Here I go at uploading some SatAM fanfiction again. (after doing this once and removing it, because it was an abortion) This is essentially my first foray into fanfiction for real, and I'll be periodically doing more to both this series and quite possibly branching out into fanfiction for a game that I haven't seen fanfiction for around anywhere; Hexen!
This fic is aimed purely at SatAM purists, so don't go in expecting to see appearances of Amy, Shadow, Rouge etc. I may get slack and give Knuckles an appearance (no spoilers) later on.
Anyway, expect to see updates for both this and the start of that soon.
Cheers and more beers, that's it, that's all! Enjoy the fic!
Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters are the property of SEGA and DiC. Really.
EPISODE 1 - DRAGGING THE WATERS (1st revision)
It wasn't the dreary weather in itself that bothered her.
It was the fact that it left nothing to do but sit around, thinking and reminiscing. And reminiscing was certainly not one of Bunnie Rabbot's vices.
Her hindsight took her back to a time when the sky was never green, brown or red, and the only things that flew through it were birds. Cities were calm, welcoming. Her biggest problems weren't of staying alive, or winning wars, but of simply finding something to do with herself all day, or putting up with Antoine's incessant gibbering. And she was free to do as she pleased, and go run off as far and wide as she liked until her legs couldn't go anymore.
Looking down, she reminded herself her current legs could go on forever. But she didn't like taking them around anywhere anymore.
Listening to the surrounding gush of the downpour outside beating on the roof above her, Bunnie sighed; those days were over. Normally she didn't have a problem living with the present, but the past always was the vivid utopia that she'd never see again.
The last few days had been nonevents; beginning with the start of the week, the sun had been shielded with foreboding gray clouds, that soon opened up with a mighty downpour that had turned dirt hills into slippery mud slopes and roads into small canals. According to Rotor's forecast, the weather didn't look to be clearing up anytime either; Knothole was experiencing its first monsoon that Bunnie could remember. Every now and then, a fresh splash of muddy residue would be sprayed upon her front window, only to be washed away by the rain in short order; probably from Sonic.
Bunnie jumped a little when she heard a quick rapping at her door. Reminded of her disgusting half-roboticized state by the metallic clumping of her own feet, she headed to the door, and was surprised when she opened it to see Sonic's nonchalant face staring at her. Her deep frown of before instantly turned to an inviting smirk, and the hedgehog mirrored it.
"Hey there Sugah-hog!" Bunnie smiled as she closed the door behind him. "Uh… you hold there for a sec, and I'll fetch ya a towel."
"Thanks, Bunnie…" Sonic said offhandedly as he waited on the doormat. "Thought you'd appreciate me dropping in just for the heck of it; I can't imagine anything you could be preoccupied with in this cruddy weather--" he cut himself off when he took the time to survey Bunnie's living room, and wondered if he could push that sentence back into his mouth.
Every cupboard in the living room was open, every drawer was out, every tablecloth that normally hid some form of miscellany behind it had been upturned; old boxes were laid out everywhere, with loads of memorabilia and who-knows-what-else sprawled across the place.
"So, ah…" Sonic whistled as Bunnie returned to throw him a towel. He took it and began applying it to render himself from a sopping wet to at least moderately damp state. "Doing a little… winter cleaning?"
Bunnie chuckled. "Ya could say that. What're the others up ta?"
"Beats me…" returned the hedge. "Just being a bunch of hermits and doing their own thing… and I'm going insane!" he stressed, staring up in dismay. "I'm made for jucin', not hanging around here beating our brains out when we've still got evil overlords to topple!"
"Aww, I know the feelin', hon…" the rabbit nodded, giving him a playful jab to the arm with her soft arm and relieving him of the wet towel with her steel one. "I'm sure this weather'll let up soon, then y'all can get right back into yer overlord topplin' ways."
"Yeah, that's what I said… three freakin' days ago." Sonic groaned, eyeing the storm outside with disdain. Suddenly conscious of his uncharacteristic whining, he quickly derailed that train of thought and switched tracks. "So anyway… why's this place look like a bomb hit it?"
"Well, with this weather keepin' us all grounded for the time, I thought I'd check out all the ol' sentimental items I had stashed around the place. Come 'ere, I'll show ya." Bunnie said, leading him over to a frayed old box. She reached in, pulled out something of a dark red colour, and tossed it in Sonic's direction. The rodent caught it with some surprise, and after blowing the thick coat of dust off its cover, flipped it open.
"A photo album?"
"Yeah… from before the coup…" Bunnie sighed. "Chuck gave it to me last year when he found it amongst all the personal stuff he'd managed to smuggle out of Robotropolis."
To Sonic, the room seemed to get darker all around as he parted the covers. Moments of history flashed in both the book and his memory, captured and immortalized. Old streets Sonic remembered blasting through in Mobotropolis, the steps leading up to Castle Acorn, with those big statues out the front that had given him the shivers looking up at them, back when he was a kid. Taking a seat beside him, Bunnie looked on. Standing out was a picture of three rabbits, a married couple holding hands in front of Palace Fountain, sitting in between them a remarkably familiar looking bright-eyed child. In front of the three were a small flock of white doves, crowding around a few crumbs that had been thrown for them.
Sonic's gaze shifted repeatedly between Bunnie and the photo. "So… they're your parents, huh?"
"I never found out what happened to them…" the rabbit whispered, eyes shut tightly. When she opened them, they glistened at the memories.
"Relax, Bunnie…" Sonic said in an unusually delicate tone, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I never saw my folks again after ol' 'Buttnik threw down the gauntlet either. I…" He took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "I guess they're roboticized by now. But I never really knew for sure… maybe they're still alive, somewhere."
Bunnie's ears perked up after a moment. "Well… maybe there's some way to find out?" she suggested with a sniffle.
"Like what way?"
"Well, Robotnik musta had a record of all us that he roboticized right? We'd just need at get our paws on that and we could find out once and for all if they're really gone or not!" Her eyes shone with apprehension; any number of things could have happened to their parents, and many of those things were… things she'd rather not think about.
"Rockin' plan!" Sonic nodded in approval. "Y'know, if there's any time we should get cracking with that, it's right now. Unc's told Rotor from his hideout that the rain's giving Snootley some major trouble with security. The streets there are flooded!"
Bunnie looked uncertain. "I don't know… it'll be a hurdle for us too though. And heck, with this robotic bod, I can't afford to leave myself out in the weather for too long; I'll start rustin'! How 'bout we pitch this one to Sally? She normally knows best."
"Oh, I know what Sal's gonna say…" Sonic rolled his eyes. "In this weather, she'll think we're insane."
---
"In this weather? You're insane."
"Aw, come on, Sal!" Sonic flailed his arms, stressing his point. "Uncle Chuck said himself that Pinocchio's gonna be the one having trouble dealing with the flooding, with all his security shorting out! What do we have to worry about?"
"How about drowning, for one thing!" the princess retorted. "Look, I see your point about Snively, but it's not as simple as swimming across a pool over there, you know. With all the enclosed spaces in that place, it's something he's sure to capitalize on!"
"How's he gonna do that when his sensors are all busted?" Sonic countered.
Sally put a finger to her lip for a moment, then realizing she'd argued herself into a corner, she took the last resort. "Nicole?"
"Snively's security system has been severely compromised as a result of the flooding. The primary Robotropolis power plants have been damaged. Snively has no opportunity to take advantage of the flooding."
Sonic gave Sally a cheesy grin, content in his victory.
"Don't you want to find out what happened to your mom as well?" he added, the final nail in the coffin.
"No."
Sonic looked at her incredulously. "What? Why not?"
"Because… I…" Sally frowned deeply, but only it linger for a second. "Ugh! Fine, fine. Let's just get going, when you're ready. But don't expect Dulcy to take us over there in this storm."
"Well, Sal…" Sonic smirked, pointing to his feet. "I've got these. So all you two gotta worry about is hangin' on!"
---
Sally had suggested not to let anyone else know they were going, and bring no one else with them, for a number of reasons. Firstly, and most obviously, Sonic was only able to take two with his arms, and with Bunnie's robotic parts being as weighty as they were, even that was a struggle. Secondly, and probably a little more importantly, when concerning the fates of everyone's family, perhaps it was better left a little low-key. If they did manage to find the records, they had no idea what to expect. If, say, they were to discover Tails' parents had been roboticized, breaking it to the kid would be… ugh, she didn't want to think about it. If that were the case, she decided that it'd be better to simply let the kid go on holding some hope that his parents had escaped their fate, however hollow. In any case, it was a terribly demoralizing thought, and she wondered if they should go through with this after all. Well, the others would be able to see for themselves the results when they came back.
Then she thought about her own parents, more to the point, her mother, and wondered if she could go through with this.
All the while, each of her thoughts dissipated one after the other into the reality around her, drenched and beaten down in the weather. Cradled in Sonic's arms as they sped along the muddy forest floor, the relentless drizzle and rain managed to assail her, even through the forest canopy, soaking her fur, and she shivered uncontrollably as the wind whipped all around and through her ears, making the cold all the worse. A coldness that sank right past her fur, through her skin, and into the very marrow of her bones. The only comforting thing was Sonic's arms looped under her legs and under her neck, tightly so as she knew he wasn't going to drop her any time soon. She spared a glance at Bunnie, who was hanging around Sonic's waist. Her eyes were mostly closed to keep the water and wind out, but she still managed a reassuring nod and smile.
Finally, the dim glow of Robotropolis had grown from a haze on the horizon to a deep blue pallor directly above them, and the hedgehog began to slow his pace, closing the distance of a few hundred meters before he finally came to a stop. He visibly buckled as Bunnie dismounted, and he set Sally down, taking a few moments to catch his breath. Bunnie was heavy; it didn't help Sonic either that this was their first mission since Robotnik's defeat at Doomsday, which was months ago. The hedgehog was feeling a little less fit than normal as a result.
"I didn't wanna weigh ya down like that, sugah…" Bunnie said solemnly, apologetically. "Curse this blasted bod o' mine!" She kicked up a bit of mud in frustration with a robotic leg, lamenting its existence for the millionth time.
"No sweat," the hog puffed, "just gimme a sec to charge the ol' batteries, and we'll be juicing."
They'd arrived at a hill overlooking the expanse of Robotropolis. Rotor's observations had been right, of course; Robotropolis was a city built into a mountainous crater, which was now starting to act like a bathtub, muddied waters from the surrounding landscape all being swept down and into the streets. The landscape was beset with an intense fog, the dim blue lights of the city's buildings painting the sky and ground alike with its hue. Dense clouds of rain swarmed and swirled around the buildings like ghosts. And apart from the constant gushing of rain and roaring of wind, the expanse of steel and neon was silent as the grave.
Grabbing her binoculars out for a second, Sally took a closer look at the city, and zoomed in on the flooded streets, using a hand to shield the lens from the rain. Surprisingly, the SWATbots seemed to be continuing with their patrols as usual, but they were getting around on hover bikes, carving gashes in the streets with their wake. They also seemed to have some kind of weird headgear on; it looked like scuba gear. This puzzled Sally; what need would robots have for respiratory equipment?
"Ready to kick it, Sal?" Sonic said, giving her a tap on the shoulder.
"This isn't going to be as simple as it normally is," Sally observed. "All the roads in the city are flooded, and there's SWATbots patrolling them on some kind of hover bikes."
"So what's the strategy?"
"Get ourselves three of those bikes, haul it to the nearest building we can find, and head up. We'll get to Central Command across the rooftops."
"Sounds like a plan," Sonic gave her a thumbs up. "Time to do it to it!"
The three crouched behind some piping aside one of the canals, on a hill of rubble, and waited. It didn't take long before one of Snively's troops came hurtling around the corner, kicking up a spray of water as it slid. They had this one. From their hiding place in the shadows, Bunnie stuck her arm out and extended it by a few meters, coathangering the bot as it sped past. Bunnie's arm buckled from the impact slightly, but its intense build allowed her to stand her ground with little effort. The metallic drone was close to decapitated, mostly severing the head, and the defunct shell fell to into the water, sizzling for a minute as the swirling currents passed its waterproofing through the wound and fried its connections, and finally the disruption made its way to the bots core. It exploded underwater, kicking up some miniature tidal waves.
"Gotcha!"
Sally quickly flipped through the air and took caught onto the newly vacated hovercraft, found the bots weapon still in its holster on the craft, and waited for the next SWATbot to come screaming around the corner, aiming the rifle at shoulder level. It didn't take long until it came. Sally used the iron sights to aim at its head, and pulled the trigger. With a flash and a very loud bang, the bots head exploded in a shower of sparks. The recoil pushed Sally's aim up to near vertical, surprising her with the kick it gave.
It dawned on Sally something was very different here; this was no laser rifle. She'd felled the bot with a rifled shotgun slug.
This worried her. These guns were meant for her and her comrades… Snively wasn't concerned with keeping them alive for roboticization; with this loadout, he was going to exterminate them!
There was no time to ponder this. With a click-clunk, she pumped the next round into the chamber, and as soon as the next SWATbot came hurtling around the corner in the wake of the last one, she fired again, striking the bot in the chest. The blast lifted it off the bike, and it exploded in midair, hissing as pieces of flaming debris hit the water.
The job was done. They'd procured three bikes, and there was no telling when the next bot would be on its way around. "Alright, grab a bike and let's go!" Sally ordered.
The three hammered it along the canals, scanning the skyline above them for a suitably tall building. There were plenty, but there was a problem.
"Sally-girl, these buildings are too far apart! We cain't get from one to the next!" Bunnie shouted over the sounds of the hover bikes' motors and rain.
"You're right…" Sally threw back. "We'll just have to push straight for HQ on the streets!"
"What about the bot patrols?"
"We blast through 'em!" Sonic answered.
"We avoid them." Sally countered. "We can't risk fighting these things!"
"What's the deal?" Sonic asked, confused. "Juice and reduce, it's the S.O.P.! What's so different this time?"
Sally checked one more time, not really wanting to believe it. Opening the shotgun's chamber for a second, she checked. In blue plastic casings, they were labeled 12 gauge rifled slugs. One of those to any limbs would mean amputation; one of them to any vitals would be instant death, no two ways about it. Time to break it to them.
"They're using live rounds!"
The hog's heart jumped, as the sickening revelation Sally had gotten from the news hit him as well. The feeling of danger and emergency grew more intense.
Sally was right. There was no room for error. A hit on the business end of these things didn't mean incapacitation and capture. It meant game over. For good. Snively was raising the stakes from what his portly uncle had set considerably; keeping the Freedom Fighters alive, evidently, was nowhere to be seen on the list of priorities of Robotnik's successor. There'd be some major explaining to do to the others when they got back to Knothole.
Seeing the wake left by the other SWATbots' vehicles made things a little easier. With the towering grandeur of the dome of Central Command as their compass, the trio zigzagged among the buildings, doing their best to avoid the patrols, and staying out of the glare of the numerous spotlights that peppered the streets. A few times they came close to being discovered, but with the weather affecting visibility as it was, they were able to slip away.
Finally, against the walls of Central Command, they reached their destination intact. Bunnie couldn't help but be amused that they'd stopped a few meters above the door they normally used to enter the facility. Looking up, there was an outcropping, and with the flooding providing all the elevation they needed to reach it at this point, the three easily reached up and hauled themselves onto the edge, found a maintenance door, and took it inside.
"Finally, we're outta that blasted rain!" Bunnie said, relieved, as she shook vigorously to clear some of the wetness from her waterlogged fur.
Sally slicked back her wet maroon hair and hefted her newly acquired weapon. "Okay, I gather we'll need a map to find the way to the computer station in this place?"
"Get real," Sonic smirked. "With all the visits we've paid this joint in the past few years, I know this place better than the back of my hand."
Much as Sonic hated it, the newly established life-or-death nature of combat with Snively's minions called for stealth over acrobatics. Hugging the walls to slip under security cameras and bolting whenever they heard the sound of foreign footsteps, they cautiously made their way to the old Robotropolis data vaults. A locked door stood between them and the room, but Bunnie forced it open, frying circuits and stripping cogs in the door's machinery with a loud, metallic grind.
In the dim blue spot lighting, they came to it; in the center of the room sat a massive computer console, thick data cables extending from it to the ceiling, lights of servers and hard drives flashing left and right with activity.
"Alright, Sal." Sonic whispered. "Do your thing, and then we can juice on outta here!"
Sally nodded, and unclipped Nicole from her boot, then plugged her into the nearest access port. "Nicole, run a scan of this system for records of roboticized Mobians."
"SEARCHING."
A minute passed, as Nicole silently combed the data banks for the relevant information Sally requested. Sonic tapped his foot, impatiently. "I'm waaaaaiiitiing!"
"ONE ENTRY QUALIFIES. FILE ID #53696307: MOBIANRECORDS DTB-F. DOWNLOAD?"
"Go ahead." Sally answered.
"DOWNLOADING, SALLY… COMPLETE."
"Great, now let's book!" Bunnie exclaimed.
"YOU SHALL BE GOING NOWHERE." a voice intruded upon the room through the Command Center's announcement system, a metallic, female voice, making all three Freedom Fighters jump.
"Nicole!" Sonic scolded.
"THAT WAS NOT ME, MY MAIN HEDGEHOG." Nicole answered, before Sally closed her up and clipped her to her boot again.
"Then who was it?" Bunnie asked, her voice a little shaky.
"YOU, INTRUDERS, HAVE CAL-(callously)-LOUSLY ACCESSED MY SYSTEMS WITHOUT MY PERrMISSIiON. I NOW HAVE YOUR CURreNT LOCATION. YOU MAY KEEP YOUR USELUSELESSESS PIECE OF DATA WHICH YOU HAVE RIPPED FROM ME… BUT YOU WILL NOT LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO REVEL IN YOUR (fail) FRUITLESS VICTORY." The voice of the computer jumped, beeped and glitched like a corrupt, malfunctioning machine. With every word, ran layers of thousands of other words and voices in soft, maddening undertones. It spoke with a piercing intensity and volume that filled their heads like only a machine could.
It seethed with a malevolence that no machine should ever be able to harbor.
"What the hoo-hah WAS that!?" Bunnie shrieked, now completely freaked out.
"Whatever it was, it's time we get out of here!" Sonic said.
"YOU WILL REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE. YOUR ARBITRARY (rbtrry) EXISTENCE CANNOT BE ALLOW(w)ED TO CONT(s)INUE. YOU CANNOT BE aaaaaaaAaaALLOWED TO LIVE ANY LONGER. YOU MUST BE EXTERMINATED. (You must. die.)"
The clamour of numerous metallic feet against metallic floor panels could be heard.
"SWATbots!" Sally gasped.
Sonic readied himself. "Sal, Bunnie, grab on. Time to juice it loose!"
They shot out of the room and through the halls in a blaze of blue, so fast that the floor panels were left glowing with a dull red. Gunfire filled the halls as the SWATbots opened fire. Walls were ripped apart in the carnage, lights were shot out, circuitry was destroyed under a hail of lead. But none of the many bullets fired found their target, many of the bots knocked over where Bunnie stuck her robotic arm out along the way. In seconds, Sonic had carried Sally and Bunnie out of the facility and into the weather, where their hover bikes were waiting. They dropped directly onto them from the outcropping of the building.
"Punch it guys!" Sally said, hitting the starter button and feeling the engine whirr into life.
"Bummer majoris!" Sonic growled, as Sally and Bunnie prepared to take off.
"What is it?"
"My bike's been busted!"
"Then jump on mine! Hurry!" Sally shouted. Sonic complied, and they took off quickly. Their delay nearly cost them their lives, as a volley of bullets and shells filled the air with steam and splashes where their targets had been not even a second ago.
Klaxons bathed buildings in flashes of red, and the screech of alarms filled the air. Two SWATbots were in hot pursuit, opening fire with their weapons.
"They're shooting at us!" Bunnie screamed.
"Sonic, take the controls! I'll take care of these guys!" Sally ordered.
"You got it," he replied, flipping over Sally and taking her place. Sal pivoted on her seat to face behind them, at their attackers, and took hasty aim before sending a few grams of hot metal into the first bot's chest. It exploded into a thousand pieces instantly, sending its bike careering into a wall, joining its rider in a massive fireball.
Click, clunk. Shell number two loaded. Sally took aim again.
She felt a dull pain at the shoulder. A bullet had glanced her arm, not penetrating to do any serious harm, but it bled and stung so much she cried. The reflex caused her to drop her gun into the water.
"I'm hit!"
Sonic turned to look at her, both scared and enraged. "No!"
"I'm okay, but I lost my gun!"
Sonic gritted his teeth. "Take over, Sal! I'll dust this piece of junk!" With that, he left Sally's bike and leapt into the air, going into a super-spin as he flew, whipping rain everywhere like a sprinkler. He collided with the remaining SWATbot at full force, sawing it clean in half, and leapt instantly from the hover bike just before it exploded to the building they were speeding past. At this velocity, he kept himself above the water by running along the wall of the building. When he ran out of building, he leapt from one side of the street to the other and continued along the next building, losing next to no momentum. Even without a vehicle and not even any ground to run on, Sonic gained more and more speed and eventually sped past his companions. Within a few minutes, they'd escaped the inner city and reached the 'shoreline', hitting it fast enough to be practically flung from their bikes. Bunnie and Sally skidded through the mud for a bit before stopping, and Sonic rolled as he finally returned to terra firma. Without even thinking, they hauled ass up the hills and into the forest, not even thinking to slow down before they'd disappeared for nearly a kilometer into the thick woods.
---
It was only the next day that the rain had finally begun to lighten, and cracks of light began appearing in the gray blanket above. Sally welcomed the golden evening rays, watching them flood through the window of her hut.
Her arm still hurt, but she'd seen Rosie, who'd sterilized the wound and bandaged it up. It would heal quickly enough, but it was going to leave her out of action for a while.
They'd explained the situation to all the others. Snively's penchant for ballistic firearms, the computer that had spoken to them. Rotor and Chuck both promised they'd look into the computer thing, and tell them all what he'd turn up.
But for now, there were more pressing matters.
In front of her, on her desk, sat Nicole. Sonic and Bunnie looked over each of Sally's shoulders in nervous anticipation. This was it… finding out what had really happened to their parents. For better or worse, they'd be in the dark no longer.
"Alright…" Sally whispered, taking a deep breath. "Who's first?"
"Bunnie," Sonic suggested. "She's the one that wants to know the most. Let's not keep her waiting."
Sally's hands shook. "Nicole. Search database Mobian Records for entries of 'Rabbit'."
"SEARCHING… COMPLETE. TWO ENTRIES QUALIFY."
The results silently appeared on the screen.
RABBIT, CLAIRE - ACCOUNTED FOR - ROBOTICIZED
RABBIT, JACOB - NOT ACCOUNTED FOR
Silence shrouded everything. She couldn't breathe. "Mom… Dad..." She closed her eyes as tight as she could, but it didn't help. Years and years worth of tears escaped, and she was kept upright only by her unfeeling legs.
"Oh, Bunnie…" Sally whispered as she got up and embraced her friend. "They're not gone forever. We'll find a way to get them back. I promise. Your dad's still out there somewhere. We'll find him, too…"
"Ah… I hope so, Sally-girl…" Bunnie said, her face buried in Sally's shoulder. She remained that way for a moment, but quickly sniffed and looked up. "Enough of this. At least I finally know now. S…Sugah-Hog's turn."
"Nicole," Sally began, with more than a little hesitation. "Search database Mobian Records for entries of 'Hedgehog'."
"SEARCHING… COMPLETE. TWO ENTRIES QUALIFY."
HEDGEHOG, JULES - ACCOUNTED FOR - ROBOTICIZED
HEDGEHOG, BERNADETTE - ACCOUNTED FOR - ROBOTICIZED
"Sonic…" Sally said. "I'm sorry…"
"It doesn't matter." Sonic said, eyes closed, shoulders slack. "We just gotta find them and turn 'em back. Things'll turn up. As long as I'm around, the will." He grinned a little at his own words.
"Yeah… they will…" Sally agreed quietly, and went to close Nicole up.
"What about you?" Bunnie asked. "What about your mother?"
"I… it… it can wait." Sally gulped. "It's getting on. I'm calling it a night early. Maybe you guys should too…"
"Alright." Bunnie said, giving her friend one last hug before turning to exit. She was gentle; they were all fragile with their experiences and what they'd found out. "Goodnight." With that, she made her leave.
Sonic stood and looked at Sally, arms folded.
"What?" she asked him.
"What's the deal with you? How come you didn't run a search for your own folks? Don't you care?"
This comment angered Sally. "Look! I didn't want to go through with that stupid mission anyway. You got what you wanted. Just leave it at that! I… I do care. But I don't have to look through some records to know where my mother is. I already know… ugh, just look for yourself." She opened Nicole up again and walked away, and threw herself on her bed, looking at the ceiling with a vacant stare.
For a moment, the hedgehog thought twice about pressing on. But he shrugged the thought aside. He wanted to know. His curiosity wouldn't let him leave Sally's hut until he knew.
"Nicole," he said slowly, parroting Sally's words from a few minutes ago. "Search database Mobian Records… for entries of 'Acorn'."
"SEARCHING… COMPLETE. TWO ENTRIES QUALIFY."
ACORN, MAXIMILLAN - NOT ACCOUNTED FOR
ACORN, ALICIA - ACCOUNTED FOR - DECEASED
His throat seized. His heart rate took a nose dive. He felt his veins throbbing. He wanted to ask how, and why. But he already knew the why. There wasn't one. There never was a "why" in war. A "why" in loss, a "why" in hatred.
And the how… didn't matter.
He turned around, very slowly, his bravado, his confidence, his faith, completely shot. "Sal?"
"Yes." was all the reply was. Not a question, a statement.
"I'm so sorry…"
A minute passed. Silence strangled the air.
"It… it's too late to do anything about now. I can't change what this war has done to me… us." she said flatly to the ceiling. Then she raised her head a bit and looked at Sonic, and despite atmosphere, managed a smile.
"We still have what matters, among us."
Sonic spared a glance out the window, and watched a few white winged birds cut a trail across the dying light of day.