Hello! GuardianDragon98 here with a two-part special as we reach the home stretch for The Faith Tenrec Saga. This was originally supposed to be one chapter, but the story lengthened and this whole thing became a behemoth of a chapter with 43 PAGES. So I decided to split it into two parts. Hope you all enjoy.
Episode 12: Nominatus Strikes Back PART I
Faith stared at the cardboard target positioned ten feet away from her. Squaring her shoulders back, she looked at Sonic who nodded. "You got this, kiddo," the blue hedgehog told her.
Next to Sonic, Shadow decided to give the little tenrec some last-minute pointers. "Remember. Keep your form tight while you spin to increase your potential energy so you can travel further," he reminded Faith.
"Got it." Faith set her eyes on the target. 'This is it! I'm gonna do a Spin Dash this time for sure!' she thought before curling up into a ball and started spinning in place. Sonic and Shadow watched from the sidelines as the little pink and lavender ball continued spinning, tiny purple sparks shooting out in all directions. Then, after about 12 seconds, Faith shot forward in a straight line towards the target. But, suddenly, Faith's curled-up form collided with a small rock that was half-buried in the sand.
"WHOOOOAAAAAAHHH!" Faith hollered as she tumbled head-over-heels into the sand, her face smacking into the cardboard target.
"Faith!"
Sonic and Shadow rushed to the little tenrec who was trying to get up. "Easy there, kiddo. Are you okay? Is there anything broken?" Sonic murmured as he helped a dazed Faith sit up.
"Dizzy…" Faith mumbled as her head bobbed to the side slightly. Once the world stopped spinning, she groaned and smacked her fists down on the sand. "I messed up again!" she mumbled, frowning crossly.
"It's okay, Faith. You've only been learning this for a week. It took me longer than that to master it," Sonic reassured her.
"I know…" Faith's cheeks went pink. "But I wanna learn how to do a Spin Dash soon so I can help you guys fight Eggman and the other villains," she admitted.
"You know you're not required to do that, sweetie," Shadow reminded her as he combed sand out of her quills.
"Yeah, but I wanna help you guys," Faith told him and Sonic.
"And we appreciate you wanting to help, kiddo." Sonic gently kissed the side of her head and helped her up, dusting off her clothes. "But Shads and I would rather see you safe instead of getting caught in the crossfire. Fighting bad guys, you leave that to us until you're a little older. Then we'll see," he said.
"Okay…" Faith nodded, disappointed but hopeful. She just needed more training and more time to grow. As soon as she mastered using her electrokinesis and the Spin Dash, maybe she would be allowed to help Team Sonic and Team Dark in their missions. She'd get to help Sonic and Shadow protect everyone!
"I wanna try again!" she said, grinning.
"You never know when to quit, huh?" Shadow chuckled. "That shows you're determined, Faith. I like that," he said before suddenly dashing back into the hut and returning with a helmet. "But let's minimize the risk of head injuries first," he said.
Faith pouted and looked at Sonic, wine-colored eyes big and pleading. "You guys don't wear helmets when you Spin Dash," she pointed out.
"True, but that's probably because our heads got harder as we aged. You're still growing kiddo. Those bones of yours aren't as tough as ours yet," Sonic said, smiling a little when Shadow tried to put the helmet on Faith only for the little tenrec to hide behind him.
"Faith, come on. This is because we don't want you to get hurt." Shadow tried again only for Faith to make a break for it. Sighing, he looked at his boyfriend. "Little help?" he asked.
"She's headed for the house. You go in and I block the doorway," Sonic suggested. The two hedgehogs smiled and put their plan into action. Poor Faith had only passed the threshold of Sonic's shack when Shadow appeared before her with the helmet. Turning around, she saw that Sonic was standing in the doorway and blocking any attempts at escape.
Sighing in defeat, Faith bowed her head and accepted the helmet which Shadow carefully placed on her head. But when the trio left the shack, they found Tails and the others waiting for them.
"Hi, guys!" Faith waved to Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Sticks, Rouge, and Omega. "What's up?"
Tails looked at Sonic and Shadow, confused. "Did you guys forget about today?" he asked.
"Uh… it's Thursday?" Sonic guessed.
"No. Tommy Thunder's fan event is today! He's at the village promoting his new movie," Knuckles reminded his best friend.
Sonic looked at Faith then at Shadow. "You two wanna go…?" he asked. Truth be told, he hadn't been much a Tommy Thunder fan ever since the guy showboated after shadowing him to learn method acting.
"I lost interest after Lord of the Things: Return of the Bling. I'd rather do something more productive," Shadow scoffed.
"I wanna go!" Faith took off her helmet, shaking her quills out. "Stratford and the other kids like him. I wanna see what makes Tommy Thunder cool to them," she said with a smile.
Shadow looked at Faith's smiling face and sighed, "I'll come with." He couldn't say no to his little girl.
Hedgehog Village's town square was a lot more crowded than usual. She saw Stratford and Thalia excitedly waiting behind a couple of velvet ropes, wearing shirts with a tiger's face on them. Everyone was chatting and more people were gathering behind her, Team Sonic, and Team Dark while they waited along with them.
Faith felt her arms prickle as the crowd got bigger around her. She sidled closer to Sonic and squeezed his hand. Sonic looked down and smiled at her. "You okay, kiddo? Wanna ride on my shoulders?" he offered.
"Um, n-no thanks. I'm okay." Faith shook her head. She knew that Sonic was offering a piggyback ride so she'd feel less caged in. But she was a big girl! She could handle a big crowd. Crowds weren't scary!
Somebody announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, here to promote his new film, 'Attack of the Giant Ant-People in Space,'…Tommy Thunder!"
And then the crowds started screaming.
Faith looked around, bewildered, before the crowds surged forward. Her hand was torn from Sonic's grasp and she was pushed and jostled away from him, Shadow, and the rest of the gang.
"Sonic! Shadow!" Faith cried out as she tried to move through the wild rush of Mobians moving forward.
Sonic and Shadow both cried out in alarm and also tried to shove their way through the crowds, desperate to reach the little tenrec.
"Faith! Faith! Kiddo?!" Sonic shouted, his voice lost in the hysterical fanboying and fangirling as Tommy Thunder strode through the plaza. The actor was oblivious to the growing panic as he signed autographs and posed for photographs.
Faith forgot about her plans to see what made Tommy Thunder so famous among her friends. What movies he starred in didn't matter to her anymore as she found herself lost in a sea of faces that were familiar but were not Sonic and Shadow.
"Faith, where are you?!" Shadow yelled as Rouge and Tails took to the skies to help with the search.
"Sonic! Shadow!" Faith shouted again. Already, she could feel her lightning threatening to lash out as her entire body shook. The people around her kept shouting and cheering, her little ears ringing from the volume, and they kept moving. She turned her head left and right, trying to catch a glimpse of blue, green, black, and red. But the crowds kept surging forward and she couldn't see Sonic or Shadow. One overly eager fan rushed forward and bumped into her, sending her falling. Faith yelped and held her hands out in front of her to break her fall. Instead of falling flat on her face, she fell onto all fours.
But now the crowds seemed so much larger and everyone's faces loomed over her…
"S-Sonic? Sh-Shadow?" Tears threatened to spill from Faith's eyes as she did her best to avoid getting stepped on. Sparks began to fizz out of her quills as she covered her ears.
Rouge and Tails frantically searched through the crowd from the air, their ears pricking up at the sound of thunder. The two of them only needed to glance up to know what was going to happen if they didn't find Faith soon.
The crowd suddenly changed direction, moving to the right as Tommy Thunder began to leave to go to his hotel. Caught up in the tide of Mobians, Faith was pushed and shoved forward before suddenly slamming into the actor's back.
"What…?" Tommy turned around to find a little tenrec girl trembling before him. "Well, hey there, kid. Photo? Autograph? Tommy Thunder ain't got all day," he said, flashing the kid his million-dollar smile.
"S-Soni… Sh-Shad…" Faith whimpered, the tears spilling from her eyes.
"Uh, kid…?" Tommy's eyes widened as purple sparks suddenly started coming out of the kid's hands. And he was pretty sure they weren't visual effects.
Scared out of her mind, Faith squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, "DAAAAD! PAPAAAAAAA!"
Lightning streaked across the sky and, simultaneously, Tommy Thunder and at least half a dozen people screeched as they got electrocuted. Faith didn't see all of this as she wailed. She wanted to go home! She wanted Sonic and Shadow!
"MOVE! OUT OF THE WAY!"
"FAITH! IT'S OKAY, KIDDO!"
The two hedgehogs saw the flash of brilliant purple lightning and panicked. Shoving aside villagers, Shadow and Sonic ran to Faith who was crying while a dazed Tommy Thunder stared at her, his striped orange fur sticking out in all directions.
"Oh, hey, Sonic…" Tommy greeted the cobalt speedster who ignored him. Frowning, he put his hand on his hips. "Oh, come on. You're not still crabby about me taking all the credit for that Eggman defeat last year?" he asked.
"Can it, Irwin!" Sonic snapped, using the actor's real name, and focused on soothing a crying Faith. The little tenrec's body was still coated in a light armor of sparks but he didn't hesitate. Swallowing back a yelp, Sonic scooped Faith up into his arms.
"It's okay… It's okay, kiddo… You're okay…" he murmured as he gently rocked the little tenrec in his arms while Shadow combed his fingers through Faith's lavender-tipped quills.
"It's okay, Faith. We're here… We're here now…" Shadow whispered, hiding his winces as Faith's electricity continued to act up. The poor kid was wailing into Sonic's chest and her tiny fingers dug into the blue hedgehog's shoulders in a vicelike grip. Lightning continued to rage across the sky, some stray bolts striking the TV station's antennas and more even hitting Dr. Eggman's volcanic island lair.
The crowds went silent and watched as the two hedgehogs took turns holding and soothing Faith. A few of the electrocuted backed away slowly and hid among other members of the crowd. Meanwhile, Tails, Rouge, Amy, Knuckles, Sticks, and Omega managed to make their way to the front and waited, letting Sonic and Shadow take charge. They both held Faith, gently rocking her in their arms while rubbing small circles on her back, and softly murmured that everything was okay, that they were here now.
Tommy looked around and saw that everyone in the crowd was watching the whole interaction with rapt attention. He opened his mouth to ask what was going on before Mrs. Vandersnout shushed him.
"Don't ruin the moment…" the elderly wolf Mobian said quietly.
The sparks covering Faith soon dissipated as her bawling became soft whimpering sobs. "S-sorry… Sorry, Dad. Sorry, Papa… So sorry…" she hiccupped when she saw Sonic and Shadow's pained expressions.
"What? No. No, sweetie, no. You don't have to apologize…" Shadow reassured her and hugged her to his chest.
"Hey, Faith?" Sonic smiled at the little tenrec. "Let's go home. We don't need to stay here if you don't want to. Let's go home and just do whatever you wanna do. Sound good?" he suggested.
Faith sniffled and nodded. "…Okay, Dad," she whispered.
"Awwwwww!"
Sonic and Shadow glanced at the gathered crowd and blushed.
"N-Nothing to see here, folks!" Sonic said as he and Shadow quickly left the town square with Faith in tow.
No sooner had the three of them left did everyone start talking, excitement palpable in the air.
"Is it official then?"
"Are they adopting her?"
"Does Sonic know that he needs to renovate his house? Seriously, he and Shadow aren't seriously thinking of raising Faith in that bungalow, are they?"
"Okay, I'm confused." Tommy looked at some of the local security guards that had been escorting him. "What the heck just happened?" he asked. Nobody was talking about him or Attack of the Giant Ant-People in Space and the impromptu electro-shock therapy he got from the strange kid left his brain feeling a little fried.
Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Sticks, and Rouge merely looked at each other, smiling. Up above, the storm clouds parted to let in the sun once more.
In between helping Faith clean up and lavishing her with hugs and cuddles, Sonic and Shadow realized what happened. They decided to sit down and watch Little Witch Academia with Faith, partly because she wanted to watch the anime and partly because they needed to sit down as realization dawned on them. While Faith quietly munched on strawberries, completely enraptured by her favorite anime, Sonic and Shadow sat on either side of her. It was only when the show's ending credits played did they look at each other, their eyes shining with joyful tears, one thought bouncing around in their minds.
'She called us Dad and Papa.'
"Finally…" Dr. Eggman sighed as he, Orbot, and Cubot emerged from behind the couch they'd flipped over to use as a barricade. Before him, his Badniks twitched and writhed on the floor before going still. About twenty minutes ago, a sudden electrical storm brewed and his lair was struck by several lightning bolts. The sudden power surge had overloaded the lair's systems and the Badniks had run amok despite the Doctor's frantic attempts to override their programming and shut them down. He, Orbot, and Cubot were forced to barricade themselves behind the couch and wait it out.
"That was some storm," Cubot remarked and lightly poked Crab Bot with a broom handle.
"Indeed. And quite an unusual one given its sudden formation and equally sudden disappearance," Orbot mused.
Dr. Eggman grumbled as he inspected his inventions. "That kid staying with Sonic and Shadow probably had a temper tantrum…" he guessed. So far, most of his gadgets had survived the ordeal. His panini press was working and so was the microwave. His Particle Accelerator was emitting a few sparks. He'll have to check it later once it was safe for him to handle. He then went to his lab where some of his newer inventions were stored. Included amongst the half-finished prototype Badniks and upgrades for Metal Sonic was his version of Tails' Build-it Box. He'd been lucky enough to steal a copy of Tails' blueprints while the fox was at one of Team Sonic's movie nights. It took several months to complete, but it had been worth it.
With his own Build-it Box, he could create the ultimate arsenal to finally take down that pesky blue pineapple and his do-gooder friends!
"Oho, almost forgot!" Dr. Eggman opened a drawer and got out a bag of sunflower seeds. He had to go feed Nominatus and his little friends. Luckily, he kept their terrarium in the lab as well.
"Feeding time, my little digital trio…" Dr. Eggman announced as he approached the terrarium. Once he got there, however, he was horrified to find the terrarium empty! Suddenly, he felt a prickle on the back of his neck.
"Hello, Doctor."
Eggman only had a second to mutter, "Oh, shoot…" before an energy beam struck him in the back of the head and his vision went dark.
'Something's different about Sonic and Shadow today…' Faith thought as the two hedgehogs guided her through her Spin Dashing. Sonic and Shadow watched her closely and smiled a lot more, always gentle whenever they helped her back onto her feet after a failed attempt at a Spin Dash. Every time she spoke, they seemed to hang on to every single word. It honestly made her feel a little self-conscious but happy at the same time. 'They must really believe in me… So I gotta work hard to learn how to Spin Dash! I'll make them proud!' Faith thought to herself as she curled up to try again.
She spun in place for about ten seconds before pushing herself forward using her toes. This time, she actually managed to make contact with the cardboard target! It was more of a bump, really. The target didn't even get knocked down but it was progress! Uncurling, Faith flopped onto her back on the sand with the biggest smile on her face.
"I did it!" she cheered before getting up and running over to Sonic and Shadow. "Did you see that? I hit the target!" she giggled, jumping up and down.
"You sure did, kiddo! We're so proud of you!" Sonic grinned and they fist-bumped.
Faith smiled and looked back at the cardboard target. "Next time, I'll knock it down!" she said, punching her right fist into her left palm, eyes shining.
"I'm sure you will, sweetheart. You just need to build up more momentum," Shadow told her, smiling warmly.
Faith nodded. "Yup! I'll do my best, Shadow!" she promised. To her bewilderment, Shadow's smile suddenly vanished and the black hedgehog looked… hurt?
"What's wrong?" Faith asked, tilting her head to the side.
Sonic gently nudged his boyfriend who quickly schooled his expression into a calm one. "I-it's nothing, Faith," he reassured the little tenrec.
Faith frowned and looked into Shadow's red eyes. "Was it something I said?" she asked softly.
"Everything's fine, sweetie. Don't worry. I just…" Shadow trailed off and glanced at Sonic, his boyfriend improvising.
"Shadow just realized that, eventually, you'll get the hang of the Spin Dash and… well, he felt a little sad knowing that you might not need him or me to teach you how to do it someday," Sonic said. He gently placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder.
"Oh…" Faith rocked back and forth on her feet. "But… you two still have lots to teach me! There's still so much that I don't know," she pointed out.
"And Shads and I are more than glad to teach you, kiddo," Sonic replied, grinning.
"Thank you, Sonic!" Faith chirped. But, again, she was confused to see Sonic's grin drop. Looking at Sonic and Shadow, she asked, "Okay, what is it? You guys suddenly look… sad?" she questioned them.
At this, Sonic and Shadow both looked at each other and sighed.
"We just didn't… expect you to call us by name today, kiddo," Sonic admitted.
"Why wouldn't I call you two by your names?" Faith raised an eyebrow at them.
"Well, yesterday… when you got separated from us and while we were looking for you… we heard you call us…" Shadow managed to say before looking at Sonic.
"Dad." Sonic smiled softly at Faith.
"And Papa," Shadow concluded.
Faith stared at them, stunned, as the gears in her head started to turn, taking her back to the events of yesterday. Yesterday had been terrifying. All those people pushing and shoving around her while screaming. The feeling of utter helplessness as she was pulled further away from Sonic and Shadow. Just wanting to run up to them and feel their arms around her. She remembered calling out for them and then she started crying after…
Wait… she hadn't used their names that one time. Instead, she'd…
Oh.
Oh no.
"I-I'm sorry. I… I didn't realize…" Faith looked up at the two hedgehogs, eyes wide. "I won't do it again," she said quickly.
"No!" Sonic and Shadow immediately shouted. Seeing Faith step back all of a sudden, Sonic said, "What Shads and I mean, Faith, is… we don't mind it if you want to call us that."
"Y-you don't?" Faith mumbled, her hands held close to her chest.
"No. In fact, we'd be honored." Shadow knelt before Faith and gently ruffled her quills. "But if you're not comfortable with calling us that yet, it's okay," he reassured her.
Faith gripped her front quills and looked down at her teal boots. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came out. She looked at Sonic and Shadow again, and her heart ached with longing. She had called them 'Dad' and 'Papa' yesterday in the heat of the moment. She was so scared that those two words just came out of her mouth.
And Sonic and Shadow were completely okay with her calling them 'Dad' and 'Papa'. They wanted her to call them by those titles.
So why did it suddenly feel wrong for her to want that?
Her Daddy didn't want her. He never did. And she didn't really want to think of Joshua Tenrec as her father now. Maybe Beth and the other kids were right. If her Daddy was the worst, then he didn't deserve to be her parent. She deserved better parents who loved and cared for her the way Sonic and Shadow did.
Sonic and Shadow were better parents than Joshua. They deserved to be the ones she could call 'Dad' and 'Papa'. Not Joshua.
She wanted them to be her Dad and her Papa.
'Call them by those names again. Just say it! Say those two words!' Faith's brain whispered to her. Swallowing, Faith opened her mouth again.
"No one will ever want you."
Her Daddy's sneering face flashed in her mind, a memory of one of her worse beatings coming back to her.
She really shouldn't have lingered too long in front of the lady's house, looking hungrily at the plate of sandwiches the lady was enjoying on her front porch. If she hadn't been standing around there on the street, the lady wouldn't have noticed her. If she hadn't looked so hungry, the lady wouldn't have invited her over to eat those sandwiches with her. If she hadn't wolfed down all those sandwiches, the lady wouldn't have gotten worried and brought her home to Daddy and tried to talk to him about her being so thin. If she hadn't been so needy, her Daddy wouldn't have beaten her until she ended up throwing up all those sandwiches she'd eaten an hour earlier.
If, if, if, so many ifs.
If she had just stayed quiet, stayed away from people while she wandered the street to find something to fill her constantly growling stomach, none of this would have happened.
"So you thought you could charm her then? Bat those big eyes of yours and act like a starving waif until she fed you? Thought you'd give her ideas, didn't you?" Daddy yanked her up from the puddle of her own vomit by the quills. She whimpered and opened her mouth to say 'no' but her Daddy punched her in the mouth, a strangled cry leaving her lips instead.
"If you think you're going to get someone else to give a damn about you, think again, brat! I'm the only one who knows how to keep you and your curse under control." Daddy grabbed her right hand, the black rubber glove she wore squeaking in his grip. "The minute they realize what you are and what you can do, they're going to be afraid of you. And then they'll just bring you right back to me. So get that through your head, Faith. You're a cursed child. No one will ever want you," he growled.
"Faith, are you okay?"
Sonic's worried voice made Faith blink. Her cheeks suddenly felt wet. She wiped her hand across her cheek and let out a shuddery breath. Both Sonic and Shadow crouched down in front of her, their arms open.
"I…" Faith whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks. "I want…" she looked at the two hedgehogs, her bottom lip quivering. "I'm… I…"
"It's okay." Sonic and Shadow reached forward and embraced the little tenrec, letting her cry.
"If you don't want to… or if you're not yet ready, there's no problem with that, Faith," Shadow murmured, pressing a kiss to her quills.
"You can call us whatever you want," Sonic reassured her.
Faith could only nod, sniffling, as she held on to Sonic and Shadow, hoping and praying that they would never let her go.
While Sonic and Shadow were having a moment with Faith, Sticks was busy organizing her collection of shamanistic masks. "Alright. This mask of the goddess Bastet should keep the mice out," she mused as she positioned a black cat mask with golden ankhs on the bottom of her shelf. "And this one will keep all violins planted by government agents inside my home quiet!" She got out a stepladder and began to lift one more mask to place on the top shelf when her whole body went rigid. Sticks let out a strangled cry as she fell off her step ladder and landed on her back.
"Which one is this?" A tall, black, muscular figure with purple stripes on his belly loomed over her.
"The cuckoo one who doesn't use the Internet. Just bag her!" A smaller similarly-colored being told the former.
'I should have gotten the Luddite mask at that flea market…' Sticks thought before she was scooped up into a sack.
"Anyone seen Sticks lately?" Amy asked a week later over lemonade and some of her latest baking creations. They were all hanging out at her place, having just finished teaching Faith some of their moves.
"I stopped by her place a few days ago. The door was open and she'd left some weird shaman's mask on the floor," Rouge said and sipped her drink. 'Although that mask of Bastet will definitely be a welcome addition to my apartment,' she thought, smiling around her drink's straw.
"She must have left in a hurry then," Shadow remarked as he helped himself to some cookies.
"Is Ms. Sticks okay?" Faith asked, worried.
"She probably thought government spies are coming after her and she decided to go off the grid," Tails guessed.
"She does that sometimes, Lil' Spark. She'll be back soon," Knuckles reassured Faith upon seeing the confused expression on the little tenrec's face.
"Okay… I hope she comes back soon. I really wanna show her that I'm getting better at using that quarterstaff she gave me," Faith said, smiling a little. Apart from learning how to Spin Dash, the rest of the team thought it'd be a good idea to teach Faith some of their fighting techniques so she could learn to defend herself. Sticks and Amy were teaching her how to fight with melee weapons while Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles were teaching her hand-to-hand combat.
"I still get off balance when I swing the staff too hard, though…" Faith mumbled, blushing as she remembered how she'd accidentally stumbled into a tree while swinging her quarterstaff in rapid succession.
"You'll get better with practice, kiddo." Sonic ruffled her quills.
"And remember: the first try is usually the hardest. What matters is that you keep trying," Shadow chimed in.
"And you're getting better at your other moves. Especially your Thunder Punch!" Knuckles praised and Faith gladly fist-bumped him.
"Yeah! Ooh! Can we practice again later?" Faith asked Knuckles.
"We can squeeze in one more training session today. That is if your "parents" are okay with it." Knuckles' purple eyes gleamed as he cast a knowing look at Sonic and Shadow. He expected the two hedgehogs to blush at the comment but, instead, to his and the rest of the group's confusion, they tensed and looked at Faith. The young girl looked down at her half-empty glass of lemonade and mumbled, "Can I please go outside and see your flowers in the back garden, Ms. Amy?"
"Of course, sweetie." Amy nodded. But didn't miss the way Faith's shoulders were hunched over nor did she not notice the way she avoided looking Sonic and Shadow in the eye before leaving.
"She's not ready, Knux," Sonic reminded the echidna who had the decency to look sheepish.
"But she called you and Shadow…" Tails began before Shadow interrupted, "It happened in the heat of the moment. Maybe she wants to call us by those titles… but I think she's aware that it won't really mean anything so long as the threat of Joshua is hanging over her."
"Which means we need to find the guy soon so you two can push through with legally adopting her," Amy piped up then frowned at Sonic. "If you and Shadow are really serious about this, maybe it's time to take a look at your shack and consider renovating it. Faith should at least have her own room," she told him.
"Yeah, we're… still looking for a construction company to do that." Sonic smiled shyly at Amy. "But Shads and I already know who we want to hire as interior decorator," he said, making the pink hedgehog squeal with delight.
Knuckles was next to leave Amy's house. "I'm gonna find Faith and apologize…" he muttered as he went out. No sooner had he shut the door, he felt something hit him from the side and everything went black.
Faith was sitting behind Amy's house when she heard a noise coming from the front of the house. The noise reminded her of blast pistol fire from one of the video games she and Tails played. Curious, she went around to the front but found nothing. Sonic came out of Amy's house and saw her. "Hey, kiddo. You and Knux talk?" he asked.
"No." Faith blinked up at the blue hedgehog. "Mr. Knuckles wanted to talk to me?" she asked.
"Yeah, he…" Sonic looked around for Knuckles but found no trace of the echidna. "That's weird…" he muttered before feeling Faith tugging his hand.
"Was I rude? Leaving so quickly after Knuckles… you know…" the little tenrec said quietly.
"What? No, you were very polite, Faith. Knuckles just didn't know that you were dealing with… well, a lot of emotional stuff right now. He just wanted to apologize," Sonic told her, getting down so he could see eye-to-eye with Faith. "So don't feel bad, okay?"
"Okay…" Faith nodded before looking around. "But where is Mr. Knuckles?" she asked him.
Sonic shrugged then stood up. "I'll be back in a second, kiddo," he said before dashing off to look for his muscular friend. He zipped through the village, sprinted through the jungles and mountains, and ran down the beach before making his way back to Faith. True to his word, it had only taken him a second to run through the main island. And he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Knuckles. This didn't sit well with Sonic. 'He literally stepped out just a couple of minutes ago. He couldn't have gone far and he was looking for Faith, so what gives?' he asked himself before heading back inside.
"Knuckles is missing," he alerted the gang. Snack time over, they fanned out to conduct their search.
Faith stuck close to Sonic and Shadow as they went to a peaceful meadow Knuckles frequented. Her chest felt heavy. While Sonic told her not to feel bad, she couldn't help it. 'If I hadn't acted all weird when Mr. Knuckles called Sonic and Shadow my parents, he wouldn't be missing…' she thought as they went back to Amy's house after they finished searching the meadow.
Tails, Rouge, and Omega had come back. But Amy was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Amy?" Bewildered, Sonic looked at the remaining members of their search party.
"She went to search Hazard Jungle while Omega and I searched the canyons." Rouge spread her wings and lifted off the ground. "I'll go and bring her back," she said and soared towards the jungle. She called out to Amy, hoping the pink hedgehog was nearby, only to have the wind answer her.
"Come on, hun. Where'd you go?" Rouge muttered as she flew past a waterfall.
"ROUGE!" Amy's shrill scream cut through the roaring water, just a few meters to Rouge's left.
"Amy!" Rouge started flying in the direction of her friend's voice. Bursting through the tree line, she saw the pink hedgehog being carried away on the backs of a dozen Crab Bots.
Her teal eyes locked with Amy's light green and the latter shouted, "Rouge, go! Warn the others!"
Rouge hovered in the air and her jaw clenched. She could take these Badniks, but something about the way Amy looked at her made her feel uneasy.
Before she could even make a decision, something hit her in the back of the head and she knew no more.
The afternoon soon turned to dusk and dusk turned to evening with no sign of Amy or Rouge returning from the jungle.
"They should be back by now…" Shadow muttered while he patrolled the perimeter around Amy's house. He tried calling Rouge on his wrist communicator but his best friend didn't answer. Just like the 15 other calls he'd tried earlier.
"SHOULD ONE OF US GO LOOK FOR THEM?" Omega inquired. Shadow nodded and went back inside the house to find Sonic and Tails softly discussing possible areas to search while Faith was lying on the couch, fast asleep, her head resting on Sonic's lap.
"Omega and I will head out on another search. There's one place I don't think we've searched yet," Shadow said and pulled up a holographic map of a particular island fortress.
"Eggman." Tails frowned before he sat up straight. "You guys noticed that he hasn't pulled anything in the last week? We haven't even seen him in the village," he told Sonic and Shadow.
"Either Egghead went on vacation or he's been biding his time to pull off something big," Sonic theorized before looking at Shadow. "You and Omega need any backup for tonight?" he asked.
"No, I think it's best you and Tails stay here." Shadow momentarily looked down at Faith sleeping peacefully. Sonic looked down as well and smiled softly, gently shifting Faith's sleeping form so she was cradled securely in his arms. Faith let out a sleepy hum and snuggled into the blue hedgehog's scarf-covered chest.
"We'll be back soon enough. Hopefully, with the others," Shadow reassured Sonic, giving his boyfriend a chaste kiss.
"I ORDER YOU TWO TO KEEP MY NIECE SAFE WHILE SHADOW AND I SEARCH FOR OUR MISSING COMRADES." Omega stared down Tails.
"Our niece, remember?" Tails retorted, folding his arms across his chest.
"RIGHT. FAITH IS SONIC'S CHILD UNIT AND YOU ARE SONIC'S BROTHER, AUTOMATICALLY GIVING YOU 'UNCLE' STATUS," Omega realized before leaving with Shadow. Teleporting to Dr. Eggman's island fortress was easy. In fact, to Shadow's surprise, no Badniks came rushing to greet them. Pity. Omega had just been given a weapons upgrade by Tails yesterday and the E-series robot had been looking forward to testing them out on Eggman's creations.
Stepping up to the front door, Shadow quirked an eyebrow at Omega. "You wanna do the honors?" he asked, smirking.
"WITH PLEASURE." Omega activated his laser beam cannons and carved open the doors. Shadow ran in, a Chaos Spear cracking to life in his right hand.
This time, enemies came out to greet him and Omega. But…
'These Caterkillers look a little different,' Shadow observed as he and Omega went on the offensive. The robotic caterpillars slithered towards them, their jaws clicking hungrily. They looked sharper, their eyes less goofy-looking and more serpent than caterpillar.
"Chaos Spear!" Shadow thought that a single long-range attack would work. But the new Caterkillers curled up in unison and his Chaos Spear was absorbed into their armor.
"ENEMY DEFENSES ARE 150% HIGHER THAN STANDARD BADNIK. THEY ARE NOT EVEN MACHINES," Omega reported, firing a laser beam as the Caterkillers uncurled from their defensive positions and slithered over to them.
Shadow jumped just before one of them tried to wrap itself around him and aimed a kick at another, flinching when sharp spikes suddenly protruded from its underside and cut into his leg. "What do you mean they're not machines?! They clearly look like Badniks!" he yelled before he felt his entire body seize up, as if a dozen needles were pricking into him, pinning him in place like a dead butterfly to a board.
"They're my kind of Badniks."
Shadow locked eyes with Omega and tried to move his lips, to send the robot back to Sonic and Tails, but was helpless as Omega was also caught in the same energy blast as him. He heard footsteps behind him followed by the swish of fabric. A hooded figure came to greet the pair, the Caterkillers bowing their heads in reverence.
"Let's get you two settled in with the others," the hooded figure chuckled and, with Shadow and Omega still wrapped up in the pulsing energy, had his Badniks herd them deeper into the lair.
"I'm panicking."
"Maybe try not to."
"They should have been back hours ago."
"Sonic, let's stay calm."
"No calls, no messages, nothing. That's not like him, Tails. What if something happened to him or Omega?"
"I know you wanna go looking for him. But we gotta think of a plan first."
"It's not just him and Omega! Sticks has been gone for a week and I'm beginning to think it's not because she wanted to go off the grid! Then Knuckles went! Next, Amy and Rouge! We're being picked off one by one!"
Dawn was beginning to break over Seaside Island and Sonic and Tails, having stayed up all night, waiting for Shadow and Omega to return, were at a crossroads. Sonic glared at the floor as he paced back and forth, pulling at his quills. Tails sat on the table, his fingers feverishly tapping away at his Miles Electric. The latter had been trying again and again to contact their missing teammates but nothing was working.
Finally, Sonic sighed and gave up pacing. He walked over to the couch and slumped onto it. His eyes scanned the room and landed on the spot where he and Shadow had set up Faith's bed. The little tenrec was fast asleep, her training from yesterday having tired her out. Silently, he thanked the gods that she hadn't woken up when he started freaking out. "We need to find them, Tails… but…" he trailed off, looking at his little brother with a worried frown.
"But we can't leave Faith on her own…" Tails supplied the last part of the blue hedgehog's sentence. Sonic nodded and crossed the room to kneel by Faith's bedside. He reached out and gently brushed one of Faith's quills that had fallen over her face. Faith made a sleepy noise of protest and buried herself under the covers. That coaxed a small smile from Sonic as he tucked the blankets around her sleeping form.
Tails brewed a pot of coffee for himself and Sonic. Cereal from the box will have to do for their breakfast at the moment. Both brothers were too stressed to think about cooking. Sonic did pop a few strawberry Pop-Tarts into the microwave for Faith and poured her a glass of milk. When Faith woke up, she noticed that even more people were missing.
"Where are Shadow and Uncle Omega?" she asked between bites of her breakfast.
"Probably still on their rescue mission at Eggman's lair, kiddo." Sonic did his best to keep his mood light and put on the best smile he could muster. "But don't worry about them. Shads and Omega are two of the toughest guys Tails and I know. I'm sure they're okay," he reassured Faith.
Suddenly, the Miles Electric began beeping. Tails abandoned his coffee and picked it up, seeing an emergency call from Mayor Fink.
"Sonic!" Mayor Fink's distressed face filled the screen, and the sound of explosions dulled in the background. "The village is under attack! Eggman's using new robots! And I think some are headed for your…!"
The roof of the shack suddenly exploded in a hail of splinters. Sonic quickly pulled Faith and Tails under the dining room table as debris fell around them. Faith screamed as a horde of robot bats flew in, firing energy blasts out of their mouths. Tails got out a blaster and started firing at the intruders, pushing the table onto its side to serve as a barricade. Sonic curled up into a ball and aimed a couple of Homing Attacks at the robot bats.
"Ow!" Sonic yelped as he bounced off of one robot bat and landed on the floor, noticing the small cut on his forehead. "These guys are a lot sharper than any Badnik we've faced," he grunted. The bat he'd tried to attack him swooped down to attack but was stopped by a lightning bolt. It shrieked and fell to the ground, twitching. Then, to Sonic and Tails' astonishment, dissolved into pixels.
"Go away! Go away! Go away!" Faith shrieked, hurling lightning bolts at the bats, her quills crackling with electricity.
"Faith, wait! Kiddo, you gotta take a deep breath," Sonic gingerly placed his hands on her shoulders. "Breathe. In with the good, out with the bad," he instructed, taking a deep inhale and slowly exhaling. Once Faith copied him, he nodded. "Good. Now I want you to listen to me."
"There's too many of them!" Tails shouted as more robot bats flew in.
"Okay, listen to me later!" Sonic told Faith before sprinting to the drawer where Shadow kept the red Chaos Emerald. 'Can't run through the village with these guys on our tails. Plus, there's got to be more of them there…' he thought as he returned to Tails and Faith, scooping the latter up into his arms.
"Chaos Control!"
Sonic felt the pull of the emerald's power and thought of the safest place he could think of on the island.
"Well, this is a surprise," D-Fekt remarked when three familiar Mobians appeared in his domain. While the Cubots were happy to see Faith, the little tenrec was shaking like a leaf in Sonic's arms.
"Sorry for dropping in like this…" Sonic murmured. He and Tails quickly explained the situation to D-Fekt who frowned.
"Strange… Those new Badniks you mentioned aren't saved in my data banks of Eggman's creations," he remarked.
"Tails and I are gonna head to Eggman's lair and get to the bottom of things. Can you guys look after Faith until we get back?" Sonic asked him.
"Of course. We'll do our best to look after her," D-Fekt promised. But Faith clung to Sonic's side, shaking her head.
"I wanna go with you. I wanna help," the little tenrec pleaded.
"Faith, you need to stay here. These robots Eggman's unleashed are unlike anything we've ever faced." Sonic gently pried Faith's fingers from his fur. "Tails and I don't want you to get hurt. So just stay here, okay? D-Fekt and the Cubots will look after you," he told her, getting down on one knee so he was at eye level with her.
"B-But I can help! You guys have been training me all this time! I can fight!" Faith insisted, her hands sparking for emphasis.
"No, Faith. You're not ready. You still can't do a Spin Dash, remember?" Sonic reminded her sharply. He immediately regretted his words when Faith flinched back.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, kiddo. I…" Sighing, Sonic bowed his head and closed his eyes. He mentally scolded himself for raising his voice but felt at a complete loss. He and Tails were on their own, their friends have disappeared, and a horde of Badniks they'd never faced before was tearing up the village. They were hopelessly outnumbered. What could he do?
"Sonic?"
He felt Faith's hand gently rest on his bent knee and opened his eyes. Faith looked at him, her wine-colored eyes glossy. "I'm sorry for raising my voice, Faith," he murmured, hugging her tightly.
"It's okay…" Faith mumbled, nuzzling her face into his shoulder.
"I just don't want you to get hurt." Sonic let go of Faith and cupped her face in his hands. "Okay, now I need you to listen to me. Tails and I are going to head to Eggman's lair to find out what's going on and put a stop to whatever he's planning. I need you to stay here with D-Fekt and the Cubots. They'll keep you safe. If those Badniks come here… then, by all means, fight to defend yourself but focus on staying out of danger. If things get really bad, I want you to run. Run as fast as you can and hide," he instructed and then took off his wrist communicator, placing it around Faith's wrist.
"I want you to wear this at all times. There's a tracker in it. If you need to run and hide, Tails will be able to track it on his Miles Electric so we can find you. And one last thing…" Sonic pressed the red Chaos Emerald into Faith's hands. "Keep this Chaos Emerald safe. You remember how you once used Chaos Control to take yourself and Knuckles to Angel Island?" he asked Faith who nodded.
"I have to go to Angel Island?" Faith whispered, her heart twisting painfully at the thought of having to be so far away from Sonic and the others.
"As a last resort. If those Badniks come after you and you're backed into a corner, use Chaos Control to get yourself out of there. But only when you don't have anywhere else to go," Sonic told her and gently kissed Faith's forehead.
"But I promise, kiddo. Tails and I will come back. And everybody else, too. Sticks, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Shadow, Omega… we will come back to you," he promised.
Faith swallowed down the lump in her throat and nodded. "Okay…" she said and didn't say another word. If she tried, she was pretty sure she was going to just start crying.
"D-Fekt, you and the Cubots keep an eye out for Badniks. They can't enter the valley," Sonic told the leader of the abandoned Cubots.
"We'll defend our land to the very last," D-Fekt swore, the Cubots already rushing to prepare whatever makeshift weapons they could find.
Sonic took one last look at Faith, the little tenrec following D-Fekt to one of the shelters. His heart broke when Faith looked back at him, her big eyes welling up with tears but refusing to shed a single one, and timidly waved goodbye. Clenching his fists at his sides, Sonic knew that he had to keep his promise.
He and Tails were going to find their friends, stop whatever scheme Eggman was hatching, and come back.
After that, he was never going to leave Faith alone ever again.
The adoption papers might not have been signed and legalized yet, but he knew in his heart that Faith was his and Shadow's responsibility now.
And they were going to return to her, come hell or high water.
"Let's go, buddy," Sonic said to Tails, the young fox nodding with determination, and sped out of the Valley of the Cubots.
'They'll come back. They'll come back. They didn't leave me. They're coming back for me…' Faith reminded herself as the hours passed. D-Fekt and the Cubots were very nice to her, making sure that she stayed in the most comfortable shelter. They gave her whatever food they had, which was mostly dry crackers they'd smuggled out of Eggman's lair in the past and some beige berries Cutebot had picked from a nearby orchard, and played games to keep her entertained. But as morning turned to noon and then afternoon, Faith's hope got thinner and thinner until the bad thoughts started swirling in her mind.
What if Sonic and Tails had gotten hurt? What if they'd been captured? What if they'd disappeared like Sticks, Knuckles, Amy, Auntie Rouge, Uncle Omega, and Shadow?
What if… What if they forgot about her?
'No! Bad Faith, bad! Don't think of those things! They'd never do that! Sonic gave you his communicator! That means he's coming to find you when it's all over! He didn't leave you forever! He'd never leave you behind if there was another way!' Faith shook her head and lightly smacked her head with both hands.
"Here, Faith." Bowler Hat Cubot waved her over to the shelter where he and the others had made a little nest of blankets for her. "You can sleep here tonight in case Sonic and Tails don't come back yet," he told her.
"Thank you…" Faith curled up in the blankets, hands over her head.
"Uh… Faith, you don't have to go to bed yet. It's still pretty light out," Bowler Hat Cubot pointed out.
"I know. I just… I just need some time alone, please?" Faith mumbled as she rolled over so her back was facing the wall of the shelter.
"Okay…" Bowler Hat Cubot slowly floated out of the shelter. "But if you change your mind, we've got a few board games we can play with the others," he called out.
Faith didn't reply, staring at the wall and drawing her knees up to her chest. "Dad… Papa… everyone… please come back soon," she whispered, letting the tears she'd been holding back finally fall.
No sooner had she whispered those words, Faith heard shrieking and blaster fire. Getting up, she raced out of the shelter to find D-Fekt and the Cubots engaged in a fierce battle. The robot bats had returned and, this time, they had company. Sharp-edged metal snakes slithered into the Valley of the Cubots, snapping their jaws.
D-Fekt was hurling rocks at the intruders when he spotted Faith outside the shelter. "Faith, run!" he yelled before a robot bat swooped down and raked its claws at his face.
Faith did as she was told and ran. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She ran out of the Valley of the Cubots, flinging lightning bolts at any Badniks that came too close. She ran all the way to Hedgehog Village where, to her horror, more Badniks were razing houses to the ground. She ran past screaming villagers, past the destruction around her, and didn't stop running until she found herself at her old cave. Once she was pressed up against the back of the cave wall, Faith slumped onto the ground and cried.
After a good half hour, she hiccupped out the last of her sobs and rubbed her eyes. There weren't any Badniks outside of her cave but that didn't mean she was safe. She couldn't go back to the Valley of the Cubots because D-Fekt and his friends were still fighting them. She couldn't go back to the village either because more Badniks were there. And she couldn't go back to the beach and the ruins of Sonic's shack.
Where else could she go? Were there more Badniks prowling about the island? How much longer until they came here?
Faith took the red Chaos Emerald out from her quills and held it in her hands. It looked like she was going to have to Chaos Control herself to Angel Island after all…
She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to remember every detail of Angel Island as she had seen during her first visit with Knuckles.
But, instead, all she could think about was everyone in Team Sonic and Team Dark. Ms. Sticks and her fun games to help her prepare for the apocalypse, Ms. Amy and their shopping trips together, Tails and flying in the Tornado with him, Auntie Rouge and Uncle Omega protecting her during her first treasure hunt, Mr. Knuckles touring her around Angel Island…
Sonic and Shadow hugging her and making her feel safe for the first time in her life.
Opening her eyes, Faith stared at her reflection in the Chaos Emerald and wiped away the last of her tears. The members of Team Sonic and Team Dark would never abandon her, and she wasn't going to abandon them either. She knew she wasn't as strong or as fast as any of them, but she had to try and fight.
"I have to save them…" Faith stowed the Chaos Emerald in her quills and squared her shoulders. "I will save them," she whispered to herself as she left her cave.