"We should call Amy," Pretzel realized as she and Whip made their way to Adabat's temple—after a quick stop to buy some bean porridge, at Whip's insistence. "She's probably worried about us."

"Tell her we totally saved the day!" Whip suggested, bouncing in place. He'd already finished both his own porridge and Pretzel's. "She'll be so impressed!"

"Impressed at us solving some basic riddles?" Pretzel asked dryly. She reached into her subspace, pulled out the little communication device, and pressed the button Amy had shown her. They both watched the device expectantly. Nothing happened.

"I think you're doing it wrong," Whip commented helpfully.

"I'm doing what she told me to!" Pretzel snapped.

"Maybe you just have to talk into it!" Whip leaned forward and pressed his muzzle to the device. "Hello? Amy?"

The only response was the crackle of static.

"Ominous." Pretzel shook the device. It remained stubbornly silent.

"She's probably just busy," Whip offered.

"Maybe," Pretzel said, wings twitching anxiously. She tucked the device away and looked up. They'd reached the temple now. "Well, we don't have any other leads anyway. Why don't we go to Empire City and meet up with Amy?"

"Yes, that's a good idea!" Despite his optimism, Whip seemed relieved. "Amy will know where to go next."

They reached the portal room unnoticed, to Pretzel's relief; the guards and curators were well used to them by now, but she still preferred to avoid attention if possible. She stood watch at the room's door, willing the tight feeling in her chest to ease, while Whip activated the portal to Empire City.

"Got it!" Whip called.

Pretzel hurried over, and together they pushed the door open. She sighed with relief as the familiar scent of Empire City wafted from the door. Of course it had worked. The portals always worked. There was no reason to think they'd ever stop behaving as they always had. But…

"Let's go through together," Pretzel said, taking Whip's hand.

Whip glanced at her quizzically, but didn't protest. Pretzel felt foolish as they stepped through the portal, exactly the same as they had a hundred times before, and—

Everything twisted.

Pretzel's stomach lurched, bile rising in her throat as she was seized by a sudden feeling of vertigo. Whip's grip on her hand tightened, and she heard him cry out. Her awareness twisted, contracted, fragmented, and for a moment they were everywhere and nowhere all at once. Then they tumbled onto hot pavement, blissfully solid and whole.

Pretzel lay still for a moment, head pounding. Gradually, the feeling of vertigo retreated. The headache did not.

"Pretzel? Pretzel, what happened?"

Whip's voice. Pretzel groaned and forced her eyes open. Burning sunlight stabbed at her, hammering on her skull and weighing down her body. She climbed to her feet. Whip was standing beside her, ears twisted back nervously. He stepped back as she stood, and together they looked around.

A gently curving cobbled road ran under their feet, lined by neat buildings made of white stone that reflected the blinding sunlight and green trees that waved in a warm breeze. In one direction, the city rose in tiers, with the highest points adorned by windmills and bell towers. In the other lay the ocean, serene and blue, reflecting the cloudless sky.

"It's so pretty!" Whip smiled in delight, but then he frowned. "This isn't Empire City. Where are we?"

"Apotos," Pretzel said, mouth dry. She remembered this place all too well.

"There you are! I've been looking all over!"

Pretzel whirled around and froze. The growing dread she'd been feeling since Amy hadn't returned their call coalesced into an avalanche of memory and terror, falling around her, entombing her in numbing fear, only able to watch as the thing approached.

Fangs bared in a playful grin. Lean, cat-like build, tufted tail, tall, pointed ears. Head framed by a mane like the rising sun. Claws, gleaming in the light. For a moment she was there again, cowering before the monster that had been her friend— no. The monster that had taken her friend, taken and twisted and scooped out everything that made him him, then using the shell left behind to torment and burn and destroy. She could feel its burning touch, hear its inhuman laugh, see the burning light seething behind its eyes. She was there again, small and alone and terrified. It was only a moment, but it felt like an eternity.

Then her vision cleared, and she saw the thing standing over them for what it truly was. It was not the Hedgecat. Not exactly. It was bigger, bulkier, and lacked the slender, fairy-like wings. There was no blue on its fur, but instead a brilliant sunrise red, and its eyes burned amber, not green. Its mane was a real mane, not quills approximating one, and it bushed magnificently around its head and neck, feathery and gold. A shape like a flaming sun marked its forehead, glowing faintly in the sunlight, and the same marking adorned the creature's palms.

No, this wasn't the Hedgecat. There was no Sonic in this creature. Only Light.

"My name is Nova," the creature said with an elegant bow. His voice was warm, friendly, almost like a more mature version of Whip's. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."

"Hello!" Whip said, smiling back. "I'm Whip, and this is my sister Pretzel."

"I know," Nova said. His eyes flicked to Pretzel, and his expression shifted to one of open disgust and hatred before he looked back at Whip and smiled once more.

Even Whip noticed the shift in expression, and he took a step back, unnerved. "O-oh."

"How did you know we were here?" Pretzel choked out, though she already knew the answer. "Why were you looking for us?"

"That's easy," Nova said, meeting her gaze. He bared his teeth in a grin. "I'm here to kill you."

Pretzel scrambled out of the way just as he shot forward, claws scoring the pavement. He spun smoothly to face her, turning on a dime. Pretzel barely launched into the air in time to avoid his slashing claws.

"Stop!" Whip yelled, darting towards Nova. "Why are you attacking her!?"

Nova gave him a bemused look. "Do you even know what she is, little brother? Why do you defend her?"

"She's my sister!" Whip snapped, wings flaring indignantly.

Nova just shook his head. "You are an innocent one. I'll show you the truth later. I need to finish this first." He turned to face Pretzel again—but Pretzel was gone.

"Go!" Pretzel hissed to Whip, darting from the shadows of the nearby buildings to grab her brother's arm while Nova had his back turned.

The two of them flew through a nearby window into a thankfully deserted house, then out the other side. Pretzel kept tugging Whip forward until they'd flown across what had to be half the town. Finally they stopped in the narrow alley between two buildings.

"Did we—" Whip started, but Pretzel clamped a hand over his mouth. She cautiously leaned out of the alley and peered down the street before releasing him.

"I think we lost him," She said. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," Whip said. "But I don't get it. Who was that guy? Why did he want to kill you?"

"That was another Light Gaia fragment. An intelligent one, like Twist." Pretzel shuddered.

"What did he mean, about me knowing what you are?"

Pretzel flattened her ears and looked away. "That's not—"

"You still haven't told him?" A familiar voice interrupted, smooth and mocking.

No. No, no, no, no. This couldn't be happening.

Pretzel wheeled around, pushing Whip behind her and flaring her wings. (As if you could do anything to protect him.) Twist dropped into the alley. She crouched in front of them, ears twitching, and grinned that slow, predatory grin.

"You think I'm intelligent? Pretzel, I'm touched."

"Go away!" Whip snapped, pressing against Pretzel. She could feel him trembling. "Pretzel already beat you!"

Twist turned her grin on him. "Technically, she never answered that last riddle. But we weren't talking about that, were we? We were talking about your dear, sweet sister. If she can even be called that."

"Stop it!" Whip said, voice cracking. "We're not going to listen to you!"

Twist stepped closer, and they both backed away—moving closer to the sunlight, out of the safety of the alley. "I hate to say it, but the blowhard's right. You really have no idea who your sister is—or who you are, for that matter. Innocent indeed."

"Stop," Pretzel said, desperate, mind whirling with panic. Another step back, another step toward the light. Not like this, not like this, please not like this—

"They've told you all about the Gaias, haven't they?" Twist continued, ignoring her, eyes on Whip. "Dangerous monsters who tried to destroy the world. Didn't you think it was odd, how your earliest memories began when Light Gaia… ended?"

"Shut up!" Pretzel snapped, glancing at Whip. He was staring at Twist as if transfixed. Sunlight burned on Pretzel's fur.

Twist prowled closer. "They stripped the Gaias of their power. Declawed them, so to speak. But then, what to do with the leftovers? Hide them in plain sight. No one would suspect the apocalypse to be hiding in a little girl's apartment, would they?"

"W-what are you saying?" Whip's tail curled around him, and he looked at Pretzel, desperate. "What is she saying?"

"I'm saying," Twist said, before Pretzel could respond. "That you, Whip, are Light Gaia, and your dear, clever 'sister' is Dark Gaia. Your opposite."

The words, finally spoken out loud, struck Pretzel like a knife to the gut. Whip flinched, and Pretzel flinched too, wrapping her wings around herself.

"That's—that's not true!" Whip yelled, stamping his foot and glaring at Twist. "You're a—you're a liar! You lie about everything! I won't listen to anything you say!"

"Then don't ask me!" Twist swept her arm as if to indicate the world as a whole. "Ask anyone! Ask Pretzel! Ask Amy! Or better yet—" she tilted her head and grinned. "Ask Nova."

She vanished in a puff of smoke, just as a fire-red blur slammed into the alley. Pretzel gasped as she was pinned to the wall, fur, skin, and scales burning at Nova's touch. He bared his teeth mere inches from her throat.

"Enough games," he growled as Pretzel writhed in his grip, crying out in pain. "Today I end this."

"Don't hurt her!" Whip screamed. Pretzel could barely see him through the haze of pain and burning.

Nova barely spared him a glance. "Peace, little brother. Today I destroy Dark Gaia for good."

Pretzel squeezed her eyes shut. This was always how it was going to end. Burning claws and betrayal. She wished she could apologize to Sonic. All their pain and struggle, and it ended this way anyway.

"I said—" Whip shouted, voice somehow both far away and painfully close, resounding in her mind. "Don't! Hurt! Her!"

And suddenly a burst of light, pure white and burning hot, blazed around her. The claws on her throat disappeared, and Pretzel fell to the ground, gasping. She blinked, staring up in shock as Nova stumbled back, a spear of light stabbing through his chest.

"Pretzel!" Whip said, grabbing her hand—and then jerking back as she screamed. His touch burned, even more than Nova's had.

They stared at each other, Pretzel clutching her arm to herself, Whip's extended hand slowly falling back to his side.

"Pretzel," Whip said again. Pleading. Begging. "She was lying. Right? Twist was lying."

Pretzel shook her head slowly. She felt—tired. So this was how it went? This was how he found out? Cruel. She should have listened to Amy.

"She was telling the truth," Pretzel said when he continued to stare at her, disbelieving. "We're the Gaias."

Whip backed away, wide-eyed, trembling. "That's not—that's not true!"

Hatred and anger, she'd expected. Denial, she wasn't so sure how to deal with. "Whip—" Pretzel reached towards him instinctively before she remembered and pulled her hand back. "It is true. That's why we could absorb the fragments." She glanced back towards Nova, still groaning on the ground at the other end of the alley. The spear of light was gone, but it had left a white scorch mark on the ground. "You were… reclaiming your power."

"No!" Whip yelled, tears welling in his eyes. "You're lying! I'm Whip! I'm not a monster!" He swiped furiously at his eyes. This time Pretzel didn't stop herself from reaching towards him, but he backed away, glaring. "You're a liar! You're—you're just as bad as Twist!"

Pretzel flinched like she'd been slapped.

"I won't listen," Whip said, spreading his wings. "I won't listen to you anymore! You're mean and cruel and a liar!"

"Whip, please—" Pretzel begged, reaching out for him. She grasped for the connection between their minds, but he shoved her back, the heat of his anger and hurt surging over her like fire, more painful than any physical burn. By the time her mind cleared, he'd already flown off. Gone.

Pretzel was alone.

She shivered, huddling into herself. What should she do? Follow him? He wanted nothing to do with her, and it wasn't like Nova would hurt him. Nothing could hurt him. Nothing except Pretzel.

Nova. Nova would wake up soon. She had to move. Pretzel stumbled forward, seeking the shadows, anywhere she could hide from the merciless sun. Find safety. There was no safety. Find somewhere to hide, somewhere he won't find you. Darkness. You're just as bad as Twist! Don't think about Whip. Don't think about Amy, or Sonic, or Rouge or Shadow or Blaze or any of them. Don't think about how it's all over.

"Pathetic," the voice purred. No. Not now. "Just tragic. The very power of darkness itself, reduced to a cowering wreck by a few harsh words?"

Pretzel crouched on the ground, feeling smaller than she ever had as Twist stood over her. Twist was poised as ever, looking down at Pretzel with that lazy grin and that piercing green gaze. The sight threw Pretzel back to that place of crackling lava, staring up at those myriad eyes and countless fangs. Seeing the truth of herself. In that moment, looking up at Twist, she understood. This was the true Dark Gaia. Pretzel was the fragment. A broken piece of a forgotten whole, left without purpose, causing pain and destruction wherever she went.

"He'll find you soon," Twist said, glancing over her shoulder. "And he'll kill you, easy. No one to protect you now."

Pretzel curled her tail around herself, shivering. She could already feel the claws, crushing her chest, choking her throat. Desperately she reached out—for Whip, for Sonic, for anyone who could hear her. But there was nothing. Nothing but the suffocating fear and the truth of Twist's words.

"You know what you have to do." Twist's tail brushed against the ground in slow sweeps. The swing of a pendulum, counting down. "You know there's only one way to survive."

Pretzel dug her claws into the cement. Sonic was gone. Amy was gone. Whip was gone. The deception of the past few months was over, and the truth was laid bare, cowering in an alley, alone in the dark.

"So?" Twist asked, and Pretzel could hear her smile. "What's the answer to my riddle, Pretzel? What am I?"

Pretzel closed her eyes. No more hiding. No more running. No more fighting.

No more Pretzel.

"You're me," she whispered. And like an embrace, the darkness came crashing down around her.


Whip huddled on the porch of a stranger's house, desperately longing for the sun, yet afraid to step out of hiding. Would Nova be hunting him? Would Twist? He didn't know. Pretzel would know. Except Pretzel had lied. She had to be lying. Whip wasn't a Gaia; he wasn't. He wasn't a monster that tried to destroy the world. He wouldn't brainwash people and torture them. He wouldn't.

(But he'd thought Pretzel wouldn't lie to him, either, and he'd been wrong about that, so what did he know, really? Was anything he believed true?)

The world plunged into darkness.

Whip gasped. He took off into the air before he could remember he was supposed to be hiding, flying up and up and up until he could see the whole town spread out below him. And he saw the shadows, peeling away from all the little crooks and crannies where they'd been hiding from the sun to race over the white buildings and green trees, a wave of darkness surging towards a central pillar of strange violet-black energy. A pillar rising from an alley not far from Whip's hiding spot. For a moment he caught a glimpse of Pretzel, looking tiny as she huddled to the ground, and Twist, looming over her with vicious delight. And then the shadows reached them. They broke around Twist like waves around a rock, but they surged over Pretzel, swallowing her whole before swirling back around Twist, around and around until she, too, had been swallowed by the darkness.

And then the shadows mushed together and solidified. Like liquid hardening in a mold, they shaped into scales and sinew, teeth and claws, rising up and up until the great and terrible monster loomed over Whip, casting its shadow over the whole town. It looked at him, green eyes sharp and keen, fangs bigger than his entire body. As big as Hurricane, as dark as Midnight, as sharp and cruel as Twist. As clever as Pretzel.

Dark Gaia.

A roar caught the attention of both Whip and the monster. He looked down to see Nova charging forward, burning with white light. For a moment he felt hopeful; Nova was strong, and fierce. Maybe he'd stop this monster. He watched in awe as Nova leapt on top of a building and threw himself forward, still bellowing his challenge. The monster looked right at him…

…and swatted him away like an insect.

Whip gasped as Nova was sent flying through the air. He landed somewhere in the ocean, too far away for Whip to see, and the monster turned to Whip with a calculating gaze. Whip trembled. He raised his fists, trying to remember what the heroes in the shows did when they were facing a giant, terrifying monster.

The monster grinned.

All visions of heroism fled Whip's head. Suddenly he realized just how small he was in front of this thing. If Nova couldn't stop it, how could he?

Whip wasn't a hero. Whip was just Whip.

The monster moved. Whip turned and ran.