The Great Story of Seven
By LazerTH
Disclaimer: Firey Kitsune is © his player. Lazer and Rebecca Coriander are © the author. All other characters either belong to Sega or are of my imagination.
Author's note: The Sonic gang, including my own fan-created characters, has come far in these adventures I write. This story, I believe, will be their greatest and most memorable of adventures. Enjoy.
***
Outside the limitations of Space, and beyond the grip of Time, is the enigmatic dwelling place of the Ancient Walkers. These three immortals have watched the planet of Mobius, guiding its inhabitants and shaping its history for eons.
A victory has recently been achieved on this small planet: Robotnik, the iron fisted tyrant, is dead. His oppression of the non-human population of Mobius is now legend.
"We aided his enemies."
"Was it our place to manipulate events to his disadvantage?"
"Is it of great consequence? He was not the end of Evil."
As the Three thought of events past, present and future, two other beings interrupted. Three masked heads bowed in their presence.
"Rise. Your actions of late have not gone unnoticed."
"He is coming. One who would declare himself greater than we."
The Three were confused. Why had they not foreseen this significant event?
"Be not dismayed. His thoughts and actions are outside your realm of understanding."
"The servant has died. The master will claim his treasure."
The Ancient Walkers dared to speak.
"Who is this being you speak of?"
"When will he come?"
"How can we prepare?"
The two others arrived at a decision.
"You will intervene, as you always have."
"We will intervene, if you are successful."
They were silent, and spoke again.
"You hurried the death of his servant. Our preparations must likewise be hurried."
"His desire is omnipotence. He is coming. It is too soon. We may fail."
***
Sandopolis is not known for its hospitality. A brutal heat rises from the sand that keeps most tourists away from its ruins. Within these ruins live creatures of darkness that only the brave, or foolish, would disturb.
Mighty the armadillo was creeping across a great stone arch within the largest ruin. The ceiling above was lost in shadows, only the torch in his paw provided light. By its yellow flicker, he peered under the arch, grinned, and jumped downward. Before he hit the sand, his shoes hit something solid and invisible. There was a grunt of pain while sand flew.
"You're It."
The chameleon materialized and shrugged Mighty off his back. He spit out a mouthful of sand before asking, "How'd you find me?"
"I saw footprints in the sand, but only one pair."
Grumbling, Espio took the torch, covered his eyes and began to count to ten. He heard Mighty scampering away to his left.
"Idiot," Espio muttered while he walked, "Hide and Seek in Sandopolis, with only one torch. Idiot."
The sound of fluttering wings reached his ears. Without even looking in the direction, he dove toward the sound. The torch caught a very startled bat in its light before Espio realized there was no ground beneath.
"AUGHHH!! (Why didn't I look before I…)"
Whump. He landed onto a sand slide and tumbled head over heels until plowing into a soft mound. Again, he spit out a mouthful of sand (and began working on enough saliva to spit out the rest). He opened his eyes to pure liquid blackness.
"Well, this is great!" he yelled aloud, "That was the only torch we brought!"
"What?" came a faint voice from high above, "The torch is out? Then how are we going to get out of here?"
Espio looked up. About a hundred metres above was the entrance, hot sunshine pouring through it. How would he get up there if he couldn't see where he was going? There were so many pitfalls, and the rocky paths were so narrow.
"Hey! Listen! Find one of those big light switches!"
"Can do!"
"Right!"
"Just do it!" he yelled again. He stood still for a few seconds, wondering which way to go. A small white light burst into existence several metres away from him, and he wondered if the torch had rolled down to him. He walked over to it and saw two black holes in the midst of the white light, which looked like…
"Eyes?"
The light grew slightly larger and sprouted a pair of ethereal horns. The two holes narrowed, as if frowning.
"Hey, it's a…"
"GHOST!" he heard Charmy and Mighty scream somewhere above. Espio smirked.
"Aw, isn't that a cute yiddle ghost? I wonder why they're afraid of you?"
The ghost grew until it was twice the size of Espio. Its eyes and horns became positively demonic.
"Y… You think you're scary? You're still a ghost, you can't touch me, I'm alive, and you're dead."
Claws, attached to a slim white arm, lashed out and knocked him into the air. He landed on his face, then got up and, abandoning all arguments, started running. He crashed into a wall, but barely noticed the pain as he turned around. There were many, many more…
"GHOSTS!"
"We know!" Mighty and Charmy yelled back.
Now they were playing Hide and Seek. A shrill scream arose from the ghostly throng, and the gang started in the opposite direction. When they hit a wall, they ran or flew along it. If Espio or Mighty tripped (and trip they did), they pushed off the sandy floor and kept running. Too bruised and tired to keep on going, but too afraid not to, and everywhere were ghosts, ghosts!
Then there was abrupt, astonishing light.
"Agh! Turn that thing off… wait, what am I saying?" cried Espio.
"If it isn't darkness that's blinding me, it's light. What luck," murmured Mighty.
"You guys! What're you doing down there? Come on! Get moving! I've found Knuckles!"
Forgetting the fresh pain in their eyes, the three of them looked upward at Julie-Su. She was just inside the entrance, hanging onto a light switch.
"You're kidding? Found him? Just like that?" remarked Espio, who was ensuring that no ghosts were in his vicinity.
"Six years he's been gone, and he just drops in?" added Mighty.
"More importantly, where is he?" asked Charmy.
"Corona Den, with Vector. He's… not well, but he isn't sick, either, I… oh, just get a move on!"
With that she whirled around and dashed into the burning desert.
***
An unruly crowd of Freedom Fighters, carrying great tankards of beer, surrounded the hedgehogs, whose right paws were locked in mortal combat. The humidity of the room, the cheering, and their fierce struggle caused sweat to pour off of them and soak into their fur.
"Knock him over, Sonic!"
"Rip his arm off!"
"Kill him! Kill him now!" they shouted drunkenly.
Even with the crowd on his side, Sonic could not force the arm of his opponent down. The red hedgehog opposing him was not winning, either. Their eyes were also locked onto each other, raging green versus solid black. The wooden table beneath their elbows groaned.
"Give up?" Sonic challenged between very tightly grit teeth.
"Never," his opponent rejoined, sweat dripping down the V-shaped fur on his forehead and onto his nose.
This struggle lasted several more seconds until something gave way: the table. It split down the center with a splintering snap. The hedgehogs fell forward and bonked their heads against each other's, eliciting uproarious laughter from the crowd (which was gloriously drunk by now).
"That's the sixth time that happened," noted the red one while rubbing his arm. Sonic stood up and brushed back his emerald green hair that was slick with sweat. In all the twenty-two years of his life, he had never met a stronger hedgehog than Lazer. The first time they had fought had ended in a draw. The only thing he had the edge with was speed…
"Race you to Knothole, you old bastard."
The thought of Sonic racing against someone sent renewed waves of laughter boiling over the revelers.
"Old. You call me old?" Lazer replied, "Need I remind you…"
"Yeah, samurai boy, the Emeralds. Screw 'em. This's a race. Ready? Set? Go."
Without any fuss Lazer's body flashed bright red and disappeared. With an equal amount of no fuss, he reappeared soon after.
"One second. And you're still here?"
The crowd went "Ooooh!" as Sonic's brow furrowed.
"Forget the Emeralds samurai boy. This's just a plain, normal race. We're only using our legs."
"Oh, okay."
The blast of red light came from his legs this time, and he disappeared once more. Sonic shook his head while everyone else screamed with laughter.
"What an idiot," he said vehemently. Mugs of frothy beer were being pushed into his face and the scent filled his head. He contemplated getting drunk (he dreamt of floating on a warm ocean of oblivion, ah, the beer smelled so good) but decided, a little resignedly, that he should go home to his wife.
***
Corona Den was like any other hole in the ground, except this one had cold yellow light glowing within its walls. Coincidentally or otherwise, Corona Den was an excellent supply of Power Rings, which simply popped out of the walls whenever they felt like it. The Chaotix had not bothered theorizing why (or how) the walls created Power Rings as they had other things to do, for example, caring for a Guardian whom had been six years absent.
"Yo, he's just been starin' at the ceilin'. Man I wish he would tell me what's dealin' in that thick skull of his."
Mighty thought of yanking the headphones off Vector's head. Knuckles, who was never famous for being talkative, was resting, arms folded, with his eyes fixated on the golden light above him. He was the same Knuckles they had all grown to love, but there were shadows beneath his eyes, and he had grown visibly thinner. Everyone expected him to start talking and not end his tale until a few days later. What the hell had he been doing for so long?
"Knuckles?" it was Julie Su who broke the silence, "Naki?"
"Here I am," he said in a ponderous tone. He did not look at anything except the ceiling.
"Do you want to tell us where you've been?"
"No."
"Oh, Naki," she cajoled, placing her paw beneath his head, "Please tell us. Or at least tell me. We're all very worried."
Her other paw brushed back and forth across his rigid jaw (was that stubble on his chin?). Mighty snorted.
"Careful, he might bite."
"Shush. Let him talk."
After a few more seconds of her treatment his mouth dropped open and shut again. Then he formed words.
"I returned here to find the Seven. I could have stayed there and been happy… but as Guardian I have responsibilities to the Emeralds, and to Mobius."
He reached upward and held Julie Su's paw, the one that had traveled from his jaw and now lay on his chest.
"I must find them. For you, for all, so that there will be life."
"Man, you couldn't be a little more confusin, boy? What's this Seven?" Vector interrupted, hands spread wide.
"Seven living beings. Each was born to close this terrible chapter in history…"
***
The streetlights were few and far between each were lonely shadows. Sonic moved between light and dark at a leisurely trot. This was the city built by Freedom Fighters. Six more miles of expansion, and it would begin to absorb the skeletal remains of Robotropolis.
"Gary, no."
Sonic halted in the shadows. There were two figures half a block ahead, feline in appearance.
"We can't live together. We agreed it wouldn't work out."
Gary stared down Kate. After all this time, he could scarcely believe that the litter he and Kate had made was all inside there. The big belly looked out of place on her slim figure.
"You rejected me, just because we have kids. Could be four or five or six, and they'll need more than one parent to support them."
Kate stepped backward, regretting every night they had spent together. "Gary," she began, one paw holding her handbag and the other over her belly, "It'd be better for them. We don't love each other, we couldn't raise them…"
"Don't love each other? All that time we…" he struggled for words, then stared urgently into her eyes, a sort of wild light in them, "You think that isn't love?"
"That's not love, Gary,"
"Then what is?"
He stepped forward and grabbed the wrist she held over their children. Kate uttered a small painful cry, trying to get away...
"That's enough."
Sonic was suddenly there, snatching Gary's paw away from Kate. She started to shake her head, no, don't get involved in this.
"This isn't your concern," Gary hissed, retracting his paw as if bitten. Sonic coolly gazed into the wild light of Gary's eyes. Kate was an almost forgotten presence, a bystander.
"I think it is. I happen to know Kate. She works twelve hours every day of the week, balancing the books at the pizzeria. I've seen her walking home sometimes while I'm having a good time at the bar. You'd swear she was trying to punish herself, if you didn't know that she had kids on the way."
"And that makes you her bodyguard? You're not a part of this, or are you?"
He rounded on Kate who cringed at his loud angry voice.
"You been sleepin' with him?"
Several lights went on in the windows above and across the street. Heads were beginning to appear, complaining that we don't care who slept with whom, just let us sleep. Gary whipped his head around like a criminal cornered by an angry mob. He sneered at Sonic, and ran away, his tail flicking angrily behind.
"You're Okay?"
Kate shook her head. Sonic saw that her eyes were moist.
"He's angry now. He'll hurt me, and my…"
She looked down at her swollen womb and the tears came quietly, with small quiet sobs. Sonic gently held her arms and touched his forehead with hers. Her sobs subsided after a while and she was holding him, too.
"Thank you," she murmured and disengaged herself, "You must've done this before, huh?"
"Hundreds of times. Can't have women crying all over Knothole for lost husbands or boyfriends, they'd drive me nuts."
"Must make Sally jealous," she sniffed, smiling a bit.
"What?" he asked, amused, "She used to be one of them. C'mon, I'll take you home."
Gary watched their silhouettes meld into the darkness. He would get Kate later. When Sonic was not around. He thought of Lilac. She might have other boyfriends, but if she had any kittens, he wouldn't hear of it. Wouldn't have to be responsible. He turned to the alley behind him (there were many shortcuts to Lilac's place) and saw twin jade half-moons hovering in the darkness.
"You'll do," a female voice purred. A paw clamped onto his own and drew him into the alley.
"Listen, lady, I have somewhere to go."
He had no patience with the other hookers in this city. They were low-class, disease-infested animals, that could knife you and take your money while you laid there bleeding. Lilac was clean, had her own place and had enough class to pay the rent, and then some.
"Ooh, so angry," the hooker purred. Gary was unwillingly, but very thoroughly, kissed. He tried to pull away (he had mouth sores once, and didn't want them again) but found himself relaxing instead. This gal knew her stuff, and didn't taste like cigarettes or cheap whiskey. Their tongues played with each other awhile and she did things with her claws that drove all questions out of his mind.
"Come with me," she breathed into his ear.
Hell, Lilac could survive one night without him.