Life After: Sonic Crew

Disclaimer: You know what goes here; you can't be that dumb; you know I don't own em'

I haven't played Shadow The Hedgehog, so I don't know what Shadow's past is (Completely). All I know is since chapter 1; I've had a general plan/idea of what I want as his creation and how he came to be.

Same thing with, Tikal and the guardian's past, organization/leadership thing. This is how I want it, it's my view, you don't like it? Well hit the back button and stop wasting my time.

I would like everyone to know; I am mean, but I love ya'll (Not in that way, idiots…) I think it's cool that some people have a story of mine on their favorites, and better than that, me as an author. So if my mean comments here and there didn't tell you, with love (Not that kind) the Snowman thanks you guys for spending valuable time reading this.

Another note: Lots of info coming in this chap, so pay attention.

Some old names will be changed, you'll know, if you don't let me know in a review.

Chapter 23 — You want the bad news or the worse new or worser news?

(Sub Title: A Mother's Deepest Concern

(Well…at least this is what I got from my friends mom, don't ask how we got into talking about the subject, it was freaking weird is all I'll say.)

Next day; Tails Home: Sonic, Amy, Cindy, Samantha (Elsewhere in the house) and Shadow

Shadow lay on a table had in Tails's newly remodeled and upgraded lab. Tails had been using his money mainly on his lab. The kid lives alone, works, has a girlfriend, knows how to fly and makes a lot of money, and you'd think he'd be able to drive. Well back to our serious matter, Shadow was on the table/bed-like thing, with an oxygen mask, and was connected to a monitor. How does this kid even get a hold of this stuff? Monitor, oxygen tank and mask, kid's probably got good connections.

Cindy stood by his side, gripping his hand, she had been relatively calm. Amy stood a few feet from Sonic; she didn't answer his question which really bugged him. She didn't want to upset him but she was really being affected by the court matter. Shadow had his eyes closed but he was still conscious, but very weak. Cindy couldn't even bring him to hospital, it happened so sudden too.

They where at his house, he was still breathing heavily. They were about to walk in when he started coughing. He kept answering her question with 'I'm fine; I'm just exhausted from the warp.' He suddenly began to stagger, and fell flat on the ground. He started coughing harder and began to cough up blood.

"What's wrong with him?" Cindy asked with her voice shaking.

Tails sighed, she had been asking countless times, "Cindy, I don't know," Tails kept checking the stat monitor, "First of all, there's only so much I know about him. If I knew more about him, I might be able to do more, but I'm not a doctor either," Tails paused and looked Shadow, "Though I'm not sure they'd be able to do anything more than I can."

"So what do we do? Isn't there anything you can do or try?" Sonic asked in a soft voice.

"I don't know…I mean, I've never dealt with a medical problem like this," Tails groaned as he held his head, "Broken bones and beam wounds are one thing but this is internal or maybe deeper…"

Cindy did not cry, she fought it. Shadow still eyes closed and breathe heavily, she fought her tears. What now? As if they haven't been through enough. The Nightmare Projects, they fought them and just barely survived, never a moment of peace for them.

Angel Island; Angel Forest

Tikal was out of the Master Emerald; she had not been summoned or was even needed at this time. She came out of instinct, taking her physical shape, not form, just her spirit body. She walked around, she had been having lots of funny feelings, like something bad was going to happen. She walked around aimlessly. As if she was heading in the right direction but had no idea of what she was in search of. She could have felt the touch of the trees if she had taken her full physical form, but she past through the forest still looking for whatever.

She stopped suddenly, it just told her too. She couldn't think of a reason exactly why she stopped;

"You have failed your job as his guardian guild Tikal." She turned around to find none other than the sky blue echidna. His eyes had no glow this time, they were alight shade of yellow.

Tikal huff and crossed her arms, "No, I have not, he is here, still doing his duty."

As if they were on familiar terms he glared at her, "You know very well what I mean," He stepped closer to Tikal, "But if you have forgotten, he's cross breeding. A guardian is never to cross breed and you know that…"

"What difference does it make?" Tikal said raising her voice slightly, "The guardian blood line will continue, isn't that what you care about the most?"

The echidna frowned, "The guardian bloodline must remain pure, which is why cross breeding and marriages are not allowed."

"I am very well aware about guardian bloodline and its specific care taking techniques," Tikal stepped closer to the echidna and glared at him, "Knuckles chose to marry who he loved, I stand by him all the way," Tikal smirked in sly way, "The first-born child is guaranteed to be a guardian, I went through the ritual with them myself to make sure."

The blue echidna gave her a death look, "That is why I am here," The ghostly guardian's voice had a hard tone, "You have defied thousands of years of ancient traditions. You have soiled the guardian bloodline."

Tikal frowned, "Ancient traditions? I don't see how hunting Rouge down is a tradition. I will defy the entire conclave and my clan directly if I have to," Tikal relaxed a bit, "There are only a few female echidnas that could have been right for him."

"Julie-Su was one of them," The guardian glared at her again, "You supported his relationship with the bat, knowing that."

"I supported it because she wasn't, and neither is he for her!"

"Why are you always disobeying the conclave and disrespecting the clan?" He made her flinch slightly, reminding her.

"I believed in love! I was not going to marry a man that I had no feelings for!" Tikal clenched her fists as she remembered, "I am glad for Knuckles that most of the guardian clans died out! Arranged marriages are the reason why there are so few!" Tikal was on the verge of yelling.

The echidna growled lowly in his throat, "You are supposed to put your people and their safety before your needs," He tried to relax, "I had to make sacrifices just as well, you being one of very few female guardians should be honored that you were even a guardian, an arranged marriage was only a simple sacrifice."

Tikal let her anger get the best of her now, "A simple one? Do you know what it is to be married to someone that I wouldn't have loved? To lose my virginity to someone that I had absolutely no feelings for? I would rather die alone than to do that!"

The echidna growled lowly, "It was for the clan and for the better of the world! Because you defied your marriage, others did it as well! You're the one who started the clan wars!"

Tikal glared at him with pure rage in her eyes, "Don't you ever try to blame that on me, the clan wars were the fault of those who thought they could use the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald to rule all! I stood up for what I believe was right; I was not going to marry you, no matter how important to our clan it was!" The echidna gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at her.

Oh, so that's was this was about, see I had no idea. Now I have a general idea of where this is gonna go. Dang if he's one of the earlier guardians then damn, Tikal is old!

Oh boy, this is my friend's wedding all over again…

"Now I know first hand why Knuckles is so against our traditions. He learned it from you; you encouraged all of this, you know better than that!" The echidna looked furiously mad. He stared straight in her eyes and he took a deep breath and relaxed suddenly;

"Tikal…I didn't come here to argue about our past." He took another breath, "Due to all that has happened, the conclave has decided to…take certain actions once the child is born."

Tikal growled instantly upon hearing that, "You even touch that child there is no telling what I am going to do to hunt you down, let alone the child's grandfather."

The echidna flinched, "He has nothing to do in the matter; the child must be properly trained in order to be an able guardian!"

"Oh I see, your intimidated Knuckles's father…" Tikal crossed her arms. In a mocking way she stared at him, "What has Locke said about all this? Have you even let him know about what the conclave is planning?"

"Tikal, Locke is not involved," The echidna crossed his arms, "(Sigh) Tikal, I'm getting off track again. I came here to tell you; you must tell Knuckles, that his first born guardian child will be taken soon after it's sixteenth birthday, that is when it's training will begin," The sky blue echidna did not look to happy suddenly, "This was against my wishes, despite what you may think." His facial tone softened;

"I'm sure it isn't," She shot back; "You don't give a damn about they feel."

"I did not want the child taken away, no matter what he has done, he is with her, and they are going to have a child, whether any of us like it or not," He clench his fist now, "I never want the child taken away. The conclave made that decision on its own; I only told them all that happened." His voice was softer, "Doesn't matter with traditions, yes, I was harsh with them but that was before they married," His fist seemed so tight with pressure as he continued;

"We have to accept it, he married her. That's that, but taking the child away was never my intention." She could see a harsh emotion in the guardian's eyes.

"You were…" Tikal stopped mid way as the guardian nodded slightly with a solid face looking away.

"I do what the conclave orders me to, only because that's the way I was raised and I respect our traditions." He began to walk away, fading as he did, "Don't forget to tell Knuckles…and tell him I never wanted this, and that I'm sorry for all that has happened and that will happen."

Tikal stood in shock. Everything that was just thrown at her. How was she going to tell Knuckles and Rouge that their first child was going to be taken from them? After all that has happened, the guardians will not let go of their old traditions? Why did it have to be like this?

Angel Island; Red boy and white bat lady's home

Knuckles was awake and at his table. He had coffee in a mug next to him. Something he rarely ever drank, but to stay awake after all he had been through he was going to need it. He was on Rouge laptop, trying to figure what happened at the base; with Rouge's guidance of course.

Rouge was currently devouring some cookies and mayo; she had her glove off on one hand. Literally she dipped the cookie in the mayo jar and took a huge bite out of it. This wasn't unusual with her lately.

But it was worrying Knuckles slightly, "Rouge?"

"Yeah?" She responded sweetly after eating yet another cookie.

"I don't think you have anymore," Rouge pulled the cookie box towards her body, "That's your second box Rouge; I don't think you should eat that much mayo and cookies at once." Rouge licked her bare fingers clean of small crumbs and left over mayo from another cookie, "Okay, c'mon give me the cookies honey." He leaned over and reached for the box.

"Nooooo." She said in a whiny voice; still sucking a finger as she hugged the mayo jar and the cookie box and turned her body, "Knuckles, honey I'm really hungry," She scooted a couple of inches away as he reached more towards the cookie box, "And this really hits the spot."

"Cookies and mayo?" He asked raising an eyebrow. Knuckles had never, directly been near a pregnant woman, so this was all new to him.

"Hey, you'd be surprised how good it tastes." Rouge set the things down on the table and grabbed another cookie and dipped it in the mayo, "I was surprised myself but (Eats cookie) its soo good." She said lustfully as she chewed the cookie.

Knuckles chuckled at his wife who was already devouring another cookie, "Alright, alright." He sat back all the way in his chair. He waited for her to grab another cookie;

As she fed herself another one, he suddenly sprang forward and grabbed the box, "Mmm—Knuckles!" She shouted with her mouthful of mayo and cookie, "Give it back!" She stood up and jumped towards the cookie box he had in his hand; extended in the air, and away from her mouth.

"No more Rouge, you've had too much." He backed away as she kept jumping for it; she didn't feel like flying or jumping with all her or at least some more strength. Rouge swallowed her cookie and glared at him;

"Fine, so your just going to let me starve?" She pouted crossing her arms. She kept her eyes on her beloved cookies, even though there were like only three left. She smirked as she pressed up against him suddenly. She couldn't wait any more; she wrapped her arms around his back, "Fine you win. I'll stop eating them."

She hugged him tightly, kissing him suddenly; made him smile. His arms relaxed and let down as they kissed. He smirked as she giggled a little bit. As soon as he wanted to go beyond kissing she swiped the box away and backed away;

"Hey!" Knuckles said, she got him off guard, "Rouge that's not fair, you tricked me."

Rouge grabbed another cookie…again, "So? You tricked me." She ate it and licked her fingers, "Besides, that's the last one…"

Knuckles sighed with relief, "Good…I don't think you should be eating so many different combinations of such weird foods."

She glared at him, "Weird? It's not weird! It's very satisfying!" she said with one hand on her hip;

"You had solid cheese and whipped cream earlier this morning!"

"That's not weird!" Rouge blushed as she remembered. She pouted slightly at him. He stood there smirking a little knowing he was right, in a sense. Rouge relaxed her wings greatly suddenly and let out a sigh;

"Honey, can you go out and get me some more cookies or ice cream?" Knuckles stared at her wide eyed, she still was hungry?

"More?" He asked shocked, "You just ate two boxes of cookies and who knows how much mayo!"

She her ears drooped down slightly, "Knuckles—" The phone rang suddenly, cutting her off.

Ice Valley; With Havak

There was a valley area in the middle with a large and very long mountain area on both sides. It formed a humongous trench area, Havak stood in the middle of a large blizzard that had come upon this area. Ice was forming everywhere; snow covered everything and was about three feet deep. Havak was 6.2, and the cold wither and piling snow had no effect on him. He wore his black and red armor, his skeletal body still exposed in some areas, his skull still hidden in the cryo dome.

It was in the air. The tension, he could feel it. Life in his new form had brought many new abilities to him, he sense the on coming trouble. His eyes glowing white eye slowly faded into a deep red color. The entire landscape was deep blue color in his vision now.

It was here; he knew it, but where exactly? He looked around; he could feel the intense energy coming from all around. The only problem was he couldn't pinpoint the exact area. He growled to himself quietly as his patience was quickly growing thin;

"Havak!" It yelled with a hiss at the end. Havak calmly turned around and saw it.

Two yellow evil looking eyes. A deep gray colored body and a nice, long white tongue; it was split at the end. Its mouth was closed but the tongue hung out of a small opening between its lips, two fangs glowed brilliantly in a white aura. A snake was before him now, it was in a stand up position with its tail and more of its lengthy body rolled around its body in a large circle. The harsh and cold winds had no effect on him either. Havak could tell, it was a King Cobra;

"Aware are you?" It asked after a short silence.

"I can sense it, what is going on?" Havak asked walking closer. He had no idea where this snake was from or who it represented, but he could feel it; this snake was trustable;

"All councils are gathering as you and I speak," It blinked, this snake had eyelids, "The guardians of the Master Emeralds, the Chaos Emerald Watchers and the Keepers of Chaos; all are meeting to decide as what actions to take."

"Tell me," Havak lifted a hand, "What is going on?"

"A war is coming," the snake looked to the skies, "A mortal named Eggman, he is tampering with things that no mortal should ever even see. He has succeeded and his evil intentions are great."

"What has he planned?" Havak asked, he knew who Eggman was. Working for the government means he knows all threats.

"Some time from now, we have seen a prediction." It slithered closer with its main body still upright, "We have foreseen a possible future; six major cities will fall, all in one day. All at the touch of one person."

Havak was very drawn in, such immense power, even greater than his, "No one has that kind of power, least not any human."

"Of course, but this person was made by a human, Eggman." The snake stared Havak in the eyes, "Havak, all of the world's greatest and most powerful warriors are being summoned and warned. In some time, this Eggman will have raised a powerful army. He will have built three elite warriors, each with a power that could easily be compared to yours. But they are not the ones to be feared."

"Then who is the threat?" Havak asked anxiously.

"There will be one, powered by an eighth Chaos Emerald; a fake but equally powerful." Havak had known of Eggman's earlier projects; Metal Sonic and Knuckles, "He will call it; Slayer Knight. The speed of this warrior is unimaginable, he could easily take on any one warrior of this world easily," He paused as he felt Havak's reaction;

"Is there any way to stop him?"

"But of course, we would not bother with warning you if it were not possible," The snake gave Havak a cold and heavy look, "But there is a sacrifice; many will lose their lives. If all swallow their pride and ban together and fight as one to take this threat down, those that survive will live to prosper in their lives."

Havak growled to himself silently. He was a solo person, never would he assault a foe with another. But the look this snake gave him as he spoke meant just as he said;

Swallow your pride and fight together to take this one down.

"How much time?"

"Some time, it is unknown; we never expected a human to be able to do this, our predications are not always correct, so to tell you a timeline, is wrong."

Havak's eyes faded slowly to white again, "What is your name?"

"I have none." The snake gave a grin, "I have none, for I am nothing more than an old warrior and now a messenger."

Havak hummed once in respect and bowed a little as the snake turned around;

"I have a partner for you, to help you train." The snake said before he moved on, "He is not exactly one who gets along well, but he has agreed to help us, and seems to suit your style well."

From the ground came a dark puddle. It slowly rose up and took the form of a body. It was Darkness;

"Remember, work together, and train. You don't have to like each other, just be prepared. Pandemonium!" The snake hissed suddenly;

"I'm right here," Darkness said in deep voice, "Where is Angel?"

"You have been told before, Angel and Chaos are to be training, your rivalry with Angel and Chaos is to continue no more! You both nearly brought Angel Island to ground last time you fought." The snake narrowed its eyes at Darkness and let out a hiss sound;

"I must be on my way, good-luck," The snake nodded once at each and slithered away, disappearing into the blizzard's windy cover.

"Pandemonium?" Havak asked questioningly as he stared down at the short watery figure below him, "What kind of name is that?"

"I've been called worse, others call me Darkness." Darkness looked up at Havak straight in the eyes, "Pandemonium sounds better than Darkness," It paused and stretched its body making it equal height to Havak's, "Sounds better than Havak too."

Havak growled lowly to himself as he remembered the purpose of this;

'This war better happen soon…'

Mystic Ruins; Forest Area: With Chaos and Peace;

"Do the others know about this?" Peace simply asked as it walked through the forest alongside Chaos.

"They should, at least in a couple of days," Chao was not even moving his feet, it simply treaded on the ground. "Something this big has to involve Knuckles and the others."

"What about Tikal?" Peace asked looking at Chaos;

"I have not seen her in a few days," Chaos stopped as the came upon a large plain, "This seems like a good spot to start."

"Shouldn't we tell the others?" Peace walked in front of Chaos;

"The councils will handle this, we need to worry about being prepared for this." Chaos said flexing his water body; getting read for his sparing.

Tails' Home; With Tails

"Rouge, are you positive you can do this?" Tails asked again, "I tried hacking into the flies but it's heavily coded and I can't crack it right now."

Rouge groaned over the phone, "Tails I told you before, if I can't get through my way, I'm sure I can get it personally, so relax okay?"

"Yeah but I still don't think they're gonna just hand over Shadow's info just like that?"

"Tails…" Rouge paused and gave him a few seconds to pay attention, "Don't ever doubt me okay? You just do what you can with Shadow."

"Alright, good—"

"—oh before I forget, can I talk with Sonic?"

Tails looked around for Sonic, "Hold on, I think he's downstairs."

Rouge waited on the line as she heard him put the phone down and heard the rustling of him moving.

Downstairs;

Tails slowly opened the door, as to not disturb anyone.

Amy stood near Cindy with one hands on her shoulder. Cindy was sitting down, leaning forwards next to Shadow's bed. She wasn't crying, but she had that worried look on her face. Amy looked uneasy as she stared the black hedgehog who looked like he was in so much pain. His breathing was hard and ruff, they could hear it.

Sonic was at the other end of the room. He quietly shifted his eyes from Shadow to Amy, he mainly focused on Amy. He looked at Tails as he walked in;

"Hey," Tails whispered as he stood in the doorway, "Sonic, Rouge wants to talk to you." Sonic nodded and slipped out of the room, quietly leaving.

Back upstairs;

"Sup Rouge," Sonic said in dry tone.

"Hey you okay? How'd the day go with Amy?" Rouge asked, very curious about that.

Sonic sighed, "I don't know," Sonic cupped the bottom of the phone, "Tails, no offense but I rather not talk about this with you here." Tails rolled his eyes and nodded. He walked down the steps.

"What'd you say Rouge?" Sonic asked as he listened to the last part of her sentence;

"I said, what happened that's got you so down? I've never imagined someone like you could ever be sad…about anything."

Sonic sighed once more, "It was all about the thing with Sally," Sonic held his head as he remembered, "I asked Amy…if she really believed me when I tell her that there is no way that I would ever do anything to hurt her."

"What did she say?" Rouge asked quickly.

"She said she had doubts because it was a legal paper," Sonic paused waiting for a response, "Then I asked her if she loved me enough to really believe when I say that would never do it because I love her…"

Rouge waited for a few moments, hoping he would continue. Nothing;

"What did she say?"

Sonic sighed again, "She didn't answer me…"

Rouge bit her lip as she thought of an answer. Hoping it wouldn't make him mad she responded with a careful tone, "Well Sonic, put yourself in her position. Sonic she is probably remembering the whole thing with Mina. And you sort of have reputation for…"

Sonic frowned at what she was getting at, "For what? What have you heard? What the hell do I have to do to prove myself honest to any of you guys? Huh, how come Tails' trust me but not even my own girl?" He sighed again. This subject was really getting to him.

Kitchen Area that leads to back porch; with Tails

'I wonder what Cream is thinking about right now. She probably hates me right at this second for leaving and not saying a thing.'

That fact had been bothering the young fox a lot lately. He had strong feelings for her, he could tell. Which is why he felt bad for leaving her like that.

He sat at his table, drifting in and out of his thoughts. The sliding door behind him led to back deck/porch. He played around with his fingers. He noticed Sonic get off the couch and walked outside with the cordless phone, probably to talk about something really important.

A sudden knocking on the glass door made him jump. He relaxed a little to find Vanilla there. Then he remembered; he suddenly was overcome with fear. He slowly rose and undid the locks and slid the door open. He spoke with a shaken voice;

"H-Hey Vanilla. Do you need something?" He gulped and hoped she didn't find out. He stepped out and closed the sliding door.

"I came over to give you this." She calmly handed him his white cell phone. Tails took it, she saw the shaking his arm.

'Damn. She knows! What am I supposed to do now?' Tails began to panic mentally as she observed his nervousness.

"Tails…I know." She said, making him panic more. "And you probably already knew that." She took a deep breath, "I need to speak with you, in private. Is there anyone around?"

Tails shook his head slowly.

"Okay," She smacked him suddenly, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Tails rubbed his cheek and reframed from shouting, "Sort of and I'm sorry! But she—"

"I don't care! Both of you are too young! What were you thinking?" Vanilla asked, starting to show her anger in this matter.

"What do you want me to say?" Tails shouted, "Huh? I know Vanilla, what do you want me to do huh? I can't make that moment never happen!" He took a deep breath.

Vanilla remained silent as the fox vented. Her first suspicion was wrong; he was edgy; it seemed to come from what she came here to talk to him about. "Tails," She spoke softly, "You and Cream are too young from anything like that, not to mention you're not married! You're only fifteen; you have no idea of the consequence of what you do when you think you're in love—"

Tails rolled his eyes at the marriage comment, and at the love one. Almost every adult had talked to him like he was a kid, all around the same areas Vanilla was talking about. His thoughts drifted back as she finished talking;

"—you're too young to know what love truly is." She finished.

"Vanilla," He spoke normally, "What are you really worried about?"

"I don't want Cream's heart broken." She bit her lip.

"Why would I ever do that? Vanilla you've known me for years, why or how would I ever do that? I thought I would be at least someone you could trust!"

Vanilla's expression softened, "Tails, it's not that." She paused, "I do trust you, in fact I rather have you be with Cream than anyone else. But there's that possibility that if something happens, you'll be like most confused men and run away."

Tails stood shock. His mouth wouldn't open to speak; her words hurt him in a way. Vanilla, the only person who was the only mother-like figure in his life, didn't trust him.

"Why would I?" He finally asked, "Don't you trust me? Why do you take me for another person? Vanilla you were someone I thought I would never have to prove myself to."

"Tails don't take it like that—"

"Why shouldn't I? That's basically what you're saying, if something happens with Cream, I'll run off, like a fucking coward!" He raised his voice, "Never would it cross my mind to leave Cream like that, never!"

Elsewhere

Her eyes spiked open. Two glowing sky blue eyes. Her body hidden behind a dark suit. Her forearms and shins armored by a hard type of metal. She stood up straight and eyed her strike team carefully.

The one on the left; a short, red colored hedgehog, yellow eyes. Ruthless, cold and sinister. He had no name; but he earned the name Destroyer. No clothing but black boots and black gloves. He was a war built soldier; but had a simple mind. He lost interest in his current objective to pay attention and was using the energy from his hands to create little shapes and cartoon-like figures fighting each other.

She rolled her eyes and looked at the one in the middle. The only one ever focused. Sitting Indian style and eyes closed she meditated, the fox kept to herself as Destroyer kept making annoying sounds with his…'things' in the air. Her yellow and white fur mixed well, but made her seem strange having red eyes, she was one of Eggman's strongest, her eyes had a habit of fading to solid white when she used a lot of force. She had yellow and white boots and similar gloves; it was her natural instinct to match her colors, even if she is going to a battle. Phoenix, only one of the three that ever really listened, maybe it was a gender thing. She called herself 'Ice' sometimes though, she enjoyed greatly freezing things and mess with the others showers by making it freezing water.

She wore all white now, but outside, she wore black.

The one on the right, was sort of paying attention. He drifted in and out. Snake examined his hands as he made energy sparks with his fingers. His fingers led the sparks around his body in a spiral fashion. He was bored. He was solid black and had teal colored eyes. He was solid black because he wore a ninja style suit as well, he was an echidna; white colored. His boots were colored black. He smirked behind his mask as he led a line of energy towards Phoenix's ear, and made it snap loudly spooking her. She growled back, make her eyes go white.

"Phoenix…" Slayer said quietly, "Don't kill him." Phoenix couldn't help but smile as she mentally picked up Snake, choking him slightly as she levitated him in the air.

These soldiers were kids…not much older than sixteen. Hey, Eggman only had so much to work with.

"Both of you cut it out! Slayer, you're the oldest and I put you in charge! That means control them, how could any of you act like this, especially now? I'd figure you'd bond like family about this time."

"Hey, it's not my fault he's an idiotic flirt!" Phoenix yelled at Eggman as he came out of the shadows nearby them;

'Teens, what the hell was I thinking? Damn Eggman, this was not your brightest idea. Is better endurance worth putting up with these people?'

"Enough! Put Snake down before you kill him!" Eggman glared at Phoenix.

"Relax, he still breathing." Phoenix made mental decision and Snake was suddenly snapped loose from the air. "Can I get some food? I didn't wake up on time and I'm starving!"

Snake groaned as he held his head. He stood up and brushed himself off. "You'll live," Snake answered quickly.

"Shut up and stay out of this!" Phoenix held lifted her hand without looking. Snake was lifted in the air suddenly and slammed into a nearby pillar as Phoenix aimed three fingers to the right.

"Ow…" Snake was dropped again. He groaned as he slowly got up, "Man this ain't fair, she beat the shit outta me and you won't even let me shock her!"

Eggman frowned, "Well, you provoked her."

"You just favor her because the youngest and she's a girl!"

"What the hell are you talking about? She's sixteen! And I put her through more training than you or him!" Eggman pointed at Destroyer, who was still off track. "I tell you not to mess with her because she is stronger than you!"

Snake crossed his arms and scoffed, "Yeah right, I could easily take her out." Phoenix furiously stood up;

"Oh yeah? You wanna bet?" She spat.

Eggman groaned as they began to argue again;

'Oh my god. Teens…I'm starting to wonder, was I drunk when I made this decision?'

"Alright, enough!" He roared. The room fell silent. They awkwardly stared at him, "You've been together for at least half a year, and you still can't get along? What is wrong with you?"

Phoenix huffed and crossed her arms, "Not my fault Snake's a dumass flirt."

"Oh please, you flirt with him just as much as he does with you!" Destroyer said rolling his eyes. "Can I go for a run?" He looked at Eggman.

"Yeah, don't go too far and watch were you're shooting!" Eggman waved him off.

"That's not fair," Phoenix shouted as Destroyer left, "How come you let him leave this base but I'm not even allowed to leave this sector of the base?" She gritted her teeth.

"Well maybe if you could control you're anger more, you wouldn't attract so much attention from the scout jets and satellites!" Snake shouted.

Phoenix growled pinned him against the wall and choked him, all using her mental energies. "Shut up, the question was for people with some intelligence."

"Tell me again," Slayer said as she floated in the air at Eggman's level, "How did you get these two?"

"Believe me; I'm sure it involved 8 bottles of vodka and some idiot that tricked me into recruiting these two into my plan." Eggman groaned as Snake started gagging, "Phoenix put him down!"

"Whatever," She began to walk away, "I'm going to get something to eat." Snake was slammed into the ground, groaning he got up.

Snake coughed and rubbed his throat.

"Anyway, Slayer, I came to tell you, I need to take it easy on the soldiers in drill practice and the alert routines, the infirmary was full of complainers last time. They all said you intentionally hit them, they said you had too much 'fun' imitating an assault."

"Hey," She smiled evilly, "I can't help it, its fun."

"Well, next time you blast someone's gun into pieces, make sure all of the fragments hit the mask and helmet piece."

Snake was suddenly thrown against the wall and slammed several times.

"You son of a bitch!" Phoenix ran in, and used her powers and slammed Snake into a wall continuously, "You perverted bastard!"

"What I was joking!" Snake shouted as she slammed him into the wall again.

"Oh my god," Eggman groaned, "What is it now?"

"This son of a bitch told everyone in squad seven that I fucked him!" She gripped her hands in the air tightly, Snake began to gagged, his tongue hung out.

Eggman rolled his eyes, "Just don't kill him." He began to walk away, grumbling something;

'What the hell was I thinking? Note to self, never get drunk and do work.'

Elsewhere;

"He is going to die, and you know that he maybe be the mortal's best hope!" The snake shouted as his superior.

"Don't you think we know that? But you know it is against our law to directly interfere with matters of life and death!" The red echidna shouted back.

"What his loved ones? Isn't that enough reason to heal him?" He shouted out raged that his request was denied.

"Look Scythe, we cannot aid in him in that manner, no matter what the conditions may be!" The red ghostly echidna stood up, the wind blowing did not affect his dreadlocks.

This was Mystic ruins, near the forest. Scythe, the former warrior, now war messenger had been arguing Shadow's fate.

"He has a daughter and has planned a marriage!"

"The girl is not his! It is his friends!"

The snake growled, "This is where your technicalities come in huh? When your wife was dieing, you begged for her life, the councils provided you with a way. You risked your life, finding the cure for her disease. He has cared for that girl for three years, she calls him 'Daddy' she calls her real father 'Uncle Sonic', why can't you help him?" He shouted. Scythe glared at the council member, "Is it because he his not a guardian?"

"The councils' help is meant only for the guardians." The echidna gritted.

"And what about our warnings? That is aiding all, even those that do not believe we exist!" The snake hissed.

"That is because the guardian is in danger, as well as Chaos and Angel! They are not immortal, they will die!"

"Bullshit," The Snake cursed in mortal words, "Regardless, if I have to use my own energies and powers, I will find a way to heal him and I will defied this council if I have to. Tikal will hear about this, and you know if her father finds out, he will not be happy."

"You do that; then never show your face again." The echidna held a finger at him, "Never seek this council for aid or blessings again!"

The snake spat at the floor in front of the echidna, "Keep your damn blessings, I'm over a thousand years old, I don't need this council. And I doubt they'll be happy I left, report back to them, watch what happens." Scythe slither away, growling. He turned ghostly and went for the city area.

He stopped and looked at the echidna glaring at him. "When this war begins, if Shadow is not alive, you will see the great disaster you set these mortals up for." He continued on his way.

With Eggman; his base, hidden;

He sat at his desk. Observing his troops, training, running through drills. Some were vehicle training. He rest elbows on the desk, his chin resting on his open palms.

"Damn, I impress myself sometimes, "He chuckled, "This plan is full proof, the Nightmare Project research center is burnt to the ground, and those projects won't stop me. By the time anyone finds out, I'll be able to attack the U.S. and take Japan at the same time easily."

He smirked as he flipped through blueprints, "Never would have though Shadow was real hedgehog, but that explains a lot. My grandfather could never make the ultimate life form from scratch, the prototype was the result of that." He laughed lightly, "But just like me, he found a way, I wonder, where did he get the baby hedgehog though?"

He flipped through Shadow's blueprints and his full body lay out. He than skimmed through Slayer's, Phoenix's, Destroyer's and Snake's;

"And how did he put in the enhancements? I had to pick mine off the streets and wipe their memory." His eyes widened, "Did Maria have him as play friend? Would my grandfather do that?" He grew a little uncomfortable with the thought of Shadow being worked on as a little hedgehog, being enhanced, and at the same being Maria's playmate.

"Hmm, there is one man who would know. Herman, my grandfathers old rival. Hmmm, I wonder if I could pay him a visit…" Eggman chuckled, he was going to find out everything he need to know, with that knowledge he could mentally take Shadow out of the picture.

Took a while, hope you're not confused.

R&R please.

Snowmans out, peace bitches