All official characters copyrighted by SEGA and Archie Comics. All non-official characters are copyrights of myself or NetRaptor, her character used with permission.
The Fallen Angel
Chapter 1
A knock at Sonic's door caused the cerulean hedgehog to look up from the book he had been reading. While he usually wasn't one for reading, this particular book had caught his interest. It was of a legend on Earth that was almost forgotten at this point. A book of the Knights of the Round Table and their humble ruler King Arthur.
Putting the book on his coffee table, he got up from his chair and walked towards the door. He had a feeling he knew who was there, as this was the day they were supposed to have arrived. Opening the door, he saw who he feared it would be standing at his door.
"Hey Uncle Chuck," said Sonic softly.
"Hey yourself Sonny boy," said Chuck. The robian was accompanied by Sally. She had asked him to come and hopefully help explain what Sonic had been so set on keeping from her.
"Come in you guys. Let's get this over with," said Sonic as he waved the duo inside. The two walked in, closing the door behind them.
"Sally tells me you've got a problem that's been really eating at you. Something so overbearing you were afraid to tell her," said Chuck as he and Sally sat on the couch opposite of Sonic as he sat back in his chair.
"Uncle Chuck...Did you ever find my parents?" asked Sonic. Chuck got a look of surprise on his face at the question.
"Sonic...You haven't asked me about your parents once. What suddenly brought this up?" asked Chuck.
"Just humor me for now...please. And be honest. I have to know the truth," said Sonic.
"Well...no. I never found them," said Chuck, looking at the floor.
"You don't remember them Sonic?" asked Sally.
"I don't Sal. As a matter of fact, that's what's been bugging me so much lately. I don't remember anything before the day I met Uncle Chuck," said Sonic.
"What do you remember Sonic?" asked Chuck.
"The first memory I have is waking up in the Great Forest. Then I saw Mobotropolis in the distance, so I headed there. I remember I was hungry so I stole an apple from a vendor who never even saw me cause I moved so fast," said Sonic
"Didn't miss my eyes though you little scamp," said Chuck with a grin.
"Yeah...You always were good at spotting me when I moved," said Sonic with his own grin. "Anyways, Uncle Chuck tracked me down and asked me where my parents were. When I said I didn't know and subsequently told him I didn't know who my parents even were, he made a decision that changed both our lives."
"I offered to let him live with me, so long as he kept out of trouble. I could've handed him over to the orphanage. But knowing he could move as fast as he could, I knew he'd be a handful," said Chuck.
"I suppose I didn't disappoint you in that regard, did I?" asked Sonic.
"Oh you were a handful to be sure. But you were also a great kid with a heart of gold. And after everything that's happened over the years I've known you, I've seen you grow into a hero I would have never guessed you would be. I've been nothing but extremely proud of you," said Chuck.
"That means a lot Uncle Chuck," said Sonic.
"So this entire time you've had no relation to Charles?" asked Sally.
"That's right. Sorry we lied to you Sal. As far as I was concerned at the time, Chuck was my uncle and I was his nephew. I was too young to question it that much," said Sonic.
"But its been eating at you lately, hasn't it?" asked Sally.
"Extremely. I've dwelled on my lost memories a little more each day for the last several months. I'm not sure what started me thinking about it so much though. Maybe I just reached a point where I just began to question everything I knew about my past. I'm not really sure," said Sonic.
"Sonny...There's nothing wrong with what you're going thru. In all honesty, I'm a little surprised it took this long before you began to wonder about your past," said Chuck.
"But how did I get to the Great Forest? Where was I before that? And why can't I remember anything prior to that?" asked Sonic.
"I wish I could provide you with answers Sonic. I really do," said Chuck as he looked at the floor.
"Maybe you not knowing is a blessing, not a curse," suggested Sally.
"How so?" asked Sonic.
"Well, what if your past contained something really dark like Angel's does? Something so dark that it might have led you astray from the path you took as you grew up," said Sally.
"That's not very reassuring Sal," said Sonic.
"She may be right Sonic," said Chuck as he stroked his chin. "Even I don't know where you came from or what you were doing prior to the two of us meeting that fateful day all those years ago. Perhaps it is for the best that you don't have any memory of your previous life."
"But it's the not knowing that's begun to worry me," said Sonic.
"What do you mean?" asked Sally.
"What if my past contained something really important I was supposed to remember but forgot?" asked Sonic.
"You can't let that fear tear you up like this Sonic," said Sally.
"She's right Sonny. Dwelling on what might be instead of what is won't end well," said Chuck. Sonic gave a sigh, then looked away from them.
"Perhaps..." said Sonic.
"Well...There is one last thing I'd like to add as food for thought," said Chuck.
"What's that Charles?" asked Sally.
"The power rings that I invented weren't supposed to react to anyone touching them. They were supposed to be a fairly powerful source of stabilized chaos energy that could be used as back up power supplies for Mobotropolis," said Chuck. Sally's eyes suddenly went wide.
"But they react when Sonic holds them. He can absorb their power," said Sally.
"Exactly. For some reason, Sonic is able to tap into their power on a cellular level. What that means I never could figure out, but it makes me wonder if Sonic is something other than a pure blooded mobian," said Chuck.
"But if I'm not a mobian, then what am I?" asked Sonic, a little bit of panic in his voice.
"Calm down Sonny. I'm not saying you aren't a mobian. Perhaps its just your unique DNA makeup that allows you to tap into their power. Or a random one in a trillion chance thing because the rings are a source of chaos energy. I've literally had dozens of theories about why they react to you, but I can't prove any of them," said Chuck.
"I kinda wish you'd left that off the table instead of telling me, Unce. Now my mind's racing with a thousand more questions," said Sonic. A sudden knock at the door caused all three of them to look over at it.
"Expecting someone?" asked Chuck as Sonic got up and walked towards the door.
"No. I don't know who could be there," said Sonic as he reached the door. Opening it, he found Angel standing on his doorstep. The pink furred echidna spotted the two guests sitting on the couch.
"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting?" asked Angel.
"Nah. We're pretty much done I think," said Sonic as he motioned her inside. A thought crossed his mind as he looked back at Chuck. "Hey Uncle Chuck. I'd like you to come meet Angel Starfire." The robian got off the couch and walked up to the echidna.
"Sonic's told me a lot about you," said Chuck as he took her hand and gave it a shake.
"So you're his Uncle Chuck that he told me about around the time we first met. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," said Angel as she returned the shake.
"The pleasure is all mine," said Chuck.
"So what brings you by Angel?" asked Sonic.
"What brings me by? You said you wanted to talk to me earlier today," said Angel. Sonic smacked himself on the forehead.
"That's right, I completely forgot," said Sonic.
"If we need to leave we can," said Sally.
"If you don't mind," said Sonic. Sally got up and walked over next to Chuck at the doorway.
"Charles will be here till later tonight before he heads back to our other outpost to continue his research on the Roboticizer. Don't hesitate to come to us if you still need to talk," said Sally.
"I will Sal," said Sonic. Sally and Chuck then walked outside as Angel walked inside, closing the door behind her. She then took a seat on the couch as Sonic sat next to her.
"So what did you want to talk about?" asked Angel.
"I'm worried about you Angel," said Sonic. Angel looked a little stunned by the statement.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because I've noticed you've begun to push us away again. You may not see it, but I've noticed it when I've been around you. You don't talk to anyone unless they speak to you first. And even then it's quick and to the point," said Sonic. Angel sighed as she looked at the ground.
"I honestly thought Comet would be the first to notice, not you," said Angel.
"Maybe she has and just isn't voicing it," said Sonic.
"I hope that's not the case. She's already suffered enough sadness because of me," said Angel.
"Which is why I want to know the truth. Can you promise to tell me the truth?" asked Sonic.
"You know I can't make a promise to something that vague," said Angel.
"Sorry, let me rephrase it. Can you promise to truthfully tell me what's going on with you? You've been distant ever since we got back a little more each day. It's only been a little over a week since what happened on the ARK, but you've withdrawn a lot since then," said Sonic.
"I'm sorry, but right now I'd rather not tell you. I don't mean to worry you or anyone else. I'm just going thru a rough time is all and I'm trying to sort it all out," said Angel.
"Well, you need to quit shutting us out. We can't help you if you continue to do so," said Sonic. Angel gave a nod.
"I'll try and open up a little more. You're right. I can't fall back down that pit of darkness again. I barely made it out of that pit the first time," said Angel.
"Good. Now to make sure you're going to do just that, you're going to follow me to the community hut and have dinner with the rest of us instead of in your hut like the last several nights," said Sonic with a smile.
Run away…That's the only thought that went through Angel's mind as she looked back over her shoulder, wondering when and where the strike would come from. Maybe if she ran fast enough, the thing that was chasing after her would grow tired and quit. But she quickly gave up that hope.
The thing that was now stalking her through the thick jungle would never tire or give up. A loud screeching sound from behind her only made her hasten her escape, running through the jungle underbrush as fast as her legs would carry her.
"You can't escape from me," hissed a deep, fluid male voice. Angel tried to determine where the voice had come from, but it seemed as if it emanated from all around her. Pushing her fear as far back in her mind as she could, she pressed onward.
As she finally entered a large clearing, she came to an abrupt halt. Dozens of huts now stood before her, each one ablaze. Yet the fire didn't seem to consume the huts at all, but rather continue to burn in almost a pattern of sorts.
Suddenly, the air was pierced by a cry that she herself would never forget. In the clearing of the huts, she watched as her eight year old self ran screaming at the top of her lungs as she swung her sword at a shadowy Metal Sonic.
"Don't do it! Get out of there!" yelled Angel to her younger self. But the child paid no attention to her older self as she followed through with the blow, the sword being caught in mid-swing by the mecha bot.
But unlike the metallic clang the older Angel had expected to hear, the sickening sound of the weapon slicing into flesh could be heard. Then the blow she expected the mecha bot to do came, knocking the younger echidna to the ground. Metal Sonic then dropped the sword and started to approach the older Angel.
But as he came closer, his features started to warp. Slowly his body grew much larger, his chest cavity filling out with orange colored flesh. His head started morph into more of a reptilian like quality, his red eyes becoming almost cat-like in appearance. Silver metal began to flow down from the tip of his nose to the tip of the tail that was now growing out of the monster's back. His feet were also changing from looking sneaker-like to more of a clawed, lizard-like quality.
"It doesn't matter what you do or what you say," hissed the voice again from all around her. The fear that Angel had kept to the back of her mind rushed to the forefront once more. The echidna girl began backing away from the monstrosity that was now calmly walking towards her.
"You can't run away from your destiny," said the voice.
"I choose my own destiny!" shouted Angel as she continued to back away. So intent was she on backing up that she didn't realize her back was to a hut till she ran into it. As she stood there frozen in fear, the monster continued to walk slowly towards her, its warped body becoming more and more cohesive.
"But I'm afraid you already chose your destiny," said the voice softly, almost eerily. Angel shook her head slowly as she stared wide eyed at the beast before her.
"No…That's not true! I never chose a destiny for myself!" she screamed at the shadowy figure that now towered over her small form.
"Ah, but you did all those years ago. You made the choice yourself when you were only nine years old," replied the voice. Angel then noticed that she seemed shorter than before. A quick once over revealed to her that she had regressed in age back to herself as a nine year old.
"W-what are you t-talking about? What ch-choice!?" she shakily yelled at the figure as she ducked down into a fetal position. By now, the beast was now standing right over her. Its red eyes cast their glow down at her as the raging fires continued to burn all around her, glinting off the silver armor that the beast wore.
"The choice…to be forever under my control!" cried the voice as its head lunged forward, its gaping maw ready to devour the small girl.
Angel shot upright in her bed, letting out a loud gasp as sweat beaded off her brow and soaked her yellow night gown. A quick look around the still somewhat unfamiliar bedroom she was now in spooked her at first. Then she remembered where she was at as she closed her eyes and gave a sigh.
"That dream again..." said Angel to herself as she shuddered slightly. It had been one she had been having nearly every night since she had defeated the mecha bot Leviathan in the past. She had hoped the nightmare would fade with time, but it was still as vivid as the first time she had seen it. And it still sent the same chill down her spine when she thought about it.
Glancing over at the alarm clock on the nightstand, she saw that it was almost four in the morning. Realizing that she was pretty much fully awake now, she decided to give up on getting the additional two hours of sleep before the alarm was set to go off.
"Guess I'll get some orange juice and read for a bit," she mused as she got out of bed and put on a pair of pink house slippers that matched her fur nicely. As she walked into the living room, her nose caught the subtle scent of wild flowers in the air as she turned on the light. Looking over at the air freshener that Cody had been kind enough to give her resting on the coffee table, she was thankful that she had decided to stay in Knothole for the time being.
Shadow's death still hung heavily over her heart. While everyone had voiced to her that she wasn't to blame for it, she still couldn't convince herself that she didn't lead him down that path somehow. She had asked Comet to stay with Sally for the moment, wanting to be alone with her thoughts when she wasn't doing the small amount of socializing she had been doing. She didn't want her best friend to see her still suffering this badly from both her nightmares and her thoughts.
But still, being near her friends was helping her keep herself calm for now. She had a feeling that if she wasn't interacting with them at all that she'd dwell on her problems non-stop to the point it would start to drive her crazy.
Having arrived at a cupboard she opened it up and set a glass from in it on the counter. She then walked over to the fridge and got the carton of juice. But as she turned around, she noticed something odd.
"Where's the glass?" she asked aloud. Indeed, the glass she had set on the counter was now missing. She walked back over to the cupboard to get another glass. But as she got another one and turned back around, the original glass was now back in the same spot it had been in.
This was something else that was starting to get to her. A few days after she had arrived in Knothole, things had begun disappearing and reappearing randomly in the hut she was temporarily staying in. She had dismissed it at first. But after several repeated occurrences of similar stuff happening, she was beginning to wonder if all the stress she was going through was beginning to get to her.
Putting the second glass back up, she poured the glass two thirds of the way full of juice and headed for the living room. Finding the book that Lily had loaned her waiting for her on the coffee table, she picked it up and sat on the sofa. The book was one from Earth. A story of love between a werewolf and the human girl that was supposed to be hunting him. While it seemed a little corny to her, it was still a good read.
She sat in silence for nearly half an hour till she suddenly felt like someone was watching her. Looking up from her book, she looked around the room. But nothing greeted her gaze. Shrugging it off, she returned her eyes to her book. Suddenly, she heard a voice call out to her.
"You can't escape your destiny," said the voice in almost a whisper. She stiffened as she heard it. It was a voice all too familiar to her. It haunted her nightmares even to this day.
"Where are you Leviathan?" she asked as she put her book down, stood up, and looked around the room. But as the seconds ticked by and nothing caught her as being out of place, she relaxed and sighed.
"Great...Now I'm starting to hear him even when I'm awake," said Angel as she sat back down and resumed reading. Nothing else eventful happened for the next few hours as she tried to focus on reading her book. She had managed to dismiss the voice she had thought she had heard from her mind during that time. As the sun's rays began to filter into the room from the nearby window, she sighed.
"Suppose I'd better do what Sonic told me to do and try and socialize," said Angel as she sat the book on the table and drank the last of her juice. Walking into the bedroom, she began to get dressed to go into the commons. But as she finished putting the last of her clothes on, she felt like eyes were on her again.
"I know you're there," she said, looking around the room. But once again, nothing was out of place. A sudden knock at her door caused her to jump. Swearing to herself at being startled like that, she opened the door to find Cody standing there.
"You look a little spooked. Everything alright?" asked the robian, noticing the echidna looked a little scared.
"Yeah...I'm fine. You just scared me knocking at the door, that's all," said Angel. Truthfully she actually was a little spooked by what had happened so far this morning. Was her nightmare really starting to affect her in the real world? She hoped it wasn't. The dream alone was bad enough.
"Well, Sonic suggested I come and get you to have breakfast with us all," said Cody. Angel smiled in response to the invitation.
"I'd love to. I need to get out of here for a little while," said Angel as she followed Cody outside, closing the door behind her. As the pair walked down the path leading into the commons, Lily and Drake were there to greet them at the end of the path.
"Oh good. He got you to come and eat with us after all," said the magenta furred hedgehog with a smile.
"Come on you two slow pokes!" cried Drake as he flew next to Lily. "I finally talked Comet into an eating contest and I want to get started right away!"
"How'd you do that?" asked Angel, a little stunned that her chao would do something like that.
"Probably because he's asked her every day for the last month," said Cody with a sigh. "I swear he acts like a child most of the time."
"He pretty much still is a child Cody," said Angel. She then looked over at the orange dragon chao as she suddenly realized she didn't even know his age. "How old are you anyways?"
"I'll be a year in about two months," said Drake.
"Yep. Still a kid," said Angel with a chuckle. "Granted Comet was a much better behaved kid when she was his age, but she was still a kid."
"Hey! I can behave just fine," said Drake with a frown as Cody and Angel reached them.
"When you want to, which is rarely," said Cody with an annoyed look on his face.
"Oh don't be like that Cody. He's your chao after all," said Lily. Cody looked like he wanted to say something else, but held back and just smiled.
"Yep. He's mine alright. The bundle of joy that he is," said Cody. He reached out and patted Drake on the head, who just smiled and purred in response.
"Yep. Definitely still a kid. Comet made the same noise till she was almost two when I petted her head," said Angel.
"As nice as that felt, can we please get going?" asked Drake as he started flying off in the direction of the community hut. But as they started in the direction of the community hut, Angel felt something out of place and stopped. This caused everyone else to stop as well.
"What's wrong?" asked Lily.
"I feel like someone's watching us," said Angel. Glancing around, she noticed nothing on the ground. But as her eyes turned to the trees, she spotted something that caused an icy fist to wrap around her heart. Staring directly at her from within a large bushel of leaves covering a large branch of one of the trees was a pair of glowing, red, cat-like eyes. A pair of eyes that could only belong to one person.
"What do you see?" asked Cody, noticing that Angel's focus had stopped on a particular spot in the tree line.
"It's him...He's looking right at me," said Angel shakily.
"Who's looking at you?" asked Lily, also looking in the spot that Angel's gaze had focused on as Drake followed suit.
"You don't see him?" asked Angel, looking back down at Lily.
"I don't see a thing," said Lily.
"She's right. I see something up there. There's a pair of eyes staring at us," said Cody as he aimed his laser cannon at the thing hiding in the tree. It can't be him! He's supposed to be dead! thought Angel.
"Come down here whoever or whatever you are!" yelled Cody at the thing hiding in the tree. As if to answer his command, something leapt from the tree blindingly fast and slammed into Cody, knocking him to the ground.
"Myr!" cried the little cobalt robot that had recently taken up residence in the village. Cody instantly reacted, extending the claws on his right hand and taking a swipe at the robot. But the robot was faster and jumped off before the blow could land.
"Myr!" it said once more. But this time it was a much lower tone. It didn't at all resemble the playful tone it had when it had first tackled Cody. The thing suddenly lunged at Cody, its beak shaped head opening up and clamping onto his left leg.
"Why you inferior piece of low grade technology! Let go of me!" cried Cody as he tried to shake the thing off as it growled at him. But the little robot held on tight. Anger taking over him, Cody raised his laser cannon to take a shot at the robot. But just before he could line up his sights, Lily grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"Stop it!" cried Lily. Cody instantly focused his rage at his wife.
"But this piece of trash just tackled and now bit me! He's obviously a menace!" cried Cody.
"I'm sure he was just playing when he tackled you. And you provoked him to bite you when you took a swing at him," said Lily. She then placed a hand on the little robot's head and rubbed it gently.
"Come on Myr. Let Cody go," said Lily. Myr continued to growl softly for a few more seconds, then released his hold on Cody's leg. It then said its name a few more times angrily at Cody before walking off towards the village commons.
"That thing needs to be destroyed," said Cody as he got back to his feet.
"Stop it. It's your own fault he bit you. You shouldn't have taken a swing at him," said Lily. Cody sighed, then gave a nod.
"You're right I suppose. The little monster hasn't done anything to really endanger anyone. Still, I don't like the fact that I couldn't see him on my scanners up in the tree. For whatever reason he doesn't show up on them at all," said Cody flatly as they all started heading into the commons themselves. As Angel watched Myr head away from them, she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
It was only the little guy that showed up just before we got back. But why did I see Leviathan's eyes staring at me instead of his yellow ones? she thought to herself as she glanced back at the tree line. But nothing out of the ordinary caught her glance. As she returned her attention forward, she hoped that she wouldn't think another thing about the mecha bot for the rest of the day.