Chapter 60: A Blast from the Past - Part 6:
My name is Miles Prower! But everyone calls me Tails!
You readers are lucky as hell! You all got to see what surely
exciting things Sonic and the others are doing up in space! But
me?! I was put on babysitting duty with Knuckles! I swear,
sometimes I feel that Sonic is just too headstrong and confident
in his abilities at times, even to the point where he won't let me
tag along with him, even though he never hesitated to do so on
our earlier adventures! I first noticed the beginning of this streak
when he set out all by himself to rescue Amy and didn't even
notify anyone! And now he thinks that he can just waltz into the
lair of those mysterious villains with nobody to aid him except for
Silver and Shadow?! Ugh! Whatever! I still think there's a huge
chance that he'll ultimately win! It's just the fact that he never
sought my help that bothers me! I know of a certain comic-book
character who can attest to that!
Back on Mobius, Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic Jr. were still waiting on the beach for the return of Sonic and co.
"You can do it, Sonic! You've never failed before!" Tails said, his hands balled into fists and his eyes tightly shut, "...Well, except for that one race against Eggman on extreme gear some years ago, but still!"
"Pah! You're really spending your energy on that?! Of course they're gonna win! Even without anyone rooting them on!" Knuckles replied.
"I guess you're right." Tails replied.
"Yeah! Instead, why not spend your energy on something more productive, like making a new invention, or getting a coming-home gift for Sonic, or...trying to find out what babes took off their swimsuits and tossed them into this tree!" Knuckles said, immediately running up to a palm tree and punching its trunk, causing three bikinis to fall free from the leaves.
One was white, one was violet, and the other was hot pink. The hot pink one had no shoulder-straps and had a white ring connecting the cups. Tails had followed him to the tree, and was instantly knocked to the ground after being hit in the head by a coconut that had fallen from its branches during the impact. Knuckles picked up the top half of the hot pink bikini.
"Damn, look at that cup-size!" He said, before reading a tag inside one of the cups, "Whoa, 36DD?! Man, these chicks must've been smokin' hot!"
"Wait a second! That's Rouge's swimsuit, you dumbass!" Tails scolded, snatching the top from Knuckles.
"Oh, so these crooks not only stole the girls, but also stripped them naked?" Knuckles asked.
"I guess so." Tails replied, gathering up all the swimsuits and folding them up neatly into a stack.
"Well assuming that these thugs didn't give 'em any new clothes, then they're some lucky guys!" Knuckles continued.
"You are so perverted, you know that?" Tails asked.
"Really? You're that surprised? Even when it's been the case for years now? You should know by now how I am around women!" Knuckles replied.
{A cutaway began, showing Knuckles alongside several other adult humans in a cooking class, all standing at individual countertops. Leading the class was a young, black-haired woman with rather prominent breasts and hips, wearing a red t-shirt, white khakis, and a tan apron extending from her waist to her knees. "Alright, class! Get started on preparing that meringue. I'll be wandering around, in case anyone needs help." She said. While she was walking around, occasionally stopping at various stations, Knuckles could not divert his eyes from her figure. When she finally reached the center of the room again, she asked: "Okay, have everyone's egg-whites seized up yet?" "Uh, no, but something else just did." Knuckles replied.}
"Hey guys!" A voice called from the distance.
"AAAHH!" Tails yelled in shock, almost dropping the stack of swimsuits and flying off, before accidentally ramming into the palm tree behind him and plummeting to the ground.
"I was going to ask Tails to join me at the beach, but it turns out that he's already here!"
Tails looked up. The voice turned out to be Cream, who was clad in a bright yellow bikini with red straps.
"Oh, it's just...you! Heh heh!" Tails said in a seduced tone, quickly tossing the swimsuits into Knuckles' hands so he wouldn't look suspicious.
He then walked up to his girlfriend and the two shared a kiss, with Tails placing his hands on Cream's hips. After they ended the kiss, Cream began to speak again.
"So who's swimsuit tops were you just holding?" She asked.
"Oh, uh...well, I..." Tails stuttered.
"Is there something you need to tell me?!" Cream continued, "Because I don't accept liars!"
"Eh, no, there isn't." Tails replied.
"Oh? Well then who's tops were those?! Don't lie to me, Tails! Especially after I gave you my all!" Cream demanded.
"Uh, well...(how do I explain this)?" Tails replied.
"Some dickbags made off with Amy, Blaze, and Rouge, and apparently discarded their suits in the process. So now Sonic and a few others just went to get them back, and we're waiting for them." Knuckles butt in.
"Oh my!" Cream said.
"Phew!" Tails sighed quietly.
"So when did they leave?" Cream asked.
"Er...about 30 minutes ago." Knuckles replied, checking the wristwatch that was concealed beneath the cuff of his glove.
I'm Dr. Eggman Nega! The greatest scientist in the Sol Dimension!
You wanna know something funny? I actually find it kind of entertaining to watch those
hedgehogs fight against the interactive holograms that we sicced on them! Sure,
every time they beat one, it means that they're getting closer to us and preventing us
from achieving our ultimate goal, but on the other hand, it's always cool to see what
tactics and moves they'll use to overcome each minion! I'm pretty sure it would make
a killer action show, and it sure beats boxing for my money! ...Wait, what?! Oh, oops!
I, uh, went on a tangent there! Anyway, FUCK THOSE ANNOYING MAMMALS!
"Grrr! How did he find that sword so easily?!" Dr. Eggman groaned, looking at the screen from his position on one of the beds.
"And how is he so skilled at it despite having only used it for a few minutes?" Dr. Eggman Nega added from the other bed.
"Uh, I think he practices fencing when he's not fighting us." Cubot guessed.
"Or maybe his swordsmanship is hereditary?" Orbot asked.
"Or you know, he's wielded that sword in the past, and already knows how to use it?" Amy replied from below Nega.
"Probably wasn't a good idea to reuse old enemies from their past, huh Doc?" Rouge asked from below Eggman, only to be punched in the face.
"Bitch! Who asked you?!" The doctor barked, glaring at Rouge the entire time as she slowly recovered from the attack, a streak of blood running from her nose, "In fact, with that remark, I'm taking away your reach-around privileges! And I'm going to make it extra painful too!"
"Oh, that reminds me! HEXBOT!" Eggman Nega called, "BRING US OUR SECOND ROUND!"
Hexbot hurried into the door with another platter containing Viagra and bourbon. The doctors once again each ingested a full container of medication and an entire bottle of bourbon, before letting out loud belches that spread a pungent odor throughout the room and prompted all of the girls to cover their ears. When the noise subsided, all of them featured expressions of horror.
"Alright, that's overkill!" Blaze said.
"Heh heh heh!" The Eggmen cackled.
"Oh...big deal! That's...still nothing compared to anything...Shadow can muster!" Rouge said, desperately trying to shrug off the shock, "Now, can we hurry up with this? 'Cuz my ass is starting to chafe!"
I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!
I can't talk too long, folks! I'm currently
under attack by some twisted knight whose
taste in fashion is ridiculous as fuck! I'm not
too worried about it, though, seeing how I beat
his ass twice before! And it's not like the others
can't come in and aid me if I screw up! All I
can say is this: If Silver hadn't used his psychic
heal on me, I definitely wouldn't be feeling this
confident about my current situation!
Back in the woods, Sonic and King Arthur were still dueling within the small clearing. Neither of them had managed to successfully land a hit on the other, but neither of them gave up as they continued to slash and block.
Sonic proceeded to execute a slash from above in an attempt to hit the king's head, but King Arthur held his sword in reverse grip, and when the very tip of Caliburn touched it, he swung his sword outwards with enough force that it sent Sonic reeling back. He kicked off of the tree behind him and launched a counterattack in the form of a downward stab to the head, which he managed to land, though he was not able to penetrate King Arthur's armor, as he was soon swatted off prematurely.
The king retaliated by spinning rapidly in circles with his sword held out, which Sonic dodged. However, the attack did not end, and the king proceeded to chase after him through the woods while continuing to spin. As Sonic was fleeing from his adversary, he managed to catch back up to Ifrit, and slashed at it with Caliburn, effectively slicing off its tail. The demonic fire dragon let out a shriek of agony, and turned around, before preparing to let out a stream of fire breath at Sonic. However, the beast was launched away due to Shadow, who had leapt into the fray and used an aerial dropkick.
"Nice sword." He said after landing on the ground.
"Thanks." Sonic replied, before hearing the sounds of tree trunks being slashed in two.
He proceeded to run after Ifrit, with Shadow skating right next to him. The two found the flaming monstrosity in another clearing, fighting Silver. Silver used his telekinesis to catch an incoming fireball, and hurled it back towards Ifrit, who simply flew through it and continued to charge. He tried to grab the beast itself, but his powers were not strong enough, and Ifrit sent Silver flying across the clearing with a swipe of its arm. It continued its rampage, and smacked him again, face-planting him into a tree. Too stunned to defend himself, Silver lay there weakly as Ifrit prepared to attack him again. As the pyrokinetic being prepared to finish him off, it was soon intercepted once more by Sonic and Shadow, who both homing attacked him at the same time. Sonic immediately got into a fighting stance as Shadow helped Silver back to his feet.
"Whoa! Where the fuck did you get that?!" Silver asked, gawking at Caliburn.
"Language, Galahad!" Caliburn snapped.
"Okay seriously, why is everyone calling me that?!" Silver said.
Before anyone could say anything else, Ifrit got back up into the air and let out a roar, but he and everyone else within the clearing was cut off at the sound of a spinning blade echoing through the dead forest. King Arthur reappeared, still continuing his spin-attack as he began to chase everyone else into the woods.
As the three hedgehogs were fleeing their enemies, they also took the time to fight them during the chase. Sonic jumped behind his allies and proceeded to engage Ifrit in a duel, rapidly slashing at him with Caliburn, though Ifrit blocked his assault with a flurry of claw-swipes. He then proceeded to front-flip over the beast and land a chop in the back of its neck with the hilt of the blade. Ifrit let out a roar in pain from the attack. From a good distance ahead, Shadow unleashed a Chaos Lance, which was caught by Silver, who was halfway between him and Sonic, before being hurled right into Ifrit's open mouth. During its scream, it swallowed the deadly projectile, which cut it off, and instantly caused an explosion in its stomach, blowing its abdominal region wide open and causing more molten magma to gush out. While the flaming monster was stunned, Silver followed up with a series of uppercuts and a kick down to the ground, which caused the flying monster to bounce back upwards. He ended the combo with a psychic push, launching Ifrit right into the approaching king, and causing it to instantly die in a final splash of lava upon contact with the sword. Immediately, the trio of hedgehogs returned to the ground and continued to run alongside each other, exchanging high-fives at the second kill.
Suddenly, King Arthur cancelled his spin-attack and jumped high into the air, before dropping back down with his sword aimed for the ground, attempting to stab them from above. Sonic, Silver, and Shadow were quick to notice, and all jumped out of the way, with Sonic jumping the shortest distance.
"Leave him to me, guys!" He ordered, getting into a fighting stance as the king halted just a few yards in front of him.
Silver and Shadow obeyed him and stood back. Without warning, King Arthur lunged forwards with his blade aimed directly in front of him. Sonic, however, was quick enough and held his sword in reverse grip, before swinging it once the tip of the king's sword touched it, thus causing him to stumble backwards. Sonic took the opportunity while he was stunned to initiate the same buzzsaw attack he had used to kill Hoofers, though he was blocked as King Arthur managed to recover and hold the side of his blade out. Despite this, Sonic chose instead of kick off of the opposing sword and front-flip over his enemy, before slicing him right in the back of his calf, creating a nightmarish purple wound and causing blood to run out onto the ground.
"Aagh!" King Arthur screamed in pain, before attempting to slash at Sonic, who was quick to dodge it.
Sonic then proceeded to dash in circles around the king, who was too slow to try and hit him. Without warning, the armored monarch was slashed in his other leg, causing him to bleed even more. Dizzy and in agony, King Arthur was left wide open. Thus, Sonic seized the opportunity to hit him again by attempting to hit him in the head with a downward stab. However, the king was able to notice him through his hazy vision and blocked his strike with the side of his blade, with Sonic having no choice but to jump off and attempt to strike at his abdomen. However, he was blocked there too. During a brief period where the two swordsmen were holding their swords against each other in an attempt to overcome the other, King Arthur suddenly swung his sword outwards, creating a strong gale which sent the bystanding Shadow and Silver flying backwards, while Sonic thrust Caliburn into the ground to hold his footing.
From a distance, Arthur proceeded to lightly swing his blade from side to side, sending out black balls of magic, which Sonic promptly sliced through without issue and continued to run towards him. Then the king raised his sword skyward and let out a bolt of pink lightning, which then rained down towards the ground. Sonic managed to dash ahead of its landing spot just as it was about to hit him. However, Caliburn was still extended behind him as he ran, and the blade was struck by the lightning, thus electrocuting both him and Sonic, who fell limply to the ground, covered in black smudges.
"SONIC!" Silver and Shadow yelled in unison, before realizing that King Arthur had jumped high into the air and was trying to stab Sonic from above while he was down.
"Sonic! Look out!" Silver shouted.
Sonic came to fast enough, and somersaulted out of the way as King Arthur landed his move, which missed him.
"Hm hm hm!" The king chuckled cockily.
"Huh?" Sonic asked, before noticing that a ring of sparkly golden aura had pulsated outwards from King Arthur's point of impact.
The ring was so strong that it sent him reeling backwards into a large, dead oak tree. Sonic weakly got up, and barely managed to block a series of slashes with Caliburn, before swinging him around in rapid circles with enough force to send King Arthur back a few feet.
"Hah!" The king grunted, raising his sword skyward, its blade glowing gold.
Sonic decided to take the chance to attack him while he was open, but screeched to a halt as the king quickly lowered his sword. He then proceeded to swing his sword forwards like a sledge hammer, and attempt to hit Sonic, who held Caliburn sideways in order to block the attack. However, King Arthur simply lowered his sword slightly more, and effectively sliced Caliburn's blade off.
"Wh-wha?" Sonic asked, before being sent reeling into the tree again, this time via a blow in the stomach from the hilt of King Arthur's sword.
The king did not let up with his assault, and charged the defenseless Sonic again, before abruptly stopping in front of him. Everyone was silent for a while, uncertain as to what would happen next. Suddenly, he thrust his sword into the dead tree's trunk, causing it to crumble, and causing a branch to drop onto the downed Sonic, immobilizing him. With his opponent unable to do anything more, King Arthur jumped high into the air to try and use his downward stab attack again, the tip of his blade aimed right at Sonic's head.
"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Silver and Shadow shouted in unison, as they hurried into the fray to try and stop him.
They managed to arrive a few yards away from the kill, just as the king was just a few feet away from eliminating his foe. Without warning, however, a bright green light emitted from the point of impact, right as the king's blade was about to touch Sonic. This caused Silver and Shadow to screech to a halt and shield their eyes. Suddenly, just as King Arthur's sword touched the glowing spot, the green light grew even more intense and unleashed a burst of energy that repelled the king and sent him reeling backwards, until he landed on his butt. Immediately, the tree branch that was on top of Sonic was also launched in that direction, but was promptly sliced through.
When King Arthur recovered, he was shocked at the sight of the being that stood before him. In the place of Sonic stood a figure that resembled him only in overall shape. He was covered in thick, navy-blue fur except for his chest, wrists, muzzle, the tips of his quills, and his now exposed hands, which were baby-blue. Compared to Sonic, his arms were much thicker and his shoes had spikes on the bottoms and along their stripes, replacing their usual golden buckles. As previously mentioned, his hands were no longer concealed by his gloves, revealing sharp claws, and a row of fang-like teeth was hanging out of his mouth. He proceeded to crush what remained of Caliburn in his clenched fist, and after letting the tiny chunks fall to the ground, let out an ear-splitting wolf-like howl that echoed across the clearing and sent crows flying out of the dead trees that surrounded it.
"Holy fucking shit!" Silver gasped.
"What?!" King Arthur asked, now back on his feet.
Without a word, the beast charged towards the king and swiped at him with his claws, creating a trio of dents in his stomach armor, and causing him to spin around rapidly from the force of the attack. He then capitalized on the opportunity by winding up a punch, and letting loose, nailing King Arthur right between his armored legs.
"YOW!" He screamed, reeling backwards.
The furry monstrosity stood his ground, waiting for his enemy to react, which he in fact did. Standing back up and holding his crotch in pain, the armored monarch proceeded to jump high into the air and attempt to strike him by swinging his sword like a sledge hammer. The attack was promptly dodged with a triple-backflip, though the king was well aware of this and attempted to charge the beast head on upon touching the ground. Silver and Shadow gasped in shock at the sight.
"Look out!" Shadow yelled.
The feral creature did not respond, but simply stretched out his muscular arm a little bit and stopped the attack simply by grabbing the sword with his large, clawed hand. There was a brief period of time where the two struggled to overcome each other, before the beast managed to overpower his foe and snatch the sword out of King Arthur's hand, the blade somehow not injuring his hand in the process. He then used both of his hands to thrust the sword down onto his raised knee and effortlessly snapped it in two, the two fragments immediately losing their shine as this happened.
"NOOOO!" The king yelled.
The beast stepped back.
"You! You...!" King Arthur yelled, charging at him with a desperate punch attack, before becoming exhausted and dropping to his knees about halfway towards him. The beast adopted a cocky smirk.
"Heh heh heh! Looks like you've lost quite a bit of blood!" He said, his voice raspy.
King Arthur looked down at his calves, which had begun bleeding again due to the amount of movement he had been making. Wasting no time, the transformed Sonic proceeded to start kartwheeling rapidly, his fists and feet nailing the weakened king repeatedly in the face and torso. He then uppercutted him in the groin again, the force launching him high into the air. Jumping after him, Sonic then brought both fists together and sent King Arthur flying back towards the ground at high speed with a downward punch, which had enough force behind it to make him bounce back upwards slightly. Landing back on the ground, Sonic stretched his arm out a tremendous distance and grabbed the king before he even had time to land, and after twirling him around on his index finger for a spell, he whacked him on the ground a good distance in front of him, before swinging him back behind him and whacking him on the ground again. He repeated this several times before jumping high into the air yet again and extending his arm towards the ground, he whacked King Arthur on the ground one final time.
The king took a bit of time to recover, but he managed to sit up. His armor was covered in dents and holes that were dark purple on the inside, as well as plenty of bloodstains. When Sonic landed back on the ground, he immediately freaked out and got to his feet, before proceeding to limp away as fast as he could.
"I flee! I quit! Please spare me!" He moaned.
"I don't think so, pal!" Sonic growled, proceeding to stretch his arm out once more and wrap it around a distant tree, before spreading it across the clearing's exit.
The king tripped over it, and Sonic took the opportunity to run after him on all fours, before jumping onto his enemy, and sinking his razor-sharp teeth into his shoulder, somehow penetrating his armor and causing blood to gush out of the wound as King Arthur cried out in pain. After withdrawing his bite, Sonic did not get off of the king, and instead extended his arm out to grab the broken blade from his sword. Without hesitation, he stabbed the sword deep into King Arthur's torso, causing even more blood to gush out. Eventually, the screaming king disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke, eventually leaving behind nothing but a puddle of blood.
As this happened, Sonic let out a mighty roar as he raised his head and chest skyward and held his arms outwards and slightly behind him with his fists curled. Afterwards, he callously dropped the sword into the puddle of dark blood and dusted his hands off. Silver and Shadow hurried up to him.
"Sonic? Is that you?" Silver asked.
"And if so, what form is that? I've seriously never seen it before!" Shadow added.
"Funny story. Several years back, Eggman was draining the energy from the Chaos Emeralds in order to awaken Dark Gaia, a.k.a. the being that lives inside our planet and destroys it every billion years, and since Dark Gaia's power was spread all over the world, some of it channeled into the ray, and into the emeralds, and finally into me since I was so close to the emeralds." Sonic explained, "Initially, I could only transform into this at night, and it was automatic too, but when I eventually set things right, some guy named Chip who had helped me on my quest gave me a special bracelet that lets me transform into it at any time by tapping into the power of the planet itself, even in broad daylight. I call this form the 'Werehog', which...doesn't really make sense in terms of mythology, but who the hell cares?"
"Wow." Shadow and Silver replied in unison.
Sonic then swept aside the fluffy fur around his left wrist, revealing a bronze bracelet with a lime-green pearl-like jewel on it. He gently rubbed the gem for a few seconds, causing a flash of green light to envelop him. When it cleared up, Sonic was back to normal. The difference in how the two forms looked was so drastic that Silver and Shadow both did a double-take at the sight of this.
"Hmm. Well that was fun!" Sonic said, rolling the cuff of his glove back up to conceal his bracelet once more, "Now to keep searching for Eggman!"