Chapter 1: The Way Things Never Were

Part 1

The scene is set within one of the few remaining trees on Mobius, where we see a shadowed, wheelchair bound figure writing by candlelight in the grayish hours before nightfall.

'This life, if you can call it living, is one that I hope whoever finds this, if it's ever found, will never have to experience. We used to be the revered heroes of this wonderful world, Mobius. Every time Robotnik tried to destroy our beloved forests and lush woodlands, we would be there to see to it that his schemes went up in flames. He never quit, but neither did we, and so was the balance of life on our peaceful planet. But then, everything just went completely to Hell. Robotnik disappeared for a long while, and we thought that we had finally won eternal peace. Little did we suspect that he was only lulling us into a false sense of security, and we all fell for it. When we were positive that he was gone forever, he attacked with unrelenting force, burning everything that stood in his path. I can still hear the screams of the innocent Mobians as they watched their loved ones die slowly right in front of them. I can still smell the sickeningly sweet scent of their burning flesh, I can still see the damn Doctor's face as he laughed with perverse thrill at the sight before him. I suppose it is hard to forget, when I am reminded every waking moment of what he did to me. At first, I occasionally got caught in moments of faulty memory, for I would move as if to stand, only to realize again that the bastard had taken off everything down from the kneecaps. I would have suffered further, had my friends not been there to save me. The hatred I feel for him grew a thousand times over, and I can still feel that hatred smoldering within my soul. So powerfully overwhelming is this hatred, that I'm still waiting for it to be overwhelmed by sadness, the sadness which has led my few remaining friends to contemplate suicide as a favorable alternative to this life. I find it hard to blame them for harboring such feelings, as Robotnik's army has only grown more.. varied, for lack of a better term. It was difficult enough with the tens of thousands of walking Mechs, which go for the straightforward tactic of hundreds of rounds of bullets to eliminate targets, but Robotnik's just gotten more creative. Now we have to worry ourselves with assassination bots, fire-breathing tunnelers and others I don't care to name. It's gotten to the point where we've had to learn to sleep during the day, and move only after dark.'

The unknown figure ceased the movements of his pen, having heard footsteps familiar to him. Tucking the pages of his journal away in a sleeve on the back of his wheelchair, the unknown hero rotated his confining device so he was facing the doorway. With smooth, swift movements which had clearly been practiced countless times before, he rolled up to the entrance of his quarters, which opened up into a wide, large hallway. Looking up, he saw a face which he could not help but crack a smile at seeing. His companion smiled back, his face the same as it had been ten years ago, all but for the eyes. Eyes which had seen more than such a youthful lad such as he should have to see, yet also burned with the flames of a fighter.

"Ready for today's lesson, Tails?"

The two tailed fox nodded, stepping aside to make room for his handicapped teacher.

"Always, Sonic."

Part 2

The setting is set once again near one of the last trees on Mobius. We see a wheelchair bound Sonic, with his pupil Tails, on the edge of the small miniature fortress of trees which surrounded their base.

Sonic rolled his mobile chair up to a terminal on the outskirts of The Green Hill Zone's final line of defense, and turned to his young friend.

"Let's do a check on the AA installments before we start our laps around the moat."

Smiling, Tails took from a small pouch a microchip, and inserted it into the terminal. A second later, a holographic image of a red and yellow robot appeared before the two companions. Sonic tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair as Tails went through the routine check.

"Good evening, Omega. Any holes to report in the system?"

The robot's image blurred momentarily before replying.

"None, Tails. All counter-attack systems are prepared to activate within a moments notice."

"Perfect. Initiate surveillance mode."

Sonic snapped his fingers, and added to Tails' request.

"And put up the sound-proof barrier while you're at it."

Tails gave Sonic a questioning look, but the blue hedgehog only grinned back.

"Sound-proof barrier active. Surveillance mode initiated. External access to the fortress is now prohibited."

Smiling, the handicapped hero rolled away, with a confused young Tails at his side.

"But Sonic, I can't even get up to the speed of sound, not even with these ten years of training. What makes you think I'll suddenly be able to SURPASS sonic speed now?"

"That's today's lesson, little buddy."

Sonic reached into the compartment where his journal was hidden, and from it, he produced a gleaming power ring.

"You're gonna learn how to use THIS today."

Tails could only stare, having only used protective golden rings, but never a power ring.

The scene shifts to inside the base, where Amy Rose has begun moving down the hallway, starting her nightly routine.

Amy dreaded having to walk down her corridor to make the boys their breakfast, because she always had to pass by the holding cells. Only one of her group of friends had ever been admitted, but it scared the hell out of those who survived. His name was Vector, former member and leader of Chaotix. He had lost his mind when Robotnik attacked his family, and Vector only survived because of the terrifying transformation within his heart and soul on that day. He had eaten his headphones, his gloves had been shredded by his claws, and he attacked Robotnik's forces with the raw power of an angry crocodile. Each day was different, but they had to confine him until his sanity was cured. She could hear his sobs as she passed by the entrance to the holding cells, she heard him mumbling.

"Find the computer room... Charmy... Turn down work that pays..."

Clearing her mind of the ugliness of Vectors situation, Amy hurried into the pantry. Taking only what was necessary to feed Sonic and Tails breakfast, she grabbed a loaf of bread, a pint of water and two uncooked hot dogs before rushing into what was the kitchen. Cooking up the hotdogs and heating the bread, Amy managed to use spare condiments to create makeshift chili dogs, making a form of lemonade by squeezing the juices out of one into two cups of water. Her work was suddenly brought to a halt when she heard a deafening sonic boom on the outskirts of the fortress, nearly causing her to drop the precious meal. Before she could regain her full composure, however, she was startled by a tap on her shoulder. She turned, and, seeing that it was a friend behind her, sighed with relief.

"Good evening, Espio."

The ninjutsu trained chameleon nodded in Amy's general direction, his eyes having been rendered useless years ago.

"Forgive me if I startled you, Miss Rose. I was checking to see that everything was in order for the journey we must make once the hedgehog and his pupil have completed their training. That loud boom caught me off guard, and I suspect it woke up the entire base. It's just as well, since we'll have to get a move on before midnight. What's to eat, if I may ask?"

"Espio, you should know better than t-"

"It's not for me. It's for..."

The purple chameleon was at a loss for words, and Amy understood then. Hastily, she broke spare pieces of her improvised chili dog buns and silently handed them to Espio. Nodding gravely, the horned ninja smiled graciously before disappearing, blending in with his surroundings once more.

Part 3

The scene is once again set outside one of the many bases of Sonic and his surviving friends, where we see Big the Cat pacing alone around the grand tree, passing by Amy as she carries Sonic and Tails' breakfast to them.

Amy smiled kindly at her old friend, Big, as he passed by her, regardless of the fact that she knew the fish-loving cat never smiled anymore. No one blamed him for it, since he hadn't had much reason to smile at all in the past ten years. His closest friend, a frog simply named Froggy, had died years ago, and he had been rendered mute by Robotnik while being tortured for information. The then fat cat was born with more than a slight mental disability, and didn't understand the villain when being questioned. In a fit of rage, Robotnik had his tongue cut off, rendering him completely speechless, before leaving him for dead in the middle of nowhere. Big had to wait for weeks before his friends finally found him, and by that time, he had been irreversibly changed from the friendly cat he once was. His fat had mostly withered away, along with his already disabled mind, leaving only the bare minimum of fat and muscle necessary to sustain his huge body. Having been relieved of his tongue, he could no longer taste anything, and as a result, he would eat anything. His sanity had been left intact, fortunately, and he still seemed to have retained the same morals he had kept his whole life. But other than that, his body was a soulless shell, a walking corpse, only living because he wasn't yet dead, only surviving out of habit. Still, Amy felt that they had been lucky to have found him, because he was still a considerable fighter to contend with if provoked, and was responsible with carrying the heaviest of the load when they moved from one base to another each month. Feeling herself tear up, Amy rushed off to find Sonic and Tails.

Meanwhile, in one of the smaller surrounding trees, we see Tails tangled in the vines of a Weeping Willow, still gripping the power ring.

"Well, this is embarrassing."

The prodigious young fox gazed down to the ground below to see Sonic rolling up beneath him. The blue hedgehog cracked a smile, pressing a button on the side of the armrest of his wheelchair. The wheels disassembled, reconnecting with the underside of each armrest, transforming into extendable steel poles. Pushing another button, Sonic rose up to meet his pupil in the tree, holding out his hand.

"Let me have the power ring for a minute, then grab onto just one vine."

Tails did as he was told, using his now free hand to grip tightly one of the vines. Securing the power ring on his wrist, Sonic took a knife out from a sheathe attached to the back of his chair. With trained precision and swiftness, the blue hedgehog slashed all the vines surrounding Tails except the one he was holding onto. Returning his knife to its sheathe, the handicapped hero tossed the tangled vines aside, and the young fox leapt down, hovering down to the ground safely. Pressing the same two buttons again, Sonic lowered himself to the ground, the poles changing back into wheels.

"That was an incredible display, Tails. You succeeded on your first try!"

Sonic smiled proudly, but Tails shook his head.

"What do you mean? That was a total botch! I couldn't maintain any control whatsoever!"

"Don't feel bad because of that. You're expecting too much of yourself. The test was to break the sound barrier and learn how to use the power ring, both of which you passed. Control will come later on, with more practice. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we'll have time to work on that tonight."

Sonic pointed out Amy to Tails as she approached, continuing to speak as they walked to meet her.

"So, after we eat and get packed for the trip, we'll practice a little sparring while everyone else gets ready."

Tails smiled, he was never able to stay unhappy for long around Sonic. They stopped as Amy walked up to them, handing them each a tray with their chili dogs and lemonade. Seeing the power ring on Sonic's wrist, the pink hedgehog scolded him.

"Sonic, you can't be making those sonic booms with that ring of yours. You'll overheat the wheelchair Tails made for you, AGAIN, and then you won't be able to teach him until he fixes it for you! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!"

Sonic was chuckling, which made Amy start growing red in the face. Tails knew what his friend and teacher was laughing about, but kept his head down, grinning subtly.

"That was part of tonights lesson, Amy."

"WHAT?! LEARNING HOW TO ENDANGER LIVES?!"

Sonic suddenly became somber, calmly answering Amy's question before starting on his chili dog.

"No. I'm teaching Tails how to use the power ring, and run at supersonic speed. As you obviously heard, he succeeded quite quickly."

Sonic smiled as he ate, watching Amy's anger disappear, her gaze turning to Tails. She stared, completely taken by surprise that little Tails had accomplished such a feat. She had always thought of him as just a kid with a mind for mechanics, never viewing him as someone who could actually be on par with someone like Sonic. She smiled and nodded.

"Oh. I see. I'm impressed."

Tails felt his face blush, not used to being praised the way Sonic always used to be. Everything was quiet for a moment, before a yell from inside the grand tree broke the silence.

"HEY! WHERE THE HELL IS MY MEAL?! SERVING GIRL, GIMME MY DAMN BREAKFAST!"

Amy sighed, gritting her teeth, glaring.

"That'll be the big bad bat."

Exasperated, Amy walked back to get some food from the pantry, calling back to Sonic and Tails.

"Bring your trays inside when you're done!"

With that, she disappeared back inside, leaving the two to eat their breakfast.

We shift our attention to the kitchen, where we see a cranky Rogue loafing in a chair leaning back against the wall.

Amy entered the kitchen, her face giving away no emotion as she placed a mug of water on the wood stove with a slice of blueberry bread which served as Rogue's muffin. The former government agent stared up at the ceiling, stroking the metal sheets that acted as her right wing. She had been in the middle of an attempt to steal the Master Emerald when Robotnik attacked ten years ago, but she had joined Sonic's cause when she returned. She was there mostly because Omega had convinced her to, back when he still had his robotic body. Had Omega not been involved, she would never have agreed to it unless she could be guaranteed jewels as a reward. As a consequence of joining, her right wing had been completely shredded in a particularly heated battle against Robotnik's forces. She had been told to protect Tails at any cost, which was what she had done during the fight, and now, she regretted it. As Amy handed Rogue her breakfast, she snapped at her as she took it.

"About damn time."