Hi everyone. This is my first Sonic the Hedgehog fic and it's based on the 100 picture challenge on deviant art. This story will consist of 100 one-shots, each with a title based on each subject from the challenge. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my efforts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: All characters are copyrighted Sega and Sonic Team. I own only the ideas used in the fic.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1: Introduction
It started with fire.
It started with a plume of acrid smoke seeping through the cracks in his window pane and rousing him from his sleep in a racking cough that bent him double.
It started with him throwing the covers off of his bed and racing to the door. With him throwing it open and gazing out onto a vision of hell.
Over half of the huts in the village were already burning when he threw the door open. His eyes widened in mute terror as his brain ran along theoretical pathways before reaching a conclusion. He knew what had caused this.
Robotnik.
The man's name had become taboo in the village as of late. Many travellers had passed through on their way to larger cities in the west, some even journeying from as far afield as Station Square. Many spoke in hushed tones of being forced from their homes by a mad dictator who called himself Robotnik. With an implacable wall of metal he advanced across the continent and crushed all populations before him.
The villagers had laughed at these travellers. 'We are but simple folk' they had said. 'We have nothing that this man may want. We are safe from him.' But, as he stood with firelight reflecting in his eyes, he knew that Robotnik had not come to take anything from them. He had come for them.
Acting almost on autopilot, he ran towards the nearest pile of rubble. Blisters formed almost instantly on his fingers as he sifted through red-hot rocks and timbers that were still aflame in a desperate search for survivors. Above him giant insects circled like carrion birds above a kill, spewing flaming orbs into any building that was not already aflame.
He ran from pile of rubble to pile of rubble, keeping in a ducked crouch to try and avoid the gaze of the insects above. All of his searches proved fruitless but he persisted. As he rounded one corner, he stopped in his tracks.
A small female rabbit was crouched in front of the ruins of what had once been her home. Her arms were wrapped around two children. All three of them were crying. In front of the trio a larger male rabbit stood with his arms outstretched trying to shield them from view. Facing him, three of the insects hovered in a triangle, but they were not real insects, he could see that now. They were of metal. Sheets of blue steel covered their bodies and a large barrel protruded from their abdomens in place of a stinger. In the centre of the triangle was a large spherical craft, seemingly hovering with no means of support and, in the cockpit was a bloated figure in a red jacket. Robotnik.
Even from behind, the ends of a bristled ginger moustache could be seen on either side of the head. Robotnik was talking to the rabbit but the distance was too great for him to make out the words. Then Robotnik tilted his head back and laughed. The sound was disturbing, like a bark mixed with the noise of water spiralling down a plughole. Then Robotnik raised a hand towards the stars, and let it fall. As it fell, the insects fired.
The three shots hit the rabbit in the chest, raising him off the ground slightly before allowing him to collapse. The murder completed, the three insects swooped towards the mother and children. He could only watch helplessly as they snatched the rabbits in their claws before bearing them away to rejoin the rest of the swarm circling the village. Robotnik turned his craft, and the two looked into each others eyes for the first time. Robotnik's eyes were impassive, hidden behind sunglasses. The other figure's eyes burned with fury.
With a slight shrug, Robotnik snapped his fingers. A solitary insect descended and, with no further commands issued, fired. Robotnik turned away, not even bothering to watch him be killed. He leapt backwards on instinct allowing the shot to hit the mud by his feet and kick up a spray of dirt as it did so. The insect moved closer and continued to fire, mindlessly following out the order to kill that it had just been given. Faced with the robot's impassive determination, he fled.
He ran in a straight line, too terrified to consider swerving. He vaulted over piles of rubble and ducked under flaming joists where they had fallen awkwardly. He stumbled occasionally, but kept running, trying to flee the robot whose wing beats were now a constant buzz in his head. He jumped over a boulder and crouched, hoping against hope that his pursuer would merely fly on and pass him by.
It did. But as it did so, he leapt up at it. Fingers bent the flimsy plastic that constituted the robot's wing and his superior weight brought the two crashing to the ground. He cried out as he landed. The robot made no sound save for the whirring of the gun barrel as it swivelled to target him. He stamped on the barrel. Hard. It buckled under the pressure and the resulting pressure build up from the charged shot caused the robot's abdomen to explode. Feeling no pain, the robot continued to try and claw at him. In his new found fury, he snapped the claws off, worked his fingers under the insect's breastplate and pulled.
The mouse that had been wired into the robot fell out as the breastplate was pulled away. Shakily, it managed to pull itself to it's feet, spared a quick glance to it's saviour and fled. He didn't call after it or try to stop the running figure. He only stared at the broken shell of the insect as he finally realised the truth of Robotnik's attack upon them. He realised that the eventual fate of his friends and relatives was to become little more than living fuel for more of these monstrosities. His fists clenched, buckling the metal of the breastplate he was still holding.
Without a word, he turned in order to work out the direction that Robotnik had left in. Then, he crouched digging his toes into the mud in a runner's start. Then, without looking back, without saying goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog ran. Ran into the night, into the maw of Robotnik's mechanical empire and away from the village of Green Hill as the flames licked steadily higher into the night's sky.
Yeah, so. I hope you enjoyed this first one-shot. I remember the days when Robotnik was actually evil. So anyway, if you have anything to say, please feel free to leave me a review, Concrit is always welcomed. Thanks for reading.