Fiction Fan 369: Will do! Don't plan on dropping this story. Updates may be slow, but I got loads of ideas for this story. Hope you stick around to see 'em!
Messiah of Authors: Thank you~ I notice that there aren't a lot of OC Sonic fics. 'Specially with IDW, which is a shame, because it's awesome, but I understand why others stick to the games or Archie.
DarkDragon472: Thank you~ and yeah, there'll be more references to Natsu. He, along with characters such as Sun Wukong and Jin Mori, are inspirations for Rekka's character. You may find other, new characters based off Fairy Tail ones, or at least are reference to them. They won't be blatant copies though.
Chapter 3: Settling In.
It had been a couple of days since Rekka had joined the Resistance, in that time, he'd gotten well acquainted with the HQ itself. In that time, the dragon was awaiting his first mission eagerly. Desperately wanting to get out onto the field and help in the battle against the Empire. Unfortunately, Amy was holding off on giving him one. That, and they were currently searching for new recruits. Silver had long since went out to search for more, and apparently, the other founders of the Resistance, which he had yet to meet, were doing the same while being held up in their own missions.
So Rekka holed himself in his new dorm. It was relatively plain, as he didn't have any personal belongings, save for the clothes on his back. That was fine though. He was situated in the middle of the room, legs crossed, and his eyes shut. He was going through the process of meditation, taking in slow, calming breaths. A spark of flame humming within his hands.
During this, Rekka finally had time to think and reflect on his current situation. To figure some things out about himself. He'd been sorting out his memories, and the past events that transpired. Most of his memories were a blur. But he remembered a few things.
He was not like this before.
From what he could gleam from his memories, no matter how blurred, he was once a human. No older than 16 years old. American, born in Chicago, with a passion for art and creating comics. He was well off, and had a caring family, and was no stranger to bullying. Though that didn't hamper his mental health. He was to start his junior year in highschool, having just moved from Chicago and to Arizona. A new school.
He couldn't stand the heat.
He'd been pulling an all-nighter, creating the first of many original characters for a potential comic concept he'd had. Inspired by various forms of media, most of which were cartoons, american comics, and manga. This was character was... who he currently was. Rekka Kurenai. A Dragon-Hybrid martial artist. Born from a strange crystal high in the mountains, and being raised in an eastern country by a legendary martial artist by the name of Nariko Kurenai, a part-time worker at a ramen shop called Zhuque's, with a drive to improve himself, grow stronger, and achieve enlightenment.
That confused him further. Because that was a fictional character of his own creation. And yet he was him. The kind-hearted dragon that was a bit too altruistic for his own good.
It was... conflicting. As he remembered his past--his human self. But he also obtained the memories - although vague - of Rekka Kurenai. It was as though whatever had happened to him, whatever made him this way, and blended his two selves together, their dreams, goals, experiences, skills... as well as his memories. He was a unique existence.
Where his original self was shy and introverted, Rekka was confident and extroverted.
Where his original self was cautious, Rekka was impulsive.
All of these traits meshed together to create who he was now. He couldn't recall his original name. That, like everything else, would fade together eventually. So he was Rekka Kurenai. It felt wrong to call himself such, but also right... very conflicting.
As of now, he had pyrokinesis and could control it to an advanced degree, but he could feel something. Sense it, deep within his soul, beyond a raging sea of fire, was something else. Something far more powerful, a different source of power. But he couldn't access it. Like the rest of his abilities. He was stuck with his strength, speed, durability, skills, and pyrokinetic abilities for now, until he could figure out what that power was. And how to unlock the full extent of his powers.
His meditation, and by extension, thoughts, were interrupted when rapid knocking came from his door. Rekka's eyes snapped open in surprise and he slowly pushed himself up to his feet, walking up to his door and sliding his door open. "Hello?"
"Oh! So this is your room. Good... I didn't want to make a fool of myself."
Standing before him was Darius. The dog Islander was now out of his military gear and wearing something more casual. At least. What Rekka assumed was casual. As the young man was only wearing a pair of fingerless gloves and combat boots.
"Hey, there!" Darius grinned and waved. "Probably don't remember me. But I'm Darius. You helped me and my squad back at Sunset Heights?"
"Oh, yeah!" Rekka nodded, smiling. Though his face took on a look of concern. "I remember. Are your friends okay?"
Darius laughed at that. "No thanks to you! We probably wouldn't have made it out alive if you didn't show up. Actually, that's why I'm here. They actually wanna meet and thank you in person!"
Rekka's brows rose and he scratched the underside of his chin. Eventually, he shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "Alright. I probably shouldn't be cooped up in my room all day, anyway."
"Awesome! Follow me!"
Nodding, Rekka followed after Darius. As they walked through the Resistance HQ, Rekka's enhanced senses pickes up on the hushed murmurs of some of the Resistance members that occupied the halls. His brows rose lightly at what he heard.
"Who is that?"
"I heard he's the newest recruit. Word's been thrown around that he helped at the invasion of Sunset Heights. Packs a hell of a punch."
"Seems pretty strong... I mean, check out those muscles! Think he could take on Knuckles?"
"Psh! No way! Knuckles would wipe the floor with 'em!"
"He's kinda tall, ain't he...?"
"Wonder what kind of species he is. Sone kinda lizard?"
"What kind of lizard Islander has that kind of hair? If any at all?"
Noticing Rekka's increasing pensive expression, Darius let out a small bark of laughter and shook his head with a small grin. "Don't worry about it too much!" he chuckled. "You've caused a bit of a buzz, is all."
"I didn't really do anything special. I don't see the issue." Rekka muttered with furrowed brows, a bit unnerved at the attention.
"Well, we don't get new recruits often." Darius shrugged his shoulders. "So when we do, people talk about it. It's more common than you think."
"... Right."
Darius pushed the doors to the cafeteria open. Several Resistances members filled the room, like the rest of the base, dust and cracks could be seen across the wall, and several crates filled with food and ingredients were put in stacks in the corners of the cafeteria. Rekka's nose twitched at the smell of food being cooked, and he glanced around. Spotting a kitchen, his eyes began to sparkle as a feeling of nostalgia and familiarity rang through him.
"Hey, guys! I brought him!"
Rekka blinked and his attention snapped towards Darius. Then his gaze shifted towards a group of 3 that sat at a table at the far corner of the room. As they made their way over, he could better make the group out. They were a colorful bunch.
The first was a male hawk Islander with a teal coat and two long feathers that jutted upwards in a similar fashion to a mohawk. He had a pair of goggles fashioned on his head, had gold eyes, and wore a black t-shirt, a pair of fingerless gloves, and black combat shoots with dark green accents and laces. He looked rather lax, and carried a lazy disposition.
The second was a female cat Islander with a fuchisa coat, white furred muzzle and wide, bright sapphire eyes. She had what appeared to be a scouter or communciation device fixed onto her ear, and wore a black tanktop, a purple plaid shirt, black and yellow boots, and yellow gloves with black armored padding. She seemed easily excitable and wore a constant sunny smile.
The third and final one was a female rabbit Islander with a maroon coat, and messy dark red bangs that covered her left eye, leaving her right eye visible. She had onyx colored irises, and wore a black short-sleeved jacket with a dark grey croptop underneath, black compression shorts with white lines and edges, and a pair of red armored combat boots. She looked angry, or disinterested. Maybe both. It was hard for Rekka to tell.
"Ooooooh! This is the guy!" The fuchisa colored cat beamed, jumping up from her seat and slamming her hands on the table. "HIYA! My name's Lilith! Nice to meet you!"
"Sup, man." The hawk waved lazily with a small smirk "Rave. Pleasure's all mine."
The rabbit sent the dragon a silent glance and nodded in greeting. ".. Rook."
"These are my friends." Darius gestured to the group with a grin, "Together, we form..."
《Squad Delta!》
Rekka looked between the group and bowed his head in greeting before taking a seat next to Darius. "It's nice to meet you all."
The moment he finished speaking, Lillith leaned over the table with a face-stretching smile, getting uncomfortably close to the boy. "SO! Is it true that you got to fight alongside Silver?! And that you took down an entire squadron of badniks by yourself without a wispon?! Oh! Oh! What about the Death Egg--MMPH!! MFHMHD!"
Her mouth was covered by Rook, her expression exasperated as she rolled her one visible eye and shook her head with a light-hearted scoff. "You'll have to forgive her. She's easily exciteable."
"More like fangirly." Rave quipped with a smirk, causing Darius and Rook to snort in amusement, and for Lillith to pout. He sent Rekka a glance. "But yeah, what was it like?"
Rekka scratched the back of his head and let out a soft hum. "... Well. Fun? Exciting? I got a kick out of it, that's for sure!" he grinned, clenching his fists and pumping them. "It got my blood pumping and fired me up! Haven't felt like that in a while."
Brows rose collectively around the table, and Rook gave Rekka an incredulous stare of disbelief. "... Fun, he says. Fighting kaiju robots is fun."
Rekka blinked in confusion. "You don't have fun fighting?"
"Not really." Rave shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "We're only really trying to survive out here. Not much fun about almost dying."
"Honestly, I wish I could look at it like that." Darius shook his head and shivered with a grimace. "It's actually kind of scary. Never know if you're gonna live the next day or not."
Rekka looked sheepish at that, wincing. "Ah... m-my bad. I wasn't trying to undermine the situation or anything."
"Pshaw! Don't worry about it!" Lillith waved off his concerns with a smile. "Really, the fact you can turn something like a life or death battle into something positive is a refreshing! Kinda reminds me of Sonic."
"... Who?"
Squad Delta all collectively turned towards the dragon with wide eyes full of shock and disbelief. Darius was the first to snap out of his stupor, whirling around to face Rekka.
"You don't know who Sonic is?!" Darius nearly shrieked. It only confused Rekka more.
"Is he a big celebrity or something?" Rekka frowned in confusion.
"Big celebrity is an understatement!" Lilith shook her head, puffing out her chest and crossing her arms. "He's practically the world's greatest hero! He's been fighting Eggman for years at this point, beating him every single time! And he's the fastest being on the planet. He's a freaking legend!"
"I'm surprised you don't know." Rave shook his head in disbelief. "Seriously, you'd have to live under a rock to not know who Sonic is."
"... I, may or may not be suffering from amnesia." Rekka half-lied with a sheepish wince, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't remember a lot of my past--only tidbits. They're all blurry. Kinda why I didn't know about the war..."
Concern flashed in Lilith's eyes, combined with a look of understanding. "Oof. That's rough, buddy. I'm sorry about that."
Darius and Rave looked sheepish and nodded in agreement. Rook's expression remained blank, but there were the briefest flashes of empathy in her eyes.
Rekka chuckled and shook his head, smiling to soothe their worries. "Nah, it's fine! If my memories come back, it's cool. If they don't, that's fine too. I'm in no rush." he shrugged his shoulders, "Can't worry about that when you gotta save the world, right?"
"Right." Rave hummed, but soon found himself smirking. "But hey, at least he isn't trying to destroy it, am I right?"
The rest of Squad Delta let out a few chuckles at Rave's joke. Rekka only looked confused, not understanding the inside joke. Lilith then gasped and snapped her fingers, pointing at the dragon with a grin. "Oh! Oh! I got another question!"
"What's up?" Rekka asked with a tilt of his head.
"What kind of species are you?" Lilith ignored the nudge to her ribs by Rook and the incredulous stares from Darius and Rave. Her eyes sparkling. "I've never seen a reptile Islander like you before!"
Staring at her for a few more seconds in silence, Darius sighed and nodded his head, giving Rekka a curious glance. "... Albeit kind of insensitive, yeah. I'm kinda curious too."
At their curious stares, Rekka shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, leaning his elbows against the table. "I thought it was obvious? I'm a dragon."
...
"""WHAT?!"""
Rekka's brows furrowed in confusion. "What? I'm a dragon."
Rook's expression turned dry as she shook her head. "... A dragon. Are you serious?"
"I am! I don't see the big deal?" Rekka huffed in annoyance, crossing his arms. "I mean, I'm a half-breed, but c'mon, you've never seen a dragon before?"
The group looked between themselves before shaking their head. Lilith was the first to speak up again, tilting her head to the side. "Nope! Dragon Islanders are... pretty rare! Nobody sees a lot of them, actually. Some think they're extinct, only really being depicted in text books and such." her eyes shined with awe as she leaned towards the young dragon hybrid. "You're seriously a dragon? Where are your wings?"
"Half-dragon. So I wasn't really born with wings, I guess..." Rekka shrugged his shoulders again. His brows furrowed. He didn't know how to feel about the potential of his species being extinct. "Are dragons seriously that rare?"
"Understatement." Rook dryly commented, though her eyes gleamed with intrigue. "It's fascinating though... to have an actual dragon in front of us. Let alone one that's a half-breed..."
"Explains why you're so strong..." Darius murmured with wide eyes.
"That's pretty rad," Rave nodded with a wide smirk, rubbing his chin in thought. "Hey, so like... can you breathe fire?"
"I can do more than that." Rekka smirked with a tinge of pride, holding up a hand and willing a spark of fire into existence. With a flick of his wrist, the spark increased in size and intensity, splitting apart and swirling around the table before rising into the air and changing shape, forming the word 'DELTA'. Rekka snapped his fingers and the fire flickered away in an instant.
Lilith let out a loud gasp, and squealed in delight. "That! Was! So! COOOOOOOOL~!"
"So you have pyrokinesis? And a decent grasp of control over it as well..." Rook cupped her chin with a hum, staring at Rekka with a look of thought. "Interesting."
Rave let out a soft whistle, and Darius openly gaped. The two muttering in unison: "Wicked..."
"Not that big of a deal." Rekka shook his head and smiled. "I still have a lot of work to do with it."
"I don"t think you've scratched the surface. This requires research." Rook smirked slightly, chuckling. "Thorough research~"
"... I don't like the way you're looking at me."
"Rook. Down girl. He isn't a lab rat." Darius lightly chided with a look of amusement.
Rook rolled her eyes and sent Rekka an inquisitive look. "Still, though. There aren't that many pyrokinetics. The only one we really know about is Blaze the Cat."
"Who's that?" Rekka asked with a raised brow.
"How do you--oh, right. Amnesia." Darius shook his head and grinned, pumping his fists. "Well, Blaze is... awesome, she's like, a pyrokinetic princess from another dimension called the Sol Dimension! A lot of people speculate that she's as fast as Sonic, but no one has seen her at her top speed."
Rekka whistled with a look of interest. "I'd like to meet her one day." He cocked his head to the side, raising a brow. "You know a lot about these people, Darius."
At that, the dog Islander took on a sheepish expression, laughing. "Well--"
"He used to spend all day on his computer on different forums and websites talking about our resident heroes. He's kiiiind of a huge fanboy~" Lilith teased with a grin, winking. "His favorite is Rouge."
Darius squawked in embarrassment, his face burning red as he slammed his hands against the table. "LILITH!"
Rave adopted a dopey expression as a small grin stretched across his beak. "Heh... I can't blame 'em."
Rook glared at Rave in disappointment before scoffing and rolling her eyes. "Pervert."
"Oi! A man can't express his tastes, huh?!"
"Taste? Please. You only like her because she has a massive pair of tits."
"There's MORE to it than that! I'll have you know she has a pretty nice ass too."
"You're a pig."
"You're a drama queen!"
As Rave and Rook bickered in the background, with Lilith and Darius both trying to appease the two before they could break out into a fight, Rekka watched on with a dumbfounded expression. Eventually, he let out an amused snort and shook his head with a small grin, It felt nice, being surrounded by an uplifting atmosphere despite the wartorn setting they were currently in. It was good to see that people could still have a good time with the people they cared about.
["Can Rekka Kurenai report to the command room."]
They all paused as the automated voice blared through the speakers. Rekka soon found himself at the center of attention, as all eyes in the cafeteria focused solely on him. The dragon blinked owlishly and looked around in confusion, his jaw dropping.
"... heh?"
[FRONTIERS]
"Understood. I'll have a team sent down right away."
Amy nodded as communications were cut and she slumped against her desk, her shoulders sagging as she let out a slow, tired sigh. The hedgehog rubbed at her eyes and staved off the tiredness. Once he got here, she could take a break and rest-
Her ears perked up at the mechanical whir if the doors sliding open, and she turned to see Rekka jogging into the room. She smirked slightly. Speak of the devil.
"You called, Ms. Rose?" Rekka piped up, standing rigidly. His hands twitched as he resisted the urge to salute.
Amy paused and sighed. "I told you to just call me Amy..." she shook her head and placed her hands on her hips, taking on an authoritative tone. "I've got a mission for you. We've gotten a distress call all the way from Chun-Nan. It's one of the few places not under the Empire's rule, and it's staged for an assault by it's forces."
"I'll be sending you and a small squad to intercept the assault and push the assault squadron back long enough for the Resistance to put up defenses and set up a proper militia. Think you can handle it?"
Rekka blinked in surprise as the information was digested, before a fiery grin stretched across his lips and he pumped his fist excitedly. "Hell yeah! I won't let you down!"
Amy smiled briefly at his determination and nodded, walking over to her desk and grabbing a sleek black wristwatch. She walked over to Rekka, grabbed his hand and clasped it onto his wrist. "That's a communication device connected to the Resistance's comms. It'll keep you in touch with me and your team. Be ready in five and head to the launch bay."
"Got it!" Rekka spun on his heel and dashed out the room, causing Amy to blink in surprise at the speed.
She let out a snort of amusement. Never seen someone so excited for a mission...
Her green eyes trailed towards her phone, and she turned it on. Focusing on the wallpaper that depicted herself, Tails, Knuckles, and finally, Sonic, grinning at the camera. Her eyes softened and she took in a slow sigh, turning her phone off.
Not since him.
[FRONTIERS]
On the outskirts of Chun-Nan, high in the mountains on the cusp of an invasion, the skies darkened and thunder boomed, alerting all known wildlife and sending them into a frenzy. Rain began to drop in a downpour, and the thunder grew harsher, illuminating the dark, damp atmosphere. Deep within the treeline, sparks of electricity arced and singed the surrounding grass and dirt, as a figure slowly began to awaken.
Their eyes snapped open, revealing sharp, wine colored irises. They let out a sharp gasp and shot up into a seated position. The sky boomed and lightning gave way to light, illuminating their features.
Feline ears perked up, and their eyes slowly narrowed as their panicked breaths began to calm, the sound of thunder soothing them. The arcs of lightning that arced around them were pulled into their body, as they stood to their feet. They walked through the forest out of the treeline, standing on the edge of a cliffside, they eyed the city of Chun-Nan below, their tail. cracking through the air like a whip.
They sucked in a deep breath and relished in the fresh air, flexing their hands as tendrils of electricity sparked around their fingers. They exhaled, and steam billowed from their lips. The cold winds brushed against their face, and they closed their eyes.
"...Rekka..."
Thunder boomed again and their eyes snapped open, wine irises shifting into a cool, icy blue hue. They peered up towards the sky, their lips peeling back into a frown.
"Where the hell are you..."
And that's a wrap! Rekka's on his way to Chun-Nan for his first mission and there's a mysterious person there that apparently knows him! Things are kicking up, and things are only gonna continue going into high-gear from here!
Took longer than expected. Lost some motivation to write, but I'm back now, with ideas for this story, and other ideas for current stories... and then NEW story ideas which I may or may not drop for the hell of it.
Maybe I should make a whole plotbin thing where I dump story ideas/chapters, see whay you guys like, and then turn them into fullfledged ones. That'd be neat!
Also, for those who need more a visual reference for Rekka's appearance. Think of like... Sash Lilac from Freedom Planet.
But red.
And more muscular.
...
He looks like a Freedom Planet character, basically. ANYWAY!
Stay tuned for the next chapter! Whenever that is.
