Chapter 1

Disclaimer - Sonic the hedgehog and all other characters are not owned by me.

It was a regular day on planet Mobius. The atmosphere was safe from any possible harm, the environment was clean and peaceful, the anthropomorphic animals and birds were happy and easy-going. It has been so for the past year ever since The Death Egg. No one had ever expected life to be so full of peace and tranquillity before then. Everything had seemed rather...bleak. The doctor whom everyone feared (everyone except a certain blue hedgehog and his friends, of course) had come up with a deathly new weapon of destruction. It had been difficult; very difficult, with some of the heroes nearly losing their hope, all except this certain blue hero.

Sonic the hedgehog was never one to lose his spirit and drive. The doctor's attack had been unexpected and none of them were forwarned. But then again, it was something they could have been prepared for. The blue hero had always been on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. After years of fighting the doctor and various other creatures, Sonic had trained himself to never let his guard down, not even for a second. So, when the Death Egg had made its appearance, all except Sonic were stunned. He had known that the doctor was up to something and that was it.

Sonic still remembered how hard he had to fight. Tails and Amy had coordinated various strategies to overcome the massive structure of doom. Silver had come to aid the fighters and so had his friend Blaze. Team Dark had lent their assistance as well and so did the Chaotix. Although Sonic had been reluctant to let Cream and Charmy fight, he had one look at them and then had made his decision (He had never let the two do the hard bits alone though).

They had raged on for months, fighting the battalion of egg-bots that ravaged cities and villages, rescuing innocents, rebuilding along the way, some of them nearly losing all hope until finally, they came across a glitch in the massive structure. Tails navigated his way through it immediately, which aided entry into the structure. From then on, everything was well coordinated. Sonic, Shadow, and Silver had raced ahead into the heart of the doomsday device to corner the doctor while the others trashed anything that would have had blocked their way. Tails had remained on his ship, scanning the level of damage that was being caused through a device and shouting warnings and the like into his earpiece to both Sonic and Amy, both of them alert and cautious.

When they had finally made it to the doctor's lair, they weren't amused that the doctor had one final trick up his sleeve. He had the seven Chaos Emeralds to power up the workings of the device and the massive amount of Chaos energy unleashed a wave over the three brave hedgehogs. The doctor, who had known this would happen, quickly made for an exit, but not without informing them that the structure would self-destruct in merely five minutes, which would cause massive damage to the planet. The threesome was in for a fit. Sonic, knowing that he had to get Amy and the others out of the structure, quickly yelled orders at her through his ear-piece to leave and head back for Tails' flying ship. He then, along with Shadow and Silver quickly harnessed the Chaos energy to transform into their super forms.

The rest was a blur...

Sonic remembered losing his control, he remembered Shadow yelling at him over something, he remembered shouting at Amy to stop crying through his ear-piece, he then remembered Tails having had somehow hacked into the motherboard, giving them an extra two minutes. Then, somehow they were able to grab the seven emeralds of utmost power by finally breaking through the strong container that had been holding them, and, while focussing on their Chaos energies combined alone, they were able to perform Chaos Control and teleported the vast object of destruction into space and, with only seconds left, they teleported themselves back on Mobius, just in time to witness a near ear-splitting explosion in space, the large pieces of the object scattering around above the atmosphere, safe from Mobius. Sonic knew that if they had been a minute too late, nothing much would have remained on the planet. Everything would have been reduced to nothingness.

Sonic let out a sigh as he recalled the huge hurdle they had gone through which had taken up every bit of their strength and will. After the damage in space, Shadow and Rouge managed to track down Eggman who was later thrown into a high-security prison on the far side of the planet that was powered by G.U.N.; and he had been there since. Sure, there was resistance among some groups of creatures protesting against the doctor's imprisonment. They wanted him released and sought ways to ensure that would happen. They weren't hard to manage though. Sonic remembered how chaotic it had been since the explosion in space. Rebuilding had been the top priority for him and his friends. They flew through cities and villages with the Tornado, lending a hand whenever they could and soothing broken souls. Keeping the resisting mobs from attacking them unawares had been a tad troublesome at the time. Now, since everything was back to normal, managing them had never been so much easier which proved that the blue hero could find time to relax now and then.

Sonic, who was seated on a wooden chair at Tails' workshop, shifted to a more relaxed position. He placed his hands behind his head and stretched his lean legs. He looked up at the white ceiling fan that was slowly rotating above him. He then lowered his eyelids as a small smile crept on his lips. Things have been incredibly calm since the doctor got locked up. Except for the resistance from those minor groups, nothing was too much trouble. The Mobians were happy and content. They could freely walk about without having to worry about anything big. As for Sonic, he never felt even more at ease than running through the vast expanse of plains without expecting any form of major trouble. Even though they didn't have to expect any attacks from Eggman anytime soon, he still never let his guard down.

Sonic felt a sense of emptiness crawl within him as the smile left his lips. True, he didn't have to worry about Eggman, however, the blue hero did live for adventure. He always loved a good fight and never liked sitting idle for too long. He spent his days hanging around with his best friend Tails and at times, visited Angel Island to talk to Knuckles. He avoided going there much though, since almost all days, Rouge was present.

The strong, short-tempered echidna and the lovely bat had grown incredibly close since the war with the Death Egg. Sonic had always known that Knuckles had a thing for her, no matter how much the red echidna had denied it. It wasn't until one night when Rouge came to the shrine late after a minor scuffle with a small group of trained cats that things sparked off between them. She had come to seek shelter to treat her wounds and was spotted by the brave Guardian, who immediately turned soft at her sight. That night, it wasn't he who had confessed, but rather her and since then, the two were never seen apart. The blue hero knew better than to intrude upon their privacy, however, that didn't mean he didn't visit often just to check up on his friendly nemesis and his new partner.

Then there was Amy, the pink female hedgehog who had always been in love with him. Sonic smiled at the thought of her. Ever since things had calmed down, Amy was always busy visiting the small villages scattered across Mobius to check on the families that were affected most during the war. He remembered how concerned she had been for the children back when they were rebuilding. On one such day, he walked in on her hugging a couple of fox kits who had been crying profusely for the loss of their home. His heart had ached at the sight when he noticed how even Amy had a few tears trickle down her muzzle as she whispered words of encouragement to the trembling kits. During those days, Amy had been a huge help, never once backing down no matter how upsetting everything was for her. She had kept going.

The blue speedster had never really liked how Amy had chased him around in the past. He remembered that one time in Grand Metropolis where she had claimed to not let him go unless he had consented to the marriage between them both. Sonic still shuddered at the thought, but relaxed when he realized how much she had grown since then. She wasn't as crazy over him as before, although Sonic did find a hint of affection from time to time. Yet, he wasn't too sure about that anymore.

It's like, she's a whole new person and...

He didn't complete the thought as he felt a certain feeling rise within him. A warm feeling that seemed to clear his mind and made him feel...fresh?. He frowned as he wasn't sure what to make of it and, before he could think any further, a young voice cut through his trail of thoughts-

'Sonic, is everything alright? You've been sitting that way for nearly thirty minutes.' Tails, the yellow two-tailed fox said as he worked on a broken regulator. He turned his head for a brief moment to glance at the hero was like a brother to him with mild concern on his face.

Sonic shook his head from his thoughts as he sat back in an upright position on the chair and answered, 'Yeah. I was just thinking about someone…' then, after having had realized what he just said, quickly added to change the topic: 'I...just kinda miss those days when we were always out and about kicking some Eggman butt, you know? I feel so useless now.' he sighed as he looked away from Tails at the wall as if lost in his thoughts again.

Tails stopped working on the regulator and looked up at Sonic. He wasn't hearing that dialogue for the first time. Ever since Eggman got locked away, life has been 'normal' to the speedy blue hedgehog; and Sonic was never used to a normal life. Tails knew how much the blue hero loved having adventures and chasing bad guys. He loved being called a hero. Saving lives has always been in his blood. Now, though, as he didn't have any chance to live up to his name, all he ever did was prevent minor crimes from taking place from time to time. Nothing else.

'It's okay Sonic. Who knows? Maybe some adventure must be coming your way sooner than you think.' Tails reassured with a smile.

'Well, if it is, I sure hope it comes our way fast coz' I just can't get used to this normal life.' Sonic said as he lay back again on the chair and placed his hands behind his head, staring at the rotating fan above which apparently, he was starting to find interest in.

Tails shook his head as he went back to his regulator. He didn't like seeing Sonic like this. He wasn't used to it. Ever since they first met, the two were always going on one adventure after another, always fighting bad guys and saving the world with their friends, Sonic always running ahead, never stopping...

Suddenly, an idea came up inside his head and he turned to his blue friend. 'Why don't you go for a run in the city? I'm sure it may help clear your mind.'

Sonic eyed Tails as if waiting for him to crack up. When he didn't, he let out a sigh and said, 'A run? I'm just...not in a mood at the moment.'

Tails gaped at him, 'What? I never knew you would tire from running!'

Sonic didn't answer as he continued staring up at the fan.

Tails sighed as he once again stopped working on the regulator to look up at Sonic with a serious expression on his face. 'Okay then, why don't you go hang out with Amy? I heard she's moving out of her old apartment today and...I do remember her mentioning that she could use some help.'

Sonic blinked at the mention of her name.

Amy...?

He then looked at Tails as he asked, 'Why Amy?'

Tails simply shrugged. 'I just know that she's moving over to somewhere closeby from here and that she needs help. I could go over if I wanted to, but...' he points at the regulator, 'I've got my hands full at the moment.'

Sonic stared at Tails. He then lowered his eyes as he thought. Did he have anything better to do at the moment? No. Did he have some other place to be at? Again no. Angel Island was out of the question since he remembered Knuckles mentioning that Rouge would be spending the night there with him. Did he have a plate full of chili dogs close by?

Sigh, no...

Sonic thought back on all the previous days and from everything he could recall, he couldn't remember having had spent any time with Amy. It had been a month, to be precise. She had called once the previous week but he wasn't available at the time and he didn't bother to call her back. They were slightly growing distant from each other and he knew that no matter how much the old him would have liked that, this new him wasn't too sure anymore. He just couldn't help feeling guilty for not staying in touch with the pink hedgehog.

He then slowly got off the chair and stretched. 'Okay, Tails. You win. I'll go over and see what I can do to help.' He then grinned at Tails. 'I'll see you in the evening buddy.' he winked as he took off in a blue blur, leaving Tails at his workshop, who was very much happy for his hero.

I just hope something springs up soon that would help Sonic get his energy back.

Little did the young fox know of the kind of trouble that would ensue in a few days...

Author's note -

My first chapter! I don't know if you've all enjoyed it. Either way, kindly review to let me know what you guys think of this first chapter though. Thanks! :)