Shout outs to:

Nicolepokemon7 - Infinite seems to have that way with Saura for some reason. I wonder how that will effect her. :P

The Ever-Dreaming Kitten - Thank you and well here is the next chapter. ^^;

Bajy - Yes, so many things have been unexpected. And we shall see what happens next and how it goes.

Enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 12: What Friends are for

Saura kept running until she gets in to another building by breaking the window. She deep breathes as she looks back to see if Infinite followed her. To her relief, there was no sign nor sound of the jackal. She leans to a wall and slides down to a sit position. As she recollects everything that's happened, she starts crying. When she resisted, and Infinite held her down, she's had flashbacks of her time when she was young… Saura has her hand to her neck for she still feels the little pain from Infinite's scratch. Perhaps, she overreacted a little bit. From what Infinite's been doing, he didn't appear to be hurting her when they were in the cell room. Actually, Saura enjoyed the attention the jackal gave her. And then, she freaked out over a memory she just had.

The wolf gets up as she wipes the tears off. She notices a sink and a shattered mirror disguised as a cupboard door. Walking to the mirror and sink, Saura was able to see a few scratch marks and a strange little mark on her neck, the same neck Infinite had been focusing on. She sighs while opening the shattered mirror door to see what the cupboard has available. Finding a bandage and looking through the shattered mirror, the wolf takes it and uses it on her neck that holds the scratch and strange marks. Once that was done, Saura looks around the area. It's almost similar to the cell room she's in but a little bigger. She suddenly imagines Infinite standing behind her and giving her a gentle look like he did back at the cell. Saura blushes a bit; but, she snaps out of it as she turns around to see him only to find out he's never here. That same feeling from before had come to her as she places her hand to her chest. Her heart is beating fast. What was it? How was he able to make her feel something so warm? The jackal's actions replayed in her head. Those actions were the same as the time she would catch her parents alone.

Saura soon gasps as she finally figures out what this feeling is… but it can't be! There is no way she can feel that way for Infinite, not after everything he did! Saura looks outside while shivering as the feeling rises more. She then looks down in shame. If it's true, then the resistance will definitely question her. She could find a way to change the resistance or Infinite's mind about their ideals. The resistance is definitely out of the option since what they're doing is the right thing to do. Eggman is the real enemy of it all. So, that only leaves to Infinite. But, how can she change the jackal's mind about going against Eggman instead of helping him? The wolf doesn't even know the first thing about negotiating… Knuckles is right; she does need to start talking. It can really help her improve with making friends… but, how can she? After everything she went through with her uncle and other people thinking terribly about the way her voice sounds... She's weak...

"That's right. You are weak."

Saura shakes her head to try an ignore the voice again. Speaking of friends, does Saura have any friends? The wolf looks down as she remembers Knuckles bringing out he didn't trust her. She knows how serious the commander of the resistance can be, especially during his time training her. Saura then thinks about Amy, Rouge, Espio, Charmy, Vector, and Silver. They would possible be agreeing with Knuckles since they've been with him for a while. Shadow hardly knows her; so, he's out as well. What about Tails and both Sonics? She remembers the mission to take out one of Eggman's factory with the older Sonic. He seems to trust her when they were there. Not only that, he came to rescue her when she was in trouble. As for Tails and the younger Sonic, they both trust her as well when they met in Mystic Jungle. They also looked like they were happy to have her accompany them to the computer room. In fact, Tails was the one who suggested the wolf to distract Eggman. Saura smiles a bit at the thought. It looks like Tails and both Sonics are her best bet. She'll have to find them and see it for herself. She'll need to before Eggman launches his next plan…

Plan?!... Oh no! Saura suddenly remembers what Eggman told Infinite through his communicator! They have a plan for their next attack! The wolf needs to get to Sonic and the others quickly and warn them! However, she discovers she doesn't have her Lightning Wispon! What can she do without it? That weapon has been her main tool in taking out enemies… Without it, she's… useless and weak… Saura looks at her hands with shame. She doesn't have powers, speed, and strength like everyone else… The wolf soon looks at her ruby wrist rings that also hold her grabbling hooks. She thinks to back how useful it was to her: moving quickly from buildings to building, quick turns, and taking out an enemy when Sonic was in danger… Wait, she did take out an enemy with her grabbling hooks back at the factory! Saura smiles; she can still help everyone else out! All she needs to do is find Sonic! Nodding to herself in determination, the wolf runs off to find the blue hedgehog.

Thanks to her grabbling hooks, Saura easily passed by Eggman's robots and climbed on top of some buildings. By the time she gets on top of a different building, she sees a small black hole between Eggman, Infinite, Sonic, and Tails. What is that hole? Before she could think more about the strange black sphere, she sees Infinite throw a red sphere at the other, which made the black hole increase in size and appears to be trying to suck Sonic in! The wolf gasps as she knows she must do something; Sonic is her friend! Without hesitating, she uses her grabbling hook to connect it to a building as she jumps to save the blue hedgehog.

Sonic feels this Null Space, or whatever this black hole Eggman calls it, pulling him in. He then doesn't feel his feet touching the ground as he was close to being sucked in to the hole; but then, the hedgehog feels someone grab his hand before he was completely in. He looks and sees it's Saura! As much as he is happy to see her alive, she'll be pulled in to this Null Space as well! "Buddy, don't! You'll be sucked in too," he says to the wolf.

Saura shakes her head as she continues to hold on to Sonic. Suddenly, she sees her grabbling hook lost its grip on to the building. Because of this, the wolf and Sonic get sucked into the hole. They both let out a scream as they continue to fall until they landed on a road of red and purple cubes. As they got up, they look around the area. There is technically nothing here… Nothing but darkness and null space. Well, except for a bright light ahead of them.

Sonic and Saura then hear something crumbling. They turned and noticed the road is starting to collapse from behind a few miles away. "This is definitely not the place we were meant to end up," he says to Saura. The wolf nods in agreement. The wolf got ready to start running. "Wait, buddy," she hears the hedgehog call out. Saura turns to Sonic and is shocked. The hedgehog is holding her Lightning Wispon. "Catch," he says to her as he gently tosses the weapon. Saura catches it easily with a smile on her face as she looks at the weapon. She turns to Sonic with the same smile but stops when she sees the collapse of the road is approaching fast. The hedgehog notices it as well as he grabs the wolf's free wrist. "Come on, let's head back! Everyone is waiting for us," he says to Saura and runs to the light.

Saura yelps as she holds on to Sonic with her hand that's being held by him and runs with the hedgehog. She noticed some red cubes coming after her and Sonic! To stop them, the wolf, with her wispon, uses the lightning whip to deflect all the red cubes coming at them. Sonic notices Saura blocking the cubes and smiles while still running with her. "We got this! Keep it up, partner," he says to the wolf as they get closer to the light. "Nothing can contain the two of us at max power, not even Null Space," he added as they kept going.

When Sonic and Saura got to the light, they were soon back outside on top of a building. But, that didn't last long since they started to fall since Sonic went a bit too fast to stop. Quickly, Saura uses her mouth to hold her wispon, so she can have a free hand, and uses her grabbling hook, while holding on to the hedgehog, to swing to another building for safety. Once they got to a building in a safe landing, Saura collapses to a sit position with an exhausted and shock expression while Sonic jumps in excitement as the black hole disappears. "That was awesome," he shouts in joy!

Sonic looks around to see the battle still going on and stretches a bit. Before he could speak to Saura, he notices Tails flying straight to them. "Sonic, are you okay?" he asks. "Wh-what happened in there? You and Saura disappeared when you guys got sucked in," he added with worry.

Saura flinches when she hears Tails said her real name. Knuckles must have told him what happened... Sonic looks to Tails. "Don't worry Tails, nothing happened," he answers to two-tailed fox. He looks back to where Null Space was at before it disappeared. "Literally," he added. The hedgehog then looks to Saura. He holds his hand out to her in case if she needs help up. "You okay?" he asks the wolf.

Saura, once she holds the wispon in her hand, looks to Sonic and noticed his hand is held out to her. Nodding a bit, she gently grabs on to Sonic's hand, with her free hand, and gets up with his help. Remembering Tails had called her by her real name, the wolf feels a bit tensed as she releases the hedgehog's hand as she rubs her arm. Tails frowns as he remembers the last time he saw Saura. He never meant to have Saura hear what Knuckles said. "Saura, I'm very sorry," he starts to apologize. Saura looks to Tails with a surprised look. "I had no idea that Knuckles would say that when we were discussing a plan to distract Eggman. I-I know he can be a bit harsh when it comes to some situations, but he's actually really worried about you," he added as he looks down in guilt. Saura watches Tails and smiles sadly. She walks to the fox and hugs him gently. Tails was surprised but does hug the wolf back with a confused look. "D-does that mean you forgive me?" he asks.

Sonic smiles sadly to Tails once Saura stops hugging his little brother. "There was nothing for you to apologize Tails. I'm sure you had no idea that would happen," he says to the fox. As the hedgehog pats Tails's shoulder, Saura, once Tails looks at her, points to Sonic as she nods in agreement. Sonic let's go of Tails as he sees the fox smiling at him and the wolf. "Once this battle is over, we'll go talk to Knuckles and handle the situation. And besides no matter what happens, you're still our friend," he added to the fox. He then looks to Saura. "Right, buddy?" he asks. He notices Saura look at Sonic with a surprised look as she points to herself in confusion. "Yes you, you're our friend too Saura. No matter what," he clarifies to the wolf as he held his fist out to her.

Saura notices Sonic's fist and tilts her head in confusion. She starts trying to do the same with her free hand and pounds her fist gently to Sonic's. Tails watches the two with a smile. It soon ended when the fox sees Eggman floating down in his hovercraft with a shocked expression along with his two robots. "It can't be! It's impossible to get out of the Phantom Ruby's null space," he shouts as he slams his fist on his hovercraft.

Saura stares at Eggman in shock. This is the first time Saura has ever seen the human in person. And to think, this is human who not only conquered most of the world but also murdered her parents. She starts growling, while glaring, at Eggman as she raises her wispon a bit. Sonic notices Saura's actions and has his hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Maybe not by myself, but I had a little help from my friend, Saura," he says to the human as he mentions Saura. "Something you wouldn't understand since you don't have any friends," he mocks as Tails nods in agreement.

Eggman glares at Sonic, Tails, and Saura as he pounds his hovercraft. "This changes nothing," he says in anger. "Dr. Eggman will still have the last laugh," he declares. Saura growls more at the human, but she soon stops when she hears a glitching noise. She immediately stops her glare as well while hiding behind Sonic quickly. Upon hearing, and then, seeing Infinite float next to Eggman, Sonic and Tails stood next to each other in order to hide Saura. "Infinite, distract them while I get to the fortress. Come back once they're on their knees and make it quick," he tells the masked jackal as he takes off in his hover craft with his two robots.

Infinite glares at Eggman as he leaves. Normally, he would disagree to the order; but when he heard Sonic say Saura's name, he needs to stay around so he can bring her to the fortress and hide her there. She must be around- The masked jackal soon notices a hint of blond along with blue eyes staring back at him. Those eyes then went back behind the hedgehog the moment they and his eye made contact. When he's sure Eggman is far enough to not hear him, he lands on the building the three mobians are on while red aura is still around him. "Saura, I know you're there," he says to the wolf behind Sonic and Tails. He adjusts his mask and glares a bit. "Make it easier on yourself and come out," he added.

Sonic glares at Infinite as he continues to hide Saura. He turns to Tails and Saura. "You two get out of here and find the others," he whispers to the fox and wolf.

Both, Tails and Saura, look at Sonic with a surprised expression. "But what about you Sonic?" the fox asks the hedgehog with worry.

Sonic gives Tails a thumbs up. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," he whispers to the fox gently with a smile. The hedgehog then glares back at Infinite. "Sorry Infinite, but you'll have to get pass me first," he says to the masked jackal. Sonic quickly charges at Infinite and attacks him with his homing attack.

Infinite quickly dodges Sonic and kicks him away. The masked jackal turns and sees Saura and Tails making a run for it. By the time his and Saura's eyes made contact, Infinite quickly gets in front of the wolf and fox. Unfortunately, Saura had caught on Infinite's actions. The wolf quickly grabs Tails's hand with her free one and pulls him away from the jackal as they run to another opening, but the jackal stops them when he got in front of them again. Saura blushes a bit as the feeling returned while she stares at Infinite.

Before Infinite could grab Saura, Sonic uses his homing attack at the jackal to push him away. The wolf snaps out of her feelings as she stops herself from blushing. Sonic looks back to Saura and Tails. "Keep going," he says to the two! Sonic notices Infinite launching red lasers at him as the masked jackal floats in the air. The hedgehog dodges the lasers quickly while the fox and wolf start running away. Sonic charges at Infinite to do another homing attack.

Infinite dodges Sonic again and kicks the blue hedgehog to the building roof below him. He turns and sees Saura and Tails close to escaping. He gets in front of them fast thanks to the Phantom Ruby. Sonic sees the masked jackal in front of the fox and wolf and immediately tries to run to them but was too late. Infinite grabs Tails and then floats in the air. "Tails," Sonic shouts as he watches Infinite have a hold of his best friend!

Saura watches with shock and fear for Tails's life. Infinite has his clawed hand near Tails's neck. "I wouldn't move if I were you Sonic," the masked jackal says to the blue hedgehog.

Sonic glares at Infinite. "You coward," he growls out as his hands form to fists. There is nothing he can do when the masked jackal has a hold of Tails. Saura looks to Sonic and sees the devastated look on his face. The wolf frowns and feels ashamed. This is all her fault… It's her that Infinite wants. And now, the jackal is holding Tails hostage, terrifying the poor fox.

"Saura," the wolf hears Infinite call out! She gasps as she looks up to the masked jackal. "If you value this creature's life, you will do as I say and surrender yourself to me," he says in a serious voice. Saura has her hands to fists. "And I don't want you to prove it by movements, I want to hear you say it," he added.

Both, Sonic and Saura, looked shocked. Sonic looks to Saura. There is no way that's going to happen. The hedgehog has not heard the wolf speak at all when he first saw her nor any other time when he's with her. Sonic glares at Infinite. "Infinite, leave her out of this," he says to the masked jackal in anger.

Saura took in all what Infinite said to her. He seems that desperate to hear her speak again. But she can't in front of Sonic and Tails… But, they both think of her as their friend. Can they still feel the same when she speaks? The wolf still remembers the words her uncle said to her…

"Your voice is disgusting! No one likes you for the way your voice is! That's why everyone hates you."

Saura shivers as she lets those dark bubbles flow around in her head as she gently has her free hand touching her neck with the scar. She knows those words are true. She's seen it with her own eyes and her voice alone had almost got her killed… But will Sonic and Tails try to kill her if she spoke? No, they wouldn't! From what Sonic said, that's not what friends do! Friends work together and help each other out. And right now, Tails and Sonic need her help!

Saura suddenly hears Infinite growl at Sonic. She looks up and sees the masked jackal tighten his hold on Tails and brought his claws closer to the fox's neck. Tails shivers as he feels Infinite's claws close. "You are in no position to speak," Infinite says to Sonic in anger. "Next time you speak, you can say goodbye to-"

"Stop," a voice shouts! Sonic and Tails looked shocked as they turned to the source of that voice. Infinite turns as well with a dark smirk under his mask. They all look at Saura who held her hand out with a shocked expression. She can't believe she spoke again… But, it did get Infinite to stop. Shivering, Saura looks away from the group so she wouldn't see them as she spoke. "I…I-I s-surrender…" she says in defeat. The wolf looks back up to Infinite while still shivering for she's afraid what Sonic and Tails think of her voice. "P-please Infinite, l-let him go," she pleaded.

Infinite dark chuckles a bit as he lowers to the ground and releases his hold on Tails. Sonic looks to Saura in shock. After all, it's the first time he heard the wolf spoke. And with the way she shivers while speaking and covering her mouth a bit, it seems Saura had to go through something that made her not want to talk at all. The hedgehog's train of thought was interrupted when he sees Tails free from Infinite's grasp. "Tails," he calls to the fox as he hugs him in relief.

"S-Sonic," Tails said while hugging the blue hedgehog, still shaking for what almost happened to him. Saura watches Sonic and Tails as they hugged each other. She's so relieved to see Tails is unharmed and all it took was for her to speak. She spoke… Saura shivers at the thought she actually spoke in front of Sonic and Tails. What did they think of her voice? Saura shakes her head a bit; after all, Tails is safe. While still shivering, she watches Tails and Sonic.

"You just had to do it, did you? You know what they will think of you now right?"

Saura flinches when she heard the voice again! Now, she is nervous to see Sonic and Tails's face expressions after they hug. Will they really be disgusted from her voice? Before she can think any further, the wolf then hears the glitching noise right behind her!

Sonic continues to hug Tails. If it weren't for Saura speaking up, Tails would have been done for… Saura! The hedgehog turns to the wolf and sees Infinite already right behind her! "Stay away from her Infinite," he shouts at the masked jackal. He runs to Infinite and Saura.

Infinite growls as he grabs Saura to where she can't escape and floats in the air. Tails snapped out of his shocked state and sees the masked jackal holding the wolf as he starts to float away. Realizing what Saura did for him, tears formed in his eyes as he tries to run to her. "Saura," he calls out to the wolf fearing for her life, like she did for his!

Saura continues to shiver as she looks down to Sonic and Tails. They're both appear to be calling out to her! Does that mean they do not mind how her voice is? Realizing the reality of Infinite taking her away from her friends, Saura starts struggling and tries to reach out to Sonic and Tails with her free hand. "Sonic, Tails," she calls out to the hedgehog and fox as tears formed in her eyes!

"Saura," Both Sonic and Tails call out to Saura and tried to give chase! Infinite growls at the hedgehog and fox and increases speed to fly back to the fortress. Unfortunately, Sonic and Tails almost lost their ground and couldn't catch up to the masked jackal. When Saura and Infinite were no longer in sight, Sonic glares where Infinite went as his hands formed to fists as Tails looks down sadly. The wolf had saved them once again and paid the ultimate sacrifice in getting herself captured. They must save her for the courage she pulled off to save them. After all, Saura is their friend.

Author's note:

Hi guys! Another chapter this week huh. I actually want to thank you guys for another 1,000+ views just this month (it's really close to 4,000 views total). So, here is another update for that. Thanks again everyone!
To the chapter: Wow, Saura just loves to get kidnapped by Infinite. *shrugs* Well, she had to in order to save a friend. At least she's finally understanding it. Let's see how she'll use that knowledge. We won't know until next time!

Please Review and Thanks so much for reading! :)