Sonic's body surged with adrenaline. His green eyes burned.

They wanted a piece of him, huh? So they were gonna mess with Tails, huh?

He charged up the large front of a combot, and kicked up at the chin-like rim on the head panel. He wasn't strong, but, boy, could momentum double as strength any day.

The combot's head shot back with a small crunch, one of the neck hinges broken. Throwing the whole machine off balance.

Take that.

Sonic reeled around the stumbling combot, just missing a canon blast at his heels. Close behind, Tails charged across the room, twin tails propelling hard. Sonic grinned. Tails would take care of wiping the combot's memories and covering his back. They would have this mess cleaned up in a matter of minutes.

He couldn't resist a laugh as he snapped into a spin dash, straight towards a combot canon. The canon fired, but his Speed was on. He leapt over the blast, and smashed against the side of the canon. The structure bent with the impact, and a streak of pain shot up Sonic's legs.

Sonic bounded up the combot's shoulder as the robot spun around, trying to knock him off. He was just about to crack its neck when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of red hurtling towards him.

Knuckles?

Sonic risked a glance. In that millisecond, he snapped a picture of the face rushing towards him. A black hedgehog with crimson stripes down its forehead and accenting its turned-up spikes. Red, slanted eyes.

Shock bolted through Sonic.

A dark violet hedgehog, with rose stripes and rose eyes, stood before him.

Mama.

Accusation and fear burned in her eyes as she took a glowing, pulsing ring from his hands. His very small hands. The ring began to fade as soon as she had taken it from him.

Her voice shook. "I never want you to touch one of these again-"

The black hedgehog collided into Sonic.

Sonic fell from the combot to the floor and rolled. He broke free from the hedgehog with a grunt and zipped across the room.

Sonic spun about, expecting to see the hedgehog still recovering on the floor where he'd left him.

Instead, the hedgehog stood in front of him, face to face. All Sonic saw was a white gloved hand striking into his vision.

He punched Sonic's jaw and the force knocked him against the wall.

Sonic belted out a whoop of shock.

-He still had his Speed on—no one could punch him with his Speed on—

"Woah, hold it!" Sonic shouted, thrusting his hands out, half to protect his face and half to show that he wasn't armed. "We're both Mobian, I'm on your side!" His green eyes burned. This hedgehog must be a confused escaping factory slave or something. "—If you need help, we'll get you out-"

Sonic didn't get to finish. The black hedgehog hissed and its fist blurred as it smashed against the side of his muzzle.

Sonic choked in surprise as his body slammed against the wall again.

He jerked up, a dare settling in his bright green eyes.

"—Or we could dance." Sonic challenged. He dropped to the floor and thrust his weight onto his hands and wrists. He swung his own legs into the legs of his attacker.

The black hedgehog tripped, but caught himself with his hands. He lunged at Sonic, all his spikes unsheathed.

Sonic wasn't going to wait for another hit. He raced towards the black hedgehog, his own spikes unsheathed.

Sonic ducked and twisted beneath the hedgehog's body, barely touching the floor. He sent his heel back up into the hedgehog's stomach, then arched his back-

The black hedgehog fell back, his eyes alight with anger. Sonic's spikes had raked across his uncovered torso.

Sonic smirked, jumping towards him to grab his wrists and pin him down. "Want seconds?"

The hedgehog in front of him disappeared.

"Woah—wha...?" Sonic landed in a crouch and froze, eyes round. He stared at the empty space on the ground.

An iron-hard grip snatched both of Sonic's wrists from behind.

Sonic paused.

"What is this, some type of east coast swing-?" Sonic flipped back into a spin dash. He hit the hedgehog's face with his sneakers. He didn't take a moment to catch his breath—he leapt and flipped again and again, twisting his body and kicking hard-

Behind him, the attacker barely flinched. Even after Sonic had hit his face at least three time. His hold on Sonic's wrists only tightened.

A glint of fear struck into Sonic's eyes.

This was new. And he was scared.

With a sudden jerk, the hedgehog whipped Sonic off his feet and sent him crashing, for the third time, into the wall. Knees and face first. Sonic grimaced in pain. The attacker twisted Sonic's arms behind his back and thrust his weight against him, pinning him against the wall. With a quick motion, the hedgehog snapped out a pair of electric shackles from his belt and whipped them onto Sonic's twisted wrists.

Sonic jolted at the movement, breathing harder.

"Sonic!" Tails' voice rang out. He stood in an empty, combot-ridden room, eyes wide with shock.

Sonic opened his eyes, meeting Tails' gaze.

The fox charged towards Sonic and the hedgehog, blaster in one hand. "Put him down!" he screamed.

Sonic scowled, writhing. He suddenly surged backwards with his Speed, but the black hedgehog only pressed harder against him. His grip was iron. Like Knuckles'.

The black hedgehog struck a second pair of shackles around Sonic's ankles, drawing them tight together. Sonic just let out a hiss of rage and butted his head and spikes back. The hedgehog brought up one hand and smashed the side of Sonic's face against the wall, ignoring how Sonic's spikes cut through his gloves. He breathed against his prisoner's cheek. "Sonic. No more one-liners?"

Tails stopped a few yards away, blaster muzzle fixed point blank at the attacker's skull. "Let him go or I will kill you!" Tails roared, his voice shooting up several octaves. But his aim was steady.

"Wait, Tails," Sonic barked out, sucking in a sharp breath. "Look, here, do you want something?" he said to the attacker, "Who are you? Are you with Robotnik?"

"Does it matter?" the hedgehog's red eyes slitted, brightening. "It's not worth telling you anything. I'm going to kill you-"

A bullet cracked. The hedgehog jolted free from Sonic, falling to the floor.

Tails held the blaster with both hands, his gaze fixed.

Sonic rolled backwards, pushing his weight onto his shackled wrists. He spun around on his knees to see the black hedgehog lying on his side.

A bullet hole showed clearly in his head and dark blood began to pool across his face and onto the floor. The hedgehog's red eyes were fixed on Sonic.

It blinked.

Sonic breathed out in shock.

Tails dashed to Sonic, shoving his blaster back into his holster. "Sonic, are you all ri-"

The black hedgehog lunged out with one arm and smashed his fist into Tails' face.

Sonic lurched forward, fear striking through his eyes. "Tails!'

Tails choked in surprise, and the attacker rose, swinging his fist again with his Speed.

Sonic tried to half-lunge, half-roll to Tails, but it was already too late. The black hedgehog gave a series of blurred punches to Tails' face, three to his gut, and one blow to the back of his knees. Tails crumpled to the floor.

All in less than a second.

The hedgehog snatched the stunned fox by the head fur and ear, and thrust him back, away from Sonic.

"Stop!" Sonic snarled. Even though his ankles were shackled he still leapt at the hedgehog. He pushed back on his shackled hands, bringing both his sneakers up so that they kicked into the attacker's chest.

The black hedgehog staggered back, but not for long.

Sonic was defenseless.

The attacker's white gloved fist shot out and circled around Sonic's throat.

Sonic tried to push back, but the black hedgehog pulled him forward, his hold tightening around Sonic's neck. With a heave, he lifted Sonic from the ground.

Sonic grit his teeth, fighting for all he was worth. He gasped for breath, his body weight hinged on his neck, his airways constricting.

The hedgehog's red eyes locked on Sonic, his brow set in a determined glare. He tightened his fingers around Sonic's neck, pushing into his windpipe.

The terror of suffocation began to seize Sonic, and he tried to tear his wrists free from the shackles. He kicked out at the hedgehog, desperate.

With his free hand, the black hedgehog pulled out a multi-chamber black blaster, its frequency set to acid.

Sonic took one glance at the gun and screwed his eyes shut.

"You listen good to me right now, because it's the last thing you'll hear. If it hadn't been for you, I would have had everything. An innocent soul who meant everything to me never would have died," the hedgehog said. A hint of rage shook his words, but his tone was cold. "But you had the rings instead. When you die, I will gain my birthright at last." he hissed.

Sonic kept his eyes closed. He could barely concentrate on what the black hedgehog said. All his senses were closing in on each other. He struggled for air. Nothing. He needed to breathe. His head ached. His neck was going to snap. He needed to breathe—he needed to breathe-

"For Maria," came the sharp whisper.

The black hedgehog cocked the gun. He pressed the barrel beneath Sonic's chin.

And then the acid magazine ejected from the gun's chamber. With Tails' laser knife lodged in its side.

The acid spilled over the black hedgehog's body.


Heheehee, bet everyone knows who the black and red hedgehog is. Heads up, obviously, I've kept some of his canon background, but there's a huge part of it that's original too. So, don't think too canon with him. ;-)

If this canon character is one of your favorite Sonic characters-what are some specific details about him that make him your favorite? I might just keep/add them.

~Constance