Chapter Text
Amy Rose pulled her mother's hand eagerly, trying to run despite the older hedgehog's leisurely pace.
“You're always in such a hurry,” Margaret chided. “You'll have plenty of time, I work all day today.”
“But we're so close!” The five year old whined, struggling to get around the corner faster, finally setting her sights on the Breezy Dreams Orphanage. Other parents left their kids at home with each other, or with baby sitters, when they went to work, but Amy got to go with her mom every single day and spend the whole day playing with her friends.
She impatiently urged her mother to move faster, until they finally went through the front gate, and Margaret had latched it behind them. With the firm rules of when she can let go of her mother's hand on a walk having been satisfied, she let go and ran to the door, rushing inside and looking for her two best friends in the play room.
Sonic the Hedgehog was only a year older than her. With no official family name on record, he was given his species as a surname, as per Mobian custom. He was also the fastest kid in the orphanage. More than that, he was the fastest kid in Green Village, or possibly even the entire Zone! Nobody knew how fast he was, every time he ran it seemed like he got faster.
Meanwhile, Miles Prower was a year younger than her, only four years old. He was new in the system, and was having some trouble coping, but he was always so happy to have people to play with, especially with how some of the other kids treated him. Her mother had used the word “deformity,” and then instructed Amy to never use the word herself.
She spotted them, frowning almost immediately at the sight of Sonic glowering up at that eight year old bully, Elliot the Shrew, Miles cowering behind the hedgehog.
“I told you to leave him alone, Elliot!”
“Or what? You'll run away at me? You think I'm scared of how fast you can be a coward?”
“I'm not a coward!” Sonic shouted.
“What else is running fast good for? Any time something scary happens, you can just run away and be safe while everybody else is left behind!” Elliot shoved Sonic, who stumbled back, falling onto Miles.
“I'M TELLING!” Amy shouted, rushing back to the entry way where her mother was greeting the owner, a deer by the name of Ms. Breeze. “MOM, ELLIOT PUSHED SONIC!”
Moments later, Elliot was suspended in the terrifying isolation of Time Out, while the other children played.
Amy sat with Sonic and Miles, stacking up some blocks with the young fox, talking about what each building they were making would be.
Sonic paced back and forth, watching them, taking note of how carefully and how straight Miles was stacking the blocks, whistling in appreciation as he built out an upside down triangle, carefully balancing each block.
Amy attempted to mimic Sonic's whistle, but she was only able to make a sputtering sound.
“That's really cool, Tails!”
“You're not supposed to call him that!” Amy insisted. “That's what Elliot calls him to be mean! His name is Miles!”
Miles just kept his head down, his ears folding back as he frowned.
“Yeah, well, it's a dumb thing to be mean about. I think his tails are cool! He makes fun of me for being fast, but I'm not gonna feel bad for being able to run. Do you think it's dumb to be able to run?” He asked Miles, putting a hand on his back.
“N..No, I think it's really cool!” The small child asserted.
“Well, I think your tails are really cool. But if you don't like it, I'll just call you Miles, okay?”
Miles thought for a long moment. “Sonic can call me Tails cuz he's nice. And so can Amy! And Miss Breeze and Amy's mom, too!”
Sonic gave him hardy pat on the back, smiling broadly.
The day carried on without much incident, then blended into a week, then a month, as the three young children continued playing together, separate from many of the other children, and frequently antagonized by a certain shrew, until the night Elliot woke Sonic in the middle of the night, pushing him out of his bed.
“Ow!” Sonic shouted, sitting up in a daze. “What the...Elliot? What the heck are you doing, you big jerk?!”
He was surrounded by a group of older kids, all glowering down at Sonic.
“We're sick of you being a whiny little coward,” Elliot insisted. “I woulda shut you up weeks ago if you didn't have your little girlfriend tattle for you.”
“I'm not a coward!” Sonic insisted, standing up and wobbling slightly. “And she's not my girlfriend!” he added, almost an afterthought.
“Oh yeah?” Riley the Weasel sneered down at him, their thin lips slowly curling into a malicious grin. “If you're not a coward, why don't you prove it?”
Sonic hesitated, before lifting his balled up fists in front of himself, approximating a fighting stance as best he could. The older kids all just laughed at him and the confidence drained out of his body.
“You're gonna go into the old iron cave,” Elliot insisted, shoving a camera into Sonic's hands, “And you're going to go all the way inside and take a picture.”
“But, but isn't that place full of traps?” Sonic said nervously.
“Isn't that place full of traps?” Elliot mocked.
“F-Fine! Nobody's ever been all the way in, right? I'll be the first, and you'll all have to stop teasing Amy, and picking on Tails!” He walked past them confidently, thoroughly played by the older children.
In the dead of night, they snuck out of the orphanage, then out of Green Village, into the wider Green Hill Zone. Every time Sonic paused or hesitated, he was heckled, so he kept his eyes forward and his back straight.
They reached the cliff, and the opening where the miners had hoped to find huge veins of ore. Behind the stone, they found a door, and when they blew that open, they found death.
The older kids struggled, pulling the barricades away far enough for Sonic to make his way inside. The young child steeled his tiny nerves and ignored the bullies and their jeering as he entered. The floors were tile, the walls had signs with words he didn't recognize, and everything was metal.
Sonic wanted to run, but he knew there were traps. If a floor fell out, or spikes shot up from the ground, he'd never make it out alive; this was clear from the skeletons left behind by those who'd try to explore, as well as by those who tried to recover their bodies. He was not a patient boy, and he wanted to get this over with, but he also didn't want to take another step. But what choice did he have? They were waiting for him. He had to prove this to them.
He continued walking, stopping at the point where the skeletons stopped. He wasn't sure why, but he felt deeply apprehensive about taking another step. And then he did it anyway. A panel of the floor rose up, a tube-like machine rising and turning to point at him. By the time Sonic realized he was looking at a gun, it was almost too late. He managed to barely get out of its way, yelping in fear as a hot metal slug whizzed past him. He allowed himself a sigh of relief, only to see the gun turning to aim at him once more.
And so he ran. More guns rose out of the floors, the floor and ceiling crashed together like angry, chomping jaws, jets of fire burst to life right behind him, but he ran as fast as he could, and yet each second he felt he could move faster than the second before.
Finally, he reached the end, finding a wide open room, and he ran around it in a circle. He could take the picture after he knew where the traps were. None attacked him. This place was safe.
There was a large screen across one wall, a map displayed on it. Across from that, a giant white ovoid object.
“A huge egg?” He pondered aloud, moving to inspect it. He placed his hand on it, wondering what kind of bird could've laid such a monstrosity, and the moment his palm rested against it, green shapes began forming under his hand. He yanked it back in a panic, and nearly ran back out, pausing to get a picture of himself in front of the egg as a slit opened down the front, spreading to let out fog and a tall, unsettling figure with a bald head and an absurd mustache.
“Computer!” The figure immediately shouted. “What year is it? How long have I been in stasis?” He asked, ignoring the stunned hedgehog and approaching the screen.
“4977 Common Era; 1997 New Mobian Era,” The computer replied. “Duration of Stasis: 2701 years.”
“New Mobian...what the devil? What is the current population of Black Arms aliens on Earth?”
“Zero.”
He let out a sigh of relief. “...What is the current population of humans on Earth?”
“One: Doctor Ivo Robotnik .”
“...So, I'm the only person on the planet...” He slumped backwards, a chair emerging from the floor to meet him.
“Incorrect. Current Mobian Population: 4.5 million.”
“...What is a Mobian?” He asked.
“Alien creatures with characteristics of different terrestrial animals and intelligence and society on par with early to mid twentieth century humanity. Examples include skeletons in entryway and one small child in control room.”
The man from the egg turned, looking over his shoulder at the creature, paralyzed in fear.
“Computer, I was conducting war to defend this planet. Why did I enter involuntary stasis?” he asked, standing and stepping toward Sonic.
“Parameters for Rubicon Contingency were met: Human numbers decreased below sustainable breeding population.”
“I see...You there. How did you get past my traps?”
“I, I'm a fast runner,” Sonic stammered, clutching the camera to his chest, the photo having slid out to rest at his feet.
“Well you must have quite a gift,” He noted, bending down, taking hold of the photo and examining it. “This is yours, right?”
Sonic nodded nervously, accepting it. The bald man turned, looking back over his shoulder at the screen. “Computer, disable all entryway traps.” He turned back to Sonic with a grin. “Well if you're such a fast runner...Run.”
Tears filled Sonic's eyes as he ran from the facility as fast as he could, and faster, and faster. He bumped against one of the barricades that the older kids had pulled open, tripping, tumbling, and sprawling out on the ground, the camera laying broken on one side, and the picture of himself on the other. None of the older kids checked to see if he was okay, instead only picking up and examining the photograph.
“The Eggman,” Sonic mumbled before passing out.
“...Elliot, you carry him home. If he doesn't come back, we're probably gonna get in trouble,” Riley noted.
“We were gonna let him die in the cave,” Elliot replied. “Wouldn't that have gotten us in trouble too?”
“No, no, see, we tried to stop him from going into the cave, but we were too scared to follow him inside. That's not our fault. But if they get out here and he's laying there, we're gonna get in trouble.” They explained, leading the other older kids away.
Elliot grumbled as he picked up Sonic, carrying him piggyback all the way back into town.
Back inside the facility, the so-called Eggman sat down on his chair, crossed his leg over his knee, and tented his fingers.
“Current status of adjacent fabrication facilities?”
“Fully supplied and operational.”
“Excellent. Bring up schematics for personal assault craft, and prepare to construct modified vehicle,” The chair slid in toward the console and he began typing. “And while you're at it, give me information on hierarchies and social mores in Mobian culture, and find me the nearest settlement. I have a planet to reclaim.”