Hello. Good day to everyone.

I do realize that it's been a while since I last put anything up (well, Sonic-related stories to be specific). My sincerest apologies to all! It's just that things have been extremely hectic over here, and I'm currently being crushed by the insane amount of homework thrown my way. That and the fact that I have a week full of exams coming up (one for each day of the following week, I might add).

Since I have some free time on hand at last (and the fact that I'm not planning on losing my sanity cramming for exams any time soon), I manage to finish this chapter as a preview for the new story I'm writing at the moment, which I have just finished the layout, not so much the content.

Anyone who has read my notice in my previous story "Trapped" will probably recognize this one. I'm staying true to my word and I'm going to deliver the reality version of that story – with a little twist of my own imagining. Rest assured there will be no OCs this time. This story may take a while (a really, really long while) for me to complete, for I'll be pretty busy with schoolwork until the end of June, and probably the following half of July.

Last but not least, reviews, as usual, are highly appreciated.

Chapter 0:
Can't wake up from this nightmare

Chaotic, mortifying, horrible, hopeless,…There were probably thousands of fancy words that could be used to describe the post-apocalyptic location and the predicament that Sonic was speeding through at the moment. However, the most fitting one that came to mind at the sight of this hellish nightmare would be "Armageddon".

The entire city, or perhaps what was left of it, was wholly enveloped by a veil of glooming and perpetual darkness, which, in the lone hero's opinion, seemed to symbolize the never-ending despair of the living as well as that of the long deceased. Around him, the rubbles of countless buildings and skyscrapers littered the broken highways, adding more details to the picture of the pitiful remains of the industrialized area. Even at the speed Sonic was currently travelling, he could have sworn he had seen limbs protruding from underneath those rocks – lifeless, bloody and utterly smashed by the weights.

After a disheartened and angry growl, the speedster tried his best to block the gruesome images out of his mind and instead continued to speed through the various obstacles on the path. At the same time, he still couldn't help but think about his situation, and how fast things had deteriorated for him.

They say fate has a twisted sense of humor…Sonic surely doesn't know who 'they' are, but he has to admit that 'they' are absolutely right, more than he likes. Oh, how did things turn out so, so horribly wrong? It had been an ordinary day like any other, and now, Sonic suddenly found himself trapped in the middle of this hellhole, in the middle of a ravaging war, with the entire enemy forces after his head.

'No, not a war', said a voice in Sonic's mind as he leaped over a gigantic boulder ahead and resumed his pace…To refer to an armed conflict as a war implies that all participating parties actually have an equal shot at victory. 'This is not a war', he concluded bitterly, unconsciously narrowing his darkened emerald eyes and turning around briefly. The moment he did, the sight of a pursuing shadow not very far behind suddenly intruded in Sonic's field of vision. Once again, he found himself grunting in distaste before picking up the pace even more and running past the searing sea of flames ahead, which were further devastating the remaining wreck of a city.

'Not by a long shot' the inside voice continued.

No, it definitely wasn't a war. Rather, it was a one-sided massacre.

And the cursed being responsible for all of this madness, the wild beast responsible for causing all of this chaos and deaths was right hot on his tail, fully clad in a jet-black armor and face shrouded by a similar helmet. He was holding two energy swords tightly in his hands, fully intent on tearing his prey to pieces.

"This should be far enough!" Sonic muttered to himself in a futile attempt to calm down his growing nerves, feeling a bit torn between rage and disbelief that someone could actually catch up with him so easily, almost effortlessly. But then again, the legendary speedster couldn't say he was that surprised, considering who the assailant was.

"Alright then, you want to play rough, I'll play rough" shouted Sonic.

With that, he abruptly turned around and rammed straight into the dual-wielding swordsman with his faithful Sonic Boost. The strike was as deadly as it was sudden, yet it was ultimately for naught, for the highly elusive chaser had managed to get out of the way a split second before the impact. The blurry blue comet that Sonic had become then collided with a nearby boulder with a force strong enough to reduce it to tiny pebbles.

"Oh Chaos, I can't believe I'm saying this out loud…but he's crazy fast!" Sonic pouted a little when he emerged from the resulted dust screen, completely unscathed from the collision.

Quickly snapping back to the severity of his current predicament, the hedgehog instantly became alert when his perked ears picked up the faint twirling sound of his opponent's light sabers nearby. Like a true predator aiming for its prize, the armored warrior moved quickly behind the rocks and debris like a shadow, patiently waiting for a perfect opportunity. The sound of his energy-based weapons ripped through the veil of dead stillness of the area and assaulted Sonic's sensitive ears, echoing in his eardrums, disturbingly loud and clear. Realizing that there was no avoiding the unavoidable, the trapped hero decided to stand his ground and listened closely to the darkened surroundings.

The twirling noise of the futuristic weapons became louder and louder as time progressed, telling Sonic that the pursuer was closing in at a steady and fast pace. However, he could also tell that the assailant was clearly exercising extreme caution, not taking the risk of letting his prey escape his hold.

"Give it up, Sonic. You cannot win" The hedgehog's ears twitched visibly as he heard an unusually monotonous voice, one that was completely devoid of any kind of known emotions and feelings. It was a voice not unlike that of a machine, but this one sounded far worse, for it actually came from an organic being that had been stripped of all feelings and morality. "Your fate has already been sealed!"

"We'll see about that!" Sonic instantly retorted while dashing his eyes around and preparing for the strikes that were sure to come at any moment.

All of the sudden, a blurry silhouette emerged from behind one of surrounding rubbles and lunged straight at Sonic. The stealthy assailant immediately held out his swords and precisely aimed for the hedgehog's back, intending on stabbing through his beating heart and finishing the battle in one strike. The assassin's agility was without a doubt beyond what the word 'incredible' entailed, to the point of being on par with that of the legendary blue blur.

On par, not faster…

"Oops!" came a rather smug and highly exaggerated exclaim from the hedgehog as he quickly side-stepped and safely dodged the tip of the incoming saber. Skillfully maneuvering his body so that he would ultimately end up behind his persistent assailant, Sonic proceeded to grab his left wrist and twist it painfully, effectively forcing the armored attacker to drop one of his weapons.

"Gotcha!" the hedgehog exclaimed in an obviously faked cheerful tone before delivering a follow-up kick to the pursuer's spine.

The kick connected, and the black-clad assassin wordlessly fell forward, his helmet shattering from the impact with the hard ground a little distance away. Not letting this precious opportunity to amount to naught, Sonic instantly picked up the dropped saber on the ground and promptly leaped forward, aiming to disarm and hopefully restrain his relentless tail.

Unfortunately, despite his reputation as the fastest thing alive, he failed to accomplish his goals. In one quick motion - surprisingly quick even for someone of Sonic's caliber to process - the fallen fighter, got to his knees, turned around from where he was and parried the incoming slash almost effortlessly.

"I repeat, you cannot hope to win against me" said the warrior in the same emotionless tone briefly before pushing himself up from the dirt through the use of his remaining appendages and easily driving Sonic back to a wall behind with sheer brute force alone.

Despite the hedgehog's most valiant efforts, he suddenly found himself in another pickle as he was pinned to the wall in a matter of seconds.

The blades of the two energy weapons clashed with one another, creating a dangerous sizzling noise that was very unpleasant for the ears, and sending sparks out in all directions. At that moment, the darkened area was momentarily lit up as a result of the collision of the two light sabers, allowing Sonic to see into the eyes of the opponent whom he was facing – a sight that he was sure would continue to haunt him in his nightmares until the day he left the realm of the living.

Not to boast, but Sonic was never one to be afraid of anything the world had to throw at him, even in the direst of situations where even the bravest of them all would surely falter. Yet, the very sight of the assailant's eyes made him cringe outwardly, as if physically struck by an armored fist to the face. The moment Sonic looked into the dull eyes of the being responsible for all this madness, he felt like a part of him was lost to the heartless flames, having been reduced to ashes and burned out of existence forever.

The sight of those eyes…those lifeless sapphire eyes, he knew right then and there, would forever haunt him for the rest of his mortal life, and for every waking and sleeping moment. They were so familiar, yet so very, very different. And admittedly, it scared Sonic the hedgehog like never before.

"Yield!" the swordsman spat coldly as he leaned closer to the hero, his emotionless gaze bearing into Sonic's own widened emerald orbs. For the first time in a long time, Sonic felt fear.

"Sorry. That is something I can't do, buddy" said the hedgehog after he miraculously managed to snap back to reality, "I'll never give in until I bring you back to who you really are and wake you up from this horrible nightmare…Tails".

Yet, the unfeeling, half-machine fox before him continued to stare blankly, never flinching, never showing any kind of emotion, never letting up. Instead, he simply tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and applied more force, hell bent on carrying out his orders to dispose of his former friend and brotherly figure. And all Sonic could do at the moment was try his best to survive.

Yes, it was indeed a nightmare, the worst kind of nightmare imaginable. It was a nightmare one normally hoped to wake up from, yet couldn't. It really was a horrendous nightmare for Sonic.

And at this very moment, he was trapped within it, within this never-ending bad dream, desperately wishing for it to end, yet unable to open his eyes.

For it was a nightmare known as reality.

…

That's it for the time being, next time (which will be a while), the real story begins.