"It's all rehearsal. Of course we're gonna screw up."

With the meeting adjourned you had a 1-on-1 with Tabi. There had been something you noticed earlier but in the events of Huggy scaring them you didn't get a chance to ask. His appearance had changed. His clothing didn't look so haggard and damaged.

"Did you get a new hoodie?" You ask.

"No, why?"

"Just that it looks good on you tonight."

"Oh, well t-thanks. The farmer girl sewed it and washed it."

You did notice a few plaid patches that it included now. "Well you look good tonight man."

You notice some red flush in his cheek bones as he glances away. "I-uh-thanks."

"Smell nice too." You tease. Unintentionally, the detergent acted as a cologne. It was just too easy to poke at him.

"OH, uh-"

"So what do you think of Huggy?" You ask. He was getting flustered.

"He, uh, I don't know about him."

Agoti, overhearing the conversation saw it a prime opportunity to tease him. "Terrified of him aren't you?"

"Yeah, so? I saw you. You're scared of him too!" Tabi shot back. "He's just so..weird."

"No way. Some giant blue guy? Pffft. Doesn't scare me."

In the corner of the room Huggy stood with Kapi and Pompom. The catboy was in the middle of developing some sort of backpack for him.

"Huggy? Can you come over here, settle something?" You ask aloud.

Huggy hears and steps away from Kapi, sauntering over to you. His arms swayed as he walked, only serving to make him more uncanny. Tabi and you had your backs to him but you knew he was coming. You watch Agoti's quickly expression change from smug to worry.

Instinctively, you grab Tabi's hand, being able to tell he was shaking. He jumped slightly but grabbed your hand back tighter. While his hand was bone, it still felt slightly warm. You just grin at Tabi.

As Huggy leaned in between you and Tabi you watch as Agoti's hair starts to move defensively. You scratch his chin. "Thanks, Huggy. You can go back to Kapi now."

"Alright fine. I admit he's a bit weird. You absolutely sure he's safe?" Agoti said sternly. He crossed his arms.

"He's been so far. Kapi said there's more creatures like him in that factory."

"Pfft. Well if we need to recruit any more weirdos you and the cat can do it. No way I'm going anywhere near that place."

"He's basically just a guard dog."

"Well he better be careful. I don't get a good vibe from him." Tabi remarked. "Why do you keep recruiting weirdos anyways?" He asked, completely serious.

"Hey, you went and recruited a literal child, I don't think you can say that to me." You shot back with a laugh. There wasn't really any room to argue.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he's harmless."

Now Playing...

Artist: ¥ung H33m

Song: Southbanks

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti3irHea3ro

With Huggy still adjusting to the outside world you take him home. Stepping inside, you immediately notice your computer was on, playing the news. Weeks ago you would have found it suspicious but you knew better. S was watching something. There was no way the Family still had it out for you anyways. Your boss cleared things up. You were a 'security guard' now.

It had been a long day for Huggy, and on the ride home he wasn't as active as he'd been earlier. Still though, it wasn't over. Even despite the fixes Pompom did he was still dirty. You only hoped he would cooperate. With a bath poured and the water soaped up you coaxed Huggy into the tub.

Surprisingly, and much to your relief he complied. It just required some testing to show it was safe. He hadn't seen water that clear in a long time. He was far too big for the tub but with his flexibility he shortened his height to fit.

He nuzzled his head on your shoulder, eyes closed. Though he didn't speak you could tell he was nothing but affectionate and grateful. You even had to push him away a few times, trying to keep yourself dry.

"Just how long were you in there anyways?" You ask, knowing full well he wouldn't give an answer.

He merely emitted some sort of longing sound, reminiscing on days spent there, then shook his head. Those days were over. With a dish sponge you scrubbed his fur down, careful to avoid getting any soap in his eyes. Though you weren't even sure if it would affect them. They looked fake.

You also took extra car to unmatt his fur where it was and to avoid parts where Pompom sewn him back. He was sensitive in those spots.

While his fur was navy blue when you first met him, the scrubbing lightened it. It took multiple scrubs and you having to empty now dirty water and replace it but his fur started to finally shine. It went from a jean-colour navy blue to a much brighter sky blue. His hands and paws were the same, going from a deep brown to a more vibrant yellow.

Once he was finally clean you gave him a few towels. He took no hesitation in drying himself up.

"What do you think?" You put a mirror in front of him as he takes the towel off his head. You wonder if he was intelligent enough to pass the mirror test. He was, without any offense intended, an abomination. Much like S.

It took him no effort to recognize he was looking at his reflection, something he'd seen whence wondering the factory. He just stared back, looking at himself in amazement.

"Well, what do you think?"

Huggy grabbed you, pulling into a tight hug. Purring nonstop, he was still damp but you didn't mind. You were still in your work clothes anyways and they needed a wash.

"Alright big guy. Let's get you something to eat."

You settle Huggy in the living room, putting the TV on to some cartoon channel. Figuring it was time to say hello to S you head to the bedroom, checking the monitor. S was there, seated on some recliner watching the news in the PC.

"Hey, S."

"Yeah, hey." He said uninterested, waving his hand. He was watching some 'Mobian' channel. Probably something related to Sonic again, you think. He glanced over then back at the news. "Whoa, whoa! HOLD ON!" S shouted suddenly, toppling over the recliner.

You freeze. S ran to the screen's edges and looked out.

"What's that on your vest?" He demanded.

"What?" You look down. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was a still bit wet from Huggy.

"Don't lie to me! That's a blue quill! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?" S shouted. "That's gotta be..." S gasped.

You look closer. There were a few strands of Huggy's fur on your vest. They shined under the bedroom light.

"It-it's just fur."

"No way, you're not gonna lie to me! You saw Sonic didn't you! I bet he came to the meeting! ARGH I CAN'T BELIEVE-"

"Hold on. It's from Huggy. The new-"

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"That's why they can't find Sonic. He's here isn't he! Did you make love to him?! You little-" S started to get really irrationally upset.

Huggy, hearing the commotion waddled over to your room, ducking under the door frame. It sounded like a new friend! He thought.

Looking in he saw you, arguing with a screen. Arching behind you he stepped into view of the monitor, seeing a small corrupted hedgehog pouting and stomping around, uttering a stream of death threats. You were trying to explain Huggy's existence but he wasn't hearing it.

S stopped shouting, now seeing the large creature behind you.

"What is that! That's not Sonic! What did you do to him!" S shouted, aghast.

"Cause it's not Sonic! Geez, calm down. This is Huggy. Y'know, who Kapi and I went to go collect today?" You grab Huggy's head and lead him down into the monitor. "You were at that meeting I'm sure."

Huggy had seen the screens before and he knew you couldn't talk to them. He had tried many times, never to any success. Hoping to spare you from the embarrassment of talking to a screen he put a hand on your shoulder, motioning you away. They are for watching, not talking to. You must not have known that, Huggy thought.

"It's not Sonic." You say, concluding.

"That's Huggy? Wow. Big guy. Looks a lot like Sonic though."

"Wha?" You say and stop yourself, there was no point in arguing.

"So that's what he looks like. Kapi told me a bit of what happened. Sounds like it was a lot more fun than my trip today with the goat boy and tentacle man." S said.

"You spoke to him?"

"Yep! Got him to fill me in earlier."

"Ah, well good." That saved you the time of having to fill in yet another person on today's events. You were getting tired of having to re-explain Huggy's origins.

"He better not be replacing me. I'm the only blue mascot we need." You decide not to respond, even ignoring the fact Tabi wore blue way before S joined the group. Or even that the uniform Displo gave you was a dark blue.

"He's not. You guys don't even do the same things."

"Humph. He better not."

Huggy had grown confused by the whole conversation. He had seen people talking to screens back at the factory but it was always a blank screen. Never once was it some animated creature in the computer talking back.

He left the room, uninterested in the whole ordeal.

"Anyways, then you know the plan tomorrow we're going back to the farm right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna stay with Displo or something. Not interested in going back in. Whole thing was blur anyways." S grumbled. "Tabi should buy a new phone, can hardly see out of it."

With S wanting to get back to the news you leave the demented hedgehog.

Even though Huggy had a low metabolism you still saw it fit to feed him. He was content with the raw stewing beef you purchased earlier, scarfing them down in one bite. He was may as well have been a wild animal.

For you, just a simple cheeseburger, made with frozen patties, shredded lettuce and shredded cheese. The Easter basket still sat in the kitchen, untouched. Huggy must have sniffed it out as he tried to go for while you cooked. You decide you really need to do something with it, even if you aren't going to eat it. While cooking you could hear stuff moving in the living room but paid it no mind.

Getting back into the living room you saw what he had done. Using pillows and cushions from the couch, dry towels from the bathroom and the carpets he had made a fort for himself, and was rested in it, in the corner of the room.

He was definitely going to be more difficult to care for than S. All S did was consume storage space. You just shake your head at the whole ordeal. At least he was doing okay. Grabbing a chair from the kitchen you take a seat in front of the television.

You now had two 'abominations' living in your house. You make sure to lock the windows in case Huggy decides to do some late night exploring.

At some point later Huggy had decided to enter your room. This was evident from you waking up with him wrapped around you, snoring quietly. It wasn't tight enough to suffocate but enough to not be able to move much. With the amount of crap he had been through you couldn't chastise him for being lonely. You manage to free an arm and pet him, as he purrs sombrely.

"I'm not going anywhere big guy." He coo'd and started to stir, letting go of you.

He was like a dog. After being forgotten so long he couldn't help but be overly attached. He at least lived up to his namesake. He sure liked hugs. Eventually sleep claims you, finding yourself much later, stirring in the morning.

Now Playing...

Artist: Takafumi Isotani & Koshiro Yoshimatu

Song: Valencia

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F3kvuoZTfk

Round 2 on the farm was very different from Round 1. Displo decided to stay out, noting that in the main operation he wouldn't be active in that way anyways. He had confided to you later that he wasn't built for such a dusty area either.

With Pompom on board plus Zardy's challenge it proved a good practice spot. Zardy was more than eager to accommodate the group. Just by your first impressions you found he was a murderous scarecrow, possibly serial killer and he had it in for Tabi. But damn if he didn't play the villain role well.

S was out until you suggested to Zardy to place some kind of device in the centre that S could 'hack'. In the end, with a malicious grin Zardy proposed they use Tabi's phone. Zardy ducked the question when you asked, but he really did not like Tabi.

Huggy on the other hand was having a blast. The maze, though tight was nowhere near as closed as the factory. To Huggy it was complete freedom. He loved every second of running around in the expanse. When you told him he'd be staying with Pompom for a bit he seemed nothing but overjoyed.

The father even remarked he'd be able to help with apple picking.

Everything was going good until you noticed going through the maze that Kapi had vanished.

"Huh, Where's Kapi?"

"He went out 'bout a minute ago." Agoti said. "Guy had some allergic reaction. Went to see Displo."

"Reaction? Is he okay?"

"Far as I know." Agoti said. "He wasn't eating anything. I don't know. Just started choking."

"M-Maybe it was Huggy's fur?" Pompom said.

"No, that's impossible. He's been with him all day." You,

"Yo, Zardy I need out." You say aloud. "Gonna check on Kapi." Just in front of you a path cleared in the corn. You dash through it saying bye to the main team.

Kapi was quickly found on a picnic table at the entrance. He lay atop, sprawled out as if it were a bed. Displo was right beside him looking him over, seated at the table.

"What happened?" You ask. Kapi looked alive, but out of breath. He tried to say something but all that came out was wheezing. Amelia was right beside Displo, a look of embarrassment on her face.

"A number of things, (Y/N)." Displo started. "First of all, did you know Kapi had an apple allergy?"

"Uh."

"And second of all, that Pomona herself is an apple?"

"W-well. She's an apple pie, but I digress. I didn't know. I didn't even know it was possible for her to cause a reaction. It's never happened before." Amelia interjected.

"W-what?"

"Pomona is an anthropomorphic apple girl-"

"Apple pie actually." Amelia said.

"What? I thought she was an anthro."

"A lot of people get that confused with her, yeah." Amelia said.

"W-well is he gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine..." Kapi wheezed and continued to breath heavily.

"He's not anaphylactic."

"God, I'm so useless." Kapi muttered quietly.

"Come now. How could any of us have anticipated this sort of outcome? This is why we are practicing." Displo said.

A notification rang off on Displo. It was the maze team. "Excuse me." He stood up. "Amelia I need you as well."

"Certainly."

You recall that during the maze run, Kapi had been standing very close to Pompom. You take a seat on the picnic table, Kapi's head in front of you. His cap had fallen off and was on the grass. You reach down and pick it up.

"Thanks." Kapi said quietly.

A box of tissues and medicine bottles were next to him. Some drink had been downed, leaving an empty glass with green drops in it.

"I took some medicine. I'll be fine in a bit." Kapi said.

His eyes watered, he was having trouble breathing and you noted his face had swelled.

"Well, I'll stay with ya for a bit."

"T-Thanks."

"I didn't know she was literally an apple. Just thought she was some weird rabbit."

"Yeah."

"You don't have any other allergies do you?"

"No." Kapi sighed. "I don't know. I don't think I'm cut out for this."

"Hey come on. Just like Displo said. This whole thing's gonna take a lot of practice. Lotta moving parts."

"But-"

"Look. Think of the heist as a performance. All this stuff we're doing up to it, from Blindside to the factory to this, it's all rehearsal. Of course we're gonna screw up."

"I guess you’re right." Kapi smiled. "I like that. It's a concert."

"Exactly." You poke him. "And now we know that you just can't be near Pompom."

"Right."

You continue to sit with Kapi in silence, allowing the catboy to recover.

Meanwhile, the maze was pure chaos. Zardy on one hand wanted to get even with Tabi but at the same time didn't want to hurt Pompom. Not to even mention that insane blue monster running around scaring his own creatures. It was definitely harder for him.

Without Kapi to command Huggy he was little unhinged. Tabi still wanted nothing to do with the monster and even refused to call him by his name, instead referring to him as the blue guy. S took offense to the name, seeing himself as the mascot of the group. Agoti likewise wasn't interested in commanding, leaving Pompom to do so. And she was busy casting magic.

After completing of the maze, Displo treated everyone that could to lunch. He had brought a grill and ingredients from the restaurant. Just simple hot dogs and sausages, though he prepared them all from scratch, even using fennel in the meat. Just as a thank you for allowing using the maze as a training ground.

"You feeling better now? We needed you out there." Tabi remarked to Kapi. He had felt better and had taken a proper seat at the table.

"R-really?" Kapi asked, a bit surprised.

"He's right." Agoti said. "After you left we lost control of Huggy. Things got a bit hairy." He said in-between bites.

"A-ah, well I'll be ready for the next round." Kapi said, smile creeping on his face.

"So why Sonic?" Pompom asked S. He was in a phone in front of her.

"Why Sonic? What do you mean?"

"Well you can take any form right? Why'd ya pick Sonic?" Pompom said innocently. At some point, Agoti had explained what S really was.

"Cuz Sonic's the coolest person out there. He's fast, iconic, famous, he's the hero of Mobius for sake!" He seemed genuinely shocked at Pompom's suggestion.

"I don't think he's as fast as Rainbow Dash." She said.

"I don't know who that is but I assure you Sonic is way faster than her!"

"Nu-huh. She's the fastest. She's the fastest pony in Equestria."

"Ponies? Pfft. Sonic's a hedgehog. That's one of the fastest animals around! Hup! What about you, what's an applejack1?"

"Applejack! She's so cool. Has her own apple farm in Equestria too. I wanna visit it one day."

"Equestria? Sounds dumb. Mobius is way cooler."

You just tune out their conversation. It barely made sense to you anyways.

Kapi looked to Huggy who was solemnly watching the horizon. "Hey big guy, how're you doing?" He asked.

He just moaned. He had felt bad for how things had gone. "I got an idea. When we go back in there, do you think you could carry me on your back?"

Huggy thought on it before nodding, large smile immediately returning. He liked the idea. Kapi thought it good too, he could command from atop the beast. Be a bit like D.Va and her mech, just a real creature instead, Kapi thought.

With Kapi feeling better and everyone ready, the team ventured back into the maze for another go.

Slowly but surely the pieces were coming together. Displo had whispered that he could already envision how exactly the heist could go down.

"We're making remarkable progress, (Y/N)."

----------------------------------------

The next chapter will be called From the Stars.