Chapter Text
One day Sonic awoke in the woods with half his memory missing.
The hedgehog sat up and looked around, blinking. What was he
doing out here? The trees stood around him, their brilliant green
leaves rustling in the breeze. Birds sang all around. The sun glancing
through the canopy was warm on his face and arms.
But it was his own mind that troubled Sonic. He couldn't remember
why he was here, nor where he was. It was as if half his mind had been
wiped clean as a slate. Amnesia? In a slight panic he searched his
mind for other memories and with relief found them intact. He was
Sonic Hedgehog of the Knothole Freedom Fighters. He shuffled his
memories like cards, searching for the most recent thing he could
remember. The war, the chao, Leviathan. He remembered waving goodbye
to the chao, and planning a missions afterwards ... there the
emptiness began.
His head felt strange. Sonic lifted a hand and to his surprise
discovered a long cut across his forehead. He had been asleep so long
it had stopped bleeding. He ran an exploratory hand over his spines
and found them matted with dried blood. How had he cut his head, and
how long had he been unconscious? He searched himself for a clue. He
was wearing a digital wristwatch that still worked, but he lacked
both his silver whistle and his emerald belt. However, he was wearing
a utility belt covered in pouches and pockets. He went through it
and found a fair supply of dried fruit and jerky. In one tiny pocket
he found a gold ring with a round, clear stone set in it. He turned
it this way and that, wondering what it was and why he had it. Had
he proposed to Sally in that gap he couldn't remember? He tucked it back
into is pocket and stood up, brushing off the leaves that clung to his
fur.
He checked his watch for the date and received his first rude
shock. It was November 29th. But the woods around him looked like
early summer, and the sun was too warm. Either the world was wrong or
his watch was. This had to be a joke. But why was his head cut? He
needed to wash the blood out of his hair, he knew he must look a
fright. "I'll go home," he muttered aloud. "Somebody'll know what
happened to me."
The blue hedgehog set out at a fast walk eastward. He couldn't
be far from Knothole. He hoped.
After a few minutes he came upon a stream. He knelt and drank,
then splashed water over his face and hair. He scrubbed and soaked
until he was certain he had washed off the blood, then shook the water
out of his fur. Feeling better, he crossed the stream and walked on.
He had not walked five minutes before he came to a paved road.
He stepped onto it and looked both ways, confused. Where had this road
come from? There were no roads in the Great Forest. Had he been in a
teleporter accident? Was he in his proper time at all? The latter
prospect sickened him. If he was in a different time there was no
telling what might happen. "I wish I could remember," he muttered, and
set off along the road. He would try to locate Robotropolis. It was a
definite landmark, and he could find Knothole in relation to it.
The sun was pleasant on his head, and the woods were quiet as
far as his ears could reach. It was almost noon. Sonic's eyes roamed
his surroundings as he walked, a feeling of foreboding weighing on him.
Maybe he was dreaming. He touched his cut. It sure stung like real
life. If he was dreaming, why was he carrying food with him? Spooked,
he broke into his trademark run and galloped down the road. He wanted
to see something familiar-anything!
He met no cars, which was fortunate, for he was tearing along at
two hundred miles an hour. It wasn't long before he broke free of the
woods and screeched to a halt on the shoulder, where the earth was
soft. Panting, he glanced at a nearby sign, then gazed into the shallow
valley beyond.
The sign said "Sonotropolis City Limit", and beyond it lay
Robotropolis in all its polluted grandeur.
Sonic leaned against the sign for support. "C'mon hedgehog,
wake up," he said, shaking his head. "This isn't real. You're having a
dream, a very intense dream." He looked down at the dismal cityscape
with its aura of brown smog. "Nights, come wake me up!" He waited,
but Nights did not appear.
No, this was reality. Somehow Sonic knew. Perhaps it was the
woody scent of the sign post, or the breathing of the woods, or a
lizard sunning itself on a nearby boulder. This was real. But
Sonotropolis? Maybe he was in another part of the world. Yeah, that was
it, he must be down south somewhere, which would explain the
unseasonable weather. Robotropolis wasn't the only city with pollution.
Feeling a little soothed, he trotted down the hill toward the city,
ignoring a deeper sense that something was very, very wrong.
He came to the junk heaps that ringed the city. At least that
was familiar. Sonic kept going, desperate to see something he knew,
or see someone who could tell him where he was.
He reached the point where the trash heaps ended and the
business district began. There were people. Real people, not robots.
He moved to the sidewalk to avoid the light traffic and stopped the
first person he met, a skinny weasel. "Excuse me," said Sonic.
To his surprise, the weasel bowed. "Hello, I apologize, I didn't
notice you."
"Uh, yeah, whatever," said Sonic in confusion. "Could you, uh,
tell me where I am?"
"Sonotropolis, the capital city," said the weasel, bowing again.
"He's afraid of me," Sonic thought. "Uh, thanks mister," he said
aloud. "You can, you know, go about your business." The weasel bowed
yet again and hurried away.
"This is weird," Sonic muttered. Everyone who passed took off
their hats or bowed to him, and many more rushed by, hoping to avoid
his notice. "This is bizarre!" Sonic thought. The feeling of something
amiss was returning. He was in this weird place and he couldn't
remember how he arrived there. His watch was six months off. His head
was gnashed, but he was carrying food like for a journey. And then
there was that ring. He wished he could remember something.
He pulled out a strip of jerky and chewed it as he walked
along. The salt tasted good. He didn't know when he had last eaten,
but he didn't feel hungry, so it must have been recently.
He was standing at an intersection, wondering which way to go
and licking his fingers, when a familiar sound reached him through
the street noise. A jet engine. He sorted through the cars and people
with the practiced eye of a Freedom Fighter, and spotted Metal Sonic.
The blue robot was flying above the street like a large insect, red
eyes fixed on Sonic, hands dangling, fingers curled into claws.
Sonic ran along the sidewalk, ducking past curious citizens. Metal
Sonic flew unobstructed over the street, engines whining to a higher
pitch as he accelerated. Sonic glanced at him over his shoulder, the
familiarity of the chase wiping away his fear. Mecha hadn't changed.
Sonic was a couple hundred miles from home, that was all.
He ducked through an alley, emerged on the other side and
crossed the street, pelted down the sidewalk and swerved into
another alley. Metal Sonic's engines were fainter, but there was no
use hiding; Mecha would spot him on radar.
By the time he lost the robot, Sonic had blundered into the
dismal suburbs and was surrounded by rotting houses and yards. "Shoot,
lost again," the hedgehog muttered, pulling out another strip of
jerky. This time the salt made him thirsty. "I need a map or something,"
he said, pausing and looking at the neighborhood.
He wandered for two hours, wondering where Mecha had vanished to.
He found a rusty drinking fountain and slaked his thirst, refusing to
wonder if the water table were polluted. Near one o' clock he found
his way into a place where the buildings appeared cared for. A
particular skyscraper caught his attention; a tall white one with a
curious design. Probably the Chamber of Commerce or something similar.
They could tell him where he was.
He stepped into the cool lobby and inhaled the aroma of carpet
and air freshener. It was a long room with chairs along the walls, and
a desk at the far end. Behind it were the ears of a secretary.
"Excuse me."
The secretary was a rabbit with long ears. She was working at a
computer, but turned when he spoke and gave him her bored attention.
"Could you give me a road map?" Sonic inquired. The rabbit didn't
answer. She was staring at him as if she had seen a ghost, and one of
her manicured hands slithered toward the phone.
"I'll take that as a no," Sonic said. He forced a smile he hoped
wasn't too stiff and backed toward the door. "I think I'll be going now."
"If you'll wait a moment, sir, I'll call someone to help you."
Her voice was so calm Sonic wondered if he had imagined the shock on
her face.
He folded his arms, shifted his weight to one foot and waited.
"Really, I just want a map," he told her. She flashed her eyes at him
and whispered into the phone. Sonic's spines prickled. Something was
going on.
Before he could take a step toward the door, a door near the desk
opened, and Sally stepped into the room. She was wearing a purple vest
and boots, which Sonic found odd, as she usually wore blue. "Sal!" he
exclaimed in surprise. "Boy, am I glad to see you!" He would have
mentioned his memory loss, but the look on her face struck him dumb;
it was the rawest hatred he had ever witnessed.
"Are you?" she said, pacing toward him.
Sonic felt he were being stalked by a tigress and backed away.
"Uh, Sally, is everything cool?"
Her lips tightened into a smile, but her cold eyes did not change.
"Come with me, Sonic, and we'll get you some help." Her hand closed on
his arm like iron claws and she led him toward the inner door. Sonic
walked with her, astonished at her strength.
Once the door closed behind them, Sally dropped all semblance of
cordiality and strode down the hall, teeth bared, dragging Sonic. "Who
are you?" she barked.
"I'm Sonic, Sal," said Sonic.
She slapped his face. "Don't ever call me Sal. You're not Sonic.
Tell me your name."
"I'm Sonic, I told you!" Sonic argued, stinging from her slap,
but beginning to fear her. This was not the Sally he knew. "Sonic
Hedgehog."
The squirrel looked at him as if he were long-dead roadkill.
"We'll get the truth out of you yet."
By this time they had reached a pair of elevator doors at the
end of the hall. Sally opened them, wrenched Sonic inside, and pressed
a button for the nineteenth floor.
The ride was long and slow. Sally did not relax her grip on
Sonic's arm, although he was losing the feeling in his fingertips. He
ventured to speak to her twice: once to ask where they were going and
once to ask why she was wearing purple. She told him to shut up each
time. Sonic was certain he could overpower her and escape, but the
Sally he knew would carry a concealed pistol in these situations.
The elevator doors opened with a cheerful 'ting', and Sally led
him into a ritzy apartment. Sonic didn't have time to look around.
Sally guided him across the room, through a door, and into an office.
The office's rear wall had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking
the city, and behind a king-sized desk was a tall swivel chair,
currently with its back to the room. Sonic had a feeling he wasn't
going to like the occupant of that chair.
Sally released his arm like she was throwing away a dead rat.
As he rubbed life back into it, she said, "I have brought the hedgehog,
sir."
The chair slowly swivelled about, and Sonic was reminded of an
opening crypt. For a second he took in the small figure in the chair; a
blue hedgehog with long spines and green eyes. Then a sense of nightmare
hit him.
It was another Sonic.
The other Sonic stared at him, frowning, eyes sweeping him from
head to toe. Presently he rose, stepped around the desk and approached
the visitor for a closer look.
"Amazing resemblance," said the strange Sonic in Sonic's voice.
"What are you, my twin?"
"I don't think so," said Sonic. "I don't have a twin."
"Neither do I," said the strange Sonic. "Where are you from?"
"I'm a Freedom Fighter from Knothole."
The strange Sonic's mood changed from interest to anger.
"You're with the rebels, then. I should have known. Slasher, come
here."
Sonic's heart gave a leap at the name, but it sank at once.
Slasher rose into view from her bed behind the desk. Her eyes were
cold and wild, as if she had stepped out of the jungle five minutes
before. But her wings were the biggest shock. They were not feathered-
they were black and leathery, like a bat's. She prowled to the strange
hedgehog's side, and he stroked her head as if she were a cat. It
turned Sonic's stomach to see her degraded to the level of a dumb
animal.
The other hedgehog looked Sonic in the eye. "Slasher, kill him."
Slasher moved fast, but Sonic moved faster. The thick window
glass exploded outward under his panicked spindash, and then he was
freefalling from the nineteenth floor. Fortunately he knew how to regain
his feet against the wall and run, moving so fast he defied gravity.
Stopping was tricky, but Sonic managed it by spiraling around the
building until he was low enough to leap off and tear away on the
ground.
He didn't allow himself to think about what he had seen until he
was a safe distance from the skyscraper. He had just seen Sally,
Slasher and himself. The thought staggered him. Was he in the future?
But that made no sense, because he had been sure the other Sonic was
the same age he was. He wasn't certain how he knew, but he knew it as
surely as the other Sonic had known it about him. What if it was a
different dimension?
He slowed to a walk as the woods came into view. The sight of
the trees calmed him, and suddenly he wanted to wander in the forest
forever and never lay eyes on Sonotropolis again.
A jet engine.
He bolted for the treeline without bothering to look for Metal
Sonic. He would be safe if he could reach the woods. The scream of the
engine rose to a whistle, and Sonic sprinted up the hill. Almost
there-another hundred feet-another fifty-
Something red flashed into his range of vision. He swerved, but
the object swerved with him, and a second later he was knocked off
his feet by a dizzying blow. Sonic rolled to a stop and landed on his
hands and knees, the world revolving with bright alien colors.
Something hot trickled down his face.
The unmistakable click of a rifle bolt being drawn back pierced
his senses. Sonic looked up, blinking the blood out of his eyes.
Standing over him with a stun rifle in his fist was Robo Knux, the
echidna mecha bot. His eyes shimmered with green electronic triumph.
A moment later Metal Sonic landed nearby, a sleek, lightly built
hedgehog robot, and looked down at Sonic with cool pleasure. It
occurred to Sonic that he had never seen them looking so clean and
polished.
"Stand up," said Robo Knux. "If you try to escape, you won't
wake up for a long, long time."
Sonic stood up, trying to watch both of them at once. He knew
these robots were ruthless. "Are you going to kill me?"
Mecha and Robo Knux glanced at each other, and Mecha said, "Not
for a while. But if you try to escape, then ..."
They marched him into the forest, which was a surprise, as Sonic
assumed they lived in the city. No one spoke for the duration of their
journey, but he found himself shocked. Mecha and Robo Knux had always
fought like cocks before, but now they worked as a team, to the point
of helping each other along through the trackless woods. Once, when
Sonic stumbled, Metal Sonic helped him up without a word. The maniacal
hatred was gone. The robots were wary of him, but they didn't hate him
in particular.
Sonic was pondering this and nibbling at the corners of the
blank curtain in his mind when a voice called, "Halt! Who goes
there?"
Sonic looked around, but saw no one.
"The Metallix," said Metal Sonic, "and a prisoner."
"Proceed, I'll radio ahead," said the invisible sentry. By the
time Sonic thought to check the treetops, the elevated platform was
out of sight behind them.
They came to a place where the trees drew into a solid wall
ahead of them. "Open," said Robo Knux. The trees wavered and
vanished like a hologram, and there was Knothole village.
The robots marched him through, pretending to ignore the people
who waved to them. Sonic felt odd-all glances that came his way were
cold as ice.
He was led to a large building he thought was the community
hut, but when the door opened, he received a horrible shock. There
stood the cyborg velociraptor Leviathan, his red eyes glowing in his
silver masked face. Sonic fell back against Robo Knux, who gripped his
shoulders and steered him through the door. Leviathan stepped back to
let them enter, his red eyes fixed on Sonic.
"Here is the prisoner, sir," said Metal Sonic. Sonic tore his
eyes away from Leviathan, and with another shock saw Robotnik, seated
in a chair in the corner. He stood up at once and walked forward. He
was sixty pounds lighter than the Robotnik Sonic knew, and had a
full head of red hair. He was wearing the jeans and sweatshirt of an
off-duty Freedom Fighter, and, Sonic thought to himself, looked more
at home than he ever had in Robotropolis.
"Well well," said the doctor, "it looks like you two have finally
succeeded. Did he give you any trouble?" His eyes roamed the robots'
hulls, looking for damage, Sonic guessed.
"No," said Robo Knux. "He has been quite compliant today."
"Odd behavior," came Leviathan's low, oily voice from the rear.
Sonic's flesh crawled-Leviathan sounded like a Mobian.
Robotnik nodded and looked at Sonic. "Bind him, Mecha bots.
Your brother will aid me."
It took Sonic a moment to remember that the cyber raptor was
considered a Mecha bot, and when he looked around again, he was
wearing electronic bindings on his wrists. Metal Sonic and Robo Knux
departed, leaving Sonic with Robotnik and Leviathan.
Sonic spoke first. "I'm not who you think I am."
Robotnik raised an eyebrow. "Really. Who are you, then?"
"I'm Sonic, but I'm not your Sonic." It sounded muddled as he
said it. He tried again. "I mean, I'm a different Sonic. I think I'm
in the wrong universe or something. But I met the Sonic here and I'm
not him. Actually, I am him, but in a different Mobius." It still
didn't make sense. Leviathan and Robotnik exchanged a glance, and
Sonic's heart quailed.
"How many drinks have you had today?" asked Robotnik.
"I don't drink," Sonic replied. "And I'm not drunk, I'm
perfectly sane." He watched the flicker of blue electricity between
the bindings on his wrists. Maybe he WAS insane.
"Why don't you let me ask the questions?" Robotnik asked,
seating himself in his chair. Sonic nodded. Somehow he knew that
this Robotnik wasn't evil, and he was flattening all hope of
obtaining his help.
"Now," said Robotnik, "the fact that you came quietly with the
Metallix is reason to suspect you. Is your beast standing by for a
raid?"
"Beast?" Sonic asked, looking blank.
"Slasher," said the doctor.
Sonic thought of the Slasher he had met, of her wildness and
her dragon-wings. "No," said Sonic. "Your Sonic told her to kill me.
I was running from her when the mechas got me."
Robotnik glanced at Leviathan, who bobbed his steel head.
"Listen," said Sonic urgently, "I can tell you all sorts of
stuff about my world! Like-" He searched his mind for something
unique. "Like the Floating Island! Knuckles Echidna is the guardian.
That's where the Master Emerald is. You have a piece of it in your
collar," he said, turning to Leviathan. To his surprise, the robot
backed away a step, lifting his hands to cover the green gem.
Robotnik was watching him through narrowed eyes. "I don't know
who writes your material. Knuckles, as you so glibly call the Guardian,
lives on the Flying Fortress. He is the leader of the echidna clan.
The only reason our resistance has not fallen is because you have not
won their trust."
Robotnik leaned forward, glaring into Sonic's eyes. "Answer me
this, Hedgehog. What is Deep Sky?"
Sonic stared back, mind racing. It sounded like a codeword, but
it wasn't any of the codewords he knew. "I ... don't know," he said,
hoping he didn't look too stupid.
Again that glance and nod passed between Leviathan and
Robotnik.
"What are you doing?" Sonic asked. "Why do you keep looking at
each other?"
"Leviathan is our lie detector," Robotnik replied. "According
to him you have been telling the truth."
Sonic went limp with relief. "I thought you were going to tell
him to eat me. But you've got to believe me! I'm not Sonic."
"How did you get here, may I ask?" asked the doctor.
Sonic shook his head. "I don't remember. I woke up this morning
in your woods, and it's like my mind was wiped. I can't remember for
like three weeks."
"Selective amnesia," said Leviathan's creepy voice.
"Yes," Robotnik agreed. "Probably has something to do with that
cut on your head. Do you remember a portal of any kind?"
Sonic shook his head, then looked at Robotnik. "What's Deep
Sky?"
Robotnik stood up, took a penknife from his pocket and pressed a
button on Sonic's handcuffs. They switched off and opened. "Have a
seat," he said, motioning to a nearby chair. Sonic obeyed, thankful
to be free.
"I am prepared to believe you are who you claim," said Robotnik,
twirling his mustache with one finger. "This morning at dawn, our
sensors detected an energy pulse not far from highway I-4. We feared
the worst and dispatched the Metallix to investigate. They discovered
nothing. I assume you had already left the area. I believe the energy
pulse was a portal of some kind.
"Now," Robotnik continued, looking Sonic in the eye, "that
brings us to Operation Deep Sky. Dictator Sonic Hedgehog has had it
under construction for some time, and it was only recently our
intelligence breached his security. His plan is to launch a weapon
into orbit-a solar weapon. This satellite would gather and store
solar radiation, and at a command from the ground, fire it in a
concentrated beam at a target."
"An ion cannon," said Sonic.
"Essentially," Robotnik replied. "Now, as it seems you will be
staying with us for a while, you have the option of joining our cause."
"You mean the Freedom Fighters?" Sonic asked, perking up. "That's
what I am in my world! Sure! Could I pose as my evil twin?"
Robotnik smiled for the first time since Sonic had seen him.
"That may certainly be a mission idea. At least, until we can find
a way to send you home."
* * *
A waiting period followed. Several undercover scouts went looking
for the Sonic of their universe, and confirmed he was in his tower at
the same time the other Sonic was under surveillance in Knothole.
They indeed had two Sonics on their hands. A few tests were run on
their visitor to make sure he was not a robot. Sonic had no robot
parts, but his DNA was exactly the same as the Sonic who inhabited
Sonotropolis. He was either a clone or the same Sonic from another
dimension. If he was the latter, he was a valuable tool for future
missions. And the first thing to do was wait for his cut head to heal.
Sonic found life in an alternate dimension pleasant, although not
without its surprises. The first thing that startled him was when Robo
Knux offered to let him stay in the robots' hut. Robotnik and Leviathan,
who appeared to run things, thought this was a good idea. The first
night, Sonic found himself climbing onto a cot as Robo Knux and Metal
Sonic plugged into a generator for overnight recharging. They bade
him goodnight and switched off. Sonic lay in the darkness for a long
time, listening to the throb of the generator and watching the dark
shapes against the wall.
He was awakened the next morning by a gentle shake. He looked
up into the red eyes of Metal Sonic, and nearly had a heart attack.
"Sorry," said Mecha kindly. "I apologize, you are not accustomed
to us. It is time to activate for the day."
It had been some time before Sonic's panicked heart rate
returned to normal.
Another thing he found creepy were the other Freedom Fighters.
There was Snively, Robotnik's nephew, who was the resident computer
whiz.
There were Kardot and Packbell, the androids. Sonic's spines
stood up whenever he saw them. Kardot was a deep brown anteater with
gorgeous looks, but dressed modestly and was rather shy. It was her
efforts that kept the Metallix, as they called themselves, in top
condition. Packbell was a human to all appearances, tall and severe
looking, smartly dressed. He planned tactical assaults on
Sonotropolis.
The list went on. Every nasty person Sonic knew in his world
were Freedom Fighters here. It made him wonder about his friends.
If his alter ego was bent on evil, where was Tails? Why did Knuckles
live on a flying fortress instead of a Floating Island?
He scrapped his supply belt, first digging through it for any
clue as to his location. He came upon the ring again. He held it up
and watched the light play on the stone. It was white in some lights,
but flashed red or blue fire in others. "A moonstone," he thought.
The name had escaped from behind the blank curtain in his mind.
With it came the feeling that the ring was critically important.
He slid it onto his ring finger, then pulled his glove over it. There.
He would have to lose his glove before he could lose the ring.
* * *
One day, after Sonic had lived in alter-Knothole for a week, Dr.
Robotnik took him for a walk.
"I want you to show me where you awoke," said the doctor,
leading the way out of the village.
"Well," said Sonic, "first I found a stream, then I came to a
highway."
"That could be Mina Creek," said Robotnik, looking southward. "I
know where that is, come with me."
The two walked in silence. Sonic twiddled his ring under his
glove and watched his former enemy. Robotnik was wearing sneakers and
a straw hat-something Sonic had never imagined him doing-and seemed
quite at home in the forest. "Funny how he trusts me," Sonic thought.
"My Robotnik wouldn't trust me as far as he could throw me. This is
weird."
Robotnik broke the silence. "Sonic, there's something I need to
ask you."
Sonic shrugged. "Fire away."
"Are Kardot and Leviathan ... alive ... in your world?"
Sonic shook his head. "Nope. We took out Leviathan's stone. One
of my friends killed Kardot himself, although we think our Robo Knux
picked up her pieces. Why?"
"How long ago was this?"
"A month or two, I guess. I don't remember."
Robotnik looked troubled and stroked his mustache. "I was afraid
of that."
"Why?"
The doctor looked down at the hedgehog. "I've studied quantum
theory in my time, and there is an enigma before us. When someone dies
in your world, they die here, and visa versa. Two months ago, Leviathan
and Kardot broke down for no apparent reason. I repaired them both, but
that is because they are robots. This is only a theory, of course."
Sonic was looking at his companion so hard he nearly tripped over
a fallen branch. "You're saying that ... what are you saying?"
"I'm saying," said Robotnik gravely, "that this world is a mirror
of your own. If a person dies in one world, they die in the other. You
are the same Sonic as our enemy."
Sonic blanched. "But why am I evil here? What went wrong?"
"I'm not sure," said Robotnik, ducking under a low hanging limb.
"I think that every decision you have made in your life, your mirror
image has made the opposite."
Sonic thought of some of the choices he had made over the years,
and mentally chose the reverse. His hypothetical life quickly swept in
another direction. He shivered. "What about the chaos emeralds?" he
asked.
Robotnik gave him a sharp glance. "They belong to the monster
of the sea, Perfect Chaos."
Sonic nodded in relief. "At least I don't have to deal with
Super Sonic. So, if I hurt anybody here, it will hurt my friends in my
world?"
"Shh," said Robotnik, holding up a hand. "Listen."
They had reached the edge of the highway. Sonic listened for
cars. The road was empty as far as he could see, and the only sound
was the chirping of birds. "I think it's clear," he whispered.
Robotnik laid a hand on his arm. "No. Wait. Hear it?"
Again Sonic strained his ears. "What am I listening for?"
In response Robotnik pulled him into the bushes and motioned
for him to keep quiet.