It's done. It's finally done. I did it. The young hedgehog let out a laugh as he raced through Green Hill Zone, his home. Behind him trailed a line of little non-Mobian animals. Earthies as they were called. He was the one that saved them all. It was a little mind-boggling, to say the least. After all, he had been through. He was finally at the end.

He screeched to a halt. Around him, the Earthies seemed to chatter amongst themselves. They're so happy. He thought to himself. Green Hill Zone was still as wonderful as always...and definitely more, now that there were no Badniks running around. His eyebrow quirked as he remembered something. The Chaos Emeralds. The legendary six chaos emeralds. He had all of them. Right now, tucked in his quills. It was a bit of an unorthodox way to store them, but it had worked. I should probably...do something with them. As he thought this, the emeralds started to heat up. The sudden warmth caused him to panic, and he rushed to throw them out of his quills.

And just as he was about to, everything seemed to flash before him. His world faded to white.

Where? Where am I? The hedgehog put a hand to his forehead, before sending a suspicious glance around him. White. Everything was White. For miles on end. I was just in Green Hill Zone, where am I now? He jumped to his feet, getting into a fighting stance. Robotnik wouldn't attack me so soon after defeating him, would he?

"Hello!" He jumped two feet off the ground. The blue blur span around to face the source of the voice. "Oh, I'm sorry I startled you! You didn't get hurt when you jumped did you?" His dark eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing. In this strange situation, of all things to show up, was a human girl. She looked at him expectantly. Oh, yeah, she asked a question. He swallowed nervously, then shook his head 'no'.

"Oh, that's good...though I'm pretty sure you can't get hurt here...I don't know, we'll have to ask." What!? What's she even talking about? He couldn't help it, his anger and confusion got the best of him, and he snapped.

"What is this!? Is Robotnik behind this!? If he is, I demand to see him!" The girl's eyes widened.

"R-Robotnik...why did you say that?" She asked in a small voice, her eyes still wide. His stance relaxed as he looked into her blue eyes. Whatever this was...he shouldn't have yelled at her.

"I-er-uh, sorry...I just got a bit angry." He scratched the back of his head nervously. She relaxed as well, though her posture stayed a bit tense.

"I'm Maria, by the way." She stuck out her hand. It was in that moment that he finally got a good look at her. She had bright blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. Those eyes of her were as blue as the sky, and the top part of her dress matched them. He looked at her hand.

"I'm Ma- Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. And I want to know what's going on here." It was a bit rude to snub her hand, but he wasn't going to be too polite until he had answers.

"Oh, yes, I was getting to that," she smiled at him, which threw him off guard, "Technically, right at this moment...well, we're in a dimensional plane connected to you."

"To me?" He asked incredulously.

"Yup." She popped the 'p' on the end. "And it's all because you're the Guardian of the Chaos Emeralds. I'm guessing you had some sort of connection with a high amount of chaos energy, and it activated the Guardian thingy and sent you here. I think." Sonic raised an eyebrow. This was a bit hard to believe. Actually, it was a lot hard to believe.

"And who are you supposed to be?" She smiled bashfully.

"Well...I'm one of the previous Guardians. The last one before you, to be specific. That's why I'm doing the introductory stuff. Speaking off," She looked over her shoulder, "How'd I do, Ser?" It was then, a mobian, one like Sonic had never seen before, emerged from seemingly nowhere.

"Howdy." The magenta mobian tipped an invisible hat to him. She wore a black tank top, and the rest of her clothes looked like mountain climbing gear. The most noticeable thing was the aqua colored beads of the necklace she wore. Her odd dreadlock quills things were in a ponytail. "I'm Seris. I'm an echidna, by the look on your face you've probably never seen a mobian like me." Sonic shook his head slowly and unsurely. The echidna smiled sadly.

"I'd thought so...anyway, you're Sonic right? Welcome to the club, kid." Sonic's eyebrows furrowed in irritation.

"How...How many people are here?"

"Oh just me, you, Seris...and Fleetway." Both women sent a sidelong glance to the left of him.

Again another mobian had appeared out of nowhere. It was a yellow hedgehog. He sent a glare towards Sonic, his hands on hips. "But don't mind him, he's a little grumpy, but most of the time…"

"He's busy reveling in his own angst." Seris finished. The young hedgehog sent a disbelieving look between the two women. Maria had a small expectant smile on her face. Seris had her arms crossed over her chest, a smirk planted firmly on her face.

"That's," Sonic started slowly, "Not a lot of people for being Guardian of the Chaos Emeralds." The echidna shrugged.

"The Chaos Emeralds are the ones who choose. There's big time gaps and such. There were nearly a hundred years before Maria was chosen after me, and two hundred before I was chosen." Black eyes darted back and forth, processing this information.

"The seven are mysterious." Seris continued. This statement caused the young hedgehog's mouth to hang open.

"Seven? Wait- No-no...there's only six...right?" His voice cracked. The only other hedgehog strode over to the small group. Fleetway glared at Sonic who fidgeted under his gaze.

"I cannot believe this, who is spreading this nonsense of there only being six?" He didn't let anyone answer before examining Sonic more closely, "And what has happened to Mobius that you don't have any eye color? Why if I…" Seris put her hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, no one needs to hear about how it was in your day. It makes you sound old." The yellow hedgehog looked annoyed at this. He took one last look at Sonic before walking back to where he was earlier. They were silent for a moment before Sonic coughed.

"Uh, well I need to be going...so...er, is there a way to get out of this, what did you say it was, dimensional plane? Was it?" Maria smiled a cheeky grin at him.

"Yes, yes, you do have to go...but before you do...is there anything you want to show us? I mean we're going to be with you from now on...so?" Sonic's eyes darted between the two women.

"Show you?" His voice rose to a high pitch.

"You can show us your memories...you just have to well, how do I say it? Think about it really hard?" Seris questioned herself, snapping her fingers trying to figure a way to describe it. The hedgehog thought about this for a moment. If he was stuck with these people he couldn't be too secretive.

"I, guess...I can show you the past year, or so." He said hesitantly. His eyes shiftily avoided their gazes. The memories flooded in easier than he expected, around them, flashes of them penetrated the white. Most of it was spent living in Green Hill Zone, just trying to stay away from it all...ever since… and then he saw that moto bug, and he knew he had to finally stop Robotnik. He had gone too far when he had invaded Green Hill Zone.

"Woah," Maria exclaimed softly. "You seemed really sad. Did something happen before any of that?" The hedgehog made no comment.

"I need to get going…" He muttered.

"Yeah, you should go. You seem to have quite the responsibility on your shoulders, kid." The echidna said it almost sadly. I don't need any pity right now. The thought caused a scowl to form on his face. He closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself back in Green Hill. No time had seemed to pass. He looked to the sky, the Chaos Emeralds dispersing. Sonic's eyes were wide, and he couldn't help but sigh. All that hard work gone to waste. He looked down to the Earthies, that were comfortably settling back into their home.

Sonic sighed again, and started to head home. He headed towards the hidden parts of Green Hill, where shade prevailed over sunshine. Towards the back, there was a cave. And right by the entrance was a brilliant red aeroplane, and in white print read his own name. He fondly ran his finger over the red brilliance. Then, he went into his humble abode. The cave did not have a proper bed, only a pile of blankets. The only other thing in there was a wicker chest.

"Kinda an odd place to live in." Sonic jumped, hitting his head on the wall of the cave. Ow...that hurts. Standing before him was Maria, oddly transparent as if she was a ghost. "Oh my Chaos. I'm so sorry, are you alright!?"

'Do I look fine?' he thought in response.

"No, you don't look fine."

'Wait...you heard that? But I'm thinking...what's happening!?' Sonic panicked, bracing himself against the wall.

"I'm so sorry, I forgot to tell you. We can see everything you see and do when we choose to. We can also enter these ghostly forms to talk and communicate with you."

Well, better to tell me now, then later. Maria didn't respond. 'Did you, did you hear what I just thought?' She shook her head 'no'. How about this one? No response. 'It's weird...I can talk to you through my thoughts...but sometimes you won't hear them.'

Maria shrugged, "Gives you a sense of privacy, I suppose." He watched her carefully, the way her pale features contrasted against the dark cave. It was kinda weird how he could literally see through her.

"That's a cool plane...can you actually fly it?"

Sonic frowned at the doubt. 'Of course. A, uh, old friend taught me. I fixed it up, and painted it myself. It's called the Tornado.'

"Neat…" Maria looked sad for a moment and looked around the cave. "So are you going to keep living here...I mean, you've lived here for a year, right?"

'Yes. But...I think I need to move on...well, if I'm going to keep stopping Robotnik, I'm just endangering Green Hill. I have to move on.'

"Where are we gonna go?" He frowned at the usage of the word 'We'.

'My friend left me a base, on an island, it's built up from an old plane, rather cool actually. I'm going there tomorrow.' He walked over to the basket, and opened it, taking out an apple. Maria watched him, something odd in her eye.

'It's rude to stare.' He thought to her, taking a bite out of the red fruit.

"Ah, sorry." She apologizes too much. She has nothing really to be sorry for. "You remind me...of someone I used to know." So she has an old friend as well…

He looked down at the floor, studying the dirt. 'Don't worry about it...I don't mind... too much.' She smiled at him, and Sonic felt happy.

"It's really dusty in here." Sonic sent an odd look towards Maria, he was still getting used to these people talking to him, in his head. And talking to no one else. It was slightly disturbing to say the least, but the idea was still getting better, and the company was nice.

He had done as he said and gone to the island. It was built from an old plane, and from up above in the Tornado, it just looked like an old crash site. One that was not worth scavenging from, and looked like it was so old that anything that would've been worthwhile would've been wouldn't be now. On the inside, however, the place was liveable, and though the technology was not that up to date, it was manageable. At least that's what he saw with only a brief look through. He'd have to do a bit of cleaning to make it liveable.

'Dusty...well at least the previous owner didn't leave food laying out or something.'

"That would be gross." Maria said in agreement. He turned and was startled when Seris was suddenly there. He would need to get used to that.

"Sorry." She replied, slightly shameful but mostly humorous. "Didn't mean to scare you." She examined the place herself, and reached to touch one of the metallic walls, but stopped. Her hand would've gone through the wall. "I hope you're not scared of storms, cause this place is not gonna block out any of the sound."

The blue hedgehog shrugged in response. He seemed to do that a lot these days. I think I've shrugged more than I have ever before since these guys have come into my head.

"Fleetway?" Maria looked towards her left. Sonic blinked. The yellow hedgehog wasn't there.

'Uh, Maria?' He questioned. The young girl looked from where she had been to Sonic.

"He's invisible, but he's standing there." She pointed, "He's not in white space."

'Ah,' He replied, not knowing what to say. Again that was another thing he did a lot these days. It was confusing, between Robotnik and these...Guardians, he had his hands full. At least these guys are trustworthy. And...it's been awhile since I've had friends. He tried to reassure himself, despite his doubts. 'Is everything alright?'

"Everything's fine. He's just being Fleetway." Seris waved Sonic's concern away. Right, right...okay. He walked to a corner of the room, and found what looked a little bit like a restaurant booth. The couch was curved in a 'c' shape, and the table was slightly pushed out from it. He ran his hand over the table, picking up a thick layer of dust, 'Well, I guess it's time to get to work.'

The blue hedgehog headed and found a duster in the kitchen. He started to aimlessly start cleaning, not particularly having a set plan. The Guardians wandered around the plane, or at least that's what he thought they were doing. Maria seemed fine with following him, pointing out places he should dust.

"Hey kid, I think I've found the hangar!" The echidna called from the end of the hallway.

'Great, I'll move the Tornado soon then.' Sonic looked to the closet he had been trying to open, but the door was sealed shut. His mouth twisted, and he took a closer looked at the door.

"What's wrong with it?" Seris asked, walking over to Maria and Sonic. 'It won't budge.' He replied, frustration in his tone. The young girl put a hand to her chin, stroking a non-existent beard.

"I bet it's airtightly sealed, that's why it's so hard to open." The young hedgehog turned to her, with eyebrows raised.

'Wow, that's rather smart, Maria. I don't think I would've been able to think of that.' She shrugged lightly in response.

"Smart, yes," Seris looked closer at the door, which was metallic just like the walls, and if you were just passing through, you wouldn't even notice it, "But that doesn't answer how to open it."

"It's probably just stuck." Maria murmured. The echidna and the human began exchanging ideas to open it, while Sonic pulled at the handle. He gritted his teeth. It's just a stupid door. His arms struggled, and his shoes were losing traction. It's just. A. STUPID. DOOR! The young hedgehog fell flat on his butt, and the two guardians stopped their conversation. The door had swung open.

"Are you alright?" Seris asked, wanting to help him up, but not being able to, just stood awkwardly. Sonic waved the question off, pushing himself up off the floor.

"You're sure?" Maria looked at him with concern.

'I'm fine.' He looked to the closet and found himself pleasantly surprised. Blankets, sheets and pillows, and they looked like the cleanest things he had seen in the whole place. He grabbed a blanket, pressing it to his face, it was so soft. A smile spread across his face, and he found himself laughing. Seris and Maria looked at him in confusion, but soon they were laughing too.

The blue hedgehog draped the yellow blanket across his shoulders like a cape. Comfort was a rare thing these days, and little comforts like these were greatly appreciated. He turned to the other two, and smiled, 'Alright, let's move the Tornado, shall we?'

Sonic set his wicker basket on a counter, taking out an apple. He glanced at the basket, taking a mental tally of the number of fruits. The blanket cape was still wrapped around his shoulders. The entire place was definitely cleaner than it had been when he had arrived. The guardians had seen fit to leave him alone after he had moved the Tornado inside, or at least that's what he assumed.

He walked over to the booth in the corner, taking another blanket he had set on the table, also wrapping himself in it. Laying down, he sighed. Part of him really wanted to start crying. He didn't know why...or maybe he did.

His eyes felt heavy, and soon his breathing slowed. Sonic closed his eyes. And when he opened them he was in white space. Right...I keep forgetting about this part.

"Are you okay?" Maria noticed his discomfort. I'm really not sure if I like people always being concerned about my wellbeing like this.

"I'm fine, just- er- adjusting, you know." She nodded, seeming to understand. That was another thing he kept forgetting. These people had gone through the same whole Guardian business he had been going through.

"Don't worry, soon it'll be old hat," Seris said, and Sonic frowned for a moment.

"But," His voice was quiet, "But what if it isn't?" Seris looked taken aback, the question was certainly unexpected. Maria bit her lip, obviously trying to think of an answer.

"You'd be surprised." The voice came from the only other hedgehog. Fleetway, arms crossed over his chest shrugged, when everyone's attention turned to him. "There are some things we think we can't overcome, but we do." He rolled his eyes when their attention was still kept on them. "Just because I'm - what did you call me, Seris? Angsty? Doesn't mean I can't not be." His shoulder shifted uncomfortably under their attention.

This was really going to be his life now.