Enter the Supersonic Hedgehog! His Journey to Another Universe

Note (2/15/20): In a few months, this chapter will be updated to reflect my current writing style, as well as fix some errors.

A/N: Thank you for choosing to read Chaos on Earth: A Sonic X Rewrite. I understand that, while many people enjoyed watching Sonic X, some people were (and still are) critical of the anime. I personally enjoyed the anime, but I too agree that there should be changes. And this fanfic will attempt to rewrite it, doing everything right this time around.

The Japanese version of Sonic X, which is the original version, is arguably better than the English dub in many ways. I will try to combine aspects of both versions of the anime, and, in the case of the Chaos and Shadow sagas, Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2.

Before you proceed to read the story, you should be aware of some of the major changes I will make in comparison to the original anime:

#1: Chris Thorndyke's personality will be gutted and completely changed. I believe Chris alone is the reason many people are critical of Sonic X, as he can sound whiny at times. In the rewrite, Chris will probably be wary of Sonic and his friends at first, and then warm up to them as time goes by. His role, however, will remain the same.

#2: There will be more events per episode. I feel at liberty to tweak some scenes (for the better), as well as add new ones.

#3: The rewrite will focus primarily on Chris and Sonic. As the chapters will be longer than the episodes, I will have a lot more room to work with these two characters. You won't have to worry about Chris, because I'll make sure his personality doesn't slip.

#4: There will be thirteen episodes in a season rather than twenty-six. This is due to the increase in length compared to the original anime (see #2). As a result, the rewrite for "Defective Detectives", which has the Season 3 finale slot in this new change, will be reworked into the Shadow Saga. Additonally, the Season 1 finale in the Metarex saga slot ("Mission: Match-Up") will be completely rewritten to feel like a proper season finale.

#5: Episodes after "A Wild Win" will be rewritten. The Homebound saga will be scrapped and replaced with an all-new saga. The Metarex Saga will be rewritten if I get enough support.

#6: A primary OC will be introduced into the story. He/she will not appear as much as Chris, but will still occasionally play an important role. Along the lines of OCs, I will not introduce any Mobian OCs, but there will still be the occasional human OC. The primary OC will be introduced some time during the first season.

#7: This story will be written in a post-Forces perspective. I have my own plan on how I'll handle the Chaos and Shadow sagas.

#8: Sonic and his friends will have updated personalities, comparable to the Modern, Archie, and IDW versions of the characters. Amy's temper will be slightly cut back, Sonic's attitude will be a different kind of cocky, among several other changes.

#9: After the original episodes (if I decide to add my own episodes), more Sonic characters will be added over time. They may include Blaze, Silver, Metal Sonic, Sticks, the Deadly Six, the Babylon Rogues, Orbot, and Cubot. If I decide to use other characters, those that aren't out of the question are the Freedom Fighters, Sonia, Manic, Geoffrey St. John, Naugus, Scourge, and Tangle. Of course, I will use these characters sparingly.

#10: Episodes will be renamed to fit the new format. For example, the first episode, "Chaos Control Freaks", will be renamed "Gotta Go Fast".

#11: Humans will be more mature in the story. The police officer in "Techno-Teacher" will no longer eat his burger on the job, Jerome Wise will be more subtle about his motives, Grandpa Chuck will not drink in "Cruise Blues", etc.

#12: The chapters will be written in first-person. The perspectives of Chris and Sonic will be most often used, while first-person perspectives of other characters will be infrequently used. Third person will most likely be used infrequently.

#13: The only Archie Sonic X elements that will appear are Captain Westwood, Alexander Pell, Milan Ramada and her friends, and the S.O.N.I.C.X. organization. Milan's friends will be given names.

#14: Characters that don't already have first/last names will be given some. These characters include Tanaka, Danny, Frances, Helen, Mr. Stewart, Officer Albright, the President, and Ella.

#15: In addition to the E-series robots, Badniks will appear in the story. Among them are Motobugs, Buzzbombers, Crabmeats, and Orbinauts.

#16: Some of the E-Series robots' names will be changed. For example: E-35 Funfun wil be renamed E-35 Fujita. The name "Funfun" is far too ridiculous for Eggman to say with a straight face, if you know what I mean.

Other things to expect from me:

#1: I will not skip any episodes. I've seen rewrites in which a few or several episodes are skipped, and I sort of think that takes away from the joy of it. So I will include no fewer then the first forty-six episodes. Additionally, I will limit time skips.

#2: As my writing skills improve, I may go back and rewrite previous chapters.

#3: Chapters will be posted infrequently. There will be no schedule for chapters of Chaos on Earth so I can keep this story the best it can get.

Now that you're asleep after reading this incredibly boring intro (it was originally going to have its own chapter), let's get right to what matters: the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own any elements in this story except for my own characters. Sonic the Hedgehog is owned by SEGA, who does not endorse or affiliate itself with this work of fiction. Real world locations and organizations are used fictitiously. Real world people will be mentioned, but will not appear, in order to adhere with "Entries not allowed" Rule 4.

Without further ado, let us begin...

Sonic's POV.

They don't call me the "fastest thing alive" for nothing.

When you're "rolling around at the speed of sound", as that song so accurately puts it, you tend to have a pretty exciting life. Which is normal for me, because I was born for speed. And my speed has carried me all across Mobius on many daring adventures.

But I think the biggest adventures I have are when I get to battle the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik, better known as Dr. Eggman, the catchy nickname I gave him years ago. At first he hated that name with a passion, but now he took it to heart, and has build lots of robots with names like Egg This, Egg That, and so on. But none of 'em last long when I'm around. I've earned myself quite a reputation for trashing his 'bots and sending him packing. But like all those other cliche villains, he never gives up. He always comes back for more. And I take him down. Every. Single. Time.

Well... not every time, though. He does win some of the time, to be fair. Not too long ago he destroyed a Mobian city as part of his plan to build the Eggman Empire. Then we dealt with Infinite and the Phantom Ruby, and almost-literal ghosts of the past helped to defeat me and imprison me for six months aboard a space station. Six months without running. Six months without fighting. Six months of being submerged in water and other tortures I won't go into. Anyway, I later managed to escape, and, together with a rookie friend of mine, we kicked Eggman's butt and sent him packing once again.

But of course, he came right back. He vowed revenge, as he usually does, and swore to get rid of me once and for all. Same song, different verse. We've clashed a good couple dozen or so times in the year or so since then, Some battles he won, but most of them... well... you get the idea.

But there was one such adventure I would never forget.

That one saw me running toward his big, ugly fortress. My mission: to crack that Eggman wide open and bust Cream out of there. The six-year-old rabbit had been kidnapped by Eggman and held as ransom in exchange for the last Chaos Emerald we had. The other six were slyly taken from us a few days ago, when Eggman distracted us with one of his robots. We had since found the last emerald, and planned to keep it safe from Eggman's bots.

It was too safe. You can probably guess what happened next, but I'll explain more later.

So anyway, I was running straight toward Eggman's fort head-on. Tails and Amy agreed to provide aerial support in the Tornado 2 where needed. It was just us three; I think Knuckles would have liked to join the party, but we haven't seen him for a week. He said something about picking up the trail of a Chaos Emerald. We haven't heard from him since. Shadow was busy doing G.U.N. stuff again, Blaze was back in her own dimension, Silver was back in his own time, and the Chaotix were doing their usual detective things. Oh well, even though it's just us three, we can still get serious business done.

Just then the base's alarm went off. Obviously Eggman was aware of our presence. It wasn't like he didn't know we were coming to bust Cream out of that tower. But now that he knew we were here, I began wondering what new toys the good doctor might send at me this time.

I saw in front of me that the headquarters' front gates were closing. If Eggy thought they could keep me out, he's as wrong as he is guaranteed to lose. But these gates were a good thirty feet tall. No problem. Except there was just a tiny little challenge to clear first: three E-30 Laser Tanks and a swarm of Buzz Bombers. Looks like Eggman's up to his old tricks again. I know he once had an E-100 series a long time back, and there's actually still a surviving member of that series: E-123 Omega. He works with Shadow and Rouge now, so I'm glad he decided working for Eggman was not the answer.

But I've always wondered why Eggman didn't do numbers under 100. Looks like he's taken care of that now. He's been working on these robots and designs for them since the Lost Hex incident, if I recall correctly.

But enough on the E-Series for now. Let's just say the Buzz Bomber swarm picked the wrong day to get some night air. I curled up tight, and bounced myself toward the first Badnik in that swarm. Concentrating, I bounced from bot to bot until all the Buzz Bombers were destroyed. Various animals popped out of them and scurried away. I still think that using animals such as Flickies is inhumane. Just what does Eggman get out of using animals to power robots?

I was so busy watching the animals that I almost didn't see the wall-mounted missile launchers firing at me. Coming back to my senses, I decided to lead them on a merry chase. And so I did. I let those missiles chase me while I kept an eye on the Laser Tanks that started firing at me. Taking a quick look back, I counted six missiles chasing me. What to do with them...

I increased my speed, and was mildly impressed that the missiles were able to keep up with me. But then again, they're just missiles. Three of them crashed behind me as a result of my epic moves. But that still left three others.

I narrowly avoided Laser Tank fire, and thought to let the missiles hit them, but then I saw another potential target: a group of Motobugs. About three dozen of them were speeding toward me head-on. I decided the missiles were for them instead. I ran right through the midst of them, zigzagging to avoid hitting any, and quickly stopped to watch the show. As expected, the remaining three missiles crashed into the Motobugs, destroying them on the spot. The only robots left now were the Laser Tanks.

There were only three of them, armed with heavy laser blasters. Now you're wondering how I know their names. Well, we raided Eggman's base on an earlier mission, and found a list of robots under the E-Series. Of course, the E-100 series was retired. Eggy wouldn't be making that mistake again. From what I hear, they couldn't even find the right frog on their first real mission!

Anyway, some of those robots were available, while others were classified. Their data was encrypted, or showed up as silhouettes. (I could have sworn one of the silhouettes looked like an octopus!)

Back at the battle, the tanks opened fire at me. Eyeing the gates, I knew a thirty-foot jump would easily land me in Eggman's front yard, but where would the fun be in that? I could destroy the Laser Tanks on my way in, which was my intention. But first, the missile launchers. A quick check revealed that they were reloading. Not that I care, though. By the time they're ready, I'll be long gone.

The E-Series, from the little I know of them, are, on average, fairly larger than the standard-issue Badniks I'm used to. And since they're larger, they tend to be bulkier and slower. Good for me, though, because I found the perfect way to scale the wall and destroy the tanks at the same time.

I vaulted myself, Olympic gymnast-style, from tank to tank, and propelled myself clear over that wall. The sound of explosions outside the gate signaled three more destroyed robots, courtesy of Sonic the Hedgehog.

I'm in. Now, where to? It's not like I haven't been here before. In fact, Tails made a map of the fortress using his handy-dandy Miles Electric a while back, so I knew my way around. But right now, it looks like Eggman went through the trouble of preparing a welcoming committee for me. How considerate. But they're more like a goodbye committee. Goodbye to them, that is.

I was just about to spin-dash the Flickies out of them (literally) when I heard this metallic stomping noise. No normal Badnik is capable of that kind of ruckus, so I guessed it was another one of those E-Series robots. And I was right. Three giant robots were approaching me. Then they activated their jetpacks and surrounded me. Of course. I should have known Eggman would have his E-12 Behemoths on duty. But then again, these are disposable robots, and I was more than happy to take out Eggy's trash for him.

One of the Behemoths aimed its arm at me, but I knew better than to stand in the way of an impending laser blast. I leaped out from among them as its arm fired a massive laser, creating a massive, scorching hole. Turning back, I saw that the Behemoth that tries to blast me had instead blasted its other two friends. Sonic 1, Eggman 0. Actually more than that, if you count the Laser Tanks and Badniks I destroyed on the way here.

Uh-oh. Looks like I made that last Behemoth mad. It fired up its booster rockets and started to fly toward me. That's when I decided to juice it loose. As expected, the giant robot was chasing me. It was fast, but I was definitely faster. A quick glance up, and I could see the Tornado in the distance. And it was mondo occupied. Dozens of Buzz Bombers were swarming around it. I decided to rest assured that Tails had a device he could use to deactivate them.

I was so busy looking ahead that I almost didn't see the Egg Pawns in front of me! I really need to look where I'm going. Or maybe the Behemoth's strategy was to herd me into them. Either way, those Egg Pawns wouldn't stand a chance against me. But I had better ideas...

Breaking right immediately before I would have run into the Egg Pawns, I spotted a tunnel in the distance. I made a beeline for it, and, once inside, stopped briefly to see if the Behemoth would follow me. It had a difficult time turning around, but it did. When it started heading right toward me again, I decided to keep the merry chase going.

Hopefully Cream doesn't have to wait long before I arrive. The poor girl has been stuck there for nearly two hours now, too long in my book. After Eggman took the other Chaos Emeralds from us, we had found the last emerald (the red one, for those who are wondering). Earlier tonight, Tails, Amy, Cream, and I were gathered together at Cream and Vanilla's place to discuss how to break into Eggman's base and get the Chaos Emeralds back. The spooky thing is, Eggman's been rather quiet lately. He hasn't even so much as revealed what he intends to use the emeralds for. But whatever it is, it's bad. So we had just finished supper (I, of course, had chili dogs, by the way), when several Egg Pawns burst through the door. Ordering everyone to stay in their seats, they searched the entire house for the emerald, even nearly overturning the furniture in their reckless plight for it. I tried to fight them, but was secured to my seat by an electric rope they brought along. When they couldn't find the emerald, they decided their best course of action was to lift Cream out of her seat and drag her out the door. The others secured the rest of us to our seats using the same electric rope. I was sitting at such an angle that I could only see half of what was going on outside. But what I did see made me really wish I was untied. They had placed Cream inside a capsule-shaped robot (an E-31 Capsule Carrier, as I later learned), and shipped her off to Eggman's fort. It took me a little bit, but I managed to break free. I freed the others, and said that we need to get over there and free her right now. Tails got the Chaos Emerald out of hiding and handed it to me before taking Amy to the Tornado. Thus began our mission.

And that just about takes us to where we are now. I was still running down that tunnel with the Behemoth tailing me. Judging by my surroundings, I was in the giant circular hallway surrounding Eggman's underground factory. I could easily take the Behemoth inside and take down the whole place, but not with Cream at stake. The factory was partially underneath the fort, which was a risk I was not taking. So I instead looked for an exit to this seemingly endless hallway.

And I had to find it fast. A second Behemoth seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of me. At last, there was the exit to my left. I zipped through it, and not a moment too soon, for the Behemoths collided with each other, going up in a fiery explosion.

Definitely not enough to blow up the factory. That was the good news. The bad news was that I knew there were still a few Behemoths left in Eggy's arsenal. But there was more good news to make up for that. Tails had activated a container of EMP gas he had added to the Tornado, which was causing the Buzz Bombers to short out and drop like flies. Good old Tails. He had just given me the perfect projectiles to take out the platoon of Egg Pawns in front of me.

So I leaped into the air, and, one by one, kicked the lifeless Buzz Bombers into the Egg Pawns below, taking them out. Those that didn't go down quite so easily met their demise, courtesy of my signature home attack move. Landing on the ground, I dusted my gloves. Another job well done. Turning toward the fort, I decided that the fun and games ended here. It was time to take on Baldy McNosehair.

But the moment I sped toward the fortress head-on, I wish I hadn't.

Boing!

Oops. I took a step too far. I was too focused on bashing bots that I didn't count on the place being booby-trapped. Now I'm used to springs and stuff, just not in the wrong places. I was flung into the air, watching as the ground became sky and vice versa, over and over. I looked down (or is it up?) for a safe place to land. But nothing's safe in Eggman's base, unfortunately. Another Behemoth came from my right (left?) and delivered a powerful blow to my abdomen. I was sent flying once again. And, horror of horrors, I felt the Chaos Emerald slip out of my possession. I heard Tails calling my name, but he need not worry. I'm very resilient, and it takes a lot more than that to break my bones. (Besides, isn't that reserved for sticks and stones? Sorry. Gallows humor. Not that I'm going to die now, but still.)

I landed outside the base. Turning my head, I saw that a fresh batch of Laser Tanks were driving outside the gate. They were blasting at Tails, but they were also turning toward me in an attempt to turn me into roadkill. That was unexpected, Eggman. You never cease to amaze me...

Third-person POV.

Sonic's misfortune did not escape Tails' attention. He did not expect the Behemoths to suddenly overpower him. Had Sonic not activated the hidden spring trap, he might have had a chance at defeating them. But what's done is done. Eggman was a tricky foe, and Tails knew it took more than speed to defeat him.

But Sonic appeared to be winded by the sudden turn of events. Tails knew that dire situations called for dire measures. He decided on activating the Power Ring rocket stored inside his plane, the Tornado 2. The Power Rings were artifacts of great power, obtained from a lake in the middle of the Great Forest back on Mobius.

Since Sonic and Tails left the Freedom Fighters a while back, they knew they couldn't part ways with the rings forever. So every once in a while, Sonic visited Knothole Village to pick up the rings which formed in the lake once every twenty-four hours. Over time, he and his friends had formed an impressive collection of rings.

But why were these rings so important? After Eggman's coup that succeeded in conquering the old city of Mobotropolis, Sonic's Uncle Chuck had invented the Power Rings, genetically coding them so that only Sonic could use them. The rings greatly enhanced Sonic's speed and strength, and they had helped the hedgehog time and again to foil Eggman's plans.

Fortunately, Eggman never found the location of Knothole Village, and, in essence, never found the source of the Power Rings. Since the war ended, the Freedom Fighters disbanded, but they never forgot about the rings which gave Sonic great power.

Such power was needed tonight.

However, just as the two-tailed fox was about to press the button to send Sonic some well-needed aid, a Laser Tank took aim at the plane and struck its undercarriage with deadly accuracy. The plane rocked with the impact, causing Amy to cry out in alarm from the second seat. As the resulting fire began to spread to the Tornado's tail, she began to search for the fire extinguisher they usually brought with them for such emergencies, but it wasn't to be found.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed. "Tails, we forgot the fire extinguisher!"

A sinking feeling fell on the young fox. "I was in such a hurry to join Sonic that I forgot to bring it!" Tails rarely made this mistake. "I'm gonna land as soon as I get the ring to Sonic."

"Okay…" she whispered, hoping the damage wasn't critical enough to jeopardize the entire mission.

Tails jammed down the button to launch the ring. A compartment in the belly of the Tornado opened, and a small rocket containing a Power Ring was jettisoned out. Its engine ignited, and it sped toward Sonic.

Tails and Amy had offered to cover for Sonic while he went in to Eggman's base to rescue Cream, but with the plane damaged, Tails hoped that Sonic could make it through the base on his own. If not… he hoped they would survive this ordeal so they could aid him.

The sound of a small explosion could be heard in the distance.

"Amy, did he get the ring?" Tails asked.

Amy looked behind her. It was hard to see through the smoke and flames, but she saw a golden glimmer in the hand of her beloved Sonic.

"Yes!" she answered.

"Good," Tails responded. "I'm going to see if I can land in one piece."

Looking at the monitor, he realized that the fire damage was worse than he thought. The engines were overheating, the rear wheel was heavily damaged, and now the steering mechanism was damaged as well. This was going to be a close one.

"Brace yourself for a crash landing!" Tails warned Amy.

"Is it that bad?" she shouted over the engines.

"I'm afraid so! The steering and landing gear have been damaged."

Suddenly Amy pointed ahead. "Tails, look out!"

Tails gasped. A huge rock loomed right in the middle of the Tornado's crash path. With no steering and basic control whatsoever, it seemed there was no possible way to avoid the boulder in time.

But there was one way to stay alive.

"Brace yourself; I'm going to eject us!"

Amy nodded and prepared herself for her seat to launch itself into the air. But it never happened, as both the Tornado's occupants witnessed three life-saving things.

A red flash.

A spiked fist.

And a smashed boulder.

Tails and Amy breathed sighs of relief as the Tornado bumped along the ground, moving past where the boulder was. Tails did not like the sound the plane made as it rear slid along the grass. They finally slowed to a complete stop a good thirty feet from where the boulder once lay. Neither of them spoke on account of their increased heart rates and their adrenalin rush wearing off. Complete silence filled the air, with the only sound being the tearing apart of metal over at Eggman's fortress. Tails could rest assured Sonic got the ring.

Knuckles the Echidna caught up with them from the right side of the plane. "You all right?" he asked.

Tails turned to Knuckles and smiled. "Yeah, now that you're here," he replied. "Thanks for the save."

Knuckles nodded curtly. "It's what I do."

"Where were you this whole time?" Amy asked, not out of anger, but curiosity.

"About that…" Knuckles sounded hesitant. "I kinda didn't tell you guys that I sensed a Chaos Emerald near Radical Highway."

"And you left without telling us?" an incredulous Amy asked. Knuckles didn't answer, so she took that as a yes.

"Turns out, there was never a Chaos Emerald out there. Eggman had gotten there first and was using it to taunt me. He tricked me again."

Tails facepalmed, while Amy sighed in annoyance. Knuckles was prone to being tricked constantly. His friends thought he would have gotten over this during the war. The echidna chose to ignore the air of annoyance.

"As far as I know, that's the only Emerald Eggman has in his possession," he continued.

"Hate to break it to you, Knuckles, but it's not," Tails corrected.

Knuckles was taken aback. "What?! Then how many does he have?"

"He's taken the six we had, and tonight he's kidnapped Cream and Cheese as ransom for the seventh," answered Amy.

"I heard," Knuckles answered. "About the kidnapping part, I mean. Sonic told me."

Tails stood up and helped Amy down from the wrecked Tornado. "Well, it won't do us any good sitting here and doing nothing," Tails pointed out. "We need to help Sonic."

Amy pulled her Piko Piko Hammer out of Hammerspace. "Ready when you are, Commander!"

"Oh, I'm ready all right. Ready for revenge." Knuckles crashed his namesakes together. "Stay close. I'm not in the mood to deal with unnecessary casualties tonight."

Tails and Amy nodded before the three of them ran toward the fortress. They could still hear Sonic continue his assault on the robot army.

Go get 'em, Sonic, thought Knuckles. We're right behind you.

Third-person POV.

Within the walls of Eggman's lair, robots of many shapes and sizes were moving about, heading to different posts or out into combat. They would certainly be needed tonight. The tower and its underlying factory were home to thousands of Eggman's mechanical servants. And their creation and duties were personally overseen by Dr. Ivo Robotnik himself from his command center at the top of the tower.

He was there at this moment with his two hench-bots, E-01 Decoe and E-02 Bocoe. While the former was colored yellow and was tall with a tall head, the latter was grayish, rounded, and short. The three sat in silence as they watched Sonic destroying Eggman's own creations on the giant viewscreen. The large digital clock behind them read 10:54 PM; Eggman would usually be in bed by now, but since he had a prisoner with him, he decided to stay up in case Sonic would immediately come after him, which he did.

In the corner of the room, Cream and Cheese were confined to a capsule which had been deposited by Eggman's Capsule Carrier. Needless to say, they were scared and wanted to go home badly; their slight whimpering signified it, but it fell on deaf ears. This was not their first time on captivity, but it was still quite frightening.

In the center of the room was a giant machine of some sort. There was a tube that led to the ceiling, as well as a master switch and slots for the seven Chaos Emeralds.

Eggman let out an exasperated groan as the screen lit up brightly. While he was no stranger to seeing that hedgehog power himself up with a Power Ring, he still couldn't find out how they were genetically encoded to him only. He had given up on it years ago, however.

"Gah!" he exclaimed. "Why must that infernal hedgehog always interfere with my plans? Every single time!"

Cream replied to the doctor's rhetorical question from the corner. "You know why just as much as I do," she replied.

Eggman swiveled his chair around to face her. "Oh? And why is that, Creamy-dreamy?" he asked tauntingly.

The young rabbit cringed. That nickname sounded so wrong coming from him. "Because you are a bad man, Dr. Eggman, and Mr. Sonic only wants to stop you from doing all the bad things you like to do."

"Chao chao!" Cream's Chao friend Cheese agreed.

"A bad man, eh?" marveled Eggman. "You haven't seen the half of it!" Turning back to the screen, he said, "Well, Sonic has no chance of stopping me tonight. Not when I'm holding all the good cards."

He rubbed his hands together in glee. "And I'll further secure my victory right now. Bocoe, Decoe, lock down the entire base. I don't want to deal with rodent infestations tonight."

"Right, Dr. Eggman," both robots responded. Bocoe selected which areas would be locked down (in this case, all of them), and Decoe pressed the "LOCK DOWN" button. In moments they could hear the sound of every interior door closing and sealing themselves.

"The tower has been sealed, Doctor," Decoe announced.

"No one can enter or leave with the sole exception of your own robots," Bocoe added.

"Excellent," The rotund doctor stated while fiddling with his mustache. "Let's see that blue eyesore try to break in now."

Just then there was a knock at the door to the command center.

"But we just sealed it..." sighed Decoe.

"Check who it is," ordered Eggman without moving from his spot at the screen.

After pressing a few buttons at the console, Bocoe activated the surveillance menu. "It's Bokkun, Doctor," he reported.

"Let him in."

Bocoe headed back over to the lockdown console and navigated the map until he found the command center. Tapping the door, he turned around and watched it open. Decoe and Eggman also turned as an E-03 Messenger Robo unit named Bokkun flew into the room. A shiny red gem was in his hands.

Eggman stood up. He needed to stretch since he had been seated in that seat for most of the night. "Ah, the seventh Chaos Emerald, right on time," he said as Bokkun handed it to him.

"Sonic was carrying this Chaos Emerald until one of your Behemoths "encouraged" him to donate it to us," Bokkun joked. "Looks like he won't need it anymore!"

"Let's hope you're right," Eggman mused as he turned to his giant machine. He did not see Bokkun wink at Cream in the corner, making her uncomfortable. There seemed to be a little something between them...

"Now that all seven Chaos Emeralds are in my possession," he stated, "nothing can stop me from putting my grand scheme into motion!"

"W-What are you going to do with the Chaos Emeralds, Dr. Eggman?" Cream nervously asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Eggman said, a little too much glee in his tone. "You see this machine here? I've been working on it for the past two months. All I need to do is insert this last Chaos Emerald, throw the switch, and voila! Every single living organism within one hundred miles of my lair will be turned into my cold metal slaves, excluding myself. Even you, Cream, will serve me in a new body!"

Now Cream was truly frightened. She had never been directly threatened with roboticization before, and knew that she could not possibly avoid the process without help.

It took her a moment to find her voice. "Y-you'll n-n-never get away with th-this, Doctor Eggman! Mr. Sonic will-"

"Sonic can't stop me, remember?" he gloated, even though this was not true. "I can't get away with this? Oh, please. I've gotten away with much worse, like, I don't know... feeding the Chaos Emeralds to a giant water god capable of destroying an entire city?!"

This did nothing to alleviate the pure fear coming from Cream and Cheese. "B-b-but I don't want to become a robot!"

"Chao chao chao!" echoed Cheese.

"Oh, don't worry," Eggman "reassured". "The process is entirely painless - that is, unless you choose to defy me after your roboticization. Oh that's right, you can't." He let out an evil laugh before approaching the cage. "Your precious Sonic the Hedgehog just relinquished the last Chaos Emerald. Isn't he generous?"

He threw another glance at the screen, where Sonic appeared to be surrounded by more robots. "Are you sure he can save you now? You know he can't. Soon you will all be roboticized. And what fun that will be, given I have never roboticized a Chao before."

"You leave Cheese out of this!" Cream demanded.

Attempting to hide his mirth, Eggman started back to his seat. "Sonic the Hedgehog will be terminated," he stated matter-of-factly. "Count on it."

Sonic's POV.

Okay, so a couple E-Series robots think they can take me down just by surrounding me. Big deal. I've got a Power Ring, and I'm not afraid to use it. If Eggy's watching me now, and I know he is, he's in for a big surprise. I leaped out from among them, then proceed to use homing attacks on each of them, destroying them instantly. One of the Behemoths grabbed me, but since I knew hedgehog sandwiches weren't appetizing, I used both hands and feet to push the robot's hands off of me, then proceed to spin right through its core, destroying it immediately.

All the robots in that area were completely demolished. Now it's time to take down the Eggman.

I looked at the tower. Now obviously Eggman has been prepared for me, so I ruled out the front door. Even the lower walls were most likely heavily guarded. So I figured the best way in was through one of the underhanging skylights. That would mean scaling a vertical wall and breaking glass, which would surely alert those inside. No risk is too big for me!

So I started running up the tower's wall (being able to exceed the force of gravity has its advantages). Two seconds later, I reached the top. Even though the floodlights were blinding, I immediately executed a spin and broke through the skylight.

Great. I've just landed in one of the eight aerial Badnik launch bays. Fortunately it was near-empty, since they had launched nearly all of their Buzzbombers in an attempt to do me in. There were still a few left, which I immediately got rid of without breaking a sweat.

Then there was the door to the upper hallway. Eggman had obviously sealed off the entire fort. Big surprise there. I smirked. Nothing a spin dash can't penetrate!

And now the home stretch. The door to Eggman's command center was right there. Of course, it was sealed off. I was just about to break through the door when I heard the voices of Eggman and Cream on the other side.

"N-no, Doctor Eggman," Cream was saying. She was clearly panicked. "I d-didn't do it."

"Bokkun doesn't lie, Cream," Eggman replied. "That was clearly a secret wink you just did. This means that you have an accomplice in our midst. Bokkun, search the entire room for our little friend, whoever he or she may be!"

Yikes. Things are looking mondo bad for Cream. Just then another metallic voice (Bocoe or Decoe, maybe?) spoke, but it was too far away for me to hear what he was saying.

"What?!" Eggman replied. "He's here?!"

Now's my cue. I spun through the door, destroying it completely. There was the fat man himself, with a shocked expression on his face. Cream and Cheese were relieved that I came, and Bocoe, Decoe, and Bokkun... well, they're robots.

"Mr. Sonic!" Cream exclaimed.

"You managed to breach my lockdown system," Eggman was incredulous. "How?"

"You know me," I smirked, "always able to dodge whatever you throw at me. But enough joking around. I demand that you release Cream and surrender the Chaos Emeralds immediately!"

"One or the other, Sonic," Eggman said. "You can't have your cake and eat it too. Either way, you will be roboticized, along with every single living organism within 100 miles of this place."

That caught me off guard for a moment. I thought roboticization was behind him. Guess I'm wrong. "Roboticized."

"Yes, Sonic. Roboticized. You might be interested to know that is only the prototype model. The final model will roboticize the whole world."

No way, no how, would I ever let Eggman do that. A world crawling with evil robots is not a pretty one. Eggman was just about to place the final Chaos Emerald into the slot with the other six when I snatched it from him in one swift move. "I like my organic body, thanks!" I taunted.

Eggman looked from his hand where the Chaos Emerald had just been to me with hatred. "What did they teach you about stealing?!" he exclaimed. Turning to Bocoe and Decoe, who were sitting at the console, the good doctor gave an order. "Beam E-13 into the room. I want this hedgehog good and gone!"

"Right, Dr. Eggman!" both robots responded.

"I still wonder why you ditched Orbot and Cubot for those two," I said.

"'Ditched' is such a strong word," Eggman said. "They are merely in storage. I replaced them because of their incompetence. They may return if I decide it."

I smirked. "What makes you think they won't be incompetent either?"

Before Eggman could answer, a robot began to materialize in the room. It was slightly smaller than a Laser Tank, but still looked pretty agile and powerful.

"Meet E-13 Guardian," Eggman introduced the robot. "You'll find that fighting in close quarters is risky, especially when hostages are involved!" He beckoned to Cream. "E-13, get that hedgehog and give me the Chaos Emerald he has!"

"Heh. If you can catch me!" I taunted. I started running laps around the room as the Guardian began firing at me. Eggman's right: closed spaces are risky, and I don't want Cream getting hurt."

"Not as easy as you thought, eh, Sonic?" Eggman said.

I ducked under a laser shower before starting to run again. I saw Bokkun trying to hide behind Decoe's seat.

"Decoe! Cover me!" he cried.

Decoe appeared confused. "I thought you liked interfering in fights," he said.

"But this is Eggman's base, and I don't wanna ruin his project!"

"Oh, I see."

"Oh, Sonic?" Eggman called. "I'll bet you want to know that one of my Laser tanks shot down the Tornado when you were using your Power Ring. Backup isn't coming anytime soon."

I realized that the Guardian was firing at me almost ceaselessly, which gave me an idea. I stopped running right in front of Eggman, and the Guardian turned its guns on both of us.

"What are you doing, Sonic?!" cried Eggman. "I didn't think you would stoop so low as to commit cold-blooded murder like this!"

"Just testing your reaction time," I amended as I leaped out of the way. No way would I actually kill Eggman; I only want to bring him to justice.

Apparently the Guardian was a bit slow on the draw. Just as it was about to fire, a crunch sound came from the doorway. I watched as the hole became bigger, and Knuckles, Amy, and Tails barged into the room.

It was good to know Tails and Amy survived the crash. And Knuckles was back! Hadn't seen him in a while.

"Welcome to the party!" I greeted. Turning to Knuckles, I added "And hey, I see you brought the punch."

"Very funny, Sonic," was all he said before he locked eyes with Eggman, revenge on his mind.

"I should have known you rodents would rise from the wreckage of your plane like the phoenixes you're not," muttered Eggman.

Knuckles ignored Eggman (wise move). Instead he gave an order. "Amy, get Cream and Cheese out of here. Tails, get the Chaos Emeralds out of that machine. And Eggman, I hope you know what's coming for you."

"I should say the same about you," Eggman said. "Don't you know what this is?"

I saw Tails reaching out for the Chaos Emeralds plugged into the machine. "Careful buddy, that could be-"

Before I could say "dangerous" (and it was, believe me), an electric shock jumped from the machine to Tails' hand, causing him to yelp and leap back.

"Did I forget to mention the Chaos Roboticizer has its own self-defense system to discourage thieves?" Eggman brought up.

"Well, this changes things," Tails mused.

Meanwhile Amy approached the capsule that Cream and Cheese were trapped in. She brandished her signature Piko Piko Hammer. "Close your eyes, Cream," she said. "I'm getting you out of here."

Cream and Cheese did as they were told, and Amy smashed the top of the capsule off. The sound of glass shattering echoed through the room.

"Don't just stand there! Stop them!" yelled Eggman to the Guardian.

"C'mon, you two. We're getting out of here," Amy said as gently as she could as she took Cream's hand. The latter carried Cheese in her other hand as they ran back for the hole which they came from.

"Thank you, Miss Amy," thanked Cream as they left the room. The Guardian tried to follow but was brutally rocketed into the wall, courtesy of Knuckles' fist. The impact was strong enough that the Guardian exploded on impact, raining shrapnel everywhere. We flinched, but the shrapnel miraculously didn't hit anyone. But it did hit something.

"My machine!" Eggman cried, before quickly calming down. "At least it can take a beating and keep on functioning."

"It won't be functioning for much-"

"Yoink!" Bokkun exclaimed, stopping me mid-sentence, as he snatched the Chaos Emerald out of my grasp. I can't believe I got sidetracked like that. Bokkun dropped the Chaos Emerald into Eggman's open hand.

"Seven emeralds, millions of new robots, and one all-powerful Dr. Eggman!" crowed the fat doctor as he headed toward his machine.

"This is bad," I muttered. This was going to be close.

Tails rushed over to me. "I could try to disable the Chaos Roboticizer's defense mechanism, but it would take too much time!"

I smirked. "Then I guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way!"

"You can't stop me, Sonic!" laughed Eggman as he placed the Chaos Emerald into its slot. "Five more seconds and the next thing you'll say is 'All hail Dr. Eggman!'"

The guy's insane. For a doctor, he sure could use one. Turning to Tails and Knuckles, we gave a secret nod, which meant that we were basically thinking the same thing. Instantaneously we bolted toward Eggman. Time seemed to slow down. Would he pull the lever and roboticize the entire region? Or would we take down the doctor and save the day? Two possible outcomes, one result. Which would it be?

"Too late, hedgehog."

Unfortunately, Eggman acted first. He pulled the lever a split second before we tackled him to the ground. It looked like we lost. The machine started glowing intensely. But then something happened that I least expected.

As the Chaos Roboticizer glowed, it also began to shake, rattle, and roll. The Guardian's lasers and shrapnel must have done a number on Eggy's new toy. Then I was blinded by an extremely bright white glow. Could this be? Did Eggman really cause-

I didn't have enough time to think as the whiteness turned to blackness as I landed on something hard.

My name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. And this is the story of my journey to another universe.

? POV

"Lindsey Thorndyke, you've done it again," commented my grandfather as the movie's credits began to roll.

"She has such marvelous acting skills," Ella, our maid, said for maybe the tenth time that night.

"Mrs. Thorndyke never ceases to amaze her audience," our butler Mr. Tanaka voiced his opinion.

"I'm not really a romance fan," I commented, "but this was Mom's best acting yet!"

"Isn't it though," Grandpa added. "She is indeed a natural."

As the credits continued, we all rose from our seats, and Ella and Tanaka began to clean up the popcorn. One of the great things about watching Mom's movies is that we get to watch it two weeks before it premieres in theaters. And that's why it rocks to be a Thorndyke.

Oh, I'm forgetting my manners. My name is Christopher Thorndyke. I'm twelve years old, and I attend Oakview Elementary School. Summer vacation is ending, and I'll be going into sixth grade this Monday.

I live in a big mansion (appropriately called Thorndyke Manor) with our maid Miss Ella, our butler Mr. Tanaka, and my Grandpa Chuck. Ella makes the best recipes I've ever had, even giving some of the fancy diners a run for their money. Tanaka is well-trained in martial arts, and is very patient with us, even in trying times. Grandpa is a scientist who has his own lab set up in the room above the detached garage.

We had just finished watching The Winds of Change, Mom's latest blockbuster. In the movie, the lead actor's character had run into tough economical times, and Mom's character loved him so much that she offered to work to get him back on his feet.

"Did you hear that Lindsey's going to be in another romance movie?" Ella asked as she tossed the trash in the garbage can in the kitchen.

"No," Tanaka answered. "What is it called?"

"Valencia."

"Interesting," the butler commented. "The Winds of Change was a most excellent movie. I believe Valencia will be even more so."

"Hey Chris," Grandpa started, "you might want to know that she's also going to be in the next Elites movie."

"Really?!" This was awesome. The Elites is my favorite movie series (Star Wars is a close second), and with Mom in the third installment, Dawn of Spectrum, how could it get any better?

"Surprise," Grandpa beamed. "It's also going to be sponsored in part by Starship Soft." Starship Soft was my dad's mega software company that owns nearly seventy percent of the world's technology industry. I'd say it could give Bill Gates a run for his money.

Having finished cleaning up, Ella and Tanaka left the kitchen. "Are you excited to see you father tomorrow?" Ella asked me.

"Oh, yes!" I responded. "I don't think I've seen him since Christmas, if I'm right." Eight months is a long tome to wait to see one's father. Too long, actually.

Just then Tanaka's smart phone rang. "It's Mr. Thorndyke," he reported before answering the phone. "Mr. Thorndyke," he greeted before listening.

That must be coincidence. We were just talking about Dad before he called. I just hope his visit isn't cancelled.

"I see," Tanaka spoke again. "...Two weeks? ... Very well. We await your presence. Sayonara." He hung up before turning me. "My deepest apologies, Master Chris, but your father will not be able to make it tomorrow. He has agreed to reschedule his visit for two weeks' time."

This I sort of expected. I've gone through this routine for probably all my life. I know my dad is very busy as the CEO of Starship Soft, and my mom stars in maybe three movies a year. At this rate, it's normal for them to delay their arrivals for weeks on end. When I was younger, I used to cry when my parents couldn't come home; but now that I'm older, I've grown past that stage. Nevertheless, I was still sad.

Chuck turned to my crestfallen face. "Don't be down, Chris," he encouraged. "At least your mother's still coming this weekend."

"Yeah..." Of course, this was always subject to change.

Dessert was a blur, due to both dejection and exhaustion. I wanted to see Dad badly, and now it looked like I needed to wait longer. Bedtime soon arrived, and, after brushing my teeth and washing my face, I crawled into bed. Thus ended another day in the life of Chris Thorndyke. If only I had friends to share these days with.

You see, I may be perhaps the richest kid in the world, but I have no close friends. At least, none I make out of sympathy only. All the other kids think I'm a celebrity. They only like me because I'm popular. But I've never had a genuine friend.

Just then I saw what I thought what looked like a shooting star in the distance. Then an idea came to me. What if I wished for friends? It sounded crazy, but I thought it was crazy enough to work.

I walked over to the window and looked up into the sky before beginning the shooting star rhyme. It may sound a little young for my age, but I thought it would bring some effect.

"Star light, star bright
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have this wish I wish tonight.
I wish for close genuine friends I can have forever."

As I slipped into the realm of my dreams, I wondered if my wish worked. I had no idea what was coming for me.

Sonic's POV.

Man, I must have really been thrown for a loop, 'cause it feels like I've been out cold for a while. Last thing I remember, I was fighting Eggman, trying to stop him from roboticizing the entire region... Now, I'm here. The question is, how could a machine initiate Chaos Control like that? And why did it happen then? Actually, was it even Chaos Control? It must have been, even though I've never seen it executed at that scale before.

It felt like I was lying on something hard, so I decided to find out what it was. I slowly opened my eyes, and found that I was lying on... a road? How could I have gotten here? I thought Chaos Control was one of those "all in the mind" things. But if I was in the middle of the road, then that means-

Honk honk!

I leaped to my feet and dodged the pair of headlights that moved my way, only to find myself in the path of another. I kept moving until the cars stopped coming. Now I'm no stranger to traffic. Places like Station Square and Central City are full of it. But here it looked like I created myself a little traffic jam, seeing how all the cars were stopped up like that. I bet the citizens of this town weren't expecting me to drop in.

Taking a look around, I saw that the drivers and pedestrians were Overlanders. No surprise there. I've had lots of encounters with 'em. But the thing that got me was what they were doing. They were all staring. Staring at me, as if they'd never seen a Mobian before. That's what really got me.

At this point, the incessant honking and shouting was really starting to get to me. Then I saw something that made the situation even weirder: a store. Well, it wasn't the store itself as much as the sign overhead.

"Station Square Jewelers"

Now my head's spinning. How on Mobius could I be in Station Square without the people recognizing me? Maybe-

"All right, people, clear the scene. This is an investigation zone. Move it."

I turned to the source of the voice. It was one of several Overlander policemen. They were addressing the growing crowd, who, from the looks of things, had been honking and shouting at me for quite a while. Some of the policemen were apologizing to the drivers and pedestrians for the inconvenience, while others were setting up police lines around the intersection. From the looks of things, I'm a sight for sore eyes here. Have they not seen a Mobian before? I didn't have much time to think about it, for a few of the officers began to approach me.

"We have a situation here; an unidentified organism is blocking up traffic at 7th and Spruce, over," spoke one of the officers into his radio.

It must have been on loudspeaker, for the voice on the other end was nice and loud. "Is it someone in costume?"

The officer gave me a once-over. "Negative."

"Subdue it and bring it to the station." the voice replied. "The people at the Station Square Science lab can take it from there.

Whoa. Things just got mondo ugly. A science lab?! Do they even have Mobians here? And if they can catch me (which they most likely can't, since, you know, I'm the fastest thing alive), they'd probably experiment on me and run tests like I'm some kind of alien. Man, I tell you, science was always my least favorite subject.

I went from startled to belittled at the next actions of the officers. They began to treat me like I was some kind of animal. Well, technically, I am an animal, but not that kind of animal. Anyway, they were coaxing me, something like this:

"Here, big guy... Good boy, wanna come have a ride to the police station?"

They were pretty much this close to asking me to sit and beg. I'm so glad they didn't bring out the clicker and treats.

So anyway, that did it for me. I'm not an animal, and no one on my world treats me as such. Maybe I could jog their memory of me a little bit, yeah?

"Guys! Don't you remember me?" I said. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Nope. Didn't work. Instead, they were taken aback, something I only half expected. Looks like they didn't know I could speak at all, much less speak in their own language. I'd take off right then, but I didn't because the officers were regrouping, and I wanted to hear what they were discussing.

Unfortunately, I couldn't hear much, as their conversation was whispered, but I picked up words such as English, hedgehog, and alien. Then they stopped speaking all at once, enabling me to listen in:

"I can't believe that thing is a hedgehog!" one of the officers was still incredulous.

"They've got hedgehogs on other worlds?" another spoke.

"Focus on the situation at hand," interrupted the police sergeant. He sounded like he had a thick accent. (Which country, I didn't know. I would have to study this world's geography to find out.)

"It may not have done us any harm besides cause a traffic jam, but it's an alien nonetheless," he continued. "I suggest a way we capture it."

"Coaxing it sure didn't work," said the one officer who tried coaxing me earlier.

"Yeah," said another officer. "Will handcuffs work on it? It looks pretty strong."

"Dunno, but it's worth a try," the sergeant replied.

"I'll do it," the first officer said.

One of the amateur officers looked a little nervous. "It won't attack us, will it?"

"Relax," the first officer reassured his partner. "I used to be an animal catcher, and besides, hedgehogs are supposed to be a tame species."

I could have laughed. They haven't seen a thing I can do.

"He looks confident," the first officer whispered to the police sergeant, but another officer overheard. "I'll wipe that smile from his-"

"Stand down," commanded the sergeant. "Don't instigate this alien. It could be friendly."

"You have a point," replied the second officer. "Do we have any tranks on us?"

"Afraid not." the sergeant answered. "The net will have to do."

I was about to retort, but wisely held it back. I knew that words could not convince the officers that I meant no harm. I mean, what more could I do at this point? They wouldn't really believe me no matter what I said. And since diplomacy isn't one of my strong points, I decided to juice it loose. But before I could, one of the officers draped a net over my head.

Really? A net? They seriously think I'm some kind of animal? But hey, I saw this coming, so I decided to play along.

"I got him, Sarge!" called the responsible officer.

"Subdue him!" ordered the police sergeant as the other officers surrounded me.

Okay, playtime's already over. Now I decided to beat feet.

"Aaahhh! I need backup!" cried the officer as he sailed through the air. The net was the only thing that prevented him from getting third-degree burns on the asphalt. That's totally not the way to go. I don't want to do this, but it's my only chance of getting out or here alive and free.

"He's too fast! I can't catch him!" exclaimed one of the officers.

If this version of Station Square contains this much excitement, I want to see the rest of it as well... even though it's not my Station Square. Unfortunately, my Station Square never recovered from the Perfect Chaos incident. So anyway, I figured I didn't want any hitchhikers on my sightseeing trip. I'm pretty sure hitchhiking is illegal, so I needed a place to drop my cop buddy off. And I spotted it: a police car.

Now I almost regret doing what I did, but I vaulted myself over the car, while simultaneously shrugging off the net. Both cop and net sailed through the open driver's window of the car. At the screams I heard behind me, I shuddered. I would never do that if I weren't trying to escape.

But now that it's all behind me (literally), it's time to take in the sights of this town.

Third-person POV.

To say the least, the two-person front section of a police squad car is not made for three people.

This was made clear when the alien cleared the roof of the car, shaking off the net draped over his head and effectively throwing the trailing officer through the open window of the newly-arrived squad car. Good thing the unfortunate officer's hands were already out in front of him, or a serious head injury was in order. Instead, he only suffered a cut on his hand. The other two officers had unbuckled their seat belts, and were just about to disembark from the car when the incident happened. They had only suffered bruises. It could have been much worse.

"Open the doors!" ordered the driver as he opened his door. The passenger officer did the same, allowing the third officer to crawl out of the car. The other two officer got out as well.

"Everyone okay?" the driver asked.

"Shaken, but otherwise fine," replied the passenger.

"Just a cut," added the third officer.

The driver picked up his radio. This had to be reported. Injuring police officers is a no-go in anyone's book.

"Car 15 calling Station 1," he spoke. "Come in..."

Third-person POV.

"It sounds like a joke," remarked the police chief upon hearing the latest report.

"Yeah," agreed one of the officers. "Nothing in our world has the capabilities to run at speeds in excess of four hundred miles per hour."

"This could be a problem," mused the chief. "While I don't know whether to consider it a crime, as it is from another world and does not understand our laws, it still injured a couple of our officers, though indirectly." He stood up. "It may or may not be friendly, but we need to get it off our streets."

He turned to his laptop and switched to the Google Maps tab. "7th Avenue heads out to Highway 101, which is where the alien codenamed 'Sonic the Hedgehog' is headed." He thought for a bit. "We need to block off the arteries leading out of the city, as well as set up a roadblock on 101 near Lunar Ridge. We also need to set a curfew over the city. No one should endanger themselves at the hands of a potentially dangerous life form."

"Yes, sir!" agreed the several officers in the room as they set out to perform their tasks.

Third-person POV.

"Did you enjoy Frances' birthday party, Helen?"

"I did!"

Eleven-year-old Helen Wesley was being driven home by her parents after visiting her friend Frances for her eleventh birthday party. The two of them were good friends since early elementary school.

Helen's father, Doug Wesley, turned on the radio and tuned it to the classical station. He worked long shifts at Walgreens. So long, in fact, that he even considered asking for a new department so he could spend more time with his wife, Janet, and their daughter Helen.

"Good thing we got your school supplies a couple weeks ago," Janet told Helen. "They've very nearly sold out over the past few days."

"I still can't believe you're already going into sixth grade," Doug spoke. "It felt like just yesterday when you were in first."

"I wonder who my teacher will be this year," Helen said. "Hopefully it's Miss Westerly. She was my favorite teacher ever!" Wendy Westerly was Helen's fifth grade teacher at Oakview Elementary.

Just then a voice interrupted the music, snapping the Wesleys to attention.

"We interrupt this broadcast to give you urgent news from the Station Square Police Department. We have issued a mandatory curfew over all of Station Square on account of an unidentified lifeform roaming the city. It is capable of running at speeds in excess of four hundred miles per hour. I repeat: a mandatory curfew is in effect. If you are indoors, remain indoors. If you are outdoors, head to the nearest building. If you are on the road, head home or to the nearest building immediately. This is a precautionary measure we are taking, as we do not know the full extent of the alien's capabilities. A mandatory curfew is in effect. We will bring you further updates as they become available. We now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast."

The Wesleys were speechless. There was an alien in their town. Alien actually existed. Whether it was friendly or not remained unclear. While Helen did not watch alien movies, she knew enough about them that they would go after people's brains, or conquer or destroy the world. This alien seemed different, but it was an alien nonetheless.

"It's a good thing we were headed home anyway," Doug finally spoke as they pulled off the freeway.

"An alien..." Janet was still stunned.

"I hope it's not dangerous," Helen said. "I don't want us to lose our city to... an alien..." Even she was incredulous.

"Don't worry, dear," Janet assured her. "We'll protect you if the alien is dangerous." She sighed. "I hope the police will be able to catch it."

"It may take more than the police to wrangle an alien that can run at... four hundred... miles per hour." He paused to make sure what he was saying didn't sound strange coming from him. Of course it was. "It could take the SWAT Team or even GUN to catch it."

"Just hope it's caught fast," Janet said.

Helen was otherwise speechless. She couldn't really say anything when there was an alien on the loose in the city. She yawned. It had been a long day for her.

Third-person POV.

This was probably the strangest case police rookie Barney Evans ever responded to.

He and thirteen-year officer Sean Rodham were assigned to travel to the site of the roadblock, which was a good eighteen miles from the station. As Barney climbed into the driver's seat, waited for his partner to get in, and took off.

The next seven or so minutes were quiet, with the only sounds being their own car, the other cars on the freeway, and the occasional broadcast on the police scanner.

Finally Barney broke the thoughtful silence. "You seen anything like this in the thirteen years you've been with the SSPD?"

"Nope. This is totally unique," Sean drawled in his southern accent. "Well, there's a first time for everything."

"Four hundred miles an hour? You gotta be kidding," Barney tried to maintain his composure. "With that speed, you'd think it was some kind of new Japanese bullet train made for the streets."

Sean chuckled. "I can tell you, this ain't no Honda."

Just then their banter was cut short by a clearly audible object landing on the roof of their car.

"That better not be what I think he is," Bobby said, not daring to stop the car, as he was in the left lane.

"Better pull over," Sean instructed as calmly as he could, but before Barney could hit the brakes, the alien leaped down onto the hood of the car. It was indeed hedgehog-like, but it wore articles of clothing: shoes, socks, and gloves. It appeared to have a cocky demeanor to it.

It took Barney only a second to take in the sight. This was just enough time to swing the wheel to the right to avoid bumping the safety barrier in the middle of US Highway 1. As he was doing this, the alien hedgehog waved at him, leaped off the hood, and sped down the highway at an insane speed.

During all this, the car did not completely stop, and Barney was continuing toward the rendezvous point.

"We were only going at sixty-five miles per hour," Barney said, nervously glancing at the dash. "If that's four hundred, he can outrun even the air force."

"Yeah, I knew he'd be fast," Sean replied, "but to see his speed from our viewpoint is frightening."

"If it can outrun Usain Bolt, it can very well outrun anything."

Just then, they heard the sound of a helicopter above them.

"Hope they have better luck than us," Barney wished.

"Knowing them, they probably will," confirmed Sean.

A few minutes later, the scanner gave the cops good news. "This is Chopper 3. Visual contact confirmed. Northbound on 101 near Center Street. Over."

Third-person POV.

The police captain in charge of the roadblock setup watched as the last bulldozer drove into place. This was no ordinary roadblock: there were about a dozen officers, eight police cars, three bulldozers, and even a tractor trailer set up. The overnight construction crews were kind enough to lend the police some of their vehicles to use.

"Think it's gonna be enough?" one officer wondered.

The captain didn't turn around as he surveyed his work. "It better be."

When the bulldozer parked, the police captain turned around. "I thought the alien was coming this way. What's keeping it?"

A second officer was checking his phone for tweets concerning this phenomenal event. "From what I heard, it literally ran up a skyscraper, look around, and leap from building to building. Something King Kong couldn't do," he added with a laugh.

"More like a real live Spider Man," the captain joined in.

The first officer took a sip of his Coke. "You know, if it can scale vertical objects like that, then a blockade like this one ought to be a breeze for him."

"You have a point," considered the captain.

The second officer looked up from his phone. "We made a couple arrests tonight. Some people didn't take the warning seriously."

Suddenly the first officer almost dropped his Coke as he pointed. "Here he comes!"

The captain barely had enough time to turn his head when the inevitable happened. Time seemed to slow down as the blue hedgehog-like alien ran at an incredible speed toward the roadblock. Then it took a leap so high, far and graceful over the roadblock that it would turn gymnasts into green-eyed monsters. Upon landing on the other side of the blockade, the alien continued running without losing speed, and ran down an offramp.

The police captain was agape. He had never seen anything like that in his entire life. Not even a NASCAR race could rival that speed.

When the second officer found his voice, he said, "Forget Spider-Man, we're dealing with the Flash!"

The captain nodded as he pulled out his radio. "Suspect has cleared the block. We're out of options."

"Not quite," the dispatcher said. "I'm relaying your message to the S-Team."

The S-Team. They were Station Square's high-speed police unit. The city had organized their founding years ago because of the city's speeding problems. Since then, the issue was mostly eradicated.

The captain sighed contentedly. If the S-Team can't catch him, he thought, no one can.

Third-person POV.

He slowly groaned and opened his eyes, grateful that the ringtone he chose was loud and pumping enough to wake him from sleep. He had fallen in love with "Life is a Highway" years back, and had used it as his ringtone ever since.

Turning to the clock by his bed, he saw that the green digital numbers read 3:13 AM. He sighed. Even for an early bird like him, three in the morning was a little soon for him to be up.

He fumbled for his smartphone on the nightstand and picked it up. The only person who could call him at this hour was his job. Turns out, he was right first guess.

Pressing the green button, he sat up and put the phone to his ear.

"Sam here," he spoke groggily.

"I hate to wake you at this hour," the officer at the other end said, "but we've got a unique case on our hands that needs your expertise. Can you be on standby within fifteen minutes?"

"Sooner," Sam answered with confidence.

"Good. We'll brief you when you get here."

"I'll be there before you know it," he answered before hanging up. He yawned before rising from his bed and dressing into his pullover shirt. His suit was at the station, and he knew he could change into it in a little as thirty seconds. It took him lots of practice to do so, but back in the day, he had a lot of opportunities.

Nowadays, there weren't as many opportunities for him to stretch his legs and legally put the pedal to the metal on the freeway. But when they did come, he savored every moment of them.

Living on the second floor of the twenty-four story Lilac Apartment Suites, which was only a mile away from the police station, really had its advantages. This way Sam could run out to his car quickly. He ran down the stairs (he insisted the elevator was too slow) and out the door. He quickly located his car, hopped in, pressed the Start button, and drove off toward the police station.

He planned to get there in record time as he usually did. His name was Speed. Sam Speed. Or rather, the Highway Star… at least for tonight. He was the leader of a seven-person special police unit in Station Square, formally known as the Speed Division. Sam preferred to call it the S-Team.

Four minutes later, Sam pulled into the police station's parking lot. He leaped out of his car and entered through the front door. An officer saw him and smiled.

"On time as usual, I see. Come this way." He ushered Sam to the back room, where Sam sat, ready to be briefed. Three other officers were already there.

"So what's the beef, Chief?" Sam asked.

"Right, so here's the scoop," one of the officers nodded. "There's an alien running through our town at about four hundred miles per hour."

Sam's eyes widened. "Run that past me again."

"The alien in question- Yes, it's literally an alien from another planet. The alien in question resembles a hedgehog. It's maybe three feet tall, has red sneakers and white gloves. It can run in excess of four hundred miles an hour."

"Wait, four hundred miles per- You're kidding, right? H-How can anything living move that fast?" Sam was awed.

"I really don't know. Maybe things are possible on other planets that aren't possible here?" the officer guessed, shrugging.

Sam never believed in aliens. He thought all that stuff was baloney. But if this was true… then he would really need to evaluate his thinking. Maybe aliens really did exist.

"So when do I chase down this alien?" Sam asked.

"Patience," he advised, a trait Sam would never master. "Right now we're just waiting to see if it can clear the roadblock we set up."

Sam's eyebrows raised. "That bad?"

"Afraid so," the officer responded, crossing his arms.

It didn't take a minute before a fourth officer entered the room. "Sir, the alien has effortlessly cleared the roadblock set up. The dispatched officers report they have no further options."

"He cleared the roadblock?" the incredulous officer verified.

"Yes, sir. Vaulted it like Olympian hurdles."

The officer raised an eyebrow before turning to Sam. "Well, looks like this is your cue," he announced, but not before Sam stood up.

"And I'll take it!" he said excitedly as he cracked his knuckles. "Oh, this is great. I've waited eight months too long for action like this."

"Hopefully tonight will have been worth the wait," the officer replied as Sam started toward the stairwell. "The rest of the team's downstairs waiting for you. Go get 'em, Blazemaker!"

"That's so yesterday," Sam called behind him as he opened the stairwell door. "Tonight I'm the Highway Star!"

The officer just shook his head as Sam quickly descended the stairs to the basement, where the Speed Division's garage was located. He pushed opened the door at the bottom of the stairs and found that his six teammates were already there waiting for him.

Hector Dragg was Sam's right-hand man. He had a real last name like Sam, but changed it because he wanted to be just like him. He was the oldest member of the team, and he and Sam had been working together to take down speeding criminals.

Then there was Juan Chaffetz. Like Sam, he too came from the dirt derbies, though he and Sam had yet to race against each other. He had excellent maneuvering skills, and couldn't be beat when it came to hand-eye coordination.

Paul Doyle was the S-Team's mechanic, and he's had years of practice in his department. He didn't head out all that often, though, as he had to stay and help out with George Karlof's training.

George was, needless to say, a mechanic-in-training, as well as the S-Team's newest member. He had really proven his worth both in the garage and on the streets.

Then there was rising star Fred Lester, who went by "Ace". If the Speed Division had a chain of command, he would be number three. Besides Sam, he had one of the lightest and fastest cars of the team. He too has had years of experience with keeping crooks at bay, effortlessly allowing Sam to catch them.

Last but not least was Dawn Winchell, the team's leading lady. She was the team's navigator who was responsible for checking air and road conditions, as well as the satellites and radar. She too didn't usually head out with the others, but when she did, she was a force to be reckoned with. Sam, Hector, Juan, Paul, George, Ace, and Dawn - these seven comprised the Station Square Police Department's Speed Division.

"All right, team, listen up," Sam began. "You've been on standby for a while, I assume. But now it's finally time for action. You know about the alien, right?"

"Yeah," Ace replied. "But we only caught a rumor of it from another cop."

"Okay. This alien is about this tall-" he held his hand up to about his waist- "is blue, and seems to resemble a hedgehog or porcupine. It wears sneakers and gloves, and is capable of running as fast as four hundred miles per hour."

Expressions of shock arose from the S-Team.

"Yeah, I know, I didn't believe in aliens either until tonight. But face it, they're real. This alien is real. We need to take it down."

The Speed Division was founded because there were too many people breaking the speed limit, and even the cop cars weren't fast enough to catch these speeders. In fact, Station Square was the top speeding crime city in America. People would speed in this city because the roads were perfect for it, and they could get away with it, even using cars designed for speed. But after the SSPD founded the Speed Division, due to the team's efficiency and reputation, speeding incidents and the resulting accidents were reduced significantly. Now people were afraid to speed because they knew all about the S-Team. There wasn't another team like it in the entire rest of the United States.

Because the speeding crimes were so low these days, it wasn't often that their status indicator in the front room of the police station changed to green for "Called Out". But when it did, it always sent butterflies to the stomachs of the team members, especially Sam Speed. For him, it meant it was time for another thrilling chase, another opportunity to live out his dream.

While Paul and George checked the vehicles to make sure they were in racing condition, Ace, Juan, and Hector got the fuel and oil ready for the vehicles. Sam stood by Dawn as she checked the computers so that the S-Team could be briefed on the situation outside.

"All good over there?" Sam called.

"All good!" Paul responded before Sam turned back to Dawn. The vehicles were almost ready. All that remained was that Sam choose the tires of the day.

Sam walked up to Dawn, who was standing near a station which displayed a map of the city, as well as a large touchscreen.

"Road temperature?" Sam asked.

"Seventy."

"Humidity?"

"Ten."

"Wind?"

"Calm."

"Road texture?"

"Smooth."

"Okay. Five groove medium soft."

"Coming right up."

As Dawn went off to order the requested tires, Sam ran toward his racing jacket hanging on the wall and proceeded to slip it on in the thirty seconds he bragged about doing it in. He and Dawn went through that routine every time. In fact, they were so good at it that they practically had it down to a science. Sam had to consider all the factors air and road factors during every mission - whether it was hot, cold, windy, calm, humid, dry, the Station Square Speed Division had tires for all these conditions.

Paul, Ace, Juan, and Hector were also set to go on this unique mission, as they too were dressing into their racing jackets. Of course, none of them had the thirty-second bragging rights Sam did. That was his thing, and they respected it.

George and Dawn, on the other hand, were going to stay back at HQ and monitor the road conditions and any potential hazards the S-Team might face, such as road closures and heavy traffic. Tonight, the police had issued a mandatory curfew, so traffic would certainly not be a problem. George and Dawn usually didn't go unless the mission was a dire emergency. Tonight was not so, as Sam believed that this alien was not that kind of threat… yet. If it proved to be more dangerous than he thought, then he would call them out.

Having changed into his racing suit, San ran over and grabbed his helmet and cloth that goes on underneath it. Putting them on, he walked over to his car. To Sam, it was his pride and joy. It never failed to help him take down Station Square's worst speeders.

Sam climbed into his car as the mechanics finished installing the five groove medium soft tires into the cars. Note that they did it in near-record time. In fact, the S-Team tire crew does about as well as the NASCAR pit crews. Simply put, fast is normal for the S-Team.

Hector approached Sam as the latter was buckling up. "Gears five and six are set for freeway speed," he reported.

Sam nodded. "Good."

"Also…" Hector leaned in closer to whisper in Sam's hear, even though he was wearing a helmet. "...your secret fuel tank? I topped it off for you. Bet the higher-ups won't even know."

Sam smirked. "Thanks."

So why was his secret fuel tank forbidden by the police while on the job. Because the fuel was atomic and had a high risk of exploding. Besides, it was too dangerous for highway use. But Sam figured that if Batman could do it, then so could he.

Sam tuned into the police scanner and listened in.

"Car 38 to HQ. Suspect is out of range. Last known location is 101 at Manchester." Manchester Drive was about two miles south of the northern part of the city limits. To Sam, that meant the alien was leaving the city. He knew he shouldn't let that happen.

"He's at 101 and Manchester," Sam radioed his team, now that they were all in their cars. "We'll cut him off at the city limits."

He was greeted with a chorus of "Yes, sirs!" as the team started their engines. What a glorious sound they make, thought Sam. Modified Formula One police cars are the best.

To say the team was pumped was something of an understatement. They had never dealt with anything remotely extraterrestrial before, let alone anything that could go four hundred miles per hour.

As the garage door slowly opened (too slowly in Sam's opinion), Sam went through his usual pre-mission checklist. Gloves on? Check. Helmet on? Check. Fuel tank full? Check. Gears set? Check. Rocket fuel installed? Optional, but check.

Time to release the hounds.

As usual, Sam's car was the first to advance toward the now-open garage door. His car was placed ahead of the other cars, so he would always be the first out. As he started driving, the others followed. First there was Ace, then Juan, then Paul and Hector. The five of them drove single-file through the door and onto a small road to their left.

That road led out to another, more open road - their runway, they called it. It was a stretch of road they used to gather enough speed to access the freeways and expressways crisscrossing Station Square.

Once Sam reached the road, he switched to gear four, floored the gas, and tore off into the night with his team, ready to take down the mysterious speedster from another world.

Sonic's POV.

Three miles later, I finally stopped running. It's been fun playing with the cops, seeing what their expectations might be. They even set up a roadblock to test my skills, which I passed with flying colors. You should see the looks on their faces when I vaulted the several trucks they placed in the middle of the road.

Jumping onto the top of a light pole, I decided to consider my situation. This was obviously not my world. If it was, then I would be trapped somewhere in the past. But how on Mobius could Station Square exist here too? The sign I saw before didn't lie. But there was another sign I saw while exploring the city: a Verizon sign that said something about a place called California. Could this "California" be the greater region Station Square is part of?

This Station Square was slightly different than the one I know. For one, the layout is slightly different. There were roads in places I know there weren't. I actually needed to scale a few skyscrapers just to get a bird's-eye view of the city's layout. For another, the climate was slightly warmer, which made me wonder if they got cold winters.

The full moon glowed brightly, which made me wonder if the night sky was still the same. For the most part, it was, though it doesn't take an astronomer to know that some of the star placements looked different.

Now I know for sure that I was transported through space and not time. I know my Chaos Control, and I know it transports their users through space and not time. This would explain how the police did not know me, and yet there was a Station Square. Perhaps this was an alternate universe?

Anyway, Chaos Control. Obviously something completely unprecedented happened to Eggman's Chaos Roboticizer that made it go berserk. Either the doc never tested his machine, or that destroyed E-13 Guardian somehow damaged it. Then again, the machine was pelted with debris. That probably did a number to it. That plus the seven Chaos Emeralds together spelled disaster. I've dealt with Chaos Control before - *coughShadowcough* - but Chaos Control has never occurred on a scale that massive before, at least not since Space Station ARK.

And that's how I got transported here. Am I here on this world alone? Could the others also be here as well? If I woke up alone somewhere, chances are Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream are here somewhere as well. Then my eyes widened: if they're here, chances are good Eggman and his minions are here too. That's when I silently vowed to protect this world from him should he attack, even if I did it alone.

But what if my friends were here? I know Knuckles can take care of himself. Tails and Amy can to to an extent. But Cream is just a kid. She can't take care of herself like the others can...

But before I could further ponder my situation, I became aware of the sound of motors behind me. Turning around, I saw what appeared to be five racecars with flashing lights. Strangely, they were some of the first traffic I've seen since landing here. They all stopped in front of the light pole I was sitting on. I figured it was a special branch of police. I jumped down from the pole as the hatch of the lead car opened. Out stepped a man dressed in a racing jacket.

"Hey," he said, removing his helmet, "thanks for giving us a reason to come out here tonight."

I shrugged. What a strange thing to say. But if he's a police officer, wouldn't he try to catch me now?

The hatches of the other cars opened, and the drivers climbed out. "You're under arrest for breaking the speed limit!" one of them shouted.

"Stand down, team!" the man held up his hand. "This is a special case. I want to talk to this one."

He turned back to me and leaned on his car. "I don't know if you understand English, but I wanna let you know you've made my night. You're actually the second arrest we've had this year. Now I'm sure you're wondering who the first is. Want to know what happened? Some nutjob thought Highway 101 is a great place to speed, since it's so straight. The guy had his own Formula One car and everything. Now I'm pretty sure those things are illegal for recreational use. But thanks to us, we took him down in two minutes. Two. Minutes. That's not even enough time to heat a frozen pizza." He chuckled at the memory. "I managed to outrun a Formula One in just two minutes. That's fast, don't you think?"

I wasn't sure what to think. It was kinda strange that a guy I've never met before suddenly starts tooting his own horn. But what's even stranger was that his demeanor was almost like mine, but more arrogant.

"Imagine going eight months without a real job," the guy said. "Which is why I want to congratulate you for having me come out tonight. I need the speed."

Now I had a feeling I would like this guy.

I was a little surprised when he offered his hand to me to shake. Doesn't he know that I'm an alien to this world? Nevertheless, I accepted the handshake.

"I gotta admit, you're fast, but let me tell you this before you go anywhere. There can be only one fast person in Station Square. And that person is me. You can call me the Highway Star. And this is the Station Square Police Department High-Speed Crime Division, or S-Team for short."

I smirked. The arrogance is rearing its head again.

Sam gave a rather loud exhale. "Well," he said, "this was really a long introduction. But you know what? I don't do long."

He slipped his helmet on and started to climb back into his car.

"I do fast."

With one downward hand wave, he signaled the other S-Team members to chase me down. Four engines revved, and four sets of tires squealed as their drivers sped toward me with one goal in their minds:

Arrest me and make this Highway Star person the fastest thing in Station Square.

You're on, I thought as I took off running.

So far, this chase was kinda disappointing on my end, since they were barely matching my speed of two hundred miles per hour, which is a leisurely speed for me. They may say the S-Team stands for the Speed Team, but in my book, the S stands for Slow-Motion! To prove my point, I thought, Hey, why not show then a few tricks?

"Suspect is at four hundred feet and gaining," reported Paul.

One of those tricks was to run laps around one of their cars. Great fun, if not dizzying. Then again, I'm Sonic. I've been in places where up is down and false is true. Oh yeah, the bold is for you readers to know what's going on in the cockpits of the Slow-Motion Team. Heh, that has a nice ring to it.

"Suspect is making laps around me!" said a frantic Paul.

"Boost rear flaps to twenty degrees," instructed Hector.

The drivers did as they were told and adjusted the wings accordingly. Soon, four sets of rear flaps clicked into place, lowering the wind resistance and allowing the drivers to move faster.

"Lanes are narrowing to three in half a mile," warned George over the radio.

"Roger that," Hector responded.

"Suspect at 300," Ace reported as he accelerated.

"Prepare Square Formation," instructed Hector. "Juan, you're up front. I'll take the back." A chorus of "Roger!"s was the response.

As the drivers were moving into position, the full effect of the flaps kicked in, allowing the drivers to achieve a maximum speed of 250 miles per hour for the angles the flaps were bent at.

I hope you readers aren't getting too bored listening to the S-Team's radio conversations. At this point, I reconsidered the S-Team being slow. I gotta admit, they're fast. But this is only 250 miles an hour. They haven't seen a thing I can do.

So just as I was about to crank up my speed a notch, they beat me to it. One of the cars drove ahead of me. What's its game? I wondered. I found out quickly enough, though, as it positioned itself directly in front of me. Interesting tactic, I must say. Two of the other cars we soon at either side of me, and the last was directly behind me.

So here I was, boxed in by four Formula One police cars. But that's not all. An antenna popped out of the top of each one, and the square was complete as an electric barrier connected the antennas. What, they think I can't get out of this?

Assumably, the electricity would keep the S-Team's suspects from escaping once their vehicle stopped, but this is Sonic the Hedgehog they're dealing with. So with one great leap, I escaped the square and landed on the car on my left, narrowly missing the electric barrier. Let's hear their reactions, shall we?

"Suspect is on my vehicle!" Ace reported, a little frantic.

"Don't panic," Paul advised before looking at his mini-map. "We're leaving the city limits now."

"Take the exit at Tingalin Villa Drive," Dawn instructed.

"Roger," Hector responded. To his team, he said "Everyone, we're taking the exit at Tingalin Villa. Single file, everyone, single file. Paul, move behind Ace.

"Roger."

A new voice cracked over the radio. "Sam to Hector. How goes the chase?"

Hector was pleased Sam used his real name instead of one of his many nicknames, because this was professional duty, and it would have thrown everyone off.

"Suspect is hitchhiking on Ace's vehicle. Awaiting orders."

"Keep doing what you're doing. I'm coming."

"Roger that. Over and out."

Actually, Sam had more to say. He was ranting about how he was the fastest in Station Square, and that all others fall underneath him. But Hector wasn't listening. He was too busy staring at the alien that just landed on his vehicle.

Hitchhiking is fun. It's a great way to preserve energy while still moving. But there's no way I would advise it to you readers. Sonic Says: Don't stand on moving vehicles, don't hitchhike, and especially don't use Formula One police cars to chase hedgehogs that can move faster than them anyway!

In fifteen seconds, the cars moved onto another road. Time to hit the road again.

As soon as my feet hit the asphalt, I took off running, faster than before. Let's see the S-Team try to catch me now.

Hector was more than prepared when the alien ran off again. "Boost rear flaps to 25 degrees and all other flaps to five degrees!"

The drivers did as they were told and adjusted the flaps.

"Full throttle!" was Hector's next command.

All four drivers put the pedal to the metal. However, it still wasn't quite enough. Not even their maximum speed of three hundred miles per hour could make them gain much ground. But at least the alien was still in sight.

Then the alien made a surprise move that shocked Ace.

"Uhh... You're not gonna believe this, but the suspect is literally running backwards at 300 mph."

And you thought hitchhiking was dangerous. I think I just took danger to a whole new level. I just love showing off my talents to an all-new crowd, don't you?

"He's playing with us!" exclaimed an incredulous Paul.

"Just what is this alien?" Ace added.

"Whatever it is, it's superhuman," Juan said.

"Hector to Sam, we have a situation."

"Noted. Suspect within half a mile and gaining. ETA 30 seconds."

Escaping the law is a no-go, but this is something I didn't commit. These guys are after me just because I'm different. But no matter. If I'm gonna be here a while, they're gonna get good and used to me by the time I get home.

Just then I heard a whirring sound above me. Looking up, I caught sight of a news helicopter, and waved to the camera. At least this is way better than those kiss cams they have at sporting events back on my world... Yuck.

Okay, just one more quick jump into third-person, and then it's all me. Just hand in there, readers. I'll get out of this somehow. I always do.

"The Highway Star is here!" Sam announced on radio to his team. "Open the center lane. I want to go at him one-on-one."

"Roger that, Speed Leader."

Sam was about to correct them, saying that he was the Highway Star, but this was official duty, so he wisely held it back.

The cars moved to either side of the center lane, clearing it. Sam floored the gas and passed the rest of his team. He gained speed so quickly that he went from 200 to 300 in just fifteen seconds. He would pull off all the stops if he wanted to out-speed and detain this alien hedgehog.

But the alien quickly noticed him and ran faster before Sam could pass him. "Not on my streets, hedgehog," Sam muttered to himself as he reached for a certain lever - the lever that activated the forbidden fuel tank. It was atomic, the reason the authorities banned it. However, they did say only use it in a dire emergency. Yeah, this was an emergency all right.

He pulled the lever, and the car roared to skin-rippling speeds of 400 miles per hour. Good thing the hatch was down, his seatbelt was on, and he was wearing a helmet.

Now that he was traveling confidently faster than the alien, he believed he had the upper hand.

Yeah, racing against Overlanders is really cool. I haven't actually done this back home. (I would have gone off-road already, but I'm enjoying this too much.) But sometimes it's the moments that your competition one-ups you that makes you feel like you're doing a real challenge.

Now was one of those times. This Highway Star guy (Sam Speed, I thought his name was) somehow just drove faster than me and passed me seemingly without explanation. I mean, how did that happen? Aren't I the fastest thing alive? Then again, Shadow and Metal Sonic are pretty fast, too, but come on, this is just plain edgy.

Next thing I know, the guy's trying to cut me off. I don't know what his game is, but I think he's trying to trip me up or something. Way past uncool.

Then he activated a bullhorn that blared from his car. The noise was so loud an unexpected that I almost fell behind.

"You will never be faster than me, hedgehog!" Sam screamed into the bullhorn. "It'll take a sonic boom for anyone to ever be faster than me on my highway!"

I smirked. Now he's talking my language.

"One sonic boom, coming right up!" I announced, even though I knew he couldn't hear me over the sound of his motor. I took a deep breath, braced myself, and shot forward at speeds in excess of 760 miles per hour. The resulting sonic boom was music to my ears.

Sam's POV.

I couldn't believe what I had just experienced.

No creature I had ever seen, whether in reality or in fiction, should be able to achieve mach speed. It's... Actually, it should be against the laws of physics.

I practically had him. I was just about to launch a tranquilizing dart from my car (something I keep for emergencies), when suddenly, it darts off at the speed of sound.

I don't think anything has ever achieved that speed on the ground. It was absolutely phenomenal. And when anything achieves the speed of sound, and sonic boom occurs.

The moment the alien hedgehog took off, a tremendous boom cracked my ultra-durable windshield. Nothing has ever done that before. Now I know why he calls himself Sonic.

I was too scared to do anything. I would have stopped the car right them, but it is pretty hard to stop on a dime at max speed.

"Chief!" Dawn's voice came over the radio, breaking into my thoughts. "Construction zone in two miles! Road's closed ahead."

"Roger."

I let out a frustrated sigh. No way would I catch him now. I slammed on the brakes, while simultaneously pressing a button that activated a pair of parachutes. A full thirty seconds later, my car finally stopped. I just sat there, panting as the adrenalin wore off.

"You've stopped," noted a concerned George. "What's the situation?"

I didn't want to say what I was about to say, but my ego was shot. "I... lost him."

"Roger. Relaying to the SSPD."

Even under the strain of the S-Team's first failed mission, George's voice was amazingly calm, even for a rookie. I was anything but. Opening the cracked hatch of my car, I stepped out, removed my helmet, and threw it on the ground in frustration. "A sonic boom. You gotta be kidding me."

My four teammates had finally arrived. They stopped their vehicle, climbed out, and removed their helmets as well.

"You all saw that, right?" I asked.

"No, we were too far back," Juan answered.

I sighed again. My adrenalin still hadn't worn off yet.

"Hey, don't be down, Chief," Hector tried to comfort me. "I'm sure there'll be other opportunities to catch this alien."

"I know, Hector, but this is my first failed mission as the Speed Division leader. What'll the commissioner say?"

"Relax," Paul said. "This situation was well out of our hands from the beginning."

"Even if I do have to explain myself, he won't believe me if tell him that he made a sonic boom. While running. On foot. That's over seven hundred and fifty miles per hour!"

"Yikes," was all Ace could say.

"Hector's right," Paul continued. "There will be more opportunities to catch this alien hedgehog, as long as it remains out in the open like it was tonight."

The only sound penetrating the silence was the sound of construction vehicles working on Tingalin Villa Drive between Highway 101 and Interstate 5. I was think over what all had transpired in the last hour. This was my biggest case, my biggest chase, and perhaps my biggest blunder. I hoped the authorities wouldn't be too mad at me.

Just then George's voice came back over the radio. "SSPD says abort the mission and return to HQ. I repeat: Abort and return to HQ."

"Let's go, boys," I said as calmly as I could. It was time to face the music.

As I slipped my helmet back on and closed the hatch, I had only one thing in my mind.

Rematch.

Sonic's POV.

That. Was. Awesome!

I only ran at mach speed for ten seconds before slowing down right near the construction site. I was careful to avoid being seen by the workers; I really didn't want to know their reaction to seeing a Mobian on this planet. Actually, their reactions would have been priceless, but I didn't want to deal with the consequences of that.

I darted away from the construction site, away from the workers, away from civilization. I wanted to see what the rest of this world was like.

Anyway, that was the best race I had ever run. It was definitely better that the race with Metal Sonic, which was really a time crunch, and the escape from the GUN Truck in Central City back home. The Overlanders here really know how to make the fastest thing alive feel welcome.

I soon passed through a wind farm. There were wind turbines everywhere, and as I ran past them, they began spinning rather quickly There was also a cliff right there, and I decided to take a flying leap off of it to get a bird's eye view of the city below.

And what a beautiful city it was. I had forgotten just how beautiful its neon signs and lights were at night. If the Highway Star lived here, then there would certainly be good times all around for as long as I was there. This town felt very much like the Overlanders' neck of the woods on Mobius. It looked like this planet felt sort of closer to home than I thought.

I still couldn't figure out why Station Square is in this world as well. I know for sure that Perfect Chaos destroyed it back on Mobius, but why is it intact here?

Then I realized, there was just a little bad news about free-sailing through the air.

Actually, really big bad news!

You tend to have little control of your speed or direction.

My destination was a prominent neighborhood in the city.

And that prominent neighborhood had a prominent house.

And that prominent house had a prominent pool.

And that prominent pool threatened to abduct me and drown me in all its H2O-ness.

Now I have no idea how Knuckles does it, but I can't glide like he can. I found this out when I tried to control where I would land. I've hated water for as long as I can remember. I have nothing against it; it's that I just sink like a rock whenever I try to enter it. And I can't swim, so there's that, too.

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself for my inevitable watery doom. I landed in the water with such force that I hit the bottom almost immediately. I imagined there would be a giant splash associated with it, but I was too busy trying to think of a way to get out of this dark, cold pool.

I tried running. Nope. Didn't work. I tried a giant leap. Repeat performance.

Then I saw it: a ladder on the side of the pool. That would have been my only way out of the pool, but I was running out of air and energy.

As I felt a fiery sensation in my lungs, I began wondering: Would someone come and rescue me from this awful fate? Or would I silently drown on a familiar, yet alien, world?

Chris' POV.

I was suddenly jolted awake by a loud noise. I don't know how long I had been asleep, but I do know that I'm kind of a light sleeper.

I glanced at the clock. 3:57 AM. Our security was good enough that we don't need a night watch, so what could possibly have made that noise?

Just then, I became aware of something else. The noise didn't just stop. It was still going on. It was almost like a rushing sound, something that sounded just like-

No. It couldn't be. But I had to make sure I wasn't still dreaming. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I pulled back the covers and stepped out of bed. The first thing I noticed was that the water was landing back into the adult pool. Obviously something large had landed in there. So I strained to see just what could have landed in the pool. And I saw it: an animal had landed in the pool, and it couldn't climb out. It would drown if no one saved it!

Not stopping to dress, I bolted from my room and into the hall. My family would hear if I continued running down the hall, so I tiptoed as quickly and quietly as I could, past Ella's room, past Tanaka's room, past the spare rooms, until I finally reached the stairs.

There was one thing wrong with this plan, though. My mom had make a rule that I was never allowed to swim in the adult pool without supervision, nor was I supposed to swim at night. But I couldn't just let that creature die. Rule or no rule, I had to save it. It would be cruel not to.

Once I reached the bottom of the stairs, I made a beeline for the back door, the only thing between me and the pool. Once I arrived, I unlatched the sliding door and pushed it open. Upon reaching the edge of the pool, I could see a dark shape in the water - the creature. I took a deep breath before diving into the water.

The water was cold, but it was to be expected. I hadn't really braced myself for a midnight swim, and besides, it was nighttime. And because it was nighttime, the water was dark. Fortunately, my way was illuminated by the patio light that automatically turned on when I ran outside.

Now that I was in the water, I was able to see the creature. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. It startled me a little when I saw it, but since I am a mega fan of Star Wars and Doctor Who, It sort of didn't scare me. In fact, I figured it wouldn't really surprise me if I actually encountered an alien some day. It was anth- anthro- Well, that's a word I have yet to memorize, but it had human-like features.

I reached for the creature's hand, and was relieved when it began cooperating as I pulled it back to the surface. It was heavy, surprisingly so (I later learned it weighed about 77 pounds).

A few seconds later, we broke the surface. I filled my lungs with fresh evening air, climbed out of the pool, and pulled the alien to safety. Once we were safely out of the pool, the alien collapsed and coughed violently. I was concerned it could have swallowed half the pool. I patted its back.

"Are you okay?" I compassionately asked, though I was still wary of it at first. It was an alien, and I knew very well what some aliens were capable of doing. Just then it replied in a masculine teen-sounding voice.

"Yeah. Could've been worse."

I was taken aback. "Y-you can talk?"

"Yeah, naturally," the alien replied, now sounding much better.

My mouth began moving almost on autopilot before I could stop it. "I... I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. I've seen some pretty strange things on a couple of sci-fi shows I watch."

"Interesting."

I realized, I was forgetting my manners! "My name's Christopher Thorndyke," I introduced, "but everyone calls me Chris. What's your name?"

The alien started to stand up. He came to a few inches over my waist. I figured he was about three feet and three inches. He wore practically nothing but shoes, socks, and gloves. And yet it looked natural for him. He looked awesome.

"My name's Sonic," he spoke in an almost heroic tone. "Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Cool name!" I remarked. Then something else crossed my mind. "Do you, you know... have a place to stay?"

Sonic shook his head. "I only just got here, so I can't say that I do."

"Then..." I can't believe what I was about to say. "...what if you stayed here at my house? We'll make sure to take good care of you, and even maybe find a way to get you back to where you belong."

"Sure thing, Chris. That would be cool."

"Under one condition, though."

"And what's that?"

"Please make sure no one else sees you."

Sonic smirked. Not a condescending smirk, but more so a playful one. "Don't fret, Chris. I run at the speed of sound. Good luck to those trying to find me."

I tried to process that statement. "You can run at the speed of sound."

Sonic nodded. "Yep. The fastest thing alive, they call me. Of course, I can't demonstrate now; I had a late night running from the cops."

"Because you were alien?"

"Yeah. Of course, none of them could catch me. One of them almost did, though."

I nodded. I had a feeling I knew who that person was.

"Uh, Sonic? We should probably keep our voices low. My folks are still sleeping."

"Oh, okay."

Sonic walked around, looking over the house. His smile told me he really liked it.

"You live here?" he breathed with awe.

"Yeah. Isn't it awesome?"

"Way past cool, Chris!" he spoke almost too loudly, while giving me a wink and a thumbs-up. "Thanks for letting me stay."

"You're welcome, Sonic."

I looked to the pool. The water was almost completely settled. "How did you get here?"

"I accidentally ran off a cliff at just under the speed of sound."

"No, I mean, how did you get on this planet?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you all about it once I meet up with my friends," Sonic replied.

Sonic... had friends? I assumed they were similar to him, but... If Sonic had friends, I would have a really hard time keeping them secret from my family.

"You have friends?"

"Sure I do! I'll tell you about them in the morning, if you don't mind. Right now, I'm getting tired, and I don't want to keep you in your wet clothes longer than you have been already."

I smiled. I didn't even know Sonic for ten minutes, and already it seemed he was a great guy to be with.

"Yeah, sorry I can't get you a towel right now," I apologized. "I don't want to wake my folks up, and... and I can't just tell them that an alien landed in the pool."

Sonic nodded in understanding. "I can manage," he said. I hoped he would. He clearly didn't look like he could swim back there.

"You know something, Chris?"

"Hm?"

"This is going to be the first day of the biggest adventure of your life. Are you ready?"

I beamed. I was so excited I could have shouted my agreement. "Yes," I forced my voice to a whisper. "I'm ready." Turning back to the house, I made a proposition. "Want me to sneak you to my room?"

"No need," Sonic replied. "I'll sleep on the roof. Nothing I haven't done before." I was confused. Surely a roof would be uncomfortable to sleep on.

"Besides," Sonic said, "You're concerned about the public seeing me?"

Now it was my turn to nod in agreement. No one would think to look on the roof for an alien hedgehog who claimed to run at the speed of sound.

"If you say so," I responded. I watched with awe as Sonic took one mighty leap and skillfully landed on the sloped roof. Quickly finding a place to recline, he lay down.

"See you tomorrow?" I asked.

"Definitely," he answered.

"Okay, then. Good night, Sonic."

"Good night, Chris."

As I re-entered the house (I made sure to lock the sliding door first), I was filled with great ecstasy. My wish came true. I could have run back to my room, but it was still nighttime.

I took a quick listen for any signs of anyone up. The house was still quiet. Good. It was a wonder no one else had woken up. I mean, giant splash? Seriously, no one else woke up. I guess you could say luck was on my side. Either that, or I was a light sleeper. Probably the latter one of those.

I started back upstairs, making sure to tiptoe. My clothes still felt cold and stiff on me - definitely an uncomfortable feeling. I would change out of them as soon as got back to my room.

Past the guests rooms, past Tanaka's room, past Ella's room. At last I returned to my room. My bed awaited me. But I couldn't accept its invitation quite yet. I needed to get out of these wet pajamas. Fortunately, I had a pair of identical PJs. So I locked the door, took the pajamas, and changed out of my wet pajamas and into the fresh, clean, dry ones. Already I felt much cozier.

But what to do with the wet ones? I decided to stuff them under my bed for the night. I made a mental reminder to put them in the hamper the next morning. Already there had been too much noise this night.

Before I hit the hay, I took one more look out at the moonlit patio. I knew Sonic was sleeping right above my room. I smiled as I crawled into bed. I knew it was no use trying to sleep that night, but I needed to. School would start Monday. There would be plenty of opportunity to talk with Sonic tomorrow.

I closed my eyes and started counting sheep. Soon I drifted off to sleep, completely happy. My wish had come true. This was undoubtedly the beginning of a blooming friendship.

A/N: And there you have it, readers! The first chapter of many in this rewrite of Sonic X! Not to brag, but I think this might be the longest (in chapter length), most accurate (to reality), and one of the best Sonic X rewrites out there! Now I know that many Sonic fans are critical of Chris, but I tried to redefine his personality. You should see this come to light in the coming chapters.

Some major differences include the following:

-There was no backstory, no explanation as to how Eggman had the Chaos Emerald. It was also never revealed how he captured Cream and Cheese or what his invention was for. Also, I added Bokkun to the scene, and what of Rouge? Well, she'll appear in one of the future chapters! (I'm sure longtime Sonic X fans know which one.)

-Badniks!

-Also, why was Tails so excited when Knuckles showed up? I had to give an explanation for that. Additionally, I didn't want Tails, Amy and Knuckles to be useless characters, so I added them to the battle.

-Since this is a post-Forces rewrite (possibly the only one out there), the events of Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 already happened. So the Chaos Control event in this episode has never happened on a scale like this without Super Sonic present.

-An all-new scene introducing the readers to Chris and his family was added.

-The police are now much more mature.

-Helen!

-The S-Team is now more official-sounding, and all the drivers have names.

-An explanation was given as to why Sam didn't arrest Sonic immediately.

-Sam now actually has reactions to the sonic boom! (Not the animated series, tho :P)

-The scene in which Chris and Sonic meet now has more length and meaning.

Well, I think that about wraps up this chapter. Wow, was it long. Over four times as long as my longest chapter (SMB:TNC Chapter 6). There will not be a set update schedule, but I hope to get the "Sonic to the Rescue" rewrite up some time next month!

I'm hoping to get not just rave reviews, as any good fanfiction writer strives for, but also constructive criticism. Help this story to become great! I want to know any weaknesses you see that I don't, and I'll correct them.

Until next time, everybody, do the Mario!

...wait, wrong fanfiction. :D