By the time the three arrive, Sonic's already taken care of business. Infinite is gone, the hedgehog is only slightly singed, and he's looking off into the distance with a smirk on his face. His ears flick and he turns around as they approach.

"Dani! 'Thea, Dale!" He zips over, looking each of them up and down, searching for injuries probably. "I got your message." He tells Athea. "Running off by yourselves, pretty gutsy move there. Are you trying to make a habit?"

"Ah, well..." Athea shuffles her feet, unsure how to answer. The hedgehog shrugs and puts her communicator back on her wrist.

"You forgot this." He winks before turning back to Dani. "I'm glad to see you're alright. That ALL of you are. I know there's not much I can do to make up for not saving you back there, but I promise you, it won't happen again."

Dani puts her head down. "I'm sorry. I was scared to fight him, 'cause of what happened to Athea, and I thought I would make things worse if I fought him. It won't happen again."

Sonic looks at the three of them, gauging the mood. "I don't know why you're apologizing for being kidnapped, but I'm getting the feeling you all need to take a quick break." He gives them a wry smile. "And hopefully one that ends on a better note than the last one. I hear Elise is getting crowned in the city tonight, it's bound to be a party. Shall we go?"

Dani suddenly cheers up and struggles to hold back her giggles. Oh God, you mean the chick who was literally gonna fall to her death and had no care for her own life in '06 is actually gonna become a dutchess and rule Soleanna? They couldn't find someone else? Oh lord, help Soleanna. This chick has the personality of a potato, how is she gonna represent an entire kingdom? She sighs as Sonic and everyone look questioningly at her. "Yeah, sure. I would LOVE to see Princess Elise the Third become a dutchess. Pfft...pfft..."

"Yeah, we'll come, but I for one, am definitely going to pay more attention to the fireworks than anything." Athea interrupts before Dani can say something rude. She nudges Dani and whispers, "It's been a few years, she might have changed."

Dani smiles. "True."

As the four run towards the city, Athea lags behind slightly, still worrying over Dani. She mulls things over in her mind before she finally relaxes. She nods to herself, relieved at making a decision, and speeds up.

Evening settles over the city just as the heroes make it inside. All around them the previously empty streets are filled with people, laughing, talking, buying food, the streets are filled with lights and the biggest crowd is in the main plaza. "Where to first?" Sonic asks as he eyes a chili dog stand. "The fireworks show isn't gonna start for another hour after all."

Dani notices what Sonic is looking at. Simultaneously, the three's stomachs growl. Sonic laughs as Dani answers. "How about some chilidogs while we explore around?"

They all nod in agreement and quickly buy themselves chili dogs. "May Princess Elise have a long and happy reign." The vendor says as he hands them over.

Athea, starting to feel like the unofficial diplomat of the group, nods. "And may Soleanna experience that with her." She tries not to cringe at the awkward phrasing.

Dani, over her laughing fit from earlier, nods and asks the vendor a question. "So what other festivities does Soleanna have?"

The vendor gives a hearty laugh. "Many, but my favorite is in the summer where we have a three day festival to honor our Sun God, Solaris."

Dani laughs nervously. "Sounds fun. Welp! Thanks for the food sir!" She scurries back to her friends. When she sits beside Sonic, she takes a bite of the chili dog. The meat, the herbs and other ingredients, the taste of food that was never frozen practically pops in her mouth. WOW! This tastes nothing like at home at all. It tastes as if they don't use any fillers! Nothing like American food.

Sonic notices their faces light up when they take a bite. "Do you all not have chilidogs in your world?"

Dale answers while Dani scarfs down her food. "Man, nothing like this that's for sure. What makes Mobius's food so delicious?"

Before Sonic can guess, Dani answers. "Cause our world revolves around capitalism to the point money is everything. So countries like where we live, America, don't care about quality, but quantity, so they use fillers and-" Dani continues to ramble for what seems like forever until Dale stops her by pointing.

"Oh look! It's a small candy store!"

Dani stops and her eyes light up. "I wanna see what's in there." She runs straight to the store.

Athea looks at Sonic and whispers. "If you don't have enough money we can just look."

"I got this. This world has only one currency, and that is rings. Lucky for you guys, it just so happens that the resistance have plenty of those. So a bag of candy for each of us isn't gonna be a problem." Sonic winks as they head inside the candy shop.

Inside, shards of rock candies of all kinds of flavors catch Dani's eye, as it's aesthetically pleasing to her. She looks at the many flavors before another area catches her eye: a big sign reading, "Sun Candy". She looks at the different shapes of whatever golden substance the candy is. A shopkeeper passes her so she catches the guy's attention by raising her hand. "Ummm, excuse me, but what is this candy made out of?"

The worker smiles warmly, crinkling his beard. "My dear hedgehog, the gold substance is a hardened, sun-dried version of the apples we harvest. It's a traditional and tasty delicacy."

"How is the apple candy gold though?" Dani asks.

"Ah! A curious hedgehog you are! The apples are mashed until it's a perfect consistency, then-" Dani listens to him intently while Dale, Athea, and Sonic pick out their candy. After he's finished, Dani gushes. "Wow! That must be a lot of work! I must try one. Does Soleanna make all their candies from scratch?"

"Of course! What other way would food be made from?" The shop owner laughs. Dani smiles warmly as the shopkeeper hands her a bag of freshly-made, assorted candy. "Hand picked by yours truly. It's the traditional candy Soleanna offers. The candy for you and your friends are on the house as no one has ever stayed long enough for me to enjoy this discussion."

Her friends perk up and Sonic smiles. Dani nods. "I'm surprised no one has listened to you when you discuss such tradition. The way candy is made looks and sounds amazing."

The shop keeper shakes his head. "Eh well, when the world is at stake, simple things like how candy is made flies over ones head like the flickies of the morning."

Dale stands beside Dani to get her attention. "We should head off now."

Dani nods. Sonic and Athea follow behind them, all holding their bags of candy.

Athea smiles at Dani. I'm glad she's enjoying herself… even with… Her thoughts drift back to what they'd just found out about Michael, and further back to when they found Dani. How could she think we're going to move on and forget about her? Impulsively, she opens her mouth and says, "Hey Sonic, why don't you and Dale check out a spot on the bridge? It'd be pretty cool to see the fireworks from the roof of the bridge, don't ya think? There's another spot I wanna check out with Dani real quick." Dani glances at her curiously, and with a wry smile, Athea gestures to the roof where Elise had first seen Silver in her vision.

Dani looks at it with familiarity and frowns. I wonder if Sonic and them remembered what happened in that time when Solaris first existed... Shaking that thought away, she goes with Athea.

They walk together and jump on a platform, helping each other onto the roof. When they reach it, Dani lets out her hair from her pony tail. Her brown quills flow is the soft evening breeze. They sit on the edge of the roof and Dani fidgets with the pony-tail band.

Athea pulls a leg up and leans against it, staring straight at the water below. Deciding to just get into it, she says, "Not that long ago, you said something pretty shocking. You said that Dale and I were going to move on and forget about you."

Dani frowns. "Mephiles said some things that sorta hit some things that I have already thought about on earth. That I never felt like I belonged, and what not. And he kept adding input after input and what he said made sense to me. You have a family who loves you, and Dale has friends who he hangs out with and has dreams. My only dream in life has always been something out of reach. Which was to not feel so empty inside and to feel like I belonged. And I thought being here would change that. I can finally be meaningful. But he also said something really freaken weird too." Dani blinks furiously as she holds back her tears. "So that made me think, that if you all leave you will eventually forget me, and move on with your lives."

Athea laughs softly, just once. "A family that loves me, huh? And that's all I need to be happy? Dani, you have no idea-" She stops. That's not a good way to start that. "I don't forget Dani. People leave me all the time, and I remember every single one of them. My very first best friend was a girl named Amy, and her brother Ira. Then it was these two boys, Brandon and Devin. I was friends with this girl named Rose, and I still remember that awful choice I pushed on her. In second grade, it was Jennifer and Cameron, in fourth it was Katy D. Fifth grade it was Mathew and Alexis, then we got put in separate classes and slowly stopped talking, and then it was Teresa. Nowadays, my best friend is Ares. Dani, except for Ares, I don't talk to any of these guys anymore. I can't forget them, how on Earth, or Mobius, could I ever forget you? You think you've made that little of an impression on me?"

Dani looks down at the hair band she's holding. "But am I meaningful? If I disappeared would that effect anything in your life? Would the decisions you make in life be different if I was gone?" A tear streaks down her cheek. "He said the reason I'm empty is because I was meant to be here."

Athea looks up at the sky as she mulls this over, not wanting to give Dani a flippant or empty answer. "Give me a minute, I need to get my thoughts in order." She reaches inside her bag and randomly grabs a candy to chew on.

Dani wipes her tears and looks at the water below them. The water is a clear, blue color. Even from this height, she can see some fish swimming about if she squints. She takes a piece of candy out of her bag and eats the apple candy the shop keeper talked about. "I like how the shop keeper was nice to us. I wish at home people were the same way. I usually would just be ignored to the point people would accidentally ram me with their shopping kart."

"Hm…" Athea barely responds, not willing to let the conversation die just because she couldn't speak quickly. Several minutes later, she finally blinks and looks at Dani. "The first time we met, you thanked me for not asking you why you're in the foster care system, you remember that? To me, it was just a simple, basic courtesy thing, but to you, well… I could tell it meant a lot, because you started talking to me. About everything. Your theories, your pain, your history. Everything. So, to rephrase your question, did your presence give me meaning? Hell yeah. Taking care of my friends is what gets me up in the morning, helping you gives me meaning. You're not a ghost Dani, you're one of my best friends. If you disappeared, I would remember you, for the rest of my life or until I get some blasted illness like Alzheimers. I love talking to you about Sonic, I love writing with you. Reading your work is fun for me, because you always write so honestly. Have you seen my published? You're basically the only person I can talk to about how amazing Sonic is, or what happened in a comic. Without you, there's no one else who gets it. No one else who gets why I put so much time, energy, and money into a silly blue hedgehog." She smiles with a touch of irony.

Dani feels her mood brighten a little as her cheeks flush with warmth. Until she feels a twinge of guilt. "I didn't realize that our conversations had meaning. I'm glad. I'm sorry I didn't have faith in my friends." Her voice speeds up and she speaks in a fan-girly tone. "Damn! Mephiles is a way better manipulator than I realized." Dani grins. "And scary! If he had planned on killing me, I'd probably be dead." She nervously giggles as she turns pale at the thought.

Athea winces and touches her back. "You're telling me. I can't believe I thought he had my brother just because of a dream."

Dani looks at the water and the sunset. "He has mine though. Mephiles said null space works where time has no effect. So him not being my age sorta makes sense, but why him? I haven't seen my friend who was like a brother to me since the second or third grade. Most people wouldn't be affected since it was a long time ago. Why did he think that that would affect me? Logically, it wouldn't with typical people. But I'm not like them, but he wouldn't know how my heart works 'cause he's a sadist...right?"

"Wrong." Athea says immediately. "On both accounts. You know I'm named after my mom's best friend from fifth grade? She died. The people we loved when we were little matter. Even if they're gone now. Second, I think you don't have to experience emotion to be able to observe the effect it has on others."

Dani frowns. "Oh. I guess I was a bit sheltered, I didn't realize that, that was normal." The sun disappears over the the horizon, allowing the stars to appear.

"Sheltered is hardly the right word for your upbringing." Athea snorts. "Who could blame you for not knowing? But you are right about one thing, why did Mephiles take Michael? And what did he want with you? Those are both extremely valid questions."

Dani turns paler. "He about said something when he went on his unstable tangent on fusing with Iblis once again. Creeped me out."

"What did he say?"

"Well he went on his tangent about 'we were Solaris' blah blah blah, then I coulda swore when he was doing his little ballerina waves with his hands he slipped up and almost said three, then switched it to two like I wouldn't notice." Dani jokes to numb herself.

"Three…? Didn't you have some theory about that, that when it comes to gods they can usually be split up into three?" Athea asks worriedly.

"Yeah. I felt it was weird that a sun god would only have 2 parts to them when a sun has three main functions. But I was born on earth and was human and I am still mortal, I can't be the third part." Dani says as her heart steadily beats faster.

"Yeah, and it's not like you can just randomly be hosting a third part, the only reason Mephiles and Iblis were contained in the game was because someone literally performed a ritual to do it. No one's ever done some kinda ritual on you, right?" Athea adds in a joking tone.

Dani thinks of the Catholic and Methodist homes she was in. "Unless being baptized can make a Mobian god come to life, nope."

"Well then, doubt it. Christianity has got nothing to do with Solaris…I'm pretty sure anyways." Athea leans back and looks down at the place. "Oh, Elise is getting in the boat. We musta missed the actual ceremony part."

Dani looks down as Elise is waving at the crowds, smiling, wearing formal attire and crown. The crowd cheers, "All hail Dutchess Elise the third! All hail Solaris! All hail to Soleanna!"

Dani pouts, crossing her arms. "She's lucky Iblis isn't in her anymore. She finally gets to live in peace until Mephiles gets what he wants." Dani's eyes widen with worry. "Should we warn Elise that Mephiles and Iblis exist? Did the memory of her containing Iblis first fade when they were erased?"

"I don't think we need too, Mephiles doesn't have any business with her now." Athea points out.

Dani frowns. "But he is a halfling of their God and if he succeeds in his goal or we need to access something that's only permitted by royalty, we need her." Dani whines. Athea's silence is enough for Dani to change the topic. "Do you think that scepter would work? Cause I'll be bait if that means we can lock him in there again until we can figure out what to do...That timeline was erased so maybe we can..." Dani feels a twinge of guilt suggesting that.

"The timeline, sure, but not Mephiles. He still looks like Shadow, he's still absorbed a bit of his power, so that scepter probably won't be effective." Athea replies neutrally.

Dani huffs. "Darn. You're right. It's not like he can die either. At least not easily. Remember that badass scene where Shadow was like 'If the world chooses to be my enemy then I will fight like I always have'? If Mephiles can clone himself with two chaos emeralds and withstand Shadow's chaos blast, then it will take a heck of a lot to defeat him permanently."

"Forget that, Sonic, Silver, and Shadow came after him with super forms and that STILL didn't keep him-"

"Ahhh, so this is where you guys have been." Dale pulls himself onto the roof, with Sonic close behind.

Dani smiles at Dale. "Hey guys! Did you all see a good view of Elise's upgrade?"

"Ugh yeah, all that glamour and attention, there's no way that girls not a spoiled brat. I'm almost kinda jealous." Dale gushes.

Dani laughs. "She didn't act spoiled in '06. But same."

"I feel like I'm long overdue for some royal treatment... Doooeeesss the duchess happen to have a duke?" Dale asks flirtatiously.

Athea laughs, but Dani frowns, her cheeks redden with a hint of jealousy.

Sonic puts his arm around Dale's shoulder. "Nope, but there's a price when it comes to royalty. It isn't as free and you can't beat robots with me if you're doing all the paper work and leading."

Athea wrinkles her nose. "Yuck! No more paperwork. One of the perks of going to Mobius has GOT to be no homework."

"Yeah, fuck that, you can't exactly procrastinate on leading a country. They'll start calling me Dale the Terrible...Aaactually not a bad ring to it." Dale contemplates it for a moment. "I'll stick to kicking ass though."

"It's all fun and games until there's a revolution." Athea mutters darkly.

Dani laughs nervously. "True."

"You say that like this has happened before." Dale comments skeptically.

"I mean, have you read some of the history books in our world? There was a queen who loved sweets so much her country went on strike and killed her." Dani says exaggeratedly.

Athea looks physically pained as she restrains herself from correcting the myth. "Are you referencing the French revolution?" Dale asks. "Also, I meant like, in this world."

Dani shrugs. "I forget. Is it bad she's my favorite because she's relatable? Anyways-" Dani stands up. "We should get back to HQ. I'm tired."

"Aaawww, c'mon, the night is youuuNg. We're clocking out already?" Dale complains.

"Have ya'll forgotten we're here for the fireworks?" Athea gestures to the boat as it finally leaves the dock.

"Fuck the fireworks, I haven't made my move on the Duchess yet." Dale smirks at the boat.

Sonic smiles. "The fireworks are fun to watch. And the way you talk about your world, I bet you've never seen fireworks like ours."

Dani looks at the boats. "Oh right. I guess we can stay a little longer. Also, no Dale."

Athea laughs and shakes her head. "Why not? Afraid she might take him up on it?"

Dani's cheeks turn a bright red as she clenches her teeth. She crosses her arms.

"Yeeeaahh, c'mooon, don't be like that." Dale sulks.

Dani frowns. "Elise has the personality of a potato, she would bore you to death."

"Or maybe she is a repressed young lady who was forbidden from showing as basic an emotion as sadness all her life?" Athea says airily. I don't know, I just feel like there could have been more to Elise if the people making the video game hadn't screwed up so badly.

Dani looks at the fireworks. "True. I can sorta understand in a way. I hide my fear with laughter. I feel bad for them." She says, thinking of not just Elise, but of Mephiles and Iblis as well.

"Yeeeaahh, I could break her out that shell no problem." Dale says calmly.

"I can believe it." Athea says. She lies down to watch the fireworks, smiling.

Dani yawns, swaying where she sits. Dale catches her before she can face plant. "Whoa! You okay?" Dale asks, a bit worried.

Dani nods. "I'm fine. I just need to rest."

"Yeah, we could all use a little rest. Let's just sit back, relax, and enjoy the shoooww." Dale slowly lowers Dani to the ground and lays down flat next to her. "I can't wait to see what crazy shit we get into next!"

Dani smiles. "Seems like you're having fun here. The coronation and culture is fun to look at and be apart of. Is it weird even after all we've been through, I'd still rather stay here than go home? If we go home that is. I know Athea misses her brother, but I wouldn't mind saying good bye to my family and showing Sonic and his friends off before leaving to make this place my home once we stop Mephiles."

"Knowing where you come from? Doesn't sound weird to me." Athea chuckles.

Sonic sits beside Athea. "I wouldn't mind showing off to your family Dani." He winks at the brown hedgehog.

Dani smiles. "Thanks guys. It'd be nice to not look like the crazy person who believes in cartoons."

"Hell, if this is crazy I don't wanna be sane!" Dale smirks. "Staying here seems like a no-brainer honestly."

Dani looks down at the water below. "Yeah. It's still way better than Earth. And they got better food here. The air feels cleaner. And there's adventure at every corner. This is an adventure of a lifetime. Imagine if we woke up tomorrow and it was all a dream? I'd be pissed."

Sonic chuckles. "Well I know I'm not a dream. I'm too fast for anyone's train of thought." Sonic jokes.

"HA! HoLy shIt my gUy that was fuNnY as FuuuuuKkk duDe yOu shOuld do standup omgawd that was so hilarious." Says Dale in a sarcastic tone. "Fukin knee slapper."

Dani and Athea frown at Dale, but say nothing.

Unbothered, Sonic chuckles once more. "Well they do call me the fastest thing alive." Sonic gets up. "I think its time we all go back to headquarters. I'm sure Silver and the rest are worried about you all." He looks at Dani, remembering her fondness for the albino hedgehog. She smiles back to reassure him she's fine.

"Ahem, Flash." Dale coughs. Athea gets up, followed by Dale. Dani is the last to stand up. "Aaawwwwww, already?" Dale asks with a frown.

Sonic smiles. "Well you wouldn't want to be tired and out of shape when you start training tomorrow would you?"

Athea nods. "More training would definitely do us a lot of good if we're sticking around for awhile." As much as she wanted to go home, Athea wouldn't, no, she couldn't leave until she knew Dani would be alright.

With that in mind, and excited for the morning to come, Dale finally lets out a big yawn. "Eeeh... I guess so. Even though I'm sure I could go a round with the speedster himself!" Dale says half-jokingly.

Athea tags Sonic. "Last one home is a rotten egghead!" She takes off.

"Nah, headquarters suck. If you need me, I'll be sleeping in the royal palace!" Dale says with a smirk. "See you guys in the morning."

Sonic shrugs and in the blink of an eye, he's off to race Athea.

Dani smirks at Dale, hiding her annoyance. "Well Athea did say last one there was a rotten egghead. Are you a rotten egghead?" She giggles and joins in on the race.

"Uuuugh laaame." Dale thinks for a second before he follows.