Rescue in Westopolis
Westopolis was a large Human-populated city near the western coast of Northamer. It had been the second largest city in the Human Overland, after Megapolis. Its skyline was dominated by skyscrapers and office blocks.
Under Robotnik's rule, Westopolis had initially prospered, with his technology benefitting their transportation and ways of living. But over time, his laws had become harsher, with severe punishments to anyone who failed to abide by the rule; and the taxes had become higher as well, reportedly for better security. But what good was security if living was made difficult?
And now, Westopolis was wracked by a serious earthquake. The city had been built to withstand earthquakes, given their frequency in the western region. But even those precautions weren't enough to fully protect against an earthquake of this magnitude. Buildings were cracked and unstable; roads were torn apart; and water mains were ruptured.
Robotnik's soldiers and SWAT bots were on hand to help, of course; but they weren't all prepared for the sheer amount of destruction that had resulted from the earthquake. And that was why Sonic, Manic, Sonia, Hurit and I, along with the Knothole Freedom Fighters, were on the way to help, wherever we could. We knew it was risky, given the security and the likelihood of capture, due to the Human population. But as Freedom Fighters, Sonic and his friends took risks all the time.
The Hedgehogs and I had changed into the outfits the Enchanter Kings, pausing only to admire how we looked. Sonic and Sonia had examined themselves from several angles; Manic and I had appreciated the surprising comfort our outfits had. Then, we had gone back outside to meet Hurit aboard the ship Errol had brought us in.
The journey from the Nameless Zone to Westopolis had been an exciting ride, and a rough one in places. The craft kept swaying from side to side violently, making us very glad we were buckled in. It was clear that Hurit had no real talent at the controls. Before long, Manic, Sonia and I began to feel airsick. By the time we reached Westopolis, there were puddles of sick on the floor.
"You've clearly not paid enough attention to your Master!" Sonia gasped, staggering out of the ship which had landed one of the city parks, under cover of close-growing trees. "Look what you made us do; and my suit is brand new and all!"
"Next time, I think I'll run," Sonic said grimly. Despite not getting sick, he hadn't enjoyed the ride either.
Hurit looked annoyed, but before she could retort, we heard a voice.
"Guys!"
Sally, Tails, Rotor, Bunnie and Antoine were hurrying towards us, the Tornado being parked nearby.
"Hi, guys!" Sonic cried, beaming at the sight of his friends.
"Whoa, Sonic, what's with the suit?" Tails asked, taking in his big brother's outfit as they hugged
"New looks designed by the Enchanter Kings, Big Guy," Sonic replied.
"And you must be Hurit," Sally noted, looking at the turtle.
"At your service," she replied, with a small bow. "Delighted to meet you all."
"Okay, Sally, what's the plan?" I asked.
"Well, the important thing is to get the people out of damaged buildings safely, wherever possible," Sally instructed, falling into her role as Freedom Fighter leader. "Sonic, Manic, Sonia, Thomas, Antoine, Bunnie, Hurit, that task falls to you. The rest of us will see about fixing the burst water mains. But be wary of aftershocks."
"I'm still not too sure about this," Manic cautioned. "I'm willing to help, bro; but Robuttnik's forces are likely out there too. They might complicate matters."
"We're prepared for that," Sally said. "Okay, Freedom Fighters, let's move out!"
With our assignments given, we split into our designated groups. The group tasked with saving civilians (including me) headed for the nearest damaged building. It was a block of flats that had toppled over onto an entertainment plaza. Several Humans surrounded the site, some sporting injuries, and looking helpless as to what to do.
"We'll need to get inside, and look for survivors," Sonic said. "Bunnie, do your thing!"
"With pleasure, sugah!" the cyborg rabbit chimed, and activated her foot rockets, flying towards the wreckage. The watching Humans started when they saw a Mobian fly right over them, and were even more dumbfounded when several more ran past them.
"Don't worry, people!" Hurit called. "We'll get the survivors out to safety!"
No one replied, not that most of us were expecting them to.
Bunnie drew back her robotic left arm and punched right through a wall, before climbing inside. Sonic, Manic and Sonia followed, the rest of us remaining outside.
The Freedom Fighters found themselves in a kitchen where the wall was now the floor. It didn't take them long to find survivors. A woman lay trapped underneath a heavy table.
"Help," she wheezed. There was a nasty cut on her forehead
"It's alright, miss," Sonic said, lifting the table off the woman with telekinesis before Bunnie could with her robotic arm. "We'll get you out!"
"My… my husband," the woman coughed
"We'll find him," Sonia promised. Carrying the woman over to the hole in the wall, she stretched out an arm, wrapped around her body (the woman looked startled and a little frightened at this) and lowered her down to the ground.
Sonic, Manic and Bunnie clambered through the wreckage, searching; Sonic and Manic using their Force senses to scan for living people. Bunnie was tempted to ask about these powers, but realised this wasn't the time.
Several times, they had to move heavy debris out of their path or off trapped people, either by Bunnie's robotic arm, or by the brothers' telekinetic powers. Every time they freed a survivor, Sonic would whisk them to his sister, who would then lower them to safety. Sadly, the woman's husband turned out to be dead, but his body was retrieved, so she could at least bury him properly.
Just as they were manoeuvring the body to the hole in the wall, Manic cried out suddenly.
"Aftershock!"
Sure enough, the building began to shake ominously, and it looked imminent of collapsing on top of them.
'Guys, get out of there!' Sonia shrieked over the comm. link.
"You don't have to tell us twice!" Sonic said, but before he could do anything, Manic closed his eyes and placed a hand down on the floor. Sonic felt his brother reaching down into the earth beneath them. A moment later, the shaking stopped.
'That aftershock ended quickly,' Sonia said. 'I didn't know they lasted so shortly.'
"I don't think it ended by itself, sis," Sonic said. "I think Manic may have stopped it. Didn't you sense him doing something?"
'Kind of, but I'm still getting the full hang of this, especially when focussing on other matters as well.'
Bunnie gazed at Manic. "How'd y'all do that?"
Manic shrugged, looking just as perplexed as Sonic and Bunnie were. "I don't really know; it just came to me naturally."
"Instinct," Sonic agreed, looking impressed. "Not bad, bro. Keep it up; there might be more aftershocks coming up."
"Okay," Manic said.
Sonic eventually went on ahead to what had been the top floors of the apartment block, and found a pit where the infrastructure had collapsed into the entertainment plaza. He saw several people trapped down there, along with a number of dead bodies.
"It's alright," Sonic soothed. "Help's here now."
He leapt down into the pit and scanned the area. He could use the Force to move debris out of their way, but given the state of the building, that seemed unwise; what if the whole place caved in? Instead, he pulled out one of the training sabers that he'd secretly taken from the Nameless Zone. He knew its blade generally wasn't as powerful as a proper saber, but he had noted that the blade's power setting could be adjusted to be used in emergencies.
He picked his spot in the rumble, flicked the power setting up on the lightsaber and began to carve his way through the rumble with a series of flurries and Spin Dashes, until at last, he saw daylight.
"Okay, people, let's get moving," he said, beckoning to the trapped people. The men, women and children, despite looking uneasy, made their way out into the open air. Those who were injured had to be dragged or carried out, with help from Sonic himself.
Just as Sonic had got the last of the people outside, we heard sirens approaching.
"I reckon we should leave the rest to the local forces," Manic said. He looked at the survivors. "You'll be fine now, people. No need to thank us; just doing our job."
Manic hadn't expected any expressions of gratitude, given his previous experiences with Humans, so you can imagine his surprise when a small boy approached us and said quietly, "Th-thank you, strange creatures."
Manic was astounded, but Sonic took it in his stride. "No problem, kid. Come on, guys." And we hurried off to find more people to help.
Manic barely noticed where they were running; he was a long way away. Maybe Humans weren't all as specist as he had thought…
Darth Noir was waiting. She, Sleet and Dingo had arrived in Westopolis 10 minutes ago; and after being briefed on the plan by Robotnik, they had all gone into an abandoned office block to wait.
They had heard reports from local SWAT bots and policeman about the Freedom Fighters appearing all over the city; but rather than actively engage Robotnik's forces, they seemed to be trying to help trapped or hurt survivors. Noir had to admit that while she had expected them to attempt rescues; she was impressed that they had also done a good job avoiding conflict. She intended to change that, per her Master's wishes.
Using her Sith Magic, Noir had conjured images of trapped and desperate Humans on the upper floors on the office block, and when the Hedgehogs were close, she would make them cry out for help, convincingly. Again, she hoped I would come along as well.
But because her senses were focused on the Hedgehogs and me, she didn't know that she wasn't the only organic Mobian in the building.
As our group proceeded through the city, looking for more people to save, Sonic spoke into his comm. link.
"Sal, what's the situation with the water mains?"
"Well, we've repaired the worst of the damage," Sally replied. "The water supply has been shut off, probably by the local governors, so there's no more worry about flooding. I suggest we think about making a retreat relatively soon; we've done what we can. How are things with you?"
"Oh, the usual," Sonic said casually. "Saving lives, testing our new abilities, escaping before Buttnik's forces could intervene; though to be fair, some of the Human soldiers seemed hesitant to do so."
"That's good," Sally noted. "They have been growing wearier of Robotnik lately. Still, his SWAT bots show no hesitancy."
"Obviously," Sonic muttered.
"Finish your work and get back to the ship you guys came in. Then, we'll high-tail it back to Knothole!"
"Got it!" Sonic confirmed, and closed the link.
At that moment, we heard more cries for help, and looked up. We saw a burning office block with several people at the windows, waving and crying out.
"Guess we'll have to do this building before we go," Sonic said. "Sibs, Ant, come on in with me. Bunnie, be ready to lift people down! Hurit, see if you can stabilise the building outside!" And he hurried inside without another word.
"Typical sugah-hog," Bunnie sighed, with a small smile. "Still, he always means well."
"I just 'ope 'is fuel-ish behaviour doesn't cause more trouble for us," Antoine said, not knowing how right he would be.
He, Manic, Sonia and I followed Sonic inside the office block, but as we ran into the reception area, I heard a voice in my head, which made me stop.
'Hola? Is anyone there? We're in the basement.'
"What is it, Tom?" Manic asked, looking at me, just before the stairs.
"I think someone with telepathy is here," I said slowly. "It might be another Mobian. I reckon we should investigate."
"You and Ant investigate," Sonia said. "We'll go and help Sonic. I sense he might be in trouble."
"What?!"
"I knew it!" Antoine said firmly.
"We'll help him," Manic said. "Just go!"
Antoine and I went to find the source of the voice in my head; while Manic and Sonia sprinted up the stairs.
Sonic charged up through the floors, and skidded to the halt on the floor where he'd seen the trapped people. He scanned the area, taking in where each trapped person was, and planning how he'd grab each person and get them out to safety.
He went for the nearest man, but to his befuddlement, his hands went through him. "What the-? What's going on? Is this some kind of trick?"
"That it is, hedgehog," came a voice from behind him, accompanied with by a familiar snap-hiss. Sonic whipped around. Darth Noir stepped forward, her lightsaber held in her left hand; she waved her right, and both the fire and people vanished.
"How did you do that?" Sonic demanded.
"The power of the Dark Side, hedgehog," the black cat replied. She contemplated Sonic for a few moments. "Hmm, I sense that you've had Jedi training. Impressive, but it's nothing compared to me."
"We'll see about that, Sith witch!" Sonic snarled, as he drew the training saber from his pocket and activated it, filling his nose with the smell of ozone.
"Very well," Noir said. She raised her own weapon in front of her face, then swept it back down to her side with a flourish; the Makashi salute. "Make something of an effort, will you?"
Sonic charged forward, and the two weapons met with a fizzling sound. Noir staggered back from the force of the blow, but managed to catch herself.
"Not bad!" she hissed, pushing Sonic's blade aside and made a series of jabs at Sonic's legs. "But it's a pittance compared to what I can do."
"I'm a fast learner!" Sonic said, jumping and twirling his legs around her jabs. "You can't surprise me so easily this time!"
And he unleashed a powerful Force push, which knocked the Sith Apprentice off her feet, and also sent several desks and panels flying through the air with her.
"Sugah-hog, what's goin' on?!" Bunnie said over the comm. link. "The fire and people just vanished!"
"It's Noir!" Sonic said. "She's led us into a trap! Stay outside! We'll handle this!"
Meanwhile, Noir had managed to catch the landing, but before she could make another move on Sonic, a fist shot out of nowhere and hit her hard in the face.
"Bout time you guys showed up!" Sonic said, as Manic and Sonia joined him. "You hear it was a trap?"
"Yep!" Manic said, as he and Sonia stood ready for a fight.
Noir straightened up and sent a stream of lightning at the trio. They dodged it just in time, and the stream shattered a window instead. Cold air rushed in, but the three Hedgehogs ignored it.
"Take these!" Sonic tossed training sabers to his brother and sister. "They'll suffice!"
Noir was somewhat taken aback by all three Hedgehogs wielding lightsabers. Despite her obviously greater experience, she had trained herself to fight mainly Sonic, not a Force-wielding Sonic plus two other Force-wielding Hedgehogs.
Sonic came at her with whirling slashes and Spin Dashes, darting around the room like a jumping spider; Manic alternated between his weapon and his fists, frequently getting her in the stomach; and Sonia stretched and contorted her body, clashing weapons with supple fluidity. Furniture and devices flew through the air, either dodged, some flying through the windows; or cut to pieces, littering the floor with smoking wood, electrical wires and chips. Before long, Noir was covered in cuts and bruises; next moment, she'd been disarmed, Manic and Sonia had grabbed her arms and Sonic had his weapon pointed at her, rather like how they'd trained with Hurit. Noir had to admit; they were clearly fast learners. But she was still determined not to let herself get beaten by amateurs!
"Time for a change of pace!" Noir yelled, and she lashed out at the Hedgehogs' minds. To the three of them, it was as if a shard had passed through their brains; and due to their empathic bond, they all felt each other's pain. This caused them to release her with cries of pain, allowing Noir to hit them with blasts of lightning, sending them flying away from her.
"I told you I knew more," the black cat sneered. "Consider this your final lesson."
"It's… not over yet!" Sonic panted, staggering to his feet, massaging his skull; the room seemed almost to be spinning around him. "It'll take more than mind games to stop us!"
Noir sighed. "We'll see, Hedgehog." And she clicked her fingers.
"Priority-one-hedgehogs!" came droning voices from behind Sonic, Manic and Sonia. They turned; ready to fight whatever robots came their way, but the moment they saw the three robots, or rather, three Robian Hedgehogs, standing before them, they froze.
Sonic recognised one of them, immediately; a light-blue male Hedgehog, with bushy eyebrows and moustache, was his - their Uncle Chuck. And though neither he, nor Manic and Sonia, had never seen the other two - a cobalt blue male Hedgehog with a tuft of brown-grey hair and a pink-purple female with blond hair - somehow, the triplets knew who they were at once.
"M-Mom? Dad?" Sonic gasped.
"That's right," Noir hissed.
The three siblings were paralysed by shock and horror; despite learning of their parents' fate mere weeks ago, it wasn't the same as actually seeing them as robots. It was especially bad for Sonic, since Uncle Chuck's Roboticization had haunted him for years. For Sonia, it only made Lady Windermere's fate all the worse; and Manic felt suddenly hollow and empty.
The three Robians advanced on them, their robotic arms raised.
"Mom, Dad, it's us!" Manic cried. "Your children! Your little ones! Ogilvy, Manuel and Victoria!"
"Don't you recognise us?" Sonia pleaded.
"Detain-Freedom-Fighters-priority-one!" Jules, Bernadette and Charles droned, ignoring their pleas.
"Please remember!" Sonic said, reaching with the Force out of desperation, hoping to touch their minds, but before he could, Noir acted first. Raising her hands, she reached into the Hedgehogs' minds, plucking out their individual fears and giving them life inside their heads.
Sonic found him watching as Knothole was burnt down; Mobius was completely conquered; and all of his friends were Roboticized, especially Sally. Words echoed in his head.
"Sonic, where were you when the brains were handed out?"
"I told you to control your powers, Sonic, but you never listen! You're no hero!"
"NO!" Sonic cried. He tried to do something, but every time he did, he found himself trapped in place by Mega-muck, a substance so sticky even he struggled to get free of it.
Manic was in the middle of a dark space; there was no one in sight, but there were voices echoing everywhere.
"You're useless, Manic!"
"We don't need you!"
"You'll never be a hero like me!"
"You're a weakling!"
"You're no son of ours!"
"You're a freak! All Mobians are freaks of nature!"
"You're the scum of this planet!"
Manic clutched his head, trying to shut out the words, but they burrowed their way into his brain, drowning out all other thoughts.
Sonia was being forced to see literal creatures of dirt, muck and waste around her, as well as exceptionally large insects scuttling towards her. Due to her aversion to dirtiness, Sonia let out a hair-raising shriek.
"Get away! Get away, get away, get away!" she screamed, swatting at her invisible demons.
Noir gave a grim smile of satisfaction. Maybe now the Hedgehogs knew how painful life could be.
"Stun them!" she ordered to Sleet and Dingo, who had also been lurking out of sight. They raised a rifle each and shot the three Hedgehogs with stun blasts. "Seize them!" Noir then ordered to Jules, Bernadette and Charles. The three Robians came forward, impervious to the children's cries, which were continuing despite the stun blasts. "This was all too easy!"
"Indeed it was," Sleet agreed.
"I hope the female doesn't suffer too much," Dingo said, his slightly glazed eyes on Sonia. "She is pretty…"
"She is an enemy!" Sleet snapped to his partner. "Don't forget it!"
"Unless you want to be a traitor!" Noir added.
At that moment, I came charging in. Having saved the two Mobians Antoine and I had found in the basement, I'd sensed Sonic, Manic and Sonia in trouble and rushed up to help. I saw them being grabbed by Jules, Bernadette and Charles, while crying out in horror; and anger reared inside me like an agitated Mobini horse.
"Leave them alone!" I growled.
Noir, Sleet and Dingo looked round, surprised. Noir smiled. "Well, well, well, little Thomas Holmes." Sleet and Dingo raised their stun rifles, but Noir gestured. "I'll deal with him."
I charged forward, but Noir simply seized me and dangled me upside down by the ankle.
"You're out of your depth, kid," Noir said.
I growled, struggling to get free, as all the blood rushed to my head.
"There's no hope for you!" Noir hissed. "Your friends will be ours; Roboticized servants to do my Master's will! And you; you will be my apprentice!"
At this, I exploded.
"NEVER!" I screamed, my eyes suddenly glowing pure white. My mind filled with a red mist, which obliterated all other thought except for the desire to hurt Noir as much as possible. I reached out with the Force and tightened the air around Noir's throat, closing up her windpipe. Noir clutched at her throat, choking. This caused her to release her hold on me and I fell to the floor. Scrambling to my feet, I made the circuitry and wiring and metal around me rise up and reform. The rifles at Sleet and Dingo's hands suddenly flew apart and before anyone knew it, I had formed more powerful guns in my hands. In hindsight, I am truly thankful I didn't do anything to Jules, Bernadette or Charles, even if, at the time, I didn't know who they were. I'd have never forgiven myself otherwise…
"YOU WILL DIE!" I roared and opened fire at my enemies. Sleet and Dingo sprinted away in panic, their heads bowed to avoid the shots. Noir, meanwhile, had managed to raise a shield around her to absorb the blasts, though it seemed to be slowly failing. In her focus on me, she had stopped feeding visions to the three Hedgehogs.
Sonic was the first to regain his senses, shaking his head to clear it. It was waking from a terrible nightmare. He felt dizzy, shaken and disorientated. He became aware of metal hands grasping his arms and realised he was being restrained by his father Jules.
"Dad, please," he grunted, struggling, but Jules took no notice. It seemed almost impossible that Jules could restraint his own son and think nothing of it. But then, Sonic reminded himself, it wasn't really his father that was restraining him.
Then, Sonic's ears fully registered the sound of continual gunfire, accompanied by a dark surge in the Force. Looking up, he noticed me firing shots indiscriminately at Noir, Sleet and Dingo, my face confronted with rage. Sonic realised I'd lost it.
"TOMMY, NO!" he cried. At that moment, Bunnie came swooping in. Having hung back per Sonic's instructions for the most part, she'd finally decided to intervene upon seeing me firing off rounds. And lucky she did! She ran over and punched the weapons out of my hands.
"Sugah-Cat, this isn't like you!"
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!" I snarled. "YOU KNOW NOTHING!"
"Killing them isn't our way!"
"Then, it should!"
"Alright, you brought this on yerself!" Bunnie punched me in the face with her organic hand, leaving me dazed and breaking my focus.
Meanwhile, Sonic had struggled for a moment to decide how he and his siblings could escape their parents without hurting them. Obviously, he'd had to think fast, which was something he always did.
"Sorry, Dad!" he said, and blew his father off him with a Force Repulse. Jules was knocked flat on his back. Before Bernadette and Charles could react, Sonic had pulled his siblings free from their clutches too.
"Guys, we have to go!" Bunnie said. "Sally just told me more SWAT bots are on the way!"
"What about our parents?" Sonia asked. "We can't leave them."
At that moment, lightning flew over their heads. Noir was struggling to her feet.
"No time!" Bunnie said, hoisting me over her shoulder in a fireman's lift. "We have to leave! Come on!"
Sonic, Manic and Sonia didn't want to leave their parents and uncle, but even Sonic was capable of realising that there was no choice. Plus, he thought he can hear distant voices in his head coming from the three Robians: "Run, Sonic, run!"
"We'll be back for you guys!" Sonic said, before he took off out of a broken window and ran down the building with Manic and Sonia; Bunnie followed, carrying me.
"After them!" Noir shrieked. "My Master will have a fit if they escape!"
Outside, we re-joined Antoine and Hurit, along with the two Mobians we'd found in the basement; a brown alligator and a snow-white she-wolf, both teens and wearing armours. You'll get to know them properly another day.
"Come on!" Hurit said. "Back to the ship, quickly!"
"Quickly is my middle name!" Sonic declared. "Grab on!"
"Can you haul all of us?" the alligator asked sceptically. "I mean, it's a pleasure to meet you, Sonic, but-"
"Just do it!" Hurit snapped. A moment later, the alligator got a huge surprise as Sonic took of back towards the park with he, the she-wolf, Manic, Sonia, Hurit and Antoine hanging on to him, while Bunnie flew along behind him carrying me. Soon, they could see the Enchanter Kings' aircraft and the Tornado, with Tails, Sally and Rotor already aboard the latter. Without pausing to greet them, Sonic, Manic and Sonia jumped onto the Tornado, while the rest of us made for the other craft.
"Not so fast!" yelled a voice from behind us. Amazingly, Noir had caught up with us; SWAT bots were firing at us, trying to stop us leaving.
"Go!" Hurit yelled, dashing to meet the Sith Apprentice, lightsaber in her hand. "I'll hold them off! Rotor, you fly my ship!"
Moments later, the two aircraft took off, avoiding the SWAT bots' shots, while Hurit kept Noir distracted. After subduing her with a Force Push, she used the Force to fly upwards the Tornado and grab on to the landing gear. By the time Noir had regained her feet, we were away. I can only imagine how furious she was!
As the Tornado flew over the city, Sonic, Manic and Sonia all heaved a sigh of relief.
"How's the situation looking, Sal?" Sonic asked, as Hurit climbed up the plane to settle on the wings with them.
"We did very well," Sally said, smiling. "From what we've heard, the death toll is currently around 150; but thanks to us, I reckon it would have been more than twice that number. And we've heard news of people praising our performances, even if they'll likely get punished for it."
"Why are you still smiling?" Manic asked. "Isn't that bad?"
"Not necessarily," Sally said. "It shows they're not afraid to support us. It gives them hope that Robotnik can be deposed."
"Cool, cool," Sonic said; usually, he'd feel proud of giving people hope, but at that moment, he, along with Manic and Sonia, felt rather desolate. Sally noticed this.
"What's up?"
"Well…" Sonic began, but then he noticed a large crack in the earth below.
"We should do something to lessen the damage, sibs," Sonic said. He was thinking fast. "Manic, you said you could sense aftershocks in the earth. I have an idea."
He locked eyes with his brother and sister, and in that moment, they all knew what to do. They felt sure their parents would want them to do it.
The three Hedgehogs closed their eyes, opening themselves fully to, and reaching out to each other through, the Force, each feeding the other two their thoughts and power. In that moment, they felt at one with the environment. Following Manic's lead, the triplets reached into the earth far beneath them, extending outward across the city. It was a remarkable feeling, but it required intense focus, and there is no doubt in my mind, or anyone else's, that one alone couldn't have even attempted it. It still amazes me now, that they were able to do it, when they had just been forced to confront their own Roboticized parents and uncle, and had to leave them. But they had since reckoned that the presence of each other, both physical and mental, was what gave them the drive to success.
The whole city began to shake again, but this time, it was gentle. The large crack closed up; water pipes mended themselves; and rubble flew back up to reform on buildings. Humans gaped at what they were seeing; as did the rest of us.
"Wow," Sally breathed. "That was amazing. You've got to tell us all about your training when we get back. But first, what's bothering you?"
"It's our parents," Manic said, as they left Westopolis airspace. "We saw them…"
