A/N—I decided to venture into another fandom: Sonic. :3 For some reason, I've been watching a lot of Sonic X (the Japanese subbed version kicks the 4Kids dub's ass, BTW), playing my Sonic games (I just picked up Shadow the Hedgehog for the first time in a few years, and we got Sonic Generations for Xbox for Christmas), watching YouTube videos (like "The Shadow Your Shadow Could Look Like" and "Hedgehogs on Motorcycles"), and basically falling in love with the entire fandom all over again. :3 So...here's my Sonic fanfic. :D

Where am I?

What's going on?

Why is everything dark?

What is all that racket? I hate loud noises.

You know, I have no idea what just happened. One minute I'm strolling down Emerald Coast, the next I wipe out and wake up...wherever the hell I am. My arms and feet are bound, and my eyes are either blindfolded or just plain blinded. (Please be the first one.) I hear sirens wailing, voices yelling out something about being on high alert, and things exploding. My heart must be the loudest thing of all, as it's pounding harder and louder than a bass drum.

Maybe this all happened because I found that dinosaur of an instrument hidden beneath the sand at the beach. It's one of those...agh, what are they called? Pine lutes? No, wait. Pan flutes. It was a pan flute. Right. Stupid ancient instruments.

Well, since I don't really have anything to do at the moment, let me introduce myself. I'm Voca: a sapphire chinchilla with a feisty disposition and a lot of energy. Most of the time, I wear a black off-the-shoulder tee with a lime green tank top layered underneath, white skinny jeans, and black sneakers that are accented with streaks of lime green. (I'm sure glad that I dress comfortably, as I'm not very cozy at the moment.) Regardless of the fact that I'd be nothing without my sneakers, I'm not much of a runner. I like climbing things, though. That's why I love my sneakers so much; they have great traction—perfect for scaling cliffs and the occasional building.

Hm? Someone's touching the bounds at my feet. (I knew that I wouldn't be able to get my mind off of things for long.) Wait, can I move my feet? Finally! Someone's here to rescue me—at least, I hope this someone's trying to rescue me. The being's also removing the rope from my hands. Wait a minute, I can see again! Don't you love that feeling that you get when you find out that you're not actually blind. Thank God for...wait, who is this dark figure which I see before me? He's a hedgehog with black fur that has crimson stripes running down the middle of each of the broad quills on his head. There are chunky metal shoes on his feet, and the paint on them is chipping off slightly. I focus in on the stranger's face, and he looks impatient with a hint of concern. But, above both of those traits, he looks serious. His hand is extended out to me. "Look, we need to hurry," he says in a sullen, almost monotone voice. "Eggman's sent robots after me, and, considering that I'm helping you escape, they'll be after you as well."

Without questioning, I grab his hand and let him guide us out of the building. Although we're going at an extremely quick pace (much faster than I'd ever hope to be able to run), I still have a good sense of what's happening around me. Red emergency lights are flashing furiously as they reflect upon the metal walls of the structure. I hear footsteps and yelling from afar. But the voices...they're getting closer.

All of a sudden, someone yells out, "It's Shadow, and he's got the prisoner. Hurry up and close in on them! They're almost at the exit! Close the doors! Gather the others! Don't let them get away!"

"Shadow—so that's your name," I say to my rescuer.

As he gains speed, he tells me, "This is no time for talking. We must escape first."

Behind us, walls drop from the ceilings of past rooms and prevent us from going back. Shadow's right. We need to focus on getting out, especially since we could be locked in at any given moment. Shadow's a fast runner alright—speedier than anyone I've ever seen—but this hallway seems to be going on forever, and the impromptu walls are catching up with us.

Right as the last wall begins to close, Shadow and I make it out of the building. He doesn't stop running, however, and I understand why: he's knows that if we stay there, then they'll get us.

We eventually make it to a quiet, secluded glade in the middle of a densely-wooded forest. Shadow lets go of my hand, then stares at me for a moment. Kinda creeped out, I ask him, "What are you doing?"

"A better question would be," he said in the same voice that he used before, "what were you doing back there?"

"Well, being tied up, obviously."

"That's not what I meant. I meant—"

"How I got to...wherever that was back there. I know. Wait, no, I don't know. The last I can recall, I was at a beach."

"That's it?"

"Well, I did find this neat pan flute in the sand, but I don't see how that has to do with anything."

"Show me it."

I don't know what happened to it. I had it in my bag, but it didn't come out of the building with me, and I don't recall seeing it when I was back there. "Yeah. About that."

"Great." Shadow's voice is beginning to sound irritated. "I have no idea how a pan flute could be so important to someone like Eggman, but if he has it, he probably has found it to be significant to his cause."

"Wait, what cause?"

Familiar voices are coming from somewhere in the woods. They sound close. "Curses, they're back." Shadow grabs my hand, then pulls out this green jewel from out of nowhere. "Chaos control!" he yells.

Somehow, we teleport out of the glade and into an alley in Station Square. "Alright, so what's going on again?" I ask. "First, I'm tied up and trapped in a building. Then, we're in a glade. And now...we're in Station Square? How did you even do that?"

Shadow tries not to lose his cool. "I'm Shadow. Shadow the hedgehog. You were just trapped in Eggman's base. You do know who Eggman is, right?"

"I'm afraid not, man. I'm still kinda new to Station Square."

"Then I have a lot of explaining to do."