𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙜: 𝙉𝙤 𝙒𝙖𝙮 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚!

      Opening the window in the attic of the house, the blue hedgehog and the two-tailed fox went out onto the roof and looked at the city itself. —You bet I can run to the food store faster than your tails, steal a sausage roll from there and run back here? — Sonic grinned. — Ha, you won’t have time. There are so many obstacles and turns below that you have to run around, and then I will be in the air, where nothing will hit me, quickly in a straight line and without turning anywhere, I will fly back in the same way. Tails boasted. — Make sure the bird doesn't crash into you! — Sonic joked, warming up on the spot before running. — Ha ha ha. Very funny! — the fox answered sarcastically and stood up with the hedgehog on all fours, preparing to run at the signal. - Let's start on the count of two. — By the time you count, I will already be very far away. Pf. Far away. Pf. Far away. Pf. Far away. Pf. Far away... — Tails turned his gaze and saw, instead of Sonic, a player with a pre-recorded voice of a hedgehog, which jammed slightly, causing the last phrase to be repeated. At this time, Sonic himself, having cheated, ran forward. — Well, hold on! — the fox said, grinning, as if the hedgehog had heard him, jumped off and, rising on his tails, flew forward. While Sonic was running and Tails was flying above him, neither of them, in the course of their entertainment, noticed that they were running past rocks and trees on which the smallest surveillance cameras were installed. So small that they even seemed invisible, and that they were not there at all. Sonic had already run out onto the road and ran straight ahead until he turned right, at the museum, then turned left and ran up to the store. Tails by that time had already flown to the roof of the building, where Sonic ran, choosing a sausage in the dough and not paying, and then ran back along the same road. Tails, on his propeller in the form of two tails, flew along the same path, without turning anywhere, and returned back to Wakowski’s house. On the way, a seagull flew straight towards the fox, which he fortunately managed to notice and flew around from above. Sonic tried to run faster and faster, as soon as he could. Only while running he had to run along the wall up to the same window on the roof and that’s all. But he didn’t calculate or foresee this, or he simply forgot that he could also run along walls, he chose only to jump and crashed into the wall. Tails flies up to him, grinning, picks up his friend by the waist and, lifting him to the same window, sits him down with his feet first on the roof. — Okay, so be it. Let's assume that I gave in to you and you came running first! — he told him. — No. I made a mistake while running here. So you won fair and square. - Sonic says with his head down and holds out his hand with a sausage in dough, giving it to his friend as a trophy to the winner. The fox, of course, takes it, but he breaks it into two halves and gives the other half back to the hedgehog. Sonic didn't even know what to tell him. — ...Thank you. — Do not thank! They didn’t even suspect that one of the surveillance cameras had quietly turned in their direction and saw how they were hiding on the roof through a window in that very house. Only Ozzy's dog paid attention to the camera and began barking at it. Tom and Knuckles came running when they heard barking, but saw nothing. The dog simply barked stupidly at an empty place, or more precisely at an ordinary stone, but the smallest camera was not noticeable on it. — Ozzy, why are you barking out of nowhere? — asked Tom. — Wait! Maybe he felt something that we didn’t feel? — the echidna suspected and looked closely at the boulder. Although he didn’t see anything so strange in the stone, he decided to trust the dog, because he knew that the sixth sense of a pet cannot be fooled. You need to be able to trust them and check what is bothering them so much. Looking closely at the stone from above, from the side and even from the front, the echidna still noticed a certain metallic, but small circle. - Here she is! - he said, pointing his boxing glove at the smallest camera, picked it up and, looking at the smallest lens, made a face, then broke it, squeezing it in his fist. Then he turned to Tom and said: “Now they know we’re here.” We need to leave before they arrive. — Who are they? Military? — Exactly! And this must be done as soon as possible! — echidna answered, giving Ozzy a bone-shaped cookie, which he immediately gobbled up. — Well done! Clever dog! Entering the house, where Sonic and Tails were now sitting on the couch watching the fourth Matrix, Knuckles took out the remote control and turned off the TV. — Hey, we're watching! — Sonic was indignant. — There is no time for family movie watching. We need to leave here. Knuckles explained. — Leave? — Tails was surprised, deciding that he probably hadn't heard correctly. — We just got along in this house. — No time to explain. We were spotted, and those soldiers are coming here. Knuckles explained sternly. — But how? We were very fast. They couldn't notice us. — Sonic insisted. — You may be fast, but I don’t think you’re looking around when you’re running? — asked Tom. — What are you talking about? — Sonic didn’t understand. — Ozzy discovered one of the atom-sized surveillance cameras on a rock near our house. Now they know that we are here and we better get out of here before they come for us. — Knuckles stated seriously, searching the bookshelf, trying to find a bag of rings. — Here he is! We'll go to the planet of mushrooms and wait there temporarily until they forget about us here, and then we'll come back here. — he added. — I hate mushrooms. — blue hedgehog sighed heavily. — Me too. But where to go? — the echidna answered with a question. — It’s probably easier to escape to a parallel universe. — What's going on here? — Maddie intervened in the conversation. At that time, the two-tailed fox carefully looked out the window behind the curtains and saw how helicopters flew in, and tanks arrived through the forests, knocking down trees along the way. — Oh-oh! — all he could say from what he saw, after which he covered the window with curtains. — Let's run to the attic! Quickly, quickly! — as soon as he said, Sonic rushed there like a bullet before anyone else, and Knuckles and Tails had to slowly catch up with him up the stairs. At that moment the doorbell began to ring. What’s strange is that no one rushed inside or even knocked. Tom walked up to the door, hiding behind the right corner of the exit, and asked: — Who's there? — Good afternoon, Major Bennington. — the major introduced himself calmly and a little hesitantly behind the door. — I take it from your voice that you are Lieutenant Wakowski? — Actually, Sheriff Wakowski! — Doesn't matter! We have a business proposal for you. I hope you won't refuse to help us? Bennington asked. — Help? Didn’t you fly here with an army and surround our house? — Maddie asked. — This is for insurance purposes. We have a very large special operation, because a conflict with Russia has begun. We must defend ourselves in case of attack. Please open it, otherwise I’m afraid to talk to you on the street, lest the snipers target me. — Conflict with Russia? — Tom wondered and still opened the door. The major saluted and entered the house with two soldiers. — Thank you... Take it! — the major gave the command and each soldier took Tom and Maddie to the gun. — Move, and you will be shot. — I should have known it was a hoax. — said Tom. Ozzie ran out and started barking, and the Major pulled out a gun and aimed it at the dog. — Tsits! — Touch the dog and... — Maddie wanted to intercede, but the major interrupted her: — And what? What will you do to me? Will you attack me? When you run, they will immediately shoot at you. — Ozzy, move away! — Tom asked, and the dog obediently retreated, starting to yelp like a crybaby. — What do you want from us? - asked Maddie. — Don't pretend to be innocent sheep! We know that you are assisting and hiding a dangerous alien from us. — said the major. — He's not dangerous at all. He is kind. — Tom justified Sonic. — Yah! Then why was it his fault that Dr. Robotnik died? — Bennington asked. Tom and Maddie didn't even know how to explain it. — What? Are you silent? Do not know? Maybe the alien hypnotized you and made you think that way, but in reality he does bad things? — Or maybe you’re inventing all sorts of nonsense for yourself because you’re afraid of what won’t actually happen? — asked Tom. — Don't be smart about it! — the major pointed the gun first at Tom, and then began shouting throughout the house. — HEY!!! YOU!!! BLUE DEVIL!!! Meanwhile, Knuckles, Tails and Sonic were in the attic preparing to escape. Knuckles took out one ring and threw it in front of the window, opening a huge portal to the mushroom planet. Knuckles was the first to jump through the portal, Tails was the second, and Sonic was just getting ready to run in, but suddenly he heard the major’s voice from below. — WE KNOW YOU ARE HIDING HERE!!! COME OUT AND SURRENDER TO US, COWARD!!! OR YOUR FRIENDS WHO PROTECT YOU WILL DIE!!! — Don't listen to them, Sonic! That's all they need! — echidna dissuaded Sonic. However, the blue hedgehog did not know what to do now. Should I run away with my new friends, or should I stay and help my old ones so they don’t get killed? He changed his gaze between Tails and Knuckles near the portal and the exit down the stairs. Although he couldn't see it, he imagined the soldiers pointing their guns at Tom and Maddie, ready to fire at the Major's command if he didn't appear in front of them. For a moment, at the same time, he remembered his childhood at that very moment and how he said goodbye to the owl Longclaw, his adoptive mother, who remained in his previous world in order to delay the tribe of echidnas who were hunting him so that they would not They got to him, and at first he wanted to run away further, but then he changed his mind at the last moment and wanted to return to help her, but before he could reach him, the portal closed. And after that, for a long time he blamed himself for being to blame for this. After all, if he had been attentive then and tried to make sure that those echidnas did not notice him, then he would not have ended up in this world and would not have lost his adoptive mother, who loved him and took care of him. These memories reminded him of that very current situation. Now instead of echidnas there were G.U.N soldiers. And instead of Longclaw there were Tom and Maddie. Plus, the fact that the soldiers tracked them also reminded him of that situation, just like the echidnas tracked him back then. He did not want this story to repeat itself again, and he could not allow them to die through his fault. — I... — said the blue hedgehog, also changing his gaze. — I COUNT... ONLY UNTIL TWO... — major shouted and the soldiers prepared to shoot Tom and Meddie if the hedgehog did not appear. - ONE!!! — Sonic... Don't! — fox begged the hedgehog not to do this, but he had no other choice, and the hedgehog ran out of the attic to the first floor, appearing in the eyes of the major with his hands raised: — DO NOT TOUCH THEM, THEY ARE NOT GUILTY OF ANYTHING!!! The soldiers wanted to scream, but tried to hold on with all their might, and the major just widened his eyes at what he saw, but was calm and at the same time glad that the hedgehog finally showed up and decided to surrender to them. — What is you like? — PLEASE!!! YOU ONLY NEED ME, BUT DON'T TOUCH THEM!!! THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HERE!!! — hedgehog begged the major for the soldiers to spare his friends. The major snaps his fingers and the soldiers put away their guns. — Outside! — major points his finger towards the exit, and yet there are still soldiers standing around who are aimed at the house. There was nowhere to run, and if you tried to escape, they would shoot, then if not he would suffer, then his friends would suffer, which he did not want to allow. — Sonic, no! — Tom shouted, trying to stop the hedgehog until the soldier pointing the weapon at him again raised the gun at him, threatening to shoot if he dared to interfere. Sonic turned around and looked at him sadly, saying: — Sorry, Tom, but I have to. I don't want to lose you. After all, you are my family. Farewell. — then he slowly walks towards the exit, followed by the major. — Sonic! — Tom and Maddie shouted after him in tears and, even not caring about the danger, they tried to stop him, but the soldiers, without threats, stood in their way and did not allow them to approach the hedgehog or the major. Sonic lowered his head so that no one could see the tears running down his cheeks. But he knew and was sure that at least this time, unlike the previous such moment in childhood, he did the right thing. — “If I could have done the same back then, you would also probably be alive.” — he suddenly thought about Long Claw. Soldiers, tanks and helicopters aimed their guns at the hedgehog and were ready to shoot at it if it dared to move. — Tie him up! — Bennington orders. According to the order, four soldiers approach the hedgehog, putting away their guns, handcuffing the hedgehog’s hands, and another similar handcuffs on his legs, so that he certainly cannot escape if he tries, of course. They tied his arms to his body with chains and, in addition, put a muzzle on his face for the mentally ill. Just in case he suddenly bites. Sonic himself did not even resist and try to escape. A prisoner transport truck immediately arrived and the rear doors of the container opened. Already jumping, since because of the handcuffs on his legs he could no longer run, he barely jumped to the container, inside and they began to close him there, after which Sonic looked for the last time, first at Tom and Maddie, and then at Knuckles with Tails through the window in the attic. — I love you. — he whispers through his tears, as if they will hear him. The truck door is closed and the captive blue hedgehog is taken away, after which the entire army, tanks and helicopters leave Wakowski's house. Tom and Maddie stood still for a long time and with tears in their eyes looked at where their blue friend had gone. — Let me! Let me down! I have to save him! — Tails resisted Knuckles, who held him by the tails and tried to prevent him from leaving the attic. — Don't be a fool, fox! — echidna tried to calm him down. — We won’t be able to save him. If we show ourselves, they will start hunting for us too. — Well, why? Why did he do this? — the two-tailed man asked through tears. — He couldn’t do otherwise... He was afraid of losing those he loved so much. — explained red, looking through the window as Maddie cuddled up to Tom and cried. — He gave himself to them in exchange for their lives so they would leave them alone.