Disclaimer, since I forgot to put one on the previous page; I do not own Sonic or related characters. I do own Sabre, Wildkid belongs to Wildkid56, and Teepo is property of… Teepo S.T.
Will there be romance, one reviewer asks? Well, maybe a bit of all the usual, but a few other things along those lines are also in the works…
The rocket to Mars was within two hours of launching when Sonic, Tails and Knuckles arrived.
Shadow was already there.
Half an hour later, Amy and Cream arrived.
Another half-hour later, Rouge showed up.
"Rouge?" said Shadow, surprised. "I don't remember you around when Sabre-"
"Oh, I have my ways of finding these things out." Rouge giggled. "And of course, keeping track of the Sabre is an interesting hobby…"
"You've heard of that guy?" asks Sonic.
"You mean you haven't?" said Rouge, surprised. "You don't read the newspapers very often, do you…?"
"What do you mean?" asked Amy.
"The Sabre shows up wherever there's trouble." said Rouge. "He's been spotted at wars, revolutions, coups, conspiracies and just about everything in between. They say he always fights for the oppressed and the weak, for those who can't fight back. And they also say he's a master of all weapons, an invincible warrior, and a ruthless killing machine if necessary. And he sure makes himself known among the girls…" Rouge broke off, giggling.
Knuckles crossed his arms. "How would you know…?" he asked.
"Oh, an old friend of mine once had an encounter with him. Quite the gentleman, apparently. She's never stopped talking about him ever since…"
"Right." said Knuckles. "By the way, where the heck is he now?"
Ten minutes before the rocket was due to launch, Sabre finally showed up. With him he had brought two friends. "Oh, hey guys!" he said to Sonic and his crew. "I don't think you've met my buddies here. This is Wildkid," he said, motioning to a green-furred Hedgebat with a gun almost as big as he was strapped to his back, who grinned in acknowledgement. "And this is Teepo." Sabre pointed to his other companion, a tall human clad in a black robe with long blue hair making it difficult to tell which gender he was.
"Oh, hey Sabre, hey Wildkid, hey Teepo!" said Sonic. "Uh… you are a boy, right?"
"Yes!" said Teepo indignantly.
"Don't mind my pal's dress sense, we'd better get on board." said Sabre.
"Two weeks!" shouted Rouge, dismayed.
"Hey, this is the fastest spaceship yet built, and we've got several million kilometres to travel." said the ship's pilot. "Two weeks is quite quick considering most rockets take a couple of months."
"But two weeks in this tin can with… this lot!" Normally the rocket would have only a pilot, navigator and engineer as crew, and was not designed for this many passengers. There were ample supplies for all of them, but it would be cramped.
"You wanna go to Mars or not?" said Sabre. "'Cause if you do, you should shut up and let us launch already."
It was a long and cramped two weeks, where all on board probably learned more about the Solar System, zero gravity, and each other's hygienic habits than they ever wanted to. At least everyone had their own distractions; Sonic spent most of the trip literally bouncing off the walls of the cargo hold, Tails studied the engines and technology, Knuckles exercised muttering worries about what the lack of gravity was doing to his physique, the girls talked, gossiped and spied on the boys, Wildkid slept, Teepo studied the stars, Sabre polished his weapons to the point he could win a battle with the glare from them and Shadow sat and meditated. It was little wonder Shadow felt most at home; he was created and raised in a space station; designed partly for space exploration and combat; and the infinite dark void of outer space seemed to suit his personality.
Most of the passengers, but Shadow in particular, noted how enigmatic the Sabre was. Even Wildkid and Teepo, his best friends, admitted they knew little about him. Sabre was a mystery, a wanderer on a journey with no start or end. He was hesitant to talk about his past, and often quickly changed the subject if it was brought up. Even Rouge, who found his mysterious nature, youth, good looks and dashing charm quite alluring, could not get the warrior to tell of his origin. Sabre brushed off her advances, making a point of this to Knuckles (who, meanwhile, had also struck up a friendship with Wildkid).
After two long, enlightening weeks stuck in the cargo ship, they finally touched down on Mars. The attendants at the cargo depot looked surprised to see almost a dozen extra passengers burst out of the hatch, rejoicing that they were in a space with enough room for them all to stand upright a respectable distance away from each other. The uniformed man standing near the ship, however, did not.
The man, a tall, brown-haired, military agent wearing rounded dark sunglasses, walked over to the group. Sabre recognised him.
"Hey, Agent Bingo!" said the warrior, waving.
"Hello, Sabre." said Agent Bingo. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we can remain on such pleasant terms…"
Before they could ask why, dozens of armed soldiers dropped out of nowhere and surrounded the group, guns raised.
"I'll have to ask exactly why you're here. Right now, Mars isn't exactly the best place to take a holiday."
Wondering what's going on? You'll just have to wait and see… You know the drill, people! REVIEW! Anonymous reviews accepted.