I finally got a Wolf Spider. I was so happy!

Then it tried climbing up my arm. I tried to get it off, but it fell on my lap and decided to take a hike towards my face.

Why hello there, arachnophobia.

Why is it always me who does the dirty work...

The poor, unfortunate orange hedgehog sighed as he looked around helplessly in search of the stupid little altar with a stone and echidna on top. Vicini felt like banging his head against a tree repeatedly until he passed out from brain damage. Angel Island really needed a fucking map placed on every overgrown tree, rock and bush. It was the millionth time he got lost inside this oversized hunk of junk, and those defeats were almost too much for his pride to bear.

If he got lost one more time, not only would his dignity be reduced to a wringing pile of ashes, but this stupidly large island was going to join the farewell party.

The apricot hedgehog silently fumed as he stumbled over a large twisted root. Vicini growled, quills bristling, sapphire eyes darkening as the apricot immortal contemplated on burning the entire forest to the ground. One less mass of leaves wouldn't make a difference, right? Tell that to the tree hugging-echidna. A small voice pipped in and the Element Spirit agreed without any more thoughts.

Shaking his head, the humanoid decided to break into a sprint, giving a wide berth the large trees, jumping over oversized bushes and those blasted blasted roots that seemed to burst out of the ground just to annoy him. His speed wasn't that impressive compared to Sonic's -until he decided to turn himself into a flaming comet, which he was never allowed to do indoors...or near something that was flammable, which was pretty much everything- but it was fast enough to rival a common car, which was god-like by human standards.

Gathering energy for another teleportation, Vicini let it out as a beautiful, blinding display of bright orange light. He was gone in a second, warping to another part of the floating island; one he expected to be the Master Emerald's altar, and with enough luck, where the loud, stubborn-minded echidna currently dwelled.

What Vicini didn't expect to happen was that he teleported right besides the emerald's altar, and since he was running...well, physics decided to pay a visit, making him colliding face first into hard stone.

His shrill cry echoed loudly across the island, probably loud enough to be heard by those who dwelled down on Mobius' surface. Vicini whined to himself, ears flattening as he stumbled away from the stone wall. To ease the pain he tried rubbing his bruised nose, but it didn't go away. He hated this. A hedgehog's nose was a very precious and very sensitive sense, damn it! Why did he model his humanoid form after that specie again? No clue.

"Son of a-!" Vicini had barely begun his rant against basically, at all existence, but sadly he could only begin the rant -starting with Lightos, then Chaos and then whatever else came to mind- when a large hand suddenly grabbed him by his head and brutally smashed his face -his poor, poor nose- against the same wall the sensitive limb just had a intimate relationship.

Yelling out in shock at the sudden attack, the orange spirit struggled against his captor to turn his head around, wincing as the crimson-furred echidna slammed his skull against the wall with more force. The old, jagged marble structure scratched the skin around his snout and ruffled his fur.

Oh, he just hated the world.

"Who are you? How did you get up here!?"

Knuckles was with his usual habit of protecting the Master Emerald with his life while beating the life out of the intruders. The echidna had tackled the apricot hedgehog to the ground the moment he had sighted the intruder. The red pelted male hadn't even bothered to attempt to identify the so-called thief.

Typical.

Sadly for Knuckles, Vicini wasn't in the mood for this kind of bullshit.

It took a minimum amount of Ether to set himself on fire.

"What in Chaos' name-"

In a nutshell, it didn't take long to force the echidna to go to their little reunion. The fact that Vicini was still on fire when he asked the Guardian to join them was completely inconsequential.

xxxxxxxx

Chris hated writing notes.

Unfortunately for him, sleeping through more than half of the semester wasn't exactly approved by the teachers. The bumbling fools often exclaimed that he was required to do it due to the fact he could need the notes in case he forgot something, to which Chris responded that his brain swallowed information like a sponge in such a way notes were almost useless. And let's not forget the tiny fact that he already knew most of the material before even starting his college studies.

Simply put, the notes he took were there just to be pretty. They weren't obligated to be there at school.

But he was.

So it was a bit of a understatement when he got angry at a sheepish Vicini, who had randomly teleported into the classroom, tackled him to the ground before warping away with him in tow. And only then did the midget ask him to go to their little picnic.

Needless to say, he was very satisfied of the bruise on the Spirit's forehead. The fire imp was not, but with the glares Chris was sending his way he wasn't about to open his mouth and invoke the human's wrath once more. So in a flash of light, Christopher Thorndyke was back in his class, writing down the teacher' notes while pointedly trying to ignore the shocked gaze of his fellow classmates.

Hey, if they were going to be his classmates, they had to realize this level of bullshit came with it.

(He wondered how long would it take for the campus director to throw him out on his ass.)

xxxxxxx

Shadow hated GUN with every fiber of his being.

He knew he had enrolled to keep his promise to Maria, but damn this organization was pushing his buttons.

His newest reason to hate the Guardians of the United Nations? Fucking paperwork. The Ultimate Lifeform swore he had to do a report every time he did some something. Why did he need to file an explanation on why he used his gun? So what if he fiddled around with it while in full view of a particularly nasty agent who thought he was nothing more than a animal? And what if he had nearly clipped the hapless brat's nose with a bullet?

It was a complete accident the gun had gone off. Saying otherwise was inconsequential and inconsistent to what had happened.

What was also inconceivably important was how he accidentally punched Vicini in the nose when the Element Spirit teleported inside the GUN base and set off a first class intruder alarm as he did so, awakening the entire population of the compound and making the plebian fools that made up the GUN council think they were being the victims of an alien invasion.

xxxxxxxx

The island was just like he remembered it to be. Sonic smiled as he darted around, examining his surrounding and admiring it, taking in the sight of the thousands of flowers covering the small island like a carpet.

Helen sat besides him, a soft smile on her lips as she watched her longtime friend admire the scenery. Not too far from them, down the slope at the edge of the island, Chris and Cream were buzzing around, Cheese hovering above the rabbit's shoulder, helping Ella and Tanaka prepare the food they had brought. Tails was setting up a second table, tools spread around him and a metaphorical question mark above his head as he struggled with building the furniture. Chuck was standing by a tree, munching on the hard-won sandwich he had managed to snatch from the table when the fearsome woman wasn't looking.

The man was one fearless person.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Helen murmured as she watched the scenery with adoration in her eyes. "The city tried to build a resort here...that didn't sit well with the community." She giggled. "I remember it so well. I've never seen Chris so fired up. He knows we love this island."

The Blue Blur smiled, knowing that the young girl was referring to the numerous times the azure hedgehog snuck here for some peace and quiet. Sonic often brought her along, so if one needed to find Helen, and couldn't find her anywhere, they had to search here.

"Can someone help me?!" The moment was broken by a young fox struggling under the weight of a piece of the second table. Sonic was quick to dash over and lift the piece of furniture.

"Need a hand?"

The kit smiled up at him gratefully. "Thanks." He looked down at the leg the sapphire hero was holding. "It shouldn't be so hard to assemble! Give me a moment." The two-tailed boy looked over the construction. Sonic was pretty sure his brother had put one of the legs the wrong way. "Chuck! Give me a hand with this!" The cry was desperate. If the table was alive, it would be foaming at the mouth, sporting twitching legs and wailing pathetically as it pathetically tried to crawl into the lake to drown itself.

The wonders of IKEA.

"You can build a supercomputer before you hit puberty but you can't even make a table." The old man chuckled as he approached them, smirk growing wide at the sharp glare the restless fox gave him. The Blue Blur was still holding the heavy wooden leg, a bored expression on his face as he tried to block his friends' conversation out. "See, it's like this..."

At that moment Sonic decided to tune them out, occasionally moving some pieces when they asked him. He was bored. Yeah, the level of bored when one allowed themselves to become a pack mule. The young hedgehog knew when the rest of his friends would arrive -especially Amy- everything would go to hell in a basket, but until then he was forced to do grunt work.

"Sonic, can you pass me that tool next to you?"

"Tool."

He looked up from his spot at his Master's feet. The man was watching him, glowing kaleidoscope eyes shimmering with different hues of red, purple and white.

"Get me Emma's report."

The young hedgehog quietly rose from his seat on the expensive carpet and went for the massive desk that took up the middle of the study. Taking a moment to stare and scan at the pile of documents with as much speed and efficiency as he could muster, he snatched up the right papers and walked back to the large, dark leather couch where his Master was stretched out, lazily reading a shipment contract.

The light of the fireplace made gave the furniture a more sinister look, and he took a moment to stare at his Master's face. The elegant edges, high and aristocratic and the soft unblemished were accentuated by the flames of the fire. His dark hair, smooth like the most priceless silk and carefully brushed back. His unnatural eyes shone eerily in the darkness, calm and collected.

He gave his Master the much needed documents. He tried to sit back down on his knees next to the couch, but he saw Master gesture the couch. He obediently climbed on, curling up on the man's lap like a pet. His head leaned back on the human's chest, quills soft and spongy. Silence reigned in the room as he stared at the fireplace, his ears occasionally twitching at the sound of paper being shuffled around.

"You were faster last time."

He could feel his Master's hand on his left ear once more, scratching him like one would do to a loyal pet. It was more to his Master's comfort than his own, who liked the sensation of the fur against his calloused skin. The young Holder didn't care however.

He realized that, in a way, he was a pet.

"It seems you need yet another conditioning. Your recognition skills need some work."

But his empty conscience didn't mind one bit.

"Sonic?!"

The sharp cry was the equivalent of being smacked across the face with heated metal. The said blue hedgehog blinked, once, twice, before looking over at the source of the disturbance.

Tails was staring at him like he had grown a second head...

...before his eyes lowered and looked at his hands with a hint of fear in his eyes.

He didn't need the cold feeling at the tip of his fingers to know why that part of his anatomy was being stared at. Snarling, he turned away from both Chuck and his brother, cradling his crystallized limbs against his chest. Damn. Damn. He had been doing well when he was at the Ether, why was it happening now of all times?

Why was it happening in the first place?!

"Sonic?" He glanced back, just for a moment, and caught a glimpse of the two-tailed fox reaching out for him, while the helpless and worried eyes of friends gazing into his own. In between the mesh of blue, green and brown he could see the bright, knowing sapphire of Vicini's eyes.

To hell with all of this.

A small, slim hand settled on his left shoulder and he almost flinched, the ghostly feels of the dainty, graceful hand that had belonged to Tybalt almost making him turn around and attack whoever dared lay a hand on him. Turning his head to the left, he stared into the wide blue eyes of Helen.

There was no pity in them. His friends' eyes radiated reassurance and comfort, but there was no sadness or sympathy in them. The sight eased his nerves.

At least one person thought he could handle himself.

(Liar.)

"Is everything alright...?" He ignored the voice -Chris'- and took a deep breath in desperate attempt to calm himself. His ears twitched, the flicks of the triangular appendages and the wandering green eyes that refused to make contact with the other's being the only signs of his internal conflict.

Turning back around, darkened green orbs slowly opened and he gazed at his friends in silence. He could feel their eyes on his hands, sounds of confusion and fear at the crunches and blood-curling flesh sounds as the crystal claws turned into organic matter. The skin and fur gradually grew back, covering the nerves, ligaments and bone, and finally, nails grew. Sharp, but not as much as the knife-like ornaments that had taken their place.

He could feel their stares. Sonic cradled his regenerating limbs closer as if the sight of them would cause his friends to drop dead. Or run off screaming. The later was more likely. Last time they had seen it he nearly took off Knuckles' head just because he had stood in his way when he tried to cut down Rouge for making a noise. Not that they knew the reason, but from what he obtained from their explanations gave him a picture of why his defense mechanism had acted as such.

The Holder heard a noise behind him, the constant shriek of a phone making his ears flick. The azure male glanced back, letting his hands drop to his sides now that they weren't ugly and transparent and- a soft sigh tumbled out of his lips. He received a gentle squeeze of his shoulder from Helen in return.

His ears picked up a conversation between a certain blond and whoever was on the phone, but he didn't register the words or turned around, not until his name was called.

"Sonic." Chris was standing there, looking fearful and annoyed at the same time -a strange combination- as he held a phone tightly pressed against his ear. The teenager's blue eyes were dark and foreboding. The boy snapped the device shut and stuffed it in his pants. "We are having a small problem."

Sonic closed his eyes for a brief moment and took a deep breath, the memory of the fancy study slowly fading away. He didn't need this. Not right now. "What is it?" He asked, only to frown at the croak that came out. His throat felt dry...swallowing, he ignored the concerned looks both Helen, Tails and Chris gave him.

He didn't need their pity.

Or anyone's for that matter.

"Eggman decided it was time he checked the downtown shops for the best prices on hardware." A slow snarl formed on the young speedster's lips at Chris' announcement, ignoring how the paraplegic teenager at his side gasped in both concern for the people caught in the attack and surprise at the appearance of the scientist so soon after his defeat.

If he had the heart to do so, Sonic would have smiled. Finally there was a way for him to let all the tension go. The fat, egg-shaped human was in for a surprise this time.

"Stay here." Noticing the uncomfortable expression on the blond's face, Sonic added in a lighter, brighter tone, an afterthought meant to reassure his friends. "I'll deal with him, don't worry! Continue with the gathering, alright?" Helen smiled, letting go of his shoulder. He felt his heart warm with gratitude. The girl, like Tails or Cream, had always made him feel better even in the worst of situations. They...well, they just had this kind of innocence around them that calmed his wrathful, conflicted self.

(He molded you to be like this.)

Turning away the azure speedster reached out with his mind through the link of the tenant and the mentor. His conscience poked against another, who stilled for a moment, both mentally and physically, before poking back.

By the time the other answered, he was already running over the lake surrounding the island, his speed the only thing keeping him above the cold, dark waters. Not as fast as he could go, but enough to carry him towards his destination. Going at the speed of sound was suicide if it wasn't in a secluded grassland or highway, both to himself and the people around him.

The answer was wasn't instantaneous. Unknown to him, the Element Spirit of Energy looked at the ground, fidgeting uncomfortably, hands fiddling with the utensils and bright paper Amy was using to decorate the table.

What?

The fire sprite's answer wasn't quick, yet it felt as if it was said in a rush. Sonic had been with his teacher long enough however to know how the other worked. Their partnership had, after all, existed from before his mind had been wiped clean of his memories, and he had only reclaimed them two years ago.

You're my backup.

...alright.

xxxxxxxx

A blur of cobalt darted through the heavy traffic of Station Square, occasionally using the sidewalk when the card became to numerous. He gave a wide berth to stands, taking care to not blow their newspapers and other magazines away. After all, Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't Superman. He didn't scatter a person's hard work for the giggles, not matter how amusing it was. That was Shadow's job.

Except Chris, and that was because it was hilarious...even if he received a screwdriver to the face for it. Speaking of the said boy, he hadn't given him the exact location of where Eggman decided to strike.

Then again, he only needed to follow the screams.

The blue male winced as a particularly shrill cry assaulted his ears, loud even if he had yet to see a robot. He ran up a short skyscraper, wanting to obtain a vantage point for him to evaluate the situation. The sight that greeted him wasn't pretty.

Merely two blocks from his right he could see dust flying around and from within it he would occasionally glimpse something large, metallic and blue moving within it.

There were, of course, the familiar standard Eggbots running around as well, rushing into stores and coming out with their grubby arms filled with various metal objects, ranging from frying pans to car pieces.

Sonic recognized what was happening. While the fat, egg-shaped human could obtain his much-needed metal from natural resources, he would also steal some from the general population, let it be by raiding a factory, taking a shipment of goods, or do it the old fashioned way, in which he seemed to prefer. The Holder knew the scientist well enough that he knew the man would never pass up a opportunity to strike fear into the hearts of the population, all while testing new machinery.

Sonic sighed. He disliked this kind of attacks. They were one of the most common and annoying of the lot.

Further musing was prevented when a Eggbots noticed him and let out a loud, metallic alarm that blared through the streets over the screams and crashes that usually came with one of Eggman's raids. Great.

Oh well. He would be making a better entrance than he thought he would.

The nearest robot could only let out a pathetic, ear-splitting shriek before the sole of it's attacker shoe hit it in the face, the blow causing the metal to cave in. The other machines let out a series of metallic beets as Sonic leaped off the falling robot, using the destroyed minion as a launching pad from where he threw himself at the rest of the machines.

Eggbots fell left and right, their sensors unable to keep up with the Blue Blur's speed, therefor leaving them defenseless. Sonic tore through them mercilessly, mostly kicking them in the skull where he knew the servos were, but that didn't mean he had a bit of fun. Darting in between the machines, he was pleased to see them frantically shooting after his blurred form, only to damage each other in their frenzy to get to him.

With most of the robots out of the way, he turned to the largest one.

It loomed over him menacingly, the sharp blades it had for legs stabbing into the ground. It looked like charging at the limbs was out of the question, that is unless he wanted to be sliced in half. Robotnick's newest machine looked vaguely like a massive, dark purple scorpion, but instead of pincers it's face was shaped into a mocking, grinning one that looked vaguely humanoid. Alright. That was unsettling. Creepy points had be given for that. He let his eyes wander away from the sharp-toothed smile and on the orb on the thing's back. The tail was high above his head and shaped like a bladed hammer. Alright, that was a part of the machine he wanted to stay away from. Even from ground level he could see the fat, mustached human known as Doctor Eggman.

The said egg shaped scientist was grinning down at him victoriously, as if he had already won. The sight nearly made his eyes roll. As if.

"Behold my newest creation, the Eggpion!" The man bellowed, arms in the air and a maniacal smirk on his lips. The massive construct lashed, the tail flailing around, knocking down half of the upper floor of a nearby building. Sonic winced internally. That would take a while to fix. "This is the pinnacle of technology that will finally defeat -why are you staring!?" The crazed scientist suddenly thundered, noticing the blank expression

"I thought last week with the Eggterelle was bad enough, it seems you proved me wrong."

"What?! Those are perfectly respectable names!"

"I would have gone with the simpler ones, like Egg Scorpion, but nope!" The azure hero let the word drag out, enjoying the twitching eyebrow his opponent was sporting. "You always have to screw it up, even the names...and what's with the face on it? It looks like it's on a sugar high." Sonic avoided to add that it was terrifying and incredibly unnerving. If he did so the fat human would be tempted to put it on all of his creations, and that was a big no-no for him. "When you said you were losing brain cells while I was gone I didn't think it would be so literal!"

"Why you...!" The Eggpion darted forwards, legs aimed at the blue hedgehog, but the said hero was gone moments before the bladed limbs hit the spot where he had been standing.

"No need to be so grumpy! Sheesh, did Bokkun slip you decaf coffee this morning?" Sonic shouted from the top of a nearby building, looking down at the robot with the unsettling smile. Urgh. He barely restrained a shiver.

Yeah, that face was the first thing that was going to go boom.

"Shut up, you miserable rat!"

The tail lashed out, slamming down at him. Sonic dodged quickly enough, and began darting around the legs in search of a weak point, much to his opponent's annoyance. The human grasped the controllers tightly, and the fake scorpion reared up on it's hind legs. To add to the image, the front blades beginning to spin, nearly drawing out a wince from the Holder. Alright, legs and tail were out. What else could he try...?

He leaped back as the tail tried to turn him into a pancake for a second time, and ran up the side of a nearby building once more. The Blue Blur gauged the distance between the massive battle robot and his current perch, before leaping forwards and landing on top of the thing's disturbing face.

"H-Hey! Get off, rat!" Sonic nearly smirked at the panicked shout coming from above, pulling an arm back as if he was going to punch the smirking, toothy,unsettling grin of the robot. I promised this is the first thing that was going to go boom.

Jade eyes began to glow, their edges gaining vibrant specks of numerous other color. "Ether Claw." He muttered, watching as his raised hand began to melt into the kaleidoscope sludge his body turned into moments before hardening, forming three long, sharp claws, with a thumb that was half the size as it's brethren, but just as sharp. The Blue Blur brought it down the robot's head, the serrated digits shredding through the metallic face with minimal effort.

Ignoring Eggman's infuriated cry, he pushed against the destroyed grinning face with his powerful legs and leaped away. A bladed leg tried to skewer the young hero, but he avoided it with ease by curling into a ball and dashing down it's side to the cracked asphalt road.

Distancing himself from the scorpion-sequel creature, Sonic surveilled the fruits of his attack. He grimaced at the sight. The Eggpion -Chaos the idiot scientist was running out of ideas- had three large marks running down it's face, twisting the metal into a more sadistic smile and to make matters worse, it seemed as if he broke a cooling pipe or something, because there was a clear substance flowing out between the teeth.

Sonic didn't know if he should do another attack or run for the hills.

Grabbing his courage with both hands, he chose the former.

Sprinting towards the machine's deformed face, he made a slight turn to the left to avoid one of the many blades the scorpion-like robot had for legs. The mace tails was suddenly aimed at his head and the Blue Blur rolled aside just in time to feel bits of shrapnel dig into his back, spots where his quills hadn't protected him. Sonic winced at the pain but his run didn't falter. Rather, he jumped forward with every bit of strength his legs had.

He began spinning in the air, his quills straightened, sharp as a blade and as resistant as steel. Sonic could feel himself tearing through the destroyed grinning face and into the mechanism of Eggman's newest creation. The sapphire hero couldn't help but grin to himself. Hopefully the obese scientist would take a few weeks off from attempting to take over the world to lick his wounds.

Then again, the human was pretty stubborn. One look at Eggman's lengthy list of attempts to kill him would tell you that.

Sonic felt his quills tear through a thick metal plating and suddenly there was fresh air. Uncurling from his signature attack, he landed on the ground in a crouched position, and turned around just in time to see the massive scorpion-like machine fall over, defeated.

The speedster looked around for signs of Eggman, and barely glimpsed the human's favorite aircraft disappear behind the corner of a small skyscraper. Huh. No screamed death curses? Interesting. The man was getting quicker with his escapades.

"Doesn't seem like you need any backup."

"A precaution, Vi." He didn't need to turn to know who it was. The cool, familiar biting cold of Ether was gently rubbing against his back, stirring his own energy. The Life Plates buzzed in his chest, excited by being close to one of it's many shards. He took a deep breath and let his own reserves flow within him, soothing cold and familiar, rubbing against the Plates and soothing them back to their dormant state. "You know, you could have stepped in." He turned around, giving the Element Spirit a annoyed glance. "It would have made things quicker!"

The immortal shrugged nonchalantly, his two quills bouncing behind him as his shoulders moved. "It would make it less fun for you." The older of the two explained, smirking playfully at his friend. "I know how much you love annoying that human."

"Hn." Sonic sighed, eyes closing as he shook his head softly. "Not today, though." If the quilled hero had kept his eyes open, he could have seen his guardian's sapphire ones darken.

"The memories are really bothering you, aren't they?" When Vicini spoke again, the tone was soft and careful. Pitying. Sonic hated it. He also hated being seen as weak. He wasn't made of glass, Chaos damn it!

Jade eyes snapped open, stormy and foreboding. He looked down at the ground, not wanting to cross gaze with his fellow Ether-wielder. The asphalt was cracked and covered with small specks of melted metal, debris from the shrapnel that had exploded out of Eggman's machine after he had tore through it with his spindash. Nothing but stone and heartless metal.

He cried out, curling closer to the corner of the room. The wall was biting cold, made of metal like most of the furniture. Cold and lifeless...like the machine in the middle of the room, which was the source of the current argument. He knew he was being childish, but he was seven. He was allowed a bit of freedom for once...

...even if it was as fleeting as a butterfly.

He hated it. He knew he needed to be in the machine at least once a month due to medical reasons, but he hated when the helmet's pointy-things stabbed into the back of his head, and the thing covering his spine burned like if it was liquid fire.

"Be reasonable, child!" He heard Emma cry from the sidelines. He couldn't see her. The young boy closed his eyes, blocking out the tall figure looming over him.

"No! I don't want to!"

Silence. It took him a moment to realize what he just said...

...what he dared to say.

"Boy." He flinched. The tone was as hard and cold as the man's soul. "You will do as I say, child." He felt the human kneel next to him. The young hedgehog shivered. Nononono. He didn't want this. He didn't want this!

Warm hands cupped his face, making his cry harder. He could feel the man's breath brushing against his forehead. He didn't resist, knowing it would prove fruitless. Why? Why him?! Against his will, he found himself staring into the red kaleidoscope eyes of the man he feared above all else.

The only thing he could feel afterwards was emptiness.

Master was there. Master was giving orders to him. Listening to orders. Acting upon orders. Keys. Master gave command. Machine. Had to go to inside machine. His limbs moved with his consent. His mind was filled with only one thought, one purpose. Serve the master.

Serve Tybalt.

"Sir! This isn't necessary!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he was greeted by the sight of bright kaleidoscope eyes of varying shades of green and yellow. Blinking, he stared up at the woman. Something scratched at his mind. He knew her. Somehow, he knew her, but his mind, as clear and precise for the weapon he needed to be couldn't figure out where he had seen her.

"There is no need to fret. Think of it as a small test, Emma."

The woman was looking at Master. Disgust. Anger. Hatred. He could see it hidden in those glowing eyes directed towards Master. Why was she angry? She was supposed to be like him. She wasn't supposed to go against the master. Why was she acting this way?

"You did plenty of tests on him when you got those eyes, Master." The term was spat out with hatred. He stared at her, judging the distance between Tybalt and her in case she became aggressive. How much strength he would have to put in his jump to be able to make her throat cave in with a punch...or be cleaner and sever her head. Maybe snapping her neck would be safer?

Master took good care of them, why should she refuse him?

He felt Tybalt pull him to his side. He could feel the man's restlessness. The mobian child curled closer, pressing his nose against the human's hand in a attempt to comfort him. The limb moved, making him flinch.

If he could, he would smile at the feel of the hand traveling through the silky fur on his head. In no time did he recognize Tybalt was patting his head like a master would to his dog.

He looked up at his Master, perplexed. The man glanced down at him.

He swore he could see blank, ruby red orbs staring at him, reflected by the human's unnaturally beautiful kaleidoscope eyes.

"You just had another one, didn't you?"

"No." Sonic didn't like the accusing tone, eyes dark as he forced his mind to dispel the vile memory. "I haven't had one since this morning."

"I call bullshit on that." The Element Spirit stepped closer, looming over him, pinning him in place with a glare. "I'm your Guardian. I can feel the echoes of your flashbacks through our link." Sonic looked away, refusing to cross his gaze with the immortal spirit's. The childish action made Vicini sigh.

Then again, he didn't have much free time as a child.

"...you know, we can go see Amu or Maika about this. Even Lightos if it's serious enough-"

"No!" Sonic whirled around to meet his gaze, eyes burning with rightful fury and apprehension. Was that a hint of fear? Knowing the subject, Vicini guessed it was. "Don't you dare tell Lightos about it! She can't know I'm having another relapse!"

"So you're going to lie to your own mother?"

That made the blue hedgehog hesitate. "...she's my foster mother." He muttered, more to himself than the other male. The Spirit of Energy watched as the blue speedster bit his lower lip and looked down, ears flicking, caught in a internal debate. He could feel it through their links, even if it was dampened by the Blue Blur's desire to shy away from him. Nevertheless, he was his Guardian. There was little Sonic could hide from him.

But when they spoke about this...things tended to go sour between them.

"Let's start with something simpler." The green-eyed make blinked at him owlishly. "Your friends." Jade eyes darkened, but nevertheless Vicini continued. "You can trust them, idiot. They're your friends. They stood by your side through thick and thin." The apricot fire-wielder's eyes were dark, his face uncharacteristically serious. Sonic hated it. "Don't let their sacrifices go to waste. Remember the shit we went through when the twins got you to the Temple?! Maika had to send you into a induced coma to fix some of what that fucker did because apparently even the most skilled of us could not repair everything, and half of the Spirits suffered from feedback."

The Element spirit snarled, walking forwards until he loomed over the Holder. Sonic cringed, trying to look away, but the intensity of the sapphire orbs made it impossible. He could feel the rage, concern and helplessness radiating from the other side of the link. "I had to stop Flamos from tearing your head off more than once when you were asleep, because apparently my father thinks violence can solve everything, and don't get me started on the 'accidents' that happened occasionally."

The rant over the Element Spirit took a step back, allowing the other space. Sonic was smart enough to know that running away now that the orange male was more than an arm's length away would prove to be fruitless. Vicini would catch him, tie him up and drag him to the Temple, kicking and screaming.

And then Lightos would find out, and he wouldn't hear the end of it.

"But you know how he will react if he finds out."

"So?!" Vicini rumbled, his growl sounding like the crackle of a fierce fire. "Grow a brain, damn it! I'm tired of this!"

Sonic sighed, sounding defeated. "I'll find a way to make these flashbacks end." Vicini opened his mouth to cheer at the news, but his charge's eyes flashed iridescent, stopping him short. "...but I'm not telling them. It will do more harm than good."

"For the love of-"

"No!" The tired speedster shouted, eyes blazing with panic, making the other reel back in shock. "It's my decision, Vicini!" He thought he saw a hint of other colors in the Blue Blur's eyes, and recoiled, raising his hands in a show of peace. He didn't want to mess with the azure's defense mechanism, not when he had yet to learn how to prevent it from activating.

The Element Spirit sighed. He knew when to argue, and when he was defeated.

"Alright. You win for now."

There are two Easter Eggs in the chapter. One from a Anime that we all know and love (probably), one from a movie series that just hit the cinemas for a fourth time. Find them. I dare you, and you'll get a Chibi Sonic as a reward :D

I'm going to leave clues about what exactly happened to Sonic when he was younger, but no promises until the next season. Sorry dear readers. Also, I combined three chapters into this one cuz I felt like it, and none of em' ended the way I wanted.

Hehehe, fingers have no muscles. It's all ligament power! Fun fact, right?

*wiggle fingers*

Crack.

Ow.