DISCLAIMER: All Sonic Characters are property of Sega and the Sonic Team. The setting of this story is based off of "Sonic and the Secret Rings," a game that is also property of Sega. The only thing I own is my own Character, Aly the Hedgehog.

~Soul Pieces~

Chapter 1—The Genie and the Hedgehogs

It was just another ordinary winter night for Sonic the Hedgehog. He'd caught himself a cold the day before and was taking a nice, healing nap on the couch as he recovered. A fire crackled in the fireplace, and everything was peaceful.

"Um…" Sonic roused from his sleep, believing he'd heard someone. He didn't bother moving, as there was no way anyone was there. His house was locked up tight, and it was too cold for anyone to go out traveling to his house, anyways. He fell back asleep for a few minutes, until he heard the voice again.

"Hmph, hey, wake up!" The voice said a bit louder. Slowly Sonic lifted himself up, and pulled a book off of his face, laying it down on the coffee table. He rubbed his eyes.

"Yaaaaawwnnn…what time is it? Is it that late already?" He reached for the clock on the table, but instead found himself holding a giant ring. "Huh?" I must be dreaming…or hallucinating, he thought to himself.

"You're the blue hedgehog!" One of the voices he'd been hearing called from the ring. It sounded like a girl's voice.

"Waaahh!" He jumped back and dropped the ring, shocked. A female genie and a female hedgehog both emerged from the ring. "What the heck?"

The genie was a young woman, maybe in her early twenties. She had pink hair that swirled above her head in a half-crescent. She had deep pink eyes and wore a traditional pink genie's robe. She also wore a jeweled tiara on top of her head and she bowed in respect to Sonic.

The hedgehog was thinly-built and only came up to about muzzle-height next to Sonic. Her long, golden quills were pulled back behind her head in a low ponytail, aside from a few stray quills that framed her small face, and her longest quills managed just reach her knees. Her ears were rounded triangles and were perked up with interest as she surveyed her surroundings. She had jade-green eyes that showed her emotions clearly. She was wearing a black v-neck tee with flair jeans that were ripped open at the knees. Her skin was a light peach color, which complemented her fur color nicely. She was wearing pink and white tennis shoes, which made for an odd appearance next to the genie, who seemed as though she'd climbed out of a storybook for young kids.

Which, as he soon found out, she had, in a way.

The genie spoke first. "Do not be alarmed, I am Shahra, Genie of the Ring. This is Aly, she is one of my closest friends," she gestured to the hedgehog, who simply waved. "Hey," Sonic recognized her voice as the one who called out to him.

"Genie of the Ring?" He asked, baffled. Why are they here? he thought. What do they want with me? Can't a hedgehog get a little bit of peace around here so he can recover?

"You know, like 'Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'?" She pointed to the book Sonic had laid on the table.

"Don't believe I've read it," he replied

"You haven't…what? It's the best story in the Arabian Nights!"

"Or at least the second best…" Aly mumbled quietly.

"Well…yes….but that's beside the point. Look!" Shahra handed Sonic the book, allowing him to flip through it.

"Hey, this page is blank! Where's the story? Sleeping? " He asked jokingly. "I know I'd like to be!" He was proud of the small giggle Aly let out in response. "Hey, check it out, I could be a comedian! Hah!"

"Please focus, our world of the Arabian Nights is disappearing!" she pointed to the blank page, then flipped over a few pages. "Watch!"

Sonic watched with a shocked expression as the Arabic characters on the pages began to lift off from the page, burning into nothingness as they flew higher and higher. "But…how? And why tell me this?"

"This is the work of the Erazor Djinn," Aly spoke up. "He's an incredibly evil and vile spirit from our world."

"The Erazor…Djinn?" Sonic asked, as if he did not hear her quite right. She spoke quietly; as she spoke her voice was occasionally drowned out by the crackling of the fireplace.

"Yes. He used his evil magic to become even more powerful. He could not bear to simply remain in the book any longer. And so he has begun to set the inscriptions free, absorbing the power of the book itself, therefore erasing our world, bit by bit."

"The power…of the book? I thought that the only power books had was the ability to take your imagination places!" He cracked a smile.

This time, however, he did not get a positive response from the small hedgehog. She seemed to be focused on something behind him, but when he looked, all he saw was his shadow on the wall. "This is no laughing matter. If our world were to be completely absorbed by him, then not only would these works vanish forever, but the Erazor would be released into your world, no longer held by the words." She trailed off at the end, her eyes reflecting Sonic's shadow behind him. She seemed to become afraid of something, but this time Sonic did not have to turn and look to see what it was that she was looking at. He watched the reflection in her eyes show his shadow turning into that of a large man with spiraled hair, similar to Shahra's, and he felt that he knew who it was. He shuddered.

"Well…that definitely sounds like trouble…" he started, trying to regain his composure. "But what do you want me to do about it?"

"You must stop the Erazor Djinn," Shahra spoke up. "Only you, the Blue Hedgehog, can do it."

Sonic smiled a cocky smile. "Hmm. So, this guy needs someone to put him in his place, does he? I suppose I can help out with that. It might even be fun. But... this is all something out of a storybook, right? How am I supposed to do anything about that?"

"It's simple, really," Shahra replied. "You are my master, having been the one who called forth the Genie of the Ring. As such, I can grant your wishes. Well, simple wishes, at any rate. Bringing you into the world of the Arabian Nights is within my powers."

"However, let's get one thing straight real fast," Aly spoke up. "She's the genie, I'm not. I will not grant your wishes, even if it's something that is humanly possible, okay, Spikes?"

"It's Sonic," he replied with a hint of resentment in his voice. "And darn, I thought I was gonna be able to make a wish and have it granted twice!" He joked.

"Better luck next time, hedgehog," she smirked.

"Okay, other hedgehog!" He smirked back at her.

Aly rolled her eyes, and looked away from him, allowing him a small victory. Shahra cleared her throat, and then transformed into a ring. "Now, put the ring on your finger."

"Like this?" He placed it on his middle finger.

"As if there's any other way…" Aly mumbled, barely audible and still facing away from Sonic, looking into the fire.

Sonic did not have time to reply with another witty comeback before sparks flew from the ring. "Hey, hey, take it easy!" He yelped.

"I'm sorry, O Master, but now the contract is sealed," Shahra's voice came clearly through the ring.

"Contract?" Oh no, what'd I get myself into now? Guess I shoulda read the fine print.

"Yes, as master of the ring, I am bound to protect you at the cost of my own life. Now, rub the ring." Sonic did as he was told, and smoke began to fill the room. As it cleared, Shahra re-emerged from the ring in a respectful bow. "O Master, what is thy wish?"

Before he could reply, Sonic broke out into a sneezing fit. Aly turned slightly around to look at him as if to make sure he was okay. He snuck a quick grin at her in between sneezes, and she turned back abruptly to studying the fire, although he believed he caught her blushing. "Well…how about a handkerchief, for starters! Ah…make that a few!" Handkerchiefs began to fill the room, piling up in areas. Aly knocked some away from her face, but otherwise didn't move.

Sonic was buried underneath a pile, only his head poking out. "Ah, thanks, you're a life-saver! You see, I caught this cold yesterday, and…"

"Please, be serious!" Shahra was beginning to run out of patience with the blue blur.

"Okay, okay, thanks for the hankies, though."

"Oh please, someone tell me this isn't happening…" both Shahra and Aly said in unison. Aly turned around to face the other two, her facial expression betraying nothing. However, deep in her eyes, Sonic detected genuine fear of what was coming.

"Alright, I'm ready. Let's head into this world of Arabian Nights!"

"As you wish, Master," Shahra bowed respectfully again.

"Hey, quit it, would you? I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!" He gestured a thumbs up and winked at them both.

"Alright then, Sonic…the Legendary Hedgehog. Here we go! Into the world of the Arabian Nights!" Shahra summoned up a Magic Carpet.

Aly jumped effortlessly on top and landed sitting on her knees. Sonic did a flip and landed right beside her, grinning. "Now this is first-class!" He said enthusiastically. Aly tried not to smile, but he watched as her lips betrayed her, and a wide grin appeared across her face.

"You are just so…wow," she laughed. "I must say, you're very different than many people I've met," she said to him, her voice a bit louder than it was at first.

"Well, of course I am!" He said proudly. "I'm one of a kind!"

Aly laughed. "Oh yes, you have no clue how right you are about that, Sonikku."

"Sonikku? What is that?"

"Oh, sorry, where I come from, that's how we'd pronounce your name. Sonikku. I'm not really from the world of the Arabian Nights. You should be able to tell that, since I don't have the same accent or talk in the way that Shahra does. I'm from…a much different place," she trailed off.

"Where is that?" Sonic asked. "That is…if you want to talk about it," he added, noticing her hesitation.

"Sorry…let's just say I have no reason to want to go back there, nor will I ever, quite possibly. Although…I don't know that I'll stay in the world of the Arabian Nights, either. I'm not sure where I really fit in yet," she said sadly.

Sonic patted her back. "Hey, you'd probably fit right into my world! My friends are amazing, you'd really feel welcome, if staying in the Arabian Nights doesn't work out for you," he said with a warm smile. Aly didn't seem like she knew how to respond to that, and instead bowed her head sadly. Sonic had the feeling that she wasn't used to many people being nice to her.

Finally, she spoke. "Thank you, Sonikku. That really means a lot to me." She looked up, returning his smile.

Soul Pieces here! This is my first Sonic FanFic ever, and I'm really proud of the progress so far! So? How ya like it so far? Normally the chapters will be a bit longer than this one. Please review me! I'm also all for telling me what I did wrong. If you see any typos, please copy and paste the section into a message and I'll get it change when I can! Hope to see you readers later!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*