Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Epoch: Rust Coloured Memories ❯ The Hunter ( Chapter 5 )

“You'll never get away with this!” growled Tails at the purple furred figure which bound the young fox and his rabbit escortee.

“Haha, that's where you're wrong cub, see I no longer fly solo, this time's the big one.” Laughed the figure as it tugged the ropes around Cream's ankles tighter.

“Ow!” squealed Cream as she winced in pain, “Look I don't know who you think you are mister but I know Sonic the Hedgehog and there's no way he'd let you get away with this...”

“Hahaha, you don't know who I am? How rude of me! I didn't introduce myself to your young friend did I Tails?” asked the figure moving closer to the Cream's frightened face, a large solitary fang glistening in the dim red light of the sunset. Before the figure lifted his brown hat, looking eye to eye with the trembling bunny. “I'm your worst nightmare.” Replied her captor with a sinister laugh, slowing running the cold steel of a silver magnum up her arm as she squirmed, placing the barrel against the side of her head, his grin widened as her pupils shrank into almost nothing.

BANG!

“AHHHH!” screamed the young rabbit as the sinister figure chuckled heartily, scooping up the twin tailed fox that sat next to her and strapping him to the back of his air-bike. Before he returned to the trembling bunny, who's expression was now vacant and hollow from a state of shock. He grinned once more as he ran his hand down her cheek. “There, there, you were perfect little one! That scream will have been just loud enough for that insufferable hedgehog to hear if he's on time!” Cream's didn't respond at all as she sat, bound and paralysed, not by the ropes but by shock and fear. Her captor chuckled to himself as he stood up from his knelt position, lifting his hat from his head as he turned to leave on his air-bike. “Night, night young lady, we'll have to do this again sometime.” He smirked as he mounted the bike which carried a tied up Tails as its cargo. “And give Sonic my regards, will you? Hahaha” The attacker's laughter faded into the setting sun as the rabbit remained unmoved, her only sign of life her occasionally blinking eyes which gazed over the lifeless body of her pet chao, Cheese.

*****

“Ray, just stay here and keep Amy safe, that's an order!” snapped Sonic as he turned back to the flying-squirrel, having placed the two of them in a clearing along the border between the Jungle Zone and the Spring Yard Zone.

“But Sonic...” protested Ray, who had since recovered from Amy's attack with her mallet.

“I said that's an order! If I'm not back within the hour head back to the Spring Yard camp and check on how things went down.” Replied the blue hedgehog as he pivoted his foot around on his ankle in the air, a sign that he was about to take off.

“We shouldn't split up Son-“ began Amy just before her ears pricked up, the faint sound of a childish scream coming from the distance. “Do you think that wa-“ started Amy but it was too late, there was nothing but a cloud of dust where the blue hero had once stood as his trail darted off in the direction of the Tornado where Tails would have been taking Cream.

“Hmph!” frowned Ray as he looked at Amy, folding his arms as he turned away from her. “If you hadn't hit me so damn hard I could at least be back at the base helping out Bark and Carve!”

Clenching her fists, Amy drew a deep breath, looking down at her dress. “And if you hadn't spat your dinner all over me then I wouldn't have had to hit you!”

“Whatever, Sonic was the one who made me laugh anyways... I'd love to see you take it out on him.” Smirked Ray, turning back a little just to watch Amy simmer with anger.

“Urgh! I hate you!” snapped Amy as she stormed past Ray, walking back in the direction of the base with purpose.

“Hey! Woah! Where are you going Sonic told us to wait an hour!” said Ray, dropping his folded arms as he jogged in front of Amy, trying to get in her way.

“Yeah? Well Sonic can shove his hour!” she snapped, obviously unhappy by Ray's revelation that it was ultimately the blue hog who had led to her dress being covered in chilli. “And besides! He left us right at the edge of the Zone! It'll take us an hour to get back there anyway!” she finished, shoving the yellow squirrel from her path and onto his backside. Ray shrugged as he pulled himself to his feet and followed the pink hedgehog.

*****

“I'm sorry to burden this on you guys, it's just I had nowhere else safe to take her, she's in complete shock.” Explained Sonic as he lay the body of a young rabbit down on a mattress in an underground warren on the borders of the Bridge Zone which lay adjacent to the Jungle and Spring Yard.

“Don't worry about it Sonic.” Replied a pink male rabbit as he brought towels into the room.

“Yeah Mach's right.” Responded a male monkey who placed the back of his hand on the forehead of the young doe. “We go way back Sonic, anything we can do to help you out, we will.”

“Thanks Max” sighed Sonic as he looked over Cream.

“You were right to bring her here though Sonic, even though she should be with her family I don't think she could have travelled in a plane in her current state.” Sighed Max. “I've already got in touch with our old band mate Vector, his new crew that Chaotix have been hanging around West Side Island lately, he's gonna get over to Emerald Hill and let the girl's mother know what's happened.” He said, turning to Mach. “How's the little guy by the way?”

Mach simply hung his head, a moment of silence weighing down on the room like a lead weight. “But he is an A-life and there's still not much known about them so he may recover...”

“Grr, whichever of Robotnik's machines did this is gonna get scrapped, I just hope that Tails is in pursuit and not kit-napped.” Growled the Hedgehog clenching his fist within his hand.

“About our mystery attacker,” Interrupted Mach, stretching out a hand. “I'm not so sure he was metal, I found this in the Chao...” he trailed off as Sonic and Max looked at the bullet which lay in the palm of the rabbit, the word Fang crudely carved into the outer casing.

“So the weasel is working for Ro-butt-nik now is he?” snarled Sonic, taking the bullet from Mach's hand. “I might just have to pay ol' Nack a visit.”