Amy was waiting at the door to greet Knuckles with a tight squeeze.

"Where's Shadow?" Tails asked. There was a difficult pause. It seemed that everyone knew then, before Knuckles recounted what had happened. He told them solemnly, staring mostly at his shoes. Even after his story had finished, it was several moments before he could meet their gaze. Tails was slouched against his Cyclone, apparently staring at the floor, but perhaps not really seeing it. Amy sat next to him. She looked as though she might cry. She and Rouge had seen a side of Shadow that no one else had for fifty years. She would miss him most of all. Rouge sat alone by a window, hugging her knees. Sonic sat at the controls, staring out over the runway.

"He gave up everything...to achieve the only thing he ever wanted. He lived for revenge...he has that now...and he saved all of us...Maria would be so proud," Rouge said. Her tone was softer than usual, and slower. Shadow's bitter determination had moved her. She was greatly humbled. There was silence as each of them contemplated in their own thoughts.

"Shadow had the heart of a true hero. He just needed a reason...to fight for the right cause," said Sonic. The tears already welling in Amy's eyes dripped freely over her cheeks. She moaned softly, and Tails, feeling like he might cry himself, wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. Sonic coughed hoarsely, and leant heavily on the controls. He felt so tired, and his ankle was throbbing worse than ever before. He winced, feeling faint.

Knuckles saw him, and glanced down at the emerald he was practically hugging. Tails had warned Sonic against touching the real chaos emeralds, but the master was different from them, it had to be. It was far more powerful than all of them put together, even when shrunken down to the size of just one of them. An emerald had made Sonic sick; maybe the master would cure him.

"Hold this," Knuckles said, holding out the master emerald towards Sonic. The hedgehog eyed it warily.

"It's okay, it's not like the chaos emeralds," Knuckles reassured him. Sonic reached for the emerald warily. The green glow extended to his paw the instant he touched it. He took the emerald, staring at his glowing paw. The glow spread slowly, up his arm, over his neck, around his muzzle and down over his spines. It shimmered for an instant then seemed to melt away, sinking beneath his skin. He shook as though he'd felt a sudden chill. A light yellow dust, the colour of the fake emerald scattered from his fur and dissolved in the air. He handed the emerald back to Knuckles. Firmly. Not the weak grasp he'd clutched it with before. He even tried putting weight on his damaged ankle, but rapidly brought it back up again. The master emerald might be able to soothe the effects of the fake, but it could not mend broken bone.

"Wow..." Sonic said. "Not bad for a glowing gemstone." He looked around at his friends. "Let's go home."

The shuttle re-entered the Mobius's atmosphere with a jolt that sent everyone aboard flying over each other. Outside the shuttle blazed through the o-zone like a shooting star, gaining velocity rapidly. Too rapidly. Inside the craft, everyone felt the full force of the acceleration's throttle.

"Slow it dowwwwwwwn!" Amy wailed. She had a point though. They'd have to slow down before they landed! Sonic crawled back to the controls, trying to figure out how to break in mid plummet. Something here must be for slowing down! In a panic, he grabbed at everything apart from the lever for acceleration. The others could only wait in terror. Rouge, next to Knuckles, found herself clutching his paw for comfort. He stared at her, almost like Shadow had stared at Amy before. She looked down at her paw too, as though she'd barely realised it was there.

"Whoa" she breathed. The green glow from the emerald, still protecting its guardian, was slowly covering her as well. When it enveloped her, she could no longer feel the force of their descent anymore. Maybe...she wondered...maybe it would be enough to protect all of them, if the craft wouldn't slow down. She grabbed Tails' wrist, hoping he'd understand. He glanced up, staring in wonder, as the green glow coated his fur, but when it coated him completely, he realised what Rouge had. He reached out, and caught Amy's wrist. The ocean appeared below them as the shuttle spiralled down to meet it.

"Sonic!" Amy cried, reaching out for his paw. He hopped down from his seat, and hugged her when she curled up against his chest. She was shaking all over despite the protection of the emerald, and he was afraid too, though he'd barely admit it, even to himself.

Below, the ocean waited. They were going to land within sight of a beach, not that it would make any difference now, if the master emerald could not protect them. A large crowd had gathered, watching the shuttle's perilous descent in horror. As yet, they did not realise who was on board, only that they'd surely be killed on impact, if they were still alive after burning through the atmosphere. Still, the people crowded together, transfixed by the horrors they were witnessing, like passing motorists staring at a traffic collision. Lifeguards yelled orders, trying to disperse the crowd, or at least get them a safe distance away from the waves that would be caused by the impact. Inside the shuttle, the terrified occupants awaited the same moment.

The shuttle hit the water. At first it appeared to sink, but this was actually caused by the water rising up around it as waves. People ran as they headed to break on the shore, but those clustered around the pier remained watching. Some of the shuttle broke off on impact. There was an explosion, and most of the shape sank below the waves, slowly, leaving debris floating around in the water. Some people began to leave, deciding a real life tragedy wasn't a show they wanted to see after all. The crowd was solemn now, watching a few orange lifeboats float out to the wreck, though the pilot's faces told that they didn't expect to see anyone still alive to rescue.

Underwater and sinking fast, the former occupants of the doomed shuttle, made a break for the surface, pulling themselves free from the remains of the wreck. Their hands and wrists remained joined; with the master emerald's help, they barely felt the pull of the undersea currents, and the impact with the sea had felt like little more than the jolt of re-entry. Above, they could vaguely make out the fluorescent orange of the rescue boats. They aimed towards them.

"Hey...do you see that?" a lifeguard called out to his fellows, pointing into the ocean. As he stared, the others strained to see. Knuckles broke the surface first, followed by Rouge. They gasped for air out of instinct, as the other three joined them. Glancing around, they saw the astonished faces of the lifeguards, all staring in wonder.

"Let go!" Rouge whispered to Knuckles, pulling her hand away. Knuckles released her as though he'd expected that reaction all along. She released Tails, who let go of Amy. But the pink hedgehog remained holding on to her hero, helping him to swim on account of his broken ankle. The green glow from the master emerald disappeared, as the chain from Knuckles was broken, even fading away from him this time. He clutched the emerald firmly in his arms, as the lifeguards helped him aboard their craft. He heard Amy yelling at another of them to be careful of Sonic's ankle, and his mouth moved into something that wanted to be a grin, but was too tied up with other mixed emotions to make much of an impression on his face. On the shoreline, the crowd had started cheering. They realised that they'd all witnessed some sort of miracle, and the shuttle's occupants had survived. That was enough reason to cheer for any of them. Some passed around pairs of binoculars excitedly, to see what was actually happening, and as always, cameras flashed.

"So I guess we're heroes after all," Rouge said impassively, leaning against the side of the life craft. Her eyes turned to Knuckles, and she watched him, thoughtfully.

"Do you feel like one? After all, it was you who you stopped the space Colony in the end. You saved us all,"

"No," he sighed. "Though we'll be treated like we should, even when we tell them what really happened."

"If only we could make them understand about Shadow too," Rouge sighed.

"Maybe some of them will, who knows?" Sonic interrupted, reflectively, as the raft carrying him and Amy brushed past.

"Yeah, but more of them will remember him from what they knew before, as a prisoner, a thief and a criminal. When it comes to recognising him as a hero, will they? Some of them won't even want to." Knuckles declared, as the boats reached the beach, and the excited crowd gathered around, eager to hear their tale.