Humble Beginnings - Fresh Start Chp8

Everyone was exhausted by the time they reached the forest, and Sally felt ready for a good sleep once they entered the clearing.

Sally stepped off the hoverbike, and yawned. "Bunnie, I think I'll just head to bed. Yet another failure to add to the mission roster."

The answering voice did not belong to Bunnie Rabbot. "What are ya talking about? I thought we did great!"

Sally spun around with a gasp.

Reclining on a log bench at a makeshift picnic table sat a familiar blue figure in red sneakers. He was eating an apple, watching them with green eyes the color of summer leaves.

He glanced around at the modest hut buildings of Knothole and the homey campfires surrounded by log benches. "Nice place ya got here. You don't mind if I stick around, do you?"

Sally shook her head a little bit. "N-no, of course not. Just-… how did you defeat Robotnik? We've been trying to do that very thing our whole lives, and you managed it after just one day! And how did you get back here so fast? What happened to your injuries? Who are you?!" The built-up stress and confusion of the day broke through the dam on the last sentence.

The hedgehog grinned in a sideways simper and winked. "I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog and Fastest Thing Alive at your service."

Sally strode toward the bench cautiously and held out her hand. "I'm… Sally. Thank you for saving my life."

Sonic shook her hand. "No problem. Pleased ta meetcha, Sal." He looked over her shoulder at Bunnie and Antoine, who stood frozen with their mouths wide. "Ya gonna introduce yourselves?"

Bunnie squeaked, ran forward, and without hesitation wrapped him in a vice-tight hug. Gasping, Sonic struggled to breathe, his red sneakers flailing.

"Oh, sugar-hog, thank you for saving Sally-girl! I'll owe you forever! M' name's Bunnie Rabbot, just call me Bunnie, please."

"Need… air…" he gasped.

Bunnie set him back down, and he inhaled a massive breath. He noticed the robotized limbs, but he didn't say anything for fear of being rude. "Phew, you give a mean hug, Bunnie. And I'm still hungry. Does anybody know where to find lunch in this joint?"

Bunnie sprinted for the kitchen. "I'll git right on it!"

Antoine approached the newcomer, an air of authority about his person. "So, Sonique, I am Antoine D'Coolette, swordsmaster of Knothole." He held his saber in a salute.

"Nice to meet ya, Ant," he said good-naturedly, returning the gesture. Antoine nodded and followed after Bunnie. "Scaredy-Ant," he muttered sideways to Sally, "I saw him hiding after the mech blew up." Sally giggled.

"'Knothole', huh? Cool name. So, what's your home like?" Sonic asked Sally. They started walking casually towards the kitchen hut.

Sally avoided his gaze. "It's not so much a 'home' as it is a hideout."

Sonic frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You saw what nearly happened in that clearing. You saw Bunnie's metal arm and legs. That was nearly us years ago."

Sonic stopped walking, and Sally turned to look at him. He was staring at her intently. "What happened?" he asked, frowning with all seriousness. He sat. "Tell me everything."

Sally hung her head, preparing to retell the tale that pained her most. "Robotnik happened. The Great Forest and much of the land in West Mobius was once called the Great Kingdom, ruled by the wise and just monarch, King Maximillian of Acorn. Mobians lived in peace with the human race. However, things were not always this way - the humans were once our enemies, invaders, with whom we constantly waged battle. We Mobians nearly decimated the entire population, until they pleaded for mercy and begged to be allowed to survive. We took pity on them, and gave them a relatively small piece of land where they could build their cities and raise their young, on the condition that they do not attempt to take over the planet as they once did. They complied.

"One, however, was not satisfied. Doctor Ivo Julian Robotnik, the man you saw today, hated us. He believed that the humans should have been given more land to control, or take more as they saw fit. Holding a position as one of the human ambassadors to the Great Kingdom, he already had a great deal of control and a handle on manipulation, but it was not enough for him. His true motives were not for a balance of power, but a tighter grip on the population, making them essentially his slaves in all but name. When his angry rants were declined and further ignored, he staged a coup d'état in the capital of Mobitropolis to seize the throne.

"At first, we thought it would be an easy victory. As a single human acting alone to destroy the peace, the rest of his kind would not stand behind his actions. We had the superior numbers and technology. Or so we thought."

Sonic's eyes grew wide. As much as it horrified him, he had to admit that Sally was one heck of a storyteller.

"Before we knew it, battalions of robot soldiers Robotnik had secretly constructed arrived and cornered our troops. He had been developing armor, hovercraft and weapons technology behind our backs in preparation to usurp the Mobian rule. It can only be assumed that he had greased a few palms to keep his work hidden. We were outnumbered and outgunned.

"But that is not the worst part." She broke off as tears came to her eyes, and wiped them away, embarrassed for crying in front of a stranger. "The worst part was the robotizer. The original plans were designed to create a beneficial machine that could turn older Mobians into robots to preserve their lives and wisdom without losing their spirits. He stole the blueprints, and altered several critical functions of the central programming. Anyone caught by the robotizer beam now would be programmed to lose their free will and be forced to serve him. He enslaved everyone he could arrest. Very few people were lucky enough to flee from it, and not everyone escaped with all organic limbs. Friends… family… countless innocent people… all turned to metallic slaves by that machine." She could bring herself to say no more.

By the time she finished, Sonic was shaking, his head hanging and his whole body trembling with some powerful emotion. When he raised his head, his gaze focused on the bruises on her arms from where the robot had grabbed her. His eyes were clouded with fury. "You're tellin' me… that Fatso back there… is a murderer?"

"No, but close enough. I'm sure we could reverse the effects somehow, and that's why we need to break into his computer. But every time we get close, he cuts off our attempt and fires back without mercy. We've been trying to bring him down from my Father's throne for years, but-"

"HOLD it. Your 'Father'? As in your Dad's the King?"

"…Was."

"Oh… I'm sorry. What happened to him? Did he get robotized, too?"

"No…" Sally couldn't stop the tears from coming this time. "He's… I don't know. I don't know where he is, or if he's even alive. Robotnik cast him out of the Great Kingdom by banishing him to the Void, a dangerous wormhole through time and space. We don't know where it leads, and I don't think I'll ever see him again."

Sonic's hands slowly clenched into fists with controlled rage. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I swear that I'll make Buttnik pay for his crimes, Sal, or my name isn't Sonic the Hedgehog."

"You mean it?"

Sonic nodded, smiling. "'Course I mean it. Looks like I'm gonna be hanging around here for a while. I like Knothole. It has a nice, homey quality."

"LUNCH'S READY!!" Bunnie yelled from the kitchen hut. "Come an' get it!" The smell of hot chili and cooking meat floated through the air, tempting their noses.

Sonic sniffed appreciatively. "Aw, SWEET! That smells good!" Sonic disappeared in a blue flash as he took off towards the voice. Sally followed at a much slower pace.

She opened the door to see Sonic sitting at one of the tables, a mountain of chilidogs steaming on the plate in front of him.

"A hearty lunch for a hero," Bunnie said, beaming at her handiwork. "I hope ya like it."

Sonic was practically drooling. Snatching a chilidog in each hand, he took a monstrous bite from one, then the other. His ears perked up and his sneakers tapped the floor in a staccato rhythm as he gobbled the food. "Mm-mm! What are these things? I love 'em!"

"They're mah special home-made chilidogs. Secret family recipe – made 'em myself."

Sonic had dispatched both chilidogs and started on a third while she spoke. "I'm never having anything else in my whole life. Here, Sal, ya want one?" He proffered one of the delectable chili-coated hot dogs.

"Sure," Sally accepted the hot meal, taking an average-sized mouthful as she sat down next to him. When she swallowed, she asked "Sonic, would you mind telling us more about yourself? I'm really curious as to how you can run so fast. And what in the world was that spinning move you pulled on Robotnik?"

Sonic inhaled another chilidog before answering. "I call it a spindash. Not much else to say about it. It's a natural hedgehog defense. 'Cept with me, it's more like a buzzsaw," he chuckled through a mouthful of chilidog.

"Where did you come from? Where is your family?"

Sonic stopped eating for a moment to consider. He stared at her for a minute before looking away, frowning. "I wish I knew."

"You can't remember anything of your past?"

Sonic pondered the half-chilidog in his right hand. "I can vaguely recall some small snippets – I know my Dad's name was Jules, and he called my Mom Bernie. I don't know if that was her real name. I had an uncle named Chuck, but anything else…" His grip tightened on the chili-coated hotdog, creasing the bun. "Nothing. Not even any family memories."

Sally was grateful for the chili dog in her hands – eating gave her an excuse not to say anything. She felt great sympathy for the blue hedgehog. Like so many others, he had lost all of his family, and was left with nothing to his name except the shoes on his feet and the gloves on his hands. She set down her half-eaten chili dog, and took his open hand in one of her own as a gesture of comfort. "You have friends, now. And you're not alone."

Sonic smiled. "Thanks, Sal - that means a lot."

"So, if you don't mind me asking, how fast can you run?"

Sonic chuckled knowingly. "You know that thunderclap that sounded just after I beat ol' Buttnik?"

"Yes…" Sally said, not sure where he was going with this.

"That was me."