Nack had lost his gun. It went skidding across the ground after it had been dropped in a frantic struggle. It came to a halt, being stopped by a familiar looking shoe. A hand reached down, picking it up and bringing it closer to a pair of blue eyes. The figure had stood there, their body trembling as the feeling of power ran through them. The mobian steadied themselves, taking aim, and then, the trigger was pulled.

Silver had shot up, barely keeping himself from screaming out. He knew what he had seen, and the implications of it terrified him. He looked around, seeing everyone else still asleep, and then to the horizon, where the sun had just barely began to rise. He looked over at Knuckles, who appeared to be slightly uneasy, possibly about to wake. Silver didn't know what to do, if he even wanted to say anything once Knuckles woke up.

It had been nearly four days since they started exploring West Side Island. They were only a few hours walk away from where they had started, where Eggman Nega's base had once stood, and there was no hint of Nega's influence anywhere they had searched. Silver didn't know where they were going to go next. It didn't seem like there were any leads that could help them find where Nega had fled to, and he wasn't sure there would be a lead any time soon.

The hedgehog looked down at his hand, where he found a purple stone. Shadow had suggested he sleep with the emerald the night before, hoping its energy would help Silver find something. Silver tossed the thing aside and laid back down, hoping to find a hint of relaxation before he had to get up and start moving again. He closed his eyes, but not even two minutes later there was the sound of movement. Silver opened his eyes slightly, gazing around to try and find the source of the sound. His eyes fell on the emerald where he spotted a figure, kneeling to pick the thing up. The hedgehog suddenly threw himself in the direction of the emerald, determined to keep it safe.

His hand fell on top of another, already clutching the emerald. His eyesight followed the yellow hand up into a blue arm, a gray shoulder, and then, finally, all the way up until his eyes met with soulless ones, glowing red. Silver then threw himself back in fear, the thought of what was in front of him fully setting in. Metal Sonic began slowly rising, making sure to keep a close eye on Silver's movements. "Kn-Knuckles!" Silver finally managed to get out. The echidna, along with most of the others, shot out of sleep, their confusion apparent and frantic.

The robotic hedgehog then quickly spun around before taking to the air. Metal didn't get more than a few feet away before Knuckles got a hold of his leg, pulling the robot to the ground. Metal persisted, attempting to fly away while carrying the heavy mobian. It wasn't long until half-a-dozen other mobians piled on top of the robot, restraining it from flying away. Then, the Chaos Emerald was taken from the robot's hand, Shadow tossing it into the air and catching it again, all while intensely staring Metal down.

"Didn't expect to be overpowered, did you Metal?" Knuckles asked in a demeaning tone. Metal Sonic struggled against the mobians, seemingly desperately trying to break free. The group sat still for a moment, unsure what to do next.

"Now what?" Nack asked, helping Bean hold down the robot's left arm. As if in response, a beeping sound started emitting from the robot.

"Run!" Shadow yelled before quickly moving away. The others followed his lead, making it away shortly before the robot exploded, scrap metal flying everywhere. The mobians were left shocked, unsure how to take in the current events.

"W-why would he do that?!" Bean called out. "Just blow up his best robot, for what? All because we had it held down?! I mean, if that's the case, why hadn't it blown up before when-"

"That wasn't actually Metal Sonic," Shadow interrupted, leaving the mobians confused once again. "It was a cheap decoy; no waste on the doctor's part in it being destroyed."

"Well that explains why it was so easy to take down," Blaze chimed in. The group all sighed together, realizing their wasted efforts.

"So uh... anyway, where are we going next?" Knuckles eventually asked.

"An icy mountain," Silver answered suddenly. He got a strange look from the others around him. "I saw it in my dream," he added.

"Alright, well I'm thinking Ice Cap," Knuckles responded. No one had any argument. The eight mobians then made their way back to where their adventure started. When they arrived they found that most of the freed prisoners were still there. They had set up a sort of large camp, and were making do with whatever they could find.

Blaze visited with her parents while the others were led to what one of the mobians described as an "interesting find." They were shown an old, broken down biplane, its red color faded and covered in dirt. Knuckles walked over, brushing dirt off the side to reveal a name, "SONIC". The echidna felt himself choke up slightly while gazing at the name. Silver then walked over, also taking a look at the name.

"So was this my dad's plane or something?" the hedgehog asked.

Knuckles took a second to respond. "You know?" he asked back.

"Uh- well I- um-" Silver spoke rapidly, searching for a response.

"Whatever," Knuckles cut in. "Things have been weird enough this week, you somehow figuring that out isn't the most out-there thing I've heard recently."

"Any particular reason you kept that secret?"

There was a short pause as Knuckles seemed to think about his response. "Tails and I weren't too sure if we wanted you to take after him." Silver was confused by the response, and obviously showed it. "He was reckless. If you knew who he was, then we knew you wouldn't stop asking questions about him, wanting to be just like him."

"Hey! What's going on over there?!" Nack suddenly called out, causing Knuckles and Silver to jump in shock.

"Do we have anyone who could help fix this thing?" Knuckles called to the others. Before any of them had a chance to think about it, an orange wolf ran up to them.

"You guys need some help?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, if you'd be willing to," Knuckles responded.

"Great! I'll get to work then." The wolf ran over to the plane, pulling out a toolbox that had been left inside.

"Well uh... thanks."

"No problem! Gotta find some way to repay the ones who rescued us, right?"

"Heh, seems like the news got around," Nack chimed in as Knuckles and Silver walked back to the others. "And you got part of my credit," he added.

"Don't start with it, Nack," the echidna responded. "I don't think we can fit everyone on the plane if we take it to Ice Cap," he added, referring to everybody.

"I'll take a few people myself and use Chaos Control to get us closer," Shadow said.

"Why not just take all of us?" Bean suddenly questioned.

"Less bodies means we can go further with the same amount of energy," Shadow answered simply. The mobians soon found out they'd have to wait a bit before the plane was repaired, leaving them with nothing but themselves for now. a bit of time later, Silver had ended up sitting next to Knuckles, still feeling tense after the dream he had the night before. The hedgehog glanced around, noticing Shadow eyeing him, as if he knew something was wrong. Silver's gaze then quickly shot away, scared to confront the implications of his dream.

His heart started pounding, his eyes shot from side to side, and his hands kept fidgeting. He was finally about to say something when the wolf from earlier suddenly called out to them, saying that the plane was almost ready, so they should get their plans together now. Shadow had decided to start his trek across West Side Island once again, Espio, Bean, Bark, and Blaze deciding to come with him. The two teams said good luck to each other before separating, hoping to meet up again soon. "Bye Silver," Blaze said, throwing her arms around the hedgehog. "Please stay safe."

"You stay safe too," Silver responded. "I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Blaze added, not wanting to pull away from the hug. But eventually, they did pull away, Blaze going with Shadow as Silver went towards the plane. He climbed in, sitting in the tight cockpit by Nack while Knuckles seemed to get comfortable on the wing.

"Uh... are you sure that's a good idea?" Silver asked the echidna.

"Oh, it's fine! I used to do this all the time," Knuckles replied. "I'm more concerned if Nack's even a good pilot."

"It can't be that hard," Nack said. "How different can it be from piloting my old ride?" Silver gave Knuckles a concerned look as Nack started the plane and began moving. They got off the ground smoothly, but Silver began feeling uneasy as he glanced backwards. He let out a light groan, getting the attention of the other two. "Ya okay, kid?" Nack asked.

"I... haven't flown before," Silver replied, uncomfortably looking back at the ground below.

"Don't worry, Silver," Knuckles said, trying to calm the hedgehog. "Just uh... keep your eyes closed or something." The echidna gave Nack a worried look, unsure if he said something wrong. Nack simply gave him a light shrug. Silver took the advice, closing his eyes, and yet he began to shake, terrified by the thought of how high they must be. His fear heightened as the plane continued to rise.

He kept shaking, his unsteady breath and tight grip on the plane causing the other two great concern. After a short time, the hedgehog opened his eyes again, seeing Knuckles looking right back at him, perfectly steady on the plane's wing. Why was he worried? The question went through his mind. If Nack and Knuckles weren't scared, why should he be?

Despite the thought, Silver was still having trouble calming down. Without thought, the hedgehog glanced over the edge of the plane, looking down at what was now the ocean below. His heart rate shot back up, and his breath quickened once again. Silver closed his eyes again, allowing himself to calm down slightly. This pattern continued for what must have been a long while, the hedgehog's strange curiosity repeatedly guiding his eyes back down to the water.

Eventually, Silver finally trained himself to keep his eyes glued shut. Forcing himself to sit still, his fear slowly started to melt away, the hedgehog eventually feeling like he might just doze off. That was, until he was disturbed by an enormous boom. His eyes shot open as he took in the storm that had formed in front of them. "Wh-when did this happen?!" Knuckles asked in shock. "This storm came out of nowhere!"

"Don't care!" Nack responded. "All that matter's now is gettin' through it!"

"Through it?! Are you crazy?!"

"Gotta go through to get past!" With that, the weasel took the plane into the storm.

"Y'know, this thing isn't exactly one of those commercial flights!" Knuckles complained as the storm began to slightly shake the plane. Nack grunted, but didn't really respond as he carefully maneuvered the Tornado. The urgency of making it through distracted the mobians from the fact that they were being drenched by rain. Lightning occasionally blinded the mobians' vision, making the situation all the more stressful. Silver was looking around again, only making himself more fearful as he took in how far the ocean was below them, the situation looking more dire by the moment. Nack veered the plane side to side as the storm shook it more violently.

Suddenly, the Tornado's right wing was struck by lightning, sending the plane swinging around wildly before it began hurtling downward. Knuckles gripped the wing as Nack, screaming, futilely attempted to safely guide the plane. Silver held his eyes closed tightly, his teeth clenched together as his hands strained to hold on to the plane. He was scared, insisting to himself that he could somehow get through this, but the thought getting lost as the feeling of falling overtook everything else. The mobians spotted snow covered mountains they were now falling towards. Nack and Knuckles braced themselves, preparing for a collision.

Then, the Tornado stopped. The plane appeared to be surrounded by some sort of strange energy. Nack and Knuckles noticed that they were mere feet away from the ground. They then turned their attention to the young hedgehog, seeing him with his eyes closed, appearing to be in some way straining himself. "SILVER!" the two mobians yelled joyously. The hedgehog's eyes snapped open as he looked around in confusion, the plane being released and dropping to the ground.

"Oh, c'mon!" Nack shouted. "That was almost perfect!" The weasel chuckled as he looked back at Silver, seeing him out cold. "Jeeze, I guess that was a bit too much for him."

"Well we can't stay still for long," Knuckles said. "If we don't find Nega's base soon we might just freeze. Not to mention we can't leave everyone else without a bit of backup." The echidna made his way over, lifting Silver out of the plane. "Shame to see this thing go down again," he said, his eyes locked on the Tornado. "Not sure if it's gonna be recovered this time..."

The echidna eventually tore his eyes away as he began to scale the mountain. Nack soon followed behind, wanting to take lead on his own path, but not having anywhere else to go. The two eventually neared the peak, looking out over a collection large, white mountains. In the distance, they spotted a large metallic base, with what strangely seemed to be a cabin to the side, and the Marvelous Queen, seemingly unnoticed a short distance away from the front door. "Yes!" Nack yelled triumphantly.

"Shut up," Knuckles demanded quietly. "Who knows how well guarded he has this whole area? We can't risk alerting anyone." Nack simply gave the echidna a light nod before taking lead himself, carefully beginning to make his way back down the mountain. Knuckles took a moment, gazing at the base and wondering if his friend would even be there. The thought that this rescue mission could end in failure weighed down on his shoulders. He put the thought aside, remembering to keep moving. He started down the mountain, noticing that Nack had not waited up for him.


Shadow was approaching the top of a nearby mountain, having also taken in the sight of Eggman Nega's base. The rest of the mobians followed shortly behind, fighting their way through the snowstorm attacking the area. "Well, it looks like this adventure may soon finally come to an end," he said, not taking his eyes off of the building.

"Let's hope so," Bean responded, getting an annoyed groan out of Espio and Blaze. "What? We thought we just about won back at Emerald Hill, what makes this any different?"

Shadow turned towards the bird. "The difference is that we're not just saving people this time. We're here to end Eggman's reign once and for all."

"You say 'we're not here to save people' as if you saved anyone last time," Bean responded angrily.

"You think I wouldn't try if I could have, bird?!" Shadow asked, aggressively approaching the green mobian.

Espio quickly cut in between them. "Now is not the time for this!" he stated.

"Yeah!" Bean agreed angrily.

"For either of you..." Espio added, causing the bird to turn away, an embarrassed look on his face. There was a small bit of silence as Shadow walked back to his viewing point.

"We should be there within an hour," the hedgehog announced, "as long as we keep moving..." The mobians then began making their way towards the base, all individually trying to prepare themselves for an encounter they couldn't really be ready for. The cold, unpleasant walk wore away at the mobians, making the walk to the base seem almost more daunting than the base itself. Blaze felt as if she couldn't go much further, almost ready to just collapse until she noticed that they were finally nearing the base. She began speeding up until Shadow put his arm out, stopping her behind him.

"We shouldn't approach yet," he whispered. "We need to wait for the others first." With that information, Blaze and the others began to look around hoping to spot the other three mobians through the ongoing storm. After a short time, Bark tapped Bean on the shoulder and pointed a short distance off.

"Found them!" Bean called out, yet being sure to keep quiet enough to not alert anything. He pointed in the same direction Bark had, towards the slowly approaching figures of Nack, Knuckles, and Silver. The three had finally arrived a few minutes later, Silver running to throw his arms around Blaze. Blaze wrapped her arms around the hedgehog, feeling overwhelming relief with him being close again.

"Alright, alright!" Knuckles complained jokingly. "That's enough love for one year." The two quickly pulled away, embarrassed with the echidna's reaction. Knuckles chuckled before turning his attention towards the building in front of them. "So this might just be it, huh?" he asked, not really directing it at anyone.

"Kinda makes you wonder what took so long, if it is," Nack replied.

"Well I didn't see you doing anything," the echidna said with a smug grin.

"Knuckles..." Silver groaned in an upset tone.

Nack let out a small chuckle. "Nah, he's got me there, kid."

"So, are we ready to go then?" Shadow asked, seemingly itching to make a move. The mobians began looking around at each other, confirming their readiness before all of their eyes landed on Silver. The hedgehog took a moment, looking over himself mentally and physically. It took some time, but finally, he felt ready. He took another moment to look between the mobians around him. He thought about how much this group had grown to mean to him, despite only knowing most of them for a few days.

Then, he gave his answer. "Let's do this."


HypernovaSonic- I'm real bad at giving consistent updates, sorry if anyone's actually looking forward to more of this story. Hope the wait's at least a bit worth it!