I DON"T OWN SONIC OR SEGA
1. Coram Tempestate
The hedgehog awoke to a bright white ceiling. A faint beeping noise accompanied him to the left, and he realized he was on a soft bed, also white.
Everything in the room was white, and it was then the hedgehog knew where exactly he was. He was in a hospital, and there was an unbearable pain in his stomach.
Ryko the Hedgehog, for the 15th time, had been shot.
He moved over a little bit and found that his stomach wasn't the only thing that hurt; his shoulder was also bursting with pain, making that 16 times. Which, for a hedgehog of his profession, was surprisingly little. Now that he was awake, and alive, he was waiting for the doctor to come into his room and flip out.
Sure enough, a doctor walked into his room a few minutes later. He was holding a glass of water and began to wash his hands at a nearby sink. Picking up his water, he began to walk back out the hall when he took a glance in Ryko's direction. The glass dropped to the floor and broke into little tiny pieces.
"You-" he began with a baffled expression.
"Shouldn't be alive? I get that a lot. How much blood did I lose?" Ryko asked.
"Woah, hold on. I need to make sure you're okay. What is your profession?"
"I'm an assassin. I work for G.U.N, and have since I was 16 years old."
"The last time you can remember, where were you?" Ryko sighed and closed his eyes.
"Casino Night. I was just about to get married…I noticed I was shot twice, but I don't remember that."
"You never feel the shot that takes you down. Well, Mr. Ryko, you seem to have the best healing abilities for a 28 year old that I have ever witnessed. Your fiancé will be very happy to see you." The Doctor said, writing something down before heading out the hall again.
"Wait!" called Ryko.
The Doctor turned around.
"Do you have my cell phone?" asked Ryko.
"Um…yes, we do. Do you want it?"
"Yea, I need to make a call." The Doctor left the room and came back with Ryko's phone.
"Here you are. If you need anything else, just tell me." The Doctor exited the room.
Ryko found it hard to dial, but he managed to punch the number he wanted. The phone rang twice before the phone was answered.
"Hello?" asked the voice on the other line. Whoever was calling her had her personal phone number, which wasn't thrown around.
"Sal. I need some answers." said Ryko.
There was a long pause on the other end.
"Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Sadie will be overjoyed." answered Sally Acorn, current Queen of Mobius.
"I just want to know who did it and if he was caught."
"It was Apollo. He had a perfect shot, too perfect if you ask me. He probably had to bribe someone to get up there, because no security guard would think of letting him take a shot from the top of the stairs. Right when you were about to be declared married, he took the shots. He meant for the head, but missed both times. Once in the stomach and once in the shoulder."
"Did he get away or do I have to deal with him?" asked Ryko.
"I sent a patrol team after him. They came back 3 days later with his severed head."
"Now I get to relax. Tell The Commander I'm alive and I'll be back to work in a little while. Where's Sadie?"
"She's at her house, having a panic attack."
"Tell her to come on down. We have a few things to solve."
5 YEARS LATER
Hades the Hedgehog quickly dodged a punch from a pale hedgehog, the leader of the band of assassins he was currently locked in combat with. Unfortunately, he was hit in the side of the face by another member of the assassins, a dark green hedgehog. He fell to the floor with a thud.
The Pale Rider and leader of the High Council's 4 Horsemen, Death, stood over Hades' fallen figure.
"To think that you stood with me when the Fourth Seal was broken, to think that you once stood by me as an ally." remarked Death with disgust. "You were a formidable opponent, Hades. The best we've ever had. Unfortunately, like every other victim we've taken care of…" He pulled out his legendary scythe, which for many victims was the last thing they never saw. Hades would have the pleasure of seeing it sink into his chest.
"…It just wasn't enough." He swung his scythe downward towards the form of Hades.
It never hit his target.
Well, the one he was aiming for. He did hit Hades' accomplice, Anubis, who also had a bounty on his head.
Anubis appeared right in front of Hades' prone body as the tip of the scythe dug into Anubis' chest. Anubis gave a sadistic smile before placing a curse on the group of assassins.
" لعقد من جبروت أنت وزملائك،
فلن أتطرق له لعشر سنوات أخرى."
With those words, Anubis turned to dust; a sign that he had truly died.
"NO!" screamed a desperate Hades, looking at the ashes of his brother. While the other 3 Horsemen broke into a fit of rage, considering the fact that they now could no longer touch Hades for 10 years, the Pale Rider seemed amused.
"Did you see that?" asked Death, looking down at the ashes of his foe. "The way the scythe gracefully dug into his flesh? You have 10 years, Hades, 10 years with the image of your brother's last breath fresh in your mind. And when that last second ticks, we will be waiting. And then you will meet your end."
With those words, the Horsemen vanished, leaving Hades breathing heavily staring into empty space.
7 YEARS LATER
"Happy birthday, Kyren!" said Ryko the Hedgehog as he woke up his now 12 year old son, Kyren the Hedgehog. Kyren grinned.
"Alright, give me time to wake up."
After he finished his morning routine, he went to the living room where the table was set with a present in the middle. The whole family, including Cesare, his pink furred pink eyed 10 year old brother, was seated around the table.
Kyren himself was a gray hedgehog with a yellow stripe down the middle of his body (but not running through his chest fur) with equally yellow eyes. Considering his mother was white and his father purple, the doctors couldn't find out why he had turned out that way. However, there was something else wrong with him that overshadowed that by a mile.
Kyren the Hedgehog was blind.
He couldn't see a thing, but it affected him very little, as every other sense he had was heightened to an incredible level. He could smell where things were, hear the footsteps, feel the breath of others on his fur. He could do anything a normal person could do.
"Now, today I give you three gifts, one shared with your brother and two of them not approved by mom."
Unbeknownst to Kyren, Sadie the Hedgehog rolled her eyes.
"One, you both don't have to go to school today."
"YES!" both Cesare and Kyren shouted.
"Second, Kyren, I'm taking you to work with me. I feel that you're old enough."
"Best birthday ever!" shouted Kyren. Cesare gave a low grumble.
"And third, the objects in the present box!"
"I still don't think he's ready yet." muttered Sadie.
Kyren opened the present and what he found was what would be at his side for the remainder of his life (and later would be a signature of his). Two sleek black .44 magnum revolvers, both with 6 inch barrels, lay rested in the box. Kyren took them out; they felt perfect in his hands.
"Can we shoot them?" asked Kyren, his eyes twinkling with excitement. Ryko laughed.
"There's a shooting range in the facility, of course. We'll fire some rounds down there."
"Thanks so much, guys!" said Kyren, embracing both his parents in a group hug.
Cesare groaned and slumped back in his chair.
The shot went wide left, completely missing the round target and hitting the wall to the left. Kyren's head slumped down.
"I just can't do it." Kyren said.
"G.U.N won't hear that, son, and neither will I. If you want to be an assassin like your dad you'll have to be ready and never give up."
Kyren nodded and brung the revolvers up again, concentrating for a sound that would give away the target.
3 YEARS LATER
12 bullets slammed into the center of the target, leaving what appeared to be one giant hole in The center of the board.
"Nice shootin', Tex!" praised Rio the Hedgehog, Kyren's current girlfriend. She had blue eyes and red fur and, like Kyren's mother, didn't wearher quills in a headband. Unlike Kyren's mother, she let one half of it rest over her shoulder. She always wore a punk or grunge band t-shirt tied at the waist and today it was a Violent Femmes t-shirt.
"Yea, well, I am amazingly awesome."
"That arrogance of yours is gonna get you in trouble one day."
"Has it bothered you?" Rio chuckled.
"Not at all." she replied, before leaning in for a kiss.
"HEY GUYS!" exclaimed a voice from behind them. The two whipped around to find Ryko hiding in the shadows.
"How long have you been there?" asked an astonished Kyren, wondering how his father could have got there undetected.
"Longer than you. Listen Kyren, you're transferring over to Rio's school starting tomorrow. Your principal doesn't want you at the school for safety reasons. I already checked with their principal, you'll be good there…for now. Thought I would let you know while at the same time interrupting you guys. Cool?"
"Yea…I still…whatever. Oh yea, Dad, forgot to ask you-"
His scent had disappeared. His dad was gone.
"Yep. That's him. Well, it's school that we go to school together now."
"Yea, it is. Should we continue where we left off?" Kyren rolled his eyes.
"Sure."
"Still here." said a voice, this time to their right. They both jumped upwards in fright.
"DAD!" exclaimed Kyren.
"It's fun, what can I say? Let's get to the car, I'll drive you both home. Oh, and I have a rearview mirror."
"You got the new car?" asked Kyren excitedly. Ryko previously had a 1963 Shelby Cobra before he totaled it chasing a dangerous drug dealer on the interstate.
"Yep, a 1960 Corvette fitted with Corvette C7 engine and wheels, fit with nitrous oxide and a supercharged motor, of course."
"The C7 doesn't come out until a year from now." pointed out Rio.
"It does when you're an assassin for G.U.N! Now come on, everyone, this is gonna be a wild, wild ride!