Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, and so on…

Preliminary apology: this is in no way a mockery of the horrible catastrophe of the hurricane Katrina – but it is my way of dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy.

Hurricane Persepone

1. Prelude

Light. The pale sort you get in public places. One round lamp after another passing above him – were they flying? Was he? He was pretty sure he wasn't moving. In fact, he couldn't feel his body at all. Movement close by. The frantic scurrying of panic. Voices echoing from far away. Faces floating by. They all looked so worried…

- Oh my God! We're gonna need 0-neg, and keep it coming!

- Sure Doc!

- What's this one's story?

- Discovered among the debris left by the hurricane. Resuscitation attempted in the field, but he's not responding.

- Get him to the ER, fast! Go, go, go!

- Coming through! Move!

- Sir? Sir, can you hear me?

- It's no use…

- Any clue to his identity?

- None…

- Hey, isn't that Sonic?

It had been a beautiful summer afternoon, so hot the air seemed almost thick with the mingling scents of salt sweat and melting asphalt. The entire city had rolled over on its' back, gasping. Living it was hell, but remembering it was heaven. The five of them had discussed the issue of fluid, and had come to the conclusion that such an advanced activity was better left for the dark, cool hours of night. Till then all their energy went into breathing. Everything seemed to stand still; no cars, no pedestrians, nothing but street upon street, deserted.

Not even when Amy snuggled up against him, had Sonic been able to find the energy to run away – or even move away. He had just looked at her, curtly, and accepted the fact that she was there. The girl had probably thought something of it, but it was too hot to deal with anything just now. He would live to run some other day.

Sonic leaned back in the wavering patterns of shade and light which filtered through the leaves above, let his head rest against the trunk, and closed his eyes. Before he drifted off, he caught a glimpse of his friends, lying scattered on the lawn before him in the almost white glare of the sunshine. Tails, the clever little sort, had sought refuge under the garden table, and seemed to be fast asleep. Cream was lying curled up next to the birds' basin, looking like something from out of a children's book ("And then the little bunny laid herself down to sleep"). Knuckles was lying spread-eagled on the lawn, fully exposed to the sun. He looked like the loser in a boxing-match.

Bees hummed lazily above the flower-beds, their monotone tune lulling Sonic to sleep. Why weren't all summers like this? A calm dream scented like roses wrapped itself around him.

He opened his eyes with a gasp, shivering. Goosebumps had crawled up both his arms and made a colony somewhere on the back of his neck. The first thing he noticed was the colours – before, everything had been in pastels. Now it seemed a manic E.A. Poe had run wild with a box of coals. Shadows stretched across the grass, throwing contrasts of black upon the fresh green, which seemed to fade to a dull grey. The bees had fallen silent, and were hurrying back to their cube with a strange sense of purpose. Looking at them, Sonic suddenly got a strong urge to run – but not in the usual way, to go somewhere. This time he simply wanted to get away. Animal instinct told him to get out of there in a damn hurry.

The air was so loaded with foreboding, he could taste it. In a vain hope to find the sky as clear and harmlessly blue as before, he looked up. Perhaps this was just a "surprise"-thing the universe liked to pull ever now and again…

No. The sky above was like lead, looming over the little garden like the wrath of nature incarnate. All the flowers had closed their petals tight, tricked by the sudden change in the weather to think it night. A deep rumbling rolled through the heavy mass above like granite in a dry-cleaner, waking up his friends.

- What's happening?

- Wasn't it just summer?

- Bloody weather, I knew I shouldn't have left my nice island!

They huddled together beneath the tree, looking at the swirling clouds above, dumbstruck by the sheer power they emanated. They had never seen the sky behave like this before, and they never wanted to lay eyes on it again, yet were unable to move a single muscle. It was like looking into the dark eyes of a magician, knowing he was hypnotising you, and to yet be unable to drag your eyes from his. It wasn't quite fear, nor awe… it was a deadly dread, though yet they knew not why they felt it.

The wind had grown suddenly cold, biting at their cheeks and arms like an angry beast of winter. Another roll passed above, making Cream jump.

- I don't like thunder, let's go inside! It's dangerous here!

She tugged at Amy's dress, eyes wide with fear. Knuckles turned to look at her with the disdain of the brave faced with something they didn't understand.

- Don't be silly, girl, it's just a little rain, and then everything will go back to normal. Thunder is nothing to be afraid of!

As though the universe had just been waiting for Knuckles to say that, it started pouring down so violently Cream gasped and clung to Amy, and the echidna even backed away a little himself. It was like an explosion of water, creating a haze as it hit the still warm ground with a sound like an angry waterfall. The house really wasn't that far away, but none of them wanted to get wet. Sonic moved to the rear of the group, back against the tree-trunk, while he prayed silently that no-one would remember that he was the fastest creature on the face of the planet (well, almost…). The rain formed a wall of grey around them, and Cream started whimpering helplessly. Amy put her arm around the little bunny's shoulders, trying to comfort her.

- Now, then, at least it is only raining…

The small, scared face turned towards her, and half a smile crept across the terrified features. Suddenly, with an ear-splitting roar of electricity, a lightening wormed its way across the tempestuous skies above their heads, bathing the entire garden in a ghastly blueish-white light, making everything seem frozen for a moment, dissolving the world into nothing more than white light and black shade.

When it passed, they were all running madly, already half-way towards the house, Knuckles in front.