Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ On the Road Together ❯ Paint Wars ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter 14: Paint Wars

Somewhere in New Orleans, Louisiana, the faithful RV rested in the park while Sonic and his friends enjoyed sights and sounds. Some were familiar sights and sounds, and others were quite new. There is nothing like seeing it for yourself and let the great outdoors tell. In the city, a blue blur quickly ran passed the trees with a black one following. It was Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog. No relation, but the black hedgehog chased the blue one at great speed.

"I'll get you, hedgehog!!" Shadow shouted at the runner ahead of him.

"Whoa!" Sonic gasped, dodging Shadow's jump, and he fled to escape.

Shadow turned and chased him harder. Both hedgehogs were running out of breath and the sun was going down. How long they were chasing each other; the world may never know...

"But it's been a while!" Sonic said, running up a building. He stopped when he reached the top and he let his curious green eyes look over New Orleans. "What a cool city," he said, smiling.

Just then, Shadow appeared behind him. "Aha! I have you now!"

Sonic yelped and turned around. "Shadow!" A drop of sweat ran down his head when he saw not only Shadow, but Dr. Eggman also. The Egg Hornet hovered behind Shadow. "L-look!"

"You can't fool me!" Shadow said, grinning. "Hey…you look pale. Am I really that scary?"

"E-EGG--!" Sonic shook in his voice; unable to finish when Eggman aimed a gun at Shadow.

"Calling me an egg, huh?" Shadow glared at the trembling blue hedgehog.

"N-no, Sha-Shadow!" Sonic pointed. "Up there!"

"Stupid hedgehog, just--" Shadow was cut off when a laser was fired just above his head. "RUN!" He ducked to avoid another hit and Sonic ran down the building with him.

Eggman laughed and chased them. "I have both of them now! Such a great deal!"

Sonic was running beside Shadow. "At least we're not chasing each other anymore!"

"Doesn't matter," said Shadow, running. "I forgot why I was chasing you, anyway."

"That's funny because I forgot why I was running from you." He jumped when Eggman fired again, barely missing them. He rolled until he hit a building wall and then he felt dizzy.

"It's over for you, Sonic!" Eggman laughed as he approached in his ship.

Shadow stood up after the sudden jump, and then he saw Sonic hurt and in trouble. He tried to think of an idea quickly and it was like an answer came to him when a salesman passed by, selling paint pistols for New Orleans tourists. The black hedgehog had an enlightening idea.

"Excuse me," he said to stop the salesman. "How much are those?" he asked.

"On sale for five bucks," he answered, offering him one with yellow paint.

"Got pink?" Shadow asked him.

"I sure do!" The salesman gladly offered it to Shadow, and he accepted it.

"Perfect as always!" Shadow grinned, and then he ran toward the ship.

Sonic held his head, trying to get up and then he saw the shadow of Eggman's ship. It was right above him now. Shadow hurried to the ship, stood behind it and aimed to shoot.

"Doctor!" Shadow shouted, and when Eggman turned to look, Shadow fired the pistol.

The Egg Hornet was hit and it had pink paint all over it. "OH NO!" Eggman gasped in pure horror. "M-my ship! It…it's PINK!" He quickly departed; leaving Sonic unharmed.

Shadow silently watched him disappear from sight and Sonic stood up.

"Wow, great idea, Shadow!" Sonic said to him, "Thanks a lot!"

"If I had more paint in here, I would use it on you," Shadow teased.

Sonic chuckled. "You wouldn't dare!" Just then, orange paint splashed onto his back.

"Maybe not, but I would dare any day!" Metal Sonic said, holding a paint pistol.

"Anytime!" Chaos added, holding one pistol in each hand. "Howdy, partners!"

"It's them!!" Sonic and Shadow said when they turned around. "AGAIN!"

"Now is the time for you to submit and admit bitter defeat," Metal Sonic demanded.

"Why? Paint can't hurt us. We'll fight back, right, Shadow?" Sonic asked him.

"There's no time to play paint war games," Shadow said, arms crossing.

"Oh, yeah?" Chaos asked and he fired sky blue paint at him. Shadow was shot.

After a moment of silence, Shadow growled. "Of course you know this means WAR!"

"Lookout!!" Sonic yelled, and he ran for cover when Metal Sonic fired again.

"Get a load of this!" Chaos shot but missed when Metal slapped him.

"You fool! That's the Doctor's line, copyrighted, I think!"

"Uh-oh!" Chaos gasped when he saw Sonic and Shadow with pistols behind the robot.

"What now, you waterfall?" Metal asked angrily.

"Behind you, Metal!" Chaos tried to warn him, pointing.

"Take this!" Sonic fired and it hit Metal's head, coated it with bright yellow paint.

After the hit, Metal lifted his glaring, glowing red eyes to Chaos, who was in front of him.

"I tried to warn you, Yellow!" Chaos shrieked and he ran from the angry robot.

Metal Sonic turned around and faced the blue hedgehog while Shadow chased Chaos. "No more Mister Nice Robot. You, hedgehog, shall be nothing but ground beef!"

Just then a bus drove by with a sign of cows on its side, which said: Eat Mor Chikin!

"How true!" Sonic said, and then he was attacked when Metal jumped at him. The hedgehog yelled and dropped his paint pistol, and then Metal threw him into a window of a store.

As luck would have it, Knuckles the Echidna and the rest of the crew were in that store because the girls were shopping. Knuckles was sitting with Tails and the other boys, bored until he heard a crashing sound and screaming coming from the window in front of the store.

"Sounds like trouble!" Knuckles said, standing up. "Come on!" He hurried to investigate.

Tails followed after him. "Careful, everyone, it could be danger!" he cautioned.

"It could be a party!" Vector added, running behind the fox.

"It could be a robbery!" Charmy said as he flew beside them.

"It could be anything bad!" Espio said, also following them.

"It could be a miracle!" Tikal told them, holding Freeway in her backpack.

"It could be fireworks!" Freeway giggled, peeking outside.

"It could be an explosion!" Metal-2 guessed, growing excited.

"It could be worse!" Amy thought, running with her hammer ready.

"Then, what is it?!" Rouge asked, tired of all the blind guesses.

Knuckles stopped in front of the broken window where a pile of clothes laid on the floor. The pile of clothes began to move when the red echidna looked down at it. Someone was under there.

Everyone but Knuckles asked the question, "Is it?!"

Knuckles answered when he saw an orange hedgehog dizzily stand up with a hat and cape on, which was on the floor before. "Nah, it's just some crazy Superman fan," Knuckles replied.

"Awww, raspberries," Metal-2 said with disappointment.

Espio snorted. "There's one under every rock."

"Watch out! He could be a spy," Charmy suspected.

"Could be," Vector agreed. "If you are, you're dead meat, orangey!"

"Wait a minute," said the hedgehog, removing the hat. "I can explain!"

They all recognized the voice. "Sonic the Hedgehog!!"

"Yeah, on the road!" He added, removing the cape, showing the paint.

"Sonic…changed color!" Metal-2 said, surprised at the orange.

"Cool!" Tails happily smiled to see his friend again.

"What? No! That's my trick!" Espio said, a little angry now. "Well, I never!"

"Calm down, everyone," said Knuckles. "Sonic, what on Earth happened to you?!"

"I will answer that!" said a voice outside, and then Knuckles was painted green.

"There, you see?!" Sonic asked, ducking to avoid another shot. "It's Metal and Chaos!"

"How chaotic!" Vector said, and then he was suddenly hit with purple paint.

"Vector!" Charmy called, and he dodged a shot of red paint, which hit Tails.

"Yuck!" Tails said, shaking some of the wet paint off, and then Espio was covered with dots.

Growling, Espio turned to face a mirror. "Chicken pox!" He gasped with shock.

"Get down!" Metal-2 pushed Rouge and Amy to the floor and Tikal hid herself.

Taking a trashcan lid, Metal-2 jumped outside, lifting the shield in time to avoid getting hit. Metal Sonic was just outside the store, and he backed away slightly when Metal-2 appeared.

"You know, there are better ways to become an artist, chump!"

"That is not my intension," Metal Sonic said, approaching.

"Then I'm afraid you have just been erased!" Metal-2 then threw the trashcan lid, hitting the pistol out of the robot's hand. The paint pistol flew high into the air and Tails caught it.

"GET HIM!" Sonic shouted, and then all at once, everyone pounced Metal Sonic down.

Shadow ran passed them, still chasing the panicking Chaos Zero. Both of them were almost every color of a rainbow. Shadow fired at the creature again, splashing yellow paint on him.

Chaos stumbled, almost losing his balance, but he caught onto a street sign. He saw his reflection in a store window nearby. "Lemonade!" Chaos said, and then Shadow fired again. "Grape!"

Back to the street fight, Metal Sonic hardly stood a chance against the others. It was quite a sight to see the robot down on the street with Amy bashing him on the head with her hammer, Knuckles punching his back; Sonic pulling his arm and Metal-2 pulled the other. Vector was trying to twist the robot's leg, and Charmy jumped up and down on his head, each time after Amy hit him, and Espio drew funny faces on the big red mechanical shoes. Rouge was kicking the robot in his face while Tikal covered her eyes with Freeway hiding inside her backpack. Shadow ran passed them again, chasing the fleeing Chaos. Shadow cornered him in an alley. Trembling with great fear, Chaos watched helplessly with lost hope as Shadow approached him.

"N-no, please," Chaos begged the black hedgehog. "Don't color me anymore! I-I love blue!"

Shadow grinned. "Too bad," he said, pulling the dreadful trigger.

Chaos gasped and covered his face, bracing for the hit, but instead, only a drop of green paint fell from the pistol. Shadow looked down at it, suddenly realizing that he was completely out of paint. Chaos peeked, blinking, and then he chuckled at what he saw. Shadow snorted and threw the pistol at the creature's head. It was a direct hit and so Chaos fell over, passed out.

Back on the street, Tikal peeked to see what was happening. She could hardly see the others in all the dust the fight was causing, but she did see Dr. Eggman in his ship above them.

"Everyone, look up!" Tails warned the crew.

Before they all could react in time, a large robotic hand with claws captured Amy. She screamed and dropped her hammer, which hit Metal Sonic once more before hitting the ground.

"Amy!" Sonic called, and all the others looked up to see the evil scientist.

"Let her go or you'll be sorry!" Metal-2 yelled at him.

"Yeah, sorry that I didn't do this sooner," said Eggman. "Give me back my robot first!"

Amy screamed again when the robotic hand tightened its grip on her. "Sonic, help me!!"

"All right!" Sonic agreed. "You got your robot back!" He took a step away from Metal.

"Sure, what's left of him," Knuckles added quietly.

"Good, then I can let this pink brat go." Eggman pressed a button, and then the hand let go of Amy. It was a dangerous fall, but Metal-2 caught her in time and she was unharmed. "Sayonara, Sonic the Road Hog. I have business to take care of, but I'll get you!" Then he left with Metal.

"Hmm…what is he up to now?" Rouge wondered.

"Who knows?" said a voice, and everyone turned to see a rainbow colored hedgehog.

"Sh-Shadow?" Sonic guessed and the hedgehog nodded. "But…you…you're…"

"Don't start with me!" Shadow said angrily.

"Okay, okay," Sonic said. "I have an idea. Let's…" he stopped for a moment and they all listened carefully to hear what he had to say. "Let's take a shower."

"Great," Rouge agreed. "Girls first!" She ran ahead of them with Tikal following.

"But they're not even painted!" Vector said.

Knuckles shrugged. "Well, at least we saved our vacation."

Metal-2 landed, carrying Amy in his arms. "They're gone now."

"Good work," said Sonic. He turned to face the Chaotix Team. "And thank you."

"It was nothing," Vector said, waving a hand. "To me, it was kinda fun."

"We didn't have this much excitement in a while," Charmy added, smiling.

"You're welcome," Espio said quietly.

"We would invite you in the RV, but there's not enough room," said Tails.

"It's just as well," Vector said, shrugging. "But we'll meet again soon, I hope."

"On the road, anything can happen." Sonic smiled and shook his hand.

"Let's go," Espio called for his two friends to follow.

"Wait!" Amy called, and then everyone stopped and looked at the pink hedgehog, surprised. "You can't go until you have one of my famous sandwiches!"

"Oh, that's right!" Knuckles said, and then he asked her, "Um…what do you mean?"

"She is inviting them to stay," Metal-2 explained.

"Good idea!" Sonic nodded. "You guys come and have a bite to eat before you dash off."

"I'll go!" Vector said with Charmy nodding with agreement.

"No," Espio refused. "Thanks, anyway." He turned to leave.

"Oh no, you don't," Vector said and he grabbed him. "Come on, Dot-to-dot."

Then everyone laughed and even Espio let a smile win a fight. And so they left to wash the paint off. Sonic and all the others were soon clean and dry. They rested under a tree near the RV, watching the stars in the night sky. They enjoyed sandwiches and soda. Vector ate most of them and nearly ate Charmy's also with one big bite, but he quickly flew out of the crocodile's reach. Espio ate alone in the tree. Sonic and the others sat on the picnic blanket, enjoying the rest and the meal. Metal-2 only watched with Amy sitting beside him, finishing her soda.

"That was very brave of you, Metal-2," Sonic said to the android after he heard the story.

"You should've seen him, Sonic," Tails continued to tell. "Metal-2 was really great!"

Metal-2 looked at Sonic and then at Tails. "Hmm…" He scratched his chin, leaving Sonic and Tails to blink with questions. "Metal-2 is a clunky name," he said after giving it some thought.

"Clunky?" Amy asked him, "What do you mean?"

"It just gets old to have a number after your name, I suppose," Sonic guessed.

Metal-2 nodded. "You can call it that."

"Okay, we'll call it that, but what will we call you now?" Tails asked him.

"Metal," he replied.

"Oh! How original," Knuckles smirked and then Rouge pinched him. "Ouch!"

Sonic looked at the blue android. "Okay then…Metal," he used the new name. He rested a hand on Metal-2's shoulder and Tails did the same to his other shoulder. They smiled.

Later, the Chaotix Team said goodbye and they left for home. Sonic and his crew watched until they were out of sight. When they were gone, they gathered together beside the RV.

"Okay, now we have to decide where to go next," said Sonic.

"I know! I know! Let's take a vote," Knuckles suggested.

"All right, Tails, go get some paper and pencils," Sonic said, and the fox did so. When Tails returned, he gave everyone a piece of paper and a pencil. "Just write what you want to see next and then we'll know, okay?" Sonic asked, and they all nodded. They began to write. When it was complete, the pieces of paper were given to Rouge. "Okay, Rouge, let's hear it," said Sonic.

Rouge looked at the papers and read what was written. "One vote for a forest, one vote for a rocket launch, one vote for a cave, one vote for a desert with treasure, and one vote for Hawaii…"

"Now who wrote that one?" Sonic wondered, and Shadow rolled his eyes, looking away.

"One vote for the rodeo, one for a beach, one for a long country road, one vote, we go home."

"That does it!" Sonic turned to the crew with the answer. "Team, we're going to Texas!"

"Huh? Why Texas?" Knuckles asked.

"Because it has everything that the votes said, and more," Tikal replied.

"To the Lone Star State!" Tails pointed to the RV and everyone went inside.

Not far away, Dr. Eggman watched them leave. "So, they're going to Texas, are they…?"

"Look at me! I'm Kool-Aid!!" Chaos announced in the ship, surprised at all the colors.