A Hole in Fabric by sonious

A Hole in Fabric

sonious, Action, Adventure, Bunny, Complete, Freedom Fighters, Long, No-Yiff, Rotor, Sally, Satam, Sonic, antoine, tails

An older Tails from a future where Sonic and Sally were dead and he leads the freedom fighters finds himself transported to the past. Can he prevent the events that devastated his childhood in time?

A test upload, and old fanfiction of mine that I had started working on 9 years ago and had finished for several now. Originally posted as Tantrum on Fanfiction.net

Tails sat behind a tree stump in the Great Forest, a little out of breath. Sonic just nearby was on the stump, looking for their pursuers. "I think we lost them," The hedgehog concluded.

"I'm worried Sonic," Tails cried.

"Don't worry Tails, I'm here for ya."

"They almost did us in this time, we may not be so lucky next time," Tails began to break down.

"Lucky? Remember who you're talking to l'il guy, I had the situation under control."

Tails began to cheer up. "I guess you're right Sonic, I just worry too much."

Tails looked up at his long time idol. The hedgehog stood tall as the light hit him, making him look like he brimmed with confidence, though on the inside the hedgehog was not so confident.

Tails wasn't so dumb, Sonic thought to himself, Robotnik always seemed to be getting closer and closer to breaking the Freedom Fighters' backs. But maybe his buddy's pessimism was just getting to him, at least he hoped that's what it was.

The hedgehog looked to his two tailed companion. Though the feeling primmed at the back of his neck he could not let his buddy see him sweat. It wouldn't do anyone any good to see him worry.

"Let's go back to Knothole Tails," the blue rodent chimed, "I think we lost 'Butnik's goons."

Tails looked up and nodded, "Yeah!"

As the two heroes sped off toward their base of Knothole, a strange phenomenon occurred. A trunk of a tree began to flux as if it were water disturbed by an outside force. A blue flash and a form seemed to fall out of the very tree trunk.

After a few seconds of lying on the ground, the form stood up. He was now in the sunlight so his features were identifiable to the eye. Its red and white shoes covered its feet, the figure was that of a young adult, possibly 19 or 20. The creature was an orange vulpine and even more outstanding was his two tails. His face looked older, his crest fur slightly longer, a strand over his eye. He wiped the pesky strand to clear his vision and looked, confused at his surroundings.

The older Tails thought confusedly to himself. What happened, I was about to fight Robotnik with my team when suddenly I end up here. The fox looked at his surroundings more carefully. "Wait, this place." He said in a voice that was distinctively more aged than that of a ten year old. "It's the Great Forest, and it isn't burned down. It looks like it did way back when I was a kid!"

The vulpine's view met a certain stump and a seemingly distant memory washed over him. I wish that my worries never came to light, but reality is harsh. He thought, remembering what was said so very long ago.

Is this a dream? The future Miles thought. The sky is blue, and the Great For1est still exists. He quickly scans himself. But, I'm still the same age.

The fox's colbat blue eyes turned to where the base of Knothole should be. Aw hell with it, even if this is just a dream I'm gonna get as much out of it as I can!

He headed toward Knothole, feeling ecstatic. Even if it was for only a moment he was going to embrace his past.

Back in Knothole, Sonic and Tails had arrived and Sally appeared to be waiting for them.

"You two, can I speak with you for a minute?"

Sally led the two into the war room, which was currently empty. She sat at a desk as the hedgehog and fox stood there awaiting what she would request of them.

"So, where were you two?" asked Sally, showing no emotion.

"Reconnaissance!" replied Tails with a startling volume, in his innocent voice. He was obviously coaxed into saying that.

The Princess decided to play along, "...uh huh, and what exactly did you discover?"

"We found that the SWATbots are out in full force!" exclaimed Sonic, adding a thrilling tone to his story. "There had to be at least a hundred of 'em Sal, I'm not kiddin'. They seemed to be scroungin' somethin' up in the ol' Junk Yard. They seemed to be lookin' for something. "

"Uh, huh." said Sally, continuing her flat tone.

"Right! But then one of them saw us Aunt Sally!", Tails injected.

"Then they all started attackin' us." Sonic continued his intensity seeming to soar as he continued narrating. "We were outnumbered, but we turned at least 20 of those bolt-heads into scrap!"

"Yeah, and I got five of them!" Tails added.

"Tails was great out there Sal! You should 'ave seen him!" At this statement the kit's face beamed. "Then we ran off and left the rest of the tin cans in the dust!"

"That's great Sonic, I'm happy for you." Sally continued her flat tone. "Now, can you kindly explain to me the definition of reconnaissance?"

"Ya Sal, it's ta figure out what the enemy's up to!" replied Sonic.

"Very good, now what is the enemy up to?", she asked.

"They're up to something in the Junk Yard." Tails responded. "We already told you Aunt Sally."

"Yes Tails, but WHAT are they doing there?" She said, reaching her point. Both were caught off guard.

"...searching for something." said Sonic, his confidence failing.

"For what, Sonic?"

"...we don't know."

"What is the definition of reconnaissance, Sonic?" Sally concluded with her initial question.

The blue hedgehog fizzled out, realizing his fluke, and his comrade took the floor. "It figuring out what the enemy is up to!"

"Right Tails." stated Sally, slightly surprised she got any response at all, but continued her argument. "Now if Robotnik were actually doing something of severe importance in the Junk Yard, and a certain hedgehog he knows were to show up and then retreat, what could he do?"

"He would run his fat yellow blubber butt away!" Tails stated not realizing the hole he was digging.

"Maybe," said Sally, "but if it were essential to his plans, then don't you think he'd enforce the area even more to thwart the hedgehog when he returns?" Following this statement, Tails realized what direction the princess was heading in and kept quiet. "Sonic, I don't mind if you go out looking for trouble, just don't come here and make it sound important. If it is important then report it here so I can have our actual reconnaissance team go figure out their plans." She sighed, shaking her head. "Sonic you're about as good in reconnaissance as Bunny is with computers, or as Rotor is at running. Do you see what I'm saying?"

Sonic stood straight, stared off into space and stated the quote as if he heard it everyday of his life: "Sonic Hedgehog, if we are to defeat Robotnik then we must each use our best abilities together in order to work effectively as a team."

"This obviously isn't the first time we've had this discussion." quipped Sally. "Hopefully you'll actually heed that advice this time. You two are dismissed."

The two began to walk away, but Sonic turned to add. "We weren't lying about the junk yard, Sal."

"That's alright Sonic, I'll just have Chuck tell us what they're up to. You're lucky he's there to cover up your mistakes, one day we might not be able to rely on him."

Sonic nodded slowly and left the room with his two-tailed bud. Sally watched as they left and shook her head. "Mobius's fate is in the hands of a carefree hedgehog."

Meanwhile outside, the older Miles Prower had arrived in Knothole. He felt nostolgic at his surroundings, it looked so real, he began to tear up. Wow, I never thought I would see this place again, he thought to himself. The place was almost a ghost-town because it was just after sun rise.

Suddenly the noise of a door opening caused the fox to snap out of his thoughts and he ducked behind a building. He knelt down hiding, just peeking around the corner to see his younger form walk out of the opened door. Seeing himself confused the older Tails quite a bit, all the dreams he had had in the past had been from the eyes of his youthful self. But this dream, if that's what it was, seemed to be from a third person perspective.

The mature vulpine watched his younger self, who seemed to be bored. The kit was looking at his feet and kicking at loose stones.

A new form then came out of the door, it was none other than Sonic. The older Tails felt his heart jump, he hadn't seen his friend in so long he felt very tempted to run over and hug him. Instead he just shook his head, if this is a dream he'd only be hurting when he woke up in the morning, and if he were real then he would go crazy with two people claiming to be Tails.

The two seemed to begin to conversate with one another, but a voice cut through it.

"Tails! Who ya'll spyin' on?" came the familiar Southren accent that seemed to come from behind the hiding fox.

The future Prower turned around slowly and his eyes fell across Bunny Rabbot, who was giving him a stern look.

Never taking his eyes of the half bunny, half robot figure, Tails twisted around, stood up, and just stared at her for awhile. The hare's view shifted to meet his eyes, confirming what the future Miles already thought was occurring.

She can see me?, the vulpine thought to himself. What's going on? If this is one of my dreams, it's the weirdest one I've had yet.

Bunnie's expression quickly changed to confusion. "Y-You ain't Tails...", Bunnie said looking up at the interloper. She then quickly readied her fighting stance. "Who are ya? An' how did y'all find dis place?"

The older Tails quickly thought about how he would possible explain his way out of this one. He had two tails, but if he said he was Tails then she would either pass out, or would beat him up for being an imposter.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I just stumbled across this place that's all. I can leave if I'm not welcome." The older Miles said, and he started to walk away.

"Now, hold up a' minute sugar, I didn' mean ta scare ya, ya just scared me that's all." The rabbot said dropping her aggressive stance.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude like this.", the vulpine continued to apologize, but also noticed that the bunnie was looking at his two tails with a bewildered look on her face. "Oh I see you noticed my deformity, I've had it since I was born." Explained the adult fox wavering his twin tails. He was surprised he was able to play a stranger's role so well. "It does have its advantages, I can fly by using these things as propellers. Not many foxes can boost about that trait."

"There's more than 'ya think sugar." The rabbot mumbled to herself.

The future Tail already knew who she was talking about so decided to change the subject. "So where am I anyway?"

"Oh jeez, I'm sorry, I got thinkin' of otha ordeals, I plum forgot to introduce my l'il ol' self. My name is Bunnie Rabbot."

The older Prowler placed a fake look of surprise on himself. "You mean THE Bunnie Rabbot, of the Freedom Fighters?"

The hare blushed. "Aww, I didn't know I was famous."

"Ya kidding?" The two-tailed fox said excitedly, "You guys are known throughout Mobius! This is a great honor!"

"Well, this is Knothole, I'm sure y'all heard of it before."

"WOW!" The fox shouted, then covering his mouth realizing his volume. He continued in a whisper "This is THE Knothole? Man today's just been full of surprises!"

"Well. I'll be happy to show ya' round hun." The rabbot said, starting to walk away. "By the way, sugar, what's yer name?"

I'm gonna have to think fast, I can't be Miles Prower too. He quickly though of a name, and his eyes caught his reflection of himself on a broken piece of glass on the ground. This triggered a memory. When I was about mid-teens, I would pronounce the reflection of words just to keep entertained. When I reflected my name I got Selim Reworp, I guess that'll do.

"My name is Selim Reworp{Sell'em re-warp}." Said the newly named Tails.

"Weird name.", Bunny mumbled to herself.

In the war room, Sally was busy wrapping up a message to Uncle Chuck.

Dear Recipient, It has come to our attention that the robotic forces are currently scavenging the Junkyard for something that is unknown to us. We would appreciate it if you could survey this matter and relay the information back to us. Thanks, From the FF.

With the letter now finished, Sally placed the message in a cylinder and prepared Nicole to encode it. However, before she could activate the program, a knock came at the door. The ground squirrel turned and answered the door and saw Bunnie standing behind it.

"What's wrong Bunnie?", the princess asked.

"Nothing, it's just I got somebody I'd like to introduce y'all to." The rabbot says, then steps aside. There stood a two-tailed fox that was about a half-foot taller than both of the Freedom Fighters did. The ground squirrel stood in shock for a moment.

"Hi, I'm Selim Reworp." The fox said, breaking the ice.

Finally recovering from her shock of the vulpine's appearance she whispered sternly to Bunnie; "You know our policies on keeping this place a secret, don't you?"

"Aww, sugar, he ain't causin' no fuss. Besides I found him here." Bunnie stated.

Selim Reworp, that's a pretty peculiar name. The princess thought to herself.

"He says he's been hearin' 'bout us from stories. We're more famous than we thought."

"Really?" Sally said. "Have him come into the office, you may go about your business."

With that, Bunnie left to have some breakfast while 'Selim' followed the ground squirrel to her office.

Sally started the interview. "So Mr. Reworp, how old are you?"

"20, Ma'am." Selim complied to answering the question.

"Have you ever considered joining our little establishment Selim? We could always use the extra help."

Man, she cuts right to the chase, that's just like Aunt Sally., the fox thought to himself. "I would be honored to!"

"Well, my name is Princess Sally Acorn, but you can just call me Sally."

"I've heard about you too!", exclaimed Selim. "You're the one that devises the plans!"

"I guess you have heard of us. I would be her."

"So how do I sign up!", asked the fox ecstatically.

The princess opened a drawer in he desk and pulled out a mountain of papers, causing the vulpine to calm down. "Well, you can start by filling out this paper work. then, after that I want you to meet Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm sure you've heard of him."

"You kidding, only every day! He's a legend where I come from!", the fox exclaimed.

"He is in many areas." Sally stated. She hands the vulpine the paper work and a map of the facility. "He's an interesting character to work with. but many look up to him."

"Thanks Sally." The elder Tails said, with a little difficulty to choke the word 'aunt'. "I hope I make a good asset to the team."

"I hope so too, you should get working on that paperwork, I have some things I need to get done, so I need to be alone for awhile."

With that the vulpine left the room and Sally felt the flow of a million questions jumble around her brain. How many two tailed foxes were there in Mobius anyway? Maybe he is a lost relative of Tails's? Well whatever the explanation, Sally knew she was going to have trouble adjusting to having two of these foxes on the team.

While the princess was lost in though, she took the container with the message in it and placed it into the mechanical bird to deliver it. However, she was so distracted that she forgot to activate the encoder, and the message left unencrypted.

The sun was now setting, after wearing through three pencils, two erasers, and the whole day, the new recruit, with stacks of paperwork in hand, headed toward Sally's desk. He placed the pile on the desk, and his hands felt as if they'd fall off.

"There you are Ms. Acorn, all the red tape." The exhausted fox said.

The ground squirrel quickly rummaged through the papers to make sure they were all filled out. "Very good, but I'm afraid it is a little too late to see Sonic today. Your quarters are to be in the southern housing area. You'll be sharing a room with a mouse named Jerome, another new recruit. Have a good night, Selim."

The fox falsly name 'Selim Reworp' walked to his quarters and entered his room. There was a mouse, about a quarter foot shorter than himself sitting at the desk. The rodent looked about mid-teens; his body was an albino white while his green eyes shimmered through his oval glasses at something he was writing. Shutting the door, the fox startled the mouse that quickly turned to face the visitor, his ears perked in his direction.

"Jeez, don't scare me like that." The ghastly mouse said, his voice sounding like any average teen guy, after he had had a breath of helium. The rodent placed the book in the desk drawer and walked up to 'Selim'. "So, you must be my new roommate, huh? My name is Jerome Thwartson."

"And my name is Selim Reworp." The vulpine responded.

"Nice to meet ya." The white mouse replied. He looked over whom he'd be sharing his quarters with; he stopped when he saw the vulpine's tails. "Hey, that's some strange pair of tails ya got there."

"Ya, they don't get in the way too much." The future Tails was used to people questioning his appearance.

"Ya know, there's another kid around here that's got a pair just like those."

"You don't say." The fox said, trying to act surprised.

"Ya, his name is Miles "Tails" Prower, but everyone calls him Tails. He likes to hang around Sonic a lot, he's a cute kid, I think you should meet him."

"Really? Should be interesting. So, are you new here as well?" 'Selim' said deciding to change the subject.

"Got here two days ago, I was just writing down what happened to me today in my journal. You get your own log too, it arrived here just before you did."

The pale mouse handed the two-tailed vulpine a red book with a feather pen. The name 'Selim Reworp' printed in a goldish color on the front.

"Thanks." Said the future Tails, taking the book and pen.

"Well, I'm hitting the hay, so good night to you Selim." The mouse concluded, walking over to the bunk bed and taking the top one. The rodent quickly fell into slumber.

The older Tails took his journal and walked over to the desk. With pen in hand, he opened to the first blank page and though his wrists still burned from his paper work, the recent events were far to weird to not pass up writing about.

Selim's Personal Log, Entry 1:

Today has been strange. I am no longer convinced what I am living through is a dream. When I was leading the Freedom Fighters to fight Robotnik, for what we felt the final time. The mission was a failure, during my retreat a strange light absorbed me and when I looked around I was looking at the Great Forest of my childhood. I learned that by some odd twist of fate I was taken back to before Sally and Sonic's death at the hands of Robotnik. Maybe I can make a difference and change this from happening again, but I don't know how much time I have. The name I have taken up is 'Selim Reworp'; this is a reflection of my true name of Miles Prower. Tomorrow I'm to meet my old friend Sonic again, and I don't know what I'm going to say. I wonder if I can keep my identity hidden, its not easy playing a stranger in front of people you've known for so many years.

His hand throbbing once again and his eyes growing heavy, the Tails from the future decided to turn in. He shut the book, turned off the light, and rested on the bottom bunk. He was lost in thought about what would come of tomorrow, when he dozed off.

___________________________

Tails woke up, his head felt groggy as if all of his blood was pulsing through his forehead. Sitting up he is no longer in his quarters, but in an infirmary.

"Hey, he's waking up!" a voiced called out.

"Wha-What's going on?" the two-tailed fox said, his voice was that of flashback.

"You were out for three days." said Doctor Quack, walking out of the shadows.

The kit looked around quickly, looking to see if there was anyone else in the room.

"What happened, where are Sonic and the others? Did they defeat Robotnik once and for all?"

The doctor slowly shook his head as a response, his face was looked down toward the floor, and his expression very gloomy.

"Did they get out alive?" Tails asked, his voice shaking in worry.

The doctor slowly looked down and shook his head, his expression, dreary. "There was a huge explosion," the doctor explained, "they never made it out."

"How can you be sure, they've been in tight spots before." the kit said through the approaching tears which choked his throat.

The doctor shook his head again. "I'm sorry Tails there were many witnesses that said that Sonic didn't make it out, only you had been found. On top of that neither Sonic or Sally have reported back and its been three days, remember?"

As the doctor said these words the infirmary felt cold, as if it had transformed into a morgue. The kit who was Tails began to shake uncontrollably as millions of emotions began to flood his being like a cold river. Tears ran over his cheeks, turning his fur a darker shade. Every nerve ending in his being burned, yet were cold like an out of control thermostat. Tide after tide came in, each one bringing its own unique emotion. He felt fury and anger, followed by sorrow and sadness. He felt denial and disbelief, followed by dread and despair. Then the emotions receded and he felt a void of emotionlessness grapple his heart. "Sonic...A- Aunt Sally..." was the only audible thing he could say.

The scene fads.

*******

A new scene opens.

Tails was sitting atop of the roof of his hut; it was three days after he had awoken in the infirmary. The night was beautiful, and not a cloud hung in the sky. The moon, along with millions of stars lit the ground and the kits blue eyes, adding a saddened texture.

"Tails." a voice materialized from behind the stargazer.

The two-tailed fox didn't even bother turning around to see who approached, he could tell by the voice it was Bunnie.

"Don't call me Tails!" the boy yelled out. Ever since Sonic had died, he had come to despise that name. Whether it was because he felt responsible for his friend's death and felt no longer deserving of the title he gave to him, or just the fact the name itself reminded him of the hedgehog didn't matter. He wished to be called by his name of Miles, and it was something he had told everyone.

"Sorry Miles." Bunnie apologized. "You know you don't have to tear 'yer self up over it."

"...and why not? I was there, but I didn't save him."

"We don't know much about what happened, but you were unconscious at the time of the explosion. So you couldn't have been able to save him." the rabbot pointed out.

"If I wasn't so weak then things would have been different." Tails said. He wasn't sure if he was more angry with himself or with this comrade interloping on his thoughts.

Bunnie was becoming slightly agitated herself. "Listen Prower, 'ya know that 'yer the next one to take command of our l'il ol' group. We can't 'ave a leader who's always eatin' at himself."

"Would you just shut up!" Tails yelled. "You guys want me to just drop everything and pick up this responsibility, what if I screw up?"

"Sonic had confidence in ya'," The rabbot said, "Why can't ya' have confidence in yerself? It's been hard on all us Miles, Sonic's death has dealt a huge ol' blow to our morale. Yet, Sonic ain't dead kid. His glow shines from within yerself. I think ya are going to be as great as him, he made sure that ya would." And with the ending of her speech, she jumped to the ground and walked off to her hut.

After she had moved a bit away, he finally replied to her words, "Thanks Bunnie." Though she was far from him, her words made a separate presence. "I'm just scared, I never thought I'd have to face this challenge of leadership alone..."

The two-tailed kit leaned back and stared at the stars again, his tails moved slowly. He'd known Sonic since he was eight, him being gone was seemed so unreal.

A light streaked across the sky, cutting through the thoughts of the young one. It was a shooting star; there was no doubt about it. The beam of light reflected off the pupil of the kit as he made his wish. I wish I could have saved Sonic and Sally from their fate six days ago, he thought, as a tear rolled down his cheek, realizing what he wanted would be impossible to grant.

__________________________

"Get up man." A voice called through the memoir of the dreams. The older vulpine groaned, he was so tired, he'd been tired his whole life. Tired of the struggle of everyday life, why can't everyone just leave him be. "We're gonna be late!" The voice cried.

The future Tails snapped up, hitting his head on the top bunk. He looked toward the voices direction, and he saw the green eyes of the albino mouse looking at him. "Late? For what?" The fox growned.

"For the perliminaries. You didn't forget did you?"

"Oh, man." 'Selim' slowly sat up and put on his shoes. Though he was tired, he wouldn't miss the opportunity to see Sonic once again. He and Jerome left together and headed for the meeting spot in front of the quarters.

"So are you nervous?" Asked the pale mouse.

"I don't know, I'm kind of worried what Sonic will think of me." The vulpine stated.

"Hah, first things first. I'm just nervous about seeing him." said Jerome, "I've heard so many stories about him and how he has thwarted Robotnik. And now I'm going to actually meet him in the flesh. That alone makes me nervous."

Though he has met him before, the future Tails felt nervous about meeting his old friend again. "Me too." was all he could say.

They were now outside, and just five yards infront of the door was a line of about twenty other strangers. Jerome and 'Selim' got into the line, and a few figures were approaching from the distance. At first it was hard to make them out, because the rising sun was right behind them, but as they came closer the vulpine recognized them. Sonic and Tail's younger self were dashing in, leaving a dust cloud behind them. Sally, Bunnie, Rotor, and Antoine followed suit at a more averge pace. Of course Sonic and the younger Tails got their first.

The line of recruits stood in awe at the sheer speed, except 'Selim' of course he just smiled. Sonic started look across the line. "Well, let's see who we got this time." His gaze then glued when he came across the recruit from the future. Surprisingly slow, Sonic walked up to the vulpine.

"And who might you be?"

"Selim Reworp, sir." The fox choked out.

"I noticed you have two tails. What do ya think you're trin' to pull?" the hedgehog seemed upset. "Are ya' pokin' fun at my bud, 'cause if you are I'm gonna knock your teeth out."

"I was born this way sir, I didn't mean to insult anyone." the older Tails said simply. He then felt a tug from behind. Spinning around he saw his younger self tugging at his tails.

"They're real Sonic!" the kit said excitedly.

"Get away form 'im little bro. I don't trust him." Sonic siad in a dangerous tone. The kit listened to his bud and returned to his side.

"Man Sonic, I don't even have the chance to welcome our recruits and you're already started to badger them." came Sally's voice as she arrived. "I see you've found Selim."

"Ya' Sal I did." was all Sonic muttered as he walked away.

Well. That went well. thought the older Tails shaking his head.

The sun was a little higher in the sky as recruits stood, awaiting the meeting commencement. The elder vulpine was still puzzling over the confrontation with his old commrade earlier. He almost felt as if he were going to break down. He had dreamed his whole life of seeing Sonic again, and now that he did get to see him again...

"Hey, you alright?" came a nearby voice. The fox looked over his right shoulder to see Jerome giving a concerned look.

"It's nothing." 'Selim' stated in a cold voice.

"You didn't expect him to welcome you with open arms did you?" Jerome questioned. "He doesn't even know you."

In a way, the future Tails knew the mouse was right. To Sonic, he was Selim Reworp. A stranger with two tails. On the other hand, Sonic was his long lost friend and the two had been buds for years. Sonic might not be dead here, but the fox's identity as his bud was.

"Attention recruits!" called Sally, initiating the meeting.

With the ground squirrel's call came the line's full alertness. 'Selim' stood straighter then any of the others, his height was greater than most in the line. Sally walked up and down the line to make sure all were mentally focused and ready to listen. She then began her speech which 'Selim' knew word for word.

"Welcome to Knothole fellow Mobians. Today, you are going to try out in order to become one with our Freedom Fighter force. Unfortunatly, we have limited rooms and supplies so we are forced to chose between you and the people that stand beside you at this moment. Don't feel ashamed if you fail here, it took a lot of will and dedication for all of you to make it this far. We only have room for four canidates this month, and as you can see there are about twenty of you. Being the best one out of five will not be an easy task, and I wish all of you good luck." The princess concluded.

"For ze first test." Antoine stated. "you whel hav to run ze race."

Sonic took over the explaination. "All right, listen up! You are to run a mile course that starts at this flag pole." The hedgehog indicated the flag pole in front of the sleeping quarters. "You'll head straight across Knothole between the cones set up. Enter the forest and go up a steep incline for about a quarter mile. Touch an indicator with your initials on it and touch the pole. Sally will watch the pole, Tails is up by the indicators to make sure ya guys don't cheat, and I'll be moving with ya guys to make sure all is going smoothly. Pace yourselves, don't go an' waste all of your energy before the hill, and you'll all do just fine."

As he concluded the hedgehog walked toward the line and passed by the older Tails. "An' I'll be keepin' an extra close eye on you S'lim." Said the hedgehog dangerously. While the statement did make the task feel more foreboding on the vulpine, it did have it's humorous quality. Sonic had already came up with a shortened version of the fabricated name.

******

The competitors were all prepared to go. Sally stood ready to signal the start. The older Miles knew that he shouldn't overdo it, if he were to go at full speed it would arouse suspicion. And if this was the past he should try not to greatly intevene in the events that accurd.

"Ready...Set..."

The vulpine's heart raced, how slow did he have to go to seem like an average joe?

"Go!" Said Sally signalling for all to begin their jog.

As the group started their trek, the future Miles was sure to keep an eye on his fellow draftees, he kept toward the fourth position, making sure to keep his feet at the torturously slow pace.

The recruit in first was obviously sprinting, he got really tired really quickly and slowed down, raising the vulpine to third. 'Selim' looked to see that most of the leaders were breathing pretty heavily, their exhales were showing up in condensation clouds. Though he wasn't even in dire need of oxygen yet he tried to simulate heavy breath.

"Hey!" Came a voice from behind. Jerome was surprisingly gaining pace on the leaders and he came up next to the fox. "Got some... fast people... here."

"Don't talk a lot," The vulpine advised. "You run short of breath that way."

Suddenly a blue hedgehog 'ran' up next to the pair, obviously bored of this jogging already. "Hey Slim, you don't appear to even be breaking a sweat. What ya holdin' for?"

The older fox, tried his best to act tired suddenly. "Honestly. Mr. Hedgehog... this is my... fastest."

The hedgehog got in front of the two suddenly. "That's disappointin'. I know a good runner when I see one. If this is all you got, I'll be sure yere cut."

"He's in third ain't he." Jerome stated.

"I don't care. If he can't even beat the lead man by one minute, I'm gonna disqualify ya'. and if he doesn't show me his full speed, I'll disqualify you too, whitey."

"That's rediculous." Jerome weezed.

"I know you don't like me!" The older Tails yelled, suddenly getting defensive and stopping his running, Jerome following suit. "But don't you bring my friends into this!"

The three suddenly noticed that all the sixteen racers behind them had stopped. 'Selim' sighed, he was already causing a scene.

"Then get going. I'm counting to three." The hedgehog said, starting the countdown.

The fox's mind raced, he didn't want Jerome to lose his recrution, and he definatly didn't want to lose his. Then again if he went all out he'd be morphing history.

"One."

He could try to get just a minute ahead of the guy in first, but who knows how far he was during this long talk. The leader was in the forest somewhere that's all he knew.

"Two."

Sonic had a good eye for runners, that was certain, if only he had learned to act earlier. As the final second ticked away a memory came to him, about Jerome. The mouse was a freedom fighter, he barely got fifth in the points. He got third in the running event, which was a reason he had gotten on the Fighter's team. So if he went, he'd change history, and if he didn't it would also change.

"Thre-"

"ALRIGHT!" cried the vulpine, in the nick of time. "I'll do it!"

Sonic smirked. "That's better, now let's see if you're worthy of those tails."

Something about the last comment set it off. The future Tails, uncaring on what the consequences were, wound up his tails and blasted off. All of the spectators, Jerome and Sonic were all thrown backward about a yard from the sudden concusion wave brought forth by the vulpine's speed burst.

The young tails was waiting near the counsels, bored to death of all the waiting for the impending slowmos. He looked at the ground and sighed to himself when suddenly, a hardly noticable blur shot at him and went back to where it came from in the next instance. Then there was silence.

"What was-" The young one started in when a harsh microburst knocked him backward. He hit the ground with a sudden crunch of leaves and grass. He opened his eyes and looked at the sky. Blinking twice, trying to contemplate what had just happened, he slowly regained his footing.

The kit brushed himself off and walked forward, loose debris and leaves still steadily rustling about from the sudden blast. "What's going on?"

Just out of a strange curiousity he looked upon the counsels. And a little to his surprise a new one seemed to be lit, SR. A sudden wondering on who this SR person was rose up in Tail's head, and ignoring his orders to watch the counsils, he wound his tails and began to fly down the hill, back to knothole.

Sonic, who was caught off guard for a minute stood up, along with everyone else in the race. The wind whipped them one direction, then the next second they were whipped the opposite way. The hedgehog looked up the forested hill to discover a cloud of leaves and other debris misting down to the ground. Dust was thick in the air, as if a tornado had just whipped through. However, what confused the hedgehog most was that it only lasted a few seconds then it was quiet again. He looked over his shoulder to find a skid mark, sizzling from friction lead past to the finish line where the older Tails stood.

'Selim' was already finished. The older vulpine just stood there a look of neither victory or defeat on his face. What have I done?, He thought to himself as he looked up the racing trail, the trees on the course devoid of leaves. Now I have some explaining to do.

An eerie silence floated through the area, and the Tails from the future knew he was in for it now. In his head he was cursing himself for losing control of his emotions and letting them drive him. He sighed quietly; there was no taking it back now.

The blue hedgehog was the first to recover from his utter shock and he walked over to where the two-tailed stranger stood. Sonic looked up to him for just a second then turned around and crossed his arms. "I don't know who you are, or where you came from." the hedgehog stated. "But I would suggest you start talking before I start knockin' some teeth out."

'Selim' was now really nervous. How was he going to explain himself out of this one? "I've been running my whole life sir." was the best response the vulpine could give, and in a way it was true.

By this time most of the Freedom Fighters that had been busy with other ordeals had arrived on the scene of commotion. Sonic seemed bitter and unconvinced. "I bet, and I've never heard of ya before. I think you're a robot sent her by old 'butnik to catch me off guard."

The older vulpine couldn't believe what he was hearing. This Sonic wasn't like the one he had remembered; the one he had seen as a friend. Selim didn't know whether to run up and sock the jerk or to sob in realization that his friend wouldn't even recognize him as a Mobian.

"What's going on here?" came a voice from behind the hedgehog. "You're not showing off again are you Sonic?"

The hedgehog turned to face the ground squirrel that had asked the question and shook his head. "It's this character that's showin' off." Sonic muttered.

Just then a puttering could be heard in the distance, the group turned to see the young Prower flying down the hill. The kit landed on the ground by the group and promptly asked who SR was. The older vulpine only nodded in response, as if he could hide his gift of speed longer. Then silence returned to the group.

The silence was broken as a few figures came running down the hill. It was the two runners that were ahead of the vulpine when the scene broke out. Surprisingly enough there was a third person, the albino mouse. Noticing this Selim felt like laughing, Jerome had taken advantage of the distraction he was creating and continued the hike while everyone was gaping at him.

Sally had finally spoken up. "You're the one who did that Selim?"

Once again the fox only nodded in response. What was going to happen now?

"Wow!" came the little Tails's voice. "You're about as fast as Sonic!"

Selim kind of blushed at the statement. This was the first time he actually heard someone compare him to Sonic, especially since in the time he was from the hedgehog had long been deceased.

"Stay away from him Tails." Sonic said once again. "I don't trust him."

The princess decided to get everything back in order and she called out to the gaping crowd that the race was still on so they should stop gawking. The crowd slowly got back to running their race, though the first four spots were already in.

Jerome came up behind the older vulpine and smacked him on the back. "Where'd you learn to move so quick?" He asked with a laugh.

"Well after the rest get in we should move on to the next task." Sally stated, changing the subject. "We have a written examination to take."

Selim sighed, more writing, just great.

The room held a stagnant air to it, especially since it was so quiet. The vulpine from the future barely fit in the cold chair, which he had to sit in for the next two hours. Before him was a small desk with a pamphlet of questions that were all multiple choice.

God, this is so easy. was all the fox could think as he sifted through the questions. However, it had dawned upon him that everyone was already looking him with suspicion, and if he had passed with flying colors then he'd really be questioned. He looked at the first question and it kind of pained him, but he purposely selected the wrong answer. If he did that for the whole test then he might be able to hide his identity longer. It wasn't always easy though; sometimes he'd scribble in the right answer before even thinking about it, especially on questions about aviation. He'd then have to erase the answer and fill in the wrong one.

Selim was the first one done, since he had already known the answers to a majority of the questions. Then he had to wait one more grueling hour for the official finish. The fox noted that Sonic was nowhere in sight, obviously because he couldn't really wait on stuff like this. He was probably running around somewhere with the young Tails. Selim sighed; he wished he could live with the same blissful ignorance as he had before.

The two hours were finally up and everyone cleared out, handing in what they had done. After filing out there was the normal chatter about how so and so thought they did. Jerome found Selim and came to tell him his thoughts of the test.

"Geez, that was tough. they expect us to be geniuses or something?" The albino mouse asked with a shrewd laugh.

"It's only an evaluation, they just want to see who more intelligent than who." The vulpine replied.

"I've never really been that smart," Jerome confessed. "I'm better at target shooting myself."

A few minutes later, Princess Acorn had arrived before the crowd and told them that the results were on their way and that the preliminaries were now complete. They were then dismissed and the crowd began to disperse into the town under the afternoon sun. Selim then felt a hand on his shoulder.

The vulpine spun around to see Sally standing behind him, "Hold on a second," she said with little emotion. "I want you in my office in the next ten minutes, I need to speak to you."

With those instructions the ground squirrel walk off. Jerome overheard the whole thing. "Wow," he gaped, "you've already gotten the honor of speaking to her highness. I guess you really caught her eye."

The fox shook his head, "Either that or I'm gonna get lectured."

"After that run this morning? I highly doubt it, I bet you made it hands down."

Selim pretended to be comforted by the mouse. "Ya, I guess you're right." However, inside, the two-tailed vulpine knew it was probably something that she figured out. Sally had used that tone when she was about to lecture him for doing something wrong.

The door to Sally's office slowly creeped open, and the older Tails peeked in.

"Come in, Selim." said a voice from within the room. The fox complied and walked up to the desk. He noticed that Nicole was sitting upon it, giving a strange eerie glow to the princess's face. She looked up to the vulpine with a stern look causing the fox to catch a chill, now he knew he was in trouble.

"I checked Nicole's records, and it has found no records of a Mobian named Selim Reworp, actually it had found no records of anyone by the name of Reworp." Sally stated flatly.

Oh crap. Selim thought.

The older Tails slouched in his seat slightly; he was in a tight spot. His mind raced quickly as he tried to pull something out of the hat, something that would cover him and ensure that the future wouldn't be negatively impacted. He thought of something, however when it came out it was all over.

"But Au- uh Sally..." Tails said before biting his tongue, he knew he had blown his cover wide open.

Sally jumped up with a quick laugh startling Selim. "Au-uh? You were gonna say aunt weren't you?" She smiled. "Actually I knew you were Tails from the start, it was painfully obvious. I just think that you have everyone else buying this Selim Reworp bit."

The older Vulpine sighed in relief, it felt like a weight was lifted off his chest. He should have known that Sally would have known that he was acting, she was very good at observing things such as this. He was a fool to think he could fool her.

"So how did you do it?" The princess asked with a laugh. "You invent some time machine or something to correct something that went wrong during this time?"

"Actually, I don't know how this happened." Selim said sadly shaking his head. "One minute I was thinking I wasn't gonna make it, and the next I find myself in the Great Forest of my childhood, one that wa-"

The older vulpine had to jump when the leader of the Freedom Fighters abruptly interrupted him. "Selim you are smart, so you know as well as I, it is best we not speak of the future you have witnessed. By telling me these things you could be causing them indirectly. Time is an interesting thing, we all wish to correct our past mistakes, however I feel that by correcting those mistakes will only lead to further mistakes. You have always known that we are at death's doorstep, but we don't back down, as obviously you haven't. So ask yourself, if you were to say that one of us would meet a tragic end at such and such a time and in such and such a way that I would be surprised?"

The older Tails understood, but was also pained because he couldn't release all the knowledge he knew, all the secrets he had held over the past 24 hours. It killed him that he would have to hold it in, for as long as he could. He felt himself break down a little, his sadness easily seen, it was just something he had to do because he had held it back for so long. He had to appear confident in times of turmoil and now he just realized his first chance to let it all out wasn't truly there. It was all too much.

"I'm sorry Tails, I'm sure that you've had it rough, but we must move on and figure out how we can return you to where you belong, its what is right, you bring here a great risk." Sally said.

"So when did I get here?" The vulpine asked changing the subject. "I don't seem to remember quite when this was."

"Let's see," Sally pondered a little bit. "It has been a year and a half after we stopped the Doomsday Project."

Tails now knew exactly when it was, the Doomsday Project was when they thought they had finally destroyed the evil doctor once and for all. But it wasn't to be, not too long after chemical factories became active once again, and a creation of destructive proportions came from under the crust of Mobious. The Death Egg, after Sonic and him with the help of others, and a new friend and rival Knuckles stopped the evil Robotnik from securing world domination, it should be about a half a year at most since that had happened. However, that also means that it was soon, very soon that Sonic and Sally would meet their demise.

"Aunt Sally, please-"The vulpine began desperately.

"Please don't call me that Selim, as much as you want to, because once you start it'll be hard for you to stop. That is why I must use your fabricated name. You see, I don't want to call you Tails in front of everyone, though it is hard we must learn to cope with it. So call me princess, or Sally, just don't say aunt." The princess said moving back to her seat. "I'll let you go on missions to let you get your mind off of this, we can use all the help we can get."

Miles just nodded and sighed. "I'll do my best princess." He mumbled as he stood up.

"Good Selim. Now you should get some rest, tomorrow is your first day as a Freedom Fighter." She then giggled a little and said in a quieter tone. "Well, not really, but you get my point. Welcome to the team Selim." She said reaching her hand out in a handshake.

Selim reached out and grasped the Princess's hand in his own, and weakly shook. He couldn't believe he'd have to remain a stranger amongst old friends. "I'll do my best Sally." He said as he released his hand and walked out the door.

Sally sighed and slumped in her chair, doing the right thing is difficult, and frustrating. She wished she could apologize.

Tails went to his room, and felt like slamming the door, he didn't care what Sally thought, and as long as he was here he will do what he can to change the horrible future that awaited them all. He found his journal and his pen, the second day, and already he has gone through five pages. He started writing.

Why am I here? Is this some cruel joke, to send me back and make me witness the traumatizing events of my childhood? Sally refuses to listen to me, she knows who I am, but she doesn't know what I came from. She wishes not to know of the future, she thinks it is something that has been decided, that it is destiny, no matter what I tell her that the same thing will happen. This cannot be the case, I refuse to believe it. Fate isn't something that is determined, how can she believe the future is pre-determined when she is leading such a resistance? When she is trying to fight the death of a planet, was Mobius's destruction fate? We determine what will happen to us, we create, we destroy, we can rebuild. The star has finally answered my call, after almost a decade. I will not waste this wish; I will save Sonic and Sally. Worse yet, I think time is short. It was about a year after we, or they, had stopped Death Egg and Knuckles became an ally. I estimate it will happen sometime this week; it was a few days after me and Sonic went to the Junk Yard.

The older Miles stopped writing and put his journal into the white drawer; he settled into his bed and was restless for a great amount of time, contemplating how he was going to change the future. However sleep soon caught up with him and he dozed off into slumber.

Elsewhere at about that time, in Robotropolis, which had been rebuilt quickly after its collapse two years ago, the city was bustling with excitement, well... at least Snively was. "Well, well, what do we have here." he said as he saw the bird enter the city, it was obviously rouge and wasn't listening to any of his commands.

"Little Freedom Fighters must have thought they out smarted me, sending in reconnaissance robots to do their dirty work." He flips on an intercom. "Swatbots detain the rouge aviation robot in sector C." Snively was enjoying his freedom without his meddlesome relative to act like the commander, he actually owed Sonic one for killing him about two years ago.

The dastardly nephew was far more cunning then the late doctro anyway. However, his rule was still well hidden, Snively made sure that the Freedom Fighters believed that Robotnik was still very much alive. He did this by making machine replicas of his uncle, it wasn't too difficult, his image haunted him for so long, his growling sneer, those laser red eyes.

"INTUDER DETAINED." A swatbot called over the intercom. With that the little man told the robot to bring the defective bird to the main chamber. It only took a little tinkering with in order to find out that it had been reprogrammed as a carrier pigeon for the freedom fighters, and not only that, but where it was to meet up with the spy. "Send the Swatbots to Sector E, it looks like we have a mole problem." Snively sneered.

Miles found himself running, he looked back to see that the Swatbots were close behind. He normally would have been able to leave them in the dust, but he had sustained heavy injury, it was too painful to use his tails as a propeller. His run also had a slight limp, indicating there was a leg injury.

Robotnik had caught his team off guard, they were ambushed and they all scattered, he thought he had trained them to be prepared for something like that, but not to that extreme. He knew one of his comrades bought it, because that was what started the realization of an ambush.

He hated running away, he needed to help his friends, but he remembered that he was no help to them if he was captured too, so he had to keep running. A laser shot over his head, whizzing by his ear and smacking a buttress of metal and caused it to begin descending upon his escape route, this was his chance. Temporarily ignoring the pain, he dashed for the collapsing structure, his tails pushing him forward, hoping to get under it and leave the Swatbots blocked from their pursuit.

He was just about under it when an extremely sharp pain rose in his tails and he was forced to stop just underneath the collapsing rubble, which was now descending onto him. He jumped quickly forward as the metal debris came crashing down onto the street.

As the noise and dust settled, he opened his eyes, he made it, now he had to get back to Lower Mobius and tell the disheartening news to everyone. He tried to stand up but then felt a very acute pain in one of his tails. The fox looked behind him to see that one of his tails was crushed between two metal slabs, it caused him to yip.

He heard some metallic footsteps approach; the Swatbots were climbing the rumble! He tugged as hard as he could, but all it did was cause him more pain. He was stuck. Like a mouse with his tail caught in the trap and the cat watching with dreadful glee as his prey struggled to no avail to get out of the snare. He knew this was it, his life flashed before his eye, then suddenly there was a bright white light, he looked in his hands to see the Chaos Emerald he had brought. Then the light grew until he was completely enveloped... and that was the last thing he saw.

Selim jumped up in his bed, he looked around to see that it was now morning. Yawning he climbed out of the bottom bunk and looked into the mirror and started fixing some of his frazzled fur. That dream he just had, that was of the moments before he found himself in the Great Forest.

Did that light bring him here? Or was it something else? Maybe it had something to do with the Chaos Emeralds. He didn't know, but it was the only explanation he could devise.

The vulpine walked out of his room and into the morning sun. As his eyes adjusted to the light he noticed that there was a little crowd developing in the center of Knothole, something was happening, he had to see what was going on. Selim walked up to the gathering heroes. Sally, Bunny, Antoine, Sonic, Tails, and Rotor were all there. There weren't too many other recruits, they were probably still sleeping.

Sonic was the first to notice the vulpine's approach and he sighed with disgust. "Well look who it is, it's Slim." the hedgehog said spitefully.

Ignoring his former friend, the other Miles looked to the princess. "So what is going on?" he asked noticing that the squirrel was holding a letter of some kind. Obviously it was something that has caused this meeting,

"I told ya there was somethin' cookin' at that Junk Yard Sal." Sonic said as the squirrel handed Selim the letter that she had received.

It was a letter from Uncle Chuck and it said that Robotnik was up to something big at the Junk Yard, but security was too tight, and he could blow his cover. He was asking that Sally send out a team to find out what is going on.

Something rang false in the older Miles mind, he never remembered such a letter, something changed, but how could he have affected Charles? He was never near Mobotropolis since he had gotten here. "Something feels wrong." He thought out loud.

Sally looked to the vulpine and gave him a look of concern and scorn, reminding him to not jeopardize his cover. Seeing her Selim got quiet and then the squirrel turned back to the group, "I assure you, Charles has never let us down, so we should send a team out there and see what is going on."

The princess looked to Sonic. "They'll be expecting you, so you should go, and distract the forces if need be. Bunnie and Antoine, you two are going too." She then turned to the older Tails. "You should go too Selim."

This caught the vulpine off guard. He wasn't expecting to go on a mission so vital so soon. Sonic was also agitated. "He's a rookie Sal, we don't even know if we can trust him yet, and you're gonna send him on an important mission like this?"

Sally placed her hands on her hips and sighed, shaking her head a little. "And here I thought you were the one who said that there was nothing wrong with trusting somebody. What is wrong with you Sonic? If he was a robot don't you think he would have attacked us in our sleep?"

Sonic grumbled lightly to himself. "Alright he can go, but he better not slow me up."

The younger Tails pitched in, "Can I come too Sonic?" The young kit asked the hedgehog.

Sonic shook his head. "Sorry T-2, no can do. Things could get pretty ugly, why don't you stay here and guard the ol' base little bud?"

"Aw, but staying here is dull Sonic!" He whined. "Why do you always get to go on the cool adventures?"

The fox's older form stepped in "Hey, you're still learnin' bud, I'll make sure you're ready to come when the time is right, but now we need to keep Knothole safe. That's an important job, the entire future of the Freedom Fighters rest on your shoulders."

Tails filled with pride and said, "You bet, I'll do my best."

Sonic growled at Selim, giving him a deadly glare. "So are we leaving today Slim or are gonna socialize all day?" He asked bitterly, his tone caught most of them off guard, especially the younger kit.

"Sonic, are you feeling ok?" the young fox asked.

Suddenly Sonic noticed his sudden change in attitude, "Sorry little guy, must be the pressure got to my head."

Sally knew that that wasn't true, since he had been under a lot of stress often, but he never acted like this before, he only acted this fool hearty and bitter when he was jealous. Actually, he was treating Selim like he did Griffen a few years back. Did Sonic think Selim was flirting with her? Or maybe it was that he had caught someone else's eye. She thought to herself looking over to the younger Tails as he admired his older self. She kinda chuckled, little did the kit know, but now in a way he was as egocentrical as his blue hedgehog friend.

"Yes let's go." Selim stated breaking the silence. With those words Antoine and Bunnie stated to follow the vulpine as he started to head out toward the Junk Yard. Though Sonic stayed for a second crossing his arms over his chest and griped. "First day here and he's already bossing us all around, better watch out Sal."

Selim blushed, he was so used to giving orders he forgot his place, but it was still kind of rude to spite him as he did. So he just did what he learned from Sonic, aim for the ego. "Oh, I'm sorry, ladies first." He said allowing Bunnie to pass, there was a pause. "So I guess Bunnie is leading now, unless you still want to Sonic?"

Antoine was enjoying the hell out of this; it was good to see the blue fool get a taste of his own medicine. Bunnie blushed and said in almost a mumble, "Well, I'm all flattered an all, but I'm no good at leadin' hun." After the rabbit's comment, Sonic dashed up to Selim, "Well then you better get moving, us guys will go last." He spit.

"Calm down you two." Sally sighed. "I don't know why you two are acting so childish, but you need to keep your wits about you, I could always keep both of you here."

Selim or Sonic defiantly didn't want that, so they both were silent. The princess nodded, "Antoine, Bunnie, keep track of them, make sure they don't start bickering." She finished as she turned to head back to her office. She then noticed the younger vulpine looking at the dispersing group with confusion, poor thing probably never really saw Sonic when he was like that. She looked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey kiddo, you have a base to protect, don't ya?" She asked the kitsune in a tender voice.

The young fox finally snapped out of it and nodded, "Right Aunt Sally, I'll do my best."

The group parted ways, each of them going to do their own tasks, all unaware that the letter was set up by someone who was not Uncle Chuck.

Without further conflict the group arrived at the Junk Yard, they all hid behind a pile of metal debris. "Well," Sonic whispered to the party. "Let's see how many buttbots there are." He looked over the pile and into the yard, the noon sun made it easy to see them now. He'd hate to say it, but Sally was right there were lots of them, more then before. It kind of made him nervous; it looked like they were ready for him. He had a bad feeling on this one. There was a deep pit that was dug out in the middle of the area, it looked like they were excavating something.

"Looks like they've been pretty busy, haven't they?" Selim asked, startling the blue hedgehog as the vulpine was now suddenly next to him, looking at the same area he was. "I should go check it out." Sonic said as he was charging to go.

Selim grabbed the hedgehog's arm; he remembered that this never happened, so maybe the time and way that Sonic and Sally died had changed as well. "Are you crazy, there are too many Swatbots down there, you shouldn't risk it. We'll probably need more people than we have right now, we might even need Nicole if there is something that needs to be analyzed." The fox stated.

Sonic looked into his eyes and just glared back. "Who do you think you are? You come here and just think you can take over and make every decision for us. You are just a machine throwing our force into chaos. You think just because you have the same eyes, the same fur, and the same two tails that you will trick me. I have been tricked over and over again, but he won't fool me this time."

The older Tails started to feel like something stabbed him, he felt almost like when Sonic died, so many emotions ran through him when those words left the hedgehog's mouth. "Why can't you see I'm as much a Mobian as you?" He said, subduing the anger that was rising in his tone.

"You still try, you failed to fool me yet you still try, you want to stop me from seeing what is happening down there!" He said as he jumped up. "Well you aren't gonna stop me, I won't be fooled again." Sonic cried as he started to run down the hill.

Unfortunately for Sonic, Selim was just as quick as he, the vulpine grabbed the hedgehog's leg, tripping him up and causing him to fall on his face into the pile of metal debris. Sonic quickly glared back at him and growled, "Let go Slim," He said starting to kick the fox's arm.

"I can't do that Sonic! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Selim yelled at the hedgehog, "Let's at least make the attack at night where we can move without getting tracked as easily."

The hedgehog got his leg moving enough to shake it loose, but now he was more interested in the current conflict to be bothered with reconnaissance missions. "If we come back at night, they'll just use heat tracking! You just want us to come back when the robots will be ready for us."

The older fox growled down on the hedgehog, "I'm not one of them! Will you get it through that self-centered little head of yours? We can cover ourselves better in the dark, and it'll be easier to distract the enemy to a false heat source. Can't you think without rushing into things?"

"Why you!" The hedgehog growled as he lunged back up the hill and attempted to tackle at the vulpine. "Who do you think you are, hot shot? You just come here and think you know everything, and then you have the gaul to look like Tails, you'll never be like Tails, you're just a phony, created to catch us off guard, and I'm the only one that sees it!"

The sudden attack caused the future Miles to be caught off balance, and as he was put down by his old friend he began to become furious. Suddenly they both fell forward, grappling each other and crashing through debris on the side of the pile as they tumbled downward. Bunnie and Antoine climbed up the opposite side as they had lost site of the two, but they were well aware that the hedgehog and the fox were in the middle of a conflict.

The two squabbling freedom fighters finally reached the bottom of the hill and crashed into a large metal slab that tipped over and made a loud clang sound, which gathered some unwanted attention. Swatbots noticed a lot of noise on their scanners and what they see is a blue hedgehog and two-tailed vulpine scuffling.

Snively was notified that their guests of honor had arrived, as expected. The pointy nosed human laughed to himself. The hedgehog was so predictable, now that all the pieces were in place, all he had to do was make one swoop and soon the location of Knothole would be his. "Prepare to attach the tracker." He commanded and chuckled to himself as his plan was working perfectly.

The Swatbot with the tracker snuck up to a pile of rubble near the conflicting animals, the other bots held back, told to not move in until the tracker was on the hedgehog, but it was difficult to get a good shot since the scuffle was causing the hedgehog to move around constantly.

The older Miles stood up and threw Sonic off of him just as the other two Freedom Fighters made it over the top of the hill. "I'm not your enemy; we shouldn't be fighting each other, so stop being so stubborn."

"You are the one who is holding me back, are you afraid of what I'd find here?" Sonic asked, narrowing his eyes at the fox.

The Swatbot shot the tracer as the older Miles walked toward Sonic, hitting the fox instead of the hedgehog. The fox felt a sharp sting as the bug was pinned into him, it was a lucky shot because it got through the fur and hid itself underneath, completely undetectable.

"Well?" Sonic asked as he stood up himself, still glaring at the vulpine as he brushed himself off.

Deciding to ignore the pain for now Miles continued to confront Sonic. "I'm just as curious as you are, but we'll never find out what is happening if we rush into this." As he was speaking the Swatbots were now moving in, ready to spring their attack. But their object was to scare them away, not to capture. Three of them came over behind Sonic and caused the older fox to jump.

Having to move quickly the vulpine had reacted and he lifted his left hand and something came out of the fox's wrist. Sonic could identify it right away, it was a robotic wrist gun. "So I was right, but if you think I'm gonna let you shoot me-"

"Sonic, duck..." Tails said simply as he shot. Not needing to be told twice the hedgehog got down as the beam went overhead, surprisingly powerful and caused the three Swatbots to go flying back.

Suddenly it was as if they were surrounded, metal heads came out of the debris. "Well they're onto us." Selim sighed as he looked for a way out. He noticed that the way back to Knothole was clear. "Get Antoine and Bunnie outta here Sonic, I'll hold the Swatbots." The fox said putting the laser away, the barrel went back into his wrist and he looked completely normal once again.

Sonic knew the situation was too dire to argue, and was now too dangerous for the others for him to figure out what was going on. He raced back up the debris pile and grabbed the rabbit and Antoine and juiced it out of the area.

The bots started to close in on their target, but the fox, seeing that the rest of the party was gone decided he better get out of their too. "FREEZE INTRUDER..." Came a robotic call.

The fox shook his head, "Later." He said before he sped off, his tails being used as a rotor, and causing the bots to fly back a few yards. Their job was complete, so they engaged in no further pursuit, soon they would return to Knothole, the tracer tracking their location, and the base's coordinates would soon be Snively's.

The humanoid was back in Robotropolis and laughing with glee, the pieces were all in place; now all he had to do was prepare an all out attack.

As soon as the older Miles arrived back at Knothole, the same group that was there as when he had left had congregated once again and seemed to be waiting for him. Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine had returned before he did and by the looks of it Sonic was still not too happy, and neither was Sally, but her look was more of disappointment then of anger like the hedgehog's was.

The vulpine walked up to the group and sighed. "I'm sorry princess, but we failed." He said softly to the group as well as the squirrel.

"I know, I heard, I have set up a meeting to discuss what happened, you are going to attend." Sally said flatly. "Sonic, Antoine, Bunnie, and Rotor will be their also."

The older fox nodded simply, and wondered why Rotor would be there, he wasn't with them, but he guessed there was a reason he'd see later. "So what time is the meeting?" He asked, knowing that he was gonna be the center of matters, his behavior at the Junk Yard was very peculiar, and though Sally knew the truth, she was gonna have to treat him like a stranger. By the looks of it she was already well aware of Sonic's side of the story.

"After lunch," she said, "I think that would be the best time. After we have full stomachs we'll be able to concentrate more on the tasks at hand." She thinks for awhile before turning to Selim and in a stern voice she adds, "And I need to speak to you personally before we begin, I have something to discuss with you." With those words it seems that Sonic sneered, he knew well that it was the dire tone she used when she was upset about something.

The older fox nodded, though he was much more matured now it still seemed that his old Aunt Sally could still get under his skin, even after all those years without her to be the leader it felt like he was younger again, a child to be scolded and he took it with the same head hanging silence he used to. Selim then caught himself and looked back up, though he found it difficult at first, he just watched her as she turned the rest of them. "We're going to have to smooth out all these wrinkles if we plan on doing anything, or we won't get anything done."

They all nodded, they knew this meeting shouldn't have been deemed necessary, they should have been more concerned on what Robotnik was up to, they still had no clue. Of course, in Sonic's mind this is what the old fatso had planned, send in this 'Mobian' that was similar to his little bud and use him as a distraction. "Ya, we should not be fusin' bout some diversion old egg butt sent to fluster us up."

Selim growled again, he was getting sick of being accused, he was trying to help his old best friend and partner, and here he was accusing him of siding with the enemy he had fought his whole damned life. "Listen, I'm doing my best here, I was just worried alright. Stop treating me like I'm one of them! I've been fighting them just as hard as you, when will you realize this isn't some game. All you want is to seek thrills, well those times are over, the enemy is getting more and more serious constantly, so just wake up-"

"Shut up! Just shut up! Both of you," Sally shrieked, surprising both. "I don't care about any of these accusations, can't you see this is what Robotnik wants, to start beating ourselves senseless. We will get things straightened out this afternoon, until then you are dismissed." She finished walking away to her building to get things organized; it was more like a stomping and fuming then an elegant walk.

The other freedom fighters stood in silence for a moment; Sonic was the next one to speed off, still angry, probably in pursuit of Selim's younger self and chili dogs. After another half minute of silence and stillness the older vulpine made his movement to the mess hall, maybe if he grabbed something to eat he could settle this queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Though he knew chili dogs were out of the question, that would probably drag suspicion in itself.

As Selim walked solemnly off Rotor, Bunnie, and Antoine still watched bewildered, as if they were all staring at a foreign language that even Nicole wouldn't be able to decipher. Bunnie broke the silence with a sigh, but it wasn't a sigh of annoyance or tiredness, but a light and flirty sigh. "Hehe... I think I just done felt my heart a pitter-patter..." She stated putting a hand on her chest.

Antoine glanced over at the bunny/robot and then noticed her cheeks flushed a bit, watching the taller two-tailed fox walk away. He shook his head, "Give mes a break..." He sighed, this one in annoyance, though he kind of liked Selim better then Sonic. For one Sonic and him have been long rivals in his mind, and this fox shows up and takes him on, not only in wit but in speed, and it was fun watching the hedgehog get all hyped up. Though he could never understand why the women always flocked to the mysterious or the wild and dangerous. He always thought the knight in shining armor approach was the best, but it never worked, guess it didn't help that he was the one needing rescuing half the time.

The others finally followed, moving to the mess hall after the fox disappeared from sight, all of them hungry and ready for lunch. Selim was already at the serving spot, he only asked for a burger (Which was not made from cow, but more from soy) and he grabbed a cup, not filling it with anything. His stomached ached, but not so much from hunger then from all that was happening so fast. The benches in the hall were pretty full, the other freedom fighters eating their meals, idle conversation filling the area making a jumble of noise. Selim wanted to think a bit on what had happened, what was happening, it was like the noise that filled his ears, all jumbled up. He knew the only way he was gonna straighten the mess was to take a step back, take a deep breath and focus on one aspect at a time. So with that he left the hall.

Selim made his way through the brush, empty cup and burger in hand he made his way to the river's edge, and he thought he heard someone behind him. His hearing hadn't failed him before, and he definitely heard someone following him, but he didn't look back to see who it was, obviously they weren't a threat. The brush cleared to the stream that trickled around Knothole's edge, just where he remembered it. He put his glass into the water filling it with the clear blue liquid. After that he leaned back, being careful not to sit on his tails as he sat down and just stared across the trickling brook into apparent nothingness. He started to sort the thoughts that bounced about his skull like ping-pong balls. How he had always wanted to return to this serenity, and here he was. How he always wanted to see Sonic again, and now he did. How he wanted everything to be like it was before his friend died, and it wasn't. And that's what got to him, that he now not only sees his life of old in his dreams but he also sees it when he is awake, but in both cases it was a taunt, something reminding him of what he once had. The suddenness of it all had drove through him like a wrecking ball, it caught him off guard and made him vulnerable to attack, even from old allies.

What he said to Sonic though was the honest truth, the more and more he brought back memories on how he acted before he died was very churlish. He had the patience of a stubborn four year old and moved first and questioned later. Selim couldn't recall much on how the hedgehog and Sally met their fate, but he knew that it was probably Sonic's hasty actions that had caused it. If that was the case it was Sonic that had caused all this, it was his fault he had to be suddenly burdened with the responsibility that Sally once held. He was in command of the Freedom Fighters for a long time, but Selim still thought he was not as good a leader as his old Aunt Sally. She probably made one mistake in judgment, and it lead to her downfall, or it could have been Sonic influencing her judgment, yeah that was probably it.

Selim sighed, this wasn't helping any, the more he sorted through the more there seemed to be cluttered into the junk pile of thoughts. As he took his first bite of his burger his pursuer finally made their way out of the brush, moving with a light caution the heavy steps came up until they were only a few feet behind the vulpine. He didn't even turn around; the way the ground trembled under every other step indicated who it was.

"What's the matter, Ms. Rabbot?" He asked, still staring across the creek. The bunny kinda jumped at being discovered, but then she quickly laughed a little bit.

"I tell 'ya this darned clod-hopper always give me plum away." She said with a chuckling whine, talking about her robotic foot. She then moves a little closer. "Mind if I sit myself down suga'?" She asked looking up.

Selim shook his head. "No, not at all." He stated shifting over a bit as the rabbit sat next to him. She looked over to him, then turned to look where the older fox was staring.

There was a strange awkward silence, the two sat there and stared at the same brush. After a bit Selim found himself wondering why she followed him here, so he had to ask. "So why'd you follow me?"

There was a quick jump from the rabbit as if she was startled out of some subconscious state. She then turned her head slowly to look at the vulpine. "Well, it's just that the way y'all acted kinda has us all worried 'bout y'all. At least I do sugar, that's why I followed ya. I was gonna ask what caused y'all to get all up tight like that."

The older Miles nodded, "I'm sorry about that, I kinda got out of hand... it's just, Robotnik is not just his problem. He's just so stuck on himself, like he wants to take all the glory himself. You know? I mean, I think he sees me as a threat or something, cause he wants to be the hero. We have to work together, being a glory hog will get you killed..." He stopped himself, and looked down realizing what he did. "Oh, I'm sorry I shouldn't have went off like that."

Her hand came on his shoulder. "It's alright, sugar." she said with a laugh. "It's best that y'all not pent that into yerself. And quite frankly I do agree with ya. Sonic can go overboard at times. And his head can sometimes be a little too big for his little ol' shoulders. But ya know, that's what makes sugar hog who he is. Sure he ain't perfect, but I guess we're all guilty of our li'l old flaws."

Selim absorbs this and it made complete sense, for all the years he was leading the Freedom Fighters he couldn't say that he lead as well as he'd have liked. Maybe his flaw was that he was too critical on others, or even worse on himself. He looked to Bunnie and smiled. "Thanks, Bunnie." He said with a little smirk, he could always count on her if Sally wasn't available, guess he was thankful for that at least.

The rabbot blushed at his warm smile. "Why Mr. Reworp, I do declare, I think that's the first time I seen y'all smile." She said with a little laugh.

The vulpine laughed with Bunnie, guess it had been a long time since he had been even faintly happy. Life for him was so miserable since Sonic died on him, he had never had the time to be happy. He never knew if he'd ever feel like this again though, so he made sure he grasped the moment of joy, like a homeless man on his last slice of bread, chewing slowly, cause his next meal may never come again.

When they settled down a bit and Selim looked back at the spot he was looking at before, becoming quiet once again, Bunnie decided this was as good a time as any. She cleared her throat and turned a little toward the vulpine, "Uh, Selim." She said softly, almost whispering.

The older Tails turned to look at Bunny's eyes, they seemed to have a glow to them, but not one of shock like the first time they crossed paths, but a little softer and uneasy. He nodded, wondering why she was acting so nervous.

Bunnie looked down lightly as she cleared her throat again. "I was wonderin' if ya'll would consider... um, going... out with me... sometime?"

Suddenly a rise of panic rose through Selim. He knew he couldn't go out with his old Aunt Bunny, she didn't know who he was. But what was he gonna do? He didn't want to crush her, and he certainly couldn't go out with her, it'd be too awkward. He found himself pulled in two directions, his heart raced and the silence had already drawn on for a bewildering length of time. How am I gonna get out of this one? He thought to himself.

The fox stammered a bit and kept himself from jolting up, he tried to say something, anything to help the situation, but all that came out was a bunch of useless stuttering and jumbled words flowed out of his mouth, trying to figure out how to put down the egg quickly without cracking it. "Uh... well... ya see... Bunnie... uh." He blurted.

"What's wrong sugar? There somethin' wrong with little ol' me? Just tell me if der is." She said flatly.

The vulpine shakes his head quickly in response, "I just can't... I mean I'm flattered of you to ask, but... hehe... I'm sorry it's just awkward is all..."

"What's awkward sugar?" She asked cocking her head.

Selim sighs in defeat. "I just can't is all, I'm sorry bunnie, but it's a personal problem of mine... I wish I could tell you more, but I can't..."

Bunnie looked away, "I'm sorry Selim, I just all got carried away. I didn't even think 'bout yer feelins, if y'all ever change yer mind then could ya let me know hun?" She asked softly looking into his eyes. He was so mysterious, and not sharing what he was thinking, or why he couldn't pursue a relationship just made things more curious still.

Selim nods and smiles at Bunnie, "I'll keep it in mind thanks, it's not you, I just can't..." He says as he started to walk off. The rabbot sat there and sighed. "Darn, all well, guess it's no use fussin', he's got his reasons, I just hope it ain't me."

As Selim walked back into the clearing he sighed and shook his head, this was just getting stranger and stranger all the time. He looked up and noticed that the clouds were becoming a bit overcast and the day was turning humid. He listened to his surroundings and the birds were singing songs warning of an impending rain. And by how it felt, it was gonna be a really bad storm. This causes the vulpine to think back a bit, to the past. He remembered there was a bad storm, really bad. It happened about three days before Sonic and Sally died, it devastated Knothole, cutting communications for the day, it took time to rebuild, however, it was believed that the strange weather was probably caused by their old friend Robotnik. That was the mission that Sonic and Sally went on that had got them killed. The evil genius put a fake machine up when he got hold of their communication to other freedom fighters in concern if there had been strange weather patterns. Of course, it was just nature, a sporadic storm out of nowhere that caused drastic damage to everything, and indirectly, took Sonic and Sally's lives.

The vulpine wondered if he should tell the others, well Aunt Sally, since she was the only one who would believe him and knows how he knows that information. He would tell her when he met with her, which he was going to do now, before the meeting.

He took a deep breath as he walked into the war room; Sally could be seen gathering up papers, preparing her case. She looked up to see the older fox standing there, the vulpine uncertain on if he could come in or not.

"Come in Selim," she said, sticking true to using the fabricated name of the future Tails. "Shut the door behind you please, this doesn't have to be heard by the others."

That made the vulpine more nervous then anything as he turned around and shut the door behind him. He walked toward the desk and looked down slightly at the ground squirrel, though he still felt he was looking up for some reason, probably because it was difficult to keep eye contact.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked sternly, "Sonic told me you kept him from searching an apparent excavation sight. He says you two got in a fight and blew the mission because of it. He states you grabbed his ankle and both Bunnie and Antoine saw it. I knew I shouldn't have sent you on that mission, but for some reason I wanted to give you a chance and you blew it big."

Selim shook his head. "It would have been better if we returned when we came up with a plan, there were too many swatbots, and it looked like they were waiting for our arrival. I tried to ration with him but he got really upset."

Sally stopped and thought for a second. "He never told me that, it is kinda like Sonic to rush into things." She thinks for a minute. "If he rushed in do you think that you guys would have succeeded?"

The vulpine shakes his head. "They would have fought us off, we were heavily outnumbered. You remember that story Sonic and Tails told you earlier, about being outnumbered and how they ran, well it was far worse then that."

Sally nods. "Right, but you have to remember Selim that Sonic doesn't know you, and when you take charge like that it gets to him. I mean lets face it, he hardly listens to me. If you tell him he can't do something, he'll do it. I thought you knew that better then anyone."

The older Miles looks to the ground. "Sorry, it's been awhile."

Sally smiles and puts a hand on the fox's shoulder. "I'm sure it has, but I don't want to hear anymore about it, it's just you being here has already changed things, you may not know it but it has. What happened to Sonic probably won't happen this time... I should probably tell you something."

The vulpine looked up at Sally with a confused look on his face. "What is it Sally?"

Sally sits behind her desk, "Well I don't think I ever told you but Sonic and I ourselves have been caught in a strange time travel situation before."

Selim looked up at the princess. "Really?" he asked cocking his head. "I never heard about that."

The squirrel nods and looks back up from her papers at the fox, "Sonic and I didn't tell anybody about it, cause with things like that it's always best to be subtle. Time travel can complicate things if it gets out of hand, that's why you have to be more careful Selim. You can really mess things up, sometimes in the worst ways, even with the best of intentions."

With a nod, the fox said. "I will Sally don't worry about it."

Sally looked up and smiled. "I know you're trying to make things better, just be more careful alright, I'll see you at the meeting in a bit."

As the fox walked away he thought of something. "Um, Sally?"

The squirrel looked up at the fox as he turned back around. The older Tails looked to the ground. "Bunnie tried to ask me out earlier today, I mean I turned her down, but it's just I'm worried that she might be taking it too roughly, so if you'd please talk to her I'd appreciate it. You could tell her I lost my last girlfriend just a little while ago so I'm still a little heart broken, or something like that."

The princess laughs and smiles. "Turning a few heads are we? Well don't worry I'll take care of it Selim. I could tell her you're a speciest, or I could even tell her you're a homosexual."

Selim shrugs and laughs. "You don't have to go that much into extremes, but whatever works. You said so yourself I have to be careful and not mess with the time stream, so just tell her something that will deter her from being bummed out about me refusing her is all."

Acorn nods, "Don't worry, I'll tell her you're still heartbroken. Hopefully by then we can figure out how to get you back to where you belong, but we'll have to talk about that some other time, we need to get to that meeting." She said as she stood up and escorted Selim out of the room. She nudgeed Selim, "You understand I can't go easy on you at the meeting right?" She asked as she escorted the vulpine, he nodded slowly in response with a frown.

The princess and vulpine arrived at the hall first since Sally's office was nearby, the room had gotten muggy as the humidity had gotten thicker, you could almost cut it with a knife. The ground squirrel got some fans and started to circulate some air into the room.

"It's a good plum time for the ol' air conditionin' to bust, huh Sally-girl?" Came the southern accented voice that could only belong to Bunnie Rabbot.

Sally nods, "I was going to have Rotor fix it. Suddenly it got really muggy, the weather was supposed to be more pleasant then this today."

Selim nods quickly and realizes he forgot to tell Sally about the storm. "It feels like a big storm is brewing, we should probably bolt everything down tonight and make sure everyone's inside. If it's this muggy that's probably what it is." He said.

Outside though it was very still, there was no wind, no birds singing, an eerie silence lingered about, like the sounds of nature had evacuated the area. Sally gave a nod, "It seems a little calm outside, but the sky is starting to shroud over a bit. We should keep everyone safe and have them all in the village, but we still have to have someone at the watch post."

"Leave it all to me sugar." Bunnie said. "If a tree limb tries and clunk me on my little ol' head I can put my arm up and shield myself."

Sally nods in agreement, "Alright, now all we have to do is wait for the others to show up."

The wait wasn't too long, Sonic was obviously the first one to show, he just wanted to get this over with Selim could tell. The hedgehog was never much of one for staying in one spot at any given time. When he came into the room he was hardly breaking a sweat, since the blue rodent didn't have much fur, and he was much smaller then Rotor, so he was cooler then the rest of them, in a more literal sense. The sound of silence filled the room, a scary quiet just like the one outside, and just as dense. As Antoine and Rotor entered the room all the attendants had arrived and they were ready to begin.

Selim sat there and tried to keep himself straight in his chair, he knew he was gonna be the focal point of the meeting and all this attention was getting to him. Not in a positive way like Sonic, but it made him feel like he was being shrunk down and analyzed molecule by molecule and it gave him an uneasy feeling.

The silence was suddenly eroded as Sally's voice came through and awoke sound from its hibernation. "Alright, I called this meeting to discuss what had happened during today's reconnaissance mission. Now Sonic told me he had obtained no data from the excavation site which is a shame. However, the location of the dig was recovered."

She placed Nicole on the table and a holograph projected up displaying the coordinates of the area in which the robot army was scavenging. "Now this area gave me a creepy déjà vu feeling so I had Nicole scan its history banks and... all I can say is its not good news." She pressed a button and along side the current hologram appeared another projection, this one was from about a year ago according to the date in the corner, and everyone knew what it meant and once again the eerie sound of silence filled the room after one or two gasps, the one from Antoine especially loud. The coyote trembled while the other masked serious expressions.

Sonic crossed his arms around his chest and sat one leg on the other, his foot moving, probably going through 'seizures' from sitting for more then ten minutes. "That's where ol' Buttnik was scrapping up junk around the time we discovered the big ol' Death Ship of his..." He seemed to be the least phased, as if he had forgotten what a close call that battle was, which wouldn't be unusual for Sonic.

The princess nodded solemnly. "What this means we don't know, but if worse come to worse, we could come close to Doomsday once again."

Selim looked at the table then back over his shoulder just in time to see two fox ears duck down behind a high window sill. The older vulpine wasn't surprised, spying on meetings was one of his pastimes after all, though this meeting never took place back at this time, because they had never gotten the letter from Uncle Chuck. The more he thought about it, the more he thought that the only difference that could have caused it was his presence; however he failed to see how he could have affected Uncle Chuck since he had never left the Great Forest before they got that letter.

After about a good minute of silence Sonic piped up. "I coulda stopped the ol' Swatheads if someone hadn't gotten in the way." He stated sourly and glanced at the two-tailed fox across the table, which got Selim's attention back to the meeting at hand.

Bunnie shrugged. "There were quite a bit a Swatbots Sally-girl, I don't know if we'd all be able to handle 'em all." Selim surprised to hear a defense in his case, however not quite surprised of the person it had come from.

Sonic glanced over at her in a little bit of shock. "C'mon I woulda been able to hand a few of those ButtBots, no prob." The blue hedgehog said articulating it with a little cross chop a chest level lightly jumping from his seat.

Sally sighed. "I don't know Sonic I wasn't there, so I'm just speculating. Anyways the point is we shouldn't be fighting with each other over it. Just by the location we all know something we didn't before, so the mission wasn't a complete failure."

Sonic sits back in his seat and lets out a humph. "I still say he's a bot, what was up with the wrist gizmo? Sal, your look alike had one of them, and it fooled everyone, I don't trust him." he said, no longer looking at Selim, or anyone for that matter, it was more like he was in personal thought. Selim did shake his head though, he and the young spy in the northern window pane knew that the fact that nobody knew was not true. For Robotnik counted on Sonic's encounters with Sally, but he could not program it to anticipate reading bed-time stories in an appropriate role-playing manner and therefore he failed to fool the young fox. Ever since that time though, that time when Sonic almost lost Sally because of his ignorance, Tails did notice a different air about the hedgehog. He was far more cautious about strange phenomenon. Like if a rescue mission was too easy, or if a stranger came into Knothole as an ally. Selim's two tails and wrist laser were just ways to add to the suspicion.

Sally nodded, that was why she brought Rotor to the meeting. She turned to Selim and turned off the projection the room turning slightly darker as she did so. "Bunnie also saw this wrist weapon, I'm sorry to ask this, but can you have Rotor look at it?" She said sighing, hoping she wasn't gonna affect things in the time line herself, but she had no choice, it was the only way to relieve Sonic's suspicions.

The vulpine nodded, he didn't have a choice and he put his left hand on the table and it landed with a hard thud, as if it were a little heavier then just a normal hand. He moved his right hand over his left wrist and a clicking could be heard as a button was pressed, a piece of the apparent skin lifted up to reveal metal insides. "It's not something I'm proud of..." he said as he looked down at it with with a monotone voice. "The only reason I have it is because I became careless."

Antoine jumped at the weapon and was shivering lightly, Sonic just let out another humph noise, Bunnie knew what the fox meant, she wasn't exactly proud of her robotic limbs either. Sally nodded to Rotor and he moved cautiously toward where the vulpine was sitting. The mechanic looked at the contraption with amazement, it was unlike anything he had ever seen. It looked like a swatbot arm, but more durable, the skin that covered it almost had a frightening quality of realism. "Hmm... it looks like it's not powered by an external power source; these wires go back into the frame so the battery must be father up the arm?"

To this the fox shook his head. "No." he said as he moved his right hand to grab a wrench out of the walrus's utility belt and tapped it against his wrist, a muffled metallic sound could be heard. He made his way up his arm tapping the metal wrench until the sound of metal to metal contact faded and a light thud sound was heard. Obviously it was only organic tissue further up the arm just above the wrist laser; about half of his forearm was metal. There would have been no room for a battery.

The fox handed the wrench back to its respective owner, who used it to scratch his head. "Then where does the juice to fire it come from?" The walrus asked puzzled. Selim shrugged, "Well, I lost my left hand in an accident and a friend of mine built me up a replacement. She said something along the lines that the oxygen that would have normally been dispersed to run my organic hand could be converted into the energy needed to run the contraption." The older fox surprised himself on how well he could lie, not about how the robotic part worked but about the creator, must be he was getting used to his role.

The room sat silent, until Rotor piped up in a lightly stunned way. "Wow, I have to meet this friend of your's some day..."

Selim quickly twisted the mold to a point that would prevent further talk on the matter. "She's dead, or robotosized, either way she's gone..." He said and down at the table as he closed up the contraption.

The ploy had its toll and the subject was immediately dropped. Sally knew this was made up, but hung her head anyway. She then looked up at Sonic, who still seemed to be unmoved. His arms still crossed in front of his chest. "Ok, so you aren't a machine... not entirely anyway, that don't mean I can trust ya Slim, not after what ya did today." He said, in a flat tone, not wanting to attack him fully while the sympathy was shifted.

Bunnie shook her head. "Sugar hog, he's been through as much as we have, so y'all best just calm yerself down a bit."

Selim shook his head at the rabbot. "It's ok Sonic, I understand, trust is something that isn't cheap in this world, and the way I've been acting hasn't been helping matters, I'm just trying to look out for us, you know. I guess I got nervous; it was my first mission, give me a break."

The blue hedgehog is silent for a good while. "I still feel something false about you, like you were sent to catch us off guard. Like Ari, or Grif slinking his way to the Power Stone. But it's not my decision. All I can do is keep my eyes peeled."

The older fox nodded. "It's understandable, so was there anything else that needed to be said here princess, or are we all set?"

Sally thought for a moment then shook her head. "I think that's all we'll discuss today, tomorrow we're gonna try and see if we can't get more information on what Robotnik is looking for, if it is more parts for another Death Egg, we'll have to stop him."

"No worries Sal. Those things maybe huge, but they take practically weeks to build from scratch, we'll take it out in a sonic-second." he stated.

"I hope you're right Sonic," Sally replied. "I don't think any of us want to live that nightmare again."

The rain had started, and it came down hard, sheets and sheets of it. Bunnie sat in the watch post, the cricket noise that usually accompanied nightfall were drowned out by the constant pounding water. The rabbot sighed and sat back, looking into the swaying brush, a quick flash sliced through the dark and made a horrific crash, it was a terrible night.

She had barely heard someone approach from behind and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to jump and spin around, a quick flash followed and lit up the dark so that Bunnie saw Sally's face. The rabbot sighed in relief. "Jeepers Sally-girl, you just plum near scared me outta my fur."

The princess quickly apologized and stood for a minute. "Mind if we talk bunny?" She asked lightly and sat next to the southern-accented rabbit.

The rain continued to pound on their surroundings as they talked, about Selim's fabricated past. About his girlfriend who had vanished after Robotnik had brutally attacked the town the fox had lived in, how the vulpine had wandered the world, avoiding patrols and surviving alone for a whole month. How he had accidentally stumbled upon Knothole.

"He said he wasn't ready," Sally said as the conversation was reaching its conclusion. "It's just been hard for him to cope with the loss, and he's afraid to lose again."

The rabbit nods slowly. "I didn' know, I hope he knows I am sorry fer that."

The princess nods in response, "I'm sure he knows..." She said when Bunnie heard something, it sounded like thunder, but it was more constant, regular. "Hold on sugar... I got this feelin' we're not alone."

The sound continued to grow a bit, and now even Sally could hear it, and when she hoped this was a dream, a horrible nightmare, the rabbit next to her yelled. "Sally! My Stars! Get everyone up quick hun, we're in it deep."

The Bunnie handed the ground squirrel the binoculars and ran to the alarm, as the rabbit's footsteps faded in the distance, the thousands of others got louder and louder. Acorn took the looking glasses and brought them to her eyes, and immediately wished she hadn't, about a few hundred yards away there was an army of Swatbots. Thousands and thousands of them, and they were all heading for Knothole village.

A deep whooshing sound reverberated around the room, as if it were located under a waterfall, neither Selim nor his roommate could sleep. The white albino mouse was sitting up in the top bunk tinkering with something while Selim continued to write in his journal.

--I think things are finally starting to turn around, at least Sonic doesn't see me as one of Robotnik's machines anymore. I think that got to me more then anything. Also I believe my old Aunt Sally is starting to trust more in my judgment. I finally have hope that I can save them both and give my younger self a brighter future. It's storming outside right now and--

"You're still writing in that thing?" Jerome laughed; "you've been at it almost a half hour now."

As the vulpine's concentration was now broken he left it at that and closed the book, a good 10 pages written, he'd be out of room by the end of the month if he kept this up, if he was here that long. There was so much happening each day it was hard to contain it all within him, so writing it down was the best way to get it all out of his system. He looked up to see the mouse looking down from the top bunk toward the desk.

"It's just I can't sleep, there's too much going on, and the pounding rain doesn't help much at all." Selim says scratching the back of his head... "Wish I could sleep though."

Jerome nods and smiles. "Ya, I heard that you went on a mission with Sonic today, not many of us get to do that, especially not on the first day. You must really have talent."

Selim chuckles, "Me? Nah, just as much as any of you do, I messed up today. We're all capable of failure, no matter how talented we are." He looked up at the mouse who was still tinkering with something. "You're still messin' with that? You've been at it for like a half hour." He said with a laugh.

The mouse chuckled himself, "Well, I tried to sleep... but now I'm just working on this old contraption." He said lifting himself up the devise in his hand...

The older Tails laughs... "What good is that thing? We're against robots here." He stated commenting on an ancient looking firearm; though it was old, it was in good keep. The mouse slid a strange looking cartridge in, apparently custom made, up the butt of the black pistol. "It belonged to my dad, who got it from his, kinda been in the family... though the ballistic cartridges wouldn't pierce armor that well... I've been thinking of more effective ammunition. Of course it'd have to be the same size and all..." He pulled out a shell and it was sharply pointed, titanium tipped. "I tried to see if I couldn't place an EMP charge in the bullet to disable the robots... it works, but the enemy has to be close range, the charge kinda dies down soon after it leaves the barrel."

Selim placed his hand under his chin in thought. "That's neat... I'm not really into firearms; my expertise is more in aviation."

The Albino mouse laughs at that, "Well ain't that a stroke of irony... the young Miles likes those too. Rotor says he's got a very incredible knack for machines, especially planes. He's afraid the kit's gonna out do him someday."

The older fox chuckled to himself. He always loved to work on planes it was true, but after Sonic and Sally died he only had little time to worry about tinkering with engines and things. He would do so whenever he needed to, and learned to enjoy every precious second he got, but when he became the leader of the Freedom Fighters, free time like that was precious. "That's neat I'll have to see if I can't talk to him someday about it."

The mouse nods. "Ya, I'm sure he'd be glad to." And about as soon as the albino finished the sentence, a bell shrilled through the air catching the two off guard. It was barely heard through the rain but it was noticeable, it was a sound they all feared. They both look to the north where the alarm in the village was sounding. "What's going on?" the pale rodent asked, his ears perked as he sat still for a moment.

Selim's mind raced. He never remembered an alarm that night, even if it was a bad storm. "I don't know, but we have to get out there Jerome, it means there's trouble." The fox said moving quickly to the hallway. The mouse thought for awhile and then jumped out of the top bunk and quickly followed the vulpine freedom fighter.

The rabbot was soaked with rain, but she rang that bell with all the strength she could without pulling down the whole branch. The sound of the ringing was loud and shrill even with the waterfall of rain pouring down; luckily they had made the bell so the sound would carry through any other loud noises. It was working and lights were starting to turn on.

Sally then came up behind Bunnie. "There's too many of them... I don't think we're going to be able to hold them off." She stated, her fur dripping, also soaked, boots caked with mud. To this the rabbot nodded. "I know, Sally-girl... I know."

Sonic blasted onto the scene first, splattering mud on everything in his path. "What's up girls?" He asked the two as they continued to ring the bells.

"Sonic! There are Swatbots, hundreds of them, coming this way!" Sally yelled pointing off in the direction, the sounds of the stomping metal just audible under the rain. Sonic looked in the direction.

"They found Knothole? No, they couldn't have, they're probably just blindrushin' us Sal." Sonic said, to which the princess shook her head.

"Sonic if they didn't know where we were they'd be more spread out. This is a concentrated attack!"

Sonic thought. "But how would they find us, Sal?"

It was at the time Selim arrived, the other freedom fighters were running up some distance behind him. Sonic sneered as if his question was just answered. He felt himself grow angry, he knew it, but no one would listen. That spy was able to give the coordinates to Buttnik, and now he was coming to claim innocence, and 'help' them escape to their deaths. He felt the hatred for what the vulpine rise until he suddenly charged at the fox at full speed.

The girls both gasped as they were suddenly covered in mud from the sudden speed burst. Selim himself couldn't move in time as the blue blur tackled him, the noise from the collision of the two speeding bodies almost rivaled the raging thunder that started to rumble adding to the noise of the rain. Everything else seemed to stand still as the hedgehog had the fox pinned on the ground. Before anyone could even move, including the pinned vulpine, the blue hedgehog let a fist connect with the downed Mobian's right cheek. "You bastard!" Sonic shouted. "I knew you were a spy, I knew it, because we let our guard down Knothole is finished." He was about to let another blow strike when Selim came to his senses and pushed the hedgehog as the rodent shifted his weight, flipping him over his head.

Sonic got a face full of mud while the older Tails stood up. "I'm not a spy, what the hell are you talking about, why is Knothole finished?" He asked, the girls finally regaining their composure and running up behind Selim, Sally noticed something as she approached the fox, there seemed to be a little spark coming off of the vulpine's back. It wouldn't have been noticeable if it had been lighter out.

"Hold on a second." Sally said as she came up behind the fox and scrounged through the mud caked back fur to find the source, Selim turned his head to see what she was doing. He then yipped a little as he felt something like a bee sting. She held the devise in her hand, a little metal point attached to a tracer... "This explains a few things, but it was obviously placed on by force, so that means they somehow got it onto you without you knowing." she said. Sonic by this time had gotten off the ground and walked over to take a look. He took note on what Sally said as true. It was a tracer, and a not too friendly one, he suddenly snatched it from the princess's grasp and threw it at the ground and stepped on it, grinding it with his foot.

The fox looks down and thinks back to when they were in the Junk Yard, and when he was walking up to Sonic after they squabbled... the sharp sting, that was it. He beat himself inwardly for not thinking to check himself before returning to Knothole. His presence has already taken its toll, and the first victim was Knothole. He felt himself start to cry, but the others wouldn't be able to tell, since the rain soaked face would show no sign of tears.

Sonic looked to Selim, "Look, I'm sorry..." He said, though it didn't sound fully sincere, but the older fox knew he meant it, it was just that Sonic was never good at apologizing.

"Ya'll know I'd hate to interrupt, but we got a little ol' crisis here." Bunny stated, the clanks starting to become very audible. They would probably be there in another five to ten minutes.

They all snapped back into it as the other freedom fighters congregated. Sally nodded, "Listen up! Knothole has been found, our only option now is to evacuate, now don't panic, we need to devise a plan quickly..." She thought for a bit, she wished she had more time. They couldn't run to the Great Canyon, Robotnik would probably anticipate them leaving the forest, so they'd be spotted as soon as they left. There must be a way out of here, someplace to reestablish.

Selim knew exactly what Acorn was thinking, he was in the same situation himself, however he probably had more time then her to come up with a strategy, but the same one would work in this situation. The fox grabbed a thick twig and wrote in the muddy ground, since the princess was looking in his direction and everyone else was turned to Sally, he was hoping his action would appear nonchalant to the crowd. It worked, luckily for him, as the squirrel looked up and saw what the fox had scratched into the ground, and she instantly made the connection. 'Grif' was the word, and it all clicked, one of the access tunnels that lead to Lower Mobius was right inside the Great Forest, it'd be the best escape route, of course they'd have to seal the entrance, and since the ground was so muddy they'd have to cover their tracks, but if it worked they'd all be safe again. Now there were only some other few problems to deal with and those were easily sorted through.

"No one panic," she started, asserting her lead quickly so that all the idle chatter would fade, washed away by the rain. "We have to move quickly, we're evacuating Knothole." The squirrel had to keep from looking down in sadness, this had been her home for a good decade of her life, and now, like Mobotropolis, it fell quickly. She knew they were being run into a corner, running out of places to hide. She kept her head up though, for the sake of sanity, for a voice to come over the storms and clangs of incoming metallic footsteps. "We're going to Lower Mobius, since the path can be hidden from spy drones, quickly head back to your rooms and grab only things of value; we have only seconds to spare."

Sonic piped up for the first time since his apology. "We should probably get the power rock out of here as well; we can't let ol' Buttnik get a hold of it."

Sally nods, "You're right Sonic, but we should probably also get the ring generator out of here as well..."

Bunnie thought, "But Sally-girl, the machine is sunk at the bottom of that ol' pool, how we gonna get it up outta there?" She asked.

Sally thought for a minute. "We can have Dulcy lift it... we just need someone to tie some rope around the other end." She looked about, knowing Sonic wouldn't touch the water, not after what happened in Hydrocity. Rabbot couldn't, she'd rust over if she was over-exposed to water, under these rainy conditions Rotor would probably have to stand by with some oil to prevent her from getting stuck. Tails was good at swimming, she turned to him. The little kit was talking to Sonic; the fox looked a bit scared. Of course she was as well; she just wasn't allowed to show it. She couldn't put the kit through it, so she looked to Selim, maybe he was still good at swimming, and if that was the case then he'd probably be the perfect candidate.

"Selim, it's up to you, take some heavy rope and tie it to the generator." She said. "When we're done, we'll have Dulcy... hold on, where's Dulcy?" Everyone starts looking around, the dragon was nowhere in sight.

Bunnie smacks her forehead. "She didn' wake up..."

Just then a laser blast was heard followed by a loud cracking sound, all their eyes looked over toward the sound, their was a heavy black smoke rising from the direction, the forest was burning. Selim looked down, he had just saw the beauty of the forest which he hadn't seen in so long, and now, he couldn't save it, in fact, he was the one that had killed it.

"Dulcy... DULCY!" Sally shouted trying to get the dragon to wake up.

To which came her typical half dazed response. "Come on, ma... only 5 more minutes."

"Sonic's whistling usually snaps her out of it." Rotor states, packing up tools that he felt the Lower Mobians wouldn't have, or might need. He would leave the rest of the junk items in his closet for Robotnik to keep, it was kind of an aching feeling leaving his old workshop, when it became Dulcy's bedroom he had no clue. She tended to just zonk out in random locations from time to time.

Sally shook her head in response to the walrus. "I told him to try and slow the army down to give us more time."

Rotor nods. "We'll need it, for now I think I can use some of these hover cars I scavenged to help in the evacuation, it won't be able to carry many passengers, they might be more useful for shoving supplies in." he stated shoving some of his miscellaneous items into one of them. "But we'll need people to pilot each one, and we're probably gonna need escorts, these things have no weapons."

Sally nods, "But hurry we don't have much time..." She said as she whistled.

The greenish dragon was up in a jolt. She shook her head rapidly left and right, shaking the sleep out of her eyes. "Sally? What is it?"

"Dulcy, we have to hurry, we're under attack, go outside and look for Bunnie, she has something you can do to help." Sally said, her voice obviously one of concern.

"Alright Sally, I'm off." The dragon said, moving quickly out the door.

Sonic meanwhile was busy distracting the approaching army. Sally was right though, it was far too large to stop, to attack them would mean being trampled by the stampede, even if he were to just show his face there would be millions of laser blasts directed at him, and even if their chances of hitting him were one in a million, it all evened out.

The best strategy he could come up with was cutting down trees to obscure the path inbound. Usually, the hedgehog wouldn't go to such extremes to stop the bad guys, but he figured the trees would all be burned down anyway, so he might as well use them while they were there. It did kind of pain him however every time he sliced through one, sending it crashing into the path. It would delay them, but not by much, they would blast them aside with their lasers, but as Sonic knew, every second is precious.

It pained him to leave the young Tails behind, he had done it so much, he tried his best to bring him along on any mission he could, and he knew the kid had talent to handle these hostile situations. However, even he felt this one was far too dangerous for an 11 year old to handle. He wanted him to see his 12th, which was less then a month away. He wished it could be in Knothole as well, but obviously that was one dream he could not obtain. Instead Tails was going to help Sally with her plan to remove the ring generator from the pool. He was disappointed, but Sonic and Selim reassured him. Though for some reason the older fox's comforts were more effective, he felt himself become slightly angered. He'd helped the kit since he was about four years old, almost a decade now. A decade of endless fighting, almost the kit's whole life time, he wished he could let Tails see brighter days then these, and he felt that dream too, slipping. The hedgehog snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the clangs coming closer and lasers fire, he had to have his full concentration.

The six hover units were out near the living quarters, and the Freedom Fighters were quickly placing their belongings into those units. "Come on y'all hurry your little ol' behinds, bring only necessities, anything fragile y'all should carry." Bunnie shouted directing traffic; they were keeping the sixth one empty. Sally was going to use that one as a decoy in order to lure the Swatbots away from the real getaway; Sonic would drive it; since he could easily lose the pursuers once they were all safe.

The young Tails was a little upset, as was Dulcy on where they were running to, though Lower Mobius was a good hiding spot for them, there was a lack of sky. Dulcy said she would go with Sonic and then try and cover his escape. She would then return home, she had claustrophobia and couldn't be in all those underground caverns without going insane. The squirrel wished there was more time for a formal goodbye to the dragon, but things were happening too quickly. The young fox's case was similar, he couldn't have anymore 'free flights', since they were going underground. They would tow the Tornado behind one of the hovercars, because if it were airborne it'd be easy to see where they were running to.

They made sure Grif knew they were coming and he gladly agreed to help, he and Sally never did get along well after what he did, though if Sonic forgave him, so could she. Though she didn't appreciate being used to get to the ring stone, he was still pretty gentlemanly, something Sonic notably lacked. Not that the hedgehog didn't have his strong points over the goat, the blue one was far bolder.

Selim was drenched, not that he wasn't already, getting that contraption out of the lake it had been sunk in since Sir Charles placed it there to keep it a secret from everyone but himself was no simple feat. He had to hand it to that hedgehog, he had a head on his shoulders, but now more then ever he was worried for him. The letter never happened, neither did Sonic going back to the Junk Yard, or the secret meeting, or the attack on Knothole preceding Sonic and Sally's death. He had made a difference alright, and they started to become apparent with that letter, and it made him suspicious on whether it was actually sent by Chuck or not. Best not concern himself or the others with this now though, they had more pressing concerns, like their own survival.

"Alright Dulcy pull!" Bunnie's voice called through the rain, a freedom fighter standing near the rabbot as to apply oil whenever one of her joints got stuck due to the water.

"I'm on it!" The Dragon said as she pulled up, tugging hard, the contraption was stuck pretty well.

The older vulpine wished they would hurry up, when he was underwater the vibrating earth could be heard as it shook violently under the Swatbots' footsteps. "Hurry up ladies, or we're going to be sitting ducks."

With that Dulcy gave it one last shot, 'cracking the whip' and the contraption shot upward and finally gave up its grip on the bottom. The rest was easy as the soot and muddy bottom soil was actually what had held the machine to the bottom. With a large splash the machine was dangling by the rope, water pouring out the bottom quickly.

The rope creaked threatening to break as the green dragon struggled to keep the load up as it seemed to get heavier as it left the water. Bunnie stood underneath it, "Now lower it sugar, nice and easy."

The dragon strained as she lowered the contraption into Bunnie's raised arms. When it was about to come in contact a sudden red beam came out of nowhere through the trees and it whizzed right under the dragon almost hitting the rope. It caused the dragon to jump a bit. "Incoming!"

Before the dragon jumped up, looking in the direction the blast came in, Selim used his wrist laser to cut the rope. With a clang sound the machine landed in Bunnie's hands putting most of the weight on her robotic one. "My stars... go easy on me." she whined as she got herself balanced.

Selim apologized and looked off in the direction where the shot came from. "We don't have much time before they're here...", he looked to the ground. "This is all my fault..."

"Sugar," She said with a little strain due to the giant luggage she was carrying. "I think it was bound to happen one o' these days. We come close many a' time, now help me out hun, I'm gonna be a fish in a barrel. I'm gonna need someone to cover my little ol' behind."

Dulcy looks down and nods, "I'm going back to Sally to tell her you guys are all set." With that she flew up and started to make her way back, when she looked off in the direction the shot had come from. "You're right; they are close, say you got two more minutes at the most." She saw a blue blur come away from the crowd and rush back to Knothole, she immediately knew who it was, and now Dulcy knew they had even less time.

Selim flew up and grabbed a hold of the machine, easing Bunnie's load a bit, providing a little lift. "Alright we gotta run back to Knothole." The rabbot sighs a bit as she could hold the largish machine with more ease. "Thanks sugar. Now let's get on back."

The two ran off quickly through the brush but careful not to fall, Dulcy followed behind and kept an eye on them from above. She took one last look at the ring pool, it had already looked more foreboding, strangely rippling at nothing at random locations, like it was about to boil.

Back in Knothole it looked chaotic, but luckily for Sally it was an ordered chaos. Everything was packed and ready; Sonic would probably be even impressed at their speed. For good measure, she set up the old catapults, and anyone who wanted to stay behind and keep the enemy busy could. Many were proud to, but she limited it to those that were trained in fighting, while the important people like Dr. Quack, Rotor, and their other technical experts would be with the convoy. She was going go with the convoy as well, not because she wanted to, but because all the other freedom fighters wanted her to. She knew it was probably for the best. Though in a way she felt like Antoine, who to no surprise, was also going with the convoy.

A rushing sound was heard, and Sally instantly knew Sonic was back, though she knew this couldn't be good news. The hedgehog stopped in front of Sally, "Sal, they're coming, I can't stop them, and I can't hold them any longer." he said.

Then came three more figures, the princess smiled, they got it out. Selim and Bunnie quickly moved to one of the hover trucks they had left open for the machine to go in and they put it in carefully, but quickly, both were tired so Dulcy helped where she could while Sally came up to the three.

Bunnie gasped lightly and wiped her brow. "Now all we gotta do is get the who-ha outta here." She said catching her breath. Selim nodded, Sally looked at the ground. "Some volunteered to stay behind and cover the escape."

Selim looked up and saw the catapults loaded, a new batch of metal eating balloons were created since the new batch of those strange plants they got from the Great Jungle came into harvest, though like Doomsday there was only a limited supply, maybe thirty or so. "I'm going to stay with them." Selim said, "I feel that this is my fault."

Sally nodded, "Alright Selim, I'll leave you in charge here, just have them pull out before you get overrun, we destroyed any vital data and taken all the essential equipment. All that is here for them to have is a bunch of empty buildings. Knothole is beyond saving, let's live to fight another day."

The vulpine nods in response, Bunnie then piped in. "Can I stay Sally-girl?" She said, "I feel as if I could help."

To that Sally shook her head, "Bunnie, we need you with us right now, we placed a big boulder in front of the hole in the pipeline, remember? We need you to move it again."

The rabbot nodded and looked to Selim worriedly, "Be careful sugar, give 'em hell."

The fox nodded, "I will."

There was a silence when their plans were set into action. Sonic got in the empty convoy truck and let all the others go ahead. He was gonna wait till the Swatheads broke through the line of defenses. He talked to Selim before closing the door, "Listen Slim, we need ya to try and cover the tracks of the convoy while you retreat, send some my way to make it look like I'm goin' the escape route, this is my little bud's plan so you better not let it fail."

Selim nodded in response. "All right Sonic, lets do it to it."

Sonic stopped for a second and gave the fox an odd stare, and the older Tails realized his mistake. He tried to cover his tracks, "I heard Sally say it before, and it was pretty catchy, something wrong?"

The hedgehog shook his head. "Nothing, you should get juicin' the Swatbots will-"

As if right on cue, as the rest of the convoy was leaving Knothole a red beam flew over the two of their heads and smashed into a tree, it immediately caught fire. Selim looked over to the woods as Sonic shut the door of the hover truck and had to grudgingly wait. The Swatbots came out of the forest behind them which glowed red in the dark sky. They were here, and now everything was on the line.

The smoke rolled forth through the forest, choking the life out of all the animals, it now made its way to Knothole. All was silent other then the roaring, either it be the flames of the burning trees or the pouring rain no one could tell. There was the smell of burning trees and timber, but the older Miles noticed there was another fragrance to it; there seemed to be smell of petroleum to the burn, which would explain why the heavy rains couldn't retard it. It made him sick, how and why would Robotnik do such things? To purposely destroy such beauty, so much so he'd waste his oil on it. He had no honor, no shame, and ever since he was five he put all his effort toward trying to see the fat man feel the pains of his own destruction. Many times his wish appeared to come true, but was actually false, it made him think the doctor was impregnable, however the vulpine clung unto the assumption that the doctor was just as mortal as they, and sooner or later he'd make a mistake.

Today would not be that day.

Right now, all he could do was try to stall for time, this battle had loss written all over it. Anyone could tell, for one they were out numbered, probably twenty to one, or more. Also they were out-gunned; the Swatbot lasers could fire much faster and with more accuracy then the defenders could fire those balloons off the catapults. The only other person with a ranged weapon with any effectiveness was probably Jerome, who had also stayed behind. The white mouse held a strange looking rifle, probably another part of his collection. Selim hoped that this weapon would be more effective against machinery then the one he saw earlier in the evening.

The fox looked across the clearing at the enemy, he wondered what they were waiting for, they had stopped dead as soon as they were at the foot of the village, which was the major cause of the before said silence. He looked down the line of freedom fighters, who also stood their ground, waiting for him to say something. It was a heavy déjà vu feeling to be back in charge again. It was a pressure he had a chance to grow used to over the past decade... well HIS past decade. Right now victory wasn't on his mind though, or defeat, all that mattered to him was that he save the young Tails from being put through all the pain he had been. At this point as long as Sonic and Sally both survived, nothing else mattered.

Snively was savoring every moment his uncle could never have; his army was at the front door of the Freedom Pests' village. And here they stood, all ready to die or be robotisized. Either way it didn't matter, Knothole was his for the taking, and this time he wouldn't fail. He came close before, this time there would be no errors.

The video display moved down the line of the freedom fighters. He growled as he noticed that neither the princess nor pesky blue hedgehog were present. "Why aren't they here?" He asked himself, but then a more interesting question popped up. In the middle of the line there was a fox, with two tails... but it didn't look exactly like the one who helped Sonic make a fool of him near Drood Hedge. This one was far older then that... the younger fox was already nowhere in sight. Snively growled, he probably should have been more subtle in his approach, but still a handful of freedom fighters was better then none. They were out numbered and done for. He, however finally realized his uncle's sporting personality, he'd let them have the first strike. He gave out an order to one bot to fire at a nearby tree next to the line that should get things going.

Out of the mob of bots a shot was fired, apparently aimed for the far right flank. Luckily it missed and hit a nearby tree, however this was the act that Selim was waiting for, the first shot that would cause the chain reaction. The vulpine opened up his wrist laser; this was going to be a fight that they won't forget. With a nod to the rest of the defenders they turned all the safeties off and let fire on the aggressors.

About seven balloons flew up from the catapults the robots were so scrunched together in a small space that they were helpless and couldn't move before the green elastic material popped and released the acidic plant powder, taking out about three each.

Jerome fired the rifle pressed tightly against his shoulder, a bullet quickly discharged from the barrel and soared to the target. Though it was ballistic, it pierced through a Swatbot's metal skin, and after about a second, as oil leaked through the hole, there was an explosion which completely dismantled the robot. Selim picked his shots with his wrist laser, nailing a couple of Swatheads, though he had to be careful, cause over usage could cause fermentation of other parts of his body as the weapon demanded more oxygen to convert.

Meanwhile, the others were reloading the catapults, and unfortunately this was a long process and the bots were ready to strike back, and that they did. Suddenly there was a sea of lasers heading right for the freedom fighters and their catapults, screams of 'incoming' and 'get down' were heard. Though there wasn't much time to react at all as the hot beams of light crashed into the lightly hilly ground. One hit a launcher that was being reloaded, causing the balloon to nearly fall out of the Mobian's hand, but the bear quickly squeezed it tightly to keep it from falling, and unfortunately the sharp claws on his hand pierced the rubbery material and the acidic powder came out of the balloon and ate away at his hand, which was gone before the balloon dropped to the ground.

Selim braced himself ducking down as the lasers tore through everything in their path. Their main weapons now inoperable and the Mobians suppressed as the deafening amount of laser fire continued unrelenting.

Deeper in the forest the lasers could be heard causing the evacuating Freedom Fighters to jump a bit. Sally looked up and down the line and could see nothing but faces looking down, demoralized. It was difficult not to join them, she too felt her hope slipping from her, but she had to keep her head up, because if she faltered so would the rest of them. She had to have hope, that they would return everything back to the way it was. It seemed so unlikely though, it takes far more time to restore then to destroy. Something that took years to grow can take a minute to chop down. She watched the hover trucks move, slowly so that those walking could keep up. She chose to walk, because if she sat down she would have the opportunity to become immersed in sorrow and worry.

When she left the village she decided that it'd probably be best if she had some of the convoy members cover their tracks. They did well, making sure no footprints were in the mud. It took awhile though so this slowed down their movement, but at least they wouldn't be followed. She didn't doubt that Selim would survive, it was just that possibility that lingered, and by the sudden sounds of lasers she began to worry about the others.

Tails, the younger kit, was sitting down, in the Tornado's cockpit. His head hung out the side of the opening, the rain dripping off his ears. He looked like the worst hit out of them all as he stared at the wet grass, knowing he'll never see it again after tonight. Homesickness set in along with his worrying for Sonic and Selim. Maybe foremost in his mind was if he'd ever see the sky again; see the white fluffy clouds that floated above the sky of the Great Forest. He sighed very audibly, causing Sally to look up at him.

"Tails, are you going to be alright?" she asked up at him, causing him to stir lightly and sit back up in his seat. He let out a sigh again.

"Aunt Sally... will we ever beat him...?" Tails asked. "Why does he keep doing this, can't he see what he's doing to our home?" His voice sounded like one of defeat, he obviously fell under what Sally was trying to avoid, thinking too much on what would happen if this continued. Doomsday was the start of the fear factor that hadn't been there before, a shroud of seriousness. Before now, it all did seem like a game, but now that the villain was giving it all he had, the game had become a fight for survival. The Doomsday Project, The Death Egg, and now the fall of Knothole, each time marked a new high point for Robotnik. Sally couldn't fall victim to these thoughts though, she had to be a leader, and at times like this her role was extremely important and difficult.

She looked up. "Tails hun, as long as we're together there's still hope of victory. We're strong as long as we all stick together. We won't give up, not ever, as long as we share the dream of overthrowing him."

Bunnie was nearby and decided to chime in, "As long as there are people willin' to fight, we'll neva give it up sugar. We live to fight another day, and we'll get all our vengeance."

Tails nods weakly, "He stole my sky, my parents, my home..."

Sally sighs and nods. "Yes, he did. He did to all of us, hun. Which is why we fight, we won't go quietly, though to attack now would be suicide, we'll get him one of these days, I promise."

The young kit nods weakly and sits back in the cockpit chair. The ground squirrel felt for him, she missed her father, but at least she knew him. The poor kit didn't know his biological father or mother, just cruel foster parents. It was rumored that his true parents were robotosized. No one cared what happened to the fosters, they could rot in hell for all she cared. It was sad they couldn't see Tails for who he was, instead of seeing him as a freak like everyone else of his childhood did.

They wouldn't be much longer now, she should contact Sonic and have the others begin their retreat, and hopefully they were still alive.

Sonic was sitting back in the driver's seat, his foot tapping against the dash board. "Why is it I have to wait and they get to have all the action?" He groaned as he sighed.

"Hold your horses Sonic, Sally will give us the all clear, then there'll be plenty of action." Dulcy said sitting in the back, looking out the windows, "This is terrible, they've been pushed back to the war room... they'll be sitting ducks in there."

The hedgehog looks through the mirror and could see the defenders moving into the war room to gain cover. It'd only be a few minutes before the Swatbots surrounded the building and cutting them off for the final blow. "Sal'd better hurry up or I'm gonna juice in and get them."

As if on cue the center computer terminal on the dash lit up, Sally was transmitting with Nicole on an encoded frequency to avoid unwanted ears. "Sonic, you there?" her voice came up.

The hedgehog jumped out of his seat as the voice suddenly snapped him out of his resting state. "Ya Sal, what's up?"

On the screen Sonic could see the ground squirrel standing there looking rather lovely though she was soaked, he could see Bunnie moving a boulder leading to the 'Pipeline Express' as Grif called it. "We're here, and I've had some of the members of our group cover our tracks already. It's your turn, get them out of there and make Robotnik follow you away, then..."

"Sal, we don't need to go over it again," the blue one sighed. "Trust me; I'll keep those Buttbots lost."

Sally nods, "I know we can count on you Sonic and I believe in you, no matter what. Do it to it..." the ground squirrel concluded as the screen blanked out.

Dulcy piped up, "Sonic, hurry, the bots are closing in!" The dragon shouted causing Sonic to look out the mirror to see the army of bots heading for the war room, starting to encircle it.

"Hold onto your lunch Dulce, we're gonna juice!" He said starting the hover engine.

Selim stood by the open door, only about half of their group remained, the rest were caught, killed, or too injured to follow. He helped who he could, one lost their hand, and he could remember how painful that was. Luckily the acid charred the arm to a stub at about the wrist so it didn't bleed anymore. Jerome had made it; he was at the other side of the door, his rifle over his left shoulder. "Looks like they're surrounding the building... we won't be able to hold them off."

The vulpine nods solemnly, "At least the others are safe, we kept them busy and that's what's important, good job guys."

The others were not really responsive, still shaken up by the attack, knowing another one was on the way. Jerome looked up. "Well, I'm not going down without a fight, I just arrived at Knothole, and I'm not leaving it like this."

Just then a high pitched scream could be heard, it was a hover engine, and Selim knew who it was, and by the sounds of it he wasn't slowing. "Get away from the back wall!" He yelled and a few freedom fighters ran toward the door away from the wall just as the truck's back end smashed through the wooden wall.

There was a silence that followed; the robots stopped their advance as they saw the vehicle smash into the building, as if they were confused. However being machines they were just waiting on orders in this newly developed situation.

The back door of the truck opened, Sonic looked back over the driver seat. "Come on guys, we're bailin'." Most of the freedom fighters ran to the truck quickly. The robots in the meanwhile were given their orders; there was a sudden hail of fire upon the building. Beams cut through the building like a hot knife through butter. Selim and Jerome fell forward as they heard the shots coming, but some of the others were so frantic to escape they didn't, and as a result were hit in the back, killing some, wounding others.

Dulcy screamed as she ducked under a blast that soared into the truck and hit the computer terminal in the front. Sonic jumped as a shard of glass nearly hit him. "You guys have a sonic-second, and then we're gone."

Just then there was a quick pause in the barrage. Jerome looked to Selim, "Listen... if we both go for the truck we'll both be killed... you're much more useful to the team, so I'm gonna cover you, got it?"

Selim looked to the albino mouse, "What are you saying?"

The mouse stands up his rifle hung under his arm and he looked to Selim, "Go, don't worry about me, this is my purpose, to help the cause, we need some to protect those that will make a bigger difference." He said walking toward the door.

"No, Jerome, don't do this!" Selim said standing up, when someone caught his arm; it was the bear that had lost his hand, holding the fox's arm with his only good one. "Lets go, we don't have much time."

Selim was dragged back to the truck as the mouse walked out the door, a couple of ballistic blasts were heard, and right before the doors shut the barrage started again and a blood curdling cry was heard, which could only belong to the mouse.

"JEROME!" Selim cried as the doors closed.

"Everyone get inside!" Sally shouted as the boulder had been moved, the hover trucks started into the metallic tunnel, followed by those on foot, Bunnie stayed out with Sally who seemed to be waiting for everyone to get inside.

"I'm going to wait on Sonic." The ground squirrel stated, looking off into the forest.

"Then we oughtta wait inside Sally-girl, you'll die of cold standin' out here in this rain." The rabbot stated, "And I'll probably rust."

The princess nods, and heads into the pipeline just enough to get out of the pouring rain. Their fur dripping wet, Sally's hair looking like a wet rag slopped on her head.

"Oh my stars hun, y'all look like a drowned rat." She said with a little laugh.

Sally looked up at Bunnie and smiled, "You aren't exactly dry yourself."

With that the rabbot took out a mirror and looked into it. She let out an 'ack!' and wrung her ears out. "I look like I done been in a wreck."

Sally lightly chuckled, but then in a heartbeat her expression changed to a serious one. "When Sonic and the others get here we'll have to seal this off, and try and cover up the evidence of its existence. That way we don't endanger the Lower Mobians."

Bunnie nodded and sighed. "I hope they're all right..."

Sally nodded, "I'm worried about Sonic, but I guess this wouldn't be the first time."

Bunnie thinks to herself. "This is more like the 316th time." She then laughs.

"You've been keeping count?" The ground squirrel asks giggling along, "I didn't think I was being that obvious."

The rabbot nodded in response. "Ya, it's obvious how you feel for him hun, you're in love I know that feelin', and the feelin' of worrin'." She was thinking of Selim, she hoped he was alright.

"I think we left those Swatbots in the dust Sonic!", came Dulcy's cry from the back of the truck; she was in the middle of the floor while the other four that remained sat on the benches on either side. Selim looked out the back window, while the other three kept to themselves; it was probably the first major fight they've been in so they were pretty stirred. This was supposed to be Selim's first too supposedly; he wondered if he should act worried. No, if Sonic were the only one thinking straight they'd really be in trouble.

As that thought crossed the fox's mind he wondered why he was still fighting Sonic, he shook his head, he guessed that when Sonic took offense at him all those times his old friend had become more of a rival, and he saw him in a new light. He saw how immature the hedgehog acted sometimes; the things he once admired became the things that were flawed of him.

"Not yet we haven't." The vulpine said as his eyes moved upward, "We got Stealth Bombers on our six."

Above the trees there we about three Stealth Bombers on their tail, menacing, but holding their fire, probably waiting for a clean shot, which it'd only be a matter of time before they did.

The hedgehog looks in the mirror and scoffs. "Caution, stealthbutts are closer then they appear. Hang on guys we're gonna shake 'em and bake em." He hits the gas causing everyone to almost fall over, they held onto what they could as they sped up. The trees moving by making light whooshing sounds as they dodged through them. The steathbots were able to keep up, since they were free from obscurities. "What's with this stupid pile of junk? I could walk briskly and get away faster." the hedgehog whined.

Sonic was never one for technology, probably because it had been his greatest adversary for his whole life. Selim didn't look at it quite that way. Machinery was a tool, it only did what it was made to do, the purpose of good, or evil depended on the designer. He never understood what drove Robotnik, or his nephew to such extremes, to want to make all life into a mechanical order, it was just weird when they themselves were living and breathing life forms. The vulpine wished he could give them a taste of the fear they lived through, the constant threat of being absorbed into the collective of machines that was Robotropolis.

A sudden jolt and shaking snapped the fox out of his daydream. Looks like those steathbots found their clearing, and were making good use of it. "Rotor couldn't give us any weapons...?" came the voice of one of the freedom fighters.

A blast suddenly tore through the top of the rear cabin causing all inside to jump. "Can't you make this thing go any faster Sonic?" Dulcy whined as the beam cut through the floorboard only an inch away from her right foot.

"The petal's to the metal Dulce!" The hedgehog shouted as he dodged the trees easily. He was used to moving through them several times as fast, so doing so at this slow pace was a breeze.

Selim did his best to stand up as the truck jolted about, he looked up through the hole in the roof. He could see the three bots through the hole. "Hold her steady Sonic I'm going to see if I can't hit them." The fox said, his wrist laser was still activated and he pointed it out of the hole in the roof. Sonic sighed, "You wanna drive? If I keep it steady we'll crash!" He yelled back at the vulpine.

The older Tails called back, "Do what you can." he said as he raised his hand up to the hole. The beam started to charge as he aimed at the center bot. Just as he fired the beam the truck hit a bump causing the vulpine to fall back right as the blast went off. "Shit!" He cried as the beam went off and put another hole in the roof. Little to say the shot was off, but luckily it traveled ahead of its intended target, and instead of a direct hit, the target was too close to pull out in time. The beam cut across the hull causing the aircraft to fall, spiraling forward with increasing velocity.

The bot continued to spiral and it crashed in front of the speeding truck. Sonic was the next to let out a curse as he pulled swiftly to avoid the wreckage. Though he jolted out of the way he couldn't see past the smoke and fire, unfortunately it blinded the path and the blue hedgehog couldn't react in time. "Hold on!" he cried as a tree suddenly jolted out into view and caused him to swerve sharply, but it was perhaps too sharp causing the whole truck to tilt over. Everything seemed to come crashing to a halt as the vehicle tumbled over tossing about its occupants. The hedgehog was the only one with a convenient seat belt snapped on the others had no such luxury.

After the crashing of metal and muffled yelps and screams from the occupants, suddenly the vehicle had hit a tree effectively halting the truck's momentum. Selim returned to the world quickly as he wondered what the hell happened. Taking in his surroundings the other occupants were with him sprawled out on the roof.

"Smooth move Slim..." a voice came from the front of the vehicle, followed by a click and a thump of sneakers on the roof which sent a light vibration from their new floor. The fox started to pick himself up when a sharp pain rose from his arm. He looked down to see a seriously deep wound, it was bleeding pretty badly. He growled as he put a gloved hand on it putting pressure on it. He looked about the cabin to find a loose cloth he saw dangling about earlier, from which he tore off a piece and tied it around his arm tightly.

"I didn't mean for that to happen, Sonic, it just did; now we gotta get outta here." Selim said groaning as he stood up, ducking slightly so his head wouldn't hit one of the benches on their new ceiling.

A light shined through the windows and they both knew the Stealthbots had probably spotted them. "Alright Slim, we can't change what's been done. Here's what we'll do, I'll distract the ol' bolt brains while you get the others outta here."

The fox nodded, it was a good plan considering it was Sonic who formulated it, and the hedgehog was quite good at diversions. Hopefully it'll work, because they had used it so many times before that Robotnik might not fall for it, in this case though it probably would since he wouldn't expect other survivors. With all decided Sonic popped out the back and raced away, the two air unit followed in pursuit calling 'PRIORITY HEDGEHOG! CAPTURE!'

Selim seemed to be the only conscious one in the vehicle; however that was soon erased as a voice came through the dark. "Its ok ma, I'm alright." It was obvious the voice that belonged to the dragon Dulcy, who had probably been through worse bumps. She was obviously coming around.

"Dulcy, you ok?" the fox asked into the darkness.

There was a bit of silence. "Well I'm in one piece..." the response came, "where's Sonic?"

"He's giving us a chance to get out of here, I say we use it." Selim stated, searching about the cabin for the other bodies which would be laying about. Dulcy assisted him, she could see better in the dark anyway. She was anxious to get out of there though, her claustrophobia had been bothering her this whole time.

The older fox felt his hand come across another one, "Wake up." He pleaded as he shook the seemingly unconscious form. He wished there was some light as he got no response, he then felt something warm on his right hand, a warm thick fluid, and he had a good hunch on what it was. Just then a flash of lightning shot through the windows and confirmed what the vulpine was thinking. A freedom fighter form, a young tiger, flashed into his eyes, he was impaled by a metal cylindrical item, probably a thin pipe that had been left loose in the truck. It caused Selim to jump back a bit. "Damn..."

Dulcy kicked open the door and stepped out into the rain. By the smell starting to linger in the cabin she could tell what the older Tails cursed about. The other two were fine though, the bear still missing the one hand. "Let's get out of here, before the rest of us buy the farm."

The vulpine wished they had time to bury the corpse properly, but Sonic probably wasn't expecting to delay for a funeral. Beside, too many were lost today, and there would probably be a memorial once they were all safe. "Dulcy you take..." He said looking for the bear's name.

"Ralph." The Mobian responded to the pause.

Selim nodded, "you'd have an easier time riding her since you only have one hand... I'll take the other one."

The rabbit mobian nodded, he being the one the vulpine was referring to. With no more said the bear hopped onto the dragon's back and Selim started to hover in the air grabbing the wrists of the rabbit. Both of them pleaded for them to not go too fast, and their carriers responded similarly with a 'don't worry; we know what we are doing'.

Unfortunately they didn't have the time to pace themselves, as the princess might not wait around forever, and then they would never escape. So through the trees they moved swiftly under the cover of the leaves evading branches left and right. The rabbit a bit more scared then the bear, probably because he was dangling through the whole ordeal.

"Look, here comes somebody now." Bunnie stated as the four forms came up through the trees, appearing to be a flying fox and dragon, each with a passenger in tow. Sally looked in the direction the rabbot was and saw the four coming toward them.

"Oh my gosh, that's not all of them is it?" she asked as they approached. She ran out to them in the rain, a thunderbolt shattered in the distance. The two flying Mobians landed softly and let their passengers off, who were shaken as they were used to being on the ground. Sally had a worried look on her face, "Where's Sonic, and the others?"

Dulcy laughed. "Sonic's just taking care of a couple of stealthies that were tailin' us." She said pointing in the direction they came from. "He'll probably be right behi-"

As if on cue the hedgehog blasted through the hedges and was standing right next to Ralph the bear. "Sorry to hold ya guys up, I had to bake a couple of lead heads." He said, he saw Sally's expression, it held a little more relief, she could stop worrying now. However there was still an element of concern that lingered in her expression, something pressing on her mind.

"What about the others?" she asked again, not getting her response the first time around. With that all was silent, and she could read the response from their faces. Apparently so could Bunnie as she gasped. "Oh my stars!"

A harsh whimper was heard from inside the tunnel causing the others to jump and look toward the opening into the pipeline. A coyote stood there and everyone immediately knew who it was. Antoine stepped out of the shadows and Sally looked to him, "I thought you left with the others." She said simply.

The coyote shook his head and smiled weakly. "I would zot go without ze princess! I could not, would not, leave you 'ere unprotected!"

Sonic shook his head and chuckled. "Cut the bull Ant. You were probably just scared of the darrrk and scarrry tunnel."

The coyote jumped to defense quickly. "Ha! And Ha, again! You thinking that I am zeefraid of ze stupid tunnel. Ha!"

Sonic suddenly jolted a bit. "Ant! Watch out behind you it's a monster!"

The royal guard jumped up and spun around screaming, and then shivered though he could see nothing was there.

"Ant, Ant, Ant, you really need to chill out." the hedgehog laughed as he passed the coyote and went into the tunnel.

"I'm already cold..." He said in response following the hedgehog.

The others, who were still outside, sighed. "I wish they didn't have to bicker now..." Sally stated as they themselves started toward the pipeline. "Alright, we have to make this extrusion in the pipe vanish without a trace... Selim can you use your laser on it?"

The fox shook his head, noting the blood stained bandage on his other arm. "I can't if I'm bleeding, because I might exhaust my oxygen from the remaining blood."

Bunnie saw the wound and gasps. "My stars! You alright Selim?"

The vulpine nods and smiles, "I've had worse, trust me." he said.

Sally nods, "I'm sure you have, but I was anticipating the worst, so I have one of the hover trucks inside that has some explosives in it. If we place them in the right places we could have the structure collapse in on itself and then the rain would wash the dirt in on it to cover it up."

The fox nods, "Seems pretty chancy, but I guess we'll have to give it a shot." he said as he reached the inside of the tunnel.

"I know, and the worst part is, is that we'll have to be inside and a good distance down the tunnel before we set them off, so we won't be able to tell if it was successful or not." Sally stated as she started to set the charges, setting the trigger on Nicole.

"Y'all are gonna make sure it won't be like some huge explosion sendin' up a flare right?" Bunnie asked.

"Right, don't worry the balls of fire will be contained in the pipeline, hopefully." Sally stated. "There that's the last one, now let's get going."

Bunnie was looking out the hole in the pipe, looking at the trees thrashing in the harsh wind. She sighed lightly looking down and away, "Do y'all ever think we'll see the Great Forest again?"

Selim looked down. "We will, as long as we don't give up on it."

Dulcy, who was looking down, was still standing out there. "I wish I could come with you... but I... can't, I'm too scared of such small underground places. I'm going to go home to Dragon's Nest..."

Bunnie walked up to her, "Are you sure hun? I mean it's not really all that small, it's pretty big I heard."

"I'm sorry... it was bad enough in that truck, I don't think I can go through it again... It's been great fighting with you guys, I'll see you again, don't be afraid to drop by if you need anything." She said on the verge of tears. Bunnie hugged her. "Sugar, you're always welcome to come to Lower Mobious if ya ever change yer mind."

Selim nods and Sally comes up and smiles. "We will meet again Dulcy, you've been a great Freedom Fighter, and you always will be, for all of us on Mobius are fighting for it one way or another."

Dulcy smiled and sniffed. "Alright guys, give him hell."

"No worries there, sugar." Bunnie giggled.

With that it was all done, Dulcy flew off, staying low to avoid immediate detection. Bunny looked down, and she sniffled lightly to herself, though trying to remain strong. "Everything is happenin' so fast..."

Nicole suddenly piped in. "Incoming message Sally."

Sally picked up her palm computer, and allowed the machine to play it, it was Grif, and unfortunately his news wasn't good.

"Sally, you guys may want to hold off your approach. We've had massive flooding in some of the pipe systems and need to shut off the main access route. You guys should stay where you are until everything is all clear." the message finished.

"Oh my gosh, Sally-girl... the others already went on ahead."

Selim sighed... "Damn it, can't we ever get a break?"

Sally, Bunnie, and Selim ran down the tunnel. "Nicole, detonate the charges." the princess commanded the palm computer. There was a sudden rumble and shaking, in the dark depths of the tunnel a red glow could be seen. The changes had erupted, and hopefully worked, but they couldn't be bothered with checking right now.

The three walked down the pipeline when suddenly the lights that lined the top fizzled out. A little cry could be heard as Sally tripped on something when the sudden darkness enveloped the area; she hit the floor and dropped Nicole, then a moment later the backup lights came on. "Sally are you ok?" Selim asked as he helped her off the floor.

Sally nods. "Looks like the main power to the tunnels has been shut down." She stated, and then noticed she was missing something. "Where's Nicole?"

"I got 'er Sally-girl?" The rabbot cried as she handed the palm computer back to its owner.

"Thanks Bunnie, now we have to find Sonic." she stated. "Nicole, scan for life force of Sonic."

The computer started to do its command, however it began to make a strange noise, "Warning, internal damage is causing overheat, shutting down." Sally cursed; she hoped that this wouldn't happen.

"What's the matter Sally-girl? What's wrong with Nicole?" Bunnie asked, not knowing much about computers.

"The internal cooling system is busted, probably the fan, or the panel that powers it got busted when I dropped it, and it might not be the only thing wrong with it, just the most imminent." she said sighing. "Now what are we going to do? We aren't going to be able to find our way through the pipe system until I can get Nicole fixed, and the only place we could get that done is at Lower Mobius."

"Oh my stars... that mean we all are lost?" Bunnie asked hoping that wasn't the case. Sally nodded, and everyone looked down.

Selim sighed, though he did know this area exceedingly well he knew Sally would probably need Nicole to locate the others, it would take forever to find them without the computer. Then he remembered something; he was carrying Nicole when he was on that final mission before he wound up in the Great Forest. He always kept it in his mechanical wrist, which he had a storage slot made to keep the palm computer safe from the elements. He had no choice; it was either that or they would wander the tunnels forever. "Sally," he stated, "I might be able to help."

Sally looked at the fox curiously; he moved his right hand over his left and pressed into the apparent skin. Out of his lower wrist, where the arteries would have normally flowed, a door opened up and out of it popped a little hand computer, it was smaller then Sally's model. She immediately knew it had to be Nicole though, after all, she had also transferred the data to her palm computer. The original computer was a yellow PC on wheels, and that didn't work too well for the mobility she needed, so she put it into the palm computer that she currently used. She didn't know why the older Tails would have moved the data again, maybe because her current casing decayed overtime, or he needed something even smaller. However that wasn't the most immediate question that came to mind. It was more what Tails was doing with it in the first place.

The ground squirrel nodded, "We probably should tell her anyways." she said flipping open the little gadget. It was about the size of a cell phone. "Nicole, scan the area for Sonic." She stated and the computer with the same voice stated. "Voice print unrecognizable, unable to comply."

Bunnie blinked very confusedly. Selim nodded and knew why the computer didn't respond so he repeated Sally's request. "Nicole, scan the area for Antoine." He couldn't ask for Sonic, because in this Nicole's database, Sonic was non-existent, and neither was Sally, which was why she didn't recognize the squirrel's voice print. The computer complied, "Accessing Miles."

And with those words the rabbot put a hand on her forehead and shook her head. "Oh my gosh... what the heck... this is all confusin'...you're Tails?" She asked, as she sat down on the cold metal floor.

Sally and Selim nodded, and the princess piped in. "He's from the future Bunnie, I know this is all confusing but, you can't tell Sonic or the others, it has to stay between us three... alright, we don't need to change what has happened more then it already has. I think my knowledge led to this, and I don't want anything more drastic to happen."

Selim shook his head. "It's not your fault Sally; it's mine I got careless."

Bunnie stood up, looking down. "That's why you done acted so funny when I asked ya out on a date, because... you're Tails... it makes sense now... the first time I saw ya that's who I thought y'all were... geez you grow up to be cute as the dickens don't you?" She laughed trying to absorb all this without going crazy, time travel a new thing to her.

The older Tails scratches his head and laughs nervously. "If you say so, but now you understand why I can't go out with you..."

Bunnie nods, "It's too bad really, but I can see where there'd be a little ol' problem."

Sonic and Antoine had their own little problem; they seemed to reach a dead end. "I know it was this way." Sonic puzzled as he looked at the closed door. He then added. "And the others must have gotten through, maybe there's a switch or something?"

There was a strange, eerie noise coming from the other side, it sounded like a hollow hissing sound and it caused the pipes to creak, much to Antoine's discomfort. He was shivering and mumbling some odd French gibberish really rabidly.

"Chill out Ant, you're embarrassing me." Sonic said as he looked up and down the door, noticing a sensor in the center, but it seemed to be disabled.

"Wonder what's making that sound?" The rabbit, Lenny asked, he had stayed silent throughout much of the ordeal as Ralph had, who was standing nearby. They were still in shock of what happened. They wondered how Sonic was dealing with it so easily. Truth be told, it had hit the hedgehog hard, but he couldn't let it interfere with him now.

"No idea," the blue one said. "It's coming from the other side whatever it is..."

Sonic tapped his foot when he heard three other pairs of feet come up behind them and he looked up from his thinking session. "Hey guys... looks like we're stuck... the door won't budge."

Sally saw that only the hedgehog, coyote, bear, and rabbit were present. "Where are the others?" She asked hoping for the best.

The blue one shook his head. "Sorry Sal, haven't seen 'em, my best guess is that they are ahead of us, though how they got through-"

"Oh my stars!" Bunny gasped.

Sally looked to Sonic and shook her head. "We just got word from Grif that they're shutting down the pipe system, because of flooding..."

They all stood in stunned silence, thinking of what could have happened to the others, or what would happen to them. Sonic was the first one to speak. "Shit, Tails is with them..."

The ground squirrel nodded, "Rotor, Dr. Quack, and the convoy trucks... they're very vulnerable, we need to get to them, we can't just wait until everything is clear, by then it could be to late."

Selim nodded, he never thought that he'd have to worry of his younger self. Until now all of his concern was dealt to ensuring the survival of Sonic and Aunt Sally, but what would the point be if he himself perished? If he knew himself and how he thought back then, he knew that the convoy was in trouble. The Tails with them was very inexperienced, and might not even be called upon for help, being a kid. The vulpine and hedgehog knew though, that the young fox was a good swimmer, and a little water wouldn't kill him. What worried them was what if they were caught in a section that filled up to the brim and they all drowned.

The older Miles, having lived down here sometime knew a lot about the piping system, maybe even in more detail then the map Nicole had. He studied it for a long time, knowing every crack and crevice so that Robotnik would never have an advantage on their home front. He had given Sally Nicole in order for her to help, even though they probably wouldn't have gotten lost, the computer could probably tell them what gates are shut and maybe where there are reported floods, all they had to do was find a system they could tap into.

The fox looked over Sonic's shoulder to see a panel on the sealed door, he turns to Sally, "Have Nicole see if she can find out any additional information..." he states pointing to the panel. Luckily he enabled the princess's voice recognition once again, it was kind of strange giving up the little palm computer after this whole time, but it was Sally's not his.

She moved up to the terminal and told Nicole to access the emergency data. The hedgehog was quick to catch the change in the computer's appearance. "Sal... what's up with the ol' gizmo?"

Sally realized that she had forgotten about Nicole's new look. "I broke the old casing during our escape... I always carried a spare in case I'd have to replace it..."

Meanwhile Selim looked around the tunnel; he knew there was a hatch somewhere where they could crawl through to move ahead. Nicole piped up and displayed a map of the tunnels, many of the segments taking on blue colors for reported flooding, they were usually surrounded in red doors to indicate blocked off paths. It looked like a mess. "I put a tracker in one of the trucks; let's see if I can't put it on the map..." Sally stated.

A light blinked, and to everyone's relief it wasn't in a blue section, however it was one that seemed to be surrounded by other flooded sections, the convoy would be stuck there, Sally wondered if there was any additional info about the section of tunnel.

"Accessing Sally..." The computer said searching through the data, the vulpine meanwhile found the service vent and popped it open, though everyone else was busy watching Nicole, worried about the others.

"While I'm still young Nicole..." Sonic injected placing his hands across his chest and tapping his foot.

Nicole chirped out a response. "Structural integrity is holding. It is a 74.5 percent chance of water penetration into the indicated section." Sally shook her head... "We have to get to them; there must be a way to get them out of there."

Just then there was a clang causing everyone to turn around, and they saw Selim who had just taken off the service hatch and placed it on the ground. "Wonder where this one leads..." he stated smiling.

Snively growled as he looked at the monitor. Knothole was his, but the victory was not as sweet as he had hoped, the pesky blue rodent, the princess, and many of his primary targets were nowhere to be seen. Even with these set backs, there was a lot of celebrating to be done. Knothole was his, a lot of the pesky freedom fighters were destroyed and those that survived would be going through the robotization process.

He looked to the computer and scratched his head... looking at the video footage. That two-tailed fox that got away plagued his mind. He was just getting the data back, and it was convincing... it was the little brat... but he wasn't so little. He tried to find the young one on the video, he couldn't. That means the brat escaped with the princess or something had caused him to age much more swiftly. He wished he had further proof.

The DNA was a perfect match... he got some blood from a mosquito he tracked that had bitten him during the fight. Poor fools probably had no clue, he was much smarter then his uncle. He knew how to use nature against them, though he probably destroyed every other living creature in that forest. Not only for vengeance but to remove their little hiding places.

He wished he paid more attention; he would have hunted them down. They left no trace of their escape; they probably spotted them and were prepared to flee. They weren't dumb, that much was obvious. It didn't matter, they had lost their precious base, and they would have to reorganize, he had time to complete his project.

They had found it in the ancient creator where they dug up the remains of the Death Egg before. He had missed a gold mine, because there was a piece of something that was on board the longed downed air station. A chip, with a lot of information, but not just any information... the ability to acquire all forms of weaponry based on super science technology... a process which apparently has no limitations and continues to loop indefinitely. Unfortunately, the body was lost, but that was just a minor setback, he just needed to replace a robot's circuits, and he had a perfect one picked out.

There on a far off video screen, a robot could be seen. The metal hedgehog was restrained heavily. Snively had thought they were rid of their little mole problem, this time he would be sure they were, and at the same time stop Sonic in his tracks. He laughed with a hellish glee as he watched everything fall into place.

The passageway was very narrow, the vulpine had to duck down as he moved forward, and he was about halfway through the row they had formed, because it would be impossible to walk side by side here. Sonic himself had to watch his head on some of the parts, where pipes protruded from the walls. "Are we there yet?" The hedgehog whined. "This walking is really dragging."

Sally, of course in front of the impatient blue one, was carefully examining the map. "We're almost there Sonic, be patient, alright, before you drive us all crazy."

Bunnie was walking behind Selim, she was very curious on a lot of things, like if Selim was who he was, then how come him and Sonic have been acting so weird? How he knew of the pipeline like he had been here before, when he wasn't involved in the mission when Sonic and Sally went to lower Mobius.

She remembered when Sonic brought Tails back about 7 years ago, he told them he had found him near a river while battling with a legion of Swatbots ready to take one of the last untouched towns they had protected for so long. This time it was a sneak attack and the hedgehog alone couldn't hold them off, he was lucky he found Tails and allowed him to come to Knothole with him. Everyone else in that establishment was robotisized. Even the kit's foster parents... not that they didn't deserve it.

She couldn't think but how lonely a life the Miles before her must have had, she knew that Sally was probably gone since he had Nicole, and that Sonic would probably be the next one to have it. Nicole was kind of the symbol of the leader, she knew this probably meant that Sonic was dead too... but how, she couldn't know. After Sonic the freedom fighters didn't really have a leader picked out, they said they'd vote on it. Even Sonic and Sally had votes, but now they were burned with the rest of Knothole because they had to have them on sheets of paper, they were like a will since they couldn't voice their vote if they were dead. She would have to make sure they wrote them down again. What she did know was somehow Tails got Nicole, and probably the leadership.

"We're here..." Sally stated looking around for another sealed service door. Selim saw it and pointed to the little hatch. The ground squirrel nodded and Sonic piped up. "You act like you've been here before Slim..." He stated.

The fox nods, "I have, I used these tunnels a lot to get from place to place. Its how I wound up in the Great Forest, and then I stumbled across Knothole." He stated as the hatch was popped open. They began to crawl out one by one, Bunnie giggles at the view she gets as she follows Selim. It was cruel how he had to be so cute.

The convoy was standing by in the tunnels; they had reached a sudden dead end and sent one of the members of their reconnaissance team to search for a route out.

"I'm through lookin' at all the exits mate, even the one we scurried through, but it look like we're trapped in here." Roy, a kangaroo Mobian stated in his Downunda accent, though like Bunnie's southern one it wasn't heavy probably because of all the accentless Freedom Fighers he had fought with over the past year. He joined around the time of the Death Egg movement, a lot of Mobians from Downunda joined since the Knothole force went on location there. It appeared the huge island was where the floating island originated from. A huge lake was now located in the center.

Rotor was tinkering with something on the huge metal door they faced. "Someone's overridden the control panel here." he said as he looked at it.

The young Miles nodded. "It looks like the main system was shut down, maybe there's a problem?" The fox looked over his shoulder to see the trucks lined up, they turned them off so that they wouldn't waste their petroleum, because if they ran out of that they'd have to push them to Lower Mobius, and they didn't exactly have wheels to push them on. He was very worried about Sonic and Aunt Sally.

"Well we could override it and open it from here." Rotor said as he took his screwdriver out ready to open the door.

Just then a voice shot through the tunnels and caused everyone to jump. "Hey guys! Hold on a Sonic-second." The blue hedgehog's voice called out as he crawled out of the service vent door.

As Sonic moved toward the group, a two-tailed kit ran over and hugged Sonic tightly; he had thought he had lost him for good, he was very glad to see him. "Sonic, I thought you were dead..." The little vulpine said as he sniffled a little. Everyone else faced the blue one and smiled as the two tailed fox hugged him.

Sonic laughed a bit at this as he broke up the hug, his hands on Tail's shoulders. "Hey... you know ol' bolt for brains can never take down this hedgehog, right big guy?"

Tails nodded with a smile, he still held belief that his best friend was invincible; however the one behind the hedgehog knew differently. He knew that ol' bolt for brains would get lucky one day and that the little two tailed kit would be left devastated. Awakened on how vulnerable they all were, no one is immortal. With that mentality he would lead the Freedom Fighters, reminding them that they only live once, and this cause was defiantly worth their lives. It took him almost ten years to learn that. The first few he spent miserably pondering over why he was born... just to spend a lifetime not knowing what peace was?

"Sugar, are you ok?" Asked the rabbit who was just behind Selim, causing the vulpine to jump a bit. He nodded simply in response as his thoughts returned to the world before him.

All of them were out of the service system, and the convoy waited for more, they then realized that no one else was coming. "Where are the others?" Dr. Quack asked as he started to look over some of the wounds, though he couldn't do much with the tools at hand, he did put some alcohol in Selim's arm wound and Ralph's stubbed arm.

Sally looked down and a sudden gloom loomed over the group. Some were sad, others angry, but they all shared the same grief over the loss of their friends. Roy looked through the group. "Where's Jerome?" He asked panicked, afraid to here the answer.

Selim looked down. "He sacrificed himself... to save us..."

Roy nodded and looked down. "Crickey." He said weakly, obviously they had been good friends. In a way Selim knew how he felt, he was a very nice person, and he didn't deserve what he had gotten.

"You guys know why we can't get through here?" Rotor asked. "We tried everything."

Sally nodded, "The pipes are flooding right now because of all this sudden rain. We shouldn't open that door or we'll probably get washed up."

Rotor jumped a bit, good thing they arrived when they did or they would have been slammed with a wall of water. "So now what do we do?"

"We've been moving through a service hatch Rote, but I don't think the hover trucks will fit in there." Sonic stated.

"Well we all can either wait here or just carry our stuff I reckon." Bunnie stated.

Many of them looked amongst themselves.

"It's not like we're leaving this stuff for good," Selim added, "we could leave it here and then come back when it's all clear."

Everyone agreed to that, his idea sounded like a good one. They would bring stuff they could carry, stuff of huge importance just so that if the area did flood their possessions were not lost. The Freedom Fighters moved on the trucks and picked out their stuff. Some packed really light, while others picked a moderate load. No one, besides Antoine maybe, had more then they could carry.

"We ready guys?" Sally stated as they all stood in front of the trucks, empty besides some of the really heavy equipment which was left inside. They nodded and gave positive responses. Antoine heaved as he lifted his stuff.

"Ante, Ante, Ante, this is no time for luxuries..." Sonic sighed. "Bring only what you REALLY need."

"Tis all the stuffs I be needing." He whined. "Tis not my fault they be this heavy." To this everyone sighed. Selim picked up one of the suitcases, since he was only carrying his journal which he had safely tucked away in a pouch that was sashed over his left shoulder. He wondered if the coyote had stuffed an elephant in there, but it was still manageable. He couldn't see how he could have two such suitcases. "Merci Merci!" The French accent replied to the kind gesture.

Selim sighed. "Save it, it's Grif you'll need to be thanking later for getting us out of this mess. Besides, I'm just doing this so we can get out of here."

Antoine nodded, he knew he agitated everyone, but he couldn't help it. He was raised with everything, and even during the most trying times he still was materialistic. He always wondered how the others could stand sacrificing so much, it was just so hard for him. No, he wouldn't do it, too many died today for others to be pulling his wait, it was very excruciating and difficult, but he said it. "Put it in ze truck Selim."

This had caught everyone by surprise. Especially Sonic and Sally, this had been the first selfless act they had seen the coyote commit in a long time. "Ya sure Ante?" Sonic asked.

The royal guard nodded, "Oui. Leave zit..." he stated taking the case from Selim and shoving both cases into the truck.

After a moment of abrupt silence Sally nodded and smiled. "Alright, let's get out of here and to our new home." She said as her and Sonic moved to the service tunnel, the others followed leaving the trucks behind. Antoine felt a little uneasy, but he felt a little better then usual, like he had done something noble.

They were in the cramped service tunnel again, but luckily they didn't have far to go. Sally led them all once again, the line stretched pretty far this time, so they had to play a little relay game when she stated something important. The map showed that they were pretty much at the village, and reports showed that the rain had stopped and flooding was starting to die down. The drainage system was activated and the tunnels would be safe within ten minutes. This was a relief to those that didn't like such tight spaces. They would be at the village shortly.

"It should be safe to exit here Sal." Sonic said pointed toward one of the hatches. "This one leads to a suspension bridge; we can wait on there until the water clears out and the main pipe opens back up. From there Lower Mobius is but seconds away."

The ground squirrel nodded at the suggestion. She pulled it open and crawled through and told everyone to follow. By the time the last one came up the water would probably be drained.

She stepped out into the cold air; the water was about five feet below the suspended cable bridge, which was obviously used for changing the lighting, or some other roof maintenance. Sonic was quick to follow, then Selim, Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, Dr. Quack, and they all lined up on the suspension bridge.

The ground squirrel shouted back to the group as three more Freedom Fighters made their way onto it. "Alright we should stop and wait, this bridge can probably only hold so much weight."

With that the line stopped and all was quiet. They looked down as they saw the water level steadily decrease, but there was something in the air. Something wasn't right, and Selim knew it, he had one of those sixth senses. He felt like holes were being peered in the back of his head, then movement could be heard, it was a very strange clanking. It echoed in the pipe and off the water. "Anyone else hear that?" Selim asked.

Suddenly a whip like snap could be heard, a glowing metallic tail slashed down at those occupying the suspension bridge. The tail moved lengthwise down the bridge, knocking off some of the Freedom Fighters into the water below. The older vulpine ran down the line to stop the tail from knocking anyone else off. He quickly smacked the tail away as it just passed Dr. Quack, who dodged, however he moved too much causing himself to fall off the edge of the platform and into the water below joining the other three Mobians.

The young Tails was right at the hatch when this was occurring. "Sonic! Aunt Sally!" the kit cried, worried they might be hurt.

"Stay back Tails!" Sonic cried. He recognized this rat; it was the mutant that they had encountered with Grif. The robot seemed to be able to cling to the rooftop somehow, hanging upside down. This was not good, they were stuck up here with it and there was no escape, however, Selim seemed to be holding his own.

Holding the tail dominantly with his left hand the vulpine was able to charge up his wrist laser which came out of its compartment. A beam fired up at the huge robotic rat creature causing it to lose its grip on the ceiling abruptly. A shrill squeak filled the air as the titanic robot fell onto the suspension bridge where the four Mobians had fallen off. The bridge seemed unable to support such a great amount of weight. Everyone on the bridge held on to what they could as it shook tremendously, and some of the cables snapped. Suddenly the segment with the rat on it simply collapsed causing the sound of twisting metal to echo through the pipe.

Dr. Quack had just made it to the surface of the water with a sudden gasp of surprise, he had to catch his bearings, he wondered why it was so dark, he knew he was in water, and being a duck a good swimmer. He looked up to see if he could fly up to the suspension bridge, however he was just in time to see the massive metal contraption come falling down upon him, and then everything was dark.

The water cackled and fizzled, some screams could be heard as the dim room flashed with light. Everything following was silent, as smell started to lift into the room, a ghastly, nauseating smell of burnt flesh and fur. The suspension bridge's swaying died down, it's movement halted with those in the water below. Selim looked down, as the water was draining its final two feet, the rat mutant's body could be seen on the bottom, while four other, much smaller bodies, rose to the top. Dr. Quack, someone who had not died during the older vulpine's time frame, was amongst the casualties. All he could think was, it was his entire fault... every last death, was his own doing.

A group of Mobians ran through the opening into the tunnel segment; the water was completely drained. Carefully Sally, Sonic, Selim, and the others made their way down to the ground. Selim was a big help and even the young Miles brought down as many as he could. The smell was horrendous causing the Lower Mobians to stop in their tracks.

"What happened here?" Dirk, the boar who leads Lower Mobius's military operations gasped as he placed an arm over his snout.

Sonic and the others were silent as they looked amongst the bodies, and the downed robotic rat which towered above them. It was a rhetorical question; the evidence was very present throughout the area. The four unfortunate Freedom Fighters were charred. The burns made them seem hardly recognizable; it was probably from a severe electrocution, by the dampness in the air it was obvious that the shock was amplified by water.

Grif looked to the group; he was shocked, not only by the death, but also that the mutant was taken out. For years that thing had haunted the pipe system, it looked as if its day of doing so were now over. Rotor wasted no time in making sure that the huge mechanical rodent stayed de-commissioned, removing all of its motor functions and mechanical hardware that caused it to run wild in the tunnels.

"You guys should have stayed put, didn't you get my message?" the goat asked Sally, who right now was silent. She had to pull herself together, because up on the surface, the sun would be rising right now, it was the dawn of a new era for the freedom fighters, and she had to make sure everyone was ready for it.

"What happened is tragic, but we have to get moving..." She said looking down. "Let's get everything set up; of course if that is ok with you Grif, you are the one in charge here after all."

Grif nodded. "Sally, you're still going to lead the Freedom Fighters, I am just going to make sure my people are fine, and you take care of yours."

Sally nodded, she then turned to the others, "Alright guys, let's go." She stated as she followed Grif, Dirk, and the other Lower Mobian's into the final stretch that leads to the town.

The others stood for awhile before following. Selim, Rabbot, and Sonic helped move the bodies out of the damp pipe system. They left the mechanical beast, it was too heavy to lift, and it was better off where it lay. It was nauseating work and it was good that all that moved them were old companions to loss, Selim more then any of them. Bunnie noticed his face, it was kind of like a stone, like he was covering his emotions from them all, and she knew that he was hiding many things from them.

Unlike the rest of them though, Antoine didn't have such a constitution and would have probably upchucked if not for him shaking and creeping past the dead, ignoring all around him as best as he could.

It was early in the morning, and everyone was tired, however they all stood in the town center. They were greeted warmly; however there was a chill to the warmth. A sadness for all those that had given their life, so that the Freedom Fighter could continue to rebel against the evil doctor and Sally gave their memorial speech well.

She stood before the people, of both the Lower Mobians and the Freedom Fighters of Knothole. Sonic, the younger Tails, Rotor, and those that had been with the resistance since it began, or close to it in the young Mile's case, stood behind her as the ground squirrel spoke across the podium. Then there was silence, for it was called for, and by Sally's simple command the silence washed over the crowd as they looked down and mourned.

...

Everyone brought their heads back up, and opened their eyes as the quietest moment of the entire ordeal had passed. The residents agreed to put up a memorial for those that had fallen, a monument with all the names of those that were lost, it hit hard for them all. Selim felt saddened whenever he looked at such monuments. So many names would be written, Dr. Quack, Jerome, they would just be names on a cold stone, their vitality, their life, their being was lost, and only four would be buried here, a little less then a quarter who were sacrificed. The feeling was all too familiar, he knew that some would have their names live on forever, like Dr. Quack, the greatest physician the Freedom Fighters ever had. But Jerome, or the others, how would they be remembered? Would they be remembered? Yes, maybe not in as many minds, but he remembered Jerome, his hobbies, his voice, his albino skin, and as long as his memory, his appearance stayed in the mind of one, his sacrifice would not be forgotten.

After the service all the residents went about their business, and the mass of Freedom Fighters went to their new living spaces, they were temporary little rooms, they were currently building a bigger building to support the increase of population, it grew from a little more then thirty to about twice as much. Grif, Sally, and Sonic discussed where they would go from here; important projects would need to be done. One of which required the ring stone. So five people were sent to pick up the trucks, Sally told Selim to just get some sleep, he wondered how he was supposed to do that though, they were all very restless.

He was sitting in his small room he was given. A lot more empty and quiet then his old room, getting lost in thought was very easy. He decided that he should probably take his journal out and start writing... maybe it would help tire him out.

The meeting room was finishing up with their plans, and one topic sparked particular interest. They wanted revenge, the sadness had passed, and an anger and hatred for what Robotnik had done began to arise. Sally would usually not agree with such an action, however, it would be easy to pull a surprise attack on Robotropolis from where they were, but what they had planned was nothing small. "Well do we have enough supplies for such an operation?" she asked as she contemplated everything.

"Yeah Sally," Rotor said. "And I say we go for it, hit the big man right where it hurts!"

Sonic was ready for a little payback himself, "Ya Sal, let's take him out!"

Sally sighed a little, she was more of the patient type, and she knew that if they were to pull this off, everything would have to go right, she felt forced into it, mainly because everyone was all for it. She had to strike while the iron was hot, before the morale dropped again, and the mission would defiantly fail. If it was successful it could give a great hope for ultimate victory.

She looked at the map on Nicole again, the Lower Mobians, along with her map 'Bean' were able to pinpoint an area in which the pipe network connected to the most vital areas of Robotropolis. They were going to use explosives, taking out the main tower, and the newly installed robotosizer and power stations. This would require well placed explosives and careful stealth. They were hoping to catch the big man completely off guard hopefully he'd be in one of the explosions.

In the tunnels it was easy to find supplies in order to make powerful explosives, it would take a couple of days to make, and that was fine, since it would take a couple of days to get all this set up. It would be good time to cool down after all this shocking conflict. Sally nodded, "Alright guys, lets do it to it." She said as she smiled ensuringly at the others.

Sonic let out a great relaxing sigh, he laid back in the boiling water in the creator in the Great Unknown. He was with his pal Tails, this was their secret place after all. And since Robotnik had bought the farm, it was a good time to relax and kick back.

"This is way past cool, Thank you for bringing me here Sonic." Tails said as he layed back and smiled as the bubbles massaged his muscles under his fur.

Sonic nodded and leaned back, Tails looked up and smiled. "Do you think I'll find my parents now that it's all over...? I always wondered what they were like, not my foster ones, my real ones." The little fox frowned. "When we find my foster parents I wonder what they'd think of me now, I wonder if they'd be proud of me, or if they'd still see me as a... freak."

Sonic seemed to be off in his own world as he leaned back.

"...Sonic?" Tails' voice suddenly jutted in, causing the hedgehog to barely go into cardiac arrest.

"Y-Yeah big guy?" He asked lightly as he jumped out of his trance. He blushed as he just realized how deep into thought he went.

"Are you ok? You seem to be spacin'." The fox said as he looked concernedly at Sonic.

The hedgehog nodded, "I was just thinkin' about Sal is all."

The fox cocked his head. "Is she in danger?"

Sonic had to laugh at this, "No big guy, it's just you know... it's just I think of her, because well, I feel close to her..."

"Like us Sonic?" Tails asked a little confused.

The hedgehog shook his head. "No, we're different; we're like pals, me and Sal are just a little closer then that."

Tail was looking a little disappointed. "You mean Aunt Sally means more to you?"

Sonic jumped and moved toward the kit and patted him on the back twice. "No, you all mean a lot to me... it's just... you know how you see Sally kissing me in a way that grosses you out? It's like that kind of close."

Tails nodded, "Gross kissing and stuff."

The hedgehog laughed a bit, "Well, I think you may change your mind about that soon enough big guy."

"Selim, ya'll alright?" came a southern accent from behind.

The vulpine jumped up, he found himself back in the little room, pen still in hand. He looked to the paper, noticing a nice long line fall of the edge of the page. The writing worked better then he figured as he had fallen asleep while he was writing the events of the day. He scratched the back of his head as he thought about the dream he just had. That was him and Sonic, it wasn't the first time he had it. He remembered his childhood constantly, and even now that he was a witness to it in his life, he still dreamed of when he was the young Miles. He remembered that happened a week after the fall of Doomsday, when true peace seemed at last upon them, but it turned out to be a sick joke. Only 7 weeks later it all started again.

"Tails? Are you ok?" Bunnie asked as the fox seemed to zone again.

Miles spun around in his chair, looking toward the rabbot. She tried to become derobotisized during those two months, but she decided that she would help with the clean up before she did so. As a result, it never happened, she was pretty upset, but she suddenly stated that she would not remove the metallic limbs until the world was free, kind of like a symbol.

"I'm fine, just tired I guess." the vulpine finally stated, closing the book and putting down the pen. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and smiled. "Thanks to you sugar..." she said moving over to the cot which was to be Selim's bed. "Mind if I sit myself down?"

The fox shook his head. "No, not at all, don't call me Tails either, I lost that title a long time ago..."

Bunnie nodded as she sat down, "Alright sugar..." she stated wondering what to ask him first so she started off with some casual conversation. "It's been a long night for all of us."

Selim nods, looking at the rabbot as she sat on the cot. "This is my fault, it wasn't supposed to happen like this, Dr. Quack wasn't supposed to die."

Bunnie found this opportunity to learn more about the vulpine. "And who was? Sally? Sonic?"

The older Tails looked up in confusion. "How did you-"

The rabbot looked to the fox and smiles. "Y' all were carrin' Nicole sugar... That means y'all were leader, which means..." She stated, knowing she didn't have to go any further for him to figure it out.

The older Tails stood up and looked out the window, it was kind of odd seeing no sun when it was actually morning, but he'd get used to it again. The thing was Sonic and Sally weren't supposed to be here, heck the Lower Mobians weren't supposed to even be involved until two months from now. Whatever he changed it caused everything to scramble out of order. Sally and Sonic might still be in danger.

"Y'all seem like ya gotta lot on yer mind." Bunnie stated. "Ya mind sharin' and not keepin' it all in Tails?"

"Please, don't call me that, once you start it'll be hard to stop, when around others call me Selim... If not call me Miles or Selim, just not Tails." He said looking over to the cot.

She had noticed that, whenever the word Tails rang in the air the older fox seemed to wreath a bit. It was if someone had suddenly stuck ice down his back. The fur rising lightly, it was if it were either a chill or painful jolt as she looked at him. She knew it was none of her business, so she decided to change the subject. "Aren't y' all hungry? They're givin' out chilly dogs down at the stand... not many are goin' I guess, probably cause they ain't hungry... but I am, and let's face it, we all gotta eat sometime."

"Chili dogs? For breakfast?" Selim icked. "I don't know if I can eat or not."

Bunnie sighed. "I don't wanna eat alone sugar, Sally-girl and sugar hog are down in meetin's and I can't really eat without someone to talk to. So what do ya'll say?" She asked looking at him pleadingly. "Ya don't have to eat anything, and it's not a date neither, so y'all don't get uptight er nothin'."

Selim nodded, it looked like he really didn't have a choice. "Alright, I'll be right with you..." he stated, turning to the rabbit and held a mediocre expression.

The rabbot nodded, at least it was a yes, she had so much she wanted to know, curiosity was in her nature. Southern girls like her loved the art of gossip. Though she knew this gossip had to stay with her, but she could get what she wanted out of him. Now that she knew that Sally and Sonic were in danger, she needed to help, and she would do whatever it took.

She walked out the door and Selim looked down at the journal. For the first time since Sonic's death he'd found himself deep in thought about the point. The point of all of this, the fighting constantly just to put a dent that would easily be repaired, he wondered if anyone else felt that way. All those years as a leader though, he had to hide that feeling from everyone, it wouldn't help morale. He closed the book as he noticed his mind was wandering again, he should get going, Bunnie obviously had something on her mind as well, and his stomach was a bit unsettled, maybe food would help. Selim put the journal into the desk drawer and left his room shutting off the light.

The fox sat down, a chilly dog steaming in front of him. It had been awhile since he had one, actually he couldn't stomach them much, which was why he only had one. They reminded him too much of his old friend. Though, if he was talking, maybe he could ignore what he was eating and just eat. Actually this would probably be the first thing he ate since that burger. To down it he had water, the only thing he could stand drinking really.

The Rabbot sat across from the fox, she had a salad, to which the fox raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were here to eat chilly dogs..." he stated.

"Well those things go straight to my little ol' thighs..." she stated with a chuckle. "You're only going to have one?"

Miles nodded, "I'm not really that hungry, and I kind of lost my taste for these, but it's food so... anyway, you put enough carrots in that thing?" He said trying to change the subject.

The rabbot laughs. "Well I'm a rabbit sugar, what ya'll expect?" She said as she took a fork and started to chew. Effectively making the room silent, as Miles had suspected everyone else was either sleeping or not hungry. He decided to take a bite, if not for his sake of nourishment then for the sake of appearing as if nothing was wrong with him and nothing was on his mind.

However, as he bit into the bun and spicy bean sauce, he found himself suddenly flooded with memories of Sonic and himself enjoying the things. This was probably why he hadn't eaten one in so long. He remembered trying, but he'd go to open his mouth and he'd have to pull it away as the aroma hit his nose. It seemed to be more nauseating than appetizing. How he was able to do it now he didn't know, but now that it was in his mouth he had to chew it, he struggled as the substance broke down in his mouth and then he forced a swallow, the food burned down his throat causing him to tear a bit as the heat seared through his throat.

Bunnie noticed how Selim was struggling to eat the chili covered hot dog. "Sugar, I could always get you somethin' else if ya'll don't like it." She wasn't dumb, she could guess that there was something on the vulpine's mind. She watched as he shook his head and let out a weak. "I'm fine." He stated as he took a swig of water, to settle the burning in his throat.

"So what's on yer mind sugar? You keep to yerself all too much, and it makes me just as curious as a little ol' kitten." She stated, leaning on her organic and metal hands.

Selim looks up, whipping his hand across his eyes and sniffled, he wasn't sure if he was tearing up because of the memories of his old friend, or if it was the pain in his throat from the heat. "The princess said I shouldn't." he said simply as he looked down at the hotdog with a bite in it.

The rabbit's soft paw came across the table and came to rest on the fox's. "Listen Miles... ya'll know that I know about Sally and sugar hog. I want to help, anyway that I can." She looked across at him and the touch of her hand made him look up into her eyes, which seemed to pierce into his very soul. He knew that she was drawing out what he could feel through the eye contact, but once he was locked he felt the wall crumble, he couldn't understand what it was about it.

He sighed and looked down. "You understand that if I tell you anything that I could be making things worse." he stated as he shook his head.

The paw patted the fox's, she then sandwiched it between her other paw. Metallic cold ran through the vulpine's arm causing him to shiver a bit. Bunnie hated it when that happened, it was hard to softly touch someone when her skin was so hardened. She retracted the paw quickly, and apologized.

Selim looked up at the rabbot and held the metallic paw with his own mechanically replaced hand. He couldn't feel the chill in this one and he smiles. "Listen Bunnie... I know you've been through a lot, and you really care for Sonic and Sally... as do I, so let me help them, and trust in me ok."

Bunnie sniffles a little. "I'm sorry sugar... I was nosin' in, I do trust you. You bring out the best in all us."

The vulpine sighs. "Is that what I brought out in Sonic? That seems to be the worst state I've seen him."

The rabbit shakes her head. "No I guess not, but Antoine, that's the most noble I've seen him be in a great while, and I know lotta the Freedom Fighters respect you, I know I do sugar." she smiles.

"Thanks, It's good to know I have someone who believes in me, Sally thinks that I won't be able change anything, she doesn't want to know about what'll happen." he stated.

Bunnie looked behind Miles and saw that Roy was coming into the room so she answered as best as she could. "Sally-girl has a lot of pressure in her position, and it's hard to think of what could happen, though she plans it out. She'll do what she does best, and your presence has already changed a lot. How are you doin' Roy?" She said looking over the fox's shoulders as the kangaroo approached.

Miles looked over his shoulder to see the kangaroo. He wondered how long he had been standing there, but he was sure that Bunnie wouldn't have said anything to compromise his cover while the marsupial was standing there. "I've seen better days that's for sure." The Downunda accented voice stated. "Sally said she wanted to talk to ya." He said looking to Selim as he sat down. "What ya eatin there mate?"

"A chilly dog... you want the rest?" Selim asked placing it back down on the plate.

"Nah, yankee food don't quite sit well with me." He said with a laugh, "And obviously it isn't sittin well with ya, so I best not stomach it." His face then sobered up. "You're not thinkin' that what you did back there was nothing are ya? You did great mate, knocked that big ol' squeaker for a loop ya did." He says smacking the fox on the back.

Selim stood up and nodded. "I'm sorry about what happened to Jerome back there... I feel as if I could have saved him."

Roy looks down, "Listen, me and him were best mates, we been together since we were teeny whelps, I joined the Freedom Fighters after that big ol' jalopy was brought down. Jerome came later, when he realized that even though Robotropolis was far away from Downunda, it would spread if we didn't do somethin' and today was his part. He knew it was his time, and his father would be proud."

The fox nodded, it made him wonder, if his father was proud of him, his real one, wherever he was. His foster one would never be proud of him; no matter what he did he'd always be a freak of nature, an outcast. However, here he was accepted, and people were proud of him. He would not let his younger self lose his family. He smiled, "I'm proud of him, he was a good friend." He stated before walking away leaving Roy and Bunnie alone.

The kangaroo smiled halfly and looked to the bitten dog. "Well, can't stand to see food being wasted." He stated as he slid the plate his way making the rabbot chuckle a bit.

The fox walked into the engineering room, found in the cavern walls away from the villiage. He saw Sally, Rotor, and his younger self as they sat about. It had cameras on all the entrances, and the central pillar. Usually Grif and Dirk and other Lower Mobius officials were the only ones who had access here, but Sally and the others were allowed to be here.

Sally looked up and walked to the older fox. "Selim, we have a job for you, we're trying to get more power to the life support system since there are more residents here. I want you to help them out with it. See if you can't find a way we can still use the power rock for making rings while doing it though." She said before walking out. "I have another meeting to attend."

Selim looked over to the squirrel as she left. "What are you guys up to?" he whispered to her. "I hear rumors of a counter-strike; a final strike against Robotnik. Are they true?"

The princess looked at the older vulpine and nodded, "We'll talk about that later Selim, I still have to make plans, I'll let you know further details as they come out." she said as she moved away.

He wanted so badly to follow, to find out the plan. He did the math, if it happened within the next three days, then it would still be the exact same time that Sally and Sonic died in his time. The dread filled him, he would have to find out more about this plan as soon as possible, and if it is the same as the one he remembers he would have to do something. It looked like his fight to save his greatest friend was not over just yet.

He moved to the center of the room, Rotor and Tails smiled as the vulpine came in and looked around, it was a technical marvel that was for sure. He knew it though, how the thing worked. He could figure out what needed to be done, and it would probably take him until sunset without stop. which would suit him just fine, then he could figure out what Sally had up her sleeve and he would help anyway he could, even if she didn't want it.

"So what have you guys got done so far?" He asked as he went toward the two who seemed to be stuck on figuring out how to get such an allocation enough power from the stone so as not to deplete ring production entirely. Selim knew that with them working on it, not only would the town be able to support the populous, but it could also give a new ring every thirty hours. That was the best he could do under the circumstances. Since the ground squirrel treated him like someone who couldn't be trusted he would go against her wishes, and though not reveal his name, he would show an engineering prowess in which even Rotor would have never seen before.

"What the hell is going on down there?" A gruff voice said over the communication system, which could only belong to the red echidna Knuckles. Sally, Sonic, and Grif were sitting in the room at the time. The squirrel decided that they might need the help of their new ally in order to pull off what they had planned, and maybe the help of that mysterious yellow hedgehog that Sonic turned into while giving chase to the master emerald after Death Egg was destroyed.

Little was known of the Chaos Emerald's power, even Knuckles didn't know everything, and just that it was his job and duty to guard them and the Master Emerald with his life. Sonic was still unsure if the red guardian could be really considered an ally, after the 'help' he was on the Floating Island. The voice of the echidna continued, "All of Mobius could see the smoke rising, that damned Robotnik, he won't stop until all life is destroyed will he?"

Sally nods, "That's why we need your help Knuckles, we think that when Sonic became enriched with power it was from the seven emeralds being together, we want you to bring them to Robotropolis in two days, that is if it is alright with you."

The red echidna had to think for awhile, and Sonic became impatient. "Come on Knuckle-head, we don't have all day." Sally glared at the blue hedgehog.

"That's it! No one insults me and gets away with it, no way am I helping..." Knuckles growled as he was about to shut off the communication link Grif stepped in.

"Hey there, Knuckles was it? How about you bring us the emeralds, and you can hit Sonic when we're all done... what do you say?" He said with a grin.

Now the guardian was interested. "Really?" He smiled. "Ok, if that's the case, I'll do it, you better not be tricking me..."

Grif shook his head. "One good wallop across the face, no strings attached, other then you be there with the emeralds."

Knuckles happily agreed and with that everything was sealed. The communication was cut and Sonic looked at the goat with a frown. "Why the hell did ya do that Grif?"

Sally sighed. "Because you didn't keep your mouth shut, you almost ruined everything Sonic, can't you remember we're all in this fight together. We know you and he haven't had the best introduction, but that doesn't mean you have to continuously fight him. Use your head Sonic Hedgehog."

The blue rodent sighed. "Alright Sal, I guess you're right. If this plan works it won't even matter anyway, it'll mean the end to Robotnik for good."

The hedgehog usually would think of that as a double-edge sword for himself. He would pass into obscurity since he no longer had to play hero. However the fact that he had lost so much, his home, the trees and freedom that came with the Great forest. He already missed the aspect of being able to run in all directions. North, South, East, West, the world was his track. Now he had to follow a set pipe system, his directions guided by the direction of the pipes, his movement restricted. This restriction more then anything else drew him to want to finish this once and for all, just like all the other Freedom Fighters.

Sally turned to leave the room and then stopped suddenly; a fox leaned against the door and was peering into the room. "Princess." He said with a simple nod.

"Selim," she said with a bit of surprise. "Aren't you supposed to be helping Rotor and Tails with the life support system?"

The fox smiled. "We've already finished Sally, it's working beautifully. I told you, my old girlfriend was good with technical things, she taught me a lot about them." He stated his former lie, the same he did with his hand.

He heard all he needed to hear. Saw all he needed to see. Things were happening like they were, like they did when Sonic and Sally died, and he knew he had to do all he could to intervene.

"I guess we both wanted to talk." The ground squirrel stated. "So what did you want to talk about?"

The fox and Sally were alone in the communication room, Grif and Sonic were asked to leave, and though Sonic was a bit hesitant he conceded. The fox was gonna let it all spill now, he couldn't let his Aunt Sally or Sonic be killed, and he didn't care what Sally said.

"Listen Sally, I know what you're up to, and I know you don't want to know about your future, but I know if you make this attack you and Sonic-"

"Selim no! We talked about this. I'm under a lot of pressure to go through with this, we need to strike back, before we become so down that we just give up. If you were in my shoes you'd know it is for the best. What happens to us, is for the greater good, and on top of that you've already changed things enough don't you think?" The vulpine had never seen the princess in this matter before, an ignorant conflicting part of her personality that probably only Sonic knew of, because as a leader she played her role well and kept her true personality locked away.

"I don't want Tails to live through what I have Sally, it isn't fair to him." He said standing up, a little upset at this conflict that he wish he could be rid of, he was going to stop this.

"Listen Miles, things have already changed, so what happened in your time might not happen here, you can't stick around until you think we're safe from harm, then you'll never go home, you have to trust in us, like you used to. You can help, until we find a way to send you back home. I talked to Knuckles about the Chaos Emeralds and the possibility that they can send someone through time. Of course he could only let out a nod before Sonic and Grif came in, so he might be able to tell you how to go back. Of course he won't be here until we go to move on Robotropolis... so you can help in the mission if you want. Actually I think some of the Freedom Fighters expect you to go since you led the delay force in Knothole." the princess stated.

Selim knew he couldn't argue for them not to go, but at least he could be involved in the mission, he might be able to save Sonic and Sally, but he had to plan carefully or all his efforts would be in vain, and he'd have to live through the nightmare once again. "Alright Sally, I'll help where I can, and when this is over I'm gone, but weather you guys succeed is not my goal. It's that the kit grows up not having to go through what I did."

Sally nods. "And I respect that, we'll figure out how the Chaos Emeralds can cause time travel if Knuckles knows about it, and then we'll see you home."

The fox nods, "Alright now that we've reached an agreement, I'll see what I can do to prepare for the attack." He said standing up and heading toward the door.

The ground squirrel turns to face the vulpine. "Do you need me to go over what I have come up with so far in the plan?"

The older Tails looked down and shook his head. "I've already gone over it hundreds of times after its execution, to see where it went wrong..."

The princess nods. "Then you know it better then any of us, your help would be very useful."

Miles was through talking, he was already planning ahead, to prevent their deaths. He simply nodded as he walked out the door, leaving the leader of the Freedom Fighters to continue to concoct her plans that she now knew were what Selim was here to stop. She wished she could stop it herself, but if she faltered here then people would question her backbone, her nerve that gave her the leadership that she had maintained for years. Her panic could send the Freedom Fighters into frenzy, the ones that thirst for revenge on those they lost would charge headlong into battle, and probably die. All those lives would be on her head. The fox only knew of one possible future, and she would rather it be just her and Sonic be the ones to die then a handful of others just to defend themselves, for that is how she operated throughout her leadership. No one should be sacrificed because of another's cowardous.

The younger Tails was finishing setting up his little workshop, he and Rotor would set up their technical workshop in a small stretch of piping that pretty much had an exit right to the surface. It was a large enough hole to allow the Tornado to use the piping as a sort of runway. It also had room for their hover trucks, which had been collected. The ring generator had been taken out of the truck and merged with the life support system of Lower Mobius. Both the young fox and the walrus were both bewildered by the newcomer's skill in technology. He said it was his old girlfriend who had taught him, it was too bad she had been killed by the same technology in which she had known so well.

An echoing footstep could be heard and Tails looked up from washing the Tornado of the mud that covered the bottom and landing gears. He saw Selim coming his way, so the little fox turned off the water and waved. The older vulpine smiled and nodded, "Hey there."

Tails smiles, obviously eager to show Selim his own invention, the Tornado. He was always proud of it; Selim was too, it was symbolic of what he did during the two months of free time. The ruins of Robotropolis provided some great raw materials for building the airplane. It was defiantly much more stable and better built then the Freedom Stormer, which was made mostly of light materials, when Sonic landed it on the way back he had smashed it up pretty good, and it never took flight again.

Tails let Selim sit in the cockpit, and the older fox absorbed the control panel he had pretty much drilled in his head. He could go through the controls with his eyes closed, which was good because what he had in mind he was going to need to do that. The fox looked down the runway, it would be easy to take off from this position, he smiled at the fox as he pretended to have no clue about what anything did and the little guy was happy to show him everything. Selim found himself wondering where he had lost all this energy, even after something this tragic happened his younger self was chipper and happy. The older fox found himself wishing he had such ignorance, that he could be chipper again, but he had to sacrifice it in order to give this kit the chance he didn't. Tails would not die this time and Miles would not be born.

"Thanks for showing me around, you're a really smart kid, and you have a lot of potential." He said shaking his hand, causing the kid to chuckle and scratch the back of his head with the other hand.

He wrote more then when he had first filled out the Freedom Fighter paper work, he spent most of his day scribbling in his journal, filling the book with the history that he was familiar with, the one he was going to prevent from occurring. He would leave it as a memento, because he didn't plan to live through this mission. Like Sally he was ready to die for what he wanted to protect, and he knew he just might have to die in order to prevent the death of Sonic and Sally.

He went to bed early; he was going to need his rest, because tomorrow he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, because he wouldn't have the time. He would finish what he could tomorrow; he had already almost filled the book up with his 'history' which hopefully was just that and not a preamble of the events to come.

He remembered as much as he could about that day, he remembered that Aunt Sally had contacted Knuckles about bringing the Chaos Emeralds. The Echidna never showed up, and it resulted in the plan going wrong. Selim had looked for the guardian soon afterward, kind of pissed off that he chickened out or lied, however he was never found, ever. He knew then that he didn't pull out, he just was stopped, and that was what he had to do. Make sure whatever had stopped Knuckles the last time didn't do it this time, and hopefully that would change everything.

Sleep snuck up on him, it'd be the first time he slept in about thirty six hours and he'd happily take it.

One person was still up though, in the mechanical metropolis Snively was sitting and waiting, for the message he knew would come. If the princess were still alive she would try to contact the other freedom fighter factions in order to tell them to steer clear of the Great Forest. As if right on cue a swatbot comes in to report. "Picked up transmission sir." The metallic voice called as he didn't wait for the order to put it on screen and just did.

The echidna was on the screen, and he seemed to be talking about the Chaos Emeralds and of assisting in a plan of some kind, it seemed like the recording only captured the guardian's side of the conversation. It was more then enough though; he knew that they were after the Chaos Emeralds, he couldn't allow what happened to the Death Egg to happen now, whatever that yellow hedgehog was it was a wrathful power he wished not to see again.

On top of that he could use those Emeralds to his own advantage, that kind of power. If he could harness the power that Sonic did, he could be unstoppable. He laughed his little crazy laugh, it echoed through the walls of the metal room to be heard by none but himself. He would send one of the new 'recruits' on this mission, one that would have a lot of tactical advantage over the close ranged attacking echidna, while the Gizoid would stay behind and wait for the other Freedom Fighters.

It was perfect; all he had to do was wait for their arrival. They'd be right in the palm of his hand.

The next day went by very quickly, Selim didn't stop writing, he wrote until the sun went down, or at least until the lighting system turned down to imitate a starless night. Another horrible tragedy that they would have to overcome was that of not being able to see the twinkling of stars at night, to look up and have their hopeful light twinkle down upon them. Now when you looked up you could see granite and other hard minerals. He could see now why Dulcy wouldn't come down here, for he too was a creature of the skies.

The figure made its way through the darkness and snuck into the workshop that he had seen the day before. The plane's shadow stuck out in the room like a soar thumb and it was easy to climb in, the fox had remembered everything about his greatest aviation creation, even where the keys were hidden. When he sat in the cockpit earlier he noted that the seat cushion was a little loose, as he had expected. Before sitting down he lifted the seating up and in a little square hole the shimmering keys lay in wait.

They jingled as he picked them up and put the seat cover back down and sat, his tails moved to the side of the seat which had plenty of room for them thanks to the engineering done by his younger self who accounted for the pilot having two tails. He felt bad that he was going to do this, it would make his younger self worried, and maybe angry, but he would thank him some day.

He found the switch that controlled the lighting and flipped it, and suddenly the cockpit was brightened with light. Though he could probably operate it with his eyes closed, he knew he shouldn't risk it. He took a deep breath as he slipped the key in and turned.

The little fox suddenly woke up, he didn't know why; it was still the middle of the night. Maybe it was because of this big important mission that Sally and Sonic were going on in the morning, he couldn't go, like always. He could never understand why he couldn't go. He'd proven himself useful in every mission he went on, and he was now 11 years old. Not many kids his age could build a plane that flies, or come up with a distraction plan that made Robotnik think that the Power Stones was an unattainable goal which later made them obtain victory over the Doomsday Project.

It wasn't fair, he could remember what Sonic told him, 'Sorry big guy, Sal's got this one all figured out and we all need to do our part to make sure it pulls through. Your job is to stay here and make sure ol' Buttnik doesn't invade our tunnels.'

The fox sighs, like he hadn't heard that one a hundred times. It was just a way to say, 'Stay here Tails, it's too dangerous' to soften the blow by making it look like he was a look out.

Suddenly a sound cut though the little kit's thoughts, he heard what he thought was a plane starting up, and he would have thought it was his imagination if he hadn't heard the puttering of the propeller constantly humming. He jumped out of bed and ran out of his room and down the hall. He looked toward his workshop as it was now clear that someone was running his Tornado.

With speed that could only be surpassed by Sonic he ran to the workshop, and now he was not alone, the noise had woken up some others in its wake. He burst through the opening to see the plane moving down the runway. The young Tails started to run after it, but he failed to chase it down, by the time he had gotten to the end of the runway the plane had taken off into the night sky. As the plane became a smaller dot in the distance and disappeared into the twinkling stars, the kit fell onto his knees and sobbed.

Now everyone was up, it didn't take long for the news of the thievery to spread and Sally had a dread she knew who was responsible. The dread was reassured when Bunnie went to check on Selim, and found no one there. The rabbit Mobian gave Sally the only possession that was in the room at the time, which was the fox's journal. The princess took the liberty to read the last page to herself:

'I hope that I was able to stop this from happening and that you will be able to live a life not under the fear of Robotnik's rule. This is why I had to borrow the Tornado...'

She didn't have to read any further, she had found what she was looking for. Sonic tapped his foot as the princess read, he was very upset that Tails had lost his most prized possession, and he was eager to get it back. "It was Slim, wasn't it?" He growled.

The princess nodded and Sonic looked like he was about to juice after him but Sally stopped him. "Sonic, don't go."

"And why not? That fox has been trouble the moment he stepped foot here." He said, Tails wasn't here at the moment, he was in his room and upset. "He's trying to disrupt us from our attack; I know he's working for them."

Sally sighed, "Sonic, the Tornado is not needed for this assault, because we are attacking from the ground."

Sonic nodded, "But my little bud needs me right now, I need to get his plane back."

Sally shook her head. "The plan won't work without you Sonic."

Sonic retorted, "My best bud is more important to me then any mission."

Sally suddenly felt something, like a mocking jab. This is what Selim had planned wasn't it? That people begin to question her leadership, that he distracts them from their missions. That if they chase the Tornado they won't die in Robotropolis. She felt outwitted, but she refused to give in to it, she knew only one thing that would stop this plan from falling apart at the seams, and that was the truth.

"Sonic... can you follow me... I have something to tell you..." Sally said as she walked out of the room, she hoped she knew what she was doing.

"You're pullin' with me right Sal...?" Sonic asked as Sally had finished laying it all out, of course excluding why he stole the plane. She was afraid if she told him about the possibility of them dying it could result in such, she didn't need Sonic acting different cause he was going to be distracted and he'd do better not knowing.

"I'm pullin' you not Sonic..." she said sternly. "Don't tell me you weren't just a little suspicious that Selim was Tails?"

Sonic looked down, he had to sit, everything was spinning. "At first, but he acted so... different... oh man, I acted like an ass Sal... maybe that's why he ran off."

Sally shook her head. "No Sonic, he's not as emotional about it as he used to be, it was to stop this mission like you said."

"But why would he do something like that... If he is who you say then wouldn't he be on our side?"

She shook her head. "He's being overprotective, like I am to the younger him maybe... but truthfully; I am to him because if something happens to us I wanted someone to be here to take over."

"Ya we talked about that Sal, but he isn't dumb, the lookout excuse has lost its sparkle. Especially after we let him come with us on the Death Egg assignment, in which he was a big help."

"I know Sonic, but that was because it would have been dangerous to stay in the Great Forest. When he turns twelve, I promise you Sonic, we'll let him go on whatever mission he wants to do." She said smiling. It was only two weeks until then, so maybe then they wouldn't need any more fights, and Tails could live the childhood that he never really had.

"Really, he'll be very excited, thanks Sal, think I should tell him?"

The princess shook her head. "Let it be a surprise."

Sonic nods and smiles, "Alright Sal, he'll be really happy, bet my quills on it."

The wind blew through his fur as the sun began to come over the horizon, the sky was blood red, causing the fox to frown, bloody skies at dawn were usually a bad omen, and he could easily guess what the omen was. It had seemed like the longest time since he had been able to fly like this, though he was on a mission he didn't really have to be on his guard every second. As long as he stayed below radar detection he would be perfectly safe.

Earth and rock floated before him, it was easy to spot the floating island. It's existence now common knowledge to most, just as the Chaos Emeralds were. He took the stick and moved for the floating rock. Now he had to look for the Hidden Palace, which wasn't so hidden anymore. It was in the volcano's lava reef, he had a lot of time to learn the layout of the island during the Death Egg assignments, or course the echidna knew far more and he was glad to show the Freedom Fighters the hidden passageways after their help.

He had to keep alert, Knuckles should be somewhere around here. It was morning and the echidna was probably just leaving the alter of the master emerald with the Chaos Emeralds, under normal circumstances the guardian would probably tell them to suck an egg, but he was indebted to them for saving the alter before it fell under Ivo's rule. Not only that, but he probably felt sorry for attacking them and being tricked by the doctor.

The fox looked down and found a place to land, there was plenty of flat land in the palace. Luckily he was just in time to catch the echidna. The guardian stopped as he saw that plane land, he was very confused as he moved up to the plane. The vulpine took off his air goggles and got out of the cockpit, causing Knuckles to scratch his head. "Tails?"

The orange furred fox hopped down from the bottom wing of the plane and turned to look at the echidna, who quickly realized how much taller the kit had gotten. "Wait, you're not Tails..." he said as he quickly changed his bewildered look to one of defensive. "Who are you...?"

Selim knew that he wouldn't be here for long, he knew he should tell him, according to Sally he already knew that there was a form of time travel. "I am he, though I am not him." He said and then realized how stupid that sounded.

"Stop talking in riddles, you're just trying to confuse me." Knuckles growled. The vulpine smirked; it was rather easy to confuse someone like Knuckles. He wasn't exactly the best puzzle solver.

He looked at him, "I mean, I am Tails, I'm from the future, that's why Sally was talking about time travel, she wanted to send me back, before I could help."

Knuckles still had his fists up a little on guard, ever since the Robotnik incident he seemed to be very careful on whom he could trust and who he couldn't. Miles knew he'd have to prove he was who he claimed he was, so he would have to say something only he would know. "You remember the malfunction on the Atomic Destroyer? The one where you were captured?" He asked. This caused the echidna to drop his guard, Tails would have been the only one to know of that incident, cause he promised never to tell anyone, and after the incident he never doubted the fox's word.

The echidna dropped his guard "It was no malfunction; you knew that, I didn't believe you." He said with a frown. Standing down he was ready to listen. "After all that time you still remember that?"

The fox nods, "It was my first mission as a Freedom Fighter. How could I?" He asked.

The echidna opened his hand and in them seven colored gems glittered, shrunk from their original size, a trick the guardian could do to them. "So what are you doing with the Tornado? Giving me a lift?"

The fox shakes his head. "No I came on my own accord, listen Knuckles, we can't fly to them, I want to leave the Tornado in a place that is safe, I want my younger self to get it back. Think you can handle that?"

Knuckles nodded and pointed in the direction of the forest which was at the edge of the island, "I have a transporter that will take us off the island, leave the plane here, when I've gotten my emeralds back I'll bring Tails... er ya, you know the other one, here." He stated.

"We have to get going; the others are probably on their way now." Miles stated.

And with that they started to run out the hidden palace and into the morning sun, which was now completely over the horizon leaving all the hellish tints behind.

They were on the move, about a dozen of them, Freedom Fighters led by the princess were heading toward Mobotropolis through the pipe system.

"Everyone remembers what to do right?" Sally stated and with that they all nodded, she went over it twice already. They each were going to set up an explosive in a certain area. Sonic was to distract the enemy while they moved in. The hero would have one half minute before they moved in. He would move the robot forces as far away from the explosion points as possible. Of course, Sally would have the main tower, the most dangerous of the points. Roy would get one of the robotisizers, Rotor would take a generator, Bunnie had another robotsizer station out of personal request.

"Ya Sal stop fussin' we're gonna blow em sky high." Sonic stated. He was still a little upset at Selim. If he was Tails wouldn't he have known what taking the Tornado would do to himself? Wherever he was he hoped he didn't intervene with this mission, if he did he'd wish he hadn't had been spit out by that time flux.

"Alright. Ready Sonic?" Sally asked.

The hedgehog nodded, distractions were his specialty, he'd keep the Swatbots away. With that the hedgehog went out of the pipe, at the same point Grif had saved them from before, which seemed like many years ago. He moved quickly out into the streets in order to not attract attention to the hiding spot. Two Swatbots were standing there still as stone.

"Hey Tin Heads! You look a bored stiff!" Sonic said as he stopped giving a smirk and a wave, just as planned they sprung to life and gave chase to the blue hedgehog, who moved just fast enough so they could keep up.

The area was clear and Roy went to the robotization plant. He snuck inside and planted the explosive, a very potent devise, so he did so carefully. When he was done he went back to the hiding spot and gave a thumbs up sign, letting Rotor start his approach. This pattern continued until finally it was Sally's turn. She would need the greatest luck of all.

The speedy one's presence was now well known to Snively. He smiled, he didn't know of the explosive devises planted already, however he did know how to stop Sonic in his tracks, he pushed a button on the chair and sat back. The image of Uncle Chuck would display all over Robotropolis, no one could miss it, not even an ignorant blue hedgehog.

Sonic stopped dead in his tracks, he had lost the pursuing robots, but that is not why he had stopped. He saw a big display screen in one of the buildings, it had a jail cell, and there was someone in it. He could identify the figure from miles away, it was his someone very important to him. "Uncle Chuck..." He said to himself. His thoughts went to the letter, the trap that Selim had been used in. That alone made him worry about Charles, now that he saw the image all his fears came to light.

He recognized the cell, it was the same one they held Kat in, whom they still hadn't found. He wouldn't let the same thing happen to his Unc. All thoughts of the mission were thrown, and any thoughts of a trap in wait never crossed his mind, he only had rescue on his mind.

Sally knew something was wrong. It was obvious; she too could see the images of the robotisized hedgehog. She could sense a trap and she knew Sonic would abandon the plan to go rescue him. Something was going to happen and she had to stop it. She started to run to the jail section when she stopped one second; she felt her heart tear apart. Selim said she and Sonic would die in this mission, but if she didn't do anything Sonic would die anyway. She couldn't live with it; the knowledge that she knew something was going to happen but was too cowardly to stop it.

She took a deep breath and moved forward. She was not afraid of death, she was not afraid of what laid ahead. She kept saying this to herself, she had to believe it. She knew what she was doing was almost the same as walking off a cliff with a noose tied around her throat, but she would not let Sonic die alone, because she knew that was one of her worst fears, and it was also probably Sonic's as well.

Knuckles and Selim were at the foot of the jungle. "The teleport is up ahead, it'll lead us just outside the Great Forest... or the wasteland that was the forest. From there we'll head west and to Robotropolis."

The fox nods. "Let's hurry, or Sonic and Sally will die before we get there." He said, staying alert because he knew that somewhere there was going to be something that would try to stop them.

The guardian had a question pop up in his mind. "If they are in such danger then why did you come after me instead of staying with them?" He asked catching the vulpine off guard. He didn't think that Knuckles was that clever to catch on to that.

Before he could answer he sensed it, a little movement in the bush, very subtle and faint but his hearing picked up on it. "Get down!" He shouted tackling the echidna as a ballistic bullet whizzed over their heads and into a tree from behind, the sound of the miss was evident. The Echidna looked up and wondered what was going on.

Selim didn't know what was happening either, it was unusual for Robotnik to use ballistics; he usually used more energy based weaponry. The only person he could think of that used ballistics was...it then hit him like a ton of bricks... Jerome. Were they positive that he died? No one saw him fall; all they heard was the scream. That means, he could still be alive... though not in the same way. His flesh would be cold metal, his senses nulled... robotosized.

"This is why." Selim whispered harshly, replying to the guardian's earlier question.

"Uncle Chuck!" Sonic cried as he looked into the cell, he quickly glanced to the side for the access panel, which had its normal hand print symbol on it. He grabbed an empty can and did his Robotnik impression that could fool anything. "Open Cell 359 in Sector D." he stated, but was surprised at the response.

"Access Denied. Voice print invalid. Alarm set for 5 seconds." It called causing Sonic to jump in surprise; his imitation had always worked before. The countdown started and the Hedgehog had to think quickly.

He guessed he had something in his throat, so he cleared it and tried again. "You pile of shit! I ought to send you to the scarp heap! If you don't open this door right this second I'll rip out your wires and use them as floss!"

But once again, it failed. He didn't understand it; maybe Robotnik had deactivated the cell's voice print because he didn't want it opened. Maybe he put Snively in charge of it, but whatever it was he was out of the subtle approaches. "Stand back unc. I'm gonna drill ya outta there." With that the hedgehog spun into his spin dash saw and cut through the lock mechanism in the cell, causing the countdown to abruptly stop and the alarm to instantly come on. Sonic grabbed his uncle's arm, "Hold on, we're gonna juice!" He said before blasting out of the cell and down the hall to escape.

The signal had been sounded. The pieces were in place. Snively laughed in glee as he flew in a cloaked hovercar, heading for sector D. He knew this would work and he wouldn't miss the final fight, the one where the miserable rodent met his maker. He looked out the window and realized he was within the perimeter of the sector so he flipped a switch with a sadistic laugh.

An energy shield came up, it was like the one that Robotnik had used against those dinosaurs, and it would effectively keep everything inside it. Only this one was far better, far stronger, and far bigger then the one the fat one could ever dream of building. There would be no escape, and Sonic would be helpless and have no choice but to fight. The sky turned a lighter blue as the containment field took shape.

The alarm had caught the attention of others as well; Rotor, Bunnie, Roy, were all worried as they heard the alarm go off, they knew a jail break was not part of the plan. Something had gone terribly wrong, and now the walrus was figuring out what. It didn't take too long to find the video that was displayed, it was Uncle Chuck.

"What I can't understand is why Robotnik would display this to all the available computers, if he had Charles wouldn't he want to keep it a secret?" The walrus asked.

"I smell bait." Roy responded in a dangerous tone.

"Oh my stars, it's a trap!" Bunnie stated. "We gotta go stop Sonic!"

"By now it's too late, mate." The kangaroo responded. "That alarm we just heard was the hog breakin' him out."

Bunnie nodded and looked down. "But we hav'ta warn him. Let's go!" She said running out of the pipe, the others following her. When they reached the streets however they stopped dead. A big blue shield like energy field surrounded Sector D. There would be no way in, no way they could help.

"Where the hell is he?" Knuckles whispered harshly, looking over a downed log. Selim couldn't see him either. The fox knew how machines worked; the shot was meant for the echidna. It was programmed to assassinate the guardian to prevent the emeralds from being delivered.

"Knuckles, you're gonna have to distract him, he'll fire at you and then I can get a good fix on his position." The vulpine stated.

The red Mobian jumped a bit. "You want me to get shot at? Why don't you go and I'll smash him."

"Because you're the target, he could care less about what I am doing." He said shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but if you move quickly he should miss. When I find out the general location he is hiding I'm gonna lay down some suppression fire. When that happens you're going to move in, knock him out, don't kill him, he's been robotosized so when you have him down I'll ..."

The guardian shook his head. "What the hell are you going to shoot him with?"

The fox opened up his laser gun on his wrist, showing his added deformity. "Old wounds..." He stated looking over the log again. "He's moving in, get ready to move."

Knuckles nodded, he suddenly jumped up and growled loudly. "Come on is that the best ya got? I'm right here come on!" The fox jumped at the suddenness but then got ready listening for the sound of the shot, as he sure Knuckles was, but for a different reason. Selim couldn't help but keep an eye on him and hope he dodged the bullet in time.

There was a sudden crack and a whizzing sound, Mile's ears and eyes watched as the long bronze streak made its way across the forest canopy. He spotted the machine in a tree about 50 yards down, completely unaware that he was spotted, the mouse's red eyes on the guardian. The metal was of white color, indicating without a doubt it was Jerome. He never knew that the coloration would remain with robotization, but Uncle Chuck was another proof of that, the same light blue he is in flesh was the same coloration he was in robotic form.

Damn it, stop thinking and just shoot! A voice popped in his head as he realized his opportunity was slipping away. He pointed his laser at the tree and fired rabidly with light powered attacks as to conserve energy, enough to catch the sniper off guard, enough to divert its attention from its target, who was now the new aggressor.

Knuckles had ran up through the brush, his sound of crashing through the leaves and brush were drowned out by the laser fire, the robotic mouse dazed and confused on the enemy position. It now set its sights on the aggressor, the fox. In order to carry out its assassination objective this pestering canine would also need to be eliminated. In all the flashing of the laser beam fire Selim was unaware his head was in the scope and the mouse was squeezing the trigger.

A shot rang out as the trigger was squeezed, but the bullet barely nicked the vulpine's ear as a sudden jolt caused the mouse to loose balance. Knuckles had come up and gave the tree a nice solid punch causing the timber to come crashing down upon the jungle floor. Jerome was thrown back and landed hard on the ground. The guardian ran up to it and was ready to smash it in the face in hopes of deactivating it. His hand raised up high when suddenly the robot rolled out of the way, the punch hitting the dirt catching the echidna off guard, with the rifle now pointing to his temple.

The guardian closed his eyes; ready for the end he knew would come one day. However today would not be that day, the vulpine that was now running up to the scene shot the hand of the robot causing him to drop the weapon. In retaliation the echidna blasted his knuckle fist into the robotic jaw with a quick uppercut. The mouse was thrown back landing on the ground with a thud. While the robot was stunned and catching its surroundings the fox took the opportunity to cut off its power supply and deactivate it.

"Poor Jerome..." The fox said looking at the cold metal body that lay before him.

"So you did know him?" The echidna said, "I thought so the way you were concerned that I not smash him to bits..."

The vulpine nodded. "Thanks for your help; I'm glad you listened; now he might still have a chance to be changed back. I thought... he was dead."

Knuckles nodded, "I don't know which is worse, death, or ending up as a tool for your enemy." He then turned to Tails. "At least you're more humble then Sonic is."

Tails looked down and sighed. "I've learned that we all need the help of others, and when it is hard to find, that lesson comes hard."

The echidna nods and sighs. "I know what you mean, I've guarded the emeralds alone for a long time, I think I'm the last defender they will have, the echidna's are pretty much an extinct race." He put a hand on the older fox's shoulder. "When we're done with this mission, why not come back here with me? You can help me guard here until I figure out how to get you home. I'm sure Sally would approve."

With the princess's name mentioned, the vulpine's thoughts suddenly snapped back to Sonic and Sally's welfare. "Oh shit, Knuckle's we got to hurry they're in danger." He said as he ran through the brush.

"Huh?..." Knuckles said as he was dragging the mouse to a hollowed out tree nearby to keep him in. "Wait up!" He cried as he put down the robot, chasing after the rushing fox. "You don't know the way!"

Princess Acorn looked right behind her, a strange wall had materialized, and it looked just like the one when they were rescuing the terepods. When she touched it she almost flew back from the immediate shock she had gotten from it. Now there was no doubt in her mind that this was a trap.

She moved forward through the streets, not a Swatbot in sight, this was very strange indeed. She got to the clearing in front of the prison and saw Sonic hunched over beside the robotic hedgehog that could only be his uncle.

"Are you ok Uncle Chuck?" He asked, to which he got no response.

Had Sonic forgotten? What started this whole thing, the letter from Charles, the letter that had them go to the Junk Yard, the one that allowed the tracer to be planted, the one that lead to Knothole's destruction? Apparently so, she began to run at Sonic trying to stop him before the robotic hedgehog made its move.

She was too late though, with a speed that caught Sonic off guard the robotic hedgehog rose up and punched the blue hero, launching him a good five feet into a couple of garbage cans knocking them over.

"Sonic!" the princess cried as she ran over to the hedgehog. She helped him up to his feet. Though the blow didn't do much physical harm, the hedgehog was emotionally distressed.

"Uncle Chuck?" He asked his voice a little shaky; once again there was no response from the robotic hedgehog.

Snively laughed from his viewing spot, it was working exactly as he hoped. Placing the Gizoid's program into the body of the hedgehog's greatest weakness was an excellent idea. There would be no way the hedgehog could establish a link either, since the pointy nose human had shown the destruction of Knothole as his power, and no one creature could match such a destructive feat as turning a huge forest to ashes. He laughed again, today would be the day the rodent would be eliminated.

Back in the caverns of Lower Mobius the young Tails was sitting on the roof of the living quarters, looking over to the western exit, the one that lead strait to Robotropolis. It had been the way Sonic and the others had left this morning, but he felt something this time that he hadn't before. It was a feeling of foreboding, like they wouldn't come back this time. He stood up and looked around, no one was watching. The fox hopped down, using his tails to lighten his landing and then he rushed out of the haven and toward the city alone.

"This is it isn't it?" The older Miles asked as they entered a little cavern in the jungle floor, almost immediately there was a metallic platform surrounded by little pillars, like the ones found on many points of the island. The Freedom Fighters allowed the echidna to install one; it would lead to the Great Forest, a cavern just on the outskirts of it anyway. They both knew they would have to be cautious, because Robotnik now had control of the territory and whether he still had units there or not was not known.

"Are we ready to go?" Miles asked turning to Knuckles and noticed something he hadn't before, and it seems like Knuckles had just noticed it as well as he growled and cussed as his hand went to cover his newly discovered wound. "Knuckles are you ok?" He asked concerned looking at the echidna's left shoulder, it looked like the shot hadn't missed after all, not entirely anyway. It had gone clean through his shoulder. The blood was running down his arm to his fingertips, he would need treatment soon so he didn't lose too much blood.

"I'll... be fine." He stated, which was a lie, obviously. If the older Tails knew anything about Knuckles it was that he was very stubborn.

"No, you're hurt. When we get to the other side of this thing you need to go to Lower Mobius and get some medical attention, there is a path through Robotropolis. I'll take the emeralds to Sally and Sonic." He stated sternly, hoping Knuckles wouldn't argue.

The echidna though liked to conflict with others and he wouldn't give up his emeralds so easily, he had always been defensive of them. "You guys better give me them back, or you'll wish Robotnik had done you in." He stated.

"Don't worry about it Knuckles we'll give them back to you when we're done. You have my word." Selim stated taking a jungle leaf and tying it tightly around the wound.

Knuckles showed little emotion even though it stung like hell, as a guardian he had to look impenetrable at all times, showing no weakness. He nodded, "Hm... I always trusted you over Sonic, you seem to be more reasonable one of the bunch. He's just too... spontaneous."

Selim nodded, he never really put those words with Sonic before, but now that he thought of it spontaneous would be the word. Acting on a whim, like he always does, which is probably why he is in trouble now. They both get on the platform and Knuckles activates it, they both disappear on their way to the western outskirts of the Great Forest.

"Uncle Chuck?" the blue hedgehog asked wearily as he stood up and looked at the mechanical hedgehog as it stared without any sign of emotion at the princess and Sonic. Snively had noticed that the ground squirrel had joined the fiasco and he grinned happily, now he could be rid of two birds with one stone.

Sonic had not yet become defensive as he looked at the light blue machine's eyes, his expression wasn't the one of the Uncle Chuck he knew, and it wasn't that of the robotosized one either, there wasn't that sense of anger. It was a dangerous calm, one in which the hedgehog knew within himself that it was not Uncle Chuck that stood before him. Was it a copy? That would explain why Robotnik would have displayed the captured robot. Damn it, the hedgehog thought to himself as he realized he was tricked again.

Before he could react, the robot he had thought to be his Uncle Chuck moved forward at him with incredible speed, it leaped off the ground and spun around in the air like a cyclone and drilled Sonic into the wall. The princess cried out as the robot hit Sonic, the blue hedgehog fell forward as the robot leapt back. The blue hedgehog left confused, nothing he had ever seen before moved with that speed, and he knew that Uncle Chuck, even robotosized couldn't move that fast. Even the leopard like droid he had raced against awhile back paled in comparison. Himself? Not likely, nothing was faster then him, and nothing ever would be! Would it?

Sonic growled, no nothing would, and when it came to speed he would not be outdone. "So Buttnik thinks he can beat me by using Uncle Chuck as a shield? Think again!" He growled, upset he had to do this, but he had no choice, in this world it was either him or them. He would see if he couldn't disable the robot and try and fix the mistake. "Catch me if you can!" He cried as he took off like a rocket down the street.

Sally knew that something was very wrong as the mechanical hedgehog chased after the blue blur. "Nicole... did you get the data I requested?" she asked the little palm computer as she watched the two disappear into the distance.

"Accessing Sally..." the computer chimed as it processed the data. "Warning! Restricted data found, date back in data archive before accessible date. Please enter access code."

Sally scratched her head and sighed. She had only come across this problem once before, and it was when she was accessing any information on the family name of Prower. She knew that her father probably did it. Nicole had lots of information within her databanks and she had barely scratched the surface of that information, but when she seemed to ask the deep questions about the past it seemed to come up with this message. Why was her father hiding the past like that? The squirrel shook her head, this wasn't important now, Sonic was in trouble, whatever this thing was it had spewed forth from the past and it threatened to consume them all.

Sonic ran full ahead, not going to stop. He knew that the robot was right behind him. He moved through the debris on the street with ease, he had done this his whole life. However he had to stop when he soon came across the light blue wall that kept him contained. He cursed as he skid to a stop about a foot away from the containment field. This confirmed the thought that this was all a trap.

The blue hedgehog turned to look behind him; there was no sign of the metallic hedgehog. Had he lost him? He looked around, the air was still and he knew he was being watched, that he was still out there, he just didn't know where. The streets were silent, still, only a little rustle of papers caused Sonic to steer his attention elsewhere. Suddenly he heard something behind him. The hedgehog quickly spun around and saw his instincts were correct as the metallic hedgehog that was his Uncle stood before him, however he could hardly jump in surprise before the hedgehog took a hammer looking object and smashing it into the blue hedgehog with a wide arc swing to his side sending him flying back down the street.

Sonic landed with a thud into a pile of debris, dazed a bit, and confused on where that hammer had come from, and how Uncle Chuck had learned to swing it like a bat like that. It wasn't Chuck, it couldn't be, he had to get that out of his head if he any hope to survive.

As he stood up he was met with a kick to the face causing him to fly back farther down the street, it was very quick and powerful. Sonic pulled himself up so he'd land on his feet, but as soon as he got his bearings and began his decent suddenly the robot was right above him, smashing down both of his fists sending the blue hedgehog smack into the ground; he bounced off the concrete street and fell onto his back.

The hedgehog writhed in pain, but through it all he had a sudden feeling of remembrance, he had seen that move before. His mind started going back to when he was on the Floating Island in the hidden palace

"So you found my palace? It looks like I have no choice now, I would have let you live you know, but you had to charge forward didn't you?" The echidna stated about fifteen feet in front of the interloper, in between him and the emerald chamber.

"It's what I've done my whole life, it's not me who is your enemy, why can't you see that?" The hedgehog retorted.

Knuckles put up his fists in traditional fighting stance. "Enough talk hedgehog, I've defended these emeralds for all of my life, and I've been waiting for the day to come when I was challenged, let's go."

Sonic shrugged, there was no reasoning with the knucklehead, and so he sighed and got ready to fight. The echidna charged head long but the hedgehog easily dodged by jumping out and to the side, however this seemed to be expected as the red guardian jumped into the air and brought both fists down onto him.

Sonic emerged from his flashback and came back to the situation at hand. That move Knuckles used was called 'Meteor Punch' as he had found out later. The hedgehog was now even more confused as he tried to stand up, though it was difficult, it felt like he had dislocated his shoulder.

What was with this machine? It had matched his speed, maybe even surpassed it. It had Knuckles' strength. It had some moves he had never seen before, had Robotnik been observing all of their battles and recorded their moves onto a data disk to later be used against them? It wouldn't surprise him, he remembered Metal Sonic but that had only matched his abilities, not surpassed. If this was the case then he was up against something that he couldn't beat with his speed alone. The perfect weapon, only someone faster and stronger then himself could bring it down. His only hope now rested with the Chaos Emeralds, damn it, he wished Knuckles would hurry.

Smoke rose in almost every direction, the land was singed, scorched, and the trees were massacred, the life sucked out of nearly every square inch. Yes, this was the Great Forest that Selim was familiar with; he lowered his head in sorrow. He couldn't save everything, but he had to save something. He turned away from the choking air and destruction caused by the fire that Robotnik had set to these woods. He knew if he stared too long, he'd forget to save the one thing he came here to save, and that was his old friend, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Knuckles however continued to gawk, mesmerized by the chaotic state the area had been left in. "Damn him... Damn him to hell." He growled, obviously just as upset as the fox, but Selim kept it inside, like he did with many things. It was him being a leader that did that, he couldn't let fool hearty anger and vengeance stir his emotions, but yet he felt them rise now and he pushed back within himself as much as he could.

"Let's go." He said lowly as they ran off toward the metallic city.

The younger two tailed fox had arrived at the vent in which the Freedom Fighters had entered the city. He knew this because the group was just outside. Bunnie, Rotor, Roy were standing their all looking in a certain direction. He didn't wish to be seen, for he knew he wasn't supposed to be here right now. They looked concerned, and Tails knew something was not right. Sonic and Sally weren't with them, and he instantly understood that something must have gone wrong.

He wished he could see what they were staring at, it would probably explain more. He leaned out of the door and he could barely see out the window they were peering through, there was something light blue hovering in the sky, like a wall. He recognized it, from a few years ago, when the 'Ts' as they called them were attempting their escape from the doctor's clutches the round guy had trapped them within something like that.

"So they're in there are they?" Roy asked in his light accent.

Bunny nodded. "Ya sugar, I don't think they all can get out." She looked down.

Rotor thought quietly to himself wondering how they could get them out, "I'm sure if Sonic had a power ring they could get out like they did before." He stated as he scratched his head with his wrench.

The kit accidentally put too much weight on a loose piece of piping and fell out of the pipeline with a thud. He looked up as the piece crashed onto the floor giving him away in a heartbeat. He shook his head and sighed as the three spun around, he blew it.

"Tails? What y'all doin' out 'ere?" Bunnie asked moving over to the kit and picking him up.

"I was worried Aunt Bunnie." He said looking down.

The rabbit couldn't mistake the irony, how Sonic was in danger at the moment, and here was his best bud, worried about him. She wondered if the little vulpine had a sixth sense for when the hedgehog was in trouble. They nodded, and understood that as the fox grew older his curiosity grew. To worry about someone, though, you had to have a doubt. Tails had never doubted Sonic's invulnerability before, but now, when Sonic really needed to have the belief that he could win no matter the odds, even his best bud couldn't give it to him.

The air was still as the four made their way outside to the city street, and as if on cue the clouds let out with a pouring rain. They looked to the barrier, Rotor was still thinking. "There has to be a way to bring it down."

The air suddenly picked up, it wasn't a natural wind, and it seemed to be coming from down the street. Everyone seemed to change the direction of their stares, looking down that street, Bunnie backed up a little. "Careful y'all somethin' is headin' our way."

Everyone readied themselves as the wind picked up, the young fox, used to being a look out, flew up and looked down the road. He then saw who it was; it was Selim, with Knuckles in tow. "Hey guys it's Knuckles! It's Knuckles! He's coming! And it looks like Selim is with him." He said as he landed behind them. The young vulpine remembered something he had forgotten until now, it was Selim who had stolen his Tornado, he frowned. He had trusted the older vulpine even looked up to him like he did Sonic, and then he goes and steals his most prized possession. He felt angry, without much of the sadness he usually experienced with it.

The wind blasted and stopped as the older vulpine came to a halt, he saw the group from a good distance and knew he should probably talk to them first. He looked about the freedom fighters, most of them had mixed emotions of relieved and upset, and he knew that they were probably upset about him taking the plane. They probably were suspicious of him as they had a right to be.

"Listen guys, I'm sorry about what I did earlier, but I had reason to suspect that Knuckles wouldn't have been able to get the Emeralds to us alone." He stated.

The others seemed to be skeptical except Bunnie, knowing who Selim was. That was until they looked to see the guardian, who was still holding his left shoulder with his hand. The leaf covering it was blood stained and now they knew he wasn't lying. "What happened?" Rotor asked looking at the wound.

"We ran into an assassin sent by Robotnik, a robotisized mouse." Knuckles stated.

"Jerome." Selim said lowly looking down.

"Oh my stars... he was robotosized?" Bunnie asked.

The fox nodded.

The young Tails walked up to his older form, not as angry anymore. "Is the Tornado ok?"

As the subject was changed Selim smiled and nodded. "It's fine, it's in the Hidden Palace, Knuckles will take you there when he's healed up."

The little one nodded eagerly and then looked up pleadingly at the fox. "You gotta save Sonic and Aunt Sally, please..."

As the older fox looked down upon himself he couldn't help but smile lightly. He wondered if he always sounded so desperate for help, for someone to come save the day. He wouldn't let himself down, he would save Sonic like he had planned, and the little one would have someone to look up to, for all time. This world was too scary to face alone, and friendships were worth more then any wealth in the land, as they became harder and harder to come by with each robotisized Mobian. To lose one such as Sonic would absolutely crush the kit, and Selim was surprised he was able to survive, his heart in as many pieces as it was when that day came.

"Don't worry kid, I've got it covered." He stated looking to the shield. He looked at the energy dome's pinnacle and just as he expected there was a large stealthbot flying, releasing the energy down onto the city. It was very dark and grey, blending in with the heavily overcast sky, but Selim could see it as plain as day.

"Knuckles give me the emeralds, I'll get them to Sonic, I want you and the others to get as far away from the city as you can, go back to Lower Mobius." Selim said with authority.

Knuckles nodded and gave the fox the Emeralds. "You best give them back to me when you're done, we're in this fight against Robotnik together, but I alone am the guardian of the Emeralds." he stated as he walked back into the building. In which the others followed, the young two tailed kit was the last to go in giving one last look of pleading toward the older fox, to which he nodded. It was all up to him now.

Selim spotted a parked stealthbot. It seemed inactive so it would be perfect to attack the small battleship which was trapping Sonic and Sally. He had to hurry though, he didn't know how long the field had been up and every second more could mean all this was for naught.

Snively sat in the ship, his view of the battlefield was the best in all of Robotropolis, though he wouldn't really call it a battle, the blue rodent was getting his quills kicked all over the place. He now knew what his uncle liked about savoring the victory, seeing his adversary's last breathing moments.

Suddenly a red light started to blink, along with an alarm that sounded off. The long nose human looked at the light as it showed the rear view of the ship. "What the hell?" He asked as he saw another steathbot approached. "Attention stealthbot! Turn back at once, repeat turn back!" He stated. There was no response from the vehicle it just kept coming forward. "If you don't turn back this instant I'll deactivate you!"

A video display suddenly replaced the one currently showing the approaching vessel and it showed Selim glaring into the display at the other end. "Deactivate this!" He growled. The fox reached for a button and a whistling sound could be heard, obviously it was a projectile coming in, but it couldn't be evaded, because if the large stealthbot moved it would disrupt the field. There was only one thing Snivley could do now to achieve victory. "Gizoid! Kill the rodent now!" He cried over the loud speaker, the order echoed through the buildings as the projectile hit. The weapon disabled all of the ships electronic systems the shield fizzled out and the huge robotic ship fell downward like a dropped stone. With the shield down Selim quickly descended into the city streets to land.

Sonic looked up as he heard the voice ring across the buildings, Sally heard it too, and the robotic hedgehog looked down upon them both, glaring at the blue hedgehog. Suddenly the barrier fizzled out to the ground squirrel's surprise. "Sonic quick let's get out of here!" she cried.

The speedy hedgehog also noticed that the escape route was open, but he knew that running away would be impossible, even if he could go at full speed, which he was too injured to do his maximum and escape would have been impossible. He knew he'd have to make a sacrifice one of these days, and he was ready for it. "Sally, you go, I can't shake 'em, but I'll keep him distracted as long as I can."

Sally sniffled as Sonic's words sent a numbing chill through her, she felt really pathetic. Why didn't she listen to Miles when she had the chance? Now it was too late, and if things couldn't be changed, if Sonic couldn't live, she felt she had no reason to live either. "You're not going to die alone Sonic Hedgehog." her voice quivered. Dying alone, she knew, was his greatest fear.

"Go now Sally!" He urged, the use of her full name employed the seriousness of his plea. He then charged at the robotic hedgehog hoping to keep it busy just a bit longer, but it had its orders, it was no longer playing. It quickly cut through the charge dodging, the robot threw his fist into the hedgehog's stomach a blast of energy suddenly discharged from the planted fist throwing the opponent upward and back a few feet. Sonic hit the ground with a loud cry, he had never seen or felt the likes of that move before, its power rivaled that of Knuckles' but was delivered with a speed that rivaled his own. He tried to move, but he couldn't, everything was blacking out. Was this it? Is this what death was like, he'd been running from it for so long and it looked like it had finally caught up to him. Even the screams of the princess began to fade, all drifting away like a fading dream. The metallic face of the hedgehog's lost relative looking down and his fist ready to give the finishing blow.

"No!" A voice cried as an orange blur came out of a nearby alley. It smashed into the robotic body causing it to fly and crash into a nearby debris pile. The princess shielded her vision as she didn't want to see the final blow come to pass, but after hearing the unexpected cry she opened them again. Standing where the robotic hedgehog once did was the older fox she thought she would never see again after he took off with the Tornado. "Selim?" she asked, a little stunned.

The fox paid her no heed though as he looked upon the heavily injured body of his long lost friend, soon to be the same for the Tails of this era, the body laid apparently lifeless. Was he already too late? No... he couldn't be. "Sonic... Sonic can you hear me? Sonic!" He asked as tears started to come across his cheek, he was going to lose him again... he felt like he did all those years ago, all the anguish and despair he though he had been rid of for nearly seven years, the acceptance of losing, vanished in a heartbeat. "Sonic, damn you! Wake up, don't leave me here, don't leave us here!"

He fell on his knees and picked up the hedgehog's unconscious body in his gloved hands, the quills scraped roughly against his arms as the hands went behind the hedgehog's head. He tried so hard to save him; he should have known all his efforts would have left the same consequence. He had been a fool to get his hopes up, thinking he could do the impossible. But Sonic told him nothing was impossible... no, that had to be a lie, cause if it wasn't that means he had failed, failed his friend twice, the one who never failed him. He didn't know what else to do, he put his head down into his friend's shoulder and cried. Everything went cold.

There was then sudden warmth... something he couldn't explain, it wasn't like that burning anger that he experienced the first time the hedgehog had died, it was more of comforting calm warmth. It was at that time that a rainbow of glowing color could be seen dancing around the fox, which forced him to look up. His eyes met seven gems at his chest level, encircling him... almost like the time he saw Sonic... at that point it hit him, not just what was happening, but a power. It was unlike anything he had felt before, all his worries and pain were washed away, he felt rejuvenated, reborn, and the heavy sorrows were lightened. He felt his feet lift from the ground, if he wasn't concentrating on staying on the ground he could have flown, past the highest of the heavens, through the universe.

Princess Sally gasped at the sight, the fox's orange fur brightened to a paler, more yellow tone as his fur wavered and flowed. His eyes deepened in color to a deep orange, almost red to those that were at the distance that Sally was. His ears looked sharper, and the fur around his tails poofed, like an angry alley cat ready to strike. She looked about as shocked as when she had been when she first saw Sonic like this. Though, she thought that when the young Tails came in contact with them they had no residual effect, not like this anyway.

The fox stood steady, looking around as the emeralds fell to the ground, their charge dissipated it seemed, he saw himself glow. "What is this?" He asked as he looked at his hands. This was a power he never even dreamed about, one that had probably corrupted many that searched for even a taste of such a high. He kneeled down again and placed his hand against the hedgehog's chest and closed his eyes. His hand pulsated energy thorough it as it touched the hedgehog's skin. The hedgehog's wounds coming together and healing up just as the emotional scars the fox had under the Chaos Emeralds' powers.

The hedgehog felt his eyes opening, his vision blurring back to the world around him, he saw a light form around him, and at first he thought he was dead, the light coming to collect him, however he soon saw a familiar face. It was then, he noticed that Sally was right, why was he so blind to it before, the face was so similar.

"Tails?" he asked weakly as he came around.

The form nodded, "Yes, it's me, just don't call me that alright." he stated, looking to Sally's direction, who hung her head. She had acted as rashly as Sonic had, and it was the one trait she had tried to avoid.

Sonic sat up, looking at the fox; it didn't take long for him to figure out what had happened to him. "...and here I thought I was the only one who could do it..." He said with a little smile.

Selim smiled back. "Sorry to disappoint you, I'm just as surprised as you are."

There was a sudden clanking sound and all three of them looked toward its origin, the robotic hedgehog was coming back and now the older fox could see why Sonic couldn't beat him, it was guised as Uncle Chuck. "You guys should go; I'll take care of him."

Sonic stood up and shook his head. "Don't kill him; you know how much my Unc means to me."

The vulpine turned to the blue hedgehog and shook his head. "That is defiantly the same chassis as your uncle, however the innards were changed, I can sense that, and I'm sure you could too, if you doubt me ask Nicole..."

Sonic turned to Sally, who just nodded weakly, Miles was right, it was not Uncle Chuck on the inside, what happened to him, they could only imagine. Sonic then clenched his fist, "I'm going to help! I won't let him get away with this!"

Miles shook his head. "Sonic, please, let me handle it ok, be with Tails and the other Freedom Fighters, they need you. Do it for me, you owe me that much..."

The hedgehog nodded, he was kind of a jerk to him this whole time, and even when he pushed him away he persisted to help. He had to admire that persistence, the same he saw in Sally. "Alright Selim, or Miles, I'll do that for you, make him pay..."

Without warning the robotic hedgehog charged at Sonic, its order to kill him still stood, and it wasn't going to be caught off guard this time. However the speeding assassin was easily detected by the fox's sharp ears. The fox quickly spun around smashing his tails into the robot's stomach area, as he did his body spun to face away from the Sonic. "Go now!" he cried.

Sally tugged on the hedgehog's arm, as she began to move away, back to the meeting spot. Sonic nodded, understanding and surprised at the speed of the older Tails's attack. If anyone could take this monster down, he could. On top of that he was far too emotionally distorted to fight his own Uncle, and though he knew it wasn't him anymore and he could be 'dead' it was too tough to fight, not only physically but emotionally.

"Good luck, big guy..." Sonic said, heavily audible in the silence. As the hedgehog and ground squirrel moved away the silence continued, a serious look upon the fox's face, his eyes narrowed, preparing to counter any move the robot made to intercept the hedgehog. The metallic hedgehog just stared back, realizing how much of a threat this new form was. It had been the first one to get a good blow off on him, and it knew it'd have to go through him in order to complete its mission.

"So you're the one responsible for all of this, huh?" The fox's voice called, cutting the once thick silence. "You're the one that had killed my friend? You're the one that left me alone to face the nightmare of this mechanical tyranny?" he asked, to which the robot gave no response. "Answer me!" he growled dangerously.

The robot just stared back, speaking no words, just preparing to strike. The fox shook his head. "So I guess the fat guy didn't give you a voice. Then again, I guess you weren't designed for talking. So let's just get this over with." He said, winding his tails up behind him ready to spring forward.

Sonic and Sally arrived at the building where they had entered the city earlier. It looked like there was a group waiting for them as Bunnie, Rotor and Tails were there. The little fox's face beamed when he saw the blue hedgehog come in. "Sonic... Aunt Sally!" the little one cried as he ran up to them and they hugged each other tightly. They were just as glad to see the kit that they'd never see again, but that was how being a Freedom Fighter was. "Didn't we tell you to stay in Lower Mobius, hun?" Sally asked as a sudden after thought.

The kit nodded and looked down, "I'm sorry Aunt Sally, I just got worried." To which she hugged him again. "It's ok," she said, "We're safe now." She looked up. "Where's Knuckles?"

"Roy took him back to Lower Mobius, he was injured on the way here." Rotor stated looking back toward the tunnels.

Bunnie looked amongst the two and noticed there was someone missing. "Where's Selim?" She asked.

Sonic looked back toward where they came from, and nodded. "The Chaos Emeralds seemed to have chosen him over me this time. So he's gonna put an end to that tin can once and for all!" He said as he wiped a tear before it formed in his eye, he knew Uncle Chuck was gone, and this time it was for good. No derobotization would work when the old personality of the one man who was like a father to him was gone forever. Yet another casualty of this damned war. He would have cried, if Tails wasn't here, he just couldn't let the kid see him down like that.

Tails was confused when he heard what Sonic said, "You couldn't beat him Sonic?" He asked, looking up at him as the hedgehog looked to the distance. Sonic shook his head no, his head lightly down in disappointment.

"Sometimes you find someone who is much stronger then you are T2, you only hope that they are your friend and not your enemy." He smiled and put a hand on the kit's shoulder turning to look him in the eyes. "Luckily for us he is a very good friend."

Tails nodded, that hope returned to his eyes, that spark that made him who he was.

The older Miles moved forward at blinding speed, the robot was ready to fight though, after all that's what it was programmed to do. As the punch came in the robot slid his left foot back and put up his right arm to defend the blow. As the punch hit the block the hand pushed away the punch with the momentum it came in at, leaving the fox's stance open to counter attack.

The metallic hedgehog coiled up into a ball and spun at amazing speed causing a shock wave to lash out at the fox. The vulpine was thrown up into the air harshly, but easily recovered using his two tails, landing on a nearby building. "That's Sonic's move..." he said to himself. Whatever this thing was it knew Sonic's moves, and that block, it was one Knuckle's defensive stances... but this thing never came across Knuckles. What the hell is going on? The only explanation could be the Robotnik picked up their data from the battle they had and put it into computer data.

It didn't matter, he actually felt excited by the challenge of fighting something of such skill. He didn't know why, he never felt such an enjoyment of challenge that Sonic did, he was usually far more wishing just to fight and get it over with it. The power of the Chaos Emerald might be going to his head. He shook it off, just get through this fight, and don't enjoy it, that'd make him as bad as the robot, the one who lived to fight, then again he might have been too late. He had been fighting his whole life... maybe this was also his function...

They weren't the same however, they both fought for different causes. His fight was for freedom, and always would be. Their fight was for enslavement, in the extreme sense of the word. The loss of free will, to never feel the freedom of flight, to which he felt was the ultimate liberation, to soar across the skies and feel the wind flow through his fur. He knew what it would be like if he was all metallic, he already felt it in his left hand. Cold, emotionless, unable to feel the breeze flow over it, he could imagine that same numbness throughout his entire body. To prevent that was something that was worth dying for, and fighting for.

He glared down from the ledge at the robotic figure. His strains of head fur danced across his eyes as the winds blew threw the wind tunnels of alley ways. The robot that used to be Uncle Chuck stared back, ready to attack, or counter whatever it deemed necessary. The fox looked about, but keeping his senses tuned toward his opponent. "So where's your great master? Why doesn't he come out to fight me himself instead of using a puppet?" He asked to the wind.

"Because I'm not stupid." came a voice, a high pitched voice, the fox jumped and turned around, not really expecting a response. There were computer terminals inside the building, each displaying a picture of the short green pointy nosed human, Snively. This was another surprise; he had expected the big round guy... but now that he thought about it... ever since Doomsday, when Robotnik had supposedly died there had been a gap when he made his next appearance, which never happened before. The explanation now was clear; it was all an act, his true enemy was hiding behind the guise of the old adversary.

"You?" The fox said, unable to see the robot charging him from behind, however the human did and held up a hand, to which the machine stopped. The vulpine turned to see that the master had stopped the puppet. He was confused to why he stopped the attack as he dropped his guard, obviously he wanted to speak, probably gloat, and he'd listen, he needed many questions answered.

Snively was the first to speak however, on the display he looked pretty scratched up, he was on that ship when it crashed Miles knew, his nose was scratched and a few swollen bumps were visible on the bald forehead his eyes narrowed as he talked. "So the little twerp has grown into a very bothersome pest, even worse then the hedgehog."

Selim frowned; Snively knew his identity, that wasn't something he counted on. Then again, two tails and orange fur were kind of a dead giveaway, no offense to Sonic. Though if the short human knew that he was Tails then he probably also knew...

"The one thing I can't figure out is that when I tested your DNA I got no feedback of abnormal growth. Also you said to Sonic something that rather concluded my suspicions..."

Then another video played, one from the robot, its view was blacked out by the debris that it had fallen into, but the audio from the conversation was still clear. The fox's own voice talking to his friend Sonic whom he had just revived. "Sonic, please, let me handle it ok, be with Tails and the other Freedom Fighters, they need you... do it for me, you owe me that much...", then the hedgehog's followed, "Alright Selim, or Miles, I'll do that for you, make him pay..."

The display turned back to the pointy nosed human as he grinned, "The only conclusion is that you traveled back in time... you will tell me how you did it, or you will die right here and now."

The fox looked down and laughed darkly, "Even if I did know... you think I would tell you?" he said looking up. "You're even dumber then your uncle, Snootly."

"The name's Snively you little twerp, and don't you forget it, because it is the one this world will call master soon..." He said lowering his voice, trying to show he was unafraid, which was pretty easy since he wasn't in front of him personally.

Miles was done talking to the human, "Not until the last Mobian spirit breaks, and that force alone will take an eternity to defeat." He growled before pulling out his wrist laser and pointed it at the screen, "I bore of this talking." He said and then fired, the screen shattering into bits effectively ending the conversation.

As if that was the cue it was waiting for the metallic hedgehog burst through the wall behind the vulpine and wrapped the cold metallic arms around him. Caught off guard, Selim had to think quickly; luckily he had two long tails to help him get out of the grapple. He pushed out with his tails and the robot held on with the best of its ability but its grip was slipping. With one final push with the tails the fox got loose and started to turn back around when the robot grabbed at one of the vulpine's namesakes and squeezed hard trying to keep him from turning around.

Selim growled as he felt a pain rise up through his tail, and he whipped at the arm with his other tail jumping and using both feet to kick back at the metal chest. This was effective causing the robot to stumble backwards and let go of the tail. The vulpine rolled over quickly and got back onto his feet using his tails to spring himself up quickly. He then launched forward at the robot and he spun around smacking the robot with his tails, with a loud crack sound the metal hedgehog flew out the hole he had jumped through to enter the room. It fell down with a loud crash, the vulpine looked out through the hole and saw the metallic body laying there. Selim sighed as he looked down and jumped the wind whipping through his fur as he fell down to the street below. He had to use his tails to slow down his decent, lifting his head up so he didn't snap it. Then he looked back down as his fall slowed and he landed on the street, and just as he feared the body was gone.

He looked about the streets, he knew he shouldn't have taken his eyes off of his opponent, but unfortunately it was necessary, the sudden slow down would have cause his neck to break if he kept it looking down. Now he was in the middle of the street, in the open, his opponent could be anywhere. He kept his eyes peeled around the street, leaving no stone unturned, how was he able to flee so quickly? Suddenly there was a blur that came out of the left corner of his eye, moving in behind him quickly. The vulpine stepped back and to the right swinging his left fist back as swung around. It came in contact with a metal clang, luckily he hit it with the left hand, if he hit with his organic one it probably would have gotten crushed, then again it seemed that in this form obtaining injury was much more difficult. Now that he thought about it that bear hug the machine had him in earlier would have probably crushed any Mobian. The robot hit the ground.

He was thinking too small, this power he had could go much higher, make him much faster and stronger, he just had to utilize it to his advantage, use the strength. He kicked the downed robot causing it to roll a good ten feet before it pushed itself up quickly getting to its feet. It then evaluated its current situation, standing there noting that the opponent was a challenging one. It would have to use some more advanced skills. Its legs began to change, its stature lowering, what looked like wheels coming out of the appendages. Suddenly it sped off, the fox growled, it wasn't going to get away, it was still a threat to Sonic, and he would do anything he could to stop it from completing its mission. He wound up his twin tails and blasted after the robot, being able to keep up easily, but not going too fast in order to not lose him. "You can't run from me, so stop trying." he shouted as he chased the robot.

The robot ignored the fox, but instead started to try and shake the fox by ducking into alleyways, but he wasn't able to shake him, he could have gone even faster if he wanted. Then the hedgehog ducked into an underground bunker of some sort. Blindly the fox followed him into the bunker and was met with a sudden darkness. The light off of his body from his super form let him see only about a foot in front of him. He stopped as he realized his mistake, the metallic skin would blend into the darkness, while his bright power enriched skin would be like a beacon.

He cursed as he looked around, using his vulpine abilities to try and hear any movement. A sudden crash echoed down the hall causing the vulpine to spin around suddenly. The sound reverberated off the walls. The room was square, and probably pretty much empty. He wouldn't be able to track sounds easily either, as he realized this he swore again. He didn't count on the robot fighting intelligently.

Suddenly he was pushed from behind harshly, causing the fox to fly forward. The vulpine spun around to see if he was still there, and he was met with a cold hand around his neck, and was slammed into a wall. The red eyes glowed in the dark as Miles felt himself being lifted of the ground. He felt himself starting to be choked. He cried out, but the only thing that accomplished was his cry echoing off the wall and coming back to his ears.

"I'm really worried 'bout him..." Rabbot stated looking off in the general direction in which Selim had disappeared. Where Sally and Sonic had returned from.

"Don't worry about him Bun, he'll handle himself just fine." Sonic said with a nod.

"It's been a long time Sonic, what if he's dead already?" Rotor stated.

"Don't say that, he'll be fine." Sally stated.

Tails remained quiet; he was sitting down looking past the group into the distance. But then he noticed something, a bright light, almost like a star shooting across the sky, only it was heading right for the city. "What is that?" He asked, startling nearly everyone in the group, his presence was pretty much forgotten till he spoke.

The others looked at the fox, and then looked toward the bright yellow light, it was strange to see such a phenomenon in Robotropolis's gloomy skies. Rotor took out some binoculars. "What the? They look like birds."

Bunnie cocked her head. "Ya'll're kiddin' me... there hasn't been anything livin' in these parts since ol' Botnik took over."

Sonic took the goggles and peered into them. The one light was actually four different forms, they were birds, and they looked almost identical, each with a little red on their cheeks. "Flickies? Four of them. What are they doing here?" He wondered aloud. It was kind of strange, they had the same strange glow that he had when he went to his other form and Selim to his, perhaps there was a connection.

They kept watching the birds in silence, all of them wondering why they were here. The glowing forms then stopped, and seemed to begin circling around the air like vultures, spiraling downward in what appeared to be a weird acrobatic stunt. "Now what's going on?" Sonic asked as the birds suddenly disappeared behind the buildings.

The room was going dark, darker then it already was. He couldn't breathe. The fox felt himself struggle, desperate to get breath. The red eyes looked at him with glee, it had beaten this attacker, and it was fun seeing the animal struggle. He squeezed tighter ready to finish this once and for all.

Suddenly a loud clang noise was heard causing the robot to loosen its grip a little turning around to examine the room. There was silence once again and the metallic retightened its grip. The fox kicked at the metal chassis with his remaining strength when suddenly the loud crash sound echoed again, only this time there was a bright light. Selim looked at the light, and it was followed by three others, they were birds, Flickies, their wings flapping freely. The image shined in the fox's eyes, birds always made him feel stronger willed, wanting to fly higher and higher to feel the freedom they did. His death would prevent the younger Tails from ever seeing that freedom; this threat would kill every last Freedom Fighter. Everything would burn like the forest did; the ashes never to be rekindled, no future, and no freedom. He felt a new surge of power come to him, the birds were a part of him, flight was a part of him, and he would not die in some cold underground bunker!

The birds moved in charging at the metallic hedgehog, effectively causing it to drop the vulpine and defend itself swatting at the persistent birds. The fox hit the ground and coughed a bit, regaining his breath as the birds continued to peck at the robot. Selim got to his feet and watched as the creatures of flight attacked, he felt as if he knew them, like they were connected to him somehow. Then again he felt that with all creatures of the sky, could it be they felt the same about him? Flickies were rare in Robotropolis, actually most creatures were, so how these ones found their way to him was in itself a miracle.

The metallic hand struck a bird causing it to fly across the room and hit the wall letting out a shrill cry. Miles felt his blood boil as he saw the bird hit the wall and fall to the ground. The fox jumped up and straight punched the hedgehog, then he quickly spun around attacking with his two tails, then spinning around and finishing it off with another straight punch, that last blow sent the robot flying back into the stairs that lead back to the streets. All that training Bunnie gave him in combat always came in handy. He was very grateful that she was there to teach him, it was a very useful skill, especially now, when he had something to defend. He looked over to the bird to see if it was ok, it got up and hopped about, its wing appeared hurt. He felt himself become even angrier, it would heal in time, but it wouldn't be able to do what it was born to do, to fly. The gift of flight was stolen so quickly by the monster before him; he wouldn't allow him to do it to anyone else.

He turned back to the robot and wound up his tails, blasting forward into the metal body tackling it. The tackled continued as he tails kept spinning causing him to lift the robot up into the air. Scarping was heard as the metal form was ground against the steps, going up the stairs and back out into the street. Carrying the robot into air as he reached the open, able to fully see again he started to pick up speed, whizzing down the street at the speed of a fighter jet. "I'm going to show you what you took away from that bird..." He let go of the robot and stopped moving forward, the inertia carrying the metal hedgehog down the street crashing straight into a building wall, a loud clang echoed through the buildings as the robot smacked into the wall at incredible speed.

The robot bounced back when it hit, landing into a junk pile. Selim flew higher up, pointing his left wrist at the disturbed pile; it opened up the laser gun pointing to where his opposer had fallen. The battery was beyond maximum charge, the power that flowed trough his veins sent more power then the gun was made for handling. It turned a bright red under the intense heat, powered by his anger and the emerald's power. Then, like a dam that just broke the beam burst out of the weapon creating a bright light which covered the entire street.

"What the whoo hah is that?" Bunnie jumped up as a bright light covered the horizon.

The others stared, never seeing anything like it before, a huge explosion that rivaled one of their own bombs. "Selim!" Rotor cried.

Everyone started to move forward, but then Sally shook her head. "If he's dead we can't help him, let's just blow up the charges we set and then get out of here..." She took out the charges she had failed to set in the main tower and pulled the wiring, disabling it.

Sonic looked to Sally and shook his head. "Sal... I'm not leaving him behind, not after how I treated him." he looked to Tails. "We'll blow them, and then we'll go in after him, together we'll beat the monster down."

The ground squirrel looked down a bit, seemingly deep in thought. Then she nodded, "Alright Sonic, we'll do it together..." She said as she got out the remote, pushing the button.

The fox landed on the ground his feet making a tap noise as he made contact. It echoed lightly and he started to walk toward the machine. He could tell even from this distance it was smashed, almost obliterated from the attack, the twisted metal no longer looking like the light blue hedgehog it used to be. Selim looked down and sighed shaking his head, he felt bad for Sonic, Uncle Chuck couldn't be saved; he was dead before they even fought. His eyes came across something he was surprised he missed before. It was a Chaos Emerald; it seemed drained and grainy in texture. He sighed; he was done with its power, now it could go back to the gems. He felt himself relax as the power left him.

His fur changed back to its white on orange, and his eyes back to their shiny blue, his tails looked slicker then before and not as poofy. He stepped forward and looked to the downed opponent, he had beaten the threat. He let out a nice long sigh, he was worried he wouldn't have pulled it off, but here he stood, and there it lay. It was done, it was all done, and now the young Tails could live his life instead of being the leader of a resistance in a war that would last seemingly forever.

Suddenly there was a loud explosion, and Selim looked about. It was luckily in the distance, and it was easily identifiable. They were coming from the points in which the detonators were set during the plan. He didn't realize that they were finished with that part. That means they were still in the city, because if they put a remote on the detonator they would have to be within range to activate it. He laughed, what had failed in the past succeeded in the present. He did it, was all he could keep telling himself.

There was suddenly a laugh that cut through his own, a more shrill and crazy cackle. The fox spun around and looked up to see a spy drone, it was Snively. "Why are you laughing pointy nose? Cause you lost? Or because now your cover is blown..."

"Neither little twerp, it's because you won't get the chance to tell anyone!" He cackled again, and as if on cue the twisted chassis shot up. The red eyes flickered heavily on and off as the thing moved closer at a slow pace, but the fox froze as he heard a sudden beeping start. Even someone who wasn't as technically inclined as he was could tell what that sound was, a self destruct sequence.

"You and your Freedom Fighter friends will go up with the city... by this time I'm already safely away. But everyone in the sector will be dead."

The fox's eyes shot open, he was a fool to think it was truly over; he had to do something before they all died, and Tails had no future. He couldn't think it was all happening so fast and the beeps were coming closer and closer together. He looked down; the Chaos Emeralds were shining brightly again, he thought quickly. The last time he was in a situation like this he had one of the gems, and he had grabbed it tightly, and then he found himself in the middle of the Great Forest.

It was the only option he had left. He leaned down and grabbed one of the gems and closed his eyes. The beeping started to become closer and closer and his heart raced just as fast. It couldn't end this way, this is not the way it was meant to end he wouldn't let it, he wouldn't! He screamed as suddenly a bright white light exploded and enveloped him, and it was the last thing he saw.

Sonic and the others were moving toward the area where the strange light had shown. However they soon found themselves stopping another light appeared. A bright white light in the shape of a dome quickly made its way out of that same area.

"Oh... my... stars... what is that?" Bunnie asked as they stared at it the dome getting ever bigger.

Sonic suddenly shouted. "Quick everyone hold on, we gotta juice... now!" He cried as he quickly did an about face. They formed a chain as he instructed and as soon as everyone was holding on tightly he booked it, running through the city, keeping ahead of the explosion as it enveloped everything.

They were almost back to the pipeline when Tails who was holding onto the very end lost his grip and fell back. Sally shrieked and cried up to Sonic, "Sonic! Tails is in trouble!" she cried and the hedgehog looked back as the fox picked himself back up, the white light almost on him.

"Tails!" He cried as he suddenly turned back, the others panicked. "Sonic you aren't going to make it!" Rotor cried.

Then, as quickly as it started, the white explosion reseeded, and to everyone's confusion. As the light faded, nothing was damaged; actually the whole section of city that was standing there still was... it was very perplexing. Sonic slowed down, moving up to the two tailed fox who was cringing waiting for his death. The hedgehog moved up to him and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's ok," he said, "you're alright now."

The fox looked up, "Sonic!" He cried as he hugged him tightly, the poor thing probably had never felt closer to death then at that moment. They all looked into the city and waited for any sign of life to come out. The young vulpine stopped crying before anything moved though, and all that was heard was the howling of the wind.

"Nicole..." Sally stated. "Scan for life forms within the area."

"Accessing Sally." the computer complied. "Lifeforms consist of one hedgehog, one walrus, one fox, one squirrel, and 1/2 bunny. No other lifeforms detected."

Bunnie shook her head. "Very funny I'm sure Nicole, if ya weren't a computer I'd give ya a good one." She said lowly.

"That means he's gone..." said Sonic looking off into the direction again, to which Sally nodded slowly. "Yes Sonic, he's gone..."

As the group cautiously made their way to the point of the strange explosion they never found a trace of Selim, it was as if he had vanished as mysteriously as he had arrived.

"Hey Tails! I'll race ya back to Lower Mobius." The hedgehog stated with a grin, the little fox smiled back at his friend. They were already in the tunnels and on their way back, all they had was the final stretch.

"Sure thing Sonic, don't go easy on me ok?" The young vulpine said lining up next to the hedgehog. Sonic turned to Bunnie and nodded to her, indicating he wanted her to start them off. The rabbot nodded back and got in front of the two. "Ya'll be careful now."

Sonic shook his head and chuckled. "Be careful? That's no fun." he then smiled. "Don't worry Bunnie, I live for speed I'll be fine, and Tails can take care of himself." he turns to the others, and smiles. "See ya guys back at the Lower Mobius." He said lining up next to the fox, determination in both of their eyes; neither of them was going to go easy on each other.

"Ya'll ready?" the southern accent called, both of them nodding, lined up ready to book it, the fox wound up his tails behind him. "Ya'll set?" she continued, the hedgehog lowering his stance the fox holding his tails at ready.

"Go!" she cried waving her arms down and was instantly surrounded by strong currents and a whoosh sound as the two forms were gone in an instant. She looked down the tunnel, and giggled. "My stars look at 'em go..." She smiled.

Sonic of course was leading, laughing a little, looking back as Tails was starting to fall further and further behind. "Come on slowmo!" he called back to the fox.

"Wait up! Sonic..." Tails whined.

"I'm not gonna fall for that Tails, you can keep up." He laughed again.

There was silence for awhile, the piping blurred by as the hedgehog moved quickly along them, the protrusions making little whooshing sounds, the air around him sounding like a wind tunnel, he was moving at almost full speed, and he was surprised he could still hear the kit's voice. Suddenly he felt a sudden burst of wind and it abruptly stopped him causing him to fly backward. Sonic flipped and landed on his feet skidding to a halt, the orange blur moved around the bend, the hedgehog left stunned. "Tails?" He asked, but the fox in question was nowhere in sight. The hedgehog blasted off again, still keeping his course making his way back to the town.

He arrived in a matter of seconds, the big open cavern seemed almost empty. "Tails?" he asked looking around, and then he saw him, the hedgehog walked slowly up to the form. The fox's height started to become more apparent, he was much taller then usual, it looked exactly like... it was... it was Selim, he realized as the fox turned around and smiled. "What took ya so long slowmo?" The vulpine asked with a smile.

There was a sudden knocking sound...?

The hedgehog shot up in his bed as he heard the bang on the door, it was only a dream. His quills were a mess and he quickly moved to the mirror and got them all aligned. A bang on the door came again causing the hedgehog to sigh. "Give me a Sonic second..." he stated turning to the door and opening it. "Hey Sal, up early this morning?"

The squirrel nodded, "We were going to talk to Knuckles before he left, about what happened, and about the Chaos Emeralds." She stated.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about that." Sonic said smacking his forehead with his hand. "How's old Knuck doin' anyways?"

Sally and Sonic started to walk out into the cavern, away from the building. "Better, the wound will probably completely heal within the week." She said as she looked to Sonic, whose head was hanging down, apparently deep in thought. "Sonic, are you alright?"

Sonic's head shot up and looked at the ground squirrel. "I had the same dream last night Sal." He stated with a sigh.

She turned to look at him, "That's twice now... I wonder what it means." she wondered. The princess remembered how it was described. Sonic and Tails would start to race, and then the fox would win, and somehow would be in 'Selim's' image at the end of the race. "Well... dreams are strange; they're usually about some personal fear."

The hedgehog nodded, "Rotor told me that you once told him about that... and I don't get it, why would I be afraid of Tails?" He said scratching his head.

Sally giggled and whispered into his ear. "Maybe you're worried he'll outdo you someday." she smiled.

Sonic thought a bit, "That might be it, though I still don't know why I'd be afraid of that, I mean he's on my side. If he ever did beat me in a race I'd be thrilled, I mean it's be a great new challenge for me."

Sally smiled, "Not all dreams are nightmares Sonic, just remember that." to which the hedgehog nodded.

Knuckles was sitting in the technical room, he was opening the storage compartment where they kept the Chaos Emeralds, about to take them out when the hedgehog and squirrel stepped inside. He turned around to see them come in, "Right on time, I was about to leave."

Sally and Sonic sat down as the guardian picked up his emeralds and turned to them, "Sit down Knuckles, we have to talk." Sally stated as the echidna complied, he had agreed to talk to them, but though they wanted him to stay he had to go, he was the protector of the Master Emerald, and he couldn't just hang around here, he had to return to it. The longer the emeralds were away from the large green gem the more unstable they would become. "So what did you want to talk about?" He said as he sat.

"Listen Knuckles, you nodded when I asked if the Chaos Emeralds could be used for time travel... we believe that is what happened to Tails in the future and he got brought back here. What can you tell us on this phenomenon?" Sally asked opening Nicole to take notes.

Knuckles shook his head. "It was only a legend, just some rumor. We knew these gems were capable of great power, but what exactly we did not know. I'll tell you how the story went." He looks at the gems, pausing a bit as he recalled the details. "Long ago there was a big meteor that crashed onto our planet, and it caused the destruction of those living here at the time. Within the rock there was a power unlike any seen before in its core, the seven gems caused chaos on the planet and thus where they get their name. It was believed that these Emeralds had all the powers that can create or destroy something; those that could control the chaos could become exceedingly powerful. Chaos Control, the shortened name of it... was all but a legend; something that our race could only imagine. I mean, how does one control chaos itself?" He looked up to Sonic. "When you went to that yellow form, that wasn't Chaos Control, it was more of a power that one feels when they are in close contact with the gems, multiplied by all seven, all that power latched onto a nearby organism, and thus you gain the powers of the gems, but not complete control of that power. However, that super form doesn't occur with just anyone. We don't know why, but it has only happened to a few of our tribe throughout history, and now that someone outside the tribe can do it baffles me even more."

"Selim was able to do it too." Sonic stated. "He disappeared though, we never found his body, or any blood, no signs of struggle. It was like he just plain vanished."

The echidna nodded. "As I said, that I don't know, but the disappearance and appearance I might be able to. You see, there were many theories that came up on what effects Chaos Control would create. One of the popular ones was the teleportation of time and place."

Sally nodded. "Time travel."

"Not just time travel, but traveling across distances as well. Maybe even dimensions. That is what I think happened to 'Selim'." The guardian stated standing up.

Sonic went a bit wide eyed. "If this is the case, we have to protect those with our-"

Knuckles cut off the hedgehog, "Guarding the emeralds is my burden alone." He said as he sat up, "I've told you all I know, and I have to get back to my island."

Sally nodded, "Ok Knuckles, we're very glad you helped us out, we couldn't have done it without the emeralds, but we do have one more favor to ask of you." She stated.

The red echidna sighed and looked to the princess. "What is it?"

Sally looked out the window and down onto the village. "Well I had told Tails to get up early today. He should go with you so he can pick up the Tornado and Jerome. As I understand they are back on your island."

The guardian nodded, "No problem, I guess company wouldn't be so bad."

As the echidna left the two alone in the room, the hedgehog looked down. "What about Uncle Chuck? Is he... really dead?" He sniffled; he had waited till the echidna was gone, since he didn't want to break apart like this in front of his supposed rival. Sally wasn't really a problem; she had seen him like this before.

Sally turned to the hedgehog and then hung her head down at the question. "I'm afraid so. Robotnik wouldn't have chanced having a spy. He's gone." She said, knowing this would hit the hedgehog hard, most of the reason he fought was because he wanted things to be like they were again, and now even that seemed impossible.

Sonic teared a bit. "Damn it. I told him to pull out, I told him not to stay... but he didn't listen." He whipped a hand across his face, catching a tear on his cheek. "Why didn't he listen Sal?"

Sally moved to the hedgehog and hugged him, "Because he's too much like his nephew... he was selfless and brave and wouldn't take no for an answer. We're going to add his name to the memorial, in nice big letters. We'll have a service once Tails comes back from the Floating Island." She kisses him on the cheek. "It'll be alright Sonic. We've cheated death, and so we will use that gift and use it to continue our fight, and we'll do it not only for those living, but to honor those that have died."

Sonic turned away for a bit. "Uncle Chuck was my reason for fighting... for getting him back... that's what it was all about for me."

The squirrel put a hand on his shoulder, she sighed "He wouldn't want you to give up fighting... never, not until our last breath. We can't let what happened to Charles happen to anyone else."

The hedgehog never knew how Sally could always manage to salvage the morale of anyone, no matter how low it got. It was one of her gifts as a leader. He sniffled and nodded slowly, his sadness not cured, but alleviated a little at least, he no longer felt like giving up.

"My Tornado!" The kit shouted as he ran up to it and hugged the landing gear, Knuckles didn't know whether to be touched by the reunion or to laugh at the vulpine being so affectionate toward a machine.

"Well kid..." He said as he moved to the plane and lifted the deactivated robot, that was Jerome, into the back seat. "Looks like you got everything, good luck to you." He said.

The fox released his embrace from the gear and turned to the echidna. "Thank you Knuckles, for saving Sonic, and keeping my Tornado here for me."

"No problem kid, but I think you deserve all the credit. It's not easy growing up alone, and knowing there are those that can survive in such trying times is a great reassurance." the echidna responded, which looked as if it confused the fox more then anything.

"I really don't think I'm alone, I always have my friends." He said.

The echidna smirked, "How old are you again?"

"I'll be 12 in ten days." he stated, proudly because it was one step closer to not being a kid anymore.

"You're smarter than most adults I know. You'll be great one day, I know. I've seen it." the guardian stated as the kit started the engine. He was baffled how one so young could fly such a contraption; he wouldn't know the first thing about biplanes. He couldn't say anything more as the engine whirled loudly.

The plane moved forward, down the runway like floor of the palace. The robot slouched over, deactivated in the back seat as Tails had his air goggles on. He was so happy that he hadn't lost his freedom of flight; a few days ago he thought he had lost it forever. The echidna watched as the plane majestically lifted off the ground and made its way out of the tunnels into the light blue sky that hung overhead. Yes, freedom had won for today, but the question that would always linger is, would it tomorrow?

Knuckles knew that now they were in a separate writing of history, a parallel stitch that had mended the hole which had been torn in the fabric of time. Now history was up to them, and what would happen now was unknown.

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