Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of this story.

Chapter Six

-3:00 P.M. Wednesday- New Mobotropolis-

"I don't think we're going to find him," Scourge said. "Finding a person in this mess would be hard, much less a frog."

"I just hope Froggy's all right," Big said.

He was following behind Scourge and seemed to be unaffected by everything happening around them. It was more than a little unnerving. The amount of fog had increased in the time they had been wandering as well. All of it had Scourge on edge, which he supposed was both good and bad. Being too on edge always had him jumping at shadows. With how the town was now, he didn't have to be on edge to jump at shadows. Another shadowy figure moved past them, fortunately not seeing them. Scourge hated those creatures. Every time he looked at them, memories came back to haunt him. Memories he wanted erased.

"What's the matter?" Big had noticed the hedgehog's ears flatten onto his head.

"Nothin', big guy." Yellow eyes peered at him, seeming to know he was lying. "It's just... This situation. I don't like it Those things keep messin' with my head."

"Everything will be all right once we find our friends," Big assured him.

Scourge wished he could believe him. Finding Silver and a frog wasn't going to help matters. It would only ease the sense of dread he had in his heart. Something had happened to Silver; something bad. Noticing anther of those hunched-over things, Scourge ran to the side. No way was it going to control his thoughts again. He had to focus on Silver. Big watched as Scourge intentionally avoided the creature. It amused him to see someone like Scourge avoiding a fight. It just wasn't the hedgehog's nature. The monster ignored Big, seemingly not noticing him. Big hurried over to Scourge.

"Maybe we should try going inside," he suggested. "It would be safer in there. We might even find our friends."

Scourge nodded. The cat was right. They'd never find Silver if they never went inside anywhere. Whoever had taken him wouldn't have him in the open. Not unless they were completely stupid. Looking around, Scourge got cut off his searching when Big pointed to a building to the left of their current location. It was as good a place to start as any.

-3:30 P.M. Wednesday- New Mobotropolis-

The hedgehog was impossible to lose, even with the fog. Luckily, the town had missed whatever had caused the headquarters' change of decoration. A snarl formed on the echidna's muzzle as he was stopped by yet another missing section of land. When the expected tell-tale sound of skates over the cement reached his ears, he turned and yelled.

"Would you stop following me? I don't need a damn babysitter!"

Shadow crossed his arms as his hover skates deactivated. He matched Knuckles' scowl with one of his own. Frankly, he was amazed the hot-headed echidna hadn't thrown a punch at him yet.

"Yeah, sure. Just stand there glaring at me with that tough-guy act you put on for everyone. There's nothing wrong with me. Go find your own- Ahhh!"

Knuckles bent over, arms circling his abdomen as pain shot through him. It was intense, something he'd never experienced before. Tears sprang to his wide, purple eyes. Sharp canines fully exposed themselves as he snarled. As suddenly as it had hit him, it stopped. For a while, all they heard were pants.

"What's going on, Knuckles?" Shadow asked. The worry in his tone was sincere; something was seriously wrong with the guardian.

"I'm... fine." Knuckles stood upright but refused to meet Shadow's eyes. "Maybe I do need someone around." A blush crossed his cheeks, head pointedly turning away from the other. "But not because I need protecting. I'd just be in trouble if that happened while monsters were around me."

A smirk crossed Shadow's muzzle as his head dipped as though in laughter.

"Of course," he said. "Why would a powerful guardian like yourself need protecting?"

Knuckles glowered at him. The midnight hedgehog was more like Sonic than he cared to admit. Perhaps not in the ways of straight personality, but the humor definitely matched at times. Knuckles sighed and walked around the hedgehog. The fog was thicker now, making it difficult to navigate the city. Shadowy figures hiding in the fog didn't help matters at all.

"I've been thinking, Shadow... What if Mina's right, and this does have something to do with NICOLE? She's certainly got enough power."

"I don't think NICOLE would willing put her friends in danger like this." Shadow watched a particularly still figure as they walked by it. "If she's got something to do with this, it isn't of her own will."

"They're staring at us," Knuckles said. "It's unnerving."

More and more of the figures came to stand on the edges of the street, seemingly staring at the two. Tension built in the air around the walking Mobians as their bodies readied for attack. There was no telling what the things were thinking, or what they would do next. The figures remained where they stood, simply watching and observing. Without warning, Knuckles found his hand grabbed by Shadow and he was pulled down the street at an alarming speed. Luckily, his arm wasn't ripped from it's socket. The figures all started running after them at once, unable to catch up with Shadow. The black and red hedgehog didn't stop until they were inside a building which slammed shut behind them. The lock fell into place with a foreboding echo and Shadow released Knuckles' arm. Rubbing his shoulder, Knuckles glared at Shadow.

"We had to get out of there. Now come on. We should get moving."

Knuckles followed, grumbling. The lights were bright, their way made perfectly clear. As far as Shadow was concerned, that was a bad sign. Bright lights during a situation like this just didn't happen. They should be either dim, flickering, or broken. As such, his body was on high alert. The guardian didn't seem to share his thoughts. His expression showed slight pain and more relaxation than anything. It wasn't as if the monsters were within the building. Belatedly, Shadow realized they had run into the hospital.

"You know what you're doing, right?" Knuckles demanded. "I don't want to go back out there anytime soon, but I don't want stuck somewhere with someone who doesn't know what he's getting us into."

"I'm the Ultimate Life Form, of course I know what I'm doing."

Rolling his eyes, Knuckles flopped onto one of the seats in the lobby. The doors were all closed, as if the zombies hadn't been able to get into the building. It should have ben one of the first places the zombies came from. Gun held at the ready, Shadow took a seat beside Knuckles. No sooner had he closed his eyes when a shout had them opening again. Looking to his side, he followed the guardian's gaze. Sitting in his lap was Froggy.

"What are you doing away from Big?" Knuckles asked.

Purple eyes had narrowed at the frog on his thighs. Shadow began to wonder whether or not Knuckles was just a tad paranoid. He leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes again. Knuckles could handle it on his own. It wasn't as if some grotesque monster had come through the door. Ignoring the frog, Knuckles followed Shadow's example. If something came after them, they'd hear it.

-4:00 P.M. Wednesday- New Mobotropolis-

Tails was clinging to Sonic's arm, who was having the unfortunate luck of having to shoot things. It was simply not one of those things he had ever planned on using. Deformed monsters kept coming at him, falling to the ground before they got anywhere close. Tails was terrified, ears flattened to the top of his head. There were no zombies, but he seemed to be in his own little world the past hour. Sonic looked at his face to check how he was doing. Blue eyes still didn't see him, instead staring off into another place entirely. It was a miracle he even managed to follow Sonic's commands at all. But he refused to leave Tails on his own. The thought occurring to him in the first place was strange. It had to be the fog making him think that way. No other explanation existed. At the sound of a whimper, Sonic stopped and sat Tails on the ground. Taking his face in his hands, Sonic gave him a small slap.

"Tails, look at me," he said. "Come on. Don't leave me here by myself."

Tails looked into his eyes, tears forming in his own.

"You're going to leave me too, aren't you?" Sonic shook his head as Tails continued to speak. "Just like mom and dad... Nobody's ever been there for me..."

"Tails, I've been here for you. And I always will be."

"But the people say no one can love me. I don't deserve love from anyone. Not unless I can earn it..."

Sonic had no idea where Tails was getting those ideas. Nobody had ever said anything like that to the fox; not that Sonic knew of. Trying not to let his mind wander too far from the task at hand, he scratched Tails behind one of his ears. This seemed to mildly calm Tails, who moved his head a bit more into Sonic's hand. Yet another deformed creature lurched from the fog at them. Like the rest, it didn't get far. Tails was huddled against Sonic's side, Tails wrapped around himself.

"You gonna be all right Tails?"

Tails nodded.

"Good. Now come on." Lifting Tails as he spoke, Sonic started off down the road. "We should get moving. Don't know where we're going yet."

"Could we just go back to the headquarters?" Tails asked. "That way, when the others return, we'll be there."

"It doesn't matter where we go," Sonic said. "This place'll mess with us regardless. You need to stop listening to the voices in your head and get thinking." Sonic flicked Tails in the nose this time. "Figure out what exactly's going on. These monsters gotta come from somewhere, right?"

"I'm pretty sure they're the other townspeople," Tails said. "Where else would they come from? Certainly not- Sonic? What's wrong?"

"Just don't like killing people I said I'd protect is all," Sonic barely whispered. Kicking a rock, he watched it bounce down the road. "First they turn into monsters out of a movie, now they're demented... things."

"Least it isn't Sally."

"Right..."

Pink fur and dead green eyes flashed before Sonic's eyes. Seconds later, energy ripped through a once-beautiful face and the pink hedgehog fell backward. There had been nothing he could do. Just... let her die. One of his closest friends, and he had been unable to keep her alive. He'd failed her. He'd failed to protect Sally's kingdom. And now, he was barely protecting Tails. The world depended on him.

...He'd failed them, too.

"Can't do this Tails," he said. "We should find Sally and 'Twan. We'd be in a larger group, but at least we'd be able to look after each other a little better. Not like these things care how large your group is anyway."

"We should go to the Power Plant then. That's the most likely place to find NICOLE. With any luck, the other's will show up there as well."

Sonic gave Tails a kiss on the head. He wasn't overly thrilled at the thought of sitting around outside in this freakish place, but at least the water couldn't rise and drown them out here. If Tails was safe, Sonic would be fine. Tails was the last person he'd ever let down. If Tails died, that would be the end of it for Sonic. He wouldn't be able to live with himself.

Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.