A/N: Sorry for the delay, I've just been putting a lot of my effort into SHEL at the moment, and I have a limited amount of free time but fret not, I won't give up on the story. The stakes are only getting higher, and there's still 9 more chapters to go. And things don't stop ramping up until the epic climax in Chapter 24. Make sure to read the footer A/N because I have some important information you should know.

Chapter 15

Murderous Mactons

Even alive, the city seemed dead. A dead world on a lifeless, desert landscape. The buildings and skyscrapers, like the decomposing fingers of the decrepit giant growing out from the desolate sandy surface, shielded by cold steel and menacing metal, dominated the skyline.

Even the organic part of the city seemed dead, the part that determined the character and the structure of the man-made city. People, cyborgs, coated with metal plating and updated with wires driving the cars, trains and busses that filled the bustling city centre. Others waited patiently as the moving roads carried them where they wanted to go.

The people continued undeterred as the malevolent sun beat down upon them with its powerful gaze, drowning the city in the absorbed heat. The city was always quieter during the day, which surprised Sonic. The neon glow of the vibrant lights hadn't yet been activated.

Sonic sighed, sitting in his room near the top of Shard's tower, resting his elbow on the window sill as he gazed over the city, wishing he was anywhere else. It had been over a week since the battle. It had been over a week since all his friends died in a fiery explosion dropped by the Avian drones.

Many times, Sonic expressed the urge to return to Vapos to make sure Razor was okay. Many times, he expressed the urge to go on the offensive and defeat Vector, achieving the vengeance that had consumed his body. However, many times Shard dodged his requests and ignored his pleas.

Sonic was confused. Shard had been nothing if not nice to him. Supporting him in his time of need and offering a place of solace for Sonic to feel safe and grieve. Meals were delivered to his room and he could roam around the palace if he wished if escorted by one of Shard's guards. He was thankful at first, but he had grieved. Now all he wanted to do was leave and it was as if Shard was stopping him. Delaying what Sonic presumed was their inevitable departure. Now, a place once a sanctuary from death and depression was now a prison. One specifically designed… to hold Sonic.

The sun grew low on the horizon, orange hues streaking across the salmon coloured sky as somebody knocked on the door.

"Come in," Sonic called from his bed, yawning as he rubbed some sleep out of his eye. That's all Sonic seemed to be doing lately. Watching the city below him and sleeping nightmarish dreams.

"How are you doing this evening," Zespio asked, carrying a tray full of food.

"Just a bit restless," Sonic groaned as he stood up, stretching out the kinks in his neck and loosening the muscles in his arms. "I think I might just go for a jog around the city," Sonic continued casually as he dodged past Zespio and walked towards the door. However, before Sonic could make a break for it Zespio's robotic arm shot out, blocking his exit.

"Sorry, I can't allow that," Zespio replied stoically.

"What, so I'm a prisoner now," Sonic replied bitterly, fed up with his confinement.

"No, not at all," Zespio responded casually.

"Then why can't I leave?"

"Shard is not back yet from his diplomatic mission."

"Shard's gone?"

"Yes, but he should be back in a few hours. He has gone to Aves to talk with Wave, making sure the aerial strikes that destroyed the Vaposian and Zuncon armies will not be repeated," Zespio explained calmly. "I would advise you to stay here until he returns. Afterwards you may roam around freely."

"Okay, fair enough," Sonic admitted defeat as he walked back over and flopped down on his bed. "Just leave the food on the floor, I'll get to it soon," Sonic waved away the guard, who shrunk out of the room muttering under his breath. Sonic waited until he heard the electronic beep, signifying the door had locked before he got to work. He knew he didn't have long before Shard returned but he needed to find out what was going on. Something fishy was going on in Macton and he didn't want to wait around to find out.

…

Under cover of darkness was when Sonic made his escape. The clouds hugged the city, blocking out the eerie glow from the moon. Sonic tugged on his bed sheets, making sure the nots he had created to hold the fabric together would waver and untie. Once sure of their strength, he dropped them out the window, watching as the red velvet lacing draped down the side of the tall tower Sonic was trapped in.

"Goodbye, I'm not gonna miss this place," Sonic said humourlessly as he took one last glance around the small room that provided him shelter in his time of need. No matter how he looked at it, the shackles of prison couldn't stop his mind from contorting the images of this room to that of hell. He needed to get out. Now.

He tied the taut end of the sheets to his bed, gripped the fabric and began to lower himself out the window, abseiling down. His make-shift rope wasn't long, no more than twenty meters, but it was long enough for him to lower himself to the room below.

A large drone flew overhead as he hopped out of the window. Sonic pressed his face against the cold marble, hoping to avoid being spotted. The ship above him continued to fly overhead, slowly lowering down behind the building to a spot hidden from Sonic's view. Sonic breathed a sigh of relief and continued his descent.

The cold hit Sonic almost immediately, like an icy blast as soon as he was out of the warmed room. The frosty chill of the night air whipped through his quills and licked his skin, choking the breath out of him like the frozen fingers of a phantom. He sucked in air sporadically, his breath visible in his shaky, uneasy exhales. He could feel the harsh bite of the cold through his shirt. He wished he had a jumper. His knuckles grew white as his fingers began to grow numb as he slowly lowered himself further. He could feel the blood leaving his extremities to warm his more vital areas. He was losing grip fast; he didn't know how much longer he could hold on.

The wind berating his skin left small bumps tingling his arm, but the pain was more than flesh deep. Sonic's blood ran cold and his heart stopped as his fingers began to untangle and his grip loosened on the bedsheets. Before he knew what was happening, he was falling through the air, wind rushing up his shorts.

It all happened in the span of a few seconds.

Sonic bit his tongue, staving off the blood-curdling scream that was threatening to escape his lips. He knew he had one chance to prevent a gruesome, violent end to his life. He concentrated, reaching out in a desperate attempt to grip onto the ledge of the window below him. With a grunt, his hands hit the ledge and his numb fingers latched onto the side, ceasing his descent. He groaned softly as the strain on his arms sent shockwaves through his body.

Sonic vibrated with pain but ground his teeth together, his resolve to live and enact his vengeance on his father proving too strong to let him give up now. Slowly, with great difficulty, he heaved his body up onto the window and in a messy fall he rolled through the window and crashed to the floor.

He breathed a sigh of relief, his chest rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath. He allowed the warmth of the room to enter his body, heating his chilled skin, and the blood to rush back to his extremities.

As the adrenaline final died down and felling resumed throughout his body, Sonic glanced around the room. Before he had time to fully take his surroundings in, he froze and held his breath. There, sleeping right next to where he had tumbled in, was Zespio, the guard. His snoring ripped through the room. Sonic couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it earlier but was too preoccupied with the astonishment of still being alive.

Sonic rose slowly, making sure to make no sound at all until he was standing in the middle of the room. He turned and began to tiptoe over to the door when he heard a noise from behind him. He halted, his body growing stiff as he stood as still as a statue.

"No mum, I don't want anymore green beans," Zespio muttered as he rolled over. Sonic sighed, his pulse returning to normal as he continued over to the door and quietly slipped out. The door beeped behind him, signaling that he was in the clear and instantly Sonic pounded his feet against the floor and sprinted down the corridor over to the steps.

Sonic wasted no time at all barreling down the winding staircase, busting out the bottom and turning to sprint down the labyrinth of corridors and hallways. It was like a maze at the base of the tower. Crisp, white walls, not a stain anywhere with mechanical doors. It was like a hospital, but everything looked exactly the same.

Suddenly, as Sonic turned around a corner he froze, quickly darting back behind for cover as he peeked his head out to spy on the new occupants of the hallway. There, two large guards stood outside a protected door.

'There's gotta be something important behind there,' Sonic thought as he studied the doors. Before he could formulate a plan to get in, the doors began to slowly slide open and Shard waltzed out, brushing off dust from his uniform.

"Welcome back, sir," one of the guards saluted him. "I hope your trip to Mobius was prosperous." Sonic's eyes narrowed as he silently snarled.

'Why would Shard have gone to Mobius unless…' the thought struck him as hard as a truck. Anger surged through his veins, boiling his blood as he watched Shard with newfound disgust. 'He's working with Vector!'

"How's our guest?" Shard asked.

"Still in his room. He is starting to get restless."

"Come with me. It's time to accelerate our plans anyway," Shard instructed as he strode off purposefully down the hallway, followed by the two guards. Sonic quickly made his move, sprinting over to the now unguarded door and slipping inside just before the doors slammed shut behind him.

"What's so important in here?" Sonic asked aloud to the room shrouded in darkness. "I wonder where the light switch is so I can turn these light's on?"

Lights on. Sonic jumped with a start as a feminine, mechanical voice repeated his command and obliged. Slowly, one by one the slow hum of electricity surged above his head and the lights hanging from the room of the large hanger blared to life. Sonic gasped as he took in his surroundings, unable to believe his eyes.

"Shard… how could he?" Sonic lamented aloud as he was finally able to piece together all the pieces. He stood at the door of a large hanger. A steel runway lined the center and mounted to the walls were hundreds of drones. The same drones that Sonic had seen drop the bombs on the battlefield.

"I've got to warn the other communities," Sonic worried aloud. He knew time was of the essence. It would only be a matter of time before Shard realized he escaped from his room. Sonic wasted no time, racing over to one of the drones and climbing onto it. He tried to pry open the hatch at the top but was unable to. It was only once he looked inside that he realised why.

"They are controlled remotely?" Sonic asked rhetorically, noticing the controls inside the drone, but nowhere for a pilot to sit. He hopped off and ran to the next one, and the next but each one offered the same result. Sonic began to panic, the thought that he had reached a dead end suffocating him. Things only seemed to go from bad to worse when a loud siren began blaring, the room bathed in a red warning light.

"Sonic escaped. I repeat, find Sonic the Hedgehog," Shard's voice echoed through the hangar through a loudspeaker mounted in the corner. Sonic's pulse raced as he feverishly checked drone after drone.

"Think Sonic… think," Sonic scolded himself, knowing that Shard was getting closer and closer to recapturing him. Suddenly, it clicked. Sonic knew Shard had come out of the hanger, meaning there had to be at least one drone that was pilotable. Sonic strained his eyes, scanning the spacious hangar until he spotted them. In the other end, a bunch of larger drones.

Sonic sprinted over and jumped up onto one, peering inside to see a chair and physical instruments.

"Bingo!" Sonic smirked as he tried to pry open the hatch. Eventually, he managed to wrench open the casing in the cockpit and jump inside, closing it behind him. Sonic glanced around at the glowing, buzzing instruments. He had no idea how to fly. He quickly began pressing buttons and flipping switches randomly, hoping one would work but nothing happened.

"Come on, you stupid machine. Start already! Chaos-damint, turn on!"

Turning on. Again, Sonic was surprised by the mechanical, calming voice. It was as if it was responding to his voice commands. Intrigued, Sonic continued to make commands, hoping his hunch was right.

"Disconnect," Sonic shouted as he glanced out the glass windscreen to see the doors to the hangar begin to slide open.

Disconnecting. The drone fell to the floor with a thud, sparks flying. Sonic cursed as he quickly fumbled with the switches. He saw a green one light up with had the word thrust printed on it. He slammed his index finger against it and the engines began to whirl, the thrusters alighting underneath him to lift the ship off the ground.

"There he is!" He heard Shard's familiar voice calling out. However, this time instead of the normal charm and care in his voice, it had completely changed to one of cold, calculating menace. "Don't let him escape!"

Sonic grabbed the two-pronged steering device nestled in front of his lap and pulled down on the throttle.

"Open hangar door!" Sonic yelled.

Opening hangar door. Sonic gripped the handles as the ship lifted off the ground and began to soar forward, approaching the doors.

"Arg!" Shard cursed aloud. "Turn off the voice automated control, stop him from accessing the system."

"We can't do that sir, the system was designed flawlessly to run on our generators so that it would never malfunction," Zespio replied.

"Who the hell programmed it like that?" Shard snapped.

"You did sir," Zespio replied. Shard bellowed angrily as he watched Sonic soar out of the hanger door and out into the night sky in one of the stolen, pilotable drones.

Once Sonic was finally free, and the lights of Macton were shrinking underneath him as he soared off into the atmosphere he let himself take a breather and focused on the more important task at hand. Flying. The drone was wonky and Sonic was struggling to keep it level. He was worried he was going to start diving any second.

"Engage auto-pilot?" Sonic spoke aloud uncertainly.

Auto Pilot engaged. Where to?

"Wow… I can't believe that worked," Sonic laughed, allowing a breath of brevity. "Set coordinates for the capital of Vapos."

Setting course for Vapos. The mechanical voice confirmed his demands and took control out of Sonic's grasp. Sonic leant back at gave himself much needed rest and relaxation as the drone whisked him away from the murderous Mactons and back over to the solace of Razor and the Vaposian community.

…

Shard paced backwards and forwards in his office room, a permanent scowl plastered on his face. It wasn't until the eerie chime sounded from the door did Shard finally cease his movement and glower to the incoming individual.

"Where have you been, Zonic?" Shard growled angrily.

"Sleeping. It's one in the bloody morning," Zonic snapped back bitterly. However, he immediately bit his tongue when he saw the rage induced look that Shard shot his way. Zonic was never one to back down from his superior but seeing the look of complete anger in Shard's eye was enough to scare even the bravest souls. "S-Sorry…"

"Take off your clothes and remove your mechanical parts," Shard instructed darkly.

"But-"

"Don't talk back, just do it," Shard commanded. Zonic reluctantly agreed, removing everything until he was left standing bare. "Now put these on," Shard threw some bandages, red shoes and a brown bandana at Zonic, who quickly wrapped them around his arms, legs and new shoes. It was if he was transformed, the spitting image of Sonic. A complete doppelganger straight out of a mirror. The resemblance was uncanny.

"What now?"

"Sonic escaped, he's probably going to Razor. We can't let him discover his friends are still alive. I need you to go to Zuncon and kill them, now!"

…

"Take her to the arena, quickly," Abyss the squid commanded as she lead two guards through the Vaposian city. The guards dragged a prisoner behind them, their head covered by a leather bag, blacking out their senses. Abyss made quick word navigating over to the gigantic, stone colosseum located near the center of the city.

Abyss and the guards dragged the prisoner through the small tunnel and out into the arena, across the water-filled moat that encircled the circumference, used for many sporting events held in Vapos. A small, rectangular stage had been constructed in the center of the arena with a primitive wooden structure looming upwards. A noose hung down from the bar above.

"Murderer!" The crowd hissed as the prisoner was lead up to the stage.

"Today we will have vengeance for the atrocities committed at the battle held against the Zuncons!" Razor bellowed, standing tall in the middle of the stage, addressing the cheering crowd.

"You have broken our laws and murdered out people, along with the Zuncon people and for this, there is no pardon. You're sky birds dropped bombs decimating thousands of brave Vaposian men and women that day. For this, you will be hanged!" A thunderous applause erupted from the bloodthirsty crowd, their eyes alight with malice as the whet their appetites waiting to see the prisoner hanged.

"Please, you have to believe me, I have no idea what you are talking about. I came here to warn you about the Mobians!" The prisoner begged.

"Likely story," Razor spat as he gripped the noose with one hand. "You're lies are meaningless now. It's time to face punishment for your war crimes…" Razor continued as he gripped the leather sac placed on the prisoner's head and removed it with a mighty tug. "…Wave the swallow!"

A/N: Last chapter was all about Tails and the gang with no Sonic, so it's time to see what Sonic has been up to since the musical special. Don't worry, there will be more Sonic, and more Tails, next chapter.

Poor Wave, looks like her plan backfired. Remember, Razor thinks Wave was the one who dropped the bombs, and he's the type of leader to act first and ask questions second. Looks like this might be the end for poor Wave. Sonic has escaped Shard, learning the truth and Shard is not happy. Zonic, or should I say fake Sonic, has now been sent to Zuncon to finish off Tails, Knuckles, Blaze and Tikal. But that's exactly where Vector sent his special Assassin too? Cosmo and Galaxia might have been able to stop one, but both of them? While tensions are raised and they are fighting one another too? Make sure to review and let me know your thoughts and theories! I love hearing from each and every one of you.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: I will be travelling to America for three months in June and am unsure if I will be able to finish another chapter before I leave. I will try, but if not I will supply an update about the hiatus all my stories will be on, as well as a special apology gift regarding this story, so stay tuned!

Next time on Sontails: War of Faith - Chapter 16: The Assassin