'A moment's silence for Sonic the Hedgehog, please.'

King Elias Acorn did not need to speak any louder than the mild, unusually quiet tone he spoke that morning. Normally he would speak boldly, allowing everyone around him to hear his demands, but this morning his confidence dissolved like salt in water.

It was fortunate the palace gates were closed and nobody attended the meeting. Nobody, that is, except his bodyguards, and five of the six political elites that formed the Council of Acorn. Elias liked to make his decisions democratically, thus starting the Council (and shortening an extremely long and irrelevant story).

Castle Acorn (named this way after the surname of its owners) was instantly filled with an unusual chill. This was, however, not a drop in physical temperature but a chill caused by fear and newly gained paranoia.

Elias was, as was all of the Council, Mobian. Unlike the other species that dominated the planet Mobius, humanity, these semi-humanoid creatures would represent different animals, making them an extremely diverse race. Elias was no exception to this trait, for although his human stance and figure, his thick red eyebrows and finely combed red hair may tell you otherwise, his long bushy tail and light brown fur made him represent a squirrel of some kind.

After almost exactly sixty long seconds of pure silence, Elias looked at his watch and softly informed them the silence was over. After that, he switched his tone of voice to his usual boldness. Everyone still remained silent as he spoke.

'I hope,' he said. 'You took the messages on your desks seriously. Sonic really is dead. He was indeed killed by terrorists who may or may not be associated with Dr. Eggman. Despite of these unsolved mysteries, we have confirmation they did indeed take…' he hesitated, holding in tears that would have flown like waterfalls if he wasn't embarrassed by them. '…Princess Sally. My sister…'

He looked at the one seat on the large podium left empty. Man up, he thought. You're a king, not a baby!

It was then that he pressed a button on his podium. 'This is a video the terrorists sent us last night,' he announced angrily. 'Of course, some of you may find this disturbing.' As he spoke, the projector above their heads flickered to life as a screen slowly descended from the ceiling in from of them.

The screen showed a picture of the famous Mobian Chipmunk, Sally Acorn, in a way unseen by most, the brown fur on her face and short, thick red hair on her head soaked in blood and tears. She was tied to a chair, still wearing torn clothes and body armour from the day before, now stained by dried blood and sweat. She screamed and cussed at the people who were filming the footage, replacing some of her words with intervals in order to spit a drop or two of blood from her (today) foul mouth.

When the terrorists were obviously fed up of her pleads, they decided to silence her by sending a man dressed entirely in black, wearing even a balaclava and gloves, and pointing a shining pistol to her head. Another man, dressed almost exactly the same, reached out with some pieces of card, the side drawn on pointing away from the camera and into Sally's face. The pistol tapped her ear softly but at the same time impatiently, suggesting her fate if she refused to read.

She read the message slowly. 'Hello, Elias, this is a message from the great warlord Black Hat, to inform you that he…' her monotone reading turned into quiet sobs as he read: 'he…he…' the pistol again tapped her impatiently. 'He…killed…Sonic. And he will kill all of your…your…pathetic army of…Freedom Fighters…if necessary.'

She continued after the man with the card changed the card. '…but that won't be necessary, yet…because if you want me alive, you will take this warning, and stand aside for us. Black Hat will reign supreme, and his reign will begin soon,' she paused as the card changed. 'Mobius, and Earth have waited too long. God bless the Black Hat, because he knows the way…'

Static ended the video quickly.

Elias in turn pressed the same button, causing the same things as before the video to happen in reverse. As this process passed, he turned to his colleagues. 'Do any of you have any suggestions?' he knew what they were all thinking. He did his usual sigh; maybe Mobius wasn't ready for this. 'Perhaps it is time for Protocol Blur.'

Four of the members started talking to each other, debating in panic over whether it was right.

'All in favour,' he said in a monotone expression. 'Say 'aye'.'

Everyone said 'aye', knowing it was the only option, and on the Council there fell silence.

One person sitting at the table lifted her hand slowly. A Mobian Fox with long red hair and dark yellow fur.

Elias tried to make his tone sound a bit more subtle. 'Rosemary Prower?'

Rosemary didn't struggle to express her opinion. 'Are you sure this is right, your highness? We can't put a boy of his age through…'

'Indeed,' his voice was slow with doubt. 'But what other choice do we have? Who else can stop Black Hat…' his voice turned bold, changing its direction from that of Rosemary to the empty space in front of him as he said: 'Nicole?'

A flash of light soon materialized a hologram of a Mobian Lynx. She had her eyes on the front of the Council's podium, on which there sat Elias. There was a look of haste in her semi-material eyes.

'Yes, your highness?'

Elias' mutters were cold. 'I'm afraid we're going to have to pull out the big guns,' and he turned colder as he ordered 'Collect every Freedom Fighter, including Miles Prower, and make sure we have Elis Jameson. Protocol Blur has been activated.'

Rather than arguing with him, Nicole simply gave him a concerned look and flashed into disappearance almost as quickly as she arrived.

Elias had some hesitation is speech as he said: 'the Council is adjourned.'

The Council, unusually fast in doing so, left the Council room, leaving behind barely a trace. That was, the exception to this was a friend of Elias'. Rotor Walrus, is, as he is by name, a Mobian Walrus. He was aged by years of fighting in favour of freedom.

'Sir…' Rotor had unusual hesitation in his voice. '…I'm sorry, sir…but…what happened?'

Elias did a usual sigh. It was a sigh saying he hates his role as king, but he will keep it for the sake of freedom and equality.

'Sonic and Sally,' said Elias. A monotone voice that was ashamed at any emotion that leaked out. 'Did a mission together. Their last before the wedding. We saw traces of Chaos magic, so we…sent them…I should've known…they were prepared…'

'It's not your fault. Chaos magic is a constantly changing thing. You couldn't have possibly guessed…'

'That's why my idea was wrong.'

'Their responsibility as Freedom Fighters would have eventually killed them. If it wasn't now, it could have been the next.'

Rotor had begun to leave when Elias found it safe to mutter, 'I wish I could believe you'. It was there he leaned on the table with his hands, trying not to collapse as he said, sadly and quietly. 'Father, what a mess I've made.'