Disclaimer: ....Insert disclaimer here...Sonic Team..SEGA..blah..blah.. Like any of you would actually sue me..
Genre: Action/Angst/Shounen-ai
(if you do not know what this is.. You should not read past this
chapter, lol)
Pairings: Knuckles x Sonic, Sonic x Knuckles, Sonic x Shadow, Shadow x Sonic. This will be interesting...
Rating: PG-13 As of this moment for violence and a swear word.I'll need to change the rating later.
A/N: This fiction was inspired by head flu, Tylenol, and Orin's godly fan fiction.. Go read her stuff! . ...Wait. Read this, then go. You won't have to agonize going through this after you read hers! ...*cough* onward then.. Not much happening in the Beginning. I like to hurt characters, but that doesn't mean I hate them ^^; Not a lot of Yaoi action in here yet either.. Just a bit of fluff.. But we'll see. Based sorta off where SA2 ended. Several characters from the Archie comic are in here but not many.. I have read one Sonic Archie comic and that is it o.;
Shadow: Where am I in here?
Wolfy: um.. Behind a wall?
Shadow: *Rolls Eyes* That's original.
Wolfy: Don't worry! You get your share of action soon enough!
^_^
Shadow: *Shudders* Can't wait.. -_-
Wolfy: Okay! Some of you may recognize this title from that
hit movie. This fiction will be based strongly around the subject..
Maybe in more ways then one. Meh, Don't even know if this will fly
off the ground.. Reviews help!! Review me and I will have the will
power to continue! But for now, Enjoy what I have :D
Search: file:///HD20%/Chapter%1/Beginning.html
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The beautiful canvas that stretched out before him was almost enough to numb his spiritual pain. Tree branches swayed in the wind in sync with the glowing pastures and falling water. All welcoming the dance of the evening sun that blanketed the sky with soft colours of summer flowers. Tranquility and perfection would have been a perfect label, but past events ebbed through his mind like hungry termites.
It had been three weeks since the Master Emerald was reported missing. The only thing Knuckles could find in its place was a glinting green shard, no longer than three inches in length. The Echidna fingered the shard rhythmically, staring out into the horizon. It's edges still sharp enough to pierce flesh, his hand avoided the areas uncontiously. Knuckles pondered the emerald's absence.
That stupid Cow... He swore to himself, shifting his position on the rock he occupied. Dr. Robotnick was known to threaten him on a regular basis. 'Destroy you' this, 'Take your Emerald to superpower my atom bomb' that. It never worked. The Echidna was dumbfounded at how ignorant he was that day. He moved his hand from the shard to his head. The shard dangled backwards on a rough string to the crescent moon on his chest.
On that fateful evening, he, Sonic the Hedgehog , and the Chaotix were on a routine mission to Robotropolis to check up on their favorite mad scientist. They all pressed their noses up to a factory window to peer in and see what was going on inside the building.
"See anything?" Espio whispered up to Charmy who flew up to the second story window.
"Nothing yet!" Charmy hissed over his wings and continued to peer into the window.
"Well This is strange.." The Bright indigo Hedgehog mused aloud, "He usually has at least something planned out by the end of the month.."
"Maybe he ran out of ideas" Knuckles snorted and caused Sonic to grin.
"That would be the day Red, then I could die a happy hedgehog.."
"Hey! Something moved!" Charmy informed the grounded group, and motioned for one of them to come take a look.
"Let me see.." Knuckled scaled the building on sides of the windows, in case something decided to shoot at him from the inside. He reached the hovering yellow bee and stuck his head out to the glass from the left. A great red light looked straight at Knuckles. Knuckles withdrew his head quickly. The light belonged to one of the many machines that Robotnick created and operated. Knuckles could hear the cling of hard metal against the floor, heading in his direction.
"Charmy get down!" Knuckles pushed Charmy below the window and tried to look again. His eye was right in front of the robot's red orb. A small buzzing static began to play inside of the robot;
"Stupid Animals!" The buzzing roared in a familiar voice. Knuckles almost let go of the ledge he was holding onto. The robot's message began to play further;
"You think I would Lally-gag around this factory forever?! It became quite obvious after the first ten visits (which were all timed in sequential order), that you spied on me. Oh, and Knuckles, if you don't climb off that window in five seconds, your emerald will be history."
This time Knuckles did fall when the robot itself burst out of the closed window, breaking the glass. After falling a short distance, the robot and Knuckles clunked into the street. The anteater scrambled to his feet to face the machine.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Knuckles roared at the robot.
"Oops! Too late! I have your Emerald now!..And you will never find me!" Manacle Laughter could be heard outside the static of the transmission. Knuckles clenched his fists together tightly and grit his teeth. A light of realization clicked in his head. No one was guarding the island! The Master Emerald was completely vulnerable! He lunged at the robot out of anger and delivered a punch to its chest area. The punch bounced off an invisible force field that flashed for a second, then threw off the Echidna farther into the street. A stinging pain was left from the unsuccessful attack.
"This is no ordinary Badnick.." Charmy pondered, landing by Sonic. The blue hedgehog really wanted to get in there and help Knuckles, be he knew the Echidna would most likely bite his head off if he took all the glory defeating the Badnick. All the Chaotix knew this too, Rad Red had to fight his own battles once in a while. They watched while Knuckles tried attacking again and again, but the more times he tried, the better the robot's evade became. Sonic noticed a small camera near the machine's head... "Eggman is directly controlling it Knuckles! Look at the camera by it's head!"
"From so far away?!" Knuckles rebounded off the ground and pushed himself upwards into the air, dodging the Badnick's laser cannon.
"Clever, Sonic. If I was there, I would congratulate you myself!" Robotnick's mawkish voice replied, "But enough of this.." The Badnick fired a blue beam at Knuckles and hit him dead center. The beam stretched across Knuckle's arm's and chest and joined sides, wrapping the Echidna's arms to his torso. The binding pulled him to the ground. The beam hardened into a strong restraint that Knuckles was having a hard time breaking. Multiple blue beams now fired over to where Sonic and the Chaotix were standing. All beams hit their targets, hardening around each form, making them all fall in unison.
"Shit..Not this again.." Sonic cursed. He has had previous experiences with this type of energy and was trying to work his way out of it. It was very difficult on his part since his arms were locked in a position that he couldn't use to his advantage. More hysterical Robotnick laughter could be heard from the robot's position. When Sonic was about free, the Badnick turned its fire arm on Knuckles.
"Just to make sure you don't go trying to find me, I'll kill you all here... Starting with you." Particles of light began to form at the tip of the gun. Knuckles struggled frantically to rid himself of the blue confinement that glued him down. Knuckles began to panic. Sonic burst out of the blue energy with a snarl and dashed as fast as he could to get Knuckles out of the Line Of Fire.
"NO!! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!" Sonic screamed just as the beam was about to fire. The blue hedgehog pushed the grounded Echidna to the far left. The beam fired and time slowed to a halt. An eerie sound of ripping flesh and blood rang out into Knuckles' ears.. Sonic had pushed Knuckles out of the way, but part of his lower torso was caught in the blast. Knuckles' heart was racing. His eyes starred openly as he replayed those last five seconds over and over again. Sonic's left side was protected when he lunged inwards to push Knuckles away, but his right side was open and took it full on, creating a half an inch deep cut off down his flesh and quills. The beam elapsed and time regained its momentum. A great Fatigue crawled over Sonic instantly, gasping for air, trying to stay on balance. He gripped his right side wide eyed in pain. Balance let go of him and he fell to the floor.
"SONIC!!" Knuckled screamed frantically once more. For Robotnick to take his emerald was one thing, but to cause his friends to risk life for him was unforgivable. Furious, Knuckles found the strength to break the blue binding and charged blindly at the robot. The Badnick had dropped its defense in order to perform the laser charge and was very vulnerable. The automatic invisible shield was down 50% and Knuckles was able to break it easily with one clean strike. His punch broke through the shield, into the robot's head. He withdrew his hand with haste and watched the robot cripple inward under the forced pressure. Its power supply gave in and shut down. Knuckles now turned his attention toward the other figure beside him. What he saw made his stomach lurch.
Sonic clenched his eyes shut, trying to hide the tears and agony. A large puddle of crimson formed around a long gash on his right side, staining his gloves and quills. The gash started on the side of his lower abdomen, finishing in a bloody mess at his hip. Shaking, Knuckles dropped to his knees beside his fallen friend. The blue confinements around the other Chaotix vanished and they all ran to their side.
"Stupid..Why'd you do that..?" Knuckles said hoarsely. Sonic opened his eyes to face the Scarlet Echidna,
"Hey...That shot would have killed you if it his you dead on like it was supposed to.." Sonic grimaced, "it's not like I'm dying or anything.." He reassured Knuckles with a weak smile.
"You will if we don't do something fast!" Knuckles got to his feet and lifted Sonic carefully off of the ground. The group began to retreat from the city of metal and filth, praying that all of them would make it back alive. Sonic's head was pressed close to the Echidna's chest. He could hear his steady heartbeat and strangled breath. Listening almost made him forget the sharp pain. His vision began to slip when Sonic forgot to breathe, which he did automatically after. The sensation began to return to his senses. He felt Knuckle's heart speed up as he began to run faster.
As strange as Sonic though it was, he felt safe so close to his friend. The Echidna's body pulsed with so much life and determination, setting a path to follow, and would not stop until it had reached his destination. He knew his blood was slowly seeping through Knuckle's already crimson fur. The darker shade of Scarlet was almost invisible, but Sonic knew it was there. Sonic did not regret what he had done; it was either saving the Echidna's butt, or watch him die in the streets. Sonic would obviously put his life on the line than watch any of his friends perish. He then shifted his blurring gaze at four pairs of wild, frightened eyes peered at him through their heavy strides.
Gotta' hand it to ya' Red..
The compassion your Chaotix show is phenomenal..
Yet.
I feel so safe near you...
Everything went black.
The bright circle now took its place behind the cascading mountains, leaving the sky full of a pink and orange residue. The glint off the emerald's shard emanated silently before disappearing with the sun. Knuckles sat still at his place tenaciously, still contemplating the accident. After the Chaotix and Knuckles safely placed Sonic in the medical bay on the night of the incident, Knuckles forced himself to return to Angel Island to see what he was dreading; The giant Emerald he was supposed to guard missing from it's place. It was like someone digged a giant hole in a renewed lawn. His purpose was gone, and only left one piece of debris.
It was several days before Sonic regained his vision and could feel the pain once again. Knuckles couldn't bear to sit and hear the stifled moans and screams that came from the medical bay so he stayed away from close contact. Knuckles knew that Dr. Quack was a great medic, so he did not question his abilities. Dr. Quack would regularly report Sonic's condition and improvement to the Echidna. Knuckles began a very intimidating habit of pacing then on afterward. At mealtimes, he mechanically ate his food or did not eat at all; The substances had no taste to him.
As the next week passed, Sonic began to roam the Knothole at a crawl. Everyone in sight usually ran his side and tried to help him. All the extra attention was very nettlesome and un needed, but Sonic played along with it. Since he had all of this excess attention, Sonic never had a chance to converse with Knuckles. If the Echidna was in the area, Knuckles would not make eye contact with the cobalt hedgehog. Sonic knew Knuckles was still blaming the accident on himself and Sonic just wanted him to forget about it.
Knuckles brought the shard to his fingers again and thought about Sonic. The hedgehog's almost lifeless body that day was so close to his own. Leaking out his vital crimson liquid upon the Echidna's fur. Knuckles let his other gloved hand brush lay on the fur where the blood used to be. The layered hair brushed inward, showing his partially stained skin, then flopped back into place. Knuckles flushed when he thought of Sonic the second time.
What is this feeling?!
Knuckles withdrew his hand. He felt another presence in the area and turned around.
Sonic.
The hedgehog was surprised to see the Echidna's flushed face. Knuckles didn't get embarrassed real easily. The cotton shirt Sonic wore billowed in the small wind. Sonic looked at his shoes to think of something to say, but Knuckles beat him to it.
"What is it?" Knuckles grumbled hastily, trying to hide his burning face. The actual presence of Sonic made it even worse.
"Um.." Sonic traced his foot in the dirt, creating a rigid line "..I wanted to see how you were doing.. Since you're so quiet and all now.." Wow, that was so intelligent Sonic! he thought and slapped his face. To his surprise Knuckles didn't get up and leave.
"I..I'm sorry Sonic. Its been hard for me." Knuckles stuttered uncharacteristically and turned his face away farther. Sonic frowned at his Scarlet friend and looked at his shoes again.
"I'm sorry too... I shouldn't of acted the way I did back at Robotropolis.."
"Don't apologize. You did what you though was right, right?"
"Well..Yeah.."
"Lemme' see that wound of yours.." Knuckles said turning around to face Sonic. The hedgehog unbuttoned his shirt and let it slide down his shoulders to his left arm. Thick bandages were coming from the top of his left shoulder to his right side where his whole lower torso was covered in white bandages. The anteater's brow raised, "Does it hurt?"
"Only when under pressure," Sonic replied and slowly raised the shirt back up to his right arm. Its sleeve got caught in Sonic's un-gloved hands, small, almost blunt, black nails appeared at his fingertips. "Ow.." he growled as his right arm raised itself, "Could you help me out?" Sonic sardonically asked as he tried to fight on his sleeve. Hesitantly, the Echidna got to his feet and approached Sonic. He pulled the hedgehog's hand out of the sleeve into its proper place. Knuckles face began to burn when he accidentally lingered holding Sonic's hand
"Thanks.." Sonic said, his voice sounding queer and eccentric. He felt a strange disturbance in the bottom of his stomach. Was it regret? No. As Sonic began to button his shirt back up again, his eyes drifted back at the scarlet mass standing before him. Knuckles was trying to hide his face for some odd reason. His eyes drifted to the rest of Knuckles, his curved body and toned muscle mixed with hair that fell in locks of dreads upon a chest that bared the crescent moon.
I feel so safe near you...
Sonic knew why Knuckles had hidden his face, for now the blue hedgehog's faced burned bright in embarrassment.
"C'mon, it's getting dark.." Knuckles warned Sonic and waited for him to finish. The two walked in silence back to the knothole, neither of them sharing their peculiar thoughts.
Wolfy: Okay, that's enough for now..
Knux: ...I'm an Anteater?!
Wolfy: *falls over* You didn't know?! Acually you are very closley related.
Sonic: I feel so unloved...
Shadow: You feel unloved? What about me?
Wolfy: I'm sorry guys.. This was indeed a depressing chapter. Blood, fluff, Angst, but good stuff anyways! Review! Review! I command thee!
Knux: I don't even eat ants..
Shadow: I'll pay you a 100 bucks to eat that whole anthill over there.
Knux:... You're on.