Faster Than Sound

POV: Blake Johnson

Location: San Antonio, Tx, Blake’s House

Time: 3:40 P.M.

My muscles ached and burned. I was tired and exhausted. My name’s Blake Johnson, I’m an Athletic Trainer and a Physical Trainer. The reason I’m tired is simply because I had ran miles and miles worth of track, and so had a few unfortunate clients. It’s not my fault they wanted to become stronger, but I have to give it to them, this stuff wasn’t easy. Running over ten miles each day from Monday through Friday wasn’t a walk in the park, neither were the other things that we did. Getting back on the task at hand, I looked over my back and see all my last clients behind in worse shape than me. Some were on the ground, breathing heavily in a desperate attempt to get oxygen.

“You can go into the gym and shower if you want, or you could go to your house and smell like pigs, your choice.” Most of the ones on the ground reluctantly got up and started walking towards the parking lot next to the track, while the rest walked towards the gym. Now time for weight-training class.

Two Hours Later

My muscles burned horrendously, especially my quads. I’m not like most trainers, I work out with my clients and work out more after strengthening my clients. “We are done for the day and week. Remember to put the weights back in place and to place the bars back onto their racks.” Of course they complied but three certain faces stuck out to me. Allen, Jack, and . . . Jake. What a kid, how did his parents raise him? Allen was cocky, over-confident, arrogant, and has a ’Get-It-Done’ attitude. Jack is calm, smart, and a logical thinker. Jake, however, is a fucking pervert. I don’t know what goes on in his mind but he licked his fingers once and slid it across my asshole in the showers. Just what the fuck. Aside from that happening, I still take showers even if I am paranoid that Jake will do some shit to me. Now that I mention showers, I need to take one badly.

Four Hours Later

I was at my house on the front lawn. It was a mid-sized house but had a modern look to it. I would explain how it look but that would take too long. I started thinking specifically about the future. Sure, what I did right now was fun but what about something more than what I was now? Such as reaching for my goals until I achieve them. One thing I never let go was my child-like dreams. Join the NFL, help people in need, reach my physical limits, be Sonic The Hedgehog and possibly discover a new world. I guess the last two are near impossible but hell, I can keep on dreaming and work towards it. The funny part is that I want to discover a world but I really haven’t put my life into that dream.

Becoming Sonic was another one of my fantasies. I was a fan of the franchise and enjoyed SEGA’s Sonic games. I was a fan but overtime, I outgrew the franchise. Even as I outgrew it, I still admired Sonic and strove myself towards physical improvement. Though, even as a child, a blue hedgehog that can break the sound barrier instantly is something I knew I couldn’t possibly be. In fact, what were the chances of that happe-

A bright light exploded in the sky, blinding me temporarily. I shut my eyes close while they burned as white filled my vision. The light disappeared as fast as it came. I reopened my eyes, although still blinded. The white started to slowly dissipate. Seven glowing gems could be seen floating in mid-air. I could only stare in awe and shock at these mysterious gemstones.

“It couldn’t be . . . could it? Chaos Emeralds?” The thought itself was uncanny and ridiculous but seemed reasonably correct. The shapes of the gems exactly mirrored those from the Sonic games, all of the colors the same from memory, and that raw power alone, this couldn’t be real. I pinched myself to make sure this wasn’t a dream. Pain was present in the pinch, so this isn’t a dream. My awe started to mix with confusion. How? These gems are nothing but fiction! How could they withstand this raw power if the games were anything to go by. More questions poured rapidly into my thoughts. Something else happened soon.

A blue portal opened up, swirling quickly. The Emeralds started to spin quickly in a circle. Soon, one by one, they were shot towards me. I was brought out of an endless amount of confusion and awe as they rocketed towards me. I tried to dodged but it was useless. When the first one hit, pain erupted from within me. I shut my eyes right as there wasn’t a place that wasn’t in pain. My screams echoed through the night but I had seen nobody on the streets when I arrived home.

I was screaming for what felt like hours of non-stop pain. My bones, and muscles felt as if they had been compressed, melted, and beat with a hammer going at insane speeds. The pain suddenly dissipated, leaving only aching muscles, racing heartbeat, and most senses being numbed. I was panting heavily as I tried to move but only succeeded in causing more pain.

Despite the pain, I could feel many different things. My hands and feet felt different, and bigger. I couldn’t move my toes but I believed it wasn’t because of the pain, I think I don’t have them anymore. My hands felt larger and that’s about it aside from pain. My torso felt different, smaller yet somehow more compact. My limbs felt considerably thinner and compact. From this point on, my eyes were closed.

Deciding, I cracked open my eyelids and saw something. My vision was blurry but something wasn’t right about my head or face. I could see some kind of muzzle and long, black shiny thin nose. My head felt slightly bigger and my ears didn’t feel like they were in the right place. They felt more atop of my head than on the sides of my head.

Another daunting realization came in mind. ’What? No . . . I can’t . . . Impossible . . . I’m . . . Sonic the hedgehog?!’ The things I felt betrayed to what I believed as a kid. I forced myself to open my eyes. My eyes were heavy but I didn’t let that get in the way. I turned my body, aching pain became present on my torso. I didn’t let that stop me. Once on my stomach, I put my arms on the ground and pushed up. Even if they burned, and were shaky, I didn’t let that stop. I used my arms to help me get on my knees. Once on my knees, I put my right foot on the ground and pushed up. Even though my leg was threatening to break, I didn’t give up. Now noticing that I was considerably shorter, my suspicions seemed more justified.

Looking down, I noticed blue fur, peach fur on my chest, stomach, newly acquired muzzle, and arms. My suspicion was correct, I was Sonic The Hedgehog. I tried to speak but nothing came out, just a few grunts and growls. Damn it. I can’t speak it seems.

Once getting even footing, I started walking forward in a slouched position. Each step I took brought me greats amount of pain, but I managed to ignore it for now. The portal was still on my lawn as well as the Chaos Emeralds. It took a minute but I finally reached both of them. I was about a few feet away from the Emeralds before they shot at me again. I didn’t have the strength to block nor dodge, so I took the hit. I didn’t believe I could survive if what happened to me before happened to me again.

I closed my eyes, waiting for them to hit. Nothing came though, I opened my eyes hesitatingly and saw no Chaos Emeralds in sight. I turned to look around but they were nowhere to be seen. Confused, I turned back towards the portal to examine it. As I walked closer to it, a force started to pull me towards it. At first it was light but started to become violent.

Distraught by this, I started to walk backwards with all the strength I had left. This proved useless as the portal became more violent. Eventually, my legs gave out, giving the portal the upper hand. I was launched forward by the raw strength the portal was using.

My environment changed in an instant, from my lawn to an orange sky. Wait, an orange sky?! I started to panic as gravity started to take affect on me. I couldn’t do much more than let gravity guide me to its intended destination and hope for the best. I looked at where I would be falling at and saw a town. The town itself was on some kind of large mountain. The mountain itself looked like a gaint piece of stone with carved path surrounding it, buildings on said path, and other structures jutting out the side of it with the same design. Talking about paths, a curved path connected a dressert to the mountain. I noticed something that surprisingly didn’t catch my eye previously. The town’s land was surrounded by mist.

Well shit.