Charming for a Bee

Legal disclaimer:
    Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters copyrighted by Sega and
Archie Publications, Inc. Devochka copyrighted by me.

    "Wow! This one is beautiful!" Charmy exclaimed to himself, sniffing a
bright blue flower," I wonder what type it is." Lively and enthusiastic, the
young bee zipped here and there, playfully studying flowers. Then he came upon
a small waterfall, gently pouring into a lake as small ripples formed
continuously in the lake. Staring in awe, the bee remained hovering for a few
moments. Suddenly, he had the urge to play.
    He soared through flowers of every color he could imagine, which surrounded
the clear, sky blue lake. Then, as most bees do, he dove until his hands
scooped up a handful of water, and abruptly turned upwards with his prize.
Washing his hands and face, he continued his playful activity by gliding around
the waterfall. For the first time he noticed a small cave, barely large enough
for him to crawl in. Purple lighted the other side, which mingled with the
darkness of the cave.
    Curiousity filled his mind, and he pondered what was the source of the
purple light. Daring a glance through the waterfall to see if anyone was
watching, he crawled through the entrance. It was even shorter than it had
appeared, perhaps a foot or two in length, because it seemed as if he had
simply leapt through a hoop. On the other side of it, it made a sudden change
in size. Although it wasn't large enough to fly in, he could stand. The walls
had strange markings and pictures that could be seen in the dim light.
    But none of that caught his attention. However, an abnormal jewel shaped in
the form of a flower did. Stem and leaves were a dark, pure green, and the
pollen was a bright golden yellow. Each petal, five to be exact, formed a
perfect semi-oval around the pollen and the deep, royal purple shimmered even
though there appeared to be no other light. Without thinking, which is
something Charmy rarely discards, he snatched the flower and left the cave.
    Feeling somewhat lonely, he went to search for Mighty, after tying the
flower loosely to his shoelaces.


    Slamming his fist in the mountain again, another large portion of it
crumbled to the ground. Once again, the armadillo was creating his own way
through. If there was one thing he enjoyed, it was the chance to show off. It
had been a while since he had a chance to brag or show off for a girl, and he
wasn't about to pass up the chance.
    "Do you always act like this?" Devochka asked.
    "It's tough going, but it's shorter." Mighty replied. The large cave he had
made inside the mountain grew with every punch he made. Soon, he was at the
last punch, and he made sure that this was the most impressive. Blasting
through the end of the mountain, he strode out victorious, with Devochka
following. Just looking at her face, he could tell that she was awed as she
crawled over the rubble.
    "Need help?" he asked, stretching his hand out so she could use it for
support. This was a very rare chance, not only had she left her cat-suit
behind, but for the first time she was letting herself be impressed by strength
and physical attributes.
    "Heads up, Mighty!" Charmy exclaimed, diving and tapping him lightly on the
shoulder," Tag, you're IT"
    "Charmy?! Oh, not another one of your stupid games!" Mighty growled, taking
his hand back from Devochka and swiping hastily at the bee.
    "Have you anything better to do?" Charmy zipped around Mighty a few times,
then stopped to help Devochka climb over the large rock. Holding onto his hand,
Devochka swiftly leapt onto the boulder, landing gracefully.
    "Yes, I do! Now go play with somebody else! I'm busy!" Mighty huffed.
Upset, Charmy left to find Vector or Espio.
    "That wasn't very nice." Devochka told Mighty.
    "Well, he was bugging me." he replied. Making a slight "hmph!", Devochka
turned and folded her arms.
    'So much for that opportunity' Mighty thought to himself,' Now I'm never
going to get another chance to impress her!' Devochka hopped off the rock,
independantly strolling away, not about to be impressed with physical activity
again.


    Although Mighty didn't want to play, Charmy didn't let his hopes fade. Even
though he was searching for Vector, he spotted Espio first. Curled up in a
tight ball, the chameleon snoozed peacefully. But, almost as soon as he spotted
Espio, he disappeared. Figuring Espio wanted to sleep, Charmy went a little
further and found Vector, listening to music like always. Tapping Vector,
Charmy yelled," Tag, you're IT!"
    "Huh?" Vector mumbled, swiping at Charmy, "Hey! No fair! What kind of
warning was that?"
    "Since when do the rules say you need a warning?" Charmy asked, diving and
gliding out of the way.
    "Hold still you--!" Vector began.
    "Ah-Ah! Sticks and stones, Vector! Sticks and stones!" Charmy scolded
mildly.
    "Easy for you to say, dude!" Vector snapped. Trying to swipe at Charmy
again, Vector almost tripped over a bush, but recovered quickly by hopping
over it. However, on the other side he tripped and fell anyway.
    "OW!!!" somebody shouted," Get off me you bif oaf!"
    "Something isn't cool. I'm hearing voices!" Vector thought aloud.
    "Vector, you numbskull! It's me, Espio!" the angry chameleon reappeared in
front of him.
    "Well, excuuuuse me! How was I supposed to know?" Vector asked rudely,
shrugging. After watching a moment, Charmy flew away depressed. Somehow he had
managed to ruin both of their days, too. Flying through a few bushes, he
wondered why everything was suddenly becoming chaotic with every move he made.
He ran into a branch that smacked him into the ground, and he made a small
"hmph!"
    "Excuse me, lad, but would you mind sitting elsewhere?" a muffled voice
asked.
    "Huh?" Charmy hovered an inch or two away to see the familiar fire-ant,"
Oh, sorry Archimedes." He turned red with embarrasment from his clumsy mistake.
    "No harm done." Archimedes brushed himself off, then noticed Charmy's
unusual mood," What's the matter, m'lad?"
    "I seem to be ruining everybody's day." Charmy sobbed.
    Hesistating to answer, because he knew he was dealing with a sensitive bee
who's feelings where hurt easily, he replied," Really? What makes you think
that?"
    "Well," Charmy thought back to Mighty," First I messed up Mighty's chance
on impressing Devochka, and then I ruined Vector's pride by accidently making
him trip, and then he fell on Espio, so Espio didn't get to sleep like he
wanted to."
    "Is that so?" Archimedes inquired thoughtfully," And why do you think all
this has happened?"
    "I don't know." Charmy shrugged," It seems like my bad luck streak started
after I was picking flowers."
    "A normal bee activity." Archimedes added," Anything abnormal?"
    "Only this flower." Charmy pointed to the loosely tied jewel on his shoe.
    "A pretty jewel. Looks somewhat like a Chaos Emerald to me." Archimedes
told him.
    "But Chaos Emeralds are bigger." Charmy denied.
    "You're thinking of the Chaos Emerald that holds up the island. Not all
emeralds are like that." he shook his head.
    "Really?" Charmy asked, fascinated that he might actually be holding a
Chaos Emerald.
    "Really. It may not be a Chaos Emerald, but it certainly has some sort of
power like a Chaos Emerald." he replied, gesturing to his words.
    "Is that bad or good?" Charmy asked.
    "It could be either. It depends on how you use it." Archmedes shrugged.
    "What do I do with it now?" he asked, turning the flower in his hand to
study it.
    "Either protect it or return it, I suppose."
    Charmy thought about how he had worked so hard on the hover-craft only days
before, and how Robotnik had destroyed their hover craft with his robot. He
felt like giving Robotnik a taste of what it felt like to lose hard work.
    "Well, I have to go. Thank you." Charmy fluttered away.
    "Anytime, m'lad, anytime." Archimedes waved, but couldn't help but wonder
what the bee was up to.


    A few hours later, Charmy arrived in Robotropolis, alone. He waited for two
SWATbots to pass by, then maneuvered into one of the buildings. Clutching the
flower tightly, he sped past some worker bots and into some type of control
room. He peered around, but didn't recognized the type of controls.
    "Maybe I should find out the hard way!" he said to himself, pushing some
buttons. With some beeps and the sound of computer chips thinking, the Great
Forest appeared on one of the screens.
    "Oops! I didn't mean to do that!" Charmy watched the screen for a second.
Nothing was happening. Shrugging, he tried to find the program files again.
This time one of the lights began blinking vigorously.
    "Huh?" he hadn't meant to do that, either.
    "Freeze intruder!" a SWATbot droned. Jumping with fear, Charmy twirled
around with the flower in front of him. When he didn't freeze, the SWATbot
shot. Instead of hitting Charmy, though, it hit the flower, which absorbed the
shot and flashed brightly. Exploding, the flower destroyed the SWATbot and
hurled Charmy into a wall. Charmy saw more SWATbots enter the room, then
fainted.

    Sometime later, he woke up in a prison cell. His flower had somehow
survived and was still in his hand.
    "So, you're awake, prisoner." someone grumbled mockingly. Staring outside
his cell, he saw the familiar long nosed assistant.
    "Snively.." Charmy growled, sitting up and looking around his prison. It
was gray, and dark with shadows. There was one seat chained to the wall, and an
airvent above, but that was all. It was hot and smoldering, and the air was
uncomfortably thick.
    "Robotnik want to know why you are here." Snively stated.
    "That's nice." Charmy pulled on a chain connecting him to the wall.
    "Quiet you little pest!" Snively retorted," Now, what are you doing? Where
is your group?"
    "My group is about to blow up jail cells... I'm not really here, y'know....
I'm just a holographic image... And in your granduer you can here me talking."
Charmy grinned slyly.
    Punching a button that shocked Charmy from his chains, Snively shouted,
"Don't talk that way to me!" Charmy eeped slightly, but wouldn't scream just
yet.
    "Why not? Don't like the truth?" he continued.
    "Well, I see that you'll be of no use! I'll come back to roboticize you
after my other matters have been taken care of!" Snively punched the button a
few more times before he left. Wondering if he could still hear him, Charmy
decided to take no chances after a brave display like that.
    "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...." He listened for a second,
"AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGHHHHHH!!!" He grabbed the chain and tried to yank it off.
It wouldn't budge. Now he was scared. He'd be roboticized for sure. The flower
was, still brightly glowing as ever, limply settling itself on the ground. It
had obviously fallen when he screamed.
    "Bad flower, bad! You weren't supposed to explode!" Charmy scolded it, then
decided he'd keep it around anyway, since it wouldn't matter much longer
anyway. The hours went by, and for a while he was curious if days hadn't gone
by as well. This was torture, it was bad enough that he was going to be a
robot, but to make him dangle on it this long was just plain out pitiless.
Finally, Snively returned. Clutching his flower tightly to himself, he shivered
slightly at the thought of not having a free will. Chilly breezes tickled him
up and down his spine. He was afraid.
    "So you insignifacant twirp, any last requests?" Snively asked as he had
the SWATbots take Charmy.
    "That I get a front row seat when you and Robotnik die." Charmy spat," And
don't make me wait too long."
    "Shut up!" Snively screamed," Take him to the roboticizer!" They passed
through endless corridors, as Charmy cogitated what being a robot was like. He
had never seen a robot that was free, except Bunnie, but she was only partly
robot. Looking down at the flower again, he began scolding himself for reacting
so quickly to go to Robotropolis, all because he found a funny-looking flower.
Then he saw the roboticizer, and knew his time was up.
    "Roboticize him!" Snively growled, beginning to work on the controls
himself. The SWATbot placed him inside and shut the roboticizer. Helplessly,
Charmy pounded on the wall a few times, then sat back down and hugged his
flower. He had never felt so lonely before. Above him it heated up, and the
light shone down on him. Green smoke began filling the roboticizer, and he
shuddered underneath. Feeling lost, he huddled up in a corner and grasped the
flower to himself as if it would protect him. His feelings were like that of a
child falling, searching for a foot hold. Smoke consumed him, and started to
fade away slowly. The roboticizer door opened, and he stepped out, unhindered.
Not a single spot on him was metallic.
    "What?" Snively bellowed. Charmy didn't realize he was still free, and it
took him a moment to recover.
    "Huh..." he groaned, examining himself. After comprehending that he was
alright, he stared around for a moment then zipped away.
    "But how did you--- Get him!" Snively gasped. But Charmy had too big of a
head start, and was already on his way back home.


    Hours later, bushes rustled in an unclaimed territory. Our little bee
watched the waterfall pour into the rippling lake, and sniffed the gentle scent
of flowers being blown by a soft breeze. Although he was about to return the
flower, something else had distracted him. A young woman was prancing about,
toga flowing loosely around as she twirled and danced. She had two flowing
wings, and looked very much like a human when it came down to bodily shape,
size and hair. Slim as a stick, fluid as a sea, she merrily let her blonde hair
toss limply around, only to fall back into normal position, barely below her
shoulders. Her eyes were a deep violet that were so intense it could be seen
from here. She wasn't furry, but wasn't scaly, much like humans, and had
neither tail nor horn.
    Although almost all her features were human, she had two pointed ears that
her hair was wrapping around, and those wings were a sure mark of inhuman. Yet,
she continued to prance undisturbed by anything... until she reached the
waterfall. Bending down she carelessly peered through, only to be shocked. It
was missing, and both knew it. Charmy wondered how she knew about it, and
pondered if she guarded it.
    "Hello?" he finally called out to her. As if by reation, she was instantly
hidden in a bush, so well that Charmy couldn't be sure if she had jumped in
that spot even though he had watched. He shrugged and fluttered over to the
waterfall. Whatever her business was, it was none of his. He crawled back
through the cave and replaced the flower. But instead of leaving, this time he
tried to read the inscriptions on the wall. Out of three columns, he could
hardly read anything at all, since he knew very little about the ancient
language. The first one, at least what he could make out about it, said
"guardian", "protection", and one word he thought said "avariel". He had never
heard of that before.
    Continuing to the second column, he read something about "mystics", "an
hour", "Magicians" and "sorcery". The last column said different things
completely. This one seemed to talk about fire-ants and echidnas, and something
else about charisma. Finally, after being satisfied that that was all that he
could interpret, he left the cave. Not much to his surprise, the woman was
still hidden.
    As he left he heard a calm voice almost sing, "Sweet songs of youth, wise
in the meeting of all wisdom, to believe in the good, in man..."
    But he ignored it, and raced away.