Tails could hardly believe the news broadcast.

He'd been working on the Tornado when the TV in his workshop switched from President Johnson's press conference to a report that Sonic had attempted to assasinate said President.

The headline read: Hero To Villian: Sonic The Hedgehog Attempts To Assasinate Carl Johnson

"Witnesses say that he hovered above the ground," the female news anchor relayed. "They say he declared that Johnson 'let her die', referring presumably to the late Princess Sally Acorn. The manhunt is currently underway. As for the President, he is in serious condition but is expected to recover,"

Tails blinked in shock. He knew Sonic was angry at the humans and blamed them for what happened to Sally, that was obvious. But this? How could he do something like this? It... it wasn't... it wasn't Sonic!

Just then, his wrist communicator rang with a text from Rotor: Meeting at Freedom HQ.

Oh great. What did they want now? Did they know about what Sonic had done?

Tails sighed in frustration and left his own humble abode, walking across the stretch of village to Freedom HQ. Inside, the Freedom Fighters were sitting around an oval table, looking somber.

"Hey, guys," Tails said, smiling brightly. He hoped to come off like he wasn't worried.

They barely gave him a single glance as the kitsune sat down between Rotor and Antoine. Nicole cast out her nanite lynx form and typed some commands into the computer.

Tails suddenly had a twisting feeling in his stomach. "What is this about?"

Nicole spun around to look at Tails and sighed. "Sonic tried to kill the President of GUN,"

"I know," Tails replied, his voice sad and far off. "I saw it on the news,"

Rotor tapped his fingers thoughtfully before forcing himself to look the kitsune in the eye. "Look, Tails. With everything that's happened, Sonic has proved himself to be a threat. A villian. You know what we do with villians?"

Tails stayed silent, thinking Rotor was asking a rhetorical question and also dreading the answer. After a moment, Bunnie finished Rotor's statement. "We stop them,"

"But Sonic's not a villian!" Tails whined pitifully, his tails snapping behind him. "He's just angry! And scared! And-"

"We know you are quite close with him," Nicole said. "But it doesn't matter if he's doing what he's doing because he's upset about Sally's... demise. He's still going to do it,"

"But-"

"We already made our decision. Sally stated in her will that if anything happened to her for Sonic to take her place as leader. But now... he's no longer qualified. Sally made the precaution that if something happened to her and Sonic both for me to take control,"

Tails slumped. He knew good and well where this was going.

"Therefore, I will make the decision that is best for us and best for the world. We will hunt him down and we will defeat him,"

"We..." Tails's voice cracked. "We won't have to kill him. Right?"

Everyone exchanged a look before Antonie piped up. "Eef it comes to dat, then yes,"

"If we have to end his life, he'll have brought it on himself," Rotor stated. "Best case scenario is that he's willing to negotiate and we talk him out of this, getting him back on our side. Worst case scenario is-"

"Us having to kill him?" Tails blurted.

"No," Nicole sighed, shaking her head. "Worst case scenario is that he kills us,"


Uh oh. Things don't look good for anyone right now. Feel free to review!