Last of the Fighters
Hello everybody! Soni-san here and I want to say this. Thank you. I recently checked to find I have had more than 2,000 views! I never imagined I'd have that many or that I'd be this popular. Thank you all so much for your support and patience. I know I tend to be a very scatterbrained writer, and it's really comforting to know at least someone will put up with me.
Hey, I put up with you!
You don't count, Clover. Anyways, I don't own the intellectual property of Sonic and Co. That right belongs to SEGA and Archie.
If she did… um… Cream would have more playable roles!
Please feel free to Read and Review
Sonic Pov:
"So… where are we going? This fog is too dense and we can't fly another night without you falling in a dead faint!" I yelled out, the wind drowning out most noises. Five days have passed with no further incident, however Dulcy has been getting more and more nervous the further inland we got. She'd fly throughout the night most times, only landing when she couldn't flap her wings one more second. I could understand why, she and I are easy targets for any of the Freedom Fighters' enemies. Two lone travelers with the entire world against them, a situation I myself hadn't been in since the old days when we were first starting out as nothing but mere rebels.
"I know! But if we can make it through tonight, we'll reach a safe house by morning! I've done this before." Dulcy panted, straining to see in the dense fog surrounding us.
"I don't care if you've flown five months straight! Dulcy, I know you wanna get me and you to wherever we're going safely, but if you go on like this, you'll bet us both killed! It'll do nobody any good if the only friend I have in this wasteland is too stubborn to stop and rest! Especially when visibility is so low you can't even see!" I call back, concerned for her. While dragons do have the ability to extremely long distances through even the most extreme conditions, they still need to stop and rest every once in a while. Especially a young dragoness with a passenger. Not doing so could put both myself and Dulcy in major danger, particularly when we hit the rougher air currents that often graced the high peaks we were currently flying over.
"I know what I'm doing, Sonic! Don't you doubt me now! I've flown farther than this on even less sleep." She nearly slammed into the steep ledge, not even her sharp irises catching sight of it until the last second.
"It's not your flying ability I'm doubting. It's the fact that you're practically flying blind at this point! If you hit any of those cliffs, the both of us are going down and it'll take us even longer to get to a safe place. And that's if we even survive the fall!" I shouted back, squinting against the wind. I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face! Why did the only friend I've made among the dragons have to be such a stubborn, boar headed beast when she finds herself determined to do something, I will never know.
"I'm perfectly capable! But… much as I hate to admit it, you're right. It's getting ridiculously hard to see. I'll see if I can get us to a safe landing spot."
Eh?
Since when did Dulcy give in so easily? I stared at her, taking in her labored breathing. She really was pushing herself too much, so much even she couldn't deny the need to rest. I nodded slowly, acknowledging her request before turning my attention towards our surroundings.
Finding a decent looking spot, Dulcy went into a steep dive. Remembering how most of her landings turned out, I braced myself, ready to either jump off at the last second or having the rather painful experience of being trapped on a skidding dragon until she slams into whatever surface was sturdy enough to stop her, or enough to slow her momentum if a certain winter was to come to mind. I really wish I brought a helmet.
I winced as we hit the ground, expecting Dulcy to crash into some poor tree. Only for her to… land perfectly. After climbing down and looking over the landing area with a critical eye, I turned towards her arcing my brow.
"What? You believe I'd still be bad at landings after everything we've been through!?" Dulcy reproached, understanding my unasked question clearly.
"Actually… I had the thought. Experience would say that, particularly considering I was once left temporarily homeless due to one of your messed up landings. I looked real stupid, didn't I?" I admitted, feeling appropriately cowed.
"Indeed you did. You can make up for it by getting some firewood while I set up camp. Go on, shoo!" she waved me off before returning to her task. With a shrug, I wandered into the foggy forest. As I began to wander deeper into the forest. Looking about my surroundings, I found myself quickly losing my bearings. A white blanket nearly wiped out all signs of life or direction, leaving a muffled silence in its wake. It was somewhat eerie.
"This place sure gives me the chills. It's like anything unpleasant can just… jump out at you. Ugh." I murmured beneath my breath, shivering at the idea. I wasn't easily spooked, you couldn't be with the kind of life I've lived. But, if I've learned anything in my travels, it's that anything can happen. Most likely when you least expect it, or are foolish enough to search for it.
Shaking my head to rid myself of the idea, I don't want my imagination to begin creating phantom monsters to go along with the real ones, I took a deep breath. I remember about seven years ago, me and… and Sal, had traveled this very mountain terrain. The locals had been very superstitious, if I remember correctly. They'd warned us to never stay out after dark on a foggy night, lest the voices of the deceased whisper temptations to you. I'm not the kind of person to believe in those things, but after fighting at least two supernatural beings bent on destroying the world, I'm not willing to learn whether or not this particular legend was true. I quickened my pace.
My ears flicked, catching the barest hints of a whisper. Looking about, I found nothing but fog and trees. With a shiver, I raced off. I must have been hearing things. Focus, Hedgehog. You need to get some sticks and find your way back to Dulcy.
"…Sonic..."
"Huh?" I turned about, hearing the strange voice again. Only this time, I'm certain I wasn't imagining it.
"Who's there!?" I called out, searching for the source of the voice. I felt my fur bristling, instincts practically screaming at me to get the heck outta there! Sharp emerald eyes darted about, trying to find some sign, a difference that might reveal the location of the voice.
"…Traitor…"
"What? Who's a traitor?"
"…You…"
"Me? How am I a traitor!?"
"You failed… left us…Coward!"
"I-I left you?" I was taken aback. Why was the voice saying I… left it.
"Coward… Failure..."
"Wh-who are you!? Why do you think I've failed you?" I shouted out, fear beginning to cloud my mind. This was getting way too creepy.
"…Knothole…"
My eyes widened, realization coursing through me. Knothole!
"Kn-knothole?" I stuttered, shaking now. The mist began to move, forming a shape. The all too familiar shape of a young chipmunk girl. Sally.
"Sonic… you promised… Always Together… Traitor…" She whispered, the face was twisted in a multitude of emotions. Heartbreak, betrayal, and hatred. My heart stopped, legs giving out from beneath me. I couldn't breath, couldn't think. All I could do, was stare wordlessly at the apparition of the women I loved most, the women I had been too weak to protect, too slow to save.
"Sally." I croaked out, tears fragmenting my sight as they fell freely.
She smiled then, a sinister edge to the normally serene expression.
"…you promised… we'd protect them… together. Traitor… Coward…"
Failure.
Coward.
Traitor.
She's right. I am all those things. A failure who couldn't even protect the ones I loved most, a coward who fled the only home he knew as it burned to the ground, a traitor who abandoned his duty as a Freedom Fighter.
I can't handle it… the truth, her hateful expression, the guilt. With a shout of despair I felt myself fall into the abyss. Trapped within memories of death and pain. Memories of my failures.
"You're a pitiful species. Your only hope is to give up. Maybe then, I won't destroy you all." A shadowed figure chuckled deeply, raspy voice slithering into our bones. Chilling them.
"Yeah right. Do you have any idea who we are! We don't give up just because someone threatens us. We've faced far worse than you when we were just kids!"
A young chipmunk stared down the faceless being, Ring-Blades out and ready. Brilliant blue irises fixed on the being before her as auburn hair flowed through the wind. Standing beside her was an azure hedgehog of the same age, confidently smirking at the creature he had just sassed, and a hololynx, handheld firmly in the hedgehog's grip. A rabbit flew above them, mechanical legs spitting fire as they kept her afloat. Her single flesh arm helped to stabilize her husband, a neat looking coyote wielding a blade upon a hoverboard. A walrus was helping to guide frightened civilians to a safe distance.
I stood there, watching it play out. No matter how hard I tried to move, to yell that the overconfident fool to run, nothing happened. I was trapped in this hell. Forced to watch the memories as they played out.
"Nicole, whatcha got?" the young leader glanced at the lynx, expectant.
"I believe I will be able to temporarily immobilize him with my nanites." She answered, preparing to do just that.
"No. It's not going to work!" I whispered, unable to do anything as his younger self let out a chuckle before addressing his team.
"Good. Alright, Freedom Fighters. Sal, you've got point. Bunnie, Ant. You two cover Nicole while she works on getting those nanites of hers to immobilize him. Rote's taking care of the civilians Knothole Freedom Fighters, Let's do it to it!"
With a triumphant battle cry, the group struck. Sonic keeping pace with Sal as they dodged energy blasts and henchmen, together like they always were. Nicole stayed back, keeping a meditative pose behind a shield. Bunnie and Antoine sped ahead, flying around the being's head to keep attention off of Nicole. It was going exactly as planned.
"But then it changed… Nicole put up her containment shield, only for him to slip right through…" I watched as exactly that happened, hearing the distressed cry of the younger Sonic when he realized that not only had his plan not worked, but it had also put his team in danger. Calling for a retreat and regroup, he turned his back to Sally in order to issued orders for one…insignificant… second.
But as he finished yelling to Bunnie and Antoine to get the hell outta the danger zone, a shill shriek filled the air. Sally's scream.
Whirling about, he found her separated from him by a sea of enemies, desperately outnumbered. He ran forward, jumping and dodging as fast as the crowd of enemies compressing into him would allow, bowling over and jumping atop many. But it wasn't fast enough.
As he watched, the dark master of the army shot an energy beam, striking clean through her chest. Horror filled the young hedgehog's face as he pushed himself even faster, catching her falling form just before she hit the ground. The scent of blood and burnt fur filled the air, red covering his gloved hands as he held her fading form.
"..S…Sonic…"
"No… NO! Sally!"