Chapter 13

"What happened while I was asleep?" The Robotnik asked. The implication of the queen's survival had caused him to faint from shock, and Draggo had decided he could use sleep for a short while. Now Draggo was dwelling upon the phrase, "Don't shoot the messenger".

"They survived." He said.

"How? They were…"

"Tactical advantage. Cover, mobility, weaponry. Really, we just didn't have the right stuff to take them." The Robotnik nodded his head. It was sensible. Entirely ordinary. Unlike people randomly being alive.

"They have a foot hold now. I'll have to talk to the king of…"

"Yeah, about that… He wants to talk to you right now."

"It can't be about this. The radio was broken." He turned on one of his screens, letting the image of a fox in an archaic suit appear.

"Greetings, Robotnik." He said.

"Greetings, overseer." The Robotnik replied.

"Um, that's king." The fox said. The Robotnik grunted. He shouldn't have let the heir be the next overseer, but the riots at the time had begun to reach a difficult point.

"No. In the treaty the monarchy was abolished."

"Oh right. Sorry, I'm just so forgetful. Like that part where you aren't allowed to send robots into my country."

"Of course not." The Robotnik said.

"Oh. I thought you forgot too."

"What?"

"Well, I got this radio call about how robots were attacking one of my towns, and they seemed pretty sure they were yours. Now, since it was one of my towns, I should have been organizing the forces to stop these rebels."

"I had already been pursuing them from Mobius, there was no time to contact."

"Pull the other one. Look, you did what just about everybody in the North thought you were going to do, meaning you broke the treaty, meaning we now care even less about what you say."

"That's ridiculous." The Robotnik said. He wasn't quite sure where the conversation was going anymore.

"SO, we would just like to say that we no longer feel like even being mentioned in the same breath as you."

"What?" The Robotnik watched the king of the North pull out a rather large gun from behind him, very much like the one from the Robotnik's war-robots. The guns with armor penetrating capabilities, such as would be needed to damage his robots.

"We're rebelling, you fat idiot." And then the screen turned off. The room was quiet for a few seconds before the Robotnik said:

"Draggo?"

"Yeah boss?"

"I will be a bit busy in the upcoming months. Since you are such an intelligent person, I want you to personally head the efforts to kill the three heirs, and find out whether the Queen is alive."

"I see."

"Yes. I will be overseeing your progress of course, SO I expect to receive at least some good news in my reports. Am I right?"

"Of course. You can count on me. I'll get ready right now."

"Good."

"Miss Aleena." Tails called out to her, seeing her with a pack on her back and walking to the south end of town. She turned and looked at him. "Where are you going?" She walked over to look him in the face.

"Tails, I need to do some things in Mobius."

"Why?"

"Because I'm the… Because Brushen…" Aleena took a breath. "My husband was a very important man in Mobius, and the Robotnik wanted his children dead."

"So?"

"And if the Robotnik sees me, he'll think my children are here."

"But your kids are down in Mobius?" Aleena shook her head.

"They're right in this town." Tails remembered what she had told him about her kids: Blue, pink, and green. He remembered how much the band members looked like each other.

"You're leaving them again?" Tails yelled.

"I have to. I can keep Ivo focused on me, protect them. If we're in one place he'll send everything he can to kill us, and they'll die for sure."

She remembered what had made her realize this, the song from the night. "I long for my children, but I have to wait." With that, she patted Tails on his shoulder and then continued walking south.

Tails turned and ran to the Mounds.

Amy stared at Sonic, drumming her fingers behind her back. The funerals were over for now, and they had no one to personally grieve for. She had best get it over with now.

"Do you want to go out with me?" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"We're in a war. There really isn't time for this." She was about to reply when the fox-kid, Tails, came running in.

"Sonic!" he yelled. "Your mom's here. She's here, and she's trying to leave."

"What?"

"Hurry up. She'll be gone if you aren't fast enough."

"Where?"

"The south of town, on the main road, you should catch her before she leaves." Sonic didn't take time to think about it, he just ran. He ran as fast as he could, past the houses and stores of Knothole. He ran to the edge of town and looked out into the distance.

"Stop!" He yelled. There was no reply. There was no one there. Sonic heard the patter of four feet, and turned to look at his siblings.

"I guess she was faster than Tails thought." Sonia said.

"Come on. She probably had a reason." Manic said, turning to go back. Sonic nodded, but took one glance back before following.

"We'll find her someday." He said.

"Yeah." Sonia said.

"Once this is all over, I guess." Manic said.

"Someday."

Aleena looked around the corner to make sure children were well away, and then began walking south. She would have to be quick now, now that they already thought her gone.

The wolf referred to as "Draggo" fiddled with the handheld, adjusting its knobs. He had gotten these because they could work in cities. He grinned as the static cleared. A voice on the other end asked:

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Dingo. We've got a job."

Author Note: Because it wouldn't be SU without these two clowns. Needless to say, they will be getting the same "serious" treatment as everyone else, preferably without hurting their personalities to much. I might be taking a short break just to plan the next few Acts, so you are warned.