Dib07: Well, here it is, the next chapter. We're nearly at the whole war thing. Yup.

Chapter 4: To Darkness…

'Grant me thy dark command.' – Funeral in Carpathia – Cradle of Filth

"What?"

They had spoken long into the day whilst travelling further and further from Eggman's prison but also deeper in Bimbol's ravaged lands. The mountains towered above them like natural castles and their peaks were barely viable. Sonic was awed by their size. He guessed they were millions of years old, and had been brought up out from the earth much like a volcano.

Knuckles' reverberating retort rattled Tails' head. "You are all insane! And I know why! It's because of Shadow! Ever since we dragged him along with us he's been… he's been rearranging your mind!"

Sonic laughed at Knuckles' admonishment. Knuckles responded to Sonic's cheerful giggles by flinging him a look of pure irascible anger.

It was early afternoon and the going was hard. On any simple day, on his own, Sonic would have dashed through these Bad Lands and be back in Knothole in less than an hour. He couldn't do that though; he wouldn't leave his friends. And it was getting worse. None of them had eaten for nearly two days now, and there was no food or water in this dead place but earth and mud. Knuckles tried to ignore this fact and kept his nose high in optimism. Now though, he too felt the hard effects of starvation. And his mood wasn't helped when Sonic informed him of his plan.

"We've done it before," Knuckles coughed and panted, his throat dry, "and it didn't work. What makes you think doing it again with change anything?"

"We won't even make it back home again!" Tails whined miserably, "so why are we talking about this?"

Sonic sounded final. "We have to."

War. It was inevitable. But a full-scale war meant it was either a win or lose situation. And Knuckles didn't think they had the numbers to win. Once more, Eggman's troops were all soulless metal machines. They on the other hand, were flesh and blood.

"I don't like it. What if… you died, Sonic? What about the causalities? And the consequences? To what point?"

That's what Eggman had said. To what point? To what purpose?

"For freedom. For independence." Sonic answered petulantly. "Don't you want that? If there's a chance of that, though it might be slim, isn't it worth taking?"

Knuckles thought for a moment. Then he opened his mouth and said, "maybe." He huffed to himself, lips tight. For a while their feet pressing into the earth in a melodious pattern was all that was heard, that and their hard draws for air. When he spoke again, they were in the cool shadows of the mountains whereupon they stopped for a brief rest. "Sally will be on my side though. She won't like this."

"Let's just hope she'll think of her grandchildren." Sonic sat down and gathered clumps of sandy mud into his hands. Keeping his hands busy kept him from feeling his fatigue.

Shadow stepped over to them and Sonic fell quiet. "I say we strike where the Doctor is at his most vulnerable." He said sullenly.

"And where's that?" Knuckles asked in a gruff demand.

"We make assault on the smaller factories to the Far East, just beside the shoreline beyond the Emerald Hill Zone."

Sonic intervened. "We can't do that. It will be like repeating what we've always done. We need to attack the heart of Eggman's forces."

"Not… his headquarters!" Knuckles gasped, "haven't you ever heard tales of the thousands of armies there? We'd be crushed!"

"If we wage war, that's the best place to do it." Sonic replied sternly. "Otherwise it will be a lost cause and there will be no point to the rebellion."

Shadow dipped his head in thought. "It's risky."

"You don't say!" Knuckles growled at him sardonically.

Tails took off his sneakers to relieve his sweaty feet. He really didn't like the idea of war, but it was also a good opportunity to make a new flying machine that could attack from the skies. That would benefit them without a doubt. "We'll have to inform and get everybody for this." Sonic continued, "and not just friends from Knothole, but everywhere. You Knuckles have contacts, yes?"

"I guess."

"Shadow?"

The hedgehog looked away.

The guardian of the emeralds blinked slowly and drew little pictures with his knuckle in the muddy sand. "We're a slight force against someone who can easily quadruple our numbers. Don't you forget that. And if we do this, Sonic, what if our numbers fall? Then it will be over. There will be nothing left. Now what sort of a freedom is that?"

Sonic didn't reply, and his face was edged with concentration. He did consider to himself that maybe he was going too far ahead. He wanted revenge after Eggman had kidnapped them, and perhaps going to war was a little over the top, but for how long had they fought against Eggman? It was for too long and it was time to end this madness.

"Don't forget that behind all that power," said Sonic, "he is just a human. That is his weakness. And we will exploit that… somehow. I'll think of a way."

"But he's a madman with all the power on Mobius."

"I know."

Shadow surveyed the mountains a final time. He said meekly, "I'll be going now."

"But Shadow," Sonic stood erect, and locked his knees together to prevent himself from falling over due to his fatigue, "I thought you were staying? Don't you wanna discuss plans?"

"No. I'm leaving." And Shadow turned away. Sonic went to stop him, but Knuckles cut into his path.

"Let him go." He told the blue hedgehog. "I say good riddance. At least he can't spy on us without him being here."

"But… I thought…" It looked like Shadow wasn't keen on the whole war thing either, despite what he now stood for. And without Shadow, to Sonic, that felt like half an army gone already.

Shadow walked on and on, past the mountains, and the small trio watched him disappear into the foggy haze of sand beyond.

They continued their journey, and their progress was got slower and slower. They managed to put two whole legions between themselves and Eggman's prison, but Sonic felt that was not enough distance, and strove them onwards through the wasteland. This part of Mobius was an ugly scar on the planet, thanks to Eggman and there were worst places out there where pollution grew, instead of trees and plants.

Finally, when the evening set in, Tails was so exhausted and near dehydration that he had to stop. And that was when hope came along most unexpectedly.

A small jeep, called the TigerX2, headed in their direction. Sonic could hear its engine rattling as it approached. It couldn't be foe, only Sonic and his friends had access to the Tiger series.

Finally, within close distance, the jeep stopped and its huge wheels gripped at the earth, leaving huge tire tracks behind it. Behind the steering wheel, was Sally and Amy.

Sonic's earlier fatigue seemed to vanish. He ran up to the jeep, hands held high.

"Sal! Amy! Thanks the seven heavens you're here!"

Knuckles rose from his stupor state and allowed a twinge of a smile to pass his lips. "Couldn't have come any earlier, could you?"

Sally laughed. "Oh I'm so glad to see you all again! I thought you were dead!" She left the jeep and rounded them all up into a hug. Amy of course snapped and hollered at Sonic.

"You can't help getting yourself into danger, can you?" She cried, swishing her arms in the air for an exaggerated effect, "how could you! Do you think of anybody else at all?"

"Amy, it wasn't his fault." Sally reasoned with her, "they were kidnapped by Shadow."

"What? How did you know this?" Sonic asked her.

Sally rested her hands on her hips. "Shadow told me. Only about an hour ago he walked his way into Knothole and I thought we were going to have a crisis on our hands. So I got my guards ready. Turns out, he only wanted to speak with me. That was when he said you guys were out in the Bad Lands, and that you needed help. He also explained what he had done." She shrugged. "So I grabbed the nearest jeep I could find and stormed it all the way up here to find you guys."

"Wow. That's guys fast." Sonic mentally kicked himself. He could have done that. Why didn't he think of speeding his way to Knothole to ask for help, then speeding his way back again? For once in a very long time, Sonic felt very stupid, and his cheeks were very soon dappled a brazen red color.

Knuckles coughed to clear his throat. "Eh, does anybody have a bottle of water by any chance?"

"Sonic, I suppose you already had some idea how I'd react. A great battle might be all it takes to ruin either our lives, Eggman's, or both." Sally filled another cup with tea. Sonic had his legs up on the table and Sally gave him a quick glare to tell him to move his feet. Sonic did with an apologetic smile on his face.

"I know, Sal. But, I think we need to do it now, while I'm still here. I hate to say it, but something might happen to me. And then what? Eggman could target us individually like last time. Then he'd win, with no challenge. I say we strike as one."

Sally had always admired his determination and intelligence. Sonic was right in many ways, thought she hated to admit it.

She sipped on her tea and looked out of her window. It provided her with a good view of the houses and fields of Knothole. War was what her father would have wanted too.

"You know that I'll fight too, Son. I won't sit back and watch and pray that everything will be fine."

Sonic rubbed his nose with his finger. "I understand. But you don't have to worry. You'll have our protection."

Later that day, Sonic did in fact feel like a great leader. This war was going to happen, even if he didn't have Shadow's help, or if others didn't agree.

It was time to make a stand.

TBC