Author's Note: Here's chapter 2. Enjoy! Oh, and this chapter will also have spoilers from Sonic and the Werehog, so you've been carefully warned.
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Chapter 2: Escaping from Castle Town.
"Phew...Oh man! Life just keeps getting more and more crazy!" Sonic sighed in relief, shuddering as he couldn't get the image of what he just witnessed out of his head. He raced through the streets of Soleanna, focusing on keeping Elise out of Julian's clutches, find a place for her to hide as he had a feeling taking her back to the Palace wasn't an option, and then figure out how to sort out this mess.
When he had sought out another adventure, for once this wasn't what he had in mind yet half-expected, but it was much more than the times when he fought against Eggman. This was even more horrifying than when he fought against the Black Knight and his Army from the Underworld. The unbelievable power that was released reminded him too much of Dark Gaia, only this was a smaller scale and Mobius was still intact.
'Maybe I should call Tails, but it would take too long. Guess I'd better do this on my own. That's nothing new. But the Sun Stone...what is it really? Is it really made for peace, or...something sinister? I have a bad feeling about this.' The blue hedgehog thought to himself.
"Um..." Elise began, speaking up and bringing Sonic out of his thoughts. He glanced at her, noting that she looked a bit uncertain, still stunned with the events that happened, and maybe a bit shy. "Why are you helping me?"
Sonic smirked, casually answering. "No special reason."
The fifteen year old then made a great big leap over the river and he could feel her tighten her grip on him, but as he landed successfully and safely on the otherside on solid ground, she relaxed a little and he couldn't help but mentally flinch a little. Maybe that was a bit overboard, but he was one to do many crazy things. At the same time, however, he kept in mind for the lessons he learned ever since the incident three months ago, and what has happened in space last month. He had promised himself to not get too cocky like that again.
Yet he felt the pang of guilt for not stopping that 'Snakehead' guy from touching and breaking the Sun Stone which caused this crisis to get worse. Sonic wished he had taken the fiery crystal and then escorted it and Elise out of there. Again he made a mistake, again he messed up. Again and again, each crisis gets worse before they get better.
'This is all my fault. I just stood there! I should've stopped him the moment he arrived!' Sonic chasitised himself while focusing up ahead, looking over his shoulder once to make sure he and the Princess weren't being followed. He knew he should be checking up on the rest of the kingdom, but so far the only main damages were the attack that happened at the center, and no one else seemed to have gotten hurt...so far.
Still, it was one of the most haunting things he had ever seen. The blue hedgehog lowered his gaze to the side slightly in guilt. Why was it whenever he went out to be a hero that things get messed up before he fixes it?
"Sonic!" The Princess's voice snapped him out of his thoughts again, her squeak of fear made him look up and he softly gasped before skidding to a stop when he saw that their escape path was blocked off by, to their shock, snake-like beings in the uniforms of S.N.A.K.E.S, who hissed with snake-like tongues, having somehow caught up and now stood to prevent them from escaping.
"No way!" Sonic exclaimed, unable to belief what he was seeing. "What's going on here?"
"The Sun Stone's curse..." Elise whispered in fear, her heart hammering. She remembered what her father had warned her, and just as she had feared for a long time, it came down to her and her only family...he was gone.
The transformed soldiers began creeping closer, causing the blue hedgehog to step back a little, before considering on placing the frightened Princess on the ground. But then he thought of it, as he knew that if he wasn't careful, she could easily be taken, given what has happened, how many soldiers there are, and he turned his back on her. Then an idea formed in his mind. It was risky, but he didn't have a choice.
"Hang on!" The cobalt teenager instructed the teenage princess who, not knowing what else to do, nodded and did as he requested. Sonic then ran and leaped over the group of soldiers who stared up in shock at the stunt before he landed and then with Elise in his arms, ran around and around and around, forming a whirlwind of his speed, causing the transformed enemies to be caught in the Sonic-Tornado, screaming as they went.
Sonic then skid to a stop and made sure that the bewildered princess was still in his grip, watching the former human soldiers being spun wildly before his attack stopped, and they all flew away, crashing into the river he leaped over with a numerous splashes.
"Hope they can swim." The blue hedgehog muttered sarcastically, then heard a moan and when he looked at Elise, he sweat dropped when he saw that she was dazed, her eyes swirling. "Oops. Uh, are you okay, Your Majesty?"
"I-I think so." Elise replied, still feeling dizzy before shaking her head a little to regain her senses.
"Sorry about that. I just didn't want those guys to kidnap you if I wasn't careful enough." Sonic apologized. "Maybe I should get you back home where you'll be safe. It's too dangerous out here."
"Please, Mr. Sonic. I can't go back, not like this." The Princess quickly protested, shaking her head.
"Whaddya mean?" Sonic asked, now being his turn to be bewildered. Before he could get an answer, there was a loud rumble in the sky which caused him and Elise to look up, the sky beginning to turn fiery red from where the Sun Stone had been shattered, and to their horror, the helicopters that carried the evil organization here began to transform as well. From transports into flying snake-like monsters with wings on their backs.
"Okay, explain to me how this is happening?" The blue hedgehog asked, before turning to the girl in his arms. "And why can't you go back the Castle, even though I'm beginning to see that even that's not such a good idea with these helicopter-turned-into-monsters flying around?"
"If I don't leave Soleanna now, the curse will only spread onto the people here too, and not just that man Julian Fredrick or his soldiers. The Flame Ritual has began." Elise explained fearfully.
"But what about everybody else? I can't save you and leave them!" The blue hedgehog protested worriedly. If he left now, then there was a chance that many other people, humans and Mobians alike, would fall under the same whatever spell that turned S.N.A.K.E.S into snake-like people and even their vehicles into giant flying snake monsters.
"I don't want this either...but as a Princess, I must restore the Sun Stone to save the Kingdom and my people. My presence will only make things worse. I have to put faith in the guards to keep everyone safe." The Princess replied, tears in her voice and beginning to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry...!"
Sonic had no idea what she was talking about, but given what was happening, he knew in that instant that there was no other choice. The only thing he can do was to do as she requested and be her bodyguard from here on out. Squeezing his eyes shut in a mental conflict within himself, he opened them and nodded firmly.
"Just hold on!" Sonic told her, and with a heavy heart once again, he turned and ran as fast as he could, and while she was doing a great job in keeping herself from breaking down, a tear managed to slide free. So he gave her a reassuring smile and said softly, "Hey, we'll figure this out. I promise."
Elise looked at him and nodded, putting her faith into the blue hedgehog who had rescued her and doing his best to be the hero like he always was.
As they raced through the streets and a way out of the city to prevent anyone else from suffering the same transformation, high above one of the newly-created flying snakes, on it's back stood Julian who gazed over the horizon.
"It's only a matter of time before she's mine. As well as your life, Sonic the Hedgehog." The transformed Fire-Nega muttered to himself.
Meanwhile, in the Mystic Ruins, Miles "Tails" Prower was taking a break from giving the Tornado 1 a few upgrades and having had dinner. The young fox cub was in the living room of his and Sonic's shared house, a little bit lonely without his adoptive older brother but it was to be expected. The blue hedgehog wasn't one to sit still for long and he was a lover for adventures, hence to why he went off alone after they had been home for a week.
It was okay, though. Because the eight year old kit had the time of his life in Isalenna, spending time with Sonic as they went on many adventures, and even though the hero of Mobius had been sent to an alternate world of Camelot given what he told him, they still stuck side by side as they toured before having seen all of it and finally arrived back home. It had been fun and Tails couldn't wait to go back, this time with not just Sonic, but with as many friends as possible.
For now, he was happy to simply relax and wait for the blue hedgehog to return home and tell him all about his adventures in Soleanna, mainly because Sonic also treated it as a vacation.
"Wonder how Sonic's doing? Probably having exploring by now." Tails muttered to himself, as he sat in his favorite chair and turned on the TV, flipping through channel after channel to find something decent to watch.
It wasn't until he caught on the special news report on the Festival of the Sun, which the young fox cub felt a bit left out since it actually looked a lot like fun. But as he watched the event, he gasped as Breaking Live News broke out with the Kingdom of Soleanna suddenly under attack and despite most people getting away, the news reporters still managed to get a glimpse on what was happening. As the news reporter lady was frantically telling the unusual event with the mysterious group called the S.N.A.K.E.S who were about to steal the legendary Sun Stone, with it's leader, Julian, who gave Tails the shivers, suddenly there was a familiar blue blur that knocked out the machines and some of the soldiers that caught everyone's attention.
Almost instantly, Tails recognized the blue streak.
"Sonic!?" He exclaimed in shock and some relief, almost jumping out of his seat to see his big brother there just in time to once again save the day.
However, the reporters were forced to evacuate and call off the news coverage, only getting an unfortunate and horrifying glimpse of the Sun Stone breaking apart, Sonic being too late to stop the evil group who were all engulfed and the blinding light breaking the camera. The young fox gasped in horror, but half of him felt that the blue hedgehog would be alright, and that he would no doubt rescue the Princess. Still, the News then switched to how the story unfolded and now the Kingdom of Soleanna is under a huge crisis.
Tails' stomach turned and twisted in horror. He had no idea what was going on, and while Eggman certainly had nothing to do with this new world-threat, the eight year old feared that Mobius was in danger, and even with Sonic's speed, the fiftheen year old may need help with this new crisis.
"Sonic's probably gonna figure out how to stop those guys, but he may need help. I have go to Soleanna and fast!" Tails muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing with determination. His adoptive hedgehog brother has been through so much ever since three months ago, and last month was another emotional one that like with the Dark Gaia crisis, took a heavy toll on him.
Knowing what to do, despite the lateness of the hour, Tails turned off the TV, quickly packed what he needed and raced over back to the Tornado 1, finishing up the upgrades. It wasn't long before the young kit, after making triple checks that nothing was about to blow on him, was flying in the air in his plane.
'Hang in there, Sonic. I'm coming!' The eight year old fox thought to himself, hoping to get to Soleanna before it was too late.
"I think this spot should do. I'm afraid I can't take you any further." An old man driver of a boat announced, as he stopped his yacht next to the dock wooden platform of Ocean Wave just outside of the Castle Town, while his passenger hopped off and onto the wooden walk-path.
"That's okay, I can walk. Thanks for the ride." Said the passenger, who was none other than Sun the Hedgehog, originally born as a dark-blue hedgehog, now his fur was coloured in sun-orange, and white gloves that replaced his original black ones, but his violet eyes and green and white shoes with silver buckles remained, as did the scar on his right cheek.
"My pleasure, Mr. Sun." The old man chuckled. "I still find it hard to believe that you were named after the legendary Sun Stone, yet you look like Sonic the Hedgehog in appearance, aside from the colours. Quite a coincidence, isn't it?"
"Not really. I was more named after the Sunlight itself, not a Sun rock." Sun waved dismissively, which was the truth. Hence to his past and connection with his former rival and now close friend and brother, Sonic, who had given him his name on their first adventure together, the orange hedgehog just stuck with the name.
Like Sonic, Sun knew nothing of the Sun Stone, and even though the legend sounded intriging, he wasn't all that interested in it. But he attempt to live more lively since his own adventure a couple months ago following his departure from his brother(well, brothers, since Sonic adopted Tails and Chip was a dear friend to them as well), dealing with his own struggles against a dangerous enemy. Since being cured from turning into a Werehog at night, while Sun still retained his strength, he had come acquinted with gripping hooks since he actually missed stretching out his arms to swing around.
So he decided to take a break and left Isalenna, traveling the world and found himself here to take part in the Festival of the Sun, which would be awkward considering his name, but he decided to try and ignore it.
"I've been meaning to ask, young man. Are you related to Sonic, or are you more like Shadow?" The captain asked, but not unkindly.
Sun shifted a little uncomfortably, before shrugging. "It's complicated. But I can at least say that I didn't spend fifty years cooped up in a cold storage, and I'm nowhere near as old as Shadow. I am fifteen, after all."
Well, he was physically a fifteen year old, close to being sixteen since he heard that the blue hedgehog's birthday was in the next two months, so Sonic will be sixteen this year. But the former Werehog didn't want to be treated like a baby, so he secretly had fifteen days of celebrating his existence and pretended he missed out fifteen birthdays of his life to make things easier. Plus his reunion with Sonic and Tails last month on their first day of touring the continent helped, even if he was still a stoic grouch.
"Oh, I see..." The captain began, which made the orange hedgehog flinch for a moment... "You're Sonic's long-lost twin brother!"
An awkward pause.
"Uh...I wouldn't say lost, but yeah, we're brothers in a way Blue is to Tails and leave it at that." Sun replied with a sweat drop.
Just then, before the old man could question the young hedgehog any further, the ground rumbled with the sounds of whooshing and roaring, causing both of them to glance up to in front of them on the path into the Kingdom and they gasped in shock and horror when they saw the sky turn red, and a trio of snake-like flying monsters that were being transformed from helicopters and were flying over the distance. Seeing this made the former Werehog groan, rolling his eyes.
"What now?" Sun grumbled. First Dark Gaia, then his recent adventure, then Sonic up against Eggman and the Nega-Mother Wisp, now this?
"What in the...? What's happening?" The captain muttered, shakily.
Sun wished he knew, but given what he has seen, he ruled out the possibility that Eggman was behind it given how Sonic once told him of the evil doctor's demise when he had been eaten by the Nega-Mother Wisp before the blue hedgehog restored her to normal. Plus Sun himself had saved the world from the evil forces two months ago, so it couldn't be them either. Which mean someone else evil was behind this. Whether or not Sonic was here, Sun had to find out.
"Old man, you get outta here fast! I'm gonna go check this out!" Sun ordered, and before the Captain could protest, the tangerine hedgehog sped off to investigate, a bit faster than he was before.
But he didn't get far as just as he was heading towards the sand on the beach and up to the Castle Town, another rumble forced him to stop and a large crowd of people were running towards him, attempting to escape from the destruction that was going on. Forced to move out of the way as a huge pillar of light was shooting up into the sky, Sun noticed a guy falling onto the ground and he hurried over towards him.
"Hey! What's going on?" Sun demanded as he helped the man to his feet.
"T-T-There's a-a bunch of-of men s-stealing the-the Sun S-Stone! Now they're turning into-into-into Snake monsters!" The man hysterically screamed out, scrambling as he once again made a run for it.
"Uh...Men stealing the Sun Stone and now are turning into Snake-monsters?" The orange hedgehog muttered, dumbfounded. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. On the other hand, if helicopters can turn into snake monsters too, then I bet there's more to the Sun Stone then everybody thinks or were saying."
He knew little of the Stone itself, but if stealing it was putting these thieves under a terrible transformation, maybe it wasn't a stone of light after all, but a curse. Suddenly the former Werehog had a bad feeling that it was a case of Dark Gaia all over again, only this time there was no giant monster, and people going near it...would all be transformed. Sun felt a chill run down his spine over the times when he was forced to transform each and every night before the embodiment of darkness was defeated by Sonic and Chip.
Narrowing his eyes as he knew that something was wrong, Sun was about to take off to figure out what was happening, when an unfamiliar voice spoke up. "Do not go in, young hedgehog. You will only walk into your own death."
"Huh?" Sun paused and turned to his right, where he saw another old man, except he wore a large cowboy styled hat that looked more like a dark pirate hat, with a black feather hanging over his left eye, having a long grey beard that stopped to his stomach, wearing a black robe, dark grey pants with leather shoes, and a white shirt with a black leather vest, one hand behind his back and the other holding a long staff designed after the shape of the Sun Stone.
"You are Sun the Hedgehog, the brother of young Sonic the Hedgehog. The Flame Ritual has began, and only the Kingdom's Princess shall stop it." The old man continued.
"Who the heck are you? How did you know me and that Sonic's my brother?" Sun demanded, glaring at the man suspiciously.
"Many would know of Sonic the Hedgehog. I have seen the both of you as well as little Miles Prower, whom you call Tails, in Isalenna. Come with me, child, and I will tell you all that I know." The man responded.
"And why should I trust you? You haven't told me who you are, and if you're with the guys I fought hard to stop from destroying the world, or whoever's behind all of this, then you can forget it. Nobody tricks me!" The tangerine hedgehog replied, taking a couple steps back while keeping his guard up.
The mysterious man stood there, his dark eye peering underneath the hat at Sun before answering. "I will tell you what you need, including as to who I am. Now come, we must hurry. Do not be alarmed, young one. I mean no harm."
Sun gritted his teeth with a glare, before noticing that the situation was getting worse already and seeing how people were still attempting to escape, as much as he wanted to help them, he had no choice.
"Just let me at least make sure everybody's out and safe, and don't bother in stopping me, old man." The tangerine hedgehog grunted, before rushing over to try and help as many people who were left behind or tripped and/or are about to get caught in the unusual powerful event.
Left on his own, the old man grunted but said nothing. He tightly clutched his staff, thinking to himself. 'You and Sonic the Hedgehog have overcome many obstacles, Sun the Hedgehog. But only the Princess shall save us, with a price to pay.'
There was so much at stake, and he knew it.
Sonic was still trying to find a way out of Castle Town, but each time he thought he was getting closer to the exit, even by leaping up onto roofs with the Kingdom's Princess securely in his arms, to his frustration and dismay, he kept on going all around in circles and thus was continuously lost. He made his promise that everything would be sorted out, but with many of the S.N.A.K.E.S and their robotic machines, now all transformed into actual snake-like monsters, blocking off some of the exits he tried to use including the one where he entered the Kingdom earlier, he was starting to worry that they may never get out, that they were trapped and the world was doomed.
"Come on! There's gotta be a way out somewhere!" Sonic grunted, racing across the city's roof tops, with time running out and if he and Elise didn't get out soon, the kingdom would suffer the same curse and...so would both of them. That thought made him feel like this was the end and he felt the one thing he felt only towards water and the Werehog wanting to eat him.
He was scared.
"Sonic! Try the Dusty Ruins Entrance!" Elise shouted, pointing to the south-west to their right, and the blue hedgehog saw where she was pointing.
"Right! Here goes!" Sonic stated, gripping onto the teenage princess before going into a boost mode, leaping and jumping and running as more and more soldiers and helicopters and machines of the evil Organization were slowly transformed, and many innocent people of Mobians and Humans were nearing each exits themselves.
As the cobalt hero leaped off and landed safely onto the ground before taking off again, finally close to the exit of the city that was quickly being overrun by the hideous monsters that were once human or machine, Elise looked over her and Sonic's shoulders and gave a terrified shriek of horror, prompting Sonic to do the same and gasped in horror with his eyes widening. In the center of the city, the huge flames that transformed the evil S.N.A.K.E.S was now getting bigger and spreading.
"It's about to spread to the entire kingdom!" The princess exclaimed.
"Just hold on tight!" The hero of Mobius instructed, and once he was certain that she was doing as she was told, he held onto her before speeding up as fast as he could and just as it was about to quickly catch up to them, with a final yell of desperation, Sonic made a daring leap right out of the exit and onto the path towards the Dusty Ruin Desert. He landed safely, before taking off again, racing out into the place and as far away from Soleanna as possible.
Fortunately, the spread stopped not even half way across the kingdom before it retreated back to the center of Soleanna, while the rest of the innocent people, unaffected, managed to escape, with only Julian and his men remaining inside.
Seeing this as Sonic and Elise looked back once more while the former kept on running, he let a sigh of relief. "That was close. A few more seconds, and that woulda got us for sure."
Elise said nothing, as she could only gaze at her home she was forced to leave behind being over taken by the Flame Ritual as well as Julian and his Snake Men, before looking away and buried her face slightly onto the blue hedgehog's shoulder as possible, which made Sonic look at her in surprise before realizing that the reality of the situation was finally catching up to her. He could only look away slightly in guilt, before mentally shaking away the flood of those emotions attempting to drown him and focused up ahead.
By then, the morning sun began to rise as the entire new adventure to escape the city had taken all night. Now Sonic just had to get himself and Elise some shelter and a place to hide.
A/N: Not to best of chapters I'll admit, but I'll try and make it up for it in the next one. As you can see, my OC Sun the Hedgehog is back, and due to his character and such, I may eventually begin a story with him as the leading protagonist. But that will come much later.
See you in the next chapter!