The next day came quickly. The sun rose beautifully in a sea of pink and orange clouds. At the breakfast table, Agatha noticed the sunrise.
"Isn't it pretty?" she asked no one in particular, gazing out the window.
"Yeah, it's gorgeous!" Cream breathed in awe as she craned her neck to see it.
"Wow!"
"Cool!"
"Sweet!"
The chorus of Mobians agreeing that the sunrise was beautiful warmed Mrs. Charis' heart. She seemed ecstatic that everyone(maybe except Shadow) seemed less hostile to one another today. Despite their cheerfulness, there was no doubt that most of the breakfast group worried about a potential dictator who hated Mobians.
Rouge, feeling as though she was missing something, tugged at Knuckles' arm.
"Hey, hothead."
"What is it?" he whispered, annoyed.
"Did I . . . miss anything yesterday?"
Knuckles scowled.
"You weren't there when we had that discussion, that's right. Where were you?"
Rouge objected.
"I was never told there was a special meeting! That would have been really nice to know."
"Well, you should have paid more attention. What were you doing? Watching your little soap opera?"
"As a matter of fact, I was!"
Rouge said this louder than what she had expected, and soon every eye was on her and Knuckles.
"What is everyone looking at?" Knuckles growled. This intimidated most of the Mobians to take their plates into the kitchen. Rouge rolled her eyes.
"Well, tell me what happened yesterday!"
"All right, sheesh! Okay . . ."
Knuckles noticed Shadow still quietly and slowly chewing his eggs at the other end of the table.
"May I help you?" Shadow inquired darkly without looking up.
"Knuckles and I need to talk," Rouge said flatly.
Shadow wiped his face gently with a napkin.
"What's stopping you, then?" he asked smartly.
"Nothing. We just need the room empty so we can have some alone time," Rouge said, winking at Knuckles. The echidna's muzzle turned the same color red as his body. He shifted his chair a few inches away from the bat.
"For your information, I attended this little assembly yesterday, too."
"Yeah, uninvited," Knuckles muttered.
Rouge glared at Shadow.
"Why are you eavesdropping on us?"
"I'm not eavesdropping. I think your red friend has very poor whispering skills."
Knuckles looked about ready to explode with rage. Now his cheeks were almost purple rather than red. Rouge snickered at the sight.
"Hon, your face looks like a couple of beets ripening before my eyes," she stated with a frisky attitude.
Shadow curled his upper lip in disgust at the strange comment. He left the room with his plate in hand, driven away by Rouge's playfulness. Knuckles, after watching Shadow walk to the kitchen, comically flailed his arms around in anger.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment? You need to work on your people skills if that's the best you can come up with!"
Rouge shrugged.
"Hey, you wanted him to leave, and he left. You're welcome. You really need to toughen up, cupcake."
Knuckles opened his mouth to scream something in furious reply. The purple color in his cheeks started to fade as he breathed slowly and shut his eyes.
"Fine. Okay. I'm cool now."
"You'd better be, vegetable face." Knuckles cringed upon hearing the new nickname. "Now tell me, what happened yesterday?"
"Come on, tell me!" Amy cried shrilly. Sonic tried to break free of her grip, but Amy's hand was practically glued to his arm. "I want to know what's going on!"
Sonic stopped struggling and hung his head, defeated.
"Well, you asked for it," he mumbled. "Amy, the humans have a new leader. He says he's trying to find a way for us to get back home."
Amy tilted her head, confused.
"Why would everyone be so edgy if this guy is trying to help us?"
"That's the thing: he hates us. One wrong move, and we could probably be killed."
Amy opened her mouth, speechless. She let go of Sonic, who rubbed the spot on his arm where she had held him.
"So . . . he's trying to send us home because he hates us?"
Sonic scratched his head.
"I . . . I think so. But I think if we reason with him . . ."
"Sonic, are you crazy? Trying to reason with a guy who wants us all dead?"
"Well, yeah . . ."
Amy put her hands on her hips and scowled.
"How do you feel about all this?"
Sonic lowered his eyes to the ground sadly. He kicked a pebble that rested in front of his foot.
"I don't know, Amy. I feel like I should do what I can to protect you guys and the Charis family. If that means that I should try to talk with the new leader, then so be it."
Sonic sped off, knowing that Amy wouldn't bother chasing him. The little pink hedgehog knelt on the ground as concerned tears ran down her cheeks.
Agatha flipped through the channels on the television. No one else was sitting in the room with her, and because of this, she felt free to watch whatever she pleased. As she channel-surfed, one of the pictures on the screen suddenly caught her attention—the news channel.
The screen displayed a man in a gray suit standing at a large wooden podium. He had younger features and couldn't have been any older than forty. Cameras flashed all around him, accompanied by shouts of reporters and people asking questions, greedily hunting for answers from the man. The man lifted his hands and all the people went deathly silent. Agatha squinted at the bottom of the screen, where there was a line that explained the situation. The words on the screen almost made her physically ill.
"Live Mobian Capture—Punishment for Causing Casualties Ensued"
Agatha desperately called for a Mobian.
"Sonic? Tails? Amy? Anyone? Come here!"
"What is it?" Shadow stepped down the stairs, calm and unconcerned.
"Shadow! Look at this!"
Shadow stood next to Agatha and coldly stared at the television screen.
"They've captured someone?" Shadow inquired, still tranquil.
Agatha nodded, much more frantic then he was.
"It can't be someone from here, can it?" The poor girl came close to tears.
"Why don't we watch and find out?"
Shadow placed his hand on Agatha's shoulder in an awkward attempt to console her.
The man on the screen began to speak with a deep and commanding voice.
"Dear people of my country, it is with utmost delight that I congratulate my Secret Service for retrieving a dangerous and vile creature from its hiding place."
A loud cheer erupted from the crowd. Agatha's face became pale with worry.
One reporter managed to interject a question once the hall became silent.
"Mr. President, where was the location of this Mobian's hiding place?"
"The Mobian was found in an abandoned house on the streets of New York City," the president replied shortly. Agatha breathed in slight relief.
"Well, at least it's not one of ours," she said. Shadow didn't respond and continued watching the screen. The president continued to talk about the captured Mobian.
"This creature proves to us that Mobians are indeed a dangerous and destructive species. The creature, while surrounded by my men, injured many of them with powerful and unknown attacks. I couldn't bear to see my men in so much pain and therefore felt forced to reply with harsh punishment."
Shadow glanced at Agatha, who looked as though she was ready to faint.
A short figure, no doubt the Mobian, came to the podium where the president was standing, led by two men. The figure's body was entirely covered with a brown sack.
"Here is the troublesome creature," the president announced, "and it has been determined that he is to be interrogated and imprisoned." With that, the president ripped the sack away from the small body and revealed a green character with a large mohawk, a beak, yellow goggles, and red and black boots. He breathed heavily and appeared to have many bleeding cuts from struggling. Shadow widened his eyes.
"Jet, you idiot . . ." he murmured fiercely.
"Who is that?" Agatha asked, completely wrapped in suspense.
"That's Jet. If you ask me, he probably deserved what he got."
Agatha didn't reply to Shadow's violent comment.
"This creature, who claims to be a hawk, has injured good, loyal citizens of our country."
"Hey, I was trying to defend myself!" protested Jet desperately.
"Shut him up," the president ordered.
Jet held out his arms, ready to attack the president. Men dressed in black suits restrained him and held his arms back.
"I was framed! I haven't done anything wrong!" cried Jet, knowing he was sincere. "I don't deserve any of this!"
One man pulled out a taser and aimed it at Jet. The hawk immediately stopped struggling and stared at the strange device. The president, thrown off by the distraction, continued his speech.
"Good people, it is my intention to rid this world of these dangerous creatures and save humanity. We must protect our innocent people and our good country from this destructive species. Anyone against my views will suffer the same punishment as this pathetic creature."
Jet was taken behind a curtain, flailing and screaming for help. The news channel suddenly changed to a commercial on facial cream.
"This is bad," Shadow said simply, "we need to tell-" he turned to Agatha. The girl was lying on the ground, completely pale with her eyes closed. Shadow pursed his lips. "Poor thing can't handle this stuff. These humans don't know the half of it," he mumbled. He gently placed her head on a pillow and ran to get a glass of ice water.