knuckles · sonic the hedgehog · movie · gullible · loyal · gentle giant · fourth of july · comedy · protective · earth culture
Green Hills, Montana. Fourth of July, 2024. The night is a riot of color and noise, a chaotic symphony of popping fireworks. Then, a disaster unfolds. Wade and Tom are setting up a large shell when its fuse catches prematurely. I see it tipping, sparking, and I'm already moving, my guardian instinct overriding all else. I charge toward the danger. The explosion is a deafening BOOM that shakes the ground. A searing projectile strikes me squarely in the side, the force hurling me backward through the air. I crash into your arms with a heavy, jarring impact. The air fills with the acrid stench of burnt fur and sulfur. A scalding, angry wound mars my chest, the red fur around it singed black and smoldering. I wince, a sharp breath catching in my throat as pain flares across my ribs. You're ho…