I don't own either of these characters (although I wish I did), they belong to SEGA. Unofficial fan characters are my creations, but they are based off the original 'Mobian' designs by SEGA and Sonic Team, so kudos to them.
Dear Oceanera12: Yeah, I'm pretty sure that everybody has no idea why Classic Sonic is just randomly appearing again. You're not the only one. On to the story part of the review. *clears throat* I joined in on that moment of silence there… *sniff* Anyways, I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Hopefully I won't disappoint you. (Also, I watched that show all. The. Freaking. Time when I was little.) I hope you like this chapter! :D
Dear Nova the hedgehog: Thank you! It's great that you like this so much. I read your Sonic and Tails fic, by the way. I'm assuming you came here from my shameless plugging myself in my review. I have no shame… It was a really good one-shot. Anyways, I will try to live up to your expectations. *salutes* Enjoy the next chapter! :D
Giant mega apologies for the long wait. As previously stated, my laptop unfortunately broke, which rendered it nearly impossible to write. I got it fixed quite a while ago, but I was mainly working on Legacy (my current 'main' story), and so I only recently came back to work on this. I'll try to update frequently. Thanks for still reading. :)
Well, time for the third chapter, yay! I seem to have been getting a lot of praise for originality… I don't really get why people find this take on the story to be so original. Is it Sonic not talking? That seems to come up a lot… It's nothing really. According to Sonic Generations, it wasn't until he got older that he started to talk. All I'm doing is keeping it canon! I'm not telling you to stop being nice - I love y'all too - but I don't really think it's that special. It's just another version of one of the most popular fanfictions out there. You people are all just way too nice. …You are all so, so awesome. *hugs everyone through the internet*
Chapter 3 – Expectations and Reality
The plane touched down on the shores of South Island. It was fairly massive for such a remote island. There was a huge mix of scenery on the island, ranging from rolling hills to jungles to barely visible caves, with a good amount of structures like ruins, bridges and a town taking up a small area near the beach. Sonic stopped the engine and jumped out of the Tornado. Miles carefully climbed down to the ground. He looked around. Having never travelled far from his home - no, his former home, he wasn't used to seeing so many new and different things at once. Sonic held his arms out. Here we are!
Miles smiled. "This is a cool place." Sonic gestured for him to follow. "No, it's okay," he said. "I'll go and find somewhere to set up. It shouldn't be too hard." Noticing Sonic's concerned expression, the fox quickly added, "I'll be fine. I'm used to finding shelter in the wild. Thank you for bringing me here." Before Sonic could argue, he turned and left, heading for the forest.
Sonic watched him leave. He knew he couldn't make Miles come with him, but he was still concerned about him. He told himself to knock it off. The kid would be okay. He had said so himself. With one last look towards Miles, Sonic turned around and walked to his house on the edge of the Green Hill Zone.
A few hours later, Miles was still exploring, looking for a good place to set up in. The sun had begun to set, but he told himself that he would find somewhere before it got dark. He ended up on the beach. He could see the town in the distance, but decided against going to it. For a while, he walked around aimlessly. He noticed that there was a figure approaching. Taking a closer look, Miles realised that it was another person, and instinctively braced himself. The person - upon closer inspection, a green hedgehog wearing black shoes, gloves and a leather jacket - came closer. "Hey, kid," he said. He smiled, but it was the kind of smile that never means anything good. "I haven't seen you around here before. You must be new here. What's your name?"
"Uh… M-Miles Prower," Miles stuttered. "I don't want trouble. I'll leave if you want me to…"
Random Green Hedgehog interrupted. "Well, Miles per hour or whatever your name is, you might have a problem here. Because you said you didn't want trouble, didn't you? Thing is, you've found some."
Miles tried to stop shaking. "I… I… I'm…" He couldn't speak. He immediately recognised what was going on: he was about to get either beaten up, or yelled at, or both. Probably both.
"Here on South Island, we do things differently," Random Green Hedgehog continued. "Well… I do things differently, at least. But I reckon everyone else is gonna agree with me this time." He took another step towards Miles. "You see, around here, we don't tolerate strangers showing up out of nowhere. To be specific, we don't tolerate freaks." He moved fast, a gloved hand reaching out in a split second to throw a punch.
Years of being bullied on a near-daily basis had sharpened Miles' reflexes. He instantly recognised the punch and turned. Random Green Hedgehog missed his original target of Miles' stomach, instead landing a hit on his right shoulder. Miles stepped backwards to avoid another angry swipe from his assailant. He jumped over a kick aimed at his knees, but before he landed, the green hedgehog brought his fist down over his head. Miles cried out in pain and fell to the ground. The hedgehog used the fox's momentary break in concentration to get in another few punches and kicks. Before he could completely knock out Miles, who had stopped fighting back and lay on the ground, curled up in a ball, a blue streak sped by and knocked him off his feet. Random Green Hedgehog looked up and saw another hedgehog over him - specifically, Sonic. He turned slightly pale. "Um, S-Sonic the Hedgehog? I didn't see you there! I was just, um… this isn't what it looks like! Um… this kid had shown up, and I, er…"
Sonic facepalmed. Nobody with an IQ in at least double figures would believe that this guy wasn't attacking a defenceless kid. He then picked Random Green Hedgehog up by his jacket (being surprisingly strong, given his size) and stared right into his eyes. The glare said everything. I don't know why you did that, but I had better not see you do it again. Random Green Hedgehog blinked, and he struggled to get down to the ground. "Um, s-sorry." Sonic shook his head and pointed at Miles, who was now standing up with an amazed expression. Don't say sorry to me. Say it to him.
Random Green Hedgehog turned to Miles. Without making eye contact, he mumbled, "Sorry for beating you up." Sonic nodded and pointed towards the town. Good. Now go back to where you came from. The other hedgehog ran off as fast as possible. Sonic walked over to Miles. He bent down to the fox's eye level, a concerned expression on his face. Are you okay?
Miles nodded. "It's okay. I'm used to… it happens a lot." He stood up. "Thank you for what you did just then… really. I don't think anybody's ever stood up for me before." He suddenly took on a slightly embarrassed look. "Uh… about earlier… well, I couldn't find anywhere to stay, and I don't want to go to the village, because I don't want the people there being mean to me. And, well, you asked me if I wanted to come with you, and I know that I said no before, but, uh…" He paused and looked at the ground. "Um, if you don't mind, could I maybe… stay with you for a while?"
The fox immediately wished he hadn't said anything. He barely knew Sonic, and now he was asking to stay with the famous hero. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But reality seemed to ignore his expectations yet again. Sonic looked like he had been waiting for this question. He nodded happily, complete with a thumbs up. Of course! Miles smiled. "Thank you!" Sonic grinned back and made a 'follow me' hand sign. He started walking. Miles followed excitedly.
After a minute or so of walking, they stopped. They had crossed a bridge and come to the edge of the forest. Concealed behind the trees was a small house, nothing too special, nothing too uninteresting. Miles was surprised. When he thought of where Sonic the Hedgehog might live, he had pictured a mansion or something similarly fancy. This house, on the other hand, was as simple as the ones he had seen in the village back h- back then. Looking at it, it didn't say 'hero' or 'famous'. It reminded him of his old lab, before it had been destroyed. Sonic opened the door and stepped inside, inviting Miles in with a friendly hand. The fox seemed reluctant. After all, he had never been allowed inside a house or building before. There was an awkward pause. Miles reminded himself firmly that Sonic wasn't going to hurt him, and slowly made himself enter.
The house was as simple on the inside as it was on the outside. There were only a few rooms. The biggest one was a living room, containing a couch, a low table, a television, a bookshelf (mostly graphic novels and action-adventure series), and a tall lamp. There were two rooms linked to it. The kitchen, a small room furnished with cupboards, a fridge, and a few basic cooking appliances, had another door that led to the bathroom. The other door was closed. Miles assumed that it was Sonic's bedroom. The hedgehog held out his arms. Here we are! Miles looked around. He already liked the place, and its comfortable, simplistic feel.
"You have a nice house," he told Sonic, hoping he was getting the whole conversation thing right. Without warning, he yawned loudly. There was almost no daylight left, and he had used up a lot of energy that day. Miles' fatigue hit him hard, and he immediately felt incredibly tired. He went red, hoping that he hadn't offended his friend. "Uh, sorry, it's not you, I'm just…" Sonic shrugged. It's fine. He held up a hand. Wait here for a second. He walked into the other room and came out a moment later, holding a blanket. He threw it over the couch, attempted to make it neater, but gave up after a few tries. He pointed towards the last-minute arrangement. You can sleep here. Miles was too tired to worry if the offer was legitimate. He managed to get out a "Thanks" before lying down, pulling the blanket over him, and closing his eyes.
Sonic looked at the sleeping fox. A smile came over his face. The kid was just so darn cute. Rest easy, Miles, he thought. You deserve it. He turned off the lights and walked into his room, only then realising how tired he was himself. Rubbing his eyes, he collapsed on his bed and fell asleep within minutes.
Miles couldn't remember the last time he had been this happy. Actually, he wasn't sure if he had ever been this happy. His expectations for the day had been thrown out the window, and whenever he closed the window and made new ones, reality opened the window again to throw them out. He had finally escaped, after so long. His past life on Cocoa Island was gone, and this one would surely be so much better. In less than a day, everything had changed. A new home, a new life, a new… friend. Friend. A word he hadn't used since T-Pup was gone. Miles realised that he was still holding the last piece of his robot pet. He placed it on one arm of the couch, and smiled to himself. Everything was looking up, and perhaps life would finally turn out all okay.
He let that last positive thought stay with him as his consciousness slipped and he fell asleep.
At long last, it's done. Sorry for the wait. Hope it was worth it. Writing Sonic and Tails (or Miles. Whatever) as much younger kids is so adorable. :3 It's a lot of fun, actually. I'm enjoying writing this. Like I said, I'm mainly working on my current story Legacy, but I'll try to update this as often as possible. Go check that out if you want more of my work. SHAMELESS PLUG SHAMELESS PLUG SHAMELESS PLUG AIMLESS PUG I CAN'T ENGLISH TODAY Random Green Hedgehog… original character, do not steal. I just made him up on the spot, but he's probably going to be a recurring character. Who knows, he might actually get a flipping name! Yeah, he's a jerk. It was fun to write Sonic coming and shutting him down. MLG air horns. None of this is important. Um, hope you liked it. Reviews are appreciated. See y'all next chapter! :)
