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CuzImCoolBro: Yeah, summer hols are here and I'm (somewhat) alive again! :p Glad you stuck around! :) To answer your questions, yeah, that translator is going to come in handy for sure - Sonic is not going to have much fun without it ;) I'm planning to continue First Class...soonish? before summer is over? Hopefully? I do try to spread out the updates equally, but this story is fairly easy since I already have such a huge chunk of it lying around. I also have watched the 11th season of SPN and liked it a lot! :D
Chapter 1: Of Mice and Men
"Right. Yeah. Okay. Chaos Control gone slightly wonky. I can deal with that," Sonic was currently muttering to himself, still standing on the clearing where the Chaos explosion had dumped him. Once again the last few moments in Robotnik's lab after his friends had crashed through the ceiling to save him flashed through his mind -
xxx
"Hold it right there, Buttnik!"
"SONIC! I'LL SAVE YOU!"
"Human THIEF! Where is the Emerald you stole?!"
"NO!" Robotnik's face had transformed into a mask of horror at the spectacle of first a hammer, then two spiked fists, and then the curled form of a fox kit breaking through the ceiling of the lab. The explosion was also followed shortly by three furry bodies bursting into the room, in their wake chunks of debris raining down, marvelously missing any of the three people inside, but only barely.
"Sonic! There you are!" the two-tailed fox kid of the invader trio shrieked, having discovered his trapped hedgehog brother first. "Knuckles, you have to get him out!"
"Do I really?"
"Knuckles!" the kit protested, looking at his echidna companion with an expression of deep betrayal, but it was actually Sonic himself who interrupted,
"Uh, guys, thanks for the save and all, but I think Eggman's machine is-"
"It's about to implode, you fools, that is what it is!" Robotnik roared at this point, already at the door and hammering furiously on the lock pad which was now refusing to open, sparks from the destroyed machinery under the fallen debris flying everywhere. The death-star-portal-funnel-whatever (as Sonic had mentally designated the thing in the middle of the room) was also badly damaged and now pulsing in a way that nobody needed an engineering degree to tell was a probably a really bad sign.
"Oh." Amy managed, eyes wide. "Do…do you think it would help if I hit it with my hammer?"
"This. This is how I die," Shadow muttered, right before barking, "WOMAN! When has this question ever been answered with 'yes'-?!" but by then, it was already too late. None of the people in the laboratory ever found out whether it would, in fact, have helped to hit the damaged machine with a hammer, because there was already a small supernova forming in its center, blindingly bright energy bursting from the top of every star post mounted on it, the searing sphere in its center expanding as pure lightning rushed along the wires still connecting Shadow to the machine, hitting the Ultimate Lifeform who screamed…
And then even that scream was cut off as Sonic abruptly had the feeling of the universe folding in on itself and a light as bright as the sun engulfing them all.
xxx
Yeah, that was about it, I think, Sonic groaned mentally at the memory, rubbing his face. Only the Emerald apparently hadn't come with him, so he couldn't Chaos Control straight back to the lab (and give Robotnik a spiky piece of his mind in the process). Well, maybe it had gone with one of the others? (Who of course had to have been safely teleported away also. The alternative was not an option in Sonic's mind.)
No, now all he had to do was find out which Zone this was and then systematically race through it and the surrounding ones until he had found Amy and Tails – Knuckles and Shadow would be fine on their own – and maybe also a certain Egghead whose fault this all was and who deserved a good whooping for it, and then just turning on the mach speed and be home in timer for dinner, easy as -
"Oh wow, what is that?!"
"Huh?!" Sonic whirled around, planning abruptly interrupted. On the other edge of the clearing, a human boy had appeared, was staring at him and excitedly exclaiming something, but Sonic hadn't quite been able to make it out. It was definitely a younger kid, with unruly black hair and a baseball cap, and, judging by his green backpack, also out for a hike in the woods. Sonic noticed that he also had sort of strange pet with him, a sort of yellow chao – that he is apparently speaking to? Sonic wondered, because the boy was definitely looking more at the pet than at him, though he was glancing back and forth.
"Have you ever seen something like it before, Pikachu?! It looks like a form of rattata!"
Sonic still couldn't make out what the other said, but for some reason he wondered whether he should somehow feel insulted.
He started to cross the clearing to make himself better understood, trying a friendly wave.
"Uh, hey, hi," Sonic began, also adding a small smile, "Listen, could you maybe tell me-"
For some strange reason, the boy didn't react to the greeting, either, but was now pointing a sort of odd, red, game boy-like object at Sonic and staring down at it. The hedgehog frowned and paused as the thing flashed and beeped at him, spines tensing in slight wariness.
"Uh...what are you doing?"
The human looked back up at his question but still seemed disinclined to answer. Instead, he was now starting to look confused, indicated by the way he kept rapidly glancing from the apparently unhelpful screen of the thing toward Sonic and back again.
"That's weird, the pokedex has, like, no information..."
And even though he was closer now, Sonic still couldn't make out what he said. Slowly, a sneaking suspicion started to rise in the blue hedgehog's stomach, prepared to reverse direction and turn into a sinking feeling any moment.
"Excuse me, do you speak Mobian?" Sonic asked, swallowing. If he had landed far away enough for people to speak a different language, getting home could potentially involve more than just a bit of running.
The kid looked at him quizzically for a moment, as if trying to figure out what he had just said – but then actually seemed to shrug and then completely ignore him and instead talk to his freaky pet thing.
"Alright, Pikachu! I can't make out its name, but a new Pokemon, how awesome is that?! Professor Oak will be thrilled!"
"Yo! Kid!" Sonic shouted now, annoyed. He might be able to get some communication across using his hands and feet or drawing something in the dust, but not if this (obviously slightly mentally challenged) human wouldn't even acknowledge his attempts.
"Pikachu! THUNDER SHOCK NOW!"
"WOAH!"
And what happened next cemented very firmly that this thing was NO ordinary Chao.
Sonic barely leapt out of the way of the lance of electricity. He landed a few metres away with statically puffed up fur, clenched fists and quills sticking up every which way in pure indignation.
"What the HELL, kid, are you out of your-?!"
"Oh wow, it's fast! Pikachu, Quick Attack! Show it what you're made of!"
Sonic's eyes widened, as suddenly, the yellow mouse instantly seemed to disappear – and then hit him square in the chest, driving the wind painfully from his lungs. Sonic stumbled backwards with a cry, barely evading falling onto his behind, but could only watch for one, two moments as the little psycho rat returned to its human partner in crime.
"You're awesome, Pikachu! Do it again!"
(And no, while he still couldn't understand the words, the fact that the boy was cheering the thing on was not lost on Sonic, who promised himself to think twice the next time before saving humanity again.)
Next, the yellow creature had disappeared once more, but this time, the hedgehog's eyes merely narrowed. Now that Sonic knew what the trick was, his vision, trained from landscapes moving past him at hundreds of miles per hour, could keep track of the crazy mouse easily as it was charging while rapidly changing direction so fast as to appear almost invisible.
Keyword: almost.
If you think your little critter can surpass me in speed, you've got another thing coming, kid.
"Tackle! NOW!" The human yelled what was obviously a command and in response, the not-chao flung itself forward at Sonic still standing in its path – only to then crash into a tree at full tilt when said hedgehog had very conveniently stepped sideways at the very last second.
"NO! Pikachu!" Sonic wasn't entirely sure what was up with the human now, but he sounded distressed as he ran toward his pet.
His own damn fault if he makes it attack people. What on Mobius did he think would happen?!
The yellow Chao mouse seemed to be dazed, but okay, though, so Sonic thought he could once more try and make himself understood, despite the lack of common language.
"Hey! Stop! Fighting! Me!" he yelled, accentuating each word with appropriate and expressive gestures to get his point across. But the kid didn't seem to pay him much attention, only agitatedly fussing over his mouse and then turning around again on his knees when it seemed to recover.
"Pikachu! You can't beat it with pure speed, let's try the electricity attacks again! Spread them wide! Thunder, NOW!"
"Chuuuuu!"
Sonic barely had time to wonder whether he had just been able to hear the sound of an upset baby train, when the electricity already hit him full force.
"AAAAAH!"
His entire body spasmed as the air around him crackled with sparks, and he couldn't do anything but scream with agony – Sonic had often been electrocuted before, of course (Robotnik and a certain pirate captain being the chief offenders, and sometimes one of Tails' 'brilliant' inventions as well...) but it never was any less painful.
After a few seconds of searing hurt, the hedgehog collapsed onto the ground, his body reeking of electricity and burned fur. Face buried in the dirt and blue ears twitching in pain, Sonic thought he could hear that human brat now being quite cheerful, though.
"Awesome, Pikachu, you did it! We've got a new Pokemon!"
"Pi-pikachu!"
"Okay, I've had it up to here with you now!" Sonic jumped to his feet again, now truly angry. Both of them looked up again, obviously surprised.
If this had been any of Egghead's inventions, they would by now have been sliced in half. Even Shadow or Knuckles, if they had repeatedly attacked Sonic without explanation would have been on the receiving end of a few vicious high-speed kicks. The boy was only a kid, however, perhaps 10 or 11 years at the most, and his yellow pet thing also looked considerably smaller and younger, which was mostly why Sonic hadn't yet felt inclined to actually attack it - much as he was riled up, so far he hadn't wanted to accidentally seriously injure either of them. But now he thought at least the mouse thing could actually use some sort of wake-up call.
Next, the yellow critter appeared honestly surprised as its blue opponent had gotten up so quickly, and had also zipped immediately in front of the two. A squeak escaped its mouth as Sonic reached down and roughly yanked it up by the neck fur, rudely shaking it to a satisfying squeal. A gloved finger appeared in front of its button-nosed face as Sonic snarled.
"Okay, buster, listen. If you think of causing any more trouble at all, I swear I will-"
"Piiii...kaaaa...!"
Of course, when the ear-deafening electric shock nearly blew Sonic's brains out a second later, he also realized that picking up the little freak had been a really bad idea.
"CHUUUU!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Sonic screamed even louder than before as he was hurled backwards and smashed against a tree, collapsing into a heap at its foot. Blearily, he could make out the rat running back to the human who had just punched the air with a fist in triumph. Sonic decided he'd have to make him eat his stupid cap later just for that. His whole body hurt and he wasn't sure whether he wouldn't faint if he let that pocket-sized monster shock him again - and what would happen if it did. What did that freak even want with him, kill him? Capture him? (Eat him? a slightly woozy part of his brain suggested). Sonic decided he didn't want to find out.
"That was fantastic, Pikachu! I'm so proud of you! Now, let's catch it and take it back to Professor Oak so he can examine it!" To Sonic's ears, the boy was babbling cheerful nonsense again, now also digging in his lime-green backpack for something. "Just gotta find a Pokeball now, I really didn't expect to find anything new in Viridian Forest..."
"Pika, pika, pikapi!"
"Huh? What is it?" the human asked, looking up as his pet was suddenly anxiously tugging at his pant leg, pointing toward something. "Something wrong, Pika-?"
"YOU, human, picked the wrong hedgehog to mess with."
The boy gasped as he suddenly beheld the scorched, panting, blue-furred creature who had been near unconscious just a moment ago not two metres away from him, emerald green eyes narrowed to blazing chips of gemstone blade.
"What-?!" the kid's eyes widened, obviously still not being able to make out a word the monster had said, but nevertheless understanding very easily that it was very, very angry.
"Impossible, how can it have so much stamina-?" he breathed as he reached for one of the other balls on his belt, but never managed to touch them. Suddenly, the blue creature was gone and almost as suddenly reappeared behind him, twisting the boy's arm onto his back.
"Oh no. Whatever it is you're trying to do, forget it."
"Pi – ka -!"
"Think third time's the charm? Better think again," Sonic said and then, in the single moment before the yellow thing could attack, shoved its human friend straight into the shock.
Interestingly enough, he screamed not quite as much as Sonic had when he collapsed.
"Not...again..."
The yellow mouse squealed as its owner hit the floor, patted his face frantically for one, two heartbeats, and then, much like it had just ascertained that the human was still alive, faced Sonic with all of its little fangs bared.
"Pi. Ka. CHU."
If Sonic hadn't known better, he would have thought he had just been on the receiving end of a death sentence.
"Hey, don't pin this on me, you li'l monster. If you hadn't tried to shock me-"
"CHUUUUUUUUU!"
"AGAH!"
Sonic barely leapt out of the way of the thunderbolt as he became increasingly aware that he had apparently just pushed some electric mouse berserk button.
"Chu! Chu! Chuuuuu!"
"STOP IT! Yeesh!" Sonic wasn't entirely sure whether the thing was commanding him to masticate, but he also didn't fancy much the option of finding out by slowing down. He was currently zipping about the clearing, dodging crackling electricity left, right and center, and wondering whether he shouldn't just give up and run for the hills in the hope of perhaps finding some other people that weren't quite as insane.
"Pika-chu!"
And then, even that option was taken away from him, when just for a moment, the yellow mouse had emitted a sort of flash so bright, it was blinding. Sonic yelped and covered his eyes, for a second as disoriented as a newborn.
Where on Mobius am I, this shouldn't be happening-
"You...little...!" he groaned, trying to open his eyes again and see something else other than the silhouette of a tiny, long-eared monster mouse permanently seared onto his retinas – and then got his wish granted, when then the first thing he saw was another wave of electricity, far too wide and broad to dodge, rushing toward him. Sonic froze.
Too high too jump. Not enough time to run in his state.
Only one thing for it. Sonic raised his hand, praying this would work.
Chaos energy was dangerous when harnessed for an attack, often near uncontrollable, and incredibly disruptive. Sonic was by far not as good at wielding it as Shadow, and therefore he disliked using it for offence extremely – but he could.
"SONIC WIND!" the blue hedgehog yelled the words, at the same time throwing his arm forward and releasing a blue whirlwind of energy that disrupted the electricity wave rushing toward him and scattered it harmlessly – but then it didn't stop going and almost hit the (now sitting, but still groaning) boy on the other side of the clearing.
Sonic breathed a sigh of relief as it impacted only against the tree next to him – and then, of course, nearly choked on that same sigh when said tree immediately reacted by dropping a giant branch on top of the kid.
"PIKAPIIII!"
The mouse was going to kill him.
To be continued...
There, hope you liked! Questions, suggestions and comments about your fav bits welcome. If you read, please review! :D