"I have a question." Sonic said from his seat in the helicopter. He had been arrested by GUN an hour earlier and was currently being transported to Prison Island. No, he hadn't done anything wrong. Some other hedgehog had.

The officer sitting next to him gestured to the handcuffs Sonic was wearing and said, "I don't talk to criminals." Sonic scowled at him. The entire ride had been like this and he couldn't take it anymore. "Seriously, why was I arrested? Just because some hedgehog stole a Chaos Emerald doesn't mean it was me!"

The officer's expression was one of annoyed boredom, but Sonic was still ranting. "I'm not the only hedgehog on the planet! Besides, I'm the hero, remember? How many times have I saved the world? More than I can count."

The pilot up in the cockpit spoke into his comm, informing his superiors that the copter was heading south over Capital City. The control tower radioed back, asking for the status of the cargo. Sonic wasn't going to be their cargo for much longer though.

He gave the officer to his right an innocent grin before standing up. The officer looked confused, but he had no time to think before Sonic kicked him hard enough to send him flying into the back wall.

Going into a spindash, he shattered his handcuffs and gave the officer across from him the same smile. The pilot must've heard the scuffle, because he was now telling the control tower that the hedgehog had taken out everyone aboard.

Sonic kicked the locking mechanism and the copter's door burst open. It was very high up, but it was his only escape route. He had to jump to the city below. He leaped out, grabbing the wing so he wouldn't fall off just yet.

The first officer was now back on his feet and at the doorway, gripping a handle on the inside to keep from falling. "Freeze! What do you think you're doing?" He turned to his partner who was now there with him. "Get that hedgehog!"

Seeing something he could use to break his fall, Sonic flipped forward and landed just below the blades atop the helicopter. It was a risky move, but he was used to dangerous stunts. He grabbed the piece of metal and pulled as hard as he could.

It came off in his hands, and it was the shape of a snowboard. Well, it wasn't the best shock absorber but it was better than nothing. Wait, he was about to leave without saying goodbye? How could he have forgotten his manners like that?

"Talk about low-budget flights! No food or movies? I'm outta' here! I like running better!" Keeping a tight grip on his board, Sonic jumped off the copter. While falling toward the city below he flashed one last smile at the GUN officers.

"Yeah!" Now this was excitement! The wind rushing past made him feel like he was running in the air. He did a few spins before hitting the ground, board first. Yes, it hurt. No, he didn't really care at the moment.

He had landed at the top of a very steep hill, and gravity dictated that he slide down it. Instead of getting off the metal slab, Sonic decided it would be fun to ride it for as long as possible. Swerving to the side, he avoided hitting some parked cars. As he approached a corner, he could hear a female voice coming from the sky.

Attention all units! Suspect seen heading south! Block all major roads and capture the suspect!

Great, GUN was still after him. He turned right and kept going, never slowing down. After about a minute he came across a cablecar turnaround, which upon contact made him lose his board. Now though, he was in his element as the fastest thing alive.

He jumped over the rail into a grass park of some sort, went left and bolted across a flight of stairs. A GUN robot tried to block his path, but he smashed it and continued on. The path he followed went right, up another flight of stairs, through a stack of boxes, and down another staircase.

Homing attacking across a large pit, he exited the park and found another cablecar. He sped past it and ran down the winding street and up a staircase, all the while avoiding or destroying GUN's machines.

Now Sonic was at the rooftops. He jumped off and ran right down the side of the building he was on. Once he hit ground he went down two spiral staricases and through a doorway to the street. Hopefully if he ran far enough GUN would give up the chase.

Or maybe not. How big was that truck? At least five times the size of a normal car. How fast was it going? Fast enough to frighten him. Now Sonic picked up the speed. He was a blur as he ran down the hills of the city.

GUN must've seriously upgraded their vehicles though, because this truck was managing to keep pace with the hedgehog. Not only that, it was crushing every car in its path as it drove. Didn't the military care about civilian property? Guess not.

The chase was frightening, yet exhilirating at the same time. He had never actually had to outrun something that could keep up before. Sadly the humongous truck could not fit under the bridge. Sonic ran under and smiled as the truck smashed into it.

He stood there for a moment and waited to see if GUN would try anything else. After a few moments of nothing he was about to walk away. "This game of tag is boring. I'm outta' here!" He then took a step and heard an engine noise.

Looking up, Sonic noticed it was a GUN machine, this one with a person controlling it. "Finally decided to show up, eh?" After the truck, this was the best they could do? At least the truck had startled him. "Okay, bring it on!"

The pilot spoke over his comm, "Spider Troop's Big Foot reporting to headquarters! Intruder has been located!" Sonic shook his head. This would be way too easy. Wait, he was the intruder? They were the ones who had arrested him for nothing! They were the ones who had chased him throughout the city!

This was so screwed up. Sonic jumped onto a nearby box just as the machine retracted its legs and replaced them with jets. It shot at him, but he easily doged the spray of bullets. When it stopped firing, Sonic homing attacked the cockpit.

After repeating this routine several times the machine fell to the ground, smoking. You'd think the pilot would've been smart enough to not use the same attack over and over. He turned to walk away when something caught his attention.

A yellow flash in the corner of his eye, back where the machine lay. Sonic spun around to see what it was, and saw something he hadn't expected. Another hedgehog was standing on the machine's remains.

"What?" Could this hedgehog be the one who had stolen the Chaos Emerald? The one who had framed Sonic for the crime? He certainly didn't know him, but he was menacing in appearance. Pitch black fur with blood red streaks, a patch of white fluff on his chest.

The hedgehog had something shiny and green in his hand, and Sonic didn't like the look of what was happening. The dark hedgehog raised the emerald and said, "It all starts with this… A jewel containing the ultimate power." Sonic gasped. "That's the Chaos Emerald!"

Then the hedgehog's eyes locked on Sonic's. The blue blur walked up to him, talking to keep him busy. "Now I know what's going on! The military has mistaken me for the likes of you! So, where do you think you're going with that emerald?"

When he didn't answer, Sonic got angry. This hedgehog was the cause of all his recent troubles, and he was not in a mood to play nice with him. In fact, Sonic considered him an imposter. "Say something, you fake hedgehog!"

Author's Note:

This was the most fun chapter to write, probably because of how action-packed it is. Also, go play/watch City Escape, then read that part again. You'll notice that other than skipping a few turns while on the board and the loop before the building run, it's exactly the same.