Note from author Daniel Harris: The following story contains material that could be considered offensive or rude by some people (who these people are, I have no idea), so for the sake of all the concerned parents out there, I am voluntarily giving this story an "R" rating. It uses adult language and situations. Parental discretion is advised.

CAST OF CHARACTERS Maurice "Sonic" Hedgehog........Princess Sally Alicia Acorn........Sandra Nightweaver........Miles "Tails" Prower........Bunnie Rabbot........Dr. Julian Ivo Robotnik........Snively........Bookshire Draftwood....... Shannon "Sparky" Hedgehog........Rotor........Lupe.........Chris Petrucci........Dulcy........and anyone else I care to throw in. Bye.

Daniel Harris Enterprises presents....

A Richard Donner Film....maybe.

"The Fall of the South"

A Mobian Story

_Journal Entry- Pr. Sally A. Acorn ID#27883054

_DNS Verified Date- 8-12-34 11:57 PM

The dim red glow that we all see every time we take the 500 mile trip to Robotropolis is no longer located just above that filthy, polluted skyline. It seems to be spreading, and can be seen from atop the highest tree in Knothole. It undoubtedly will be over our heads in a year, maybe less. We now know exactly what the composition of the sky in Robo-city is. It is a composite of methane gas, bromine, carbon monoxide, and mostly iron oxide. We are working on plans to cleanse the already dirty air surrounding Knothole, but are having difficulties. Our filters must be placed above the treeline, and we all know that any sign of habitation will give away our precarious position. So we watch as the plants and trees slowly die around us, with nothing we can really do to stop it. Maybe the situation will improve once the hot, oppressive days of summer are over, and winter arrives. Maybe.

Tails is becoming quite the man now, and is almost as tall as Sonic. Him and Vixie are seen together quite often now, and it is only a matter of time before they begin feeling the fever rise in them. He will celebrate his eleventh birthday the day after tomorrow, and we have a big night planned for him. He doesn't know, of course, but he suspects. Kids are always the first to find out, you know. I wish I could do more for him, but our situation will not allow it. I love him like a son, and never want to see anything bad happen to him. He still calls me "Aunt Sally", but sometimes I wish he would call me "Mom".

We have another raid on the big city tomorrow, so I don't want to stay on the terminal too long tonight. As Sonic would say, "Damn, Sal, you're on that fuckin' computer all day long! You're gonna go blind working this hard!" Maybe he has a point, but computers have been pretty much my whole life, and I still have work to do. But not tonight. Tonight I must get to sleep early, for this raid tomorrow will hopefully knock out Robotnik's main SwatBot facility. If successful, we will all breathe much easier. The Bay Area Freedom Fighters 800 miles south of us, in the ancient human state of Alebamma, have run out of supplies. This dual-pronged raid will hopefully accomplish the task of securing them some much needed food and weapons. Tails hopes we are successful, since Vixie has not been seen around Knothole for over a month, having to stay down in Bay Area to help her starving family. We wish her and her family the best. Hm, I just thought. Years ago, during my father's reign, we fought a brutal civil war with the South. Now we are attempting to save the last known survivors of Bay Area. Maybe there is hope for our kind's survival after all. Goodnight._

_End of Journal Entry

Satisfied with the amount written for the night, Sally nodded and cracked a slight smile. She closed her eyes, shut off the terminal, and picked up the oil lamp she had next to the keyboard. Walking over to her soft poster bed, she set the lamp down on the dark wood nightstand next to Nicole, now idle for some hours. In the quiet darkness, she slipped out of her boots and pulled on her thin nightgown. She paused a second, noticing the almost imperceptible red glow on the horizon, just above the shadowy treetops. Moaning quietly to herself, she climbed under the warm sheets. She was asleep within seconds.

Robotropolis, Central Factory District, Aug. 13 7:34 AM_

"Get back! Get back everybody! Move, move!!! Get the hell outta here!!!"

"Look, Sandra! It's Chris! Looks like our demolitions expert came through again...We're back here, Chris! Over here!"

Chris Petrucci, almost as well known as Daniel Slyder for his effectiveness Planting explosives, was now running frantically away from the entrance of the SwatBot facility. He tore off his rifle and threw it over Sonic and Sandra's heads, just before he, too, threw himself over the metal partition where they were. His rifle barely had time to clatter to the floor before a gigantic explosion blew out an entire wall of the factory, showering the ground in flaming rubble. One piece came over the partition and fell right next to Sandra.

"Yahhhh!! Whoa, that's what I call a fiery exit!" Sonic looked over to Sandra, who sat there, staring at the little flaming ember.

"Yeah, that was one of our better jobs, wasn't it?" She turned and smiled at Sonic, her dark red hair falling over her right eye. Sandra always did enjoy a job well done, and this was no exception.

"Ouch! My shoulder!" Chris shook his head to clear the cobwebs, and sat up, holding his left shoulder. "Damn, I thought you set those stupid timers for longer than 30 seconds, Sandra! You were like to have killed me!" He squinted in the dark and found his rifle up against the back wall, on top of some broken glass. He reached over and grabbed it, cutting the tip of his index finger as he did so. He immediately drew back and sucked at it, cursing under his breath.

"Damn! I just can't win!"

Sandra stood up and walked over to Chris, her hands on her hips. "Oh my God, you men are all the same! You get a little hurt and you can't function. Here, let me get your gun for you. Women always did know how to handle things that shoot better than men, anyway." She calmly bent over and gently picked up the rifle by the strap, holding it out to Chris. He reached up and grabbed it from her, annoyed.

"Well, you can't say she didn't try to help, Chris." Sonic called out from the other side of the abandoned store.

"Tell you what, Sonic. Don't help from now on, eh?"

Robotropolis, 3rd Industrial Warehouse Complex, 7:31 AM_

"Where the hell is Dulcy? Her and Rotor were supposed to be back with the supplies by now!" Sally fumed as she looked at the time.

"It's only a minute, Sally girl. Don't get yo' self all flustered. They'll be back." Bunnie said as she peered around the corner of the alleyway where they were. "I hope..." she finished under her breath.

Meanwhile, inside of one of the mile-long storage tunnels, Rotor was keeping watch near the hatch at the south end while Dulcy was busy collecting boxed food and weapons, stashing them in one of the two large sacks she had draped over her back. She had taken off and told Rotor to fire down the tunnel if he heard anything on the other side of the door. That was the plan, anyway. But it had been over a dozen minutes and he had not heard anything, either from her or from anyone else. Rotor liked to believe that he could do more than the technical aspects of the missions, staying at Knothole most of the time. So he had convinced Sally to let him lead the lower priority section of this mission, the gathering of supplies. Now, though, he was having second thoughts about trying to be something he knew he wasn't. What would he do if something came through that hatch? Warn Dulcy, of course, but then what? Would I freeze up and not fire at it? Shit, he thought, I hate to admit it, but I might do just that. I just hope she gets back soon...

He sighed and leaned up against the bulkhead, letting the laser rifle slip to the floor. Putting his hands behind his head, he smiled to himself and thought, "Aw, fuck it. She can handle herself well enough. I can't go anywhere anyway, so why second guess myself? Screw it. I ain't her keeper." The dull, throbbing hum of the huge generators buried somewhere under the city calmed Rotor, and he yawned and closed his eyes. They don't need me for this one, he thought. Not at all...

"Rotor! Rotor!!! They're chasing me! They're coming down the other end! Rotor! Wake up!"

"Huh? Wha...ahhhhhh!!!" Rotor woke up just in time to see a laser blast sear past his face and into the hatch behind him. He threw himself to the ground and covered his head with his hands in fright, yelling out, "What the hell is going on, Dulcy!"

"They must have come in the other side! I can't hold them off for much longer! Help meeeee!!!"

He looked up from the floor and saw Dulcy fly overhead. Well, if I stay here, I'm dead anyway, he thought. So he reached over and found his rifle, cocking it in one motion. He paused a second and let the last of the laser blasts fly over his head.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!" He picked himself off the floor and immediately backed up against the bulkhead as a blast went blazing past where his head was not a moment before.

"Get going, Dulcy! I'll hold them off!" Dulcy nodded and started over to the door. Just then, another blast blew by and hit the magnetic lock, knocking Dulcy backwards.

"Are you all right, Dulcy!?" "Yeah, I think so!" "Well, what are you waiting for? Get going!"

He whipped around and fired down the pitch dark tunnel. A moment later, an explosion a few hundred yards away signaled he had hit one of them. He noticed Dulcy was having trouble with the door.

"What's the problem, Dulcy!"

"I can't open the door! The lock's been fused!"

"Can't you open it any other way!"

"No! It's magnetically locked! I can't break through!"

"Shit!" He fired again. Another explosion, this time only around a hundred yards from his position. "They're getting closer! Keep trying!"

Rotor turned and began charging down the corridor, firing all the way.

She called out, "Be careful Rotor!" Rotor yelled back. "Wow, that boy's braver than I give him credit for." Dulcy said quietly to herself. She turned back to the lock and tried pulling it out of the wall. No luck. She tried ramming her fists through the door. No luck.

"Oh, man, I'm never going to get through here!" She wiped her forehead and looked up in despair. Then she saw it. A window, about 50 feet above her head, big enough to fit through.

"A-ha! I knew there had to be another way out of here! Rotor, we're leaving!" But all she could hear was the sound of laser fire all around her. Not wanting to take any more chances of the goods getting damaged, she spread her wings and lifted herself and the heavy cargo above the action to a position next to the window.

Meanwhile, Rotor was not having the best of luck with the Swat Bots. After Destroying nearly a dozen of them, he looked down the tunnel, and to his horror, saw wave after wave of reinforcements marching down in file.

"Oh dammit! 'Take the easy mission, Rotor! I don't want you to get hurt, Rotor.' Yeah, right, Sally. Next time, let me take the hard mission, okay?" Then, looking above him, he realized something. Those bins of supplies looked mighty unstable. Too unstable, in fact.

"Hey, idiots! Yeah, I'm talking to you, you goose-stepping morons! Eat some of this!" Rotor pointed his rifle straight up and fired. High above, something snapped and the entire left wall of bins began to fall over, into the path of the robots. Rotor took one last look as they raised their arms to fire, then took off running back to Dulcy's position.

He ran fast, faster than even he thought he could, to evade the walls collapsing in around him. "Dulcy! Dulcy! Where are you?" He stopped, dead in his tracks. Dulcy, and the supplies, were nowhere to be found. The door was still intact, so she couldn't have come through there...

"Ouch! Hey, watch it, will ya'!" Rotor said as a rope came down from above and smacked him right in the face.

"Hiya Rotor! Care for a lift?" High above, Dulcy had lowered a rope from one of the sacks down to the floor.

"Dulcy! The Swats are taken care of, for now, anyway! I collapsed the walls of the tunnel in on them!"

"Good job, Rotor! Now climb on! There's a window up here!"

Just as Rotor put his hand on the rope, a shot from out of the dark hit him in the leg. He screamed out in pain, but managed to hold on to the rope. "Rotor, you all right!" "I'm all right!...Just go! Go! Go!"

A second after Dulcy pulled the rope out of the firing range, a barrage of laser blasts bombarded the walls. Some, hitting the door, bounced off and blew holes in the wall above Rotor's head.

Dulcy finished pulling up the rope, and, as if Rotor was a small child, she picked him up with one hand by the arm and set him gently down in her right sack. "Hold on, 'cause here we go!"

"Wait a minute! There's not glass in that window is there!?"

That was what he began to say, but stopped short as Dulcy plowed through the plate glass, showering the Swat Bots below. One large, jagged piece came rocketing down and impaled one of the bots as he prepared to fire up the tunnel. He exploded and threw his comrades into the wall, knocking them senseless.

"That's it! If they're not back in 10 seconds, I'm calling back all the units and we're going to..." Sally started to say, but stopped as a screech rang out behind her.

"Sally girl, look!!" Bunnie pointed to the sky. The figure of a dragon slowly got bigger and clearer until Sally realized it was Dulcy.

"Dulcy! Down here! We're over here!" Sally yelled in a frenzy.

The dragon circled and landed, softly this time, behind the corner of the alley way.

"You're late, Freedom Fighter!" Sally said as Dulcy finish letting Rotor climb out of the sack. He hobbled on one leg over to the wall of the alley. "As the commander of this mission, I demand an explanation!"

"C'mon, Sally girl, it's only a coupla' minutes." Bunnie tried to calm her down, but Dulcy held out her hand to quiet her.

"You don't have to defend me, Bunnie. I know I'm late."

"Well, what the hell did you think you were doing coming in here so late? You're nearly 8 minutes off of the scheduled dust off time!"

"I had a little problem with the supply bins! So? While you were here hiding, me and Rotor were in the shit up to our elbows, and we nearly got our asses shot off for it! So sue me Sally! I screwed up!" Bunnie had never seen Dulcy this furious at Sally before.

"Look, you big..." There came a groan from the shadows.

"You guys finished? I gotta get back to Knothole soon." Rotor stumbled back into the light. Bunnie caught him just before he fell over, holding him across the chest.

"Now look at y'all! Y'all are like a coupla buzzards, fightin' an' bickerin' over nothin'! This boy needs some help 'ere!"

Sally put her hand to her mouth in shock as she saw the wound on Rotor's leg. She ran over and unclipped Nicole from her boot. Kneeling down to get a better look, she opened the unit up. "Nicole, scan wounded area. Report extent of damage." The unit hummed for a few seconds, then the somewhat tinny voice of Nicole spoke up.

"Minor tear of quadriceps muscle. Third degree burns to surrounding epidermis. Second degree burns to surrounding dermis. Deep fascia layers intact. Attaching tendons intact. Wound cauterized."

"Thank you, Nicole." She stood up and looked into Rotor's pained face. "You're lucky, Rotor. The lasers may have you up on crutches for a few weeks, but the wound was cauterized so it doesn't look like there was much blood loss. You feeling okay?"

He slowly looked up, into her concerned blue eyes. "Yeah, I just need to go see Bookshire. Things like this have happened to me before, Sally. Being an inventor has its dangers, too, you know. Just try not to put me on the easy missions anymore, eh?" He coughed and chuckled a bit.

"Okay, Rotor. I'll only put you on the suicide missions from now on. Once you recover, that is." She smiled back.

"Thanks. I appreciate that."

Dulcy came up behind them and put her large hand on Rotor's head. "I'm sorry, Sally. It was my fault. I should have stayed near him."

"It doesn't matter who's fault it was, Dulcy. Just take him back to Knothole, back to Bookshire. Let him handle this. He's the doctor around here." Sally motioned for Bunnie to hand Rotor over. She did so, and Dulcy put the nearly unconscious Rotor back into the pack.

"Y'all take good care of him now! Ah 'spect to see 'im in bed when we get back!" Bunnie waved to Dulcy, who was already heading over the murky buildings, on her way back to the Great Forest.

"Ah tell ya, Sally girl, it shore is lucky they got on back when they did. 'Nother minute, and ah was gonna leave too. Boy, ah hope that the others ain't as slow as this, or ah'm gonnna go about nuts waitin'." Bunnie looked up at the dull red sky and shook her head.

"Oh my gosh! That's right! I forgot about the other squad!" She opened Nicole up again, who she still clutched in her hand. "Nicole, switch to com mode. Open the scrambled channel to the second squad, and put me through."

"Unable to establish link, Sally." Sally paused, screwing her face into a puzzled look. "What? Explain, please, Nicole."

"There are two possible explanations for difficulties. One, excessive interference prohibits communication at this time. Two, second terminal is inoperative or nonexistant."

Sally quickly flipped the unit closed with one hand and slipped it back on her boot. She gave a serious glance to Bunnie. Bunnie had not heard the exchange and stood there, equally puzzled.

"We got a problem, Sally girl?" she hesitantly asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid we do. I can't get through to Squad two. There's either too much interference or Sonic's com is turned off. Either way, it looks like we have to go and get them. Let's go Bunnie!"

The two of them took off running down the lonely, forgotten street, towards the thick black plumes of soot that indicated the factory district.

Sandra Nightweaver slowly leaned over the railing of the fifth floor in the Crumbling abandoned high-rise building where the squad had climbed to hide out in. The autofocus whirred as she scanned the streets with the macro monoculars.

"See anything, Sandra?" said Chris through the cloth covering his mouth, which muffled his voice somewhat. Sally had suggested that from now on any squads that are at an elevated position of 25 feet or more use masks to reduce the amout of pollution entering their lungs. They had complied with her order.

"No...I don't see a thing. Not a fuckin' thing. That is quite odd for Robotnik. Usually we would be up to our necks in flak right now, but it seems strangely quiet..."

"Yeah, a little TOO quiet, if you ask me." Sonic said sarcastically under his breath as he sat slumped in a corner, hands behind his head.

"Well nobody's ASKING you, Sonic!" Chris snapped.

"Hey, shithead! I didn't ask for your opinion either! Why don't you go play with some live grenades or something?"

"You wanna fucking go? I don't need this shit today, not from you, not from any fucking buddy!" Chris jumped up and tore off his vest, starting towards Sonic. Sandra saw this and ran over quickly, putting herself between them.

"Hey! Hey, HEY! Shut up! We don't need this shit! Sonic, sit the hell down! Chris, put your damn clothes back on! No one wants to see you beat your chest. Now both of you quit this macho bullshit before someone hears us!" The two of them slowly backed off, still glaring at each other. Sonic pulled his mask over his face and flopped back down in the corner of the blackened, rubble-strewn shell of a building.

Chris paced back and forth a few times, noting that Sandra had resumed scanning the street. He wandered over to what appeared to have been someone's kitchen at one time, long ago. He noticed the smashed replicator and various horribly burned but eerily identifiable objects sitting on the counter. A hydrator, food processor, portable purifier, as well as many other things of everyday Mobian life were still sitting in the same place that they had been a decade ago, when life still roamed these halls and rooms. Then the bomb hit, and the hell that they were living through now was the result. Robotnik had no use for the burned out remains of what had once been Mobitropolis' most proud residences. He simply built Robitropolis around the rubble and let what remained sit and rot.

Chris sighed and picked up a photograph that was half covered in rubble. The top corner was burned away, but the rest had remained intact. It was a picture of what Chris thought had been the family that had lived here so long ago. He was taken aback when he saw that they had been a family of raccoons, not much different than himself. He saw the father putting his hand on what appeared to be the youngest boy's head. Chris would have been about that age, about seven years old, at that time. He also saw the mother, lovingly cradling a young girl of about three. She had the most innocent expression on her face, one that even Robotnik would find sweet, if he had a human heart. He then saw them as the flash of light from the blast hit them, setting them on fire. He stared at the picture, not believing what he saw. They had burst into flame, and Chris thought he could smell the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh as he saw pieces of skin and hair fall off of their writhing bodies. Then the shock wave hit. The sweet little girl and her mother were blown backwards, their blackened bodies smashing apart once they hit a solid object. He saw...

"CHRIS!!! Hey, what are you doin', jerking off over there? Get over here!" The sharp voice of Sonic broke him out of his flashback. He looked over his shoulder to Sonic.

"Be right there, Sonic! Give me a second!" He looked back to the picture, and the family was whole again. Disgusted, he frowned and crumpled the picture in his hand, throwing it into a corner of the dark, filthy counter top. "Coming Sonic!"

"Hey, look, I found some food! I found it over in the corner of the room." Sonic said enthusiastically. "It looks okay to me. I dunno, whaddya you think, Chris?"

Chris looked down at the pile of maggot-ridden rations that Sonic was holding. His face twisted into a look of disgust, and he knocked the lumpy, putrid mass out of Sonic's hands.

"You sick bastard! Don't fucking pull that shit on me! I thought you were serious!" Chris screamed at Sonic.

Sonic stood there, pointing at him and laughing histerically. "Hee, hee, got you back, dumb ass! I never thought you would fall for that old trick!" He continued to laugh, harder this time.

"I'll get you, Sonic. Just you wait."

"Hey, you two! I think I found something! Come on over here!" Sandra motioned with one hand to the quabbling duo. Sonic wiped off his hands and ran over. Chris followed after a pause.

"What is it, Sandra?" Sonic whispered into her ear. Without taking her eyes off of the monoculars, she said coldly, "There's someone approaching from vector coordinates 13-59 north."

"How many of them?" Chris asked in an equally quiet voice.

"Just two."

"Just TWO???"

"Just two, Sonic...Wait! I think they're ours!" Sandra brightened up and took off her mask, shoving the monoculars back into their case. She whipped around. "But why the hell are they WALKING over here? Why don't they just use the telecom link and call us?"

Chris and Sonic looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

"Wait a minute, Sonic. I put YOU in charge of the telecom link. Did you forget to turn the damn thing on again?" She stood there, much as Sally would have, lips pursed, hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.

Sonic seemed taken aback by the accusation. "Me? Would I do such a thing? C'mon, Sandra, you know me better than that."

"NO, I DON'T know you better than that. You better open up the knapsack and check."

Sonic grimaced and pulled the sack in front of him. He pulled up the flap and spent a good minute or two rummaging around in it, finally pulling out a thin black plastic case.

"Well whaddya know, I DID have the damned thing turned off after all!" He looked at Sandra with a face of fake shock.

"Well what the hell are you waiting for, turn the frigging thing on and see if you can contact whoever it is down there!"

"I don't know, Sandra...you've been PRETTY awful to me today. I don't know if I can..." said Sonic sarcastically.

"Then gimme the fucking thing!" She reached over and ripped the com out of his hands. Brushing her red hair out of her eyes with one hand, she flipped open the com and activated it. "I'll goddamn do it my self! You men disgust me! No wonder I killed most of my boyfriends..."

Covering her mouth to shield the communication, she pressed the send button and began transmitting. "Group One, this is Group Two. Group One, come in. This is Group Two. We are transmitting from on top of the abandoned building in front of you. Come in please."

Back on the ground, Sally heard Nicole beep and opened her up. "Well it's about damn time." she mumbled to herself as she began sending. "Yes?"

"roup One...This is Two, do you recei us?

"I receive you, Group Two, but your transmission is very choppy. I'll try to boost the signal." She clicked off the send button. "Nicole, see if you can boost the incoming signal."

"Signal boost activated, Sally. Accessing frequency. Dialing frequency...complete."

Nicole's voice clicked off, replaced by the screeching voice of Sandra. "...ear me! Dammit all, Group One! Receive! Receive!!" "Sandra, Sandra, shut up! We're here!" Sally yelled back over the com.

"Well, it's about time, Sally! We been waiting for you to get here!"

"I was going to say the same thing, Sandra! Did you encounter any resistance on your way here?"

"Can't say we did, Princess. In fact, all of Robo-town is pretty quiet. We haven't seen or heard a bot in hours."

"Odd. Same for us, too. There might be something bigger going on here. Stay where you are, we're coming up!" Sally closed Nicole and motioned for Bunnie to follow her up to the high-rise. As Sally and Bunnie climbed the rusted iron fire escape, it's orange steel steps creaking with every move, Sandra came over to the railing to see them up.

"Sally! Be sure to put on your mask! The smog is terrible up here!"

"We have, Sandra! We're coming up! Scan the area behind us to make sure there's no one following us!"

Sandra picked up her monoculars again and focused on the street and alley behind the two coming up the stairs. It was dead quiet. There was nothing except a few pieces of paper blowing around from the wind.

"Okay, Sally, so what you're telling me is that you let one of our team members get injured on possibly the most important mission we've ever done? I can't believe that coming from you!" Sandra blurted out at Sally, who was sheepishly hiding behind Nicole. "Well, I guess we know what group of Freedom Fighters is on the ball and which isn't."

With that, Sally froze and slowly put down Nicole. "Sandra, I strongly suggest to you that you keep your opinions to yourself. Presuming that one is superior over another is often the sign of a delusional mind." It was obvious that Sally was trying her hardest to control her emotions. Sandra stood up and stared down at Sally. "Just what is it you're supposing?" Sandra clenched her fists. "The Underground Coalition has never lost in a straight battle with Robotnik. Even you can admit to that, Princess. Not to mention it was your stupid monarchy that banished us from Mobitropolis." Now Sally stood up to face her, almost sputtering. "Stupid monarchy?! Hey bitch, we were in power long before your grandmother was even in diapers! Don't talk about my father's reign in that way, or I'll give you a taste of monarchy in action right now!" Sandra raised her fist at Sally, but Chris stepped between them and held Sandra back. "What, now you? Sandra, please! Take it easy! Remember what you told me! Keep calm, girl, easy!" She slowly lowered her fist, backing away. Over Chris' shoulder, she stuck her finger in Sally's face. "This isn't over! You owe us, Princess! You owe us big time!" Sonic rushed over to Sally, who had collapsed back onto the floor. Sandra was over in a corner of the darkened shell of a building, talking to Chris.

"Sally? What's wrong? Geez, girl, I've never seen you act that way before."

"It's just...oh, I don't know, Sonic, maybe she's right. Maybe I do owe her and her group something."

"C'mon, Sal, don't listen to her. You know Sandra, always shooting her mouth off about one dumb thing or another. She's just upset because we have it so good and the Coalition doesn't."

Sally picked up her head to look eye to eye with Sonic. "That's just it, Sonic. All of these years I've had to keep within me the shame of their banishment so many years ago during my father's reign. Now that Sandra dug it up again, I get this feeling like I'm to blame for it." Sally hadn't noticed, but Bunnie had walked over and knelt beside her.

"Sugar-hog's right, Sally. Sandra always was a little hot under the collar. It was never your fault, girl. Y'all were too young to even remember what your father did."

"But they were right, Bunnie. They were right and we never even saw it until..."

"Until it was too late." Sonic interjected. "We all know the story by now, Sal. The members of the Underground Coalition were originally high ranking members of the Mobitropolis military. Though they were subject to higher levels of intelligence than the royal house was, their suppositions were largely denied by the mass media. Right up until Robotnik initiated the coup, all members of the monarchy denied that Julian was of any threat whatsoever. And, in 3221, the King banished all of the officers of the Mobian military to the farthest reaches of the Northern Territory for their controversial views. Your father did what he knew how, Sal. He took actions to preserve the public peace, which, unfortunately, turned out to be exactly the thing Robotnik needed accomplished to finish the job."

"My father made the mistake and now I'm paying for it." Sonic shrugged. "Well, you are the only remaining member of the Mobian ruling class to be so easily found. Your mother is presumed dead, and your father is god knows where. So you can see how people like Sandra would have a reason to hate you. You're the last link in the chain, something to lash out at when there's nothing left to fight. I'm no psychologist, Sal, but I know spite and envy when I see it." Sonic patted Sally on the back and stood up. "C'mon, everyone, we're moving out!"

"Sonic's right, Sally. Don't assume that no one's goin' ta be on your back about it, but don't go takin' the blame for somethin' that wasn't your fault." Bunnie pulled the mask over her mouth and went over to Sandra and Chris in the corner.

"I guess they're both right, Nicole. I was only two years old. What could I have done to stop it?"

"Nothing, Sally. Your father was King, and held ultimate power over his subjects. Do not blame yourself." the computer replied. With that, Sally folded up Nicole and slipped her back into her vest pocket.

"Chris, it's 'bout time we all started heading outta here." Bunnie said as she threw two packs over her shoulder.

"Give me a minute, Bunnie. Sandra needs a little more time." He stepped aside to show Sandra Nightweaver, with her head buried in her arms, sobbing. She picked up her head to Bunnie, and she could see the tears that soaked Sandra's face. Embarrassed, she hid her head in her arms again. Bunnie was shocked. Sandra Nightweaver had never cried before in her life, let alone blubber like a baby as she was doing now. Bunnie came up to Sandra and put her flesh and blood arm around her.

"C'mon Sandra, it cain't be that bad. I done seen you take blows that would kill an ordinary man without flinchin'. Sally girl didn't mean what she said. She's just upset that you're taking all of it out on her." Sandra looked up again, sniffling. "What?" She wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"It's not her I'm crying about. It's just...the Underground Coalition has always, and I mean always, taken the hardest of it all. We never got any breaks at all. I mean, shit, aren't we Freedom Fighters too!? We take our chances just like all of you do. We've lost just as many, if not more, loved ones to that fucker Robotnik. And now, even your Princess isn't on our side anymore!"

"She's still on your side, Sandy girl. We all are. What's happened in the past is gone. Y'all cain't change it. But you can change what'll happen to you and the rest of the people that you love. 'Member, girl, we're all in this together, and maybe we can even do somethin' to hep y'all out. Give us another chance, please."

Bunnie always had the ability to get right to the heart of people, and this was no exception. "You're right, Bunnie. The past is gone. I can't continue to try to change what I can't. Hell, I knew you were on my side. I guess I'm just pissed at the whole situation, I just never show it much."

"That's all right, girl. We all make mistakes once in a while." Chris called out from the doorway. "Hey guys, we're leaving! Come on or you're gonna be on permanent display here!"

Sandra called back, "We're coming, Chris!" Arm in arm, Bunnie and Sandra walked out of the rubble of a once proud Mobian building.

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"How are you doing back there, Rotor?"

"....Not bad, Dulcy. I think I don't need Bookshire to check me out. This leg is feeling a lot better now."

"Still, we have our orders, Rotor. You're still going to see him whether you like it or not."

"You really care about me that much, eh, Dulcy?"

"Well of course I do you silly walrus! Why do you think I pulled you out of that firefight? I couldn't just sit by and let you get cut to ribbons by those lasers, now could I?"

Rotor chuckled. "You sure have a way with words girl! I wish I could say the same for Sally!"

"She's not all that bad, Rotor. Give her some credit; she's been under alot of stress lately."

"I suppose you're right. I just wish I didn't have such a bad feeling about this mission."

"Whaddya mean, Rotor?"

"I'm really not sure...I guess it's nothing. It's just a feeling I have that something big is going to happen soon. Don't worry."

Rotor nestled back into Dulcy's saddle, adjusting the holding straps that held him in his seat. Dulcy faltered a bit as the weight of the supply packs began to affect her flight pattern.

"You okay, Dulcy? Can you make it back?"

"Yeah...I'm fine. It's just...these packs...they're getting kinda heavy. I'll make it. We're almost home..." Dulcy said as she passed over the edge of the Great Forest, which was dotted with swamps and rotting pine trees. Every few hundred feet she would drop a bit, but at least they were going home. However, ahead of her, the skies began to grow grey and ominous. "Hey, Rotor, there's a storm coming!"

"I know, Dulcy...I know."

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End of Chapter One