Prologue
"Daddy!" The two young children came rushing in to greet their father after a long and tiring week.
"Hey, kids," the father patted the little girl and boy on the head and closed the door behind him. "What a storm!" He exclaimed. "It kinda reminds me of…" but, he trailed off.
"Reminds you of what, daddy?" The little girl looked up into her father's eyes questioningly.
"…Nothing," The father reassured her, scooping her up into his arms. "Man, I'm starving! Is dinner ready yet?"
His wife appeared from the kitchen. "It'll be about twenty more minutes."
The father reclined in the old, worn-out chair. "Okay, I can wait. Thanks."
"Sure." And his wife disappeared again.
"Daddy?" The children clamored into his lap. "There's no power. Can you tell us a story? We're bored." The boy and girl shared a mischievous glance.
The father hugged them close to him. "I've told you every story I know how to tell."
The children shook their heads vigorously. "C'mon, daddy! You always have story!"
"Do I now?" The father scratched behind his head thoughtfully. "Okay. I can think of one."
"Cool!" The little boy's eyes grew wide. "Is it about the great hero, Sonic the Hedgehog?"
"Yeah, daddy! Is it?" The little girl tugged her pigtails.
"As a matter of fact," The father grinned. "It is."
"Way cool!" The children once again shared a glance, this time of excitement, and snuggled close to their father as his deep, calm voice filled the room.
"We all know Sonic was a great hero. But, he's had his ups and downs. There was such a time, much on a day like today, that he woke up captured."
"Captured, daddy?" The little girl pulled away from her father's warm chest to stare into his eyes with her own.
"Yes, my little one," The father reassured her. "Captured." He smiled. "Do you still want to hear the story?"
"Yes!" The children cried at the exact same moment.
"Very well," The father chuckled and cleared his throat. "It was some time in the late afternoon when Sonic awoke…"