Chapter Three:

Rob o' the Hedge

After I had blacked out, I started to wake up. I could feel a few cramps in my back and arms, but I was sure I didn't have any broken bones.

But the only thing was that I didn't feel like I was on grass-strewn earth. Instead, I felt like I was in a bed. I could even feel the sheets across my chest. I also started to hear voices.

"Now, before he wakes up, we should decide what to do with him." said a female voice.

"There's only one thing we can do." said a male voice. "We must look after him for the moment. We'll talk to him when he wakes up."

I was begining to wonder where I was. And who were these people?

I started to get up so I could speak to them. But I did not open my eyes yet. I was still a bit shaken.

"Who are you people?" I asked.

"So you're awake. That's good." said the male voice.

"Where am I?" I asked.

I then started to open my eyes. I could see that I was inside some kind of wooden house. But that was not what surprised me.

I now saw the people who were next to me.

They were not human. They were mobians.

I couldn't believe I was standing in front of actual mobians. So I was right. I was in Sonic's world. But the people before me I did not reckonize. One of them was a red echidna female like Knuckles. She wore a ragged brown shirt and pants and a blue cloak. The other was a hedgehog male like Sonic. Only this one was green instead of blue. He wore the same kind of outfit she wore. And he had a bow and a quiver of arrows over his shoulder.From what I could tell, they seemed friendly.

"Now that you're awake, would you mind telling us your name?" asked the hedgehog.

"My name is Zachary Kaplan. Do you mind if I ask who you two are?" I asked.

"I am known as Rob o' the Hedge." said the hedgehog. "This is my wife, Mari-an." he said, pointing at the echidna girl.

"Tell me. Is this the planet of Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"Yes. This is the planet called mobius."

"Are you from another planet?" asked Mari-an.

"Yes. I'm from a planet called earth."

"Earth?" said Rob, looking at me quizzingly. "But that's impossible."

"Why's that?"

"Because this is earth."

I was shocked. If anything, that's what's impossible. How could this be earth?

"But I thought you said this was mobius." I exclaimed.

"This is mobius." he said. "Earth is just an older version of mobius."

"Wait a minute. What year is it?"

"It is the year 3265. What year did you think it was?"

"Where I come from, it's 2006."

They both had shocked looks on their faces.

"My friend, I think you should tell us what happened." he said.

I then began to tell them about what had happened to me. I told them about the portal and the tunnel of shadows. But I neglected to tell them about the ecidna girl with the white robes. I thought that I should keep that private.

"Well, it seems to me that instead of traveling through space, you traveled through time." said Rob.

"But that can't be good. I should get back right now!" I said.

I began to worry. I wanted to go to Sonic's world, but not like this. I use to watch bunches of cartoons in which people who time travel affect the time stream. And I don't know about you, but that's the last thing I want.

"Don't worry. I'm sure nothing will happen if you stay in our time period for a little while." he said. "And besides, I think that since you're from the past instead of the future, you wouldn't be such a problem."

I felt a little relieved by that. But not by much.

"Where should I go?" I asked them.

"At the moment, you're not going anywhere." said Mari-an.

"My wife is right." said Rob. "You took quite a fall when you entered our time period. You'll stay here for awhile. Then we'll take you to Echidnopolis."

"Where's that." I asked.

"A place not far from here. It's where the guardian lives with his family."

"Who's the guardian?"

"You've most likely heard of him. His name is Knuckles."

"I've heard of him."

"We'll make sure you feel comfortable here." said Mari-an. "But for now, you should get some sleep."

I took their advice and went to sleep. The next morning, I went outside. It was all woodlands. Rob called it the Kingdom of Mercia. It was here that he was leader of the crazy critters.

While I was with him, he told me about mobius. He told me about an evil scientist called Dr. Robotnik, how he tried to robotisize the mobians and how he tried to take control of the planet. He told me about how Sonic and his gang of freedom fighters stopped him. He even told me about the Xorda and what they did to earth. I was shocked at this part. But I knew the human race would endure.

He said that Sonic had become king of mobius after he married his girlfriend, Princess Sally. He said that she was a squirrel-chipmunk hybrid. Together, they had two children, a girl named Sonia and a boy named Manik.

I began to hope that one day I might meet Sonic and his friends. But for now, I wait in the Kingdom of Mercia, hoping that I will find happiness here, if only for a moment.