Chapter Text
“On the clearest of nights, when the winds of the Etherium were calm and peaceful, the great merchant ships with their cargoes of Arcturian sura crystals felt safe and secure.”
A ship passes through the vastness of space, soaring through nebulas with its humongous solar sails. It weaves between celestial bodies like a figure skater, as it turns elegantly.
“Little did they suspect, that they were pursued by pirates.”
Suddenly a small vessel races to the merchant ships side. Though it wasn’t so much that it was small, more so that the merchant ship was ginormous.
“And the most feared of all these pirates was the notorious Captain Knuckles.”
A tall red echidna, with large fists covered by spiked gloves stands at the edge of the ship. He looks out with his left eye, his right covered by an eyepatch. The scar had become a dull line, echoes of a battle lost a long, long time ago. He had learned from his mistakes. He had adapted.
Now, he was unstoppable.
“FIRE!” The echidna called out. The miscellaneous crew stepped up to the cannons and lit the fuses. Knuckles smiled wickedly as the merchant ship rocked from the explosion. He could hear the screams of passengers inside. Flames licked at the deck and up the masts of the sails.
The captain cackles and directs the crew and their pirate ship nears the edge of the large merchant ship.
“Like a Candarian zap-wing overtaking its prey-“
“Sonic the Hedgehog!”
Sonic snaps the book he was looking at shut. The hologram of the merchant ship and deep voice of the narrator fizzle out. Sonic groans as Longclaw stands in the doorway.
“I thought you were asleep an hour ago.” She gives him a stern look as she strides up next to his bed. The hedgehog kicks his little feet in frustration.
“But Moooom, I was just getting to the best part!” Sonic pouts, crossing his arms and making an exaggerated frown. He looks up at her with big eyes. “Pleeaaase?”
Longclaw chuckles and rolls her eyes. “Oh such a drama queen.” Sonic begins to move his lips and pull at his eyelids, making all sorts of goofy faces.
“Bleh!”
“Okay come on, scootch over you~”
“Yes!” He squeals as he rolls over under the blankets and shuffles. Longclaw sits elegantly in a flurry of feathers, and in one swift movement she snatched the little hedgehog onto her lap. She reached a clawed, feathery appendage for the book.
Sonic made grabby hands, and she gave it to him as he fumbled to find the right page. She helped him prop it up, and Sonic kicked his feet from the enemy generated by his excitement.
The Narrator continued:
“Like a Candarian zap-wing overtaking its prey, Knuckles and his band of renegades swooped in out of nowhere.”
The boat neared the large vessel and Knuckles and his crew jumped over the threshold and ran across plank bridges, all cackling as they drew their swords and guns and other weapons. Dogs, cats, hedgehogs, beetles and aliens of all sorts ransacked the ship. The fire burned away the side of the ship, debris floating out into space.
The crew returned with gems and gold and other riches. The planks were withdrawn and the employees aboard the merchant ship were fought off, keeping them boarding the pirates vessel. Captain Knuckles laughed maniacally.
“HA HA HA HA!”
The ship turned away from the destruction it had caused, and began to fly out into space.
“And then, gathering up their spoils, the precious emeralds, vanished without a trace.”
“Oooo!” Longclaw and Sonic exclaimed in unison.
“Flint's secret trove was never found,” the narrator continued. “But stories have persisted that it remains hidden, somewhere at the farthest reaches of the galaxy, stowed with riches beyond imagination, powerful gemstones granting immense power, the loot of a thousand worlds.”
A planet in the depths of space, surrounded by asteroids, rimmed by two rings. One was flat and grey, like the clouds of dust and star particles that it was nestled amongst. The other glowed a ghostly green, appearing like a misty fire. The plant itself appeared brown and yellow around its rim, backlit by stars.
“Treasure Planet!” Sonic uttered with awe and emphasis simultaneously with the narrator. Longclaw chuckled and gently took the book from him, setting it on the bedside table.
“How do you think Captain Knuckles did it, Mom?” Sonic scrambled onto the bed frame. His clawed feet left scratch marks on the wood. “How he’d swoop out of no where-“ he launched himself onto the bed, narrowly missing Longclaw’s arms. He squirmed under the blankets and stuck his head out at the end of the bed. “And vanish without a trace?”
Longclaw let out a puff of air and smiles at him and his wriggling fidgeting form under the blanket.
“I have no idea,” she smirks and lifts her arms up. “Maybe he swooped in like this!” She launched at him as he screamed and giggled, furiously kicking his feet while she wrestled him out of the blanket.
“Come here you!” She blew a raspberry onto his stomach, lessened her grip and he slipped out of her lap and onto his bed. He laughed and laughed, flailing all his limbs as he exerted his energy.
She sighed. “Okay, time for this little spacer to go to bed.” She murmured, gently picking Sonic up and gently tucking him under the blankets. He continued to flail his limbs, though slower and in a rhythmic pattern.
“Do you think somebody’ll find Treasure Planet?” He asked distantly, clenching and unclenching his hands in front of his face.
“I don’t know, wriggle bug.” She said thoughtfully. “I always thought it was just a legend.”
“It’s real. I know it’s real!” Sonic insisted.
“I believe you.” She leaned over and cooed deep within her throat, an owl version of a pure as she rubbed her head gently against his. He smiled and hummed.
“Nighty-night Mom!” He said, smiling and gently wiggling his feet under the blanket as Longclaw walked over to the door.
“Nighty-night sweetie. I love you.” She winked at him from her spot at the door.
“Love you too.” He said as she closed the door.
Sonic waited, keeping his limbs still and tilting his ears to listen to the sounds of his mother. There was some rustling, creaking of floorboards, and after several minutes of him barely resisting the urge to flail all his limbs like crazy, the lights in the hallways turned off and he heard the clicking of her bedroom door.
He gasped and gulped at the air. He had been holding his breath. Sonic lunged for the book at his bedside and giggled as he wriggled under the covers. In his little tent, he opened the book. The hologram lit up around him, shining on the blankets and glowing brilliantly against his face.
This was his favorite to do. It was the closest he could get to being in space. Immersing himself in the book and imagining himself far away from this small little inconsequential planet of his. Traveling the galaxies, being…
Free.
The voice of the narrator stilled his limbs, his peaceful cadence calming the energy he always found within himself. It told a magical tale of treasures untold and hardships unnumbered.
“The great captain disappeared one fortnight decades ago,” the narrator began.
“Rumors tell that he died with his treasure, obsessed with protecting his most precious possession, the Master Emerald. A powerful crystal, containing energy unrivaled by anything else in the universe, connected to a set of gems known as the Chaos Emeralds. These minerals are said to grant mysterious abilities to those who posses them, and that if a Chaos Emerald was ever found, it would lead you straight to the captains immense trove.
“Straight to Treasure Planet.”