Chapter 1- Hog Vs. Wild

It was everyone's favorite time of summer: The city wide three-day-long 'Annual Barbecue Convention'. In late July, everyone from far and wide would come to Empire City so they could pig out on barbecued meat, see old friends, meet new ones, maybe find a lover while munching on a pulled pork sandwich. Some Mobians didn't understand it since it was more of a human thing, most of the detractors being herbivores who never touched meat, but nonetheless the more optimistic Mobians were as excited as the humans for the event, including the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic was a HUGE fan of the convention. He's a fan of all of the world's food conventions, mostly since he was always hungry no matter what. He had gear lined out on Tails' guest bed specifically for the occasion: a holding bucket or two for the leftovers he would be taking with him, a hat to shield his eyes from the sun, his own barbecue sauce because 'They're always stingy with the sauce', he would say, a gallon of lemonade to last the whole day, and most importantly, potato salad for the masses. Well he had to contribute SOMETHING.

"Bye Tails, I'll be back before midnight!" Sonic cried, and he bolted out of the door.

"Bring me back some coleslaw!" Tails called out through the window before returning to work.

The little hedgehog enjoyed himself very much throughout the festivities. He entered a rib eating contest at noon and ate the whole 3 racks he was given before the other competitors finished half way with one. He was able to sample various styles of barbecue meals from around the world, with whatever the hell they do in Spagonia still being the best result. There was a guy dressed in a giant steak costume with steak sauce cologne everyone could get a chuckle or two from. Barbecued sushi was even a thing… yeah, even he didn't want it.

By 9 at night, Sonic was full and tired. He figured that he should take an evening run and energize himself so that he could stay awake a little longer, and that was exactly what he was about to do when suddenly everyone was alerted to a shrill scream coming from the children playing a little ways away. Wasting no time, Sonic went to investigate.

"What's going on?" he asked one of the kids, a small boy.

"W-We got attacked by a monster!" he told Sonic and the developing crowd, and he pointed towards the nearby forest. "My sister got kidnapped and taken that way!"

"Kid, are you sure it wasn't in your imagination?" one of the adults asked. "There ain't no such thing as monsters."

"But we saw it!" A little girl cried in defense, and while the two parties argued with one another, Sonic was looking off into the distance, letting his ears and nose lead him to the truth. Amidst all of the smells of sweaty humans and delicious food was a faint musky scent. Didn't smell like a Mobian and it didn't smell like any old wild animal either, leaving Sonic confused as to what it could be. Taking the opportunity, he ran into the woods to do a little tracking while no one was looking.

In no time, his tracking skills and keen hedgehog senses led him to a site off into the woods. At the center of a small clearing was a little bed of leaves and grass shoots. Claw marks were all over the surrounding trees and the faint musky scent was all over the place.

"I've been all over these woods and I don't think I've ever seen this place... How long has this been here…?" Sonic asked himself. He was about to take a better look around when he noticed a small child crying in the bed. It must have been that little girl the boy was yelling about. Sonic dashed over to the bed to calm and grab her.

"You okay?"

"A-Are you Sonic the Hedgehog…?" The scared child asked.

"The one and only, kiddo," he replied with a smile and a wink. "Are you hurt at all?"

"I got a scrape…" she said tearfully, carefully lifting her arm to show him. It was very superficial, easily cleaned with water and a bandage. Sonic gently rubbed her head and patted her back to make her feel better and got her in his arms.

"I'm gonna run you back to the group so they can patch you up, okay? Hold on tight." She nodded and gripped his sides securely. Sonic enjoyed how smoothly this was all going. He didn't like having to chase after people he was trying to save, but aside from a few whimpers, the child was very calm and obedient. Almost too calm considering the possible circumstances.

It was smooth sailing carrying the little girl back to the convention, where she was embraced by her brother and parents. There were many thank yous and acts of gratitude given to Sonic, who was distracted through the whole thing about the area he was just at.

"Is there anything we can do to repay you, Sonic?" The mother asked. Sonic almost didn't hear her because he was studying the entrance to the forest so hard. When he finally caught wind of the conversation, Sonic simply requested if they could watch his things, and took back off into the woods to investigate. Everyone was left puzzled, but they complied, stowing away Sonic's gear and leftovers in the coolers.

No one heard from him for the rest of the night.

Midnight eventually rolled around. Day 1 of the convention ended without another hitch, despite Sonic being missing for 3 hours. The event runners kicked everyone out and got ready for the next day, still generously holding onto Sonic's stuff for him. They considered sending a search party for him briefly, but they knew he could take care of himself and didn't bother.

Tails wasn't bothered too much by it either. When Sonic says he's going to be back by midnight on this thing, he's usually back by the next day instead, in the kitchen eating a bunch of 'random-leftover' sandwiches for breakfast and leaving a few for Tails. He might not be having dinner that night, but the morning would make up for it and he would be well fed knowing his pal. And so Tails went to bed without another thought, already anticipating the mouthwatering leftovers and the stories of Sonic's experiences.

So Tails was more than a little concerned when there was no sign of his gluttonous blue friend the next morning as well. No sign of him or any of the food anywhere. He checked the guest room, the living room, the kitchen, outside, a little bit across the block. Nothing came up. Calling him held no good result either. It went straight to voicemail, which is unusual for Sonic too. He always answers right away, unless he's sleeping. For a little help searching for him, he gave Knuckles a call. Knuckles was grouchy at first, but he met Tails at the entrance of the Convention area to cover some ground quickly.

"This is really the only place I can think of looking for him" Tails told Knuckles. "Maybe he got tired and slept outside so he could come right here the next day."

"Let's just get this over with. This place makes me queasy just looking at everything." Knuckles said, and the two made their rounds, asking everyone and anyone if they saw where their lost friend could be. Many weren't there the night before, so they had no idea, but they eventually met up with the family Sonic had helped out.

"Oh, yeah, we saw him last night!" the father said.

"He helped me get out of the scary forest!" the little girl said excitedly, holding her arm up to show Tails and Knuckles the bandage.

"Did ya see where he went?" Knuckles asked impatiently.

"He went back into the forest for some reason. Did he not come back out…?" the mother pondered. But she didn't get an answer to her inquiry from the two of them, for they were already inside the woods by the time she finished speaking.

"SONIC!" Tails cried periodically, trying to get him to say something back and tell them where he was.

"Are you even sure he's still here?"

"He has to be Knuckles! Where else could he be at this point?"

"Why would he still be here in the first place?" Knuckles asked himself. He didn't like the potential answers. But he didn't have to think about it too long, for Tails finally spotted something blue in the trees. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what it was.

"Sonic, there you are!" Tails yelled. Sonic, however, didn't stir from the yelling. Tails flew up to the tree to see why, and it wasn't pretty. All over Sonic's body were deep bloody gashes. They weren't fresh and already looked infected. His left arm had half of the skin shredded off to where you could see bone. His fur and quills were caked in the crimson red fluid, and one could have only assumed he managed to climb that tree with barely functioning consciousness in order to get away from the thing that was attacking him. No evidence of a struggle either. There was no signs that Sonic put up any sort of a fight against the culprit… or could.

The last cherry on top of the worrying cake was Sonic's pained expression. He was obviously unconscious, but it almost felt to Tails that he was still in agony even so. Being careful, Tails cradled his injured friend in his arms and flew him down.

"Knuckles, I think Sonic got mauled by something!" Tails cried, tears streaming down his face. He let Knuckles get a closer look, who immediately turned his head away.

"He needs to get to a doctor right away." Knuckles simply said. Tails agreed, and the both of them made a break for the local emergency room.

Along the way, Sonic faded in and out multiple times. Each time he would briefly open his eyes, look at Tails or Knuckles with glazed eyes and a confused expression, they would both try to get him to respond to them, only to be met with incoherent mumbles, and then he would pass back out on them without warning. It would only be on the hedgehog's own terms as well; not even the loudest yelling or roughest shaking would make Sonic wake up, and Tails felt the dread creeping up on him. This was a sure fire sign that Sonic was probably in a state of hypovolemic shock from whatever trauma he just suffered.

"Come on, Tails, we're almost there…" Knuckles said as the trio approached the emergency room after a while. Tails pushed past all of the other patients, who probably weren't of the highest priority right now, and went up to the front counter.

"Nurse, please help my friend!" Tails yelled, immediately grabbing the attention of the staff. "H-He's hurt really bad!"

One look and any nurses and doctors paying attention stopped what they were doing and tended to the ailing hedgehog. Sonic was immediately placed onto a gurney and taken to an actual hospital in an ambulance, leaving Tails and Knuckles to follow after them in Tails' plane.

Tails only assumed the worst when they finally caught up with them at the hospital, but what the two of them saw of their friend was more unnerving than anything they could have seen then and now before this and most likely after this:

...Sonic was healed like nothing had ever happened to him.