In Time, We'll Fight Together
The meeting place was forty miles into the heart of the forest of Westside Island. Going by herself would have been foolhardy, a potential ploy for capture. But what had driven Sally to entertain the request was the threat implied in the transmission. An untraceable message was sent to her father's intelligence officers, promising information on Eggman in exchange for a private meeting with the princess away from the doctor's prying eyes.
Nigel had insisted she ignore it, but Sally refused. If someone was willing to risk their safety against Eggman, then she needed to give them the benefit of the doubt. But she was not irrational to go it alone. Amy stood with her, Piko Piko Hammer clutched tightly in both hands. Sally also directed Nicole to connect with the Sky Patrol. The Freedom Fighters would come within a matter of minutes in case the trio couldn't subdue any surprise foe tagging along with the messenger.
Sally gripped the slip of paper and breathed in the scent of honeysuckle surrounding them. With the world recovering from Dark Gaia's nearly apocalyptic devastation, she knew Eggman was readying another attack. She didn't know when, but she sensed it would be soon. His minions across the globe operated in broad daylight against other Freedom Fighter groups. In the meantime, their boss remained unnervingly silent, and if the stranger had information on his shadowed scheme, then Sally took the document with a grain of salt.
"Whoever they are, they're late," Amy grumbled, tapping her boot on the grass. She peered at the tall oak trees where Flickies perched on branches. "They gave us a certain time, and now, they're the one making us wait."
"I can think of three reasons why that would be the circumstance." Sally held up a finger for each point. "Eggman found out and captured them. The other worst-case scenario would be this is a trap. And if I'm hopefully wrong, then they're just late and on their way."
Frowning, Amy fixed her headband and continued birdwatching. Sally sympathized with her frustration. They had arrived a half hour before the meeting time, and it was nearing a full hour of waiting. Asking Nicole to scan the surroundings for lifeforms like themselves turned up fruitless. Only Flickies and critters roamed this neck of the woods.
It didn't hurt to try again. Sally removed Nicole's handheld from her jacket pocket. "Nicole," she began as the screen lit up green, "any updates?"
Nicole's synthesized voice came out as a low murmur. "I'm scanning now. Currently, the answer is the same."
Sighing as lines of information flashed across her screen, Sally drummed her fingers on her hip. She heard Amy whistling a familiar tune under her breath. Lifting her gaze to the clear sky, Sally took a breath to join in on Amy's fun.
But a beep caught her off guard. A red dot blinked in the upper right corner of Nicole's screen. Amy pivoted to attention and huddled closer to Sally. Someone was approaching at a high rate of speed. It was nothing like Sonic's abilities but still enough to incite concern.
As Sally was ready to question Nicole, something hummed. It was like air being pressurized and squeezed. Sally whipped her head over her shoulder, realizing the sound was coming closer. She pocketed Nicole, her ears twitching to the northwest. She pointed in the direction, and Amy squared her shoulders, Piko Piko Hammer ready to clash with whatever was rushing their way.
But instead, as the figure burst through the forest, they froze. Sally's brow furrowed, and Amy's mouth dropped. They exchanged a dumbfounded glance, the drone of an orange Extreme Gear filling the silence. When the rider jumped off and let the board collapse to the ground, Sally acknowledged him with a growl.
"Bark the Polar Bear," she said, scowling, "you have some gall calling us out here after what you did to my father."
Bark towered over them. He did not rise to her provocation. Sally remembered how he assisted in the near obliteration of the world. He had been the one to deliver the finishing blow to her father's skull, allowing the Hooligans to steal the Chaos Emerald. He could have easily given her father a concussion or worse. But what truly troubled Sally was Bark's ability to allow the world to fall to Eggman, so long as the Hooligans got to live in it.
Amy stepped forward, raising her hammer over her shoulder. "So, you're the one who gave King Acorn that transmission?" she asked, hitching her thumb at the paper Sally held.
Sally was thankful Amy had brought the conversation back to its purpose. She would have been delighted to chew Bark out for his crimes against the kingdom and the world. But Amy's question stirred her out of her aggravation. Bark might have been an enemy, but he was without his familiar cohorts. It appeared to her that he had come of his violation.
"Answer us," Sally ordered when he meandered.
Checking over his shoulder, Bark waited for a moment. Amy peered around him, but again, there were only Flickies. Bark offered a curt nod and held out his fist. He gestured for one of them to take whatever was grasped tightly in his mittened hand. As usual, he did not speak.
"What do you have there?" Amy wondered, raising a hesitant finger.
"Let's see it first," Sally ordered, crossing her arms. "We won't risk our safety taking an unknown object from a mercenary. Whatever you have there has the potential to harm us."
Bark's eyes widened as if her suspicion was unwarranted. He looked at his fist, then gave a weak shrug. Sally made a mental note of his peculiar acquiescence. He stepped forward and filled the gap between the girls with his fist. Bark presented them with his palm, uncurling his fingers and revealing a computer chip.
Sally pinched it between her index finger and thumb. She examined the slick piece of metal with yellowed edges. But what caught her immediate attention was the Eggman logo emblazoned on both sides. Eggman was one to pride himself on any of his inventions. Even a tiny computer chip deserved his icon, marking it as a genuine piece of his work.
"Is it real?" Amy asked, cocking her head.
"It's real, but it seems very generic," Sally remarked. Removing her handheld, she examined the slot on Nicole's left side. The computer chip was small enough to fit, but she narrowed her eyes on Bark.
Amy waved her hand, banishing her Piko Piko Hammer elsewhere. "Hey, Bark, how did you get this?" she asked, but Bark tightened his jaw.
"The silent treatment won't work in your favor," Sally snapped. "You came to us with an Eggman computer chip that I'll assume has information, but you refuse to explain its origins. That's more than suspicious, especially from someone who willingly works for Eggman."
Bark didn't answer her. His gaze drifted to the grass, and he dropped his arms to his sides. He took a breath, sounding more like the grumbling of a disobedient child. Sally came on strong, burning with agitation over his refusal. While Bark was not one for words, he had other means of communication. Providing them with a disgruntled expression was not satisfying for Sally.
They stood in continued silence. Amy peered between them. Neither gave the other an inch. Sally twisted the chip with enough force that she almost feared she'd shatter it. It coursed with electricity that fizzled against her thumb, but Sally didn't care. What mattered was Bark's explanation, a reason to trust the polar bear who served Eggman, and as the Flickies chirped, she wouldn't make her move until that part of her was pleased.
Amy rested her hand on Sally's forearm. Her palm exuded immediate warmth through her fur. "Let's trust him," she declared, her determination palpable.
Sally gasped. "What? Amy, are you-?"
"Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but it's like you said back when King Acorn showed us the transmission. He must have risked a lot to meet us here. I don't think he has any reason to lie-" She frowned at Bark. "-so far, and I don't want him to give us a reason to distrust him when he helped me out in Blaze's world."
Bark gave another nod, jostling his wool cap. Sally thought it would have flung off from how swiftly he bobbed his head. Brows knitting, he clasped his hands together, pleading with her to reconsider.
Sally felt the tension in her expression ease. Amy's words rang true as she recalled her own reasoning. Eggman was not one to casually equip someone with his inner secrets. Bark must have acquired it by unethical means, tactics that would have left Eggman scarlet in the face.
And it wasn't as if Bark was a genuine member of the Egg Army. He worked for hire. If Sally paid him her kingdom's weight in gold, then Bark might have even switched sides. After all, he had a hand in protecting another world that he could have easily ignored.
"Fine," was all she said.
The corner of Bark's lip lifted. Sally wasn't sure if she liked that look. She held Nicole out and inserted the chip. Lines of coding flashed across the screen, Sally unable to make sense of the garbled string of numbers and letters.
"Nicole, what are you reading?" she asked. "I can't make heads or tails of this info-"
Sally cut herself off as the screen went to black. She whipped her head up at Bark, grinding her teeth. But before she could accost him, Nicole's face appeared. Her visage was one of pure horror.
"Nicole?" Amy cried, fingers to her mouth.
"It's Eggman," Nicole rasped out. "You need to see this."
She vanished and displayed a holograph. Hovering over a town was the Death Egg. It spewed a viscous gray liquid from its maw with the force of a rainfall, smothering everything in its path. When the sludge so much as nicked someone, their body transformed. Sally and Amy could only gawk as hundreds of beings became nothing more than mindless drones encased in a hardened liquid of unknown properties. As the projection continued, they watched as an endless sea of silver mire contaminated the entire planet, creating the chromatic paradise Eggman desired.
"What is this?" Amy wheezed, glancing at Bark, who squeezed his eyes shut.
"It's tentatively titled the Zombot Project," Nicole's computerized voice reported. "From what I'm gathering, Eggman is devising some sort of liquid that will do as the projection shows. One drop will spread across the body and completely take them over."
Sally shivered. For all of the atrocities she had witnessed because of Eggman, she remembered an event from that strange other world. She recalled circuitry through her veins. Her spirit had been disabled in favor of processing power. Although Sally had burned from modifications Eggman forced upon her, personally tearing through her roboticized shell and filling her with weaponry, she was so, so cold.
"He will not get away with this," she hissed, clenching her fist. "We'll stop him before he has a chance to make anyone a monster."
Amy nodded. "That's right. That's right! He won't get away with what he hasn't even started!"
As Nicole took down the projection, Sally came face-to-face with Bark. Without him, she would have never anticipated the severity, the utmost barbarity of Eggman's latest scheme. She held out her hand, but Bark did not shake. Instead, he turned on his heels back to his Extreme Gear, Sally's hand slowly falling to her hip.
"Bark!" Amy shouted, running toward him. She grasped his hand before he could grab his board. "Wait! Let us thank you."
But as if flinching, he jerked away. He jabbed his heel on the Gear, the droning of pressurized air overpowering the call of the Flickies. Bark stepped on it without a look back. Before either could halt him, he was off, maneuvering through the trees with practiced ease.
Amy's knees knocked. She dropped her head. Sally approached her and gently wrapped her arm around her. The hedgehog met her eyes and accepted Sally's quiet embrace.
"I don't get it," she whispered. "He does have a good conscience, but why would he leave? He just risked his life to give us that chip."
"There's always an underlying reason, Amy." Pivoting in front of her, Sally steadied both of her hands on Amy's shoulders. "You made a very wise move to trust him. I was too blinded by anger to see the bigger picture, but maybe one day, we'll both be able to understand him."
Amy nodded, her smile less than chipper. "Okay. But right now, we have an even bigger problem."
Swallowing hard, Sally gave Nicole a request to contact the Sky Patrol and continue running a diagnostic check on the chip. They had work to do, a mission more arduous than the demolition caused by Dark Gaia. Running her fingers down her neck, she breathed out and peered over her shoulder, silently thanking Bark.
"I think Bark will be on our side eventually," Amy piped up.
Sally turned to her. "Yeah? Why?"
She shrugged. "Just my intuition. Plus, he hangs out with the wrong crowd." She tapped her fist to her chest. "I'm sure he'll see that the Hooligans and Eggman aren't the best of friends to have when we can be his friends."
Sally chuckled as the outline of the Sky Patrol blotted out the sun. "I hope you're right, Amy. We could always use more friends."
And deep in her heart, for Bark's bravery, Sally wished that sentiment to be true.
