Sonic the Hedgehog: Doppelganger Author: Hyper 802 Time: the day after "Tails' Power" Date: May 18, 3234 Cast: Evil-Dan Jessica Hedgehog Justin Hedgehog Princess Sally Acorn Hedgehog Sonic Hedgehog Hershey Dan Michaels Diane Michaels Mecha-Dan Mecha-Sonic Miles "Tails" Prower Dr. Quack Rotor Snively A black giant ring forms inside Snively's command center, then a mysterious figure steps out of the ring. Snively immediately recognizes the form. There in front of him stands a blonde hedgehog that looks almost identical to Dan except this hedgehog doesn't have a birthmark. "You, the guy in charge?" asks the figure, his voice sounding dark, sinister, and twisted by evil. "Yes, I am, and tell me, who are you and your purpose here? Before, I have Mecha-Dan rip you to shreds," sneers Snively. "You can call me Evil-Dan, and I have an offer that you might like. I'll find a way to kill my counterpart for you and then his best friend," says Evil-Dan. "Hmmmm, I'll give you one shot. If you fail, you better hope that the freedom fighters take care of you because I will have Mecha-Dan turn you into hedgehog hash," warns Snively. Evil-Dan heads to the nearest monitor and starts to watch surveillance videos that has Dan in them, and he has his plan to turn Sonic and Dan against each other. But first..... Later at Knothole, a crossbow bolt narrowly misses Sonic. "Blast, I missed," says Evil-Dan who now looks like Dan completely. "Dan! What are you trying to pull?" asks Sonic angrily. "That's for me to know, and you'll never figure it out," insults Evil-Dan as he raced off. Sonic takes off after him intent on capturing his best friend who had turned traitor. While they were running, Evil-Dan was taking pot shots at Sonic. "He's trying to kill me!" realizes Sonic to himself. Along the way Sonic finds and picks up a crossbow that Evil-Dan had placed earlier. "He can't get me if I kill him first," Sonic grimly thinks. Sonic finds Evil-Dan again. Evil-Dan fires a few more shots at Sonic and disappears farther up the path. "I'm going to kill that traitor before he does any permanent harm," Sonic bitterly says. Sonic continues his hunt for Evil-Dan, but this time he finds Dan. Sonic quickly takes aim and fires the crossbow. The bolt flies through the air and hits Dan, piercing his heart. Sonic stands over Dan's fallen body to make sure that he stays dead. "Sonic! What did you do?" asks Diane as she grabs him by his neck. "I took down a traitor before he took me out," Sonic gasps dispite Diane's grasp. "Sonic, I think that you wanted to kill this one," says Sally as she and Rotor lead another Dan into view. A shocked Diane releases Sonic from her death grip. "And look at this," adds Rotor as he tore off a fake birthmark. Then it sunk into Sonic's head, he had killed his best friend in cold blooded murder! Evil-Dan looks at his dead counter-part and says, "Nice shot. I couldn't of done any better myself." Sonic sinks to his knees as he realizes that Evil-Dan is right. "Rotor, get this piece of trash out of sight," Sally angrily orders. Rotor roughly leads Evil-Dan away to a cell. Sonic picks up Dan's sword, hands it over to Sally, and says, "Kill me. I don't deserve to live. I'm a cold blooded killer and deserve the fate of one." "No, I won't. You were tricked by Dan's evil counter-part," says Sally as she tosses the sword away. She then leads both the mourning Diane and the depressed Sonic back to Knothole. A few weeks later the villagers held a funeral for Dan. "While I looked through Nicole's files for traditional burial rites, I had found one that applies to Dan. All peace guardians are remembered in some kind of memorial. They are not as fancy as the ones used for members of the royal family. But, Dan was treated as a member of our family so I had this one built for Dan," says Sally as she points to a silver tomb with Dan's birthmark on its sides. The assembled freedom fighters walk up to the memorial and sees Dan's lifeless body lying in it, under a glass cover with his arms crossed over his sword. They all place flowers around it, Diane leaves her wedding band on top of it. As they passed the tomb and said their good-byes, Sally notices that Sonic isn't among them. Sally then adds, "Good-bye, Dan. You always will be a symbol of what we fight for," as she herself walks by his tomb. She gives a quick nod, and the stasis generators kick in as the band plays the ballad that Diane had picked for his funeral. Later back at Sonic's and Sally's hut, Sally hears running water coming from their bathroom and decides to check on Sonic. She finds the door locked from the inside. "Hey, Sis-in-law, what's up?" asks Jessica. "This door is locked," says Sally worriedly. "Stand back," says Jessica as she whipped into a triple spin and cuts through the door. Sally runs in and sees a very depressed Sonic about to slice open his wrist. Sally quickly restrains him and says, "Jessica, go get Dr. Quack and quick." Jessica takes off to go get the doctor. While Sally forces Sonic away from the tub and takes the razor blade from him. Jessica quickly returns with Dr. Quack in tow. "Doc, sedate him quick," says Sally as she holds Sonic. Dr. Quack obeys Sally's command and sedates Sonic with the most powerful sedative that he has. "Mind telling me what's going on?" "Sure, Sonic just tried to kill himself," says Sally. "Bring him to the med. hut," says Dr. Quack. After they placed Sonic in an emptied room, where he can't get anything that he could use to take his own life. "Sonic has a sever case of depression. Probably caused by killing his best friend. He thinks that he is a cold blooded killer and deserve to die. No thanks to Evil-Dan," says Dr. Quack. "Will he come out of it?" asks Sally. "I don't know, Sally." "Thanks, Doc," says Jessica who is now worried about her brother. Three months has passed and Sonic is still in the med. room. "Aunt Sally, why is Sonic still in the med. hut?" asks Tails. "Because he is suffering from a case of clinical depression," answers Sally. "What's that?" "Depression is where someone becomes so sad that they make part of their life." "What caused it?" "It was caused by Sonic killing his best friend and Evil-Dan didn't help either. Although there is no clear cause," says Sally. "Oh, I guess that it hit him harder that I thought." "Sally, come quick!" calls Jessica. "Why?" "It's Sonic, he's getting worse." Sally and Jessica run for the med. hut. Later at the med. hut, "Doc, what is it?" asks Sally. "About a month or so ago. He has stopped eating. We didn't catch it until now. We're keeping him going by feeding him intravenously. He had managed to pull out the IV on occasion," says Dr. Quack. "Can I see him?" "Sure. It might help him." Sally walks into the room and recoils at the sight of Sonic. He no longer resembles the hedgehog that she had married but some kind of skeleton with some flesh stubbornly clinging to its bones. She sits by his bed as she does so she feels the kick of their child. "Sonic, come on. Look at me, please." Sonic looks in Sally's direction, his eyes appear to be lifeless; he doesn't see or hear Sally. He sees the image of Dan and hears his voice as if it came trough a speaker. "Sonic, you have to get over this. You can't let yourself to be tricked by my evil counter-part. You have to fight Snively and his evil henchmen or my death will have no meaning," says Dan. Then Dan's image slowly replaced itself with Sally's. "Dan, don't go," cries Sonic. Sally gently hakes her husband and says, "Sonic, its me, Sally!" Sonic pulls himself together and finally hears Sally. "Sonic, please, let go of this frame of mind. So that you can move on and live your life. If not for me or you. Then do it for our child. So that they won't have to know their father as some kind of legend," says Sally as she places his hand on her abdomen. Then he felt it, a swift kick from a little foot. He breaks down and starts to cry. "I can't believe that I almost ruined another life," says Sonic. "I just did it, I pushed him over the edge. There is no getting him back now," Sally sadly thought. "Sally, Hun., I'll try and fight this for our child. I don't want another child to hear how great their father was, but to make that decision for themselves," says Sonic. Meanwhile in Robotropolis, "Yes, Evil-Dan pulled it off. The freedom fighters haven't done anything for months," says Snively joyously. "I still have a bad feeling about it, Master. Why hasn't he reported anything in three months?" asks Mecha-Dan. "Good point, Mecha. Go find out." "Yes, sir." Responds the bot as it sped off to the computer center. For months the FF. have been busy helping Sonic to over come his depression. He started to look like his former self. He was finally released and on his and Sally's child's birthday. "Hey, dear," says Sonic as he walked in. "Hi, Sonic. Come meet our daughter," says Sally. "Daughter? Have you named her yet?" asks Sonic. "No, I figured to wait for you to come home," says Sally as she hands Sonic their daughter. Sonic looks at her for the first time. She looks like Sally but has a single streak of blue in her red hair and blue eyes with light hints of brown in her eyes. "She is beautiful just like her mother," says Sonic with a tear in his eye, "How about Alicia?" "My middle name? Why?" asks Sally. "It suits her don't you agree?" asks Sonic as he gently rocked their child to sleep. Sally looks at their baby again and says, "It does." A few weeks later. Sonic goes on his first mission in a long while. When ever he does fights a swatbot it is now with grim determination. "What!!! That hedgehog is still causing problems," yells Snively. "I'll go take care of him, Master." "Go!!!" orders Snively angrily. Mecha-Dan quickly leaves and finds Sonic. "So your back. I'm going to make sure that it's not permanent," says Mecha-Dan. "I remember the last time that you fought me. You knock yourself off-line," says Sonic coldly. "You also had that stone that Dan tossed you, but he isn't here, so at least some part of Evil-Dan's mission was accomplished," says Mecha-Dan "I'm going to rip you to pieces with my bare hands!" yells Sonic as he rams the bot, but bounces off its force field. "I forgot about that," says Sonic. "This is going to be easier than I thought," says the bot. "Yeah, right," says Sonic as he pulls out his super ring. "Ha, a power ring won't help you," remarks the bot. "Wanna bet," says Sonic as he hold the super ring high into the air. Its energies flow into him and transforms him into Super Sonic. "What!!!" exclaims Mecha-Dan. "Time to take out the trash," says Super Sonic. " I'd like to see you try it," yells Mecha-Dan. Super Sonic races at the bot and nails it hard. Its damage computer indicates that its force field has just over loaded from the impact. "Great, my force field is gone," it thought to itself. Super Sonic charged the bot again, but it dodged him. Super Sonic changed tactics. He quickly come up behind it and ripped open its access panel and every piece of circuitry in the bot. "Whew, finally, I took care of this metal monster," though Super Sonic. He then places his super ring back into his pack and reverts to his blue self. A few days later, "Diane, if you need any help of any kind, let me or Sally know," offers Sonic. "Thanks, it's a shame that Evil-Dan can't be reformed," says Diane. "There are no good points about that guy," says Sally bitterly. "It's also a shame that the twins will have to grow up without their father," says Diane sadly. "Yeah, I'm sorry about killing Dan. I should of seen it as a trick," says Sonic while rubbing his left wrist and trying not to look at the scar. Diane was holding one of the twins, a little girl that is blonde like her father and has the same birthmark on her palm too. "So how is Danielle and Michelle doing," asks Sally. Diane looks at the blonde girl who was named Danielle then at a crib with a red quill girl that has two golden blonde streaks in her hair quills who was named Michelle. "They are doing fine. It's me that I'm worried about," says Diane. "Well, if my plan works, you won't have to worry," says Sonic. "What are you planning, dear," asks Sally. "I'm going back to the floating island to use the time stones and save Dan's life," answers Sonic. "What! Sonic, we agreed not to use them again. The risk is to high," exclaims Sally. "I know, but we got to try," says Sonic in his most serious tone. "No, we don't. The last time that we used them, we failed to warn my father about Robotnik's initial take over in time. I don't want you to go through another depression because you failed to save Dan's life and to witness his death all over again. Promise me that you won't do this, please, Sonic. Promise me," pleaded Sally. "Okay, Sal. I promise," says Sonic sadly. "But if it can save countless lives to have Dan back amongst the living then I will break this promise," thinks Sonic sadly. "Now that is settled," starts Sally, "In a few minutes we go and cause trouble for Snively." Later at Robotropolis, Snively had just finished the new Mecha-Sonic in record time, "Lately, the freedom fighters have been more determined than ever, and it all started when the blonde hedgehog disappeared." "Master, I've analyzed Mecha-Dan's memory core. Sonic's transformed state can only be maintained as long as he is holding that power ring," says Mecha-Sonic. "So go make sure that he can't use it," sneers Snively. Later at the factory, "Yo, walking trash piles," calls Sonic. "PRIORITY ONE HEDGEHOG," calls a swatbot. The bots walk towards Sonic, when Mecha-Sonic storms in. "I'm baack!!!" "Not for long. I'm going to slice and dice you into a million pieces," snaps Sonic. Mecha-Sonic charges at Sonic who races away at the last possible second. "You're slower than ever, Mecha-trash," remarks Sonic. "I'll turn you into hedgehog hash!!!" "You'll have to catch me first," taunts Sonic as he races away from the factory with Mecha-Sonic giving chase. "Oh no. Snively has built another Mecha-Sonic," exclaims Sally. "Is the mission off?" asks Rotor. "No, it's not," says Sally determined to blow the factory to bits, "We'll go to plan B." "But wasn't Dan plan B?" asks Hershey. "Yes, but we have a new plan B." "Man, this bot is quick but I'm quicker," thinks Sonic as he pulls out his super power ring and transforms into Super Sonic. "Now to destroy that ring," thinks Mecha as it locks onto the super ring. Super Sonic turns around and slams into the bot. "Drat. I lost the targeting system," realized Mecha. The two warriors charge at each other at top speed. Super Sonic curls up into a tight ball and saws off Mecha's arm. Mecha tries to kick Super Sonic, but Super Sonic cuts the bot in half and rips out all of its circuitry. Super Sonic finds its transmitter and says into its mic, "Snively, if you build one more mecha-anything. I'll trash every single bot factory and then you!!!" Snively nervously swallows at nothing. "I never heard that hedgehog sound so vicious and cold-hearted before," thinks the little man. Meanwhile at the factory, "That's it," calls Rotor as he plants the last explosive device on a control panel. "Lets go before any more bots show up," calls Sally as she heads for the door. The team of six quickly run ten yards away from the building. "Nicole, detonate the charges," commands Sally. The factory is lit up by the explosions that destroyed it supports causing it to topple like a house of cards. Sonic returns just as the building collapses. "Lets go home," says Sally. "And quick," adds Sonic. Later at Knothole, "Hey, bro. How did it go?" asks Justin. "Fine," answers Sonic flatly. "I'll go home and check on Alishia," says Sally as she headed to their hut. Justin shakes his head and says, "It's still hard to believe that I now have a niece." "Yeah, but we're a family even if we did come from different universes," says Sonic. "That we are, that we are," says Justin, "and as a family we are there to help anyone of us if there is a problem. Please remember that next time that you have any problems, Bro." Sonic nods his head letting his brother know that he will try in the future. The end. Author's note: This story was written for fun not profit. You may print it out if you want. The characters Dan Michaels, Danielle Michaels, Michelle Michaels, Alicia Hedgehog, Justin Hedgehog, Jessica Hedgehog, and Diane Forests Michaels are characters of my own creation. All other characters belong to SEGA, Archie comics, and DIC. If you want to use them ask me for permission Any comments or questions send them to my E-mail address: mdpii@hotmail.com.