Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog, or any of its associated characters and lore.

[TB]

Thunder Bolted

[TB]

Veg-O-Fortress, Mount Mobius, Soumerca, Planet Earth, 3234 Post-Xenomorph Event

Mount Mobius, said to be Earth's tallest volcano, and sharing the same name that the Mobian peoples formerly used to address their home planet with, was literally remade by the Eggman Empire into the terrifying Veg-O Fortress. A large, gray tower covering the entirety of the volcano, with the face of Doctor Eggman himself at the top part, it was kept from exploding by the power of the Chaos Emeralds and had numerous features to make it a death trap for any intruders as much as the Earth itself.

First off, the exterior targeting lasers, followed by the Pinball Defense System, which was a technological hazard that only the best speed types could hope to overcome. And even once passed, Eggman had outfitted the Fortress with a fearsome Roboticizer referred to as the Veg-O Machine that would surely turn any living being into a mindless robot programmed to obey the Doctor's, and perhaps most dangerous of all, a Stupidity Ray that had enough power to render an entire city's population intellectually incapable of resisting the Eggman Empire.

And as far as Egg Sub-Boss Thunderbolt the Chinchilla was concerned, such a grand citadel could only be managed by a devoted soldier of the Empire, if not His Lordship himself. As such, being given command of the Veg-O Fortress in the absence of Doctor Eggman was a great honor on her part.

No matter how Thunderbolt had been privately mocked by others for being close to two feet tall, the yellow-furred Mobian with a brown nose, white muzzle, long bushy tail, and green fluff on her chest took it in stride with her fierce attitude and the electric-generation her Cyberization procedure had granted her. Attired in an orange long-sleeved shirt, grey pants with suspenders and two yellow buttons on the front, grey gloves, and orange shoes, Thunderbolt had done what she could to take care of the Fortress until her master's sworn enemy, Sonic the Hedgehog, had shown his unwanted self in.

Despite her hatred for his defiance, Thunderbolt had to admit that the blue hedgehog's overcoming of the Pinball Defense System was as admirable as it was frustrating. Unfortunately for the pesky Freedom Fighter, his moment of great success quickly halted when he ran into Thunderbolt herself.

"Well, this is a fine mess I've got myself into," the fifteen-year-old Sonic quipped to himself as he was forced to lay down on the floor of the Fortress with Thunderbolt coyly sitting on his legs. The troublesome rebel had been a speedy foe, but a few demonstrations of Thunderbolt's abilities and the right maneuvering on her part led to Sonic being caught between a rock and a hard place in a manner of speaking.

The chinchilla laughed to herself fiendishly at how Sonic surely felt trapped by her actions. Either he risked getting electrocuted, or he remained where he was until Doctor Eggman arrived to do the honor himself. "Don't take it personally, kid," she remarked to the sheepish spikeball with a shrug. "If anything, you should've known better than to mess with the world's greatest scientist and ruler."

"Yeah, figures you'd say something like that, Thunderbolt," Sonic replied with his eyes rolling, which annoyed the chinchilla, before the hedgehog then adopted a look of surprise as he asked, "Wait, how old are you?"

"Nineteen," Thunderbolt answered through gritted teeth. "Now don't give me any ideas of denying my liege his prize."

The now awkward Sonic returned to lying flat on the floor in silence, which lasted for a short while until he then brought his head back up with a hopeful smile, suggesting, "Hey, T.B., maybe we can make a deal?"

With a loud snort, Thunderbolt turned to Sonic in a mixture of unimpressed and distrustful, replying, "Like what, blue boy?"

Showing the palms of his hands as best he could in his position then, the hedgehog explained, "I know Freedom Fighter secrets that neither you, nor Egghead, know already. Let me whisper them to you, and maybe you vouch for my life when your Boss of Bosses gets here?"

Thunderbolt's first instinct was to give the bratty nuisance a real shock, but the off chance that Sonic was being genuine at the time left her in a thoughtful state. Exhaling at last, she then said, "I have my doubts this will be good, but I'll give you a shot for the sake of argument."

Thunderbolt, of course, had no intention of letting Sonic escape punishment, but allowed him to raise his torso, while she kept a good eye on his hands and head to make sure he was not going to surprise attack her in anyway. Seeing that the blue hedgehog was behaving for once, the yellow chinchilla then gestured for him to bring his head closer to whisper in her right ear, only for Thunderbolt to find her head grabbed by Sonic's hands and her face brought forward to his direction.

The strangest thing of all was that Sonic's surprise attack was not a headbutt, or a punch as Thunderbolt had suspected, she would have shocked him for attempting either, but a kiss on the mouth.

'What the Hell,' the chinchilla internally exclaimed at the sudden deed on Sonic's part, especially on how passionate and fast he was kissing her. Worse of all, while Thunderbolt did what she could not to kiss him back, she could not hold down her moans from the intense display of affection being performed on her lips. Soon enough, Sonic was standing back on his feet and holding Thunderbolt in his arms as he continued kissing her before finally letting go with a loud bop sound.

Thunderbolt had been so stunned by what had happened, she had not noticed the hedgehog had placed her down in the nearby command chair before going to the nearest console to press some buttons until she finally heard a loud siren that roused her upward.

"Self-destruct sequence initiated," the computerized voice of the Veg-O Fortress announced, adding later, "Get out in five minutes or be destroyed."

Sonic was back in Thunderbolt's viewpoint as he flashed a cheeky grin and said, "Well, it's been fun, T.B.! I'll catch ya later!"

The hedgehog then ran at his usual superspeed, leaving a flabbergasted Thunderbolt to fume angrily as she made her own escape. While she had no fear of her immediate superior, Razorklaw, reprimanding her failure, Thunderbolt dreaded enduring a stern lecture from Doctor Eggman.

"Oh, I love that hedgehog," the chinchilla snapped to herself before embarrassingly amending her words. "I mean 'loath' as in 'hate!' I hate that hedgehog!"

In exhaustion, Thunderbolt could only groan as she ran to her escape vehicle with a vow to get revenge on that blue annoyance in the future.

[TB]

I kinda wanted to do a Sonic/Thunderbolt depiction for a long time. Even commissioned DeviantArtist, Ian Dimas, to make a fan art for it back in 2021. And having this one-shot take place at the Veg-O Fortress of Mount Mobius from Sonic Spinball felt like a good idea.

By the way, if anyone is still curious about how this works age-wise, allow me to clarify. In the Archie Sonic comics, Thunderbolt was listed as twenty-three years old to Sonic's traditional fifteen, but it was in a setting where Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations apparently happened before Sonic Unleashed. Personally, I would chronologize a Sonic fusion story in terms of milestones (fifth-year anniversaries such as the fifteenth to name one example), so in this one-shot, Thunderbolt will not be twenty-three for a total of four in-universe years. I would do the same with other characters as well, whether Blade the Shark or Conquering Storm to name a couple of examples.

Fifteen to nineteen might not be agreeable to some people, but I, of course, am not listed under "some people." It is alright that we do not agree on the same thing, but a good amount of genuine respect could go a long way, all things considered.