Then...

The Cyclone and the Sky Patrol flew through the clouds like arrows, flying around each other in a desperate dance trying to cut distance with the giant ship. They were going at breakneck speed, while Sonic stayed impassively crouched on the right wing, Knuckles and Amy were holding on as best they could to the tail and left wing of the aircraft respectively. When they were alongside the mega-ship, Sonic motioned for Tails to come closer, then put his right hand to his ear and thumbed a small device inside.

"Can you hear me?" yelled the hedgehog.

"Ahhh! You don't have to yell! The micro-communicators cancel all noise no matter how loud it is, I hear you loud and clear," Nicole replied from the other end of the communicator.

"Excellent engineering work," praised Tails, who had logged on to the channel.

"Thank you, it was a team effort," participated Rotor.

"We'll talk about it when we're done here. We need to find a weak point through which to enter that thing," Knuckles interjected into the conversation.

"The echidna is right, we must act now," Sally said as she connected to the channel. "We should look for something similar to a supply entrance, that would be the right place."

"I think I see something, Follow me Tails," Rotor added.

The Sky Patrol took the lead while the Cyclone followed close behind. They were approaching what appeared to be a sealed hatch.

"It looks promising, but it must be well armored, we won't be able to get through it," Sally concluded.

"Then we'll have to cut," Antoine interjected in his thick North Spagonia accent.

"That's the spirit, Suga. Sally, we're coming out," Bunnie interjected.

"All right," Sally allowed. "Sonic, you and yours be ready".

"We always are, aren't we?"

"Yeah!" replied Amy, Tails and Knuckles in unison.

The Sky Patrol moved even closer to the giant ship and through one of its hatches two figures, one carrying the other, flew out. Bunnie used his robotic legs to fly while with her robot arm fired an energy beam at the joints of the hatch. She then gave a boost to Antoine, who after unsheathing his sword, shot out like a whirlwind, attacking the same places his partner attacked, then hung to the side thrusting the weapon.

"It should be there already, but we need some brute force," Antoine communicated over the channel.

"I got this," Knuckles replied as he prepared to jump.

The Echidna leapt towards the hatch, rotating like a tornado, until it hit the hatch head on, dislodging it from its frame and sending it flying. Bunnie acted fast and was able to save Knuckles from falling into the void, but had to dodge a dozen Badniks that flew out of the opening, the Cyclone and the Sky Patrol did the same until no more robots came out. Antoine, Bunnie and Knuckles went in first, then Sonic jumped in along with Amy, the last to enter was Sally, who arrived using her Xtreme-Gear.

"Alright, you know the plan: we Team Freedom tear the ship apart on the inside while Tails, Rotor and Nicole on Team Fighters tear it apart on the outside," Sally ordered.

"Yes!" replied Tails, Rotor and Nicole over the communication channel, then the Cyclone and Sky Patrol moved away from the opening.

"Perfect, now is where the fun begins," Sonic said.

"That's right," Sally replied. "Let's get going!".

And so they all entered the bowels of the great metal beast.

Now...

The headache was unbearable, the light hitting her eyelids directly did not help. With difficulty Cream slowly opened her eyes, all she could see were light blue and white blurs. Next to her, however, she could make out a large green blur. Her still dormant neurons began to synapse and she awkwardly tried to speak:

"Vector...?" the rabbit could hear the voice in her head, but her real voice sounded as if underwater. She couldn't quite make out what the green blur seemed to be saying either.

The pain in her head was killing her, no matter how much she tried to take in her surroundings, the pain prevented her from doing so, that hit was very effective... Although she couldn't even remember who had given it to her. So the rabbit simply gave up, laid her head back down on what felt like a pillow and preferred to sleep on.

When she woke up again, she felt much better. The pain, although still present, was lighter, allowing her to regain her senses in a better way. There was no longer so much light, rather everything was shrouded in darkness, when she could focus her sight better she realized that it was night. To her left was a window with the blinds open, letting her see the starry night. Another thing she noticed to her left, a familiar figure: her mother Vanilla, lying on the stretcher, sleeping soundly.

Seeing her, after several weeks without being able to meet due to her work, made Cream rejoice in a way she hadn't done in a long time. But the moment she inspected her better her joy vanished. She looked visibly tired, with haggard eyes and what appeared to be signs of tears. Cream felt a pressure in her chest at the thought of what her mother had gone through in her absence and convalescence, guilt began to consume her from within. To her right she could notice Vector, on the divan of the room, he also looked exhausted, still wearing the pink apron; and on his lap were the two Chaos Cheese and Chocola sleeping. His whole family was present, all tired, all worried, because of her. She had dreamed of a similar reunion moment for a long time, but not like this...

Suddenly she began to notice a strange itching in the palm of her right hand. Her gloves were still on, so she proceeded to take off her right glove. After shaking it a bit, a folded piece of paper came out of it, damp with sweat. Cream tried to gently unfold it so that it would not tear. The attempt was futile as it broke in half, however she was able to put the two pieces together to be able to discern what was written on it. The humidity had made it difficult to identify the handwriting and discern what it said, but after a while, she found out:

The best way to lie is to tell the truth.

That was all, no signature or dedication, just a sentence which she could not understand what its meaning was at first. Cream decided to simply throw the paper away and try to forget everything that had happened. She placed her hand on her mother's, careful not to wake her up, and stayed looking at her for a long time, trying to enjoy at least a little of her company, until she fell asleep again.

When the sunlight hit her eyelids again, Cream woke up. She groped with her hand to see if her mother was still beside her, but found nothing. She half sat up and slowly opened her eyes, she was all alone. She could hear murmurs coming from outside the room, people walking, stretchers coming and going. To her right she could see a bedside table on which was a clock that read ten o'clock in the morning. She saw that she was still wearing part of her Academy uniform, not counting her jacket, and she had not yet put her right glove back on. As she was put it on she could hear Vector's and Cheese's voices approaching, along with another familiar voice that she had not heard for some time.

"I'm not going to say it again, carrot cake is not going to make Cream magically regain consciousness. It's Cheese who wants to eat it," Vector argued.

"[High Beta-carotene and Vitamin A contents are good for a growing body, in turn preventing muscle degeneration. I advocated supplying Miss Cream with such nutrients for faster recovery]," the other robotic voice interjected.

"No matter how much you repeat that, you're not going to convince me, you tin can. She doesn't even like carrots that much!", the crocodile was saying as he opened the door to the room. "She- Cream, you woke up!" he yelled when he noticed the young rabbit looking at him.

Cheese immediately flew into the rabbit's arms and burst into tears. Cream hugged him with all her might as she tried to comfort him. When she looked up for a moment she could identify the robot accompanying Vector.

"Gemerl!", Cream wanted to get up from the stretcher, but the robot immediately stopped her.

"[You are not yet in optimal condition, please wait for your recovery process to be completed]".

"Could you at least come a little closer so I can hug you?" Cream replied as she pulled Gemerl close to her and wrapped her arms around them.

"Glad to see you woke up in a good mood," Vector was saying as he sat down on the divan.

"Mom is here too?".

"[Minister Vanilla had to leave for an emergency meeting with the council. But she was here with you from the moment you arrived]."

"Yes, I know..."

"Your Abduction caused quite a stir," Vector continued.

"How did you find me?".

Vector looked rather uncomfortable before confessing:

"First of all, I want to be clear that this was Vanilla's idea, not mine, but... there is a tracker on your cell phone."

"A trake-!"

"Don't kill the messenger! I didn't like the idea either, but Vanilla insisted that I insist that you use it, and in the end she was right. The moment the device left the outer rim it sent an SOS signal to my phone and Vanilla's, and she immediately contacted Shadow to mobilize the Freedom Fighters."

"So much just for me?"

"[Your abduction corroborated suspicions that there are blind spots in the kingdom's security. That the enemy is able to enter and subtract citizens, even relatives of senior commanders, is unacceptable. So it was acted upon]".

"At a low profile, of course. They don't want the population to panic, but internally we are on high alert."

Cream felt that heaviness in her chest again, and then nausea, something Gemerl and Vector could tell when they saw her face.

"[Warning! -Mood Imbalance Detected -Supply Nutrients Immediately-]".

"I think I remember seeing a Vending Machine with Chaos-Cola! I'm going to get it!", vector said as he jumped off the couch and ran to the exit.

When the big crocodile burst open the door, he stopped in his tracks and froze for a second. Then he took a step back and bowed in a curtsy.

"Y-your Majesty! An honor to be in your presence!".

"My Gaia, Vector," replied the female voice outside the room, "No need for such formality."

As Vector stepped aside to allow passage, a woman entered the room. The red-haired squirrel was attired in a military uniform similar to Commander Shadow's, but less ostentatious and devoid of decorations. Perhaps what stood out most was the small red cape on her right shoulder and the Royal Family of Acorn necklace hanging from her collar.

"Queen Sally...," Cream managed to mumble.

"What's with that face? You look like you've seen a ghost," the queen said before giving a little giggle. "Maybe this will make you feel better," she added as she handed the rabbit a can of Chaos-Cola.

"Eh... What's the reason for your visit, Your Majesty? W-wasn't there a council meeting?" asked Vector still keeping his head down.

"Vector, please relax. And yes, the council is in meeting, but I told them to go ahead while I check on Cream. When I heard she had been kidnapped I was quite worried, but I'm glad to see you're okay."

"Yes, I'm much better, your majesty. Thank you for your concern... and for the drink," Cream said trying to remain natural.

"Great, then I'd like to talk to you alone," the queen said with a smile.

Cream stared at Vector and he looked at the queen, who looked back at him and nodded slightly. Vector made a gesture with which he called out to both Gemerl and Chesee, who for a moment was reluctant to obey until Cream signaled him to do so.

"We withdraw, your majesty," Vector warned as he headed for the exit.

"Close the door on your way out, please. It won't take more than a few seconds."

Then...

Chaos was served inside the mega-ship. The Badniks inside, even though they were in the majority, could not cope with the rapid and forceful attacks of the invaders, who were advancing decisively towards their objective.

"It's getting harder to breathe," Antoine warned.

"We don't have any more time," Sonic concluded. "Any idea where the ship's weak point might be?" he asked over the micro-com.

"My previous analysis indicated that at the base, near the thrusters, is the primary power source. But at the top, near the nose, is a secondary source that will activate immediately if the other one fails," Nicole replied across the channel.

"We're close to the second one! But at this rate we'll be out of orbit by the time we get to the first one!" exclaimed Knuckles.

"You guys maybe, but not me," Sonic replied.

"Right," Sally affirmed. "You go to the main source while we take care of the secondary one, we'll finish them both at the same time. You'd better bring some extra strength just in case."

"I'll go with him!", said Amy.

"All right, Lets Go!," Sally ordered.

"Hold tight and hold your breath, I'll go full speed," Sonic instructed as he scooped Amy up in his arms. The two hedgehogs disappeared from view of the others even before the sonic boom sounded.

Everything around them was nothing but multicolored blurs, any robot that tried to cut them off was irreparably shattered along with those around them. The blue blur was cutting through the labyrinthine infrastructure almost like a beam of light on a circuit board. He only stopped when he felt Amy tapping his shoulder insistently.

"Are you okay, are you short of breath?" asked the concerned hedgehog.

"I'm...," Amy paused for a moment to catch her breath. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Nicole told me we got to the site," she indicated as she pointed to the ceiling of the room they were in.

A giant hemisphere emitting an orange glow was embedded in the ceiling, on both sides of which two huge pistons were working at full speed.

"Why do they always do this kind of obvious stuff?", joked the hedgehog to proceed to take up a racing position. "Well, let's get going."

"Are you sure? What if it explodes and something happens to you?" the bristling girl questioned.

"It takes more than a scary, possibly radioactive engine to hurt me. Besides, there's no choice. Come on Ames, the others are counting on us."

Still hesitant, the young hedgehog positioned herself and readied her Piko Hammer while the blue hedgehog charged his Spin Dash.

"We're ready," Amy communicated over the micro-com.

"So do we," Sally replied. "On the count of 3. 1, 2... Now!"

"Now!" cried Amy.

Like a bullet, Sonic headed towards Amy, who deflected him with her hammer, directing it towards the center of the power source. The Hedgehog impacted against the outer layer and with its rotation it penetrated until it was able to pass through it completely, colliding with the core and shattering it. The brightness of the resulting explosion was blinding and thunderous.

Amy could feel a strong wind hitting her face. She felt weightless, without a sense of up or down. Her eyes, still closed, hurt and a high-pitched whistling sound deafened her. She tried to open her eyes, but the strong wind made the task difficult. The whistling gradually subsided, giving way to the violent howling of the wind and, slightly in the distance, a voice that she could not identify what it was saying. She tried harder to open her eyes until it began to be painful, then she resolved to place her face in the opposite direction to where the wind was blowing, it was then that she could finally see, and found a gigantic amorphous mass of half-destroyed metal that threatened to crush her.

She tried with difficulty to keep her composure so as not to turn around. Inspecting her surroundings she could understand that something had gone terribly wrong and that she was in free fall. When she could understand the situation she couldn't help but ask herself the question:

Where is Sonic? Where is everybody?

She tried to look around for traces of the others, but saw only debris and pieces of burning badniks. She wanted to scream to call out to them but the explosion had left her temporarily hoarse. The ringing in her ears had already faded, but now she could only hear the wind rushing violently around her. Only a faint sound was distinguishable among the din. She clung to that sound and tried to find out where it came from.

It was from higher up, away from the debris... maybe. To the right? no, to the left. Which is left? it's about to get dark, I wonder if the boys would like to have pizzas for dinner today? Will I even be able to make it to dinner today? No! I mean, yes! of course I will! Home made pizzas! I'll get out of this and make the best pizzas I've ever made in my whole life! It's getting dark, the sun is setting in the west, and the sound is coming from the opposite direction, so it's about... ". When she could orient herself better she could discern what the Sound was:

"Amy!" came the voice of Sonic riding the Cyclone.

To the east, the Cyclone was flying in a dive, with Sonic and Knuckles on its wings. Tails was trying his best to get closer to Amy, but the debris prevented him from doing so. Amy on her part tried to move her body in some way that would allow her to be closer to the boys.

"Closer, Tails! Closer!" she could hear Sonic shout.

"There's too much debris and we're losing visibility!" the fox replied in desperation.

"Knuckles, throw me!".

For half a second the echidna hesitated, but immediately took the balled up Hedgehog in his hands and threw it with all his strength in Amy's direction. On the way, Sonic went through several debris and lost momentum. He tried to recover it using his Homing Attack, but when he was only a few feets away from the gilr, he ran out of debris to jump over. Sonic was so close that his fingertips were touching Amy's, he only needed a slight push to reach her...

Now...

When Cream finished drinking the soda, Queen Sally took the can and held it in her hands.

"Better?" she asked with genuine concern as she pulled up a chair to sit in.

"Yes, thank you very much, your majest-"

"Please, I hate being called that," Sally interrupted as she raised her hand and averted her gaze in slight discomfort. "We're not at a public event or anything. Call me Sally, like back then."

"Very well, Miss Sally."

The queen gave a warm smile, Cream had the impression that it was not a smile to reassure her, but a genuine one from someone who seemed to be doing it for the first time in a long time.

"That must have been hard, huh?" the queen continued speaking.

"What is it?"

"The kidnapping! What else?" as Sally laughed, Cream tensed up. "I understand you're the top recruit in your class at The Academy, so I imagine whoever kidnapped you must have been someone pretty tough."

"eh.. Yes, yes it was. It was hard to face them," Cream replied hesitantly.

"Were you able to identify them?".

"Huh?"

"To your kidnapper," the queen's tone suddenly changed to a more subdued one. "Were you able to see their face clearly?".

A lump formed in the rabbit's throat. She tried to keep her eyes fixed on the queen's eyes, trying not to look suspicious. In the eyes of her interlocutor she could no longer find that warmth of just a few seconds ago, she could only see an icy decision. Cream was holding her hands tightly to keep from shaking, when she suddenly noticed that her right glove was half on, then a flash immediately went through her mind.

"No," the rabbit replied at last categorically. "Everything was too dark, I couldn't see you well."

They were both silent for a second. Sally held the can tightly in her hands.

"Was they alone... the person who kidnapped you?" the queen continued.

"Yes."

"At all times?".

"No, they took me along with their people."

"Did you get a chance to see where they took you?".

"No, I was blindfolded the whole time."

Sally kept stroking the can with her thumb for a couple of seconds. Cream watched the clock on the bedside table out of the corner of her eye, time seemed to run painfully slow.

"The Freedom Fighters have indications that the people who kidnapped you are the same people who are attacking our supply trucks," the queen continued. "Do you think that's true?"

"Maybe," Cream replied with some hesitation.

"What makes you think so?".

"I could hear them talking about it."

"What did you hear?".

"Not much."

"Tell me," involuntarily, the queen lightly crushed the can between her hands.

"I heard...," the rabbit did a complete review of her memories in just a second. "I heard them mention the kingdom, but they spoke in a language I didn't understand, from Apotos maybe. I could only recognize when they mentioned the kingdom and the Freedom Fighters, that's all."

Another icy silence. After a few seconds Sally set the half bruised can down on the nightstand, then began to get up.

"Yes, there were Apotos people among the kidnappers, Shadow corroborated me. He also informed me that the perpetrators managed to flee, but that their crimes will not go unpunished."

Then the queen leaned in and encircled Cream in a tight embrace, a strange one that felt more like a prison than a home.

"There will be justice, I assure you Cream."

"Thank you, Miss Sally."

"I'm so glad you're okay."

"Me too, Miss Sally."

Then..

Out of the corner of her eye, Amy could see how a pair of metal blocks collided and one of them bounced in Sonic's direction. In less than a second she reacted, summoned her Piko hammer and with it hit the hedgehog, throwing him away from the trajectory of the deadly piece of metal.

"Amy! What are you doing!?" was the last thing the girl heard the hedgehog say before his voice was lost in the din of colliding debris.

Amy looked above her as the gigantic mass of metal came closer and closer, it was a fact that it would crush her.

"I guess I won't be able to make the pizzas anymore," she wanted to joke. "And yet, I feel in peace... ", she closed her eyes as she waited for it all to be over.

"Will you make your pizzas for me too?" she heard a voice emerge from his micro-communicator.

At that exact moment a figure came out of nowhere and caught her, bouncing through the debris until she could find the right spot where she could enter the gigantic mass of metal unharmed.

"Sally?" the hedgehog was able to identify as she took position on the Xtreme-Gear they were riding in.

"You already owe me at least a couple of Pizzas," the intrepid squirrel was saying, trying to remain calm, although he was clearly distressed.

"I'll make you all the pizzas you want for life!" said Amy as she hugged the squirrel.

"Well, we already have a good incentive to get out of this alive... beyond not dying, of course."

"Sally! Sally! Sally! Are you there?", Bunnie could be heard speaking over the channel.

"Amy! Can you hear me? Amy!", Tails also said.

"We're fine, we're alive," Sally replied to both of them.

"Are you insane!? How can you even think of throwing yourself like that!?" screamed Nicole hysterically.

"Amy, what the heck was that!? I was about to get you!" claimed Sonic.

"We'll talk after we get out of this one. We're due for a Pizzas at home," exclaimed the hedgehog.

The communication channel was filled with yells and complaints to which the two girls responded by turning off their micro-communicators.

"If we get out of this alive, they'll kill us," Amy joked.

"Better them to this thing."

"Ok, we need to go up, I think I have an idea..."

"Amy? Amy! Damn it! Tails! Is there any way to get to them?" asked the desperate hedgehog.

"They got into what was left of the ship, it's impossible!"

"Can't you open a hole with the Cyclone's beam?"

"We would run out of energy to keep flying!".

"Try it!"

"There's no use rescuing them if we die trying," Knuckles interrupted, trying to talk some sense into the hedgehog.

"So, what, we let them die in that giant coffin?!".

"One minute left to land! We have to move away or we'll be hit by the impact!" warned Tails.

"We can't leave them there, Tails!" protested Sonic.

"I'm sorry..."

"No! Tails!"

And before the hedgehog could do anything, Tails made a maneuver to place the Cyclone parallel to the horizon and move as far away as he could from where the huge ship was about to hit. The roar resulting from the impact was deafening, like an explosion, but without fire. What followed was the cry of screeching metals colliding with each other, and then... silence.

The moment the Cyclone and the Sky Patrol landed, everyone began to rummage through the debris. The stars began to appear timidly in the sky, the moon was full and shining brightly, although its brightness was not enough to see in the darkness of the night. Tails and Rotor activated the spotlights of their respective ships to illuminate while they distributed flashlights to the others to extend the search a little more. The calls were incessant, they shouted the names of the girls and then remained silent for a second to hear if they caught any answer, but everything remained silent.

"Damn!" exclaimed Sonic with frustration after another fruitless search. "I was so close, Amy... Why the hell did you do that, why did you push me away...?".

A loud metallic clang brought him out of his thoughts. Behind him he could see on top of a large metal mound an unusual movement.

"Tails, Rotor, aim the lights at that spot!" ordered the hedgehog, and they immediately obeyed.

Blow after blow the mound moved more and more until the last blow sent a gigantic sheet of metal flying through the air, and from the hole that remained emerged the gigantic Piko hammer. Everyone fell silent as they watched the two girls slowly get up as if waking from a dream.

"Are we alive?" asked Amy in confusion.

"We are alive...," Sally replied being in the same mental situation as the hedgehog.

"Yes... We're alive," Amy reiterated as she touched her face and then Sally's face.

"My Gaia, we're alive! You were right!" cried Sally euphorically as she hugged Amy tightly.

"We're alive! We're alive!" the hedgehog kept repeating over and over as she hugged Sally back.

Both girls started laughing hysterically, but those laughs turned to disconsolate cries in the blink of an eye.

"Oh My Gaia, that was horrifying!" the bristling girl exclaimed between whimpers.

"My whole life flashed before my eyes!" said Sally as she wiped her nasal fluids. "Thank you Amy, you saved my life!".

"Shut up! It's my fault we got into this thing! You saved my life!"

"You shut up! If it weren't for you we wouldn't have survived the impact!"

While the girls were discussing between sobs who had saved whom, all their friends immediately went to join them.

"I knew it! I knew you'd come out of this in one piece, Rose!" the echidna exclaimed proudly.

"Don't you ever do such a thing again or I'll tell your brother!" scolded Nicole.

"Oh, I get it! They went to the most opposite location from the point of impact so that when all the synthetic force was distributed throughout the structure it would be minimal by the time it reached where they were," Tails deduced.

"And they were kept lying on their backs so that the impact affected their bodies equally, as they would if they fell into an elevator. Very clever," Rotor added.

"Thank you Tails, your endless lectures on physics saved us!" exclaimed the hedgehog between sobs.

Everyone was laughing and celebrating with the survivors, the only one who was still a little on the sidelines was Sonic, who for a while just stared at the two girls. When they finished crying and laughing, Amy turned to see the hedgehog and smiled at him, to which he smiled back.

"You don't know how glad I am that you're okay," Sonic said at last.

"Likewise," Amy replied with a chuckle.

"Anyone who is capable of risking their life for one of my friends as you did has all my gratitude," the hedgehog said as he extended his hand to Sally.

"Don't even mention it, you would have done the same thing. You always do, you're Sonic The Hedgehog after all."

"Ah, so if you've heard of me."

"Who wouldn't? I just didn't want to add to your already gigantic Ego."

The hedgehog along with everyone else started laughing.

"I invite you all to eat homemade Pizzas at my place!" Amy exclaimed at the end, to which everyone celebrated.

... And that's how the friendship between Sonic, his friends and the Freedom Fighters was sealed... Friendship whose tragic conclusion would take place exactly 2 years later, on The Union Day.