Maria stood and strode over to the window of her house on Mobius. An emerald flew past in a sparkling, rainbow streak. Chase was at his mate's side a moment later, having put down a manual on Extreme Gear repairs, respectively to his preferred series of boards.
"Something up?" the orange hedgehog asked softly, putting an arm around her.
"Oh..." Maria started, twitching an ear lightly. "I just got this...feeling." She looked up into the night sky, clear and full of twinkling stars.
He lightly licked behind her left ear, then kissed her cheek. "Yes? What kind of feeling?"
"Ohhh..." Maria thought about it. The emerald had rippled through her with a kind of feeling, and she was trying to place it. "I think... the emeralds are happy."
"The emeralds?" Chase asked curiously.
She nodded and leaned against her mate. "They feel like singing. Whoever just used them, they like them."
He wasn't sure what to think as he looked into the ruby eyes of his love. Speaking to emeralds? Singing? He didn't have any idea how true that could be, but he knew the emeralds' power was real, and if one just flew by, they'd been used in some tremendous way. "So how do you get to know so much?"
She chuckled. "I just do."
On Earth, Metal Shadow had just struck the finishing blow to the Egg Fort 4. While the ship was doomed to begin with, he slammed his giant metal feet down on it, plunging it to the street below. He and the two super forms remained floating.
He stared down grimly at the two floating beings and went to swat at them much like flies. "Think you can defeat me?" Metal Shadow laughed.
While the metal Goliath stood down two small Davids, a certain two-tailed fox was cleaning up his end of the battle. "Back off, Kit." Tails' voice carried to the Typhoon. "I know you're an ace pilot, beyond a doubt, but that's something we can't fight."
"Yes, Dad." Kit said respectfully. "You got Trace' back, right?"
"Yeah. And one more. Heh. I'm coming up behind you, you'll be taking Trace' to the MRC when we land, she got a little banged up," Tails called back.
Kit's curiosity was satisfied as soon as a very sexy looking lynx dropped into the back seat with his sister in her arms. He let out a low whistle. "Yow. Well this is a surprise, isn't it?"
Tails laughed. "That's Kunoichi, E-91. A robot."
Kit gave a defeated sigh and then a laugh of his own. "Would be my luck, eh?" He looked over his shoulder, seeing his sister smile and the robot look confused. "Hi. I'm Kit, nice to meet ya. I would so like to take you apart some time."
"Excuse me?" the faux lynx started, confused.
Tracey laughed, "That is a coooorny pickup line, Bro."
"I know." He shrugged. "Well, Kunojaji or Moji or Monchhichi or whatever you are, you're welcome to stay with us," Kit said as he turned the Typhoon back toward the city.
"...Thank you," Kunoichi said with gratitude in her very convincing female voice.
Outside, a Chaos explosion issued. When Ash was struck by the giant metal monster, he refused to give ground. The Chaos within him flared out in an explosion that did little effect but stun it.
Shadow flew in and attacked Metal Shadow's ear, which wound up banging his head downward for a moment. "Annoying fly!" Super Metal growled irritably and went to swat Shadow away, smacking himself in the head.
"Don't use your power recklessly," Shadow said softly as he rejoined his son. "We only have a limited amount of power, so we need to use it well."
"What about him?" Ash asked as the two darted away from another swipe.
Shadow took a good long look at the metal creature and grinned. "Yeah. I think it's about time we pull the plug." He paused a moment in thought. Super Metal's hand came down again, but it stopped as if it had struck a concrete when it hit Super Shadow's topmost quill. It tried hitting him with its fists, but the hedgehog didn't move or act as though he'd been struck at all.
"Why can I not hurt you?" Super Metal growled irritably. While he didn't seem to be able to be hurt by the super hedgehog, the same was true in reverse.
"Oh sorry...were you talking to me?" Shadow smirked, then tilted his head to Ash. "His power core should be in his midsection. Try entering through his ears or jets, even his mouth, but I'm sure he's armed any place you could get in so make it fast."
Ash nodded in understanding and flew at Super Metal, who charged up lasers and shot missiles, all at the kid. Shadow intercepted the missiles and blasts. He'd absorbed far more energy than his son, so he could afford to "play" a bit. The boy timed his entry to the robot's system between laser fires and dove down into the darkness.
The core would be brightly illuminated, but his way there, not essentially so. The emeralds gave him a slight aura, which he used as a flashlight. He had to stop at times while the metal monster twisted and turned so he wouldn't get bashed around the inner walls. 'I might be able to hurt these wires….' he thought, and tested a spin through a series of cords. It worked.
Super Metal gave a cry like that of pain as some part of him was cut. Still, he didn't worry and focused on the external problem. The nanobots that Eggman had built into all his sentients sprang forth like spiders, a host of artificial white blood cells, come to cure him of disease.
"Oh shit..." Ash started and flew by them, a number of their own medical lasers far more capable of killing a normal Mobian at this proportionate level. He took flight, trying to avoid the swarm, some of them coming after him and undoubtedly calling more. 'I am so not a hero!'
The flash of green caught his eye, and he swerved sharply between some pivoting metal hoop, the function of which he had no clue, and headed for the light. At last, he'd found the core, brimming with stolen emerald power, flooding the chamber where a heart should have been in a sickly light. With the nanobots swarming around him, he could be easily overwhelmed. No time to hesitate. He summoned what power was left in him and struck the Chaos drive, shattering it and sending the liquid Chaos to fly and flare out.
Outside, Super Shadow had been pinned to a building as his own power began to fail. His metal opponent suddenly looked pale, if that were possible "...No..."
Shadow smiled slightly. "Yes." He watched as the paint job faded back to black and red. The Chaos ate at it like acid, then exploded outward so that Shadow had to shield himself against the heavy shrapnel. The city below had suffered worse than last time, and the darkened hedgehog felt some measure of guilt for that. 'If I were a real hero….' he thought. But he looked where the core exploded, Ash hanging there in the air. His own power was failing, and certainly the Chaos now left his son. He scooped him into his arms before his power ran out and lowered him onto a nearby building.
Sirens blared through both Station Square and Gate City that evening and well into the next day. It would be weeks, even months before the physical damage to the landscape was righted. As for injuries and lives lost in the battle, that was quite another matter.
Tracey, Blitz, and Amy had gotten off easily enough, none of them incurring any serious harm from their fights. Shadow, Kit, and Ash had gotten off without a scratch (though for the two hedgehogs that was due to the Chaos that powered them). Rift and Sonic were another matter entirely.
Hannah had come to visit the purple hedgehog as soon as she found out about the incident with anxious hugs and unheard assurances that it would be all right. Rift had incurred some internal damage from the sound waves, though the external wounds were not great. It was the damaged hearing that plagued him most. He dared not speak or raise his voice, afraid for the silence that greeted him. Oh, he could remember sound, but he didn't want to speak, let alone sing. While hope was offered that his hearing could be recovered with surgery and time (at least in part), it was enough to drive a wedge between him and the songstress, who eventually left him.
Sonic's loss was probably just as great. A concussion from his impact with the ground was the least of his damage, with cracked ribs, a crushed hip, shattered shin, and some spinal damage rendering him immobile. He tried to laugh it off in front of Amy, who wept at his side and stayed by him day and night, but it would be a good long road to recovery, and no hope among his doctors that it would ever be a full recovery. Chris and Helen Thorndyke had offered him and Rift both help if it came down to money in getting whatever help they needed, something both were grateful for.
Time had not been entirely unkind to the heroes or their children, however. Life had a way of going back to a rhythm and would eventually mend heartache as well as any broken bones. Sonic would run again, if not as fast, and Rift would hear again, if not as sharply.
Kit formed a fast friendship with Kunoichi; he was happy to have her around. While Fiona scolded him for taking interest in a robot, Tails just considered Kunoichi like a member of the family from the word go. The teen enjoyed looking at new technology and was getting a healthy appreciation for Eggman's more advanced robots.
Blitz' Gear races took him to the island a few times after the event, and not always under the guise of racing. He found Lara-su just as she'd left him, a fiery scamp with a love of danger. Having a bit of fighting experience now where it counted didn't hurt his standing with Guardian Knuckles. Even with any conflicts it might have with the older guardians, it wasn't like he didn't have his share of criticism for them. Blitz may have upped his importance in the battle just slightly, however….
Ash knocked at the door of the Prower residence, Kunoichi answering. He'd grown used to the sight of the artificial lynx, though a certain shiver ran through him at how realistic she looked. "Is Tracey in?" he asked after a moment.
"Yes. Want me to-" Kuno was cut off as the orange fox broke past her with a smile on her face.
"Hi, Ash." Her white cheeks took on a slightly flushed look.
"Hi, Trace." The hedgehog smiled at her with a hint of pride in his eyes. "Ready to go?" He offered her a hand.
She took it lightly and almost stumbled off the front step. He was there to catch her, and a smile lit in her eyes. "Thanks."
The robot watched in confusion as the two stepped out into the night. She only then noticed that the pair were dressed in nice clothing. "May I ask what turned her into a weak-kneed giggly teen?" the robot inquired of Kit, who stood idly next to her with a grin on his face.
"She's in love," he replied with a shrug.
"I'm afraid that one still escapes me…." Kuno frowned a bit.
"Not a problem," Kit assured her. "Won't be long, I think, before those two are official."
"And you?" Kuno looked at the silver-eyed boy. "Is there someone you love?"
Kit's cheeks turned red and he looked away. "Ohh…well..." He coughed. "Hey, I was doing some research on one of Eggman's old roboticizers. You know there's a theory that metal can be made flesh? If he really did turn Mobians into robots, I think it's poss..." he trailed off and dug his foot into the carpet. "Anyway, I think it's time for dinner."
Kunoichi followed the teen to the dining room, a strange sense of peace washing over her. 'He cares for me, doesn't he?' she thought.
Shadow and his family sat in the waiting room of Mobotropolis' Acorn Hospital. It was much like any other waiting room Shadow had been in, complete with comfortable seating, soft colors, and tables full of magazines. This time around, he was smart enough not to touch the various pamphlets on disease and illness, lest he get paranoid. He favored keeping his arms around Sara and the small black and red child sleeping in her lap. It helped him relax, and he really needed too anyway; the other side of the family was there as well. It was different, however, in that it was built for Mobians, and though the ceiling was tall enough, only the couches could have handled larger guests.
It was an orange hedgehog's turn to pace back and forth while a pale blue and gray hedgehog smiled at him from behind a paper he was reading. "Calm down, Chase, Maria will be fine," he encouraged.
"I...I know, Chuck, it's...she's…." Chase's face filled with worry and helplessness.
"So pacing's going to help?" Shadow asked calmly, his thumb lightly stroking Ayame's ear.
"Easy for you to say," he sighed. "Sara's done having kids…."
Shadow gave him a somewhat icy look through his crimson eyes and leaned against Sara. "Maybe."
"I think he means he's worried about Maria too." She leaned back against Shadow gently. "Grandbabies..." Sara chuckled. "Oh my, I'm only thirty four..."
"Thirty-five here," Chase's father, long hated of Shadow, spoke up with a slight smile. Duo kept an arm around his yellow mate Raye and was glad she was there too. He was sure the family get-together in a waiting room would be much different if it was "just the guys."
"And that makes me a great grandfather." Charles smiled.
"How old are you anyway?" Ash asked from where he'd been sitting. It was rather late, and so all were tired. Tracey had curled up with her head on his lap, the two having recently become mates.
"Ohh...fifty four." The graying hedgehog shrugged. To humans this might have seemed young, but as Mobians could mate as early as 12, the generation gaps were smaller. Waiting until he was 20 was more than old enough to have a child.
'I'm older,' Shadow thought inwardly. "If you want to do something for her, go to her," he said more at Chase than to Chase.
The younger orange hedgehog stopped pacing like a lunatic for a moment and let his quills rest from the bristling they'd been doing since he and Maria had arrived. He took a deep breath. "Yeah...you're right."
As he was trying to retreat into the birthing center, a porcupine nurse came to greet them with a smile on her face. "Mr. Chase?" she greeted warmly, to his nodding, dumbstruck face. "It's a girl…and a boy."
"T-twins?!" He just about fainted but that Shadow of all people caught him.
'We will not speak of this again….' "How's Maria?" Shadow asked.
"Tired but happy," the porcupine replied. "She's being moved to a recovery room with the pups," she applyed a little used Mobian term for most mammal offspring. "She can receive guests in about fifteen minutes."
When at last the group was called to visit the new mother and children, Shadow lagged behind everyone, with an arm curled around Sara warmly. "You're being really calm and patient for once," she said softly. "Aliens kidnap you or something?" she joked.
"No." Shadow nuzzled her ear and smiled toward her and the infant in her arms.
"So you don't want to be the first to see our grandkids?" She smirked. Ayame began to stir and shifted positions, using a chunk of mommy's hair-quills to pull herself up.
"It's not that…it's just…." He pulled Ayame's hand from his mate's hair, the child looking up at her papa with a smile. "..Little things no longer bother me."
"I'm glad," Sara said softly, shifting the child in her arms so that they both wound up supporting her as they walked down the halls. "But I'd hardly call grandchildren 'little things'."
Little things could spark something big, and in the right circumstances they could bloom into something beautiful. A little thing like a case of mistaken identity had led to years of love, laughter, and enjoyment that far outweighed any pain and tears that had shaped it. Little wonder he could smile more easily or appreciate the little things that now filled his life.
--The End