Thank you all for your reviews and feedback! I appreciate it very much! Here is the first chapter updated with some edits and slight changes to hopefully improve clarity and overall quality. I hope you enjoy!

It all happened in a flash of brilliant white light. No one could foresee it, and no one could outrun it— except for the fastest thing alive.

It started out as a normal day. The sun was shining brightly, the flowers had begun to bloom as spring gradually approached, and the trees swayed gently in the calm breeze, their leaves finally emerging from their buds. It had been a while since Eggman last attacked, and the town was at peace.

Everything was peaceful.

Then, just like that, it wasn't.

When the bomb hit, the leader of The Rebellion— Sonic the Hedgehog— managed to zip out of harm's way many miles from the source of the explosion. Even from his immense distance, the effects could be heard as well as felt as a loud crash was accompanied by a wave of heat radiating out from the center of the blast. A rush of wind shook the leaves of the trees nearby as Sonic stopped and turned to face what had once been his city. His home.

No…

He immediately dashed towards the direction of the explosion, treading slowly and carefully as he neared the point of devastation. Even from miles away, he could already see the immense devastation that awaited him. There was almost nothing left standing; there were only a few buildings laid about sparsely that were still upright, but they were engulfed in flames. It looked almost as if a great tsunami had completely wiped out everything that had once been Sonic's hometown.

There's nothing left…

As Sonic reached the source of the explosion, pieces of what had once been buildings covered the streets, and the air around him slowly grew more and more smoggy, filling his lungs with black smoke. He coughed violently, his body gasping for clean air to breathe.

This can't be happening… I should have seen this coming…

Sonic turned on his wrist communicator and the screen on his wrist glowed dimly in the thick smog. "Does anybody copy?" he spoke into the receiver.

Silence.

"Tails, do you copy? What happened?"

More silence.

"Can anybody hear me?!" he yelled, his voice becoming tense in desperation.

His plea was only answered by unforgiving static.

This must be a dream… You're dreaming, Sonic.

Sonic shut off his communicator. He looked up from his wrist and tried to make his eyes adjust to the haziness. He looked to the sky and could see the sunlight peering down through the thick smoke, now tinted red by the condition of the air. "Hello?!" he called at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing hollowly around him. "Can anybody hear me?!"

He paused for a full minute, waiting for any kind of response. After receiving no answer, Sonic walked through the rubble, not entirely sure where his feet were taking him. He looked around him as the smoke slowly started to dissipate. A layer of ash laid like a blanket over the whole town, reminding Sonic of a fresh snowfall. He could make out piles of charred stone and melted metal around him as well as multiple fires glowing in the distance, presumably burning buildings.

I don't understand…

As he continued his steady pace, his foot caught on something and he stumbled forward, nearly falling flat on his face. He looked back to see what it was he had tripped on.

It was a dismembered leg.

Sonic had to suppress a sudden wave of nausea and started running away from the horrid sight as he continued his trek through the demolished city. He had a single thought in his mind: I have to find Tails.

At that moment, he heard an ear-piercing scream coming from his right side. He immediately dashed towards the sound, continuing to tread carefully amongst the debris. The farther he ran towards the source of the scream, the worse the devastation became. There was almost nothing. No remnants of a street, no remnants of buildings, just…nothing. It was at this moment that Sonic realized he had only been at the outskirts of the blast, and the destruction was much greater than he had previously thought. After what felt like forever, he finally made it to the source of the cry for help.

It was coming from a pile of what had probably once been some sort of large building located on the opposite outskirt of the explosion. He began digging through the bricks and debris, trying to find whoever was buried beneath. Eventually, a face emerged from the rubble. It was a female Mobian wolf with a beautiful coat of fur that was now covered in ash and blood. She coughed and sputtered, her breathing labored due to the ash and smoke in the air. "H-Help me," she choked. She was immobilized, lying on her back. Only her face was visible as her lower half was still trapped beneath debris.

Sonic nodded towards her, determined to remove her from the pile that was holding her hostage. Brick by brick he uncovered her arms, her chest—

She coughed again, but this time blood dripped from her mouth.

Sonic's distress grew as he uncovered her stomach to find that a piece of piping had pierced straight through her back all the way through her stomach, its broken, sharp end shining red with her blood.

"I-I can't feel my legs," she said hoarsely, staring up at the black sky, unable to see her devastating injury below. "Wh-What happened to me? What happened to our home?!" she asked Sonic, growing frantic.

"Shh, it's alright, it's alright," Sonic said as calmly as he could, but he could feel the cold grip of fear squeezing his stomach. "You're going to be okay, I promise." He started to press his hands against the wound, struggling to stop the bleeding. The blood quickly soaked through his gloves. He was running out of time, he needed to find some sort of gauze—

"…Why?" Her voice came out in a rasp.

Sonic looked up from the wound, his racing thoughts briefly interrupted.

"What did we do wrong…?" A tear rolled down the side of her face. "Why did this have to happen to us…?"

"I…" Sonic struggled to find words, looking down at her wound, then to his hands, his gloves now crimson. "I-I don't…" he trailed off, searching to say something that would console her.

But when he looked back into the young wolf's face, her eyes were fixated towards the blood-red sun in the sky and her body was limp. Lifeless.

"It's all my fault…" he said, barely above a whisper. He reached a shaking hand out and gently pushed her eyelids closed, hoping to make her look more at peace, but with her mutilated body and fearful expression, it didn't have much effect.

After a moment, he stood up straight and looked around him once more, looking and listening for any other signs of life among this terrible nightmare. His eyes fell on a large fire blazing in the distance; another building that had escaped being leveled but could not escape the intense heat of the blast.

Before taking off in the direction of the flames, he looked down once again to the young girl lying amongst the rubble. Her terrified expression and her mutilated body would stay etched in his memory in the many years to come. He slipped off his blood-soaked gloves with shaky fingers, tossing them unceremoniously into the pile of debris.

This is all just a dream.

He started walking towards the fire in the distance.

This is just a nightmare.

He went into a jog.

This isn't real.

He broke into a frantic run.

I need to wake up.