The great battlefield was left untouched for another hour as everyone puzzled over what to do.
"Not to mention that helicopter still on the side of the house," Rouge commented drily.
Sonic snapped his fingers in sudden realization.
"That's it!" he cried. The helicopter that had also been left untouched remained somewhat intact from the previous battle. It sat near the woods behind the group, only slightly crumpled up and with bent blades. Shadow had done quite a number to it single-handedly. "We need to start putting these guys into that helicopter. Omega, you can fix the door so it doesn't open."
Everyone stared at the blue hedgehog, all hesitant to start the task. Gabriel interjected a question.
"What if one of them wakes up?" he asked nervously. Sonic shrugged.
"Easy. All you have to do is knock 'em out again."
"But what are we going to do with all of these people when we're done? My family could be arrested for all this!" said Peter with high levels of concern in his voice.
Sonic shut his eyes and smiled.
"We leave them in there," he said, indicating the helicopter wreckage, "and then, once we've finished, we'll just have to take their weapons and tell them that their leader's gone and he put us in charge. Then we send 'em home."
"Are you sure it's going to be that easy?" Knuckles growled.
"Hey, I'm just making this up on the run," Sonic replied.
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. Even Sonic wasn't all that comfortable with his idea, but if he appeared too tense, then everyone would become very tense. Needless to say, everyone nervously started to head over to the battlefield and collected the men.
Knuckles was delighted when he picked up a man with ease and the man started to rouse from his knocked-out state. The echidna decided to have some fun and stared the man straight in the eyes until he was fully aware of his surroundings. Once he gazed into Knuckles' wide purple eyes, the man screamed. Knuckles laughed and then socked him in the head. The man's body went completely limp again in Knuckles' strong arms. Knuckles couldn't help but chuckle as he easily placed more men into his arms and ran them over to the helicopter wreckage.
Rouge wasn't nearly as strong, especially when she didn't have the ability to fly. She stood next to a man and pondered how to get him to the helicopter.
"This just sucks," she muttered angrily, frustrated by the tear in her wing. She knew it would heal, but she wouldn't be able to fly for a while. "How am I gonna get this sucker into the chopper?"
She looked over at Knuckles, who was piling the bodies on his arms without a problem and taking them back to the wreckage. Then, she took a glance at Shadow, who was using Chaos Control to teleport the men inside the helicopter. When she saw Gabriel staring at a man on the ground as she was, Rouge walked over to him, trying hard not to flutter her wings.
"Hey, kid!"
Gabriel turned his concentrated gaze to Rouge.
"Yeah, Rouge?"
Rouge leaned her body weight on Gabriel's abdomen.
"What say you to us working together for picking up these poor saps?"
Gabriel frowned.
"What do you mean?" he carefully inquired. Rouge gestured to the man lying front of them.
"We have to get these guys over to the helicopter somehow. I'd be able to do it so much better if my wing wasn't in pain."
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Gabriel askedd sharply, still edgy from the trauma he'd undergone. "I'm just trying to figure out how the heck to pick them up. I'm no Knuckles, after all," he added as he pointed to the red echidna, who knocked another man out by giving him a good blow to the head.
"But you're still a strong boy," she said playfully, "and I think that we can do this together. You lift the guys and stick them in that cart," Rouge cast her gaze on a yellow metal cart meant for a tractor-mower to pull behind it, "and then I'll take the cart and we can let the big guy unload there."
Gabriel opened his mouth to say something, when Sonic's voice rang out.
"Hey, Shads! Can't you do that with all of them at the same time?"
Everyone ceased their work and looked at Shadow, who froze in midair. He said nothing for a moment, and then all of the bodies were gone in a white flash as he whispered, "Chaos Control".
"Nice job, Shads!" Sonic flashed the descending hedgehog a thumbs-up. Shadow said nothing in response. He simply frowned as he harped on the fact that the faker thought more quickly then he had.
Omega began to "glue" the door of the wrecked helicopter without a word. He fused it to the side with extreme heat.
Rouge raised her eyebrows and stared at the empty driveway.
"Well, never mind," she stated bluntly as she strutted away from the surprised teenager.
Night fell once again over the horizon. The sun set in a bright array of color, but it didn't last. Mrs. Charis brought out dinner to everyone who was standing watch. She was very distraught as Peter recounted the story of what had happened earlier. As they finished their food, Mrs. Charis went back inside after giving each of them, even Omega, a hug.
"You've all made me proud," she whispered, "but please don't get hurt. Rouge, will that heal all right? I can bring out some bandages or something."
Rouge glanced over her shoulder at the scabbed hole in her wing. She shrugged.
"No ma'am, that won't be necessary," she said, "but thanks for the offer."
Mrs. Charis gave them all another look of worry, but smiled slightly as Sonic winked at her.
"It'll all be great," he said, hoping to establish in her a feeling of some comfort.
The woman hurried back inside the house, but only after bringing out blankets and pillows for them. Tails, Amy, and Cream all helped to bring out the bedding. Sonic gave Tails a "big brother" squeeze, while Amy did the same to Sonic, except not quite a "big brother" squeeze.
"Soniiiiic!" she cried happily. Sonic let go of Tails and awkwardly tried to pry Amy away from him.
"Yes, I'm all right, Amy," he said, attempting to remove the girl's grip. Tails whispered something in the hedgehog's ear.
"She's been talking only about you for the past few days," he said.
"Gee, you think that's surprising?"
"Not to mention she's watched you sleep."
Sonic widened his eyes and grimaced nervously.
"Heh . . . okay, Amy, I uh . . . I wouldn't want you to stay out here much longer . . . it's dangerous, you know."
Amy ceased hugging Sonic and blushed.
"You're concerned about my safety!" she exclaimed gleefully. Mrs. Charis beckoned the kids to go back inside. "Coming!" yelled Amy. She squeezed Sonic once more and then skipped back inside. Tails waved calmly as he stepped back into the garage.
"Good luck, Sonic."
"Thanks, kiddo."
Sonic winked at Tails as the fox shut the door behind him. He sighed and then gazed up at the stars that were beginning to emerge.