Welcome to No Matter What, the story that takes the Sonic universe and puts it into a new perspective, one that has not really been explored too deeply by others.

There is music to accompany certain scenes that will help put you in the scene as you read, so I'll underline the artist and title of the piece that you can look up on YouTube or SoundCloud (I will specify if you have to look it up on the latter). This may be a little more cinematic than the usual Sonic soundtrack but I still feel like it fits pretty well with the story. I highly suggest taking a listen to them when they come up, as well as heeding any other instructions they may have. It will appear as such:

-*Artist - Title*-

WARNING: There is a reason this fic is rated M. This story will contain a lot of dark themes, including graphic violence, bullying and abuse, sexual assault, depression, death and suicide, as well as exploring the topic of trafficking. More on this story can be found on my bio. There are scenes that may be triggering to some, so if you do not feel you can bear to read through them but want to continue (which I wouldn't recommend if you can't), then I will leave a warning ahead of time in the chapter to let you know where you should skip to a safe section. So yeah, I'm gonna throw the "viewer discretion advised" warning now.

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy what I have to offer! If you find it interesting or have any kind of feedback, please feel free to leave a review on what you think! Also, let me know what you think of the music choices, if you have an idea of a piece that would sound great with a particular scene then please tell me what and who it's by so I can listen along too!

Prologue

The sun has been absent from the sky for nearly four hours in Metal City, as residents are starting to fall asleep in order to prepare for the next day, while those who are still wide awake can be found wandering about the streets, hopping from one club to another, alcohol numbing their minds as the night goes on. This is common practice in the large metropolis, as the days are busy with people bustling about to their jobs, while the nights are wild for those who wander out of their home in their apartment complex, where those who arrive home with their memories intact are lucky, whether they avoided drinking in the clubs, or avoided trouble on the dark streets that are only illuminated by neon signs and light posts above.

What is also a common practice on the streets at night is crime, whether it be a simple mugging, or kidnapping people, to even rape or murder in alleyways, sometimes both. The police are fairly consistent with keeping crime levels down to a minimum, but even they cannot be everywhere at once, and unfortunately, the worst crimes are those committed while they have their backs turned. It gives Metal City a bad name, as several reports have been made from this city of bodies found in the alleyways by first light.

This night is one of those nights, as a woman is running down the streets, panicking as she is followed from behind by a man with bad intentions. She calls out for help several times, but no one seems to answer her pleas. She tries to lose her stalker by going through an alleyway, but she is tripped up by garbage lying on the ground, falling to the concrete and skinning her hands and knees. She tries to get up, but she is picked up by her stalker and forced with her back to the wall, staring down the man in front of her with fear in her eyes.

"Please, don't hurt me!" The woman cries out as she tries to squirm loose, only to have her wrists gripped tighter by the larger man. "I-I have money in my purse, I-I-I can give it to you, but please, don't hurt me!"

The man only seems to grin more at her pleas. "That's a very tempting offer, babe." The man responds, a hint of cheap alcohol in his breath that makes the woman feel squeamish. "However, I will have to pass this time. Tonight, I'm aiming for a more…valuable prize, and I know that you can give it to me."

The woman is stunned by his words, contemplating what he means. "T-Then w-what do you want from me?"

The man then pushes his body up against hers, grinding his hips against hers, making her squeak as her cheeks heat up. "I want you. You and your whole perfect body."

The woman is now petrified by fear, realizing what the man truly wants. Tears start to fall from her eyes as she vainly tries to break loose. "N-No, please…!" She pleads to her assailant, who pays her words no attention.

"Sorry toots, but a man's gotta fulfill his needs, and this man's getting what he deserves tonight!" A hand slowly starting to slip under her skirt and up her thigh.

The woman is now panicking, trying to do anything to make the man let her go, but nothing seems to work. "H-H-HELP!" She cries out, hoping someone will hear her. "RAPE! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

The man quickly pushes her hard against the wall and uses one hand to cover her mouth, preventing her from calling out. "Whoa, we ain't gonna have none of that, are we?" There is now a bit of hostility in his voice. "You're mine now, so take it like the fucking bitch you are! Who knows, maybe you'll even like it and want to come back home with me..."

"That's where you're wrong, bub." A voice suddenly rings out.

The man and the woman look down the alley, and they see someone standing there, someone considerably smaller than they are. They identify that the figure is a male Mobian hedgehog by the quills on his head flowing down rather smoothly. At a first glance, they think that it could be a familiar snarky hero famous worldwide, but upon further examination they find that this is not the case. This hedgehog dons a light coffee brown leather jacket, brown gloves, and black boots that rise halfway up his calves. He has bangs that hang from in between his ears to just above his eyes, not an uncommon physical characteristic for a hedgehog to have. What is rare, however, is the color of his fur. Outside of the average variations of hedgehog fur colors, his lust fur would easily make him stand out amongst a crowd. To differentiate him even more, his belly is white and ruffled at the top, unlike his peach muzzle and arms that are hidden by the sleeves of his jacket. His bright, electric blue eyes glare upon the man who is assaulting the smaller female, delivering the message that he is not happy with the scene in front of him.

The man is unimpressed by this little teenage hedgehog that thinks that he can get in his way. "Go on home to mama, kid. It's past your bedtime anyway." The man tells the hedgehog, trying to scare him off.

"Oh, don't you know?" The hedgehog answers instantly, taking a step closer to the two humans. "I can't sleep when creeps like you wander these streets, and I really could use some shut-eye right about now."

The man starts getting tense, realizing that this hedgehog won't back down and seems willing to fight him for the woman. Panicked, the man pulls out a switchblade and holds it to the woman's throat. The hedgehog, reacting quickly, pulls a specialized Glock 17 hybrid handgun fitted to his size out of his inside jacket pocket and aims at the assailant. "Don't you get any funny ideas, kid!" The man yells at him from behind the woman, who is too petrified by fear of a blade at her throat to move. "You make another move and the bitch gets it!"

"Hey, no need to get antsy." The red hedgehog calmly speaks from behind the holographic sight of his pistol. "Sure, we both want two different outcomes, but don't let the lady get harmed in the process, okay?"

"Just shut up and walk away like you didn't see anything, kid!" The man demands once more.

"I'm not leaving until she's safe from you, so take your pick, asshole. Either you walk away from this with your life or you bleed out from the bullet wound I'll insert into your stomach."

The man is frustrated with the hedgehog's taunts, treating him like he is beneath him, like he is in control of the situation, when the man believes that he controls the situation, he holds the woman's life in his own hands, and he decides her fate. And indeed, the man would be right, he does hold the detonator, and there is nothing the hedgehog can do but wait for the man to make an action, but his frustration over the hedgehog has clouded his judgement to the point where all he wants to do is rip his throat out. So with a yell, he throws the woman aside and lunges at the hedgehog, knife poised to strike. The hedgehog quickly sidesteps to dodge the sharp blade and its owner. He holsters his gun back into his jacket pocket, instead sticking to fighting this guy with his fists. The man swings back at the hedgehog, but the hedgehog is able to block his stab attempt to the side, landing a backhand punch to the man's face. The man stumbles back, stunned by the strength behind the teenager's punch.

Before he can even act, the hedgehog is able to wrestle the knife out of the man's possession, causing it to bounce off the ground and slide over to the woman, who flinches at first but then takes the blade and moves it away from the fight. The man uses his leg to sweep under the hedgehog's own legs, causing him to trip up and fall. He is immediately picked up and slammed against the concrete wall of the alleyway, and just before a fist can land its mark on his left eye, the hedgehog blocks it and knees the man in the chest, knocking the wind out of him as the hedgehog is dropped. The hedgehog proceeds to swing his leg around and kick the man's head into the wall, knocking the man out cold.

The woman watches on in astonishment as the hedgehog picks himself up and dusts off his fur and his jacket, nearly appearing as though nothing had happened, had his panting not given him away. "Th-th-thank you, sir…!" She stammers to the hedgehog.

The hedgehog looks over to her and gives her a small yet sincere smile. "Don't mention it." He tells her, keeping it short and simple.

Now, the woman is able to examine the hedgehog's appearance closer. Even with just coming out of a fight with a potential rapist, sweating a little and appearing a little beat up, his quills appear to be ruffled and filthy, like they haven't been properly cleaned in some time. He does not smell from where she stands, but it is clear to her that the hedgehog in question is not very wealthy.

She puts this aside, looking over to her unconscious assaulter, and she remembers what the hedgehog had said earlier. "You…aren't really going to kill him, are you?" She asks him innocently.

He looks over to the man with a frown, remembering what had just occurred seconds ago. "No, I'm not going to kill him." He answers, taking a nearby strand of rope and tying the man's wrists behind his back and his feet together. "I don't really kill people, and I wouldn't unless I had no other choice."

"Have you done it before?" She asks curiously but with caution.

But the hedgehog does not answer this question as sirens begin to blare. Cops line the end of the alleyway, quickly apprehending the man and dragging him away in cuffs, while the woman is escorted over to an ambulance that is waiting for her. She looks back into the alleyway, but she finds that the hedgehog who had just saved her life has disappeared into the shadows as suddenly as he had appeared. She looks down the alley for a while, wondering where he could have gone, when her attention is redirected to an EMT. "Are you alright, ma'am?" The female EMT asks her.

The woman finds the ability to speak once more after a second of silence. "Yes, I'm fine." She answers.

"We were informed that an attempted attack was occurring here. Did that man sexually assault you?"

"…uh, y-yes…he tried to, but…" She starts to say, but suddenly her train of thought stops as she remembers her savior once more.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but if it's alright, could you tell me what happened?" The EMT questions her, rather concerned.

"I was saved…by a red hedgehog with a brown jacket." She finally speaks up. "I didn't catch his name, though."

The EMT doesn't seem to be surprised at all. "Ah, I think I know who you mean." The EMT says nonchalantly. "He's known around the city for helping others in need."

"But who is he?" The woman mutters to no one in particular, looking out and away from the scene.

Meanwhile, up several stories above the scene, the red hedgehog watches on as the woman is taken to the hospital for examination and the man is taken away to jail for attempted rape.

Glad she seems to be alright. The hedgehog thinks to himself. No one deserves to have their lives scarred by rape. Unfortunately, crime doesn't rest, so there still may be someone out there who is suffering the fate I just averted here, and I won't be able to stop it.

The hedgehog sighs to himself as he takes a moment to sit down on the edge of the building, dangling his feet over the edge dangerously as he stares up at the half-lit moon and a sky empty of stars from the city lights.

Still, I'm thankful I can do what I can. The law enforcement knows enough about me, and fortunately, they've kept my identity a secret from the public. If they find out any more about me, they're sure to put me in an orphanage.

He gives a slight huff to represent laughter.

Heh…Like I'd let that happen again. I'm not gonna be forced to rely on someone else for my own survival. I'd probably just end up back on the streets a year later anyway, since no one really would want to adopt a troubled seventeen year old sharpshooter.

He proceeds to stand up, looking out at the city before him, the city he swore to protect with all of his abilities.

I wouldn't trust them anyway. They'd probably try to poison my soup or something. I have to remain independent. I have to be able to take care of myself. I have to watch my own back, and I need to watch out for the people here as well. I can't allow what happened before to happen again to somebody else.

With that, he walks away from the scene and heads back into the shadows of Metal City, patrolling the streets as the underground hero he has made himself to be.

-*David Edwards - Dark Halo*-

Next time on No Matter What:

We find out who this mysterious red hedgehog is

and then follow him as his life takes a new turn...