Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog, or any of its associated characters and lore.

[QDS]

Quick Draw Style

[QDS]

Awakening with alarm, Slinger groaned as he felt a bruise at the back of his head as he looked towards the metallic ceiling that was above his head, and tried to remember what had happened to place him in a lit-up room. One moment he was fighting for his life against a swarm of Badniks based on Shadow the Hedgehog, but then he got close to something that hit his head which must have sent him unconscious. At least that was what Slinger himself figured, and something told him he would not hear the end of it from his friends.

It was that last thought, however, that immediately brought him to sit up straight. "Smithy," he shouted the name of his unofficial leader before asking for the third teammate that the two of them were with, "Claire," but turning to his right, Slinger saw where both of his friends had been left down on the floor in front of the wall with Eggman's logo on it. Horrified, he stood up to check on Smithy first, but seeing the severe wound marks on the lion and how still he was confirmed Slinger's fear that the technical genius of the Diamond Cutters was dead. A following onceover on Claire informed the ocelot that the scrying howler monkey did not make it either.

On the verge of breaking down, Slinger forced himself to face the other direction, expecting Mimic, but instead of the octopus spy, he was surprised, yet no less dismayed, to find Whisper dead on the floor as well. Suspicious of Mimic's absence and why the wolf scout would be there when the latter was told to remain on standby, Slinger held his grief back to observe Whisper's body closer and momentarily confused that she had apparently died from a stab wound rather than being beaten to death like the others were. The truth became clear, however, when he saw a fourth Diamond Cutter mask, separate from the ones his deceased friends wore, discarded at the apparent entrance of the room.

"Mimic set us all up," Slinger said to himself in disbelief, but he quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts. "No, no," he denied adamantly, wanting to give credit to the oldest and most experienced mercenary he knew. There could have been a chance that Eggman had taken an interest in Mimic's shapeshifting power, and relocated him elsewhere. 'And yet', the ocelot thought to himself, 'if Eggman would spare Mimic to make use of his ability', turning back to where the body of Clare Voyance, he then concluded internally, 'then why wouldn't the Shadow Androids hold back on Claire also since she has ESP?'

"Now entering final phase of incineration process," a computerized voice then announced, which, incidentally, clued in where Slinger and the bodies of his friends were dumped in.

"Oh, boy," Slinger let out softly and began to hit and kick the incinerator's entrance with all his might, which became even more frenzied as he could feel his surroundings getting warmer.

'I can't let it end like this,' Slinger thought to himself as he kept on banging before he then heard a loud hammering sound being made repeatedly, which brought a wide, hopeful smile to his face as he knew only one person who would have such a weapon.

"Mimic, I'm in here," he cried out with his fist slamming on the entrance only twice more to get his comrade's attention before the hatch finally broke away, giving Slinger the opportunity to escape just in time for the incinerator to kick in.

As a blazing fire engulfed the bodies of Smithy, Claire, and Whisper, Slinger, though still mournful over their deaths, turned to his left to thank his surviving teammate, but was stunned to see only a saddened Blue Wisp instead. The same Blue Wisp who bonded with Mimic to power his Cube Wispon. Making sure that he still had his field monocle, which remained functional, Slinger finally asked two words, "Where's Mimic?"

With the monocle translating the Wisp language for Slinger to hear, the Blue Wisp could only say, "I'm sorry, Slinger, but Mimic betrayed us all. It was only because of his and Eggman's arrogance that you're still alive just as I was free long enough to rescue you."

Knowing the Wisp would never lie about something as serious as Mimic's treachery, especially with what had recently happened, Slinger finally gave in to his frustration, and punched the adjacent wall with tears of grief. His sadness for his friends quickly morphed into hatred for Mimic and Eggman alike mixed with guilt of how he could not protect those dear to him. 'I was helping Smithy and Claire fight the Androids,' he told himself in his mind. 'If I had been stronger, we could've held them back and rescue Whisper!'

"Slinger," the Blue Wisp began telling the ocelot in a firm tone of voice, "I'm sorry, but the Badniks are holding my fellow Wisps securely in this base. We need to save them and get out," then added more quietly, "Then we can grieve."

Realizing that he did not even think about his own Cyan Wisp partner, Slinger slowly calmed himself and nodded to the Blue Wisp as he scowled and narrowed his eyes the opposite direction saying, "We'll do all those things, Blue, and after that, we'll bring the fight back to the Eggman Empire and that backstabbing cephalopod!"

[QDS]

Slinging From Warfare to Peacebuilding

[QDS]

Spiral Hill Village, Planet Earth, One Month after the Eggman War's conclusion

Densely built yet relatively small, Spiral Hill Village was appropriately named for being on top of a tall, spiraling hill that could only be reached via a stone, bridge-like staircase that led alongside the hill itself. Although normally peaceful, the village, like most other settlements in the world, had been plagued by raiders of the robotic kind since the disappearance of the tyrannical scientist, Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, at the end of a global conflict that lasted half a full year, which everyone was trying to recuperate from.

Initially, the Badnik raids had been random and lacked organization, but recently, the Badniks appeared to have been given directions by a leader that had yet to reveal themselves. All the same, it was as night approached over Spiral Hill Village, that Sonic the Hedgehog appeared to discover such a raid occurring there.

A blue-furred and green-eyed hero who only wore a pair of gloves and shoes that was well-regarded as the superfast archfoe of Doctor Eggman himself, Sonic had refused to rejoin the Resistance that fought the Eggman Empire in the War to find the secret Badnik ringleader on his own. Unfortunately, even he did not expect a battleship version of the bee-based Buzz Bomber Badnik deploying not only the usual Egg Pawns modeled after their very creator, but Moto Bugs that were styled after the usual ladybug, yet with size and firepower equivalent to tanks.

Thankfully, he was not facing them alone.

By his side, was an old friend of his, the lavender-furred and gold-eyed imperial princess from another dimension, Blaze the Cat. Wearing her usual high-heels, white leggings, and purple tailcoat, she had just appeared in a burst of flames which Sonic figured was attributed to the Sol Emeralds she protected, and had been quite helpful to him and the local villager helping them against the Badniks with her own power to create and control fire.

With orchid eyes and fur in a mix between light gray, gray, and dark gray, Tangle the Lemur wore a short-sleeved black bodysuit with dark orange stripes that compliment her fingerless gloves with backings in the respective colors as well as amber hi-tops that match her sleeveless top and forearm sports tape. Although this was his first time meeting her, Sonic could tell that Tangle was just as fit and agile as himself, and with her very stretchable tail, she had the makings of a trained fighter.

Having dealt with the Badniks that were already in the village, Sonic and Blaze were thinking of how to reach the dropship overhead when Tangle bashfully held her tail out saying, "I know we all just met, but," she cut off her suggestion, however, when her eyes noticed something odd, which prompted her to ask the two experienced heroes, "Wait, what's that?"

Following Tangle's gaze, Sonic and Blaze saw what looked like a person hovering toward the battleship in a blur of green energy. "Huh, well, what do you know," the former commented with a grin and recognition in his eyes as he turned to Tangle, "Looks like the Resistance showed up, after all."

"Resistance," Blaze said with confusion in her voice, which Sonic had to expect since she was not in his world at the time he was declared dead from a battle with Eggman prior to the War taking place.

Just as he was about to give a brief explanation, though, he and the girls heard a loud hammering sound coming from the battleship followed by what sounded like lasers firing before they then saw a large sawblade made of pink energy damage the battleship itself on its left side, which resulted in it moving away from over the village. The figure from earlier was then seen exiting the dropship with a last-minute aiming of their weapon toward it before firing an explosive rocket made of orange energy that felled the oversized Buzz Bomber to the surface ground outside Spiral Hill Village.

Sonic, Blaze, and Tangle could not help but gape in disbelief at what they saw, even as the seeming Resistance fighter hovered down with their umbrella-shaped weapon colored in light blue, black, and gray that was evidently a Wispon, but not like the typical ones that are built around a specific Wisp.

"Did that guy use five Wisp powers in a Wispon for the price of one," Sonic finally asked with a finger raised towards the approaching Wispon-user.

"Looks like it," Tangle answered before showing an excitable grin and exclaimed, "And it was amazing!"

Landing his feet on the ground, their unexpected helper, a mostly teal-furred feline with strands of white fur and turquoise markings on his chest, head, and tail along with a cyan, black, and gray eyepiece with a white wire over his left eye, showed the trio a friendly enough smile as he looked at Tangle specifically with his visible right eye colored in pink in an appreciative way. Aside from his unique eyepiece, he wore a dark grey belt while his boots, gloves, beret, and large scarf were all in a mxi between gray and dark gray.

"Sorry to bust what would've been a good teamwork moment," the feline said as he held his Wispon up close, "but my trigger finger was itching for some of the action. Still, you three all did good before I showed up," turning to Sonic first, he had his left hand out for a shake as he said, "Nice to finally meet you, Sonic, I'm Slinger the Ocelot. If the Resistance wasn't fighting the Eggman Empire on a global front, we probably would've met earlier."

Reciprocating the gesture, Sonic showed a nonchalant smile as, replying, "Don't sweat it, man. But seriously, what kind of Wispon do you have there?"

Showing a proud, if somewhat somber, smile, Slinger presented his Wispon for the three to see as he explained, "This is the one-of-a-kind Variable Wispon which, as the name implies, can be used with any and every Wisp there is." The Wispon then let out a cube-shaped Blue Wisp, a Cyan Wisp with a lightning bolt-shaped tentacle, a spiked and sphere-shaped Pink Wisp, a Green Wisp that looked like a spaceship, and a rocket-shaped Orange Wisp that all excitably hovered around the three, especially Sonic, as Slinger held his hand out to present his five partners, "Just as these guys," he said.

"Aw, they're all so cute," Tangle let out as she used her tail to bring the five Wisps into a hug with her that they all happily returned.

"Glad you like them, pretty thing," Slinger complimented the ring-tailed lemur with a flirtatious smile that brought a certain color to her surprised face. He then turned to Blaze, and made a respectful bow to her as well as held her right hand as he said, "Silver told me that you're not one on formalities, Your Highness, but I wouldn't be me, if I didn't show proper manners to someone as radiant as you," kissing her hand as she blushed uneasily, he then added in good humor, "And besides, Blaze, I don't meet many princesses in this line of work."

"I suppose I can allow that much," Blaze replied with a flustered smile, but glared at Sonic when he tried and failed to restrain his own chuckles.

Tangle, however, could not help but ask, "Hang on, the first cool cat to show up is royalty?"

"Oh, yeah," Sonic said, as he figured some introductions were in order. Turning to Tangle, he said, "Everyone, this is Tangle. She's a local," then to Slinger, "Girls, I think we all met Slinger here," and lastly, Blaze, "Tangle, this is Blaze. She's a princess from another dimension and guardian of the Sol Emeralds. They're like Chaos Emeralds, but fiery."

Briefly stunned at Sonic's introduction of Blaze, Tangle eventually forced a laugh and said, "Yeah, okay," before gladly shaking the latter's hand, "Thanks for saving my home, Your Highness," with a glance toward Slinger, she added, "You, too, Slinger."

"You are welcome," Blaze then added, "And please, be as casual around me as Sonic and, to a degree, Slinger have been as well." Once she and Tangle parted hands, Blaze then turned to Sonic with a firm expression, "In all seriousness, Sonic, I need to know what sort of mad scheme Doctor Eggman has concocted this time," she then explained, "I felt the will of the Sol Emeralds, so I came to prevent a terrible event on your world. And given the current situation, your mentioning of a resistance, and the Doctor's record, I believe it's safe to say he is up to no good as ever."

Slinger, who had removed his left eye monocle to palm his face tiredly during Blaze's story, could not restrain a frown on his or the remark that came with it while looking away. "We all could've used your help about seven months ago, then."

"What do you mean," Blaze asked with evident confusion.

Sonic showed the palms of his hands in a relaxed way as he summarized, "Eggman locked me up and took over the world."

At Sonic's laidback approach, Slinger could not hold himself back and hit the back of the hedgehog's head angrily.

"Ow," Sonic exclaimed at the surprise attack with the girls shocked by Slinger's action as well. Turning to the irate ocelot with a frown of his own, Sonic said, "What was that for? It's not like I stayed locked up forever and never got to kick his butt, obviously."

"Do I seriously have to remind you that when Eggman beaten you, it looked like he publicly killed you for the whole wide world to see," Slinger rhetorically asked which brought Sonic's annoyed to turn regretful as Blaze gasped in dismay and Tangle herself looked uncomfortable at the news. Slinger did not let go as he added, "And how, until we learned that you were imprisoned in space, six months late no less, the rest of us had to pull all our efforts to survive through scavenging, fighting, and just knowing when to flee losing battles? And through it all, how we lost so many lives until the end," he then sighed mournfully and looked away from the three.

Letting a moment of silence pass, Sonic admitted, "Yeah, you're right. I should try to be more careful about what I say and how I say it. Sorry."

Exhaling again, Slinger turned to the hedgehog just as apologetic and replied, "Yeah, me, too."

After another silent moment, Tangle then interjected with a question, "Wait, Sonic, you said the leftover Badniks have been getting organized, right?"

Slinger, seeing where Tangle was coming from, added up, "And they're becoming dangerous, regardless on whether it's Eggman himself, or someone else."

Nodding at Slinger's words, Tangle then turned to a contemplating Blaze as she suggested, "What if the War was just the beginning? What if there's something even worse on the way?"

Not liking the sound of it himself, Slinger commented, "After living half a year in a world at war, gorgeous, I really don't want to see what could top it. And that's saying something when Sonic here has dealt with a water god that destroyed a city and could've done the same with the planet itself, a falling space colony that previously destroyed half the moon, an invasion of bloodthirsty aliens that were not even close as friendly as the Wisps, the world splintering into seven pieces, a black hole that would've swallowed our planet on two separate occasions, and a life energy extractor that would've run this planet dry," turning to Sonic, he then asked, "Did I leave anything out?"

"Nah, you pretty much summed up the more globally impactful adventures my friends and I have gone on, not counting time travel," Sonic said in a tone mixed with modesty and confidence before turning to Blaze with concern. "But seriously, Blaze, did your Sol Emeralds give you a kind of vision of what we'll be dealing with?"

Blaze answered, "That's not how it works, Sonic. All I know is that they undoubtedly directed me here for a purpose." Showing a smile, she then said, "And I intend to remain here until that purpose is made clear."

"Glad to hear it," Slinger said with a small smile before saying, "Anyway, I came to town to talk with Sonic about the mysterious ringleader, so, Tangle, maybe you can show Blaze the burning parts of your village and she can help reduce the flames while Sonic and I have a talk among guys, if that's alright?"

"Works for me," Blaze said with a nod before adding, "I'll leave the hunt for this fiend to you both for now!"

As Blaze made her way with Tangle about to follow, the latter cheered, "Bye, boys! Thanks for everything!"

"Ciao," Sonic replied with a peace sign to the farewells as Slinger himself waved at them before the two turned to each other. "Okay, Slinger," Sonic let out first, "what do you got on whoever's leading them?"

Getting serious himself, Slinger began to say, "Well, since Eggman's still missing in action, his two helper robots, Orbot and Cubot, aren't known for their ambitiousness, or even planning, and the Deadly Six have been reported to still be on the Lost Hex throughout the whole War, I would say that there could be two likely culprits. As you yourself experienced, Metal Sonic has taken charge of his fellow Badniks before yet quieter compared to Eggman, and we have about less of an idea of where he was at during the Eggman Empire's takeover than we do right now."

Nodding at the reason, Sonic replied, "Yeah, this does feel like Metal when you put it like that. Who else do you have in mind, though?"

Showing a heavy yet knowing frown, Slinger answered, "A shapeshifter fittingly named Mimic."

Raising an eye, Sonic said, "A shapeshifter? You mean like how Metal was once Neo Metal Sonic and could change his looks?"

"Close, but what I'm thinking of is not a robot, but a purple octopus in his thirties, wearing a gray cloak, and who can even change his looks to match that of an Egg Pawn as much as yourself, making him the expert infiltrator for hire."

"So he's a merc that Eggman hired during the War and kept?"

"More like threatened with death, but yeah." Slinger then turned away to exhale before making eye contact with Sonic again to say, "I might be overestimating that coward's skills as well as how much Eggman trusted him, but he's still out there and I've been meaning to take him down for good."

With a sympathetic frown of his own, Sonic could not help but ask, "He made things personal for you, huh?"

Slinger narrowed his eyes at the hedgehog for a bit before admitting, "I don't want to ever talk about my past, but yeah."

Sonic then allowed himself to smile as he then said, "Well, it's a good lead as any, and if I do find him, I promise you'll get the first shot at him somehow."

Forcing a small smile of his own, Slinger shook hands with Sonic again as he said with a nod, "Thanks, Sonic. I'll hold you to it."

The two then parted ways as Sonic kept on running and Slinger himself left to make a call.

[QDS]

I was close to giving this story the simple name "Slinger Lives", which while not bad, does not have enough imagination compared to what I ultimately decided. For the sake of argument, this takes place solely in the IDW Sonic continuity, even if I can imagine a lot of ideas if more continuities were used, but I kept the name "Earth" because that definitely has to be the name of Sonic's world in the games and the current comics alike, regardless of Sega and IDW's current confusion at this time.

Moving on, while I had been thinking about alternative universe fanfiction featuring either Slinger the Ocelot, Smithy the Lion, and/or Claire Voyance surviving the Diamond Cutter massacre instead of Whisper the Wolf as in the comics for some time, it was not until I saw a logo for "Tangle and Slinger" in the style of a Marvel what if story by RetroNoPleaseNo on DeviantArt, with who, I have been brainstorming about this line of thought even further, that I decided to put it into action. I cannot say that I have much intention of making this a long-lasting piece of fiction, but I do plan on making this enjoyable all the same.

I initially planned on starting this story in the same issue that debuted Whisper, but then I realized that if Slinger swapped roles with her and was already in the Resistance even before Sonic's return in Forces, then there would be some butterfly effects, which is why I began the way I did. I still have some ideas for Smithy and Claire surviving in separate AUs as well, but I will have to think more on them first, and I would appreciate some thoughts as well, if anyone wants to provide them.