Anti-Rebellion Base – Location Unknown

A curved red blade slides against a sharpening stone, sounding a loud, grating, harsh sound through the room. Once his blade has been dragged all the way across the stone, Infinite moves it back up to slide it down again. He sits at a table in what seems to resemble a posh hotel room, fully stocked with comforts and amenities, as he endlessly sharpens his blade.

"Do you have to sharpen that thing all the time? I can't hear the TV." Reclined back on one of the beds in the room, Sly the Racoon uses a remote to increase the volume on the widescreen television set.

Infinite finishes the slow swipe of his sword before he answers. "I must always have the sharpest of blades."

"You've been doing that for hours. What's the point?"

Infinite suddenly turns, pointing the tip of the blade in Sly's direction. "In case I need to slice a throat on a moment's notice."

Sly doesn't seem at all concerned, apparently quite used to such threats. He sarcastically comments, "Oh. That explains it." He turns up the volume a bit more as Infinite resumes. The screen appears to show a news report, with an 'EGG1' channel logo at the bottom. On display is what appears to be a massive balloon float starting to inflate, depicting none other than Eggman himself. A familiar, yet oddly cheery tune plays, celebrating the Eggman Empire. The newsline reads, 'Eggman Empire Day Festival Preparations Underway'. "I never had a TV, growing up. It's nice having the power to do what you want. Living the high life, you know? Never had time back then for anything but thievery. And romance, of course. There's always time for that."

Infinite pauses in his movement, glaring at Sly through his mask. "I lived the life of a mercenary. I know what it's like to have nothing." He resumes the sharpening of his blade.

"Then why don't you enjoy what you have now? Sit back. Relax. Watch some TV. I promise, even this fake news is going to be more interesting than that sword of yours."

Infinite ignores him.

"It's not like we're going to have anything important to do anytime soon."

The door to the room opens wide as Fang the Sniper strolls in. "I wouldn't be so certain of that, Sly." As he continues into the room, he slides a sheet of paper onto Infinite's table in front of him. "A little something for you."

Infinite finally looks up. "What's this?" He takes the paper and starts to read it over. "Test results on the device? Extradimensional origin…confirmed. Composed of materials with at least five different quantum signatures. And Ruby contact is…" He looks up from the paper with a pause. "…confirmed."

Sly sits up on the side of his bed with interest. "'Ruby contact confirmed', what does that mean?"

Infinite takes out the sleek black Nocturnus device in question. "At the moment…it only means proof of a theory. This device came from a multidimensional prison. And at least one component of this device…was exposed to an energy signature consistent with that of the Phantom Ruby. One of the inhabitants of that prison came within close proximity to a Ruby. There's no telling which inhabitant it was, nor what dimension they came from, nor how long ago it happened. But it confirms my theory…that the three Rubies are scattered between the dimensions."

"More importantly," Fang adds, "it confirms that our contact in the Rebellion got us the genuine article. It confirms that we can trust her."

Sly gives a smirk. "What did I tell ya, Nack? The right motivation was all she needed to realize her place."

Fang puts on a scowl. "I told you to call me Fang."

"Sure, sure, whatever you say. So…does this mean we're moving on to the next phase?"

Fang smirks, baring his namesake. "Today's the day we've been planning for, Sly. We just have to wait for the word."

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Chaos Project

Season 1, Episode 8

Insubordination Day

Written by ChaosProjectAuthor

Daily log, July 4th, 0 A.E. Sonic the Hedgehog reporting.

Six months, three days. That was the length of the First Great Eggman war. After precisely six months and three days, Eggman's Phantom Ruby plan was thwarted, and the battle of the Imperial Fortress was won. That was the longest period of time Eggman's ever held power. But today…marks six months and four. Eggman knows it. And he's making sure everyone else knows it too.

He's declared today, July fourth, Eggman Empire Day. A whole twenty-four hours for the world to get together and celebrate our collective subjugation. There's going to be fireworks tonight, and a big parade. It makes me sick.

And the worst part is…we aren't any closer to winning the war now than we were the day it began.

—–—

Emerald Canyon – The Rebellion Base

Sonic sits at the desk in his tent, with a pencil and a pad of paper. He holds the pencil up close to his chin, in deep contemplation. After a moment, he puts the pencil down to the paper, and starts to sketch something out. But, halfway through a shape, he suddenly stops. "No, no!" He tears the paper off of the pad, crumples it into a ball, and tosses it over his shoulder. It bounces off of the back wall, and lands on the ground in front of a wastebasket, along with at least a dozen other similar wads of paper, less than half of which actually hit their mark. Sonic starts over again.

A knock comes at the post. Sonic looks up for a moment. "Come in." Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow all enter.

Knuckles immediately moves up to the desk to look at Sonic's work. "What you got going on here?"

Sonic starts to tear away the page he's working on. "It's nothing, just–"

Knuckles stops him. "Hang on, let me see." He moves Sonic's hand away. The page shows a rough drawing of seven Chaos Emeralds, surrounded by a simple ring. "Is this…like a symbol, for the Rebellion?"

"Yeah. Those visitors we had a while back got me thinking we could use one."

Shadow steps up to get a closer look. "I think I see what you're going for here." He extends his hand out for the pencil. "Would you mind?"

"Uhh…sure." Sonic hands it over.

Shadow turns the page around so he can see it upright, and starts to add to it. He carefully details the center Emerald, then darkly shades in the surrounding six. "It's functional. It sends a message. We have an Emerald. And we intend to get the rest. Each time we do, we add it to the symbol. And everyone who sees it will know that we've scored a victory."

Knuckles takes the pencil out of his hand and pushes him aside. "That's great and all, but it's definitely missing something." He taps the eraser against his chin for a moment while Shadow glares at him silently. Then he draws in a big, waving banner just covering the bottom of the ring. He decorates either side of the banner with the familiar double star insignia that belonged to the Resistance. "There. A little something to remind them where we came from. We won last time, and we plan on doing it again."

Tails extends his own hand for the pencil. "May I?" Knuckles hand it over. "I think it needs some more flair. Something that really catches the eye, and says something about us." After another moment of contemplation, he draws on a pair of wide, stylized wings to either side of the ring. "We aren't afraid to fly." He puts the pencil down, and slides the paper back over to Sonic.

Sonic looks at the newly-completed insignia with a smile. "This is great, guys."

Knuckles gives a nod. "If you want, I can get on having this plastered on all our supplies. We could even get a few posters going, hang them up around town, we might even get a few new recruits to–"

"No."

"What?"

"I said no. No posters, no recruits."

"Where's this coming from all of a sudden? Are you saying we don't need the people's help with this war? That's ridiculous, Sonic. The Resistance didn't get anywhere in the war until we started getting a following. You should know that, your return was the reason we got so many recruits in the first place."

"I know that, Knuckles. But…things are different this time. Eggman isn't taking any chances. If someone so much as bumps shoulders with one of us, it's not just them, but their entire family that's liable to 'disappear'. We can't ask people to take that risk. It wouldn't be right."

"There are people out there who have lost everything because of Eggman, people willing to risk whatever they have left to stop him! Are you saying we should tell them no?"

"We hardly have enough to take care of ourselves out here. We may all be ready to fight, but we can't just start taking in civilians. This isn't a refugee camp."

"What are you talking about? Between Cream's vegetable garden and Big's fishing habits, we have more than enough food!"

Shadow finally interrupts, "I think Sonic is right. In a normal war, of course a larger army is better. But in our situation, the more people we have, the harder it is to stay hidden, and mobile if necessary. We need to keep fighting with a small team like we have, or we won't stand a chance. We need skill, not size."

Knuckles grumbles loudly, but doesn't seem to come up with any objection. Tails looks to the ground, not seeming to have any opinion.

Sonic nods. "Thank you, Shadow. Now…what'd you all come in here for?"

"We wanted to get in on your plan."

Sonic seems a bit shocked. "Plan? What plan?"

Tails leads on, "For Empire Day! You do have a plan, don't you? Or at least part of a plan? We can help with the details."

Sonic hesitates for a moment. Then he picks up the pencil, and starts to shade in some extra details on the insignia, as if to avoid speaking.

Tails questions, "Sonic…?"

Sonic puts the pencil back down with a sigh. "I don't think we should take any action today."

Knuckles shouts, "What!? Eggman's laughing in our faces in front of the entire world, and you're just going to sit back and let him!?"

Shadow dips his head down. "We'd be wasting a big opportunity. If we can turn things around on Eggman, if we can score a victory on what he wants to be his day of triumph, we'll be showing the world that we can win this war. If we don't…that would be like admitting defeat. Recruits or not, if we lose the world's sympathy, surviving is going to get a lot harder. If every person in the world becomes a potential enemy…what's the point of even fighting for them? But…I guess that's your choice."

Knuckles shouts back at Shadow, "No it isn't! This isn't an opportunity we can afford to miss! There is no choice, we have to do something!"

Sonic gestures for Knuckles to calm down. "I know, I know. But what if that's what Eggman wants us to think? He wouldn't be taunting us like this if he didn't expect us to hit back. Which means he has a plan. It's a trap, I know it is. And if we walk into it, that could mean actual defeat."

"Eggman can't lay a trap over the entire planet."

Shadow nods. "We just have to do something he won't expect."

Tails agrees, "If we choose the right target, with the right plan, it could be our biggest win yet!"

Sonic thinks for a good long while. But finally, he nods. "Alright. Then let's make a plan." He reaches over to the side of the desk, where his computer system sits. It appears to have gotten an upgrade recently, as the main TAL unit has been attached directly to the bottom of the screen, instead of being separated by a wire. A more detailed and intricate logo has been painted onto the front. "TAL, show me a map." Everyone leans in to get a look as a map of a vaguely familiar landmass appears on the screen. A red dot lies to the west, near the ocean, indicating their current position. A great bay reaches in to the center of the landmass from the southwest. There's a range of mountains and hills to the north, and what can only be a mechanical city to the northeast. "So, first thing's first. Where are we going?"

Knuckles immediately points to a spot just north of them. "Westside Village would be the closest target. If you're worried about something going wrong, that means the least complicated retreat. Plus, it's small, unexpected, less likely to have a trap set."

Tails is quick to object, "Choosing it that way will tell Eggman exactly where to find us. Even if it's a good idea short-term, we can't risk that possibility."

Sonic nods. "That probably means we should stay out of this area altogether."

Shadow adds, "If we want to get a large team that far from here by tonight, Chaos Control is our only option. We have to risk the Emerald."

"It's a risk. But it also opens up a lot more options." He drags his fingers over the screen, zooming out until the map shows nearly the entire world. "We can go anywhere, and we'll have a much better chance of getting out safely and quickly. But that still leaves the question of where. Where in the world can we make the biggest impact, with the lowest risk?"

Knuckles poses, "We could try somewhere we've made a difference before, somewhere we'll be remembered. Maybe Station Square?"

Shadow adds, "Or Central City?"

Sonic shakes his head. "A Capital city is too obvious, too big of a target. What about…Soleanna?"

Knuckles waves it off. "Nah. We haven't done anything there before. No one'll recognize us."

"Oh…right."

Tails thinks, "We could try…Sunset Heights."

Shadow adds, "Or Westopolis."

This time, it's Knuckles who objects, "Targets with personal value to members of the Rebellion. Eggman will see that coming a mile away."

Sonic suddenly looks up. "I've got it." He presses down on a spot on the map, near the northeast coast of one of the large continents. "Empire City. I had to drive off an Eggman invasion there once. Nothing groundbreaking, there was a lot of other stuff going on, but people saw."

Knuckles nods slowly. "We fought there in the last war, too. It's a big target…but not an obvious one."

Shadow agrees, "People will hear us. Our message will get out."

Tails smiles. "And we'll be able to get out, too. Sounds like a good plan."

Sonic turns off the screen on the device. "That brings us to our next question. What exactly do we do once we get there?"

—–—

Sonic finishes explaining to the rest of the Rebellion in the filled-up mess tent, "It's simple. We take out the guards, pop a few floats, make a quick speech, and get out of there before backup shows up. If anything goes wrong, we just meet back up at the rendezvous point a bit early. Everyone clear?"

His question is met with a collection of nods through the room.

"Good. We leave in an hour. Do whatever you have to to get ready."

The level of chatter rises in the room as everyone stands to leave. Rouge takes a few moments longer than the rest. When she finally stands, she avoids any eye contact, leaving the tent into the orange twilight of the canyon. She keeps walking beyond the remaining tents, until she reaches the base of the river that flows out through the rest of the canyon. The sound of the waterfall that cascades down from above roars loudly. Rouge stares at the flowing water for several moments.

"Is everything okay, Miss Rouge?"

Rouge looks up with surprise. Big sits on the opposite side of the river bank, fishing from the water. After a moment, she answers, "It's…nothing you should be worried about."

"But you look worried."

She sighs. "I just… I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing is all. If I go through with this…there might not be any going back."

"It's okay to take risks for someone you care about."

"What about myself?"

"Do you care about yourself?"

Rouge blinks a few times in surprise. But then she shakes it off. "I have a call to make." She turns to leave. Big gives an eerie smirk after her.

Rouge keeps walking down the river until she's well out of earshot of anyone in the camp. Finally, she stops, and pulls out a small communication device. "This is Rouge. You were right. There's a new plan. It goes down in an hour."

—–—

The Rebellion, Rouge included, has gathered in a group out in front of the mess tent. Sonic does a quick head count. "Alright, everyone's here. Cream, Big, Charmy, we're counting on you to hold down the fort while the rest of us are gone. We shouldn't be long, but make sure you contact us if anything happens." Three nods respond. "Is everyone else ready?" More nods. "Alright. Shadow…" He pulls out the glittering yellow Chaos Emerald. "…I might need some help with this one. A lot more people than I'm used to."

Shadow places a hand on Sonic's arm. "I'm right here."

Sonic nods, and raises the Emerald high into the air. "Hold on tight, everyone. Chaos…Control!" The entire remaining group is enveloped in a bright blue flash.

And an instant later, they reappear in another flash, on the rooftop of a skyscraper hundreds of miles away. Little of the remaining dusk light penetrates through the hazy city air, but the light from the windows and streets of the bustling city give a clear view of the skyline all around. Just a block away, colorful spotlights sweep back and forth from the ground below, marking the path of the coming parade.

"Everyone make it alright? Good." He holds the Emerald out to Shadow. "You should hold on to this."

Shadow holds up a hand to stop him. "Keep it. Just in case."

"Okay. Then let's get to work:"

—–—

Down on the streets, citizens of many races and species are gathered in great lines down the sidewalks, staring up silently as confetti rains down from the sky. Speakers loudly blare the same upbeat theme of the Eggman Empire heard before, and the sound of cheering can be heard as the first float approaches between the skyscrapers, depicting a more classic appearance of Eggman, even blown up in a familiar pose. Despite the odd cheering, there don't seem to be many happy faces in the crowd. Large digital screens hung up on the walls of buildings show zoomed images of what appears to be the same crowd, though that digital crowd seems unusually excited. Several of the real people in the back rows give an occasional nervous glance back at the guard robots stationed periodically behind the groups of people, weapons raised raised up to their chests as if prepared to fire on a moment's notice.

One robot is suddenly drawn back into the shadows in a blur, and the sound of crunching metal can be heard. No one seems to notice. A few moments later, another disappears in the same way. This time, just a few people manage to see. Whispers quickly begin to spread through the crowd. The guard robots start to scan around on high alert, but still they disappear one by one, some hit with weapons, others by more direct attacks. By the time the second float approaches, depicting the Egg Mobile carrying a large checkered ball on a chain, there's a clear excitement and confusion amongst the crowd. And that's when Sonic appears on top of it.

He wears a large earpiece with a microphone that extends most of the way down to his mouth. When he speaks, his voice is greatly amplified, booming through the streets of the city. "Citizens of Empire City! As most of you probably know, my name is Sonic the Hedgehog!" All of the screens on the walls that had been showing the floats are now pointed directly at him, so the entire city can see. "No matter what Eggman's been trying to tell you, I'm still alive, and I'm still fighting!"

The members of the Rebellion, now spread throughout the crowd, start to cheer. The rest of the crowd quickly joins in.

"Eggman wants us to give up! To accept his rule, to celebrate it! But we're doing no such thing! The Rebellion will keep fighting until this world is ours again! And if you care about this world, if you're tired of Eggman's tyranny, then you can–"

"You can scatter like insects to avoid a far worse fate." Infinite's voice projects through the streets just as loudly as Sonic's. "Because your little blue savior won't be saving anyone today." Infinite descends down to stand on the float across from Sonic, caught on the cameras for the whole city to see.

Sonic doesn't lose his confidence. "Well, look who's back from the dead. The masked clown. I almost can't believe you've been hiding from me all this time. It's been years, hasn't it? Guess I must've left a pretty big impression."

Infinite lets out a booming laugh as he adjusts the mask on his face. "How amusing it is that you think I fear you, filthy little sewer rat. It may have been years for you, but it wasn't so long ago that I held your life in my hands. You are the only one who has something to fear."

"I wasn't afraid of you before, and I've only gotten stronger since then."

"You could never defeat me alone."

"I never said I was alone."

On the streets below, the members of the Rebellion step forwards amidst their crowds, cheered along by the citizens around them.

Infinite pushes his mask up once again. "True. But then, neither did I."

Heavy King slams down onto the street in front of Knuckles and Hero. Citizens immediately begin to scatter, screaming in terror with the new danger so close to them. But he is also not alone. Heavy Rider zooms through the streets, skidding to a stop in front of Amy and Tails. Heavy Gunner jets through the air, drifting down with weapon pointed at Shadow and Omega. Heavy Shinobi leaps in to cut off the escape route of Vector and Espio.

"So, you're working with Eggman again? Guess some things never change."

Infinite answers as he lifts back into the air, "We've been expecting you. Are you afraid yet?"

"Hmph." Sonic wipes across the bottom of his nose, and takes off at a run, leaping from the float in a Spin Attack. Infinite dashes to the side to avoid the attack, but Sonic predicts this, uncurling at the last moment and grabbing him by the wrist, using his momentum to swing around into a hard kick at his back. Infinite is knocked away as Sonic lands down on the bouncy ground of the float beneath him.

Infinite turns with rage, slashing through the air with his blade to send a crimson shockwave at Sonic.

"Whoa! That's new." Sonic leaps back in time to avoid the attack, but the wave continues to shred a massive tear through the fabric of the float, sending a great gust of air blowing out from the inside. Sonic only regains his footing for a moment before the float starts to fall beneath him. He to leaps over the side to avoid becoming tangled in it, wraps a hand around one of the cables that was used to tether it to the ground, and starts to slide towards the ground at a rapid pace. But as he descends, Infinite dashes in, covered in his Ruby aura, and slams into Sonic from above, sending him crashing straight down into the street.

Tails and Amy run past, Heavy Rider close behind them. The Rider tries to hit them both with her flail, but Amy turns and swings her hammer back at it. The two weapons collide and bounce off of each other, throwing the Rider off balance and causing her to veer temporarily off course.

As Heavy Rider passes Heavy King, he raises his scepter and fires off a sphere of energy. Knuckles dodges out of the way as he runs in for a punch, but the King knocks him aside with a swing of the staff. Hero fires off his Wispon as a missile flies past behind them.

Shadow kicks the missile back where it came from, while Omega fires off one of his own. Heavy Gunner flies out of the way of both of them, then fires off a volley of three more at once. Two of them impact the ground just in front of Shadow and Omega, exploding in their faces. The third continues on past.

Vector takes advantage of the stray projectile, redirecting it towards Heavy Shinobi. Without turning, the Shinobi tosses out an Asteron that explodes on contact with the missile. Then he leaps in to slash at Espio. Espio parries with a kunai knife, trading slash after slash in a blur of motion.

Rouge watches all these battles unfold nervously, slowly stepping back into the shadows of an alleyway. Until she is stopped by the muzzle of a gun pointed at her head. Fang gives a smirk behind her. "Rouge. Fancy meeting you here."

Rouge starts to squint in contemplation. "Everyone is here. You couldn't have made it any more obvious. What's your game?"

Fang lowers his weapon slowly. "Things are about to change, dearie. But don't take it from me." He steps aside, as another figure approaches from the shadows behind him.

Rouge gasps. "Sylvester?"

Sly steps into the light, resting his chin on top of the hands he folds over the top of his wooden staff. "Hello, sweetie. Let's make this look convincing, shall we?"

Sonic, bruised but still fighting, sidesteps a bolt of energy as he rushes towards Infinite. Infinite makes two quick dashes through the air, ending up behind Sonic's back to deliver a strike with the hilt of his blade, knocking him face down onto the floor.

Sonic struggles to rise back up to his feet. He looks around. Every one of the isolated battles seems to be a struggle. And swarms of guard robots are marching in from all sides to join the fight.

Infinite taunts, "Don't you see that you've already lost? What have you shown these people today? That you're outnumbered and outmatched. That you bring danger, destruction, wherever you go. And now, you have two choices. You can fail them completely. Or you can show them how you give up and flee when the odds are against you. Your choice."

Sonic lets out a growl. But his hand moves to the communicator in his ear. "Everyone…fall back. I repeat, fall back."

Infinite doesn't let him get any farther than that, rushing at him to slash directly with his blade. Sonic has to put all of his dwindling energy into keeping away from the sharp sword. It isn't long before voices start calling into his ear, "We can't get away!" "There's too many of them!" "We're pinned down!"

Sonic leaps backwards, putting distance between him and Infinite. "Don't worry, everyone. I'm coming." Still staring Infinite defiantly in the eye, he suddenly lifts his Chaos Emerald high into the air. "Chaos Control!"

Infinite charges at him once again, but passes straight through the flash of light he disappears into. Sonic instantly reappears between Tails and Amy, grabs them both by the hands, and disappears again. Over and over again, Sonic flashes all around the battlefield, grabbing each member of the Rebellion one by one all in a matter of seconds.

Just a moment later, they all drop onto a nearby rooftop. Sonic immediately collapses onto his back, gasping for breath. "That's… …all I got…"

Shadow looks around almost frantically. "Where's Rouge? She isn't here!"

"I… …didn't see her. …I don't know where she is…"

"Give me the Emerald, I'll go back for her!"

Knuckles points out over the side of the building. "Look, there she is!"

Rouge flies up towards them from the streets below, clearly straining herself to move as quickly as she can. She appears bruised from a fight. A crimson streak flies up behind her, gaining rapidly. It's Infinite. He draws his blade as he gets close to striking distance. Shadow suddenly appears in a flash, kicking Infinite away, grabbing Rouge, and warping them both back to the rooftop.

Heavy Gunner rockets up towards them, and Heavy Shinobi leaps between building walls on his own approach. Already, Infinite has resumed his course. Shadow has helped Sonic back to his feet. Together, they shout, "Chaos Control!" The brightest flash yet envelops the Rebellion, and they disappear.

The three attackers meet on the empty rooftop just a moment later. But there's no one else there. As Infinite settles down onto the rooftop, he clutches at his head. "Urngh."

"Good work, Infinite." Fang rises up over the side of the building, standing on the seat of a hovering orange and blue airbike. Sly sits in the seat behind him, giving a casual salute in greeting. "For a moment there, I almost thought you were going to kill her." He looks up to the two Heavies. "Thanks for the backup. You guys are free to go." Gunner gives a formal salute, and Shinobi a deep bow, before they both exit the way they came.

Infinite slowly reaches for the Ruby on his chest. He takes it off, and turns it around to look at its front. The slow crawling of black rings across its surface are interrupted by a small crack that runs across the Ruby's side. "No…"

"Everything alright there?"

"I didn't have enough power to continue the fight. I had to overclock the prototype. It was damaged under the pressure."

"That wouldn't have happened if you'd just asked the Doctor for a power source."

"No."

"Suit yourself. But don't forget where that pride of yours has gotten you so far. Now come on. It's time to finish this phase of the plan."

Infinite stares at the crack in the Ruby for a while longer. "You had best hope that this plan of yours is worthwhile."

—–—

The Rebellion finally reappears in their home canyon, dropped onto the floor by the rushed warp. Everyone slowly climbs back to their feet, groaning and muttering. Sonic clutches at his own head. "Ugh. That was a disaster."

A distant boom sounds through the air. Everyone looks up. Just above the lip of the canyon, the first firework of the nearby Westside Village show shines a dazzling red light through the night.

Tails shakes his head in disbelief. "Of all the things that could've gone wrong… Infinite, working for Eggman again…I can't believe it." Shadow nervously glances away.

Knuckles steps right up to Sonic. "I think we have a bigger problem to talk about, Sonic. We can't hide it anymore."

Shadow puts on a scowl. "What's he talking about?"

Knuckles answers, "Eggman wasn't just ready for us. He knew exactly what we'd be doing, where and when we'd be doing it. He put every one of his most powerful allies in to stopping us."

Rouge hesitantly comments, "Not…every. Didn't you notice the Magician was missing?"

Knuckles shouts, "It doesn't matter! There's only one way Eggman could've known what we were doing with that much certainty!"

Everyone looks to Sonic. He glances at Rouge for a moment. Then he lets out a sigh. "What I'm about to say…isn't something that any of us want to hear. But I want everyone to stay calm. Knuckles and I…have suspected for some time…that we have a mole in the Rebellion. Someone, here at this camp with us, has been leaking information to the enemy."

Gasps sound through the crowd. Everyone looks around nervously between the people closest to them.

Shadow voices loudly, "That's impossible. I…I trust everyone here. There's no way that any of them could be a traitor."

Sonic closes his eyes. "I feel the same way. But we can't ignore this anymore. We have to start taking it seriously." He looks slowly across the entire crowd. "There's only one fair way to do this. I'm going to talk to every one of you, one-on-one, in my tent. In the meantime, you're all going to stay out here, together. No one goes off alone, for any reason. Shadow…you're up first." He waves him along as he turns for the tents. "Come with me."

Everyone else watches with wide eyes as they leave. They all look to each other again, remaining in an awkward silence.

—–—

Shadow doesn't sit down in the chair across from Sonic at his desk, electing to remain standing. "So do you have any suspicions about who this mole could be?"

Sonic folds his hands up on the desk. "Shadow…I'm the one asking questions here."

"You aren't seriously saying that I'm a suspect, are you?"

Sonic sighs. "It's like you said, Shadow. I want to trust everyone here. But it's clear that I can't. So I can't look over anyone. I'm just going down the chain of command first, I thought that made sense."

"Yeah? Well what about you? How do we know that you aren't the mole?"

"Me!? Why would I be working with Eggman!?"

"Exactly my point. It's ridiculous to think that anyone here could be."

"Well do you have some other idea about what could be going on here?"

"I do have one."

Sonic raises an eyebrow. "Go on…"

"There's one member of the Rebellion who is…stubborn, prideful, and clumsy. I don't think that he'd intentionally betray us. But if…he accidentally let something slip out…if he…had a bug put on him…I don't think he'd notice. And if he did, he certainly wouldn't let anyone know how badly he messed up."

"You're talking about Knuckles, aren't you? You can't be serious."

"On February 28th, he had an encounter with a thief, who he supposedly drove off without issue. If that thief were an agent of Eggman, it could've happened then."

"Interesting theory. Here's another one. What happened to you on March 22nd?"

"What?"

"Your mission to track down Infinite ring a bell? You were keeping all sorts of secrets from me on that day. You reported that you found him, but he got away. And now we know that he actually is an agent of Eggman. Did anything else happen that I should know about?"

"…No."

"I think you're lying. Infinite mentioned something today about holding my life in his hands. That was at the end of the second war, when I was still knocked out. Did you…make a deal with him, Shadow? Did you offer him something in exchange for my life?"

"…Not exactly…"

"Have you been giving him information?"

"No."

"Have you been helping him in any way?"

"No."

"Is it possible that you were compromised in the same way that you accuse Knuckles?"

"…It's possible."

Sonic lets out a sigh. "Look me in the eye, Shadow. If you had a secret that put the entire Rebellion at risk, would you still try to keep it anyway?"

Shadow doesn't answer immediately. "…No. I couldn't keep a secret like that."

Sonic closes his eyes. "I believe you. And I don't think that you're the traitor. But these are questions I'm being forced to ask." He pauses to think for another moment. "You can go now. Bring Tails in." Shadow turns to leave. "And Shadow?" He stops. "No more secrets. You and I have come too far for that."

Shadow doesn't answer as he leaves.

Once he's gone, Sonic lets all of his weight fall back into his chair with a sigh, leaving his head dangling over the top as he stares straight upwards. "Is this really worth it?"

—–—

"A couple weeks ago, you told me that the piece of Nocturnus tech you were studying went missing. Did you ever find it?"

Tails shakes his head, looking the slightest bit nervous. "No."

"Hypothetically speaking, if it fell into Eggman's hands, what could he do with it?"

"I'm not sure. I never figured out what it was. But my best guess is that it was a gadget, not a weapon."

"Is there any reason why Eggman might have wanted it?"

"I don't know. Scientific curiosity?"

"Yeah, right." Sonic thinks for another moment. "Tails…if we were being…spied on…like with cameras or microphones or something…would you be able to scan for that?"

"Yes, and…I actually already am."

"Oh?"

"Yep. After Knuckles had that run-in with the thief, you asked me to set up a basic security system, remember? It took a while, but got some proximity sensors up around the camp, and they also sweep for unusual transmissions."

"And I guess that means you haven't picked up any?"

"Nothing besides our usual communications channels."

"And if word were getting out on the same frequency as our comms?"

"We wouldn't be able to tell, not if the transmissions were scrambled. But…"

"But what? Tails, tell me anything, no matter how insignificant it might seem."

"Well…I wouldn't pick up anything at all that goes on outside the range of the camp. And…people come and go all the time. Sometimes late at night."

"Who goes out at night?"

"Umm…well, Rouge probably goes out most…there's also Shadow…and Big and Knuckles have gone out a few times, too."

"So…you've been spying on us, then?"

"What!? No, I–"

"I'm joking, I'm joking. It's good that you have this info."

"It's not like I'm keeping tabs on everyone at all times, it's just that the security system sees who comes and goes, and I look over the data to make sure nothing's off."

"Don't worry, I believe you." Sonic closes his eyes. "Tails…you know that you're my best friend in the whole world. And…I'd never do anything to hurt you. But…I have to ask…do you know anything else about what's going on? Anything at all?"

"No, I don't, I promise."

Sonic starts to chuckle a bit. "Oh, who am I kidding? You would never hide anything from me."

"Heh heh… Yeah…"

Sonic suddenly leans in closer, putting on a stern face. "You would never hide anything from me, right?"

"Umm…"

Sonic laughs even harder. "I'm just messing with ya. You can go."

–—

"Tell me what you know, Knuckles."

"I've already told you everything. The enemy knows things they shouldn't. Which means someone's been telling them."

"What tipped you off about that?"

"Something Heavy King said the last time I saw him. As if you needed more proof than what happened tonight."

"You fought him again tonight. Did he give you any more clues?"

"Nothing but the usual taunting that they're always steps ahead of us, and we can never outthink them, and yadda yadda yadda."

Sonic pauses for only a moment. "Who do you think the traitor is?"

"I have a theory. Shadow."

Sonic lets out a soft groan. "Of course. Do explain."

"I've told you before that I don't trust him. And didn't you hear him out there, what was he trying to pull? 'I trust everyone here,' don't you think that sounds a little out of character for him? He's definitely hiding something."

"I've already talked to him about his secrets. He's changed this last year, you know."

"I'm sure that's exactly what he wants you to think. …He accused me, didn't he?"

"I can't tell you that right now."

"You don't actually believe that it's my fault, do you?"

"I don't know. Was it?"

Knuckles stands in a fury. "Of course not! How could you say that!?"

"I have to be thorough, Knuckles. Or everything could fall part." He closes his eyes and sighs. "You can–"

Knuckles turns and storms out without waiting for the last word.

—–—

"Amy…"

—–—

"Vector…"

—–—

"Hero…"

—–—

"So…Big…"

"Yes, Mr. Sonic?"

Sonic bites his lip for a moment, seeming to choose his words carefully. "I…hear you've been leaving the camp late at night sometimes. What's that all about?"

"The fish like to go downstream when it's dark."

"Don't you…sleep?"

"When I feel like it."

"No…schedule or anything? You just…fish until your tired, and then you go to sleep, and then you wake up and start fishing again?"

"Yup."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. So…umm…have you noticed anything…funny, going on?"

"Funny how?"

"Like…anyone…behaving differently than normal?"

"Umm…well…everyone seems kind of worried about something right now."

"Yeah, I figured that much. Anything other than that?"

"Umm…" Big starts to think back. "…Nope."

Sonic shakes his head. "I don't know why I even asked you here, you can go."

Big stands to leave. As he moves out through the exit, he puts on a devious smirk.

—–—

"Omega…I already know that you're hiding something from me. But I promised I wouldn't ask about what you brought in that capsule, and I'm holding to that. But I will ask you this. Whatever it is, could it have anything to do with what's going on now?"

"Negative."

"And if it was related somehow, you would know about it?"

"Affirmative."

"It's still exactly where you left it, it hasn't been moved, or touched, or anything?"

"Affirmative."

"Can I be certain that you aren't lying to me?"

"I am not programmed to lie."

"Really? So even if Eggman captured you and asked you to share all the Rebellion's secrets, you wouldn't lie about it?"

"Affirmative."

"Well…at least you're honest about it. We might have to discuss this later. But for now, you can go."

—–—

"Espio…"

—–—

"Charmy…"

—–—

"Cream…"

—–—

Rouge sits in the chair opposite to Sonic. They sit in silence for quite some time. Finally, Sonic states, "I think you know why I called you here last."

"I guess I do."

"I was hoping it would never come to this."

"Me too."

"I'm going to ask you straight. Was it you?"

"…Yeah. It was me."

Sonic takes one long breath. "I don't know if I should be relieved…or disappointed."

"That it wasn't someone else? Or that I got caught?"

"Exactly."

"I know the feeling."

They sit in silence for a while longer. "You know I'm going to have to tell everyone. There's no going back."

"That's the way it is."

"…Remember when I asked if I could trust you?"

"Yeah."

"…I'm glad you remember."

—–—

Sonic and Rouge walk out of the tent together. "Everyone…I know who the mole is."

The crowd gasps. Shadow questions, "Well?"

Knuckles demands, "Don't leave us all in suspense! Let's hear it!"

Sonic looks over to Rouge. "Do you want to tell them? Or should I?"

Rouge slowly takes another step forwards. "It was me."

More gasps sound through the crowd. Knuckles puts on a scowl. Shadow clenches a tight fist. Big can't hide his smile. Tails questions cautiously, "So…what do we do now?"

Sonic thinks for a moment. Then he turns to Rouge. "We're going to put you under…house arrest. Until we figure out a more permanent option, you won't be allowed to leave your cave."

Shadow immediately steps forward. "I'll stand guard tonight."

Knuckles pushes past him. "Fine, but I'm taking the morning shift."

Sonic puts his hands up to calm them down. "Alright, alright, just…I need some sleep. I think we all do."

Shadow takes Rouge by the arm. "Come quietly."

—–—

The first light of dawn casts a gloomy grey color through the sky. Shadow still stands in front of a cave entrance, arms crossed, on alert. He looks over to the nearby row of tents along the canyon wall. There's no sign of any movement. He looks up to the dim sky. "I think that's long enough." He turns, and steps into the cave.

Rouge hangs upside-down from the ceiling above. "If you're looking for an explanation, I don't have one for you."

Shadow looks up at her without emotion. "Come down here."

With a sigh, Rouge drops, flipping through the air and landing on the ground in a crouch. "What do you want, Shadow?"

Suddenly, he grabs her by the wrist. "Let's get moving!" He takes off at a run, pulling her along behind him.

"Shadow, what're you–"

"Keep it down, we can't let anyone hear us."

Rouge doesn't seem sure what to say. But as they run through the canyon, away from the camp, she pulls out a small communication device, and flips a single switch on it. A small red light on it starts to flash continuously.

Shadow suddenly brings them both to a stop. "If we move past here, it'll set off the proximity sensors. But I have a plan." He pulls out the yellow Chaos Emerald. "Sonic never took it back. I can take you anywhere in the world, just say the word."

"What do you think you're doing, Shadow?"

"I don't know who it is that framed you, yet. But I'm going to find out. Until then, you're safer out there than you are in here. So where do you want to go?"

"Shadow…get out of here. You have to go, now. Pretend that I got out on my own, I don't want you involved with this."

"You promised you'd always remain by my side. And I'm not leaving yours now."

Another voice declares, "So!" Knuckles steps out from behind a bush. "It looks like we have ourselves two traitors." He points accusingly at Shadow. "I should've guessed that you were in league with her. It's no secret that you two are close."

Shadow steps up to him, and points right back. "Yeah? And it's no secret that you and Rouge have never gotten along. How do I know that you didn't frame her?"

"Me!? Frame her!? I'm the one who figured out there was a mole in the first place!"

"What better way to throw suspicion off yourself?"

Rouge cautiously backs away from them.

Knuckles suddenly turns to her and shouts, "You aren't going anywhere!"

Shadow steps between them. "Yes she is." He looks back at her. "Run. I'll keep him here."

Knuckles leans forwards until their eyes are only inches apart. "You wanna reconsider that?"

Shadow doesn't flinch. "No."

"Good. Because I've been waiting for an excuse to do this for a long time." Knuckles pulls back an arm, and throws the hardest punch he possibly can, aimed right at Shadow's face.

Shadow reels back several steps. After a moment, he moves his hand away from his own face, revealing two matching streaks of red along his cheek. "That actually hurt." Suddenly, he leaps at Knuckles, wrestling him to the ground.

Rouge looks from them to her escape route, uncertain of what to do. She shouts, "Both of you, stop it! It isn't safe here!"

Shadow and Knuckles ignore her, continuing to grapple along the ground, each attempting to pin the other down, and throwing punches whenever they can. They don't seem to notice the sound of the approaching airbike.

Fang brings his vehicle to a stop a few inches above the ground next to Rouge. "You called?"

Shadow and Knuckles both freeze mid-fight on the ground when they hear the voice. Knuckles, with one of his spines still held in Shadow's grip, growls, "Who the heck are you supposed to be?"

Fang waves them off. "Oh, don't mind me, just go back to…whatever it is you were doing." He looks to Rouge. "Hop aboard the Marvelous Queen, dearie. It's time to get you out of here." Silently, Rouge obeys, and steps into the back seat.

Shadow, his face still pinned to the ground by Knuckles' open hand, questions, "Rouge…what are you doing?"

Knuckles manages to push himself free, climbing to his feet, and pointing at Fang accusingly. "Hey, I remember you! You tried to steal the Chaos Emeralds! You're…uh- uh-" He thinks for another moment. "You're Nick!"

"It's Nack!" He freezes up for a moment. "Uh- I mean Fang! It's Fang!" He clears his throat, and tips down his hat. "Been a while, hasn't it Knuckles? I must say, I liked you much better when you were working against the Hedgehog. Even if you were a nuisance to me."

Shadow climbs to his feet as well. "Rouge…why are you going with him?"

"Shadow…I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you."

Fang tips his hat down again. "Well, it's been fun, but we really must be on our–"

Knuckles shouts, "Oh no you don't!" He leaps at him. "I'm gonna knock that stupid hat right off of your–"
"I warned you." With the skill of an expert gunslinger, Fang draws his weapon and fires off a shot from the hip in one fluid movement, shooting out a red energy bolt that strikes Knuckles square in the chest, knocking him back to the ground. With his opposite hand, he maneuvers the Marvelous Queen around and starts to drive it up and off. Shadow races after him along the ground. Without needing to look for more than a moment, Fang points the gun behind him and fires off another shot, hitting with perfect accuracy once again. With nothing left to stop him, he and Rouge fly off into the dawn sky.

Rouge starts to shout, "Did you just–"

"No, no, it was only a stun blast. I like to finish off my opponents with my own hands. This new blaster gets me there a bit more effectively than the ol' pop gun."

Rouge looks back behind them as the two collapsed figures shrink away on the ground. A crowd is quickly approaching from the camp. The tiny figure of Sonic looks up as he moves, seeming to be the only one who notices Rouge as she flies away.

—–—

Inside of the Med Tent, Tails carefully wraps the bandage around Knuckles' chest one final time before tying it off.

Knuckles grunts under the pressure. "Ugh. Does it have to be so tight?"

"If you want your ribs to heal? Yes."

Tails takes a step back, just as Sonic walks in. Sonic silently looks from Knuckles to Shadow, who sit on two different stretchers. Each of them is covered in grass, dirt, and bruises. Shadow has a large patch bandage over his cheek. Finally, Sonic lets out with a scowl, "Would anyone care to explain?"

Knuckles and Shadow slowly glance towards each other. At once, they both answer, "We were attacked."

Sonic doesn't seem amused. "Oh. So I guess this 'attacker' single-handedly wrestled two of my strongest fighters to the ground," he points to Knuckles, "gave you two cracked ribs and a concussion," he moves over to Shadow, "gave you a suspiciously Knuckles-shaped wound that would've torn right through the flesh of any normal person, and then shot you both for good measure?"

They can both only reply, "Uhh…"

"You know what? No. I don't want to hear it. Now I'm going to pretend, for right now, that you two weren't acting like complete children, because I have way too much other crap to deal with. And you are going to tell me about this attacker."

Knuckles is quick to answer, "It was Nack."

"Nack? Where have I heard that name before?"

"It was years ago. Back when you and I still didn't get along."

"You mean, back when Eggman could still trick you into working for him?"

"Yeah, whatever. He tried to take the Chaos Emeralds for himself while we were fighting over them. He was a lot of trouble."

"Big tooth, big hat, always freaking out and tripping over himself?"

"That's him. But he wasn't doing any of that this time. He was quick, and precise."

"Guess he's been practicing." He looks over to Shadow. "And you, tell me about Rouge."

Shadow closes his eyes. "She was expecting him. He said she'd called her. It's clear they'd been planning this."

"And you?"

"I…I didn't believe it was really her. Not until he showed up."

Sonic doesn't seem to fully believe him. But he closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Now let me make one thing absolutely clear. Neither of you, under any circumstances, for any reason, is going after her. Is that understood?"

They both object at once, "But–"

"Is that understood, yes or no!?"

After a moment, they both respond, "Yes, sir."

"Good." Sonic turns to leave just as angrily as he came in, waving for Tails to come along with him. But he stops at the door. "Whatever personal problem you two have…solve it. That's an order." He exits without another word.

Shadow and Knuckles slowly glance at each other once again. After a few awkward moments, Knuckles comments, "Well…can't say I've ever seen Sonic that angry before."

After a slight delay, Shadow responds, "I didn't know Sonic could be that angry."

"Yeah…but that look on his face was kind of hilarious." He breaks out into a chuckle, but almost immediately winces at the pain in his ribs.

Shadow cracks a smile. "I guess it was."

Knuckles lets out a sharp breath. After a while, he asks, "What do you think she's doing right now?"

"Getting acquainted with her new allies, I'm sure."

"I don't know. But don't you think she looked kind of…reluctant? Like she didn't really want to go? Like she was being…threatened, or kidnapped or something?"

"Of course she was reluctant. She's been exactly where she wants to be. She was found out. This was her plan B."

"Yeah…" Knuckles thinks on that for a while. "…What would you do, if you saw her again?"

Shadow remains silent for a long time. But finally, he answers. "I'd make her pay."

To be continued…