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

Ch. 13: The Road Trip Begins

"Alright, pal," Tom began interrogating as they drove past the Welcome to Green Hills sign. "you need to start talking right now. Who are you?" But more importantly... "What are you?"

"I'm a hedgehog! I feel like that's obvious," Sonic answered, annoyed at the human's question. The his gaze lowered. "And I'm in big trouble."

"Oh, you're in big trouble? You're not the one who punched some government weirdo back there."

Sonic stood up on his seat a little bit. "You think you have problems? I lost my rings!"

Willow didn't know what to say amidst the two boys, so she just sat and listened.

"Rings? " Tom repeated to himself, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Willow leaned forward on her seat, suddenly interested.

"Okay," the hedgehog tried to explain. "Rings are how all advanced cultures travel between worlds. And now mine are on top of a pointy building that I've only ever seen on your skintight T-shirt!" Willow snickered a little at his comment.

"Hey," Tom slightly glared, offended. She abruptly stopped and slumped back in her seat while Sonic continued. 

"So, I'd like you to take me to San Francisco so I can get my rings and use them to go to the mushroom planet."

"Mushroom planet," Tom repeated, not really believing.

"Yes! " Sonic tried to make it sound simple.

"Right."

The mint green-haired girl watched out the window as they slowed to a stop on the side of the road next to a red clay marshy area.

"Okay, pal," Tom grunted as he pushed Sonic's side door open. "out you go."

"I'm sorry, what?" he looked at him, confused.

"What are you doing?" Willow asked just as incredulously, leaning forward on her seat.

"Listen," the sheriff tried to explain to both of them. "This is the worst possible time for me to get myself into trouble, okay? You asked me to save your life, I saved your life.

"Now, please," he pleaded, now talking more directly at Sonic. "go find your rings... and your mushroom land. Hopefully I'm gonna wake up in a hospital bed and the doctor's gonna tell me that my colonoscopy was a big success." Willow furrowed her eyebrows. 'What on Earth is a colonoscopy? ' But she knew better that Tom wasn't believing in what he was seeing, right now.

"Okay? So, goodbye."

"Okay." Sonic glumly slid off his seat out of the truck. "Goodbye." Willow didn't agree with this at all. 'How heartless...'

He only stood by the truck for five seconds before Tom broke the silence.

"Why aren't you leaving?"

"I don't know where San Francisco is."

"It's west."

"West?"

"Straight shot, can't miss it."

"Fine, that's cool," Sonic "agreed", incredibly annoyed at how he was being treated. "I'm totally cool saying goodbye now."

He sped off away from the truck through the high desert brush. For a moment, Tom was actually a bit amazed how fast he was.

Willow, however, was already used to it. But she was just about as pissed off as the blue guy.

"I can't believe you just went and --" she growled at the sheriff but cut herself off when they both saw Sonic zoom back, quite surprised at his appearance.