Hey everyone! Time for another update! Let's get going!

Perturbo: The Hooligans get to make their first appearance here in the story, and it's certainly quite a reveal! There's quite a bit of drama involved with them too, and we'll have to see where the story goes from here!

Void Reader: Elias' turn is certainly a change, but with his main responsibility being to keep Knothole safe, he views the Freedom Fighters as a threat to the sanctuary, especially with him not quite sure of what Tails even is…

1TGN: Elias has certainly made things interesting, and Tails' habits from the night before are certainly quite different. As for how they're going to get out of their predicament, we'll have to see how things change from here!

AndTails: Elias is put in a bit of a pressing situation, with the Sanctuary always under threat, he's gone to some extremes to ensure its safety, something we'll no doubt get to learn more about.

That's everyone for now, let's get this chapter started!

Nightstalkers

Confrontation

To say Sonic was worried would be an understatement. The hedgehog still had no idea what was going on, much less what he or anybody else had done to deserve this. But here he was, locked in a cell while awaiting his trial.

Sally and to some extent Knuckles seemed to be having similar thoughts to his own, but the hedgehog's brain was stuck on one thing, why did they want Tails? As he thought, an idea crossed his head, one he hadn't wanted to consider.

"No, that just doesn't make sense…" He thought to himself, "How would they even have known about… That… I didn't even know about it until just barely!"

Still, considering the extreme measures Elias was going to, no other explanation made sense… It just kept coming to the same conclusion.

Even if Elias originally didn't know about Tails' secret, he certainly would by now, Sonic really hoped the kitsune was alright.

"Never known you to be much of a thinker," Sally spoke from her cell, jolting the hedgehog out of his thoughts.

"It just doesn't make sense…" Sonic responded, "Why would Elias do any of this?"

"I'm not sure… It's just… Not like him at all… I'm at least glad they didn't even bother to disarm us, but I'm not sure how much that's going to change."

Sonic reached down for the dagger on his belt, pulling it out and fidgeting with it in his hand. Activating the weapon, the hedgehog put it against the bars of his cell. The plasma charged blade did seemingly nothing to the solid surface, it seemed whatever modification Tails had given his weapon long ago wasn't quite powerful enough.

"I really hope he's alright…" Sonic quietly continued, "What do you think they're doing to him?"

"Whatever it is," Knuckles added from his own cell. "It can't be good…"

Sally thought over their situation for a moment before speaking, "Knuckles, can whatever energy is in that amulet of yours help us out here?"

"Maybe… But I'm not sure what good getting us out of this cell would even accomplish… We'd still have to escape and find Tails, we'd be spotted long before then…"

"Is it at least worth a shot?" Sonic commented, "I mean worst case they throw us back right?"

"It's not quite that simple Sonic…" Sally continued, "We need a plan, if they throw us back here we only look worse in front of the Council. Maybe they'll just let us go afterward…

"But what about Tails?"

"We'll figure something out… We just need some time to think…"

Sonic sighed, Sally was right. Just charging out of here wasn't going to accomplish anything.

"I really hope he's okay…"

"He'll be fine Sonic, he's a tough kid. I wish there was more we could do too, but let's just take a minute and work this out."

Sonic sat down against one of the walls of his cell, this was going to be a long wait…

-X-

All Tails could feel was pain. His senses slowly came back to him and he instantly felt waves of agony rippling out across his entire body, threatening to send him right back into unconsciousness. The kitsune slowly opened his eyes, his brain trying to remember exactly what had gotten him here. He remembered being shot but everything since then was a mystery to him. With the fog in his mind dissipating, the kitsune made one terrifying observation.

His headband was gone.

Sitting in a pile on the floor near him was his cloak, along with his pistol and belt, and more worryingly his headband. If Elias didn't know before, he certainly did now…

The kitsune slowly sat upright, using one arm to steady himself. His other arm still radiated pain from his shoulder, not to mention the fact he couldn't even move it at all.

But before the kitsune could even consider his next move, the door to the room opened and a trio of Mobians he didn't recognize entered the room, having just finished their check on the other Freedom Fighters.

"Well, would you look at that!" Fang began, "Looks like our little freak is finally awake, boss seems to have a bit of a fascination with you, but who do I care I'm just here to get paid. Just making sure you're not going anywhere, can't have our newest exhibit leaving now can we?"

Tails noticed another Mobian behind the main trio, he recognized the black cloaked figure as Fiona, while for a moment he thought she might be working with whoever these three Mobians were, he noticed a bit of concern across her face as she pushed her way past the trio and into the room.

"There's no need to hurt him," She said. "Besides, Elias wouldn't like it if you did that anyway."

Fang sighed, "Alright, but make it quick! I'm getting really tired of having to sit around here all day until we finally get what we came here for."

"I'm just here to check some things, alright?" Fiona spoke to the kitsune. The other fox barely nodded in response as she started taking a good look at the wounds in his shoulder and leg, while they were easily noticeable, it didn't seem too urgent to deal with them just yet. Nothing important had been hit after all, but needless to say, the fox wouldn't be walking any time soon.

She retrieved a set of cloth bandages and started to wrap his injuries, stopping the small amount of bleeding coming from them. While she worked she took a glance at the third eye on the kitsune's forehead, and as the two foxes locked eyes for a moment Tails could see a tinge of guilt in the vixen's face, Fiona in turn noticed a mixture of pain and fear gazing back at her. Quickly the kit looked away in embarrassment, a faint pink blush crossing his face.

Finishing tending to his injuries, she turned to acknowledge the trio near the door. "Well, he'll be fine… Cutting it a bit close there with his leg though…"

"Didn't hit anything that couldn't be fixed." Fang smugly responded, "Just like I told you."

Fiona sighed, "Just making sure… The last thing we want to do is make things worse."

"Ah the freak will be fine! We'll get back to the boss and see if he needs anything else."

She nodded in agreement, letting the three of them leave the room, leaving the two foxes alone.

"I'm really sorry about all this Tails…" Fiona spoke, "I don't really know exactly what's going on… But I know that whatever the truth here is, what Elias is doing isn't right…"

She looked down at the kitsune noticing his struggle to stay conscious, his expression seemed distant and his eyes were glazed over. It seemed the pain from his limbs was finally starting to overpower him again. Resolving in her mind what she was about to do, she picked him up and slung him over her shoulder. "Let's get you out of here alright?"

The kitsune didn't respond as his mind finally gave in to the darkness at the edges of his vision and his thoughts once again shut off as he drifted off into unconsciousness. Fiona gathered the fox's items, along with some extra bandages and medical supplies, stuffing them into his satchel bag. Now all that was left was to get him to the rest of his group…

Glancing out into the nearby corridor and finding nobody around to notice her, she silently slipped out and toward the small block of holding cells, the guilt slowly but surely fading from her mind…

-X-

Sonic sighed, there just wasn't any good way out of this… They'd been stuck in this cell for hours now and despite all their planning, nothing seemed to provide them with a satisfactory answer for how they could all successfully escape. Elias' goons along with Fiona had come by to check on them but they had left a while ago, Sonic wondered what they were up to now…

The three Mobians continued to muse over their predicament, only becoming more and more hopeless with each new idea.

"Maybe we could…" Sonic began, "No that won't work…"

"Sonic, I don't think there's a good way out of this…" Sally replied from her own cell. "The best we can do is just wait for the trial and see what they decide to do with us."

"Do you really think they'll rule in our favor?" Knuckles asked from his own cell.

"I mean-"

Sonic interrupted her before she could get in another word. "Sal, Elias is on the Council, I think they'll trust his word before ours… Either way, they've gone to pretty extreme measures to keep Knothole safe."

"And?"

"So what's to say they won't do the same with us? There's no way they'll help us, especially not with Elias talking to them!"

"So what else do you suggest? There's no way we can get ourselves out of here and get Tails…"

The hedgehog looked down at the floor near where he sat, "I'm just trying to think through how-"

Sonic's sentence was interrupted however by the sound of the mechanisms in his cell door coming to life. Causing it to slowly slide back into the wall. As he looked up in surprise he noticed Sally's cell across from him was opening too. Immediately he made his way up to his feet and stepped out into the hall, only to be met with the one Mobian he wasn't expecting to see.

"Fiona, what are you doing here?" He asked simultaneously noticing the kitsune slung over her shoulder, "How did you-"

The red fox produced a small keycard, handing it to the hedgehog. "I think those goons need to do a better job keeping track of their stuff. Managed to swipe this right off them when we went to check in on your friend. He's alright, just won't be doing much any time soon."

The hedgehog gently took the kitsune out of her arms and put him over his own shoulder, taking the fox's satchel as well.

"Fiona," Sally added. "Elias isn't going to be happy when he finds this out… You could come with us."

The vixen seemed to consider her words for a moment. "My home is here, I have to stay here and help everyone else that Elias has wronged with his rule. I've waited in his shadow for too long. I'll make sure he never finds out about me letting you go. I don't know what exactly is going on or what Tails even is, but what Elias is doing isn't right… I wish I could do more…"

"You've done more than enough." Sally replied, "Make sure you do what you need to before we go."

Fiona nodded and made her way toward the exit of the small prison block, before she left however, she had one more thing she wanted to say.

"Oh, and Sally…" She said, Sally could have sworn she saw a faint pink blush on the fox's face as she finished her sentence, "Tell Tails I love him too…"

With that last thought, the red fox stepped around the corner, leaving the Freedom Fighters to their own devices.

"Well I guess that solves that problem," Knuckles commented. "Also Sonic, if you want I can take the kid, I figure he'll only slow you down."

The hedgehog had just finished putting the fox's cloak and headband on him, the fact it'd been removed meant that Elias certainly knew their little secret… He had to admit however that the echidna had a point and Sonic gingerly handed the fox, along with his satchel to him. "Just be careful with him alright, I don't want him to get hurt more than he already is…"

"I'll make sure he stays safe." The echidna replied, putting the kit over his shoulder.

"Well, let's get going." Sally commented, "Hopefully we can get out of here before Elias notices, we'll take the main gate, it's faster than going over the wall…"

"I still can't believe he'd do all this…" Sonic added. "I mean where are we going to go?"

"Angel Island is the safest bet," Knuckles replied. "They won't be able to follow us there and even if they do, I'll make sure they can't enter."

Sonic nodded and the three of them silently slipped out into the hall, unsure of what lay ahead of them.

-X-

"All I'm saying is that they're gone!" Fiona exclaimed, "I don't know how it happened!"

"Fiona if I find out you're the one responsible for this I will personally see that you be executed for it!" Elias replied, anger pouring out of every word. His assistant had just returned with the news that somehow, the Freedom Fighters had escaped, while he didn't know about the status of Tails, he had a sinking suspicion he was gone too.

"And as for you three," Elias continued, turning to his hired lackies. "I'm holding you responsible for this! You had one job!"

"I'm telling you boss, they were there last time we checked!" Fang responded, his voice betraying his usual sly confidence as a bit of fear slipped through. "We've still got the key!"

The weasel reached into his belt pocket, only to come back empty handed, he turned to both of the other mercenaries. "Alright, which one of you took it!?" He exclaimed, a bit more panic in his voice than usual. The small green bird, Bean, sheepishly shrugged. Bark was just as silent and stoic as ever.

"You're telling me you don't have it!?" Elias growled, he stormed his way toward the door to his office. "You three hooligans with me! Seems like I'm going to have to clean up your mess…"

The three mercenaries sheepishly followed behind him as he made his way to a small armory room. There, hanging on the wall was a sword. One that had been a gift to him when he'd become Head Councilman over Knothole and while it'd never been used, it was just as sharp as the day he'd gotten it.

"Just proves if you want something done right…" Elias began, taking the weapon off the wall and testing its weight in his hand. He pressed a button built into the hilt and instantly the weapon's blade glowed with plasma. "You do it yourself!"

Elias pressed a large red button on the wall near the door on the way out, instantly sirens and alarms started to sound throughout the Sanctuary. He made his way out of the main building and into the streets of the Sanctuary, snow falling all around him.

"They can't have gotten far!" He exclaimed, "When we catch up to them, I don't care what you have to do to bring the Freedom Fighters in. Use any means necessary…"

"What about the kid?" Fang asked.

"I've entertained his presence long enough, if you get the chance, take him out for good…"

The small group set off toward the Sanctuary wall, unbeknownst to them, the group of Freedom Fighters were making their way to the main gate of Knothole, only for the alert Elias activated to seal it shut.

"We're going to have to scale down the wall. Sally began, "Seems like Elias figured out we're gone faster than I'd hoped…"

The group made their way toward the stairwell that led to the top of the wall, only to turn a corner and be met with Elias, along with his mercenaries making their way toward them.

"You really thought you could get away that easily?" The chipmunk spoke, stopping their advance as he got close, the three mercenaries waited behind him as he continued. "Sal, please don't make me do this… I'll let you leave, but the freak stays here…"

"Elias what are you doing? I thought your job was to protect everyone in Knothole!"

"That's what I'm doing, he's dangerous!"

"He's just a kid!"

"He's a monster! A threat to everyone here!"

"That doesn't give you the excuse to become a monster yourself!"

"I'm doing what has to be done Sal! What if there are more like him hiding right under our noses!? Innocent lives are at stake!"

"Tails is one of those lives! You can't just do this because of what he is!"

Elias sighed, there was no point in reasoning with her, he just wished it wouldn't have come to this…

"You don't want to listen… Fine then…" He growled, pointing the end of his sword at the assembled Freedom Fighters. "Don't let a single one of them leave!"

With those words the Freedom Fighters braced themselves, they weren't about to go down without a fight…"

Alright everybody, that's everything for this chapter! Let me know if you enjoyed it by leaving a review and I'll see you next time!