The Shadow of Winter

Chapter 24

Sonic took a bite from his slice of pizza with a thoughtful look, slamming down his soda on the dining table. He startled the three kids who already sat there, and they gave him intrigued stares. "I got it. Truth or Dare!"

"Yes!" cried Amy, wringing her hands together in excitement. "I haven't played that game in so long. Whenever we hang out Knuckles always leaves, then we're only left with three players. It's better with more players. Now that we have (Name), we can finally play!"

Tails rested his elbow on the table and propped up his chin, leaning forward with a sigh. "Can I pass? Truth or Dare is such an immature game. Something always goes wrong, and then we end up hating each other for a week before being friendly again. It's very redundant. Maybe we can play something else? Do something we don't usually do? I have a kid version of Cards Against Humanity, why not play that instead?"

"Sorry, buddy," said Sonic with a smug look. "It's two against one."

"What about (Name)? She hasn't voted. I'm sure she'd rather do something else than play Truth or Dare." The fox boy turned his sky blue eyes to the girl across the table, urging her answer.

"Uh," started (Name), unsure of what to say. Earlier, the group had grown tired of incinerating their retinas on high-definition video games and had decided that a change should take place. (Name) personally didn't care what they did as long as it didn't involve speaking about her past experiences. The game of Truth or Dare was chancy in that aspect.

"Truth or Dare it is!" interrupted Sonic. He downed the last of his soda and tossed the empty can into the center of the table. With his slice of pizza in hand, he clambered into an available seat next to Tails—across from Amy and diagonal to (Name)—and spun the can on its side. The broken top stopped at Sonic himself. "Huh, what luck. You know what? I'm gonna go with truth. I always start with a dare, it's time for something different. Who's gonna be first to ask a question?"

"I'll start out," said Tails. He turned to his hedgehog friend, fluffy orange eyebrows furrowing as he thought up an appropriate question that Sonic would be able to answer. "Oh, here's an easy one, so you don't get burned out too quick. Sonic, what is your real full name?"

"What kind of question is that?" Amy rolled her eyes. "It's Sonic the Hedgehog, obviously. Your question was too easy!"

"No, no," said Tails, smiling. "That is not his name."

Turning her (eye color) eyes to Sonic, (Name) saw the embarrassed look on his face. What could his real name be, she wondered. She hadn't given it much thought, assuming the name Sonic was known by publicly was his true identity. Then again, who had "the Hedgehog" as a surname? The question led her mind to Shadow. (Name) had heard the agents of G.U.N. refer to him as Shadow the Hedgehog, as well as Agent Shadow, but neither of those were his real name. "What's your name, Sonic?" asked the human, suddenly very curious.

Holding back a grimace, Sonic said, "It's Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog. Ugh. Don't tell Knuckles, please! I'll never live it down. He'll do anything to make my life a living hell. Oh, why did I choose Truth? I would have done so much better with a dare." With a sullen expression, he finished the last bite of his pizza.

"That's your name?" said Amy in a high-pitched squeal. "But it's so weird. I've never heard you called that."

"Yes, Amy. I kept it secret for a reason." Sonic sent the pink hedgehog a short-lived glare. "Anyway, moving on." Reaching across the table, the teen spun the empty soda can and anticipated his next victim. He grinned mischievously as the can pointed to Tails. "It's payback time, eh, buddy?"