Then...

The Cyclone flew over the center of the city, where a giant group of Badniks had huddled together.

"They look like they're having a party," Sonic exclaimed looking down below him as he lay upright on the right wing of the plane.

"Cyclone's sensors detect no biological activity down below," Tail replied, piloting the aircraft. "The city should have been completely evacuated by now."

"Thanks to Gaia we were able to send the warning in good time," exclaimed Amy, who was seated on the left wing of the plane.

"This gives me a bad feeling," muttered Knuckles as he leaned back against the tail of the plane. "Do you think Metal Sonic has gone crazy again and is controlling those Badniks?" he yelled at Sonic.

"There's always a chance. And we haven't heard from the egghead for a long time."

"What if it's a trap to throw us off?" asked Tails worriedly.

"Well we'll have to take care of this quickly to find out. Let's get going!".

On the spot Tails performed a maneuver and put the Cyclone into a dive. When it was close enough to the city buildings it returned to the regular flying position. It approached the roofs of the smaller buildings and from there Knuckles and Amy alighted, smashing several Badniks on its landing. Further on the plane lowered its altitude until it was almost at ground level, there Sonic landed and started destroying robots as only he knew how.

Despite outnumbering Sonic 100 to 1, the Badniks were not as well coordinated as usual, so it was easy for the hedgehog to crush them, running at full speed around them and then smashing them with a Spindash when they were off guard. The Badniks fell in scores until there were no more left in the area. Sonic then gained momentum and at full speed approached one of the buildings, running along its walls until he reached high ground. On his arrival he found Knux and Amy finishing off another bunch of Badniks. He joined them in the battle, acting as bait to throw the robots off the scent so Knux could smash them with his fists and Amy could smash them with her Piko hammer.

"Clean zone. That's what I call efficiency," Sonic joked as he pulled to a stop.

"They didn't stand a chance. This doesn't feel like a worthy fight," Knuckles exclaimed irritably.

"Are you complaining that they were easy?" asked Amy dumbfounded.

"I'm just saying I prefer challenges."

"Well, I see a challenge there that might interest you," Sonic replied pointing to the Badniks' transporter ship approaching from the east.

"It's too far away. Even with your speed you wouldn't get there before he releases the Badniks," Knuckles concluded.

"Then I'll need a little boost, would you do the honors for me, Amy?" said Sonic as he bowed.

"Oh, it will be my pleasure!" replied Amy bowing back.

Sonic got into position and began to charge his Spindash as fast as he could. Amy for her part positioned herself behind him, brandishing her hammer high in both hands and preparing to strike.

"FORE!" the young hedgehog shouted before hitting Sonic with all her might, who shot off faster than a bullet in the direction of the Badnik ship.

"I'll never understand how he can let you do that to him," Knux exclaimed between stunned and disappointed.

"He says he gets a kick out of it. Don't you want to try it?" replied Rose holding up her hammer with a big smile.

"Not in a million years."

Whizzing through the skies above half the city like a cannonball, the fearless blue hedgehog was just seconds away from hitting the ship when it emerged from its ball form.

"Haha, I'll never get tired of this!" he exclaimed euphorically.

When it determined that it was a good distance away, it returned to its ball form and began to charge a Spindash. As it touched the surface of the craft its quills cut through the armor like paper, the hedgehog tore through the entire machine in the blink of an eye, shredding everything in its path. The airship then exploded and began to fall like a deflated balloon, and with it the daredevil hedgehog.

"Hm, I should think more thoroughly about what I do so I know what to do next," he said to himself with a shrug.

Mid-fall, the Cyclone appeared out of the clouds, picking Sonic up in time.

"You've got me spoiled, little fox.," Sonic said to Tails.

"It can't be helped. Maybe you should start walking around with a parachute on you," replied the fox.

"What's the use, if I have you? I couldn't trust a parachute the same way I trust you."

Now...

An Oasis. Cream had read about them, but this was the first time she had seen and been in one. Somehow magically the water of the pond and the nearby vegetation made the atmosphere much cooler, pleasant even. Cream, Amy and Sonic were not the only ones there, at least half a hundred people were present, each doing some craft, in the case of the adults, or playing, in the case of the children. Some people were collecting water from the pond to filter it and make it drinkable, others were taking advantage of the fertile land to plant a small vegetable garden, all using large torches to light up in the middle of the night. In a large tent under the shelter of a gigantic rock, people were making dinner, the smell of which amazed Cream and made her stomach growl as if it had a will of its own. Amy invited Cream to cool off in the pond while she waited for dinner to be ready. The water was incredibly icy cold, in a way that, after having traversed a hot and inclement desert, was pleasant and revitalizing.

While Cream was enjoying the tranquility soaking her feet with her eyes closed, she felt a presence approaching. She immediately went on guard, until she saw that it was Amy, who was bringing them both food.

"Did I scare you?" asked Amy a little concerned as she hands the dish to the rabbit.

"No, I'm just alert," Cream replied.

"You mean anxious."

"At The Academy it's the same thing."

"Also in the deep desert," Amy added as she sat next to Cream in the pond.

Cream stared for a moment at the bowl of soup she had, it wasn't much but its smell was intoxicating and delicious. She proceeded to eat as if she hadn't eaten in days, the taste of the dish and its warmth made her feel wonderful. When she turned to look at Amy she noticed that she was staring at her with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad you like it, specialty of the house," said the hedgehog with a certain air of pride. "Maybe we can't eat much, but at least we have to eat well, delicious food does wonders for morale."

As Cream devoured her plate, she glanced at all the people around her with curiosity, everyone was already eating, they looked tired but happy for the food.

"All these people...".

"Nomads, yes," Amy replied.

"From where?"

"From all over. Some are from Apotos, some come from West Side Island like us, some kids even come from Soleana."

"All displaced by The Union?"

"Everyone," Amy's tone became melancholy. "The desert didn't spare a single inch of this world. Too sudden, too fast...", she was silent for a second before shaking her head and trying to regain some of her spirits. "At first these people were just a bunch of random people who barely understood each other. It was when they met us that they were able to organize themselves better, you know how good Sonic is with languages."

"He's Great" Cream affirmed. "He only spends a couple of days in one place and he already speaks like a native," Cream expressed with genuine admiration.

"Thank you, it's a gift," Cream heard behind her, Sonic had joined them.

"I wish you were that avid a reader," Amy said to put the hedgehog down.

"I wish, maybe that's the only thing I'm kind of slow at. That and learning math."

"And learning how to cook," Amy added.

"And learning how to cook," the hedgehog admitted.

"And learning how to swim," Cream added.

"And learning to how swi... Hey, that was low."

"But true," Cream concluded.

"I'll throw you in the pond to see if you swim so well, giantess."

Another laugh among friends.

"Hey, what about Tails and Mr. Knuckles, are they here too?" asked Cream innocently.

The laughter stopped suddenly. Amy and Sonic exchanged glances.

"We know as much as you know, girl," Sonic replied at last.

"You haven't heard from them?", Cream went on to ask.

"No..." Amy took a deep breath and tried to regain her enthusiasm. "Not at the moment, but we will."

"But, 7 years? Do you really think they're-".

"They're fine," Sonic interrupted out of the blue. Although he was trying to keep up the appearance of good humor, he came across as rather irritated. "The only thing harder than Knux's head is his fists, and at least those he does know how to use. And Tails...", suddenly in his voice there was a slight trace of a heavy heart. For a few seconds he remained completely silent, until he clicked his teeth and continued: "Damn, that kid is as smart as or smarter than Egghead. If Eggman could escape from a space-time vacuum after the Time-eater, which I'm still wondering how the hell he did, I'm sure Tails will have no problem getting out of any difficulty."

Yet another chuckle, but this time that sense of a heavy heart in the air could not be ignored.

Cream knew that Tails had been lost in the battle prior to The Union. Before they left West Side Island, Amy had told her about how his plane had crashed in an unknown area. At the time Sonic was fighting with all his might to prevent The Union from taking place and everyone else was out of action. In the end it was all in vain and The Union happened, which made the subsequent search for the fox almost impossible. For his part, Knuckles' situation was even more mysterious to Cream, the only thing she knew was that his home had been completely destroyed, along with the Master Emerald. The thought of it made her feel a great emptiness, many had lost their home in The Union, but Knuckles lost that and his entire history.

One of the nomads approached Sonic. He said something to him in a language Cream didn't know and Sonic replied in the same language, as was his custom. The nomad then retreated and Sonic turned to the girls.

"It's about time. I told the boss to have everyone do their work as soon as possible and when they were done, shut down everything and hide."

"All right," Amy said as she stood up. "I'm going to take the first shift."

"We had said I would take it," Sonic protested.

"No, we said you'd die of exhaustion if you took it. You could keep a handful of Rings in each bag under your eyes," Amy replied.

"Hide from what?" asked Cream as she was getting up. "Are scavengers coming?".

"Scavengers, she says," despite the smile he was maintaining, Cream could tell Sonic was quite annoyed by that statement. "Is that what they call them? Well no, they're not coming 'Scavengers', they're coming something a hell of a lot worse." He turned to Amy, "You win, the turn is yours, but feel free to wake me up if they ever come."

"You know I can handle them."

"Of course. I just don't want you hogging the fun," Sonic then walked over to the hedgehog to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Take care."

"Always," Amy replied before kissing the hedgehog on the lips.

"Oh My Gaia!", Cream could not hide her amazement.

"Yeah yeah, we'll tell you about it," the hedgehog said before winking at Amy in farewell. He then took Cream by the hand and they both took off in the direction of the big tent. "For now, it's time for bed."

Then...

Flying at low altitude, the Cyclone was able to pick up Knuckles and Amy from the buildings. What was left in the streets of the city was now pure junk and debris. The few unharmed Badniks were fleeing far away.

"Shouldn't we go get them?" asked Amy.

"It would be like hunting a mouse inside a barrel, it's even embarrassing to try," Knuckles replied.

"They are too few and too poorly organized to be a threat," Tails added. "However we could track them to find out who is really controlling them."

"That might be a good idea," Sonic interjected. "The truth is, I agree with Knux about how unsatisfying this battle was, and I'd like to know who's behind it to show him how it has to be done-"

A deafening roar interrupted our heroes, even causing the Cyclone to lurch and begin to lose altitude. Tails was able to make a crash landing on a nearby helipad.

"What the hell was that?", knuckles asked as he jumped out of the ship.

"Uh...," Tails was trying to gather information while making sure the Cyclone hadn't taken serious damage. "T-the sensors indicate it's coming from 50 kilometers to-."

"Guys, look over there!" interrupted Amy pointing to the West.

Near the horizon, a mega mechanical structure seemed to emerge from the earth. Its size was so colossal that it was capable of blotting out the twilight sun.

"To say that thing is big is an understatement," joked the hedgehog who, despite appearing calm, was quite worried.

"A new DeathEgg? Could that thing be what was in the works while we were being distracted by the Badniks?" asked Knux.

"It may be. It's doing something and it's too far away. By the time we get there, it'll be finished... Whatever it's doing!" said Amy in alarm.

"How's the ship, little bro?", Sonic asked Tails.

"It looks fine, but I can't get it started," the fox replied, clearly frustrated.

"We must hurry. I'll go ahead and meet you-"

Out of nowhere came an unknown airship escorted by 3 Xtreme-Gear that flew over Sonic and company, heading towards the huge machine.

"What the hell, it's the Babylons!"

"No," Sonic interrupted knuckles. "The ship and the Gears are not the same."

"Then who?" asked Amy.

"We won't know until we find them. They're going to the same destination as us, that's for sure. Little bro..." said Sonic pointing at the little fox, "Repair the machine as soon as you can and meet me at that thing."

And before the others could even blink, the speeding hedgehog set off at top speed.

The unknown ship was fast, and so were the Xtreme-Gear. At the height at which they were going it was difficult for Sonic to identify them, it was certain that he had never seen them before. The mechanical structure, on the other hand, was a little more familiar, it was undoubtedly Eggman's technology. It was very strange, however, as it looked both half-built and long abandoned, like a project left half-finished years ago. Nevertheless, it was fully functional and was preparing to do something catastrophic.

Sonic doubled the speed, it was a priority to get to the machine as soon as possible and start making the biggest mess. When he found himself out of the city and out in the open, he lost sight of the strangers. Although he was a little irritated by the fact, he resolved to concentrate on the mega structure completely. He was just getting close to touching the large shadow of the machine when flying Badniks appeared behind him and began to empty their ammunition against him. Sonic was faster than the bullets, but more Badniks kept coming out and he couldn't get rid of them due to the height they were at. However, on his way he was able to find a loop which he could use as a ramp to rise and reach the Badniks. He performed several Homming Attack, going higher and higher, until he was able to finish them all, but he found himself being too far from the ground.

"Oh, no. This is one of those miscalculations that will end up hurting me for the rest of the week, isn't it?", the hedgehog's defense mechanism was comedy, even at the most inopportune times.

He tried to turn himself into a ball and break his fall with a Drop dash, although deep in the back of his head he could hear Tails saying that this wasn't how the laws of physics worked, but it didn't hurt to try. Halfway through the fall, however, one of the strangers appeared and was able to catch him, carrying him to safe ground near a small forest.

"Oh wow, thank you so much! You saved my bacon," Sonic thanked the stranger.

"I like to help those who get themselves into trouble," she replied with a wave. She was wearing a blue helmet that covered her face, so it was impossible to identify her.

"Ha, yes, you got me. A bad habit of mine. Anyway would you and your friends be so kind as to give us a hand with that giant thing over there?" said the hedgehog pointing at the mega structure.

"That's precisely our goal, now that you mention it."

"Then we're on the same side. An introduction would be nice: Sonic The Hedgehog, part-time hero, full-time adventurer And you are?".

"Duck!" the stranger shouted before flying away.

When Sonic turned around he found a large hammer head heading in his direction. He was able to react fast enough to slide across the space between the ground and the hammer. He then bounced between the nearby trees to rise to the top of one of them to get a better look at what he was up against, he was able to identify at least 3 Super-Badniks.

"Guards, for sure," the hedgehog concluded. "That's a good sign, I'm close to something important."

"That's right," the stranger had approached where Sonic was standing. "That huge thing over there is about to take off and those guardians are protecting their control center. And it looks like their reinforcements are coming," The stranger pointed to the sky in the direction of where the Cyclone was, approaching at high speed.

"Ah no, those are my reinforcements," Sonic replied with a grin. "Hey, let's make a deal: you and yours go after that control center while me and my friends distract those Super-Badniks."

"Sounds like a good plan to me, but are you sure you and your friends will be able to against those things?".

At the moment when the stranger asked this question, Knuckles plummeted from the Cyclone, piercing the arm of one of the Super-Badniks, while the plane lowered its altitude to let Amy hammer him in the head, flipping him over and making the robot fall, which ended up destroyed by its own weight. Sonic just stared at the stranger with a smug smile.

"Yeah, forget I asked. When you're done, we'll meet you 30 yards further west," said the stranger before flying away.

Sonic immediately went to join his friends. He jumped through the trees until he was on one of the wings of the plane.

"Were you able to hit the strangers?" asked Tails.

"One of them, they're allies. The giant thing is about to take off. The Super-Badniks are protecting the control center, we need to take them out before we meet up with the strangers," Sonic reported.

"Well, we have to hurry- Look out!" shouted Amy pointing at a large hammer of the Super-Badniks approaching them.

Tails tried to perform an evasive maneuver as fast as he could, but the hammer was already too close to dodge. However, Amy was able to deflect the blow with the help of her Piko hammer.

"Way to go, Amy!" shouted Tails.

"Haha, that's what I call a Parry!" celebrated Sonic.

"Good thing you guys liked it, because I doubt I'll be able to do it again," Amy replied, smiling but visibly exhausted.

"If we keep flying among the Super-Badniks we'll eventually get caught like a gnat," Tails sentenced. "You guys go to ground level while I transform the Cyclone."

"As you say, little bro," Sonic waved goodbye and jumped onto the opposite wing of the plane where Amy was. "Fancy a lift?" the hedgehog asked as he held out his hand.

"Otherwise I'd fall face first into the floor, so yes," Amy replied, accepting the invitation.

Sonic carried the female hedgehog in his arms, the Cyclone was lowering the altitude until it was safe to jump off it. The hedgehog was bouncing between the trees until it reached the ground, near the place where Knuckles was, who was surrounded by the two remaining Super-Badniks.

"You were taking your time!" the echidna shouted angrily.

"Weren't you saying you wanted a challenge?" the hedgehog joked.

"Two giants against one is not a fair challenge!".

"Skill Issues?".

"I'll give you Skill Issues!".

"Boys!" shouted Amy as she snapped her fingers. "To the robots, not among you, please!".

One of the Super-Badniks came dangerously close to our heroes, ready to smash them with his hammer. Immediately they all retreated going in different directions before the impact was made. Knuckles and Amy were able to meet up, seeing each other they nodded and began to carry out a joint maneuver. Amy prepared her hammer while Knuckles jumped on top of it, the hedgehog pushed him upwards while he performed a spinning attack, piercing the machine's arms and making him lose his balance. Sonic moved between the robot's legs to make him fall definitively, then he went in the direction of Amy, who pushed him in the same way as she had done with Knux, and when Sonic in ball form met the echidna, the latter took him like a ball.

"Take this!" shouted knuckles before throwing the hedgehog with all his might at the robot's head, smashing it to pieces.

"Yes, one down! " cheered Amy. "Good aim knuckles- Oh my Gaia, Sonic!" she exclaimed worriedly as she saw how the hedgehog lay with his face buried in the dirt. "Knuckles, you threw him too hard on purpose!".

"Yes," the echidna merely replied.

"Yuck! Very funny, knucklehead...", swore the hedgehog as he pulled his face out of the dirt and spat grass.

"Stop chattering already and get ready, we're not done yet."

There was only one Super-Badnik left unharmed. Sonic, Knuckles and Amy went around him to start attacking, when a huge bolt of energy hit him squarely, piercing him completely and knocking him out. When Sonic and company turned to see the source of the beam they found Tails on the Cyclone in his Walker mode.

"Now that's good aim, little bro," Sonic complimented the little fox.

"Thank you. We'd better hurry up and join the others."

"I'll go ahead, it's further west," Sonic immediately broke into a run.

For his part, Tails initiated the transformation of the Cyclone to Kart mode and took Knuckles and Amy with him.

A hundred yards from where the mega structure was about to take off was a small settlement composed of a tower surrounded by walls and several smaller buildings, there was where Sonic could see the strangers fighting against the Badniks guarding the control center. Sonic did Parkour to climb the wall and was smashing the approaching robots, but a Badnik was able to sneak up to his blind spot and was ready to attack. Fortunately, the stranger in blue acted quickly and sliced the robot in half with twin blades made of some kind of strange energy emanating from her bracelets.

"Thanks again. I already owe you two Chilli-Dogs," the hedgehog thanked.

"You're very prone to getting into trouble, hedgehog. I have a feeling you're overconfident."

"It is not overconfidence if what you trust delivers. How's it going?".

"We have someone hacked into the machine's system to neutralize the armament and cancel the takeoff. It's not being easy, though."

"I have someone who might be helpful, he's coming in...".

A deafening and almost apocalyptic roar interrupted the conversation. A cloud of smoke several feets high enveloped the entire settlement, the sound of jet rockets spitting fire invaded the whole place. Sonic was unable to see more than two inches in front of him due to the smoke, he couldn't find the stranger with his eyesight and his ears were ringing due to the din. Groping blindly in the midst of the chaos, Sonic was able to find a familiar hand, that of Knuckles, who approached him and took him with him to the central tower. A couple of Badniks wanted to stop them, but the equidna destroyed them with a couple of punches. When they reached the top of the tower and entered the control room, the confusion began to dissipate a little.

Sonic could see that both Amy and Tails were already inside, coughing smoke and holding their heads in pain, but unharmed nonetheless. There were also the other strangers, next to the one in blue was one in an orange helmet assisting his pink-helmeted companion. Near the control panel was a giant in a blue-gray helmet checking the guts of the panel while to one side was a violet helmeted one kneeling in front of a laptop and visibly upset. When the beeping in Sonic's ears stopped, he began to speak:

"Ok what just went wrong?".

"I was able to neutralize the armament, but it was impossible for me to penetrate the system's defenses and cancel the takeoff in time," Violet's stranger replied, frustrated.

"At least it's not armed, that's good," Sonic tried to reconcile.

"Maybe, but if it reaches orbit it will be possible to reactivate it remotely by sending a signal via any nearby satellite," Tails added.

"I'm so sorry," Violet's apologized.

"It's okay Nicole, we still have a chance," the one in blue consoled her. "Rotor, How long will it take to get to Orbit?" she asked the giant.

"At that speed, no more than 10 minutes," replied big guy coming out from under the control panel.

"The Cyclone can overtake it if it's going at top speed," Tails interjected.

"Sky Patrol could do it too, but we have to get out now," Rotor added.

"Then we'd better go right away. Though first it would be good to know who our new allies are," Sonic exclaimed.

In response, the stranger in blue removed her helmet and her companions did the same.

"I am Sally, Sally Acorn," replied the leader, a red-haired Squirrel. "The Walrus is our mechanic, Rotor. The lynx is our technician, Nicole. And they," she pointed to the coyote and rabbit behind her, "Are Antoine and Bonnie. We are..."

Now...

"They're here! they found us!" a child screamed in utter terror before being quickly silenced.

Cream was suddenly awakened by the scream, her brain activated immediately and the tiredness vanished from her body. She was totally in the dark, even with her eyes accustomed to the gloom, she could not correctly identify what was in front of her. She could, however, hear a quiet clutter around her, sleeping bags being dragged, many footsteps clattering, breathing agitated, the occasional child whimpering. She groped her way to where she remembered the entrance to the big tent to be, stumbling over several people on her way until she was able to put her hand on the latch of the exit. She opened the entrance slightly, just enough to be able to look outside a little, she was met with a blinding whitish light, she had to wait a little while for one of her eyes to get used to the shock of light. When she was finally able to focus properly, she could clearly see a handful of tanks and several supply trucks belonging to the Kingdom of Acorn surrounding the Oasis. A squad of infantrymen were advancing steadily toward the tent, brandishing the Kingdom's regulation weapon, Meta-Quartz batons, ready for combat.

"Why are the Freedom Fighters here?"

As if in answer to her thoughts, Cream felt someone suddenly pull her away from the tent door and drag her away while covering her mouth as a precaution; from the grip she knew it was Amy. They reached one of the edges of the tent, Amy lifted the fabric from the wall and crawled underneath along with Cream. When they were far enough away and sheltered from a group of giant rocks, the hedgehog let go of the rabbit.

"What's going on, why are the Freedom Fighters here?".

"They came for us," Amy replied without looking at Crean, as she was keeping watch hidden behind the rocks. "And to you. That's not your typical recon platoon, that's a search and rescue one."

"What? But I don't-"

"It's not your fault Cream. We already knew something like this was going to happen, but we didn't think they would respond so quickly. This is all our fault."

"Can't we talk to them? Explain to them what happened?".

"They won't listen, they never do," Cream could see in the face of the hedgehog something she had never seen in her before, it was slight but hard to deny: grudge.

In the distance a commotion began to sound, it sounded like a fight had started. Amy moved away from the rocks and positioned herself behind the rabbit's back. Cream could feel her hands clasp together and begin to tie them.

"What are you doing?".

"Sonic is going to distract the soldiers while I lead the nomads to safety."

"And what am I going to do?".

"Take it easy," she said as she blindfolded her. "You'll get home safe."

Then she gave her a tight hug, one that felt like a goodbye.

"Please forgive me for what I'm about to do," Amy whispered to her at the end.

"What do you-"

And before Cream could finish her sentence, a withering blow to the back of her head knocked her unconscious.