The young woman stretched and yawned as dawn shone through the window. She
glanced out the window of the treehouse, seeing the same lush forest she
had become accustomed to growing up. She changed into her average day
clothes: a white tank top, a pair of jeans, and laceless red running
sneakers with a white stripe across the middle. Next, using her bedroom
mirror to guide her, she pulled the violet hedgehog quills growing out of
the back of her head into a ponytail (which was no small feat).
Set for the day, she bounded down the stairs, around the corner, and past the kitchen – prompting the figure sitting in one of the chairs there to blurt out, "And just where are you going?"
"Running as usual, Unc." She replied.
"Be careful, Samie!" he replied.
"Right," she acknowledged, rolling her eyes. And with that, she was out the front door and racing down the path. Unc often told her how much he was amazed at her gift for speed, as he could never come close to matching her, even in his younger days. She ran without a care in the world, jumping off old logs placed like ramps and swinging from hanging vines she'd found years ago. Her agility came naturally to her, and she hardly noticed she'd already gone through that odd loop-the-loop.
She remembered her younger days; running with her uncle through the woods, helping him with his inventions that now took over most of their house, and she recalled with a special, mischievous fondness the day she learned how to roll up into a ball and scare the bejeezes out of helpless Flickies.
Reaching her favorite part of the forest, she stopped, and admired a calm clearing. {It's so much quieter out here today,} she thought, as she sat down with her back to an old oak. She looked up at the clear blue sky for a while – lost in the silence – and almost fell asleep...
But it was not to be.
A large metal figure came crashing through the brush, and burst into the clearing with its sights set on the alarmed Samie. An artificial eye focused on her for a second, and then the machine emitted a sound that seemed to be the word "hedgehog." It raised its weapon and fired without hesitation.
Samie, having never fought anything in her life bigger than a mosquito, barely managed to dodge the small bolt of energy that ended up whizzing *right* past her ear. She stumbled, then ran down the path that led for home. As the green blurred past her vision, she thought she heard a few other shots fired, and thanked God they didn't hit their intended target. Just when she thought she was about to get away, though, two more just like the one she left behind popped up in front of her. Gasping, she tucked into a ball and rolled under them, and ran into a third she hadn't seen a few feet behind the first. Her would-be assassin stumbled, then aimed its firearm.
Something inside her awakened then, a knowledge she didn't know she had was revealed and she immediately seized it. Pressing off the ground with both feet, she used her powerful legs to flip herself forward in the air rapidly, and she felt her quills cut through the robot like the blades of a can opener.
The bot's two halves slumped to the ground as she continued to run, perhaps even more frightened for having defeated the robot so easily than she would've been if she hadn't been able to at all. {What are these things? How did I do that? What's going on?} Questions streamed through her brain even faster than she could run, and by the time she made it home, she collapsed out of stress and exhaustion.
She could hear more of them coming for her, and it was all she could do to raise her head off the ground and turn to see the dozen or so killers marching toward her. Then, she heard a different noise coming from the house...
"SAMIE! STAY DOWN!"
The girl looked up to see her uncle in what appeared to be a blue and yellow tank with legs. "Uncle Miles, what're you doing?" she watched, stunned, as it stepped between her and the robots, and she saw a small red laser sweeping across their ranks.
"Fire rocket launcher!" yelled the fox as a turret on the back of his vehicle launched a salvo of missiles and devastated all of the intruders. When the smoke cleared, Samie rose to her feet and wordlessly stared at her uncle.
"I owe you an explanation," he said, meeting her gaze with an apologetic expression.
---------------------------
"So what *is* all this about?" asked Samie. "What do you know that you aren't telling me?"
Miles thought and thought about the best way to put this. He stared down at his glass of water wordlessly for a few minutes, then finally said, "Do you remember the bedtime stories I always used to tell you?"
"What do those have to do with anything?"
"Do you?"
She sighed. "Yes, I remember."
Miles began to fidget. "Maybe I should tell them again..."
Samie had just about had enough, hearing this. "I remember the stupid stories okay!?"
"THEY'RE NOT STUPID!"
Samie froze. Had her uncle just cracked?
"I... I'm sorry. Just... hear me out." Miles waited for her to nod, then he took a deep breath and began speaking again. "All those stories I told you about the Great Blue Hedgehog? Well, they're real."
"What, no way!"
"Yes, way."
"All of them?"
"All of them. The only parts I took out were the parts about me, because I didn't want you to know they were true. I knew Sonic, and I was with him on almost all of his adventures."
"You knew--? Wait, does this mean... Eggman is real, too?" she stammered.
"Yes. His robots just attacked us."
"But... why?"
"Because— " Miles' eyes filled with salty tears as he broke off mid- sentence. "Because Sonic was your father."
Set for the day, she bounded down the stairs, around the corner, and past the kitchen – prompting the figure sitting in one of the chairs there to blurt out, "And just where are you going?"
"Running as usual, Unc." She replied.
"Be careful, Samie!" he replied.
"Right," she acknowledged, rolling her eyes. And with that, she was out the front door and racing down the path. Unc often told her how much he was amazed at her gift for speed, as he could never come close to matching her, even in his younger days. She ran without a care in the world, jumping off old logs placed like ramps and swinging from hanging vines she'd found years ago. Her agility came naturally to her, and she hardly noticed she'd already gone through that odd loop-the-loop.
She remembered her younger days; running with her uncle through the woods, helping him with his inventions that now took over most of their house, and she recalled with a special, mischievous fondness the day she learned how to roll up into a ball and scare the bejeezes out of helpless Flickies.
Reaching her favorite part of the forest, she stopped, and admired a calm clearing. {It's so much quieter out here today,} she thought, as she sat down with her back to an old oak. She looked up at the clear blue sky for a while – lost in the silence – and almost fell asleep...
But it was not to be.
A large metal figure came crashing through the brush, and burst into the clearing with its sights set on the alarmed Samie. An artificial eye focused on her for a second, and then the machine emitted a sound that seemed to be the word "hedgehog." It raised its weapon and fired without hesitation.
Samie, having never fought anything in her life bigger than a mosquito, barely managed to dodge the small bolt of energy that ended up whizzing *right* past her ear. She stumbled, then ran down the path that led for home. As the green blurred past her vision, she thought she heard a few other shots fired, and thanked God they didn't hit their intended target. Just when she thought she was about to get away, though, two more just like the one she left behind popped up in front of her. Gasping, she tucked into a ball and rolled under them, and ran into a third she hadn't seen a few feet behind the first. Her would-be assassin stumbled, then aimed its firearm.
Something inside her awakened then, a knowledge she didn't know she had was revealed and she immediately seized it. Pressing off the ground with both feet, she used her powerful legs to flip herself forward in the air rapidly, and she felt her quills cut through the robot like the blades of a can opener.
The bot's two halves slumped to the ground as she continued to run, perhaps even more frightened for having defeated the robot so easily than she would've been if she hadn't been able to at all. {What are these things? How did I do that? What's going on?} Questions streamed through her brain even faster than she could run, and by the time she made it home, she collapsed out of stress and exhaustion.
She could hear more of them coming for her, and it was all she could do to raise her head off the ground and turn to see the dozen or so killers marching toward her. Then, she heard a different noise coming from the house...
"SAMIE! STAY DOWN!"
The girl looked up to see her uncle in what appeared to be a blue and yellow tank with legs. "Uncle Miles, what're you doing?" she watched, stunned, as it stepped between her and the robots, and she saw a small red laser sweeping across their ranks.
"Fire rocket launcher!" yelled the fox as a turret on the back of his vehicle launched a salvo of missiles and devastated all of the intruders. When the smoke cleared, Samie rose to her feet and wordlessly stared at her uncle.
"I owe you an explanation," he said, meeting her gaze with an apologetic expression.
---------------------------
"So what *is* all this about?" asked Samie. "What do you know that you aren't telling me?"
Miles thought and thought about the best way to put this. He stared down at his glass of water wordlessly for a few minutes, then finally said, "Do you remember the bedtime stories I always used to tell you?"
"What do those have to do with anything?"
"Do you?"
She sighed. "Yes, I remember."
Miles began to fidget. "Maybe I should tell them again..."
Samie had just about had enough, hearing this. "I remember the stupid stories okay!?"
"THEY'RE NOT STUPID!"
Samie froze. Had her uncle just cracked?
"I... I'm sorry. Just... hear me out." Miles waited for her to nod, then he took a deep breath and began speaking again. "All those stories I told you about the Great Blue Hedgehog? Well, they're real."
"What, no way!"
"Yes, way."
"All of them?"
"All of them. The only parts I took out were the parts about me, because I didn't want you to know they were true. I knew Sonic, and I was with him on almost all of his adventures."
"You knew--? Wait, does this mean... Eggman is real, too?" she stammered.
"Yes. His robots just attacked us."
"But... why?"
"Because— " Miles' eyes filled with salty tears as he broke off mid- sentence. "Because Sonic was your father."