-Blaze-

All their futures rest on a slender thread. Tails is torn by his trust in Sonic, Sonic's mind clouded by shattered barriers. Amy's love for Shadow battles her sense of duty, and Shadow himself is haunted by memories of his own. My brother, my other half, is held back only by the thinnest of restraints, and by the knowledge that the Guardian of the Master Emerald can stop him, regardless of his strength. And I... I can sense the last two Chaos Emeralds, so very close now. They have called to me since we reached this place. Soon now, the Emeralds will be reunited, and my vision will end.

I step forward, barely aware of my movements. There are the trigger circuits; here is where I must be to destroy them. This is the moment when I pull the trigger, and so I do, the five times I need to. I walk forwards once again, through the corridor that is now harmless. The Chaos Emeralds are ahead. They call to me, to us, myself and my brother, my counterpart, my opposite, my other half. With me, he walks to the door. With me, he opens it. The others stare as we walk towards the Emeralds. They see our movements smooth and strange and inexorable, see us take an Emerald each and turn in unison. They see the Emeralds reflected in our eyes, and see our eyes shine with a power of their own.

The moment must be broken, so I break it. I beckon my brother and walk forwards as though we are still the people we once were, holding out the Emerald to Amy. She takes it in silence. My brother follows my lead, though he holds his Emerald in only one hand, and she takes that as well.

The time has almost come. Soon, my vision will end. Whatever path is taken to reach that point, the ending of my vision is the right thing. That which was wrong shall be set right, the broken made whole. The paths themselves, however, have their differences. Some are good, some are bad, and while the ending of my vision may be a good thing in itself, the surrounding events tell me that it could lead to a dark future. As it approaches the time, I have less and less of the future to use to tell me what my actions must be. Though my power is now fully awakened, this limit may allow me to make mistakes.

"All right!" It's Sonic. Only he and the Guardian know what he intends, but the time is almost here. "Now all we've gotta do is get out of here!"

"Then what, Sonic? We have all of the Chaos Emeralds," Tails says. I know that Sonic can hear the doubt in his voice. He may not have told Amy what I said earlier, but his faith is shaken.

"Then we get the seventh back!"

Sonic hides his fear beneath confidence, but it will no longer serve him. He must face the past he buries or die.

"Sonic, how exactly are we going to do that?" Amy asks. She can no longer trust his vague promises, after what has happened with both him and Shadow.

"The last Emerald – you guys have had it all this time! I can't believe you haven't noticed it!"

"What do you mean?"

He spins and points at us, myself and my brother. My equal. My opposite. My counterpart. The other half of the whole we create.

"Right there! Just look at them!"

She stares, and so do Tails, Shadow, and Rouge. My brother shows no surprise. Deep within himself, a part of him already knew.