About twenty more minutes later we were finished, and got in line for the checkout. I stood patiently. However, Sonic was soon tapping his foot. I tried to ignore him, but it grew irritating.

“Do you mind?” I hissed.

Sonic paused for a moment.

“What? It’s not my fault the world moves too slow for me!” He hissed back. 

I said nothing. Sonic folded his arms. 

.

Behind us was a mother with three small children. One sat in the front of the cart, one was a teenager glancing at the magazines. The last was about three years old, walking around the cart; and was taking a particular interest in Sonic. Sonic noticed, and was attempting to ignore it best he could. But she kept looking at him, and even started poking him. 

“Cat! Cat!” She exclaimed, excitedly. 

Sonic tried to gently push her away.

“I’m not a cat, I’m a-!” 

He stopped himself right before he could say, “Hedgehog.” 

The girl started poking his nose.

“Boop!” She squealed, excitedly.

“Stop that!” He hissed. 

“Honey, could you stop touching him please?” Luana requested.

But the preschooler didn’t listen. 

“Boop!” She cried again. 

.

Sonic shuffled his feet in place as hard as he could. Dust particulars shot up from the supermarket floor. Finally, the girl stopped. She turned around and started to sneeze. Her mother noticed, picked her up, and placed her in the cart. Sonic and I exchanged glances and grinned.

“Nice job” I whispered. 

“Thank you,” Sonic replied, “Thank you very much!” 

.

Suddenly, a horrid, piercing sound of pelting objects echoed through the air. Sonic and I’s eyes widened. Shouts and screams of terror rang out. I looked and saw men in masks enter the supermarket, with massive guns, hot and steaming. 

“Nobody move!” The leader shouted, “or I’ll shoot! I want all the money out of everyone’s pockets, cashier, and wallet!” 

Children began wailing and sobbing. I froze. My heart raced. What do I do? 

“Overlander!” 

Sonic pulled me down. His eyes narrowed. I could hear a ring of bullets again, more screaming and shuffling. 

“Don’t you have a police force?” Sonic cried.

“We do, but who knows how fast they can come!” 

.

Sonic looked away, thinking long and hard. Then, he grabbed my wrist.

“Overlander, listen to me!” He whispered, “I can stop them, but I need you to stay close so I don’t lock up.” 

“Wh-what?” I stammered, “Sonic, what if they see you?”

“They won’t! I’ll just be quick as a flash!” 

I stared at him for a moment. He was very serious, and confidence and passion flared in his eyes. 

“Hey! You over there! Quit talking!” 

One of the men in masks marched up to us and flashed his gun at us.

“Hand over your wallet! Now!” He demanded. 

I glanced at Sonic, who looked at me with pleading eyes. Slowly, I reached into my pocket. Sonic stare grew intense. I flashed my eyes back at him. 

.

I whipped my hand out of my bag. I didn’t pull out my wallet. I pulled out my pepper spray. I bore my finger down and let the red substance fly out. Despite the mask, I managed to get the thief in the face. He cried out in pain.

“Everyone get down!” I screamed. 

Sonic grabbed my hand and pulled me forward to the front of the line. Then, he got to work.

.

He vanished. Then blue streaks whipped back and forth, kicking up dust, blowing off candy and magazines, their pages tearing and blowing into the air. The crooks fired their guns at the blue blur. The people trapped shrieked again, but no bullet pierced them. Then there was a sphere of shining sapphire whirling towards them with speed. It bounced off of walls and rammed into the thieves with bull-strength, knocking the guns out of their hands, and pinching them in the shoulder blades, knees, and stomach. I took this chance to jump up and kick the guns away. Then I aggressively gestured towards the other hostages.

“Come on! Let’s move!” I called. 

Soon, everyone jumped up, making a beeline for the exit. There was so much dust and paper flying, I dearly hoped that no one could get a good look at me. No one could know about me, no one could know about my secret. Everyone shuffled out, bumping and running over each other to get out. I ducted down as to not be seen, and watched. Sonic seemed to be doing well. One remained, shooting at everything that moved. I heard a cry out of pain, that was quickly muffled by the teetering of bullets. 

“Sonic!” I exclaimed. 

Finally, I could see the silhouette of the thug. His gun flying out of his hand, and a rounded furball decking him in the chest, knocking him out cold.  

.

I could hear sirens in the distance. I ran up to him, finally able to see his cool blue fur and emerald green eyes

“Sonic, we have to go!” I cried. 

Breathless, he nodded. He took my hand, and we fled the store. 

.

The police cars just started to pull up. We were breathless and dirty. We exchanged glances, then sighed.

“So much for your groceries” Sonic mumbled.

I chuckled, tiredly.

“I’ll get them later.”

I put the keys into ignition, and started the engine.

“Let’s go home.”

I noticed Sonic frown. After we exited the parking lot, and made our way out of town, he pulled the hood off his head, wincing a little, reaching for the back of his head to straighten his slightly crinkled quills. Then, he stared out the window, a saddened expression glossing across his face.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

I was absolutely fatigued when we got home, and it wasn’t even midday. We walked through the front door. Sonic immediately tore all his clothes off, and was relieved to have free range of motion again. However, I noticed something. A small patch of his fur had been shaved off. There was a small cut and rash on Sonic’s right arm. It looked as if something had grazed past it, like a bullet. 

“You’re hurt…!” I declared.

Sonic looked at the wound and shrugged.

“Oh…Yeah, it’s no biggie” he responded. 

I bent down to get a closer look, slightly startling Sonic. I gently took his arm and examined it. Then, looking up, I said:

“Come on, I’ve got a first aid kit in the linen closet upstairs. It won’t take long.” 

Sonic was hesitant at first.

“It’s fine, really” he insisted, “It’s not a big deal.”

“I agree, but it still needs to be treated” I rebuttled.

Finally, Sonic gave in and followed me upstairs. 

.

He sat in the bathroom, kicking his legs child-like, before I came in with the hydrogen peroxide.

“Now, this might sting a little-“

I put some of the peroxide onto a cloth and softly dabbed his wound. He winced. As I cleaned it of the dirt and dry blood, Sonic stared at me intensively, as if trying to figure something out. Finally, I peeled off the wrappings of a band-aid and gently placed it over the wound.

“There, all better-!” I declared, then pointed out, “Look, it even has a dinosaur on it.”

“Ho, sweet!” Sonic replied, half sarcastically.

I smiled.

.

“You know, what you did back there, that was pretty thoughtful of you” I stated.

“Ah, it was nothing. Happy to help!” Sonic replied.

“But…I thought you hated humans…” 

“Well…No…Not exactly…” 

Sonic was quiet for a moment.

“It’s just…Been a long time since I’ve come across any Overlanders worth saving…” 

I frowned, staring down at the floor. 

“I can imagine…” I wanted to say. 

Sonic glanced at the newly applied bandage then looked up at me.

“Hey, thanks…For helping me out.”

I lifted my head then shook it.

“What’re you talking about? I didn’t do anything.”

“You listened to me. It’s been a while since someone has actually done that. ” 

I understood what he meant. I smiled and nodded.

“You’re welcome. Anytime.”