Hello there, readers! It's been far too long since I've updated in this story, so here I am. But before I do, lets get one thing straight. For those of all you Amy haters and Sonadow fans, that's not my thing! So if you don't like the possible couples for later on, then you might as well not read this story. Without furthermore, I present to you the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the characters, they belong to SEGA. I do however, own the OCs ahead.

Return of the Heroes

by Sonic155

Episode 1 part 1/2: Meet the people

Friday, March 11th, 2314.

That day would be like any other day... that is if Station Square's 290th annual junior race wasn't commencing on it. Nearly the entire population of California was going to be there, even the president himself. You see, this race would happen every year in March. The purpose of it was to test the speed of kids. That's right, kids from all public high schools in Washington were to participate and compete in this race. The first one to cross the finish line and win the race would be awarded a gold medal and an invitation to the required victory party, hosted by the president himself. So this invitation was extremely important, especially to Dimitri Smith.

Dimitri Smith was well known as Station Square High's track star, always been the fastest kid in his school, and not once has he ever been beat. He was the age of 14, starting as a freshman at his school. He had chocolate brown hair, brown eyes, and was the perfect height for his age. His clothing currently right now, consisted of a blue track suit and his favorite red Nikes. (Though he complained about he didn't want to wear the suit.) Now, Dmitri didn't want to win this race only to go to the victory party, he wanted to prove that he was the fastest teen in California. He hasn't been training six months for nothing.

His right ear faintly twitched as he turned his attention to a noise he was familiar with. He smiled. Caught in the audience, was his family and best friend, Miles. They had eagerly agreed to cheer him on once the race had begun. Dimitri then decided to observe his opponents. On the track surrounding him, were freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors from all kinds of schools. Each and every one of them were either stretching, conversing with one another, or just waiting for the race to begin. But there was one in particular who wasn't doing neither of those things; in fact, he was smirking devishly at Dimitri. Dimitri glared, trying his best not to grit his teeth.

Oh great, of all the people, all the places, just why did Scar have to be here? Couldn't he be somewhere else for a change?

Station Square High School's biggest badass and player, Scarniel Jones, was participating this race as well. He was the very person Dimitri hated with all his heart, besides his girlfriend, Fiona. Scar was 14, and also a freshman. His hair was a bit darker than Dimitri's, and had greyish brown eyes. His track suit was a lime green, and his shoes were black Jordans with a hint of purple. What Dimitri hated even more about the guy, was that he looked just like him. Some people would sometimes mistake them as twins, which annoyed both boys. Besides, Dimitri already had a twin brother and sister, who were way better than Scar. And even a best friend who acted like a little brother. Dimitri's glare darkened when Scar walked towards him, with a little swag to it.

"'Sup, snot?" he smirked, stopping completely. Dimitri glared a feisty glare for response.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to sound intimidating, hoping Scar would leave. But the bad boy only grinned.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to win, of course." he said, obnoxiously. Dimitri had to snort.

"You win? Ha! Don't make me laugh, pal! Remember who're you're dealing with here!" he said with all confidence. Scar only slightly frowned.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, you may be fast, but you're also forgetful." he said with a shake of his head. He then shot Dimitri a cocky grin. "Didn't you see it, snot? Don't you remember what happened at our last race?"

This caused Dimitri's grin to fade, and a scowl to grow instead.

Oh, he hasn't forgotten. I mean, how could he? It was already posted on Youtube as a solid reminder. Three weeks ago, Dimitiri had almost lost a race. Even he couldn't believe it himself. It started off as a simple boring day. School had ended, and Dimitri was already determined to leave as soon as possible. But sadly, he was stopped by Scar, who had challenged him to a race. Dimitri willingly agreed, and the two had their race at the school's courtyard. It had been usual for Dimitri to be confident once he was close to the finish line, but that changed once a smirking Scar whizzed by him. Honestly, Dimitri hadn't been prepared for that. Since when did Scar ever wiz past him? But then again, he was one of the only few people who could keep up with Dimitri. The boy had put aside his shock, at least at that moment, and focused back on beating Scar. It was difficult, but Dimitri had succeeded in winning the race. Although, he wasn't happy that day. In fact, he was... disturbed. He had almost lost a race, a race! That shouldn't be possible! But there was one thing for sure. Dimitri wasn't going to let that happen again, not if he had anything to say about it.

"...Yeah, I remember... and I'm not going to let that happen again. Ever!" he declared. Scar snorted.

"You never know, Snot, it could happen." he smirked. An idea suddenly struck the bad boy as he flashed an evil grin. "...So Snot, is the nerd still upset my babe broke his little heart?" he chuckled.

Immediately, Dimitiri glared daggers at his hated rival as he gritted his teeth. Just why did he have to bring that up again? He wished he could forget all about it, but it still lingered in his mind... but, not as bad as his best friend's, Miles'.

Miles Prower was Dimitri's childhood best friend, and was insanely smart for his age. Heck, he was the smartest kid Dimitri ever knew! The boy was 8 years of age, and should've been required to be a second grader, but thanks to his supreme intelligence, he skipped all the way to the 9th grade. He had blonde hair with a little bit of white, sky blue eyes, and had the average 8-year old height. His clothing consisted of an orange yellow shirt, an orange yellow and white scarf, a high tech watch (which was made by him), a pair of khaki shorts, and his favorite pair of red converse. Miles was always known to be Dimitri's 'younger brother' by many, and if you ever messed with him then you'd meet the other end of Dimitri's foot.

Now, 2 months ago, Miles was physically and mentally beated by Scar's girlfriend, Fiona. It happened so quickly, the boy couldn't even blink. To think they were actually friends! To think Miles had a crush on Fiona, and one day hoped she shares the same feelings. But no, that was, unfortunately, just a hopeless fantasy for the young boy. All Fiona ever did was treat Miles and Dimitri as if they were pests. Looks like Scar's nastiness rubbed off on her. Shockingly, before Scar showed though, the teen actually did have an innocent and friendly side, when she helped those in need instead of tease or bully them. But before Dimitri could think any longer, a loud voice boomed everywhere.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE'RE PROUD TO WELCOME YOU TO STATION SQUARE'S 290TH ANNUAL JUNIOR RACE!"

Upon hearing this, both Dimitri and Scar ripped away from their current glaring contest, and turned to the cause for the sudden cheer of the audience. It didn't take too long to spot a man standing in the middle of the second track, which only adults could use. He held a microphone in his left hand. There were monitors placed all over the field, so everyone could see the man was smiling on most of them. He spoke once again.

"NOW FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO AREN'T AWARE FOR WHAT A JUNIOR RACE IS, WELL, I'LL TELL YOU. 300 YEARS AGO, A GREAT MAN DIED. BUT THIS MAN, WASN'T JUST A GREAT MAN, HE WAS A HERO. NOW, THIS MAN WAS DIFFERENT THAN MOST HUMANS, HE HAD A GIFT. THE GIFT OF SPEED. HE HAD DECIDED TO USE THIS GIFT TO HELP THE WORLD, AND HE DID TOO. IN TOTAL, HE'S SAVED A TOTAL OF 1,000, 3- AW WHO AM I KIDDING, HE SAVED THE WHOLE PLANET COUNTLESS OF TIMES! A FEW YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH, WE NORMAL PEOPLE DECIDED TO USE HIS GIFT. WE DECIDED TO RUN OURSELVES. PROFESSIONAL RACES WERE CREATED, AND SOON ENOUGH, JUNIOR ONES WERE TOO. SO, THE MAIN REASON WHY WE'RE PROUD TO HAVE THIS RACE, BECAUSE SONIC THE HUMAN INSPIRED US, THAT'S WHY!"

Dimitri had to cringe at that name. ...Sonic the Human... that just didn't sound right to him, in fact, it made him feel sick for reasons unknown. But, Dimitri wasn't the only one. He caught a glimpse of Miles, his family, and even Scar and Fiona (who was supporting Scar in the audience), cringe too. Everyone else just cheered.

"I WANT TO THANK ALL OF YOU FOR COMING TO WATCH THIS RACE WITH NOT ONLY ME, BUT GEORGE JEFFERSON, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TOO. YOU'RE ALL VERY LUCKY TO BE HERE TO WITTNESS THIS EVENT TODAY. BUT I ALSO WANT TO THANK ALL THE STUDENTS FROM ALL OF THE HIGH SCHOOLS IN CALIFORNIA FOR BEING HERE TODAY AS WELL. I'M SURE ALL YOU YOUNGSTERS HAVE WORKED HARD TO BE HERE. NOW WITHOUT FURTHER DUE, I PRESENT TO YOU THE RACE."

This caused the whole crowd to cheer ten times louder than before. Dimitri's lips curved into a faint smile. At least the race could finally begin.

"Rush! Ruusshh! Rush, where are you!" called a small creature.

This small creature was a chao. Chao were the only creatures left from the Mobians. When the meteorite first entered Mobius' galaxy, the chao were on high alert. They immediately set forth to evacuating every single chao in all the Chao gardens. That was the ever first time, all three species of chao worked together without no fights, no arguments, and no deaths. It was probably due to the fact that their kind was in danger, and safety always did come first, no matter what the cost. All the chao were sent to Angel Island, the only place above underground that wasn't damaged so badly. (Though they did find it weird when they didn't cross paths with the guardian or any of his friends/family. Once the disaster was over, the planet was in ruins. It took the mightiest and strongest chao, with the help of Chaos and even Light Gia, to restore the planet. Though it was slow, Mobius eventually did get its beauty and health back. And as time went by, the chao and humans learned to live and get along with each other. Sadly though, both races forgot all about the Mobians, a now lost race.

Now, usually an ordinary neutral chao were the color of light blue, but if you were a Mobian breaded chao like our little friend here, then you were definitely a not so similar color. This chao was a Mobian fox breaded chao. He was an orange yellow color, and instead of a neutral chao's usual navy blue eye color, he had a friendly sky blue one instead. He had slightly big fox ears, three bangs on his forehead, a pair of brown flight goggles, a white furry muzzle, a white torso, and a pair of two fluffy fox tails. Above his head was a lime green swirl. Now, I bet you're wondering what's a swirl doing above this chao's head. Well, it was previously a floating ball. These balls represent their emotions. A heart for happiness or love, a question mark for confusion, an exclamation mark for shock/surprise, and a swirl for fear, hurt, or anger. And right now, this chao's swirl was representing how annoyed he was becoming, having to search for his best friend every single day.

'Oh, this is getting on my nerves. Where the heck could Rush be? And why does he have to do this every single day? It's becoming harder to even spot him nowadays.' the chao sighed. 'Well, wherever he is, he can't be too far away.'

He was just about to head off once more, until he heard somebody suddenly call his name.

"Yo TK!"

Upon hearing this, the fox chao now addressed as 'TK' stopped in his tracks, and looked behind his shoulder. Dashing straight for him a was an emerald green chao. Once he was close enough, the chao skidded to a complete stop right in front of TK.

This chao was also a Mobian breaded chao, but it was a hedgehog chao. His eyes were a smooth brown while his pupils were fully white. He had two small hedgehog ears, four small quills on the back of his head, two smaller ones on his back, messy hair on his forehead, a black bracelet on his right arm, and a short tail. Now his ball was a spiky brown ball. True this chao was a Mobian breaded one, but he was also a dark chao. One thing all dark chao always had in common were their spiky balls. The chao panted in exhaustion.

"*Pant**Pant* H-hey dude, what's up?" he asked, trying to recollect his breath. TK slightly widened his eyes, his swirl faded.

"Oh hey, Rhythm, it's been awhile." he greeted with a smile. "What brings you here?"

The green chao, Rhythm, breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad I found ya, dude. Now, I just to need to find my bro." he said as he took out a piece of paper from his quills. TK lowered his eyes in annoyance.

"You and me both." He muttered. Rhythm looked up from his paper to the annoyed TK. "What was that?" TK sighed.

"Well, for a week and a half now, Rush has just …disappeared. He usually doesn't show until 6pm. So every day, I make it my mission to go out and look for him, myself. In total, I've only found him 5 times this week." He explained, his ears drooping a bit. Rhythm frowned.

"That's kinda weird for my big bro to act like that? You sure he ain't sick?" he mused, tapping his left foot in a steady rhythm. TK nodded.

"I'm positive."

"Well, dude," Rhythm smiled, "I'll help ya look for him. After all, bros gotta watch each other backs, right?" This caused TK to smile.

"Thanks Rhythm."

"No problem, now lets get searchin'!"

But it looked like both chao were going to have a change of plans, because suddenly the whole ground started to shake. Places and objects did too. It started to get so violent and unsteady, that some of the buildings meant for chao started to crumble down. TK yelped as he fell on his rear. "Oof!" He then tried to stand to his feet, but he fell once more. And Rhythm joined him.

"W-whoa! W-what's h-hap-ppening!" he cried, looking around frantically. Other chao had also fallen to the ground, while others were just as frantic as he was.

"I-I don't know!" TK cried. "B-but whatever i-it is, it can't be g-good!"

And then… disaster struck…

An ocean blue chao raced along the wind, probably doing his fifth lap that day. Yes, this chao was also Mobian breaded, and just like Rhythm, he was a hedgehog chao too. His eyes were a calm emerald green with an adventurous spark. He had two small hedgehog ears, six small quills on the back of his head, two smaller ones on his back, a white ring on each wrist, and, a short tail, an emerald green sphere hovered above his head.

He yelped as he was suddenly struck by shaking tremors, interrupting him from his race around the island, and sending him flying in the air. The chao was a bit disoriented at the moment, so he crashed on the surface, rather harsh. The position he landed in would've made any chao laugh, that is, if the whole island wasn't shaking violently. His whole head was buried in the ground, while the rest of his body stuck out. Both of his blue arms implanted themselves into the ground, and gripped.

Starting to yank his head free from the surface, the chao thought 'Huh, this seems slightly familiar somehow.'

Once the chao could feel the air touching his spiky head instead of dirt, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally." Afterwards, he shook his head a bit and observed his surroundings. What he didn't expect to see was the island cracking up a bit, and a huge grey and red blob emerge from the ocean.

"What the?"

"RUSH!"

The chao, Rush, immediately whipped his head in the direction where the scream came from. His eyes widened in horror once he recognized them.

"TK? TK! HANG ON, I'M COMING BRO!"

And before a millisecond could even pass, the chao took off in a great burst of speed, he was even moving faster than usual. If there was one thing the hedgehog chao hated, it was when his best buddy, or even his little brother, was in danger, which didn't really happen often.

Well, there you have it, Chapter 4, or in this case, Episode 1 part ½. Now, let me know what you think about this, because I'm still getting used to it. And remember, I'm accepting OCS for now. Thanks and seeya in the next chapter, which is coming soon!