AN: Hiya, everyone! I'm back. Here's the next chapter for Forces United. I hope you enjoy this!

Special shout-out to Tashasaurous and the Sensational Spider321 for reviewing. Thank you, guys!


Chapter 10 – Calm Before and After the Storm

Resistance HQ, 10 am

It was a long ride to get back to the Resistance HQ. For the entire time, Rookie just isolated himself in that small room again and slept throughout the ride. Again, he got a nightmare and woke up screaming. He looked around warily before realizing it was just another dream.

Groaning, Rookie rubbed his face.

"When will those nightmares go away?" he thought shaking.

A knock could be heard.

"Rookie!" called Espio from the other side. "We are already back at the Resistance HQ."

Grumbling, the turquoise wolf stood up and opened the door facing that chameleon.

"Still feeling upset?" he asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Rookie said bluntly, trying to hold back the urge to growl.

He walked past him and saw that the shuttle door was opened. He could see the area of the HQ boarding room. Even in a cruddy mood, he was glad that they were back.

"Hey buddy," said Sonic.

Rookie turned his head to look at the blue hedgehog smiling.

"You look like as if you just woke up from a coma. What's with the long face?"

Rookie just rolled his eyes – as they turned yellow again – and turned his back, walking towards the door.

He stopped when he saw Bubblegum. The pink cat looked like she had something to say…but the troubled look on her face showed that she didn't know what to say.

Rookie stared at her with an emotionless look…before signing and shook his head.

"Let's just be away from each other for a while," whispered Rookie.

Bubblegum looked away, words unable to form in her mouth. Even though Rookie was being polite, he sounded like he didn't want to be around her for a while.

The turquoise wolf turned away, not noticing Sonic giving Bubblegum a worried look.

Just as he was about to jump off the shuttle, he felt something stopping his foot, causing him to trip.

Landing on the hard ground, Rookie winced in pain. Looking up, he saw that it was Mecha who did it.

"Well, the joke's on you," said the bird with a mocking smirk. "That's what you get for nearly getting us killed."

Rookie's ears drooped. He got himself up and started to walk off. He stopped when he heard Mecha snickering. Feeling anger, he clenched his fists…before letting go.

He didn't want to fight. It wouldn't solve anything.

Feeling that it was best to be left alone, he started to walk off, trying to ignore Mecha's nasty laugh. Eventually, he broke into a run and into the hallway.

"Hey," said Sonic who witnessed the whole thing. "Was that really necessary?"

Mecha just shrugged. "So?"

"That is a bit too hard. Do you even know it was pretty unnecessary to hurt him like that?"

A frown appeared on Mecha's face. "Maybe. But who even CARES?"

The turquoise bird walked off with his beak raised high. Sonic just watched feeling sorry for that wolf who was teased. It hurt seeing how that Rookie was mocked for screwing up the mission.

Sonic couldn't help but marched right up to Mecha and grabbed his arm.

"Listen," hissed Sonic at Mecha. "No one cares who messed up or not. At least we got here safe. The only think that is pitiful about this mission is YOU, egghead."

Mecha's eye twitched.

He raised his hand, looking as if he was about to slam Sonic in the face…but, no. He just raised a single finger at Sonic's face to shut him up. Mecha even did this with a quickly-changed serious face…until a smile crept onto his face.

"OK," snickered Mecha at himself as he walked off. "That was nearly royal…"

"Wow," said Bubblegum as she got off the shuttle along with Emerald. "What a slimeball."

Emerald laughed nervously. "Uh…well…can't change his mind from doing better things, huh?"

As Sonic got off, Sebastian came over to him.

"Hey uh…" he said. "Sorry about Captain-I mean Mecha…there. He can be a bit cocky. We are cool, right?"

"I'm cool with you, but you need to teach him some MANNERS," pointed out Sonic.

Sebastian sighed. He remembered Bubblegum saying that same response months ago. "He's just trying to look superior to others. Besides, no matter how hard I try to tell him to stop, he won't just listen. He's…a bit aloof."

"Is there a reason why?"

Sebastian. "I'm…I'm not really sure. I don't really know what gets him to act like a jerk. "

Just before Sonic could tell Sebastian what to do with Mecha, he was suddenly pulled into a tight hug by Amy.

"SONIC! I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

"H-hey Amy," said Sonic, struggling to breath from Amy's hug. He knew that she hadn't seen him for a while, but as usual, this hug was too tight. "C-can't…breathe."

Sebastian just watched this, his cheeks puffed up, so that he wouldn't laugh too loudly.

"Oops," said Amy, releasing Sonic. "Sorry, Sonic. I thought you were dead the whole time. I missed you. I mean…we ALL really missed you."

"I missed you too as well," said Sonic. "Are they any other people here? Tails? Knuckles?"

"They are all in the briefing room. They want you to come over."

Amy led Sonic through the hallways and towards the briefing room. Sebastian decided to follow them, curious of what Knuckles had to say for the success of the mission.

"And also," said Amy. "There is also someone there. You won't believe it."

As the door opened, Sonic was greeted by his fellow friends. However, he caught something yellow behind a table. This made his jaw dropped.

"T-Tails?" stuttered Sonic.

"SONIC!" yelled Tails running towards him.

They both embraced. The two were both happy and relieved that they were OK.

Sonic was glad that his little brother was alright.

Tails just shed tears of joy happy that the blue hedgehog was alive.

After six months of hell, they were able to get back together.

"I was SO worried," cried Tails. "I thought you were…"

"You worry too much," guffawed Sonic. He couldn't help but feel small tears forming from his eyes. "I'm perfectly fine. Don't worry. We will stop Eggman and things will be back to normal."

Tails sniffed and smiled as he let go. At this, Sonic slightly chuckled and wiped off Tails' eyes.

Knuckles walked over to them. "Sonic, finding you alive is the best news we've had in a year."

Sonic grinned. "Well, thank you all for saving me. I'm back and here to kick Eggman's butt!"

The red echidna nodded and turned to Sebastian. "I got to say thank you to the Black Squad for the good job."

Sebastian chuckled. "Don't thank me yet, dude. You should say it to the rest of my squad. They just need to lick their wounds for a while."

"However," said Silver. "There are some bad news."

"What is it?" asked Sonic.

"You see…" said Tails. "Just a few hours ago, I sneaked into one of Eggman's labs and discover that he has some plan that will destroy us all in three days!"

"Three days, huh?" said Sonic smirking, knowing that whatever plan Eggman came up with, he would always messed it up before the mad doctor could succeed. "A lot can happen in that time."

"Eggman said when the plan is completed, we'll all be wiped out!"

"I don't like the sound of that," said Knuckles. "Normally I just laugh at his plan, but he's already conquered most of the world so…what's this plan of his?"

Tails shrugged. "I'm not sure. All I know is that he is going to use the Phantom Ruby for something."

"Phantom Ruby?" said Sebastian, tilting his head.

"Yes. Eggman has one and there's a final prototype that is fused with Infinite."

"So that is his source of power!" said Amy.

"The Phantom Ruby can cause illusions to a person's mind and can even do damage in real life. It requires an incredible amount of energy and there are two generators that maintain it. There's one in Metropolis and one in Death Egg."

"So is there any plan to stop them?" asked Sonic.

"We are trying to come up with a strategy to destroy the generators," said Knuckles. "For now, I think you should rest. After what happened for the past six months, I think you should take a break for a while. We should even check if your health is stable."

Sonic just waved his hand. "Nah, it's fine. I can handle anything. I've been dying to kick Eggman's butt for so long. I think we can do it along with the army we got. Yeah…I heard about what happened here. I'm sorry for what happened. This wouldn't happen if I wasn't defeated by Infinite."

"No need to apologise," said Amy. "You did what you can."

Sonic smiled. "Yeah…also…I never thought that Eggman would get the upper hand. Now…it's kind of terrifying. However, we still got everything we need and we can still win. No one will have to get hurt."

He paused for a while. "Also…there seems to be a problem with that squad you sent."

"Yeah…" said Knuckles. "We hired the Black Squad just yesterday. They are a good group and can fight well."

"But some of the members…don't really know how to work well," said Amy.

"I can tell why," said Sonic, remembering Bubblegum's outburst. He was thinking about talking about Bubblegum, but decided to not do so. He just met that girl and she wouldn't be comfortable about telling how she felt during the war. "And one of them was pretty…mysterious."

"You mean that dude with the rings?" said Sebastian.

"Yeah. Him."


Clay's POV

I was heading back to the bunk rooms through the hallways. My mind was focused on how much of a failure I was, Bubblegum's snappy speech and Mecha's mocking joke. I tried to think of something else, but the memory of seeing Belt being captured and the nightmares I had came to me.

Consequently, I wasn't looking at where I was going, so I quickly stopped when I saw that I was about to bump into someone.

I looked up and what I saw frightened me.

"Whoa," I said, backing up a bit.

Right there was some kind of Eggman robot, its red eyes staring at me. Unlike those normal Egg Pawns, this one looked balk and taller than me.

"Don't worry," said a voice from behind. "He doesn't mean harm."

I looked behind to see a white female bat who looked like as if she was at a fashion show. She gave me a sly smirk.

"Wait," I said, realizing who she was. "Are you…Rouge? Agent Rouge of G.U.N?"

"Correct," she said. "The one and only."

"And that robot is Omega?"

"Correct again. What about you? You are that new solider from the Black Squad. What's your name?"

"I'm…uh…"

I stuttered trying to say my actual name.

Dear God…why was it SO hard to say something simple as saying a noun that described a stiff, sticky, fine-grained earth?! (OK. That's the meaning of the word of my name, but not my character.)

"It's Rookie," I finally blurted out.

"I ALREADY know that already," said Rouge. "What's your REAL name?"

"I…eh…I will talk about it later…it's kind of funny…but just call me by that given name."

"Alright then," said Rouge deferentially.

"Hello there, blue wolf," Omega said in a deep robotic voice.

I let out a dry laugh hearing that. "My fur is turquoise, robot."

For some reason, my rings glowed again. Rouge noticed it.

"Hm?" she said, observing them. "Why you have such interesting rings there. Maybe I can trade something precious with that jewellery of yours."

I looked at my rings before looking back up. "Thanks for the offer but…you see…I can't take them off…"

Rouge seemed disappointed but eventually just smiled. "Oh well. Finders keepers. You get to have those rings. At least tell me what they do."

"Well…they seem to make some kind of yellow magic. I can create shields and energy balls. I'm still working on them."

I heard Omega bending down and somewhat scanned my rings.

"Power sensors activated," he said. "You seem to have large amounts of dark magic and immorality."

When I heard the word 'immorality', my eyes widened a bit. However, I didn't remember what the word mean.

"Wait…" I said. "What does…IMMORALITY…means?"

"That means wickedness or to say 'PURE EVIL'," said Rouge. "It appears…"

All of a sudden, I felt scared. My body started to tremble. I remembered about those dreams that told me about this 'Dark Wolf' thing.

"You will know soon, Dark Wolf. Soon, you will be filled with sadness, anger, pain, stress and anxiety…you will finally know how it feels like to be weak. You will take it all out on everyone. You will become…the ULTIMATE DARK WOLF."

I gasped and held onto my stomach, nearly feeling the urge to vomit.

I sucked in and held onto my tears.

"Again, can those rings are the ones that makes me the 'Dark Wolf'?" I thought worriedly. "Are they responsible for that darkness buzzing in my hand?"

Rouge looked concerned. "Are you OK? You look pale."

"I'm fine…" I lied.

"No," I thought. "It can't be. I have no evidence that the rings cause this."

I turned to the bunk rooms and slowly started to walk away.

"Hey!" called Rouge. "Don't go away yet!"

"I said I'm fine!" I insisted. "OK?!"

"Geez," said Rouge a bit jokingly. "Don't be so rude to a girl, ANGSTY wolf."

I growled hearing that. I turned around.

"I…I'm perfectly fine," I said. "It's…it's just…something troubling me…nothing much…I can handle it…"

Rouge put up her hands coolly. "OK then. Just wondering."

I turned my back on her and started walking to my bunk room.

"But I'll see what's wrong with you if we bump into each other again," said Rouge. "You DO need someone's help and anything that remains hidden won't be hidden for too long, sugar."

I stopped. I turned around and looked at her with a slightly surprised look. I thought about my plan to hide my pain and maybe she was right. But at that moment, I wasn't ready to tell yet.

I was about to walk off until a question popped up in mind.

"Question," I said. "W-what…what happened to G.U.N? Shouldn't you be with them?"

I swore I heard Rouge winced at this question. "Well…when the war began, the G.U.N Headquarters was pummeled to the ground easily. Most of the armies were wiped out. There are only a few teams that survived who are helping many civilians in the bunkers and some agents are helping the Resistance. To put it simple, G.U.N is nearly demolished."

I gulped. This proved how powerful the Eggman Empire could be. The G.U.N couldn't stop them and only the Resistance managed to survive.

That was all I need to know.

I went into my bunk room and collapsed on one of the beds. At that moment, I realized that during that moment, the guilt feeling had disappeared. I felt kind of annoyed of Rouge joking with me.

And oh, I still felt a bit depressed.

I just lied on the bed for a long time. I didn't go back to sleep just in case I might get another nightmare. I just stared at the ceiling.

"What's this?" I said.

I looked down to see my Wispon shaking a bit. Suddenly, a bright turquoise glow came out from the weapon. It was a small little turquoise Wisp with orange eyes, three tentacles stemming from its heads, one of which is shaped like a lightning bolt and a spike-shaped structure pointed backwards, sticking out from its head.

The small Wisp stared at me with innocent-looking eyes.

Of course, I looked away shyly.

"H-h-hi…" I said awkwardly, "I-I didn't expect to see you. I…I kind of forgot that you are in my Wispon."

I chuckled nervously as it slowly leaned towards my face. It seemed to be observing me, but then it let out a happy squeal as it circled around me.

The Cyan Wisp just squeaked happily at me. It was babbling in a language that I couldn't understand; somewhat a child-like gibberish. I started to notice that it was moving a lot, making a lot of hand gestures.

"Hey," I said quietly. "Please slow down. I can't really understand what you are saying."

It stopped talking and sat onto my lap.

"O-OK," I said. "Y…you can understand what I'm saying?"

The Cyan Wisp nodded.

"So…are you male or female?" I asked.

It flew upwards and moved its right tentacle around as if trying to draw the letter 'F'.

"OK," I said, a bit impressed. "So you're a girl…"

The Cyan Wisp nodded.

"Alright," I said. I tried to smile, but failed to. "Just…leave me alone for a while. I'm not in a good mood."

At this, she shook her head, pointing to my Wispon.

"I know," I said. "I know. But…I'm just a bit upset, OK? I…I don't feel like being around anyone at the moment."

Tears formed in my eyes. I guessed that my Wisp felt sorry because it flew upwards and wiped away my tears. It squeaked something, but it sounded like it was trying to say something sympathetic.

"Thanks," I said. "But I don't need pity."

At this, my rings glowed. I looked at them. The Cyan Wisp looked at me before pointing to my rings.

"Maybe I should try out my powers," I said. "That way, I can get used to them."

I sat up and looked down at my hands. I closed my eyes, concentrating on accessing my powers and a humming sound could be heard. I opened them and saw that there was a yellow glowing power ball, this time larger than before.

The Cyan Wisp somewhat gasped in excitement. She was moving around a lot.

"Wow…" I said. "What happen if I do this?"

I stood up and split the power ball into mini versions of itself, using a thought in my mind. They all separated and filled up the entire room like stars. I snapped my fingers and they all brightened up for a moment.

"Give me the clap," I said.

My Wisp clapped her tentacles and the small energy balls started to flash to a specific rhythm in my mind.

"GAVE me the clap," I said.

I raised my right hand and they all disappeared.

I then lifted my left hand and concentrated in my mind looking at my backpack. In a blink of an eye, it was surrounded by a yellow glowing outline. I forced it to slowly hover upwards. This was like doing psychokinesis – how Silver would do it.

As I lowered my backpack down, I shook my hands and they were engulfed in a flaming yellow aura. I concentrated and made a big explosion on my hands, leaving my dark gloves spotless.

I felt a power of dominance inside me. Maybe a bit too powerful. But still…they must be connected to this…'Dark Wolf' thing. I didn't know what that would be about. At least…I could use those powers for a while.

The Cyan Wisp cooed at me, tilting her head.

"They can be useful," I said. "Maybe…maybe I can use them to help the Resistance. What do you think, girl?"

My Wisp nodded.

"Well…I'm feeling a bit better now. Let's go-"

"Hey there," said a voice from out of the blue.

"WAH!"

I screamed.

So did my Wisp.

She immediately flew back into my Wispon.

Without second thoughts, I turned around and fired my Wispon. There was someone at the door who quickly dodged as the laser flew by, hitting a wall. It left behind a burnt mark.

"Whoa!" said Sonic, coming in. "Calm down. It's just me."

"S-sorry!" I said. "Just what's with all the jump scares and stuff?"

"So you have been experiencing them?"

"Petty ones."

Sonic chuckled. I rolled my eyes.

He sat beside me as I sat down on my bed. The Cyan Wisp came out of my Wispon and sat next to me.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I just came here to check on you," said Sonic.

I snorted, taking out a water bottle. "I'm fine."

"You don't LOOK fine. What's going on?"

I looked away, trying to forget about my mistake during the mission. "It's nothing. I'm feeling a bit better now…"

"Well, you were choked up when that pink cat gave you a tongue lashing and that bird who mocked you."

I popped my bottle opened and sighed. "Oh, you mean those two? I can handle anything with those two sadistic hypocrites…"

Sonic was about to say something when I stopped him. I had to take a mouthful of water and swallow it first.

I decided to tell him the truth. "I'm…I'm just disappointed at myself."

"Why's that? I didn't know what was going on, so I had no clue what you did wrong. Bubblegum said that you were responsible for nearly getting all of us caught."

"I…I…I-it…it's because I made a big mistake. I tripped the alarm and nearly got everyone killed. There. End of story. Any snarky remarks?"

Silence.

"Just what I thought," I mumbled, taking another drink.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," said Sonic. "It was your first mission."

"Maybe I should. Besides, if I made a mistake, we would all end up dead. How else can I take it?"

"What do you expect? Do you think you would be flawless during your time there? You're going to make mistakes, kid. We all did!"

"You wouldn't know it; the way the others see this. It makes me feel like an idiot."

"You're wrong. You got those cool magic rings. You've got a great advantage over the rest of them."

I paused and thought about what he said. "I…I guess you're right. But…that's easy for you. You always see your advantages as good because you have been so positive and free spirited the whole time."

Sonic huffed. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I worry. I have to admit, I was REALLY worried of what was going on here during my time at Death Egg. Honestly, I thought everyone would be mad of me for not being there to save the day, but I was wrong. As to your point, you don't seem to believe in yourself. Just remember that you are not worthless. Bubblegum is trying to apologize you, but you have to forgive yourself. Don't let your worries and fears get to you. You're stronger than you think."

I looked at him my mouth slightly hanging. Maybe he was right. "I…I guess…"

Sonic patted me on the shoulder. "Well that's the spirit, man."

I tried to smile, but only remained a sad frown.

My eyes slowly turned to his body. His battered, bruised and tortured body. It was slightly in bruises and had a few slight scars. I was surprised that they were healing, but they were noticeable.

My Cyan Wisp must have noticed because she flew up and took a closer look at one nasty scar that riddled across his left leg.

"Sonic," I said. "I...were you alright the whole time up there? You were tortured for 6 bloody months."

"Yep," said Sonic, flexing his arms. "Sure I was beaten down and had to do Eggman's dirty chores, but I always hold onto my hope that we can beat him."

I nodded. My Wisp squeaked at Sonic.

"I'm OK," said Sonic, patting her. "I'll be fine."

He turned to me. "Say, now that we are here, what's your name? I know that they call you 'Rookie', but-"

"Don't get me started to there," I said. "I'm…let just say…I don't have any name…"

"Alright then," said Sonic. "Then promise me that you will tell once the war is over."

He held his fist out. I knew what that meant. He wanted to give me a fist bump. I reluctantly fist bumped him. I poured in more water into my mouth.

"By the way," said Sonic, smirking mischievous. "About Bubblegum…do you like her?"

My eyes widened up hearing this.

Turning to the other side, I spat the water out of my mouth onto the floor.

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "No! Why would I?"

Sonic just snickered. "Just a guess. I thought you like her because I saw you two together the first time we met."

"I only followed her because I don't know where to go first. Besides, she's a bit too mean."

"I guess that too."

I sighed. "Please give me some time alone. I'm not feeling that well."

Sonic showed no sign of disturbance and stood up. "OK then. Call me if you need me."

After saying that, he rushed off in a blue blur.

"At least go out of the room in a NORMAL WALKING PACE," I said.

My Wisp babbled something inaudible.


Bubblegum's POV

I was walking through the hallways, needing some space for a while. I thought about what Sonic said to me.

"I think you should apologize to him."

"I'm not sure if I can do that…"

"Why's that?"

I shook my head.

"No," I thought. "You won't understand. Saying 'sorry' won't fix up everything."

Nothing came to my mind for a few seconds.

"…but, again…I…why did it feel hard to talk back then? I was trying to say something, but because I didn't come out with a response, Rookie just shut himself out from me. Jeez…maybe getting his trust is pretty hard."

I stopped. I needed to clear my mind, but I made sure to put in a mental note to talk to Rookie.

Suddenly, I felt something shaking. It was coming from my Wispon.

That was when a bright pink glow came out from it. It turned out to be a Pink Wisp. It have a sphere-shape body with three tentacles, a light blue eye in the center of its head and five short spikes on top of its head. I could tell that it used two tentacles as arms because it had them on the middle tentacles (as if holding onto hips).

"Ah," I said, a bit too bluntly. "I remember. You're the Wisp who gives energy to my Wispon."

It squeaked and rolled its eye.

"OK. It's obvious, boy."

At this, the Wisp started to babble angrily as if in a minor fit.

I chuckled nervously. "Oh…you're a girl?"

The Wisp nodded.

"OK then," I said. "For your info, my name's Beth Lehem. I go by 'Bubblegum' though."

The Pink Wisp gave me a somewhat suspicious look. She started to circle around me as if suspecting me. Her eye was narrowed and I started to feel nervous. I was worried that she didn't trust me.

However, she held out her tentacle and shook my hand.

For some reason, this gave me a funny feeling that she is like me. She is harsh, but a bit civil…like me. If that wasn't enough, then this Wisp is pink and have a blue eye. I have pink fur and blue eyes. Maybe Pink Wisps are like me? I don't really know.

I snapped out of my wild thoughts when my Wisp started squeaking. She was looking at something.

I saw Richard, Mic and Amy talking to a female mint green hedgehog. I didn't recognize the hedgehog.

"Who's that?" I thought.

At that moment, they turned around to see me.

"Oh, hey there," said Richard.

That nice voice…

"Oh…um…" I said, feeling my cheeks slightly blushing. "Hi…"

"Is that one of the new rookies you told me about?" said Minty.

"Yep," said Mic. "Minty, this is Bubblegum. Bubblegum, this is Minty. One of our friends and a member from our squad. Full of energy and not afraid to get her hands dirty."

"Nice to meet you," said Minty, holding out her hand.

I returned a small smile and shook her hand.

"I never seen you with them before," I said. "Where were you, mate?"

"I'm not sure if you heard, but I was separated from them a long time ago and I returned here along with Tails. We found out about Eggman's doomsday plan. They will let you know about it soon. By the way, you did well for your first mission. Nice saving Sonic."

"Thanks."

"By the way," said Amy. "You were a bit harsh on your team."

Richard quickly elbowed her as this was not a good question to ask.

I rubbed my head.

"Yeah…" I said awkwardly, feeling guilty. "I guess…I…I didn't really mean to yell at Rookie. I was just frustrated."

"That's OK," said Minty. "We all get frustrated sometimes. Even that hot-headed Richard cat can lose his temper easily."

"HEY!" said Richard. "Shut up!"

"Anyway…" said Mic. "Be right back. I need to check on the Wispons for the Snake Squad."

"I think I will just tag along with you."

"Thanks. See you guys later."

Richard, Mic and Minty left, leaving Amy and I alone together. Richard took a look at me before waving.

I felt my cheeks turning red.

"W-what?" I thought. "W-why am I feeling like…?"

Soon, the trio disappeared around the corner.

I sighed in relief, noting that those three didn't see me blush.

I looked at Amy. "Please don't ask that question to me in public next time. It's a bit personal."

"Sorry," said Amy. "I just feel like pointing it out to you."

"I don't really need another lecture, mate. Sonic already talk to me about this."

"And speaking of Sonic, I want to say thank you for saving my Sonic. It's been so long since I've seen him!"

At this, Amy hugged me. OK. She was STRONGER than Emerald. I just gently broke free from the hug.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said playfully rolling her eyes. "Got to save someone you REALLY love."

"Uh…" said Amy. "I know this may sound weird, but…on the way back, I heard from Emerald that you were talking to Sonic in a room…ALONE. What did you two talked about?"

My entire face turned bright red. As usual, my natural instincts kicked in.

"HEY!" I said, looking away. I tried my best to look as resentful as possible. "It's not like I like Sonic or anything! He just came over to see what I was doing and Emerald left us alone because she was teasing me. Don't get the wrong idea, dummy!"

My Pink Wisp gave me a look and babbled in confusion. "?"

Seeing her eyes, Amy seemed to relax a bit. She chuckled. "OK then. Well…if it's not Sonic, then is it on someone else?"

I was flabbergasted.

"What?" I said. "What are you talking about?"

"You like Richard right?" said Amy cheekily.

I tried to respond to this in disgust. "What? HIM? N-no! W-why are you asking ME?!"

"You were blushing when he looked at you. It's pretty normal for girls to blush when they gaze at handsome men. Especially Richard."

I got flustered when she said the word 'handsome'.

"Ugh, NO way! I-it's not like I like him or anything! I wouldn't date him if he was the last man alive on Earth!"

"Riiiiiight. That's for sure."

"D-don't ask any more questions…IDIOT!"

Now it was Amy's turn to playfully roll her eyes. I tried my best to sound like I wasn't interested in Richard, but she must have knew I was lying. My muzzle was NEARLY red and my mind felt so light; especially when seeing Richard.

"Whatever you say, dark emo girl."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you wear a lot of black there."

I sighed, but not in annoyance. This wasn't the first time I was seen as some kind of Gothic rebel. A lot of people commented on that.

"Look," I said quietly. "I'm not into Gothic stuff. I don't REALLY brood. If I would, I would be wearing black makeup. "

"Now I thought about it – mind me – why do you don't wear any dresses or at least skirts? I know that some other girls don't wear them like Alexia, but just out of curiosity."

"Heh. Not going to lie, I don't mind wearing skirts or dresses. It's just that as a tomboy, I'm not really interested in them. It's just that I haven't worn any for a long time. Also, I don't mind pink, but I prefer wearing black."

"C'mon. You would look pretty. One day, I'm going to find the perfect dress for you, put on makeup and you are going to look SOOO cute that Richard will notice you."

My Pink Wisp let out a disgusted squeak.

I gritted my teeth. "I thought I told you that I'm NOT interested in Richard and please no makeup. It's not bad, but I don't like covering up my face with something fake."

Amy chuckled. "We'll see."

I sighed and placed my hands on my hips. "Not going to happen. And don't call me cute, dummy!"

All of a sudden, I felt something buzzing in my left bottom vest pocket. It was warming up as well. A low humming noise filled the air.

"Huh?" said Amy, hearing it. "Am I the only one hearing this?"

"Oh…" I said. "That."

I took out the Phantom Ruby prototype – the one I 'borrowed' from Death Egg – and held it up.

"I found this at Death Egg," I explained. "Rookie also have one of those."

Amy looked at it. The prototype was glowing in my hand.

"Tails said that the Phantom Ruby prototypes only react to the person who has activated it," said Amy. "Apparently, Eggman used DNA from other creatures and maybe…maybe that one is linked to yours."

"What?" I said surprised. "So you are saying that I'm the ONLY one who can control THIS prototype."

"This prototype alone I think. Or what Tails said."

I looked at the prototype. It was glowing red and making a humming noise. Maybe…maybe…maybe I could use it to stop Infinite and the Eggman Empire! That way, the war would be over. However, I didn't know how it could help to save the world.

"I guess this is useful," I said. "But we don't know what it might REALLY cause, so I'll leave it aside. However…I wonder what it does…"

I concentrated and then something appeared above me.

I looked up.

Ever heard of the phrase 'death from above'?

Well, that happened to me.

Sort of.

SPLAT!

"EYAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHH!" I screamed.

Apparently, an illusion of a black paint bucket appeared and fell onto my head.

I could hear my Pink Wisp squeaking in panic. I could feel her tentacles under the bucket as she tried to lift it up.

"Oh my goodness!" said Amy shocked. "Are you OK?"

"You mean having a bucket for a head and partly covered in paint?" I said sarcastically. "Yeah, I'm fine."


Third Person's POV

Meanwhile, Richard and Mic got Minty to carry some boxes. As she walked through the busy halls, she thought about Eggman's plans to wipe out the entire world.

"Darn," she thought. "Whatever he is doing must be pretty big. Eh, I shouldn't worry about it too much. The good guys always win."

Something caught the corner of her eye. In front of her was Vlad.

"Vlad?" said Minty, recognizing the bear. She and her friends saw him in their town. "What are you doing here?"

"You think I would miss all the fun?" said Vlad.

"I thought you would end up in jail already."

Vlad huffed. "I was held captive at Death Egg and I escaped with Sonic."

"So you are deciding to work with the Resistance now?"

The dark brown bear shrugged. "You can say that."

"I'm not sure about that because an army wouldn't let criminals in," pointed out Minty.

"I just want to make up for my mistakes. There's nothing else to say how much I want to save the world as much as you do."

Minty sighed. She knew that Vlad did a lot of trouble before, but isn't much of a sadist. "OK then. Excuse me, please."

Vlad stood on the side and Minty walked past him. When she turned to her left, she looked on her right to see Mecha chatting with his Yellow Wisp.

Minty frowned. She shouldn't be surprised of seeing Mecha there, but she remembered that video she and Tails saw at Mystic Jungle. One of the figures that she didn't recognize at first; he was cyan and wore something black on top of his forehead.

Minty gulped.

Mecha has CYAN feathers and wears BLACK goggles on his FOREHEAD.

She matched Mecha with the mysterious figure in her mind.

"Could it be?" she thought. "No, that is ridiculous. That cannot be possible. People change clothes everyday and that guy in the video must be already dead. I might as well ask."

She gently dropped the box she was carrying and went up to Mecha.


Mecha's POV

…OK.

What I did back there wasn't personal.

I wasn't in the right mindset.

Seeing Rookie, I thought that it would be fun to trip him over.

I remembered very clearly seeing the hurt in his eyes and me laughing at him. I remembered what Sonic said to me, but I shrugged it off before we got into an argument.

Maybe bullying in front of him was a bad idea.

But at that moment, I didn't care. Sonic is just a normal guy with incredible powers who want to save the world. Just like everyone else. I will admit that I was worried that I would be in trouble because of what Sonic saw, but I didn't care.

You would probably think that I would be just laughing away, spreading rumors about Rookie…that is typical for a bully stereotype.

But not this bird.

As soon as I walked away from Sonic, I just felt…numb. Tripping Rookie over didn't make me feel great about myself. It wasn't really satisfying. It was as if it was just a tedious way of life. Everything still felt grey and bleak. Simply boring.

I was leaning on the wall, trying to smirk.

However, I couldn't help but frown.

Eh…this whole domineering sesh wasn't going anywhere for me.

I rubbed my face.

"Is it REALLY that hard to smile?" I thought. "Should I be really proud?"

I shrugged and pushed myself upwards. "Never mind. It's all in the past already. I'll just hit the deck."

I won't lie to all of you; what I did was a bad thing. It wasn't a good thing for me to push people around. But why did it matter? I already went too far, so let it be it. Let me just be a bully. Besides, this would all happen if it weren't for…weren't for my…

I shook my head.

"Stop thinking about that, Mecha!" my mind screamed at me. "You are a rich, pro, expert bird. Nothing can stop you. NOTHING! Forget about your family and focus on yourself."

I snapped out from my thoughts when something shook in my pants.

"Hmm? What's going on?" I said.

That was when a bright yellow light came out from my Wispon. It was the Yellow Wisp that rest inside my Wispon. It has a triangular head with one orange eye in the middle, covered in orange and yellow stripes and three tentacles that stemmed from the bottom of its head.

"Oh," I said. "Hey there."

The Yellow Wisp squeaked happily with a bubbly attitude. I got to admit; it looked pretty cute.

"My name's Mecha Nism," I said smirking. "Don't forget that."

At this, it babbled and flew around my head playfully. I laughed at this.

"So," I said. "Do you have a name?"

The Wisp shook its head.

"Are you a…eh…a boy?"

It nodded its head. I meant HE nodded his head.

"OK then, buddy. Nice to meet you."

The Wisp chuckled a bit…and then I noticed that it looked a bit sad. I could see it in his eye.

"Something bothering you?" I asked.

He started to say something, but I don't understand what it was saying.

"S-sorry," I said. "I can't really comprehend your language. Realmente debería aprender la lingüística de Wisps."

('Realmente debería aprender la lingüística de Wisps' means 'I should really learn Wisps' linguistic' in Spanish)

The Yellow Wisp tilted its head.

"It's nothing," I said, grabbing out my phone. "Just type on this."

At this, I started to wonder if this Wisp know how to type or even spell words, but he started clicking on the screen. With a somewhat worried look, he showed me his message. I read the phone screen.

It was really nice to meet you. I'm happy of how you used the Wispon wisely. I have a question though; why did you trip that turquoise wolf? That wasn't really nice.

I frowned. At that moment, all I wanted to do was forget what I just did. I looked away.

"It's none of your business," I said. "Don't ask me that."

The Yellow Wisp looked REALLY concerned because it kept on asking me questions. He typed on my phone again.

But…yes. Rookie did trip the alarm, but that doesn't mean you can do bad things to him. Bubblegum did already. You pretty much hurt Rookie's feelings.

I spat. "Feelings. Why don't you just fly off? It's not like I care or anything. Just leave me alone if you can't stand me."

He shook his head. He typed one last message before giving back my phone.

But you have a Yellow Wispon. I'M a Yellow Wisp. You need me. I just thought…since you didn't talk to almost anyone on the shuttle except for that green wolf Sebastian…maybe…maybe I thought you need a friend in need.

I scoffed. "'Friend'. Listen, I don't do 'friends'. I mean, what do you know about making friends with birds?"

The Wisp looked a bit hurt. He just sighed and tried to nuzzle on my face. I just gently pushed him away.

"Please," I said softly. "Personal space. I don't really like-"

I was cut off when my Wisp saw someone coming towards us.

It was a female mint green hedgehog.

"Hi there," she said.

"Hm?" I looked at her. "What do you want?"

"Just saying hello."

I decided to smirk. "OK then. Name's Mecha Nism."

"I'm Minty."

"Well, that's a 'refreshing' name."

"True."

She hesitated before she spoke.

"Um…I don't really don't know you well, but…do you…know anything about Eggman and Infinite."

What?

My smirk turned into an uneasy frown. "N-not really. What do you mean?"

"Well, when I was at one of Eggman's labs, I saw a video that shows a cyan figure wearing something black on top of his head. That figure was apparently trying to stop a fight between Shadow and Infinite."

Cyan?

Black on top?

Trying to stop a fight between Shadow and…?

NO.

My eyes slowly widened up hearing that.

My Yellow Wisp looked at me in concern.

"And you…" continued Minty. "You have cyan feathers and wear that black goggles on your head."

"My feathers are vibrant turquoise," I pointed out. "Not cyan, even though it seems to be. You know what, it doesn't matter. It's the same in the end."

"Whatever. Just a question; do you know about that video? Do you know ANYTHING about Infinite? And most importantly…"

She gave me a suspicious look. "Are you WORKING with Eggman?"

A wave of anxiety filled me. I looked at Minty in fear. The green hedgehog just crossed her arms still remaining her position.

"C'mon," she said. "Tell me already."

Her fiery teal eyes were on me.

My Yellow Wisp stared at me as if wondering if I had something to say.

I stood there, unable to spit out any words. I…I…I couldn't get myself to plunge into…that…time. I didn't want to remember those…bad times.

It was SEVERE.

What was she trying to do? Was she trying to get me to remember of my failures? Trying to humiliate me? Maybe I should tell her…but…

"No…" I thought. "There is no way I'm telling. I don't want to. I don't want to remember it. They won't understand."

At this, I…snapped. I grabbed one of Minty's singlet straps and pulled her near to my face, making her nose nearly touched my beak. I stared at Minty, feeling fury rising through my body. My heart started to beat quickly and I felt my eye twitched.

"Listen, little girl," I said in an aggressive voice. "This is only between you and me. I DON'T want to talk about it. I WON'T talk about it. And if you dare say anything about what you saw on that stupid video…I swear I will remove your OCCIPITAL LOBE, so that you will never see the sunlight again."

Minty tried to back up, but my grip on her singlet was too hard. Again – I won't lie – I know that I was going too far. But I just wanted to put some sense into her, so that she wouldn't force me to tell her about my past. There would be no way she would understand me. NO ONE would understand me. I was so angry that I felt…tears forming at my eyes.

To my horror, Minty noticed my tears. She opened her mouth, but I slammed her to the wall hardly. She yelped in pain.

"UNDERSTAND?!" I screeched.

Minty quickly nodded.

"Lelei," I said, letting her go. "I'll be watching you."

('Lelei' means 'good' in Samoan)

I walked away…not before stomping towards a lying wooden crate and kicked it, breaking the box into pieces. I left Minty sitting there on the floor, shocked.

My Yellow Wisp caught up with me. He flew to my face.

"Just leave me alone NOW," I said bitterly.

He nodded quickly and flew back into my Wispon.

I took the time to take a deep breath and wiped my tears. Then, I walked off.

However, voices echoed in my mind.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE SOMETHING?! YOU THINK YOU'RE SOMEONE?! YOU'RE NOTHING! NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING!"

I stopped again.

No…no…no, God. Please no.

"If you ever mention about your father to anyone ever again, I'LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!"

Please…I…I don't want to remember them. Just leave me alone.

"Now I'm stuck with you. The biggest mistake I EVER made."

No…

I nearly bent down, clutching my stomach with one hand. I was trying to block out those voices in my head punishing me.

"No one cares about you."

"You don't deserve to live."

"No one will listen to you."

"You are a mistake."

"Why won't you just die?"

Suddenly, I collapsed onto the ground.

"Crap," I swore.

Groaning, I pushed myself upwards.

"Hey," said a voice.

I looked up to see Silver. He had his hand stretched out to me. My eyes narrowed as I rudely slapped his hand away and stood up on my own.

Great. I caused attention and some of the soldiers were looking at me.

"Are you OK?" asked Silver.

My mind lingered on whether if I should tell him what was bothering him. I opened my beak, but closed it.

"C…could I open up?" I thought. "Should I just…no…no…no, no, no, no, NO. They won't. They won't understand. They DON'T. They can't understand what I went through. They don't know how the world is like. Why should I tell them? To make myself look like a mistake? Show how vulnerable I am? Pfft! Screw that! Screw those stupid darn lies! I don't need help. I don't need ANYONE'S help. I fight for my own life on my own and I don't need ANYONE! I'm not a mistake. I'm not a mistake. I'm not a mistake! I'm not a mistake! I'M NOT A MISTAKE! I'M NOT A MISTAKE! I HATE EVERYONE HERE!"

I was brought back to reality when I punched Silver in the face. The ivory hedgehog stepped back.

"HEY!" he exclaimed. "What the heck was that about?"

I raised my fist, but I couldn't move it. Eventually, Silver used his psychokinesis to stop me from doing any more damage. At this, I slightly calmed down simmered down, but I was still angry.

"Seriously," said Silver firmly as he let go off me. "Hell, what is wrong with you?"

I ignored him and pushed him aside. He was left speechless. A couple of soldiers surrounded me, wondering what I just did, but I wasn't in the mood to talk. I walked passed them along with shoving one soldier to the ground.

I didn't care what they thought about me. But if they thought that I was being a bully, then fine. I would be a bully.

So be it.


Clay's POV

It was a few hours ever since I talked with Sonic. All I did was just play in the training room and mess around with my Wispon. The Cyan Wisp was bouncing everywhere and when she was not in my Wispon, she would be flying all over the place. I couldn't keep up with her.

I separated myself to the others as I didn't feel comfortable when around them. Emerald seemed SO willing to let me join her. She thought it would be 'awesome' if we learn how to develop our teamwork.

In your wildest dreams, bunny.

I stayed away from Mecha the whole time and I noticed that…he looked numb. He didn't have that stupid smirk on his face and eventually just went through training as if everything was dull. Also, he barely talked to anyone and didn't come near Sebastian. He looked kind of lonely.

I even managed to distance myself from Bubblegum. I did all my best not to make eye contact with her. Not even after the incident who went through. There was no way I wanted to be near that 'Little Miss Obnoxious Girl'. However, I felt like I should talk to her. About what happened back on the shuttle.

Sebastian…I wasn't not sure where he went. I thought he was hanging around with the Chaotix since I spotted him talking to Espio.

Yet, there I was, lying on a box crate.

As usual, I felt miserable and I just looked at the ceiling.

However, I thought about my brother, but only the good times. I imagined being with him again and maybe did some fun things I always do with him; playing video games, using musical instruments, helping him cook or playing sports outside. This only made me feel sad and homesick. I just hoped that I would be able to save my brother from peril, but how? I hadn't tell anyone else, so what was the point?

"What's up, bruh?" said a voice.

Great. It was Sebastian.

I sat up to see the lime wolf coming towards me. His mouth bandanna was down again, showing his warm smile. To my surpise, there was a Green Wisp sitting on his head, bouncing up and down. It must have come from Sebastian's weapon.

I looked away.

"C'mon," he said. "Don't be such a hater."

"I'm…I'm alright," I protested. "I…I like to be alone for a while."

"You had been alone for a long time, dude. I thought you might need a friend."

I looked at him. "Even…even after I nearly…bite your head off when we first met?"

Sebastian nodded. "Well…not going to lie, dude…I was pretty salty when you told me to skurt, but I'm alright. I can handle things like that."

I sighed and looked down. "You're very forgiving. I'm sorry and thanks for your honesty."

"No probs. Tell me about yourself."

I looked at him with a confused look. "What?"

"If we are going to be a good squad, we may as well know each other. It's awesome for both of us to be BFFs."

I blew a raspberry in disgust. "Not going to happen."

"Oh c'mon. You can't always remain being a creeper, so it is best to tell me a bit about yourself. YOLO."

"Ehhh…I…I…don't understand what you are saying. Besides I'm…I-I not a…good speaker…"

Sebastian pointed a finger at me. "Oooh. You are VERY funny. You COMMUNICATE with people."

"O-only when it is an important and serious conservation!"

"Don't be afraid, boi! C'mon. I'll share to you about myself and you tell me about yourself."

I just stared at him. He didn't seem to want to mock me or joking around. He looked inclined to have a conservation with me. I glanced at my Cyan Wisp. She nodded at me. I nodded at Sebastian – showing that he could talk – and he sat down beside me.

"So…umm…what do you want me to say?" I asked.

"What do you want to say?" said Sebastian.

"I…I think it's…best for you to ask me questions first."

Sebastian nodded. "Well. Firstly, I know that everyone calls you 'Rookie' but what is your real name?"

OK. I wasn't sure about that question.

"Uh…I…I…I…I…I don't…I don't really have a name," I stuttered.

"Oh c'mon!" said Sebastian. "EVERYONE have a name of their own."

"I…I don't feel comfortable telling so…"

"At least tell me your last name."

"…it's Colourz. My last name is Colourz."

"Wait. Is it plural or does it have a 'z' at the end?"

"It has a 'z' at the end."

"That's such a dope and lit name, dude. That is something straight fire like my name, Mr Colourz!"

"OK," I said awkwardly, not knowing what his last sentence meant.

"Second, why do your eyes change color?"

I looked at him with a thoughtful look. "I…I don't know."

"They are turning yellow again."

I froze. I slowly took out my phone and looked at the screen to see my reflection. My eyes were…yellow.

They matched the color of my rings.

…what?

"I don't know," I said, keeping my phone.

"Do you have a family of your own?" asked Sebastian.

My eyes widened up hearing that question. The memory of Belt being captured flashed my eyes. I gasped for breath. I nearly fell over and I quickly tried my best not to look worried.

"Dude?" said Sebastian. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…I'm fine…" I lied.

"Did anything happened to your family?"

I paused. I nearly feel like crying. I was NOT ready to tell Sebastian about my brother at that moment. I was able to come up with my own lie.

"I…I don't have any family," I bluntly said. "I don't think I know my own family. All I know was that I was born in Australia."

Sebastian looked shocked. "OMG. I'm so sorry."

"I…It's OK. A lone wolf like me can…can deal with that type of…stuff…"

What I said was partly true and partly false. Yes, I know my older brother and I used to be with him, but I didn't really know my parents that well. Well…except how they look like. Dad had blue fur and Mum had light purple fur.

I managed to gain courage to speak. "But…I…I think I am somewhat…Asian? I don't know. It's just that the food I normally eat is rice and noodles."

"Well…I was born in somewhere in South Korea…or was it North Korea? Nope, that north place is too dangerous or else I might not be born," said Sebastian.

I rolled my eyes. Korea wasn't a bad country and I didn't know why Sebastian didn't seem to like the northern part.

My Wisp giggled at this. So did Sebastian's Wisp.

"My father is coyote and my mother is a dog. They both grew up in Korea."

"Wait," I said dumbfounded. "Then how come you are a wolf?"

Sebastian shrugged. "I don't know. My mother's grandfather was a wolf, so…she is probably a carrier of that gene and I got that gene…or whatever science say. I am still so fly. Anyway, after I was born, I moved to Forest Tournament Town. All the people there are like my brothers and sisters. We are all one huge community so we know each other."

I looked at him surprised. That was pretty rare for a town that had everyone who knew each other VERY well.

"When I got there," continued Sebastian. "I made many different friends, but mostly I hang around with Mecha."

My fur bristled hearing that. Mecha. So was that why Sebastian decided to come along with him?

"At the first sight of him, I started to like him like some kind of fan boy. It was…embarrassing. I looked up to him and followed him wherever he goes. Eventually, he let me join his group when I gave him those leather gloves during his 8th birthday."

"Why would you want to hang around with him?" I asked.

"He's like a big brother to me and I am an only child," explained Sebastian. "I want to have a brother or a brother-like figure, so I did all I can to get his trust."

"Do…do…do you…think that it is the GREATEST idea to become his 'friend'? He has been a bully to me, so I don't think he is a good person. What kind of suck-up would hang around with that bird?"

I guessed what I said made him feel bad because his smile disappeared.

"No offence…" I quickly added.

"You know," said Sebastian. "He may be act arrogant, but you should get to know him well…just in case."

"Just at least teach him some MANNERS!" I pointed out.

"You are not the first to tell me THAT. He's just trying to get into your head. Don't fret too much. He can be critical, but he's joking a lot. It's just his way of life."

"How in the world is that considered to be a 'way of life'?"

"Um…I don't know."

I just gave him a deadpanned look. "No wonder why Bubblegum doesn't like Mecha that much."

"Oh…" said Sebastian. "That…not only does Mecha likes to tease Bubblegum a lot…there's this 'incident' that pushes the whole thing over."

"What is it?"

Sebastian looked around to see if nobody was listening to us before looking back to me. "Well-"

He was interrupted when a loud screech was heard. It was near us. I looked behind to see a Blue Wisp flying towards me before hiding behind me. It must be Emerald's.

"What's going on-?"

BOOM!

I didn't exactly finished my sentence. I jumped upwards upon hearing a large explosion. Looking at the source of the explosion, what I saw was pretty…well…pretty bad.

Covering part of the wall and the floor was black ashes as if a bomb detonated. Standing in the middle was Emerald. On the left, Bubblegum was just standing there, her jaw hanging. On the right, Mecha was out cold…with a box covering his head.

"Sorry…" said Emerald sheepishly.

At least nobody died. I stood up.

"Nice chat," I said to Sebastian. "I'm going to take a rest."

"I haven't told you about that incident," said Sebastian.

"Leave it for later."

I walked out of the training room and made my way to the bunk rooms. My Cyan Wisp followed me and went back inside my Wispon. The hallways were less crowded than last time. There were just only broadcasters and doctors walking through the halls. I passed by the briefing room when I heard Amy saying…

"Eggman's army has broken through! They're in the city! We need to get those people out of here!"

I froze.

I looked through the door to see Knuckles and Amy there along with Sonic.

"Let me get out there," said Sonic. "I'll save them."

"No," said Amy. "You can't go out there by yourself! At least you go on that mission with one of our squads."

"We can't!" said Knuckles. "We've engaged enemy forces at Seaside Hill. We can't spare anyone!"

Then, Shark's voice could be heard from the computer. "This is Sapphire Squad! We're pinned down under heavy enemy fire!"

I went into the briefing room. "What is going on?"

"Eggman's armies has spotted where the civilians' bunkers are in San Francisco!" explained Amy. "We got the Sapphire Squad to help them escape, but they aren't able to get to the other civilians out! They are all scattered and in a tight spot!"

"Oh…my…gosh…" I choked out.

To my fear, those people were going to die out there and the Sapphire Squad couldn't make it out alive too.

Somebody had to go out there and help Sonic rescue those poor people.

"Let me go!" I said.

"What?!" said Knuckles.

"Let m-my squad go out there with Sonic and save those civilians!"

"I'm not sure about it. Your squad have a lot to improve and you were shaking like a leaf at some times."

I looked down.

"WE NEED BACKUP RIGHT NOW!" yelled Shark through the computer again. "WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?!"

"Man, looks like I've got no choice," said Knuckles. "OK, Rookie. I've got a tough one for you and your squad. You need to get to that city and save those civilians! Sonic will assist you for the mission this time."

"Just please be safe," said Amy. "You're our only hope to save them."

'Only hope'. Ash said that to me once and that got me scared. What might happen if I screw up again? What if I accidentally made myself a fool and let those people die?

I looked at Sonic who gave me a confident look.

"It's OK," he said. "It's OK if you can't do it, but I believe in you."

The nervous look on my face was brushed away with cold determination. No. I can't let this happen. I don't want to make any more mistakes. I need to go out there and fight.

"Don't worry," I said despite sounding a bit unsure. "I will."

I looked at Sonic. He nodded.

"Let's go out there and kick some butt," said Sonic with a smirk.


AN: And we end with Sonic and Clay about to go on to their next mission. We get to see Bubblegum talking to Amy and see Mecha's point of view when he is at his worse.

I know what you are thinking when playing the game; WHY ISN'T G.U.N HELPING THE RESISTANCE IN THE WAR?! I even have that same thought. I came up with this theory that most of their armies were wiped out and their HQ is destroyed. Rouge explaining what happened to the army would be the hardest thing she would do.

One thing I noticed that was missing was the Wisps in the game; they don't have that much interactions with Sonic and his friends. At first, I didn't plan to put in the Wisps, but after reading 'Sonic and the Power of the Wisps' by Tashasaurous, I decided to add them in. It was fun to write the cuddly aliens' interactions with Clay, Bubblegum and Mecha. Speaking of which, I've noticed how similar Bubblegum and her Pink Wisp are in character and appearance!

We will see more of the Wisps later in the story.

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. If you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you think about this chapter. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).

Soon, we will see what lies beneath the cold.

Until next time, keep on rocking!