CHAPTER XX – A TO B

"Ten more of these cronies left," the hero thought.

SMACK!

"Nine more."

They started to scatter as the angered hero had slowly but surely whittled their numbers to single digits, and all while their bosses were on the higher level taking in the carnage. Fiona was nowhere to be seen, but Mordred was, and he seemed to slowly have an epiphany as he saw Sonic fight. He realized that for his cousin, Lyric was always going to lose against Sonic. Not because the hero was simply too fast, but when this blue ball of energy was worked up enough, angels and demons would run in terror too.

Seven to go as Mordred watched Sonic zip to the remnants of the gang. Two were clawing at the door and begging Fiona to let them escape. Sonic, in response, slammed both of their skulls against each other's and then the hard steel for good measure. Another group of three hid in the corner when the hero finally saw them. They all screamed out as Sonic blasted their way. One passed out from the shock. The others cowered as Sonic mercilessly grabbed their arms and slammed them on the ground. They weren't ripped off the body, but those separated shoulders would ensure weeks of continuous surgery. And the final two? Sonic simply rammed into the one which sent him into one of the support beams to the level above. Mordred certainly felt the vibration on that one. As for the final fighter, Sonic zipped behind him, spread his arms out wide, and then crashed them into the jackal's head, sending him to the floor.

Was this what it was like when the Iron King fell that night? Mordred had dealings with the ox before and had heard through the underworld grapevine that some hotshot speedster knocked him out on the first try, and that was when Jun Kun himself had backup to spare. The way it went, the Kun's backup was mere fodder for Sonic, and the ox went down shortly after that. How poetic that a heroic knight jousted his way through the King's forces and took down the King himself. Sonic had made a believer out of Mordred that he was the real deal, and judging from the look Sonic shot him from the level below, the cybernetic snake couldn't help but feel he might be next on the hero's list.

"Mordred, I'd come in here if you know what's good for you," Fiona offered. Mordred was unnerved to hear how casual she sounded. The vixen was in her office (or at least it looked like one) waving to the snake where she was. However, the serpent shook her off wanting to deal with this himself. For Mordred, this was personal. "Your funeral," Fiona said before locking the door with a loud clang.

The snake closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them and turned left, there was Sonic about ten feet from him. However, Sonic had other vested interests, namely the door that had Fiona on the other side. Given the small window to said door, Mordred couldn't see Fiona's face, but he did see how violent Sonic's was. It turned nuclear when Sonic tried to get inside. No surprise it wouldn't be open for him, but from how he cranked on the door, it was obvious that the door's lock was not going to let him in.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Open up, Fox!" Sonic demanded. Then he tried to barrel the door over again but to no avail.

"Make me!" she jested with a shit-eating grin.

"Fiona, I swear to Chaos—!"

"Hey!" Sonic stopped and turned around to find a cybernetic snake. There was more than a simple fire in the viper's eyes. It was a fiery inferno that came with a naturally dangerous aura. The older crime lord readied himself as he gestured to Sonic for him to bring it on. Sonic's no-nonsense face had had it with all these kingpins, and here was yet another one wanting to throw hands. Sonic had seen what was in Mordred's eyes before. He had nothing else to lose, and he'd be damned if his kin would not be avenged, a look Sonic knew all too well.

"I don't have time for you," Sonic said gravely.

"I am not some fodder like those other peons!" Mordred declared in a thick, Spagonian accent as he marched to face Sonic. His eyes seemed to amplify their intensitu as he got closer to the hero. Sonic snorted out a whistle of hot steam as he quickly marched back at Mordred. This would be quick. "I am the terrifying Lord Mordred! I rule the Spagonian night with an iron fist! And I will not stop until—!"

Sonic was in no mood for monologues. With the snake's mouth just close enough to his own, Sonic did Mordred the same "honor" he did to Lyric. One swift motion by Big Blue had to so his hands were precariously on Mordred's fangs, interrupting him and informing all too late that Sonic's rage far exceeded his.

YANK!

"YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mordred wailed as blood poured out of his mouth. Those robotic hands of his did little to stop the flow as his screaming grew louder by the second. Going down to a knee to wallow in his pain, Sonic viciously grabbed the snake by the jaw. Paying no mind to the blood on his hands, Sonic got right into the pained serpent's face.

"YOU ARE NOTHING!" Sonic bellowed which instantly silenced Mordred. "YOUR COUSIN WAS NOTHING! YOUR FAMILY IS NOTHING! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD BEAT ME?! BITCH, YOU'RE NOT EVEN A THREAT, YOU INSIGNIFICANT PIECE OF TRASH! YOU WEREN'T EVEN GIVEN A VOICE ACTOR WHEN YOU WERE INTRODUCED, FOR FUCK'S SAKE! THAT'S HOW LITTLE YOU MEAN TO ANYONE!" Sonic then headbutted the snake and lifted him up, the crime lord helpless to save himself. "YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WILL NEVER HURT ANYONE AGAIN."

Sonic then dropped Mordred and sped away. As the snake tried to get up despite the pain, Sonic curled into a ball and revved up, waiting… and waiting… and waiting… and waiting until Mordred finally got up before letting loose!

WHAM!

The kingpin was sent flying toward the guard railing with a righteous SMASH! That cybernetic suit of Mordred's instantly caved in with the railing, destroying its back and practically paralyzing the snake as his unconscious body hit the ground hard, knocking him out and taking him out of the fight.

With that distraction over, Sonic zipped back to the door where he saw Fiona's smirk again. The window that separated the two was standard in warehouses like this: doubled-paned glass with wire mesh crossing over all the way down the vertical window. She had to applaud the show as she had never seen Sonic so worked up.

"And are we done throwing a tantrum?" she barbed. She got her answer when Sonic tried violently to open the locked door but was still going nowhere fast. "Trying that again? Pfft. You're a lost cause, y'know that?" Sonic still tried to move heaven and earth to bust it open. "Man, you don't quit. Come to think of it, you really can't ignore someone like me, can you? I mean, Tails is probably dead, your brother will have Rouge's head momentarily, and you're stuck here with no way of knowing how badly they're being disemboweled!"

Then the ferocious breaking-in stopped. The warehouse went silent. Fiona raised an eyebrow as she Sonic take a step back and look at… his gloves? Why was he looking at his blood-soaked gloves? Was he marveling at how brutally he had taken down Mordred? But if that was the case, why was he doing that now when a second ago he tried to bust in and visit upon her a biblical vengeance?

"Tails…," he said lowly. Then he looked up. The face he showed to Fiona was like he had gotten the craziest of ideas. Then he eyed up the metallic fuse-box in the back of the room. "If I were to shut down all those breakers behind you, would that shut off the jammer?"

Fiona was taken aback by how Sonic asked the question, almost like there was some small ounce of hope still stuck in his soul. In response, she folded her arms and replied. "If you could get in here, it's breaker #8. But I don't know if you noticed, you can't get in, I'm not letting you in, and you sure as hell can't leave here anyway!"

Sonic smiled. It was by no means normally either. The vixen's eyebrow went up again when he saw the gleeful bloodlust in Sonic's eyes as he showed her his hands. They stayed there for a second before Sonic twitched both of his thumbs.

Once, twice, and thrice.

The very moment after Sonic moved, Fiona heard something lightly go PING! Then she saw how Sonic's eyes lit up with a beautiful, terrifying smile. He moved his hands to the left and to the right. There was some sort of weirdly faint sound coming from right in front of her… somewhere. It was just the door in front of her with a manic hedgehog on the other side. Then she refocused her eyes. She paid too much attention to Sonic and not the window. More specifically, Fiona saw how the wire mesh inside the glass seemed to move with his hand movements, subtly shaking the window.

"Why…," she started, "is the glass moving…?"

Wait. Did he have some sort of—?!

"Thanks, Fiona," Sonic said in an eerily calm voice. "Tails did say something about a manual upgrade to my magnetic gloves."

Then Sonic focused on the iron mesh as his hands quickly went from side-to-side, slightly moving the wires in the window more and more with each movement. Each pass seemed to make the wires ring out a little louder. Fiona's eyes started going wide as not only were the thin cables moving (and the door moving with it), but the glass was having trouble handling the vibrating metal within. Sonic's hand movements were only getting faster with each passing moment. The window wasn't meant to get abused like this, and the metal wires were starting to fracture the glass! The fractures were turning into full-blown cracks! And the cracks starting spreading like wildfire all over the pane!

"What are you doing?!" she said in a panic. "Stop!"

"Oh, I'm not stopping, toots!" he said gleefully as the cracking spread steadily and more quickly. Then Sonic stopped and held his hands parallel to each other and started moving his hands forward-and-back at rapid speed! Fiona's mouth was agape in stunned silence as the glass weakened even further. First it was left-to-right, now it was forward and backwards and sideways and slantways and squareways and frontways any other ways he could think of!

"No! Stop!"

Then the glass shattered magnificently with a majestic POP as the shards fell to the flow in quick succession, just leaving the weakened, wire mesh and Sonic's magnetic gloves with full control over them. With one last, swift movement, he brought up his arms and, like he was trying to rip open a birthday present like an overly zealous child, he threw his arms across his body. It left him in an open stance as if he were doing a monstrous pose, but in the act of doing that, the mesh parted like the Red Sea giving Sonic an opening… and that opening was directly next to the doorknob on the other side. Sonic then twitched his thumbs quickly thrice again to turn off the gloves and put his face right into the room as Fiona covered her mouth in utter shock and horror. With a joyfully sadistic grin, the hero spoke.

"HERE'S JOHNNY!"

Then Sonic violent shoved his arm through the opening and grabbed the knob. Fiona shrieked, "NO!" and tried to stop him, but Sonic threw a backhanded punch which got Fox right between the eyes. As she reeled from the swipe, Sonic went back to the knob.

"Come on!" Sonic pleaded.

CLICK!

Fiona was fucked.

"Oh, shit!"

Sonic then quickly pulled his arm and out savagely opened the metal door with a SLAM! Sonic wasted no time and marched his angry ass right into the room where Fiona backed away all while trembling as she tried to pull out a knife. Sonic immediately reached across to grab her opposite shoulder and shoved her against the wall. He then opened the fuse box and hit switch #8 on the left column.

FLICK!

The vixen stood there shaking as Sonic menacingly glared at her. He quickly walked up to her. Fiona was too frightened to move and was then pinned against the wall as she could feel the hot air blowing out of Sonic's nose.

"D.V. on," Sonic commanded. Then the vixen in front of him, and his entire line-of-sight, went dark blue. Fiona's skeleton turned a distinctive shade of cyan as Sonic could only now see her skeleton and her immediate physical stats: heartrate of 143 bpm to match her terrified state. But then Sonic suddenly was caught off-guard as he heard Fiona's breathing slow. It paired with her heartrate which went down gradually to 120, then to 115, 110, and then an even hundred. Sonic figured something might be up given how odd the situation was, so he said, "D.V. off." As it deactivated, Sonic saw Fiona smiling wickedly. It was so smug that it was asking to get pummeled. "What's so funny?!"

"You might have beaten me now, but I still won, y'know." Sonic then put her hand at her throat and forced her up the wall until her legs could no longer touch the floor. Despite the lack of air, Fiona still forced out a grin. "Go ahead. Call for Tails."

His eye twitched, but he did as he was told. "Tails!" Sonic screamed.

"Jeez, not so loud!" Fiona shot back before Sonic tightened the grip.

"Tails! Come in!"

"Sonic!" a motherly voice yelled back. Chaos, he had never been happier to hear CREAM's voice.

"CREAM!"

"SONIC! SONIC, HELP! WE NEED YOU RIGHT NOW, SONIC! SOOOONIIIIIIIC!" Mr. Prower wasn't at the other end, but the voice replying was as stressed out as Sonic's.

"CREAM! Tails is—!"

"Sonic, Miles is alright!" But then….

"How?! Scourge was sent to kill him!"

"Scourge left Fiona's goons here, but I took care of them! Tails is alive but badly injured! An ambulance is on its way to get him!"

Sonic's face immediately softened as did his grip on the vixen. As Fiona fell with a thud, Sonic doubled over and let out the biggest sigh of relief. Then an idea came to mind. He plucked out one of his earbuds and put it into Fiona's.

"What the hell?!" Fiona cried as looked up at Sonic with disgust.

"Tell Fiona, CREAM," Sonic commanded. "Tell her about Tails!"

"Sonic, for the love of—! I told you Tails is safe, and Fiona's goons are out cold for crying out loud!"

"And Rouge?"

"Rouge is safe and on her way here, but we have an emergency at the AMG! I've been trying to call you for the last ten minutes!" Sonic and Fiona locked in eyes confusedly at her words. "Amy, Sally, Ken, and everybody is under attack! Scourge is at the AMG right now!"

The silence that came after in that room in the warehouse was deathly.

Sonic and Fiona looked at each other with the same look of despair.

"H-H-He… Scourge… is what?" Fiona barely had the heart to force those words out.

Sonic was dead silent as his eyes lost their shine.

"CREAM…," Sonic began quietly, "what did you say?"

"Scourge is terrorizing Amy and the news team! The whole city is watching it live! But there's something wrong! Amy was able to shock him with a cable, but since then, it's like he's literally short-circuiting! I don't know if they're going to last much longer! He might kill them! You need to get there! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN GET THERE IN TIME!"

Sonic exhaled and bowed his head. "Patch me into the feed."

Sonic prayed to Chaos that CREAM was making this up.

She wasn't. CREAM got the feed up. From Sonic's contacts, he could see what the AMG was broadcasting. The scene was pure carnage. The studio had been utterly trashed. A pane of glass behind the desk was severely cracked, and the group of newscasters and AMG owners looking on in horror as Scourge held his head and yelled out painfully while he held his head. They all looked like they had been through hell. Amy especially.

"QUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!" Scourge shrieked as he tried to fight the obvious pain.

"C, how did Scourge get like this?!" Sonic asked feverishly.

"Amy was able to give Scourge a shock thanks to a livewire that he opened up! But ever since he woke up, he's been doing this!

Sonic then refocused the feed onto his brother who was barely able to stomach his next words out. "Hospital… Fire… Left… Table… Can't… Figure… Out—!"

The moment Scourge stopped talking, the tension in the room skyrocketed.

What in the hell…?

"C?" Amy asked lowly into her earpiece. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure!" CREAM replied. "Whatever happens, keep your distance!"

"You don't have to tell me twice. Things could still get nuts. We need Sonic here now!" That was when Scourge instantly turned his head. Sonic saw exactly what Amy was seeing. The live feed caught his brother's dark eyes perfectly. It was then capped off with the stomach-turning sight of Scourge's subtle face twitch that morphed into a dastardly smile. Then he started to walk slowly and unnaturally toward Amy. Sonic's eyes began to shrink.

"What's happening?!" Fiona asked with unapologetic concern. Yes, she had Sonic's spare earpiece, but she was blind to the crisis. Sonic without hesitating, took out one of his contacts. Then he grabbed Fiona to bring her in closer. "What are you—?!" Without answering, Sonic forced his contact into her left eye. She too could see the grizzly sight. At the same time, Sonic could see the exact moment that her heart broke as he watched both the vixen and the news at the same time.

The Rose's heavy breathing should've been all that Fiona needed to see that her favorite pink hedgehog had been put through the ringer. But it went deeper than that. Amy had been bleeding. That shade of red didn't belong on her news-wear. And Scourge… there was something wrong with him. Things were only going to go south from here.

"No!" Fiona yelped.

"CREAM, enough," Sonic commanded. At that moment, the robo-rabbit cut the video feed.

"Sonic," CREAM started, "you have to go now! The police won't be able to do anything. It has to be you to save them!"

Sonic was too stunned to respond. This was his nightmare. He was afraid that Scourge was going to take it this far, and now the gauntlet had been thrown down. CREAM was right, Sonic was the only one who could stop him, but the scene still played in his mind. What could be worse? Well, Sonic had a few ideas, and they'd surely happen if he didn't move now.

The weight of what might happen made his eyes cold and lifeless. Sonic's hands slowly balled up and cracked from the trauma as his heartrate slowly sped up to erratic levels. It was not just rage he was feeling for Scourge, but the person who was his partner: the very same lady in the room with Sonic.

"SONIC! Are you there?!"

"I'm here," Sonic said lowly.

"You have to move now!"

"I will. I'll be there shortly."

Before CREAM could respond, he took out his other earbud and kept put it in his fist. He then looked at Fiona whose expression was that of pure horror. Her lower lip quivered. Her body shook. Her jaw trembled. Her breathing was unevenly abnormal. It was like all the sunshine had been taken away from her. It was all her fault. She knew Scourge was interested with Amy if it meant going after Sonic, and now look what was happening.

"Amy…," Fiona whispered.

"Fiona…," Sonic growled. It got her attention slightly, but what startled her more was the dark shadow of Sonic looming over her. His eyes were out for blood. His chest billowed his breaths. His body shook like a volcano about to erupt, and erupt he did as he grabbed Fiona by the neck again and smashed her against the wall. "AMY STILL DEFENDED YOU FROM ME, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HER?!"

"I-I-I," Fiona tried to reply as his grip tightened. "I-I-I—!"

Sonic then rammed her against the wall in a blind rage as smoke poured out of his nose. "AFTER EVERYTHING YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH, YOU SENT SCOURGE TO KILL HER?! AMY?! YOUR BEST-FUCKING-FRIEND?! WHAT KIND OF HEARTLESS BITCH ARE YOU?!"

"I-I-I didn't—! T-That was never the plan!" she forced out. Sonic's grip seemed to loosen a bit when she said that, but his face sure as hell didn't.

"LIAR!" he bellowed as he punched the wall behind her. "THE NEXT PUNCH WON'T MISS! NOW TELL ME THE TRUTH!"

"I swear!" Fiona yelled. "It w-was only *GAG* Tails and Rouge we were gonna kill! I told h-him not to t-t-touch her! She still means everything to me!"

"THEN WHY DID YOU SEND SCOURGE AFTER HER?!"

"I didn't! He double-crossed me! Y-You have to believe me! I swear on m-my dad's grave that I never wanted to hurt her!"

Then he got right in her face. "THEN BELIEVE THIS! IF SHE DIES TONIGHT, I WILL FIND YOUR FATHER'S GRAVE, DIG UP HIS COFFIN, LOCK YOU IN THERE WITH HIS ROTTING CORPSE, LIGHT IT ON FIRE, AND BURY YOU ALIVE SO THE BOTH OF YOU CAN FRY AND GET A TASTE OF WHAT HELL IS REALLY LIKE! BECAUSE YOU WILL KISS THE DEVIL'S FEET THAT YOU'RE DOWN THERE! WHY?! BECAUSE YOU'LL BE FAR AWAY FROM ME!"

Sonic then quickly plucked the spare earbud and contact lens before burning out of the room, hopping over Mordred's body, and vaulting over the guard railing. He let out a grappling line and swung to the door. He looked high and low for the switch to open the shutters only for the sound of loud creaking to meet his eardrums. Sonic looked to the middle where the doors began to part and then inquisitively looked to the sides. Who opened the door? Everybody else was out cold. Well, everyone except—.

Sonic then turned to the upper levels where he saw Fiona running out and stopping on the railing with a fearful expression as tears ran down her face. Her bloodshot eyes pleaded with Sonic. "I'm sorry," she screamed. "Now go!" Sonic glared at her before blasting away with a cloud of dust left in his wake.

All alone in the warehouse, she surveyed the damage he had given out to her and Mordred's men. All this violence, and if she had even given Scourge a second thought, she could've prevented all this. And now… Amy was paying the price because she had made a deal with the devil.

Despite their awful split and fight all those years ago, Fiona had vowed to never involve Amy in her crimes. Amy could investigate her and ruin all her dealings, but she would never let her get hurt. How could she? She tried to convince herself that it was only out of mere respect that she didn't kill Amy, but it went far deeper than still holding her in such high esteem.

Amy was her only saving grace growing up. She was her only friend. Amy was kind to her when everyone else wasn't, and considering who Fiona's family was, would anyone else dare to try and mess with her? Why take that chance?

But Amy didn't care about any of that. She never cared about the dangers it might bring, even if she was too young and naïve to know what Fiona's family did when they first became friends. Amy Rose was the best thing to ever happen to Fiona. Amy wasn't just her lifeline. Amy meant everything to her… and Fiona had all but killed her all because of the deal she made.

It was too much. Things had gone too far. Her promise had been broken. There was one thing left for her to do now. Well, it was actually two. That other item could wait because Fiona collapsed on that upper floor and began to cry. Her face was buried in her hands as the guilt rolled over like a tidal wave. How could she let this happen to Amy? She felt solely responsible, and the anguish in her heart was too much to bear. In Fiona's eyes, she was the reason that Amy… her best friend… the person Fiona held closest to her heart… was on the cusp of death.

She wailed loudly as the screams of pain and self-blame echoed throughout the silent warehouse. "Wh-What have I done?!" Fiona's screams fell on deaf ears. "I'm sorry, Amy! I'M SORRY!"

The on-ramp had significantly bottled up from the last time he was on the road. There were cars and trucks were zipping by during the late-night rush hour, but not anymore. The entirety of I-395's northbound run was a sea of red brake lights that stretched into the evening horizon. There were a few flashes of blue and white in the distance as police cruisers had taken up residence dealing with a few non-lethal accidents that were one of the reasons for the miles-long backup.

The other reason was what Sonic started running towards.

Getting up to speed, Sonic barked impatiently, "CREAM! I need a map of the city with the fastest route to Amy right now!"

"One second!" CREAM replied.

"Now, CREAM!"

"I'm uploading to your heads-up display!"

From his contacts, he saw a mini-map of Mobotropolis on his bottom right. Sonic was right to start on I-395 going north, but he'd need to head north on I-95 as well. The AMG itself was 1.5 miles north of the I-95/I-76 interchange. All said, the AMG was 20 miles away. Interstate traffic in the Industrial District was at a standstill.

"How long do we have?!" Sonic yelled as his speed increased.

70 miles per hour.

"I don't know! Scourge is just walking toward Amy!"

"How long, CREAM?!"

"Sonic, I don't fucking know, okay?! Get your ass there now!"

75 miles per hour.

Sonic groaned. "I need to be there in less than five! How fast?"

"Faster than you are now! You can't blast it at Mach 2 without causing significant damage to the city! Creating that kind of tempest would be deadly to people around you!"

"Then I'm open to suggestions!"

"100 miles per hour gets you there in 12 minutes."

"Not good enough!"

80 miles per hour.

"150 would be eight minutes!"

"I need better than that!"

"200 is six minutes!"

85 miles per hour.

"300?!"

"Sonic, that's too fast! I can't be sure you're going to react in time in case someone swe—!"

"CREAM, GODDAMMIT! THERE ARE LIVES AT STAKE!"

The robo-rabbit loudly grunted in frustration. "That's four minutes, but it's suicide! There's no telling if you'll hit something!"

88 miles per hour, and with it, something in Sonic's shoes had activated as he unknowingly kept that speed.

"We don't have time for this!" Then some idiot veered into the right shoulder to try and beat traffic. Sonic saw him at the last possible moment. "WHOA!" he yelled as he instinctively shot a line at nearby semi-trailer, but in his haste, Sonic's line didn't hit the mark properly as he was headed straight for a face-plant. "Shit!" There was only one way to avoid it. He twisted his body on the way up, retracted the line, and was about to attempt running on the side of the trailer. But the moment his feet hit, his forward momentum and feet hit the metal paneling flush as he… what?! Sonic was beside himself as he wasn't running on the side of the trailer, but he was sliding on the trailer!

"What the hell?!"

As he screamed, he started sliding back down toward the pavement, so in another act of self-defense, he jumped off the trailer, twisted his body again and landed back on the shoulder with a slide. He hunched over as he turned before straightening himself and running full tilt down the highway. Sonic looked back for a quick moment to see the drivers' collective stunned faces, but then Sonic looked down at his Hi-Speed Shoes that were… that were… hey, wait!

The speedster then beamed as he thanked his lucky stars. It was just like the shoes' creator had said. If Sonic was at a fast enough speed and kept it constant, the Hi-Speed Shoes would activate their gliding mechanic. Sonic had just drifted both of the trailer and off a second ago, and that seamless transition was what kept him alive. He literally skated away from certain danger!

"You beautiful bastard!" Sonic screamed with joy. "Tails, I fucking love you!" Sonic then put on his best game face. That sequence was a mere bump-in-the-road on his way to the AMG. "CREAM, loose the mini-map, put my speed on my HUD, and get me a camera feed for the AMG!" CREAM did as she was told. Gone was the city guide, in was the newsfeed in his bottom right with his odometer on the bottom left. Sonic was now putting on triple digits. If he wanted to get there in five minutes, he'd have to do an average of 240 mph.

By the looks of the screen, Scourge was still slowly walking toward Amy with a demented smile. However, as he moved, Scourge's smirk twitched sporadically, even violently at times. What on Chaos's Mobius was going on with him?!

Sonic then checked his speedometer. Eighteen miles to go at 275 mph. He'd bet there in just under four minutes. Time to burn rubber.

Sonic then put into another gear as he sprinted past the cars. The accident that helped cause this traffic disaster was less than a mile away and closing in fast. Sonic had to time this just right. Four cars: the two involved in the crash with police cruisers ahead of and behind the accident. Jumping over them wasn't an option, even as his speed. He'd easily have the distance to get past them but not nearly enough continuous height for over four car-lengths to clear the vehicular lineup… especially since there was a slight uphill configuration to this section of the highway which meant his jump would get even less altitude. What about a semi? Was there one for Sonic to glide on again? No, there wasn't. It'd be a tight fit if he tried to sidestep them, but the officers were outside dealing with the victims. One wrong move by Sonic meant they were dead at the speeds he was running at.

But as luck would have it, there was the smooth railing of the interstate on the right. Nothing was obstructing that. No bumps in that section of metal.

"Time to see how much punishment his new kicks could take!" Sonic exclaimed.

With all the built-up speed, with all that momentum, and with less than a second until a grim collision, Sonic hopped up. He kept his eyes on the railing for all but one moment, but even that was to make sure that his feet would land safely.

Needless to say, they did.

The speedster made sure his shoes' recesses fit perfectly with the pipe as he shredded down the steel. If it weren't for the dire stakes on the other side of town, he'd be having the time of his life grinding the hell out of this rail as he veered past the cops and accident onlookers. Now past the obstacle, he hopped off and blasted back to a "cruising" speed of 275 mph.

The sights of steel and blue-collar factories were now in the past as the large bridge overlooking the southern leg of the Allegheny Passage was in his sights. Angel Island was next with about fifteen miles to go.

Taking a look back at the live feed, Sonic saw his godmother on the floor grabbing Scourge's foot as he passed her by. His brother's face went from off-kilter to inconvenienced as he looked down at his godmother with disdain.

"Leave her alone, Eli," Alicia said with purpose. Sonic couldn't make out her next sentence, but he did hear that last part of her wanting to help him. Typical Alicia.

Scourge's scornful rebuttal was particularly harsh. It paired too well with that smirk of his. "'Here to help?' You can't fix what Sonic did!"

"I didn't know, Green!" Sonic shouted as he passed by Angel Island's Emerald Coast.

But then something happened. Scourge's head twitched again. This one seemed different than the others. The ones previous were smaller tilts while that devious smile remained on his face. But no more. His face became… kinder? It looked more sensitive. Come to think of it, did something change with his eyes? They went from bloodthirsty to pained in a split-second.

"Help… me!"

Wait… was that—?

Then his skull violently twitched again, thus returning his previously roguish grin complete with an equally disturbing quip. "If you want to help me, then stay there!"

The moment Scourge kicked Alicia's hands away, Sonic seemed to add an extra 10 miles an hour to his pace. Was it some sort of defense mechanism that caused it? Sonic would never tolerate anyone disrespecting his godparents. However, as alarming as that sight was, what Scourge had just gone through was of more importance.

"CREAM," Sonic began with about eleven miles to go, "you said something about Scourge 'short-circuiting.' Was that it?"

"Amy got in close with a livewire and put a serious shock into your brother's system. Ever since then, he's been twitching like a madman!"

"The moment before. Did I hear him right? Was he asking for help?!"

"Yes. He did it earlier too when he was trying to fight… well, I don't know what! He was grabbing his head like crazy!"

"It's like…," Sonic paused as he tried to find the word. "It's like… the old Green came out for a second! Did that shock maybe… augh, this doesn't make any sense!" Sonic's frustration was obviously mounting since this whole thing started.

"Worry about it later and keep moving!"

But he couldn't. His eyes and ears were glued to the news feed. It was only because of impeccable instincts that he didn't take a wrong turn at the northern interchange of I-95 and I-395. With just seven miles to go, Sonic witnessed his brother grab a man sprawled out on the news desk and popping him in the back of the skull which made Alicia and Sally shriek offscreen. It didn't take Sonic long to figure out who was on the desk.

"Max!" Sonic screamed while crossing the final bridge into Knothole.

This bridge in particular was more elevated than the others in town due to Knothole's naturally higher altitude. Those white cliffs of chalk on the eastern side of the neighborhood stretched throughout the entire neighborhood, and the bridge had to be built at a steeper grade to compensate even with Knothole's western half being lower to sea level.

Sonic's legs churned faster and faster still until he was pushing 300, especially when Scourge grabbed a camera that laid heavily damaged in front of the news desk. The moment his brother raised the tech above his head, Sonic screamed again.

"MAX!"

Then came another violent twitch. Sonic had a bad idea what Scourge wanted to do, but the shaking camera above his head meant he was indecisive.

"I-I-I don't—!" Eli forced out obviously at war with himself.

It was Max's turn to try and reason. "Eli, don't! Whatever's happening, we can help you! Sonic can help you! All of us can!"

Another twitch. Another switch. This was starting to become a terrible running joke. "Sonic help me?!" Scourge laughed obnoxiously. "Because of him, I had to suffer!"

Then out came a cable. Scourge was momentarily distracted as evidenced with his small "Gah!" and him looking down at his arm. He followed the string to find a familiar face. She was only one in the studio with those grapple bracelets.

"Amy!" Sonic yelled with three-and-a-half miles left. The I-95/I-76 interchange would be coming any second!

"Amy," Scourge hissed. "He won't save you, y'know? None of you! Even if he does come here, ALL HE'LL FIND IS YOUR DEAD BODIES!"

Amy Rose with all the defiance she mustered up replied, "That's why I'm here."

That… That was a saying of someone ready and willing to die. Considering how well he knew and how much he cared for her, it was something he could not afford to let happen.

"AMY, NO!"

Sonic's mind was racing the moment she was managed to get him off-balance. But he couldn't keep track of her completely since the interchange was on its way. In the distance, even with Knothole's white-collar skyscrapers piercing the November night, the AMG Building was dead ahead just under two miles away. Directly under the high ramps of Interstates 76 and 95 was the I-95's Exit 52 which took him onto the titular Acorn Street which would take him where he needed to be.

As Sonic veered into the off-ramp, he glanced down at the news to see the Rascal throw one last, knockout kick when she had Scourge on the ropes. But it wasn't meant to be. He may've been going down to the ground, but he countered by grabbing Amy's torqued leg to stop her dead in her tracks. He tossed the leg back which in turn made the Rascal fall hard. But it wasn't enough to just leave her like that and finish Max, would it? No… No, he had to get up and give Amy a taste of her own medicine. One kick from a set of legs far more powerful than hers directly into her stomach.

"Noooooooooo!" Sonic couldn't cry for long as car horns blared around him. "Fuck!" he yelled as he shot out a line to the nearest building and began running on its side. "Idiot!" Sonic berated himself. This wasn't the highway anymore. He didn't have cross-traffic to worry about then. He did now and was running out of building, so he leaped off and grappled a light pole to get him back to ground level before running again.

"Sonic, watch out!"

"I know, I know!" he screamed back as he slid over a taxi's hood and passed by the traffic with a mile to go. Ducking traffic had drastically cut his speed down to just under 60 mph as precious seconds slipped away.

"CREAM, I need a faster route to the AMG with less people!" Sonic cried with impatience.

"Give me a minute to come up—!"

"We don't have minutes! We have seconds!"

"Dad, no!"

That was Sally's voice. Sonic tuned back into the news to see how Scourge was back at the news desk with camera in hand ready to strike. As he readied the camera and with Max's eyes looking up at his godson, Eli spoke.

"Just do it, Eli." Those words seemed to strike a chord somewhere within Scourge. He… He wasn't attacking. He wasn't going through with the final blow. "No matter what, Eli… I'll still love you."

From the camera angle given, Sonic was dumbstruck to see Scourge's face change again. It was softer, sympathetic even after his head had jolted again. Then again. And again. The cerulean speedster saw how his brother was seemingly unable to make heads or tails on the situation as his head constantly jerked around. These were precious seconds that Chaos himself was giving to Sonic, but how would he make it in time?!

CREAM had the answer.

"Sonic!" she cried. "The glass behind the desk! Scourge cracked it earlier!"

Big Blue looked back to the news feed and looked beyond his brother. She was right! And with the AMG Building getting closer and closer as Sonic maneuvered around Knothole's hustle and bustle, there was one building across the street from the news group that was two stories shorter than the AMG's seventh floor, and Sonic could still grapple to it from that distance if he had a good enough jump!

"Got it!" Sonic screamed with a newfound drive. "Hold on, Max!"

He shot out a line to the nearest building and hopped up to its roof. Sonic was no stranger to parkouring his way around the city, and the rooftops of Knothole were no exception. One building dipped in height. Sonic then hurried up another that was two stories taller. The AMG was so close! He could see the newsroom and the glass CREAM described! He could even see the silhouette of his brother.

"Hurry, Sonic!" CREAM cried.

One last rooftop. He would need all the speed he could get, so he had to curl himself into a ball and wait for just the right moment.

Come on.

Come on!

COME ON!

Faster, dammit!

Now!

Sonic bust forward with his target in sight. He had one last good stride in each of his legs. One. Two! Jump!

Taking aim just a few feet above the seventh floor, Sonic shot out his lines barreling up to the studio. He even contorted himself so he'd go feet-first through the glass to minimize the damage. He had to make it in time. He had to! Just a few more seconds! Come on, Max! Keep him busy!

But then… he looked again to the news. Sonic witnessed heartbreak in his brother's eyes.

NO!

"Forgive me!" Scourge roared as the camera started to fall forward… with force… at Max.

"MAAAAAAAAAX!" Sonic yelled as he got closer… and closer… and closer!

CRASH!

Sonic was here!

He made it!

But where was the camera?!

Oh, shit!

"NO!"

Sonic… was too late. If he had busted in a mere two seconds before, Sonic wouldn't have seen his godfather get a news camera driven hard into his spine with the ungodliest of ungodly sounds emitting from Max's lumbar vertebrae.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

It's about goddamn time, Sonic!

And it's also about time that you guys were treated to a longer chapter. The previous ones were skirting around 4000+, but this one had over 7000 words of much-needed, Sonic-oriented action. He's been shelved for a while, so he's overdue for some time in the spotlight. Though he'd say "low lights" given that last sequence. We'll follow up on that next time. Also, sorry I had to repeat and recycle lines from the previous chapter, but it was necessary to get Sonic back up to speed (pun not intended).

Alright, so the uploading schedule after this may get hairy since I'm starting my busy part of the year. I handle the social media for my alma mater's football team, and games are starting up soon (let's hope nothing happens with all this COVID crap, but I'm not exactly confident either), so my schedule is going to be rammed fuller than it already is. I will try and edit and upload on time for next time (tentatively scheduled for 7/17), so please try to bear with me.

Again, special thanks go out to 000Marie198 (x2) and jurrassicdinodrew for their usual reviews. I know I don't say it enough, but thanks again!

As always, the characters used in this story are the property of SEGA, Sonic Team, and Archie Comics. Everything in the story is being used strictly for entertainment purposes. And as always, I will talk to y'all later.