AN: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. I just don't have enough money for him.
Shadow: Nobody cares about that.
Me: Shut up, emo-head! I killed Maria and I can kill you too if I have to.
Shadow: YOU KILLED MARIA?! I'M GONNA DESTORY-
Me: Take your best shot, you psychotic hedgehog. Just remember that I've got a keyboard and I'm not afraid to use it.
SHADOW: SHINU!!!!
Me: "Shadow suddenly falls into a pit of flames."
Shadow: AHHHHHHH!!!
Me: Um, yeah… Enjoy the story. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!!!! I promise Sonic and the gang are in this story. Just be patient through the first chapter.
--------------------------------------------------
It's a beautiful day in the city of San Francisco. The birds are singing and the…birds are singing. A shiny black limo pulls up in front of a 'Cisco skyscraper. A seldom recognized figure with a immediately recognized name is sitting in the backseat waiting as the limo driver opens the door for him.
I This must be the place… /I
--------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, inside the skyscraper another man is snoozing on a swivel chair in the middle of a huge office. Suddenly, the man sitting in the limo bursts in through the door.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Colts," the man said smiling.
The sleeping man suddenly jerked awake, "Huh?! …oh! …um… …oh…my…god…"
"Surprised to see me, Mr. Colts?"
"No…well, I mean, uh, um, yes…your highness," Mr. Colts spluttered. Mr. Colts suddenly shot up from his chair and followed through into a very deep bow of respect. "Konnichiwa," he said while bowing.
The man was not amused. He simply ignored Mr. Colts gesture and stepped closer to him.
"Um, I assume this not just a friendly visit, sir. If there's anything I can help you… with…"
"SHUT UP!" The man yelled. "You failed me once on Sonic Adventure, but I let it go. You failed me again on Sonic Adventure 2, but I let it go. You made me a complete laughing stock on Sonic Heroes, but once again, I let it go. Shadow the Hedgehog only made everyone laugh harder at me…but I let it go."
"Um, sir…I can explain…"
"I SAID SHUT UP! You turned me from a laughing stock into a disgrace on Sonic Riders…but I reluctantly let it go. But then…the next-gen Sonic the Hedgehog…I saw during production…and I knew that it was over. Me, my reputation, my dignity, my countless years of hard work, and this is where I end up…a international joke."
"Sir…I am terribly-" Mr. Colts started but was interrupted.
"Don't talk until I tell you to talk, or the consequences will be severe, got it?" the man asked.
Mr. Colts sweating buckets only nodded.
"Good… Now, where were we…? Ah, yes… YOU RUINED MY LIFE, TERRY COLTS! I spent years upon years studying, training, serving in the most gruesome intern positions you can imagine. I was like the towel boy for a football team full of old people, but I got through it. I did everything I had to do to get to where I once was."
Mr. Colts nodded in fear acting as if a gun were pointed at his face.
The man continued, "And then one day, Terry, I had done it. I got through all the trials and tribulations I had needed to endure. I knew I had done it too. I knew had reached the the light at the end of the tunnel. And then, as if by magic, I picked up my pencil and a sheet of paper, and I drew one thing, only one thing as a symbol of my achievement…" He paused… "I drew a hedgehog."
"And a very fine hedgehog it was, Mr. Yuji Naka-san sir."
"It was, wasn't it? Unfortunately, it's the end of the line for me. You ignorant Americans messed up a perfectly good formula for success. Thanks to you and your foolish SEGA of America employees, you've destroyed my game and forced me quit my job at SEGA."
"But, but, but! You said you quit because of a different direction you wanted to take in life!" Mr. Colts defended himself.
"Yes, a different direction… away from this hellhole! I should've resigned ages ago while the public still had some time to lay the blame for these horrible games elsewhere."
"Oh, please, Mr. Naka, sir, you can't quit! On behalf of SEGA, I beg of you. Please don't quit!"
"Ah, but I already have, Terry."
"Well, I guess I respect your decision, sir, but I must say that SEGA will never be the same without you."
"How right you are… It will never ever EVER be the same again!" Yuji Naka laughed evilly.
"Um… Did I miss something?" Mr. Colts asked.
"No, no, not at all," Yuji Naka replied and continued to laugh evilly.
"Then why are you laughing like a evil maniac?"
"Nothing that concerns you, Colts. Sayonara!"
And with that Yuji Naka left the room… But Mr. Colts knew something was up.
"Wait, Mr. Naka!" he called, but Yuji Naka continued on his way. "Naka-san!" Terry called again. Still nothing. "YUUUUUUUUUUUJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!"
That did the trick. Yuji Naka came running back into the office and grabbed Mr. Colts by the collar. "Don't you ever address me by my first name alone EVER AGAIN!"
"yes sir……" Mr. Colts whispered.
"Now that you have my attention…what else do you want?"
"You're hiding something from me, from everyone!" Mr. Colts boldly announced.
"And?"
"You've…you've got to tell me what it is."
"HAHAHA! How pathetic you are, Terry."
"Tell me or I'll…I'll…I'll kill off Sonic the Hedgehog."
Yuji Naka laughed again. This time really loudly. "Oh, Terry, you never were good with threats, but, boy, did you know how to make me laugh. All right, I'll tell you what's going on. Even though I may have quit SEGA for good, I still have the power to shut it down entirely, and I'm going to do it in the most humiliating way I can."
A chill shot down Mr. Colts's spine. "What…"
"Of course! You'd think I just quit at a time like this and not benefit off of it. I've already rigged SEGA to go down in flames with the new line of 'next-gen' games I'd set up before I quit. There's gonna be confusion, chaos, lawsuits galore. And the blood's going to be on SEGA's hands, not mine. SEGA will crash and burn and will become a figment of the past. It's just my little way of saying thank you for almost 15 years of magic."
Mr. Colts was shocked, "But SEGA's a wonderful company! There's no way you'll pull this off."
"Oh, there's a way. There's always a way. And there's something in it for me too besides petty revenge. I'll lay low for a year and then team up with Nintendo to develop a new video game series of my own. From there, it'll just be a matter of time before I'm right up there with Mario. And from there, I'll expand the series to gain more popularity than Mario. Before you know it, Nintendo will be mine, and I will once again control a major portion of the video game industry."
"You make it sound easy."
"It is easy, Terry. SEGA could've been the same way. Unfortunately, I hired a bunch of simple-minded people who hired a bunch more simple-minded people who hired even more simple-minded people, and before you know it, I was giving my consent to these idiotic ideas such as 'Saturn' and 'Dreamcast' and 'Sonic Shuffle'."
Mr. Colts was amazed at what a genius (and communist) Yuji Naka really was. "Well, you won't get away with this!" Mr. Colts shouted.
"Hehe, you know, once SEGA goes down in flames, if you still have a credible resume, you could go into stand-up comedy. Game over, Terry Colts."
"But I still have an extra life!" Mr. Colts retorted. "I'll make sure that that doesn't happen to SEGA."
"Oh, no you won't. See, now you've crossed over into Mr. Naka's little temple of secrets. Once you enter that temple, you never get out… If you say one word (and I'm sure you will) I'll make sure that one word is the only word you'll say."
Mr. Colts new Yuji Naka was referring to death if he leaked Yuji's crazy secret to the public, so thinking fast, Mr. Colts came up with a solution, one that he knew Yuji Naka would never be able to resist. "Tell you what, sir? I'll make you a proposition."
"A proposition?"
"A proposition. We at SEGA of America are always held responsible for SEGA of Japan's screw ups. We can fix the SEGA name if we were given the chance. Let us design a Sonic game all by ourselves. If that game doesn't reach an average rating of 9/10 within the first week of release, we'll all quit our jobs."
"That's a pretty lame proposition, but I like where you're taking this."
"You do?" Mr. Colts asked.
"Let's say I let you develop a Sonic game. If you successfully develop the game and get good ratings, I'll drop all plans of shutting down SEGA, get on international television and publicly apologize for everything burden SEGA has experienced. I'll also promote you to manager of the entire SEGA company."
"How can you do that? I thought you quit SEGA."
"Terry, I may have quit, but that doesn't mean I still don't have control."
"Oh…"
"Now, if the Sonic game you develop (if you're even lucky enough to finish it) isn't a instant hit, you publicly apologize for every downfall of SEGA. I'll also make sure that you NEVER get another job again."
"Um…okay… But that's preposterous. I can't just get on TV and say, 'I'm sorry everyone. I destroyed SEGA. It's all my fault."
"Terry, I may be able to justify my own actions for SEGA, but I have the power to share the blame with someone else for all the past game screw-ups. As long as someone's willing to take the blame and address the public, it's easy! Are you willing, Terry?"
"………I…I…I…am willing. What else have I got to lose?"
"Your life."
"That was a hypothetical question."
"Whatever… Well, I guess that's it. Terry Colts, let the battle begin! Sayonara!"
Yuji Naka quickly shook Mr. Colts's hand and walked toward the door, but then he stopped for a moment and spun around. "Oh, yeah, you only have six months to make the game…BAI!"
And with that, the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog was gone. Mr. Colts didn't even have time to argue about the six months he was given to produce the game. Six months was outrageous. He knew that video games took well over a year to produce, but he also knew that everything, including his life was on the line. He had to produce the video game even if it killed him… Otherwise the public might kill him.
------------------------------------
Outside, Yuji Naka stared up at the SEGA of America building as he pulled away in his limo.
"Goodbye…SEGA…mwahahahaha!!!"
-------------------------------------
Mr. Colts was in a state of shock. He had no idea what he was going to do. Nervously, he reach his hand over the intercom button that his old secretary used to use. He pushed the button and began to speak…
"Attention everyone. This is Terry Colts, Manager of SEGA of America speaking. I have some important news. I've just received a visit from the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog himself, Yuji Naka. He has come to me to inform me that he's decided to let us produce our very own Sonic game. Mind you, that we are not getting any help from any other division of SEGA. This will be entirely American-made."
Mr. Colts could hear the some cheers and astonished gasps.
"There is one problem, though. We have a deadline of six months…"
He could now here a bunch muffled shouts and complaints throughout the entire building.
"Did I mention that Nintendo won't be helping us in any way, shape, or form?"
Suddenly, the shouting turned into cheering.
"Come on, you guys. I've worked with you for years and years. I know you all have what it takes to pull this kind of production off. Are we all in?"
He could only hear some muffled talking.
"Unfortunately, I can't hear you guys very well, so I hope you said yes."
He then heard a loud cheer.
"That's better. Now, I'm gonna need everyone's help on this game. This is not some five minute production just to make the kids happy. This is gonna be a quality game. This is going to be a game that will be referred to as the REAL next-gen Sonic experienced. We're going to take SEGA back to the glory days of the old 16-bit games. Who's with me?"
Everyone was.
"That's what I like to hear. Now get brainstorming! We have a stuff that needs to be carried out through the next six months. We'll have a complete staff meeting first thing tomorrow morning in the banquet hall. Now let's get busy! This is manager Terry Colts signing off." He took his hand off the intercom. "Man, I've always wanted to say that."
Terry leaned back in his swivel chair and sighed. He was just about to take another nap when he realized how much he had to do before the six month time period was over. He quickly picked up his office phone and dialed a bunch of numbers. He waited a moment afterward and then began to talk, "Hello, Sonic? Terry Colts from SEGA of America… We have some work to do."
--------------------------------
Well, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. i'll post chapter 2 as soon as I can. REMEMBER TO R&R WITHOUT THE FLAMES OF COURSE. See you next time!!!!!!!!!