Even though I've been looking foward to this bit, it feels slightly bad. I hope SlashBandicoot43 and Babylon Sky Hawk like it. R&R!
Sonic the Hedgehog:
Tournament of the Stars
Chapter 30
Last time, Starbright and Chrono won their matches against Metal and Alexander, ending Round 2.
Right now, the Sonic Team were in the medical ward, checking up on some of the patients. Right now, they were seeing to Aqua.
"Are you OK?" asked Amy with concern.
Aqua gave a brave smile. "Yeah, it still stings but they say I can leave in half an hour."
Suddenly, they heard a groan and they turned to the bed next to Aqua. Strike was waking up.
"Uh, where am I?" he asked.
"Hey, bro!" cried Sonic. "How're you feeling?"
"Dizzy. What'd I miss?"
So, the heroes explained to Strike what he missed. He congratulated Blaze on beating Mephiles and cursed when he found out what Cesare did to Aqua.
"That crow's gonna pay when I get hold of him!" he yelled, before wincing in pain.
"Easy there" said Sonic. "You may be awake but your wound's still bad."
"Well, it's better than it was this morning" Strike commented. He then noticed Axel's presence.
"Come to gloat, have you?" he asked. The answer he got wasn't one he was expecting.
"No. I wanted to say… I'm sorry. For being harsh to you" the scruffy hedgehog replied.
Everyone's eyes widened. "What?" Strike gasped. "Why are you apologising now?"
Axel drew a breath. "Well, you saved me from that Nazo's attack, despite how badly I treated you. I realised that I was being a jerk. You see, I never actually hated you."
Now everyone was confused. "If you never hated me, why did you say I should never have been born?" asked Strike.
"Because I was angry with my… our dad. The fact he betrayed mum like that and had you. I wanted to yell at him but since he's not here, I took it out on you instead. I can only hope you can forgive me" Axel finished.
Strike laid there, his eyes completely widened. But his shocked expression was replaced with a friendly smile. "No problem, bro."
Axel smiled and the two bashed fists.
"Well, I'm glad that's worked out" sighed Sonic.
"Same here."
Everyone turned to the voice. It was Sally.
"Sally! You're awake!" Strike cried.
"Yep. It still hurts but I'm well enough to walk" Sally told them.
"Well, this day just got better" said Silver. "How about we celebrate?"
Everyone agreed, but Strike yelled "HEY! I'm still stuck here!"
Once Strike and Aqua were out of the ward, the heroes decided to go on a night about the park. It was nearly perfect but Shadow and Rouge were still giving each other the cold shoulder. Once it reached sunset, the group took a break.
Sally was sitting on a bench when she saw someone approach her. "Damien?"
The golden dog nodded. "It's good to see you're up." His face then turned serious. "Listen, Mario hasn't been acting right. Maybe you could talk to him?"
Sally nodded eager to help her friend out. She found him looking over the edge. She approached him slowly, not wanting to startle him.
"Hey there" she greeted. Mario swung round and saw the young hedgehog.
"Sally, you're… alright" he said, his face a mixture of surprise and happiness. Sally grinned, pulling him into a quick hug but he felt stiff.
"Is something wrong? Damien said you weren't acting normally" she said.
Mario began to act shifty. "Well, when you were still in the ward, I lost in the second round to that Armand guy."
"Well, that's OK. It's not that big of a deal" Sally replied but Mario's face told another story.
"But when I lost, I became angered and threatened to kill him. Normally, I wouldn't care but I wanted to get further so I could get back at that crystal freak!"
Sally got curious. "But… I'm OK, aren't I? And what would hurting that guy do to help?"
"That's the point. There was another reason for my actions. I never thought it would happen but it did. I have to confess this to you so I can confess it to myself" Mario sighed before turning to face her directly.
"Sally" Mario began to say. "I-I-I..."
Sally stared at her friend, wondering what he was trying to say. "Yes?"
"I-I-I can't say it!" Mario collapsed with defeat. "I don't know what it is! But... the more I look at you, the more I want to be with you!"
Sally was taken aback by the outburst. "Mario, to be brutally honest… it sounds like you have… feelings. Certain feelings."
Mario got back up slowly. "I know but… I haven't felt like this in a long time. For years, I had lost the will to care for someone close but since meeting you…"
He turned back; suddenly realising they were really close. Before either knew what was happening, they were kissing passionately. They staid there for ages, blissfully unaware of the people watching.
"I can't believe Mario's kissing a girl" whistled Damien.
"I can't believe he's kissing my sister!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Ah, the overprotective sibling" Axel muttered.
Strike turned to him. "You're thinking the same thing aren't you?"
"Yes."
After the lovebirds had broken away, they left to be by themselves, much to Sonic and Axel's disdain. Sonic was busy going off on a tangent to the rest who weren't bothering to listen.
"I mean, she's fourteen! She shouldn't be going out yet for another few years!"
"God, Sonic. Can't you just shut up about it?" Knuckles moaned.
"No! I'm not happy with her going out at her age!" the blue hedgehog retaliated.
"Now you know how I felt when you left the island" another voice spoke.
Sonic whipped round, coming face to face with his mother, Queen Aleena.
"MUM! When did you get here?"
"I arrived only just now. It wasn't too hard to find you" she said, referring to how loud he'd been talking.
"So you already know about Sally?" he asked.
"Pretty much and I have no complaints" Aleena replied. Her gaze then drifted to Axel and Strike.
"I hope Axel hasn't been treating you harshly, Strike."
"No, as a matter of fact. He's finally realised how big of an idiot he was" Strike responded.
Axel nodded. "Yeah… HEY!"
Aleena chuckled before giving her greetings to the rest of the team.
"Hey, how about we show you round the park?" suggested Tails.
The rest agreed and so, Sonic, Axel, Strike, Tails, Knuckles and Amy decided to give her a tour.
As they were going around, they explained what was happening. She was pleased to hear about Sonic making it so far but disappointed about Axel, Sally and Strike. They decided to leave out the bit about Sally's fight against Mephiles. They were walking near a bar when they heard singing.
"Yo ho ho ho! A pirate's life for me!" it said.
Aleena stiffened at the sound, as did Knuckles. He turned to see Wrist completely drunk.
"DAD!" he yelled, running towards the echidna. "What have I told you about drinking?" He didn't get an answer. What he did get was vomit all over him. A nearby Thorn couldn't help but giggle.
"Dad, it's not funny" scolded Amy.
"Oh, lighten up. This is the highlight of the evening" said Thorn, pulling out a camera and taking a picture of Wrist's drunken form.
Gale was also slightly drunk. "You know guys. You're the best friends a guy could have" he slurred, leaning in Kyira's direction. She seemed slightly disgusted.
"Oh, get off!" she yelled pushing Gale off of her. As she did, she saw Aleena nearby and nearly fell off of her stool.
"Aleena?" she muttered.
Thorn and Wrist heard her and turned as well. They both sobered up. Sonic and the others were looking back and forth, unsure of what was going on. Aleena moved forward, still slightly speechless, her gaze focused on the adult hedgehog.
"Gale?"
Hearing his name, the drunken hedgehog turned round, immediately sobering as he saw her.
"Aleena?"
Now things were getting confusing. "Uh, mum. How do you know Gale?" asked Sonic.
Aleena seemed to wince at the question. "I should've seen this coming" she muttered before turning, a serious expression on her face.
"Sonic. Your father wasn't Jules."
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Of course he was."
Aleena shook her head. "No. He was your stepfather. Your real father is…" She didn't need to finish.
A stony silence filled the air. Strike, Axel, Tails, Knuckles and Amy stood in silence as Sonic took this in. All he said was,
"My father's… Gale?"