LC; I'm majorly annoyed now.

Sonic; She had finished this chapter already but forgot to save it.

Tails; Her little brother came in and x-ed it out.

LC; Now I have to rewrite all of it! Do you know how annoying that is?

Sonic; It takes a long time to write it up the first time.

Tails; So I guess she's right to be pissed about that.

LC; Damn right!

Sonic; Ahem, let's juice it already and get to the story.

LC; I guess, but I am still pissed.

Disclaimer; If it looks to you like I might own Sonic, then please answer the following. What color is the sky in your world?

Chapter 4; Catching Up Fast

She felt like a mouse trapped in a corner and the cat's hungry eyes were staring her down. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place and she couldn't outrun the threat. Mostly because Julayla was still holding onto the back of her sweater.

"Um, nice to meet you?" She greeted them politely, pretending she hadn't just tried to run away like the devil was at her heels.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you as well, Sonic." The chipmunk returned. Before Sonic could even mouth the words 'help me' she was dragged to a bench and sat between Julayla and her cousin Rosie.

"Sonic, why don't you tell us why you've been avoiding us?" This was the other chipmunk, Rosie.

"Avoiding you?" Sonic didn't like the sound of that. It sounded like she had run away! Sure, she liked running, but not away!

"Don't think we haven't noticed little lady." Julayla took the oppurtunity to look over the young hedgehog she was holding captive. Blue fur, short spines, which were stiff, and a wary look that shouldn't be present in a child's eye.

Sonic didn't say anything, choosing instead to look over the playground at all the running children. She knew these women were considered the 'parents' of all the refugee orphans because they took care of everyone. She didn't want that though.

What if they were like her parents? She had escaped their expectations, admittedely in a way she wished had never happened, but escape them she had. She didn't want to be thrust into a new and unfamiliar routine. What if they tried to make her more hedgehog like?

"We're not trying to replace your parents." The chipmunk cousins had wrongly assumed that Sonic was reluctant to have more parent figures in her life. It wasn't the parent figures she feared, as much as what she would have to do to be accepted by them.

"No matter what you or the king thinks, you are a child who needs a home to come back to everyday. We provide all the orphans with that home. But even after you move in, we won't try to be your parents." Rosie put an arm around the girl's shoulders and noted the action caused the quills to quiver for a moment before they softened slightly.

"There will be rules, like keeping your part of the room clean, but over all nothing will have changed." Sonic used all her hedgehog likeness to keep her face neutral. She didn't want to live with so many kids after losing her entire family.

Besides, they hadn't said about how they expected her to act like yet.

"You can stay out as long as you want, so long as your back before it gets too dark." Julayla noticed how the hedgehog's quills softened even more and some of the stress eased from her body.

"Meals are pretty versatile, you can come in to the kitchen and make yourself something to eat whenever so long as you clean up after yourself." The list of rules went on. Like how she had to help make sure the little ones didn't hurt themselves. How she shouldn't talk to strangers. How they would want to be informed if she wanted to stay at a friend's overnight.

"Alright, I think that's it!" Sonic struggled not to let a sigh of relief escape her lips. She had forced her quills to soften when Rosie laid her hand on her shoulder because she was afraid of hurting the woman. They had softened even more when she heard she could stay outside all day, so they wouldn't know if she was being hedgehog like or not all the time!

She took her cue to run off, just short of popping through the barrier because she didn't want to break their ear drums on accident. They were nice enough, but she would still try not to be around them too much.

"What do you think of her?" Julayla asked her cousin.

"Oh she's a sweetie! I think that she'll get along just fine!" Ever the optimist, her cousin. Julayla hadn't diapered Sally's bum for nothing though. She knew when a kid was hiding something and everything about Sonic was a mystery. Her speed, her coloring, her name, no one even knew what village she was from!

"She's interesting at least." Julayla finally sighed. She just hoped Sonic would learn to trust them as time wore on.

Sonic sighed when she was out of sight of the chipmunks. She looked around a bit and noticed a lot of little kids nearby. They seemed to be avoiding one in particular though. She recognized this toddler too.

"Tails!" The two tailed fox gasped and turned around to see a blue hedgehog smiling down at him.

There had only been one person to call him Tails, the nice hedgehog girl who saved him! He could scarcely believe it was really her!

"Your the girl that saved me from the scary robot!" He spoke in complete sentences and enunciated properly, something three year olds were not suppossed to be able to do. He inwardly winced and wondered if she would run screaming from him like the other kids.

"I'm glad you remember me! My name is Sonic, and I guess I never got your real name!" He introduced himself as Miles Prower but told her it was okay to call him Tails. He rather liked it, especially since his hero was the one who started the nick name.

Sonic played with Tails for a long time, eventually introducing the kit to Sally and Archie. Antoine must've gone home and Rotor liked the caves too much to leave. So now she had to go home with the other orphan kids with Rosie and Julayla.

The next day, she was dragged from her new bed and all the way to the community pool. Sally had put a bathing suit into her arms and gone off already but Sonic could only stand and stare. She thought she was okay with water after finding the Lake of Rings, she thought being near water wasn't a big deal anymore.

Now she realized that the calm waters of a lake didn't compare to a pool of thrashing water with tons of kids screaming and laughing as they jumped in. Unbidden the images of her dead family appeared and a chill went through her. There was no way Sonic the Hedgehog was getting into that pool! No way!

With a purposeful stride she walked to the chairs set out for sunbathing and settled down to take a nap. The chair she'd chosen was in the shade and it was a perfect day for relaxing. If she focused only on the cool breeze she could ignore the sound of splashing.

"Come on Sonic, if you can't swim your taking lessons! Let's get up and get moving!" Sonic opened one eye and looked at the imposing figure of Julayla. She had a smirk on her face that would've made Robotnik think twice and at the moment it was aimed directly at Sonic.

"I don't swim." She said simply, unconciously sinking into the chair in an effort to appear even smaller.

"Which is why your taking lessons." Julayla said. She had suggested this pool trip to get the hedgehog girl to loosen up a little and that wouldn't work unless she had a little fun!

"No thanks." She really didn't like the glint in Julayla's eye but she thought she would be okay. It wasn't like the older woman was planning on throwing her in, right? Right?

Julayla snapped forward and caught the retreating hedgehog before flipping the small girl over her shoulder and through the air. Sonic didn't have the right peace of mind to take a breath before she fell through the surface of the water.

Immediatly Sonic's legs were pumping but it did no good as she was moving down rather than up. She instinctively closed her eyes and began thrashing around, trying to find air! She was being crushed from ever side! She could barely move! She couldn't breathe!

In a panic, Sonic lost track of which way was up and which down. All she knew was that she wasn't getting anywhere and her lungs were aching. She opened her eyes and opened her mouth in a silent scream, torrents of bubbles floating to the surface.

There they were, her entire family. There was little Elizabeth! Oh god Emily was floating right at her! Mom and Dad were staring at her, their eyes boring into her, accusing her! It was all her fault! She should've come home sooner!

Sonic fought against the apparitions but they were never really there. She only lost more and more air and replaced it in her lungs with liquid.

She didn't fight it when she felt arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her. Her family was probably taking her to join them in the after life. She wondered if they were in heaven or hell.

When Sonic became aware that she was laying on a hard surface and she could breathe, oh merciful God air! She gasped in as much air as possible and felt something coming upstream. She turned to her side and emptied herself of all the water she had unwittingly taken in. Now she heard voices.

"You already knew she couldn't swim and you tossed her into the deep end!" That sounded like Sonic's idea of a wicked witch would sound like. A demon woman with a grudge the size of the mountains to hold. In reality though, it wasn't a witch, but Rosie scolding her cousin.

Sonic forced herself to stop being sick and breathe before she opened her eyes. All the children were being quiet, and she could see Sally trying to get Tails to stop crying. Sonic focused on Rosie who was chewing out Julayla, still. That chipmunk had a good set of lungs.

Sonic gave a weak cough and took stock of what happened. She had been thrown into the pool and started to panic, she remembered swallowing lots of water, then arms around her and pulling. She must've been pulled out by the dripping wet Rosie.

Sonic didn't stick around to see if Julayla would get punished. She got up and ran off before anyone could stop her, breaking the sound barrier without even trying.

It was just like any other time she had gone for a run in this crazy week. She had no set destination, she was only running. Maybe she'd stop in a few minutes, maybe in half an hour. She just didn't care about little details like that and she kept her mind on the more important aspects.

The way her heart kept a steady beat even while it sped up. The way her legs pounded on the pavement, but at the same time felt like she was just gliding through the air.
The wind in her quills, pushing against her with all its might only to be overwhelmed and pushed aside. The rush of air into her body and the small whoosh it made on the way back out. Finally, that feeling coursing through her entire body from head to toe and everywhere inbetween!

Sonic the Hedgehog felt free.

Her feet were little geniuses! They took her to the castle and she already knew what she wanted to do. Waiting now seemed pointless, even if she ran into more robots because she left early.

"Are you sure you don't want to spend more time with your friends?" King Max questioned her.

"I'm sure!" Sonic groaned for the fifth time. Would he just let her leave already?

"Alright, remember to be back in a week, sooner if you run into trouble." The King reminded her. She promised once again to be careful and even threw in a joke about talking to strange robots.

When she darted out of the city, she never suspected what would happen to his royal majesty while she was gone.

Sonic darted through the forest faster than the eye could track. She slowed to a more manageable pace when she found a place that looked familiar. Sure enough, there was the path that led to the lake of rings! Sonic grinned when she remembered running with one of those.

She went to the lake and found a ring just lying there, innocently setting the water aglow. She looked at the water's edge uncertainly for a moment before shaking herself and walking over. She didn't have to get in! She didn't have to do anything but reach in and grab that awesome ring!

Even so, she closed her eyes before reaching forward. When her fingers brushed the ring, she lifted it up and placed it inside the backpack she was carrying. The same one from when she was escaping from her burnt out village.

Sonic started running again, out of the forest and far past the Great Plains. When she reached a mountainous area to the north, she slowed down. The camp was supposed to be around here somewhere, now all she had to do was find it, then figure out how many mobians were there and how heavily guarded it was.

She didn't find it for another two whole hours! When she looked down the outcrop to the prison below, she shivered. Something about the prison screamed wrong to her, and she soon saw why.

A door opened and out walked a hedgehog. Her eyes widened and she nearly stood up and called out to him in joy. What stopped her was when the cloud cover blew away and the sun reflected off his skin. His metallic skin.

Sonic clasped a hand tightly over her mouth to stop the scream. When she had calmed down, she looked down again to see the Hedgehog was gone. She didn't know who he was, maybe he was from her village, but she knew what he was.

"Roboticization." She knew. Once that must have been a normal hedgehog kind mobian. Once he must have been flesh and blood! Sonic forced herself to take a deep breath and ran a hand through her quills.

"There are mobians here that could be roboticized at any minute." She muttered suddenly. Her eyes narrowed and she felt something like anger flooding through her veins. This wasn't anger though, and it wasn't adrenaline, the name of that energy giving stuff. Sonic knew what she was feeling.

Sonic the Hedgehog, the new Blue Blur, felt loathing for the first time.

She stood suddenly, she took a runner's stance, and then bolted for the door. Halfway before reaching it she upped the volume. The boom made her smirk in confidence as she curled up and cut through the metal door without a problem.

She went through another stone wall before stopping. Shakily she got to her feet and looked around. Already alarms were blaring and a flashing red light was going off. She was in a hallway.

"Helloooo?" She drawled. Where were the cells? Hmm, if she were cells where would she be?

She didn't have a lot of time to wonder because a door at the end of the hall opened and more swatbots poured out. She huffed arrogantly before charging at them. She dodged the bullets they fired and ripped through three of them before they could adjust their aim.

"What's going on here!" She uncurled and looked up to see someone weird. It was a he, had an orange mustache, was bald, and very tall and very fat! It was also wearing strange red and black clothing and didn't have a snout or a beak that she could see.

"Ancients! What did Robotnik do to you?" She cried in horror, believing the fat mobian to be a result of some kind of horrendous experiment.

"Foolish vermin! I am Dr. Robotnik!" He shouted at her, sending a wave of new robots to terminate the little welp. She must've escaped from one of the cells.

Sonic took one look at the mini army of swatbots charging at her with guns blazing before turning and taking off in another direction. The sound of the boom behind her brought a feeling of security. She curled up and burst through another wall, entering a larger and circular room.

Inside were giant bird like things and more robots. Sonic spun at an angle and climbed up the wall. She spun round and round to gain momentum before coming back down on the robot army, her now razor sharp quills cutting through them like butter.

When she was forced to come to a stop, only a few of the swatbots were left standing and they were all missing limbs. She had to take a second to let her head figure out that she had stopped spinning before she could dart off into another side exit to the large room.

This time she found the cells. Inside were many mobians, mostly children though. She stopped in front of a cell that had an armadillo and a squirrel inside.

"Are you the reason the place is going bonkers?" The armadillo questioned her gruffly.

"Probably. I kinda tore through a bunch of that weird guy's toys. Do you know where the keys are?" She asked him. He shook his head and she sighed. She was really starting to get dizzy but it couldn't be helped.

"Hey everybody! Back away from the cell doors!" She shouted a warning before curling up. She began to spin in place, causing dust to rise in the air. She heard people shuffling back as far as they could go, before she released the handbrakes and went flying.

The bars were iron and she cut through them quickly enough. After acting as a mobian pinball though, she was a little bruised. She came to a halt and had to rest one hand against the wall to satisfy herself that the world wasn't spinning. She hoped she got used to that feeling, otherwise her spin crash move was going to be so much trouble!

"Hey, think you could do something like that for these?" She turned slightly to see the armadillo boy holding out his arms. They were encased in a pair of cuffs that gave off a strange yellow light.

She looked at them for a second before she turned her head and motioned for him to cut them off using her quills. He nodded and she began vibrating to speed up the process and give her quills that property that let her cut through steel.

"Done." He had accidently cut himself a little, but it was only a papercut. Especially compared to what might happen to him if they didn't get the heck out of there! Now he could use his super strength without being hindered.

Sonic groaned as she felt her quills cut into her clothes a little. She just bought those! Dang it, she needed to get some quill proof clothes but they didn't make any her size!

The mobians had already started getting out through a hole in the wall. Sonic could see some target practice in her future, if she survived anyway.

"Let's get out of here before I lose my breakfast." Sonic groaned, holding her turvy topsy tummy. She had just found the exit when she was pulled away from the stampeding prisoners by the Armadillo.

"Wait! Listen, there's a girl named Fiona Fox! She was taken away just a few minutes before you showed up!" The armadillo boy informed her, pulling her in the opposite direction of the exit.

"Well let's put on some juice! I'm called Sonic! Nice to meet you!" She shouted as they continued running. Their progress was only slightly hindered by the many swatbots and robot mobians that roamed the halls.

"I'm Mighty and this is Ray!" He responded, following as best he could with her insane pace. He had super strength, why would it be strange for a hedgehog girl to have super speed?

They did burst into a lab but Robotnik held Fiona at gunpoint. Sonic could smell burning rubber when she came to a screeching halt. She eyed the gun in the good doctor's hands, inwardly blaming it for not being able to save the girl.

"Fiona and I will be leaving, unhindered, or the girl's brains paint this laboratory!" Robotnik growled. His precious work camp had been run over, by a meer child? A little hedgehog girl?

"Let her go Buttnik." Sonic growled, narrowing her eyes and feeling her quills all sharpen to a point. Yeah, she'd definitely be needing a new outfit after this was over.

"I think not vermin." The good doctor snarled back. He stepped into a carrier, making sure they could always see the gun and a crying Fiona. The carrier powered up and started flying. Sonic waited for him to take controls, believing that once he was off the ground he was safe.

When she saw it through the window, she turned to Mighty.

"Throw me." She didn't wait for an answer and only curled into a tight ball. She felt herself be picked up and thrown. When she hit the carrier she uncurled and immediately latched onto a part of the landing gear.

"What? Why you no good rat!" Robotnik yelled when he saw his passenger. Luckily, Fiona had not been restrained. She picked up the gun and opened the door. She nodded in thanks to Sonic, who was already letting go.

When Fiona cleared the carrier, Sonic released her grip on the vehicle. Robotnik, in his rage, grabbed hold of her right arm though. She gasped and looked up at the man.

The carrier kept tilting from side to side without a driver and Sonic was the only one of the two to see where they were heading. Straight to the outcrop, the very rocky and steep, outcrop.

All Sonic could think was that they were going to die and it would probably be very painful. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she knew from Robotnik's outraged screams that he had seen what was happening as well. Another clue was when he let go.

Sonic began free falling. She managed to turn her body to face the incoming ground. Her heart was beating a thousand times a minute and she couldn't help but wonder if falling to her death would hurt.

Sonic closed her eyes and felt her few tears being whipped away by the gale force. She'd be going to meet her family soon. Her body slowly started to relax as she thought about rejoining her family in death. She wondered what they would think of her quills.

Then she remembered something. She remembered something her uncle told her.

"Serina, you don't have to be more hedgehog like." Uncle Charley's real named was Charles. He was super smart and invented lots of stuff! She hadn't seen him since before he vanished though. Maybe Robotnik roboticized him. She hated to think that.

"You only have to be more Serina like. If Serina likes being loud, then let her be loud." Now her name was Sonic, but the same principle applied right? She didn't have to be so accepting of whatever came her way, like hedgehogs. Sonic the Hedgehog took her fate into her own hands!

Sonic's eyes snapped back open to greet the rapidly approaching ground. She reached behind her and took out the golden ring she got from the lake. She took it, curled up, and began to spin.

When she hit the ground she knew she had created a crator but she honestly didn't care. She only kept spinning until she was moving forward again, breaking the barrier almost without realizing.

When she got back to her feet she saw the carrier getting out of sight. She could catch up and follow it on foot, it would be all too easy in fact. However she had something more important to deal with. She would find Fiona and then find the other prisoner's like Mighty and Ray.

She found Fiona half way through and convinced her to ride piggy back so they could get to the lab. Sonic came to a halt again and took a second to enjoy the smell of burnt rubber coming from the soles of her shoes. She'd probably have to buy a new pair, but she liked the stench.

Then she looked at the laboratory that was up in flames. People were running from it in all directions, but she didn't see Mighty or Ray anywhere in the crowd.

"Where are they?" Fiona asked, still looking all around the grounds. Sonic was looking at the fires from the lab though. Something told her she knew where they were.

"Fiona, get off my back." The fox girl didn't ask any questions but looked like she had a few when Sonic glimpsed her face before running off. Sonic cleared the flames without getting burned. She was moving too fast to be burned.

"Mighty! Ray!" She called loudly, running down the halls and trying to find the lab through the confusion of smoke and flames. She finally found it. Inside Mighty was trying to pull Ray the flying squirrel away from a magic crystal thing trying to suck them both inside.

Sonic blinked and had to take a slow look around.

"Something tells me we're not on Mobius anymore."

YAYS! END OF CHAPTER AND NOW TO DO SOMETHING ELSE! I SHALL DO SOMETHING ELSE NOW!

LC; Okay then, off to do other things!

Sonic; Like what?

Tails; Hey, this fic doesn't have any reviews? None at all?

LC; Yeah, and that pisses me off like nothing else.

Sonic; Come on people! This is an awesome story! All we want are a few reviews!

LC; In case you were not aware, it's the blue button at the bottom of the screen!

Tails; Go ahead and click it! You'll be able to tell us how you like it so far!

LC; Yeah! Do you like the events? Any changes you want made? Any mistakes I made that you want me to fix?

Sonic; Review within the next ten days and LC will personally respond to your reviews!