Chapter Text
Background
(If you don't want to read, skip to where it says Chapter 1 below, which is where Chapter 1 actually starts).
In an alternate universe, there exists a version of Earth where Sonic and his friends never resided. Well, except for one...
In this alternate version of Earth, self-proclaimed evil genius Dr Eggman worked to take over the world and craft his Eggman Empire, using his cruel intelligence and deadly robot creations.
But standing in his way was the organisation known as the Guardian Units of Nations, aka GUN. Through the efforts of brave human and Mobian agents alike, they were successful in foiling the Doctor’s nefarious plans every time.
Defeat after defeat spurred a frustrated Dr Eggman to hack into the GUN’s databases, desperate to find a way to take them down. Only for him to discover top secret files under the name of his grandfather; Gerald Robotnik, to his utter shock. The files spoke of a project led by Gerald to create a top-secret military weapon, but one day, it was shut down by GUN themselves out of fear when it was deemed too dangerous. Seizing this opportunity, Dr Eggman infiltrated Prison Island, where the secret weapon was apparently locked up. And there, Eggman found and awakened Shadow the Hedgehog; the Ultimate Lifeform.
Shadow thanked the Doctor for releasing him, saying that in exchange, he would help fulfil the Doctor’s wish of taking over the world by assisting him in activating the ultimate weapon; the Eclipse Cannon on the Space Colony ARK.
But for Shadow, this was only a façade, for he had his own secret goal. He was to carry out his creator Gerald’s plan for vengeance by collecting the Chaos Emeralds and planting them into the Eclipse Cannon to activate a program that would cause the ARK to collide with Earth, leading to its destruction. Through this plan, Shadow would not only achieve justice for his creator Gerald, who had everything taken from him, but also for someone else. Shadow would avenge the death of his one and only friend; Maria, who was killed in front of his eyes the day that GUN invaded the ARK. For that, Shadow would have his revenge on all of humanity.
Under the guise of working with the Doctor, Shadow set out to collect the Chaos Emeralds for the Eclipse Cannon, eager to carry out his creator’s plan. That is… until he received a surprise visit of an extra-terrestrial nature.
Shadow was contacted by Black Doom; ruler of the Black Arms. He claimed to know Shadow, and not only that, he revealed to Shadow a shocking truth. That Gerald created him with the help of Black Doom, with Black Doom’s very blood. Black Doom told Shadow that he belongs with the Black Arms, that his blood runs through his veins. That he is basically his son. And to prove it, Black Doom showed Shadow the connection they shared, showed him the link to the Black Arms’ hive mind, and even showed him that through their mind link, he saw what happened to Shadow that fateful day on the ARK. He saw what the humans did to him.
Shadow was shocked, but he could not deny it. He felt the connection to Black Doom, the proof was in the visions Black Doom shared, and suddenly, it all clicked together. The tests the Professor would conduct on him, the fact that he’d needed to learn about the genetic makeup and processes of his own creation. It all made sense. This brought Shadow to another shocking realisation. The Professor had never told him the truth. Why had Gerald, his creator who he'd thought he could trust, kept such a secret from him?
On top of Shadow’s newfound uncertainty, Black Doom appealed to Shadow’s hatred of the humans and desire for revenge. He asked Shadow to join him and the Black Arms in taking over this forsaken world and putting its inhabitants in their rightful place. He told Shadow that it was why he was made in the first place, the very reason behind his creation. He was to be the vanguard of the Black Arms invasion and lead them to victory. That was the purpose intended for him. Shadow mulled it over, but it was not a difficult decision for him to make. With Black Doom, he could carry out Gerald’s wish for vengeance on the world anyway. He could seek justice for himself, for what the humans had done to him. He could avenge Maria. And most of all, he finally had what he’d been searching for. A purpose. Shadow agreed, and joined the Black Arms.
With his path changed, Shadow conspired with Black Doom to set a new plan into motion. He continued to work alongside Dr Eggman to collect the Chaos Emeralds. Whenever GUN attempted to stop the pair, such as during their attack on the vaults of Prison Island, Shadow obliterated them. Finally, with the seven Chaos Emeralds in their possession, Shadow brought Eggman to the ARK. There, on Black Doom’s orders, Shadow disposed of him, for the Doctor was no longer needed.
With Shadow’s knowledge to use only six of the Chaos Emeralds rather than the full seven, he and Black Doom were able to activate the Eclipse Cannon safely without triggering Gerald’s doomsday program. With the Cannon in their possession, they sent a transmission to the inhabitants of Earth, calling for their surrender, and they fired a warning shot that decimated half of the moon as a demonstration of their power.
However, the inhabitants of Earth were determined to defy them, with GUN leading the resistance. With little disappointment, Black Doom declared that they would take over Earth by force. And Shadow was only too happy to oblige.
With the seven Chaos Emeralds granting them the power of Chaos Control, Black Doom and Shadow were able to teleport the Black Comet and the entirety of the Black Arms fleet past the Earth’s stratosphere and to its surface. From there, the invasion begun. On Black Doom’s prompting, Shadow took his place at the head of it, only to find himself, to his delight, up against GUN. With the Black Arms army behind him, Shadow tore them apart, all the way down to GUN HQ, which he burned to the ground.
With GUN, the backbone of Earth’s defence, destroyed, the Black Arms invasion was a success, and Earth was conquered. Turned into a harvesting ground for the Black Arms’ leisure. And Shadow, following his instrumental role in the invasion, took his place at Black Doom’s side as Prince of the Black Arms Empire.
Now, the Black Arms’ quest for power expands. With Earth successfully colonised, the Black Comet travels through space, seeking a new planet to conquer. And now, their new target has been identified. The Planet Sol, consisting mostly of water, but still home to human and mobian civilisations. While it is small in terms of scale, Black Doom declares that it would be a greatly beneficial little colony for them to acquire, with many useful resources.
Through sending several small, flying Black Creatures to the surface of Sol, Black Doom learns that Sol is actually split up into human and mobian territories. The humans and mobians live as neighbours, sharing a cordial relationship, but primarily keeping to their own. The human civilisation is a democracy, much like Earth was, while the mobian civilisation is a monarchy, ruled by a royal family who apparently possess great powers. But both civilisations apparently possess powerful armies, with the mobian army having an especially impressive reputation, rumoured to be full of mobians with a vast variety of powers, skills and strengths. It seems blind, all-out war would not bring as easy of a victory as it did on Earth, especially with most of the Black Arms fleet still busy back on their newest colony. Therefore, Black Doom decides a different approach is needed for this invasion and concocts a plan.
With that, Black Doom summons his greatest agent, and Prince, to his side. Black Doom informs Shadow that during the time it will take for their fleet to arrive, he is to infiltrate the Sol Kingdom and gather as much information as he can about the kingdom’s defences and army, as well as attempt to get close to the royal family to uncover their secrets. And Black Doom has devised the perfect plan to enable him to do so...
With the preparations made, Shadow and Black Doom are ready to execute their plan to get Shadow into the Sol Kingdom. And that is where our story begins...
Chapter 1
Space was cold.
It was something Shadow had never fully realised until now. He stood with his arms folded and stared out the window into the dark, empty void of space, watching the stars as they glittered icily in the endless sheet of black. They only seemed to add to the effect, making it look as cold as it felt.
In all his time on the ARK, it had been all Shadow had known, so perhaps he simply hadn’t noticed it. But when he’d spent time on Earth, on an actual planet where he’d been able to feel the warmth of the sun, he’d felt as if a new part of him had opened up. Now the absence of it was almost painfully noticeable, like something was now missing and his body still yearned for it. The cold was so much heavier now…
Shadow bunched his shoulders to suppress a shiver, then relaxed them abruptly as he shook his head. Their voyage on the Black Comet had spanned months now. He’d been in a period of idleness for too long. Even his frequent sparring matches with Eclipse and Skorpio weren’t enough to sate him. He needed real action, he needed to get out and do something. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait any longer.
“It is time.”
Shadow glanced over his shoulder. Black Doom, ruler of the Black Arms, drifted from the well in the centre of the room towards him. The well was filled with a strange fluid that even Shadow didn’t quite fully understand. But apparently, staring into it allowed Black Doom to gather his thoughts so he could communicate better with the hive mind he shared with his many alien soldiers. Shadow being one of those soldiers, though he shared a stronger connection with Black Doom that usually bypassed the need for the well. He was not part of the riffraff. Shadow was a soldier of much higher status.
Black Doom’s three eyes, set into the centre of his grotesque, black-skinned face, trained onto him. “Our scouts report that the royal carriage containing the princess has passed the marker location. It is a day’s travel from the capital.”
Shadow held the Black Arms ruler’s gaze, then glanced back out the window. “So you’ve contacted Eclipse and Skorpio?”
“They will arrive momentarily,” Black Doom replied without pause.
Shadow was still for a long moment, mulling over what was to come, before he finally nodded in acknowledgment.
After months of space travel, searching for another planet that would bear fruit to their expanding, ever-hungry empire after the conquest of Earth, they had come across the planet Sol. A planet similar to Earth in that it was inhabited by humans and mobians alike, though to their understanding it seemed the two civilisations lived separately in their own territories.
The humans of Sol lived much like the humans of Earth had, with their democratic government and whatnot. But the mobian territories were ruled by a monarchy. A royal family. And according to their scouts, this royal family apparently possessed great powers. It seemed to be the reason why the two civilisations put up with each other as neighbours. One was as strong as the other, and apparently both had decided on a cordial relationship with each other rather than war and conquest. A sure sign of weak rulers, as Black Doom had declared.
Regardless, a blind, straightforward attack on their part did not seem the wisest course of action. Even if the humans and mobians weren’t fully allies, it was possible that they could join forces. They didn’t know enough about the nature of their relationship to predict that accurately. Either way, the Black Arms would be enemy to both, meaning they could find themselves up against two armies, both apparently possessing great might. Vague information from their scouts listening in on the mobian populations supported a particularly impressive reputation on the part of the mobian army, apparently it was renowned for being full of mobians with a vast range of powers, skills and strengths. By the sound of it, it was not something to be tampered with lightly if they were smart. Besides, the majority of the Black Arms fleet was still back on Earth, tending to their newest colony. The Black Comet housed the only legion of Black Arms soldiers currently available, nowhere near enough for an invasion. They needed to wait until they were joined by the rest of their fleet. However, there was a way they could make valuable use of that waiting time.
Shadow supposed Black Doom was impressed with the skills of deception he’d shown back on Earth, when he’d worked alongside a vile scientist known as Doctor Eggman to collect the Chaos Emeralds – vital tools to aid the Black Arms fleet in their invasion of Earth – before simply disposing of the Doctor when he’d outlasted his usefulness. In addition, Shadow had basically led the Black Arms army in their invasion of Earth. Between these two facts, it was unquestionable that Shadow had been an instrumental agent in the invasion’s success. Therefore, it seemed that was something Black Doom wanted to replicate.
The plan they had concocted was for Shadow to infiltrate the Sol Kingdom, since he would blend in amongst the mobian population much more than the human population. They had put together an operation that would hopefully serve to get Shadow into the Sol Palace itself, where he would then act as a spy and gather information about the Sol Kingdom’s military and defences. Additionally, he was to get as close as he could to the Sol Kingdom’s mysteriously powerful royal family, and uncover their secrets that had so far proved elusive.
The plan was a simple one in theory. Using some soldiers from their small legion aboard the Black Comet, they were to stage an attack on a royal convoy. A royal convoy that included the princess of the Sol Kingdom, currently returning from a trip to the human territories. During the staged attack, Shadow was to appear and come to the aid of the royal convoy, taking extra care to conveniently defend the princess most especially. That should place him into the good graces of the royals, hopefully enough to possibly grant him an audience with them. Then, another part of the plan would see him through from there…
Shadow unfolded his arms and looked down at the weapon he held in his gloved hand. A dagger made of a special kind of material created by the Black Arms themselves. The blade was as black as obsidian. He’d developed a fondness for it over the immense amounts of training he’d engaged in during their journey, having taken to keeping it in a permanent scabbard fixed onto his upper arm. It brought him a twinge of sorrow to part with it, but alas, it was necessary for the nature of his mission.
A hiss of machinery made Shadow’s ear twitch, and he turned from the window in time to watch as the doors slid open. And through them, emerged Eclipse and Skorpio. Eclipse threw up his hands casually.
“Well, everything’s prepared for the… procedure.”
Skorpio’s face twisted into an eager sneer. “All we need is the lucky subject.” His three eyes settled on Shadow, and his devious expression only intensified. “Ready whenever you are, Your Highness.”
Shadow locked eyes with the two of them. His gaze then drifted to Black Doom, who was studying him intently.
“As we discussed, Shadow… Time to get this plan underway.”
Shadow was still for a long moment, then his only response was a silent nod.
“After you then,” Skorpio drawled as he made an exaggerated bowing motion. “Time is of the essence, Your Highness.”
Shadow could feel the weight of Black Doom's gaze bearing down on him. As Shadow met his gaze, Black Doom’s stare pierced through him like a laser.
“I will not be able to speak with you again before you depart. You know what to do.” His head lifted slightly. “Make us proud with this mission, Shadow…”
Shadow inclined his head in the slightest bow as he touched a hand to his chest.
“Of course, Father.”
Without another ounce of hesitation, he strode towards Eclipse and Skorpio at the door. Both of them immediately spun around on their heels as they escorted Shadow out of the room and through the passageways of the Black Comet.
The two of them, similarly to Shadow, were Black Doom’s right-hand agents, though Shadow was the only one among them who had been granted the title of Prince, since he was the only one to actually have Black Doom’s blood running through his veins. On the other hand, Eclipse and Skorpio were, in a way, by-products of Shadow’s creation.
They were the result of a stroke of inspiration following Black Doom’s visit to Shadow’s co-creator on the ARK that had once orbited Earth. Black Doom had sought to create others like Shadow, none as impressive as him exactly, but impressive nonetheless. Artificially created beings with the perfect combination of Black Arms DNA, making them advanced lifeforms who functioned basically as living weapons. That was what Eclipse and Skorpio were. Just like Shadow himself. Shadow supposed that in a weird way, it kind of made them his brothers.
Eclipse held somewhat true to that, taking after Shadow quite a lot in terms of appearance, minus the mobian hedgehog traits. Instead, he sported the typical scaly skin of the Black Arms, primarily black with crimson markings. Red laced the outsides of his eyes and streaked across his head, arms, legs and the tip of his tail in the form of thick, bold stripes, then he had a white muzzle that stood out in stark contrast. Finally, his eyes were two amber orbs housed within pitch black sclerae that shined like tiny suns.
Skorpio on the other hand seemed to have been a more freestyle design. He was slightly taller than Shadow and Eclipse, in part due to the two thick horns rising from his head, while two smaller, downward protruding ones framed his face. His skin was a duller black that looked practically grey next to Shadow, his muzzle was a paler grey, and his red markings took the form of large highlights at his hands, feet, and the tips of his horns. He was the only one among them with clawed feet, and he also had the longest tail between them, complete with a poisonous red tip. The biggest digression of all; Skorpio had three eyes, two regular sized and a smaller one above them in the middle of his forehead, though it was almost covered by a fifth horn that shaded it. All three eyes of his were a shocking shade of violet.
The solemn air hung above the trio as they marched most of the way in silence, Shadow flanked by Eclipse on his left and Skorpio on his right. They had almost reached their destination when apparently the buzzing tension became too much for Eclipse and Skorpio to take.
“Well,” Eclipse remarked with a conspiratorial grin in Shadow’s direction. “This feels almost treasonous.”
Skorpio snorted in accompaniment, breaking into a grin to match Eclipse’s.
Despite himself, Shadow granted them the faintest smirk. “Do your worst.”
Eclipse raised a brow and pointed at him amusedly. "Now that would be treasonous."
Skorpio barked a laugh as he stretched his shoulders. “Don’t tempt me.” He sneered at Shadow. “I suppose I can consider this some form of payback for all the sparring matches you constantly beat me at.”
Shadow might have laughed any other time, but right now, all he could manage was a grunt.
This was to be the most… unpleasant part of the plan. But it was also the most necessary. Once Shadow was ideally granted an audience with the royals for defending the princess, the plan was that he would then ask for refuge through the use of a cover story he and Black Doom had formulated. He was to say that he had been created in a laboratory by human scientists on the other side of the border, and that they had mostly only conducted horrible experiments on him, spurring him to finally escape from them. After days of travel, he would claim to have made his way towards the city when he saw it, hoping he might be safe in what appeared to be a mobian-exclusive civilisation. And so, when he’d caught sight of the attack on the royal convoy happening just as he'd been coincidentally passing by, he’d felt compelled to help.
The cover story would not only provide reasoning for Shadow’s sudden appearance into their midst, but also his murky background, which he would have to keep concealed for the most part. It would explain why he knew nothing about the Sol Kingdom despite being a mobian like them, nothing about the royal family, so that they could help him learn about it. Most of all, it would hopefully earn him some sympathy points and persuade the royals to give him a place to stay, ideally in the castle, or at least somewhere associated with it, so he could then begin his espionage.
However, for the cover story to work, they needed to give it merit. And there was only one way they were able to do that. They had to make it look like Shadow had been recently experimented on by his human creators. Moreover, they needed to make it look bad enough so it would make sense that it had driven him to make a desperate escape, even if it meant running into a world he knew next to nothing about. And that was where Eclipse and Skorpio came in.
“Hey, maybe I should give you a matching scar through your other eye?” Skorpio jeered lightly.
Shadow shot him a look at that. “No. Keep away from my face. We all know how overexcited you can get. And you heard what Black Doom said. No risking any permanent damage.”
Skorpio rolled his eyes, but it was in good nature. “Yeah, yeah, I know.”
Shadow huffed under his breath. What he didn’t bother saying was that the scar Skorpio was referring to – a sharp slash that marred the skin above the very centre of his left eye as well as part of his muzzle below, while luckily leaving the actual eye in between unscathed – meant something to him. It had been earned, a souvenir of his quest for vengeance back on Earth, when he’d avenged the death of a dear friend… He wasn’t about to acquire another so significant through some fake setup.
They turned another corner, walked down another corridor, then finally, came to stop at a door. Eclipse reached for the control panel. The door sliced open to reveal the room beyond. And within it, the operating table.
Shadow felt a twist in his gut. The room reminded him a little too much of the labs on the ARK. The table was complete with restraints for one’s limbs, and next to the table itself was a trolley of tools, all of them sharp and glinting in the light. Though he told himself it definitely wasn’t out of fear, Shadow found himself swallowing against a suddenly dry throat. Eclipse regarded him with a sidelong glance.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Shadow’s gaze didn’t leave that table. Then, he lowered his head.
“Do what you need to do.”
Skorpio twirled a knife Shadow had not seen him produce. “Your wish is our command, Your Highness.”
“Princess! Princess Blaze!”
Blaze, Princess of the Sol Kingdom, still couldn’t say that she was used to the adoration she appeared to attract from crowds. It seemed like every citizen in Sunet had come out to watch the returning royal convoy as it travelled up the streets, hoping to catch a glimpse of the princess in the carriage within. And when they saw that they could indeed spot her through the carriage’s open window, they called and waved with great fervour, thrilled to receive even the tiniest wave in response. Excessive attention had always made her a little uneasy, but it was practically an inevitable aspect of being a princess. So, Blaze simply smiled faintly and waved back at the crowd whenever the need presented itself. There was one good thing about this at least. It made her happy to see the citizens of the Sol Kingdom in such high spirits. It was certainly a welcome change from where they’d just come from.
As if attuned to her thoughts, a great groan of relief sounded right at that moment. Blaze turned from the window to face her two bodyguards who accompanied her in the carriage, both decked out in golden armour accented in purple. Sonic was slumped in his seat, gazing outside the carriage with a lazy grin, while Knuckles sat stiffly to attention with perfect posture and poise, the model image of a dedicated soldier. Both demeanours were mutually typical of the two highest-ranking members of her personal guard.
“Oh, it’s so good to be home,” Sonic declared with great emphasis. He sat up properly and raised a finger. “I said it before, and I’ll say it again. Humans are almost unbearably dull.”
Knuckles huffed and shot him a sidelong glance. “Coming from you, that doesn’t mean much. You think almost everything is dull unless there’s something crazy happening."
The blue hedgehog shrugged. “What’s life when there’s nothing happening?”
Blaze’s mouth quirked in amusement. She tilted her head at Sonic. “In all honesty, the humans aren’t really that much duller than some of the nobility we have to deal with at home as well.”
Sonic hesitated in thought, then smirked and pointed at her. “Fair point, Princess.”
Knuckles glared at him. “Fair point, Your Highness. You really should address her properly, even when we’re not in public. It’s protocol.”
“Oh, cool it.” Sonic drawled as he waved a hand. “It’s a nickname. Trademark me. You know, like how I call you Knux. Besides, if she really minded, my head would already be on a pike by now.” He glanced at Blaze and grinned. “You don’t mind, do you, Princess?”
Blaze smiled and shook her head. “I really don’t mind. It’s fine, Knuckles,” she assured the red echidna. “I even prefer it sometimes. People can address me however they like. Especially friends. But I wouldn’t ask anyone to change their ways. Just do whatever you feel comfortable with.”
Knuckles hummed uncertainly but finally seemed to concede, only for Sonic to elbow him and flash him a devious grin of victory that set the echidna glowering once again. However, it appeared the light moment wasn’t to last. For between the cheers and excited shouts of the crowd, suddenly, there came a piercing scream.
The three occupants of the carriage jerked, heads snapping to glance out the window.
“What was that?” Knuckles asked, already getting to his feet.
“Extremely overexcited citizen…?” Sonic suggested. Though his tone was uncertain and he wasn’t grinning.
Suddenly, all of the cheers transformed into screams and the carriage lurched to a stop.
Blaze grabbed the edge of her seat to steady herself. “What’s going on?”
But Sonic and Knuckles were already leaping to action, all easy-going nonchalance completely gone. In less than a second, Sonic had ripped open the door of the carriage and launched himself out, Knuckles going to follow before holding up a mittened hand in her direction.
“Stay here, Your Highness!” he instructed before rushing after Sonic.
Blaze felt a surge of annoyance in her chest. If anyone thought she was going to sit uselessly and do nothing while her people were possibly in danger, they had another thing coming. She threw herself out the door after her guards, only to a stumble to a stop with a gasp.
The members of the royal convoy were locked in battle with what appeared to be strange, dark-coloured creatures. They roared and snarled and threw themselves against the royal guards, almost savage with the brutal nature of their attacks. And there were yet more coming. Blaze saw them springing across the rooftops before hopping down to the cobblestones. Citizens screamed and ran, desperately trying to get clear of the fight. The street was chaos.
Blaze’s gaze was snatched to a creature who was lunging towards a nearby citizen. She inhaled sharply and stepped forward, lifting her hand to summon a flame. But then a streak of blue rushed past her, and Sonic smashed into the creature, sending it stumbling away. He unfurled from his spin-dash and landed in a crouch; sword drawn and holding firm as the creature recovered and slowly turned towards him. Sonic snapped his head to the side.
“Get clear, pal!” he shouted at the citizen. Then he launched himself at the creature, sword slashing in deadly arcs, and it gave the red bear ample time to scurry away. Sonic took care of his enemy in seconds flat before darting off once again.
Blaze straightened, turning to watch as several guards of the Gun Division fired frantically at a group of enemies surrounding them. She couldn’t just stand here and do nothing! She had to help! She was about to run towards them when another shrill scream pierced her ears, causing her to immediately whip around. A fair distance from the carriage, three young mobians cowered as a big, hulking creature advanced, carrying a massive, mallet-like weapon. Blaze did not hesitate this time.
Letting her powers break free, she charged towards the creature, leaving a blazing trail of fire in her wake. She skirted the creature and darted between him and the children. The creature seemed to balk momentarily in surprise from her appearance. Blaze didn’t give it a chance to gather itself. Sweeping her arm in a sharp wave, she unleashed a torrent of fire at the creature. It released a terrible screech that grated against her ears, but Blaze did not flinch as she launched another plume of fire at it. Anything that dared to threaten her people would face the full brunt of her wrath.
The creature fell, burned beyond further ability to fight any further. Blaze rose from her fighting stance, glaring at the thing until she heard a gasp from behind her. She spun to the three young mobians curled up on the cobblestones.
“Are you all okay?” she asked them gently.
They gawked at her with wide eyes, half in terror and half in what might have been reverence at the fact that the princess had just come to their rescue. Though it was unlikely that fact was fully registering for them right now.
“You must get away, all of you!” Blaze put on her most commanding voice. “Run! Now!”
Galvanised into action, the three children scrambled to their feet and fled without looking back. Blaze was glad for it. Then there was a small explosion near her foot and she jolted with a gasp, spinning around to see not one, but three creatures approaching her. One of them had what appeared to be a gun, not too unlike the wispons used by their Gun Division soldiers, but still bizarre looking. Meanwhile the other two sported gigantic, wicked-looking purple swords with jagged blades.
Blaze tensed and raised her fist, igniting another flame. She could take them. She didn’t need Sonic and Knuckles to constantly be there to protect her all the time. She could fight for herself. One of the creatures armed with a sword lunged towards her, baring its gruesome teeth in a snarl. Blaze pulled her arm back, about to throw more fire. When suddenly, a blur of black and red darted before her eyes as another figure threw itself between her and the creature, halting its sword in its tracks.
Blaze froze. The stranger appeared to be a regular mobian hedgehog, black but with red-striped quills. It had grabbed the wrist of the creature’s sword arm with its white gloved hand and was holding its ground, preventing the sword from swinging down, despite the fact that it was at least three times larger than the hedgehog.
The other two creatures suddenly advanced in a rush, as if to come to the aid of their comrade in its stalemate. Blaze inhaled sharply, but before she could do anything, the hedgehog shoved his foe away with a mighty push, sending the creature stumbling into the path of its allies. The hedgehog didn’t miss a beat, crouching and curling up into a ball before launching himself forward and smashing into the creature’s chest. Blaze jolted. The move was almost uncannily similar to what Sonic did.
The hedgehog unfurled and landed back on the ground, just in time for the other two creatures to recover and lunge for it. But the hedgehog darted out of their way effortlessly before striking back, knocking each of them out with a single, brutal punch before backflipping and coming to land a few feet in front of her. Blaze stared at his back in shock. The hedgehog’s movements were so fast he almost turned into a blur as he moved. Again, similar to Sonic.
The creature in the middle, the biggest of the trio, struggled to haul itself to its feet for one final effort, turning and snarling in their direction. The black and red hedgehog only straightened, then raised a hand and swept it in front of him in a sharp, fluid motion. And from the hedgehog’s fingers flew what appeared to be a spear of light. Blaze stiffened. Was it lightning? No, it appeared to be something else. The spear of light struck the creature and burst on impact, knocking him to the ground where he stayed, little tendrils of smoke curling from the contact points of whatever that strange power had been.
There was a moment of stillness. Blaze almost felt as if time had slowed down in their little bubble while the fight around them raged on. Then, the hedgehog turned around to face her. Blaze’s breath caught. His eyes were sharp and calculating, as red as the gem on her own forehead. They stood out in stark contrast to his fur, which was as black as the sky between the stars at night. Red markings laced the sharp outer edges of his eyes, and a cruel scar sliced across the skin above and below his right eye as she faced him. He had lightly tanned skin for his muzzle and the insides of his ears, and a tuft of white fluff sprouted from his chest. His arms and legs were each streaked with a single red stripe, and as Blaze caught a glimpse of his shoes, she found they looked a little strange, as if they were the product of some advanced technology. Finally, she noticed the hedgehog wore golden rings at his wrists and ankles. They glinted as they caught the sunlight.
Blaze stared back at the hedgehog, and he stared back at her. He looked somewhat startled, as if taken aback at what was happening. You and me both, she thought to herself. Blaze couldn’t tear her gaze away from the stranger, nor did he look away from her.
Until finally, another roar cut through whatever invisible bubble had formed around them. Blaze jolted and the hedgehog did the same as they turned towards the source of the sound. A large group of creatures stampeded towards them, again armed with dangerous-looking weapons. Blaze heard a buzzing sound and snapped her head to the sky, her breath catching as she glimpsed several flying insect-like creatures closing in on them along with their land-based brethren. It was as if a large majority of the creatures had suddenly become attracted to them, or as Blaze realised, to her in more likelihood. Being the princess also came with negative aspects, such as a target on her back.
Blaze gritted her teeth and readied to fight, but then the stranger moved and suddenly he was in front of her once again. She saw his arms move, there were two small flashes, and then the rings the hedgehog wore on his wrists clattered to the ground. Blaze felt a crackle of energy in the air that made her hair stand on end. Then, the stranger erupted in a burst of bright, golden light.
Blaze was forced to throw her arms up and shield her eyes, though she opened them to slits and forced herself to look. She saw the black hedgehog, enveloped in what she could only describe as golden flames. But it wasn’t really fire. She could feel no heat. Besides, she knew fire better than anyone. Then Blaze blinked and the stranger moved, rushing towards the mob of creatures like a glowing arrow. And she watched as he ploughed straight through them. He then darted back and struck another creature, then another, and another, and then he was zigzagging across the ground and through the air like a ricocheting bolt of lightning. Nothing but a streak of golden light that knocked every creature down with the barest touch.
He did not just stay in Blaze’s vicinity either but zoomed all the way back over to the royal convoy, where they continued to struggle against the remaining enemies. The dark-coloured creatures all but vanished in the face of the stranger’s attack, falling at a single blow before starting to flee.
Blaze stared, wonderstruck, then a glint caught her eye. She glanced down to see the stranger’s rings, discarded onto the cobblestones. Had the hedgehog removed them deliberately? Why? And why just before he’d demonstrated this unimaginable power? Blaze didn’t understand it, but following an instinct she couldn’t quite explain, she bent down and scooped up the rings before storing them in her coat. Perhaps she could at least keep them safe for the stranger, at least until the battle was over.
But it seemed that came even sooner than Blaze expected, as she glanced up to see that the fighting had all but stopped and there were no dark creatures to be seen. Soldiers helped each other to their feet, checked each other over as they murmured in shock and wonder. But most were looking about, open-mouthed and wide-eyed.
Suddenly there was a streak of light across the rooftops, moving in Blaze’s direction. It landed on the nearest roof, then sped towards her. Blaze inhaled sharply and stepped back, only for the light to come to a stop a few feet in front of her. And, silhouetted within the light, his back to her, was the stranger.
The golden fire enveloping him dissipated abruptly, almost as suddenly as it had appeared, and then there was a plain black hedgehog – who Blaze now knew was anything but plain, standing in front of her. For a long moment, he stood stock still, before Blaze saw him sway. Then he fell.
Blaze gasped, and without thinking she lunged forward to catch him before his head could hit the ground. She fell to her knees as she supported his weight in her arms, then she sucked in a sharp breath. The hedgehog’s eyes were closed, and he’d gone completely limp, but that was not the only concerning thing Blaze suddenly noticed. Now that she was close enough, she could see that the stranger was injured. Rivulets of blood that had previously been hard to see with the reds and blacks of his fur ran across his arms. The white tuft on his chest was partly stained a brownish red. One might have mistaken it as a marking, but closer examination revealed that it was clearly dried blood. And the source appeared to be a thin but monstrously long gash that snaked down the hedgehog’s middle. Blaze’s hurried – and perhaps slightly panicked – inspection failed to distinguish a starting and ending point for it. She knew only one thing for certain. The hedgehog needed medical attention.
“Princess!”
Blaze lifted her head as the shout snapped her back to attention, her grasp on the stranger tightening as she drew him closer. As if now she wished to protect him. But thankfully there was no need for her protection as the ones running towards her turned out to be Sonic and Knuckles.
“Your Highness!” Knuckles added his shout to Sonic’s.
“What was that?!” Sonic exclaimed.
Then they both stumbled to a clumsy stop as they properly took in the sight before them, their princess on her knees holding an unconscious hedgehog. Sonic and Knuckles gawped, until Sonic – able to do practically everything faster than most - managed to snap himself out of his daze.
“What happened?”
But Blaze didn’t have an answer for him, nor did anyone else as a small crowd gathered. Blaze only looked back down at the black hedgehog, and she felt a stab in her chest. She hated the idea of people getting hurt protecting her, even her guards, and yet this was a complete stranger who didn’t even know her. She didn’t even know his name. None of them did. And now… what if he…? No… I will make sure he is okay.
Gathering him close once again, Blaze snapped her head up at her guards.
“We need to get back to the castle. Now!”