This is my first time writing a whole story in english, as it's not my native language. It was very scary initially because I lack confidence and while I wouldn't say I'm 100% comfortable with the language yet, I can already see things beginning to change, I'm sure I made a lot of mistakes, it might take a while but I'll try my best to improve, don't be afraid to criticize both the spelling and the narrative itself.

The night sky was filled with shooting stars, all leaving a shiny silver trail of stardust wherever they went, except for one that appeared suddenly, a blue star that landed in the jungle before anyone could see it. Then, a baby could be heard yelling.

The small animals went to investigate, finding a huge crater, and at the bottom of it, a baby hedgehog, wearing only a pair of gloves and comfortable shoes. His tiny hands were holding a shining turquoise ring made of crystal.

He quiets down and sneezes loudly, scarring those animals. His nose was itching like crazy, and his throat felt like a desert filled with sand. He closes his eyes, waiting for it to go away.

A tall, egg-shaped, and mustached man appears, picking him up and walking through the forest.

"I've never seen anything like that before!" said the egg man, pointing something that looked just like a thermometer at the hedgehog, there was a big energy signal coming from him, while it seemed that the ring was nothing more than a souvenir. "His body contains so much energy that it alone might be enough for that to work!"

When the baby started to yell again, the man thought about throwing him away.

"Do you need to annoy me for no reason?" asked him. "Listen, if you stop being a loud idiot, I might let you work for me when you grow older, what about that?"

He starts to hold the baby in a way that makes him comfortable, seemingly calming him. The man walks down the hills, right next to a cliff and a waterfall that flows into a river surrounded by trees.

That baby knew something was wrong, he was still too young to understand what that could be, or examine the situation, only his instincts could do the job, and they wouldn't let any signs pass by. The hedgehog was sniffing like a dog trying to chase something by its odor.

The egg man noticed it, raising one eyebrow, he also tried to smell whatever it was the hedgehog was trying to, but there was nothing.

"I know a child isn't supposed to have a lot of communication skills, but I wasn't expecting for an anthropomorphic one to lack so much. But then again, you will be more useful if you don't talk, keep up the good work!" said him. "If you're still wondering, little rat, my name is Dr. Robotnik, the greatest scientific mind on this whole planet, and you're now, from this point on my honorary assistant, not son, you will never be good enough for that, but don't feel bad because of it, no one would."

The baby hedgehog suddenly sneezes at Robotnik's face, pushing himself against the doctor, and falling through the cliff.

"No!" screamed the doctor. "This is an opportunity I can't let go, I need this blue hedgehog captured, now!"

The doctor pulled the glove folds up to his hands, revealing a wristwatch. He presses one of its buttons and calls all robots in the area.

"If you can't do this, you're all going to the crushing machine!"

The hedgehog was nowhere to be found on the island, no energy reading such as his ever appeared on that island again, no signs of a hedgehog traveling through the island could be seen, it was like he never existed at all.

Nine years passed since then, the blue hedgehog was in a seemingly old attic, looking through the boxes for something, but finding only storybooks that he chose to ignore. The first unique thing he could find was a… microphone?

"Sonic? I found it!" called an old lady while entering the attic, carrying with her a book with a plane on the cover. "Is that…"

Her name was Lucy Almandine, a human woman in her 60's that took care of Sonic during all of his childhood. She had skin white as snow and blonde hair that was almost gray. She wore a blue dress with a white open jacket and a pair of round glasses.

Almandine approaches Sonic after noticing the microphone, she picks it up, and moves it closer to her body, as if she was hugging it.

"I didn't know you liked singing, grandma!" said Sonic.

"I didn't know either, my memory doesn't help, especially at my age," she said. "But now I remembered so much about my 20's days, so many stories that I didn't want to forget. I wonder if I was a good singer?"

"There's only one way to know!" Sonic winked at her.

"Oh-ho, Sonic, I'm not doing this, if I've ever had any skills, then I've surely lost them decades ago!" she laughs. "I don't remember the details yet, but there were so many adventures during those days, Sonic, it was because of my singing career that I met my husband!"

"You'll tell me about those adventures, right? I think I can find the book you need in this same box!" Sonic found it immediately. "Here, it gotta be this one!"

Almandine has been a writer for as long as she can think of, even as a kid, she has written thousands of pages, none of which she ever wanted to publish, it was all stored at her own home, because she didn't see any need for others to see it. Those books were stories about her life, about the memories she created and wanted to protect until she had no day left in this world. When Sonic suddenly appeared in her yard like a shooting star, she finally had someone to share those stories with.

Almandine has been living alone for years, she did not know if all of her friends died or abandoned her, or if she just forgot about them, it was all trapped into memories that are trying to escape, either way, Sonic was the only one she had.

"C'mon, Sonic, I really want to tell you these stories!"

"Heh!" Sonic followed her, smiling.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing, it's just that you really don't seem to be as old as you are when you talk like that, Grandma!"

"I gotta stay young in heart for when I find a cute single lying around," she said.

"Never knew your pastime was crushing hearts."

Almandine sat on her rocking chair, next to a window from where you could see the rain outside, Sonic laid on the carpet, while she opened the book.

"Oh, those aren't my reading glasses! Where did I leave them again?"

Sonic immediately appeared behind her, looking at the book beneath her shoulder.

"I'll find it later, I'll help you read it, okay?" Sonic was happy when he saw her smiling at him. "So, where should I start?"

"How about the beginning? I know it's quite unusual, but I prefer it this way," said Almandine, laughing silently.

"You really can't ask obvious questions around Grandma, heh."

Sonic turned the first few pages, which were drawings of figures that seemed to be hand-drawn by a child; and judging by their features they were Almandine and her husband when they were younger, Sonic knew that she was the only person that could have drawn those.

"June 23rd, 1961." reads Sonic, when he reaches the first page. "Isn't that the date you found me, except 30 years earlier?"

"I think so, I hope it's a coincidence and not my brain collapsing while I wrote that." she laughs nervously.

"I'm sure it is a coincidence, life always goes full circle is what they say, grandma, I know you got the dates right!"

"You're the best thing that has happened in my life since he died, Sonic, I've never had any children, I believe…" she paused briefly. "but you're my grandson at heart."

"I know you didn't, or else you would remember them, just like you remember your husband!" said Sonic, smiling. " Let's get back to reading!"

Almandine nods.

June 23rd, 1961, it had been a month since Almandine celebrated her 23rd anniversary, and one week since she decided to become a professional singer, but she hadn't made any attempt to follow the career; however, she repeatedly talked about it with her friends.

She did nothing, besides singing, because she loves to! Almandine did not know why, her memories wouldn't allow her, but it just made her feel… safe, as if a beloved friend just came back after so long, and hugs her, sharing a comfortable warmth with her.

Almandine was walking down the streets, singing with her heart, as the busy and well-dressed people of the small town ignored her, the same way she ignored them. Until a brown man, with spiked hair, wearing a leather jacket, a black shirt, and ripped jeans, looked at her, his green eyes were shining like diamonds.

Almandine notices it and blushes, someone was listening to her, she didn't know what else could she expect, singing like that in public, but it was still embarrassing, she covered her eyes and ran away.

Almandine peeked over her shoulder to see the man, stopped, not making any attempt at following her, she heard about him before from friends, his name was unknown to her and many, since he was always called by the nickname of "Needle Mouse", because of his hedgehog-like hair.

Needle Mouse was two years younger than her but still had an ambition she wouldn't have in a thousand years, that is, he wanted to reach a sonic boom with the airplane he made.

Most people don't see the point of doing so, as he was too late to be the first one, meaning that no one would remember him for that, and there's nothing to gain, besides risking his own life.

The friends Needle Mouse and Almandine had in common usually negatively talked about him because of that, but she always secretly thought that this only made Needle Mouse into an even more ambitious man, he wasn't doing it for anyone, but himself.

Almandine expected to never talk to him, and maybe not even see him again, since Needle Mouse always seems to be flying his plane. One week later, someone knocks on her door, she opens it, but there was no one.

She looks down, where she finds a box with a note.

"Hey, it's me, the spiked hair guy! My friends always talk a lot about you, so when I met you in town, I knew it was you, and I was impressed too! You're a great singer, I hope I can hear you singing again! I'll be waiting at the hills, if I'm bothering you, please, ignore this. Oh, by the way, my true name is Hesson Hurricane, I tell this to only a few people!"

Later that same day, Almandine and Needle Mouse met on top of the hill, he smiled, she blushed, they looked at the stars, they talked, she sang, he heard it. The atmosphere seemed happy around the hill, when they left, only a silent monotony was left behind.

"Sorry, Sonic, I didn't remember it being so boring to read…" Almandine looks away. "I guess some things are much better when you live them, let's take the other book."

"No! This one is good" said Sonic, worryingly throwing himself in front of her before she gets up. "We should be more patient when reading stuff, this is only the beginning, Grandma, don't you think? Let's continue reading… if you want it, of course!"

Sonic saw Almandine's blue eyes shining like never before, and he wanted to keep them like that.

"Okay, okay, we'll read this one! But I'm tired now," she said, yawning. "I'm going to sleep, you can continue without me for now, I'll catch up tomorrow."

"No, I'll wait for you, so we can read it together! Good night, Grandma!" said Sonic, walking to the window.

"Hum…" Almandine looked at Sonic, who was already distracted by the scenery outside the window. She chuckles, before walking to her room. "Good night for you too, Sonic."

You could only see a huge forest of cherry blossoms outside, it was so dark that it looked like they were in a cave. The only light source beyond the house were some boulders that looked just like crystals of amethyst, lighting the forest up. The ground seemed smooth and solid just by looking, it was all blue, following a chess pattern of darker and brighter squares.

The rain didn't go away yet, Sonic looked at the clock hanging on the wall, it hadn't passed a minute since he was left alone.

He said he would wait for Almandine, but when he realized, he was already going through all the pages on her book, it was very exciting, there was even a time where she learned how to drive the plane, Needle Mouse and her seemed happy together, Sonic couldn't hide his smiles when reading, but they always disappear when he remembers that Almandine was alone now.

How did Needle Mouse go? He asked, he always knew that he was dead, but what truly happened? Sonic took the other book, November 14th, 1976, it was that day when he died. Sonic finished the book in a matter of seconds, and after he did, he silently put it on the chair.

"She doesn't remember it, the same way she forgot about how he met her husband, she never forgot about him, her heart wouldn't let her, but not all memories they had are still there," said Sonic to himself. "It's really important for her, I shouldn't just throw it away, but I'm thankful that I didn't have to read this one for her, what should I do?"

Sonic walked outside, feeling the raindrops fall wasn't as relaxing as just hearing them while reading, but he didn't seem to be bothered too much about it, he just ran and ran through the forest.

Everything looked the same when going to the north, which was what Sonic's doing. But somehow, deep in his heart, he knew that he needed to go there, if he wanted to make Almandine smile again.

As detailed to Almandine by Needle Mouse's best friend, Skyrunner, who was always competing with him to see who was the fastest; even if Skyrunner was around ten years younger and not as determined, he still had fun with his friend. November 14th, 1976, Needle Mouse and Skyrunner both participated in a race to find out who would break the sound barrier first, during a test flight, they both changed jackets as a symbol of good fortune.

The biplane on the cover of the book was the Tornado, a red plane with white details and the name "Sonic" written on it, as in "sonic boom", which later became Sonic's namesake. The Tornado was now resting on a garage behind the house, in the exact opposite direction that Sonic was running.

Skyrunner was able to bring Needle Mouse's white jacket back home, as they switched them, it only makes sense, but when Sabrina saw the Tornado too, she had a million of questions, sadly, none that Skyrunner would be able to answer, as they didn't switch planes that day, Skyrunner went with his Twister and Needle Mouse with the Tornado, Needle Mouse disappeared during the sonic Boom, on the skies of Murray Hill, never to be found again, but the Tornado somehow landed alone on a nearby lowland.

Sonic knew it from Almandine's oldest books, during her teenagehood, she lived in a faraway city, she didn't remember anything before being thirteen, her first memories are those of her moving to the city. It was there where she lived all of her memories until she moved with Needle Mouse to Christmas Island, the place where they are now.

When he was younger, Sonic always followed Almandine when she was picking cherries in the forest, and he always asked "where are we?", to which she always replied, "I don't know, I hope I can find out in one of my books, but… the Blue Moon Abyss isn't so bad, don't you think?"

"Geez, Grandma wanted to choose the spookiest name she could think of!"

Sonic never found anything about it in any of her books, but every time after she sleeps, Sonic decides to walk outside and examine the area without telling her. As much as Sonic enjoyed helping and seeing Almandine happy, Sonic could never think of living stuck in a single place, even if he doesn't know the world beyond that, he knows it's much bigger than what he has.

Seven miles later, Sonic suddenly brakes before the forest ends. For some reason, there were no trees beyond that point, Sonic lifted his arm forward and began walking slowly, until he could see waves forming in the air, like when raindrops hit a lake.

His hand touched the waves, it felt like a gelatinous invisible wall, he touched it with his other hand too and tried to force his way through it, but the second he put strength at pushing it, he was hit by... nothing, but it certainly felt like a cannonball being shot at his gut, repelling him to a tree that Sonic hits with his back and falls.

"This won't be the last time I'll try, you better be ready!" said Sonic, thinking: "But why does it never work? How thick can this wall of something... or, well, nothing be?"

Sonic jumps against it again, only to be received the same way he would if jumping on a trampoline, that's exactly what he expected to happen. Sonic could feel it, the waves that made the wall, when touching him, begin to travel through his body and back, when a certain amount of waves leave his body at the same time, he gets ejected.

"I don't know exactly how to put it, but I think if I want to pass through, I'm gonna have to put up quite a show for you!"

Sonic stops and takes a deep breath, then, he bends his body slightly forwards and starts an incredibly fast stationary run, his legs becoming only a poorly defined blue blur with red stripes.

Sonic trips on his feet, falling on his face. Without saying anything, he gets up and tries it another time, falling again.

Sonic, still quiet, puffed his chest and began charging his run once more, this time, a deep shine like the moon's appeared on his eyes. He was already at his max speed, maybe he could have a chance racing against a car on the street, but that wasn't enough for him.

Sonic's look was still focused forward, his legs didn't look like an undefined mess like previous time. It was a red mobius strip, his speed was still rising!

Sonic's green eyes looked like emeralds, while his body was emitting a white bluish aura.

"Here we go!"

Sonic boosts like a jet, his pupils were bright as stars, his body was outlined by a shine of energy colored as the sea.

Sonic easily passed through the waves, as if they had never even existed, his path was clear.

Sonic kept running, after a short while, a wall of water appeared in front of him, it was the only thing stopping Sonic from going beyond…

And before he knew it, he was already on the other side.

The new moon shines for him, even though some very small clouds were trying to hide it. There were a lot of dots of light scattered around the beautiful painting that was the night sky, Sonic knew that those could only be the stars.

"Woah! That wall certainly won't be a problem anymore!" said Sonic, seeing the ripples that made the wall scattering through the skies, it was destroyed.

Sonic seemed sure that he wasn't living in a cave, there was a sun and a moon, just like on the outside, there were clouds and all the things you could expect from a sky, but something was lacking, something that made it not look real… the only thing he never saw there were the distant stars that only appear at night.

Behind him, there was only a waterfall, Sonic felt the water drops slipping down his spine, he did, in fact, cross it with his own body, he was living underground, which just made that place even weirder to him.

Sonic looks down, noticing there was nothing but water for him to land.

"Huh? A… river?" Sonic begins to sweat. "Wa… ter…? No way!"

He calmed down when realizing that his legs hadn't completely stopped, they were still spinning as a mobius strip. Sonic moved them as fast as he could, until reaching a consistent and high speed again.

When touching the surface of the river, Sonic sank only a few centimeters, like his feet just dropped on jelly, he bounced lightly on the water, before landing on it again and running on it.

"Woohoo!" he shouted excitedly. "Now, let's go find those Murray Hills!"

Needle Mouse disappeared when reaching a sonic boom, leaving only the tornado behind. Sonic only escaped the Blue Moon Abyss because of his speed, he also appeared there after the ripple barrier was already there, according to Grandma's book, Sonic had yet to know how she got there in the first place, but everything he knew pointed to one thing, speed. If the Tornado survived the sonic boom, could Needle Mouse have it too?

Sonic suddenly felt the need to scratch his nose, something was wrong. He heard a huge roar, but there wasn't anyone else to be seen on the lake. Sonic decided to slowly move his body to the side, so he could reach the ground, which was harder than he'd thought at the speed he was moving.

There were step sounds getting closer, something was moving in the distance, hidden behind the giant trees. Then, Sonic heard a familiar, but unknown voice inside his head:

"His body contains so much energy that it alone might be enough for that to work!"

Sonic's feet were finally touching the ground.

"At least I don't have to worry about being attacked on the water anymore!"

A huge, mechanical dog's head came out of the trees, right in front of Sonic, forcing him to slow down, he would not be able to stop before hitting it, so instead he curled himself into a ball and hopped at the robot's face.

A blue hexagon made of energy appeared between Sonic and the head, pushing him away.

"There's armor protecting him!" Sonic notices the red, shiny horn on its head. "Which means that I just found its weak spot!"

The robot's colors were dark reds and yellows, along with black, which makes it hard to notice him during the night.

"Very presumptuous of you to assume that," it was the same voice Sonic heard in his head. "but you know, you only can learn after trying, and I'd love to watch you do so!"

Sonic looked up, where he saw an unmistakable silhouette driving a little flying ship that approached just enough for Sonic to be able to see the man's face.

"You might not remember me, little hedgehog, but I'm here to take you back now, if you choose to resist… well, my pet, the Egg Cerberus, has some problems with knowing limits when playing, so he might end up hurting you more than necessary."

"You are… that egg man!" Sonic shouted.

"You missed me so much you even gave me a nickname? Well then, Eggman shall be it, as a sign of respect to your useful powers! It will also be convenient to have something to call you as did you come up with your name while you escaped?"

"Call me Sonic, the name I wouldn't trade for anything!" said him. "And I won't go anywhere you want. If that is what this oversized pet wants, then okay, Eggman, I'll play with him!"

"Egg Cerberus, recess time is over!" said Eggman.

The Egg Cerberus advances again, trying to bite Sonic, who jumps backward to doge, turning around and running. Egg Cerberus followed him, besides being slower, it wasn't too far from reaching him.

"Dang it, I can't run fast enough without charging my speed like before! On top of that, I don't think I ever felt like this…" Sonic's breathing was becoming heavier over time. "Is this… what getting tired looks like? Maybe I'm too used to Cherry Forest!"

Egg Cerberus kept roaring, the sound waves being enough to hit Sonic like rocks being thrown at him.

"I'm sorry, are you talking with my back? Just so you know, it doesn't have ears, so it can't hear you!" said Sonic, turning around again, running towards it and sliding below its body. "I know attacking from behind is kinda cheating, but you already have more than enough advantages to cover it!"

Sonic tried to hold onto its tail, and it worked! There was no shield there, he climbed up to its back, where he could already see the horn.

"Great! Now, let's just… woah!" said Sonic, losing his balance, as Egg Cerberus turned around. "C'mon, I'm on top of you, moron! Don't need to search behind, you won't find anything!"

After the Egg Cerberus was already looking where it expected Sonic to be, the hedgehog ran to its horn, grabbing onto it, and making it roar even louder than before.

"Hey, calm down!" said Sonic, holding tight, until it stopped. "Hey, I can finally see your face, I didn't pay any attention to it before, so I didn't notice how ugly you truly are! Now it's my turn!"

Egg Cerberus starts to run restlessly, it was shaking so much that Sonic understood how it felt to be inside a blender. Sonic pulled the horn, hoping it would make the Egg Cerberus react, and it did! The Egg Cerberus was now moving in the general opposite direction that Sonic was pulling. Until the Egg Cerberus recovered its senses and completely turned around again.

"Ugh! Listen to me!" said Sonic, now punching the horn, to no effect. "Outch!"

Sonic felt a blow being precisely delivered at his chest, pushing him away from the Egg Cerberus, then, he notices Eggman, not too far away, carrying a laser gun in his hand.

"I know that it's unfair for me to enter the battle after it had already begin, but I can't have the luxury to waste anymore time in this tiny little island!"

Sonic's body sank into the river like a brick, although he tried to swim back, it was like all that water was holding his limbs very loosely, like hands that weren't even that strong, but Sonic wasn't able to escape them because he couldn't bring himself to hurt them, he was hesitating.

His eyes almost fade into black, when he finally feels the ground touching his back.

On the surface, the Egg Cerberus lightly slapped the water multiple times.

"Use your mouth! How do you think you're going to get him without fingers?"

Egg Cerberus looks down at his paws, not raising his head again.

On the other side of the river, Sonic crawls to the surface, stopping and panting as soon as his legs were the only thing submerged. Sonic's body moved a little to his side, as if he was incapable of sustaining his own weight.

"There's only one way to go now, hedgehog!"

Continue in "Ultimate life form and Man-made deities".