Love Unbound

by H411OWED KN1GHT 64

Loneliness is a terrible feeling. It makes you feel that you are alone, unwanted, trapped. But when someone who cares about you tells you that they love unconditionally, it frees you from it's shackles, and you can live your life, unbound. Valentine's Day AU set sometime before Sonic Forces. Happy Valentine's Day! Feel free to read and write a review of this story.

Love Unbound

Began writing on 17/01/2022

"Well, when I came here to look around, I wasn't expecting it to look like this!" Sonic said to himself quietly.

When he came to the city nation of Nocturnia, located in the Atlantic Ocean between Portugal and the USA, he wasn't expecting it to look as impressive as it was.

If one was to describe it, it's whole appearance was that of a futuristic take of houses and dwellings used by the Aztecs, everything was just a short walk away to where one needed to go, with the main square as its central hub, filled with recreation areas, shopping malls, outdoor markets, restaurants, food stands and many other things besides.

As far as the eye could see, the whole place filled with Echidnas, echidnas of the Nocturnus Clan, former rivals of the Knuckles Clan, the fallen tribe that Knuckles is a descendant of, now an ally to the nations of Earth, ruled by its benevolent king or Imperator, the virtuous Nestor the Wise.

"I knew that the Nocturnus Clan were advanced, but not this advanced!" Sonic continued to mutter to himself, "And everything is so pristine and clean, there's not even so much as chewing gum on the sidewalk!"

The hero of Earth continued to survey all that was around him.

"I'll have a look around and see if there is anything interesting to see or do!" Sonic thought to himself as he began to make his way to main square.

The hours had passed quickly, and nothing seem to piqued his interest, although he was stopped to accept the occasional greetings and words of praise for the populace, who celebrated him as a hero to the city and the Nocturnus Clan in general.

Just as he decided to head on over to the royal palace which loomed in the distance to see what was going on over there, he heard the voice of a woman with a British accent cry out, "Sonic, over here!"

Sonic turned to see the appearance of a familiar friend.

She was a female echidna with tomato fur and peach skin with lilac eyes with white rims.

She had seven short dreadlocks had a light peach zigzag pattern at the end of them, the dreadlocks in question were held in in place with a black headband with a strange pink symbol on it.

For attire, she wore a black poncho with various purple and gold pattens on it, a purple leotard hidden underneath the poncho and wore sandals which exposed her feet.

Sonic smiled and jogged over to her and said, "Hey Shade, it's been a while!"

The woman that stood before was Shade, a member of the Nocturnus clan and was a part of Nocturnia's royal court as it's Procurator, which is, in her own her own words, 'King's Political Adviser' and 'General of the Armies' all rolled in to one.

"Likewise, Sonic." Shade replied with a smile and proceeded to give Sonic a heartfelt hug.

Freeing Sonic from her embrace, she asked him, "Tell me, what brings you to Nocturnia my friend?"

"I was hearing from a lot of folks saying how amazing and awesome Nocturnia is, so I thought I'd speed on over to see if it was true!" Sonic replied.

Shade giggled at that and replied, "And I take it that it has met your expectations?"

"It has and then some!" answered Sonic with his signature grin, "But what are you doing here?"

"I'm in the middle of my day off." Shade replied.

"Wait, you have days off?" asked Sonic, who was not expecting such an answer.

"Do you truly believe that I serve Imperator Nestor as Procurator, day and night, with no time to relax whatsoever?" Shade replied, looking rather offended, "Surely you jest!"

"I'm serious!" Sonic countered, holding his arms up in surrender, "I legit didn't think that you ever had time to chill!"

Shade stared at the blue the hedgehog with blank expression for moment before pinching her nose bridge and muttered annoyingly, "Oh for goodness' sake…"

She could not believe that it took him this long to find that out!

Sonic soon asked the Procurator, "So where are you heading, Shade?"

"I'm heading over to a particular tavern that I am a patron of." answered Shade, "It is not far from here, and I would be honoured if you would join me for a meal."

Sonic smiled at the suggestion and replied, albeit overdramatically, "Well, who am I to turned a gracious request from generous lady? Allow this humble hedgehog to accept this kind hearted and thoughtful invitation!"

Shade snorted and said with a smile, "You, humble? That'll be the day…"

Both heroes soon made their way to the tavern which only a few moments away.

They soon arrived at their destination, found a table and placed their order.

Shade had a rather modest meal, a medium bowl of beef and carrot stew with a plate of garlic bread and a glass of water, along with a jug of water to pour into.

Sonic was the complete opposite, for he had ordered a plate of fifteen chilli dogs, all perfectly stacked in a triangle.

He was already devouring his seventh chilli dog.

"I gotta say, these chilli dogs are delish!" said Sonic with a smile on his face.

Shade returned the smile and replied in a jokey tone, "I am glad it has met your approval Sonic, O Imperator of Chilli Dogs!"

Sonic grinned and answered with the same tone, "You praise me too highly Shade, O Procurator of Taverns!"

The both of them laughed heartedly at their own attempts of humour and soon calmed down.

"So, tell me, how's life been treating you?" asked Shade as she sipped another spoon of the stew.

"Oh, you how it is." Sonic replied as picked up chilli dog number eight, "Rolling around at the speed the of sound, trying to find something interesting, living life by my rules, kicking Eggman's butt when he shows up again, you know, the uge."

Shade ate a piece of her garlic bread and replied, "I would imagine so, given who you are."

Taking a bite of his chilli dog, Sonic then asked, "What about you Shade, how are your side of things?"

"As one would expect to happen at the royal court." Shade answered as she poured water from the jug to her glass, "Politics isn't exactly the best subject to talk about or be interested in."

She began to drink her water when Sonic said mischievously, "And I bet your still pining for Mighty and Ray to live here too!"

Shade, who was still drinking her water, coughed the contents that were in her mouth ending up on her right side on the floor, while some of the water leaked from her nose.

Sonic laughed at her misfortune.

Wiping her nose on her wrist, Shade growled irritability, "Cease this foolishness at once, Sonic! More importantly, It's not like that at all!"

She hastily poured another glass of water.

"Then why are you dead set on having the both of them live here?" asked Sonic, curious as to why she constantly pursued such a strong desire.

Shade stopped drinking and turned her head right to look at the sky.

Sonic could instantly tell that Shade's face turned to one of melancholy.

"I've been a soldier for over four thousand years…" Shade began, "I've only just joined the military when Argus took me and my people away to the Twilight Cage…"

"You only joined the army when the Nocturnus Clan disappeared?" asked Sonic, his voice full of concern, "That was back when Ix was running the show, wasn't he?"

Shade's free hand curled into a fist at the mention of that name.

Pir' Oth Ix the Deceiver…

Oh, how she absolutely despised that man…

He used his people's desire to be free from the Cage and to return to Earth for his own selfish ends.

He lied to everyone's faces, ever hers, that he was thinking of what was the best for his people!

To think she had such blind loyalty to him when she was his second in command when, in reality, he was only loyal to himself!

She became disillusioned after he proclaimed that he would rule the universe rather than make peace with the inhabitants of Earth as he led her to believe.

It was cathartic when she witnessed his demise at the combined might of Super Sonic, Super Shadow and Super Knuckles.

Even more so before then when that lying snake was soundly outclassed by Mighty the Armadillo, a notion that she never began to comprehend before!

Ever since his demise, Shade and her new ruler Nestor worked hard to reshape the Nocturnus Clan to what they are now, rebuild Nocturne into what it is now, despite a previous set back, and to establish relationships with the other nations and to earn a seat in the United Federation.

Turning to look at Sonic, she resumed, "That's right. Ever since that day, Ix and I, along with the rest of the clan waged war and defeated the Kron, the N'rrgal, the Zoah and the Voxai. His strength was unreal, beyond anything I ever seen."

"But I kicked his butt the first time I fought him, didn't I?" replied Sonic, who remembered that battle.

"Yes, but that was because you used the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic." Shade countered, "I believed that it was only through the power of the Emeralds that you were able to defeat him."

Sonic looked at her in silence.

Did she had so little faith in him?

Did she truly believe that his first victory over Ix was only a mere fluke?

"Then, during the Occupation, when we battled him again, all of us were lying in defeat on the ground and as that duplicitous viper was about to end our lives, Mighty appeared and utterly trounced him, something that never happened before in my whole life!" Shade continued, "He is powerful but compassionate. He is bold, yet humble. He is a living god in mobian form, but he is mortal like the rest of us. He has a noble heart, an incorruptible soul as well as a righteous and unbreakable moral compass."

She looked to the sky and said, "In my mind, Mighty is the perfect and ultimate warrior, one who all warriors should aspire to be…"

Sonic had to admit, Shade had made several good points.

Other than having the opposite powers, Mighty was truly Sonic's counterpart.

While Sonic is boastful, Mighty is humble.

While Sonic can be reckless, Mighty is thoughtful.

While Sonic is quick to react, Mighty analyses the situation first before jumping in.

While Sonic can get distracted in a fight, Mighty always keeps his wits about him.

While Sonic is impatient, Mighty is always patient.

While Sonic can, at times, explode in anger in the face of injustice, Mighty has always kept his emotions in check, unless Ray was hurt and in great pain upon which he enter a state of tranquil fury.

For all intents and purposes, the Chaotix detective was truly Sonic's one true opposite.

"As for Ray, he is the little brother that I never had." Shade continued, "Other than Imperator Nestor and my apprentice Neptune, I really have no other friends outside the royal court or in the city itself."

Sonic felt a feeling swell within his chest.

Loneliness…

Shade had to deal to loneliness throughout her entire life, long, long, long before the Marauder Riots, when Ix first invaded Earth.

She never had any friends to rely on, or care for her…

This admission pulled Sonic's heartstrings, painfully…

"Mighty's strength and heroism would greatly benefit Nocturnia and Ray helped me see that there is always hope, even in the darkest of times." Shade went on, "That is why I wish for Mighty to accept my proposition for both him and Ray to come and live here in Nocturnia. To stand shoulder to shoulder alongside one of my dearest friends, and live together with the only true younger sibling that I have ever known…"

Sonic placed his chilli dog on the table, placed a free hand on Shade's free left hand and said, "Hey, if it helps you feel better, I can drop by from time to time."

Shade's face lit up at this unexpected proposal.

"Do you mean that?" Shade asked, her lilac eyes looking at him directly at his green eyes.

"Hey, have I ever lied to someone about something before?" Sonic questioned rhetorically.

After a few moments of consideration, Shade placed her other hand on Sonic's and said, "I'll hold to that, hedgehog."

Since that day, it was a promise that was well kept.

Every other day of a week of every month, Sonic would visit Nocturnia to see Shade, the both enjoying each other's company, growing closer by the day, until…

New Year's Eve…

It was a beautiful, snowy and star lit night in Nocturnia, the perfect place to celebrate the coming of the new year.

Sonic was there, waiting for Shade to show up outside the usual tavern that they dined in as arranged in advance.

For the occasion, Sonic wore a white swallow tail tuxedo with a black shirt and a white bowtie.

He was waiting by the rail looking at the ocean when he saw Shade, who was walking towards him wearing a black vintage qipao with a golden dragon pattern and was wearing a pair of black vintage qipao party shoes with a dragon embroidered in each one.

Unusually enough, she came without the headband this time, revealing that her dreadlocks to be much like Knuckles', although the colour of the fur was enough to able to tell the difference between both echidna clans.

"Hey, Shade!" Sonic called, waving his left arm in the air.

"It seems that you made it a bit earlier than arranged." replied Shade with a smile on her face, "And may I add that you look rather stunning in your current attire?"

"Hey, not as amazing as you are!" Sonic answered, "Btw, where did you get the Qipao and the shoes to go with?"

Shade looked at her dress as well both shoes and replied, "I had brought it overseas from China. They say that Sichuan silk is the best kind of silk that money can buy from the country."

"And I bet it cost you a pretty penny, huh?" asked Sonic with his signature smile.

Shade looked down and mumbled, "It was expensive. Really, really expensive, even more so when I asked for it to be custom made…"

"Looking at you, I'd say that it's was worth it!" Sonic complimented.

The Nocturnus echidna blushed as she replied, stammering, "O-oh, thank you…"

They both turned to look at the sea together since they had time to spare.

"Tonight's really something, isn't it?" asked Sonic who was looking at the stars.

"Indeed, it is." Shade replied, looking at the stars as well.

They looked at the star lit sky with awe.

"I've never seen so many stars before my entire life…" Shade admitted.

"Didn't you always see the stars all the time?" asked Sonic, who looked at Shade with a rather confused expression.

"I never thought to look outside during the night before Argus took us away, I never paid heed to it." Shade replied.

"And I bet the Twilight Cage didn't count?" Sonic asked.

"No, it did not." Shade answered, "All there was an endless and lifeless void except the four civilizations that inhabited it."

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot!" Sonic exclaimed, realizing that he had forgotten the Zoah, the N'rrgal, the Kron and the Voxai!

"Where do you think they are now?" Sonic asked, feeling a little bit guilty.

Shade replied, "I imagine that they are all back in the dimensions from whence they came and are now living in peace and harmony with all civilizations, thanks to you."

"Aw, c'mon Shade! It's nothing, really!" replied Sonic, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand and with a smile.

"It's not 'nothing'!" replied Shade, turning to look at Sonic with a stern look, "You and your friends did something that everyone else would deem as impossible! You made the impossible possible! You made what others would have considered to be a meaningless fantasy into reality!"

"Hey, I did what I felt was right!" Sonic countered, "I was doing what anybody in my position would've done!"

"You are not 'anybody'!" replied Shade hotly, causing numerous Nocturnus echidna civilians as well as many of the human and mobian tourists to look at the scene that was playing out before them.

"You are a legendary hero who has thwarted the vile schemes of a madman so many times, it's not even funny! Including when he tried to conquer Nocturnia when it was still under construction with his Gizoid army!"

"Eggman and I have been doing that song and dance since 1987, back at the Mobius Archipelago!" Sonic retaliated, "He comes up with some cockamamy scheme to rule the world, I kick his keister, he goes home to sulk wondering how he failed so badly, rinse and repeat!"

"Do you not understand the significance of that your heroics has caused throughout the years!?" Shade fired back with equal intensity, "If it were anyone else, they would never accomplish what you have done in their entire lifetime! If not for you, the world would've surrendered to him years ago!"

Sonic stood looking at Shade with his arms crossed while tapping his left foot.

"Your actions garnered the trust of every single leader of every nation on Earth! Your selfless and kind heartedness has won you the admiration and loyalty of every human and mobian who walk the entire planet, their hearts included, as well as those of my people!"

Sonic was going reply but stopped as he realised something and said "Ok, you got me there on that one, even though Shadow did mess that up during the Space Colony Ark Conspiracy…"

"You won the trust, loyalty and hearts of your friends!" Shade added.

"You definitely got me there." Sonic admitted.

He was about to list off the names of numerous friends he had made over the years of his entire life when Shade interrupted him as she shrieked,

"YOU WON MY HEART AND SOUL, YOU BLASTED IMBECILE!"

Sonic stared at her in silence.

Any and all voices, sounds and music were immediately silenced.

It was as if time itself stood still…

"H-how-how long have felt this way about me?" asked Sonic, who looked rather stunned at what he just heard.

"Ever since Metropolis back at the Marauder Riots, you idiot!" Shade snarled, "When everyone was suspicious about me defecting to your side, you vouched for me when you had no reason to! Then at the Kron planet, any of the others could have condemned me and the Nocturnus, and left us to rot in the Twilight Cage for the justifiable crimes that we had caused under Ix's rule! But what did you do?"

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

Sonic saw the tears that rolled down Shade's cheeks from her eyes.

"You stuck your neck out for me! You were willing to offer me a place amongst your friends and vowed to find a way together with Tails to bring the clan back to Earth! You even stood by me and Nestor when he petitioned to join the United Federation as an ally to Human and Mobian kind to make up for Ix's misdeeds for God's sake!" Shade yelled as she continued to rant, "But do you know what it was that decided it for me? It was when Eggman attacked a still rebuilding Nocturnia, when you took a shot for me when I was targeted by one of that madman's Gizoids! I thought that shot killed you, I thought you were dead! It was a miracle from the heavens that you survived it at all, let alone still be able to give chase after him afterwards!"

Shade's entire body was visibly shaking right now…

"Your actions freed us from the tyranny of Ix, that lying, forked tongued, venomous viper! That perfidious, deceiving, backstabbing snake!"

Shade stamped her left at the last word to emphasise her outrage.

Oddly enough, a male mobian viper turned to his left to look at his companion and asked, "Should I feel offended? Because I feel like I should be offended…"

His companion, a female mobian rattlesnake looked her fellow mobian and hissed, "Hon', shush!"

"You were the one who allowed the Nocturnus Clan and I to return to our place of origin to live our lives again!" Shade continued to rant, "You gave us something to live for, something to fight for! You gave them their life back!"

"YOU GAVE ME MY LIFE BACK!"

Her face was a look of pure rage…

"SO JUST MAKE SURE THAT IT'S SET FIRMLY INTO YOUR THICK SKULL, I DON'T WANT YOU TO EVER REGARD WHAT YOU HAVE DONE FOR ME, MY PEOPLE AND THE ENTIRE WORLD AS 'NOTHING' WHEN YOU HAVE TRULY EARNED MY HEART, BODY AND SOUL THAT WILL ALWAYS BE BY YOUR SIDE EVER AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME, YOU NOBLE, SELFLESS, HEROIC FOOL!?" Shade screamed as she finished her tirade.

She huffed and puffed to get her breath back, as a result for her emotional outburst.

Sonic said nothing at first, but soon he smirked as he replied, "Just as I thought."

"What…?" Shade murmured; confusion written all over her face.

"I had a feeling that you felt the same way about me as I do." He answered, "Thanks for confirming it for me, Shade."

Realization soon dawned on Shade's face as she began to put two and two together…

"You… You baited me..." she growled, "You knew that I had feelings for you this entire time… The way you acted nonchalant about everything you've done over the years! It was all an act!"

Sonic grinned his signature grin.

Shade then snarled in an accusatory tone, "You tricked me, toyed with my emotions, and played like a fiddle, just so you could get me to expose my innermost feelings, didn't you!?"

Sonic shrugged as he replied, "Not initially, no. But I had a feeling that you loved me the same way I love you, so when you started getting all mad when I said what I did was nothing, I decided to roll with it so you could spill the beans and get it off your chest! You aren't exactly one who openly expresses her feeling easily Shade, so I thought that this was the best way to do it!"

He then added cheekily, "You really shot yourself in the foot this time, babe!"

Shade's face became a mixture of anger and embarrassment as she spluttered, "W-wh-why-why you conniving, manipulative, scheming, deceiving, thoughtless, aggravating, tactless, arrogant, self-righteous, duplicitous, perfidious, insolent, deceitful, underhanded, wretched, pompous little- "

She couldn't find the necessary words to finish that sentence due to being so furious.

Shade screamed to high heaven as she moved to slap Sonic in the face for his trickery!

But the blue hedgehog caught her right arm with his left hand and then he pulled Shade close to him so he could kiss her, catching her by surprise!

Shade soon responded in kind.

The kiss between the two was long and passionate.

Soon the two broke away to catch their breath.

Shade held her dear hedgehog close and cried.

"You're awful!" Shade said between sobs, thumping her left fist on the blue hedgehog's chest, "You're mean! You're horrible! You're despicable! That's not fair! That's absolutely not fair! Sonic, you know full well that you can't play with a woman's emotions like that, you incorrigible scoundrel!"

"But it was worth it, right?" Sonic replied, his voice tender and caring.

Shade soon wiped her eyes as she murmured, "Yes, I suppose it was…"

The two kissed each other again, just as long and passionate as before.

Their lips soon parted.

"So, I guess that makes us official then?" Sonic asked.

Shade rested her head on his chest and replied with a smile on her face, "Yes… Yes, it does…"

BOOM-KA-BOOM!

Both lovers turned their heads to look at the sky to see firework exploding everywhere above the city.

It must be midnight right now, the beginning of the new year.

It was almost as if the fireworks were to show that their union had been blessed by the heavens themselves…

They soon turned around to see the various citizens and tourists cheering and showering them with congratulations and best wishes for the both of them.

The romantic pair turned back to look at each other.

"So… Now what?" asked Sonic, unsure as what to do in this situation.

"'Now what' indeed." Shade replied, sharing the same concerns, "I've have never been trained on how to deal with this kind of conundrum before…."

"What do you think we should do?" asked Sonic, thinking she would come with a quick and decisive answer.

"I-I-I don't know!" Shade stammered, "I never had to deal with these situations before! I never felt the need to express these kinds of emotions until now! A whole new world has opened up before me, and I haven't the foggiest idea of what to do, I don't know where to go!"

Sonic placed his hands on hers and said, "Then come with me."

"What?" asked Shade, confused.

"Come and travel around the world with me!" Sonic clarified.

"But-but-but my position as Procurator demands that I- "Shade began but Sonic interrupted her, saying, "Shade, life is too short to just remain in one place for your whole life! There are so many places you've yet to see, so many things that you can do! I know that's sad, but we've gotta live life to the fullest in the time we have. At least, that what I figure!"

"Surely that there is a place you call home!" replied Shade, who was a difficult time containing her emotions at the moment.

Sonic rubbed the back of his head and replied rather sheepishly, "Err, I've never been someone to stay in one place for too long…"

"Hold on, you're a nomad!?" Shade gasped, taken aback by this admission on Sonic's part, "You never told me that!"

Sonic replied rather casually, "I guess I never really talked about it that much, huh?"

"But-but what if I- "Shade again tried to reason with him, but the hero of Earth stopped her again, saying, "Let's talk to Nestor about it tomorrow, ok? Besides, I'm sure he'd be open to the idea!"

Shade thought about this for a few moments before replying, "Alright, I suppose we'll put this on hold for now. After all, we still have a romantic dinner to get through, don't we?"

"Speaking of which…" came a voice with a French accent.

They turned to see a male Nocturnus clan echidna, one of the waiters at the tavern at they were supposed to have their dinner in, was waiting with arms crossed.

"Uh-oh… We're late, aren't we…?" said Sonic rather nervously, realising that he and Shade had dilly dallied for too long…

"You are. Five minuets late, to be exact." The waiter replied, "Normally, I would have cancelled your reservation, but I'll excuse it for two reasons. One: I did not wish to ruin a such a moving and romantic moment. And two: The fact that the Procurator and the hero of Earth are visiting this tavern as a couple is not something that happens every day…"

The waiter moved to one side and looked at them expectantly.

"Well, I guess we better head inside, get warm and chow down, right babe?"

Sonic held out his left hand.

Shade took the hand with her right hand and replied affectionately, "Indeed, my beloved…"

Soon both hedgehog and echidna made their way inside to enjoy their romantic date, after which they would retire to Shade's room in the royal palace later on to express their emotions for each other…

…In a more intimate way…

The throne room, in the royal palace on New Year's Day…

"YOU'LL ALLOW IT!?"

Shade shrieked, incredulous at what she just heard.

"See, I told you he'd be cool with it!" cheered Sonic with smile his face.

"Hush, you!" whispered Shade, scolding her new boyfriend before turning her gaze to the individual in front of her and asked, "My Imperator, are you truly going to listen to Sonic's suggestion!?"

The individual in front of her was an elderly red and white furred echidna who wore a royal lavender robe and an ornate golden tiara on his head.

On his left hand, he held a golden sceptre that was the size of a bo staff, thought it was shortened a bit for easier use and could be held with his two hands, if need be, with a teal octahedron crystal on top of it.

The individual was none other than Nestor the Wise, the benevolent and virtuous Imperator or king, of Nocturnia.

"But of course!" Nestor replied, while stepping down from the throne, showing that, despite his position, he was not above any of his subjects, be they echidna or gizoid, "It gladdens this old man's heart to know that you have taken your first and important step in a new direction in life, and that you have someone important to you, to be by his side as you walk along that path!"

"But my position demands that I remain here!" Shade retaliated, "As Procurator, it is my sworn duty at act as your political adviser and general of our army, should the need to go to battle arise!"

"My dear Shade," said Nestor in a tone that was akin to a kindly father, "It is as Sonic has stated, life is too short to live a life unfulfilled. Despite the fact that we have lived for over four thousand years due to the effects of our time in the Twilight Cage, we are only mortal. We must all return to from whence we came, someday."

Shade looked at Nestor with pleading eyes, practically begging him to reconsider.

Nestor continued, "While I am forever grateful for your loyal and dedicated service to our nation, I refuse to see you live and one day die, alone and unloved, not on my watch."

"But what if Nocturnia is invaded by enemy forces!?" Shade countered, "What if any of the more ambitious, less selfless and dubiously loyal military commanders, politicians and prefects of any of the sectors of the city rise up in revolt!? What if they actually preferred the times when Ix was in power!? And more importantly, how can I prevent these eventualities from happening if I am not there to keep them in line and protect our nation!?"

Sonic was about to say something when a female voice with a French accent intervened, "Then perhaps we should consider it as a test of sorts, a test of everything you have taught me up until now, Procurator Shade?"

Shade and Sonic turned to look at the voice's owner.

The individual in question was a Gizoid.

In terms of body design, she looked just like Gemerl, the reincarnation of Emerl the Gizoid, a beloved friend who was once thought to be dead.

The areas of the body that were black were replaced with pink while the areas that were yellow are now blue.

However, unlike Gemerl, her eyes were exactly like Emerl's, but were of a teal colour and the white centre head piece was in the shape of a butterfly.

This was Neptune, former member of the Cardinals, a group of four modified and enhanced Gizoids that ruled the four worlds of the Twilight Cage when Ix reconquered it and the only female of the quadrivium.

After defeating Vulcan and Mars, the Cardinals of the home worlds the Kron and Zoah respectively and reclaiming the Chaos Emeralds they possessed, they went to the Voxai home world, where she was the Cardinal of.

Compared to the other two, she was far more benevolent and compassionate in her administration.

Neptune was also polite and respectable, far better than the brutish and arrogant oaf, Vulcan and the frigid and heartless tyrant, Mars.

At the time, she shared her former enemies' sentiments, but she dared not rise up against her former master, lest he would harm the civilization that was under her rule.

This showed that she had a conscience.

When compared to Vulcan, who fought the heroes with overwhelming force and Mars, who tried to succeed using merciless and remorseless military tactics to win, she insisted on a fair fight and refused to accept outside interference or resort to underhanded tactics to win and she requested that she fight one on one against one of the heroes of their choosing.

She fought with honour and was graceful in defeat.

Unfortunately, some of her men saw her surrendering of her Chaos Emerald as an act of treason and informed Ix, who swiftly dispatched an elite military force to slay her, but were pushed by the heroes and the more loyal troops that were under her command.

This, and the heroes' persuasions was enough to convince Neptune to defect to their side, along with her forces.

After that, the only thing left to do before facing Ix was to take the final Chaos Emerald that was guarded by Pluto, the terrifying and prophetic Cardinal of the N'rrgal home world and the most powerful of them all.

After the villain's demise and the return of the Nocturnus clan to Earth, Neptune was taken in by Shade to be her apprentice, and was groomed to be her successor to be the next Procurator after her.

"Hey, long time no see, Neptune!" Sonic greeted his former enemy with a thumbs up and a smile.

"Indeed, it has been quite a while, Sonic." replied Nepture, who slightly bowed to the hedgehog before turning to her mentor and said, "To choose the legendary defender of Earth to be your Destined One. You could not have a chosen a better person to be your consort and to form a Spirit Link with, Procurator Shade."

"Neptune, there is no need for formalities. We are well beyond past that point in our relationship." replied Shade.

"I am afraid that is impossible, Procurator Shade." Neptune answered with a slight bow, "When Imperator Ix oversaw my construction, my creators made it so that my personality was ingrained to my core programming, meaning that I cannot speak to anyone, not even you in an informal way, unlike your friends and your Destined One. This also means you cannot prevent me from regarding Imperator Ix without saying his former title, I am afraid."

"I had a feeling you might say that…" groaned Shade with her right hand on her face.

"Uh, not to be rude, but I'm kind of outta the loop here." said Sonic, drawing everyone's attention to him before asking, "'Destined One'? 'Spirit Link'? What the heck do those mean, Nestor?"

Shade was about to reprimand her beloved for talking that way but raised his right hand and shook his head, showing that he took no offence.

To be honest, to be talked to in an informal way?

He found it to be a rather refreshing change of pace.

"In our culture, a 'Destined One' refers to one who is fated to be the loved one to another individual." Nestor replied with a smile, "A 'Spirit Link' is a connection that is formed when two individuals confess their love to one another. Once formed, one can sense the other's emotions and thoughts, even from afar. Think of it as a kind of telepathy on a more spiritual level, and it can only be formed once."

"So, it's like when two regular swans partner up. They stick together for life." Sonic replied, giving what he was just told some thought.

"That would be another comparison, yes." said Nestor thoughtfully, "The only way a Spirit Link can be severed is when the Destined One's significant other dies, where they will wait for the other one to join him or her in the afterlife, when their time comes."

Sonic nodded gravely, showing he understood the gravity and seriousness of the Imperator's words.

"As educational as that subject is, we are getting off-topic." Shade interrupted and turned back to her apprentice, saying, "What do you mean we should consider it as a 'test'?"

Neptune replied, "As you had stated, there is a chance that all you had pointed out could happen and you would not be there to stop them from occurring. Therefore, I believe we take this as an opportunity for me to put what you have taught me into practice and serve Imperator Nestor to the best of my abilities."

Shade immediately protested, "But you haven't mastered all I had taught you to effectively serve Nestor! You are not yet ready!"

"Do I really need to point out that you are forgetting that she was one of the four Cardinals, and that she was the one who was running the show on the Voxai's home turf?" Sonic pointed out, "Do I need to remind you that she was the only good one out of the other three Cardinals, too?"

"Sonic has made an excellent counterpoint." Nestor added, "Despite being a servant to Ix at the time, her record in administration was spotless. No civil unrest, no law breaking, no destruction to private and public property, every soldier was fully trained, disciplined and no dissention amongst the ranks. She carried out her duty swiftly and effectively. Every policy she approved of had, as a result, benefited the Voxai, which had earned her their trust and loyalty. She even had Thebes, the current Overmind, at her side as her most trusted advisor and returned control of the Voxai to him when she defected. When Ix's forces invaded, her immediate concern was the safety of the civilians and ordered a quick, effective and orderly evacuation before the city became a battleground."

"Yeah, I'd say she's perfect Procurator material!" said Sonic, giving Neptune a thumbs up, "She's got this!"

"But, but what if- "Shade tried to object, but was interrupted when Neptune her left hand on her teacher's left shoulder and said, "Sonic placed his trust in you during the Marauder Riots and the Occupation. All that I ask is that you place the same level of trust in me. Let me prove to you that your instruction has borne fruit, Procurator Shade."

Shade turned to look at Sonic and Nestor, who smiled and nodded.

Shade hesitated before sighing, looked back at Neptune and replied, "Very well. I approve of your suggestion. Effective immediately, you are the new Procurator."

She turned to look at Nestor and Sonic, both nodding their heads in approval.

"But if I receive news that Nocturnia is in peril, then I will return post-haste, to fulfil my duty and see to it's defence." Shade said in all seriousness, after which Nestor nodded, agreeing with her.

"Not without me, you not!" replied Sonic, who placed his left arm around her waist, looked at her and said with his usual grin, "After all, we Destined Ones gotta stick together, right?"

Shade giggled as she looked at her beloved, placed her left hand on his right cheek and replied with a smile, "You charmer…" and kissed him on the lips.

She then left with the newly elected Procurator to begin travel arrangements to leave Nocturnia.

Nestor turned his head to look at the blue hedgehog and remarked, "You know how to win the heart of a woman that is as noble and righteous as hers. The Heavens could not have sent a better person to share your life with."

"Amen to that, Nestor." Sonic replied, looking at the two Procurators heading to the throne room doors with a smile, "Amen to that…"

Nestor made his way back to the throne, but stopped at the steps and said, gaining the hedgehog's attention, "All that I will ask of you is that you treat her with the utmost respect…"

Sonic grinned his signature grin and answered, "You don't have to worry about that, because I plan on treating her like a queen!"

Nestor smiled warmly and replied, "I would expect no less from you, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Nestor resumed his way up the steps until he reached the throne and sat back down.

He pointed his sceptre towards the doors and said, "Now go, return to your Destined One. May the gods grant both you and Shade good fortune and may your lives be blessed!"

Sonic made a quick bow and ran out of the throne room to catch up to his new partner in life.

A warm smile crossed Nestor's lips as the throne room went quiet.

One month later…

It was a nice and sunny day at Emerald Hill in the Mobius Archipelago, a nice day for a picnic that was organised by Amy Rose and Vanilla, the mother of the pink hedgehog's good friend, Cream the Rabbit.

The gathering was a rather large and lively affair.

Besides Amy, Vanilla, Cream, Cheese and Chocola, the rest of attendees were Knuckles the Echidna, Tails the Fox, Rouge the Bat, Big the Cat, the Chaotix which consisted of Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, Charmy Bee, Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel.

The other attendee was Gemerl, Emerl's reincarnation and the hero's resident Gizoid.

Shadow and Omega had no interest in anything that didn't involve Robotnik, so they were not on the list.

Everyone was generally chatting amongst themselves when Sonic arrived on the scene saying, "Hey, guys! Long time, no see!"

"I'll say!" Knuckles replied as everyone went over to him, "Where the heck have you been all this time, hedgehog?!"

"Yeah, it's like, you just upped and vanished or somethin'!" Vector seconded.

"What have you been you doing all this time?" inquired Tails, "I've been trying to contact you for the last several months, sometime before New Year's Eve last year and last month, but I had no response."

"You even missed out on Christmas Day lunch at Cream's!" pouted Amy.

"Not to mention you've forgotten to give everyone their Christmas presents too!" said Charmy cheekily before having his mouth covered by fellow detective Ray, who hastily whispered to the bee not to add more fuel to the fire!

"Oops…" Sonic replied, rather sheepishly, for his visits to Nocturnia at every other day on a week of every month had caused that event to slip his mind…

Now he was in for it…

"I trust you have a reasonable explanation…?" said Vanilla with a quiet tone that sounded like a parent who had caught their child doing something they shouldn't have and quite dangerously so…

Sonic had to explain, and fast…

"I-I-I-I-I was traveling around the world!" stammered Sonic, trying to explain.

"That's not exactly something out of the ordinary." Rouge, who was hovering in the air, replied.

"You better think of something fast, Big Blue." Gemerl cautioned, "Or otherwise, Vanilla's coming over there to beat your sorry aft…"

As if to show that this was no light threat, Vanilla slowly and menacingly marched over to Sonic's position…

Sonic was terrified as he watched the approaching form of his impending doom…

From one corner of his right eye, he could see that Mighty was planning to intervene, but it would be too little, too late!

"I was traveling the world with someone else!" Sonic cried in a desperate attempt to save himself!

Vanilla stopped in her tracks and blinked her eyes in confusion.

"You're exploring the Earth with someone else?" inquired Espio with a surprised look on his face, "That is rather curious and surprising for you to say something like that…"

Mighty, who breathed a sigh of relive at a crisis was averted then said "So who's the person you've been hanging out with, old buddy? Somebody new or somebody we know of?"

Sonic was about to answer when the voice of his new girlfriend rang out with a worrying tone, "Sonic, are you alright?! What's going on!?"

Everyone, except for Big, who was lost in his own little world at the moment, looked to see Shade come thundering down the hill before coming to a complete stop.

Her current attire consisted of a pair black Nike Revolution 5 Trainers, blue Denim Jeans and a black t-shirt with a golden phoenix patten with the words, 'From the ashes, I rise, like a Phoenix' inscribed on it.

Shade kept the usual headband on her head at her personal request, insisting that it helps her stand out in a crowd.

The former Procurator was about voice her concern for her Destined One when everyone, except for Big and Gemerl cried out in unison,

"SHADE!?"

Amy was upon her in seconds and embraced her in a huge bearhug as she exclaimed with a smile, "Shade, is that you?! Oh my gosh, it's been forever since I've seen you the last time!"

Shade wiggled and squirmed as her face started to turn blue…

"Amy, please let Miss Shade go! You're going to cause her to faint!" said Cream warningly.

Amy soon turned to see Shade's face had almost turned completely blue!

Gasping in horror, Amy let go of the female echidna and apologised profusely, "I'm so sorry, Shade! I was so excited to see you, I got carried away!"

Getting air back into her lungs, Shade turned to Amy and said wheezingly, "Good God, woman! Just how strong are you!?"

Amy rubbed the back of her head and replied bashfully, "I guess sometimes I don't know my own strength…"

Shade was about to say something else she when was approached by Mighty, Ray and Gemerl.

"Good to see you, Shade!" greeted Mighty, as he embraced her with a normal hug.

After letting her go, Mighty remarked, "I really like the t-shirt that your wearing! Where can I get one of those?"

"Yeah, I want one too!" exclaimed Ray as he flew into Shade's arms as she replied, "It's a long story…"

She turned to look at Gemerl and said, "And you must be Gemerl, formerly known as Emerl, the Gizoid who became friends with Sonic years ago. My name is Shade, a pleasure and an honour to meet you."

"Wait, he told you about me already?!" was Gemerl's response as he turned to see Sonic, who was with Knuckles and Amy and said with an annoyed tone, "Dude! Not cool! I wanted to tell her!"

Sonic turned to look at the Gizoid and replied, "Sorry buddy, but my girlfriend was too interested to wait and see you first before telling her what happened back in the day!"

Indeed, when Sonic first mentioned about Gemerl being a Gizoid, Shade kept on pestering him until he was forced to spill the beans about him…

Gemerl turned back and said, "Well you could've at least held off telling her until I coul- "

The Gizoid stopped mid-sentence to register what was just said, wheeled back to look back at the blue hedgehog and exclaimed, "Hold on, wait, WHAT!?"

Sonic soon saw that everyone, except Big, stopped what they were doing to look at him with surprise and astonishment.

"SHADE IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND!? SINCE WHEN IN THE WORLD DID THAT HAPPEN?!"

Both Knuckles and Amy yelled incredulously at Sonic at the same time.

Sonic shook his head to get rid of the ringing that was going on and said, "I think it's best you took over for explaining things, babe."

Shade put Ray down and replied, "That would a wise choice, my beloved."

After gathering Knuckles, Amy, Tails, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Mighty, Ray, Cream, Cheese, Chocola, Vanilla, Gemerl, and Rouge, who remained hovering in the air, Shade explained all of the events that transpired in Nocturnia last year and what happened last, while Sonic filled in the blanks.

"My goodness, I didn't know it had become so serious!" remarked Vanilla, who was still shocked at what she just heard.

Rouge just simply smirked.

"Indeed, that explains why we didn't see you at Vanilla and Cream's last year…" said Espio in a thoughtful tone.

"Plus, with Robotnik not poking his head out since Lost Hex, you had plenty of time on your hands." Mighty remarked.

"I personally think this is rather informative!" Tails said with a smile, "We've just got a glimpse at an important part in the culture of the Nocturnus Clan!"

"I'm so happy for you, Mister Sonic!" exclaimed Cream while both Chao siblings chirped the same feelings while twirling in the air, their poms poms in the shape of hearts.

"Yeah, but I gotta say, that was kind of mean, how you emotionally played her like a piano…" Gemerl added.

"Yeah, but it sounds like you got a sweet romance goin' on right now, right Knucklehead?" Vector said, only to hear silence.

"Knucklehead?" said Vector turning to see Knuckles with a blank expression, causing Gemerl to remark, "Uh-oh, it looks like Rad Red's CPU has stopped working…"

Amy was the opposite as she raved, "How could this have happened?! The cards said that I was going to be Sonic's girlfriend years ago! Ok, I admit, I still would've been happy for him if Blaze ended up being Sonic's girlfriend too, but Shade of all people!? How could I have read the cards so wrong!? How did I not see this coming!? I'm a disgrace at fortune telling! I'm a sham of a fortune teller! I read the tarot cards completely and totally wrong!"

"Amy is skilled at divination?" asked a confused Shade.

"Yeah," Sonic confirmed, "But it looks like her prediction from back in the day just backfired on her, big time…"

"Amy, please calm down!" Vanilla pleaded, "One misreading does not make you a failure, it's just means that you just need to learn more to be able to read them more effectively. You should not doubt your abilities."

That seemed to snap Amy out of it as she looked at the elder rabbit and nodded.

"Besides, we should be happy that Sonic has someone he truly cares for and will be loved in return, right Knuckles?"

Knuckles still had the same blank expression on his face.

Vanilla went over to the red male echidna and asked, "Knuckles, are you all right, dear?"

"Whu?" was Knuckles response as he snapped out of it, realised who was in front of him and replied, "Oh, yeah. I'm good, I'm good, I'm good…"

As Amy went over to check on Knuckles to make sure, Shade said in a sad tone, "Oh dear, it seems that Knuckles had feelings for me for some time before now…"

"Yeah, and it looks like I kinda ruined his chances…" replied Sonic, feeling a bit guilty…

Both Sonic and Shade felt they both need to apologise to him later on…

It was then that Ray asked innocently, "When did you make it official?"

Shade answered, "It was after we had our date that we returned to the royal palace where we decided to…" Shade paused as to think of a way to carefully phrase it, before saying, "'Do the deed', as it were."

Everyone, except Cream, Charmy, and Gemerl's faces turned red when they understood what she meant, Cream and Charmy being too young to understand, while Gemerl, while not organic, could feel a feeling that was similar.

Plus, Big was still lost in his own universe while Sonic already knew what he did, so didn't he blush like the others.

They suddenly heard a snicker and immediately tried to find where it came from, only to look up when they saw Rouge, who was still in the air, break down into hysterical laughter while kicking her feet in the air.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, you sly old dog! You did it, I can't believe that you actually did it!" cried Rouge before going into another fit of laughter.

After a few moments, the treasure hunter / government spy wheezed, "Oh-oh my-oh my God! This is absolutely hilarious! Sure, it took you thirty years to get there, but hey, you got there! The two of you seriously just couldn't keep your hands to yourselves and decided to get it on before you could say, 'Gotta go fast'!"

Rouge then continued her cries of hysteric laughter.

Knuckles and Amy held their opposite hands while they blushed furiously, each not knowing what they were doing…

Shade, while blushing greatly, tried to keep a straight face as she replied while trying to keep her voice normal, "I-it-it was quite the experience, to be sure…"

Rouge grinned a savage Cheshire-Cat grin, knowing that Shade had just unwittingly gave her a motherload of verbal nuclear warheads and replied wickedly, "Yeah, and I sure bet that he took you on for a wild ride, right?!"

Knuckles and Amy held their hands even tighter, still unaware…

Shade buried her face in hands in utter mortification while Rouge resumed her cackling in the air.

Sonic glared angrily at the white bat for this shameless display.

Oh, he and Rouge were going to have words!

Cream asked her mother innocently, "What does Miss Rouge mean?"

"I'll tell you when you are older, dear." replied Vanilla as she led her daughter to where Big was while giving Rouge a disapproving look, she added, "Much, much older…"

Charmy then flew up to Rouge and asked her, "Err, could you explain what you said, because I have no idea what you mean."

Oh, the young bee's ignorance was far too tempting an idea to resist and so Rouge replied in a sly tone, "Well, you know what they say about the Birds and the Bees…"

That was as far as both Charmy and Rouge got for Espio cried, "I think that's enough of that!" and used his tongue, which he hadn't used for a long while, to bring Charmy back down and immediately carried him, in his arms, straight where the two rabbits, the two Chao and Big were, ignoring the infuriated bee's protests.

This made the white bat laugh ever harder.

Mighty and Ray took the hint and followed the ninja detective.

"He-hey, wait for me!" cried a blushing Tails, who was hot on their heels.

Gemerl and Vector were angry at the leader of Team Dark, the former crying, "What the heck's wrong with you, Rouge?! Are you trying to scar them for life?! Tails, Cream, Ray and Charmy are totally not ready to know that kind of stuff yet!"

Rouge, who was holding her sides from laughing so hard and with tears rolling down her cheeks wheezed, "H-hey, those kids aren't going to be young forever! They're gonna have to learn about it, sooner or later!"

Vector growled, "Yeah, well, you coulda at least done it with a lot more tact!"

Rouge was pretty much out of commission for the moment as she continued cackling like a mad woman while kicking her feet in the air and holding her sides.

Knuckles and Amy held their hands even tighter, and that was when they finally noticed each was holding the others hand and immediately looked away, their faces turning crimson.

Sonic sighed to himself as he held his Destined One close.

This was going to be a long, long, long day…

One month later…

Up in the blue sky, The Tornado 3 blazed through the air as it managed to catch up with the Egg Fleet.

Specifically, the Egg Fleet that Metal Sonic used when he tried to conquer Earth while trying to impersonate his creator back at the Metal Overlord Deception.

The target was the Final Fortress, the gargantuan Whale shark shaped flag ship where their nemesis, Dr Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik was most likely be commanding the fleet.

The six heroes, Tails, who was piloting the plane, Sonic and Shade, who standing on the right wing, Knuckles and Amy who were standing on the left wing and Gemerl, who was flying above them saw the flag ship that ahead the rest of fleet, its side guarded by two Sawfish battleships while the front was occupied by several Mako shark battleships.

"Words cannot even to begin describe what I am seeing…" Shade, who was wearing her usual combat suit remarked, her voice full of dread, "I have heard tales of how imposing the Final Fortress was, but this? That thing could devastate entire continents several times over if that madman so desired…"

"Then we should be grateful that Eggman wants to rule over an Earth that's still living and breathing and has people to terrorise over with." said Knuckles, turning to look at his fellow echidna.

"For all of his villainy, Eggman's not heartless." Tails added, "Not even he would be as evil as to kill innocent people needlessly."

"So, what's the game plan?" asked Sonic, who was itching to get things started.

"The plan is that we assault the flag ship from two different fronts." Amy replied, "You and Shade attack from the front, while Knuckles and I will do the same from behind."

"And while you four are busy wrecking house, GUN's air armada and Nocturnia's sky battalion will corner Baldy McNosehair from the left and right in a pincer attack, attacking him at both sides!" Gemerl confirmed, his voice speaking through the Tornado 3's speaker via radio transmission.

"And while all that's happening, Gemerl and I will run interference, keeping the flag ship's defences off you!" concluded Tails.

"We truly have daunting task ahead of us." Shade mused, "Taking back all of the seven Chaos Emeralds that villain has stolen will not be easy…"

"Yeah, but has that ever stopped us before, babe?" asked Sonic, who placed a comforting hand on Shade's left check while looking at her.

Shade did the same thing with her left hand and replied tenderly, "Never, my beloved."

The two lovers kissed each other passionately but briefly before staring at each other's eyes.

Knuckles and Amy could not help but feel happy for the couple.

After the picnic at Emerald Hill, Sonic and Shade discussed their relationship at great length with both Amy and Knuckles.

For their part, while Shade was sorry that she could not love Knuckles the same way as she does with Sonic due to the Spirit Link, the two echidnas promised each other to always be good friends, the Master Emerald Guardian promising Sonic that there were no hard feelings between them.

…Although that was after Knuckles pulverised him, much to Shade's amusement, calling it payback for the stunt her Destined One pulled at New Year's Eve last year…

Amy however, although a bit saddened that her prediction was incorrect, quickly recovered and greatly encouraged Shade to express herself more freely as Sonic does, thus becoming good friends with her.

To show her appreciation, Shade would make trips with Amy back to Nocturnia to have the pink hedgehog study under some of the royal divinators at the royal palace, where they helped Amy to perfect the art of tarot card reading and fortune telling, causing her skill and power at divination to grow as a result.

When they had free time on their hands, they would train together in both armed and unarmed combat in the palace's training grounds, their skills improving at each session.

In fact, some would say that they had become sisters-in-arms, just like how Sonic and Tails were practically brothers-in-arms.

This moment was interrupted when Gemerl cried the Tornado 3's speaker, "Heads up, we've got company! Several squadrons of Falco's and Balkiry's are inbound, and they're coming in hot at twelve o'clock!"

Just up ahead, several squadrons of the Falco and Balkiry Badniks were approaching the Tornado 3 at hight speed!

"Here they come!" Sonic shouted, assuming a battle position, "You guys ready?"

"As if you need to ask!" Shade replied, touching her headband's symbol to fully transform it into her combat suit's helmet while arming herself with two Nocturne Blades.

"Vulcan Cannon and Lock-on missiles ready and primed!" Tails confirmed.

Knuckles replied while bring up his spiked gloved fists, "I'm ready to give these guys an extra helping of knuckle sandwiches!"

"I'm ready to pound some sense into 'em!" agreed Amy while twirling her Piko Piko Hammer.

"Locked and loaded!" Gemerl sounded off.

Sonic then cried, "Ok, let's get 'em!" and after Tails activated the plane's Jet Boosters, they flew to meet them where they smashed, slashed, dashed, bashed and shot down any of the aerial Badniks that came their way!

After a few minutes, they were fast approaching the Final Fortress where the final battle for this adventure would await.

"This it, gang…" said Sonic with seriousness in his voice, Shade, Knuckles and Amy nodding in agreement.

"I've just got a message from Tower and Neptune." Gemerl announced, "Both of them say that both the armada and the battalion are in position to rock and roll. They're just waiting on us to get this party started."

Sonic grinned as he replied, "Then let's not keep them waiting, shall we?"

Both Shade and Sonic held hands as she answered, "Indeed."

"We'll join you once Tails drops us off behind them!" Amy said, ready for action.

Sonic replied, "Gotcha!" and the couple jumped of plane towards the launchpad below.

"You two lovebirds have fun!" Knuckles shouted with a grin while Amy laughed as the Tornado 3 and Gemerl sped off the other side of the flagship.

Both Sonic and Shade landed safely on the launchpad, which alerted the Egg Lance and Egg Gun variants of Egg Pawns that were nearby!

Shade touched the left of her helmet to perform a scan of the Egg Pawns.

"What's the situation?" asked Sonic, "Are there any Mobini inside of 'em?"

"Negative." Shade replied, her helmet no longer having the built-in device to alter her voice like it did back at the Marauder Riots, "All the Egg Pawns on this ship are powered by Chaos Drives."

"Good to know." Sonic acknowledged, nodding.

"It's a shame that the grandson of a noble man like Professor Gerald Robotnik would use his genius for his own selfish desires than to benefit the world…" Shade lamented as she placed her Nocturne Blades away.

"Yeah, well, I bet Egghead would also think that conquering Earth is his personal way at getting payback, payback on the people who called his grandad crazy and covered up what happened on the Ark, including what happened to his cousin and Shadow's best friend, Maria…" replied Sonic.

"Indeed," Shade agreed, "but now's not the time to dwell on the past when we need to concern ourselves with what is in front of us."

"Yeah, your right." Sonic replied as his got into position and asked, "Shall we?"

Shade nodded and replied, "Yes. Let's." and activated her Leech Blades.

"Bet I can take down more than you do!" taunted Sonic as he ran off, taking down several Egg Guns and Egg Lances as he went.

Shade laughed as she replied confidently, "Oh, you wish!" and went after him, slicing several Egg Guns and Egg Lances of her own her wake.

Later, in the flagship's core, where the Chaos Emeralds were kept…

"I can't believe this! How are they tearing my forces apart so quickly!?" growled Robotnik as he looked as the security footage at what was going on, inside and out!

"But isn't what they usually do anyway, Boss?" Orbot, the Mad Doctor's sassy spherical henchbot replied, "After all, you and Sonic have been doing this since 1987!"

"Yeah, you've been doing this sorta thing for, like, thirty years now!" Cubot, Robotnik's dull witted cubical minion seconded, "I woulda thought you'd expect this kinda thing to happen by now!"

"Zip it, you two!" Robotnik snapped before grumbling, while quickly placing the emeralds in a specifically designed briefcase, "As if dealing with those two hedgehogs, echidnas, Tails and Gemerl wasn't bad enough, both GUN and Nocturnia have managed to get the drop on me! Can this get any worse!?"

BOOM!

Robotnik turned to the source of the explosion to see his hated nemesis and a familiar Nocturnus echidna walking into the core room.

Robotnik murmured to himself dejectedly, "It just got worse…"

"And that makes one hundred and fifty!" Sonic proclaimed proudly.

"Come off it!" Shade countered as she deactivated her helmet, turning it back to her familiar headband, "I defeated one hundred and fifty Egg Pawns first! You only got lucky because there was an Egg Pawn next to your when that wall exploded from the charges that I set up!"

"That means it's a tie, right?" Sonic remarked with a smile.

"Ugh, you are insufferable at times!" Shade groused, quite annoyed that her Destined One had made a point, "Be as it may, is this how you feel when you go on your adventures all the time? The adrenaline, the excitement, the thrill, the suspense, all of it! This is amazing!" she added with a smile, her voice full of excitement.

"It is!" Sonic agreed, "That's how I always feel when I do stuff like this! What do you think?"

"I-I-I-I've never felt or experienced such emotions before!" replied Shade, her voice of wondrous joy, "I've never felt the feeling of my blood pumping from excitement, the thrill of facing overwhelming odds, the suspense of exploring the unknown, the pure and unadulterated ecstasy of constantly living on the edge of a knife! I've now seen the world through your eyes! Exploring new places, meeting new people, saving the world, I can't believe that for my entire life that I have been missing out on all of this, after all this time!"

"Whoa there, slow down!" Sonic cautioned, "It's good to know that you're having fun and all, but even I know when to slow down at times, enjoy the view, take in the sights and to enjoy the calmer things in life as well, know what I mean?"

"I suppose your right…" Shade agreed, calming down for a moment before resuming, in an excited tone, "But that wants me to go to the next adventure even more! To see every country in the world! To study the history of each one! To experience the taste of local cuisine! To behold each national monument! To enjoy the natural scenery! To explore the unknown! To feel the wind in my face! To preform death-defying feats! To save the world! To enjoy life! To be able to express myself without holding back! To be able to live our lives by our own rules! To-to-to-to-."

It was then she realised what she was saying, pinched her nose bridge and sighed, saying, "Good gracious, I think some of your personality is beginning to rub off on me…"

Sonic then asked, "But that not exactly a bad thing, is it?"

Thinking for a moment, Shade replied, "I guess that's true. Matter of fact, I was thinking that after this, the next place that we will visit should be-"

"HEY!"

Cried Robotnik, greatly annoyed at being ignored, startling the couple.

"Can we perhaps get to the part where I get to kill the both of you at some point, oh I don't know, today!?" Robotnik, who was holding the briefcase snapped, "Evil Genius trying to conquer the world here! I'm on a tight time schedule, in case you two haven't noticed!"

"Hey, do you mind!?" Sonic snapped back, "I'm trying to talk to my girl here!"

Robotnik was about to argue back when he realised what his hated enemy just said and exclaimed, "Wait, what!?"

He then pointed his left finger at Shade and cried incredulously, "She's your girlfriend!?"

"Indeed, I am." Shade confirmed, "He's my Destined One."

Both lovers held their left and rights together to show proof to Shade and Sonic's words.

Robotnik said nothing for a few moments before replying, "Oh. Oh wow. Like, wow! I never thought I'd live see the day that this would happen!"

Both hedgehog and echidna first looked at each other in confusion and then at Robotnik.

"Y'know," Robotnik began, "If someone told me twenty-nine years ago, back at the Mobius Archipelago that one day I would have a nemesis that would not only ruin my plans for world domination, he would fall for a woman that came from a race that was thought to be extinct, I would have just called him a fool. But hey, shows what I know. To be comepletely honest with you, and that doesn't happen often, I thought you would've hooked up with Blaze, seeing she is her world's version of you as well as being a princess and all of that."

"Blaze is a princess!?" Shade cried astonished, looking at Sonic, "Why didn't you tell me that!? As a matter of fact, why didn't you pursue her to be your Destined One!? You could've become royalty and no one would've batted an eyelash!"

Sonic realised that her forgot that little detail when he told Shade about the princess of the Sol Empire…

Turning to look at her, he replied, "1: I forgot that detail. 2: I don't feel that way about her, she's a good friend. And 3: If I did, I wouldn't have been your Destined One, wouldn't I?"

Shade gave it some thought and soon replied, "I suppose so…"

"Well now, this changes everything…" Robotnik began with a malicious grin, "It's such a shame that you two lovebird's first adventure together will be the last one you'll ever have!"

"For your information, we're not the only couple that's got together recently." Sonic pointed out.

"Wait, you're not!?" cried an astonished Robotnik, not expecting to hear that titbit.

Both Sonic and Shade nodded.

"Ahem!" coughed Robotnik as he regained his composure and said, "Let me take a wild guess, it's Tails and Cream, isn't it?"

"Dude, they're too young to be thinking about that kind of thing!" Sonic replied, stunned at his enemy's suggestion.

"Hey, think of it as young love!" Robotnik grumbled, "Think of it like a plant! Nurturer it, let it grow, give it love and care, and it will blossom!"

"He's not wrong…" Shade remarked…

"How about Silver and Amy, then?" Robotnik suggested, "It would work! In a tragic, romantic sci-fi sort of way. Not that I would ever subscribe to such nonsense…"

"Nope." replied Shade, rather casually.

"Shadow and Rouge?" Robotnik said, trying again, "After all, he's the anti-hero and Rouge is the bad girl, plus both of them work for GUN and are a part of Team Dark, so that makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Those two definitely have a thing for each other," Sonic conceded, "but they're not the one we're talking about."

"Fine!" Robotnik snarled, "Knuckles and Rouge then? Both of them are treasure hunters and their fighting styles complement each other, it's a match made in Heaven!"

"Err, I just said Shadow and Rouge have thing for each other!" Sonic replied, getting a little annoyed.

"Besides, one is the Guardian of the Master Emerald while the other is a jewel thief who is trying to steal the Master Emerald! That kind of relationship would never work!" added Shade.

"Shadow and Amy?!" growled Robotnik.

"Did you not hear what my beloved just said about Shadow and Rouge?!" Shade snapped, also getting annoyed at the Villainous Scientist's incompetence.

"Hey, she was instrumental for making Shadow turn around when she helped him realise that he made a mistake back at the Ark, didn't she?!" snapped Robotnik, "I would've thought they'd be inclined to be dating after that!"

"Their personalities are total opposites!" Sonic replied, "They would get on each other's nerves!"

"Silver and Blaze?!" Robotnik snarled, "Those two seem to fit like a glove, despite the fact that one is from the future of our world while the other lives in a completely different one!"

"Jury's still out on that one." said Sonic more calmly.

"Knuckles and Blaze!? The both of them are hot heads!" Robotnik reasoned.

"Are you even trying!?" Sonic growled, while Shade added, "Same reason as Shadow and Amy, they would get on each other's nerves!"

"Shadow and Blaze!?" Robotnik spluttered.

"NO!" cried Sonic and Shade together.

"Silver and Rouge!?" cried Robotnik, trying again.

"NO!" yelled Sonic and Shade again.

At his wit's end, Robotnik blurted out in desperation,

"VECTOR AND VANILLA!?"

"Do you really think that Cream's mother would be a warrior maiden?!" yelled Shade, her patience for the Doctor's buffoonery gone.

"I don't know!" Robotnik snarled, "An angry mother is a frightening thing, something that you don't want to get in the way of!" after which he muttered, "Also, that crocodile really has some strange fascination for her…"

"Man, for a guy with an IQ of 300, you really are clueless…" Sonic groaned, shaking his head while Shade concurred, "I agree, you're now just grasping at straws at this point…"

"Grrrr!" growled Robotnik, growing tired of this game of psychological cat and mouse, "If it's none of the above, then who the devil is it!?"

BOOM!

An explosion was heard, causing Robotnik to look behind him.

"That would be us, Egghead!" came the voice a certain red echidna as he and an all too familiar pink hammer wielding hedgehog quickly went over to Sonic and Shade's side, with Amy leading while holding Knuckles' hand.

"OH, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" roared Robotnik as he pulled his moustache, "IT'S YOU TWO!?"

Amy gave her now-revealed-boyfriend an impromptu kiss on the lips while keeping one eye on Robotnik, just to make sure he didn't try anything funny.

"What was that for!?" said Knuckles, who was taken aback at this sudden gesture with Amy soon replying, "Just to prove a point."

It was during the time-skip between the picnic at Emerald Hill and now that both Knuckles and Amy soon discovered their feelings for one another and decided to make it official by becoming a couple, much to everyone's delight (except for Shadow and Omega), Sonic and Shade chief among them.

"I thought it was a rather simple answer, when you think about it." said Orbot, voicing his opinion while Cubot turned to his companion and replied, "Yeah, it was kinda obvious, wasn't it?"

"Can it, you duncebots!" Robotnik growled as he yanked his minions from their perch.

He soon turned his attention back to the two couples and groaned, "This is getting out of hand! Now there are two of you! Are you four trying to repopulate the Echidnas or something on those lines?!"

"You do know that Shade and her people are Echidnas, right?" asked Sonic rhetorically while Shade crossed her arms and tapped her left foot impatiently, a trait he picked up from the blue hedgehog.

Robotnik swapped the brief case to his left hand as he snapped while pointing his right finger at Shade, "No,no,no, not that one!"

He then quickly pointed the same finger at Knuckles as he exclaimed, "The other one!"

"Oh, that's just low, Eggman… That's just low…" Knuckles growled, bring up his spiked fists.

"'Low' doesn't exist in his dictionary…" Sonic remarked before asking the other couple, "What took you guys so long?"

"We were going to tell you that we got here, but we were having too much fun listening to Eggman fuming, trying to guess who the other couple was!" replied Amy with a giggle, "It was too funny to resist!"

"Amy, you and Knuckles could had shown up just as we did, stopped Eggman, take back the Chaos Emeralds and vacated the ship with plenty of time to spare!" Shade scolded her sister-in-arms with a disapproving look, "You two need to get your act together!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Amy pleaded with a smile, a smile that showed that she was completely unrepentant of what she and her boyfriend did.

"By the way, you guys said you took down one hundred and fifty Egg Pawns, right?" Knuckles asked, with Sonic and Shade nodding in response.

"Hate to break it to you, but me and my girl are sitting high and pretty at seven hundred and fifty!" Knuckles boldly declared with a grin.

"Seven hundred and fifty!?" cried Sonic incredulously, "No way, me and Shade never saw that number of Egg Pawns all the way here!"

"Yes way!" Amy replied with a grin on her own, "Turns out that Tails drops us off at where the reserve troops were, and there were tons and tons of 'em!"

It was then that Shade yelled petulantly, "We demand a rematch! You two had an unfair advantage! I refuse to admit defeat in this contest!"

"You'll have to wait till next time, sister, because it's going to a long time after this caper!" Amy sassed back at her fellow warrior with a confident smile.

"Don't you sass me, you cheapskate!" Shade replied, greatly annoyed at her loss.

Sonic and Knuckles were about to intervene when Robotnik cried, "Enough of this tomfoolery!" and disappeared down a hatch that appeared, along with the Chaos Emeralds that were in the briefcase!

Seconds later, the entire core room shook as the whole room expanded, as if to make room for something large to appear…

Seconds later-

CLANG!

A massive serpentine shaped robot fell to the ground and remained lifeless…

All four heroes were on guard, prepared for what was to come…

The chest of the robot opened up to reveal seven slots: one for each emerald!

Robotnik, riding his Egg-O-Matic, soon reappeared with the seven Chaos Emeralds, opened the briefcase and quickly placed each emerald into the slots.

The chest of the robot closed as the Evil Genius turned to look at the four heroes and declared, "If you want the emeralds back, then you'll have to first defeat my latest and greatest creation…"

The giant robot slowly rose up as it came to life, to reveal three cobra heads, their hoods on full display.

Each of segment of its body parts were coloured red, black and yellow with stripes of the opposite colour.

The Egg-O-Matic flew towards the centre head and attached itself to it, as if it were a crown…

From atop the centre head of the robotic snake, Robotnik announced, "Behold, The Egg King Cobra!"

All three heads roared in unison, to show that it was not to be trifled with.

Sonic, Shade, Knuckles and Amy all felt a chill run down their collective spine…

"Well, that just happened…" Knuckles gulped.

"I'll say!" replied Amy, "That thing has all seven emeralds inside it!"

"This is not good…" Shade concurred fearfully, "How're supposed to stand up against that…?"

"We can start by not throwing in the towel!" replied Sonic, drawing their attention to him, "We've faced Egghead and always won, no matter how powerful he is, this won't end differently!"

Sonic looked at his three companions and continued with his signature grin, "If anything, we all now have another reason to win! Besides, don't we have someone we want to live our lives with, to always stick by and have fun with, right babe?"

Shade smiled and replied, "Your right, my beloved. I have a new life ahead of me, one that I would rather like to enjoy."

She activated her Leech Blades as she declared, "Meaning that I have absolutely no intention to die!"

"Yeah!" seconded Knuckles, bashing his fists together, "Besides, I'm new to this whole love and romance thing, I don't want have it end when I've just got started!"

"That goes triple for me!" Amy agreed, facing Robotnik and shifting to a battle stance with her signature Piko Piko Hammer, "I've only recently managed to finally get a boyfriend after all these years, and I'm not ready to part with him just yet!"

The others nodded and assumed fighting positions.

"Are you four quite finished with your disgustingly romantic rallying speech?" Robotnik asked condescendingly as he brought the Egg King Cobra into a threatening battle posture.

Silence..

"Good…" Robotnik said approvingly as he then said, "Now, all of you be good little interfering do-gooders, stay exactly right where you are, and DIE!"

The four heroes charged at Robotnik just as he primed the robot's weapons to fire.

The foe they faced is indeed formidable, but they were not afraid, for they were fighting alongside those who gave each other strength, those who they live their lives with...

They fought beside those who they love…

Love that will be forever unbound.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

A/N

I don't personally ship Sonic and Shade as a couple, this is specifically made for this Valentine's AU

The same thing goes Knuckles and Amy as well.

Sonic calling Shade 'babe' and Shade call Sonic 'my beloved' are the words they use to express love and affection for each other.

Here is the list of the ships that I do support.

Main series: Sonic and Blaze, Tails and Cream, Shadow and Rouge, Silver and Amy, Knuckles and Shade, and finally, Vector and Vanilla.

Also, I support Sonic and Rouge as well. It's a guilty pleasure of mine that brings a smile to my face. The straight and pure hero falling for the playful and mischievous bad girl? I love it! ;-)

Archie continuity: Sonic and Sally (Although that wavered a bit after Issue 134 aka, The Slap. I swear, it's Sally that's being the selfish one, not the other way around!), Antoine and Bunnie, and finally, Knuckles and Julie-Su.

IDW continuity: Sonic and Tangle, Silver and Whisper, and finally, Tails and Belle (I know that Belle is, technically speaking, the IDW comic series' only goody two-shoes Badnik, but they have great chemistry together, and what's to stop them from deciding to one day adopt a child? I'm just happy that the young fox has at least one girl that is a good person live life with, rather than that foul, two timing, backstabbing minx, Fiona from the Archie series…).

This story marks the first appearance of Neptune, my OC Gizoid that had been mentioned in Luck o' the Irish, which technically the first story I've written but did not post due to unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances, which have been corrected, and will be able to post on St. Patrick's Day this year.

The names of the Four Cardinals are the Roman versions of the Greek gods.

Vulcan: Hephaestus, Mars: Ares, Neptune: Poseidon and finally, Pluto: Hades.

My pick for the voice for Neptune is Chloe Hollings, using the voice of Widowmaker, but a far more kind-hearted, compassionate and nobler version of that voice.

The reason I named her Neptune is I thought it would fit the aquatic theme of the Voxai home world, plus the Voxai themselves look like telepathic manta ray.

This story also provides more context to why Shade is determined to have Mighty and Ray take up residence in Nocturnia

The reason why Shade knows of Gemerl is Sonic had told her about him before they met.

Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles told the rest of the gang of Robotnik's shenanigans and their encounter of the Deadly Six on the Lost Hex after the events of Sonic Lost World.

Plus, this story is an AU that takes place before the events of Sonic Forces, while Luck o' the Irish takes place three months after the events of the game in the main series.

As for Rouge's rather mischievous attitude in this story is because since she's the series' bad girl (not evil, think more of the lines of Catwoman from DC), she can be flirtatious, sassy and a bit of a tease, meaning she saw an opportunity to generally let herself go and run wild with the sly and impish thoughts that were running through her mind.

The way that I can think of how to defeat the Egg King Cobra would be that the player would be to first keep dodging its weapons until the machine overheats, forcing to enter a cooldown sequence, during which the player would have to strike Robotnik five times to get the door to the chest area to swipe one of the Chaos Emeralds.

The process is repeated seven more times, six for the remaining emeralds and the last one is where you have to press the button that shows up on screen to land the finishing blow.

If anyone is confused by the date that I started and finished writing this story is because I wrote this ahead of time so I can upload it on the day.

The Metal Overlord Deception: Sonic Heroes

The Ark Massacre/The Space Colony Ark Conspiracy: Sonic Adventure 2

The Marauder Riots: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

Trek through Lost Hex: Sonic Lost World

The Occupation: Sonic Chronicles 2 (hypothetical, sadly…)

Finished writing on 03/02/2022

Story written by H411OWED KN1GHT 64