The bombsite left a mark on all those who saw the singed piece of earth, Whisper couldn't shake the feeling in her stomach after. Her father, who witnessed it firsthand, went blind in one eye once the explosion blew.

She could only remember that he allowed her to see it because she was reserved and smart enough to understand. He knew that she was different from the others and was still proud nonetheless. After seeing that things changed for her as they did for him, she started wanting to learn things for a reason, something she believed was good.

All she wanted to do was get rid of that awful feeling in her stomach when she saw the crater. It was like the earth had been wounded. So, reading books about the environment and the evolution of the planet's inhabitants felt like the first step to understanding what happened there. Laid flat on her stomach, carefully reading a book, she sighed, the window on the wall adjacent to her lighting the text in the sun's amber rays.

Whisper's ear twitched as the door opened beside her. The youngest sister, almost a mouse in terms of comparable size, with ears as big as her hands though she was just a pup, entered and curiously inspected the book. Muffled paws sliding against the carpet, she flattened beside Whisper, the young lupa playing with her hair while lying at the bookworm's side.

"Whisper," her sister asked, leaning over her shoulder to take a look at the small book. "Why do you read so much?"

"I only read so much because someone has to read all these books," she recalled that the bookcase was much larger than they were, significantly taller. Whisper could see it mattered a lot to her, so she continued, "And I want to know how to help the world."

"Help the world?" her voice chirped. She sidled on her side, "What about us? Why won't you help us outside?"

"You're just digging holes," she questioned. "You don't need me for that."

"But we want you there!"

Whisper sighed, "The others don't want me outside," she uttered, "Just go back outside with them."

"Yes, they do!" she lied, "If you don't come with us, then..."

"You can't drag me out there, or force them inside. Face it, sis. It's just not meant to be." Whisper turned on her side now, looking directly into the pup's eyes with a smile on her face. The puppy's big eyes seemed to bore into her soul until she cast her regard downward. Whisper stammered, "Taisch, you don't have to-"

"...I'll stay inside with you, then!" Taisch reacted, looking up at her with an excited look. Whisper looked surprised for a moment, the little lupa sliding beneath her arm and inspecting the page she left off at. "What are we reading?"

"I— You don't have to..." she paused. A question arose in her mind. Why not? What was the worst that could happen? Their father was content with interacting with all his children and their siblings didn't care about her all that much. The moment she leaned into Taisch's touch, the warmth against her side was something she felt, like those cradlesongs from Dad, lilting and carefree, loving, kind, safe.

Everyone wasn't surprised by the gritted teeth, the refutations, or the supposed help from Tangle. That was to be expected, but with an inquisitive glance to the heavens and her best friend, no one expected the final sigh of acceptance at which point she took the wispon slung over her shoulder and set it in her hands.

"Okay," she acquiesced. A veil fell over the group, they expected her to storm off in anger, but instead, the bubbling pot simmered. "Okay. Is there more?"

"I thought you'd fight me more on this," Lanolin added, "I didn't expect you to..."

"...If there's anything I know about Surge," Whisper kept to her namesake, "It's that she hates Eggman more than I do."

"You got that right," Surge interjected.

Lanolin hummed, "Okay. Then let me brief you on the situation. This doesn't seem like one of his bigger operations but we're going to be rather careful with this, just in case. That's why I've paired you all up with people according to who will cover you best. The objective is simple," she had a map of the area drawn out and carefully scouted for various formations. "Let's start with what's going down there..."

She relayed the information as concisely as possible. The doctor enacted a plan to lock villages within a border, by dropping partitions over it and flooding the walled-off village with his badniks. The setting for his latest scheme was Dust Hill Zone, an emergent exurb founded after the war. Their role was to hopefully take the walls down and destroy as many badniks as possible without hurting the citizens.

"So, smash as many Eggman bots as possible?" Surge asked with a smile.

"Er, no," Lanolin pointed to herself, Duo, Tangle, and Kit, "No, we're going to keep the village safe. While we handle that, Whisper's going to cover you while you knock the walls down. Sonic broke through the last one with relative ease, so I'm going to assume you can handle that."

"Course I can! I'm way better-"

"Yeah, you don't have to tell me. You're important to this group and how well this whole thing will go. I don't mean to ever put anyone above the other, but right now? You're essential." the unyielding sheep responded. "Everyone's got it?"

"I'unno why I have to take down walls like some kinda carpenter! I can take all of them at once!" She groaned.

Lanolin smirked, "We know you can, Surge. Everyone in the city knows you can take down badniks! You don't have to prove it to anyone. You're the most capable here." she said, "Which is why you're handling the biggest job. You're not a carpenter, Surge. You're a Diamond Cutter."

Surge still appeared uneasy, so she took her by the shoulder as if talking to an old friend.

"Listen, let's chat in a little. We can talk more about it," she murmured, "I don't want you feeling uncomfortable."

Surge scoffed, shrugging the hand off her shoulder, "Whatever, I'll make it work. But if something goes wrong, I'm takin' point."

Lanolin grinned, "Alright then. Meeting over."

When it was said, everyone dispersed. Tangle searched for her favorite wolf but was unable to find her anywhere. Duo ran off with the other two recruits, his face still showing his pearly whites as they often did and Lanolin turned her attention to the various notes she kept on hand, scribbling unintelligibly.

Whisper decided she would take everyone's advice and at least work with her. It certainly didn't mean she had to like it, though. Nor did it mean she wouldn't take precautions to prevent herself from getting hit with unfriendly fire. Every step would have to be taken to protect herself from what she believed was the inevitable betrayal.

Her first destination was the workshop where she might find someone, hopefully, Belle, who had already done a few modifications on her wispon before. She had a list of seemingly innocuous upgrades, like a rope function, barrel change, and recoil pad add-on, but really, the last one was what she needed.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked, "I mean, I'll do it, but I think I deserve to know why you're doing it this way. A wispon is meant not to use any rounds, but if you were to use this on someone..."

"Belle," Whisper said in a low tone, "Just do it, please."

Once prepared they set out the next day, early enough that they could still use the veil of darkness to their advantage. They trekked the surrounding forestation to keep themselves hidden. This was standard procedure for everyone except the two newest members who were forced to follow an approach that they were unused to. They often used blitzkrieg to tear through their enemies' morale and force a win, but this time, Surge and Kit were following someone else's lead.

Kit passed the time by playing with his water, transforming it into shapes and figures, while Surge talked about her escapades while on the run in the past and in Starline's lab. Whisper listened while walking behind them, but Surge quickly mistook her patience for interest, "Oh, if you liked that story, wait till I tell you about when we destroyed Eggman's base...!"

It wouldn't be until the Diamond Cutters split up and they were shoulder-deep in tallgrass that Whisper objected to the sadistic nature of these tales, "...Do you enjoy causing pain?" she asked in her naturally quiet tone.

"I liked puttin' 'em down," she replied, "Lettin' 'em know they ain't better than us!"

"The question... still stands," Whisper mumbled, her wispon creaking with her grip.

"Well, maybe I just liked doing things that way. It doesn't matter anyhow. I've turned a new leaf or whatever they say."

Whisper stared for a moment and Surge slowed her pace and observed Whisper's countenance, searching for some emblem of malice on her face. Once the staring contest was over she snapped, "It matters to me."

Surge grinned, "Got somethin' you wanna get off your chest?"

"No."

"If you and I are gonna work together, we have to be in sync, I know that cuz it's what Kit and I do. I wanna know that you're gonna have my back. So if there's something you wanna say, then say it to my face, right now."

Whisper paused her pace and Surge did the same, "I don't trust you. But I'll do what's right. For the town."

"You're not gettin' off that easy, sister," Surge interjected, grabbing her by the shoulder, "We aren't leavin' till you hash out your deal with me."

Whisper flinched at her touch and raised the barrel of the wispon to the eager tenrec's face, "My deal is this: you don't care about others. You will never care. You've been hurt too much to know anything. All you want is to cause strife." she responded, "You want to prove you are better. You have. And that makes you wrong."

She narrowed her eyes, "And that means?"

"That means I... we keep eyes on you. At all times." Whisper lowered the weapon away from her face. "Let's go."

The tension between them did not disappear, but they played "nice" well enough. Surge went from telling her several stories of vicious and dark content to playing childish jokes on her, like speeding past her and leaving a dust cloud in her face, or the shoulder tap prank, which worked a whole lot more with speed like her's.

Whisper did not mind. So long as she wasn't telling those sadistic stories, there would not be a problem. Whisper's attention was not on sight nor touch, rather, her ears were open at the moment. The sound of Surge's shoes against the dirt was like swatting your hand against a flat piece of paper, but it was quiet enough for Whisper to hear what was going on around her.

Whisper's ears turned upward.

"What?" Surge turned around, hands leisurely behind her head. There was a light and a sound, but when she looked, Whisper was perfectly still behind her.

The footsteps Whisper had heard in the distance subsided and she heard heavy metal fall into the dirt. "Nothing, let's keep moving," she responded.

The barricade was well-guarded, but not guarded so well that Whisper had to try in order to take them out. It was so simple Surge didn't realize that there was even a threat, and really, there wasn't. So long as Whisper backed Surge up, nothing would cause trouble.

"If I ain't know any better, I'd have thought this were a trap," she murmured just loud enough for Whisper to hear.

"It isn't. The badniks have been handled," Whisper responded, "I heard them walking around and took them out before they could see us."

"What the heck? When'd you do that?" Surge sputtered.

Beneath her mask, Whisper's mouth turned up a little, "You aren't the only one who's fast."

Surge's eye twitched for a moment; there was a moment of hesitation where she glared at her but let her sharp teeth show a little. If there was anything they could get along with, it was handling badniks and Surge could respect that.

Before they knew it, the barricade stood tall above them, its grey sheen a pastel blue under the morning light. Faintly, sounds of siege and war were heard on the other side, soon enough Dust Hill would be quiet and it would be over. Surge chuckled at the thought, an entire city beaten by those robots she handled with ease. How pathetic were they?

"We've all been pathetic once," Whisper mumbled. As they climbed the surface of the wall, Surge had taken to complaining.

Surge, again, scoffed at her, "Not me. I was put through the wringer since day one. And I made it out here, and now no one can touch me."

"I don't believe that," Whisper said, "How is a child supposed to defend itself?"

Surge clearly hadn't thought of that. Her face fell, and she stared down at the city below once they had landed. She never thought about what her childhood might have been like before Starline. It wasn't like it mattered, right? What good was it when all she was existed now? What use was there...?

"I never had a childhood, so I wouldn't know." Surge responded, "You don't seem like you did either."

"I did," Whisper responded, setting up a sniper position, and unloading everything she needed. "Wasn't always pleasant. I learned a lot. You probably did too."

"Don't act like ya know me." She growled.

Whisper said nothing while the wisps, who followed her from a safe position, had landed beside her. She crouched and met their gaze as the tenrec beside her listened in barely hidden disgust.

Surge then squared up, "They're back to help us, huh?!" she shouted with a sharp smile. The wisps hid behind the wolf's back, "Keep hiding behind her and I'll—"

Whisper shot her a dark look.

Surge's excited face soured, "Ugh, fine," she groaned, "I just need to go kill something."

Whisper paused at the wording, resisting the urge to shove her head into her hands and groan, "Keep to the outside of the town. If you can find a control panel or anything on the wall that looks suspicious, that might help."

"Whatever," Surge said, "I wasn't asking."

The sound of Surge breaking the sound barrier and racing off to vent resonated with Whisper and she watched as the lightning-covered blue and green blur streaked across Dust Hill, destroying whatever came her way.

This dynamic would be fine, perfectly adequate.

She could never handle being friendly with someone so cruel, nor could she go on feeling such unrelenting anger. So long as they weren't violent toward each other, Whisper felt fine working with her, for now at least.

On the other hand, the tenrec couldn't believe the nerve. Where did this shrew get off on ordering her around, Surge thought, and how long would this have to go on? It would not be long until Surge would eventually have to clock her. She wouldn't shut up otherwise.

Dust Hill was plagued with the robots and she cleaved through them like caramel, leaving the heated, sizzled shelling. Yes, this was perfect. An early morning speeding through the city and in its shadiest bliss. Never was there a wrong time for violence, thrilling and stimulating violence.

She might have been lost in it, were it not for the badnik that came up behind her. Then shot from a distance by her unwanted companion, her mask glowing from above the wall and turning away to assist others.

In the luminous instance, she sped away to follow those explosive firings throughout the town, following the blue light. There were several fighters in this place, she could tell. Strong and unwavering like her, some were like Kit, some like the people in the restoration, and others like those who chained her to existence.

But what caught her eye was the one woman who had her head shoved into a wall. In one arm, she fought the machine that flung itself upon her, and in the other, a small child wrapped in cloth, crying.

Surge's eyes fell to the grass. Again, she could not escape herself.

The siege continued for an hour and daylight fell over the walls, worse yet, the badniks kept coming in from the walls. Lanolin's team held out for as long as possible, Whisper covered their blind spots and Surge created paths for them.

"Why is Surge helping us?" Tangle said, crushing a bot's head with her tail. "She's supposed to be handling the wall!"

"I don't know," Lanolin responded while flinging a snake-robot into a wall of other indistinct badniks, "It doesn't seem like Whisper is doing much either to stop her."

Tangle's tail coiled like a spring and she leaped high enough to see over the wall, "Hey!" she called out to her wolf friend, "What's going on over there?!"

Whisper paused before answering in the comms, "...You know you can speak over the comms, right?"

"What's happening with the wall?" she cried, "We're getting a little overwhelmed down here."

"Don't know. I'm trying to cover you all."

Lanolin interrupted them, "We're switching gears. Since Surge is running support now, you're running point! Break the wall from the inside!"

Whisper hesitant went to Surge's channel, "Surge, what's happening?"

Silence. But the streak still rushed through the center of the town, destroying the created badniks, and focusing herself on a fixed position. Kit was also on the channel, "T-They're saying you aren't doing what you're supposed to! Surge!"

Panicking, Whisper pulled the muzzle of her gun in the air, heaving breaths as if she were underwater. How had the simple plan fallen through so badly?

Turned to its green function, the wispon carefully floated her across the airspace above the areas where the Egg pawns were deployed. Whisper could see from a short distance away, they came in droves from a platform beneath the wall. Then they entered the town through an entrance that closed as quickly as it opened. She looked up to the wisp powering the chopper, lowering herself to take a closer look. Then, below the ramparts and under her, they began gathering.

Once she was at a safe distance away, she called on the pink spikes and shot the badniks. One more attempted to rush her, but she whipped her hand from the trigger, grabbed it by the head, and threw it onto the ground.

Whisper penetrated the dark cavern with another spike shot from her wispon, tearing through the silver plating and muscling through the hole. Sometimes, she forgot her own strength.

The walls were dark and poured liquid metals into an assembly line, which wheels down a path, creating badniks of all types. Their red, glowing eyes illuminated the darkness, Egg pawns handling the assembly line as mini-portals transported schematics and other materials in. These weren't just walls, they were self-sustaining security measures.

"Can you all hear me?" she spoke over the comms. Static was her only response. Figures.

This mission was meant for someone who could do big damage, but clearly, that person had other intentions at the moment. A low growl escaped her as she played the stealth role again, trying to keep hidden, while she came up with a plan that could stop them.

"It's a plant," she uttered to no one, "But what's powering it all?"

There was an idea. Maybe they were digging for natural energy? An emerald? Despite the place being dimly lit, those assembly lines had to have some source, so what was it?

The more she moved around, searching for some inkling of power somewhere, the connection received a little, it was Lanolin or Tangle. She couldn't tell, "...overrun, what... happening down?"

"I'm certain it's close. I'll find it. Just hold on a little longer."

"We're getting overrun! What's happening down there, Whisper? Whisper?" Lanolin's panicked voice echoed in Kit's ear as swatted away more Egg-pawns, caterkillers, and motobugs. "Surge!"

Lanolin let out an exasperated grunt as she whipped another badnik into a nearby wall. Lanolin never seemed one for property damage, but this situation had put her into a rage Kit could relate to. Everything about this case would send him into a frenzy in any other case, but he had to remain calm. Surge would come back, that was just the kind of person she was.

The green blur rushed past them again and destroyed the remaining badniks in one fell swoop, knocking Lanolin and Tangle over in the process. Kit saw it coming and dodged before she sped past and blew away his watery tendrils.

"Uh," Tangle stood up, "Maybe we should avoid triggering flags by calling out names."

"Well, maybe if they just listened to me the first time there would be no 'flags' to trigger!" she cried.

More badniks bum-rushed them from opposing streets, leaving more room for the citizens to escape safely. "Well, at least there's that. Let's keep at it, then," Tangle encouraged.

"Aren't you at all worried about Whisper? She isn't responding, doesn't have Surge to back her up anymore," Lanolin asked.

Tangle looked at her as if the answer were obvious, "She told me something that makes me have even more faith in her than before. I think she could handle those badniks ten times over!" she shouted, preparing to meet the robots head on, "We're going to make it through this. Just trust our team, got it?! Now c'mon, you two, the fight's this way!"

Duo sighed, "Did you just forget about me again?"

Tangle ran in headfirst, ignoring Duo. "Let's go!"

"She really did forget about me. Oh my god. Am I forgettable?" Duo inquired Lanolin, but she had left. His eyes turned black, "You guys are the worst."

Whisper had reached the control room by the time she could hear Lanolin's radio messages, and was finally able to respond, "I found the control room," she uttered. Lanolin didn't respond, however. She supposed the signals only went in, and would not go out.

"Whisper, I don't know if you hear us, but we're holding it down at town hall," Tangle said, her voice relieved, "Most of the townsfolk's here, so if you've got anything to stop them badniks from banging on the door, now would be the time!"

"Hold on, Tangle," Whisper pleaded, "I'm getting closer."

She frantically attacked the control panel, searching for anything that would turn off the systems or keep the badniks from operating, anything that could stifle their progress of taking over the city. Then, she heard.

"You're one devious little wolf, aren't you?"

The Dust Hill town hall was formerly a bomb shelter established for a nearby city, which would eventually be razed during the war. Multiple families were displaced when they migrated from the city to the shelter and other nearby villages. Thank goodness it was this town and not one that had no defenses or way of stopping invasions. Lanolin hoped Surge would either have heard the message and tried to help Whisper or keep handling the Egg pawns outside.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked, once the commotion had died down. There was hardly a response.

"Over here!" someone shouted on the far end of the unlit, ashen lobby. Lanolin rushed over next to a boar girl, "The robots... w-with the claws, they just kept slashing while we were getting away. My dad, he..."

This seemed to be the story for many of the citizens who were uninjured. The other half of the people had taken the brunt of the damage while gritting their teeth.

Lanolin was no expert in medical practices, but she could give it her best shot for them. After all, it was the least they could do after this fiasco.

She took the boar man, wounded such that more was left dangling, dripping, and sagging than stable, and started trying to patch everything up.

Tangle had taken up trying to keep them sane, as many of their parents hadn't. Some of the children still had their eyes wide open as the smoke rolled in, worried there would be another attack from the skies. She tried to keep them together while preparing for what might come next.

When she spoke, the children and the adults eavesdropping changed their tune to her upbeat attitude. It was amazing how she could bring someone back from the brink of death to feeling like they could take on the world.

Trying to keep her hands working, Lanolin made sure not even the smallest scratch went untreated while they were in there. Regrouping from such an attack mattered most to getting out of this safely.

As Lanolin continued trying to "keep everyone safe", Mimic was crouched in the corner.

Like it or not, he was a part of this now, trying to contact the missing two, or anyone who might help. Specifically someone from his own faction. But at this point, he would take anyone. He didn't expect the situation to become this dire, and really, how could he? These do-gooders faced the odds all the time, how was it that as soon as he was involved things had to go down the drain? Part of him wanted to just break down the doors and surrender. But that would just be worse.

As she kept trying to keep the villagers stable, Lanolin couldn't help but notice his knack for disappearing and staying hidden. He wasn't the strongest upfront fighter but insisted on doing so despite clearly being more suited for stealth.

"That's most of them done," Lanolin said, approaching Kit who seemed worse for wear, "Hey is there anything I can..."

Kit, however, was still looking outside as they blocked the windows with tipped-over couches and wooden planks. He shot her a glare, "I'm fine. Leave me alone."

"Are you sure?" she asked, staring at the dripping cut spilling down his shoulder, "You don't seem—"

The gushing wound then tightened and dried, as the water was pulled from it and circled in his hand. "Get lost." He growled, the spinning bits of water turning to spikes.

Lanolin stared at him with concern but decided to attend to those who were willing to accept help.

One evil question plagued his mind as he started murmuring to himself. Where had Surge gone? Was she okay? Why did she leave him in the first place? The thoughts made him want to go on a rampage. And at the same time, there was some comfort in knowing the promise she made the day before. So he stayed put and docile. He would be brave as much as she needed him to be, but there was only so long.

After an hour passed, Lanolin sighed, wiping sweat from her brow, "I think that's everyone, for now. We'll need to get them to an actual hospital soon, but I think they can hold out another few hours. How's the communication going, Duo?"

Duo wore a nervous smile, showing the worn-out radio connected to his earpiece, "Well, I think I got someone to listen, but I don't know who. The channel is wonky."

"Do you know if they're coming to help?" she asked.

He scratched the back of his head, "I hope so. It didn't seem bad." For him, anyway.

"Well, alright. I didn't expect another mission where we'd need to be rescued again, but as long as the villagers come out of this safe then it'll be fine."

"Okay, boss!" These micawbers, I swear. He saluted and went back to work.

"Tangle?" Lanolin turned to her.

The children were wrapped tightly in her tail, functioning like a makeshift blanket, while they stared at her telling stories. "...and then Sonic came and knocked them all out of the sky! His quills left a blue trail behind him before he landed and..."

"She's got it covered," Duo said, "They've been listening to her the whole time. She told the same story twice, by the way."

Lanolin sat down next to a despondent Kit, she tried to pat him on the shoulder, but he growled in response, "Alright, then. I guess we're just waiting on a reply for now, then."

A moment passed before Duo said something in a panicked voice, "Hang on, I think we're getting something..."

"You aren't all that smart are you?" the gravelly, raspy voice intoned. She recognized that awful voice, even as it was distorted when it came from all angles, she knew Eggman was watching. "A common fighter such as yourself has no reason to tamper with my personal control panel."

Whisper didn't respond, instead shooting the source of the sound.

"Again, I reiterate: You aren't all that smart. Let's have a little talk while you figure out a way to escape this facility, now that I've trapped you in it," As he said that, her head swiveled to face the door, which was now locked. Her fists hit the panel, "I have a bone to pick with your little... friends. You see, I heard a lot about your dilemma."

Whisper growled, her teeth showing under her mask.

"Not the best time to handle business? Well, make time. You're going to be stuck in here for a long while. I've made sure this room has reinforced plates so your little tool won't penetrate. You have no idea how much of a hassle it is to make, but I did it just to watch you squirm in the palm of my hand."

"What do you want?" she asked, turning her attention back to the control panel. A monitor appeared and slowly rose upward to reveal his ugly, fleshy face staring back at her.

"As I said before, I have bone to pick with your little cretins, and I figured you'd get the most mileage out of it," he explained, "Also, you're the only one here."

"I won't join you and don't insult my friends."

"Yadda yadda, yes, yes, loyalty is the most valuable commodity to your pitiable race, but I have some information that I believe is valuable to you and can help me in the long run," he explained.

Whisper's head whipped toward the monitor, and a deep, angry growl surged out of her, "Don't insult me! I won't do anything that helps you."

"Even if it concerns that black-eyed friend of yours?"

Her anger ran strong, then dissipated with the mention of that trait, they weren't talking about the same person, right? The octopus that still wandered in her mind, every one of her nightmares? She needed to know more, "Talk."

"Oh, that got your attention, did it? Thought I wouldn't know about your—"

Her hand raked across the control panel, tearing through metal and various materials to expose the wiring. Eggman's wry smile turned to a frustrated frown.

"You all really irk me sometimes," he muttered, "Just for that, I'm going to send all the badniks your location and put them on attack."

He went quiet as the monitor switched to the view of the door, where the same badniks who were working on transport suddenly attacked the locked door, and unbeknownst to her, the badniks in the city rushed back to swarm the door.

"I know you're worried about your friends, so I'll just cut out the middle man and bring them here to see your end, then I'll swarm them too," he growled, "Don't test me again. I'll just force them to explode next."

"Do you ever quit talking?" she snapped.

"When the opponent quits breathing, yes. But even then, I still gloat now and again," he continued, "Now let's talk business. Because that's what this is for now. Consider this a quid pro quo, so long as you survive, which is what you cockroaches like to do in the first place."

She had no option at this point but to listen to him.

"Good. Rumor has it that you have a traitor in your midst and I think you know it."

"How do you know this? What does it matter?"

"Hold all questions. But I will answer that last one. Cockroaches should hiss and attack each other for the scraps, but you can't do that if you don't know what you're up against. You all are thorns in my side, and I don't feel like having any more coming out of the woodwork. Besides, it will be interesting to watch this unfold.

"Anyway, you wouldn't know about this since you are fairly young, but there was... let's call him an industrialist, who had a business relationship with me. I did what I did and he agreed to pick up the scraps. Similar to what you loathsome clowns do, however, he became ambitious. His weapons ended up backfiring on me and as such, I sent him a nice 401k with a bright red laser packed around it.

"He was staying hidden until something brought him out of retirement, which I'm assuming was your colleagues. Either because they're working with him or because they were duped by him. Like... I was." His voice trembled, like the thought of him being tricked never came to mind, "I'd like you to put him back into the nursing home."

Whisper stared at him for a long time before she responded. The doors behind her were still banging on the door. "Why would I ever help you?"

"I don't care if you do or don't. I just thought you'd like to know that your friends aren't really your friends," he grinned again and the monitor went out. The loudspeakers continued transmitting.

"I know you all are listening to me," the radio spoke. "Your little ragtag team of lowlifes."

"That's not Whisper," Tangle said in disbelief, "Did Eggman get her?"

"I'd like you to know that it's safe to go outside now and you are no longer forced to hide within your own town, so long as the Diamond Cutters make a quick exit within the next thirty minutes," he responded, "My partitions will withdraw and the badniks will leave so long as your so-called saviors make a swift departure."

"What?" Duo gasped, "Why would he leave?"

There were collective sounds of confusion and incredulity as the town processed what was going on. Everyone seemed to have the same thought as Duo, but quickly, the doctor picked up where he left off.

"Also, anyone left in my partitions will find themselves left to my mercy. Of which I have none."

Lanolin tried to process what he had just said, realizing what Duo had: "This is a trap, you know that right?"

"Yes, but how exactly? What are the chances we leave and are trapped ourselves," she responded, "I don't know and this could be very dangerous both for us and for Dust Hill."

"Yeah, no. I'm not running into a trap. We're smarter than that. If we get reinforcements, Sonic or one of his friends, we can handle any robots he throws at us, right?"

"No, Sonic's handling another village right now, remember?"

"So what? He's Sonic! He can handle that and us at the same time! He does it all the time!"

The last time we underestimated Eggman, he nearly killed all of us. Surge and Kit included. And we can't prioritize our safety over theirs," Lanolin continued, turning her gaze somewhere else, "Besides, we have no choice."

"What are you talking about? We can—" Then he realized where she was looking. Tangle hadn't said a word since the radio announcement and neither did Kit. "Oh, great. Our resident co-dependent allies."

Tangle glowered at him, "I'm going after Whisper, you can stay behind if you're that worried, Duo."

"Don't be silly, Tangle." Lanolin said, "I'll go with you. Duo, you go with Kit, find Surge, and get out of here."

"N-No!" Kit announced, turning to Lanolin. "I'll go with you."

She crouched down to Kit's level and held his arms, "You don't have to go with me if you don't want to, Kit. I know you want to find Surge, so now's the time to do it. If you can find her, or get her to stop, then go ahead. But make sure you get her out of here by the time thirty minutes are up."

"And you want to leave me with him?" Duo said.

"No," she said with a smile, "I'm leaving him with you."

Duo's eyes furrowed for a moment, then he sighed, "Alright, whatever. If you can't find our rogue operative, I'm taking you whether you like it or not."

"Good," Lanolin said. "Let's get going, then."

The door creaked with every heavy hit from the red robots, they clambered over each other like rats to food. Their muffled electronic sounds screamed as more came in from the outside, all rushing to the single door. Some were crushed under the weight of the others.

As they kept beating against it, Whisper gave up on trying to find another way out. Her hands held the ripped piece of the control panel against her chest, using it like a shield. There was nowhere to hide. Not a vent or single area of entry or exit outside that door. Slowly caving to the constant pressure and abuse, the doorway's edges finally ripped and turned inward.

Metal shoes hit the ground like machine guns, the badniks created a symphony of electric sounds as they tumbled over each other crushing each other and rushing her. They punched her shield and trampled over her — when was she knocked over? No, they were so high above her, it was as if they were. She fell over as they overran the room. The control panel was destroyed under their weight and the blue eyes became fire in the flickering darkness. Beady and like the eyes of death staring her down, where one's breath hitched and their heart stopped; they were all over her now.

A gasp escaped her as they reached past the strip of metal, pushing her into the steel floor, and slamming heavy blows against her. She cried out as she strained against the troop, depraved banshees whining so loud they made her ears feel like they were exploding. Everything to add to the list of feeling like it was blowing up. Again, she wailed as everything crushed her slowly. Her friends weren't there and the wisps couldn't get to her, she was going to be trampled.

The electric blue eyes lit the darkness, but behind them, as she strained against the badniks, a white light appeared to her. It was like the snowflakes of a winter so long ago, raining on her. She could still see the taisch's eyes.

Something certainly broke, by now. Her strength was waning. Whatever the plan was, it certainly wasn't going to work now. She should have never tried to take them on. All she could think about then was what would happen if she expired here.

What would happen? Everyone would cry, but the war would go on like it did that winter. She couldn't give up.

There were the Diamond Cutters, they'd be down by one, but the war would go on like it did with the first ones. Even after Mimic's betrayal, she never gave up, and neither would Lanolin.

And what about Tangle? Young and wide-eyed as she was, someone who scarcely experienced things so important. Under all this pressure, it was like she could see clearly, they were the best of friends. Maybe even more than that. If she made it through this, she wouldn't know how to feel about that.

Something else broke then.

Whisper pushed against the steel strip, the white light growing as she felt the pressure alleviate from her, her arms wobbled under the pressure until she burst from the pile, knocking the dog pile aside.

Whisper felt invigorated, grabbing her wispon. The wisps hugged her and entered the wispon without a word. She fired at the egg pawns until she didn't hear that awful whining sound. The wispon jammed, after a while.

Click, click, click. They kept attacking. She would use her hands.

That moment while she was being crushed felt like hours passed, but now it was flying by. Was this how Sonic felt? The badniks seemed like they exploded when she touched them and nothing could stop her.

She pitched an egg fighter into the siege of badniks and fended more of them off with her wispon as a shield. Oh, she was winded now. But she kept going. The pain hadn't hit her yet, so she had to. Some of the pawns and flappers restrained her. She whipped her arms out and threw them into one another. They pulled her down until she couldn't see light.

The white light escaped her, she saw something, a taisch.

"Hey!" she heard in the distance as she lost consciousness, "You're gonna let these goons take you down?"

She exhaled beneath the blue and green light, "S-Surge?"