Sonic Cluedo

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Sonic Cluedo

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Oh, hell. There was nothing really worth it in the Prologue. I’ll put up the first chapter now. There’s a lot of clues in this chapter. So pay attention – if you’re smart you’ll be able to tell who’s the killer just from this.

Froggy: If not, you’ll just have to wait.

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Chapter One: Location, Location, Location...

It was 9:00 in the evening at Ark Mansion, on a hot summer's night. Several expensive cars, and indeed a large plane, were parked outside the stately manor house. It was 9:00 in the evening when a horrible scream ripped through the air. It came from the large patio behind the house... where the large pool was situated.

Rouge the Bat, one of the visitors, looked up with a start. She had just entered the bedroom she shared with Knuckles when she heard the scream. It carried through the hot air and open window easily. She flew through the open window and alighted on the garage roof, looking around to discern where the scream had come from.

Amy Rose, the housemaid and cook, with a dressing gown wrapped around her body and a towel wrapped around her quills, looked out of the servants quarters downstairs. She too had heard the terrible, mournful scream. She sighed and started walking towards the back of the house, heading for the pool.

Renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, who had been resting in his room on the first floor, took notice of the scream and left his chambers, rushing towards the rear of the mansion, ready for trouble. He nearly ran into his old friend, Knuckles, who had been lounging in the main hall, on the way to the pool. "Did you hear that?" he asked the echidna.

Knuckles shook his head, just as disturbed and uncertain as him, "How could I not? What was that?"

Sonic continued jogging down the hall, replying, "I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Sounds like someone is in trouble."

When they got there, the first thing they saw was Shadow the Hedgehog, the long-time servant of Ark Manor, standing on the edge of the pool and screaming, an aqua-vac by his side. It took a few seconds for them to realise what he was so hysterical about, before Rouge gasped and pointed to something in the pool, "Oh, dear gods..." she gasped. Floating face down was the body of Professor Gerald's granddaughter, Maria Robotnik. Her blue velvet dress was soaking up the water and dragging her down.

With another scream, Shadow jumped into the pool and started swimming towards the body, before anybody could stop him.

Sonic's first impulse was to go after her, as well, but the blue hedgehog skidded to a halt at the edge of the pool, fear gripping him. He had always been afraid of water, as unlikely as it seemed. Another presence announced itself with a startled cry: the young Miles "Tails" Prower, one of Gerald’s greatest students, wearing dirty overalls smeared with grease from his latest bit of mechanical tinkering, "What happened here?" he asked, immediately absorbing details.

"Maria must have fallen into the pool and drowned," said Amy, watching as Shadow splashed about in the water, bringing Maria back to the poolside, "You know she's a poor swimmer."

Shadow bent down to Maria, and grabbed her, "Maria, please don't leave me, please, please..." he begged the cold, pale corpse.

"Somebody should tell Gerald," said Rouge, "I'm surprised he didn't hear Shadow screaming like that."

Sonic, obviously shaken by the sight of young Maria, shook off the shock and turned to run and get the professor, steeling himself to deliver the bad news. On the way out, he had to dodge the large, waddling form of Doctor Ivo ‘Eggman’ Robotnik, the professor's grandson. Another brilliant scientist, he hadn't cared for his body nearly as well as his mind, and it had taken longer for him to reach the pool from his second floor chambers. "What is all this commotion about?" he demanded in usual, abrasive tone, "This had better be worth interrupting my studies of... oh!" The large human stopped, his eyes hidden by the reflective lenses he seemed to keep perpetually on his face.

"She won't wake up!" Shadow was wailing like a child, a crazed expression on his face. Nobody was exactly sure how old the black and red hedgehog was, but he'd been working at the Mansion for years, maybe decades. But right now he was acting about 5 years old, "Doctor, do something!" he pleaded with the fat doctor.

Eggman hurried over to the black and red hedgehog and drowned girl, kneeling down to check her vitals quickly. There was no pulse, her breathing has stopped, and the poor girl was as cool as the water she had been found floating in. After a moment, the doctor shook his head, lowering it sadly. "We found her too late,” he said, "There's nothing we can do for her."

Shadow began to scream all over again, pulling at his quills. Rouge glared at him, "Will you stop acting like that, Shadow?" she asked him, "Everybody else here is acting like an adult, why can't you?"

Amy glared at Rouge, "There's no need to be that way, Rouge. You know how devoted Shadow is to this family!"

Eggman sat down next to the body of his drowned cousin, his bald head resting wearily in his hands, quietly wrestling with his own reactions to this unexpected loss.

Tails made his way over nervously to the wailing hedgehog and placed a clean, gloved hand on his back, trying to comfort him. "It's going to be alright, Shadow..." he said quietly. Knuckles just stood off to the side with Rouge, unsure how to react to any of this.

"How did this happen?!" Shadow wailed, "I never wanted to lose her!"

"Why did you come out here, anyway, Shadow?" Rouge asked, "Late night swim, perhaps?"

"Rouge!" Amy sounded shocked, "You're not suggesting-"

"Oh, yes I am!" said Rouge, "People don't just fall into pools and drown! Maybe Maria had a little help..."

"You can't be serious!" Tails exclaimed, looking up from comforting Shadow, "How could you say that? We all cared for Maria, and so did Shadow! It was just an accident!"

Knuckles snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, retorting, "Yeah, well did you see how he looked at her? I'd say he did a little more than just care for her..."

Shadow jumped to his feet, "That's a lie!" he snarled, "I serve this family, it's my job to care what happens! But I would never have... never have..." tears began to pour down his face, "And now she's gone..."

The gate to the swimming pool swung open again with a creak, and Sonic the Hedgehog walked forward, eyes wide, skin pale, and mouth hanging open. His hands and body were covered in someone else’s blood. "Professor Gerald... is dead..." he said softly, stunned.

Knuckles whirled around to face the blue hedgehog. "What?! What do you mean?"

"And why are you covered in blood?" Rouge asked him.

Behind her, Shadow moaned, "Not again..." he murmured.

Sonic blinked rapidly, trying to regain his composure, and the blue hedgehog said, "He was up in his study, and someone... someone beat his head in!"

Tails gasped in horror, and Eggman looked up from Maria's ruined form, murmuring, "My grandfather..." Then the man's hands curled tightly into fists, and he angrily said, "Your first assumption was correct, Rouge. We have a murderer in this mansion!"

Amy looked horrified, "We have got to call the police!" she said, "I can't believe that one of us could be a killer!"

"I never said that one of us was the killer... although that does make a certain amount of sense,” Eggman mused, rubbing his chin and standing up.

Tails looked up in surprise at the doctor. "What? Why would any of us kill Gerald and Maria?" the fox asked.

Eggman just snorted. "You have much to learn, young Prower. If you think about it, many of us could have reasons to murder them, and much to gain,” the large human pointed out, "Unfortunately, I am the first suspect, seeing as I have the most to gain. With my grandfather and cousin dead, I am next in line to given their inheritance... but I would never harm my own family!"

"Sure you wouldn't," Amy said, sounding unconvinced, "All those robots were purely for the good of humanity. But why should I kill Gerald or Maria? They employ me; I'm certainly not in their will."

Rouge shrugged, "Either way, if you don't mind I'm going to sit down in the drawing room," she said, "Being around dead bodies isn't good for my complexion."

"You're not going anywhere!" Sonic called out suddenly, "If the murderer is one of us, we can't let anyone out of sight!" Tails nodded in agreement. They couldn't give the killer a chance to escape, and everyone was a suspect.

Rouge smirked, "Then I guess you guys will just have to come with me, because I'm not standing around in the cold all night."

"You're being a little cold about this, aren't you Rouge?" Amy asked her, "Two very nice people are dead and you are acting like it's a minor inconvenience."

"It's not her problem,” Knuckles growled, coming to her wife's defence, "What would she have to gain from killing them, anyway?"

Sonic stomped towards the echidna, snapping back, "Maybe she didn't have one. Maybe she was just trying to steal from Gerald, got caught, and whacked him to cover it up!"

Eggman nodded, adding, "It's a plausible reason, and we can't trust Knuckles' word, either. He's just a brute of a yes-man to her."

Knuckles looked at both of them with a stunned, annoyed expression. "Hey! I may be a brute, but I'm not a killer! Your brilliant little idea doesn't explain why Maria was killed, in case you didn't notice!"

Shadow looked up, "Maybe there are two killers," he said, sounding a little more calm, "After all, not many people would have the time to kill them both and hide the evidence..." he glared at Sonic, "Unless they were as fast as you, Sonic."

"Or you,” Sonic shot back, glaring at the black hedgehog before raising his blood-splattered hands, "And you call THIS hiding the evidence?"

Tails backed away from Shadow carefully. "We're assuming that both Gerald and Maria were murdered,” he said, "What if that's not true? What if it's just a coincidence? It's slick out here; Maria could have slipped, bumped her head, and drowned without anyone's help."

Eggman seemed to consider the possibility. "It's very unlikely... but not impossible."

Amy bent down and pulled Shadow away from Maria's body, "The police will catch the killer - if there is one," she said, "As it is, I think everybody's a little jumpy right now. But if we all stick together, everything will be fine."

"No, it won't," Shadow said, pulling away from her, "She's still dead..." With these words he walked into the mansion, water dripping all over the place.

"You know, if he had done it, jumping into that pool to drag Maria out would be a great way to hide that he was wet, and wash off any blood," Rouge pointed out.

"Yeah..." Knuckles said, eyeing both Shadow and Amy suspiciously, "But... am I the only one that noticed that Miss Voice of Reason was wet before she walked over to the pool?" This stopped everyone in their tracks, shifting their focus to the pink hedgehog. Sure enough, her fur seemed damp, like she had been soaked and tried to dry off not long ago.

"I just happened to be coming out of the shower when Shadow started screaming," Amy said, crossly, "Besides, why would I want to kill Maria? You're certainly strong enough to hold her under water until the bubbles stop! And after Gerald changed his will to leave you out, you've got a motive too!"

"What? I don't need the old man's damn money!" the echidna snarled, taking a step towards Amy with fists clinched, "You make another stupid suggestion like that, and there will be a third corpse to worry about!"

Sonic knelt down beside the pool and splashed the water onto his body and hands, trying to wash the blood off of him. "Cool it, Knucklehead,” the blue hedgehog spoke, "We aren't solving anything by fighting. We need to look around the mansion, try to find some evidence first."

"Or destroy it," Rouge said sceptically, still looking at Sonic, "Yes, us trampling all over the murder scenes, that is just what the forensics team needs."

"Leave off, Rouge," said Amy, "Besides, Maria's death was probably an accident."

"It had to be,” Sonic added, looking up from the pool, "Maria was one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. Why would anyone want to kill her?"

Eggman snorted, walking slowly over towards the blue hedgehog, looking down at him. "You underestimate the capacity for cruelty and greed in people, hedgehog. Now, let's go inside so we can settle this. Sonic, bring poor Maria with us", the scientist ordered.

Sonic looked at the body, "What? Why? So I can mess up the crime scene?"

"Yes, Shadow should never have touched her in the first place," Amy added.

"I doubt he was thinking about forensics at the time,” the old doctor retorted dryly, "In any case, the damage is done, and water has a tendency to erase physical clues, in any case."

Sonic sighed and complied with the request, picking up Maria's stiff, cold body, carrying it with him inside the mansion. Eggman led them to the main hall, following after Shadow.

Shadow was not in the main hall though. The trail of water led through there certainly, probably to his room in the servant's quarters.

"Shadow!" Eggman called out, "I require your service in the main hall!" Technically, with Gerald and Maria dead, he was the new master of the house. Sonic carefully laid Maria down, and Tails joined him in looking down as her ruined body. Knuckles continued to say off to the side with Rouge, fuming silently at everyone, Amy most of all.

Shadow returned reluctantly, "I'll thank you to remember neither the house nor myself belong to you until Gerald's will is read," he said unpleasantly, "But hell with it, what do you want?"

Eggman took a seat, putting his hands together, his shaded eyes looking over the small group of guests and family friends. "No one of us must leave our company until this terrible crime has been solved. Sonic has suggested that we search the mansion for clues, and I agree with him. The police will be involved in this eventually, but not until we find the killer ourselves. This is my family, and their murderer will answer to me first!"

"Yes," said Shadow, "And you're the law in these parts, right Sheriff Eggman?" he asked mockingly, "If you don't mind, I plan to mourn the deaths of my former master and mistress. If you want to stop me, you'll have to do so physically." he turned to leave once again.

"Hey, stop being such a jerk, Shadow!" Tails called out, taking flight and landing in front of the black and red hedgehog, "We all cared about Maria and Gerald, too! If we're going to find out who did this, we can't give anyone a chance to run off or change things. You want to know who killed them, right?"

Knuckles grumbled, "I hate to admit it, but the kid is right." Clinching his fists again, he added, "I'd like to tell this killer what I think of him, violently!"

Shadow turned around slowly to face Knuckles, "Are you sure you haven't already?" he asked, glaring, "Is that blood on your glove?" he pointed out the speck of red blood on Knuckles' glove.

"Huh?" the echidna asked with a puzzled expression, glancing down at the red speck on his glove, "Hey, I had nothing to do with this! Sonic was the one who came to us dripping blood. He probably flung it on me!"

Shadow stepped forward, "He wasn't anywhere near you when he came back," he growled, looking at the glove, "And for your information, blood doesn't splash about."

"And for yours, that 'third corpse' offer is still open!" the crimson echidna snarled, "I'm telling you I had nothing to do with this, but I wouldn't be surprised if you were! You were right there next to her, and everyone has to have noticed how you practically stalked the girl!"

"I work here!" Shadow shouted, "And I saw how pissed you got when Gerald said you could choose Rouge or your share in the will! I bet you'd kill him just to regain your honour! And suppose Maria just happened to walk in while you were stoving in his head? You'd have to get rid of her too!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Eggman called out, "You won't solve anything acting like children! Now... we must search this mansion, room by room, in pairs, until we have found what we need to know! Do you understand?"

"I'll pair up with Sonic!" Amy said cheerfully.

The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes but made no objections. Eggman nodded in agreement.

"I'll go with Shadow,” Tails spoke up.

Eggman nodded again, adding, "And Rouge and Knuckles can come with me. Three teams. That should be adequate for this task."

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Harley: Do you know who the killer is yet? I do! Because I’m AMAZING!