Wee-oooo! Wee-oooo! Sonic never guessed that the last noise his brain would produce was identical to the Green Hills police car siren, but there it was ringing in his brain. Wait. That wasn’t just in his head! The siren was in the air. The squad car crashed through the fence and—Wham!—directly over Knuckles’ smug bully face.

Sonic struggled to his feet and heard a young voice with a tone of amazement in its words. “Aw, man, I need to recalibrate these brakes. Do you think he’s okay?”

Glancing up at the revving car, Sonic beheld a kid just a shade younger than himself. It was a young fox, and it reached out from the car’s driver’s seat with an open hand. “Get in!” he said. “I’m on your side!” Sonic grabbed his satchel and followed the fox’s lead.

-Chapter 5