-Chapter 285-

Breaking the Ice


Dr. Sorders' office

Shadow sat sitting across from Dr. Sorders, his face a stony wall of silence fixed in a scowl of indifference.

"I can only imagine how you must be feeling right now." Shadow remained silent as Sorders went on. "Trapped thousands of feet below the surface. Forced to serve a vile, sadistic monster. Unable to do anything about it."

"...I think… I think that's what frustrates me the most," Shadow admitted. "I was created to be... perfect. The Ultimate Life Form… and I couldn't stop this."

Sorders looked concerned.

"I can understand that. But Shadow… you are not perfect."

"But I am!" Shadow jumped up. "I'm supposed to be! I was designed to be perfect!"

"Says who?"

"Everyone!" Shadow jumped to his feet. "Professor Gerald! GUN!"

"And what about those that really matter? Like your team? Or Hope? Or..." Sorders took a breath, suspecting he wouldn't react well, but understanding he needed to hear it. "Or Maria?"

The next thing she knew, she was pinned to the wall, Shadow's fist curled in her coat. He was sparking hard. Sorders looked at Shadow fearfully, but did her best to stand her ground. After a second, he dropped her.

"This was a mistake," he muttered before walking out the door.

"Shadow!" Sorders called after him as he slammed the door.


Station Square

Across Soumerica, reports were flooding in about the freak blizzard that had struck the city. Things were still far from returning to normal, even with the hole above the middle school now closed. Recently, media coverage had been re-established, allowing Scarlet Garcia to report on the aftermath from a first-person view.

" It's been roughly a week since the hole in the sky above Station Square Middle School finally closed. However, the city is still covered in a thick layer of ice and snow. Relief efforts have been established to try and aid in the city's repair, along with rescue attempts of citizens still trapped in their homes and cars by the attack. "

This report played across TVs and radios, including on Tails' Miles Electric and personal radios everyone carried. No one wanted to take any chances that they could miss a development in the relief efforts, even as their own continued.

Everyone was working double time, either out on the streets working repairs, doing rescues, or manning the various shelters across the city. One such rescue team was Sonic, Guntiver, and Sticks, an unlikely team that worked surprisingly well with each other.

Guntiver sniffed around before perking. "I got one!"

"On it!" Sticks dove into the snow, burrowing fast. "Dig a hole! Dig a hole! Dig a hole!"

Eventually, she felt her claws scratch glass.

"Got a hit!" Sticks knocked on the window of a buried car. "Helloooooooooo, anybody home?"

There was a weak tapping back.

"Got a bite!" Sticks raised her foot. "Get back!"

She kicked in the window before slipping through, finding a shivering family.

"We got some live ones!" Sticks unlocked the door, getting to work shoveling enough snow away to open it. As soon as she opened a wide enough path, Sonic and Gunt darted in, getting them to a waiting sled manned by a team of Mobini huskies.

"Alright, here we go," Sonic said. "Gunt, get these folks to the nearest shelter."

"Will do." Guntiver got the family on the sled. "Right this way."

"Thank you for saving us, Sonic," the father said gratefully. "Aurora bless you, all of you."

"No need to thank me. Just pay it forward," Sonic gave them a two-fingered salute. "Now get to safety and warm up."

Gunt took the reins of the sled, flicking them. "Mush!"

The dogs barked before taking off. Sonic sighed, wiping his brow.

"How many does that make, Sticks?"

"Seventeen at my last count," Sticks replied. "Still need to keep working on the roads so the emergency crews can get in."

"Yeah..." Sonic looked around. "If only this ice wasn't so hard to melt. If I could get enough traction for a Spin Dash, I could friction melt this in no time."

"Well sadly, we only have one firestarter," Sticks remarked. "Maybe we should put out a flier for a new firebug? Or maybe try some Chaos Lightning?"

Sonic shook his head. "With all the melted ice around, I'd rather not risk it."

"Yes, given the cold and Chaos, it might be superconductive."

Sonic turned to see Shadow and Hope heading over

"Hey, you sure you should be out? I thought Sally wanted everyone who had been rescued to take time off."

Shadow shrugged. "I decided I had better things to do."

"Shadow..."

"Just tell me where I'm needed," Shadow snapped. "We don't have time to argue."

Sonic sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Fine." We've split up into four teams. Each taking on a different part of the city. Here, it's me, Sticks, and Guntiver. But he's on transport right now."

"I'll take the next batch," Shadow decided.

Sonic looked at him. "Shadow, take it from someone with a bad track record of bottling things up, it never ends well."

"I've handled worse, Sonic. I can handle this. Now, come on. We have work to do."

Shadow walked off, Sonic following.

"I know you can handle it," Sonic assured. "I also know you had help doing so."

"This isn't like back then, I was brainwashed. I'm fine. I don't need help. I'm the Ultimate Lifeform."

"And I'm the Fastest Thing Alive, and I still need help. Don't wait until you do something you can't reverse to get help. Seriously, it's not a matter of if, but when."

Shadow gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Sonic..."

"Help!" a muffled voice called.

They both stopped, Sonic sighing.

"C'mon. We've got lives to save."

"Right."

They raced off, arriving at a building.

"The front door's completely blocked," Sonic noted. "See anyone?"

Shadow took a look. "No, there's so much ice it's practically a second layer of brick."

"Help!" They looked up to see a woman banging on a window from one of the higher stories, holding a crying baby in her arms. "Somebody help!"

Shadow immediately took off, skating up the side of the building. He landed on the window sill, noticing the window was frozen shut.

"Get back!"

The woman nodded before doing so. Shadow's hand glowed with red Chaos energy before he touched the ice, only to find it wasn't working. He reeled back, bouncing off of it with a Homing Attack, again to no avail.

"Come. On! Break!" Hearing the sounds of the baby crying, Shadow growled. "Come on, damn it!"

Shadow pulsed with lightning. Sonic and Sticks' jaws dropped.

"Shadow!?" Sonic exclaimed.

"What the heck's he doin'!?" Sticks demanded. "Didn't he just say lightning was a bad idea!?"

"He did!" Sonic looked up. "Shadow! STOP!"

But it was too late. The lightning reacted with the ice, blasting Shadow backward to fall back to the ground.

"Shadow!" Sonic cried, running over to him.

Shadow groaned, twitching and sparking.

"I don't think he's okay." Sticks remarked.

"No... " Sonic shook his head. "No, he's anything but…"

There was a rumbling noise. Slowly, they looked up to see the ice and snow from the building's roof slide off, falling right toward them. Immediately, Sticks began to burrow.

She then grabbed the two hedgehogs, dragging them into her burrow with her right as the ice and snow landed on them, plunging them into darkness.


Dr. Sorders' Office

"Y'know, the others say I was lucky to be sent to the mines instead of Helheim." Knuckles grimaced. "They're wrong. Dead wrong."

"How so?" Sorders questioned. "Not to downplay the other prisoners' suffering, but living under Glacia's thumb sounds much worse than Frazil's."

"Glacia was in charge of training. Harsh, brutal, and downright merciless training, but that's all it was. Nothing I haven't seen before."

Sorders nodded. "Right, Guardian."

"Glacia was a drill sergeant, but Frazil...he was a slavemaster. Glacia would give you some kind of relief, however small, if you met her expectations. But Frazil...that bastard would torture and kill people if they so much as looked at him wrong, or just because he felt like it." Knuckles tugged at the sleeves of his coat. "It's funny... I thought I understood what Kat went through on the Death Egg after our stint together. But now…" Knuckles massaged his temples. "Now I do . And it's no wonder she was as bad as she was back then."

"What about you?"

"Honestly..." Knuckles sighed. "It wasn't the back-breaking labor or the beatings that got me. I've been through worse. No, the worst part was knowing that I had the power to stop it right there. Smash Frazil's face in and be done with it. But I couldn't… Because if I did..."

"Someone else would be hurt…"

Knuckles nodded. "Exactly. I'm willing to put myself on the line, but not innocent people…"

"You know no one thinks less of you because of it," Sorders assured. "In fact, I met with some other prisoners in the mines. They said that you kept them from being hurt by Frazil."

"It was all I could do," Knuckles shrugged out of his jacket, revealing his back and arms covered in scars. "I could take the hits. If I couldn't save them… I could at least make their time there less miserable."

"And that may very well have kept them alive long enough to let them be rescued."

"Maybe," Knuckles slid his jacket back on. "Maybe…"


Station Square

In the sealed-off burrow, Sticks cracked a glowstick.

"Is everyone alive?" she asked. "If anyone isn't, say so."

Sonic and Shadow gave Sticks a flat look, Shadow groaning.

"Okay, good. Just makin' sure."

"You're lucky I'm in pain, Sticks." Shadow clutched his chest.

"Easy there," Sonic soothed him. "Sticks, get us out of here."

"Yeah... problem," Sticks scratched at one of the walls, an ominous shaking happening when she did. "I try to dig us out, this whole thing falls on top of us. And even if that wasn't a problem, we'd still have to worry about not hitting a thing of ice, which I can't dig through."

"Then we're stuck?" Sonic asked.

"Eyup," Sticks held out some beef jerky and trail mix. "Buckle up. We're here until firebug comes this way."

"You're being rather calm about this." Shadow mused.

Sticks shrugged. "Hey, I've been in and caused situations like this for years. A snow-in like this is old hat. Plus, if we run out of air or freeze to death, I can do so knowing it's some other guy's fault this time." Her tone shifted to cheerful. "White chocolate raisin?"

"...How long until Kat's supposed to come this way?" Shadow questioned, annoyed.


Dr. Sorders' Office

Kat sat on the couch, picking at her sleeves while staring off into space. Dr. Sorders thought about how to break the ice.

"Kathryn? Kat?"

Kat perked, looking up. "Hmm? You say something?"

"Just wanted to make sure you were alright. You've been staring off into space for over a minute."

"I'm…" Kat let out a long sigh. "Not really."

She looked down at her hand. "Y'know... ever since I got my powers… I've prided myself in being strong. Strong enough to take any hit and stand up to any bully. I was strong enough to protect the people I cared about. But…" She clenched her fist. "But I wasn't strong enough this time. Tundra, he… I never stood a chance."

"Kat, Sherman Walrus is a veteran of the Great War; from a warrior culture. He had experience, a literal lifetime of it."

"I know that… but… it still hurts. All I could do was watch… it was…" Kat gripped her arms. "It was like..."

"Like the incident?" Sorders asked gently.

Kat nodded. "Being in those mines… seeing Knuckles like that… seeing all those people… I was that helpless and scared twelve-year-old all over again."

"That's understandable. In a way, you were witnessing the worst moment of your life."

"When will it stop haunting me, Doc?"

Sorders sighed. "I'm going to be honest with you, Kat. Moments like these...they never truly stop haunting us. Grief isn't something that just magically disappears. It stays forever. Sometimes it looms over us like a giant. Other times, it hides away in the basement like a frightened Micky. The secret isn't trying to get rid of our grief, but to learn to live with it. Deal with it in a way that doesn't hurt us or those around us."

Kat sniffled, wiping her eyes. "I just wish it would stop hurting…"

"Well, I might have something that could help you." She reached over, taking Kat's hand in her own. "Whenever I'm feeling like I've failed or haven't done enough, I remind myself of the good that I did do. Let me give you an example. Sometimes, I see patients with...very serious issues. Big ones. Issues that make me wonder if I truly helped them at all. So, whenever I start thinking like that, I focus on the little ways I did help them."

"So you think about the people you have helped?"

"I may never be able to help them completely overcome their demons...but I like to believe that, at the end of each session, I've left them better equipped to handle them."

Kat looked down at her hands again.

"Tell me, Kat, what sort of victories did you earn during the mission in Artika? What good did you do?"

"I... I protected everyone."

"Protect how?"

"I… worked with Flip and… and we stopped Frazil and saved everyone. Then...I held off the Ragnium explosion so everyone could escape."

"Anything else?"

"I…" She visibly straightened. "My fire kept people warm after everything and... I thawed out so many people."

"So, you freed all the slaves in the mines, defeated the one who was abusing them, made sure everyone was able to escape, and provided hope, comfort, and aid to them once they were safe, correct?"

Kat nodded and the doctor smiled. After a moment, the girl made a small noise of surprise.

"Huh…guess I was strong enough after all."

"I think so." Sorders pulled back, adjusting herself. "You may not have been able to best Tundra, but you saved all those people from a terrible fate, and I think that's just as worthy a victory as defeating a monster like that."


Station Square

Sticks was talking to a smartphone.

"Hello, operator? Get me GUN HQ. I've been captured and buried alive by terrorists. All I have is this phone and a candle. I have no idea where I am and I've already been trapped here for two hours...!"

"Sticks, it's only been an hour," Sonic pointed out. "And you don't have reception."

"And give me back my phone!" Shadow snapped as he snatched it back.

Just then, they heard movement up above them.

"What the...?" Sonic let out.

"There's someone out there," Shadow realized.

"That doesn't sound like someone. That sounds… big." Sticks perked. "Omigosh! It's the Martians! We've been stuck in here for a thousand years! Now the Martians have come to colonize Mobius with their giant tripod walkers so they can grow their red weed!"

She screamed, shoving her head in the ice. "Quick! Shove your heads in the ice and catch a cold!"

Shadow pulled her head out, putting a hand to his ear.

"I hear voices," he noted. "Some of them are speaking common… but there's also Chun-ese…"

"Chun-ese…" Sticks perked again. "It's Kat! Hey! Firebug! Down here! Get us outta here! HEEEELP!"

The movement stopped above them before water began to trickle down.

"Uh-oh..." Sticks let out.

The top collapsed, unleashing a torrent of meltwater before several hands grabbed them.

"HEAVE!" a voice yelled as the trio was pulled out.

"Holy!" Sonic let out, shaking.

"Cold! Cold! Freezing!" Sticks gasped. "Cold! Cold! Freezing!"

"What in the world was that?" Shadow asked.

"I'd say the timely arrival of some friends."

They looked up, seeing Dulcy and Lupe.

"Dulcy? Lupe!?" Sonic exclaimed. "What are you two doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Dulcy questioned. "We're here to help."

"Here," Lupe handed them towels. "Dry off, then Dulcinea will transport you to the shelter."

"Right, thanks." Sonic nodded.

"We'll explain everything once we get there. Come on."

The trio hopped on Dulcy's back.

"Wait!" Shadow cut in. "There's a woman and her baby trapped in the building!"

"Already taken care of." Dulcy pointed up, revealing Kaen's mother Cinder helping the mother and infant.

"Cinder!?" Sonic exclaimed.

"Greetings, Sonic," Cinder took the woman's hand. "Right this way, ma'am, it's alright."

The woman carefully got into Cinder's arms, her child in her own. "Alright, here we go."

Shadow watched as Cinder flew off with them, wincing with guilt.

"Still think you don't need help?" Sonic asked, getting an annoyed grunt from the black hedgehog.

"Hey, can we go!?" Sticks snapped. "I'm freezing my butt off here!"

"Right." Dulcy took off with the trio.


Emergency Relief Shelter Charlie

Meanwhile, at one of the shelters, Sally was coordinating everyone.

"Amy, how are we on foodstuffs?" she asked.

"Cream and Vanilla are working on the next pot of soup!" Amy replied. "They should be done in a few minutes!"

"Good." Sally looked down at Nicole's handheld. "Nicole, any updates on the electricity?"

"About 45% of the city is still without power, but the Brain Trust is making progress," Nicole reported. "Chris has expressed interest in moving onto the monorail to help with transport while the roads are restored."

"Negative." Sally shook her head. "The ice caused serious damage to the rails' structural integrity. We'd need some serious heavy machinery for that."

A loud thud sounded, followed by a muffled "Help!"

"Oh dear..." Sally walked off to find Tangle buried under a pile of quilts.

"Help!" Tangle's muffled voice came. "The quilts are eating me alive!"

Sally reaches in, pulling her out. "Tangle, what are you doing?"

"Sally! Thank Aurora! I was trying to hand out these new quilts and blankets, but I grabbed too much, and now they're trying to smother me!"

Sally sighed. "Next time, ask for help."

"Right, sorry..." Tangle smiled guiltily.

"Hey... if you need to take a break-"

"No ma'am! I-I mean, I'm just gettin' started! It's barely even noon!"

"Tangle, we're all more than a little rundown. There's no shame in taking a break."

"But I..."

The door opened, revealing Dulcy with Sonic, Shadow, and Sticks.

"Hello?" Dulcy called. "Can I speak to the one overseeing the shelter?"

"Dulcy!?" Sally exclaimed.

"Whoa!" Tangle cried. "Dragon lady!"

The two ran over, Dulcy letting her three passengers off.)

" Nihao , princess," Dulcy greeted.

"Hey Sal," Sonic said.

"Sonic, what are you all doing back so soon?" Sally questioned.

"Shadow caused an avalanche and got us buried and Dulcy flooded our enclave when she freed us," Sticks said bluntly, wringing her hair out.

Shadow gave her a dirty look. "Wow… back the bus right over me, why don't you?"

"How would I get a bus here? The roads are a mess."

Shadow just glared at the badger.

"Right…" Sally sighed. "Go meet up with Kat. She's on warmup duty."

"Will do." Sonic nodded. "Lemme just get outta these wet clothes first."

Sonic walked off, Shadow and Sticks following.

-X-

Meanwhile…

Kat sat in a meditative position, literally glowing with warmth as a hot dog on a stick slowly approached her. She sighed, not even opening an eye.

"You better have one for me on there too."

Flip chuckled awkwardly, slowly pulling back the stick. Kat continued to meditate, small wisps of fire swirling around her. Flip, Berg, and a few other Freedom Fighters were sitting around her, some wrapped up in towels or blankets.

"I still can't believe she's able to do that," Berg remarked. "Are you sure she doesn't have a Ragnium Drive?"

"Positive."

The others turned to see Sonic, Shadow, and Sticks walk over, donned in dryer clothes with blankets around their shoulders.

"Yo, Zippy-Blue and Zippy-2!" Flip waved at them. "Welcome back!"

"What happened to you two?" Kat questioned, cracking an eye open.

"Shadow-" Sticks began before Shadow placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing," he said firmly, giving Sticks a stern look.

"Right..." Kat went back to her meditation.

"Oh yeah!" Sonic perked. "Real quick, Dulcy's here."

Kat perks. "Dulcy?"

"And not just her."

" Jiejie! "

Kat barely had time to react before Kaen came running in, pouncing on her. She fell backward, her fire dying from the shock.

"The warm is gone!" Sticks cried.

"Kaen, no!" Cinder ran over, scooping up her son.

"Cinder!?" Kat exclaimed.

"Hello, Kaitian," Cinder greeted. "I am so sorry about Kaen. He sensed your qi while we were out and..."

"No, no, it's alright," Kat assured. "He just caught me off guard."

"What in the Aesir!?" Berg started scrambling backward.

"Whoa, whoa!" Kat held up her hands. "Calm down. This is my... martial brother."

"I'm Kaen!" Kaen greeted.

"That's a dragon!" Berg perked. "And...brother!?"

"Martial brother. I... guess you could kinda call him my godson?"

"You...are the godmother...to a dragon!?" Berg paled. "No wonder Tundra wanted you."

"Yeah…" Kat's face darkened. "Can we not talk about that?"

"Who's Tundra?" Kaen asked. "Did someone hurt you, jiejie ?"

"Not me, but... It's…" Kat quickly decided to change the subject. "Wanna meditate with me? "

"Okay… I..." Kaen turned to Berg. "Ummm… You got a owie… A big owie."

Berg raised an eyebrow. "Owie?"

He looked down to see where Kaen was pointing. It was then that he noticed that his blanket had slipped off, revealing his bare, svelte upper body and a set of curved scars on the underside of his pectorals.

Berg gasped, covering himself.

"Oh! Gaia!" Kat covered Kaen's eyes. "Kaen, it's not nice to stare."

"How did he get those scars?" Kaen asked innocently.

"Please, forget what you saw!" Berg pleaded.

Kat thought quickly. "H-He was fighting a big monster. And to fight it, he had to give it something from his own body, and it's mostly gone away."

"Really? Cuz it looks like-" Sticks was cut off when Flip shoved a hot dog in her mouth.

"Here, have a hotdog!"

"Oh wow," Kaen remarked in awe, "You must be super strong to give the monster a piece of yourself. Did the monster leave you alone after?"

"Well..." Berg was spared the need to answer by an uplifting, joyful musical tone (1).

"Hold that thought guys." Sonic pulled out his comm, answering. "H'yello!"

" Sonic, where are you? " came Tails' voice.

"Hey Tails. I'm at the shelter right now. What's up?"

" Is Sally there? I tried to get ahold of her, but the phone glitched or something. "

"One sec," Sonic sped off to where Sally was. "Sal! It's for you!"

"Can it wait?" Sally was in the middle of fiddling with Nicole's handheld. "I kinda have my hands full!"

"I'll ask," Sonic turned back to the com. "Hey Tails, on a scale of one to ten, how important is this?"

" Well, there's a big boat coming into the wharf and they radioed asking for you and her. So...seven? "

"Umm... right. Sorry Sal!"

Sonic promptly grabbed her and sped off.


Station Square Harbor

A bit later, Sonic and Sally arrived at the wharf, where Gust, Sealia, Guntiver, and a few members of the Brain Trust and the rescue teams had gathered.

"Hey guys!" Sonic greeted. "Sorry we're late!"

"There you are!" Tails remarked.

"Tails, I was in the middle of dealing with several important messages!" Sally objected.

"Sorry, but this is pretty big!" Tails pointed to a huge ship docked in the harbor. "Whoa..." Sonic let out.

"My word..." Sally managed.

Gust whistled in awe. "That's a big boat."

"Is that one of those...what was it...cruise ships?" Sealia asked.

Shorty raised an eyebrow. "Who would be taking a cruise in this weather?"

"No," Tails shook his head. "From the looks of it, it's some sort of shipping vessel."

"But where's it from?" Gunt asked. "I don't see any company logo."

"I think we're about to find out." Sonic pointed. "They're disembarking!"

The gangway lowered down, several soldiers in dark blue uniforms stepping down and standing at attention.

"Wait a sec…" Sonic perked. "Haven't we seen those uniform designs before?"

"Indeed you have," came a familiar voice. "In my country."

The soldiers parted, and Sonic's jaw almost dropped at the sight of Princess Elise, donned in a heavy fur coat, matching gloves and leggings, and a fur cap.

"Elise!?"


Author's Note:

Yep, that's right! The return of Princess Elise. Her comeback in Sonic Channel artwork, and the accompanying more Sonic-esque redesign and Sonic fans accepting her as a result, inspired this.

Next chapter, we go more into the relief efforts, with the aid of Elise and some new and old friends.

Please R&R. Until next time!