"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Sonic bolted awake yet again…only…he wasn't in his bed in Knothole. Rather, he was in someone else's bed. To be precise, he was in a Greenwich Village apartment on 11th Street in New York City, circa 1977. Sonic recognized the surroundings, though.

"Wait, what am I doin' back here!?" wondered Sonic. "This is one far out dream I've been havin'. Or maybe…I never really got back to Knothole! OH NO! I can't be stuck in this chili dog stand for the rest of my life! TAILS! SALLY! KNUCKLES! ANYONE! HELP!"

Sonic calmed down after a few seconds. "All right, take a chill pill, man!" he said to himself. "Maybe it's not so bad. Yeah, maybe I could use this time to straighten a few things out with Sharon! Up, over and gone!" With that, Sonic ran out of the apartment.

The "Sharon" in question was Sharon St. Martin, a blonde 24-year old woman whom Sonic had met during a previous adventure. Originally from Nebraska, she wanted to be a singer and worked at Rosen's Bakery until that time came. Thanks to Sonic, she had gotten a lucky break, but Big Blue figured that she might still be working at the bakery for a little bit longer.

After some running around, Sonic eventually located the bakery and went inside. He recognized the person behind the counter as Sharon, but she was facing the back wall.

"Yo, what's up, Shar?" asked Sonic.

Sharon didn't respond.

"Hey Shar, over here!"

Sharon remained motionless.

"Shar, it's me, Sonic the Hedgehog! Don't ya remember me!?"

Silence.

"Shar, what's goin' on!? Why are ya just standin' there!?"

Nothing.

"Are ya tryin' to give me the hairy eyeball!? 'Cause…uh…I don't think that's what they meant…heh heh!"

Still, no reply.

"Look, if you're mad 'cause I booked on ya, well…I dig. But Sharon, listen to me! I didn't want to leave any more than you wanted me to leave, but I just couldn't stay! I know ya got that note I left, so I'm sure ya gotta dig, too! But hey, I'm back now, and I wanted to say I'm sorry for any misery I caused ya! We're still buds…right?"

Yet again, Sonic was met with silence. He was getting really worried by now.

"Well…OK…uh…smell ya later…I guess…" Sonic turned to the door when Sharon turned around!

"It's time to make the DOUGHNUUUUUUUUUUUTS!" It wasn't Sharon; it was Nightmare Sonic again!

"Oh no, not you AGAIN!" exclaimed Sonic.

"YES! It's ME again!" retorted Nightmare Sonic. "YOU CAN NEVER LEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAVE!"

Sonic ran out the front door. At that moment, an NYPD car – a 1977 Plymouth Fury, unit #1124 – skidded to a halt outside the bakery. Two officers got out of the car and fired at Sonic, one with his .38, another with a shotgun. The Blue Blur managed to dodge their shots and rounded a corner. Unfortunately for him, the streets were barren and the only cars on the streets seemed to be NYPD cars. Similarly, the few pedestrians out for a walk seemed to be MOS. Still, Sonic kept running and dodged all their bullets.

Sonic's luck ran out, however, when he encountered a two-car roadblock. Taking cover behind those 1974 Plymouth Satellites – #993 & #1893 – some more officers opened fire and one of them hit Sonic in the leg. He tumbled over onto the ground. At that point, a gray 1973 Plymouth Fury pulled up, its red Fireball light flashing. Out of the car stepped…Shadow the Hedgehog, wearing an NYPD cap & gun belt!

"Shadow, I never thought I'd see ya here!" exclaimed Sonic, still lying on the ground. "You gotta help me! He's gonna get me!"

Shadow pointed a Smith & Wesson Model 29 at Sonic's head and said: "You've got to ask yourself a question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well do ya, punk!?"

"Shadow, don't do this to me, man!"

"Too late! You've made my day! Goodbye, Sonic!"

"Shadow, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Shadow shot Sonic in the head, killing him instantly. Or…he would have killed Sonic were this not a dream…

In the morning, Sonic continued sleeping, trapped in the jaws of the eternal nightmares that he was going through. Tails walked in to see how he was doing.

"No…get out…leave me alone…" said Sonic in his sleep.

"Huh?" Tails was concerned when he heard Sonic say this. He figured something was wrong with Sonic. On the other hand, Tails figured his friend was probably oversleeping. After all, Sonic had been through surgery, so maybe he was just taking extra rest…

Sonic was now asleep at the wheel of a car, a red 1970 Plymouth Fury.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He awoke suddenly and checked his new surroundings. He was parked on the side of the road, in the middle of the desert.

"A car!?" said Sonic. "I don't normally use these, but I guess I'd better get kickin'!" He started the car and got moving. To ease his stress, he turned on the radio.

"…you're listening to KINT," said a female DJ, "We've got all the rock you could ever want, darling!" The radio started playing "Detroit Rock City" by KISS. Suddenly, the song was interrupted:

"Breaker, breaker, this is the schoolmaster calling the Blue Boy!" said a familiar high-pitched voice. "Do you copy? Over!"

"Huh? What the heck is this about!?" wondered Sonic. "Gimme back my tunes!"

"I can't! YOU CAN NEVER LEEEEAAAAAVE!" Nightmare Sonic had caught up again. Sonic frantically looked around when he saw it in his rear-view mirror: The G.U.N. Truck, a black tractor-trailer truck. Sonic had faced one of these beasts once, but he never thought he'd have to face one again.

"Uh-oh!" exclaimed Sonic. "Go, baby, go!" He put the pedal to the medal, and the Duel was on. However, the G.U.N. Truck was gaining on him!

"Oh boy! We're going to have so much fun, Sonic!" exclaimed Nightmare Sonic. He sped up and tapped the rear end of Sonic's Plymouth, shaking the car a bit and denting it a little.

"Hey, that's a new paint job!" yelled Sonic. "…I think. Time to fly!" Sonic gave the Plymouth all he could, but that rig was still outgunning him. The G.U.N. truck rammed Sonic even harder this time, crunching the rear end.

"Come on, I just waxed this baby!" shouted Sonic. He kept the gas held down. Being equipped with the 440 "Super Commando" V8, that Plymouth was no slouch. However, no matter how hard Sonic tried, that black behemoth seemed to have it in for him. Nightmare Sonic shook up the Plymouth with a few more hits. Nevertheless, that American iron held together, and Sonic kept a solid grip on the steering wheel.

"Come on, move it! Move it!" No matter how hard Big Blue pushed that car, though, the G.U.N. Truck was tight on his tail. This time, it pulled up alongside him.

"I'm gonna sand you down!" exclaimed Nightmare Sonic, who tried to run Sonic's Plymouth off the road. He bashed into the car, sending it off the road. Nevertheless, Sonic kept it pushed to the floor and kept going despite the bumpy ride. Each time he tried to get back on the road, though, Nightmare Sonic's rig pushed him away. Soon, Sonic was so annoyed that he pushed the gas pedal down even harder despite the fact that it couldn't go any farther down. This actually seemed to get him ahead of the G.U.N. Truck. That, or perhaps the truck was intentionally backing off. The latter case seemed likely, as Nightmare Sonic poured on more throttle and rear-ended the Plymouth a couple more times.

"Man, he's really truckin'!" said Sonic. "How fast am I goin', anyways?" Sonic looked at the speedometer and saw that it was topping out at 120, even though the Plymouth was capable of more.

"I could get out and run faster than this!" Sonic unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door and jumped out of the Plymouth. The hapless car was rammed off the road by the G.U.N. Truck, turning it into a metal carcass. Sonic, meanwhile, was outrunning his evil counterpart.

"Ha ha! Smell ya later, turkey!" shouted Sonic, who kept running. However, unbeknownst to him, something was coming up behind him. It was the G.U.N. Truck! Furthermore, a group of G.U.N. Trucks fanned out from behind it and formed a huge wall, ready to flatten the blue Speed Demon.

"YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY!" taunted Nightmare Sonic. The real Sonic looked behind him and saw the wall of rigs coming towards him. "We've got ourselves a convoy! A HA HA HA HA!" The trucks closed in on Sonic, getting close to him.

"Man, don't they ever give up!?" said Sonic to himself. "There's gotta be a way to outrun 'em!" Then, he had a realization: "Wait, if this is a dream, then maybe…" Sonic frantically checked his pockets, and after a few seconds, he pulled out a Power Ring!

"Oh yeah, baby! I am outta here!" Sonic got an extra boost of speed and outran the evil wall of rigs. Well…for a few moments, anyways. Then, the G.U.N. Trucks got back on Sonic's tail again. By now, Sonic was giving it all he had.

"Maximum…OVERDRIVE!" said Nightmare Sonic, who shifted gears and started going faster.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Sonic screamed as the G.U.N. Truck crept up to him and prepared to squash him…

After breakfast, Sally went to check up on Sonic.

"Sonic, it's time for breakfast," she said. The Blue Blur failed to awaken.

"No…get out…help…" said Sonic, still sleeping. Sally was worried about Sonic. She couldn't bear to think about what sort of hell he was going through in his dreams. She placed her hand on Sonic's arm.

"Oh Sonic, I hope you're OK…" With that, Sally removed her hand from Sonic and got back to business as usual…

Meanwhile, back in Eggopolis, things were going well for Dr. Robotnik.

"Snively, what is the status on my troop levels?" asked Robotnik.

"Good news," replied Snively, "Factory production rates have increased since the past week! Troop levels should be returning to normal soon!"

"Excellent! What about the Atomic Decoupler?"

"More good news: It should be ready in about a half hour!"

"Also excellent! Best of all, I haven't heard a peep from that pesky Sonic since yesterday! It looks like Operation Nightshade was such a smashing success! I'll have to give myself a PRRRROMOTION!"

"But sir, you've already promoted yourself to ruler of Mobius. I'm afraid you can't give yourself any more promotions."

"WELL I'LL GIVE MYSELF ANOTHER ONE! I'm the greatest person who ever lived! No one dares question me! Now get back to work, you imbecile!"

"Y-yes sir." Then, Snively grumbled, "Why should I have to listen to someone who's full of himself!?"

"WHAT was THAT!?" said Robotnik.

"Eep! I-I meant…there's still a bottle of egg soda on the shelf!"

"Well, I'm not particularly thirsty now, but I shall inform you if I change my mind!"