Sonic had kept going all morning and into the late afternoon. He half scrambled, half ran over the tangled forest floor. His green eyes shone bright against what was left over of the strange chemical fog the cruiser had rained on the forest. A thick, sweet smell hung in the air. It coated everything he stepped on and clung to his fur and he could taste it in his throat.

Tails now walked alongside Sonic, his eyes still shining with fear and pain. He kept up the best he could, wiping at his nose every now and then with his glove and holding his arm beneath his wound. The burns had begun to turn a purple color and swell.

Neither one of them had spoken. It was unusual, especially for Sonic.

But really, what could they say?

Finally, Tails ventured to speak. "Where…where are we?"

"We're going to Robotropolis," Sonic said.

Tails blinked. "It only takes us two hours to make it to Robotropolis…"

"Yeah, well not when we're walking," Sonic's voice had a sardonic edge to it.

Sonic's eyes flickered. Tails pinched his lip with his teeth.

They both knew they were lost. Sonic never got lost. They'd made the trip to Robotropolis at least fifty times.

Tails fell quiet again. He broke into another cough, wincing.

A twig snapped behind them. Sonic shot around. Tails jolted and whipped his single-shot blaster out of its holster.

The two of them froze, staring into the forest, hunted looks in their eyes.

They did not see anything.

Sonic relaxed a little and Tails swallowed.

Sonic strode forward again. The fox lunged forward, tripping on his tails.

"Oof," Tails hissed. He pulled himself up again quickly, catching his breath. He shot another look over his shoulder, back at the woods.

Sonic paused. His ears flicked back towards Tails.

"Heh…" Sonic scratched the base of his neck. "So, remember that time when Eggman made his light-ray gizmo?"

Tails nodded, grunting. "Mm."

"I'll never forget that look on Eggman's face. He's got me pinned beneath his knee, blaster to my chin, and then he just stands up, making some lame excuse about his blaster being unloaded," Sonic chuckled to himself.

Tails tried to smile, but he couldn't.

"Yeah…I never thought that human had any speck of conscience in his gut," Sonic said, "I thought I was a goner—I thought we both were. You were too out of it to fly."

Tails' eyes softened a little at the memory. That day, after they had both been hit, Sonic had thrown his body over him to shield him when Eggman came to kill them with the blaster. Sonic had covered Tails the whole time while Eggman pressed his gun against his face. Sonic had bantered with the human until Eggman left.

Tails' ears flattened. Sonic had always protected him.

"So, ya know Tails," Sonic murmured. "Nothing out here is going to have a light ray gun, okay?…If something does show up, I can take care of it."

Tails' shoulders shuddered as he breathed out. He swallowed, nodding.

Sonic kept walking, his hands fisted.

He couldn't blame Tails for being scared and upset. After everything that had happened in the last week he was scared too. Neither of them liked that they were wanted again, and if they were caught, they'd be skinned alive and tortured to death. Maybe it had been like that before the truce too, but things were different then…they'd had Gramps and Uncle Sparks and home—

Sonic walked harder.

"You didn't see anyone in that first cart, right?" Tails' asked.

Sonic stopped.

Tails eyes were thick with distress and his jaw was clenched.

Sonic shrugged one shoulder. "Ah…I don't think so," he mumbled. "It was hard to tell."

Tails bowed his head, glancing down.

Sonic kept walking.

They had to move.

They had to get Robotnik. Get the human that had taken so much—and stop him. Kill him. End him.

Make it all just stop.

Sonic leapt out into an open glade and landed in a crouch.

The light in Sonic's eyes raced. He huffed hard and tapped his foot. "Boy, would some rings be nice right about now."

Something snapped behind them again.

This time, Sonic knew something was there before he even turned around.

Standing several yards away was the familiar red-rimmed socket eyes and the bird-like face of Scratch. His blaster trained on Sonic's heart.

"Tails, get down!" The hedgehog blurred.

Sonic slammed into the robot's body, pounding Scratch into the dirt. He tore at the hose-like head and the wings and the feet, ripping them from their sockets. He kicked and punched down into the metal with a shout, using all the momentum and power his Speed could give him.

"Where's Grampa Chuck!" He roared at the metal creature. "Where's Gramps?"

Scratch crawed helplessly beneath the hedgehog, its speaker damaged.

Sonic ripped the chest open, looking for the sensory panel. "Who knows? Was it combots that took him, bird brain?" He sneered and tossed the database and camera file back to the dirt.

Tails scrambled out from where he had hidden behind a tree and snatched them up with one hand. With the other he held his blaster, and looking around for signs of other combots—

Sonic slammed his heel into the robot's beak.

Scratch's speaker eeked out an off-kilter craw. Sonic stepped back, smirking hard. "I let you hit me over and over again and you know why? Because you had people I cared about. Maybe if you hadn't killed most of them, you'd still have me on a leash, huh?" He kicked into the body and sent it skidding over the dirt.

Sonic, stepped back, breathing hard. He wiped his fist across his face.

Tails watched, his head bowed. "I'll read the database."

Sonic rolled his shoulders and spun around. He dusted his hands off of each other, then fisted them. "C'mon."