Civilians

Prologue

  "Sonic! Over here!"

The blue looked up a little ahead of him, and saw Tails flying a little over head through the pouring rain, pointing in one direction. Nodding, Sonic dodged a few more bullets before doing a full 90° turn, slipping in the mud a bit, and eyed the Tornado, located under some trees for shelter from the harsh weather. Tails jumped in, starting the engines, and soon after, Sonic hurling himself onto the wing, and Tails took of immediately, leaving whoever had been chasing Sonic in their dust.

"Whew." Sonic breathed "That was a close one! Thanks for having my back buddy!" Tails looked over at him, "Sure. But who was that chasing you?" The confused fox asked, and Sonic just shrugged. "Beats me. With stuff like bullets and nets flying everywhere, I forgot to as.." he was cut of after something hit the tornado, and Sonic found himself holding on tight to stop himself from flying of the biplane's wings. Looking behind him, Tails gasped, "we're hit! Hold on Sonic, this could get rough." Looking down through the mist, Sonic could see a familiar looking city below. "Tails! Down there, that's Spagonia! We should be safe to land there!" Nodding, Tails did his best to straighten the plane, and managed to do a professional looking emergency landing into a park, saving the two from serious trouble. Tails took a look at the damage and sighed. "That's the engine damaged. I can fix it, but I'll need some stuff. I'm gonna head into the town, hopefully there's the right store there." Tails explained, and Sonic decided to follow him. It seemed better then waiting around.
But he couldn't help but notice that everyone seemed to be giving him odd looks, and he glanced around nervously. "Hey, Tails?" He whispered to his buddy, "Why is everyone staring at me?" He then jumped a little when someone tapped his shoulder, and he swiftly turned to see Professor Pickle looking at him with worry, "Sonic? What are you doing here? It's not safe!" He informed him. "Safe? Whaddaya mean, not sa.. ah!" The Prof. had taken his hand and started running off with him, Tails following, "wait, Professor! Where are you taking us!"
Pickle didn't stop until he had guided the two into his lab, double locking the door behind him.

Shaking the rain out of his fur, Sonic looked at the elder with annoyance. "What was that about?" He asked him. "Have you not heard the news?" The Prof. asked them, and Tails looked at him with confusion, "I guess not," "what's new?" Sonic asked him, and Pickle handed them a poster. Sonic immediately recognized his own portrait, with the words:

Wanted: Sonic the Hedgehog
1 million pounds/dollars
Wanted alive.

Startled, Tails looked back at his friend, "Sonic, someone's put a bounty on you.." Sonic looked back at him before smirking a bit. "Noice."
Tails slapped his head at him, "no, Sonic, not 'noice' you idiot," "Woah, Tails. Chill out little buddy. I was just joking. Though I would've thought I would have gone for a bit more.." Sonic continued to joke. "Sonic, this is serious my boy." Professor Pickle informed, "You must go into hiding until this blows over. I will help you fix your plane, and then you must both promise to go back to wherever you live." Tails nodded solemnly, understanding the grave danger his friend was in, Sonic just shrugged. "I don't see the big deal here. I'm the fastest thing alive, I can outrun anything and anyone that threatens me." Tails sighed at his friend's childish and stubborn behavior, "Sonic, you do remember the six month war, right?" Sonic's eye twitched a bit at that. "Clearly you do. If you're caught, these bounty hunters aren't going to hesitate to do whatever it takes to keep you... well..." Tails lowered his voice a bit, "immobilized," he gently whispered, not wanting to trigger the hedgehog's PTSD.

  Shivering from the thought, Sonic sighed as well, looking at Tails and smiling, "your right.. I guess. But I'm letting you know now, I could defeat everyone after me at once." He confidently said, undefeated. "Sure, Sonic. Whatever you say." Tails mumbled, following Pickle to go fix the biplane, "Now listen, you stay put." Tails sternly told Sonic. "There's tea and biscuits, along with some fresh cucumber sandwiches on the side, feel free to help yourself." The elderly Professor offered kindly as the two walked out of the office.

Sonic just sat down on the couch and pouted.