#boundforfreedom

Day One (Monday, August 18th): Classic

Day Two (Tuesday, August 19th): Fantasy

Day Three (Wednesday, August 20th): Noir

Day Four (Thursday, August 21st): Horror

Day Five (Friday, August 22nd): Superheroes

Day Six (Saturday, August 23rd): Pirates

Day Seven (Sunday, August 24th): Sci-Fi

The lunch time rush in the restaurant made everything sound more chaotic than it really was. With overlapping conversations, music from the overhead speakers filling in the few gaps between, and the almost rapidfire shouts of takeout orders ready to go from the counter, this Friday afternoon was buzzing with life all around them. 

The pair sat in one of the smaller booths tucked away in the far corner of the restaurant, their only relief from the chaos being the almost serene scenery they could see through the massive window that was to their right. Their orders had just been set in front of them, and Sonic didn’t spare even a second before he was pulling his towards himself and tore into his chilidog. 

Sally was a little more dignified with hers, taking a moment to unwrap her burger in a way so that the wrapper would still keep it together and catch anything that attempted to slip out. Though when she took a bite into the burger she gave a surprised miff of disapproval.

“Ah, they put pickles in this,” Sally protested around her mouthful, holding a hand to her lips so she didn’t drop anything. 

“Didja say no pickles?” Sonic asked.

“I’m here all the time, they know I don’t like pickles,” Sally huffed.

“But didja say no pickles?” Sonic reiterated, before taking another bite of his chilidog.

“No. But they knew my order before I said it,” Sally sighed as she unwrapped her burger completely now so she could take it apart.

“‘nd that’s why you have pickles. Y’gotta tell ‘em here,” Sonic shrugged, his voice muffled by his mouthful of food. 

He moved his plate closer to Sally, and wordlessly she extracted the pickles from her burger and set them on his plate, pulling out close to five slivered discs. While she worked on getting her burger back together Sonic slid the plate back towards him, grabbing a slice to flip it into his mouth like he was flipping a coin.

“How can you like pickles? They’re so sour and mushy,” Sally winced, her tongue sticking out slightly from between her teeth.

“They’re good for you. Th’ brine is good for immunity ‘nd healin’,” Sonic explained as he picked up another slice, this time placing it on his chilidog before he took another bite from it. “Plus they’re tasty.”

“I doubt all that salt they use for them is good for you,” Sally argued. “They just feel like something you have to mentally prepare yourself for a week in advance before you eat one.” 

“Are you seriously gonna schedule yourself in for eatin’ a pickle, Sal?” Sonic teased, laughing as Sally rolled her eyes at him. “You can’t be that organised.”

“I just like knowing how my day is going to look, is all. Not all of us can live wild and free like the wind. Or can handle pickles unannounced,” Sally shrugged. 

“I mean you could. Th’ disadvantage though is you can’t buy nothin’. ‘nd havin’ stuff is kinda nice, y’know?” Sonic pointed out. “‘nd next time just tell ‘em no pickles.”

A shockwave of an explosion suddenly sounded, rattling through the restaurant and the city street outside. Every mobian cried out almost in unison against the sound, some ducking under their tables or any other cover they could find, while the citizens outside looked around in confusion, trying to find the source of the sound.

Then everyone outside suddenly scattered, and seconds later a hovercraft the size of a bus blasted through the street, the hovercraft surrounded by a small army of flying robots that resembled missiles. The driver, a rotund man with a mustache that could be seen from space laughing maniacally as he ploughed through the street, sweeping up every parked car and fire hydrant on his way.

While everyone around them panicked, Sonic and Sally still focused on their meals. Sonic wore a bored, almost annoyed expression on his face, while Sally watched him, her eyebrows raised slightly with curiosity.

“Was that Eggman?” Sally asked.

“Yup,” Sonic answered simply.

Not even a few seconds later another figure cut through the street after the human, a vague black blur highlighted by streaks of red and orange.

“Was that Shadow?” Sally asked.

“Uh huh,” Sonic confirmed, his eyes half-lidding as he picked up his soda to take a loud draw from it. 

Sally turned around in her seat to try to see where the two had gone, but the booth’s position didn’t give her much wriggle room to get a clear view of the street further down. The only clue she had were distant sounds of explosions and laughter that were punctured with the occasional scream of a civilian that was still a little too close to the epicentre of the current battle. From what she could hear the battle was slowly escalating.

“Aren’t you going to help him?” Sally asked as she turned back around.

“Nope,” Sonic answered.

“Nope?” Sally echoed.

“I hear a parrot,” Sonic mocked.

Sally had to pinch the bridge of her muzzle to stop herself from leaping across the booth to strangle the hedgehog.

“Now, why aren’t you helping him?” Sally pressed, unable to hide the mocking tone in her own voice. 

“So last week I did help him, alon’ wit’ th’ others in th’ Hero Squad, right?” Sonic began, sitting up a little more in his seat so he could tell his story. “Remember that weird dude wit’ th’ long nose? He was tryin’ to bust into th’ nuclear facility."

“Snively, Eggman’s ex-lackey,” Sally offered.

“Yeah, him. Well they were tryin’ to flush him outta th’ place but kept bein’ pinned down by his robots. I was th’ only one that was able to get through so I went after him myself,” Sonic continued. 

“Only problem was he holed himself up in th’ Control Centre like th’ li’l weasel he is, ‘nd had th’ whole thin’ locked down. So I had to bust th’ door down wit’ my Triple S move.”

“Sounds like the logical choice,” Sally agreed, pausing to take a bite out of her burger. Behind her another small explosion sounded, but she still kept her focus on Sonic as he continued his recollection.

“‘nd ‘cause he barracked th’ door wit’ practically cement or rocks or I dunno, some weird stuff that was super hard ‘nd heavy, I had to really crank up my speed to get through just th’ stupid door,” Sonic explained. “When I hit this hard stuff I bounced back ‘nd got rocketed right into their Server Room. I ended up knockin’ out all their systems.”

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing?” It would have stopped Snively from taking over the facility,” Sally questioned.

“You’d think so. But apparently if somethin’ happens to their servers it sets off another server somewhere off their base that basically puts th’ whole damn place into lockdown and starts filling everywhere wit’ some protective foam,” Sonic huffed. “So now we have a whole facility slowly bein’ turned into a bubble bath, buncha folks trapped in said bubble bath, ‘nd a weasel holed up in his own personal bubble bath.”

“Ohh..." Sally murmured, her face twisted with concern. “But that wasn’t your fault, you were the only one that could go after Snively if the others were tangled up with his robots.”

“That’s wha’ Rouge said!” Sonic exclaimed. “Oh, by th’ way Rouge says hi. ‘nd by hi to you she means to that fancy diamond necklace you were wearin’ to that charity ball you reported on last month.”

“Did you tell her not to even think about it?” Sally sighed.

“I told her not to think about it. She kinda did that li’l laugh she does when she says she’s jokin’ but she ain’t really,” Sonic explained. 

“I should probably get that necklace insured, it was really expensive,” Sally mumbled.

“You can’t. There’s a clause in almost every insurance contract that if Rouge steals your jewels they’re not gonna cover it ‘cause it’s practically impossible to prevent her from stealin’ ‘em or recoverin’ ‘em. ‘nd they don’t wanna be at risk o’ coverin’ stuff that can be super expensive,” Sonic pointed out, pausing for a moment to have another drink from his soda. “I looked it up, it’s wild.” 

“You’re kidding! Insurance companies really are a joke. Maybe I should do a report on that next,” Sally hissed. “But you still haven’t explained why you’re not helping Shadow.”

“Well we managed to get everythin’ under control, after a lot o’ scramblin’ ‘nd tryin’ to come up wit’ solutions that didn’t involve explosives ‘cause, y’know, nuclear facility,” Sonic continued. “But after all that Shadow just loses it at me. Tellin’ me that I was too rash ‘nd I should have known that Snively would have used a barricade, blah blah blah.”

Here Sonic’s muzzle scrunched up bitterly, and briefly he averted his eyes away from Sally as he quickly collected his thoughts. Though when he spoke up next his voice was low and hollow.

“Then he tells him that a punk ass wanna-be hero like me will never do anythin’ worthwhile ‘cause I’m just in it to be a show off.” 

Sally’s face fell at those words, hearing how much they had cut into Sonic. The hedgehog had a thick skin, and in the year she had known him Sally had never seen Sonic get shaken up by anything that was thrown at him, including insults or misguided anger.

Yet somehow Shadow did manage to find his one weak spot that went straight for the jugular. Whether it was intentional or not, it had gotten the result the dark hedgehog had wanted.

“So no, I ain’t helpin’ him. ‘nd I dunno if I should keep at this gig anyway,” Sonic muttered as he flopped back into his seat, still keeping his eyes low. 

Sally looked around the restaurant to see if anyone was listening to their conversation, though all she found was everyone that was once making their way through a lunch rush were now huddled under every table, chair and even hiding near the kitchen just to keep themselves out of harm’s way. All of them were listening to the distant battle, flinching at every muffled explosion and ringing laughter Eggman hollered. 

“Can I ask you something, Sonic?” Sally asked.

“If you’re gonna lecture me, at least gimme your fries,” Sonic sighed. 

She slid her plate over to the hedgehog wordlessly, and he picked up a handful to shove into his mouth, confirming their transaction.

“Why did you come to Mobotropolis in the first place?” Sally continued. 

“Man, I dunno,” Sonic miffed around his mouthful of food, taking a second to chomp down on it before swallowing it. “Everyone back at my village kept gettin’ ticked off at me ‘nd my powers no matter wha’ I did, ‘nd I heard that th’ city was like a lightning rod for bad guys. So I thought I would at least not be kicked out for sneezin’ too fast.” 

“And how is that working out for you?” Sally pressed. 

Sonic shrugged, his ears pinning back against his head as he thought his answer over. 

“It’s been okay, I guess? I mean, people are startin’ to catch on to who I am ‘nd seem to like me okay. Th’ other heroes kinda let me help out but they already have their own bonds goin’ so it’s hard to click in place wit’ ‘em, y’know?” Sonic admitted as he flopped back into his seat, letting himself slide down slightly as if he wanted to hide under the table himself. 

“I woulda figured they would know what it’s like to be different to everyone else. Save Shadow, ‘cause he’s got military money bein’ syphoned to every hole he’s got so he’s got powers ‘nd money.” 

“Please don’t say it like that,” Sally groaned. 

“It’s true, though. ‘nd th’ other heroes have like fancy gadgets ‘nd cars ‘nd wha’ever, ‘nd all I got is a phone that came out six years ago ‘nd some pocket change,” Sonic urged. “So all that don’t really help wit’ th’ whole fittin’ in ‘nd bein’ taken seriously stuff. You’re literally th’ only one that’s given me a chance ‘nd haven’t written me off as an idiot.” 

“To be fair I have called you an idiot a few times,” Sally pointed out. 

“Yeah, but I was bein’ an idiot those times so it’s fine,” Sonic waved off. “You don’t say it like as if you’re tryin’ to make me disappear on th’ spot, that’s wha’ I mean.” 

“Just let me circle back for a second one why I’m asking this; I know you came here to try to find your place, but ultimately, do you like helping people?” Sally asked. 

“Totally! I want to help people. If I can help I want to, y’know?” Sonic urged. 

“So show the other heroes that. You know there’s a very fine line between being a show-off and being a hero, right?” Sally explained. “And I know you’re not a show-off, I’ve seen you fight. I’ve seen you rescue a busload of people and turn down rewards because you just wanted to help.”

“I should probably stop doin’ that though, ‘cause th’ city is expensive..." Sonic mumbled.

“I’ve already said you can move in with me,” Sally smirked.

“But I have no way o’ payin’ rent or anythin’ else . I don’t wanna leech off ya!” Sonic groaned. 

“You could get a job.”

“I don’t want a job, I want to be a superhero!” 

Sally pointed over her shoulder, just a little towards the corner of the restaurant’s window to indicate where the battle was still taking place.

“Then go do some superheroing. What Shadow said isn’t true at all; you’re not in it just to show off, you’re not in it just for glory or fame. You want to do something to right wrongs and help those that can’t help themselves,” Sally stated. “That’s why I gave you a chance, that’s why I love being with you and why I want to help you, too. You have a good heart, Sonic Hedgehog, even if they can’t see it yet.” 

Sonic blinked at Sally, a little taken aback from the raw honesty she had just talked through. He looked towards the battle, his ears twitching at the distant laser fire, and realising that the fight might have been dragging on for much longer than it should have been not just because of Shadow potentially being overpowered, but for his own stupid hang up that was now affecting everyone in the city. 

“Yeah, you’re right, Sal,” Sonic sighed, smirking. “‘nd even if you weren’t, I can’t just let Egghead go around messin’ everythin’ up, right?”

“Right. So get out there and tell him to get lost. He’s going to ruin my workplace, and then I won’t be able to buy you lunch again,” Sally teased.

“I swear next time it’s gonna be on me,” Sonic promised as he slid out of the booth, then planted a quick kiss on Sally’s cheek on his way out. “‘nd thanks for th’ pep-talk, Sal. I’m damn lucky havin’ you in my corner.”