Whiteness.

Ivo sat alone in his lab. G.U.N. had cleaned out everything. All of his gadgets, robots, machines… gone.

"Why would they do this to me?" Ivo said to himself. "What have I done? I didn't deserve this!" He stood up and looked at his desk. The only things remaining there were framed photos, of Maria, Matthew, and his father Gerald. He grabbed the picture of Maria and Matthew, looking at it, remembering the G.U.N. solder saying, Ivo Robotnik, uncle of Matthew Martin-Robotnik? "Wait… Did they do this… because I'm his uncle?" He started to get angry. "The little brat is insignificant!" He threw the picture against the wall, shattering the glass. "What's so important about him? And why did they take my Emerald?" He stomped his foot as he said his next words: "The commander said it was mine!"

Ivo toppled the desk over, crushing his father's photo. "I will find Matthew's importance, and when I do… oh, he'll regret it!" He raised his fist in the air. "I'll rebuild, become stronger than ever! I'll build an empire, then extinguish G.U.N.! No one will stand in my way! And those who do… will burn to ashes! Ho ho ho ho ho!

"Computer!" he shouted. A beep sounded, responding to his voice. G.U.N. hadn't taken away everything.

"Yes, doctor," said a female, robotic voice.

"It's time for a new machine! I'll call it… the Death Egg Robot! Ho ho ho!"

Matthew let out a blood-curdling scream. He knew he still had his mouth, which was on his face, which was a part of his head, which was on top of his neck, which was attached to his back, which was set upon his legs. Yet, he couldn't feel his body. Instead, he felt like an empty void, like he wasn't there at all. Where was he, anyway? He could hear something…. It sounded like… an ocean. He could hear seagulls and rolling waves. He could feel the sand beneath his body, and the wind coursing through him. He could smell the sand, too. His breathing was returning to normal… His mouth was dry, and a bitter taste was in his mouth. All he had to do now was open his eyes. But why did it take so much effort to do so? Millimeter by millimeter, his eyelids gradually peeled themselves apart. All he could see was red. Matthew had no energy to freak out. He just waited until his vision became clearer. The seagulls, the waves, the sand… He knew he was at a beach. He closed his eyes again.

His mom's voice seemed to whisper with his the wind.

Matthew…

"M…Mom…" His voice was softer than a breath.

It's going to be alright, Matt…

"M-Mom… Hel…help me…"

Matthew… Matt, run!

"Where… are you…?"

Get out of here, Matt! Go!

"I can't leave… without… you… Ughhhhhh…"

Maria's voice gave Matthew strength. The red in his vision became clear. The beach and its features were seeable as they were tangible. He tried to get up, but was too tired to. He was able to lift his head and look around. He gasped sharply as he saw a wrecked… cell? Cage? It looked like something that could fit in a stasis tube. He got to his knees and tried to remember anything before this. All he could remember was him running down a hall with Maria. Having regained energy, he made his way to the water. He didn't care that it was saltwater, he was thirsty! Parched, he looked at his reflection in the water. What he saw blew him away. He didn't look like himself at all! He looked so outlandish, so non-human, so… alien. His entire body, except for the area around his mouth, was covered in black fur. Helooked skinnier and slightly cartoony. Quills with red stripes stood out the back of his head. A small tuft of white hair was on his chest. His facial expression looked harsh, like he was pissed off. There was nothing separating his eyes, making it look like he had one eye, also cartoonish. To finish it off, he had a small, black nose.

"What happened to me?" he said aloud. "I look like a monster!"

He grabbed his stomach with his large black hands as he heard it grumble.

"So hungry…" he said in a shaky voice. He looked up at the sky and yelled again. He slammed his fist into the ground, causing a loud pshhhhhhh… So, his new appearance gave him lots of strength.

I better start walking, somewhere…

He looked at the special cage as he walked past it. Looking at it made him angry. He let out a scream of rage and leapt toward it. He kicked it as he came up on it, shattering it to more pieces. The rage… It made him fell heavy, yet light at the same time. The sand in between his toes ticked him off, too. He cursed as he jumped on top of the hill above. The grass felt better. There was a road leading to an interstate. Maybe someone would give him ride to the next town? Highly unlikely. People always feared what they didn't understand. No one would understand him, not like the way he was.

At least 60 cars honked at Matthew as they whooshed past. So, instead of walking along the road, he moved to the tall grass. It would look more natural for a black creature to walk in the tall grass.

Matthew was getting hot. It seemed like he was going nowhere at all. What state was he in, anyway? Was he even in the U.S.? The cars looked American, and the signs were in English. Finally he saw a sign that said a town named Malone was in five miles. Five miles wasn't so bad. He'd already walked at least 100. The sun was starting to set, and the temperature was getting cooler. His legs were getting tired, but he kept on walking and finding new strength. Matthew seemed to have an endless amount of energy with his new look. He remembered that tranquilizer that shot his leg. Did it… give him these powers? Or did something happen while he was out? What was on his mind the most was his mom. Where was she? How could he find her? Was she back in Westopolis?

Matthew finally got to Malone. It was a nice little town. His mind lost from the hunger and thirst, he forgot he looked like a black hedgehog, walking into the open public. Their screams of fear, the way they ran away from him, it ticked him off more. Matthew tried to keep his cool and found his way to a grocery store. Maybe someone would understand… His eyes were glowing red with anger, but he kept his real rage inside. He walked in the store and looked around. It was empty. His stomach growled again. Suddenly, he could hear a helicopter. He heard a voice speak over a megaphone: "Whatever you are, come out now! Slowly!"

Matthew decided he should. He didn't want trouble with these people. Would they let him explain that he was just hungry? Really, really hungry? Matthew was literally starving. All he wanted was a loaf of bread.

Matthew stepped outside for them to see. He was surrounded by police and their cars and they were all pointing their guns at him. Animal control was there, too. They apparently didn't know how to confront an anthropomorphic hedgehog. A man with a stick with a hook on the end began steadily creeping up on him. This pissed Matthew off a lot. When the man got close enough, Matthew grabbed the stick and hit him with it. The blow sent the man flying. He then jumped on top of a car and began tearing it apart.

"Fire!" a policeman yelled.

All the units began shooting their guns at Matthew. However, the bullets were bouncing off his body instead of killing him. The bullets didn't hurt, but they sure annoyed him. He got off the car, still taking their shots. One policeman right next to him was shooting him in the eye. They bullets just bounced off of it.

Matthew stood up straight and continued to let himself be bombarded with firing. Now it was really starting to make him mad. He could feel rage building up inside him. It even felt like it could be released. He could feel his body starting to glow a crimson light.

"STOP!" Matthew yelled in rage.

"What's it doing!" asked one of the officers.

"Get outta the way!" another one yelled.

Matthew couldn't hold it in any longer. With one final angry roar, he unleashed the anger inside him. It was literally an explosion of crimson light. To Matthew, it felt so good to let it out, and he fell to the ground in exhaustion. He opened his eyes to see everything in the blast radius destroyed. Every police car was ablaze, and very person had been incinerated. Matthew would've taken longer to look at what he'd done, but he heard more sirens in the distance. He had to get out of there.

He was surprised by how athletic he'd become. He leapt over buildings as the cops chased him. He decided he'd confuse them by hiding in an alleyway. He found a corner and curled up there. He then waited for the sirens to fade away. Tears were flowing out of his eyes.

"I killed them…" he sobbed. "I killed them…"

After about a half-hour, Matthew cried himself to sleep. He was still starving, and another long day would await him tomorrow.