But then, the silence stopped, as they heard a clanking against the side of the tank. Something had dropped down through the open hatch at the top. It was a grenade.
"Fuck," Vector said, as he jumped to get out of the tank, but was instead greeted by machine gun fire, and dropped back into the tank.
The grenade exploded into a thousand different pieces, as Julian was thrown into the side of the tank, but the force of the explosion did something else, it activated Julian's powers. Julian's once muted grey eyes were now a dazzling crystal blue, and there was a blue aura all around him, as he jumped to his feet and, with a flick of his hand, hit a huge piece of metal that was once part of the tank crashing into the army, knocking lots of them out. He smiled as the army retreated back into the castle, but this was short lived when turned to see Antoine on the floor, surrounded with blood. Vector was lying next to him, trapped under a piece of metal from the tank, also in a pool of blood. He looked over at Antoine, and saw that they were both not in a good state.
"Antoine..." Vector coughed, "You French bastard. You can't die on us. That's... that's no good for the revolution."
"I'm sorry, Vector," Antoine sobbed, "It seems my time is up."
The silvery white hedgehog was now standing over them.
"Not so fast!" Julian said, as his blue aura transformed into a forest green and he zapped Vector and Antoine with a green light. When the light faded, both had been healed completely. Antoine and Vector both looked shocked and relieved at the same time as they got to their feet.
"There you go," Julian smiled, "All better."
"Mon dieu!" Antoine yelled, "Julian! Your powers activated! And you have healing powers!"
"Hmmph," Vector said, "And, what about them?" Vector pointed to Sonya and Espio's dead bodies, which were lying side by side, holding each others hands. It was a tragic waste of life, and yet this was how Sonic wished all the rebels to be. Dead.
"Can anything be done for them?" Julian asked.
"I'm afraid not," Antoine said, "They have been dead for too long for any of your healing powers to work..."
"You don't know that for sure! I can at least try!" Julian yelled, as his hands glowed a green aura and he zapped Espio and Sonya.
But nothing happened. But Julian tried again and again and again. It seemed hopeless.
"They're not coming back Julian," Storm said, "They've been dead for too long. There's nothing that can work for them now. We must go, quick, back to the rebel hideout, before the army come back."
"Storm's right, come on everyone," Charmy said, "I know it's sad but there is nothing we can do now."
And so the survivors started to walk down the long and dusty road as the sun set on the horizon, beginning their sad journey back to the rebel hideout, where they would have to break the bad news that some of their most valued members were dead. This would be a dark day for the rebels of Mobius.