(Rachel's POV)

Drinking tea was like swallowing warm, sugar-coated razors. A stream of painful sparks drizzled against the walls of my throat. But I didn't mind half as much as I would have if the circumstances had been different. The tea was so sweet that it caused me to gag a little. But then I managed to adjust to the taste, realizing the drink wasn't actually overly sweetened. I had just been deprived of any and all existing flavors for months now, reduced to nothing but the taste of those disgusting nutrient bars. Therefore, it was a dramatic shift in my senses.

After gulping down the last of the heated liquid, I pulled the cup back and looked down at the dark, crumbly grains that were left over, before scanning around in search of a place to set it down.

Amy had been sitting with her legs crossed, chatting with Sonic in the seats across from me. She noticed I was finished and quickly jumped up, squeezing past him in the confined space, and hurried over to my side with an outstretched hand.

"I'll take that for you!" she said proudly, flashing a glowing smile. "You really downed that fast. Would you like some more?"

I shook my head slowly, my voice having been temporarily lost in the steam and sugar. She understood, and pried the cup out of my hands, hurrying off down the hall without another word. In her wake, Sonic and I were left alone.

I looked over at the Blue Blur with a slightly dazed look. He noticed the strange imbalance in my expression and cocked his head.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked with empathy, preparing himself to rise from the seat.

I found my head lolling over more in his direction, and was instantly welcomed by a head rush. The outline of his figure was suddenly ornate in the colorful dots that were leaving swirly prisms all over my vision.

"...That's a good question," I answered, my voice slightly hoarse. "I think so. I mean...I'm not in any sort of pain, if that's what you mean. I'm just sort of dizzy all of a sudden."

Sonic looked less concerned and instead laughed at my reply. "It was probably Amy's tea. Not that she would've intentionally poisoned you or anything, but brewing has never been her strong-suit."

Knuckles, who had been looking out a window from his own seat, turned over and chuckled.

"Yeah, and neither is respecting one's personal space. Isn't that right, Sonikku?"

Sonic's muzzle reddened at the echidna's joke.

"Darn...I thought that nickname was my own private nightmare. Keep it up, Knuckle-head, and I'll be sure to drown out that red in your spines and add some blue and black to your pallet. How would you like that?"

But just when their banter had started to amuse me, the world suddenly felt like it was swaying back and forth. My eyes sloshed between both Sonic and Knuckles in a teeter-totter segue.

Red...

They settled on Knuckles.

Blue...

Then bent on over to Sonic.

...Black...

the spots adorning my vision formed an eerie constellation, in the shape of a jagged, hedgehog-esque silhouette.

Private nightmare...

I suddenly gasped. A jolt of pain stabbed me square in the stomach.

Sonic and Knuckles registered my cry immediately and turned their heads in my direction. By then I was already pressing my arms into my torso, as a familiar sting throbbed against the patch of skin that had been scarred, each plunging sensation weaker than the last.

Sonic noticed right away that I was occupied with my stomach again, and stepped over so that he was in front of me.

"Woah. Rachel, what's going on with you?" he said a little impatiently. "It's your stomach again. You had a similar problem earlier, and I'm sure you have an idea of what it is. Don't you think it'd be best if you showed us, or at least told us what was wrong with you?"

My gaze drifted down to the hem of my shirt. I noted all the little tingles sprouting up from under my skin.

If only I could check myself alone and without onlookers. It's hard enough dealing with this in Sonic's presence alone, but now Knuckles is staring too.

I knew no good would be done if I kept trying to ignore the issue. My whole body had been on quite a wild ride lately, what with the Chaos energy and then the freezing cold. I felt blessed to still be alive and kicking. But that probably didn't mean I was completely out of the woods yet. The only thing left to do was showcase myself one final time, so we could all try to figure out what the problem was and see if we could solve it. After all, Sonic and the others wouldn't hurt me. They were here to help.

So with a final nip of the lip, I quickly grabbed the bottom of my white t-shirt and pulled it up with fidgety hands.

I was too scared to see the damage for myself, so instead I looked up at the faces of the hedgehog and echidna standing near me, analyzing their reactions. They drew closer for a moment and squinted their eyes, before taking a few steps back and shooting me looks of confusion.

"Hey Knuckles, you need to come in here, quickly," Tails said from within the cockpit area.

The red echidna broke his eye contact with my body and swerved around to enter the opening where the young pilot fox sat at his controls. He made not a single comment in regards to me and my injury. Which I found incredibly odd.

Sonic, on the other hand, went back to examining my stomach, moving his head back and forth as if trying to see it from different angles.

And that's when Amy decided to enter the aisle once again.

"Okay just so everyone knows, I made some extra tea, and I think I did a pretty good job with the recipe. So if any of you are thirsty, feel free to help yourself to some warm, homemade, good old fashioned-"

She caught sight of the scene before her, and nearly busted an artery with the new pulsing rage.

"SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"

Sonic winced from her shrieks and looked back at the rose-colored hedgehog in shock, where she stood pointing an accusing finger in his direction. For a second I could've sworn there was steam shooting from her ears and nostrils. She was the bull and Sonic was the bright red sheet.

"Here I leave for two seconds...TWO SECONDS, and come back to find you ogling at another girl's waistline! How inappropriate! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Sonic held his hands up in defense, shaking his head, while my eyes fell down upon the light skin of my stomach.

"A-Amy, no! It isn't like that at all! I swear it's completely, one-hundred percent-"

"Bare," I finished for him, feeling my heart race.

"Exactly! Bare!" Sonic declared, waving his palms nervously, only to enrage his younger self-proclaimed lover even more. But then his raised hands drooped, and he looked back over his shoulder at me. "Oh yeah...bare...speaking of which...what exactly is the problem? You look fine to me."

My hands locked up and quivered whilst hovering right over my navel. I then dipped a fingertip down and traced it over my abdomen with careful precision.

He was right. There was nothing there.

The scar was gone. Completely gone.

The skin looked like it had never been torn or touched by anyone or anything, ever. It looked good as new.

I wasn't sure whether to be happy, or afraid for my life.

"N-No..." I said quietly. "That's not...that can't be...that's not possible..."

I suddenly slammed my hands down over the skin, pushing against it with all my might as I wailed out in hopeless confusion.

"NO! How can it just disappear! Seriously...how! What kind of voodoo sorcery is this! It can't just heal in an instant after having been there for so long!"

The affected area responded with a dull ache against the pressure. But it was no where near as severe as it'd been since before the moment I boarded the X Tornado.

Amy's fury had died down to barely burning embers. She approached me carefully, attempting to shoo Sonic away, but he only budged slightly before moving forward along with her in curiosity.

"What do you mean 'disappear'? Was there something there before, Rachel? Were you hurt?"

"Damn straight I was!" I cried out, earning back shared expressions of shock from both Sonic and Amy.

I wanted to tell them what was going on. I wanted to explain everything. How the scar had gotten there, why it had gotten there, how there indeed WAS a scar to begin with. But doing so much as mentioning Shadow's name in my thoughts was too overwhelming. So I quick spat as many vague details as I could muster.

"I-I...I was injured while on the Egg Carrier. Injured badly," I said.

"There was a big gash right here, and it was this long," I said, spreading my thumb and fore-finger out across my stomach to insinuate the length. "Since then, the wound closed over, but it still hurt every now and again, and it NEVER fully healed. I'm not making it up! I swear I...I'm..."

I suddenly yanked my shirt back down and crossed my arms across my torso. The last thing I wanted was to be obscure with them. And I didn't want them to think I was lying to get their attention. But the subject was getting a bit too heavy for me to bear. I looked up at Sonic with pleading eyes, hoping that he'd understand my sudden insecurity and let the topic drop.

But instead, he furrowed his brows at me, as if in anger. I cut my irises away, but then felt the hedgehog carefully grab my chin and move my face back in his direction.

"Rachel..." he said, concentrating, his pupils piercing through mine like daggers.

I felt my cheeks flush in embarrassment. He was getting far too close. I felt like I was under a microscope.

"No...Sonic-"

"Rachel...Your eye...!"

My expression quickly dropped.

"Wait. Huh?"

He paid no attention to me and instead repeated himself once more.

"Your eye!"

Without looking, he summoned Amy with the wavering motion of his finger. Together they both knelt down and gave my face their full attention.

I suddenly felt very uncomfortable, and twisted my face away.

"Please stop," I stated, moving my head away in order to cover as much distance as possible. "What's wrong? What about my eye?"

Sonic looked flabbergasted. He pointed towards the left side of my face.

"That eye! Your left eye!" he exclaimed. "The colored part has turned a lighter shade of green than the other one. Way lighter! It wasn't like that before, was it? I don't think it could have gone without noticing, though. They were definitely both the same!"

I suddenly turned in his direction, slowly, in complete awe and disbelief.

"L-Lighter..?" I said, my voice's volume cutting from audible to a hushed, near trembling whisper.

Amy jumped back, eyes wide with horror, a hand flying over her mouth.

"You're right...it...it wasn't like that before..." she said, her words muffled against her gloved palm. "Oh my, that is so bizarre!"

She then stepped away and scurried over to where she and Sonic had been sitting previously. She dove her arm in between the cushioned seats, digging around a little, before pulling out a dusty, heavily scratched-up mirror.

"I told myself I wouldn't use this for the whole trip, since it just makes me self-conscious at times," she admitted, nearing me once again. "But you need to see for yourself. Here, take it."

She handed me the mirror carefully, not taking her eyes off me.

I broke eye contact with her, and with Sonic, and looked down at the mirror in my hands, lifting it slightly so the lighting hit it just right, and my reflection was plastered before me, gawking back.

It was an odd feeling, seeing my own face. I had seen myself once before in Eggman's bathroom, but I never took the time to note the difference in my features compared to the day I was kidnapped. My face was once again darkened by grit and layered in several shades of exhaustion, my lips pale and hair tangled into a labyrinth twisting every which way, in directions that defied gravity.

And then my eyes.

Besides the look of sheer depression that had tainted their brightness, the biggest difference lye in the unbalanced color.

Indeed, my left eye was much, much lighter now. A more bright, neon, electrifying sort of green.

I blinked several times, lifted a hand and rubbed the afflicted eye over and over so that it rolled around in the socket. But when I removed my hand and looked back, it was still a brighter, and extremely saturated color.

What in the actual hell was happening to me.

"You know what?" Amy said, inching closer. "I must say, the color really reminds me of one of the Chaos Emeralds. Same tint and everything. Even looks like it's glowing a little. How does something like that happen?"

My heart pounded harder. My eyes glazed over and the reflection became a blur.

Knuckles suddenly stepped out of the cockpit and panned his eyes across the lot of us.

"Listen everyone. We're not sure why, but Tails is getting some strong readings from his radar. Besides the focal points on the two Chaos Emeralds we have, it says there's another source of Chaos Energy coming from inside the X Tornado. We're not exactly sure where since the signal isn't pinpointed bu-"

I jumped out of my seat dramatically.

"Where's the bathroom," I said in a constricted tone. I could feel my face flushing with sickly green. Something within me felt like it was bubbling. Not in a painful way, but boy did it make me nauseous.

Amy jotted a thumb towards the back of the aisle.

"The Lady's Room is down there and to the left. Is everything fine? Do you need help with something?"

I clutched my stomach, my cheeks puffing out slightly as something tickled my gag reflex.

"I don't feel so good. I think...I think I'm gonna vom."

Everyone's faces melted into puzzled expressions.

"V-Vom?" Sonic inquired, stumbling over his words as if he was suddenly nervous.

I nodded once before slapping a hand over my lips, spinning around and sprinting down the aisle. The sickness was rising, building, growing more and more intense.

"VOM!" I shrieked, before disappearing behind a door with a pink, womanly symbol on the front.

And from there it all went downhill.

Downhill with the target being the bottom of a toilet bowl.

(Shadow's POV)

Intense silence fell upon the main control room. Me in my chair, Eggman in the other, piloting the Egg Carrier, saying nothing, making no sound. It was quiet enough to make one's hair stand on end. And it'd been like that for hours now.

The most interaction we'd have since my outburst had been me clearing my throat when he started nodding off to sleep, with his hands still locked around the steering wheel. He responded with a snort and short grumble, and then it went back to a hollow, empty, noiseless communication. The absence of sound was starting to form pressure on my ears.

He was angry with me. That much was clear. He was confused, annoyed, and maybe even feeling slightly betrayed, that I kept my ambitions a secret for so long and revealed them in such a flamboyant way. To him, my decision to erase my memory for the second time was foolish, and served little to no purpose.

He said things like "Don't fix what isn't broken," and "This is an insult to my Grandfather's intentions for your existence," and "After having worked so hard to obtain what you know now, you're honestly okay with starting back at square one?"

And then "You do realize that along with the memories that will fade to white, the ones of Rachel have a high chance of disappearing too."

That final thought made me close my eyes and sigh softly.

There was something he wasn't quite grasping. My affections towards Rachel were incredibly against my morals, against everything I was and believed in.

Or...so we both thought.

It was the fact that I was becoming equipped with more and more human emotions. I was feeling the things that a human male my age would feel towards someone he cared about immensely.

I liked Rachel, and respected her to a certain degree. But because I'd gone so long without the full extent of Chaos' power, my body was becoming less like a machine and more like a human's operative system. I was feeling things I'd never felt before. Because previously, I had two emotions: Stoic and Furious. Happy sometimes managed to wedge itself in. But overall it was something that usually was gone as quickly as it came.

Rachel's existence in my life for these past few months changed my outlook on a lot of things. I became so protective of her, so hostile when I felt she was trying to get away from me, and the thought of her ever leaving me left me in a rage that not even bloodshed could quench.

And that's why letting her go was one of the hardest things I'd ever done.

That's what he didn't understand. Forgetting her was supposed to help me. I was an immortal, and I was bound to outlive her in the end. She and I would have to part one way or another, so it would be better to not remember someone who caused such a pathetic impact on me when I was destined to watch them die anyway. But still, the thought of losing the memories of her face and voice that now danced in my head when she wasn't present, was a jarring transition indeed. I didn't want to think about that at all. It made me sick.

Letting my past with Maria slip away was also a difficult and slow process, but in some ways it was made easier by the fact that Maria had been dead for quite some time. To know that right now, Rachel Tower, whose path was crossed by mine in the strangest trick of fate, was somewhere else in the universe, alive, thinking, breathing, speaking, emoting, without me there to witness it, was gut-wrenching. All I wanted right now was her company.

Why did I let her go? Well, it was both simple and, at the same time, a bit too complex for its own good.

There were underlying reasons. Such as, I wanted her to forgive me when she saw that I was serious about making sure she was safe. I wanted her to realize that my care for her was not falsely inputted. I wanted her to realize I wasn't as shallow as she presumed.

But ultimately, it was because I wanted to see her make it out alive. I made that promise to her. And, if she stayed next to me at the time we'd been in that corner together any longer, without much hope or sanctity or warmth, I might have ended up with her corpse.

I knew she was safe now. But, it wasn't me who was providing the safety. And that was nauseating; another human feeling I had not quite adjusted to. Jealousy, perhaps.

So after another undisclosed amount of time of staring out the window, flicking my eyes back and forth between stars, I finally brought them back to the side of Dr. Eggman's shiny bald head, and decided to speak for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Doctor, are you going to run the plan by me again?"

I then formed slits with my eyes.

"And by 'again', I mean tell me it at all, because you never really gave me much insight in the first place."

The Doctor jumped at the sound of my voice. Which I couldn't really blame him for, as it stood out against the previous deafening silence. He didn't look at me, but I could tell from a peek of his profile that he was thinking hard on my inquiry.

And when he said nothing, I just rolled my eyes.

"Okay, look. I get it. I get that being mysterious and mischievous is the style you like to play by. But if you want to make this work, and if you want me to cooperate, it'd be best to tell me everything you've got in the works since you're going to use me as a weapon, I presume. Don't just giggle and drop hints at what you're plotting. Tell me the plan. All of it."

Then, out of nowhere, Eggman cracked a wide grin. One that I was very, very familiar with.

He definitely had something tricky up his sleeve.

And he solidified that with the next word that fell from the mouth hidden beneath the bushy mustache.

"Murder."

I strengthened my focus on him.

"Hm? Alright, a single word wasn't exactly what I was preparing either. What, is that a code name or-"

"No, hedgehog, it's not a code name. It's a command."

He then flicked a button that set the Egg Carrier to autopilot and turned to face me head on.

"I'm going to need you to murder a member of the Tower family."

...

Silence once again.

But it was very short-lived.

"Oh, well it would've been very nice to know that ahead of time. You want me to murder humans now? I thought that was something you left up to me, as my decision, if one deserved to die or not. It was never an enforcement."

"Well it is now."

I blinked at just how utterly evil he sounded right then. Normally, Eggman sought after domination, not eradication. The only person he wanted dead was Sonic, and maybe some of the blue hedgehog's friends. But he never wanted to wreak havoc and mindlessly kill humans. And now a member of Rachel Tower's family? People who had done nothing to oppose him?

"Don't worry Shadow, I'll leave it up to you to decide who you kill," he assured me. "It can be anyone except the Commander. But we'll have to capture the selected one first...hold him or her at literal gunpoint, and then pull the trigger to scare the Commander right into submitting to my plans in taking over the city, and that will be preceded by taking over the rest of the world. They'll all see that I mean business."

His grin widened immensely.

"Would this be a cruel act on my part? Why of course it would be. But drastic times call for drastic measures."

"What drastic measures, exactly," I demanded. "We have yet to even reach Earth. How do you know the Commander will deny your advances on world domination when you haven't even attempted a negotiation!"

"Because a certain ebony bag of melodrama.." his eye twitched, "NOT THAT I'M MENTIONING ANY NAMES OR ANYTHING...saw to it that our ticket to his defeat was suddenly no longer in our possession. You allowed her to just slip through our fingers."

I scowled. "We never possessed, Rachel. You can't objectify her like that, not after all we endured. I made sure to look after her-"

"Yes and do you see where that has led us?! Playing a game of cat and mouse all across the universe!"

I was getting edgy. I folded my arms. "My point is, I don't need to kill anyone, let alone anyone from the Tower family."

Eggman laughed. "Ah, but Shadow! You never had a problem with murder before! Is it because it's a member of Rachel's family? You know it would hurt her. You don't want to be responsible for her trauma. You know she would hate you if you did something like that."

My teeth clenched. There wasn't any reason to deny the obvious, so I just went with it.

"So what if that's why I'm against it! Or could it be that I'm only decent, and that I'm fair when it comes to life and death. Killing innocent people who aren't willingly standing in my path is totally unorthodox."

Eggman rubbed his chin and hummed a little. "Well, if it's any comfort, the death itself wouldn't be too messy. The gun, so to speak, would be my new Supernova Cannon, which, if my calculations are correct, has the power and voltage to vaporize any living or nonliving organism and leave no trace behind. In fact, I've never tested it anything...so this would be a nice little experiment."

When he saw that what he said did little to comfort me, he went ahead to say more.

"Also, you'll be resetting yourself, along with your memory bank, by the time it's all over. So it's not like you'll remember brutally killing any man, woman, or child. I don't see what the problem is, honestly."

Eggman's eyes then left mine and trailed out towards the window.

"You see, Shadow, the Earth truly is a beautiful place. A lovely planet that is unmatched by any I've ever seen in my many years. But it's ran by the most horrendous leaders imaginable. Its government is putrid, in every region and country and province. There's no one to bring order. The humans abuse their freedom by abusing each other. People kill and steal and assault and rape, and they get away with it too. You got a perfectly good demonstration of that the night you saved Rachel Tower's innocence, and possibly even her life."

He then turned and smirked at me. "My grandfather did design you to sink into more human behaviors and instincts as time without the seven Chaos Emeralds stretched on. Because he knew that once you started thinking like them, you would start to fully understand the nature of their ways. The good, but mostly the bad. And I suppose he gave you the option of switching back to the mindset of his initial creation, so you wouldn't have to bear the burden of a human mind for too long. Emotion truly is a blessing and yet more-so a curse."

His head then dipped. "I do have a thirst for power that plays a role in my aspirations. But I do think I would be doing the human race a tremendous favor by governing them, and helping them melt into a routine of obedience and discipline. Sure, there will be defiance, but we can wipe out those who are inferior and start a newer, stronger population."

And now he looked back at me.

"When that goal is met, you are free to go. With your new thoughts washed clean of any lingering worries or doubts. You can stick around or leave and plague the universe with the same resentment and intolerance you had when I released you from your capsule. That doesn't sound so bad, does it?"

I had fallen deep into thought. I ran the scenario over and over again in my head. To have Eggman run the whole planet Earth wasn't exactly something I was in favor of. But then again, I had no regards for humans. Not for any, excluding Maria and now Rachel.

I then looked at the Doctor, doubling the seriousness in my expression. Something else had come to mind. Something slightly off-topic. But it was something I remembered now and probably wouldn't in a very short amount of time, if things went according to plan.

"Doctor, you said before, right as we were leaving that ice planet, that another reason I feel so strongly for Rachel has something to do with the Chaos Emeralds."

I rose from my chair and stepped towards him. "Would you like to elaborate on that?"

He chuckled. "Ah, yes. Well see, it's quite simple really."

His body shifted to face me. "Rachel more than likely has a gene that allows her body to absorb Chaos Energy. It's no secret that Abraham Tower was exposed to all sorts of hazardous chemicals on the Space Colony ARK, being that his father was one of the scientists. And something managed to mutate his DNA, and that new mutation had a strong reaction with Chaos Energy. Did you think that discoloration in his eyes was something he was born with?"

He shook his head. "Nope, you have the Chaos Emeralds to thank for that. And it seems Rachel inherited it from him, and was able to fuse with you in that sense. You two have formed a connection. Tell me, have you ever noticed something odd when the two of you touch? A spark of some sort? One of you is bound to have felt it, if not just once."

Processing what he was saying caused a delay in my reaction. I held a small inkling of understanding, but for some reason it seemed too far-fetched for me to just fall for. I blinked and then glared at him.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?"

He shrugged. "I don't care if you do or not. But don't be surprised if Rachel Tower looks a little different the next time you see her. That is, assuming you two will meet again."

I paused.

"What? You're implying that she and I will encounter each other again?"

He saw that the mentioning of seeing her again hooked my interest and rode with it, possibly using it to his advantage. But I was too interested to care.

"You will if you follow my orders, Shadow. You'll see her again, and you can say and do anything you wish. You'll be free from our bargain. Free from my judgement."

His eyes flickered. He'd thought up an idea.

"Think of it this way, Shadow. Once I rule the world, you'll be able to come and go as you please, as I said before. You have the freedom that exceeds the one I have prepared for the humans.

You can stay as long as you want. For days, for months, for years, you can even make a home out of it."

He broke out in a grin.

"And I won't stop you from being with Rachel. She can be the exception to the rules, just for you. You can have her."

My eyes widened. Needless to say, I was stunned.

"Doctor, are you honestly saying that you would just give Rachel to me? To keep?"

"Yes," he clarified. "That's what you want, isn't it? To control her as you please, to always be around her? I mean it's safe to say that even when you reset yourself using Chaos, you'll never lose that instinct in you that wants to make sure she's safe at all times, just like you didn't lose your thoughts and feelings towards Maria. Consider it my...shall we say, gift to you. Rachel will be yours. For all your trouble, for sticking it out through both our share of endeavors. You have indeed sacrificed the most, worked your mind and body the hardest. Sure I made a deadly contraption capable of zapping something from existence, but that's all child's play to me."

He then walked away with his hands twined behind his back.

"We'll both get what we want in the end, Shadow the Hedgehog. All you have to do is listen to me for a bit longer. And then you'll never hear from me again."

I watched him carefully, analyzing the possibilities in my head. I could have Rachel, own her basically. She would be mine if I followed one more order and killed one more innocent human.

It made me cringe. I remembered how Rachel reacted to me around the time I captured her. She loathed me for killing people in the past. And if I annihilated someone that was her blood relative...someone from her immediate family.

She would want absolutely nothing to do with me.

The sight of me would make her sick.

But granted, I would have power over her then. It wouldn't matter if she wanted to defy me. She would have to listen. She would have to do as I said, and I could always keep her close.

Was it worth it?

Would I really bring myself to be the selfish, monstrous creature she accused me of being from the very beginning?

Just to have her to myself?

My muscles tensed up. "Doctor, I-"

But then somewhere beyond the controls, a door zipped shut. I looked up where Eggman had been standing, only to find the space was empty, and his steps were dying away on the other side of the barrier.

I sank back in my seat, drowning in my own thoughts.

One thing was definitely certain. The sooner I forgot all of this, the better.

(Sonic's POV)

She was fast asleep. Again. Which was probably exactly what she needed.

After having regurgitated all the illness and twisted matter left buried in the contents of her stomach, she probably felt a lot better now. That was comforting. Poor girl had been through so much.

I noted that Rachel looked very peaceful when she slept. Though that probably had to do with the way her body probably took any kind of rest in with open arms. She was free to escape to the oasis of her dreams, far away from the drained and tattered body she was stuck with right now in the present world. And even then, when she awakened and time continued on towards future's sunrise, some of the wounds left behind would never close.

She would always remember, after all. Even if she didn't want to. How could she not?

I looked up through the window and saw a blue sphere in the far away distance. Rotating against a black canvas, splashed in textures of green and brown. Patterned by blotches of white.

I felt my chest heave a little.

It was so close, and yet so far.

The planet Earth.

Amy, who was sitting nearby, must've noticed me ogling at the view. She giggled to herself.

"All in due time, Sonic. All in due time. We'll be there very soon. I know you're impatient, but just think about how great it'll be when we get there. Think about how happy she'll be. Oh, I hope she doesn't wake up until we've landed. After all, a well-needed reunion is in order. We can surprise her by waking her up surrounded by her family. She'll think it's a dream, but then she'll realize she isn't waking up from it! It'll be perfect! I'll probably cry! We packed tissue boxes, right?!"

Without breaking my gaze away, I smiled briefly.

"You might be on to something, Amy. But I am impatient. It can't come soon enough," I said in response.

I finally looked away only to look back down at Rachel, as she lay curled up in a ball, facing my direction, breathing softly and clinging to the sheet we'd provided for her, seemingly balling it in her fists from the inside.

I sighed to myself.

This young girl deserved nothing more than to be home. We would return her to her family, where she could feel loved and not constantly overshadowed by threat.

We probably had not heard the last of Eggman and Shadow, but I'd see to it that she would never have to deal with the stress of being under their control again. They'd damaged her, broken her, and when they decided to show up and face the music, I would fight for her sake, and give them exactly what they deserve. All the pain and suffering they caused her, except all at once. In one blow.

Justice would be served before any of them could see it coming.

(x)

(x)

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(A/N) So in the time I've been seemingly dead, I have been through a state of depression. And maybe it's not wise to blab too much about my personal life, but I've also lost three uncles within weeks of each other, had a brief falling out with my mother, had my heart broken, ran into a lot of problems in school, questioned my existence a few times, and learned a lot of things about life. lol.

I'm going to be graduating next month. Turning 18. Starting college. Ready to move on and meet new people. I'm ready to leave the old me behind, much like Shadow has done. The only difference is, if the story is not complete by then, I'm taking it with me.

I'm dreadfully sorry to anyone who feels I've let them down or that I abandoned this story for too long. But I lost little if not all of my drive to write for a long time. But now I'm ready to finish what I started. It's been nearly two years since I published We Will Always Be Enemies, and I haven't updated since 2012.

Lemon Grab: UNACCEPTABLE!

Haha, and even though it's sort of a slap in the face that this chapter is nothing but talking, I was desperate to update. The first part of the chapter was done months before the rest. Starting with Shadow's POV and going down, that was all completed in a day's time.

I'm back guys. I haven't died. I promise I won't give up just like that. While I'm not as much of a diehard Sonic fan as I was when I started this story, and don't necessarily agree with some of the decisions I've made regarding it, I have such a soft spot for it that I can't quit when I'm almost done. It WILL be completed.

Review responses: First I'd like to thank you all for 300 reviews. Really, something like that is surreal. I didn't know there were so many people that read my silly story.

Will Rachel turn super? No. I think I stated in earlier chapters that she will remain a normal human as far as super powers and transformations go. She's a bit different in that she has Chaos Energy. But no, she will not be able to use it like Shadow or Sonic. I don't think that's really a spoiler so much as it is something to inform you so you aren't let down. lulz.

Does anyone really not know who that was in Rachel's dream? I mean does anyone have any sort of idea? I'm not saying you're dumb, in fact it's probably very complicated. But I'm surprised no one was like "OH, THAT'S PROBABLY _"

I'm so sorry if things are still confusing for you. Hopefully this chapter cleared up some things that I kinda just threw at you before running away and disappearing for six months. e_e

Thank you for all your sweet reviews. Please, leave one if you have time. Tell me what you think about the story, you can even yell at me if you please.

Also, thanks for reading.

And thanks for sticking it out.

Thank you.