PROLOGUE: A Promise Made...

Unknown Date, 6:19 p.m. Mobius time

Unknown Location

A silver and white Mobian fox with a green ribbon around her tail snarled as a bullet flew past her. A dark gray echidna ran next to her. "What about our dads? We can't leave them!" The fox dove behind a large rock. "We have to! Our dads gave us this chance, and we have to take it!" The gray echidna collapsed next to her. The fox turned in time to see a red echidna get shot.

The silver and white fox squeezed her eyes shut as a silver fox and a black bat fell next to him. The gray echidna turned to look, but the silver and white fox stopped him. "Don't. It just makes it worse." she sobbed. He nodded and she looked back again. An orange fox and two hedgehogs went down, along with a chameleon. The fox shut her eyes, tears streaming down her face. "Dad..."

She sucked in a breath. "They're gone. We have to get to the others." The echidna nodded and stood. They sprinted off. A black cat ran up next to them, a sniper rifle strapped to his back. "Where are our dads?" he whimpered. The silver fox closed her eyes as she ran on. "They're dead. Like everyone else. Our siblings are gone too." The cat's amber eyes grew round and he let out a wail.

The silver fox skidded to a halt and grabbed his shoulders. "Nico. Calm down. We'll change this. But we have to get to our moms." Nico nodded, tears in his eyes. "Darius!" The fox snapped to the echidna. Darius looked up. The fox's eyes were filled with regret. "Take Nico and get the hell out of here. Wait five minutes, then go." Nico's eyes widened. "No! You can't!" Darius grabbed the little cat's arm and dragged him away.

"No! Darius, she can't!" A black bat raced towards them. She turned in time to see the silver fox draw her katana and race away. "No! Ar-" Darius grabbed her. "No time! We have to go!" The black bat gave a dismayed glance over her shoulder before growling and following. Along the way, a purple lizard joined them. "Where's-?" began the lizard, but Darius cut her off. "Not now. We have to go."

Ten minutes later, they reached their destination. A bat, a cat, a hedgehog, and a pale woman stood waiting by a machine, all females. They looked hopeful when they saw the small group, then their faces fell. "Where are...?" the woman said, then trailed off. "Oh, Tails..." she whispered. The cat's eyes widened. "S-Silver?" she asked, eyes wider than Nico's. The bat hissed, "We don't have time. We have to-"

"You can't go with them, Rouge. None of you can." The voice belonged to a black hedgehog. Rouge whipped around. "But-" The female hedgehog said, "Shadow's right. We can't. We have to defend the machine." Shadow bowed his head. "We have to send them back alone." He looked up. "Cosmo, turn it on." The pale woman nodded and started typing.

"Tails was always better at this than me." she murmured. "Amy, convince Shadow to let us go!" Rouge growled to the hedgehog. Amy shook her head. "That would create a tear in the tunnel to big to repair. It would negate their births, more likely than not. They can't see us, but they don't know our children." Nico growled at them angrily and hissed, "We have to wait. Five minutes. She'll be here."

"Damn right I will be!" the silver fox shouted as she skidded to a halt beside them. Darius, the black bat, and Nico looked up, while the lizard busied herself helping with the machine. An explosion went off twenty feet away. Shadow snarled. "They're here! We'll hold them off! Go!" The silver fox's eyes were wide. "We'll fix this, Shadow." He looked down at her. "I know you will."

Without any other words, Darius, the black bat, Nico, the purple lizard, and the silver fox stepped onto the machine. Cosmo pressed a button. The silver fox stared at her, then, without a word, pulled a hair clip out of her hair. Cosmo accepted it and looked at it. It was the fox's favorite one, one that her father had given her. It was blue with an emerald at the tip.

Before the fox and her friends could dissappear in the time machine, though, robots swarmed the area, firing. The six in the machine could only stare as their friends and family were slaughtered. "We'll fix this, guys!" the silver fox shouted as a loud whirring sounded and a white light flashed. Shadow and Cosmo were the only ones still standing.

Shadow was covered in wounds and Cosmo was close to dead on her feet. Tears streaming down her face, the last thing the fox said before she disappeared with her friends was, "We'll fix this! No matter what it takes!" She screamed as gunfire sounded and Cosmo fell next to Shadow, dead. Shadow turned and stared at them. The silver fox's multi-blue eyes locked with his crimson ones.

Gunfire sounded and they stared at each other like a lifeline as he fell to the ground. As his last breath faded, his last thing that he heard before he died was her screaming,

"I promise!"