Forgotten Memories…

Prologue

By: Soniclover28

Sonic's eyes blinked themselves open, trying to adjust to the intense light that shone on his face. He groaned from the throbbing in his head. He sat up, and groggily looked around.

Sonic tried rubbing his head, but stopped as he heard the jingle of chains. He looked down, confused, and realized that his hands and feet were confined in capsule-like handcuffs.

Another key thing he noticed was that his friends were unconscious around him, in the same restraints he wore. Sonic stood up, stretching his stiff limbs and inspecting the area he was in. He found that he was in a giant capsule of some kind, and he huffed in frustration when he recognized the backside of Dr. Eggman hunched over a desk not too far away.

Sonic quietly prodded his three friends awake, and they all stared in confusion around them.

"Where… are we?" Amy yawned, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

This caught the mad scientist's attention, and he turned to face the groggy mobians.

"My, what a surprise," He snickered, "You're finally awake. I would have thought you'd all stay out for a least a couple more hours, but it seems I miscalculated the doses of the hypnotics I used."

"'Miscalculated?' You seem to be doing that more and more, Eggman. What's wrong; old age finally catching up?" Sonic retorted.

"I'll have you know that I am not as old as I look. I-"

"Yeah, we know; you're way older," Knuckles smirked.

Dr. Eggman took a breath while Sonic asked the question everyone was wondering at the moment.

"So, what's your 'master plan' this time? It must not be very important. I mean, you haven't bothered to explain yet."

"Tsk, tsk, Sonic. Have you not figured it out? You are my plan this time. Why do you think I took the liberty of capturing you?" Dr. Eggman said, a knowing glint in his eye.

"Say what, now?" The hedgehog cocked an eyebrow.

"You heard right, Sonic. This time, my plan will not fail! It cannot fail!" The mad scientist boomed, "I have finally found the one thing that you are powerless against! I found something that even your dearest friends can't help you cope with!"

"And that would be…?" Sonic urged, looking somewhat uninterested.

"Your past."

"Wh-what?" Sonic exclaimed, actually startled by the man. "I-I mean: what're you talking about?"

"You'll see," Dr. Eggman replied darkly, a smile of triumph plastered on his face.

Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles shared glances with each other.

"You don't mean…" Tails started.

"Yes! I have finally created the world's first time machine! I needed some lab rats to test it out on, and I thought you all were the perfect choice. However…" Eggman's giddy moment faltered for a moment, "It still has some bugs, so you won't actually be able to interact with people, but only with inanimate objects. I'll be working on it while you're gone, though, and maybe I can fix that problem."

"But what's the point of going to the past if you can't change it?" Sonic asked.

And suddenly wished he hadn't.

"Why, dear hedgehog, that's the point. See you in a few weeks, rodent!"

Eggman suddenly pulled a lever on the side of the giant capsule, and everything went white.

(Sonic's P.O.V.)

I blinked my eyes several times after the flash, and suddenly found myself outside. My shackles were gone, as well. Behind me was a small schoolhouse with a playground beside it, and a little ways away were houses lined beside the dirt road.

"Where are we?" Amy asked for the second time.

I didn't answer her; I was staring around at the place I thought I would never see again.

"Sonic?" Tails asked.

"This… This is Knothole, Amy… This is Knothole…" I breathed.

"'Knothole?' Never heard of it," She replied, scratching her head.

"You know this place? It looks run down," Knuckles said, looking around at the empty town.

I snickered, coming out of my trance and looking at my three friends, "Just wait 'till the school bell rings. This town'll be flooded with activity."

"How do you know?" Tails questioned.

"This is where I grew up," I replied, walking up to the old schoolhouse.

"Where're you going?" Amy called, running after me.

"To school," I answered, pushing open the doors.

"What?" All three of my friends asked in unison. I jerked my head towards the inside of the building, and they followed me in. There was a small hallway running down the center of the building, and two rooms on either side of the hallway were the only things there.

I casually walked down the hallway, and turned to the room on the left. There was no door, and when we stepped inside, we were greeted by the voice of an old woman speaking.

"… A. Apple. B. Berry. C. Cat…"

We saw an elderly squirrel writing on the chalkboard behind her, while the children in the desks in the center of the room stared at her quietly.

"Can anyone tell me which letter comes next?" The squirrel asked, turning around.

The small mobians mouthed a little jingle to themselves, and a few hands went up.

"Yes?" The teacher motioned towards a small kitten.

"D! Dog!"

"Good job! Let's continue."

I scanned the room, smiling when I recognized most of the faces.

"Sonic, is that…?" Amy started, pointing to a small hedgehog sitting in the back of the classroom.

"Yep."

"No way," She gaped.

"That's you?" Knuckles asked in disbelief. "Man, you were a small kindergartner."

"Not my fault," I retorted, shrugging. I ventured deeper into the classroom and stood beside the small hedgehog's desk. He was fiddling with his pencil, completely oblivious to my presence.

(Third Person P.O.V.)

The trio behind Sonic stood a little ways around him, watching the scene unfold.

The small hedgehog, glancing up at the teacher, opened the top of his desk and pulled out his spare pencil. He played with the two of them, not paying one bit of attention to the squirrel anymore.

"Sonic."

Both hedgehogs' heads shot up on reflex, and the younger hid his hands behind his back.

"What's the next letter?" The squirrel asked, crossing her arms.

The younger version of Sonic pinned his ears to his head, looking embarrassed. "Uhm…" He stuttered, "J…?"

Snickers broke out all across the room, and the young hedgehog instantly realized he was wrong.

"Stupid…" The bulldog in the desk beside him snickered to himself.

The older Sonic glared while the younger blushed madly and looked down at his lap.

"We are at P. Can you tell me which letter comes next?" The teacher asked, her patience dwindling as some students around the room giggled at the letter.

The little blue hedgehog quickly did the jingle with some difficulty, and finally answered, "Q…?"

The teacher nodded and turned back to her chalkboard.

The young hedgehog took a sigh of relief and finally put away his pencils.

"Sonic, don't you think we should be looking for a way home instead of learning the alphabet?" Knuckles suddenly snapped, leaning against the wooden wall of the schoolhouse.

"We can't find a way home, Knuckles. We're stuck here until Eggman brings us back, as much as I hate to say it…" Tails replied.

"Actually… I don't mind being here. After all, five year-old Sonic is adorable!" Amy giggled.

And indeed he was. The younger Sonic was missing a front tooth, had brown eyes, and actually wore clothes. He wore a red and white t-shirt with dirty ripped jeans to match. The young pup wore no shoes, unlike the other students in the classroom, and Tails briefly wondered about it.

The hero of Mobius was just thankful that none of his friends had noticed the scars yet.

Sonic rolled his eyes and smiled. "C'mon, Knux; school's gonna be over in about ten minutes. And if I remember correctly, today is a day that I can change just slightly."

Tails and Amy shared a glance.

"Whatever you're planning in that screwed up head of yours, it's a bad idea. Changing the past even the smallest bit could seriously affect the future," Knuckles tried to reason.

"And how do you know that?"

"That's what happens in the movies," Knuckles shrugged, "So it's good enough for me."

Sonic rolled his eyes and turned back to the smaller hedgehog.

"Seriously, though, Sonic. Don't do anything stupid," Tails said, crossing his arms.

"Fine…" Sonic sighed.

When the school bell finally rang, all of the small mobians grabbed their bags from the back of the room and crowded around the door.

"Sonic."

Again, both hedgehogs swung their head around to see Ms. Rosie sitting on her desk with her hands neatly folded in front of her.

"Yes, Ms. Rosie…?" The small hedgehog replied shyly. He walked up to her desk and waited for her to speak.

"Do you have the signature for the fieldtrip tomorrow? You know just as well as I that it was due yesterday."

The younger Sonic pinned his ears to his head again, and looked down. "No, Ms. Rosie…"

"I see," She sighed, adjusting her glasses. "And why do you not have it?"

"…"

"Come now, tell me."

"Daddy wouldn't let mommy sign it…" Sonic told her quietly.

"Enough of the lies, Sonic! I talked to your parents this morning and they told me that they didn't even know about the trip!" The squirrel burst, making the little pup jump.

"I'm not lying! Look, I have it right here!" The hedgehog frantically opened his tattered backpack, and he held up a paper that was ripped and had a few stains on it. "See? Mama tried to sign it, but she couldn't! Daddy said no!" Sonic tried to reason.

The teacher gave an exasperated sigh and placed her hand on her forehead. "Sonic, your parents had to sign it regardless if you could go or not. I-"

"That's what I tried to tell them! Daddy wouldn't listen!" The young hedgehog stomped his foot on the ground, willing the elderly squirrel to understand.

"Leave, Sonic. I will have a talk with your father tomorrow."

"But-"

"Now."

The small pup's lip started to quiver, and tears started to well up in his big brown eyes. He shook his head desperately.

"Don't tell daddy," He whimpered, "Don't tell daddy…"

The teacher only pointed to the door.

The smaller Sonic picked up his old backpack and left the room.

Rosie removed her glasses from her head and wiped her eyes of the tears that had suddenly formed.

"Why is she crying?" Knuckles suddenly asked, interrupting the moment, "You were the one that got in trouble."

Sonic didn't answer. Instead, he followed his younger self outside. The trio chased after him.

"This is how it always was… and then right after I got through with the teacher, I'd come out of the door and have to deal with-"

"Go away, Rufus!" A voice yelled.

The four time travelers turned their heads to see a bull dog following the younger Sonic right on his heels.

"Aww, what's wrong, spiny?" The dog teased, "Is someone gonna cry?"

The young pup pinned his ears to his head and walked a bit faster.

"Hey, where'd you get that?" Rufus gained a mischievous glint in his eyes as he saw something poke out of Sonic's backpack. He wrenched it off of his back, jerking the hedgehog backwards in the process.

"Hey! Give it back!" Sonic cried, hopelessly trying to snatch his bag back.

"Oooh, this is pretty," The bulldog pulled out a mirror from the tattered bag. "Hey, this looks like… It is! You stole Jessica's mirror!"

Sonic backed away in fear, blushing madly and pinning his ears down.

"Thief!" Rufus barked. The dog chunked the backpack back at Sonic, and the hedgehog barely caught it.

"Thief!" Other children started in on it, and the small hedgehog backed away once again.

A rock was suddenly hurled at the pup, and Sonic yelped in pain as it struck his eye.

The younger version of Sonic bolted away, and the older soon followed.

"Sonic! Wait up!" Amy called, trying to catch the speedy hedgehog.

The blue hero stopped and ran back to the group, shifting uncomfortably.

"Bullied much?" Knuckles asked, a bit startled after watching the scene.

Despite the subject, Sonic chuckled and rubbed his head. "Yeah… I wasn't the most popular guy in school."

"And the stealing?" Tails chimed.

"Uhm… I didn't know any better…?" Sonic tried, and failed, to convince them. His friends gave him a deadpan. "Okay, fine. You'll find out in a second, now follow me."

With that, he jogged off at a pace the others could keep up with. They eventually left the outskirts of the small village, and arrived at a lone house deep in the woods.

The house was wooden, and was clearly not properly taken care of. The front yard was littered with metal objects, glass, paper, and numerous other hazards. There was an old, rusty, orange pickup truck near the front of the house, and two bicycles resting by the entrance of the rundown home.

"Watch your step…" Sonic muttered, stepping around the yard, avoiding bear traps and other obstacles that had been carelessly tossed to the side. The group made it to the front door, and quietly stepped inside, as to not alarm anyone of the door suddenly opening and closing.

The inside of the house was worse than the outside. Clothes were scattered all across the floor as well as trash and the occasional glass bottle and pill container. From what could be seen, the flooring throughout the house was all wood, and the walls were all painted a sickly grey. A strong, musky smell filled the house, so thick it made one want to gag.

Tails acknowledged this by promptly having a coughing fit.

"…and then he took it and they threw rocks at me…" A small voice was heard from their left, and they all looked to the living room.

The younger version of Sonic was sitting beside another hedgehog on their stained, ripped couch. She was the same shade of blue as her son, and she had dazzling emerald eyes. Her quills were about the same length as Amy's, and she wore a green tank top and black shorts. Scars, cuts and bruises decorated her body, and she wore a studded collar around her neck, as well as matching bracelets.

"…That's how I got the black eye…" He finished.

"Be more careful next time, Sonic… You know your father isn't going to be happy about this…" The female hedgehog told him sadly, gently placing her hand on the young one's face and rubbing the damaged eye with her thumb.

The younger Sonic nodded, tears welling up in his eyes again.

"Hey, now. Don't cry," The woman soothed, wiping his tears away. "Crying is a weakness, and when someone finds a weakness-"

"'-They use it against you…' I know, mama…" The young pup finished for her.

"That's my boy," Sonic's mother smiled, giving him a brief hug.

"Wow… Her parenting methods are… different…" Amy said carefully after seeing the distant look on Sonic's face.

The hero snorted and replied, "So were my dad's."

The trio behind him blinked at his sudden change of tone.

"Go to your room and play, Sonic. I have to get dinner ready or your father is going to have a fit," Sonic's mother stood from the couch and made her way into the kitchen.

"So this is where you lived, huh? How long was it before you moved out?" Knuckles asked, taking another good look around the place in slight interest.

"More like 'kicked out,'" Sonic chuckled to himself, "Um… I lived here 'till I was about… six or seven, maybe?" Sonic shrugged, "Somewhere around that age."

"'Kicked out?' What do you mean?" Tails asked, his eyes showing a bit of confusion.

Sonic waved him off.

"Don't worry about it, Tails; I was joking," Sonic replied, smirking.

The sound of the door opening and closing caught the four time travelers' attention.

Sonic absentmindedly stepped aside as the figure, yet another hedgehog, entered the house and passed by him.

"I'm back, Blue!" The golden hedgehog shouted throughout the house.

The hedgehog had a golden pelt, and was built the exact same as Sonic. The hedgehog had a gruff voice, and he wore only grey gloves and blue shoes. He had piercing, crimson eyes, and scars more apparent than Sonic's mother. The most notable scars were the one running across his eye and the three cuts on his right side.

"I don't smell dinner!" The golden hedgehog suddenly barked after a brief sniff.

"I just started, Gold!" Sonic's mother called from the kitchen.

"Were those your parents' names?" Amy asked, "Blue and Gold?"

"Yeah—Well, sort of. That was their cover names. My mom's real name was Heather," Sonic explained.

"What about your dad? What was his real name?" Tails asked.

"He never told me."

"Oh."

The trio behind Sonic gave each other a glance.

"Get your tail off the couch, Cobalt. How many times do I have to tell you?" Gold suddenly snapped at the pup.

"Sorry, daddy," Sonic squeaked, scrambling off of the furniture.

"Go to your room; I don't feel like puttin' up with you today," The golden hedgehog pointed down the hallway, and the younger hedgehog let his ears droop while he sauntered off.

"Wait."

The young pup froze, knowing he was caught.

"Come here."

The hedgehog did.

"What happened… to your eye…?" Gold hissed.

"R-Rufus threw a rock at m-me today…" Sonic hiccupped, starting to get worked up.

"Why?"

"H-he… Um… H-he caught me st-"

The pup was smacked across the face. He yelped in pain and stumbled backwards.

Amy gasped, and Tails in Knuckles gave a look of shock. The older Sonic just shook his head and looked away.

Gold stalked up to the pup, towering over him.

"You got caught?" Gold growled, "You do realize that everything you don't bring home, doesn't put food on the table, right?!"

The younger Sonic whimpered, trying to hold back tears, but was failing miserably.

"Answer me!" Gold suddenly smacked the boy across the face again, and this time he fell to the ground. "Do you realize that whatever you don't bring home doesn't get you dinner?!" Gold boomed.

"Y-yes…"

"What?!"

"Yes!" Sonic cried out, turning into a trembling heap on the floor.

"I'm glad we see eye to eye." Gold's anger suddenly vanished, as he pointed to the hedgehog's room again, and watched the pup scramble down the hallway. The golden hedgehog turned to the kitchen, suddenly meeting eyes with his mate, and snarled at her. "What're you starin' at?! Get back in there and fix dinner!"

Blue turned around again and went deeper into the kitchen. Gold was left by himself, and he gave an exasperated sigh. After muttering to himself for a bit, he fetched himself a drink and plopped down on the couch.

"…Wow…" Was all Amy could say, which was more than Knuckles and Tails.

"Now I understand why Eggman wanted to send us back to this time period…" Sonic muttered, "This was the hardest time of my life…"

"Sonic… I'm so s-"

"'Sorry?' Don't be. There were tons of other kids that had it worse than me," Sonic interrupted Amy.

There was somewhat of an awkward silence after that, until Knuckles remembered something.

"I heard your dad call you 'Cobalt'; what was up with that?" He asked.

Sonic chuckled and answered, "Cobalt's my real name; Sonic's just my nickname."

"Are you serious? I didn't even know that," Tails exclaimed.

Sonic just shrugged, "I like 'Sonic' way better than 'Cobalt.' It suits me better."

"So, how did you get your nickname?" Knuckles asked, and was soon deadpanned by Amy, Tails and Sonic. "Right… Um… Let me rephrase that… Who started calling you 'Sonic?'"

"My mom. We were playing tag one day, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't catch me. She kept saying that I 'must have sonic speed,' and it just kind of stuck with me, I guess," Sonic explained, a bit shy about the subject. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ah, okay," Amy nodded. "So why doesn't your dad call you that?"

Sonic shrugged again, "I dunno. I mean, he barely bothered calling me by my real name to begin with."

"Dinner's ready!" Suddenly rang from the kitchen, and Gold grabbed his beer bottle and headed for the wooden table in said room.

The young Sonic tentatively came out of his room and quietly walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, I don't think so. Git' your tail back in there, ya' spoil't brat," Gold hissed, shoving Sonic back towards his room.

"Gold, he hasn't eaten dinner in three days, let him eat with us for once," Blue said, grabbing Sonic's arm as he turned to leave.

"I have, and he's a complete slob!" Gold exclaimed.

"What do you care? I'm the one that cleans the messes around here!" Blue argued.

"Hah!" Gold scoffed, "'Cleans the messes?!' This whole house is a mess!"

"And it wouldn't be if you would just help me for an hour or so!"

"Don't order me around!" Gold snarled, coming to meet Blue in the face.

"I wasn't! I'm just saying-"

"I don't care what you have to say! What matters is what I say! And I say, make the brat go back to his room!" Gold interrupted, wrenching Sonic from Blue's grip, in the process making the pup squeak in pain.

"He's hungry, Gold! Let the child eat, for Chaos' sake!"

"He could starve, for all I care!"

Blue gasped, and rage suddenly flooded her emotions. "He's your son, you ungrateful rat!" She burst, balling her hands into fists.

"No, he's your son! I never wanted him in the first place! You call me what you want, but this thing you call a hedgehog can't even pass kindergarten! I mean, seriously, it's literally the easiest grade ever!"

Gold was promptly socked in the nose. He released his grasp on Sonic, whom was trembling in fear by now.

"He can't pass it, because he doesn't have a father to help him learn!" Blue screeched, clutching the nearest thing by her, and chunking it at Gold.

The object was ironically a plate of steak and potatoes.

"There's your dinner you so desperately wanted!" Blue spat.

Gold snarled and smacked Blue, turning her sideways and making her stumble into the wall. He pinned her there, baring his teeth.

"You really want to die, don't you?" Gold hissed.

"Try me." Blue gasped through her pain.

Gold frowned and threw her into the counter, which effectively made something in her hip crack. She cried out and fell to the floor, clutching her left side.

Satisfied that his partner would be out of the way, he turned back to the trembling pup.

"Now look what you did. All because you were hungry."

That alone made all physical abuse seem so much better.

Sonic's friends looked shell-shocked, and when they turned to talk to their friend, he just shook his head and avoided their gaze.

"Wait for it…" He muttered.

Gold suddenly struck his son with the glass bottle he had miraculously held onto throughout the entire ordeal, and the bottle shattered across the boy's head.

Sonic cried out as the impact had spun him clear 'round, and he collapsed onto the floor, dazed and half-conscious.

Gold grumbled under his breath, bent down, and wrenched the pup off of the ground by the scruff of his neck. He carried him to his room and flung Sonic onto his bed before slamming the door shut.

"And you thought my mom was weird," Sonic scoffed to no one in particular. He jumped when someone suddenly pulled him into a hug, and he looked to see Amy. She had tears in her eyes, but she was trying to be strong. Sonic smiled fondly and returned her hug.

"How…? How could someone do that to someone so innocent…?" Amy asked, not really expecting an answer. She soon released Sonic from her hug, and he abruptly turned towards the door.

"We should go and find somewhere to rest. And find something to eat. I know a market not too far from here, and an old warehouse we could find some mattresses in.

The group nodded and followed him as they exited the house.

"And whatever you do, don't look back," Sonic suddenly told them, pinning his ears to his head. Not really knowing what he meant, they filed behind him through the littered yard.

"What do you me-" Tails was interrupted.

A scream suddenly split through the air, and everyone jumped. Sonic cringed, knowing what was happening, and knowing he couldn't do anything about it.

"Don't look…" Sonic muttered again.

His friends, although utterly curious, obeyed.

And it's a good thing they did, because what they would have seen would have made even Knuckles cringe in disgust. Through the window that allowed one to view the kitchen, two hedgehogs were seen.

One was blue.

One was gold.

The golden hedgehog's hand raised his baseball bat above his head.

The blue hedgehog's hands tried in vain to shield her face.

The golden hedgehog swung the bat downwards, and the blue hedgehog cried out in pain once again.

Sonic was glad he was in front of all his friends.

He didn't want them to see the wetness his eyes had slowly gained.

To Be Continued...

NEW STOREH!

ERRM MEH GURSH!