Third Person POV till further notice

Shadow sighed as he stood on one of the wings of the X-Tornado. Within minutes his entire life had changed, and for once, he didn't know what to do. Even when he had amnesia, he still had a game plan, but now, he had no idea what he was doing, or if he could even trust the two new hedgehogs riding inside the plane. They, along with the lion, literally appeared out of nowhere, and now he had been dragged into another one of Sonic's adventures, more or less against his will.

"It's always a good time! Woah-oa-oh! Oh oh oh!" Sonic's voice rang from the other end of the jet, making the ebony hedgehog sigh again. Ever since he had put on that amulet, Shadow couldn't get music out of his head. It was as if his mind was a playlist of his thoughts and emotions, and he had to catch himself tapping to the rhythm of a random beat several times since the ride had started. He couldn't understand what was wrong with him, or why it was happening period. He had always been skeptical of magic, being raised by scientists does that to a hedgehog, but now it seemed like a legit possibility.

Manic glanced up at the newest addition to the family with a curious frown. His darker brother looked deep in thought, and he spotted Shadow gripping his own hand whenever it started tapping to the songs the group would sing, even though he refused to join in. The green hedgehog cocked his head at that thought. If he was a member of their family, then shouldn't he feel the urge to sing with them? If he did, why was he fighting it? It didn't make any sense!

Manic closed his eyes, pretending to sleep, and he focused his ability to try to read the striped mobian's emotions. Immediately, it felt like his skull hit a brick wall, and he had to resist the sudden need to massage his forehead before trying again. Instead of going at it all at once, like he just did, he started slowly, feeling the outer defenses of his brother's mind. He had never faced such a difficult mental barrier before, but he inwardly smirked at the opportunity. He saw it like a new lock that he couldn't wait to pick. He had the feeling that the agent was shutting them out for a reason, and he wanted to know why.

Shadow's ear twitched as an unknown pressure built up in the back of his head, though not entirely foreign. He had felt something similar the night before. It wouldn't surprise him if he was actually getting a headache from being around Sonic and his troop, but it didn't feel the same. It felt as though something was prying into his mind, and he didn't like it. He'd had far to much experience in that regard.

He glanced around at the small group near him. Sonic was sitting on the wing, humming a tune absently to himself. Sonia was talking with Amy and Rouge, all three girls deeply engrossed in their conversation. Tails was, of course, flying the plane, and Cy sat beside him. The lion seemed to be a tech geek as well, and the two became fast friends. Knuckles was stretched out in his seat, snoring loudly in his sleep. The last member of their crew was Manic, who was resting with his head in his palm, and his elbow propped on his arm rest. Shadow narrowed his eyes at the green hedgehog. He didn't know how, but he could feel that the youngest triplet had something to do with his sudden migraine. And it was time for Shadow to reveal a secret of his own...

I know it's you.

Manic jolted from his seat, shocked from hearing the antihero's baritone voice in his mind, but other than that he tried to pass it off as nothing. He looked up, and his eyes instantly locked on a pair of annoyed crimson orbs. He unconsciously shivered under the other's stern gaze.

H-How is he doing that? Manic wondered, and Shadow smirked.

The powers of Chaos are unlimited, his voice echoed in his mind, and it would be wise not to mess with someone fluent in those powers.

How did you know it was me?

Felt it, he replied sharply and gazed back up at the sky with his arms crossed. He instantly noticed the lack of an accent in Manic's thoughts, which should have been there, I also know that your skill is very underdeveloped. Do your siblings know?

The way Shadow said that. He made it sound like he wasn't part of their family, and that caused Manic to raise an eye ridge. They're your siblings too.

We'll see about that. I've been toyed with before, so you'll understand why I'm not getting attached so soon. But back to our previous topic, what is your ability exactly? Are you a type of 'path?

Yeah, Manic thought as his shoulders slumped, Empath to be more specific. I can, like you said, feel emotions.

How far can you go? Shadow asked. Though his body language didn't show it, the tone of the question revealed that he was curious about the green hedgehog's abilities.

I can't read thoughts or anything like that. That would be scary. But I can know what someone is feeling, and if they remember something with a lot of one type of emotion then I can get a mental picture of what they're thinking about. There was one time when Sonic felt really strongly about something, and I was able to actually feel like I was there too.

Hmm..really? Shadow mused. He wanted to test Manic, but he knew that he couldn't on a cramped plane full of people. If either of them had an unexpected reaction, it would be disastrous. Does anyone else know?

No, he replied sharply, no one knows, except you. Guess we're even now right? You don't tell anyone I'm an empath, and I won't say anything about your love for fifties tunes..

The faintest hint of amusement flickered across the ebony being's tan muzzle before it was buried again. Fair enough. We will finish this conversation later. We'll be landing in a few minutes.

How do you know?

You'll find out, he answered with a visible smirk. Not five seconds after he "said" that, the plane began to lose altitude. Tails had spotted a clearing in a massive patch of woods that was large enough for them to land. As soon as the X-Tornado came to a complete stop, the group climbed out and unpacked their camping gear before setting it up between the plane and the forest. Knuckles successfully started a fire in the center of the tent ring, and the others helped collect wood and make a short wall of rocks around the campfire.

"Hey! Did anybody pack marshmallows?" Sonic called. Choruses of 'no' and heads shaking answered him, and the blue hero shrugged, "No prob. Be back in a sec, guys!"

Sonia held up her hand to stop him, "Hey! Sonic wait. We're supposed-"

A flash blue and a strong wind stopped her as her triplet brother vanished over a hill. She hmphed and glared at the direction he had taken. After a moment, the azure blur returned and stopped in front of her with several bags of marshmallows and other Smores ingredients.

"I'm back! What were you sayin', sis?"

"I was trying to say that we need to stay together. Robotnik's spies could be anywhere. And where did you get those?"

"From the house," he replied simply as he set down the stuff, "I also grabbed some chilidogs, in case we run out."

"Are you talking about your house?" Cy asked, and Sonic nodded, "We've been flying all day! How did you get there and back so soon?"

"I'm the fastest thing alive remember?" he grinned and cocked a thumb at himself. Shadow, who had been comfortably resting against a tree, rolled his eyes at their antics before turning his gaze to Manic. The green hedgehog had been unusually quiet since they had landed, but he didn't have to guess why. That answer was obvious. He wasn't used to someone being able to catch him using his ability, although it felt blatantly obvious to the striped hero when he tried it. The younger male clearly didn't have much experience with his skill.

"Hey, um, Sonic?" Tails asked nervously as he stared ahead into the woods. The blue hedgehog raised an eyebrow at his little brother's distracted look, and the group went quiet as they became interested in the fox's sudden anxiety.

"Yeah, bro?"

"Who's that?" the kit asked fearfully as he pointed behind the azure hero. Everyone turned to the direction and gasped in shock.

On the edge of the clearing stood an older hedgehog with fading blue fur and a bushy mustache...pointing a shotgun right them.

Sonic stepped back in surprise before squinting his eyes to get a better view of the unexpected visitor.

"Unc?"

The hedgehog lowered his weapon, though only slightly, and he put a hand above his eyes to block out the sun, "Sonny boy, is that you?"

And...cliffy! Yep, I know. I'm a horrible person, but whatcha gonna do, eh? Another character is thrown into the mix, and don't worry, he's canon. Y'all probably know who he is already anyway. I'm super excited about the next chapter, so I decided to go ahead and cut this one short...ish. Let me know what you think! I'm open to all comments, reviews, critique, and ideas! Bye! *waves*

*sending good vibes*