Pre-chapter Conversation

"So I got both Shadow and Sonic's speed?"

"Not both of them." I replied. "I don't need to overpower you." The hedgehog sulked.

"Do I get anything else?"

"Maybe…" I gave him a sly grin. "But that's for another time! Let's start the next chapter!"

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The Adventures of Izzy the Hedgehog

Chapter Three

The Obstacle Course

Izzy dragged Tails down the stairs and into the lab's kitchen.

"What was that about?" Tails asked dizzily as Izzy sat at the table.

"Sorry about that. I'm just so excited that I was sent here." Izzy replied.

"Right. Anyway, I guess I better make ya something." Tails said.

Just then, a blue blur streaked through the kitchen's screen door and around the room before stopping, revealing the legendary hero, Sonic the Hedgehog!

"Hey Tails, I just ran through the jungle and—woah! He's up!" Sonic said, looking at Izzy.

"Hiya!" He said with a grin.

"Uhhh... Hi. I'm Sonic. And you?"

"Oh, I'm Izzy. Pleased to meet ya." Izzy said as the two hedgehogs shook hands. Sonic sat down as Tails went back to cooking.

"So, what were you doing out there?" Sonic asked, referring to when Izzy showed up.

"Oh that... Well, it all started when…"

And Izzy told the two furries how he wound up in this dimension and how he got the Dragon Emerald.

"Are you sure you didn't just dream all that?" Sonic asked in disbelief after hearing the story.

"If I did, I've been sleeping a loooong time!" Izzy laughed.

"So now you're some kind of guardian, like our friend Knuckles?" Tails asked, sitting at the table.

"I guess…" Izzy replied with a nod. "Tikal said that I have to train first. 'Search for the blue one.' That's what she told me."

Tails got in a thinking pose.

"Hey! Maybe that means you, Sonic!"

"Me?" Sonic pointed at himself. Tails nodded. Sonic glanced at Izzy. "I guess I can train you..."

"Great! I wanna get started as soon as possible." Izzy said anxiously.

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"Here we are. The obstacle course." Sonic said.

They were standing in the field. It looked much bigger than it did from the bedroom window. It seemed to go around like a racecourse. There were holes in the ground in some areas and one part even went over a cliff. Izzy gulped.

"If you can survive this course and finish in a good enough time, I'll consider training you." Sonic said.

"Uhhh… What kind of obstacles are there?" Izzy asked. Sonic smirked.

"That's for us to know and you to find out." Izzy put on a look of determination.

"Let's do it." He walked up to a starting line and got in a runner's stance.

"One more thing. Switch off the skates." Sonic said. "You're running through this course."

"The skates have switches?" Izzy asked, giving him a strange look. Sonic pointed to his heels. There was a switch on each heel. Izzy reached over and turned them off. "How did you know that?" Sonic chuckled.

"When you've fought Shadow as much as I have, you tend to notice a few things." Izzy got a forlorn look on him.

"So Shadow survived." He put on a grin. "I can't wait to meet him."

"It's better that you don't." Tails said, walking up with a stopwatch in his hand. "Shadow's real tough."

"I don't wanna fight him." Izzy said before sighing. "I just want his autograph." Sonic and Tails sweatdropped.

"Right…" Sonic said. "Activate the course, Tails." Tails took out a remote control.

"Which level should we use?"

"He's a first timer, so level two." Sonic replied.

Tails pushed a button and the entire ground shook. It took all of Izzy's strength to avoid falling down. Sonic & Tails were just fine though. Parts of the ground opened up and walls rose up. Loops and rails made themselves known. Izzy looked on with shock as the entire course rose out of the ground. After some time, the ground stopped shaking and the course was ready to be used.

"Woah…" Izzy said in amazement.

"Now you can get ready." Sonic said with another smirk. Izzy took his place on the starting line.

"On your mark…" Tails started.

Izzy got into a running stance.

"Get set…"

Izzy leaned forward.

'I hope I can do this.' He thought. Sweat dripped down his face.

"GO!.!.!" Tails yelled as he started the timer. Izzy ran forward. He started out in a slow place, jogging for a few minutes.

'Come on, Izzy! You know Sonic's not this slow!' Izzy thought as he moved his legs faster. He closed his eyes as he focused only on increasing his speed.

He went at a snail's pace for a few minutes before his legs were suddenly moving much faster. He opened his eyes and looked down. His legs were a purple blur. He looked at a passing bird. It was flying slowly. Izzy grinned.

"All right!.!.!" He cheered as he ran towards the first obstacle, a loop. Izzy put his arms behind him as he ran up to the loop.

He ran up it, going upside down for a few seconds and then down again. He hit a spring and was propelled high in the air towards a G.U.N. Beetle robot. Using what he learned from watching cartoons featuring the blue hedgehog, Izzy spun in the air and extended his quills. He crashed into the robot and destroyed it. Gravity affected him as he started falling towards more G.U.N. bots.

"Uh-oh. I hope I can use a Homing Attack." Izzy said as he moved closer. "Only one way to find out!"

He spun again as his body glowed purple. Izzy increased his speed and he shot towards the group of bots. He destroyed each of them, allowing him to progress forward. He landed on a rail and started grinding.

"He's not doing too bad." Tails said, looking from the stopwatch to Sonic. The hedgehog just had his arms crossed.

"Ha! This is so fun!" Izzy yelled as he crouched to make himself go faster.

After the rail went around a hill, he noticed that it was ending at a cliff. Izzy's eyes widened, but he noticed a hook hanging above the gap. Thinking fast, he jumped off the rail and reached out for the hook. He barely made it, but his right hand grabbed the hook and it raised him up another few feet. Izzy was now facing a small canyon. He swung off the hook and used his Homing Attack to wall jump to the end. He landed on a ledge on the other side and continued on. After running up the side of a cliff and wall jumping at the end, Izzy found himself surrounded by Hunter robots.

"Think you can take me on, boys?" He asked with a smirk. The bots charged up their weapons and fired. Izzy moved too fast though and they wound up shooting each other.

"Guess that's a no." He chuckled as he ran through another loop and reached the home stretch.

He was a few feet from the finish line when some posts with laser guns on top popped out of the ground. They fired on him as he darted around, dodging the beams. He jumped forward to the right, then the left, then left again, and right. He got through the laser field and across the finish line.

"YES!.!.! I did it!" Izzy yelled as he ran backwards, holding up both thumbs.

"Look out!" Tails yelled.

"Huh?" Izzy turned around and tried to stop himself, but it was no use.

He bumped into a spring that propelled him towards Tails' lab. He rolled up into a ball as he crashed through the sunroof and bounced around the many machines. Explosions were going on all over the place as Izzy continued bouncing around. He soon unrolled, but not in time to stop himself from crashing into a red button.

"Self destruct in ten seconds." An electronic voice buzzed. Izzy got up from the floor and shook his head dizzily.

"Aw man…" He groaned.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…" Izzy's eyes widened as he realized what was going on.

"Five, four, three, two, one…" He ducked down.

°BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!°

The huge explosion destroyed the lab and sent Izzy flying.

"AHHHHHHHHH!.!.!.!.!.!" The now-blackened hedgehog screamed as he fell. He crashed and skidded to a stop in front of Sonic and Tails, who were looking less than pleased. He coughed and sputtered as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. He turned to the other two furries, who were glaring at him.

"Oh man! Your lab! I'm sooo sorry, Tails!" Izzy said. He apologized about a million more times before Sonic interrupted.

"Get…out..." He growled.

"What?" Izzy asked in disbelief.

"Get out." Sonic repeated. "There's no way you can be a guardian if you're so clumsy!" Izzy's ears drooped.

"But—"

"GET OUT!.!.!" Sonic roared as he got into a ball and spin dashed into Izzy, sending him flying again.

"Looks like I'm blasting off again!.!.!" He yelled as he became a star.

(A/N: I pray that that joke never gets old.)

"My lab…" Tails said sadly.

"Hey don't worry, little buddy. We'll get your lab repaired. At least we got rid of that hedgehog." Sonic reassured.

"But what about his emerald?" Tails asked.

"Uh-oh..." Sonic said with realization. He knew what that meant. Izzy was safe at the lab with them, even if he was kinda clumsy. But out there in the rest of the world… HE could get him.

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"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!" Izzy yelled as he fell towards a huge city. He crashed in a park with a loud thud. He struggled to his feet dizzily.

"Ouch… I can't believe he just tossed me out like that..." He held back a tear. "What am I gonna do now?" He looked around at the huge city.

"Guess I'll look around. I wonder where I am."

He switched his air skates back on and skated out of the park. He skated around for a few minutes before he reached what seemed like the entrance to a theme park.

"Twinkle Park?" Izzy gasped. "Oh! I'm in Station Square. Cool."

He skated around for a little longer before it got dark and he found himself in an empty parking lot.

"Brrrr… It's cold!" He huddled into his vest. He stared up at the moon. "Now I'm all alone in this dimension and I can't leave until I'm ready to protect my own dimension. But what—" He stopped as he felt someone watching him. He brought his head down and looked around. No one was there except for him, but he could hear a low breathing sound. Izzy took a step backwards.

"I b-b-better go find some place to sleep." He said in a scared tone. He turned around and walked out of the parking lot into the city.

As he walked down the street, he heard footsteps behind him. Izzy stopped and looked. No one was there. He turned around and started walking again. Again, he heard footsteps. Izzy picked up the pace, but the footsteps were moving at the same pace. The violet hedgehog picked up the pace even more and his skates activated. He skated as fast as he could, zooming all over the city. He soon reached the park where he landed. He stopped and panted. He looked around for any sign of whatever was chasing him. Again, he saw no one.

"Whew! Safe…" Izzy turned and saw a pair of glowing crimson eyes. His eyes widened. He didn't have time to scream as the dark figure grabbed him. They both disappeared in a flash of green light.

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Post-chapter Conversation

"AHHHHHHH!.!.!.!.!.!.!" Izzy shouted in fright. "What happened to me!.?.!"

"You were there." I said with an irritated look.

"You think I would know?.! It was dark!"

I sighed and turned to the camera.

"Anyway, what grabbed Izzy? Who's HE? What will Sonic do? Find out in the next installment of The Adventures of Izzy the Hedgehog!"