hands still shook and his body ached. He followed loyally now, without hesitation. For the most part, the walk back was quiet.

They had all kept silent in order to hear the shrieks of the dogman. It was far away now, as it took a lot to hear the sounds. But Blaze claimed she could still hear it - and she hoped she was right. She hoped it wasn't her imagination.

She wanted the creature to be far away, out there and suffering.

It was pure evil. It shouldn't exist.

"We need to follow the trail," Silver spoke a little calmer as Sarah opened her car door. They'd fit snuggly, but they'd all fit. At least, if Blaze sat on Silver's lap. "We can't have something like that roaming in the park, Shadow. We need to know it's dead. Report this to someone."

"I know." Shadow gripped the passenger door as Silver got in the back behind Shadow. Blaze got in Silver's lap as Amy and Sonic took the rest of the back row. Sarah was the obvious driver.

She locked the doors and started the car, trying to get out of the parking lot as quickly as possible. If the thing came back, there were stories it was capable of keeping up with a car. Despite its severe injuries, she wasn't taking the chance. She wanted to give Shadow a look though, during the time everyone got in and they left. "You're not going out there in the morning, are you?"

He was quiet, leaning his head up against the window as he thought. His mind didn't know how to process the news. The others just hung onto each other in the back - everyone just wanted to rest in safety. "I...Silver's right. We need to make sure that it's dead. Close the trails."

"Close the trails?" Sarah scoffed as she gripped the steering wheel. They were headed into the small town. "Oh, Richwells is going to riot if we don't explain this to him. Even then, he won't believe us if we tell him the truth. What are we going to tell him?" She couldn't even begin to think of a lie.

"Richwells can go fuck himself," Shadow growled under his breath. "Especially if he knew that thing was out there the whole time."

"What makes you say that?" Blaze whispered from the back.

They stopped at the four-way.

Shadow glared at the darkness of the outside world. "Because he was so adamant that the tower and its trail remained shut down for years. He claimed it was unusable."

"That means nothing," Sarah gave their supervisor the benefit of the doubt. "It was a useless tower when one would be more helpful at Dew Point. No one really went up there according to past reports when you submitted reasons to the board."

"And we wonder why."

"It couldn't have been existing for that long, could it?" Silver asked.

"Maybe. Who knows," she responded.

Amy and Sonic were quiet. They didn't know how to wrap their heads around the situation or conversation. They had come to Glace for a completely different reason than why they were about to leave it.

"Where are we going?" Amy leaned forward in hopes to clarify that at least.

"Sorry. Shadow's." Sarah turned a little in her seat to address Amy better. "Did you two want to be dropped off at Sonic's?"

"No."

It was Sonic that answered. He was dull again - especially at the thought. "If we go back now, with no belongings, even my car, my parents are going to raise questions. They're not going to let up. I can't...I can't face that right now."