Before we get started on this chapter, I'd like to thank the following people:

Lord Kelvin, Metal1784, Child at Heart, Dr Namgge and Captain Hwawrang for your sincere reviews, they have and are really helping me out. I'm grateful for your help, you guys are awesome!

Thank you Elkpelt for proofreading this chapter, you're a great help!

Recovery Starts

The Tornado, Tails' favorite creation was standing in all of its glory in front of Sonic who whistled, impressed with the new upgrades his little brother had given it.

The situation being special, Tails also had to take special countermeasures to avoid any incident that may cost the trio their lives and Blaze was completely aware that she was the one that could cause said incident.

When she saw the new large cannons with big reserve tanks of water stuck on them that the fox had attached to the main body of his aircraft, she couldn't help but feel anxious about them. They had been designed for her, after all.

The boy genius cleared his throat, catching the attention of his two friends. "You've arrived right on time guys! I just finished modifying the latest version of the Tornado. Behold, the W-Tornado!"

"W-Tornado?" Sonic asked, wondering what it was supposed to mean.

"It stands for water, Sonic." Tails said before continuing his explanations.

Before Sonic and Blaze had come to his house and after receiving the phone call of the hedgehog and the quick explanation about the feline's sudden lack of control over fire, Tails wondered what he would be able to do to be able to help the cat he had recently become real friends with.

No way was he going to leave in troubles someone that actually listened to his long monologues on his machines.

First of all, he thought of a way to suppress her fire if it happened to spread somewhere. The obvious answer he found was to use water to deal with it and to this end, he quickly worked on a new inventions: water cannons that could throw water fast and strong enough to get immediately rid of any fire that would start.

It took him a while to create them, then he figured a miniature version would be more practical but before he could set himself to work, guests had arrived at his house hidden in the blizzard.

The fox got his head out of his inventions to welcome Blaze and Sonic and after sitting down on the couch, with hot drinks in hand, the blue hedgehog explained his plan to Tails.

In theory, it was simple: Get in the plane, take Blaze to Angel Island and talk with Knuckles to find a solution.

In practice, they needed to have the cat be able to control herself for a twenty five minutes flight, otherwise they'll get burnt to a crisp.

Tails didn't really know about the feline's fear of heights but was aware that the cat didn't particularly like being in his plane as he understood from their last flight, and so knew that the task would require more attention to ensure a smooth trip.

With his quick thinking, he found a rather simple solution to his problem: Attach his newest invention on his aircraft and add an automatic function to it. If the temperature reaches a certain point, they'll automatically shoot water where the source of the temperature is supposed to be.

After hearing how the fox would deal with their problem, Blaze felt relief that they had a solution but worried that she would have to fly with the threat of being drenched in water at high altitudes.

"Is this really safe?" She asked, starting to think twice about getting into the backseat of the plane.

"You mean aside from catching a cold?" The blue hedgehog said with a smirk, making Tails smile.

"Yep, perfectly safe! Just like Sonic said, the worst you could get is a cold if you stay wet for too long but don't worry, I've got towels ready too in case the cannons activate." The fox said, showing the small stack of towels hidden beneath the second seat. "I've also modified the seatbelt so that you won't be sent out of your seat either so there shouldn't be any problems."

"Sent out of…" Blaze started but was immediately cut by Sonic who jumped into the backseat.

"Alright, no problems means we should get this over with as fast as possible. C'mon Blaze, your turn now." He said as he looked expectantly at the cat.

"Um Sonic, for once wouldn't it be a better idea that you stand on the wing like you do sometimes?" Tails asked, which made Sonic tilt his head in interrogation.

"Why?"

"I mean, if anything were to happen and you were sitting with Blaze then…"

Blaze's anxiety from before came back slowly, she felt that her stomach was twisting, aware that as of now it was dangerous for anyone to be next to her for too long.

"Tails, buddy, we're in the middle of Holoska. No way am I going to wing walk when there's a blizzard outside. Besides, how do I get warmed up if Blaze's not there, hm?"

The cat's feelings dissipated as quickly as they came, surprised by the hedgehog's strange answer. It was an answer that she understood though, it wasn't just a joke coming from the blur, it was him telling her that it was his own choice and that he also trusted her enough to think that she wouldn't end up causing any disasters. "Since when did I become your personal heater, Sonic?" She answered.

"No idea what you're talking about Blaze, aren't you just doing a friend a favor?"

An amused smile spread on the cat's lips as she jumped on her seat before sitting in front of the hedgehog. "…As if."

The answer made Sonic smile widely. "Okay then, we're good to go! Let's hurry Tails."

Said fox had been watching the scene that had just happened in front of him, thinking that it was a… bizarre one to say the least. Sonic wasn't a person that he had seen appreciate close contact with most people, especially girls.

The hedgehog had a good point about the blizzard though, even if the hedgehog had dared to brave similar weathers in the past, it wasn't every time that he did it.

He stopped thinking so hard about it and shrugged it off before he grabbed his aviator scarf and googles, thinking that the hedgehog was just worried about Blaze and didn't want to leave her alone.

That or Sonic was very serious about having his own personal heater during flights. "Maybe I should install one or two on the Tornado…" Tails muttered, actually wondering if it would be better for both him and his future passengers.

He hopped onto the driver seat and started the engines before taking off in direction of the flying island.

Five minutes later, Blaze was already shifting uncomfortably in her seat, trying to stop her fear of height from activating her power.

"How you holding up Blaze?" Sonic questioned, becoming worried for his friend.

"Try to guess." the cat answered, she was definitely uneasy.

The hedgehog wondered how he could make his friend feel better for the trip as he noticed the feline was starting to get warmer by the second, so he went with the first thing that came in his mind: He put an arm around her waist just like he did last time to hold her closer to him.

"W-what are you-?!" Blurted out the surprised cat.

"Well that worked last time right?"

"…T-that's-"

"No good? Is it like a trick that only works once? Oh I know then!"

The hedgehog had the bright idea of wrapping his other arm around the flustered feline.

"H-hey!"

"Aha, you're cooling down, it worked!"

"It… It did?"

Sonic's tactic had been a complete success, the cat's erratic power had calmed down, the air around him feeling colder than before was the proof.

Even though they were still going higher and higher in the sky, Blaze was feeling strange… She felt safe when she shouldn't be.

"Great, embarrassing me to death seems to be what keeps me in control." The cat groaned, her face red like a tomato.

Sonic let out a chuckle, unaware of the blush spreading on Blaze's face. "C'mon it's not that bad, at least we're not gonna end up having our faces shot with those scary looking water cannon." He honestly said, although he also enjoyed teasing his partner whenever he could.

"Maybe I should let out some fire on purpose to make up for the embarrassment you've caused me to feel? I'm sure those cannons will appreciate being able to do their jobs properly, don't you think so?" The feline menaced, clearly not happy with the situation.

This made the hedgehog think twice about teasing the fiery feline some more. "…W-why don't you try to sleep a little Blaze, better than watching the cannons or uh, the clouds, right?"

"…I'd rather avoid having another nightmare." The tone Blaze had was serious. The cat was feeling tired for some reason even though she had slept much more than usual today.

The reasons she could think of were numerous: the fact that she had negative chaos energy inside of her right now, her nightmare, being reminded of her past and today's overall emotional quota having been quite high for the poor cat, it definitely had been a tiring day.

The worst part is that it was far from being over.

"So, Sonic, I'd prefer if you kept me awake."

"You know you might regret asking this, yeah?"

"Your incessant bickering about chili dogs is a thousand times preferable to a nightmare."

"Gee Blaze, you sure do know how to flatter me. Actually, I heard they're planning to make a new kind of chili dog and…"

When the hedgehog started talking about his passion, there was no stopping him. Blaze and Sonic talked about the hedgehog's favorite kind of food for a good part of the flight.

The cat's eyelids started to feel heavier by the minute, Sonic's words began to sound like a lullaby as she slowly drifted to sleep in the unaware hedgehog's arms who continued to talk alone.

"…Then I said: « Wow Chef, how in the world did you think of a sea urchin based chili dog? I've never even dreamt of that kind of taste before! You're brilliant, man! » I thought it was really amazing y'know?" Sonic's speech had been going on non stop during the entirety of the flight, he stopped when he noticed that they had finally reached their destination. "Oh look Blaze, we're there!"

The rough landing was what woke up the cat from her slumber, her eyes shot open, taking her surrounding in as she remembered where she was.

It took her a minute to understand she'd fallen asleep thanks to Sonic's soporific monologue.

It took her an additional thirty seconds to realize she was still held by him, even if his grip was lessening since they had landed.

"So Blaze, whaddya think?" The hedgehog asked with high expectations.

"About what?" The cat replied, wondering if she should have tried harder at staying awake, understanding that the hedgehog had thankfully not noticed she had dozed off.

In his arms.

Even though she felt like she could die a hundred times out of embarrassment right now, for some reason, the cat felt like this had possibly been the best sleep she ever had.

She also had an odd dream which had consisted of Sonic running a kingdom made entirely out of different varieties of chili dogs, chili dog people and her being invited by King Sonic to a dinner which consisted of… chili dogs.

In a way, Blaze felt like she had been placed in the front seat of a cannibalism show, although she still had eaten the food served to her.

Setting the dream and the embarrassment aside, she was feeling particularly good.

'… Could it be that hedgehogs are naturally good as pillows? Is that why I slept so well?' Blaze started to wonder, her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the blue blur.

"About what I just said! That new version of chili dogs, the one I said we should try out!"

"Oh, I'm sure it's… Incredibly tasty."

Truthfully, Blaze had absolutely no idea exactly what he was talking about but to avoid him nagging her more, she just played along.

"Yeah! Man, you're my partner alright, aside from you no one else wants to try it out, not even Tails! Just the name sounds tasty, I don't get why they wouldn't want to give it a try."

"…Neither do I, Sonic, neither do I."

"Right?"

The duo left the plane and waited for Tails to get down before they started walking with Sonic leading them.

"I'm glad we've finally arrived on solid…" The feline started until she saw that the clouds were close to her, way too close. Her eyes caught sight of the end of said land as she finished her sentence, understanding that they truly were on a floating island. "…ground"

"You said somethin' Blaze?" Her blue companion inquired.

"…Never mind me."

The cat observed everything around her, from the dense looking forest on one side, to the cliff of the floating island she was on, she couldn't help but be amazed that such a place even existed.

Although she had already walked high in the sky when they had to explore Sky Babylon during her last adventure with Sonic, Tails and Marine, the place had just been ruins upon ruins and nothing else, while here, there seemed to be so much life even though it felt impossible. Yet the forest not far from her was proof that the impossible had become possible.

"Fascinating…" muttered the feline, in awe at the existence of the flying island, though she still felt uneasy whenever her eyes caught the dangerous end of the land.

It seemed like the fox and the hedgehog were used to this kind of scenery as this earned no special reaction for them, they were actually looking forward to meeting with Knuckles again.

"I hope that knucklehead's still as good as ever, been a while since we last saw him."

"I hope so too, it's too bad he doesn't come visit us when there aren't troubles."

Sonic nodded, smirking. "No troubles, no Knuckles, or is it the other way around?"

"Come on Sonic, he doesn't bring us troubles!… Well, maybe a little." The fox joked.

"Since when did you become so mean, Tails?" Sonic said laughing.

"Hey, you're the one that started it."

The feline was starting to wonder if they were joking or being serious. "I might not know this Knuckles fellow but I only hope that he won't try to fight me for a reason or another." She said, which made Sonic face her with an awkward smile.

"I promise you, even if he's a knucklehead, he's not a bad one. I really doubt he'll pick a fight with you for no reason."

"You sure had your share of troubles here Blaze but don't worry, I can confirm Knuckles won't try anything more harmful than a prank to a friend of ours." The fox concluded, reassuring the cat.

"Yeah! And uh, sorry about Amy… and Rouge… and Shadow." The blue blur gave her an apologetic smile.

"There's no reason for you to apologize Sonic, none of that was your fault, especially in Rouge and Shadow's cases."

"Well at least for Amy-"

"We're here!" Interrupted Tails as they had arrived in front of what looked like an ancient shrine.

A red echidna was standing there, his eyes closed and his arms crossed. Behind him was standing a magnificent and incredibly huge jewel that had a striking resemblance to the green Chaos Emerald.

The guardian of the Master Emerald heard unfamiliar sounds coming into his surroundings, the usual peaceful place now disturbed by the echo of feet softly stepping on the grass.

His eyes shot open as they immediately searched for the source of the sound, a frown apparent on the echidna's face as he was aware that danger might be near.

Once he found the origin of the noise, his muscles relaxed when he saw his friends approaching him.

With his friends, there was a person he didn't know but he was sure it wasn't someone bad since the cat was with both the hedgehog and the fox.

"Sonic, Tails, it's been a while. What's up?" Greeted the echidna with a friendly smile.

The blue hedgehog returned the smile and waved his hand at him. "Hey, Knucklehead!"

"Hi Knuckles! We've been doing well, what about you?" Tails said, happy to see his friend again.

"Same old, same old. So, who's this new- Uh… Is she alright?" Knuckles asked after noticing the clothes the cat was wearing.

She had decided to not use Tails' washing machine while she and Sonic were at his house as she felt that it would be a waste of precious time, the cat just wanted to be done as soon as possible with their current problem.

So the cat was indeed still wearing the slightly torn clothes with the blood stains on it.

"Actually…" began the hedgehog as he started to tell Knuckles about the encounter with Shadow, how and why it had affected Blaze so strongly. "And that's why we're here."

With Blaze's authorization, the hedgehog hadn't spared any details to Knuckles, including telling about the feline's Sol Emeralds as well as her control over fire. If they wanted her to get better, they had to tell everything to him in hope that he would have a solution.

"I see, this sounds like a complicated situation." The echidna said as he observed the cat. "There's only one thing I can think about that might work but…"

"But?" Tails inquired.

"Well, I can't guarantee that anything will work. Or that it won't backfire since your friend has a different energy than Chaos inside of her. I'm actually surprised she's standing there, looking fine…"

"What do ya mean, Knuckles?" Sonic said.

"Based on what you told me about the fight with Shadow, seems like your own set of emeralds protected you, or more like, went against Chaos energy based attacks." Knuckles explained. "They destroyed each other. You understand what I'm saying right?"

The fox gulped, feeling a twist forming in his stomach. "…I thought it was because it was negative Chaos energy that it had happened. The Sol Emeralds and the Chaos Emeralds are supposed to attract each other, not repel or annihilate each other…"

The red echidna scratched the back of his head. "Maybe they do attract each other, but maybe it's direct contact between the raw energies that causes that. I could be wrong too, I don't know enough about it."

"Should we just wait for it to go away then?" The blue hedgehog wondered.

The cat shook her head. "No. With the threat of our enemies still lurking, I cannot allow myself to be unable to fight. We have to treat this as quickly as possible."

"We shouldn't be hasty, if you give me some time I can probably make a solution-" Started the fox but was quickly interrupted but Blaze.

"For all we know, we could get attacked in the next hour. Knuckles, if you were able to cure me, I would be in your debt."

The echidna nodded. "I can purge the negative energy inside of you using the Master Emerald's positive energy, but as I said, I'm not sure if it'll work or if it won't backfire. You sure you still wanna risk it?"

"Blaze, wait." The blue blur began.

"Sonic, this is my decision."

"Listen, we can wait for it to go away, I can protect everybody and-"

"We don't even know if it will heal with time! And I'm not worried about being protected Sonic, I'm worried that I might cause more troubles if I try to defend myself!" Blaze answered rather aggressively before immediately calming down, aware that she might spread fire if she continued. "So please, believe in my choice."

For once, Sonic wasn't sure on how to answer to this. He felt conflicted inside of him, on one side he was very worried for what could happen to his friend, on the other he did trust her completely.

It took him a few second of self debating before nodding. "Only if you promise me we'll go eat chili dogs as soon as this is over. Deal?"

"That certainly sounds worser than what I'm about to go through but alright, it's a deal."

Blaze moved forward and stood next to Knuckles who had been patiently waiting. The fox and the hedgehog were looking at the scene, not moving an inch from their spots as they hoped everything would go well.

"Place your hand on the Master Emerald." The echidna instructed as he did too on the opposite side of where she was.

The cat did as she was told and put her hand on the large gem. At first, she felt nothing, then, she felt something warm coming from the emerald, it was an almost pleasant feeling as she noticed that her body was starting to feel lighter.

A second later, Blaze felt intense pain coursing through her whole body as if a huge amount of electricity was going through it.

The feline was flung back brutally, Sonic reflexively ran and caught her in the air to make sure she didn't get hurt.

The hedgehog immediately checked her pulse after seeing that her eyes weren't opening. Her breathing was normal and so was her heartbeat, everything seemed to be fine, aside from the fact that Blaze had blacked out.

This music… Is it coming from a piano? It feels… familiar.

I remember, Mother had gotten me a private teacher to learn how to play music like her, she always said that it was the the most magnificent type of art to have been created and a needed skill for us of royal blood.

The teacher's name was Frederic… Frederic what? I cannot remember… But I remember that he was a virtuoso with his instrument and that I loved participating in each of his lessons.

I think I know the name of this music. Was it… Nocturne?

Yes, it is.

It was my favorite and… the last tune of his I've heard.

It was the morning on the day my powers appeared.

I see… So the kitten standing before me is…

Myself.

The lady watching me get tended by the maids is Mother when she was younger.

And this place is my old bedchamber.

"It seems you've enjoyed your morning lesson with Frederic, my daughter, your smile being as bright as the sun is the proof."

"Yes! Sir _ is an amazing musician, Mother."

I couldn't hear his full name. It's not very important but…

"Of course he is, it is why I chose him to tutor you after all. Ah, you are ready, do I need to remind you of our schedule today?"

"Thank you Mother but I know it by heart. May I ask you a question?"

"You may."

"Why are we going to see an orphanage today?"

Because she wanted to make herself look good in front of our people.

"Do you not know why I am called the Great Mother by our people, my daughter?"

"It's because you care about every person like a real mother would, Mother."

"That is correct."

It's all about making an impression, she would say next. When our people see us, they only care about our outer appearance.

How I wish she had been wrong about that.

"Mother… May I ask another question?"

"You may, but be fast about it for we have to go soon."

"Why was I named Blaze?"

…

"What an unusual question. Are you jealous to not share the name of a flower like princesses from neighboring lands, my daughter?"

"N-No… I am only curious."

"I shall satisfy your curiosity then, it is because you shall be a strong and fair ruler that everybody will look up to. You shall be a blaze, a powerful fire yet a kind light that will make our people follow you and make our enemies surrender. "

"But Mother what if… What if I'm not strong enough, or kind enough? What if our people do not accept me as their ruler?"

"Do not worry, my daughter, this will never happen. But know that if it does, I will always be there to support you, for I am your mother."

…

You liar.

Blaze's eyelids slowly opened, her gaze met with the eyes of a worried blue hedgehog in a squatting position next to her, for some reason it gave her a feeling of déjà vu.

"Hey, how you feeling?" He asked.

The feline went from a lying position to a sitting one, her immediate reaction was to put her right hand forward and open her palm, creating a small flame inside of it. Without much effort from her mind, the cat managed to create simple geometric shapes out of fire, such as circles and squares.

With a little more effort, she managed to create small cubes, spheres and pyramids.

"I can control my fire like before." She finally said as she looked at the hedgehog who smiled brightly.

"Great! So you're feeling better then."

"…I am." Blaze replied although she had hesitated a second, pondering on what she might just have dreamt of.

Or more like, reminisced of, as she was sure that it was one of her memories. How strange of her to remember something she had thought long forgotten.

'Not that it matters anymore.'

The cat looked around and saw that Tails and Knuckles were rushing toward her, just as worried as the blue hedgehog.

"Blaze! Are you okay?! Did it backfire?! What about your powers?!" Tails arrived faster than Knuckles and the little fox had panicked once he had seen Blaze unexpectedly flying away from the Master Emerald.

"I'm fine Tails, I just blacked out for a second. I'm feeling much better than before too, fire is once again under my complete control."

"Well, it could've been worse." Said Knuckles, happy that nothing bad had happened "Fire huh…"

The cat stared at the red echidna. "Are you afraid of my power?"

"Afraid? Not really. I mean if those two are with you," He said as he pointed to the fox and the hedgehog "Then you're not a bad guy, so I got nothing to fear."

'So it's because Sonic and Tails are here, if they weren't then he too would be hostile toward me.' "I see, in any cases, I am in your debt." Blaze bowed to show that she was truly grateful, which made Knuckles feel uncomfortable.

"Uh, just a thanks is fi-… Hold on." He immediately turned around to face back the Master Emerald he had left alone for a minute, sensing that something was amiss. "My echidna senses are tingling."

Knuckles' senses were indeed right as he saw a flying object nearing his huge precious gem.

Or more like a flying bat he knew very well.

"Argh, not her again! Don't you dare touch the Master Emerald, Rouge!" The echidna angrily shouted as he ran toward the bat who had an amused expression on her face, clearly enjoying Knuckles' reaction.

"Rouge? What is she doing here?" The feline wondered as she followed her friends.

"Oh, she's just trying to steal the Master Emerald again." Tails answered nonchalantly.

"More like she came to have fun annoying Knuckles, it's basically her second hobby after stealing stuff." The hedgehog said, feeling bored. "Hey Knux, you wanna come with us to eat chili dogs?"

« Knux » as Sonic would put it, was busy running after the bat that was flying in circles around the Master Emerald.

"Can't you see I'm busy?!"

"Oh hi big blue, how are you- Ah, Blaze!"

The bat abruptly stopped flying forward. In reaction, the echidna jumped to catch her, but right before he reached her, Rouge flew toward the cat.

Knuckles flew as well through the air, except he face planted into the dirt a meter away from his initial position.

The bat landed in front of the cat, observing her friend.

Blood stains, tears on clothes, a few bruises that were nearly gone on her face, everything confirmed that she had been in a rough fight. '…That's strange. I'd expect more damage if she fought Shadow, especially since I saw him bruised too. Did he go easy on her?' Rouge's eyes fell on the biggest blood stain that was on Blaze's jacket. '…No, he didn't, so what in the world happened? I fought against her, no way she'd actually give him troubles… I need to ask Omega some questions later.'

Blaze started to feel uncomfortable as her gaze switched from the bat that had been staring intensely at her to the echidna that still had his face in the dirt, it didn't look like he had any motivation to get up. "Um… Is he okay?" The cat said, pointing a finger at Knuckles.

"I should be asking that about you Blaze. I heard about what happened and I'm really-" The treasure hunter was interrupted by her friend that shook her head.

"Rouge, you don't have to apologize, it wasn't your fault there either."

"Even so… At least I'd like to apologize on Shadow's behalf."

"I cannot forgive somebody for attacking me so suddenly, especially if he doesn't come apologize himself." Blaze answered sternly.

"I'd say the same if I was in your case, but since I know that idiot is never going to say sorry, I might as well do it in his place." The bat said, crossing her arms.

"I understand. You are a good person, Rouge."

"Now now, are you trying to make me blush, sweetie?"

Tails had helped Knuckles up, the angry echidna quickly made his way behind the bat before clearing his throat. "If the « good person » could get out of my island and never come back, that'd be very much appreciated."

"I'm happy to see you as well, Knuckles. How have you been?"

"Fine until you happened to come."

"I see, I see, you missed me that much huh?"

"Wha- I never said that!"

"But you thought about it, I'm sure~."

"Ugh, just, get off my island." Knuckles said after putting a hand on his forehead, feeling like a headache was about to come.

"Alright, alright, in exchange I'll be taking that big jewel with me!"

"Oh no you don't!"

Rouge grinned, enjoying the echidna's reactions. "Just kidding, I'll be taking Blaze with me."

The cat looked surprised at the unexpected announcement. "Wait, why?" She asked.

"Because friends don't let friends walk around clothed like a…" The bat tried to find the correct word but failed to do so. "Like a girl that fought a hedgehog in a bad mood. Anyway, we're going shopping right away. You don't have any problems with that Big Blue?" She asked the blue hedgehog as she turned around to face him.

"Huh? Why are you asking me?" Sonic answered.

"I dunno, maybe in case you'd feel lonely without her~?"

He waved a hand as if to say that it was alright. "Nah don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Have fun you two." The blue blur answered, it didn't look like he was bothered much by Rouge's attempt to embarrass him.

The bat frowned, unhappy of the lack of reaction she got from him. "Really, you're no fun to tease anymore. I guess I have to move on to Tails now…" She said, glancing at the fox who took a step back in fear that the bat would suddenly try something funny, making Rouge smirk again. "Good reaction, I expect more from you fox boy."

"Well anyway, time for us to move, see you, you three!" The bat forcefully grabbed Blaze by the hand and dragged her with her, ignoring the cat's protests while doing so.

The trio of friend stood next to each other as they watched the other two leave.

"Sonic, is it really fine to let Blaze go like that with Rouge?" Tails wondered.

"Her power's back under control so she can handle herself, and I doubt Shadow will try to do anything to her again. Well if he does, he knows what's coming for him." His big brother answered, definitely not worried anymore for her.

"By the way I've been wanting to talk to you two." Knuckles started, his mood suddenly becoming serious. "Haven't you felt something strange these past few days?"

"Something strange?" Both Sonic and Tails said at the same time.

"Yeah, it's like the days are getting longer. Haven't you noticed?"

The hedgehog and the fox tensed up. Had Knuckles said this a week ago, they would have laughed it off by saying that guarding the Emerald all day under the sun might have been bad for his head.

Except that there was a monster capable of bending Time and Space on the loose and that they were aware that Knuckles possibly had the best grasp of feeling time as he did the exact same thing everyday without being bothered by it.

No wonder he would be able to feel that something's wrong with the flow of time.

"Not really as lots of stuff happened these days, but with what happened to Blaze then would it mean…"

"To Blaze?" The red echidna inquired, curious.

"Yeah, that happened a few days ago, when she came here." Sonic started roughly explaining what had happened to his feline friend.

"…I see, so Eggman's behind this?"

"We're… not sure. If he had started anything he would've done his usual big announcement that he was going to conquer the planet. Y'know, the one he usually ends with his evil laugh." The blue hedgehog finished.

Knuckles nodded, agreeing with his friend. "This could become a really big problem."

"We should talk about it when Blaze comes back, I just thought about something that might be important but it'd be stupid to not share it with her…" The fox said with a finger under his chin as he looked at the ground, deep in thought, before raising his head to meet the echidna's gaze. "Oh by the way Knuckles, I came with the camera device I told you of last time."

"The one you said could let us speak and see each other even if we're not close? It'd be really handy. You know how I am with technological things though, I hope you made it easy enough to use."

"We know, you Knucklehead."

"Stop calling me that, Sonic."

"Don't worry Knuckles, I'll teach you how to use the device, it's very simple! You see…" The fox proceeded to inform his friend on how to use a one button device specifically made for him.

At the same time, Tails had many thoughts coming and going into his head, some had been there for a while as small theories and had now grown in size, some of the ideas he had thought correct were slowly becoming false as he saw the flaws inside of them.

The fox decided that he would wait until Blaze was with them so that he could explain his thoughts and even though he tried to tell himself to not be too hasty and be optimist, his mind couldn't help but make the situation look worse by the minute, all thanks to Knuckles' remark about the days stretching and Sonic's remark about Eggman usually having big announcements before attacking.

The one situation he had said he thought to be impossible as it was too unlikely, the worse case that would make their upcoming fight so much harder was starting to feel the most likely and the theory that Blaze's world had been stopped in time was slowly being replaced with another, more terrible one.

He just hoped that, for once, his predictions would be wrong.