Sonic stopped at his street, catching his breath, his eyes wide.

He stared at the shack. It looked fine.

"Gramps!" Sonic shouted out, trying to sound nonchalant. "Hey, Gramps?"

His heart pounded in his ears. His throat constricted.

Sonic slowed to a trot, speed off, and stopped at the front of the shack. The delivery window shutters were closed. Gramps would normally be in full operation now, taking people's orders for lunch.

Sonic spun around and looked hard at the other shacks on the street. No one was in sight.

Maybe Gramps was in the garden.

Sonic raced behind the shack, past a line of trees to a small open plot of land, fenced in with a dilapidated rock wall. He pushed himself up and over the wall with a grunt. His feet hit the tilled ground and he strode through the rows of dirt, his gaze darting over the garden.

No Gramps. Shovels and pots sat out in the middle of the garden, as if someone had put them out so they could come back and use them later.

Sonic tightened his fists. Something burned in his green eyes.

With a twist, he leapt over the wall, dashed to the back of the house and yanked on the door.

It opened. It hadn't been locked.

All Sonic's spikes unsheathed as he stepped into the shack.

"Gramps, you home?" Sonic's voice cracked.

The lights were off. Sonic took one look at the place and knew Gramps wasn't there.

He narrowed his eyes. His gaze darkened, filling with pain. Anger.

Sonic shot his hand out against the wall hard, curling it into a fist, his face contorting into a scowl. He trembled, fear racking his body.

With his heightened senses, he picked up every detail of the room—the scuffed dirt floor, the abandoned kitchen supplies on the main room counter, the jar of tomato sauce broken and spilled on the floor, the new scratches on the wood door frame.

Sonic let out a low hiss, all his muscles contracting and his ears flicking back. His head spikes quivered, straining at their sheaths.

He spun on his heel and marched out of the shack, slamming the door hard behind him. The structure shook. His eyes shone, burning hard.

It felt like the back of his throat was tearing.

He didn't care. He just had to find Gramps. And the combots who had taken him, so he could turn them into scrap.

As Sonic turned, the wind stirred a piece of paper caught against the woodpile next to the shack, the side facing the street. The corner of the paper flicked up and Sonic glanced at it.

He could just make out the beginning of a word…

Sonic snatched up the paper.

Would You Like to Live Forever Too? This Certificate announces that the Undersigned has decided "Yes!" It is not too good to be true! Indeed, Roboticization will enable you to live forever in the revolutionary and eternal society of Robotropolis. Hurry and sign up to secure your place! There are only 15,000 social slots, and they are quickly being filled—

Sonic swallowed, his eyes skipping past the rest, too angry to read it. His gaze dropped to the bottom of the paper, at the place for the "Undersigned's" signature. It read Charles, Hedgehog.

Sonic's fingernails dug deep into the paper as he crushed it in his hand.

He lifted his chin, his ears cocked back. Listening to the combots approaching behind him.

His face was set. Blank.

Sonic turned to face them, the Mobium light in his eyes flickering.

Five combots. Human-height. Walking down the street, towards him.

A muscle in his jaw twitched.

He began to walk towards them.

Every detail of their metal bodies blared at him, sharp and crisp.

"Sonic, Current Ringweilder of Planet Marto," chirped the automated female voice. "You are under arrest for high treason against your country and people, due to breaking faith in a pact made between the Mobian Queen and Doctor Nikolos of Robotropolis-"

Sonic put on his speed.

The fire of his gift burned and ripped through all his muscles. In a blur, he tore into the arm socket of the first combot, using his momentum to punch through the socket into the sealed control panel. He twisted out the combot eye, smashed the speaker against the panel cover, and clawed across the nodes on the sensory panel transistor chip.

The nodes bit through his gloves and into his skin beneath his fingernails, and it felt good.

He pulled his arm free and flipped the whole machine over his head in a second. The heel of his tennis shoe smashed into the sensory panel cover and the acid-proof plastic snapped beneath his foot.

Sonic sucked in a breath, glaring over his shoulder at the remaining four combots. Bitterness burned in his bright eyes and in the corners of his smirk.

They hadn't even had time to start firing at him.

Second number two.

Sonic turned to the next combot and lunged all his body weight at its chin. He felt the neck snap, and he lunged again. And again.

He picked up the first combot and smashed it into the second, sending both of them to the ground.

Sonic turned to charge the guns of the third, fourth and fifth combots.

Behind him, one of the floored combots spoke into its intercom in a cracked voice.

The words resounded in Sonic's ears, slow and thick in the midst of his speed. "He…resists…Get…"

The three combots fired laser bullets at his chest as he blurred towards them. He ducked and rolled out of the line of fire and kicked into the first gun.

"…the…fox…"

Sonic's speed shut off. A laser bullet struck past his head, just grazing his ear.

He skidded to a halt, his green eyes wide. He gasped for breath.

Not. Tails. Not Gramps and not Tails.

"No!" Sonic screeched, backpedaling, speed on. Dirt spat out from beneath him, showering the combots. He whipped about and ran.

As soon as the dirt cloud settled, one of the combots spoke again into its receiver. "The hedgehog is coming towards you. Get him ready."