Here it is, Chapter 26! :)

Now, I actually split this chapter up so it's not as long as I had originally planned, but awe well. :)

Reviews:

Good to see there are so many people curious about the mysterious hedgehog. I love it! ;) I love keeping people guessing.

Caprice, I swear you must be psychic or something because... well read this chapter and see why lol :)

Enjoy! :)


Chapter 26: Alliances


Narrator: None, third person format.

The night came quickly to Former Station Square. It was always hard to tell if it was night or day there anyway due to all the fog in the air twenty-four seven. A golden comet streamed through the city at incredible speed. The light suddenly stopped to reveal the midnight hedgehog. His red eyes looked around the city, it looked like he had the feeling he was being watched.

He continued forward, glancing over his shoulders every once in while. Sensing something, the midnight hedgehog stopped and looked around him.

Two Mobian cats were on top of one of the old buildings, watching the stranger through the scope of a sniper.

"So, what do you think?"

The other cat, with white and black fur, looked through his scope. "Wow, he could almost be a dead ringer for the guy."

"I know, right?" The latter, an orange tabby, whispered. "He almost looks like those newer Exus models too."

"Yeah, he could pass off as an Exus Dusk alright."

"Do you think he can hear us?"

"Oh, I'm certain he knows we're here." The cat then focused on the stranger. "Lets watch him for now, see what he does."

"It looks like he's looking for something."

"Or he knows something is looking for him." The white and black tom said bluntly.

The orange tabby felt a shiver run down his spine when his comrade said that.

Suddenly, a beam shot out from the building across from them, aiming directly for the mysterious stranger. The midnight hedgehog turned toward that direction. His eyes glowed red for a moment and then he disappeared into thin air.

"Holy Shit! Did you see that? He just disappeared!" The orange tabby yelled.

"Shh, keep your voice down." The black and white tom hushed. "Besides, I'm more concerned of where that blast came from-"

Just then another blast was heard and a fireball rose from the building the beam came from. The two focused their scopes in that direction. Rising out of the smoke and fire into the air…was the black hedgehog. Through the scopes they saw the hedgehog looked toward them, two blazing red eyes glowed in the darkness of night. He then disappeared.

Before either of them could ask where he went, he was right in front of them. The two cats jumped and their fur stood on end, both completely froze with fear as they looked into the crimson eyes of the dark stranger. The black and white cat then dropped his weapon, in seeing his comrade's action, the orange cat did the same.

Appearing to see the two as no longer a threat, the midnight hedgehog looked behind him at the street below. He then flew down and landed gracefully on the asphalt. His eyes narrowed as he sensed something surrounding him.

Both cats looked over the side of the building to get a closer look. Red lights began to surround the stranger in vast number.

The orange tabby's voice shook as he spoke. "That's a lot of Exus robots."

"There must be at least a hundred." The black and white tom was equally shocked. They had been waiting all night to snipe down the robots in this part of the city and now, they all seemed to have gathered all around this stranger.

They watched as the mysterious hedgehog reached for the golden rings around the cuffs of his wrists. He took the first one off and it fell to the ground. He then reached for the one on his left wrist. As soon as he took the ring off, a pulse generated and an energy wave scattered in different directions. Even the cats felt it up at the top the skyscraper.

A golden aura began to surround the midnight stranger, It was so bright that it would've challenged the light of the sun. The two cats looked on frightened and amazed at the same time. They had never seen anything this bright before.

The comet then dashed forward and then spun in a massive circle. A massive funnel of golden energy swirled and shot into the sky. The cats leapt and ducked toward the back of the roof out of harm's way and watched as the vortex continued to skyrocket at least ten feet above them. The energy began to die down and the two cats looked over the edge of the building, fighting the quake of their fear.

Every robot that was down in the street was destroyed, a few windows were broken in the buildings nearby from the surge of energy. Some of the metal scraps were thrown at least ten blocks away from where they had stood only a moment ago.

In amidst all the clouds of dust and debris, the midnight stranger stood, untouched. He suddenly passed out and fell to the ground.


The next morning, Nikki was up and out of the base. She had fully recovered from the ordeal the virus had caused and was heading toward where she had last left Trace.

The hedgehog dashed across the Station Square border without hesitation, she then sped up and disappeared. Nikki made it to the abandoned oil factory in no time flat and went straight for the oil container. There was no sign of the wolf anywhere.

Well…this could either be good or bad.

Something hidden behind a piece of scrap metal by the container caught her eye and she lifted it up. She reached in and pulled out a strange looking piece of paper, or foil or something. It looked like a mix of both. She looked at the folded paper and read it.

XXXXX

I told you so.

XXXXX

Nikki then understood who this was from…it was from Trace. She quickly unfolded the foiled paper and continued to read it.

XXXXXXXXX

I know you'll find your way back here, even though I told you not to. Just letting you know I'm okay, one of my comrades found me and we're heading back home. You might not wanna stay in Station Square city limits for too long. There's been reports of someone causing trouble, they might think it's you. I know it's not, you're insane but you're not that crazy.

P.S.

I told you so.

XXXXXXXX

The hedgehog stared at the metallic letter for a moment, she suddenly yelled. "What? Crazy? I'm not crazy! Trace, you Jerk!"


The blue comet sped back toward the Station Square, heading back to the other side of the border.

Well, at least Trace is okay. But I still wanna thank him for helping me out. Maybe if I take the route through the city, I'll run into him.

Suddenly, Nikki sensed something and stopped. She looked to her left.

What…is that? Better check it out.

She then dashed off in that direction.

She leapt from an over turned car and landed in the middle of a group of Mobians. The group backed up as they were not expecting a blue hedgehog to suddenly appear in front of them.

One of them shouted. "What the hell?"

She stood up and looked at the group, some proceeded to back up, but one, the same komodo dragon she saw back at the oil factory, stared at her defiantly.

The hedgehog heard a voice behind her. "…you again?"

Nikki glanced behind her and her eyes widened. There was the mysterious black hedgehog, held back forcefully by two other Mobians.

Those red eyes looked right at her. "Can't you at least try to stay out of trouble?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I should be asking you the same thing."

Her attention was brought back to the komodo in front of her as she saw his arm raise a gun in front of her. "Stand aside."

She gave him a confusing look. "What?"

"You heard me."

Then someone from behind him shouted. "That hedgehog destroyed our city eight years ago!"

The blue hedgehog gave them a disbelieving look and crossed her arms. "So, you're saying a nine year old did all of this? Don't know about you, but I find that hard to believe."

Nikki looked at the hedgehog behind her, who gave her a slightly confusing look. "I have no idea what these ingrates are talking about."

"Don't try and deny it!" Another Mobian yelled.

Another Mobian joined in. "Yeah, we know you did this, Shadow!"

"Wait a minute…Shadow disappeared seven years ago. It couldn't be him anyway. Besides, are you guys color blind? Shadow's spikes have red stripes, not gold."

The komodo spoke. "I won't ask again…stand aside."

The female hedgehog looked defiantly at him. "No, you're wrong."

Valor was stubborn and hated to be told that he was wrong about anything, unfortunately for him, Nikki was even more stubborn than he was, refusing to budge even after Valor took the safety off and had his claw nestled on the trigger.

Realizing the scene that was playing out before him, the midnight hedgehog managed to get free, grab Nikki and teleported them both out of there.

The whole group jumped back and were in shock. Wh-where did they go? They can't just disappear like that! That's impossible!"


After the midnight hedgehog teleported them out of the city, Nikki staggered a little to get back her footing. That was the first time she was actually awake to know what it felt like and she wasn't prepared for it.

The blue hedgehog then looked at the border marker, slightly stunned. She kept looking back toward where she knew the angry mob still was and then back to the border. "How the hell-" She then looked to the midnight stranger next to her. "Seriously, how did you do that?"

The stranger blinked once and then turned and started walking away.

"Hey!" Nikki ran up and caught up to him. "Is this a normal thing for you to save someone and leave before you get a thank you?"

The black hedgehog then stopped and looked at her, he gave her an unimpressed look. "Do you ever stop talking?"

Nikki was slightly shocked by that response. She blinked twice. "So, why did they think you were Shadow, I mean, you can't be him…can you?"

The midnight hedgehog shook his head and continued walking. Nikki caught up to him once again. "Well, if you're not him…then who are you?"

The stranger stopped again, but this time he didn't turn around. "…I'm not sure…"

Before he could finish, Nikki walked in front of him and looked into his eyes. He could see sympathy in her irises, but the black hedgehog didn't know why.

She then said. "You can't remember…anything?"

The midnight hedgehog looked away from her.

"Well, that's a bummer." Nikki thought for a moment. "I'll tell you what, I'll help you find out. I'm sure we can find something if we head back to where I first found you. What do you say?"

The latter gave her a confusing look. What is wrong with this girl? He then sighed. "Do whatever you want, I don't care."

"Great, let's go!" She then gently grabbed the stranger's arm started to run in the direction of Eggman's old laboratory, but the stranger didn't move and her feet slid from under her and she fell on her back. She then looked up at the black hedgehog, who raised one of his eyebrows. She gave him a smile. "Wow, you're really strong."

The black hedgehog just didn't know what to think of her. The female hedgehog stood up and brushed herself off. "So, you comin'?"

The mysterious hedgehog then rolled his eyes and started walking in the direction that Nikki was heading. "How the hell did you survive this long?"

"Oh, I can take care of myself."

Hearing the hedgehog scoff, Nikki looked at him. "What?"

"I bet you can't even stay out of trouble for five minutes."

Nikki looked like she was about to say something, but then thought for a minute. "That is debatable."

She noticed the black hedgehog laugh a little. "Ha, I made you laugh."

The midnight hedgehog then closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Anyway, the name's Sonica, but everyone calls me Nikki." She then thought for a moment. "I wonder…so what do you wanna be called-until we find out who you really are that is."

"I've heard others call me 'dark figure', so…"

"Hmm, Dark…that could work."


The two looked around the base.

"Well, this computer is shot." Nikki said as she tried to get the darn thing to work. "I swear, electronics hate me or something."

The black hedgehog walked over. "Move over."

Nikki stepped to the side and let Dark move in front of the massive computer. He then began to type at a speed that would make secretaries green with envy. Nikki was able to see this, because her eyes could keep up. But to the untrained eye, it was nothing but a blur.

"Every file has been cleared out. Whoever this person was didn't want anyone else to find out what they were doing."

"That was the last computer. Now what?" Nikki asked. "Is there anything about this place that's familiar to you?"

"No nothing."

Nikki turned around and leaned against the large computer screen. "Well that sucks." She then pulled up the cuff of one of her gloves and revealed a watch. "Holy crap, it's already ten." She then looked at the hedgehog next to her. "So, do you have anywhere to sleep tonight, or do you need a place?"

He gave her a weird look. "Sleep?"

"Well yeah."

"What is that?"

Nikki's eyes widened. "Okay, you have some serious amnesia if you don't know what sleep is. How do I explain this, umm…sleep is when you rest, you need it to give you energy for the next day."

"I don't do that."

"You don't sleep…at all?"

The hedgehog shook his head.

"Huh…that's new." Nikki thought for a minute.

"If you need to sleep, I can take you back home. I'll continue looking around and see what I can find." Dark offered.

Nikki thought for a moment. "Alright, but we should meet again tomorrow…lets see…how about 10 in the morning, we can meet back here."

Dark nodded. "Alright."


After getting back home, Nikki went to the master computer. She was expecting a call from someone to come in at any moment. Suddenly, the call came through on the video screen.

It was Jodi. "Hi Nikki."

"Hey Jodi, how's everything going?"

"Eh, not much going on here. Pretty boring as usual."

"Yeah, I'd expect that." Nikki laughed.

"So how about you? I'm glad to see you're feeling better. You never get sick."

"Yeah, that was definitely a first for me. But, I'm good now. Went for a run."

"That's nothing new, you always go out and run around."

The hedgehog gave her friend a look. "And you always sit at your computer."

"Touché." The ferret laughed. "So, how are the others?"

"They're doing good. Su's at home, Crash is hanging with my Uncle Charlie, Zephyr and Gale went out with their Extreme Gear, and Gyro's at night school."

"That's good."

Nikki noticed Jodi blushing. "Jodi… Hello, Mobius to Jodi."

"Hmm, what?"

"Hey, no spacing out. That's my thing." Nikki smiled.

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about Gyro again."

"You really like him?"

"Yeah, why? Is something wrong?"

"What? No, of course not." I'm just worried about the fact that he's a nanite machine and how you'll feel when you find out.

"So, what about you? Like anyone?"

"What me? No, I-"

Jodi giggled a little. "Then why are you blushing?"

"Blushing? I'm not blushing." Nikki then looked at the glass desk and noticed her friend was telling the truth. Geez as if blushing isn't bad enough, my blue fur makes it stand out.

"So…who is he?"

"I don't…" She noticed Jodi giving her a 'don't deny it' look and finally gave in. "Okay, okay. So I met someone while I was out."

Jodi smiled. "I knew it! What does he look like? What's his name?"

"Well, he's a black hedgehog with gold stripes and-wait a minute, I just met the guy!"

"Ooo love at first sight, how romantic."

Nikki gave her a 'you're joking right' look.

"Alright, alright, I won't push it. I know who much you don't like the 'lovey dovey' stuff, but we'll see."

Nikki rolled her eyes.

"Well, I better go. I've got to recalibrate the shield tomorrow."

"Yeah…I'm gonna pretend I know what you're talking about and just say 'okay, talk to you later'."

Jodi laughed. "Okay, Good night Nikki. I miss you."

"Miss you too Sis, goodnight." Nikki then turned off the computer.

At that moment, Nikki heard the alarm go off outside. She then heard a familiar voice on the other side. "Come on Seth, really?"

The alarm turned off. "Sorry."

The familiar blonde lynx walked through the door. "We've been through this. Just because I'm made of metal, doesn't mean I'm a threat, alright?" He then shook his head. "Tails really needs to fix that."

Gyro suddenly looked up and saw Nikki who was standing by the computer. She had her arms crossed and she was tapping her foot. "Okay, why are you looking at me like I did something?"

"We need to talk."


Author's Note: Oh boy, this should be good. Unfortunately, we won't be able to find out how this pans out until the chapter after the next one. But don't worry, next chapter should be good. We'll get to catch up with Trace again, but it's gonna be one wild ride.

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