Welcome back guys! Sorry for the delay on the chapter, I intended to release this on Thanksgiving but of course, life had other plans. Since this chapter has came out at an unintended time, I'll be providing a quote from someone who I consider an example of history. Two OCs on the side of Sonic will be introduced in this chapter just to give a bit of creativity.

The good news is that Super Smash Bros Ultimate is coming out this week and I am been waiting despite how College has got me worked up. I just hope the copies doesn't sell out when I get the time to go to a local store. Just a warning to point out about this chapter. It is going to be describing some...details about the effects of the war for those left behind. As much as I don't want to go into detail, this would be the first of many to come in the story so you have been warned. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

"Think about every problem, every challenge, we face. The solution each starts with education." - George H.W. Bush

Chapter Six: Recruitment of Guilt

April 7, 2018

4:30PM

Green Hill City, South Island

Gadget bolted from the basement of the old shop and headed on foot back towards the city center, following a sign that pointed him towards a residential area. He however was mindful not to rush through the still rubble filled streets. There were hundreds who would be willing to join up and head to the base but majorly anyone who he tried to flag down so far declined. Who would blame them after what had happened, how Eggman committed genocide on species of different kinds. He grappled from building to building, coming up on a intersection that led to the Red Gate Bridge. The wolf grunted after nearly losing his footing on landing, the signs of tiredness evident. While panting, he found the surroundings quiet with a few cars driving about. He was about to cross the road when a rush of wind along with the blur of blue caught his attention, making him stop in his tracks and caused him to fall. A little bit of fear came into him as it was sudden but he largely recognize the blur from anywhere. A blue blur circled around him until it stopped, revealing Sonic smiling back at him with his right hand extended.

"Hey there partner!"

"Sonic!" Gadget exchanged a burst of excitement, glad to see the hedgehog. After being pulled back on his feet and dusting himself off, the wolf shared a silent moment to admire the hero. Not much has changed since they both departed on that day, the day to repair the world.

"Sorry for that fast run in."

"You know what's happening?"

"Of course! Eggman's plan is written all over it. Trust me, I've seen this before."

"You mean you foiled it before?"

"Do you remember the last time the planet cracked open?"

"Only faint memories of it."

"Well, back then when Eggman cracked the planet open, he awaken a creature called Dark Gaia then exploited the chaos it caused but lucky I had help from Tails and a friend called Chip."

"Chip?"

"Chip is the opposite of Dark Gaia, it turned out that the two were suppose to awaken and fight each other."

"Guess Eggman only focused on the Dark Gaia part."

"Didn't count on it being a poor plan, he won't make the same mistakes again but with all the help we can get, we can beat him."

"Oh that reminds me, I need to get help, I'll meet you back at the resistance base, maybe go over more about Gaia and how can we stop all this."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"See you later then!"

With a fist bump, Gadget and Sonic sped off in opposite directions with goals of their own. By now, Tails and the others would have found out by now, making an effort to come to the city. South Island might have been big but it wasn't that big. While in thought, Chip had came back to him which concerned him. Hopefully this early awakening didn't cause Chip to lose his memory since it wasn't long since the last time that Mobius was sealed. "Chip, if you can hear me, I hope your alright."

4:35PM

Meanwhile just not far from their location, a young pink adult wolf carefully stepped along a shadowed walkway between a few buildings. Her indigo blue eyes searching while her long eyelashes slightly fiddled along with the movement she made. She wore a light blue sleeve-buttoned full length dress, a matching floppy hat with a bow on the left side, light blue high heels, and short white gloves.

This young wolf was Violet Gaudium Wolf. By the guess of her last name, many could tell she was special. At the age of nineteen years and a half, many would have moved on to the real world. However, the war had to say something about it. The way she dressed could have told anyone that she was someone with alot of money. Many males had considered asking her out on a date but since the war had impacted everyone, none of them had the time or money to propose. In her case, she was the one to decide who she would go for. Thankfully, she already had her heart won by a wolf already. It was Gadget, the one who had fought in the resistance and taught her everything.

This was just the case of a rich wolf's daughter falling in love with a guy in a lower class. Well...it wasn't exactly the case for her family. Before the war, the investment that her father had put into the economy had earned their place. They were away from South Island when Eggman struck and had been able to hide in a refugee camp that wasn't exposed to any danger. Five months after the war's end, it wasn't looking too great for her family. The investment that was made were all but lost and her father was forced to sell everything. The rich mansion that Violet lived in was gone, taken over by some family who stole and cheated their way up. Her family now stood at the low level of the middle class. She couldn't help her father's situation as the war had left devastating effects for all of them. For all since, It didn't matter what class they worked in since it would take time to recover.

The shaking that has been going on for the past thirty minutes had convinced the wolf that she needed to get inside quick. She entered through an apartment complex, reaching where she wanted to go, picking out a key to a door that she had stopped in front of then turned the knob. After a long day of business, she was looking forward to resting for the next few hours. Upon locking the door and safeguarding it with a chain. She looked to her left into a living room as she heard the television running with what seemed to be a movie being shown. If she could tell correctly, the movie being shown was a new one that had just came out. Looking further to the left on a couch was a blue bird with a pink beak and purple eyes. There were three feathers curling upwards on the back of her head. The bird's name was Olivia Celeritas Bird. She was a bit older, just turning twenty last week. Currently she was wearing brown shoes with dark blue socks, a brown dress with a purple base suit and grey round glasses. Like Violet, she was born into a high class, meeting Violet in high school and was set to attend at a college for a dream of becoming a clothes designer. That was however not to be happening for a while since everything had changed. She had noticed the wolf coming in and silently waved to which the wolf replied with a wave back. Violet headed to her room, dropping her belongings then timely went to get a cup of warm water before sitting on a couch across from Olivia.

"Anything interesting?"

"Just the occational, a new shipment of clothing is coming to the many stores that they had just finished fixing."

"That's good since we hadn't been able to get anything since the war ended."

"Everyone would be needing it since there was barely enough for the winter."

"How is your dad?"

"Still coming to terms with losing everything, can't blame him through."

"I still can't believe how that corrupted wolf family stole your father's investment and used it for themselves."

"I know, even though we did everything to make sure that money was used for rebuilding."

"Opinions then?"

"Dunno! I just want to see everything back to normal."

The wolf and the bird had shared a silent moment before the two had their attention turned when three gentle knocks came to the door.

"I'll get it."

Violet headed to the door, opening it to see who it is. The chain that she had placed on held the door incase there was a break in. Her mind went all over the place as she was staring into another pair of eyes. Her mood changed quickly as she recognized who it was. "Gadget!" The wolf removed the chain to the door and interconnected her arms with his, looking into his brown eyes with delight.

"Hey, Violet."

The two leaned forward to close the distance, giving each other a kiss. Even though they were both away from each other for only a few hours. The two felt the love spark between them still glowing strong. Gadget and Violet were in a relationship, the two bonded by love. Both of them had suffered from different perspectives of war but had lived. That is what matters to say the least. The two pulled away, breaking the bond. The two closed inside the door and into the living room. Olivia standing up as she saw the two approaching.

"Your back already?" It took Gadget and Violet to sit on the couch before he made a saddened grim with his mouth. "You still remember that day we became friends right?"

"Huh... oh... that day..."

*Flashback*

November 14, 2017

Gadget had his hands backwards as he skimmed along a ruined street near Sunset Heights. He had got in contact with an instructor and was moving to meet up to begin the removal of the rubble from destroyed buildings. He hoped the things he would find would be scrap metal from the destroyed death egg robots but that wasn't true. War had raged around them and there were bound to be rotting bodies of civilians that were just like him. He didn't want to think of it too much. He was telling himself to just get in there, do his job and get out. He now had to deal with both the nightmares and clean up.

He had reached where the instructor was pointing directions. Gadget began removing his earpiece, gloves, shoes, belt, and even his glasses to place them into a sealed bag. The wolf took a deep breath as it was the beginning of another "normal" day. The instructor helped the wolf slowly get settled in, grabbing a rebreather, boots and plastic gloves before showing to the wolf to his position.

"Alright Gadget, you'll be assigned into a team with two others to help with the clean up."

He followed the instructor's directions and quickly arrived at the spot where he was suppose to clean up. He saw that there were two others there to help. Another wolf and a bird from the looks of it. The two had given their attention to him as he approached, gripping the rebreather in his hand.

"Hello!"

The female wolf was the one to step forward, greeting him. He could see the sparkle in her eyes, he couldn't tell if it was a sign or something. Considering his shyness, he wasn't had much confidence talking to girls. He couldn't help but smile back towards her as she did with him.

"Hi!" The two were joined as the bird walked beside her counterpart, responding after waving her arm.

"Howdy!"

Gadget stood in position as the two introduced themselves to him, showing the energetic side. He had mixed feelings since his mind was still in that quick tense, facing the horrors of war. "The name is Violet."

"I am Olivia."

"Your Gadget right?" Wait? They knew about him? Rarely someone doesn't get known until long after but to be recognized after?

"How did you know?" He made an expression, playing as if he was dumbfounded, expecting an answer.

"We heard a lot about you. Word had spread about how you were able to defeat that monster Infinite with Sonic the hedgehog."

"Well, what can you say about it."He said while placing his right hand behind the back of his head to relieve the awkwardness he was feeling. Upon taking a look at Violet, he did have to give her some credit for that quick thought. She also looked delightful enough with as he looked into those blue eyes, sending slivers as he was staring deep into a place of trust and faith.

After barely meeting them, he was already making new friends. Hopefully being something that would take away the pain deep down. With a nod, the three placed on their rebreathers over their heads and got to work cleaning up the sections. Luckly, they didn't find a body for most of the day. Nothing could have prepared the two females when they did finally did find one. It was Gadget who found it first when he sniffed a certain area that began to throw out the smell of decaying flesh. He couldn't tell if the two could smell it through their rebreathers.

"Guys, you might want to sit this one out."

He dug carefully under the rubble and found an arm poking out looking flattened. He knew that whoever was under there had died instantly. He continued moving the rubble until it looked like it would be able to be pulled out. The body was intact thankfully, not mutated like from what he heard from someone who was working to clean up the city also. Even though he warned them, he still received a gasp from them. He was caught by surprise also, even though it was only a few days since he last saw something like this.

"Oh my..." Violet shut her eyes and looked away but that image blurred into her mind. Olivia was nearly the same with her right hand blocking her view. Gadget was unfazed and began moving the body to drag it out of sight from the girls.

Gadget looked around the pockets of the body, finding who it was. He scanned the identification card to come out as a thirty year-old bird named Jim, a parent of four kids. Reported missing by his wife the day after Eggman attacked Green Hill City. He came to a thought about what was her situation by now, having to care for four all by herself. He was quick to call for one of Eggman's re-programmed drones to take the body away in respect for the family. That was the grim reality of war as much as he hated to admit it.

He returned to the girls who were still grossed out, on the verge of throwing up. They were just like him the first time he saw the war up close. He waited until they recovered before speaking to them. "You know what I felt now, do you?" Violet had her eyelids half shut, feeling the effects. "I don't know how you were able to cope with this."

"First time is always hard but you'll get use to it quickly." It wasn't the best response the wolf could come up with but it was more complicated in the long run. He decided to change the topic quickly.

"So, can you two tell me about yourselves?" He gazed towards the pink wolf so Violet was the one to go first. She began to explain her family, being born to a father who was an investor. Her childhood was with Olivia by her side as a childhood friend. Apart from living in a mansion, she was living a decent life until Eggman attacked. That was when it went down hill from there. She began to explain about how the situation is, being forced to move out since her father could barely make enough to support a family of five. Gadget was putting thought into visiting her family once he heard the details, it might help to get to know her family more.

Olivia was nearly had the same story, meeting Violet at a young age and have been denied her chance to follow her dream career. As with Violet, her family didn't have enough to support her and had to move elsewhere. Thankfully long time childhood friends never turned their back on one another. Both of them had started out with only a suitcase and just about enough to get around. Now thinking about it, his own family was suffering to make a living. He had the thought to move out since the war had matured him a bit. Moving in with Violet and Olivia seemed like a good start. He was starting to consider them as friends already.

"I been thinking, since you guys might need a little help, Do you think I could move in with you guys?"

"Of course Gadget, anything for someone who had helped save the world."

After the clean up had finished in January, Gadget had decided it was time to move out and settle with his two friends in their apartment since the city was still rebuilding. For the past few months, Gadget had explained about his time in war in detail to the two. Starting from how he met Infinite to his departure with Sonic. Of course, he had to talk about the countless friends he had made and lost along the way. Dealing with being the only one to survive after all that was hard for the young wolf. The connection between the only two friends he made so far was what kept him going. Him explaining the war to them had restored his sanity since they were the ones who wanted to know about him. He found Violet the most easy to understand and relate to. Violet and Olivia were the only ones that knew everything that Gadget went through so it was quick for young female wolf to have feelings for the poor guy.

As time went on, the more the two wolves spent together, the harder it was for them to break apart. He and Violet grew close since the past few months, even going as far as confessing their love for each other and declaring themselves as a couple. Olivia had indicated that she didn't mind about them having a relationship since they already could trust each other. War did have the tendency to make or break relationships.

*flashback ends*

Upon thinking back to that day, Gadget could tell by both his friend's reactions that they were understanding what he was here for. "I want to ask if you guys want to come with me?"

"To fight Eggman?"

Gadget felt the guilt just asking the two about joining him. He really didn't want to since he couldn't bare losing any friends again. He listened in as Olivia responded to his question.

"Umm...We're not sure about it, Gadget."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to, I didn't want to make this decision but I had to because of this..." He picked up the remote to the television, changing to the a news channel that was still broadcasting the purple mist.

"I ran into Sonic earlier and he said he faced something like this before." The three were glued to the screen as he continued on. "So, have you two made your decision?" The females each took a breath before looking at him. "If it's to save the world then, we will join you." Gadget's mood lightened a little as the two had agreed to come with him but just to be sure...

"Are you sure? You couldn't stand seeing the effects of war."

"Like you said, we'll get use to it quickly."

The moment Violet had clarified to Gadget, his earpiece began to give off a tone that he thought he would never hear again. A moment later, the voice of Gizmo One began speaking on all channels.

"All former resistance fighters around the world who are receiving this! This is an emergency transmission! If your hearing this then make your way to the resistance base on South Island as soon as possible! By now, I am sure you know is happening! We're short on time and need all the help we can get! To those who are still willing to fight for freedom, the world is needs your help again! Further instructions will be explained once you arrive! Be safe and until then, over and out!"

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I wanted to give a little more detail into Gadget since Forces sort of left out the clean up process in the aftermath of the war. Hopefully there was enough background information about Violet and Olivia.

Violet's last name came from the meaning of the word joy in latin but you could say her true last name is jewel and joy. Olivia's last name is also translated from latin for the word speed.