3. Night Terror.

.w.

The Great Forest

June 30th, 3236

Night time

"Whoa!"

Sonic swayed and waved his hands wildly, but managed to keep his balance. Navigating in the night forest was a hard task as it was, and this fallen tree trunk wasn't making it any easier for him. The hero knelt to give the wood a closer look. This tree must have been dead for less than a day; apparently, the result of Robotnik and his troops flying by.

He cringed sympathetically, but stood up swiftly in an instant. The tree was also a good sign in some way: it indicated that the hedgehog was going the right way. All he had to do so far was find out where the villain had gone, and his speed could do the chasing part for him.

The Freedom Fighters had found out that Robotnik would be out of Robotropolis that night. Their visit to the city several hours earlier brought them literally nothing, so now the hero was dead set on at least finding out what drove the tyrant out of his lair. If it was another deadly device of his, and these tended to spawn far too often for Sonic's liking lately, then he had to stop the project as soon as possible.

Sonic's little break was nearing its end, and he was about to dash off, but he had to linger just for a few moments. At this point he suddenly got a faint feeling that something was up. The feeling grew until the hero found its source, a distant sound that was getting closer to him. Blue ears flickered, trying to identify the noise. Some sort of a flying machine, maybe a small chopper, or...

Spinning tails?

He tensed and hopped onto a think tree branch in one powerful movement. One jump after another, he made it to the top of the tree and then into the night sky above the Great Forest... earning a yelp of surprise from a small Mobian flying by. The hedgehog waved him cheerfully.

"Hey, Tails! What's up?" he asked before landing onto another branch.

"Sonic! Thank goodness I caught up with you!" A young brown fox with two tails was panting heavily from both exhaustion and excitement, approaching his hero. "We got a message from Uncle Chuck saying that a big group of SWATbots had just left Robotropolis. He couldn't find out where they were going, but Sally is worried about it. She wants you to return to Knothole."

Sir Charles Hedgehog, Sonic's uncle, had been roboticized during Robotnik's coup d'état more than ten years ago. Despite him still being stuck in a body made of metal, Sonic had managed to restore his original mind and free will. Now Uncle Chuck was an important part of the resistance, an undercover spy and a source of invaluable information for their group.

Uncle Chuck was the one who had warned them about Robotnik's absence in Robotropolis in the first place. If he risked sending them two messages one by one, then something really important must have been going on, and Sonic just had to check it out. He gritted his teeth; the temptation was way too strong.

But the Princess's order was to come back...

"Sonic?" Tails landed on the branch beside him, and it creaked dangerously. The fox kit knew what he was thinking: it was the perfect time for a recon mission, and Sonic was the last Freedom Fighter to be afraid of Robotnik and his SWATbots. Probably it was why Sally chose to send Tails instead of Dulcy or someone else: the kid was too young to either take to the mission or leave alone. The hedgehog's duty was now to escort him home safely.

"Comin'." He gave his younger brother a thumbs-up and jumped onto the ground with a small thump. "Doesn't look like I could find anything useful anyway. Let's head back to Knothole, but make sure to stay below the trees this time. If SWATbots are lurking around in the sky, they could detect you in no time."

"Got it!" Tails cried, and covered his mouth immediately as Sonic gave him a disapproving look. It wasn't a smart idea to make unwanted noise right now.

"Cool. Now, let's get movin'."

The hedgehog headed back, making sure to go slowly enough for Tails to keep up. The kid was a good flier- not to mention he was a fox flying thanks to his twin tails- but even he was unable to catch up with the fastest thing alive moving at the speed of sound. And the last thing Sonic wanted now was losing his younger brother in a night forest swarming with SWATbots.

"Any other news 'cept the SWAT-butts?" he asked casually, leaping from one tree brunch to another in order to cross a gully.

"Nuh-huh. All's as usual. But Sally is worried about Nicole. She says maybe she'll have to go to Robotropolis again to get some of her components replaced like the last time."

Sonic nodded. Nicole, Sally's supercomputer and best friend, was of great help for their group, but, being a fragile machine in essence and having to operate in a not-so-friendly environment of the Great Forest, she inevitably malfunctioned from time to time. They used to steal chips from Robotnik's factories to fix her... Of course, getting computer components and other stuff from Robotropolis became much easier with Sir Charles being on their side.

"We can ask Uncle Chuck to get whatever she needs. No problem." At this point, he noticed Tails rising dangerously above the trees again. "Hey, Big Guy, watch where you go. Come down, will ya?"

However, Tails was too interested in something only he could see to comply. "Sonic, come here and have a look at this."

The hero frowned. They were minutes away from their home now, what could possibly postpone their return? Had Tails noticed Antoine sleeping on duty or something? Nevertheless, he hurried to the top of the tree Tails was hovering over, and looked where the fox was pointing. Within less than a second, he felt his heart skip a beat.

Night sky was tinted red above Knothole.

"Sonic, what-" Tails began, but the hedgehog already wasn't there. He was rushing towards the village at maximum speed, now feeling his heart beat like crazy in his chest.

Impossible.

Robotnik couldn't have found them overnight like this. Not after all those years when they struggled to make their home undetectable.

This was too insane to even think about. Something else must have caused the red tint, not the fire consuming the village.

His mind was still in a haze when he hopped onto a clearing. Before him was a small river, with first rows of wooden huts visible on the other side. Gusts of hot air exploded into his face, filling his lungs with smoke. Wide eyes stared at the shadows dancing on the other side... tall, angular shadows.

SWATbots...

In burning Knothole.

There was a fraction of a second when he felt his knees becoming weak and his head turning extremely light. The vision seemed so wrong there was no way it could be real. Everything was fine when he was leaving, and he had been away for less than an hour- and what could have happened in less than an hour? Robotnik couldn't have detected them before that- their team was in Robotropolis just tonight! If something was up, they would have learned about it!

But there they were, in a village attacked by the enemy.

Then the shadows seemed to move closer to him, and his reflexes threw him under a thick bush above the river. His momentary weakness was gone, replaced with just a fading din in his ears and a clearer mind. He had to accept that this was not someone's sick joke; years of hardship taught him to expect life to land another lash onto his bare back at any moment. Right now, he had to find out what he could do to make the disaster stop, and then just do it.

His eyes darted left and right. One of the bridges crossing the rivers was now gone; the other one was guarded by at least five SWATbots. Sneaking past all of them would be a stretch, plus he would have to forget about keeping his presence secret. Meanwhile, he would really love to stay unnoticed until he knew for sure where to deal his first blow.

Sonic darted back to the forest edge, vertically onto the nearest tall tree he could see, and then along the branch to gain enough velocity to fly into the air. He was fast as the wind itself, but, apparently, this wasn't enough: he noticed the movement next to the bridge in the corner of his eye. The SWATbots couldn't see him, but they could see that something was off.

During his flight over the river the hedgehog could take a quick look of the whole village, and that one look was enough to tell that thing couldn't have possibly been any worse. Most of the huts were on fire already, some were surrounded by armed robots. He saw several bodies lying on the ground, motionless, and swore he would return to get every one of them.

He landed safely right behind Rotor's workshop, hopefully unnoticed by the invaders. A peek inside through the window told him that nobody was indoors, save for a small fire in a corner. Thin smoke was coming from there, but that was the least of Sonic's worries at the moment.

The hedgehog got inside through the same window. Neither Rotor nor other villagers found cover in there, so he had to move on. He darted through the mess of robot details and implements to the opposite window only to see more burning huts. One of them collapsed, creating a column of black smoke and sparkles, and his heart sank: that one was Sally's...

Another hut came in his view. It wasn't ablaze yet, but he could see several SWATbot silhouettes inside. One of them raised a hand to point his weapon at something or someone outside his view, and an agonizing scream reached Sonic's ears.

Then, there was a flash of light.

Sonic's heart was pumping wildly in his chest as he gripped the window sill, ready to throw his body into the battle. That fire, that light, that desperate voice which Sonic knew belonged to Rosie, their poor old nanny- all of it was too much for him to bear. Remaining in a hidden place was no longer an option; he had to do something, anything to save the remaining Freedom Fighters!

He wasn't alone in his urge.

"Rosie..!"

Heck, no.

Not Tails.

But Sonic froze and looked up anyway- and, of course, saw his younger brother diving down from above to save his dear nanny from grave danger. His scream alerted the SWATbot, and the monster robot immediately turned to face him, its weapon reloaded and ready to fire again. So lonely and evident against the dark sky, Tails had nowhere to hide other than behind his own courage.

What could a tiny fox do against a killer machine? Be lucky and die quickly and painlessly. Sonic wouldn't allow that.

"Tails, no!"

His legs nearly detached from his body from the thrust as he launched himself into the sky. The hero grabbed Tails' waist and broke the spinning motion of the twin tails, sending them both down and to the right. An overwhelming wave of heat washed past Sonic's feet. A shot from the SWATbot's laser rifle missed them, but it did not guarantee them safety for long; on the contrary, the whole battalion of them was maybe now on their way to get the Priority One.

The duo crashed into a tree trunk and rolled downhill. Sonic knocked a couple of SWATbots off balance on the way down, but he knew he couldn't fight effectively while having to protect Tails at the same time. He caught the fox's hand and took off, feeling the ground burn and boil behind them from more laser shots missing their target. He didn't feel safe in the slightest until they found cover behind a semi-collapsed wall close to the river.

"Tails." Sonic grabbed his brother's shoulders, paying no attention to how much his own were shaking now. "Get out of here. Now. Hide in the forest until I get the others and find you."

"Sonic..."

He'd never seen Tails so scared. The fox was not exactly the bravest kind, but heck, he didn't have time to be stunned like this! "I said now! This is an order!" the hero hissed almost furiosly. They probably still had a couple of seconds left before SWATbots found them.

"Sonic, your feet..!"

The hedgehog looked down instinctively, and gasped. His blue fur above his ankles was scorched, as were his socks, and the sneakers... what remained of them looked more like two shapeless blobs of paint engulfing his feet. The pain hadn't yet reached his brain, but it was evident he wouldn't be able to move a toe after the adrenaline rush was over.

Apparently, the SWATbot decided to widen the laser beam and reduce the power output to fry the Mobians alive instead of piercing them with a concentrated narrow beam. Well, it earned a thumbs-up for almost making it, Sonic thought dully.

Even that wasn't the worst part. The sneakers had been designed by Uncle Chuck to reduce the natural friction between Sonic's feet and the earth below them; thanks to this invention, Sonic could reach his trademark speed without damaging his flesh. Now, without them and with his feet already burnt... he was useless.

He couldn't run.

He could do nothing.

The thought was too big to fit into his head.

In any case, it didn't have to as someone's hand gripped his shoulder from behind. Sonic jerked instinctively, struggling to break free; it was no use.

"Let go of m-hhmmm!" He tried to bite the hand covering his mouth before he finally noticed that it was gloved.

"Quiet," a familiar voice hissed into his ear. Sonic squinted to the side to see black quills with red tips next to his muzzle.

"Mhhmm?"

Shadow didn't bother answering. He dragged his counterpart away, ignoring Sonic's useless attempts to support himself with wounded feet. Tails needed no orders to follow them; the trance he was in seemed to slow all of his reactions down.

The hero was far from that. As soon as he learned that he wasn't in danger of being choked, he shook Shadow's hand off. "Why are you here!?" he snapped. "There are people who need help!"

His dark twin stepped back to have a better look at him, and Sonic immediately realized the answer to his question. Shadow brought him behind a massive pile of wooden boxes, apparently not important enough to be burnt straight away. Sitting on the ground with her back against a box, with her eyes closed and chest rising rapidly, was Princess Sally.

Black eyes darted down and took in several dark marks on her fur. Those didn't look lethal, but the chipmunk obviously was in pain thanks to them. "Sally!" he called, kneeling beside her. "Are you alright?"

Her eyes opened and focused on him. Sonic had to hand it to her: right now, Sally looked least lost of all four of them. "I'm fine," she said quickly and quietly. She coughed a little as her gaze darted from him to Shadow and Tails. "Have you seen anyone else?"

"I saw several bodies," said Sonic. The din in his ears was back; smoke was filling his lungs, and this night seemed so unreal, like a nightmare about to end. "And I heard SWATbots fire at Rosie. I don't know what happened to them."

He wanted to ask what had gone so horribly wrong that SWATbots appeared in the village while he was gone, but he knew they didn't have time for that. Sally was ready to take action; she nodded and reached for her pocket to take out Nicole and calculate an immediate plan.

It never happened as her hand stopped mid-way, and fell helplessly. "I left Nicole back at my hut!"

Sonic bit his lip at the realization. "It collapsed just minutes ago. Sorry," he added awkwardly.

Her face became determined again. Time for crying would come later. "We'll make it," she said firmly, using a box for support as she stood up. "Sonic, Shadow, you'll have to distract the SWATbots. Me and Tails will- oh my gosh. Sonic, what happened to your feet?"

No answer followed. By this time, Sonic had already tried to stand up from his kneeling position, and found out he couldn't. The pain still wasn't there, but his feet refused to respond to his inner orders. In fact, by this point he didn't feel his own legs down his knees. The hedgehog suddenly felt light-headed, even though he was still half-sitting on the ground.

Sally wanted him to get rid of the SWATbots. His people needed him like never before.

All he had to do was stand up. It wasn't all that hard... right?

"A SWATbot got him," Tails said in a dreamy voice. Sonic looked up to see his brother several steps away from them, peeking over a wooden box that was nearly as tall as the fox himself. "And now they are coming for us."

His words didn't take long to be proved true. Light exploded in their eyes; the box pile shook, and its part on their right had partially dissipated after the very first shot from something that could have been a flamethrower. The heat increased drastically, and Sonic felt as if he had to swim through thickening air just to stay on his spot. He coughed; he needed fresh air, or he was going to swoon soon.

The following thought was even more terrible than his state. SWATbots must have been aiming at Tails! The hero cracked an eye to open and found out that his brother was still alive, pressed into the ground by Shadow. The dark hedgehog had yanked the fox back by his namesakes, saving him from being fried.

Sonic should have done that...

The thought faded away as he heard heavy footsteps approaching their hide. If he had a wish to be a hero at last, the time was just right.

But Sally had other plans. "Shadow," she called quietly. "Get Sonic and Tails out of here, then come back and find me. I'll stay here and try to find Bunnie and Dulcy. Come on!"

No! Sonic was about to cry out, but the words came out as miserable coughing. And, in fact, what would it change? He still was unable to put up with being of no help to the team. The instincts he had been fostering for years were now screaming, telling him to roll back, zip around that pile and a nearby hut, attacking the SWATbots from behind and drawing their attention away from Sally and others-

And his feet refused to move. And he knew life couldn't have been less unfair to him.

Shadow was hesitant as well, but due to a different reason. Sally gave him an order, thus relieving him of making vital decisions, and all he had to do was follow her words. Leave, then come back, find her, help her fight the SWATbots. Or find her body among those already lying among burning huts. Luck of the dice. Though the latter seemed more probable and dreadful as the vision stood vibrant before his eyes.

Thirty seconds. Come back in thirty seconds to find out he could do even less than he could now. The thought was unbearable.

"Go!" she yelled.

He gnashed his teeth, feeling precious seconds slip away. The hedgehog had already learned Sally was not the timid kind, and maybe she even was ready to die fighting for her people, but... it just wasn't fair of her to make this choice alone like this.

No matter what she was saying, he had to make a decision of his own, and he did.

"Chaos Control!"