Chapter 2: Project Zero
"I'm just saying, if I wanted to, I could totally lift Thor's hammer."
"Knuckles, they said you have to be worthy in order to lift the hammer." It was a normal day on Angel Island, and a perfect day for Sonic and Knuckles to do their usual banter.
"And who's to say I'm not worthy! I'm more worthy than you are! I'm strong, I've got a strong mind, I've got the looks of a worthy warrior! There isn't anything else!" Sonic couldn't help but sigh.
"Strong body? Yes, but a strong mind? Not so much. You and Tails gotta stop watching those Marvel movies." Before Knuckles could come up with a comeback, there was a loud crash near the forest. It was loud enough that it shook the whole island. Sonic and Knuckles looked to where the noises were coming from and saw that the animals were running out of the forest in fear Already guessing to what the problem may be, the boys ran to the forest. Sonic got there first, Knuckles not too far behind. Sonic saw that it was Eggman with a new robot, (A/N: I'll leave it up to your imagination on what type it could be.) mostly the same as any other robot, big but not too big. Knuckles groaned in annoyance when he saw Eggman.
"I take a break for one second and Eggman things it's okay to attack the island."
"Some things never change I suppose." Sonic responded before he called out to Eggman, "Hey Egghead! Haven't had enough!? I swear I just beat you a few days ago!" Eggman just chuckles his evil chuckle.
"That was just pure luck hedgehog! Now I've come back with a new weapon, one that I know will take you to the ground, permanently!" Sonic looked at the robot that Eggman was riding in and scoffed.
"No offense, but that robot looks way to slow and way too small to even be considered a threat." Eggman brushed off the insults and continued to grin.
"Oh, I'm not using this robot to defeat you, you blue rat. This robot is just my front row seat when I see my other new creation take you down. Step forward…Project Zero." From behind the robot stepped out a small, hooded figure. You couldn't see their face since the hood they were wearing blocked their face. Sonic looked at them for a second before looking at Eggman.
"Okay? This one is even smaller than your robot. How is this a threat? Sorry to say Eggman, but you're losing your touch."
"That's where you're wrong, Sonic. Zero, show them what you're made of!" Eggman shouted. Before anyone could blink, Zero dashed to the side, disappearing into the trees and bushes. Sonic and Knuckles took a fighting stance back-to-back as Eggman commanded his robot to get the out of the way.
"Where did it go?" Knuckles asked, looking around frantically.
"I didn't see, it went too fast," Sonic never thought he would admit that something could be that fast that even he couldn't see it, he was actually impressed. He suddenly heard a rustle beside him.
"Look out!" Sonic pushed Knuckles out of the way as soon as something cold was shot towards them. When they got up, they looked at where the frigid blast hit and saw the tree that had cold dust on it.
"Is that…Snow?" Knuckles questioned. Before Sonic could confirm it, Project Zero stepped out of the bushes. Their hands conjuring up more snow power before making it disappear. Then they rubbed their hands together before clapping them together, igniting fire power on their hands, covering them in a bright red-orange glow that was hot to the touch.
"Sonic, I'm gonna let you manage this one, I'll go make sure Eggman doesn't take the master emerald." Knuckles said before running off. Sonic rolled his eyes.
"Sure, leave me with the one that can make fire." Sonic took a running start in the other direction to see if he could lose Zero. When he looked behind him, he didn't see them. He thought he lost them, but when he looked forward, he saw Zero out of the corner of his eyes, they had somehow managed to catch up to him.
"So, they can run fast? Fine, I'll take it up a notch." He went a little faster than his normal speed. When he looked behind him again, he saw that Zero was having a little trouble keeping up.
"Ah, that must be their limit." Sonic thought, then Zero did something that shocked him. Zero turned off their fire power and conjured up more snow, only except this time, they jumped up in the air and shot it towards the ground. The snow hardened into ice and when they touched it with their feet, they immediately started skating across the ice. Any ice they shoot from their hands was aimed towards the ground and creates more ice to skate on.
"Okay…I might be at a disadvantage here." Sonic thought. He was right, because Zero managed to get ahead of him. They jumped off the ice and planted their hands on the ground. They brought their hands up and the next thing Sonic knew, a big wall made up of the earth's soil blocked his path. He tried to go the other way, but another wall blocked his path also. With no where to run, he tried to think of another way to take Zero down.
"Maybe I can use their power against them." With that idea in mind, Sonic took a fighting stance as Zero dropped the walls. They stared at each other for a few minutes, as if daring the other to make the first move. Zero gathered water in their hands from a pond that they ran to and blasted it towards Sonic, who dodged it in time. Knowing that water was his weakness, he had to be careful not to get blasted with it. Zero kept blasting Sonic with water beams and Sonic just kept running in circles around them, dodging every water attack as fast as he could, but with Zero's speed and accuracy, it proved to be a little big of a challenge. However, the last water blast that Zero gave didn't even reach Sonic this time. Zero tried to conjure up another water ball, but the water wouldn't cooperate with their demands. Zero was confused until they were hit with realization on how tired they were. They were panting heavily and felt weak all over. Then they heard a beeping. Zero looked at both their wrists where they were wearing their power rings and saw that the blue lines across the middle of them were now a dark blue. Their power had run out and they were now too weak to keep fighting.
"Looks like your magic has run out." Zero heard Sonic say, but before they could react, they were kicked in the stomach where Sonic side kicked them, and they slammed into a tree. Zero shouted in pain as they fell to the ground. The hood they were wearing came off, revealing their identity. Sonic got a closer look and froze. Zero…wasn't a robot. They were a hedgehog…a female hedgehog…a small female hedgehog who looked too young to be fighting. She had brown fur with white bangs in the front that almost covered her eyes, but you could still see that she had emerald, green eyes, just like Sonic's.
"Oh chaos…I just kicked a kid." Just the thought alone was enough to make Sonic's stomach twist. Zero winced as she tried to get up, to no avail. Sonic tried to step towards her to try and help her, but she only whimpered and tried to make herself smaller.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you anymore, okay?" Zero looked at the hedgehog in front of her. No one has ever spoked to her in a kind voice before. Before she could speak, she heard a voice scream out. When she looked, she saw her creator being chased by a red echidna. When her creator saw her, he shouted.
"Zero! Why are you on the floor!? You were supposed to be defeating Sonic!"
"Father, I'm sorry! But I ran out of power!" Zero tried to explain, but Eggman just brushed her off.
"This is why we do non-stop training! Also, why are there tears running down your face!? You know you're not supposed to be showing emotions! I told you that a million times!" Zero felt her face and felt hot tears going down her cheeks.
"But father-." Zero was cut off.
"Feelings are irrelevant! You are meant to serve me as a slave and as a weapon! Your feelings don't matter! YOU don't matter!" Zero winced at every single word Eggman threw at her. "I should have left that shock collar on you if I knew you were gonna be a disappointment. You've become too sentient." He hissed. Zero shivered at the thought of having the shock collar around her neck again.
"Hey! Back off Egghead, she's just a kid!" Zero looked at Sonic in shock. No one has ever stood up for her before.
"She's not a kid, she's a weapon! She's practically a robot, and a weak one at that!" Eggman commanded his robot to walk away.
"Father, wait! What about me!?" Zero called out, panicking. Her creator didn't even look at her as he called out.
"Come back when you learn to not be a failure!" Next thing Zero knew, Eggman was gone! He left her behind! Again!
"He promised me he wouldn't this time." She thought. Her thoughts were interrupted when she was suddenly picked up by the scruff of her neck. She came face to face with the red echidna who was glaring at her.
"Alright kid, what's the big idea?" Knuckles asked menacingly. At first, Zero said nothing. Then her bottom lip started to tremble, and more tears started to drip down her face.
"Don't cry, don't cry. Please don't cry." Zero kept telling herself in her head. The exhaustion, the pain, and the betrayal all became too much for her. She couldn't take it anymore and just started bawling, causing bigger tears to come out of her eyes. Knuckles started to panic as he tried to calm her down.
"Knuckles, put her down!" Sonic exclaimed.
"But she attacked us first!"
"It doesn't matter! She's still a kid!" Sonic argued. Knuckles placed Zero back on the ground gently as she continued to sob. Sonic came forward and kneeled to her level.
"Hey, it's okay kid. Please don't cry." He placed a gentle hand on her head and started on gently scratch her quills. Zero flinched as his hand contacted with her head but she soon started to relax. The feeling of his hand on her quills was so gentle and…very calming. Her sobs soon turned into hiccups before they became small sniffles. Her father never treated her like this.
"There you go. Now, your name is Zero, correct?" Sonic asked. Zero knew she shouldn't be talking to the enemy; her father would be furious! But the blue hedgehog was giving her such a sweet smile that she felt compelled to speak, plus her father was not around.
"Y-yes. My name is Project Zero, Zero for short."
"Well Zero, my name is Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog. This is Knuckles, he may look and seem mean at first, but once you get to know him, he's actually a big softie." Knuckles scoffed at being referred to as a softie, but Sonic ignored him.
"So Zero, you look like you still have a few scratches from our fight, and I did kick you pretty hard. How about you come with me back to my home and we can get you fixed up? I promise we won't hurt you." He reached out a hand for Zero to take. Zero hesitated for a moment. She looked at Sonic and saw nothing but honesty in those emerald eyes that matched hers. There was something about this hedgehog that Zero felt like she could trust. She slowly took Sonic's hand as he pulled her to her feet. Nothing else was said between the three as Sonic, Knuckles and Zero all left to leave the island.
A/N: This took me a while to type up so I think I managed to make the second chapter a lot longer than the first one. I decided to give my OC all the elemental powers I could think of. Kinda like the Avatar.