It all happened so fast. I had no time to react. The pistol fired, but there was impact. There was a sudden rush of wind. I opened my eyes. Sonic was there, standing in front of me. He whobbled, then fell backwards into my arms. 

“Sonic!?” I exclaimed.

As I examined him, blood began streaming through his tattered peach fur, close to his heart. 

.

There was an explosion. Jaden cried out in pain as he let out some kind of EMP blast from himself. He tumbled back and Tanner caught him. Soldiers fell down like bowling pins and Stone was flung back to the wall to the left of me. The children ran to me. Tanner raised his hands and a force field bubble formed around us. 

.

My eyes were wide with horror. My heart raced so fast I could hardly breath. Meanwhile Sonic’s breath went shallow, and he weakly gasped for breath. Tears filled my eyes and almost immediately began flowing.

“Why!? Why did you do that!?” I sobbed. 

Sonic grunted and painfully opened his eyes. 

“I…I had to save you…” he squeaked.

“You didn’t have to! It’s not your job! It’s mine! It’s mine!”

My vision was blurred and I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. 

“I made a promise! I made a promise to keep you safe! And I failed!”

“Hey…”

I felt a soft, gloved hand touch my cheek. I looked. Sonic was smiling at me, weakly. I grabbed his hand and held it tight.

“Just breathe…” He said, “And…smile for me…Please…Its been so long…Since I’ve seen your smile…”

I tried to smile, to the best of my ability.

“Please don’t leave me…” I helplessly pleaded. 

I cupped his face with my hands. He smiled.

“It’s gonna be okay…Just breathe…” 

I leaned in and pressed my forehead on his, the flood continuing.

“I love you…!”

“I…love you too…Luana…Thank you…For being my friend…”

His last breath was drawn, and there was silence. 

.

I screamed. Anguish, horror, and anger filled my soul and disrupted my senses. Reinforcements had arrived. More helicopters, soldiers on bikes. Commander Stone had recovered and was shouting at them to kill us. Tanner was holding them off with his forcefield but it wasn’t going to hold for long. What could I do? Sonic was dead. We were surrounded. There was no way of getting out of this. 

.

I heard whispers. There was a soft glow to my right. The Chaos Emeralds. I could see them in the engine, reacting. I remembered the words. The words in my dream. The words Sonic spoke…to the Chaos Emeralds. But could I do it? Did I have the power and strength to do it? I took a deep breath, attempting to drown out the noise around me. My voice shook as I spoke:

    “The seven servers are the seven chaos…”

    “I can’t hold out much longer!” Tanner exclaimed.

    “Hold on, Tanner! Just hold on!” Amia pleaded.

    “…Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart…”

    “Amia, what’re we gonna do!?” Chelsea cried.

    “I don’t know, Chelsea. Stay close to me!” 

    “…The controller is the one that unifies the chaos…!”

The Chaos Emeralds began to shake violently in their stools. The glass began to crack. Commander Stone watched them in shock, then looked at me. 

.

I stared at Sonic, longingly as I watched the Emeralds spin gracefully around us. 

“…Take my soul, and use me to revive the fallen…!”

I pressed my head against Sonic’s once more, a few more tears leaving my eyes.

    “Please…Bring him back to me…!”

Tanner’s forcefield gave way. They all crouched together, bracing for the worst.

.

There was a light, a light more blinding than the rising sun and the gleam of the chaos emeralds. The blue jagged lines on my arms glowed pure gold. For a moment bright energy particles floated around me. I shined amber and I felt lighter.

.

Though the ringing of bullets rang through the air, there was no pain. I opened my eyes, and looked up. There was a golden hedgehog floating in front of me, raising his hands gracefully in the air. The bullets were frozen in time. Then, he lowered his hands, and the bullets dropped onto the ground. 

“Sonic!” I exclaimed. 

He glanced over his shoulder to me, and beamed. 

.

He whirled around. Commander Stone was watching. Sonic glared at him.

“You’re not locking me up this time, Stone-head!” He exclaimed, this voice booming.

.

He blasted forward. Like the rush of a crashing stream, he blew through all our attackers, sending them flying into the air. Robots had holes through their chassis’. Choppers exploded and crashed to the ground. Motorcycles sped aimlessly in all directions with no riders. 

.

When the soldiers broke off into a retreat, he didn’t stop there. The very foundation of S.E.W.D. rocked that day. No experiment was left untouched. He was bound and determined to make sure that S.E.W.D. would have justice. The walls and ceiling began to crumble. Tanner was able to project one last force field to protect us from the falling debris. Everyone huddled together, praying for it to end. Then, it was silent.

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

The golden hedgehog lowered himself to the ground. His quills relaxed. His fur returned to blue, his red eyes to green. Slowly, he turned around to look at me. My heart picked up again. I was so overjoyed I couldn’t breath. We ran to each other. I fell to my knees, and we embraced. I cried. I wouldn’t let go. Though Sonic had short arms, I felt them wrap around me and squeeze me tight. We didn’t speak. It was that precious moment, where the world melted away, and I felt peace. 

.

There were sirens over the distance. People in white appeared from out of the rubble. Tanner, Chelsea, Jaden, and Amia, all rushed over to them and began to assist them. Miraculously, they appeared unscatched from the debris. Their eyes widened at the wonder of the sun, and the fresh breeze. Sonic and I watched, hand-in-hand, still in a bit of shock over what had happened. The fresh breeze hitting my face, and my best friend’s hand in mine, gave me solace.