Sonic and the Curse of the Sun Stone.
Author's Note: Here's chapter 1(besides the Prologue) of the redone story from Sonic in Between. Hopefully it's okay.
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Chapter 1: The Princess and the Hedgehog.
'Whoa...Who would've thought that this place was amazing? I can't wait to go exploring!' Thought Sonic later that night, as he ran all around the streets of Soleanna, the peaceful small kingdom that was filled with very kind people, both humans and Mobians. It wasn't like any other cities he'd been to in his travels. It was out in the countryside where the winds blew against the grass in fields, and beaches lined up to the beautiful ocean.
It was a place where anything unusual hardly ever happened, except for traditional holidays like the rest of the world, but the blue hedgehog had heard of one particular event that doesn't happen anywhere else on Mobius.
The Festival of the Sun, which, according to legend, was to worship Solaris, the Sun God, or so the fifteen year old recalled hearing briefly. He didn't pay much attention before coming here. None the less, it sounded like a cool event and he had arrived just in time for the annual celebration and he just couldn't miss it. He had figured that the obvious reasons why he missed out in the last previous years was one, he grew up on South Island, and two, Sonic had to save the world from Eggman.
But at least he had plenty of adventures to keep himself busy up until the demise of the evil doctor.
Sonic laughed as he made his way through, excusing himself through the small crowd that were making final preparations for the festival that was about to start soon. There were gift shops set up, decorations of streamings, paper lanturns shaped like the sun, dances, and fireworks. He eveuntally leaped and landed on top of the roof of one of the buildings and had a great view of one part of the kingdom, river boats lined up, lights coming on, the full moon beginning to rise, a perfect view to see some of the parade that was about to start.
"Wow! This place is great! I wish I brought the others with me." Sonic remarked, pulling out the camera from his quills, taking a couple of pictures of the view from where he stood. "And the view's way past cool!"
It wasn't long before the Festival began, and the blue hedgehog, wanting a closer look, leaped and hopped across the buildings and paths, taking photos at the same time as he went, eager to show it off to his friends when he returns to Station Square. Even the gondolas made the scene more breathtaking. He took time to take part in it as well, checking out the shops across the streets, trying out the food which he found very tasty, and watched the parade and dances as the main event moved along.
Feeling so excited like a small child, Sonic made sure to take photos of this as well, and while he wasn't sure why he was feeling this excited since parades didn't usually interest him as much, he decided that he was such in a good mood for the first time in months and coming to deeply love his friends/family more than ever, he wanted to at least share this event with them even with photographs.
"Um, excuse me?" A young girl's voice squeaked beside him on his right, making the cobalt teenager blink before glancing down, seeing that it was a five year old Mobian squirrel girl, who was holding a notebook with stickers of Sonic and his friends, such as Tails and Amy, and a pen that had pictures of him as well, looking rather shy. "Can I have your autograph please, Mr. Sonic?"
Sonic smiled with a light chuckle, and looked up to see her parents who nodded with gentle, warm smiles, giving him permission to do so.
"Sure thing, kid." The blue hedgehog replied.
"Hooray!" The young squirrel bounced excitedly, handing him her book and pen, and Sonic chuckled again, writing his name in the book, then gave the items back to her and gently patted her on the head, making the little girl giggle happily. In her excitement, she wrapped her arms around his wrist which surprised him at first, before he gently hugged her back.
Some of the crowd who saw this all gave out cooes at the heart-warming scene. "Awwwww."
Once the two stopped the kind hug, Sonic gave the girl his trademark wink and thumbs up, which she adorably returned before heading back to her parents who waved at him. He waved back and waved at the girl who did the same, before the family of three walked off, the little girl telling her parents at her exciting experience.
'Sweet kid. Just what the world really needs.' The teenage Mobian thought to himself, smiling just as someone began calling out.
"Here she comes!" A man excitedly cried out.
"It's the Princess!" A young woman added.
"Princess Elise!" A female Mobian Otter cheered.
This caught Sonic's attention as he turned to see the largest float of the parade. At the helm of the lead boat, was a beautiful young woman with red hair, elegant white dress with long cotton gloves, about seventeen years old, Princess Elise, he correctly guessed, waving gracefully at the crowd who applauded, whistled or cheered. She was surrounded by maidens and soldiers in case there was trouble-not that there would be any since Eggman's death, and she held such a wonderful smile.
While Sonic wasn't romantic at heart, plus a human and a Mobian getting together was one of the worst ideas in history, and Amy would kill him if she found out about him hanging out with girls he may actually really like more than just a friend or a sister-like figure, he couldn't help but admire the Princess in awe and wonder.
"Whoa...She's beautiful." Sonic whispered to himself. When Elise turned her attention to the crowd to her left where he stood, he smiled and like a gentlemen, plus having learned to be more respectful since his adventures in Camelot, he gracefully bowed to show his respects.
Normally Elise, who unknown to everyone outside of her life, wouldn't feel the same happiness as she would wished since, being a princess, her smiles were just to mask how lonely she was. But when she took notice of the unfamiliar blue hedgehog, one of the visitors she guessed, actually bowing to her with a very warm smile that actually made him quite charming and handsome even though he was a Mobian, for the first time in her life since her father's passing a year or two ago, warmth filled her heart and a true smile formed on her face that matched the one she practiced, actually going into her eyes and waved at him in gratitude for his kindness.
Others who saw Sonic do this quickly did the same, but for some reason even as Elise had expected as much, there was something about the cobalt hedgehog actually made her heart leap a little. Even in the crowd, she somehow saw such kindness, a bit wild in personality but a pure heart, being able to live freely, to do as he pleases.
There was something familiar about him, though. The Princess just couldn't place it, though. Yet she did not have the time nor the freedom to think, as she had to focus on her duties, as her boat neared it's destination.
When Sonic looked up to see the lead got begin to vanish around the corner, he couldn't help but have his smile fade into a concerned frown.
'That's weird. She was smiling, but...it looked fake. Her eyes...they looked so lonely...so sad. Wonder why?' The blue hedgehog thought to himself. He saw it in the Princess's eyes before he showed his respects, and hoped that his benevolent smile made her feel a little bit better despite that it was not his place to cheer someone of royalty up, no matter how much he wanted to.
The lead boat finally stopped at the center of the Kingdom, where the final arrangements of the ceremony would take place. Elise, followed by two robed figures of her maidens, gently stepped off and approached the glowing yellow and orange stone with flames flickering from within.
Sonic, eager to see what was going on as close as he could get, raced over to get a closer look, moving past the crowd while apologetically saying. "Excuse me. Sorry. Comin' through."
When he found that he was still too far and too low, the blue hedgehog jumped and leaped until he was on the roof of another building, able to see what was in the middle and while he couldn't see Elise's face, he noticed the crystal-like stone that literally had fire within it. How a stone can do that, the teenager had no idea.
"Could that be a symbol of Solaris like the legend says?" Sonic whispered after whistling. It looked really cool, almost like it was really alive. It also had a haunting look at the same time, though.
Elise stood before the crystal, one of the maidens handing her the ceremonial touch, speaking the same words she had spoken for the last ten years. "We give thanks to the blessed flames. May we always continue to have peace. Sun of Soleanna, guide and watch over us with your eternal crystal of light, the Light of the Sun Stone."
The Princess lowered the torch as the platform's sides all around her lit up in flames like a stream of light to the very top, giving out more light which signaled another wave of fireworks with cheers roaring.
"Wow!" Sonic exclaimed in awe, finding himself applauding in amazement. "That was way past cool! And nice speech, too!"
Unfortunately, even with peace being wished upon Soleanna by it's Princess, and said peace for the world given most parts by the demise of his long-time nemesis, like in Tesrod Village, it wasn't meant to last. Suddenly picking up the noise of approaching helicopters and something being shot from due to his sensitive hearing, the blue hedgehog snapped his attention to his left and to his horror, a missile hit the ground dangerously close to where Elise and her Maidens were.
Fortunately, one of the cloaked women also noticed as the seventeen year old young woman, unaware at first, was being pushed to the ground by the maiden, the entire Kingdom shaking due to the impact. Even Sonic nearly lost his balance while the crowd below gave out panicked screams and cries of alarm.
"AH!" The blue hedgehog yelped, nearly falling off the roof before managing to regaining his balance and looked up again, exclaiming in shock. "What the!? That can't be Eggman! He's dead!"
Sonic was indeed right. The attack was most certainly not one of Eggman's usual creations, because there were no robots in sight. Just...about three helicopters that looked made for military uses, which was very unusual considering. More alarmingly, the hatch underneath each one opened and revealed human men heavily armed with machine guns that made his stomach turn, wearing uniforms that were black and snake-like patterned, with badge symbols of that of two snakes curling up and meeting with their fangs shown looking ready for a fight.
The blue hedgehog gasped as the men dropped down along with heavily armed robotic-like machines with more of these mysterious intruders piloting them, landing on the ground and surrounding Elise who froze in fear, while the crowd ran away in fear. One man, looking well into his mid-twenties, also dropped down, but he was seemingly robotized, or maybe part cyborg, with his left eye replaced with a metallic one with a small red light, wearing a long black cloak, his right arm also metallic, right up to where his shoulder should be. He had black thick short hair, ugly scars on both cheeks, wearing nothing but leather with the same symbol.
"Secure the Sun Stone." The man commanded his soldiers, in a deadly, calm and hissing like voice that made him sound a bit like a snake.
"Yes, sir!" Two of the soldiers saluted, hurrying over to the sacred stone.
Elise was speechless, making a move to protest but froze when she found herself surrounded by the soldiers while her maidens were forced back, and from where he stood, Sonic could only watch in horror and shock.
"What's going on?" The blue hedgehog muttered in disbelief.
"Good evening, Princess of Soleanna. It is an honor to meet the last of the royal bloodline, far more beautiful than the sunlight and moonlight intertwined." The man, apparently the leader, greeted darkly as he bowed with a sinister look that no one liked at all.
"Who...are you people?" Elise slowly demanded, trying her very best to hide her fear despite that she was nearing death's doorstep. "What do you want?"
"Such a brave face, your highness. Pardon us for being so rude. We are the Society National Agents of Killing Existence Squad, otherwise known as S.N.A.K.E.S. My name is Julian Fredrick, the High Commander of the Organization...and soon to be ruler of the Kingdom." The man, named Julian, smirked evilly. "As for what I want, it is the power of the Sun Stone, to become immortal and use it's power to rule not just Soleanna, but all of Mobius."
Sonic, so far not seen despite so many helicopters around, felt his blood boil as he listened to what that Julian guy was talking about. Could the Sun Stone really grant someone the power of immortality? If so, then this was yet another good reason why Eggman was no longer alive, as the very thought of him getting the stone's power to rule Mobius scared the blue hedgehog to death. He clenched his teeth as his eyes narrowed, clutching his fists tightly to stop them from shaking.
He didn't know what was fully going on, and at the moment he didn't care.
"I guess peace really is fragile if there were creeps like him around. I know what I gotta do." Sonic whispered to himself, his emerald green eyes flaring up with determination.
Once the two soldiers collected the Sun Stone and began to make their way back slowly, given that it was the size of a man's torso, while Julian then extended his robotic-like hand out to the Princess. "Come this way, Princess Elise III, my beautiful future queen."
Elise softly gasped, shaking her head as she backed away. "N-No...I will not!"
"I'm afraid you have no choice. This is the path you shall walk. This is...our destiny." Julian said darkly with his evil smile still in place, which frightened the seventeen year old girl even more.
That did it for the teenage hedgehog. Nobody was going to force someone to rule by their side and take over the world on his watch!
"Hero time!" Sonic softly declared, smirking as he heroically jumped from the roof and curled tightly into a ball, performing his Homing Attack, spinning around the platform in a blue blur, knocking away the guns from the men who, not expecting this, stumbled and were knocked to the ground themselves. Both Elise and Julian froze, stunned by the powerful winds created by the unknown source to them. The two men holding the Sun Stone stumbled and while they weren't hit by the attack.
"What?" Julian muttered, bewildered and becoming furious.
By this time, the fifteen year old hero landed on top of the peak of the platform, gazing down at the newest villain as he said with a confident smirk. "Not a nice way to make an entrance, buddy! What I did was a real snazzy performance."
Elise looked up to see the blue hedgehog and gasped in shock and disbelief. It was him! The radiant Mobian who gave her such a warm smile in the crowd earlier. Where did he come from, she wondered.
"It's you...!" The seventeen year old Princess whispered, her eyes wide.
Sonic glanced back at her, giving her a reassuring grin and a wink with a thumbs up, before turning his attention back to the intruders and immediately leaped into battle. The blue hedgehog axe-kicked at the machines, knocking the stunned pilots out just as they and the soldiers that still had their weapons opened fired, but missed due to his speed. He wasted no time in knocking away the rest of the weapons, and Spin Dashed into another one of the robotic-machines.
"Over here!" He cheekily called out to another one of the pilots from the right, pulling down one eye-lid briefly while sticking his tongue out to taunt him. Sonic smirked with a chuckle as it opened fire, making Elise shriek before covering her face in horror as she is unable to look.
But Sonic jumped in a nick of time and while spinning in a Spin Jump, he used one skill he rarely used since his first adventure on Angel Island, creating a barrier to protect himself briefly as the gunshots reflected from his Insta Shield and wrecking the robot, causing the pilot like his fellow comrades to be flown out and crippled, unconscious and injured but still alive. The blue hedgehog then Spin Dashed into the rest, and took that moment to catch Julian off-guard by kicking him in the chest, sending him backwards as the evil man grunted in pain, falling onto his back.
"Heh. Haven't used my Insta Shield in a while." Sonic chuckled as he landed in front of Elise who, hearing his voice, hesitantly looked up to see that he was still alive, and still smiling that radiant smile of his, especially for his wild double personality.
The Princess was utterly speechlessly, while the blue hedgehog turned to face her and did a quick bow, quicker than before.
"I'm Sonic: Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic introduced himself with a friendly and bright two-finger salute.
'Sonic the Hedgehog...Could it be...?' Elise thought to herself, as the name rang in her ears, as like many all over the planet, she too heard of Sonic's heroics, but never had actually seen him before since she had her duties. But to not only have seen Sonic in the crowd, but to have actually meet him in person and that he had come to her rescue in the time of need...it was astonishing.
"You...!" Julian's voice hissed darkly, causing both Elise and Sonic who spun around, the latter losing his smirk, to look up and saw the evil leader of S.N.A.K.E.S stand up, clutching his chest with his metallic hand, glaring angrily at the teenage hedgehog. "You are that meddling hedgehog who fought against Dr. Eggman for four years! What are you doing here, boy!?"
"I was having a nice vacation and enjoying the festival 'til you showed up and threatened innocent people's lives, Snakehead." Sonic responded with a glare of his own. "Coming in to attack this nice, peaceful kingdom, stealing the Sun Stone, which I kinda have no idea what it actually does, and attempting to kidnap and force Princess Elise to marry a creep like you? So not cool!"
"Snakehead!?" The evil leader hissed, snake-like. "You insignificant little rodent! Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"
"Like you had manners? Seriously, that stunt you pulled is no better than what Eggman would do. Now, if he were still alive, and I had nothing to do with how he died, by the way, since it was his own fault, I have a bad feeling you'd both be good friends or rivals." The blue hedgehog scoffed, folding his arms in disappointment.
"Well, that's one less thing to be concerned about as that man was always an obese buffoon, but no matter. Give me the Princess, hedgehog! She is mine, as are the Sun Stone, and all of Mobius!" Julian commanded.
Sonic responded by holding out one arm to shield Elise, never taking his eyes off of his newest enemy. "No! I won't let you take her, and I'm not gonna let you take over the planet! Give back that Sun Stone and ler her go, or you'll regret it!"
"Then I will take my bride by force! Even if it means becoming a god at this moment!" Julian declared, as the two soldiers that still held the Sun Stone stood behind him, he turned and began to place his normal hand onto the stone.
"No, don't!" Elise cried out, frightened.
But it was too late. The evil man touched the stone's surface, which caused a chain of reaction. The flames from within burned brighter and more furiously, somehow becoming bigger and brighter, and hotter at Julian's touch as will as the two soldiers who cried out in alarm, screaming as their hands were slightly burned which, much to the horror of everyone else, caused them to drop it. But it suddenly broke into three pieces before it even hit the ground, forcing Julian to step back and exclaim in alarm before screaming in agony as his left arm began to burn as though it was on fire.
The flames shot up into the sky, while the three shards of the now shattered Sun Stone glowed brightly, forcing Sonic, Elise and everyone else to shield their eyes as the pieces then flew away into different parts of the land. The fire that had been trapped inside then rained back down and suddenly engulfed Julian who, realizing too late what has happened, screamed once more, before streams of flames began to reach out towards anyone close or near him, engulfing them as they too were covered.
The hearts of Sonic and Elise, who lowered their arms and looked up, froze in horror, their eyes widening and their pupils shrinking in fear. They both gasped in shock and disbelief.
'This-This is...what's happening!?' The blue hedgehog thought, as every part of his body was screaming at him to take the princess and get away fast before they too would end up overcome by what he thought was a powerful curse, one that didn't bring light or peace from the Sun Stone at all. He didn't argue with it.
"No...The legend...it's-!" Elise whispered in dismay and devastation, tears beginning to fill up her eyes, before yelping as she was suddenly scooped up and carried in Sonic's arms bridal style when the blue hedgehog, knowing that it was extremely too dangerous to hang around and that he had to get her out of there, felt the need to get moving.
"Sorry, Princess! Gotta book it!" Sonic quickly responded, and quickly ran with the Princess held tightly in his arms, making sure that she was secure while as comfortable as possible.
Sensing the heat from the snake-like flames from what was happening, Sonic side-stepped to avoid in even getting brightly touched by the fire, afraid of what would happen to him and Elise who held on tightly, screaming as the blue hedgehog avoided the destruction as much as possible. Thankfully it didn't go as far as just outside of the platform and everyone else had already escaped and ran away. As for the S.N.A.K.E.S Organization, they were slowly transformed into disfigured snake-like beings that fitted the nick-name even more.
Julian Fredrick himself in the meantime has become a part fire, part snake-like monster with his tongue having become of that of a fire snake, his left arm with claws, his lower torso and legs becoming that of a snake, his eyes snake-like, while his head and metallic arm remained the same.
"I see...Sacrifice must be needed, just as the prophecy has predicted. I must get my queen back..." Julian hissed, still in pain but strangely and quickly accepting what has happened calmly.
He had become a Snake-Man, or a Fire-Nega.
A/N: The first dangerous step into Sonic's new adventure has began as he and Elise now attempt to escape the city to avoid in suffering the same fate as the evil Organization.
See you later!