Sonic the Hedgehog - "Visions of Truth" - by Aaron Lye ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ E-mail: vicl@pacific.net.sg ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE LEGAL STUFF Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles Tails Prower and other related characters are based on the characters created by SEGA, Archie Comic Publications, and the Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday morning series created by DIC and Sega of America. Other characters that appear or are mentioned in this story are original creations of their respective authors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Cast" of characters used in this story (in random order) ----------------------------------------------------------- Tails Sonic Sally David Prower - Shawn Wolski Bunnie Rotor Antoine Angela - Aaron Lye Tayla - Aaron Lye Tasha - Aaron Lye Matthew Prower - Aaron Lye ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1996 Aaron Lye ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TIMELINE: Immediately after "The Persecuted" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ REMEMBER: READ ON TILL YOU REACH THE WORDS "THE END"!! IF YOU DON'T SEE THEM, THE STORY'S NOT COMPLETE. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Bunnie, it's really you! I'd thought I'd never see you again!" Tasha exclaimed. "How long has it been? Ten years?" Bunnie found her tongue. "Aunt Tasha, Ah...Ah never knew you were a Guardian..." Tasha smiled, "That's 'cos Ah never told anyone... 'cept my parents, they kept it a secret too... for obvious reasons." The cyberbunny spoke, "Is that why ya wore pants all the time? 'Cos of them two tails?" Tasha nodded. Sonic chose this moment to interrupt. "Whoa. Back up a bit. The two of you related?" Tasha replied, "Yeah, Sonic. Bunnie's my sister's daughter." She continued, "Well, ain't this a fine family reunion? We sure have a lot of catching up to do! But first, Ah'd still like that tour of Knothole.. ya don't mind, do ya Sally?" "It's no problem, Tasha." Sally assured her, before taking her on the requested tour. ***** "Robotnik did that ta ya, didn't he?" Tasha motioned to Bunnie's cybernetic implants. A glass filled with a purple liquid materialized in Bunnie's replicator, and the cyberbunny handed it to her relative. "Yeah, sugarhog saved me before I was fully... changed." Tasha had a funny smile on her face, "Sugarhog?" Bunnie realized her mistake. "Oh, Ah'm sorry. Sonic's sugarhog." When the smile didn't leave Tasha's mouth, Bunnie added hastily. "..and don'tcha start thinking funny.... it's just a nickname. Sonic can be really sweet sometimes, but he's Sally's.... not mine." Tasha took a sip from her glass. "Oh well... he is quite a nice boy, even if I do say so mahself." Bunnie made a funny noise and mumbled. "You haven't seen the rest of his character..." "What was that, dear?" Tasha questioned. "Nothin', Aunt Tasha." Bunnie then remembered something. "Oh yeah. Sally's inviting us over for dinner. Would you like to go?" "I'd love to, dear. That's really nice of her, isn't it?" The two rabbits walked out of Bunnie's hut and proceeded to Sally's. ***** Someone knocked at the door to Sally's place. Since Sally was busy, Tasha opened it to let Antoine, one of the other invited, in. Sonic and Tails were already waiting inside. Antoine was carrying a brown bag, and he spoke as he entered. "I do not know what cuisine ze Princess is making, therefore I am taking ze chance and bringing ze white wine known as chablis, and of course sparkling grape juice for ze Tails." After a bit of lively conversation, Sally entered from her kitchen and informed her guests that all was ready. "You mean you cooked, Sally-dear? You've never done that before." Bunnie noted. Sally smiled, "First time for everything, I guess. Besides, I did really want to try out that cookbook Antoine gave me. And since I felt that I shouldn't serve replicated stuff to guests....this was the best opportunity." The group proceeded to the dining room. Sonic eyed the fare that the squirrel had prepared. "Hold up a bit, Sal. Where'd all the chili dogs go?" The squirrel in question remarked, "Chili dogs aren't the only food on Mobius, Sonic Hedgehog." She went on to describe the exotic stuff she had prepared. They sat down, and Sonic poked at the blue cheese and asparagus terrine that was their appetizer, and looked like he wanted to make a face. Judging from the way Antoine looked at the hedgehog, she thought she could nearly hear him think "uncultured swine". But then, this was expected from Antoine.... ***** Apart from Sonic, the rest enjoyed Sally's cooking, judging from the way they thanked and commended her as they left. Sonic walked back to his hut with Tails. The two-tailed fox commented, "Boy, I'm stuffed. Aunt Sal sure can cook, huh?" "Uh...right." They soon reached Tails' hut. Sonic saw him in through the door before proceeding to his. "G'night, little bro. Hope you didn't eat too much. You could get a nightmare or something.... or is that just a myth?" Tails just smiled. ***** The blue hedgehog was so exhausted that he fell asleep as soon as he got into bed. *Sonic opened his eyes. He was standing in the middle of Knothole, except that everything seemed without depth or reality, and was warped or crooked. He felt trapped, a sense of anguish. Then he saw an aged two-tailed fox that looked exactly like Tails. It spoke with an eerie echo accompanying it. "Why? Why do you let him fall?" Suddenly, he was in Tails hut, looking at a Tails cloaked in black. Tails spoke in a dark tone. "The time will come...." Sonic turned to his left and saw a normal looking Tails. This fox looked anguished. "Help me...." it pleaded. A bright flash, and Sonic is in a cavern, staring at a multi-colored Chaos Emerald. He watches as the Emerald's color fades slowly, and watches as the Emerald turns the color of night.* Sonic woke up, shivering with fright from the very disturbing dream. It had seemed so real.... ***** Even though fast asleep, Sally tossed and turned. *Sally is standing in what once was the Reconstruction Hall, and is now a mass of rubble. She is holding Nicole, who has a message displayed on it's screen. "It will happen..." A figure appears in front of her. It is Angela, cloaked in white. She spoke. "When it does, you will know. You will know that the time has come.... you must beware..." Suddenly, she's in Tails' hut, staring Tails. He spoke, "You know me." The figure warps, and reforms into a Tails cloaked in black. It speaks in a dark tone, "You know me, yet you do not." A figure appears behind Tails. It is an aged two-tailed fox who is the spitting image of Tails. It spoke with an eerie echo. "You will be the instrument." A bright flash, and Sally is in a cavern, staring at a multi-colored Chaos Emerald. She watches it fade away, and sees it slowly turn black. As it fades, she hears the words spoken by the aged fox. "You will be the instrument..."* Sally screamed, and nearly fell out of her bed in fright. ***** Bunnie was curled up in a fetal position on her bed, and seemed agitated. *Bunnie is in the roboticizer. She looks helplessly out the glass, and pounds hard on the glass, her cybernetic implants doing no damage. She sees a semi-transparent Tails cloaked in black standing at the controls. It speaks in a dark voice, "You will fall victim...." A flash appears inside the roboticizer just next to her and she sees a normal Tails standing trapped and afraid inside it. He pleads, "Help me...." The Tails in black depresses a button, and a red wave envelopes the trapped Tails, who cries out in agony. Bunnie witnesses as Tails slowly, very slowly starts fading. As he fades, she notices the black cloaked Tails lose its transparency, and become solid. It speaks, "Victim.... the time will come." The black cloaked fox depresses another button and a red flash envelopes Bunnie. Before she feels anything, a bright flash appears, and she's in a cavern, staring at an aged two-tailed fox standing next to a multi-colored Chaos Emerald. The Chaos Emerald seems to fade in color, being replaced with by a black Emerald. The fox spoke, "Do not let my heir fall...."* Bunnie woke up, crying for no apparent reason. ***** Tasha was having problems sleeping. Something seemed wrong. She glanced over at Tayla, who was sharing a room with her, and noticed her tossing and turning around. Tasha guessed that Tayla was having a nightmare. Suddenly, she felt a force invade her mind, but she did not panic. She had enough experience with telepaths to know that in times of distress, like in bad nightmares, telepaths tended to project those thoughts, or dreams to their surroundings. What made her panic however, was the dream that Tayla was projecting. *Tasha could see Tayla clearly. She had fallen on the ground, and seemed injured. The telepath's eyes darted warily around, as if frightened of something she could not see. Suddenly, Tasha saw a Tails cloaked in black appear out of nowhere and advance on Tayla. This Tails spoke in a dark tone, "The Persecutor is no more, but the persecuted remains persecuted." Tails strike out at Tayla with a black wave of energy, sending the telepath flying. He speaks, "You will fall victim." Tasha gasped, understanding what was happening. The black cloaked Tails disappears, and Tasha runs over to find Tayla. The telepath is in a bad condition. Suddenly, a flash brightens the area, and a normal Tails appears, looking helpless and saddened. He speaks. "The time will come when I will fall..." Another flash envelops Tayla and Tasha, and they are in a cavern. Tayla's injuries seem healed, and they are facing an aged two-tailed fox, standing next to a multi-colored Chaos Emerald. Tasha gasps in recognition. She was looking at Matthew Prower, Tails' deceased grandfather.... and the Emerald..... Matthew Prower spoke. "You will prove yourself when the time has come... You are the link... You must not let him fall..." Tasha saw the Emerald's color fade away, then turn the color of night.* Tasha came to at the same time Tayla woke up screaming. She understood the vision.... ***** Sally looked grim as she sipped her coffee. "I've checked with all the residents here. None report any strange dreams last night. We're the only ones." She was speaking to Tasha, Tayla, Sonic and Bunnie. Bunnie spoke up. "It would seem that we have something ta do with all of this." Tasha explained. "What you've told me about your dreams made me suspect that the Emerald of Sorcery is trying ta tell us something. There are several similarities in each of your dreams... same people and such, but the most consistent thing is the Emerald. Ah have no idea what it is, but it involves Tails... and us. We must be extra vigilant for extraordinary occurences. The Emerald knows something will happen. Ah would rather if Tails did not find out about this for the time being. No point in him worrying unneccessary. As long as we keep an eye out, he'll have no problems." Tasha concluded. "There must be no mistakes. One slip-up could cause more to happen than you think...." TO BE CONTINUED THE END ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If this story made you confused, it's ok. It's meant to do that. All these puzzles will be resolved in a future story in this series. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Enjoyed the story? Let me know at vicl@pacific.net.sg! Aaron Lye ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~