It was a chilly August evening when that 2-month-old blue hedgehog lay fast asleep in a basket, curled up in thick fleece blankets with tiny ears flat against his head. He didn't know it at the time, but his parents were dead, having lost the great war against the man with a mustache. They got their children to safety, but Christmas Island was no longer safe, and it wasn't long before all three triplets were separated.

Someone approached the basket, deep into the night. He lifted the baby in his arms, careful not to wake him, as the baby continued to doze.

A curt laugh escaped the older one, "So. Aleena didn't make it...did she?" the words were sad on his mouth, like they were salty to taste, "I should've known they couldn't go alone…"

The wind picked up, and the older hedgehog instinctively held the baby closer to himself. The smaller of the two awoke from the movement, and he began to cry.

"Oh, you poor little boy…" the man disappeared into the night, hoping the child's wails wouldn't attract too much attention, "Don't worry, your Uncle Chuck'll take care of you."

The smaller hedgehog nuzzled into the older one, finding warmth in the crook of the older's neck, "You are going to be extraordinary.

"Sonic the Hedgehog."

June - Year 0

Sonic looked out over the horizon. Christmas Island. He'd never been here before as far as he remembered, but his uncle told him he was born here. Had it already been ten years since then?

"Happy birthday, Sonic!"

He turned to the face of his Uncle Chuck, his smile stretching across his face, "Did you get me a cake!?"

"Hoho! I sure did, my boy!" Chuck brandished a vanilla cake with blue frosting, "No candles this year, but you can still make a wish!"

Sonic squeezed his eyes shut as he wished with all his might, "Okay let's eat it now!"

"Alright!" Chuck set the cake down and brandished a thick butter knife, "Just try not to get it all over your face."

The wind rushed through the bright, emerald-green grass as the two hedgehogs sat down with their picnic. Sonic savored every bite of his small slice, wondering if he'd ever get cake this good again.

"Hey, Chuck?" thinking of the question Sonic wanted to ask, a small knot formed in his tiny stomach.

"Yes, my boy?"

Sonic looked over at Chuck's messy white mustache and through his spectacles, to his curious cerulean-blue eyes. He took a deep breath.

"Will I be all alone?" his mouth turned into a sad, squiggly line, "On this mission?"

Chuck's eyes twinkled as he smiled, placing one calloused, gloved hand on his nephew's shoulder, "Far from it. I will be with you the entire time, you just won't always see me."

That made him feel a little better, but he was still fighting that anxiety.

"Hey, Sonic." Chuck looked out over Green Hill, "You love running, and you love helping people. This will let you do both. And trust me, those badniks couldn't fight off so much as a grasshopper. Even when I'm on the sidelines, you can handle this."

Sonic pondered this, "And if it's really bad, then you'll be there?"

"Count on it, little man." he gave Sonic's arm a gentle slap before he stood up, "Now, you done with your cake?"

With the worry aside for the moment, Sonic let his excitement to the forefront as he helped to pack away their lunch and store it in the Tornado; A red biplane of Chuck's own design.

"Now, you remember what I told you?"

"Stay on Green Hill, watch where I'm running, and, uh…" Sonic smiled sheepishly, "What was the last thing?"

Chuck ruffled Sonic's short quills, "Be careful. I know it's your instinct to rush into things, but you could get hurt that way. It's always better to err on the side of caution."

"Okay okay I'll remember that." Sonic crossed his heart with his finger.

"Well then…" Chuck closed the compartment of the plane, "Go on."

Sonic looked from his uncle to the vast expanse of grassy hills, "Wait, now? Right now?"

Chuck gave a hearty laugh, "Yes! Right now! I can't expect to cage you up forever, so. Go! Run! I know you want to."

Sonic did want to. His feet ached to dash for the fields, but he was always told to stick close and not run off on his own.

"I can easily catch up with you." Chuck assured, "Speed runs in our family."

That was true...

Finally, after Sonic decided he wouldn't be scolded for running away, he smiled. The biggest smile he'd ever mustered. And then, he was gone.

In a flash, he sped towards the the forest, then he turned to run along the edge of it. He wasn't as fast as Chuck, but that didn't mean he was slow. His excitement caused a flutter in his heart once he realized just how fast he would be in just a few years. It was so overwhelming that he almost forgot to watch where he was going. He stumbled, so he carefully slowed to a stop. Looking around, he realized he was close to the city, and that Chuck was nowhere to be seen.

Remembering the older hedgehog's promise to stick close, he steadied his breathing and started to run again, slower this time, and more aware of his surroundings. It wasn't long before he encountered his first badnik, a ladybug robot on one large wheel. It charged at him with it's spiked claws, so Sonic did the only thing he could think of; He curled into a ball, his soft quills sharpening into thick spikes, as he jumped, landing on the robot's head. It broke apart on impact, and a tiny bird flew out of its depths.

"Whoa…" Sonic scooped the bird into his hands and it chirped happily; A song of thanks. It stuck around just a little longer before it flew away.

"A flicky!" he gasped. Not a mobian, but a small animal. He looked off into the distance, where dozens more badniks were roaming around the lush fields. And beyond that…

Sonic felt his heart sink. The whole land leading into the city was dead. Dull and brown. Run-down buildings ran the length of the shoreline. Deeper into the forest, there was an entire chemical plant spewing pink water into the lakes and rivers. It made his skin crawl. What happened to this island?

His ears perked when he heard something in the field; A scream.

He ran back into the hills, searching for the source of the scream. A cluster of badniks was closing in on something, preparing to strike-!

"Help! Someone help me!"

Sonic swallowed the lump in his throat, "Hey!"

The badniks turned in his direction. Gritting his teeth, Sonic curled himself into a spiky ball and charged directly at the group, jumping onto each of their heads and reducing them one by one into scrap metal. A flicky popped out of each one.

"Whoa!"

Sonic turned to the target of the assault; A yellow fox who couldn't have been older than three or four. The flickies bunched around him, with squeaks and oinks and chirps of apologies. He giggled as the tiny animals nuzzled his fuzzy cheeks.

Sonic extended his hand to the fox, and he took it gratefully, standing up on his short legs. He dusted off his red and white shoes.

"That was so cool!" the fox said with stars in his eyes, "You have to show me how to do that! You got rid of them like it was nothing!"

Sonic's chest swelled with pride, "Well, you know. All in a day's work." his eyes went wide as he suddenly noticed something peculiar, "Huh? Do you have...two tails?"

The fox shamefully tried to hide them from view, without much success.

"Um," Sonic cringed. Clearly this was something he wasn't proud of, "What's your name?"

The fox bit his lip, twisting his fingers together over his gloves, "Tails."

"Hm?" his voice was so soft, "Sorry, I didn't catch that. What'd you say?"

"Tails." he said louder, "It's Tails."

"Oh." Sonic gave a thumbs up, "My name is Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

Tails opened his mouth to reply, but instead he gasped.

Sonic turned around. Robots were quickly approaching them with weapons in their arms. Badniks? No, these ones were much too big. They had to be something else. Whatever they were, they were obviously dangerous, and they were quickly surrounded. The flickies ran for their lives. Sonic jumped in front of Tails to protect him, but he was starting to panic. These ones were so much scarier! How could he stop them!? He fought the urge to cry. He didn't know what to do.

"Sonic!"

Sonic turned to the voice just as one of the robots was booted off their feet.

"Uncle Chuck!"

Chuck made short work of the group, jumping from one to the next in a flurry of color. All the robots were broken, but no animals were hidden in these ones. They did that all on their own.

"Sonic."

Tails yelped and jumped away, but Sonic threw himself into his uncle's arms.

"Are you okay, boy?"

"I'm okay." Sonic smiled up at him, relief flooding through his body.

Chuck broke the embrace, "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is…" but Tails shook his head, his ears down and his hands over his face.

"Oh, kiddo. It's okay." Chuck slowly extended his hand, "I ain't gonna hurt you."

Tails lifted his gaze to meet Chuck's. Those twinkling eyes must have worked their charm, because Tails ran right past the outstretched hand to wrap his arms around him. Chuck held him close.

"Hey, it's alright. Everything's alright." he pulled back to study Tails' expression, "Where are your parents, little man?"

"Um…" Tails hugged one of his tails, "I dunno. S'just me."

Chuck frowned at the poor kid, "It's just you?"

Tails squirmed under the scrutiny.

"Well, that just won't do." Chuck stood up, patting Tails on the head, "You'll have to come home with us. Is that okay?"

Tails looked up at him wide-eyed.

"You must be hungry." Chuck turned to leave, "Come on, kids. I think we still have some sandwiches in the plane."

The original version of this story was one of my first attempts at a fan story, and at the time I was really proud of it, but I've always wanted to rewrite it with my better skills. The original I know I started because I was excited for the release of Sonic BOOM (both the games and the tv show), so if that was at the beginning of 2014, that means I had just turned 15. How am I almost 20 now.

So yeah, just to put into perspective how long it's been.

One more thing though; This story is very long. I just finished the final chapter, and it's 41 chapters long! Part of this story was just me expressing my love for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and what it means to me, so I hope you guys appreciate all my nods and references to the games.

Okay enough sappy nonsense, get ready for CONTENT.