Another writing exercise. This one was random object, location and situation. I decided to make the object the character.
1000 words, based on : Sonic the hedgehog, New York and Traffic Jam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sonic looked out of the window of his cab, scanning the nearby shops for the 20th time in the last few minutes. As if they would have changed since the last time he checked. At the speed this traffic was moving it would be hours until they got to a district that might have what he needed, but like a peckish person checking the fridge repeatedly, he couldn’t help but look again.
A few years ago, when he first retired, he knew where they all were, but as that life faded into the rearview mirror, he’d let it slip. Much like he’d let the maintenance slip on his disguise. It all seemed pointless now Amy Rose was dead. It had been her idea to retire, and to enter the human world. As he stopped with the injections and supplements, which they’d used to pass for human, the old looks had started to return. His nose was too long, his hair too blue and unkempt, even for New York. That had to be how they found him.
The traffic rolled forward, and Sonic allowed the car to idle forward with it. Slowly, and carefully. He was vulnerable now, in a way that he’d not been in decades. That firebolt had snatched his last ring away. It would have been one thing if it was in the blink of an eye, but it had glided toward him at the speed it always had. He was just too old and too slow to do anything about it.
Sonic hummed the Invincible music to himself, as he always did when he was stressed. It wasn’t real, there wasn’t a box in this world that could help him with that, but it made him feel better. It made him forget about the Buzzbomber that he knew had to be out there. Watching him. Waiting for him to get out of the cab that had been his home for the last few years, and take the kill shot.
The traffic moved again, and Sonic decided to try different route. He indicated and made a right, hoping to find a shop that would give him what he needed, before the car ran out of gas, and he had no choice but to make a run for it. It had been several hours now and the light on the dash blinked to say it wouldn’t be much longer. He wondered what the humans would make of him fading out of existence if he was hit. Probably just think it was street magic or something.
Ahead, a neon sign flickered into life, along with his spirits. Geronimo’s Jewellers said the sign and it followed up with the extremely dubious claim, given its location, that was the premier goldsmiths in Manhattan. Sonic didn’t care. He didn’t need premier, he just needed a solid gold ring, and quick. He pulled the cab over to the curb, but before he could exit, the back door opened and a young woman got in.
“Hey pal, the lights not on, I’m off duty,” said Sonic, unclipping his safety belt.
“Oh, I’m aware of your situation, Sonic”, said the woman.
Sonic whirled round in his seat. “Who are you?” he demanded.
“Who I am is not important, it is my proposal that matters”, said the woman then stopped to consider what she was saying. “Actually, scratch that, who I am is pretty important.” She laughed hysterically, and Sonic knew in that moment that she was quite mad. He waited for her to catch her breath.
“I am the daughter of a genius. A genius that you killed.”
“You’re a Robotnik?” breathed Sonic.
“I AM AN EGGMAN!” screamed the woman. “YOU WILL NOT USE THAT BASTARDISATION OF MY FAMILY NAME, OR YOU WILL DIE HERE AND NOW!”
“Geez, lady. You need to take a chill pill, or you’re going to stroke out.”
The woman glowered.
“Well then?” asked Sonic.
“Well what, you quill covered piece of shit.”
“Ouch! Firstly, they’re spines. And secondly, what’s the proposal?”
The woman pulled something from her pocket and held it behind the seat out of Sonics view. “I want you to come quietly with me, back to my lab, where I will torture you and experiment on you until I feel you have paid the debt to my family with your pain and blood.”
“OK… pretty good proposal, but I think I’ll go with—”
“And in return, I’ll give you this,” finished the woman, raising her hand so Sonic could see what she held. His blood stopped in his veins, and the world slowed down like it used to do when he was at full speed.
The woman held up a small TV. On the screen was a face Sonic had thought he’d never see again. It was an Amy Rose 1Up.
“Do I have your attention?” asked Miss Eggman.
