Sonic Haven Season 2 – Episode 2

"If things are so hard here, then why not move?" Tiara asked Blaze as the two stood alone on the top of the skyscraper they'd been staying in.

Blaze stared out at the bleak, gray sunset before speaking slowly. "We've looked for other places, we always do, that way we can stay ahead of the Guardians. But, this last time we moved, maybe about a month ago now, we couldn't find any other spots. If we get kicked out of here, we don't know where we'll go next." She explained.

"That sounds terrible. I know when Robotnik took over Mobitropolis I thought that my life was pretty much over. I can see now that it can obviously get much worse!" Tiara lamented.

"Don't worry about us." Blaze said as she turned back toward Tiara. "We've made it this far. Besides, we could always try the Forbidden City."

"Forbidden City?" Tiara asked.

"When the Guardians took over the world, there was one city that was left alone. It had been abandoned long before the Guardians' takeover and nobody knows why. Several individuals, including former members of our group, have tried to go to the Forbidden City never to return." Blaze explained with a distant tone.

"Well, what if life is somewhat normal over there and you just need to make it there to see for yourself?" Tiara said hopefully.

"It doesn't add up." Blaze answered quickly. "People would leave for the city, hoping to return with word of whether it was safe or not, only to disappear forever. If it was safe, they would've come back long ago."

"Well, there's still one more possibility," Tiara said with an optimistic tone. "Maybe the danger has passed."

"I suppose it's possible." Blaze said with a shrug. "But we'd be risking our lives."

"I understand why you haven't gone, but I want you to remember that you need to consider multiple reasons for something, rather than jumping to conclusions. You only think the Forbidden City is dangerous because nobody has returned, but there are several explanations you may not have considered. It may be worth a quick look, even if it's only to confirm your suspicions." Tiara said as she walked away, leaving Blaze to think about what she'd said.

Blaze turned back to the ever darkening monochromatic sunset and thought about what she'd just heard. Maybe Tiara was right, they'd always just assumed that the Forbidden City was dangerous, but there was only one way to know for sure. Before the sun had set behind the dusty horizon, she knew what she needed to do!

"So what's in this Forbidden City exactly?" Sonic asked as they set out on their trek.

"Nobody knows, sounds kinda spooky if you ask me." Ray said with a shiver.

"Eh, I've dealt with pretty scary stuff myself. Shouldn't be anything too bad." Sonic said as he shrugged himself.

"How far away is it?" Tiara asked.

"A few moiles, it was a subehb this city back befoe the takeove'" Knack said.

"We should be able to handle it!" Mighty said confidently.

"Yeah, I agree." Sonic said as he gave Mighty a high five.

"Well, you're certainly as confident as Scourge was." Blaze said stoicly.

"Confidence is a good thing." Sonic said with a smirk.

"Yes, but ego is not. Don't let it go to your head." Blaze said as she turned around and began walking across the dusty landscape.

Sonic looked overhead as the sun was just peeking through the grayish sky in between two of the roads that hung overhead. It should've been around 9:00 am though he couldn't know for sure since he and Tiara were the only ones wearing watchers, and those were synced to the timetable in Mobitropolis. Shrugging, deciding he didn't care about the time that much, he pressed forward right behind Blaze.

Nicole turned as she saw Tyler and Knuckles walk into Haven after leaving to go and get supplies. She quickly ran over to Tyler as he set down the sack he'd been carrying. She rummaged through it, pulling out a protein bar and beginning to snack on it as Tyler walked into another room and Knuckles walked over to Sally to tell her about something that must've been important. Something was obviously wrong, so she considered her options.

Deciding that she could find out just as much from Tyler, who she'd rather talk to anyway, she went to go and ask him. She walked through the door and saw him sitting at the table in the conference room. He looked a little sad, so she decided to put on a soft expression and try to cheer him up if she could. Honestly, she had no idea if it would work or not, but it was worth a try.

"Hey," she said as she jumped up onto the table next to him, sitting down and letting her legs swing back and forth blissfully, "what's up?"

He smirked at her overwhelmingly lighthearted attitude, then took a deep breath before answering. "Knuckles and I went to the south side of town. We went to go and get some food from the old supermarket over there, but when we got there it was cleaned out."

"That doesn't sound so bad." She said, cocking her head to the side and letting her happy expression dissolve. "What else?" She asked, knowing there was more to it than that.

"It wasn't the only one cleaned out." He explained. "Every store we went to, every apartment, every house, every vending machine, they're all emptied."

"Then where did the food come from?" She asked quizzically.

"We managed to overrun a group of Robians carrying the food back to Robotnik's base. We're guessing that's where all of the rest of the food went." He said as he looked into the distance.

"What happens when we run out of food in a few days?" She wondered aloud, her low tone implying it to be a rhetorical question.

"Knuckles went to ask Sally what she wants us to do. But, if I had to guess, we'll need to steal the food from Robotnik." He said.

"We can manage it though..." She said in an unsure tone.

"Sure." Tyler said as he shook his head. "Anyway, how are you?"

"Not bad, but I could be better." She said with a drop of her head.

He grabbed hold of her hand and held it in his slightly larger one reassuringly. Then he spoke softly. "Hey, don't worry. We'll be fine. After all, we survived a hostile takeover and an assault on a mad scientist." He chuckled. "We won't be beaten by starvation of all things!"

She smiled, closed her eyes and nodded her head. "Yeah, you're right. Well, we better go see what Sally has planned." She jumped off the table and walked toward the door, then turned and looked back at him. "You coming Pix?"

"Yeah." He said with a smirk.

The two walked out to the main room and over to the group in the far corner. There, they stood on the edge and listened to the ensuing discussion as everyone brought up ideas and solutions to problems as they all tried to come up with a plan. Finally, after several minutes of discussion, it seemed that they had a plan, which Sally laid out for them all so they knew what they would do over the next few days.

As he listened, Tyler's blood went cold as he realized that he and Nicole were still holding hands.