8am, David's House, Trolberg, 21 days after the anomaly.
Linus woke up feeling rather stiff. Arching up into a sitting position, he looked over at the sleeping bag and cushions laid hastily on the sofa he'd been sleeping on, and remembered where he was.
"Oh right. I'm not at home, am I?" Linus said to himself as he rubbed his eyes.
"Morning." David's mum was laying the table for breakfast, when she saw Linus had woken up. "Sleep well?"
"I think?" Linus replied uncertainly, as he heard footsteps behind him.
"Oh, Hello." David looked a tad surprised to see a complete stranger in his home, but figured there was a good reason. "What's brought you here?"
"It's a long story." Linus tried to deflect.
"You can talk about it over breakfast, if you'd like." David's mum encouraged. "Mind getting your dad to come down for breakfast, David?"
"I'll get him. David replied, leaving the room in order to beckon his father to join them. At the table the four of them happily tucked into some toasted jam sandwiches.
"So, what's your name?" David asked, biting into his toast.
"My name's Linus."
"Are you new here?" David asked.
"I guess you could say that. I got into some trouble and now I might be stuck here." Linus replied vaguely.
"How come?" David asked.
"Well, it all started yesterday morning. My friends and I were going out for baseball practice when we were interrupted by a bald man in some hover vehicle-thingy." Linus began.
"Dr Eggman?" David asked worriedly.
"Yeah, him. He said some threatening things to us before we left him alone. That evening, I saw him go through the portal and followed him in. And I ended up in some kind of laboratory?" David's eyes widened at this revelation. "Anyway, he threw me back out the portal and I landed in this ruins-y place, where I sat and waited, until this huge column of robots came barrelling towards the portal. At that point I got scared, so I ran into the portal from the other side and found myself on top of the wall, where you mom thankfully found me." Linus explained.
David froze still like a stone, dropping his knife onto his plate with a clang.
"Is something wrong, son?" David's dad piped up. David bolted from his chair, panic setting in as he made a dash for the front door.
"David! Wait! What are you doing?!" His mother stood up, imploring him to stop.
"He's here! Eggman's here, and he's brought a whole army with him! We have to warn everyone!" David hurriedly replied, throwing on his shoes and running out the door.
"That's what you were saying when you got here, wasn't it? What's gotten into you two?" David's mum asked, as everyone else got up.
"I don't know. Maybe they're right? Although the city would be in grave danger if that was the case." David's dad suggested.
"Still we can't let him run off like a headless chicken. Who knows what would happen?" David's mum replied.
Linus took her initiative, poking his head out of the front door.
"David? Why don't you use the phone?" Linus called out to him. David just about heard him, and came running back.
Of course. That would make much more sense." David admonished himself, starting to calm down a little. "Much quicker than running around town." He wheezed, catching his breath. David took to the phone and began to dial Hilda. Hilda meanwhile, was getting herself ready to go out when the phone rang.
"Hello?" Hilda answered the call.
"Hilda! You're home! Good!" David replied.
"You sound worried. What's wrong?" Hilda sensed the anxiety in David's voice.
"Well um, remember when Eggman was building an army to attack Sonic's world?"
"Yeah, he left, didn't he? He and Van Gale had already left when Sonic found their lab, I thought."
"Well, for whatever reason, he's back, and he's got a whole army ready to attack us." David emphasised.
"Ok. How do you know this?" Hilda questioned David's claim.
"Mum found someone on the wall last night, and he's seen everything with his own eyes." David began as he explained what Linus had seen. "Eggman's using the portals to bring robots from Sonic's world into ours."
"Okay. Ring Frida, and meet me at the wall. If what you're saying is true, then we're about to be in a lot of trouble. And make sure your mum lets Gerda know about it too. We'll need their help." Hilda urged.
"Okay. See you there." David replied, hanging up. Hilda went over into her room to pick up her sword, before heading out the door.
"Hilda? Where are you going?" Johanna called out as she was about to leave.
"Safety Patrol needs our help with something." Hilda avoided the subject.
"Do they now?" Johanna replied doubtfully, as she heard the door being firmly shut.
"Hey!" Johanna got up, sceptical of Hilda's words. Eager to find out what she was really up to, she made herself ready to go out and follow her, but decided against it, instead deciding to ring David's mum to find out what was going on. To her surprise, the line was busy, but after waiting patiently for a couple of minutes, she tried again, and eventually her call was answered.
"Hello?" David's mum spoke into the receiver. "Is that you, Johanna?"
"Yes, it is. Do you... have any idea what's going on?"
"Well, I'm not too sure myself really. David and... Well, to begin with, I found a boy lost on the wall at midnight. He claimed he wasn't from here so I gave him a place to sleep. When he explained what he'd seen to David, he started to panic and now the pair of them have run off. They seem to want me to tell Gerda as well, so I don't think they're making this up, whatever this is."
"Hilda took her sword before she left, should I be worried?" Johanna asked.
"I think you've just answered your own question." David's mum responded. "Anyway, I'll get my things ready and head for the wall myself. If it's as bad as David says it is, we'll need as much help as we can get. Feel free to join me if you want to."
"Well, I can't just spend the day wallowing in fear, can I? Of course I'll come with you." Johanna accepted her invitation.
"Okay, see you then!" David's mum gave a cheery goodbye as Johanna hung up.
At the base of the wall, David, Linus and Frida arrived to see that Hilda was already there patiently waiting for them.
"You must be Hilda." Linus was the first to speak. "My name's Linus. I come from one of the other worlds."
"One of the other worlds?" Hilda asked. "You mean there's more than one?"
"Yeah, I heard about everything from a hedgehog named Amy, does that name sound familiar to you?"
"Sonic mentioned someone called Amy a while ago, perhaps that would be her?" Frida recalled.
"So that anomaly sent Sonic and his friends into multiple worlds at once?" David deduced.
"Does that mean we can go into Sonic's world and get help?" Hilda asked.
"I'm not sure. It might not work like that." Linus replied, before beginning to explain how he arrived, including some of the details about the portal not sending him home.
"So, even if we were to use the portal, we might not get back?" Hilda theorised. "That would make things tricky."
"Let's get up on to the wall." David suggested. "I want to be able to see what's coming."
"Smart thinking, David!" Came a voice from atop the wall.
"Is that... Gerda?" Frida asked.
"Come up. We need to have a talk." Gerda beckoned them with a serious expression. Hilda and co gingerly climbed up the stairs, unsure of what Gerda would say.
"You called?" David spoke as they emerged topside.
"I have heard from your mother about what you four suspect is going on, and rest assured I am taking it very seriously." Gerda began.
"Really?" Linus doubted.
"A robot attack on the city would sound very unrealistic, that is true, but I cannot rule anything out, especially after what I have heard from your friend Tails over the last three weeks.
"You and Tails have met before?" David asked her.
"Indeed. We have spoken a few times while he was building this portal here." Gerda gestured at the portal as she said so.
"How much do you know?" Hilda asked.
"Enough." Gerda answered plainly. "From what Tails said, Eggman poses a great danger to anywhere he roams. With that in mind, I can't in good conscience ask for your help, given you are still children, but additionally, having observed some of your escapades in the past, I doubt you are going to take things lying down."
"So you want us to help?" Hilda replied.
"Well, I won't stop you, is what I will say." Gerda replied, taking a glance at Hilda's sword. "Although if I were you, I wouldn't use that sword bare-handed.
Frida took a moment to consider Gerda's words. "Of course! The sword conducts electricity, so you'd shock yourself every time you cut a wire." Frida explained.
"Ever wondered why Tails and his friend always wear gloves?" Gerda smiled.
"Yeah, I hadn't quite considered that." Hilda sheepishly admitted.
"Come with me." Gerda held out her hand. "There should be some spares at the patrol." she beckoned Hilda to follow, which she did, leaving David, Frida and Linus to discuss the situation.
"I'm not sure we can actually stop them by ourselves." David muttered with worry. "Do you think there's anyone else that can help us?"
"Not really. Sonic and Tails would be here if they could get back. I'm not sure why they wouldn't." Frida replied.
"Perhaps the portal only goes to here in the evening?" Linus suggested. "When Eggman turned up in my town yesterday, it was morning then, and he didn't leave until after 4."
"Hmm. That means we have to hold Eggman back for the next... 7 and a half hours?" David replied. "Is there anyone else? Like Kaisa? Or Matilda Pilqvist? Or any of the other witches?"
"Well, no." Frida replied. "I spoke with Kaisa yesterday, the witches seem to be preoccupied; apparently the void is sounding extremely ravenous."
"Didn't you and Hilda already deal with that?" David asked.
"We thought we did. I don't know what's happened since, but it sounds really, really bad." Frida sounded quite fearful herself.
"I really hope we don't somehow get involved in that as well." David replied, as Hilda and Gerda returned.
"I'm back!" Hilda announced, carrying her sword while wearing a pair of gloves similar to Gerda's.
"Oh, good." David seemed a little surprised. "Eggman hasn't arrived yet, thankfully."
"That gives me a little time to plan our defence." Gerda replied. "Good luck. Hopefully we see each other on the other side, wherever that may be."
"Thanks!" Hilda replied with vigour. Gerda left the four of them alone, heading over to the nearest bell tower, where both David's mum and Johanna were keeping watch.
"Everything all right?" Gerda asked.
"No, not really." Johanna sounded worried. "Is she going to be safe?"
"I think she knows what she is doing." Gerda assured her.
"Fighting robots with a sword?" Johanna questioned her judgement. "I wouldn't call that safe, if I were you."
"Well, you are her mother. You can pull her out of there, if you feel that's safe." Gerda replied. "Although given the odds against us, a little bit of help would be nice. I have a lot of work to do, so don't leave it to me to keep an eye on your children. Now, if either of you see the robots coming over the horizon, ring the bell. I have to go down and brief the rest of the patrol."
"Roger that. David's mum enthusiastically saluted, earning a surprised look from Johanna.
With nothing to do but wait, Hilda stared out into the distance, as a chill wind breezed in the air.
"It feels tense." Linus felt it too.
"Like a sense of impending doom, right?" David asked.
"Yeah." Frida responded, staring far out into the distance, as a few specks on the horizon began to appear.
"Er, guys..." Linus pointed out the mass of robots that was beginning to approach.
"They're here!" David hollered in the direction of the tower, prompting his mum to ring the bell.
"Well, let's go down and meet them!" Hilda made a determined face as she led the four of them down the stairs. Hilda and the others stood in front of the gate as Eggman approached them, halting him as he recognised the faces of his opposition.
"Oh ho! Hilda! I was expecting you'd show up to defend this wretched city of yours, especially since your new friends Sonic and Tails bailed on you the first chance they got."
"Only because you and Van Gale were attacking their home!" Hilda retorted. "And now you're back for more!"
"Well, I am. That blasted traitor stabbed me in the back and ruined my plans."
"Good for her." David frowned.
"Oh, you can thank her later, as I will make up for her betrayal by taking over her home planet, starting with this city." Eggman announced.
"You Lie!" Linus called bullshit on Eggman's supposed motive. "You just want to take over because you feel like it. My world is next, you said that yourself!"
"Oh, it seems my robots didn't demolish you on the way here. Insolent little runt." Eggman muttered. "Robots, make an example out of him!" He ordered, pointing him out to his metal minions. About 5 of them closed on him at great speed, but Hilda dashed out in front of him and held out her sword.
"Linus, get out of here. I'll deal with this." Hilda held up her sword and eyed up her target.
"I'd like to see you try." Eggman chuckled. "Robots, attack!"
The first of the five came barrelling towards Hilda, who swung her sword through a gap in the armour across the robot's middle, slicing it clean in half.
"You may be stronger than you look, but your efforts will be no match for the likes of me, especially when my army surrounds the entire city!" Eggman commanded, as the rear and side flanks began to disperse around him, looking for other entrances through which to invade.
Hilda steeled her focus, immobilising the 4 other robots in front of her with a short succession of swings, stabs and slices.
"David! I need back up, can you get yourself a weapon, or something?" Hilda implored.
"Something ranged?" David asked.
"That'll do." Hilda answered. Frida, stick with me. Can you slow these robots down?" She looked over her shoulder.
"I'm not sure." Frida doubted herself, before glancing at the mass of robots approaching them. "I'll think of something." She tried to assure her.
"Alright, but I can't keep these guys back forever!" Hilda replied, parrying a robot's punch with her sword. Frida, after a little brainstorming, chanted out an incantation and raised her wand, raising a magic barrier out of the ground.
"Thanks Frida!" Hilda replied, cutting through another robot. Frida's magical wall managed to hold the robots back for a while, tanking their punches for a couple of minutes, though each punch forced Frida to hold it up with ever increasing effort.
Eventually, Frida's wall broke down, and the pair had to take a few steps back as the robots began to advance. Eggman grinned as he watched the proceedings, flying up in his Eggmobile to get a better view.
"Hey you!" David hollered from atop the wall. "Get lost!" He shouted at Eggman, aiming a crossbow at him.
"Good luck hitting me with that." Eggman chuckled, as he flew off high above him. David knew he wouldn't hit him, so he wisely drew his attention to the robots, who were beginning to spread themselves out as they circled the wall. Letting loose a flurry of arrows, most of them simply pinged off the robots' armour, but occasionally he would manage to get an arrow embedded in a robot's inner circuitry.
Further around the wall, a number of the safety patrol were doing similar, armed with a variety of anti-troll weaponry, and the occasional shotgun. Some, like the (troll repellent adhesive, was relatively successful in slowing the robots' advance. Bullets, on the other hand, were about as useful as the arrows were. Gerda was busy ordering the eastern flank of the wall when the robots arrived, and while everyone under her command had been given clear instructions, she was at a loss as to what to do herself.
"They're robots. You could just drive into them." One of her men suggested. "That's sure to take a few of them out."
"It would leave me rather exposed should I come to a halt in the middle of it though." Gerda expressed her doubts.
"Oh, you'll be fine. We'll cover your exit, we promise." the men in the room smiled with a sincerity that made Gerda even more uncertain.
"It was the right move." She thought aloud to herself as she headed to her patrol car. "But even still, it would be incredibly dangerous for me. Should I trust them?" She thought to herself, thinking back to the sort of decisions Erik would make.
"I should let someone else know, just to be safe." Gerda picked up her radio and began to speak. "Hey, Niamh, I'm about to attempt a risky manoeuvre. Can you make sure I have an exit open?"
"Johanna can. I'm tied up at the moment." David's mum replied., firing some troll repellent at a robot which was climbing the tower, sending it falling back down and crashing onto its brethren below.
"Got it." Johanna understood, taking a shotgun and some rope and heading out onto the wall, watching over the eastern gate. She was busy tying a knot at the top of the wall when Gerda made her move, driving full throttle out of the gate and mowing through about ten or eleven robots. Eggman clearly had seen this too, as he beelined for the group of men whom Gerda had asked for help.
"Incoming!" Eggman chortled gleefully, as he hovered down at chest height and barrelled towards them, forcing the men to either duck or get run over.
Down on the ground, Gerda was losing momentum, and as she ploughed through a 20th robot, the car ground to a halt, and was quickly swarmed on all sides by other robots. Gerda fired some troll repellent, which slowed the robots in front, but as evidenced by the robots that were banging their metal fists against anything they could, there was still no means of escape.
"Gerda!" Johanna looked on in alarm, aiming her shotgun vaguely at the swarm of bots. She looked uncertain, seemingly aware that shotguns were known to be inaccurate from long range. "Right." Johanna slung the shotgun around her shoulder and clambered onto the side of the wall. Gerda's car had stopped close to the rope Johanna had laid, so Johanna began to lower herself down.
Gerda, meanwhile, was firing off every weapon the car had in its arsenal, in an attempt to give her more room to get out, though seemingly, it wasn't going to give her the time or space she needed. Having abseiled down enough, Johanna jumped off the wall and onto the roof of Gerda's car.
It was only now that Johanna could see the full scale of the trial she, her daughter and their friends faced. Eggman's robots were sprawled across her field of view, unnatural goons of a mad dictator, who would stop at nothing to deprive her and her own of their freedom, and the beauty of the natural world in it. Anger burned in her like a spark, which if you looked into her eyes flared like the sun as she stared unflinchingly at the targets in front of her.
"Take that!" She shouted, firing a shot directly into the head of one robot, knocking it back into the path of its fellows. Johanna let loose a flurry of more and more shots, reloading again and again until the robots stopped advancing, allowing Gerda to poke her head out of the car door.
"Johanna?" Gerda exclaimed with confusion. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine." Johanna grunted. "Are you okay, more importantly?" She asked.
"A bit shaken, but I'm not hurt, thankfully." Gerda looked up as Eggman continued to toy with the men atop the wall.
"We should go back up." Gerda suggested.
"Yes, let's." Johanna agreed, climbing back up the rope with Gerda following behind, as the robots began to reoccupy the space they had left.
Back at the southern gate, Frida's magic had bought Hilda plenty of time, but the constant wave of attacks from Eggman's robots was beginning to wither away at them, and Frida's spells were holding them off less and less as time went on. By 11:15, Hilda and Frida had retreated to within the confines of the city wall, using the gate as a choke point.
Their combined efforts had taken down about 40 robots thus far, but that wasn't about to stop the wave of robots from barrelling towards them. Atop the wall directly above, David and Linus were looking down at the badniks, at whom David fired a crossbow bolt, which plinked off its target, leaving nothing more than a dent. Linus was also trying to help, slinging rocks at them using his blanket. These weren't much help either, and as one rock whizzed past David's field of vision, he decided to be honest with him.
"Linus, I know you're trying your best, but perhaps it would be better if you headed home." David advised.
"Yeah it should be safer there. If Eggman's attacking here, then logically that means he wouldn't be attacking my world at the same time, right?" Linus theorised.
"I should think so. Anyway, if you run into Sonic or his friends, tell them to come here. I feel like we'll need their help." David requested.
"Okay. Will do." Linus promised. "See you around!" Linus waved, as he ran towards the portal and headed back through.
With Hilda and Gerda keeping the Southern and Eastern flanks of his army occupied, Eggman decided to focus instead on the West. Gerda had foreseen the possibility he would do this, so she'd put more officers on that wall to compensate for her absence, but if her other group of subordinates were anything to go by, then this bunch would be easy for him to subdue.
Flying in low, Eggman swooped towards them, forcing them to duck his Eggmobile. The attack did not faze them for long as they quickly got up and began to fire a flurry of crossbow bolts at Eggman, who skilfully flew upwards and avoided them. Eggman was happy to keep doing this for as long as he cared, since every minute that they were preoccupied with him, was a minute spent not dealing with the legion of robots down below, and before long, they had breached through the gate, and were now beginning to pile in.
"So long, boys! It was nice working with you!" Eggman jeered, as he flew off downwards to lead his army into the city.
Over at the Southern Gate, Hilda and Frida noticed the mass of robots was slowly thinning out, and although they were still pressing, Frida's magic was managing them a lot better. It didn't occur to Hilda why this was happening, so she just kept hacking away, but by 1pm, most of the robots had gone westwards, leaving Hilda and co with little to do, until David's mum came running towards them with urgent news.
"What's wrong?" Hilda could tell from her facial expressions that the news was bad.
"They, they breached the western gate." David's mum huffed and panted, having ran all the way there.
"Oh, cruddlesticks." Frida replied, as David also caught up with them.
"You can say that again." Hilda replied.
"How long ago was this?" David asked.
"About an hour, we think. I only got the message a minute ago though." David's mum replied.
"An hour?!" Hilda shouted. "Eggman and his army could be anywhere by now, possibly everywhere!"
"Gerda and the others are dealing with it." David's mum attempted to assure them. "You three should go home."
"Not to be rude, but that doesn't inspire me with much confidence." Hilda disagreed. "Let's go." Hilda marched away, sword in hand, as Frida and David followed.
"With any luck, if they're coming in from the west, Eggman's robots might get lost in the Huldrawood." Frida hoped.
"Which would be good for us. We should be able to take them by surprise in there." Hilda replied confidently.
"Plus, the spirits probably won't take kindly to the robots either." Frida suggested.
"I'd imagine so. But then again, Van Gale would probably have found a way around that." David grumbled.
"Van Gale isn't working for him anymore. She's not here. Although speaking of not here, where's Linus?" Hilda asked.
"He went back through the portal. He hasn't come back through so I can only assume it dropped him back in his home world." David guessed.
"Okay." Hilda gave out a long sigh. "Ready for another round of this?" She hoisted her sword up against her shoulder as they stared straight at the entrance to the Huldrawood.
"Yeah. We're not down yet." Frida replied with similar enthusiasm.
When it came to invading the city, Eggman had only one goal in mind: sow disorder and chaos. After that, the dominos would freely fall in his favour and the city would be handed to him on a plate. As far as he was concerned, the most effective way of executing that plan was to take out the power supply. Doing so would force the hapless citizens to look outside and witness his massive army rolling through the streets.
Eggman led from the front with gusto, winding through city streets and following the powerlines that lined them, ripping them up and destroying the transformers they were connected to wherever he went while Gerda and the other officers struggled to keep up. Over the next hour or so, Gerda and co managed to take down a handful of robots who were lagging behind, but Eggman's plan was beginning to bear fruit. People were beginning to take notice. Most of them were cowering in their homes in the hope that the robots would leave them alone.
Meanwhile, out in the Huldrawood, Hilda, Frida and David were camped out in the trees, waiting to ambush any passing robots. As the trio had hoped, a number of the back rows of Eggman's forces had indeed split off from the main flank and gotten lost, and were now wandering aimlessly amongst the thick forest. Frida had been using her magical wall spells to corral them into Hilda's path, whereupon she would jump down and attack, taking them out swiftly and easily. By 2pm she had taken down about 20 already and she was happy to oblige taking out some more.
In truth, she was beginning to enjoy it, and for the first time, she understood why Sonic never seemed to run out of energy, physical or mental.
"Let's keep going!" Hilda called out, more determined than ever.
Further east, Eggman was now flying towards the east of the city, taking out infrastructure as he went. Gerda had been witnessing the trail of destruction he was leaving in his wake and figured that at some point, he would start to make demands if she didn't change her tactics, so as she arrived at the central bell tower, she told her group to go on without her, staying behind to face Eggman herself. Gerda managed the situation from the top of the tower as best she could, directing her officers to wherever Eggman was expected to strike next in order to frustrate him as much as possible.
After the best part of 2 hours, Eggman noticed that, contrary to his plan, the Safety Patrol were beginning to anticipate his attacks, and as a result, less was being damaged, much to his consternation. This required a change of tack, so Eggman decided to head back with what was left of his army and try to outfox the opposition.
With the central bell tower being so prominent in the skyline, it wasn't long before Eggman arrived along with the 500-strong army of his that still remained. Making the assumption that whoever was in the tower was the leader of this 'resistance', he made sure to knock politely, as if to make things formal.
Naturally, Gerda had seen what was going on and was already waiting at the door when he knocked. Taking some time to unlock the door, Gerda opened it and looked upon her enemy.
"Dr Eggman, I presume?"
"Yes." Dr Eggman stood proudly. "And you are?"
"Gerda Gustav, Leader of the Safety Patrol. I am delegated the role of ensuring the city's defence. You are here to negotiate, yes?"
"In a sense. I expect the discussion will be short. As you know, I have been barrelling through your city, leaving chaos and destruction in my wake. If you wish for me not to level your city to the ground, you would be wise to cede possession of the city into the hands of yours truly." Eggman put his demands eloquently.
"With all due respect, nothing you have shown so far has me convinced that we cannot see off your attack. Not that I would ever cede ground to any hostile force. We will continue to fight to the last hour." Gerda replied defiantly.
"Very well. I will make sure your grave error of judgement will be remembered bitterly." Eggman threatened.
*BONG* The clock struck four.