This is a fanfic that features my interpretation of Buddy the Wolf – which is the fan name for the character shown in the character creator trailer in Sonic Forces. Other names for him seem to be 'Gadget' and 'Rookie' but the most common one I came across was Buddy, which I was told was the popular name for the character by a friend of mine in a Sonic 06 RP group on Discord.

I know Sonic Forces is already a little bit old and a lot of the hype around it has already died since a lot of people's theories about Buddy and Infinite have been dis-proven and the game's story was flawed, too short, and so on. But I admit I grew attached to the red wolf the fandom calls Buddy/Gadget. Why? Honestly no idea, but I blame his well-composed character design and the fact he's a wolf (wolves and wolf-like dogs have always been nice to me, I tend to be nice back).

And because he's essentially a blank slate, I decided to mess around with the character in fanfic all while hoping the character gets used either in another game or makes a cameo in Sonic Boom. The only thing about Buddy I'm not really sure about is his age. Infinite refers to him as 'child' but that could also imply Infinite is older like Shadow. Since most of the characters are in their teens I assumed Buddy was around 16 but I have other people insisting he's as young as 10 or 12.

It could be ambiguous on purpose to make the custom hero truly yours – but as a compromise let's say Buddy is anywhere from 12 to 15. Still an age range to be considered a child, but still mature enough to be considered a tween or teen like the majority of the canon cast. In addition by the way other characters to him he's definitely younger than Sonic (16) and perhaps the majority of the other characters so 12 to 15 is a fitting range for that prerequisite.

Other than that this is sort of written blind, chuck full of head canons that have most likely been proven wrong in the actual game or official bonus material outside of the games, but whatever. These are my head canons and attempts at giving Buddy a personality. Enjoy my corn, at most 2 more chapters to come.

Buddies

On the few breaks Buddy got in between missions he thought about the masked one – this creature who called himself Infinite. He remembered that time on Park Avenue, being laughed at, running away, the fear... He was humiliated just thinking back on it. He didn't want to think of himself as weak anymore. He didn't want to be afraid or ever turn away from danger again, especially not when it was right in front of him.

Memories of living on Park Avenue were coming back, even though they pained him to think about now that the city was a modern day ruin.

He remembered the deli/restaurant he worked at part time for extra money and to help him afford new glasses and trips to the optometrist. His job wasn't anything exciting. It was a decent way to make money when you were young and lacking experience: stacking boxes, taking inventory, serving food to customers and having chefs and customers yell at you when you dropped another drink on the floor while you were busy adjusting your glasses. Another ring taken out of your paycheck. Terrific.

In between breaks he would read about Sonic in the newspapers or hear about him on the news. The guy was a hero for a living and didn't even ask money for it. He was an ideal: brave, friendly, nice, selfless. A bit show-offish at times but heroes had the right to gloat every now and again. It seemed like whenever the world needed him he would be there with his team and they would take care of the issue. He didn't want to think of himself as an obsessed fanboy... But that didn't stop everyone at work from thinking so, which embarrassed him. He was a fan, he wanted to be a hero himself but people thinking he was an obsessed fanboy made him afraid of acting the way he did.

Then there was one day when the deli wasn't busy at all. It was pouring rain. Barely anyone was outside and even his boss told him he could go home if he wanted to – but he didn't leave... He needed the money for new glasses because his current pair had a crack in each lense that was only getting bigger with every tumble the plastic frames took.

There was a man who walked in – soaked to the bone despite wearing a tan coat and hat in a lame attempt to protect him from the rain. He looked like a wolf or a jackal, some sort of dog who looked old and in need of a warm meal and a place to get dry and stay warm. Just what he needed.

"Hey Buddy, quit reading your stories and get to work." He could hear his boss yell at him, causing the wolf to adjust his glasses and put down his newspaper. He'd already read the latest news on Sonic. He needed that new pair of glasses. He couldn't afford to get fired over being a fan.

He went up to the man sitting at a seat by the window, giving him a menu and smiling with his little fang sticking out. He nodded his head politely – not really much for words and not being able to remember how to speak because the customer looked so intimidating...

He had black and white fur with each eye being a different color, a scar on his right eye. There was so much fur on his head he tied it back and the tail too was so long that if it wasn't soaking wet he could be sitting on it and using it as a cushion, instead it was trailing along the floor, wet and limp like a wet mop.

"Thank you." The stranger took the menu. "I'll start with a black coffee. Are there any specials?"

Oh no, he was asking him a question... "Um... Today's specials. You can find those on the back of the menu." The red wolf was about to break out in a cold sweat. He didn't like speaking unless he had to and now was one of those times but he was just being looked at with a glare that made him uncomfortable.

"Alright then...?" The jackal turned his menu around and looked at the specials without taking the time to read them – his eyes unmoving as well as unfeeling. Then he gave the menu back to the wolf. "Scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, and as much bacon as you can put on one plate. Hope that's not a lot to ask."

Oh gosh the stare got even worse... "Coming right up." And the wolf almost bolted to the kitchen, just wanting to get away from the customer at the window. And once he was hiding behind a nice metal door he sunk down to the floor and sighed. He just wanted to retreat back into his adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog but he had to work or risk getting fired.

He brewed some black coffee, pouring it into a tea cup and then bringing it to the jackal, now reading a newspaper of his own with the front page story being about Doctor Eggman. For all the trouble he's caused over the years he would probably get life in prison or worse. But the mad doctor could never be caught it seemed, even when he was stopped by Sonic.

"Coffee's done. The rest will be ready soon." The wolf put the cup on the table.

"Thank you."

He went back to the kitchen, cooking the rest of the order: eggs smothered with butter and spices in one pan as a grilled cheese smothered in butter fried in the other. Running to the walk-in freezer he got a package of bacon that was getting close to it's expiration date, ran back to the stove, opened up the plastic and dumped all of the bacon in the same pan as the eggs, occasionally stealing strips while they were still somewhat raw for a quick snack.

Putting it all on one plate ended with a grilled cheese sandwich resting on a bed of bacon and eggs. Now to take it to that intimidating customer in the front...

He got out from the safety of the kitchen and gave the man his food, receiving a nod to the head in thanks and an odd question he wasn't asked before: "Fancy yourself as a hero, kid?"

"Me?"

"I heard some news program on the radio talking about heroism and what not. Does that interest you?"

He could go on and on about how Sonic was a hero and how great he was but he had to resist. "Well, I think it appeals to everyone to some degree."

"That could be true." He flipped through his newspaper. "What do you think of this Eggman fellow in the news? He seems like a pain."

"I've... been reading other things... I guess I don't really read much about the doctor, I read more about how he's thwarted every time. Takes a real hero to put up with someone like that on a daily basis."

"Guess it's normal for kids to ignore the news in the real world, focus on the idealist worlds and ideas given to us by the good guys." He drank his coffee. "I'm going to need more coffee."

"Coming right up." The wolf put the plate of food on the table and took the cup back to the kitchen to refill it. Though looking back on it, he should've brought the coffee pot with him to just give him a refill right then and there. How short-sighted he was!

When he came back he found the jackal playing with his food, opening the grilled cheese and stuffing bacon and eggs inside and pressing the sandwich as flat as it could be, making bits of bacon and egg stick to the tops and bottom parts of the sandwich.

"Oh gosh, I forgot to give you a fork and knife. I can go get them-."

"It's fine, I'm not much of a utensil person. I'm used to eating with my hands." The customer took a bite out of his meal, continuing to talk while chewing. "It's been a while since I had someone to talk to. Are you able to take a break?"

And simultaneously wanting to run back to the kitchen and keep talking, the wolf found himself sitting across from the stranger while wishing he went home early after all, glasses be damned. The stranger ate like a bored child playing with his food in every gross way he could, occasionally taking a sip of black coffee and looking like an adult despite his grease-covered fingers. Such a sight kept the wolf both entertained and awkward.

"You don't talk much."

"I don't really need to."

"I like that." He shoved the crust into his mouth. "Better than someone who talks too much and doesn't know when to shut up. You know when it is you need to speak. Don't lose that trait."

"Thank you?"

"What's your name?"

"Gadget. But a lot of people call me-."

"Hey Buddy, clean up your mess in the kitchen and quit hanging around!" His boss yelled at him, making the red wolf grimace at that name.

"Buddy it is then. I could actually use some more coffee, maybe another sandwich. It was well prepared." The customer said all of this while looking at the wolf with the look of someone who's killed someone over a grilled cheese in the past. "I could go for coffee too, maybe more bacon, a scone, a muffin... What do people eat around these parts?"

"Food?" The wolf answered unsure.

"I'll have more of that." The customer drank down the rest of his coffee. "I'm going to need a refill. You can bring out multiple cups at once if it saves you time. I drink a lot."

The jackal watched the young wolf run back to the kitchen with his tail tucked between his legs and a brown hedgehog – most likely the kid's boss – stepping out and taking a spot behind the cash register.

"Anything you want from here?" They asked, gesturing toward a glass case stuffed with basked goods.

"Plain muffin, chocolate chip scone – if ya have any."

He had a plain muffin and a scone brought to him on two separate plates followed by that wolf 'Buddy' bringing several small tea cups to the table before running back to get a keg of black coffee and pouring the black liquid into each one, 12 in total when he got the chance to count.

"Thank you Buddy." He started drinking each one, watching the wolf run back to the kitchen. He started licking his lips when he could smell bacon being fried with butter and cheese on top. He made a lucky pit-stop coming here of all the places he could go.

He could've jumped the kid as he came out with a huge stack of bacon and an even bigger sandwich because of the smell alone. He didn't get to eat out often.

"More coffee? I'll go get some." He ran back to the kitchen, leaving the jackal to play with his food again, opening up the grilled cheese and stuffing bacon inside, crumbling bits of the muffin and sprinkling them on top of the bacon until the wolf came back and poured more coffee into the collection of cups that were sitting on the table – no doubt upsetting the boss.

"You work hard at your job." The jackal mused, not once giving his murderous glare a rest.

"If I don't work hard, I don't get new glasses." the wolf adjusted his glasses. "Anything else you need?" He sat across from the jackal again, head on the table, tail wagging happily.

"I'm fine right now. This is delicious." And after more sandwich and muffin mutilation he started eating, drinking coffee every few bites even when the coffee started getting cold. He had an odd routine and ways of living, something he didn't intend to give up.

"How long do you need to stay awake?"

The jackal raised an eyebrow.

"That's a lot of coffee." The wolf continued.

"I'm an adventurer myself, staying awake longer means I get more work done, doing more things, making more money."

"You're an adventurer?!" The tail wagging got more aggressive, banging against the chair and table behind him. "What types of adventures do you go on?! Do you save the world just like Sonic does?!"

"Buddy that's enough!" the boss scolded.

"Oh it's fine." The jackal smirked a bit – a new expression! "I suppose you can say I'm a treasure hunter. I'll be off in a few days time for my latest find. I'm not really what you'd call a hero unless your idea of heroism involves raiding tombs and abandoned landmarks for anything that would look good in a museum."

"That's still a lot cooler than working at a place like this." The wolf's tail stopped wagging. "I'm never really going to have adventures like that. What's so heroic or exciting about someone like me?"

The jackal stuffed the crust of his sandwich into his mouth, licking his fingers. "The world has no use for the weak. But you can acknowledge you'll never be true hero material. Not a lot of people realize that. There are people who don't realize that until it's too late and end up risking their lives over an impossible dream."

Despite the fact he was talking with his mouth full and spitting crumbs everywhere Buddy knew he was right. "I mean I'm fine just reading about them but I think everyone dreams of being that hero instead of sitting on the side lines. It won't really be anything but a dream for me." He sighed, tail swishing and banging against the table and chair behind from where he sit.

"You can dream, but as long as you're realistic about them they won't be bad to have. Dreams are wonderful distractions, aren't they child?"

He didn't know how to answer that, staying silent and shifting around uncomfortably as he was given a menacing stare from both his boss as well as the jackal in front of him, eating a scone and leaving crumbs everywhere.

"This has been nice. It's been a long time since I've had a nice conversation over breakfast." He growled a bit, though not out of anger. He combed through his dreadlocks with a gloved hand, covered in grease and saliva. "How much do I owe you child?"

"Um..." The wolf panicked. Gosh he hated being given the death glare and caught off guard. "20 rings."

"That's really all? Feels like I haven't had enough." The jackal smirked a bit, hand over his right eye that had a scar over it. "Well I'm feeling extra generous so let me cover the cost of getting you new glasses. Looking at you with those glasses makes me unable to take you seriously."

Oh gosh someone noticed... It felt like no one else noticed what horrible shape his glasses were in and he got yelled at every time he squinted or had to take the time to adjust them. "You don't have to."

"I want to. Broken glasses are annoying. They make no sense. And they're boring." And out of no where the stranger pulled out a small bag full of rings, sliding it over to Buddy. "20 for the meal. The rest to get you something you can actually see out of without having to squint."

Immediately the wolf felt embarrassed. He didn't like having to squint so hard it just sorta happened whether he realized it or not no matter what pair of glasses he was wearing. He also wasn't used to getting money from random strangers, making him uneasy and like he needed an adult.

Then the jackal stood up, popping his collar and preparing to go out into the rain again.

"Leaving so soon?" Buddy asked.

"I'm afraid it's work related but I'll come back. You working again tomorrow kid?"

"I'm here every day."

"Good enough for me."

"Enjoy the rest of your day."

"Get new glasses." The jackal opened the door to let himself out and after receiving a nod from the wolf in compliance that was followed by a wagging tail he smirked and got out of the store and back into the rain.

At the time Buddy didn't think much of it, just going back to work and cleaning up the mess in the kitchen while his boss read the newspaper and listened to the radio in the empty store. Afterward he was given permission to leave early to get himself new glasses.

Chapter 1 end