With their bags packed, Sonic and Tails hopped in the Tornado and took off. Sonic enjoyed the trip, mainly because flying over the ocean gave him a sense of freedom. That, and he enjoyed the sea breeze flowing through his quills. As if that weren't enough, he also enjoyed the fact that his new best friend in the whole wide world was taking this trip with him. Even if the two hadn't known each other for that long, he felt as though he'd known the little fox for ages. Eventually, Tails picked up the Tornado's radio mic and called in:

"SQO, requesting approach clearance. Tornado-1."

"Tornado-1, turn right heading four-five to intercept the localizer, cleared ILS runway 10R into Station Square, maintain two thousand feet until established."

"Turn right heading four-five, cleared ILS runway 10R into Station Square, maintain two thousand feet until established. Tornado-1."

"Tornado-1, cleared to land runway one-zero Romeo."

"Cleared to land runway one-zero Romeo. Tornado-1."

With that, the Tornado touched down at Station Square International Airport. By now, the sun was setting over the horizon, but thanks to the ground lights and the ground crews, Tails managed to park the Tornado in a good spot, and him and Sonic hopped out and passed through airport security, although they set off the metal detectors.

"Please remove any metal objects you may have on you, place them in a bin and step through again."

Tails removed his tool belt, while Sonic took out his S.M.E.C.K. They managed to get through security without further issue, and after navigating the airport terminal, they flashed their passports – having obtained them prior to their journey – and after further processing through customs, they were free to navigate the city of Station Square. Actually, the airport was technically located in an unincorporated area of San Tomea County, but Station Square proper wasn't exceedingly far. Considering that Sonic and Tails could just run there, it didn't take them long to get to the city.

"Wow, this city's even smaller than Emerald City!" said Sonic.

"It still seems very nice, though!"

"Yeah, but…now that I'm lookin' around, people don't seem too nice…"

As Sonic and Tails walked down the street, they couldn't help but notice that various people were staring at them as if they were clutching bloody knives in their hands. People on the same sidewalk as them put their backs up against various walls, trembling nervously.

"It's horrible!"

"I can't believe this is happening!"

"I've lost my faith in the system!"

Some people ran away screaming when they saw them, and this was enough to set off Sonic's Hedgehog Sense, as if approaching police sirens weren't enough.

"Tails…"

"Yeah?"

"I get the feelin' that I ain't welcome around here." Sonic pulled out his disguise bag. "Let's split. You take this in case anything happens to me, ya dig?"

"Are you sure?"

Sonic smiled. "I wouldn't give it to ya if I wasn't!"

Sonic ran off, leaving Tails behind. He ran all about the city, trying to evade law enforcement, earning his "Blue Blur" nickname. Finally, when he felt the police sirens were far enough away, he stopped in Unity Square.

"Man, this game of hide and seek is nowhere city!" said Sonic. "I'm outta here!"

Before Sonic could go anywhere, a gray bipedal mech with red on its front vents and feet, plus an M197 Vulcan cannon in the nose and dual missile launchers on its shoulders showed up.

"What's this? Ya wanna piece of me? Bring it, sucka!" Sonic pointed at the mech.

"Spider Troop Big Foot reporting to HQ," said the mech pilot. "Intruder has been located."

"Copy that," said a dispatcher.

The F-6T Big Foot took off and attempted to charge at Sonic, who landed a couple of Homing Attacks on the mech.

"This is Spider Troop Big Foot," said the pilot. "Big Foot to HQ, we've taken heavy damage and request backup, over!"

"All right!" said Sonic. "Just another hit or two and it's goin' to the scrap heap!"

With a couple more Homing Attacks, the Big Foot was down. Sonic dusted his shoulders off after he laid the smackdown on it, ignoring the sirens off in the distance.

"I sure hope their insurance is gonna cover that one…"

Just as he turned to look at Big Foot again, Sonic got another surprise, and he wondered how his Hedgehog Sense hadn't alerted him to it.

"What?" said Sonic.

Standing on top of Big Foot's corpse was a black hedgehog with red stripes who bore an odd resemblance to Sonic, barring the four upturned and two downturned spines on the back of his head, the angry red eyes and the patch of white fur on his chest. This hedgehog wore a brown G-1 leather bomber jacket, white gloves with black/red cuffs and white/red/black shoes that had a more angular appearance than Sonic's kicks. Oddly enough, this other hedgehog also wore ring-shaped golden bracelets around his wrists and ankles.

"It all starts with this…" The other hedgehog held up the green Chaos Emerald. "A jewel containing the ultimate power."

"What the hell!?" said Sonic. "Where'd he get a Chaos Emerald!?" He clenched his fists and approached the other hedgehog. "Now I know what's goin' on! The fuzz has mistaken me for YOU! And just where do ya think YOU'RE goin' with that mutha!?" He quickened his pace. "Say somethin', ya fake-ass jive turkey!"

"Chaos Control!"

To Sonic's eyes, the other hedgehog appeared to have vanished into thin air. In all actuality, the Chaos Emerald had allowed him to manipulate time and space in such a way that his speed had greatly increased, making The Fastest Thing Alive appear to be slower than a snail in molasses. Sonic spun around.

"Holy crap, he's fast!" said Sonic. "Wait a tick…that ain't his speed! He's gotta be usin' that Chaos Emerald to warp!"

By now, the other hedgehog had climbed up on top of a nearby apartment building.

"Who the hell are ya, anyways?" said Sonic.

"My name is Shadow the Hedgehog. I'm the world's Ultimate Life Form. I have no time for games. Farewell."

With that, Shadow warped elsewhere. Sonic shielded his eyes against the blinding light that Chaos Control produced.

"Shadow…who is that cat, and where did he come from?"

By this time, the sirens had stopped, and Sonic spun around when he heard tires screeching, only to be greeted by a group of police cars and a Grumman step van with the G.U.N. logo on the side. The Blue Blur tried to run, but the police trained their guns on him, as did the G.U.N. troopers dismounting from the van. The helicopter shining its spotlight on him didn't help matters, either.

"Attention: this is the Guardian Units of Nations!" said the G.U.N. sergeant riding shotgun, using the van's PA system. "You are completely surrounded! Put your hands behind your head and interlock your fingers!"

Sonic held his hands in front of him and waved them around. "Guys, wait…I can explain!"

"No time! Do as you are told or we will open fire!"

Sonic looked at all the cops and G.U.N. troopers. Sure, he could try his usual tricks, but these folks were probably innocent in regards to whatever Robotnik had cooked up, and he didn't really want to hurt people whose job was presumably to keep innocent people safe, so there was only one option…

"All right, ya got me!" Sonic did as he was instructed. "I give up!"

"Move in!" ordered the G.U.N. sergeant.

The G.U.N. troopers – wielding MP5s and M4s – moved in on Sonic. The first one who got to him patted Ol' Blue down, and then pushed him down at the knees while three other troopers secured his head and arms, and then gently guided him the rest of the way to the ground before handcuffing him and leading him to the van. Sonic wondered just where he was being taken, and he could only hope that Tails would be there to bust him out.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.