Hello everybody! Welcome to Nightstalkers! This story has been in my brain for such a long time, and it's an incredible feeling to finally be getting this going! Having mused over this concept for about a year now, I sincerely hope it meets expectations!

Now, without further ado, let's finally get started on...

Nightstalkers

Epiphany

Sonic sighed as the snow continued beating down on the walls of the sanctuary. Guard duty was certainly not his favorite. Still, someone had to do it today, he just wished it hadn't been his day. Pulling his brown cloak tighter around himself for warmth against the weather and the chilling wind, he gazed out from the walkway atop the wall into the trees that lined the area. Still, there was nothing, which was good. Knothole had seen its fair share of attacks recently, so a calm day would be a nice change of pace.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind however, a dark figure began to emerge from the treeline, followed closely behind by two more as they approached the walled city. Sonic instantly reached the nearby bell station and rang it. Knowing that the other members of the Freedom Fighters would be here soon, with adrenaline rushing into his veins, the hedgehog quickly slid down one of the several ropes tied to the tops of the city wall. Landing on the snow below, his boots protecting his feet from the cold and with adrenaline rushing through his body, ready to finally have some action today. The hedgehog drew a short dagger from the folds of his cloak, pressing a button to create a small current of plasma energy across its blade.

As he stared into the snowstorm, a trio of eyes stared back at him, piercing through the cold and eyeing him as the monster approached its would-be prey. Sonic knew these monsters well, Nightstalkers as they were called, large, quadrupedal, three eyed monsters. Their black shadowy fur standing out against the snowy backdrop like ink on a canvas. Two more of the monsters made their way forward out of the shadows of the trees. They growled with each other and at him, communicating the best way to approach their intended prey. Sonic eyed the trio of monsters, staring into their dark yellow and purple eyes. As they sized him up.

Suddenly, one of the monsters charged at him, brandishing its claws as it swiped at where he was. The hedgehog, with blinding speed none of the monsters could have expected, dodged to the side and delivered a slash from his dagger into the side of the beast, cutting cleanly through the thick outer fur and causing a current of blood to stain the snow below a deep crimson as it fell from the wound.

The Nightstalker roared in anger as it attacked again, Sonic dodged once more and was forced to duck as a swipe from one of the other two monsters present struck just where his head had been. Taking a glance over toward where the third had been, he caught sight of its three eyes staring back at him from amongst the falling snow, no doubt considering when it would be best to come in and join its brethren.

Sonic took a step away from the two Nightstalkers near him, getting himself away from being pinned in between the two of them. He brandished his blade once more, ready for any new attack that might come. The wounded monster from earlier attacked first, no doubt this one was more consumed by its bloodlust than others.

That was something he could certainly use to his advantage…

The hedgehog dodged but this time the monster was ready for him, instantly turning and swiping at where he was with its other front claw, forcing Sonic to dodge underneath the beast, delivering another wound to the beast's underside with the attack. The monster, absolutely consumed by rage that its prey had managed to escape his clutches for a second time, quickly attempted to attack again, Sonic dodged the quick and sloppy attack, plunging the dagger directly into the eye atop its forehead. The beast roared in agony as it stumbled backward, the plasma tipped blade still firmly implanted in its face. As it stepped back, another one of the unharmed monsters made its way forward. Now without a weapon, the Nightstalker that had been only circling waiting for its opportunity to attack had its opening as it descended on the subject of its hunt. Being unarmed, Sonic couldn't do much but dodge out of the way of their attacks, one of them managed to graze the edge of his cloak, tearing out a section of the fabric. Taking a glance at the third Nightstalker as it let out one last roar of defiance before collapsing to the snow below, dagger still firmly planted in its eye.

"One down…" Sonic thought to himself, "These things really don't go down without a fight do they?"

As he tried to anticipate the next strike from the remaining two monsters, a bolt of charged plasma struck the side of one of the beasts. It didn't pierce its thick outer fur, but it did attract the attention of the monster. Gazing at the walls of the city as a pair of additional Mobians descended the ropes to join, Sonic smiled, reinforcements had arrived.

A chipmunk who Sonic instantly recognized as Sally dashed over toward him, her white trimmed, light blue cloak trailing behind, igniting a pair of ring blades to help. Meanwhile, Sonic recognized his favorite two tailed fox behind her. The plasma pistol of his own design in hand, along with a similar brown cloak to his own, not that the fox needed it much with his thick fur.

Another plasma bolt struck the monster as the fox took aim toward the head of one of the attackers, looking for a softer spot for the bolt to penetrate. One of the beasts turned to the newcomers while the other that had been circling earlier focused its attention on Sonic. Snarling as it attacked, the hedgehog rolled out of the way of the assault, dashing over toward the fallen corpse of the dead Nightstalker where his dagger still remained. Removing it from the eye of the monster, he quickly turned back to face the one still attacking him, only to discover it had turned its attention over to Tails, leaving the fox to deal with one on his own while Sally dealt with the other. The hedgehog scrambled through the snow to make his way over, as he approached, he noticed Tails roll a bit too late to dodge an incoming attack, causing the monster's pair of claws to graze over his arm, tearing the fabric of his cloak and the skin underneath.

The fox took a few steps back, steadying his arm with the other as he fired another plasma bolt into the beast, right as it was preparing to take another swipe at him. The projectile struck the underbelly of the beast, piercing straight through the skin. The Nightstalker jumped backward in pain, and stumbled for a moment, the kitsune fired another shot out of anger, as the monster fell over dead. The fox collapsed to one knee, still clutching his injured arm and gritting his teeth in pain.

"Tails you alright!?" Sonic exclaimed, concern for the fellow Freedom Fighter in his voice.

"I'm fine, just go help Sally." He responded. Sonic knew he'd be fine for now, so he turned his attention to the chipmunk, who just barely had managed to sink one of her energy blades into the side of the monster. The second blade instantly followed, slashing at the side of the beast. The monster howled in pain and managed one weak swipe at the chipmunk before it collapsed into the snow.

Sally made her way over toward the other two Freedom Fighters, retracting her energy blades as she approached.

"That the last of them?" She asked.

"I think so," Sonic answered. "Looks like you had it under control as usual."

"Tails, you alright?" She asked, noticing the pained expression on the fox's face.

"I'm fine, it's just a scratch." He responded.

"Let me see."

The fox tentatively released his grip on the wound as Sally took a look, she winced seeing the gash that had been left behind.

"That's not as bad as it could be I guess… Doesn't look like it hit anything too important, I'll give it a better look once we get back though." She commented.

The fox and hedgehog both nodded in agreement and they made their way back toward the walled city, reaching the city's main entrance, they were quickly let in by the city guard, who instantly recognized the three of them. The fortified doorways swung open, greeting them with a glimpse of the sanctuary of Knothole.

Making their way down the empty streets, no doubt because everyone was still hiding in their homes from the most recent attack, they eventually arrived at the barracks at which they stayed. Making their way inside and out of the cold, they could finally relax for a moment after the most recent encounter. Sally instantly took a better look at Tails' arm, eventually grabbing a bottle of alcohol and a soft cloth to try and clean the wound.

Sonic meanwhile, was contemplating the recent events that had passed. These attacks had only become more and more frequent as of late, the Nightstalkers seemed to be getting bolder and bolder with each passing day. How long until they finally managed to break in? Simply put, this couldn't go on forever, the problem would have to be stopped at the source.

How, or even if it was possible, he wasn't sure. But they had to try. Even if Sonic didn't know much about how, he would certainly figure something out. But who would know more about exactly where these things came from?

Tails winced as Sally continued to clean his wound, eventually finishing her cleaning and switching it out for a set of cloth bandages, which she wrapped tightly around the scratch.

Sonic meanwhile continued to muse over his idea that was now forming in his brain. Who would know more? Suddenly the answer hit him, the echidna sanctuary! Their historians knew basically everything, especially when it came to ancient mythology and things of the sort! Hopefully, they'd be able to finally fill in some of the gaps about where exactly these Nightstalkers came from, and how they could be stopped for good.

Sonic knew a few things of course. He knew that they had started to appear about fifteen years ago, and that they'd almost appeared as if from nowhere. Back when he'd and Sally had been little kids, and Tails hadn't even been born yet. Lots of Mobians were caught off guard, many died. Sonic himself knew exactly what it was like to lose family during that time. Tails seemingly knew as well, he'd lost his mom to the monsters, didn't help that he never even knew his father… At least, that's what the fox had told him, the kid didn't like to talk about it. Stirred up some bad memories whenever he did. Didn't help that he'd been very young at the time… Sally seemingly had family somewhere, at least, that's what she and Elias, her brother, hoped.

Elias! He'd certainly be on board with his plan, maybe he'd even be willing to convince the other council members about their idea! He'd certainly be a help!

The more Sonic thought about his idea, the more sound it became. As he finished his thoughts, Sally spoke.

"Well, that should be good. Just be careful with it and you should be fine."

"Thanks Sally." He responded.

The chipmunk lovingly flicked one of the fox's thick bangs, they were still held in place by a headband, keeping them somewhat under control, though they were just as thick and fluffy as the rest of his winter fur. She then turned to Sonic, who was seemingly still deep in thought. "Never thought you to be a big thinker, what's up?" Sally asked.

"Yeah Sonic, what's wrong?" Tails chimed in.

"Nothing's wrong buddy, it's just that… I've just been thinking about a couple things." Sonic answered.

"Like what?"

"Well, just how the attacks have happened more and more recently, I mean, we have to do something right?"

"Yeah, but, what can we do?"

"That's what I've been thinking about. I think I finally have an answer, we get to the bottom of this. Get to the bottom of where the Nightstalkers are coming from, and how we can stop it, if we even can."

"Sonic that's…" Sally interjected. "That's a lot… How do you think we'd even go about that, we don't even know where to start…"

"Well, I know we don't, but the echidna might. We could start with them, figure out everything we can about their appearance and where they're from. You know their historians record everything."

"That's true… But…"

"And we can talk to the Knothole Council about it! Maybe you could talk to Elias about letting us, the three of us, go and see what can be done!"

"I… I'm not so sure about that Sonic…" Tails responded, a nervous tone in his voice. "I mean, outside the sanctuary, we could get really hurt or…"

"Tails, we'll be fine, besides it's just going to be a short trip to the other sanctuary, figure out what we can, and then come back. If there's nothing there, then we'll stay here."

"It's going to be hard to get the Council to approve this you know." Sally commented, "They're really on high alert with all the attacks recently, they'll want us here."

"The other team can handle it while we're gone, it won't be that long."

"The other team is still pretty new, are you really sure about this?"

"I'm not, but I know that it's better than sitting around here and waiting to die. We need to find a permanent solution, what we're doing works for now, but maybe it won't in a year from now. You've seen just how aggressive they've gotten! This most recent attack was in the middle of the day! They never did that before."

Sally sighed, he made a good point, but before she could respond, Tails jumped in.

"Sonic, I'm with you. You know I am, whatever you think, I'll do it."

"Thanks bud, I knew you had my back. How about you Sal, you in?"

Contemplating her answer for a moment, she spoke. "If we find anything though, we'll report back to Knothole, just there and back, no more."

"Fine by me, now hopefully the Council will at least listen to us."

"They'll listen, but it might take some convincing."

Sonic smiled, "I was already counting on that."

-X-

Elias paced back and forth in his office. Having a vantage point from his window and being able to see the entirety of the city below him, he contemplated what to do.

His job was to protect the city, as Head Councilman that much he knew, and he was failing. The Nightstalker attacks had only increased in frequency recently, and while the side of the city built against the snowy mountainside cliff was naturally defended, the other three sides were only finding themselves under more frequent assault. It was only a matter of time until something broke through…

The chipmunk's red cape trailed behind him as he continued to pace.

"Thought of anything yet?" His assistant asked, also thinking over the predicament that had befallen the city.

"No Fiona just… I don't know what we'd even do! The rest of the Council refuses to even consider the possibility of things getting worse! You know how bad it is, I do as well… Everyone knows at this point, but they still won't budge! Sometimes I wish I didn't have to be the one wearing this blue uniform…"

"The people like you on the Council." Fiona reasoned, "I do at least…"

"That's good to hear, but somehow we need to figure this out. We can't just sit here and do nothing! For all I care, the only good Nightstalker is a dead one…"

"Wholeheartedly agreed," The red fox answered, flicking a piece of snow off the edge of her dark cloak. "But what are we going to do, and more importantly, how are we going to get the Council to agree?"

Just as she finished her statement, the sound of footsteps made their way to the duo's ears as a pair of Mobians they recognized as Sally and Tails made their way into the office.

"Sally, what are you doing here?" Elias spoke, surprised by their appearance. "Shouldn't you be down watching for Nightstalkers to show up?"

The duo pulled down the hood of their cloaks, "Sonic is on guard duty today, and besides, we just had a group of them dealt with." Sally commented.

"Well, then why are the two of you here?" Fiona asked, "Unless you're just here to see us."

Tails took a quick glance at Fiona out of the edge of his vision, the fur under his muzzle turning a light pink color as he realized the other fox was looking back at him. "W- We uh… We're just here with a message!" He stammered, "It's very important!"

"Well then," Elias responded. "What's your message?"

"We think we may have an idea to stop these attacks for good." Sally finished, noticing the embarrassed state of the two-tailed fox with her.

Elias looked at them quizzically, before dismissing the two foxes from the room. Leaving only himself and Sally present.

"So what's the plan?" He spoke.

Sally quickly explained the basic overview of their idea. While it wasn't quite much yet, Elias did seem interested, but also, quite nervous about it.

"Sis, you know the Council will never go for this!"

"That's why we need your help. You could help sway the vote to get this to happen, we can help everyone here if we do this!"

"That much is true… But I'm not sure how to bring this up…"

"I'm sure you'll find a way, you always do."

"Thanks… I'll think about it…"

Sally nodded, "You'll do great." She commented, making her way out of the room to leave Elias to his own thoughts.

Reentered shortly after she left, and after a moment of silence, Elias spoke.

"Fiona, schedule a Council meeting for tomorrow. It's about time we did something about our predicament…"

Alright everyone! Long first chapter I know, but hopefully you all enjoyed it! This story is going to be epic, so I hope you'll all stick around for it! Before we go however I'd like to thank my editor Perturbo! He's been an amazing help this chapter and I'm sure that will only continue in the future! Please leave your thoughts in a review, they really mean a lot, especially for this story! I'll see you guys next time!