Me: Here is the Prologue for Sonic:Future Generation. I've got the first few chapters edited already; there wasn't much that needed fixing except I added a few paragraphs here and there.
Sonic: Whoo! I think...
Shadow: Finally!
Silver: Start the chapter already!
...
Angel Island.
A chunk of land floating miles above Mobius; where the cliffs are unscalable, the jungle is dense, and the inhabitants are unwelcoming.
Well...one inhabitant. The only inhabitant besides the chao.
Knuckles the Echidna; the last Echidna, Guardian of the Master Emerald.
It was his job, his priority, his sacred duty to protect the powerful emerald from thieves like Eggman and Rouge. They made a normally simple job so hard! Course, Eggman was out of the picture. He'd been out of the picture for almost an entire year; a sweet relief to the Guardian. Rouge would still drop in every so often, just to annoy him; but mostly there was peace and quiet.
About an hour ago, Knuckles had started playing a game of chess with the emerald. He was losing.
"CHECKMATE! AGAIN!? GAH!"
He threw the chessboard off the shrine and sat, cross-legged, in front of the emerald. "I wonder if the peace and quiet is getting to me like it did Sonic." He muttered, "I never had this problem before he and his siblings came to my island all those years ago; but since then it's been one thing after another...till now."
He gazed at the clear, sunny sky. "I almost wish something would happen."
"Careful what you wish for, sweetheart." A voice came from behind him.
"Rouge!" The echidna stood and turned to see the familiar bat standing on the steps to the shrine, examining the black, queen chess piece.
"I said almost, you annoying little..."
"Oh cool your jets, Knucklehead." Rouge said, dropping the queen. "I'm not here to steal your precious gem...this time."
"Why come here then."
"I just wanted to talk about all the weddings lately." She said in a suggestive tone. "People and mobians are eloping like crazy! It's like they're worried peace won't last much longer. I've been to a total of six weddings this past year, and I don't even know that many creatures."
"Yeah," Knuckles agreed. "First Eggman, then Vector and Espio finally ask their..." He shook his head sharply, "Oh no! You're not distracting me from the Master Emerald!"
Rouge huffed, "I already told you, Red, I didn't come for the emerald this time."
"Oh sure," He said sarcastically, "You want to talk about weddings. Maybe you want the Master Emerald as a wedding gift! Who's the poor sap that got roped with you, Shadow?!"
The bat bristled, "For your information, I..."
"Forget it! I'm not listening to another word you say; now SCRAM Rouge!" The echidna folded his arms and turned away from her. He heard the flap of wings, then silence; but he didn't let his guard down yet.
One minute, two...
...
An entire hour before Knuckles finally put his arms down and took a deep breath. Then the snap of a twig reached his invisible ears, and he turned. "Chaos Rouge, really?!" He froze, it wasn't Rouge.
"Is that how you greet everyone who comes to your island?" Sonia asked, "You accuse them of being Rouge?"
"No, that's not...It's just that she was just here and..."
"I'm just messing with you Knuckles."
"Oh," He said, embarrassed. "Well, uh, it's nice to see you again Sonia; but, what are you doing here?"
She sighed, "My brothers are off messing with the ancient ruins, and I think you'll wanna..."
A loud crash sounded somewhere to Knuckles' right, followed by a loud: "OH CHAOS!"
"...Stop them." Sonia sighed.
The Guardian gave a low growl as he started in the direction of the destruction, followed by Sonia. "How'd they even get up here?"
"Tails wanted to examine the ruins, and Sonic and Manic decided to tag along."
"Why didn't you stop them?"
"I tried!"
They ran in silence until they reached the disaster scene. One of the skeletal buildings had collapsed due to a fissure in the ground; and Tails appeared to be reprimanding Manic, who had his drum set out, and Sonic was defending his brother.
"What happened here?" Knuckles demanded.
The trio started talking at once; Tails and Sonic trying to explain, and Manic just shouting random stuff to create confusion.
"Shut up!" Sonia yelled. Everyone immediately fell silent. "That's better. Tails, what happened?"
"Manic started playing his drums; opening a crack in the earth, and knocking the wall down." The young fox explained.
"Oh he did, did he?" Knuckles and Sonia said at the same time.
"Well, I'm dead." Manic stated.
"Run bro!" Sonic shouted at him. The green hedgehog was happy to oblige.
"You're not out of the woods either, Sonic!" Knuckles yelled, chasing him and his brother into the forest. Tails flew above them; well Sonia just stood there, shaking her head at the chaos.
...
The chase ended when the brothers and Tails crashed into the Tornado and flew off as fast as they could.
"GOOD RIDDANCE!" The Guardian bellowed at the retreating plane. He huffed then turned and started the trek back to his charge, the Master Emerald.
When he arrived at the shrine; he found Sonia sitting next to the gem, admiring it. His first instinct was to rush in and protect the emerald; but this was Sonia, if he couldn't trust her then who could he trust? Still, he had to be cautious. "And just what do you think you're doing?" He asked calmly.
She looked up, "Oh! Sorry, I was watching the emerald well you chased those two idiots off the island."
"Wait, really?" Knuckles asked in surprise.
She nodded, "And Rouge dropped by, wondering where you were."
"More like wondering if she had a good opening."
"Exactly; I told her to scram, before I unleashed my piano on her."
The Echidna chuckled, "That sentence wouldn't make any sense to someone who didn't know the power of your medallion."
"You're right." The hedgehog laughed, "They'd just think I was going to play them a song."
Before either of them knew it, they were sitting side by side on the steps to the shrine; laughing and enjoying each other's company.
...
"And then," Sonia gasped, "He told me: 'Sonia darling, why don't you just run away with me and forget all this nonsense? Between the resistance and your brothers, I'm amazed you still look so perfectly beautiful.'"
Knuckles doubled over with laughter, and fell on his back; trying to contain himself. When he finally did, he said: "This Bartleby character sounds like a riot. Why would he care more about what you look like on the outside, then who you are inside?"
Sonia frowned, "Bartleby's not so bad, just a little..."
"Crazy?"
"Full of himself." She corrected.
"If the stories you just told me are any indication, that's ab understatement."
"Maybe a little; but he's a good mobian, really."
"Why are you standing up for this guy?"
Sonia thought about it, then answered: "I guess I don't really know, but we've known each other for years; and he's helped me with a lot of things, even after I joined the Underground."
"You deserve better."
She looked at him curiously, "Maybe I do."
There was awkward silence for a while; until Sonia looked at the sky and realized, "It's getting really late. I should head back, mom will be wondering where I am."
"How are you gonna get down? We're floating miles above any land."
She got up, "I came in my own aircraft, as the boys wouldn't let me in the Tornado. Must've thought I'd wreck their fun."
Knuckles stood up to, "Well, they were right."
"At least it didn't spoil my fun. Thanks for...well, everything I guess."
"Anytime Sonia; seriously, visit anytime you want. It gets boring up here."
"Same time tomorrow then?"
"Sure, but leave your brothers this time."
She laughed, "See you around, Red." With that, she started into the forest.
Knuckles watched until he couldn't see her anymore; but that was when he heard someone say, "So, I guess you have a date; a pretty and charming one, at that."
The Guardian looked up and saw Rouge sitting on a branch, enraged. "Back for a third time I see."
"Actually, I never left; not once. I've been watching you the entire time. Nice girlfriend, by the way."
"First of all, she's not my girlfriend! Second, don't spy on me! Third, LEAVE BEFORE I MAKE YOU LEAVE!"
"You can't do anything without your little princess helping you!"
"What's that supposed to mean? And why are suddenly against Sonia? You two were best friends when you first met each other."
"If you can't figure it out, then maybe you don't deserve to know how I feel!"
"Why in chaos should I care how you feel?"
"Because you...because we...GAH!" Rouge shouted, "You're such an idiot! I've had enough of trying with you, this bat is cutting all ties; have fun with your new girlfriend!" She flew off in a large gust of wind, which scattered hundreds of leaves all over the place.
Knuckles just stood there confused. "I don't get it. What is that crazy bat talking about?" Shrugging, he sat down and leaned against the Master Emerald; trying to understand what had just occurred. He couldn't figure it out.
...
Sonia came by almost every day after that, much to the Guardian's delight. He grew quite comfortable around her during those months, though he kept checking the trees and sky for a certain you-know-who.
It was during one of their talks over a game of chess that Sonia said: "I've been wondering; what will happen to the Master Emerald when you're gone, It'll still need a protector."
Knuckles moved one of his pawns, "You know, I've never really thought about it; I am the last echidna, and my kind swore to protect the emerald." He shrugged, "I'm still young, though, I've got plenty of time to consider that question."
"Knuckles, you're 19..."
"Tell me something I don't know."
She frowned, "Haven't you ever wanted to...I don't know. Start a family or something?"
"Why?"
"You know what, forget I asked; it's a stupid question."
"Okay?" Knuckles said confused.
They continued with their game, but he wasn't even paying attention anymore. Something weird was going on, he just knew it. Rouge had acted really strange (Well, stranger than normal) the last time he'd seen her; she'd acted...jealous of Sonia for some reason, and gotten mad when Knuckles hadn't understood what she was talking about. Then Sonia had been talking a lot about family and the future, growing disappointed when he didn't understand that either. The answer was staring him right in the face, but he couldn't quite...
"CHECKMATE!" Sonia yelled triumphantly.
"What?" The Guardian looked down at the board; and found that Sonia had, indeed, beaten him for the 122nd time this month. "How do you keep beating me?"
"I played way too much chess when I was younger; I know all the tricks." She said smugly.
"Man, why do I even try anymore?"
"You're not that bad, you just haven't been playing very long."
"That's true. I never really played until you came along."
The pink hedgehog started packing the game away, "So what do you want to do know?"
The echidna leaned back and shrugged, "Beats me."
The two sat in awkward silence for a moment. "We could go for a walk." Sonia suggested.
"Yeah, that'd be nice."
The pair got up and started roaming the surrounding forests; investigating caves, admiring waterfalls, and playing with the chao.
"Aww. Their so cute." Sonia said, picking one of the little blue creatures up. "We don't have any chao over in Mobotropolis or the surrounding area. I think we might have some in eastern Mobius, but I rarely get the chance to visit that area."
"I've always wondered; why is your kingdom called the same thing as the planet? Wouldn't it get confusing?"
The pink hedgehog shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea. Maybe my ancestors had an ambition to rule the world."
"Nah, don't think that's it."
A couple of chao fluttered by them and started playing under a tree. A third chao, a dark one, came over and started tugging on one of the blue chao. A tug of war soon commenced, with neither the dark chao nor the other blue chao willing to let go of the other one.
"Hey! Stop it you two." Sonia chastised, pulling the dark chao away.
Knuckles just stood there staring oddly at the dark chao. It was kind of funny, two chao fighting over one...wait...
That's when Knuckles finally realized what the connection was. "Wait a second!"
Sonia looked up, "What?"
"I figured it out! Why you and Rouge are acting so weird; and...OH CHAOS!"
"Knuckles, you're scaring me."
"YOU LIKE ME! BOTH YOU AND ROUGE!"
The shout rang in the still air, as Sonia let his words sink in. Did it mean they couldn't be friends anymore? Would he reject her; or worse, run off with Rouge?"
Deciding she'd better answer, she looked down. "Maybe a little. We've been friends for so long, I guess I've just gotten' comfortable around you."
Knuckles processed this, then realized; "Me too."
Sonia stood up, "Does this mean we can still be friends?"
"Of course we can."
They unconsciously stepped closer and closer to each other until...
They pulled back from each other, "What was that?" Knuckles asked, rubbing his lips. Sonia smiled, "It's called a kiss."
They kissed again, ignorant of the weeping bat flying out of a tree and away from the lovers.
When they broke apart, Knuckles said; "So, remember what you said earlier about family..."
"Yes?"
He smiled, "Would your family approve?"
"My mom would, she trusts you. My brothers..."
"I don't take orders from Sonic, Heck, who would?"
"All of Mobotropolis. Once he's crowned king, at least."
"I suggest you convince everyone to evacuate, immediately."
"I would, but mom would never let me."
"Speaking of your mom, let's go get her blessing."
...
When they told Queen Aleena their desire; she was overcome with joy, and instantly gave them her blessing. She hugged her daughter, "I'm so proud of you, my little girl."
"Mom, I'm 18; hardly what you'd call 'little'"
"What's going on?" Sonic and Manic chorused as they walked into the room.
"Your sister is..." Queen Aleena started, but Knuckles interrupted. "I'll tell them." He turned to Sonia, "And I'll make it official."
The Guardian knelt in front of her and took her hand. "Sonia the hedgehog. Would you do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?"
"WHAT?" Sonic shouted.
"GAH!" Manic exclaimed, and covered his eyes.
"Yes of course!" Sonia hugged Knuckles tightly.
Her brothers watched in disbelief. "I totally called it." Manic stated.
"My friend is about to become my Brother-in-law." Sonic added in shock.
...
Me: I hope you like the chapter! Comment and tell me what you think.
Sonic: I still don't like that you made Knuckles my brother-in-law...