I love the idea of the crossover and considering how popular the Hunger Games are right now I couldn't help it after reading the book.

Know however I have used similar situations from the film and book, but none of the characters are fully based off of anyone like Katniss or Gale, so I have not listed this an official crossover. Also Be mindful that the rules I create for the Chaos Games will be quite different to the death game you're all used to. Other than that Sonic the Hedgehog is owned by Sega, and the theme of the Hunger Games comes from the brilliant talents of Suzanne Collins.

For now enjoy. And may the odds be ever in your favour.

She knew that she was in the real forest. She could always tell. If she was in a dream she may have felt her weight disappear and her stomach become full. But the anxiety of the reaping never disappeared. It would only ever leave her if she was in the forest, where she preferred to be. Away from coal dust laden gloominess of the town.

She was crouched beside a patch of strawberries, her peach coloured quills tied back behind her head. She would always venture out into the forest, whether it be in the dream world or in reality, to gather nuts, berries and other pieces of fat from the land. She loathed the idea of hunting. She loathed anything that involve the murder of an innocent creature. She knew that when given the choice she would eat greens over meat.

But no matter how strong her will, she always found herself hungry enough to have at least just a few bites of fowl, venison, beef or fish whenever it found it's way to the table. She would always feel bad about it later, but she would never find herself regretting it. As much she hated to admit it, she would put her survival and that of her friends and family before that of whatever poor creature wandered into one of the other huntsman's traps and found it's way into the market.

Regardless of the however, she continued to maintain the ideals that to live off the earth itself, not on the creatures that thrived on it.

As she continued to take the rich red fruit from the soil, where it had been left untouched for so long, she failed to notice she was being watched. The creature's mouth twitched as its purple eyes watched it's unsuspecting prey. The young echidna's guard was down. It had her right where he wanted her. He began to move forward, his stride making not a sound as he prowled across the forest floor towards his target.

The Echidna continued to pick at the strawberries, humming a small tune to herself. Completely oblivious to the eyes that watched her. All she had time to hear was the snapping of a twig behind causing her to raise her head. However she was too late to act as a hand clasped around her mouth and an arm went around her stomach. She feared for her life at what might have come, had a familiar voice not whispered in her ear.

"You really need to be aware that this place is dangerous. Especially for pacifists like you, Tikal." the red echidna said with a chuckle as Tikal elbowed her friend in the chest.

Knuckles backed off laughing maniacally, his laughter echoing through the forest as Tikal stood there, her arms crossed over her chest with a scowl on her face.

"Chaos damn you Knuckles!" she said stomping the ground. "You could have given me a heart attack!"

Knuckles began to calm down as he noticed his friends face. "Oh come on Tik, you know I can't help myself." he insisted, however she looked away from him with her arms crossed and her eyes closed. Though he knew her better than that. She never saw a reason to harbour dislike for someone because of a little prank or scare. She was playing the scorned victim, expecting sympathy.

He placed his hands behind her back and casually and walked up behind her.

"Would you forgive me if I said... please."

Tikal raised her nose higher, giving a "hmph" in response.

Knuckles ginned now and walked around in front of her. "What if I said... pretty please?" he asked.

But she just looked off to the side, refusing to face him even with her eyes closes and gave another "hmph" in reply.

"What if I was to tickle you? Would I be forgiven then?"

Tikal's eyes snapped open. And it was then that Knuckles knew he had her.

"Yep, your forgiven." she replies quickly as she began to back away slowly, her scowl now very slowly turning into a smile.

Knuckles now grinned evilly as he moved towards her as she backed away, until she turned and began to run. However her attempts were futile as Knuckles grabbed her from behind and began to tickle the sides of her stomach, causing a sudden outburst of laughter from the younger echidna.

This progressed for about a minute until Tikal had been forced to the ground, still laughing her head off.

"Am I forgiven yet?" Knuckles asked as his hands continued to move over her stomach.

"Yes! Yes!... Please stop!" she screamed with delight before Knuckles removed his hands and she slowly gathered her breath and stared up at her friend who now stood above her with a smirk on his face.

His red quills were left hanging loose around his face. He wore a dark blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his strong forearms. His green cargo pants had a few sowing marks in them, the result of having worn them for so long.

"Now was that so hard?" he asked casually.

Tikal merely stood and gave him a playful shove before walking back to collect her basket. "Today was better than most days." She said with slight pride as she examined her bounty, the basket was about half full, certainly not enough for a feast.

However berries and nuts weren't going to keep her family going. That's why she only ended up keeping a small portion of what she gathered and traded the rest for larger portions of food.

She gently picked the basket off the ground and turned back to her fellow gatherer with a gentle smile. "So how did you go? Find anything?"

Knuckles shuffled his feet in guilt as he pulled up a bucket of fish, no doubt he caught by the stream about a mile to the east.

Tikal gave him a disappointing look. Sure she would eat meat, but it didn't mean to say that she liked it.

"Well what can I do?" protested the red echidna. "You've already got most of the patches covered. And all the other ones aren't ripe enough yet!" his tone was probably a little louder than he had aimed for.

"You know how I feel about eating living things Knuckles." she said sadly, looking away from him.

The hot headed echidna sighed, letting his frustration vent out. "Look I'm sorry. But I need to put the needs of my family ahead of the fish, I-"

"No." Tikal cut him off. "No you're right. You have your mother and brother to worry about. I don't blame you for having to make that decision." She said with a friendly smile, signifying any harm had been erased, to which Knuckles replied with a matching expression.

The two of them began to walk north, back towards the district.

"Did you see Blaze on your way down?" Knuckles asked.

"If she was at the hives I didn't see her, I took the scenic route." she said guiltily.

Her red counterpart merely sighed and smiled. "You and your love for this place." He said sounding almost tired of the idea.

"You have to love this place for what it is! It's untouched, pure and natural."

"Then why don't you live out here yet?" called a third voice.

The two of them looked around to find the source, which was as usual up in the trees.

Blaze sat there straddling the tree branch looking down on her friends with a daring smirk. She wore a dark t-shirt and denim shorts that revealed her strong athletic thighs.

Without a moment's hesitation she threw one leg over the branch and fell to the ground, landing perfectly in a crouched position in front of the two echidnas.

"How were the hives?" Knuckles asked.

From out of a satchel that was slung on her shoulder, the purple cat pulled out three small jars that were filled with honey. She was one of if not the only person who was strong and nimble enough to climb the trees to the bees hives that made sanctuary of the high canopy.

"Not too well, I'll have to leave them for a while until the bees stock up again." she eyes the bounty of the echidnas. "Looks like you two did okay."

"Not enough to satisfy." Tikal said sadly.

"Yeah, well that's the way it works around here I suppose." Blaze said gloomily and the three of them silently reflected on just how long it had been since they were decently fed.

The perfect crossing of blue and green. That was what the meeting of the sky and the forest canopy was like as the two moulded into one in the horizon. The three Mobians sat atop of the hill that over looked the overgrown valley.

It was a couple more hours before they'd have to get back home. They knew the likeliness of them being chosen at the reaping was small. They had never put their names in for more food. They may have been desperate, but they weren't going to be the capitols play things just for the chance to have a few more mouthfuls at supper.

"We could do it you know." Blaze spoke up, breaking the silence that had floated around them for a few minutes. "After today. We could leave it all behind. We could run off and live in the valley."

"They'd find us eventually." Tikal objected.

"What if we did though?" Knuckles continued to ponder as he stood and advanced a few paces down the hill. "What if we just ran off one night and never looked back? We just passed the fence and keep going until we found a place where we would be left alone." Knuckles pondered

"Where would we go?" Tikal asked, shocked that Knuckles was even suggesting it.

"That way." He pointed one spiked hand to the east, where the forest and the sky merged into the horizon. "We'd get across the river and just keep going." He said, hope glowing in his eyes.

The three of them sat in silence, and a few minutes passed before Tikal spoke up once more.

"We still have the pact right?" she asked, nervously, to which her friends nodded silently in reply.

There was a chance, as small as it was, that they could be picked this year. Perhaps the fates would finally be cruel enough to have their names pulled out of the lot. And if one of them was pulled out, then the other two would volunteer.

Five years back, Tikal's name had been pulled out. When she heard her name being called, her heart was filled with dread. She had started to step out of the thirteen year old line, when another girl, a brown hedgehog by the name of Maggie, had stepped out of the eighteen year old line and smiled at Tikal as she walked past as she made her way to the stage in Tikal's place.

Maggie was one of the last to die that year, fighting bravely to the end. Tikal knew that she had sacrificed herself so that Tikal could live. And she never could forget that. Since fate was unkind to her once, it was possible for it to be unkind once more. She'd always liked to think to herself that she would do the same thing. If someone far too young had their name drawn out, she'd step up for them and put herself in their place. That was what she liked to think. But it was easier said then done.

She'd told her friends this countless times, each year. After Maggie had died in the arena, the three of them had made an agreement that if she or any one of them were to gather the strength to be as brave as that young hedgehog, then they would not be alone. The three of them made a pact, if one of them either had their name pulled out, or volunteered for another, then they would all go together. They were a team. They were friends. They would protect and look after one another. If they were with a team that they trusted, then the chance of surviving was increased. Not that high, but enough to make them have some hope.

"Well, we better get back." Blaze broke the silent acknowledgement of the pact. "We want to look all nice and clean for our last reaping day." she said enthusiastically, as usual.

But she was right. If they made it past today, they would never have to worry about being chosen ever again. However, they would still have to watch as someone they knew, whether it be an acquaintance, or a friend, was chosen to fight for their lives in a game where morality was out of the question. Soon after they decided it was time to leave, Blaze had departed from the echidnas to make her way home, while Knuckles and Tikal walked together since their houses were right next to each other. As they walked in silence Knuckles couldn't help but feel nervous being with her alone. Sure he was with her alone a lot of the time, but he still couldn't help it.

He had had feelings for the peach echidna since they were small, and his feelings were one of the reasons he agreed to the pact. Whether his feelings were returned however... he was unsure. There would be times when it seemed like it, when she would give him a smile that just made his heart melt. But then there would be times when he knew such things were mean joke or a gesture of friendship alone. So Knuckles held onto that one thing that kept him going. The one thing that let him know there might still be a chance. Hope.

"Knuckles?" he heard his name.

He realised that he had been lost in his own thoughts so much that he had ignored Tikal's farewell as they stood in front of their houses.

"Uh... sorry. Just a bit nervous I guess." He said, technically it wasn't a lie.

"About the reaping?" she asked, getting a nod in reply. That was a lie. "Don't worry about it. We've only got our names in once, and I don't think even you're that unlucky to get yours pulled out." She said with a wink.

If Knuckles hadn't already been red, he would be blushing like crazy.

"Uh yeah... well I'll see you there." He said before running up his front steps with a smile on his face.

Tikal entered her front door to find her father standing in front of a dusty old mirror as he finished the touches on a poorly done tie. The elder echidna smiled as he watched his daughter enter the house.

"Hello my little angel." He said as he turned from the mirror and gave his daughter a warm hug which she gladly returned. The two of them stood there for a few moments. Enjoying the embrace.

Tikal could tell that her father was nervous. He had every right to be. It was the last time he would have to fear for her life that he might lose his child. After today the two of them would just have to watch as someone else's child was dragged away and never seen again.

The two separated and smiled at each other. Tikal reached up and fixed her father's tie, the knot having being tightened as much as possible. Probably due to his nerves.

"I've set your dress up on your bed. There is a bath ready for you as well." He took in a small breath through his nose. And screwed his face up, "I think you need it too."

Tikal scoffed and gave a small shove as she walked past. The low chuckle of her father following her up the stairs.

She walked into her room and spied the clothes on her bed. It was a light grey dress with a crudely polished brown shoes. The young echidna sighed at the dress. Usually she would wear what she wore now. A thick rain jacket and trousers that made sure that she did not end up getting cut on anything in the woods.

Look pretty for her last reaping day. It was hard to do when you were dressed in your mothers old clothes, not to mention the ones she died in.

After her sorry excuse for a bath, which was essentially just pouring buckets of water over her body, she began to get dressed and started to fix up her clothes. She never really enjoyed dressing up. In fact she would rather walk naked on national television and be proud of her body than just wear some dull grey clothes that smelt of death.

After she went downs stairs, she and her father began to make their way to the reaping grounds.