Shooting Star (A Sonic Movie Fanfic: Book 1 of the Real World Chronicles)

Ch. 3: Welcome to Green Hills

But he knew he shouldn't worry about such things. 'I mean, come on! The morning's still young!' He thought.

So, tossing his worries aside, Sonic went out of the cave he called home and ran to his favorite view: the green northern Rockies overlooking the sun shining valley, where there dwelled possibly the only town within a hundred miles. He could just see it all from a small cliff.

"But let's not worry about all that! This is Green Hills, the greatest place on Earth." And from his viewpoint, he sped off towards the town and viewed from atop one of the buildings in the square, being sure to keep hidden.

"These are my people. And, dare I say, I am their lovable space creature. So what if they don't know I exist." Though the Montanans never saw him, he was always happy to see them. The people of this lone town always brought a smile to Sonic's face as they went about their daily lives.

"My favorite person is the Donut Lord." The sheriff had eyes on the streets, taking a bite out of a French cruller. "Protector of this town..." Sonic's grin widened as the cop stepped out onto the street to stop oncoming traffic for a family of ducks. "And defender of all creatures, big and small."

"Morning!" Tom greeted the ducklings as they passed by. "Donald, Daisy, Daffy."

Satisfied, Sonic left to check up on his favorite person's residence. He watched from a grove of trees as a slender, darker skinned woman with long hair down to her hips came out in yoga wear, laptop in hand, onto the back patio.

"Donut Lord lives with Pretzel Lady." She opened up her laptop and began pulling into a king pigeon pose. "She is super nice to animals and strangely was born without bones."

Sonic did his best to copy off her yoga, and ultimately trying to ignore the excruciating stretching of his muscles. "Ouch, ouch, ouch."

The main reason he called these two people these names was that he never took the time to learn their real ones.

As the morning went to afternoon, Tom stopped by a local diner for his lunch break. He had just ordered the usual sandwich on the counter, when a very elderly man came marching in. He was dressed in paid long sleeves with an old leather fishing vest on top.

He claimed to have seen a glowing, quick-footed creature in the woods, like he did many times before, as he pulled out a poorly drawn sketch to show the sheriff and the other diners. "There is one person in town who's actually onto me. He calls me the Blue Devil!"

The diners closest to the old man only crudely roared with laughter, with drinks in their hands. Tom was kind enough not to do so, yet still looked up at him incredulously.

"I almost caught him last night," the elderly outcast claimed.

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The previous night, he set out dozens of bear traps in front of his truck on a previous sighting spot.

Out of sheer enjoyment, Sonic went there, speeding by just outside of the trap zone. The old man caught glimpse of the the blue light from Sonic's trail, quickly turning on his camp flashlight and scurried over, careful not to get his feet caught.

"Say hello to Crazy Carl."

Sonic zipped back around, setting off the traps one by one. Every time his flashlight shone on a bear trap, the the trap was already set off. Multiple traps were set off, but not one of them caught Sonic.

Crazy Carl was starting to get frantic.

"We had fun together."

Confused and blinded by speeding lights all around him, Crazy Carl ran in one direction, only to be snatched up by his foot in one of the tree snare traps he set up.

"I know you're out there!" He called out to the dark woods. "And I know you're real!"

Sonic made sure to be far out of reach before replying mischievously, "No, I'm not!"

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After the diner fiasco, Tom went home for the night. Sonic caught up just in time as Tom was snuggling with his wife on the couch and turning on a movie.

"Movie Night is my favorite."

Sonic peered through the window behind the couch as the screen came on. "Please, please, please, please," he whispered, double crossing his fingers, eyes closed. He let one eye open just as the movie's title, Speed, came onscreen.

"Yes! Keanu!" He squealed. "You are a national treasure."

He watched as the star, Keanu Reeves, as Jack, was threatening someone on the phone while a bus stood ablaze in the background. "When I find you —" Jack gritted his teeth. "Pop quiz, hotshot," Dennis Hopper, as Howard Payne, interrupted on the other side of the phone, driving. "There's a bomb on the bus."

" 'Pop quiz, hotshot,' " copied Sonic. He made a chef's kiss gesture. "That's a classic line," he commented as he continued watching.

But for some reason, he couldn't help but think to himself. "Basically, we're like a family. Even though we haven't met yet."

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Deep in his imagination, a German psychiatrist version of Sonic was counseling his normal version of himself.

"You don't zink your prolonged isolation has made you a bit crazy perhaps?" The 'psychiatrist' asked the 'patient', clipboard and pencil in hand.

"Crazy? Me?" The 'patient' chuckled, denying everything. "No way, Doc. You got me all wrong."

"And despite all these so-called 'friends' of yours," the 'psychiatrist' pushed, taking off his glasses. "Deep down," he spoke in a regular voice. "You're still rather lonely?"

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Deciding to call it a night, Sonic quietly jumped down from the window to go back to his cave. He looked back and smiled a little, watching Tom and his wife laugh together while watching the movie.

But the dreary thought kept crawling to the front of his mind.

"Perhaps afraid you'll be alone, forever?"

Sonic frowned and slowly walked back into the woods.

But little did he know that a new face would end up in his life forever, too, with those exact same thoughts and feelings. Don't worry, you'll see me real soon!