AN: Disclaimer: I do not own the sonic franchise in any shape or form, the main OC is my creation alone.

Earth. A simple, backwater planet located in an undeveloped part of the universe. For one this planet, one of its occupants never truly belonged. But that was about to change...

A small town in America.

For one who thought his nightmare would never end.

"Come on freak, fight back!" Yelled a boy as he punched a smaller boy in front of him, watching as he flew back and hit the brick wall behind him, promptly sliding to the ground.

"Yeah freak, show us what you can do!" Yelled one of the supporters from the sidelines. The boy on the ground slowly looked up, showing his battered and bleeding face to his aggressors. He was dressed fairly simply, a baggy dark t-shirt with some tan cargo pants held up by a worn belt. As for his feet he wore some old skate shoes that were once a bright blue but now they were as dark as his shirt and just as dirty.

"What is it freak, had enough?" Taunted the leader while bouncing back and forth on his feet like a fighting game character.

"Too bad, cus it our job to rid this town of freaks like you!" He continued while pointing to a home made patch on his jacket that said FREAK PATROL. All of the 'members' all pointed to the individual patches on their clothes at the same time as their leader with a cheer to back him up. The beaten boy let out a feral growl while trying to stand.

"And there is the proof, your nothing but an animal, and I think it is about time we put you to sleep." The leader of the freak patrol declared with a roar of approval. And was met with a small laugh, coming from none other than the boy on the ground.

"What are you laughing at?" Asked the leader as the younger boy managed to stand up again.

"I'm laughing at the fact that you have to pick on someone younger to make yourself feel oh so high and mighty..." A blow to the stomach cut him off, making him double over in pain and start coughing. After about a minute he straightened up and continued.

"I mean, what? Your 16? 17? And I'm only 12. Yeah, way to feel like a man-." The boy was cut off once again by a punch to the face, followed by a knee to the stomach and ended with an uppercut sending him to the ground once again.

"Don't disrespect me and my cause, freak." The leader of the freak patrol yelled in the young boys face.

"We are correcting a wrong that should've been rectified long ago!"

The bloodied boy only managed to lift himself into a crouch this time around and looked up with defiance in his eyes and a smirk on his lips.

"May I ask you something?" The patrol leader looked a bit taken back but smirked and said,

"Call it a last request."

"Do you know what they say about backing an animal into a corner with no way out?" The leader looked amused

"Of course I do, they attack if feel threatened, but look at you." He said gesturing to the beaten boy.

"Your no longer in any condition to fight your way out and you are surrounded." At this the younger boy laughed again,

"Your right, I'm in no condition to fight you, and I may be surrounded… from the sides!"

At this he turned around and lunched himself from the ground, startling the leader of the freak patrol as the younger boy jumped as high as he could, just barely managing to grab the top of the wall. The head of the Freak patrol quickly ran over and attempted to grab the smaller boy's ankles and pull him back down, this endeavor however earned him a quick kick to the face as the young boy managed to pull himself over the wall before dropping down and racing off.

"Get him! Don't let him escape!" yelled their leader, as the members of the freak patrol took off after the boy in question. As the younger boy ran he thought about how routine this had become. He wasn't exactly a normal boy according to others, he didn't know why he could move quicker then people, jump higher then them and react quicker then them. Even when he was badly beaten, the bruises and the swelling would be gone within a week.

'Until then' he thought as he ran. 'I will have to avoid any and all contact with them.' even with his quick speed he could still clearly hear his pursuers, thinking fast he quickly turned off into an alley and jumped the fence to a small back road where he quickly hid behind a couple of trash cans.

'This is getting old' thought the boy as he listened to his aggressors run past yelling taunts and shouting instructions at each other.

"I'll have to sleep in the forest tonight," the boy quietly said to himself as he poked his head out from behind the trashcan.

"Not popular with the local kids are we?" the boy spun around to see an old man in a red robe with a long grey beard was looking at him.

"Who…?" began the boy.

"Am I? Why young one, I am the great wizard Lazaar." the boy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the word 'wizard'.

"I have told you my name, it's usually polite to return the gesture." said Lazaar

"John, why are you asking?" he replied looking at the 'wizard.'

"Young one. You shouldn't even half to ask," said Lazaar as he approached John.

"Didn't you ever feel like you do not belong, like you had a greater destiny planned for you?"

"What are you talking about?" asked John starting to get the feeling that he should be getting away from this guy as fast as possible.

"I'm talking about what you are and why you are so hated." said Lazaar making the boy in front of him stop cold of any thoughts of retreat. The wizard, seeing this continued.

"As I was saying you have a greater destiny awaiting you," with that he reach up the left sleeve of his robe and pulled out what appeared to be a crystal with some machine attached and held it out beside him. The air seemed to shimmer before ripping apart to what looked like a portal, facing John again he said

"So what is your choice? Stay here with people who ridicule and hate you. Or walk though the rift and become the hero you were meant to be." John looked shocked still trying to accept the rift in front of him was real and that he wasn't imagining it. He looked at Lazaar, then to the rift and then back to the wizard.

"Are you serious"? Asked John.

"Why would I lie?" said Lazaar, "This is one choice you can make that will change everything, the one that you will be forever be wondering what if. Make your decision " John looked at the ground in deep thought, the light of the now setting sun showing the black eye that was developing. Taking a deep breath, he turned and began walking away from Lazaar and the rift.

"I see." began Lazaar. As he began to make his own way to the rift he heard quick footsteps, as he looked he saw John running full speed towards him and the rift.

"GERONIMO" John yelled as he threw himself into the rift. Lazaar could only chuckle at what happened.

"Herakai is returning home" he thought to himself as he too, passed through the rift.

AN: Hey guy's good to be back, it's been awhile I know i'm hoping to make up for some of that lost time with this new story.

Hope you enjoy and if you have any questions please feel free to PM me or review, and i will answer them when i can

Thank you all for reading

Good day