Chapter Text
A large, gaudy boat was the center of attention as the city of Soleanna celebrated their Festival of the Sun. The craft crept through the river, its layers of decorations shifting in the wind. At the vessel's most prominent point, the beloved Princess Elise stood in awe of the thousands of people surrounding the water Some waving, some shouting, some singing a chorus beautiful enough to shake the core of any listener, and all were merry. Although the Princess kept her smile, and returned greetings in every direction, she couldn't help but feel that something was off. She felt the possibility of an imminent disaster, but so much was to be expected. It was the grandest festival of the year, and anything off-schedule would be upsetting.
Before Elise knew it, she was handed the torch to light the central platform - one of the main events of the festival. She took a moment to admire the flame, quickly becoming lost in its beauty. Lively yellow, warm orange, destructive red. These colors seemed to swirl around her conscience, encapsulating her in a threatening vision she couldn't quite understand.
"It's like it's spinning within me," the Princess thought, "also - oh shit! That's outside of me,"
After realizing she had been mulling over these benign thoughts for some time, Elise shook her head, and reassured the servant at her side that her mind was clear.
"Princess!" the council elder across from her bowed. "You had a That's So Raven vision once more!"
"Oh, no!" Elise assured, perhaps far too adamantly. "I just daydreamed! I'm here! For the people."
A sly smirk crept across the elder's face. Though his face was wrinkled, his smile offered a window into his youthful soul. "Alright, well, let's get litty in this bitch." he said. "Light that bitch up right now!"
"I will light this bitch up right now," the Princess repeated, only mildly disturbed. Cheers erupted from the crowd as she walked toward the large pit before her, including a faint 'We're gonna' get higher than a kite tonight!' from the elder himself.
Any tension Elise had felt before was relieved the moment she set the decorations alight. Dozens of fireworks sounded from a distance, and all seemed peaceful. This feeling would only last for a moment, as several flaming projectiles suddenly fell from the sky like meteors, crashing into the city below. The explosions were deafening, the impacts strong enough to shake the floating platform and send Elise to the ground. What seemed like a waterfall of armed robots were deployed from a ship above, only adding to the chaotic confusion.
The Princess looked in horror at the man responsible for the destruction, none other than the evil Dr. Eggman. The villain descended from the heavens on his small, personal airship, with a destructive glitter in his eyes. He chuckled. "Why, hello there, young Princess! Do you like my outfit, with four nipples?" Eggman gestured to his red coat, made strikingly beautiful from the light of the flames all around. Indeed, the coat bore four golden nipples at his chest. When silence followed, Eggman shook his head in disgust, seeing that he would receive no compliment for his attire. "Now, you must acquire me by getting on this boat, right now! Not the boat - my ship!"
The villain gasped as he saw a stunning blue light glisten behind the Princess's white glove. "You have the chaos emerald! In your hands!" Eggman gestured for the gem, his face wrinkled with malice. "Give me that shit right now, or I'm gonna rip it off my goddamn self! Give it to me!"
The Princess backed away, unwilling to give in to the vaguely egg-shaped man's demands. "Uhh, how 'bout no?" She offered.
Before the situation could escalate, the wind seemed to pick up around the platform, circling the scene like a tornado. Elise looked from one side to another in confusion, her hair blowing into her line of sight. In the blink of an eye, the wind settled, and a blue hedgehog was left standing at the top of a cracked column.
"My, that's a pretty snazzy performance there!" The intruder chimed. Sonic the Hedgehog had officially arrived.
For the slightest moment, Elise could see the raw potential in such a creature. His fur color changed, his quills professionally styled, and the world around him ravaged by the flames of his mixtape. Elise's jaw dropped; it was unlike anything she had ever envisioned before. Without hesitation, Sonic began spin-dashing to every robot in sight, avoiding their spray of bullets with ease.
The Princess watched in awe as the blue blur dispatched a seemingly endless line of robots. Realistically, there were about seven. After maniacally pushing one bot over an edge to its death, Sonic stopped in front of Elise, perhaps in a stroke of cinematic brilliance.
"Huh huh, huh! One!" Sonic stated, holding up his index finger. Elise nodded; Sonic wasn't lying. The Princess instantly knew she could trust him. Sonic scooped her into his arms, ready to make a quick escape. "C'mon, Elise!"
Eggman seethed behind his control panel. "Sonic, where do you think you're going, you motherfucker! Oh, he's cockblocking me!" He pointed a damning finger at the sprinting hedgehog, sending a wave of missiles after him and the Princess. "Get him!"
Elise held tight to the hedgehog's arm, cringing as each missile destroyed another piece of her home. Tears fell from her eyes to the blue blur's chest, encouraging him to move faster.
Above it all, an albino hedgehog laid his golden eyes down upon the chaos. A sudden urge to act overcame him, but only until he saw a bright blue streak cut through the grey clouds of destruction. "I guess he's got it handled, I'll just," he mumbled to himself. "I mean, it'd be really awkward if I walked in now, so…"
Smoke and flames soon turned to quaint, pale buildings in Sonic's path, but he could still feel Eggman on his tail. The blur leapt through the air and into another street, causing Elise to cling tightly to his torso. "Are you okay, Princess?" Sonic asked, sneaking a glance at her eyes.
Before any response could be made, a few robots blocked the road ahead, forcing Sonic to skid his heels to a halt. He gently placed Elise on her feet, and flashed a smirk at the new adversaries.
"Kill him!" one of the robots demanded. "We gotta' kill him!"
Sonic let out an arrogant chuckle, tapping his toes against his opposite heel. "Nah, you can't kill anybody." His brow furrowed, and he dashed toward the vocal bot with his leg extended. "Especially not me!"
The kick was delivered with enough force to send the bot careening backwards. "Oh my God, I had a family!" it frantically yelled, just before exploding upon impact with a building. Without recoil nor remorse, Sonic dispatched the other bots with ease. The blur stood to admire his work for a moment, but his pride was short-lived. His ear twitched at an unusual noise behind him.
"Huh? It sounds like you're getting taken away!" Sonic exclaimed. Indeed, he turned to find Elise in the clutches of Eggman's personal ship, rising high into the star-laden sky.
Eggman released a delighted laugh from his throat. "That's right, Sonic!" the man peered downward with an evil, knowing grin. He was certain there was a defeated soul behind the hedgehog's emerald eyes. "I got ya' bitch! I got her in the palm of my hands!"
"Put her down, Eggman!" Sonic demanded, gritting his teeth.
"You put yourself down!" Eggman replied. "I'm taking her and the chaos emerald!"
This would prove to be untrue, as Elise took the opportunity to toss the blue gem to Sonic below. The blur looked to its beauty, and then back to the lesser beauty of Elise. He sighed, understanding that he simply must be living in another god-forsaken video game. "Okay," he acquiesced, "I'll rescue you. Don't worry!"
"No you won't!" Eggman mocked.
"I will!"
The villain raised his voice as he reached the entrance to his larger airship. "I'm taking her back to my ship, and you'll never see her again, Sonic! You'll be dead! Ten thousand years, Sonic!" Eggman exclaimed. "Ten thousand years!"
"You won't even live for then-" Sonic corrected himself, "ten thousand years!"
"Then tousand years!" Eggman mocked, picking up on Sonic's near spoonerism.
Sonic balled his fists. "Don't make fun of me!" he warned, rocking forward on his toes to project his voice.
"Well, Sonic, go read a book or something!" Eggman laughed, "See ya', idiot!" The villain landed the final verbal blow as the hangar to his airship closed. Slowly and painfully, the ship crawled through the sky until it was out of sight.
Sonic flashed his fangs, growling as he looked to the moonlit, glistening emerald in his hand. "I can read very well, actually." he chided before flicking his eyes upward, desperately looking to the heavens at the dark silhouette of Eggman's ship. Sonic ripped a nonsensical scream from his throat, loud enough to echo off the stars themselves: "Well, that's smarts!"