Shadow watches Sonic anxiously. Sonic tries to lunge for Omega but Shadow grabs him "No, Sonic". Tears glistening Sonic's eyes he turned back to Shadow "Did you know?". Shadow hesitates "I didn't know it was her". Sonic got right in his face "Don't you bullshit me, Shadow. Did you know" he spat. Shadow stares into his eyes "Yes". Sonic steps back and turned back to the screen. After a moment he suddenly punched Shadow in the face throwing him into a wall. Omega tries to shoot Sonic who dashes forward breaking off her gun. She tries to punch him, but he catches her arm. He holds onto her hands tight and activates his shoes and they fly away and crash back onto the ground. Sonic punched the faceplate revealing Maria's face underneath. Sonic threw her into a wall. Omega tries to fire a missile, but Sonic pushes her arm, and it hits part of the structure causing it to collapse. It crashes into the two of them separating them. Shadow runs to Maria "Get out of here!". She runs as fast as she can in the suit. Sonic tries to follow Shadow jumps in front of him "It wasn't her, Sonic. The Black Arms had control of her mind!" "Move!". Sonic activates his shoes and tires to fly past, but Shadow grabs his leg "It wasn't her!".
He hits one of Sonic's shoes breaking it. He lands back on the ground and quickly spin dashes into a wall causing the entrance to collapse blocking Shadow. Sonic runs into a large silo and sees Maria climbing up "Sir, left boot jet failing". Sonic flew up as high as he could before he had to land on a platform "Ah, Shit". He tries again and catches up with Maria kicking her down. He used a homing attack, but Shadow leaped in and used his shield. Sonic bounced away and fell down the silo. Shadow helped Maria up "He's not gonna stop. Go". Shadow leaped down and tackled Sonic and they both fell back down the silo but Sonic punched Shadow away. Sonic then looked up and saw that Maria was nearly out "Nicole, wall run" "Lenses are damaged, sir. I can't compute for the speed" "I'm eyeballing it". Sonic stared up at the opening hatch. He suddenly ran up the wall at superfast and hit the hinge breaking the hatch. Maria falls back down onto a platform and Sonic flies up. She tries to punch him, but he reaches through the suit and grabs her throat "Do you even remember them?" Sonic said through gritted teeth.
"I remember all of them", Sonic jumped them both off the platform. Shadow stopped them mid-fall. Shadow slams onto a concrete floor with Sonic. Shadow rises back up as does Sonic. Shadow pants "This isn't gonna change what happened". Sonic gave him a cold dead stare "I don't care. She killed my Mum". He jumps forward and the two exchange blows. Sonic gets him in a headlock. Shadow uses his shoes to throw them both back, but Sonic uses his own to turn around and he slammed Shadow against the wall. Maria was on a platform nearby where she spotted Shadow's emerald. She grabs it and jumps throwing Sonic off Shadow. She passes the emerald to Shadow and the two work together to try and keep Sonic down. Sonic spin dashes throwing Shadow back against the wall. Maria tries to pin him against the other wall desperately but Sonic spins into a spiked ball tearing off both the Omega suit's arm and Maria's robotic one. Sonic steps towards her and tears off the helmet off the suit and punches Maria in the face. Shadow rises and removes his power rings. He charges at Sonic who spin dashes. Shadow forms a shield and Sonic spins against it as Shadow desperately tries to hold him back.
Vesper was outside sitting in the snow listening to his phone "You should have seen his little face. Just try, okay? I'm going to bed. I love you" Vesper stares grimily as the message ends. Espio slowly advances on him "I almost killed the wrong person". Vesper glances back at him "Hardly an innocent one" he deleted the message on his phone. Espio stares calmly at him "This is all you wanted? To see them rip each other apart". Vesper's face trembles slightly "My father lived outside of the city. I thought we would be safe there". He smiled "My son was excited. He could see Sonic the Hedgehog from the car window. I told my wife not to worry. The fighting was in the city, we would be miles from harm…. When the dust cleared, and the screaming stopped… it took me two days until I found their bodies. My father was still holding my wife and son in his arms". He glanced back at Espio "And the Chaotix? They went home. I knew I couldn't kill them. More powerful men than me have tried. But if I could get them to kill each other… I'm sorry about your father. He seemed like a good man. With a dutiful son". Espio stared gravely downward at him "Vengeance has consumed you. It's consuming them. I am done letting it consume me. Justice will come soon enough". Vesper took out a pistol "Tell that to the dead". He tries to shoot himself, but Espio grabs his hand making him miss. He wraps his arm around Vesper's neck "The living are not done with you yet".
Shadow was punching Sonic against the wall. Sonic was unable to focus "Sir, you can't beat him hand to hand" "Analyse his fight pattern". Sonic's lenses scanned Shadow as he fought and then they showed what he would do next. Shadow tried to put his emerald to Sonic's chest but Sonic caught him by the wrist "Let's kick his ass". He hits the emerald away and throws Shadow aside. Shadow gets back up but Sonic rushes forward and punches in the stomach and he falls to his knees. Both hedgehogs despite being in their super forms were bloodied and bruised. Shadow exhausted was the only thing between Sonic and Maria "She's my friend". Sonic stared down at him coldly "So was I" he beat him down and threw him into the wall "Stay down. Final warning". Shadow due to not having his power rings felt even more tired now. He struggles to his feet and raises his fists "I could do this all day".
Sonic was about to spin but Maria grabbed his leg. Sonic turned and kicked her. Shadow took advantage of the distraction and grabbed him by the back. He threw him down and got on top of him. Shadow punched him in the face repeatedly. Shadow grabbed his emerald and raised it up. Sonic covered his face waiting for the end, but Shadow pushed it against his chest. There was a glow and Sonic reverted to his normal blue form. As Shadow pulled the emerald away it took the power ring out of Sonic. Shadow grabbed it and threw it out into the snow far away. Sonic glowered at Shadow fearfully, Shadow stares down at him before closing his eyes and slumping backwards. Shadow puts his rings back on his wrists and struggles to stand. He limps over to Maria as Sonic painfully gets onto his side. The bloodied Maria is helped up with what was left of her suit by Shadow. He puts her arm over his shoulders and helps her walk. Sonic spat out blood "That emerald doesn't belong to you. You don't deserve it! My father gave you that emerald!". Shadow stops and after a moment he drops the emerald onto the ground. Shadow comes out of his super form and keeps walking with Maria. Sonic now alone tries to get up.
Vesper was in a prison pod similar to Maria's. In front of him stood Locke "Meals at eight and five. Toilet privileges twice a day. Raise your voice, zap. Touch the glass, zap. You step out of line, you deal with me. Please, step out of line, hmm? So, how does it feel? To spend all that time, all that effort, to see it fail so spectacularly?". Vesper looks up to meet his gaze "Did it?".
Sonic drove up to Chaotix HQ, he stared at the logo for a moment before looking away. Inside Blaze was sitting alone in the recreation room messing with a chess piece in her hand. In the gym Sonic was helping Mighty who had mechanical leg bracers "It's just the first pass" "Yeah" "Give me some feedback, anything you think of. Shock absorption, lateral movement. Cup holder?". Mighty slowly walked with his hand on Sonic's shoulder. He however didn't look bothered "You may wanna think about some AC down in-" he fell forward. Sonic gasped and helped him "Come on. I'll give you a hand" "No. Don't help me". He tries to stand up, but it was too painful, and he sat up. He looked down thoughtfully and shook his head "138. 138 combat missions. That's how many and those were before I got the power ring. Every one of them could've been my last, but I flew them. Because the fight needed to be fought. It's the same with these Accords. I signed because it was the right thing to do. And yeah, this sucks. This is, uh… This is a bad beat". He shook his head and looked to Sonic "But it hasn't changed my mind… I don't think" he joked. He smiles, Sonic offers his hand which Mighty takes. He helps Mighty up "You okay?" "Yeah" there's a knock at the window. They turn to see an Asian man with glasses and a delivery uniform "Are you Sanic the Warthog?". Mighty laughed "Yes, this is Sanic the Warthog. You're in the right place. Thank you for that!". Sonic frowns and says nothing, "Never dropping that, by the way. Table for one, Mr Sanic", Sonic laughed.
Later Sonic sat at a desk and opened the box he was delivered. Inside was a handwritten letter. He opened it; it was signed from Shadow "Sonic, I'm glad you're back at the compound. I don't like the idea of you rattling around a mansion by yourself. We all need family. The Chaotix are yours. Maybe more so than mine".
At prison island Silver was sitting restrained in his cell looking bored "I've been on my own since I was 18". Manic however seemed to be doing fine as he was singing to himself "I never really fit in anywhere, even in the Army. My faith is in people, I guess". Whisper was lying on her bed "Individuals. And I'm happy to say that, for the most part, they haven't let me down". However, in the surveillance room all the workers and guards were unconscious "Which is why I can't let them down either. Locks can be replaced, but maybe they shouldn't. I know I hurt you, Sonic. I guess I thought by not telling you about your parents I was spearing you, but I can see now that I was really sparing myself. And I'm sorry. Hopefully one day you can understand. I wish we agreed on the Accords, I really do". Sonic opened the rest of the box and found a phone "I know you're doing what you believe in, and that's all any of us can do. That's all any of us should". Sonic sat staring at the phone when he heard Nicole "Priority call from Secretary Luger. There has been a breach at Prison Island" "Yeah, put him through". He turned to the other phone "Sonic, we have a problem" "Uh, please hold" "No, don't" Sonic puts him on hold. Sonic then stared down at the phone Shadow sent him. At Prison Island Bark turned around in his cell "So no matter what, if you need me". Shadow steps out of the dark smirking "I'll be there".