Sonic X: Clereen's Story

Chapter 7: To Adventure! Or...Not

Clereen woke up to the sound of everyone rushing around and she quickly fell off the couch. What’s going on? She thought. She went to investigate and she saw Tails, Sonic and Amy rushing around back and forth collecting strange metal objects and devices. Clereen saw Knuckles approaching, holding a pile of heavy metal objects in his arms, obscuring his sight quite badly.

She touched his shoulder to get his attention and asked “What’s going on, Knuckles?”

“There hasn’t been any another messages on the TV about the chaos emeralds so Tails has come up with an idea to use an advanced tracker to find them and save time” Clereen gasped in surprise and excitement

“But Tails doesn’t have all the materials he needs here so we are looking around to find anything that could help”

“Oh! Can I help?” Clereen cried excitedly at the prospect of helping

“Do you know what we need?” Knuckles asked

“Computery things! I can find that!” Clereen cried excitedly but before Knuckles could explain she needed a better idea than that she was already gone. Knuckles sighed and carried on with his job. Clereen went searching, prowling around the house like a sneaky wolf in search of rabbits. She found various bits and bobs and, having absolutely no idea what half of them were or whether she should take them, she decided to bring them back anyway. It was an important cause right? They wouldn’t mind surely. So Clereen came back with her goodies and waited for all the others to catch up. Once everyone had dumped what they had in front of Tails working out his plans, Tails inspected the items in the pile carefully.

“It’s good but we are still missing some vital parts” Tails said sounding disappointed.

“So what do we do now?” Clereen asked

“Good question” Tails responded and she thought for a while before speaking again.

“If I can get that computer working then we could do some research into areas where we can find some spare parts to finish the tracker” Tails said sounding disappointed. What? That old computer in the cellar that Tails was messing with earlier? It can’t be that hard to fix something like that. So Clereen went to investigate the cellar, which had been adapted into a spare room for the gang to hide from human sight. It wasn’t long before Clereen yelled back to them from the cellar stairs.

“I fixed it!”

“You what?!” Tails yelled, baffled. Nobody knew what she was talking about so they all went to investigate. They found the old computer up and running with Clereen looking very proud of herself with a welding iron and a screw driver staring right back at the glowing screen. Knuckles quickly grabbed the welding iron off her.

“Clereen?! What are doing? You can’t just weld things without any experience you will hurt yourself!”

“Err I think she has had experience, Knuckles” Tails said as she looked into the computers wiring to see what she had done.

“What?!” Knuckles yelled in disbelief before bending down to look inside the computer.

“Look, see? The welding on this is perfect” Tails said pointing at the machinery. Knuckles just pulled away and stared at Clereen in disbelief. Clereen smiled back unsure what to make of this attention. Was it not normal for her to know these things?

“This is some complex wiring and fixing. She had even used new parts to-” Tails started to explain. Clereen soon realised that perhaps this was not good for keeping her little secret so she quickly changed the subject.

“Weren’t you here to search for something important?” Clereen reminded Tails

“Oh yes of course!” Tails took to the computer and it wasn’t long before she found what she looking for.

“Ah here! We can go to this scrapyard not far from here. There seems to be plenty of remnants of machinery there from the local computer shops and factories. We should find what we need easily” Tails said happily

“Right then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go and get them!” Knuckles suggested and they all bounded over to Tails airplane but when they got there Knuckles pushed Clereen aside.

“Oh no. Not you” Knuckles said as he climbed into the plane

“What? Why?!” Clereen said in utter disbelief

“Don’t take this the wrong way but you are not exactly fighting material Clereen” Knuckles tried to explain

“You will just slow us down” Tails agreed

“WHAT?!” Clereen yelled in frustration before they quickly took off without another word. After Clereen regained her balance from the plane take off, she kicked the ground and growled. How could they leave her here? Like she was some kind of child?! She had been there before and she had saved their skin. Now they are telling her she can’t come?! Clereen paced around angrily while thinking about it.

Anna came wandering in and immediately recognised her anger. “What’s the matter, Clereen” she enquired, sounding rather worried about what the answer could be.

“It’s not fair!” Clereen bellowed to Anna before continuing to pace with frustration

“I saved your lives just a few days ago and now they’re telling me I am not safe to go with them? Can you believe that?!”

“I’m afraid they may be right, Clereen” Anna said with all the softness and sympathy she had

“What?” Clereen answered sounding more bewildered than angry this time

“It’s not that you don’t have the ability to fight, Clereen. It’s you. You are careless and clumsy. Would you know what to do in a fight?”

“No” Clereen said in shame as she realised she had a point. Anna sighed as she saw how upset she was. She knew how she felt.

“Don’t take it the wrong way, Clereen. They just want to protect you” Anna said as nicely as she could

“Is that what your parents said before they left YOU?”

Anna just stood shocked in silence with such a blunt comment. Clereen looked up at Anna, right in the eyes, and she had never looked so serious.

When she heard no response Clereen said “Exactly” Then Clereen left the room to watch TV. Anna just stood there wondering what on earth she would say that for and what could she have possibly meant. It was so hurtful to say something about her parents so bluntly but then again, she also didn’t understand how Cream felt earlier. It was true Knuckles had told her that she hasn’t lived with many people for her whole life but could this really be because of that? Anna decided that maybe she should lay low for a while and decided to get on with her own thing as well for the time being.

After a while, Clereen felt guilty for being so angry, especially with Anna. She had spent the time doing a little doodling. Although she wasn’t perhaps as artistically good as Anna, she did like to doodle sometimes to just be creative and sometimes to get her feelings out. She had borrowed the colouring crayons given to Cream to draw but she never used. She had found herself drawing a picture of herself inside a dark cave, so dark you couldn’t see either end. There was dripping water in the cave and she tried to colour it blue but all she could think about was red.

The sight of the red made her sweat. Then she coloured the droplets from the roof red. Then she coloured it red and then she coloured it red and then she coloured it red. Clereen’s tears poured down her face with frustration as she tried to stop her hand from colouring but she felt compelled to keep going. Then she coloured the blackness of the cave red but all it did was mix with the black making a murky gross dark red that could only be described as like mud with blood and an oil spill stirred inside like a disgusting witch’s concoction. Anna watched, horrified. It almost felt like the Clereen she knew wasn’t there anymore. Then Clereen screamed before weeping on the paper, her hand cramping.

“I’m sorry, Clereen. It’s OK. Don’t cry” Anna said as she rushed in to her aid.

“No I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things about your-” Anna hushed her quiet.

“Don’t worry about that. You were upset. I know you didn’t mean it”

“But I don’t even know if I-” Clereen looked at Anna’s honest face and decided to try and build up the confidence to again hide the truth. This was not the time. She went quiet and smiled.

“You wanna watch TV? I think I need it” Clereen sighed and Anna agreed. Just before Anna left to follow her, she glanced at the drawing and ended up staring at it for a while more than she expected before going to play with Clereen. It was several hours before the others came back and Clereen was ready to greet them.

“So did you get what you needed?” Clereen asked Tails as they came in.

“Afraid not. We didn’t have much time before it went dark and had to come back. We found some of what we need but there is an important part we just can’t seem to find”

“Can’t you create the machine without this part?” Anna asked

“But then it wouldn’t be important” Clereen explained

“Unfortunately, Clereen is right. I just have no hope of this tracker working properly unless I have this part” Tails said sounding utterly disappointed. Both Clereen and Anna felt bad for her as it seemed important to her. It was late and everyone was tired so they all went to bed. Clereen was tired as usual and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, Clereen woke up rather early as she found it difficult to sleep. She couldn’t help but still be bothered about not being involved. They were struggling. She couldn’t just watch as they failed. If she could just get them to take her then surely she could help. She just had to prove it to them. Then she heard everyone moving around outside her room. They were trying to be quiet but Clereen’s hearing was sharp. Clereen knew what they were doing. They had been unsuccessful the first day so they were getting a head start. Clereen then had an idea, she tip topped quietly to see them through her doorframe. She could see shadows passing the light coming through the door and blocking it from time to time and she could hear their faint footsteps but she couldn’t see them. Once everything was quiet, she snuck by them and downstairs.

Clereen then got to Tails’ plane and found a large empty bomb storage hatch at the bottom, perfect for her to hide in. She got a screw driver and got to work unscrewing the hatch. However, it was too noisy and she had to hide as Tails soon came in to fix the loose hatch. Then the others all gathered and quietly entered the vehicle. As she saw the vehicle about to leave, she knew there was only one choice for her now. As the plane took off, Clereen grabbed the bottom of the plane with her arms and legs and screamed as it took off with her on it. Luckily her, the screams were drowned out by the sound of the engine.

By the time the engine had quietened down so did Clereen. She took a deep breath and tried not to panic. Then she looked down. That wasn’t a good idea. She wanted to scream again but she stopped herself by putting one hand on her mouth. But then she soon realised this gave her less grip and so she quickly grabbed on again. Clereen whimpered defencelessly as she soured through the skies at great speed. Luckily it wasn’t long before they got to their destination and they landed the plane. Clereen let go and crashed into the scrap metal underneath the plane landing spot. Everyone turned around and gasped as Clereen pulled herself out from the heavy pile of car gas vents. Knuckles was the one to ask the burning question on everyone’s mind.

“Clereen?! What the fuck are you doing here?!” He exclaimed in shock. Clereen just laughed nervously. Boy was she in trouble. Tails looked at the plane and then back at Clereen.

“Don’t tell me you...” Tails asked Clereen. Clereen started to sweat anxiously and hung her head in embarrassment.

“I rode the plane, yes” Clereen said as she rubbed the back of her neck, fidgeting nervously.

“WHAT?!” Knuckles yelled with utter amazement and shock.

“I held onto the bottom of the plane as you flew off, heh” Clereen tried to smile but found it very difficult to fake. The others just stared at her but before anyone could make a proper response, Sonic suddenly turned around as if he heard something. Clereen and friends all looked in that direction but saw nothing but then Clereen looked up and gasped. Everyone turned to see where she was looking and followed her eyes but it was too late. A bomb dropped from the sky and landed directly where Clereen was. Luckily, Clereen was able to use the scrapyard junk as cover and she delved deep into it before the explosion hit. Everyone else avoided the explosion just in time.

“CLEREEN!” Knuckles yelled but Clereen emerged from the crater soon after and came running to them as fast as she could before hiding behind them panting heavily.

“OH SWEET LORD MOTHER OF FUCK!!” She screamed after it had dawned on her just how close she was to death. Then she turned to see a figure behind sonic.

“Look out!” Clereen yelled but it was too late. Sonic was quickly captured by a long metal arm on a little green flying machine out of the sky. For a second, Clereen just stood in fear but then she remembered the promise she had made to herself. She couldn’t give up now. She had to prove herself. If she wanted to help them, she had to learn to stand up and fight. Then Clereen continued to use a weak laser out of her hand to cut the arm off the machine holding Sonic, quickly freeing him. She stumbled a bit after using it.

“Clereen! Are you ok?” Knuckles asked

“A little dizzy but I’m fine” Clereen responded as she shook her head to try and shake away the dizziness. Just then, the machine shot a thin wire that wrapped around Clereen. Before Clereen could try to remove these wires she felt a surge of electricity through her body. She screamed in agony as the energy fried and burned her skin. Her body violently threw itself all about as her muscles contracted. Then it stopped just as suddenly as it came and she hung breathless.

“CLEREEN!” Knuckles yelled.

“HOOO ho ho ho!” They heard Eggman’s laugh echo in the area. Tails and Knuckles sneered in rage and Sonic stared in fear.

“Want her back? Come and get her!” He taunted. Sonic leaped at the wires ready to cut them with his sharp spines but only got electrocuted as he touched them.

“You idiot! Don’t attack him!” Knuckles yelled as Eggman fried Clereen and she screamed in agony once more before then stopping again.

“The more you try to stop me the more your little friend here gets fried!”

“You fucking monster!” Knuckles yelled in frustration and disgust.

“Wait, I have an idea! Get in the plane!” But before Tails could continue she gasped as she saw nothing but scraps where her plane had been.

“HOOO ho ho ho! Already took care of it remember?” Eggman teased.

“The explosion. He wasn’t aiming for Clereen! He was aiming for my plane!” Tails yelled in amazement at this plan unfolding

“How are we going to get to him now?” Sonic cried. Eggman continued to laugh a jolly laugh but then suddenly his laughing stopped when he noticed his electricity malfunctioning.

“Huh? What’s this?” Eggman looked over to Clereen to see energy glowing from her and interfering with the circuits. Eggman frantically tried pressing every button to fix it but it was no use and it soon fizzed out, releasing Clereen from her capture. Knuckles caught Clereen in his arms as she fell limp to the ground.

Knuckles held her softly and whispered to her “Please, Clereen. Stop. You have already got attacked three times now. Please, we just want to keep you safe. I know you want to help but stay out of this!” Knuckles urged her. Clereen slowly shuffled out of his arms and stood up. She stood there, quiet for a while gathering her breath.

“Clereen?” Knuckles said sounding worried with her lack of response. She then turned to Knuckles and suddenly he saw her wise beyond her years.

“No” She said, plain as day. Knuckles stared back at her in shock. Then Clereen proceeded to aim a beam straight at Eggman’s flying machine’s engine. The machine went down nice and easy. Clereen watched it burn and fall like an eagle watching its rival fall from the sky after a fight. She then turned to Eggman, where he quickly pressed a few buttons and whizzed away in his sphere shaped craft without saying another word.

Everyone turned to stare at Clereen. Clereen stood and stared back before smiling. “Now who looks weak?” Clereen said with confidence.

“Well I can’t deny that” Tails sighed as she wandered off towards the broken flying machine to examine it.

“What are you saying, Tails?!” Knuckles said in shock

“Well it’s not like we can stop her. She hitched a ride on our plane. Oh by the way, don’t do that again, Clereen” Clereen began to laugh nervously before then losing all her energy and collapsing on the floor.

“Clereen?! You OK?!” Knuckles yelled as he picked her top half up from the ground and found she was out stone cold.

“She has been frazzled several times by high voltage electricity. I think it’s safe to say she needs a good rest” Tails pointed out. Knuckles understood and continued to pick her up in his arms gently.

“But how are we going to get back home?” Sonic cried in his usual worried tone

“Don’t worry. It seems there are plenty enough parts here to make that tracking device AND make an even better plane”

“Great but how are we going to get them back to the mansion for you to work on them genius” Knuckles exclaimed. Just then, a black pickup truck appeared and Anna popped out.

“I thought you could use some help moving all those parts so I called up my dad to ask him if I could call for- Oh my god! What the heck happened?!”