Love of the Ocean
By Fangs of Lightning and The Chuckinator
Chapter 1: The Merhog
Sonic the Hedgehog had just gone out for a run. He passed through Station Square and came to the lake, looking out at the water. Sonic sat on the edge of the lake as a smile came to his face. He hated water, but he came to the lake every now and then to look out at the waves. He liked how the light shimmered on them, making them sparkle a little. With a sigh, he stood and ran back to his house. The first thing Sonic heard as he walked through the door was his phone ringing. Running through the room, Sonic caught it just before it stopped.
"Sonic, could you come help me out with something?" Tails asked before he could say anything.
"Sure," Sonic said. "What is it?"
"An invention I'm making. I need someone to help me test it."
"Alright. I'll be there soon." He ended the call and ran to Tails' house. His friend opened the door and he came inside. "So, what's this invention you're making do?"
Tails shrugged. "I wanted it to enable people to breathe underwater. But I'm not sure how it will actually go about doing that."
Sonic's eyes widened and he nodded. "Sure," he said. "I'd love to try it out."
Tails smiled and started the machine up as Sonic got in. Tails took a breath to calm his nervousness and shut the machine behind Sonic. Once everything was ready, he pressed the button to get it moving and waited. A bright light flashed, and the machine began working. When it was over, Sonic walked out, still himself.
"Did it work?" He asked Tails.
"I don't know. You look exactly the same."
"Maybe I have to be in water for it to work. Want to take a trip to the ocean?" Tails was surprised at Sonic suggesting this but nodded. Sonic frowned. "Now that you mention it, I do feel a little strange. I feel like I want to be in water."
The fox nodded and they got in the Tornado, then went to the ocean. The moment they landed, Sonic ran to the ocean at a speed that startled Tails. He dove into the water, and began to transform. Sonic looked down at his legs as he found himself unable to move them apart. The two were fusing together, skin moving to cover the new single shape. The fact that he was breathing under the surface of the water barely even occurred to him as he watched. Two fins took the place of his feet, flattening, stretching, and fanning out. Scales took the place of his fur, keeping the shade of blue. The fins at the bottom of his tail faded to a lighter shade of blue. Sonic reached down to stroke his hands over his own scales. The skin between his fingers stretched out, giving him webbed fingers in moments. Sonic turned, looking down so he could see the back of his tail. A small dorsal fin stuck off it halfway down the length of his tail, angling down. Sonic smiled and returned to the surface of the water. He looked at Tails, smiling. The fox gasped in shock. Sonic was a mermaid...or merhog.
"I wasn't expecting something like this..." Tails leaned forward. "How do you feel? What was it like?"
"This is incredible," Sonic said, smiling. "I feel great. The transformation wasn't painful at all."
Tails nodded. He wondered what the merhog would do now. Most likely he couldn't change back. "What are you going to do now? I highly doubt you'd be able to change back."
The merhog thought about it. "I'll probably explore the ocean," he said. "Thanks a lot, Tails. I really appreciate it."
Tails smiled, and watched the merhog dive into the water. Sonic looked around to decide which direction to go first. After a few minutes, he made his decision and started swimming. The merhog smiled; he was no longer afraid of water due to his transformation. He swam deeper into the ocean, amazed at all the sea creatures that he saw.
"I should find myself a place to call home," Sonic told himself.
He swam further and eventually saw an underwater cave. Sonic smiled and swam inside, looking around and finally nodded in satisfaction. Sonic left the cave again and looked around at the general area. He had to find some way to mark the cave as his own. He saw a large rock and drew on it with his fingers, then brought it back to the cave with him. Once there, he sighed and fell asleep. A few hours later, he woke as his stomach rumbled; he had to find food. Sonic stretched and left the cave. In the entrance, he looked around. He didn't actually know what merhogs ate or how they got it. Most likely they ate seaweed, algae and other underwater plants as well as oysters. Sonic nodded and swam off in search of what he figured was the food. The merhog swam around until he found what he was looking for. Grabbing as much as he could, Sonic found a place to sit and looked down at his food. He had gotten some seaweed, and began to eat it. it didn't taste bad, and he enjoyed what he got. After eating, he swam back to his cave.