So here we are. My return to writing fanfiction. I haven't done this in a long time, so bear with me. I'm rewriting Sonic X, and hopefully, I actually stay committed to something for once and finish it. We're fixing everything; better pacing, more emotion, and yes, Chris is remaining in this story, much to the chagrin of weird 17-year-olds on DeviantArt who have nothing better to do than complain about how he ruined their lives. Constructive criticism is welcome, and I may come back and fix things in various chapters as my writing skills improve, so don't be alarmed if something in some random chapter changes suddenly.

Anyways, on with the story. Sonic X: Evolutions, by Bleed Kaga (no, not the one in Cyber Formula, the one who is too reliant on Sonic as a comfort thing when they're sad)

Passage written by Sonic the Hedgehog

Episode 1: Supersonic Hero Appears!

The calm of a spring night on Gaia was broken by the bellow of a siren. Lights illuminated on a tubular tower to allow its' robot guardians to see, for most of them were not equipped with night vision. If you listened closely, you could barely hear the air rushing because of something moving at a high rate of speed. He was just as difficult to see due to his incredible pace, something no living thing had ever matched. His name was Sonic the Hedgehog, and if you were on his bad side, you stood no chance of stopping him. (That's me, by the way!)

The orb-shaped robots locked themselves together to stay planted on the ground. Their missiles and machine guns were primed, and as I came into view, they fired with everything they had. Dozens of missiles and hundreds of bullets flew upwards, downwards, and sideways at their designated target, but I sped past all of them while cackling in a daring, insulting tone, smiling all the way. A battle that would be traumatic to most was like an amusement park ride for me. I happily bounced off the orb drones, dodged around 50 or so more bullets, and got close to the entrance of the base. At this point, the last line of defense, a set of bulky mech walkers, yellow and white in color, prepared themselves for the fight of their AI-based lives. They cut off one of the entrances, forcing me to shoot off to the left to find another way in. Once inside a long corridor, I got away from the mechs, only for another to burst through a wall and stand right in front of me, an arm waiting to make me flat as a pancake. Luckily, a door was right there, and I punched through it and found myself back outside the tower.

As I looked for another way in, I forgot to look below and in front of me, and before I knew it, a springboard launched me high into the air. Funny, I thought, Eggman doesn't go for something so...cartoonish. And right as he reached the peak of my flight, one of the mech walkers punched me right in the kisser, sending me flying through the air with a little bit of blood flying off my snout.

"Sonic!"

It was my little sibling, Tails. They were in the Tornado with Amy Rose, another friend of mine, providing backup in case I needed it. Tails had seen the blow I just took, put the throttle all the way down, and headed right at me. But while the Tornado was fast, it wasn't quite as fast as me, so when the machine guns took notice of it, they shot a bunch of holes into the hull of the craft, setting it on fire. Amy shrieked, hoping the bullets didn't catch her in the legs and realized the plane was in trouble when smoke poured out of the bullet holes.

"Tails, the plane is on fire! We need to retreat!"

"We can't, Amy! Don't worry about the smoke, worry about saving Sonic!"

A missile of their own flew at me, a ring popped out of it and dropped right into my hands. My world turned white for a moment, then I was speeding through the air and curled up into a ball, nearing the speed of sound. If it was hard to stop me before, now it was impossible! Reaching the base again, I easily destroyed the remaining orb robots, then took off for the mech walkers. It was hard to control my speed and direction while curled up, but I had enough experience to get close enough to my target. I blasted through a wall, hit the two walkers at once, and with a bit of a push, punched a hole through them, causing them to fall and be consumed in a huge fireball. The last walker raised its fist right as I saw it and slashed downward in an attempt to smash me into the ground. At that very moment, I cut downward, only to blast upward and slice through the mech walker like an extra tender steak. I crashed through a light on the tower to make my way inside, and the hard part of the job was done. Now, I just needed to pick up Cream and Cheese, give Eggman a good beating, take back the Chaos Emeralds, and head home. Nothing I've never done before.

Things were only getting worse on the Tornado, now struggling to stay in the air with the broken engine and rear stabilizer. Tails was forced to make an emergency landing, and told Amy to brace for impact. When they reached the ground, the wheels bounced off the grass hard, but the plane eventually settled and gripped itself to their makeshift runway. Unfortunately, Tails wasn't paying attention to where specifically they had landed. Amy looked up to find a huge boulder right in front of them, and the plane didn't have enough distance to stop in time. They were going to hit it and there was nothing they could do.

"TAILS, DO SOMETHING!"

"I CAN'T!"

Luckily, Knuckles could do something, and with just one punch with his fists of steel, the boulder was reduced to pebbles, making enough room for the Tornado to slide to a stop. Tails looked up incredulously.

"Thank you so much, Knuckles!"

The blood-red echidna said nothing and looked off back at Eggman's base, now in a state of chaos.

"What's his deal?" Amy huffed, annoyed. Knuckles kept staring and shook his head in frustration.

"Overkill. As usual."

By that point, Eggman had locked down the whole base. Nobody gets in or out, not until the my head was served to him on a platter. His golden, lanky helper robot, Decoe, monitored the shutdown and reported it's completion. "Dr. Eggman, the base is in 100% lockdown."

"Damn that Sonic, why does that blasted rodent keep getting in my way?"

His captive, a young rabbit named Cream, explained why. "He doesn't get in your way, Dr. Eggman. Sonic is just trying to stop you from doing all those bad things you keep doing." Her little Chao friend, Cheese, squeaked in approval from her arms.

"Is that so, my dear Cream? Well, no matter, he's too late. Once I've inserted this Chaos Emerald into the machine, my base will have unlimited power, and I will be well on my way to RULING THIS WORLD!"

Cream tensed up. "No, please don't!" Cheese blurted his name a few times (the only word he can speak), which Cream understood perfectly. "That's right! Sonic won't let you get away with this!"

"Oh, we'll see about that! Those barriers are made of the strongest metals on Gaia, not even he can get through them-"

Eggman, as usual, spoke too soon. I burst through the door and into the eyes of everyone in the room. Cream and Cheese cheered happily and Egghead groaned.

"Perhaps he can…" Eggman said sadly. "But no matter!" He threw the emerald into a capsule on the console, closed it, mashed some code into the computer, and took a switch into his hand.

"It's all over, Sonic. As soon as I press this button, the full power of the Chaos Emeralds will be at my disposal. Hahahaha!"

I smiled slyly. "Only if I don't take it from ya!"

Eggman frowned, knowing l was fast enough to do just that. But right as he thought he was doomed, another drone came right up behind me, ready to fire its dual turrets into my skull. Eggman smiled grimly.

"Hehehe...I'd like to see you try."

But I knew the robot was there and took off up the walls of the room, the bullets peppering the panels with holes. Eggman cheered his creation on, having forgotten about the button in his hand.

"Yes, kill him! Kill him, my pretty!"

But then, to his shock, I dropped right in front of him. The robot turned in my direction, and along with it, Eggman's direction. If I was going down, he was coming with me..

"NO! HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

Eggman ducked as I jumped, the bullets puncturing the glass tube behind him, which happened to be where the Chaos Emeralds stood, packed full of energy. Eggman finally remembered the switch in his hand and pressed it quickly.

"There, I've done it!"

But right as he thought victory was his, he turned around and saw a strange light emanating from the gems, and it continued to grow in size and intensity. It was like a sun within the room. Eggman cried in horror, "W-what?! You fool, what have you done?!"

I stood in front of Cream's cage protectively, not sure what I had done. Within seconds, the light consumed us, the tower, the base, and everything around it. Tails says it looked like a nuclear blast, but slower and without heat. The giant orb of light, looking like half of a sphere, worked its way to the shore, where Amy, Tails, and Knuckles watched in fear and disbelief.

"What...is that?" Amy said.

Knuckles knew, and also knew there was nothing he could about it. "That's Chaos Control."

Seconds later, my friends were also taken in by the light. And before I knew it, I was surrounded by darkness. I laid on my back, not knowing where I was or even if I was alive. Whatever had just happened, it was over, and now, I had to pull myself together and figure out what happened. I opened my eyes and sat up, rubbing my head and feeling somewhat sick to my stomach. I also had a pounding headache from lack of sleep the night before and getting sucker-punched by a giant mech walker.

"Man...musta passed out or somethin'. Where am I?"

I took a look around, but only saw complete darkness. But then, I heard a horn blaring, and something closing in. It wasn't the siren on Eggman's tower, it sounded more like a car horn. My fears were confirmed when headlights came into his view. "C-car!" I leaped out of the way, barely avoiding becoming roadkill. Then, another car, this time from behind, barely grazed my hip, causing me to yelp again. Finally, a large truck slammed on its brakes, stopping just before him, with me holding my hands up in terror. That's when the world around me came into view.

Cars and trucks surrounded me at the intersection I ended up in, all honking their horns as much as possible. I was in a city, one that that was way bigger than any on my planet. The buildings loomed high over my head, the tops of them not even visible, and far more complex than any structure I'd ever seen. They looked cold and devoid of life, consisting of metals, plastics, and glass, something similar to what Eggman would come up with, but this most definitely wasn't Eggman's work. The buildings also had signs all over them, with words I'd never seen before, like "LLC", "bank", or "retailer". This world was something totally alien to me, which it literally was. For all intents and purposes, I was an alien to this world, and they were aliens to me.

"What…is this place?"

I looked at this world's inhabitants. They looked like Eggman, but smaller, skinnier, and with fur on their heads. This confirmed to me that I definitely wasn't on Gaia anymore. These were humans, which had been mostly extinct for centuries on my planet. Eggman was one of handful still left alive. They looked just as confused as I was, staring at me just like I stared back at them. "Those are...but they're supposed to be extinct…how did they…?"

EYECATCH CARD

Name: Sonic the Hedgehog

Nicknames: Sonic, Blue, Rodent

Species: Hedgehog

Gender: Male (he/him)

Height: 5 foot 11 inches (1.8 meters)

Weight: 180 pounds (81.65 kilos)

Age: 25

Likes: Speed

EYECATCH CARD

Name: Sam "Speed" Fair

Nicknames: The Highway Star

Species: Human

Gender: Male (he/him)

Height: 6 foot 0 inches (1.8 meters)

Weight: 176 pounds (80 kilos)

Age: 28

Likes: Racing

"Come on pal, move it or lose it!" A trucker yelled at me aggressively.

"Well, they know English at least." I thought.

Two cops burst their way in from between the enraged motorists. "Alright, alright, settle down everyone! Now, what is this thing?"

I sat still, not wanting to scare them and cause a ruckus, and looked up at the cops innocently. They looked almost exactly the same; muscular but husky, short hair, and pale skin. The cop's partner looked me over. "Kinda looks like a big hedgehog. But it's...blue?"

"Whatever it is, we need to get it outta here. Hang on…" The cop kneeled down, taking off his hat, revealing a bald head I'd only seen Eggman sport, and even he made it look better than this schmuck did. "Hey, big guy, why don't you come with us? It's too dangerous to play here."

"Should I get my gun? It looks pretty big."

I was insulted to be referred to as "it". Hadn't these people seen a Gaian before? As it turns out, no.

"I've got three cats at home, a hedgehog isn't gonna scare me." He then started clapping lightly, trying to get me to come over to him like some pet. I stuck his nose up indignantly and huffed at the jackasses. The mood of the cops changed suddenly.

"Huh, tough guy, aren't ya?"

"Should we call for backup?"

"No, I've got this."

The cop then leaped right at me in an attempt to pin me down. I simply darted to the side in an instant.

"Alright, you little punk, hands up-!" Before the cop could draw his gun, another similar looking officer, this one with a mustache that Eggman could only dream of having, put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey now, it wouldn't look great to have policemen killin' animals in the street."

"So what, it's-"

"I think we can do this without getting violent. Tony, Jefferson, get behind it."

The duo became five and they all surrounded me. I sat still, not sure what I was looking at. Cops were an archaic thing on Gaia, we'd done away with them centuries beforehand.

"Now, on the count of three, jump on it. One, two, THREE!"

All five officers threw themselves onto me, and for a moment, they believed they'd caught me.

"I've got his leg!"

"Got him by the neck, Sarge!"

"Alright, let's pull 'em up!"

But as they began to tug, they realized that they weren't holding onto me, but instead, each other. I watched their little show on the roof of a nearby car.

"I take it Eggman didn't inherit their brains…"

As I said that, a net fell over my head, with a grinning security guard thinking he'd caught me like a rat.

"Don't worry boys, I've got him!"

Now I was getting annoyed. I took off down the street, only running at what I'd consider walking pace, the other cops holding onto the security guard by his legs.

"Grab on and weigh it down!"

This only made me run faster, and as another squad car arrived on the scene, I saw an opportunity for a getaway. The car slid to a stop so the driver wouldn't hurt his co-workers. I pulled them along, bounced off the roof of the car, throwing the cops through the driver's side window. The enraged Sergeant quickly picked up the radio as I ran along at half-pace.

"ATTENTION ALL UNITS! THERE'S A BLUE HEDGEHOG ON CENTRAL STREET! BLOCK OFF ALL EXIT RAMPS, NOBODY LEAVES UNTIL THAT THING IS NEUTRALIZED!"

I jumped onto the main highway and sprinted along as usual, the feeling of the road beneath my feet uncomfortably staying completely still. I was used to the slight give from the soil of Green Hills, which was like running on a pillow compared to this. I saw a car and decided to take a quick stop on its hood, that way I could look around without stopping completely. The two officers inside stared at me motionless.

"I don't know where I am, but it's not Gaia, that's for sure."

I took off at half-speed again, which was still north of 250 miles per hour. The cops were probably left in a state of shock after how they reacted to seeing me. Helicopters were overhead, shining their flood lights onto me, lighting up the road around me like a beacon.

I could see a blockade of barriers, cop cars, and construction machines. I decided to give them a little show, putting a 100 meter jump on them, and continued down the highway as if nothing happened.

The helicopter kept following Sonic, the pilots now chuckling at the absurdity of the situation.

"Command, this is Delta 3, subject jumped over the roadblock and is picking up speed. 200 and climbing, we'll lose him any second here."

"Are you serious?! What is this thing?!"

"Competition."

The operator turned around and saw a man sitting in an office chair with a daring smile, already dressed in a red and white firesuit meant for racing.

"And I've been waiting a whole year for competition."

"Are you sure this is necessary, Sam?"

"Unless you can poach a few fighter jets from GUN, I don't see any other options." He pulled out his communicator. "Valtteri, Lewis, Sebastian, Sergio, get ready. The S-Team is rolling out."

The five men, preparing for the highest speed chase in human history, marched down a corridor, confident in their ability to race and catch even the fastest criminals. This chase would be different, however. The criminal, as it appeared, was something of a different world. These men walked into the garage where their machines were being prepared. They'd sat dormant for a year, minus a few test sessions at the local circuit to make sure they were functioning properly. Now, that preparation was to be put to good use.

Sam's car was based on that of a Formula One car, but unlike Formula One, there were no regulations to abide by. It was colored red, black, and yellow, and long enough that it could be mistaken for a boat. The wheels were covered by bodywork to reduce drag, unlike an F1 car which has exposed wheels. Another difference from racing was that they didn't need to worry about tight corners or heavy braking zones. These cars were designed for the freeway, where they could run flat out without even so much as a touch of understeer. Two rear wings stood on the back of the car, in case extra grip was needed, but this was usually unnecessary. Also unlike most race cars, these machines had six wheels instead of four, with two smaller wheels on each side at the front and a much larger rear wheel at the back. This allowed the cars to have tremendous mechanical grip. They were, without question, the fastest cars on the planet. Even the greatest race cars would fail to keep up on any circuit. And there wasn't just one, but five of them, with the other cars being white, yellow, and black. Sam, being the Chief, had his own designated livery.

"What's the road temperature tonight, James?" Sam looked towards his crew chief.

"About 70 degrees, mostly dry too. Just look out for a small oil spill near the exit for 203."

"Any wind?"

"Maybe a light breeze from the north, but nothing that would change the handling."

"Alright then...we'll go with the mediums, air pressure at 55. Keep the ride height at 4 inches."

"10-4!"

A mechanic rolled the tires over to the mechanics, who drilled the single lugnut onto its base. Once done, they raised their hands to signal to everyone that the car was ready, and it was dropped from the onboard jack to the ground. Sam, now with his signature red-white-and yellow helmet on, walked over to the cockpit. "Drivers, to your cars!" He climbed inside his own, sliding down into the seat, which forced him to practically lay down. Two mechanics slipped his five-point belt harness on as well as his head-and-neck restraint to protect his upper-body in the event of an accident. He then was handed his steering wheel, which was small and rectangular, and pushed it into its slot with a loud click. His chief engineer gave him some last bits of information about the car's setup.

"I programmed the gear ratio for the 101 specifically."

"OK."

The engineer then winked at him. "Oh, and I filled the booster full of fuel like you asked me to."

"Good work." Sam gave him a thumbs up. Air-guns at the rear ends brought the engines to life, the cockpit canopies closed, making them look more like fighter jets than cars, and with that, the S-Team was ready to roll.

"Chief, the subject was last spotted headed southbound on 101, somewhere around mile 33."

"10-4. Let's go get 'em, guys."

They started up their strobe lights to signal to anyone still on the road to stay well clear of them. As they pulled away from the garage and down a wide tunnel, they spun their tires to get some extra heat into them, which would allow them to have more grip. Heading to an exit lane, they crept at a speed slower than a sedan. But when the light went from red to green, they slammed on the gas and took off as quickly as they could. The 10-cylinder engines screamed at 20,000 RPMs, making them sound like the howls of demons from hell. They formed into a line of five to draft, their bumpers laying right against each other, requiring immense skill to hold onto their cars as the air pushed them around. This was the most difficult way to drive, but it was also the fastest, as the four trailing cars ran more or less in a vacuum, as the lead car, that being Sam, took in all of the air in front of them, with the other cars having virtually no wind resistance. This was dangerous, but it had never failed them before, and for the S-Team, failure was impossible.

Away from all that, I sat on top of a light pole, staring at the night sky, thinking about what had happened, why it happened, and what was next.

"Everything about this world is different...except the sky. They even have a moon."

What happened at Eggman's tower was something that had never happened before. Chaos Control usually just teleported someone within the same planet, or at most, the same solar system. So much of this planet was different from Gaia, yet the night sky remained the same, making me wonder not just where I was, but when he was.

"The Chaos Emeralds must have done this. This place has humans...Eggman is the only human I know of, the rest are all gone. Did I just travel through space...or did I travel through time? Is everyone else gone? Am I really...all alone?"

I wouldn't allow in any thoughts that scared me, and my cocky demeanor returned again.

"Well, sitting around moping won't do anything. I'll find out sooner or later."

I jumped off the light and back onto the freeway's surface, only to see more emergency lights, these ones attached to a group of strange, jet-like cars. They stopped before me, and a man I'd later know as Sam Speed stepped out from his machine and removed his helmet. He was about the same size as me, but a human, and had short orange hair and pale skin.

"Hi there! We come in peace, blue hedgehog."

I wasn't in the mood for cliche greetings. I turned to leave, but he called out again.

"Wait, hold on a second! We don't ever get calls like this. This city is pretty boring most of the time, having someone like you around is a nice change of pace. Last time we got called out, it was just some rich kid with an F1 car, said he thought he was faster than me. It was over in two minutes. It takes longer than that to make ramen. That was a year ago, and we've been sitting on our asses since. But that's our fault, I suppose. There's no way any criminal, no matter how reckless, would start a chase they know they can't win. We're the S-Team, and I'm their captain. I'm Sam Speed, but you can call me the Highway Star. And I won't let anyone, not even you, be faster than me on MY highway."

He finished his speech with an intimidating grin, which didn't faze me in the slightest. I flashed a grin back at him, accepting his challenge.

"You'll have to catch me first."

"Ah, you can talk! Well, now I know when I win, I can rub it in with you knowing every word I say."

The other four cars spiked their throttles and went right to the rev limiter, preparing to set back off. I let out a chuckle.

"Then let's go, S-Team." And with that taunt, I was off, with the wheeled rockets right on my tail. So, a race, huh? This'll be easier to win than crushing those orb bots back on Gaia. I picked up the pace to see what these guys were made of.

"The hedgehog just hit 400 MPH! Bring your rear wings down to 20 degrees! Adjust ride height to seven inches!"

With the adjustments made, their pace began to match my own. Sam wasn't in the picture, deciding to lay back and bide his time.

"Well, looks like you guys really are pretty speedy!" The four cars drove around to cover me on all sides, leaving me with seemingly nowhere to go. Everywhere except up.

"Oh no, how will I ever escape! Hehehe!" I vaulted into the air without breaking my stride to confuse them. I landed right beside one of the cars. The driver looked around, trying to find me, which he couldn't.

"Where is it? Did we run it over?"

I tapped the side of his canopy from the right. He looked over and saw nothing, as I'd already jumped onto the nose. When he looked up, I was staring down at him cheekily.

"Hey, get off the car! This is dangerous! What if kids are watching?!"

Not wanting him to worry, I looked over to the fourth wall. "Kids, don't use Formula One race cars to chase hedgehogs!"

I jumped back off the car and took off even faster than before. The S-Team was now furious; they definitely didn't like to be played with.

"This thing needs to learn some respect! Go to Super Aero Mode, let's take it down!"

With a transformation that made the cars look like arrows, the cars now reached speeds that even I found impressive. But then, right as it looked as though they'd caught up, I decided to mess with 'em a little more...by running backwards. I looked the S-Team in the eyes and giggled innocently, they squirmed in their seats with rage. Sam wasn't as infuriated by my antics as he was by the idea that someone was faster than him in Station Square. He knew of only one way to fix that.

"Everyone, clear the center lane!" The four machines followed his order.

"It's time to try this out. I didn't think I'd have to, but there's no other way. I won't let anyone run faster than me on my highway...even if I die."

He grabbed a red and white lever on the side of his cockpit, shoved it down, and then slammed it forward. "BOOSTER ON!" Two jet turbines popped up from the rear of the car and locked into place. They whistled to life, spinning faster and faster before an explosion propelled the car forward faster than it had ever gone before. He easily passed his squad mates, and even I had to jump out of the way so I wouldn't become roadkill. The car flew down the highway at close to 600 miles per hour, with Sam laughing all the way.

"The only way he beats me now is if he breaks the sound barrier. So long, blue hedgehog."

Of course, I did just that. And when I passed him by, the sound cutting out as I went super sonic, I mouthed something to him that I knew would drive him crazy.

"You lose."

I was now the fastest thing in Station Square, that's for sure. But as I looked forward, I saw what had made them back off. The bridge we had been racing on was ending, with nothing by sky ahead. I had to get away from them, so launched into the sky at full speed. I could see windmills spin beyond their limits, with some of them shattering into pieces. As I slowed enough to see what was below, I took in the sights and sounds of this new world. The lights of the buildings and streets lit the place up with an array of colors, creating a mosaic of multicolored steel and brick.

"You know what? I'm OK with this. At least I know someone I can have fun with."

I could tell I was starting to drop after flying for around a minute and a half. I could see a large white mansion with a huge yard of green grass. I figured I would land there and take back off after I took a breather. But those plans were overshadowed by what I was about to land in.

"Is that...a pool?"

I chuckled fearfully. "Hehehe...oh...no…"

I desperately tried to push himself forward in the air so I could land beside it, but it was useless. I was getting wet whether I liked it or not. And remember: I can't swim.

"NOOOOOOO!"

I landed with an incredible splash, water rising hundreds of feet into the air. When I reached the bottom of the pool, I tried to launch myself upward to get out. But it failed, the water was too heavy to overcome. I sat back down, holding my breath as best I could, and looked for something, anything that would me out of this mess. I saw a ladder on the side, quickly stood up, and tried running to it. I pushed with everything he had, but the water was like an invisible wall. Fear creeped in as I thought the greatest hero Gaia had ever known would die in a swimming pool. It was the superhero equivalent of dying on the toilet, and my friends would never know what happened. Nobody would.

Just as I was thinking that, something jumped in the water with me. It was a human, this one much smaller and younger. He reached out with his palm, which I gladly accepted. A few seconds later, we broke the surface. The boy swam me over to the side, and we pulled themselves out of the water. I coughed and gagged loudly as I tried to get the ill tasting chlorinated water out of my system. Once I'd expelled most of it from my lungs, I decided to say something to my savior.

"Ugh. Thanks kid, that was close."

The boy moved back a bit when I spoke. He was around 3/4 of my height, had spiky orange hair, and looked about 10 years younger than me. He said nothing, and his eyes were as wide as plates. He looked completely terrified.

"What's the matter? Can't you talk?"

"Y-yes…" He squeaked out.

I chuckled a bit. "Hey, it's OK, I don't bite. You probably wouldn't taste good, anyway." My attempt to lighten the mood only made him frown a bit more. I thought that maybe it wasn't my appearance scaring him, but the idea of having to talk to someone he didn't know. I could sense social anxiety from a mile away, and knew exactly how to get him to open up a bit.

"Let's start with names. I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. And you are?"

"Chr-Chris."

"Chris? I think I had a cousin named that. Thanks for saving me Chris, I'd be toast without you."

"You're welcome…"

We sat for a moment. He probably thought I would just get up and leave, but I figured at this point, I had nowhere to go, and was too tired to go on another run. Chris opened his mouth a few times, but the words wouldn't come. Eventually, he forced them out.

"Are you…" Chris spoke very quietly.

I smiled and lifted an ear up. "Hmm? What'd you say?"

"Are you...an alien?"

This really wasn't Gaia. "Well, what planet is this?"

"Earth."

"Can't say I've ever heard of an 'Earth', so yeah, to you, I'm an alien."

Chris shivered a bit. It was chilly tonight, and the frigid water stuck to his clothes, which stuck to his body like it was magnetized, and it was starting to get the better of him.

"We oughta get inside, Chris. We'll both catch a cold out here."

"Yeah, OK."

We carefully walked inside, hoping nobody would wake up and see us. After quietly sneaking into Chris' bedroom, I dried off in the bathroom while Chris changed his clothes. After that, I joined the kid on his balcony.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have a spaceship?"

I couldn't hold back my laughter on that one. I tried to hide it, not wanting to offend him, but he seemed to really think I was gonna probe him or something.

"I wish, bud, but nope. I haven't flown anything in years."

"Are you gonna stay?"

"Is it OK if I do?"

I could tell this kid didn't get out much. Something told me he was a bit lonely, not sure what, though. I thought I'd just stay for a few days, but it could be longer, if I couldn't find anywhere else.

"It's fine. But you're gonna have to be careful. I don't know what'll happen if someone sees you."

I waved off his worry. "Don't worry, there's a reason they call me 'Sonic'. Anyways, it's pretty late, and I'm beat. I'll see you in the morning."

"Do you need somewhere to sleep? I have an air mattress here somewhere." Before he could finish, I'd made a bed out of the roof above Chris' room.

"Nah, I'm good. This'll work for me."

Chris just shrugged. It looked like he didn't want to talk anymore. "Alright. Goodnight, Sonic."

Sonic winked at him. "Goodnight, Chris."

So far, I'd been chased by the cops, made a new rival, and now, a new friend. I thought this would be just a bump in the road, but nothing could prepare me for what was about to come.