2.
It has been a month…
A whole month since the Project: Doomsday incident. A month since the menace that almost destroyed Mobius.
A month since her death…
Cosmo the Seedrian, her name was… The first and for now, the only, element of her kind.
She was the first sapient anthropomorphic plant based life form… The latest step in natural evolution… And a true heroine.
She sacrificed herself in order to vanquish that lethal nuke… She summoned Chaos Control with the red Chaos Emerald she was born with and than, she just disappeared along with the missile…
Only a seed was left of her…
A seed of hope?
A seed of illusion?
Just a seed, for now…
It was buried and left to grow by it's own.
It has been a month…
A whole month since a young heart broken fox started his healing process… Luckily for him, he was not alone.
He had his friends, his comrades… His family, with him. He was a Freedom Fighter, after all. He had her… His adopted mother… And he was glad for it. Ultimately, he had a goal… The demise of
his / their mortal enemy, Doctor Eggman.
After the whole Project: Doomsday fiasco, things didn't get quite well for the good old deranged doctor… G.U.N. and Militia's forces were now pretty much on his neck, preparing themselves to do battle with everything they hold… The uranium reserves under Robotropolis were exhausted so he couldn't make another weapon alike… And what was worse, his enemies had his nephew, Snively, in their grasps.
Been a member of the Mobian council, Snively happened to be the perfect spy for the Eggman Empire… His capture (along with the capture of the entire G.U.N. leak) has been orchestrated by the doctor himself as a further bait to lure the enemy's attention away from his, now vanquished, ultimate scheme… Ironically enough, the little Overlander could very well become the key for his uncle's demise.
Not many info came out from his mouth so far… Except a name…
"Ivo Julian Robotnik… Doctor Eggman's real name."
"Is that all the bloody news you got?"
"I'm afraid so…"
"Fucking Chaos Superstar!"
"There's no reason to be vulgar, Knuckles."
"Well, excuse me 'Your Former Majesty'! BUT I'M GETTING FREAKING PISSED OFF!!"
"Sigh… Never mind."
If there was one thing that Maximillian Acorn knew, was that perfectly rational and polite mannered discussions and angry, easily pissed off-able echidnas, didn't fit together… Not at all.
The former royal squirrel sighed and decided, for his mental sake, to change the topic.
"So… Tell me, my good echidna, how's my daughter, Sally, doing?" He asked from the giant screen his image appeared on.
"She's doing just fine… She's with Tails, now, where she belongs." Replied Knuckles from the room he was receiving Max's call.
"That's a relief… Things happened to be quite messy over the past few weeks, you know?"
"I can imagine… Hell! You guys are probably trying to fuck each other, right now!"
Of course, the old Acorn knew what the echidna's unappreciated direct remark meant. After Snively's betrayal and Sally's defection from the Mobian Council, the three remaining members (including Maximillian) were struggling very hardly to keep things united… They would be forced to choose other two members sooner or later… Trustworthy people, hopefully.
Being in mood for a talk, despite the nature of the interlocutor, the ex king continued his conversation…
"And how's the others doing?"
That, unfortunately, was definetelly NOT a good question. For obvious reasons, the collective mood of Knuckles's companions haven't been very solar…
The death of Cosmo had left a big hole in the fabric of their unity.
Espio the Chameleon, the silent but lethal trained ninja, used to pass all of his days in meditation, isolating himself more than he usually did.
Blaze the Cat, the fire master lady, was the one who reacted the worst… Cosmo was her sister, honorary sister but sister none the less. The feline would spend grand part of her time crying softly in the solitude of her room… She hasn't talked with anybody for a month.
Amy Rose, the enthusiastic pink hedgehog… Was enthusiastic no more. She tried, with all her might, to cheer her friends and colleagues up… But to no avail. Failing in this task, she became even more depressed. She would spend at least two afternoon at week bathing in the Great Lake… Desperate to clean herself from more than just dirt… From that awful yet intoxicating memory… From Him.
All in all, Tails was doing good, mainly thanks to Sally's efforts. The kid loved Cosmo, there were no doubts about it… It wasn't just a crush, it was Love in it's purest and suffering form… And without his "mother's" affection, he wouldn't be able to even walk again.
Knuckles himself was not having a fine time too… He would blame himself to death for the fate of Cosmo… For been unable to save her. He would not forget the angry words that his fox companion muttered at him through his tears… Knuckles had problems in sleeping, therefore his mood was even nastier than usual… And that said something!
In the end… The members of the Freedom Fighters Mystic Ruins Section were NOT having a good time.
"We're good. Thanks." With that said, the red mauler hang up, cursing under his breath… As always.
From the apparent obscurity of his hut, Maximillian was having a panic attack.
Why didn't I tell him!? Damn it! Ok, ok… Relax now, max old buddy. You promised to your best friend not to spoil anything… For now. Again, DAMN IT!
The former monarch, unlike any common politician, didn't like to lie or keep secrets… Especially a secret of this magnitude.
About a month ago, his intelligence agencies have been able to detect a strange phenomenon near the south-west confines of Robotropolis… A strange, uncommon, blue ray of energy... A blur, some said. The local Freedom Fighters Militia, the Wolfpac, confirmed it's existence…
Max had no doubts of what that could have been… As soon as he realized it, the first thing he did was to call his long timed friend and inform him of the joyful news.
"Charles… We've found him."
"Who?"
"Your nephew, Charles… We've finally found him."
"… SONIC!? He's alive? But… How?"
"We could ask him directly as soon as we get the others to look for him and…"
"Wait."
"What?"
"… It could be a trap. For what we know, it could be Eggman's latest trick… No. Listen, do not approach him yet and do not tell anybody about it...."
"Are you sure?"
"Believe me, Max. There's nothing in this world I would love more than to embrace my beloved nephew again… But until we don't get absolutely sure of it's identity, I'd rather to keep it a secret… For now, at least."
The old squirrel didn't like this situation… He Didn't, at all.
Suddenly, someone knocked at his door.
It was a rather young looking coyote dressed in a military outfit and with a strange toupee like blond hair cut.
"Aaaah, Antoine, what can I do for you?"
"Zer is zomefing ve need to dizcuss, Max."
"What about?"
"Aboot a zertain blue blur your men found… Yez, they told me, Max. I know."
Antoine Depardieu was the youngest member of the Mobian Council and by far, the most undeserving… His presence in the lodge was earned by his political heritage. Despite this fact (and his ridiculously stereotypical French accent) the canine wasn't to be underestimated… He was an unpredictably sly individual and his current behavior was nothing more than a façade to hide his true personality. He learned this trick from his father… If your enemies underestimate you than it would be easier to defeat them, that's what his parent taught him.
Maximillian, however, wasn't stupid… He had quite a talent when it came to detect liars and masquerades, therefore, he would always keep an eye on this young ambitious lad.
"Let's walk, shall we?"
"Inzeed."
And so, they do.
The hidden haven better known as Knothole, freshly rebuilt in the shelter of the Great Forest, nearby the confines with Overland, consisted in a few huts, a resilient perimeter gate and high security guard systems… And lots of soldiers and technological stuff.
This bunker was the center of all Mobius's activities and the place where the Council used to rule from…
In the middle of the "town", two of the current three members of the lodge were having a very important and polite conversation about Trust and Respect…
"YOU, ZTUPID OLD FART! VHY YOU DIDN'T TELL UZ!?"
"OOOOOH, SHUT UP, SISSY!"
"YOU VILL PAY FOR DIS! KRAZY FUEL!"
"The word is 'fool', ignorant!"
It didn't take very long for the two of them to start performing their own version of a "No Holds Barred" Hardcore Wrestling match with each other… Or for a random crowd to come along and enjoy the show, cheering passionately for their chosen champion…
"Let's go, Ant!" Someone yelled.
"Let's go, Max!" Someone else said.
"HOLY SHIT!" Basically everybody cried.
Set on the comment table for this amazing PPV event, were none other than legendary wrestler, Jerry "The Kangaroo" Lawler and his colleague "Good Old JR" Jim Rooster.
"My Chaos, Kangaroo! These two are gonna kill themselves! It sure is damn personal!" Cried Jim.
"Mmmh… What? Oh sorry, I was admiring the ladies… Yowza!" Replied the Kangaroo.
The spectacle did endure for a while… It was right when Antoine was about to hit Max in the head with a barb wired baseball bat that someone had enough of it…
"OK! I HAD FAIRLY ENOUGH OF THIS!" Indeed, he had.
Everybody turned to see the new comer… It was an old skunk with a military general outfit.
Geoffrey St. John, the oldest and most stubborn member of the Council, was still a pretty intimidating figure… And not just because he was a smelly old skunk…
The other two younger Mobians stood to their feet, messed up, bruised due to their fight and still glancing at each other with killing glares.
The former general approached them and, with an air of solemn authority, spoke.
"Now… Let's discuss about this "Blue Blur" phenomenon, shall we?"
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Mystic Ruins.
Miles "Tails" Prower was just relaxing… A thing that he didn't do often, lately… Mainly because of his grieves about losing Cosmo… And partly due to his step mother's attentions.
From the very day in which Sally Acorn dropped her job as politician, she's been with her beloved "son" ever since. They together built a simple hut in a convenient field nearby the hidden Militia base and lived there for a few days, now.
He didn't complain with it at all… He loved Sally as a bigger sister (even as a mother, for that matter, but don't tell anybody), he didn't, however, liked how childishly she treated him… She used to cuddle him and giving him all those stupid "funny kisses"…
He wan not a child… Or better, he mentally wasn't. He was a mechanical genius, a pilot, a soldier and a highly trained fighter… 8 years old or not! She seemed not to understand this and that was kind of burdening the kit…
Deep down, on the other hand, the situation was quite different… He needed that attention… He needed to be loved and cuddled… He needed all of that way more than he could ever admit…
He needed her… And Sally too.
Lying on the green grass, the Kitsune was almost asleep… Or he would have been, if the loud noise of an explosion wouldn't have been caught by his sensitive foxy ears.
Immediately aware, the tiny warrior spun his two namesakes and darted for the direction of the noise, athletically avoiding the trees in the process…
This explosion, he could say, was very different from the usual ones he was accustomed to… It seemed almost like… A Sonic Boom? Impossible, who could ever break the sound barrier in the middle of a thick tree forest?
The fox reached an opening field only to find… None.
"Mmmmh, I wonder what was that noise?"
"YO!!!" Someone screamed from behind the kit.
"AAAAAAARRRGH!!!" A natural reaction to unexpected encounters such this… Followed by a sudden fly on the highest tree branch.
"Whoa, sorry 'bout that, dude! Ehi, ya can fly with those two tails of ya… Mondo cool!"
"M-mon-what-the-heck?" Slowly but still heart pounding, the cub descended from his improvised haven and gave a better look at the potential fiend.
His "attacker" was a blue teenage hedgehog with long downward quills, gloves and sneakers… And a "I'm THAT damn awesome" kind of smirk on his face.
"What are ya starin' at, bro? Wanna take a picture? Well, I couldn't blame ya for that… I'm the coolest dude in da house, after all!"
Tails knew this hog for just a few seconds now… And he could already say that he didn't really like him… As a matter of fact, the "dude" was quite annoying.
He did ask him, anyway.
"Ehrrr… And who are you?"
The hedgehog adopted an hurt expression…
"Ya don't know me? Duuuuude, that's mondo tremendo!"
"Mondo what? Do you speak my language?" A sincere doubt that crossed the vulpine's mind.
"Ha ha… Funny cool little guy, eh?"
"It wasn't a joke… And you still didn't answer my question. Who. Are. You?"
The blue boy smirked again, raised his left arm to the sky in a typical super hero pose and, finally, answered.
"I'm Sonic… SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!"
What a dumb name. Tails thought.