Chapter 1: Rolling Around

"Sonic!" A name on Christmas Island that was synonymous with trouble among anyone who had some sort of interaction with the young hedgehog associated to it.

For the umpteenth time, Sonic, using his ability to curl up into a small ball and roll around at high speeds, had crashed into yet another house, severely wrecking it and causing several thousand rings worth of damage.

"Sonic, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: you cannot just curl up into a ball and roll around wherever you want."

"But Alik," Sonic said, taking the hand Alik offered to help him up, "it's hard to see where I'm going when I do curl up. Besides, I'm a hedgehog. That's what I'm supposed to do."

Alik let out a out a long sigh as he tried to contemplate how to explain such serious matters to such a young and naïve hedgehog. "You still have to be careful where you do so. There are consequences to damaging other people's property."

"I don't do it on purpose though, honest."

"I know."

"It's just really hard for me to see where I'm going."

"I know."

"'specially when I can't make sense of up or down."

"I know, Sonic!" Sonic jumped in surprise at Alek's sudden outburst, quickly looking down at the ground as if looking in any other direction would have consequences of some sort. "I didn't mean to snap at you," Alik said softly. "Just wait here, okay?" A quick bob of the head from Sonic was the only response Alik got. Deciding not to make a bad situation a thousand times worst, she hung her head before slinking off to talk to the owner of yet another house inadvertently damaged by Sonic.

"Listen," he said, approaching the very upset owner of the house.

"No, Alik," the woman said. "I won't listen to another excuse of yours. That blue hedgehog ought to know better than to go carelessly rolling around without any regard for the safety of others."

"He does know better, but he has trouble knowing when and where it's appropriate."

"That's hardly any excuse."

"So tell me, uh, Ermyl, is it?"

"Yes, that is my name."

"Well you have a young hedgehog of your own, do you not?"

"A pink hedgehog."

"Even so, you surely must know how difficult it is to raise one-"

"Yes-"

"-regardless or any preconceived assumptions that raising a certain type of hedgehog is more difficult or rewarding than that of another."

"Well unlike Sonic, she is very well behaved and always takes full responsibility for her actions."

"Well in that case," Alik said, lowering his voice to nearly a whisper, "should she have to make reparations for her, let's say 'creative', uses with that hammer of yours?"

Ermyl's eyes widened in near horror. "That's different," she said, adjusting her stance. "Amy was just trying to-"

"Express herself?"

"Exactly."

"And so was Sonic."

"Perhaps, but Amy does so in a responsible and reasonable manner. This isn't the first time Sonic has used property as a bumper. This has become a regular occurrence with him, and I'm certain that it won't be the last time."

"It will be."

Ermyl rolled her eyes in a mix of frustration and a waning sense of patience that had been whittled down to little more than a nub.

"So," Alik said, cringing in dread as every response Ermyl might give ran through his mind, each one worst than the last. "Can we forget this little incident ever happened?"

"I'll let it slide this time."

"Thank you so much,"

"You really need to talk to him," Ermyl said, shaking her head. "You can't keep treating him like he's two years old anymore. He needs to learn that there is weight to what he does. At some point you will have to hand out a punishment, even if you don't want to."

"Yeah, I know."

"And keep in mind that while everyone here is well aware and mindful of what Sonic has had to go through, especially at such a young age, it does not excuse him being allowed to do whatever he wants without repercussions of some sort. Eventually, everyone runs out of patience, especially if it costs them money."

"You're right. The thing is . . ."

"What? Listen, I'm sure he's still struggling to cope with it-anyone would-but if you don't talk to him about it, he'll never be able to move past it."

"I would," Alik began, avoiding looking Ermyl in the eyes, "but . . . well . . ."

"He doesn't know, does he?"

"Not technically, no."

"How could you not tell him, Alik? He should know what happened to his parents."

"Well he does kind of know."

"What do you mean?"

"I sort of told him that his mother left for complicated reasons."

"And what did those reasons entail?"

"That she was being followed by Ivo and had to leave to keep him from hurting Sonic."

"You know that isn't even remotely true."

"I know."

"Well what about his father? What did say about him?"

"He doesn't think he's dead . . ."

"You told him he's alive?" Ermyl said, her already high voice nearly breaking the sound barrier. "Why would you say that?"

"I couldn't bring myself to tell him that both of his parents are dead."

"Well you certainly shouldn't have made him believe that they're alive."

"That's not all he thinks."

"What do you mean?"

"He thinks that I'm his father."

"He WHAT?! What possessed you to tell him such a thing?"

"You know how horrible his parents were. For some reason they expected me to take care of him all of the time even though I barely knew them, and when I found out how little they cared for him, I felt obligated to do so. Because of that though, everyone thought that they not only charged me with watching Sonic should something happen to them, but that I was solely responsible for raising him."

"Oh. I didn't know."

"It's not your fault. I would've assumed the same thing. And you're not wrong in giving me the advise that you have. But it's hard raising Sonic, and nobody is willing to help me. Add all of the property he's destroyed on top of that and everything begins to pile up very quickly. Everyone jumps to blame me, but aren't even willing to figure out if I need help or assume that I'm not even trying"

"I see. Well I want you to know that I'll always be willing to help you. And who knows, maybe Sonic and Amy can even become good friends."

"Yeah. Maybe." Thanking Ermyl again, Alik went back to where he left Sonic only to see that he was gone.