Every morning it was a routine. Wake up in a darkened forest, step out into a stream, clean up, get dressed, head out for the day.

This was kind of life for me, I guess. No one to tell me what to do, no specific places to go to, and yet I still have to follow a schedule of some kind. It's mind-boggling. Still, it's better than that shit hole I was living in.

I step out of the forest and look out over the bright, sun-lit field. The grass is a darkened green, the animals are out playing, fish are swimming in a lake. Everything is just all happy and gay.

Yeah…ghey is fuckin' right.

Don't get me wrong…the scenery's beautiful and all but I don't really care. Nah, my day is on a schedule alright. I plan to start my hero business as soon as possible. I've got killers to stop, people to save, food to eat. And speaking of which, I'm hungry.

I speed my way towards town, slowing down at the entrance. From there I just mosey my way along. Ready and primed to set foot in a new setting and jump into the hero thing.

At first glance, the city (which apparently, is called Station Square) is a metropolis of sorts, filled with busy people going about their daily lives. The best place for a hero to be. Except for one little problem…

-+-

"Whadda-ya-mean the crime rate is at an all time low?" he exclaimed at several television sets in a window, all blaring the news to any passersby.

"Aww, fucking come on!"

The blue hedgehog's head dropped forward and leaned on the glass in front of him as he read through the scrolling text on the bottom of the largest screen in front of him. An elongated groan was emitted before he pocketed his hands and started wandering the streets, keeping his eyes open for any potential suspects.

"God…" he murmured low, to himself, "I should shave off these bangs. They make it really hard to see…"

He eyed his surroundings a bit more and walked towards what looked like a barbershop. In front of the door stood three patrons with instruments. One with a guitar, one with a washtub bass, and one with a harmonica. The docile tones of each note as this trio played their blues seemed enough to calm his nerves.

The door slid open and he walked in to what seemed to be a virtually empty room, save for the barber himself.

-+-

"Listen my child," he began, "this city is no friendly place. I've been told that it can be rough, especially for young ones such as yourself. But I have heard of many a child being taken into foster care as well, something that you need. I just know, deep in my heart there is a family there for you, Miles…I just hope you may find each other before something terrible happens…"

It had already been a long time since he had told me about this place. I had never been here but I was given a map to help navigate. Though…I'm not entirely sure how to use it.

The river's warm waters felt good against me. My fur, over time, had become very dirty, to the point where several clumps had formed up and down my chest and belly. My mother always told me to look my best when going somewhere new. Though I'm pretty sure it really wouldn't have mattered in this case, I figured I wouldn't take any chances. I was already living in a forest anyway…

I sunk into the water until my chin was aligned with it, almost perfectly. It was so soothing being able to do just sit like this and not have to worry about this journey. No deaths to worry about, no extra people to hold me down…it seems so lonely, but I'd rather it be just me than drag other people through this place. I've already had my fair share of run-ins with various violent creatures.

After soaking for what seemed like an hour, I stood out of the river and shook as hard as I could to try and get excess water off. I slipped into the pants and t-shirt I had been given by the priest before he sent me off.

Looking back…I'm still amazed it's been so long since my parents died. Since that speech…

I felt my eyes beginning to tear up and I did what I could to shake the feeling. Alas, I was weak. I fell to my knees and wept, burying my face so none could see if they passed.

I was so lost and confused here. Even with the map, I wasn't sure I'd be able to find my way around the city. I wasn't even sure I'd find my way through this forest to the city. It was all completely a matter of luck and, although the priest was able to give me a place to stay for a couple years, my luck really wasn't taking many turns for the better.

This wasn't going to help and I knew it. But ever since that incident, I've found that if I just let myself cry every now and again, it would help. Sort of my own little way of releasing stress and sadness.

I picked myself up after drying my eyes and finally put my shirt on. After packing up the various things, as I had been taught to by the priest, I made my way towards the city. The last beacon of hope that I had for a better life…

-+-

People busied themselves, wandering from one place to the next as they passed through the seconds, the minutes, the hours of daily life. No one had any true purpose, but each person, in some way, had a goal.

Her eyes seemed fixed in front of her at all times, and rarely did her gaze slip. She never needed to watch what others did around her. Having learnt only so much of the world and how it revolved around her, she didn't have any comprehension or interest of the people around her and what they thought.

As far as she was concerned, it was not polite to stare.

Strangely, though, people seemed to stare at her as she walked by. Though she didn't notice them, people would keep a close eye on her and her strange figure.

"Mommy, that fox has two tails!" said a little boy, a little louder than most would've let out. The boy's mother, however, did not hush him. Why bother? She was thinking the exact same thing, though she'd had the capacity to keep it locked in her mind.

Miles' wanderings found her in front of what looked like an older, run-down warehouse. Her map pointed this as a key point of reference. This was the orphanage where she was told to stay until someone would come to adopt her as their own.

BUILDING CONDEMNED

She stared at this sign in some confusion.

"Excuse me, sir," she said, attracting the attention of a nearby patron. The man looked up from a newspaper and walked over.

"Yeah?" came the curious response.

"Sorry to bother you but…what does…this word mean?" Miles asked, pointing at the word. Her voice shook, slightly, as she spoke, making it apparent that she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted an answer to the question.

"Means the building's fuckin' old. People can't live, work, or do anything here anymore. It's a real shame because this was the last, actual orphanage in the city. Fuckin' shame…"

Despite the man's wording, which confused her to some degree, she understood what he was saying overall.

The orphanage wasn't there anymore. Her last hope of finding a real home blew out like a candle in the middle of nightly breeze, as did the air from her lungs as she fell to her knees. She looked at the map, reading it over and over again, hoping that maybe she'd read it wrong, that she'd had it upside down or twisted to the wrong side. Unfortunately for her, the more she looked, the more she regretted even looking at the crumpled piece of paper in the first place.

Her hands quivered and the map slid easily from her fingers onto the ground. A few wisps of air and suddenly there was a bang, shattered glass, a gust of wind, and lots of shouting.

Miles sprung to her feet in fright and turned around in circles trying to figure out what had happened. A crowd of people was now moving away from her, gathering towards a city street. She ran over, making her way through the crowd. As she ran she did her best to not run into people, a feet that was quite difficult to attempt considering that people were bumping into each other while standing still.

By the time she had gone about fifty yards or so, she could see that the commotion was rising. She could hear a sinister voice cackling over megaphone.

"All right, hedgehog! If you wish to test your mettle against my metal, so be it! To commemorate your daring and courage, I'll make sure your death is slow and painful…"

His last word hissed out as if he were a snake. It lowered and growled, almost completely opposite to his much louder, more contemptible laugh.

Miles looked around and saw what looked like a barbershop. Glass was lying all around it and the door had been kicked down. After another quick survey of the area, she saw a track of glass that lead towards where the voice had been coming from. Her feet suddenly kicked forward as she ran as fast as she could.

She had to see who this hedgehog was…and if he was going to make it.

-+-

The empty barbershop setting seemed kind of dull and I'll admit, when I saw that there was only one barber who seemed kinda old and shaky, I was pretty scared. Not so much for my hair; more just for my life in general.

"Can I help you, young man?"

His voice was deep and, despite his looks, quite full sounding. Not raspy as one would've expected. "I need to get these bangs on my head off…they make it hard to see, and I'm going to need to be able to if I want to make it big!" I explained, wholeheartedly.

There was a laugh and he nodded to a chair near a window. I headed over and sat down, tapping the arm bar patiently. When he came over and started his work, he did the preliminary barber thing. He started talking.

"Don't think I've ever seen you here before…you new?"

"Well, yeah…but to be fair there are a lot of people in this town. Maybe you missed some?" I joked back, keeping my wit about me. This golden oldie wasn't about to get special treatment just for cutting my hair.

"But you are new here. Which is why I haven't ever seen you here before. Understand, son, I've lived in Station Square for twenty-three years. I've been up and down ever street and alley. I'm afraid there are no other blue hedgehogs that I've ever seen here…much less anywhere else."

It was obvious he had me stumped. I knew from the beginning that my fur color wasn't exactly the most normal. Blue wasn't a typical fur color for hedgehogs. I shrugged and gave up the argument.

"You got me there, man."

He chuckled as he continued cutting through strands and strands of the hair.

"I just came up here…I'm hoping to make it big and become famous. I've been told that Station Square is one of the best places to do it in," I said, more questioningly than anything else. It was a statement, but it was also kind of a challenge. I figured I'd keep the conversation interesting as long as we were talking.

"No doubt about it. If you can get famous here, you can get famous anywhere."

His voice seemed filled with pride when he said that.

There was a silence that filled the room for a little while before he broke in. He seemed filled with curiosity, confusion, and just a hint of interest. But only a hint. He was far too entirely focused on my hair to be all that interested in anything else. Gotta say, that bit was creepy, but eh.

"Today must be one of those days…"

I passed it off at first, just assuming it to be old person banter. But after what seemed like hours of awkward silence I finally blurted, "Wha-the-fuck?"

"Hm? Oh…I just saw what looked like a fox with two tails walk by."

"…You sure you okay up there, gramps?"

"Fuck off, son, I know what I saw."

So the old man has a mouth after all. "What'd he look like?" I asked, a little more curious now.

"A 7-8 year old girl."

"That is unusual. I don't recall looking like that when I was younger," making fun of this mystery fox he was talking about. I figured it was more of a bit of delirium caused by the fact that he's old and is just kind of here alone with me, cutting my hair. Not that I cause delirium. But I imagine that after doing that for so long, one can expect to lose their mind just a wee bit.

"There ya go. We're done."

I hopped down and looked at my face in the mirror. The first thing I noticed when I looked in this mirror? I could actually see my face. Wasn't too shabby either, I might add.

I gotta say, I was pretty happy with how it all turned out. 'Course my interest in how good-looking I was quickly turned to how I was going to pay. If I should pay at all! I mean…sure, I wanna be a hero and save the day and shit. But I don't want to bother finding a way to pay this guy back for just chopping hair off my head.

"So uhh…I guess my next question is 'what do I owe you'?" I said, after staring a little longer.

"Hell, I'll give it to you for free. Aside from the blues players outside, you're the most interesting customer I've had all month-"

Though I'm pretty sure he'd finished what he wanted to say, he was cut off by some screams and a bang. I looked over fast and grinned wide. "This is it gramps! Wish me luck!" I shouted, dashing through the door.

What I didn't count on was the safety glass shattering all over me. Didn't hurt or scratch me or anything but I ended up wasting time wiping it off my head before I darted away. Which, ofcourse, ruins any badass mood you're trying to impress onto people. Sort of like Batman jumping from a roof, shouting, "Wheee!"

I zoomed off in the direction of the screams, ready for anything.

Or…so I thought.

-+-

The giant wrecking ball was strangely colored. It had a brown plaid-like design, the likes of which didn't match anything else. The ship that carried said wrecking ball was shaped quite similarly. The ship itself was only a size or two larger than the cockpit; the entire thing only had enough room for one person. The man at the helm of this ship only better defined the rounded shape that the entire thing embodied: an egg.

He cackled loudly as the destructive force of the ball downed several small buildings in a single blow. Everything seemed so grim for the people of this generally peaceful city; this was not a man whose force was to be reckoned with.

The ball came to a stop and a small tube moved up in front of the man. He cleared his throat and announced, "I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik! I have come to this city to destroy it and make way for my own city. A glorious city that will be the defining metropolis of my new world!" A few people screamed, others simply looked on in horror as he stood up in his ship, bringing the tube up with him.

As he stood, the people could clearly see him. He wore a very surprisingly appropriate uniform the likes of which were comparable to that of great leaders of the past. His red coat had tails that neatly hung down behind him, and he wore well-fitting, black pants. On his hands he bore white gloves, below were cuffs that were folded back. He wore dark sunglasses and goggles on his head; and upon his face was a long, slender moustache that stretched far from one side to another. His voice was low, growling, and sinister.

"I give you all one final chance to either side with me and aid me in my quest to cleanse this world of imperfection…or fall at my hands!" he exclaimed, causing the ball to smash through a nearby building. The building rattled slightly and soon began to collapse to the ground. Robotnik's laugh echoed throughout Station Square as he sat back down and started working his way through the city again.

-+-

He managed to smash a few more buildings up a bit before I managed my way through the crowd of people (the only reason I wasn't already there) and caught up with him.

"Give it up, Eggman!" I shouted, figuring the insult might help get his attention.

Trust me; it did.

His ship stopped and he turned to me as if he were expecting some muscle-bound hero that he would likely crush underneath his übar-wrecking ball. The look on his face when he realized it was just me, the average little hedgehog kid, was that of disgust and bewildered humor. It was quickly followed by a scoff.

"Or what? What do you think you can possibly achieve here, boy?"

"Stop trying to hurt these people! As long as I'm alive, I won't let you take over!" I said, suddenly getting agitated. As much as I wanted to be popular…I actually really did want to help these people. This guy was serious and there were many who were injured, if not dead, already.

At my comment, though, he laughed. A laugh that actually made me feel scared. I almost wanted to turn and run, as the image of the teacher and the gun filled my eyes once again. I quickly shook the thoughts away and got into a ready stance. Whatever he threw at me, I knew that I could dodge it. And with my speed (and my bitching spines) I could probably chop through just about anything.

After his laugh had died down enough so he could speak, he looked at me and grinned, wildly.

"All right, hedgehog! If you wish to test your mettle against my metal, so be it! To commemorate your daring and courage, I'll make sure your death is slow and painful…"

The last words of the sentence hissed out like an angered snake, a noise that sent several shivers down my back.

I stepped forward, away from the people a great distance and grinned. "Okay, Eggman. Let's dance!"

-+-

He would jump out of the way as the wrecking ball flung back and forth at him. However he planned on beating this…Robotnik character was beyond me. And everyone else it seemed too.

We all watched as this mystery boy toyed with the machine and gasped as he came close to getting hit several times. I saw several people look away, some who dropped their faces into their palms, obviously having no hope for the boy's survival. Others, who were cheering for him, were in fighting stances of their own, saying things like, "Get a hit in!" or, "Yeah, show 'em who's boss!"

I felt sure there was little hope for the boy. As much as I wanted him to win this battle, I knew that if he'd ever taken a hit from the giant weapon that was being swung around with relative ease, he would most likely get several very important bones shattered.

Suffice to say, it would more than likely kill him.

Sure enough, in his arrogant jumping and dodging around, he got hit.

Several people cringed and some dropped down and cried, fearing the worst. I looked up hopefully at the now limp blue body on the ground. The 'eggman' laughed maniacally as he charged up to the boy, swinging the giant sphere up into the air.

Everyone in the crowd watched as the ball collapsed onto the ground, crushing a few bodies, causing mounds of blood, flesh, and organs to be splattered around the newly created crater. At this, I should've looked away; but I didn't. I felt myself bend over and get sick. I saw the gunk seep into the ground below me. What I had missed, somehow, was the strange reaction from the crowd.

They were…

They were…

They were applauding?

I stood as best I could, trying to make ends meet. A few people who had seen me, helped me up and helped keep me balanced. I looked around a bit and suddenly saw that the boy (whom I was pretty sure was crushed) was standing behind the machine.

At first, my eyes widened. Then I felt my mouth gape open.

How the heck had he managed it?

-+-

Robotnik quickly lifted himself up, bringing the ball up to swing it at Sonic. As he did though, the hedgehog became a ball of his own. He began bouncing between the buildings where they were, as if he were in a pinball machine.

The crowd and Robotnik watched in awe as he suddenly stopped, ten feet to Robotnik's right side. Robotnik turned the vessel, lifting further, only to find that the wrecking ball was no long attached to the vehicle. The chain had been split completely in half, and what was left was dangling uselessly in the air.

There was a loud applause as the people of the city made the same realization. Sonic gave Robotnik a serious look and crossed his arms over his chest. "Now get the fuck out of my city," he commanded, causing the people to go into an uproar of cheers and happiness.

Ivo's glare was piercing and despite having won the fight, Sonic still felt the chill run down his spine as Robotnik looked at him.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Sonic! Make sure to spell it right when you write about this in your diary later tonight," Sonic mocked, starting to grin. Robotnik growled, loudly before shouting at him through the megaphone, causing everyone to shut up.

"You may have won this time you pompous little hedgehog! But you have succeeded in only delaying the inevitable! I'll be back!"

"And I'll be waiting!" Sonic shouted in return, more determined than ever to leave an impression.

As Robotnik flew away the crowd began cheering again, going back into the uproar they were in. Suddenly, cameramen and news reporters began swarming him, all of them asking questions, all of them attempting to get the big story. In the end, however, he couldn't answer their questions because he couldn't even understand them, really.

-+-

The feelings I felt and the things running through my head were more of genuine surprise than anything else. I had seriously not expected to win this fight.

But then, I hadn't really expected to lose.

I gotta tell ya, this was fuckin' awesome. Just the idea that I was going to be on TV made me think, "YES."

Babes lining up at my front door (when I…get a front door that is), guys who would want my autographs and look up to me (despite the fact that they may be taller than me), and kids who would buy my action figures: these were the only things one could expect from here on out. It was all so sweet, I could barely contain myself! I just wanted to scream out. I didn't care what I said, I just wanted to shout! It could've been, "I'm wearing women's underwear," and I would've been totally cool with that!

Until I realized what I had said and the fact that it was on public TV that I had said it.

Meh.

Point is, this was going to be a day to remember.

This is the day I took my first big step to becoming a true hero.

Oh Zi…if only you could've seen me…

You would've been proud of me, baby.