Sonic awoke around 4:28 AM with an inescapable urge to go to the bathroom. While this wasn't the first time such a thing had happened to him, it wasn't very often that this happened, either. Nevertheless, he got up to go to the bathroom, but partway there, his Hedgehog Sense tingled. He wasn't sure exactly what was about to go down, but he knew it was something really bad, so he quickly gathered his shoes and socks and headed to the bathroom to do his business. After washing his hands, he put his socks and shoes on before quietly slipping out the bathroom window.

Meanwhile, Silver and Blaze were sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of anything else going on around them. All of a sudden, there was a loud bang in their room, and the lights came on.

"WAKE UP!" shouted a foreign voice. "ALL OF YOU, WAKE UP!"

Blaze was roused from her sleep, only to get a nasty surprise: there in their room was a human wearing a three-hole balaclava, a black T-shirt, a green load-carrying vest, khaki cargo pants and black sneakers. What Blaze found most shocking about this man, however, was that he was pointing an AKMS right at her face. Immediately, she put her hands up.

"Please…whoever you are… don't shoot!" said Blaze.

"Do exactly as I say and you will not be shot!" said the terrorist. "Now, wake up your companion!"

"Silver!" Blaze shook Silver in an attempt to wake him up. "Silver…please…wake up!"

"No Blaze, I don't want to fight Iblis today…"

"Oh god, Silver, somebody's here! Wake up!"

"Wha…?" Silver finally awoke, and upon seeing the terrorist, he put his hands up. "Oh no, what's going on!?"

"You two are now my hostages!" said the terrorist. "Come along…NOW!"

Though bleary and confused by the whole situation, Silver and Blaze nevertheless complied with the terrorist's order.

Being a bat, Rouge was easily awakened by the commotion going on in Silver and Blaze's room, and knowing that nothing good could come of it, she attempted to awaken Knuckles, whom she'd cajoled into spending the night with her:

"Knuckie, wake up!"

"Hmmm…wha…?" Knuckles woke up. "What do ya want, Bat Girl?"

"Knuckie, somebody broke into the Olympic Village! They got Silver and Blaze!"

"Is that so!?" After shaking the remaining cobwebs out of his head, Knuckles hopped out of bed, ham fists at the ready. "Well here I come, rougher than the rest of 'em!"

"Are you outta your mind!? We don't know anything about what's out there!"

Knuckles headed over to the door. "Hey, we've been through some serious stuff! I'm sure we can take whoever the kidnappers are!" He pressed up against the door just as footsteps were approaching it. "Now go on without me!"

"Oh no, buster, I am NOT leaving without my Knuckie!

By now, whoever was approaching the door was attempting to enter, but thanks to Knuckles' brute strength, they couldn't get in.

"I'll be fine, Bat Girl! Just go…"

Just then, a shot rang out, and Knuckles collapsed to the ground.

"KNUCKIE!"

Horrified at the sight of her darling Knuckie being shot down in the prime of his life, there was only one thing that Rouge felt she could do: she screamed her lungs out, and she was confronted by another terrorist, attired similarly to the first one, but carrying an AKS-74U. He pointed the submachine gun at her.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! STOP SCREAMING!" yelled the terrorist.

Not wanting to get shot herself, Rouge did her best to compose herself and put her hands up.

"Who are you people!?" cried Rouge. "Why are you doing this!?"

"Stop talking and we will explain everything!"

As shocked as she was by what happened to Knuckles, and as much as she wanted to roundhouse kick the terrorist into oblivion, Rouge reluctantly complied.

Though ordinarily a heavy sleeper, Shadow was stirred awake when his Hedgehog Sense went off. Knowing that something terrible was about to happen, he attempted to wake Tails up and simultaneously took his Model 29 out from under his pillow, storing it in hammerspace.

"Tails, wake up."

"Huh…?" Tails stretched and slowly sat up while turning to face Shadow. "Shadow…what are you doing here, and where's Sonic?"

"Never mind that. We have to…"

Just then, another terrorist burst into the room, wielding an AK-74.

(Damn…those men at Joey's…I knew I should've said something!) thought Shadow.

"YOU TWO, PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND COME WITH ME!"

Without question, Shadow and Tails put their hands up.

"Shadow, shouldn't we do something?"

"We will. Just shut up and do what that man tells us. I've got this…"

Soon enough, the terrorists had rounded up as many members of the Mobian Olympic Team as they could and brought them down to the common area of the Olympic Village.

"W-who are you…a-and what do you w-want?" asked Tails.

"Since a few of you have asked, allow us to explain:" said the terrorist with the AKS-74U who shot Knuckles, ostensibly the leader. "We are members of the Roseinian People's Direct Action Front. For too long, your Mobian government has committed crimes against world society, and now it is time for us to get what is ours! However, we do have some mercy, and as long as you comply with our orders, you will live!"

"And what about my poor Knuckie?" asked Rouge.

"Your echidna friend is still alive. Even look for yourself."

Reluctantly, Rouge turned to look at Knuckles, who was indeed still alive, having been shot in the shoulder. Two terrorists were tending to him.

"And how do we know you ain't just gonna shoot us all?" asked Vector.

"If you follow our orders, you will not be shot," said the leader. "However, if you attempt any rebellion, you will die like our dear comrades Aleinikov and Vaingartner!"

"Are you people mad!?" said Robotnik. "Have you any idea just who you're trifling with!?"

"SHUT UP, DR. ROBOTNIK!" The terrorists' leader shook his AKS-74U at Robotnik. "We know exactly who you are, and we are quite serious! We will shoot you first if anything goes wrong for us!"

"Sir, I think it would be in our best interests to cooperate with these people," said Snively.

"Your compatriot is wise," said the leader. "He…"

Just then, a terrorist with an AKM patted the leader on the shoulder.

"Karl, vir hab problema…" said the terrorist.

"Vas eto, Maksim?" said Karl, the leader.

"Nai vse atleti zind zdes'!"

"Nu und?"

Maksim took his hand off the foregrip of his AKM and pointed it to his side. "Dolžen vir nai davonkomenen založnikov nayten?"

Karl briefly shook his head. "Nai. Vir haben vse založniki vir braukhen. Monarkhiya dorogo bezalen."

After the sun had come up and people had eaten breakfast in addition to doing whatever else they needed to do in order to get ready for their day, they got ready to attend the next round of Olympic events. However, all of them had received notices to either report to the Mobius Royal Coliseum or tune in to Channel Seven for a special announcement from King Max and Queen Alicia. When they did, King Max chimed in first:

"Ladies, gentlemen and those who identify as neither, it is with a heavy heart that I must make this announcement. I have received news that early this morning, unknown perpetrators broke into the Olympic Village and had kidnapped the members of the Mobian Olympic Team."

"We kindly ask that all the other nations of the world do what they can to save our precious athletes," said Queen Alicia. "Acts of this atrocious nature cannot be allowed to go unpunished."

"Until the situation is resolved, it is with great misfortune that we must postpone the Games without exception," said King Max.

"We hope you all understand, and we hope that you will keep our fellow citizens in your hearts and prayers," said Queen Alicia.

"Thank you," said King Max and Queen Alicia simultaneously.

The members of the audience reacted with absolute shock when they heard the news. Questions and suppositions flew about as they wondered just who would commit such a heinous act, why they would, what would be done to stop the perpetrators, and such. One thing was for sure, however: this was certain to be one of the most memorable Summer Olympics yet.

Among those who were catching the announcement on Channel Seven was Uncle Chuck, who had been watching the games as much as he could considering that Sonic was taking part. Shocked to hear about it, he was only brought to his senses when he heard the Sonic SatAM theme, which was his ringtone, so he picked up his iPhone.

"Hello?"

"Unc, it's Sonic."

"Sonny, what's going on? Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I got out just as crap was hittin' the fan. I don't know who those suckas are, but I promise ya I'm gonna do everything I can to bust 'em up and save my friends!"

"Be careful! You don't know what they're prepared to do!"

"Yeah, and they don't know what I'm gonna do, either! But enough chit-chat, I gotta go. I love ya, Unc!"

"I love you too, Sonny."

Sonic and Uncle Chuck hung up. As much as he worried about his nephew, Chuck nevertheless had faith in him.

Meanwhile, there was a flurry of activity around the Olympic Village. The Emerald City Police Department had cordoned off a few blocks surrounding the place, and only members of the media were permitted to come through, including Patrice Dryer, a redhead who served as one of Channel Seven News' intrepid field reporters.

"Good afternoon, Mobius," said Dryer. "I'm outside the Olympic Village, where unknown perpetrators with guns are holding the members of the Mobian Olympic Team are being held hostage. We haven't received any information on the identity of the terrorists, but the Emerald City Police are warning everybody that the perpetrators should be considered armed and extremely dangerous."

"Hey Patrice, look over there!" said Dan Flanders, the cameraman.

"Mobius, it appears that one of the hostages is being brought out to make a statement to the media…"

Indeed, Amy had been brought to one of the windows of the Olympic Village with a megaphone.

"If anyone hears this, I just want to assure you that we're all right!" said Amy. "We're being treated fairly! There is nothing to worry about! I love you, Mom and Dad!"

Suddenly, Maksim clubbed Amy in the back of the head with his AKM, pulled her aside, grabbed the megaphone and stepped forward:

"LISTEN, MOBIAN SCUM! WE ARE NOT MESSING AROUND! GO AWAY BEFORE THESE PEOPLE GET SHOT!"

After dropping the megaphone, Maksim took his AKM and started firing randomly, not intending to hit anybody, just to send a message. People outside the Olympic Village scrambled away, praying to whatever they worshipped that they wouldn't be shot. Various ECPD officers radioed in "shots fired" calls, but otherwise kept the area cordoned off as they awaited a S.W.A.T. team, or better…

While King Acorn was at the Royal Palace, lamenting how somebody could be so brazen as to take his country's Olympic team hostage, he heard a beeping sound, so he pulled out his Droid Razr and answered the video call that was coming in.

"Good afternoon, King Acorn," said Karl. "How are you today?"

"Who the devil are you and how did you get my phone number!?" said King Max.

"Your second question is unimportant. We are members of the Roseinian People's Direct Action Front, and we are the ones who have captured your precious athletes. Take a good look at them."

Karl used his phone to show King Max their hostages, who were still very much alive, but frightened out of their skulls. He paused when the phone showed Knuckles.

"This red echidna is still alive and receiving care from us," said Karl. "However, none of our hostages will be alive again if you do not agree to our demands."

"And what are your demands?" asked King Max.

"There are but three. First, we want you to release all Roseinian citizens who are being held prisoner by your government. Second…we understand you have arrested two Mobian citizens for colluding with the Roseinian government, and we want them to be released as well. Third…we want a plane awaiting us at Acorn International Airport to take us to Nakagrad."

"Are you mad!? Do you think I will acquiesce to your demands so easily!?"

"If you ever want your precious athletes to live and be returned to you, then you WILL acquiesce to our demands!"

"Very well, I'll do it! Just give me some time and don't hurt anyone!"

"Fulfill our demands by this Wednesday, August 4 at 17:00 in your time and nobody else will be hurt. Goodbye, King Acorn."

The terrorist ended the video call.

"What will you do now, my dear?" asked Queen Alicia.

"If those blasted ne'er-do-wells think that I'll be the first ruler in Mobian history to kowtow to terrorism, then they're sorely mistaken!" replied King Max.

"But if you don't, it could ruin our international image and our hopes of ever hosting the Olympics again!"

"Then that's a risk I'm willing to take, because our dear nation matters too much to me!"

"But what then?"

"The answer is obvious…I shall call in the Constabulary."

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.