Saving Private Sonic

Saving Private Sonic- Chapter One

Sonic had been walking for hours now and his feet hurt like hell. He didn't dare to stop and take off his boots, he already knew what he would see: his precious toes marred by blisters and rot. Besides, he didn't have time to stop, he had to keep moving. The Viet Cong had ambushed them, taking them completely by surprise. They had all scattered in different directions, fleeing the flames and the bullets that had rained over their heads. Sonic didn't know how many of them had been shot, how many had been killed or left wounded. He tried to think of something else, anything to keep his mind off of his current surroundings, never before had the azure hedgehog felt so weak, so utterly helpless. He had thought that he was unstoppable, but speed was meaningless in a war like this.

Sonic had known he would enlist in the army as soon as he learned about the war in Nam. He had viewed himself as an American hero, a defender of freedom and democracy, the chance to kick commie ass was one he wouldn't have passed up for the world. Of course when he joined, his friends did as well. Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy- they all idolized him, and were loyal to a fault. But the war had torn them apart. Shadow had disappeared months ago, Tails was transferred as a pilot, and Sonic no longer knew where he was stationed, Amy had been captured and sent to a POW camp. Knuckles was the only one left by his side. The egg laying mammal had the strength and ability to join an elite sector of the army along with sonic. He had been by the hedgehog during their routine patrol when the Viet Cong attacked. Sonic wasn't afraid now, he had been separated from the group before, and had become used to isolation. This wasn't the first time he had fought alone, and it wouldn't be the last.

Sonic suddenly stopped. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the erie silence that now surrounded him. He couldn't hear anything, not the typical gunshots and explosions in the distance, nor the call of birds and monkeys in the treetops. Slowly he pulled out his gun and eyed the undergrowth. His ears twitched, swiveling in circles on the sides of his head, waiting for any kind of disturbance. He knew this kind of quiet all too well, and he knew what was coming. He would just have to prepare himself as best he could. Suddenly there was a rustle in the brush ahead of sonic and without thinking he blindly opened fire. There was a scream so terrible that sonic felt his ears would surely detach from his head. He closed his emerald pools and grimaced before moving to see the monster he had hit. However when the blue animal moved behind the bushes he gasped. The creature on the ground was not a disgusting commie- but knuckles. His dear friend, his piss buddy, knuckles. Knuckles was on his back, struggling to breathe. Blood poured from his mouth and pooled on the ground round his body. He had been hit twice: once in the stomach, once in the chest. There were tears in his eyes and he struggled to turn to sonic. "S-sonic how could you, we were friends. I let you pee on me, and you- you shot me"

Sonic cried bitter tears "Oh knuckles, my dearest friend, I thought you were a communist but now I see that I have made a terrible mistake and wounded the one I care about most" Knuckles too began to cry bitterly. "Sonic... when you make it back to America, tell my wife I love her, tell her... I'm sorry that I won't be able to keep my promise."

"Of course I will, knuckles," Sonic sobbed. "Of course I will" With a final rattling breath, knuckles closed his eyes. Sonic grabbed the corpse of the dead echidna and screamed. He no longer cared if the Viet Cong found him, he had killed one of his closest friends. One of his dearest companions, he was no longer an American hero, he was a monster. No better than the enemy he fought. Slowly, with shaking gloved hands, sonic lifted his machine gun. It was too large to hold in this position properly- but sonic had unusually long arms. He turned the gun, and moved it until it was pressed against his temple. There was nothing left for him anymore. Vietnam had shattered his entire view of the world and himself. He was not a freedom fighter, he speed was useless, he had killed his secondary best friend.

Sonic knew he would regret not keeping his promise to knuckles. But he could never go back home. He could never show his face again. There was only one option now. Sonic closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger.