Sonic Returns

Chapter One: The Arrival

Green Hills, Montana; six months after Dr. Robotnik's defeat

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!-click!

The sound of the alarm clock shattered the peace and quiet of Sonic's room, waking the blue blur from his restful slumber. In half a second the hedgehog's gloved hand shot out, tapping the button as he pulled off the covers. Leaping up out of bed, Sonic became a blue whirlwind spinning around the room; brushing his teeth, combing his quills, and slipping on his shoes. Racing down the stairs, the blue blur bounded into the kitchen, yelling out an excited greeting.

"Good morning, Green Hills!" He exclaimed, running around the house's lower floor after he couldn't find anybody. "Pretzel Lady? Doughnut Lord? Where are you guys?"

Sonic stopped in the middle of the house, confused for a moment, before slapping his forehead with his palm.

"Oh yeah, that's right! They are on vacation in Hawaii, duh!" He smiled. "That means I have the whole house to myself for two whole weeks!"

Racing over to the fridge, he grabbed out a cherry coke, and two of the cheese chili dogs that Maddie had left for him. Zapping them in the microwave for just under a minute, the blue blur gulped both dogs and the cola down in a single gulp.

"Burrrrp!"

Letting out a quick belch, Sonic then rushed around to complete a few chores around the house, before racing out into the open streets of Green Hills. Racing around through the roads and main alleyways of this small town, waving and saying hi to each and every inhabitant of the small town.

"Hi Bob!" Sonic called out to a man in shorts mowing his lawn "How are ya doing?"

"Hey Sonic!" The man called back, smiling at the hedgehog. "How's the running today?"

"Yo, Nancy!" Sonic yelled, greeting a gardener working in her greenhouse. "How's that green thumb today?"

"Hiya, Sonic!" Nancy replied, looking up from her watering can. "Why don't you stop for a moment, and smell the flowers?"

The blue blur raced through all the streets, greeting every citizen who was out and about that fine morning. Sonic, who had been cut off and lonely from anyone else for the past ten years, was happy to finally be accepted and appreciated. Sonic was the best-kept secret of the town that everyone knew about, with even the government looking the other way when it came to the little hero. That gave sonic the freedom to run through the town and it's surrounding areas- though sometimes did wish he could explore the larger world outside of Montana.

As he raced through the farm fields outside of town, he was surprised to see a familiar bearded figure on his farm, setting traps.

"Hey, Crazy Carl!" The spiky blue hedgehog called out, stopping in front of the old coot. "What're you setting traps for this time, raccoons?"

"Oh, hello blue devil!" The old man of questionable sanity replied. "I was just setting traps for the magic two-tailed fox I saw on my farm the other day!"

"Two tailed fox?!" The blue blur asked in shock. From anyone else, Sonic would have thought this was crazy talk, but Carl had been the first person in town to notice him, as well. "Carl, what did this fox... look like?"

"It was a little orange feller, about half your size, with two big tails with white tips on em'!" Crazy Carl replied, setting a bear trap on the ground. "He had shoes an' gloves just like you do, and I heard him talking out loud a few times, so I thought he might be one 'o your kind."

"A walking, talking fox, huh?" Sonic thought for a moment. In his speed reading every book in the Green Hills library, the hedgehog remembered reading something about the kitsune, the magical two-tailed fox from Japanese myth. But given the way Carl described him as anthropomorphic and wearing shoes, Sonic more believed it was someone from his home world.

"Thanks Carl, I'll catch ya later... or maybe you'll catch me later!" Sonic laughed, racing on down the road.

"Farewell, blue devil!" Crazy Carl yelled after him. "And please don't warn your little friends about my traps!"

Sonic ran into the nearby forest, a hundred thoughts going through his mind. Who was this new visitor? Why had this two-tailed fox come to earth? Was he looking for him? Could Longclaw have sent him? That would mean... his old mentor was still alive! Or had the fox come to steal his powers, just as the echidna tribe had tried to do? The only thing Sonic knew for certain, was that he had to find this kitsune-like creature.

The blue blur raced all through the woods surrounding town, searching for any trace of this new arrival. Finally, as he was passing by Hill Top road, Sonic heard a young voice cry out;

"Help, somebody please help me!"

Racing towards the sound of the plaintive cry, Sonic found the two tailed fox standing in a clearing, surrounded on all sides by four menacing-looking robot ladybugs, each on one wheel. The frightened, blue-eyed fox looked to be about ten or twelve years old, and appeared helpless before these four robots.

"Hey, you one-wheeled tin cans!" Sonic called out, leaping into the clearing in front of the fox. Get away from that kid!"

"Oh my gosh, you're HIM!" The wide-eyed male fox yelled in surprise. "The blue hedgehog, the one I was looking for!"

But as sonic looked back to say something, one of the motobugs fired a laser blast, knocking both anthros off of their feet. As the blue blur hit the dirt, another motobug, zipped over towards him, slamming into sonic and sending him rolling across the ground.

This fight had started badly for the blue blur, as the badniks had caught him by surprise. His super-speed only functioned either when he concentrated, or by reflex. The rest of the time, Sonic blur moved at the same speed as everyone else. So the motobugs had managed to catch him by surprise.

As the dazed sonic tried to stand up again, two of the motobugs fired missiles at the vulnerable hedgehog. It was at that moment, that the little fox jumped over grabbed sonic... and took off into the air, flying as he spun his two tails like a pair of helicopter rotors.

"Holy moley!" Sonic exclaimed, as the fox held him dangling by his hands. "Dude, you can fly?"

"Don't worry about that now!" The fox exclaimed, looking down at the confused mototbugs. "we gotta take those bad bots out!"

"Don't worry about it!" Sonic grinned. "Just throw me at em', and I'll do the rest!"

Skeptical, the small fox tossed the blue blur at the badniks. Sonic then curled up into a ball, and spin dashed into the motobugs, bouncing on each one and smashing them one by one. The blue blur stood amidst the four piles of scrap, as the little fox stared on in amazed.

"You all right, little guy?" Sonic asked, looking back at the diminutive anthro. "Those bad bugs didn't hurt you, did they?"

"Wow, that was so amazing!" The two tailed vulpine exclaimed, starry eyed. "You were so cool out there, against those robots!"

"Heh, I was way past cool, out there, little guy." Sonic replied smugly, trying to act all cool and smooth over the first person to ever fanboy over him. "Say, that was a neat trick you did out there 'Tails'. I didn't even know foxes could fly!"

"Oh, most can't fly. It's just me." The fox replied, ignoring the nickname Sonic had just given him. "And my name's Miles Prower, I came to this world from Westside Island, looking for you."

"Westide? Then you did come here from home!" The blue blur grinned, giving him a thumbs up. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, and I'm from South Island. And it looks like you've found me!"

But as the two anthros talked, a small bat-like badnik sat silently in a tree above them. The Batbrain watched Sonic and Miles with camera eyes, feeding the image back to Dr. Robotnik in the metropolis zone.

"Hmmm, interesting. I had not anticipated the intervention of this 'Tails' creature, as Sonic calls him. I will have to watch this further." He adjusted his tiny sunglasses. "And it looks like the charge I gave each of those motobugs from the green chaos emerald didn't last long. I'll have to find a more permanent, portable power source."

Just then, the mad scientist noticed several small birds and squirrels moving around in the tree next to his robotic spy, and an evil smile began to spread across Dr. Robotnik's face.

"Hmmm, I do believe I have just found a solution to my little power problem..."