Yesterday was hectic. And I still don't have a decent cover for the story, but I'll think of something sooner or later. Anyway, whether it's the 5th or not, I present to you Chapter 1, the official start to the story.
Also, fair warning: I hope you like lengthy chapters.
Disclaimer: Sonic and his wonderful bunch of characters, in no way, belong to me. However, I do own the mentioned oc in this chapter.
'Thinking'
"Speaking"
Dreaming and/or flashback
'Ancient Speaking'
Chapter 1: Nightmares Don't Give You Seizures, Do They?
Thursday- April 6, 2017
Location: Windy Valley, Mystic Ruins
On a beautiful day when mother nature felt generous, she would sometimes spare the land and it's occupants a nice gift in the form of a small soft breeze. This light current would brush by anything within it's path with a gentle touch of cool air. But when mother earth felt as though the natural order wasn't so natural, then she would take that light breeze and corrupt it into a cold and ruthless wind to help restore balance to the weather conditions that peppered the planet. This current could aid a hurricane in having it's devastating way, or even rip up chunks of earth and settlements from below and toss them around in a swirling mass of destruction.
If one attempted to stand in this powerful force of nature, then without a doubt would they struggle to remain on their feet until the wind has had enough and knock them down to the ground. Such as the young boy struggling to remain standing right now.
The wind was harsh, cruel, and completely unforgiving.
It roared in his ears.
Whipped at his hair.
Slapped his cheeks.
Slashed at his eyes, forcing them to clench shut.
And his knees felt like jelly.
He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. Hell, he didn't even know how he was here. Wasn't he just at his uncle's diner, serving tables a minute ago? How did he end up in the forest of Mystic Ruins? At least... he thought it was Mystic Ruins. The vegetation and the dirt looked the same, but... he didn't remember the constant wild winds that made the Big Bad Wolf's huff look like a meek whistle.
Another large gale threatened to knock him over as if he were a set of bowling pins, eliciting an exhausted grunt from the boy's throat.
This shouldn't be happening. Why was it happening? He was covering for his cousin, who had to clean up the aftermath of an explosion in her lab. No biggie. He was far used to the near daily explosions and taking shifts. It was apart of his life, his normal.
But what wasn't his normal was suddenly being ripped away from the familiar homey environment, and launching face first into the grassy plains of one of his favorite hang out spots. And upon further inspection, he wasn't even dressed in his usual uniform, but instead was decked out in his regular school clothes.
Was this a dream or something?
A dream.
That's it. It had to be. How else would it explain the sudden change of scenery and the monstrous weather conditions? There was no other explanation for it. Still...
Slowly, the boy lifted his eyelids and blinked before he opted to keep them open. Eyes of soft emerald green veered around, carefully taking in each and every detail that the large landscape had to offer. When he finished his search, did the boy shake his head with a look of slight disbelief.
Was this a dream? The roaring winds, the smell of pine needles and fresh dirt, and the exhaustion his body felt at this very moment... it all felt real. Too real. Surely, if this was a dream then he'd have known right off the bat, right?
As if sensing his thoughts, the sharp current came to a screeching halt. In it's place, was a soft breeze that lightly tickled the boy's cheeks as it silently brushed by.
The boy blinked. And blinked again. And yet again.
"W-what?"
He didn't understand. What was going on? He knew the wind could be very unpredictable, very unrestrained. But for it to suddenly go from the force of an enraged lion to the soft purr of a cuddly kitten? It honestly didn't make sense.
"Soon, Blue One. Soon."
A voice. With him no longer at the mercy of the dangerous gales, the boy had heard it. It was low and gravelly, and yet it held a hint of powerful wisdom. The tone had sounded so confident, so reassuring, that the boy almost felt comforted by it.
Almost.
After all, the response had been so short. It didn't explain just what was happening. He needed answers.
"Hey, wait a minute, pal!" he called out with his hands cupped around his mouth, "What's going on! What am I doing here!"
Even though waiting was never his strong point, he stood at his spot for a few minutes, hoping for the strange voice to answer him back with a more knowledgeable response, one filled with the information he needed.
And he did receive an answer. Just not in the way he had hoped.
Without warning, the soft breeze changed, shifting over to a large gale, aligned with what looked like a eerie blue glow. It blasted through the air, closing the distance between it and the seriously unprepared boy, who looked like a deer caught in a pair of headlights.
With a yelp, the boy turned on his heel and took off down the dirt covered road. It seemed this action only served to infuriate the vibrant lit gale, because with a loud burst of wind, it rocketed forward, chasing after the boy as if it were hell itself. Which, given the situation, it may as well have been.
This prompted the boy to run faster, bodily needs be damned. Dream or not, he needed to get away. He knew he wasn't fast enough to avoid the unnatural phenomenon licking at his heels, but he had to at least try...
Thursday- April 6, 2017
Location: Windom Residence, Outskirts of Station Square
"Sonic! Sonic! It's okay! It's only a dream, Maurice! A dream!" a girl with a mop of honey-colored hair shouted as she shook her brother's shoulder, in hopes of waking him up. "Snap out of it!"
When her pleas fell on deaf ears, did Lousie Windom, or Sonia as she preferred to be called, retract her hands away from the boy's shuddering body. Disturbed, she watched the teen convulse with yet another jolt of fear racking through his body in his sleep.
She knew a nightmare when she saw one, but this... this wasn't a normal nightmare. It looked as if he were having a seizure even. She hoped to god that wasn't the case. Despite her mother being a doctor, she nor her biological brothers had her medical knowhow. You'd think being the children of a well-respected child doctor would leave them with benefits such as knowledge to treating a seizure. But sadly, she and her brothers had other interests than taking up after their mother. The only brother, although adopted, who showed complete interest in their mother's work was the youngest of the Windoms, Miles. But he wasn't here at the moment. Neither was their mother. Instead, it was just Sonia and her brothers. The triplets of the Windom family. And speaking of brothers...
"Step aside, sis," came a smooth voice, "I'm about to give our dear older brother his daily dose of H20."
Sonia looked to the side and noticed her immediate younger brother, Jaleel, or as he preferred, Manic, seated on a cherry oak nightstand, loading up his blaster. Her eyes widened, and pushing herself onto to her feet, she started for a leather computer chair located in the far right corner of the room. When she reached it and made herself comfortable, she lifted her head and made eye contact with her brother, silently giving him the signal to go.
Manic nodded his head in compliance, aimed the blaster at his frantic bedridden brother, and without hesitation, pulled the trigger.
Both teens watched as a jet of highly concentrated water exploded out of the 'toy' gun and shot towards the frenzied boy, smacking him straight in the face with a large and loud-
SPLASH!
The effect was immediate.
Panicked emerald colored eyes snapped clean open, and not even a second later, did they start dancing around the room.
Where was it? The... blue gale... thing... Was it gone? It wasn't chasing him anymore? He was safe? And what about the voi-
"Whoa, whoa. Chillax, bro. I'm here. Sonia's here. And not some blue gale. Don't tell me you started watching the weather channel all of a sudden."
The boy, or as Sonia addressed him earlier, Sonic, blearily blinked. His slowly fading thoughts drifting as he tried to process what his brother said. His siblings are here? The weather channel...?
A hint of red colored his cheeks when he concluded that he had in fact spoken his thoughts out loud. Now, that he was no longer trapped in what was apparently a horror-filled nightmare, his other senses chose to strike him hard. The first thing he noticed was the feeling of soaked hair as the once silky brown strands of hair tipped in blue stuck to his face like a wad of gum to the bottom of a shoe. Followed shortly after that, was the smell of wet hair, slight must, and cologne- a combination that made him wrinkle his nose. And lets not forget the cold touch the water offered while dripping down his clammy skin, or the taste of excess water as it slid down his throat.
To summarize, Sonic didn't feel very comfortable at the moment.
Blinking and rubbing away the water that threatened to blur his vision even more, Sonic blew a wet strand of blue tipped hair out of his face, before combing the rest of it out of his view with a hand. Thanks to the action, he was able to make out the two other occupants of his room.
A girl with styled honey colored hair, fair skin, a pair of sapphire blue eyes, and a pink-streaked bang at the front and a purple colored streak in the back of her hair; and a boy with unkempt oak colored hair donning wild green streaks, tanned skin, a pair of violet eyes, and a pair of grey ear piercings. In other words, his biological siblings.
And said siblings both sported semi matching looks of concern. Aimed directly at him.
Now, he didn't know what was going on, but he just knew he was the cause for their current mood. So, he did what he did best after running.
He tried to diffuse the tension with a small smile.
"So...," he drawled with a nonchalant look, "the shower. Who's bright idea was that? Because I swear I took one just before I went to the diner." Images of serving tables and the roaring winds of Mystic Ruins flashed in his mind uninvited, prompting the boy to suppress a shudder. He didn't need to think about that right now. Especially not in the presence of company.
Sapphire eyes narrowed, and Sonia studied her older brother's form under close scrutiny.
Was he seriously trying to brush off the little episode he had not even five minutes ago? She knew Sonic tended to be a bit thick headed, opting instead to use his feet rather than his actual brain, and she knew that he absolutely hated it when it came to expressing his more troubled emotions. But trying to act as if he didn't just have a freaking seizure in his sleep for god's sake... that didn't settle well with her. At all.
And seeing Manic's stoic look, it didn't settle well with him either.
Upon noticing the expressions on their faces, Sonic's smile vanished. Heaving a tired sigh, he slumped his shoulders and finally asked "Alright. Fine. What happened yesterday?"
"You passed out after serving one too many tables." Manic bluntly admitted, adding a shrug to his shoulders.
Catching his forming confusion, Sonia shook her head and sighed.
"At the diner," she elaborated, making sure her voice was heard, "you agreed to cover Space after her latest experiment blew up in the lab, and so, left the kitchen and went to serve her waiting table."
Sonic nodded with a small 'Uh huh.'
"After you finished up their order, you were on your way to the kitchen to notify the chefs. But..." the brunette's eyebrows creased and her voice softened a bit, "...you stopped. I had already stopped sweeping the floor the moment I heard someone groan. At first, I thought it was just a random kid impatiently waiting for their order, but when I looked up... it was you… and it looked like you were in pain... "
Manic nodded his head in confirmation and took over, his lips pursed thinly, "Yeah bro, we saw it happen. You started swaying like a drunk, like if I touched you then you'd drop right there and then. You looked so fragile. And guess what happened after that?"
"...I dropped?" Sonic hesitantly guessed.
His brother nodded, "You dropped. Hardcore."
"Miles rushed over and checked you over before someone could phone the hospital," Sonia timidly piped up, "Once he confirmed that you were okay, we had Space and Uncle Chuck come over and help us carry you to your room, while Rotor manned the restaurant without us."
The boy frowned. It sounded like he gave these guys a hard time.
Sonic didn't have much longer to ponder on this new bout of information though, for his attention turned toward to Manic, who still had a bit to say.
"It was crazy, man. You drop like a sack of potatoes, and then questions are fired at us after we come back," the youngest triplet said whilst a smirk crept up on his lips, "Even when you're not busy being coach's favorite, you still get the undivided attention." he leaned forward, his chin hovering over his clasped hands, "What's your secret? Because I want in."
Sonic grinned, a look of relief donning on his face. He was glad for the change of topic, "Then listen up, mi hermano, and listen closely. The three key steps to being awesome are A) wear something blue, B) have a need for speed, and C) naturally be awesome. Like me." he winked at the end for emphasis.
Casting an eyeroll, Sonia chose this time to intervene before things spiraled out of proportion. After all, now wasn't the time for their shenanigans, and there were far more pressing matters at the moment.
"Boys," she started in exasperation, "Can we please stop with the cheesy tips and focus on what's important?"
"Hey," Sonic piped up indignantly, looking slightly offended, "My tips are important."
Sonia chose to ignore him and continue on, "Lets focus on the big question, shall we? Starting with the source himself." Blue eyes narrowed as sister turned and fixed brother with a firm look, "What did you see, Sonic?"
Sonic looked startled at the question, "What?"
"She means the nightmare, bro," Manic clarified with a slight frown forming on his face, "No amount of chili dogs could ever hope to mess you up that bad. So it's gotta be the dream you had. What was it? Because you and the word 'spooked' in the same sentence?" the boy closed his eyes and slowly shook his head, "I didn't think it was possible."
Sonic frowned. Oh. That.
The dream... the wind, and the deep voice... and, and that haunting chase of a blue gale that... seemed to be alive somehow... Should he tell them about it? What would they think? Would they laugh? Help him? Sonia did have a thing for getting to the root of the problem... and Manic did have a way with words... At times, he and his siblings were pretty close, and they tended to open up to each other. But even they had secrets they'd rather keep to themselves.
"I'll... tell you after school," he said after a long pause, and upon seeing the look of protest on his siblings' faces, he elaborated, "As much as I hate to say it, school starts in-" he spared his alarm clock a quick glance. It was 6:13 AM. School started at 7:20 AM. "-about an hour. And I don't need another detention with Grimer."
"Hold on a minute," At this, Sonia rose an eyebrow skeptically, and crossed her arms, "You? School? You can't be serious. You literally dropped dead on the floor yesterday."
"Try me, sister," Sonic challenged after throwing his damp comforter off of him. He sat up a bit more and addressed the puzzled siblings, "I've got exactly one day left before the big race, meaning I've got some running to do. And hey-" he stretched his arms, a small smile playing at his lips, "After that power nap, I feel great. I'm ready to take the day on at full throttle."
Unsettled by his brother's cockiness, Manic pointed out "Dude. We're freshmen. You passed out yesterday. And word travels around fast in Station Square. I'm sure by this point coach has already heard what happened to you, meaning he'll gladly give you a break."
Sonic looked as though the thought of flunking school today made him physically ill, which was odd because the boy hated school.
"And screw up the big race? I think I'll pass," he lightly refused, scrunching up his nose.
Sonia wanted to scream in frustration. She wanted to hit something, preferably a dummy. Sonic's famous stubbornness was showing. After a horrid nightmare, it was showing. And because of what? A stupid race? One he could always attend next year as a sophomore? Didn't he care about the fact that he fainted yesterday? Despite Miles finding nothing wrong with him, she knew something was wrong. One doesn't simply pass out in the blue after appearing seemingly fine that day. And the day before. And the day before that. And before that one too.
It couldn't be his constant runs. His immune system and physical build were at top shape, and his body showed zero traces of slowing down after constantly running day by day because of his need for speed. The point was he shouldn't be up and moving so soon.
But what could she do? Anything she tried, he'd just find a way to counter it. Locked him in his room? No problem, there's a window. Sealed the window shut? Hey look, I've got these mad lockpicking skills! Pulled a pressure point on him? Good thing I'll make a speedy recovery!
So overall, Sonic would find a way to head to school. Despite his thick head, he seemed to always have a trick up his sleeve.
"Let him go, Manic."
Both boys looked over at Sonia in shock, who stood up from the leathery computer chair.
She pursed her lips, "We'll let him come with us."
Upon hearing this, Manic shot his sister a look of utter disbelief while Sonic sighed in relief. The latter opened his mouth to speak, but Sonia wasn't done.
"But," she pointed a strict finger in his direction, a scowl present on her face, "If we catch you fainting again in the middle of school, we're so getting dad to leave his job and drive you home. One, you're heavy. Two, you'll be forced on bed arrest. And three, we won't be there to bail you out so keep that in mind."
"Right..." Sonic trailed off. The thought of facing the wrath of his parents' anger and babying caused him to wince. "I'll... remember that."
The brunette nodded in satisfaction. "Alright then. I need to finish my hair anyway, and you, Robinhood, need to return the blaster you stole from our resident scientists." she gestured to the water blaster still held in her younger brother's hands.
Without hesitation, Manic agreed, "True," he pushed himself off of Sonic's nightstand and onto his feet, "Nerds are surprisingly intimidating when you take their stuff. Well, at least, those two are."
Shaking her head at the boy's comment, Sonia turned and faced the eldest of the triplets. "We'll see you at breakfast, Blue." she said as she started for the door, "Get dressed."
Sonic perked up at this. "Wait, you make that sound like it's a good thing. Are we having something else besides apples and cereal?" he sounded hopeful. And he had the right to be. Wouldn't you be too when your mom was a doctor, your dad was in the military, your uncle manned a chili dog diner in the wee hours of the morning, and your siblings were too busy preparing for school to fix breakfast? And his cooking skills weren't all that great...
By the time he finished his question, Sonia was already out of the door and making a beeline for the bathroom down the hall. But Manic lingered behind, and stepped back inside the room for a minute. He tossed his brother a mischievous smirk.
"Sorry, compadre. That's for us to know and for you to find out."
And without another word, Manic left the room, closing the door behind him.
Sonic stared at the door...
And then huffed. So they weren't going to tell him what was for breakfast, were they? They were going to make him play the waiting game? Well, whatever, he'd find out soon anyway, and chow down before heading off to school. Seemed simple enou-
"It's almost time, Blue One. It's almost time."
As soon as the voice rang through the air, alarm bells immediately went off in Sonic's head.
He whipped around...
And was met with the sight of his Sam Speed poster stapled to his wall.
...What the hell?
His eyes poured over the poster of the hotshot driver, studying each and every detail like he had done with the Mystic Ruins in his dream. The same smug smirk, the same look of challenge that glinted in his shamrock green eyes, the same windswept ginger hair, the same red suit, and the same red hot formula one racecar in the background. Everything was the same... but that didn't make Sonic feel any better.
For some reason, he felt... as though he was no longer alone in his own room... Which was ridiculous, wasn't it? He was the only other person in his bedroom... and ghosts didn't exist...
Still... he wanted out of his usual safe haven. Whether it was paranoia or not, something didn't quite feel right.
"I should get dressed."
And that's exactly what he did, the thought of his nightmare long since buried in the back of the mind. He couldn't think about it now. It would have to wait until he was finished for the day. Or at least until his date with after school practice was over with.
But unbeknownst to him or anyone else in Station Square, this morning would be the very last time they would see Maurice 'Sonic' Windom for a long, long time.
Oh my god... I haven't typed a chapter this long in forever. The struggle is real... but it's worth it too.
Now, to clear up a few things:
1. Yeah, so, this scene is far different in this version than the older ones. That's because the whole 'Lets scare Sonic' gag was getting old fast, not to mention it was boring as hell. I tried to spice things up by adding a little more to the plot at the start this time.
2. Sonia is still a worrywart and Manic is a bit of a dick, just the way I like it. Unlike the older versions, they'll actually have personalities. And Sonic may be slightly OOC, but that's the point. He has to grow into the cocky blue hedgehog hero.
3. I love references and I will not hold back. Especially on the names. Examples include Manic's name Jaleel, which is based on his English voice actor's first name, Sonia's name Lousie, which is based on her English singing actress' first name, and the surname 'Windom' is based off of Uncle Chuck's English voice actor's last name 'Windom'.
And finally… I'll update again on December 28th. Or whenever I have room in my schedule.
Seeya, readers.
