Author's Note:

THIS IS GOING TO BE REWRITTEN INTO A MORE PLANNED OUT STORY. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES.

Chapter 1: Lost

Everything in the back of the GUN van moved with each bump and dip in the road, including a bandaged, blue hedgehog and an exhausted, red echidna. The hedgehog had his head in his hands. All of his fighting probably meant nothing at this point; that alone dampened his spirits. He removed one hand to rub his wrist, the wrist with the all-too-familiar claw mark engraved in it. The red echidna realized that he was doing this and a slight worry settled in his throat.

"How you holding up, Sonic?" the echidna asked. The hedgehog named Sonic looked up to the echidna's violet eyes. He saw the concern in them. He adverted his gaze before the guilt could come back to haunt him. Sonic didn't respond until he could regain himself.

"I don't even know anymore."

His friend didn't know how to respond to that. An awkward silence followed. Sonic took deep breaths while rubbing his temples. The red echidna leaned back on the metal bench he was sitting on, deep in thought.

Suddenly, they both felt the van veering to the right. Any loose objects on the floor slid with it. The van gradually slowed to a stop, followed by the clanking of footsteps that could be heard near the front. A door on the furthest wall opened to reveal a black hedgehog with red stripes holding a small, black walkie-talkie. It fizzed and crackled with barely audible sound.

"Sonic, Knuckles, I think you need to hear this."

The both of them leaned in as the black hedgehog held out the walkie-talkie and turned the volume up. They caught what a GUN officer was saying through it. The connection wasn't very good so it occasionally faded in and out.

"..dark creatures...invading...to hold them off...losing infantry. Back-up is mandatory...-ty of remaining citiz-... little to no survivors...not sure where-"

The audio then cut off completely. What followed was a silence louder than any whisper. None of the listeners knew what happened to the speaker.

"Those are the reports from Soleanna," the black hedgehog explained, "I believe those 'dark creatures' are making their way over to our direction."

"You're kidding me," Sonic rubbed his dry, bloodshot eyes.

"Any other towns that were attacked, Shadow?" Knuckles inquired, just as worried as Sonic was.

Shadow paused to recollect his thoughts.

"Station Square...? I think?"

Sonic's eyes shot open. He froze on the spot at the words.

"...S-Station Square?" he stuttered. Shadow replied, "We're not too sure yet. We were sending helicopters to search but they had to stop to back-up the invasion in Soleanna."

"How long will it take to get there?" Sonic rose to two feet and stared into Shadow's eyes with a determined look on his face. Shadow raised a brow at him.

"Are you implying that I'm going to take a complete detour from our escape route?" the black hedgehog challenged. Knuckles stood up and jabbed a finger at Sonic.

"Yeah!" Knuckles joined in, "Why should we do what you say? That's gotten us into plenty of lovely situations so far!"

Sonic took a step back from his censorious companions. "Come on. Isn't it the GUN's job to evacuate people anyway?"

"It shouldn't be up to one unit to do the job though," Shadow argued, folding his arms.

Sonic glanced between Knuckles and Shadow, contemplating ways to entice them.

"Please, Shadow," he plead, "If anyone is capable of getting us there, it's you."

"You're pretty capable, why don't you go there yourself? I have no problem with you leaving."

"You know I can't do this on my own. I need to go there."

"What for?" Knuckles interrogated, becoming suspicious.

"Trust me on this one," Sonic reassured, "If you do this for me, then I owe you one, okay?"

Knuckles watched Shadow ponder the offer. The black hedgehog drummed his fingers on one of his crossed arms, having a slight sneer while thinking.

"Fine. But it better be worth going there," Shadow turned tail and gruffly opened the door to return back to the drivers' seat.

"Thanks pal, you're the best!" Sonic cracked a small smile to him, happy that he agreed.

"I know I am," Shadow responded before closing the door. Knuckles stomped his foot, which resulted in a loud clang.

"What?! I can't believe you'd agree to something so-"

Then his eyes caught Sonic's emerald green ones. The brightness that was in them immediately faded. Now all Knuckles could see was the tension around them. The van started moving again, quickly picking up speed. The blue hedgehog turned his head away and sat down on the metal bench. His head hung more than it should have. The echidna suddenly understood.

He sat himself next to Sonic and took the liberty of leaning back and crossing his legs. He lolled his head over to him. He attempted to make the question he was about to ask as casual as possible.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Sonic lifted his head slightly. He let out a fake chuckle.

"I didn't even know you could think."

Knuckles hit Sonic's arm lightly with the back of his hand.

"Shut up, you know what I mean."

Sonic silently exhaled out of his nose and shook his head.

"Well, Knux, you just might be."

They both sat in silence. Knuckles had a lot of things to say. Now he understood why Sonic was so dead-set on going to Station Square. He wanted to tell him that he shouldn't really worry and that they might be going there for no reason. Yet, Knuckles has known his friend long enough to know that none of those things would matter to the blue hero.

"Look," Sonic began, readjusting his elbows on his knees, "I know you thought about it, too."

Knuckles nodded his head. "Of course I have."

He then directed his attention to the back window. He could see the seemingly endless strip of road disappear into the horizon as they dashed, yellow lines whizzed by them.

"He's only a little kid."