- The Blue Blur of Termina - A Sonic the Hedgehog/The Legend of Zelda crossover retelling of the game, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
- Mischief Makers: A Cybot's Tale - A novelization of the game, Mischief Makers.
- Impending Doom - A What-If story describing what happens if Sonic made a drastic mistake while storming Mad Gear.
- Sonic and the Return of Robotnik - A novelization of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, II and Metal.
- Sonic's Promise - A oneshot novelization of a sidequest in Sonic Unleashed.
If you like to read the full story, as released so far, here's a link, courtesy of me. For those of you who are on the fence on this, since I'm a nice guy, here's part of the first chapter.
Spoiler
"Man, what a weird day this was…"
Two months has passed since the Dark Gaia incident has transpired. After their latest victory against the nefarious Dr. Robotnik, things have been unusually quiet for Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends. With no word on the whereabouts of the infamous doctor after his last sightings deep within the Earth's crust, they've went their separate ways, if only for a little while. Child prodigy Miles Prower focused on his studies and tended to his machines in this peacetime. Other than one date with Sonic in early August, Amy Rose kept to herself, focusing on her boxercising regiment.
Sonic, on the other hand, opted for something more… adventurous. In the spirit of the situation, he decided to take an exploration tour through every continent in the world. He occasionally stopped by his old haunts, South and Christmas Islands, for a few days, to get together with his old chums. For the most part, he kept to himself, limiting his contact with his friends to a minimum.
One late afternoon in late September, he journeyed deep within the jungles of Adabat, in search for something - anything - to do. His six large quills swept lightly against each other as he walked, making quiet hollow sounds that gave a little echo. He carried a large, bright red bag on his back, filled with various souvenirs and knick-knacks from his travels. It swung loosely from side to side, brushing against the two smaller quills on his back. The ground felt hard and solid under his red sneakers. It left a few specks of dirt on the gold buckle and white socks.
A thick, humid fog lingered all around the dark and barren walkway, obscuring what little light that could beam down from the dense jungle canopy above. Faint calls and whistles rang out all around him; some were barely audible. Small puddles of mud and groundwater dotted the pathway, giving it a squishy feel to it.
As he trekked about, he spotted a group of large stone totem poles erected near the dirt path. He stopped in front of one and observed it. Each part of the four-tier structure bore different faces carved into its stony surfaces. The topmost part bore an exaggeratedly jovial smile. As Sonic looked the totem pole down, he noticed the expressions on them shifted from exaggerated joy to anger, to sadness, and finally to simple placidity.
"Weird…" he hummed. "Like those things from Green Hill…"
Shrugging his shoulders, he walked past the totem and walked further down the path. Similar stone arrow-shaped structures were nearby, lining the path in a way. Each structure stood in a circle of burnt ground, spewing small jets of fire around in a circular fashion. He could hear the faint sounds of a roaring waterfall off in the distance. In the near-silence of his surroundings, the waterfall sounded even louder than it normally would. A minute later, he finally arrived at a small clearing at the end of the path; Sonic came to a halt to survey the scenery.
The air in the clearing carried a vaguely wet feel to it. Only a few bushes and rocks dotted the ground, surrounded by the jungle. The sky overhead was dark and cloudy, with blue flashes of lightning cutting through. Large flocks of birds, each as vibrant as the sky itself, flew overhead while making loud calls in the vacant air. As he gazed upon the overcast sky, a sickening feeling welled up in him. Not since the whole issue with Metal Sonic has the sky appeared so… ominous. Before he could think further on the sign it was apparently presenting, a loud rumble suddenly rang out around him. Sonic snapped back into attention and looked around.
"Whoa, what the heck was that?" he thought.
Droplets began to rain down upon the clearing. At first, he thought the rumble was just a thunderclap, but then he heard the sound again, this time coming from his stomach.
"Oh." Putting his hands to his stomach, he sighed and gave a little chuckle. He hadn't eaten a nibble all day; he was much too focused on his travels to grab a bite to eat.
"Perhaps, I should take a short break before I head back to the village," he thought.
Looking around, he spotted a large boulder resting right in front of a tree out of the rain. Walking over to the massive stone, he leaped up and hopped on top of it. Reaching his hand over his shoulders, he unstrapped the bag from his back and set it down beside him. He reached in and took out two objects: one wrapped in aluminum foil; the other a bowl of red, sparkly gelatin sealed shut with a plastic lid. He set the gelatin beside him and started to tear apart the foil. As he opened the foil-wrapped object, a spicy scent filled his nostrils. It was a scent he was most familiar with, yet still made his mouth water every time. The aroma enveloped him as he removed the foil cover and tossed it aside.
Resting in the palm of his hands were a couple of jumbo franks, each wrapped in a crisp bun and slathered with a thick layer of chili. Little puffs of steam rose from the warm franks, lightly touching his muzzle. As the spicy aroma emitted by the twin chili dogs lingered in his nose, his mouth started to water. All he could think about was the chili dogs, biting down upon the chili dogs, savoring their every bit of flavor he could taste.
"Ah…" he uttered, letting out a sigh. "A chili dog: truly a hedgehog's best friend. Bon appétit, Sonic…"
Setting one of the chili dogs in the bowl next to the gelatin, he put his mouth to the other chili dog. Just as he
started to bite down on it, he suddenly heard a sharp, cracking sound off in the distance behind him.
He snapped back into attention and looked up from the meal. His ears twitched and pointed toward the slight shuffling and scraping near the bushes. Teeth clenched, he turned his head toward the noise. He spotted a faint reddish-purple light emanate from a bush at the other side of the clearing. The light hovered slightly off the ground, fading in and out of view. Sonic could only look on as the light flickered on and off, not unlike that of a lightning bug.
Just as he started to rise from his perch, the light abruptly faded away as suddenly as it appeared. Staring at the bush where the light glowed from for a few seconds longer, he sat back down and looked down to the ground. A heavy, weakening feeling lingered in his chest. He put his hand to his chest and sighed.
"Okay," he thought, "that was weird..."
During his travels through Adabat, he had seen many weird spectacles, but he has never seen anything this outlandish in this forest. Giving the bush one last glance, he shook his head and shrugged.
Setting his food aside, he reached into his bag and pulled out a blue notebook and a small pencil. Covered with many stickers of rings, springs and other stuff from his travels, the notebook was embroidered with his signature. Opening it, he turned to a clean page and started to write:
Sonic's Notes: 09/23/2007
He paused and put his hand to his chin. "Okay, what should I write about today?" he thought.
After giving it a little thought, he snapped his fingers and continued to write:
A ton of strange stuff happened today. First, I nearly got killed by a living suit of armor. Then a strange ghost musician appeared and taught me a song that nearly got me drowned. After that, I somehow woken a giant skeletal dinosaur and saved it from eternal shame somehow. Then, some strange old guy pretty much forced me to help him find some stupid treasure. During said expedition, I revived a huge masked ghost armed with a scythe and a lantern that shot out blue fireballs. After shooing it off, I managed to find the treasure. Turns out it was some stupid message about 'All that glisters isn't gold.' Wow, some message. What a waste of time."
He closed the notebook and let out a deep sigh.
"Well," he thought, "since they were only small lights, they shouldn't be anything bad... right?"
He looked over to the pair of chili dogs behind him.
"Okay…" His frown curled into a smile. "Time to eat!"
"Come on… where is she?"
He laid in wait from behind a bush on the wet grassy ground of the jungle, arms wrapped around his legs. He rested his face on his legs and sighed. His four huge, translucent wings drifted along with the strong stormy breeze. Various thoughts raced through the young fairy's mind: Where was his sister? Why isn't she here with him? Why was he even here in the first place? He wanted nothing to do with this; he just wanted to go back home.
Before he could contemplate any more on his current predicament, he heard a loud, hollow sound coming from behind. He glanced back and saw something blue from behind the bush. Piqued, he turned around and pushed some of the leaves back, careful not to make his presence known. The leaves from the bush brushed against his bare chest, tickling him ever so slightly. As he looked closer at the blue figure, he gave a little gasp.
"It's him…"
He saw a blue-colored hedgehog, clad in nothing but gloves and red shoes, sitting on top of a large boulder. A ray of sunshine rained down upon the figure, giving him an almost divine appearance. Two relatively long objects were in his hands, each wrapped in something that vaguely looked like silver.
As he looked him up and down, he noticed his bag sitting on the rock beside him. He closed his eyes a bit, noticing a whole cavalcade of materials barely sticking out from within. Rings, medals, keys and many others he could barely make out. From just a cursory look, he could see that the blue figure sure liked to collect stuff.
He watched as he slowly took off the silvery material from the objects, revealing what looks like a reddish-brown stick with a whitish-brown underside. He noticed a small cloud coming from the two silvery sticks; from what he saw on the hedgehog's face whatever the smoke was, he clearly must like it. As he gazed longer at the blue hedgehog's face, he gave a little gasp. The figure had the most vibrant green eyes he ever laid his eyes upon. Lost in thought, it seemed to gleam in the afternoon sunlight like a fresh-cleaned jewel. Before he could question his peculiar eyes any more, a quiet ringing sound rang out from behind him, followed by:
"Tael, is the coast clear?"
The voice was a bit high-pitched, yet airy in tone. He looked back and saw a pair of dark-brown eyes leer out from within the bush. The eyes, lined by a long braid of creamy-white hair, looked around before locking on to Tael.
"Tael," the voice muttered from the bush. The pair of eyes closed slightly, squinting at the fairy child. "You're alright?"
"Uh..." He squeaked, noticing that his cheeks were flushed a bright red shade, and quickly put his hands to his face. "Yeah, Tatl!" he said with a hurried nod. "I'm fine! Don't worry about me!"
"Um, why are your cheeks red, then?"
"Um, uh…" Tael said, stammering in his words before saying, "I-I, uh, think I'm just coming under the weather! Yeah, that's it! Just under the weather! It's nothing, really!"
"Okay…?" the voice said, trailing off before making a slight cough. "You spot anyone yet, bro?"
Tael nodded, giving a little sigh to himself. "Yeah, Sis, he's in the clearing now. You won't believe this, but I think he looks like that blue hedgehog guy from a couple months ago."
"The blue hedgehog?" Tatl said in disbelief. "Okay, I've gotta see him for myself!" With a blink, the eyes vanished into the bush, leaving in a quiet ring.
A few seconds of rustling later, Tatl slowly crawled out from the bush. She wore a bright yellow dress that barely reached halfway down her thighs, and stockings reaching well past her knees. Like him, she had four translucent wings; however, her wings were much larger in wingspan to better support her larger figure. Standing straight, she ran her gloved fingers through her cream-colored hair, brushing away the dirt and leaves caught within it. Tael saw beads of water roll down her skin, dripping down to the soft ground below.
Shaking her wings free of debris, Tatl walked up to Tael.
"Had a nice wash?" he asked, making a little smile.
"A long needed one..." She looked down at him and nodded, ringing the bells on her earrings and braid. "Is that blue hedgehog still there?"
"Yeah," Tael said with a nod.
Walking past Tael, she crouched down on her knees in front of the bush. Brushing aside the leaves, she poked her head out and spotted the blue hedgehog. Tilting her head up and down, she sighed.
"Well, I'll be damned," she said with a small smile. "It's actually him..."
Poking her head back in, Tatl raised her hand to her face, brushing lightly against her cheek. "Hmm..." she started, staring up towards the sky. "I guess this will be easier than I thought!"
"Uh, Tatl?" Tael leaned over to his sister. She bore a vacant, spacey smile on her face, as if she was off in her own world. Her eyes started to drift off in two different directions, as a spot of drool rolled down from her mouth.
Concerned, he waved his hand in front of her face. "Are you okay?" Tael asked, bearing a worried look on his face. "Hello? Tatl? Are you there?"
Tatl abruptly snapped back to attention, looking around in confusion. "Huh? What happened?"
"You were zoning out again, Sis," Tael said, scratching the back of his head. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm more than alright..." She smirked and gave a little cackle. "I've just thought up an excellent plan to get that hedgehog's stuff!"
"Um, are you sure we should do this? I mean, he's busy minding his own business an-!"
"Why not?" Tatl asked. "He doesn't look so strong with those noodle limbs of his. Okay, sure, he trashed that giant metal skulltula a couple months ago, but I'm certain we could both take him if he tries to fight back. Besides, he should've known better than to wander around in a dark jungle alone, anyway."
Tael sighed. "Well, I guess you're right about that..."
"Exactly, little bro. Anyway, here's the plan." Tatl reached into her stocking and pulled out a large knife, covered with small scratches and dents, appeared in her hand. "You'll stay here and play that whole "fake injury" routine, like last time. I'll go further up the path and hide in the treetops. When the hedgehog's guard is down, I'll sneak up and take him out with this knife I found in the village. Once he's knocked out, we'll swoop in, take the bag, and get out of there before that hedgehog wakes up! Got it?"
"Uh, you're sure this will work?" He looked back over at the blue hedgehog's general direction and shuddered. "I mean, he looks pretty dangerous and stuff. He trashed that metal skulltula like it was nothing! Besides, what if he doesn't fall for that trick? What if he just ignores me and move on? What if he tries to rob and takes advantage of me? What if-"
"Oh, relax." She rested her hand on his shoulder. Running her fingers through his reddish-purple hair, she flashed a smile. "You panic way too much, kid. You seriously need to learn to relax, okay? Besides, it worked before, remember?"
"Okay, I guess… as long as we don't kill him, right?"
"Of course, we won't kill him!" she yelled. "You honestly think I'd stoop to killing?"
"What? O-of course n-"
"Good, now, be quiet." She placed her hand over his mouth. "He's about to turn around... remember the plan?"
Tael nodded. "Yeah, Tatl."
"Good." She stood up and brushed off her knees. "Stay here, do what I told ya and please don't screw this up!" With a powerful flap of her wings, she took off into the forest treetops.
"Alright, sis…" Tael breathed a sigh of exasperation. "I just want to get this over with, so I can go home…"
Finishing his lunch, Sonic wrapped up the leftovers and placed it back in his bag. Strapping it back onto his back, careful not to puncture it with his quills, he sighed.
"Alrighty, then, time to head back to the village for the night," he thought, shaking his quills. "I've had more than enough stupid stuff today to last me a few lifetimes..."
Just as he turned around to head back to the nearest village, he suddenly heard a loud rustling coming from behind him. Sonic looked up to the sky and sighed.
"Ugh..." he thought, "Now, what?"
Sonic looked around, trying to locate the source of the ringing, and noticed a rustling bush off in the distance. He slowly approached the plant, careful not to make too much noise. His ears twitched around, eyes locked ahead. As he went closer and closer, he could hear faint whimpers sound out from within its leafy foliage. He brushed some of the leaves aside, just enough for him to poke his face through.
A little boy sat on the forest floor just a couple feet away, his knees obscuring his face from his view. The boy, clad in a purple shirt and shorts, was covered head to toe in splotches of dirt and foliage. Unlike any child he saw, however, the boy had four huge, insectile wings on his back, swaying lightly in the breeze. Despite his disheveled appearance, a reddish light still managed to emanate from the child's reddish-purple hair.
"Hey, kid!" Sonic shouted, poking his head in through the hole. "Are you alright?"
"Huh?" The child wiped his face and looked up at Sonic. His eyes, purple as his skin, were a little blood-shot. It appeared that the kid was crying for quite a while. "W-who are you, m-mister?"
With one quick karate chop, Sonic sliced his way through the hole, splitting the bush in half. "What the heck are you doing here by yourself, kid?" he asked, tossing the bush pieces aside. "Don't you know how dangerous this jungle is? How did you wind up here in the first place?"
The child looked around, a miserable look on his face, before shrugging his shoulders weakly. "I-I don't know, mister. One minute, I was - uh - playing in the beaches, next minute... I'm here in this jungle, all alone…"
Sonic narrowed his eyes. There was just something about this kid's story that just didn't seem right to him at all. "Hold up," he said quizzically, folding his arms, "don't you have any parents, kid? I don't see why they wouldn't be looking for you."
The child looked down to the ground and shook his head. "I don't have any parents, sir. They both died when I was only a baby."
Sonic could practically feel his heart sink as the words sank into his mind. With a slight frown on his face, he calmly asked, "Wait, so you're an orphan? You don't have anyone taking care of you?"
The kid shook his head. "I have an older sister, sir."
Sonic raised his eyebrows. "Okay, how old is your sister, then?"
"She's fifteen years old. I'm only eleven..."
Sonic freed his arms and put his hands to his chin. It appears the child's sister- if he really had one, that is - is missing as well. Confused, he calmly asked, "Okay, where have you last seen her? The beach?"
The child raised his hand and pointed at Sonic. "I think it was in the clearing, sir, further up the path."
"Alright, then, kid, I'll help you find your sister. It's the least I can do." Sonic gave a thumbs-up. "The name's
Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. What's yours, kid?"
"Um," Tael murmured as he rose up from the ground, "m-my name is Tael, mister."
"Hey, now!" Sonic shouted abruptly, holding his hands in front of him. "There's no need for the formalities with me, kid. Just call me Sonic, alright?"
"Sorry, mist-" Tael paused, and then corrected, "I mean, Sonic, just Sonic. Got it." His frown curled into a little smile.
"No problem, Tael," Sonic cheered, flashing a toothy smile. The heavy feeling in his heart started to ease off as he saw Tael's smile. "Now then, let's go find your sister! We should go back to the village to see if anyone knows you, alright?"
"Uh, yeah," Tael said with a nod, "right, Sonic."
Just then, a loud, tinny voice rang out from behind them.
"Two targets sighted: One of which are of unknown origin."
"What the…"
Sonic looked back and saw a large, metallic figure in the clearing. It had the general shape of a blue metallic man, as big as the boulder he sat on. Its torso resembled a steel-blue spinning top with huge silver buttons dotting its body. Its legs were small and stubby compared to the rest of its body; its arms, on the other hand had large forearms. On top of its top-like body was a structure that barely counted as a head: its only feature were a pair of red "eyes" that emanated a soft light.
Sonic gritted his teeth. "Another one of those Egg Fighter 'bots? He still has those scrapheaps?" He felt a slight tug on his bag; he looked back and saw Tael, with a worried look on his face once more.
"What's the matter, Sonic?" Tael said warily. "What's that weird metal man?"
"Nothing, it's just one of those Egg Fighter things ol' Robuttnik has lying around here. You know who he is, right?"
Tael only shook his head. "Never heard of him, sir-I mean, Sonic."
Sonic hummed. "Well, I'll give you the lowdown on ol' Eggbelly later. Now, listen, kid." Sonic knelt down in front of him, removing the bag from his back. "I want you to take this and stay right here while I go take care of that badnik, okay? Last thing I want is for you to get hurt in the crossfire."
"O-okay, Sonic." He nodded and quickly hid behind the bush.
Smirking, he turned his attention back to the patrolling Egg Fighter. Sucking in a breath of air, he crouched down to the ground, leaning on one knee. One hand to the ground, he looked ahead, lock on the robot. He looked carefully at the robot's every movement, the way it trotted, the way it looked around for its target. Once he was sure of how to approach it, he crouched down into fetal position. Hands over his face, he closed his eyes and curled into a ball. In one quick motion downwards, he started to spin in place.
"Ready..."
As he spun faster and faster, he heard a loud buzzing sound from ahead of him.
"Target sighted: Sonic the Hedgehog. Objective: Immediate Extermination."
Now the robot knew of his presence.
"Set…"
Sticking out his ears as far as he could, he tilted from side to side, adjusting himself in the direction the buzz was coming from. A cloud of dust started to gather all around as he spun. A few seconds in, he could hear the buzz grow louder, masking the near-silent footsteps the source was making. His ears twitched; now, he was ready.
"Go!"
He launched forward as quick as a blur. He opened his eyes for a brief moment; first, he saw the Egg Fighters jump in panic. Next, all he saw were a few bundles of colored wires with a slit-shaped hole in front. An even louder, though brief buzz sounded off as he went through the wires and gears. Next thing he knew, he was back on the forest ground, down on one knee and no worse for wear. Just as he started to stand up, a loud explosion sounded off. The forest turned red and white as a fireball grew in size, wiping out everything in its path. Then, just as abrupt as it appeared, the fireball dissipated.
As he brushed off the dirt and soot on his body, a long metal rod crashed down next to his feet. Looking down, he reached and picked up the rod. A little hot to the touch, Sonic looked closely at it before smirking; it was the burnt remains of the Egg Fighter.
Brushing his gloves of, he scoffed, "Yet another addition to the scrap pile. Ah well…" He tossed the rod over his shoulder like it was a piece of trash.
"T-t-t-that was incredible!"
Sonic looked back and saw Tael, mouth agape in shock. "W-what was that thing you just did to the metal man? H-h-how did you move so fast?"
Sonic made a slight grin. "Oh, that? Eh, that was just the Spin Attack, nothing special."
Tael dropped his shoulders. "B-but, what do you mean, 'nothing special'? You practically teleported, Sonic! You were like a blur!"
Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'm just that fast!"
As he was about to grab his bag, something peculiar appeared off the corner of his eye. A bright red light emanated from Tael's face. Sonic raised his eyebrow at seeing the odd spectacle. He's seen people blush before - for one reason or another - but he has never seen anyone do it so brightly.
"Hey, Tael, are you alright?" he called out.
Tael looked up, redness abruptly subsided. "Y-yes, Sonic. Why did you ask?"
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "No reason?" He shook his head, saying, "Anyway, let's go find your sister."
"Um, okay!" He said with a slight nod.
Just as they started to leave the clearing, a loud jingle abruptly sounded out. Sonic jumped back and balled his fists.
"Wh-What was that?" Tael yelled.
Just as Sonic turned his head around to discern what was going on, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his shoulder from behind.
"Aah-!"
He fell down on his knees with a thud. He put his hand on his shoulder and felt it; blood soaked onto his glove, giving it a pinkish color. His arm twitched from the sharp pangs of pain surging through it.
"Tael? Tael – augh – where are you?"
He looked back as much as he could and saw a winged girl standing over him. Bright yellow in skin color, she bore a toothy, sinister smirk on her face. His vision started to dim as he tried to get a good look at the girl. Before he could fathom what was going on, he saw the girl raise her arms over her head. Looking up, he saw a gray, tube-shaped object in her grasp. It was the Egg Fighter piece.
"What the…?"
Before he could reach his unharmed arm out to defend himself, the girl brought the object down upon his head. The last thing he heard before the object struck was a hollow, breaking sound.
"Man, what a weird day this was…"
Two months has passed since the Dark Gaia incident has transpired. After their latest victory against the nefarious Dr. Robotnik, things have been unusually quiet for Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends. With no word on the whereabouts of the infamous doctor after his last sightings deep within the Earth's crust, they've went their separate ways, if only for a little while. Child prodigy Miles Prower focused on his studies and tended to his machines in this peacetime. Other than one date with Sonic in early August, Amy Rose kept to herself, focusing on her boxercising regiment.
Sonic, on the other hand, opted for something more… adventurous. In the spirit of the situation, he decided to take an exploration tour through every continent in the world. He occasionally stopped by his old haunts, South and Christmas Islands, for a few days, to get together with his old chums. For the most part, he kept to himself, limiting his contact with his friends to a minimum.
One late afternoon in late September, he journeyed deep within the jungles of Adabat, in search for something - anything - to do. His six large quills swept lightly against each other as he walked, making quiet hollow sounds that gave a little echo. He carried a large, bright red bag on his back, filled with various souvenirs and knick-knacks from his travels. It swung loosely from side to side, brushing against the two smaller quills on his back. The ground felt hard and solid under his red sneakers. It left a few specks of dirt on the gold buckle and white socks.
A thick, humid fog lingered all around the dark and barren walkway, obscuring what little light that could beam down from the dense jungle canopy above. Faint calls and whistles rang out all around him; some were barely audible. Small puddles of mud and groundwater dotted the pathway, giving it a squishy feel to it.
As he trekked about, he spotted a group of large stone totem poles erected near the dirt path. He stopped in front of one and observed it. Each part of the four-tier structure bore different faces carved into its stony surfaces. The topmost part bore an exaggeratedly jovial smile. As Sonic looked the totem pole down, he noticed the expressions on them shifted from exaggerated joy to anger, to sadness, and finally to simple placidity.
"Weird…" he hummed. "Like those things from Green Hill…"
Shrugging his shoulders, he walked past the totem and walked further down the path. Similar stone arrow-shaped structures were nearby, lining the path in a way. Each structure stood in a circle of burnt ground, spewing small jets of fire around in a circular fashion. He could hear the faint sounds of a roaring waterfall off in the distance. In the near-silence of his surroundings, the waterfall sounded even louder than it normally would. A minute later, he finally arrived at a small clearing at the end of the path; Sonic came to a halt to survey the scenery.
The air in the clearing carried a vaguely wet feel to it. Only a few bushes and rocks dotted the ground, surrounded by the jungle. The sky overhead was dark and cloudy, with blue flashes of lightning cutting through. Large flocks of birds, each as vibrant as the sky itself, flew overhead while making loud calls in the vacant air. As he gazed upon the overcast sky, a sickening feeling welled up in him. Not since the whole issue with Metal Sonic has the sky appeared so… ominous. Before he could think further on the sign it was apparently presenting, a loud rumble suddenly rang out around him. Sonic snapped back into attention and looked around.
"Whoa, what the heck was that?" he thought.
Droplets began to rain down upon the clearing. At first, he thought the rumble was just a thunderclap, but then he heard the sound again, this time coming from his stomach.
"Oh." Putting his hands to his stomach, he sighed and gave a little chuckle. He hadn't eaten a nibble all day; he was much too focused on his travels to grab a bite to eat.
"Perhaps, I should take a short break before I head back to the village," he thought.
Looking around, he spotted a large boulder resting right in front of a tree out of the rain. Walking over to the massive stone, he leaped up and hopped on top of it. Reaching his hand over his shoulders, he unstrapped the bag from his back and set it down beside him. He reached in and took out two objects: one wrapped in aluminum foil; the other a bowl of red, sparkly gelatin sealed shut with a plastic lid. He set the gelatin beside him and started to tear apart the foil. As he opened the foil-wrapped object, a spicy scent filled his nostrils. It was a scent he was most familiar with, yet still made his mouth water every time. The aroma enveloped him as he removed the foil cover and tossed it aside.
Resting in the palm of his hands were a couple of jumbo franks, each wrapped in a crisp bun and slathered with a thick layer of chili. Little puffs of steam rose from the warm franks, lightly touching his muzzle. As the spicy aroma emitted by the twin chili dogs lingered in his nose, his mouth started to water. All he could think about was the chili dogs, biting down upon the chili dogs, savoring their every bit of flavor he could taste.
"Ah…" he uttered, letting out a sigh. "A chili dog: truly a hedgehog's best friend. Bon appétit, Sonic…"
Setting one of the chili dogs in the bowl next to the gelatin, he put his mouth to the other chili dog. Just as he
started to bite down on it, he suddenly heard a sharp, cracking sound off in the distance behind him.
He snapped back into attention and looked up from the meal. His ears twitched and pointed toward the slight shuffling and scraping near the bushes. Teeth clenched, he turned his head toward the noise. He spotted a faint reddish-purple light emanate from a bush at the other side of the clearing. The light hovered slightly off the ground, fading in and out of view. Sonic could only look on as the light flickered on and off, not unlike that of a lightning bug.
Just as he started to rise from his perch, the light abruptly faded away as suddenly as it appeared. Staring at the bush where the light glowed from for a few seconds longer, he sat back down and looked down to the ground. A heavy, weakening feeling lingered in his chest. He put his hand to his chest and sighed.
"Okay," he thought, "that was weird..."
During his travels through Adabat, he had seen many weird spectacles, but he has never seen anything this outlandish in this forest. Giving the bush one last glance, he shook his head and shrugged.
Setting his food aside, he reached into his bag and pulled out a blue notebook and a small pencil. Covered with many stickers of rings, springs and other stuff from his travels, the notebook was embroidered with his signature. Opening it, he turned to a clean page and started to write:
Sonic's Notes: 09/23/2007
He paused and put his hand to his chin. "Okay, what should I write about today?" he thought.
After giving it a little thought, he snapped his fingers and continued to write:
A ton of strange stuff happened today. First, I nearly got killed by a living suit of armor. Then a strange ghost musician appeared and taught me a song that nearly got me drowned. After that, I somehow woken a giant skeletal dinosaur and saved it from eternal shame somehow. Then, some strange old guy pretty much forced me to help him find some stupid treasure. During said expedition, I revived a huge masked ghost armed with a scythe and a lantern that shot out blue fireballs. After shooing it off, I managed to find the treasure. Turns out it was some stupid message about 'All that glisters isn't gold.' Wow, some message. What a waste of time."
He closed the notebook and let out a deep sigh.
"Well," he thought, "since they were only small lights, they shouldn't be anything bad... right?"
He looked over to the pair of chili dogs behind him.
"Okay…" His frown curled into a smile. "Time to eat!"
"Come on… where is she?"
He laid in wait from behind a bush on the wet grassy ground of the jungle, arms wrapped around his legs. He rested his face on his legs and sighed. His four huge, translucent wings drifted along with the strong stormy breeze. Various thoughts raced through the young fairy's mind: Where was his sister? Why isn't she here with him? Why was he even here in the first place? He wanted nothing to do with this; he just wanted to go back home.
Before he could contemplate any more on his current predicament, he heard a loud, hollow sound coming from behind. He glanced back and saw something blue from behind the bush. Piqued, he turned around and pushed some of the leaves back, careful not to make his presence known. The leaves from the bush brushed against his bare chest, tickling him ever so slightly. As he looked closer at the blue figure, he gave a little gasp.
"It's him…"
He saw a blue-colored hedgehog, clad in nothing but gloves and red shoes, sitting on top of a large boulder. A ray of sunshine rained down upon the figure, giving him an almost divine appearance. Two relatively long objects were in his hands, each wrapped in something that vaguely looked like silver.
As he looked him up and down, he noticed his bag sitting on the rock beside him. He closed his eyes a bit, noticing a whole cavalcade of materials barely sticking out from within. Rings, medals, keys and many others he could barely make out. From just a cursory look, he could see that the blue figure sure liked to collect stuff.
He watched as he slowly took off the silvery material from the objects, revealing what looks like a reddish-brown stick with a whitish-brown underside. He noticed a small cloud coming from the two silvery sticks; from what he saw on the hedgehog's face whatever the smoke was, he clearly must like it. As he gazed longer at the blue hedgehog's face, he gave a little gasp. The figure had the most vibrant green eyes he ever laid his eyes upon. Lost in thought, it seemed to gleam in the afternoon sunlight like a fresh-cleaned jewel. Before he could question his peculiar eyes any more, a quiet ringing sound rang out from behind him, followed by:
"Tael, is the coast clear?"
The voice was a bit high-pitched, yet airy in tone. He looked back and saw a pair of dark-brown eyes leer out from within the bush. The eyes, lined by a long braid of creamy-white hair, looked around before locking on to Tael.
"Tael," the voice muttered from the bush. The pair of eyes closed slightly, squinting at the fairy child. "You're alright?"
"Uh..." He squeaked, noticing that his cheeks were flushed a bright red shade, and quickly put his hands to his face. "Yeah, Tatl!" he said with a hurried nod. "I'm fine! Don't worry about me!"
"Um, why are your cheeks red, then?"
"Um, uh…" Tael said, stammering in his words before saying, "I-I, uh, think I'm just coming under the weather! Yeah, that's it! Just under the weather! It's nothing, really!"
"Okay…?" the voice said, trailing off before making a slight cough. "You spot anyone yet, bro?"
Tael nodded, giving a little sigh to himself. "Yeah, Sis, he's in the clearing now. You won't believe this, but I think he looks like that blue hedgehog guy from a couple months ago."
"The blue hedgehog?" Tatl said in disbelief. "Okay, I've gotta see him for myself!" With a blink, the eyes vanished into the bush, leaving in a quiet ring.
A few seconds of rustling later, Tatl slowly crawled out from the bush. She wore a bright yellow dress that barely reached halfway down her thighs, and stockings reaching well past her knees. Like him, she had four translucent wings; however, her wings were much larger in wingspan to better support her larger figure. Standing straight, she ran her gloved fingers through her cream-colored hair, brushing away the dirt and leaves caught within it. Tael saw beads of water roll down her skin, dripping down to the soft ground below.
Shaking her wings free of debris, Tatl walked up to Tael.
"Had a nice wash?" he asked, making a little smile.
"A long needed one..." She looked down at him and nodded, ringing the bells on her earrings and braid. "Is that blue hedgehog still there?"
"Yeah," Tael said with a nod.
Walking past Tael, she crouched down on her knees in front of the bush. Brushing aside the leaves, she poked her head out and spotted the blue hedgehog. Tilting her head up and down, she sighed.
"Well, I'll be damned," she said with a small smile. "It's actually him..."
Poking her head back in, Tatl raised her hand to her face, brushing lightly against her cheek. "Hmm..." she started, staring up towards the sky. "I guess this will be easier than I thought!"
"Uh, Tatl?" Tael leaned over to his sister. She bore a vacant, spacey smile on her face, as if she was off in her own world. Her eyes started to drift off in two different directions, as a spot of drool rolled down from her mouth.
Concerned, he waved his hand in front of her face. "Are you okay?" Tael asked, bearing a worried look on his face. "Hello? Tatl? Are you there?"
Tatl abruptly snapped back to attention, looking around in confusion. "Huh? What happened?"
"You were zoning out again, Sis," Tael said, scratching the back of his head. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm more than alright..." She smirked and gave a little cackle. "I've just thought up an excellent plan to get that hedgehog's stuff!"
"Um, are you sure we should do this? I mean, he's busy minding his own business an-!"
"Why not?" Tatl asked. "He doesn't look so strong with those noodle limbs of his. Okay, sure, he trashed that giant metal skulltula a couple months ago, but I'm certain we could both take him if he tries to fight back. Besides, he should've known better than to wander around in a dark jungle alone, anyway."
Tael sighed. "Well, I guess you're right about that..."
"Exactly, little bro. Anyway, here's the plan." Tatl reached into her stocking and pulled out a large knife, covered with small scratches and dents, appeared in her hand. "You'll stay here and play that whole "fake injury" routine, like last time. I'll go further up the path and hide in the treetops. When the hedgehog's guard is down, I'll sneak up and take him out with this knife I found in the village. Once he's knocked out, we'll swoop in, take the bag, and get out of there before that hedgehog wakes up! Got it?"
"Uh, you're sure this will work?" He looked back over at the blue hedgehog's general direction and shuddered. "I mean, he looks pretty dangerous and stuff. He trashed that metal skulltula like it was nothing! Besides, what if he doesn't fall for that trick? What if he just ignores me and move on? What if he tries to rob and takes advantage of me? What if-"
"Oh, relax." She rested her hand on his shoulder. Running her fingers through his reddish-purple hair, she flashed a smile. "You panic way too much, kid. You seriously need to learn to relax, okay? Besides, it worked before, remember?"
"Okay, I guess… as long as we don't kill him, right?"
"Of course, we won't kill him!" she yelled. "You honestly think I'd stoop to killing?"
"What? O-of course n-"
"Good, now, be quiet." She placed her hand over his mouth. "He's about to turn around... remember the plan?"
Tael nodded. "Yeah, Tatl."
"Good." She stood up and brushed off her knees. "Stay here, do what I told ya and please don't screw this up!" With a powerful flap of her wings, she took off into the forest treetops.
"Alright, sis…" Tael breathed a sigh of exasperation. "I just want to get this over with, so I can go home…"
Finishing his lunch, Sonic wrapped up the leftovers and placed it back in his bag. Strapping it back onto his back, careful not to puncture it with his quills, he sighed.
"Alrighty, then, time to head back to the village for the night," he thought, shaking his quills. "I've had more than enough stupid stuff today to last me a few lifetimes..."
Just as he turned around to head back to the nearest village, he suddenly heard a loud rustling coming from behind him. Sonic looked up to the sky and sighed.
"Ugh..." he thought, "Now, what?"
Sonic looked around, trying to locate the source of the ringing, and noticed a rustling bush off in the distance. He slowly approached the plant, careful not to make too much noise. His ears twitched around, eyes locked ahead. As he went closer and closer, he could hear faint whimpers sound out from within its leafy foliage. He brushed some of the leaves aside, just enough for him to poke his face through.
A little boy sat on the forest floor just a couple feet away, his knees obscuring his face from his view. The boy, clad in a purple shirt and shorts, was covered head to toe in splotches of dirt and foliage. Unlike any child he saw, however, the boy had four huge, insectile wings on his back, swaying lightly in the breeze. Despite his disheveled appearance, a reddish light still managed to emanate from the child's reddish-purple hair.
"Hey, kid!" Sonic shouted, poking his head in through the hole. "Are you alright?"
"Huh?" The child wiped his face and looked up at Sonic. His eyes, purple as his skin, were a little blood-shot. It appeared that the kid was crying for quite a while. "W-who are you, m-mister?"
With one quick karate chop, Sonic sliced his way through the hole, splitting the bush in half. "What the heck are you doing here by yourself, kid?" he asked, tossing the bush pieces aside. "Don't you know how dangerous this jungle is? How did you wind up here in the first place?"
The child looked around, a miserable look on his face, before shrugging his shoulders weakly. "I-I don't know, mister. One minute, I was - uh - playing in the beaches, next minute... I'm here in this jungle, all alone…"
Sonic narrowed his eyes. There was just something about this kid's story that just didn't seem right to him at all. "Hold up," he said quizzically, folding his arms, "don't you have any parents, kid? I don't see why they wouldn't be looking for you."
The child looked down to the ground and shook his head. "I don't have any parents, sir. They both died when I was only a baby."
Sonic could practically feel his heart sink as the words sank into his mind. With a slight frown on his face, he calmly asked, "Wait, so you're an orphan? You don't have anyone taking care of you?"
The kid shook his head. "I have an older sister, sir."
Sonic raised his eyebrows. "Okay, how old is your sister, then?"
"She's fifteen years old. I'm only eleven..."
Sonic freed his arms and put his hands to his chin. It appears the child's sister- if he really had one, that is - is missing as well. Confused, he calmly asked, "Okay, where have you last seen her? The beach?"
The child raised his hand and pointed at Sonic. "I think it was in the clearing, sir, further up the path."
"Alright, then, kid, I'll help you find your sister. It's the least I can do." Sonic gave a thumbs-up. "The name's
Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. What's yours, kid?"
"Um," Tael murmured as he rose up from the ground, "m-my name is Tael, mister."
"Hey, now!" Sonic shouted abruptly, holding his hands in front of him. "There's no need for the formalities with me, kid. Just call me Sonic, alright?"
"Sorry, mist-" Tael paused, and then corrected, "I mean, Sonic, just Sonic. Got it." His frown curled into a little smile.
"No problem, Tael," Sonic cheered, flashing a toothy smile. The heavy feeling in his heart started to ease off as he saw Tael's smile. "Now then, let's go find your sister! We should go back to the village to see if anyone knows you, alright?"
"Uh, yeah," Tael said with a nod, "right, Sonic."
Just then, a loud, tinny voice rang out from behind them.
"Two targets sighted: One of which are of unknown origin."
"What the…"
Sonic looked back and saw a large, metallic figure in the clearing. It had the general shape of a blue metallic man, as big as the boulder he sat on. Its torso resembled a steel-blue spinning top with huge silver buttons dotting its body. Its legs were small and stubby compared to the rest of its body; its arms, on the other hand had large forearms. On top of its top-like body was a structure that barely counted as a head: its only feature were a pair of red "eyes" that emanated a soft light.
Sonic gritted his teeth. "Another one of those Egg Fighter 'bots? He still has those scrapheaps?" He felt a slight tug on his bag; he looked back and saw Tael, with a worried look on his face once more.
"What's the matter, Sonic?" Tael said warily. "What's that weird metal man?"
"Nothing, it's just one of those Egg Fighter things ol' Robuttnik has lying around here. You know who he is, right?"
Tael only shook his head. "Never heard of him, sir-I mean, Sonic."
Sonic hummed. "Well, I'll give you the lowdown on ol' Eggbelly later. Now, listen, kid." Sonic knelt down in front of him, removing the bag from his back. "I want you to take this and stay right here while I go take care of that badnik, okay? Last thing I want is for you to get hurt in the crossfire."
"O-okay, Sonic." He nodded and quickly hid behind the bush.
Smirking, he turned his attention back to the patrolling Egg Fighter. Sucking in a breath of air, he crouched down to the ground, leaning on one knee. One hand to the ground, he looked ahead, lock on the robot. He looked carefully at the robot's every movement, the way it trotted, the way it looked around for its target. Once he was sure of how to approach it, he crouched down into fetal position. Hands over his face, he closed his eyes and curled into a ball. In one quick motion downwards, he started to spin in place.
"Ready..."
As he spun faster and faster, he heard a loud buzzing sound from ahead of him.
"Target sighted: Sonic the Hedgehog. Objective: Immediate Extermination."
Now the robot knew of his presence.
"Set…"
Sticking out his ears as far as he could, he tilted from side to side, adjusting himself in the direction the buzz was coming from. A cloud of dust started to gather all around as he spun. A few seconds in, he could hear the buzz grow louder, masking the near-silent footsteps the source was making. His ears twitched; now, he was ready.
"Go!"
He launched forward as quick as a blur. He opened his eyes for a brief moment; first, he saw the Egg Fighters jump in panic. Next, all he saw were a few bundles of colored wires with a slit-shaped hole in front. An even louder, though brief buzz sounded off as he went through the wires and gears. Next thing he knew, he was back on the forest ground, down on one knee and no worse for wear. Just as he started to stand up, a loud explosion sounded off. The forest turned red and white as a fireball grew in size, wiping out everything in its path. Then, just as abrupt as it appeared, the fireball dissipated.
As he brushed off the dirt and soot on his body, a long metal rod crashed down next to his feet. Looking down, he reached and picked up the rod. A little hot to the touch, Sonic looked closely at it before smirking; it was the burnt remains of the Egg Fighter.
Brushing his gloves of, he scoffed, "Yet another addition to the scrap pile. Ah well…" He tossed the rod over his shoulder like it was a piece of trash.
"T-t-t-that was incredible!"
Sonic looked back and saw Tael, mouth agape in shock. "W-what was that thing you just did to the metal man? H-h-how did you move so fast?"
Sonic made a slight grin. "Oh, that? Eh, that was just the Spin Attack, nothing special."
Tael dropped his shoulders. "B-but, what do you mean, 'nothing special'? You practically teleported, Sonic! You were like a blur!"
Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'm just that fast!"
As he was about to grab his bag, something peculiar appeared off the corner of his eye. A bright red light emanated from Tael's face. Sonic raised his eyebrow at seeing the odd spectacle. He's seen people blush before - for one reason or another - but he has never seen anyone do it so brightly.
"Hey, Tael, are you alright?" he called out.
Tael looked up, redness abruptly subsided. "Y-yes, Sonic. Why did you ask?"
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "No reason?" He shook his head, saying, "Anyway, let's go find your sister."
"Um, okay!" He said with a slight nod.
Just as they started to leave the clearing, a loud jingle abruptly sounded out. Sonic jumped back and balled his fists.
"Wh-What was that?" Tael yelled.
Just as Sonic turned his head around to discern what was going on, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his shoulder from behind.
"Aah-!"
He fell down on his knees with a thud. He put his hand on his shoulder and felt it; blood soaked onto his glove, giving it a pinkish color. His arm twitched from the sharp pangs of pain surging through it.
"Tael? Tael – augh – where are you?"
He looked back as much as he could and saw a winged girl standing over him. Bright yellow in skin color, she bore a toothy, sinister smirk on her face. His vision started to dim as he tried to get a good look at the girl. Before he could fathom what was going on, he saw the girl raise her arms over her head. Looking up, he saw a gray, tube-shaped object in her grasp. It was the Egg Fighter piece.
"What the…?"
Before he could reach his unharmed arm out to defend himself, the girl brought the object down upon his head. The last thing he heard before the object struck was a hollow, breaking sound.
Alrighty, so, if you have any questions, advice or concerns about any of my stories that you wish to bring up, feel free to post them. With me, constructive criticism is very much appreciated, so don't be afraid to fire away. Just refrain from insulting me, okay?.
So, do you wish to share your thoughts, friend?
Edited by Komodin, 05 November 2012 - 03:05 AM.
