Small ships each carrying two or three Egg Pawns were flying all around the city, shooting at anything and everything in their path. Their pilots were firing small fiery, red-colored projectiles. Civilians scrambled to get out of their cars or from the buildings to avoid getting blown up. Unfortunately, many people were too slow, and got caught in the path of destruction. The Egg Pawns then would leap off their miniature ships into buildings through windows. They trapped people in their rooms, offices, or lobbies and ambushed them. They showed no mercy. The only thing they knew was killing. They attacked using blasters, lancers, or simply their arms. The unfortunate civilians were zapped, sliced, or pummeled to death. More Pawn-controlled ships flew around Westopolis, shooting at the streets and exteriors of buildings. Then they would raid those buildings, repeating the process.

No one could even fathom what was going on. A terrorist attack? An alien invasion? Those who were lucky enough to get out of the chaos tried to escape the city, but Egg Gunners were heavily guarding the edge of Westopolis, as well as its exits. They fired their weapons at the first sight of a fleeing human. No one was allowed to run away. Tghere was no way to escape.

Meanwhile, police were fighting back—or, were at least attempting to. Some were firing their guns at the Egg Pawn ships, trying to bring them down. Most were fighting back an ambush by EggRobos and Egg Fighters. The Badniks were winning easily, shooting police cars with laser projectiles. Blocks away, Officer Jones and other police were firing at any stray EggRobos.

"C'mon, when's help coming?" Jones yelled over the loud noise. "SWAT team, National Guard, army, anything!"

"You think I know?!" yelled back on of the policemen. "All I want to know… is what the hell is happening!"

"War... We're seeing the elephant."

"I'm a police officer, for Christ's sake!" the policeman exclaimed. He looked to be in his early thirties. "Screw this! I'm outta here!" He bolted to the nearest vehicle and jumped in. He turned on the ignition and sped away, burning rubber.

Jones's face was red with frustration. "You're all idiots!" he screamed to the other officers. He got in his own police car. The officers were wasting their bullets on robots that couldn't be destroyed. Shadow was off somewhere doing who-knows-what. If nobody was willing to get things done, then Jones would have to be; he was willing to die for his city. He stomped down on the gas pedal and drove away from the scene. Egg Pawn ships immediately went after him. Jones's heart pounded as he felt the street behind him get shot at. An energy blast barely missed the car and hit the side of a building. This may have not been a good idea, he thought. The police he'd abandoned were probably thinking he was a coward.

The ships seemed to disappear as he came to a gas station, where his car stopped suddenly.

"Now what?" Jones grumpled. He repeatedly stepped on the gas pedal, but the police car didn't move.

He froze as the windshield rolled up. His seat lurched forward, flinging him out the front of his car. He landed on the sidewalk. Sitting upright, he watched the police car turn into a colossal robot similar to the ones that'd attacked the highway. It roared at the officer as soon as its face was fully functioning. Jones pulled his pistol out and pointed it at the robot. It snarled at him at the sight of him aiming a weapon. His eyes were wide. His forehead was sweaty. He was afraid.

The robot let out a sharp bark and charged at Jones. He fired his gun multiple times at its face. One of the shots hit its eye. The robot reeled backwards, roaring in anger. It charged at him again, but Jones fired more shots at it. He hit its other eye, blinding it. The robot roared and waved its arms all around it. Jones reloaded his gun and stood up. He continued firing at its face, making it reel backwards even more. Jones watched as it got closer to the pumps of trhe gas station. This gave him an idea.

The robot finally covered its face with one of its hands. It tried crawling away from Jones, not knowing it was getting closer to the gas station. People were fleeing from the store, not wanting to get squashed by the monster. Jones anxiously watched it get closer to the pumps. The robot grabbed a car and threw it in a random direction. The officer pointed his gun at a pump and fired multiple shots.

BOOOOM!

What happened next was an explosion that created a shock wave that knocked Jones into the air, flinging him toward a building. He slammed his back on the wall, then flopped onto the sidewalk. He let a long, silent groan of pain. A police car pulled up beside him. The driver got out and scurried over to him, helping him up and rushing him to the passenger's seat. His vision was blurry. All he could hear was a high-pitched ringing in his ears. The policewoman buckled him up then ran around the car to her side. Not bothering to put her own seatbelt on, she stomped her foot onto the gas pedal and drove away with him.

Regaining some of his senses, Jones looked back. Both the robot and the gas station were gone. He faced forward in his seat. His eyesight was getting clearer, and the ringing in his ears was subsiding.

"How… How did you find me?" he asked the policewoman weakly.

"I thought you'd be up to something when you left," she replied. "I thought about it, and I decided to go after you."

Jones swallowed some spit and nodded. "So… what's the situation?"

"Terrible. I've… never seen anything like this. We're… We're hopeless."

"No," Jones said. "That's not true."

"How?"

"Shadow The Hedgehog. He's helping us."

The policewoman took her right hand from the steering wheel and felt his forehead. "You might have suffered a concussion. We're gonna go somewhere safe."

"There is nowhere safe!" Jones yelled, but it came off as a wheeze. "Can't you see Westopolis's completely under attack?"

The Egg Gunners fired at Shadow. He knew he had no other choice. People had to die in an attack like this. He skated away from the Badniks' fire and stopped. He turned around and skated back, though at a much faster speed. He sped down the street the Gunners were on, ramming his body through vehicles and Egg Gunners. Explosions upon explosions erupted behind him, and the street became hellfire. He skidded to a halt and looked behind him. Once the fire disappeared, all that was left was burnt remnants of cars and robots.

Egg Pawn ships flew past. Shadow clenched his fists in annoyance and skated after them. Eventually they broke formation and split up, leaving Shadow by himself. He stopped at TV store. The TVs that were displayed by the window were on various channels, but not on any news channel that might've shown the battle of Westopolis. Their screens became staticky. Shadow took a closer look, and jumped as Dr. Eggman's face appeared.

"Ho ho hooo!" he shouted. The audio didn't have the best quality; it was as stacky as the picture, but he was still audible. "Ladies and gentleman, welcome to… The Dr. Eggman Show! Today's episode: "The Fall of a City!" Ho ho ho! Awww, did I hijack your television? Heh heh! Don't worry, your regularly scheduled program will return in a moment!"

Shadow imagined people in their houses, changing channels, but always seeing Eggman's ugly face. How big was the area of hijacked TVs? The whole city? The whole state? The whole country?

"But first…" Eggman continued. "I have a special announcement to make. Ahem… People of the United States of America!" He paused. "That would be you," he added. "If you do not surrender to the Eggman Empire in precisely two hours, I will destroy this puny city!" Eggman's face was briefly replaced by a picture of Westopolis, then came back on. "There will be no negotiations. You will agree to my terms or not. Anyone who tries to interfere will be brutally destroyed! I'll leave the fate of the city to the city itself. If it answers yes, it shall send off fireworks into the sky. I'll make sure to... eh, provide them for you immediately. The city will give me a brilliant Fourth of July show… or be blown up like the Fourth of July! Ho ho ho ho ho!"

Eggman's face disappeared, and the regular TV shows came back on. Shadow yelled in rage and slammed his fist into the ground. His uncle was a madman! He really was going to destroy Westopolis! And Shadow wasn't sure if he could protect it…