No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Brothers or any other franchise used. That goes to Nintendo. The only characters I own are those from the Golden Land, angels from Skyworld including the royal bodyguards, Angel Assembly and archangels along with all the other angels and of course the witch hunters. I also don't own Queen's Blade as that belongs to Hobby Japan.
Summary: Sonic saves a Mobian from dying from his injuries. Fox isn't exactly happy with Sonic about that. Fox had the bad luck of eavesdropping on Pit and Bayonetta's argument about a trap a certain Necromancer set and Sonic was going to get himself hurt all because he couldn't stop and think about the consequences of his actions. Sonic clearly does not grasp the seriousness of the situation until he stares death in the face.
Pairing: Fox/Sonic and implied Corrin/Bayonetta
Rated: T (for Teen)
Genre: Friendship, Angst, Drama and some Romance
Warning: Violence, swearing, dark themes and unintentional OOC
This is another gift fic for my friend Spellblade. He requested Fox/Sonic and I managed to come up with an idea. This is for Christmas but I finished it in a month in advance. Enjoy!
When one looked at the roster of Smash Brothers, one could see that the majority of the fighters were heroic in nature. It made things easy for Master Hand if the majority of the cast were good at staying out of trouble. Yes, villains were added to the list to make things interesting for the spectators across the galaxy, but at the end of the day, Master Hand made sure to pick his fighters carefully. A colorful roster meant attracting more viewers. Of course, even if Master Hand chose a lot of heroes, it wouldn't stop trouble from coming to the mansion in droves. Depending on how infamous the person was depended on the threat. Master Hand usually picked fighters based on where they were in the timeline of their universe…which didn't mean much because he usually tried to grab fighters when the conflict was over so old threats wouldn't rise up and try to fight them. Anyone from Hyrule could be grabbed from any timeline, but there would always be conflict between those specific fighters. Then you got Pit, Palutena and Bayonetta who had made many enemies in the past. If shit hit the fan, it was usually because of these three.
But then you got people like Sonic the Hedgehog who made enemies without realizing it. Sonic was known for being helpful to everybody he meets, but he rubbed people the wrong way by causing despair to them without realizing it. Usually, Sonic's kindness for one person (as well as not seeing the broader picture) caused misfortune for another. Sonic always believed that helping others usually brought good fortune to him and everyone else around him, so he never understood why some people carried grudges against him. In this new situation Sonic was in, he might finally realize why helping others could actually harm someone instead of help.
It was a gloomy day in the Smash Brothers Realm. The sun decided to hide itself from everyone and allow the clouds to stay overcast. Sonic wasn't exactly thrilled with this weather. Cloudy weather ruined his bright mood especially when it looked like today would be sunny when the hedgehog woke up. He did his usual morning run before returning to breakfast. Nothing eventful would happen until after lunch. Sonic didn't have a match to participate in until the next day, so he was free to do whatever. Sonic wanted to ask either Pit or Fox to hang out with him, but both were busy doing other things leaving Sonic alone for the rest of the day. They might be available after dinner, but Sonic doubted that.
As Sonic tried to decide what he would do today, he ended up encountering something in the fork of the road. This fork in the road was in between Smash Brothers Mansion and Smashopolis where the split would lead to Smash Forest. That was one of Sonic's favorite hangouts. It was a quiet, natural place for Sonic to relax if he didn't want to be near the mansion. Often, he came here to get away from the noise in the city as surprising as that sounded. Sonic loved the attention he got, but sometimes, the hate he got when fighting was a little too much. Being surrounded by tiny birds and bugs were better than people at times.
Sonic was just bored today though. His boredom allowed him to wander through the forest. There was no destination in mind, so he was just going to be walking around until he felt like it was time to leave. That was when he noticed a row of ants were moving in a single filed line to a specific destination. The blue hedgehog followed the trail to see where they were headed toward. He was rather surprised with his findings.
On the ground was a body of a Mobian. He appeared to be a fox around the same age of Sonic if not slightly older. Even if he was lying down, the fox was probably taller than the leader of Star Fox back at the mansion. Sonic saw he had a huge scar in the middle of his face that made him stand out from other Mobians. His skin was gray but his gray fur was covered in blood. On closer inspection, Sonic could see he was also covered in scars and deep cuts. The blood was seeping out of him as it dripped to the ground and attracted unwanted attention. The ants were the least of the Mobian's problem. The gray fox was still alive. His body was still twitching and he was still trying to lift his head off the ground. He may have been on the verge of unconsciousness. If he fainted, he might never wake up again.
"Hey, what happened to you?" Sonic called out as he rushed over to the Mobian. "Man, these wounds are terrible! Who could have done this?"
There wasn't anyone around to answer. The gray fox groaned as if trying to talk. However, he was too weak to even open his mouth.
Sonic needed to think fast. How was he going to save this Mobian before the ants decided to finish him off?
"Healer…I need a healer…" Sonic murmured as he tried to think of someone who wasn't busy that could get the job done for him. "Corn! Corrin! Yeah! I'll get him to help me out!" Sonic quickly rushed around the injured Mobian creating a small tornado that caused the ants to fly everywhere. The hedgehog was then quick to lift the injured Mobian on the ground who groaned upon Sonic being a little rough with him. "Don't worry! I'll get you to a healer! You're going to be fine!"
Living up to his reputation, Sonic had zipped out of Smash Forest in record time. Even with his speed, Sonic did worry that he might be too late to save the injured fox. He just needed to find Corrin and get him to heal the Mobian. It shouldn't be too hard, but it didn't stop the blue hedgehog from worrying.
Corrin wasn't too difficult to find. The dragon prince had only a few places in the mansion he hung out with. He was either in the kitchen, his room that he shared with Cloud on the third floor, the roof with Bayonetta, Cloud or his twin sister Cory or the garden. Sonic was good at memorizing the schedule of the Smashers, so he would find the person he wanted rather quickly as long as they were in the mansion. It would be harder to find them in Smashopolis simply due to the size of the metropolis.
The dragon prince was walking through the hallways of the first floor. He had just stolen a bag of potato chips from the kitchen and was going to retreat to his room for the afternoon until he was done. From there, he would probably go train in the training room with Cloud when Cloud came back from whatever he was doing. He wasn't expecting Sonic to zip in front of him with a bloody Mobian from his universe.
"Corrin, I need your help! You gotta help this poor guy!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Eh…"
Corrin didn't get a chance to respond since Sonic had already zipped past Corrin to place the injured fox in the infirmary before returning to Corrin's side in order to grab him and force him to come along. Everything happened so fast for the silver haired prince. The moment he blinked was when he found himself in the infirmary with the cobalt hedgehog and the injured party.
"No time to talk! Just heal the poor guy!"
"W-Wait! Slow down Sonic! Can you tell me the context and…"
Sonic tapped his foot impatiently as a response. The dragon prince sighed at Sonic's impatient and went to grab his staff that was near the wall. He and Rob kept their healing staves in the infirmary just so they didn't have to make a trip back to their room just to grab it. Granted, Corrin kept a few powerful staffs in his room since he believed that in the wrong hands, those staffs could do more harm than good. Granted, Corrin was the only one who could apparently use them, but it was better to be safe than sorry. A simple mend staff could fix the injuries that this Mobian had though.
"Please, I would like to know what happened for this poor animal to get into this state."
"The correct term is Mobian." Sonic corrected. "And I just found him on the road. He needs help. What other info do you need?"
Where on the road? Corrin asked himself. If it was a random person on the road, that would be something to be concerned about. What if they were a spy or someone that was pretending to be injured in order to get the upper hand on someone? "Sonic, I do think you should be more cautious…"
"Corrin! You're a healer! What healer questions helping out someone in need?!"
"I'm not but…" Corrin sighed again. It was pointless trying to reason with Sonic. "Alright, stop giving me that look."
The Nohrian prince asked Sonic to help move the Mobian into a position where it would be easier to heal him. Sonic wasted no time in doing so. Corrin held the Mend staff above the injured fox and quickly activated its healing abilities. Healing powers could only close up injuries. There was no way to actually replace blood with the healing magic that Corrin had. The healing should be enough to save the Mobian for from the brink of death though.
The blue light that came from the Mend staff was mesmerizing to look at. Sonic gulped hoping that Corrin didn't overexert himself despite nagging him to heal the injured civilian. The dragon prince gave the impression he wasn't exactly the healthiest person. Then again, that was the main reason Sonic didn't want to go to Rob who clearly wasn't the healthiest person.
Corrin moved the healing staff a little higher so the magic could cover a wider area on the Mobian's body. If he held it closer to the Mobian's chest, he could concentrate on that particular area. Since he was dealing with scars on multiple parts of the body, it would be easier to just get the whole body.
"How is he?" Sonic had to ask even if the answer was obvious.
The silver haired prince didn't respond immediately. His attention was to finishing up the healing. Sonic was amazed at how quickly Corrin could heal the injured. He came to the right person after all.
"…He should be fine now." Corrin answered as he took a step back from the bed. "As you know, I can't replace the blood he lost. I closed up his wounds. The blood just needs to be wiped off of him. He also needs food and water and rest. I think within a day, he can be released."
Sonic smirked at Corrin's words. "That's great."
"Hopefully, you'll be the one providing him with his needs."
"Huh?"
"You brought him in here. I can clean up his wounds now that he's no longer in danger of dying." Corrin folded his arms seeing Sonic's expression. "Do not even think of dumping this responsibility all on me."
"Hey! I wouldn't do that…"
Corrin smiled. "Good. Then you can get the bandages for me."
The blue speedster grumbled as a response. Corrin may have been a pushover, but this is one of the few things that Sonic wasn't going to get away with. There was no problem in helping the Mobian. It just meant that Sonic would be spending the next twenty-four hours helping Corrin attend to the injured fox unless something came up. Sighing again, Sonic zipped over to go and get the bandages. When the Mobian woke up, the cobalt hedgehog would have to make sure that the guy remembered who he was and what he was doing before releasing him.
This shouldn't be too hard to do. Sonic thought to himself. I'm just doing what I do best.
Of course what Sonic was doing was something he did on a daily basis. As a result, if Dr. Mario or any Smasher asked him what he was doing, he would simply reply with "the usual". Sonic didn't need to think twice about helping others who were in need of assistance. By not thinking about it too much, it probably caused more problems than what it was worth for others.
Sonic's deed did not go unnoticed in the mansion. In fact, it became gossip rather quickly of Sonic's deed. Fox had to wonder why it was such a big deal. He could only imagine it was because some Smashers didn't have anything better to do and exaggerated what Sonic did to become the center of attention for the day. If anything, Fox was wondering why no one was talking about the person he helped instead of talking about how nice of a person Sonic was on his free time. Of course, Corrin was getting credit too for helping the Mobian get back on his feet, but it was beside the point. If Fox could pinpoint who was the one who was spreading the gossip around, it was Peach. Knowing her, she wanted Sonic to feel good about himself for helping out. Fox probably would have praised the blue speedster too had it not been for an important detail that Fox found out later.
Fox was not an eavesdropper. Despite being a crafty fox, he still gave the other Smashers privacy. When you're arguing in an open area, Fox wouldn't really consider that invasion of privacy though. Yes, the roof was usually a place for Smashers to talk in secret and if you know something serious is going on, you leave them alone. You don't just stay behind the door and listen in.
Fox did that exact thing to Pit and Bayonetta. The leader of Star Fox was puzzled that the two were even alone together on the roof. Those two had a complicated relationship. Bayonetta was an Umbra Witch that hunted down angels for a living. Pit was scared of the Umbra Witch and was horrified she was a selected candidate for Smash by the fans. As time went on, Pit wasn't as scared of her as he was irritated. Now whenever the two interact, it was usually arguing because Pit learned not to be intimidated by the raven haired witch. By being able to talk to Bayonetta though, Pit was finally able to learn to work with her on missions that would take more than just him, Dark Pit and Palutena. In fact, Bayonetta allowed things to go more smoothly simply because he didn't have to watch her back like he would with Dark Pit. The dark angel was a great fighter but he was still inexperienced in Pit's line of work that he did on the side when Palutena wasn't looking.
"Cereza, you should have told your dragon boyfriend of yours to let that Mobian with the scar on his face die. Now things got more complicated!" Pit shouted at the Umbra Witch. "She probably knows what we're doing now because of that."
Bayonetta was far from pleased with the accusation. "You should know that Corrin and I are just friends. And we need to remember who was the one that brought the Mobian into the mansion to begin with?"
"Don't deflect the blame onto Sonic! If Corrin just let him die instead of being a goody-two shoe then this wouldn't be an issue!"
"Yet, your rodent friend was the one that foolishly brought the spy to the mansion to begin with."
Fox had to agree with Bayonetta. Clearly, it was Sonic's fault that Fox's paranoia was kicking in the first place.
"Excuse me! Sonic is my friend! I trust him to make the right decisions…unlike Corrin…we both know he's not the sharpest tool in the shed."
There was a pause as if Bayonetta agreed with Pit for a moment. It didn't change the situation though.
"…If Sonic has a brain unlike Corrin according to you, he should have known the dangers of bringing a Mobian like that into the mansion."
This argument was going to keep going back and forth with neither side willing to stand down. Pit growled at how Bayonetta was most likely going to beat him in this argument simply because Pit failed to interrogate Sonic about anything concerning their target. Corrin had nothing to do with the Mobian and was a bystander at the end of the day. Gray eyes leered at Pit's blue ones forcing the angel to glance away.
"…Fine…" Pit grumbled. "We need to figure out where that guy went though. He might have already said some things to his boss about what we're doing."
Fox paled at Pit's words. What information did this Mobian give? Perhaps it had to do with the security system of the mansion…
Pit didn't ask Sonic if the Mobian was given any information. Fox grumbled to himself as he left the angel and the witch alone. I guess I'll have to pry the information out of him and give Sonic a piece of my mind.
Finding Sonic was not easy this time around. If he was just in a normal location, Fox wouldn't have any problems. Fox had to check the schedule to see if Sonic was scheduled for a match tonight. To his relief, Sonic was in a one versus one match with Mario. It was a set match this time around, and Fox could only shake his head to see the blue blur wasting his time standing on the other side of the stage against Mario. Duck Hunt got banned in this set, so Sonic wasn't allowed to camp the tree. However, Battlefield wasn't looking so good for Sonic. He was down by at least 100 percent and it was Mario that was running away from him. How this match was 1-1 with how Sonic was fighting was anyone's guess. Sonic just wanted to be annoying to the Italian plumber today.
Regardless, Fox waited for the match to be over. He expected Mario to just win by either timing Sonic out or by getting his signature up smash. Sonic was the one who got the jank on him. He just needed to throw him upward on the top platform on Battlefield, activate his spring and do a quick up air chase that did kill Mario at 60%. Fox should have been surprised that Sonic clutched it, but it was something that people needed to watch out for on Battlefield and Dreamland when Sonic had rage on his side.
It wasn't Sonic that would be in a crappy mood when the battle ended but Mario. Maybe things will run smoothly as a result…
Mario stormed out of the simulator and grumbled how Sonic was being a cheap ass again in Italian. Sonic just chuckled as he left after making sure the red plumber was gone. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of an up smash in real life after all. The blue hedgehog stretched as he debated what he wanted to do today. He wouldn't get the opportunity to think because Fox was waiting for him with a serious expression on his face.
"Sup Fox!" Sonic cheered. "Like my comeback just now?"
"I guess…" Fox muttered. "You do it against me so much that it's not really a surprise."
"I did it on Mario! I can die happy now." Sonic said with a laugh. "Anyway, I know with that look on your face that you want to talk to me about something important. Spill the beans before I go eat."
Fox glanced around the area. This would be a great area to talk, but he really didn't want to be in front of this particular room. It wouldn't hurt to talk while they headed toward the kitchen. That was what they ended up doing to Sonic's annoyance. He didn't want to talk serious and eat at the same time, but if the red fox wanted to talk, who was he to complain?
Except…the topic wasn't what Sonic wanted to discuss.
"So yesterday, you and Corrin saved an injured Mobian, correct?"
"Yep. Nothing new. Is that it?"
"No…I overheard that the Mobian was a spy."
Sonic's ears twitched at that word. "Huh? Spy? How? Why? Are your ears playing tricks on you? Who?"
"Pit."
Sonic fell silent when Pit was brought up. Of course…
"Nah…Pit's probably paranoid. The guy couldn't hurt a fly. Did you see what he looked like?"
Fox took a deep breathe. This was the start of things. Sonic would try to play it off like it wasn't important and then drop the conversation. He had to push the topic.
"According to Pit, there was an animal that he and Bayonetta were pursuing that they claimed was a spy for one of their targets."
"Could have been anyone."
"Maybe, but they described it as a fox with a scar on his face. Sound familiar?"
Sonic flinched at the description. "…It could have been anyone."
"Really?"
"Yeah…"
Fox folded his arms in frustration. "Sonic, let me ask you something. When you were taking care of that guy, did he ask you any questions?"
Sonic rolled his eyes back at Fox seeing as how it was going to be this type of argument. "He asked where he was and I told him he was in the Smash Brothers Realm."
"…Go on."
"He didn't remember much. He just said that he was a wanderer and was injured on the way to Smashopolis. He's lucky that he was able to meet me and Corrin. He would be a dead fox."
The mercenary leered at Sonic when he said that. "And what did you ask him?"
"…Huh?"
"Did you ask who he was or why he wanted to go to Smashopolis? Did he remember anything or did you just not pressure him?"
Sonic frowned. Too many questions were being asked. Sonic wanted to make a counterargument, but then realized that Fox had a point. Yes, he didn't ask him why he was in Smashopolis or pressured him on anything else? He did send the Mobian out once he was certain he felt better. The fox wanted to leave as soon as possible after he asked a few questions about the mansion. Heck, Sonic didn't even get his name…it never crossed his mind…
"Sonic…" Fox growled. "Please tell me I'm wrong. Tell me you at least got his name."
"Look, Fox. You and Pit are just worrying too much over nothing. I save lives on a daily basis!"
"SONIC!"
Sonic flinched at Fox raising his voice. If any Smasher was nearby, they would have turn tail and fled.
"W-What? No need to shout…"
"Sonic, why can't you be careful?! Something dangerous is going down. We know Pit and Bayonetta are secretive people when it comes to their mission, but if they're involved, it must be dangerous. The person they are looking for matched the description of the person you were helping yesterday!"
"…So what?"
"What?"
"What do you want me to do about it?" Sonic asked darkly. Fox noticed that Sonic had stopped trying to search for food at this point. There should have been something in the fridge to eat, but apparently, it no longer mattered. Sonic had slammed the fridge just to show that Fox ticked him off. "I already sent him on his way."
"Sonic…"
"You want me to run all around Smashopolis just to find him again just to ask for his name and what crime he committed? That's not my job. That would be your job more than anything."
"My job? You're the one who brought someone of your race into the mansion! You could have put the lives of everyone here in danger because of your "good deed"!"
"No one is dead now, right? If anything happens, I'll take responsibility. Happy now?"
Fox wasn't happy. Sonic was going to zip away and there would be no way to catch him.
"Sonic, you got to understand that sometimes helping others will actually hurt everyone in the long run. You simply cannot keep doing this without informing Master Hand."
"I don't need permission to help people." Sonic snarled darkly. "If you're going to act like a jealous fox, I'm gone! Tell me when you're done being possessive."
Fox was taken aback by Sonic's words. What did he mean by that? Fox wouldn't get to find out seeing as how Sonic had sped away from the kitchen before Fox could ask another question. The older Smasher growled as he looked ready to punch the nearby table in frustration.
"Dammit Sonic! The least you could do is heed my warning and be careful!"
Sonic wasn't in hearing range to hear Fox ramble. He didn't care at this point. He was going to head to Smashopolis, get some food and then not return to the mansion for some time. Even then, he didn't want to deal with Fox. Sonic could admit he fucked up all he wanted, but Fox was going to make sure he felt like an idiot and paid for his kindness.
There is nothing wrong with helping people in need. Sonic convinced himself as he reached the entrance to Smashopolis. Fox is just being a worry-wart as usual. He'll get over it…he always does.
A few days passed since Fox confronted Sonic about the gray fox Mobian. Fox regretted going too far with it after the younger Smasher had decided to ignore Fox for the next few days. The red fox hated this phrase that he and Sonic got into often. Sonic would do something Fox didn't agree with. Fox would bring it up to Sonic and call him out on his attitude problem. The two would fight over this and Sonic would run off and ignore him for the next couple of days to even a week depending on the subject matter. This was no different and Fox hated how he was feeling guilty. The worse part was that Sonic probably forgot about the argument and wouldn't think twice about what Fox was scolding him about.
Falco had mocked Fox for allowing Sonic to pull him by the strings as usual. The leader of Star Fox couldn't help himself really. The older he got, the more he became concerned for those younger than him. Sonic was no exception. The problem was that the blue blur was someone that could take care of himself and make his own decisions. Sonic had claimed he had been on his own for the longest time, so the last thing he needed was an adult ordering him around.
"Don't apologize to him Fox. You got to make sure your argument sticks in his thick skull." Falco had warned him.
Fox needed to take his words into consideration. The problem was even if he knew Falco was right, Fox would still go out of his way to find Sonic and apologize to him.
The mercenary knew where to find the young fighter. Even if Sonic's schedule was very finicky compared to everyone else, Sonic was always going to be seen relaxing on the grass outside of the mansion a little after lunch time. Sonic would find a way to eat his chilidog and come back to either eat the chilidog outside the mansion or relax. Today, he was just staring at the clouds. He wasn't exactly happy it was a cloudy day. That was a bad omen for Sonic. He could just smell it in the air.
"Sonic!"
Sonic's ears twitched hearing Fox's footsteps. He chose to not acknowledge Fox's presence and continued staring at the clouds. Fox waited for Sonic to notice him. When it became clear the hedgehog wasn't going to give him what he wanted, Fox took the initiative.
"Sonic, we need to talk!"
The four familiar words after Sonic's name caused the hedgehog to roll on his side.
"Sonic-"
"I heard you the first time." Sonic grumbled. "If you want to continue our original conversation, you don't have to worry. I already had gotten over it."
"Then why are you ignoring me?"
Sonic had an answer to that, but chose not to answer. "Can we just drop the subject?"
"No. This is important."
Sonic groaned. How was he going to get him to drop the subject? He wasn't going to be open about it when he knew the other Smashers would probably walk past them and overhear them. It was already annoying that most of the Smashers became aware of their recent argument and made a mental note to avoid them.
Fox looked around to see if there was anyone listening in. His paranoia was getting the best of him with all this spy talk. All he wanted to do was apologize too…
"…Let's talk somewhere else." Fox murmured. "Smash Forest…you don't mind that…right?"
Sonic groaned at Fox's requests. "Fine. But don't expect me to talk when we get there."
Sonic didn't even give time to respond. He grabbed Fox by the wrist and already zipped away. Because of his speed, they already reached the entrance to Smash Forest. Sonic went farther though for Fox's sake. The further they were in the forest, the easier it would be for Fox to get his point across to Sonic…even if it was just an apology. However, a part of Sonic wanted Fox to reveal something else along with apologizing to him.
"Okay. You got five minutes to speak before I leave you here." Sonic told him harshly. "I don't want to continue talking about something that has already been said and done with."
So you're not really giving me a chance to speak. Fox snarked to himself. "Sonic, I know I say harsh things, but I bring them up for your own good."
Uhhhh…this talk again. Sonic thought darkly to himself as he glared at him. He refused to utter a word as he promised him five minutes. You always have to treat me like a naïve child. Why can't you see I make reasonable decisions?
"Not everyone you help is helpless." Fox began to lecture. "And not everyone wants to be saved. I may not have been there when you and Corrin healed him, but it's still odd how you just allowed him to leave immediately after he asked you a few questions."
"…It really wasn't on my mind…"
"That's the problem. I wouldn't be on you if I didn't overhear Pit and Bayonetta arguing over their target. It's convenient for me to come to you once they made it clear who you helped by the description."
"They should mind their own business…" Sonic growled. "You should too…"
"But you're my friend." Fox retorted. "You mean a lot to me."
Sonic sighed as a response. Of course I'm only a friend to him. I really need to stop thinking that there is anything else between us. I'm acting like Amy…
"Sonic?"
"For a friend, you sure go out of your way to make sure I'm okay and…or…happy. I would almost mistake that as a crush." Sonic frowned. What am I saying? I need to keep it to myself before I mess it up.
Fox stared at him in confusion. Crush? What delusional was plaguing Sonic's mind again? In the back of Fox's mind, he had a good idea and he was weary of it. His heart raced when this conversation came up, but the older Smasher did a great job steering away from the topic. Fox wondered how long that would last though if Sonic kept changing any topic about his not so secret affection.
"Really, Sonic. I just wish you would think twice before you do something. If something happened to you…I would…"
Their talk was interrupted by the sound of rustling bushes. Both of their ears twitched and immediately glanced in the direction of where the sound was coming from. Sonic was rather surprised to see the same gray fox appear before him. Fox kept his guard up though feeling something dreadful was going to happen.
"Oh, you're the one I saved not too long ago!" Sonic exclaimed. He cursed to himself for not knowing the name of the gray fox. "What's wrong? You seem out of it? Did you get injured again? Need me to get Corn for you?"
"Sonic, stay away from him!" Fox warned.
Sonic didn't heed his warning as the blue hedgehog used this as an opportunity to get close to the gray fox. How Sonic failed to see the drool falling down the Mobian's face was something Fox would ask himself. He snarled as he took out his blaster and aimed it at the gray fox's face. He only pulled the trigger when Sonic got too close to the gray fox. The one that Sonic thought was a friend immediately tried to lunge at him completely catching him off guard. He gasped at the sudden movement and was even more horrified when Fox shot the Mobian in the head. The gray fox ended up falling down in an odd fashion, but one bullet wasn't enough. Fox realized quickly what the thing was and shot it three more times before Sonic screamed at him to stop.
"What are you doing?!"
"It's a zombie, Sonic! If you get bitten or clawed, you're a goner!"
"That's not how it works! You had no proof!" Sonic tried to keep his composure but when it concerned Fox, it was not possible. "You were waiting for this to happen. You wanted to ease your paranoia and look what happened!"
"Sonic, please!" Fox had enough of Sonic at this point. What could he say that would make Sonic realize he was in the wrong?
The fighting would have to stop since there was someone else in the forest spying on them. Fox had rolled his eyes hearing an evil laugh that sounded closer to a monkey than an actual human.
"What now?" Fox snarled as he kept his hand on the trigger. "Show yourself!"
The monkey laugh continued to echo in the forest. The two Smashers noticed that there was a dark energy surrounding where the two were standing. At first, a small head would pop out from the dark energy before a decayed body would follow right afterward. Fox was correct to assume that the gray fox was now a zombie that was ready to turn Sonic into one.
"Ki-ki-ki! I guess my plan wasn't as foolproof as I thought. You're smarter than I give you credit for."
Fox felt a red vein threatening to pop up on his head. Insulting his intelligence was one way to piss him off. Fortunately, Fox wouldn't have to scream for the person to reveal himself or herself. The monkey decided to appear before them. The monkey was a young girl riding on a cloud. Sonic did expect something was odd with the clouds, but he didn't expect that there was someone using the clouds to conceal herself while she stocked the two Smashers. She may have been young, but she was the type of monkey that Fox hated in the sense that she was more humanoid but decided to wear less clothing to attract attention.
The young girl had long purple hair in twin ponytails. She wore a minimalist purple armor with golden ornaments consisting of parts covering her arms, legs, and her torso with a pink bra-like portion. The golden headband she wore matched the style of her armor. She also had pink heels to go with her outfit. The monkey girl was holding her staff close to her. It was her cocky smile that already irritated Fox when his eyes locked onto her red eyes.
"I assume you are the boss that Pit and Bayonetta are hunting down?" Fox asked as he pointed his blaster toward her. "You better answer me quickly before my fingers flip."
"Ki-ki-ki. No need to be rash!" She exclaimed as she hovered farther away from Fox so she wouldn't be in his gun range. "Yes, you are right. I am the one those two are after. Name's Seiten. Nice to meet you."
Seiten seemed reasonable to talk to. That was what went through Sonic's head. The problem was that she was the one summoning the undead to surround him and Fox. The blue hedgehog was nervous. Unlike Fox, he didn't have a weapon that could keep them away. Things could get messy even if he were to tap into the powers of the Chaos Emerald he had.
"You know kid, you should really listen to your elders. They have more knowledge about life than you." Seiten mocked. "Zombies are demons that you don't want to touch. If he didn't pull the trigger, you would have become part of my army."
Sonic flinched at the necromancer's words. He was wrong…and Fox was right. The leader of Star Fox could have easily mocked him for it, but he saw the distraught look that the cobalt hedgehog had and remained silent. Instead, he stuck close to Sonic ready to defend him from the zombies that surrounded them. It was pointless trying to get him to snap out of it. A gun was enough to end a zombie's life. Hopefully, he wouldn't run out of bullets.
"Don't try to fight back. You're surrounded." Seiten taunted as she rested her stomach on her floating cloud. "Just die and become my servant. The sooner you do that, the sooner I can have fun with greater opponents."
Oh, Fox hated being underestimated. Just because he wasn't a deity didn't mean he was easy picking for demons like Seiten. Fortunately for the two Smashers, help would appear from the sky.
"NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!"
Seiten rolled her eyes the moment she realized it was not just the two animal Smashers she would have to deal with. Sonic sighed with relief hearing the voice though. The Smasher came crashing in from the sky and had his weapon ready to fight.
"How the heck did you get to fly without warning your Goddess, Pit?" Seiten asked darkly.
"You're forgetting the Wings of Pegasus are a thing, Seiten!" Pit exclaimed as he pointed his twin daggers toward her. He had a cocky grin on his lips. "I'm glad I found you first before Cereza. The last thing I want is for her to take the credit for my mission!"
"Pit…how did you know where we were?" Fox asked. "How did you catch up to us so quickly?"
Pit chuckled at the questions. "Sonic is fast, but I'm good with keeping up with him. I arrived just now." Pit seemed to look away from the two Smashers as if he was looking at some other person that they couldn't see. "Plus, the author knows I'm fit for this job. I'm always the hero in her stories whether people like it or not."
"Come again?" Fox questioned but was ignored.
"The only reason Cereza isn't here is because she's with Corrin." Pit added to the original answer. "Those two are going to make so much money off of halos if they capture you."
"That's why I'm not going to get caught. Ki-ki-ki." Seiten hummed. "You know that very well."
Seiten was a slippery individual. Even Palutena had a hard time locating her. Pit just had to rely on Bayonetta to get information, but if there was a chance he could get ahead, he would do it. Granted, she'll destroy him later for attempting to double-cross her, but putting Seiten into custody was more important than the resentment the witch had toward him.
How to get rid of these zombies though? Pit asked himself as he turned his two blades into a bow. "Hey, Fox. Want to play a game?"
"Now?"
"Yeah. You see these zombies. They're so many of them. We could play a shooting game with them!"
You would think Fox would reject the idea of a game given the situation they were in. The brunette smirked seeing how Fox had an expression similar to his own.
"I only got to shoot one zombie…I'm not exactly satisfied…tell me the rules."
"The rules are simple though. We keep a mental score to ourselves as we kill all the zombies and get to Seiten. Whoever kills the most wins! No, there's no prize, but it allows for this task to not be such a hassle."
"Sounds fun."
"Just don't get bitten or clawed by these fools. I'm fine, but you might not be."
"Me get hit by these slow zombies? Never!" Fox said with a laugh as he had his blaster ready. "I'm ready to start whenever you are!"
Sonic could care less about the competition that Pit and Fox were going to do. His blood was boiling at this point. How dare Seiten take advantage of his kindness just so she could have a chance at hurting his friends in the mansion?! If this zombie army was meant to attack his friends at the mansion from whatever information Seiten gathered from him (and Corrin) specifically, then he was going to get rid of them right now.
Taking out his Chaos Emerald, Sonic channeled the marvelous powers that the emerald had. A blue light covered his body completely. If Sonic had all seven Chaos Emeralds, he would have gone Super Sonic, but the other six Emeralds were in his room. He was told to only bring one as long as he was in Smashopolis simply because having all seven in one place that wasn't the mansion was too dangerous. It would have been nice to have the seven Chaos Emeralds now, but one would fix the solution before Pit and Fox could aim at the zombies.
"There's no need for this pointless game…" Sonic grumbled. "I can take care of these dead fools easily."
Pit and Fox wouldn't have time to tell Sonic anything else. Sonic had already curled into a ball and spin dashed through the entire zombie army. Seiten should have expected that Sonic was someone not to underestimate despite being too nice for his own good, but when he was mad, he would make quick work of her zombie army. Despite scolding Fox for shooting the zombified fox in the head, Sonic would proceed to run his body through the heads of these zombie beings. Whether they were human or Mobian zombies, Sonic had no problem getting rid of them. He moved so fast that it was like he was moving in a pinball motion. Sonic got rid of the zombies faster than what Seiten could summon.
"Man, Sonic is pissed!" Pit exclaimed as he looked over to Fox. "What did you do?"
"Oh, come on Pit! You make it seem like if Sonic is mad that it's my fault!"
"It usually is."
Sonic didn't intend to stop spindashing until every zombie was dead. Seiten chuckled nervously as she decided on whom to summon next. She wasn't going to bring Sanzo into this since she valued Sanzo as a meat shield. There was one idea left that she was going to use as a last minute resort, but it was better to use it now before he decided to hit her. Seiten was lucky she made the decision quickly because Sonic had just finished plowing through everything in his path. The guts of the corpses didn't faze Sonic that much as did who Seiten summoned when the blue hedgehog had made a u turn straight toward the Monkey King.
Sonic forced himself to stop himself from spindashing his way through when he saw the gray fox Mobian stand between him and Seiten. He was certain that Fox had shot his brains out a few minutes ago. Seiten cackled as she continued to sit on her cloud.
"Ki-ki-ki! Oh, you seem so surprised to see him alive? He's my dead servant, so of course he's going to come back and save me!"
The zombiefied Mobian howled when Seiten spoke those words. Sonic took a step back when the fox turned his attention to his. The hedgehog resented the look that the Mobian gave him. His eyes were dead inside…
"Aww, I see you want to call to your new "friend" and snap him out of it, right?" Seiten asked with a huge smirk on her face. "I hope you know what his name is. He might respond to you if you jot his memory of you and your good deed."
Sonic wouldn't be able to do that. He didn't even bother to ask since the Mobian was just another guy to be saved.
"Your little chit chat with your friend over there was hilarious I admit." Seiten continued. "His paranoia actually meant something. If you actually listened to him, I might not have gotten that much information about this realm as I did. It's easier to use a dead servant than a live one to pick up information."
"What…"
Sonic refused to believe Seiten even if she spelled it out to him.
"If you just left him to die in this very forest, there wouldn't be a problem. He was dead either way, so you just delayed his death. How nice of you. My nameless servant will reward you kindly."
The zombiefied Mobian responded by growling at the hedgehog who saved his life. Sonic flinched at the menacing look he was given. Foxes hunted down hedgehogs, so it should have been a given, but those words did strike Sonic to the core. His reward for being kind was potentially getting killed if he didn't end this Mobian's life right here. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to do that even if his life was now in danger. He couldn't believe that he was in the wrong for being so kind.
"Sonic, move out of the way!" Fox hissed as he pointed the gun at zombie. Sonic's ears twitched hearing the trigger about to be pulled and ended up moving in the line of fire before Fox could pull the trigger. "Dammit!"
"F-Fox…you can't kill him…" Sonic muttered. "I'm sure there's a heart in this guy somewhere…I saved his life…he has to remember me…right…"
"Sonic, he has no brain! He's not going to remember you! Think!"
The zombie was thankful for Sonic. He showed his thankfulness by raising his hands up in the air attempting to claw at Sonic. By the time Sonic turned around to see how the Mobian was reacting to his kindness, it was already too late for the hedgehog to dodge. Seiten snickered thinking the hedgehog was done. Pit had a fast reaction time, but he wouldn't be able to stop his friend from getting injured. Fox was a different story. Instead of shooting the zombie, he rushed in and took the blow for the cobalt hedgehog.
Sonic almost let out a startled cry seeing Fox take the blow for him. It was normally him who ran in front of someone and took a fatal blow. If someone was injured because they tried to protect him, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself so easily. The worse part was that Fox didn't even try to shoot the zombie again after Sonic insisted that the Mobian could be reasoned with. Fox groaned at the teen Smasher's idea and paid for it with a nasty injury. Fox wondered how far those claws sunk into his skin. Staring at the zombie, Fox could see that there was no way to reason with one without a brain. The Mobian snarled as he pulled his bloodied claw away from Fox. The leader of Star Fox nearly fell over had it not been for Sonic to stop his fall.
Pit was so quick to shoot the zombiefied fox with an Arrow of Light before it did even more damage to the two anamorphic Smashers. The light was too much for the zombie to handle and he burst into gory bits as a result. Pit could care less about the zombie and focus on the purple haired monkey girl who was ready to flee after she had lost her ace in the hole. It wasn't because of Pit either. She could sense a powerful dark magic nearby as if she attracted the attention of a powerful foe. Seiten loved powerful opponents, but she didn't want to fight that person and Pit in an area she clearly did not have the advantage in.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted. See ya later Pit." Seiten teased as she was quick to escape further into the forest.
"WAIT! COME BACK!"
Pit wasted no time pursuing Seiten that he didn't consider to stay to check up on Sonic or Fox. It was probably for the better. Sonic didn't want anyone to see his expression falter. He didn't want anyone to know that at the moment, he was scared for Fox's life. If anyone saw Fox's wounds, one would see that the blue hedgehog was overreacting. The injuries were not life threatening in the slightest despite Fox probably exaggerating when he took the blow for Sonic. The Mobian wasn't that strong. Zombies were supposed to be strong, but Fox overestimated how sturdy he was as a fighter.
"Easy there, Fox. Don't need to push yourself." Sonic told his older companion. The teen Smasher was rather surprised that there was no hint of panic in his tone.
"I'm fine…I just need someone to help with this injury." Fox grumbled. "Seeing as how it's a zombie…I think I'm going to have to check to see if I'm infected."
Sonic rolled his eyes. What he learned from hanging out with Pit was that the zombie infection was not a real thing if you weren't a human. Angels were specifically immune to becoming a zombie, but the chances were low with other demons, Mobians and aliens.
"I don't think…" Sonic shut his mouth. He shouldn't make Fox waste his breath. He needed to take Fox to Smash Hospital immediately. Hopefully, the surgeon there wasn't too busy to help out the leader of Star Fox.
Sonic was quick to get Fox to Smash Hospital to get him healed. The blue blur wasted no time getting to the front desk demanding to see a doctor. Despite Fox warning him not be rude, Sonic demanded for the surgeon to use his "magical hands" to take care of Fox.
The surgeon the cobalt hedgehog wanted to see was the CR-S01. He wasn't the main doctor, but he was the one that treated serious injuries when requested. Master Hand made sure the best doctors were the ones that treated the Smashers. He was simply one of the best there was. However, Sonic would have to see Dr. Cunningham first before there was even a chance of seeing the surgeon.
Dr. Cunningham was not a nice doctor from what Sonic observed. He was always lecturing his patients for getting into this situation in the first place. If they wanted to live, they needed to take better care of themselves. The diagnostic doctor's attitude to Fox was no different. Sure, he had Sonic follow him to another room so they can patch Fox up, but he damn sure made it clear that Fox wasn't going to just get healed and leave without reporting the injury to Master Hand.
"Seriously, what is with you Smashers going out of your way to injure yourself? You are aware that if you die, you just make my life more difficult. Michiko only allowed us here so we can prevent the death of you idiots, but you go out of the way to injure yourself, then we're screwed."
"Excuse me! Fox didn't go out of his way to injure himself!" Sonic snarked. He folded his arms in disbelief at the doctor's words.
"Be happy the wound isn't as serious as it could have been." Dr. Cunningham snapped back. "I'll get the kid to come in and patch you up, but it this will be on your bill."
Fox simply nodded his head in acknowledgement of Dr. Cunningham's words. Compared to Sonic who was rather furious with him, Fox decided it was best to take the punishment for being so foolish. The diagnostic doctor didn't need to know how he got the injury. He just needed to know that it was an injury that needed treatment.
Dr. Cunningham let out a sigh of defeat as he left the room in order to get CR-S01. This left the two Smashers alone in the room together. Sonic had no intention of remaining with Fox though. The silent tension started to build up between the two, and the last thing Sonic wanted was for Fox to lecture him after getting in trouble by the doctor.
"Sonic, don't go anywhere." Fox told him. "Stay."
The blue hero was hesitant to obey. Fox could hear the younger Smasher groan before submitting to Fox's demand. He forced himself to take a seat next to the mercenary, but made no attempt to start a conversation with him.
Honestly, you can be so childish sometimes Sonic. Fox thought to himself. He sighed seeing Sonic avoid eye contact with him. "Sonic, don't think because I'm injured that I forgot our original conversation."
"…Why do you need to keep bringing it up?"
"Because this topic needs to be discussed. You simply cannot pretend that we didn't have that fight and be done with it. Besides, I was right when I said that you can't always be helping people. It will come and bite you in the ass…but it ended up hurting me instead."
Sonic's ears drooped upon hearing that last part. If Sonic was going to be punished for his kindness, that was fine. However, Fox should not have been the one injured in the fight.
"You weren't supposed to throw yourself in front of me…" Sonic muttered darkly to himself. "I could have dodged it."
Fox would have argued that Sonic was a deer in the headlight at that moment, but chose to keep that comment to himself. "…Regardless, you need to take things slow. I know that sounds foreign to you unless you're trying to time someone out, but if you continue to rush into stuff like that, it really is going to get you killed one day. You don't want to end up a corpse for that monkey to use."
"You're the one who rushes things." Sonic snapped back rather quickly. "You're the one coming onto me…"
Now it was Fox's turn to be taken aback by his words. You're not only immature, but you're delusional too.
"…You only told me not to help that Mobian was because you were jealous…" Sonic insisted. "Had it not been another fox, you wouldn't have scolded me."
"That's not even close to reality. I had bad vibes about that Mobian the moment I heard about him. You are too trusting."
"…You don't trust me enough…"
"If you weren't so reckless all the time, then maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Then what did you expect me to do? Let the guy die just because there was a slight chance that he had malicious intent?"
Fox knew the answer to that. If Fox were in Sonic's shoes, he would have done the same thing. However, he didn't like how Sonic just allowed the Mobian into the mansion and walk around without supervision for a bit before releasing him after his injuries were treated. Pit and Bayonetta were already on the case of Seiten trying to spy on them, but if Sonic didn't make the situation worse, there would haven't been a reason to be afraid of the possibility of an ambush. They were lucky the ambush was in Smash Forest and not late at night in the mansion itself.
"Sonic, why would I need to answer that question when you already know the answer?"
The lack of response annoyed the leader of Star Fox to no end. He growled as he reached out and grabbed Sonic's arm out of the blue. This caught this attention as he stared at Fox with a confused expression plastered on his face.
"…Sit down next to me." Fox suddenly ordered. "I know what you want."
Sonic shook his head. His expression faltered as he intended to pull away. Despite the injury, Fox was still as strong as ever. He snarled when Fox pulled him off the chair and into the hospital bed next to him. Before Sonic could protest, he was given an awkward embrace. The cobalt hedgehog shivered only because he felt the small splotches of Fox's blood rub against his stomach.
"…Sorry for worrying you."
The blue hero was taken completely by surprise. Fox could sense that Sonic was still tensed with the awkward hug. Instead of returning the embrace, Sonic had pushed the older Smasher away. The Star Fox leader should have expected that the cobalt hedgehog wasn't the touchy type and a hug would only make things worse between them. He still liked how a small crimson blush was stuck on his cheeks though.
"…Just get better." Sonic muttered. "That surgeon will treat you and you can pretend this never happened."
"Well my paycheck is going to be hurt…"
"Dude, you do fine in all of the tournaments you enter as long as you don't run into Bayonetta in bracket! I don't want to hear you don't have enough money to cover your expenses and guilt trip me into helping you pay for it!"
Add stingy to the list next to immature and delusional. Fox snarked to himself. "Either way, you can at least accept my hug."
"How about I curl into a ball and not talk to you?" Sonic asked grimly. Fox wasn't allowed to give an answer because that's exactly what he did. It was rather cute to see him curl into a ball right next to Fox and not move afterwards. He could still hear Fox, but it gave the impression that he was done talking to him.
"…I know you can still hear me." Fox told him. "Until the surgeon gets here, I'm going to be talking to you about that one Aesop that applies to you."
Sonic made a sound that sounded like he was annoyed with Fox. Why did he have to hear about The Fox and the Hedgehog again? That story gave him the chills.
You can lecture all you want. Doesn't mean I have to listen. Sonic thought to himself. Fox did in fact open his mouth to talk about this Aesop that annoyed Sonic to know end. At the end of the day though, Sonic was just glad that Fox was still alive to even scold him in the first place. His strict personality was something Sonic would miss if Fox bit the dust.
At least I can go to sleep to his voice. Sonic thought to himself before he actually fell asleep during Fox's story. Only when CR-S01 and Dr. Cunningham came in would Fox realize that he was talking to a hedgehog that had already gone to sleep.
Me: Done with 10809 words.
Li: Seiten got away…
Me: Most QB villains do. Notes!
1. The main influence of the story came from me reading an Aesop concerning a fox and a hedgehog. The link is posted on AO3 but you just need to Google The Fox and the Hedgehog Aesop to see where the idea came from. I wanted to actually show that Sonic's actions do have consequences, but it seems to be ignored more times than not.
2. Foxes and hedgehogs are often used as a metaphor for many things. Isaiah Berlin popularized the metaphor even though he claims that the metaphor not meant to be taken seriously. "A fox knows many things, but a hedgehog one important thing." This phrase has many meanings such as foxes use experience and their wits to make judgments and/or survive while the hedgehog is simple-minded in nature and only needs to do one thing and be very good at it to possibly have the same results. The example used for hedgehogs is curling into a ball and spinning (which is literally spindash…I will not make a ree joke here…)
3. Sonic goes to Corrin for healing over Rob is kind of important in the grand scheme of things. When it comes to healers, there are technically only four of them in the mansion. Dr. Mario is a doctor who actually treats injuries, but Peach, Rosalina, Rob and Corrin can all heal injuries to an extent. Pit and Dark Pit are low key healers in comparison but it's never brought up unless it's a Kid Icarus/Disgaea story. I haven't done the story where Rob feels threatened by Corrin due to people going to Corrin over him, but when I do (probably next year) I can finally finish a plot relevant to my main universe.
4. Pit and Fox talking about a shooting contest is a callback to Fallen Angel where they actually played a game of shooting zombies in the head while waiting for the elevator to work. Red, Ike, Saki and Knuckles were in four different rooms and needed to activate the switches in order to operate the elevator. Once that was done, Pit and Fox could save Sonic from Dark Pit. This felt appropriate given that Sonic gets himself in trouble in the same scene here.
That's it. Reviews are appreciated. Ja ne!