Sonic the Hedgehog

Overwhelmed

"KEEP THEM BACK!" A GUN soldier yells at their nearby comrade.

It's not like her fellow sworn protector of Station Square would do anything else. In this instance, that would mean certain death. Approaching the light-blue bus both GUN soldiers stand on with horizontally lined black-striped windows are too many jackals to possibly count. Each of the attackers carrying the same scarlet sword comes in one of the four variations of physical appearance seen so far.

No one in the overrun city knows how that's possible, but it all started when the earlier bright red orb appeared above them, changing the sky's normal blue to its same color. It eventually revealed itself to be a strange Jackal with the power to fly. That was the first indicator something was deathly wrong. Then all available GUN soldiers were ordered to fire at the mysterious anomaly.

Every laser and bullet that made contact with the presumed threat may as well have been a stick. The second indicator came in the form of a sudden loss of contact with the Commander. And the third is staring both remaining GUN soldiers in the face. A sudden army made of... cubes.

Spanning across both sides of the defensive soldiers are many establishments which are quite plentiful in the city's downtown section. The bus the two soldiers currently defend on the vacant street was originally used as a way to block off any more enemy advances. But if the wrecked GUN Hunters being trampled by the marching jackals is evidence enough, a mere vehicle won't be sufficient.

And with all forces scattered with no one to take lead, the best anyone can do is simply lead themselves.

For the past four minutes, many of the nearing jackals have fallen victim to the remaining two soldiers' laser rifles, disappearing into a patch of red cubes on impact. But for every jackal that's hit, three more from the crowd take their place.

At first, the firepower from both soldiers was enough to keep the army at a safe distance. But that distance has gradually shrunk until it can hardly be considered so. Close enough to touch the vehicle, some of the artificial jackal troops begin climbing the side of the bus. They're promptly shot down before any meaningful progress can be made, but their uncomfortably close position is just immediately taken by another.

It won't be long until there are enough jackals to topple it over. Once that happens, this section of downtown will surely be lost.

"They're climbing up, Cassandra!" the male soldier yells.

"I can SEE that, Briggs!" his ally yells back over raging gunfire. "Keep them at bay until reinforcements arrive!"

"What reinforcements?! We're on our own!!"

Answering the soldier's desperate cry is an unlikely savior. Out of nowhere drops a red, unidentifiable Mobian with two considerably large fists. They are what spearhead his landing. Neither of the two soldiers can fully process what's happening by the time a large BOOM startles them both. Once the dust settles, to their disbelief, standing in front of the bus now surrounded by numerous red cubes is their strange savior, completely unscathed. All of the jackals who were previously huddled against the vehicle are no more.

"Thanks for the lift, Tails," Knuckles smiles, giving a thumbs-up to the sky.

Curious, both of the Gun soldiers look up. Above them is a child Mobian fox staying suspended in the air with two spinning tails acting as propellers. He waves down at his friend.

"No problem, Knuckles!"

Briggs turns to Cassandra.

"Could this day get any weirder?"

"Tell me about it," an unfamiliar voice says to his left.

Briggs jumps back from the Mobian adult bat standing beside him. Her eyes perk up at the high-tech weaponry in his grip.