A/N: Hello all! Told you I'd be uploading soon! XD

I co-wrote this story with a good friend of mine over email. It is also one of my first ventures into fan-fiction. That being said, the parts that I wrote may not be my best, considering that weeks went by in between emails and I wrote this about a year ago. Expect strange plot twists and awkward transitions. Heh heh.

Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy...

Pirates

Characters (Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, etc.) © SEGA

Chapter 1: A Forced Vacation

Once upon a time, there were pirates. They stole, and they looted, and they stole, and looted and...well, you get the idea. Now let's fast-forward to the good part.

These pirates had been looting from Mobians for many years, so they naturally had a lot of treasure. So not only were they mean, they were rich. Duh. Now, they only looted for the pure pleasure of it. The police had tried to stop them, but the pirates vanished soon after they plundered an area. Nobody could really prove that they even existed, except for the generations' worth of stories that had sprung up around them. And now, this is where we begin...

But before this story can truly take off, a new character must fall into place. Sonic, having nothing whatsoever to do with pirates, lived a fairly standard life as your common, everyday blue hedgehog. (Which, when you really thought about it, wasn't very standard, or common, at all. His fur was blue, and he was, as he claimed, "the fastest thing alive".) When he wasn't kicking bad guys' butts or running around at supersonic speed, he spent his free time with his best friend Tails and second best friend Amy. He enjoyed being with both but sometimes they got a little annoying… especially Amy.

Our story begins on a beautiful blue morning and a seemingly wonderful day.

"Sonic…Sonic…wake up…I made you some breakfast…Sonic…Sonic!"

He jumped, falling out of the bed in the process. "AMY! Don't scare me like that!"

She laughed. "Come on, Sonic, lighten up! I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast."

Sonic grumbled a complaint but was soon downstairs at the table with Tails and Amy. She had made a large display of food: pancakes, eggs, toast, fresh fruit, everything. They sat down together and began eating.

"Amy, this is great!" Tails said. "What's it for?"

She smiled. "I have a surprise for both of you. We are going on vacation! We're going on a cruise!"

"WHAT!" Sonic exclaimed, beginning to choke on the food he had just stuffed into his mouth.

"What? Is something wrong?" Amy asked, looking confused.

"Uh, no, nothing's wrong..." Sonic said quickly, hastily covering his outburst.

"That's great, Amy. Ya know, I just realized I have a lot of things to do today! I'd better go now..." and he dashed away without even touching any more of Amy's feast.

Most people wouldn't have made anything out of it. Sonic the Hedgehog, to the average person, was always the happy-go-lucky, overconfident hero that he showed. But despite the smooth lie, Tails and Amy could see the slight desperation in his eyes and the lame excuse. They weren't the people he trusted most for nothing.

It wasn't that Sonic was busy so he couldn't go on the cruise; He wouldn't go on the cruise because he was afraid of the water.

Tails gave Amy a look.

"That's right! I'm sorry! I totally forgot! I was so excited that we all had some off time that I thought that it would be a good idea to do something relaxing for once..." It wasn't just Sonic that was the hero. Although Sonic was the one who did the hero stuff most of the time, he rarely went completely solo anymore. His friends were heroes too, more or less. They'd just had a break from kicking Eggman's butt a few days ago.

But every hero has a weakness. And Sonic's just happened to be water.

Despite Sonic's fear of water, Amy and Tails insisted that he come on this cruise. It was a vacation, after all, and Amy suggested that he might even enjoy it. Sonic strongly disagreed.

Either way, he found himself standing on the dock preparing to board what he considered a disguised death sentence.

"Look, I would love to join you two, but . . . well . . . I just remembered something very, VERY important that I have to do. It can't wait."

"Oh no, you don't!" Tails said, grabbing Sonic's arm as he turned to run. "You are going with us."

As they neared the boat, Sonic's nerves didn't settle. He felt more and more on edge by the second.

"Come on, Sonic. It's time to board the ship."

Suddenly, Sonic made a decision that he was NOT getting on that boat. He began struggling, holding on to anything that he could as Amy pulled him away.

Unfortunately, both Amy and Tails had decided that Sonic WAS going on the boat and together they pulled him in.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO..." Sonic yelled, protested, and clawed at everything that he could to prevent boarding the ship, and even though after a while Tails gave up, having sympathy for his best friend, Sonic would have no sympathy from Amy Rose. She pulled harder than he did, but that might have been due to the fact that she had hold of his legs.

Eventually, she had pulled him up the plank and onto the ship. And just in time too. Right after that, the dock crew pulled away the boarding ramps. The ship made a "TOOT TOOT" sound, and they were off.

"NO!" Sonic clutched the side of the ship and stared out at the dock.

Cruises don't move very fast, so he thought he could jump off, back to land. But the thought had no sooner formed in his head, than Amy had jumped back onto his legs, and she refused to let go until they were so far away from the dock that there was no way Sonic could jump all the way to land. If he had jumped, he would've landed in the ocean first.

"No..." Sonic slumped against the side of the ship. Worst. Vacation. Ever.

Then he whirled around to face his friends and glared. Mostly at Amy, but also at Tails.

He put on his best "how-could-you-Tails" face.

"Sorry, Sonic, but it's for your own good," Tails said, trying not to laugh at his friend's facial expression.

Sonic's expression changed to a "what-are-you-crazy-there's-no-way-this-can-be-goo d-for-me-you-should-know-me-better-than-that" face.

"You need a break, Sonic. We all do," Tails said, resuming a normal, serious expression.

Amy interrupted, "Sonic, if you don't just chill for a few days, you'll crack under the pressure. And you obviously can't stay still on land. There are too many bad guys on land. So, we're taking you out to sea."

I'm not cracking under the pressure, Sonic thought. I'm cracking because of all this stupid water.

Sonic didn't say anything though. He just tried to put on his "I-hate-you-guys" face. Which wasn't easy, because Sonic didn't actually hate anybody. Not even Eggman.

While Sonic was cracking from his fear of water, Knuckles cracked up.

That was the last straw. "SHUT UP!" he yelled.

Knuckles stifled his laugh for a few seconds, in the time it took for Sonic to angrily stomp his way below deck, and for Tails and Amy to look disapprovingly at Knuckles.

A/N: So what did you think? Like? Then review! Didn't like? Also review! All I request is that you keep your comments kind and constructive. More will come soon. Thank you!

bearvalley3365: Thanks. Sorry, no plans for adding any gorillas or pandas. This story is already finished-I just have yet to post the rest.

shippotang: Yeah, that's kind of where I got the idea. That's my favorite episode-I've watched it several times over just to watch Sonic make funny faces. :D