Inspired by a scene from Sonic X, where Sonic has been injured in battle but keeps going and acts completely normal up until the point he suddenly passes out cold. I thought I'd explore him having that same tendency in a mashup Satam/comics world.

Sonic the Hedgehog rarely stopped for a breather, but he did so now. Panting lightly, he pressed himself closer to the shadows of the little alcove he had found. He didn't dare sit down, as he needed to be able to sprint away at a half-second's notice, but he did allow himself to lean back slightly against the hard wall behind.

Something brushed against his cheek and he swiped at it without a thought. Only when he felt the same spot begin to sting did he realize he had wiped away fresh blood. Sometime earlier, his cheek had been grazed by something sharp; much like a few other places on his body.

Now that he had stopped moving, Sonic began to really feel those other places where cuts and bruises decorated his blue fur. His legs had just started to ache from their constant state of tension, and even the grime was starting to bother a little. Still, as he thought of what he had accomplished, he smirked and felt a thrill of pride.

Tonight was the farthest he'd ever gone into the nightmare of a city that was Robotropolis.

'Wasteland' was a more accurate term for the place, for it was nothing but oil-saturated dirt, writhing plumes of smoke, and dangerous metal - both in the forms of the dark, hulking factories and the countless death squads of SWATbots that shot at anything alive - and he had managed to venture nearly into the heart of it, from what he could tell. Not too bad for a thirteen year-old hedgehog on his own, armed only with the incredible speed he was still testing and learning the limits of.

That speed was exactly why he was here, scouting the terrain.

Robotnik wasn't going away anytime soon, and Sonic and his friends were getting older and would soon be able to do something about it. They were a pretty small group, and not a fully trained army or anything, but striking fast and hard at the tyrant's base of operations would even the score. To do that, they needed a functional map of Robotropolis.

So the young hedgehog had been making short trips to the city, keeping all that he saw in his head until later when he could sketch it out onto some parchment. He'd roughly note the placement of any factories or reactors he came across, and Rotor (who had a steadier hand and much nicer handwriting) would add the information to the master map they kept in Sally's quarters.

No matter what Sally and Rosie said, Sonic knew this was way too important to put off and he was the only one who could do it. It wasn't too dangerous. He could handle it.

In fact, he'd been handling it for over three hours now, making his way mostly unseen (stealth didn't come naturally to him, but he'd been working on it). Those unlucky SWATbots that caught sight of him were left in pieces in his wake, for Sonic had spun and sliced through each and every one before they could get an alert out to their robotic brethren. His chances were going to run out soon, Sonic knew, but a quick rest to recharge was needed for the way back to the forest.

Though he'd almost been expecting it, Sonic's heart still leapt in his throat when a robotic voice broke the silence.

"Lifeform detected," droned a SWATbot from up and behind Sonic's hiding place. "Priority One: Hedgehog."

"And I was just starting to feel lonely!" Sonic quipped. He dashed out from the alcove to find a 'bot already raising his arm, targeting.

Sonic's feet had almost left the ground in a leap toward the SWATbot when a laser suddenly shot across his right arm, close enough to burn.

"Augh!" he cried, gripping the wounded area hard in an effort to dampen the pain. A quick glance to the side showed that a trio of SWATbots had arrived unannounced. They marched forward, weapons trained on him. In retrospect, he shouldn't have chosen a place with a surrounding embankment he couldn't easily see over, but he had really needed that rest.

The first SWATbot was now speaking over his communications line. "Alert. All Units. Priority One detected in sector R-181 - " His monotone fizzled out as Sonic spun and cut through his neck, severing the domed head from the bulky body. Before the pieces even hit the ground, Sonic was spinning and cutting the others down in turn, dodging lasers in between.

A siren began to sound faintly in the distance.

"That's my cue," Sonic muttered under his breath, before he revved up and sped towards the outskirts of the city.

Now that every nearby 'bot had been alerted to his presence, getting through Robotropolis would be a lot harder this time around. Not impossible, though. He'd get back to Knothole for sure - there was no way he was going to let this groundbreaking trip go to waste.

Sonic spotted a mass of SWATbots up ahead and steadily getting closer. Looking around quickly, he also spotted some old junk parts nearby, piled gradually higher but also conveniently flattened on top. Running up the makeshift ramp, Sonic pushed off with all the strength in his legs and sailed clear over the SWATbots. He turned around in midair to give them a cheeky wave.

Sure, the botheads now knew he was here, but he no longer had the need to creep around.

Sonic landed, avoiding the shower of laserfire that followed. He couldn't help but grin as he ran. Increased danger, but an opportunity to cut loose? Sounded fair, to him.

Sally Acorn rarely allowed herself to panic, but she felt like doing so now.

The young squirrel princess wanted to wring her hands together, or worry the edges of her blue vest, or even chew a fingernail - but these outward signs of distress wouldn't have been proper. So, in front of the large haystack positioned at the secret entrance of Knothole, she paced and tried to ignore the knot of apprehension tightening around her.

Eventually she gave in and turned to her close friend, the tan-furred young rabbit sat on a stump close by. "How long has it been, Bunnie?"

Both of Bunnie's legs and left arm, roboticized long ago, glinted with reflected moonlight. One of her long ears perked upwards at Sally's question. "How long since the sugah-hog left for the city without tellin' us, or how long since you last asked me?"

There was just a hint of annoyance in her tone and Sally picked up on it, sighing. "I'm sorry. I know. I just..."

Bunnie shook her head. "No need to apologize, Sally-girl. All this waitin' sure ain't doin' us any favors."

Sally crossed her arms, holding onto her elbows. "I don't know why I asked, anyway. I already know it's been far too long. If Nicole hadn't intercepted that alert from Robotropolis, we wouldn't have even known he was there, and that was an hour ago..." She tried not to look forlorn as she gazed at the entrance, thoughts of what could be delaying Sonic flitting through her mind's eye.

"He eez once again acting ze foolish," spoke up Antoine from where he sat leaning against a tree. The coyote in a Royal Guardsman uniform was wiping down his sword with a polishing cloth as they waited. "Venturing out all ze lones, and making ze preencess sick with worry eez simply unforgivable!" The usual disdain in his voice was clear, despite his thick accent.

Just then a sound from the oak slide caught their attention, nearly at the same second Sonic came hurtling down and landed in the giant haystack.

"Sonic!" Sally cried. She hurried over, Bunnie and Antoine following, just as Sonic sprang to his feet to greet them.

It wasn't until he stood up fully that she got a good look at him, and couldn't stop the gasp that left her mouth.

Sonic looked terrible - in the worst shape she'd ever seen him, in fact. He was covered in scratches and spots of oil and dirt. Though he held his normal, easy stance, he was pressing a hand over his right shoulder, covering up what looked like a laser wound. It had bled a little, staining his arm and glove. There were streaks of red on his leg and the side of his face.

"Are you alright?" asked Sally. Her hands fluttered near Sonic but didn't touch; she didn't even know where to start tending to the wounded hedgehog.

"Never better, Sal," said Sonic, shrugging his good shoulder. "Miss me?"

"Sonic, you -" Sally broke off, shaking her head (in amazement or frustration, she wasn't sure). As she often did when dealing with the Sonic the Hedgehog, Sally felt swept along by a myriad of emotions; namely, the urge to both hug him tightly in relief and never let go and strangle him at the same time. But before she could do either, Bunnie was speaking.

"Mah stars! What all did ya get your lil' self into out there?"

Sonic grinned. "About twenty-two SWATbutt hides, that's what!"

Sally felt her mouth drop open in shock, and in her peripheral vision saw that Bunnie's and Antoine's had done the same.

Sonic had long ago learned how to curl up into a ball that, combined with his super speed, could unleash a staggering amount of concussive force. In the last year or so he'd also discovered that by spinning fast enough and hardening his quills, he could achieve the same effect as a buzzsaw. However, Sally knew that he had cut through far more straw training dummies than SWATbots. To hear that he had taken on so many...

"And those were just the ones that spotted me!" Sonic continued. "The others - you shoulda seen it, those stealth exercises we've all been doing are really startin' to pay off - I got past 'em like nothing! They didn't even know I was sneakin' by!

"I got really far, too. Had to turn back eventually, but even then I was unstoppable, like - it was just -" Unable to fully convey his exhiliration with words, Sonic let go of his arm for a moment to pump a fist in the air and whoop loudly. Then he promptly winced and resettled his grip.

By now, Sally's conflicting emotions had done battle and one had emerged the clear victor.

"Sonic Hedgehog," she began in a low voice, "Are you telling me you ran off to Robotropolis, broke the no-solo rule and worried us all half to death, just because you felt like getting in a little target practice?"

Sonic managed to smile brightly despite the blood and grime smeared on his face. "You were worried about me?"

When Sally's only response was to plant her fists upon her hips and frown deeply, Sonic relented.

"Okay, okay! No, that wasn't why I went." He looked aside slightly. "I thought I'd run to blow off some steam and just ended up there, I guess. A SWATbot was out there patrolling closer than usual, so I took him down and thought I'd check it out, see if anything was going on. And, uh...just kept going from there."

"So you didn't set out to deliberately disobey my orders. You just did so anyway because it was convenient and fit nicely with whatever you felt like doing?"

Now fully aware that Sally was far more angered by than appreciative of his exploits, Sonic braced himself to argue his side.

"Look, I know it was a little stupid. But we need that map, Sal. I know it, you know it. Everybody knows it, they just aren't comfortable with the risks involved." Sonic pointed at his chest with his thumb. "Well, I can handle those risks, Sal. I made it almost halfway, and I can do it again, no prob!"

Sally folded her arms. "You may have gained valuable information, yes. But blatantly disbobeying my orders? Completely disregarding your safety and the safety of those who would have gone in after you if something went wrong?" Her eyes became softer, almost plaintive for just a moment. "We've talked about this, Sonic! If we're going to make this work, we need to function as a team. And Rosie and I and the majority of the others already agreed - scouting missions are simply an unneccessary risk at the moment!"

Sonic opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Antoine, who spoke up haughtily. "And eef you were so - how did you say? - nonstoppable, just why do you look like the swiss cheeses, hm?"

"Ha! This? Nothing a little beauty sleep won't fix." Sonic added, smugly, "Not that you'd know what that is, Ant."

But Antoine wasn't going to let Sonic off so easily, not when he could take advantage of Princess Sally's clear displeasure with the hedgehog.

"You can boast all you want, but as usually, your recklessness has accompleeshed more harm than good!"

Sonic bristled now. "At least I got the guts to try and get something done! When's the last time that glorified toothpick of yours saw any action?"

Caught up in their antagonism, the two males had subconsciously moved closer and Bunnie stepped between them now.

"Now, reel it in, you two. Y'all are supposed to be catchin' the baddies on your hooks, not each other."

Sally took a deep breath. Yes, she was still angry and frustrated with Sonic's inability to follow orders, but pressing the issue could wait until they all had gotten some much needed rest.

"Bunnie's right," she said decisively. "We can't forget that we're all on the same side here, and bickering won't change anything that's already said and done. Besides, it's getting late, and we can work this out tomorrow."

She met Sonic's eyes. "Do you think you can make it to the clinic? I'd like you to at least get that arm wound looked at for now."

Bunnie drew closer to the hedgehog to offer her shoulder as a support, and Sonic stopped clutching at his wounded shoulder to wave her away, making a face.

"Like I said, guys, this is no biggie." He confidently stepped forward as he spoke. "I'll be - "

He didn't finish, as without any warning, his eyes suddenly slipped closed and he fell backwards to the ground.

For the second time in the span of twenty minutes, Sally cried out "Sonic!" and felt panic stirring. She quickly knelt and pressed her fingers underneath the cuff of his glove, searching for his pulse. It was there, quick and steady.

"Just unconscious," she breathed. She could only hope that he had passed out from over-exerting himself, and not because of anything life-threatening like internal injuries. "Guys -"

She needn't have prompted them; despite his earlier harsh words, Antoine bent down without hesitation and slipped his arm beneath one of Sonic's own, as on the hedgehog's other side Bunnie did the same. Together they carried their friend back to the village, where an overnight stay in Dr. Quack's care seemed to be in order.

As they made their way, the princess fought to keep from recalling the hollow rush of fear she had felt when Sonic suddenly toppled over. Sonic did most things with incredible speed, she mused. She hadn't thought that extended to losing consciousness as well. Sally was cheered slightly at the thought of teasing him about it when he came to.