Unlikely Vacation

Had that really just happened? Had any of this just happened or was I seriously dreaming? I couldn't tell. Everything felt numb right now, numb and very, very cold. The only thing I was absolutely sure of was the smell of salt that made my senses cringe. The after life smelt like salt, since when? And why was it so cold? Had I not made it to the other side in one piece? Was I a lost cause now? I felt my body twitch and to my surprise, my eyes actually opened. I lifted my head to take my first look of this new world and froze when I realized that nothing had changed. I was still alive. I was still breathing, thinking, heck I was still living!

"How can this be?" I mumbled to myself, "This isn't humanly possible. Humans can't just fall from the sky like that and live…" I looked up at the sky and saw no trace of the Eggcarrier. Had he given up on me? The thought didn't settle with me quite right… he wouldn't have. Not after all that trouble they went to, to capture Keily and I. Oh crap! Keily! I stood up instantly and spun in a complete 360 degree circle. I must have drifted onto the beach shore, because all I saw was sand everywhere and a small forest behind me. Keily on the other hand was no where to be seen. "Keily!" I called out, hoping she would hear my voice, but I got no response. "Keily? Can you hear me? Say something if your alright?" I called like that for quite a while, but never got a response. Where could my friend be? Hopefully she made it like me. If she hadn't, I shivered at the thought. That wouldn't be possible. We were a team and teams don't give up on each other like that. I sighed; things were looking pretty bleak. Suddenly a strong wind blew behind my back. I turned around and saw nothing, but the bushes swaying with the breeze. "Hello?" I warily called, "Whose there? Keily is that you?" Panic had released itself in my veins. What if I was right? What if Eggman hadn't given up on me and sent Shadow down when we fell? What if I was about to be taken again? I backed up from the forest, but never took my eyes off all its green. My eyes darted back and forth as fast as a snake when striking its prey. I had been prey one too many times today, and I wasn't about to fall victim again. I backed up to the waters edge and bumped into something. I was terrified to turn around. Terrified to move, think, or breath, but when it touched my arm, I leaped forward and was horrified to see the figure of a hedgehog. The flight or fight reaction waging in my head went rabid as the figure reached out to me. I chose fight stupidly and shifted into and awkward battle stance with both arms up in a boxing way and my feet spread apart. Like I was really going to win this, I sighed inside my head and prepared for the worst. When he took a step closer to me I swung my fist at his face, but was caught by his right hand. The adrenaline caused my other hand to fight back as well, which triggered his other hand to catch mine. I was trapped and so screwed now.

"Hey take it easy." A very familiar voice sent my mind into a whirl. I hadn't even confirmed who this person was and here I was throwing punches at him. I felt so stupid when I realized I had made a mistake and felt even stupider when I realized who I was dealing with. This person wasn't even close to who I thought he was. He wasn't Shadow in the slightest, in fact, he was far from it. I lowered my hands back down to my sides with his help and he released his grip warily. I'm sure the last thing he wanted was to be punched in the face by some girl. "Are you alright?" He asked, taking a look into my eyes. His soft and vibrant green looked into mine with concern as he tried to study my expression. Millions of things were running through my head that I was dying to ask him. Where was I? How could all of this be real? What should my next step be? But of course only one thing could come out of my mouth. Just like in my dream last night, the only word I was able to whisper slipped through my teeth.

"Sonic…" He looked intrigued for a moment, but then smirked a sly smiled and nodded.

"Yup, that's me." He said closing his eyes and scratching his pointer finger under his nose. "The one and only Sonic the Hedgehog." I felt my own smile twitch onto my face when I realized I was actually safe for the time being. I had no idea what to say to him though. No idea what to say without looking stupid. I felt like a little girl meeting santa on Christmas Eve, excited and hardly able to contain myself. "So can I ask your name?" he opened one eye to look at me and crossed his hands across his chest, waiting for an answer. I don't think I could have given it to him any faster.

"My name is Sami!" I practically burst with excitement. He chuckled and stuck his hand out for me to shake.

"Pleasure to meet 'cha." I nodded and took grip of his hand.

"The pleasures all mine." Could I have sounded any stupider? He opened his other eye then and smiled a huge smile. If I didn't know any better, you'd come to believe he was enjoying this. I know I was, probably enough for the both of us.

"So what brings ya out to this lonely little beach?" Sonic asked with curiosity touching his eyes. "No one ever comes out here, so I was surprised when I saw ya just standing there. You looked like you needed some help. Am I right?" I nodded and felt so bad for getting excited when I was still in a heap of trouble. "What happened?" He asked catching my eyes with his. He was surprisingly really good at that.

"I'm looking for my friend…" I broke our glance and stared off into the blue ocean tide. Sonic followed my glance and grimaced a little at the sight of water.

"Are they out there?" I could hear the slight disgust in his voice.

"I think she is…" Sonic nodded and took a small step toward the ocean waves. He cupped his hand on his forehead to block the sun and looked out onto the ocean.

"Why would she be out there?" He never took his eyes off the waves as he spoke, but what was I suppose to tell him? Oh yeah my friend Keily and I were captured by both of your evil nemeses and were going to be used for experiments to find a way to destroy you once in for all. Luckily though, we both escaped by jumping off the Eggcarrier and into the blistering cold ocean without parachutes and I lived to tell the tale. Yeah that would go over well. I had to think of a cover story and fast.

"Well we were hanging out when Keily mentioned taking a swim. I thought it was way too cold for that so she decided to go without me. We agreed to meet back at this spot an hour ago, but she hasn't come back yet. I'm pretty worried." I wondered if that seemed reasonable enough… Sonic looked back at me with a hard expression that caught me off guard. His eyes met mine instantly and his brow wrinkled.

"No offence," Sonic started, "but that was really stupid of you to let your friend do something so reckless." Well that was a big smack in the face. "Everyone knows that these waters are fast and strong. You both shouldn't be so careless." I didn't even get a word in edge wise before Sonic pointed something out. "Hey is that her?" I turned in the direction he was facing and saw red and black hair lingering on some drift wood that was coming in with the tide.

"Keily!" I gasped and we both ran over to her. Sonic trudged into the water and carried her out in both of his arms. He laid her on the sand and listened for her heart.

"Well she's ok." Sonic sighed, "Probably just a little shaken up." I nodded and just continued staring at the mess of red and black hair. What I saw before me wasn't Keily, that was a little red fox. A little red fox with black tipped ears, hands, and feet. Of course Sonic wouldn't know that she wasn't Keily, since he had never met her and besides, almost everyone here seemed to be some sort of animal, with the exception of myself at the moment. It was strange though, actually kinda creepy, but the little fox was wearing the exact same cloths as Keily had been wearing when I last saw her. The same black vest and white shirt, tan pants, and opened toed boots. Her hair was even up in a ponytail with a blue hair tie! Just like she always wore! This had to be a joke. Where the heck was the hidden camera? "Sami? Are you ok?" Sonic asked.

"Huh?" I responded, "Oh yeah I'm fine." That felt like the fakest smile ever to touch my face. Sonic and I were both caught off guard by the voice we heard next.

"Sami?" we both looked down at the little fox girl who was staring up at us. "SAMI!" she attacked my face and freaked me out. "Sami oh my gosh I thought I lost you!" she was talking so fast it was hard to understand and I didn't catch much of her babbling, but suddenly she stopped and pushed me back to look at my face. "Oh…" she started, "You're not Sami." She suddenly turned and walked away, leaving me lost and confused.

"W-wait!" I ran to catch up with her. Sonic just stood in the same spot with a very confused look on his face. Kinda like he wanted to say something, but knew he shouldn't get involved. "Hey! Wait!" I caught the fox's arm and she spun to look at me, obviously not interested in what I had to say. "How did you know my name was Sami?" She just shrugged.

"Lucky guess?" Luck couldn't be the answer, that would be just too confusing. "Besides," she brushed off my hand and leaned all her weight onto her back leg, "I think I'd know my human friend when I saw her." What the hell? She was the one claiming I was Sami a second ago!

"My name is Sami though and I am human!" I couldn't help but wave my hands in the air. She was just so frustrating! My answer made her eyebrow rise with suspicion as she looked me up and down and frowned.

"Are you claiming to be her?" I shook my head. I couldn't be, not if I didn't even know this girl.

"No. I don't think…"

"Then sorry crazy chick, but I don't have time to play around. You're not my lost friend, so leave me alone." Was she always this mean to strangers, or did she have some unannounced hate for me? I paused for a moment then frowned.

"Well your not who I'm looking for either, so I guess we're even!" I spun in a circle so my back faced her and crossed my arms. Who did she think she was, telling me who I wasn't when I clearly knew who I was. She didn't even know me so how could she assume!

"So I guess I just found the wrong Sami." I peeked over my shoulder and saw her rub the back of her head. She wore a worried look that matched the soft worry tone of her voice. It seemed to me that our situations were a lot alike. She stared out into the horizon for a few moments. "Who are you looking for?" she turned back suddenly and tried to smile. It was pretty weak and hallow, so she must have been really concerned about her friend.

"I'm looking for my friend Keily…" I don't think I'd even been tackled so hard in my whole life. I was surprisingly on the ground before I could blink. What the heck was going on? She had pushed me into a bush we had been standing close to and sat only a few inches away from me, intensely staring into my eyes. Hers seemed very familiar, but honestly, she was freaking me out at the moment so I didn't care. "What the heck are you…?" I trailed off when a smile crept upon her face. She lurched forward abruptly and wrapped me in a hug.

"I'm so sorry Sami! I didn't even recognize you! What has he done to you? I swear I'll kill him for this, err, I mean I'll try to anyway!" What in bloody hell was she talking about?

"What?" I pushed her back and stared at her confused face. "What are you talking about? I don't even know you!" Her face fell as her brow wrinkled and her hand fisted around the caller of my shirt.

"What do you mean you don't know me?" She yelled directly into my face, "I'm Keily! We've been best friends since, like, 1st grade!" I shook my head, trying to organize all my thoughts.

"You can't be. Keily is human! Just like me!"

"What the heck did you think you were talking to? A stump! I am a human! You're the one who's different!" She really wasn't making any sense.

"I'm human," I pointed to myself, "You're a fox." Her head cocked to the side, like she was dumping out all her old information to make room for the new.

"No I'm not." She laughed. I automatically slapped the palm of my hand to my forehead. She had to be kidding. I guess she had to be Keily, I'd know that laugh anywhere, but how could she have not possibly felt how much shorter she was now, or how she had two fluffy big tails sticking out from behind her? I had to double take the thought. Two tails? I peeked between my fingers at the laughing Keily and confirmed it. They were there alright, she just hadn't noticed them. For a straight "A" student, she sure was clueless sometimes.

"Keily you're a fox!" I grabbed her shoulders and gave her a shake to stop the hysterics. She scowled at me for ruining her fun and simply replied,

"I think you hit the water too hard when you fell Sami. You're not making any sense." She was going to get punched in the face here in a second if she didn't get over herself. She was the one who was passed out on a log, so how would she have known.

"That's it!" I said grabbing her arm and standing up, "Let's go."

"Go where?" She yelped as I dragged her further into the forest.

"To find a mirror or something. You need to see what you look like Keily! I swear you're not human right now." She laughed again.

"Finding a mirror in a forest Sami? Are you completely mental?" I moved my grip of her to the right and smacked her into a tree. Served her right for trying to be a know it all, but the more I thought about this the stupider I felt. She was right, what was I thinking? Getting us lost now wouldn't help anyone. Keily suddenly interrupted my thoughts like always.

"That was Sonic back there wasn't it Sami?" Crap, I had forgotten all about him, how embarrassing.

"Yeah it was. Surprising huh?"

"Not really actually. I mean we already met up with Shadow," I felt myself shiver at the thought of his name, but she continued, "So it was quite likely that we would run into Sonic at some point." I turned by head to look back at her.

"But doesn't that mean we aren't home anymore?" I asked and we both went quite. If we weren't home, then where could we be? Our man made path suddenly opened into a small clearing next to a river. Perfect, I thought. That would be a great place to show Keily her reflection.

"Come here Keily." I walked us both over to the river and pointed at the water, "Take a look." She scowled at me once more before giving in. Her expression was priceless! A mix of confusion, terror, and excitement, but mostly just terror.

"W-what happened to me?" She had the same look in her blue eyes as she did on the Eggcarrier.

"I have no clue." I chuckled while shaking my head, "But honestly, it's kinda funny." She looked up at me slowly and from under her red and black bangs I saw her smile. In one fast movement, she smacked her hand to the back of my head and forced myself to look into the river.

"Not so funny now is it?" I couldn't reply. No words would come out. I just went limp when I saw my reflection. A milk chocolate rodent with blue tipped bangs and emerald green eyes wrinkled her forehead at me. She mimicked me like a mirror as I touched my cheek, mouth, and nose.

"Wha?" I turned to Keily who just nodded.

"I told you Sami, you're not human anymore." She shrugged, "You're a hedgehog now." I felt like I was going to pass out.

"A hedgehog?" I yelped, "How could I be a bloody hedgehog when I'm just a normal human girl? What is going on?" Keily's chuckled directed my pissed off glare back at her. "What's so funny? This is serious!"

"Sami please just relax." She put her hand on my shoulder, "I have a theory of what may be going on." Why was she so calm about this? My gaze softened as I look back down at the water.

"Fine, what is it?" she cleared her throat before speaking.

"Well you remember on the Eggcarrier when Shadow pointed at that mark on your wrist?" I looked down at my, now blue, wrists and saw the blue mark I had noticed earlier. It was shining a brilliant blue now. I nodded and looked back at her to continue her explanation. "Well it had been bothering me and I decided to check my burn while I was lost in that maze of a hallway on the Eggcarrier. Its kinda like yours, but yellow." She pulled down her boot a bit to reveal the gold glowing mark. It had taken the shape of a pair of tails while mine on the other hand looked like a spiky blue ball. "Do they remind you of anyone?" I nodded.

"Yeah, yours looks like Tails' logo, the twin tails and mine looks… kinda like Sonic revving into a ball?"

"Exactly!" She nodded. "So when I found you and realized that you had changed, I automatically remembered your mark and how it reminded me of Sonic. But when you showed me I was a fox with two tails, everything else clicked in my head. Sami don't you see what Shadow has done to us? He's changed us into animals just like Sonic and his friends! This is what he meant by making you into the ultimate weapon against Sonic! He created you into a hedgehog so Eggman could train you to kill Sonic in this form! I'm not exactly sure how they did this transformation, but they did and now here we are." I could feel my head spinning from this explanation.

"Keily that's crazy! How did you figure that all out in your head?" She shrugged.

"I've been thinking a lot since I've changed. Maybe it's the fox in me!" Her smile was a big and proud one. The only fox I knew that was smart was Tails. There had to be more to the story than this. It couldn't be an easy task for Eggman or Shadow to do; turning us into animals must have been hard work with sleepless nights for them to completely figure out the process. My raging curiosity, the exact one that got us into this mess, really wanted to know how they did it.

"Hey Sami!" a voice called back from the beach, "Are you still back there?" It was Sonic. I'm sure he was concerned after seeing me get tackled into a bush.

"Yeah I'm still here," I called, "I'll be right back!" I turned back to Keily then and started dragging her back the way we came. "Come on Keily, we don't wanna keep Sonic waiting."

"Careful Sami," She giggled, "I think your eagerness is showing." Not a smart thing to say when you're being dragged along in a forest. I hit her against a tree again and chuckled when I heard her thunk into it. "Not funny." She coughed. I laughed anyway. We parted through the last couple of bushes and stepped onto the sandy beach again. Sonic was standing a few feet away, staring up at the clouds and tapping his foot impatiently. I released Keily's arm and walked over to him, feeling a little sheepish after leaving my hero all by his lonesome on a deserted beach. Sonic fangirls would have had my head for this if they ever found out.

"Sorry about that." I said in a respectful tone. The last thing I wanted to do was upset him. He turned his head slightly to look at me and smiled.

"Hey, it's cool. No problem. I see you two have figured everything out. So I guess my work here is done." I nodded and tired to smile.

"I guess it is." I honestly didn't want him to go, but I knew there was no way to slowdown a super fast guy like him. He was always on the run. He chuckled at, what I guessed to be my reaction and gave me a wink.

"Don't look so sad Sami; I'm not going anywhere just yet." I felt my face get a little bit hopeful, when of course Keily had to ruin the moment by clearing her throat. I knew what she wanted me to do.

"Oh Sonic, this is my friend Keily. Keily, this is Sonic." Keily was next to me in an instant, ready to shake his hand. He put it out for her just as he had for me.

"Pleasure to meet 'cha." He smiled.

"The pleasures all mine!" I giggled a little at her response. At least I wasn't the only one who had said it when shaking his hand.

"Ok girls; let me get a little serious here for a second." Sonic had let go of Keily's hand and placed them both crisscrossed on his chest again. "I want to remind you both of the rules for swimming around here." Keily wore a confused look as she glanced in my direction. Oh shoot! I had forgotten to tell her the cover story to why we were out here. "Keily," Sonic caught her attention, "Never swim out in these waters without some sort of floaty or lifejacket. Its dangerous and you should have already known that."

"Actually," Keily stopped him before he could finish, "Sami and I have never been to this area, so we didn't know." For not knowing the cover story, she was pretty good at covering. Sonic looked surprised at her response.

"Your both not from around here?" We shook our heads a little embarrassed. Could he seriously not tell? "What are you guys doing here then?" Great, here comes more lies. Keily chimed in before I could.

"We're on vacation." That wasn't that bad of a lie. Kinda true if you minus the whole abducted thing out of the equation.

"Nice choice on a vacation spot." Sonic chuckled, "Where are you staying?" Crap. We hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Um… we haven't decided yet?" I nervously scratched the back of my head. Sonic winced a little at the remark.

"You guys do know that it's kinda impossible to get a hotel room around here without a reservation right?" Oh yeah, of course it was. It always was with our luck.

"What are we gonna do then Keily?" I sighed and looked over at my friend.

"I say we crack out the sleeping bags!" She jumped up in the air with excitement. I, on the other hand smacked my palm against my forehead again.

"I actually have a better solution." Sonic whipped out his cell phone and began dialing a number. Keily turned to me and whispered something into my ear.

"Sonic has a cell phone?" I couldn't help but giggle.

"Hey Cream," Sonic interrupted our little conversation, and started one of his own with a little rabbit that I always found adorable! "Do you think you could hand the phone to your mom for me? I need to ask her a question. Thanks." I wished more than ever to be the one talking to Cream, but Sonic continued as Keily and I sat and listened. "Hey Vanilla," Sonic greeted her, "I was wondering, do you think Chris and the family would mind if we had a few more guests stay with us while the whole family was on vacation? Great! Thanks a lot! Bye." Sonic hung up and turned to us with a big smile on his face. "So you guys, how 'bout it? Wanna crash at the Thorndike residence with me and the gang?" I didn't know about Keily, but I was in total shock. What has just happened? Did that seriously just happen?

"Yes we would love to!" Keily burst out for me. Sonic simply smiled and gave us a thumbs up.

"Let's go then." He was beside me in an instant and offered me his hand. It reminded me of my dream again, but this time I was glad it did. I took hold of it without a second thought and smiled at Keily who had hold of his other hand. I couldn't believe this. A few hours ago, Keily and I were prisoners to the evil Dr. Eggman and Shadow. Now we were about to head on our way, with Sonic the Hedgehog, to stay at the same house he and his friends shared. Not only would Keily and I be safe if Shadow came after us again, but we would also be having the time of our lives! "Hold on tight." Sonic smiled at me. I couldn't help but smile back. He was being so nice. The world suddenly blurred together in a stream of colors as Sonic ran through the forest with us both gripped in each hand. This felt familiar. Was this the same speed I couldn't control back on the Eggcarrier? I think it was. They felt almost exactly the same… Sami, I thought to myself, stop thinking about that now. Just enjoy yourself with Sonic and Keily. You know this adventure has just begun, so don't ware yourself out just yet by thinking about it. The green colors changed to blue, then to grey in a second. We must have passed the city. "See those mountains over there?" Sonic asked, nodding his head toward some green hills with a large building at the valley between them, "Don't ever go over there. Dr. Eggman lives there and he has been pretty active lately. I don't want you two to get caught up in any mess he may have going on. He's very dangerous." I felt myself sigh deeply. The sad thing was that we had already been sucked in so deep.

"I bet he is." Was the only response I could think of. Keily sighed and mumbled something to herself. I was pretty sure I knew what she said.

"Believe us Sonic, we know."