"They're here. They've come for her."

The black-haired figure sits by her table, deep in thought. Her stare at her prize possession unwavering, she is silent.

While mulling things over a cup of tea, she is interrupted by a small grotesque figure of a girl, with wide eyes and a sinister grin. It then starts growling at her as if it was communicating something to her.

She then takes another sip of her tea and chuckles softly to herself.

"I'll be waiting...I'll be ready..."

Kao the Hedgehog paced around the area, a look of concern plastered on his face, right hand on the right side of his forehead. His thoughts were centered on Yuji, particularly his welling doubt of the mission as a whole.

"Why the troubled look, Kao? I am fairly certain that this will be resolved quickly and decisively," Chaos reassured him. Kao's current behavior did not change.

"Chaos, have you forgotten the time he had snapped at that one Crimson Denizen? The boy is a formidable person all his own, and I'm scared of when that'll happen again," Kao countered back. He let out a small sigh. "I think I've pressured him too much. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

Kina the Hedgehog held out her staff and struck Kao on the head.

"Ow! What the heck?! What was that for, honey?!" he said loudly while grabbing the back of his head in pain.

Kina wore a scowl on her face. If there was anything in the world Kao feared the most, it was this. "Don't give me that crap. You can't back out now! We're too far into this already! So what? You scared Yuji's gonna snap? Are you gonna take that? Huh?!"

Kao attempted to regain control of the conversation and raised both of his hands. "Kina, honey. Listen to-"

"NO! You listen to me, honey! You said so yourself. 'Destroy the old order, and bring about a new one.' Have you lost sight of what that meant to you?!" Kina cut him off and reared her staff again to hit her husband. Kao then drew his own sword to block the strike in time.

"I can't believe you! You went in this thing so full of confidence. Now you're just gonna throw that away?!" She began charging a magic energy sphere and fired it at him, hitting him square in the face and sending him flying back a couple of meters. Kina then ran up and knelt next to him, about to land a slap on his face.

Kao braced himself for the imminent sting when a green portal appeared, with Shana, Suguha, and a clearly distressed Yuji coming out of it. Kao called out to them for help, but then noticed a light from Yuji's left hand.

"Wait, Yuji. What are you-" but Kao was cut off again as a blue fireball hurtled towards him. He raised his sword to block the strike.

"Yuji! What the hell?! What're you doing?!"

The enraged boy paid no attention and hurled another blue flame at the hedgehog. Kina proceeded to intercept it with her staff. Yuji continued to hurl fireball after fireball at Kao, rage and confusion behind every shot.

"YUJI SAKAI! STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" the Snake boomed from the ring on Yuji's ring finger, but it his words fell on deaf ears as his partner switched from shooting fireballs to running up to Kao and attempting to slash him.

"Yuji! Stop what you're doing! Please!" Shana yelled from behind, but Yuji was too consumed by rage to hear her screams.

Kao kept sidestepping the boy's flaming sword slashes, but Yuji showed no sign of relenting. Kao then caught his heel on a protruding piece of rubble and was thrown off balance, earning him a solid slice down his left hip. He collapsed down to the ground, clutching the wound in pain.

He braced himself for another strike when he noticed an energy barrier being put up around him. Yellow energy tendrils wrapped around Yuji's arms and legs, denying him any movement.

"STAY PUT!" Kina slammed her staff into the ground, the bindings forcing Yuji downward as well.

"YUJI!" Shana and Suguha called out and rushed over to his side, but Kina redirected them to her side via a quick Chaos Control.

"You. We need to settle this right now. Start talking," she said in an icy tone.

"Shut…UP!" Yuji yelled as he fought his restraints and launched a fireball at Kina, who quickly extinguished it by creating a wall of water from the ground.

Kao, clutching the gash on his leg, hobbled over to Yuji. "Okay. Care to tell me what's going on with you?"

"I think you already know that, Kao," he replied with malice in his voice.

The hedgehog let out a sigh. "Yuji, look-"

"'LOOK' WHAT? 'JUST TRUST ME'?! LIKE HELL THAT'LL HAPPEN! YOU KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! WHY DID YOU JUST CAST THAT ASIDE THEN?!" the boy snapped at him.

Kao let out another sigh. "Kina, release him," he told his wife, who did so immediately. He walked up and then knelt down next to him.

"Yuji, let me speak now." He paused for a moment before starting. "You're right, I shouldn't have rushed headfirst into this without making sure you were really okay with this."

Kina looked at him in shock. "Honey, what are you saying?!"

The male hedgehog continued, "However, this is not to say you're off the hook. You are too concerned with your past as the leader of Bal Masque. You're letting that past haunt you to today."

"I'm just trying to learn from my mistakes! I caused so much pain and suffering for a lot of people and killed all those who got in my way! Do you even know how that feels?!" Yuji explained.

"You're not learning from it, Yuji. You're running away from it," Kina replied bluntly.

The boy stood up to protest, but Kao continued for her. "Think about it. You're calling what you did back then a 'mistake'. Are you calling Shana's happiness now…a 'mistake'?".

Hearing those words made Yuji freeze in shock, but seeing the worried look on Shana's face hurt like a sharp knife to his heart, and he sank down to all fours. "Shana…" he muttered while holding back his tears.

Kao knelt next to Yuji and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Yuji…Let me tell you why you are here right now. Again."

"What you did as the Snake, you find horrific, I understand. To be with Shana, you killed those who got in your way. You painted yourself as the bad guy, and even now, a lot of Flame Haze still hate you for what you've done…" He trailed off and noticed the boy clench his fists in hatred.

"But even with all that said, I still have so much respect for you," Kao finished.

Upon hearing these words, Yuji's eyes widened. "What?! Wh-What do you mean?"

"Just that. For you to be the bad guy and put yourself through that much crap for something so noble. I find nothing more admirable in a person than that. Heck, I don't think I could last being hated for so long like you did," the hedgehog replied with an honest tone.

Chaos stepped forward and started talking. "Child, is that not what a hero does? To take whatever path no matter how dirty it is?" He grabbed Yuji's arm and pulled him up. "Stand tall, Yuji. You have no need to run away from your past."

As Yuji stood up, Kao pulled him into an embrace and patted his back. "You had the guts to go full evil and you still got what you desired in the end. The Snake made a wise choice partnering with you, and so did I," the hedgehog told him and the Snake gave a grunt of approval. Yuji fought back more of his tears and returned the embrace, holding Kao tighter.

"I...I don't know what to say…" he told Kao in between his sobs.

"No need to. Now if you will turn around…" Kao replied. Shana was hugging Yuji from behind and Kao let go of his embrace. Yuji in return wrapped his arms around the Flame Haze.

"Yuji…" Shana began with a small crack in her voice. "Don't ever do something like that again...you idiot…" She softly beat her right fist into his chest and let her tears roll down her face.

The boy embraced his girlfriend and whispered, "Shana...I-" but he was cut off as she kissed him on the lips. They broke apart and Yuji looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry for being so weak...but no matter what, I'll always love you." Shana replied with a smile on her face and embraced him again.

"Well, all's well that ends well," Suguha called out. "C'mon everyone! Let's get this mission going already!" Rather hastily, took a step forward but caught her leg on a piece of rubble and fell face first into the water on the ground.

"Who's there?!" A voice shouted out.

Suguha's eyes widened in shock upon hearing the voice. In a panic, she looked at Yuji, then Shana, and Kao.

"We, uh, never set up that spell...did we?" Kao asked the team, which sent Suguha into a full-blown panic attack. She clutched the sides of her face and was on the verge of screaming. Instead she let out a yelp as a cutlass almost cut through her chin.

"Well, well, well. What have we here, huh?" A red-haired girl in a ponytail said aloud while munching a Pocky stick in her mouth.