Will Faith be able to save Team Sonic and Team Dark? Find out in this chapter!

Trigger Warning: There's some violence in here. Nothing too graphic but here there be ouchies and a little blood.

Episode 13: Nominatus Strikes Back PART II

The gang had shown her around the island so she knew where Dr. Eggman's island fortress was. A raft normally reserved for villagers coming and going on tours of Eggman's lair was laying on the beach. Faith grunted as she strained to push the raft into the water. A soft buzzing, however, sent her running for cover. Faith looked up and saw more of those robot bats and even some Bee Bots flying overhead. Every robot bat had a snake clutched in their claws; no doubt one they would drop in to attack more areas of the Seaside Island. Faith looked at the raft and bit her lip. Going to Eggman's lair the normal way wasn't going to work and sneaking in was impossible.

Seeing a swarm of robot bats and bee bots flying back to the lair, Faith got an idea. 'If Sonic, Shadow, and everyone were here, they'd be pretty angry…' she thought as she stepped out into the open and waited.

It didn't take long for one of the robot bats to spot her and dive. Faith yelped as its claws snatched her up by the quills. She quickly grabbed the Chaos Emerald as it fell out of her quills and clutched it to her chest as the robot carried her off to the lair. 'Almost there!' Faith grinned as the lair's entrance neared.

"Drop the kid!"

Faith paled as the robot bat loosened its grip on her quills and, a second later, she was falling. Keeping her eyes on the ground, Faith held the Chaos Emerald and shouted, "CHAOS CONTROL!" disappearing in a flash of light and reappearing on the ground.

"Phew! That was close…" Faith sighed before realizing that she was surrounded by robot snakes and some more familiar Badniks. "Oh no…" she gulped, hearing the telltale revving of the Motobugs' engines. But she took a deep breath and clenched her fists in front of her, the Chaos Emerald clutched tightly in her right hand.

'Remember everything Team Sonic and Team Dark taught me… I can do this!'

"CALL THEM OFF, NOMINATUS! CALL THEM OFF OR YOU'RE DEAD!" Sonic yelled, ignoring the burn of his injuries as he threw himself at the bars of his cage alongside Tails. Both of them were banged up, bruises and lacerations littering their torsos, having been captured after Nominatus' army defeated them on their way to Eggman's lair. Trapped in their own cages were Sticks, Amy, Rouge, Shadow, Knuckles, and Dr. Eggman.

Seated at Eggman's desk, with all of the Doctor's tech at his fingertips, Nominatus smiled as he watched his Badniks surround the little tenrec on the main screen. On either side of him, Beta and Retro frowned.

"I don't know about this, boss," Beta mumbled. "Yeah. Maiming Sonic and his friends and then capturing them is cool. Sending our armies…" Retro managed to say before Nominatus snapped, "My armies!" prompting him to mutter, "Sending your armies to attack the island and eliminate all organic life is one thing. But don't you think maiming a kid's a little too… graphic?"

"Ugh, fine…" Nominatus shut off the screen, effectively cutting Team Sonic and Team Dark's view of Faith. "There! Now the kid's demise is off-screen so we're still rated PG," he said optimistically.

"No!" Shadow roared and tried to Spin Dash his way out. When that didn't work, he tried teleporting over to Nominatus and his goons so he could throttle them. But the cage was reinforced with an anti-teleportation guard, which zapped him every time he tried.

"I can take you digital menaces keeping me locked in here for a week, but if your minions hurt one quill on Faith's head…!" Sticks shrieked as she whacked at the bars of her cage with her boomerang. Beside her, Knuckles was fruitlessly trying to dig his way under the layers of steel and concrete, the echidna wincing as his fists smacked into the steel flooring without making even the slightest dent.

"Sh-she was completely surrounded. She can't take all of those Badniks and Nominatus' forces on her own…" Amy whispered, hands clasped to her chest.

"Faith, hun!" Rouge cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Get out of there, little gemstone! Run!" at the top of her voice.

"Your pathetic warnings can't reach her." Nominatus's eyes glittered as he tapped a few keys, bringing up the outdoor surveillance feed. "Ratings be damned, I'm gonna enjoy watching you guys suffer as you all helplessly watch while my forces tear that little kid to shreds," he cackled. But, to Nominatus' surprise, everyone went quiet and stared at the monitor in… Was that badger grinning?

"Uh, boss…" Beta tugged on his leader's arm. Turning his back to his captives, Nominatus looked at the monitor, and a bunch of '?!' and '¿' emojis appeared around him while his jaw dropped.

Faith's quills crackled with electricity, purple sparks dancing around the copper coils of her gloves and boots. 'Keep my stance wide and my body lowered. Always be poised to strike like Ms. Amy said!' she reminded herself as the first wave of enemies approached. Seeing that a Motobug was getting closest, she leaped forward and landed on its back. "Wh-whoooaaaa!" she yelped as she nearly got thrown off while trying to right herself. A robot bat screeched and swooped at her. Gripping one of the Motobug's antennae with her free hand, Faith thrust out the hand that was holding the red Chaos Emerald.

"Back off!" she shouted, the glow of the Chaos Emerald blinding the bat and giving her the opportunity to safely stow the gem in her quills. She then threw a lightning bolt at the bat, which exploded into colorful pixelated blocks of red and purple. Now that she could hold on to the Motobug, Faith steered it towards the lair entrance.

Easier said than done though with all the other Badniks either blocking her way or chasing her.

'Keep your eyes and ears open. Ms. Sticks said that a fight happens on all sides so you gotta be aware of your surroundings at all times!' Faith thought as she hurled lightning bolts with one hand at any Badnik that came too close. But some of the newer Badniks caught up to her. Her Motobug ride was halfway to the entrance when one of the metal snakes rammed it from the side while she was occupied with fending off a couple of Bee Bots.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" Faith screamed as she was knocked off of her ride. As she fell, she quickly tucked her chin down and positioned her arms at her head and turned her whole body to the side. Hitting the ground hurt at first but she remembered what Sonic and Shadow taught her when it came to falling after her many failed attempts at Spin Dashing. She rolled on the ground before managing to stop herself. A bit bruised from the fall but, more or less, alright, Faith got up and ran, ducking and dodging lasers and dive bombing Bee Bots and bats.

Suddenly, one of the metal snakes lunged and grabbed her by the back of her shirt! Faith screamed as it quickly coiled its body around her. Its sharp underbelly cut her arms and sides as she squirmed and struggled to get free. "N-no… I… have to… save… them…!" Faith gasped out as the snake squeezed even tighter. All around her, more Badniks gathered around and formed a cage around her and the snake. Heart beating fast, she thought of Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Ms. Amy, Ms. Sticks, Mr. Knuckles, Auntie Rouge, and Uncle Omega. They were all probably trapped in Dr. Eggman's lair… and the mean Doctor was hurting them.

At that thought, Faith became enraged. She wasn't going to let Dr. Eggman hurt them any longer! "LET. GO!" she screamed and, just like that, a dozen lightning bolts descended from the heavens and struck down all of the Badniks surrounding her. At the same time, Faith's entire body became cloaked in lightning as she unleashed a shockwave that disintegrated the metal snake wrapped around her. Faith fell to her hands and knees, panting. Blood oozed out of the cuts on her arms and her shirt began to stain with smudges of crimson from the cuts on her sides.

Back inside the lair, whatever excitement and pride Team Sonic and Team Dark felt for Faith was swiftly replaced by fear and worry.

"She's overexerting herself…" Shadow murmured, gripping the bars of his cage in spite of the intense heat they were emanating.

"Kiddo, you gotta get out of there. Use Chaos Control and get somewhere safe…" Sonic begged, his eyes fixed on the screen.

Dr. Eggman glared at the fiend who had imprisoned him in his own lair and hijacked his inventions. "This is cruelty, Nominatus," he fumed.

"Really? You're giving me a lecture on cruelty, Eggman?" Nominatus sneered before pressing another button. "That girl may have eradicated the first wave of my digital and robotic army. But let's see her try and fight one of your deadliest creations," he said as another window appeared on the screen, showing Omega being deployed.

"No! Not Omega!" Rouge cried out, slamming her fists against her cage. She and Shadow knew that Faith would never hurt the E-series robot and vice versa. If Nominatus had managed to take control of Omega's programming, he wouldn't have a choice and would be forever wracked with guilt afterward. But she, Shadow, and the others could only watch as Omega stomped out of the lair and headed towards Faith.

The little tenrec had just managed to find enough strength to stand when she spotted her Uncle Omega exiting the lair. "Uncle Omega!" she called out and sprinted towards him. But she skidded to a halt, her quills bristling. Something about Omega felt… off.

Omega's eyes flashed and Faith only had a split second to dodge as he swiped his clawed hands at her! "Uncle 'Mega?! Wh-what are you doing?!" Faith yelped and cartwheeled to the side when the former Eggman robot fired a missile at her which destroyed a boulder behind her. The resulting explosion made her ears ring but Faith kept her eyes open as Omega advanced. She noticed that Omega's red eyes were glowing brighter than usual. 'What did Tails call it again? Over… Over… Override! Someone's overriding Omega!' she realized and glanced at her hands. She didn't have Tails' tools but maybe she can give Omega a tiny shock to make him stop attacking her? Or did she have to find Eggman first and destroy whatever device he was using to override Omega's systems?

Faith saw that the lair's entrance was still open and put on a fresh burst of speed. Hurting her Uncle Omega wasn't a choice she wanted to make. Might as well head straight to the source and get Eggman to stop controlling him! But, then, Omega used his rocket thrusters to propel himself forward, flying past Faith and coming to a stop at the entrance to Eggman's lair. Faith didn't get a chance to stop as she was suddenly thrown backward and landed on the ground on her back, the breath knocked out of her lungs and the Chaos Emerald falling out from her quills. Sparks danced up her arms, making the cuts sting even more, as she struggled to breathe. She felt her stomach, where Omega's hands had touched her when she'd been shoved. No gaping wound. Good. Omega hadn't struck a fatal blow. She didn't want Omega to hate himself for hurting her even when he was under someone's control.

But then she felt Omega's clunking footsteps and remembered that things were still going pretty horribly. Sitting up, she spied Omega making his way toward her. She grabbed the red Chaos Emerald and held it out in front of her. 'Sonic and Shadow told me that the Chaos Emeralds can grant miracles. Please give me a miracle. Please help me free Uncle Omega and everyone…' she prayed as she rushed towards Omega. She bent back as Omega lurched forward to take another swipe at her, his sharp claws just centimeters from her face.

Taking advantage of Omega's lurched position, she gripped the red Chaos Emerald in her left hand and tapped into its and her own reservoir of Chaos Energy. Her right hand crackled with lightning as she clenched it into a fist. 'Pivot your body and throw your whole weight into it like Mr. Knuckles told you!' she thought as she yelled, "THUNDER PUNCH!"

Her fist struck Omega's torso, knocking him off of his feet, his eyes going completely dark. Faith winced as she watched him fall to the ground with a dull thud. A few seconds passed before she dared to walk over to the fallen robot, shaking her right hand. She took small steps as she stood over Omega. "Uncle 'Mega?" she whispered. Oh Chaos, had her Thunder Punch damaged him beyond repair? Was he offline? Did she just kill her robot uncle? Tears welled up in Faith's eyes as she tried to rouse Omega again.

Then Omega's eyes lit back up and she let out a sigh that turned into a sob of relief. "Uncle Omega, are you okay?" she asked, rubbing her watering eyes.

"SYSTEM OVERRIDE NO LONGER FUNCTIONING. I AM ME AGAIN," Omega said as he scanned Faith. "DETECTING MULTIPLE MINOR LACERATIONS AND POSSIBLE EMOTIONAL TRAUMA. WHO HURT MY NIECE?" His eyes flashed as he cradled Faith against his metal-clad chest.

"Just some of Eggman's new Badniks. But I think I took care of most of them," Faith mumbled, encircling Omega's torso as best as she could with her thin and tiny arms.

"NEGATIVE. EGGMAN'S BADNIKS HAVE HAD THEIR SYSTEMS OVERRIDEN BY A CYBER BEING KNOWN AS NOMINATUS. HE HAS CAPTURED SHADOW, ROUGE, AND EVERYONE," Omega told her.

Faith tilted her head up. "Then let's go and stop Nominatus!" she declared.

"NEGATIVE. FAITH, YOU ARE INJURED. AND SONIC AND SHADOW WOULD NOT LIKE IT IF YOU PUT YOURSELF IN DANGER. YOU MUST GO SOMEWHERE SAFE."

"There's hardly anywhere safe! The village is still under attack and so is the Valley of the Cubots! Uncle 'Mega, we gotta get inside Eggman's lair and stop Nominatus!"

"YOUR INJURIES ARE MINOR AT MOST. NOMINATUS IS CAPABLE OF OVERRIDING EGGMAN'S ENTIRE ARMY AND CAN CREATE HIS OWN. A FIGHT WITH HIM WILL GIVE YOU SERIOUS INJURIES WITH A HIGH POSSIBILITY OF DEATH."

"I don't care what happens to me! I have to save Sonic and Shadow and everyone!"

"THEY WILL CARE IF ANYTHING ELSE HAPPENS TO YOU."

Faith stared at Omega, her lower lip trembling. He had a point. She was hurt and using her electrokinesis this much was draining her. Sonic and Shadow wouldn't want her to put herself in more danger. But…

They were still trapped in Eggman's lair, prisoners of this Nominatus villain. And, as long as they were held prisoner, Nominatus' armies were going to continue terrorizing the island. D-Fekt, the Cubots, the villagers… they were all still in danger. Team Sonic and Team Dark were the only ones capable of stopping all of this, and they were being held inside Eggman's lair. She was just a kid but she had to try and save them. If she'd been the one kidnapped by Nominatus and held prisoner in Eggman's fortress, Sonic, Shadow, Tails, and everyone else would do everything they could to save her.

"I want to help them, Uncle Omega." Faith clenched her fists, eyes shining with determination. "I want to save them," she told him.

Omega stared at her before gently putting her down. "LEAD THE WAY. I SHALL PROVIDE SUPPORT." He nodded and readied his guns.

"Are you kidding me?!" Nominatus seethed while Team Dark and Team Sonic cheered.

"Your form was perfect, Lil' Spark!" Knuckles whooped, fists pumped in the air.

"That kid's got guts," Retro mumbled, Beta nodding in agreement.

Eggman leaned against the back wall of his cage, glancing at Sonic and Shadow. Both hedgehogs were still trying to free themselves, vainly squeezing their arms through the bars to find a way to unlock their cages. All the while, they kept their eyes on the screen, watching Faith and Omega approach the lair.

Slamming his fist on the table, Nominatus pulled up surveillance monitors showing the destruction of different areas on Seaside Island. "Retro! Beta! Call in all of my armies back and bring them here," he ordered, his minions obeying and leaving the command center.

Faith and Omega rushed into the lair and found themselves in a hallway. There were no Badniks around but the pair kept their guard up.

"Can you open the doors over there, Uncle 'Mega?" Faith asked, pointing to the doors in the back, before hearing rumbling. Turning around, her stomach dropped at the sight of even more Badniks headed towards the lair!

"Uh… can you close those doors first?" she squeaked.

Omega approached the control panel only to see that it had been deactivated. "NEGATIVE," he said before approaching Faith. "I WILL HOLD THEM BACK. SAVE YOUR FAMILY AND UNLEASH YOUR WRATH ON OUR ENEMIES," he said, patting Faith on the head, before blasting out of the lair to fight the incoming hordes.

Faith ran to the doors and tried to pry them open. When that didn't work, she used her Thunder Punch. But her fatigue was beginning to hit its peak, each Thunder Punch with fewer sparks than the last. Faith panted and leaned against the doors, hissing as her cuts stung, feeling dizzy. Was she losing a lot of blood?

"Give it up. You are no match for Nominatus! Viral sensation and destroyer of worlds!" the villain's triumphant voice blasted from the speakers in the hallway.

"No way, you big meanie! I'm not gonna stop until you let Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Mr. Knuckles, Ms. Amy, Ms. Sticks, and Auntie Rouge go!" Faith yelled back. Behind her, she heard gunfire and knew that Omega was hard at work battling Nominatus' forces. She couldn't let him down! She had to get inside the lair and free everyone!

Eyeing the doors, Faith tried to summon a lightning bolt. But even that was less effective and she could feel herself getting drained. There was only one thing left that she hadn't tried yet.

Curling up into a ball, Faith flexed her quills and spun in place. Then she pushed herself forward and shot towards the doors. But, like many of her failed attempts, she lost momentum too early and smacked face first into the cold metal. Shaking her head, Faith huffed and tried again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Nominatus laughed, his amplified voice taunting her. "Pathetic! What makes you think a little kid like you can face me? You can't even smash through a ten-inch thick steel door!" he jeered.

Stumbling as she repositioned herself in front of the door, Faith felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

"Awww, is the little girl gonna cry? Gonna cry to your Mommy and Daddy?"

That's when Faith heard two familiar voices shout over Nominatus' taunts.

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM, KIDDO! YOU CAN DO THIS!"

"YOU'RE STRONG, FAITH! YOU'RE POWERFUL! IF ANYONE CAN SAVE US, IT'S YOU, SWEETHEART!"

'Sonic… Shadow…' Faith felt hope fill her heart, manifesting into tiny purple sparks fizzing out of her hands.

Along with Sonic and Shadow, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Sticks, Rouge, and even Dr. Eggman shouted encouragements to the little tenrec.

"You can do it, Faith!"

"Don't give up, Lil' Spark!"

"We believe in you, sweetie!"

"Break through those doors and go primal!"

"Show this digital creep what for, little gemstone!"

"Come on, kid! Get this no-good cyber punk out of my lair!"

More sparks came to life, dancing across the copper coils of Faith's gloves and boots, fizzing through her quills. She could feel the warmth of the red Chaos Emerald she'd hidden in her quills, the mystical gem reacting to her lightning. Faith backed away from the doors by five feet and curled up into a ball again.

'I can do this… I will save them!' she thought as she spun in place. Flexing her quills, Faith concentrated and imagined the switch in her brain. Turning it on, she called forth all of the lightning she could muster to gather around her spinning form. She counted down.

Three…

Two…

…One!

Lightning crackled around Faith and shot out in all directions as she sped towards the doors. With a mighty crash, she cut through solid steel as if it were paper and barreled into Nominatus himself!

"Whoa…" Faith mumbled as she uncurled from her Spin Dash, woozy. She felt something moving underneath her and then heard Sonic scream, "Faith, look out!"

The world stopped spinning long enough for her to realize that she was lying on top of Nominatus. And the cyber villain wasn't happy.

Faith squeaked and rolled off of him, narrowly avoiding a blow as Nominatus reached for her with his sharp-nailed hand. He fired an energy blast that immobilized Faith, but the little tenrec fought back and unleashed a small shockwave.

"Aaagghhh!" Nominatus clutched his arm as it began to pixelate.

Eggman's eyes widened behind his glasses. "Faith, head to my lab! Third door to the right in the hall! There's a box with a white tube there! Break it!" he alerted Faith who quickly rushed out of the room.

Beta and Retro were on their way back when Faith arrived, Nominatus hot on her heels. "Stop the kid! Stop the kid!" Nominatus yelled.

Beta and Retro prepared to grab Faith but she thought fast and covered her entire body with sparks, warding the two off. Upon entering the lab, Faith saw the Build-it Box and raised her arm, prepared to shoot a lightning bolt at it.

"NO!" Nominatus roared and zapped Faith with an energy beam that froze the little tenrec that stopped her in her tracks. "I'm not going back behind firewalls again, you little brat!" he snarled and amplified his energy blast, making Faith cry out in pain as her body convulsed. Faith grit her teeth, Nominatus' energy beam making her entire body spasm while keeping her frozen in place.

The Build-it Box was right in front of her! She'd come too far to give up now. Fighting against the pain, Faith strained to move her right arm towards her quills. It was slow but she managed to reach into her quills and pull out the red Chaos Emerald.

"Ch-ch-chaos… C-cont-trol!"

Before Nominatus, Beta, and Retro's eyes, Faith disappeared from the energy field and then reappeared on top of the Build-it Box.

"NO!" Nominatus, Beta, and Retro rushed forward but they were too late. With a primal scream, Faith slammed both hands down on top of the Build-it Box. Lightning erupted from her palms, overloading the device until it exploded, throwing her up into the air. She saw the digital trio dissolve into pixels and then everything went black.

"Orbot! Cubot! Get the industrial-grade ones!"

"…miracle she didn't… shrapnel…"

"Keep her still… Sonic… breathe. You gotta concentrate…"

"T-this is my first time doing any major healing with Chaos Energy. Shads, what if I make things worse?"

"You won't love. Look, her cuts have already healed over."

"The emerald senses your intentions. Just let its energy flow…"

"Okay, boss! Two industrial-grade batteries with jumper cables!"

"Where do we attach these?"

"Clip the jumper cables onto her hands. But not too tight."

Those voices swirled around Faith as she struggled to open her eyes. She felt two pinches on her palms followed by the buzz of electricity flowing into her. Finally, she managed to open her eyes and found Team Dark, Team Sonic, Dr. Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot huddled around her, all of them breathing a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank Chaos…" Sonic wiped at his eyes – yes, he was crying but he didn't care, his little girl was hurt after saving his and everyone's lives, and hugged Faith gently. "Hey, kiddo. How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Tired. But nothing hurts anymore…" Faith observed before noticing that her hands had jumper cables clipped to them, and the jumper cables were attached to two giant battery packs.

"Tails, look. I'm the one being recharged this time," she giggled, looking at the two-tailed fox who was helping Sticks clean up the remains of the destroyed Build-it Box.

Tails chuckled and went over to Faith, ruffling her quills. "I wasn't sure if it was gonna work but I'm glad it did. You had us really worried for a while, Faith…" he admitted.

Shadow and Sonic held the red Chaos Emerald in their hands, letting its Chaos Energy as well as their own wash over Faith and heal her injuries. Shadow sighed and embraced Faith along with his boyfriend. "You did it, sweetheart. You beat your first villains," he murmured.

"And did the most awesome Spin Dash in the history of Spin Dashes!" Sonic grinned. "You were spinning and all these sparks were building up, and then you went 'Bzzzzzzttt…. BAM!' and broke through the doors like they were nothing!" he gushed.

Faith smiled, her cheeks pink, then remembered something. "Wait. Is everyone okay? The village? D-Fekt and the Cubots?" she asked, her brow furrowed.

"Don't worry, hun. As soon as you destroyed Eggman's Build-it Box, all of the digital baddies Nominatus summoned disappeared. And Eggman deactivated all of his Badniks," Rouge reassured her.

"I TOOK DOWN APPROXIMATELY 800 BADNIKS. ALMOST BEAT MY BEST RECORD," Omega happily chimed in. His paint job was scratched up and his left arm was hanging off his side by just a few cables, but he looked quite pleased with himself.

While everybody else fussed over Faith, Sticks marched up to Dr. Eggman. "Okay, what's the deal, man? Why were you in the slammer when those digital fiends dragged me in here last week? I thought you were keeping them mini-sized as your pets," she demanded with her hands on her hips.

"I was. But the sudden power surge from last week must have scrambled my Build-it Box's file-size throttle and reversed it," Dr. Eggman explained.

Realization dawned on everyone's faces, and Faith felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice over her.

"This… this was all my fault?" she whimpered, clutching her front quills.

"What? No way, kid. You're not Nominatus," Eggman pointed out.

"But the power surge… that happened because I lost control over my powers." Faith removed the jumper cables clipped to her hands. "If I hadn't lost control, none of this would have happened…" she whispered. She shut her eyes and clenched her hands into fists. "Daddy was right! My powers just hurt people! I'm cursed!" she exclaimed before bursting into tears.

"No. No, you're not." Sonic hugged the crying tenrec and gently combed his fingers through her quills. "Faith, what happened was something none of us could ever expect. We didn't know Egghead built his own Build-it Box. We didn't know he was keeping it in his lab with Nominatus and his friends. Things just happen sometimes. But this wasn't your fault, kiddo. Faith, can you look at me for a sec?" he said softly and gently cupped his little girl's cheeks in his hands.

Once Faith opened her eyes and looked up at him, Sonic smiled. "In the end, Nominatus, Beta, and Retro were the ones who attacked us. That was them, not you. You didn't send out those Badniks and those digital goons. You didn't attack the island. And you didn't kidnap us. You weren't the villain, Faith. So don't ever blame yourself for this, okay?" He gently brushed his thumb against Faith's cheek.

Faith nodded, sniffling. "I… I'll try not to…" she mumbled.

"Well, if you need more convincing, I'll admit…" Eggman cringed at the glares everyone else was giving him. "I'm the one who stole the fox kid's design for the Build-it Box and reverse-engineered it. And I'm the idiot who placed it in the lab where Nominatus could have easy access to it. So, really, this whole fiasco's on me," he remarked before grinning. "And I almost won."

"But weren't you captured as well, sir?" Orbot blinked at him.

"With Nominatus gone, credit for this whole mess is ripe for the taking. So I'm owning it!" Eggman snapped before looking at the eight Mobians and one former Badnik in the room. "Go on, you fur balls. I've got a lot of cleaning up to do before our next battle. Out!"

Rolling their eyes at being shooed out, the heroes left the lair. Faith clung to Sonic who held her in his arms. "Are we going home?" she asked quietly.

"In a bit, kiddo. Right now, let's go see if there's an ice cream cart still working in the village." Sonic pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"We're getting ice cream?" Faith perked up a little at the mention of the sweet frozen treat.

"It's the best way to celebrate your first big victory," Shadow told her, smiling proudly.

"Yeah! Faith, you took down your first bad guy trio and saved the whole island! That Thunder Punch was awesome!" Knuckles whooped, fist bumping the little tenrec.

"And the way you summoned all those lightning bolts was epic!" Sticks exclaimed.

"Although, we're all definitely going to be more careful to not get kidnapped again so Faith doesn't have to do all the saving by herself," Amy pointed out but was glowing with pride while Faith blushed at all the praise being heaped onto her.

"I HELPED FAITH TO SAVE THE ISLAND. I WOULD LIKE TO CELEBRATE MY PART IN HER VICTORY BY BLOWING UP ANY DEACTIVATED BADNIKS WE FIND IN THE VILLAGE," Omega piped up.

"We'll do that after we fix you up, Megs," Rouge chuckled, flying over Faith and hovering to gently boop her nose. "But you did a fabulous job, hun. You really saved our hides today," she said.

"Hear that, kiddo? You're our hero!" Sonic hoisted Faith onto her shoulders. Faith giggled as he then ran on ahead, shouting, "Victory lap! Make way for our hero, Faith Tenrec!"

There was, miraculously, one ice cream cart that had survived the rampage in the village. She got to have a large cone with three scoops of strawberry ice cream with fudge ripple. Sonic and the others told her to rest while they helped with the cleanup. While she sat on a bench eating her ice cream, Faith kept replaying her family's words in her head.

Family… yeah…

Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Mr. Knuckles, Ms. Amy, Ms. Sticks, Auntie Rouge, and Uncle Omega were her family now.

They called her their hero. That felt… nice. But what was even better was that they were all together again and that no more villains were going to come after them. At least until Dr. Eggman decided to attack again.

Sonic and Shadow joined her on the bench, having bought ice cream as well. Dark chocolate cone for Shadow and an orange popsicle for Sonic. For a while, the three of them sat in contented silence, eating their ice cream.

Then Sonic sighed. "My shack's been destroyed so we're gonna have to go stay at Amy's for a bit," he informed his boyfriend.

"You don't sound excited." Shadow smirked, his crimson eyes glinting.

"No. She's so strict with cleaning and keeping everything pristine. It's like she wants her entire house to look like an exhibit," Sonic groaned before going for another lick. "When I get our house built, I'm gonna make sure it looks lived in. A little mess won't hurt us," he declared.

"As long as you keep your junk out of my drawers, we'll be fine," Shadow chuckled and kissed the blue hedgehog on the cheek, leaving a smear of chocolate on the peach fur.

Sonic glanced at Faith. "What about you, kiddo? When the new house has been built, do you still want to live with Shads and me?" he asked.

"Yes, please." Faith blushed and looked at her ice cream cone. "Um… if that's okay with you two," she mumbled.

"Sweetie, you can stay with us for as long as you want." Shadow ruffled her quills. "And we'll make sure that you get your own room," he promised her.

"Yeah. We're long overdue to get you some new clothes and a bunch of other stuff. You can even help us plan the new house. It'll still be by the beach. Can't beat the view there. What do you think?" Sonic pulled out one of the napkins the ice cream vendor had given him along with a pen, writing 'NEW HOUSE IDEAS' on the top. "What do you guys think? How many rooms should we have?"

"We're gonna need three bedrooms. One for you and me, one for Faith, and another for any guests. How about the kitchen? Indoor or outdoor?" Shadow proposed.

"Can my room have a view of the sky so I can watch lightning storms?" Faith asked, her merlot eyes sparkling.

"Lightning storm view got it. I'm including that in the plans," Sonic said as he started writing down notes for the new house. Looking at Shadow, Sonic could see the warmth and love in the black hedgehog's eyes and felt his heart dance in his chest.

No rickety old shack for them. This was going to be a proper house. A house for him and Shadow to live in together, maybe even grow old in together. A house for Faith to grow up in, safe and loved by the two of them.

A real home for their family.

Rebuilding the village and any damaged areas on the island after Nominatus' attack didn't take too long. In fact, life in Hedgehog Village and Seaside Island as a whole returned to normal fairly quickly. A month passed since that fateful day when both Badniks and digital menaces ran amok and the villagers had moved on from it. At the same time, construction of the new beach house was well underway. With Sonic and Shadow helping out in getting building materials to the site at top speed, Knuckles assisting the construction crew with heavy lifting, and Tails providing technical support with his machinery, it wouldn't be long until the house was finished by the end of the month.

When Faith heard this over breakfast, she simply said, "Oh, that's nice. We'll get to move into the new house before my birthday," prompting Sonic, Shadow, and Amy to almost freak out.

"Wait. Faith, your birthday is coming up soon?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah. It's next month." Faith noticed the three hedgehogs staring at her. "What?"

"When's the exact date, sweetie?" Amy inquired. Once Faith gave her the date, she gasped. "That's 2 weeks from now! We gotta start planning your birthday party!"

"I… get to have a birthday party?" Faith asked, looking at Sonic and Shadow.

"Of course, kiddo! But it'll be your kind of party. You get to decide what kind of party you wanna throw and we'll do whatever you want," Sonic replied, glancing at Shadow. He and his boyfriend already had a pretty good idea for Faith's birthday present. In fact, he was pretty sure that theirs was going to be the best.

Faith looked down at her plate, silent. After a minute, she said, "I never got to celebrate my birthday before…" with a forlorn sigh.

"Well, there's a first time for everything. And you're going to be turning seven this year, right?" Shadow smiled from across the dining room table. "A very dear friend of mine once told me that seventh birthdays are really special, once-in-a-lifetime, events. Because seven's considered as a lucky number when someone turns seven, they get good luck for one whole year," he told the little tenrec.

"Really?" Faith leaned forward.

"That's what my friend told me. And she knew a lot about the world. More than me," Shadow said with a wistful smile.

"I hope I get some good luck on my birthday." Faith clapped her hands in delight.

Breakfast was over in an hour and, for a while, that day was going wonderfully well. Upon seeing Faith beginning to get the hang of the Spin Dash and successfully performing a Homing Attack on one of Tails' simulated Badnik dummies, Shadow decided to give Faith a special reward.

"Wow, Shadow!" Faith grunted as she lifted her right foot, her teal boots having been swapped with Shadow's jet skates. "Mr. Knuckles keeps saying to never skip Leg Day to have strong legs. I bet your legs are super duper strong if you can wear these. They're heavy!" she said while Sonic adjusted the straps of her helmet.

Shadow chuckled and helped her fasten on her elbow and knee pads. "You get used to their weight the more times you wear them. Now, remember what I told you?"

"Only use the thrusters at their lowest setting and start with small steps before going into a jog and then a full-on sprint," Faith repeated the instructions he'd given her.

"Right. And don't be scared to fall. Sonic and I will be right beside you every step of the way. Ready?" Shadow positioned himself on Faith's left side while Sonic took her right side.

Concentrating, Faith channeled her Chaos Energy into the jet skates, willing the thrusters to activate. She heard a soft hiss before letting out a surprised squeak as the jet skates revved to life, lifting her an inch off the ground. She grinned at Shadow and took a few small steps forward. "It's like I'm walking on a cloud. Kinda bouncy!" she giggled before taking a few more steps, doing her best to lengthen her stride. Before long, she was jogging forward with Sonic and Shadow keeping pace with her. And, finally, with a delighted shout, Faith rocketed forward and zipped around the beach with the two hedgehogs.

"Race you to the library!" she hollered before taking off towards the village.

She was nearing the library when she had to put on the brakes.

"Yipes!" Faith yelped as she quickly willed the thrusters to turn off upon seeing someone whose back was turned standing in her way. Unfortunately, the sudden stop caused her to bump into the stranger and bounce back and land on her butt.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Faith quickly stood up and bowed her head. "I was going too fast. I…" she managed to say before glancing up at the stranger she'd bumped into just as they turned around.

"So this is where you've been hiding."

Faith felt her entire body break out into a cold sweat, sparks racing up her arms, as she looked up at the auburn-furred male tenrec dressed in a dark gray suit.

Joshua Tenrec gave his daughter a smile that didn't reach his cold cobalt eyes and held out his hand.

"Let's go home, Faith."

Me, hiding behind a shield: I know you guys don't like cliffhangers but this is setting up the finale. Leave me your thoughts in the comments/reviews section. This saga is almost at an end and I promise to make it a good ending.