Ch. 56

The Zone Cops

Station Square welcomed the Freedom Fighters and Underdogs with cheers and praises for their heroism in defending their city against Dr. Eggman and his dreaded empire. Bunnie received some medical attention at the hospital while everyone else waited in the lobby. Before they had arrived Shadow wanted to talk about what happened to Sonic and Gust, but they decided to wait until Bunnie was back from her examination. They were thankful that the President had the Freedom Fighters and Underdogs escorted to the hospital. The last thing our heroes wanted right now was a large mass of rowdy citizens fighting over them for handshakes and autographs. Omega and Cubot's repairs of course would have to wait, so Hope decided to leave them under the care of Orbot for now. She doesn't know about Snively, mainly because Sally was afraid of how she would react to the fact that they saved him. The Freedom Fighters thought it was best to keep Snively hidden on the FF-Special. Hope was already upset enough over leaving Gust behind.

Everyone just sat in their seats, drowning in their pit of despair over losing Sonic and Gust; all except for Shadow who knew something the others didn't.

"I can't believe it . . . I can't believe he's gone, again.", Sally said as she curled up.

"Aunt Sally . . .", Tails said, feeling concern for her.

"I knew this would happen . . . Why? Why did Sonic choose to stay behind like that? He promised . . . that he would come back to me! Why?", Sally said before she began to sob.

Hope didn't say a word. She too felt sadness. The female Overlander kept it bottled up inside silently as though too much air was being put inside a balloon.

Rouge couldn't stand seeing Hope like this. Losing someone she cared about so much must be too painful to describe. The Lustrous Bat had heard about Hope seeing her family be taken away from her by Eggman. The pain she felt right now must be no different from that moment.

Espio also was in disbelief that Gust was gone. He felt like he had lost a brother. They both were raised and trained as students of the Shinobi Clan. They grew up together. He didn't just lose brother, he lost a dear friend.

Fiona felt no different. She was Gust's first to be recruited into the Underdogs. If it hadn't been for him, she would've remained on path of self destruction with no return. He took her in, gave her a place to live, and something close to family. Perhaps in way, she too felt like she had lost a family member.

Shadow couldn't take it anymore. All this depression was a bummer even to someone like the Ultimate Lifeform.

"Everyone stop moping already!", Shadow yelled.

"What; should I laugh!? I told you to go help him; to keep him safe! You could've brought him back yourself, but you didn't; and now he's . . . gone.", Sally said

"No . . . I . . . I don't believe Sonic and Gust are dead.", Shadow said.

"What do you mean!?", Sally said as she rose out of her chair.

"I can't say what happened for certain, but it's likely that they weren't on the Death Egg before it exploded . . . when I went back to search for Sonic and Gust they had disappeared along with Dr. Eggman.", Shadow said.

"Wait, Dr. Eggman may have escaped too!?", Amy asked.

"Gust was about to kill Eggman himself, but he told me to take Bunnie, Omega, and Sonic back to the rendezvous point. I don't know what happened to him after that. Gust also told me to make sure everyone was gathered for evacuation before going back for the two of them.", Shadow explained.

"Then when you went back, they disappeared, you said?", Sally asked.

"Yes, but that wasn't the only strange thing I noticed. I found something on the floor, though I'm not sure what it is or where it came from.", Shadow said before revealing a small object in his hand. It was a small pin with a symbolic logo on the front.

The black hedgehog gave it to Sally for her to analyze.

The princess recognized the logo. "Wait . . . I've seen this before.", She said before reading the small letters on the front. It read, "Zone Cops."

"The . . . Zone Cops . . . Zonic.", Sally uttered.

"Zonic? Who's Zonic?", Shadow asked.

Sally felt so much relief as she realized Sonic wasn't on the Death Egg after all when it exploded. "He's an old acquaintance who visits us on rare occasions. We'll tell you about him once Bunnie gets back.", She said.

"You're certain they're still alive, then?", Shadow asked.

"Yes, of that I'm certain.", Sally said with a smile. Hope smiled as did everyone else as well.

"Oh, just so you know, me and Rotor had a lot of help from Fiona and Espio in doing this, but we found something special for Bunnie, I'd like to surprise her if you don't mind.", Amy said with a giggle.

"Hmm? What'd you find?", Sally asked.

"Ok . . . it's more of a surprise for all of you . . . I just wish Sonic was here to see this.", Amy said.

"It's that good huh? Well, I'm sure Sonic will wish he had gone with us, then. Serves him right.", Sally said before she and Amy laughed.

Shadow smiled. "Glad to know you're back your cheerful selves.", He said.

"Yes, indeed . . . thanks. Usually, you're not so sentimental.", Sally said.

"Don't get used to it.", Shadow said with a grin.

The doctor came out to address Sally. "Princess Sally?", He asked.

"Yes, how's Bunnie? Is she ok?", Sally asked.

"Other than some minor injuries, there was nothing serious. However, the cut on her shoulder will need some time to heal. I recommend she gets some rest in the mean time.", the doctor explained.

Bunnie arrived with some stitches in her left shoulder and a small limp.

"Bunnie!", Sally yelled before she hugged the legionized rabbit.

"Ow, ow! Sally-girl . . . I'm still aching a bit.", Bunnie responded.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sally said, easing off her, feeling somewhat inadequate.

"Are you feeling alright?", Sally asked.

"Ah'm fine, but Ah'll be sore for a long while. Ah tell you what, dat was some ho down we went through. Me and Omega were figthtin One of Eggman's god forsaken machines, and it would've destroyed us if Sonic hadn't saved us. Ah'm sorry that he didn't make it, Sally-girl.", Bunnie said with a frown.

"Both Sonic and Gust disappeared before the Death Egg exploded, but like Shadow told Sally earlier, they're not dead. We'll give you the details later, but right now, Amy has a . . . surprise for you, apparently.", Espio said.

"YEAH, I DO!", Amy yelled as she ran towards her.

"What's all the hub bub, Amy?", Bunnie asked.

"Well . . . me, Rotor, Espio and Fiona had a little run in with Orbot on the Death Egg, but we put him in his place. Not only that, we convinced him to help us find something to heal Antoine . . . and we did.", Amy said as she held Bunnie's hand, and placed something in her hand. It was a small vial containing a strange liquid substance.

"What is it?", Bunnie asked.

"It's a healing serum we found in one of Eggman's secret labs. According to Orbot, when consumed it should heal any form of physical impairment in a short amount of time. Of course, we'll have Dr. Quack examine it to make sure it's what Orbot says it is. Amy though, made it clear to him what would happen if he lied to us; you know, that smashing thing she's obsessed with so much.", Rotor said.

"Don't say it like that. You make it sound like I'm crazy or something!", Amy said in a pouted tone.

Sally and Tails were so happy for Bunnie. They could only imagine what she could be feeling right now.

Bunnie's eyes began to tear up as she smiled. She then hugged Amy. "THANK YOU, SO MUCH!", She yelled.

"Bunnie . . . you're squeezing me a little too tight.", Amy said in pain.

"Didn't she say she was really sore earlier?", Fiona questioned.

Bunnie then let go of Amy, and hugged Fiona and Espio. "I love you all! I'll never forget this!", Bunnie said.

"Oh, come on; don't hug me! Ahhh! You're gonna crush me!", Fiona said.

"Bunnie I can't breathe.", Espio said.

"Oh, sorry . . . Ah'm sorry.", Bunnie said feeling embarrassed after releasing them both.

"Thank goodness she didn't give me a hug. I still have a bad back.", Rotor said.

The other's laughed excluding Shadow who just smiled.


Gust gradually regained his vision as he rubbed the back of his head, still feeling the pain left behind from when he was knocked out. The Shinobi Overlander noticed that not only his sword was gone, but he was in a small room that resembled a prison cell.

"Hey there, sleepy head; welcome back.", Sonic said who was sitting across from him against the wall.

"What the . . . where are we? How did we get here? We were on the Death Egg weren't we?", Gust questioned.

"Don't you remember? We were ambushed.", Sonic said.

Gust was still having difficulty remembering what exactly happened.

Suddenly one of their kidnappers in uniform came before them with hand cuffs.

"Finally, you're awake. That's good; we can now bring you to the warden.", the Officer said.

Right when Gust saw the officer, his memory started to come back to him.

"Who the hell are you!? What's the meaning of this!?", Gust asked.

"If you continue to act like that, I might just leave you in here a while longer. As long as you behave yourself, you'll get all the answers you want; Understood?", the Officer requested.

Gust was hesitant on whether or not to comply.

"Just do as he says, Gust. I know him; he's not our enemy. Besides, even if we tried to escape, there's no way we could. We're not even on planet Mobius right now.", Sonic said.

"WHAT!? You're serious!?", Gust yelled.

"I wish I was joking, but I'm not . . . don't you wanna get to your teammates as soon as possible?", Sonic asked.

"Oh, yes that's right. Everyone must think that we're dead or missing right now. We need to get back to them, but I still have a lot of questions.", Gust said.

"Alright, then it's agreed. You'll have to let me put these handcuffs on you, though.", the Officer said.

"Am I being charged as a felon?", Gust asked.

The officer opened the jail cell. "No; that'll depend on whether or not you're a threat to us.", He answered.

"I see, very well then . . . I'll co-operate.", Gust said.

"Good choice.", the Officer said as he handcuffed both him and Sonic.


The officer called over more patrolmen to accompany him as they escorted Sonic and Gust to the warden's office. As they were walking, they passed other cells containing many seemingly dangerous Mobians in prison garments, some of whom seemed very familiar to Gust. The Shinobi Overlander could've sworn he saw Maximillian Acorn in one of those cells, which seemed strange to him.

"Was that Maximillian Acorn, I just saw or am I seeing things?", Gust whispered to Sonic.

"No, it isn't . . . at least it's not the King Max that we know.", Sonic whispered back.

"Please, no talking is permitted during prisoner transport; be silent until we reach our destination.", the Officer said.

The two of them did as they were told. Gust was irritated by this change of events. He had Dr. Eggman right where he wanted him, then out of nowhere, these so-called patrol officers appeared and stopped him. At first he thought, they might have been associated with Eggman, but Sonic told him that they weren't enemies in any way. Clearly, Sonic knew more than he did about who these Mobians are, and for reasons unknown chose to keep quiet about it. There was so much Gust didn't know that he was beginning to become over anxious.

They arrived at the office department, where a secretary who resembled Rouge the bat was sitting at the front desk.

"Rouge?", Gust thought.

"The warden's expecting you.", the Secretary said.

"Good, we'll be on our way then.", the Officer said.

As soon as they approached an office door that said "Warden Zobotnik", the door opened to reveal a big egg shaped man that surprised Gust.

"Dr. Robotnik!? Impossible, you died years ago . . . WHAT KIND OF F***ED UP PLACE IS THIS!?", Gust yelled.

"The kind of place where you don't want to spend the rest of your life in, I assure you. To give you a more vivid answer, young man . . . this is the No Zone, and you and the rest of us are going to have a long talk.", the Warden said.