Mach's Return.......................... by Nabeel Mohammed. *************** Legalities: Many characters portrayed in this story belong to either Service and Games LTD. (SEGA) or DIC entertainment. Any characters indicated by a Storm Logo (§) are the sole property of Nabe el Mohammed and StormTalon studios. All characters are protected under the copyright law as being the work of their respective creators. Bookshire Draftwood is a work of David Pistone. ============================================================================ Author'snote: Many people wrote in saying "we want more Mach the Porcupine." Well, here he is, in a fullthrottle dose you ain't never gonna forget!!!! Also, my reason for including Amelia GrayFox into the story is to prove my undying love for Ms. Amy Gra y. Amy, I love you with all my heart. ============================================================================ This story is dedicated to: Dominic Fernands, keep on flying high. Yuva Roopchansingh, get some contacts... Wally Cambridge, MY friendly nemesis And most of all, Amy, you are my angel. I love you. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Castof Characters ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sonic the Hedgehog Princess Sally Alicia Acorn Bunnie Rabbot Miles "Tails" Powers Antione D'Coolette Rotor the Walrus Dulcea Dragon Sir Charles Hedgehog Amy Rose Bookshire Draftwood (Thanks David) Mach the Porcupine Amelia Grayfox Dr. Ivo Robotnik Snivley ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Time : One Month after Mach's departure from Knothole. Eighteen months pre-Doomsday. Lowdown: Mach the Porcupine, after being discovered on Little Planet by Amy and Tails, takes off to learn of his heritage on the Second Floating island of Maga. Now, he is about to return, and this time, he must face his arch rival, Sonic. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ {Prologue} The world he had inherited was in ruins. This was the home world he would protect. But he had failed He roamed the plains of the island, looking for anyone left alive. It was hopeless, he could do no more. He slumped to the ground, tired, drained, lost. If anyone was here, they were no better off than he. He looked of the edge of Maga, the island in the sky. In the distance, he could see the Floating Island from his floating island. Below, the world of Mobius existed lazily by itself. He dropped to his knees at the edge of the island. He drew out a small case from an unseen pouch on his waist, reddened his finger on the substance inside, and smeared it over his face in a mural of pain. War-paint. Mustering up all the strength he didn't have anymore, he leapt to his feet, threw his arms to the evening sky, now gold with the setting sun and told of his rage to all of Mobius in a blood-curdling scream that acted as a ballad, telling all of the deat h of Maga. He stopped now. A whimpering from the rubble caught his attention. The rubble behind him hid the source of the sobbing. He picked at the rubble with the streak of metal running down his head, frantically now as he realized that it was the sobbing of a yo ung girl. <> "Tell me, Snivley," came the harsh metallic voice from the shadows of the far side of the room, " how is my operation on Maga coming along?" "Oh, proceeding nicely, Dr. Robotnik," said the short, sparsely-haired human in his sing song tone, "all life forms on the island have been Robotisiced." "Most excellent, my dear boy. I am glad to see that you have not bungled this one up." Snivley turned away from Robotnik. He had the urge to tell his uncle to shove it up his ass. Instead, he gave him the bad news. "Umm, however, Dr. Robotnik, one life form was spotted on the island not six-point-oh-three minutes after the attack..." he glanced back at his uncle. Robotnik's throne had swiveled away from Snivley. Snivley fancied that he could see the doctor arching his fingers. Something he did quite often, when angered. "And just who was this 'life form?'" The tone of the voice was strained with impatience. "Playback commencing now, Dr. Robotnik," Snivley busied himself by uploading the surveillance video to Dr. Robotnik's throne arm monitor. Robotnik's red luminous eyes burned intensely. The video was scratchy, but it clearly revealed a Porcupine smashing his head against some fallen rubble. The rubble began to crumble under the metallic quill atop the porcupine's cranium. When sufficient de bris had been ousted, he reached his hands in, and removed a shrouded figure from under the fallen rubbish. In a blaze of speed somewhat worthy of the Hedgehog, the porcupine took off with the shrouded figure cradled in his arms. Robotnik was silent for a long time. Snivley smiled, knowing that he had done his best to annoy his uncle. Suddenly, something flew out from Robotnik's throne and landed next to Snivley. On closer examination, Snivley almost fainted, or threw up. It was Cluck, Robotnik's metal fowl, lying on the floor, neck broken in two places. "If that is a smile on your face, Snivley," Robotnik warned, without turning around, "you had best remove it." One more glance at the inert Cluck and Snivley hushed himself. * * * Knothole had been very quiet today. Bunnie and Rotor snuggled under a tree in the warm sunshine, Antoine was practicing his fencing in his hut, Sally and Sonic were taking a walk by the Power Ring pool and Tails and Amy Rose were playing with a Frisbee. Quite a lazy day, Sally had said. The peace was broken, however, by a sequence of sonic booms coming from the great forest. Mach's mind, unlike Knothole, was in a panicked chaos. The girl would surely die, without proper medical attention. He cradled her soft, shrouded body in his arm, desperately diverting all his energy to his legs. His steel-tipped sneakers started to smok e. He heard her agonized moaning from his arms, and ran faster. His sneakers vanished into an "Infinity Ribbon" of color. Boom. He skidded into Knothole, raising the girl's limp body above him as his back hit the ground. He was trying desperately to stop himself by burying his quills into the soft soil. Then he remembered something he had been told long ago. Porcupine quills can be detached. One by one, Mach's quills were left in the dirt as he raised an enormous cloud of dust, skidding past the astonished faces of Knothole's residents. He slammed into a tree and lay there, unmoving, for some moments. When he was aware of other presences, he rose, the girl's blanketed figure still in his hands. He looked quite a sight, his back was bare of quills, his face was red with paint that had been smeared over his face by the pressure of the wind pressing against his face. He looked at his friends, t hen, cradling the girl in his arms, like one would a newborn pup, he handed her over to Bookshire S. Draftwood, who had raced out of his hut in all the excitement. Bookshire accepted her, gaping and wordless. "Please... help...her." Was all Mach could say before he turned and threw up. The stress of high speed travel was a somewhat unfamiliar experience, something his porcupine stomach could not cater for. Then, without warning, he collapsed, face first into his pool of vomit. Apparently, his muscles were also unprepared for super-sonic transport. They all stared at the disgustingly compelling incident with a certain awed fascination. Bunnie, shaking her head and flopping her ears over her face, was the first to recover. "Well what in the hoo-haa is wrong with you people?!?!" she shrieked to the somewhat comatose citizens of Knothole. "Tails," she shouted to the young fox, "go get Sonic and Sally! Tell 'em what happened!" "On my way Aunt Bunnie," the young kit barked. He tried to whirl up his tails when he realized that Amy Rose was clinging to his foxfur. "Amy, what are you doing?" Feeling a bit foolish, little Amy released her grip on her sweetheart. Tails caught her mumbling a faint "I'm sorry," when he wound up his tails to go. The rest of them assisted in the unenviable task of picking up Mach. <> Mach had rested and cleaned himself up and was waiting impatiently out side of Bookshire's hut. He rested his back against the wall, next to the door. It was miraculous, but in the space of two hours time, his quills had almost re-grown to full maturity. He had spoken to Sally, telling her of the ruin of Maga. Sonic he didn't speak to. They never liked each other, Mach felt that Sonic was always a glory hound, and that he should have been given the credit for running Robotnik off Little Planet. * * * "I'm telling you, Sal, the guy is bad news!" Sonic whined. "Sonic, stop it," Sally snapped at her boyfriend as she rummaged her hut. "Mach is a good guy. His heart is in the right place... it's just, he's had a bad past, and this recent occurrence..." she paused, looking into empty space, as if the answer stood in front of her. She stood there for a moment, then the tapping of Sonic's sneaker snapped her out of it. She continued searching. "He's not doing too well Sonic," she summarized, without looking back at him, "we just need to be there for him. No one else has..." Sally's face brightened, she reached into the pile of clutter and drew out a small brown case. Flipping it open, she spoke, "Nicole, run database search on all known Fox families existing on the island of Maga." "ACCESSING, SALLY," Nicole droned. "Umm, Sal," Sonic said, "what are you doing?" "You'll see in a minute, Sonic," Sally said, her voice betraying her excitement. "This wouldn't have anything to do with that girl Mach picked up on Maga, would it?" "You got it, Sonic." "But how do you know that she's a fox?" Sonic looked puzzled. "I asked Bookshire for a glimpse. You know, Mach doesn't know what she looks like yet?" "I can relate." "ONE ENTRY QUALIFIES, SALLY," Nicole concluded. Scanning Nicole's monitor, Sally's enthusiasm burst out. "Eureka!" Sally exclaimed. "Yoo-who-ah?" Sonic scratched his head. * * * All the Freedom Fighters sat in the Great Hall. Anticipation grew great, and patience was not a virtue of two certain quilled members of the audience. They spoke amongst themselves, about why there was an extra seat at the table. Murmuring ceased, howeve r, when Sally entered and took her place at the head of the table. She had purposely placed herself between Sonic and Mach to avoid any confrontation. "Fellow Freedom Fighters," Sally began, "we have all heard of Mach's ordeal concerning the floating island of Maga." She looked at Mach for a sign if she should change the topic. He nodded to her, urging her to continue. "Robotnik is responsible for this , as I have recived proof from Sir Charles in Robotropolis. Robotnik belives that all Mobains on the island have been Roboticised. Well, I am glad to report to you all, that there has been one survivor." More whispering. Sally rose and headed to the door. She opened it slightly and the head of a young vixen popped through. She looked up at Sally with plaintive eyes, bright and shining. "It's Okay," encouraged Sally. Sally opened the door wide. Mach stood in suprise. A red-furred vixen, about fourteen, stood in the doorway. She shyly held her hands behind her as she met Mach's gaze. She wore a clean vest, like Sally's, and a pair of too-large sneakers. Her white-tipp ed tail touched the ground lightly behind them. Mach gaped. He had never seen an animal quite so beautiful. "Freedom Fighters," Sally chimed, "please welcome Princess Amelia Grayfox!" The Freedom Fighters all let out a resounding applause. Mach was still looking into her eyes. He noted how mysterious they were, one being green and the other brown. She blushed. Sally looked from Mach to Amelia, realizing what was going on, she decided to help it along... "He's the one who saved you," Sally whispered into Amelia's ear. She looked at Sally with a shocked expression, then looked back and calmly walked into the Great Hall with her. Amelia made sure that she gave Mach a polite wave before she sat down. Mach r eturned the wave, his pulse racing. Shakily, he licked his gloved paw and smoothed his quill "hairdo," cursing when he accidentally ran a finger along his lone metal quill and made a small incision. "It's time that you get to know the Freedom Fighters," Sally chimed. <> Immediatly after the meeting, Bookshire, Rotor and Sally met to dicuss plans to free the captured Magaites from their Prisons before they were Roboticized. Everyone else wandered out of the meeting room and went about daily buisness. Tails and Amy, howev er, with natural cub curiosity, hung around Amelia. "So, what's Maga like," barked a beaming Tails. "Yeah, are you really a Princess?" Amy asked. Quite a distance off, Mach hid in the branches of a sicamore tree, gazing in awe at Amelia as the two cubs danced around her. Amelia, however, was aware of Mach's presence. She turned to the two cubs. "Excuse me for a minute, you two..." Miles and Amy shrugged. 'Where did she go?' Mach wondered to himself. "Boo." "AUUGH!" Mach tumbled out of the tree and landed at a pair of familair too-large sneakers. "Umm..." he began to stammer, gazing into Amelia's eyes. "I...I wasn't...spying on you... umm... I just, uh..." He sprang to his feet, obviously finding the entire situation akward. "Mach," Amelia began, "I never did really thank you for pulling me out of the rubble...." She wanted to continue, but then she noticed something... Mach was blushing. "Mach?" "Umm... Princess..." "Mach," she giggled, "please, call me Amy." "I'd like to," Mach said, seeming more relaxed, "but we already have one Amy in Knothole..." "Oh yes," Amelia laughed, "we've met! She's a nice kid." "Umm, listen," Mach began, sternly now, "I guess that... Being Maga's protector, I'm supposed to protect the royal family of Maga too..." "Me." "Right, and I guess that makes me..." "My bodyguard!" Amelia said, almost too excitedly, her tail twitching. Mach laughed. When she realized how she had reacted, Amelia began to giggle too. "Sorry, I guess I just love..." she checked herself and glanced up at Mach, feverishly waiting for her to finish the sentence. "Umm... love...to... have company!" * * * "What?" Dr. Robotnik swiveled his chair to face Snively. "It's true, sir," Snively exclaimed, "the Magites have exhibited certain...er, 'talents,' due to their Roboticization." "Such as...?" "See for yourself, sir." The monitor flickered to life. On it, several robots were causing a huge scrap metal block to levitate. "I only ordered them to move that block to the crusher..." "Peculiar," Robotnik sneered, "such power at my disposal... I tell you Snivley, it just warms my black heart." * * * "NO!" Mach screamed, "He can't have Roboticized ALL of the citizens of Maga!!!" "I'm afraid it's true, Mach," Sally said, regretfully. She looked away from him and back to Amelia, sitting at the table. She had called them in to give them the news from Uncle Chuck. Mach felt the hate welling up in him... again. Because of that damned Emrald. "Daddy..." was all Amelia could get out before she broke down and cried. Sally went over to her and put her hand on her shoulder, she knew how this felt. Amelia lifted her head and looked at Mach. "Mach," she said, through tears, "we've lost our world... " "No," he went over to Amelia and knelt beside her chair. "We haven't lost all of Maga..." he lifted her face to his with his paw. "Yes we have... we have nothing else..." she looked at him, "Mach, they have my Father and Mother, they have all the citizens of Maga... I have nothing else left..." "Yes you do," Mach said, "you have me." Their faces drew closer, their eyes closed, Amelia could feel Mach's lips on hers... "*Ahem*" The familair tapping of Sonic's boot brought everyone's attention to the door of the hut where the Blue Bad Boy was standing impatiently. Sally left the two Magites alone and took Sonic with her to update him. Mach and Amelia looked back to each other. Amelia giggled. Then, she stopped. She had felt when Mach's embarrassment caused him to involutntarily draw some power from the Emrald of Maga he had found on Little Planet so long ago. She felt the Emrald power. "Mach," she said, her eyes wide with disbelief, "you...you have Maga's Black emrald?" "Yes." Amelia's eyes brightend and lost their tears, "you ARE the protector." "What do you mean?" Mach asked puzzled. Amelia stood and put her paw on his face, gently. "It is said," Amelia continued, looking into his eyes, "that when Maga is at it's darkest hour, a protector who has never lived on the island will return, with the Black Emrald which was hidden from Maga by Chaos... and he will save Maga." Mach drew the Emrald out and handed it to Amelia. "It doesn't harm you?" "No, after all, it is my birthright," Amelia smiled, as if reunited with an old friend, "as are you, Mach. You are my protector." She dropped the Emrald as if it were a plaything and ran to Mach and embraced him. "No one shall ever harm you," a feirce determination crept into Mach's eyes, "my love." * * * "They can do what?" Robotnik asked. "They can detect living organisms, Sir." "Specifically?" "Yes Sir, apparently, they can use a psychic link to-" "What if I asked them to locate a hedgehog?" Snively turned back to the keyboard and tapped away. Presently, he turned back to Dr.Robotnik. "According to one of the Magites, Sir, one Hedgehog has been located within the Great Forest...along with thirty other life forms sir." Robotnik turned away. "Knothole..." was all he said. * * * She could be seen in the moonlight, skipping stones across the Power Ring Pool. Amelia truly felt lost. In one day, she had lost her family, her home and her spirit. A ripple showed in the pool where her tear had just fallen. She had taken off her shoes and was letting her feet dangle into the water. "Princess..." "Yes Mach?" she didn't turn around, lest he see her tears. In all of her loss, she had gained one thing. A friend. Mach sat down beside her and drew up his legs into a lotus position to avoid the water getting on his shoes. She looked up at him and smiled briefly. "Umm, about what happened today..." "Mmm...?" she snuggled up close to Mach, hoping that he would get the gist and embrace her. "I-I...*ahem*-I" Mach stammered. Amelia sat up, and looked at him. He was blushing and flustered. "Mach? What's wrong?" "I--Umm..." "Mach," Amelia said, "It's okay. Whatever you want to say...you can say it to me..." Mach's eyes became cold. He turned to face her now. "Alright," he calmed himself and mustered up all of his courage, "here goes... I love you." ============================================================================ Tobe contineued...this is only the beginning! Next Episode:<> Robotnik finds Knothole and seizes the Black Chaos Emrald and kidnaps all of Knothole! We all know that Sonic can free the Freedom Fighters, but how can he stop Mach's lust for revenge on Robotnik? Also, what will happen between Mach and Amelia...well, read Part two of "Mach's Return"... <> Coming Soon!!! =============================================================================