Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are copyright SEGA Enterprises LTD. and/or Archie Comic Publications.Delphine and related characters are copyright Delphine Kiminsu. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Experience; that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn. --C.S. Lewis =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Changes --Delphine Kiminsu "I'm bored as hell." "Hell isn't boring. Hell is... well, hell." "Thanks for clearing that one up." Sonic T. Hedgehog was lying back on the branch-like root of a willow tree with his hands behind his head. Delphine Kiminsu was standing on a old yet sturdy swing hung from a limb high in the tree, looking down. Below them a river lazily flowed by. Delphine watched a few fish swim about and a small frog leap off the long-existing lily pad and into the water. "Sonic?" "Yeah?" "How long do you figure that lily pad's been here?" "Since before we were born, THAT'S for sure." "Yeah. I guess I knew that. But for some reason, I thought... oh well." She grinned. "I must be going senile in my old age." "OLD?! Right. I'm older than you, remember?" "Yeah, I remember. An entire eight months older than me." "But I'm STILL older." "So? Not by much. I'm going to be sixteen soon, remember." "And four months after that I'll be seventeen." "So? Big deal." "It's always been a big deal to you. You know that." Sonic closed his eyes and enjoyed the slight breeze in the air. "Yyeah yeah. Whatever." Delphine had a sudden thought, and grinned evily. "You AH WHAT THE--?!" Sonic exclaimed as he found himself completely soaked. "Oops. Guess I slipped." Sonic looked over at Delphine. She was waist deep in water. "You did that on purpose!" "Would I get myself all wet just to pull a mindless prank?" "Yes." "You're right, I would." Delphine grinned. "Two can play at THIS game." Sonic jumped into the water and pushed her over. "HE--" Delphine pushed herself up and sputtered, "All right mister, this is WAR!" She started splashing water at him. Sonic splashed back just as hard. The frog and fish had completely disapeared, not to return for hours. Delphine started using her Medallion powers to make waves that Sonic couldn't defend himself from. "Hey, that's not... fair!" "Sure it is. You're older, remember?" "Yeah, but I can't..." Sonic tripped backwards over a root. Delphine stopped and waited while he pulled himself back up. "As I was saying, I can't do that, so it's not..." Sonic stopped as Delphine threw another wave over him. She giggled. "Aw, poor wittle Sonic, he's all wet." "At least the only thing I have to dry out are my socks, shoes and gloves." "Stuff it." Delphine pushed him and he fell against the base of the tree. "I can't, there aren't any turkeys around." "Oh, ha ha." Delphine prepared a particularly large wave. "Okay, okay, truce!" "Oh, fine, ruin all my fun." She smiled, and put out her hand. "Truce." Sonic reached out, but instead of shaking her hand, he pushed her over. "AH HA, SIKE!" Delphine stood up. "You little..." She stumbled and fell back under. Instead of immediately coming back up, she tripped Sonic, then sat up. Sonic fell forward. "WHOA!" "AH!" Sonic grabbed a root before he fell onto her. "Sorry." "Sorry." Sonic looked her in the eyes. She looked back. "Sonic..." Sonic blinked at her and suddenly came back to reality. He pulled himself up all the way, then helped her up. "... C'mon. let's get back to Knothole." "All right." "There you-- what happened?" Princess Sally Alicia Acorn asked. "We got wet." Delphine shook her head. "I'll be right back." She turned to walk away. "Where are you going?" "To change out of these clothes!" "I'll help," Jared Matte, who was neaby, called out. "You wish." "You know it." Sally shook her head. "C'mere Sonic." "What is it?" "I'd rather wait until Delphine got back, but this is urgent." Sonic followed Sally into her hut. "We recieved an audio-only message from the Floating Island." "From Knux?" "I think so. Rotor?" "Yes'm." Rotor punched some buttons, and the message played. "Fr---- ighters--- -loati-- Island under seige------- elp-----" It ended. "... That... doesn't sound good," Sonic said. "No. It doesn't." Delphine walked in. "What's going on?" Sally sighed. "We recieved..." Peter looked out at the fighting. "Is all of this really necessary?" "You wanted a new Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles, didn't you? This is how we get that." "So we need to take a bioscan. We can just sneak up when they're alone and scan them." "It's no fun then." Peter sighed. "Besides, this way we get both of them in the same place. It makes things much easier." "Whatever," Peter muttered. Vector slammed into one of the SACCbots. Right next to him Knuckles whammed the head off another. Mighty threw one, Espio smashed two of them together, Charmy distracted them, and Archimedes roasted them. "This... is... not... good!" "Mighty, that's the smartest thing you've said in a long time." "Oh yeah? Well..." "Hey, this is no time to argue," Charmy told Mighty and Espio. "He's right, though. This ain't cool bro." "Chill. We can beat 'em," Knuckles told them. To himself, "All right. Everyone ready?" Murmers and nods of agreement went around the group. Sonic, Sally, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Delphine, Jared, Devon, and Comet were all going. Dimtria was going to watch Jamie for Delphine, and Lisa didn't want to go. Rotor stayed behind to help Rosie watch the village and in case they recieved additional distress calls, from elsewhere or themselves. "Let's do it to it." It took them an hour to get to the Floating Island. They found robot parts strewn across the land, but no sign of Knuckles, Archimedes, or the rest of the Chaotix. "Nicole." "Yes, Sally." "Scan the area on a ten mile radius for Knuckles Echidna, Vector Crocodile, Espio Chameleon, Charmy Bee, or Archimedes Ant." "Scanning... no trace found." "Twenty miles." "Scanning... no trace found." "Maximum Scan." "Scanni-- scan lost." "Try again." "Complying... Scan lost. I believe I am being blocked, Sally." "Gee, I wonder who's doing THAT," Sonic muttered. Sally looked at Delphine. "Del, can you...?" Delphine nodded. <*Knuckles.*> She couldn't link to him. She furrowed her brow and tried again. <*Knuckles?*> She became frantic. <*Knux, where the hell are you?*> "I can't--" Comet butted her lightly. "Let me help." Delphine nodded and put her hand on Comet's head. Then she closed her fist around her powerlink, and that combined with Comet's natural power of telepathy, they searched for his consciousness. Everyone held their breath. After a few minutes, which seemed like hours, Comet gasped and Delphine opened her eyes. "Anything?" "Nothing. He's either not on the island, or d--" "Unconscious," Comet corrected her. "If he was dead I would know it." Delphine looked at her. "How?" "I just would." Comet groaned. "I hate doing that." Delphine petted her head. "I know how you feel." She turned to the others. "Now what?" "Now we search the island for any trace of them." "Oh, fun." Knuckles groaned. Without opening his eyes, he relived what had happened; The SACCbots had gotten extremely vicious. Trees went flying. rocket blasters went off. The last thing Knuckles remembered was someone screaming... He sat up and opened his eyes. "Me," he murmered to himself. He rubbed his arm and looked around. Three vertical poles arranged in an equilateral triangle surrounded him. He picked up a rock and threw it. It bounced off an invisible forcefield. "Great." He stood up. He picked up another rock and threw it upwards, to the same effect. He dug into the ground, and soon found himself three feet away from his origional position. "Ouch." he immediatly thought. He struggled to sit up. He looked around again, this time looked outside his electric prison. To what was now his left, he saw a large hovercraft. A few machines were being set up just outside it. He found no trace of the rest of the Chaotix; Archimedes was no where to be found, which was rather unusual. Usually Archimedes would be hiding right next to Knux, but he would have shown himself already. "What the hell is going on?" "I'm glad you asked. Would you like fries with that?" Knuckles looked towards the voice. "You," he growled. "Me," Peter said mockingly. "What're you doing here? Where's the Chaotix? And what the hell is that you're wearing?" "You'll find out soon. Somewhere. And this thing..." Peter looked at himself. "Look, I couldn't find anything else, okay?" "Why can't anything normal ever happen around here?" Knuckles mumbled. They split into two groups. Sonic, Sally, Delphine, Jared and Tails made up the first; Comet, Bunnie, Antoine and Devon made up the other. They each went a different way, with good-luck's and see-ya's around. "I hope they'll be okay..." "They can take care of themselves." "That wasn't the point..." "Then what WAS the point, Sonic?" Delphine asked. "The point was that if Peter attacks THEM instead of US, they'll probably lose, and then we'll be down by..." "Oh, I thought you meant the point on your head." "Ah ha ha." "But... it would be logical for Peter to go after us instead." "I thought we agreed a long time ago that logic was for sissies." "And I thought we were talking about Peter." "Oh. Yeah. But... wouldn't it be logical for us to fight him?" "Nope. It would be logical to stay as far away from him as possible." "So I guess we better hurry up and find him and kick his ass." "Yup." "Oh, good." Sally looked over at them and shook her head. "Are you two going to sit there and chat or are we going to find out what's going on?" "Let's find out what's going on." They grinned and moved on. Somewhere on Angel Island, Vector the Crocodile regained consciousness. "How da heck did I get here?" he asked no one in particular when he recognized his surroundings. "Sahmwun paht yah here." Vector looked up. His eyes opened in surprise. In front of him he saw a female albino hedgehog with hazel eyes and lodg braided white hair. She was wearing short blue shorts and a loose green shirt and green boots. A small, curved sword was sheathed on her right side. "...Who are you?" "Ah'm Sebrina. Ahnd you ahr...?" "Vector, the coolest croc this side o' the Endless River." "Yuh ahr?" "Yup!" "Wow." "So... didja see who put me here?" "Yah." "Who?" "Sahm humahn." "What did he look like?" "Hah wahs tahler thahn me, baht shorter thahn yuh." "Where there 'bots with 'em?" "Yah." "Figured," Vector growled. He stood up. Sebrina looked up at him. "Hey, I haven't seen you around here before. Where are you from?" "Ah'm trahvahling. I'm from Tahjekia." "Where?!" "It's whaht mah ihland ahs cahlled." "Oh. You live on an island?" "Yah." They walked as they talked. "Where are you traveling to?" "Ah, nowhare in particulah." "Oh. Why are you on the Floating Island?" "It wahs an ahsident." "You can't get on the Floting Island by 'accident'." "Ah did." Vector became suspicious. "How?" Sebrina sighed. "Yah wahdn't bahleive me if ah tahld yuh." "Try me." "Ah sahd, ya wahdn't..." "And *I* said, Try me!" "Ah cahn't..." She looked at him. He was glaring. "Yah thahnk Ah'm lyin'." "You are." "Ah'm naht! Ah swahr!" "I don't believe you." Sebrina backed away from him. "Fahn. Ah'm leahvin'." "Good." Sebrina was about to run off, but paused to say, "If yah see a tahgar cub, she's wath me. If yah see a grown tahgar, get ahway." "Why--" But she was gone. "Strangest person I ever met. Knux was right; hedgehogs are pyscho." Peter looked into the prison. Mighty and Espio were tied up. Charmy was in a small cage. They hadn't been able to catch Archimedes. "Why did you let the crocodile go?" "To have a little fun." "Fun? The objective here is to create new mechs. Not to have fun." "All work and no play makes Joe a dull boy." "Who's Joe?" Peter laughed. "No one." Snively sighed. "When are we going to take the echidnas bioscan? Every time I order the 'bots, you tell them not to." "It's not the right time yet." "When WILL it be the right time?" "When we have both of them." "We may not get both of them. We're wasting time." "We'll do it later." "Fine." "How do you suppose they'll get out of this one?" "Oh, they'll think of something. They always have in the past." Locke told Archimedes. "I hope they think of something soon. Although it doesn't seem like they're after the Chaos Emeralds." "Hey, you got the alarm fixed. And Peter is probably waiting until he has a Metal Sonic and Knuckles again." Locke jumped up and whirled around. "Dimitria! Don't do that!" "Do what?" "Scare the hell out of me." Dimitria laughed. "You have been spending too much time watching your kid on that screen." "Perhaps." Locke sat back down and watched the monitors. Archimedes looked at Dimitria. "I thought you were babysitting." "She's asleep. And she's been running around all day, so I'm hoping she'll STAY asleep." Dimitria glanced at the monitors and sighed. "She's grown up so much. I feel like I've lost a daughter." "Jamie?" "No, Delphine." "I agree." Locke smiled. "If only her father could see her now." Dimitria smiled sadly. "Yes. If only." She sighed. "I only wish I hadn't been so immature back then. I missed alot of her childhood once I taught her the basic Medallion powers." "I know how you feel. I have to watch my son growing up through TV screens." Locke sighed "At least you can still TALK to her. I can't even leave this place incase he sees me," he said bitterly. "I'm sorry." Locke sighed again. "It's all right. But sometimes I wonder if this job is worth missing my son's life." "You won't miss all of it. As soon as he is old enough..." "Archimedes will tell him, and he'll be able to visit when he's not defending the island. And then when he has a son of his own, he moves in here. I know. I know all of it, remember? It's the law I have to live by," he snapped. Dimitria furrowed her frow. "Perhaps I should come back when you're in a lighter mood." With a puff of smoke, she was gone. "This sucks. This just royally sucks." "Excuse me?" "Sorry Sal." Delphine, Jared and Sally were waiting for Sonic and Tails to come back from searching a few miles ahead of them. Nicole said there was something there, but she couldn't confirm what, exactly, it was. "I swear, when I see Peter the first thing I'm gonna do is wipe the grin off his face I know he'll be wearing-- along with the rest of his face." "Mmmm, that'd be nice. Then we'd only have Snively. And Snively is easy to defeat." "Unless he gets someone else to help him." "Who'd want to help that bald fat old geezer?" "He's not bald yet." "Last I saw he only has three strands of hair sticking up out of his head." "He's probably only got tw--" Jared was interupted by... "SALLLYYYYYYYY!" Tails screamed. Sally fell over as the young fox clamped himself onto her. "Tails?! Tails, what's wrong?" "Peter-- and the robots-- took--" "Who?" "They took--" "Who?! THEY TOOK WHO?!" "SONIC!" "Shit." For half a second the electric force-field blinked off. A blue-figure was thrown into the prison, and it flickered on again. The robots walked away. The echidna stood up and looked at his friend on the ground. Knuckles thought to himself. He knelt beside Sonic and took a pulse. he was startled by Sonic's loud moan, and he stood up and backed off a few steps. Sonic blinked a few times and sat up. Knuckles crossed his arms and waited for him to say something. "What the hell--" "Is going on?" Knuckles finished for him. Sonic looked at him. "Great. When I wake up and see your face, I know there's trouble." "Hello to you, too." Sonic stood and crossed his arms. "Lemme guess. You don't know what's going on." "Nope." "Figures." <*Comet! COMET!*> "Did you find them yet?" "No--" <*I'm here*> <*Good. Peter has Sonic, but we know where they are. How's things on your turf?*> <*Better than yo--*> <*Nothing's happenin'*> <*Who the hell?!*> <*It's me. Devon.*> <*You know telepathy?*> <*... In a way. I... don't know it, but whatever's inside me does.*> <*Uhhh... Dev?*> <*Please, neither of you tell no one else. Somethin's been in me since I used the silk. I think it's whatever was in the silk. I'm not sure*> <*Oh. All right. I won't say anything.*> <*Same here.*> <*Cool.*> <*...and, Dev? Could you not interupt like this all the time? Most of the time we're having a private conversation.*> <*I'm cool with that. I just got tired of watching Antoine try to flirt with Bunnie*> Delphine and Comet both grinned. <*Understandable. How long until you guys can get here?*> Delphine directed the latter to Comet. She waited for Comet to see through her and make an estimate. <*Not to long. Couple o' minutes. Out*> <*See ya.*> They broke the connection. Delphine looked at the others. "They should be here in a few minutes. Comet said to her group, "C'mon guys, they're over this way." "Okay," sally answered Delphine. After a pause, "What took so long?" "Just talk." "Anything important?" "No." "Are you sure?" "What is this, twenty questions?" "Sorry." Vector leaned against a tree to rest. He had come a long way, and soon he;d be where the battle had taken place. Hopefully they hadn't moved. If they had, he'd have a lot more looking to do. Sally looked around at anyone. "Peter is just a few meters ahead of us. We have to be quiet. Here's the plan." She explained it. It was basically hide-in-the-bushes-and-attack-at-signal. The Freedom Fighters took their places. There were four hovercrafts near the edge of the clearing. In the center of the clearing, Sonic and Knuckles were being held in the force field, talking to Peter. Correction, arguing. Scattered around were robots, Snively, and a few portable bio- scanners. "I don't like this," Delphine whispered to Jared. "It looks too... planned," she said, for lack of a better term. "Maybe," Jared said. "But maybe someone's just being paranoid." "Perhaps. But I have a right to be paranoid. And I still don't like it." They heard the whistle. "Let's go!" Jared jumped out of the bushes, almost simultaneously with the rest of the Freedom Fighters. But Delphine hesitated. That probably saved them all. All the SACCbots raised their rocket canons. "Well, well," Peter laughed. "We've been expecting you." "Oh shit." "Yes. Shit. Or damn. Whichever you prefer." "How about, you dirty bastard, how'd you pull this off?" "Well, that works... since you're all going to die anyway, I guess I'll tel you. You have a spy in your midst." Sally gasped and looked around. "I know what you're thinking. But don't you think an effective spy would make it look real until the very end?" "Who is it?" "Me, prinzez." Antoine stepped away from the Freedom Fighters. "Antoine?!" "Antoine? You? Of all people?!" "Yez, me. I 'ave been offeref something you would never give me." "Antoine, youre one of my best fighters!" Sally exclaimed. "What could he possibly give you that I can't?" "You," he answered simply. "What?" she whispered increduously. "Ah, yes. The princess of the palace figures it out. I have all of you in my grasp. I will give you to Antoine. He can dp what he will with you. I will take the hedgehog's and the echidna's bio-scans. Then I will kill them along with the rest." Peter smirked. "Stars! Antoine, how could you do this? This is all yo-ar fault!" Bunnie gasped. "Yez it iz, Bunnie." Peter walked up to Jared, gun in hand. Jared discovered that he couldn't swallow past the lump in his throat. But he held his ground. Peter held the gun up to his chest. "You should've joined me when you had the chance, big brother," Peter whispered. "Now it's too late. You couldn've been like Antoine. I would've given you your choice. Delphine, maybe?" "Be like Antoine? A sniveling coward who rebels against his friends? I don't think so. Stuff it you stupid bast--" "Don't you dare finish that sentence." "--ard." Peter squeezed the trigger. Jared flinched. Nothing happened. Peter laughed bitterly. "It's not even ON, you idiot!" He threw the gun at Jared, then waved his hand at the robots. "Take them away." Delphine slowly crawled away. She had heard what Peter had said. She shook her head. She ran. "I better get there quick, or somthin' bar is gonna haAH!" Vector fell over as someone rammed into him. The thick trees blocked the sunlight, so Vector couldn't see who it was. "What tha hell?" Vector grabbed whoever it was and pinned them. "Vector! Let go!" "Del?!" He let her up. "What're you doin' here?" "Peter's captured the Freedom Fighters and--" "The Chaotix. And Knux. Yeah." "He's got the rest of the Chaotix, too? Where?" "Probably in a prison, still on the island. Should we check it out?" "Deffinitly. Let's starts at their little camp. Maybe they're in one of the hovercrafts. "That's cool wit' me." "Oh, and Vec? Antoine's a traitor. Don't let him trick you." "Tha older fox?" "Yup." "'kay girl." "Oof!" "The 'bots threw the Freedom Fighters in prison cells, two to a cell." Jared stood up, then helped Sally stand. "This is just wonderful. How are we supposed to get out?" "Dunno. But we better think of something quick," Jared murmered. Sally looked up at him. "What did Peter say to you?" Jared hesitated. "Nothing important. Just some about furries being different from humans." "Oh." Sally was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry." Jared looked at her. "For what?" "For getting you into this war. You and Lisa and Devon. If I hadn't found the three of you--" "Screw that. WE found YOU. If we hadn't climbed that hill we never would've gotten into this. Besides," he said, "this is the best thing that's happened to me. Before all I did was play video games." He paused. "But I do miss video games." Sally smiled. "Are they in here." "Shh!" "Hey, I wanna know!" "Vector SHUT UP!" "Wh--" Delphine clamped a hand over his mouth. "Vector! What are we going to do if the guards hear us?" He looked at her. She removed her hand. "Just be quiet, okay?" "All right, girl. Sorry." 'And yes, I think they are there." She stopped. <*DEL!*> <*DELPHINE!*> "Hold on, Vector." <*Yes?*> <*There you are! We thought something might've happened to you!*> <*Sorry, Comet. Where are you guys?*> <*We're in one of tha hover-things. Me 'n' Comet are in one, Jared, Sally, Tails 'n' Bunnie are in another. Or others.*> <*All right. Me 'n' Vector are about to fre the rest of the Chaotix. Then we'll come for you, and then all of us will free Sonic and Knux.*> <*All right.*> <*Del?*> <*Yeah?*> <*Hurry.*> "Okay, Vector, we've got to work quick. I open the cage door. You untie Mighty and Espio, and I'll get Charmy out." "Cool wit' me." "You're so agreeing. Let's go." Delphine looked out of their hiding place for guards. Seeing none, she ran to the cage door, and had it open with a quick blast. Espio looked up. "What the--" "Shh," was the answer. Vector came in and untied Mighty and Espio, as Delphine let Charmy out. "This way," she whispered. They followed her out of the craft and into the surrounding woods. "Now what?" Espio asked after they were far enough away from the clearing. "There's three other hovercrafts. I'm assuming there's two FF's in each one. Mighty and Espio, you take one, Charmy and Vector, you take another, and I'll... go alone." "You sure about this girl?" "Positive, Vector." "Okay. Let's do it." Delphine entered the hovercraft. It was empty except for the prisoners. Something dropped to the pit of her stomach. <*Del? Is that you*> Delphine let out a little cry and jumped."Del!" Comet hissed. Delphine looked into the cage. She walked over to the door. "Do not do that again!" "I told you to leave her alone," Devon said. Comet diregarded him. "Sorry Del." Delphine blasted the lock, and soon Comet and Devon were out. "Any idea why there's no guard?" "I know why." Delphine looked into the shadows. "Knuc--" No. She squinted and looked closer. It looked like Knux, but the figure was slightly taller, and looked less real... "Oh SHIT!" A new and improved Metal Knuckles walked out of the shadows. "Oh no," Comet muttered. Metal Knux raised his arm and the attached laser rifle glinted in the light. "Don't make any wrong moves and you won't be hurt." "What is this, the kinder, gentler robot?" "Just better programming." "Uh-huh. And what if we do make any wrong moves?" "Like what?" "Oh, I don't know, something like..." Delphine threw an energy ball at the 'bot. It ducked and the energy dispersed as it hit the wall. Metal Knux rammed Delphine into the opposite wall. Her Medalion powers absorbed most of the shock, but it left her dizzy and on the floor. "That's what happens." Del looked up at him in surprise and a little fear. "Okaaaaayy... I guess the programming IS better..." Devon said slowly. "Correct. Now..." Comet remmed into him and he flew THROUGH the wall. "Aw shit! Comet how'd you do that?!" Comet ignored Devon and the 'bot and nudged Del. "Are you all right?" "Somewhat." Comet helped her stand. Delphine looked at the wall. "Gee, it's nice to have friends..." "Isn't it though?" They shared a small laugh. Metal Knux flew in through the wall, making the hole bigger. "You're going to pay for that." "Cash or check?" Delphine, Comet and Devon both ran at the robot. Metal Knuckles fought back rigurously. The three of them kept getting throw back just as they got in. "This could take awhile." Mighty, Espio, Tails, and Bunnie were having a similar problem with a new and improved Metal Sonic. "Damnit!" "Stupid 'bot won't die!" "Robots don't die. We just fade away." "Great. He put his stupid jokes in it, too." "I think ya'all should just shut it and fight the dahm thing." "Sound good to me, Bun." "Leave her alone, Peter." "What're you gonna do, Jared? Say to take you instead of her?" Peter laughed. "I don't think so. Furries are stupid, but they're not like THAT." "YOU SICK ASSHOLE!" Peter, Antoine, and a few SACCbots were standing outside the cage Jared and Sally were in. sall was backed into the corner, and Jared was blocking her from them. The cage door was open, and Antoine was waiting for Peter to get Sal for him. "Hurry it up," Antoine said, annoyed. "Shut it. I told you he wouldn't let me take her so easily." "Then why didn't you put her in a seperate cell?" "Because it's more fun this way," Peter murmered. Jared glared at him. "Give her to me. Otherwise..." "Otherwise WHAT?" "Otherwise, I'll tell everyone our little secret." Peter smirked. Jared was unmoved. "What secret, Jared?" Sally whispered. "What secret, Jared?" Peter mocked, and laughed. "I'll tell her myself then. And everyone else." "I dare you." "Jared?" "Peter is my brother." Peter stared at him, shocked. "You actually TOLD? Aren't you ashamed, mortified?" "Of course I am. But it's not as bad as keeping things from my friends. But you wouldn't know that, would you?" Peter slammed the but of his gun against the side of Jared face. Jared smirked in victory, although there was blood running down his cheek. Peter turned the gun around and pushed it against Jared's forehead. "It's loaded this time, brother of mine." "You won't kill me. You can't." "Who says?" "It won't be any fun then." "Yes it will. Because I'll kill you, then make sure word gets around that you were with me he whole time." "If I was with you the whole time, then why did you killme?" "Missfire." "Sally will know. She'll tell them." "Not if she's Antoine's slave." Jared glared at him. "Good. I've got you to shutup. Now..." "Don't kill him," Sally said quietly. She gently pushed Jared out of the way and walked out of the corner. "There. You have me. Now let him go. And everyone else." "Sal?" Sally looked at Jared. "Sometimes, Mister Matte, a princess has to sacrific herself to save her people. And this is that time for me." "But..." Sally shushed him with a shake of her head. Peter and Antoine smirked at the same time. "Good. Let's go, princess." Peter grabbed her arm and started to pull her towards the door. She looked back at Jared. "You're not going to let the rest of us go, are you?" Peter looked back at Jared and grinned evily. "BASTARD!" Jared jumped up and slammed into Peter. He dropped Sally. "JARED!" "RUN!" But it was in vain. The SACCbots grabbed Sally and pulled her up. Peter stood and poised his gun at Jared. Jared rolled out of the way just in time. Then he kicked Peter in the shin and Peter went down. Jared jumped up and knocked the gun away from Peter. "Now we fight fair." Jared started pummeling Peter. One of the SACCbots kicked him in the head. Now blood was trickling down his face from two wounds. Peter stood up, brushed himself off, and picked his gun up. Jared looked up at him with a grin. "Too bad you'll be bruised all over tomorro," Jared said smugly. "Too bad you won't be around to see it." Peter fired. Jared let out a cry of pain and felt the world slip away from him. He thought he heard someone yell, "Yo, this ain't cool!" and another voice saying, "Let's even the odds!", but he wasn't sure. Everything went black. A female voice whispered in his ear, "C'mon Jared, wake up." Jared slowly became conscious of the world. He slowly became aware that he was still breathing, and his heart was still beating, and his brain was still thinking. And that someone was shaking him. "Stop," he whispered weakly. Whoever it was stopped. He rested a moment, then opened his eyes. "Jared?" He looked around, trying to focus. He blinked a few times, and the went away. "Jared?" The voice asked again. Jared looked around with his new clarity, and found the source. "Del? H... how?" "Vecotr and Charmy came in and got you and Sally out," she said softly. "Devon and Comet are with us also. We're still waiting for the others." "But... I'm alive?" "I hope so. Otherwise I've gone nuts and I'm talking to a dead guy." He smiled weakly and she went on, "Peter someone had left it on stun. He musn't have been thinking clearly." "I know the feeling," Jared coughed. Delphine smiled. "All right. Rest for awhile. She looked around, then whispered in his ear, "Is Peter really your brother?" "Sal told you?" "No. I heard when I was hiding behind you in the bushes." "He is." "Poor cowboy," she murmered. She took something out of her pocket, placed it in his hand, and closed his fist around it. "This will help with the pain," she said. Then she stood and let him rest. "Del?" Comet asked when she had walked over to her. "Yeah?" "Why'd you give him your Medalion?" Delphine looked at her. "To help." "How do you know it'll help?" "I just do." "Kind of like I just know a lot of stuff lately?" Devon said behind her. "Sort of. Except it's not someone telling me. It's a feeling. Sort of like intuition, only stronger." Delphine brushed her hand over a few of her bruises, bumps, and cuts. She had a bandage on her arm to stop the bleeding from a cut from Metal Knuckles' claws. Comet had her own bruises and cuts, and so did Devon, Vector and Charmy. Sally was the only one who had been generally unharmed. "Is he going to be all right?" Sally asked. "He should be. It was a new gun, so there's zero chance of radiation poisoning. And we already know it was set on stun, not kill. And this is the first time he's been shot, I think. And he thinks he's dead. And I gave him my Medalion so he'll be better quicker." "It can do that?" "It does it for me. I'm hoping it'll do it for him, too." "Oh." "I wonder where the others are." "I was going to go find out as soon as Jared gets up." "Why not wait?" "Because we might have to fight again if we do go looking, and I don't want him to have to even move in this condition." "All right. How long do you think we have to wait?" "You don't," Jared called out. He was sitting up. Delphine started to walk over to him, but she fell before she could. Vector caught her before she hit the ground. "Girl, you okay?" "Yeah, I just hurt my leg back there, that's all." "Well... why didn't you fall before?" "Because I was ignoring it. Very suddenly it started hurting." She gave a small smile, then walked over to Jared and knelt beside him. "Are you sure you're up to it?" "I'm going to have to be, aren't I?" He smiled, and she smiled back. "Here." He gave her Medalion back. She tucked it into her pocket, and then the two of them stood up. "All right then. Let's go." Mighty, Espio, Bunnie and Tails were fighting both Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles. After Delphine and the other two had gotten away from it, the Metal Knux went over to help Metal Sonic. The tide of battle was slowly turning in the 'bots favor. "Tails, get out of here?" "Bunnie?" "Go! The four of us can't fight them off. Get someone to help us!" "No need, my friend." Bunnie looked over, giving enough time to let Metal Sonic get a choke grip on her. Before he could squeeze the life out of her, Delphine gave a flying kick to his head. "Well. So much for that." The 'bot looked at her. It searched the CPU memory banks. "Well. One of the best friends to the late Sonic Hedgehog." "Correct, 'bot. And Sonic is always late." She kicked it in the chest, then blasted it. The rest of the team came in, and soon the eleven of them had the 'bots in the corner. "We'll be back." Metal Knuckles tore a hole in the wall and the two 'bots flew off. "Well then. Let's get the guys." "By now, all the rest of them are dead, except Jared, Sally, and two of the Chaotix. And you're about to join them," Peter said. Knuckles and Sonic looked at him, drained of energy and life. They didn't care much. <*We're dead? Really? It doesn't look like I'm dead. Whaday you think, Knux?*> Knuckles looked up and stood a little straighter. <*Del? Is that you?*> <*It can't be me. I'm dead, remember?*> <*Don't play.*> <*Yeah, it's me.*> <*Aw man. I thought I'd never see you again.*> <*I was wondering the same thing, Knux.*> <*How's everyone?*> <*Tired, bruised, beat up, and ready to give up if it weren't for me and Sal.*> <*Where are you?*> <*Hiding much more efficiently than last time.*> <*One of us is right behind you.*> Comet nudged him lightly from behind. She had gone invisible. <*Two of us, actually. Espio is here as well.*> <*He is? I should've... oh well. Do we have a plan?*> <*Yeah. Espio and Comet cut the ropes around your wrists, then go visible and help you two get the hell out of there. When they go visible, the rest of us jump out and fight the 'bots to keep 'em occupied. And I think Jared is going to kill Peter. And sally is going to kill Antoine. And someone is going to kill Snively.*> <*That should make things easier.*> <*It should, shouldn't it?*> They shared a silent laugh. <*I've missed you so much.*> <*Same here. When he said all of you were dead... I believed it. I thought...*> <*I know. The 'bots told us that you two were dead. And I believed that, too.*> <*I think we need to give new life to this relationship.*> <*I think we better, or there won't BE a relationship.*> <*I've been trying not to think about that... But yeah. We need to.*> <*All right. We will. Right after this battle is over.*> They cut off from each other. Knuckles felt the ropes around his hands loosen. Sonic felt the same. He didn't ask questions, but he did stop slouching. Espio and Comet became visible. "WHAT THE HELL?!" "Shouldn't be surprised. We don't let our friends die." "He wouldn't know about that," said a voice behind Peter. Peter turned and saw Jared. He looked calm, cool, and collected. "Would you, Petey boy?" Peter growled. "Come on, let's get out of here," Comet whispered to Sonic an Knuckles. "I don't think so. We're staying to fight." The rest of the team came out of the bushes. Delphine looked at Knuckles. <*You're staying to fight, aren't you?*> <*You bet we are.*> <*Figured that.*> She attacked the nearest 'bot, and they all started fighting. "And this is for being an asshole!" JAred punched Peter with every syllable. Peter was doing his best to fight back, but he had no gun and was no good in hand-to- -hand combat. "STOP IT!" he screamed. "How is it, now that the fight's up close and personal and you have no way t o fight back? HOW DO YOU THINK WE FEEL?!" Jared threw Peter to the ground and started pounding his head into the dirt. Peter held himself up long enough to say, "You're going to kill me." "Duh." Sally gave a flying kick to Snively's chest, knocking him to the ground. She took him by the collar and pulled him up to her face. "WHERE. IS. ANTOINE!!" "I don't know," Snively said calmy. "YES YOU DO!" "No, I don't." Snively earned himself a bloody lip. "TELL ME WHERE HE IS!" "I SAID I DON'T KNOW!" Sally heard a small thump, and found that a dagger was in the ground next to her. "What... Del." She picked the dagger up and held it to Snively's neck. "Where is he?" "In the hovercraft." Snively pointed. "Thank you kindly." Sally slit his throat, and let his body drop to the ground. Then she ran to the hovercraft. Antoine was inside, waiting for Peter. He didn't know that Sally was inside the hovercraft. Sally crept up behind him. She stood up right behind his chair and raised the dagger. Antoine saw her reflection in the crafts' window and jumped out of the seat. Sally hit empty air. "Prinzez!" "Damnit, stay still." Sally slammed him into the front of the craft. "Don't!" "Why not?" "Please!" "I'll think about it." "Damnit... There's too many of them! Del, call a retreat!" "I can't! We can't just LEAVE!" "IF WE DON'T WE'LL ALL DIE!" Delphine looked at Comet. Her best friend. She knew that she was right. "To hell with it... RETREAT! EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE!" People started backing away and running. Delphine saw everyone but Sally. She ran up to Sonic, who was looking around for Sal. "Sonic! Where is she?! I can't find her!" "Just go! I'll find her." "All right. Hurry!" Delphine turned and ran. "I thought about it. I'm going to kill you." Before she knew what was happening, a sword had cut across her stomach and was embeded into her side. Her knees buckled and she fell to a kneeling position. "You thought a little too long." "Damn you, Antoine," she coughed out. She reached up and embeded the dagger into his heart. He screamed and fell to the ground. Sally took the dagger out and staggered to the entrance. Sonic was right outside. He caught her as she fell. "SALLY!!" She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Sonic. Go. I'm dying." "What?! No! I'll bring you back. Someone'll fix you!" She closed her eyes. "Sal!" She opened her eyes again. She handed Sonic the dagger. "This is Delphine's. Give it back to her." She kissed his lips. "I love you, Sonic Hedgehog," she whispered. Sonic knelt down. "Sal! No, Sal!" Sally closed her eyes, and the right before the life left her body, Sonic whispered, "I love you too, Sal." Then he kissed her deeply, and she died. "Knuckles? C'mon Knux. I just remembered how much I love you." Knuckles sat up. "You did? Good. Let's go find a hideaway." Delphine laughed and kissed his forehead. "Not now. We need to find everyone else. So far all I've found are you, Jared and Tails." Knux looked around. Delphine thumbed over to her left. "They're over there. C'mon." The two of them stood up. About three hours later, everyone was accounted except for Sonic and Sally. So far there had been no casualties. "Where ARE they?" Comet asked. She was standing with her left foreleg up because of a limp. "I don't know," Delphine said worridly. "I'm going to go after them if I there's still no news five minutes from now." "Del?" Delphine turned and saw Sonic. He looked like someone had mixed him and Knuckles together. He had blood all over him. Tears had welled up in his eyes. "Sonic? What happened?" Sonic showed Delphine her dagger. She knew. "Oh no. No. Aw shit." She walked up to Sonic and took the dagger. "Shugah? What is it?" "Sal..." Sonic choked. He waited for his eyes to stop stinging. "She's... she's dead." He turned away from everyone and covered his face with his hand. Gasps and oh no's went around the group. Delphine looked down. She wanted to get Sonic away from the others. She looked at her dagger, and saw blood. She took out a cloth and attempted to clean it, but the blood had dried. She ran her finger over the familiar hilt, with two small diamonds and a piece of Chaos Emerald imbeded in it. "Sonic? I can't wipe the blood off my dagger. Help me find a pond so I can wash it off with water." Her voice broke in the middle of the sentence and a small tear slid down her cheek. She wiped her eyes and refused to cry. Sonic glanced at her. "All right," he murmered. The two of them left. After a moment, Knuckles said, "I better go help them find a water source. They might get lost." He stood up. "Shugah, don't go botherin' them," Bunnie said. Knuckles turned and looked at her. Her eyes gleamed and tears were trickling down her cheek. "Who says I'm going to go bug 'em?" He turned and walked away. He blinked and a tear flowed out of his eye and down his cheek. Sonic and Delphine stopped at a small pond. Sonic sat on a log and buried his face in his hands. Delphine sat down a few feet way from him and soaked the cloth in water. Then she washed the dried blood off of her dagger. "Sonic?" she asked. He mumbled something that sounded like "what". "Was she killed with the dagger?" He shook his head. She nodded to herself, then faced the pond and fiddled with her dagger They sat in silence for a few more minutes, until Sonic said, "Give it to me." Delphine looked at him. "What?" "Give me the dagger." Delphine looked over at him. He had stood up, and his tears had carved paths through the dried mud and blood on his face." "Why." "Just give it to me." Delphine stood upand said quietly, "I just cleaned it, Sonic. I don't want to have to do it again so soon." "NOW." "No." "GIVE IT TO ME!" He flew at her and knocked her down. "Damnit!" She held the dagger just out of his reach. "COME ON!" "NO!" He slapped her face hard. She stared at him, and he took the dagger from her. He stood up and backed away a few feet. She sat up and watched him. He put the side of the dagger against his wrist. "SONIC! DON'T!" "I have to." "PLEASE!" "The only girl I ever loved is dead. There is no reason for me to go on living." Delphine sprang up and pulled the dagger away from his wrist. "Oh yes there is. You have to avenge her death." "How? Antoine killed her, and he's dead." "But it's Peter's fault." Sonic looked at her. He slowly released his death grip on the dagger. She sheathed it. He looked away from her in shame. She took him by the arm and pulled him towards the pond. "Here. I'll clean you up." "Del?" he asked. "Yeah?" "How come you never cry? How do you hold it in?" Delphine sighed. "I did enough crying when my father died. It didn't do any good." "Why?" Delphine paused. "He's still dead." "Jared?" "What?" "What happened to Peter?" "Del called the retreat right after I knocked him out." "Then he's still alive," Tails said. "Yeah kid. He's alive." "Damn." "If they'all don't come back soon, I'm'all sendin' somein out after them," Bunnie said. "If they don't come back soon let's just LEAVE 'em there." "Espio!" Comet exclaimed. "Oh, 'mon, it's not like we don't know what--" Comet snorted and glared at Espio. "Shut up, chameleon." "Yeah whatever. I just don't feel like standing here waiting for SOMETHING to happen." "If you don't shut up something WILL happen." Espio grumbled but didn't reply. Hours later, after night had fallen. Delphine walked up to a sleeping Comet and gently shook her pegasus friend. Comet blinked and looked up at her. <*Del!*> <*Hi Comet.*> <*I was staying upp to wait for you, but I guess I didn't make it...*> <*It's all right.*> "Del?" Sonic whispered. "Right here," she whispered back. Sonic walked over to the two of them, and he and Delphine sat down. Comet nudged Sonic. "You allright?" she whispered. "For now." The three of them sat in silence for awhile. "Knuckles left shortly after you two did, and he hasn't come back yet," Comet said quietly. Delphine nodded. "She was one of his best friends." "Yeah." Silence again. "I wish I could say something that doesn't sound incredibly stupid." Comet nuzzled him. "You don't need to say anything. Just remembering is enough." They were silent for a few minutes more. "I'm going to go look for Knux," Delphine said. She stood up and walked away from them without another word. She found him, skipping rocks across a small lake fed by a waterfall. Pine trees circled around, creating a bit of a hideaway. "Knuckles?" she asked. He turned and looked at her. "Is he okay?" "He's... he's okay enough." "Oh." The two of them slowly walked around the grove. "He's stronger than me, in that way. I could never live through something like this. I admire him." Delphine put an arm around his shoulders. "You'd be able to handle it." "Maybe." They looked at each other. "But I don't want to think about it." "Neither do I." Knuckles held her in his arms. He kissed her gently. She kissed his lips and he slowly carressed her back. He kissed her necxk and then her mouth. She let him take control. She was feeling too tired and too weak to do anything else. Besides, she was enjoying it. "She should be back by now." "She may have found him, but that doesn't mean that they'll be coming back." Comet yawned. "You haven't slept all night, and there's only a few hours left 'till dawn. Get some sleep." "All right." Sonic lay down on the earth and fell asleep. Comet got up and stood watch. Delphine and Knuckles had stopped kissing and were holding each other. "I just remembered how tired I am." Delphine let her head droop onto Knuckles' shoulder. "Then maybe you should rest." "Mmm, maybe." She lifted her head and they sat down. Delphine leaned against him. He lightly kissed her forehead. She smiled and closed her eyes. The two of them fell asleep under the moonlight, Hours later, mid-morning. "Well, Sonic's back, but Del and Knux are gone-- we know what that means." "It means that they're together, and nothing more!" Comet snapped. "That's what I meant. And nothing more." Mighty looked at the pegasus. "Are you all right?" She glared. "I'm fine." She walked over to the remaining Freedom Fighters. "This just sucks." "Shush," Bunnie said to Jared, loking at Tails. "It sucks shit," Tails spited her. "Miles Prower!" Tails hung his head. "Sorry." "Let the kid swear. There's no point in being innocent in a war." Bunnie looked at Devon. "Mahbah so." "We have to go find them," Comet interupted. "Del and Knux? They're probably fine." "They've been gone over half a day!" "You're naht wahrried thaht they're..." "Leave them," Sonic said. Everyone looked at him, seeing as he hadn't said a word since the night before. "Why?" Comet broke the silence. 'You never know when you're going to lose the one you lovew. Let them come back when they want." "They may never come back." "I wish I had that." She blinked and woke up. She looked around. Knuckles was holding her in his sleep. She looked around again. Delphine Kiminsu had the distinct feeling that she was being watched. The tigress watched her through the undergrowth Her yellow eyes glowed and her tail flicked from side to side as Delphine stood up and looked around warily. "So, she is the the one," she hissed. "Best to tell her appearance." Delphine was slowly traveling towards her. "Best to leave." She bounded off. Delphine stopped. The feeling was gone. She shrugged. "Oh well." She walked over to the lake. "Clean water for once." She cupped her hands and drank. Sebrina watched Delphine from the top of the tree. She fingered her sword. Knuckles raised his head. He saw Delphine drinking the lake water and smiled. "Thirsty?" She looked up and smiled at him. "Yeah. I haven't had anything to drink for almost a day." He walked over to her. "If you stay here, you can drink all the lake water you want." Delphine smiled sadly. "You know better." "It was worth a shot." He looked at her. "Why can't you stay, just for a litle while?" Delphine sighed. "My friends need me." "I don't need you?" She stood up and looked at him. "I love you. You know that. But-- it's like my duty. The Freedom Fighters are my life. I owe it to them to be there when the fireworks go off." "Yeah, I know, I know," Knuckles sighed. "I..." She put a finger to his lips. "Shh. No more." She kissed him. "Let's go back before Comet goes bezerk." She turned, but Knuckles grabbed her back and kissed her deeply. "Just needed one more," he whispered. It took them awhile to get back to the camp. It was mid-afternoon. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Comet exploded. "Calm down! I'm fine. We were a way off and it took awhile to get back," Delphine said, answering both unasked questions. She patted Comet's head. "I'm sorry." Comet nuzzled her. "So'm I. Forgive me for worrying about my best frined." "No prob." They smiled at each other. Delphine turned to the rest. "We better go back to Knothole and... get back." She stopped herself from saying what she shouldn't have said. "Yeah." Delphine looked at Sonic. He slowly stood up and looked at her. He walked past her and to the plane. Delphine watched him go. "Damn, this is gonna be hard." A few hours later. They had gotten back to Knothole, and the news had spread. Sonic had locked himself up in his hut and wouldn't let anyone in. They hadnt brought the body back, so there would be no funeral. It was like she had disapeared into thin air. "Hey Jared!" Delphine called out. He stopped and she ran up to him. "I need to talk to you about something." "About Peter?" he ventured. "Yes." She shook her head. "That must be some weight on your head. Why didn't you tell anyone?" "Think about it." She sighed. "All right, so maybe a few people wouldn't except it..." "NO ONE would except it. At the very least I'd be kicked out." "Executed at the most," she murmered. "Jailing in the middle." "Yeah." He laughed bitterly. "And none of them sound good, thank you. I think I'll just keep my mouth shut." "It all matters-- would you rather have you tell them, or have Peter tell them?" "Neither would be nice." She sighed. "All right. I'm wasting my time." She put a hand on his shoulder. "You do what you think is right, cowboy, and I'll do the same." She lightly kissed his cheek. "Just don't get caught if you do the wrong thing." She grinned and walked away from him. He sighed and went to his hut. "So what exactly IS in your head?" "Besides empty space? Whatever was in the Red Silk." Comet shook her head. "I don't get it." "Neither do I. I just know that it knows a whole ton of stuff, and it tells me what it chooses to. I don't know why, or how... it just is." "Well that must be fun." "Loads." Lisa walked up. "Hi Dev. You okay?" "Yeah." Comet looked at them. "Uh, I think Del's looking for me, and I'll just go show myself," she said slowly. She walked off. Lisa sat down next to Devon. "Are you sure you're okay? Because if you're not, I could fix it." She smiled. "Hmm, maybe I'm not so okay." She kissed him. Delphine stepped over the root and stood on another. "Oh, why isn't he here... I want to talk to him..." She went to the side of the Willow tree, where steps where nailed in. She didn't need them anymore, but she climbed up out of habit. She climbed up past the hammocks, up to the top of the tree, and sat on a branch. "I wish he'd come, instead of locking himself up... this sucks so bad..." She took out her Medallion and looked at it. She put it in her lap, then took out her dagger and put that in her lap as well. The small Chaos Emerald in the hilt of her dagger glowed. It brushed up against her Medallion and flashed. She gasped and picked the two up. She slowly brought the Medallion to the dagger. The light slowly grew until it was almost as bright as sunlight. She took the two of them away from each other and stared at them. "Well, I guess I'll never need a candle again." She put them both away, then climed down the tree and sat on the same root that Sonic had sat on a day earlier. "And then we went home... and Sal..." She blinked. "Damnit Del, shutup." She sighed. Then she saw the frog. It was sitting at the edge of the root, hanging over the water and watching her warily. She very, very slowly brought her hands close to it, then caught the frog between her hands before it knew what was happening. She opened her hands up just enough to look at it. It croaked at her and struggled to free itself. She smiled sadly and said, "You know little frog, things are going to be a lot different around here." She let the frog go. It hopped away. The End.