A gust of wind blew through the trees in a quiet, green forest.
The leader of The Resistance, Sonic the Hedgehog, was going for a revitalizing run, breathing in the fresh air that surrounded him. He grinned as he ran at a relaxed speed of 250mph.
'What a beautiful morning,' he thought to himself, looking above him at the birds chirping in the trees. He smiled and began whistling a happy little tune, feeling completely content and stress-free for the first time in a long time.
Eggman had been very quiet for quite a while, and it was rumored that he had given up on his plan to take over the world. However, Sonic kept up his guard. He still prepared the weaponry every morning, continued to train hard every day, and had a 24/7 guard system surrounding their base that was tucked away in the serene forest. If even a rock was thrown into their territory, they would know about it.
As Sonic continued to whistle his carefree tune, a sudden gust of wind blew past him and a streak of white zipped through the forest trees ahead of him.
Sonic's song was cut short as he slowed a bit in shock. "What in the world…?" His carefree demeanor vanished as he picked up his pace, determined to catch whatever it was that was faster than him. He increased his speed to 400mph. The object was just in his sight, but still pulling ahead of him.
"'Guess my leisurely run is over," Sonic muttered to himself as he sped up to 500mph.
Suddenly, the white object turned sharply to the right. Sonic almost didn't react fast enough, and had to skid in order to make the tight turn. Now the object seemed to be going even faster as Sonic increased his speed yet again, now going 600mph. At this point, he could feel his legs starting to get fatigued. The object made another turn, and this time Sonic was ready to react quickly, staying right on its tail.
"What the heck is this thing?!" he asked himself, speeding up yet again to 700mph. He was starting to sweat, his heart-rate rising.
As Sonic sped up, the streak of white sped up as well, seeming to react to Sonic's speed.
Sonic grimaced as he sped up to his maximum speed of 765mph.
For the first time in his life, Sonic shouted: "Hey you! Slow down!"
In that moment, it lost its concentration and crashed into one of the forest trees.
Sonic skidded to a halt, and due to his high speed, he only managed to come to a complete stop quite a few yards away from the object. He raced back to discover what it was that he couldn't catch up with. As he neared the tree he slowed down, sneaking up on the object in case it was dangerous. He peered around the tree carefully, and to his great surprise, a young hedgehog no older than 7 was lying unconscious at the base of the tall tree.
The young hedgehog was mostly white, but upon closer inspection he had subtle streaks of blue within his fur. He had messy, short quills that stuck out in all directions, and a bump was already forming on his forehead from the crash. Sonic cautiously picked up the young hedgehog, cradling him gently in his arms. He took a quick scan of the forest, checking to see if this little guy had company. However, the forest was as quiet as it had been before the boy had blazed through it. Sonic looked down at the boy in his arms, a look of concern on his face. "Don't worry, little buddy, I'll take care of ya," he promised the kid, racing back to base at full speed.
The young hedgehog's head throbbed as his eyes slowly opened. The room he was in was extremely bright as sunlight filtered through an open window, and he quickly shut them again. He put a hand to his head and felt bandaging covering a large bump on his forehead.
He couldn't remember what happened. The little hedgehog's foggy mind attempted to create a timeline.
'I was in The Lab,' he recalled. 'I was training with The Doctor. I broke free. I was stronger than him. He couldn't stop me. That's when I ran. The Doctor couldn't catch me. I ran to the place full of those Tall Things. The Outside is so big… I ran and ran and ran, then—'
"Hey there!"
His eyes flew open. He sat up and looked around him frantically. A blue hedgehog was smiling at him, a folded blanket in one hand and a glass of water in the other. The smaller hedgehog sat in stunned silence.
"Don't worry, you're safe," the older hedgehog said with a charming smile, setting the glass on the nightstand. "You hit your head pretty hard, but you're gonna be just fine."
The white hedgehog blinked. 'I know you…' he thought. 'Blue spikes, red shoes, green eyes; It must be—'
"I'm Sonic," he said, kneeling down beside the bed and smiling at the young boy. "Sonic the Hedgehog. What's your name, kiddo?"
The young hedgehog's face turned from disbelief to complete and utter rage, and suddenly the kid threw himself at Sonic, his fists flying frantically.
"Woah, what the—?!" He caught Sonic in the eye before the blue hedgehog was able to restrain the suddenly violent youngster.
"Agh! Why you little—!" Sonic had the little guy in a headlock, pinning him to the ground but not hurting him. His legs flailed wildly, desperately trying to hit Sonic one more time.
"Let go of me, you monster!" he screamed.
"Hey, hey, take a chill pill, will ya?" Sonic said calmly as he easily restrained the small hedgehog. "Tails," Sonic said into his wrist communicator. "I have a little bit of a situation here."
A voice crackled through his communicator. "I'm on my way!"
Sonic yelped as he narrowly avoided getting a bite to his forearm, swiping his arm away. The kid took that opportunity to break free of Sonic's hold. Both hedgehogs quickly stood up from the ground, watching the other very closely.
Sonic put his hands up. "Hey kid, I don't wanna hurt ya, alright?"
The young hedgehog launched himself at Sonic again, screaming violently, and Sonic quickly side-stepped to avoid the clobbering. However, he underestimated the kid's reflexes, and the kid managed to throw a punch to Sonic's gut, knocking the wind out of him.
"Oof!" Sonic doubled over, clutching his stomach. Then, to the kid's surprise, he chuckled a little. "Ya know, for a pipsqueak, you're pretty strong," he choked out with a cocky grin.
"Shut up!" the white hedgehog ordered, sending a powerful kick into Sonic's leg.
Sonic had no time to react, and he fell to the ground, cringing in pain. 'Where did this kid come from?! And how is he so fast?!'
The boy stood over Sonic, glowering down at him, and for a brief moment Sonic actually felt quite afraid of this little kid.
"Your tyranny on this world must end!" the kid yelled. "Sonic the Hedgehog must be obliterated; erased from this planet by any means necessary!"
"Wow, did your mommy teach you those words?~" Sonic retorted with a teasing grin.
The kid's expression quickly changed from murderous to confusion, his head tilting to the side slightly in curiosity. "'Mommy?'" he repeated, as if hearing the word for the first time.
Before Sonic could respond, the kid wobbled a little then fell limply to the ground. Tails stood behind him, holding a syringe in his hand.
"Sonic, are you alright?!" Tails immediately kneeled to the ground, checking his brother over for injuries. "Your eye!" he exclaimed, Sonic's eye already turning purple from the punch it received earlier.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Sonic brushed him off, grimacing a little as he crawled over to the kid lying unconscious a few feet away from him. He had hit him in the stomach surprisingly hard.
"Who is this?" Tails questioned.
"I don't know…" Sonic said, looking into the young hedgehog's face. In his unconscious state, the little guy looked peaceful. Absolutely harmless. "But I'm going to find out."