When I came back from my evening run, Luana was chipping away at the ice on the stairs with a shovel. 

“Whatcha doin?” I asked. 

Luana jumped and slipped on the stairs. I caught her just in time before she could hit her bottom on the ice. 

“Don’t scare me like that Sonic!” She exclaimed. 

“Well, sorry-” -I raised my hands defensively- “-I didn’t know I was going to make you fly to the moon and back by just asking a question.” 

I put her back onto the welcome mat.

“This is going to take forever” Luana groaned.

I proceeded to grab a snow shovel. 

“No problem for me!” I said as I started to speed up. 

“Wait-!” Luana exclaimed. 

But it was too late. I had already started speeding around with the snow shovel. I slipped on the ice and landed on my stomach. Luana scrambled towards me. 

“You okay there, Sonic?” She asked, rolling me over. I was fine, just refused to move.

“Owwwww….” I finally croaked. 

Luana raised me back up.

“We’re going to have to do this the slow way or we’re going to be doing more than just falling down” she declared.

I groaned again.

“More like the boring way.”

.

Luana and I resolved to take turns. It poured down rain that April. It was difficult to run since everything was so slick and splashed mud everywhere. It was making the wheat happy though. I could see the seeds begin to spring from the ground. It was interesting watching them grow. However, they were growing slower than usual, due to the strange freezing at night. I had to be careful not to slip.

.

Just then, I heard distant engines. I paused and straightened. I placed the shovel on the railing. If the wheat had been fully grown, I’d be able to hide and investigate. I decided to run behind the house and peek. They were black cars, half a dozen of them. If there was anything I was and expert on, it was action movies; and black cars were always a bad sign. As I squinted, I got a look at the front license plate: A diamond-cut emerald, with one side a red lion, and the other criss-crossed guns.

.

My eyes widened. I booked it back inside the house through a back door. I sped into the kitchen where Luana was standing.

“Sonic, the floor!” Luana scolded, observing the mud I accidentally tracked in.

“Luana, they’re here! The guys that got me are here!” I exclaimed.

Luana’s eyes widened. 

“Get in the basement, and close the passage behind you,” Luana ordered.

“What about you?” I cried.

“I’ll try to drive them away! Go!”

I didn’t have time to think. I pressed the button on the helmet as the secret door opened up. I ran in and closed the door behind me.

I sighed, adjusting my shirt and hair. I breathed in and out slowly, trying to stay calm. After a few minutes, the doorbell went off. I waited a few seconds before going towards the door and slowly opened the door. A man in a fancy military uniform stood before me, along with two others in black suits. There were six black cars parked in front of my house, and everyone in them stood in the yard menacingly.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“I am Commander Stone of the Science Experimentation & Weapons Development Division. Miss Luana Dockinson, you are under arrest for illegal possession of government property.”

They started to try to worm their way past me, but I closed the gap in my door.

“Woah, wait a minute! I’ve never even heard of you! How do I know you have the authority?” Luana exclaimed, “You are trespassing on private property!”

“I assure you Miss Dockinson, we have every authority” The commander replied, cooly.

Suddenly, there was a thump. My eyes widened. 

“Luana!”

I stood in the darkness, my heart racing.

“Search the house! The Blue Blur is here somewhere!”

There was a loud clattering of objects hitting the floor. First it was quiet, then it grew louder. Suddenly, I heard a switch flip. Light poured in to the basement as the entrance opened.

“Commander! I found a secret passage!”

I backed into a dark corner and held my breath. Three men stomped into the basement with big guns. I noticed they were all loaded with tranquilizer darts. My eyes darted to the exit. 

“I have to get Luana out of here! Now!” I thought.

But how could I escape without being seen? There was no way. One of the men booted up Dr. Dockinson’s old computer. The other was observing the tank I was held in when this adventure began. 

“This must’ve been where Dr. Dockinson was keeping it” he recognized. 

The last one was creeping closer to my location. I held my breath, pinning myself as close to the wall as I possibly could. My personal space was quickly shrinking. I had to make a decision. 

.

I made my choice. I sped out of my corner and sonic-rolled into his stomach. Before the others could react, I kicked one, and punched the other in the face. Their guns clattered to the ground along with them. 

“Gotta go fast…!” I told myself. 

I rushed into the entryway, grabbed Luana, and took off before the rest of the men knew what hit them.

“What the-!? There it is! After it!”

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

I sped into town. I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t even think about asking any of Luana’s friends where they lived. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan on hiding. There I was, standing in the middle of the street, Luana cradled in my arms, for all to see. People began to stop, stare, and point at me. Luckily, I heard a familiar voice call my name. 

“Sonic!?”

I whirled around to see Ayanna running towards me.

“Ayanna, we’ve got to get Luana somewhere safe!” I cried, desperately. 

Ayanna stared for a split second then nodded. 

“This way!” 

.

Ayanna led me into a small seamstress shop and behind the counter. I settled Luana down just as she began to stir. I noticed she had a bruise forming on her forehead. She peeled her eyes open.

“Sonic…?” she croaked.

I sighed with relief.

“You’re okay…”

.

I could hear engines roaring over the clatter. That’s when the townspeople began to scream and run. My eyes furrowed. I had to stop them. I turned to Luana.

“Lu, stay with Ayanna.”

I turned to run, but Luana grabbed my hand.

“Sonic, no!” she pleaded.

I smiled, sadly.

“I have to. Please…Just stay here.”

I pulled my hand away from her, and took off.

.

The vans had stopped. I sped a few feet from them, my hands on my hips, glaring. Soldiers came pouring out with guns loaded. 

“Take it out! Whatever you do, don’t kill it!” Shouted the commander. 

I smiled mischievously. 

“’Take it out’? ‘Don’t kill it’? You forget this is Sonic the Hedgehog you’re talking to! Nothing gets past me!” I taunted. 

“Fire! Shouted the commander. 

.

The soldiers unleashed their firepower. This time they had bullets, lots and lots of bullets. I had no problem avoiding them, the problem was I had to steer them away from the screaming humans. I started to dance. 

“Is that all you got?” I taunted.

I spoke too soon. I heard the familiar sound of a robot readying his weapons. I whirled around to see red, black, and gold robots unfurl and begin shooting lasers at me. I dodged the lasers it fired at me.