Sonic: No Brotherly Love

by The World Needs Bloody Heroes

For Sonic, defeating Robotnik once and for all came at too high a cost: Tails. After leaving everyone and everything behind to cope with his grief the only way he knew how, Sonic returns to Station Square, and to his friends, when something mysterious seems to be happening and he is needed once again. But what can he do when his new enemy was once his best friend...? *Retelling*

2. Prologue Part II

Sonic: No Brotherly Love

Prologue (Part II) - Goodbyes?

Sonic and Tails had been wandering for far too long, as their allotted time was quickly running out. They needed to find the hostage, and fast, or else both themselves and the one they had come to save would be dragged to the ocean's deepest depths along with the base. Tails could feel the pressure getting to him, and the fact that Sonic was growing frustrated from having to slowly sneak around didn't help one bit.

"Is there any way we could speed things along? We haven't got much time here," Sonic commented, the first words he had, surprisingly, said in the past half hour or so. When his friend didn't reply, Sonic asked, "Tails?"

The young fox was hurriedly typing the necessary code into the keypad beside the sealed door, trying to retain his cool, but to no avail.

Sonic noticed the serious look on Tails' face and couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for him. In a rare moment of deep thought, the hedgehog pondered on where he would be without his best friend. How would he have stopped Robotnik so many times without Tails' help? Without his tech-wiz and insightful nature?

"Okay, hopefully this'll be it," Tails muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow.

When the door opened, Sonic was the first to enter, but not before giving Tails a pat on the back for reassurance. The last thing the whole rescue mission needed was the usually level-headed fox freaking out. Tails appreciated the kind gesture, smiling as he followed suit.

Upon the pair making their way inside, the door they came through immediately closed, leaving them in pitch blackness, unable to see their very noses! The darkness surrounded them for a few moments, and those moments were suffocating. This was certainly a trap…but what had Robotnik set up? What had he planned?

Well, both the hedgehog and fox were left in shock when the lights came on, blinding both of them before illuminating the entire room. Though to refer to the area as a 'room' was underwhelming. It was a huge, enormous space, the like Sonic had only seen on occasion when battling a particularly large robot made by his favourite mad scientist. The reasons for each of them being in shock were different, however. Sonic was in disbelief due to the fact that Robotnik, or a threat of any sort, was nowhere to be seen. Tails, on the other hand, had his feelings of shock replaced with awe as, at the centre of the room, hanging from the ceiling, was a mainframe the likes of which he had never seen before; a supercomputer, though that hardly did it justice. Just looking at the machinery conveyed enough to Tails that he knew this was Robotnik's greatest achievement. What it did? Only the good doctor was aware of that, but Tails had a feeling it was something…mind-boggling.

Sonic, who had noticed his friend's state, placed a hand on the fox's shoulder and shook him slightly, "Tails, buddy? You alright?"

Tails then shook his head furiously, snapping himself out of the trance, "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just…wow."

The duo made their way towards the mainframe, arriving at a screen so large that even Big would find it a tad too much. As they approached it, a holographic keyboard appeared, with the standard letters and numbers one would expect, as well as signs neither of them recognised. Well, Tails probably had some inkling as to what they meant, but Sonic was left baffled. And whenever the hedgehog was baffled by something other than adventure or an unbelievable view, he lost interest. Immediately, Sonic began looking for way out, as venturing back through the way they came would mean that they were backtracking. Not that the door would open at that moment, anyway.

"Wanna find a way out'ta here?" The blue creature questioned. Upon receiving no reply, he turned back to Tails, who was already trying to hack into the mainframe that had captivated him.

Sonic stood beside his friend, watching as the fox typed away - attempting to overcome the computer's protective measures.

Tapping his foot impatiently, Sonic drew the line when he swore he saw saliva dripping from the fox's lower lip, and exclaimed, "Look, you could play with this gizmo all day for what I care, but we're running out of time!"

Tails didn't pull his eyes from the screen, but stated, "Important information could be locked away on this thing. Secrets we know nothing about. You go on ahead, and I'll do what I can from here. It probably holds some kind info on this place."

The hedgehog raised his hands, defeated, as he knew there was no way to pull his pal from this thing, no matter what he said.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you, Tails. If you need help, call me and I'll be here in a flash," Sonic said, walking away so as to find a route out - a covert route, hopefully - but not before finishing with, "But when I find Knuckles, whether you've got into that thing or not, we're leaving. I don't wanna be here when G.U.N. lays down the offensive!"

"You got it!" Tails saluted with a smile, making the hedgehog do the same out of amusement.

As his eyes scanned the 'room' almost as quick as his legs moved, it didn't take long for him to spot and unprotected ventilation shaft - one that was large enough for him to fit into, and could possibly lead to the red nuisance he had come to save. The only problem was…reaching it was impossible from the ground, so the hedgehog's only hope would be to traverse upwards until he could make some attempt to get inside.

He searched for somewhere to begin his ascension, and spotted a particularly large cord running up the mainframe of Tails' new toy. All he had to do was gain a little altitude to get to that, then make like a monkey and climb it, which would likely bring him closer to the ventilation shaft.

Now set on getting to his goal, Sonic used his incredible speed to run up a wall as best he could, then back-flipped from it's surface, twirling in the air so as to now face the nearing chord. Once it was in grabbing distance, he seized it and then, with a firm grip preventing him from falling, he began to scramble his way upwards, beginning messily but eventually finding a rhythm, making it so he was more or less sprinting up the mainframes side.

"Don't do anything to break it!" He heard from below, knowing that the worried voice was certainly Tails', making the hedgehog grin mischievously.

As he neared the top, all that was in his way now was the mainframe itself; it's shielded electrics preventing him from pouncing towards the vent, so he had to find a way around it. But he had picked up enough speed to take a risk: he would quickly run along the mainframe's side, and once the vent was in sight…he'd take a leap of faith.

The hedgehog executed his plan and, as if Lady Luck herself had shone down upon him, a horizontal pole, attached from one wall of the 'room' to the opposite, was between him and the vent. He jumped, swung from the metal pole and released his grip when he had the right angle.

"Woo!" He cheered as his feet did away with the metal panel shielding the vent's entrance, and he landed inside. Sonic the Hedgehog was now making like a secret agent and crawling through a system of vents hastily.

However, the act of sneaking around in vents was far less fun than movies painted it to be, and the hedgehog soon found himself spin dashing around the many routes he could take, until one said route led him to an end that, beyond the metal penal, was a chamber, inside which was a cube-like frame, with shields on each of it's sides. Within the cube prison was none other than one of Sonic's friends and long-time rivals: Knuckles the Echidna.

Sonic removed the panel carefully, peeked outside the vent and, once he was sure the coast was clear, left it's confines and landed on a tiled floor.

Noticing this fact, the hedgehog commented, "Guess even the ol' Eggy has a taste for interior decorating. Honestly, the whole metal walls, floors and ceilings thing was getting old. It's nice of him to try something new."

Sonic then made his way towards his contained friend, who sat cross-legged, eyes closed, as though awaiting rescue. Sonic couldn't help but smile when he reached Knuckles' prison, crouching so as to be on the echidna's level.

The hedgehog tapped the shield hard enough to gain Knuckles' attention and, once the red echidna looked up at him, Sonic's smile transformed into a grin.

"Lovin' the new place, Knucklehead," Sonic said sarcastically.

Knuckles breathed deeply, and then spoke in a calm tone, "Get me out of here, Sonic."

"No, really, it's so you."

"Get me out of here, Sonic."

"I simply adore the aqua blue shielding. About time you went blue! Red is so eight years ago."

"Get me out of here."

"I mean, the frame is to die for!"

"Get me out of here."

"The neighbourhood itself is a bit, how should I say…rough? Talk about taking a dive with your standards, am I right?"

"Get me out of here."

"Let's be honest, livin' in these parts, it's only a matter of time before you-"

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Knuckles shouted with rage, finally giving in to the hedgehog's teasing.

"…Snap." Sonic finished with a devilish grin, more than slightly amused at the echidna's anger.

Knuckles shot such a glare at Sonic that the hedgehog felt as though his friend had suddenly acquired the power of laser vision. Unable to take the threatening gaze for too long, Sonic searched the room for the console that would allow him to free the echidna. He found that it was behind him, near the metallic door that would be the 'acceptable' way to enter the chamber. Once he reached it, Sonic knew exactly what to do to release Knuckles, after all, this was no different to Robotnik's usual tech he had seen Tails work a hundred times before. Even Knuckles knew how to work something this basic, but the hedgehog couldn't resist playing around just a bit more.

"Hey…what do I press to get you out'ta there?" The hedgehog asked.

Knuckles stood and pressed his hands against the shield, positioning himself so as to get a better view, "Let me have a look…"

Sonic stood to the side, waving over the console in a similar fashion to how a game-show host presents possible prizes.

After a brief few seconds, Knuckles spoke up again, "All you have to do is press that button right there."

The hedgehog turned to the console again, shrugged and questioned, "Where?"

"Right there."

"Where?"

"Right there."

"…Where?"

"THERE."

"WHERE?"

"Right…!" The echidna brought one of his gloved hands to his face, unable to finish the sentence as his patience was quickly dwindling again. With eyes closed, he muttered, "The square button…"

"The what button?"

"The square button."

"They're all square, Knucklehead. Be more descriptive."

Knuckles opened his eyes, only he frowned intensely, trying to prevent his fury from bettering him, "The button to the right."

Sonic's hands hovered over the many buttons, going from left to right before placing one on a particular button…on the left of the console, "This one?"

"Does that look like it's to the right?!" The echidna exclaimed, now clenching his fists, almost believing the hedgehog's feigned stupidity. Even if the stupidity was genuine, it wouldn't have made it any less irritating.

"But are you talking my right or your right?"

Knuckles opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped himself and thought for a moment. When realisation hit him, his half-lidded eyes were burning with sheer anger and he growled, "We're facing the same way."

Sonic then turned around so as to face Knuckles again, "No we're not."

"Now we're not! Just-"

"I'm just pushing your buttons, Knuckles!" Sonic said light-heartedly while leaning against the console, knowing his joke was quickly passing it's expiration. "Speaking of pushing buttons…," the hedgehog started, only to then press the correct button to release his now fuming friend, "voila!"

The echidna marched over to the hedgehog, taking him by the scruff of his neck before hissing, "You're so funny, Sonic. So funny in fact, that I've got a joke for you," Knuckles then drew back a fist, readying himself to drive it right into the smirking hedgehog's face, "but I think I'll skip right to the PUNCHLINE!"

Just as the blue hero was about to find out the meaning of a knuckle sandwich , the room suddenly went pitch black, the lights having gone out. Then, light returned, only in the form of a slow and blinking red. Something had triggered the base's alarms. Then, the two friends felt the entire chamber shake, making Knuckles release the hedgehog that was in his grip. Both tensed, holding their balance. When the shaking subsided, it happened again, only this time the pair heard an explosion…one that sounded too close for comfort.

"We better skedaddle!" Sonic recommended, earning a nod from the red echidna.

Within a moment, Knuckles was attempting to pry open the metallic door, but it was no use.

"The darn thing won't-ugh-budge!" Giving in, the echidna left the door and asked breathlessly, "What now?"

"It is the prison door, it's bound to be thicker than most…" Sonic then pointed to the vent he had used, "That's our only shot!"

"You kidding?! I'm not being funny, but I don't think climbing through vents right now is such a good idea!" Knuckles proclaimed and, in truth, Sonic agreed.

"I don't like it either, but we just got'ta go for it!" The hedgehog jumped into the vent, and Knuckles followed reluctantly. "And when are you ever funny?"

"Shad'dap!"

After leading Knuckles through the vents, it wasn't long until Sonic had returned to the 'room' where he had left Tails. However, the sight before him was terrible. Just by looking out from the vent, the hedgehog could see that the ceiling had begun to collapse and, down on the ground, metal beams and the like had fallen on the young fox.

"Tails!" Sonic called, worried for his friend.

In an instant, Knuckles pushed forward, grabbing the hedgehog's leg as he did so, and leapt from the vent before punching his fist into the mainframe's structure, allowing him to then climb down safely, bringing Sonic with him.

When they reached the bottom, Sonic ran to Tails' side. He found the fox to be unconscious, but still breathing. The hedgehog tried his best to move the debris from atop his friend, but to no avail.

"Knuckles! Lend me a hand!" Sonic ordered, waving for the echidna to join him.

Knuckles ran to assist Sonic in freeing Tails, "A hand?! How about you…," the echidna paused briefly, placing his hands underneath the beams and metal atop the fox, then lifting it just enough so that they could free their friend, "leave it to me!"

While Knuckles held all of the weight, Sonic pulled Tails from underneath, then carried the young fox in his arms, "I got him! Let's get out of here, NOW!"

Knuckles managed to punch his way through the sealed door and the trio were then making their way to the submarine, with Sonic running at Knuckles' pace so as to not leave him behind. Once they reached the pool of water that they would have to descend in order to get to the submarine, Sonic knew what had to be done.

"Knuckles, put on the diving gear there and take Tails back to the sub!"

Disbelief was plastered on the echidna's face, "…What?"

"I can't swim, and there's only enough gear for two!" Sonic stated.

"Then how did you plan on getting me out'ta here?!"

Sonic stared down to the ground for a moment, and said, "G.U.N. were supposed to contact Tails and then they'd take ya before attacking the base. We were only sent here to get ya free, but clearly things aren't going as planned."

The hedgehog laid Tails on the ground, and placed a hand on the side of his face tenderly.

"What about you?" Knuckles questioned, genuinely concerned for Sonic's well-being.

The hedgehog rose slowly, and gave the echidna a reassuring smile, "It's me we're talking about. Like I said to Tails, I've made it this far. I'm lucky like that. I'll come out of this alright."

Knuckles gave a slow nod, looked down at the young fox at the hedgehog's feet and muttered, "He'll make it."

Sonic too looked down at the fox, and said, "I know." He then gave Knuckles a thumbs up and made his way back towards the way they came, "You do know how to drive that sub, right?"

"Not a clue," the hedgehog heard from behind.

Waving goodbye, Sonic shouted, "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out!"

With that, Sonic dashed off to find his own escape route. As he ran, he couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't encountered the good ol' Eggman while down there. Usually, the blue blur couldn't go a few minutes in one of Robotnik's bases without having to confront him, yet the mad genius hadn't appeared. Just where was he?

The base began to take water, and it wasn't long until almost everywhere had been flooded. Time was quickly running out. Sonic eventually found a long tunnel, made of naught but glass, which led to another area of the base. The hedgehog thought that maybe there was a possible means of escape, after all.

As he ran through the tunnel, it's lights flickered, eventually going out. Suddenly, he heard a horrifying sound behind him: water. He glanced back, and saw that the tunnel had begun to flood as a wave quickly made it's way towards him. Sonic picked up the pace, knowing that if he was caught by the small tsunami that it would spell doom for him.

Just as he neared the entrance to the other section of the base, another wave of water burst through the metallic door, now coming from that direction, also. The hedgehog came to a halt, but his iconic smile remained.

As the waves came crashing towards him, ready to drag him down to the ocean's depths, he closed his eyes and whispered, "Luck don't fail me now…"

And with that, the water engulfed him. The glass tunnel cracked and shattered, breaking into millions and millions of pieces, and somewhere, among it's shards, was Sonic.

Meanwhile, Knuckles had just made it back into the submarine, and fumbled with the controls, panicking, trying to deduce how the contraption worked.

"Oh, come on! I need to get this thing moving! Please, just…start!" The echidna begged, as he pushed switch after switch and button after button.

Then suddenly, as though the Master Emerald itself had heard his plea, the submarine shook as it's rotors began to move.

So as not to get lost in the moment of mercy, Knuckles quickly worked out how to move the small vessel, driving it through the caves that Sonic and Tails had come through not long before, though at a reckless and rapid speed.

The echidna did his best to follow the lights out, but eventually found himself following instinct, travelling whichever way he felt was right. Fortunately, Knuckles seemed to have a keen sense of direction, as an opening was now in sight.

Knuckles pushed forward with all his might, hoping it would help to speed up the submarine.

As the echidna neared his goal, the cave began to collapse, and rocks began to hit the submarine from the sides, from above…from every direction, it felt like!

"No! Come on! C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon!" Sweat dripped from Knuckles' face, as the submarine was close to being buried beneath all of the debris. "C'MON!"

Knuckles then felt the submarine being pushed down by the weight of the falling rocks, but he was so close to making it out; so close to both he and Tails surviving this ordeal.

The entrance of the cave began to shrink, the rocks and rubble seeking to make this place both the echidna and fox's tomb.

Mere inches from making it out, the submarine's metal began to shriek, as though crying out in pain. The rotors had now been crushed, so it was down to momentum whether they escaped or not.

The entrance, and hope, was almost gone, the weight of the debris unbearable…this was the end. Knuckles turned back to see Tails still unconscious, water seeping in behind him. It was over.

"TAILS!"

And then…darkness.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Here's the second and final part of the prologue for Sonic: No Brotherly Love. Sorry it took so long, but writing collaboratively definitely makes this process longer, but certainly more fun. The Wandering Looney is helping me to write this story, so I hope you'll give them a look and read the other Sonic story that they're writing right now. Anyhow, that's the prologue out of the way, so the story truly begins in the next update! Where WAS Robotnik? What happened to Sonic, Knuckles and Tails? What caused the base to be flooded and destroyed? Find out!…in the near future…hopefully. Please let me know if there was any mistakes and I'll fix them!

Again, thanks for reading!