What
Written by Sean Catlett

Nobody knew how it happened, so naturally, no one knew what to do at first. It was only a matter of time before somebody said something, anything to fix what had happened. There had to be at least one creative thinker in the village of Knothole.

Until then, there was only silence.

Sally had called up an emergency meeting, late at night, when the sky was visibly turning a very dark shade of bruised blue, black running away from the sun. The former residents of Mobotropolis, who throughout the years of battle and torment, rebellion and insurrection, remained faithful and who remained ever resilient to cause… Well, they came in rubbing their eyes, complaining, yawning, tired, exhausted. Their discomfort quickly turned over and in on itself when the silence came, all matters now rendered trivial. They had all suddenly realized that for whatever reason Sally Acorn had decided to call them all together at that hour of midnight… and well…

What was to come next would not be appealing. No, no, not at all.

The last of the Acorn family, with sullen eyes, downcast, looked around the room at the sleepy faces, and said, “Does anybody here notice who’s missing?”

An uprising of murmurs and curious looks. The princess hoped that the minds and bodies in the hut with her were the best that she could ever have, as her question was a test of a number of things. If they had survived this long, then, surely, surely, these minds were the epitome of their species, the highest point on the pillar.

But no one could come up with an answer.

This was the first of the long silences, but the meaning behind it was slightly different. There was no sickening undertone to this. Nothing so disturbing. The Freedom Fighters admired Sally, and more than that they respected her, and more than that, they loved her. They loved her so much. They waited patiently for her to give an order, to lay out a plan, to give an answer, because she always had them, as though they came from a bottomless chamber in her heart and mind. They waited, and they waited, still looking around the room, searching for an answer, but it seemed as though everyone was there.

And it seems that they knew Sally all too well. As the silence wore on, their eyes moved across her, looked her up and down, focusing on every detail that they could absorb. NICOLE, her personal computer, was not with her, not clipped to her belt or in her small, well-worn hands. Her hair was not brushed and strayed from her body like spaceships taking off from a planet. Her posture had visibly slackened, not more than an inch or so, but still different, and unsettling. Her hands barely moved from her side, staying prone, opened, tense. She did not make eye contact with anybody. She was less a public speaker than an intercom. She was less a leader than she was a figurehead. This was not right. She was not wearing her vest. No boots. This was not right. In a matter of one minute, the entire crowd had matched Princess Sally’s physical and mental appearance. A wave of uneasiness and discomfort, with the slightest hint of grave disappointment, hit the crowd in the face, and rippled in waves across them. Smiles faded. Sleepiness faded. Everything... faded...

Sally, well, her hopes were almost gone, her faith in her people and cause, gone. And still, still, no one knew the answer to her question.

So Sonic had to tell them what had happened, and it was something that Sally hoped wouldn‘t happen, but given the choice, she was glad that he did it, and not her.

The blue one totally lost control, spraying in between choked sobs and hard nasal sniffs. In the end that was about all he managed to get out of the entire meeting, since the rest of the time his head was in his hands, curled up in what very closely resembled a sitting-up fetal position. Still, everyone understood...

Sally took the lead then, trying to get the now-awake citizens to help her think of a way to deal with it.

Supposedly, they should have all seen this coming. That kid was always following Sonic around, so it may have been just a matter of time before there was one instance where he didn’t come back.

Still...

Still...

“He’s... not dead... is he?”

“We don’t know.”

From his position, one of the few words uttered by Sonic that hour were, “Not dead, not dead, not dead... can’t be…”

Neurons were firing, synapses were being crossed, but nothing was being registered, an uncomfortably numb feeling where no one could think. All important background was curiously missing.

Someone had the courage to ask how it went wrong.

“It was simple, so simple. It was an information gathering op, nothing more. Nothing big. Sonic”- at the mention of his name he began to cry harder- “was to get reports from Charles, and come straight back home. No chilidogs, no taunting the SWATbots, nothing. Forward and in.” This was a night mission, so that meant lack of surveillance from either humans, the fat man and the little weasel, so it was a low risk, high success rate.

“Only… only Tails must’ve seen Sonic leave Knothole or something, because… he’s gone…. Sonic and I both checked the woods. He’s not here, and his backpack’s missing as well.”

It didn’t make things any better. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind now about what had happened, as there was no other possible explanation. Still, a plan was still desperately out of reach, and if they all wanted to find him, they would have to work swiftly.

**********

Later. Sitting down. Back against a tree. Sobbing. The meeting wasn’t over; the thinking was beginning. Sally had followed Sonic outside, slightly worried because of his abrupt departure.

When she found him by the tree, she almost fell to her knees. The sight of him like that was like a punch to the guts, bullet speed. A blunt spin into her stomach. Immediately, she felt lightheaded, confused. Her legs were wobbling with the slight breeze of the night air. Sally still managed to carry herself over to the tree next to him, where she then sat down. Contact remained minimal.

Sonic didn’t notice her for several minutes, but when he did look up, single glints of tears could be seen streaming down his face.

This did not look like a cry for pity. It looked like sincere guilt.

“I don’t know what made me look into his room.” He was saying, surprisingly clear and un-breaking. “It was just that I felt like it. Like I wasn’t even doing it. I walked slowly, carefully, like surprise. But… I already knew what happened before I even got there. And” -Tears streamed faster- “my first reaction was to try to cover it all up.” He stopped there, waiting for confirmation. The princess stared not at him, but at his shoes, weird stains on them, trying to concentrate on anything but what was happening. “I was attacked. SWAT-bots, you know, they can never leave me alone. I… I disobeyed you, I taunted them, played with them for about ten minutes, you know, and… and I… I managed to lure their fire into the reactor core of the production plant, and… boom. Just like that, and I ran outside, to safety. Funny, I didn’t think about what the explosion could have done…”

“You talk like he’s dead.”

Sonic’s body grew visibly tense at this sentence. It was the last thing he expected to hear, and it weighed heavy.

“It’s not too late...” She continued, but at a loss for more. The urge to reach out and comfort him was overpowered by the rushed thoughts of professionalism, so, motionless, staring at the shoes, she stayed.

Something looked like it was emerging. What came out was, “How?” but it sounded painfully needing and inquiring, desperate, and a lot more was, to Sally, being held back.

“They will help us.”

**********

And so.

Every string was pulled. Everyone was pulled together. The Wolf Pack came in from the Northern Hills, at first angry at the short notice, but softened when they heard the news. Griff and his underground were called out. The nomads allowed to pass into the village. The dragons. The other freedom fighter groups. This was too big for anyone to ignore.

And it was all for one little boy.

What was pulled together was amazing. The operation’s complexity was staggering compared to their other missions, since this time, everyone that was available was involved. The list went on as long as it did. All of these bodies, breathing and for the moment alive, having little or nothing to do with Tails, all wanted to help. It was a charity event almost, with mutual interests involved.

It was noon the following day and still nobody had slept. Tails had been missing for approximately ten hours. Sonic still wasn’t completely comatose, and was a functional member of the team.

After preliminary introductions, and background on the rescue operation, which is what they were all calling it, the construction started. Rotor’s skills put to use, Bunnie’s skills put to use, Dulcy’s skills put to use. Scavengers, assassins, hunters, geniuses, runners, messengers, think-tankers, artists, writers, supervisors. It became less a job and more of a requirement. Soon, eventually, all the lines disappeared, emotion was high, tension was thick like vomit. Everyone stared at each other, expecting a fight to break out, but nothing came, and soon, before anyone expected it to be, everything was done.

It was sunset. Tails would soon be missing for an entire day.

Around this time, Sonic’s depression was replaced by rage and anger, the two being interchangeable. Using him as the eye of the storm, an unconscious collective vengeance was spawned, and by the time it was dusk, there was no mercy left to give.

Sally was no longer the leader at that point. She didn’t need to speak up anymore because Sonic always did it first, and she let it happen. And when he finished talking, all doubt was quenched and anger was inflamed.

Then someone came up with the brilliant idea to send Dr. Robotnik a message.

They had needed Charles’ expertise in this matter, so, despite the danger and the possibility of detection, he managed to get the frequency of Robotnik’s personal line, which changed every hour. The data was sent back to Knothole, where an eager bunch of fighters awaited.

At first, all Sonic could do after he told NICOLE to start recording, was to stare blankly, shooting the most hateful glare he could muster. A single bead of sweat trickled down the side of his head unnoticed. It was so hot inside the hut, the air thick with burning heat and steam, it was compounded with the fact that everyone, all, the fighters, collective, were standing behind, clumped together, barely breathing, silent, unblinking. For ten seconds it was dead air.

“We know.” The words came quick, easy, painless and full of honesty. “And we won’t stand for it. You think you can win with this... but you won’t. This is not a warning. This is not a threat. This is just a message. This only for us and not for you, and soon... nothing will be yours. Ever again.”

Sonic leaned close to the machine to turn it off, his head coming close, within inches, his eyes not leaving.

“It’s over.”

End message.

**********

It was all set. By shortly after midnight the next night, unofficially one day since Tails’ disappearance, it was mutually decided that since it was all too keyed up for sleep or rest, too fired up for eyelids to be closed, that the attack would begin two hours before dawn, meaning departure from the village in one hour. Sally’s plan set in motion. The rescue operation.

The coup.

After the assault, after the soul was saved, the city would be blown to bits and everyone would return to Knothole for a celebration. And after that, more bridges to be crossed. The treaties would stand the test of time.

All of this, pulled together at the last minute, was as well put together as any one year plan. It’s amazing what tragedy can force upon others. All that potential, locked away until the right catalyst came.

Tails’ kidnapping, which is what they were calling it, was a miracle, although no one would say it to anybody else’s face. But this event was the perfect mender, the perfect anesthetic to dull the pain of separation. For once, it was all united. For once, it was all equal. The positions disappeared, lost. All anyone needed was Sonic at the helm, and the rest was moot.

The village was so crowded that no empty space existed, if you didn’t count Tails’ hut. It seems that the visitors did not mind sleeping outside, since so many were accustomed to it. What was extraordinary was that there was no bickering, no arguing, no asinine displays of primitive behavior towards any of the diverse groups. Interaction was moderate, granted, but the fact that no one fought is extraordinary in itself.

Sometimes tragedy really is a godsend.

Sonic lowered his head at the entrance to his hut, watching Sally walk up the wooden steps. He sighed, sitting down in his doorway, making it impossible for her to take a seat next to him. Instead, she took her spot a few feet away.

“Do you remember the last time you saw him?”

“ Sonic?”

“... Because I can’t. Even though it was such a short time ago, I can’t bring up a single mental image of him. I could describe him, sure, but not from my own picture. Maybe something I’ve heard or someone else telling me what they could see, but... nothing.”

A giant pillow pushed by invisible hands depressed upon the two friends, sucking all comfort out of the scene. The silence too thick to ignore, the deafening mute too suffocating, and as Sally struggled for something to say, Sonic sighed and continued.

“Even you, Sally, I can’t see what you look like. You and Tails draw the best blank canvases. And no matter how many times I convince myself that I know why, you don’t change back.”

And still...

Still...

All she could think of to say was: “It wasn’t your fault.”

And he just looked at her, searching for an expression of love, hate, guilt, fear, remorse, anything, ANYTHING! “It’s important. The past, I mean. But... I need to forget it in order to move on, don’t I?”

“What is it?”

He got up. His shadow on the hut stretched in the moonlight, disappearing under the overhang as his blank head flattened. “What is what?”

Sally got up too, taking a step back, giving him his space. “What do you keep telling yourself?”

“Rage. That I’m so scared of failing that I’ll throw everything else inside at full tilt. The turbines run on pure anger and aggression, while sorrow and guilt rot in the corner, neglected. Just like Tails, just like you, just like everything that I ever took for granted.”

The hammer cocked back. Sonic took another step forward.

“Our people die every day, brave souls cut down in their primes. We’ll be teenagers forever if we don’t stop this right away, but Tails... he had a chance. I’d still consider him a son or a brother or a younger version of me, but because of me, he’s ruined forever. We’re all too mature and young and old and stupid for our own good.”

Then, in a voice as low as a whisper:

“Our rage will destroy us.”

A cloud of dust appeared where the gunshot echoed, and Sonic had disappeared by the time it was clear again, by the time Sally was done coughing up dust mixed with her own choked surprise.

At that very moment, Knothole was frozen. Knothole was calm. Knothole was a giant drifting iceberg in the eye of a hurricane. Birds flocked high above and made nests.

**********

Then the time came.

The countdown turned into another forgotten, obsolete machine. The anticipation increased and nerves frayed and shorted out. Before even the first rays of sunlight cracked and burned over the tops of the trees, the group headed out.

To the birds, forgotten entities by the beings below, the crowd moving beneath the trees gave the illusion that the forest was a living ocean, stretching and twisting with a movement that resembled an amoeba. But of course, the image was soon pulled out of site by the...

Smog.

The black smoke.

The infernal fire coming from the infernal machine.

Robotropolis.

Evolution could be sped up, if it were the only way for survival. Before Robotnik, there wasn’t a dangerous place in the sky that the airborne creatures would have to watch out for. The dragons being reclusive by nature, and the birds being agile enough to dodge the flying craft made by the land-bound citizens, the giant blue wonder was a place that house absolutely no dangers.

And then...

A dark shroud of black smoke fell over the tiny planet. Even though the enemy focusing his energies on the ground, the sky was also heavily assaulted. Birds died by the millions. Species disappeared as quickly as a tide change, and in order for any of them to be left for the generations ahead, patterns of flight were changed.

Evolution could be sped up, if it were the only way for survival.

To the rising sun, where the desert was, the home to many unknowns and undiscovered everything, another long and twisting ocean made its way towards that very machine . . .

Lupe’s pack arrived below the trees on the west end, entering the desert once again. The sand looked blue under the morning sky, the nocturnal beasts quieting their calls to one another. The black above them had turned crimson. The sun had not risen.

Cautiously, quietly, they made their way to the outskirts of the broken city.

***********

Griff’s team busily worked on the different pulse bombs and weapons, cannibalizing whatever they could, sacrificing what should not be sacrificed in order to construct enough power to bring down a significant portion of the city. They had been working around the clock, after the notification of the disappearance. Or so they said.

The truth is, they had been building a bomb ever since the coup. Despite how huge the operation, it was easy for the underground society to keep it a secret. No one asked and no one told.

Griff had grappled with the dilemma in the first early years that he became a part of the project. To him, not telling the truth was, at first, the same as lying. However, as the fight for survival grew increasingly difficult, it became easier to change the rules. To prioritize.

Winning was most important. Surviving came next.

“We can worry about the rest when and if we get there.”

************

The nomads. The independent factions.

Well, you see, therein lies the problem. Where everyone else was focused on the battle, they were focused on the aftermath. Even as they took their positions, something other than the task at hand was on their minds.

“Don’t you get what’s happening?”
“What do you mean?”

“This manipulation, man! This... upheaval!”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is just the coup all over again, man! This is like Coup: The Sequel!”

“You better start making sense soon...”

“None of it makes sense, man! That kid? That blue guy? The princess? No, no way. I don’t buy it.”

“Buy what?! The kid was the victim of a very unfortunate accident. That’s all. I don’t even know what you’re babbling about-”

“Open your eyes, man! It’s all fake, it’s all a show! Don’t you see?! It’s all a ploy! They probably got the kid stashed somewhere in their own village.”

“But-”

“It’s too neatly tied together, man. It’s too much like a gift, you know? Suddenly, this “big tragedy” happens, this “I don’t know how it happened” kinda thing, and suddenly, all the warring factions are holding hands and singing together! How does that happen?!”

“Who said we were at war? And even if we were, it’s all against him anyway.”

“WRONG, my friend, WRONG! We are all at war with each other. War for control. War for power, man. The water, the trees, the desert, the people, the planet, man. It’s all left to whoever’s standing.”

“... No. That’s not right.”

“Of course not! You know why? Because of that princess, that’s why! She gets it all if she can’t get her daddy out of limbo, man! And, hey, if he does make it out, we’re done for anyway! Look, buddy, what I’m saying, is that she’s manipulating us. She’s using us... She brings us together so she can break us down and control us. I know what I’m talking about, man, I’ve seen it happen.”

“... So what do you propose we do about it?”

“Hey, man, I’m just the messenger. I don’t have all the ideas.”

“Somebody didn’t tell you to say this to me. You thought of it all yourself.”

“I know, man, I know. HA! Just can’t make it TOO easy for you, now can I?”

“Heheheheh...”

“What I suggest is that you get the men ready. You’re a great leader and they listen to you, so you tell everyone what I’ve told you. You tell them that after the big man falls, it’s still not over. When the dust settles, that is when the true war begins.”

“I dunno...”

“If you’re worried about our abilities-”

“No, no no, no. I just-”

“Because I think we can take on one little girl and a bunch of her teenage friends. The little brat can’t have friends in too many high places.”

“She knows the dragons.”

“Dragon, and so what? Their arms are like pencils, and they’re almost extinct. Besides, cut off the head and they can’t breathe fire down your throat.”

“In any case, you’ve convinced me. But this must be dealt with careful consideration.”

“I agree. What are you going to tell them?”

“I’ll tell them that we’ll wait for now, that even if we do decide to take control, it could be at any moment. I may have to be vague to keep this secret.”

“Yeah. I didn’t think of that.”

“So, how about... giving them an early window. We all decide on a signal, to know when to attack in unison. We get the main body of leadership first and then we can easily take the rest over. They’ll be scared of us.”

“Oh yes.”

“When do you think the earliest window would be?”

“Hmmm.”

“I’d say right after the battle.”

“A little early, wouldn’t you say?”

“The element of surprise, my friend. Catch ‘em when they least expect it.”

“I like, I like! I just knew I did something right by coming to you.”

“Heheheh. Hmmm... right after battle...”

“In their own city, man.”

“That’s so horrible.”

“Course it is.”

**********

Sally didn’t pretend to ignore what was happened. She knew, from the very beginning, ever since she was a child, that this would happen one day.

One day, it will end. And it won’t be long and drawn out, like the journey, but the end will be swift, and afterwards, if she made it out alive, she would find herself missing the journey. How everyone felt, how they had felt the safest during that time.

When it was over... Sally would feel regret. She could feel it coming on already, that maybe they should just call the whole thing off, try to preserve the state that they are in, but no, no, immediately she disregarded that plan, because still, everything would be different. It’s already ruined.

Despite being in a large crowd, despite the repercussions, Sally started to cry, softly, silently. Her motions remained the same but the tears flowed like rivers and her sobs echoed throughout the silent forest. Her attack group watched her, looking around, seeing if it were someone else. Could it be? No, it couldn’t be Sally. Not her.

And it was either because of denial or because of unease, but no one said anything to her. No one sought out what was happening, and no one came to her aid, no one came to comfort her. And because she never turned around, she thought that they were all ashamed of her.

She thought that she made things worse.

**********

Sonic, in another end of the forest, watched the motorcycles and wheeled vehicles scream by. He didn’t wave to them as they left piles of dust in the wake of the split Knothole group, but instead turned to the group he was leading.

Men. Women. Children.

Still, this wouldn’t be as bad an experience as the other groups were surely going to encounter. Lupe and her pack were responsible for tactical reconnaissance and running with messages across the city at full speeds when the radio frequencies were shut down. The other freedom fighter groups all pooled together to assault on the north, at the edge of the Forbidden Zone, making a lot of noise and digging trenches for war fare of the bloodiest kind, the false objective being the major power plant. Their job was the worst, staying at the front line as long as possible without dying, keeping the fighting going, distracting the harsh blow of Robotnik’s vengeance long enough for the others to infiltrate the heart of the machine. The motorcycle and motor vehicle groups had the same objective, keeping the fat man’s forces busy enough to have a hard time keeping track of them all. Griff and his people had the easiest job, evacuating their home and blowing it sky high when the signal came, taking out the foundations of Robotropolis with it. The simplicity of the task was made up for the fact that Griff’s people would be destroying their homes. Sally and Sonic, they were doing spy work, sneaking around the city looking for Robotnik or Snively, or Tails, and if any of them were found, well... they would have to wait and see what happened after that. These last two groups were all citizens of Knothole, split in half with varying priorities. Where Sally concentrated on sabotage and finding the head bosses, Sonic and his group would search for Tails above all else, and if the secondary items on their list happened to place themselves in front of them, then sure, they would take care of them.

It would work in theory, but that was all the chance they needed to be confident. Survival didn’t matter to any of them. Only winning. They win or they die.

So Sonic looked back at his group, and he smiled, the first time in a full day.

Briefly, he also thought about Sally, and hoped that she would do the best out of everyone.

**********

Dulcy had not used her legs in a long time, and she was paying for it then, flying across the sky, lugging around a giant contraption that she was to carry until the signal was given.

Another part of the plan that was merely an aesthetic touch turned out to be a pivotal part of the assault. The dragons would be the first to attack. They would rain down fire and smoke on the factory before anyone ever set foot in it, paving the way for the cycle groups. Swooping and diving, they would pass the city once, leaving nothing except the Forbidden Zone untouched. The old homes that were once active shelters for families and neighbors were not to be spared either.

With these conditions, the reclusive dragons agreed to emerge from their ensconcing homes build of stone, and swiftly attack, and then head home. Only Dulcy would be staying, waiting for the signal to drop.

And she found that she was the happiest that she had been in years, flying with her kin, saving more of her kin, but then she found herself saddened at the prospect that, very soon, it would all end. Dulcy stared at the early morning horizon to keep from weeping, trying her hardest not to concentrate on the black smog in the distance. But soon, she could do it no longer.

Suddenly, the device that she was carrying didn’t seem all that heavy anymore.

**********

And even though it was at sunrise when the attack started, it looked like the darkest night that anyone could remember.