The water skittered underneath his sneakers, spewing out a massive spray in his wake. Steam mixed in as the friction of his feet boiled the ocean’s surface like a pot on a stove. He always wondered if he could go fast enough to run on water. Now he knew. But he knew as well that one fall would see him crash beneath the waves . . . and he still couldn’t swim.

But he had to push forward now on his own. He’d make it up to Tails for leaving the fox behind. He wasn’t trying to do it all alone anymore, but he just didn’t have a choice.

“Gotta go fast!” Sonic said as he pushed himself harder, covering the miles to that distant light in a matter of moments.

The wine-dark sea swelled angrily as he came closer and closer to the beacon. The green light poured out of the peak of a tiny rocky island. With the waves swirling around it, Sonic’s tenuous balancing act was thrown for a loop. With each new step, his feet sunk just below the surface of the water before he launched off again. His balance became unsteady. The waters rose in violent waves.

And just as he reached the edge of the island’s whirlpool, he finally made a fatal slip. For the first time in his life, Sonic lost his footing underneath him. He hit the water at over three hundred miles an hour, face-first! Like a skipping stone, Sonic skidded off the surface and into the air. His head took the brunt of the blow . . . until finally everything went black.

When he came to, Sonic was sure that he was at the bottom of a watery grave. But then he heard the gentle sound of water lapping at the shore.

-Chapter 14