Third Person
The royal family was tense. But who could blame them? Being summoned to the one hedgehog who made their lives a living hell is not something they wanted to participate in. In fact, it was kinda strange. From the time Havoc had ruled their kingdom, he never asked for anyone besides his brothers to come forth and see him. What could the cobalt hedgehog want? Sally in particular had millions of ideas running through her head at once. Are they going to die? Be tortured? Suffer a fate that's worse than death? She hoped it was none of those.
Forced to walk in a line, she could only stare at the back of her brother's head. Without moving her head she could easily see how tense Elias was. You could easily suffocate. Couldn't blame him. She felt her muscles might never relax in her posture. Leaning slightly to the left trying hard not to give herself away to the six foot hedgehog behind her, she spotted her father in the front right behind the violet hedgehog. It wasn't hard to also see that her father was tense. A giant hand from behind her had smacked her upright once again. Looking from her peripheral vision, Beast was giving her a look that basically said 'you won't need your legs if you don't walk straight.' Why oh why did she have to be so curious? All she wanted that day was to see what life was like outside of the castle. Then again, her father did warn her that if anyone outside of the castle ever found out that she was a princess and she got captured, they would most likely use her for their own devilish deeds just to get what they want.
Turning around the corner she had memorized so many times, the chipmunks finally came upon the throne room. As soon as they got close, Sally could only stare into Havoc's emeralds. Then a strange thought came to her mind. Was Havoc bored? Is that why they were here? Just to be jesters that if they didn't do their jobs, they would be executed? Her mind was torn as she tried to figure the cobalt one out. The more she stared, the harder it seemed to get past his borders. To see what lies within. If she could do it, she might be able to figure out his weakness. Whatever that was. Sally was snapped out of her thoughts once she was forced to kneel in front of Havoc. The cobalt hedgehog glared at each of them but his eyes seemed to linger longer on her as emeralds met light blue.
"So." Havoc began once he dragged his eyes away from Sally's. "You are probably wondering why I have summoned you. Well, wonder no more." He stood up from his seat moving towards the chipmunks at a slow and steady pace. "I have been told of what's going on around here and I have to say," he placed his arms behind his back and eyes narrowed in concentration. He practiced this speech and if his plan was to work, he needed to get every single part of it right. "I'm not impressed." He then sighed and turned his head away. "You can speak freely."
"What do you want from us?" Elias hissed as he didn't waste a second in getting his point across. Havoc looked directly at him.
"I have realized that my time as ruler of your kingdom isn't what I expected. It has been dull and awfully boring. I need some excitement." He then looked at Maxmillian. "And that is why I have called you here. I have watched your family from afar before I made myself known. I seen how much you treasure your family and I envy you. Sure my brothers have personalities of their own but let's be reasonable. They have only been taught to do their job and nothing more. They wouldn't even give it a second thought." Havoc had moved one hand to scratch the side of his head as he looked at the floor. "Basically what I am saying is that you're no longer my prisoners. Do your worst." He folded his hands behind his back once more as he closed his eyes still looking at the ground. All was silent in the room. No one dared to speak, no one dared to move. The royal family could only stare at the cobalt hedgehog, look at each other then let their eyes roam about the room. They only just realized now that Havoc's brothers were all standing the same way the cobalt one was and were also off to the sides. Sally was the first to move as she stood up and began to close in on Havoc but she glided across the floor in a graceful approach; one that didn't show any fear.
"Sally!" Elias called out as he jumped to his own feet but that wasn't what made him stop midstep. It was the look the female gave him. A knowing look. As much as the chipmunk prince had wanted to charge on forward and slice the hedgehog's head off, he fought off that urge. He always knew his sister was smarter than him so if Sally had a good reason for her actions, then he shouldn't doubt her. Standing beside his father, they both watched as the young female chipmunk stopped right in front of Havoc. He didn't flinch when he sensed her in front of him but was startled as he felt a hand caress his cheek. His eyes flew open in surprise letting emeralds meet light blue. The hedgehog and chipmunk only stared at each other with blank faces before Sally cracked a smile and caressed his cheek again.
"Your fur is soft." She whispered while Havoc only had a confused look on his face. What exactly was she doing? He expected to feel pain right about now not flattery. And her touch felt alien to him and strangely satisfying... "Its unlike anything I've ever felt."
"Okay..." He mumbled, unsure of what to say or do. He would NEVER willing admit that her touch was pleasing in any shape or form. But his heart that he would also never listen to was starting to like her touching him. Havoc was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her giggle.
"This is where you say 'thank you for the compliment'."
"Thank you?" He knew his answer sounded more like a question but at this point, he didn't care. All he cared about now was wondering why his heart took a liking to this chipmunk's touch. He then started wondering if she was trying to lower his guard to do something devious later on. Yeah, that had to be it. Sally, who saw the inner turmoil the hedgehog was going through, knew at that moment what she had to do if she were to ever find his weakness. She turned to her father, ran up to him and whispered oh so softly that no one could hear her. King Max smiled at his own daughter's clever idea and nodded his head in agreement. Knowing that something was amiss, both Elias and Havoc only looked at the two chipmunks in confusion. King Max cleared his throat, straightened himself out and walked up to Havoc until they were exactly a foot apart.
"I will make a deal with you." King Max offered as the hedgehog looked at him sceptical. "But this would only work if you agree to all parts of our deal."
"What kind of deal?" He slowly asked and folded his arms across his chest.
"If you do not harm us, we will not harm you." Havoc blinked at him.
"Is that all?"
"No. But that is basically what I want of you so no more blood will be shed." The hedgehog frowned but other than that, if he was to ever succeed, then he must make some sacrifices.
"Alright. What else did you have in mind?"
"You will free Alicia, not harm anyone and if you are to ever stay with us peacefully, then you need a new identity."
"Identity!?" Havoc asked, completely appalled at the idea of changing himself. He is just perfect already thank you very much. "Why would I ever need a new identity?"
"Everyone already knows who you are Havoc. Yet no one outside of this castle knows what you look like." The King was completely calm. Not even a twinge of fear on his whole visage. "If you want more personality in your brothers and to cure your boredom then this is the only answer you have." Havoc narrowed his eyes and then looked at his brothers who hadn't twitched. Sighing, he knew what had to be done.
"Very well." He said as he bowed. "I will personally see to it that your wife is unharmed and brought back safe and sound in exchange for my servitude and my brothers personalities." And with that, the cobalt hedgehog left leaving the chipmunk family and his brothers behind. Immediately, King Max let out a sigh and his children smothered him in a hug.
"I can't believe you just did that dad." Elias said as he looked at his father and Sally nodded.
"Well, as King, I must always be ready to make peace and hard decisions." King Max proudfully stated. Sally had looked over at Havoc's brothers and caught White looking at her. Realizing he had been seen, White flinched and redirected his gaze to the ground. Once she was in front of him, he could see his ears almost become one with his head. Poor thing. She gave a gentle smile and used a finger to lift his head up to let light blue meet light blue.
"Hi." She started and could see White look over at Navy who nodded at her. Probably a command to respond to her. White looked back at her and gave a nervous smile.
"Hello." He responded and she let him go. Seeing how tense he looked, she took his hands into her's.
"There's no need to be so tense. Relax." White looked at their hands then smiled up at her and he did just as she said.
"Okay!" The other hedgehogs saw what she was doing and while most of them gave a small smile the others (that would be Gold and Navy) had a neutral face.
"What are you doing?" Navy asked as he tilted his head slightly in confusion. Sally looked at him with a smile.
"Getting all of you relaxed, silly." She giggled and then ruffled White's quills making him giggle as well. "If you didn't know already or haven't heard from Havoc then you obviously don't know that you're allowed to have your personalities." Everyone heard a scoff and looked at Gold. He was looking at Sally with a glare that promised a world of hurt.
"We don't need personalities." He spat at her and turned away with his nose turned up. "Personalities only serve to get in our way. We were created to carry all our Master's orders without hesitation and these personalities that you want us to use will hinder our performance." He then glared at Navy who was showing interest at the female chipmunk's words. "Right, Navy?" Said hedgehog flinched at Gold's growl and stood up straight.
"Right Gold."
"Sally, Elias!" The two chipmunks in question looked at who was talking and beamed as they saw their mother.
"Mom!" They both yelled and immediately embraced her in a hug.
"Alicia." King Max said as he got up close to her.
"Max." She replied and gave him a kiss. They both stopped as they heard Havoc clear his voice. The royal family looked at the hedgehog as his brothers got closer to him.
"I believe I've kept up my end of the bargain. Now it's your turn King Max."
Said King nodded his head. "Of course." He started to walk away and waved for the hedgehogs to follow him. "I'll show you to your rooms."
"We prefer to stay together." Havoc blankly stated without missing a beat and King Max looked at him.
"Yes. Of course. A big enough room to accommodate all of you." Sally had caught up before they could get far.
"So, have any of you chosen a name for yourselves yet?"
"I still believe we don't need new names." Gold muttered
"Nope! Not yet!" White piped up as he flew circles in the air and Navy scoffed at his childishness.
"Hyper Little Twit." He growled making White stop in midair looking confused.
"Hyper?" He asked and then got all excited. "Hyper! That will be my name! Hyper!"
"Wait, what?" Navy did a double take as he looked at the white hedgehog with a look. "Your actually going to be named that? Just like that?"
"Yup!" The newly named Hyper said proudly then looked at Navy thoughtfully. "You should be named Dark."
Navy growled lowly and glared at Hyper. "What?"
"Yeah, you know? Because you're dark, brooding and an emo." Hyper stated as he ignored Navy's hateful look. "Dark suits you."
"Why you-" before anything could go down, Sally intervened.
"Please don't do this here! I think those are both wonderful names."
"You heard her." Havoc spoke up as he looked at both of them. "Knock it off. Hyper." He looked at the white hedgehog then glared at the navy one. "Dark." He turned away and Navy - now named Dark - huffed. Now it was official.
"Oh!" Hyper then towards Violet and hovered over him. "You should be named Darkspine!"
"Darkspine?" Violet asked intrigued.
"Yeah! You look like Dark but you have those two white spines on your head."
"Those are stripes not spines Hyper." Violet tried to reason but the white hedgehog wouldn't have it.
"I don't care. Your name is Darkspine." He then flew towards Beast and sat on his back. "Hmm... I haven't chosen anything yet for you Beast, but I will soon!"
Said hedgehog huffed and glanced at the newly named Darkspine. "We're just going to let a kid name us?"
"I don't think we have a choice." He replied and Hyper gasped. He looked at Golden who gulped.
"Hey Golden, what about Fluffy?" Giggles came from all around (except from Havoc and Gold) as 'Fluffy' had a dark cloud raining over his head.
"I hate my life." He muttered and then gave a sour smile towards Hyper. "That would be good..." Hyper looked so proud as he puffed out his chest. Blue cleared his voice and smiled at everyone.
"Well you don't need to worry about me. I've already chosen a name."
"Oh?" 'Fluffy' asked "Do tell."
"God." Blue stated proudly and you could hear a pin drop. Then all hedgehogs and chipmunks erupted into a fit of laughter. Blue looked utterly lost. "What. What's wrong?"
"'God'? Wherever did you get THAT from Blue?" Knight said and then chuckled. "Its worse than 'Fluffy'" 'Fluffy' pouted at that. He desperately needed to change his name. Blue looked at Knight confused.
"But I like 'God'." He then turned away with his arms crossed over his chest and pouted. "I'm keeping the name."
"Whatever you say God." Knight shrugged and giggles came from around the room. 'God's' face then started to get red. Maybe it was a good idea to change his name. Hyper then looked at Knight.
"What about you Knight? Have you chosen a name for yourself?" Said armored hedgehog hummed and then unsheathed his sword looking at it.
"Not yet, but I do have a name in mind. I'll share it with you when I'm absolutely sure, okay?"
"Okay!" Hyper looked at the only two who hadn't spoken about names yet. "Gold, Master Havoc? What about you two?" Havoc looked back at Hyper with an expressionless face.
"Thank you for the offer Hyper, but I can choose my own name." He then turned but ended up turning towards Gold when he scoffed.
"I told you already. I don't need a name." Havoc glared at Gold and grabbed him into a chokehold growling all the time.
"I don't care what you think Gold." He gripped even tighter almost making Gold's face turn blue. "You will get a name. No questions asked!" Gold gave a quick nod and was finally released from the cobalt hedgehog's hold. "You better."
"Gold?" Said hedgehog glanced at Hyper when he spoke and turned away from everyone looking at him.
"I'll chose a name just let me think of one." He muttered while averting his eyes from everyone. That was a huge blow to his pride.
"Good." Havoc said nonchalantly as he continued walking. Sally had fallen silent as she witnessed Havoc's anger. This may be a start but he was still HAVOC. And she still had a long way to go if she'd ever find a weakness.