The group were now all sitting around a table in the meeting room except for Sonic who was sitting at a chair behind Shadow. Rouge seemed to dislike the Secretary, Luger the Echidna who was standing in front of the group "You know, five years ago I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me. Perspective". He stared respectfully to the team "The world owes the Chaotix an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who prefer the word vigilantes" "And what word would you use, Mr Secretary?". Luger lowered his head "Six years ago I made a mistake of giving power to a man who unleashed it on innocent people. The word I would use is the same one I should have used then. Dangerous. What would you call a group of UF-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?". He turns on the screen behind him which shows a map of the world with certain locations marked. "Station Square" the map zooms in on the mark on Station Square. Footage is shown on the Metarex invasion.
Knuckles is seen leaping from building to building. He clings to the wall of the one above the camera and the debris falls on it seemingly killing the holder. Mighty glances down at the floor regrettably. "Central City" footage of the three Insight Egg Carriers crash to the ground killing fleeing civilians. Bark lowers his head. "Spagonia" ground footage of Spagonia ascending towards the sky with multiple buildings on the edge collapsing. "Savannah" footage of the building explosion with injured civilians being taken out. A dead woman could be seen lying on the ground. Silver looks away which Shadow notices "Okay. That's enough". Luger nods apologetically and turns off the screen "For the past four years you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution". He takes a thick document and places it on the table "The Spagonia Accords. Approved by 117 countries. It states that the Chaotix shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of the United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary". Shadow stared at the document "The Chaotix were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that". Luger raised his eyebrows "Tell me, Captain, do you know where Razor and Knuckles are right now?". Shadow didn't answer, "If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground". Mighty pondered "So, there are contingencies?" "Three days from now, the UN meets in Spring Valley to ratify the accords". Shadow narrowed his eyes wondering why they hadn't heard about this already. He turns to Sonic who glances down at the floor. Luger continued "Talk it over" "And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Rouge asked. Luger glanced at her "Then you retire" he leaves.
Somewhere in the world Black Death was sitting in a messy house eating from a can when he heard a crash outside. Death slowly gets up and looks outside and sees a male peach wasp wearing a metallic helmet and a thin beard standing next to his car which crashed into his. Black Death backs away from the window when "Hello?". The wasp had a slight accent "Is this your car out front? I jumped the curb. Maybe we could take care of it ourselves". Black Death glanced at a gun on a chair near him. The wasp went up to the door "If you wanna call the cops that's okay, too I guess" "No. No cops" "Thank you". Death opens the door, but the wasp suddenly charges in and punches him
The wasp was smashing through the wall with a hammer. He broke a hole through it and found a small box inside. The wasp took out the box and opened it revealing multiple files including the red book with the Omega symbol. Behind him was Black Death who was tied upside down with his head in a sink that was filling with water. The wasp opened one of the files showing a picture of Black Death "You have kept your looks, Colonel. Congratulations. Mission report. December 16th, 1991". Black Death struggled "Who are you?" "My name is Vesper. I will repeat my question. Mission report, December 16, 1991" "How did you find me?". Vesper put the file down and stared coldly at him "When G.U.N fell Rouge the Bat released Black Arm files to the public. Millions of pages. Much of it encrypted. Not easy to decipher. But I have experience. And patience. A man can do anything if he has those" "What do you want?" "Mission report. December 16. 1991". Black Death looked straight ahead "Go… to… hell!". Vesper walks over and leans on the sink glaring at Death "The Black Arms deserve its place on the ash heap. So, your death would not bother me. But I'd have to use this book and other bloodier methods to find what I need. I don't look forward to that. You'd only be dying for your pride". Black Death stares forward resigning himself to his fate. Vesper sighs and turns the tap back on higher. He watches as the water rises "Hail the Black Arms". Vesper walks away as the water covers Black Death's face. He starts to choke and thrash.
The Chaotix were now in a recreation room. Sonic was lying on the couch looking tired with his hand over his face. Shadow was reading the accords as Mighty and Bark were arguing behind him "Secretary Luger has a Congressional Medal of Honor which is one more than you have". Bark scoffed "I also didn't unleash a monster on Station Square. That's one for me. And let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they lock us up like a bunch of common criminals?" "117 countries want to sign this. 117, Bark, and you're just like no it's cool. We got it". Bark rolled his eyes "How long are you gonna play both sides?". Blaze leaned forward in her chair "I have an equation" "Oh, this will clear it up" Bark said sarcastically. Blaze ignored and pondered "In the eight years since Sonic announced himself as the Sneak…". Shadow was surprised that Sonic had nothing to say about how he disliked that name. Blaze continued "The number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. During the same period the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate". Shadow glanced up from the document "Are you saying it's our fault?" "I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict… breeds catastrophe. Oversight. Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand". Rouge glances at Sonic "Sonic. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal" "It's because he's already made up his mind" Shadow said. Sonic glanced at him "Boy, you know me so well".
He gets up and rubs his head "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache". He gets up and walks over to the kitchen "That's what's going on, Shads. It's just pain. It's discomfort". He took a mug and looked down into the sink "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal?". He hits it frustrated "Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?". He puts his phone on the countertop and pours himself a coffee. The phone projects an image of a brown bear in blue shorts "Oh, that's Rory, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor-level gig at intel planned for fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service". Sonic put down his coffee and stared at the group "Rory didn't want to go to Casinopolis or Adabat, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Dodan which is always fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable houses for the poor. Guess where. Spagonia". The others look down in silence "He wanted to make a difference; I suppose. We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass". Sonic takes a pill and a sip of coffee. He leaned against the countertop and crossed his arms "There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys".
Shadow sighs and puts the accords down "Sonic, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up" "Who said we're giving up?" "We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame". Mighty shook his head "I'm sorry, Shadow. That is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not G.U.N, it's not the Black Arms" "No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change". Sonic walked forward "That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realised what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing". Shadow nodded "Sonic, you chose to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own" "If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty". Silver looked up with a scowl "You're saying they'll come for me" "They'd try" Blaze said. Rouge sighed "Maybe Sonic's right". Everyone even Sonic stared at her in surprise "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off". Bark stepped forward "Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" "I'm just reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back". Sonic leaned forward "Focus up. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" "I want to take it back now" "No, you can't retract it". Shadow's phone buzzed and he took it out. He got a text and opened it saying "She's gone. In her sleep". Shadow stares at the phone for a moment "I have to go". He gets up and leaves confusing the others. Shadow goes town stairs and once out of sight he leans against the railing and bows his head.