Chapter 14: Hunt the Blue Blur
Three years had passed since Sonic's "death", and the world had changed much more. The war was over, with the Battle Birds disarmed. The entire solar system was under the control of the Federation, which was becoming more and more of a police-state dictatorship by the day. Sonic's army had grown largely and was finally ready to fight the Federation head on. However, in the years since Sonic had gone into hiding, his agents within the Federation became compromised. Espio went into hiding. Mighty, Ray and Charmy were imprisoned for crimes of treason. Charmy himself was left shrank in a petri dish where he struggled to survive from the bacteria monsters. On the day of his release, he actually fought a T-Rex-like bacteria. Dodging the organism's "claw" slashes and trying to stab it with his needle, Charmy was caught off guard when Flavor materialized not so far away.
"Flavor" Charmy exclaimed.
"Charmy! We have to go! Grab my hand!"
Doing as she instructed, Charmy and Flavor escaped the dish by returning to their true size.
"What took you so long" Charmy asked, hugging his rescuer.
"We had to find you and the others. Not to mention plan your breakouts."
"So you find Ray and Mighty?"
"Yes. But we started with you first. Come on let's go."
Since his capture, Mighty was forced to have his strength siphoned off by his handlers. Supplying free power to the home Federation country. Connected to tube-like machines once again for what seemed like an eternity, Mighty was entering a hopeless moment when he started hearing explosions outside his room. Bursting through the door came Flavor, Charmy and three armored, werehog children.
"It's about time" Mighty smiled.
"Don't worry buddy" said Charmy removing the tubes, "We'll get you out of here."
Getting back on his feet, Mighty asked "Where to?"
"Home" Flavor confirmed.
"This is an outrage" bellowed Quell to the members of Team Dark. Angry beyond belief. "Three years after Sonic's death and these misbehaving brats have turned from a minor nuisance to a major threat. Mighty the Armadillo and Charmy the Bee were let loose just yesterday. You must recapture them and bring me the people responsible for this mess. Alive or in pieces!" Slamming his fist on his desk for emphasis.
"Yes sir" saluted Shadow, Rouge and Omega. As they left the White House, Rouge could tell there was something upsetting her lover.
"Something wrong" she asked.
"I think I know what's going on" confirmed Shadow.
"Question: Who is responsible" asked Omega.
"It's something I have to deal with on my own" replied Shadow as he left them.
Entering the caverns underneath the Hidden Palace Zone, Shadow bellowed "Sonic! I'm here to talk!"
"Have you come to join us" Mighty echoed.
"No. Quell ordered me to bring you in. I haven't told him anything, but you're getting out of control. Anymore trouble and random people might get caught in the fire."
"Why are you working for Quell anyway" said Knuckles emerging with a new metallic arm. "He's a power-hungry thug."
"And how. But he's threatening Tower's family. If we act it will be there lives on the line."
In a matter of moments the entire rebellion army emerged from the shadows. Sonic the Werehog chief among them.
"I chose to strike hard and fade away into the night" said Sonic, "You chose to obey evil. You have a good explanation and I trust you enough you won't squeal us out. But soon enough you're going to have to chose who you trust more. Until then it would be wise that you don't come here often. I wish you good luck."
Shadow then did as asked and left.
To be continued