CHAPTER 1

Rose returned a few minuets later completely out of breath and holding the First-Aid kit. "Got it! I forgot it was so far away, though! And I almost killed myself trying to reach it, because someone stacked a lot of canned peaches next to it!"

"Right. Sorry about that." The Doctor muttered. "We'll eat our way through those peaches eventually. Anyway, our alien friend sort of needs a real doctor right now, because I know nothing of giving blood."

Rose handed the Doctor a roll of gauze and a thick bandage. He quickly and tightly secured the dressing on the bullet wound and then tossed Rose the Screwdriver. "You're gonna need to carry that and light the way."

Already blood was soaking through the bandage and the Doctor wasted no time in picking up the creature and walking off at a brisk pace towards where they had entered the woods from. "Come on, Rose! I need light!"

Rose paused and held the light over the alien in the Doctor's arms. It's some sort of animal, she thought to herself. A weird animal that can walk upright, wear shoes, speak and carry guns. This planet seemed very dangerous all of a sudden.

The alien was as black as the night with crimson streaks down its arms, legs and what looked like some sort of quills coming out the back of its head. Its eyes were shut tight, but Rose could see the pain on its face even though it was unconscious. There was a small tuft of white fur on its rapidly rising and falling chest.

"Rose, please get a move on. I think he's some sort of porcupine or something and this is killing my arms."

Rose nodded and lit the way back to the small hillside place. The lights of the houses shone out in the distance. To her fear, the Doctor turned and started walking towards them.

"Well, come on, then! There's bound to be someone there who can help him! He said this planet is in war and also he probably didn't venture out very far from his fort."

"But what if that isn't his base?" Rose asked nervously.

"Then we'll have to fight our way out. That'll be fun."

They got closer to the lights to find that the house was actually a large building that was sunk into the ground. The roof seemed to be made of metal and the sides that were visible were painted jet black.

As Rose approached the door, she felt a sharp tug at her side, but on turning around, found no one. She shrugged and knocked sharply. They didn't have to wait long.

The door was pulled open by an alien similar to the one in the Doctor's arms, only this one was a bright blue. He aimed a large gun at the Doctor and Rose in turn. "Um, yeah…hi…can you help him?" The Doctor looked a bit taken aback.

Blue glanced from Rose to the Doctor and then back to Rose before yelling, "EMERGANCY! CODE RED!"

Instantly, lots more of the aliens surrounded them, all of them holding guns and looking extremely hostile. Rose instantly slipped the Screwdriver into the Doctor's pocket and put her hands over her head, but they still didn't back down.

"This isn't what it seems. Sure, she shot him and all, but that was because he shot at us first. As you can see, we tried to help him but I'm afraid our efforts weren't very good." The Doctor said. "So I hope you have a good medical program here."

"You have a lot more explaining to do." Blue growled.

On that happy note they were rushed into the small building and lead down a few dimly lit halls until they all came to a steel door. They all entered into a small hospital-like room and The Doctor was commanded to put the alien in his arms on the closest table. He did and backed up, the sleeves and side of his jacket stained with its blood. The security guards then motioned them into another room connected to the one they just entered into.

"Sit down." Blue commanded harshly.

Rose and the Doctor sat, and were instantly bound in place by the guards.

"Now…who are you?" Blue asked.

"I'm the Doctor." The Doctor said. "And that's Rose, my companion."

"Look, we're really sorry, but can you please explain to us what's going on here?" Rose asked, her voice wavering. "We're getting nowhere with this chitchat."

"You're spies." Blue accused. "Spies sent here to kill our Resistance, aren't you? We're the only shard of hope for these people!"

There was a slight silence.

"If I gave you proof that we just came from a planet halfway across the galaxy, would you listen to me?" the Doctor asked softly.

"Don't lie. We may not be as heartless as you, but that doesn't mean that we won't lock you up."

"What's your name?" Rose asked.

Blue seemed taken aback. "Don't play dumb."

"I swear on a Time Lord's honor, we're not." The Doctor said. "And I can prove it. If I…can just….Aaagh…" The Doctor tried to reach his pocket. "If I can just get my Screwdriver I can show you."

One of the guards eventually reached into his pocket and brought out the Screwdriver, which was glowing a bright green.

"I've never seen anything like that before…" Blue muttered. "And it doesn't matter if it's a tracking device. They already know we're here. I'll call in Tails and he can take a look at it."

A few minuets later the door opened and a yellow fox-ish creature bounded in the room. "Oh, wow, you weren't kidding!" He exclaimed. He sounded young.

"Um…excuse me for asking…but what exacally are you?" The Doctor asked.

"I'm a fox." The fox said. "Not that you care anyway. I've seen what you've done to our people."

"What does everyone mean by that?"

"He claims he's from halfway across the galaxy, Tails." Blue explained in short tones. "No doubt this is another lame trick to get us out of the base."

"No…I think he's telling the truth." Tails said. "His eyes aren't lying."

There was a short pause.

"Here and take this screwdriver thing. I'll explain to these guys, then. If they've already heard this speech, then I'll know they're lying. If not…" Blue trailed off as Tails left the room, fascinated by the Screwdriver.

"First of all, this planet is called Mobius." Blue said. "All of us here are Mobians, and we've been co-existing with some humans like yourselves for many years. Until about two years ago."

"Wait, before you go on, what's your name?" Rose asked.

"I'm Sonic." Blue said. "Sonic the Hedgehog, to be precise."

"Ooooh, ok." The Doctor said. "So…Sonic, what's this war about?"

"I'm getting there." Sonic said. "Two years ago some portal thing/paradox/whatever you want to call it opened, and people from Earth invaded. They turned the humans here against us and now we're hunted. They want to kill us so they can take over our planet and ruin it just like they did Earth."

"So…they're fighting you for your planet?" Rose asked.

"And to make it worse if they capture us in battle they'll either take us back to their labs or slowly kill us. Sometimes both. They'll test things on us and many don't survive." Sonic hissed. "We're the only Resistance on the entire planet. Our army consists of only about four billion compared to the Earth army of twelve billion or more."

"So the Earth is that overcrowded?" Rose gasped in shock. "Didn't…didn't they start moon colonies or anything?"

"They did…but something happened." Sonic said. "One of the first moon bases caught fire, killing millions and destroying the progress on other colonies. They obviously haven't restarted the program again."

"So the human army is out just to slaughter you and act like nothing ever happened?" The Doctor more echoed than asked.

"Yes."

It got quiet.

"We'll be double agents." The Doctor said. "We'll work our way into their bases, learn from them, and report back to you. We'll crush them from the inside!"

"They'll know." Sonic muttered. "They always seem to know. They know where our spies hide and capture them. A few days ago…" He trailed off.

"What?" Rose asked, dreading the answer.

"A few days ago another of our spies was captured and we could hear her screams from here."

"Is their base really that close to this one?" The Doctor gasped.

"It's further than you think…but many of us stood in the woods that night and swore we would not go down without a fight. We would fight to defend the lives of the innocent. We launched an attack the next morning and successfully killed off a hundred…maybe more…without any of us captured, killed, or injured. It was our first minor victory in a long time."

"Well then, I think you're in need of some help." The Doctor smiled good naturedly. "We're willing to help, by the way."

"I can't trust you."

"Did we or did we not bring your friend back here?"

"Yeah you did… after you shot him!" Sonic hissed.

"…Accident…"

More silence.

"I really do think that if we work undercover for you we can get a lot more accomplished." Rose said. "We can help you win this war and drive back the humans if you just let us help you."

"I can give you more proof we're from another world…or at least I am." The Doctor said suddenly. "Unknown to all you until this moment…"—Rose rolled her eyes slightly— "…I have two hearts. Now humans don't have that, do they?"

Sonic sort of gave him a look that said, "What the heck?" and then glanced at the guards. "Get one of our doctors in here."

After confirming that indeed the Doctor was indeed not human, Sonic seemed less hesitant to start to trust them. "Say you did want to help us…" He started. "You'd need to win the trust of the humans. Especially their leaders."

"Sounds easy enough." The Doctor said. "We could do that within a day."

"I'm not done yet." Sonic muttered. "Anyway, when you do get a few people to trust you…sometimes the leader of the humans will call you into a secret meeting. I only know this because one of our spies filmed many generals going to meet with the guy. But when you're in the room with the others…that's when you kill them. Without a leader, they'll fall apart."

"Brilliant! But…who's the leader?" Rose asked.

"No one knows." Sonic said softly. "No one's managed to see his face before they were killed…he's never come into battle…we've never really even heard his voice!"

"I guess our first main job would to be to find out just exacally who this guy is." The Doctor said. "And then start fitting in."

"This is no easy task." Sonic said. "If they even suspect that you're double agents, they won't hesitate to kill you."

"Been in worse." Both Rose and the Doctor said at the same time with a shrug. The Doctor's face suddenly lit up and he asked, "Wait a second…if they know you're here, why didn't they kill you yet?"

"Because of our shields." Sonic said simply. "I can't give you any more information other than we have the most advanced defense system in both worlds."

"How many of you are left?" Rose asked softly. "How many others have survived this massacre?"

Sonic glanced down at his shoes. "Nearly half the population has been wiped out. Everyone that could lift any weapon was called and sent here. Some of the women and children are even here because so much of the land has been destroyed. But we're overcrowded, underfed, and slowly starting to lose people to hunger and thirst."

"If you can get my TARDIS I can hop on over to the closest planet and get supplies." The Doctor suggested.

"What's a TARDIS?" Sonic asked, looking confused. "Is that like a spaceship?"

"Even better." The Doctor smiled knowingly. "I can show you if you want."

That was when a fierce pounding came from the door and a guard opened it to let in a white hedgehog that was slightly smaller than Sonic. His left ear was cut, staining some of his fur red. "Sonic! They're trying again!" he yelled before turning and running out.

Sonic bolted after him, leaving the guards, Rose and the Doctor. But the guards weren't there for long when a huge BOOOOM rocked the base.

"Now what?" Rose whispered.

"Now we get out of here." The Doctor said, standing up. The ropes that bound him in the chair slipped down around his ankles.

"How did you do that?" Rose asked as he set to work on the knot behind her chair.

"I'm really rather good with knots, didn't I ever mention that to you?" The Doctor said. "Well, anyway, now you know. I think we should give these guys a hand."

They were about ready to leave the room when they nearly ran into the small yellow fox named Tails. He glanced up at the Doctor before saying, "If anyone else saw you they wouldn't hesitate to shoot you dead!"

"We should tell the entire base that we're on your side, then. The sooner, the better!" The Doctor said. "And could I have my Screwdriver back now?"

"I'm almost done with it." Tails said. "But stay in that room for now. You may be our key to winning this war, so I don't want you dead."

The Doctor sank back into the chair he had been previously bound to. Tails shut the iron door behind him and apparently locked it, because Rose couldn't open it after that.

"Well we're not dead, we're sort of friends with these guys now, and I think we might actually have a role to play in this war." The Doctor said as Rose began ramming her shoulder into the door, It didn't budge at all.

"Doctor, in case you didn't notice…" She rammed her shoulder into the door. "…The TARDIS is outside…" RAM "…and there were some pretty big explosions out there…" BANG "…Hopefully they didn't blow it to bits!"

"Oi, that could be a probablem…" The Doctor mumbled. "Well, first things first! When they get back we'll ask them to get the TARDIS and put it somewhere safe."

Rose stopped ramming her shoulder into the steel door and began kicking it instead. Again, nothing happened. "I hope they won't forget about us…"

Another BANG was heard, sending a rumble through the floor and causing a bit of plaster to rain down from the roof. The Doctor put his hands behind his head and leaned back. "This is nice."

"I just hope their 'advanced defenses' will hold." Rose muttered. She sunk into the chair next to the Doctor. "If we die here, it'll look lame compared to our other adventures."

"I'll just regenerate." The Doctor said. "But for you, yeah. That would be sort of lame. No offence."

Sonic came back ten minuets later and announced, "They were trying to launch missiles but the shield held. No real damage to anything…how did you get out of the chairs?"

"I'm like a modern Houdini." The Doctor said, but Sonic just got a confused look on his face. "Oh, forget it. I need you to do me a favor. My Police Box/TARDIS is out on that hill out there…and I would really appreciate it if we could get it and bring it back here safely."

"I did notice something out there." Sonic said. "But what if this is some kind of trap?"

"You'll just have to believe me on this one." The Doctor said, raising his right hand. "I swear on Rose's life that this isn't a trick."

Rose shot the Doctor a murderous glare…but he didn't seem to notice.

"Fine. I'll gather up some troops and an armored vehicle in a few minuets. But for now, follow me." Sonic said.

They walked back through the hospital place they first walked through. Rose stopped at the foot of one of the beds, causing the Doctor and Sonic to stop too. "Come on." Sonic said.

"What's his name?" Rose asked, motioning to the limp black figure lying motionless in the bed. His leg was heavily bandaged and he was deathly pale.

"Shadow." Sonic said. "Luckily you didn't kill him, because he was one heck of a scout."

"Is there anything I can do?" Rose asked. "I mean, I caused this and I should help."

"Right now there's nothing anyone can do. He's already gotten a small operation and then stitched up, and that was really all the doctors could do. He developed a high fever soon after he got here…He'll have to wake up and recover the rest on his own. We're on a medicine shortage, as I'm sure you've noticed."

Rose walked to the side of the bed and knelt down. "Shadow? Can you hear me?"

"Come on, Rose. If we're going to get the TARDIS thing we need to do it now." Sonic said. "Besides, he can't hear-"

Shadow twitched slightly and moved his head towards Rose. He muttered something, but no one could understand him.

"I'm sorry." Rose whispered.

The Doctor gently touched her arm and she got up slowly. "Come on, Rose. They'll be plenty of time to help later."

5 MINUETS LATER…

Along with Rose, the Doctor and Sonic were three other warriors. One was a red echidna by the name of Knuckles; one was a tall purple cat by the name of Blaze; and the last was the white hedgehog from earlier who's name was Silver. The six of them also had a rather wide and long pickup truck to work with.

"All right, this thing can go up to 90 MPH and can withstand blasts from any type of long range weapon." Blaze said proudly. "But we still have to be on our guard. When we're out there loading up this TARDIS thing is when they'll have a chance to attack."

"Let's get this over with." Knuckles muttered.

Rose, The Doctor, and Sonic all lay flat in the pickup part of the truck while the others got inside the vehicle. With a lurch the truck blasted through a garage door and rocketed towards the hill.

"Sort of bumpy…" Rose muttered as they practically hit fifty rocks a minuet.

With a soft screech and minor case of whiplash, they came to a halt. The Doctor threw himself over the side of the truck and ran for his TARDIS with the others in pursuit. "Come on, let's get this thing back!"

The six of them managed to pick it up rather awkwardly and drag it near the truck. Then came the tricky part of actually getting the thing on the truck.

"Just a….little more…" The Doctor groaned.

With a loud THUNK the TARDIS fell on its side on the truck. The entire escape vehicle leaned to one side, but other than that, nothing happened.

"Let's go!" Silver whispered, jumping in the driver's seat. The Doctor hopped up on the TARDIS' side and sat there, smiling. "This is fun."

Rose rolled her eyes and ducked next to the Police Box and made sure it wouldn't roll over and kill her.

And with another minor case of whiplash, they sped off.

"If Tails thought my Screwdriver was cool, wait until he sees this!" The Doctor shouted gleefully at Rose, but his words were nearly lost in the rush of wind as the truck sped towards the base.

Rose glanced around warily. She wondered where the humans' base was. Sonic said it was close… but how close? Close enough to spot a truck zooming down the hill at breakneck speed? Close enough to spot them via spy or satellite; then arm and send a missile after them?

That was when the world around them exploded in fire.

Rose screamed as the truck tipped to one side and the TARDIS rolled off, nearly crushing her. The Doctor managed to get away from it before it rolled him over too. The companions landed side by side and watched as the truck rolled onto its side and lay there in a smoking wreck.

"What happened?" Rose screamed. "I thought it was indestructible!"

"Motion sensor!" Blaze coughed. She had jumped from the pickup and landed not very far away. She rushed back towards the truck, filling Rose and the Doctor with a terrible sense of dread.

"They're still in there!" Rose shrieked, getting up and dodging fire to reach the truck. Together, she and Blaze managed to pry the door off, reach inside, and drag Silver out. His stomach was pretty sliced up from the broken windshield and flying pieces of metal. As soon as he was dragged out of the truck, he collapsed on the ground, curled into a small ball.

"Rose! I'll get help!" The Doctor yelled over the fire.

"Do it quickly, then!" Rose screamed back. She lifted herself into the truck among the fire and dense smoke. What she found both scared her and relieved her slightly.

No one else was in the truck. That either meant they escaped, or….

No, that option was unthinkable. They had to be alive. No way would they just die like that…

"Rose!" Blaze called. Rose heaved herself out of the burning truck and, couching, turned to face her comrade. "Did you find them?" Rose yelled.

"We managed to jump out the door before the truck tipped." Knuckles said, coughing from the smoke. "But that doesn't mean that we're perfectly ok. There were things flying everywhere!"

"Where exacally is the other base?" Rose yelled over the popping and crackling of the flames.

"Just beyond the hill…they could see you earlier, I bet you that's what happened…and they planted the mine…"

"This was a trap!" Knuckles accused. "I knew it!"

"Let's not jump to conclusions…" Rose stuttered, nearly backing up into some flames. She jumped back from them before they singed her pants. "Really, Why would I blow myself up?"

"That's your probablem." Knuckles hissed.

"Look, we can argue about this later but for right now we need to concentrate on getting this box thing out of here along with ourselves!" Blaze shouted, glancing towards the base they had come from and announcing, "Oh, here come re-enforcements."

"I'm back!" The Doctor announced breathlessly. "And I got another truck and some ropes to bring the TARDIS up on it…also a few doctors and guys with guns. Am I useful or what?"

"Just get the damn TARDIS on the damn truck!" Rose yelled.

"Jeez, language…"

In less than thirty seconds the TARDIS was on the truck and everyone was one way or another clinging to the vehicle as it sped back towards the base.

"INCOMING!" Knuckles announced, pointing to the sky.

There was what looked like a firework…only it was sailing straight towards them. There was a high-pitched scream following it.

"STEP ON IT!" Blaze shouted at the driver.

"We're not gonna make it!" Rose screamed.

"Yes we are! The base is right there!" Sonic shouted back.

"No, look at it! It's too fast!"

"CAN'T THIS THING GO ANY FASTER?"

"I'M GOING AS FAST AS I CAN WITHOUT THE WHEELS FALLING OFF!" The driver shouted over the wind, missile, and other shouting. "SO SHUT UP AND HOLD ON!"

The Doctor gazed up at the missile which was so close they could clearly see what color it was, even in the dark. "I don't think this will end well…"

"ALMOST THERE...!"

"WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!"

"YES WE WILL!"

"IT'S RIGHT ON TOP OF US!"

"AAAAAAHHH!"

There was a huge explosion that rocked the entire truck. The driver slammed on the breaks so hard and so suddenly that Rose nearly crashed through the rear window. The truck gently bumped against the wall of the base and everyone sat there; their ears ringing and more or less going into shock.

It took Rose a moment to realize what happened.

They must have passed under the shield just as the missile hit. Rose turned shakily around to see pieces of it that were on fire lying in a line on the ground. In the distance was the other burning truck.

"…Wow…" Blaze managed to say.

"That was too close." Knuckles agreed.

"Nice driving, Jet." Sonic muttered.

"Not my best." The driver, Jet, muttered. "Now everyone out of my truck."

Everyone got out of the truck, except for a few of the doctors in the back that were gathered around Silver. "Hey, someone get us a stretcher or something!" one of them yelled.

"Come with me." Sonic commanded, motioning for the Doctor and Rose to follow him.

"We had nothing to do with that, we swear!" Rose said, still shaky from the multiple explosions. "We-"

"Just come with me." Sonic said.

"What is this thing?"

Everyone that was gathered around the truck turned to see Tails opening the TARDIS' door and then stepping back in surprise and nearly falling off the truck as he got a load of the inside. "How…how did it do that…?"

"It's the TARDIS." The Doctor said simply. "And as I'm sure you've noticed, it's bigger on the inside."

Tails could only stare wide-eyed at it for a while.

"So you really are from a different world." Sonic muttered. "But that still doesn't mean you don't work for the humans."

"I don't like them much, to be honest." The Doctor said.

Rose glared at him.

"Well, eventually they wage World War Five and that doesn't go very well. It ends up effecting other planets and a few civilizations die out. This doesn't happen for another…oh…five million years judging by the kind of missile they sent after us." The Doctor said. "And besides, they just can't seem to agree on who to elect leader."

"Well, that bomb couldn't have been placed by you." Sonic said. "If that makes you feel any better. That had to have been there a while ago."

"So when do we get to be double agents?" The Doctor asked. "I just can't wait for that part."

"Doctor, please. We could end up dead." Rose muttered.

"Actually, they're getting a new shipment of recruits in the morning. If you slip in among them you should be unnoticed." Sonic said. "And they'll lead themselves right into our trap."

AN HOUR LATER…

"We're really, really low on tranquilizer." The Doctor announced, coming into the small room that held two cots. "I mean, we literally used the last of the stuff on Silver."

"Can we do anything?" Rose asked.

"I think the only way to get more would be to hop in the TARDIS and zoom off to another planet." The Doctor sat on the end of the closest cot. "I might end up doing that…"

"How are the others? I mean, that explosion didn't exacally help us in any way…" Rose said.

"Oh, everyone's fine." The Doctor said. "They got patched right up and Silver survived his operation. We were really very lucky that no one was killed."

Rose nodded silently. "I'm worried about tomorrow."

"Me too. But then I find something to keep my mind off of it, and I feel a load better. Come on, we should go find more supplies for these guys." The Doctor said.

"Where exacally is the TARDIS right now?" Rose asked, heading over to the door.

"I think Tails got excited over it and had it shipped into his lab." The Doctor said. "See you soon…hopefully."

"Wait, I'm coming too!" Rose said, following him to the hall. "You can't just leave like that…and with no one coming either!"

"They do need as many people as possible here." The Doctor said. "They don't know when an attack will be launched to get through the barrier…because if it does, they'll need everyone they can get. And besides, weren't you going to the medical bay?"

Rose gave a defeated sigh. "Just come back between now and tomorrow at six in the morning."

"Sure thing." The Doctor turned and ran down the hall.

After wondering down a few wrong hallways and backtracking down another wrong hallway, he finally found the engineering place where, sure enough, Tails had the TARDIS.

The Doctor wondered into the bay, glancing around with mild interest. There was a huge generator-like thing in the center of the room, giving off a low hum. Weapons still being made lined tables set off in the corners of the room. There was what looked like a surfboard mounted on one of the walls. The Doctor glanced at the nearest table and found his Screwdriver, so he picked it up and put it in his pocket.

"That is by far some of the most advanced technology I've ever seen." Tails said, coming out of the TARDIS' door. "What planet?"

"Gallifrey." The Doctor said proudly. "I'm one of the last of the Time Lords."

"That's the generator that keeps the shields up." Tails said, motioning to the generator thing in the middle of the room. "But we've got smaller generators positioned around the base just in case this one is destroyed. You'll have to destroy them all in order to get our defenses down."

"Impressive." The Doctor muttered. "Now, before I leave, is there anything I need to specifically need to look for?"

"What?" Tails gave him a wide, blue-eyed stare. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm hopping over to another planet and getting supplies. From the sound of it, you're using up what little you have at an extreme rate."

"Half of us haven't eaten for a few days." Tails muttered. "We've been giving all we have to the women and children who can't fight."

"I'll make a note to grab food, medical supplies…what else?"

"Bullets. As many as you can get of all types."

"…And bullets."

"That's all I can think of right now."

"All right. See you soon." The Doctor stepped into the TARDIS.

"Wait! Doctor!"

The Doctor opened the TARDIS' door again so Tails could give him something. That something was a rather large and shiny blue jewel that seemed to hover just above his hand.

"What's this?" The Doctor asked in awe, running the Screwdriver over it. "I've never seen energy levels so high…"

"It's a Chaos Emerald." Tails said. "There's seven in all and we have currently in our possession four of them. It'll make sure you come back here to this exact spot when you're ready to return. You shouldn't be gone more than an hour, right?"

"Depends in which time I land in." The Doctor said. "But for now I'm going to Earth, about five hundred years ago. They'll have all I'll need plus lots more."

Tails looked a bit uncertain about the Doctor's choice of planets, but he didn't argue. After all, Earth 500 years ago wasn't hostile to Mobius….yet.

"See you soon." Tails waved.

"Same here." The Doctor entered the TARDIS…and then came running back out; arms loaded with canned peaches.

"Here, I think you could use these. Rose was getting on my case about these things earlier. Hope you have a can opener."

Tails looked delighted and nearly dropped all of the cans as the Doctor went back into the TARDIS and came back with more peaches.

"And just bet there'll be more where those came from!" The Doctor winked at the ecstatic fox and then entered the TARDIS again. It pulsed out of sight and was gone.

MEANWHILE WITH ROSE….

Within the hour and half that they had returned to the base after retrieving the TARDIS and the truck blowing up; things weren't going as planned in the medical bay. Blaze, Knuckles and Sonic were told to go back to their barracks after they were patched up from the explosion. Silver had to have an operation to make sure the glass and metal didn't cut as far into him as the doctors thought. Luckily, he would live because it wasn't as bad as they originally believed.

But the bad thing was he had developed a high fever also.

One of the doctors in the medical bay was all to happy to put Rose to work. Her only main thing to do was watch both Silver and Shadow and make sure their fevers didn't go up or they took a turn for the worse. The only thing that set her on edge was that the doctor told her that if Silver began to cough up blood she was to get him.

Blaze came back a few minuets later and offered to help too. She got stuck with the same job as Rose and the two of them began to talk.

"So…you're from another world. Must be nice there." Blaze sighed. "Or at least, no one's starving while they wait for the other army to crush them."

"I'm actually from Earth, but its distant past." Rose muttered. "Before humans began coming here. The Doctor is the…alien." She said, not really sure how to phrase that.

"What was it like?" Blaze asked. "Did everyone get along?"

"No. We would have launched into another World War before long." Rose sighed. "We were just about at each other's throats." She gently draped a cold cloth over Shadow's forehead, hoping that that would at least make him more comfortable.

"That was how it was here." Blaze said. "Then the humans came and forced all the humans here over on their side. Us Mobians had to unite…or die. We broke criminals out of prison to help. We were desperate with all the humans coming here every day…"

Rose couldn't imagine what this world was actually going through. She thought it was bad enough on Earth, but this…this was a whole new matter completely. To have millions of you slaughtered every day…just to make room for some violent race that already existed on another planet.

"You're going to win this war. I just know it." Rose said at last. "I've been further into Earth's future before and there's no talk of another planet that's inhabited by humans. In fact, we go into another depression for a few centuries until we get a leader that can piece the pieces back together."

"You should try telling that to Sonic." Blaze said. "He's been working day and night to organize troops and get everyone ready for an invasion that might not happen anytime soon. The humans are toying with us! Making us paranoid that they'll attack us when we least expect it…and then nothing happens!"

Despite the fact that Silver was burning up with fever, he began to shiver violently. Blaze gently pulled the blankets at the foot of his bed up to his bandaged stomach but they didn't seem to help, even though they were thick and would reflect body heat.

"Oh, come on, Silver. You've been through worse." Blaze muttered. "Remember the first war?"

"What first war?" Rose asked.

"The first war between the Mobians and humans." Blaze sighed. "Actually, it wasn't even a war. It was a slaughter. It wasn't even three years ago, and then they come out of nowhere…the humans. Armed with guns and some had swords. They killed thousands of us that day and captured many more. Only later did we find out that those that were captured were killed too…only…" Blaze trailed off for a few seconds. "Only they were killed much more slowly than the others. Many of our friends and family died that day."

"And then you organized everyone else here? On the whole planet?" Rose asked.

"We have a power source that managed to bring mostly everyone together here." Blaze said. "But now that we think about it, it might have been a mistake to have everyone in one place at one time for who knows how long. One of the humans' base is over that hill out there, and that's really the only one we know of."

"How did we manage to get through the shield when we were rocketing down the hill with the rocket following us?" Rose asked. "I mean, we should have blown up too!"

"The shield only rejects technology that we don't have." Blaze said. "Except for the Doctor's Screwdriver and the TARDIS thing that Tails liked so much. The shield probably didn't even realize that was technology from another world besides Mobius and let it though."

Rose nodded slightly. "Makes sense." She muttered.

"The humans could literally come knocking at our door." Blaze smiled grimly. "But they'd be without weapons. And if they do, we'll destroy them. They deserve it after what they did to us."

That explained the weird tug Rose felt when she and the Doctor entered under the shield the first time. her gun had been left outside.

"So who's the leader here?" Rose asked.

"Well…our leader was someone named Kaylee. But that was before…" Blaze got a blank look on her face for a few seconds. "That was before The Battle of Brooke."

"What's that?" Rose asked.

"One of the wars where we were actually even, for a change. Brooke is a stream that runs back in the woods, and Kaylee, Shadow and I were some of the newer recruits helping to get some others to safety at the base. We were nearing it when they ambushed us. But we were ready.

"Their leader shouted for his men to attack, and they lunged forward, shooting and cursing at us. We fought back with equal ferocity. It was a pretty even battle for a while. Then the civilians we were trying to defend were gunned down, one by one. Shadow tried to protect them, but the humans had some different type of gun and he was out of the battle; unconscious but otherwise unharmed. Kaylee saw them do this and lunged at the man who had shot."

Blaze was staring at the floor now, as if it were telling the terrible story. "She killed him, but as he lay dying, he shot at her... this time with a real gun…She didn't have a chance."

It was quiet for a while.

"That was when reinforcements arrived for the humans and we were forced to retreat; to leave the wounded and run for our lives. The humans took our wounded back to their base…they did things to them…tested their weapons on them…Shadow is the only one to have ever gone into their base and come out alive."

"How did he survive?" Rose asked, horror clear on her face.

"They let him go." Blaze said quietly. "They just let him go. Only later did we find out they implanted a tracking device behind his right ear. That's why they're so close to us now; because they tracked the signal here and set up camp. You'll have to ask Shadow about what happened later, because he's only told a few people the story, me not included…No doubt other camps are being established around our land to trap us in."

"And you can do nothing but sit here?" Rose asked solemnly.

"There's nothing we can do. We're fighting a losing battle. How can we win? It's not possible!" Blaze stood up, fire crackling in her fists.

" 'Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.'" Rose whispered.

"Words won't help us win. Weapons won't help us win. Numbers won't help us win, because we don't have any."

"Perhaps the tables will turn."

"I doubt it."

They stared at each other for a very long time until Blaze sighed and sat back down on the stool. "Do you want me to continue on with this, or not?"

"Go ahead." Rose said.

"Well…after Kaylee died, Sonic became our leader and he hasn't let us down. He hardly sleeps at night because he's trying so hard to protect us. He gives all the food he has to others to keep their strength up. He sacrificed everything for us; and he still is. I don't think our armies have ever seen a better leader. He brings hope to these people. Those foolish to believe there still is hope, at any rate."

"There is hope, Blaze. Just because it isn't right in front of you doesn't mean that it isn't there." Rose said firmly. "I mean, your defenses are great here. The humans haven't found a way to get through to you yet. That's got to count for something."

"If it does, hardly anything."

Silver's eyes flickered half open and he glanced at the ceiling as if trying to decide by its slope and color that he was dead or not. Blaze put her hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Silver, it's me, Blaze. You're safe, ok?"

"Blaze…?" Silver muttered. "…Am I gonna die?"

"Of course not." Blaze said gently. "Just rest and you'll be fine."

"I…can't." Silver coughed weakly. "…Ow."

"I know. I'll get you some painkiller if you rest." Blaze said.

"Do we even have any?" Rose mouthed to her.

Blaze slowly shook her head no but Silver didn't notice her as he fell back into his feverish sleep. "That's why the Doctor left. He's going to restock us with everything we need."

Tails came into the hospital, carrying a can of peaches. "Look, Blaze!" He said, grinning. "The Doctor left a huge pile of these! I've been giving them out, but I think that you guys need this one. It has more in it."

"I knew those peaches would come in handy." Rose smiled slightly. "Good. If anything, these guys need something to eat. Tails, can you get a can to Sonic, too? From what Blaze has told me, he hasn't eaten in a week."

"Sure." Tails said.

"And make sure he eats it, even if you have to stare at him to make him do it, clear?"

"This is going to be fun." Tails left the room, practically skipping.

"Now is there no hope?" Rose asked.

Blaze set the can of peaches on the ground. "Maybe there's a little…"

MEANWHILE…

The Doctor was having the best day of his life. Mainly because he had landed in Earth's 21st century where paper money was still valued over coins. That was good, because he had a stash of bills and at least an entire trunk full of pennies. There was no way he was going to count out all that change.

"All right, now all I need is food from this place." The Doctor said, entering a huge department store. "And possibly some medical supplies…First Aid…the works…"

It took about half a second for him to begin getting weird looks. It took him the other half of the second to realize why they were giving him weird looks.

The entire front of his sports jacket was covered in dried blood. Once he realized that was the cause of the looks, he pulled it off and stuck it in a trash bin; choosing rather to walk around with a T-shirt on even though it was cold compared to a bloodstained jacket.

The Doctor made a mental note to pick up another jacket at some point.

Before long the TARDIS was full of groceries and basic medical supplies. A bit later it was stocked full of other household supplies that the Resistance might need; from socks to toothbrushes. Before the day ended he was down about a thousand dollars and up about five hundred cans of non-perishable food.

On that good note, the Doctor bunked down in the TARDIS and slept.

The next day was as good as the first, although the Doctor ran out of money and had to resort to the pennies.

"Aaagh, just take the entire thing." He growled, letting the trunk fall with a loud crash at the cashier's feet. "I think I'll overpay you, but I personally don't want to be lugging that thing everywhere anymore."

The cashier gave him a very disturbed look but said anyway, "Here's your receipt…"

"Thank you very much." The Doctor smiled and walked away; carrying about seven bags full of cans.

WITH THE OTHERS AT THE RESISTANCE, WHERE HARDLY ANT TIME HAS PASSED AT ALL…

"That's Kaylee?" Rose asked, looking at the photo that Blaze had handed her.

"That was Kaylee." Blaze sighed. "She's the cat in the middle."

The photo showed Kaylee and three other Mobians, all carrying guns and looking to the side as if something grabbed their attention before the picture was taken. Kaylee was the tallest of the three, with shiny brown fur and pointed ears. She wore camouflage; smears of green, black and brown paint over her cheeks, making her bright green eyes stand out. She looked like a strong leader.

"She died three days after this was taken."

"She even looks like a leader…someone everyone would look up to." Rose said, handing the picture back. "Only the good die young…"

"It's too true." Blaze sighed, taking the photo and tucking it into the book it was taken out of. She put the book on Silver's bedside table and stared at it, like it would tell her that sooner or later things would turn out all right.

That was about when Tails burst into the room looking extremely happy. Perhaps Christmas had come early.

"The Doctor's back!" He cheered. "He's got us enough food to last us a few months!"

Rose got up and followed him, leaving Blaze to glance through the photo album again and wonder about the future.

"Hello, Rose!" The Doctor said when he saw her. "I got huge boatloads of canned peaches. I know you love them."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I hope you got more of a variety than just peaches."

"Let's see…I got pineapple, apples, pears and bananas. Mostly fruit, but I did get a couple hundred bags of vegetables. We'll just have to eat them quickly before they spoil." The Doctor began throwing bags and carrots out of the TARDIS' door and onto the floor of Tails' workshop. "I'll need help getting the cans, though."

Together Tails, Rose and the Doctor had the TARDIS unloaded in less than three hours. Then they set to work organizing the piles and delivering them to their designated places. That activity alone took up the rest of the afternoon and most of the night; and they still had piles to deliver.

"We'll take care of this in the morning somehow. You need to rest…you're going to start being spies tomorrow." Tails said, looking slightly nervous.

"I almost forgot about that!" Rose exclaimed. "Well, then…see you in the morning."

She and the Doctor left the workshop to return to their small bunk room.

Tails watched them leave and muttered to himself, "I really do think they are the key to winning this war…"

Meanwhile the Doctor and Rose had reached their bunk room after turning down seven wrong hallways and ending up twice near the kitchen.

"Oh, out of all the things to forget…" The Doctor muttered, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"What?" Rose asked.

"I forgot to pick up another sports jacket! Sure, I remembered the socks and the toothbrushes, but not the sports jacket! I'm leaving."

"No you're not." Rose said, crossing her arms and standing in front of the door. "You just got back and we have the biggest day of our lives, practically tomorrow morning. I'm sure we'll end up wearing some sort of camouflage anyway so we can blend in with the other humans."

The Doctor got a pitiful expression on his face. "But Rose, it's really cold here! You have a sweater! I have a T-shirt! I need my jacket!"

"That's why the Good Lord made blankets."

The Doctor sighed and went back to his cot. "Ok, you win. But after all this is over, I demand another jacket."