Long time, no see! Get excited, folks, because the Sonic Movie is only a couple of weeks away! I am so ready to see the Blue Blur on the silver screen. In the meantime, enjoy this new chapter!
NOTE: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE SONIC CHARACTERS. ALL RIGHTS GO TO SEGA!
Chapter 6
Regardless of the importance or urgency of any project his colleagues back in Mobotropolis tasked him with, Charles "Chuck" Hedgehog would put down everything whenever his nephew needed him.
So when Sonic came into his workshop with a large gash on his forehead, Chuck dropped his wrench and focused all of his attention on the sniffling blue hedgehog. His four-year-old nephew whimpered as he was scooped up and gently seated on the workbench.
"Shhh… There, there, Sonny boy. This will make you feel better," Chuck murmured, gently dabbing a wet cloth over the bleeding gash. To his relief, it wasn't a deep wound that would require stitches. Cleaning it, however, was still quite painful for young Sonic as he flinched when his uncle started applying the disinfectant.
"Ow! Unk, it stings!" the little blue hedgehog cried out.
"I know, I know. But it'll only hurt for a lil' bit…" Chuck soothed him before applying the gauze bandage on the wound. "There we go. Just keep that bandage on and you'll be right as rain." He smiled warmly at his nephew.
"Okay…" Sonic's ears flattened against his head and he looked up at his uncle, emerald green eyes welling up with tears. "Uncle Chuck… do you think I'm bad?" he whispered, his words wiping the smile right off of his uncle's face.
Chuck shook his head. "No, Sonny boy. You're not bad. Now, who would tell you such a thing?" he asked, his blue eyes gazing worriedly at his nephew.
Sonic looked at his little red sneakers, swinging his legs back and forth. "Everybody. Mrs. Jessie at school, kids on the playground, people shopping at the stores. They keep making mean faces at me when I'm around. And they don't like it when I run…" he mumbled quietly, tears trickling down his cheeks.
Chuck sighed heavily. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't be around Sonic 24/7 to protect him from the villagers of Christmas Island and their cruelty. Honestly, he couldn't understand why they seemed to hate his dear nephew purely because of what he looked like and what he could do. Sure there weren't a lot of blue hedgehogs born with super-speed like his Sonny boy. But that didn't give them the right to hurt his nephew or make him feel like an outcast!
"You're not a bad person, Sonic." Gently, Chuck cupped his nephew's face in his hands. Once the little boy was focused on him, he said, "You're a good person with the purest heart I've ever seen. Everybody else… they just haven't gotten to know you well enough to see that." As he wiped away the tears.
That cheered up his nephew and Chuck felt the anger in his heart dissipate as Sonic smiled at him. "Now, Sonic, I need you to be honest with me, okay?" he looked at his nephew, who gave him a nod. "Can you tell me who hurt you?" he asked gently.
Biting his lip, Sonic nodded. "It was Lloyd from school," he answered.
"Lloyd Greav?" Chuck asked, getting an affirming nod from his nephew. It took all of the elder hedgehog's mental fortitude to not look upset in front of Sonic. The Greavs owned a little general store located near the village plaza. And their relationship with Chuck and Sonic was… difficult, to say the least.
"Lloyd threw a rock at me after I went to his Mommy and Daddy's store to buy candy…" Sonic told his uncle then frowned. "I said 'please' to Mr. and Mrs. Greav and gave them my money but they didn't give me any. They said bad kids don't get candy…"
Chuck had heard enough. Standing up, he helped his nephew off the workbench and grasped his hand. "Well, I'm not letting those bullies get away with all of this. Now, Sonny boy, we're going to the Greavs' general store so they can apologize to you. So stay close to me, all right?" he told his nephew firmly.
"Yes, Unk," Sonic replied, squeezing his uncle's hand. Chuck could see the fear in his nephew's eyes and took a few calming breaths. He wasn't going to lash out at the Greavs. Just give them a few stern words and firmly request them to apologize to his nephew.
But, as they left their house, Chuck made a mental note. When this was over, and Sonic was off adventuring around the island, he would march right over to the Greavs and give them a piece of his mind… and more than a few choice words.
A loud beeping brought Uncle Chuck out of his reminiscing. "Here we go…" He sighed, switching on his plane's radio. "Tails, the wind's starting to shift. Keep the Tornado close by and follow my instructions. Over!" he said to the small microphone attached to his earpiece.
"Copy that, Uncle Chuck!" Tails replied as he adjusted his goggles. The Tornado was flying about three miles behind Chuck's airplane, the Blue Typhoon, and both planes were about to enter a rough patch of air. Tightening his grip on the yoke, Tails alerted his passengers.
"Everyone, hold on!"
Sonic crouched down on the Tornado's wing, his hands gripping the metal. Down below, he could hear Amy and Knuckles' shouts as the winds began to buffet them and make the Tornado list to the left. Looking ahead, he saw the Blue Typhoon riding the wind currents and smiled. He knew his uncle would get his plane through this wind shear. Compared to the Tornado, the Blue Typhoon was larger and had the advantage of being a fully enclosed aircraft. Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Blaze, and Silver were riding with Uncle Chuck and they were in good hands.
"Sonic, how are you holding up?!" Tails yelled over the howling wind as he strained his ears to hear Uncle Chuck's instructions on how to fly out of the air currents.
"A-okay, buddy!" Sonic shouted, giving his little brother a thumbs up.
"Sheesh… With wild wind currents like this blowing around the island, I don't blame you and Uncle Chuck for not wanting to come back here. This is insane!" Knuckles grunted, his dreadlocks whipping around his face as the Tornado emerged from the current.
'It's not the wild weather here that makes me not want to come back, Knux…' thought Sonic, gritting his teeth as his hands started itching again.
"Sonic, be careful! You gotta hold on with both hands!" Amy cried out, seeing the Blue Blur scratch at his left hand with his right.
"Whoops! Sorry, Ames!" Sonic said quickly, his scowl quickly turning into a smile as he placed both hands back on the wing.
Inside the Blue Typhoon, Uncle Chuck breathed a sigh of relief when the alarms from the Blue Typhoon disappeared. It looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for now. "Blue Typhoon's made it to the other side. Status of the Tornado, over?" he asked.
Tails' cheery response of "We're okay, Uncle Chuck! Thanks for assisting me! Whew… I gotta tell you, I may be a pilot but those currents could challenge even the experts! Over!" sounded into his ears.
"Good work, Tails. But stay vigilant. We're nearing the island and that's when things start to get a little wild. I'll radio in again the second the winds change, over," Uncle Chuck replied, shutting off the radio then looking over his shoulder at his passengers. "Everyone all right?" he called out.
"We're fine, Uncle Chuck!" Silver said cheerfully, securely strapped into his seat. Then, he looked at Blaze, who was seated next to him, and gulped. "Although, would there be any chance that the Blue Typhoon has a fire extinguisher?" he asked.
Blaze had the armrests of her chair in a death grip, her claws poking out of her gloves and shredding the upholstery. Her seat was already beginning to smolder, the fire cat breathing heavily as the seconds ticked by. "I'm all right… I'm all right… Everything is fine… Everything is fine…" she breathed out, her eyes squeezed shut.
Smoke started rising from Blaze's chair and Silver quickly got out of his seat and floated around the Blue Typhoon in search of a fire extinguisher.
"DANGER. DANGER. FIRE HAZARD. MUST LOCATE AIRCRAFT SPRINKLER SYSTEM," said Omega, following Silver as the ivory hedgehog frantically looked around for anything that could subdue the inevitable fire Blaze was about to ignite.
"So you think Blue's hiding something about that island we're heading to?" Rouge asked, she and Shadow ignoring the potential disaster happening on the aisle opposite to theirs.
"Obviously. Did you see how tense he was?" Shadow glanced over at the pilot's cockpit section. Uncle Chuck was frantically telling Silver where the fire extinguisher was all while trying to keep Omega from hacking into the plane's systems and continue flying the plane. He had to admit that the older blue hedgehog's multitasking skills were incredible.
Shadow returned his attention to Rouge, the bat giving him a questioning look. "He was reluctant to take on this mission and even offered it to us. My guess is that Christmas Island holds bad memories for him," he told her, his eyes then drifting to gaze out the window.
For the first time ever, Shadow found himself worrying about Sonic. The blue hedgehog's reluctance to embark on this mission to Christmas Island to stop the Doctor was troubling. His sudden grouchiness raised even more red flags. Shadow could still feel the unease he had felt when Sonic told him and the rest of the group that their trip to the island would be an all-business type of situation. The warning to not interact with any of the locals just screamed 'I have bad memories tied to that island and I don't want to talk about it.'
"Bad memories…" Rouge's teal eyes widened. "You don't think he was bullied back there?" she asked, putting a gloved hand to her lips.
"Maybe," Shadow replied, shrugging. While he didn't say it out loud to Rouge, he sincerely hoped that he was wrong.
Given how kind and cheerful Sonic usually was, even to villains like Eggman, the thought of him being bullied as a kid…
It just seemed… unreal.
"Stay away from my children, y-you… abomination!"
Sonic flinched back as he cowered before an angry mother parrot. Behind her, two parrot fledglings stared at him with wide eyes.
"I-I just want to give them their ball back…" Five-year-old Sonic said, holding up a yellow and green rubber ball to the mother parrot. He'd been playing in the sandbox all by himself when the ball had bounced into the sandcastle he was making. For the past few minutes, he'd been trying to give the ball back to the two parrots but they kept running away from him.
And then their mother arrived and started yelling at him.
He had no idea what 'abomination' meant, but Sonic had a feeling that it meant 'bad.' His ears folded back and his knees started shaking. He didn't do anything wrong. He was just trying to give some kids their ball back. Why was their mom angry at him?
The other kids, who had kept their distance, were now crowded around him and the three birds. Sonic could barely hear their whispers and murmurs over the sound of his own heartbeat as he started to panic.
The mother parrot glared down at him, her brilliant yellow crest standing up, before swiping the ball from him. Turning her back to the young hedgehog, she ruffled her plumage and herded her children away from the playground. "Stay away from that blue hedgehog, kids. He's bad news," she said, not bothering to keep her voice down.
The two parrot fledglings looked back at Sonic, their beaks curved up in mean smiles.
"Freak," one parrot whisper-shouted to him.
"Weirdo," the other mouthed.
Sonic sniffed, furiously rubbing at his eyes. 'Big boys don't cry… Big boys don't cry…' he said to himself before hearing the other kids.
"Ha! That'll teach him!"
"Oh, look! The little blue freak's crying!"
"Crybaby!"
Sonic's spines bristled as he looked around him. The kids had surrounded him, caging him in. There was Lloyd Greav, the honey badger who had thrown a rock at him. Arthur Beariwick was there, too, along with Hughie Lizard, Elsie Pandara, Jayden Doggstar, and Karla Clawser. He whimpered and tried to leave but Hughie pushed him as he tried to break out.
"Where you goin' Freak?" Hughie taunted him.
Arthur snickered and swung his baseball bat at Sonic, landing a clean hit on the little hedgehog's stomach and sending him sprawling into the dirt. Sonic screamed and rolled away, avoiding another hit.
"The Freak wanted to be a good boy and give somebody their ball back," Lloyd taunted Sonic as he got up.
"He's not a good boy. He's a no-good blue weirdo!" Elsie sneered.
"I-I'm not a weirdo!" Sonic protested, tears welling up in his bright green eyes.
"You are a weirdo, Freak," Jayden drawled, a smug grin on his face.
Karla suddenly growled and lunged at Sonic, claws poised to strike. With a yelp, Sonic turned around and ran. He ran and ran, the tears streaming down his face, while the kids kept laughing.
"Go home, Freak!"
"You're not wanted here!"
'I don't mean to be a freak… I don't want to be a freak… I'm not a freak…' Sonic thought, choking on a sob as he kept running.
Sonic glared at the ground, still perched on the Tornado's wing. 'I can't believe I'm back… Oh, past self, I hope you can forgive me…' he thought before Tails' voice brought him out of his depressing thoughts.
"Sonic, come on."
Taking a deep breath, Sonic jumped down from the plane. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he shuddered. He felt like he was standing on cursed ground. Given his history with the island, he might as well have been. Suddenly, an icy dread filled Sonic's bones and his spines instinctively flexed up. Looking around, Sonic's eyes widened as he saw faint wisps of gray smoke and faintly glowing orbs of light floating about.
Christmas Island was harboring spirits. Lots of them.
"Sonic…"
The Blue Blur relaxed a bit when he felt his Uncle Chuck's hand on his right shoulder. Looking at his uncle, Sonic could see that he, too, was tense. While Uncle Chuck couldn't see them, he was sensitive enough to feel the presence of the spirits. "How many, Sonny boy?" the elder hedgehog whispered to him, his blue eyes darting around anxiously.
"Far too many to count, Unk… The whole island's infested…" Sonic murmured, a chill going up his spine. Uncle Chuck sucked in a breath and squeezed his nephew's hand. Looking back at his friends, Sonic noticed that they were too busy checking out the island's local flora and fauna to notice his inner turmoil.
When they had approached Christmas Island from the air, the first thing Amy, Knuckles, and Tails had seen was the ginormous pine tree located smack dab in the center of the island. Over the radio, Chuck had explained that the island was famous for its pine trees – many of which were shipped to different areas around the world to be used as Christmas trees. The island had one particularly tall pine tree growing in the center. It was dubbed "The Century Tree" and was believed to be a hundred years old. Every December, it was decorated with every islander contributing a special set of homemade ornaments and would be the center of every family's Christmas celebration on the island.
It wasn't the Christmas season yet but the sight of the 100-year-old pine tree was incredible to the rest of the team. The Tornado and the Blue Typhoon had landed on an old air cargo strip that was surrounded by more of Christmas Island's famous pine trees as well as several blackberry bushes. Flickies occasionally flew down to grab a few berries and the air smelled deliciously piney.
"Wow…" Silver breathed out, looking at all of the pine trees. "This place is beautiful!"
Blaze took in deep draughts of the pine-scented air, the color returning to her face.
"I wouldn't mind spending Christmas here," Rouge remarked, taking to the air to stretch her wings.
"All right. The Mayor should be here any minute," Tails announced to the team.
Sonic's ear flicked. "The mayor?" he repeated, confused.
"Yeah. She was the one who sent the distress signal. She's offered to take us to the village," Tails told him.
"She?" Uncle Chuck blinked.
"Hello! Is Tails Prower here?"
"Oh no…" Sonic groaned, spotting a lioness approaching them. Dressed in a white blouse, a navy blue blazer, light brown pencil skirt and high heels, the mayor of Christmas Island was an imposing figure. But when she got to the group and started greeting them, her bubbly laugh and soft pink eyes were a stark contrast to her claws and teeth.
Looking at the Tornado, Sonic thought of going there and hiding in the cockpit. But, just as he took one step back, the lioness spotted him.
"Maurice?"
There was a sharp intake of breath from Sonic as his friends all looked at him. He mustered all of his self-control to not snap back and offered the mayor a tight smile. "Hey, Ashley... Been a while," he forced out, aware that he could hear Knuckles and Silver snickering behind him.
The lioness shook hands with him, beaming. "Oh my gosh, it is you! It's been too long! So you're the famous Sonic the Hedgehog in the news? Oh, wow, I can't believe it! I didn't recognize you now that you're all grown up" she exclaimed.
"I find that hard to believe, considering that I was the only blue hedgehog born with super-speed living on this island," Sonic replied, pulling his hand away. His emerald green eyes bored into Ashley's light pink ones. "And I've been calling myself Sonic ever since we were kids. Did you forget?" he asked flatly.
Ashley's tail twitched and she blinked at Sonic, perturbed. "O-oh, yeah… Now I remember… Yes, you… you always kept telling everyone that Maurice wasn't a suitable name for you and that you preferred to go by that nickname of yours… How silly of me to forget…" she said, bubbliness all gone.
Sonic merely scoffed and folded his arms over his chest, looking away. For a brief second, the whole team thought he and Shadow had suddenly swapped minds.
Shadow, himself, was shocked at Sonic's attitude shift. He looked at Uncle Chuck, hoping for an explanation, but the elder hedgehog was also looking at Ashley with disdain.
Looking at the rest of the team, Ashley coughed and mumbled, "Well, I best take you all to the village so you can begin investigations…" before taking the lead and started leading the group away from the airstrip.
Sonic felt a light tap on the shoulder. Uncle Chuck gave him a gentle smile and mouthed, "Breathe," making him relax as he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Same old Ashley…" muttered Sonic, glaring at the lioness' back.
"She must have taken over when her father retired," Uncle Chuck guessed.
"Great. Nepotism." Sonic grimaced.
Then he heard Knuckles laughing.
"Maurice?" The echidna could hardly breathe as he laughed and pointed at his spiky blue friend. "Y-your name… is… Maurice?" he wheezed out.
Rolling his eyes, Sonic started following Ashley to the village. "Come on, guys. Egghead's scheme isn't gonna crack itself," he said curtly.
Knuckles merely grinned. "Whatever you say… Maurice," he snickered, prompting Rouge to slap him upside on the head.
"You have no sense of tact, Big Red," the bat sighed, motioning to the rest of the group to follow.
"So Sonic isn't his real name?" Silver asked Uncle Chuck, the elder hedgehog chuckling.
"Heaven knows why his parents decided to call him that. But my boy's always felt like that name didn't suit him. Came up with the name 'Sonic' himself. Once he started calling himself that, there was no going back. I didn't even question him and just went along with it," Uncle Chuck replied.
Tails felt his namesakes twist up as they walked. Sonic kept ahead of the group, his arms remaining crossed. He could see his big brother's spines bristling and he couldn't help but worry. "Uncle Chuck, what's going on?" he asked. When the elder hedgehog raised his eyebrow, he decided to elaborate. "You and Sonic have been on edge ever since we left. Now that we're on the island, Sonic looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here," he said as his tails twisted themselves up.
"SONIC'S STRESS LEVELS ARE UP BY NINETY PERCENT," Omega added, scanning the blue hedgehog.
"The island seems peaceful. Is there something on the island that's stressing him out?" Amy wondered out loud.
Uncle Chuck sighed as the rest of the team all looked to him for an explanation. "Sonic and I left Christmas Island for a reason. That's all I want to say about it," he said quietly, looking down at the ground.
Even more confused, Amy, Blaze, Knuckles, Omega, Rouge, Shadow, Silver, and Tails stayed quiet as they continued walking.
Then Blaze spoke up. "Are there… bad memories tied to this place?" she asked Uncle Chuck, startling when Sonic suddenly answered.
"There are." The Blue Blur looked back at the lavender feline, his green eyes cold. "Far too many," he said emotionlessly before focusing his attention back on Ashley as she led them to the village, not noticing the troubled and bewildered expressions on his friends' faces.
As you can see, Uncle Chuck's also had a hard life on Christmas Island. But the big beef he and Sonic have with Christmas Island… that's still a mystery to the team.
And, yes, in this story, Sonic's birth name is Maurice.
The next chapter's going to include another flashback that will answer one big question about Sonic – why he is afraid of water.
Until then, read and review ;)
-GuardianDragon98
