Super Mario Bros. 2 - Across the Galaxy

Chapter 13: Sonic and Longclaw

Sonic dashed through the forest and his heart was racing. He let out a bunch of electrical pulses which was able to keep a few Feral Yoshis at bay. He looked to his left and saw an owl and screamed. He also looked to his right and saw the same owl. He then sped up faster with him trying to get away from the stress.

Mario and Yoshi walked through the forest and Mario called out, "Sonic! Sonic?" he then saw Sonic lying by a tree and he tugged Yoshi's nape. "Sonic!"

Sonic's breath was heavy and quick. His heartbeat was fast and rapid. His quills kept sparking and he could barely hear the footsteps of Yoshi and Mario's muffled voice saying, "Sonic! What's wrong?"

The hedgehog clung to his heart and started breathing faster. Mario was unsure what to do and he took off his hat. Yoshi walked closer to Sonic and laid his head on the hedgehog's stomach. Sonic sighed and his breathing started becoming slower...He then put a hand on Yoshi's head and let out a few more exhales. He sighed one more time and said, "Mario? Yoshi? Thank you..."

"What's going on with you, Sonic?" Mario asked.

Sonic sighed and finally explained, "I'm...I'm on the run from people who want my power for their gains. Longclaw gave me my rings so I could hide...and I've been running and hiding my entire life."

"You've been hiding? Where's Longclaw now?"

"She's...gone. Ever since I was four..."

"What? You've been alone for that long?"

"I guess that I should tell you what happened...You see...I've never had parents...I just had a lot of mysterious power in an extremely handsome package...It all started twelve years ago..."

Sonic's Home Planet - Twelve years ago

Sonic's home island, Green Hills, was beautiful. Cascading waterfalls, peaceful green grass, and public access to loop-de-loops. Also, he never had to catch a school bus since he could run across the entire island in two seconds, and there was no school. 

The young Sonic sped through the huge hills of the island and nearly burned through his tiny boots. He spun into a ball and bounced his way up the bridges and to his and Longclaw's hut on top of a steep hill.

Sonic rolled in through the hut's open doors and bumped into Longclaw, his owl mentor, and disrupted her meditation. Sonic rolled back on the floor on his back, giggling gleefully at how fun it was to roll off of the old owl. Longclaw quickly shook her head and regained her senses. She noticed Sonic and sighed. "Sonic! Someone could've seen you!"

"Psh." Sonic scoffed as he got up on his feet again. "No one saw me. I'm too fast! And I wanted to bring you this." he pulled out a bright-yellow sunflower with pointy petals and presented it to her.

Longclaw smiled and was about to take the flower from him. However, she suddenly heard a thump and turned her head to the doorway. Suddenly, she saw something behind Sonic and it made her eyes widen. A tribe of lizards was right outside of the hut and had their weapons pointing at them.

"GET DOWN!" Longclaw dove off her perch and grabbed Sonic. With her leg, she threw the door shut and held Sonic tight in her wings. 

A storm of arrows surrounded the hut and then an arrow smashed through the window and impaled the flower. The lizards weren't giving up easily as they climbed into the hut with one holding a net. Sonic's eyes widened and Longclaw whispered, "Hold on tight, Sonic. I won't let them touch you..."

She then smashed through the hut with Sonic held in her talons. Arrows zipped through her and she flew higher and higher to get out of the lizards' line of sight. As the rain of arrows cleared, Longclaw sighed in relief as she thought she and Sonic were safe...but suddenly, a lone arrow pierced Longclaw and she lost her ability to fly. She wrapped Sonic in her wings and crashed into the woods. 

She let go of the young hedgehog and groaned in pain. She helped him up from the ground and looked at her wound and then at Sonic. "Listen carefully, Sonic. You have a power unlike anything I've ever seen. But that means somebody will always want it. The only way to stay safe is to stay HIDDEN. I'm going to use a Ring and help you get to another world, but I cannot come with you right now."

"No!" Sonic cried. "I'll do something really quick! I'll...I'll shock 'em! I can shock them and they'll never come back for us again!!"

"There's no time for that! And besides, you don't want to live only to destroy. You're meant for something more than chaos. Even though I don't know why you have these powers, I know you're destined for greatness and something bigger than yourself."

Sonic listened to these words and tried his best to remember them. Longclaw continued, "Right now, you'll have to go to a different planet, one where you'll be well hidden."

She took out a ring from the pouch and threw it. For a few seconds, it glistened in the air before growing and showing an empty, dark, desolate forest. Sonic knew that it was different than the forests he's explored all his life.

"This world is on the farthest side of the Universe." the owl explained. "You should be safe there."

"But I don't wanna go without you!" Sonic protested.

"You must!" Longclaw then gave the pouch to him. "These rings will be your most important possession. If you are ever discovered by the people of this planet, use one and go to a different one."

"But...what if I tried to talk to them? There could be someone I could trust!" Sonic suggested, his eyes started forming tears. "There's someone that can help and I can help them!"

An angry yell made Longclaw look up and see the lizard clan running to them. She then looked at Sonic and said, "Trust no one! Promise me!"

"I..." Sonic was hesitant. A promise like that is a big one to keep, and a hard one to keep in that way...but knowing Longclaw, she was almost always right and there could be no one that could help. "...I.......I promise."

Longclaw pushed him closer to the portal and instructed, "Never. Stop. Running. Now, GO!"

Sonic jumped through the portal and began running further into the new world. He quickly glanced back and saw Longclaw spreading her wings to keep guard of the ring. Sonic immediately knew what to do. The ring pouch that he held onto fell out of his hands as he turned around and ran back to the portal as he cried out, "Longclaw!"

"Goodbye, Sonic..." the owl said with tears in her eyes as the portal began to close. 

"NO!" Sonic lept to where the portal would've been and he saw the golden particles dissipate into nothingness and saw that he was too late. He looked around and saw eerie rustling. "Longclaw..." he then ran to the pouch and took out a ring. "S-She needs me! I-I have to...But...she said..." his fur began to glow and he clenched his head. "But!..."

Sonic then started crying and collapsed to the ground. For the first time, he was without Longclaw...and he was completely alone...

Present Day

Sonic wiped some tears from his eyes and looked at Mario. "Don't you know those last words she gave me? "Never stop running."

"You've been alone for that long? I'm sorry..." Mario sighed. "...Peach, Rohan, and you have been suffering and I wasn't aware of it until two years ago when I met Peach..."

"...I'm sorry for dragging you guys into my struggle."

"It's okay. We're not here for your power. We're just here to collect the Emeralds."

Sonic smiled and Mario continued, "Maybe Longclaw was wrong into thinking that you can't trust anyone...but what you believe in is okay. Your secret's safe with me."

The hedgehog stood up and the three walked back to the others. Luigi scratched his head and said, "Mario, Sonic, Discordia has the map and one of the Emeralds."

"We can get the map back," Audrey said. "I managed to get a tracking device onto the tank as soon as they escaped."

"Convient." Rosalina said. 

Audrey tapped into her watch and said, "They're going to the Gold Leaf Galaxy."

"We know where they're heading!" Daisy said.