Sonic Legacy

Chapter 1

It was the blaring noise of a digital alarm clock that awoke Taylor Storn that warm morning in July. With a groan, the twenty year old human sns aked an arm out of his covers...then slammed his fist against the irritating piece of electronics. With a yawn and a stretch, he removed himself from the cozy confines of his bed, then made his way to his dresser.

As methodical as clockwork, Taylor then proceded to gather up his usual apparel: a red button-up shirt, brown slacks, and a white belt. Finally, there but one thing left to equip: a standard issue Guardian Units of Nations bullet-proof vest/gun holster. This was Taylor's most prized possession; as he held it in his hands, his mind drifted back to the day a year ago when he graduated from the accademy. He had entered as nothing more as a simple hopefull with the dreams of becoming a great hero, and graduated with the all due willingness and knowledge to fight on the front lines.

You could most likely guess his disappointment when he learned he would not be fighting on the frontlines, but would instead be tasked with the tedious job of acting as bodyguard to the Director's family. Now, Taylor had no chagrin against his commanding officer; as a matter of fact, he felt nothing but absolute respect for Director Shadow the Hedgehog. Once a servant to Dr. Julian Robotnik, so Taylor had been told, Shadow had eventually joined G.U.N as a special operations officer along with Rouge the Bat and a robot known as E-123 Omega. From there, through loyalty and a lot of hard work, Shadow had risen through the ranks and achieved an earned rank as Director. All in all, Taylor had recieved a great honor. For as long as he had been around, the only people Shadow actually trusted were Rouge and Omega. Taylor was not only trusted to protect his family, but Director Shadow was even willing to let Taylor sleep in their spare bedroom when Taylor had been thrown out of his apartment last week.

Though deeply honored to be held in such an account by one he greatly admired, Taylor still wished that he was fighting with the other soldiers rather than sitting around in this house all day. In truth, the only reason Taylor really wanted to be out their was so that he could pay his respects to his older brother Joseph, whom had been one of the greatest agents gun had ever employed. Growing up, Taylor often looked up to him like he was a superhero, always believing that he could catch the bad guys and always come home in the end. Unforntunately, one day, he didn't come home, nor would he ever come home again.

Taylor quickly shook his head.

"Get a hold of yourself, soldier!" he scolded himself. "Jo wouldn't want you to dwell on the past, but to focus on the present and the mission at hand."

So, with newfound resolve, Taylor strapped on the vest, then placing his gun in its proper place.

"Now, on to breakfast."

Whistling a tune as he shut his bedroom behind him, Taylor made his way to the stairway leading downstairs. He had just reached the foot of the stairs, when, suddenly, a fork went whizzing through the air directly towards him. With a yelp, Taylor dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the flying eating utensil. After rising from the floor, Taylor noted that the fork had just ceased glowing in a light teal glow. Only one person he knew of could have done something like this.

"Sorry about that, Taylor!"

At the sound of his name, the gun agent looked up to see Director Shadow's thirteen year old son, Silver. Silver's fur was solid white with the exclusion of strange teal colored markings that ran up and down his arms and legs. Since birth, Silver possessed the ability to move things with his mind, and was slightly capable of manipulating Chaos Control; all were factors of him being Shadow's biological child, everyone always figured. The only down part was the fact that Silver still didn't quite have full control of his powers, and oftentimes comes nigh close to skewering people with sharp objects that are lying around; such was a circumstance that Taylor had grown used to.

"Don't worry about it." Taylor assured him, ruffling the fur on Silver's head. "But, my advice, you may want to aim a little further to the left."

The two boys chuckled, then entered kitchen. As each day before, Taylor could see Amy Rose Kintobor, Shadow's wife, busily working on breakfast. Were one to observe a photo of the pink hedgehog from back in the days of the Mobian Wars, and compared it to how she appeared today, one would note that she was no longer the demure girl that had been seen chasing Sonic everywhere he went.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kintobor." Taylor greeted as he took a seat at the table.

"Morning to you, too." replied the pink Mobian, setting the plates onto the table. She then cupped a hand to her mouth, calling, "Gabby, breakfast is ready!"

She waited, but only recieved silence. She tapped her foot, then stomped it in irritation. "Gabbriella Maria Kintobor! Get down here right now!"

Still silence. Amy merely sighed.

"Silver, could you please get your sister. She seems to be sleeping in again. I swear that girl could sleap her entire life away."

Silver got up from the table, then disappeared upstairs. He returned moments later, and repeated the same phrase as he had done for the past three weeks now.

"She's gone."

Amy placed a hand over her face, and grumbled lightly. "Taylor, I know this wasn't in your job description and all, but could you please go find her. I need to finish up some things here."

Taylor slumped his shoulders, rose from his seat, then made his way out the back door. The house was located just outside of the city of Westopolis, and directily behind it was a dense forest that, if one went far enough, lead to a clearing; this was where Gabbriella had gone just she had done day and day again, and, each and every time, Taylor had to trek through the woods and seek her out. This was what really made his job so tedious. Gabbriella was a gentle person by nature, though she possessed a slight mischievious streak that often got her into trouble and gave Taylor grief.

After what seemed like hours, though was actually a little over ten minutes, he finally came across the clearing. Taylor opened his mouth to call for Gabbriella, when, suddenly, he heard the sound of rustling leaves, followed by someone exclaiming, "Boo!"

Taylor jumped, then whirled around to see that the identity of his attacker was none other than Gabbriella the Gazelle. Gabriella was a young mobian, around the age of fourteen, covered in chestnut colored fur and, unlike the majority Mobian kind, had a full head of blonde hair on top of her head. She was dressed in a brown t-shirt, matching slacks, and a pair of black pennyloafers adorning her feet.

"Gabby, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that?"

The gazelle mobian giggled. "Lighten up, will ya? I was just having fun. What are you doing here anyway?"

Taylor looked at her.

"What am I doing here?! Seriously? You've sneaked off from home to come to this exact spot at least ten times this week, and it's only tuesday! Did it ever occur to you how worried your mother must be?"

Gabby rolled her eyes.

"Oh, like I haven't heard that one before. I haven't been gone but for at least an hour, and it's not like she doesn't know where I am."

She walked past him, closed her eyes, and let the wind blow her hair around. "This is one of the most peaceful places I've ever found, and I like to come here to think. Is that such a problem?"

Taylor could understand that. There were time that he himself would either lock himself in his room, or drive out to the city, and just try to clear his head, think about how things, and wish they were what they could have been.

"No, I guess not." he finally replied. "However, your mom was calling you for breakfast, and I'm getting hungry, so..."

Whoosh!

At the sound of the word 'breakfast', Gabby rushed past him on a crashcourse back to the house. Taylor merely shook his head. Though it wasn't as glamorous as he was hoping, this was his life, and he was thankful to have it.