The Element of Surprise

Sonic couldn't resist one last glance at her before the door shut behind him. She had her head balanced on her interlocked hands, her hair floating in the soft wind. He watched her for that brief period until the door closed between them, blocking her from view.

Sonic took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He couldn't help but think maybe he'd the closed the door on something more precious than just the rooftop.

Sonic took a deep calming breath as he gazed out into the crowd. He was halfway through his speech and he realised that all the panic he'd pushed down was slowly creeping up on him again.

'Hope' Sonic thought blankly. Amy had told him to give the people hope, so that was exactly what he'd planned to do. Except, now his brain was running at five hundred miles per hour and he wasn't convinced he could get the people to believe in him.

The crowd watched him anxiously, awaiting his next words.

"We will not bow down to Eggman." Sonic said, letting his voice carry over the crowd that packed in the large square. Rebel guards stationed on the tops of buildings and at the edges of the crowds nodded appreciatively at him as his eyes scanned over them.

"We will not let him crush us. We will be victorious!" He finished proudly. The crown sensing the end of his speech broke into ruckus applause. Part of Sonic worried that it would attract too much attention to them, but he pushed the feeling down. He was there to instil hope in his people, not to add to their worries.

"Too long, we have let Eggman take our freedom, our homes, our hope. But no more. Together we will stand against him. We will show him what our hope is capable of!"

Sonic smiled widely at the crowd and raised his mother's staff up high, the empty space where the power gem should have been starkly obvious. "To Mobius and her freedom!" He watched with amazement as the people raised their fists their chests in respect and then high up into the air, mimicking his stance with the staff, in a show of solidarity.

Once the crowd had diverted their attention amongst themselves, Sonic lingered on the stage for a while before jumping down into the crowds. He turned and spoke to some of his supporters before catching Knuckles' glare from the edge of the makeshift stage.

Knuckles had told him to do his speech and leave. As one of his personal guard, he wasn't pleased that Sonic had just jumped into the middle of a fired up crowd which was precisely the reason he hadn't told him what he'd planned to do.

He just grinned at Knuckles in a way that said he was sorry but he had to do it and Sonic could have sworn that his cheek twitched in approval. He turned back to his people and found an old lady watching him reverently as she lifted his hands the backs of them.

"Good luck to you my king." She said, he voice high and croaky. She smiled and dropped his hand before hobbling off into the crowd. Sonic was a little taken aback by her actions until he remembered he was a prince now, people were bound to treat him differently. Of course, that didn't mean he had to like it.

He felt a couple of people slap him endearing on the back, giving him their approval before moving on but Sonic couldn't help but feel a bit on edge. That feeling of something being wrong had bubbled to the surface of his skin again and this he couldn't ignore it.

He turned to catch the eyes of one of the guards but instead he saw Blaze, the Sol kingdom princess looking around her suspiciously. His heart dropped.

Blaze looked exactly the way he felt. Something was definitely wrong.

Just as the realisation hit him Sonic realised that the noise of the crowd seemed to be too loud. Surely a crowd this size couldn't be making all that noise?

A shrill whistle sounded and Sonic looked up to the nearest guard, seeing that he had a whistle in his mouth and was waving frantically at the crowd. Warning them he realised.

Sonic spun on the spot, looking around in all directions when he saw the dark shadow down a side corridor. He looked to the side and saw that Blaze was standing back to back with him. A part of him was amazed that she'd mastered her cat like prowess to the point where he didn't even hear her approach him.

A large burning fireball was glowing in her right palm as she urged the crowd to disperse. From the side he registered Knuckles yelling orders.

"Eggman oncoming. If you can fight, grab a weapon and join the formation. Make sure all children, elderly, and those who cannot fight get out of here as quick as you can."

Sonic made a mental note to thank him for his resourcefulness later.

But this seemed too practiced. Just how many times had this happened in the years he was gone? Hundreds? Thousands? Too many he concluded as his eyes caught sight of a familiar pink figure jump down from the building opposite him.

Her green eyes caught his briefly before she turned to face one of the many entrances to the square, her hammer materialising by her side.

The unnatural thumping and crashing of robots filled his ears, a sound that Sonic had hoped he'd never had to hear again. Yet here it was, getting louder by the second. He felt Blaze tense up behind him and run forward, joining a group of rebels at the edge of the square.

Sonic looked around to find that he was right in the centre, the rest of the square had been cleared of civilians and only the fighters remained. They had been split into small groups, not unlike the one Blaze had just joined.

He looked around and caught Knuckles eye who waved him over. Sonic ran over as quick as he could.

"Eggman is attacking. We have to hold our ground as well as we can considering not everyone is armed at the moment."

Sonic nodded. "Where do you want me?"

Knuckles glanced around, assessing the situation. "Just stick with me hedgehog. If worst comes to worst, we need to make sure you get out of here okay."

Sonic swallowed the lump in his throat and prepared himself for the attack. 'Okay Sonic, you can do this. You've beaten bots before, you can do it again.'

Behind him, he heard the unmistakeable clatter of metal on metal as the first robots arrived in the square. The group at that entrance had jumped on the robot and were busy trying to take it down. Sonic pulled his gaze back to the entrance his own group were waiting to ambush.

He saw the dark shadows of the machine first before the laser red eyes came into view. Sonic was immediately reminded of the time he'd fought the robots with Tails and Amy as kids. These one's looked a little different, but the eyes were exactly the same.

Blood red and calculating. Merciless.

He'd barely got a good look at it before the group around him charged at the robot, scratching and denting the tough metal until they could access the wires beneath and lay waste to the robot.

Sonic revved up his legs and curled into a ball before bouncing powerfully at the robots arm and knocking it clean off. The wires sparked uncontrollably where they had been ripped off. He landed effortlessly and turned to look around.

Sonic's face dropped. In the time he'd taken to attack one robot, dozens more had flooded the square and the fighters had pulled back in order to accommodate all the newly arrived badnicks.

Sonic checked to see that Knuckles was handling his entrance okay before running to the middle of the square where many fighters had resorted to punching and kicking, having broken or lost their weapons in the brawl.

He jumped up, span and dashed at every robot he could possibly hit. He was just about to hit his fifth consecutive robot when a heavy object slammed into his side and sent him flying into the wall, landing unceremoniously on a pile of crates.

Disorientated and worn down, Sonic's eyes drifted upwards and snapped open when he recognised a floating orb that was now over the square. He squinted to get a better view and held himself back when he realised just who had arrived to the battle. He couldn't see him clearly, but he knew exactly who was up there.

'Uncle Eggman.'

Just at the moment, there was a loud commotion from the other side of the square. A large column of fire had erupted into the air and was circling menacingly around three robots who were unfortunate enough to be surrounded by it.

Sonic glanced around to see who was controlling the fire when he remembered that Blaze had a fireball in her hand earlier. His eyes sought the purple princess and caught sight of her, her eyes blazing amber.

His heart lurched as he realised that Silver was sprawled on the ground by her feet, motionless. He watched in shock as Big shuffled over slowly and carefully, protecting the hedgehog from the heat of the flames and the attacks of the robots.

Sonic felt a sudden pang of guilt for not worrying about his friends earlier. They had never been in a battle situation, and Sonic hadn't even considered to warn them about ambushes or teach them any fighting stances, not that he knew many himself.

He felt a warm hand grip his shoulder and turned to find himself face to face with the Amy, who looked at him worriedly.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her eyes scanning him for any injuries that he could have sustained.

He opened his mouth to respond but his words were drowned out by the sound of explosions and whooshing of hot air as Blaze's flames left the melted hunks of scrap metal.

A sharp beeping echoed around the square and Sonic frowned as his vision was suddenly blocked by the pink hedgehog shoving him against the wall and standing in his way. He made a noise of protest but Amy shut him up quickly with an elbow to the stomach leaving him groaning in pain.

The beeping continued before the sound of his uncle echoed around the old square.

"Robots, retreat. The plan has been compromised due to unseen complications. Retreat and regroup."

Sonic was surprised. In the whole twelve years he'd been gone, Eggman's voice hadn't changed a bit. It was exactly as he remembered it, except now he picked up on the contempt in his voice. He frowned as he realised that his uncle's voice had been laced with panic. What exactly had spooked him so much he'd chosen to retreat?

He heard the battle continue beyond as the robots attempted to flee from the rebels, who relentlessly took down any robots they could before they escaped.

Within minutes, all the robots had either been destroyed or had been successful in their attempts to flee. Either way, the courtyard was quiet when Amy finally listened to his orders and stopped blocking his attempts to get back to the battle.

Sonic wandered carefully into the square, Amy following close behind with her hammer hanging by her side. He looked around and winced as he realised just how many people had been hurt in the attack. Thankfully, it didn't look like they'd lost anyone for good which was a bonus.

It started slowly with just a scattered clap or whoop, but before long the rebels began cheering their victory, however small. They'd managed to hold off a full blown attack from Eggman unprepared and had somehow scared him into retreating.

Sonic smiled but the only thing on his mind at the time was Silver. The last time he'd seen him was when Blaze was attacking those robots with her flames and he had to know his friend was okay.

He couldn't see his friends anywhere no matter how hard he looked, and he turned frantically to Amy who stood guard behind him. "Silver!?"

Amy nodded to say she understood and walked out into the crowd with the simple mutter of 'stay here'. It was a painfully long minute before she returned and gave him a small smile. "He'll be fine. Princess Blaze and Big took him to the infirmary to tend to his wounds but he'll be up and about in no time."

Sonic couldn't help the wide grin that grew on his face. Someone punched him on the back and the wind was knocked from him as he wondered why Amy hadn't stopped the person. He turned slowly and came face to face with a solemn looking Knuckles. He glanced accusingly at Amy as he rubbed his shoulder before turning to Knuckles again.

Knuckles nodded approvingly at Sonic before examining for injuries. When he was sure that Sonic was suffering from nothing but scrapes and scratches, and maybe the occasional bruise due to a certain elbow, he took a step back.

"You fought well Prince Sonic. I am going to need you to train before the final assault though sire. Your fighting style is too uneven and needs work." Sonic nodded his agreement with a sheepish smile. "Today may be a small victory, but it's a victory all the same."

"Not quite." Tails interjected, suddenly appearing from the crowd. "We won today, true. But we also lost something equally important variable in our scheduled attack."

Sonic and Knuckles wore matching expressions of confusion, willing him to go on and explain and Tails sighed at them.

"The element of surprise." Tails stated, like it was obvious to the whole world expect the two people he was addressing. "Eggman saw Princess Blaze today. He knows she's here and he also got a vague idea of the strength of our forces. He'll be fortifying his own as we speak. Now the only element of surprise we have is Sonic."

Tails nodded at Sonic as he spoke. "We could have lost even that if Amy's quick thinking hadn't blocked him from Eggman's view." Sonic turned to look at Amy, the pain in his stomach suddenly disappearing as he realised why she'd stopped him from going out. He gave her a grateful smile before turning to Knuckles.

"Knuckles, make sure everyone's okay and get those who need help the medical attention they need. If anyone need's me, I'll be in the infirmary." Sonic went to walk towards the entrance to the base when he realised that he had no idea where he was going.

He turned back helplessly. "Could - could someone show me the infirmary." He flashed a charismatic grin. "Please?"

Sonic followed Amy down the hall as she led him to their destination. His worry for Silver had been partially toned down by Amy telling him he was okay but he knew that part of him wouldn't be fully content until he'd seen him for himself.

She turned sharply into a door that Sonic hadn't realised was there and if it hadn't been for his quick reflexes he would have sent them both tumbling to the floor. An act that he knew the other hedgehog would not have been too happy about.

They entered into a large room with beds and makeshift curtains hanging around to split the room into private sections. He spotted Cream the Rabbit flipping through forms against the side wall where the rebels had created a reception area.

Amy got there first and gave the rabbit a quick hug before turning to Sonic. "We're looking for Sonic's friend Silver, can you help us?" She asked.

Cream nodded and pointed them to the bed in the far corner, the curtains had been drawn but he could hear soft talking coming from within. He thanked her and began to walk over when he realised that he was alone. Amy had hung back.

Sonic looked at her and she silently willed him to keep going, knowing he'd appreciate the privacy. He dropped his head and continued forward, making a note to thank her properly later on.

He reached up to push the curtain aside but jumped back in surprise when it opened up and a figure walked out. Sonic felt his cheeks warm as he realised who had just walked out of Silver's section.

He recomposed himself quickly and smiled at Princess Blaze. "Sorry about that Princess, I didn't realise that anyone else was here." Sonic said, speaking quickly.

Blaze smiled as his bashfulness. "It's okay Prince Sonic." She nodded as way of goodbye and then turned back, almost as if she was unsure of her next words. "You're friend was a very good on the battlefield. I'm glad he's okay." She finished before leaving the infirmary with all the grace one would expect from a royal princess.

Sonic shook his head pensively as he made his way into the Silver's section, closing the curtain behind him. He held back a laugh as he saw that Silver was laying on the bed, a disgruntled expression on his face.

"What's wrong with you?" Sonic chuckled, moving over to sit in the chair by his bed.

"Nothing." Silver replied quickly. Sonic raised his eyebrows at him and Silver sighed in defeat. "That girl, the princess, I - I dunno - She makes me feel weird." Silver grumbled dramatically.

"Well, it's nice to know that a little beating hasn't changed your charming personality." Sonic joked as Silver sent a glare flying in his direction.

"Whatever, man." Silver groaned. Sonic had the feeling that there was something Silver wasn't telling him, but he brushed it off. Everyone was entitled to their own secrets, he thought. After all, he'd kept one from them since the moment they met.

"So, how are you feeling." Sonic asked, relieved that on the whole Silver seemed to be okay.

"Well, other than a broken finger and a few burns, courtesy of the princess, I'm doing pretty good. There's no way anyone is putting me out of commission before the big day." Silver replied, waving his bandaged finger threateningly in Sonic's face.

"That's great. What about Big?" Sonic asked, realising that the purple cat was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh. He wandered off about half an hour ago. He was mumbling something about food, so I wouldn't be surprised if he went to the food hall to pester the cooks."

Sonic smiled at the thought of Big throwing his recipes at the poor, unsuspecting kitchen staff. Although, he had to admit, Big was great at working with what he had in the forest. If he had proper food to deal with, who knew what kind of tasty concoctions he could whip up.

Sonic said his goodbye's to his friend when Cream came in and told them that Silver needed his rest if he was going to be fit enough to be dismissed the next morning. Hearing that had made Silver do everything but shove Sonic through the curtains and out of his room.

Sonic stood at the entryway, the curtain clutched in one hand. "You know what Silver." Sonic said quietly. "I'm really glad the two of you are okay." He let the curtain drop as a Silver smiled fondly at him.

Today had been a heck of a day. With his speech, the Eggman attack and the blow of losing part of their attack strategy, there wasn't much to celebrate other than the fact that they were all alive. And for now, Sonic thought wistfully, that was more than enough.

Yes, check me out. No updates for like three years and then two in a week. I mean, it's probably rubbish but at least it's something right? Either way, thanks for reading lovelies, drop me a review if you can x