Did you all think I was dead? Well guess not, I'm alive, and so is the story. Thanks to all the patient fans that have waited so long for this chapter to come out. I will make it worth your wait.
Shadow: KILL THE FAKER!
Sonic: For the love of- YOU WERE UNDER SOMEBODY ELSE'S CONTROL!
Shadow: KILL THE FAKER TWICE!
Silver: …Yeah… I'm just gonna go sit here and wait for me to actually be written into the story…


Sonic felt the emeralds' power still coursing through his system as he ran across the rooftops back towards Vesteil and Amy. Sure he felt greatly fatigued, and he was sore in more places than he cared to count after that fight with Shadow. But still his body was naturally absorbing the chaos emerald energy that was slowly being filtered into the earth's air, and storing it away inside of himself. He didn't even have to think about it, it was as if his being found it as natural and as necessary as breathing.

But the azure hedgehog didn't have time to consider what this meant. He had his mind on getting back, making sure Amy was safe, then getting the information he wanted out of Vesteil… And maybe rough up the strangely dressed man just because he was more than a little ticked off. But first, he would make sure Amy was ok he decided, not even realizing that his thoughts were straying to the pink hedgehog who chased him wherever he went once again.

Sonic saw the silhouette of the strange man up ahead. He began to run faster as his eyes hardened into a glare. With a simple leap he was able to cross the gap between the buildings and land with ease on the rooftop. He straightened up, his fists clenched as he glared at Vesteil. The man said nothing, only stared at the blue hedgehog. Finally, he broke the silence. "Congratulations, Sonic the Hedgehog. You have proven yourself as the greatest among those with the blessing of chaos, by defeating your only possible equal in fair combat." He said. Sonic didn't seem amused. "Fair combat nothing. You were controlling him!" He yelled at the man. "If Shadow was really fighting me, that wouldn't have been so easy." And that was saying something considering how many times he had come close to being defeated. "I was not controlling him… It is complicated to explain." Vesteil said, glancing to one side. "But I believe you are more concerned about her at the moment. Go assure yourself that she is alright. Then we shall speak." He said.

Sonic fallowed the direction that Vesteil had been looking. Amy was there, lying on the ground. She appeared to just be asleep. He quickly went to her side, dropping to one knee to get a closer look. He released a held breath, she seemed to be alright.

As if his presence was somehow known to her, Amy's eyes began to open slowly. "S…Sonic?" She said. She felt like she was still dreaming. Sonic became aware that he was hovering over her, and quickly backed off. "Amy, you alright?" He asked, wanting to make sure before he returned his attention to Vesteil. "I think so…" Amy said, slowly sitting upright, putting a hand to her head to try and steady her vision. What had occurred suddenly came rushing back to her. Her eyes quickly looked back to Sonic in worry. "Shadow's back to himself, I took care of it." Sonic said quickly to dispel her fears.

Sonic looked over his shoulder. Vesteil wasn't even looking at them, but that didn't make him feel any better. He turned his attention back to the rose pink hedgehog in front of him. "Amy, I want you to get down from here and run. Hide somewhere safe and I'll come find you." He told her. He wouldn't admit it but he felt… Strange. His heart was beating faster, and his concentration was threatening to float off and take his mind with it. What seemed the oddest to him was that he suddenly couldn't shift his gaze from Amy's eyes. She seemed to mistake this as a sign of fatigue. "Sonic, what's going on? I can't just…"

Amy's sentence was never finished. Sonic's lips were covering her own. It was short, and soft. Yet the kiss seemed to hold so much emotion that neither of them were certain the origin of. Sonic broke the contact, and slowly pulled his head away from her. "… I don't know what this guy's capable of, and I want you to stay safe. So hide." His ability to form a conscious thought was shot, but his concern for Amy wasn't thankfully. She slowly nodded and got to her feet, running towards the old fire escape.

Sonic couldn't understand why he had done that. He had just had the sudden urge to kiss her, and it came so fast that even he didn't have time to think of doing otherwise. ("…Snap out of it Sonic! I've got more important things to be wondering about than why the heck I'm suddenly attracted to Amy… Wait did I just admit I'm attracted to her? …Argh! Focus!") Sonic shook his head to try and clear his thoughts. Right now he had to find out what this Vesteil guy was up to. If he could take control of Shadow like that so easily, he'd have to keep his guard up.


Mephiles's crystallized eyes narrowed as he had observed the battle between Sonic and Shadow. "With that cursed scepter of darkness's effect on me, I don't have access to enough of my power to fight them enough to draw blood." He muttered as his face formed as close to a scowl as it could without a mouth. He had pondered how he could work out of this bad situation that he had been set into while he watched Sonic run back towards the man. His expression darkened more as he recognized the man as a member of the Union of Light. "So… Even after all the times this puny planet has been nearly destroyed, they have waited until now to arrive on it… Something interesting must be up if it finally caught their attention after so much has been overlooked."

Then he witnessed something that granted him an idea. Sonic had kissed that pink hedgehog… Amy. That was her name he recalled. He always was one to look at relations as a possible way to manipulate things to his advantage, and his mind was already forming on what to do with what he had just seen.

He drew upon his knowledge as half of the inter dimensional being Solaris. This had served him well in the past, it was how he had been able to use the shadow of the hedgehog with the same name that had sealed him away in order to revitalize his power and grant himself a solid form, and have knowledge of where Iblis had been sealed away even though he was not present at the time of the sealing. An old story came to his mind for some reason, of an evil genie that had been sealed inside of a lamp for all eternity… No, that wasn't all he recalled… The story had been about a story that was being erased by a genie within the story that wished to escape… But in order to do so, the genie had to use the seven world rings and… A blue hedgehog?!

Mephiles could not believe what his vast amount of knowledge had held… A tale re-written by the power of a genie and one of the same hedgehogs he hated so greatly for attempting to erase him from existence, and ruining his chances of ever becoming Solaris again. He calmed his rising anger as he recalled that each of the world rings had a strong emotion tied to it… Interestingly enough, there was a white world ring that held the emotion of desire. He also remembered that the lamp this genie had been sealed in still was in the book… And if Sonic could enter the story with a little help, it would be no problem for him to enter the realm of the book on his own. After all, he may not have all his power, but he still had abilities that normal beings did not.

Mephiles slipped into the shadows, becoming a formless puddle of darkness as he went to search for the book so that he could begin his newly formed plan.


Amy was running down the street, not paying attention to what direction she was headed. Her mind felt like it couldn't grasp everything that had happened to her and everyone else today. She finally began to slow down as her lungs cried out to her for precious oxygen. As she breathed heavy, slow breaths to fulfill this need, she reached up with one hand, and lightly touched her lips. She touched them right where Sonic had kissed them so very briefly moments ago.

When Sonic had kissed them, she felt… a strong tingling sensation run down her spine, then through her whole body. That sensation now lingered… It was… pleasant… But she couldn't tell why she felt that way. It wasn't an emotion, even though she felt like her heart was running over with joy that her hero, her savior, the one she had chased after so long had finally kissed her. She felt her head subconsciously tip upwards to stare at the seven chaos emeralds, obscured by their distance, in the sky. She felt the tingling sensation grow again, and her thoughts turned to Sonic.

She was worried that he would be alright… She worried about him all the time, even though she always would be the first to speak of her confidence in him. She believed that he could save the whole universe twice over if he needed to, and she saw no reason to believe otherwise… But still she worried. Every time he went into battle, she worried that he would be harmed… That it would be his last adventure.

She pulled herself free of such negative thoughts. Sonic always came through. He always proved that he could stop anything that was thrown his way. He had stopped things that seemed like the end of the world as everyone knew it, and this was small by comparison to all those other times. Little did she know how wrong she was with that assumption.

She instead attempted to focus on the strange tingling sensation that was rapidly beginning to grow. She felt almost as if she was surrounded by fire on all sides, and yet instead of painful, it was a pleasant sensation that at the same time sent a cool rush over her skin. It made no sense, how could she feel hot and yet cool at the same time? As if to answer her, her head tilted back up towards the seven gems in the sky. "…What's going on?" She asked aloud.


Sonic folded his arms as he approached the man who had earlier identified himself as Vesteil. "…Alright you, start talking." He said. Rather than the usual gruff refusal that he had become accustomed to coming from villains, Sonic was surprised that Vesteil actually smiled at him and bowed. "Congratulations Sonic the Hedgehog, you have defeated your only possible equal in combat and proven yourself the strongest among those who have the blessing of chaos." The strangely dressed man stated as he straightened up.

Sonic's eyes hardened at the man's words. "I hardly call that fair combat. You were controlling him." He said, his anger evident in his voice. "What I did would not allow him to do anything that was truly against his will." Vesteil answered. His eyes seemed to hold a shallow level of regret. "It was necessary however in order to gauge who on this planet has the gift that is greatest." He continued. "That still wasn't how Shadow would have fought… He's a lot more creative than that. I've fought him plenty of times to know that." Sonic retaliated.

"Regardless, he is fine now, and this is a moment that should be celebrated for you." Vesteil said, a genuine looking smile forming on his lips. "For you have been proven the strongest on this world, and the Union of Light will not overlook that." Sonic's arms dropped to his sides, slightly confused by the man's words. "Union of Light?" He asked aloud. "Ah, I believe I should explain." The strangely dressed man said, gesturing for Sonic to sit down. The azure hero chose to instead remain standing.

"The Union of Light is an organization that travels to the many worlds among the stars, salvaging those who can be saved from dieing worlds to join us in our current war with the numerous forces of darkness that threaten to end many lives before their destined times. We hold within us the purifying light that cuts through their vile forces and purifies the ones saved in our crusades. Even those who have sinned as your friend has can atone for them and join our ranks. Our goal is to eradicate all darkness from the worlds, and spread the unity and peace offered by the purifying light." Vesteil said, placing a hand on his chest as if reciting some sort of pledge.

Sonic began to process the information he gained. It seemed like a good thing, yet something in the back of his mind told him that this wasn't as legit' as it seemed. "…Wait, dieing worlds?!" He suddenly yelled, having managed to pick that word out of the little speech Vesteil had given him. "Yes, I'm afraid that this planet's destined time approaches soon. It has however spawned remarkable warriors in its defense from the dark ones that wished to end it prematurely. Such as yourself young savior." Vesteil explained. "Wait, the world's going to end and you expect me to be calm just because you complimented me?" Sonic asked, his hands curling into fists again. "Ah yes, it is sad, but it will occur… You must look ahead however. The union of light will stop other worlds from dieing before their predetermined fates." Vesteil said, trying to draw Sonic's attention away from the fact that his world was supposedly supposed to die soon.

"Isn't there something I can do to stop it from dieing?" Sonic asked. "Well, yes, but that would be going against the natural order of things, and only cause more suffering." Vesteil was going to explain further, but Sonic interrupted him. "So you're just going to let everyone that you don't 'save' just die like that?! Because they're 'supposed' to?!" The blue blur yelled in revived anger.

"You must understand, we cannot possibly save everyone." Vesteil said, putting his hands up to try and calm the hedgehog. "That's why we look for those who are warriors, those who can help destroy the darkness that is out there. Those who do not survive are not sacrificed in vain. Their souls become the power for our light, their hearts the fuel that allows us to fight that which could normally not be vanquished." Vesteil explained, spreading his arms wide as if to emphasis that everything around them would be a part of this.

"…Alright, so what do you 'Union' guys want with me?" Sonic asked, trying to calm himself down, this was just another person doing what he thought was the right thing to do after all, even if he didn't completely agree with it. "You and many of your friends who hold the blessing of the chaos emeralds will join the union, evolving into beings of the purifying light. You as the strongest shall be their leader, and join them together in the battle." Vesteil said, pulling his sword still in its sheath free from the leather belt loop that held it to his side. He held it forwards, like a cross, in front of him.

"…Sorry, not interested." Sonic said, folding his arms and turning his back towards Vesteil. "I don't want to just give up on this world… It's too precious to me." He said, looking out over the buildings in the glow of the emeralds high above. "…Plus, I'm fine being just me, Sonic the Hedgehog." He said, his trademark grin forming on his face as he jabbed his thumb towards himself.

Vesteil looked… displeased. "You don't seem to understand hedgehog… It's not an offer." He said, quickly drawing his large blade from its sheath. Sonic's grin remained as he raised his fists in preparation for the confrontation. "So that's it, you're gonna try and take me regardless of if I want to go or not." He said, one of his feet sliding along the rooftop as he widened his stance. "Hate to break it too you, but offer or not, I'm still gonna turn it down!"

"You do not have a choice in the matter I'm afraid, Sonic the Hedgehog. You were destined to become a warrior in this fight, and the Union shall not let evil have someone as promising as you." Vesteil took a few steps forwards with his sword drawn. "The old 'with us or against us' way of looking at things eh?" Sonic taunted.

A wind gushed forth, causing Vesteil's clothing to billow out behind him. As the cloth fell, luminous angelic wings were revealed. "…Ok that was unexpected." Sonic thought aloud. "Do not doubt the holy strength of the Light." Vesteil proclaimed to the hedgehog as his wings slowly spread and his sword became filled with the same unnatural light that seemed to flow from himself. The man's feet started to leave the ground causing Sonic to take a step backwards. ("…Ok, they're not just for decorative purposes… Running time!") He thought quickly as his feet took off just in time to avoid a sudden lunge from Vesteil.

Sonic ran in a clockwise circle around the rooftop, hoping to use his speed and mobility to his advantage over the strange angelic looking warrior. A smirk formed on the blue hedgehog's face as he drew his fist back, intending to end things quickly by rushing the man and giving him a good punch to the side of his head. However his hand wound up meeting nothing but air. "What the-?!" He yelled aloud as he stumbled a little from his momentum not being resisted against with the collision of his attack as he had expected. His instincts however soon yelled at him to get out of the way as Vesteil suddenly came down from above with a stab. Sonic jumped backwards, unable to balance himself properly he fell hard on one knee. Still it was better to skid up his leg a bit rather than be in the state the roof surface that he had just been standing on was. Vesteil's blade had gone clean through the material, light erupting from the weapon to obliterate a perfectly circular portion of the roof, so that the only thing that kept Vesteil from falling was his strange wings.

"I do not wish to cause you harm." Vesteil said as he straightened up, floating a bit higher into the air. "But I must make it clear that this is not a game!" He yelled, pointing his weapon at Sonic. The indigo mobian glared at the man for a few moments before grinning once more. He pushed on his still upright leg to shift his weight onto it so he could bring his other back up. He slowly straightened up, dusting himself off as if he had done nothing more than have gotten dirty. "I never said it was a game." He said, closing his eyes as he rolled his neck a few times. "I meant what I said. I'm willing to do whatever I've gotta to save this world, and I'll fight whoever wants to let it die when there's a chance of saving it." He said. His eyes snapped open, seeming to shine with confidence. "So either step it up a notch or go home, because I'm not gonna be convinced that easily!"

Vesteil looked upon Sonic, he seemed to be slightly impatient with the hedgehog. "Tell me then." Vesteil said, raising one hand to gather more light into a tight sphere that rested in the palm of his hand. "If you're so concerned about nobody getting hurt or dieing…" small strands of light, brilliantly multi-colored, slowly curled around, about an inch above the sphere's surface, forming a grid of many symbols. "Then why do you resist those who are trying to do the same thing but on a grander scale?" He suddenly hurled the sphere of light at Sonic. "Is it not a warrior's duty to favor the greater good?! The lives of many are more important than the few!" He yelled as the attack hurtled straight for its target. Sonic's grin remained ever confident as he began to flex his body, just enough to help him concentrate as he drew in more chaos energy. He focused it around his right foot as he drew it back and kicked the attack back into the air with as much ease as if it had been a soccer ball.

"A warrior? Maybe." He said as he let his foot drop back to the rooftop. The attack erupted into a brilliantly bright display in the sky that would put any firework to shame. "I wouldn't know." Sonic said, straightening himself up and folding his arms. "Because a Hero's duty is to make it so nobody has to be sacrificed to save everyone."

Vesteil looked at Sonic. "…A hero… So that's what you think you are?" He said as he sheathed his weapon. He was descending, slowly bringing himself back down to level with the hedgehog. "…You fail to realize what the sad fate of this world would be if you tried to stop it from finding rest…" Sonic was confused, Vesteil seemed… Sad? "…I'm sorry Sonic… Before I joined the Union and saw the truth I might have agreed with you…" Vesteil's feet touched the rooftop and his wings slowly dissolved into small individual pieces of light. "…I know what you're doing sounds noble but…" The man sighed. "…Just trust me… The light will make everything clear to you…"

Sonic's confusion continued to grow. What was this guy talking about? He was quickly put back on guard as Vesteil began to glow. "What's going on?!" He demanded to know. "The light will show you the path." Vesteil's entire image began to be blotted out as his glow became brighter. Sonic's vision was becoming overcome by the strange light. ("What's he doing…? I'd better be ready for whatever he's got planned.") Sonic thought as he started pulling in chaos energy. ("Ok… Just gotta see through this dang light… Where is he?") Sonic thought as he turned his head around, however the light was growing, blotting out his vision in all directions. ("Focus, he's gotta be in here somewhere… Whoa!") Sonic quickly grabbed the side of his head as he was hit by a dizzy spell. ("…Something… weird is going on with this light.") Sonic moved his hand to try and shield his vision, but to no avail.

("Come on… Stay focused… He has to be… somewhere… Ugh… I'm getting… sleepy…") Sonic thought as he began to sway in place. Yet still he held himself upright. ("Gotta keep fighting… This creep's the guy that messed with Shadow… Can't… lose… focus…")


The young psychic was beginning to regain consciousness. He let out a groan of physical pain, in the back of his mind he complained about how trans-dimensional travel was a lot rougher than it needed to be. ("Wait… Trans-dimensional travel?") He thought, unable to remember what had just occurred for a second. He quickly sat upright as the memory hit his head like a brick. "Mephiles!" He yelled aloud. But the dark being was nowhere to be seen. What he did see however, was that he had been asleep in a very dark, very grungy looking alleyway. That wasn't giving him any information, so he stood up, allowing his abilities to flow over himself with a green aura as he lifted himself up into the air. He decided a view from above would be the quickest way to locate the evil entity that had sent him here.

He left the alleyway, floating upwards. Once he felt he was at a decent height, he stopped and began to turn himself slowly 360 degrees. He blinked and his mouth hung open in awe. He was in the center of a massive city, with little to no signs of a hellfire that had been extinguished. "…Am I… Really in the past?" He wondered aloud. He had been in the past before yes, but this place was unfamiliar to him from all of his previous travels to it. He had always seen strange locations, ranging from lush forests to ridiculous carnivals that he really could not understand the point of. And of course, Soleanna and all of its beauty. Still the city of water was pale in comparison to the size of this city.

A light in the distance, as if a beacon, caught his attention easily. However it also drew his attention to a multi-colored light in the sky. "…The chaos emeralds?!" He said in shock. "…If those emeralds are all together… that must mean that Sonic's somehow involved." Silver said, having made a mental note of how much those gems seemed to be tied to that hedgehog. "I'd better check this out…" He decided. He focused his mind as if flexing a muscle, activating his teleport dash to send himself flying towards the light.


Amy stopped in he tracks and whipped her body around as the light suddenly built from the same direction she was trying to get away from. "…Sonic?" She said in a worried tone. A sense of sudden dread flowed down her spine as all of her nightmares came back to haunt her once again. Were here fears… finally happening? Was Sonic…? No! There wasn't any reason to even think that!

… Then again, that light… it scared her. It sent shivers through her body. It just… wasn't natural whatever it was… Sure Amy had always been labeled as the superstitious type due to her hobby of reading tarot cards, but every instinct she had was telling her this light was something bad… And she wasn't about to ignore what her instincts were telling her.

She started to run back towards the building, but stopped in her tracks. Sonic had made her promise to find a safe place to hide… Right after he had kissed her… Amy shook her head. This was no time to let her crush on him take over her thought process. Letting that happen in the past always wound up getting her into trouble, the exact opposite of what she was trying to do. Still… She felt pathetic, not being able to help in the slightest.

"What should I do…?" She asked aloud, as if seeking some divine aid. Her head subconsciously tipped back up to the seven chaos emeralds floating high in the sky. These gems of miracles… They had been Sonic's trump card time and time again. They had even managed to restore her hero's soul to his own body after it had been forcibly ripped away. She had to wonder, just what could these emeralds accomplish when it came to Sonic?

"…" Amy did the only thing that seemed like she could at the moment. She interlaced her fingers, closed her eyes and tilted her head, and began to pray for Sonic. ("Please… Do something… Do something to help me bring him back safely.")


The light began to die down. Vesteil was not any different from how he had been when he began to glow, still the strange warrior clad in odd attire. He looked to where Sonic stood. The azure hero stood firm as he had been before, his eyes clamped shut from the light. However, as if sensing that the blinding light had died down, he let his arm drop from attempting to block it out and straightened up.

"…Sonic the Hedgehog… Greatest warrior of earth." Vesteil addressed him. Sonic's arms slowly came up to fold over his chest at the statement. He was silent for a moment, before his classic grin formed on his face with a chuckle. "That's my name…" His eyes opened to reveal a burning unnatural light that blotted out his irises. "Don't wear it out." He finished.


And that's the end of the chapter.
Shadow: I WASN'T EVEN IN THIS CHAPTER!
Sonic: WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?!
Heh, if you're reading this on you might have noticed that the second genre of this story has become romance, despite all logical thought in my head telling me to do otherwise.
Sonic: I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!
Silver: …Well, I'm in the story… for like, three paragraphs at least.