Hello! Welcome to the first chapter of my story!
Before we get started, I want to start by telling you that what you're about to read here is a story I was writing a few years ago, but some things had gotten in the way, and I was sad to leave it setting out for some time. However, now that I finally had a moment in my life again where I could write a bit more, I decided to finally continue this one! However, it'll be completely redone with better writing!
Here is the link to the original story from 2020: s/13639753/1/The-Sonic-Flare
What you're about to read is a Sonic story, but with a twist! Like most stories, I added in my own OCs to make things more interesting. However, I'll also be using the famous canon characters we all know and love. You see, the OCs in this story aren't exactly from Sonic's world. Well, they are, but they hail from a different reality, or dimension, actually. Whichever you think sounds best. Either way, I hope they make a great impression on you, because I had a hand making them! I'd like to give a shout-out to my good friend cecebeec for helping me create these amazing characters! We used them in our RPs, but now I'm using them in an actual story for you to enjoy!
Anyway, I won't say much more. The last thing I want is to give anything away. Just read, and the rest will come! Just know that I do not own the rights to Sonic, but I do own this story and the OCs involved in it. Other than that, to those reading this for the first time or finding it again, enjoy!
Sonic Flare!
Chapter 1: A Fiery Surprise
~Unknown Dimension, Unknown Time~
Somewhere in another dimension, a fight was being waged. In a world that was like Sonic's. However, the land was desolated and stripped almost entirely of life, and the sun was blocked off by black clouds, so hardly any light shone through. Although there was one that kept the light shining on the world, it was a fiery light, as trails of flames were seen moving at high speed through the skies, along with another that was black and had a terrible dark feel to it. The two collided back and forth, releasing tremendous amounts of energy from their collisions that shook the land beneath them until they broke off, revealing themselves.
One appeared to be a male Mobian Hedgehog in their teens with a slim figure and fiery red colors, along with tan peach skin that covered his muzzle, front torso, arms, and inner ears. He had five long quills on the back of his head that almost resembled fiery trails, two spines protruding from his back behind his shoulders, a short tail, and yellow eyes. He wore a sleeveless back jacket with pale yellow trim lines, white gloves with pale yellow wrist rings and black arm guards, and black boots with white straps, grey soles, and big pale-yellow socks that stood out.
What stood out most from this red hedgehog was a fiery aura surrounding his body, allowing him to float in mid-air, it seemed, but he appeared to be out of breath and clenched his shoulder as he gritted his teeth at who he was facing. The figure floating before him was similar in size and height to that of a red hedgehog but was covered mostly in a torn-up white cloak with a hood and black buckles around the body and waist, white gloves, and black boots with white line patterns down the sides. Through the figure's hood, a pair of glowing yellow eyes could be seen, but they had black sclera and looked similar to a Mobian hedgehog. What stood out most of all was a sinister black aura surrounding the hooded figure as he chuckled darkly towards the red hedgehog.
"Are you finished yet?" he asked with a deep and almost echoing male voice. "I can tell you're reaching your limit. How long must you drag out this pointless fight?"
"As long as I need to!" the red hedgehog answered determinedly as he prepared himself for another round with the hooded figure. "I'll never stop fighting! Not until I defeat you, Synth!"
"Is that so?" The hooded figure named Synth chuckled darkly and grinned as he prepared himself for another round as well. "Very well, then. Keep showing me that fiery spirit of yours, Flare the Hedgehog!"
Without hesitating, the red hedgehog named Flare shot forward and shouted with all his might as he came at Synth with a barrage of punches surrounded in flames, but Synth floated back and easily dodged each strike Flare threw his way before kicking him upward into the air, then chased after him. However, Flare recovered in time and fired back by waving his arm and sending fireballs down towards Synth, but he quickly responded by firing dark energy balls from his hand at them, making them cancel each other out, then proceeded to ram into Flare, sending him flying even more. Fortunately, Flare recovered again and stopped himself from flying off any further, then growled in anger as he spun around at high speed, going into a spinning ball form with flames surrounding him, then shot right towards Synth once more.
However, Synth grinned and chuckled as he held his hand out and stopped Flare in his tracks using the dark energy surrounding him, but Flare continued to push on, hoping to break through, but was soon blown away and sent plummeting down the ground screaming, creating a small crater upon impact. When the smoke from the impact cleared, Flare was seen in pain, but he forced himself to stand up, while Synth slowly floated downward and chuckled darkly down at him. "Do yourself a favor and just stay down." He smirked, but Flare continued to push himself till he was back on his feet, panting with bruises all over, but he readied himself to fight again, which made Synth shake his head in disbelief. "Come now, Flare. We both know how it'll end. You and I've been fighting constantly, and yet not once have you defeated me."
"Y-Yeah...?" Flare replied, still panting but grinning. "Well, there's a first time... for everything... you know...?"
"I grow tired of your constant annoyance." Synth growled, holding a hand down upon Flare as he charged up another dark energy ball. "And as long as you're around, I'll never be able to take this world. So, why don't we just end this already? Just hold still so I can finish this. It'll be much quicker and less painful that way."
"In your dreams!" Flare suddenly shot up into the air, surrounded in flames again, annoying Synth even more as he shifted his arm and hand upward and fired his dark energy ball, but missed as Flare continued to fly higher and higher.
In response, Synth flew after him with his dark energy while firing one dark energy ball after another, hoping to shoot him down, but Flare kept climbing higher and higher, narrowly evading the shots fired towards him. Eventually, the two entered the dark clouds and were unable to see much of what was in front of them, but they soon came out to the other side, where the sun shone and the sky was blue. Before long, Flare finally came to a stop, out of breath, but turned to face Synth, who gritted his teeth in rage as the wind from the high altitude blew his hood off, revealing that he was a Mobian hedgehog, but had dark purple colors with a dark tan muzzle, and the quills on the back of his head were pointed downward and had strange patterns that were unnatural to a Mobian species.
"You will not forestall me any longer!" he shouted as he raised both hands up and began concentrating on a massive amount of dark energy in the form of a spiraling sphere with dark purple electricity around it, much to Flare's surprise.
"W-What are you doing?!" he asked as he felt the air around him being sucked towards the sphere, which caused him to slowly float towards it unwillingly. "What are you trying to pull now, Synth?!"
"You really want to know?!" Synth grinned and chuckled menacingly as his yellow eyes glowed brighter. "I'm simply sending you away! It took me some time to figure this out, but with this, I can send you to a completely different reality! One where you'll never interfere with me again!"
"Wh-What?!" Flare's eyes widen in shock as he feels the pull from the sphere increase, and he tries his best to pull back and break free.
"BEGONE, FLARE THE HEDGEHOG!" Synth laughed as he threw the now-enlarged dark energy sphere towards Flare, shocking him as he tried to break away from its pull, but the closer it got, the harder it was to resist, and before long he was swallowed up by it.
Flare screamed as he felt the dark energy and electricity around him zap him all over, but he also felt the world he knew around him twist and spin out of control. "W-WHAT'S HAPPENING...?!" He continued to scream as a powerful dark light shined around him, causing him to disappear inside of it.
On the outside, Synth watched as Flare was consumed by his attack, and before long, the dark energy sphere began to disappear until there was nothing left. Not even Flare the Hedgehog. Though he was out of breath after firing the attack, Synth grinned and chuckled before he burst out an evil laugh. "Yes, yes, yes!" he continued to laugh before shouting upward. "I'm finally rid of him!"
Synth continued his evil and victorious laugh before finally subsiding. He took a deep breath before a sinister smirk returned to his face. "It's a shame I don't know exactly where he'll end up, but, as long as he's not here, it doesn't matter," he admitted before turning his sights down upon the clouds blocking the sunlight from reaching the planet. "Now, to deal with the rest."
~Sonic's Dimension, The Beach, Day Time~
Meanwhile, in the dimension where Sonic and his friends resided, the world was in a state of peace as the sun shone on another beautiful day. Taking advantage of this were Sonic's friends Tails, Amy, Cream, and Cheese, who were seen enjoying themselves down by the beach. Tails was lounging on a beach chair with a red umbrella over him and a pair of dark blue frame sunglasses over his eyes, and Amy was in another beach chair not too far from him, wearing a red bikini and swim skirt with yellow hearts around it, along with red sandals with a green and purple strap across her feet and yellow hearts on the sides. Like Tails, she too wore sunglasses, but had red frames. Cream was already playing in the water in a green flotation tube with Cheese, wearing a yellow dress-like swimsuit with purple straps with white petaled flowers on the front and purple frills around the waist.
Amy smiled as she took a deep breath, enjoying the peace and tranquility around her. "This is just what I needed. No worries about Eggman or anything world-crisis-related. Just a nice day at the beach."
"I think we all needed it, Amy," said Tails as he sat up and took off his sunglasses to gaze at her. "I mean, every once in a while, you just have to take it easy. If I didn't, I'd probably be working myself to death at my workshop."
"That's why you need it, but you know who needs this more than us? Sonic!" Amy took off her sunglasses and expressed an annoyed expression. "I can't believe he's not here to enjoy the day with us."
"You know how Sonic is around water." Tails pointed out. "Besides, I'm pretty sure he enjoys his day more by running around the land than anything else."
"Still, he could at least try to come down here and have fun with the rest of us." Amy huffed as he put her sunglasses back on. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with him."
"Sometimes I wonder that myself." Tails muttered and sweat dropped just as Cream and Cheese made their way out of the water.
"Hey, Tails!" Cream smiled, catching Tails' attention. "Cheese and I are going to make a sandcastle. Want to join us?"
"Sure, Cream!" Tails smiled back as he got out of his beach chair and ran with Cream and Cheese to make a sandcastle, leaving Amy to lounge alone, not that she seemed bothered by it.
But just as Tails, Cream, and Cheese were running down the beach to find the perfect spot for a sandcastle, suddenly, the wind blew intensely, causing them to stop in their tracks as the sand was picked up by the raging wind. The trio kept their heads down and their eyes closed from the blowing sand, but Amy was struck by it by surprise and was forced out of her chair, which angered her. "Okay, what's the big idea?!" she asked, but then gasped in shock as the same dark energy sphere Synth created emerged right in front of everyone.
"Tails, what is that?!" Creamed asked in fright and shock, along with Cheese.
"I don't know!" replied Tails, opening an eye to get a better look at the sphere. "But whatever it is, it's got a lot of energy around it!"
Just then, something, or someone, fell out of the sphere, landing in the sand. It was Flare, and his eyes were shut tight from the pain coursing through his body, much to everyone's shock. However, just after Flare came out of the dark energy sphere, it soon disappeared, causing the wind to die down and the sand to fall back on the shore. Once everything was calm again, Amy ran over to where Tails, Cream, and Cheese were as the trio brushed off the sand that got on them.
"Are you guys okay?!" she asked upon reaching the trio.
"We're fine!" Tails replied before setting his sights on the injured Flare. "But I don't think he is."
"I hope he's okay," said Cream, worried for Flare, even though he was a stranger to her.
"Where did he come from?" asked Amy as she slowly approached Flare with the others.
"I'm not sure." Tails answered as he inspected Flare closely, getting down on one knee next to him. "But he fell out of that strange sphere that was here just a moment ago."
"I wonder who he is." Cream wondered, along with Cheese, but was soon shocked, along with the others, as Flare groaned in pain and gritted his teeth, forcing one of his eyes to open, and spotted the four gazing in surprise upon him.
He tried to speak but found it difficult because of his injuries, and he immediately passed out again, shocking the others again. "Well, whoever he is, he needs help!" exclaimed Amy, and Tails and Cream nodded in agreement.
"Yeah!" Tails quickly moved with Amy to help Flare up and carry him over their shoulders, then faced Cream. "We'll take him to your place, Cream. It's the closest."
"Right!" Cream nodded before flapping her long rabbit ears to make her fly up. "I'll go tell Mama you're coming!"
With an agreement from Cheese, they flew in the direction Cream's house was, leaving Tails and Amy to carry Flare the way there.
~Sonic's Dimension, Cream's House, Day Time~
Upon reaching Cream's house, her mother, Vanilla, was seen inside a guest room, where she made sure Flare was tucked in comfortably in the guest bed but carried a worried expression as she did so. "Oh, you poor thing..."
"I wonder what happened to him." Cream wondered, along with Cheese, as they, Tails, and Amy watched Vanilla with Flare outside the door.
"I'm not exactly sure, but from what I can tell, it wasn't anything good." Tails pointed out as he tried to think of what might've happened to Flare.
"Hmm..." Amy crossed her arms as she went into thought.
"What's the matter, Amy?" asked Cream as she turned her attention towards her.
"It's just..." Amy turned her head towards her and Tails. "I may just be imagining it, but he sort of...looks like Sonic in a way."
"He looks like Mr. Sonic?" Cream asked back, slightly surprised, along with Cheese.
"You know, now that you've mentioned it, Amy..." Tails took a moment and thought about what Amy was saying as he turned his gaze towards the injured Flare, noticing a slight resemblance in his face to that of Sonic. "There does seem to be some resemblance between them."
"Do you think Mr. Sonic knows him?" asked Cream curiously.
"I wouldn't be surprised knowing Sonic," answered Tails as he stepped away and pulled down the cuffing of his glove to expose a communicator watch. "Either way, I better let him know what's going on."
The girls and Cheese watched and waited as Tails turned on his communicator and tried to contact Sonic, wherever he may be. "Hello? Sonic? You there? Sonic!" but to Tails' surprise, there was no response from Sonic, which confused him. "That's odd..."
"What's wrong, Tails?" asked Amy as Tails turned back to face her.
"Sonic's not answering," he stated before crossing his arms and taking a moment to think. "It's not like him to not pick up unless... something happened to him!"
"Or he may've forgotten to take his communicator with him." Amy pointed it out with a look of disbelief, which surprised Tails.
"How would you know that?" asked Tails curiously.
"Well..." Amy grinned nervously and scratched the back of her head. "I may've tried to get him to come with us to the beach earlier today and found his communicator lying on the ground after he zipped away somewhere."
"And you're now telling me this?!" Tails asked in shock.
"Hey, I was upset when he just dashed away!" Amy shouted in anger. "After that, I just wanted to enjoy a good day at the beach! Not to mention I got distracted when that strange hedgehog fell out of that weird sphere!"
Though taken aback by her angry tone, Tails held his hands out with a look of fright. "Okay, okay, fair enough!" he replied before taking a deep breath to calm himself down and dropping his hands. "It's no big deal. I'll just go out and find him myself. In the meantime, you stay here and keep an eye on Cream's strange guest. Hopefully he can tell us what happened to him when he wakes up."
"And it better be good." Amy crossed her arms, still slightly upset. "I was having such a nice day at the beach till he showed up."
"We can go back to the beach later, Amy." Creamed chimed in with a smile. "But first, we need to make sure he's okay."
Cheese also admitted that, which made Amy sigh, knowing they were right. "I know... I know..."
"Okay! I'll be right back!" exclaimed Tails as he rushed out of Cream's house and headed outside before he made his two tails spin around at high speed to make himself fly through the skies to search for Sonic.
~Sonic's Dimension, Green Hill Zone, Day Time~
While everything was happening at Cream's house, out in Green Hill Zone, everything was peaceful and calm as a gentle breeze blew across the land. It was Sonic the Hedgehog relaxing underneath a tree with his eyes shut without a care in the world. At least for now. He took a deep breath of the fresh air and smiled. "It doesn't get any better than this," he stated, thinking back to how Amy tried to get him to come with her and the others to the beach. "They can enjoy their time at the beach. I prefer to enjoy myself right here. Ah..."
"Sonic!" shouted none other than Tails, flying high in the sky towards the blue hedgehog, who opened his eyes to spot his fox friend coming.
"Tails?" He was a tad surprised as he sat up just as Tails came in for a landing. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be down at the beach with the others."
"Well, I was, but then something strange happened." Tails replied but wasn't sure how to properly explain what had happened. "Though, I'm not sure how to put it."
"Let me guess... Eggman, right?" Sonic pointed a finger towards his friend.
"Not exactly." Tails shook his head in response, then scratched the back of it, unsure. "Although, he being involved could be a possibility."
"Say no more." Sonic smirked and jumped up onto his feet, then placed his hands on his hips. "You can tell me all about it on the way there."
"Okay, but we have to go to Cream's house." Tails explained, which confused Sonic.
"Cream's place? Why?" he asked as Tails spun his two tails around again to fly upward.
"I'll explain on the way there," he replied before flying on ahead.
Unsure what to make of it, Sonic shrugged and dashed down the hill to follow his friend back to Cream's house. "By the way, why didn't you just call me through the communicator like you normally do?"
"Because Amy told me you dropped yours earlier." Tails answered, which made Sonic look under his glove cuffs and saw that his communicator watch wasn't there.
"Huh... I was wondering why my wrist felt lighter than usual," he chuckled, and Tails could only sigh in disbelief.
~Sonic's Dimension, Cream's House, Day Time~
Meanwhile, as Tails left to find Sonic, back at Cream's house, Flare was left alone in the guest room but was tossing, turning, and sweating in his sleep, for he was having a nightmare. He saw his own world desolated and darker than ever before, with black and purple flames scorching everything in sight. He even saw the people of his world running in fear as the hooded figure of Synth rose high above them and laughed wickedly as he blasted multiple dark energy balls down upon them, including a certain few that Flare was most familiar with as they braced themselves for the expanded energy ball to strike down upon them.
'No... No...! NO!' he shouted in his mind before his eyes suddenly opened and he sat up from the guest bed, panting heavily with a hand over his fast-beating heart.
Just then, Vanilla came in and was surprised to see Flare awake. "Oh! You're awake!" She got Flare's attention, slightly surprising him. "I wasn't sure how long you were going to be out."
To Flare's surprise, he found he was in a bed, which he hadn't realized earlier. He looked taken aback as he noticed how clean the room he was in was, but his reaction made Vanilla slightly concerned. "Are you alright?" she asked, catching Flare's attention again as he turned his gaze back upon her.
"Uh, yes," he answered, though he felt a bit of pain course through him whenever he made any slight movement but fought through it to look around the room some more. "Where... am I?"
"You're in my home, sweetie." Vanilla smiled as she walked over towards the window to open the blinds to let more light come into the room. "Cream and the others found you hurt and unconscious on the beach and brought you here a little while ago."
"Huh...?" Flare was surprised. "What are you talking abou-?" But when he turned his gaze towards the window, his eyes widened in shock as he noticed the green landscapes outside, as if he were seeing it for the first time. "I-Is that...?!"
"Huh. Is what...?" Vanilla was confused but then surprised when Flare motioned himself out of bed; his boots were off, and he struggled to stand properly. "What are you doing? You should be resting!"
"But I... gotta see...!" He forced himself to walk towards the window, surprising Vanilla even more until he was gazing right outside the glass at the scenery before him, which shocked him even more. "Can it really be...?!"
Wanting to know for certain what he was seeing was real, he opened the window and felt the gentle breeze and sunlight hit him, confirming what he was indeed seeing was real. "It... It's real... It's all real... I don't believe it." He stood there for a moment in awe, while Vanilla wasn't sure what to do but was surprised as a smile grew on Flare's face and tears ran down his eyes. "It's been so long since I've seen everything like this."
"Huh?" Vanilla was surprised yet confused by what he said. "What do you mean? Everything's been like this for as long as I can remember."
"What?" asked Flare as he suddenly turned to face her, his tears somehow already gone. "What do you mean? You're telling me nothing's happened here? That can't be! Synth practically voided the whole world of life! There shouldn't be anything like this anywhere!"
Flare's sudden tone of voice gave Vanilla a bit of a scare. "What are you talking about?!"
"What am I talking about?! Don't you know anything?!" Flare gritted his teeth in slight irritation. "Synth? A world void of life?! Doesn't any of that ring a bell?!"
"No!" Vanilla shook her head in response, still a bit frightened. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"How can you not know what I'm-?" Suddenly, Flare's eyes widen in realization as he thought back to what Synth said to him before he was struck by his dark energy sphere.
"It took me some time to figure this out, but with this, I can send you to a completely different reality! One where you'll never interfere with me again!"
Once he remembered the exact words Synth spoke to him before he was sucked inside the dark energy sphere, Flare was struck with tremendous shock and disbelief as he shook his head, hoping that it wasn't true. "No... No...! It can't be true! He couldn't have...!"
"Couldn't have what?" Vanilla asked but was surprised yet again when Flare ran over to where his boots were placed next to the guest bed and quickly slipped them on. "Huh?! "Where are you going?!"
"Out!" he replied as he ran out of the room.
"Wait!" Vanilla held out her hand. "You can't! You're still hurt!"
At the same time, out in the living room, Amy and Cream had changed back into their usual clothes and sat on separate couches, with Cream playing with Cheese and Amy reading a magazine. However, they were surprised when Flare dashed right past them and headed for the door. 'It can't be true! It can't be true!' he thought with his teeth gritted tight as he stopped before the front door and grabbed the doorknob. 'I got to know!'
"Hold it!" shouted Amy as she grabbed Flare's arm just before he could open the door to get out, which surprised him as he looked over his shoulder to see her angered expression. "Where do you think you're going, buster?!"
"What does it look like?! Outside!" he replied, annoyed, but when he tried to open the door again, Amy pulled him back. "Whoa!"
"Oh no, you don't!" She exclaimed as Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla came out and watched from afar. "You're not going anywhere! For starters, you don't even look like you've recovered! Second, you have some explaining to do!"
"Like what?!" Flare asked back, but was surprised when Amy pointed a finger at his face.
"Like, who are you and where did you come from?" she stated as she leaned forward at him. "I was having a nice relaxing day at the beach until you dropped out of nowhere! So, you're going to give me some answers here, buddy!"
Annoyed, Flare gritted his teeth and pulled his arm out of Amy's grip, which surprised her. "I don't have time for this!" he exclaimed as he opened the door and ran outside.
"Hey, wait...!" Amy shouted as she reached her hand out as Flare ran outside a bit before stopping and gazing around in shock at the scenery around him.
Unlike the world he was from, this one wasn't desolated in the slightest. Everything was green and beautiful, much to his shock. "No way... It's all here. It is true!" he exclaimed as he turned all over the place, but then shook his head and shut his eyes. "No! It can't be! It has to be an illusion! He always does this!"
"Always does what?" asked Amy as she, Cream, and Cheese stepped out, catching Flare's attention, but instead of being angry at him, now she was more concerned. "Who are you talking about?"
"Are you all right, mister?" asked Cream out of concern, along with Cheese.
However, to Flare's shock, the closer he looked at the two, mental images played in his mind that showed two other girls in their place for a moment. Instead of Amy, there was another Mobian Hedgehog girl, but she had blonde, yellow colors, and replacing Cream's place was a Mobian Fox girl with orange colors. However, the images went away quickly, and Flare shook his head in response before backing up slowly. "No... No...! I just can't believe this!"
Then, to Amy, Cream, and Cheese's shock, Flare ran down a pathway to the nearby forest. "Wait! Stop...!" Amy shouted, but Flare had already dashed into the forest, leaving a red trail behind, much to Amy's surprise. "Huh? Did he just...?"
"Hey...! Amy...! Cream...!" shouted none other than Sonic, catching Amy, Cream, and Cheese's attentions as they turned to see him dashing towards them with Tails right behind flying through the air.
"Sonic!" Amy and Cream exclaimed in unison as Sonic came to a sudden stop in front of them.
"Tails told me what happened," he stated as Tails landed next to him. "So, where is this stranger?"
"You just missed him!" exclaimed Amy as she pointed towards the nearby forest. "He ran right into the forest!"
"You mean he's gone? In his condition?!" Tails asked, surprised. "Didn't you try to stop him?!"
"I tried, but he was stubborn. Almost like Sonic here." Amy explained before giving Sonic a look of disbelief, but he just turned and whistled innocently as Amy then grew concerned. "But then he started talking strange."
"Strange?" asked Tails curiously. "What do you mean?"
"He kept going on about how everything he was seeing wasn't real or something like that." Amy explained.
"And then he looked at us and started to panic for some reason." Cream chimed in with an explanation of her own before growing a worried expression. "I just hope he's okay."
Feeling the same way as her, Cheese also admitted his worry for Flare, but Sonic turned back towards them and grinned. "Hey, don't worry," he said, giving a wink and a thumbs up. "Just leave this guy to me, okay?"
"Be careful though, Sonic." Amy replied. "He seems unstable, and apparently he can run really fast! Kinda like how you can."
"Oh really?" Sonic chuckled in delight as he gazed towards the nearby forest. "Well, now I have to meet this guy!"
Now excited more than anything, Sonic took off towards the nearby forest, leaving a blue trail behind as he ran. His friends watched him go, but their sense of worry continued to cloud their minds.
~Sonic's Dimension, Mountain Forest, Day Time~
After dashing away from Amy and Cream earlier, Flare was seen running through the thick woods, avoiding the trees that blocked his path as he ran. Eventually, he came to a clearing, stopped along an edge, and gazed out at the beautiful sight of the land before him. For miles, he could see trees and mountains, along with the ocean on the far-right side. It all stunned him, allowing him to remember a time when he could see this back in his world before Synth had taken it all away.
"What a sight," he stated before looking down and gritting his teeth in anger. "But it just can't be real. It's got to be some kind of trick Synth's playing on me. He's always messing with our heads." But when he gazed back out at the scenery before him, he started to doubt whether what he was saying was true or not. "But it all feels so real. Too real… If it is, then I truly am in a different reality. Just like he said. And if that's true, then the others... If I'm not there to help, then... they don't stand a chance!"
With sadness and worry filling his heart and mind, Flare fell to his knees and shut his eyes tight as tears ran down them while he pounded the ground repeatedly. "No...! No...! It can't be!" He gritted his teeth hard as his tears ran down his face. "Here I am with a pretty sight, but it doesn't matter! My friends are back home and could be in trouble right now, and I'm not there to help them!" It was then that Flare could hear the maniacal laughter and image of Synth in his mind, causing him to reopen his eyes and growl in rage as flames began to surround his body and burn away the grass around him. "Damn you, Synth... Damn you...!"
Just then, Sonic rushed out into the clearing when he spotted the flames surrounding Flare, which caused him to stop a distance from him, surprised. "Whoa!" he shouted, surprised to see how Flare's flames were burning away the grass around him. "Hey, buddy, do you mind turning the heat down a bit there? The grass never did anything to you, did they?" Though surprised, Flare's eyes widened as he immediately turned off his flames to prevent any more damage to the grass around him, but he remained on his knees, much to Sonic's concern. "So, you mind telling me what this is all about?"
"I doubt you'd understand if I told you," answered Flare as he shut his eyes again. "I doubt any of you would understand."
"Try me." Sonic crossed his arms. "I mean, you won't know till you do, right? Besides, my friends are a little worried about you. Especially after the way you ran out on them."
"Yeah... Guess that was a bit... uncalled for." Flare stood back up and reopened his eyes, slightly ashamed of how he had acted earlier.
"Look, I'm sure we can figure all this out." Sonic smiled and uncrossed his arms. "Just come back with me, and we'll talk about what's bothering you, okay?"
"Yeah, I suppose..." Flare then turned to face Sonic, but the moment he saw Sonic's face, his eyes widened in utter shock, and so did Sonic's when he saw Flare's.
Though the two looked different in terms of color and appearance, their faces were almost identical, despite the different eye colors. This brought a tremendous amount of shock to both hedgehogs, as if they were looking into mirrors and saw themselves somehow.
'He looks...' Flare thought.
'...just like me.' Sonic finished with the same thought.
For a long moment, the two gazed at one another's faces, unable to look away from the almost exact resemblance they shared. However, eventually Sonic shook his head and took a step forward. "Who... who are you?"
In response, Flare shook his head too and took a deep breath before closing his eyes, but then reopened them and grew a serious expression. "My name is Flare. Flare… the Hedgehog."
TO BE CONTINUED...
And that ends the first chapter! It looks like Flare's in quite a predicament, isn't he? It's not easy to accept that you've been sent to another reality when you've been constantly dealing with someone who clearly sounds like he messes with your mind a lot. What'll he do now? Can Sonic and the gang help him? The answers are soon to come!
Speaking of, why don't I give you guys a couple answers here before I let you go. For starters, if you're wondering if Flare's powers are similar to how Blaze can use fire, that's a yes, but also a no. You see, Flare's way of using fire is a bit different. Take how Johnny Storm from the Fantastic Four can use fire power. He was more of the inspiration for creating Flare the Hedgehog and his abilities. Also, if you're wondering why the villain in this is named Synth, it's actually a name I came up with from the word "synthesized." Get it? I'm not sure how to properly explain it, nor do I feel I should say anything other than that, so I won't spoil anything else. All the answers will be revealed in time!
In any case, that about wraps it up for now! Stay tuned to find out what happens next! Be sure to R&R if you have anything you want to say, and please do fav and/or follow if you wish to keep up with the story. This continuing version, I mean. Till next time, stay safe out there and try not to get sent into another reality yourselves!