Chapter 1: My Whole World in Flames
After taking only a few steps backwards, Sonic stopped and looked around. It just wasn't going to work. Not only could he not see where he was going, but he couldn't even tell if he was going to walk into anything. That in itself drove the hedgehog crazy.
Sonic exhaled as he looked up at the sky. Could nothing entertain him anymore? Although, yes, it had been a sad attempt to amuse himself by means of walking backwards, it had been better than nothing. And yet, like everything else, it just wouldn't work. Inhaling, Sonic turned around and began to walk, feeling as lonely and bored as ever.
Years. It had been years since any attack against humanity had been planned by Eggman, years since anyone had turned to the sky and screamed in terror from the sight of the madman's latest and greatest creation. In the last two and a half years, no malicious threats had been issued, no deadly plots announced, no vicious monsters released, nothing. There hadn't been anything in the slightest, and that was that.
At first, near the beginning of this period of time, Sonic took the good doctor's hiatus as a victory and a huge accomplishment on his part. For once in his life, the hedgehog could enjoy himself like any regular teenager would. For once, he could simply sit back and relax without any worries, just as he had been planning on doing for so long. Ah, how nice a long and undisturbed nap sounded…
Of course, when nothing happened for not just weeks, but several months that gradually morphed into full-fledged years, it caught Sonic's attention and caused his confusion to take off in overdrive. Why had Eggman suddenly stopped trying? What on Mobius had brought him to the conclusion that he was done showing his ugly mug to the world? Just when exactly had he thrown in the towel?
Only one event had gone on in the past two and a half years since Eggman first disappeared, and it occurred closer to the beginning of his withdrawal from society. That single event, however, consumed Sonic with fear all-powerful and despair unrivaled every time he thought about it. And unfortunately for him, that event was still fresh in his mind.
It was almost as if it was still happening every time he thought of it. Though he always did his best to block out that horrible day, the images and sounds remained buried and burned deep into his memory. Although he was able to forget certain parts over time, like little details that had no meaning in the big picture, Sonic could never forget how badly he had messed up on that mission. All he had done was claim to be strong enough for the task and failed to stop and think, and the result of it? His cockiness had almost cost Tails his life.
He had been just a bit too slow that day, and not only had that shocked him beyond all possible belief, but the possibility of losing his best friend had filled him with a toxic combination of despair and disgust towards himself. How could he have failed so spectacularly? How could he have become so weak and, dare he say it, slow? After the bulk of the incident had gone and passed, the distressed hero turned to the only person he could have thought of for help: Shadow the Hedgehog.
Shadow, at first, had been more than reluctant to help. Mere moments after the Ultimate Lifeform had opened the door to see Sonic standing there, begging for him to teach him the ways of the chaos arts, Shadow had slammed the door in his face and ordered him to go away. He was dead set against teaching the impatient hedgehog an art he was surely never to understand, but after several long days of quite literally getting on his hands and knees and pleading for Shadow's assistance, Sonic finally received the answer he desired. With Shadow's guidance, he mastered the chaos arts.
Of course, the lessons used to teach him the ways took more time and patience than Sonic had ever dealt with before in his life. Suffering relentless mentally and physically abusive exercises, Sonic constantly found himself subject to a series of dark black and blue bruises, and deep, red gashes and wounds. For the first half of his training, he often went to bed sore and exhausted, usually falling asleep before his head even touched the ground beneath him. It was long and bitter work, and at times, the hedgehog believed that a beating from Eggman would have been kinder treatment. And yet against all odds and the beliefs of his mentor, after a full year of training, Sonic finally completed his lessons and bid his goodbye to his teacher, to the mentor who had become his close friend.
Ever since then, the hero had been able to use the chaos emeralds as well as Shadow could. But as with every other good thing that had occurred in the past few years, there had been major down sides with that positive event. To his misfortune, Sonic hadn't seen anyone but Shadow for a year—possibly even more. He hadn't caught the faintest glimmer of Tails, Knuckles, or even Amy in such a long time, which was especially shocking since Amy in particular was usually so good at finding him.
To say the least, it had been beyond strange to be alone for so long, and Sonic had to be honest about it all: he was lonely. Yes, he was insanely grateful for the friendship he now shared with Shadow, no doubt about that, but it had been a long time since he had even seen Shadow. An entire year had passed since he completed his training and said goodbye. And now here he was, walking through a forest backwards, trying his hardest to entertain himself in any way possible. For a second, the world seemed to stand still in shock.
So much had changed since that incident two years ago. Although Sonic, as observant as he was, couldn't quite catch everything that had changed, he knew for a fact that a lot had, especially when it came to himself. For not only had he mastered the chaos arts in the time that he had spent training with Shadow, but he had also grown physically and changed in how he... dressed, per say.
In particular, Sonic remembered that during his training, there was a certain exercise where Shadow had him swing from tree to tree and avoid every chaos spear that his master shot at him. At first, Sonic performed miserably, and was struck by almost every single spear sent in his direction. If Shadow hadn't been going easy on him, the hero would have died for sure. Or in the very least, he would have been seriously injured. How many bruises and scars had he earned from that single exercise alone, even with his master going easy on him?
That day marked the first of many where Shadow made him do the drill over and over again, making sure he would be able to avoid every spear with inches of room left over each time. Needless to say, it was exhausting work. At times he would have rather hit himself with a metal baseball bat than go through with it, but as with all the other exercises assigned to him, Sonic did it anyways.
After weeks of practicing over and over for hours at a time, and after taking blow after blow, Sonic was finally able to pass the course without being struck once. And oh, how joyful he felt to finally be free from that horrid course. Finally, he could go a full day of training without receiving quite so many black and blue souvenirs. At last, he was free!
Of course, moments after reaching the final branch, Shadow made him redo the exercise a few more times before they called it a day, just to make sure he had really passed. It took only a handful more of the successful runs to satisfy him, and once Shadow had accepted them as fit, he excused his student from his daily lessons. But just as Sonic had spun around and began to walk off, Shadow called him back and ordered him to hand over his gloves. Though confused at first as to why the Ultimate Lifeform wanted the Hero of Mobius's gloves of all things, all Sonic had to do was look at his them to realize how trashed they were.
Without another word, Shadow took his gloves—or whatever was left of them—and sent him on his way. The next day, Sonic came to the pleasant surprise of a gift Shadow had picked just for him: a new pair of gloves. They were brown, made of leather, and tougher than his other pair, and once he pulled them on, he discovered them to be fingerless, save it be for the thumbs. It was far different than what he was used to, granted, but he grew to love them all the same. A similar experience later in his training led to the replacement of his signature shoes.
But not only did the hedgehog sport a new ensemble, but something he never once expected to have in life: chest fur. It was the same color as his belly and had started growing shortly after he had started his training, fluffing out into a soft and full coat that, as silly as it was, made Sonic smile every time he thought about it.
Quietly, as he meandered through the forest and reminisced about people and places and events, the young man ran his fingers through his fluff of fur and inhaled deeply. How tired he was, but how awake he was at the same time. How aware he was of the world around him, and how alert he was of everything that rushed through his mind. Without anybody to talk to for so long, Sonic's life had become incredibly quiet and, dare he say it, empty.
Sometimes, when the hedgehog would become especially bored and sick of seeing all the places he had already been to a million times, he would wonder if sticking around had any meaning anymore. He would question if running around had any real purpose other than to distract himself when he knew for a fact that nothing would entertain him anymore. Was there any reason to keep wandering around when he knew there was nothing to find?
He couldn't find an answer, no matter how hard he looked. But he knew he couldn't stop going. He just had to keep running no matter where his feet took him, no matter which way the wind blew and the sun set and the world changed…
Sighing, Sonic looked down at his hands. Would anything happen anytime soon, would anything change? Anything at all? Or was he doomed to always be alone? He didn't know, and to be honest, he almost didn't want to know. The answer and thought of it alone was scary. Shaking his head, he continued to walk down the path surrounded by trees, bushes, and other kinds of foliage. Sonic was unsure of where he was at that point. He was heading toward a forest of some kind, that was for sure, but beyond that, he had no idea where he was heading. It was unfamiliar to his memory, but somehow, it felt as if he had been there once before. Maybe he was just—
A shadow flew past and over him, and without a second thought Sonic looked up. His eyes flew wide open and his heart skipped a beat out of excitement the moment his eyes settled upon the owner of the shadow. Smiling, Sonic ran forward, following the man in the tiny egg-craft. Surprise of his lonely thoughts suddenly being answered, the small smile on his face evolved into a euphoric grin. Finally, finally, something was happening!
"Hey Eggie," Sonic called out brightly. "What's up? Other than you, of course?"
Unsurprised by the sound of his enemy's voice, despite the years of absence they had taken from one another, Dr. Eggman turned and looked over the edge of his craft with his eyebrows raised, a mischievous grin resting lightly upon his face. "Ah, if it isn't my least favorite blue hedgehog here to harass me. I'm guessing you're wondering what I'm doing, as always?"
Sonic grinned and nodded, "Of course. So why don't you make it easy today and just spill the beans?"
Sarcasm filled Eggman's voice as he let out a loud "Ha," and replied, "Now that wouldn't be any fun, would it Sonic? I'm not quite ready to deal with you yet, hedgehog, but trust me when I say this: what I have in store for you is going to be one adventure you will never forget!"
"Trust me, I won't!" Sonic exclaimed, heart racing in anticipation. "But why don't you let me kick you around a little bit now just for old time's sake?"
Eggman smirked and shook his head, "Like I said hedgehog, not yet." Then looked ahead and sped up.
Sonic stared at the man with a confused gaze glued to his face, glancing down every once in a while to make sure that he wasn't going to crash into anything as he pursued his old foe. It was unusual behavior from Eggman. He never ran from a fight with Sonic. Usually he just played along to humor him—which usually ended in Eggman being brutally beaten—but for some reason, he was just shrugging off the hedgehog's challenge.
Something was off about Dr. Eggman. The look beyond his glasses was sharper than usual, more focused than ever before. There was something strange about him, no doubt, and though Sonic didn't know what it was, he was intent on finding out. But to dismay, it wasn't long after following Eggman that the growth and bushes around him grew into a lush forest of trees and bird cries.
It became almost impossible to keep an eye on Eggman and run without crashing into anything at the same time. The forest was incredibly dense in its undergrowth, with countless trees that branched out among long untamed grasses, deep thick roots that stretched across the forest floor, and shadows that danced endlessly from the leaves rustling above. Not only was that all so, but the thick density and number of leaves hanging above was so intense that the hero was only able to catch a glimpse of Eggman once every few seconds. It irritated him, but not as much as the realization that struck him after five minutes of running, when he realized he had been pursuing a bird for half of his chase. Growling once he discovered as much, Sonic stopped in his tracks.
Was that really how it had to be? He knew that Eggman had something big in store for him, but how long was he going to have to wait to find out? It had already been two years since his last adventure… was Eggman really going to have him stay still and wait all the longer? It was going to drive him insane. Fuming with frustration and feeling quite bored of his situation, Sonic sighed, shook his head, and decided to explore the nostalgic forest.
Maybe it was time to call Tails. It had been more than a year since he had last seen his best friend, and perhaps, as much as he didn't want to, it would be a good idea to inform him of what was going on. Because most likely, Tails had probably increased in genius exponentially over the time they had been without contact… with his mind, maybe Eggman's so called "memorable adventure" wouldn't be as difficult as anticipated. Heck, with Tails' help it would be just like old times, maybe even easier this go around! But then again, Sonic did like a good challenge. Perhaps he would wait awhile before talking to Tails.
Thinking about his little brother made memories and images of other friends he had been so long without seeing creep slowly back into his mind as he wandered. Knuckles and his ornery attitude always made his smile and laugh, as well as Rouge's constant ways of "cheering him up." Cream's unending kindness always left a lasting impression on the hero, and Amy... well, she was a good friend, but he wished that she would see that's all she'd ever be to him. She was relentless in her following of him.
Sonic had seen Silver and Blaze a while back on an interesting adventure together that had ended quite well, and he saw Shadow when he passed through Station Square, where he always made sure Sonic was still practicing. And then beyond all of them, there was an entire other group of friends Sonic hadn't seen in an even longer time, than he had seen Tails. Indeed, there was an entire group of friends that he hadn't caught head or tail of in several years… an entire group of friends he had known since his childhood and missed dearly. Silently as he continued his stroll through the forest, his eyes closed lightly, Sonic began to wonder how they were doing, or if they even remembered him…
All of a sudden, something heaved Sonic from his train of thought and back into reality. There were no more animal cries that could be heard. Not even the squeal of birds prevailed throughout the air. How hadn't he noticed that earlier? Something was wrong. Without another thought, Sonic opened his eyes and began to look around.
When he listened carefully to the world around him, Sonic could hear the cries of a handful of creatures off in the distance, but they all sounded scared. So scared in fact, that it sounded as if their very lives were at stake. What was going on? It didn't take long for Sonic to realize what it was, because moments after he had opened his eyes and started looking around, the scent hit him like a mallet: fire.
He let his senses guide him through the forest as he feared for the worst. Although he was in the mood for adventure, he hoped and prayed that no one was hurt in any way. A day like his ending in a tragic misadventure was not what he had expected in the slightest sense, and with the lack of any action whatsoever lately, it left the hero a little anxious for what was to come. What if he messed up again like he had with Tails? What if someone got hurt because he was too slow? When the hedgehog's eyes set upon the first layer of the scene, his heart nearly skipped a beat from shock.
The view ahead, as illustrated from the clearing Sonic had dashed into, was a burning, blazing, raging blaze. Not only was the forest on fire, but there were countless animals running from the chaotic scene. They were not like Sonic, not Mobians, as they were incapable of coherent speech, but the fear in their eyes and hearts were unmistakable. But who knew? There was a very real possibility that there were Mobians within the forest's flames that were fearing for their lives. And if there were any of them in there, there was no way the hero could let them die or be harmed. He wasn't going to let anyone else suffer at Dr. Eggman's hands.
Growling at the thought of his old foe, the hero shook his head briefly.
"Darn it Eggman," He whispered as he ran forward, looking up at the stars that had arisen during his run one last time before he flew into the flames, "Why'd you have to stoop so low?"
His mind made up, Sonic ran deep into the burning forest.
