S
Literature
Sonic Present and Future UNLEASHED CH 1 Chapter 1
Fire.
Pain.
Ear shattering noise.
A long fall.
Then complete and total darkness.
Each every one of Sonic’s senses were completely and ultimately blocked off by this horrible darkness. He was buried in it, drowning in it, losing himself to it’s malevolent embrace. The longer he remained, the more he could feel it eating away at him, like a ravenous beast bent on his complete and total undoing. He had nearly succumbed when a light suddenly pierced through the shadow. A bright, pure light that drew Sonic in. Slowly he was pulled into it, but the shadows still gnawed at him, still clinging and never letting go…
………………………………..
“Oof.” Sonic growled as he forced himself to sit up.
His everything hurt, but he supposed that was proof enough that he was alive. It took him a moment, but he quickly remembered what had happened. Naugus was up to no good and trying to do…something with the city, making it fly. Sonic and his friends had been AWOL tracking down Sally to a hidden city of plant people just when a coup was triggered. Follow that up with getting blown up with a grenade and somehow getting blessed with the light of the Source, and not only was Sally restored to flesh and blood, but they ran into Merlin Prower, Tails’ uncle, of all people. Merlin had warned them of Naugus’ ambitions, and he taught them how to internalize the Source for power ala super transformations. Seeing Sally glow still gave him a tingle. She was dealing with a trio of rampaging monsters and Sonic had dealt with Naugus, restoring him to his three original selves. Together they had been trying to get rid of all that negative chaos energy Naugus had made with that stupid machine, and then…nothing.
“I’m alive.” Sonic muttered to himself. “So I must’ve won, otherwise we would all…wait a second, what’s wrong with my voice?”
Sure enough, his tone had dropped an octave or two, and there was a distinctive, underlying growl. It was an almost bestial drawl, and to his horror that wasn’t the only beastial thing. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness around him, he could see that he was in a forest not far from the Wolf-Pack/Felidae nations. But it was his hands that caught his attention: large, meaty, significantly hairy, and a new set of claws had shredded his gloves. Trailing up his arms as best as he could with his eyes, he could see that his hair had grown out all over his body, giving him an almost poofy, but certainly wild appearance. He also felt heavier as a lot of mass had been built up around his upper torso and arms courtesy of new muscle. Even his shoes felt heavier, now spied like cleats.
“How in the heck?” He gasped, and then it hit him.
The energies of the negative chaos energy were flowing into his body, what was left of his source power up purifying it. It must’ve timed out, and he took the stuff point black rapid fire. It was then he was reminded of Chaos, the mad water spirit Knuckles’ ancestors had ticked off. Using the negative energies of the chaos emeralds had transformed him into a monster, so had something similar happened to Sonic?
“Oh that’s just great!” He grumbled as he stood up.
He looked up at the sky, and he immediately didn’t like the darkish purple haze that seemed to be surrounding the skyline.
“That can’t be good. Did we mess something up? I hope Sally and the others are alright. I gotta find them before…”
Then, his ear flicked. Whatever had happened to Sonic, it seemed to enhance his natural senses ten fold. The perfect night vision was definitely new, as well as the ability to smell the bonfire in the middle of the village even from this distance. What was more, his hearing was positively keen, and it told him that there was somebody nearby. Also, they were snoring. Sonic looked around but couldn’t spot anyone, but sure enough the snoring remained. Then, on a whim, Sonic reached behind him, and that’s when he felt it. Bringing his arm around, he found he was now carrying a small creature resembling some sort of canine with burgundy colored fur. Besides the big ears and the opposable thumbs, its most prominent features were the fairy like wings on its back and the large green gem wedged into its chest. The tiny creature didn’t seem conscious of its condition, still sleeping and snoring without a care.
“Hey!” Sonic said with a light shout while giving the critter a shake. “Can you hear me? You alright?”
“Can’t…” the tiny thing slurred. “Can’t…eat…another bite.”
Sonic couldn’t resist an eye roll, and he gave the creature a more hearty shake. Now, Sonic realized that he must’ve changed quite a bit in the face, for as soon as the critter’s eyes opened and he got a good look at what was holding him upside down, he let out a wail, kicked free of Sonic’s hand, and made for a nearby stump to hide behind.
“PLEASE DON’T EAT ME, MR. MONSTER GUY!!!” He pleaded in a frenzy. “I don’t taste good, I swear!”
“Relax.” Sonic said, holding up his hands. “If I was going to hurt you, I woulda done it while you were asleep. I just found you like that and wanted to see you’re ok.”
The tiny thing looked at Sonic skeptically for a moment, but after a moment he willed himself away from his hiding spot, flying up to Sonic on his tiny wings.
“Well, I’m fine, actually. Thanks for asking, Mr. Monster Guy.”
While Sonic appreciated the more chirpy tone the critter adopted, he could do without the nickname.
“My name’s actually Sonic. Sonic the hedgehog.”
This made the creature tilt its head, and he looked confused.
“You’re Sonic? But that can’t be right. Sonic’s fast and cool. You’re so big and monstrous. I mean, look at those claws and teeth.”
“I’m trying not to.” Sonic grumbled. “Trust me, this isn’t how I usually look.”
He paused a moment.
“Wait a sec! You know who I am, but you’ve not told me your own name. Who are you, anyway? A member of the wolf pack?”
The critter raised a hand as though about to talk, and then his jaw fell open, his eyes went moon shaped, and he let out a scream before running around in circles.
“I don’t know! I can’t remember! I don’t remember anything!”
He zipped up into Sonic’s face, grabbing him by his bangs.
“All I know is that something fell from the sky, and the next thing I knew everything turned white! That’s all I can recall!”
He let Sonic go and proceeded to run in circles like a lunatic, unobserving of the hedgehog’s guilty looks as he recalled where he found him.
“I couldn’t have fallen on him, could I?” He muttered to himself.
Just then, his ear flicked again, and he was now aware of voices. He counted at least six heads, and most of them were armed. He immediately turned towards the source of the noise, ready for a fight, as several shapes broke from the trees. Sonic’s brows jumped.
“Sal? Lupe?”
Sure enough, it was his friends plus four additional wolves. At the mention of her name, Sally, already repulsed by the large beast and looking ready to strike, went rigid, and she took a closer look.
“Sonic? Is that…is that really you?”
Sonic struck his usual stance, raising a thumbs-up and cracking a grin, though he was now more aware of the pointy fangs in his upper and lower jaws.
“The one and only.” He chirped with his usual smarm.
Sally let out an elated cheer and ran up to him, hugging his neck as he, carefully, returned the favor.
“I was so worried.” She said. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you! I thought…I was almost certain those…things got you. If I had of lost you again, I don’t think…”
Sonic held her just a bit more tightly, calming her.
“You ain’t getting rid of me that easily, Sal. Especially with that speck of gold on your finger.”
Sally released him, and she beamed as she looked down on the engagement ring.
“And you have my word it’s never coming off. But Sonic, what happened to you?”
“Heck if I know.” Sonic grumbled. “One minute, I’m saving the day as usual, the next I’m looking like Muttski before we take him to the groomers. Then of course there’s this little nut screaming and making my ears bleed.”
Sally peaked around him to see the panicky critter. He spied her, stopped, and waved.
“Oh, hi there, Miss Sally.”
He then proceeded to start running again, much to Sally’s amazement and confusion.
“Er, he knows who I am?”
“And me too, apparently.” Sonic said. “But that’s all he knows, on account his memories are gone.”
“Well hopefully he can find them back in the village.” Lupe said as she stepped forward. “It’s too dangerous to be out here with those things lurking about.”
Sonic shot her a quizzical look.
“Things? What things?”
Suddenly, two of the wolf bodyguards gave a shout as they were dragged into the forest. A moment later, four large, reptilian creatures broke form the foliage, hissing and snarling. They had an almost ghostly appearance, their bodies glowing like blue and green neon. Their large fists ended in three claws, and they were big enough to slice a Mobian in half. Lupe immediately drew her spear, but Sonic could see she was quite terrified, something he could seldom say she was.
“We must flee! There’ll be more to come! We must get back into the light!”
She howled to her remaining guards, signaling a retreat, but the four brutes wouldn’t let their prey go so easily. One of them leapt high into the air, cutting off the two’s escape. It then thrust its arms forward into their chests, making them cry out in pain. Then, much to their horror, the wolves began to grow in size and mass, their claws and fangs lengthening until they two were monstrous incarnations of their former selves. Soon the previous two guards, likewise changed, joined the pack, and all eight set their sights on the rest of them.
“Holy smokes!” Sonic gasped, looking down at himself. “Is that what happened to me?”
“At least you’re still in control.” Lupe said. “Quickly, we must get back to the village where there’s light. They’d dare not follow.”
Suddenly, another of the reptilian creatures lunged, its sights set on Sally. Sonic saw it coming, and his eyes narrowed to savage slits.
“Oh heck no! No more of that!”
He quickly filled the gap, wound up a punch, and then, to everyone’s amusement, his arm stretched out, meeting the creature in the air, and then knocking back into the others like they were bowling pins. Sonic’s arms retracted, much to his surprise, but at the same time he couldn’t help but grin.
“Guess you can call me the long arm the law around these parts.”
“Make puns on your own time, Sonic!” Sally said as she scooped up the still panicking creature into her arms. “Just do what you do best and run!”
The trio took off into the forest with Lupe in the lead, and the eight beasts gathered themselves and gave chase. Now, normally, this wouldn’t be too bad of a problem. On a good day, Sonic could have run back to the village forty times over before Sally and Lupe reached it. Unfortunately, today was certainly not a good day when Sonic realized something positively horrible.
He could no longer run!
Granted, by dropping on all fours like a dog, he could easily keep pace with Sally and Lupe with the beasts far behind, but he was far from the super sonic speeds he was used to reaching at a light jog. Sally took notice as well, and the sight made her every bit as sick as he felt. Thankfully, they didn’t have much farther ago, as they could see sunlight just ahead. Lupe cleared it first, even throwing herself into a roll. Sally soon joined, sliding into safety as they looked back to Sonic. All eight beasts were on his tail, one of the wolves even taking a bite out of it. Sonic yelped, and that give him just the added speed he needed, and he went sailing over the two girls’ heads. The shadow beasts stopped short, but the wolves had just that much more momentum as they cleared into the light, one landed just at Lupe’s feet. It hissed and snarled, reaching out a claw for her face before he suddenly spasmed, howling like a wounded animal as black smoke enveloped his body. His fellow wolves were in a similar condition, and soon all four had returned to their original forms. Sally looked back, and she could see the same happening to Sonic as his claws and fangs retracted and his fur shrank back to normal. All five were panting and heaving and trying to get control of their faculties.
“Oh wow!” The critter in Sally’s arms gasped. “You really are Sonic. What was that just now?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Sonic grunted as he forced himself to stand.
He checked himself over, and he found he was fine.
“Thank goodness. Back to my usual gorgeous self, and it looks like those guys are ok too.”
“For now.” Lupe said ominously. “It’s only because they’re back in the light. The minute they step out of this field, they’ll revert back. The darkness has become part of them and will eventually devour them from within.”
Sonic didn’t like the sound of that. He then took a more closer look at the sky. Sure enough, he could se the sun and clouds, but there was more of a cone of it surrounding a given area. Outside of that, it was nothing but endless night. In the distance, he could see more of these cones, some smaller, some larger, but still far and inbetween.
“I know I’m going to regret asking this, but what in the chili-dogging heck is going on here? What were those things? What’s happening?”
“It’s the end of the world, Sonic.” Sally said, looking to her fiancé. “And we unintentionally unleashed it. The planet has been broken apart, and it’s only a matter of time before it’s all scattered to the solar winds of the cosmos.
Now Sonic was really sorry he had asked.
“Ok, let’s not get too grim here. How do we know the planet is breaking up, or that anything super bad is happening?”
“Outside of what you just saw?” Lupe retorted hotly. “We all saw it from the deck of the Sky Patrol ship Tails and his father had built. Sonic, what we’re seeing is no mere natural disaster, this is prophecy long foretold being unleashed upon us all.”
Sonic rolled his eyes to the sky.
“Oh no, not another prophecy. Every time one of those shows up, it always means trouble.”
“You can’t get anymore troublesome than this.” Lupe said. “Through oral tradition, a legend has been passed down for generations speaking of the Day of Awakening. Primordial forces older than the very planet we stand upon will fight for the very survival of the planet. The very embodiments of the light and dark halves of the planet: Gaia.”
“That’s what Naugus was trying to do.” Sally said. “His goal was for the planet to be destroyed, and he would just start from scratch with the city’s inhabitants. We were supposed to stop him, and we failed.”
“J-just…just slow down a minute!” Sonic exclaimed, hoping dearly no one heard the irony. “This is too much. I mean, none of this can be right, otherwise Merlin would have told us all this.’
“Not if he didn’t have the time.” Sally said. “Which, clearly, we didn’t. Now Mobotropolis is gone, and we might all just go with it if we don’t do something and fast.”
Hearing that the city hadn’t been saved made Sonic cringe, guilt flooding his heart, but he knew that tone in Sally’s voice. She had a plan.
“Well then, let’s get shaking! Where do we start, Sal?”
If it were even possible, a grimmer look came over Sally’s face.
“You’re really not going to like it.”
Sonic frowned, and then he became aware of someone towering over him. Very slowly, he turned about, and he beheld the one person in all the multiverse he most certainly had not wanted to see in that exact moment.
“Greetings, Sonic.” Mammoth Mogul chuckled, his chaos emerald infused cane clutched tightly in his fist. “It would seem that our forces must unite to fight a common foe. Irony at its sweetest, I think. Do play nice now.”
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