For a while, thanks to the multiverse theory, I've wondered what Sonic's human counterpart would be, what he would sound like and what kind of clothing would he wear. After a few weeks of thinking, sketching, and trying new things, I finally came upon and created a reasonable human counterpart for SEGA's blue mascot. I also created human counterparts for Knuckles, Tails, Blaze, etc. Of course this story has almost the same events as the game does, but this takes place in an alternate dimension. I in no way, shape, or form intend to offend anyone who is a hardcore fan of the series. The purpose of this story is one for self-expression, two to answer a rhetorical question that's been ringing in my head for a few years, and three to fill in some plot holes that the game left in.

In another time, in another place...

It was late in the afternoon. A small fire in the hearth was the only source of light and warmth during the cool chilly day. Off to the left of the main entrance of the small living room area was a small wooden coffee table with an old-fashioned alarm clock atop it. Nearby the table was a large sofa. Snoozing on the loveseat was a tall, slender teenager—about six feet, three inches tall and sixteen years of age—wearing royal blue track pants, red, flat-soled running sneakers with a white belt and gold buckle on each to keep them secured, and a blue shirt with white accents. His straight black hair slanted backwards, forming six long thick spikes on the back of his head: a set of two from each side of his cranium along with a pair in the center. The young man had a book over his eyes called The Arabian Nights, originally known in Arabic as One Thousand and One Nights. He was currently using the ancient tome as a blindfold as he lay passed out on the couch. The gentle crackling of the warm fire in addition to his own exhaustion had put him to sleep while he was reading earlier in the day.

Snoring, he could not hear a female voice faintly trying to get his attention.

Exasperated and impatient, the voice finally yelled, "Hey, wake up!"

The young man snaked an arm from behind his head and lifted the book from his eyes.

"Boy, is it that late already?" he yawned, blindly reaching for his alarm clock. "What time is it?"

As he fumbled around the table without looking, instead of the clock, he grabbed a large gold finger ring of Arabic design: a plain, solid gold band with a rope-like golden strip wrapped around it, curling into a double-spiral at the front. It was unusually massive, about a foot in diameter and seven inches thick.

The teenager stared at the strange object in his hand for a few seconds when a cloud started emanating from the ring itself. The same soft, female voice from earlier spoke from the vapor as it took on the shape and form of a woman.

"You are the 'blue hedgehog'," she said.

Startled, the young man jumped, dropping the giant ring on the floor in the process. "Whoa! What the—?!"

The woman spoke, trying to calm him as he hurriedly scampered back. "Please, do not be alarmed. I am Shahra, the Genie of the Ring." She picked the Arabian Nights up off the floor. "You know, like in 'Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'?"

The teenager stood up and answered in his trademark, to-the-point manner. "Don't think I've read that."

The young genie was taken aback. "What?! You've got to be kidding me! It's the best story of all the Arabian Nights… Or at least the second-best. But that's beside the point. Please, take a look at this." Shahra opened the book and flipped through it until she found a certain section.

The teenager stared at a page for a few seconds. "Hey, the page is blank!" He grabbed it and turned it over. The other side was empty as well. Glancing over to the next page, he noticed the other half of it was also empty. As he watched, the remaining text seemed to sequentially erupt in fire and dissipate right in front of him.

"Our world, the world of the Arabian Nights, is vanishing," Shahra explained.

"Vanishing? But how?"

"This is the work of an incredibly evil spirit: The Erazor Djinn."

"Erazor… Djinn…?"

"Yes. He used his evil magic to make himself become even more powerful than he was before. 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."

The teenager was still confused. "The power of the book…?"

"If our world ceases to exist," the Genie explained, "then not only will those stories be silenced forever, but the Erazor Djinn will then be unleashed into your world."

A solemn look replaced the confusion on the young man's face. "That definitely sounds like trouble. But… what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to stop him. You must stop the Erazor Djinn. Only you, the 'blue hedgehog', can do it."

The teenager's expression changed once more, this time to a confident smirk. "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 just something out of a storybook, right? How am I supposed to do anything about that?"

Now it was Shahra's turn to smile. "That's easy. You are my master, having called forth the Genie of the Ring. As such, I am able to grant your wishes. Simple wishes, at any rate. Bringing you into the world of the Arabian Nights is within my power."

"What?! Inside that book?!"

In a flash of light, Shahra vanished. The ring on the floor floated up and shrunk down to a size eleven, seven millimeter band. "Now please, place the ring on your finger," she instructed.

The teenager slipped the band on his right middle finger. "Like… this?" When he finished, golden electricity jolted his hand from the ring. "Ouch! Hey, take it easy, will you?"

"My apologies, Master, but the contract has now been sealed."

"Contract?"

"Yes. As Master of the Ring, I am now bound to protect and serve you. Now, rub the ring."

"Like this?"

Shahra appeared in a flash of light. "Oh, Master of the Ring, what is thy wish?"

He sneezed twice. "How 'bout a handkerchief, for starters. Make that a few."

In an instant, several fell down in a pile on his head.

The teenager wiped his nose. "Thanks. You're a life saver. You see, I caught this cold yesterday, and—"

"Please, be serious!" Shahra scolded.

"Okay, okay! Thanks for the hankies, though."

Shahra did not expect to have a master who was infamous for wisecracking, nor was she even remotely used to it. "Oh, please… Someone tell me that this isn't really happening…"

The young man let the strips of cloth fall to the floor. "Alright, let's go. Take me to this world of the Arabian Nights!"

The genie bowed. "As you wish, Master."

"Quit it, will you?" he reprimanded, annoyed. "No fancy titles. My name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Very well, then, Sonic… the Legendary Hedgehog. Here we go. Into the world of the Arabian Nights!" With a wave of her hand, a magic carpet appeared in front of them.

And here I thought magic carpets only existed in fiction, he muttered silently.

Sonic hopped on, excited. "Now this is First Class! Here we go!"

With that, the carpet began to dive towards the table where the open book was dropped. As it plummeted faster, the duo shrunk in size and entered the pages as the cover closed behind them.

Alright! Sonic thought. A new adventure's just begun!