Chapter 2: Is This The World We Created…?
There everybody was standing on the cliff side overlooking the village down below in the far distance. Everyone with questions on where they are and what happened to the area around them. Blaze couldn't help but keep looking at her destroyed castle and its surroundings. What was once her home where she would spend her young childhood days learning to be a proper princess by Gardon and others was gone.
Just as Sonic and others were about to head to scout for answers at the nearby village. Blaze with a hesitation in her voice made Sonic and the gang stop walking. They turned to look at the lavender feline who wasn't in the happiest of moods they hadn't seen in a while.
"Blaze, is something wrong?" Honey asked her feline friend.
"You guys go ahead without me. If you don't mind, I like to look around the castle to see what remains. Perhaps even find some answers." Blaze asked.
"Of course Blaze, if that's what you want." Tails said, nodding.
"Thank you, I'll meet back with you all once I'm done." Blaze said, thanking her friends with a bow.
"We'll be down below the village if you need us." Said the hedgehog as he and others started walking away.
Blaze nodded and proceeded to walk back inside the destroyed castle, searching for anything that remains or any clues or signs to what happened. She wanted to know what happened desperately so her head could feel clear and get rid of her worries.
Back with the others, it took awhile for Sonic, Honey, Tails, and Knuckles to reach down the village of what seems to be part of Blaze's kingdom. Though their walk to the village was long it wasn't a pleasant one. On the way there wasn't any sign of greenery anywhere or wildlife in that matter. Just a valley of dead grass and dead trees scattered around, giving the area a depressing feeling.
The more the gang saw the valley the more worry they got for they couldn't help but think the rest of the world may look like this. Entering the village wasn't a pleasant experience either. The village itself looked almost dead with few inhabitants roaming around dressed in some ragged clothing.
Over at the marketplace, some fruit and vegetables looked barely edible as flies flew around it. A man's fish market was selling fish but they mostly looked disgusting at first sight. The buildings looked like they could barely cover their rooftops because some had holes, so when rain happens they would have leaks. The homes themselves looked like they had been repaired multiple times for planks of wood were used to cover their broken windows and doors to prevent any robberies from happening.
The people in the village were just roaming around trying their best to live and survive. While there were some folks trying to make do, there were some who seemed to have given up because they just laid on the ground not caring whether or not people bump into them.
Nothing but a depressing feeling was coming out of all of this. As soon as Sonic and the others entered the village, lots of eyes were turned towards them. Some had frightened looks as people hid in the corners of the village, went inside their buildings, closed their windows, and held on to their kids for safety. Some gave odd looks for they had never seen anyone like them before, while some were giving mean stares thinking they came to cause trouble.
Meanwhile back with Blaze, the princess was scouting around the castle for some clues. She had to watch her step because there was some dirty broken glass in some parts of the floor. It was hard to tell because some of the dead grass managed to get in the castle.
She stumbled across the old library where all of the world's history was stored. Entering from a broken wall, she saw multiple bookcases on the floor with books scattered on the floor. Blaze picked up one of them, and tried to read it. Sadly the books were unreadable for most likely the rain made them wet due to the lack of roof keeping them shelter. That and because some of the books were rotten for being outside for so long.
Seeing that the library wasn't gonna provide answers. Blaze decided to go where she assumed her royal room would be. She walked carefully making sure nothing jumped on her incase some thieves came by to steal what's left of the place.
As she walked she noticed something on the wall. Those being claw marks made by someone. Blaze had a strange urge to pull her own claws out and began clawing the claw marks on the wall. To her surprise, her claws fit perfectly like the ones on the wall.
"They're….my claw marks?" Blaze said, looking at her cat claws. "I would never do such a thing, especially to my own home."
Blaze looked over as she continued walking, she saw more claw marks on the wall. Some were long and short marks. The more she saw the more she demanded for answers. She reached the stair area of the castle where her room was above the castle. Normally she would take the stairs to get up but unfortunately the stairs seem to be broken.
That didn't stop the feline for she used her acrobatic skills. She clenched her fist before running towards it and jumped on it to wall jump her way up. She stopped walking until she reached the floor she wanted to be on.
Blaze adventure on as she looked at the deserted hallway of her castle. There were many spider webs covering the corner of the wall, cabinets, and chandeliers that were still hanging on the ceiling.
The feline stopped when she reached a familiar door in the far end of the hallway. The door has her royal symbol which means it was her private room. The door was jammed due to how unused it was for a very long time. With enough strength, she pushed the door open and entered what seems to be her old room.
Her room was in a disastrous state, the wallpaper on the wall was slowly peeling off, more spider webs in the corner of the room, and her bed shredded and covered in dust. There was a lot of dust covering the room and loose fabric on the floor. Blaze went over to her mirror and cabinet. The feline wiped the mirror which was covered in dust with one of the fabrics on the floor and saw her reflection.
She then looked down to her cabinet for many empty bottles of perfume and make up. She dug around the cabinet until she found something familiar. A photo of herself of her younger days. In the photo she looked happy because the picture was taken before Blaze took her job as the guardian of the Sol Emeralds seriously.
Blaze took the photo as she looked at while walking towards the balcony of her room. She was outside in the open as she leaned down and laid her arms on the edge of her balcony. As a soft breeze of wind hit, she kept looking between the photo of herself and the whole world in front of her, trying to make sense of it.
She looked down at the village that Sonic and others were currently at. A strong wind entered the room and knocked a few things inside. Blaze quickly looked over to see what fell. The moment she turned around scared her.
There was some writing on the wall that gave Blaze chills. On the wall the words, "I Go Crazy'' were written on what seemed to be lipstick that Blaze found on the floor nearby. Blaze picked up the lipstick case off the floor and looked back at the world.
"Did….did I do this?" Blaze told herself while looking at the world.
Not wanting to see the writing on the wall anymore for it was making her feel uncomfortable. She headed back outside the balcony to get some air and clear her head. By this point she now knows who might have done all this to her castle and the rest of the world but was too afraid to admit it. The real question she wonders is how and why her dimension ended up the way it is.
As she was trying to think, Blaze saw something flying in the far distance that was heading towards the village Sonic and the gang were at. Blaze had a bad feeling that those flying beings were gonna cause trouble to her friends. Quickly she made her next destination to the village of her kingdom to meet back with the others.
With Sonic and others, the gang continue exploring the village that looked lifeless. Everyone was still giving them odd looks, some curious and some cautious. Everyone was just silent other than the sound of footsteps hitting the broken stone ground and whispers for anyone who was too afraid to speak a word.
A elderly man soon fell to his knees and began coughing uncontrollably near Sonic and the gang. The old man looked sick, probably hadn't eaten or drank for quite a while. Not to mention his eyes show drowsiness meaning the man hasn't been able to get any sleep. Without hesitation Sonic and others quickly went over to the man to help. Doing so gained more attention from the people of the village that someone was actually trying to help the old man.
Before Sonic could reach out and help the old man, one of the villagers spoke up, making him stop. "Stop, I wouldn't if I were you." Said a man's voice.
Sonic and others looked over to see a group of people staring at them as they stood feets away from them. Some people couldn't see eye to eye with the hedgehog as they looked down to the ground. The hedgehog was just confused why he was told to stop but still wanted to help.
"I can't just leave this man here like this." Sonic answered.
"Trust me, there's no point in helping him now." The man in the crowd said. "This is his escape from this wretched life you see."
The old man gave a loud cough before looking at the hedgehog, "He's right, I've awaited for this day to come. Please just leave me, I'm grateful to know that there's still some people that care." He said, before letting out a cough.
"No." Sonic replied.
Much to everyone's shock, they saw Sonic put the old man's arm around his shoulder and help up to his feet. To everyone's surprise they never saw anyone willing to help anyone let alone a stranger. Sonic helps the man sit at a nearby seat.
"Don't worry I'll help anyway we can." Sonic said, as he and friends nodded.
Old man was surprised by the hedgehog's kindness, "Y-You're not from around here aren't you?" Said the old man.
"I guess you can say that." Sonic answered.
"You must have taken a bad turn if you ended up here." The old man said.
"Something like that happened." Tails answered this time.
Sonic quickly dashed to the nearest market place and purchased some fruits that looked edible. Surprisingly they took his rings as currency pretty well here at the village. Sonic got back and gave the old man the fruits which he softly ate trying to savor every bite like it was his last.
Once the man was finished he looked at Sonic and his friends with a graceful look. "Thank you, it may not be much, it's enough to keep me going for a while." He said.
"Just take it easy old man." Sonic gave a thumbs up.
Everyone looked at Sonic and his friends with astounding looks on their faces. Such a friendly group of characters help someone that grew curious who they were and where they came from.
Just before the villagers could say anything, a man running towards everyone was seen yelling and waving his hand with a worried look on his face.
"Everyone! They're coming!" Yell the man in the distance.
Everybody in the village looked frightened and shocked by what they heard. Sonic and others were just confused by the sudden alarm and were curious to know what's coming. The people of the village began muttering to themselves, scared what's gonna happen.
"Why are they?!"
"They're back soon?!"
"We need to prepare!"
"Can't they just leave us alone!"
Sonic and the gang watched as the people kept talking until they realized it was safe that they head inside their homes for what's arriving. The gang looked up in the far distance to see multiple flying glowing lights heading towards the village.
The old man coughed and frowned seeing the lights in the sky. "Oh no, not them again." He said.
"Looks like we should hide as well just in case." Honey said, looking at the villagers.
"Please just leave me, save yourselves before they spot you." The old man warned the gang.
"Who?" Knuckles said, wanting to know.
"Ain't happening. I'm not leaving someone behind." Sonic said, picking up the old man.
"But where do we go?" Honey asked, looking around for a spot where they could hide.
"Over here, quick!" Shouted a womanly voice.
The gang looked over to the voice and saw a woman with her door open to her home. Next to her was her small daughter who looked scared as she held her mother. Sonic with the help of Knuckles carried the old man into the home that belongs to the woman and her child.
"You can lay him on the sofa over there." The woman said, pointing at the couch.
Sonic and Knuckles nodded and placed the old man gently on the couch. Before anyone could talk to the woman. She quickly shushed everyone and closed the curtains of her home making sure not a single view of the outside was shown. Everyone was curious to know why this woman was helping her and took notice of her young daughter who looked at them with a scared and curious look as she hid a bit from the other room.
A sudden noise then appeared, it was very quiet until the sound of what seemed to be wings could be heard. The noise was getting louder and louder, they could even feel the vibration and sound flying right above the house as they waited.
The noise finally stopped when they heard something land on the outside of the building. The woman of the house carefully lifted up the curtain of her home to not be seen. She had a frightened look which made Sonic and others curious. Carefully, the gang walked over to the window and Sonic lifted up the curtains a bit to see what's happening outside.
Their eyes widened by what they saw. Outside standing on the streets of the village were several mysterious creatures. From the looks of it, they look like anthropomorphic fireflies but they had soulless bodies, all of them looking the same. They carried swords, spears, shields and wore armor covering parts of their bodies like knights. They had a very scary look to them that could say they look demonic and evil.
They seem to be looking around checking to see if anything is out of the norm than usual. The gang quickly hid themselves just before one of the fireflies turned to look at the building they were hiding in and continued to walk with his fellow soldiers around town. The woman who owns the house sighs in relief as she turns back to Sonic and others, who had many questions for the lady.
"Ma'am, mind telling us what's going on?" Sonic asked, politely.
"Yeah, why are you helping us?" Honey also asked.
"I'm helping you because you were helping that old man there." The woman said, pointing at the old man. "I never once saw anyone trying to help a stranger out. There's something very special about all of you that made me want to help."
"What about those scary looking fireflies? What's their deal?" Tails asked.
"They're here to collect our money for the queen." The woman said.
"The queen?!" Sonic, Tails, Honey, and Knuckles said, surprised.
"My word? You haven't heard of the queen? The queen who rules the entire planet." The woman said.
"The queen is scary." Said the small child. "She took dad away from us."
The small girl began to tear up as she missed her father. Her mother hugged and also got a bit teary at the painful memory of her husband being taken away from them. Sonic and the others got worried hearing this, a queen that was making everyone's lives miserable and living in such a state they are.
Before Sonic could ask anything about this queen, a large blow horn was heard outside. The peeked under the curtains to see it was one of the fireflies who blew the horn. After the horn was blown, a couple of people from the village exited their homes and shops as they walked outside where they were visible. It was only one person per household that exited carrying what seemed to be brown bags. One of the villagers tripped and accidentally dropped the bag and out came the currency. The villager got scared as one of the fireflies pointed its spear at them and was told to pick up the money. The villager quickly picked up the money and placed it back in the bag. The bags of currency were being checked and counted by a few other fireflies soldiers before being thrown into a pile in the center of the village.
One of the fireflies soldiers tapped his spear on the ground before speaking, his voice sounding very heavy and scary to listen to. "By the order of the queen, each resident that lives here must pay the amount if they wish to live. We will not tolerate those that don't meet the amount." The soldier said.
The woman that was with Sonic and his friends quickly went to a nearby cabinet and pulled out a brown bag holding money. She quickly took a deep breath and looked at Sonic and his friends.
"Please stay put, just as soon as I give my payment and as well as everyone else. We should have no trouble." The woman said, before exiting out her building.
Everyone watched as the woman carefully walked to her home. Honey looked back at the little girl who was standing next to them. The little girl had a worry and Honey saw how hard the little girl had her fingers crossed.
"Hey, so what's up with those soldiers and why did the villagers give them money?" Honey said, quietly.
"Those are the queen's soldiers. They come every week to collect payment from us." The girl explained.
"What happens if they don't have enough to pay?" Tails asked.
The little girl looked down with a frightened look, "They choose a different way of payment." She said, shaking.
"Like how?" Knuckles said.
"They take someone, destroy one of the homes, or worse. A sacrifice." She stated.
Hearing this made Sonic clench his fist hearing how poorly these people are being treated. He got up wanting to do something but was quickly stopped by the little girl.
"Please mister, don't cause any trouble. Not while my mom is out there." She told the hedgehog.
Sonic wanted to refuse but the look on the girl's eye tells him she has been through a lot most kids her age shouldn't have experienced. Sonic got down to one knee and kept watching as the events unfold in front of him.
The woman carefully handed her bag of money to the firefly soldier who took it away harshly from her hand with a quick swoop. The soldier opened the bag and began counting the money and while the woman stayed she wasn't allowed to leave until they counted her payment. After much waiting, the firefly soldier nodded at the woman, letting her know she was allowed to go back to her home.
The woman walked back as Sonic and the others saw her enter back her home. They could see the woman's legs shaking uncontrollably as she leaned down on her own door. The daughter ran to her mother and hugged her to make her feel comfortable which also calmed her down knowing they get to live another day.
Once the woman felt calm enough, she sat on a chair as Sonic and others gathered around her. "It's not over yet, it's up to the rest of the village to meet their demands." She said, placing her hand on her heart.
Sonic looked at the woman and her daughter. "Can you tell us more about this Queen you talked about before?" He asked, very curious.
"Why exactly does she make everything like this?" Tails asked.
The mother and daughter looked at each other, "You really don't know?" The mother said.
Knuckles nodded, "We can't exactly explain it. But we're not from around here." He tried to explain.
The mother and daughter got even more worried as they tried to tell the gang what they knew about the whole situation, they didn't have much but it was best they knew at least some information before they head out there.
Somewhere Mysterious
In a dark room, the man who was running away in the forest from before seems to be sitting on a chair. At the moment he passed out from exhaustion from what happened earlier today. He stayed pass out until he started to open his eyes slowly and made a grunting noise for he could feel the pain in his back and feet when he tripped.
As he opened his eyes, he was met with the darkness of the room he was in. He tried to move from his seat but felt his legs and torso tied to the chair he was sitting on, only his hands and arms he was able to move freely. He tried to break free but the thing that was keeping his legs and torso trapped was made of steel. He tried a few times, but gave up because he didn't have any strength.
Suddenly parts of the room light up, scaring the man by surprise. As things got a bit clear, he noticed he was sitting near a long dinner table. There were forks, spoons, and napkins present in front of the man. He wasn't alone however, for he looked around and saw other people sitting on the dinner table with him. They too were also strapped down by their legs and torso.
The man looked around to see the table filled with men and women, all of which looked hungry, desperate, and weak as they stared down at the table in front of them. He kept looking until he saw two familiar faces.
"Khrushchev? Kennedy?" The man said, looking at the two men sitting a few seats away from him on his left.
Both men looked tired and defeated. The man was surprised because he hasn't seen the two guys from his home village that haven't been in weeks since they were abducted. One called Kennedy slowly responded by shifting his head towards the man who called his name while Khrushchev kept looking at the table in front of him staring at nothing but the white table cloth.
"Kennedy what's going on? Where are we? Is this what I think it is?" The man asked, frightened.
"So she got you too huh?" Kennedy blankly answered.
"I thought I could escape, but I was a fool thinking that. I'll ask again, where are we?" The man asked.
Khrushchev finally spoke up but didn't bother looking at the man as he kept looking at the table. What he said gave the man a fearful look for it wasn't something he wanted to hear.
"An invitation you can't decline."
Just then more lights lighten up in the room making it more visible. Some people moan and shutter their eyes for they have been in the darkness for quite a while. Just as everyone's vision was getting used to the lights, a large group of fireflies soldiers came into the room, all of them holding a silver tray with a lid on them. The soldiers stood behind each of the people tied down their chairs.
There was however that wasn't a firefly soldier for it was a being wearing formal clothing, wearing a black suit and black pants. He entered the room without looking and speaking to any of the people at the table as he kept a blank face and kept his eyes closed. He walked because he knew where he was going in the room.
Everyone watched as the man walked to the corner of the room to see him climb a few stair steps so that everyone could see him. In the corner of the room, is a shiny and beautifully made piano glossing in everyone's eyes who sees it. The man seemed to be a pianist as he sat on his seat. The pianist cracked his fingers before pressing on the keyboard with his pure white gloves. The pianist started with a low G minor and kept playing it around there.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room knew something bad was happening to them but they weren't sure. As the music from the piano kept getting scarier, many people were grunting trying to escape from their seats by rocking their chairs left and right only to be stopped by the firefly soldiers.
Everyone stopped panicking when the music from the piano finally stopped. They looked at the pianist wondering why he stopped playing because he just sat there with his eyes still closed. Everything was just silent until they heard the sound of footsteps of one person coming in the room.
In the far end of the dinner room came a mysterious black figure. The mysterious figure seems to be a female for the way she was walking with her hip swinging left and right in a playful manner. The eyes of the mysterious woman suddenly opened, a pair of glowing red eyes and devilish smile appeared at the same time.
The mysterious female kept her identity hidden for parts of the room was still shrouded in darkness, the only thing the people could see was the female's footwear which was a high heel in red colors.
Just by the appearance alone was enough to give anyone a Sheer Heart Attack. Everyone knew who exactly who the mysterious female was but they never thought they would see her up close and in person. It was their Queen who made her appearance in their presence, the same queen that ruled their lives and the very planet they live on.
Everyone watched except the firefly soldiers for they looked down at the people making sure they didn't do anything to escape or even try to hurt themselves. The Queen gracefully walked over to something next to her royal throne that was at the far end of the table.
Curiosity was getting to everyone, what the Queen was planning to do. They watched her walk and listened to the footsteps that her high heels were making as she reached her destination which was a pretty cabinet that is well crafted and began digging for something inside of it. Everyone knew one thing that their Queen held that they witnessed as she pulled something out from her cabinet.
She keeps her Moët et Chando in her pretty cabinet.
The Queen pulled out a clean empty glass and began pouring her drink. She didn't fill the whole glass cup, only filled it up halfway. The Queen gently put down the bottle and slowly walked over to her throne seat without making a spill of her drink.
She sat on the throne seat improperly, sitting sideways to make herself comfortable for what's gonna happen. The Queen slowly raised her glass up towards her people of her world and soldiers, all eyes were on the Queen and she liked it. She gave out a devilish smile as she spoke in a teasing and silly voice that was very unfitting for the tone the people were in.
"Let them eat cake." She says just like Marie Antoinette.
At this, the firefly soldiers laid down their silver trays on the table while everyone had a confused look on their face wondering what the Queen just said. To everyone's surprise when the lid of the trays lifted up it was indeed cake underneath it and being served to them.
The Queen snapped her fingers at her pianist, who quickly responded by playing the piano again but this time the music sounded more cheerful and playful. The people all took a look at their cake because they couldn't believe their eyes.
The cake itself looked so well crafted with its white frosting. To them, a single piece of cake looked like one of the richest things they had seen in a long time. A few people just stared and their stomach started growling seeing the cake.
Without hesitation, some people grabbed their forks and started eating the cake while some just simply grabbed it with their dirty bare hands not caring if they were. The man who was kidnapped by the Queen didn't take a bite of his cake despite his hunger telling him to eat.
He watched everyone devour their cake as everyone enjoyed it and some tried to savor it. Even his friends Khrushchev and Kennedy were eating, Khrushchev eating the cake slowly as he could for wanted to take his time. The man watched as people were crying tears of joy for they finally had something decent to eat that wasn't scraps and rotten food.
The man then notices something about the Queen that was odd. She hasn't yet taken a sip of her glass drink. Before the man could say anything to his friends Khrushchev and Kennedy to tell them something wasn't right, he was interrupted by the firefly soldier who told him to eat his cake as he pointed his weapon behind his head.
Having no choice by that point, the man quickly took a table knife and began cutting a piece off the cake and picked up the cut piece with a fork. He slowly inserted a cake piece in his mouth and swallowed it. Just before he could eat more of his piece of cake. One of the people immediately dropped his fork and stared at the thin air before he started choking.
Everyone stopped to look at the man who was causing a ruckus as he was having a hard time trying to stay stable. The person's face was starting to red as tears were coming out of his eyes and had a hard time breathing. Some people thought the man ate his cake so fast that he didn't swallow properly. The man was able to say something that really caught everyone's attention making sure they heard him.
"Cake…is….poison!"
The man stopped moving, no longer able to make another movement or word ever again in the world. Everyone was stunned by what he said and soon a few other people were starting to cough and had a hard time breathing like man before. The people looked down at their cake pieces and realized their cake was baked with poison but was disguised under its delicious frosting.
Everyone started screaming and panicking not knowing what to do now that their body is filled with poison and death only seconds away from getting them. At the sound of the screaming and crying, the Queen just smiled finally hearing the party starting and took a sip of her drink in joy.
Some people had the idea to touch their uvula to puke out the poison from their bodies but were quickly held by the firefly soldiers from doing so as they screamed and prayed out loud. Some people looked at the Queen and cursed her out loud as much as they could before the poison took their lives away. The music coming from the piano kept playing that cheerful tone as the pianist just kept his closed and played.
The Queen didn't bother to look at her own people as she sat on her throne seat. The only thing she was looking at was her reflection on the glass cup. She simply hummed to the music of the piano and the sound of the people begging for life for the mix both was making such a delight tune to her ears.
Back with Sonic and friends
"So this Queen of yours is the ruler of this world?" Sonic said, sitting on a chair.
"Yes, I don't know what exactly happened that made the Queen go crazy." The mother said.
"She's been making these awful rules to mess with everyone's life. What's worse she keeps changing whenever she feels bored." The daughter said.
"Can you tell us who exactly this Queen is?" Knuckles said.
"I have yet to see the Queen in person. It's been so long since we last saw her. Her appearance might have changed." the mother said, trying to think back.
"Please I beg of you!" Shouted a voice from outside.
Sonic and the gang quickly ran towards the window to see who shouted. Outside was a man on his knees begging for mercy. The firefly soldier had his spear near the face of the man on his knees.
"Please I beg you! Just give me another day and I'll have the money." The man begged.
"No excuse. We made this loud and clear. No late payments whatsoever." The firefly soldier said.
Two other fireflies soldiers then grabbed both of the man's arms as their wings started flapping. The man was just scared while everyone in the village just watched, scared to do anything for they didn't want to get involved.
"Looks like the Queen can find another way for you to pay." The soldier said. "Take him!"
As the man was gently being lifted up in the air. He was soon dropped to the floor safely as one of the fireflies that held the man was suddenly hit out of nowhere by a mysterious blue blur. Everyone looked surprised, even the firefly soldiers.
They looked to see Sonic in his running position in the wide open. He looked angry, giving the firefly soldiers cold stares. He had enough by what he was seeing as his good heart got the best of him to help the people in the village.
"Enough!" Sonic yelled out. "I'm not going to sit by and watch these people get taken away."
"Who dares interfere with the Fireflies." One of the soldiers said.
"Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog." He said, frowning.
"By the rule of the Queen, you have assaulted one of our soldiers. We must take you in!" Said a soldier.
A few of the firefly soldiers went in charge towards Sonic, while getting in position. Sonic quickly dashed around the fireflies with his speed catching them off guard. The people watching from their homes were surprised and amazed that Sonic could move so fast.
The hedgehog quickly followed up with a homing attack on the back of the soldiers knocking them down to the ground. While Sonic was looking down at his defeated opponents, another firefly was charging at him from behind for a surprise attack from his sword.
Just as he was about to reach Sonic, Knuckles quickly jumped in and broke the sword into pieces with his fist. He followed up the attack with another punch to the side of the firefly's face sending him flying.
"Can't let you hog the spotlight you know." Knuckles smirked and Sonic smirked back.
"Hey! I wanna fight too!" Honey said, running in to join Sonic and Knuckles.
"Yeah guys really know how to start a show huh?" Tails said, running beside Honey joining the group.
The gang huddled together as the firefly soldiers started to gather around them. The people in the village watched carefully, seeing Sonic and his friends getting into action from their homes. A part of them got worried and while some were amused to see what's gonna happen.
"You guys ready?" Sonic asked.
"Ha! Like you need to ask!" Honey mocked and smirked at the firefly soldiers walking up to them with their weapons ready.
Sonic smirked and got his fist ready. "Alright, let's show them a thing or two!" He said, feeling very confident knowing his friends are with them.
"Let's not lose our heads though." Knuckles said, pounding his fist together.
While the gang were being surrounded, they didn't take notice of a firefly that was flying high in the sky. The firefly was sending a message through morse code with its own light, knowing full well one of their fellow soldiers was watching from the far distance of the land. A message to alert the Queen of unwanted visitors.
In the Queen's castle
The Queen was still sitting on her throne seat, taking one last sip of her drink. The glass was now completely empty and the music from the pianist finally stopped, awaiting any order from the Queen.
A finger snap was heard from the Queen as she snapped at her pianist, letting him know he can now leave for she was fully satisfied by his performance. The pianist slowly stood up from his seat and gave a long bow to the Queen to show his loyalty and thanks for using his talents for her pleasure. Not saying a single word.
When the pianist finally left the room, the Queen finally shifted her head to see a table of lifeless bodies. Everyone who had eaten the cake was now dead. The Queen was very amused to see how desperate one can eat after not eating anything for a long time.
The Queen was very happy and just wanted to stay on her royal throne all day and take in the moment. Her happy mood was quickly shifted when one of her firefly soldiers came up to her.
The soldier quickly got down to one knee to show his loyalty before speaking. "My Queen, may I have your permission to speak. I bring urgent news." Said the soldier.
The Queen just simply looked at the soldier without a word. The soldier nodded seeing as he was granted permission by a nod. "My Queen, there is a disturbance in one of the villages of your kingdom according to one of my soldiers who was sending a message to us." He said, while still kneeling and looking down at the ground.
An eye raised from the Queen for the news was quite fascinating. "It appears to be a group of individuals causing problems for our soldiers, should I send "them" to dispose of these troublemakers, my Queen." Her soldier said.
The Queen was even more amused, it's been a long time since someone has caused trouble. More amusing was they were fighting against her soldiers on their own. The Queen nodded her head in "no" and got up from her throne seat and began walking back to her cabinet. She grabbed a bottle of perfume to spray some for she loved the scent of it before trying to exit out.
She wanted to see these troublemakers for her own amusement. It's been a long time since she got to do anything fun. Just the thought of it was making her smile wickedly as she exited the door of her castle.
Back with Sonic and others
"Honey! To your left!" Sonic shouted, warning his sister.
Honey quickly responded to Sonic's warning for an upcoming attack. The cat did a high kick hitting the firefly soldier in the guts that was on her left. Honey quickly thanked her brother with a thumbs up before she went back into fighting.
Knuckles was taking on a large group of soldiers on his own. He was breaking their swords and shields with his bare fist. They tried to gang up on him but with his brute strength he was able to push them back and keep on fighting. The echidna was rather enjoying this, he loved being swarmed by enemies that he can just punch and beat up. His fist was very happy that they showed his strength.
Tails was in the air flying and dodging the attacks. He fought back by flying around the area making the firefly foolishly trapped and accidentally hit on tree branches and used his spinning tails to whack his enemies. Thanks to his flying skills he had the upper hand when it comes to flight.
Both Sonic and Honey were working together as the brother and sister duo they are. Sonic would use his spin dash to the firefly off in the air and Honey would dive kicking them to the ground. Honey would throw a few soldiers towards Sonic who would use his spin dash to knock them out.
The fight went for a while until all the firefly soldiers were finally defeated. Each soldier was down to the ground unconscious from the beating they took from Sonic and his friends, who were breathing slightly because the fight went on a bit longer than they thought. The group gave a victorious smile and high five each other.
The people in the village couldn't believe their eyes from what they saw. All of them came out from their homes to see the defeated soldiers on the ground as Sonic and his friends became the victors. Some felt a small sense of joy while others were still worried as they searched around for any more fireflies coming their way.
The mother and the daughter from before approached with a surprise look. "Never in my life have I thought I would see the fireflies be beaten." The mother said.
"You guys are amazing." The little girl said.
"Sorry for kinda rushing in like that. I can't help myself when someone is in danger. Call it my natural instinct." Sonic said, apologizing.
"It's quite alright, but I do think we should lay low for a while. The Queen must surely know about your presence by now." The mother said.
"I say let her show her face. Whoever this Queen is can't be as tough as these fireflies." Knuckles said, confidently.
"It would be disappointing if she was all talk and no show." Honey said, mocking the Queen.
"We might as well stick around if the Queen knows we're here." Sonic said, getting pumped up. "Save us the time."
A man quickly rushed into the scene and with a scared look. "That might be a lot sooner than we thought. Someone just spotted the Queen heading this way." Said the man.
Everyone gasped hearing this and began to get scared. Some people began running back into their homes while some were trying to escape the village not wanting the Queen to see their identity. Some stayed because they didn't have any place to go but the village.
"Look! There she is!" A village yelled.
Sonic and his friends and the rest of the village looked in the far distance of the place. Sonic and the gang prepared themselves for they were ready to take down this evil Queen. Sonic began to stretch his legs, Knuckles stretched his arm, Tails got his twin tails spinning, and Honey got into her cat fight pose.
They quickly discarded their position once they saw who was coming to the village. It was their friend, Blaze the Cat running towards them. Sonic and the others stopped what they were doing and got confused to where the Queen was at.
Everyone in the village was paralyzed in fear the moment they saw Blaze appeared in the distance. Tails looked at one of the village people with a confused look.
"Hey why is everyone scared?" Tails asked.
"That's the Queen right there!" The man said.
"That's the Queen?! Blaze?!" Honey said, baffled.
"Blaze ain't no Queen, she's a princess." Sonic responded back.
"That being right there is the reason why we live in such a state." Said another man.
Blaze soon entered the scene and with a worried look on her face as Sonic and the gang ran towards her. "Are you guys alright? I saw some glowing lights heading in your direction." She asked, concerned.
"Nothing to worry about. Just tookdown some baddies." Sonic said, smiled.
Blaze looked down with a frown for she couldn't meet eye to eye with her friends. They began to worry as she frowned, seeing that she might have discovered something while they were separated.
"Blaze, did you find anything at your old castle home?" Sonic asked, worried.
Blaze nodded while still looking down to the ground. "I…I know who made the world like this." She said, shamefully.
"Who?" Honey asked.
"You!" Shouted a very angry voice.
A female voice from the village, everyone looked over to see the mother with her daughter. She gave Blaze one of the most upsetting looks she has ever gotten. Blaze saw the amount of hate and sadness in the girl's eyes knowing she had a lot to say to her.
"It's because of you! We live like this!" The girl said. "You took my dad away just because he was caught stealing food for us when we're starving!"
The mother quickly hugged and shushed her daughter by covering her mouth. The mother was crying and trying hard to make sure her daughter didn't say another word.
"Please, your highness, forgive my daughter's words. Don't take my daughter away." She cried.
Blaze was just speechless hearing this, thinking she would do such a thing. Another person from the village also began yelling, for he wanted to say things to who he thinks is the Queen of the world.
"Just look at all the hungry mouths that need to be fed. We can't properly grow our crops because of the conditions you made for the world." Said the man.
"Take a look at all the suffering we breed while you're here!" Said a woman.
Blaze saw so many lonely faces scattered all around searching for what they needed. More people from the village began gathering up giving Blaze a cold hearted look.
"You know that every day a helpless child is born who needs some loving care inside a happy home." Said another woman.
"While you're in your castle sitting on your throne." A man added in as the rest of the village began joining.
"Monster!"
"Devil!"
"Demon!"
The little girl who had her mouth covered by her mother managed to break free. She broke free from her mother's arms and ran towards Blaze close enough to give one finally yell at her that everyone could hear her.
"Killer!"
Blaze just froze, she felt her heart broken hearing this. She didn't know what to say or do that would calm herself down or the people in front of her. Sonic got angry at the people of the village calling her such harsh words that were hurting her. Sonic stood in front of Blaze defending her.
"Enough!" Sonic yelled.
Many were surprised to see Sonic sticking up to Blaze. Honey quickly ran to Blaze to comfort her seeing how hurt she was. Blaze was just looking down gritting her teeth trying hard not to shed a tear.
"You okay Blaze?" Honey said, worried.
"Y-Yeah I'll be fine." Blaze said.
"Blaze is not the one who did this to you! She's not the evil queen you're mentioning." Sonic yelled at the village.
"Yes she is! There's no other being but her that did all this to the world." A villager yelled.
"Then take a good look at her." Sonic said, stepping away from Blaze to make sure everyone gets a view of her. "Does that look like someone who would cause this?"
Upon further examination, the villagers took a good look at Blaze who was saddened by their words. They had never seen the Queen make such an expression before. Some folks were starting to think that maybe the purple cat in front of them was indeed not really the Queen if somebody like Sonic was defending her. While some were thinking that it was a trick by the Queen to make their defenses down and were getting ready for a surprise attack.
Before anyone could say or do anything. Everyone stood silent until they heard a noise.
*snap*snap*snap*snap*snap*snap*
Everyone in the village seems to know this rhythm very well. They all looked at Blaze seeing she wasn't the one making the snapping noise. The gang were just confused by what's happening. All the villagers quickly ran away the moment they heard the snap noise, not even debating on staying.
Tails then saw something behind as he turned around. The young fox had a scared look on his face as he tugged on Sonic's arm. "There's something behind us." he said.
The gang all turned to see what Tails was looking at. Heading in their direction was a black smoke and in it was a pair of glowing red eyes. The snapping noise was getting louder as the black smoke spread out and got closer.
"That must be the Queen herself." Sonic said, getting ready.
"About time." Knuckles said, cracking his neck and fist.
The black smoke stopped moving the moment the Queen stopped walking. Everyone took a moment to stare at each other as Sonic and others were ready for what was standing in front of them. Blaze then suddenly walked in front of everyone making sure the Queen's eyes were only set on her. Blaze was not happy for she knew who stood in front of her and her friends. She was about 15 feet away from the black smoke where the Queen was in.
"Tell me something." Blaze said to the Queen.
The Queen just stood there staring at Blaze waiting to keep talking. Blaze looked at the ground and clenched her fist so hard like never before. A brief moment of silence, Blaze lifted up her head and gave a sharp look at the Queen looking dead in her eyes, asking her a very important question she wanted answered.
"Is this the world we created?!"
The Queen stood there in silence and continued to stare at Blaze. The black smoke was slowly disappearing revealing who it was. It was getting clearer by the second as a familiar face stepped out from the disappearing black smoke. Everyone was shocked but Blaze to see who stepped outside of the black smoke. Sonic and the gang were stunned by the appearance of the Queen. The Queen just gave a devilish smile before answering Blaze's question.
"Yes."
End of chapter 2