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xiiithhazard · 7 days ago

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The Grim - Chapter 1

I didn’t like the fact that an amazing setting like The Grim was sidelined and turned into a glorified battle arena. So, this is what The Grim should have been. (Sonic Prime Universe.)

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Word Prompt 11 – Adventure

@year-of-the-echidna

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Chapter 1:

“Not agaaaaaaain!” Sonic screamed, frustration tearing through him as he found himself falling into yet another new world. This one just as different as the last three he had been dragged into through unknown magical means. But something was off this time. Something was missing. Something important.

Land

And not in the same way as No Place, heck he might have even preferred the water at this point. As this world appeared devoid of – well – a world. It was just night skies and clouds, for as far as he could see.

“Okay, okay. Don’t panic.” He told himself, trying to flip around in the air, to control his movement. And searched in every direction for – something – anything. And he found it. However, it came in the form of a massive cyclone of angry-looking clouds, and he was falling right into the eye of it.

“Oh, come on.” He grumped, but the sound was ripped away by the howling winds, that were quick to throw him around like a BB in a can. It only took a couple seconds before he had no idea if he was even going down anymore. Until he smacked face first into something very real and solid.

“Ow.” He muttered into the object, as the rest of his body collapsed. But let out a sigh of relief, glad to be on solid ground again.

Or – was it?

He opened his eyes, as he heard rock music playing nearby, and noticed that themetal thing he’d landed on was moving. Pushing himself up, he looked around, growing more apprehensive by the second, as he realized that he was on the deck of an airship.

“Uh oh.” He whispered for the only people he knew with ‘airships’ would be the council or Eggman. “Da!” He gasped when a sleek, metal arrow hit the deck, not an inch from his face, and proceeded to explode with electricity. Prompting him to bolt to his feet, and dart across the deck, as another flew past his ear.

“Uh – I come in peace.” He tried, when he ran straight into a wall and turned toward the source of the arrows. Only for three more to lodge themselves in the metal surface. Forcing him to stand at an awkward angle to avoid them all. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He cried out in a panic. Running in zig zags, trying to find a way off the ship without having to go through the sharpshooter from hell.

Fate had other ideas, however, as a bolt of lightning proceeded to strike the ship. Sending the whole thing careening to one side. And, seeing as he wasn’t fortunate enough to be bolted down, Sonic was also sent sliding across the deck, until he splatted against the railing wall again. Though he was glad to see a huge piece of machinery sucking up the electricity, he wasn’t burned to a nice black crisp.

“I hate walls.” He complained, rubbing at his repeatedly abused face, before a pair of feet landed directly in front of him. Forcing him to backpedal, managing to escape the crossbow shoved in his face by inches, before he got back on his feet. Only for the ship to right itself and he promptly fell on his face. While his attacker just descended the rotating walls with effortless control, each step secured by their magnetic boots.

“Hey, look I’m not –” Sonic tried again, holding his hands up, only to freeze when he got a look at the sharpshooter. Though they were clad in an outfit reminiscence of a ninja’s, complete with a hood that covered the face, he was able to catch a glimpse of their crossbow, which was attached directly to their right arm, which was robotic.

“Well, that makes this easier.” He whispered to himself grinning, as he no longer had reason to hold back and flipped backward, catching the robot’s weapon on the upward kick, while also getting him back to his feet all last. Thus, he was able to get back up to speed. Though keeping ahead of the insane marksman proved harder than he would have liked, as the slick floor, constant winds, and lack of space to run made the whole process rather difficult. So, he decided to just use it to his advantage instead.

With the wind at his back, he took a chance and ran at the robot, allowing himself to slide across the deck and under its legs, to get into its blind spot. However, before he could even manage a sassy remark, the air in his lungs was expelled, when something wrapped around his arms and chest. He hit the deck a second later, hard enough to leave him counting the little birdies, before he was unceremoniously yanked across the floor. Coming to rest at the feet of yet another of the ship’s residents. But, after taking a peek, Sonic realized that he recognized this one.

"Knuckles?" The name left his mouth before he could stop it. And the echidna paused for a moment, as he curled the other end of the rope around his hand, slight recognition on his face. And, for the first time since arriving, Sonic felt a flicker of hope.

Maybe—just maybe—he was finally home.

But Knuckles planted a firm foot against the closest section of rope, keeping Sonic pinned in place and allowing the hedgehog a clear view of his face. Which made it very clear that this was not in home world, or any of the others for that matter.

Not only was this Knuckles wearing a cowboy hat and leather jacket, but he was also quite a bit older. His was taller, his dreads were longer, and he now had one normal and one mechanical eye.

“Don’t move.” He ordered, his tone was calm, but there was an underlying level of warning, that made Sonic obey out of pure fear. Only for the ninja he’d been fighting earlier to run over as well, causing the hood to be caught by the wind and thrown away, revealing yet another of his friends – that were not actually his friends.

“Amy?” He whispered in horror. Realizing that he had almost attacked her without restraint. If Knuckles hadn’t been there, he might have hurt her – or worse.

“Quick little nuisance, isn’t he?” She stated with annoyance. Before leveling her crossbow arm at him again. But he only found himself deflating at the realization that this was yet another version of her that had been robotized. Well, at least it was just her arm this time. But still. “Now how did you get on the ship?”

“I – fell.” Sonic answered, trying to get away from the point of her arrow, but the rope made it impossible.

“From where?” She countered and he snapped his mouth shut, realizing that even from the little he’d seen of the sky, there was nothing that he could have fallen from. “Are you an Aparoid?” She snarled, her bow ready to fire, if he so much as blinked the wrong way. That is until Knuckles reached over to put his hand on the weapon, forcing her to lower it. However, Sonic found himself almost preferring the bow, as he now had to deal with that scary red laser of an eye narrowing in on him instead. But it didn’t linger this time. As the echidna reached up to touch his ear instead.

“Yes Captain.” He spoke into what had to be a com-link, his tone displaying a great deal of respect for whoever was on the other end of the line. “Uncertain.” He admitted, looking back at Sonic from the corner of his eye, then paused again. “Contained.” He answered, before his attention shifted to the sky, as lightning struck the ship and everything shifted again. But neither Knuckles nor Amy appeared to notice, as their boots kept them attached to the deck.

Sonic was about to ask where he could get himself a pair of those, when a shadow flew through the clouds behind his two other-dimensional friends. Causing them both to turn, as if instinct alone had informed them of its presence.

“What was that?” The hedgehog squeaked. As the thing hadn’t looked like any living creature he’d ever encountered. It had been too disproportionate – too sharp.

Not-Amy didn’t bother to answer him. As she readied her crossbow again and moved to stand back to back with Not-Knuckles. Guarding their position, while he continued to talk to his com-link, as if nothing was amiss.

“Looks like we have a swarm, Captain.” He spoke over the wind. Pulling a gun from the holster at his side, and casually examined the clouds, as more and more of the shadow things swept through the storm. Then at random and without even looking, he fired off a round of what looked to be pure light. The sound it made it return was nothing short of actual thunder, causing Sonic to duck despite knowing he wasn’t the target. Only to look up again, when something large and squishy smashed into the deck.

He couldn’t get a good look at it, as he was still wrapped up in rope and the storm was only getting worse, making it so dark that he could no longer see his own feet. But that didn’t stop him from bolting when the cry of some kind of animal screeched from the clouds, like something straight out of his worst nightmares. But Not-Knuckles yanked him back with the rope, causing the hedgehog to face plant with the metal floor once again.

“They’re starting to land, Admiral.” Not-Amy spoke from the darkness. The sound of her crossbow coming every couple of seconds, which was followed by more screams or thunks of impact, as creatures fell to her skill.

“Noted.” Not-Knuckles declared, somehow still keeping calm, as he fired off a couple more rounds from his gun. Then he yanked on the rope again and Sonic found himself flung up to be carried like a bag under the guy’s arm.

“Hey, I can walk.” He complained. Only for the gun to be fired again, right over his head this time. And he made an undignified noise of shock, before a creature splattered into the deck and slid through the water, until it stopped mere inches away. ‘Okay, I’ll admit it. This Knuckles is kind-a cool.’ Sonic thought to himself. Though there was no way he would concede that fact out loud.

Not-Knuckles didn’t even register the danger, as he took off running. Hopping over the body of the thing he’d killed. And began navigating the deck of the ship, like he could see in the dark. In the end, all he had to find was a wall. Where he dropped Sonic again, giving the hedgehog only a second to realize that he’d been untied, before something was slapped around his wrist, which beeped, as he found himself magnetized to the metal wall.

“Oh, come on, I can help.” Sonic complained, trying to pull free, but the cuff wasn’t having it.

“No.” Not-Knuckles declared. Before turning back around and shot another thing in the dark, which cried out with more anger than pain, prompting the echidna to adjust his aim ever so slightly and fire again. This time earning himself a thud, as the creature collapsed on the deck. “Captain, we could use a little light down here.” He spoke into his com, giving his fancy railgun thing a rest, as it appeared to reload itself on the electric charges in the air.

As he watched it, Sonic realized something. The thing didn’t even have a trigger. Instead, the echidna’s metal eye reacted a split second before the gun went off. Which explained how he was making such amazing shots, in near pitch darkness.

All of this made it pretty clear to Sonic that there was a Tails in this dimension as well. And he, if Knuckles’ eye was any indication, he on par with his own best friend. Maybe even Nine. Which meant all was not lost. If he could just convince someone to let him talk to the fox.

Of course, before he could even make the attempt, a large shadow flew over his head, heading straight at his friend’s back. “Knucks!” He called out, trying to go to his aid, but was pulled back by the cuff. But the echidna had it covered.

With a simple step to the side, he let the creature fly past. Then, in a single motion, he unraveled his rope, now revealed to be steel cable, and lashed it out like a whip, striking the nightmare from the sky with a crack of thunder and a flash of electricity.

Sonic winced as the violent light sparked and snapped from the darkness. Leaving the thing a smoldering husk on the ground. And he found himself grateful Knuckles hadn’t used that particular setting on him when he’d been captured.

He jumped again, when a loud *pop* sounded overhead, then a bright blue flare erupted in the sky. Setting the storming clouds around them ablaze and allowing Sonic to see the creatures they were fighting. He wished he hadn’t.

There were hundreds of them. Though they took the general shape of animals, that was about the only thing they shared, If he had to guess, they looked something like a sentient, insectoid, virus, with a pension for spikes and the color black, that had taken over the bodies of either bats, birds or flying dinosaurs. They were so warped it was hard to tell which.

The good news though, they hated the new light source. It wasn’t hard to see why either, as they started to smoke, as if they were being burned from the inside out. This left them sitting ducks, allowing Knuckles and Amy to pick them off like flies. But no matter how many they killed; it seemed like seven more would just take their place. And any they didn’t focus on right away, fell out of the sky and started – eating the ship.

Well, Sonic wasn’t sure what they were doing, just that the metal would begin showing signs of a blue, green, and purple corrosion that pulsed with phosphorescent light, after it was touched. But it seemed the sky pirates had this covered, as well. For when the ship was once again struck by lightning, the creatures were electrocuted, until they were burnt to a smoldering crisp.

“Preparing lattice.” The commanding presence of a female voice spoke over a speaker somewhere. Prompting Amy to retreat behind an unseen line. While Knuckles strolled back at a easier pace, recharging his gun again, as if this were a mere walk in the park for him. Only deviating from his task, when one of the creatures flew at him with a hideous screech. But he just raised a fist and allowed it to run directly into him. Not so much as breaking his stride, as the creature crumbled like a sheet of tinfoil going up against a bowling ball.

A second later, he too crossed some invisible line, just as the whole deck of the ship unfolded behind him. Whipping out four long devices, that soon extended three more times. Then fanned out to lay four massive metal nets on either side of the ship.

Within moments, all four were struck by lightning and the power was siphoned off in a beautiful effect that made them look more like wings, as they beat up and down, pulling in even more lightning from every direction. Until an unknown limit was reached, and they raised up to meet each other at the tips, causing a spark and then the world exploded with light.

It only lasted a second, but as Sonic blinked away his temporary blindness. He looked up to find bits of smoldering and blackened pieces of body parts falling all around them, as the entire swarm was culled. Leaving nothing alive to retreat.

“Whoa.” He whispered in awe, as the rain broke through their little pocket of vaporized water and started falling again.

“Report.” The female voice, whom he guessed was the Captain, commanded over the speaker. Prompting Not-Knuckles to walk out over the deck, kicking the remains of nightmare fuel away, as he went.

“No serious damage.” He stated. Though he appeared concerned about a part of the railing wall, where the corrosion seemed to be spreading. “Feel free to Parse, Captain.”

“Parse?” Sonic repeated, looking at Not-Amy for an explanation. But she just lifted her metal arm, allowing the crossbow to fold away and give her better use of her hand. Other than that, she ignored him, instead addressing Knuckles again.

“Admiral, you’re infected.” She pointed out, prompting him to check his right hand, which he had used to bludgeon the creature before. It was now showing signs of that same strange, pulsating corrosion as the ship. But he didn’t look that concerned. As he just flipped his gun back into its holster and tapped a small glowing device strapped around his chest. Something Sonic realized they both had.

A moment later, the echidna winced, as he was shocked with a brutal display of electricity. And, for a moment, Sonic thought they had all gone nuts. But then Knuckles whipped his infected hand through the air, flicking the now dead and burned corrosion away, before going about his business.

Sonic pulled his eyes from this weirdness, when the nets lifted again, fanning overhead like twin pairs of protective angel wings, before releasing the captured electricity directly into the ship’s hull. Causing Sonic to cringe as it came for him as well. However, it didn’t appear to have any effect on anything other than the persistent corruption, which was burned away along with most of the creature remains on the deck. Then, with one last flick of the wings, they folded back into the floor, and everything was normal again.

Well, aside from the fact that they were still sitting in the eye of a giant hurricane.

A few more flares were shot into the sky, as the light from the wings faded. Allowing Amy and Knuckles to walk around the ship, checking for anything of concern.

“All good, Captain.” Knuckles reported, as he returned to where he’d left Sonic. “What should I do with the stowaway?” He waited a moment for the answer to come over his com. Then leaned down to grab Sonic’s free hand.

The hedgehog tried to protest, but the guy’s grip was like a steel vice. And in the end, all it took to end his struggle was another sharp glare from his mechanical eye.

“Wow man, who or what got a good shot on you?” Sonic found himself asking, without checking in with the smart side of his brain. So, he wasn’t all that surprised when he didn’t get an answer. Instead, Knuckles just slapped another magnetic cuff over his other wrist. Then released his trapped hand, allowing the two to magnetize to each other instead. “Oh, come on Dude. There’s no need to be like this. You can trust me.” Not-Knuckles gave him a look, that just said ‘No I can’t.’ Which – okay, that was fair.

With this, the echidna stood up again, attaching something to his belt, as he walked away. And, for a moment, Sonic thought that maybe he’d been given some kind of freedom. But then his cuffs activated, and he was pulled off the floor by his wrists.

“Is this really necessary?” He complained over the storm.

“Yes.” Knuckles stated matter-a-factly, and Sonic glared at his, but he was once again ignored, as the echidna turned back to address Not-Amy. “Can you handle the rest?”

“Don’t insult me.” She countered, raising her metal arm in warning. “Unless you’d like a second fancy hole in the head, to go with the first.” Sonic blinked at that and took a step to the right, so he was standing behind the echidna. ‘Gees, she was a little intense.’

Not-Knuckles only laughed and tilted his hat in a respectful manner. “Apologies, my lady.” He offered, then walked across the deck. Forcing Sonic to follow along, as the key on his belt insisted.

Of course, he did not appreciate the idea of being led around like a dog on a leash. So, the hedgehog zeroed in on the key and smiled. His hands being bound didn’t stop him from going fast. Therefore, it only took a split second for him to reach his goal, and had the key in his hand, just before an electric force blew him back, like he’d been hit with a giant invisible fist.

He whined in pain, as he found himself once again on his back, with everything hurting. Then Not-Knuckles leaned over him, his smile indicating he was more than just a little amused. “Don’t do that.” He warned and Sonic lifted his bound hands to give a thumbs up of agreement.

Expecting to be dragged back to his feet, despite the fact that he was pretty sure his legs had stopped working after that. He was instead shocked, when the echidna gave him a few minutes to recover, before helping him up, in a rare of gentleness.

His brain began to hurt, as he tried to reconcile this action with Knuckles the Echidna, as he received some much-needed walking assistance, until they reached a door, and escaped the downpour of rain at last.

Once inside, Knuckles gave him another couple of minutes to recover, as he removed his hat and squeezed the water from his dreadlocks. Which made Sonic’s rattled brain focus on the strange fact that it hadn’t blown away in the wind.

“So – uh. You got a name?” He asked, as they traversed a barren, metal hall. Lit with a line of soft blue light at the bottom of one wall. “Knucks?” He tried when he didn’t receive an answer, even though he already knew he’d be wrong. But that didn’t stop him from trying. “Gnarly? Dread?” He guessed. That wasn’t unreasonable, they were both pirates, right?

In the end, the hedgehog was just left to pout when he didn’t so much as receive a grunt of response. “Admiral it is, I guess.” He muttered. Only to think about it a bit more. “Hang on. I don’t know all that much about the Navy. But – isn’t an Admiral the same thing as a Captain?” In fact, he was pretty sure that Admiral indicated he commanded more than one ship. Which would give him an even higher rank.

Again, Not-Knuckles didn’t answer and just continued to navigate the corridors, ignoring him all the while. “You don’t talk much, do you?” Sonic went on, walking up a little closer to the guy. Trying to gauge his reaction. “You know, you remind me of a friend of mine.” He continued. “Though he can be a real hot head. I’ll bet you can too.” Despite his better judgement, he reached out to poke the echidna in the shoulder, before zipping away, expecting to be swat at. But – nothing. “Oh, come on, I know it’s in there.”

Instead of an answer, the Admiral just turned a corner, forcing Sonic’s cuffs to follow at a sharp angle. And he had to struggle to readjust himself. As they started up some narrow stairs. “See – told ya.” He quailed, though he wasn’t sure why that made him so happy. “I could always get under Knuckles’ skin. It’s kind of my thing.” He bragged as they took a corner on the staircase, allowing the echidna to look at him, without turning around. Causing Sonic to snap his mouth shut, as the glare he got from that silver eye was just downright scary.

However, yet again, this was the only form of hostility he received. Which was just plan jarring. All the other versions of Knuckles had been easy to rile up and quick to anger. Just like the original. It had been almost comforting in a way. The one constant between the worlds. But this one was almost unnaturally calm and collected. Without it he was just reminded that this was not his world, and this was not his friend.

“I miss Knuckles.” He muttered to himself, then cringed away from the statement. “I can’t believe I just said that.” Distracted by this revelation, he ran straight into the Admiral when he stopped moving. And proceeded to rub his abused nose, before peaking around the roadblock, to find that they had arrived at what could only be the bridge of the ship.

Here he found yet another non-friend, this one a copy of Big, who stood working at a high-tech looking table of maps, compasses, and schematics, his constant companion Froggy, asleep on his head. Both of which were, once again, older. Big was even showing signs of gray hair.

And on other side of the room, stormed the brooding, furious form of yet another version of Rouge. This one much more – mature. Her hair was quite a bit longer too, and she was clad in a stylish pirate-looking getup, with a long frilly coat. However, yet again, there was one thing that made it very clear that she was not Rouge the Bat. Her wings – which had been replaced with a fully mechanical set.

“Damn bugs!” She swore in a tone so full of promised death, he started to feel bad for any nightmare creature that stumbled into her line of sight. “Eat my ship, will you? Next time I’ll blast your brains right out through your –”

“Captain.” Not-Knuckles interrupted, smirking with amusement at her rant. Which earned himself a glare of disapproval. But he was spared the fate of being spontaneously combusted, as her attention soon turned to Sonic. Causing him to stand at attention for – some reason.

“And what are you supposed to be?” She asked like he was a surprise tax audit.

“Uh – a hedgehog.” He answered, trying to offer a smile as well. But she just turned back to Knuckles.

“It speaks?” She noted.

“Almost constantly.” The echidna reported earning a glare from Sonic.

“And how did this stowaway get on my ship?” She raged. Though this time it was directed at Knuckles. Prompting Sonic to become defensive.

“Hey, hold on. It’s not his fault. I just – kind of – landed here. That’s all.” He tried. Though it sounded stupid even to him. And Not-Rouge appeared to agree, as she just glowered at him again. Gees, and he thought Knuckles was scary. This lady had a look that could shave the fur off a cat.

“Aparoid?” She asked, turning back to the Admiral, who just shrugged.

“Not that I can see.”

“What is an Aparoid?” Sonic insisted. Realizing that was the second time he’d been called that. But, as usual, he was ignored, as Rouge just beat her wings in an irritated manner, forcing both Sonic and Knuckles to shift out of the way or be cut in half by the razor-sharp metal.

“Whatever it is, if you’re going to let it on my ship, it’s your responsibility.” She proclaimed, glaring at Knuckles again before storming away to stand next to the wheel.

“Yes Captain.” The Admiral muttered in an irritated tone of voice, lowering the brim of his hat to hide the unhappiness in his expression.

“Hey, I said it wasn’t his fault.” Sonic tried again. Only for the Pirate Queen to turn on him in with some much fury, that he could have sworn he felt his soul leave his body for a moment.

“Knox.” She growled, her voice calm despite the radiating waves of eternal torment she was directing their way. Which did more to silence Sonic then the fact that Knuckles had slapped a mitt over his mouth and held him in a death lock, keeping the hedgehog from speaking again. “I don’t care if you have to throw it overboard. But get this nuisance off my Bridge.” She whispered, causing Sonic to recover from the shock.

Though, despite gripping the echidna’s arm with both hands and fighting to escape, he didn’t even cause a disturbance in his stance, as the Admiral bowed. “Aye Captain.” He agreed. Causing the hedgehog to make some uncouth and unmanly noises, as he was hauled from the room without another word. But he could do nothing to escape the promise of certain death that was now coming for him.

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#sonic the hedgehog #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #rouge the bat #miles tails prower #big the cat #froggy #sonic prime universe #rewrite #new world #new characters #year of the echidna #word prompt #adventure

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