No Brotherly Love
She's Missing?
Sonics POV:
We eventually landed on the island. Alicia was right, this place looked like paradise, but there was something hidden here, and we knew it. The girls, however, refused to search until they had a little splash in the water and caught a few rays. To my surprise, Knuckles joined them eagerly, although I hardly think it was for the relaxation. Same old Knucklehead, always seizing the opportunity to see girls in bikinis, or without them for that matter. But I felt they were safe enough. After all, they had Alicia protecting them, and Knuckles was all too familiar with the Piko Piko, much like myself.
So while that lot were chilling, Shadow and I decided to check out the island. First to see what we could find alone, in order to cover more ground, and then report back to each other, investigating together what we had found.
As I ran the lush tropical greenery, I realized how big this island was. It was more like a small country, if you ask me. There were bugs everywhere, but they weren't like any bugs I'd seen before. They seemed deformed, misshapen and suspicious, like they were watching me. Then there's the heat. The beach was hot, but in here it was like a furnace.
I wandered further and further, until I finally thought that something mustn't be right. I climbed the tallest tree I could see and hurled myself above the leaves and branches. When I felt the sunlight hit my face again, I had to cover my eyes until they adjusted to the brightness. Once I could see again, I was amazed at what was around me. The island seemed to be endless, but my logic refused to believe it and came to the conclusion that the heat was getting to me.
As I scanned the land around me a little more, I saw a flickering light somewhere in the trees. I squinted my eyes in order to make sure I wasn't seeing things, but there it was, disappearing and reappearing again and again. I decided it was best to tell the others about my discovery, so I jumped from the tree and jetted off back to the beach.
As I got closer, I heard them calling for someone. My ears perked up, trying to pick up what they were saying. Eventually I heard someone call, "Cream!" After hearing this, I decided that it'd be best to pick up the pace.
When I finally arrived, I saw everyone scattered around the beach, calling for Cream. I ran up to Alicia and asked, "What's wrong? Where's Cream?"
She turned to me, her eyes glazed, and she then said, "I don't know. She was here one minute and gone the next. I-I don't know what to do."
"It's okay, Alicia. I'll ask someone else if they know where she is, okay?" I reassured her.
She nodded and I went to Knuckles and asked him if he knew where Cream was. "Well, there was something." He answered.
"What?" I asked him.
"She said she saw a light. I thought nothing of it and let her go check it out, but she didn't come back."
"You let her check it out? Alone? What were you thinking?"
He shook his head at his actions. "I know, I know. I should have gone with her. But, Sonic?" He said grabbing my shoulder. "I did see her again, but…she was walking funny and…her eyes were..." He trailed off.
"Her eyes were what?" I asked.
He breathed deeply and whispered, "They were like yours when you change. They seemed lifeless. Do you know what this means?"
I began to fear what Cream might have become. I had a hunch that Cream saw the same light I did a while ago. So I ran back towards where I saw the light.
When I had made quite a distance, the trees around me seemed darker and it sounded like they were weeping. I shook it off and continued my journey. I carried on running and running, until something caught my eye. As I got closer I realized it was a temple, a very old temple from the looks of it. Chunks were missing from its walls, and greenery was growing all around it. I walked to the bottom of some steps, which led to the entrance of the temple. I looked to the top of the stairs and saw two figures, one bigger than the other. I slowly walked up the stairs towards them, and as I got closer, I recognized them. They had their backs turned to me, but I knew it was Cream and her mother, Vanilla. Vanilla had her arm wrapped around Cream, and Cream was holding onto her mother.
When I got close enough I whispered, "Cream?"
There was no response, but I heard one of them laughing quietly, insanely. "Sonic, could you not protect my baby, hmmm? Was it too much work?"
I now knew it was Vanilla speaking, so I answered her, well, tried, "Vanilla, I…" But before I could say another word, Vanilla raised her hand to me, as if to silence me.
"No Sonic. No excuses." Her voice began to change, as if she was crying. "You left us Sonic, when we needed you most. When Amy needed you." At these words, I felt as if I had just suffered a knife to the heart. "Now you have returned, but it's not the same." She turned to face me, and I saw those lifeless eyes, staring at me. "You have failed Sonic. You have failed me, Cream and everyone else, including Amy. Now, I think it's time you met YOUR family, don't you?"
I was now confused, but I saw Cream turn to me. She had the same lifeless eyes as her mother, but tears were coming from them. I went to reach for her, but she screamed. Her scream was unreal; it sent me flying down the stairs. I landed onto the jungle floor with my back, and as soon as I landed, shadows seemed to be gliding towards me from behind Cream and Vanilla. I got onto my feet, and all the shadows seemed to land on the floor. Slowly they took the forms of five beings. They were all hedgehogs, two girls and three boys, but they all looked like my father did, the same eyes, the same charcoal fur. But one of the girls had the same styled spines as Alicia and Amy, and the other had long hair that seemed to be nothing but hair, rather than spines.
"So, brother has returned? How long has it been brother?" I heard one of the males say.
Another male spoke up, "Ten years? Twenty years? Two hundred years?"
"What are you?" I hissed.
One of the females walked up to me, placing a hand to my cheek. "What's wrong brother? Don't you recognize your own siblings?"
I was now shocked. No way these guys were my brothers and sisters, no way! The other female came up and hugged me. "I missed you brother." She said in a sweet tone. "But…" I felt her hug tighten on me. "Daddy wants you dead."
I felt her squeezing me, while my other 'sister' used the hand on my cheek to cause me great pain; it was as if something in her hand was digging into my face. I looked to her hand and saw that my veins were turning black. I wasn't going to die like this! No way could a hug kill me, unless it was one of Amy's.
I growled and smacked my 'sisters' away. I had now become my dark form. "Hmpf. That's nothing impressive brother." I heard a male say. "How about I show you impressive?" With that, he charged at me and we began to fight while running, or flying, in his case. He was going at me and I was doing my best to defend myself, but his strength was like nothing I've seen before. "Where's my brother?" He shouted. "He was stronger than this! Maybe father was wrong!"
"You want your brother? Here's your brother!" I countered as I kicked him off of me and into a tree, but I didn't stop running, I stood no chance against this guy.
As I continued running, my opponent got back on his feet and chased after me once more. As I saw sunlight, I could here him behind me. I turned my head and saw nothing. But when I turned back, he was standing in front of me. He lifted his hand and time, literally, slowed down. He smirked and said, "Peek-a-boo." And as soon as those words left his mouth, he upper cutted me into the air, as he did, time returned to its natural speed. I went flying into the air, above the trees and my body was spinning backwards, as if I was doing a back flip. I landed on the beach, feeling tired and drained. I tried to get up, but my arms failed me and I fell back into the sand. I looked into the trees and saw my 'brother'. He was staring at me, when suddenly he evaporated into the air.
I'm sure he had drained my energy somehow, because my body felt like it was shutting down, as if it'd had enough. I heard the others approaching, shouting my name. As they got closer, my vision began to darken as my eyes slowly closed. Just before it all went black, I muttered three words. "I'm sorry Cream…"