The Spark

## Synopsis

**The Spark** covers the origin of Sonic, a young trouble-maker who disrupts the town and it's villagers. After a group of villagers corner him, spouting their negativity. A tall man named Dr. Eggman comforts the hedgehog and brings him to a new life

## Story

The child laughed as he ran through the streets, the world a blur.  To him, reality was irrelevant. This was life in its most glorious form.  Fast, intense, with endless color streaking past and nothing but the wind through his spines. One thing was clear. He was different. They called him Sonic, and for good reason. When he ran, his speed was unnatural and destructive. It was like he was constantly running away from something, though no one could quite tell what. In truth, people hated him for it. Parents rarely let their children near him, deeming the hedgehog "a bad influence," and on the rare occasion they did, the other boys just teased him for his powers.

If you'd have asked him, he'd have told you, in that sweet child's voice, that he was fine.  That these things didn't bother him at all.  But few people can endure that kind of ridicule for long and eventually the pain in his heart turned slightly bitter. He began to use his abilities to cause mayhem. He didn't know how else to react, and although he never meant any true harm, there were days where the damage he did was all too real. It was on one of those days that the villagers decided they'd had enough. They met him in the center of the town, now a wrecked mess of broken carts, and stopped him in his tracks.

Any outsider would have been appalled at what happened next.  Nearly the entire town was there to yell at him, though he was no more than a small child.  And he took it. His emerald eyes burned with anger but he stood there and bore every word until the end when he just couldn't take it anymore.  It was if all hell broke loose in his voice. He screamed back and the pain reflected there was almost unbearable to those who watched and listened.

Suddenly, the crowd felt that they were the monsters here.  Guilt shown in their faces and perhaps for the first time, they realized he had been running from them.  All this time he had run to escape their words, their ridicule. He ran to forget he was alone.

They all felt as if they should do something, but in their shame, not one person stepped forward. In quiet murmurs they departed, one by one, leaving the child alone with his tears in the center of the square.

He just sat there, his face buried in his hands and surrounded by the destruction he had wrought, as he sobbed. There was nothing left to hide. He was alone and vulnerable and everyone knew it now.  The thought scared him more than anything.

Footsteps echoed on the pavement and the boy looked up, expecting to another villager ready to scold him.  Instead, there stood a man he had never seen before.  He was tall with an almost egg-shaped figure and had the biggest mustache Sonic had ever seen. And he was asking him a question.

"Are you the one who did all this?" he asked, though not unkindly, gesturing to the mess around them.

Sonic nodded timidly, wondering why this man was even bothering to talk to him. "W-who are you?" he asked, sniffling.

The man kneeled down to get on Sonic's level. "You can call me Dr. Eggman," he replied, smiling. "And what may I call you?"

"S-Sonic," he whispered back, utterly confused at the kindness of this "Eggman."  Regardless, the sadness in his face began to disappear as he spoke.

"Well, Sonic, I think you have quite a gift with your speed. Your parents must be proud."

Something flashed in the child's eyes, the spark that had begun his fire, and he looked away to hide his face.  "My parents are dead," he murmured, his voice barely audible.

The man seemed taken aback for a second and there was a moment of silence before he finally spoke again. "Ah... I'm sorry."

The kid shrugged, refusing to accept the emotions he had buried for so long or rekindle his earlier to tears. "Why are you here, anyway?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Well, if I'm completely honest, I came here looking for your help," Eggman replied, letting the previous topic go.

Now Sonic was really surprised. "MY help?" He asked, bursting into a fit of nervous laughter.   "No one EVER asks for my help."

"Well, I am! You see, I'm an inventor of sorts, but I never have anyone to get my materials for me fast enough.  You, on the other hand, seem perfectly up to the task. Of course, I would need you close by so you might have to stay at my mansion..."

Sonic stopped laughing and looked at him, his head cocked in a querying position. Did he hear that right?  Was this man really offering him a home?  "Wait, you're serious?"

"Absolutely."

"And you have a mansion?"  Every instinct told him to run again. This must be a trap. No one could ever be that generous.

"Oh, yes, it's quite a beautiful place, in a tropical jungle an-"

He gave.  "When do I start?"

Eggman laughed, "Well, all right then!" He exclaimed, standing up.  "Right now, if you'd like. I'll take you to see your new home first and then you can begin."  He reached out his hand and waited for Sonic to grab hold.

The boy reached out, then pulled back and stared for a moment. It all seemed to good to be true and there was something about this man he couldn't read.

"Well?" Eggman asked. "Are you coming?"

Sonic pushed the uneasiness to the back of his mind and smiled. He placed his small hand in the man's and nodded, hardly containing the excitement he felt.

And so they left, hand in hand. Eggman led the boy through the rubble and out of the streets toward a new life. A new chapter was just beginning for both, though neither could have foreseen the storm their future held.