Sonic Adventure: Downfall and Redemption

by ThePhantomHedgehog

6 months after Infinite's defeat, a new adventure begins and a new member joins the team. But as he becomes closer friends with everyone, long-forgotten enemies return, and the team begins to question their new friend's history. Secrets will unravel, relationships will be strained, and trust will become betrayal. Things will never be the same. ARCHIVED; REBOOT & PREQUEL IN PROGRESS

6. Chapter 6: Darkness Returns

Me: Sup, bitches and balls!? Ready for an awesome fight between Shadow and Mephiles right off the bat?

Shadow: *walks in* Explain again why I am here?

Me: Because I don't want any crap from Sonic and Knuckles like last chapter.

Shadow: … Why?

Me: Have you not read the last chapter?

Shadow: I don't read crap.

Me: Fair enough. Long story short: they did a dumb-dumb. *mutters to self* And only five chapters into my first fanfic, too…

Shadow: Again, why am I here?

Me: Because Silver and Blaze couldn't make it.

Tails: *Enters nervously* Uh, Phantom?

Me: Yeah? What is it?

*Tails points out the window*

Me: *Looks out window* WHERE'D THOSE TWO IDIOTS GO!?

Tails: Should I start this chapter for you?

Me: *Running* YES!

Shadow: I'm leaving.

Tails: Well, I hope I can do this story justice. Disclaimer: ThePhantomHedgehog only owns his characters. All characters, songs, and videos belong to their respected owners.

*Sincere A/N*

Wow, only five chapters in, and I've reached 100k words. Cool. Also, over 350 views (as of writing), and not one review yet? Guys… come on… I know I'm wasting my time writing this story, the least I ask is for someone to tell me how crappy this whole garbage is.

Anyways, starting now, I'm gonna switch from using FFN's "insert line" to using " *~*~*~*~*~* ". The line is fine on mobile, but I wanted something a bit fancier. Whenever I get around to it (or feel like it), I'll revise the previous chapters.

Also, spoiler alert, this chapter is heavily focused on Silver and Blaze. Don't worry, I've got some exciting news… okay, not really exciting, but good news for you at the end of the chapter!

Enjoy!

~ThePhantomHedgehog

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Chapter 6: Darkness Returns

Mystic Ruins: Eggman's Base

[ Dark Ambient Music Mix ] (Uploaded by Cryo Chamber) (0:00)

Hundreds of Shadow minions were surrounding Shadow as he and Mephiles stared menacingly at each other.

"I must say, Shadow," Mephiles said in a dark voice, "I'm quite surprised that you remember me."

Shadow remained silent as he waited for Mephiles to make the first move.

"After you and those two mortals defeated Solaris and extinguished the Flame, Solaris… and by extension, Iblis and myself, should have never existed," Mephiles continued, "I must remember to thank that one known as Eggman for my… return… when I see him again."

"What are you talking about?" asked Shadow, "And what do you mean 'again'? Where's the doctor?"

Mephiles laughed.

"Oh, don't be so obscure, Shadow. You should know," he explained, "Where and when have you traveled through time and space once again?"

Shadow's eyes widened.

"The Time Eater…" he breathed.

If Mephiles had a mouth (and thank God and Chaos he doesn't), he would have grinned a terrifying smile.

"Yes."

Shadow glared at his pale doppelganger.

"So, Solaris does exist in other dimensions," Shadow said before smirking, "I'm guessing that world's Sonic has defeated you in all those dimensions as well."

"Not quite."

"Huh?"

Mephiles snapped his fingers. Black flames erupted from the ground a few feet from Shadow. He saw an image appear inside; it appeared to be orbs containing different galaxies.

"Allow me to educate you a little, Shadow."

Shadow shot a quick glance at Mephiles before looking back into the flames.

"It is true that the Flames of Solaris exist in every dimension, reality, or universe; whichever you prefer; however, there has only ever been one Iblis… and one Mephiles."

Shadow remained silent as Mephiles continued.

"I assume you remember the Duke of Soleanna attempting to manipulate time with Solaris by using the Flames? In every universe, that Duke had also foolishly attempted the same. Every attempt ended in failure."

Mephiles' voice became more sadistic.

"Most ending in a slow and painful end to the Duke. Some even ended the life of his daughter."

"Why should I care about this?" Shadow questioned, occasionally glancing around him to make sure a minion wasn't trying anything funny.

"You were there… with that gray hedgehog. The two of you were the only ones to witness my birth. Iblis' as well. But you never witnessed our ends."

"You and Iblis were destroyed the moment the two of you were fused together to become Solaris. And after that, we destroyed Solaris."

"True. And this was the only world where we had done so."

"What do you mean?"

"In every other universe, there is no Mephiles. There is no Iblis."

Shadow wasn't following.

"If you only exist in this universe… then how are you even here when we defeated Solaris and altered the timeline?"

Mephiles laughed once more.

"For someone as powerful as yourself, you still can't see the answer, even when you've already answered it yourself."

"Answered it myself? Wait…"

"The Time Eater… the destroyed city!?" Shadow exclaimed.

"Precisely," Mephiles confirmed, "While not as powerful as Solaris, the Time Eater is capable of traveling through different timelines of the same world. And one of those timelines was the one where I was born."

"You say 'different timelines'," said Shadow, "I presume that's different than saying 'other universes'."

"Indeed. Hmm… think of it like this… imagine a line representing time and the events that occur in the linear fashion. At some point, Solaris was defeated, and the Flames ceased to exist. Logic would dictate that if a part of a timeline is reset, the entire beginning of time must reset as well. Like a butterfly effect."

"But that didn't happen."

"Correct again, Shadow. Imagine another line, one that is running parallel to the original time line. It has the same beginning of time as the first, but the Flames don't exist. When Solaris was defeated, the timeline restarted only at a recent point in time. The original timeline branched away from its original path and intersected with the second line. The Time Eater is capable of jumping across these timelines and bypass all branching moments in time."

Shadow started to piece everything together.

"Then the destroyed city we saw was the same one we saw during the whole Soleanna incident?!"

"Correct again."

"But… why not join Iblis in that city, then?"

"Iblis is pure rage… hatred… an energy-based creature," Mephiles explained, "That said, Iblis prefers to be in a physical form rather than raw power and energy. In the destroyed city, he was in physical form. In order for me to fuse with Iblis, he must be in his energy form."

Mephiles glared at Shadow.

"And the only way for him to be in energy form is to be released from a vessel."

"A vessel?" thought Shadow.

For every question answered, Shadow had five more.

"You say that as though Iblis is still alive," Shadow remarked, "If you plan to form Solaris once more, then you're wasting your time! The Duchess no longer houses Iblis within her!"

Mephiles laughed.

"That useless girl? Oh, Shadow… you know so little. Did Silver not explain anything to you?"

"What would he know that I already don't?"

"Why it's simple… he knows the one who currently houses Iblis."

Shadow raised a brow.

"Don't believe me?" Mephiles asked, "Ahh… no matter."

"Why are you here then? I have no knowledge of where Iblis is, assuming he even exists. And more importantly, why haven't you tried stealing the Chaos Emerald I have? You wouldn't have lured me here away from the others unless I had something you needed."

Mephiles smirked.

"I have a proposition for-"

"No."

Mephiles chuckled.

"No?"

"Don't try to deceive me again. Nothing you could offer would ever sway my allegiance."

Mephiles laughed.

"I see you indominable will hasn't changed either, Shadow," he said, "But what if I were to bring back those closest to you?"

Shadow made no reply.

"What if I told you that I could bring back your precious friend?"

Shadow's eyes widened a bit.

"Oh, yes… I know all about your past, Shadow the Hedgehog," Mephiles explained, "It's such a shame, really; you were created by Gerald Robotnik over 50 years ago, with the assistance of Black Doom, for the sole purpose of being what everyone dreams of becoming; powerful, immortal, immune to all diseases… The Ultimate Life Form."

Shadow slowly lowered his arms and stared out into space.

"You were created to save mankind… and the very people you were to protect betrayed you. Your friend was killed… Gerald was imprisoned and went insane… and you were locked away, unconscious, for over 50 years."

"Maria…"

"Join us, Shadow," said Mephiles as he offered out a hand, "Join us, and I will bring back what was wrongfully taken from you. I can promise you no harm to you or Maria."

Shadow turned to face his dark doppelganger.

"I will keep this promise, but only if you join us," said Mephiles.

Shadow closed his eyes and slightly lowered his head.

"Shadow… I beg of you… please, do it for me… for a better future. For all the people on that planet… give them a chance to be happy… Let them live for their dreams… Shadow, I know you can do it… that's the reason why you were brought into this world…"

"Maria!"

"Sayonara… Shadow… the Hedgehog."

Shadow took a deep breath and sighed.

"So… what is your choice, Shadow the Hedgehog?" Mephiles asked, "Will you fail to save everyone…? Or will you save your precious Maria?"

Shadow slowly opened his eyes and looked up; a burning rage could be seen in his eyes.

"I made a promise of my own," Shadow replied, "A promise I made to Maria. I intend to keep that promise!"

He readied himself for battle.

"And you have made the mistake of using Maria and Gerald Robotnik's names to try and persuade me," he threatened.

Me: I'm back~…

Tails: Oh, perfect. Here, what do you think?

Me: *breezing through the chapter* Ooohh… wow. So you basically made Mephiles the next Mudkip Captain, huh?

Tails: I don't know who that is.

Me: Uhh… don't ask. Where's Shadow?

Tails: He left.

Me: Shocking. Well, I'll take it from here, Tails. Thanks.

Mephiles dropped his hand.

"Once again… it's a pity, Shadow the Hedgehog…"

The Shadow minions begin to converge onto Shadow's position.

"… truly a shame you wish to go against me!"

Shadow glanced at the enemies around him.

"Even with that Chaos Emerald in your hands, you are still not strong enough to defeat me! Your power is limited… and removing those Rings of yours won't help you this time!"

"Wouldn't even dream of it," Shadow retorted, "Chaos... CONTROL!"

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

'Lord's' Base

Sitting upon his thrown, the Lord watched the ensuing fight between Shadow and Mephiles. Teleporting to each one, Shadow was decimating the Shadow minions as Mephiles simply watched from a distance; summoning more to replenish the numbers.

"It would seem that Shadow refused Mephiles' offer," the Lord muttered, "Shame."

The sound of doors opening pulled the Lord's attention away from the battle and to the approaching robotic bird. He held out his right hand before the bird perched on it. A wire was inserted into the mechanical creature. As soon as the uploaded report was brought up on the holographic screen, the Lord was…

*BAM*

"THEY SURVIVED!?"

… not pleased, to say the least. In his fit of rage, the Lord had grabbed the messenger and killed it by slamming it into the armrest and crushing it under his strength. His eyes burned such a crimson red light; it would give the late Julian Robotnik's competition.

"How!? How could the Devil and Mecha Sonic have been defeated so easily!? And with a Chaos Emerald!?"

The Lord put a left fist up to his forehead and leaned against it.

"Now I have three new problems… the Devil has been destroyed, Mecha Sonic is missing in action… and now the damn Mobians have another Chaos Emerald! And another Master Emerald shard!"

The Lord leaned back in his thrown and went back to observe the fight.

"Mephiles…" he growled, "You had better not disappoint me…"

He quickly glanced at another screen that showed a platoon heading towards two people.

"And the same goes for Echo Squad."

(Music fades)

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Somewhere in Mobius

[ 1 Hour of Forest Music ] (Uploaded by Derek & Brandon Fiechter) (0:00)

"… and then, against all odds, we heard Sonic's voice coming from the Rookie's radio!" Silver exclaimed.

"You saved him!?" Blaze gasped.

"Well, we didn't… but the Rookie did!" said Silver.

It had been a couple of days since Silver and Blaze began their journey to find the stolen Sol Emeralds. After unsuccessfully finding anything in Station Square and Central City, they decided to take their search to Mobius. During that time, Silver was telling Blaze everything that had happened since Sonic's 19th birthday (Generations) or at least as much as he could remember being told. And now… well, here they are; Silver flying near Blaze, who was rushing along the dirt road toward some destination.

"So, you guys returned back to Earth after freeing Sonic from the Death Egg; what happened next?" asked Blaze.

"Well, we sent Sonic and the Rookie to…"

Silver's voice began to fade away as Blaze went deep into her thoughts.

"I can't believe all this has happened in the last two years. I should have stayed in touch with everyone… maybe I would have been able to do something."

"…?"

…

"…ze?"

…

"Blaze!"

Blaze shook her head and turned to Silver.

"Hm? What's wrong?" she asked as she looked around urgently.

"What? Nothing!" Silver replied, "I was just trying to get your attention. You looked like you were pondering about something."

"Oh… Sorry, Silver, I… I was, yes."

"… Is there something on your mind?" Silver asked.

"Besides being a terrible friend, you not remembering my sacrifice, me failing my duties as a guardian, and the fact that I love you? Not real- wait… love him? Why did I think that? I just like him a lot… like a brother…? Perhaps?"

Yeah… sure you do. Like Knuckles and Rouge don't like each other… Mm-hmm… sure.

"Not really, Silver," she replied, hiding a faint blush from him, "It's just… it's…"

"You feel like you're failing your people?" Silver asked.

"… yeah."

"Hmm," Silver smirked, "I beg to differ. If you were failing your people, you wouldn't even be trying to find the other Sol Emeralds."

Blaze gave him a look.

"Uh… thanks? How's that supposed to help me?" she asked.

"Great… just great. Good choice of words, Silver!" the hedgehog mentally scowled himself.

"Well… what I meant was, you are doing your duty. If the Sol Emeralds were to ever be taken away, it is also your duty to retrieve them, right?"

Blaze thought for a moment.

"Well, I suppose…" she sighed.

"I'm an awful friend..." Silver thought.

Blaze turned to Silver.

"You're still so naïve," she said quietly.

"Hm?"

Silver turned to Blaze.

"Did you say something?"

"… Uh, I said thank you," she lied before looking ahead, "Hey, I see a city up ahead!"

Silver looked and saw it too.

"Maybe we'll have better luck here," he said, trying to lift Blaze's hopes.

Silver sped ahead of Blaze as he took off toward the city.

"Yeah… maybe," Blaze muttered before picking up the pace to catch up to Silver.

(Music fades)

[ 1 Hour of RPG Towns and Villages Music ] (Uploaded by Derek & Brandon Fiechter) (4:20) (JUST BLAZE! God damn it… *sigh* didn't think that one through… Ugggghhh… Blaze is gonna kill me for that one later.)

A couple of minutes later, Silver and Blaze found themselves in the middle of a bustling metropolis. All around them, people were busy moving from one destination to another; some even selling goods and produce from cart wagons.

"Wow," Silver sighed in awe, "I've never seen any place like this before."

Blaze turned to her friend, raising one of her brows.

"Really?" she asked, "This doesn't look similar to Empire City?"

Silver gave a nervous chuckle as he looked at Blaze.

"Well… yeah, this is very much like that," he replied, "I just meant that… I've never been to Mobius before now. And compared to Empire City, this place is more… uh… oh, what's the word?"

"Medieval?" Blaze suggested.

"Mmm… kinda?" said Silver, not too sure himself, "Maybe somewhere between medieval and industrial, instead though."

Blaze took a look at the surround area.

"Hmm… I guess you're right, Silver," said Blaze, "Now that I think about it… this place reminds me a lot of home."

"Huh?"

"Actually, it's just like my kingdom back in my dimension."

"Oh."

"Well, enough sightseeing. Let's ask around and see if anyone has seen the Emeralds," said Blaze.

Silver nodded.

"Right."

With that, the two began their search in the city.

(Music fades)

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Eggman's Base in the Mystic Ruins

[ Boss – Mephiles – Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) Music Extended ] (Uploaded by BrawlBRSTMs3 X) (0:00) (What did you expect? It's Mephiles FFS.)

Back at the Mystic Ruins base, things were… well, just take a look for yourselves.

"Chaos… SPEAR!"

Floating mid-air, Shadow swiped his arms out and unleashed a barrage of red Chaos energy projectiles at multiple Shadow minions; resulting in at least- wait, one… two… three… uuhh… screw it; resulting in a couple dozen Shadow minion heads getting impaled. As soon as they ceased to be, the minions would dissipate into some dark substance, which would return to Mephiles. Throughout this skirmish, Shadow had been unable to land a single hit on Mephiles; every time he came remotely close to his position, Shadow would be ambushed by more minions.

"It's futile, Shadow… I have become stronger since our last encounter."

Mephiles held out his right hand, aiming his palm toward Shadow.

"Perhaps this will remind you of what I am capable of."

Shadow glanced over and saw what Mephiles was doing. And not a moment too late. As soon as Mephiles unleashed an energy beam directly at the hedgehog. The next thing he knew, Mephiles was struck from behind and sent flying across the room. The assault had hardly even stunned him because he instantly recovered and landed on his feet with ease.

"Ah hahahahaha, well played, Shadow…" Mephiles complimented darkly, "You've managed to teleport yourself out of my attack's path and strike me from behind."

Mephiles turned slowly around as Shadow attempted to rush him. Unfortunately, the Shadow minions didn't want that. Surprising, I know. Shadow's fist was inches away from Mephiles' smug face before a couple of minions dove into Shadow. The three tumbled on the ground a couple of times before Shadow regained his footing and spin kicked the nuisances off him. He looked up to see that Mephiles wasn't there.

"Hmm…" Shadow groaned quietly as he glanced around, "Where are you?"

Now that he thought about it, Shadow didn't even see anymore minions. Where did they all go?

"He's a being of darkness," Shadow thought, "He must be hiding in the shadows surround this entire area."

It was only a second later that Shadow's theory was proven right; all around him, orchid-purple colored eyes, hundreds of them, began to appear from the darkness. Their chittering noises echoed throughout the room, which, in of itself, amplified the magnitude of the noise.

"Hmph. So… that's how you want to fight?" Shadow muttered.

In response to Shadow's rhetorical question, all the minions launched toward Shadow in the attempt to subdue him with sheer numbers.

"Chaos…"

At least 43 minions; yes, I counted; managed to grab onto Shadow before… well, you know… glowing red aura and all.

"BLAST!"

The blast of Chaos energy instantly destroyed any and all minions that it came into contact with; which was practically the entire floor level of the room and up to roughly 15 meters in the air. Yes, I know I've using both standard and metric units. Don't ask why. As the blast faded, Shadow looked around to analyze the aftermath.

(Music fades)

"Hmm… Where did-"

*ZZZRT*

"URG!"

Mephiles had blindsided Shadow with a ball of dark energy after teleporting back from avoiding the Chaos Blast's attack radius. Seriously, cheap shot much? The attack sent Shadow flying towards the Egg Viper and impacting his back into one of the rusty spiked platforms. The good news; Shadow didn't get impaled by one of the spikes on said platform. The bad news: Shadow was now too stunned to do anything, as he fell to the ground and was now on one knee… Jeez, even though the timeline was altered, some things never change. The ugly news? The impact forced the Chaos Emerald to be released from Shadow's possession and landed a few feet away. Mephiles turned his attention from Shadow and made his way to collect his prize.

"Urrghh…" Shadow moaned as he tried to get back up on his feet, "Damn you, Mephiles… You won't get away with this."

Shadow minions began spawning once more around the room as Mephiles continued to close the gap between him and the Chaos Emerald.

"Chaos spear…" Shadow muttered as he threw a weak Chaos spear at Mephiles.

A minion flew into its path and provided cover for its master. Mephiles laughed as he picked up the Emerald.

"Oh, Shadow. I expected so much more from you," Mephiles remarked, tauntingly.

"What did you expect?" Shadow asked as Mephiles turned to face him and the minions closed in around him.

"Why, only an actual challenge from the Ultimate Life Form, of course!" Mephiles replied, "That fight was so abysmal; you should be ashamed."

Suddenly, Shadow did something no one, not even Mephiles, would have guessed; he looked down and chuckled.

"Hm? What's so funny?" the master of darkness asked.

"Oh, the fight hasn't even begun, Mephiles."

Shadow looked up and smirked.

"I'm just stalling."

Now Mephiles was laughing.

"Oh, really?" he asked, "And exactly what are you waiting for?"

Suddenly, a hailstorm of bullets rained down all around the room. A stray bullet collided with Mephiles' hand, causing him to unintentionally toss the Emerald away.

"What!? What is this!?" Mephiles yelled.

He and Shadow watched as the Shadow minions were ripped to shreds by the onslaught of bullets from above. Mephiles looked up and saw something hurling towards the ground.

*CLANG*

The object looked up at Mephiles.

"Well, isn't this a surprise," he said, "It's my old friend Omega."

What, were you expect Batman? (I don't own DC)

"Target confirmed," Omega stated, "Combat mode… engaged. Weapon locks disengaged."

Shadow was finally able to stand back up and grab the Chaos Emerald.

"Omega!" he called out.

Omega turned in time to catch the Chaos Emerald that Shadow had tossed to him. Knowing why Shadow did so, Omega placed the Emerald in his chest compartment. Shadow noticed he had a gash in his upper left arm; blood was very slowly dripping from his elbow.

"Damn. Of all things…"

At least he doesn't have to worry about tetanus. Lucky. Shadow ignored his injury and teleported next to Omega. The two glared at Mephiles.

"After everything that had happened… you still work together as partners? How amusing," said Mephiles.

Shadow was about to remark Mephiles, but Omega said something first.

"Shadow will never be a threat to the world."

Shadow glanced over at Omega; his eyes widened.

"He remembers?!"

"So… even the robot remembers," Mephiles mused, "No matter… it's now time to end this little dance of ours."

Shadow turned back to Mephiles.

"Hmph. Let's get this over with, Omega."

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Siris' Home

[ Late night | Chill Mix ] (Uploaded by ChilloutDeer) (0:00)

"Rouge, relax," Siris said into his communicator, "It's Shadow and Omega, they'll be fine."

"Oh, really? Did you not hear what we just told you!?" Rouge screamed.

Siris sighed. It was early in the evening, where he was, and after numerous hours of work and doing a Q&A with Sylvie, he was tired. Siris had just finished cooking a chicken roast with steamed potatoes when Rouge called him. Sylvie looked up from her dinner and gave Siris a confused look. He gave her the 'gimme a moment' gesture.

"Rouge," Siris replied, "you've literally spent the last three minutes freaking out about not being able to contact Shadow and Omega. I have no clue what you are talking about, since you haven't told me what happened."

"Maybe we should tell him."

"Good to hear from ya, Mighty!" exclaimed Siris, "I take it you and Ray also made it safely."

"Yup! All five of us!" Ray replied.

Siris was now confused. He blinked a few times before mouthing 'five?' to himself.

"Wait, five? I thought Vector and the others were at the Mystic Ruins," said Siris.

"This is Espio. I've already searched the Mystic Ruins days ago, including that base Eggman was using years ago during the Chaos incident."

"Why are you guys in Adabat?" asked Siris.

"Mighty and Ray told us to. I thought you told him, you two!"

"We did, Vector! Honest!"

"Okay, hold on! They did tell me about that. But then Rouge and I got a message about Vector, Espio, and Charmy finding a Chaos Emerald in the Mystic Ruins base."

"Who sent that message to you guys?! 'Because I didn't!" Vector exclaimed.

"Well, apparently it was from you, Vector," said Rouge.

"I got mine from- hang on, I've got some potato skin stuck in my teeth… got it. I got mine from Rouge," said Siris.

He looked over at Sylvie and saw her trying hard to not smile. The face she was making cause him to let out a small 'pfft' that he couldn't hold back. That's when she broke and smiled.

"Well, since they didn't… are you okay, Siris? What's so funny?"Ray asked.

Siris slid his tongue over the front of his top teeth to try and get rid of the chuckles.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry, it was nothing. Please continue."

"Uh… okaaayyy… Since Vector didn't send that message to Rouge, nor Rouge to you, then who did?"

No one said a word for a few moments, that is, until Siris sighed.

"I… have an idea as to who might have done it."

"Well, who-"

"I'll handle it. Besides, I'm not entirely sure if it was them yet."

"… If you say so, buddy," said Mighty.

"Speaking of buddies… is Knuckles asleep or something?"

"Huh?" muttered Knuckles.

"Well, you haven't said a word this entire conversation. Were you sleeping or something?"

"… What?"

Everyone but Rouge and the distracted echidna laughed.

"Oh, man. I'm sorry if I bothered you, Knuckles," said Siris.

"Not funny, Siris," said Rouge.

Siris could hear the seriousness in her tone.

"Uh… is something wrong? Did something happen?"

Silence.

"Uh, guys?"

"Knuckles, are you-"

"I'M FINE, ROUGE! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Siris could hear Knuckles walking away from the group on… metal?

"Uh, where are you guys right now?"

"Rouge had G.U.N. pick us up by plane," Charmy explained, "We're heading… uh… huh. Hey, where are we heading?"

"The Mystic Ruins," said Rouge.

"Uh… not to be out of bounds here, but what's with Knuckles?" Siris asked.

Sylvie got up from her seat and took her and Siris' empty plates to the kitchen and placed them in the sink. She turned and looked at Siris. He knew what she was going to ask.

"Go ahead, Sylvie. It's only a small number of items."

She nodded and began washing the dishes.

"Where did her smile go?"

"Knuckles… it's been a long day, Siris," Rouge said solemnly, "Knuckles took it pretty hard."

"What exactly happened?"

Rouge and the Chaotix, when necessary, explained to Siris everything that happened; from Rouge meeting Knuckles in Adabat, all the way to their fight with the Devil and the pilot.

"Wow," said Siris, "So the whole time, the pilot was a human cadaver kept alive by electronics?"

"Yeah. Do you know or heard of anything about something like this?" Rouge asked.

"Hmm…" Siris pondered, "Well… back when I was…"

He looked around to make sure Sylvie wasn't around to hear. After she had finished the dishes, Siris started working on his little project at his desk and Sylvie sat beside him and the two listened to the story. A long way into the story of the day's events, Sylvie went to bed… well, okay, technically Siris asked if she was tired, which she was but insisted that she should stay up with Siris, but he managed to convince her to get some sleep.

" *Ahem* … back when I was Julian's slave, I did come across some ideas he had of cheating death with the help of technology. He never got it to work, thank God and Chaos, but I wouldn't be surprised if this 'Lord' managed to find out about the ideas and managed to bastardize it to be used for his plans, not that they were already bastardized."

"… Uh, Siris? Are you sure you wanted them to-"

"I already told Knuckles, Mighty, and Ray a few days ago, I don't mind the others knowing, Rouge."

"Well… I'm glad you're starting to open up a little," Rouge teased.

"Don't start. I've barely even done so. Anyways, what happened after you defeated the pilot?"

"… Uh… Well, you see…" Charmy tried explaining.

"The red Wisp that helped Knuckles win the fight…" Espio answered.

Siris' heart began to sink.

"Y-yeah? What happened?"

"The pilot had an explosive device within his body. He was about to send us all to the afterlife… when…" said Rouge.

…

…

…

"… The Wisp left Knuckles' body and entered the pilot's. It gave its life to save ours," she finished.

…

…

…

"Siris?" Rouge called out.

"… Rouge…"

"Yes?"

"Was the Wisp… was it him?"

"I… don't know. Siris, are you…?"

"I'm fine… just… *sigh*… Just finish the story," he said as he moved his goggles up to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Well, after that we found out that Knuckles had a fake communicator and that we lost contact with Shadow and Omega. Since then, we've been on the move," Vector concluded.

Siris moaned and put down his welder as he got up from his seat.

"So, now what? Should we call Sonic and Tails and Amy?" he asked as he walked to the fridge to grab some water.

"We've been trying. They won't pick up," said Mighty.

Siris finished his water before replying.

"I'll ring them up," he said as he began pushing buttons on his communicator.

"Siris," said Vector, "we've tried nearly 50 times already, even during our call with you. What makes you think you'll do any better than-"

"Hello? Tails speaking."

"You've gotta be kiddin' me…" Vector muttered.

"Hey, Tails, it's Siris. You're on conference call with Rouge, Knuckles, and the Chaotix."

"Oh, great! Did Mighty and Ray give Knuckles his communicator back?"

"Yeah, we did," said Mighty, "Is Sonic and Amy with you?"

"Yeah, we're here too!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Oh," said Vector, "Well in that case… WHERE HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN!?"

Siris picked his ears.

"Is there always a moment where someone shouts like this and makes your ears ring?" he asked.

"Yes," everyone replied flatly.

"What was that for, Vector?" asked Amy.

"We've been calling you three for hours now. Why haven't you called back or replied to any of our messages?" Espio calmly asked.

"What are you talking about, Espio? We haven't received any calls or messages from anyone recently," said Tails.

"You sure?" asked Siris.

"Surer than Eggman's moustache," joked Sonic, earning him a few laughs.

"I don't get it," said Siris.

"I'll tell you about it later, Siris," said the blue blur, "But in all seriousness, we haven't received any calls or messages."

Siris groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"What are you thinking, Siris?" asked Rouge.

"What I think… is that someone is messing with all our communications."

"What makes you say that?" asked Amy.

"Shouldn't we bring them up to speed of what has happened?" asked Charmy.

"I agree," said Espio.

"Same."

"Ugghhh… I was hoping this wouldn't happen…" Siris muttered, "Yeah. Let's go through the whole thing again."

…

"Uh, something wrong, Siris?"

"Besides another headache, not really."

"You don't have to listen again if you-"

"No, I mean I'm literally having another headache right now. I'm fine. Let's get these three up to speed."

(Music fades)

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Mystic Ruins: Eggman's Base

BOSS: Mephiles the Dark (Non-Crystalline Form)

[ Vengeance is Mine …for Radical Highway – Sonic Adventure 2 Music Extended ] (Uploaded by BrawlBRSTMs3 X) (0:00)

"Hrrraaahh!" Shadow yelled as he stomped down a couple of Shadow minions, midair.

As he landed, Shadow was ambushed by three more minions. Omega's rotary cannons, which are different from his Gatling arsenal, made quick work out of the ambushers. Shadow dashed off towards another group of Shadow minions. When he was in range, the annoying little freaks dove for him. But when the tried to grab him, Shadow was no longer there.

"Chaos…"

The confused minions looked up and saw Shadow diving towards them.

"Boost!"

Chaos energy instantly surrounded Shadow, giving him a red and yellow aura over his body. Before the minions could react, Shadow instantly teleported himself towards one of them and kicked it into the far-side wall. He then teleported to another and, with his fist, backhanded it into Oblivion. He- Wait… this isn't The Elder Scrolls… *shrugs* He then repeated his assault on the other minions.

Meanwhile, Omega was busy clearing a path for him to reach Mephiles. Unlike Shadow, Omega was feared by the minions. Just a little bit; enough so they wouldn't try to grab onto the robot's body and slow him down. No, really, the 14 or so minions that did or tried to grab ahold of Omega were… let's just say he has a very strong grip.

"You've gotten some major upgrades, Omega," said Mephiles, "You should join our ranks. My 'Lord' will be very pleased."

Omega retracted his left Omega Machine Gun (Yeah, that's what it's called, according to the Sonic wiki) and activated his Omega Shot. He aimed it at Mephiles and fired a charged shot at the fiend. Most of the projectiles homed in on the minions the floated between Omega and Mephiles, but a couple did manage to hit the intended target.

"Take this!" Mephiles shouted.

A dark energy beam shot from his hand and hit Omega dead center. The robot managed to bring his right arm in front of him and block the beam. He held his ground, but he was helpless to do anything.

"Shadow! Requesting assistance! Armor integrity falling!"

Shadow looked over and saw Omega struggling to hold up.

"On it," he replied.

A minion came flying in like a bat out of Hell and tried to blindside Shadow. Without even looking, Shadow snatched the thing with his right hand. Still under the effects of the Chaos Boost, Shadow teleported as close the Mephiles as possible and heaved the minion at Mephiles. The foe glanced over at the minion thrown at him. He caught it with his free hand; still releasing his attack on Omega; and absorbed the minion's essence into his body.

"Chaos…"

Mephiles stopped firing his energy beam and whipped around in time to see a darker red aura surrounding Shadow, who had instantly teleported behind Mephiles the moment the Shadow minion was out of his hand.

"What?!" exclaimed Mephiles.

"Blast!"

Mephiles was sent flying across the room and slammed into the empty cockpit, which once housed the Egg Mobile a few years ago. Shadow landed on the ground below and the aura from the Chaos Boost disappeared. Omega joined Shadow's side.

(Lower volume until it's a bit more than faint)

"You alright, Omega?"

"Affirmative. Armor integrity at 93%. Minor repairs are low priority."

"Hmph. Good."

The began to approach the Egg Viper to get answers from Mephiles before he attempted any kind of escape. Suddenly, the whole room began to shake.

"Wh-what's going on!?"

"Alert: Unknown energy spike detected ahead!"

"Mephiles"

"Negative. The source is from-"

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*SKRIIIIIIII*

*CLANG*

*ZZZRT*

*ZZZRT*

Shadow and Omega stared in shock as the Egg Viper, now back online and surrounded in shadow essence; the green lights were orchid colored. The bladed platforms were spinning at high speeds beside the main body of the Viper.

"Ah hahahahahaha! I told you, Shadow the Hedgehog," said Mephiles, his voice booming from within the Egg Viper, "I have become more powerful since our last encounter."

"This fight is becoming more of a nuisance by the second. Let's finish this, Omega," said Shadow, glaring at his foe.

Omega glanced over to Shadow and saw him slip off his Limiter Rings.

"Oh? You wish to waste all your energy now?" Mephiles questioned the black hedgehog.

"Chaos… Boost!"

Unleashing his power at almost peak performance, Shadow was surrounded by a glowing gold and red mixed aura; his Limiter Rings lying on the ground.

BOSS: Dark Viper

(Raise music back up)

"Very well… let's see if you can still entertain me."

Shadow dashed toward the Dark Viper, moving at speeds Mephiles wasn't aware he could reach. The Viper launched one of its bladed platforms out at Shadow. He slid under it before leaping toward the Viper's cockpit and landing multiple strikes to it.

"Ha-hyuh-ha-ha-hyuh!"

While the Dark Viper might look similar to the Egg Viper, there are some differences, other than the change in color schemes.

"Huh?"

Shadow just noticed one of them. The nodes from the Egg Viper's tail is no longer on the tail… since the friggin' enhanced one has no tail. Instead, the nodes are all located on the fins of the Dark Viper, which are all flipped around so when they fan out, the nodes are facing forward, which, at the moment, are now glowing into Shadow's face- oh, crap, better get back to the fight.

"Hyah!"

Shadow managed to backflip up into the air quick enough before the laser cannon fired directly at him. It was only a short laser shot and it required time to charge. Shadow took advantage of this and stomped down back to the cockpit. Unfortunately, the Dark Viper moved to the side and Shadow missed his intended point of attack.

"Shadow! Platform incoming!" Omega warned.

Shadow turned around and saw the platform launched at him moments ago was coming right back at him. He launched himself towards the ground and began dashing around to find another opportunity to attack.

"Scanning target."

Omega, who was already gliding around the Dark Viper, found that his weapons did no effect on the machine. Upon realizing this, and saving Shadow, assuming he ever needs saving, Omega kept his distance and began scanning for possible weaknesses in the Dark Viper he and Shadow could exploit.

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Somewhere over the ocean…

"Tails! How long 'til we get to the Mystic Ruins!?" Sonic asked urgently from one of the wings of the Tornado 2.

"About 4 hours!"

"I hope Shadow and Omega will be okay," said Amy.

"I'm sure they're fine, Amy,"said Siris; his voice coming from Tails' communicator, "But, couldn't Sonic just use Chaos Control to get to the Mystic Ruins?"

"He only knows how to teleport short distances," Tails replied, "Also, he can't teleport others."

"… I'm not even gonna ask," said Sirs, "… yet."

"Well, the sooner they find them, the better,"said Rouge.

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Mystic Ruins Eggman Base

Omega's scans indicated that, unlike the original Egg Viper, the cockpit was not the weakness. In fact, there were no external weaknesses at all.

"Omega! Behind you!"

Turning his head 180 degrees, Omega noticed one of the spiked platforms chasing him. Unfortunately, there was little he could do other than move faster.

…

He can't use Chaos powers. When's the last time he ever used a Chaos Emerald? Sonic Heroes doesn't count, that was all Shadow during Team Blast.

…

Anyways, Omega began to glide faster around the room, but the platform was still catching up to him.

"Shadow, this machine has no external weaknesses!"

Shadow leapt over the other platform that the Dark Viper had sent after him.

"Rgghh… then what do we do?" Shadow asked.

He and Omega have tried almost everything, short of using the Chaos Emerald, just to at least damage the Dark Viper. Homing attacks, Omega Shots, Omega launching Shadow directly at the cockpit in combination with Shadow boosting midair. Nothing. His energy was getting close to depleting. They needed to do something, and soon.

"Scans indicate unstable power within the main body."

"Got it."

Shadow skated towards the Dark Viper once more. The machines nodes began to glow, indicating that the laser cannon was charging. It didn't faze Shadow; he leapt into the air, towards the cockpit. As soon as the laser fired, he began to spin dash midair and teleported himself inside the cockpit. Omega, still being chased by the spiked platform, watched as the Dark Viper began to jerk and twitch violently in every direction.

"Rrrgghhh… Shaaadoooowww! What are you doing!?" Mephiles shouted.

The assault continued for another half minute before Shadow erupted from the side of the Dark Viper. A small explosion from within the dark machine caused Mephiles to be ejected and thrown from the other side of the Dark Viper and land on the ground. The Dark Viper slowly fell to the ground before it came to a halt and laid, void of power.

(Music fades)

"Urgh…"

Shadow, who now had barely any energy left just to stand up, tried to catch his breath as he leaned on one knee. From his peripheral, he saw something green and shiny lying on the ground.

"Is that… the Emerald?"

Mephiles slowly got back onto his feet.

"Ugghh… I've seen enough," he muttered.

Shadow watched as a Shadow minion spawned near the Emerald and take it.

"No… how did Omega…"

Shadow's words failed him as his eyes fixated on the nearby heavily damaged robot sitting against the wall.

"Omega!"

"Hahahahaha! It is truly a shame that your friend thought he could keep the Chaos Emerald from me!" Mephiles laughed.

The Shadow minion flew over to Mephiles as Shadow rushed over and kneeled next to Omega.

"Omega?"

His chest compartment was compromised; the platform had made a whole in the left rear area of his torso. On top of that, many hydraulic and circuit boards were terribly damaged. Omega was still online, but barely.

"Sh-Sh-Shad-d-d-dooowwww…"

"I'll get you out of here, Omega."

"I think not."

Shadow turned and saw Mephiles holding a familiar neon blue sphere of energy in his hand.

"Shit," Shadow muttered.

"This time, Shadow the Hedgehog," Mephiles said darkly, "you will not be coming back!"

The shadow master released the ball of energy and it approached the two G.U.N. agents.

"Farewell, Shadow the Hedgehog!"

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Siris' Home

"Look, all I'm saying is that we should assume our communications are completely screwed and that we should assume all messages from this point on are false," said Siris.

"Siris,"said Rouge, "You're tired. How are we going to stay in communications with each other if we can't communicator?"

"I said 'messages' are false, not 'communications'. What I meant was, we should have some failsafe to ensure we know if any and all communications between us is legit."

"And how do you propose we do that?" asked Knuckles, who finally included himself in the conversation about midway through the second storytelling event.

"I… have no clue," admitted Siris.

"Why not just use video communication?" Tails suggested, "That way we can actually see and hear everyone in the conversation."

Silence.

"Well… that would work, Tails. But let's assume that whoever is targeting the communications is also able to deceive us with false video and voice modifiers. Then what?" Siris asked.

"…Uuuhhh…" Tails groaned.

"What do you suggest, Siris?" asked Sonic, "Hand gestures, secret phrases, or maybe some hi-tech gizmo that tells if it's really us or not?"

"Uh… that could work. But, again, those can all be fooled," said Sirs.

"I think I have an idea," said Tails.

"Really? What is it?" asked Espio.

"NOT HERE!" Siris shouted.

Silence.

"Sorry," he said before clearing his throat, "I think it would be best if we heard the idea in person. For all we know, someone could be listening in on us."

"That sounds reasonable… if not paranoid," said Tails, "But, waiting until Halloween seems a bit much, don't you think? Especially with the current situation?"

"Well, right now, we're all here, save for two people," said Charmy.

"Four," Vector corrected, "Silver and Blaze aren't with us right now either."

"I knew that!" Charmy remarked, "I forgot about Shadow and Omega!"

Everyone facepalmed. It was so loud, even the people on the Ark heard it.

"Nice, Charmy," Amy remarked.

"Sorry…"

"Speaking of Shadow and Omega…" Siris began.

"Still nothing," said Knuckles.

"Tails, how long now?!" Rouge asked, demandingly.

"I can see my workshop in the distance! We're almost there!" he replied.

"Uh, guys?"

"Sonic, any luck contacting them?" asked Amy.

"No."

"Guys?"

"What about trying to reach Silver and Blaze?" asked Knuckles.

"Same deal," Sonic replied.

"Damn it… we should have known this was all a trap!"

"Rouge, we don't even know if this was a setup," said Mighty.

"Guys~?"

"Well, those two have never gone radio silent this long before. And no one's heard from Silver and Blaze in days. What if-"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT!?" they all screamed.

"I found Shadow and Omega."

…

…

…

"Where…?" they all asked simultaneously.

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Lord's Base

[ Deadspace soundtrack 1: Dead Space Theme ] (Uploaded by GoldskinOST) (0:00) (Loop it multiple times)

"Ah, you've returned."

"Yes," Mephiles replied, "And I have a gift."

"I hope so."

The Shadow minion carried the green Emerald over to the Lord and placed it in his hands.

"Well done, Mephiles. You've once again proven to me that you are very reliable."

"I do what I can to help, my Lord."

"Oh, don't be so deceiving, Mephiles. I know you only do this to your own benefit. You wish to find Iblis' vessel and release your other half so the two of you can be whole again."

"So you heard all that."

"I have no issue with it. You never specified what you wanted; but learning you allies'… or subordinates' secrets and motives help in making sure my plans run smoothly."

…

"I just hope you leave this world and universe alone for me to rule."

"… As long as you help me in reaching my goal as well as yours," Mephiles replied.

The Lord gazed upon the Emerald in his hands.

"Hmm…"

"Is there something wrong?" Mephiles asked.

The Lord did not reply; he examined the Emerald closely.

"My lord?"

*WHAM*

The Lord slammed his fist down on the robot birds remains, which he never cleaned up… or ordered any servants to do so.

"IT'S NOT A CHAOS EMERALD!" he roared.

"What!?"

"This is a large fragment of the Master Emerald that just so happens to looks like a Chaos Emerald!"

The Lord glared at Mephiles.

"WHERE DID YOU SEND THOSE TWO!?"

"I sent them someplace they will never escape… Hell."

"And where is the CHAOS EMERALD?!"

"Why does that matter?" asked Mephiles, "As long as the Chaos Emerald is unreachable, your plans will still be completed."

Before the Lord could further argue, an unexpected guest arrived through the doors.

"Who enters without my permission!?"

The figure walked into the light and revealed themselves.

"Ah, Mecha Sonic… you've finally returned," said the Lord.

Mecha Sonic remained still and silent.

"Now I have two things to do… AND THAT IS TO DESTROY BOTH OF YOU!"

Mecha Sonic replied with a flurry of beeps.

"What? Show me!" the Lord demanded.

A light flashed across Mecha Sonic's eyes as he sent a large amount of scanned data to the Lord. A holographic UI appeared before the Lord. It only took a moment for the Lord to know what it was that he was seeing.

"Hmm… interesting."

"My lord?" Mephiles asked.

"Mephiles, Mecha Sonic. This Emerald fragment and this data analysis; they give me a wonderful idea. Now listen carefully…"

Meanwhile, in another part of the base…

"Ooohhh, where are those two buffoons?! How hard can it be just to find Boron arsenide and Indium antimonide semiconductor materials!?"

"Boss! We're back!"

"Well, it's about time! Did you bring all the items I requested?"

"Yup! Sure did! Here, take a look!"

"YOU STUPID BOX! THIS ISN'T A TITANIUM PLATE!"

"Yes, it is! You can put food on it!"

*CLANG*

*Thud*

"Why do I even bother with him?"

"Sorry, boss. I didn't notice he didn't-"

"No, no, it's fine, Orbot. I see you've managed to bring me the correct materials."

"I have. But, boss… what exactly are you planning to build?"

"You'll see, in due time, Orbot," Eggman smiled, "You'll see in due time."

(Music fades)

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Siris' Home

"They're standing at my front doorway."

…

No one said a word. Shadow calmly walked over to Siris, who was still working on his side project, and spoke into the communicator.

"Give me a few minutes. I'll explain everything then."

He then switched off Siris' communicator. Siris looked at Shadow. And then Omega. They remained silent for a while.

"Soooo…" said Siris with a fake and nervous smile, "What brings you here? Did, uhh… anything interesting happen in the Mystic Ruins?"

…

"We've got bigger problems."

"Oh, joy. And it's not even my birthday yet," said Siris, "But, first… you need a bandage, and Omega needs repairs."

Before Shadow could respond, Siris had rushed into his clinic, grabbed a long strip a bandage wrap (not tape), ran back, and wrapped up Shadow's still bleeding arm. That took a total of about one and a half seconds.

"Alright, that's one problem dealt with," said Siris.

Shadow looked at his left arm and moved it around, determining if its mobility was compromised.

"Shadow, knowing you, you won't be needing that thing by morning," said Siris, "Although, I am quite surprised that even you managed to get injured like this."

Siris turned to Omega, knowing Shadow was glaring behind his back.

"Alright, big guy," said Siris, "Let's head out back. Not much room in my home to do work on you."

[ Instrumental Music Background – Calm Relaxing Music For Work, Study, Reading and Concentration ] (Uploaded by Meditation and Relaxing Music) (0:00)

Siris grabbed his small collection of tools and led Shadow and Omega out and around to the back of the house. The broken bottles and cans from his training that morning were all cleaned up, but the wooden dummy target was still there; that caught Shadow's attention for a moment.

"Omega, just sit here," Siris said, pointing to the ground next to the wooden bench as he placed his tools there.

Siris examined Omega's body to see the extent of the damage.

"Omega, is there any issues with your memory banks?"

Omega attempted to do a maintenance scan.

"Error: System-m-m d-d-diagnostics not respooooonding…"

"Omega!?" Shadow called out.

The robot leaned forward and the lights in his eyes went dark. Literally. Shadow took a step forward.

"Calm down, Shadow. He just went into emergency standby mode," said Siris as he slid his goggles back on, "It'll take a little longer, but I can do it with these."

"Still have those goggles, I see."

"They still work wonders," Siris replied as he began to perform multiple system scans on Omega, "So… care to explain what's going on?"

Shadow stood behind Siris, brooding as usual, as he unscrewed a cracked bolt.

"The darkness has returned," Shadow said flatly.

Siris froze and dropped the wrench.

"… Uh… please repeat that?"

"The darkness has returned."

Siris slowly turned to Shadow and slid his goggles up.

"In the name of all that is holy and unholy… please tell me that this is your attempt at humor."

Shadow just glared at Siris.

"How?" asked Siris.

"The Time Eater."

Siris sighed.

"Remember when I joked about something like this possibly happening? I regret saying that now."

Shadow didn't respond.

"So, what exactly happened?" Siris asked.

Shadow told him the whole story from Rouge's message up to him bring Omega to Siris.

"Wow… so you guys found a fragment of the Master Emerald as well."

"Yes, but we lost… possession of it."

"And the Chaos Emerald," Siris muttered.

"Not exactly…"

*** 10 Minutes Ago ***

"Farewell, Shadow the Hedgehog!"

"Shad-dow…" said Omega.

Shadow turned and looked down. He saw Omega's hand hold the green Chaos Emerald and his Limiter Rings.

"He must have had both Emeralds in his chest," Shadow thought to himself as he slipped his Limiter Rings back on his wrists.

He grabbed the Chaos Emerald and was about to teleport the two of them back to G.U.N. headquarters when Omega grabbed his arm.

"S-S-Siris… taaaaaaaake me-e-e to him…" Omega asked in a garbled voice.

With no time to argue, Shadow did as he was asked.

*** Present ***

Siris just stared at Shadow; his face showing his attempt to process the information and his jaw was hanging. He then shook his head.

"Shadow, one of these days, you will not be so lucky to make it out like that."

"Hmph… that'll be the day."

Siris slid his goggles back on.

"Yeah- hold up. My scans are complete."

…

"Alright, do you want the-"

"Just tell me," Shadow growled.

"Sheesh, sor-ry! Scans show that his memory banks and weapon systems are perfectly fine. He does have multiple software errors and signs of corruption."

"Hrrmm…"

"Again, his memory banks are fine. His personality won't change. I can quickly repair all the motherboards and circuits before reinstalling all the software from his back up drives."

"How long?"

"About 20 minutes, give or take."

"That fast?"

"Assuming G.U.N. hasn't completely screwed up any of his upgrades, yeah."

With that said, Siris dashed back into his house and came back with a few dozen unused circuit boards. Shadow raised a brow.

"Helps to be prepared," Siris explained, "I always knew there would be a day when Omega would need me to repair him."

"There are people in G.U.N.-"

"Who would take over a week just to do a simple chip replacement," Siris smirked, "But there's a couple of problems I can't fix here."

"And what would that be?" Shadow asked as Siris' hands breezed through different circuit boards that could be used to replace the damaged ones.

"Some of Omega's hydraulic systems are damaged."

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"What else is new?"

"Yeah, shocking, I know. I can repair some of them here, which won't be done until morning, since it's just replacing a few bolts and screws here and there. Unfortunately, there are two components that need to be replaced; I can't repair or make replacements here."

"Why not?"

"One, I don't have to proper tools or machines to manufacture them. And two, I have no clue what the hell these hydraulic models are."

Shadow sighed.

"So, G.U.N. will have to do those repairs then?"

"Assuming they have spares. Last time I repaired Omega, it was a friggin' nightmare," Siris remarked, "Please tell me they hired smart people for once and actually started having spare parts for Omega, just in case?"

"I have no clue."

"Well, you better call and ask… speaking of which, did you receive any of our calls?"

"Calls?"

"Great, your comms was blocked also," Siris sighed.

"Mind telling me what the hell you're talking about?" Shadow asked.

"I'll let the others tell you. It's been a long day for some of them."

The conversation came to a halt as Siris continued repairing the robot. It wasn't until a soft voice from behind them caused Siris, and surprisingly Shadow as well, to jump.

"Would you like something to drink?"

Siris turned and saw Sylvie, who was still wearing her blue dress, standing nervously by the corner of the house.

"Uh, S-Sylvie!" Siris said nervously, "I didn't know you were there. Why aren't you in bed?"

Sylvie shook a little bit.

"I… heard someone entering the house. I thought it would be best if I tended to any of their needs," she answered.

"I… see," said Siris, "Uh… well, I don't see anything wrong with that, but it's quite late. You didn't have to do that."

Sylvie looked disappointed. Shadow glanced between the two hedgehogs.

"Who's this girl?" Shadow asked in his negative tone.

"I'm so screwed," Siris thought to himself.

"This is Sylvie," he replied, "She's… uuhh…"

"Friend of yours?" asked Shadow.

"… uh, yeah," said Siris.

It didn't sound convincing at all, and Siris knew that. Shadow glared at Siris, who turned his attention back to Omega.

"Um… sir?" asked Sylvie.

Shadow turned to her.

"What?"

"Would you like anything to drink?"

Siris cringed.

"Oh, please God and Chaos, have mercy," Siris pleaded quietly.

Shadow remained silent for a moment.

"I'm fine," he replied.

"… I see," said Sylvie.

Siris turned back to Sylvie.

"Hey-"

"Who's Mephiles?" Sylvie asked.

That was the moment when Siris' mind had a nuclear detonation.

"Why? Just… why?"

"Mephiles?" Siris asked as though he needed confirmation, "He's… well, a really bad guy, who-"

"He's a being born from when the sun god, known as Solaris, was split into two beings; the other being Iblis, the being of destruction. Mephiles is a master at shapeshifting, deceit, and sadism. He cares for nothing, showing no empathy for others; his only goal is to fuse back with Iblis to become Solaris once more and destroy all of time and space until existence itself is pure nothingness."

Siris stared at Shadow with a blank expression on his face and his arms slightly held out.

"… Shadow...? Why would you tell her that?" Siris asked calmly.

"She asked and you were taking too long."

Siris slowly brought a hand to his face and facepalmed.

"I meant… why would you tell her that and be that harshly descriptive?"

"Is what I said not true?"

Siris wiped his hand down his face and sighed.

"You haven't changed at bit, have you?"

"No."

…

"Shadow, why don't you go contact G.U.N. and see if they have these parts in stock somewhere."

Shadow walked over to Omega and took a quick note of the parts in question before walking somewhere more secluded. Siris sighed and turned back to Sylvie.

"Crap," he muttered.

Sylvie was in shock and terrified of what Shadow just told her. Siris walked over to her.

"Sylvie?"

Nothing.

"Sylvie?"

Again, nothing. Siris placed a hand on her head.

"Sylvie?"

"Eh… huh? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"I was going to ask you that. Are you okay?"

"… I'm… okay."

They remained silent for a couple of moments.

"Master?"

Siris cringed.

"Y-yes, Sylvie?"

"… Is Mephiles dangerous?"

Siris sighed.

"He's extremely dangerous," he replied calmly, "I've never met him, but from what I've been told about him, he's probably the most dangerous being ever known, to date."

Sylvie closed her eyes.

"I see."

Siris removed his hand from her head.

"Listen, why don't you go get some sleep?" Siris suggested, "It's very late, and you should get a good night's rest."

"… If that is your wish. Good night, Master."

Siris watched as Sylvie walked along the side of the house and disappear around the corner. He waited until he heard the front door opening and close before going back to the task at hand. The moment he turned around, he was looking straight into Shadow's eyes, which were inches from his.

"WHAT THE SHIT!?" Siris shrieked, jumping back in terror.

"Something wrong?" Shadow asked, slightly amused.

"Yeah, you nearly gave me a heart attack," Siris responded, flipping Shadow the bird.

"Hmph," Shadow smirked.

Siris rolled his eyes as he put his hand down and went back to fixing up Omega.

"What did G.U.N. say?" he asked over his shoulder.

Shadow closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"They don't have the parts," he answered, "And the manufacturing company says they are backordered on crucial machine parts needed to make the parts."

"Shocking. I'll call up Tails. I've heard he's a master mechanist, so maybe he can do it."

Shadow nodded as Siris called up the kitsune.

"Tails speaking."

"It's Siris. Am I on conference call?"

"Yeah," said Tails.

"Alright, before anyone says anything, I'm not gonna be the middleman between you guys and Shadow for a conversation. He'll call you guys in a bit. I just need to know one thing from you, Tails."

"Uh, sure. What is it?"

"I'm sending you images of parts that need replacing in Omega's hydraulic systems. G.U.N. is out of stock, so I was wondering if you could make the replacements."

"Images received… Yeah, I think I can. Might take a while, though. Why are you looking inside Omega?"

"One of the things I did back in G.U.N. was keep up with Omega's maintenance."

"I see. How did Omega get this badly damaged?"

"HE'S WHAT!?" screamed Rouge.

"You can ask Shadow when he joins the conversation," said Siris as he scratched his ears, "How long would it take, Tails?"

"Well… judging from the schematics I found online, the parts will both be done by the 29th at the very most."

Silence.

"Uh, Siris?"

"Sorry, I've gotta ask… why?"

"The composition of the metal is very specific, and it'll take me a couple of days to receive an order of that metal. Not only that, the approximations I'll need to calculate just to get the correct dimensions for Omega's part will take another-"

"You know what? Forget I asked. I think I get the picture."

"Is that all?"

"For now, yes. I'll talk to you guys later."

Siris hung up and turned to Shadow.

(Music fades)

"Does anyone else know or remember the Solaris incident?" he asked.

Shadow shook his head.

"Besides you, Silver, Omega, and myself, no."

"Omega remembers?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, better than anyone else. Did you talk about… you know…?"

"No."

"Are you?"

"Probably."

"Am I annoying you?"

"Very."

"Do you want some rest?"

"Don't need it."

"Yes, you do. You just spent nearly every ounce of energy just trying to defeat Mephiles. Now that I think about it, why didn't you Chaos Control yourself and Omega out of there? Why bother wasting your time and energy… and losing a huge Master Emerald fragment to Mephiles?"

Shadow glared at Siris.

[ Dark Ambient of 2018 ] (Uploaded by Cryo Chamber) (1:00)

"Shadow, regardless of why Mephiles was there, we already know his end game: the return of Solaris."

"Information."

"… Okay… I'll bite; what did you learn?"

Are you hearing a voice from the music? If you are, you are not reading the timestamp. Go back and do it again.

"I've confirmed that Eggman has been abducted by this 'lord', whom Mephiles does work for, and that they are in search of the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald."

"Tell me something I don't know," Siris replied, "Anything else? And sit down, already. I can hardly even sense your energy. You need to recharge."

"To answer your question before, I sensed a foreign power emanating from Mephiles."

"I'm assuming its other than Chaos and whatever his own energy is?"

"I'm almost certain that Mephiles was the one behind stealing the Sol Emeralds from the other dimension."

…

"Okay, we could be in bigger trouble then," said Siris, "Unless Mephiles has a Chaos Emerald, or the Lord, then that means they have managed to create a device that allows them access to all other dimensions and worlds."

"It would seem so, yes," said Shadow.

"What a great world we live in," Siris sarcastically said, "Seriously, man, sit down."

Shadow just glared. Siris took a deep breath and sighed.

"Anyways, Omega's circuits are all fixed up. I'll get started on the hydraulic parts that I can fix."

Siris removed a cracked bolt and began repairing it. Shadow sat down on the bench, facing away from him. The two didn't say a word for a while.

"Two years."

Siris looked over to Shadow.

"Pardon?" asked Siris.

"Over two years… and this is what you do with yourself."

Siris glared at Shadow.

"Well, it's not too late for me to kill myself. Can we not talk about that?"

"… Fine."

"Good."

…

"So… what's with this 'master' business with that girl?"

Siris stopped working and slowly raised his goggles up. His head slowly turned to face Shadow. The black hedgehog noticed the faint blue aura burning in Siris' eyes.

"Are you accusing me of something?" Siris asked darkly.

"Answer the question, Siris," Shadow demanded calmly.

Siris sighed.

"Don't tell the others what I'm about to tell you. I'll tell them soon, but not now."

"…I'm all ears."

"No, you're not. You're all hedgehog and alien."

"Watch it, hedgehog."

…

"You won't say anything?"

"I'll keep quiet for now."

"Alright… here's what happened…"

Siris explained how Sylvie was brought to him and what his intentions were now that she was in his care.

(Music fades)

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

*** October 18, 2020 ***

Mobius: Unknown City

[ 1 Hour of RPG Towns and Villages Music ] (Uploaded by Derek & Brandon Fiechter) (4:20) (Is my head on fire? Hope not.)

It had been a long day for Silver and Blaze yesterday. They spent the whole day, and night, asking around for any information regarding the emeralds they were in search for. Well, Blaze would ask about the Sol Emeralds; Silver would ask about all three. It was now morning, and the two looked like they were about to collapse and sleep on the street they were walking down.

"This is so frustrating!" Blaze exclaimed.

"Hm?"

"How is it that we haven't met a single person that knows anything about the Emeralds?!"

Silver shrugged.

"It's not like people should know at all times where they are, Blaze," he yawned.

Blaze glanced at Silver.

"How can you be so calm about this?!" she questioned him.

Silver yawned.

"I'm not," he replied, "I'm just as worried about you, if not more, than our friends."

Blaze's eyes widened.

"You're what?" she asked.

"I said, I'm worried as well, if not more, about you find the Emeralds," he replied.

"Oh," she said, turning away.

"Phew… that was close!" thought Silver.

"We should get some sleep," he muttered.

"Hm?"

"Sorry, just thinking out loud. I said, we should find a place to sleep."

"Why?" she asked, irritated, "You too tired to search?!"

"Yes," Silver replied bluntly, "And so are you."

Blaze glared at the hedgehog.

"I am n-"

"You're irritated because you haven't slept."

Silver's words rang true.

"Just a nap is all, Blaze. Just for a couple of hours?"

Blaze sighed.

"Alright, fine. But only for a couple of hours," she urged.

Silver nodded. He then looked around and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Blaze asked.

"You see a hotel anywhere?" he asked.

Blaze looked around. She couldn't see one.

"Nooo… but, why a hotel? We could just rest in the park we walked by last night or just head back in the forest and rest under one of the trees."

"… Uhhh…"

"Think, Silver, think! Last thing you need is for her to think you're a pervert! …no wait, what am I thinking?! AAAHHHH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?"

I'll buy two vowels and the letters 'L' and 'V'.

"Silver?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Well… uh…"

"Is something wrong, Silver? You've been acting strange these past few days."

"It's nothing, Blaze. I think it's just mental fatigue. I just suggested we get a hotel room so yo-eerrrrr, we could sleep comfortably in a bed."

Blaze tilted her head and gave Silver a look.

"Get a hotel room? Sleep in a bed?"

"Crap. Someone kill me now…"

"For each of us, Blaze," Silver specified.

"Oh."

The two looked away from each other, hiding their blushing faces.

"Still as naïve as ever," Blaze thought.

*Facepalm* This is sad… no other way to put it…

"Maybe we should ask for directions to one?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Directions to a hotel."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

Silver turned to continue walking and accidentally bumped into a dark pastel green Mobian.

"Oh, sorry about that!" Silver exclaimed.

The Mobian laughed it off.

"No worries, dude. Accidents happen," he replied.

"Excuse me?" Blaze asked, "You wouldn't happen to know where we could find a hotel, would you?"

The Mobian turned to her.

"A hotel? Yeah, I know a good one," he said pointing his thumb behind him, "Just keep going down this street for another couple blocks and you'll see it. It's called 'The Royal Hotel'."

"The Royal Hotel?" Silver asked.

"Heh, yeah, I know; sounds like a place for aristocrats and upper-class folks. Don't worry, it has fair prices for anyone and everyone," the Mobian explained.

"We'll check it out," said Blaze, "Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks," said Silver.

"No problem. See ya around!"

The green Mobian walked away, humming a tune and tapping his thumbs on his thighs like he was playing drums.

Don't say anything. Shhhhh… Not one word!

"Come on, Blaze. Let's find this hotel and get some shut eye."

"Alright, Silver," she sighed, "Let's go. Before I do something I might regret."

The two walked off in search of the hotel their green friend pointed them towards.

(Music fades)

[ Instrumental Jazz Music for Hotel Lobby – Relaxing Background Music ] (Uploaded by Live Better Media) (0:00)

About 10 minutes of walking later, they found the place. The moment they entered the building, Silver and Blaze were in awe and immediately knew that the Mobian wasn't lying when he said the place was good. If anything, he was underselling it. The place looked like it was fit for royalty; excuse the term. Blaze snapped back to reality.

"Come on," she told her friend, "Let's grab a couple of rooms and get some rest."

5 Minutes Later…

Silver entered the hotel room and held the door open for Blaze to enter… wait, what? Uuuuhhhh… Hold on a second, what?

"I suppose this was bound to happen eventually," Blaze sighed.

WHAT!?

"Well, we should have done this sooner," Silver noted.

What the fu- Is this actually happening!? What happened between now and the lobby!? No, no! Don't ruin this! I gotta see where this leads!

"So, you wanna lie here and I'll take that side?" Blaze asked.

"Fine by me," said Silver, "It doesn't really matter which one you choose."

"… You okay, Silver? You seem a little tense."

Silver turned away to hide his blushed face.

"It's nothing. Like I said before, I'm just tired."

Is this really happening?

"Well, you didn't seem that tired when the attendant said there was only one room available."

Wait, what?

"I was just catching a second wind," Silver explained, "I'm just glad we got a room with two beds."

*Deadpan*

"It's not like there would have been something wrong if there was just one bed, Silver," Blaze said absentmindedly as she laid in one of the beds.

Is there hope? Will it happen!?

"Hm? Did you say some-"

Silver stopped talking when he realized Blaze had fallen fast asleep already.

Me: *Gets up from chair* I'll be right back… *Rushes out the door*

Tails: *Shrugs*

Me: (From very far away) GOD… DAMN IT!

…

Me: *Comes back and sits down* Sorry, I needed to do that.

Tails: Uhhh… was that really necessary?

Me: Yes… now, back to the story…

Silver smiled and laid down in his bed. He stared up at the ceiling and pondered.

"This is so… annoying! I literally have been given a once in a life time chance… well, technically for the second time, to finally tell Blaze how I really feel about… us. *Sigh* But, at the same time… I don't know if she would reciprocate those same feelings. I mean… she doesn't even remember what happened with Iblis… and how she sealed herself away into another dimension just to keep Iblis from ever returning. But, she's still the same person.

We somehow managed to become good friends again, against all odds of me ever seeing her again. I haven't even told her about those times before we defeated Solaris. Not that I would blame her for not believing me; I've mentioned Solaris to some of the others on occasion, but they don't remember or don't believe me. Isn't that the same thing? Never mind.

I want to tell her; I mean, she's the only thing I've ever had these feelings for. But… I've made myself a home here, in the… past? Present? Ugh… the point is… I'm not sure if I could leave this place just to be with her. She obviously can't leave her home and duties behind just to stay here with me. Even if she did say that she would, I wouldn't let her. If this was over a year ago, I would have given up living here just stay with her in her world.

But now? With what the Resistance went through dealing with Infinite? And now, with this new threat? I… don't know…"

Silver continued to internally battle with himself until he finally fell asleep.

(Music fades)

Later that day…

"Silver?"

…

"Silver?"

…

"Silver!"

The hedgehog shook his head and turned to face Blaze.

"Hm? What? Blaze?"

"You were daydreaming again, weren't you?" she asked.

She and Silver were now roaming the city park, asking around for information on the Emeralds. Silver looked around. Something was… off.

"Uh, Blaze?"

"What is it now?"

"Sorry, it's just…" Silver began, scratching his head, "when did we get to the park."

Blaze sighed.

"We got her just moments ago, silly. I had to drag you out of the hotel room and all the way here, because you were lost, gazing into the distance."

"I… was?"

Blaze shook her head.

"You're so naïve, you know that?"

"Uh… Blaze, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, why?"

"You're acting a little… different."

Blaze glared at Silver.

"I'm fine. Come on! We need to find the Sol Emeralds as soon as possible!"

[ 528Hz | Open Heart Chakra Love Frequency 528hz Music | 528hz Heart Chakra Activation – 528hz Love ] (ZenLifeRelax) (0:00)

Blaze began to walk off to find someone to ask. Silver caught up and walked by her side. As they walked through the park, Silver couldn't help but occasionally glance over at Blaze. He didn't know why, but there was something about the afternoon sun giving off the perfect light, making Blaze appear more beautiful than usual. Blaze was also glancing over at Silver from time to time. There were times when their eyes met.

"That's it! I'm telling her!"

"Hey, Blaze?"

"Yes, Silver?"

"Uh… could we sit for a second?"

"… Why?"

"There's… there's something I want to tell you."

Blaze gave him an uncertain look.

"Okay… right here?" she asked, pointing to the bench.

"Yeah… actually that would be perfect."

The two sat down next to each other. Silver remained nervously silent.

"Well… what did you want to-"

"I love you!" Silver blurted out.

Blaze stared at him. Silver's eyes glanced over to her face a couple of times as he bit his lower lip.

"Did… I say it? Why isn't she saying something? Oh, crap, is she pissed?"

"Blaze?"

…

"Did I… are you… I messed up, didn't I?"

…

"Look, let's… forget what I said and get back to work."

Silver stood up. He tried to walk away, but a firm grasp to left wrist prevented him from doing so.

"Stay," Blaze said softly.

Silver was still looking ahead, but his eyes widened. He sat back down and slowly turned to face Blaze.

"Say it again," she said.

…

"I… love you."

"… Silver… do you really mean that?"

"… Yes."

"… How long?"

"For a long time."

"Silver… I never knew you felt this way about me…"

Tears were forming in Blaze's eyes. Her hands went up and held Silver's head. His own hands found their way to her waist. They slowly began to lean towards each other.

"Silver…"

"Blaze…"

They closed their eyes as their heads came closer together. Their lips were just an inch away from each other.

"Silver…"

"Yes, Blaze?"

She opened her eyes and smirked.

"What makes you think I share your feelings?"

Silver's eyes shot open

"Wait, what?"

(Music fades into the next song below)

[ Sad Piano Music (THIS WILL MAKE YOU CRY / Saddest Piano & Violin Ever!) ] (Uploaded by JMendezMusic) (0:00)

Silver felt Blaze's hands leave his muzzle and shove him in the chest, pushing him away. He fell off the bench and to the ground.

"Blaze?" Silver asked nervously as he sat up, "Wha… what are you doing?"

Blaze laughed.

"You actually think someone as royal and important like myself would ever fall for someone as pathetic as you?"

Silver couldn't believe his ears. He initially didn't expect Blaze to feel the same for him as he did for her. But having her give him the worst false hope even imaginable and then act like this was even more devastating for Silver than the time Blaze sent herself and Iblis into another dimension.

"B-Blaze…?" Silver said, trying not to break down, "h… how can you say that? How could you do this to your best friend!?"

Blaze glared at him.

"Best friend?" she taunted, "Ha! Don't make me laugh. I never enjoyed your company!"

"What…" Silver said in disbelief.

"I hate your company!" Blaze spat out with venom, "I can barely even tolerate having to be around you!"

Tears were falling down Silver's cheeks.

"Blaze… how…? I-I though-"

"You thought what!? That after all this time, even after I had sealed myself away from this world and kept Iblis away, you think I owe you my heart!?"

Silver's eyes widened.

"You… you remember?"

"Of course I remember, you idiot! Everyone remembers! And no one wants to remember how everything was your fault!"

"… Blaze… what are you talking about? Why… why are you doing this!? This isn't like you at all!"

"What's there to get, Silver!? You were so naïve and stupid enough to believe that Sonic was the 'Iblis Trigger' and you didn't even once see if maybe, just maybe, that he was innocent!"

"But, Blaze… you also-"

"You caused the princess to be captured, not once, not twice, but three times! When you first saw Sonic, you just let him escape, and then again, the second time you saw him, you just went on trying to kill him while the princess was captured right in front of you, and, again, the third time you saw Sonic!"

"Blaze-"

"Every single time, it was you who caused this whole thing to happen! Every time Sonic saved Elise you either did nothing to save her, or you prevented Sonic from saving her!"

Silver hung his head.

"Is she right? Was this all my fault?"

"All you had to do was think before you jumped to conclusions! And look what happened… I contained Iblis within myself… Sonic was killed by Mephiles… and by some God or Chaos given miracle, Sonic was revived and the two of you and Shadow defeated Solaris… only to alter the timeline."

Silver stared in horror into his hands.

"We all remember what happened, Silver! We just pretended that we didn't just to hope you would leave us all alone and go back to whatever future you come from!"

Blaze turned and began to walk away. Silver got up to his feet and ran to her; grabbing her hand.

"Blaze, wait, let me-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

*SLAP*

Blaze's free hand spun around and smacked Silver across the face, causing him to let her go and take a couple steps back. His muzzle now had a red imprint on it that burned, even to the touch of air. Silver looked into Blaze's eyes; his filled with pure sadness and heartbreak.

"Blaze…?"

"Get this through that thick skull of yours, dumbass! I HATE YOU!"

Tears poured out of Silver's eyes.

"I HATE YOU! AND I ALWAYS HAVE!"

Silver shot up from his hotel bed and gasped for air. He was momentarily confused, not knowing where he was until he looked around.

"It was… just a dream?" Silver asked himself.

He realized his eyes were wet with tears.

"More like a nightmare," he muttered as he wiped his face.

(Music fades)

Silver looked over and saw Blaze in her bed, still sleeping. He looked away and pressed his hands against the back of his head. He took a deep breath and sighed.

"That was the worst dream ever."

He got out of bed and headed for the bathroom to splash some water in his face. Unfortunately, since he was wearing his gloves, he didn't realize the water wasn't warm until it was too late.

"Oh, C-Chaos, that's cold!" he yelled quietly, trying not to wake up Blaze, "Well… I'm definitely awake now."

Silver grabbed a nearby towel and dried himself off. As he walked back into the room, he looked out the window and noticed that it was nearly noon, judging from the light outside. He then looked back at Blaze, who was still sleeping, much to his relief.

"I should wake her now, knowing she wants to get back to the search ASAP," Silver thought, "But… I think I'll let her sleep. I need to get some air, alone, anyways."

Grabbing a nearby pen and paper pad from the nearby complimentary tray on the table, he quickly scribbled a note and carefully placed it in Blaze's hand before quietly leaving the room.

[ BL2: Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep – Flamerock Refuge ] (Uploaded by whoknows4682) (0:00) (Loop) (Yes, best DLC in BL2… if you haven't played BL2, go get it and this DLC, they're AWESOME; if you have played BL2, but not this DLC… then what the flying **** is wrong with you?)

As soon as he stepped foot outside, Silver took a deep breath and exhaled. Using his psychokinesis, he floated off the ground and began to semi-aimlessly wander around the city.

"I suppose I could ask around for information while I'm out. Blaze would probably be irritated knowing that I didn't to do that while she was resting."

30 minutes of asking for information later…

"I'm starting to think no one around here will have any information at all," the self-proclaimed realist said to himself, "Maybe the person who took the Sol Emeralds has hidden them away."

If only he knew…

"Sure is a nice day out, though," Silver sighed as he glided up to the top of a small building and sat down on the roof, "I'll just take a quick break here."

His mind was getting a bit strained from using his powers. As he sat there, looking upon all the people moving below in the streets, Silver couldn't help but ponder.

"It's quite surprising to see this many humans here in this city. From what I've heard from the others, not many humans used to come to Mobius at all."

He looked around, noticing small things that most people tend to forget within a couple of minutes. Some people chatting at a nearby café; some children running through the crowd; some guy complaining about someone destroying his cart and ruining all his cabbages, really weird guy. too; some birds flying by Silver, catching his attention, as he watched them fly in circles before disappearing behind another building; some purple weasel tripping over a rock and getting his ass kicked for trying to steal from an elderly Mobian, Silver was the one who placed the rock there; and a couple sitting at the café mentioned before, enjoying one another's company and leaning on each other.

"Those two sure seem happy to be together," Silver thought to himself, "... It sure would be nice if it were me and Blaze in their shoes."

Silver hung his head and sighed.

"That dream had really got me shaken up. I know it was just a dream. Yet… what if… what if I really could have prevented Mephiles from killing Sonic in the first place? Would everyone have stayed the same, with or without knowledge of the previous timeline?"

…

"Would Blaze still have… liked me, like she did before?"

…

"Argh, you know what? I don't care!" said Silver, "It was just a dream! I know my friends! They care for me like they do for each other. And what happened was never my fault; it was all Mephiles' fault!"

Silver stood up.

"I'm not gonna let some nightmare distract me with 'what if's. When the time is right and I'm ready, I'll tell Blaze."

…

"Man, I must look like an insane patient talking to myself like this. Good thing no one up here to listen to me ramble."

Silver began to levitate off the ground.

"Well, break's over. Time to get back to Blaze and see if-"

Silver stopped talking when he heard something from the alley next to the building he was on.

"Huh? What's that?"

(Music fades, but keep the video up)

He glided over to the side of the building that the noise was coming from. As he got closer, it began to sound more like a child crying. He looked down and saw that it was a child crying. No one was around, so Silver took it upon himself to fly down and see what was wrong. He quietly landed beside the child. Silver noticed it was a Mobian rabbit. He had chocolate (web) colored fur (Yes, it's a color. Look it up.) with white fur on his chest. He wore a pair of generic white and green sneakers, similar to Tails', and a navy-blue colored jacket. He was curled up against the wall with his face buried in his legs.

"Hey… you okay?"

The kid jumped a little in fright, since Silver didn't exactly make his approach apparent, and whipped his head toward Silver.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Silver apologized, "I heard you cry from nearby and I was wondering if you needed any help."

The kid didn't seem to trust Silver and he scooted a few inches away. Silver sighed.

"It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you."

Silver took a couple steps forward and offered out his hand.

"Go away! My mama told me to never talk to strangers!" he yelled.

Silver stopped and pulled his hand back.

"Alright, alright… I'm not coming any closer."

Silver leaned his back against the wall as the kid went back to weeping in his knees.

"Come on, kid… what's wrong? Did someone bully you?"

The kid shook his head against his legs.

"Did someone hurt you?"

Another head shake.

"Are you lost?"

The child didn't give any response.

"Aw, is that it?" thought Silver, "Poor kid."

"Were you looking for your parents?"

The kid looked over the Silver and nodded.

"Y-yeah… *sniff* I-I-I…"

He couldn't even finish giving his answer before sobbing uncontrollably. Although he was slightly annoyed by the child's inability to talk to him coherently, he was feeling immensely bad for the young rabbit's situation. He quickly flew off to the nearby café. When he felt a gust of wind blow by, the kid looked up and saw that the gray hedgehog was gone. Gone… and left him to be alone… again. He held his head in his hands and sobbed once more.

…

"Here."

The kid looked up and saw a napkin held out to him. What, did you think Silver would leave the kid? You heartless monster.

"It's a napkin," Silver explained, "I brought a few for you to use."

The kid slowly reached up and took the napkin.

"Th-thank-k-k y-y-yyyou," the kid said before blowing his nose into the napkin.

"Wow… judging by the napkin, he must have been here for some time… how did I not notice him before?"

If you're confused by the napkin, just watch "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"… yeah, that scene. No, not that scene, the one after the patty cake scene. The one where Roger is given a shot for the first time. THAT scene.

"You want to tell me what happened?" Silver asked the rabbit as he handed him another napkin.

"Well… *sniff* My mama was taking me with her to go shopping. She gave me a big red balloon for behaving the whole time. *SNFFFF* We were *sniff* at this big place with lots of stores inside. We went inside an elevator with lots of people. I was holding my mama's hand. But… but when the doors opened, someone pushed the people into us and I was pushed out of the elevator. Mama was still in the elevator when the doors closed. Then… I saw… a guy with a gun. He looked scary. So, I ran away… and now…"

Incoming flood.

"I can't find my mama!" the kid sobbed.

Silver felt horrible. He knelt down to the kid and placed a hand on his shoulder.

(Go to 1:54 and continue the music)

"That's not right. No child should have to separated from their loving parents."

"Don't worry, kid. I'll help you find your mom."

The kid looked up at Silver; hope shined in his purple eyes.

"You… you mean it!?" he asked, wiping his face.

"I do mean it," said Silver

"You promise?"

"I promise. Come on, let's look around for your mom."

Silver held out his hand and helped the kid up to his feet.

"Thank you, mister!"

"Call me Silver."

"I'm Jackson."

"Alright, Jackson. What can you tell me about your mom? What does she look like?"

"Well… she's a rabbit like me. She has long ears, like me. Her fur is orange."

"… Okaaaayyy… anything special about her?"

"…Ummm… nope."

"Hm… this might be a bit harder than I had hoped," Silver said to himself, "Well, come on. Let's see if we can retrace your steps."

Jackson looked at Silver with a confused look on his face.

"Retrace my steps?"

"Oh. It's just a saying. It means going back to the places you were at before."

"Oh…"

"Yeah… should have know a kid his age wouldn't get it."

"Okay, Jackson, ready to fly?"

"What? I'm a rabbit. I can't fly."

Silver smirked and used his abilities to levitate himself and Jackson off the ground.

"Whoa! We're flying!"

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah…! But I can't move."

"Sorry, I can't do much about that. But we can now fly around and look for your mom from the air."

To help Jackson understand, Silver took them both out of the alley and began flying a few feet above the street.

"Whoa! We're so high in the air!"

"Yeah we are. Now, let's see if we can find your mom."

"Okay!"

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Blaze was beginning to stir in her sleep. She slowly rose from her slumber; stretching out her arms and yawned. She rolled her shoulders to get the knot out of her back. Blaze looked over to Silver's bed and immediately became alerted to the fact that he was no longer there.

"Silver!?"

Blaze rushed to the bathroom to see if he was there.

"Where is he?"

She brought her right hand up to scratch her ear when a piece of paper fell from it.

"Hm? What's this?"

She unfolded the paper and saw that it was a note.

"Blaze, went out to get some fresh air. Didn't want to wake you. I'll be back by 1:00. Silver."

Blaze looked outside. Judging by the light it was well past 1:00.

"Oh, Silver," she sighed, "where did you go?"

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Blaze grabbed the same pen and paper pad Silver used earlier and wrote a note for Silver, in case he returned before her, and left it on his bed.

"Hm… where could he have gone?" she pondered as she walked out of the room.

One hour later…

Although his situation was somewhat serious, given the nature of his age, Jackson was having a blast. Not to sound ignorant to the fact that he was lost, how often does a kid like him get the chance to fly around the Mobian city with the help of a psychokinetic hedgehog? Not to mention the view of the whole city from a bird's eye view.

"Is that the mall you were at?" Silver asked.

"Mmm… no…" Jackson replied sadly.

On the downside, Silver and Jackson have been unable to find the shopping mall he and his mother were at before the young rabbit was separated from her. And the handful of people they asked if they knew of said mall were less than helpful; not that it was their fault.

"Hmm…" Silver hummed, scanning the area, "Maybe that officer could give us directions?"

The two glided over to the police officer, who was just patrolling the streets by foot. He was a bit surprised to see someone like Silver flying towards him. Likewise, Silver was a bit surprised to find a human officer in Mobius.

"Can I help you, sir?" the officer asked.

"Yeah. This kid got separated from his mother earlier and we're trying to find her," Silver explained, "Would you happen to know any malls around here, besides that one?"

The officer gave Silver and accusing look.

"Exactly how did this young kid get separated from his mother?" he asked.

Silver turned to Jackson.

"You want to tell him what happened?" Silver asked.

Jackson nodded and told the officer the whole story.

"I see…" he said, "I'm sorry to hear that. Look, Silver, I understand that you want to help this kid out, but…"

"You want me to let law enforcement handle it?" Silver finished, hesitantly.

"It would be best, yes."

The officer noticed Jackson looking disappointed. He sighed.

"However…"

Jackson's ears perked up.

"I suppose somehow with your abilities would be of great help as well," said the officer, "Tell you what; Jackson can stay by your side during this search. I'll make some calls and see if anyone knows anything regarding this kid."

"Really?" Silver asked slightly relieved, "Thanks!"

"But I want you to stay in touch with me. Do you have a phone on you?"

"I have a communicator. It's pretty much the same thing."

"That'll do. Here's my contact information," the officer said as he handed Silver a quickly scribbled note with his information.

"Thanks. Here's mine," Silver replied, writing his down on the officer's notepad.

"Alright. To answer your earlier question, there is a mall just a few blocks due north of here. Can't miss it; it's the largest building in that area."

"Thanks again, officer. Come on, Jackson!"

(Music fades)

With that, the two flew off towards the mall. Once they were out of sight, the officer began making his calls, as he stepped into a nearby alley.

"Go ahead."

"This is Echo 6," the 'officer' said in a robotic voice, "Target is heading for designated ambush site.

"Excellent. Be sure to bring his feline friend there as well. But you and your squad mates are not to engage until evening."

"Understood."

"And remember… I want those two brought in alive. Leave no witnesses alive."

"Understood."

The robot's holographic body briefly disappeared, revealing the SWAT-bot underneath the disguise.

Another hour later…

Silver and Jackson walked out of the mall, both feeling a little down.

"I can't believe that we finally found the mall, but can't find my her," Jackson sighed.

Silver placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, kid," Silver assured him, "I haven't given up yet! We'll find her."

Jackson sighed again.

"I hope so…" he said sadly.

Silver began to wonder what their next move should be.

"Maybe we should try something different," Silver suggested.

"Like what?"

"Was your mom planning to go anywhere after shopping?"

Jackson thought for a moment.

"Well… mama was-"

"There you are!"

Silver turned to the person shouting.

"Oops…"

[ Fire Woman (In the Style of the Cult) (Karaoke Version) ] (Uploaded by The Karaoke Channel – Topic) (0:00)

The person yelling walked over to Silver, not very pleased at him.

"Uhh… h-hey, Blaze," Silver said nervously.

"Where have you been!?" Blaze shouted, "Your note said you'd be back by 1:00! Where were you!? And who's this!?"

Silver followed the direction of Blaze's finger and ended up looking at Jackson.

"Oh, right… *ahem* Blaze, this is Jackson. He-"

"We're supposed to be looking for the Emeralds, Silver! Why would you think playing with children would help us find those Emeralds?!"

"Uh… Blaze…"

She put her hands on her hips.

…

…

…

"Well?!" she asked.

"Uh…?"

"Are you going to explain yourself or not!?"

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were going to interrupt me," Silver replied, "I was going to return, but I found this kid, who got lost, and I just wanted to help him get back to his mom."

Silence.

Blaze raised a brow.

"Is that so?"

"… Yes?"

Blaze sighed. She turned to Jackson and looked at him with pity.

"So, you need help looking for you mother, kid?"

Jackson nodded.

"Well… I suppose we could help him out," she sighed.

Silver felt a load fall off his shoulders (but still holding a few million tons of held in feelings for Blaze) and relaxed.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Jackson."

"Well, Jackson, I'm Blaze. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too!"

Blaze turned to Silver.

"I'm guessing you've been searching for his mother in the last couple of hours?"

Silver nodded.

"Yeah," he replied, "we were just discussing where we should go next when you showed up. What were you going to say, Jackson?"

The two looked to the rabbit.

"Huh? Oh, yeah… my mama was going to take me to the park after shopping today!"

"Park?"

Silver's mind began to freak out a little. His nightmare from earlier seemed to act as a prediction.

"You okay, Silver?" Blaze asked.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine."

Blaze gave him a look of uncertainty.

"Okay… if you say so."

She turned to Jackson.

"Maybe your mother is at the park," she suggested, "I think I saw one on the way over here."

Some came across Silver's mind.

"How did you find us, Blaze?"

She turned to her friend.

"Oh, I ran into a police officer. He told me about the two of you."

"Wait… he just so happened to know you and I are friends?"

"No, I literally ran into him," Blaze explained, slightly embarrassed, "I explained that I was looking for you and… well, you know."

"Ah."

"Um… can we go now?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah, let's get going," said Silver.

Blaze nodded and the three headed for the park. Little did any of them know, they were being followed.

(Music fades)

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Mystic Ruins: Tails' Workshop

[ Mystic Ruins – Sonic Adventure Music Extended ] (Uploaded by BrawlBRSTMs3 X) (0:00)

It was late in the afternoon. The workshop was completely silent; no one was there to tinker or repair machinations. The palm trees along the long stretch of land slightly swayed in the light ocean breeze. Occasionally the train from Station Square would roll by before leaving. Shockingly, even after all these years, many archeologists and researchers still explore the vast forest and the ancient ruins… so long as they don't keep getting lost, of course. But like the wind that comes and goes without warning, so did the silence as the Tornado 2 came in to land on the runway that was now activating and opening along the cliff. A few moments later, the plane's engine died down. Faint voices could be heard from outside.

"…"

"…?"

"…"

"…!"

"… -nic."

"Tails-… -base?"

The workshop door opened, and the trio entered.

"I don't know, Sonic," said Tails, "It doesn't seem like a good idea for anyone to head off to that old base in the forest. Not after what Shadow told us."

"I'm with Tails on this one, Sonic," said Amy, "I know how much you love adventure and danger-"

"And you," Sonic smirked as he tapped Amy on the nose.

"And me," she continued, slightly blushing, "but not even Shadow knows who it was down at the base. It might be best if we just continue searching for the Chaos Emeralds the way we've been doing now."

"I'm not so sure…" Sonic replied, rubbing his chin.

Tails and Amy looked at each other, confused, before looking back at Sonic.

"About what?" Tails asked.

"… ah, never mind. Forget I said that," said Sonic, "But you're right. Both of you. We should continue searching for the Chaos Emeralds."

He sighed.

"As much as I love exploring every corner of the planet, there really should be an easier way to find the Chaos Emeralds," said Sonic.

"I know how you feel," said Tails, "Even my Miles Electric hasn't been of much use. Unless the Emeralds are in space, there's practically no way of finding them."

Amy turned to Tails.

"Where in space would they even be, Tails? The Ark?" she asked.

"Uh, I was being hypothetical, but, yes, that is one possibility… if Shadow hadn't already assured us that they aren't there."

"Good point," Amy replied.

Sonic walked over to Tails.

"So, you won't be coming with us?" he asked.

Tails shook his head.

"I already told Shadow and Siris I would stay here for a few days. Besides, Siris is right; G.U.N. does not take Omega's maintenance seriously when it comes to battle repairs."

"Maybe that's the reason why he left," Sonic joked.

Tails and Amy gave him a disapproving look.

"… yeah, I regret saying that now," Sonic said nervously.

Tails sighed.

"In any case, I better get started on making those calls and working on the calculations for Omega's parts."

"Alright, buddy."

(Music fades)

Tails began walking over to his workbench, grabbing a couple of tools off the ground as he walked by them. When he reached the table, he looked over and noticed Sonic and Amy were still there.

"I thought you guys were gonna leave," he said to them.

"What made you think that, Tails?" asked Amy.

"Uh… well, we were talking about searching for the Chaos Emeralds and-"

"We didn't mean that we were leaving this very minute," said Sonic.

"Oh. Then, when are you guys leaving?"

Sonic shrugged.

"I was thinking of getting some rest before heading off."

"Same," said Amy.

Sonic had an idea. He grabbed Amy's hand (Yeah, I know, he finally got his feelings for her straightened out months ago) and pulled her towards the stairs.

"Sonic! Where you taking me?!"

"Don't worry, Amy. I just wanted to show you something."

The two disappeared down the stairs, leaving Tails to work in silence.

"I've never been down here before…" said Amy.

The room was dark, so she couldn't see anything in the room.

"It's where I keep a lot of memories," Sonic explained as he flipped a light switch.

The room, which was much smaller than Amy assumed it was, revealed the years of memorabilia Sonic had obtained.

"Wow!" Amy exclaimed, "You kept all these!?"

"Yup."

Sonic released Amy's hand and watched as she slowly walked around the room; looking at everything as though she was at a museum exhibit.

"Isn't this the Bounce Bracelet Tails made for you years ago?"

"Yeah. Shame it has no use for me anymore, now that I can bounce without it."

Amy walked over to another item.

"Your Extreme Gear!"

"Yeah," Sonic laughed, "It's been a while since she's been used. Might think about joining the next EX World Grand Prix… assuming someone other than Egg-head actually hosts it."

"I think someone else is hosting the next one."

"Eh… we'll see."

Amy put the hoverboard down and continued looking around.

"These sure do bring back a lot of memories, Sonic."

Sonic dashed to Amy's side.

"Any in particular?" he asked.

"Everything."

"Everything?"

Amy turned her head to look at Sonic.

"From the moment we met on Little Planet…"

"You mean you followed me to Little Planet and dove into my chest," Sonic teased.

[ Undertale OST – sans. Extended ] (Uploaded by Etu Tran) (0:00)

Amy giggled.

"Well, my tarot cards were right, weren't they?"

Sonic rolled his eyes.

"You admit that I was telling the truth about me going to Camelot, then I'll say you have magical powers, Miss Rose."

Amy summoned her hammer and held it upon her shoulder.

"Did you say something?" she asked.

"I love you and have mercy."

Amy smirked and returned her hammer to…

Seriously, where in the Hell does she put that thing? Her inventory? Hammer space? Someone come up with a logical reason!

"Remember that fighters' tournament we were in?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, and how one of the contestants used a fake Chaos Emerald to join."

"We didn't even notice until a few fights into the event. Man, were we oblivious back then."

"Then, you were in that race Eggman had set up. I remember wanting to join, but I couldn't keep up with anyone in the qualifiers."

"At the time, I was hoping that would be the last time I ever saw you," said Sonic, earning him a playful punch in the arm.

"Oh, boy, were you wrong! Do you remember that romantic day?"

Sonic couldn't help but laugh and groan at the same time.

"You and that little Flicky you named 'Birdie'? Oh my God and Chaos, that day went from bad to worse more times than I wanted to count."

"Go on~…" Amy teased, "I want to hear it from you."

"First, Eggman got his hands on the Chaos Emeralds me and Tails had after tricking Knuckles into thinking our green one was a Master Emerald fragment. Then, we had to fight Chaos in his stronger form. Then, we chased after Eggman in the Tornado 1, which he managed to down, separating me from Tails. THEN- are you laughing!?"

Amy was trying her best not to laugh but failed miserably. Tears were falling down her face and she was clutching her sides.

"I'm sorry, Sonic. I can't help it. It's just so funny every time I hear this story. Phew… okay… *Pffffft*… you can continue."

Sonic shook his head.

"Then… you come out of nowhere, asking me to help you deal with the bird and wanting to… what was it that you said? 'Tag along'?"

"Yes," she giggled.

"And as if my day couldn't get any worse, you were being chased by ZERO, and what did you want to do!?"

"Go to Twinkle Park."

"Go to Twinkle Park!"

Amy began to laugh again.

"I mean, what was wrong with that girl? Heck, what was wrong with that GUY!? I should have just taken you home right there and then. But, nooooo… you wanted to go in because 'cute couples get in free'."

Sonic shook his head in disbelief as Amy held herself up by holding on to one of Sonic's shoulders, still giggling.

"So you rush into Twinkle Park, and, we're not even in the park itself yet, and you somehow managed to get separated from me! So I run all over the park, trying to find you and I couldn't find you anywhere. Then, I look for you along the entire highway system of Speed Highway. I spent all night dashing around like a lunatic all over that highway trying to find you. And where do I find you? Being carried off by ZERO across the train tracks headed for the Mystic Ruins!"

Amy broke again. Sonic himself was laugh now too. After a few minutes of laughing, they finally calmed down.

(Music fades)

"Man… I haven't laughed that hard in ages," said Amy.

"Same."

Amy took a deep breath and continued walking around. She and Sonic continued talking about all the adventures that had happened over the years. Some time later, Amy stopped and looked at a certain object.

"What's this?" she asked.

Sonic walked over and noticed the she was staring at a golden ring, with a ribbon-like design on it, attached to a necklace chain that hung from a nail on the wall.

"Oh, that? That was the ring Shahra gave me. You know, the Genie of the Ring?"

Amy looked at Sonic.

"You mean the time where you claimed to have gone into the world of the Arabian Nights?"

"Yeah! Remember? I told you guys about… it…"

Sonic noticed Amy's expression.

"… and you don't believe that one either, do you?"

"Nope," she replied, shaking her head.

Sonic sighed.

"What must I do to prove these things actually happened?"

"Well, you could take us to those places, for starters."

"Easier said than done…"

Silence. Sonic scratched the back of his head while Amy looked over in the corner while rocking on her feet.

"Hey, Sonic?"

"Yeah, Amy?"

"I've… been thinking."

"About what?"

Amy bit her lower lip.

"About… us."

[ Mass Effect 2 HQ Music – Reflections ] (Uploaded by The Pinch) (0:00) (Loop)

"Us? Like… in general or…?"

"I mean 'us' as in our relationship."

"Oh. Well… what about… 'us'?"

Amy sighed with heaviness.

"Sonic… where do you see yourself in 10 years?"

"Is this a trick question? 'Cause the answer if obviously a mirror," he joked.

"Not what I meant, Sonic."

"I know," he sighed, "Honestly… I don't really know, Amy."

The pink hedgehog turned to the blue one.

"I don't usually think about the far future. As I'm sure all of you guys already know."

"Well, at least you've acknowledged that fact. But, where do you see yourself with your friends in 10 years?"

Sonic thought for a moment about how to answer.

"Well... I suppose Tails would have kicked me out of the-"

"Sonic... please be serious for the moment."

"Alright, alright. I hope everyone is still friends, and not on Shadow's bad side. Are you asking about Siris?"

"Let's assume we know Siris and has become good friends with us."

"Same answer… So… where do you see yourself in 10 years?"

"… I was thinking… well… you know… living with you… in our home…"

Sonic tilted his head.

"… with kids?"

*Thud*

Amy turned and saw that Sonic had fallen to the ground. He quickly hopped back to his feet and pretended as though nothing happened.

"Uh… kids? Amy, I… eerrrr… well… isn't this a bit soon to be thinking about?"

Amy slightly frowned.

"I mean, we're just dating. And the farthest we've gone is just a simple kiss."

"On the cheek," she added softly.

"Y-yeah… I mean, it's not that I don't want to kiss you. It's…"

"You don't think we'll go beyond… this?"

Sonic couldn't think of the right words.

"It's not… I don't… maybe? No, wait! That's not it!"

"Sonic…"

Sonic stopped talking.

"If you don't think we'll be going any further… maybe we should end it now."

Sonic's eyes widened.

"What are you saying?!"

"I think you know."

"… you think… we should break up?"

Amy looked down and lightly kicked the ground.

"What do you think?" she asked.

Sonic stared blankly at her. After a couple of moments of silence, Amy turned and began to walk towards the stairs.

"Sonic, if you can't answer, then I'll do it for you-"

She was interrupted when she felt something beginning to hang from her heck. She looked down and noticed the chained ring was now around her neck. She whipped herself around and saw Sonic standing inches away.

"I don't want this to end," said Sonic.

He grabbed Amy's hands.

"Sonic?"

"I want us to be more. I'm sorry I wasn't with you these past few months. I'm sorry for always pushing you away just to keep you safe. I'm sorry for always running away."

"… Sonic…"

Sonic embraced Amy in a soft, but firm hug.

"I've always been afraid of having people too close to me; worrying that Eggman will use them against me. Remember how I said that to you during that one date?"

Sonic felt Amy's nod against shoulder and muzzle.

"I still have those fears, even now. I want you… no, I want us to have more."

Amy didn't say anything and just listened to Sonic's words.

"I can't give you an answer about where I'll be in 10 years… but I can't even imagine you not being a part of it in some way."

He pulled away and looked her in the eyes.

"But I can promise you that someday, your dream will come true."

Amy's eyes widened.

"You mean…?"

Sonic lifted the ring up a little with his index finger.

"Consider this as a promise ring," he smirked before giving Amy a peck on the cheek and giving her a wink, "And you know that I always keep my promises!"

Amy glared at him.

"Really? Like the dates you forgot about?"

"I said 'promises'. I don't recall ever 'promising' to take you out on a date."

Amy smiled and shook her head.

"Always ready with excuses, aren't you?" she teased.

"So, I take it that's a 'yes' for the ring?"

"Oh, course, silly! And you better stay true to your word. Otherwise I'll make sure you don't miss a date with my hammer."

Sonic straightened up and held up his right hand.

"I, Sonic the Hedgehog, Prince of Mobotropolis, so solemnly swear…"

Amy playfully pushed him away.

"Oh, shut up, Sonic. Just because you are a prince, doesn't mean you have to act like one," she teased as she began walking up stairs.

"If that is your wish, milady," said Sonic as he climbed after her.

(Music fades)

Not wanting it to get annoying, Amy hid the ring under her dress. Nope. Not one word. I don't wanna hear it. You know exactly what I- forget it, just don't. Tails had just finished another phone call when he heard Sonic and Amy approaching him.

"Leaving now?" he asked over his shoulder.

"I… don't know. Why did we come upstairs?" Amy asked Sonic.

"I dunno," he shrugged, "I was following you."

"Really?" she asked, "Huh. How did that happen?"

*Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

Tails slowly turned his head to Sonic. The hedgehog held up his hands.

"Wasn't me!"

The two blinked and turned to Amy.

"Uhh… heh. Sorry. Guess I'm a little hungry," she told them.

"Well, I guess we now know why you came up here, then," said Sonic, "I'm actually a bit hungry myself."

"Same," said Tails, "Why don't you go run a few laps outside while Amy and I make something for dinner, Sonic?"

"Dinner? Wait, what time is it?!" Sonic shouted.

"Nearly 5:30," Tails answered, "The two of you were down there for over an hour."

"Whoops. I was planning on leaving sooner," Sonic admitted, "Wait, why do you need Amy in the kitchen?"

"Because unlike you, she can cook something that's not chilidogs," Tails smirked.

"What? Pleeease… I can cook!"

Tails and Amy smiled at Sonic.

"No, you can't," they said.

"Sure I can!"

"What can you make besides chilidogs?" Tails asked.

"Hotdogs?"

Tails and Amy facepalmed.

"Get out, Sonic," Amy shooed at him.

Sonic smirked and dashed out the door.

"Well, now that he's gone, what should we make, Tails?"

"I dunno. Let's see what we have to work with."

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Mobius

[ Halo 3 ODST Soundtrack – Light at the End ] (Uploaded by MetaDeadDrop) (0:00)

Evening was fast approaching, and Silver and Blaze were still no closer to finding Jackson's mother. They've been searching the entire park and asking around for hours, but no prevail. The three were now sitting on a park bench, thinking about what to do next.

"Still nothing," Jackson sighed, "Maybe I should go and wait at the police station…"

Silver and Blaze turned and looked to each other.

"I'm sure it would more comfortable if you came with us and slept in a comfy bed at the hotel," said Blaze.

"Yeah," said Silver, "Besides, we still have some time left before it gets late."

Jackson wiped his watery eyes. His eyes caught sight of something. He scooted off the bench and started walking towards it.

"Whoa, hold on there!" Silver called out, using his psychokinesis to hold the young rabbit in place.

He then released Jackson as he and Blaze walked up to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Blaze asked.

"I thought I saw my mama over there," said Jackson, pointing in the direction he saw something.

Silver and Blaze looked where he was pointing but saw no one.

"There's no one there," Silver told him.

Jackson turned around.

"Yes, there is. She right…"

They were right, no one was there.

"Oh… I thought…"

Blaze knelt down and gave Jackson a hug.

"It's alright. We'll find her," she told him.

Silver stared at Blaze. He had never seen her like this before. At least, not after Solaris.

"Wow… she would make a great mother… someday."

Blaze let Jackson go and got back up.

"I'll take a quick look over there, okay?" she told him.

Jackson nodded, and Blaze dashed off to investigate if anyone was there. Silver watched her disappear behind some bushes.

(Music fades)

"Is she your girlfriend?"

Silver shook his head and turned to Jackson.

"What?!"

"Is Blaze your girlfriend, Silver?" Jackson asked again.

"What? Her? No…! Why would you ask that?"

"Because you've been staring at her. Like a lot. Are you in love with her?"

Silver's mouth dropped. If it weren't for the fact that his jaw was hinged, it would have plummeted into the Earth.

"What!? No! I mean… kinda. It's… difficult to explain."

Jackson tilted his head.

"Do you like her?"

"Uh… yeah. I do like her… as a friend!"

"Why is your face all red?"

Silver turned away to hide his blush.

"It's just… hot right now, that's all."

Jackson walked around Silver and stood in front of him.

"No, it's not! It's cool outside!"

Silver crossed his arms.

"Well… maybe I'm just warm."

"Does Blaze like you?"

"Oh, come on… why me?"

"I guess. We are good friends after all."

"Friends? You two seem to be more than friends."

"I… well, so what if I like her?"

"Does she know?"

"Uh… well… no, not really."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"I don't know… maybe?"

"Tell me what?"

"I'm gonna kill myself…"

Silver slowly turned around and saw Blaze standing there.

"Uuuhhhhh…"

"We were just talking about- *mmmffff*"

Silver quickly put a hand over Jackson's mouth to shut him up.

"Don't tell her anything!" he hissed.

Blaze glared at the two children; well, the child and the guy acting like one.

"Um… is something wrong, Silver?"

Silver removed his hand from Jackson's mouth and turned to Blaze.

"Nothing. Just… look, let's just focus on finding his mother," Silver insisted, "By the way, was anyone there?"

"No," Blaze replied and then turned to Jackson, "Sorry."

The rabbit sighed.

"Now, what?" he asked.

Silver and Blaze looked at each other. They were running short on options of what they could do at this hour.

*CLANG*

*CLANG CLANG*

"Huh?"

*CLANG CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

Silver and Blaze looked around and saw robots dropping in from the sky, surrounding them.

"Looks like trouble," Blaze muttered.

One of the robots approached the group. Luckily, it was getting late, so not many people were at the park. Those who were there were already running off.

"Hand over the Sol Emeralds," it commanded.

"Oh, great. Now we know they mean trouble," Silver whispered to Blaze.

"Comply, or else," the robot threatened.

"Or else what?" Blaze asked.

The robot's wrist mounted lasers began to glow. A moment later, all the other robots were doing the same.

"I don't think we'll be complying," said Silver.

Jackson was terrified. Silver looked over to him.

"Don't worry," he whispered, "We'll keep you safe."

"Enough talking!" the robot shouted, "This is your final warning: give up the Sol Emeralds… or we will take you down."

Silver and Blaze looked at each other and nodded.

"What will it be, Mobians?"

Blaze glared at the robot and smirked.

"How about no?"

As soon as she said those words, Blaze summoned a huge wall of fire around herself, Silver, and Jackson.

"Fire!" the robot ordered.

Its comrades looked at him as though it had a few screws loose. It looked around before rubbing at hand on its face.

"Not the flames, you idiots! FIRE YOUR LASERS!"

The robots turned their attention back to the wall of fire and… welled fired at it. Wow, that sounds so… strange. But also amusing. For a few seconds, laser beams were shot through the flames and hitting targets. Unfortunately, when the flames died out a couple of seconds later, those 'targets' turned out to be other robots and the trio were nowhere to be see.

"What? Where did they go!?" the leader shouted.

"Hrrrahh!"

The robots looked up and saw Silver diving towards the ground; his hand emitting psychokinetic energy. He landed on the ground and slammed his palm into the ground, releasing a psychokinetic shockwave across the nearby area. The attack caused all the robots to temporarily cease functions.

[ Rival Battle – Silver (OST Version) – Sonic Generations Music Extended ] (Uploaded by BrawlBRSTMs3 X) (0:00)

Silver levitated all the robots and threw them back, across the park. Blaze and Jackson slowly levitated down to the ground. When Blaze summoned the wall of fire, Silver lifted the trio high into the air.

"Blaze! Take Jackson and get out of here! I'll deal with these balls of scrap!"

Blaze turned to Silver, looking shocked.

"What!? And leave you here alone!? Not a chance, Silver!"

"I'm not gonna risk his life by keeping him here, Blaze!" Silver argued, "Go! I can handle this!"

Blaze scoffed.

"Naïve idiot," she muttered as she turned to Jackson, "Climb on my back! I'll take you someplace safe!"

Jackson hopped onto Blaze's back and the two rushed away from the park. Silver caught sight of a few robots chasing after them.

"Not gonna happen!"

Silver flew over towards the robots. Once they were lined up in his sights, Silver unleashed a Psychic Knife attack on them (Yes, that is an attack he has. It's from Sonic Generations.), slicing through all the robots and causing them to explode. A sudden laser beam flew in front of his face, giving him a bit of a scare.

"Looks like the Psycho Shock wore off," he muttered as he turned to face the platoon of angry robots charging after him.

Dashing out of another laser beams path, Silver picked up one of the robots and slammed it into another one, causing both to explode. He flew up, avoiding more laser fire, and started to grasp the situation he put himself in.

"I may have bitten off more than I can chew this time…"

"AAUUGHH!"

A stray laser beam hit Silver directly in the chest. With his concentration lost, Silver fell to the ground and landed on his back.

"Ooofff!"

The robots approached him while he was dazed. Silver shook his head and saw a giant metal foot hovering over his head.

"Whoa!"

*CLANG*

Silver rolled along the ground in time; narrowly dodging the robot stomping on his head. Silver quickly got to his feet and psychokinetically lifted the robot off the ground.

"Hyaaah!"

Using the robot like a wrecking ball, Silver swung the robot around him, crashing into all the robots. One by one, the robots fell like dominoes before exploding. Silver caught sight of the squad leader and heaved the robot at it. The leader simple stepped to the side before rushing towards Silver. Unfortunately, Silver was preoccupied with another wave of robots after throwing the 'wrecking ball' away and didn't notice the leader until it was too late. Out of the corner of his eye, Silver saw the robot leader coming down upon him from the air.

*WAM*

The leader was slammed from the side by an unseen force. The shockwave caused by the attack knocked Silver down to the ground.

"Need a hand?"

"Huh?"

Silver looked over and saw Blaze offering out a hand. Silver took it and was helped up to his feet.

"Incoming!" he warned.

Blaze dashed out of an incoming laser's path. Silver levitated a park bench and threw it at the shooter; nailing it right in the head, bother literally and figuratively, since a rust nail was poking through one of the wooden beams; destroying the robot. Blaze appeared beside Silver and Fire Clawed a robot trying to sneak up on Silver.

"I thought I told you-"

"Can we argue later!? We've got robots to smash!" Blaze exclaimed.

"Okay… fine!" Silver replied as he sent another Psychic Knife sailing through five more robots, "But, where's Jackson!?"

"He's safe! Don't worry, he's in good hands!"

Nearby…

Jackson watched from a safe distance as he watched Silver and Blaze fight off the horde of robots attacking them.

"Don't worry," a voice next to him said, "Everything will be okay."

Jackson looked up.

"You sure?"

The officer he met earlier that day looked down and smiled.

"Of course. Everything will be just fine."

Jackson looked out to the battlefield.

"I hope you're right."

The officer walked behind Jackson.

"Oh, I know I'm right," said the officer as his right arm readied to chokehold the child.

Back at Robots "R" Us… yeah, that shouldn't have been said, sorry…

*Ahem*

Back at the scrapyard…

Blaze dashed through a barrage of robots; an aura of fire surrounded her as she decimated the machines. Silver was psychokinetically holding a seesaw, which is a miracle of its own that they still exist, and hammering robots into the ground as though they were whack-a-moles. Within seconds, there was only one robot left standing. The leader. Blaze skidded to a halt next to Silver as the two faced off the last remaining machine.

"Why not make it easier on yourself and just give up now!?" Silver called out.

The robot responded by aiming both lasers at them.

"They never make it easy," Silver chuckled.

"Ready?" Blaze asked him.

"Ready."

The robot charged the duo and fired its lasers. Dodging in opposite directions to the side, Blaze dashed toward the robot, intending to finish the battle. Silver cartwheeled to the side and got ready to do his part of their plan. Blaze was a few feet away from the robot when it fired another shot at her. Blaze fell to the ground and slid toward the robot. The machine leapt over the Mobian cat as she slid under it. The leader was about to fire again but found itself immobilized and floating in the air.

"What!?"

Blaze leapt high in the air behind it as Silver tossed the robot toward her. She somersaulted a couple of times before heel kicking the robot back towards Silver. His right hand charged with energy, Silver waited until the robot crashed into the ground in front of him before grabbing the robot's head and unleashing the energy into that metal brain.

"NNNOOOOOOOOOoooooo…."

(Music fades)

The attack completely scrambled the robot's systems and caused it to shut down. Silver released his grip on the robot's head and watched as the robot fell onto its back. Blaze walked over to Silver and looked upon the defeated foe.

"Well, that was eventful," said Silver.

"Shame we didn't keep it intact, Silver," Blaze sighed, "We could have gained information from it."

Silver winced.

"Oops. Yeah… should have thought of that before…" he said apologetically.

"Don't worry, I'm as much to blame, since I didn't think about that either when we came up with the plan."

"Yeah, I guess that's fair," he said, "At least that threat is over."

"Not quite," said a voice behind them.

Silver and Blaze turned around and saw the officer holding Jackson around his arm and a hand over the rabbit's mouth.

"Hey!" Silver yelled, "What do you think you're doing!?"

"Put Jackson down, right now!" Blaze demanded.

The officer laughed.

"Oh, you foolish Mobians… when will you ever learn…?"

The officer's voice sounded different that time. Almost like he was a robot.

"… that looks can be deceiving?"

[ Dark Souls III Soundtrack OST – Secret Betrayal ] (Uploaded by Shirrako) (0:00) (Loop if necessary)

"Who are you?!" Silver asked.

The officer smirked. Suddenly, his body began to distort and flicker before the hologram disappeared and, in its place, a robot, slightly larger than the ones the pair previously fought moments ago.

"Surprise," the robot taunted, "I see that my squad has failed to bring down a pair as weak as yourselves."

"Wow, if we're that weak, then your squad must have been the strongest team sent by whoever you work for," Silver quipped.

Blaze felt something strange; like an energy source was in the vicinity. Her eyes widened.

"Silver! That robot has a Sol Emerald!" she exclaimed.

Silver turned to her in shock.

"What!?"

The robot seemed slightly impressed by Blaze's revelation.

"Interesting… so you can sense the Sol Emeralds when they are near your presence… Your Highness."

"Rrrgghh, don't call me that!"

"Blaze, not now!" said Silver.

He turned back to the robot.

"Let him go!"

"Why? He's the only leverage I have. Hmph. Let's not waste time, my lord is a very busy individual."

Silver and Blaze glared at the machine.

"So, you work for this 'lord' then?" Silver questioned.

"Of course!" the robot replied, "Who else do you think is capable of taking down so many heroes of this planet at once? Hint; it's not Eggman."

"Heroes at once?"

"Let the kid go!" Blaze ordered.

"Now, now, let's not be hasty," said the robot, "I'm sure we can come to an agreement, don't you? Just hand over the remaining Sol Emeralds and I'll be on my merry way. As a bonus, I'll even release the boy."

Silence fell upon the group for a moment.

"And if we don't?" Blaze asked venomously.

The robot tightened its grip around Jackson's neck, causing the boy to release a muffled scream. Tears were pouring down his face.

"Then a death will be on both your hands," the robot stated darkly.

Silver activated his abilities.

"You heartless monster!" he screamed, "I'll make sure you regret-"

"Oh, please, Silver. Your psychokinesis has no effect on me," the robot taunted as it turned to Blaze, "You can thank your girlfriend here for that. It's quite impressive what the Sol Emeralds are capable of."

"Damn you!" Blaze shouted.

Silver growled at the fiend.

"What should we do, Blaze?"

Blaze lowered her head and sighed. Silver turned in shock when he saw her beginning to walk over towards the robot.

"Blaze, wait! You can't be serious!"

She stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"We have no choice," she said as tears began to form in her eyes, "If it saves Jackson's life…"

"No! There must be another way! We can-"

Blaze held a hand up and Silver stopped talking.

"It's fine, Silver… just… let me do this. I'm… sure we will… find them again."

Silver did nothing as he watched Blaze turn back and walk toward the robot.

"That's close enough," the robot said once Blaze was a little more than half the distance from Silver, "Place the Emeralds on the ground and walk away."

Blaze hesitated.

"Now" the robot warned her as he added more pressure to Jackson's neck.

Blaze sighed and pulled out the blue, red, and violet Sol Emeralds. She slowly placed them on the ground and backed away.

"Very good… keep walking," the robot ordered as it began to move toward the Emeralds.

By the time Blaze reached Silver, he noticed that her eyes were pouring out tears. He felt sick just seeing her like this. He turned back to the robot; rage fueling his heart and growing by every passing second.

"Very good," the robot teased as it stood over the Sol Emeralds, "Now, I will take these with me."

Jackson screamed in the robot's hand again as the arm around his neck tightened yet again.

"… along with the boy."

Horror fell upon Blaze's face.

"WHAT!? I THOUGHT WE HAD A DEAL!?" Silver bellowed.

"Oh, did we? I guess I lied."

The robot scooped the Emeralds up in one arm and began to back away. A dark swirling portal appeared behind the robot.

"Thank you for you generous offering, you two! I'll be sure to put in a good word for you to my master!" the robot laughed, "Farewell!"

(Music fades)

[ Phantom Power Music – Sweet Revenge (Epic Intense Action) ] (Uploaded by Mr. Fancy Pants) (0:00)

The robot turned around and began to enter the portal. But, a sudden force from behind prevented it from moving.

"What?"

The robot tried again and again, but it couldn't move. It looked down and realized that Jackson and the Sol Emeralds were the reason for him not moving. It also noticed that they had a certain fluorescent blue shade surrounding them.

"You're not going anywhere," Silver growled.

Summoning all his strength and willpower, Silver yanked Jackson and the Emeralds out of the robot's possession; he even tore off the arm that was around Jackson's arm. Good thing the psychokinesis had prevented that arm from doing more damage to his neck.

"WHAT!?"

Within a millisecond, Blaze had reignited her aura and boosted right into the robot, sending the two into the ground, with Blaze on top. Please don't, this is a very serious scene.

"WHO DO YOU WORK FOR!? WHERE ARE THE OTHER SOL EMERALDS!?" she screamed as she began to beat the ever-living hell out of the robot.

The robot refused to answer as she sent a flamed fist into the robot's chest and ripped out the yellow Sol Emerald from within. She tossed it over her shoulder in Silver's general direction before resuming the beating.

"Begone!" the robot shouted, using its still attached arm to smack Blaze off, sending her flying in the air.

"Blaze!"

Silver flew up and caught in his arms. He rushed over to where he laid Jackson down and gently put her on the ground as well. The hedgehog turned toward the robot, which had just gotten back up onto its feet.

"Hrrraaahh!"

Silver flew straight into it and sent the machine flying a few feet into a tree. Looking around the vicinity, Silver began levitating all the robot remains scattered on the ground and threw them at the true squad leader.

"How can you be so cruel and heartless!? What madman would allow creations like you do such heinous acts and not be remorseful!?" Silver asked between throws.

The leader managed to catch one of the thrown scrap heaps and heave it back at Silver.

"Ooff!"

Silver landed a few feet away before getting back up and charging at the robot. The one-armed enemy readied itself for Silver, but it wasn't prepared for another attack from Blaze, who kicked the robot in the back and sent it flying towards Silver. The psychokinetic hedgehog punched the robot across the face, sending it flying in the opposite direction, back to Blaze. She dashed into the robot and sent it flying straight up, where Silver slammed another robot body down upon the leader and sandwiched it between the ground the and metal carcass. The leader began to pick itself up from the mess.

"I will not tolerate such-"

*WHAM*

Blaze boosted into the robot again, sending into the same tree from before. Sadly for the tree, the second impact was enough to cause the tree to break off from the impacted area and fall to the ground. The robot, which fell to one knee, looked and prepared to attack. As it rose, the tree was swung like a club and sent the robot skidding across the ground, and occasionally tumbling as well. Blaze went in for another dash attack on the downed enemy, but the robot had recovered and swung its arm at her.

*WHAM*

Blaze rocketed over the ground and crashed into Silver, knocking them both to the ground.

"This is getting out of hand," the robot muttered as it struggled to walk into the portal.

Silver looked up from the ground.

"No! Stop!"

But it was too late, the robot had escaped, and the portal had vanished.

(Music fades)

"Shoot," Silver muttered as he slowly got to his feet.

He looked over and his heart sank; Blaze was lying motionless on the ground.

"Blaze…?"

Silver kneeled beside her and was relieved when he heard her faintly breathing. He carefully picked her up with his psychokinesis and walked over to Jackson, who was rushing over to him with the four Sol Emeralds in hand. He would have flown, but his body and mind were too tired to allow any more than one object to be lifted.

"Silver!" Jackson cried out as he stopped in front of the hedgehog, "Are you alright?"

Silver carefully put Blaze down in a comfortable position on a small hillside and sat down next to her. He looked over at Jackson.

"Yeah… I'm fine… just a little sore," he told the kid.

The murmuring of the nearby surrounding crowd got their attention. Silver sighed.

"Here comes the applause."

And on cue, they crowd began to applaud and cheer.

"Uuhhh…"

Silver and Jackson looked over and saw Blaze coming around.

"Uugghh… my stomach…" she moaned as she sat up and placed a hand over her midsection.

She turned and saw Silver looking at her.

"S.. Silver? What's wrong?"

"Blaze!" the gray hedgehog exclaimed as he leaned forward and hugged her, "You're alright!"

Blaze was a bit surprised by Silver's sudden act. It took her a moment before she hugged him back.

"I'm fine, Silver. Are you okay?"

"… yeah. I'm fine."

…

"For a moment, I thought you were gone…" he whispered.

"… I'm right here, Silver. I'm not leaving you."

Hearing that made Silver's heart skip a beat and put a small smile on his face. The two pulled away moments later. Blaze looked around, looking concerned.

"Where's the robot?!"

Silver shook his head.

"Gone. It escaped."

Blaze's eyes widened.

"The Sol Emerald…!"

"Don't worry," said Jackson, "all four are right here. See?"

Blaze shook her head and put her fists against her temples.

"No, I sensed another Sol Emerald inside that robot!"

"Wait…" said Silver, "Are you saying there were two Sol Emeralds in that robot?"

"Yes!"

"… I'm sorry, Blaze… I couldn't stop him."

Blaze scoffed and looked away.

"I'm sorry! I tried to stop it, but…"

"… I'm not mad at you, Silver. I'm mad at myself."

"Huh?"

Blaze turned back to Silver, revealing the tears in her eyes.

"I had the chance to regain two Sol Emeralds… and I screwed it up!"

"Blaze…"

"No, Silver! It's fact! I messed up! I failed to reclaim one of the Emeralds and we… I let the enemy escape. A valuable source of information for not only myself, but for everyone! You, Sonic, Shadow, everyone! We could have learned so much… and it got away."

"Blaze… stop it!"

[ BL2: Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep – Flamerock Refuge ] (Uploaded by whoknows4682) (1:54)

"… What?"

"Stop doing this to yourself! Why can't you let someone help take the blame?! It's just as much my fault too, you know! If anyone is to blame for letting that machine escape, it should be me! You were knocked unconscious. I saw the robot escape myself. You couldn't have done anything."

"But… if I hadn't been unconscious…"

"Then maybe we would have gotten the other Sol Emerald, I know. But obsess about 'what ifs'? What if you were killed?! Do you think I would have been able to forgive myself for that!?"

"Silver…"

…

"I'm sorry. I just don't want to see you beat yourself up over and over about being a failure when you're not! You are one of… Heck, you are the strongest woman I've ever met! So, please… stop feeling upset with yourself. Be proud of what you have accomplished, not what you think you should have been expected to accomplish."

"… You mean that?"

Silver smiled.

"Every word."

Blaze smiled back and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"Thanks, Silver."

Silver nodded and slowly got to his feet. He noticed Blaze was having trouble getting up on hers, so he offered out his left hand. She gladly accepted it with her right and he helped her up.

"Thanks, Sil- Woah!"

(Music fades)

[ Kanon OST 2 Yume no ato ] (Uploaded by KyonxNagato) (0:00) (Yeah, yeah, I've seen both anime versions… and both seasons of Clannad… and Little Busters!... and cried at certain points. Don't judge, you have no right unless you've seen them! Even then you wouldn't judge me!)

Blaze got the heel of her right shoe caught on a tree root that grew out of the ground and fell forward against Silver. Time seemed to slow down as he caught her, but something unexpected happened. Jackson witnessed the event unfold in front of him while he stood there in slack-jawed amazement and dropped the Sol Emeralds to the ground. Blaze was leaning against Silver; her right hand against his chest, his hands on her shoulders, and…

(Wait until 0:30)

"Is this…" thought Silver.

"… really happening?" thought Blaze.

(Wait until 0:44, you can thank me later)

… their lips were lightly pressed against each other. Without even thinking, they both closed their eyes as Silver's hands slid down to Blaze's lower back. To them, it felt like fireworks were going off in their hearts and that the moment was lasting for an eternity.

(Just let the music and the image set in for a moment. Once you feel envious or nostalgic or overjoyed… or just want to get on with the story, you may fade the music away and continue reading.)

(Music fades… IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY!)

[ BL2: Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep – Flamerock Refuge ] (Uploaded by whoknows4682) (0:00) (Loop)

In reality, the kiss only lasted for at least eight or nine seconds before Blaze regained her footing and the two pulled away from the kiss. They both stared into each other's eyes; both at a loss for words and blushing as red as roses.

"… Uhhh…"

"… Uh… Uhh…"

Silver realized his hands were still around Blaze, and her hand on his chest, before they jolted back a step.

"B-Blaze, I- I'm SO sorry! I-I-I didn't mean-"

"No, it was my fault! I-I tripped on something and…"

Blaze stopped talking and put her hands over her mouth. She and Silver looked around in total embarrassment of having this happen to them with a crowd watching. It took them a couple of seconds to get their attention on a certain young rabbit, who was now giggling and pointing at them.

"Hey! Stop that!" Silver said loudly.

"Why? What's wrong with kissing a girl?" Jackson asked innocently.

"We didn't kiss!" Silver exclaimed, "We just… accidentally bumped our heads together!"

He turned to Blaze.

"Right…? Blaze?"

She couldn't respond as she was still too stunned by what had happened.

"Blaze?"

"Jackson!" a voice cried out.

The trio turned to face the person who called out to the child. They saw a web orange colored rabbit rushing from the crowd.

"Mama!" Jackson shouted as he ran to the rabbit.

The two met somewhere in the middle and embraced, tightly holding one another and crying. Silver and Blaze made their way to the happily reunited pair. The rabbit reluctantly pulled away from her son and looked him in the eye.

"Are you alright, baby?"

"I'm fine, mama. These two helped me," he replied, holding his hand out in Silver and Blaze's direction.

The rabbit turned the them and shook their hands.

"Oh, thanks you both so much! How can I possibly ever repay you for finding my boy?"

"Oh, there's no need for that," said Silver, "I'm just glad we finally got him back to you."

The rabbit turned to Blaze.

"What about you, honey? I'm quite well connected with many people. I'm sure there is something we could-"

"No, please, I insist you don't," Blaze interrupted, "Like my friend said, we're just glad you have your son back."

"Friend?" Silver thought, feeling a bit disappointed.

The rabbit sighed.

"Well… then consider me in your debt,' she said, "If you two happen to cross paths we me again, I'll be sure to return any favor you ask."

Silver and Blaze thought for a moment and looked at each other before turning back.

"I suppose that's acceptable," said Silver.

"We'll take that deal," Blaze smiled.

"Aw, thanks, lovebirds," the rabbit teased, causing the two to blush and look away from each other.

The rabbit giggled as she picked up her son.

"Well, I suppose we should get going," she said.

"Aw, mama! Do we have to?"

"Now, Jackson. It's getting late, and the last thing I want is to have another heart attack over losing you again."

"Yes, mama," Jackson sighed.

He turned to Silver and Blaze.

"Goodbye, Silver. Goodbye, Blaze."

Silver walked up and ruffled the kid's fur on his head.

"So long, Jackson. You stay out of trouble, huh?"

"I will."

Blaze came up next.

"Fair well, Jackson. Behave around your mother, okay?"

Jackson put a finger on his chin and smirked mischievously.

"Only around my mother?"

Blaze smiled and shook her head.

"You know exactly what she meant, mister!" his mother scowled.

She turned back to the duo.

"Thanks again for saving my son. I hope we meet again."

Silver and Blaze nodded as the rabbit turned and walked away. They waved goodbye to Jackson, who waved back, and didn't put their hands down until they were out of sight. Silver sighed.

"Hey, Blaze?"

"Let's get back to the hotel," she said flatly.

Silver turned to her, slightly surprised. He was about to say something, but Blaze had already dashed off for the hotel. Silver sighed again and flew off after her.

"Jackson, did that weasel hurt you at all?" his mother asked him as they exited out of the crowd of people.

"No. He had a gun, but I ran away as fast as I could."

"That's my boy," she said, kissing him on the cheek, "I'm more glad that you got away from that no-good, double-crossin', lousy, stinkin' weasel than be harmed by him."

"I think I saw a picture of him once before… was his name like Mac or something?"

"It's Nack. Nack the Weasel. But no one calls him that, he's widely known as Fang the Sniper. If you ever see him again, you run away like you did today, alright?"

"Yes, mama."

"Good boy."

"But mama… I didn't like being lost and away from you."

"Aw, sugar, come here."

Jackson clung onto his mother like she was going to be taken away from him.

"I'm not leaving you anytime soon, alright?"

"Yes, mama."

"Hey, you found him!" a voice behind them shouted.

Jackson and his mother turned and saw two Mobians walk up to them.

"Oh, there you two are! I was just thinking about contacting you two. And, yes indeed, my little baby is back with his mother!"

"Mama, please… can't… breathe…"

"Oh, sorry, baby. I keep forgetting about my arm's strength now and again," she chuckled.

"One of these days, you might accidentally crush him, Bunnie," the green hedgehog joked.

"Maybe I should practice controlling my strength on you, sweetie!" Bunnie teased.

The hedgehog's comrade gave him a look as he shrugged and grinned nervously.

"Back to the subject," she said, "I'm glad you found him safe and sound, Bunnie."

"Oh, I didn't find him, girl. It was a gray hedgehog and a mallow mauve cat who found him. And brought him to me."

"What the heck is 'mallow mauve'?" the hedgehog asked.

"It's a pale purple color," his friend explained, "Come on, you've seen a mallow flower before, haven't you? In the garden?"

"Maybe? Wait… a gray hedgehog and a purple cat? I met those two this morning!"

"You did? Where?"

"Not far from the city gates. They asked for directions to a hotel. Uh… shoot, which one was it!?"

"Don't worry so much 'bout it," said Bunnie, "Oh, look~; little Jackson has fallen asleep."

Jackson was lightly snoring as his head laid on his mother's shoulder.

"Well, it is getting late. We should all head back and get some sleep," their partner suggested.

"I'm down for some sleep," said the hedgehog," Come on, I know a shortcut."

"Oh, boy," the other two muttered as they followed him.

Back at the hotel…

Silver entered the hotel room and found Blaze already there; not much of a surprise to him. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking down and fiddling with her fingers. Silver took a deep breath and calmly walked over to Blaze.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" he asked.

Blaze didn't respond, let alone look at him.

"Should I just tell her now?"

"Look… I know it what happened back there was… weird. But, I want you to know that it was-"

"Just an accident," said Blaze.

"... Uhhh…"

"That's what it was; nothing more than an accident," Blaze stated as she looked over to Silver.

"Uh... Well… yeah. That's what I was gonna say," he said.

"… Good. Glad to see that we're on the same page," said Blaze.

…

"So… I guess we should get some rest, huh?" said Silver.

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Right… well… 'night, Blaze."

Silver laid down in his bed and psychokinetically flipped off the light switch. Blaze laid down in hers.

"Good night, Silver," she muttered.

The two were facing away from each other, so they didn't notice that the other had tears in their eyes as they drifted off to sleep.

(Music fades)

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

'Lord's' Base

[ Deadspace soundtrack 1: Dead Space Theme ] (Uploaded by GoldskinOST) (0:00) (Loop)

*WHAM*

*WHAM*

*WHAM*

"Sir?"

*WHAM*

*WHAM*

*WHAM*

…

…

…

"Unbelievable. Inconceivable. Unforgivable."

Mecha Sonic made some incoherent noises.

"Silence!" the Lord ordered.

An eerie silence fell upon the chamber, pleasing the quiet Mephiles who was standing nearby. The Echo Squad leader stood before its lord, nervous about what would happen to it.

"You and your squad had one simple task," the Lord explained calmly, "You were to neutralize Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat and bring them both to me, along with the remaining Sol Emeralds. You were informed that the guardian of those Emeralds is incapable of harnessing the power of the Sol Emeralds unless she had all seven in her possession. You had two Sol Emeralds powering your weapon systems. Not once did you engage them."

"My lord, please! Allow me to explain!"

"… Very well. Proceed," the Lord sighed.

"It was never my intent to displease you, my lord. I only refused to use the Sol Emeralds you have graciously entrusted to me to prevent detection. I was fully aware that Blaze was capable of sensing the Sol Emeralds within a certain range."

"That's not good enough!"

"My Lord… please… forgive me!"

"Enough! I hereby order that you are permanently decommissioned and stripped for parts!"

"No… no! Please, have mercy!"

Mecha Sonic began to approach the squad leader. The entryway doors slid open and a red eyed figure entered the room.

"One moment, Mecha Sonic," the Lord ordered, "It would appear that our friend has returned."

Metal footsteps grew louder as the unexpected guest approached. They stopped just before the light illuminated from above.

"Metal Sonic. What a nice surprise. I wasn't expecting your repairs to be complete for another month."

"I've been… upgraded," he replied, surprising everyone in the room.

The Lord leaned back in his thrown and nodded.

"I see. Very good. This is very good, Metal Sonic."

"I overheard that an order for execution was given to this SWAT-bot?"

"You heard correctly."

The SWAT-bot began to panic again.

"My Lord… My Lord, please! Just give me another chance! Have mercy! Please, I beg you!"

The Lord gestured Mecha Sonic to move away.

"You wish to redeem yourself?" he asked.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Hmm… perhaps I will show you mercy."

"My Lord. Thank you! I promise to never disappoint you again!"

"Oh, I have no doubt about that. And, as a good show of my mercy, I will let Metal Sonic show you the power he now harnesses. Perhaps it will show you what you could have done."

"I would be honored."

Metal Sonic stepped into the light, revealing a slightly darker shade of blue in his metal and a slightly taller frame.

"What would you have me do, my Lord?" he asked.

…

…

…

"Do your worst on this fool," the Lord replied, pointing at the SWAT-bot.

Before the SWAT-bot could react, Metal Sonic shoved his right hand through the robot's back and ripped out the white Sol Emerald that was still housed inside it. The Lord, Mephiles, and Mecha Sonic watched as Metal Sonic annihilated the SWAT-bot for a few moments before there was nothing was bits of metal and sliced wires spread across the ground under the now flickering light. The Lord gave a slow applaud to his subordinate.

"Well done, Metal. I must say, your performance was quite… fascinating."

"Consider it a demonstration of a small portion of my power," Metal Sonic replied as he tossed the Sol Emerald to the Lord, "I'm afraid I didn't do my worst, as you had asked."

"That'll suffice, Metal Sonic… Now then, I have a mission for you."

"All of us, my Lord?" Mephiles asked.

The Lord turned to Mephiles.

"Not you, Mephiles. Your battle with Shadow and Omega has given me another idea I wish to speak with you about. And you, Mecha Sonic, I want you to continue your search for the remaining Chaos Emeralds and bring me more shards of the Master Emerald. I will speak with you about that momentarily."

The Lord turned back to Metal Sonic.

"Your mission, Metal Sonic, is to meet with some new… acquaintances and help convince them to join our cause."

"Location?"

"You will be provided with the intel soon. I just want to let you know that you have permission to use any means at your disposal to persuade them."

"Understood."

"That will be all for now, Metal Sonic."

"… No…"

"No?"

"Not Metal Sonic…"

Metal Sonic levitated a couple of inches of the ground. From his palms, blue electricity crackled, arcing into the metal floor and ceiling high above.

"I am no longer 'Metal Sonic'… I am once again Neo Metal Sonic."

(Music fades)

" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "

Me: Man, I am a mean person, huh?

Tails: What? With the bittersweet endings?

Me: Yeah…

Tails: Maybe it's a good thing Silver and Blaze didn't show up.

Me: I wouldn't be too sure about that.

Tails: Why?

Me: At least here, if they read this chapter, I would be able to easily protect myself.

Tails: *chuckle* You? Protected from Silver and Blaze?

Me: You'll understand eventually.

Tails: Let's assume that I do right now… How does Silver and Blaze not being here make any difference?

Me: Like I said, if they were here, I can protect myself. Once they read it out there, they'll come out of nowhere and catch me off-guard.

Tails: … Ooohhh…

Me: Yeah… so, next time, make sure no one is around when I write the next chapter… or two… *gulp*

Tails: Duly noted.

Me: In any case, hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'll see you next time!

Tails: So long!

Me: Remember to Follow and leave a Review!

*Sincere A/N*

This chapter was pretty good. I wanted to do more for the Shadow vs Mephiles fight, but I couldn't really think of anything good. But I'm sure you can guess some possible fights in future chapters.

So… yeah… Silver and Blaze. Silver x Blaze. Silvaze. Hope, uh… hope you guys aren't up in arms with pitchforks and torches over the slight bashing I faked… in the nightmare.

But, hey… I made them kiss, didn't I? So… do I get another chapter to live? Or two? Or 5000, which is probably how long this whole thing will end up being. Heh heh… *sweats nervously*

Anyways, I'm sure you guys are like, "What!? Bunnie is in the story!? I thought he wouldn't add those characters!" Look, I said I wasn't going to make them MAJOR characters… I think… I don't care, I'm gonna go with that. I want to make something very, very clear: THIS IS NOT AN ARCHIE SONIC FANFIC. That being said, I have some possible ideas using certain elements from the Archie comics, which I have never read, nor do I have any plans to read them. Because I'm lazy. What, gonna sue me?

*Ahem*

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. As a little sneak peak for the next chapter, all I'm gonna say is this… it involves rivals. Nothing more to add. Please leave a review and follow the story. I'll see you guys next chapter!

P.S. I hope everyone had a Happy Holidays and have a Happy New Year! See ya in 2019!

~ThePhantomHedgehog