Sorry if Fleetway seems out of character in this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sonic characters used or mentioned in the story. They are all owned by Sega/ Sonic Team.

Ch.10 A Hidden Side

"Stop, Fleetway!"

Shadow, Silver, and Blaze all looked to see Sonic stand in front of them with his arms spread wide. Fleetway froze, positioned for an attack. Slowly he put his arms to his sides and floated down until he was a few feet away from Sonic.

"Get out of my way, Sonic!" Fleetway told him coldly.

"No, Fleetway. I'm not going to let you hurt my friends!" Sonic yelled at him.

Blaze opened her eyes wide in amazement. Sonic was, and maybe still is, scared of Fleetway, and yet he was still defending them.

"Why shouldn't I? There's no reason for them to be around anymore. They're weak!" Fleetway argued.

"They're not weak!" Sonic retorted.

"Yes they are, and you are just as weak as they are, you goody-two-shoes," Fleetway taunted.

"Well at least I'm not a destruction-crazed psychopath!" Sonic snapped back at him.

"Keep insulting me and I'll make sure you end up just like them!" Fleetway warned him.

"Why would you care? You've always insulted and annoyed me all those years!" Sonic told him.

"I did that because I wanted to get out, but you always refused!" Fleetway argued.

"I always refused because you would have killed everyone and destroyed everything in sight, Fleetway!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Well then why are you here?!" Fleetway demanded.

"To ask for your help!" Sonic blurted out, raising his voice.

"…YOU WHAT?!" Fleetway screamed, wide-eyed.

"That's what I was trying to tell you, Fleetway."

Sonic and Fleetway looked up to see Super float beside them. Super then looked at Blaze, Shadow, and Silver, then back at Fleetway. He shook his head while sighing, then walked over to them. He lifted his right arm with his palm outward. A soft golden light spread from Super and enveloped Silver, Blaze, and Shadow. Slowly, their wounds were healed. Soon as he was finished, Super turned back to Fleetway and Sonic.

"Will you listen to us now, Fleetway?" Super calmly asked.

"Just get on with it," Fleetway grumbled.

While Fleetway faced Sonic and Super, Sonic's other forms quietly slipped out of his house and walked over to Blaze, Silver, and Shadow while giving Fleetway a wary glance.

"The Oracle told us that Mephiles and Nazo are back and that I needed the help of all you guys," Sonic explained.

"Why should it matter to me what they do?" Fleetway questioned.

"Because they are planning to use the Rift to destroy the entire universe," Sonic added.

"What in the world is the Rift?" Fleetway responded.

"It is an area of a lot of chaos energy and… um…" Sonic trailed off, trying to remember how the Oracle worded it.

"It is 'a specific point in time and space that is an area of pure and absolute chaos energy and can only be accessed once every thousand years'," Shadow quoted.

"I wasn't asking you, so shut up or I'll hurt you again!" Fleetway threatened him.

Shadow glared at Fleetway, but chose not to say anything.

"So since you know what's going on, are you going to help us?" Sonic asked.

"Why should I? It's got nothing to do with me, and I'd rather be the one to destroy everything," Fleetway pointed out.

"You know, there's more to life than destroying and killing," Sonic said, earning an Are you crazy? look on Fleetway's face.

"And I saw the inside of my house here," Sonic added softly.

At those words, Fleetway yanked Sonic to the side a few yards away from everyone else.

"What did you see?" Fleetway whispered.

"I say that you left it untouched, despite destroying every other building in this city. And I took a glance upstairs and saw that you kept that picture of me holding hands with *cough*Amy*cough* I keep upstairs in my bedroom," Sonic murmured.

"That doesn't mean anything," Fleetway said in a low voice.

"I think it means that you can control yourself when you want to," Sonic commented with a thoughtful look.

"I've always been able to control myself. I just destroyed because I wanted to. And I needed one house still up for me to live in," Fleetway informed Sonic.

"You could have stayed with one of the other forms," Sonic offered.

"They don't care for me nor do I care for them. Super is the only one who's power might be equal to mine. The rest aren't even worth my time," Fleetway dismissed.

"You could try being friends," Sonic suggested.

"… As if anyone would want to be friends with me," Fleetway muttered.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"No one's gonna want to spend any time with me. They're either scared of me or hate me," Fleetway confessed.

"If you help us then maybe people would think of you in a different way," Sonic reasoned, "You don't have to change who you are, just do it for a different reason."

Fleetway didn't say anything and started heading towards the others. Super just stared as Fleetway walked pass him.

Let's go before I change my mind and kill you all," Fleetway finally replied.

"How'd you convince him?" Super asked Sonic.

"It's personal," Sonic answered, "Come on everyone, let's start heading back."

"Time to find the Rift and stop Mephiles and Nazo."

Now they need to find the Rift. There will be some Sonic Underground reference in the next chapter.