The next morning, Dagger woke up to the sound of a hair dryer in the next room. He glanced over his shoulder. Nutty had already gotten out of bed, and was probably devouring breakfast. Yawning, Dagger pulled himself off the air mattress and took out the cap keeping the air in. The mattress automatically began to shrink, causing a wailing sound as all the air tries to get through the little hole. Dagger slung the blanket he had got from the basement the night before over his shoulder and went to put it back. When he had gotten back up the stairs and to the basement door, he felt like he was going to fall over. Dagger reached for the knob, but it turned before his hand touched it. He looked up to see Aurora, her expression a mix of surprise and joy. “Good morning!” Aurora greeted enthusiastically. “Thanks for puting that blanket back in the basement. I trust that you slept well?” Dagger shrugged. “As good as one can on an air mattress. Now, if you’d excuse me, I’m kind of hoping to—” “Eat?” Aurora finished. “Of course!” She reached behind her and gave him a plate of eggs and bacon. She then stepped out of the way. “Take a seat.” “Thanks,” Dagger said. He glanced over at the table and saw his prediction was correct. Nutty sat, clutching his stomach and belching, over five crummy, sloppy plates. Dagger laughed as he sat down. “Ever heard of gluttony? Well, you’re the master.” “Huh?” Nutty asked, followed by another load burp. Dagger sat down, chuckling at the sight of his friend. Just as he picked up his fork, Aurora sat down beside him and waved a hand at Nutty. Nutty nodded and left the room, gripping his stomach tightly. “Uh, hey again, Aurora.” Dagger said awkwardly. “I assumed you’d already eaten.” “Nope,” she replied. “I’ve been getting ready in my room for the past hour or so. I’m surprised there’s anything left after your friend went through here.” Dagger had to laugh. “Yeah, he’s a black hole.” He paused for a moment, coming up with something to say. “So, what kind of a person are you? What kind of stuff do you like doing?” Aurora took on a broad smile that went from ear to ear. “You want to know what I like?” “Got any reason I shouldn’t?” “Well, I’m a bit of an artist. I spend a lot of time in my room, messing around with water colours, acrylic paints, oil pastels, and basically any other artistic tool you can think of.” “Huh,” Dagger replied. “Sounds fun. Would you be willing to—” Aurora leapt from her chair and raced down the hallway. When she came back, she was holding multiple large canvases, both portrait and landscape. She laid them out on the table in fron of him. “This is some stuff I worked on the day of that attack. You know, the one where the mad phsyciatrist tried to destroy the school?” “Yeah,” Dagger replied, absorbed in the five pieces in front of him. “These are amazing!” He turned his gaze to her. “You had time to do all this?” Aurora blushed. “When you’re an only child, you have a lot of time on your hands. I was inspired, so I got busy.” “I’m no art critic, but you’ve definitely got a gift!” Dagger enthused. “If you could make all of this in just a few hours, imagine what you could do if you went at it for a few days!” Aurora continued to blush. The clock caught her attention. “We’d better go. Can’t be late for school, or my mom won’t let me have you over again.” Dagger smiled weakly. “Yeah, let’s go.”he said as he walked towards the door. “Hey, does Nutty stay here during the day?” Aurora shrugged. “Sure, I can’t see any reason for him not to. Besides, of course, the fact that we have a limited amount of food.” Dagger laughed again. “Fair,” he commented as he slung his bag over his shoulder. He opened the door to Aurora. “Go on ahead.” Still smiling and blushing, Aurora went out into the morning air. Dagger closed the door behind him. The two of them took off in the direction of the school. . . . Sonic sped down the streets of Central City. There had been a report of an Eggman attack just five minutes ago, and the doc was obviously just calling for him. He had heard a rumor that Eggman had some kind of new weapon, and Sonic was eager to get a taste. Sonic grinded to a hault in front of a towering Eggman mech. The thing was at least twelve stories high with huge arm cannons and smaller blasters ligning its shoulders. Sonic smirked. The doc wasn’t messing around this time, but more guns didn’t matter if none of the shots could hit the target. Sonic leapt onto a building and onto the towering beast. He landed with a loud thudd, calling the attention of Dr. Eggman. (continue to N&C)
“Well, if it isn’t the real Sonic!” The doctor laughed. “It’s about time you showed up!” Sonic raised an eyebrow. “‘Real’ Sonic?” he repeated. “Is there someone else?” The doctor shrugged. “No matter. Either way, I’ve got you now!” With a click of a button, the mech shook Sonic to the ground. Eggman laughed as his machine stepped on Sonic, forcing him into the pavement. When the mech lifted its foot, however, Sonic was gone. On instinct, Eggman side-stepped a flying kick from his foe. “You really are growing predictable!” he taunted as he piloted his beast. One of the arm cannons shot out a large fist that fastened Sonic to a nearby building. Sonic struggled as Eggman typed in some trajectories. “I’ve waited a long time for this!” The mad scientist yelled as he clicked a huge button. The cannons on the mech's shoulders lit up and shot out beams that intersected each other. The rays of light combined into one large ray and lurched towards Sonic. The mecha hand flew out of the way, leaving Sonic at the last second. The beam shot him to the other side of the city. Sonic crashed into a skyscraper and fell hard onto the pavement. His eyes winked shut for just a second. He sprang up suddenly. His head was pounding, and he had a strange glow surrounding him. Sonic felt a stinging in his fingertips, and looked to see that they were disintegrating. Absolutely amazed, Sonic stared at his hand. Before he could comprehend his decay, a building soared through the air and landed right on top of him. Sonic tried to get up, but the decay was taking its toll. He was being drained of all energy. Soon, he would only be a mere memory. . . . Dagger and Aurora stopped in their tracks. Right in front of them, a building had been thrown onto the street by a towering mech. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Dagger seethed. He handed his bag to Aurora. “Do me a favour and explain why I’m late to first period, won’t you?” “Of course!” she replied. “Now go kick some Ro-but!” With that, Aurora dashed down a side street in order to be able to reach the school, giving Dagger a thumbs-up. Dagger cracked his knuckles. “Yo, Egghead!” He called. “It’s not nice to throw buildings in the middle of the street! You’d better hope you’ve got insurance!” The mech turned on him. “I should’ve known you’d show up, you fake hedgehog!” “I may be a clone,” Dagger informed him, “but I am in no way less real than you, Nutty, or anyone else for that matter! I still have a heart, I have a soul, and I have a knuckle sandwitch with your name on it!” The doctor groaned. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m trying to finish off the real Sonic right now. I don’t have time for some pretender!” Dagger rushed over and kicked the building hard. The structure split in half, the half Dagger kicked flying at the robot. Where the half used to be, Dagger saw Sonic. It clicked that this was the guy everyone was comparing him to. Dagger ran over and reached out a hand to him. “Hey, you good?” Just as the building collided with the mech, Sonic regained consciousness. His eyes darted around and fell on Dagger. “What the—” “It’s good, man,” Dagger told him. “I’ve got this guy. You need a hand?” Sonic looked at his hand. “At least half of one,” he replied. “That lazer thing is causing me to decay somehow.” Dagger reached for him, and when they touched, Sonic’s hand regenerated. “Woah!” Dagger gasped. He looked up and saw another building flying at them. “Woah!” Dagger yelled, pulling himself and Sonic out of the way. Sonic got up, drained of nearly all his energy and covered in bruises and cuts from when the building fell on him. “We’ve got to take this thing out,” he said. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about fighting, would you?” Dagger smiled. “Do I ever?” The two of them took off, Sonic reaching light speed. The two of them tore through the metal monstrosity in seconds, causing heaps of metal to fly all over. Dagger peered over and saw a piece flying towards, of all people, Raelyn. “You’ve got to be kidding!” he yelled to the sky as he leapt in her direction. He, again, saved her at the last second. This time, Dagger got up right away and offered her his hand. “You know, I don’t have a ‘crush’ on you.” he said as she took his hand. “I’m only doing this because you just so happen to keep walking into danger. Raelyn crossed her arms. “Are you absolutely sure?” “Have I said anything untrue since the first day?” Raelyn shrugged. “Fair enough,” she said. There was an awkward silence as Raelyn debated on weather or not she should continue. “So you don’t like me, and that’s great. Catch you around.” Dagger shook his head at her receeding back. He would never understand this mysterious girl. To Be Continued... Song: "Incoming!" from Xenoblade Chronicles 2
