A Hero is Born
Chapter One
Enter… the Eggman?
It was a beautiful day on a yacht and the sun hung high in the air. A small family could be seen on the deck on the ship. One of them was a young blue hedgehog that appeared no older than two. He was making his way towards the starboard side of the boat only to be grabbed by his mother.
"Now Sonic, you shouldn't be going to the edge of the boat without Mommy?" she cooled and scolded at him at the same time but he only laughed at her statement.
Then the tropical setting turned dark. Dark, ominous clouds appeared as if out of no where blocking out the sun. Thunder began to rumble as lightning could be seen in the distance and it crept on the vessel at an alarming rate as the seas began to turn choppy. Gale force winds began to howl and moan as the hoists for the sails began to snap one by one as the sails began to flap violently in the wind. Then the ship turned broadside as an ominous wave began to build until it towered over the vessel.
The blue hedgehog named Sonic stood transfixed to the scene as if it was something new to him or he seemed too scared to move since he was rooted to the spot. His mother grabbed him around the waist and ran into the bridge just as the wave hit the yacht. The bridge was shattered by the wave as it capsized the boat. Sonic was thrown from his mother's grasp as he sank beneath the waves and into the darkness of the murky water. As he descended, the moaning wind seemed to subside.
"Mommy?" he cried out and he was no longer in the water but in eternal darkness.
Then behind him appeared a pair of malicious, blood red eyes, and an ominous, booming laugh followed. He turns towards the source of the sound and peers into the pair of eyes that were watching him. The laughter became louder and the eyes started to chase him. Sonic began to swim, forgetting that he was no longer in the water, as he tried to get a way from the eyes.
"Mommy, Mommy!" he cried, hoping his mother could hear him, as his voice began to get more terrified.
Then more eyes encircled him and the laugh began to get louder and louder. He let out a scream that started out as a high pitched scream then his scream seemed to go to a deeper tone over time. Then a young hedgehog, around eleven, awoke from his slumber with sweat dripping from his face. He looked around to see if the 'evil eyes' were still there, but they weren't and it's only the sounds of the local wildlife filling the area with sound. The young hedgehog's name is Sonic the Hedgehog and he has been stuck on this island for as long as he can remember. He's a blue hedgehog with long quills, green eyes, gloved hands, and wore red sneakers with a white line going perpendicular as it bisected the red.
His home for the past several years is South Island. South Island is an isle shrouded in mystery since it's said that it is not in the same place twice and it moves from time to time. It's also said that it moves every new moon or every quarter moon, but it's only Sonic who knows when it moves. However, he doesn't pay attention to when it moves, but he's always prepared to when it moves again; which isn't anytime soon.
"That nightmare again," he mumbled himself. "Why am I having these nightmares? I guess a morning run should clear my head."
He started to run, but he wasn't running like anyone does. This hedgehog was blessed with the gift of super speed, but he didn't know how fast he could go. He traveled through an area that he had named Green Hill, partially due to the rolling hills that plagued the area. Sonic sped over the hills as he passed the animals that frolicked in the area around the palm trees. He ran through the area as he turned his morning run into a game of sorts. When he came to a steep hill, he began to roll and he began to pick up speed. He then was launched into the air and he landed on top just one of the loops that were in the area. He looked off in the distance towards the north to see something out of the ordinary.
It looked like a structure of some sort, but it looked foreign to Sonic. Dark smoke was bellowing out of the structure and smog seemed to have covered the base of the structure. A small storm seems to be brewing from the smoke near the structure.
"Now that is something new," Sonic thought.
Sonic knew that it was new, but he couldn't recall the last time he'd seen a structure on top of that hill. He traveled throughout the isle, while staying near Emerald Hill, and he didn't see this structure before. Sonic decided to check the structure out since his sense of adventure had taken over but before he could take off. He heard the sounds animals but this time they sounded terrified by something, or someone.
He turns to see some kind of mechanical creatures taking the animals and placing them in some kind of prison with a plunger on top of it. He could see beetles (with wheels?) and crabs with oversized pinchers gathering up the animals. He also spotted mutant-like wasps patrolling the air with jets on their sides. Just as he was thinking over the scene he was witnessing; an explosion detonated near him as it sent him from his perch and down the incline he went. He recovered and began to roll again. Sonic was launched into the air for a second time and he rebounded off of the wasps one by one. In the process, the wasps were destroyed and they… released animals? Yes, animals and they fled from the scene as the shells of metal came crashing to the ground.
"Get him!" one of the metallic crabs spoke in a monotonic tone pointing towards Sonic.
The other metallic creatures heeded the call and attacked Sonic. The crabs launched laser orbs at Sonic, the wasps launched laser orbs from their stingers, and the beetles tried to maim him with their razor-sharp blades. Sonic used his speed to his advantage as he dodged their attacks. They each fell either by another's attack or by Sonic using his buzz saw attack. They were all defeated and all of the animals escaped while Sonic looked on with confusion.
"What's going on here and why were those things doing covering the animals? Now," his attention turned to the prison capsule, "how do I get them out?"
He looked on top of the capsule to see that plunger sticking out and he shrugged his shoulders as he jumped onto the capsule. Popping sounds could be heard and small explosions could be seen coming from the capsule. He jumped from the capsule and it disintegrated freeing the imprisoned animals.
"Okay," he said as he tried to regain his composer as he watched the animals run off, "who put that there and who made these things?"
"So, you're the one who destroyed my creations and my Prison Egg!" a deep voice spoke from above.
The source of the voice came from a flying machine of some sort and it landed on the ground revealing whose voice it was. It came from a bald-headed human male with a thick mustache and dark glasses over his eyes. The rest of his body was hidden inside the pod.
"So you're the one who is taking animals and turning them into those… things," Sonic snapped as he tried to find a better word for those 'things' that he had destroyed.
"Yes, those robots, or 'things' if you prefer, are my creations. My name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik and I'll soon be the greatest scientific genius of all time!" the man proclaimed and Sonic mentally rolled his eyes.
"Okay, Doc, the name is Sonic the Hedgehog and I demand that you get off my island and leave the animals alone before I make you!" Sonic hoped that his bluff would work, but it didn't by the way the man looked at him.
"You think a kid like you could stop me? After I gather the Chaos Emeralds on this island, I'll leave but I won't leave your home like the way it was," he grinned with a sadistic smile
"Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic asked as he was lost that what they were while scratching his head. "What's so important over some gems?" he thought to himself.
"The Chaos Emeralds hold infinite powers and once I gather them all. I'll be invincible!"
"I think somebody needs to be sent to the loony bin," Sonic muttered but this didn't go unnoticed by Robotnik.
"What was that!"
Sonic jumps onto the pod as he got into the Doc's face. "Ya, heard me," Sonic got a good look at the rest of Robotnik's body and he cracked a smirk on his face, "Eggman!"
"What did you call me!" Robotnik was infuriated at the remark.
"I called you 'Eggman' since you look like a giant, talking egg!"
"Badniks!" and more wasp robots appeared at his call. "Get that hedgehog!"
They tried to sting Sonic but missed as he back flipped off from his perch. Robotnik made a hasty retreat as his wasps tried to attack Sonic. Sonic got on top of the wasps and one by one they attacked one another as they made an attempt to hit Sonic. Then there is one left and Sonic finished it off with his buzz saw attack before he took off in pursuit of Robotnik. He ran over the hills over bridges until he stops on a low-lying bridge over a narrow creek. Sonic let out an inward shudder as he stopped on the bridge to get his bearings.
"I hate water!" Sonic thought out loud and he didn't know the source of his fear of water.
Sonic turned his head thinking that he'd seen something, but there was nothing there. He saw something else but he'd seen nothing. This kept on for some time before he heard a whirling sound from behind. It was a mechanical fish, or piranha of some sort, with large razor-sharp teeth. Another jumped out of the water and missed Sonic. This time more came to attack Sonic but they just missed him. When they came out again, Sonic was ready for him and he took them down until they were all gone. Sonic sped off as the animals ran away as he continued after Robotnik. He stops on top of a cliff to see Robotnik near another one of his Prison Eggs. Sonic took a running leap off the cliff and lands in a forest of palm trees. He takes off but was attacked by a rocket that misses him be inches. Just at the rocket appeared it vanished. Another appeared, this time on Sonic's left flank, attacking him but it missed and Sonic countered attacked it. Sonic decided to run since he couldn't hit what he can't see and he finally caught up with Robotnik.
"I got you now, Eggman!"
"Persistent, aren't we?" Robotnik asked. "It's was nice meeting you Sonic the Hedgehog, but I must bid you adieu," and he pressed a button that caused a large ball-and-chain to descend from the belly of his craft. The ball began to spin at a violent rate before Robotnik attacked Sonic by smashing the ball into the ground where Sonic was standing. "Goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog."
A whistle was heard from above followed by a voice, "Hey, Eggman!"
"What the?" Robotnik looked up to see a silhouetted image of a hedgehog coming headlong into him.
"Let me introduce you to my signature move, the Sonic Spin!" and he began to spin like a buzz saw
Robotnik tried to free himself before he was hit but to no avail. Sonic burrowed through the pod destroying the ball and chain attached to it. Robotnik fled from the scene after he was freed as his pod began to go into flames as his attachment was destroyed. Sonic on the other hand destroyed the Prison Egg before he continued his pursuit of Robotnik, but he didn't get too far when he spotted a large golden ring in a circle of palm trees.
"What's this?" Sonic wondered as he approached the ring, but as he touched it; he vanished from site.
Sonic appeared elsewhere but his landing was not as smooth; he landed on his backside.
"Where am I?" Sonic asked out loud, but he slipped on his perch as it changed angle causing him to land on his head. "OW! That hurt!" he said rubbing his head as he tried to make a joke out of the situation. "Not this time!" Sonic said as he felt the ground swift again. "Is this thing spinning?"
Sonic was right, the place he was in was spinning at a constant rate. He had a difficult time trying to find his way through the maze. He had hit some panels. One of them reversed the spinning maze and two of the changed its speed. He also bounced off some bumpers that made him feel like that he was in a pinball game, and he was the ball! Sonic then saw something off in the distance; it looked like a sparkling jewel. He made his way towards the jewel as he tried to make it safely to the gem. He grabs it and he was transported back to where he came from.
"What the?" he looks around. "I'm back to where I came from and I still have this gem?" Sonic thought for a moment until he realized something. "This must be what Eggman is after! I must gather the rest of them before he does." Sonic takes another look at the Emerald and it vanishes into his glove. "What just happened?" he asked aloud as he looked over his hand that held the gem. "Never mind that! I must stop Eggman before he takes over the island and… the world," Sonic said before he sped off after Robotnik, but he was unaware that he was being watched by someone.
"Ah, so there are some pretty jewels on this island and it wasn't a waste of time to check it out," the figure spoke mainly to himself. "I'll bet anything that hedgehog knows where the rest of the gems are, and I'll relieve him of that one so that I can get a better look at it." The figure then got onto his hover bike and sped off after the unaware Sonic.
Dr. Ivo Robotnik is after the mysterious Chaos Emeralds of South Island and it's up to Sonic to stop him. Will Sonic succeed in halting the mad doctor's plans or will he fail? Who is this mysterious creature that was watching Sonic? Is he friend or foe? What does he want with these Chaos Emeralds? All these questions and more will be answered in the next exciting chapter of A Hero is Born.