I don't own either of these characters (although I wish I did), they belong to SEGA. Unofficial fan characters are my creations, but they are based off the original 'Mobian' designs by SEGA and Sonic Team, so kudos to them.

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Hi! Zosonils here. Many of you will be here from my now discontinued first attempt at this story. If that's you, thanks for understanding. If it isn't, don't worry, you aren't missing out on a whole lot. Everybody loves a good ole 'how Sonic met Tails' fanfiction. It's a totally original idea that nobody else has EVER done before! (sarcasm) I hope you like this. And for reference, here's my interpretation of the timeline of the classics: Sonic 1, Tails' Adventure, Sonic CD, Sonic 2 Game Gear/Master System, Sonic Generations (as in that's the point in time that the Classic characters came from), Sonic 2 Genesis/Mega Drive, and Sonic 3 and Knuckles. I do not believe Sonic 1 for the Game Gear/Master System to be canon, but I think the Zones in it do exist and are on South Island. Now that you know that, it should be easier to follow the storyline. Sorry for blabbing about nothing for so long. Enjoy the story! I need to shut up now, so I will. *mmph* *pff* *generic weird noise you make when you're holding your mouth shut with your hands*

Chapter 1 - First Impressions

Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, there was a place named Cocoa Island. Very few people knew of its existence. It was so remote that most maps of the world didn't even show it. But on the island, a small but happy community thrived, despite their isolation from the rest of the world.

One of the few people who knew Cocoa Island was a real place was Sonic the Hedgehog. There's little to be explained about Sonic - even somebody living under a rock would know who he was. Heck, the rocks had probably heard of him, but don't ask how rocks can hear. Sonic the Hedgehog was probably the single most famous hero on the planet. He had saved his homeland, South Island, from the forces of evil, and in doing so had prevented a dictator from potentially trying to overthrow and take control of every government in the world. How could anybody do that and not be hailed as totally awesome?

Not much can be said about Sonic that you wouldn't figure out in roughly a minute. He was a bright blue hedgehog with the same fully black eyes as most intelligent animals at the time. He had super speed, and was able to break the sound barrier on foot, hence the name 'Sonic'. While he was friendly, he didn't talk much, usually communicating with hand gestures, body language and facial expressions, and only using actual speech if it was the only way to get his thoughts across properly. He liked to explore, and had travelled all over South Island and then the world on numerous occasions. Despite having a reputation as a hero, he didn't make a big deal of it. Basically, he was just a guy who loved adventure with a carefree nature and a strong sense of justice.

Recently, Sonic had been looking for places to explore. He had come across the location of Cocoa Island, and decided to check the place out. And that brings us to the start of this story, set on the beach outlining the island, just as the hedgehog arrives.

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Sonic ran at super speed across the water. He casually checked the map he had printed off of the internet to make sure that he was going the right way. Yes, he was still on track. In fact, taking a closer look, he could see the shape of a small island in the distance. He accelerated, his shoes barely touching the water. Five minutes later, he had arrived at Cocoa Island, coming towards a beach. He screeched to a stop and bent down to brush the damp sand off of his red sneakers.

Before the hedgehog could go anywhere, something appeared in front of him. It looked like some kind of mechanical dog, and it was barking like crazy. Sonic immediately braced himself for a battle; after all, every time he had seen an animal-like robot before, it was trying to remove his head from his shoulders. The robot-dog yapped at him and tried to headbutt him. Sonic stepped to the side, and it crashed into the sand. It jumped right back up again and continued to bark at him. A voice interrupted the battle. "T-Pup, no! Stop it! Bad dog!" Somebody, apparently the owner of the robot, ran out from the forest nearby. It was a fox, a small child five years old at the most. Sonic saw that the fox had two identical tails. "This is a visitor, T-Pup," the kid told his dog. "Don't start attacking him for no reason, okay? He hasn't done anything bad to us." He looked up at Sonic. "I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean for him to attack you! We'll leave you alone, just… just don't hurt me-" He stopped dead when he realised who he was talking to. His black eyes widened in amazement. "Wait! You're… you're Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Sonic nodded. He pointed at the robot dog - T-Pup, was it? - with a questioning expression on his face. Is this your dog? The fox understood what was being asked. "Um… y-yes, this is T-Pup. I built him myself," he said. His ears lowered, as if he was embarrassed or expecting Sonic to hurt him. Instead of doing anything the fox was probably expecting, Sonic gave him a thumbs up and a smile. It's cool! For a second, the kid seemed to be unsure if it was a sincere compliment. He must have decided it was, because his eyes shone. "You like him? Thank you!"

From somewhere else, another person appeared. He was a tall, grey wolf with a menacing appearance. "Oi, freak! What've we told ya 'bout comin' too close to the village?" The fox looked at the new stranger, and his good mood vanished. T-Pup barked again, but when the wolf came closer and glared at them, it turned into a pitiful whine. "You'll cause trouble by hangin' 'round 'ere! Beat it 'fore I beat you!" The fox grabbed T-Pup, mumbled an apology, and ran as fast as he could into the forest. Sonic looked at the wolf. What was that for? "Ignore him," the wolf said. "I reckon you should avoid that little robo-thing he has, too. That kid's nothin' but a big problem. Sign a' bad luck or somethin'. Movin' on… Sonic THE Hedgehog? Honour to meet ya! The name's Alpha, an' I'm kinda this place's leader or whatever. What brings a hero like you to our lil' island 'ere?"

After one last concerned glance towards the trees, Sonic decided to focus on the conversation. He pulled out his map and showed it to Alpha, pointing at the tiny dot that he had circled and written 'Cocoa Island' above. Just looking for new places to go. Alpha smiled. "Well, there's plenty a' land 'ere for ya to explore, if that's what ya want. But do us a favour, come visit the village for a second, will ya? The people 'round 'ere might like to know ya came." Sonic nodded. Alpha walked back along the path he had come from, motioning for the hedgehog to follow.

They arrived at a village with many small houses and what looked like a marketplace. Alpha continued to the market and stopped at some kind of stage with a bell above it. He rang the bell, and all of the hundred or so people in the village stopped what they were doing. Some people left their houses to see what was going on. Alpha cleared his throat. "People a' Cocoa Island, as ya can see, we 'ave a very special visitor 'ere!" he announced. There was a gasp from the crowd. "Yep, that's right. This 'ere is Sonic THE Hedgehog, right on our humble lil' island!" Sonic smiled at everybody and waved. "How long are ya gonna stay 'ere?" Alpha asked. Sonic held up two fingers. Two days. "Well, there ya have it, folks!" the wolf said. "For two days, we've got this hero guy with us! I want y'all be on ya best behaviour an' stuff. Y'know, stay in school, eat ya veggies an' all that. Make a guy feel welcome, yeah? Thank ya for listenin'! Ya can keep doin' whatever ya were doin' before now!"

The villagers returned to their previous activities, but new conversations were sparked. Sonic looked at the small community going about their business. He couldn't help but smile, seeing how an isolated village could work so well together. Alpha turned to him. "Well, ya might as well go off an' explore or somethin'," he said. "It's what ya came 'ere for, right?" Sonic nodded and ran off, away from the village and towards the forest. He wanted to see what sort of Zones Cocoa Island might have to offer.

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Sonic ran through the forest. He took note of the direction the village was in, not wanting to risk getting lost. Most of Cocoa Island was covered by trees, but in the past hour or two, he had also seen a lake and a mountain, and there were some much smaller islands surrounding it he planned to visit later. The sun was starting to get lower, and there was maybe an hour left at most before it set and he would have to go back. Nothing seemed unusual. Then Sonic heard the very loud, tell-tale noise of a twig snapping. He stopped dead and turned around. He heard somebody running away, and knew instantly where they were. In one speedy movement, he had overtaken whoever was there and cornered them against a tree.

Upon catching the person, Sonic expected them to quickly explain why they were following him without his knowledge. He didn't expect them to throw their hands up in a surrendering position, pull back, and almost start crying. "I'm sorry!" they said. Sonic recognised the voice - it was the kid with two tails from earlier. He stepped back and gave him some space. The fox spluttered out a nervous excuse. "I-I just wanted to see what you were doing, but-but people don't like it when I follow them, so I hid, but th-then I stepped on something and you heard me, and… d-don't hurt me, please!"

The kid couldn't keep going. Obviously, he was terrified. Sonic put a hand on his shoulder, which he meant as reassuring, but appeared to scare him even more. The hedgehog tried to stop him from freaking out, but it wasn't working. "Hey, calm down," he said.

The sound of his voice seemed to stop the fox. "I'm sorry… wait, you can talk?"

"Well, yeah," Sonic confirmed. He almost rolled his eyes - just because he never talked didn't mean he couldn't, something that a ridiculous amount of people didn't get - but he held back for the kid's sake. "I just don't much. Now I have your attention, calm down. Don't worry, buddy, I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Okay…" the fox said uncertainly. "Um… nice to meet you, I guess? My name's Miles, Miles Prower." Miles waved slowly. Sonic waved back, bringing a smile to his face. "I know who you are, of course, Sonic the Hedgehog! It's really cool to be meeting you! I'm a big fan… you're kind of my hero, really!"

They were interrupted by more footsteps. Out of the bushes, a tiny robot ran towards the two. It came to a stop in between Sonic and Miles, facing the former with a hostile, distrusting growl. Miles picked it up. "No, T-Pup! I told you, no. Don't attack him. This is Sonic! He is a friend. Friendly. Not bad." He turned back to Sonic. "I'm sorry, he's really protective of me," he apologised. "Now that I've told him you're a friend, he should be nice. It's just that everybody here doesn't like me, and he hasn't met anybody else friendly yet, so assuming that everyone is bad is sort of automatic for him."

Sonic shrugged, going back to his normal, silent way of 'speaking'. It's fine. He cautiously reached a hand out to T-Pup, who was sitting in Miles' arms. The dog made a surprisingly realistic sniffing action, then licked his hand, barking. "That means he likes you," Miles explained. Smiling, Sonic petted T-Pup on the head. He yapped again, sounding incredibly happy for a robot. Miles blinked, looking slightly overwhelmed. "Wow. This is the longest I've ever talked to somebody without getting into a fight. Why are you being nice to me?" he asked. "I mean, Alpha told you to stay away from me, and even if he hadn't, I'm still not normal. 'Cos seeing as I have two tails, people say I'm a freak, and-" Sonic held out a hand, signalling for Miles to stop. He pointed at Miles' two tails, then gave a thumbs up. I think they're cool. Judging by the way the fox's face lit up, he understood. "Thank you! Nobody's ever said that before…"

Well, at that moment, Miles had never been happier in his life. He had just met his hero, and said hero was not only treating him like an equal, but apparently liked T-Pup and thought his tails were a good thing. Nobody he'd met before had even done one of those things, let alone all three at once! He decided that he would remember this meeting forever. Sonic moved his hands outwards to indicate the general area, then adopted a questioning expression. So, what is this place? Miles figured out what the question was. "This is Poloy Forest," he answered. "It's the biggest forest on Cocoa Island. There's also Caron Forest in the northwest. Then to the east of here, there's Lake Rocky, and the main river, Crystal River. And right up north, you have Polly Mountain, or Pori Pori Mountain as some people call it." He realised that he was ranting and stopped. "Oh, but I'm just rattling off random facts now. You don't really need to know all of this."

Sonic looked up. The sun was setting. He pointed at the sun, then lowered his finger to the ground. He jerked his thumb back in the general direction of the village and waved. The sun's about to set. I need to go back to the village now. Bye! Miles waved back. "Oh, okay. Goodbye, Sonic," he said. T-Pup barked. Sonic smiled and walked away. Miles waited until the hedgehog was gone, then sat down on a tree stump. He threw his hands in the air excitedly. "That was so awesome!" he exclaimed, speaking to T-Pup. "Hold on, let me go over this. So… Sonic the Hedgehog - Sonic THE actual Hedgehog - literally just came up and talked to me… well, kind of. Close enough. Anyway, then he says that he thinks you're cool, and then he says he like my tails? Is that even possible?!" T-Pup yapped happily. Miles gave him a pat on the head. "Aw, who's a good robot puppy? You are! Yeah, you're a good robot puppy!"

As the sun set and the stars came out, Miles had never been more excited. He eventually lay down on the tree stump and tried to get some rest. The day after, Sonic left Cocoa Island and went back home. Normal routine resumed. Their interaction was nothing but a memory. But, unbeknownst to anybody, they would meet again soon, and the next time they did, it would trigger a chain of events that changed both of their lives forever. The next time they met would mark the beginning of something huge, something unbreakable, something that would have a massive impact on the entire world…

…the beginning of the legendary friendship between Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles 'Tails' Prower.

And there you go! This was kind of a prologue. A prologue's prologue? Nope, my brain hurts. Next chapter will be set after Tails' Adventure. I'm trying to keep Sonic and Tails in-character. I think I'm doing okay… hopefully. I spent a while messing around with my hands and trying to figure out the appropriate actions for Sonic to do, because as we all know, he apparently didn't speak much in the Classic days. Or something. Hey, I don't know. Well, please leave a review! See you next time! :D