Hey guys! Quick trigger warning before we get on with this chapter. There will be quite a bit of blood in this chapter, so reader discretion is highly advised for this chapter.

Chapter 7: Chasing the Brewing Storm

After three long months since his last attack, Dr. Eggman is finally making his move on the heroes, and getting his plan in motion. With a successful ambush led by Raze, Sonic falls right into the evil doctor's grasp. However, with his friends being surrounded by Eggman's robots, what will happen to them? Will they be able to escape and find out what the doctor is up to before it's too late?

In the forest, the sound of explosions and gunshots could be heard as many animals fled to find cover. However, one such group did not budge from their location as they looked towards the source of the chaos until the sound of footsteps soon caught their ears. Only then did they turn as a large, muscular, gray male wolf with a massive mane and brown eyes approached them.

"Sir, I believe Dr. Eggman is launching another attack, near the territory. What do you want us to do?" a wolf in the group questioned with a slight hint of concern.

Closing his eyes for a second, the large male sniffed the air before opening them, revealing a serious glare in the direction of the chaos ensuing.

"I need one wolf to go back to camp to fetch my sister in case there's anyone wounded, and bring reinforcements. The rest of you come with me to the scene." he ordered in a serious tone, "Whoever is out there fighting those robots is heavily outnumbered, and I won't let Eggman get away with murder in our territory again. Not after what happened to my mother five months ago. Are you with me, wolves?"

The rest of the group then let out a loud howl in agreement, assuring that they would stand with their leader.

Meanwhile, in the grassy plains, beams, bullets, and explosions were flying everywhere as many robots were firing attacks left and right. However, their targets would not go down so easily. In the midst of the chaos, multiple blurs could be seen slamming into the robots, either launching them into other robots or causing them to explode. Despite the efforts, more and more robots were appearing just quickly as they were being destroyed. Amongst the group of blurs, Knuckles soon landed on the ground after landing a powerful punch on some of the robots that were grouped up together. Shortly after, Tails and White Fang soon landed near the echidna after landing some of their own attacks. Behind them, Amy and Cream were standing their ground against any robots that tried to pull any fast moves on them.

"Eggman's army isn't letting up. More robots are just showing up each time we destroy one." Amy said, breathing heavily from exhaustion.

"There must be a way we can find some opening so one of us can find Sonic." White Fang said as he looked around for any possible opening, but was just as exhausted as the others.

"At this rate, we'll be done for if we don't find something quickly. Any ideas Tails?" Knuckles questioned

Glancing around, it seemed there was no possible way through the robot army without using brute force. One of the robots began charging up an attack, but then the sound of howling soon caused it to turn towards the source of the sound.

"What's going on?" Cream questioned, curious about the howling.

"Wait a minute, are those wolves?" Tails questioned as he saw a large group appearing from the forest.

Sure enough, they were wolves, ready to fight off the robots. With a roar from the lead wolf, the pack soon made its charge towards the army. Wolves soon dove at the robots, biting and clawing relentlessly at the army. Just then, the young Mobian fox soon got an idea.

"Knuckles, Amy, Cream, we can use the surprise ambush from the wolves to create an opening for White Fang to get through and search for Sonic." Tails explained, realizing the ambush has the robot army disorganized now, "White Fang, as soon we make an opening, you need to dash through and find Sonic. You're the only one who can track him down and get to him quickly."

The young wolf nodded as he got into position while the rest of the group charged at the robots. Countless robots were being destroyed as Whiter Fang waited for the right moment to take off, and with the help of the wolves, that moment was opening up quickly. However, the robots soon noticed what the wolf was up to and began aiming their attacks at him, but were quickly stopped by Tails and Knuckles with a quick spin dash.

"Now White Fang! Before more of Eggman's robots come!" the echidna ordered upon landing.

Without thinking twice, the white wolf quickly took off in a white blur, blasting past the robot army and evading any attacks that came his way. Just as White Fang thought he was almost in the homestretch, a blast had suddenly hit the ground right in front of him, forcing him to stop to try to dodge it, but to no avail. As he was recovering from the blow, a robot had prepared its weapon, ready to finish the job. But as White Fang braced for impact, it never came. Upon opening his eyes, he soon saw the robot blown into bits and a familiar gray, male wolf standing in front of him.

"Perhaps you might want to watch where you're going, bud. You almost got blown into smithereens there." the male said in a confident tone.

"Huh? Blade? What are you doing here?" the white wolf questioned, not recognizing the larger wolf at first.

"Long time, no see White Fang." the gray wolf responded with a smirk, "I caught wind of Eggman wreaking havoc near my territory, so I couldn't just sit by and let him get away with his robots spilling any more innocent blood."

"Well, thanks for the save. I owe you one." White Fang said, dipping his head in gratitude.

"Don't sweat it. I'll cover for you and your friends, so get moving." Blade said, getting into a fighting position.

With a nod, White Fang took off once again, leaving nothing more than a white blur behind. This time, nothing was stopping him with the help of his friends and Blade's pack.

'Hang in there, Sonic. I'm coming.' the wolf silently prayed, hoping the hedgehog would be alright as he sprinted through the forest, following the direction in which he last saw Sonic go prior to the ambush.

Elsewhere, a dim light shone through a small contraption, only three feet in length and height. Inside, there was only darkness aside from the dim light shining through thanks to the contraption having a small hole to allow oxygen in it. The first thing Sonic felt as he regained consciousness was a splitting headache and soreness in his arms and legs. As he attempted to stand, the hedgehog felt his head hit something hard, forcing him back to a sitting position along with the funny feeling of his right leg beginning to wake up.

"What the-?" he muttered as he rubbed his aching head only to notice something gray and heavy on his wrists.

Upon taking a closer look, Sonic soon realized his hands were shackled together. When he took a look at his legs, sure enough, they were also shackled together. Only then did he remember what had happened prior to blacking out.

'Just my luck.. First Metal ruins a peaceful day and now I'm Eggman's prisoner.' the hedgehog thought bitterly, not liking the idea of being at the mercy of his arch-nemesis one bit.

To make matters worse, his friends were out there fighting Eggman's robots without a clue as to where he was or what has happened to him. While he knew Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream could handle themselves, White Fang on the other hand he was worried about. The young wolf hasn't had much experience when it came to fighting robots outside of a couple of dummies that Tails built for training. If something were to happen to the young wolf while he was helpless, Sonic would never be able to forgive himself.

As Sonic placed a hand on one of the walls and looked through the hole, all he could do was wait either for an opportunity to escape or for his friends to come to his rescue. 'Be careful out there, and kick Eggman's butt guys. I'll find a way out of here somehow.' he sighed sadly, understanding that until the perfect opportunity came, there wasn't much he can do on his end. Despite his tough predicament, Sonic knew he had to stay strong for his friends, no matter what happens.

Meanwhile, White Fang blazed through the forest with incredible speed as he searched for any signs of Sonic. Even though it had only felt like a few minutes had passed since he began his search, upon looking up at the sky, the wolf saw that the sun was beginning to set.

'Where could Sonic be? He's usually never gone for too long, especially if it's just for a race. At this rate, it'll be dark by the time he gets back.' the young wolf questioned, looking around in hopes of any clues.

However, White Fang suddenly stopped in his tracks as a powerful smell soon hit his sensitive nose. It wasn't just the scent of one being though, it seemed like there were multiple scents combined, likely from one area. As he got closer to the source of the smell, his eyes grew wide with shock upon seeing exactly what was causing such a strong scent.

'Robots!? Just what happened here!?' the white wolf questioned as he spotted the remains of many robots that were destroyed. Some of the robots had been sliced cleanly in half, while others were either heavily dented or blown to bits. As White Fang carefully strolled through the robot wreckage, the sight of a familiar footprint soon caught his attention.

'Sonic was here! Looks like he was taking care of some robots here.' the wolf perked up as he recognized the footprints, but soon gasped in horror as he realized there was a rather unpleasant scent present as well, allowing him to put two and two together. 'This is bad… I gotta get back and tell the others immediately.' he said with a concerned tone, blasting back through the forest in a white blur, realizing this was more urgent than ever now.

Back at Tails' house, Knuckles stood outside, watching the horizon as the sun set while Tails, Amy, and Cream were talking with the wolves that had came to help them during the robot ambush earlier. Some of the wolves were licking their wounds as a pinkish-tan female wolf with yellow eyes made her way through the crowd towards the red echidna with a batch of herbs in her mouth.

"That should take care of everyone that needs healing." she said as she put the herbs down, sighing a breath of relief, "Thank goodness nobody was seriously hurt. Everyone should be able to recover from their injuries in no time."

"That's good. We owe your pack for helping us out during Eggman's attack, Rosebud. Your brother leading the charge certainly gave us the momentum we needed to push the robots back enough to retreat." the echidna said with a hint of gratitude, though his gaze soon turned back towards the horizon with a serious look on his face, "Although, White Fang has been gone for a while."

"Knuckles is right. I wonder if he's ok or if he managed to find anything regarding to where Sonic is." Tails responded, a hint of worry evident in his voice.

Just then, a familiar yell was heard coming from the horizon.

"Tails! Knuckles!"

Upon turning to the source of the voice, a white blur soon stopped right in front of the group, revealing itself to be White Fang.

"You're back, White Fang!" Cream exclaimed excitedly upon hearing the young wolf, running up to greet him.

As the white wolf greeted the rabbit, Tails and Knuckles soon approached him, noticing the urgent tone in his voice.

"Is everything alright? Any word about where Sonic is?" the red echidna questioned with a serious tone.

Taking a second to regain his breath from running, White Fang shook his head as he began explaining, "I couldn't find Sonic at all, but.. I found something that explains why he disappeared after rushing off with Metal Sonic…"

"What do you mean?" the twin-tailed fox questioned, confused at what the white wolf was trying to say.

"You were right, Tails. I think Eggman set up an ambush for Sonic by having Metal separate him from the rest of us and captured him. I found tons of robots that were destroyed while I was searching, and caught whiff of Raze's scent." the wolf said with a worried tone.

"WHAT!?" Amy exclaimed in shock as she heard about what the white wolf found.

"An ambush!?" Tails exclaimed, just as shocked as everyone else who had heard White Fang's news.

"Captured!? But why!? What does Eggman want with Mr. Sonic?" Cream questioned, worried for her friend's safety.

"... I don't know what Eggman wants with Sonic, but it can't be good." White Fang said solemnly, unsure of what to do.

For a moment, everyone stood silent as they tried to figure out what their next course of action would be. With Sonic under the doctor's grasp, fending off an attack from the Egg Army would be difficult. To make matters worse, nobody knew what Eggman would do to the hedgehog or where Sonic was being taken to.

"White Fang." Rosebud called out to the white wolf, distracting him from his train of thought.

"Huh?" the male responded, turning towards the female, though it took a second for him to recognize her, "Rosebud? What's up?"

"You guys need to go after Eggman. You said you were able to pick up a scent, right?" the pinkish-tan female questioned.

White Fang nodded, raising a brow in confusion before Rosebud continued, "You can use that scent that you picked up to follow Eggman and rescue Sonic. Wolves are really good trackers, and often times if they can pick up the scent of a close loved one, they're able to track them down if they're missing."

"So you're saying.. if we move quickly, we could still find Sonic?" White Fang questioned.

"That's right. However, if we wait too long, you'll lose that scent." Rosebud said.

"But how will we track Eggman quickly? The scent could fade as we follow it if we were to try following it on land." Amy questioned.

Just then, Tails got an idea from the information he got from the female wolf, "We can use the Tornado! We'll be able to cover more ground quickly and follow the scent trail quickly."

"Tails has a point. The Tornado may be our best chance of chasing Eggman down and finding Sonic. White Fang should go since he's able to help guide Tails on where to go based on where the scent trail is leading towards." Knuckles explained, agreeing with the fox, "You should get the Tornado ready so you guys can get going, Tails."

"Right" the young fox responded before rushing off into his house.

Before White Fang could follow, he felt his tail suddenly being pulled, forcing him to stop in his tracks. As the wolf looked behind, he saw Rosebud grabbing his tail. Once the female noticed she had the white wolf's attention, she let go of his tail before asking, "Can we talk, White Fang?"

"Uh.. Sure." White Fang responded before turning to his friends, "I'll meet you guys inside."

With a nod, the others soon went inside, leaving White Fang and Rosebud outside.

"What's going on?" White Fang questioned, unsure of what the female wanted to talk about.

"..It's about my family." Rosebud responded with a solemn tone.

"What do you mean?" the male questioned, raising a brow in confusion.

"I overheard Boulder and my grandfather talking about you about a month ago. Apparently when Boulder saw you, you reminded him of my mother. They said when mom died, we had a brother who disappeared on the same day…" the female explained.

"Really? Do you think we could be related?" the white wolf questioned, surprised by Rosebud's revelation.

"..I'm not sure. I would have to ask them about it before I can jump to conclusions. You probably should head inside." Rosebud said.

"Yeah. I don't want to keep Tails waiting for too long." White Fang said, but before he could head inside, the tan female stopped him again.

"Please be careful, White Fang. We don't know what Eggman is capable of now that he has Sonic in his grasp." the female said in a worried tone.

"I will. I don't plan on letting Eggman take me out, nor letting him take over Mobius." the white wolf said with a smirk before heading inside Tails' house.

Inside, Tails had just finished getting the Tornado ready. With a flick of a switch, the red airplane was up and running, ready for take off. The sound of the engine running rumbled through the garage as White Fang came in.

"Looks like I came in just in time for take off." the wolf said as he approached the plane.

"Yep. Everything is all set for take off!" Tails responded proudly, getting into the Tornado.

"Be careful you guys. I'll take Cream home and see if G.U.N has Shadow on any missions relating to Eggman." Amy said, wishing her friends the best.

"I'll head back to Angel Island. Even if Eggman has Sonic, the last thing we need is him getting his hands on the Master Emerald." Knuckles explained, aware about how dire this situation is.

"Good luck you guys!" Cream said while Cheese chirped happily next to his friend.

"Don't worry! We'll stop Eggman, and rescue Sonic!" Tails said confidently as White Fang jumped onto the plane, determined to help his best friend.

With a single button press, the garage opened up, giving the Tornado enough room to pull out. Once everything was configured, the plane slowly rolled through the garage before picking up enough speed to lift off the ground and into the night sky. The wind blowing against White Fang and Tails as a new adventure began for them.

Meanwhile, Sonic laid in his cell as the night fell, trying to rest up after a long and difficult day, but he was far from comfortable. The shackles on his wrists and legs restrained him from getting into a comfortable position, but those were nothing compared to what was going on in his slumber as his eyes and muscles twitched uncomfortably. His ears twitched as the sounds of stomping rang in his ears, but it didn't seem like the noise was coming from one being, but rather, multiple beings.

'What's going on over there?' the hedgehog questioned as he turned towards the source of the noise, his surroundings now becoming a dark and lifeless forest.

Following the source of the noise, Sonic found himself sprinting through the forest, hoping for any answers as to what was going on. The further he went into the forest, the louder the stomping became, but now the sound of shouting could be heard as well. Was there a gathering going on or something? As he got closer to the source of the sound, Sonic was able to spot a massive crowd gathered in the deepest part of the forest.

Leaping onto a tree branch to get some higher ground, the hedgehog noticed the area seemed very familiar despite it being dull and lifeless. The crowd shouted and howled almost in rhythm as Sonic watched from above. At one point he had heard the sound of a young wolf pup shouting to, but was quickly hushed by its mother. There was most certainly a gathering going on, but what for? However, his train of thought was soon cut off as he heard a very deep and dark voice in the center of the crowd. As Sonic went in to get a closer look, his eyes widened in shock as he saw who was standing in the center of the crowd.

'What the-!? Is that Eggman's pet?' he questioned as he saw a very familiar black wolf with red markings and red eyes. However, it wasn't Raze. The wolf was much larger, with a spiked mane and white fur on his muzzle, belly and paws. In front of the wolf, Sonic saw many Mobians and wolves looking up fearfully at the massive being, unable to move due to them being chained up together.

'That furball isn't getting away with whatever he's got planned with those innocent Mobians.' Sonic said as he prepared to leap into action. Before he could, however, the hedgehog was suddenly yanked off of the branch he was standing on and crashed right onto the ground right behind the crowd. Surprisingly the crowd paid no mind to Sonic as he got up, looking behind to see what yanked him only to find a chain of dark energy wrapped tightly on his left leg.

When the hedgehog tried to get the chain off, more chains suddenly flew at him. Although he was able to dodge the first two, the first one on his left leg pulled him down to the ground again, allowing the rest to get a hold of his other leg, his arms, his torso, and his neck.

'Shoot! Not good!' Sonic exclaimed as he struggled to break free from his chains to no avail. He then heard a dark laugh from the black wolf as the chains began to pull the hedgehog away from the crowd. Suddenly the crowd started rushing towards the center as agonizing screams were heard from the center of the crowd.

"No.. No!" Sonic shouted in horror as he realized what was happening to the prisoners, struggling even harder now to break free as the chains dragged him further and further away from the crowd. One look behind quickly made the hedgehog's eyes widen in fear and horror as he saw that he was getting closer to a familiar, clear blue liquid. Water.

As the screams of agony rang through his ears, Sonic continued struggling in any hopes of possibly breaking free and try to save any remaining prisoners who have not yet met their doom. Unfortunately, any bit of hope the hedgehog had was soon shattered as he was dragged right into the water. Before the water completely engulfed him, the dark wolf came up to the edge of the water, his muzzle completely drenched in blood, showing the harsh reality that Sonic was too late.

"A great storm is coming, hedgehog. Be prepared or face your doom." the wolf spoke before Sonic became completely engulfed by the water.

"NO!!" he shouted as he immediately jerked up from his slumber, eyes wide and sweating.

Once Sonic realized where he was, he managed to calm himself down. Looking around, the hedgehog noticed it was now night time, and it seemed to be a bit colder than usual.

'Talk about quite a nightmare there.. Just where exactly are Eggman and his goons taking me?' he questioned as he looked out through the hole and at the night sky. Although he wasn't worried about escaping, many other thoughts plagued Sonic's mind, more specifically, his friends.

Were they ok? Did Eggman get them? Do they know about his disappearance? All of these thoughts plagued the hedgehog as much as he tried to ignore them. His last adventure still left a mark on him after what had happened as a result of his own careless actions. Even though it was not the first time he had been reckless, that time he almost lost all of his friends and his home. Not because of someone getting the upper hand or pulling a trick, but because of his own actions that led to the Zeti almost destroying Mobius as a result.

Now a similar case was happening again, but this time, he was completely powerless until he could find a way to escape. As Sonic looked at the stars through his cell, he couldn't help but wonder about these thoughts.

'I usually kick Eggman's butt every time, but…. Right now? I'm not too sure..' Sonic said solemnly, seemingly doubtful despite his strong determination and high spirit. Just what exactly was going on with him? Normally the hedgehog was cheerful and confident no matter the situation, and any doubts that arose he pushed aside easily. But now? They were constantly nagging on him now, almost overwhelming him.

'Who am I kidding? I'll kick Egghead's butt regardless of what he tries to pull on me!' Sonic quickly said, shaking his head off of the thoughts, determined to stop his nemesis. He couldn't worry about the what ifs right now. There was no doubt his friends would be fine, even if he was out for the count for the time being. Looking at the night sky once more with a look of determination, the hedgehog knew it was time to get serious if he was going to be able to stop the doctor once more.

Although, Sonic was not the only one looking at the stars in the dark night. Elsewhere, White Fang was looking up at the stars as well, deep in thought as he sat on the wing of the Tornado. The young wolf never thought he'd be so close to the stars, it was practically astounding for him. However, that was not what he was worried about, to which Tails noticed very quickly.

"Is everything alright, White Fang?" the fox questioned.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine." the wolf responded, but Tails wasn't convinced and knew all too well what exactly was going through the wolf's mind.

"You're worried about Sonic, aren't you?" the twin-tailed fox asked again, but this time his tone was a bit more sympathetic.

White Fang hesitated for a moment before responding with a sigh, "Yeah… It's still hard to believe that Eggman even managed to get the upper hand on him.."

"It's hard to say what Eggman wants. Usually when they do encounter each other, Sonic kicks his butt while Eggman tries to defeat him. Even though the doctor has pulled some sneaky traps before, they only worked for a short time before Sonic would usually escape." Tails said thoughtfully, understanding the deep history between Sonic and Dr. Eggman. Although, the more the fox looked at White Fang, the more he noticed something.

"You know, White Fang.. You and Sonic share a lot more in common than you think, especially with how close you two are." the orange fox said.

"Wha-? What do you mean?" White Fang questioned, surprised by his friend's words.

"When Sonic first found you five months ago, I was quite surprised when he told me he would take you in and care for you. However, as time passed, I noticed something was different with him in comparison to how he was after our last adventure." Tails explained.

"Your last adventure? How so?" the wolf asked, curious as to what the fox meant.

"Well.. After we stopped Eggman again like usual, I noticed Sonic was sitting outside on the grass fields one night by himself. He seemed a bit down, but when I tried to ask him, he quickly brushed it off. I was a bit worried, but after finding you though, he seemed a lot more cheerful and upbeat." Tails said as he looked up at the night sky.

"Really?" White Fang asked, surprised.

"Yeah. With how similar your personalities are, as well as how tight your bonds are, I feel you two are even closer to each other than you realize." the twin-tailed fox said with a smile.

"What do you mean, Tails?" the wolf asked, raising a brow in confusion.

"You two are like father and son, White Fang. Even if you aren't related by blood, you're still related from the deep bond you share with Sonic. Just like how Sonic and I are like brothers from our bond, you're like a son to him from that bond that you formed over the months you spent together under his care." Tails explained with a smile.

"Do you really think so, Tails?" White Fang asked, eyes wide in shock at the fox's revelation.

"I know so, White Fang. I've been best friends with Sonic for a long time, so I know him very well. Whatever happens, Sonic will be ok and we'll stop Eggman like usual." the fox said with a confident smirk.

"Heh. You're right about that. No matter what happens, we will kick Eggman's butt and stop his plans." the white wolf said with a confident smirk as he looked back up at the sky, 'And we'll get you out of Egghead's grasp. There's no way we'll let Eggman get away with his plans, especially not after what he did to my mother. Just hang in there, Sonic.'

To be continued…