Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters mentioned in this story. They are copyright to Sega, Archie, or others.
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in Ben, Kyle and Tim’s old hometown. Most of the population was hanging out by the beach, trying to keep cool. Amongst the people gathered around lazing about or swimming, was Terra. Terra the beautiful, Terra the angel, Terra the great, Terra, Ben’s girlfriend. She was famous amongst the male population of the city. She had beautiful green eyes, a long head of light brown hair, and a slightly mischievous smirk on her face. Well, she usually had a smirk on her face, but lately, with boyfriend Ben’s disappearance, she looked so depressed and forlorn.
Why does she cry over him? Randolph thought to himself, watching her sun tanning from his spot on the beach across from her with his brown eyes. She could be so happy with me, or anyone else for that matter.
But it wasn’t that simple, he knew very well. She refused to go out with anyone else. Terra and Ben had been close, very close, and she wouldn’t give up on him until anyone was sure he wasn’t coming back.
Randolph himself wouldn’t be sad if said boyfriend didn’t come back. He hoped nothing horrible had happened to him, of course. He wasn’t that mean. But he did hate Ben, though the two had never actually met. To be fair, Randolph and Terra had never really met, either. They’d shared a few classes in high school, and from the moment Randolph had seen her, he’d fallen in love.
But being as shy as he was, Randolph had never spoken with her, never even approached. Now, however, he wished for all he was worth that he had. When Terra met Ben, his world fell apart, and he didn’t know who to go to. So he kept his love for her secret throughout the relationship, as it blossomed and became more serious.
Randolph would never try to make Terra cheat on Ben. Even if she was been interested in him, Randolph would never have felt right making her cheat on Ben. It wasn’t that he was afraid of Ben; far from it. He’d fight him if he had to, and truth be told he and Ben would be well matched. But Randolph had ideals, and they refused him to have such a relationship.
Things now, however, were different. Ben was gone, whether Terra wished to admit it or not, and Randolph could now try to date her without his conscience forcing him to stop. Still looking at the girl from across the beach, he took a deep breath, calling up all his courage, and started walking towards her. He was a few meters from her when one of Terra’s friends walked up to her. Randolph stopped in his tracks. There was NO WAY he would speak to her about this in front of one of Terra’s friends. NEVER. Randolph spun around on his heel and walked away, feeling even less confident than before he’d made his attempt.
"Blast," he muttered under his breath, deciding to go home. After a few steps, he smirked at his exclamation. He’d picked up on saying ‘blast’ from his favourite comic character. It wasn’t on purpose, but after having read the comic wherein skunk Geoffrey St. John used it so many times, Randolph couldn’t help but adopt it into his own vocabulary.
That word wasn’t the only parallel between Geoffrey and Randolph. Randolph found his situation with Terra and Ben stunningly similar with Geoff’s situation with Sally and Sonic. The only difference, of course, was that Geoffrey could actually face Sally, whereas Randolph would rather face down a rabid tiger than speak with Terra about his feelings for her.
While he walked, his thoughts wandered to the strange events going on lately. Over a dozen isolated disappearances, and several disappearances of entire families. More frighteningly, many of them were from Randolph’s own town. Aside from Terra, every one of Ben’s close friends had disappeared. There was also the matter of the so-called pictures of Kyle/Tails that the tabloids were reporting. Randolph had checked on the pictures himself, being quite good at that sort of thing, and had found no evidence of doctoring.
Without a doubt, there’s something weird going on, he thought, coming up to the door of his house. Randolph unlocked the door and walked in, flicking on a light. Most people his age couldn’t afford a house, especially not one as nice as his. But, to be fair, most people his age didn’t have his history. Most people his age still had a father.
A small smile crept up to his lips. Yet another parallel between Randolph and Geoffrey. Both their fathers were dead, both at the cruel hands of humans. Randolph had inherited this house two years ago at the age of nineteen. His mother had left his father when Randolph was fourteen. So now Randolph lived alone, wishing after Terra.
"No," Randolph said suddenly, "it’ll be different this time. Ben’s gone, why shouldn’t she accept my offer?"
With a new determinedness, Randolph went about the house, preparing dinner and getting ready for tonight, when he would finally ask Terra to go on a date.
***
(everywhere and nowhere)
"Do we really have to bring him over?" whined a blue haired male youth to a young Hispanic woman next to him. "I mean, seriously, he’s just such a pain! I’m sure they can manage without him!"
"NO, for the hundredth time Zhane," Julan responded, not exaggerating. "He’s just as important as the others, and you know it!"
Zhane sighed. "I do know, Julan. And that’s what makes it all the worse. I can’t stand him in the least!"
"Yes, I understand Zhane, we’re both going to have to bring over people we’d rather not. It’s our job to follow orders, not to enjoy them."
"Fine," Zhane muttered after a pause. "Let’s just get it over with quickly."
***
It was now seven o’clock. Randolph was dressed nice, and he was more nervous than he’d been in his entire life. Randolph wasn’t exactly dressed in his Sunday’s best, but he was dressed better than he usually would be on a Saturday night.
He stepped out the front door, and took a deep breath of evening air. Okay, he thought, this is easy. I’m just going for a walk, nothing else. I’m not going to ask the most beautiful girl in the world to go on a date. As this thought crossed his mind, Randolph’s legs buckled underneath him and he would have gone right back inside at that moment, if he hadn’t taken another deep breath and calmed down.
Then, he took one step forward, then another, and another. Easy, easy, easy, he kept repeating in his head. After a short while, Randolph didn’t even need to repeat it anymore. As long as he concentrated on just walking, he didn’t have any trouble.
Randolph already knew of Terra’s house’s location. Alright, he’d admit it, it was a bit stalkerish, but he’d followed Terra and Ben home one night. It wasn’t really on purpose; Randolph was just walking to the drug story and saw the two of them walking hand in hand. Curious, Randolph had watched them walk over to one house, where the two had kissed before Terra walked into the house. Randolph had never returned to the place, but now he knew how useful it was that he’d seen it.
Randolph was now crossing the main street of town. The stores were still open and there were vendors still on the sidewalks. He crossed in front of a young Spanish woman who was waiting by a bus stop and smiled at her. Someone caught his attention at the corner of his eye, and Randolph turned to see a youth with blue hair and purple shades at a stall which sold chilidogs. Randolph was about to smile at the youth as he walked by, when he suddenly tripped and pitched forwards, straight into a puddle of mud.
Randolph yelped and rolled as he hit the puddle, preventing himself from being hurt but completely ruining his shirt. Still sitting in the mud, Randolph looked down at himself, and swore. His shirt was completely covered in mud, and there was a rip just below his neckline in it.
I can’t believe this! The one time I manage to convince myself to talk to Terra, I just have to slip and fall in the mud. Dammit!
Randolph looked up, expecting to see the two people he’d just passed laughing at him, but they, along with the chilidog stand and the bus stop, were gone into thin air.
***
"Zhane! That wasn’t funny!" Julan protested to her counterpart, who was currently bent over double laughing.
"H-h-hey," he said, wiping tears from his eyes, "I didn’t do that! H-he tripped all on his o-own!" Then he burst into laughter again.
Julan let out a long breath of annoyance. "Fine. Good thing there’s always a back up." The Spanish girl pulled out a package and a small piece of paper, handing them to Zhane. "Just make sure he gets this. I’ve got somewhere else I need to be right now."
Letting out one last chuckle, Zhane stood up and took the package, regarding her suspiciously. "Are you finding another one, or just checking up on the ones we’ve already done?"
They looked at each other again. There was a short staring contest, and finally Julan looked away, making her intentions clear.
"We have a time limit here, Julan." Zhane said gently. "And you know how it went last time. Don’t get emotionally attached, it won’t end well."
"I know," she said. "I just need to do this, for my own peace of mind."
Zhane nodded to her, then disappeared. Julan stood silently for a short time, then disappeared herself, leaving the area empty.
***
After slipping, Randolph made his way back home as fast as he could with his head down so that nobody would be able to identify him. He finally rounded the last corner which lead to his house, and breathed a sigh of relief. Though no one had been able to tell who he was, this was still the most humiliating night of his life, and he couldn’t wait to just get home, have a shower and forget about it. It wasn’t until he came to his front door that he noticed the package lying on the steps.
"What…" Randolph said, looking down at it. The package was rapped with brown paper and wasn’t that big, about as wide as the length of his foot. On the top there was a small note. Curious, Randolph reached down to pick it up, and read the note.
Dear Randolph,
I wish I could tell you how I really feel, but I can’t find the words whenever you’re around. I’ve always loved you from the moment I saw you that one time in class. If only I could talk to you, you’d know what I feel. But until the day I find enough courage, I’ll at least tell you this: I love you, and I just hope you can wait for me.
Signed,
Your Secret Admirer
Randolph was speechless. Who would leave him this note? He searched his thoughts for anyone who might have any interest in him, but couldn’t find anyone. What if it was… Terra?
The boy shook his head, knowing that that was impossible. She was devout to Ben, and she’d never be interested in him. But still, a small portion of him dared to dream of that she thought of him as he thought of her.
Finally he walked into the house, bringing the package with him. Without a second thought, he grabbed the string which held it closed and undid it. When he pulled the brown paper off and found enclosed within a light brown beret, slightly crushed from being rapped up but otherwise fine.
Randolph picked up the hat, looking it over. This is just like the beret that Geoffrey wears in the comics! Amazing! Where’d she find this?
He checked inside, just to make sure it wasn’t a prank and that there was a rat or something in there, but found nothing. So, shrugging, he placed the beret on his head, finding that it fit perfectly.
Randolph walked over to the mirror, looking at himself in the mirror. It didn’t look half bad. Quite good in fact, he decided. He noticed that the strange tuft of white hair which stood out stunningly against his brown which he’d had since he was born poked out from the hat, looking very cool.
Randolph decided that seeing as it had been a bad night, he might as well hit the hay. As he walked up the stairs which lead to his bedroom, he felt a strange warmth cover his face. Concerned, Randoley felt his face, only to feel the normal strange hair growth there. That was weird. He’d never had trouble with it before.
He went into the washroom just outside where he slept and checked in the mirror. Yep, the usual thin layer of soft fur-like white hair was on the lower half of his face, around his mouth. So, with another shrug, he walked over into his room.
He didn’t notice as he entered the room that the white fur was spreading sideways on his cheeks, ending in three small tufts of it on either side of his face. Nor did Randorey feel the subtle augmentation of the temperature in the room as the fur, black fur this time, spread down to his arms, which were getting slightly thinner.
Randorey walked over to his bed next the mantle where he kept the picture of his father, thinking of him and how he died. He did this most nights, but it was different this time. This time, as he thought of the people who killed him, he didn’t feel sadness, he felt… Resentment. Anger. Hate. These feelings confused him for a short time, but as he thought of it, Ranffrey realised that he had a right to be angry. Those people, those creatures, those barbarians killed his father! Sitting down on the bed, he now wondered why he hadn’t realised this before, perhaps because the pain was too fresh?
As these confusing thoughts filled his head, the fur from his arms came down to his torso, blanketing his front, back and sides in thick black fur , but for a white oval of fur on his front and one long white stripe which spanned from the back of his neck to the base of his spine. The fur also spread upwards to the top of his face, white fur reaching up and surrounding his slightly large blue eyes, and black covering up the rest of his head.
He shifted slightly on the bed, as he involuntarily cracked every vertebrae in his spine while they lengthened, and some even doubled. A mainly flat tail slowly pushed its way out of the constraint of his pants, a mostly black tail with two thin white lines which diverged at the tip of his tail and joined at the bottom with the one large white stripe going down his back. Unknowingly, he reached down behind him and scratched it a bit, something he had a tendency of doing while concentrating.
Raoffrey stood up, and started pacing his room. He had worked himself into a fury now. Not only had the Overlanders (he didn’t notice his use of the word) killed his father, but Sonic, that darn hedgehog who was courting Sally, trusted them! If he weren’t such a good fighter and Sally didn’t like him so much, Roaffrey would likely have challenged him long ago. As he paced, Reoffrey didn’t feel his face slowly pushing out into a muzzle, nor his nose becoming smaller and black, nor his ears, now much rounder and fur covered, moving up to the top of his head.
With one last look at the skunk in the picture frame on the mantle, Reoffrey walked off. As he descended the stairs to his living room, he lost about a foot and a half of height, yet he, unbeknownst to himself, also matured mentally. Experience and responsibility weighed him down slightly, yet new strength and intelligence made him stronger. If he’d been aware to it, Geoffrey would have thought of it as the strangest thing he’d ever experienced.
Geoffrey St. John, however, was oblivious to having just undergone a massive transformation of body and mind. All he noticed was that the clothes he was wearing slipped off. Not that he needed them; he had no use for modesty really, they were uncomfortable and Overlander made. He let them fall off and walked over to a closet he kept in the living room, and opened a hidden compartment in the back. Geoff smiled at what he saw.
In here he kept his equipment that he usually wore. Firstly, he pulled out a pair of large clear glasses with a band which he strapped around his head underneath the beret. Geoffrey didn’t really need glasses, but they were useful in other cases. Next he pulled out a purple vest with a belt built into the bottom which held much of his gear. He tied on a handkerchief around his neck so that the triangle part of it hung down. He also put on two plain brown boots, not as complex as most Mobians wore, but they were comfortable and quiet, and that’s all that mattered to Geoff. Finally, he pulled out his pride and joy. A single glove custom built for his right paw, with a small crossbow attached to the top. He kept many bolts around his belt, all of them ready for him to load and fire with deadly accuracy.
Now Geoffrey was ready. He’d been instructed to investigate a nearby base owned by Eggman where it was rumoured he was keeping a stolen chaos emerald. He headed to the door, ready for anything the night would bring. Well, not quite anything, he realised as he stepped through the door to find a swirling vortex of multicoloured light.
"Whoa," was all he could come up with before he was sucked into the vortex, and into an insane tunnel of light.
***
Geoffrey flew out of the other end of the tunnel, the ride through it seeming to end as suddenly as it began. He landed in a slight crouch with his left hand on the ground before him. Looking around, Geoff was very surprised to find himself in a location just north of the base he was supposed to investigate. The skunk looked around, not quite sure what had just happened (which was quite rare). Finally, he shrugged, trusting it to fate. Then he started off to the south.
He was at the base in five minutes. Geoffrey quickly took a look around the compound from his position at the top of a nearby hill.
There were three large buildings, each sporting a large metal door. The first he guessed held the means of transportation for changing shifts. Even robots needed shift changes. He guessed this because it looked as though the roof could open up to admit an airship of some kind. Two cameras monitored the entryway to it.
The second building was a decoy meant to throw off anyone searching for the emerald. The majority of the guards, ten he counted, patrolled this building, along with many cameras which were in no way concealed. This building was meant to be noticed, and thus, there was no chance it held the chaos emerald.
The third building’s defences were more subtle. He spied two robotic guards at the door, along with who knows how many cameras. He could also just see the concealed snipers guarding it from the nearby trees of the forest, the small red lasers which would set off the alarms of the area set around the door, and the way that the patrolling guards from the second building’s paths brought them to strategic areas that gave them clear views of the building. He smiled. Too easy.
Geoffrey made a round route towards the closest sniper, being sure to keep his revealing white striped back away from the robot and the base. Soon, he was a few meters behind it, and Geoffrey, making his movements as fast and as quiet as possible drew out a bolt from his belt, fitting it to his hand crossbow and aiming it carefully at the robot’s lower neck, where its brain piece was located. He lined up, and fired. The bolt fired true, piercing the metal of the robot’s head and rendering it lifeless.
Geoff smiled again. Now the job was as good as done. The entire security pattern of the compound was based upon the assumption that every sniper would cover the places the other sniper couldn’t. All he had to do now was get onto the roof of the building and drill a hole into it large enough for him to fit into.
The only problem was getting onto the roof. Geoffrey looked around for a way up, and smiled a third time at his own genius. The skunk made his way stealthily down to the first building, until his back was against one of its walls. He slid against it until he was behind one of the cameras, and out of view of the second. The skunk then checked a hunch he had, and found that it proved correct. Each camera monitored only a half of the doorway, and the doorway was a double door. He pulled out a second bolt, not fitting it to his hand crossbow this time. He only wanted its sharp edge for this little job. Geoffrey easily reached up with his left hand and slashed the input feed wire of the camera, turning it into a useless box of metal.
Then he pushed open one of the doors and walked through, closing it after him. Inside he found several hovercrafts, none of them small enough to fly by unnoticed. That didn’t matter. He walked over to one and opened it, searching around until he found the two things he wanted. One: a small handheld laser weapon which could cut through steel. Two: a switch which opened the hatch in the roof.
Without much effort, he climbed a ladder which lead to the roof, and leaped from the roof of the first building to the roof of the second and then the third without being noticed. Finally, he stood where he needed to be, only a few feet and a steel roof separating him from his prize. Geoffrey took one deep breath to steady his nerves. Then he pointed down at the steel with the weapon. That’s when it all fell apart.
WWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!
The alarm!? What!? Geoff thought, shocked. I didn’t set off any alarms, I did everything perfectly! What could have happ-
"Yeeeehaaa! Let’s juice!"
"Oh no, no, NO WAY!" Geoffrey shouted into the night. He ran over to the side of the building to find Sonic the Hedgehog, Mighty the Armadillo, and a strange small blue fox rushing around the base and destroying all the robots in sight. He took a quick look around the complex, to see that they hadn’t even removed the snipers! One was lining up for a shot at the fox right now…
Without a moment’s hesitation, Geoffrey loaded and fired his crossbow, taking out the sniper. He’d admit it, he’d rather not have Sonic or the Freedom Fighters around, but he wouldn’t let an innocent be killed by Sonic’s stupidity. He then proceeded to take out the rest of the snipers systematically, though it killed him to help the hedgehog.
Finally the dust settled, and the three down below could still be seen, panting from their battle. Then, Sonic approached the door… of the second building!
Geoffrey jumped down from the roof of the building, rolling to avoid being hurt. When he came, up, he was face to face with the shocked looking hedgehog.
"Geoffrey? What ar-"
"G’day, ‘edgehog. I’m here to save yer tail."
Sonic’s expression darkened. Ben was starting to remember him now, the way it worked with the others. This guy had said two sentences to him, and he was already starting to piss him off.
"Whatever, St. John. Just let us through so we can get the emerald."
"Stupid as ever, ain’t ya?" Geoff asked, shaking his head. "This building is a decoy, quite likely a trap. The emerald’s in that building over there," he said, gesturing with his head.
"Have you gone mad? Again?" Ben added after a second thought.
"Look, this building stands out way too much to be where they’re holding it. Don’t open this door, or we’ll all be quite likely dead." Geoffrey said, still crouching from his roll.
"Just get out of my WAY!" Sonic yelled, about to throw Geoffrey to the side.
It was at that moment that the wall of the second building facing the third building blew open. A robot, moving as fast as Sonic could, burst through the hole and broke through the wall of the third building.
"CYBER!" Mighty yelled, starting for the hole in the wall. But he was surpassed by the blue fox, rushing towards the hole like a crazed creature.
The fox reached the hole just as Cyber Tails stepped out, hitting the fox with a back hand which sent him to the ground on his rear end. The robotic two tailed fox turned its light blue viewers to the flesh and blood fox which lay at its feet. His two razor sharp tails zoomed down to slash him to pieces, when Mighty flew in from the side, delivering a devastating double kick.
Cyber fell away from the fox, and turned around to find Sonic ready to dash forward and punch him, Geoffrey with his loaded glove crossbow trained on him, and Mighty standing over the blue fox, staring at Cyber with an outraged expression on his face. It didn’t matter. He had the emerald. So he took off at the speed of sound, heading away.
"Idiots!" Geoff yelled at them. "If you hadn’t busted in here, I’d have that emerald and we might have caught that damned Cyber Tails!"
"Well do you think that maybe you could tell someone what you’re doing for once!?" Sonic yelled back, both facing each other again now that the common enemy was gone.
"Neither of us would even have to be here if your stupid little human friend and his family hadn’t given up so easily!"
"WHAT!" the fox, which had been silent until that moment, jumped up, and approached him. There was a fire in his eyes that would not be quenched. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU MONSTER!"
Ben and Tim were actually stunned by Chris, the fox’s outrage. He advanced the skunk, and actually punched him in the nose.
"I won’t let you talk about my family like that!" Chris said, bearing his fangs.
Geoffrey stared. That hair… "Chris? Chris Thorndyke?"
"Yes, I’m a Mobian now. Do you accept me now?"
"No." Geoff said simply, recovering his wounded pride. "You’re still an Overlander, and ye’re still a barbarian like the rest of those creatures. I don’t care what you disguise yerself as now, if you and your family were stronger, we wouldn’t be in this mess, and my fath-"
"Then you’re just like Sonic said. You’re a prejudiced monster."
"Getting back to Sonic. I wouldn’t doubt if ’e’d planned this. He probably has something to do with Princess Sally’s disappearance."
"Oh come ON! You can’t be serious!" Sonic came back into the fight again. "You know I wouldn’t do anything to Sally. NOTHING! I LOVE her for crying out loud!" Ben was shocked by how much force he had put behind those words, but shook it off.
Geoffrey looked as if he would laugh aloud. "Ye’re kiddin’. You an’ Sally meeting was all arranged! Love isn’t arranged!"
Ben bit back Sonic’s retort. He’d learned about this during his time here. In this world, Sonic was a prince from the southern lands, while Sally was Princess of the west. Their families had been fighting before the Great War. After the war, both families had born children: Sonic and Sally. The two families arranged for them to meet, not to marry, but to meet and try to work out the differences of the past. However, when the two had met, more than just the past was resolved. They had fallen madly in love, and the two didn’t care about the past anymore; just the now, and the future.
"I don’t care." Sonic finally told him. "The meeting may have been arranged, but the love was not. We have something strong, stronger than the past, and stronger than you. Now shove off, and stop insulting my friend."
Geoffrey was running out of attacks, so he turned to Mighty. "Cummon, Mighty. You’ve got to agree with me. The entire love thing was just arranged, and they’re faking it."
Mighty stepped forward now. He’d been examining the holes which Cyber’d punched through the walls. He walked over to the other three now, shaking his head. "Not doing Geoff. First of all, what they’ve got is real. They’re in love. And also," he added, seeing the skunk was about to open his mouth, "I may live within Sonic’s realm, but I’m not required to agree with and side with him on everything. Anyway, I was THERE. I saw the attraction with my very eyes."
Geoffrey St. John had no idea where else to go. He wouldn’t give up though, so he just turned away, saying, "Well, g’day to you then. I hope that you find some better taste in friends, Sonic the Hedgehog and Mighty the Armadillo, instead of cowards and barbarians."
With that remark, he walked off into the night.
Chris was grinding his teeth as he watched him go, and his fist was tightly clenched. Slowly, a blue mist began surrounding it, and he was about to step out after the skunk when Mighty placed a paw on his shoulder.
"Chris," he said, nodding towards the fox’s hand.
"Sorry…" he muttered, concentrating until the mist disappated. "I just can’t stand that guy!"
"I know, but there’ll always be people like that. If you want to avenge your family, you’ll have to get a better hold on your emotions." He let those words sink in, before continuing. "But come on, let’s just go and see if we can find any clues at this base, then go home."
Chris nodded and walked away. Ben and Tim watched him go, then Tim turned to his friend. "I don’t know how I’m going to keep him alive."
Ben nodded to the armadillo. "I know, it’s going to be difficult. All you can do is try."
"Is that really all the advice you can offer me? I mean, really, he almost got himself killed tonight. If he doesn’t get himself killed, it’ll be one of us trying to save him."
Ben put an arm around his friend’s shoulders. "You’re doing a great job. Don’t get discouraged, though. It’d be awesome if he could get a hold on those chaos powers he has."
They stood there for a moment, then Tim looked over at Ben. "Thanks. Now let’s get to work here."
With that, the two friends walked through the hole in the wall, confused as always these days.