Sonic The Hedgehog Fanfiction Entry by Dustinman 77 (dustin lawson) Sonic, Tails, etc. are İSega. Princess Sally and others İDic, Archie, and whatever. Gawain, Dimiter and Jakob are İMe! Shoutout to K.M. Hollar, whom wrote the beginning. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Honor Among Hedgehogs ¤¤§¤¤ The force struck him hard and fast. Mecha's fist slammed into Sonic's face, sending him hurling over the cliff. As he fell, he could hear the screams of Sally and Tails at the top, as the evil robot no doubt intended to kill them, or at least kidnap them. The cliff was massive. Sonic could feel the G-force against his face as he fell, and could see the roaring waterfall rushing down beside him. Then he hit the water. 'Belly flop'. Pain rushed through his body, and he curled into a ball to make it stop. When he pulled his head up, he didn't know where he was. All the water looked the same. He couldn't tell the difference between up and down. He swam through the murky water, trying to find some indication of which way the surface was. Suddenly, he felt a great force pushing him. He tried to get away, but he was trapped. He was under the waterfall. Now he knew which way was up. Only thing was, he was going the other way. He was going down, down, down, caught in the rip. The water was darker near the bottom. He couldn't see anything. His lungs really began to hurt. He managed to escape from the waterfall. Looking around, he realized the horrible truth - he was lost again. Disoriented. His lungs pounded. He couldn't see, the water was so dark, he could hear the sound of the waterfall all around him, engulfing him. So loud, so loud... He tried to block his ears, but he was so weak... his lungs felt so compressed, they felt like they would explode. Nothing but darkness all around. Too weak to move. He closed his eyes, trying to block the pain from his lungs. Spots before his eyes, now. So loud, the sound hurt his ears. He got pins and needles. So painful. He began to black out... ¤¤§¤¤ "And now," Metal Sonic said, picking up his detached arm, "you two will pay for what you have done." Mecha had been planning this ambush for weeks. He knew they annualy took this route to visit a Freedom Fighter band located somewhere further South. He didn't know how close they were to their destination, but he didn't need to. It was another chance to destroy his arch-enemy, and that was enough. Unfortunately, things had not gone exactly as he'd hoped. He had been perched in the branches of a large tree, waiting for a few hours. When he heard them coming, he had poised himself to strike. Alas, over 250 pounds is a lot of stress to put on a branch, and this tree was quite old and dead. He had fallen, and though he jumped up very quickly, he was still to slow to avoid Sonic's speed. He hastily spindashed Mecha, almost knocking him over a nearby cliff. Mecha had jumped up and over Sonic, and was just about to slice him before he could turn around, when he lost all feeling in his left arm. Sally. She had seen Sonic's peril, and had whipped out her laser pistol just in time. She fired a lucky shot that blasted his arm off at the shoulder. He looked down and saw it lying there on the ground. Now that she had Mecha's undivided attention, she was shaking like a leaf. He raced toward her so fast, she didn't have time to move. He knocked the gun out of her hand, sending it flying into some nearby shrubbery, then raised his hand to strike her. That's when Tails tripped him up. He hit the ground with a thud. He had forgotten all about the fox, but he didn't intend to repeat such a mistake. He sprang back up, enraged, ready to beat the pulp out of the little punk. Then, Sonic ran up behind him and socked him in the back of the head. It was a good idea, but not when your opponent is built from metal alloys. Sonic screamed in pain, shaking his swolen right fist. He had forgotten just how agonizing it was. Mecha took advantage of this moment to send him into the treacherous waters below. He had won. But the damage had been done. And now, it was time for revenge. ¤¤§¤¤ Sally was frantic. Mecha was slowly advancing toward her and Tails with a malice in his features she had never thought a robot could convey. She was desperately searching for something, anything she could do to avert- well, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what he intended. She saw the bushes to her right. She despairingly thought about her pistol. That bush wasn't far behind her, but she could never reach it before Mecha stopped her. Then, an idea pushed past to the surface of her mind. It wasn't the best idea, but it was her only chance. Currently, her and Tails were backing up. Tails was further back than she was, and this worked to her advantage. She turned around and without betraying her falsified fear, winked at Tails. She needed him to play along. The young fox, his face still etched in fear, gave a very underplayed thumbs-up. He knew she had a plan, and would try to aid her. She winked again, signifying she knew she had his support. She turned around and stared at Mecha, a look of horror in her eyes. She started talking, saying anything to delay the inevitale. "Oh, please," she said, stalling. "Don't do this! I-I didn't mean to blast your arm off, but you were-" "Silence, forest scum!" came the sharp reply. "I have no interest in your cries for mercy." Sally stopped moving. She was very close to where her firearm had landed in the bushes. "I'll... I'll tell you where Knothole is!" Both Mecha and Tails started. "Well, well," Mecha said, stopping. "I find it very interesting that a Princess would be so eager to sacrifice her people to save herself." Sally worked up some tears. "I know, I- the truth is I- I'm just a bad Princess. I was never cut out for-" Then she gasped and looked behind Mecha, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. She subtly motioned to Tails, whom did the same thing. Mecha regarded them, and turned around. When he saw nothing there, he was puzzled. Then, all at once he realized what had happened. And was too late to correct his mistake. As he whirled around to lunge at his prey, he bore the brunt of a laser blast set on full power; this time, aimed at the forehead. It tore into his hard drive, shorting out his entire system. He clattered to the ground, a smoking husk. Sally lowered her gun and wiped her forehead. "I can't believe the old 'look behind you' routine worked." "I'm glad it did," Tails said. He walked over and studied the robot. "What are we gonna do with him?" "Dump him," Sally said, without hesitation. "Last time we tried to use him, it didn't work out so well. The bottom of this waterfall will make a good final resting place." She walked over and shot him again, just to be sure. Then, her and Tails picked him up (not without great effort) and hurled him over the cliff. He banged into the cliff's face a couple times before hitting the water with a tremendous splash. "Good riddance," Sal thought. She still couldn't believe such an evil killing machine could be modeled after- Suddenly she remembered. "Sonic!" ¤¤§¤¤ The colors... wait... no! Sonic awoke with a start. He looked around, eyes trying to adjust, but they wouldn't work for him. He sat up, and found he felt light headed. He could feel the now-ripe bruises on his hand. His stomach was sore, too, but it wasn't that bad, now. Speaking of now, it took a minute or two before Sonic recalled what had happened. He had to save his friends before it was too late. As his eyes adjusted, he saw he was in a small hut. It seemed sort of familiar, but it wasn't a Knothole hut - not the same style. He was in a bunk bed, and he was glad he hadn't tried to stand up before; he probably would've bumped his head, as he was in the bottom bunk. Looking around, he noticed a few cabinets and chests of drawers. Slowly he stood up. His head started swimming, but he held still and fought back the waves of dizziness. Then he moved around the hut. He looked through the cabinets and found lots of bandages and medicine. He must be in some sort of infirmary. He turned to look at where he'd been, and saw that they only had one bunk bed. There was also a desk with a chair, but there wasn't much on it. A cross-stitched sign in a frame on the wall said quite simply "TLC." Sonic wished he knew where he was. He didn't feel great, but he had certainly felt worse, and he had to get to Sally and Tails. If he could find out where he was, he could get to Robotropolis, or Knothole for some backup. He started for the door. Suddenly, the door swung open and knocked Sonic off his feet. He landed with an "Oof!" on the plush carpet. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" a female voice gasped. "Are you alright?" Sonic looked up to see a cat standing in the doorway, her hand over her mouth. She looked a little older than Sonic, but he still couldn't see very well. She had off-white fur, and dark blond hair than came to about her shoulders. She was wearing a white nurse's uniform, but it was a bit tattered. Sonic stood up and rubbed his head. "Yeah," he said. "It's not broken. If it was, it would have been from before." The girl relaxed. "Oh, I can't believe I didn't knock. I just didn't think you'd be up, yet." She held out her right hand. "I'm Dimiter." "Wow, interesting name," Sonic said, shaking her hand. "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." "Well, I can see you're a hedgehog. Sonic's a fascinating name, too. Where does it come from?" "Well, I'd show you," Sonic said, wavering, "but I'm feeling kinda off, today. I'm only the fastest thing on two feet on the face of Mobius." "Oh, really? Well, maybe you could show me tomorrow. Your injuries are minor, and you should be fine." "That's a load off my mind, Dimmy, but I gotta get outta here now!" "Why? What's going on?" "Well, we were traveling to Rockcleft Villiage to chat, but we got jumped by Metal and-" "Really? Well, aren't you in luck. You're in Rockcleft Hospital." Sonic then realized why the hut looked so familiar. "Hmm... why haven't I seen you around here before?" "I don't know. I've only been a certified nurse since the start of winter. I want to be a doctor, but I haven't learned enough yet." Dimiter stared a little harder at Sonic. "Wait... I think I do remember seeing you here last spring... of course I only saw you in passing, so I didn't really think anything of it. I knew something about you was familiar when I found you." Sonic looked at her funny. "Oh, don't you remember?" she said. "I was down by the creek relaxing with my feet in the water, when I saw you wash up on the other side. I ran across and pulled you onto the shore. I had to pump some water out of you, but you started breathing again. You muttered something about some tails and then passed out, so I brought you here." "Yes, Tails!" Sonic said. "Tails is one of the friends I was with. Did he and Sally show up here?" "Oh, you were with Princess Sally? Well, I don't know why I don't remember you. I met her last spring, but you weren't with her." "Well, no offense, but I was pretty much bodyguard. Once we got here, she was safe, so I figured I'd head out to the forest and mess around. I'm not much for diplomacy. I'm more into action!" He looked down at his hand. "I wasn't fast enough today, though." "What happened?" Dimiter asked, sitting down at the desk. Sonic sat down on the bunk and proceeded to tell her the whole story, ending with his black out. "That's terrible!" she said. "I wish Robotnik had never come along. Everything was so much better back then... what I remember. I was so young." "Tell me about it. But I really gotta go find them now. No telling what Mecha would do to them." Dimiter stood up and walked to the door. "Let's go ask Jakob if he's heard anything about them." They walked outside into Rockcleft Villiage. The whole place was located in the side of a cliff, so most of it was well shaded all the time. Some small plants and grass grew, making it look nicer than your average large cave, but it still didn't look as lush and beautiful as Knothole. As they crossed the square, he recognized a few people. Then, they reached a fairly large hut located near the back of the cave. Dimiter knocked on the door. "Who is it?" a voice from inside called. "It's just me," Dimiter called. "I have a guest." "Come on in, it's open." Dimiter opened the door and walked in, Sonic following behind her. The hut was nicely furnished, with a big rug in the center of the hardwood floor and a nice red couch and matching chairs. A fireplace was full of logs, ready for lighting, and a big picture of a lion family hung over the mantle. A large, burly lion was just standing up from one of the chairs. He was wearing a brown sweater vest and tan slacks, and had a glass in his left paw. He had a big shaggy mane and happy eyes, partially hidden by a pair of spectacles. Sonic thought he could remember him being the leader of the Rockcleft F.F.. He moved forward to greet them. "Hello, Dimiter. And... Sonic, was it? It's been so long!" He offered his right paw to Sonic, and they shook. "Nice to see you again, too, sir. But I'm afraid everything ain't roses this time." Sonic quickly retold the story again. "I'm sorry, son, but I haven't heard anything. Oh, dear, our princess is gone! Well, I'd be glad to help, but I'm not much for rescues and such anymore. I'm sure Gawain would be glad to help you, though." "Gawain?" Sonic didn't remember that name being mentioned last time. "Yes," Jakob replied. "He's Rockcleft's resident hero. I'll go call him and get him to come over." Jakob went to the rear of the hut. Sonic leaned over to Dimiter and whispered, "Gawain. Now there's a really weird name." "Shh," she replied. "Gawain is a very brave man." She blushed. "He wants to marry me." "So, what's he do? Like, is he a toothpick-weilding expert, or what?" "No, he uses a sword. It's a big, beautiful silver sword with a golden handle. There's a strange red gem in the bottom, too, that glows when he uses it. He calls it the Masamune, but I still don't know what it means." Then Jakob re-entered the room. "Well," he started, "he wasn't home. I don't recall him telling me he was going anywhere, either, so I don't know where he is." "Hmm," Dimiter said thoughtfully. "It's not like Gawain to just up and disappear like this. Do you think we should go look for him?" "I don't know," Jakob replied. "I'm sure he can handle himself, but if he isn't back by tomorrow morning, we'll go look for him." Sonic stared longingly out the window. He wished he knew where to begin looking for his friends. It was unfounded, but he couldn't shake the feeling of impending danger. ¤¤§¤¤ "Oh, dear God, please let us find him." Sally and Tails were combing the river, Tails diving in over and over again and Sally searching the surrounding bushes and tall grass in an attempt to find any trace of Sonic. Tails was sopping wet, and Sally was about to sweat to dehydration. She wished she had done something to stop Metal from knocking him over the falls, but it was too late now. All they could do was keep hope alive. Tails's head broke the surface again. "I still don't see anything, Aunt Sally," he called. "Keep trying, Tails," she panted, leaning against a tree for a moment. She wiped her brow and continued on. "He's counting on us to-" She ran into something with a smack, and fell backward. She didn't remember there being a tree in front of her, but as the world stopped spinning crazily, she realized it wasn't a tree. "Hey, watch it, will ya?" Sally stood up and glared at the newcomer. "I'm sorry, but I'm a little preoccupied." She looked him over. He was a pale blue hedgehog, but she could barely tell, as he was clad in shining silver armor. He opened his helmet's visor to reveal his dark brown eyes. "Sorry to disturb your thoughts, princess, but I don't like to be rammed into." Sally looked at him quizzically. "Have we met before?" "No, why?" "Well, I don't know how you know I'm a princess, but I really have to get going now." "Hey, hold the phone," he said, holding up a gauntleted hand. "Are you Princess Acorn?" "Yeah. Why, do you need my phone number or something?" "No, I just figured it'd be you, you being a squirrel and a princess." His hand went to his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, you were at our villiage a while back. Of course, I wasn't there, I've just heard stories..." "What villiage? Who are you?" He bowed grandiosely at the waist. As he did this, Sally noticed the big sword strapped to his back. "I am Gawain. It's a goofy name, but it was my grandfather's. I'm from Rockcleft Villiage." Sally's eyes went wide. "Rockcleft? We were just heading there! Did a darker blue hedgehog show up there recently? We were... seperated." "Well, I wouldn't know," he said, drawing his sword. It's golden handle and highly polished blade glinted in the late morning's light. "I'm looking for a SWATbot. I thought I saw one spying on our villiage, and I grabbed the Masa and took off after it. That was yesterday morning, but I'm not going back 'till I take it out." "What's the 'Masa'?" "Oh, my sword. It's been handed down in our family for many generations. It's supposed to have some kinda magic powers, but my dad was roboticized before he could teach me any of it..." He looked down, a pained look in his eyes. "It's just a well-crafted sword to me now... and an heirloom." "Cool," Tails said, speaking for the first time. Gawain jumped. "Whoa! Don't startle me like that, kid! Who the heck are you?" "Oh, this is Tails," Sally said, gesturing to the small fox, who waved. "He was travelling with me and..." She had to stop, or she probably would've lost it. "Oh, the missing hedgehog guy?" Gawain asked, sheathing his sword again. Something in the handle caught Tails's eye. "He your boyfriend or what?" Sally felt her face getting hotter. "That is none of your concern," she blurted quickly. "However, he was knocked over the waterfall by Metal Sonic, and we have to make sure he's not..." "Oh, I see," Gawain said, nodding slowly. "Well, we can look for each other's target's, I guess. Anything else about this guy that would help me pick him out?" "Well," she said, thinking, "he has red sneakers with white stripes, and he's very fast. And I mean _very_ fast." "Okay, he's fast. Well, if I see turbo boy, I'll tell him you're looking around for him. Want him to meet you at Rockcleft?" "Yeah, that would help. Thanks a lot!" Gawain headed off up the river and Sally and Tails headed down the river towards Rockcleft. "Cocky little guy," Sally thought to herself. As they walked, Tails nudged Sally. "Hey, Sally, did you see that?" "What?" "His sword. There was some kind of glowing stone set in the handle. It reminded me of a Chaos Emerald, but it wasn't the same somehow." "Well, that would explain the magic powers his ancestors had. Maybe he'll figure it out someday." ¤¤§¤¤ Gawain plodded through the forest, eyes searching for anything that moved. He was impatient to find the SWATbot so he could go home. This was one of those tedious missions; he liked the ones that were challenging, but just taking out one robot was peanuts, and it was especially annoying when he had to go looking for it. Just then he noticed some movement off to his left. Almost an involuntary reaction, he quickly drew his sword. He jumped behind an oak tree and peered around the trunk. A SWATbot came crashing from the way he came, the setting sun glinting off his metallic body. He must have passed him somewhere further back. He readied his blade and crouched. The robot was currently saying something- probably relaying information to Dr. Robotnik. [-VILLIAGE DESIGNATE "ROCKCLEFT" HAS BEEN SCOUTED, ROBOTNIK. STRIKE FORCE REQUIRED: 100. PREPARING TO TRANSMIT COORDINATES...-] Gawain's ears perked up at that. The stupid tin can was about to tell Robotnik where his home was, the place where he had lived all his life. He couldn't let that happen. Gawain leaped out from behind the tree and slashed off the SWATbot's light bulb, then flipped over and landed behind it. [-TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED-] the robot droned, turning around. [-ENEMY SIGHTED. SPECIES DESIGNATE:HEDGEHOG.-] "Wow, you're a quick learner, metal breath," Gawain taunted it, cockily brandishing his sword. "Let's see if you can DESIGNATE this!" He lunged at the hulking robot and struck a fierce blow into its heart (or whatever it had). It began to shudder and spark. He smiled. Then, things went bad. The robot's insides began to make a rumbling noise and glow, shaking tremendously. Gawain tried to pull his sword out, but it was stuck fast. Then it exploded, sending both him and the sword hurtling through the air. "NOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed. He felt a dull thud on the back of his head, and then there was darkness. ¤¤§¤¤ "Oh, thank God!" Sally ran across the villiage square and into Sonic's arms. "We thought you might have been- I- I'm just so-" Sonic smiled, a tear running down his face. "I know, I'm fine, but you two, and Mecha-" "Sonic!" Tails yelled, running up to him. "Hey, keyed!" he said, hi-fiving him. He released from Sally's embrace and looked at them. "So how did you two get away? I mean, Mecha can really dish it out." "Well, Sonic, Sally had this great idea..." They swapped stories, recaping what had happened while they were apart. Sonic also introduced them to Dimiter as they went back to Jakob's house. "We saw your Gawain," Sally said, sipping some hot tea. "We ran into him about a half a mile upstream, looking for a SWATbot. I asked him to keep an eye out for Sonic, but I guess he doesn't need to anymore." She smiled at him; he stared down into his coke, blushing. "Speaking of Gawain," Jakob put in, "we really should find him. He's been gone quite awhile." "I'm starting to worry, too," Dimiter said. "Well, then," Sonic said, finishing his drink and standing up, "let's go look for Sir Lost-a-lot." ¤¤§¤¤ t.b.c.