Maddie had called Tom and told him that she'd be home late that night with Knuckles, so the sheriff decided tonight was pizza night. He, Sonic, and Tails took out two pizzas between them, and then drove down to the clinic to pick up Obsidian.

"Do you think Knuckles is okay?" Tails worried as they walked up to the front door, "Mom said that they had to do a procedure."

Sonic's eyes were wide, "What if they had to cut him open...!?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Tom assured the two of them, smiling as they were noticed by the front desk attendant. She hurried over and unlocked the door, letting them inside. "Thanks, Allison."

"No problem." She smiled at each of them, and then walked back over to the front desk and reappeared with Obsidian in her arms. "He's been amazing today, hardly any fuss."

"Thanks for watching him... How's it going back there?"

"Madds said they finished about fifteen minutes ago and are just waiting for him to come back out from under the anesthetic. No complications, but I imagine he'll be sore."

"What happened to him?" Tails asked.

Tom bit his lip, trying to think of a way to explain what they had to do without being too descriptive. "I'll explain it to you some other time, okay? The important thing is that he's going to be fine and the stone's gone."

"He ate a rock?" Sonic shook his head, "That echidna does the weirdest-"

"No no no." Allison giggled, "It's like this."
She grabbed a piece of paper and made a dot on it, "Okay, so sometimes when you eat food with a lot of minerals, those minerals form into a tiny chunk called a kidney stone. Most of them are about the size of this dot here."

Sonic waved a hand in dismissal, "That's tiny! Why would that hurt?"

"You didn't let me finish, Smartie..."
Allison then grabbed one strand of her hair and held it up against the dot on the paper, "The stone may seem really small, but imagine it having to get pushed through a tube that's as big around as this hair."

Suddenly it all made sense, and the hedgehog grimaced. "...Oh."

"Yeah." Tom informed, "Not fun, trust me. I had one once and it took me out of work for a week until I passed it."

Addison nodded, "Knuckles was having trouble passing his on his own, so your mom removed it so he won't hurt anymore."

"Wait, so it came from his kidneys," Sonic's face went pale, "...and Mom said... Oh no."

"Oh no." Tom agreed with a slight smile at his son's horror, "So we'll have to let him rest for a little bit until he heals, okay? No rough-housing."

The two nodded earnestly. "Yes, Sir!"

"Alright, now let's get you guys home. I can imagine Obbie's more than a little tired, and it's almost past your bedtime..."

"We don't have bedtimes."

"Instigated as of tonight."

"WHAT!?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Sonic and Tails took turns taking quick showers before Tom sent them off to bed. It took some convincing since they wanted to be awake when their mom and brother got home, but eventually, Tom made sure that both were nestled in their beds and the lights were out.

Obsidian, on the other hand, refused to settle. He was tired, and cranky, and refused to go to sleep in his bed, so Tom sat in the chair with him, turned on the TV, and watched late-night talk shows on low.

Maddie finally came in the front door, keeping a hand on Knuckles' arm to help him stay steady. "Easy...Easy..."

"Hey, Champ..." Tom murmured softly, "How're you feeling...?"

Knuckles looked up at him, eyes weary, but a light smile on his face. "In pain, but I will heal... We were victorious."

Maddie smirked, "Uh-huh." she announced as she held out a small plastic bag.

Tom's eyes widened, "Oh my word, that's a big one."

"You have no idea...!" Knuckles winced as Maddie helped him to lie down on the couch, "I will be taking a victory nap, now that the cause has been dealt with..."

Maddie stroked his head with a hand, "You were very brave today... I'm so proud."

"Thank you, Mother..."

Tom looked to Obsidian, who had finally zonked out in the chair. "Thank God, he finally went to sleep."

"He was more than likely concerned about my well-being..." Knuckles hummed and then closed his eyes as Maddie put a blanket over him. "Goodnight..."

"Goodnight, Sweetie... Feel better, okay...?"

The two parents wandered upstairs and into their bedroom, closing the door and setting Obsidian down in his cradle before collapsing on the bed. "What a day..." Tom whispered, trying not to wake the infant.

"What a month..." Maddie whispered back, "...But we're doing pretty good for getting four kids in the past two years."

"And three of them in the past six months."
Tom sat up and actually climbed up into the bed and under the blanket, "How'd he do?"

"He did really well... He should be good in a few days, but Tom, I was scared when I got back here and saw him. He looked so scared and in so much pain...!"

Tom reached out and pulled her closer to him, kissing her cheek. "But you helped him, and he's going to be fine now... Now get out of those dirty scrubs."

Maddie giggled and then grabbed some pajamas from the dresser, "I'm gonna go hose off a bit, be back."

She left the room and headed into the master bathroom, and Tom was left alone with his thoughts.
Maddie's day had been quite eventful, but so had his day. Before Maddie had called and told him about Knuckles, he'd sat down at the station with Wade and gone over several things. The string of trashcan raids was odd, but they also had some calls made to them about the mystery girl Sonic and Tails had encountered earlier. A few more sightings had been made, but mostly, she just came in, bought one or two things from the store, and then wandered back out... And nobody saw where exactly she went after that.

He'd written down what she'd bought at each place, but it seemed pretty normal... A bottle of water here, an orange there... the local church had said they'd seen her take an old blanket from their homeless box.
It was all suggesting what he'd been suspecting; this girl had run away from somewhere and was out here, in a tiny town, all alone, and trying to keep out of sight unless she needed something.
Fortunately, thus far she'd either taken items that were free or she had paid for her items. There hadn't been any theft involved.

He rolled over in the bed and stared blankly at the wall; maybe he'd go out and look for her tomorrow, but right now, he was worn out and needed sleep.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Sonic was running, he was running harder than he ever had in his life.

He was in a dark, twisted wood, tree branches curving up, down, and around each other into a canopy that rarely allowed the moonlight to peek through. Some of them seemed to reach out as he passed and grab onto his arms and ankles.

Shrieking and shouting followed him, they'd found him somehow! How had they found him?
He had to get home, he had to protect the others!

He stumbled in the darkness, not even sure where he was going—trees to his left, his right, over and even below him.

He finally broke through the trees, finding a clearing... And the bodies of his family.
"No...No no no-!"

His mom and dad lay facedown in the dirt, arrows in their backs. Tails was dangling from a nearby tree, and Knuckles- Wait, was Knuckles still breathing!? "Knuckles!"
He rushed to the echidna, putting his hands on the deep gashes in his side, "D-Don't worry, I'm here! I'm here now! Please, Knuckles! Please don't die on me!"

"Sonic..."
Knuckles looked at him with teary eyes, "...They...took... Why... didn't... you..."

"No no no!"
Sonic grabbed Knuckles' head in his hands as the echidna's eyes rolled back and he went limp. "No no no! Please! Please!"
He grabbed onto him, his quills sparking. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-"

The shrieks were becoming louder, and Sonic saw that Obsidian was missing. Was that what they took? Had they taken Obsidian from him, his whole family!?
He looked back towards the trees as he saw them approaching, dressed in their war attire... The Echidnas. One of them had Longclaw in his grasp, also lifeless and her gaze empty.

He was alone... Because of them.

The sparks came harder and stronger, bolts flaring out across his body as his breathing quickened, his heart felt like it was trying to burst out of his chest... and he let out an enraged, sorrowful scream as it exploded into all directions, shattering everything... Leaving nothing but darkness.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

A loud boom startled Tails from his sleep, and he sat up with a start. He'd never been a fan of storms, and as he looked around, the attic was plunged into darkness as his nightlight had gone out.

He looked to the window and found it partially open... There was no wind, no rain... But there was also no Sonic.

"Sonic?" He called softly, looking around the attic for his brother. The hedgehog was nowhere to be seen. The fox got up and tugged on the lamp's pull chain; nothing, the power was out. He went to the window, peering out. There weren't any clouds, either... If there was no storm, then what had made that boom? And why was the power out?

He grabbed a flashlight from Sonic's nightstand and fiddled with the switch until it flickered on, and then he hurried to the door and pushed it open, "D-Dad?" He whimpered, flying down to the floor and then going to his parent's bedroom door. He knocked softly, waiting a moment. "Dad?" He tried a little louder.

After a second, he heard stumbling and the door opened, revealing Maddie. "Tails...? What's the matter, Sweetie...?"

"Mama, the power's out and there's no thunderstorm and Sonic's not in his bed."

Maddie's eyes widened in the flashlight's beam, and she hurried back to the bed, "Tom...!"

There was a sleepy groaning from the bed, and then after a brief whisper, Tails saw his dad sit up. "What?"
Both parents were up and moving, Tom grabbing another flashlight and Maddie scooping up Obsidian from his cradle. "You guys stay in here, I'm going to go look around outside."

He went outside and they hurried into the living room, Maddie sitting down on the floor and pulling Tails into her lap. The battery-powered clock on the wall read five-fifty, so the sun would be rising soon.

"You think he's okay?" Tails worried as he looked out the window and then gasped as he heard moaning coming from the couch.

"Mmm... What is going on...?" Knuckles mumbled.

"Knuckles! You're home!"
Tails scrambled over to the couch and wrapped his arms around the echidna, "Are you okay? Did they fix what was hurting you?"

"They did, Fox... Now, what are we all doing sitting in the living room with all of the lights disabled?"

"Power's out," Maddie admitted, "...And Sonic's missing."

The echidna started to sit up, but then winced and laid back down. "H-How long?"

"We aren't sure, some time between when we got home and now."

Tails looked to the front door as Tom came back in, "Anything?"

"Nothing other than power's out down the street too." Tom went to the closet and grabbed a coat, "Stay here, I'm gonna drive around the neighborhood and try and figure out how far it goes. We might be able to triangulate where Sonic is from that."

"I-I can help look!" Tails offered.

Tom bent down to the fox, "I need you here to help your mom take care of Knuckles and Obbie, okay? I'll be back in a little bit, okay?"

Tails frowned but nodded slowly. "Okay..."

"Good man-erm...Fox."
He patted Tails' head and then hurried back out the door.

"Sonic..." Tails whimpered, "...Please be okay...!"