Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Frozen Embers ❯ My Way ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: TheVulpineHero1 
Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Comedy / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.26.2008 | Updated On: 03.26.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 262 | Status: Work In Progress
Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Comedy / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.26.2008 | Updated On: 03.26.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 262 | Status: Work In Progress
a roaring return for the mercenary fox who saved Mobius from an Ice Age, collecting a total of ONE review. And that was from an old buddy I had my war-scars with. Come on, I wanna hear what you guys think, especially at the start and end of a story! I count on you guys! Oh well. Onto business. I bring you, the second chapter of Frozen Embers!
---------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Chapter the Second- My way
-------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Shadow brushed a small tear from his eye, and then necked the rest of his milkshake. Harry tutted, his new moustache going up and down as he did so. Unfortunately for Harry, all the hair that had gone into making his ‘tache had come off his head, and the bartender was now utterly bald.
“Hey there hedgehog, you’d better slow down with those milkshakes. They’re cold, you know. I can still remember the last time one of my customers got brain-freeze…” Harry joked, wincing at the memory of Chaos and its little episode.
“I just don’t get it. Women are so immature. I can’t believe she thought I said she was fat.” Shadow moped.
“What didja say?” Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.
“I said she was all woman! She took it the wrong way!” Shadow sobbed. The ebony hedgehog, long regarded as the Sonic gang’s hard man, was crying his eyes out to a guy in a milkshake shop.
“And she’s gone to sleep at her friend’s house and she took my favourite blanket and she doesn’t like my extra special homemade cocoa and, and, and….Gah!” Shadow carried on.
“Hey. You just have to something to get her back on your side, little buddy. You need to buy her some flowers, take her on a date! Pretend you’re starting over!” Harry grinned.
“You think?”
“Positively! Now take that sad look off your face, drink the last of that milkshake and get out there!” Harry encouraged, positively beaming.
“You’re right! I’m gonna get together with Amy, and we’re gonna go to a restaurant! And eat pasta! PASTA!” Shadow yelled, running out of the shop. Harry smiled, the shop light bouncing off his brilliantly rounded bonce.
Eggman muttered something about presidential elections, then lifted the mug that had the rather charming message of ‘DOIN’ IT JERSY STYLE!’ emblazoned on it at about twelve places to his lips. Metal Sonic, clutching the Doctor’s favourite stuffed camel, walked to the computer screen.
“What are you doing?” Metal Sonic asked.
“Shush! I’m controlling my surface robot!”
“Really?”
“Shush! Yes!”
Metal Sonic took a closer look at the screen. Shadow the hedgehog appeared to be ranting and raving in some shop somewhere.
“Oh, this is of that bartender you replaced? Pretty good job.” the metal hedgehog remarked.
“Hey! You two! Gimme back my clothes and get the hell out of my house!” Harry Harrison’s voice came from the closet.
“Don’t we have our own hideout?”
“For the 697th time, it’s being fumigated!”
“This is only the third time I’ve asked!”
“Look at the kitchen.”
Metal Sonic looked at the kitchen, and after being shocked and appalled by the enormous profusion of sticky notes that said ‘HIDEOUT BEING FUMIGATED ON ACCOUNT OF FLEAS. PS HI ME!’ left by Eggman, returned to the retarded Doctor.
“So, why have a robot in a milkshake shop?”
“I’m going to destroy the Sonic Team!”
“In a milkshake shop.”
“In a milksha…hey, there is a reason for me using a milkshake shop!”
“………………….& #8221;
“………………….”
“….and this reason is?”
“Uh….a good reason!”
“Ugh…”
“Well, that was just bloody brilliant. Yet another job down the pan.” Tails moaned, slamming the door rather savagely as he walked into his apartment. It was a mistake to do so, because his apartment was utterly tiny, and his bed, which had been suspended from the ceiling to make room for the bath, collapsed onto Tails’ head with a pace that could only be described as dramatic.
“Gah! I hate weekdays!” Tails swore, wriggling out from under his wayward bed. His television, a banged up black-and-white piece of rubbish, was showing the news. Tails listened to it for a while as he carefully re-attached his bed to the ceiling using pieces of shoelace.
“And today, we have news of a recent explosion at a well-known garage recently. Police suspected casual terrorism, but the owners say it was the fault of one employee. Whatever you do, do NOT employ this fox. Repeat, do not employ…” the newscaster waffled, standing beside Tails’ mugshot.
Tails casually knocked his television into the bath and turned the tap on. He mused over what to do. He hated to admit it, but he was spent in this city. He couldn’t eat, never mind rebuild his lab. There was only one thing to do. He had to go back. Cream and Vanilla would help him. Hadn’t they said that whenever he was in trouble, they’d bail him out? All he needed now was a good sofa and some good square meals. Seeing no sense in delaying, Tails hurriedly packed his possessions- his phone and a packet of biscuits- and left the building at a run. He didn’t bother to call Cream. He knew she’d put him up for a while. Just until he had some money. And if he were lucky, she might have cake! Tails drooled at the thought of Cream’s famous cake, and readied himself for takeoff. His gloves may have been fingerless, and he may have stank like a tramp, but he was going home! Tails looked forwards to seeing his friends again as he flew silently through the air.
Amy sucked her thumb, and dribbled a little. Cream frowned. It was never a good sign when Amy slept on their sofa. Even less so when it was the middle of the day.
“Cream! Are you bothering Amy again?” Vanilla called.
“No, Mother!” Cream called back quietly.
“I have a surprise for you!” Vanilla whispered, stepping into the room, her hands behind her back.
“What?” Cream asked, her ears twitching.
In response, Vanilla took a cage from behind her back, and a young chao in a Christmas hat squeaked in delight as it saw Cream.
“Cheese is back from the vet’s! YAY!” Cream said, jumping- or rather, hopping- for joy.
“He’s better than ever. He’s getting a little old and rusty, but he’s okay.” Vanilla said, unbolting the cage, and enjoying the joyful reunion of rabbit and chao.
“My, my. I get back from the gym and everyone goes nuts!” Ai laughed, walking in with her bare feet.
“Ai, you are daft sometimes…” Cream mumbled.
“Hmph. I feel so welcome. Why is Amy conked out on the settee?” Ai asked, casually flumping down on the floor cross-legged. It was one of her little mercenary habits to never sit on chairs.
“Shadow left her…” Cream said, unsure of how she was meant to say it. Happily, and pretend that Shadow was no good? Sadly, and feign sorrow for a relationship past? It was all so complicated.
“Hm. Men. Who needs them? They’re hardly a necessity. We women are more intelligent. We can fend for ourselves.” Ai sniffed.
“I’m sorry, but how much of that do you actually believe?” Cream asked.
“What are you implying, Cream?”
“I’m just asking. Why are you saying that I’m implying something?”
“Because of the way you said it! Now, if you have something to say, spit it out!”
Cream frowned. Why was Ai suddenly picking a fight?
“I have nothing to say, Ai. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.” she apologised, not really believing a thing she said.
For a few seconds, Ai said nothing, stewing over.
“Look, Cream. I’m sorry. I’m just a little angry. Things didn’t turn out very well. I’m just thinking about how things were before.” Ai said morosely.
“How things were…before?” Cream asked.
“Well, sit down, and I’ll tell you how things were before Station Square.”
Cream sat down, and settled her long ears, ready for a good story.
Raze looked up as the mountain landscape began to descend into a frozen forest. They had finally reached the bottom of the mountain. With characteristic grace, he dumped the rabbit on the ground. The rabbit sat there panting, still tired out, even though Raze had had to carry him halfway down the mountain. The blue fox sniffed, drinking in the scents from the forest. It was snow, all snow. It reminded him of the forest he had been in so recently. And of the people he had met there.
“Get up. Are you a rabbit or a worm? If you’re a rabbit, get yourself up and get ready to move out. If you’re a worm, just crawl along in my wake.” Raze said, his acrid tone searing the air.
“You don’t even know my name…and yet, you still think it’s okay to mock me like this?” the rabbit replied, a small flare of anger creeping into his voice.
“Perfectly. Now get up. I have a schedule to keep.” Raze replied, getting ready to move off.
“Hey! We can’t all climb up and down mountains when the mood takes us, you know!” the rabbit yelled, climbing to his feet with a groan.
“Well I can, so there. You coming?” Raze retorted.
“Tch. My name’s Sherbet, in case you were wondering.” the rabbit said, following in the foxes’ footsteps.
They walked along through the frozen forest in a pail of silence. Their feet crunching through the snow was the only sound to be heard. Raze’s fur, matted and tangled from recent battles, made him seem almost misty, as if he were smoke. The rabbit stared for a second, and then the moment passed, and the fox was normal again.
“So, uh…How much was the bounty on your head for?” Sherbet asked.
“Oh, some pathetic little amount. You know how it is with these small towns. You show them a coin and they think you’re a king. Why? What’s wrong, sunshine? Scared?” Raze smirked.
“Of you? No. Of bounty hunters? Maybe.”
“Hah. You’re certainly brave. You’re certainly wrong as well. Between me and you, I’d be far more scared of a mercenary than a bounty hunter. Mercenaries aren’t as nice.”
Sherbet shivered, even though he was quite warm in his coat. They walked on in silence for a few minutes. Raze seemed to be deep in thought, as if considering something. A look of hesitance, maybe even pain, flitted across his face and then was gone. The look that replaced it was one of steely resolve. The fox’s posture changed sharply. His tail began to move slowly and menacingly, and his ears flicked out to the sides and then back again. Though his form was distorted by the cloak, it was clear that all the fox’s well toned muscles were tensed, ready for action.
“So. Would you like some proof of my claim? That mercenaries are scarier than bounty hunters?” Raze asked, a bloodthirsty smile playing on his lips.
“Um….” Sherbet mumbled, unsure of how to answer.
“Well, you’ll get some proof either way. At the edge of this forest is a bounty hunter. He’s plainly waiting for us.” Raze smiled, quickening his step.
“How do you know he’s waiting for us?” Sherbet asked, striding after him.
“Because. He’s an old friend of mine.” Raze smiled, breaking into a full-blown run. Sherbet ran after him, pondering the fox’s words, and readying himself for one hell of a show.
“Before I came to Station Square, I was travelling around with Raze. From time to time, we used to pick up people who travelled with us- sometimes clients, who wanted escorting across places where there were bandits and robbers and stuff, or people like Jecht and Eleanor who just decided to tag along with us, which annoyed Raze to no end.” Ai said, settling herself down into one of Cream’s plusher cushions.
“Ha. I can imagine. He’s not really a people person, is he?” Vanilla laughed, coming back into the room with some hot chocolate. She had absconded the room to let Cream and Ai have their mini-row, and was now ready to listen in on the story.
“Nope. He didn’t even like the clients to sleep to close to us at nights. Mind you, Raze was always very suspicious of everyone else, even from when I first met him. I suppose he has his reasons.” Ai carried on, taking a sip of the hot chocolate, and burning her tongue.
“What was Raze like when you first met him?” Cream asked.
“Well, when I first met Raze…He was a lot smaller. I mean, a LOT smaller. He was still taller than your average fox of that age, but compared to what he is now, he was a runt. He was always very thin and wiry, but he was strong as well. Still, because he wasn’t as big as he is now, he used to get in some real trouble when he was fighting adults.”
“Really? I couldn’t imagine Raze being small. I guess he must have grown up a lot since then.” Cream piped up.
“Yup. I remember one of the occasions where being a kid meant he had some trouble. It was only a little while after we met and started travelling around together. I was very childish then, and I had wandered into the backstreets of the city we were in. Before I knew it, some men had surrounded me. Humans, but big ones. They wanted to kidnap me.” Ai recollected.
“What happened?” Vanilla asked.
“Well, the leader of the thugs, a bald chap who’d never seen a razor before, walked up to me and said ‘So, little lady, where do you think you’re going?’ It seems stupid now, but the first thing I though was how bad his teeth were. Obviously, he’d never seen a toothbrush either. Now, I’d like to say I answered him in a voice full of fire and then knocked what teeth he had left down his throat. But I didn’t. In fact, I practically wet myself.”
“I know I’d be scared if I were trapped like that…” Cream said, taking the biscuit her mother had offered her.
“But then, all of a sudden, I heard this curt voice say ‘The little lady thinks she’s going with me.’ And surprise, surprise, Raze was standing there in the alleyway. Now, once again, I’d like to say that the dunderheaded thugs were scared stiff, and they ran away screaming. But I’d be lying. They just stood there and laughed, until one of the idiots picked up a plank and tried to hit Raze with it.”
“Ooh! What happened next?” Cream asked excitedly, leaning forwards.
“Raze grabbed the plank off him and smashed the guy’s face so hard I’m surprised it didn’t come out on the other side. But after that, no one was dumb enough to give him a plank to hit them with. I just stood there, scared out of my wits, until the fight ended. Raze was a sight afterwards. He had blood pouring from his mouth and his arm was broken. He had tufts of fur missing everywhere. Raze was an excellent fighter back then, but in a narrow back-alley surrounded by fully grown men who were probably three times his weight? If he were anyone else, he would have been lucky to get out alive, never mind winning.”
“Geez. I wonder where Raze is now?”
“So…What’s your story, anyway?” Sherbet asked. “I bet it’s a real good one, what with you having so many enemies.”
“Hmm…Let’s see. I was born, I grew a bit, and now here I am. Happy now, sunshine?”
“Jackass.”
“You’d better believe it.”
The two ran forwards at full pelt, the branches of the forest whipping by them. Raze seemed to know exactly where he was going, and Sherbet certainly wasn’t going to argue with him. Raze took a quick left, turning on a two pence piece, whilst Sherbet skidded on the soft snow. The cowboy’s guns, carefully concealed underneath his tanned leather coat, rattled and clinked together. He had two shot-pistols, powerful and accurate over short to moderate distances. They fired with the same trajectory of common or garden shotguns, but due to their lightness, he could use two at once, on in each hand. The disadvantages were heavy recoil and a short clip. He checked them quickly, making sure they weren’t damaged. He had made and customised them himself, but the materials weren’t great, and the metal he had used corroded quickly. Therefore, he needed to maintain them periodically. After checking his guns and ammo, he hared off after Raze.
Raze himself was far ahead, his keen nose leading him to his prey. Following his training, he had become even more in touch with his senses, and after the recent incident with Scoot and Silk, his mind was running at full capacity. He practically flew trough the forest, his powerful legs propelling him forwards. The thrill of the chase screamed at him, and deep down, he felt his animal instincts baying for blood. This time, he wasn’t going to deny them. This had to end. Raze ran even faster, always towards his unknowing and unlucky victim.
“I wanna go out, Knucklebrain! Take me somewhere good!” Sonic moaned. “I might be paralyzed, but that doesn’t mean I’m boring like you!”
“Okay, okay, shut up already! We’ll go to Cream’s house and see if she can give us any cookies!” the red echidna said desperately.
As Knuckles wheeled the chair away from his island, he suddenly remembered something. He got to the end of the bridge, and then, fumbling around in his pockets (which I will leave you to decide the location of) he brought out a pair of keys. He pressed a button on them, and with gentle ‘bip-bip!’ Angel Island shot into the air.
“Central locking. Brilliant isn’t it?” Knuckles said, trying to make Sonic impressed.
“Cookies.” the hedgehog said in response.
Groaning, Knuckles began to take him to Station Square.
Back in Tails’ abandoned apartment, his TV was half submerged in water. It sparked and sizzled, practically frying its circuits. It flickered off and on a couple of times, then gave up the ghost. The final words of the newscaster were “Warning. Heavy storms are anticipated. Stay indoors. Repeat…heavy storms are anticipated. Stay indoors.” Then, the TV flickered off permanently, as Tails the fox flew silently towards Station Square.
---------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Sorry about the delay. I’m gonna get all my chapters up fairly soon, and all at once. Okay, bye!
---------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Chapter the Second- My way
-------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Shadow brushed a small tear from his eye, and then necked the rest of his milkshake. Harry tutted, his new moustache going up and down as he did so. Unfortunately for Harry, all the hair that had gone into making his ‘tache had come off his head, and the bartender was now utterly bald.
“Hey there hedgehog, you’d better slow down with those milkshakes. They’re cold, you know. I can still remember the last time one of my customers got brain-freeze…” Harry joked, wincing at the memory of Chaos and its little episode.
“I just don’t get it. Women are so immature. I can’t believe she thought I said she was fat.” Shadow moped.
“What didja say?” Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.
“I said she was all woman! She took it the wrong way!” Shadow sobbed. The ebony hedgehog, long regarded as the Sonic gang’s hard man, was crying his eyes out to a guy in a milkshake shop.
“And she’s gone to sleep at her friend’s house and she took my favourite blanket and she doesn’t like my extra special homemade cocoa and, and, and….Gah!” Shadow carried on.
“Hey. You just have to something to get her back on your side, little buddy. You need to buy her some flowers, take her on a date! Pretend you’re starting over!” Harry grinned.
“You think?”
“Positively! Now take that sad look off your face, drink the last of that milkshake and get out there!” Harry encouraged, positively beaming.
“You’re right! I’m gonna get together with Amy, and we’re gonna go to a restaurant! And eat pasta! PASTA!” Shadow yelled, running out of the shop. Harry smiled, the shop light bouncing off his brilliantly rounded bonce.
Eggman muttered something about presidential elections, then lifted the mug that had the rather charming message of ‘DOIN’ IT JERSY STYLE!’ emblazoned on it at about twelve places to his lips. Metal Sonic, clutching the Doctor’s favourite stuffed camel, walked to the computer screen.
“What are you doing?” Metal Sonic asked.
“Shush! I’m controlling my surface robot!”
“Really?”
“Shush! Yes!”
Metal Sonic took a closer look at the screen. Shadow the hedgehog appeared to be ranting and raving in some shop somewhere.
“Oh, this is of that bartender you replaced? Pretty good job.” the metal hedgehog remarked.
“Hey! You two! Gimme back my clothes and get the hell out of my house!” Harry Harrison’s voice came from the closet.
“Don’t we have our own hideout?”
“For the 697th time, it’s being fumigated!”
“This is only the third time I’ve asked!”
“Look at the kitchen.”
Metal Sonic looked at the kitchen, and after being shocked and appalled by the enormous profusion of sticky notes that said ‘HIDEOUT BEING FUMIGATED ON ACCOUNT OF FLEAS. PS HI ME!’ left by Eggman, returned to the retarded Doctor.
“So, why have a robot in a milkshake shop?”
“I’m going to destroy the Sonic Team!”
“In a milkshake shop.”
“In a milksha…hey, there is a reason for me using a milkshake shop!”
“………………….& #8221;
“………………….”
“….and this reason is?”
“Uh….a good reason!”
“Ugh…”
“Well, that was just bloody brilliant. Yet another job down the pan.” Tails moaned, slamming the door rather savagely as he walked into his apartment. It was a mistake to do so, because his apartment was utterly tiny, and his bed, which had been suspended from the ceiling to make room for the bath, collapsed onto Tails’ head with a pace that could only be described as dramatic.
“Gah! I hate weekdays!” Tails swore, wriggling out from under his wayward bed. His television, a banged up black-and-white piece of rubbish, was showing the news. Tails listened to it for a while as he carefully re-attached his bed to the ceiling using pieces of shoelace.
“And today, we have news of a recent explosion at a well-known garage recently. Police suspected casual terrorism, but the owners say it was the fault of one employee. Whatever you do, do NOT employ this fox. Repeat, do not employ…” the newscaster waffled, standing beside Tails’ mugshot.
Tails casually knocked his television into the bath and turned the tap on. He mused over what to do. He hated to admit it, but he was spent in this city. He couldn’t eat, never mind rebuild his lab. There was only one thing to do. He had to go back. Cream and Vanilla would help him. Hadn’t they said that whenever he was in trouble, they’d bail him out? All he needed now was a good sofa and some good square meals. Seeing no sense in delaying, Tails hurriedly packed his possessions- his phone and a packet of biscuits- and left the building at a run. He didn’t bother to call Cream. He knew she’d put him up for a while. Just until he had some money. And if he were lucky, she might have cake! Tails drooled at the thought of Cream’s famous cake, and readied himself for takeoff. His gloves may have been fingerless, and he may have stank like a tramp, but he was going home! Tails looked forwards to seeing his friends again as he flew silently through the air.
Amy sucked her thumb, and dribbled a little. Cream frowned. It was never a good sign when Amy slept on their sofa. Even less so when it was the middle of the day.
“Cream! Are you bothering Amy again?” Vanilla called.
“No, Mother!” Cream called back quietly.
“I have a surprise for you!” Vanilla whispered, stepping into the room, her hands behind her back.
“What?” Cream asked, her ears twitching.
In response, Vanilla took a cage from behind her back, and a young chao in a Christmas hat squeaked in delight as it saw Cream.
“Cheese is back from the vet’s! YAY!” Cream said, jumping- or rather, hopping- for joy.
“He’s better than ever. He’s getting a little old and rusty, but he’s okay.” Vanilla said, unbolting the cage, and enjoying the joyful reunion of rabbit and chao.
“My, my. I get back from the gym and everyone goes nuts!” Ai laughed, walking in with her bare feet.
“Ai, you are daft sometimes…” Cream mumbled.
“Hmph. I feel so welcome. Why is Amy conked out on the settee?” Ai asked, casually flumping down on the floor cross-legged. It was one of her little mercenary habits to never sit on chairs.
“Shadow left her…” Cream said, unsure of how she was meant to say it. Happily, and pretend that Shadow was no good? Sadly, and feign sorrow for a relationship past? It was all so complicated.
“Hm. Men. Who needs them? They’re hardly a necessity. We women are more intelligent. We can fend for ourselves.” Ai sniffed.
“I’m sorry, but how much of that do you actually believe?” Cream asked.
“What are you implying, Cream?”
“I’m just asking. Why are you saying that I’m implying something?”
“Because of the way you said it! Now, if you have something to say, spit it out!”
Cream frowned. Why was Ai suddenly picking a fight?
“I have nothing to say, Ai. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.” she apologised, not really believing a thing she said.
For a few seconds, Ai said nothing, stewing over.
“Look, Cream. I’m sorry. I’m just a little angry. Things didn’t turn out very well. I’m just thinking about how things were before.” Ai said morosely.
“How things were…before?” Cream asked.
“Well, sit down, and I’ll tell you how things were before Station Square.”
Cream sat down, and settled her long ears, ready for a good story.
Raze looked up as the mountain landscape began to descend into a frozen forest. They had finally reached the bottom of the mountain. With characteristic grace, he dumped the rabbit on the ground. The rabbit sat there panting, still tired out, even though Raze had had to carry him halfway down the mountain. The blue fox sniffed, drinking in the scents from the forest. It was snow, all snow. It reminded him of the forest he had been in so recently. And of the people he had met there.
“Get up. Are you a rabbit or a worm? If you’re a rabbit, get yourself up and get ready to move out. If you’re a worm, just crawl along in my wake.” Raze said, his acrid tone searing the air.
“You don’t even know my name…and yet, you still think it’s okay to mock me like this?” the rabbit replied, a small flare of anger creeping into his voice.
“Perfectly. Now get up. I have a schedule to keep.” Raze replied, getting ready to move off.
“Hey! We can’t all climb up and down mountains when the mood takes us, you know!” the rabbit yelled, climbing to his feet with a groan.
“Well I can, so there. You coming?” Raze retorted.
“Tch. My name’s Sherbet, in case you were wondering.” the rabbit said, following in the foxes’ footsteps.
They walked along through the frozen forest in a pail of silence. Their feet crunching through the snow was the only sound to be heard. Raze’s fur, matted and tangled from recent battles, made him seem almost misty, as if he were smoke. The rabbit stared for a second, and then the moment passed, and the fox was normal again.
“So, uh…How much was the bounty on your head for?” Sherbet asked.
“Oh, some pathetic little amount. You know how it is with these small towns. You show them a coin and they think you’re a king. Why? What’s wrong, sunshine? Scared?” Raze smirked.
“Of you? No. Of bounty hunters? Maybe.”
“Hah. You’re certainly brave. You’re certainly wrong as well. Between me and you, I’d be far more scared of a mercenary than a bounty hunter. Mercenaries aren’t as nice.”
Sherbet shivered, even though he was quite warm in his coat. They walked on in silence for a few minutes. Raze seemed to be deep in thought, as if considering something. A look of hesitance, maybe even pain, flitted across his face and then was gone. The look that replaced it was one of steely resolve. The fox’s posture changed sharply. His tail began to move slowly and menacingly, and his ears flicked out to the sides and then back again. Though his form was distorted by the cloak, it was clear that all the fox’s well toned muscles were tensed, ready for action.
“So. Would you like some proof of my claim? That mercenaries are scarier than bounty hunters?” Raze asked, a bloodthirsty smile playing on his lips.
“Um….” Sherbet mumbled, unsure of how to answer.
“Well, you’ll get some proof either way. At the edge of this forest is a bounty hunter. He’s plainly waiting for us.” Raze smiled, quickening his step.
“How do you know he’s waiting for us?” Sherbet asked, striding after him.
“Because. He’s an old friend of mine.” Raze smiled, breaking into a full-blown run. Sherbet ran after him, pondering the fox’s words, and readying himself for one hell of a show.
“Before I came to Station Square, I was travelling around with Raze. From time to time, we used to pick up people who travelled with us- sometimes clients, who wanted escorting across places where there were bandits and robbers and stuff, or people like Jecht and Eleanor who just decided to tag along with us, which annoyed Raze to no end.” Ai said, settling herself down into one of Cream’s plusher cushions.
“Ha. I can imagine. He’s not really a people person, is he?” Vanilla laughed, coming back into the room with some hot chocolate. She had absconded the room to let Cream and Ai have their mini-row, and was now ready to listen in on the story.
“Nope. He didn’t even like the clients to sleep to close to us at nights. Mind you, Raze was always very suspicious of everyone else, even from when I first met him. I suppose he has his reasons.” Ai carried on, taking a sip of the hot chocolate, and burning her tongue.
“What was Raze like when you first met him?” Cream asked.
“Well, when I first met Raze…He was a lot smaller. I mean, a LOT smaller. He was still taller than your average fox of that age, but compared to what he is now, he was a runt. He was always very thin and wiry, but he was strong as well. Still, because he wasn’t as big as he is now, he used to get in some real trouble when he was fighting adults.”
“Really? I couldn’t imagine Raze being small. I guess he must have grown up a lot since then.” Cream piped up.
“Yup. I remember one of the occasions where being a kid meant he had some trouble. It was only a little while after we met and started travelling around together. I was very childish then, and I had wandered into the backstreets of the city we were in. Before I knew it, some men had surrounded me. Humans, but big ones. They wanted to kidnap me.” Ai recollected.
“What happened?” Vanilla asked.
“Well, the leader of the thugs, a bald chap who’d never seen a razor before, walked up to me and said ‘So, little lady, where do you think you’re going?’ It seems stupid now, but the first thing I though was how bad his teeth were. Obviously, he’d never seen a toothbrush either. Now, I’d like to say I answered him in a voice full of fire and then knocked what teeth he had left down his throat. But I didn’t. In fact, I practically wet myself.”
“I know I’d be scared if I were trapped like that…” Cream said, taking the biscuit her mother had offered her.
“But then, all of a sudden, I heard this curt voice say ‘The little lady thinks she’s going with me.’ And surprise, surprise, Raze was standing there in the alleyway. Now, once again, I’d like to say that the dunderheaded thugs were scared stiff, and they ran away screaming. But I’d be lying. They just stood there and laughed, until one of the idiots picked up a plank and tried to hit Raze with it.”
“Ooh! What happened next?” Cream asked excitedly, leaning forwards.
“Raze grabbed the plank off him and smashed the guy’s face so hard I’m surprised it didn’t come out on the other side. But after that, no one was dumb enough to give him a plank to hit them with. I just stood there, scared out of my wits, until the fight ended. Raze was a sight afterwards. He had blood pouring from his mouth and his arm was broken. He had tufts of fur missing everywhere. Raze was an excellent fighter back then, but in a narrow back-alley surrounded by fully grown men who were probably three times his weight? If he were anyone else, he would have been lucky to get out alive, never mind winning.”
“Geez. I wonder where Raze is now?”
“So…What’s your story, anyway?” Sherbet asked. “I bet it’s a real good one, what with you having so many enemies.”
“Hmm…Let’s see. I was born, I grew a bit, and now here I am. Happy now, sunshine?”
“Jackass.”
“You’d better believe it.”
The two ran forwards at full pelt, the branches of the forest whipping by them. Raze seemed to know exactly where he was going, and Sherbet certainly wasn’t going to argue with him. Raze took a quick left, turning on a two pence piece, whilst Sherbet skidded on the soft snow. The cowboy’s guns, carefully concealed underneath his tanned leather coat, rattled and clinked together. He had two shot-pistols, powerful and accurate over short to moderate distances. They fired with the same trajectory of common or garden shotguns, but due to their lightness, he could use two at once, on in each hand. The disadvantages were heavy recoil and a short clip. He checked them quickly, making sure they weren’t damaged. He had made and customised them himself, but the materials weren’t great, and the metal he had used corroded quickly. Therefore, he needed to maintain them periodically. After checking his guns and ammo, he hared off after Raze.
Raze himself was far ahead, his keen nose leading him to his prey. Following his training, he had become even more in touch with his senses, and after the recent incident with Scoot and Silk, his mind was running at full capacity. He practically flew trough the forest, his powerful legs propelling him forwards. The thrill of the chase screamed at him, and deep down, he felt his animal instincts baying for blood. This time, he wasn’t going to deny them. This had to end. Raze ran even faster, always towards his unknowing and unlucky victim.
“I wanna go out, Knucklebrain! Take me somewhere good!” Sonic moaned. “I might be paralyzed, but that doesn’t mean I’m boring like you!”
“Okay, okay, shut up already! We’ll go to Cream’s house and see if she can give us any cookies!” the red echidna said desperately.
As Knuckles wheeled the chair away from his island, he suddenly remembered something. He got to the end of the bridge, and then, fumbling around in his pockets (which I will leave you to decide the location of) he brought out a pair of keys. He pressed a button on them, and with gentle ‘bip-bip!’ Angel Island shot into the air.
“Central locking. Brilliant isn’t it?” Knuckles said, trying to make Sonic impressed.
“Cookies.” the hedgehog said in response.
Groaning, Knuckles began to take him to Station Square.
Back in Tails’ abandoned apartment, his TV was half submerged in water. It sparked and sizzled, practically frying its circuits. It flickered off and on a couple of times, then gave up the ghost. The final words of the newscaster were “Warning. Heavy storms are anticipated. Stay indoors. Repeat…heavy storms are anticipated. Stay indoors.” Then, the TV flickered off permanently, as Tails the fox flew silently towards Station Square.
---------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Sorry about the delay. I’m gonna get all my chapters up fairly soon, and all at once. Okay, bye!