The Other: Chapter 1

"We now go live to our news helicopter in upper Mobotropolis," announced the newscaster over the television screen, speaking in an official voice, "where the ongoing assault from the forces of the infamous criminal mastermind, Doctor Eggman, continues..."

The scene quickly transitioned from a feline newscaster to what appeared to be an overhead view of the city of Mobotropolis, with the camera facing the streets below. As per the description of the newscaster, a large number of red, humanoid robots had formed a battle line at one end of the main road and were slowly making their way up the street, destroying anything that stood in their way. Behind the small platoon of Egg Pawns were two larger robots, which provided heavy demolition support for what the smaller robots were not capable of destroying themselves. People in the streets ran and screamed as the small army advanced forward, with no one daring to try and stop it. From off screen, an unidentified reporter began to speak, describing the events that were unfolding for all viewers watching the program.

"Thanks, Martha." A male voice spoke, "As you can clearly see here, this most recent attack by the infamous scientist has already caused damage in what has been estimated to be thousands of rings in value. The assault began almost an hour ago and has since proceeded up the main street towards downtown Mobotropolis. With local Mobian law enforcement already rendered ineffective by this attack, it is entirely possible that Mobian officials may be forced to give in to the demands of the Eggman."

"SUBMIT TO THE WILL OF THE EGGMAN EMPIRE!" A voice familiar to all mobians suddenly rang out loudly. The camera quickly switched its focus from the assaulting robotic forces to the direction the voice had originated from. Approximately one-hundred yards away a fat man with small round sunglasses and dressed in a red jumpsuit was hovering in what appeared to be a pod of some sort, speaking into a microphone mounted on the dashboard of his vehicle. "Bow down before your new ruler, Doctor Ivo Robotnik! Surrender your city to me and no more damage will be done! These are the orders of your new master!"

"It seems that Eggman's intentions have been made clear." The reporter continued to monologue to the camera, "With the level of devastation that has already been caused, we can only hope that someone will find a way to stop this madman before any more harm is done."

"How awful!" Cosmo said in an exasperated tone as she, Amy, Vanilla, and Cream all watched the scene unfold on Vanilla's television screen. The young plant girl placed her dainty hand over her mouth in disbelief, appalled that one man could be so cruel and destructive. "He was never this way when he helped us fight the Metarex! Why is he being so evil now?"

"This is just normal, Cosmo." Amy said casually, leaning back on the couch she sat upon, "Eggman's always scheming or making some kind of trouble. The only reason he helped us is because the Metarex were going to destroy 'his planet'."

"That's terrible!" Cosmo said with distaste in her voice, "Why can there not just be peace? The mobians never hurt Eggman, did they?"

"No, dear," Vanilla replied, "that's just the way Eggman is. Not everyone is as rational as they should be. Eggman is, unfortunately, not so much."

"But... so many people, their houses, their belongings, all of it will be destroyed. What will they do then?" Asked Cosmo sadly.

"It'll get replaced." Amy said to Cosmo, "Princess Sally is always good about funding the reconstruction of whatever Egghead destroys. She's got a fund for things like this."

"Some things can't be replaced though... once they're gone." Cosmo said, sounding distant.

"We learn to move on," Vanilla replied in a sullen voice, "and it helps us to appreciate what we do have while we have it."

"We won't have to worry too much longer though," Amy said eagerly, "they should be there any second now!"

"Oh good," Vanilla said in a relieved voice, "now that horrible Doctor Eggman will get what is due to him!"

"Good!?" Cosmo said in surprise, "Violence is never good! They could get hurt!"

"Relax, Cos," Amy said, attempting to quell any fears her friend might have, "they're professionals at this. They'll be fine... I think."

A sudden blue streak zipped across the television screen at incredible speeds, catching the attention of everyone watching the news. The blue blur quickly made a right turn onto the main street, dashing straight towards where the hoard of robots were. Amy began to bounce up and down in her seat excitedly, watching the screen with great anticipation.

"All right!" Amy said excitedly, "This is the best part!"

"Oh dear..." Cosmo muttered, folding her hands nervously.

The blue streak flew past the masses of frightened people, heading straight toward the center of the legion of robots. The blur suddenly became a ball, which leapt from the ground and flew into the air, right into the rounded chest of one of the Egg Pawns. The robot exploded, and the blue blur flipped backwards. The blur then unrolled from its ball, and a blue hedgehog landed on his feet.

The blue hedgehog made a quick turn on his red-striped shoes, facing the robot army, who had come to a halt upon seeing him. The hedgehog stuck his hand out toward the red droids and shook his finger in their direction, giving a cocky smile as he did. "Sorry, Eggy, not today!" The blue hedgehog said confidently.

Eggman's eyes grew wide under his glasses as he banged his gloved hands on the dashboard of his Egg Mobile in rage. "SONIC!" The fat scientist yelled, pointing a finger at him with contempt.

"THIS JUST IN," the reporter continued to broadcast from the helicopter which was still observing the street below, "Sonic the Hedgehog, the world renown hero and protector of Mobius, has just arrived onto the scene! It appears as though he has engaged into a confrontation with Eggman. With our hero against this menace, our city might just stand a chance!"

"GO SONIC!!!" Amy suddenly screamed at the television, startling Cosmo and causing Vanilla to cover her large, floppy ears.

"Amy, please," Vanilla said in a frustrated tone, "not so loud."

The four girls turned back to face the television, as Sonic and Eggman continued their face-off. Sonic continued to grin confidently, while Eggman had already launched into his traditional boastful ramble on his assured domination of Mobius.

"You don't honestly think that you can beat me?" Eggman said to the blue hero, who rolled his eyes at the phrase he had heard so many times before, "My army of robots are absolutely unstoppable! This time, I will win!"

"Yeah, yeah, heard it before." Sonic said in an unimpressed tone, "Is there any chance you can just go back home and we can all have a pleasant evening without you messing it up?"

"Go home?" Eggman scoffed, "Why on Earth would I do that?"

"It's Mobius, Doc," Sonic said condescendingly, "and I dunno, just thought it wouldn't hurt to ask."

"Well, you will be sorely disappointed when I smash you to bits!" Eggman taunted, "Prepare to lose to the mighty Eggman!"

"The only thing that's mighty about you is your waste line," Sonic taunted back, "and if you're wanting me to smash up some more of your machines, I'm cool with it!"

"Then prepare to lose, hedgehog!" Eggman shouted, then threw his hand forward in an overly dramatic gesture. "GET HIM!"

All at once the hoard of Egg Pawns charged forward, flailing about clumsily as they ran. Sonic stood motionless, crossing his arms and smiling casually. The robots quickly drew closer, all preparing to converge on the hedgehog in front of them.

Just before the first Pawn reached the hedgehog, a red figure suddenly jumped out from behind him, raising his spiked fists into the air and bringing them down onto the first robot hard. The robot was quickly flattened out into a metallic pancake which sparked and sputtered, bleeding hydraulic fluid. Sonic quickly approached the red echidna from behind, slapping him on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Nice save, Knuckles!" Sonic said enthusiastically, "Ready to do this?"

"Always ready for a good fight!" Knuckles said, pounding his fists together eagerly.

The two quickly charged forward, clashing with the first row of badniks in an exchange of blows. Metal groaned and smashed as Egg Pawns began to drop to the ground one by one. Sonic quickly Spin Dashed into an oncoming group of four robots, while Knuckles tore apart another group of three with furious punches from his fists. Eggman continued to watch from a distance, seeing that his inferior Egg Pawns where being easily dispatched by the two heroes. He began to type on the dashboard of his Egg Mobile, mumbling to himself in a frustrated tone.

"If this keeps up I may lose to that blasted hedgehog once again!" Eggman said, then spoke into the microphone on his dashboard, "Egg Hammer One, engage attack protocols! Incapacitate the blue hedgehog! Egg Hammer Two, get Knuckles!"

The larger robots responded immediately, beginning to march forward towards the attacking heroes. The ground shook slightly with each step the tall machines took, carrying their heavy bulk across the street and preparing to smash any resistance to Eggman's rule. As Sonic and Knuckles continued to defend against the robot army the Egg Pawns suddenly scattered, making way for the much larger Egg Hammer units. Sonic and Knuckles ceased their attack upon seeing the Egg Pawns retreating, scratching their heads in confusion.

"Well, that's no fun!" Knuckles said, sounding disappointed, "I was hoping for some more action!"

"Just like old Egghead, always chickening out at the last-" Sonic's voice suddenly cut out upon noticing the two larger robots, which were now mere feet from their position. Sonic began to stride backwards, trying to gain some distance from the heavy mechanical units. "Ah... Knuckles, I think we might need some help here in a second."

"Why? We can handle a few little-" Knuckles then noticed the two Egg Hammers, now standing directly over him. The red echidna's usually confident demeanor suddenly changed to that of fear as he began to shrink away from the massive war bots. "Uh... help?"

The second robot suddenly raised one of its massive fists into the air, hovering it just above Knuckles' head. It then brought its heavy hand down on top of him, with Knuckles heaving his hands over his head to catch the blow. He managed to grab the robot's hand, but was struggling to keep the machine from crushing him under its oversized metal fist. The echidna grunted in pain as his muscles strained themselves to resist the robot's hydraulic powered fist. "Ugh! Sonic, HELP!"

"Kinda busy with my own problems here!" Sonic yelled back, now locked in battle with Egg Hammer One. The massive robot swung its fists at the blue hedgehog, who quickly and skillfully dodged them. In one quick motion Sonic sprang into the air and rolled into a Homing Attack, blasting towards the robot with as much force as he could muster. He struck the metal hull of the robot, then repelled backward as quickly as he could so as to not be struck with a counter attack. Sonic landed a few feet away from the heavy mechanical unit, trying to spot any damage that he might have caused it. He gave a disappointed frown when he saw that there was only a small dent in the hull, but was otherwise unaffected by his attack. Sonic gave a frustrated grunt as he began scraping his foot against the pavement, preparing to charge at the robot again. "Okay, tough guy, let's try that again!"

Sonic once again made a dash at the large automaton, this time aiming for the robot's cranial dome with hopes that it might stun the machine. Before he reached it, however, Sonic was suddenly snatched up by one of the robot's massive hands. The robot began to squeeze Sonic tightly, which made breathing progressively more difficult. The robot then froze, still restraining Sonic as Eggman flew up next to it in his Egg Mobile. A disgruntled expression covered the face of the scientist as he looked at the blue hedgehog, then began speaking in an impatient tone.

"Since I have you exactly where I want you now," Eggman began, "I assume you will want to surrender?"

"Hah! Fat chance, Doc!" Sonic retorted, "What makes you think you have me at all?"

"B-but... my robot has you in its grasp!" Eggman said, sounding almost desperate, "I could smash you at any time! Say I win and I'll let you go!"

"Nah, I'm good." Sonic replied in a laid back tone, "I'll get lucky and escape somehow. You'll see."

"I warn you," Eggman said in a less-than-convincing voice, "I'll do it! Just say I win!"

"Nope!" Sonic replied defiantly.

"Oh please, just let me win this one time!?" Eggman pleaded, "I just want to conquer the world once! That's all! Can you not just say I win for today?"

"No," Sonic replied in response.

Eggman's face was now red, as he began to sputter incoherently while flailing about. He finally managed to organize his thoughts enough to speak in a tangible voice. "FINE! HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" Eggman barked, "Egg Hammer One, crush him!"

"CHAOS SPEAR!" A deep voice suddenly yelled out as a bolt of yellow light struck the arm of the robot that was holding Sonic, which exploded and dropped him to the ground. Sonic quickly stood up and turned around, seeing Shadow skid to a stop next to him. Sonic flashed one of his traditional grins as he gave a thumbs up to the black hedgehog.

"Thanks, Shadow!" Sonic said in a friendly manner, "Appreciate the backup!"

"Next time you play around, I won't be there to help you." Shadow said in an ill tone, "Now let's get these guys so we can get out of here!"

"GAH!" Eggman spat, slamming his fists on the control panel in front of him, "No fair! Two against one! Egg Hammer One, destroy Shadow the Hedgehog!"

"Unlikely," Shadow mumbled, "Chaos Control!"

Shadow suddenly vanished, only to reappear behind the large robot's head. He delivered a hard kick to its cranial plate before once again vanishing, then appearing on the robot's now armless right side. Shadow proceeded to throw a few Chaos Spears into the exposed circuitry of the Egg Hammer, then teleported again so that he was behind the robot.

"Are you planning on helping me, or are you going to keep watching, Faker?" Shadow growled at Sonic.

"Chill out, Shadow," Sonic said in a cool tone, "I'm coming." Sonic then charged into another homing attack, coordinating with Shadow to do as much damage as possible to the automaton.

While this was going on, Knuckles was struggling single handedly with the other Egg Hammer unit. While the robot was now severely scarred externally, it was still putting up enough of a fight to tire Knuckles out. Knuckles managed to topple the robot by dealing a blow to its knee, but the unit quickly pushed itself back up and continued to fight. Knuckles gave a grunt as the Egg Hammer managed to land a blow to his chest, forcing him to stagger back in pain.

"Ugh! Eggman's making his robots a lot tougher these days." The echidna mumbled to himself, "Probably copied Metarex tecnolo-OOF!"

A punch from the massive robot suddenly came plowing into Knuckles' chest, sending him flying into a sign post. The sign bent on impact as Knuckles fell face first into the ground. The red echidna tried to stand, but found that he could not do so without an unbearable amount of pain in his leg. Knuckles collapsed back onto the ground, then sat up only to see that the robot was closing in for the kill. The robot reached behind its back, removing what appeared to be a concealed mallet. The robot held the mallet at the ready as it prepared to flatten the muscle bound hero, who tried to scoot away in vain.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Knuckles yelled as the robot reared back to strike.

"YAH!" A voice suddenly yelled out as a yellow-orange ball truck the back of the robot's head. The robot was once again sent toppling to the ground, and Tails quickly unrolled from his Homing Attack.

"YAY! GO, TAILS!" Cosmo shouted at the television screen, clapping in joy at her boyfriend's act of heroism.

"And Sonic says I'm a crazy fan..." Amy muttered, to which Vanilla only chuckled.

"Well thanks for getting here so fast!" Knuckles barked, trying to sound tough so as to hide his injured state, "Could have used your help earlier!"

Tails began to type in something on the mini-communicator which he wore around his wrist, then sprinted away from the Egg Hammer unit. "GET DOWN!" He shouted at Knuckles.

"Huh?" Knuckles said in confusion, "What fo-"

A violent explosion suddenly erupted from the Egg Hammer behind Tails, shattering the robot into pieces and throwing fire and smoke into the air. Knuckles blinked rapidly, staring in shock at the smoldering remains of the robot in front of him. He then shifted his gaze to Tails, who was panting heavily from having run so hard to get away from the robot.

"Uh... how did you-"

"Self destruct codes..." Tails huffed, "I managed... to get... the ones for Egg Hammer Two... by hacking into Eggman's personal server."

"Oh, well... nice." Knuckles complimented dryly.

"I knew I should have upgraded my firewall the other day." Eggman grumbled to himself.

"What about that one?" Knuckles said, gesturing to the robot that Sonic and Shadow were still fighting, "Can you blow that one up too?"

"I was only able to get the codes for the other one." Tails said, "We should go help Sonic and Shadow destroy that one."

"Right! I'll-AUGH!!!" Knuckles shouted as he tried to stand, but was once again forced to sit due to the pain in his leg. Tails noticed this and began examining Knuckles' leg, to which he objected. "Don't touch it! You're going to-"

"Your leg's broken." Tails said observantly, "You're done today, Knuckles."

"Fat chance, I'm going to go and-OUCH!" Knuckles tried to stand again, but to no avail. He gave a loud grunt before finally submitting. "Fine, go play hero. I'm sure your girlfriend'll be watching." Knuckles said, gesturing to the news helicopter hovering overhead. Tails did a brief double take between Knuckles and the helicopter, then blushed slightly before running to help Sonic and Shadow.

A loud clanging sound was heard from Egg Hammer One as the bolts that mounted its back armor plating suddenly sprang from their sockets, causing a large portion of the robot's defensive covering to fall off. The robot wobbled clumsily about, having taken moderate damage and being shaken by the loss of its armor. Still, the massive machine continued to fight on as it swatted at Shadow, who flipped with great agility over its large open hand. Sonic took this opportunity to deal a Homing Attack to the exposed machinery within the robot's back. A metallic groan was heard and the robot gave a violent jerk, indicating that Sonic had damaged it in some way. The two hedgehogs then retreated a few feet away, examining the crippled machine with the hopes of being able to take it down soon.

"Dang!" Sonic said in a frustrated voice, "I gotta give it to Eggman on this one, he made these things pretty tough!"

"Its armor is much thicker than we're used to," Shadow commented, seeming slightly fatigued, "and its eye covers are reinforced with transparisteel. This thing's got a ways to go before going down."

"Sonic!" Tails yelled, dashing over to his best friend and standing at the ready, "What can I do to help?"

"Help us find a way to take this thing out!" Sonic replied with urgency, "We've been at this for a while now and it's still kicking!"

"It looks like a section of its armor is gone." Tails observed, "Its power supply should be right behind its shoulder joint motor. Hit that and the whole thing goes down!"

"That might help if we could GET TO IT!" Shadow snapped, "We've been hitting that area ever since it was exposed and it's still active!"

"Eggman probably reinforced the area around the supply with megatal." Tails speculated, "You'll have to hit it really hard or find some way to break the panel off."

"Knuckles could rip it off!" Sonic said, "We'll get him to-"

"Knuckles is hurt really bad," Tails informed the blue hedgehog, "he can't fight anymore."

"A fighter who can't fight? Remind me why we brought him, again?" Shadow said rudely.

"Looks like we'll have to go for the brute force approach, then!" Sonic said, "We'll smash the panel off!"

Sonic, Tails, and Shadow charged the large badnik all at once, striking it with a flurry of punches, kicks, and Homing Attacks. Tails chucked a pair of dummy ring bombs into the exposed section of the robot, while Shadow backed it up with a Chaos Spear. The panel held, and the robot swung itself around to counter the blows. The trio narrowly dodged an oversized punch from the machine, then retreated back again to reassess the situation.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep going," Sonic said in an exhausted voice, "I'm tired."

"Maybe if I removed my rings..." Shadow said, looking down at the golden bands around his wrists.

"You've used up too much of your energy fighting this guy," Tails said, "you could kill yourself if you use that much power now."

"Well, Mobotropolis is getting wrecked!" Sonic yelled in panic, "We have to do something!"

"I don't know, maybe if-AH!!!"

Tails suddenly screamed out in pain, gripping his right shoulder with his left hand. The small fox collapsed onto the ground, stunned by the shear amount of pain he was feeling. He pulled his gloved hand away from his shoulder only to see it soaked in blood. A few yards away, an Egg Pawn stood next to Eggman's hovering Egg Mobile with a bulbous looking gun in its claws, expelling grey smoke from its barrel. Eggman looked at the round robot with a disgruntled expression on his face, speaking in a bitter tone.

"I told you to aim for the HEDGEHOG, not the FOX!" Eggman snapped.

"TAILS!!!" Cosmo screamed out, jumping up from the couch upon seeing that Tails was injured. The flower-haired girl ran up to the television, placing her hands against the screen a panicked expression befell her face.

"OH DEAR!" Vanilla yelled, leaning far forward in her chair.

Cosmo continued to watch as Tails sat in the middle of the road, in too much pain to stand and fight. Even from the hight that the news chopper was at, she could tell that he was bleeding heavily. She then noticed that the massive Egg Hammer unit was lumbering towards Tails, with a large red car hoisted over its head.

"Oh my god..." Amy said in a low voice, raising from her chair a bit.

"TAILS, GET UP!!!" Cosmo screamed, smacking her hands against the glass screen.

By now Shadow had also noticed the Egg Hammer's intentions and began to jog backwards to try and escape it. "Sonic, BACK OFF!"

"What? Oh my..." Sonic began to flee as soon as he noticed the danger, then stopped upon noticing that Tails was not following him. Looking over to where they had been standing he saw Tails sitting on the ground, obviously hurt. "Tails? TAILS GET OUT OF THERE!!!" Sonic yelled frantically.

Tails looked up from his current predicament, finally noticing the Egg Hammer and the car which was hanging above its head. The Egg Hammer pulled its arm back as it prepared to drop the vehicle onto its target, while Tails squeezed his eyes shut so he would not have to witness his incoming fate.

The Egg Hammer swung the car downward at the honey-colored fox, but it surprisingly did not strike its target. The car came to a sudden stop in mid-air, quivering as it hovered just above the fox's head. Tails opened his eyes and gasped upon seeing this, surprised that he had not been crushed by the heavy weight of the vehicle. Sonic and Shadow were shocked to see this as well, but their surprise turned into relief when they both turned to see an armored figure in a cloak standing behind them, his arms outstretched as if he were somehow supporting the vehicle. Despite the fact that the humanoid's face was concealed by a hood, both of the hedgehogs were very aware of who it was.

"Shadow, get Tails," Jaran Kai spoke quickly, "this is heavy..."

Shadow made no hesitation to respond, teleporting from his current position to where Tails was sitting under the car. He then grabbed Tails around his torso and made another quick teleport back to where he had been previously, taking the injured fox with him. After laying the fox down on the ground, Shadow shifted his attention to the disguised Kai, looking at the human with displeasure.

"It's about damn time you showed up!" Shadow barked, "Where in the hell were you!?"

"Am I not allowed to eat my lunch?" Kai asked in a dry tone.

"It seems as though a new fighter has appeared to aid in the Freedom Fighters' battle against Eggman!" The newscaster announced, "What appears to be an extremely tall Mobian in a black cape has entered the scene, using some kind of mind power to prevent a car from being dropped onto Sonic the Hedgehog's sidekick, Miles 'Tails' Prower. Who is this mysterious cloaked figure, and how is he connected with the Freedom Fighters? Perhaps we will know if Eggman's forces can be repelled!"

"Oh, thank goodness..." Cosmo sighed out loud, slumping onto the ground in exhaustion. The seedrian took in heavy breaths, trying to calm herself after fearing for the life of her lover. As she sat, a slight tear escaped from the corner of her eye as her breathing became more rapid. Amy noticed this and stood up from her seat, walking over and kneeling beside Cosmo. She placed a gentle hand on the seedrian's back as she spoke in a calm voice, trying to calm her down.

"Hey, it's okay," Amy said, "they've been doing this for a long time. He'll be okay."

"I know," Cosmo breathed, still trying to calm herself down, "I just... got scared. I'll be okay."

With a loud grunt Kai threw his arms forward, sending the car hurtling through the air, right into the robot which had tossed it to begin with. The car struck the robot with incredible force, sending it toppling onto its back. Kai then made an aggressive charge toward the battle machine, brandishing his laser-like sword in his right hand. He then made a leap at the robot, preparing to deal an overhead strike to it. Before he could connect the attack however, the robot raised its hand into the air and swatted him aside, sending him crashing through the upper stories of a nearby office building. Sonic and Shadow looked up at the area that Kai had gone through and watched as he leapt back out of the shattered window, landing skillfully next to them. Kai shook his hooded head as he tried to regain his orientation, obviously shaken by the impact.

"Well... these robots certainly are tougher than Eggman's standard brand." Kai remarked in a monotone voice.

"I could've told you that." Sonic replied sarcastically.

"Do we have a plan?" Kai asked.

"There-there's a weak spot..." Tails said through clenched teeth, trying to fight the pain in his shoulder, "on its back... Power supply is behind... its shoulder. It's reinforced..."

"Megatal," Shadow stated, "we can only break that in our super forms, and we left the Chaos Emeralds at Angel Island."

"There is a micro-fracture on the covering." Kai said, "I can see it. A powerful enough blow should force the plate to give way."

"A what?" Shadow questioned, "How would you know that there is a micro fracture there? I don't see anything."

"You don't know the art of Shatter Point." Kai retorted back, "If we strike at the fracture hard enough, we can divide it."

"How in the hell could you-"

"He-he's right," Tails grunted, tapping on his wrist link in some kind of pattern, "I am detecting a construction flaw on the lower left of the reinforced covering. You think you can break it, Jaran?"

"With a bit of help, yes." Kai said, then turned to face the two hedgehogs, "Spin Dash, now!"

"Huh? Why?" Sonic asked in confusion, "I don't under-"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS, FAKER!" Shadow yelled, "JUST DO IT!"

As soon as Shadow said this the two hedgehogs curled up into balls and began to spin. The hedgehogs continued to increase their speed, creating skid marks on the street underneath them as they prepared to blast forward. Before they could, however, they were suddenly lifted off of the ground by an unseen force and began to hover in an orbit around Jaran Kai.

"Wait, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Eggman shouted at Kai, who simply ignored him as he continued to use his telekinesis to spin Sonic and Shadow around him. As Kai spun them faster and faster, the hedgehogs seemed to become ribbons of red and blue light that wrapped around Kai. A slight whirlwind began to form around the humanoid as Sonic and Shadow reached their peak speeds that they were capable of. Kai then violently threw his arms outward.

A loud bang was suddenly heard throughout the air, as though a massive gun had been fired off. Eggman blinked briefly as he tried to discern what had just happened before noticing Sonic and Shadow skidding to a stop several yards behind the one-armed Egg Hammer. Sonic and Shadow both stood stock still, then slowly turned toward the other, each quietly wondering what had just happened in the last few seconds. Although they had both come to a skidding stop, nether of the hedgehogs had ever recalled feeling themselves move anywhere, nor did they at any point feel themselves impact the hard metal surface of the enemy robot. In fact, from where they stood, they did not see the Egg Hammer at all. At first they thought that maybe they simply had missed their target, and were only feeling disoriented from the unusually high speeded that even they had been traveling at. This speculation was dashed aside however, when they realized that they had moved further up the main street, meaning that they had in fact been thrown a great distance. The two hedgehogs quickly turned around, facing their starting point to see if the robot was still standing. What they saw however, surprised them. The robot was indeed standing, albeit motionless. Directly in the center of the robot's chest, a massive hole could be seen, which had not been there seconds before. So wide was the hole that a clear view of what was on the opposite side of the robot could be seen through it. Looking back at them through the hole was Jaran Kai, his brown eyes being the only thing visible under his hood. Even with his face hidden though, Sonic could tell that Kai had a smug grin on his lips.

The once proud Egg Hammer then lurched forward, teetering lazily before falling to the ground with a loud thud. Apparently the speed at which the hedgehogs were spinning, combined with Kai's ballistically charged telekinesis, had fired the balled-up hedgehogs so fast and at such force that they had become living projectiles, passing through the Egg Hammer's armor like tissue paper and ripping through the weak point as indicated by Tails. Lacking its primary power source, the robot was quickly rendered inactive and now laid smoking on the ground in front of them. Eggman was furious, pounding his hovercraft's controls with angry gloved hands.

"THAT-YOU-HOW-WHAT-HOW DID YOU DESTROY MY EGG HAMMER!?!" Eggman sputtered incoherently, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!"

"Balistokenisis," Kai spoke simply, "your armor is inferior."

"WHY-YOU-" Eggman continued to fume, convulsing violently in rage.

"That's enough, Eggman!" Sonic said in an irate voice, "It's time you went back to your lab and stopped bothering the good people of Mobotropolis!"

"Let's kill him." Shadow growled, a Chaos Spear materializing in his hand, "He's too much of a nuance."

"Chill, Shadow!" Sonic said sharply, "The Freedom Fighters don't work that way!"

"I'm with Shadow on this one," Kai muttered, provoking an angry glare from Sonic, "just saying."

"Fine," Shadow grunted, allowing the energy spear to dissipate, "we'll do it your way."

"YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE LAST OF ME, HEDGEHOG!" Eggman spat, beginning to fly back toward his base in his Egg Mobile, "I'LL GET YOU SOON ENOUGH!"

"Yeah, yeah, heard that before!" Sonic yelled back snidely as Eggman became smaller in the distance.

As Eggman made his retreat, Kai began to curl his fingertips inward, as a radiant blue ball of electrical energy began to form in his palm. Kai then stepped forward, casually tossing the energy blast like a baseball, which careened into the air and exploded in a flash of sparks next to Eggman's retreating hovercraft. A loud yelp could be heard from the scientist as his vehicle rocked back and fourth, but was otherwise unaffected as he began to retreat at a faster pace. Sonic looked over at the hooded human with a sour glare, who shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Just for the fun of it." Kai defended childishly.

The three then turned to face Tails who was still sitting on the ground, continuing to bleed heavily from the wound in his shoulder, obviously in intense pain. Sonic, Shadow and Kai quickly raced over to where he was sitting, with Sonic kneeling down next to his brother to try and aid him as best as he knew how.

"Shoot, Tails," Sonic said in a worried tone, "what happened? Are you okay?"

"What does it look like, Faker?" Shadow mumbled, standing by and observing the scene.

"I... c-can't move it," Tails said in pain, "it hurts too much."

It was then that Kai knelt down beside the injured fox, placing a gentle palm on Tails' bloody shoulder. Tails flinched slightly, but let Kai assess his injuries anyway.

"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Sonic barked at the cloaked human, "YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE IT WORSE!"

"Ten caliber round, hollow point." Kai stated, "Your shoulder blade is shattered; the bullet is still inside. We need to get back to Vanilla's house."

"How can you tell that?" Shadow asked skeptically, "You're no doctor."

"Field medicine was one of my minors in the academy I attended." Kai said in a flat tone, "I'm perfectly capable of analyzing and dressing battle wounds."

"Should we take him to the hospital?" Sonic asked, "He's bleeding a lot."

"I can heal him more effectively than any of your primitive Mobian physicians." Kai replied sourly, "Pick him up and let's go."

Sonic did as he was instructed, lifting his injured brother into his arms and carrying him in the direction of Vanilla's house. Shadow and Kai followed behind the blue hedgehog as the four proceeded to walk away from the scene of battle. From where he sat, Knuckles called out to the others in irritation.

"IS ANYONE GOING TO CHECK ON ME?" Knuckles whined. Kai stopped, rolling his eyes as he walked over to examine Knuckles. Kai ran his hands over Knuckles' leg to inspect it for damage, but was much less gentle than he had been with Tails. Knuckles yowled in pain at Kai's contact, kicking at him in reflex. "AUGH! How come you were so gentle with gear-head over there and not me!?"

"Because I like him better than I like you." Kai said bluntly, "Your leg is broken in two places. You'll live." With that Kai simply walked off, leaving Knuckles lying on the road.

"HEY! Are you going to help me!?"

"I might if I cared." Kai said.

Shadow made an irritated grunt as he walked over to the red Echidna, placing an arm under his shoulder to support Knuckles' ineffective leg. As the group limped their way out of Mobotropolis, they were quickly swarmed by fans and the local media. Sonic, as per his usual attitude toward publicity, put on a smile for his fans as a news reporter proceeded to try and question him.

"Mister Sonic, once again Mobius owes its safety to you," the inquirer began while hovering his camera in Sonic's face, "how do you feel about your most recent victory over Eggman?"

"Well, It's always good to see everyone here safe." Sonic said with a grin, "I couldn't have done it without my team though!"

The camera then shifted to Shadow, who was still helping Knuckles limp toward potential aid. "Mister hedgehog, it is clear that you provided great assistance to Sonic in saving our city. Would you please tell us who you are?"

"Go to hell." Shadow snapped at the camera, then stomped away from the prying reporter. The reporter was undaunted, and proceeded to turn his attention to the cloaked Kai.

"Sir, your intervention in what could have potentially killed the famous Tails the Fox was quite spectacular. Would you mind telling us your na-" The reporter suddenly stopped his inquiry upon noticing Kai's hands. While Kai did wear a pair of black fingerless gloves, the reporter noticed that there was no fur on his fingers, nor did he possess claws. He did, however, notice the pink skin and fingernails of Kai's human hands, which seemed to inspire sudden panic in to reporting sloth. "You're... human?" The sloth said, which seemed to catch Kai's attention. The sloth then turned the camera to himself, speaking in an overly excitable tone. "THERE IS A HUMAN AMONG US! YOU HEARD RIGH FOLKS, THERE IS ANOTHER HUMAN LIKE EGGMAN IN OUR CITY! WE-"

Kai pointed two fingers at the large camera that the reporter held. A shower of sparks flew from the camera as the device made a loud popping sound. The reporter dropped the destroyed recording device at his feet, then turned an angry gaze to Kai. "WHAT THE HECK, MAN!? WHO DO YOU THINK-"

"You will forget what you have seen." Kai said, waiving a hand in front of the sloth's face. The sloth's face suddenly blanked out, seeming to become distracted from all around him. Kai then quickly walked off, as a dozen other mobians stared after him suspiciously.

"Any particular reason you did that?" Shadow asked in an irritable voice.

"Having too many mobians aware of another human among them is bad for business." Kai replied.

"Well, I'm glad that's over." Sonic said with a relieved sigh, "That was pretty tough."

"Eggman's... getting better." Tails said weakly, "I h-hope we don't have to battle him for a while."

"I wouldn't worry about him so much as I would about what awaits you at Vanilla's house." Kai remarked.

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"Cosmo, she'll be quite worried about you."

"Oh no," Tails moaned, "she's probably having a p-panic attack right now."

"Be grateful that you have someone who cares about you," Kai said to the fox, "not all of us have that luxury."

"She'll probably be all cuddly now," Knuckles teased the fox, "and want to hug you and kiss you, and treat you like her baby, and-OW!"

Knuckles was silenced by a sharp kick to his injured leg from Kai. Once the group had cleared the city limits and he realized that they were not being followed, Kai removed the hood covering his face and continued to ramble on in his usual cryptic fashion.

"Worry not, my friend." Kai said, "I'm sure she'll be all right. Besides, the aid she can offer will be much more than even I can provide."

"She'll probably try to feed you too," Knuckles continued to chide Tails, "and watch you while you sleep and-"

"If you don't shut the hell up, I'll break your other leg." Kai threatened, causing Knuckles to fall silent.

"I just don't like when... she worries about me." Tails said, "She makes herself sick that way... I don't-"

"Worry in itself is not a bad thing," Kai said, "when done with the right intentions. It is an extension of compassion. You should be honored that she cares as much as she does."

"I guess..." Tails said in a quiet voice, "I just hope she doesn't hurt herself worrying too much."

"I'm sure she's fine buddy," Sonic said to his friend, "now let's get back to the house and get you fixed up!"

You see, mother, all is well. I don't understand your concern.

That is because you aren't looking in the right places. Look further, out into the depths of space, into the place that you don't want to look.

No, it can't be... He can't be here!

I'm afraid that he is, Galaxina.

He'll destroy them mother!

No, he won't. It would be better if he did I think.

We have to do something! We can't let him get to Cosmo and her boy!

I think it's time that we paid Kai another visit...