This first chapter is just a sort of introduction to the story. Please read and enjoy.
Disclaimer* Sonic and many other characters belong to Sega and Archie Comics. Spark is my own OC and I created the world/universe. I do not own Sonic and other Sega and Archie characters.
Oh, how he loved these open plains. Out here it was just him, the grass, and the great blue expanse of the sky. Wild winds cut through blaze of the beating sun untamed and softly rustled the tall grass he was running through. Here, he was free, or at least he could pretend he was.
A subtle buzz from the inhibitor ring clamped around his arm quickly reminded him that, in this land, there is no such thing as being free. Spark snapped out of his revery and focused his attention on the large mound of rocks that was slowly rising out of the sea of grass as he sped towards it at near sonic speeds.
In mere moments, Spark skidded to a stop in front of the mound and inspected it thoughtfully. It wasn't the largest he had ever seen, but it would do. The rock mound sparkled a dazzling array of colors under the light of the sun, and to Spark, it seemed like it held some promise. It would definitely hold a fair amount minor chaos gems, and, if he was lucky, maybe a few Sapphires and Rubies too.
Spark bent down and picked up a shimmering pebble from the rubble laying at the foot of the mound. He then turned and ran back along the trail he had previously blazed through the grass on his way out to the mound.
Again he was racing across the plains with nothing to tie him down. Spark loved this land, even though no one was free. It was filled with open plains, where he could run, and run, and run. It was filled with sprawling forests that hid mysterious secrets and wonders not yet seen by any eye. It was filled with shaded, peaceful lakes, and an ocean that stretched out onto oblivion. The Kingdom of Acorn may own his body, but his soul belonged out here, the land where he could run forever like his Sirufanine Cheetah ancestors must have done all those years ago before the Acorns conquered all.
Soon a small outline appeared in the distance. Spark ran a ways and then halted a good few yards away from a train of two large wagons that were rambling along a beaten down road. Once Spark was close enough to make out the figures of the poor Mobian Brute Workers who were dragging the wagons along, he then leisurely walked the rest of the distance to the wagons. No need to hasten his return. Only beatings and chains awaited him.
Spark longingly looked at the plains spread out behind him and entertained the foolish notion of trying escape. His inhibitor ring gave him a small jolt. He would have never made it. Not only had the Enforcer leading the caravan already notice him; there was nothing to eat out here. The Kingdom had hunted all the game on the plains to near extinction and the grass, the only major life for miles, was as dry as bones. No, Spark's chains were wrapped tight. He might as well return to the wagons now.
The moment Spark stepped out onto the road, he was immediately assaulted by a blue blur of a hedgehog that talked impossible fast.
"Ha, beat you again. I got here a minute ago. Looks like you'll be buying today," the excitable hedgehog that hadn't been there moments ago stated.
Spark sighed. "Yeah, whatever, Sonic. Just let me report my findings to whatever Enforcer is leading this gem run."
"You don't know who the Bully is today, do you," Sonic said with a smirk. "Have fun."
"It's Jack, isn't it," Spark replied despondently.
Sonic just smirked even harder, if that was possible, and lopped away. "I'll be in the front bothering the Brutes when you're done."
Spark watched Sonic disappear around the front of the wagon train. Sonic was one of the few mobians within the Kingdom of Acorn that Spark could call friend. More like the only mobian he could call friend. Spark wasn't exactly talkative, and he wasn't really in a place that allowed for friends. He was a Worker. Sure he was a Speed Worker, which wasn't as bad as a Brute, but being a Speed Worker was generally lonely existence. Sonic made that existence a little less lonely. Sure, he had one one of the biggest egos in all of Mobius and wouldn't take no for an answer, but he was loyal and helped Spark brighten his world, even if they were just slaves to a kingdom that never stopped taking. Besides, Sonic was one of the few Runners that could challenge Spark's speed. Racing Sonic was one of the few things that made Spark's life bearable.
As Spark slowly made his way towards the back of the first wagon in the train, with as much procrastination as possible, he longingly wished he was running along those dusty plains. As long as he was anywhere but here. Here, where he would have to face Him.
Spark jumped up into the ambling wagon and caught sight of a gray rabbit lounging in the shadowed recesses of the wagon's ample empty space. The rabbit lazily fiddled with the finely crafted chaos blaster in his hands and seemed for all purposes relaxed, if a little bored. Spark wasn't fooled, though. Jack Rabbit wasn't the worst Enforcer in the kingdom, but he was undeniably in the top ten of the most brutal Enforcers. Jack was liberal in his dealing of punishment for even the slightest of wrongs, and he was infamously known for his wild and sudden tempers. It also didn't help that Jack seemed to have some strange grudge towards Sonic and Spark. Sonic never said anything about it, but to Spark, it seemed like the blue speedster and the one eyed rabbit had a bad history together.
Jack looked up from his blaster as he noticed Spark's presence. He smiled a cold, empty smile and slowly put his gun away, making sure that Spark's eyes followed its movement as a reminder that Jack could easily make Spark's life a lot more painful.
"So, whadda got for me?" Jack demanded.
Spark slowly extended his arm and showed the pebble from earlier to Jack.
"Toss it over, runt."
Spark obliged, and Jack caught the pebble deftly. Jack viewed the pebble intently and absently rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
After a few moments with only the grunts of the Brutes pulling the wagon breaking the silence, Jack stated, "Not bad. This mine shows some promise, but the one your friend found to the east was better. I'll put a marker on it. There's a team headin' up later this moon cycle who'll take care of it." Jack lightly turned a dial at his side, administering a quick, soft shock to Spark's arm. "You're dismissed. Leave, and tell that blue menace to do something useful. The Brutes are taking long enough as is."
Spark nodded and instantly left the wagon, thanking his good luck. Today must have been one of Jacks few days of calm.
Spark jogged lightly around the side of the wagon to see Sonic taunting one of the six brutes pulling the two wagons. The other five Brutes were ignoring Sonic. They had been around long enough to know the futility of indulging Sonic. The one Brute, though, seemed to be pretty fresh. He was an echidna with a blazing red pelt, and must have been captured recently during one of the skirmishes between the Kingdom of Acorn and the Echidna Empire in the south.
The rest of the Brutes had been through a lot and were probably heading towards their last years. For the echidna, on the other hand, this was probably his first job as a Brute Worker. The kingdom liked to use Brutes as bodyguards, infantry, and heavy lifters, but as they started to age and tire, Brutes would commonly be assigned to resource collection runs like these. The only reason the echidna could be here otherwise, would be if he had committed a case of 'insolence' while in the city. Knowing the stubbornness of the Echidna Empire, Spark didn't doubt for a moment that the Brute Echidna here had done exactly that.
"Knucklehead, I could run fifty laps around this train before you Brutes took a single step," Sonic taunted.
The echidna's face lit up a bright red. "For the last time, go away. It's bad enough that I have to pull these stupid wagons. I don't need a hamster like you yapping away in my ear all day. And, the name's Knuckles."
"Sonic, when will you learn to stop tormenting the Brute Workers?" Spark called as he walked up to the cocky looking hedgehog and the angry echidna, apparently called Knuckles. He then turned to face Knuckles. "I'm sorry, echidna, for whatever my friend has said. Sonic has no concept of manners or polite conversation. And leaving tired mobians alone, for that matter."
Sonic rolled his eyes. "Come on, Spark, you know I was just messin around."
Spark noticed one of the older Brutes, a graying tiger, give a soft smile. This was a common sight among those working out on the plains. Sonic and Spark, usually after Sonic had gotten into some sort of trouble or other, were common participants in the dreaded mining runs. Spark didn't mind them, but most Speed Workers he knew hated the Runs with a passion. Runs required a long week of walking under the baking sun with few things to detract from the boredom that comes from passing through the same, repetitive landscape for hours on end. To Spark though, they were peaceful, and allowed him time to think. Spark looked to Sonic, who had gone back to nagging Knuckles the echidna. Well, Runs were peaceful when Sonic wasn't around.
"So, whatcha out here for anyway, Knucklehead?" Sonic questioned the echidna. "Did you punch an enforcer? I can just imagine the look on their face. Or," Sonic took a moment to pull up the short scarf around his neck, revealing a tarnished gold inhibitor ring, "Did you pull the classic and try and pull off your inhibitor rings when no one was looking?"
Knuckles looked down at the bronze inhibitor rings clamped around his gloved wrist. His face grew even redder, if that was possible, and he glared at Sonic. Inhibitor rings tended to be a touchy subject for the newly captured. Many see inhibitor rings as the symbol of their despised imprisonment.
"Sonic," Spark chided. "Leave the poor Worker alone. How 'bout we ask one of Jack's goons if we can have a race or something. Loser buys for a week."
"A week? Now that is an offer I can't refuse," Sonic replied amiably, all thoughts of bothering Knuckles forgotten.
"Great. Let's-" It was then that Spark was cut off with a massive jolt to his arm from his inhibitor ring. Spark kneeled over for a moment, waiting for the pain to pass, and when he looked up, he found that the other workers had been shocked similarly. All the workers in a mining run being shocked for no apparent reason could only mean one thing-
"Bandits!" one of the enforcers leading the wagons shouted.
There was the sound of pounding feet, and then Spark saw a hodgepodge band of rag wearing Mobians running on the sides of the sluggish wagons. The Brute Workers immediately dropped the leads they had been pulling and went to defending the wagons as upon the enforcers' commands. The Brutes and enforcers clashed against the bandits, the Brutes with fists and the enforcers with their chaos blasters and swords. The bandits attacked with a few old pistols, cudgels, and, for an unlucky few, their claws and bare hands.
"Finally, something interesting happens," Sonic stated as Spark received a small shock from an enforcer who had looked up from the fighting for a moment and noticed that he was not aiding in the fight against the bandits. "I bet I can beat more bandits than you," Sonic challenged.
"Sonic," Spark started. "I don't think-"
"Ready, set, go." With that, Sonic became a blue streak weaving through the attackers' ranks, leaving a path of knocked out mobians in his wake.
Spark sighed (he does a lot of that around Sonic), and then his vision blurred as he too made his way through the mob of bandits, kicking and slashing all in his way before anyone even knew he was there in the first place.
Hours later, after the bandits had been rounded up and captured (the bandits' numbers were no match for the Kingdom's superior weapons and strength), Spark lay on the ground staring up at the stars. It was a beautiful cloudless night, and the sky was filled with thousands of twinkling lights. The moon was almost full tonight, and it illuminated the swaying grass around him with almost perfect clarity. Since it was such a bright night, the enforcers hadn't lit any torches around the wagons, and Spark could imagine that he was alone, just him, the grass, and the vast cosmos above him.
Spark gazed at the stars and wondered why. Why was he here? What was his purpose? Why did he always wake up every morning knowing that the day would only bring pain and work without any consolation or respect?
A loud snort from the the sleeping figure of Sonic a few yards away broke him out of his reverie. Well, thought Spark, there were a few reasons why he woke up each morning. Spark then rolled over and fell asleep beneath the stars.
Thank you for reading. Any comments and constructive criticism are welcome. The next chapter will be the actual start of the story. :)