Spider Sense

Nikki shot upwards in ball form, hearing a small explosion. He landed on his feet, and looked all around. The feeling of nostalgia washed over him. The warm air, a smell reminiscent of old books, and the tickle in Nikki's nose from the dust particles floating around. "The Station Square Library…" Nikki whispered to himself. He remembered going there with Tails a lot in their downtime when they still lived in the empire. He then turned around to face the big old monitor. It had been completely destroyed when he burst out of it, and it was emitting smoke. "I really hope nobody saw that." Nikki scanned his surroundings, and saw nobody there. Odd. It wasn't completely silent, however. He could hear the faintest police siren just outside.

Nikki exited the library, and witnessed something peculiar. There were stretchers being rolled into some kind of oversized, triple-decker ambulance-like vehicle. They were covered in thin sheets, and though they weren't thin enough for Nikki to see through from a short distance, he could tell there were bodies under there. Confused, he snuck away from the library entrance and approached one of the paramedics.

"Excuse me, sir. What happened here?" Nikki asked. He decided his alter ego voice needed work. The paramedic turned around. He looked down at Nikki funny.

"Oh, sorry for staring. This library was just hit by the Graying Pandemic not too long ago," the paramedic explained. "We're carrying the Silhouettes out now. It's best if you keep your distance, sir or madam. We still don't know how the Silhouettes work." The paramedic turned back around. Nikki then caught sight of something jumping up from behind the ambulance. Or maybe it was swinging. He revved up a Figure-Eight Peel Out to pursue the familiar figure.

Nikki blasted off and ran up the wall of the station. He jumped off the roof into the casino area, and looked all around. His eyes landed on an anthropomorphic spider. As soon as he spotted her, she looked to him. Her eyes sparked in remembrance. She leapt away from the police officer she was talking to, and landed right next to Nikki. "You like what you see?" The spider lady whispered into his ear, putting one of her eight arms on her hip. "You know you're staring, right?"

"It's you…" Nikki mumbled, sliding his eyes off to the right where she stood. He then realized what he had just said. Hardly two minutes in and he had already blown his cover. "I mean… it's I. Uh. You see, it's..."

"Happy to see you again too, Sonic," the spider lady whispered extra quietly and extra closely to Nikki's ear. She wrapped an arm around him and shot a web up to the roof. She pulled on it, and they grappled to the top of the building.

"I'm not Sonic!" He panicked. "There must be some sort of mistake, ma'am. My name's Nikki Hedgehog."

"Please, call me Penumbra the Spider. We go back far enough," the spider-lady replied. "And save the larping for later. I recognize that aroma anywhere. You didn't do a very good job with the lady's perfume."

"Shh!" Nikki hissed. "I don't need people knowing ANYTHING you know."

"Relax, I won't tell anyone it's you. Your head isn't worth enough anymore," Penumbra sighed. She donned a more serious expression. "What are you doing back here, though? After all the trouble you went through to get out?"

"I'm here investigating the Graying Pandemic," Nikki groaned, stretching. "You?"

"Whaddya know? I'm here for the same thing," Penumbra replied. "SSPD's detective agency commissioned me when the PTOH got here. They told me they're keeping it a secret from the Eggman, but I'm keeping an eye out for any funny business. Anyways, it looks like we have the PTOH cornered in Casinopolis. Pretty impressive how nobody's actually seen them in the flesh. Only the Silhouettes they left in their wake."

"Ah. You already got it covered?" Nikki asked. "Then I guess there was no need for me to come all this way."

"Well… not exactly," Penumbra replied. "Hate to say it, but it's too dangerous to pursue them into Casinopolis. They could easily take the heart of anyone who just waltzes in."

"I see," Nikki muttered, looking down to the Casinopolis sign. "Can I help? I could be in and out in a second." Penumbra looked unsure. "Tails told me they have to get a good look into your eyes, but at top speed, they won't know what hit 'em!"

"It could work," Penumbra hummed. "The cops won't let any 'citizens' in though."

"Yeah. I could always sneak in through the sewer, but…" Nikki thought out loud.

"... You wanna keep your new shoes spick and span," Penumbra interrupted. "I feel ya there, buddy. Y'know what? I'll cover you." Penumbra shot two rocket legs into the Casinopolis sign. They completely demolished it, setting the whole display on fire. "That should do just fine for a distraction. Now go! I'll be waiting for you at the cafe when you get the PTOH!" Penumbra jumped down into the casino area. Nikki ran down the building and slipped into the front doors of Casinopolis. He covered his head from the electrical sparks and embers from the sign on his way through.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?!" A dumbfounded police officer shouted at Penumbra when she landed.

"The sign was ugly," Penumbra replied.

Nikki ran all over the place inside Casinopolis, ignoring all the Silhouettes whose hearts had been stolen. Until he realized something was off. Not what wasn't there, but what was still there. There was a huge golden statue in the middle of the casino, depicting himself as Sonic. Nikki stopped to observe it. "Why in the world is this still around?" Nikki asked. He looked up at the smiling face on the statue. There wasn't a sign of wear, not a hint of grime. Not only was it still intact— it must have been routinely cleaned. "Robotnik… kept it around this whole time?"

Nikki felt a hand on his shoulder. He resisted the urge to scream as he instinctively spun around. Standing there in front of him was a very strangely-dressed humanoid ladybug girl. She had a strange red top hat and pitch black masquerade mask. Her eyes appeared as two gray upside-down triangles.

"Hello," the ladybug girl mumbled.

"Uh… h-h-hi. My name's Nikki," Nikki stuttered, waving his hand to greet her. He had a certain hunch this person standing before him wasn't exactly a hostage of the PTOH. "It's not safe here, miss. Didn't you hear what's going on? We should get you out of here before they find us."

The ladybug girl looked all around, then locked her eyes onto Nikki's. "Nobody's here," she replied. "Just you and me."

"That's not true. C'mon, we should really go outside." Nikki suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his chest and eyes, or perhaps… a draining feeling would be a better description. His entire body went into panic mode, as the girl's stare grew more and more focused. He couldn't move. He couldn't call for help. Not because his body wouldn't let him… but because his drive to do either was being taken away with every millisecond that passed. Sonic then turned completely gray. He felt his last bits of willpower and sense of self leave him. The girl's eyes turned blue and green just like his.

"Whoa… way past cool!" The ladybug girl exclaimed, looking all around with a very Sonic-y smirk on her face and wonder in her newly colored eyes. "Hey there, sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Cherry. Cherry the Ladybug! I have a feeling I'm gonna like this new Persona." The ladybug girl eagerly awaited a response from Nikki, but all he did was slump onto the ground and curl up into a sad little ball. "Oh, right. You can't hear me. Well, that's too bad, ain't it? Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm outta here! Got places to go, y'know?" Cherry ran off decently fast with her arms trailing behind her. "Woo-ha! I love this feeling! Finally, a Persona that works for me. That was so easy!" As she neared the exit, she heard a sudden knock on the door to Casinopolis. She jumped back.

"SSPD, OPEN UP!" The cop on the other side of the door ordered. "We know you're in there, Phantom Thief. You are deliberately resisting arrest and holding hostages. Let us in NOW and turn around slowly with your hands behind your head!" Cherry groaned, locked the door, and walked away. The cop's yelling faded into the distance as she ran back to the Silhouette of Nikki.

"Ah, geez. They're still blocking the way, so how am I supposed to get out of here?" Cherry asked herself, standing over Nikki. She sighed sadly, and stared Nikki in the eyes. Nikki then felt as if all the color and sense of self was being transferred back to him. All that ambition and personality. It was back. He got up off the floor, and backed away from Cherry. Her eyes were gray again.

"Wh-AAAT just happened?" Nikki asked, completely freaked out. "So it IS you! The Phantom Thief of—!"

"Shh," Cherry hissed. "Don't go around making a big scene about who I am, and I'll keep your identity a secret in turn." She grabbed Nikki by the hand and ran for the women's locker room. "C'mon. I need to get out of here, but first we need to set some ground rules."

"Hey, hold up a second, lady! I can't go in there!" Nikki shouted, his well-mannered facade breaking under the weight of everything that had just happened. "I mean… Miss Cherry, I don't think I'm allowed to go in that room."

"Drop it, already. I knew it was you BEFORE I stole your heart, Sonic. And now you're the first person to uncover my identity. We both know something the other doesn't want made public, so it's best if you do as I say to avoid problems," Cherry ordered. She pinned Nikki to the wall of one of the showers. "If you tell them I was in here, they'll find me, only for me to tell them you're Sonic the Hedgehog. If they find you as a Silhouette, they'll know I'm nearby. I'll escape right now, and you'll tell them you saw nothing. The trail will go cold. Got it? If you don't agree, I'll settle for stealing your heart. But that would just be harder for both of us. Are you gonna cover up for me, or no?" Nikki nodded. "Good. I'll be on my way. Remember… nothing just happened." Cherry walked away from Nikki, and dematerialized into red and black sludge that seeped into the drain. Nikki was unable to process this as he heard the front door to Casinopolis break down. He supposed it was his last chance to escape as well. He looked everywhere. There was no exit.