All characters belong to SEGA.
Blue Blur Anthology
I: One Moment, Two Paths
The waterfall crashed loudly over the edge of the cliff, falling down into a large, natural pool which then led to a river. At the edge of the pool, a small, blue rabbit hopped over, leaning over and sipping the clean water.
His ears perked up, listening keenly. Something far away was moving fast, its feet crashing through the long grass. The rabbit braced itself for the imminent arrival of this creature before it burst through the trees, skidding to a halt and stopping just before the water. Now that it could finally see what was responsible for the noise, the rabbit instantly eased up and smiled.
"Sonic!" the rabbit greeted the larger, brown hedgehog.
"Pocky! How's it goin'?" the brown hedgehog said in his nasel voice, waving a gloved hand before hopping across the pool, landing on jagged rocks above the water's surface.
"I should have known it was you!" Pocky pointed at the hedgehog's shiny red sneakers. "What you doin' out here? Visiting the Doctor?"
"Yup! Ol' Kintobor needs me!" Sonic puffed his chest proudly. "He says he's got a brand-new machine he's been workin' on, and he wants me to try it out!"
"How exciting!" exclaimed Pocky. "See you around, Sonic!"
"Take care, Pocky!" Sonic broke into a sprint, quickly gaining momentum as he hopped over fallen trees and rolled under overgrown branches before grinding to a halt again, arriving outside a building built from stone. He rapped on its homemade wooden door with the door knocker. Waiting a few seconds and tapping his foot, the door finally opened to reveal a towering, lanky man in a white labcoat.
"Sonic! There you are!" Ovi Kintobor beamed before looking down at his watch. "And you're early!"
"Have I ever been late, Doctor Kintobor?" Sonic grinned, zooming past the doctor and into the lab. "How's the ol' R.O.C.C. goin'?"
"The Retro-Orbital Chaos Controller is still functioning," Kintobor explained, closing the door and stepping over to the machine. "However, I fear that it is at risk of breaking down if we do not find the seventh Chaos Emerald. It's my belief that the seventh, grey emerald controls the other six. The R.O.C.C. - as you call it - may not function as intended if we are unable to find that seventh emerald!"
"Sounds rough!" Sonic winced. "What happens to the evil energy stored in the six Chaos Emeralds if we don't find the seventh?"
"I dread to think..!" Kintobor cringed. "That's why it's essential that we find the missing Chaos Emerald - and who better to search for it than you, Sonic the Hedgehog!"
"That's right; the fastest thing alive!" Sonic boasted.
"Precisely! That leads me to why I called you here today," Kintobor motioned Sonic over to a machine covered in a cloak. "Your speed is remarkable - even without your red Power Sneakers, you can reach velocities that no other living thing can dream of competing with! This is why you are the perfect candidate for this task, Sonic; no one else would be able to find the grey Chaos Emerald as quickly as you would! However, there's no way of telling when the other six should decide to become... unruly. So, I have decided to design a way of making sure that your running speed is at it's fullest potential. I present to you..."
The doctor grabbed the edge of the cloak, sweeping it aside and revealing what looked like some kind of hamster wheel. "Ta-da!" he exclaimed. "I call it the Kinetic Gyratoscope!"
"I don't need training!" Sonic scoffed. "I'm already the fastest thing alive! You said it yourself: no one will find that emerald as quickly as I can!"
"I know, I know!" Kintobor reassured. "But what if we could make you even faster? You're capable of great things, Sonic, but who's to say we can't always be greater, mm?"
"I suppose you're right..!" Sonic reluctantly agreed. "How does this thing work?"
"While you run on this wheel, your speed is recorded and displayed on the control panel!" Kintobor explained. "First, we'll do a test run to record your normal speed - after that, I really want you to push yourself! Take your place, if your ready!"
The brown hedgehog hopped onto the wheel, psyching himself up. "Ready, Doc!"
With the push of a button on the control panel, the machine whirred into life. "With these buttons, I can control the speed at which the wheel rotates..." Kintobor pressed a button resembling an up arrow, which caused the digit on the small screen next to it to change from '0' to '1'. The wheel began to rotate, albeit at a snail's pace.
"C'mon, Kintobor! This 'sposed to test me?" Sonic cackled playfully, slowly strolling in place.
"I'll put it at seven!" Kintobor obliged, pressing the up button repeatedly. "Be warned, the wheel speeds up considerably each time I press this button! How's that suiting you?"
Sonic sprinted at what to him was a leisurely pace. The speedometer read 475mph. "It's alright! No different to running through the valleys of Green Hill! I can handle more!"
"Are you sure?" asked Kintobor. "Would you not like to take a breather first?"
"You're gonna have to get it a whole lot faster than this before I lose my breath!" Sonic smirked. "Bump it up, Robotnik! Let's see what ten feels like!"
"If you insist..!" Kintobor grinned excitedly, pressing the button three more times before the screen read '10'. The speedometer increased alongside it: 490mph... 523mph... 610mph...
"Not a bad little gadget, Kintobor!" Sonic admired, putting in more effort to match the pace of the wheel. "Can it go any faster?"
"Sonic, are you sure?" Kintobor asked in disbelief. "The speedometer is already reading 625 miles per hour!"
"C'mon! What's there to be afraid of?" Sonic encouraged. "Let's see just how fast I can be!"
Anxiously, Kintobor examined his control panel. On the other end from the speedometer was a key that sat in a lock. Above it read a label: 'Safety Override'. A green light blinked next to it. Hovering his hand over the key, Kintobor finally grabbed it and twisted it to the right. The green light faded, and a red light flickered on next to it.
"We're in uncharted territory here, Sonic!" Kintobor warned as he returned to the other end of the control panel. "We'll see what gives first - you, or the machine!"
"I like the sound of that!" Sonic laughed. "Let's see what you got, Gyratoscope!"
Kintobor, nervously twiddling his long, wiry moustache, slowly upped the speed of the Kinetic Gyratoscope. The speedometer gradually increased: 650mph... 677mph... 702mph..!
"This is incredible!" Kintobor's eyes glowed. "You've almost reached the speed of sound!"
"What didja say, Kintobor? I can't hear you!" Sonic held his hand by his ear; he barely noticed Kintobor speak over the sound of the machine.
"Almost isn't good enough... let's make history!" the overexcited doctor exclaimed. "Get ready, Sonic!"
He continued upping the speed. Sparks began to fly from the overworked Gyratoscope as the speedometer reached new peaks: 739mph... 745mph... 758mph... 764mph..! Sonic's legs were no longer discernible, appearing as a spinning brown blur as the hedgehog began to sweat.
BOOM!
The sound barrier had been broken. It was the final straw for the Kinetic Gyratoscope, which crumbled in a small explosion. The accident blew Doctor Kintobor away from the control panel, sending him flying back into the Retro-Orbital Chaos Controller with a thud. Parts of the Kinetic Gyratoscope flew across the room; bolts and shrapnel collided with the R.O.C.C., resulting in another loud BANG!
After a few moments, the dust cleared. From the scrap of the Kinetic Gyratoscope appeared Sonic the Hedgehog, nursing a bump on his head. "Geez..! Doctor Kintobor?"
The hedgehog panicked as he laid his eyes on the rubble that once made up the Retro-Orbital Chaos Controller. Wasting no time, he sped over before being knocked back; looking up from the ground, he saw the six Chaos Emeralds float from the debris before crashing out the lab, breaking holes in the walls and ceiling as they scattered themselves across the lands.
"The Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic panicked before returning to the pile of rock and metal. "Doctor Kintobor, are you alright?"
A bloated fist emerged, punching through the scrap before finding a footing and pushing the rest of its body up. Sonic stood back, aghast at the sight before him. What was once the tall, scrawny Kintobor, a head full of wild, ginger hair, was replaced by something quite different. A bald, portly figure stood in the debris. In place of wire-frame glasses sat rounded, deep black shades. The lab coat, while tattered, remained, and barely contained Kintobor's spherical body.
"I'm more than alright," Kintobor clenched his fists, as if he could feel something coursing through his veins. "In fact, I feel incredible!"
Swinging his fist, he backhanded the blue hedgehog, knocking him aside before running to the Pod at the end of the lab.
"What's your deal, Doc?" Sonic yelled after him, baffled and angry. "What happened to you?!"
"It was foolish of me to think of containing all the world's evil in the seven Chaos Emeralds, rather than harnessing it for myself!" the crazed scientist monologued as he activated the Pod. It began to slowly hover off the ground. "The accident must have damaged the Retro-Orbital Chaos Controller, thus releasing the Chaos Emeralds and the evil energy stored inside of them! This has come at the cost of a physical transformation for the both of us, but no matter!"
Confused at first, Sonic looked down at his legs, seeing that his brown fur had turned sky blue. "Woah..! But wait - what are you talking about?"
"You're not the only one who has unlocked their true potential, Sonic the Hedgehog!" the scientist smirked menacingly. "Now stay out of my way - unless you want to get hurt!"
A glass dome retracted from the Pod. It whirred before zooming towards Sonic, pushing him aside and bursting through the wall of the lab before ascending rapidly towards the sky. The blue hedgehog coughed as he got to his feet, a solemn expression on his face.
"The evil energy that was being stored in the Chaos Emeralds must have been released into Kintobor!" Sonic sighed sadly. "Now they're missing, and there's no telling what Kintobor will do next! All I can do is hang around here for a while and keep an eye out for him!"
I
A few months had passed. Sonic had been in Green Hill now for around six months in total, making it the closest thing he had to a home; if it weren't for meeting Doctor Kintobor, he'd have sped out of this place and resumed his journey across Mobius a long time ago.
Sonic lay in the shade of a tree atop a hill, relaxing with his eyes shut and listening to the trickling sound of water from a nearby stream. Something soon came over these peaceful sounds of nature, though; something crying out, getting louder and louder as it approached. The blue hedgehog sat up and rubbed his eyes before looking around before spotting something hopping up the hill, and as the hopping thing approached, the sound it made changed from an incoherent blabber to something more discernible.
"Sonic..! Sonic..! Sonic!" Pocky the rabbit hopped tiredly up the hill. Sonic sped down towards him, sparing Pocky from using any more of his energy.
"Pocky!" Sonic exclaimed, noticing the expression of fear on the rabbit's face. "What's up?"
"Something's happening!" answered Pocky, lost for words. "These machines... they just swept in and attacked us! Some of us were kidnapped! I managed to escape, but I don't know how long it will take for them to catch up with me!"
"Where were they?" Sonic asked, fearing for what, or whom, created these machines. "When did this happen?"
"Just a few minutes ago!" Pocky gasped for breath. "I ran in a straight line - if you head that way, they should still be there!"
"Hide up in that tree, Pocky - I'll deal with this!" Sonic assured, easily building momentum as he sprinted down the hill. Speeding across the treeline, Sonic soon found himself confronted by what could only be the metallic monsters Pocky had described. They resembled animals; a small, round thing on one wheel with piercing claws reminded Sonic of a ladybug, while the horde of flying creatures with guns on the ends of their abdomens could only resemble wasps. The machines soon took keen interest to Sonic, and the ground-based robots, labelled 'Moto-Bugs', sped towards him.
"Whatever you buckets of bolts are supposed to be..." Sonic curled into a ball and rolled downhill towards them, slicing through them with his spines. "You're no match for Sonic!"
The wasp-like flying creatures furrowed their mechanical eyebrows. They flew overhead, their weapons poised as they fired pellets at the blue hedgehog. Sonic did his best to evade them, although a few rogue bullets managed to snag him. Kicking off the ground, he bounced off each of the Buzz Bombers, pushing them down on a crash course to the ground.
"There can only be more where that came from!" Sonic brushed himself off. "And as much as I hate to admit it, I've got a feeling I know who's behind this!"
Looking up at the sky, Sonic was met by a familiar sight: the Pod that the transformed Kintobor had fled the lab in, hovering above the ground towards him. The glass shield unveiled the man in the cockpit, now darning a red sweater and a yellow cape.
"Surprised to see me?" Sonic readied himself as the Pod stopped mid-air about a dozen feet ahead of him.
"Not as surprised as I am to see you!" the scientist eyed the blue hedgehog over the rim of his sunglasses. "No matter! I warned you against crossing me!"
"It's not too late, Kintobor!" Sonic pleaded in his final effort to recover what had been lost. "We can find a way to reverse your transformation!"
"Pah!" the Doctor laughed. "The name 'Kintobor' is no longer of significance to me, Hedgehog! I am Doctor Robotnik, and I do not need to be cured!"
The bottom of the floating Pod opened to release a wrecking ball, which a few inches off the ground by a metal chain.
"If that's how you wanna do this..." Sonic snarled. "Let's dance!"
The Pod flew over Sonic, bringing the wrecking ball behind it. Sonic slid underneath the ball, feeling its weight in the air above him.
"I've made a few adjustments to my Robo Pod!" Robotnik bragged. "This wrecking ball is enough to splatter any rodent who gets in my way!"
Leaping over the ball and hitting the back of the Robo Pod, Sonic bounced off and retreated a few feet away. "Gonna need to do better than that, Robotnik!"
Growling, Robotnik harshly turned the hovercraft around, swinging the wrecking ball sideway and knocking Sonic into a nearby totem pole.
"Before I destroy you, I will offer you this proposal," Robotnik smirked. "I am undoubtedly the greatest mind on Mobius and you, undoubtedly, are the fastest thing alive. Together, we could be unstoppable. The whole of Mobius could be ours! The choice is yours, hedgehog: persist in this hopeless rebellion and face certain death, or join me at my side!"
Catching his breath, Sonic laughed to himself. "You think you've beat the fight outta me already? I thought you knew me better than that, Kintobor!"
Sonic hopped off his feet and curled into a ball, smashing into the cockpit of the Robo Pod and sending the craft spinning.
"That accident redefined us!" Sonic landed on the ground in a crouched pose. "It seems like it set you on a path of chaos and destruction; the opposite of the Kintobor I knew! It cemented you as ambitious, in all the wrong areas! As for me? I know now that as long as you're on this path, I have to resist you! I will put a stop to this twisted game you're playing, even if it means fighting you forever!"
As Robotnik stabilized the spinning Robo Pod, the blue hedgehog ran circles around the craft, running as fast as he could. With considerably more ease than that day at the lab a few months ago, Sonic's legs turned into a spinning blur to the naked eye, before all that Robotnik could see was a blue blur around him. The Doctor panicked, unsure of how to target this threat, before all of a sudden it stopped and, with a sound like a chainsaw, Sonic ripped through the metal chain connecting the wrecking ball to the Robo Pod. The hedgehog kicked back off the ground and punched into the hovercraft's cockpit. Robotnik shielded himself as he eyed the control panel of the craft, which indicated that the machine had received substantial damage.
"Enough!" Robotnik growled quietly before raising his voice to a fierce yell. "I said, ENOUGH!"
The Robo Pod suddenly propelled upwards, leaving Sonic on the ground with the remnants of the wrecking ball. Spluttering through the sky, the pod continued to rise above the clouds. For now, Green Hill was safe, but it was up to Sonic alone to guarantee the same for the rest of South Island and Mobius.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed! This will be updated sporadically. Each chapter will be a one-shot based on a different character from Sonic's world; I have nine others characters/teams I plan on using, but I'm open to requests and if I'm interested enough I'd be willing to write a chapter for that character. Remember that these chapters are not necessarily linked by any means, and may take inspiration from the games or other media (such as Sonic the Comic, Issue 8 of which was the primary inspiration for what 'created' Sonic and Robotnik in this chapter). Happy reading!