A/N: I want to thank Infinite's Ruby, SpiderDom321, MelGamingPlays, Tiger of Darkness, Alexandria Prime, Dayman, chris, and the two Guests for helping this story reach 60 reviews! And now, we return to Revengeful Resistance where we'll delve into some of the thoughts of the Wolf brothers. Also, there are some scenes that may sound unsettling, just want to warn you guys.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Sonic whatsoever. I only take credit for this rewrite and my OCs.

Chapter 10: Hurtful Memories

~Savage's POV

I just couldn't believe it. Even though it's been at least a minute since I saw his face for the first time in over six months, I remained baffled. Speechless. Staggered. Remember that time where I mention how you could list any word to describe the Chaos that is the rise of the Eggman Empire? Well, the same could be said to define this moment where I reunited with Raff. But there was only one word that I truly described myself at this time.

Relieved.

After releasing myself from the hug, I ruffled the fur on his head. Immediately, Raff looked at me with a bit of concern.

"Are you okay, Savage?"

Because of my emotions, I had to take off my glasses and rub the tears away from my different colored eyes. This was the second time today that I cried. Only in this case, it was a joyful experience knowing that my little brother was alive and well.

"I am now," I genuinely replied. After a gruesome six months, I was able to feel happiness again. "How about you?"

"I'm better than ever. And don't worry. I didn't really get hurt."

Frankly, his statement made me think otherwise, probably because of my overprotectiveness. Am I really that cautious when it comes to Raff's safety? I don't think I need to answer that for you.

Just so I don't stress things out and make it awkward with everyone in the same room, I replied with a simple response. "Thank goodness. But, how did you even get here? It's been so damn long since you saved me." Again, pardon my language.

"I guess I better tell the story again, if the others don't mind."

Catching a glance at the Resistance's commander, Knuckles shook his head to show that he was okay with his appeal. "Go ahead, Raff. I'm sure Savage deserves to know, too."

Raff gave me another quick look, and I nodded my head to let him talk. "Alright, here we go again."

~End of POV

~Raff's POV

...

~Flashback: Six months ago

...

Location: Death Egg

This was an absolute nightmare. After being taken away by that dark creature that attacked Sonic, no less defeated him, the city of Red Gate... No, the country of... Take that back... The entire planet of Mobius has been lost and taken over by the evil Dr. Eggman.

In three words, it was Chaos.

I was stuck inside the Death Egg along with many others who were captured in the city or from other places around the world. All of us were frightened, worried, and stressed out. We didn't know what to do. We were only regular people. We're nothing like the great, heroic Sonic. All of us couldn't fight back because we were neither strong nor brave to get out of this situation. And if we did try to resist their orders, escape, or even dare to retaliate, they would not hold back.

In this situation, to reiterate, it was Chaos.

Animals and critters were being separated from their family members and friends, tortured, and last of all, imprisoned. We were stuffed in these high security jail cells with different kinds of people. And the main reason why Eggman and his team wanted us was for the same motive he had when he kidnapped several animals in South Island.

Roboticization.

One simple mistake would cost us everything. We would no longer be able to think coherently or go back to our normal lives. It's happened to hundreds of them, more than I could count. What I couldn't tell was if death was worse than this. Even though I hardly knew any of the prisoners, I was devastated to see them transform from a normal being to a possessed minion of Eggman's army. Alongside devastation and sadness, I expressed fury.

To be on the safe side, the rest of us were forced to listen to whatever they said. No matter how gruesome or tough it was to spend the six months here, there was no other choice but to deal with it. And that was nothing but hell. We hated whenever we had to follow their commands. But we also loathed the idea of losing our minds and falling that easily to the putrid doctor.

Dictatorship. Something that I do not and will not condone.

Nearly a month after the invasion in Red Gate, Dr. Eggman announced some terrible news (or in his case, excellent) from the loudspeakers inside the gigantic space station. But the announcement was for everyone, including the survivors who managed to escape Eggman's legion of bad guys. Especially to a group that Eggman pointed out. Something called the Resistance.

"Ahem! Testing, one, two, one, two. To the innocent people of this splendid world: I am Dr. Eggman, owner of great intellect and the man who will be your ruler. I hope all of you wonderful creatures, old and young, will enjoy your new home for the rest of your lives. Whether it's in the wonderful place where I secretly trapped... I mean, where I'm taking care of all the captives or on whatever ground that remains on your silly, little planet, you'll have to face the music...

"And as for the so-called 'Resistance'... I heard that you're forming up this lousy group to try and overthrow me and my Eggman Empire that I've successfully developed. Well, I have one message for you, and I'll keep it plain and simple...

"Just give up already and surrender...

"Already, I rule over 99% of the world. And even your precious, well-known, everyday hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, fell before you! Not even his nerdy, two-tailed freak of an assistant fared well either! I suggest that you put down your useless weapons, stop your pathetic battle plans, and give up. You all are only thinking of fighting to bring Mobius back to its original state. A peaceful lifestyle where you weaklings all rely on a speedy, cocky, irritating hedgehog. And that foolish echidna will lead you nowhere to change all this...

"For those who haven't been captured or refused to join my side, I'll give you the option to do so. I will provide three meals per day and time to rest. In an underground prison... Erm... I mean... Uh... Hohoho! Ahem! A clean and beautiful room just waiting for you!

"I hope you'll make the correct decision. That is all. OH-HOHOHOHOHO!" (1)

Okay, three things to point out from here.

One, this place is not underground. It's in space. Eggman basically lied to whoever the Resistance is, along with the other innocent people down there. Chaos knows what's happened to them, including my big brother, Savage.

Two, these people hardly feed us at all. We're all starving. We were only given one meal a day throughout the first week of our confinement. It was later reduced to one meal per week. And they eventually changed it to one meal for a whole month. If any of us were desperate to beg for extra rations, they would make us do excruciating chores to make Eggman's army more powerful, such as building weapons and robots or acting as a literal servant to the damn guy. Refusal to do so would mean that we'd have to stick to the original meal plan where we just starve and allow our stomachs to growl. I only did it to survive. I wasn't happy with it though considering everything was either lukewarm or cold. Not to mention tasteless.

Only an actual idiot would fall for an offer like that. Kind of like how some guy on the internet clicks a spam email or message saying 'Hey! You're the millionth person to visit this site! Click here for a special prize!' You know what I say to that? Well, I kind of want to say it since Savage says it almost all the time. But a part of me says I shouldn't since I'm not a huge fan of cussing. I'm sure you can get the picture though.

And my third point, if I heard him correctly, he's already taken over the vast majority of Mobius? Not only that, but did Sonic and Tails die? How?! The townspeople, Savage, and I saw the latter fight those Egg Pawns in the square without too much trouble. Aside from one that caught his tails, Sonic was there to help him and us. By the time, Tails helped us evacuate. We would just think that it was going to be like every other moment Sonic fought against Eggman.

But we were dead wrong. Well, half wrong.

Eggman actually claimed to us that Sonic was alive. Frankly, it was the only good thing about this terrible situation. But Tails? We eventually heard about... his demise.

The worst part was seeing it with our own eyes.

When we questioned the status of Sonic, Eggman brought us a television that played a clip of the fight scene that happened exclusively between the two heroes and the enemies. With Eggman, there was a red, muscular beast, a water creature, Metal Sonic, and Shadow. I knew a lot more of the last two since they've been on-and-off in Sonic's past adventures. Chaos was in the mix of that years ago, and Zavok was a more recent enemy. But the fifth face was completely new. He didn't seem familiar to me or anyone else. Not even Sonic and Tails saw this creep before.

What played on the recording was jaw-dropping. Sonic was being tackled, punched, kicked, and bruised by his foes. I couldn't imagine Sonic losing like this until it actually transpired. We saw him on the ground at his weakest, such a rare occurrence. Eyes were barely open, head was down, fingers and hands trembling, legs were incapacitated... This was the opposite outcome compared to every other battle.

Then, we saw it. I saw it. Sonic saw it.

Shadow was slowly walking up to the fox who was caught in the hands of Chaos and Zavok. He screamed and shouted for help. But Sonic's condition proved to be severe that he couldn't get up and help Tails out. With a broken wrench in the black hedgehog's hand, he thrusted the tool into the fox's stomach.

Cringeworthy.

Calamitous.

Heart-wrenching.

Tails was unmoving with wide eyes and his mouth agape. The blue pupils rolled up into his head. Red came out at the spot, but it was quite hard to see since the camera wasn't zoomed in. Not like I wanted to see the damage up close though. Zavok and Chaos let him go as Tails landed on the concrete. Metal Sonic kicked him once, and more red was shown on his leg.

Speaking of red, why did all five adversaries, not including the doctor, have these weird red spots randomly appearing on their bodies? It was more visible on the masked figure, even with the purple smoke that surrounded him. But it was also noticeable on the rest, too. Everyone but Eggman. That made me somewhat suspicious for a moment. But the realization came back to me as the dreaded memory sunk into my brain.

Tails was dead. Sonic was defeated, yet still breathing. Barely. Eggman has risen into the powerful leader that no one needed, wanted, nor expected.

Over the next several months, we heard how Sonic was being tortured as Eggman's revenge from all those past defeats. I didn't believe it since neither me nor the prisoners saw him up close and personal. But when the malevolent man revealed us some pictures of the blue hedgehog, my heart was torn. All over his once stable body were multiple spots of dried blood on his fur and quills, bruises on his tan arms, some disturbing scars, including a laceration on his cheek and a bigger one found on his stomach, and a face full of desolation and resentment. Eggman and the bad guys must have done a number on him to make him feel miserable. It's even worse how's he detained in his own cell with rings around his wrists and shins to hinder his movement. I even saw his stomach begging for food with his ribs showing from the inside and against his skin.

Eggman really went all out on this plan to brutalize him. All within a span of a half year. Life can be so cruel, and I would be tragically unstable if I were in Sonic's shoes.

Losing to the doctor. Being taken away from the world he has known, loved, and saved throughout his life. Missing his friends and having his best buddy die...

Nearing the end of the sixth month since Sonic's defeat, I thought to myself. Enough was enough. There had to be some necessary action. Sonic needed to be saved. And the people here need their freedom. I wish the same could be said for the rest who were roboticized.

As for a young wolf like myself at the age of nine, would you expect me to do great things and handle the conflict single-handedly? Absolutely not. But can I get through it with some help? It was definitely worth a try.

Earlier, I befriended a brown-furred hedgehog named Jake. He was ten years old and about my height, a couple inches taller than Tails as a reference. He wore a green cap backwards and sported his favorite red scarf. It reminded Jake of his mother who knitted it for him. Sadly, it was the only piece of memorabilia that had some connection to his family before he got taken from Mobius.

Anyway, we both had similarities in our love for action movies, especially those where the actors take part in martial arts or some other special moves and also relied on their quick reflexes and tactful minds. Jake was more of the distraction when he kept asking the security robot questions, guiding him away from me reaching over to his nunchucks and the remote control to release the prisoners. The plan was effective as I later knocked him out with the weapon. Unfortunately, we had little to no time for the escape plan as we just busted out and ran through the hallways with red lights flashing and a loud siren going off throughout the base. The remote allowed the captives to be free, but not Sonic.

Reaching an area that had survival capsules, we had a chance to make it back home. But of course, every good situation must also have at least one con. There were only about a hundred of them in the room, and the capacity per escape pod was only one. You'd be lucky to fit two for a tight squeeze.

Jake and I were about to reach some open capsules since we escaped first and were faster than most of the hostages. However, Jake accidentally fell down one of the steps, and he was in critical pain as he twisted his ankle.

"Jake!" I cried out. As I ran back to him, the other animals were filling up the pods closest to the room's entrance.

"Raff! Go without me!"

"What?! What are you talking about?!" The crowd was coming in at a rushed and disorderly fashion.

"You don't have time to get me up! You need to escape in your own capsule!"

"There's no way I'm leaving you!" Was this how Savage felt when I alienated myself back at Red Gate?

"Raff, do what I said! I'm your friend, but you should do what's right! Don't worry about me! Worry about your own safety!"

It's just like Savage trying to tell me to be careful of myself considering how overprotective he can be. But if it wasn't Jake in that situation and it was Savage instead, he'd probably say the same thing, and he'd die happy knowing that I was safe and alive. I wouldn't feel the same because it would mean that I was the last surviving member of my family.

Despite my lingering guilt, I gave the brown hedgehog a sorrowful look and waved goodbye to the older kid. I was lucky to get in one of the few remaining capsules. Sadly, I couldn't save the other prisoners. Who knows if most or all of them are being punished for something I did? Jake might not forgive me for this, and it hurts to think that my friend is being roboticized as I stand.

Eventually, I made my escape and I went back to Red Gate City safely, only to find the place in shambles and ruins.

Have I mentioned the word 'Chaos' already? I have? Well, time to use it again.

Weirdly, I didn't see any escapees from the Death Egg. I didn't know what to do at this point. At the time, I was only under the assumption that Savage escaped Eggman and the evil troops, and there was a decent chance that he wasn't anywhere in the city. And I wasn't sure if anyone else who I personally knew were here. The first thing I did was head back to my apartment, only to find it demolished.

Great. I'm back to being homeless again. Worst of all, I'm alone.

Then, I searched the rest of Red Gate. The restaurant Savage worked for, the Red Seagate Shack, was now a pile of wood, stone, and destroyed equipment. The library that I usually went to originally had a fire due to the charred bricks and the open roof with smoke emitting out. Every other building was partially or completely wrecked, and the city was engulfed with more flames. Those who remained here must have either fought, tried to protect their home and stand a chance against Eggman and his allies, or they're completely gone.

My stomach growled from just thinking about it, along with the lack of food I had. I don't want to dig through garbage again. And I wasn't going to beg strangers for some at a time like this. This was a struggle for the next couple of days.

Soon, I noticed some faces who used to be with Sonic. It was the pink hedgehog and the white bat. Amy and Rouge. And there's also Omega, who looked like he was shut down. But the two females seem to be in trouble when Chaos attacked them. This was my chance to help someone since I returned. Using my quick feet and the nunchucks I stole, I fought the water beast until he was gone. Helping out Amy and Rouge, I joined them and Omega to see if we could scope out the city to fight back. But with the enormous Death Egg Robots in the way, we knew this wasn't a task we were ready for. Amy led us to the Resistance HQ, which is where I am today.

And on that day, I miraculously saw Savage for the first time in nearly six months.

Now that we're together again, we're here to help our new friends who have persevered all this time to overthrow Eggman. Maybe there's a better chance I could turn things around after my selfish act back on the Death Egg. I could pay back Jake and the others by rescuing them. That is, if Eggman and the rest didn't do something horrible already.

~End of POV and flashback

~Savage's POV

That goddamn bastard...

How dare he does that to Sonic and the other innocents? The looks on his friends, Knuckles, Amy, and everyone else in the room, were of different emotions. Both distraught and wrathful. You could add more to the list, but that'd be superfluous.

"And that's what happened back on the Death Egg. And that's why I'm here now," Raff finished his story to me.

I clenched a fist. "We got to rescue Sonic and the other prisoners now."

Knuckles nodded to my statement. "I agree. But first, we need a plan to get Sonic and the others out of the space station before they're permanently terminated. We must decide who will go onto the shuttle to the Death Egg. Those who will stay behind will have to patrol the HQ, but we can give out any commands or battle actions if anyone needs assistance. I'll stick to that role."

"Silver and I can go out and free the captives," suggested Blaze. "I'm sure our powers will also be sufficient if we run into any foes."

"We'll definitely keep a sharp eye out for the jackal or any of Eggman's team," the white hedgehog added.

"I think we should fight the robots, too. We've done so in Chemical Plant, and we'll do it again on the Death Egg!" declared Vector.

"If we can clear most of the area, we can set up an easy escape route," said Espio.

"That way, we can guide them to the shuttle!" Charmy grinned.

"I think Omega and I have some unfinished business with Shadow since I last had contact with him. We're going to see if we can find him aboard the Death Egg and get his mind back in shape," Rouge asserted.

"It is vital to assist Shadow from continuing to work for the dark side. And that does not entail to Team Dark and G.U.N.," Omega beeped.

"I can help out with electrical wiring and mechanisms. Maybe there's a way to hack into the Death Egg's system so I can turn off the alarm."

"Raff, are you about that?" I asked him with slight hesitation.

"Don't worry, Savage. I know most of the place in and out since I was stuck there. Now, I don't have a photographic memory of the entire interior of the Death Egg, but I do know the locations of the prisoners and the escape room where all those capsules were stored. The latter should be where we can land the shuttle at for convenience's sake."

"Then I'm definitely sticking with you. I'm not risking another chance where I get separated from you, especially if it means pushing me away from danger."

"I wouldn't take a million rings over that option."

Raff's smile made me shiver. Don't get me wrong. It was so nice to see him like that. But to hear that statement from him, I'm just happy to be reunited with my little brother.

"Well, it looks like everyone has their roles. Amy, do you want to hop on the shuttle, too?"

"Actually, Knuckles, I think I'll stick with you this time."

"Are you sure? You told me earlier that you wanted to do something productive. This could be another chance for you."

"Thanks for the offer, but maybe you need an extra hand in here to help give out the protocol. And just in case someone finds our secret hideout, I don't want you to be the only one to be attacked."

The Commander gave Amy a genuine smile, acknowledging her support. "Alright, Amy. If you say so, I appreciate it."

"So, do you want us to head out to the shuttle now?" Blaze asked.

"Um, sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if I could have something to eat before we take off," Raff rubbed his stomach. "Eggman claimed he would give everyone three meals a day, but he made us starve by feeding us scarcely, once a day, then once per week, and then once a month. We'd have to be forced into labor for extra rations, and it's not enough for one regular course. Plus, his food was disgusting."

I cringed at the thought of Raff starving to death. It was just like the old days in Red Gate when I had to work for money to put food on our table. Add that to the list of reasons on why Eggman is going to fucking pay for all this.

Knuckles gave a low grunt, but it wasn't in frustration. "I guess you shouldn't go out on an empty stomach for such a dangerous mission like this. And since you were one of the people who were stuck there, I'll accept it. Besides, not just Raff, but all you guys need all the energy to fulfill this task. We can't afford a lot of mistakes."

"We better make it quick at least before Sonic gets thrown into space," Rouge stressed out.

I didn't know about this news. "What's going to happen?"

"Omega found out just recently about this," Amy explained to me. "He's going to send him into space soon to die."

Another reason why Eggman is heartless, and another reason I crave for vengeance.

"Come on, everybody. Fill up quickly and head out to the shuttle. We'll continue from there," urged Knuckles.

I breathed in heavily as Raff came up to me. Laying a hand on his shoulder, I tried to reassure him that I'm alright. However, he can see from my face that I was only concealing my fear within. I might have been braver than I was six months ago, but I'm still nervous from this drastic war.

"It's gonna be okay, Savage. I'll stick with you, no matter what."

"Thanks, Raff." I just hope his promise will remain true.

A while later, everyone was finishing up their food. I was chewing on an energy bar as Espio and Vector walked up to me.

"Hey, Savage? Can we talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, sure." We walked outside the lab so we could be in private. "What's up?"

"We were kind of wondering, about the scene on the shuttle earlier," said Vector.

I frowned. Why did they have to bring that up again? "Is something wrong? Was my apology not enough?"

"No, it's not that," Espio raised his hands. "We already accepted it. But it was about your reaction to the kid being hurt. Why did you suddenly break down like that?"

"Sigh, if I tell you, can we push all of this aside for good and never speak of this again? Don't even tell the others, especially Raff."

"Deal," Vector replied.

"Alright. When I was living with Raff by ourselves in Red Gate, I had... a similar incident." Vector and Espio looked like they needed more information. "I got into a fight with Raff when he kept complaining that I was bossing him around too much. It was only because I was overprotective of him because he was young and we lost our own parents. He's the only guy I had at the time, you know?

"Anyway, the conversation just got heated. We kept yelling at each other, me being inappropriate and yelling out cuss words when I shouldn't have. But I took another step that made me cross the line. I was so livid that I threatened to throw his favorite piggy bank at the wall."

"You wanted to break it?"

"Out of impulse and frustration. I know, Vector, it's fucked up. I can't stop thinking about it, especially since my tantrum on the shuttle. And that's because after I did throw it against the wall, it cracked into pieces. Then, a shard of it cut right into Raff's skin, just like how the glass from the soda bottle pierced the dog."

Seeing their reactions made me feel worse about myself. I had to stare at the ground to avoid their surprised faces.

"I immediately realized what I did was immature and wrong of me. And Raff... Well, let's just say I heard him say the words 'I hate you' in front of me for the first time since I knew him. He ran into his room and slammed the door, crying his eyes out. For some reason though, I didn't bawl like he did. Instead, I was furious at my poor behavior."

Reluctantly, I showed the crocodile and the chameleon something beneath my fur. Just below my gloved hand, found on my left wrist, were two individual slashes.

"Savage... You didn't..." Espio gasped.

I nodded my head. "Self-mutilation. I punished myself for being a poor role model and a horrible big brother to him. That's because I suffered depression throughout my life after we lost our parents."

"Does Raff know about this?" questioned Vector.

"He did. And immediately, he wanted me to stop because he knew I was taking this situation way out of hand. He accepted my apology, but I didn't deserve it. I promised I wouldn't do it again. But... I broke it after spending the last six months training myself, just before I joined the Resistance." I revealed more cuts on my stomach.

"Oh my god..."

"So, the moment where you fought and hurt Raff was a terrible memory, and you sort of relived it when you unintentionally hurt the dog?" Espio realized.

"That's right," I bit my lip. I could've sworn my teeth went so deep that blood was about to leak out.

"Ouch, man. I'm sorry for you, Savage."

"No need to, Vector. It's my own damn fault for being unable to keep my emotions in check. And I'm just somewhat thankful the dog was able to apologize, just like Raff did years ago."

The two didn't respond after that, but they seemed to understand what I went through. I have to thank them for being kind to me since I worked with them in Chemical Plant.

"Hey, thanks for helping me get that off my chest. I kind of needed an icebreaker like that to alleviate that stress and tension."

"Are you feeling better?" Espio asked for confirmation.

"I believe so."

"Hey, Espio! Vector! Savage! There you are!" Knuckles came out to find us. "The guys are on the shuttle now! We're about to initiate the launch!"

"Oh, shoot. Sorry, Knuckles. I mean, Commander."

"I told you before, Rookie. Just call me Knuckles. And you're fine. Let's just get this over with as soon as possible. Sonic and the hostages need our help."

The three of us ran back to the ship as Knuckles returned to the HQ with Amy. The remaining team members were already inside, waiting for the aircraft to start. Silver and the Chaotix piloted the controls and waited for Knuckles to give them the signal.

"Alright, Resistance! Good luck out there!" he announced through our communicators.

It was that time. We're on our way to salvage the one who has saved this world countless times. Sonic the Hedgehog, we're gonna break you out of hell.

~End of POV

END OF CHAPTER

The Resistance is on their way to the Death Egg to commence their annexation. They'll have to find Sonic and any of the surviving prisoners to escape the orbital fortress and avoid Dr. Eggman and his league of villains. Sonic's close to freedom, but how is he feeling right now?

Please follow/favorite for more uploads, review down below to let me know what you think of this chapter, tell me if I've made any mistakes, and I'll see you next time when the prison breakout begins. This is TGN, signing off.

Post-Chapter Notes:

(1): This speech was from a video of Eggman's message of capitulation, advising the Resistance to surrender to his Eggman Empire. The audio (from what I presumed) was in Japanese, but there were translated subtitles to supplement it. I added extra dialogue to suit with the situation in this rewrite and to make it somewhat different to the original.