Transmissions Ch. 3:

The Beginning of the End

By, The Mouse of Anon

Disclaimer: If you don't already know it by now you need to get your head checked. Any characters that show up in here that aren't recognized as belonging to any of the almighty Sonic controlling powers, belong to me then. Whatever.

Author's Note: Once again I apologize for the delay, but on the bright side I got this out before the end of the summer! Part of the reason it's taking me so long to do this story is because I'm writing on too many stories at once. I can't complain though, 'tis just the way my mind works.

Sonic: You have a mind?!

Fira: -.-;;; Unless you want to be a barbequed hedgehog in the next minute I suggest you shut your trap.

Sonic: *blinks* NANI?!

Fira: …..HEY! Wait a blinkin' second! Who let you out of the closet? (*drumroll*)

Sonic: *ears flop to the sides* I got out on my own. You forgot to lock it and I managed to untie myself, so HA!

Fira: Hmmm…. Then I guess I'll have to send you back to hell with the singing skulls…

Sonic: You WOULDN'T!

Fira: ^-^V Read on peoples and enjoy! *does a GIR impression from Invader Zim* And don't forget to review, for I love the little reviews. I love them to pieces. *drags Sonic off who is kicking and screaming*

Sonic: SHE'S A CRAZY WOMAN! HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The day had come. The Freedom Fighters had decided enough was enough. They were going to get Sonic back. Three long years of hell and torment… None of them wanted to think what that might have done to his mind. Sally walked proudly into the meeting hall and stood at the head of the table as the other Freedom Fighters filed in. As soon as they were all in and had taken their seats she sat down herself. "The time has come," Sally said, looking longingly at where Sonic would have sat. "The time has come to finally get Sonic back." Rotor looked at her; she had her fair share of battle scars, not the least of which was the injury that had taken out her right eye. The black eye-patch did its job well in keeping that still painful flesh hidden and protected. If anyone were to look at her for beauty now rather than what she had become, a near-ruthless saboteur, she'd still be just as pretty as the day she reached her sixteenth birthday. Albeit, a lot more rough around the edges now. "When do we do it?," Tails demanded quickly. He had grown up quite a bit as well. A small scar over the bridge of his nose attested to that. The two tailed fox had let his hair grow out, which for some strange reason started out as orange, but then quickly faded to black. His long hair, which reached about mid-back level, was pulled up in a ponytail of sorts. Just about everything about him screamed hacker/warrior.

"We do it tonight, under the cover of dark," Sally stated calmly. Bunnie snorted, "We are NOT goin' in there with no plan Sally-girl." Sally shot her best friend a momentary dark look and said, "I was getting to that. If you'd listen, maybe we'd get somewhere." Bunnie narrowed her eyes. Her robotics were much more refined and well made than they had been in the past, which most certainly set off the fact that she still looked pretty. However the pierced ears and the scars spoke against that beauty to someone with a cold exterior. Indeed she was a warrior hardened by battle. The rabbit had even had Rotor install a gun into her robotic arm. "Now then, if someone creates a big enough diversion here, here, and here," Sally said while pointing to spots on a map that was on the table. "That should give the rest of us some leeway to get in there and get Sonic the hell out." "Sally, perhaps zere is a way around ze third corridor death trap," Antoine volunteered in his French accent. The princess turned warrior looked at him with her one good eye and growled out, "Spill." "If we take zis ventilation duct here, zen follow it to here, switching over to ze secret corridors here, zat should put us in ze proper range."

Sally nodded, "Thanks Ant, I appreciate it." The French coyote nodded at the compliment. "And for those of us who have to fight the robots?," Tails's cousin asked bluntly. "Big guns from yours truly," Rotor grinned to her. Shelar snorted as she muttered under her breath, "Insane nutcase." Rotor sarcastically blew her a kiss, to which she made a face at. Rotor had ended up with a robotic arm of his own, and a few robotic organs as his original organs had started to fail. His loss of those parts had been due to being held under in mega-muck a little too long. With the bandanna he had on his head, the first impression anyone got of him nowadays was that he was a pirate of some sort. That description was very close to the truth. Shelar flared her wings slightly and said, "Why the hell not? I'm itching for a flight. Assuming this nutcase will stop trying to flirt with me," she jerked her thumb towards Rotor. The purple walrus snorted at the phoenix colored fox/cardinal and said, "I never flirt with you. I just tease." ::Oh quite. No offense Rote, but I have a hard time picturing you as anything but a tease,:: a bronze feline with black spot/stripes, green eyes, and dark chocolate brown hair said telepathically so that everyone in the room could hear her.

Rotor let out a slight growl and muttered, "Oh back off it Kiejal. Besides, the plan?" She quirked an eyebrow at him, but replied, ::Alright, I'll be one of the people going in to get Sonic out.:: Sally looked at her mute blood-sister with a grateful look. She owed Kiejal her life as the cat had put herself between Sally and a thrown dagger that would have killed her. The cat had taken the knife in her throat, destroying her ability to physically speak ever again. On that same mission Sally had lost her eye because of laser fire. Sally felt that their chances were noticeably greater on getting Sonic out if Kiejal, who could teleport, were there. They each chose which group they were going to be with and agreed to reconvene at eleven p.m. This was the night.

Sonic sat in his cage, for that was the only appropriate description of it. It was not a cell. It was a Sonic-proof cage that was hanging from the ceiling so that he couldn't touch the floor and maybe find a way out. His back was to one of the cage walls while his eyes darted back and forth, wondering, waiting. Would Robotnik come today? Would there be pain? Or would it be food? The thought made his mouth water. "Face it fool, this torment is going to be forever and you're going to starve," Dark Days growled in his mind. "Ignore him, he doesn't know what he's talking about," said the chipper as ever Light Days. "Now then, wouldn't it be so much better to commit suicide? You know, just off yourself?" "Neither of those suicidal maniacs knows what they're talking about. You can't commit suicide because what if Sally or one of the others come to get us out of here?," Silent Days whispered in his mind. "Shut up Silent! The idiot knows who he should listen to!," Dark Days snapped at his quietly depressed counterpart. "Leave me alone," Sonic whispered out loud, wishing the voices would go away. "Leave me alone," Dark Days mocked, "Grow up Normal! Face it, no one's going to come back for you! Your so-called 'friends' abandoned us to Robotnik! They don't care!"

"NO!," Sonic protested. "They are coming back for me! …Aren't they?" "Yes, they are," Silent Days whispered. "No they're not, but that doesn't mean we can't have some fun!," Light Days giggled. "As much as I hate to agree with Light, those f*cking morons aren't coming back for you," Dark Days growled. Sonic pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. He wanted the voices to leave so badly… "Go away, please, just go away," Sonic whispered quietly. "Oh boo hoo, the poor pathetic hedgehog can't handle having us in his head. Oh wah, I'm gonna cry now," Dark sneered. "Shut up. Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!," Sonic screamed out as he clutched his head. "Oooo… This is going to get us studied again," Light grinned as he bounced on his heels in Sonic's mind. "SHUT UP!!!" "This is going to be fun!," Light chuckled, looking positively gleeful at the prospect of a possible death. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!! Shut up and go away… Go away," the blue hedgehog started sobbing as he curled up into a ball on the floor of his cage. "You poor soul. Maybe you just need to get some," Dark laughed. Sonic turned his mental eyes on Dark and growled out, "Shut up. You don't know what the hell you're talking about. I doubt you even know what the hell you want anymore."

The cynical hedgehog snorted as he leaned against a mental wall, "Sure I know what the hell I want and what I'm talking about. And let's face it, you're pathetic. You're less than nothing. You're not even fit to lick the scum off a person's boot. Why don't you just f*cking give up and let yourself die?" "NO! I'm not going to do that! I'm not going to do what you want!" "I don't know Dark, I think he's really useful. I think he's definitely more than nothing. Yup yup!," Light intruded, still bouncing on his heels gleefully. Sonic tried desperately to find Silent Days, but he had gone missing again like he always did whenever Light and Dark had a big argument. Normal curled in on himself, refusing to listen to Light and Dark. Shutting them out as much as possible. It was when Dark started forcing Sonic to re-live one of the worst nights of his life that he clutched his head again and started screaming incoherently. No doubt about it, this would interest Robotnik greatly.

Four years later Sonic sat in his hut alone. Because of the state of his mind he wasn't going on any missions against Robotropolis. Sally had made it plain and clear to both Dark and Light Days that they were not going to be allowed to commit suicide. The four personalities took control randomly, and it wasn't uncommon to hear Sonic arguing with himself late at night. By now Normal Days was a lot more sure of himself and his friends. As such he quite often got into loud arguments with Dark that the cynical, suicidal personality started losing on a constant basis. When Normal was in control he was no longer so emotional, he was almost back to being himself. Silent became his outlet for depression and sadness, so there was many a night when Silent was in control that he cried himself out on Sally's shoulder without making a sound. Light was more than irritating, being happy and light and chipper even when he was talking about suicide. Dark quickly learned he couldn't get away with snapping at everybody, as at one point Bunnie had gotten fed up with him, tied him up, gagged him, then left him on his bed in his hut. Dark quickly became sulky with this sort of arrangement, but he stopped being as infuriating.

It was a beautiful sunny day as Sonic looked out the window. It was such a contrast to Robotropolis that sometimes he had a hard time believing that he was actually in Knothole. The hedgehog quietly got up and walked outside to the top of a grassy hill and sat down, just looking at everything around him. He inhaled deeply and smiled in contentment. It was moments like this, when he could just be and didn't hear any of his other personalities, which made him content to be alive. "Heya Sonic. Which one are you at the moment?," Sally greeted as she walked over and sat down next to him. The blue hedgehog smirked as he replied, "Normal." "That's good to hear. I think Silent completely drenched my shoulder last night," she prodded jokingly. Sonic chuckled and stated sarcastically, "If you had been completely drenched that would have been a sight to see." Sally grinned as she lightly cuffed an ear, "Flirt." "Rampant one at that." Sally shook her head. She loved Sonic, that was no secret. The other three personalities were starting to grow on her… almost. The princess/warrior still couldn't stand Dark's harsh attitude to anyone and everyone. Or Light's annoying chipper, happy-go-luckiness even when she was sure Silent and Normal were mourning. Then there was the annoying fact that Silent was just that; silent, most of the time. She had only heard Silent speak three times in the four years she had known him.

Sitting like this next to Sonic though, almost like the old days, it made her happy to be alive (A/N: That makes two of 'em! XP!). Sally leaned against him and wrapped an arm around his waist. Sonic smiled into her hair as he slipped an arm about her shoulders. They sat there cuddling as they hadn't in years, glad just to be in each other's company. Then all hell broke loose.