Chapter one:

"It is said, that all ending are merely beginnings, waiting to be born…"

-Mata Nui, The Legend Reborn

White-hot pain, it burned all over, inside and out. The pain happened so fast that it took a few moments longer for him to realize what was going on. The mass of energy was shifting around him, it drowned and engulfed him completely as it changed his body to suit the needs if the true core of his being.

The desire to move, to run, to do something started to build up inside of him, but he was trapped in the flocculating power. He was becoming shorter, part of his body's mass dissolving away. Yet at the same time he was becoming stronger then before. He was leaner, muscles reforming so the most powerful were in his legs, making him faster. More importantly his heart was changing, both physically to be able to weather what was to come, but metaphorically as well with it suddenly unchaining so fast that he gasped.

He needed to get away and run. Though some part of his mind refused to do so, he had a duty, dreams… duty… a duty? What in the world? Why would he have a duty to anything or anyone?

Parts evaporated and others grew, at first the layer of rich blue fur was thin. Clumps of his hair lengthened and fused together as it became hard, yet still smallish quills that were the same light blue shade. His still-forming quills stood up on end as a growing tail went ridged as it extended.

Things that he had worried about everyday were becoming less important as other thoughts surged to the forefront of his mind. Still other thoughts and memories faded away into nothing, forever lost as that other part of him died.

Dilated green eyes opened and stared ahead in the ever-lasting whiteness that surrounded him.

Chaos!

Those same green eyes became clearer, sharper then before. They were no longer tainted with regrets or fears and the rest of his form changed once more, but it was different this time. For the energy and chaos no longer hurt. It curled around him, absorbing into his lean form, turning his light blue fur a radiant golden color. Now long quills, that were also the same golden color, spread out behind him, bending upwards without breaking.

He closed his eyes feeling the energy become apart of him, no longer randomly flicking out in all directions. Rather, he controlled it, pulling it into himself. He slowly drifted back down to the ground as the last trails of the Chaos Blast were absorbed into the anthro's body.

Men and woman, guards, researchers and soldiers, all those that had rushed over now exchanged looks between one another. Their stunned gazes always drifting back to the new anthro as he stood still with his eyes closed.

The anthro's ears twitched up as he heard voices then flicked this way and that to pick up the murmurs of the other people, but other then that he didn't move.

"…Hines?" A hesitant voice of one of the soldiers called.

Blood red eyes snapped open and anthro looked over at the man, who froze in place. There were no color-pigmentations in the Anthro's eyes, so the circulating blood in showed through. Despite the shade of his gaze there wasn't animalist drives, or even threatening to this being. His eyes showed intelligence and some mild curiosity as he tilted his head before softening as fleeting, and fading, memories of flirting with the woman that had spoken up next.

"I'm sorry." The anthro looked down, voice echoing with power. When he looked up again his eyes had gone a pure, solid white as his form started to glow almost from within. "Chaos…"

"No! Scott!"

"Sir, wait!"

"Don't let him get away!"

"…control!"

The area flooded with light and energy again, but this time everything seemed to stop. Or at the very least, slowed down to a crawling pace for everyone, except for three people. It didn't last long, just enough for what was still left of his former self to whisper goodbye.

New claws flexed, skin pricked while fur and quills flared out into a silver-white color before he disappeared and the world came back to its normal pace. But somewhere very far away, states and almost the entire length of the county, the night was broken with the bright flash of a Chaos Control based teleport.

A dark blue anthro hedgehog fell from the center of it and thudded onto hard black top of the road with a startled yelp. "Huk…ow." The hedgehog muttered into the pavement.

After a few minutes of getting better acquainted with the roadway, the anthro carefully started to pry himself loose and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He flattened his ears as he checked over his person patting hands over ears, muzzle, neck, sides, a key point that was lower... and then behind to a twitching tail. Making sure everything was where it should be and nothing was broken.

The bases' of his dark blue quills were sore, like they had been repeatedly yanked too hard, but not hard enough to be pulled out. The same quills were wild and swept back into clumps, and like his fur were no longer a light blue shade except for the steaks that ran through them. Looking down he found that his belly and lower chest were a rich brown color, though unaware at the moment that his muzzle and inner ears were the same shade.

A semi-short tail twitched and the hedgehog blinked around, trying to figure out where he was as he stood. Ears rotated around, trying to catch any sound and only picking up a questioning cricket that was trying to see if it was safe again.

The hedgehog looked down, touching the few remaining shreds of fabric on his person. He peeled those off, but paused to just stare at his feet. Twitching his toes under the stained cloth.

"Why... do I have socks but no shoes?" He wondered balancing with no noticed effort on first one foot to take off the offending sock. He sniffed it, and promptly gagged. "Dear Chaos!" He tossed it away, snorting and trying to clear his nose sensitive nose of the scents of sweet, blood and Guardians only knew what else. Hopping to his other foot the hedgehog anthro made fast work of ridding himself of the other sock and tossing it even farther away.

Two bright lights and the blaring of a horn from behind made the anthro jump and spin around. Emerald orbs took in the massive, and rather scary looking truck was all it took to send the hedgehog bolting the other way.

A sonic boom rolled back down the road to the confused truck driver.

Once he started running, he... didn't want to stop. He fisted his hands and let the wind pull his arms back as he ran. Eyes half lidded in contentment as the wind twined around him. Is this what, who he was, a sonic boom?

"Sonic…" The hedgehog gave a toothy grin. He liked that; he liked it a lot. So…yes, he was Sonic.

Sonic the Hedgehog.

Could it just be as simple as that? ...Yes, yes it could and it was.

The Anthro picked up his feet, taking longer strides and trying to keep his soft feet from hitting the ground too hard. He needed shoes…but didn't want to stop running just yet.

Sonic didn't want to stop, but when he ran smack into a sign that had '25 MPH' he kind of had to stop. Actually it was more like yipping, flailing midair and rolling until he hit a tree. Sprawled at the base of the truck, Sonic stared cross-eyed at the world while leaves drifted down from his not so kind crash mat in an attempt by the tree to bury him in revenge.

"Blood hell that hurt..." Sonic complained as his legs dropped over him, and he rolled over to change into a slightly better position of being sprawled on his front in the earth. The smell of grass cut the day before and leaves in every state was a much better lullaby than anything else could have been.

Or he just hit his head too hard, but Sonic didn't noticed or mind when old but still strong arms lifted him up, and the elderly owner of the property half carried half dragged the anthro into a cabin.