-1Blue Star: A loose Sonic 1, 2, 3S&K adaption
Disclaimer: Karen, Maverick, Tabitha, Tiffany, Lucifer, the leopard, the monitor lizard, the sharks and the girl hedgehog © Amy "Feniiku" Jeferies. All other characters © SEGA/Sonic Team
Author's note: Please leave reviews so that I know that it's being read. Constructive critisism please.
Thanks to the people who reviewed the first chapter. I appreciate it Ah. And the deer named Tiffany only appears for a short time, but she'll probably turn up again later.
Yay big chapters and bullying prone Sonic XD
Part 2: Childhood troubles
"NyaaNyaa! Can't catch me!"
"Yeah I can!"
The little girl panther ran around the field, chasing her big brother. They laughed and she tackled his heels, bringing him down. He tumbled over onto his back, and got his quills stuck in the ground. His sister flopped over his stomach and laughed at him as he pouted.
"Hey! Not fair!"
"Yeah it is!"
"No it's not!"
"Is!" his sister got off and helped pull him up to his feet.
"Ah you cheated Tabby!"
"Did not!"
"did too!" Sonic pouted "Pinning me down is cheating!"
"Is not! You shouldn' be so spiky!"
"The groun' shouldn' wan' to EAT ME!"
"Hey Sonic! Hey Tabitha!"
"Eeee! Tiffany!"
Tabitha ran over to the fawn and pounced, trying to get her to join in their game of tag. Tiffany squeaked and scrabbled away, to get pounced at by Sonic instead. Tabby pounced too, and the three youngsters tumbled around, laughing. Sonic jumped away, shaking his short, brown spikes out in all directions to get the dirt out of them. Tabby noticed he'd moved, and seeing that he was now grooming instead, she stalked through the long grass nearby on all fours. Her tail waved in the air, giving her position away, and Sonic's brown eyes followed her through the grass. He tugged at his spikes, pretending to groom again, and waited for her to pounce.
She jumped from the side, so he ducked and she went straight over his head, tumbling head over heels and ruffling her short black fur. Her tail tangled round her legs and she looked rather puzzled when she eventually stopped. Her brother had been right in her sights and then he wasn't. Sonic ran up to her, followed by Tiffany, and giggled.
"Now I'm the winner!"
"You cheat!"
"Didn't!"
"Did!"
"Didn't!"
"Did!"
"I have candy! Do you want some?"
"YAY!"
Immediately forgetting the argument, Sonic and Tabby scrambled to their feet and each grabbed a piece of the bar that Tiffany was holding out to them. The fawn smiled and munched on her own piece, sitting down on the grass. Sonic sat down too, but Tabitha darted around the nearby area, singing something to no particular tune about the chocolate.
Sonic was now five, and had no clue that he wasn't a panther. Sure he as a different colour, he was spiky, he didn't have claws or a long tail, but he could run, jump, pounce, swim and climb like a panther. He could make sounds like the panthers. He could do anything his family could do. So he had no reason to suspect that he was anything different. His big brother didn't seem to like him much, but other than that, everything he'd been told was that he was a panther. The first two years of his life had been filled with illness, disease, broken bones… you name it he'd had it. But he'd recovered from everything, and was currently a perfectly healthy hedgehog.
Tabitha was a year younger than him, and saw him as her older brother, and definitely a panther. For that matter, she saw anyone with spikes as such, often mistaking porcupines and hedgehogs for members of her own species. Though Karen had tried to explain to her, the cub wouldn't change her opinion. At least it meant that Tabby would always accept Sonic as her brother. Unlike Maverick.
Tiffany was the family's next-door neighbour. A seven year old deer, Tiffany didn't see anything wrong with Sonic being a panther, though she knew he was technically a hedgehog. In her opinion, everyone was the same. She was a very idealistic fawn, and very friendly. Plus she always had some tasty chocolate bars when she came to play.
Sonic finished his piece of chocolate and flopped onto his belly, pretending to be a rock. Well, a very spiky rock. But he didn't know what a cactus was so he stuck with the rock description. Something glinted in the longer grass nearby, and he crawled over to it. Pouncing, he saw it was a gold ring. As his hands closed around it, it vanished in a glitter of sparks and he landed on his face. Sitting up, he brushed the dirt from his eyes and looked around for it. It wasn't there. He pouted. Why did anything shiny vanish when he tried to catch it?
Tiffany laughed as she watched Sonic change his mind and take to hiding in the long grass instead. Her friend got bored so easily when something didn't go according to his plan. She pulled a paddle ball out of her bag, then started playing. This attracted Tabby's attention, and the panther sat down nearby, padding at the ball whenever it came near her.
"Tiffy? Where's Sonic?"
"I dunno"
"I'm hiding from my cheaty sister!" Sonic called from somewhere in the grass.
"You not hiding if I can hear you!"
"I am if you can' see me!"
"I can see you!"
"Liar!"
"Am not!"
"Am too!"
"Am not!"
"Am too!"
"Am NOT!"
"Am TOO!"
"AM NOT!" Tabby pounced into the grass in the hopes she'd catch Sonic, but found herself clutching air.
"Am tooooo!" Ya missed me!" Sonic was several feet away, having darted across on all fours while his sister was in mid jump.
"You was here!"
"No, I was over here" he dodged as she pounced at him again "Wrong over here!"
"Stop moving!"
"I'm not!"
This little game of hide and seek-come-tag continued for a while, temporarily stopping so that they could say goodbye to Tiffany when her dad came to get her, before resuming their game in full force. Sonic occasionally ran up to tag Tabby, before vanishing in the grass again.
"Ah stop hiding!"
"I'm n-" a rustle, squeak, and a crash.
"Sonic, where you go?" Tabby stood up, only just able to see over the grass.
Seeing a small pushbike and its rider a bit further along, out on the shorter grass, she squeaked and bounced over to it. In her occasional jump above the grass she saw more bikes and people around. But she was bouncing towards this one, because she knew him.
"Maaaaavvvvvvyyyy!"
"Hullo Tabs" Maverick grinned at his sister.
"MavvyMavvyMavvy! Tell Sonic to stop playing hidey games! He's gone quiet and I can't find him" she blinked as someone nearby yelled and swore.
"I'M NO' HIDING!"
"Hello Sonic! Heeyyyyyy… Why're you playing swingy?" Tabby pouted at Sonic's new 'friends'.
"I'm no' playing swingy either!" Sonic kicked furiously at the air below him. "Pu' me down!"
"Augh, the BRAT BIT ME!"
"Shall we put the baby down?"
"I'm NOT A BABY!" Sonic growled.
The two teenagers holding Sonic in the air by his wrists were a leopard and a monitor lizard. The leopard was sucking at the paw he'd tried covering Sonic's mouth with, and his ears were bent right back. The lizards was larger and probably older, and had Sonic's arm in a strong, single handed grip. He was restraining himself from laughing at his friend's now very sore paw, and was being careful to keep their spiky prisoner at arm's length. Tabitha started to run over to try and play too, but Maverick grabbed her tail.
"Heyyy! I wanna play too!"
"Not with those two you don't"
"Why not?"
"Because they'll beat you up! They're bullies Tabs"
"… Why's Sonic playing with them then?"
"I don't think he meant to" Maverick neglected to add the fact that he'd pointed out where Sonic was to them.
"Then he should be pu' down!" the cub turned to the older creatures and yelled "Pu' my big brother down!"
"Your big brother?" the leopard laughed "Hahahahah! The kid's got a great sense of humour!"
"Hey kitty, this ain't no panther"
"It too!"
"I am a panther!" Sonic gave a little meow-growl-roar mixture to prove it.
"Hahhahahahahahah! He's good at that" the lizard prodded Sonic's nose "but I've heard better"
"I jus' gots a sore throat is all!"
"Yes. Of course. We believe you." the leopard rolled his eyes, then pulled sharply on Sonic's arm "Let's get him back for biting me!"
"I wonder how far the kid can stretch…" the lizard licked his lips, and tightened his grip on his arm.
Sonic yelled at this, and the lizard held the wrist tighter. The leopard was repeatedly yanking on the hedgehog's arm, in an effort to pull to off, and Tabitha was chewing on Maverick's ankle, trying to get him to let go of her tail so she could help. Maverick simply said that she was too small to help, and, when asked why he didn't help either, pointed out that the same was true for him. He was smaller than them. Besides, if he tried, they wouldn't be his friends any more.
A loud wail from Sonic only made the teenagers try harder, and laugh at his feet scrabbling madly in the air to try and find something to either kick at or run away on. The lizard felt a crunch under his grip, and, startled, let go. The leopard was pulling at that moment, and so fell backwards, ending up with Sonic's quills in his stomach. He gave a yowl of pain and threw the hedgehog off of him. Sonic instinctively curled up, and rolled into the lizard's leg. It wasn't deliberate; merely caused by the momentum he'd gained from the leopard's throw; but it still earned him a hard kick in the stomach when he'd unrolled enough.
"How dare you attack us you little weirdo!"
"Yeah! You should show some respect!"
Sonic simply whimpered, which got him another kick.
"Leave him alone!"
"Shut it kid" the leopard glared over at Tabby, who's fur was standing on end, before stamping on Sonic's hand.
"Why are you being so mean!"
"It's fun!"
"It's stupid!" Tabby was pulling against her brother's grip "Why don't ya do something Mavvy?"
"They're too big! I can't fight them!"
"But they're beatin' up Sonic!"
"Yeah 'Mavvy', come do something about it!"
"Oh no, we better not angry him, an annoyed cub's sooooo dangerous"
"Hey…! That's not nice!" Maverick flattened his ears. His friends were being mean to him? That wasn't fair.
"LEAVE THE CUBS ALONE"
"Uh oh…" the lizard stepped back, tapping the leopard's arm as he continued to kick Sonic.
"Huh? Oh…" the leopard stopped kicking and started running, closely followed by the lizard.
The fleeing bullies decided it best not to look back, and rapidly left the field to take refuge in their houses nearby. A large panther walked up to Maverick and Tiffany, then frowned. He looked around for Sonic, then went to gather him up. The little hedgehog was shaking and had his eyes tightly shut, so he hadn't seen who'd picked him up. All he was thinking was 'please don't hit me again'.
"Dad Dad Dad! Those mean big boys were beating Sonic up an' Mavvy wouldn' let me 'elp him!"
"And why didn't YOU try Maverick?"
"… Sorry"
"You better be. COME ON. We're going home"
Tabitha ran up to her dad's heels, bouncing along next to him, while Maverick loitered by his bike sulkily. After a stern command from his father he got on it and rode past, ignoring another shout as he headed home. His father sighed in irritation, and gently tapped Sonic's ear.
"Sonic, are you alright?"
"Don't hit me!"
"Sonic, it's me."
"Huh?" he half opened an eye "DAD!" he twisted around to hug him, and yelped, curling up again "Owieeee…"
"Did they hurt you?"
"Nononono, I'm okay!" he shook his head
"Sonic! You shouldn't have played with them big boys"
"I wasn' playin'!"
"Come on boy, tell me the truth. Those boys hurt you didn't they?"
"… promise not to tell anyone?"
"Of course"
Sonic nodded, and his father sighed in annoyance. Why children picked on anything smaller than them was beyond him. Their parents obviously hadn't taught them any manners. Well he'd speak to them later. Right now he was taking Sonic back home, to help him. He'd not been happy when Karen had brought the child home on the blue star night. And he had been even less happy when she told him that he was going to be raised as a panther. But as much as he didn't want to raise a cursed child, he wouldn't wish him any harm. But those children had ruined his promise and now he was mad.
"How badly did they hurt you Sonic?"
"They grabbed my arm an' tried pull it off an' my wris' went crack an' they drop me an' then threw me an' then kick me." he frowned thoughtfully "Lots."
His father frowned again. This kid was getting to be a real pain to take care of. And Karen was going to be so angry when she found out what had happened. 'This kid's really not having the best of luck is he?' he thought to himself.
-----------------------------
Sonic healed rather quickly soon afterwards, and developed a love for running. This came accompanied with more injuries, obtained from tripping, crashing, skidding, falling off ledges and bridges… he seemed determined to get any speed related injury he could get. He ran pretty fast, but he wanted to go faster. Knowing he probably never could though, he made do with being the fastest in the Green Hill Zone. He liked to race Maverick on his bike, and though his brother didn't much like plying with him, he was still determined to show the hedgehog some humility. Five year old hedgehogs didn't know the meaning of the word. And Sonic was getting faster every day.
As he grew, his love for running did too. It was only just behind his love for swimming, so he combined the two from his tenth birthday onwards, learning to run and jump off the bridges, diving into the river that ran through the Zone, and see how far he could swim upstream. One day the family decided to go to the Emerald Coast for a day trip. They caught the boat from South Island to the smaller of the two main islands, and disembarked at the port in Station Square. Sonic ran over to the edge of the pier, looking longingly at the water. Tabitha copied him, laughing, and Maverick sulked. He hated the beach. And he said so. Loudly.
"You hate everything!" Tabby waved at a nearby dalmatian.
"Do not"
"You do!"
"Oh stuff you." Maverick walked off to the beach.
"Oh Lucifer, can you go with him please? You know what sort of trouble he'll get into." Karen sighed at her husband.
"Eh. Okay."
Lucifer walked after his son, his tail twitching irritably. Sonic ran in circles around Tabitha and Karen, eagerly asking in hurried sentences if they were gonna go to the beach too. Tabby demanded an ice cream first, so Sonic stopped asking long enough to want one too. Karen supplied them, and, after Sonic had wolfed his down and stood tapping his foot while they finished theirs, conceded to go to the beach too.
Sonic ran out onto the sand, and looked over to the series of islands, bridges and piers. But then ignored them and grinned at a large whale nearby. He dived in the water and swam over to it, then around it. Five sharks of various species swam up to him and laughed.
"Oh isn't that cute, he wants to make friends" A black-fin shark
"Shall we introduce them?" A great white.
"Hi!" Sonic waved at them and grinned "Are you friends with the whale here?"
"Oh yes, we're good friends with him." A tiger shark.
"Wanna talk to him?" A hammerhead.
"Uh huh. But he won't come all the way up to say hi"
"Well take a deep breath and go down to smile at him" A white-fin shark.
"You sure? What if he doesn't like me?"
"Oh he likes everyone" the tiger shark grinned toothily.
"Okay"
Sonic dived down, followed by the sharks. Two of them loitered next to him, while the other three swam round behind the whale. One of the sharks next to Sonic nudged him with a finned arm, and Sonic waved at the whale, smiling sweetly. It gave a short whistle, and he grinned. 'I think it likes me'. He started swimming back to the surface, because he was getting short of breath, and the sharks grabbed his ankles, keeping him under. They dragged him over the top of the whale backwards, meaning his quills scratched into its skin. The other three sharks simultaneously swam into the whale, kicking and punching at it, insulting it in clicks and screeches. The whale sang out and swam off, but the sharks kept a grip on Sonic. The hedgehog tried punching at them, but couldn't get enough momentum behind it in the water. The sharks were younger than him, but were bigger. Hedgehogs weren't very tall compared to nearly every other species on the planet. And Sonic was slightly short for his age. Which made for more target practice.
He clawed at the water, trying to pull himself upwards, to the surface that wasn't that far away, but he couldn't. The other sharks joined in with keeping him under the water, and, unlike the leopard and the lizard he suddenly remembered from earlier in his life, these guys were trying to kill him. He tried shoving them away, but starting to panic, bubbles of precious air escaping him as he tried to escape. They pulled him down further, then swam off in a rush, leaving him to try get to the surface again. He was breathing water now, and he was growing weaker…
Tabby looked over the surface of the ocean, trying to see where Sonic had gone. She had been very careful to keep an eye on her brother since the bullying incident, and seeing the whale swim over the surface but no Sonic swimming back to shore, she got to her feet and tugged at Karen's arm.
"Mummy, I can't see Sonic…"
"I'm sure he's alright dear"
"But he only went out to see the whale and he hasn't come back. I can't see him on the surface."
"Hmm…" Karen sat up. She knew that although Sonic liked swimming, he didn't say underwater for long. "Wait here Tabby, I'll go look for him."
"Okay…. He was over that way" Tabitha pointed out past the wooden bridges
"Be back in a moment dear."
Karen ran off, and Tabitha sat on the sun chair her mum had just vacated. She sighed, trying to keep an eye on her mum and one on the beach at the same time. She noticed another 'panther' and waved at her. The red eyed hedgehog she'd waved at blinked in confusion. She didn't know this cat. She wasn't going to talk to her. Instead she ignored her and resumed attacking an abandoned sandcastle with a small wooden sword. Tabitha pounced at a seashell next to the girl and grinned.
"Hi!"
"Dunno you. Go away"
"Why? I just wanna ask if you've seen my brother"
The girl pointed at Maverick, who was sulking as far away from the water as he could.
"No, not Mavvy. I mean Sonic. He looks like you" she smiled
"Your brother's a hedgehog?" the eight year old raised an eyebrow
"No, he's a panther. He just looks like you"
"I'm not a panther. And if he looks like me neither is he."
"Oh… well have you seen him anyway?"
"No. I saw a hedgehog go out to the whale but I haven't seen him since" she had a mature way of talking.
"Ohh…."
"Can you leave me alone now?"
"Umm… Okay."
She looked around, and saw her mum on a floating platform, with Sonic pressed tightly in her arms. Tabitha swam over to her, climbing on the platform. She tapped Sonic on the shoulder, and he cried.
"I don't wanna go back in there!"
"Don't worry honey, we'll go back over the bridges"
"You never said it could hurt me!" he was soaking wet and shivering
"I did, but you loved it too much to listen"
"I wanna go home!"
"Are you sure honey?"
"I wanna go hooooooooommmmmeeee!" he wailed.
"Okay dear."
They walked back along the bridges, heading back to the port. Sonic wailed, whining at the boat and demanding reassurance that it wouldn't sink. Maverick grumbled and walked onboard, followed by Lucifer and Tabitha. Sonic held Karen's hand tightly as they went back on board. The little girl hedgehog was on the boat too, with her parents nearby. She was watching them carefully, and it was freaking Sonic out more. He spent the boat ride with his eyes shut, not wanting to look at the water or the strange girl. When they were back on South Island, he ran straight for home, waiting for his mum at the door. He seemed much more cheerful with land under his feet, and was now acting like nothing had happened.
But he never went into the rivers again.
TBC
Anyway, that's part 2. Next part- Sonic gets his powers. Yay. Then the real adaptions begin!
