It was the dead of night when two friends ran through the village, the moonlight casting a shadow upon contact with every little thing. Sonic zoomed past every house with just a whoosh of wind while Tails took every step with caution.
"Sonic!" Tails whispered into the wind, catching the blue hedgehog's attention. "We need to be careful! We can't wake anyone up!"
"Roger that, buddy." Sonic gave his best friend his signature thumbs-up before he dashed off again.

In a misty alley, a strong red-figure stood still, staring down at his hands which held whatever he had found in the dead of night: a blue pendant in the shape of a lightning bolt. His mouth gave a wicked smile, baring the sharp teeth he had never shown to anyone. This pendant was his to keep, and only his...

Sonic ran through the village at light speed, though he wouldn't normally do this. It hurt his legs a lot, but it didn't risk him being heard. But even at this speed, he wasn't fast enough to dodge a speeding fist that came out of nowhere and straight to his face. Sonic stumbled back, feeling a drop of blood leave his nose. He fell onto his back, fresh blood flowing out his nose and into his mouth, tasting the metallic flavour of the red liquid. Looking up, he had seen who had ganged upon him.
"Knuckles?!" He shouted, still on the ground and watched his echidna friend approach him with a menacing look in his eyes. Just like Tails, half an hour ago, Knuckles' eyes were in a slit. His teeth were now bared, showing the sharpness Sonic had never known they had.
"Knucks!" Sonic tried to reach out to his friend's conscious, but the echidna had brought his fist down into the ground where the blue hedgehog was. "What's going on?!"
Then it hit him from the back of his mind, the one thing he was breaking his legs all night for: the pendant. Now knowing what he had to do, Sonic leapt onto a wall and launched himself headfirst into Knuckles' chest, knocking him down. The small clink of metal was heard. Sonic looked at the ground and saw the pendant, sitting still under the moonlight, reflecting light from the natural satellite. He felt an urge to pick it up, but before he could even touch it a street dog took it into its mouth and ran off.

"Hey!" Sonic screamed out into the night. "That pendant is mine!"
Suddenly realising what he had said, Sonic covered his mouth instantly, gaining look from the shocked Tails and the well-confused Knuckles.
"Sonic?" Tails began, hesitant, scared of what his friend had said. "Why did you say that?"
The cobalt hero looked down, confused by his actions. He's not letting that pendant get a hold of him, right?
"Sorry Tails, I don't know what happened," Sonic answered, giving an assuring smile which he knew was fake. "Let's just get it back, what do you say?" With that, he dashed off into the night, thinking about his sudden outburst. Now, he was scared. What if, just what if, he will hurt his friends?

~•~

A storm began and the sun started to rise. Sonic ran through the town once more, following the tracks of the street dog who stole the pendant. Wherever he was going, it wasn't good, especially when it has the pendant. Those waves of mind-control are strong enough to capture anyone's conscious and make them fight. That isn't what the blue hedgehog wanted for the village he protected for years on straight. He needs to find it, now or never.

On the other side of town, pitchforks, torches and anything that can be used as a weapon is being raised. The townspeople have all woken to the first sunlight of the day and the fight to claim the pendant as their own has just begun.

Following the clamour, Sonic found himself standing in the outer circle of the murderous fight, watching the people he had so tried hard to protect fight until their final breath, just to hold the metallic jewellery piece. But, watching them from there, he had noticed something. He didn't feel any waves of control in his mind, but rather a call. A calming sound coming from the centre of their fight, the eye of the storm: the pendant. As crazy as this sounds, but he can assure you, the pendant was calling to him, a message that no one else can hear.
"I choose you, blue saviour..."
He now knows why he was completely immune to its effects. He wasn't special or had total free will, it was because it chose him to be its carrier, its true owner. Now, he has to show the world that.

"Sonic!" Sonic heard his little fox friend call out. Turning around, he saw Tails, running towards him as fast as he could. Behind him, followed the red echidna and pink hedgehog: Amy Rose, Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend.
"Sonic!" Amy launched herself into Sonic. "I've been looking forever! Are you alright?"
"I'm always alright, Amy," Sonic assured her, then turned around once more, facing the crowd. "But right now, I need to get that pendant."
"Sounds like he figured it out too, Tails." Knuckles announced. Sonic turned back yet again to face his little buddy, a face full of surprise.
"Tails? How long have you known?" He asked, feeling a sense of pride for his young fox friend.
"I re-read the readings from the pendant I got from yesterday afternoon. I modified the readings into a coded language and I saw that it was calling to you, Sonic. It chose you to be its new carrier and its one true owner!"

Sonic smiled, ready for the fight to claim what's his. He dashed straight into the centre of the fight, giving those too engaged a shock. As the fighting townspeople notice what Sonic was up to, they brought up their weapons once more.
"Get him!" An old lady shouted, holding her torch high. A clap of thunder shot through the sky as the people of the town stood strong and charged towards Sonic, sharp points pointed directly to him. As much as he hated this, Sonic rolled up into a ball, prepared for his signature spin-dash. He released himself and rolled through a bombarding crowd, knocking them down like bowling pins. As soon as he unrolled himself, a pitchfork came down, almost stabbing him through his skull. But luckily, he managed to zoom out of its way. Sonic only had one thing to say.
"Man," he began, "these guys are nuts!"
Picking himself back up, he ran as fast as he could through the crowd, avoiding running into the ones who want to take him down.

The pendant was so close, he was gonna make it! But, what came straight to his stomach was a shovel. But luckily it knocked him straight to the ground right in front of the pendant. Sonic, without thinking, grab it and held it close, still laying in pain on the ground. That shovel hurt.
"Hand it over, little boy." The guy with the shovel, an orange cat, threatened. He pointed the tip of his shovel at the blue hedgehog's head. "Hand it over, and it'll be painless for you."
That only made Sonic hold the pendant tighter, baring his teeth with a slight growl.
"No!" He shouted, pushing himself off the ground. "This pendant is mine!"
Almost at an instant, the insane looks on the people's face went away, bringing back their true selves. Sonic smiled, but he needs everyone to hear the truth.
"This pendant is from the 'Legend of Chaos', something that I've always loved as a kid. I know it sounds crazy, but that legend is true. This pendant is evidence." Sonic spoke calmly, walking back and forth, directing his little speech to everyone. "This pendant made you all fight, made you all forget why we are all here together. I want to protect this town that I've lived in my whole life, and if that means I'll have to give my life for it: I'll do it anyway, because this town, you guys, mean more to me than anything else in the world."
The storm stopped, the clouds cleared as sunlight shone down onto the emotionally moved village. Sonic smiled, then walked away, receiving claps and cheers as he did.

"That was amazing, Sonic!" Tails exclaimed, giving his friend a well-deserved fist bump. Sonic smiled, as well as sighing out of relief.
"I wouldn't call it amazing, Tails," Sonic answered. "Just doing what I've gotta do."
With that, Tails shed a smile and hugged his best friend tight. Sonic chuckled, but instead of only hugging Tails back, he pulled Knuckles and Amy in as well. The four of them were closest friends, and they always will be, no matter what.

~•~

On a cliff, just outside town, stood a soulless creature. A replica of Chaos stood, watching the four heroes enjoy their relief. But their so-called relief isn't so reliving. That pendant is what this creature was after, and he won't stop until he gets it.

To be continued...