Friend or Foe
Parts 1 and 2 out of 5
Erin's First Sonic Fan-fiction Mini-Series
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friend Or Foe? (Part 1)
A Sonic the Hedgehog Fanfiction story
BY: Erin Lindsey
For all legal information and other stuff like that, see bottom of this page!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction:
Rain pelted the ground of the tropical Floating Isalnd. The blades of
green grass trembled in the moonlight as the thunder rolled across the
endless dark nothingness of the sky. The guardian of this beautiful and
mysterious island and the keeper of the green Chaos Emerald is Knuckles the
echidna. Descendant of many before him he was destined to have this
responsibility. Having a complex past and an even more perplexing future he
should be glad to rest from his duty. He sat restlessly underneath a huge
crimson mushroom. He tried to relax and sleep but it worried him when it was
so quiet on the island. The evil dictator of Mobius, Dr. Ivo Robotnik had
been staying amazingly quiet for the last couple of weeks. What was he
brewing in that fat pointy head of his? Knuckles thought. He sighed deeply.
He would try and leave the freedom fighting to Sonic the Hedgehog and
Princess Sally from now on. Of course he had other foes to worry about also...
He tried to clear his head of his enemies. After his encounter with the Dark
Legion and all, he suffered with quite a large dose of mental fatigue. He
turned his mind to other matters.
The Chaotix team were all asleep in or under a great willow tree
trying to stay dry from the on going storm. Knuckles smiled to himself.
They all had greatly different personalities, and yet could still work
together as a team successfully. Espio the chameleon was probably the most
serious one of them all. He was smart and quick. He was a great secret
weapon with his ability to camouflage into his surroundings. This didn't
show as he slept upside down on the underside of a huge limb extending from
the willow with his purple tail curled tightly around it. Knuckles wondered
how he slept that way without all the blood rushing to his head. Vector the
crocodile, on the other hand was a bit of a goof off. He was always listening
to his headphones. In fact, he almost never took them off. He had a certain
loyalty to his friends though. Vector slumbered with his back against the
gigantic tree trunk. Knuckles could hear music softly pouring from the
headset he wore on whatever was a crocodile's ears. It was a wonder Vector
wasn't deaf he played those things so loud as to still be able to hear it's
music while a thunder storm was going on. He had his long green legs propped
up on a large red rock. Knuckles examined the rock more closely. He hadn't
remembered there being a rock there before. The rock had two small yellow
ears and was slowly heaving up and down under the soles of Vector's sneakers.
It wasn't a rock, Knuckles realized. It was Mighty the armadillo. He was
snoring obnoxiously. Mighty reminded Knuckles mostly of Sonic the Hedgehog.
He was egotistical and was always looking for a fight. Yet, he was heroic and
incredibly strong, probably the next in line as leader of the Chaotix, if
Knuckles wasn't there. Charmy Bee was another story. He was tranquil and
practical. He would rather reason with an enemy than fight. But, if a fight
was necessary he could pack an incredible punch for his limited size. Charmy
was peacefully buzzing inside a giant white flower blossom that was growing
on a vine that twisted around the thick base of the willow and up into it's
higher extensions.
Knuckles yawned. It wasn't because he was sleepy, but because he was
extremely bored. He looked up at the dark, black clouds above the Floating
Island. They were churning violently in the torrent of wind. There was a
low rumble of thunder and it starting pouring as hard as ever now. Suddenly
Knuckles jumped as a bolt of lightning hit the horizon accompanied by a loud
cannonade of thunder. Espio awoke startled by the clash. He let go of the
branch he was holding onto and swung back and forth from his tail. He
rocked himself back to sleep instantly. Mighty rolled over and out from under
Vector's feet. Vector didn't wake up, but mumbled something in his sleep.
"Hmmm? Wha?... No Mah... five more minutes... hmmmg."
Knuckles stood up. It was his duty to insure the safety of all the
Mobians that dwelt on the Floating Island. He decided to check out where the
lightning hit. Besides, it's not like he had anything else to do on this
sleepless night. He began running in the direction of the smoke that had
begun to billow from the horizon. He was just about to leap into the air and
take off when blast of thunder reminded him of the turbulent skies. He
thought it better to walk there instead.
* * * *
Chapter 1: A Wildcat's Words
Meanwhile elsewhere on the Floating Island...
A dark figure appeared out of the jungle and strode up to the
smoking tree.
"Dammit. The storm turned my tree to toast!" The wildcat whined as he
approached the burnt and fallen tree.
The cat was mostly dark brown color, except for his chest and stomach,
hands, whiskers, and tip of his long thin tail, which were cream white. He
had large ears and bright green eyes that flashed in the darkness. On the
tip of his wolf-like nose was a pair of black sunglasses. These, a purple
belt around his waist, and orange and red tennis shoes were the only clothes
he wore. The cat was younger than he looked. He was only a teenager, but
was large for his age. His two front canine teeth stuck out of his mouth,
giving him a menacing look.
The rain had already put out the flames that had engulfed the tree
earlier. The cat had just returned from a midnight fishing trip. He was
unsuccessful. How the heck was he supposed to remember no fish lived on
the Floating Island? He hadn't been there for ten years. It had took most of
his strength to hijack a hover craft from the western nomads of Mobius, and
he had been counting on a solid food supply when he arrived on the island. He
couldn't get off the small continent because he had foolishly hurled the
craft over the edge so no one would know he had came. He was wet, hungry,
and very tired. Tonight had been a long night. Besides, this place brought
back a lot of memories. Mostly bad ones. The only reason he had came here in
the first place was to hide. All he wanted was sleep. He surveyed his crispy
x-tree as the last fumes disappeared in the night sky. He extended a paw
and gently touched it.
"OW!" He yelped jerking his hand away.
It was still hot. He stuck his burnt finger in his mouth.
He mumbled some obscene words at the tree.
"Guess I'll have'ta sleep somewhere else." He muttered.
He trotted over to a slightly smaller tree. It had no low branches to climb
on. All the thick sturdy limbs were high at the top. This didn't bother him.
The feline crouched down for a couple of seconds, aiming. Then, with a burst
of sudden energy, he leapt high into the air. His claws spread out from his
finger tips and dug into the thick bark of the tree. He climbed slowly up
the mid-section of the sapling examining the branches on both sides of him.
"Aha! Here we go...."
He saw a large branch extending from the tree. He grabbed onto it tightly
with his paw and swung himself on top of the limb.
"Ahh." The feline sighed.
He settled himself on the branch, put his glasses in a small case on the
side of his belt, then put his arms behind his head and slowly closed his
large green eyes. Suddenly he heard a twig snap. Someone was walking
around beneath the canopy. He twisted his ears backwards and let out a low,
quiet snarl. The tip of his tail twitched uncontrollably. It was probably
just some lost, and helpless creature fooling around he realized. He
relaxed and tried to ignore it.
Beneath the tree-tops Knuckles patrolled the ground. He was not lost
and was defintely not helpless. He inspected the fallen tree.
"Hmmm...I hope no one was hurt...." He mumbled to himself.
The echidna sighed. This wasn't very exciting. He craved action. Knuckles
kicked a small rock. It bounced a couple of feet and then stopped. He walked
up to it and kicked it again, harder this time, up into the air. While the
rock was in the air he turned and kicked it with his other leg, sending it
ricocheting off the trees. Then he held out his hand and caught the pebble in
mid-air.
"Hmmph. Pretty good." He complimented himself. He dropped it and
started punching out in the air. "Hi-ya!" He yelled loudly.
The wildcat opened his eyes and peered down at the noisy red animal below. He
growled. Knuckles didn't seem to notice and continued fighting his shadow. He
wound up his fist then POW! He punched a tree as hard as he could.
Unfortunately, this just happened to be the same tree that the angry feline
was trying to sleep in.
"Ahhhhgh!!!" The cat screamed as the tree shook from the force of
Knuckles' blow.
Knuckles looked up in surprise, "What the?...."
The wildcat lost his footing and tumbled out of the tree,"Whoa!"
Knuckles quickly pulled his fist out of the tree and darted out of the way
and into a rose bush. The cat nimbly twisted his body in the air and landed
on all fours. The wildcat was mad. Really mad. He had not had a good day and
tonight was not the time to mess with him.
"Whats up wit' 'dat punk?!" He said angrily approaching the shrubbery
Knuckles was struggling to get out of. Knuckles freed himself and crawled out of the briars.
"Don't cha Know that people are tryin' to sleep here?!"
Knuckles squinted to see the mad tree-dweller in the darkness. He had never
seen this animal before. Atleast thats what he thought. He was a brownish
color and had glowing green eyes. He also noticed the cat was pretty big.
Bigger than he was.
"Sorry, uh who...?" He said calmly.
"Sorry?!" The cat spat enraged, "Is that all you can say punk!?"
Knuckles tried to explain but the he ignored the echidna and swatted him
across the side of the face.
"Arrgh!" Knuckles winced. He ran his hand over his cheek then looked
at his palm. Blood. The crazy cat had scratched him! This guy had some
attitude. He didn't know who he was toying with.
"Allright! That's it!" Knuckles yelled and lunged at the wildcat.
The cat was surprised at the echidna's strength and fell to the ground.
"Oof!" He grunted as the wind got knocked out of him.
He stumbled back to him feet, but Knuckles was ready, and punched him in the
face. The cat backed away holding his hand to his head. His nose was bleeding,
and it wasn't from the altitude. He attacked and threw Knuckles to the floor
with one swift movement of his arm.
"Owwwww." Knuckles groaned feeling pain surge though his
back.Before Knuckles could recover, the cat caught him by the
throat and pinned him to the ground.
"Not so tough are 'ya now, eh punk?" The cat mocked
smiling evilly.He tighten his grip around the echidna's neck.
Knuckles gulped for air, and decided he had better do something quick before
this lunatic choked him to death. He flipped the cat and himself over. They
rolled backward though some plants, then the ground dissapeared beneath them,
and went into a free fall.
* * * *
Chapter 2: It's Raining Cats and Echidnas
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The feline and echidna screamed as they continued to
fall off the Floating Island.
Knuckles had not noticed how close to the perimeter they had been. Now it was
too late. Fortunately the side of the island was rocky. Knuckles struggled to
grab hold of one of the rocks jutting out. He gripped it and grabbed the
cat's hand as he sailed past.
"Y-you saved me?" The cat stuttered, surprised at his combatant.
"I'm not going to have someone on 'my island' perish because of me!"
Knuckles answered trying to pull himself up to the edge.
"Your island?" The cat asked, "That means your the guardian! Y-your
n-n-Knuckles the echidna, ain't you?!"
"How do you know my name?" Knuckles asked shocked.
The wildcat just stared back up at him with frightened eyes. Knuckles studied
the cat's face. Knuckles realized why.
"C-clawz?! What the hell are you doing here!!" He yelled.
"I'll explain later!! Get me outta here!!!" He yelled back, looking
over his shoulder at the forest far below. Knuckles pulled himself back onto
the surface of the island. Suddenly their hands slipped a bit.
"KNUCKLES!!!" Clawz screamed.
"Hold on! I think I can pull you up!" Knuckes grunted as he tried to heave
his old friend over to the edge. The feline's hand slipped farther from his
grip.
"Ahhhhhh! Ahh! Ahhhh! I can't hold on!" He screamed.
"Clawz! Don't let go!" Knuckles said starting to panic.
But,the wildcat was too heavy for him. Suddenly the two hands parted. Clawz
shrieked as he started plummeting down to his doom.
"NO! CLAWZ! Clawz! clawz...." Knuckles moaned.
His voice seemed to trail of in the rolling thunder and falling rain. Out of
the thousands of raindrops that fell toward the ground, one was a single tear.
In the forest below...
The young fox Miles Prower, otherwise known as Tails, trembled
beneath his covers. His hut was one of many that filled the tiny hidden
village of Knothole. Knothole was actually a secret base, were the rebels
known as the Freedom Fighters controlled their attacks on the evil ruler, Dr.
Robotnik's capital, Robotropolis. But Tails was not trembling in fear of the
self-appointed dictator, he was more afraid of the on-going thunder-storm at
this moment. He hated storms. He thought of going and sleeping with his
friend, and idol, Sonic the hedgehog like he did when he was younger.
No, that would just prove he was still a little kid, he thought.
Tails didn't want that. He wanted to be treated like an adult. Still, he was
afraid. Thunder clashed above.
"Eepp!" Tails whimpered and hid underneath his quilt.
"aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAhhhhhHHHHHHHH!!"
Tails suddenly heard a voice outside. It seemed to be getting louder, as if
it was falling from the sky.......
"Ack!Omph!aggrgh!"
The voice came from the forest beside Tails' hut now.
"Ohhhhh..." It moaned.
Someone was hurt in the forest, Tails realized sitting up straight in his bed.
"I gotta go get Sonic!" Tails told himself. Tails got out of bed and
quickly put on his sneakers. He opened his door and raced out into the rain
toward Sonic the Hedgehog's cabin.
Inside his hut, Sonic was fast asleep. Tails knocked on the door.
"Sonic?" Tails said opening it and coming inside. "Sonic?...Sonnniicc?
SONIC! WAKE UP!" Tails yelled trying to awaken his compadre.
"Huh? Wha...Tails?...What time is it?" Sonic woke up and looked
over at a clock on his bedside table. 2:00 A.M. flashed on it's screen.
"Sonic! I heard something in the woods! I think somebody's hurt out there!"
Tails ignored him and blurted out his story.
Sonic sighed and looked drowsily at his fox friend. "Tails....it was a bad
dream. Now go back to bed." He mumbled and rolled over so his quill-covered
back was facing Tails.
"No, Sonic! I wasn't dreaming! C'mon, I'll prove it!" Tails grabbed
Sonic's wrist and pulled him out of bed.
* * * *
Chapter 3: A Walk in the Woods
Minutes later...
"Okay, little buddy, where did the sound come from?" Sonic said,
sounding annoyed.
"Right over there!" Tails pointed at the forest behind his hut. "And,
Sonic, don't call me that." He added and started walking toward the brush.
"Yeah, whatever." Sonic muttered. Sonic followed close behind him.
All of a sudden Tails stopped dead in his tracks. Sonic bumped into his back.
"Hey, what's up?" He asked him.
Tails stayed silent but pointed to a tree about a yard in front of them.
Sonic examined it. He looked up at it's branches.
"Holy CHAOS!" Sonic yipped. "Theres someone up there!!"
Sonic saw a mangled body among the branches. A drop of blood fell from the
tree and splashed into a puddle.
Sonic and Tails stood there for a silent for a moment, in total
horror. Sonic snapped out of it.
"Tails! Quick go get Bunnie, Sally, and 'Twan!" He ordered.
Tails looked shocked for a second, then turned and flew back to Knothole.
The kid was right, Sonic thought. Maybe I should treat him more seriously.
"Ohhhhhh..."
Sonic jumped startled. The figure in the tree had tree moaned.
"He's still alive!" Sonic gasped, "Oh man...."
Sonic approached the tree and started to climb it.
"Tails! What is this all about?" Piped Princess Sally who was
pursuing the two-tailed fox. She stopped to take a breath and tighten her
pink bathrobe.
"Yah, Sugah, what did y'all git us up in tha middle of the night fo'?"
Bunnie Rabbot, the half roboticizied rabbit asked. She was only half awake,
and still had rollers up in her long ears.
"I'll explain later, we have to hurry!" Tails led the trio into the
Great Forest. Bunnie shrugged and turned to Antonie, who was the only one
fully dressed in uniform. He just shook his head and began following Tails
again. Bunnie and the Princess trailed behind them.
"Sacre Bleu!" Antonie exclaimed as they came to the clearing.
"Lordy! What in tha who-ha happened?!" Bunnie screamed.
Sonic was now descending the tree with the beaten body in his arms.
"Sonic!" Sally yelled and ran to him.
He was now out of the tree and was laying the body on the forest floor.
"Help, he's heavy....," Was all that Sonic said.
Antonie stepped up and kneeled down beside Sonic and helped him.
"My, oh my..." Bunnie mumbled.
"He iz bleedings." Antonie said uneasily.
"No, duh Ant'." Sonic grunted as they picked the large cat's body
back up.
"Easy now... easy..." Sally instructed as they started to slowly walk
back to the village.
* * * *
Friend or Foe? (Part 2)
By: Erin Lindsey
This part of the story is rated PG for only a small bit of violence and confusing
conversations. For all legal information and other such nonsense like that,
see the bottom of this story.
Chapter 4 : Wake Up Call
It was a beautiful spring morning in the Great Forest. The only
sounds were the rippling of the stream, chriping of the small birds, and
clicking of the crickets in the early dawn sun. None of the residents of the
small, secrective village of Knothole had awakened yet. Everyone was still
asleep in their tiny huts. Well, almost everyone.
Sonic the Hedgehog stood on the steps in front of his hut. Sonic
looked to his left and then to his right. He realized that none of his
friends were awake yet. He didn't usually wake up this early either, but
the incident the night before had left him restless. Sonic thought for a
second, then re-entered his domocile. After a few short moments, he emerged
again carrying a large red and white electric guitar. With a evil smirk on
his face, the hedgehog twisted a small knob on the side of the instrument.
He turned the knob marked 'VOLUME' to it's full extent. He dramatically drew
his hand up in the air, and then in a super-sonic motion, he strummed the
strings as hard as he could.
The loud noise of the guitar echoed throughout the small village,
almost making the ground tremble with the intensive amount of base.
"WAKE UP!" Sonic screamed, but his voice did barely penetrate the
echoing of the guitar.
Inside her own hut, Princess Sally Acorn snapped awake. She sat
straight up in her bed. As soon as the ringing in her ears faded, she threw
on her blue vest and stormed out the door.
"SONIC!" She screamed.
She searched the village with her eyes, but Sonic had already fled the scene.
She saw Bunnie and Antonie come out of their huts. Bunnie was yawning loudly,
and Antonie was still trying to button the last button on the collar of his
uniform. When they saw Sally they both ran over to her acting pretty upset.
"Look here Sally-girl, why don't y'all tell that there boyfriend of
yours to keep it down a bit!" Bunnie said to her.
"Boyfriend? Right now that hedgehog doesn't even qualify as a friend!"
Sally snapped.
"Oui, my princess. I have been just been getting to sleepings when
zat fuelish 'edge 'og is to be waking me up." Antonie said still stuggling
with his collar. Bunnie reached over and buttoned it finally with a quick
snap.
"Merci, Bunnie." He said sheepishly.
"You'r welcome, Sugah."
Sally sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Where did he go any way?" She asked.
"I think he is going that-a-way." Antonie answered and pointed toward
the Freedom Fighter's mess hall.
"To the kitchen?" Sally asked.
Antonie nodded.
"Makes sense." Bunnie said crossing her arms. They all
started to trudge in that direction.
* * * *
"Hummm de dum de doo...." Sonic hummed as he made himself breakfast.
He looked into the oven to see if they were done yet.
"Mmmmm...." He sighed as he took the plate of about a dozen hot dogs
out and spooned a redish concauction from a pot on the stove onto them.
Just then, Princess Sally, Bunnie, and Antonie plowed through the
double doors.
"Hi, guys. I was wondering when you were gonna wake up." Sonic said
casually, and stuffed a chilli dog in his mouth. "Want some breakfast?" He
mumbled.
"No, we don't want breakfast......gross. Chilli dogs for breakfast?
Thats disgusting." Sally said eyeing him.
"Is zat ze only thing he is ever eating?" Antonie whispered to Bunnie.
She ignored him.
"Sugah-hog, why in the who-ha did y'all wake us up for?" Bunnie spat
at Sonic, "I need mah beauty sleep!"
"Who me?" Sonic asked innocently, "Are you reffering to me Miss
Rabbot?"
"Either you or butterfly with an electric guitar...." Sally said
sarcastically. Sonic slid his guitar further under the table with his shoe.
A young orange fox with two tails walked into the room.
"Hiya, Tails." Sonic said trying to change the subject.
"Hi, Sonic, Aunt Sally, Aunt Bunnie......." Tails answered.
Antonie cleared his throught.
"Oh, Hi Antwan. I didn't notice you were here." Tails apologized.
Antonie rolled his eyes, and Sonic tried to keep from laughing.
"Hey! Chilli dogs! I knew I smelled something cooking." Tails piped
seeing the plate on the table.
"Thats m'boy." Sonic said and handed him one.
"No way." Sally said pushing the hot dog away from Tails, "You'r
going to have some oatmeal."
"Awww, Aunt Sally...." Tails whined.
"If you eat chilli dogs for breakfast, you might turn out like Sonic.
And none of us want that, do we?" She argued and handed the fox a bowl.
"Ha, ha. Verrry funny Princess." Sonic muttered and ate another
chilli dog.
"Guys! You better come quick!" Rotor the walrus shouted to the group
as he rushed into the kitchen.
"Whats up Rote?" Sonic quizzed him.
"Well it's about our visitor.... he's not doing too well..." Rotor
said catching his breath.
"Oh no! I totally forgot about him. Did he wake up?" Sally asked,
concerned.
"Yeah. He's in hysterics!" Rotor answered.
All eyes turned to Sonic and gave him a cold stare.
"Oops..." Sonic mumbled realizing his prank had backfired.
"Hmph!" Sally snorted, "Maybe we can help. C'mon lets go!" Then she
ran out of the mess hall and toward the imfermary.
"Right behind yah Sally-girl!" Bunnie yelled as she darted after the
princess.
"Wait for moui!" Antonie followed them.
Sonic looked at the plate of chilli dogs then at the door. "C'mon Tails!
Let's juice!" He decided.
"All right!" Tails said and grabbed the hedgehog around the neck.
They sped off after their fellow freedom fighters.
Rotor was left all alone in the kitchen. "Ohhhh... chilli dogs!" He said
picking up the plate.
* * * *
"Is he still asleep?"
"Yah... he usually gets up so early."
"Maybe he stayed up late."
"Wake him up."
"What? No, you wake him up."
"I'm not gonna do it. He'll get mad."
"Make Charmy do it."
"Huh? Me? No way. He'll wack me off the entire island!"
"Well, I'm not gonna do it." Atleast four voices started to argue.
Knuckles opened one eye. They seemed to be totally oblivious of the fact that
he had woke up by himself and continued to quarrel. The armadillo took a
swing at the crocodile who quickly ducked. The chameleon got hit in the face
instead. The bee burst into laughter.
Knuckles decided to break the fight up before it got ugly. "Nobody
has to wake me up." He said standing up.
They all froze. "Oh, good morning Knux." Said Espio, and let go of
Mighty's neck.
"Morning." He said, brushing his dredlocks out of his eyes.
"Owch, man! What happened to yo face?" Vector asked.
"Wow, it looks like you had a close encounter with a switch blade!"
Mighty said.
Knuckles looked confused. He ran his hand over the side of his face.
He felt a deep cut. It was sore. Knuckles looked down into a puddle of rain
water still remaining on the ground from the storm the night before. He could
see his reflection clearly on the surface. It indeed did look like someone had
slashed his face with a knife. He gasped.
"It... it wasn't a dream..."
"What?" Espio asked.
"Last night I..I thought I had this horrible nightmare..." Knuckles
said, still staring at his reflection, "B-but it wasn't a nightmare....it was
real."
"What are you talking about?" Mighty asked.
Knuckles turned to face them. "I...I killed him." Knuckles mumbled.
Mighty and Espio exchanged nervous glances. Vector seemed to not be listening
anymore as he walked away humming to the music of his headphones. Charmy just
sat on top of a mushroom and stared. Knuckles had been known to have a bad
temper and occassionly start a fight, but he had never actually killed anyone.
"You... you k-killed somebody...?" Espio stuttered.
"Well... I.. he... we... it... it was an accident..." Knuckles
stammered trying to defend himself.
"How can you kill someone on accident?" Mighty asked.
The color drained from Knuckles face. The faces on Mighty and Espio remained
cold. Knuckles sensed that they didn't belive him. They either didn't belive
him at all, or didn't belive that it had been an accident. Knuckles began to
back away from them. Then he turned and ran into the jungle. Charmy frowned
at the armadillo and chamelion. Mighty returned it with that 'what?' look.
Espio seemed to soften. Without another word Charmy slid off the mushroom and
flew after Knuckles. Mighty stepped forward as to follow them both, but Espio
grabbed his shoulder. Mighty looked back at him. Espio just shook his head.
Charmy glided quickly through the trees. He dodged the branches,
looking left and right. The bee searched though the thick forest until he
came to a clearing along the edge of the island. He noticed small sign old,
rotted with moss and overgrown vegitation halfway covering it. In in the
deeply carved lettering, Charmy could barley make the message out.
"W-war..ing Landsend?" He tried to read. He thought about it for a
second. "Oh. Warning: Land's End." He realized.
Charmy turned and scanned the horizon. The sun was still rising at
its slow state, turning the sky a light orange. The ground in front of him
seemed to suddenly break off and steeply fall to the sea below. He had
remembered them being above the forest yesterday. Charmy guessed the storm
had drifted the island above the ocean. He stepped up to the edge and looked
down. He felt his stomach do a flip-flop as he gazed at the greenish blue
waves what seemed like miles below. He silently reminded himself that he
could fly, and looked to the left, down around the side of the island. He saw
where the land curved into a cliff that over looked the sea. Charmy saw a
scarlet red figure sitting at it's peak. He reconized it as Knuckles.
Charmy glided slowly over in that direction. He stopped a couple
of feet short of the cliff, and climbed the rest of the way. He sat down
beside the echidna.
"Hi." He said softly.
Knuckles was silent for a moment. "What do you want?" He said coldly.
"I want you to explain...I'll belive you. I promise." Charmy said
after some thought.
Knuckles sighed. "Well, it's kinda a long story." He said.
"I'm listening."
Knuckles thought about it for a minute. He took a deep breath. "It all didn't
start last night though. It all began a long time ago."
"The beginning is a good place to start." Charmy said, settling down on the
ground. He had a feeling, like Knuckles had said, this was going to be a
looong story.
"First of all, I guess I better tell you what happened last night."
The echidna said, letting his feet dangle over the edge of the cliff.
"Good idea." Charmy commented.
"You know that storm we had last night?" Knuckles started.
"Yah. What about it?"
"I was still awake late that night when some lightning hit a tree in
the Mushroom Hill Zone. So, I went to go check it out. When I got there
though the fire had allready gone out. Then for no reason at all this guy
jumps me and trys to pick a fight.......he was always good at surprising me."
Knuckles explained.
"You mean you knew this guy? Before he jumped you?" Charmy asked.
"Yes. But I'll get to that later. Let me finish." He answered.
"Okay, okay." Charmy mumbled.
Knuckles cleared his voice and continued. "Anyway we got into a fight. Y'know
the whole I punch you, you punch me routine. But then Clawz--"
"Clawz? Was that his name?" Charmy interupted.
"Yes, yes! His name was Clawz...Clawz Wildcat. But I didn't realize
it was him until later! Now will you let me finish?!" Knuckles spat.
"Geez, Okay. Go on allready." The bee said calmly.
"Okay, as I was saying....He pinned me to the ground, so I flipped us
both over. But instead of me being on top and he being the one pinned to the
ground, we both ended up falling off the edge of the island." Knuckles
continued.
Charmy gasped.
"I was able to get a grip on the side of the island. I grabbed him
before he could fall. Thats when I realized who he was." Knuckles started to
stammer,"B-But he was too heavy for me. I-I lost my grip on his hand and....."
Knuckles didn't have to finish, Charmy could take a hint.
"Oh no..." He said softy, "He fell off the island?"
Knuckles nodded sadly. There was a long silent pause.
"But you didn't KILL him. Like you said, it was an accident." Charmy
spoke up.
"I don't know." The red echidna answed sadly.
"What do you mean? That you might have dropped him...on purpose?!"
Charmy asked, looking up at him in surprise.
"I don't know! Maybe I wanted to.... way back in my subconcious mind....
for what he did to me." Knuckles addmitted shaking his head.
"What did he do?" Charmy asked quietly.
Knuckles eyes grew cold, and he clenched his large fists tightly. "He lied to
me."
Charmy raised an eyebrow. "You killed a guy for lying to you? Man, I'm
surpised Mighty isn't in his death bed right now." He said sarcastically.
"This wasn't just ANY old white lie, it was-", Knuckles turned and
stared at Charmy, "What do you mean Mighty would be dead? When did he lie to
me?" He asked.
Charmy realized he had put his foot in his mouth. "Well, he, uh... Sorry Knux
gotta go! Nice story! I just remembered I have a cake in the oven!" He
stuttered and zipped away. Knuckles caught him by the leg before he could get
very far. He held the bee upside down in front of his face.
"When did Mighty lie to me, Charmy?" He asked.
Charmy gulped. "eh heh...uh, you remember the time when Mighty said the Book
of Myths got stolen, and then he said he found it abandoned in a puddle?"
Knuckles frowned. "Yes..."
"Welll.... It didn't really get stolen, him and Vector were playing
frisbee with it, and it flew in the lake!.... On accident." Charmy blurted
out.
Knuckles just stared at him for a second. "What?!" He exploded suddenly, "Do
you know how long it took me to iron that thing?! Oh, man! When I get my hands
on that stupid son of a bi-"
"Knuckles! Calm down." Charmy said pulling himself out of the echina's
grip. "We were talking about Clawz, not Mighty."
The echidna turned to look at the bee. He sighed, then sat down again.
"Well to make a long story short--" He began.
"Too late!" interrupted Espio, who emerged suddenly out of the shadows.
"Hey! How long have you been spying on us!?" Knuckles demanded.
"Mighty and I arrived here about ten minutes ago when--"
"Mighty!? Where is he?" Knuckles shouted, anger filling him once again.
"Over there in that tree," Espio said pointing.
"Snitch!" A voice called from the branches.
"Mighty, get the Hell down here before I have'ta go up there and
pound you!" Knuckles yelled up at him.
A big red armadillo promptly fell out of the tree and landed on his
armor-plated back with a whump. He laid there for a second then stood up
cautiously staring at Knuckles. Knuckles eyes narrowed and he clentched his
large fists. Mighty smilied innocently back at him, with a tinge of fright
in his mind. Knuckles stared at him for a long time, then quickly turned
and walked stiffly back to the cliff edge. He sat down and stared across the
ocean.
"Phew!," Mighty said walking up beside Espio and Charmy. He shot an
angry glance at the bee, who zipped off and sat at Knuckles' side.
"Like I was saying..." Knuckles began again, trying to suppress
his angers, "When I was just a child, about seven or eight...." he paused and
his face saddened, "When my father was still the gaurdian, right after
Robotnik had taken over Robotro-, uh I mean Mobotropolis, and I was upset
because about a year earlier I had to tell my only friend I couldn't see
her again during my apprintinceship. Now I thought she was truly gone
forever..."
Mighty and Espio slowly approached the cliff and sat down.
"Who are you talking about, Knux?" Charmy asked quietly. "Who did
you think was gone forever?"
Knuckles smiled slightly, "Princess Sally Acorn."
"But, she wasn't gone. We just saw here about a month ago." Espio said.
Knuckles turned and looked back at him, "I didn't know that then. I
thought she had been roboticizied or killed like the thousands of other
not-so-fortunate Mobians." He said eyeing Mighty, who cringed behind the
chamelion. He turned and looked back out into the horizion.
"I wandered away from my father, to think things over and soon found
myself lost in the deep jungle..."
* * * *
Princess Sally burst into the recovery room to find the place in
mass hysteria. Sonic the Hedgehog came in second, and ducked a chair that flew
over his head. Tails dodged the sailing chair as he came in, and Bunnie grabbed
it in mid-air a split-second before it hit Antonie as he strolled in last
panting heavily.
"Sacre Bleu!" He cried as his eyes met the scene before him.
The wildcat they had rescued the night before was definately awake.
He was thrashing wildly about and had a look of craziness in his large green
eyes. He picked up another chair and hurled it across the room in their
direction. Sonic pushed Sally out of the way and the chair hit the wall in
back of them splintering to several pieces. The wildcat winced in pain and
grabbed his arm, then colapsed on the floor. He switched from holding his arm,
to holding his leg, and moaned in pain.
"Someone do SOMETHING!" Sally yelled getting up from the floor.
Sonic got up and slowly approached the cat on the floor, who was
writhing in agony. When the wildcat saw his coming he snarled menacingly at
him. With his un-hurt hand he lashed out at took a swipe at the hedgehog
barely missing his face. Sonic jumped back. The wildcat lost his anger and
yowled, gripping his broken arm tightly again.
"Give me ah go at it, Sugah-hog." Bunnie said, pushing Sonic aside.
"Be careful Bunnie!" Tails wimpered.
Bunnie walked slowly to the wildcat's side. He didn't seeem to notice
her and, was concentrated on the pain in both his arm and leg. He didn't know
why they hurt so much, or why he was here. All he knew was that he wanted to
get out of this place. Bunnie suddenly grabbed his arm and held it to the
ground. He looked up in surprise and screamed. He wasn't expecting a half-robot
rabbit to be holding him down. He tried to break free, but with out the use
of his other arm and leg he couldn't move. She had her roboticized arm holding
his un-injured arm down in a iron-grip. He winced as he tried to move.
"Now y'all come down, yah hear?" She said.
"I didn't do nothin'! You can prove anything!" He growled back.
Sally gave Sonic a confused look. He shrugged and went to help Bunnie.
"Here, Sugah-hog, get his legs!" Bunnie said, as the wildcat started
to kick at her. Sonic grabbed his ankels and held then to the ground too.
They picked him up and set him down on the bed.
"Let me go!" The cat screamed, "I tell ya, I didn't do it!"
"We aren't accusing you of anything, Sir!" Sally said as she walked
up beside the bed. "Now just come down!" The wildcat seemed to ignore her, and
continued his ramblings and struggling. "Where is that doctor when you need him!"
She said looking around the room.
"Here I am Your Majesty!" Said a large yellow duck as he emerged from
behind a table where he had taken refudge from th flying furniture. He had a
rough cut on his beak, undoubtly from the hysterical wildcat, and was carrying
a large black medical bag.
"Oh, Doctor Quack! Thank goodness!" She said, "Quick we need something
to relax him!"
"I know just the thing." He said fishing around in his bag. He pulled
out a small bottle then pulled out a syringe with a two inch needle. Seeing
this, Antonie almost fainted. Tails tried to steady him. The wildcat glared
at the shot as the doctor filled it with the liqid in the bottle.
"Oh no!" The cat said struggling even more despite his pain. Doctor
Quack pushed some of his fur aside and injected the shot into the wildcat's
arm.
"There ain't...no...way..." The cat mumbled then went limp
and fell asleep.
Sonic and Bunnie let go of him and stood silent with the other
on-lookers as they stared at the slumbering feline. "What, may I asked
happened to him!?" Sonic asked after a couple of seconds.
"Hmmm, probably just an affect of his concussion." Doctor Quack
answered plainly. "He just woke up in a place where he didn't know where he
was, what happened to him, or who all these strange people around him were."
"So he went CRAZY?" Sonic said.
"Yes, quite. A concussion, like his in his case, would make you lose
control over you'r mind and body for a little while." The doctor explained.
"Will he be okay?" Sally said, after another moment of silence.
"I belive so." Doctor Quack said, "He probably won't even remember
it even happened. I can say it didn't do those broken bones of his much help,
throwing chairs and such, but I think he'll recover just fine." The doctor
turned to stare at Sonic, "Lets just make sure that no other 'loud noises'
occur to wake my patient up, please?"
Sonic grinned sheepishly, "Yessir. It won't happen again."
"I'll see to that." Sally said giving him an angry glance.
"Doctor, did ya'll ever find out who this critter was?" Bunnie asked,
changing the subject.
"No, I'm afraid not, Miss Rabbot." The doc answered, "The only
identifycation he had on him was, three letters carved on the inside of his
belt: C M W."
"Probably his initals." Tails said letting go of Antonie, who almost
fell on the floor but was able to steady himself.
"Yes, I thought so." The duck nodded.
"What was he talking about?" Tails asked, "You know, 'I didn't do it'
and all that other stuff."
"I don't know, Tails. He might've just been saying things. He had hit
his head pretty bad when we found him in that tree." Sonic said to the young
fox.
"I don't know, Sonic." Sally said, "I just don't know..."
To be continued...
* * * *
Whoo HOO! I hope you enjoyed part 2 of my first fanfic! Stay tuned to find
out what happens next in the exciting lives of everybody's favorite hedgehog
and echidna!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legalities: Okay. ready, set go!!!
Sonic the Hegehog, Knuckles the Echidna, the Freedom
fighters, the Chaotix, Dr. Robotnik, and any related
characters are licensed characters of SEGA and Co.
and/or DIC and Archie Adventure series Comics. Clawz the
Wildcat was created by Erin Lindsey. If you want this
story on your site, want to use any of my characters, or
have any complications send them to:
diamondneko@mail.com
http://sheliacw.tripod.com
Okay enough of that...
Parts 1 and 2 out of 5
Erin's First Sonic Fan-fiction Mini-Series
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friend Or Foe? (Part 1)
A Sonic the Hedgehog Fanfiction story
BY: Erin Lindsey
For all legal information and other stuff like that, see bottom of this page!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction:
Rain pelted the ground of the tropical Floating Isalnd. The blades of
green grass trembled in the moonlight as the thunder rolled across the
endless dark nothingness of the sky. The guardian of this beautiful and
mysterious island and the keeper of the green Chaos Emerald is Knuckles the
echidna. Descendant of many before him he was destined to have this
responsibility. Having a complex past and an even more perplexing future he
should be glad to rest from his duty. He sat restlessly underneath a huge
crimson mushroom. He tried to relax and sleep but it worried him when it was
so quiet on the island. The evil dictator of Mobius, Dr. Ivo Robotnik had
been staying amazingly quiet for the last couple of weeks. What was he
brewing in that fat pointy head of his? Knuckles thought. He sighed deeply.
He would try and leave the freedom fighting to Sonic the Hedgehog and
Princess Sally from now on. Of course he had other foes to worry about also...
He tried to clear his head of his enemies. After his encounter with the Dark
Legion and all, he suffered with quite a large dose of mental fatigue. He
turned his mind to other matters.
The Chaotix team were all asleep in or under a great willow tree
trying to stay dry from the on going storm. Knuckles smiled to himself.
They all had greatly different personalities, and yet could still work
together as a team successfully. Espio the chameleon was probably the most
serious one of them all. He was smart and quick. He was a great secret
weapon with his ability to camouflage into his surroundings. This didn't
show as he slept upside down on the underside of a huge limb extending from
the willow with his purple tail curled tightly around it. Knuckles wondered
how he slept that way without all the blood rushing to his head. Vector the
crocodile, on the other hand was a bit of a goof off. He was always listening
to his headphones. In fact, he almost never took them off. He had a certain
loyalty to his friends though. Vector slumbered with his back against the
gigantic tree trunk. Knuckles could hear music softly pouring from the
headset he wore on whatever was a crocodile's ears. It was a wonder Vector
wasn't deaf he played those things so loud as to still be able to hear it's
music while a thunder storm was going on. He had his long green legs propped
up on a large red rock. Knuckles examined the rock more closely. He hadn't
remembered there being a rock there before. The rock had two small yellow
ears and was slowly heaving up and down under the soles of Vector's sneakers.
It wasn't a rock, Knuckles realized. It was Mighty the armadillo. He was
snoring obnoxiously. Mighty reminded Knuckles mostly of Sonic the Hedgehog.
He was egotistical and was always looking for a fight. Yet, he was heroic and
incredibly strong, probably the next in line as leader of the Chaotix, if
Knuckles wasn't there. Charmy Bee was another story. He was tranquil and
practical. He would rather reason with an enemy than fight. But, if a fight
was necessary he could pack an incredible punch for his limited size. Charmy
was peacefully buzzing inside a giant white flower blossom that was growing
on a vine that twisted around the thick base of the willow and up into it's
higher extensions.
Knuckles yawned. It wasn't because he was sleepy, but because he was
extremely bored. He looked up at the dark, black clouds above the Floating
Island. They were churning violently in the torrent of wind. There was a
low rumble of thunder and it starting pouring as hard as ever now. Suddenly
Knuckles jumped as a bolt of lightning hit the horizon accompanied by a loud
cannonade of thunder. Espio awoke startled by the clash. He let go of the
branch he was holding onto and swung back and forth from his tail. He
rocked himself back to sleep instantly. Mighty rolled over and out from under
Vector's feet. Vector didn't wake up, but mumbled something in his sleep.
"Hmmm? Wha?... No Mah... five more minutes... hmmmg."
Knuckles stood up. It was his duty to insure the safety of all the
Mobians that dwelt on the Floating Island. He decided to check out where the
lightning hit. Besides, it's not like he had anything else to do on this
sleepless night. He began running in the direction of the smoke that had
begun to billow from the horizon. He was just about to leap into the air and
take off when blast of thunder reminded him of the turbulent skies. He
thought it better to walk there instead.
* * * *
Chapter 1: A Wildcat's Words
Meanwhile elsewhere on the Floating Island...
A dark figure appeared out of the jungle and strode up to the
smoking tree.
"Dammit. The storm turned my tree to toast!" The wildcat whined as he
approached the burnt and fallen tree.
The cat was mostly dark brown color, except for his chest and stomach,
hands, whiskers, and tip of his long thin tail, which were cream white. He
had large ears and bright green eyes that flashed in the darkness. On the
tip of his wolf-like nose was a pair of black sunglasses. These, a purple
belt around his waist, and orange and red tennis shoes were the only clothes
he wore. The cat was younger than he looked. He was only a teenager, but
was large for his age. His two front canine teeth stuck out of his mouth,
giving him a menacing look.
The rain had already put out the flames that had engulfed the tree
earlier. The cat had just returned from a midnight fishing trip. He was
unsuccessful. How the heck was he supposed to remember no fish lived on
the Floating Island? He hadn't been there for ten years. It had took most of
his strength to hijack a hover craft from the western nomads of Mobius, and
he had been counting on a solid food supply when he arrived on the island. He
couldn't get off the small continent because he had foolishly hurled the
craft over the edge so no one would know he had came. He was wet, hungry,
and very tired. Tonight had been a long night. Besides, this place brought
back a lot of memories. Mostly bad ones. The only reason he had came here in
the first place was to hide. All he wanted was sleep. He surveyed his crispy
x-tree as the last fumes disappeared in the night sky. He extended a paw
and gently touched it.
"OW!" He yelped jerking his hand away.
It was still hot. He stuck his burnt finger in his mouth.
He mumbled some obscene words at the tree.
"Guess I'll have'ta sleep somewhere else." He muttered.
He trotted over to a slightly smaller tree. It had no low branches to climb
on. All the thick sturdy limbs were high at the top. This didn't bother him.
The feline crouched down for a couple of seconds, aiming. Then, with a burst
of sudden energy, he leapt high into the air. His claws spread out from his
finger tips and dug into the thick bark of the tree. He climbed slowly up
the mid-section of the sapling examining the branches on both sides of him.
"Aha! Here we go...."
He saw a large branch extending from the tree. He grabbed onto it tightly
with his paw and swung himself on top of the limb.
"Ahh." The feline sighed.
He settled himself on the branch, put his glasses in a small case on the
side of his belt, then put his arms behind his head and slowly closed his
large green eyes. Suddenly he heard a twig snap. Someone was walking
around beneath the canopy. He twisted his ears backwards and let out a low,
quiet snarl. The tip of his tail twitched uncontrollably. It was probably
just some lost, and helpless creature fooling around he realized. He
relaxed and tried to ignore it.
Beneath the tree-tops Knuckles patrolled the ground. He was not lost
and was defintely not helpless. He inspected the fallen tree.
"Hmmm...I hope no one was hurt...." He mumbled to himself.
The echidna sighed. This wasn't very exciting. He craved action. Knuckles
kicked a small rock. It bounced a couple of feet and then stopped. He walked
up to it and kicked it again, harder this time, up into the air. While the
rock was in the air he turned and kicked it with his other leg, sending it
ricocheting off the trees. Then he held out his hand and caught the pebble in
mid-air.
"Hmmph. Pretty good." He complimented himself. He dropped it and
started punching out in the air. "Hi-ya!" He yelled loudly.
The wildcat opened his eyes and peered down at the noisy red animal below. He
growled. Knuckles didn't seem to notice and continued fighting his shadow. He
wound up his fist then POW! He punched a tree as hard as he could.
Unfortunately, this just happened to be the same tree that the angry feline
was trying to sleep in.
"Ahhhhgh!!!" The cat screamed as the tree shook from the force of
Knuckles' blow.
Knuckles looked up in surprise, "What the?...."
The wildcat lost his footing and tumbled out of the tree,"Whoa!"
Knuckles quickly pulled his fist out of the tree and darted out of the way
and into a rose bush. The cat nimbly twisted his body in the air and landed
on all fours. The wildcat was mad. Really mad. He had not had a good day and
tonight was not the time to mess with him.
"Whats up wit' 'dat punk?!" He said angrily approaching the shrubbery
Knuckles was struggling to get out of. Knuckles freed himself and crawled out of the briars.
"Don't cha Know that people are tryin' to sleep here?!"
Knuckles squinted to see the mad tree-dweller in the darkness. He had never
seen this animal before. Atleast thats what he thought. He was a brownish
color and had glowing green eyes. He also noticed the cat was pretty big.
Bigger than he was.
"Sorry, uh who...?" He said calmly.
"Sorry?!" The cat spat enraged, "Is that all you can say punk!?"
Knuckles tried to explain but the he ignored the echidna and swatted him
across the side of the face.
"Arrgh!" Knuckles winced. He ran his hand over his cheek then looked
at his palm. Blood. The crazy cat had scratched him! This guy had some
attitude. He didn't know who he was toying with.
"Allright! That's it!" Knuckles yelled and lunged at the wildcat.
The cat was surprised at the echidna's strength and fell to the ground.
"Oof!" He grunted as the wind got knocked out of him.
He stumbled back to him feet, but Knuckles was ready, and punched him in the
face. The cat backed away holding his hand to his head. His nose was bleeding,
and it wasn't from the altitude. He attacked and threw Knuckles to the floor
with one swift movement of his arm.
"Owwwww." Knuckles groaned feeling pain surge though his
back.Before Knuckles could recover, the cat caught him by the
throat and pinned him to the ground.
"Not so tough are 'ya now, eh punk?" The cat mocked
smiling evilly.He tighten his grip around the echidna's neck.
Knuckles gulped for air, and decided he had better do something quick before
this lunatic choked him to death. He flipped the cat and himself over. They
rolled backward though some plants, then the ground dissapeared beneath them,
and went into a free fall.
* * * *
Chapter 2: It's Raining Cats and Echidnas
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The feline and echidna screamed as they continued to
fall off the Floating Island.
Knuckles had not noticed how close to the perimeter they had been. Now it was
too late. Fortunately the side of the island was rocky. Knuckles struggled to
grab hold of one of the rocks jutting out. He gripped it and grabbed the
cat's hand as he sailed past.
"Y-you saved me?" The cat stuttered, surprised at his combatant.
"I'm not going to have someone on 'my island' perish because of me!"
Knuckles answered trying to pull himself up to the edge.
"Your island?" The cat asked, "That means your the guardian! Y-your
n-n-Knuckles the echidna, ain't you?!"
"How do you know my name?" Knuckles asked shocked.
The wildcat just stared back up at him with frightened eyes. Knuckles studied
the cat's face. Knuckles realized why.
"C-clawz?! What the hell are you doing here!!" He yelled.
"I'll explain later!! Get me outta here!!!" He yelled back, looking
over his shoulder at the forest far below. Knuckles pulled himself back onto
the surface of the island. Suddenly their hands slipped a bit.
"KNUCKLES!!!" Clawz screamed.
"Hold on! I think I can pull you up!" Knuckes grunted as he tried to heave
his old friend over to the edge. The feline's hand slipped farther from his
grip.
"Ahhhhhh! Ahh! Ahhhh! I can't hold on!" He screamed.
"Clawz! Don't let go!" Knuckles said starting to panic.
But,the wildcat was too heavy for him. Suddenly the two hands parted. Clawz
shrieked as he started plummeting down to his doom.
"NO! CLAWZ! Clawz! clawz...." Knuckles moaned.
His voice seemed to trail of in the rolling thunder and falling rain. Out of
the thousands of raindrops that fell toward the ground, one was a single tear.
In the forest below...
The young fox Miles Prower, otherwise known as Tails, trembled
beneath his covers. His hut was one of many that filled the tiny hidden
village of Knothole. Knothole was actually a secret base, were the rebels
known as the Freedom Fighters controlled their attacks on the evil ruler, Dr.
Robotnik's capital, Robotropolis. But Tails was not trembling in fear of the
self-appointed dictator, he was more afraid of the on-going thunder-storm at
this moment. He hated storms. He thought of going and sleeping with his
friend, and idol, Sonic the hedgehog like he did when he was younger.
No, that would just prove he was still a little kid, he thought.
Tails didn't want that. He wanted to be treated like an adult. Still, he was
afraid. Thunder clashed above.
"Eepp!" Tails whimpered and hid underneath his quilt.
"aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAhhhhhHHHHHHHH!!"
Tails suddenly heard a voice outside. It seemed to be getting louder, as if
it was falling from the sky.......
"Ack!Omph!aggrgh!"
The voice came from the forest beside Tails' hut now.
"Ohhhhh..." It moaned.
Someone was hurt in the forest, Tails realized sitting up straight in his bed.
"I gotta go get Sonic!" Tails told himself. Tails got out of bed and
quickly put on his sneakers. He opened his door and raced out into the rain
toward Sonic the Hedgehog's cabin.
Inside his hut, Sonic was fast asleep. Tails knocked on the door.
"Sonic?" Tails said opening it and coming inside. "Sonic?...Sonnniicc?
SONIC! WAKE UP!" Tails yelled trying to awaken his compadre.
"Huh? Wha...Tails?...What time is it?" Sonic woke up and looked
over at a clock on his bedside table. 2:00 A.M. flashed on it's screen.
"Sonic! I heard something in the woods! I think somebody's hurt out there!"
Tails ignored him and blurted out his story.
Sonic sighed and looked drowsily at his fox friend. "Tails....it was a bad
dream. Now go back to bed." He mumbled and rolled over so his quill-covered
back was facing Tails.
"No, Sonic! I wasn't dreaming! C'mon, I'll prove it!" Tails grabbed
Sonic's wrist and pulled him out of bed.
* * * *
Chapter 3: A Walk in the Woods
Minutes later...
"Okay, little buddy, where did the sound come from?" Sonic said,
sounding annoyed.
"Right over there!" Tails pointed at the forest behind his hut. "And,
Sonic, don't call me that." He added and started walking toward the brush.
"Yeah, whatever." Sonic muttered. Sonic followed close behind him.
All of a sudden Tails stopped dead in his tracks. Sonic bumped into his back.
"Hey, what's up?" He asked him.
Tails stayed silent but pointed to a tree about a yard in front of them.
Sonic examined it. He looked up at it's branches.
"Holy CHAOS!" Sonic yipped. "Theres someone up there!!"
Sonic saw a mangled body among the branches. A drop of blood fell from the
tree and splashed into a puddle.
Sonic and Tails stood there for a silent for a moment, in total
horror. Sonic snapped out of it.
"Tails! Quick go get Bunnie, Sally, and 'Twan!" He ordered.
Tails looked shocked for a second, then turned and flew back to Knothole.
The kid was right, Sonic thought. Maybe I should treat him more seriously.
"Ohhhhhh..."
Sonic jumped startled. The figure in the tree had tree moaned.
"He's still alive!" Sonic gasped, "Oh man...."
Sonic approached the tree and started to climb it.
"Tails! What is this all about?" Piped Princess Sally who was
pursuing the two-tailed fox. She stopped to take a breath and tighten her
pink bathrobe.
"Yah, Sugah, what did y'all git us up in tha middle of the night fo'?"
Bunnie Rabbot, the half roboticizied rabbit asked. She was only half awake,
and still had rollers up in her long ears.
"I'll explain later, we have to hurry!" Tails led the trio into the
Great Forest. Bunnie shrugged and turned to Antonie, who was the only one
fully dressed in uniform. He just shook his head and began following Tails
again. Bunnie and the Princess trailed behind them.
"Sacre Bleu!" Antonie exclaimed as they came to the clearing.
"Lordy! What in tha who-ha happened?!" Bunnie screamed.
Sonic was now descending the tree with the beaten body in his arms.
"Sonic!" Sally yelled and ran to him.
He was now out of the tree and was laying the body on the forest floor.
"Help, he's heavy....," Was all that Sonic said.
Antonie stepped up and kneeled down beside Sonic and helped him.
"My, oh my..." Bunnie mumbled.
"He iz bleedings." Antonie said uneasily.
"No, duh Ant'." Sonic grunted as they picked the large cat's body
back up.
"Easy now... easy..." Sally instructed as they started to slowly walk
back to the village.
* * * *
Friend or Foe? (Part 2)
By: Erin Lindsey
This part of the story is rated PG for only a small bit of violence and confusing
conversations. For all legal information and other such nonsense like that,
see the bottom of this story.
Chapter 4 : Wake Up Call
It was a beautiful spring morning in the Great Forest. The only
sounds were the rippling of the stream, chriping of the small birds, and
clicking of the crickets in the early dawn sun. None of the residents of the
small, secrective village of Knothole had awakened yet. Everyone was still
asleep in their tiny huts. Well, almost everyone.
Sonic the Hedgehog stood on the steps in front of his hut. Sonic
looked to his left and then to his right. He realized that none of his
friends were awake yet. He didn't usually wake up this early either, but
the incident the night before had left him restless. Sonic thought for a
second, then re-entered his domocile. After a few short moments, he emerged
again carrying a large red and white electric guitar. With a evil smirk on
his face, the hedgehog twisted a small knob on the side of the instrument.
He turned the knob marked 'VOLUME' to it's full extent. He dramatically drew
his hand up in the air, and then in a super-sonic motion, he strummed the
strings as hard as he could.
The loud noise of the guitar echoed throughout the small village,
almost making the ground tremble with the intensive amount of base.
"WAKE UP!" Sonic screamed, but his voice did barely penetrate the
echoing of the guitar.
Inside her own hut, Princess Sally Acorn snapped awake. She sat
straight up in her bed. As soon as the ringing in her ears faded, she threw
on her blue vest and stormed out the door.
"SONIC!" She screamed.
She searched the village with her eyes, but Sonic had already fled the scene.
She saw Bunnie and Antonie come out of their huts. Bunnie was yawning loudly,
and Antonie was still trying to button the last button on the collar of his
uniform. When they saw Sally they both ran over to her acting pretty upset.
"Look here Sally-girl, why don't y'all tell that there boyfriend of
yours to keep it down a bit!" Bunnie said to her.
"Boyfriend? Right now that hedgehog doesn't even qualify as a friend!"
Sally snapped.
"Oui, my princess. I have been just been getting to sleepings when
zat fuelish 'edge 'og is to be waking me up." Antonie said still stuggling
with his collar. Bunnie reached over and buttoned it finally with a quick
snap.
"Merci, Bunnie." He said sheepishly.
"You'r welcome, Sugah."
Sally sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Where did he go any way?" She asked.
"I think he is going that-a-way." Antonie answered and pointed toward
the Freedom Fighter's mess hall.
"To the kitchen?" Sally asked.
Antonie nodded.
"Makes sense." Bunnie said crossing her arms. They all
started to trudge in that direction.
* * * *
"Hummm de dum de doo...." Sonic hummed as he made himself breakfast.
He looked into the oven to see if they were done yet.
"Mmmmm...." He sighed as he took the plate of about a dozen hot dogs
out and spooned a redish concauction from a pot on the stove onto them.
Just then, Princess Sally, Bunnie, and Antonie plowed through the
double doors.
"Hi, guys. I was wondering when you were gonna wake up." Sonic said
casually, and stuffed a chilli dog in his mouth. "Want some breakfast?" He
mumbled.
"No, we don't want breakfast......gross. Chilli dogs for breakfast?
Thats disgusting." Sally said eyeing him.
"Is zat ze only thing he is ever eating?" Antonie whispered to Bunnie.
She ignored him.
"Sugah-hog, why in the who-ha did y'all wake us up for?" Bunnie spat
at Sonic, "I need mah beauty sleep!"
"Who me?" Sonic asked innocently, "Are you reffering to me Miss
Rabbot?"
"Either you or butterfly with an electric guitar...." Sally said
sarcastically. Sonic slid his guitar further under the table with his shoe.
A young orange fox with two tails walked into the room.
"Hiya, Tails." Sonic said trying to change the subject.
"Hi, Sonic, Aunt Sally, Aunt Bunnie......." Tails answered.
Antonie cleared his throught.
"Oh, Hi Antwan. I didn't notice you were here." Tails apologized.
Antonie rolled his eyes, and Sonic tried to keep from laughing.
"Hey! Chilli dogs! I knew I smelled something cooking." Tails piped
seeing the plate on the table.
"Thats m'boy." Sonic said and handed him one.
"No way." Sally said pushing the hot dog away from Tails, "You'r
going to have some oatmeal."
"Awww, Aunt Sally...." Tails whined.
"If you eat chilli dogs for breakfast, you might turn out like Sonic.
And none of us want that, do we?" She argued and handed the fox a bowl.
"Ha, ha. Verrry funny Princess." Sonic muttered and ate another
chilli dog.
"Guys! You better come quick!" Rotor the walrus shouted to the group
as he rushed into the kitchen.
"Whats up Rote?" Sonic quizzed him.
"Well it's about our visitor.... he's not doing too well..." Rotor
said catching his breath.
"Oh no! I totally forgot about him. Did he wake up?" Sally asked,
concerned.
"Yeah. He's in hysterics!" Rotor answered.
All eyes turned to Sonic and gave him a cold stare.
"Oops..." Sonic mumbled realizing his prank had backfired.
"Hmph!" Sally snorted, "Maybe we can help. C'mon lets go!" Then she
ran out of the mess hall and toward the imfermary.
"Right behind yah Sally-girl!" Bunnie yelled as she darted after the
princess.
"Wait for moui!" Antonie followed them.
Sonic looked at the plate of chilli dogs then at the door. "C'mon Tails!
Let's juice!" He decided.
"All right!" Tails said and grabbed the hedgehog around the neck.
They sped off after their fellow freedom fighters.
Rotor was left all alone in the kitchen. "Ohhhh... chilli dogs!" He said
picking up the plate.
* * * *
"Is he still asleep?"
"Yah... he usually gets up so early."
"Maybe he stayed up late."
"Wake him up."
"What? No, you wake him up."
"I'm not gonna do it. He'll get mad."
"Make Charmy do it."
"Huh? Me? No way. He'll wack me off the entire island!"
"Well, I'm not gonna do it." Atleast four voices started to argue.
Knuckles opened one eye. They seemed to be totally oblivious of the fact that
he had woke up by himself and continued to quarrel. The armadillo took a
swing at the crocodile who quickly ducked. The chameleon got hit in the face
instead. The bee burst into laughter.
Knuckles decided to break the fight up before it got ugly. "Nobody
has to wake me up." He said standing up.
They all froze. "Oh, good morning Knux." Said Espio, and let go of
Mighty's neck.
"Morning." He said, brushing his dredlocks out of his eyes.
"Owch, man! What happened to yo face?" Vector asked.
"Wow, it looks like you had a close encounter with a switch blade!"
Mighty said.
Knuckles looked confused. He ran his hand over the side of his face.
He felt a deep cut. It was sore. Knuckles looked down into a puddle of rain
water still remaining on the ground from the storm the night before. He could
see his reflection clearly on the surface. It indeed did look like someone had
slashed his face with a knife. He gasped.
"It... it wasn't a dream..."
"What?" Espio asked.
"Last night I..I thought I had this horrible nightmare..." Knuckles
said, still staring at his reflection, "B-but it wasn't a nightmare....it was
real."
"What are you talking about?" Mighty asked.
Knuckles turned to face them. "I...I killed him." Knuckles mumbled.
Mighty and Espio exchanged nervous glances. Vector seemed to not be listening
anymore as he walked away humming to the music of his headphones. Charmy just
sat on top of a mushroom and stared. Knuckles had been known to have a bad
temper and occassionly start a fight, but he had never actually killed anyone.
"You... you k-killed somebody...?" Espio stuttered.
"Well... I.. he... we... it... it was an accident..." Knuckles
stammered trying to defend himself.
"How can you kill someone on accident?" Mighty asked.
The color drained from Knuckles face. The faces on Mighty and Espio remained
cold. Knuckles sensed that they didn't belive him. They either didn't belive
him at all, or didn't belive that it had been an accident. Knuckles began to
back away from them. Then he turned and ran into the jungle. Charmy frowned
at the armadillo and chamelion. Mighty returned it with that 'what?' look.
Espio seemed to soften. Without another word Charmy slid off the mushroom and
flew after Knuckles. Mighty stepped forward as to follow them both, but Espio
grabbed his shoulder. Mighty looked back at him. Espio just shook his head.
Charmy glided quickly through the trees. He dodged the branches,
looking left and right. The bee searched though the thick forest until he
came to a clearing along the edge of the island. He noticed small sign old,
rotted with moss and overgrown vegitation halfway covering it. In in the
deeply carved lettering, Charmy could barley make the message out.
"W-war..ing Landsend?" He tried to read. He thought about it for a
second. "Oh. Warning: Land's End." He realized.
Charmy turned and scanned the horizon. The sun was still rising at
its slow state, turning the sky a light orange. The ground in front of him
seemed to suddenly break off and steeply fall to the sea below. He had
remembered them being above the forest yesterday. Charmy guessed the storm
had drifted the island above the ocean. He stepped up to the edge and looked
down. He felt his stomach do a flip-flop as he gazed at the greenish blue
waves what seemed like miles below. He silently reminded himself that he
could fly, and looked to the left, down around the side of the island. He saw
where the land curved into a cliff that over looked the sea. Charmy saw a
scarlet red figure sitting at it's peak. He reconized it as Knuckles.
Charmy glided slowly over in that direction. He stopped a couple
of feet short of the cliff, and climbed the rest of the way. He sat down
beside the echidna.
"Hi." He said softly.
Knuckles was silent for a moment. "What do you want?" He said coldly.
"I want you to explain...I'll belive you. I promise." Charmy said
after some thought.
Knuckles sighed. "Well, it's kinda a long story." He said.
"I'm listening."
Knuckles thought about it for a minute. He took a deep breath. "It all didn't
start last night though. It all began a long time ago."
"The beginning is a good place to start." Charmy said, settling down on the
ground. He had a feeling, like Knuckles had said, this was going to be a
looong story.
"First of all, I guess I better tell you what happened last night."
The echidna said, letting his feet dangle over the edge of the cliff.
"Good idea." Charmy commented.
"You know that storm we had last night?" Knuckles started.
"Yah. What about it?"
"I was still awake late that night when some lightning hit a tree in
the Mushroom Hill Zone. So, I went to go check it out. When I got there
though the fire had allready gone out. Then for no reason at all this guy
jumps me and trys to pick a fight.......he was always good at surprising me."
Knuckles explained.
"You mean you knew this guy? Before he jumped you?" Charmy asked.
"Yes. But I'll get to that later. Let me finish." He answered.
"Okay, okay." Charmy mumbled.
Knuckles cleared his voice and continued. "Anyway we got into a fight. Y'know
the whole I punch you, you punch me routine. But then Clawz--"
"Clawz? Was that his name?" Charmy interupted.
"Yes, yes! His name was Clawz...Clawz Wildcat. But I didn't realize
it was him until later! Now will you let me finish?!" Knuckles spat.
"Geez, Okay. Go on allready." The bee said calmly.
"Okay, as I was saying....He pinned me to the ground, so I flipped us
both over. But instead of me being on top and he being the one pinned to the
ground, we both ended up falling off the edge of the island." Knuckles
continued.
Charmy gasped.
"I was able to get a grip on the side of the island. I grabbed him
before he could fall. Thats when I realized who he was." Knuckles started to
stammer,"B-But he was too heavy for me. I-I lost my grip on his hand and....."
Knuckles didn't have to finish, Charmy could take a hint.
"Oh no..." He said softy, "He fell off the island?"
Knuckles nodded sadly. There was a long silent pause.
"But you didn't KILL him. Like you said, it was an accident." Charmy
spoke up.
"I don't know." The red echidna answed sadly.
"What do you mean? That you might have dropped him...on purpose?!"
Charmy asked, looking up at him in surprise.
"I don't know! Maybe I wanted to.... way back in my subconcious mind....
for what he did to me." Knuckles addmitted shaking his head.
"What did he do?" Charmy asked quietly.
Knuckles eyes grew cold, and he clenched his large fists tightly. "He lied to
me."
Charmy raised an eyebrow. "You killed a guy for lying to you? Man, I'm
surpised Mighty isn't in his death bed right now." He said sarcastically.
"This wasn't just ANY old white lie, it was-", Knuckles turned and
stared at Charmy, "What do you mean Mighty would be dead? When did he lie to
me?" He asked.
Charmy realized he had put his foot in his mouth. "Well, he, uh... Sorry Knux
gotta go! Nice story! I just remembered I have a cake in the oven!" He
stuttered and zipped away. Knuckles caught him by the leg before he could get
very far. He held the bee upside down in front of his face.
"When did Mighty lie to me, Charmy?" He asked.
Charmy gulped. "eh heh...uh, you remember the time when Mighty said the Book
of Myths got stolen, and then he said he found it abandoned in a puddle?"
Knuckles frowned. "Yes..."
"Welll.... It didn't really get stolen, him and Vector were playing
frisbee with it, and it flew in the lake!.... On accident." Charmy blurted
out.
Knuckles just stared at him for a second. "What?!" He exploded suddenly, "Do
you know how long it took me to iron that thing?! Oh, man! When I get my hands
on that stupid son of a bi-"
"Knuckles! Calm down." Charmy said pulling himself out of the echina's
grip. "We were talking about Clawz, not Mighty."
The echidna turned to look at the bee. He sighed, then sat down again.
"Well to make a long story short--" He began.
"Too late!" interrupted Espio, who emerged suddenly out of the shadows.
"Hey! How long have you been spying on us!?" Knuckles demanded.
"Mighty and I arrived here about ten minutes ago when--"
"Mighty!? Where is he?" Knuckles shouted, anger filling him once again.
"Over there in that tree," Espio said pointing.
"Snitch!" A voice called from the branches.
"Mighty, get the Hell down here before I have'ta go up there and
pound you!" Knuckles yelled up at him.
A big red armadillo promptly fell out of the tree and landed on his
armor-plated back with a whump. He laid there for a second then stood up
cautiously staring at Knuckles. Knuckles eyes narrowed and he clentched his
large fists. Mighty smilied innocently back at him, with a tinge of fright
in his mind. Knuckles stared at him for a long time, then quickly turned
and walked stiffly back to the cliff edge. He sat down and stared across the
ocean.
"Phew!," Mighty said walking up beside Espio and Charmy. He shot an
angry glance at the bee, who zipped off and sat at Knuckles' side.
"Like I was saying..." Knuckles began again, trying to suppress
his angers, "When I was just a child, about seven or eight...." he paused and
his face saddened, "When my father was still the gaurdian, right after
Robotnik had taken over Robotro-, uh I mean Mobotropolis, and I was upset
because about a year earlier I had to tell my only friend I couldn't see
her again during my apprintinceship. Now I thought she was truly gone
forever..."
Mighty and Espio slowly approached the cliff and sat down.
"Who are you talking about, Knux?" Charmy asked quietly. "Who did
you think was gone forever?"
Knuckles smiled slightly, "Princess Sally Acorn."
"But, she wasn't gone. We just saw here about a month ago." Espio said.
Knuckles turned and looked back at him, "I didn't know that then. I
thought she had been roboticizied or killed like the thousands of other
not-so-fortunate Mobians." He said eyeing Mighty, who cringed behind the
chamelion. He turned and looked back out into the horizion.
"I wandered away from my father, to think things over and soon found
myself lost in the deep jungle..."
* * * *
Princess Sally burst into the recovery room to find the place in
mass hysteria. Sonic the Hedgehog came in second, and ducked a chair that flew
over his head. Tails dodged the sailing chair as he came in, and Bunnie grabbed
it in mid-air a split-second before it hit Antonie as he strolled in last
panting heavily.
"Sacre Bleu!" He cried as his eyes met the scene before him.
The wildcat they had rescued the night before was definately awake.
He was thrashing wildly about and had a look of craziness in his large green
eyes. He picked up another chair and hurled it across the room in their
direction. Sonic pushed Sally out of the way and the chair hit the wall in
back of them splintering to several pieces. The wildcat winced in pain and
grabbed his arm, then colapsed on the floor. He switched from holding his arm,
to holding his leg, and moaned in pain.
"Someone do SOMETHING!" Sally yelled getting up from the floor.
Sonic got up and slowly approached the cat on the floor, who was
writhing in agony. When the wildcat saw his coming he snarled menacingly at
him. With his un-hurt hand he lashed out at took a swipe at the hedgehog
barely missing his face. Sonic jumped back. The wildcat lost his anger and
yowled, gripping his broken arm tightly again.
"Give me ah go at it, Sugah-hog." Bunnie said, pushing Sonic aside.
"Be careful Bunnie!" Tails wimpered.
Bunnie walked slowly to the wildcat's side. He didn't seeem to notice
her and, was concentrated on the pain in both his arm and leg. He didn't know
why they hurt so much, or why he was here. All he knew was that he wanted to
get out of this place. Bunnie suddenly grabbed his arm and held it to the
ground. He looked up in surprise and screamed. He wasn't expecting a half-robot
rabbit to be holding him down. He tried to break free, but with out the use
of his other arm and leg he couldn't move. She had her roboticized arm holding
his un-injured arm down in a iron-grip. He winced as he tried to move.
"Now y'all come down, yah hear?" She said.
"I didn't do nothin'! You can prove anything!" He growled back.
Sally gave Sonic a confused look. He shrugged and went to help Bunnie.
"Here, Sugah-hog, get his legs!" Bunnie said, as the wildcat started
to kick at her. Sonic grabbed his ankels and held then to the ground too.
They picked him up and set him down on the bed.
"Let me go!" The cat screamed, "I tell ya, I didn't do it!"
"We aren't accusing you of anything, Sir!" Sally said as she walked
up beside the bed. "Now just come down!" The wildcat seemed to ignore her, and
continued his ramblings and struggling. "Where is that doctor when you need him!"
She said looking around the room.
"Here I am Your Majesty!" Said a large yellow duck as he emerged from
behind a table where he had taken refudge from th flying furniture. He had a
rough cut on his beak, undoubtly from the hysterical wildcat, and was carrying
a large black medical bag.
"Oh, Doctor Quack! Thank goodness!" She said, "Quick we need something
to relax him!"
"I know just the thing." He said fishing around in his bag. He pulled
out a small bottle then pulled out a syringe with a two inch needle. Seeing
this, Antonie almost fainted. Tails tried to steady him. The wildcat glared
at the shot as the doctor filled it with the liqid in the bottle.
"Oh no!" The cat said struggling even more despite his pain. Doctor
Quack pushed some of his fur aside and injected the shot into the wildcat's
arm.
"There ain't...no...way..." The cat mumbled then went limp
and fell asleep.
Sonic and Bunnie let go of him and stood silent with the other
on-lookers as they stared at the slumbering feline. "What, may I asked
happened to him!?" Sonic asked after a couple of seconds.
"Hmmm, probably just an affect of his concussion." Doctor Quack
answered plainly. "He just woke up in a place where he didn't know where he
was, what happened to him, or who all these strange people around him were."
"So he went CRAZY?" Sonic said.
"Yes, quite. A concussion, like his in his case, would make you lose
control over you'r mind and body for a little while." The doctor explained.
"Will he be okay?" Sally said, after another moment of silence.
"I belive so." Doctor Quack said, "He probably won't even remember
it even happened. I can say it didn't do those broken bones of his much help,
throwing chairs and such, but I think he'll recover just fine." The doctor
turned to stare at Sonic, "Lets just make sure that no other 'loud noises'
occur to wake my patient up, please?"
Sonic grinned sheepishly, "Yessir. It won't happen again."
"I'll see to that." Sally said giving him an angry glance.
"Doctor, did ya'll ever find out who this critter was?" Bunnie asked,
changing the subject.
"No, I'm afraid not, Miss Rabbot." The doc answered, "The only
identifycation he had on him was, three letters carved on the inside of his
belt: C M W."
"Probably his initals." Tails said letting go of Antonie, who almost
fell on the floor but was able to steady himself.
"Yes, I thought so." The duck nodded.
"What was he talking about?" Tails asked, "You know, 'I didn't do it'
and all that other stuff."
"I don't know, Tails. He might've just been saying things. He had hit
his head pretty bad when we found him in that tree." Sonic said to the young
fox.
"I don't know, Sonic." Sally said, "I just don't know..."
To be continued...
* * * *
Whoo HOO! I hope you enjoyed part 2 of my first fanfic! Stay tuned to find
out what happens next in the exciting lives of everybody's favorite hedgehog
and echidna!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legalities: Okay. ready, set go!!!
Sonic the Hegehog, Knuckles the Echidna, the Freedom
fighters, the Chaotix, Dr. Robotnik, and any related
characters are licensed characters of SEGA and Co.
and/or DIC and Archie Adventure series Comics. Clawz the
Wildcat was created by Erin Lindsey. If you want this
story on your site, want to use any of my characters, or
have any complications send them to:
diamondneko@mail.com
http://sheliacw.tripod.com
Okay enough of that...