A Werehog Story 2

Flash Back Time!

Well, since Sonic still wasn't sure how to answer the cause behind this nightly transformation, might as well start from the very beginning...

"It's finally today!" Chris beamed at breakfast time.

"It is, Mister Chris," Ella the strong maid placed down a plate full of pancakes, butter and syrup melting and dripping down the sides. "And I want you to eat a full and filling breakfast before your soccer game."

"Aw, Ella," he smiles sheepishly. "Thanks," he replied as he carefully picked up a piece of pancake with his fork.

"Morning everyone!" Cream and Cheese hopped down the stairs. "Pancakes! You love them, don't you Cheese?"

"Chao chao!" The bow tied Chao smiles and nods. "Well, there's more than enough for everyone!" Tails replied before he put his fork to his mouth and relishes the light fluffy texture.

Grandpa Chuck chuckled from behind his newspaper. "Well the weather is going to be great today. An average of 18 degrees, no rain and clear skies are for certain all day long. Prefect for the game, it's at 5 right?"

"Yep," Chris nods. "It's kind of a late game, just so the band has practice for Tuesday's football game. And our school offered to let them use the field."

"Master Chris, the bus has pulled upfront." The butler, Tanaka spoke, leaning in from the living room.

The kid leapt up and out of his chair, snatching his backpack as he went. "I'll you guys at the game!" He said as he bid them goodbye before he ran out the front door.

"That was fast," commented Tails.

"Of course," answered Sonic who just came down the stairs. "I'd be excited too if I were in his shoes." He then took a seat at the table, with a small groan of displeasure.

"You ok, Sonic?" The fox asked.

"I'm fine, Tails, I think I just got a small bug. It's nothing."

"Well, I'll pour you an extra dose of Orange juice." Ella offered already pulling a jug and cup out.

Sonic chuckles. "Thanks Ella, and how about some bacon to go with that?"

"Sure thing!"

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The rest of the morning went along without anything exciting happening. And Sonic with nothing to do was taking his usual nap on the garage roof. Soaking up some rays and just enjoying a peaceful moment.

"Zzzzzzzz…"

A small leaf falls off a nearby tree landing softly on the hedgehog's nose, stirring him from his nap. He props open an eye and smiles at it. "Oh, you couldn't have waited a few more minutes?"

Sitting up, he picks the leaf off and twirls it between two of his fingers. Now fully awake, Sonic gets to his feet. "I might as well go on a run before Chris' match. It could help with my stiffness; curse this habit of sleeping on roofs."

Seconds later, he went zooming though the city at warp speed, past people and cars. Up and down buildings, over bridges and under free way passes.

He does show off a bit, racing backwards for some fans that squealed and cheer at their blue speedy hero. "The limelight is where I belong" giving a sweeping bow as they clap and beg for more. "Sorry folks, time's a wasting and I must be going."

"Aaawwwwww!" They all whine. Sonic waves to them as he dashes off once more, heading towards Chris' school.

"You just made it Sonic!" Tails moved over on the bleachers so that his friend could take a seat. "And I grabbed us some snacks!" He announced as he passed some cotton candy. "Thanks, Tails!" Sonic beamed, sitting down next to his two tailed buddy. "So is the game starting soon?"

"Yep, right after the Anthem."

Over the loud speakers, music started to play. Everyone gets to their feet, putting a hand on their heart.

~O say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star - spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? ~

The crowd cheered when the song ended. The game could now start. It didn't take long to spot Chris out of his team of yellow and red. Everyone was taking their positions and...The game was on!

Feet moving left and right, again and again, chasing that black and white ball as it shot across the green field.

As the match went along, Sonic noticed the reoccurring pain in his stomach. At first, he thought it was from eating way too much cotton candy. Or maybe it was something he ate earlier?

It just wouldn't go away, so Sonic told Tails he was grabbing some Nachos to excuse himself. Then he went on a run, hoping it would cure his minor pain.

Sonic sped along the winding highways of Station Square, dodging swerving vehicles with ease, and even managing to have a little fun at the same time. As he rounded a bend in the busy road, he found himself playing chicken with an oncoming delivery truck that had no room to avoid him, or slow down with cars piled up in line behind its bumper. Smiling, the hedgehog slowed his neck-break pace slightly. The truck rapidly approached and the angry driver, a pudgy looking man laid on the bellowing horn, tapping it ever more frantically as the distance between Sonic and the truck's steel grill guard narrowed. Sonic waited for the precise moment before making his move.

Once the code on the license plate of the delivery vehicle became perfectly visible, Sonic planted his right foot hard against the pavement, followed closely by his left. Using the momentum from his run, coupled with a strong shove from the hedgehog's leg muscles, he leapt high; a small scuff noise broke up the din of engines and horns as the tips of his shoes brushed the top the red cab of the truck. It tripped up Sonic a bit. To keep him from ending up smeared on the pavement, he rolled into a ball and tumbled across the roof of the trailer, denting the thin aluminium in a few places. The still honking truck passed beneath Sonic and he landed with a soft thud on the highway's asphalt, still tucked into a spiky orb; quickly he had to roll to the right onto the sidewalk so he wouldn't have ended up under the tread of another large truck that ran over the spot he'd just been in.

Sonic spun along the sidewalk, avoiding the few stray pedestrians of the city that were out in this fine evening. A few twists and close calls later, the blue hero found himself on the outskirts of Central Park.

He uncurled himself then leaned up against the decorative brick archway that marked the entrance to Station Square's Central Park. Glancing back at the busy roadway, Sonic grinned broadly then chuckled to himself.

"Whew! Nothing quite like an easy evening jog to get the blood flowing," remarked Sonic to himself out loud. He stretched out his lean muscles; already the wheels in his mind were turning as he tried to think of something else fun to do. Running always improved his mood and helped him to forget a lot of the stress that came with being a well-renowned hero.

Even some of the strange sensations he'd experienced throughout the last few hours seemed to have disappeared altogether. The burning sensation he'd felt in his stomach was gone. Even as he thought about that, Sonic pressed his gloves to his gurgling gut remembering the voracious appetite that had beset him just an hour ago. He'd sated it by gulping down fifteen chilidogs. Now his stomach was a raging mass of rumbling complaints that refused to silence. "Ugh, maybe I should have let those dogs settle a bit before going on a run. That's the first time Jumbo Bob's chilidogs have…*urp…* given me any grief. That's the last time I eat any chili…well…maybe I'll just lay off them for a while," he concluded.

The aches settled at last, enough at least that Sonic decided he could risk another run before heading back to the soccer game. He didn't want to miss the last few minutes. Despite the time of night though and all he'd been through today, the cobalt hedgehog wasn't tired at all. Just the idea of missing the rest of his buddy's game didn't appeal to him. Sonic peered in through the entrance of the park.

"It's been awhile since I've taken a waltz in a park. After this, I'll head back," said Sonic as he walked beneath the archway.

He'd only walked a short distance along the well-trodden dirt trail that wound its way like a brown serpent beneath the thick canopy formed by the numerous species of tree, before Sonic felt another painful twinge in his gut. At first, it was something he could easily ignore. However, his discomfort grew, changing the hero's calm, lively expression into an ugly grimace. He was eventually forced to stop. Leaning against the sturdy trunk of an oak tree, Sonic doubled over with his head sagging forwards towards the ground and his eyes shut tight as he waited for the cramps to pass. They did not.

Suddenly, a transformation raged to life within Sonic's body. A sharp crack broke the silence of the park as Sonic's spine writhed violently within his back. The vertebrae pressed against his flesh, even managing to show through his fur. He screamed as the unanticipated pain drove him to his knees with his elbows resting on his knees for support.

"What's……URG! ACK!" Sonic choked back another cry as his spine creaked again. He felt something pulling on his tail, separating the bones that made it up. Curiosity mixed with the unnatural feeling, and Sonic craned his neck over his trembling right shoulder then gasped as his stumpy tail stretched longer, drooping down between his legs until it could nearly sweep the dirt from the trail.

By now, a needle-like sensation had spread from his chest until all of his skin felt as if something was trying to tear every single strand of fur off of him. It was a horribly irritating feeling that made the hedgehog want to tear off his own hide just to spare him from the prodding. The hero soon noticed that this was being caused by another stage of his transformation. Sonic's electric blue coat thickened into a heavy pelt of lush dark cobalt fur, bordering on an almost purplish colouring; meanwhile his peach flesh was also becoming overgrown with a shorter grey covering of fuzz. A patch of light blue fur filled in on the upper part of his torso, creating a tuft that grew in over the area of bare flesh on his chest.

Sonic stood and was given a respite that allowed him only a brief moment to examine his new darker pelt. Suddenly an inferno burst to life inside the hedgehog. Every bone in his body felt as if it were combusting; in fact Sonic expected his whole body to ignite from the heat that it was producing. He was helpless to do anything but stifle as much of his yelps as he could. Having any nearby humans coming to investigate was the last thing Sonic wanted to deal with at the moment.

"Agh! W-what's……happening……to mmm……mmeeee………rraarggg!" The question started out in a higher pitched cry for help but then lowered to a guttural growl that sounded as if he had gravel bouncing around in his throat. Choking on his words, Sonic grasped at his neck with both hands, surprised by the change. Again, he didn't have any time to ponder as the transformation went into full gear.

The burning in his skeleton turned to sharp cracks as each bone was broken into splinters allowing it to stretch; gradually, with a sound akin to stepping on a pile of twigs Sonic grew taller. His limbs popped and groaned under the stress of the elongation. Seams on his shoes that held the red material to the white rubber soles started to split as the growth worked into his feet. The thin strings that made up his socks split readily as his feet swelled up; claws then tore out what remained of them and pressed it against the tips of his runners. Sharp cracks came from each ankle as it lifted up and then stretched apart from his widening toes. Overall, though, they didn't change much but now resembled a wolf's back feet far more than they looked like a hedgehog's. Sonic continued to stretch out until he'd far surpassed his original three and a half foot stature; he leveled off at just over five feet tall. The hedgehog's arms had lengthened considerably but his legs had remained fairly stock and hadn't grown along with the rest of him.

Staggering from the pain of the transformation, Sonic managed to totter towards a tree that he tipped forwards against leaning his head against it and wrapping a hand around each side; he dug the tips of his gloves into the bark and cringed as another wave of torment assaulted his body.

Rips appeared at the ends of his gloves as long claws pierced through and burrowed into the bark of the oak tree. He flexed his fingers, gouging trenches into the wood as he growled.

Sonic's jaw was forced to open wider as his flat teeth started to sharpen into fangs. These became large enough that there was barely any room for him to close his mouth; not that he could at the moment considering he was still roaring in pain. CRACK! The hedgehog's jaw bone and frontal area of his skull fractured into shards of burning glass that quickly pressed outwards then reformed into a slight muzzle, relieving the pressure that had built in his mouth from his enlarged teeth.

Along with his small muzzle, Sonic's nose underwent a small adjustment as well. Soon his nasal passages were swimming with a host of scents and odours varying from the strong pungent reek of his own sweat and fear, to the more subtle fumes of exhaust and the warm breaths of the strolling late-night people of the city drifting from the streets surrounding the park.

Suddenly Sonic felt a twinge in his arms, not in the bone as it had been, but deep inside the muscle. A jerking twitch ran through his body as the final stages of his metamorphosis began. He roared as his arm muscle bulged rapidly starting at his biceps and continuing in a wave of growth that ran down to his gloves; quickly his skinny fuzzy arms doubled in size as lean muscle was replaced with hardened bulges of chorded mass. The gloves didn't stand a chance. His hands swelled within them, until the material exploded, revealing immense light blue hands that ended in dagger-like claws. His fingers still clutched the tree in a death-grip. Sonic's narrows shoulders widened and his chest surged outwards until it pressed against the tree trunk, turning his body from a narrow oval to an upside-down triangle shape. More muscle spread into his legs thickening and strengthening those as well. His heavy pelt of fur though hid any of the definition his expanded muscles gave him keeping the added bulk shapeless.

The tips of his ears felt like someone was pulling on them, trying to tear them off. Actually his pointy ears widened as the ends tapered off into a curve. He could now hear the sounds of his own body finishing out the last few kinks of his new form. It was a horrible sound that made him want to claw off his wolf ears; anything to stop the noise.

With the transformation fully completed Sonic, still heaving from the physical toll that the change had taken on him, let go of the tree and let his muscled arms hang loosely by his sides. His eyes slowly opened revealing two orbs of deep emerald green that still had the hedgehog's friendly gaze as well as a predatory gleam that seemed to say he would be just as likely to say hi as he would rip you apart.

Then his mind caught up with him. He got to his wobbly feet, still off balanced he placed one hand against the tree again then he looked down at himself, mouth hanging open, not finding anything coming out, aside from a shocked whine. Sonic held his hand again to his throat trying to form words but nothing came out except for more grunts, growls and whines.

W-What just happened to me?! His mind raced along with his heart. The poor hedgehog let go of the tree and stumbled down the path. He could barely even figure out how to move his new limbs at all. The only thing he could figure out was that he needed to get home. Get home before anyone sees him like this, whatever this is. What happened to him?

To add to the poor hedgehog's shock, his super speed was gone. His limbs just didn't want to move the way they should have. Sonic flipped over and smacked his face into the ground several times because of this.

It took hours for him to make it to Chris' house. Fearful about what might happen if he tried going in through the main door, Sonic headed to the garage. Luckily no one was there.

The transformed hedgehog looked around at the small room above the garage. Finally

He was so exhausted that he plopped onto a couch and was off in a dreamless sleep instantly.