Author's notes: Okay my first shot at a fanfic based in the Sonic World. And in all honesty I haven't a clue how it looks to others. In all honesty I don't know if I'll continue to write this, I just want to see what kind of a reaction it will get. All reviews wanted, even those criticisms and flames. I want to know your HONEST opinions about this. I rewrote the start and this is a repost of it with extra included. I don't own Sonic or any of the original characters. However there are some that are mine, I'll list them next chapter when they're relevant. Opinions appreciated.

Enjoy. And please review.

Chid.

Post Heroes, Before Shadow

Edit: I would like to mention that one by one all chapters are undergoing an edit. This is to ensure that all my mistakes are corrected and problems I see as a writer are sorted.

So, feel free to enjoy the story again for those who have read before and to those who haven't? Enjoy the story!

Also I'd like to apologize for the lack of new chapters of late, chapter 13 keeps going on walks and then completely vanishes. I promise you I'm trying to sort it out before my brain dies completely on this idea and I end up with a second unfinished story. My apolagizes.

Sonic ran. He'd had enough of the city and half of the world. He was going exploring to find somewhere away from the mass of humans and their problems. He had been through enough and deserved a break. That plus it'd take Eggman a few weeks before he made up some new plan and Sonic intended to enjoy every moment of rest and relaxation he could get.

He ran past the ruins and past the forests, he didn't stop running until he was in the middle of a forest he didn't recognise, so it had to be half way around the world. He looked around at its strange plants and smiled, no one would be able to find him here. Well maybe Tails might be able to spot him when flying through but it would take him ages just to get here.

However the relaxation didn't last, a week later Sonic was bored, he'd been all over the forest from one end to the other and had done everything he could think of. He jogged back to where he'd made himself at home, a clearing in the centre of the forest. He stopped and looked at the clearing. Where there had been a fire and his hammock, there was now a large golden ring glowing brightly in the middle of it. Curiously Sonic walked over, the ring crackled and sparks shot out. Sonic jumped back and before he knew what was happening the ring was trying to suck him in!

"Not a chance. I'm the fastest thing in the world" Sonic said loudly and ran, his legs moving faster and faster until they became a blur. Yet he was still moving towards the ring! He sped up, trying to reach the speed of sound. If he made it nothing could catch him then!

The ring increased the power in its pull and blades of grass came flying at him from all over. He swatted trying to keep his focus on running as fast as he could. He had grip on the floor to keep running but when the stones and dirt started flying he was pelted all over from the bits and pieces that were being sucked in by the ring.

However as the ground under his feet started to be sucked into the ring he started to loose his grip. It was no use, if he kept this up he'd either be smacked in the face by something or fly into the ring anyway. He ducked and dodged but a particularly large chunk of earth shot out from under his feet and the ring sucked him in whilst he was airborne taking him to wherever it was. Sonic figured that it wouldn't take long for him to get back again; maybe a trip into the unknown would be interesting.

He landed amongst the piles of dirt grass and stones that the ring had sucked in. He looked around, bright colours all over the place.

"Oh great, the Special Zone" He muttered, stood up and brushed himself off, he knew what the Special Zone was like and that it would take him forever to find a ring out of here. They had a nasty habit of moving around and never being in the same place twice, it was a luck thing more than anything else. 'Oh well' he thought 'better get moving, if Eggman finds I'm gone then he'll take advantage of that'

So with that Sonic started to run off to find himself a ring to get home by, and if he found something interesting to do along the way even better.

Sonic didn't really think it would take all that long to find a ring, however in the end it had taken him about 20 days to find and go through one, although days were hard to count in the Special Zone. So when he'd finally found one and managed to get through it, he had done so without a second thought. He had been reminded as to why he couldn't stand the Special Zone and usually avoided it as much as possible.

He landed shamefully on his backside but didn't even give himself the chance to pause and flipped up, dusted himself off and looked around. He was on a stretch of barren land, no grass or trees, nothing that suggested any kind of life on the land. He looked across the horizon and saw plumes of smoke rising into the dark and cloudy sky in various places. Sonic frowned, something wasn't right here and as the world saving hedgehog, it was up to him to find out just what was going on.

A short and very speedy trip later Sonic was on the outskirts of a town, although this was like no town he remembered seeing before. His eyes were greeted with large grey buildings with grey streets and grey plumes of disgusting looking smoke pouring out of various factory looking buildings that made up half of the town. Sonic was appalled at what he was seeing, and he wondered where he'd come out. This couldn't be anywhere on the planet he had seen before, this looked like something Eggman would have designed rather than a city he had been in and knew well.

Sonic dashed off to another town and found it in almost exactly the same way. A clock sounded in the fifth town he visited letting him know that it was midday or midnight. Sonic guessed that it was midday, despite the sky being grey and dark he knew that it couldn't have been night because street lamps he could see would have been lit and the stars would be out.

He left the town and looked around trying to understand what was going on and in the end he dashed off in the direction of the coast, if he could find that quickly then he could head home and tell his friends what he'd seen. He could imagine Tails' face when he said about the factories spewing who knows what into the air whilst Knuckles would be appalled at the lack of greenery. No matter what others said Knuckles was a naturalist at heart, one look at his island said enough.

The coast wasn't too hard to find but when he got there he was appalled at the colour of the water, the sea, which had been blue the last time he'd checked, was now more of a green and yellow. He considered cupping some in his hands and taking a closer look but from what he could see and smell standing next to it, well he'd rather not. Whatever was going on was wrong on more than a few levels. He knew he had come out of the Special Zone in a different place than where he had gone in but there was no chance he was anywhere BUT home. So what was going on?

Sonic sped down the beach as fast as his legs would take him until he finally spotted the familiar cove that belonged to Emerald Beach. He'd been there a fair few times and it was a cool place to hang, assuming that Amy wasn't around or trying to hug him, which was preferable. However when he skidded to a stop the sea was still as discoloured as it had been when he'd stopped at the coast before and the city was as bad as the others he'd seen. Sonic entered the city and walked through its streets to see if he could see what was wrong.

"Halt Peasant" Came an order, Sonic turned around to see a group of 5 robots looking at him, and the centre one which had 'spoken' to him.

"Yo." Greeted Sonic with a short wave of one of his hands.

"Why are you not wearing standard issue clothing Peasant?" It asked. Sonic looked at the robot confused, what was this thing going on about? He shrugged and then realised what the robot had called him

"Peasant? You know who you're talking to right?" He asked. The robot turned to the others and they buzzed for a few moments before they started to advance on him.

"Prepared to be punished Peasant." They ordered in unison. Sonic shrugged at the robots and then jumped into the air at them. Soon the robots were in pieces on the floor. Sonic kicked some of the bits of metal scrap wondering what was going on. It had only been 20 or days or so, so how come the world seemed to have changed so badly?

"Psst, hey hedgehog" Came a teenagers voice. Sonic looked over to see who was speaking. In the shadows of an alley stood a dark green hedgehog wearing a grey body suit.

"Hey kid, that does not suit you." Sonic said waving a hand at the suit.

"Unless you want the fleet on you I suggest you follow me hedgehog." The green hedgehog said. Sonic raised an eyebrow at him.

"I leave for a few days and everyone forgets who I am. The name's 'Sonic the Hedgehog', kid. Better remember that," He said taking some steps towards the alley.

"Sonic? That's original 'bout 20 years ago all the parents were calling their kids that, in memory of the 'oh so wonderful' Sonic the Hedgehog. But hey that's beside the point, lets get you into the underground." He said and walked down the alley. Sonic shrugged; perhaps this kid had been dropped on his head when he was small, then again he might be able to say what was going on.

"Stay right there kid. I'll be back in 10" Sonic said before dashing off without hesitation. He was out of the city within a minute and was dashing towards Mystic Ruins. Tails' cabin was there and if anyone was going to have answers it was Tails, that smart kid always had answers for him and he'd love to know what he had to say about all of this.

Sonic skidded to a stop where the train platform was, or as he could now see, used to be. There was nothing but even more barren ground and, upon the mound of earth that had been Tails' hut was now a factory.

"What's been going on here?" Shouted Sonic. He turned on the spot a few times before dashing back into the city and to the alley where the kid had been, maybe he knew. So far he was the only other actual person he'd seen. He hadn't even seen a human and they massed the globe. Sonic didn't know if he should be worried about that, then again he had other things on his mind right now. Tails was one and the other was the answer to exactly what was going on around here!