Sonic Haven

Season 1 - Episode 6

"Kings and Queens"

The Acorn Palace wasn't excessively garish. At least, not as far as palaces go. It was a three-story building that must've been at least a hundred feet wide and just as deep. Large ornate windows were spaced ten feet apart on every floor, letting in the natural light as well as providing a spectacular view of the cityscape. On every corner of this crisp white structure was a watchtower that stood an extra twenty feet above the rest of it, a place for the royal guardsmen to keep a lookout and warn of incoming danger in times of war. The most impressive part of the building, however, was right in the center. It was a golden knob that shone brilliantly in the midday sun; one that sat atop the palace so that it could be seen from all sides. All of this was supposed to exude confidence, power, and a measure of control that would mean protection for the people of Mobitropolis as well as the rest of the Acorn Kingdom.

But Sonic wasn't here to take in the sights, impressive though they might be. He had a mission, a message to deliver to the royal family about what had happened earlier that afternoon on the highway as well as what was headed towards their city. Robotnik, having seemingly lost all self-control at this point, had been recovered from the back end of a secure transport and was now flying a giant metal airship toward the city no doubt with the intent of exacting his revenge on the people who'd imprisoned him. And where else would he start this revenge tour except with the very king who'd sentenced him to prison months ago?

There was no way he'd be allowed to see the King and Queen, not on such short notice. But getting the news to them was more important than following proper procedure. So he decided to take drastic action.

Sonic hurdled over the front gate, startling two security guards who didn't even catch a glimpse of him but only felt the hurricane force wind that followed in his wake. Then he burst through the front doors, nearly knocking them off their hinges as he did so.

Sonic was moving so fast the impressive detail on the inside of the palace was all a blur to him. Still, he could make out large pillars in the entry that streaked and warped as he ran past them. Given their color, they must've been made out of marble or another similar white stone. They were quite impressive, even if he couldn't see them in fine detail, and they worked well with the red carpet that ran through the middle of the room. That same carpet ran up a set of stairs at the end of the room from which the rest of the building could be reached. He followed the carpet up the stairs and down a long hallway full of doors on both sides. He had no idea where the throne room was, but he knew that it would certainly stand out from the rest.

After a few moments of dashing up and down white-walled halls, he finally found what he was looking for. Down the hall to his left was a set of doors painted red and outlined with a shiny gold trim that glowed with notable elegance even without a direct source of light to shine on it. On either side of the doors were royal guards standing at attention to keep intruders out of the throne room so as to protect the King and Queen.

Well, he'd come this far. Too late to turn back now. He sprinted down the hall and cut hard right to bust violently through the throne room doors right between the two guards. He blew them off their hinges, leaving them lying to either side of him inside the throne room.

A vibrant blue carpet ran up to the far end of the room where King Maximillian Acorn sat upon his throne looking absolutely puzzled as to what exactly was going on. Beside him, sitting in a much smaller but still impressive throne was his Queen, Alicia Acorn. She had long red hair that was tied in a french braid and hung over her left shoulder. She was wearing a stylish red shirt that fit her loosely, and a cream colored skirt with a black stripe along the side that gave the illusion of a slit that ran up to her hip even though it didn't actually exist.

The King's voice echoed off of the pristine white walls of the chamber, between the pillars of marble that were no doubt similar in design to the ones seen earlier, and down the hallway to be heard by everyone within the palace walls. "What is the meaning of this?" He shouted as the pair of guards from the hall ran into the room and placed their hands on Sonic's shoulders.

Sonic spoke quickly. "I've come to warn you. Robotnik has escaped and is on his way here!"

The King blinked. "Yes, we knew that already. The guards from the transport contacted us a few minutes ago."

Sonic felt a little annoyed, not at the King, but at himself. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked.

"I don't think so. Not at this moment." He replied with a shake of his head.

The guards started to drag Sonic out of the room. He felt so frustrated, almost to the point of wanting to kick something. He'd thought that this was so important, that he should tell the King about who was behind the robot invasion and why. What's more, he thought that Robotnik would probably be heading here to follow through on some kind of vendetta. Instead, it was all seemingly pointless. And he'd be lucky to not land in prison for bursting into the throne room and potentially endangering the King!

The queen turned to her husband and said. "He might be able to help after all."

King Acorn held up his hand in a closed fist gesture and the guards stopped just inside the doors to the throne room. "How so?" He asked, genuinely curious.

She wasted no time, saying in a soft voice: "We haven't heard from the guards we sent after Sally yet." She glanced across the room at Sonic, then looked back at the King. "If he is who I think he is, he could find her and bring her back before she gets hurt."

He looked at Sonic with a puzzled look on his face. "Who is he?"

The Queen explained. "He's the one who was kicked out of the track and field competition two years ago for being too fast."

Sonic smirked. He'd tried to compete in the hundred-meter sprint a couple years ago, but was prevented from participating due to 'concerns about competitive balance'. In other words, they said he couldn't race because of his speed. Now everybody knew him as the guy who was too fast to race, a reputation that had followed him ever since. Though he was a little surprised to see that even the Queen had heard of him because of it.

"What's your name?" The King asked.

The guards released Sonic and he stepped forward, pushing a thumb into his chest. "I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. Nice to meet you, your majesty."

"How fast are you Sonic?" He asked with a notable dash of skepticism. Surely it couldn't be that outlandish.

Sonic thought about it for a second. "I'm not sure, I've never been measured at my fastest. But I've broken the sound barrier a couple of times."

All he got out of the King was a blink. "You must be joking." He said in a low, unimpressed tone.

The guard behind Sonic and to his left shook his head. "He might not be quite that fast, but I wouldn't be shocked if it were true. We almost didn't see him in the hallway, he was so quick that he was already in the throne room before we'd even spotted him."

King Acorn leaned back in his throne. "Well then, perhaps you could be of some help."

"Whatever you need, I'm on it." Sonic assured him.

He nodded slightly, then explained the situation. "My daughter was with her best friend on the east side of town. They were trying to pick out a pair of matching dresses for the summer ball and were supposed to be back by this evening. When Robotnik attacked the city, I sent a contingent of the Royal Guard to go and get them, but they haven't returned yet. Perhaps you could go and make sure that they get back here safely."

"Alright," Sonic said with a firm nod. "Whatever it takes, I'll make sure your daughter is safe and sound. You have my word."

"Thank you Sonic." He replied as he leaned back in his throne. "Perhaps once you get back there will be something else for you to help us with."

Sonic was about to leave when he heard a low-pitched rumble that got louder and louder. Everyone in the room turned to look at the wall behind the throne where the sound seemed to be coming from, then waited for only a moment.

Suddenly the wall came crashing down, forcing the King and Queen to dive from their seats and into the middle of the room so as to avoid becoming a paste underneath the rubble. The throne was completely crushed under the stone bricks as they rained down seemingly without end.

As the dust settled and the falling debris slowed, Sonic lifted his eyes to the center of the newfound hole in the palace, only to find that the rupture had been caused by a large mechanical arm with three fingers. The arm, matte black from either grease, dirt, or paint, let itself down on the spot where the King had sat only a moment earlier and clamped itself to the floor.

A large man with a long orange mustache and black-red eyes detached himself from a harness just above what might be called the wrist of the machine and stepped down off of it to land on the once pristine floor with a thud. There was no doubt in anyone's mind as to who this was.

King Acorn coughed as he pulled himself from the floor. "What do you want you madman?" He asked Robotnik in his rattled breath.

"I want you to understand." He replied in a low, cool tone. "I gave you an opportunity to understand what I was trying to accomplish, that I was going to help people. But you refused to listen. You called me insane!"

The King replied calmly as he finished dusting himself off. "Yes, yes, you're right. Doing something against common ethics is usually considered insane. What do you plan to do to me?" His last words were slightly more nervous sounding than the first.

Robotnik smiled. "I'm going to give you a suit that fits nice and tight, then blast you into space and let your blood boil until your brain leaks out of your ears." His words growled out of his chest and made the King visibly shake in his shoes.

"Sounds… fun." The King replied softly.

Robotnik huffed and turned away, walking back to the arm that still sat at the end of the room. "Or at least I would, but I can't afford for you to somehow escape. You're too important to be on the loose." He strapped himself in and the arm started to whir to life. "Still, you will see what happens to any who dare cross me!" And with that, the arm receded back to the ship that hung in the sky above the Palace.

"What do you think he means?" The Queen asked nervously. "What is he going to do to us if he's not here?"

The question hung heavy and unanswered in the air, keeping everyone in the throne room silent until a brave soul dared to answer it. But Sonic noticed something else in the air, a soft sound coming from over where the arm had been resting.

The pair of guards moved over to where the King and Queen were standing, making sure that they were alright. As soon as they reached their destination at the end of the room and placed their hands on the shaken couple, it was as if someone had flipped a switch. The room flashed with white light while a wicked sound ripped through the air tearing everything apart.

Sonic was thrown across the room, landing with a flop on his back and holding onto his ears as they stung like someone was driving needles into them. When he'd finally collected himself and stood up once more, he surveyed his surroundings and was shocked by just how much they'd changed.

The once pristine throne room was now a complete mess! A bomb had detonated on the other end of the room and knocked down the back wall leaving it exposed to the elements. There, on top of the rubble ahead and to his right lay the King, Queen, and their two guards. He rushed over to them, fearing the worst. He quickly checked the King for a pulse… he had none.

Shaking his head, he wondered what he could do now? He was hoping that King Acorn would have some kind of plan, maybe an evacuation procedure that could've been followed to get people out of the city until help arrived. Or maybe some kind of task force that would be able to stand up to Robotnik and his new army of half-robots. But all of that had been thrown out the window now.

The King was dead.

He took a second to check the Queen and the two guards as well, just to make sure. Unfortunately, none of them had survived the blast.

He stood up slowly and walked over to the hole that had been ripped out of the wall. Then he carefully picked his way down about ten feet of crushed stone to reach the castle grounds. He stepped onto the grass, which looked ash white due to the dust from the collapse of the wall, and looked out at the cityscape in front of him.

His eyes drifted over to the eastern side of town where very little destruction had seemed to have taken place so far. It was likely that Robotnik would soon move into that side of the city after more thoroughly controlling the western side of town where he'd started his invasion. There wasn't much time left to find the princess before the Robotic Mobians got to her.

He had a promise to keep, a man's last wish that his daughter be saved. So, with a clenched fist and a renewed sense of determination, Sonic took off for the east side of the city at top speed.

Tails rushed into the hospital hoping that they'd be able to find a doctor as soon as possible. Knuckles, the echidna who'd helped him rescue the tank operator only ten minutes ago, walked in behind him carrying the seat over his shoulder like an oversized baseball bat, the soldier still strapped to it.

The building was full of individuals looking for help themselves to the point that he couldn't even reach the front desk. Some had broken limbs, others were cut and bleeding pretty badly. But all of them needed help and most hadn't been helped at all yet.

"Great." Knuckles grunted from behind. "How are we gonna get this guy help again?"

Tails wound up his tails and started to hover in place. "Just stay here, I'll fly over the crowd and see if I can find a doctor." He lifted himself into the air and started making his way to the front of the room.

The lady behind the front desk looked to be stressed out to the point where she might collapse from exhaustion. She was a cream-colored rabbit with long ears that fell down her back like another person's hair might. A red-furred wolf who'd been standing at the desk stepped away in frustration just before Tails arrived. The sudden realization that somebody was flying towards her caught her attention. As three people stepped up to take their turn, she spoke directly to Tails who was hovering over the heads of the others. "Can I help you?" She asked in a soft but strained voice.

"I need a doctor." Tails said. "I found someone who's hurt pretty bad. I think he's been stabbed."

"I'm sorry sir but there's no doctor available right now." She said as calmly as possible. "They're all treating other patients."

He nodded his head, then started thinking as others clamored for the receptionist's attention. Where else could he go for help? A thought crossed his mind and he darted to his right and out an open window.

Going down the street about a block or so, he spotted what he was looking for. A drug store. He ran in through the front door and noticed that, although the sign said open, no one was here. More than likely, they'd left when Robotnik's ship hit the edge of town. He couldn't blame them.

He walked up and down a couple of aisles to find the supplies he needed like rubbing alcohol and bandages. He was still missing something… He snapped his fingers as he remembered and ran back down the first aisle again. Reaching down the bottom shelf, he grabbed an emergency wound treatment kit, which would include everything needed to stitch up the soldier.

He put all of his items in a small plastic bag that he grabbed from behind the register and then went over to the pair of all-glass doors that sat at the store's entrance. He was going to walk out, but something in the back of his mind made him stop. What he was doing was technically stealing… But nobody was going to help him now. The store owners were obviously gone and weren't coming back any time soon. On top of that, another man's life was at stake here! There was no question about what he had to do.

So, taking a deep breath, he walked out of the store with everything he needed. As he walked away, another thought came to him: this might not be the last time he needed to do this.

Winding up his tails, he flew back to the hospital and in through the same entrance they'd taken earlier. Up ahead, in the middle of a sea of hopeful patients, was an Echidna holding a seat from a tank.

"Knuckles!" Tails yelled to get his attention.

He looked surprised. "Wait… didn't you just go that way? What about the doctor?"

Tails shook his head. "They said there's no doctor available to help right now. I got the stuff we need to patch him up, at least good enough to keep him from dying."

"Alright." Knuckles said as he started making his way through the crowd and back out of the hospital. "But we'll need to treat him somewhere else, there's no room here."

Heading back outside, they spotted a parking garage not far away. Although it wasn't ideal, it was off the streets and far less crowded than the sea of people they'd just left. The two of them walked inside and up a couple of floors before setting up in an empty parking space between two yellow cars.

Unpacking the supplies he'd taken from the shop earlier, Tails got to work on stitching up the wound and sanitizing everything to make sure it wouldn't get infected. Thankfully, it appeared that the damage wasn't as bad as first thought. The patchwork job Tails did would most likely have been enough to get him up and moving around, albeit slowly, fairly soon.

After an hour of waiting, and watching out for Robotnik's metallic slaves, the tank operator finally regained consciousness.

He groaned in pain and started to lift his head and look around. "Where am I?" He asked in a strained voice. Then he grunted in pain as he tried to sit up.

Knuckles answered in as stoic a tone as possible. "You're in the middle of a parking garage. Before you try to sit up again you might want to know that this guy just finished stitching up a stab wound in your side."

"Fair enough." He said as he tried to relax. "Who are you guys?"

Tails chimed in right away. "I'm Miles Prower, but most people call me Tails. And this is Knuckles" He gestured to the Echidna who was still keeping his head on a swivel looking for trouble. "Who are you?"

"Max." He said with a soft wheeze. He opened up the inside of his jacket and spotted the dressed wound. "Who taught you field medicine?" He asked sourly.

"I took a first aid class once. But my only practice was on a dummy." Tails shrugged, then tried to change the subject. "What happened to you?"

Max took in as deep a breath as he could, which was not very, and tried to remember. "That person. You yelled at us and told us not to shoot because there was someone inside the suit. Then it jumped up on the tank and climbed inside. It reached for my partner first, but in trying to rip him out of the tank it smacked his head against the top and cracked his neck. I tried to grab my knife off of my belt to defend myself but it reached out for it. I yanked it back and pulled that thing with it. It slammed into my knife hand and jammed the blade into my side but down and away from my heart. That's probably what saved me. I'm lucky it didn't hit anything too important."

Knuckles shook his head slightly. "I wouldn't call a stab wound lucky."

Max ignored him and finished the story. "I looked down, saw the hole in my gut, then passed out… Next thing I know I'm waking up here."

"Sounds pretty rough." Tails said, feeling a phantom pain in his own side as if he'd been stabbed himself. Thankfully, he knew it was just an empathetic pain and not an actual one.

Suddenly, Knuckles stance changed from watchful to cautious and alert.

Tails noted the difference. "What's up Knuckles?" He asked concerned.

"We have company." He said in a low voice.

Max grunted as he slowly pulled himself up to his feet. "Then we need to hide." He said as he reached for the yellow car door on his right.

He climbed into the back and layed down on the floor between the driver's seat and the back bench. Thankfully the floor wasn't too dirty. Tails followed his lead and climbed in opposite him while Knuckles tried to make himself as inconspicuous and flat as possible on the gray fabric bench. He then pulled the door shut slowly, letting it click and latch behind him without making the loud thud that most associate with car doors.

After a couple of minutes, a pair of Robotic Mobians walked past them without even turning to examine the car.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Tails whispered to the other two, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible. "How long do we stay in here?"

Max repositioned himself to take the pressure off his wound. "As long as it takes. We don't know if there's another group behind them. We can't afford to be spotted."

As Knuckles opened his mouth to make a comment of his own, he stopped himself…

The car door clicked open.