That night, I slept rather peacefully until being abruptly awakened at 6 AM with the news that I was promptly to report to the general. I gulped; this did not sound so well. I made my way over to his quarters and knocked on the door hesitantly. The door swung open and I saw that the general looked angry, an emotion rare for him. Then again, rare was a perfect word for the general. His species, a panda bear, was quite uncommon. He also had more personalities than I could count. I guess that came with the whole 'mad genius' thing.

"Silver," he started. "I was just questioning the cat girl, Blaze, about what she heard while in enemy hands."

"...and?"

"I also learned that she is not your stepmother." I realized where this was going and took a seat. "Before I say anything, can you honestly tell me you think Blaze is to you?" He smiled at me; it was very awkward.

I did not how to respond. I always saw Blaze as my closest friend, but in actuality, it is so much more than that. Friends do not think about each other as much as a think about Blaze. Friends do not make sacrifices like the ones I make for Blaze. Friends do not kiss each other the way I do with Blaze. I blushed slightly at that last thought and hoped that the general did not notice.

"I would say she's my best friend, but she's more than that. I would say lover, but she's more than that too. I suppose she is both. It's complicated."

The general nodded. Strangely enough, he looked very understanding. "And Venice, what is she to you?"

I swallowed. "My daughter." I prepared myself for a huge lecture about responsibility, disrespecting women, and the works. "I also didn't know of her existence until four days ago," I added, trying to gather some innocence to my name.

The general nodded again. "I was angry that you kept this all a secret, but now I see it all clearly."

"What do you see?"

"I see that you really and truly love Blaze." I felt relief sweep over me, followed by a sense of extreme awkwardness.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Why were we talking about this again?

"That's why you left her at the young age of sixteen, eh? That is a very selfless choice. You were a young one among adults; I can never forget. It is rare for teenagers to join our ranks by themselves. You fought just for her, did you not? For fifteen years, you left her behind to fight for her safety? And after all this time, you and Blaze have been true to each other?"

The general was making this cheesy. Sure, he was right about everything - terrifyingly right, in fact - but he made is sound cornier than it truthfully was. "Yeah, I guess," I muttered sheepishly.

"Well then, have you thought about marriage?"

My jaw dropped. "What!"

"Have you ever thought about getting married to Blaze?"

I had to think about that. "Actually, no. Never. It seems weird, to be honest."

The general nodded again. What was with this guy! "That is all. I apologize if this seemed personal for you. I just had to share my thoughts with you, Silver. I'm an old man, see, and I have missed out on the some of the finer parts of life. One of those would be romance," the general admitted. Then he suddenly laughed. "Of course, there are some negatives to romance. For example, Blaze wants to talk with you immediately. Apparently, she is not happy with the fact that you lied about her. She is in the Hospital section, Room 3. I wish you luck."

Well, this was just great. I was going from awkward romantic talk with my boss to having Blaze rip me apart for trivial matters. I slowly made my way to the Hospital section. When I got to her room I slowly opened the door and entered. Blaze was sitting down happily eating breakfast with bandage free hands. That is, of course, until she saw me. She stood up angrily and placed her hands on her hips. Call me naïve, but I knew by now that this was never a good sign coming from a woman. By instinct, I backed up a bit.

"You!" she said. "What is your problem?"

"Um?" was all I answered.

"Don't play dumb with me, Silver. I talked with the general last night. Apparently, you felt the need to lie about Venice and I's relations to you?"

I shrugged. "We all do dumb things for love, I suppose."

Blaze narrowed her eyes; my answer was not good enough. "Why did you lie?"

"Honestly, Blaze, I really don't know." I glanced behind me. I knew what I had to say, but I only wanted Blaze to hear it. This was private. I shut the door behind me and locked it. I moved closer to Blaze. "I guess a part of me regrets everything."

"What?" said Blaze. She sounded devastated; that's when I saw my mistake. I decided to act fast before she got hurt.

"No, Blaze, don't take that the wrong way. I feel bad, and here's why." I walked to the chair next to her bed and sat down. Blaze followed suit by sitting on the bed. "Do you know how irresponsible and cowardly this makes me look? It looks like I got you pregnant and left because I didn't want to deal with it."

"Silver, you know that's not true. Even if everyone else thinks it is, you, Venice and I know the truth. That's all that matters."

She had a point. "Thanks, Blaze," I said as I smiled. That smile, sadly, quickly faded as I was reminded of my fatherly duties. "This reminds me, Blaze: I was talking to Venice last night. Why haven't you told her anything?"

She looked annoyed. "Haven't we already been through this?"

"No, Blaze. Last night she asked me why this war is going on-"

"You didn't tell her, did you? Please tell me you did not tell her they want to kill her. Silver, I swear, if-"

"I didn't tell her. However, I did tell her about Iblis, how it destroyed the world and that we fought it together. I told her that Iblis made the world the way it is today, and how it used to be worse. She was shocked and angry you never told her any of this."

"I didn't know how to explain it without mentioning you. You defeated Iblis more than I did."

"What are you talking about? You were the one that sealed it inside of you and left!"

Blaze crossed her arms. "Fine. We are even. With everything, if you know what I mean."

"I think now that I'm back," I said after some silence, "we should talk about how to parent her properly. The first thing should be no more secrets. Do we really want to raise are daughter with lies?"

Blaze nodded. "I agree. But Silver, how are going to tell her about the war? I don't want her to know about how they want her dead, I can't bear it."

"We do have to tell her eventually. Especially if we start losing."

"No! Do you know how badly that will affect her?"

"I do. But regardless, she has a right to know. It's not like she's on her own. Since Iblis killed nearly everyone, how else do you think the world is repopulating so quickly? Mix breeding. I can guarantee you that only a quarter of Mobius is a full breed. It is just hard to tell since most mix breeds take after one species. For example, Venice takes after me because she obviously looks like a hedgehog."

"I see your point," Blaze said. Then she giggled. "If we have another kid, you think we would have a cat, like me?"

Startled, I looked her in the eyes. "Please tell me you don't want another kid."

"Not right now." Blaze smiled a little. "Raising one was hard enough."

"I can imagine. I wish I would have been there with you and her. I wish I could have seen her as a child." Wow, I was making myself depressed over this.

"Hey, don't be like that!" Blaze grabbed my hand gently. "Things are okay now." There was a knock on the door and Blaze got up to get it. It was Venice, who happily strode into the room.

"Hi! Where are your bandages, Mom?" she asked.

"I don't need them. My hands are fine now," said Blaze excitedly. "It's amazing what medicine can do nowadays."

"Did it hurt?"

Blaze pursed her lips. I am sure she wanted to say no, but we promised each other to be more open with Venice. "No more than it did to actually break them," she finally said.

"That's great!" She then looked at me. "Were you two in the middle of something?" she questioned.

"Yes, Venice, we were," said Blaze before I could make a comment. "You were talking about you. And now that you are here, I have to say that I am sorry. I know I told you this yesterday, but I have to reiterate. Sorry that I have I kept so much information from you when you had a right to hear all of it."

Venice frowned. "Mom, I... I have done the same thing to you. Silver has probably already told you, but I have telekinesis. I have been keeping that from you, and I'm so sorry."

"He told me." Wow, I really felt like a third party to them right now. "I'm sure your father will be a great teacher to you. He has some of the best telekinetic moves I have ever seen." Blaze looked at me. "And I'm not just saying that to boost your ego because I love you. I really mean that, Silver." Well, wasn't that nice.

"So are we a family now?" asked Venice.

"We always have been a family," I countered. "Just a separated one."

Venice smiled. "Well, we're together now, and that's all that matters, right? Anyway, I am going to go eat. You two look like you still have some more stuff to talk about, so I will see you two later." After the absence of her footsteps told me she was gone, I turned to Blaze.

"She is loyal to you, Blaze. She cares about you more than herself, can't you see it?"

"Yes. She is a unique girl. She's happy and carefree; she has your determination. But when she gets determined, she gets serious and strict."

"And who does that sound like?" I teased.

Blaze laughed. "At least she's not naive."

I got up and playfully pinned Blaze to the bed in one swift motion. I looked at her- so much had changed since yesterday. Her busted lip was mending, her black eye was fading, and her hands were fixed. "Care to say that again?"

Blaze shook her hands free and wrapped them around the back of my head. "Say what again?" she mumbled absently as she pulled me closer to her.

Our lips met; it felt so good. I fell all of my problems and worries slowly slipping away. The past fifteen years of pain, fear and separation slowly faded away, replaced by the smiling faces of Blaze and Venice. Everything felt so right.

That is, until I heard Venice scream, followed by a gunshot.

I threw the silver hedgehog into the secret prison hold. He was useless anyway; quite a pathetic creature. I decided it would be fun to give him and Blaze a little reunion before I killed them. I decided I was going to kill Blaze first and let the hedgehog suffer her loss until meeting his own demise. It would be a small act to help satiate my hatred for their kind. I have hated that foul planet since I was six years old. I'll never forget how these feelings started.

I remember how I was so excited to see a new planet, to leave my dull home planet of Felus. My mother always promised me a vacation for being such a great son. Mobius seemed like the perfect place. It looked beautiful in all of the pictures – in fact, so beautiful, I carried pictures of the planet with me everywhere – and it made me feel happy that something so beautiful existed. Naturally, I suggested going there to my mother, and she agreed. Since father left us with a vast fortune after his death, we were able to go there on our own – just the two of us.

When we arrived, I was horrified. The "beautiful" planet of Mobius was naught but a wasteland of flames. "What was the date on those pictures, Crimsook?" my mother asked. I dug them out of my pocket. They were dated to be from 300 years ago. My mother saw this and slapped me. "Foolish child! We shall stay here as punishment for your rash judgment." She stormed off as I hung my head low from shame. Mother always taught me to think before I speak and to calculate every possible outcome before making decision. It was through her wisdom that I became the strong, wise, and cunning military leader that I am today. That day thirty-nine years ago, I learned how much my mother meant to me.

Since my mother abandoned me, I knew she expected me to find her and apologize. She always did. It was her way of testing my knowledge. After a few hours of searching, I found her. "Have you learned your lesson?" she asked me. I nodded. She rubbed her hand over my head and I purred. "Good boy."

The smooth feel of her hand turned unexpectedly hot. My whole body started to burn until my mother grabbed me and pushed me behind her. I tried to look at what was going on, but my mother held me back. Her grip was too strong for me to break. I struggled behind her until she suddenly screamed and released me from her grasp.

When I saw what was happening, I froze. A huge, demotic fire monster was attacking us. Worse than that, I discovered that the reason my mom let go of me because the monster had her in its hold. My captured mother screamed and flailed her arms. Her bushy tail was swinging wildly. This motion caused her one of her rings, a beautiful sapphire jewel, to fly off. And as luck would have it, the ring hit me in the face. I tried to recover it, to have one thing of y mother to keep as my own, but it was useless. The ring was gone. I looked up just in time to watch the monster pull my screaming mother into the lava below. Her screams stopped instantaneously. After that crippling moment, I never saw my mother again. I haven't been the same ever since.

I ran back to the jet we used to get here quickly to avoid the same fate. When I reached the safety of the jet, I shut all of the doors and burst into tears. My mother was gone forever – trapped forever within that horrible planet. I pressed the emergency button on the jet and hoped that one of our faithful servants back at home would answer my distress call.

Thankfully, one did. Tyson, the one who answered, has always been loyal to me. To this day, he is my most trusted fighter, confidant, and friend. "Yes, Master Crimsook?" asked Tyson. I cried into my hands. "Master Crimsook?" asked Tyson again, sounding more alarmed. "What's going on?" I did not answer. Tyson immediately summoned the other servants. "We are coming to get you, stay put." This is where my memory ends, for I passed out from depression after that.

I grew up without my family. I was raised by the servants, with Tyson becoming the closest to me. As I got older, I wanted answers for my suffering. What had happened to Mobius? With Tyson by my side, we found the answers to my questions. It turned out that Mobius fell apart over two hundered years ago when a blue hedgehog unleashed a terrible, immortal monster onto the world. Because of that hedgehog, I have no mother. It's all his fault; him and his ivle, disgusting relatives. All of them must pay. I will punish them for their wrongdoing.

I was torn from my thoughts when I heard the sound of alarms. The prisoners were escaping. I knew it was not Blaze behind the escape because I had previously broken her hands to prevent her from channeling her pyrokinesis. In addition to that, I had given her a decent beating to show I was a force to not be reckoned with. It had to be that hedgehog. Perhaps I underestimated him, but that would all end soon.

"Subjects spotted! Approximately 20 meters down, 68 degrees offset to the right. Right wing: permission to fire granted. Canon R4 highest accuracy rate." I let out a yell of fury. This meant the prisoners had already left the ship. However, they probably would not survive much longer because I heard the bustle of my loyal soldiers rushing to shoot them down. I spun my chair around and connected the main controls and camera to one of the canons on R4. The camera gave me a perfect view of the two. The hedgehog was carrying Blaze, and he seemed to be glowing. He must have been using his powers. I shot at them. It was almost a hit, but the hedgehog quickly dashed to the side with his powers. Those lucky little bastards! I slammed by fists down on the controls.

I continued to shoot at them mercilessly, but were no hits. The hedgehog looked like he was getting tired. Soon the targets got too low for me to aim at anymore. I promised myself that I would not underestimate that hedgehog again. I was going to get rid of him.

I hissed and spun my chair around to see a cadet standing in the doorway. He quickly saluted me. "Yes?" I asked him, hiding my frustration.

"I'm here to report a fatality," he said. What!

"A fatality? How can this be?"

"One of our men was thrown out of a window, sir. The silver hedgehog did it." I clenched my fists in anger.

"Very well, thank you for informing me. Do me a favor and summon Commander Tyson for me, would you?"

"Yes, right away, Captain Crimsook." The cadet bowed quickly and left; his presence was replaced with that of Tyson.

"Yes, Crimsook?" he inquired.

"Tomorrow morning I am taking leave on an individual mission. If I am not back by 08:00 hours, send backup."

"What kind of mission?"

"Revenge," I said simply. If that silver hedgehog could take one of my men, I very well can take one of his. I will target the weakest link.

"Be careful," warned Tyson. "Be careful. Do you want a parachute or an escape pod as means for transportation?"

I thought about it for a second. A parachute would be quieter, which is what I aimed for, but when my mission was complete, I did not plan on hanging around – such a move would be foolish. "The escape pod."

"Good choice," said Tyson, nodding. "I'll prepare it now so it shall be ready when you need it. Good luck, and again, be careful." Tyson bowed quickly and left. I then quickly I retreated to bed; I needed my rest for the mission.

The next morning, I knew everything had to be perfect. I put on some bulletproof armor, climbing gloves, and lightweight boots. I had to travel light today. Afterwards, I made my way to the arsenal and looked through the weapons. I finally selected a small pistol. I was skilled enough in the shooting field to be confident with this weapon.

I dashed to the escape pod that Tyson kindly prepared for me. I will make it up to him, if I survive this. No! I must not think like that. I will survive this mission. I set the coordinates to the last known location of the enemy's base. The base had been docked in the same area since they followed us back to Mobius from years of battle on my own planet. Hopefully, they had not yet relocated.

It took me a while to get to the base because I had to keep a low profile, but sure enough, it was still in the same spot. I landed the pod in some foliage and crept to the base. I scaled the walls and looked into every window. I had to extinguish my target- that silver hedgehog's foul offspring. Sure enough, I finally found her inside of a bedroom on the third floor. To my advantage, she was reading, which made it easier for me to obtain a silent kill. With the pocket knife I had hidden in my boot, I carved a perfect circle into the glass window. From here, I could make no mistakes. Hesitating in the slightest would be a fatal move. Everything had to be perfect.

In one smooth motion, I kicked the glass in and landed in the room. The glass went everywhere, but the sound was drowned out by the scream of the girl. I quickly pointed the pistol at her and fired. It was a clear shot. I quickly jumped out of the room to avoid detection. I knew the girl had to be dead – my shot was near perfect, and nobody was around to stop me. My mission was a success.

I did it for you, mother. I hope you are proud.