A Difficult Road Traveled is a Sonic the Hedgehog fan fic by Zelchias.
Ten years after Robotnik's conquest of the world, the human territories of Overland are nothing but ruins. The local resistance wiped out save for one, Specialist Chris Thorndyke. Tired of the routine of maintaining the massive, empty base alone and sending out unanswered distress signals for over a year, Chris decides to leave and spend the remainder of his days taking the fight to the tyrant's front door solo and ultimately go out in a blaze of glory. That changes when he comes across a Mobian girl, Cream, and her strange little friend, Cheese.
An Alternate Universe Fic that takes Chris Thorndyke from Sonic X and gives him a Darker and Edgier overhaul to fit the tone of Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) and Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics).
Story hasn't been updated since 2019.
Can be found here.
Tropes in this story include:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In canon, Chris was a Lonely Rich Kid, here he was forced to grow up as a child soldier, saw famly, friends and people he's known for most of his life die in a brutal war that has left him a Shell-Shocked Veteran at the age of seventeen, and is forced to come to the conculsion he may very well be the last human on Mobius.
- Adaptational Back Story Change: In the comics, Overlanders are a future subspecies of humanity, here the term is another name for humans as their territory is called Overland.
- Adaptational Badass: Chris in the anime was a Tag A Long Kid, this version is a fully trained solider and can hold his own against Badniks and SWATbots.
- Adaptational Name Change: A minor one but Chris' full name in this story is "Christopher Thorndyke of the House of Galileo", to fit with Overlander naming conventions established in the comics.
- Cream and Vanilla have the last name Rabboh.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Unlike his Sonic X counterpart who was best friends with Sonic, this Chris hates the hedgehog long before they ever meet to point Chris brushes him off and gets angry whenever he's mentioned. One of the few things Chris and Geoffrey agree on is a mutual dislike of Sonic's showboating.
- Age Lift: In Sonic X Chris is twelve years old, here he's seventeen.
- Berserk Button:
- Chris does not consider Robotnik to be human after all he's done to point of snapping at Antoine for pointing out they're the same species.
- Sonic is another one as Chris resents how easy it seems for the hedgehog to take out Robotnik's forces while his old unit often suffered massive casualties just for small victories.
- Big Brother Instinct: Chris quickly develops this for Cream.
- Broad Strokes:
Word of God states that while the setting is based on SatAM and 'Archie Sonic liberties will be taken. - Canon Welding: The setting of the story is based on the world from the SatAM animated series and Archie comics, with the elements of Sonic X.
- Children Are Innocent: After learning Chris means her no harm, Cream is more curious then afraid asking him all about himself, he gets similar reactions from Tails, Amy and the orphans looked after by Rosie Woodchuck.
- Death by Adaptation: Aside from Chris all other human characters from Sonic X died before the story even starts. The only one who could still be alive is Ella, but Chris has long since accepted she is most likely gone too.
- Comics character Hugo Brass is also among the fallen as oppose canon where he is alive though brainwashed into being one of Eggman's regional commanders.
- Every Body Has Standards: Reynard makes it no secret he thinks Lupe bringing Chris to the Wolf Pack's home is madness but that's as far as he goes. When Drago attacks Chris and tries to pin the blame on him, Reynard, who witnessed the whole the fight, speaks up in the boy's defence, making it clear his loyalty to his chief's orders out ways his prejudice and he even has a civil conversation with him.
- Geoffrey St. John is far more prejudiced towards Chris, but one of his subordinates assures him he won't allow his personal feelings to affect a mission.
- Fantastic Racism: A major theme in the story is the prejudice humans and Mobians have towards each other. Chris faces discrimination from bigoted villagers in Knothole, most notable from Geoffrey St. John who shot him on sight with a stun bolt, Drago Threatened and attacked him, and to a lesser extent Reynard. In Knothole he's refused rations and effigies are burned in front of Vanilla's house. It reaches a head when someone sabotages Chris’ first mission as Freedom Fighter to try and kill him.
- Genocide from the Inside: Once Robotnik began his conquest of Mobius, he sent his forces to Overland with orders to kill any human on sight. Chris is one of the few, if not the very last, survivors of said attack.
- Last Survivor Suicide: Chris' original goal when he left the ruins of Overland to take on Robotnik. This changes after he finds Cream and Cheese in the ruins of their village, between his new bond with the duo and the advice of Wolfpack chief Lupe convinces him to join the two in Knothole.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Antoine after Chris picked him up and carrying him so they can escape an explosion.
- Open Minded Grandparent: Charles Thorndyke was this, encouraging Chris not to see Mobians as just intelligent animals and often said praise towards the race his own people had a long history of tension with.
- Missed Him by That Much: Sonic arrives in the ruins of Cream's village a second after the young girl and her Chao left with Chris.
- Noble Wolf: The Wolfpack Freedom Fighters as per both the canon of SatAM and the Archie comics, with the exception of Drago who is a Savage Wolf.
- Reasonable Authority Figure:
- Lupe, at first, she's cautious towards Chris due to the Great War between Mobians and humans but still hears him out on why he's travelling with Cream and Cheese, even advising him against his original suicidal plans, and later apologized to him that one of her group, Drago, attacked him when informed of what happened by an unbiased source.
- At first Sally hesitant to allow Chris to join the Freedom Fighters, remembering how Robotnik rose to power in Mobotropolis. After hearing him out, she allows him a chance to prove himself.
- Related in the Adaptation: Cream and Bunnie are cousins in this story.
- Riches to Rags: As in his home series Chris comes from a wealthy family, but after Robotnik attacked that fortune is long since gone.
- Silent Snarker: Cheese shows shades of this judging by his eye roll to Cream ecstatic reaction to idea of riding a pasha and seems delighted with the idea of saying farewell to the animals
- Sins of Our Fathers: Sally carries a lot of guilt from the fact her father's actions in regard to Robotnik are what led to the tyrant conquering the world and the suffering that has resulted from it. When Chris hears that she leads the Knothole Freedom Fighters, he objects to the idea of joining them, but Lupe convinces him to judge the princess as her own person.
- Token Evil Teammate: Drago is this to the Wolf Pack.
- Token Human: Chris becomes this to Knothole and the Freedom Fighters but not everybody is happy about it.
- Undying Loyalty: Even after Robotnik attacked, Tanaka remained loyal to the Thorndykes and remained by the surviving members of the family even after joining a resistance unit until the day he died.
- Unfortunate Names: Reynard (a wolf) is named after a word for fox. It’s actually invoked, as his father got one look at his red fur and promptly accused Reynard’s mother of having an affair, giving Reynard his name out of spite before abandoning his family.
- Would Hurt a Child: Drago is perfectly happy to endanger Cream, in his attempt to sabotage Chris' journey to Knothole.
