SONIC THE HEDGEHOG IS © TO SEGA.

SWIFT AS THE WIND EPISODE 1.1: UNTHINKABLE! SONIC VS. SONIC?

It was yet another day on South Island, the inhabitants of which were happily dancing and singing in sync with the music. The music was coming from the island's heroes, Sonic The Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna.

Not long ago had the three stopped Dr. Ivo Robotnik, otherwise known as Eggman, from reestablishing a connection to the Space Colony ARK, in another attempt to take over the world. Of course, they'd had the help of their friends Amy Rose, Shadow the Hedgehog, and the Chaotix.

Soon after, Eggman announced that he'd been fed up with Sonic always foiling his schemes, and challenged him to a rather impossible challenge. If Sonic could reach his base within 10 minutes to disable a bomb, he would give up his goal of world domination and retire.

Although the base was on the other side of the world, and the scheme was rather redundant, Sonic accepted the challenge and disabled the bomb with less than a minute remaining. Following a cliché final boss, Eggman retired and everything had been peaceful since.

Sonic and his friends were awarded the Hero's Medals for everything they'd done, and recently, Sonic's band, True Blue, was asked to perform at the annual World Festival. They of course accepted. Now, it was nearing evening and True Blue had just finished their song, Fight the Knight. Sonic was lead guitarist and singer, Knuckles played drums, and Tails played bass.

Sonic and his friends grinned as the crowd burst into applause and cheering. They waved at the crowd and Sonic spoke into the microphone over the cheering, "Thank you, South Island!" He chuckled and turned to Knuckles. "I've always wanted to do that."

The three waved as they walked backstage. Sonic let out a whoop as they entered their van. He plopped himself into the driver's seat and stretched out. The festival was almost over. All that had to be done was wait for the sun to set, and then the fireworks could really shoot off. Knuckles laid himself out on the back seat, and Tails hopped into the passenger seat.

They all looked out onto the horizon, watching as the sun began to set, they began counting.

"5."

"4."

"3."

"2."

"1..."

They all waited for the cheering to start and for the sun to set. Instead, the cheering slowed to a stop as the sun was still above the horizon. Could they have started too early? No, something was definitely wrong; because the sun was RISING!

Sonic couldn't believe his eyes as the sun rose up into the sky. This was impossible. He jumped out of the van and looked up as the sun rose higher until it looked as though it was only midday. He shielded his eyes as he remembered why you shouldn't look directly into the sun.

As his eyes readjusted, he noticed something on the horizon. Something familiar. He pointed at it. "Hey, guys? Do you see that?" He asked.

"Good, so do you. I thought I was hallucinating..." Knuckles said, referring to the sun. Sonic shook his head.

"No, not that. That's obvious! I mean that person over there." He turned back to the mysterious figure, only to yelp in shock. Tails and Knuckles turned to Sonic, only to see something that no one could explain.

There were two Sonics. The only difference was that the newer one looked a few years older and his fur was darker and singed on the tips. Sonic backed up a step. "You—You're me!" He exclaimed in shock.

"Almost..." The mystery hedgehog smirked. "Em emoceb lliw uoy." He chanted.

"Wh...what?" Sonic asked in shock. Before he could react, the hedgehog punched him in the jaw and the two immediately rushed at each other into battle.

Sonic jumped into the air and attempted to spin into the impostor. He landed and looked around. The hedgehog had disappeared. "Behind you!"

Sonic turned and was immediately kicked in the stomach. He doubled over, clutching his stomach. The mysterious hedgehog took this opportunity to punt Sonic in the face, sending him flying. Sonic landed on his side, groaning. He stood up shakily and wiped some blood from his nose. The hedgehog appeared right in front of him at light speed, trying to kick him once again.

Sonic dodged to the side and pulled the hedgehog into a full nelson. The impostor merely smirked and broke out of Sonic's grip. While Sonic's guard was down, the hedgehog sent a kick towards Sonic's stomach. Sonic jumped, trying to dodge, and all that was heard after was, "AAAAAAAAARRGH!"

Sonic was doubled over on the floor, in a fetal position, twitching. A bead of sweat rolled down his head as he stood up. The hedgehog had disappeared once again, and Sonic looked around the battlefield. Where was he?

WHAM!

Sonic felt a searing pain as his head practically split open. The hedgehog had jumped him, landing a powerful kick to the back of his head.

He stood up in pain and growled. "That...DOES IT!" He reached behind him into his knapsack, pulling out seven gems and fifty rings. He raised his fists and brought them down abruptly, transforming. He was now golden in color and his spines pointed upwards. The other hedgehog simply chuckled.

"Still relying on the Chaos Emeralds. So I am in the right time." He muttered. Sonic growled.

"Hey! You gonna make a move or what?"

The other hedgehog simply took stance. Suddenly, he exploded in a light so intense that everyone had to shield their eyes. Then, when the light cleared, there he stood, also golden, but he was radiating much more energy than Sonic. He also had acquired some sort of energy-shield that gave off a platinum-colored glow.

Sonic growled in realization. "This hedgehog...he knows every move I've ever done...and more! I've gotta stay on my toes..."

"COME AT ME, SONIC! SHOW ME YOUR STRENGTH!" The hedgehog shouted. Sonic flew directly at him, but the hedgehog dodged and punted Sonic into a rock pillar, causing it to shatter and collapse on itself and Sonic.

The hedgehog huffed as he powered down. "That's it? What a disgrace." He brushed some dirt off his arm as he began to walk away. Suddenly, the rubble twitched. Everyone stood still, holding their breath until...

BLAM!

Sonic had begun flashing different colors and had electrical sparks criss-cross around his body. And judging by the look in his eyes, he was ready to do some serious damage. The other chuckled.

"Ah, Hyper Sonic! Finally, a challenge!" He took stance as Sonic sped towards him. He barely managed to dodge Sonic's punch and reared back his own fist. Sonic back-flipped away from the punch and kicked out with both his feet. The other failed to dodge and was sent flying a good 120 yards.

Sonic smirked as he was finally able to hit this impostor. But what happened next caught everyone by surprise. The hedgehog reared back his fist again and shot a beam of energy straight for Sonic. Sonic's eyes widened and he blocked the spear. But the energy kept pushing him. In seconds, Sonic's arms went limp and he took the blast.

When the smoke cleared, Sonic was back to normal, panting and covered in cuts, scrapes, and bruises. The other appeared in front of him, scowling.

"Who...WHO ARE YOU?" Sonic practically screamed, not believing he'd been beaten.

"...Em emoceb lliw uoy..." The odd hedgehog chanted again. "Remember that..." Then, he disappeared, like the wind.

Tails and Knuckles ran forward and helped their friend up under the arms. "Sonic! Sonic, hey buddy, are you okay?" Knuckles asked. Sonic didn't respond, just looked at the sun which had stayed still the whole time.

"...Em emoceb lliw uoy...You will become me..."

TBC...