"The United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service presents…a quarter century…of…swing!"
The band struck up and swing music echoed throughout the Underground.
On a heated ledge, buried in a nest of blankets, Sonic flicked his ears. He frowned to himself in his sleep and turned his head.
Gramps musta found the radio signal's sweet spot.
Sometimes the stations made it through the dimensional divide, sometimes they didn't. Lucky them, having radio so early in the morning.
Man, he needed to get up. Grounder would be here to pick up Tails and he needed to grab something to eat before he started making deliveries.
The singers joined in with the band. The connection was fuzzy, so it was hard to make out any of the words, but just the sound was great. They hadn't played much swing in a while—Pops and Mama used to listen to that stuff all the time when he was a kid…
The hedgehog curled up harder and nuzzled his face against the blankets—
His cheek touched stone and he jolted.
Sonic opened his eyes.
The brass section ended the opening song and the broadcaster started to speak, but Sonic didn't hear.
A shudder ran through his body. He remembered everything.
They'd been in the cave. The Queen was dead. They were coming for Sally—he was going to be chained to a lab table and cut into pieces.
Sonic shot up, his muscles taut. His gaze darted over every inch of the room as if he expected it to actually be a cage or a box or a lab. A cold sweat broke through his skin.
He breathed hard, his eyes sharpening as he took in his surroundings…
He was safe.
Why was he safe—where was…?
Sonic flung off the quilts and swung his feet over the ledge. "Sally!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the cavern. "Tails!"
A small, familiar voice answered back. "Mr. Sonic?" It was Crème.
` Sonic ran a hand through his head spikes, swallowing.
The rabbit rounded the bend and she gasped in pleasure, clutching her skirts. "You're awake! I thought the radio would help—wait don't get up, your body is still healing from the knockout gas and who knows what else—"
"Crème, what'm I doing here?" Sonic blurted. "How'd I get here? Who's here? Are Tails and Sal here? Who's here?"
"Shh, you need to rest, Mr. Sonic," Crème said, trying to tuck the blankets back around the hedgehog and avoiding his gaze.
Sonic jumped off the bed and dropped down to a crouch in front of her, looking at her eye to eye. "Somethin' real bad happened to the city up there, Crème," He took her shoulders. "I've gotta know—who's safe?"
Crème met his eyes.
The two stared at each other in understanding. Crème pinched her lips tightly together as if trying to keep from crying.
Sonic took a long, deep breath.
"Mr. Tails brought you here," Creme said. "You and Princess Sally are here….Mr…Mr. Rotor told me to run and get down here when guards came to the school, and…and the others haven't come back yet-"
For a second, panic blared in Sonic's green eyes. He stared at the trembling girl before him.
Tears brimmed in her eyes. She was terrified for them all, Amy Rose, Bunnie, Rotor…
Sonic put his hand on her shoulder.
"Now, Crème," he said. And his voice was smooth. And calm. As if he believed every word he spoke. "You better be glad, 'cause now that I'm awake, you've got the fastest thing alive on the job." He jutted his thumb at his chest. "They couldn't hide from me, no chance. I'll bring 'em back down here sooner than anything, and you better not worry about it, okay? 'Cause we're gonna need you to make them smile and give them tea and stuff." He forced a grin.
Crème's eyes widened. A glimmer of hope shone through her tears. "You think they're okay, Mr. Sonic?"
Sonic leaned closer to her. He winked. "We don't know they ain't."
Crème grinned and sniffed. She wiped at her cheeks.
Pain burned in Sonic's eyes and he smiled.
"Sonic!"
Tails.
Sonic jumped to his feet.
The fox ran full tilt around the cavern bend, white-tipped tails whirring behind him. His blue eyes shown beneath his forelocks. Bandages wound around his slight torso and angular shoulders. "Sonic, you're up at last—" he gasped. "I—I didn't know about the gas—I should have stayed with you-"
In a blur, Sonic shot across the room and snatched up Tails before the fox could gasp out another word. He held him in a death grip with one hand and mock punched him across one ear with the other. "Tails! Man, whatever you did, you must have fooled them good, kid."
Tails looked up at him, half-smiling, half-smirking. Tears shone in his eyes and he didn't say a word.
They both knew. Sonic's clasp was like iron.
"He brought you both back all by himself, Mr. Sonic," Crème glanced at Tails, blushing a little. She looked away.
"You brought me and Sal all the way back here?" Sonic demanded. His tone was as jovial as ever, but he let out a shaky breath.
He forced himself to let Tails go.
Tails stepped back, squaring his shoulders. "Well—I'm strong enough—it took me a little longer, but I was strong enough."
"Yeah," Sonic leaned back on the heel of his sneaker, flicking his wrist. "And you probably were strong enough to rip those combots apart too, huh, pixel brain?"
Tails opened his mouth, then stopped, an inner-war flickering in his eyes. He crossed his arms, unable to help himself.
"For your information," Tails lifted his chin. "I used the gun on one of the cruisers to shoot down most of the combots…"
Sonic cocked his ears. "Huh?"
"The air cruisers have guns installed beneath the cockpits?" Tails tried, suddenly growing bashful. He cocked his ears back. "The ones that crashed? I just—well-it's a lot easier to shoot one of those things manually." He cleared his throat, ducking his head. "…Most of the combots were in the cave, so I just kept shooting into it. It made a good choke point. After the combots were taken care of, I finished opening the cave wall, and I dragged you and Sally inside."
Tails stopped, and though Sonic pretended not to notice, he couldn't miss the look of exhaustion and fear that crept into his eyes.
He'd dragged them both back inch by inch, hadn't he? Just like the fox had managed to pull a wire from beneath the air cruiser cockpit to release his ECcord in their last chance escape attempt. Or like he'd got up and flown that air cruiser all by himself even after being blasted in the back. Or like he'd slit that acid magazine, or hidden from a heat-seeking missile in a thermostat trashcan.
Sonic was proud. Really proud.
He tapped his foot. He wished he had some way to say it without sap or crying or anything.
He smirked. "Not bad, not bad at all. I've taught you well, huh?"
Tails rolled his eyes and tried to scowl, but he couldn't pull it off either.
Sonic squeezed his shoulder, nodding. "Good—good job, Tails."
Tails smiled.
"What about the capitol? Robotnik?" Sonic blurted.
Tails could no longer put a good face on it. His ears flattened. "You've been out for at least twenty-four hours…the knockout gas is a lot more potent than gag mask foam, apparently…"
Sonic narrowed his eyes.
"You…you need to hear this," Tails said.
