The day was drawing to a close on Litwak's Family Fun Center and Mr. Litwak had just let out the last of his guests. He stretched from a long day, exited the building and locked up for the night. The games inside still ran idly as there was no one to play them. It seemed pretty empty inside the arcade. Suddenly, a dancer on the Dance Dance Revolution game stopped dancing and looked around as if looking out the screen.

"All clear!" She called.

New life began to spring in the arcade as game characters began chatting and left the visible view of their screens. In the Sonic the Hedgehog game, a blue hedgehog of the same name was dusting himself off after just clearing Tropical Resort.

"What a day." He thought.

Following behind him was his faithful, brotherly, best friend. A two-tailed fox by the name of Miles Prower, though he prefers being called "Tails".

"Nice job today, Sonic." He congratulated.

"Thanks, buddy. Wanna head down to Tappers?" Sonic asked.

"Sure. I also know a shortcut back to the space elevator."

"Okay. I'll let you lead then."

Tails began to fly off with Sonic following close behind. He cut through the many rides and buildings. The two were nearing the elevator back to the game's world below, where the portal to Game Central Station would be, until Tails saw something that caught his eye. He stopped and hovered in the air for a moment.

"Huh? I've never seen that before." He thought.

Sonic saw Tails descending over to a building that was smaller than all the others and a bit isolated from the others. It could have been a house, though it looked like it could only hold one room. Sonic followed Tails over to the tiny building.

"Have you ever seen this building before, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"I don't think so. It's pretty out of the way to run by." Sonic answered.

"Let's check it out."

Tails walked up to the door. On it was a familiar insignia.

"You know, that looks like the icon for the Cyan Lazer. You don't suppose the wisps live here, do you?" Sonic inquired.

"I doubt it. They seem pretty happy on Planet Wisp." Tails said.

The door was unlocked, so the duo entered the structure. Inside was a bedroom, but it wasn't like a hotel bedroom like most other rooms in the Resort. It looked like someone lived in it. Posters of Soap Shoes and the Chao in Space movies covered the walls, a TV rested on a dresser, and there was a shelf where knickknacks rested, ranging from Chao toys to a GUN truck to a spare pair of white linen gloves. Though the room looked lively, something about it felt...lifeless.

"What a room!" Sonic whistled.

"Wow. I wonder who lives in here." Tails thought out loud.

On the other end of the room was another door. It looked like a closet door.

Tails slowly inched closer to the door, turned the knob, and opened it. Inside was not a closet full of clothes but an expansive room of blocks floating in an empty, floor-less space, all of them connected by a network of wires. Tails was surprised and fell forward into the space.

"Who-oOAA!" He yelled.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted.

The fox thought he would be falling, but then realized that he was floating in a space without gravity.

"Are you okay, buddy?" Sonic called.

"Yeah! I'm fine!" He answered.

Tails looked around a second time. He saw many blocks marked with different names.

"Knuckles the Echidna...Casino Park...Special Stages..."

Tails figured out just where they were.

"Sonic, I think we found the game's Code Room."

"You mean the room that keeps charge of everyone and everything's code."

"Yeah. Let's get out of here."

Tails used his tails to maneuver himself to leave but then, from the corner of his eye, Tails saw a lone code block, isolated from the network. Curiosity overtook him.

"Hold up a sec, Sonic."

He floated over to the block.

"What's that?" Sonic asked from the door.

"I don't know." Tails responded.

Upon closer inspection, the code block was marked with a strange name.

"ProjectFlash"

Tails tapped the block's screen and on it appeared an image of a character model. It was a male hedgehog that looked similar to Sonic, except his fur was cyan in color, his shoes were cyan and blue, and he had fewer spines. An option appeared on screen.

"Activation...Continue or Cancel?"

"Hey Sonic! I found a new character!"

"Really? Who is it?"

"I don't know. A name doesn't come up here."

"Can you activate him?"

"Sure."

Tails selected "Continue" and the block began to light up. It moved closer to the network and green wires started attaching themselves to it. Tails floated back into the room and closed the door.

"Well? Where is he?" Sonic asked.

"He could appear anywhere in the game." Tails answered.

A bright light suddenly lit up the room and Sonic and Tails both shielded their eyes from the intensity. The light lasted for a few moments and then died down. In the room, standing in front of the two friends was the cyan hedgehog, flickering with cyan pixels and binary. The flickering stopped and the hedgehog opened his bright amber eyes.

"Hi there!" The hedgehog said cheerfully.

Sonic and Tails were both amazed by the new character.

"Cool..." Sonic said in awe.

"What are your names?" Asked the hedgehog.

"Oh! My name is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog, and this is my buddy, Tails." Sonic introduced.

"What's your name?" Tails asked.

"Flash...the Hedgehog." He responded.

"Amazing! A new character for the game!"

"We just have to tell our friends about this." Sonic said excitedly.

"They might be down at Tappers." Tails said.

"What are...Tappers?" Flash asked.

"It's another game in the arcade. Come on. We'll show you around." Sonic said.

The trio left the room into the Tropical Resort, heading for the space elevator.

"Now you're probably wondering where we are..." Sonic began.

"I know where we are." Flash informed.

"You do?" Sonic and Tails said in unison.

"Yeah. We're in Tropical Resort: The first playable area in Sonic Colors and in Dr. Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park."

"How did you know that?" Tails asked.

"I...don't know." Flash said, scratching his head.

He also flickered into cyan pixels for a short moment. For him, it felt like being broken apart and put back together.

"Wh-Whoa..." He stumbled. "That...was weird."

"Are you okay, Flash?" Sonic inquired.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Let's go."

Sonic brushed it off as nothing, but Tails was still suspicious. The three entered the elevator and began their descent to the world below. Tails had to sit down because his head started spinning from the elevator's acceleration.

"So Flash, what's your story?" Sonic asked.

"My what?" Flash was confused.

"You know. Your backstory."

"Uh...I don't think I have one."

"That's crazy. Everyone in this game is programmed with a backstory." Tails informed.

"Yeah, like me. I am a hedgehog that can move at the speed of sound and I always stop Dr. Eggman from taking over the world or whatever."

"Or me. I'm a fox born with two tails. Other animals made fun of me because I was different, but I met Sonic and we've been best friends ever since."

"Uh...I still can't think of anything like that." Flash said, flickering again.

"You did it again." Said Tails.

"What...is this?" Flash wondered.

"Don't worry about it. You probably just have Pixlexia and your code is getting settled into the game." Sonic assured. "What I wonder is why you weren't in the game to begin with." Sonic said.

The thought left all three in an awkward silence for the rest of the ride down. As the elevator reached the ground, Flash looked around at the expansive world that is his home. He, Sonic, and Tails got out and started walking to Green Hill Zone, where the portal is.

"Flash, how fast are you?" Sonic asked.

"Pretty fast." He answered.

"How about a race to the portal?"

"Sure, but I don't know where it is."

"Tails can fly ahead of us. Just follow him."

"Okay. You're on."

"I'll fly on ahead." Tails said.

After giving Tails a few seconds for a head start...

"Ready...Set...GO!" Sonic shouted.

They were off. Sonic was holding a slight lead and Flash was tailing him. Both of them were nearing a sharp corner in the path. Sonic ran through the corner and lost a bit of speed. Flash curled up to drift around and past Sonic.

"Not bad!" Sonic called out to Flash.

"Thanks!"

"Now watch this!"

Sonic boosted and zipped past Flash, leaving him behind. Flash was excited about the challenge and used his own boost, White Boost. He accelerated at an amazing rate and quickly caught up with Sonic.

"You're pretty fast." Sonic admitted.

Up ahead was Tails, right next to the portal.

"Here's the final stretch!" Flash said.

Both were neck in neck as they were nearing the finish. Flash could feel his heart racing in excitement. He suddenly broke apart into cyan binary and inched forward ahead of Sonic as they finished.

"I won!" Flash whooped in triumph.

"That was pretty good, but how did you do that?" Sonic asked.

"What?"

"You teleported or something to get a bit ahead."

"I don't have that kind of power."

Sonic thought for a moment.

"Are you a glitch?"

"Huh? No! I'm not a glitch!" Flash bursted.

"Okay. Okay. Don't worry. We're not going to judge you."

"Come on guys! Let's hurry up!" Tails shouted from the portal. "I hear Tappers has a special on chili dogs!"

"Then what the heck are we waiting around for!" Sonic jumped for joy by the sound of those words. "Get the lead out of your shoes, Flash!"

"A-Alright." He said sort of nervously.

Tails saved both hedgehogs a seat on the monorail out of the game. The three ventured through the portal and neared Game Central Station.

"What is wrong with me?" Flash thought.