Then, behind the soldiers, I saw part of the door, creaking open. A silver haired boy, who looked like he was seventeen, quietly stepped out, looking at me, putting a finger over his mouth. I looked back at the lieutenant. 

“Why are you doing this?” I asked, “you have no right to just kidnap whoever you please! These children could have had a chance to have a future! I still have my future ahead of me!” 

“These children were unwanted orphans!” snapped the lieutenant, “we knew no one would just willingly join our organization to be tested with the serum! What’s worse, if they weren’t happy with our work, they would expose us! Children are small and weak! They wouldn’t escape! No one would listen to them!” 

.

Steel blast doors came bounding down on every exit. The soldiers started looking in other directions. 

“What was that!?” exclaimed a soldier. 

“There’s another one somewhere! Look around!” said the lieutenant. 

.

Suddenly, soldiers started punching themselves out. Something sweeped kicked one soldier and punched another. We took the opportunity to take out the test while they were distracted. Finally, everyone was knocked out. We stood there breathless. The boy reappeared. We jumped. 

“Phew! Finally! Those codes took forever to crack” exclaimed the boy. 

“Who are you?” asked Amia. 

“My name is Jaden, also technically known as Subject 27. I’m a friend of Sonic” said the boy.

He rushed over to the controls and pulled up.

“I heard the soldiers say he’s been relocated to a chamber not readily available to be viewed by anyone.”

His hands flew across the keyboard. He then removed a device from his shirt and plugged it into the monitor. After a few moments, there was a beep. 

“It’s taken me hours to get into their security channels, but I think I can finally reroute access…”

I could hear rushing from outside. The children grew fearful.

    “They’re going to get in!” Chelsea cried.

“I’ve deadlocked the doors. It’ll take a few minutes to get the proper explosives” Jaden replied calmly.

.

I sprinted over to Jaden.

“You’ve seen Sonic? How was he? Was he okay?” I asked.

“He’s fine. At least, he was fine,” said Jaden, “Although he was foolish to try to get you and the Chaos Emeralds by himself. You must be pretty important for him to be so desperate.”

I bit my lip.

.

Then, he announced: “Found him! He’s on floor 12, pretty close to the top, it’s in a big cargo room.”

“Then let’s go!” I exclaimed.

“Hold up, we need to come up with a plan!” Jaden objected, “If we’re going to rescue Sonic without getting caught this time, we’re doing it my way!”

I stared at him for a moment. I wanted to keep moving. I wanted to find Sonic, end his suffering, and get out of here! But this child had a weighted, mature look about him. He was confident he knew what he was doing. Finally, I reluctantly nodded.

.

“How do we get out of here?” said Tanner.

Jaden pointed to the ceiling above us and to a vent. I suddenly understood.

“Amia, give me a boost!” 

Amia raised her hands and I climbed on them. Then, she long-jumped. I grabbed the vent hood and pulled. The hood popped off. 

“Everyone inside!” 

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

We landed in what looked like an abandoned section of the facility: dark and dingy, with wires everywhere, and a single control panel lighting up the room. 

“I’ve got some snacks from the cafeteria, and I managed to steal one or two backup generators for charging. Only take what you need” Jaden ordered.

.

He began tapping on the control panel keyboard.  

“So, you rescued Sonic and kept him hidden in that little abandoned section of the facility?” I asked.

“Yes, I figured he was the one that could help me break out all the test subjects. Unfortunately, there was you, and Commander Stone threatened to kill you. Sonic couldn’t resist trying to rescue you, and that’s what got him recaptured.”

I frowned. Everything he said was correct. I did get in the way. Sonic could have escaped if it wasn’t for me. 

“I’m sorry,” I replied, “Truly, very sorry. I just wished I could have done something. I mean-” I rolled up my sleeves to look at the purple lines up my arm. “-I have this power. The power to protect everyone I care about. But I couldn’t even save Sonic.”

“Maybe, it just wasn’t the right time.”

I smiled, sadly. 

“Yeah. Maybe. But now, I have my chance. Not just to rescue Sonic, but also-” I looked at the three children giggling as they started tickling themselves, “-to give these children something to live for: to play, to have a future.”

Jaden eyed me curiously for a moment, then smiled. 

“I agree. From what Sonic has told me about you, you would make an excellent mother.”

I blushed. 

.

I could feel my energy rise higher. I loosened my fingers. I was fully charged. I took a deep breath and sighed. 

“Stone has got something big planned, and he’s using Sonic to get all the power he needs to get his machine up and running.” 

“Machine?” asked Chelsea, walking up. 

“I’m not exactly sure what it is. But, it has something to do with ‘making sure we strike the enemies before they think to strike us,’ according to Stone” said Jaden. 

“‘Making sure we strike the enemies before they think to strike us’? What does that mean?” I thought to myself. 

Then, we heard some muffled noises. 

“They’re coming!” stated Tanner. 

Jaden sighed. “It was only a matter of time before they’d find this place. Let’s move. Follow me.” 

.

Jaden led us to a larger shaft, now down to floor level. He gestured to me, and I pulled the hood off.

“I’ll go first, Luana second, then Chelsea, Amia, and Tanner” he ordered, “Tanner, if someone tries to follow us, be ready to use your force field to protect us.” 

“Right” said Tanner.

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

“So, what kind of superpowers do you have, Jaden?” Chelsea asked.

Jaden was silent for a moment before answering. 

“I have the ability to turn invisible for a few short seconds. I also can taser people. They’re good for when I need to get out of a tight situation. I don’t use it often though.”

“Sounds fun! You want to teach me how to do that when we get to Mom’s house?” asked Chelsea.

“Mom, Chelsea?” said Tanner, curiously.

“Luana said that she would take us back home, so that makes her Mom” Chelsea explained.

My face was so pink, you would have thought I turned into a rose. 

“Chelsea, you are so sweet and adorable!” I stammered.

Chelsea giggled.

“What about Sonic? Is he going to be in the house too?” asked Amia.

“Of course!”

I turned away and frowned.

“If I can get him out of here alive…”

.

Chelsea continued to innocently ask about my house, such as whether or not she was going to have her own room, whether or not she will have dresses and learn to run. Amia and Tanner were promptly annoyed and kept asking her to stop talking and focus what was going on now. I was so elated. The more Chelsea yammered on, the more I became excited to have children. I wondered if Sonic would be willing to help me out with three kids. Then, I thought about Jaden. He was just like they were. I wondered what he thought about this. I was going to ask him if he would want to come with us.