"...control,"

An identical flash of green light came, but instead of manifesting in Tails's room, it appeared at the front of a lone blue house. A cliffside was near one end of the house, while the front faced the steep slope leading up to it. Sprawling hills could be seen off in the distance, bearing different concentrations of vegetation depending on the area.

Everyone aside from Sonic and Shadow were perplexed by the sudden change in scenery. Tails lit up when he saw the house nearby.

"We're home?"

"Yep," Sonic said.

"Teleporting is so cool! What's your maximum warp distance?"

"I should be able to go anywhere in the world once we get the hang of it," Shadow pondered,"

"Really?" Tails stated with amazement.

"For now, we're limited to places either of us remembers well," Sonic chimed in. He then got a look at their entire group. "Wait a minute. We're missing one,"

He and Shadow quickly vanished.

"What the-?"

Knuckles had just watched everyone vanish before his very eyes. Gawking alone in the empty room was all he did until Sonic and Shadow reappeared.

"You were supposed to resonate with Tails, you goon," Sonic griped.

"What just happened?"

Instead of answering, Sonic put a hand on Knuckles's shoulder. The three of them warped back to join the rest of the group.

Knuckles turned his head around, helplessly. "Our old house?"

"Yup,"

"How did you do that?" Knuckles asked. "How are we here?"

"You wanted a debriefing, right? Hold your questions until then," Sonic grinned smugly.

Sonic marched onward, leading the group toward the house. Blaze lagged behind so she could catch Shadow.

"I spoke with Sonic, but I never apologized to you for how I acted in the past. I'm sorry,"

"It's fine," Shadow replied.

"I hope this doesn't come off as a complaint, but I feel like you're letting me off easy,"

Shadow shrugged. "Sonic told me you were helping him while I was being held prisoner; I think that matters more than any issue you had with me in the past. I don't see any reason to be upset if you're on our side now,"

"Thank you, Shadow,"

Tails's ears perked up. He turned back to look at Blaze and Shadow. "Wait, are we apologizing to Shadow?"

Everyone stopped, and their attention was drawn. Blaze looked confused as well as embarrassed. "We? I just needed to say my piece,"

"I need to apologize too," Tails stepped closer. "I'm sorry Shadow. I was afraid to help you and Sonic after we got out of the crypt,"

Shadow held up one hand modestly "It's okay Tails, really,"

"You're not even a little mad? Blaze is right, you are letting people off easily,"

Shadow laughed mildly, then his expression saddened. "Let's just say I gave up on you, too. When I shouldn't have. Why don't we call it even?"

When Shadow held up his hand a second time, Tails needed a moment to recognize the gesture. He was being offered a high-five. Even though he had seen his brother do the same thing dozens of times, it felt foreign coming from Shadow. Tails smiled, then gave the black hedgehog's palm a spirited smack.

"Sure thing!"

Sonic came up from behind Tails and put him in a headlock. "If it makes you feel better, I'm not letting you off as easily,"

Tails laughed again while struggling against the hold. "Oh well, it's not like I care if you're mad at me,"

After things settled down, the group entered the home. The inside was cozy, neat and clean. The culprit behind this state of affairs appeared before them; it was a petite robot. It resembled a scaled down version of Eggman's tech. The machine showed visible signs of modification.

"Still in working condition," Tails picked up the maintenance drone and fidgeted with some of its buttons before letting it resume caring for the house. "Guess the bot worked well,"

"Yep, this place is just like we left it," Sonic noted.

Everyone gathered in the dining room next. There were enough chairs for each of them at the table. Of course, each weapon sat by their respective meister.

"I'll start by talking about what Silver and I found on our mission,"

Blaze gave details on her time with Silver in Babylon Garden. She moved her attention to Shadow afterward.

"It seems that you're the result of a deal between the former Grim Reaper, and the creator of the Black Arm Series weapons. A deal that Gerald Robotnik used to betray Black Doom and destroy what was left of the Black Arm Series before creating a unique weapon of his own"

Shadow was still calm after the revelation. "I've already regained my memories. I know that Gerald created me, so knowing more about how he did it doesn't really change much,"

"I can't believe that the previous Grim Reaper wiped out a city of innocent people like it was nothing," Tails sighed.

"It's really awful, but we couldn't trust the DWMA now, even if that didn't happen. Eggman wants to wipe Shadow's memory,"

Knuckles piped up. "Why would Eggman want to wipe Shadow's memory?"

"He wants a powerful weapon, but he also needs one that's obedient too," Shadow explained. "I refused to cooperate with him, so he figured starting over was easier,"

"If Eggman's family created Shadow, couldn't he just make a new weapon now?" Tails wondered.

"I don't think so," Blaze said. "Black Doom alluded to the fact that Gerald likely wouldn't be able to create more than one Black Arm weapon without further help,"

"Sonic and I fought with one of Gerald's failed experiments. He definitely tried making Black Arm weapons before, but the DWMA's current actions have made it clear that they still haven't found a solution," Shadow agreed.

"I'm interested to know more about your past," Blaze stated. "Is there anything that might help us understand the DWMA's intention?"

"I grew up on an island facility created by Gerald. I was pretty cut off from the rest of the world, so I don't know much about what he was up to,"

"If you knew Gerald, does that mean you're really old?" Silver asked.

"I don't know. It feels more like my life skipped ahead fifty years out of nowhere. Unless I've got more missing memories,"

"Wait a minute," Silver leaned in. "Shadow, do you know why Eggman is supposed to be Gerald's grandson? There's not much public record of his direct parents."

"The Robotnik family tree is a sham used to mislead the public. Gerald could create humans artificially, but they can't live in this world without help. His goal fifty years ago was to revive the human race, but things have changed. I think that the current Grim Reaper was made specifically to keep the kishin contained,"

Everyone in the room was now bewildered. Silver was the first to respond.

"Are you saying Eggman was made in a lab?"

"Yes, but I don't have any more details on that. We'll have to find out more ourselves,"

Then let's discuss our current situation," Blaze urged. "After our mission, Silver and I returned to Death City. Lord Death informed us that Shadow had somehow escaped, and that Sonic was missing. The DWMA is currently operating under the assumption that both of you are working together, and that Sonic helped Shadow escape.

"Their first assumption is correct, but Sonic didn't help me escape. The witch Infinite got me out of DWMA custody. I ran into Sonic on my way out of Death City," Shadow recalled.

"Shouldn't the DWMA have some kind of surveillance footage of Shadow's escape?" Tails considered.

. Blaze shook her head. "Their security system was compromised. They would have assumed Tails helped hack the DWMA's network if Starline hadn't disappeared on the same night. They think he and the darkling are with you as well,"

Sonic's brow furrowed. "But Starline only warned me about Eggman's intentions. Infinite had a compromised robot that got through security to get Shadow out,"

"And we have no idea where Eclipse is," Shadow added.

"Who's Eclipse?" Knuckles asked.

"That guy we were supposed to fight in the crypt before we switched with Sonic," Tails clarified.

"Oh. He fought with a big sword, right?"

Blaze ignored Knuckles. "So, I think the first priority for our little team will be to find out what happened to Starline and Eclipse. Before we come up with a plan for that, I'm interested to know how you managed to kill a witch as powerful as Infinite,"

Knuckles showed signs of annoyance after being brushed off. "He wasn't that tough, was he? He ran away from Sonic when we first met him. And didn't Blaze beat him when the kishin woke up?"

"He was just toying with us when we fought him in Empire City. Eggman told us that Tikal was observing Sonic and Shadow," Tails explained.

"So?"

"So, we know Infinite was helping her at that time, and Tikal didn't want Sonic or Shadow dead. He wouldn't have a reason to reveal his full power back then,"

"And he wove a prison around everyone else at the New Year's party. His power was incredibly limited when I fought him, and he still healed through most of my attacks. It's safe to say he was one of the strongest witches in the world," Blaze shifted her attention to Sonic. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I find it hard to believe that you beat him at your current level,"

"We did almost lose, but I turned things around using the Genie Hunter,"

Blaze reacted as if Sonic had just slapped her. "Genie Hunter? No Way!"

Silver only knew of a few things that would cause his meister to react in such a way. "A new technique?"

Blaze got up somewhat involuntarily. She paced while rattling off information.

"Genies are a special type of witch that originated in New Babylon back when it was simply Babylon. They are the result of a witch abandoning their body, and binding their soul to an object. It's a difficult process, but if done properly, the witch in question will no longer have their powers limited by a physical form. They become a Genie, a being of raw magical energy,"

Knuckles glanced around the table. "So...they're pretty strong?"

"Yes. Their immense power was previously unheard of, so the scythe meisters of old developed a technique to stop them. The Genie Hunter. A scythe technique that was so effective, few witches today will risk becoming a genie,"

Tails seemed impressed. "It's really that good? How does the Genie Hunter work, exactly?"

"It neutralizes magical wavelengths. Genies have no physical body to rely on, so the technique kills them instantly, without even touching them. Normal Witches can survive having their powers negated, but the Genie Hunter's attacks are devastating in their own right. Pulling off a Genie Hunter requires an incredibly talented scythe meister as well as a powerful demon scythe,"

"Shadow and I are actually really good friends with a talented scythe meister and a powerful demon scythe. They swooped in out of nowhere and saved us. Pretty crazy how it all worked out,"

Sonic wove a heavy amount of sarcasm into his statement. When Blaze picked up on it, her awe-inspired expression was replaced by one of impatience.

"I almost don't want to believe you beat Infinite, but you've already demonstrated that Shadow is a death scythe. I'm both relieved and annoyed that you've come so far,"

"You're gonna make me blush," Sonic bantered.

Blaze almost appeared amused. "Seems like we've covered everything. Now we need a plan for finding Starline and Eclipse,"

Shadow stood up suddenly.

"I know something we can try,"