Chapter 16: Destruction

Sonic's POV:

After the argument between Sally and Amy Eggman has been relentless. Weeks of attacks have left the village in shambles and the townsfolk with no where to go. We've all been taking in everyone that we can, but we're spread so thin that Silver and Blaze have joined us on patrol. Amy still hasn't spoken to Sally despite her friendly efforts. She agreed to share patrols, but from what Sally has told me Amy gets the job done and leaves without saying anything.

Glancing around our meeting room, Amy is sitting oddly close to Shadow.

"Groups are the same as last week, we'll all be in the village protecting the villagers and whatever houses are salvageable. We'll start rebuilding next week when I get back from the human world with materials."

Everyone nods, still tired from the attack that happened in the middle of the night.

I hope Egghead runs out of parts soon, because we can't keep this up.

...

Sally's POV:

When Tails spots smoke on the horizon, we all prepare for the surge of robots about to storm the village.

Everyone takes as many as they can handle, but as time passes even Sonic and Shadow are struggling to hold them back. After 30 very long and antagonizing minutes everyone is exhausted.

Looking around in horror, my friends and teammates are all backed into a corner.

Tails is pinned to the ground, desperately trying to block the sharp point of the robots hand standing above him. Without warning, he cries out in agony as blood and orange fur is sent flying into the air.

"TAILS!!"

Sonic angrily bashes the robots blocking him from his wounded friend and quickly rushes to his side. Tails gives him a weak smile, wincing as he holds his bloody shoulder.

"I-I'm okay Sonic....It's just a flesh wound."

Sonic knows better than to take his word for it, and lifts him up to move him somewhere safe.

"Hang in there little buddy, I gotcha."

Covering my eyes as a bright blast of chaos energy flies across the clearing, it frees Rouge from the net that snatched her out of the air.

"Thanks Shadow!"

He nods, and looks at me. Glancing to the sharp blades protruding from my bracelets, he sees I have the situation handled and runs to help Knuckles.

Blaze and Silver are fighting alongside Amy, all of them exhausted and their abilities quickly draining. I stare in awe as flames shoot from her finger tips, dancing around her as a form of defense to keep the circle of robots from closing in on her. I have to admit that seeing Blaze and Silver work together in perfect unison was a rare sight to see. They match each other blow for blow, and even combine their powers to create a blast that blows a mound of robots off of Sonic. He looks beaten and battered, but he gets right back up and keeps fighting.

But even with their abilities, it's not enough. The new and improved heat proof robot created by Eggman snatches Blaze by the neck, flinging her into a building. Red liquid quickly begins to bloody the purple fur around her head as she lays there motionless.

"BLAZE! GET UP!!!"

Desperately crying out to her, Silver can't free himself from the anti gravity robot. With multiple orbs flying around it's difficult to control the robot with his telekinesis, and he's left staring helplessly at Blaze's unmoving body laying on the ground. He looks to Amy, distraught as the robot inches towards Blaze's unconscious body.

Amy is fighting for the upper hand on a larger robot to go help Blaze. When I notice she doesn't have an opening I jab my blue dagger into the bot in front of me, but three more appear in front of me.

Where are they coming from?!

I look on hopefully as Amy miraculously tosses the robot to the side. But that feeling quickly fades as she's snatched by the waist and crushed against the ground. Every time she tries to get back up, Amy is slammed back down into the dirt.

As I feel cold metal claws wrap around my body, I realize I wasn't paying enough attention to my backside. Mobians are far more durable than humans, but that doesn't stop the air from being knocked from my lungs as I'm sent flying into the base of a light pole.

"SALLY!"

Sonic's voice rings in my ears I look around frantically, my head pounding. Black dots fill my vision as a flash of blinding light floods the middle of the village.

I feel my consciousness fading in and out as the world around me slowly slips into darkness.

...

Shadow's POV:

"TAILS!"

"BLAZE! GET UP!!!"

"SALLY!"

My ears ring with their desperate cries as robots surge into the village. I'm being pulled in every direction, but I can only do so much at once.

Blaze is motionless on the ground, Tails is laying in a pool of his own blood with a broken shoulder, Sally is unconsciously slumped at the base of a light pole, and everyone else is fighting to stay on their feet.

To my right, Sonic is covered in bloodied scrapes and bruises trapped underneath a pile of robots. They're stabbing aimlessly amongst themselves in an attempt to skewer the blue hedgehog.

To my left, Silver is being choked against a building after running out of energy.

And right in front of me, Amy is being slammed against the ground repeatedly, her arms shaking as she puts every ounce of strength into trying to get back up before being pushed back down again.

They need help.

Why should I help them?

Amy is the only person I want to help.

She's my friend.

...But what if she's not?

So many voices are whirling around in my head, drowning out my thoughts.

But one is louder than the rest. Robotnik's voice echoes around in my head, and in all of the chaos happening around me somehow the only thing I can think of is the audio message I received from him yesterday evening.

*My dearest Shadow the Hedgehog, *pauses* No that sounds too medieval. Dear ultimate life form...*pauses* Well no see that sounds too formal. Oh wait is this thing recording? *clears throat* Hello Shadow. I'm disappointed to see that you've gone against my very specific warning to not trust Amy Rose. I know you think I've lost a few screws in my old age, but I truly care for you my dear hedgehog. You were the only friend to sweet Maria, and I would hate to see your trust broken. That would be a shame... Oh well, anyways--- Hey! Put that down Oubo and Cuobo!

*grumbles* stupid robots. You can never find good replacements.

*ahem* Sorry about that. As I was saying I tried to warn you Shadow. But anyways have fun with your miserable loneliness and lifelong abandonment issues, I'm going to go enjoy my chocolate cake.

Xoxo hugs and kisses your favorite, Dr. Eggman. Wait why didn't I just say bye? Was that weird? Oh well, byeee~ Oh hey there we go I did say it. *hangs up**

It was a very strange message, and although I learned to hold very little value in anything Robotnik ever said, for some reason that message bothered me to a reasonable extent.

Why Amy?

Wait...

Amy.

She needs help.

They all need help.

Digging my heels into the ground as one of the robots tries to push me away from the group, I feel chaos energy surging through my body as I move all of my energy into one blast.

As the red streaks in my fur start to glow a golden color, all of the robots turn their attention to me. The tingly sensation I usually feel from using chaos energy quickly turns into a sharp pain radiating throughout my body. Gritting my teeth, I collapse to my knees as all of the energy in my body is pulled out of me.

Gasping for air, I release everything I have.

A blinding golden light shoots through the clearing, covering every crevice and disintegrating every mechanical part.

Collapsing onto my chest I'm left writhing on the ground in agony, remnants of chaos energy sparking around me.

...

Amy's POV:

Feeling the weight lift off of my back, I'm blinded by a golden light that floods through the clearing. I blink, trying to readjust my eyesight to see Shadow laying on the ground, groaning in pain.

I limp over to him, my ribs aching and most likely broken after being slammed into the hard gravel.

I stop when I feel my hair stand on end, noticing the static electricity hanging in the air from residual chaos energy. I want to help him, but I can't do anything without getting shocked.

"I'll be right back Shadow, hang in there."

"Amy!"

Looking to a pile of metal flurries, Sonic slowly tries to stand up. I quickly make my way over to him, but I can barely stand myself let alone pull him off the ground. He notices, wincing as his right shoulder hangs awkwardly. Despite my anger at him and Sally from before, I'm still worried. He must notice the concern on my face, because he says "it's just out of socket Ames. Are you okay?"

I'm reminded of the soreness in my chest as he asks. "My ribs are broken."

He looks from me, to our injured friends, to the multiple burning houses on fire.

"Let's go check on the others."

~We all sit quietly in the meeting room after patching ourselves up best we can.

I glance at Shadow, his fur dull and his eyes tired.

."Shadow let me help you--"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!".

I wince as I remember him yelling at me. I was only trying to help him get to his feet, but he snapped at me.

Trying not to let it bother me, I look to Sonic as he walks in. His arm is popped back into socket, but heavily bandaged. The already dull atmosphere in the room turns silent as Sonic gives the report.

"10 villagers dead. 36 injured. 48 houses destroyed. 73 houses damaged. 4 businesses destroyed. 9 businesses damaged....8 out of 8 team members injured."

10?....

My heart feels heavy as I think of all the people scared and terrified, waiting for us to rescue them.

But we couldn't get to them in time...

"We're taking Eggman down."

Shaking as he angrily grips the table, Sonic looks around the room at his tired and wounded friends.

"Tomorrow."

We all look at him, shocked.

I look at Sally, who is holding an ice pack to her head

"Are you crazy?! You're going to get us all killed!"

For once I agree with her.

"Sally's right Sonic, we're all injured and can barely walk. And how are we going to invade his base when we don't even know where it is?"

Sonic and Tails exchange a glance, and Tails nods for him to continue.

"Tails found his hideout earlier this week, and think about it. It takes three to four days tops to produce a new wave of bots. He attacked today, so he won't have as many lurking around his base. This is the worst attack we've ever had, and we don't have time to rebuild before the next one. It's our only chance."

He's right, but...Is it worth our lives?

He notices our reluctance, and sighs. "Fine. How about we put it to a vote. Those supporting this mission raise your hand."

Reluctantly, I raise my hand along with Rouge, Tails, Knuckles, Sally, and Blaze.

"Those against this mission raise your hand."

To my surprise, Silver and Shadow both raise their hands. Once they realize they've been outvoted, they put their hands down. Sonic slowly gets to his feet, wincing.

"Sorry guys, you're outvoted. We'll leave tomorrow morning before the sun comes up. Everyone go home and get a good nights sleep."

...

5 AM, Shadow's POV:

"Shadow, please don't leave."

"I have to."

"Shadow please!"

Feeling her pull my arm, I turn around.

Maria?

"Shadow I'm begging you please don't leave."

But she sounds like Amy...

"I'll be your friend."

"Please stay."

"Shadow where are you going?"

"Am I going to die?"

I cover my ears in an attempt to drown out their voices, but they get louder and louder.

Turning around, I run through the darkness trying to escape the echoes of Maria's ghost. Looking over my shoulder to see if she's gone, I slam into Amy. She's standing over me, trying to reach down and check on me without being electrocuted by the chaos energy running through my body.

Why am I seeing something that already happened?

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

I watch Amy flinch as the version of myself laying on the ground yells at her.

I didn't mean to yell.

Why do I feel guilty?

What if Robotnik is right.

The pink hedgehog standing in front of me slowly morphs into a little girl. My heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest as she skips away.

"Maria, wait! Where are you going?!"

Following her laughs and giggles into the darkness, the sound of my alarm clock ringing in the background distorts Maria's figure.

"Maria wait! Don't go!!"

...

Amy's POV:

Waiting patiently for everyone to arrive, I can feel Sally staring at me from the corner of the room.

"Would you stop staring."

"Sorry...Are you still mad?"

I sigh. I'm having a hard enough time keeping my eyes open without the sound of her voice.

"Yes."

She looks like she's about to ask another question, but thinks better of it when she notices how annoyed I am.

As the rest of the team walks in, we're left waiting for Shadow.

Maybe he's not coming.

Thinking back to yesterday, he was acting weird. He was cold even towards me, and I thought about checking on him but figured maybe he just needed some alone time.

We're about to start the trek to Eggman's base without him, until the black hedgehog walks through the door looking terrible. His fur is dull and unbrushed, and I notice him holding a chaos emerald in his hand.

He looks exhausted.

Sonic glances the chaos emerald, most likely wondering where the black hedgehog got it from. With a scowl, Shadow glares as him.

Sonic looks away, deciding it isn't worth it.

"Uhhh okay...Everyone ready?"

We all nod, and start making our way towards Eggman's base under the cover of night.