The rest of my life by Hans Zimmer, The Magnificent Six, Pharrell Williams, Johnny Marr.
Castle Byers by Kyle Dixon and Micheal Stein.
~~~

Sonic?

Green eyes darted across the muddy, red stained ground beneath his tattered shoes. Held tightly in his lavender mothers arms, his ears flattened to drown out the noises of screaming, explosions and crumbling buildings. Arrows and cannon projectiles lit up the scarlet sky with lasers casting streaks of light, overpowering the lightning even further above. To the small hoglets left was his whimpering sister, who's glassy eyes refused to leave the sight of burning trees and dropping birds. Cyan rays crashed down onto the crumbling city, taking groups of mobians with them. Badniks, Robians and other sorts of machines tore Mobotropilis apart, clawing away at those who opposed them and ripping buildings asunder.

Despite the pleas and cries, there was still determined yelling. Mobians ahead ran towards the upcoming swarm of deadly optics and merciless claws, with a deep blue hedgehog and brown dotted rabbit in the lead. Already, many in the crowd began to fall- their cheers being silenced. Swords and spears were raised, with torsos of lifeless machines employed as shields. Cannons were raised to the polluted, dark clouded sky above, aiming for flying ships that sent further cyan rays and Badniks pouring down. The small hoglet couldn't find any of Mobotropilis' flags and any other remnant of the city was swiftly destroyed to become nothing more than a memory.

"Don't look, Honey." His mothers voice soothed as she shifted him to hide the horrors from view.

Bernie coughed from the thick smoke slithering through the city and abruptly skidded as a Robian Tiger reached for her head. She then twirled and sent a rough side-kick to it's leg, letting it topple over. She didn't waste a second in continuing forwards, for she then realised they were amidst the ocean of Robotnik Machinery. At Sonia's gasp, Bernie grimaced upon discovering a pair of red eyes staring emptily at the sky as she manoeuvred past them. The small purple dress the bear wore had three deep bloodied scar marks traced across their front, and a tiny hand reached at no one ahead of them.

Bernie forced herself to look away and swerved to avoid a robust Badnik barrelling straight for her. In doing so it collided with a Royal Army soldier who expertly drove his sword through the robots head. She turned away and refocused her attention on spotting a cream rabbit and tiny green hoglet.

The fountain they had met Vanilla and Sally at was more so a blood bath then, with bodies and metal scrap drawn over the bottom base and red liquid overflowing the structure. The mother progressed past it nevertheless, reaching the beginnings of the once gracious neighbourhood. Now alit with flames, mobians had evacuated this part of the city- leaving it desolate and swarmed by Badniks.

There was a crash and a shout to the lavender hedgehogs left and she whirled to see a cream rabbit scarcely escape the robotic claw of her demise. A dirtied, scratched green hoglet wailed in her arms and the soon-to-be-mother fell on her behind, pain pinching at her face. The Egg Pawn leered over her, a pair of claws sparkling from the fires light.

"Vanilla!" Bernie cried as she charged towards her friend, glancing at Olgilvie who after a moment seemingly caught on to her silent plea.

He scrunched up his face in concentration and with effort blasted out of his mothers hold in the shape of a spiky sphere. With a trail of blue following, he crashed into the heavy machine and sent it tumbling before he rolled. Bernie reached Vanilla who with shaky breathing thanked them before allowing the former to help her up. Almost immediately Vanilla grimaced and cried out as she stumbled forward, holding her belly. Bernie was quick to her side and Sonia jumped to the ground, then securing Manic in her own grip. A little further on, Olgilvie sprung up with a growing headache and groaned- the headless Egg Pawn sprawled out beside him.

"Are you alright?" The lavender hedgehog asked, worry evident in her eyes.

Vanilla could only hum in response, leaning over as sweat slid down her head and arms shielded her front.

Bernie hesitated, glancing at the rabbits attempt of protection prior to nodding. "L-let's find Jules and Chocola. Then get you out of here so you can rest, think you can do that?"

"Yes. Yes I think I'll manage." Vanilla rasped, silently accepting her companions assistance in helping her stand.

Bernie looked to Olgilvie who dusted himself off prior to zooming over, then met three pairs of eyes that stared right back. "Think you guys can stick close?"

"We'll do our best." Sonia shortly smiled, trying to sound enthusiastic, as Manic's crying had settled to whimpers.

"Then let's get going my brave little soldiers."

—————

Sal'?

"It's been a while, wouldn't you say?"

The bruised, young chipmunk watched her father's eyes narrow as his sword slowly twirled. "Remind me when we last met?"

A cold, manic laughter followed from the long nosed man who sat greedily in his Robo-Beetle. "You ruined my life. I helped you and you still betrayed me! Gave me up for what, peace?" He spat. "I've been waiting for years. Revelling in the thought of tearing you and your pathetic family apart! My uncle forgave me, in his mercifulness, for turning my back on him. I won't let him down."

"Well then." King Maximilian spoke, raising his sword. "Let's give him something to be proud of."

Sally Acorn felt herself being lowered, as too was her older brother. She watched as her father charged and the beetle scattered down the wall, one yelling and the other cackling as they met. Scrapes of metal thundered in her ears and sparks of colliding attacks decorated her view. She felt the tattered material of her mothers dress slip by her as Alicia joined her partners side.

But as she did, Elias yelled as a metal limb crawled out from the beetles underbelly and circled around the queens ankle. With no time to process, Alicia was ferociously flung to the wall, making it crumble before crashing into the ground. Snively cheered in celebration, hearing the mothers soft groans prior to cursing as Max swung his sword through another limb. With sweat blanketing his head, Max growled and charged again, sliding on his knees to narrowly escape the swipe of the beetles sharp nose. He saw Alicia's shaky arms attempt to prop her up as she spat out blood and his ears twitched from his children screaming his name. In a flash, black smothered his vision as another arm of the beetle squeezed around his head.

"Run!" Alicia choked before being lifted and crushed onto the ground again.

Sally watched her father drop his sword to grasp and claw at the limb suffocating him prior to Elias catching her attention when his hand closed around hers.

"We can't leave them!" She immediately begged, tears clouding her vision.

"We can't do much without someone else! We need to find the others!" Elias blinked in fast trios.

The younger of the two tried to free her hand. "I won't go!"

"We don't have a-!"

Snively's victorious laughter swallowed their quarrel as the beetle's face closed over, hiding him from view. A limb dragged a struggling Alicia across the ground behind him as Max was drawn closer to the machines dagger-like nose. His muffled protests were drowned out by the burning, crumbling city behind the two royal children.

"Now, we can make this easy or we can make this difficult. I'm hoping you two are mature enough to make the correct choice."

Sally watched her father's slowing movements and her mother's closing eyes before her teeth ground together. She took a wobbly, small step forward and tried to push away her fear by glaring.

"If you think we'll come silently, you really don't know who raised us very well."

"Ignorant brat." Came Snively's grumble before the beetle scuttled quickly towards them.

Elias quickly grabbed his sisters wrist and took for the stairs, heart pounding in his chest as his lungs burned. He hacked from the pollution and smoke and bounded down the castles once grandiose entry staircase.

"What are you doing?!" Came Sally's enraged scream, voice cracking.

"Getting us out of here!"

"Our parents need our help!"

"I'm trying to find us some extra numbers!"

"Extra- we don't have- woah!" Sally stumbled as her brother sharply spun her around to be behind him.

Elias had skidded to avoid the arm that stabbed ferociously to the ground just before him, blocking their path. He now stood facing the beetle that peered emptily over them, gaining a height advantage from the steps. The King and Queen were wrapped up in a limb each, tucked away at the machines underbelly, unmoving. The young prince felt tears prick the corners of his eyes as he thought down another fit of coughs.

"Now then, let's try this again. I'm hoping you're smarter than your sister, prince." Snively challenged as the beetles head lowered just enough so the pointed nose was aligned with the royal children.

"When I say run, you run." Elias whispered, head turning to the side.

"No. I'm not going." Sally's hands curled into tight, shaky fists.

"Please Sally."

"Not a chance."

Elias only sighed and fully turned back to the beetle. "I'm going to disappoint you then." His left foot turned so it was facing the side of the step he stood on.

"Very well." Snively replied.

As if time itself slowed, Sally heard herself scream as Elias whipped around to push her to the side. At his success, her arms reached for him as tears streamed down her face- watching as the tip of the beetles nose drove straight into her brother's chest. Her voice broke as he was lifted into the air, limbs dangling as blood slipped down the machines nose. Elias was tossed, tossed, like he was less than nothing before Sally's vision was blanketed by dirt and small pieces of nature.

She lay there, and she didn't care for how long, screaming and punching into the hillside. Her eyes refused to open and bile creeped up her throat and it silenced her rage as it pattered onto the ground. Her insides burned, her heart ached in agony and she clawed at the ground until nothing was left in her. Then she stared. With only the energy to hiccup, her tears continued and her ears sprung up from the beetles nearing stomps.

Sally didn't raise her head. She kept it low and she bit her tongue to silence her scream. She saw the ground darken upon the robots arrival and ignored that stupid mans muffled triumph. Her heart raged in her ears and the image of her brother's dangling body tucked itself into the darkest corners of her mind.

But then the electric whirs and blinding flash of blue caused her to roll away as a cyan ray swallowed the beetle whole, taking her parents with it.

—————

Vanilla watched Bernie drive a bloodied spear into the shoulder of an Egg Pawn. It stumbled backwards and the lavender mother stabbed at it's hand, pulling the spear back to reveal a sparking hole. She went at it again, forcing it onto the ground, then again with wires gripping the weapon when drawn back. Bernie gave a final stab to the robots left eye socket, watching it's optics fade away before her shoulders slacked and she took heavy breaths.

"Ber-?"

"Is he okay?"

"Hurt, but alive." Sonia quietly replied, sat beside the rabbit as she used part of Vanilla's dress to bandage around where Manic's right ear used to be.

Vanilla watched Bernie march over and gather the two tightly into her arms, then moved to stand behind Olgilvie- who watched the dismantled robot. His entire body shook and he squeezed his small hand around part of his mothers dress, watery eyes unmoving.

"You should find Chocola."

The rabbit rubbed her stomach and nodded, "Alright. Do you want me to take the ki-?"

"No.... N-no thank you. Meet me at the castle."

"Okay." She turned.

"Oh, and Vanilla?"

She met Bernie's saddened (or enraged or tired) eyes. "Yes?"

"Please be careful."

The rabbit left with a simple nod before lifting up her long skirt to sprint as quickly as she could manage. Her eyes took notice of the much larger amount of fallen bodies scattered around her compared to Robotnik's machines and silently prayed none were her partner. Swords, spears and bows either lay by their owner or were left behind- so she grabbed a dagger as she skidded and continued on.

With the constant ache in her stomach, Vanilla cursed when she soon had to duck from the outstretched claw of a Robian Wolf. She progressed, deeper and deeper into the bloodbath and closer towards the centre of the battle. Her eyes narrowed upon the silhouetted form of Robotnik's Robo-Spider. Cannon projectiles blew up like fireworks upon impact and cyan rays danced around the colossal machine, abruptly ending the yells and screams of Mobotropilis' people. The emperors' aircraft's circled above, releasing lasers and more waves of Badniks- lighting up the blood red sky. Less flames licked at her heels and more smoke tugged on her lungs, causing her to stumble.

Her vision blurred and she tried to regain her breath, standing straight to see a brown dotted rabbit shove back a pair of Badniks with the flat side of his sword. He then hammered the hilt of said weapon against the palm of one of the robots and leaped back to give himself room to cleanly slice the head off the other.

"Coco!" She cried, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Vanilla?!" Chocola whirled around and almost instantly took off towards her.

"What're you doing here?" He held onto his partners upper shoulders and slowly began sidestepping.

"I came here for you! W-we've got to reach the castle! Bernie's gone to find Jules! We need to-!"

"Okay! Okay. We'll head to the castle and pick up whoever's there, then find-!" Chocola lightly pushed Vanilla away when a claw grasped his shoulder and he spun to plunge his sword through a sparking Badnik's upper torso.

His head turned to face her as his lower left arm pressed into the robot beneath his weapon. "Go, V!"

"Without you?! Are you mad?!"

"For you to be safe, yes! Get to the castle! I'll meet you there!"

Vanilla opened her mouth to protest but watched her partner drive the Badnik towards the ground before readying himself for the dozens more that came barrelling his way. Tears settled in the corners of her eyes as the couple parted and Chocola managed a bitter smile as he met with his swarming opposition.

Without her dagger, Vanilla gathered the tattered, grimy skirt of her dress and did her best to manoeuvre away from Robotnik's brutal assault. She saw the Acorn Castle amidst thick, dark clouds and blinked her tears away, scanning for any sign of the royal family.

Upon nearing the collapsing structure she saw a tiny chipmunk at the bottom of the large staircase. Her red hair was stained, knotted and draping over her lowered head. Little hands with scraped palms looked up at hidden eyes as they rested on her knees, the young princess opting to sit on her lower legs. Vanilla slowed as her large ears flapped once they heard choked whimpers. Her eye ridges knitted together and she reached out a hand prior to kneeling beside the princess. Immediately, Sally broke out into gut wrenching screams and wrapped herself around the rabbit's front, her face digging into the side of Vanilla's neck. Tears restarted their journey down her dampened muzzle and she barely noticed the rabbit rub her back as she rocked.

Vanilla looked onwards, a whirlwind of emotions fighting against each other within her. Through stutters and yells and cries, Sally barely managed to inform the rabbit that her family was gone. And at the end Vanilla was standing, still rocking her and scanning their surroundings for any sign of someone approaching.

And then came the heart crushing scream of a young hoglet.

—————

...Sonic?

Bernie swiftly made her way through piles of bodies, pools of blood, scattered weapons and devastatingly little gatherings of Badniks. With Olgilvie running at her side, she tightly held a wailing Manic and shaking Sonia. She didn't utter a word as they passed through the dead ocean and kept her eyes focused on that damned Robo-Spider. Then she coughed when a swirl of smoke reached her and she slowed to catch her breath. She could feel Sonia's eyes on her, so she shortly smiled prior to returning to her efforts of calming her breath.

"There he is!" Olgilvie widely smiled, pointing frantically ahead at Jules who was making his way towards the back of the Robo-Spider.

"Okay but Honey I need you to-."

"Stay here, I'll get him!" And the little blue hoglet was off before Bernie could say otherwise.

Olgilvie didn't care that he tripped over the spear of a fallen soldier or soon after narrowly swerved from an Egg Pawn or that tears were forming. He ran with scrunched up fists and a brilliant smile, through blood puddles and leaping over countless of corpses.

"Dad!" He yelled when nearing his father.

Jules didn't hear. Nor did he hear the second call of his son, not even the third. With a dislocated shoulder, his bloodstained puffer jacket hung loosely off his good arm and his legs shook. He had attempted on reaching the (as Robotnik had named it) 'Arachnobot's' back but the mad doctor was smarter, and now the colossal machine was facing him directly.

Olgilvie didn't understand why his heart was beating even faster than usual, or why his smile began to falter. He didn't understand why he stumbled to a stop or why he only watched as Jules yelled some bravado he didn't pick up on. Still, his father lifted his sword and only when he began to run did Olgilvie realise why Hope had said goodbye.

Robotnik brought a vast, powerful and honed pedipalp flying towards Jules, with another flailing before the father. When Olgilvie noticed the former hadn't been acknowledged by his father, he took off with dirt being kicked into the air.

His eyes were wide. The pedipalp was gaining. His heart was pounding. Robotnik was laughing. His eyes were watering and Jules was fighting. Olgilvie stumbled, pushed himself up and felt his stomach churning as everything that wasn't his father and the spider disappeared from view. Like a tunnel, his eyes froze on his fathers startled scream as the violently sharp limb cracked through bone and burst out of Jules' front. For a moment, he was in the air stretched like a star and the next he was falling rapidly towards the ground.

"NO!" Olgilvie shrieked with a breaking voice, and as he ran the rest of the city flooded back into view.

A swirl of browns, reds, oranges and blacks. Then the flames formed to dance and the trees continued to burn and the buildings still fell into each other. Olgilvie felt an uncomfortable warmth swirl like a storm deep within him as his father lay with his back to him. Something in his mind felt wrong and it was like something had snapped and maybe it was something that had awoken and he was too slow to save his father and Mobotropilis had fallen and-

His legs buckled and he collapsed at his father's side, immediately wrapping his hands around Jules' arm to pull him on his back. There he saw a gaping hole in his middle with gore seeping out at the edges and Olgilvie would've been sick if he hadn't heard his father mumble.

"What?" He almost demanded, feeling an alien animosity and impatience settling in waiting at the back of his mind.

But his father didn't respond and Olgilvie's heart crumbled and Jules' eyes were almost closed. Olgilvie stared at darkened brown eyes. He stared at pale fur and cold fuzz and an unmoving chest.

No.

"D-dad?" His hands slipped under his father and pressed against a chilled back.

No.

His heart felt like ice and his mind didn't stay on a single thought, yet remained on all that came to him. It was like a harsh snap went in his head and he couldn't even feel his own hands and feet. But he saw himself bring Jules close to his chest and he rocked and he whimpered.

Please, no.

Coldness enveloped him and everything washed away yet never felt so large and loud and bright. He cradled his father close and desperately whispered as he quickly rocked back and fourth, shaking his head. Tears now fell and his nose twitched and his body shook and his ears collapsed against his head.

"No no no no nononono...." He briefly cracked a smile and even tried to laugh but Jules wasn't moving and he couldn't hear breathing nor a heartbeat when he checked.

He stopped rocking and pulled his eyes from his father and felt thunder hammer through his veins. His heart had left with Hope and the feeling of the ground beneath him returned and he could feels his limbs and his tears. And when it did, he tried to realise it by letting everything out through a scream. He shrieked, he yelled, he cried and he damned the world and Robotnik and the Gods and everything in between.

His voice broke and he emptily punched his father's chest and he whimpered as a warm arm wrapped itself around him. He immediately protested and kicked and hit and pulled on his fathers puffer vest to try and stay with him.

But alas, Vanilla Rabbit stood and ran, feeling the light flap of Jules' vest against her back. She, with Olgilvie and Sally proceeded through the fallen Mobotropilis as the latter stared and the former shrieked.