Chapter Four: Comfort Under the Moonlight

This is the fourth episode of The Heart's Bounty .
==Transcript==
(A shot of Jen walking down the hall is seen)
(A rustling sound is heard)
(Jen looks toward the camera)
(A shot of Sleet in his room, going through his closet, is seen)
Jen: Sleet, you're up.
Sleet: Yes...I am. Care to explain why my closet is in such a shamble?
Jen: Well...Robotnik wanted first pick of your stuff, so....
Sleet:...
Jen: I found a photo of you...and someone named Malos...
(Sleet stops suddenly)
Jen: Sleet...?
Sleet: Leave it on my bed, and then get out.
Jen: Sle—Sleet: NOW!
(Jen flinces in fear, then walks over to Sleet's bed, places the photo, and then runs out of the room)
(Extreme closeup of the lower half of Sleet's face)
(Sleet barely chokes back a sob)
Sleet: *muttering* Damn it...
(Nothing but blackness is seen)
(Sleet, in his normal armor, runs through)
(A shot of an executioner's blade swinging in is seen)
(Sleet gasps in horror)
(The blade hits Sleet in the gut)
(The blade slices through Sleet's armor, cutting into his flesh)
(A shot of Dingo waking up suddenly, gasping, is seen)
(Dingo rises up quickly, panting in terror)
(Dingo looks down and sees the bed is empty)
Dingo: *gasping* Sleet!
(Dingo runs out of the room)
(A shot of Dingo running down the hall is seen)
Dingo: *thinking* Chaos...Please....Let him be alright...
(A shot of Joy walking down the hall in the opposite direction is seen)
(Dingo collides with Joy, both of them fall to the ground)
Joy: *holding her head in pain, eyes closed* Ow...
Dingo: Sorry 'bout that...*eyes widen* Joy, have ya' seen Sleet?!
(Joy opens her eyes and puts her hand down)
Joy: He's not in bed???
Dingo: *panicing* No! When I opened my eyes, he was gone! I...I think there's something wrong...! I gotta find him!
Joy: Dingo, calm down!
(Joy lays her hand on the panicing Dingo's shoulder)
Joy: Don't worry, we'll find him. If it helps, we'll go check the hangar to see if he took any ships, okay?
Dingo: O-Okay...
*Fade*
(A shot of the inside of the Hangar is seen)
(Joy and Dingo, visibly worried, walk down the ranks of ships)
Joy: I haven't seen any ships missing yet.
Dingo: Maybe he didn't take a ship?
Joy: Let's hope so. He wouldn't be able to go far on foot--
(As Joy says the above dialogue, Jen walks up to her)
Jen: Who wouldn't be able to go far on foot?
(Joy turns toward Jen quickly)
Joy: Jen, what are you doing here?
Jen: Well, after Sleet's freakout a half hour ago, I decided to take a walk and the hangar's the easiest way back into HQ.
Dingo: Whaddya mean by "freakout"?
Jen: He looked pretty down, but, when I mentioned someone named Malos, he yelled at me!
Dingo: That doesn't sound like Sleet...Did he do anything else...?
Jen: I don't know. I ran off right after he yelled at me.
(Dingo pauses for a moment, then he turns around and runs off)
Joy: Wait! Where are you going?!
Dingo: *running off-camera* I'm gonna find Sleet! I think I might be the only one he'll open up to!
(Joy blinks)
Joy: Why must things always get so complicated?
*Fade*
(A shot of a park in Robotropolis at night is seen)
(Dingo walks in, nervous)
Dingo: *thinking* Okay, Dingo...Stay calm...It's not too dark...Remember, you're here for Sl---
(Dingo stops suddenly, surprised)
(A shot of Sleet wearing a white shirt, maroon vest, blue jeans and black and white shoes, sitting on a park bench, looking down at his hands folded on his lap, depressed, is seen)
(Slowly, Dingo walks over to Sleet, then sits down next to him)
Dingo: Hey...You feelin' alright...?
(Sleet remains silent)
(Dingo lightly ruffles Sleet's hair)
(Sleet remains silent)
(Dingo sighs)
Dingo: Sleet, I wanna help ya... At least tell me who Malos is...
(Sleet turns towards Dingo slightly)
Sleet: Jen told you about my outburst, didn't she?
(Dingo nods his head yes)
(Sleet sighs, then turns away slightly from Dingo)
Sleet: He was my partner before you...and...my lover...
Dingo: What happened to him?
(Sleet closes his eyes)
Sleet: It was about 4 years ago...
*Fade*
(As the dialogue below is said, the audience sees the flashback)
Sleet: We were hired by an aristocrat to capture his brother, one of the rebels in the resistance. Malos often helped the resistance, so we planned on turning him down. However, he offered us 10 times what we normally get, so we accepted. After a couple of hours of searching, we got a tip that the rebel was hiding in one of Robotnik's factories. When we got there, what we found was a squadron of SWATbots with orders to capture anyone helping the resistance. The aristocrat sold us out. They moved in synch. Before I could help him, one of them grabbed me from behind. I was forced to watch Malos go up against them all at once. By the time I could get free, it was already over...
*Fade*
 
(A shot of Sleet, near tears, is seen)
Sleet: It was all my fault...If I wasn't so weak, that SWATbot wouldn't have grabbed me then Malos wouldn't have...
(Sleet clenches his eyes shut, barely keeping himself from crying)
(Dingo pauses for a moment, then his expresson becomes stern/sympathetic)
Dingo: Sleet, it wasn't your fault!
(Sleet opens his eyes and looks at Dingo, startled)
Dingo: Even if that bot didn't grab ya', no one could take on an ambush by themselves, not even the hedgehogs! And you're not weak. you're the strongest person I know! No matter how many times you were knocked down, you always got back up! No matter what! Even if you run out of strength, you won't be weak cause I'll be there to give you mine! 
(Sleet pauses for a moment)
Sleet: *voice cracking* Dingo...I...
(Sleet sobs, shuts his eyes tight, then grabs onto Dingo, the wolf's arms around his torso, then started to cry)
(Gingerly, Dingo wraps his arms around Sleet, his left hand holding onto the back of Sleet's head)
Dingo:*softly* That's it, Sleet...Just let it out...I got ya'...Don't worry. I won't tell anyone about what happened here...I promise...
(A closeup of Sleet crying is seen)
(After a few seconds, switch to a farshot)
(Pan up to the night sky)
*Fade*
(A shot of a gray ceiling is seen)
(Pan down to hallway with a door into Sleet's room at the end)
(Sleet and Dingo walk in. Sleet's eyes are a bit puffy)
Dingo: 'Ya sure you'll be alright?
Sleet: Don't worry, I'm fine. *Pause* I...I never told anyone about that day...It hurts so much when I remember it.
Dingo: It always hurts. The pain just gets easier to handle as life goes on...
Sleet: Sounds like you gone through the same thing.
(Dingo looks down slightly)
Dingo: I didn't really have any parents until Grandpa took me in. We weren't related by blood, but he treated me like I was his own. I only knew him for a couple of years before he died. I  cried for a long time. I thought my grief was gonna kill me...
Sleet: But it didn't...
(Dingo looks at Sleet)
Dingo: Yeah, it didn't...When I finally buried him, I knew I had to start learning to survive.
Sleet: *smiling* That explains the way you were when we first met.
Dingo: *smiling* But I learned a lot, didn't I?
Sleet: Yeah, you did.
(They finally come to the door to Sleet's room)
(Sleet opens the sliding door)
Sleet: Dingo...
Dingo: Yeah?
Sleet: Thank you for...You know...
(Dingo smiles, and then hugs Sleet, the wolf blushing in response)
Dingo: No prob', mate. Ya' mean a lot to me.
(Dingo lets go of Sleet)
(Sleet smiles softly, then enters the room as Dingo walks off)
(Sleet turns the light on in his room)
(Sleet walks over to his bed and notices the photo)
(Sleet picks the photo up)
(Sleet looks at the photo and smiles softly)
(Sleet opens the closet door)
(Sleet lays the photo on the top shelf of the closet)
(Slowly, Sleet closes the closet door)
*Fade*
(A shot of a wall in HQ is seen)
(Orange lines where the wall is being heated form and create a mobian hedgehog sized rectangle)
(Two gloved hands push a chunks of metla out of the wall, leaving a hole big enough for a hedgehog)
(Sonia, wearing a scouter-like device and a satchel bag, jumps out of the hole onto the floor then runs off)
(A shot of Sonia running down the hall is seen)
Cyrus: *voice-over* Resistance Base to Sonia Hedgehog, do you read me? Over.
Sonia: Sonia Hedgehog to Resistance base, you're coming in loud and clear, Cyrus.
(A shot of the inside of Resistance Base, Cyrus staring at a computer screen, Sonic and Manic, unsure, behind him, a blinking moving pink dot on the computer screen, is seen)
Cyrus: Take the first door on your left, then go straight--
(Return to shot of Sonia running down the hall)
Cyrus: *voice-over* And you should be in the room where the building's infrastructure is weakest.
Sonia: Got it. Over and out.
(Sonia runs off-camera, revealing Dingo standing in the hallway to her left)
(Closeup on Dingo's confused face)
(A shot of a wide room with a garbage chute with "TRASH" on it is seen)
(Sonia runs in, then walks up to the wall then reaches into her satchel)
(Sonia pulls out a timebomb with two wires attached to it, one pink and one amber-yellow, then sticks it on the wall)
(Sonia pushes a button, the LCD screen lighting up, revealing a timer counting down from 4:00)
Manic: *voice-over* Sonia, are you sure about this? I mean, Robotnik's one thing, but Sleet and Dingo---
Sonia: Sleet and Dingo already made their choice. If taking down Robotnik once and for all means that they have to go down too, then I'll happily oblidge. Besides, it'll be nice to be rid of that overgrown mutt of a stalker.
Dingo: *off-camera* Sonia...?
(Sonia gasps. She turns around quickly)
(A shot of DIngo, heartbroken, walking in is seen)
Sonia: Dingo!
Dingo: Is what you said...Really true...? You'd be glad to be rid of me...?
Sonia: I...I uh...
(DIngo scowls sadly)
Dingo: It is true...And here I thought you were pretty...
(Sonia scowls then charges at Dingo)
(Sonia jumps into the air, getting ready to kick him)
(Dingo grabs her leg just as her foot is about to connect with her face)
Sonia: Huh?!
(Dingo throws her hard against the wall)
(Sonia falls to the floor, slumped over, unconscious)
(Dingo walks over to Sonia and picks her up)
(Dingo carries her to the garbage chute, opens the lid, then drops in)
Dingo: There...This is where you belong...
(The timer beeps)
(Dingo turns toward the other wall and sees the bomb)
Dingo: *shocked* Oh crap!
(A shot of the bomb, timer reading 3:39-3:38, is seen)
(DIngo runs over to the bomb)
Dingo: Okay...No time to panic...All I gotta do is pick the right wire to turn it off.. Got one chance...Choose the wrong one, and we're screwed...
(The timer beeps)
Dingo: AUGH!!! Why did Sonia have to do this to me?!
(Dingo looks at the pink wire)
*Fade*
(A montage of Sonia hurting Dingo ending with Sonia throwing the Moborus dart at Sleet is seen)
*Fade*
(Return to Previous shot)
(Dingo looks at the amber-yellow wire)
*Fade*
(A flashback shot of Sleet talking to Dingo is seen)
Sleet: *angry* Just what do you see in that hedgehog?!
DIngo: She's pretty and nice and---
Sleet: She wants you dead.
Dingo: *Shocked* N-no she doesn't!
Sleet: Dingo, all she knows about you is that you're one of Robotnik's henchman and that you practically drool over her. She could care less about you.
Dingo: Sonia isn't like that!
Sleet: I just know she's going to break your heart! Dingo, just... *sigh* Just be careful, alright?
*Fade*
(Return to previous shot)
(Dingo reaches for the amber-yellow wire then plucks out the end attached to the bomb)
(The LCD screen goes blank as the bomb deactivates)
(Dingo sighs in relief)
(A shot of the inside of Dingo's room is seen)
(Dingo opens the door and then walks in, over to his bed)
(Dingo pulls back the covers and then sits down his bed)
(Dingo takes off his shoe and boot)
(Dingo grabs the covers, and then pulls them over himself as he lies down on bed, front facing away from camera)
(The sound of Dingo crying softly is heard)
*Fade*
(A shot of the doorway into Dingo's room, in the morning, is seen)
(Sleet walks in, worried. He goes over to Dingo's bedside)
(Sleet sits down next to Dingo, facing away from him, completely wrapped in the blanket)
Sleet: Hey, you okay? You normally don't stay in bed this late...
Dingo: I'm fine...
(Sleet is silent for a bit)
Sleet: You missed an important meeting... One of the PATROLbots found a deactivated timebomb in the building...
Dingo: I know. I was the one who deactivated it.
(Sleet's eyes widen)
Dingo: You were right about Sonia... All she cared about was that I worked for Robotnik... She hated me... She wanted me dead... If Sonia didn't want me, then how could any girl...?
Sleet: *angry* Don't say that!!!
(Dingo's eyes widen)
Sleet: Dingo, you're sweet, kind, gentle, caring, loyal... It's her own fault that she doesn't see any of that! IF Sonia can't get past the fact that you work for Robotnik, well then, that bitch was never good enough for you!!
(Dingo remains silent for a few seconds)
(Slowly, Dingo turns over and sits up, letting the blanket fall away from his head, keeping it wrapped around his shoulders)
(Dingo looks toward Sleet, eyes puffy)
Dingo: You really mean all that...?
Sleet: I meant every word.
(Dingo smiles softly)
Dingo: Sleet...Thank you...
(Sleet's eyes widen, a blush forming)
Sleet: *embarrased* I-it was nothing. All I did was point out your good points.
Dingo: I don't just mean for what ya' said.
(Dingo leans over towards Sleet)
Dingo: Sleet, you were always there for me when I needed you...
(Dingo reaches forward and gently slides off Sleet's shoulder pads, letting them fall to the ground)
Dingo: *as above action is done* No matter what happened...
(Gently, Dingo wraps his arms around Sleet's waist)
Dingo: You stood right by me...
(Dingo lovingly nuzzles Sleet's neck)
(Sleet gasps softly, his blush deepening)
(Dingo stops nuzzling)
(Sleet looks up longingly at Dingo, practically lovesick)
Dingo: I could nevah' have asked for a bettah' partner...
(As the below dialogue is said, Sleet slowly inches toward Dingo, on "other than", he closes his eyes)
Sleet: *whispering* And I...Could never....have asked....for anyone...other than....yo--
(The sound of a door slamming open is heard)
(Sleet, opening his eyes, and Dingo's eyes widen as they fall to the floor in surprise)
(A shot of Dingo laying on top of Sleet, still holding onto each other is seen)
Sleet: Ow...
(Dingo lets go of Sleet, propping himself up with his arms)
DIngo: You okay?
Sleet: Don't worry...I've been through worse...
Dr.Robotnik: *off-camera* I do hope I haven't interrupted anything.
(Dingo looks toward the voice)
(A shot of Robotnik standing in the doorway, scowling, is seen)
Dingo: Robotnik! Uh...
(Dingo quickly gets off of Sleet and faces Robotnik on his knees. Sleet sitting up just as fast)
Dingo: We weren't doing anything! *looking at Sleet* Right, Sleet?
Sleet: *blushing* What? Oh! Oh, yeah, we weren't doing anything!
Dr.Robotnik: Fine, then. If you two aren't "doing anything" then I have a mission for you.
(Robotnik tosses two plane tickets at Sleet)
(Sleet catches them)
Dr.Robotnik: A representative from the Kingdom of Acorn is waiting in Starlight City with this year's tribute. I want you two to pick it up.
(Sleet examines the tickets)
Sleet: Sir, the return flight scheduled is three days after the flight there.
Dr.Robotnik: It was the only flight still available. Besides, I felt that a vacation was well-deserved.
Dingo: Gee, thanks Robotnik!
Dr.Robotnik: I meant a vacation for me from you.
Dingo: Oh.
*Fade*
(A shot of the inside of Resistance HQ is seen)
(Manic idly taps on his snare drum, distracted)
(A neon green glow fills the room)
Manic: *not looking* If you're looking for Sonic or Sonia, they're on a supply run.
Oracle of Delphius: *off-camera* Actually, Manic...
(Manic's eyes widen, and then he looks toward the glow)
(A shot of the Oracle, glow disapating, is seen)
Oracle of Delphius: I came to see you.
Manic: Oh...Hey, Orc...
Oracle of Delphius: You seem distracted. What seems to be bothering you?
Manic: *sigh* I always thought that Sleet and Dingo were just a couple of money-grubbing mercenaries, but when Sonia told me about Dingo panicing over Sleet, I realized that I would do the same thing over my sibs...Am I making any sense?
Oracle of Delphius: For the first time, you saw them not as enemies but as fellow mobians. You're making perfect sense. The world is not in black and white, hedgehog.
Manic: What do you mean?
Oracle of Delphius: I mean there is no such thing as pure good and evil. Our choices and experiences make us who we are. You may be the only one of the triplets who can understand that.
Manic: *sarcastically* Why? Because I'm the only one who lived in a sewer?
Oracle of Delphius: Because you were raised in a world where stealing and dishonesty were right. A great revelation will come to you soon, Manic. Remember what I told you.
(The Oracle starts to fade out, a green glow surrounding him)
Manic: WAIT!
Oracle of Delphius: *as he fades out* Remember....The world is not in black and white...
(Manic blinks in shock)
*Fade*
(The business class section of a plane is seen)
(A shot of Sleet, fast asleep, and Dingo, pressing his face against the window, visibibly excited, sitting next to each other in their seats is seen)
Dingo: Wow... Mobius looks so small from up here... You should see this, Sleet!
Sleet: Zzz...
(Dingo rolls his eyes, and then continues to look out the window)
(Dingo moves his right arm to get a better view)
(Sleet falls over to his left, his head resting on Dingo's chest)
(Dingo moves back to his seat then notices Sleet)
(Sleet subconsciously nuzzles Dingo's chest)
(Dingo blushes in shock)
*Fade*
(A flashback shot from Chap.1 of Sleet and Dingo sitting by the fire is seen)
*Fade*
(A shot of Dingo, blushing, is seen)
(Slowly, Dingo wraps his arms around Sleet)
(Sleet smiles  in his sleep, then nuzzles Dingo again)
(Dingo's blush deepens, then he smiles lovingly and nuzzles back)
(Slowly, Dingo closes his eyes and falls asleep)
*Fade*
(A shot of a dense forest is seen)
(Sleet walks in)
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