5: Kylie

The friends turned around upon hearing that voice to see a dark haired human woman coming through the masses of hedgehogs, who moved to the side, when she was close enough, to let her pass.

Kylie hadn't changed much, from what Shadow could see. Her black hair had grown longer, after Rouge had cut it off two years ago, and she kept it bound together in a ponytail. Her brown eyes were still looking attentive and empathetic, just like he remembered them. She wore a long, light blue lab coat, that was disturbingly splattered with rather fresh blood all over the front. Her face and hands were clean, though.

Reaching the inner circle, Kylie looked around. "Okay, could you all give us some space to breathe?," she asked loudly and surprisingly enough, the hedgehogs obeyed, even the silver one backed off, just Sonic stayed, where he was.

"Sonic, it's okay, I'll handle it.," Kylie told him gently and again, Shadow got surprised by how easily this calmed the blue hedgehog down and returned him to his friends' side, although he was still watching the scene unfold further, still tense.

Satisfied with that, Kylie turned around to the black hedgehog, who reluctantly relaxed upon having more space now.

"Did you slaughter someone?," he asked, pointing to the blood – and flinched, when the hedgehogs were growling darkly, which Kylie effortlessly quieted with a glare.

"Nah, this just happens, when a stubborn seme has inner bleeding and tries to convince me verbally, that he is 'fine'.," she explained then, crossing her arms in front of her chest, which was probably meaning, that the blood was dried enough to not dirty her further. "And I see you finally found out, why people say, that a colony of ukes is more dangerous, than a pack of hungry wolves.," she added with a smirk.

Shadow's eyes widened, while he looked at the hedgehogs around him. This were all ukes!? He had actually started to feel remotely threatened...

"M-maybe...," the dark male replied, trying to remain cool. Kylie didn't mention his stutter. "Care to explain, why they all want to tear you to shreds?," she asked instead.

The male crossed his arms as well. "How am I supposed to know? I was just talking with my boyfriend, when this idiot over there attacked me!" He pointed to the silver male, who let his energy flare threateningly.

Kylie scowled. "Is this all? You know, that they don't attack for nothing, do you?," she questioned. The male just shrugged and looked away.

Kylie sighed and turned around to the silver male. "Could you please enlighten me, Finn? Without foul language, please.," she added quickly. Apparently, this Finn liked to curse quite a lot.

The male rolled his eyes. "Fine. This...guy," he actually needed to think for a moment to come up with a neutral word, "has just gotten dumped by his boyfriend. And his only reaction was to hit him right in the face!," he hissed, which caused collective gasps and growls among the by-standing ukes, their expressions ranging from horror to rage.

Shadow raised a brow. If the majority of the ukes hadn't known that – why were they here in the first place?

The dark male scoffed. "He's my boyfriend, what I do with him, is my business.," he snarled.

Shadow quickly turned around to Sonic, who had his fists balled tightly, but didn't make any attempt to give the guy a piece of his mind – yet.

Kylie stared down on him. "I see.," she said slowly. "And can you tell me when?" The black furred male – and everyone else around her – blinked at the woman.

"When?," the male repeated confused. "When did Espy become your property?," Kylie asked calmly.

The male's eyes widened. "You said 'what I do with him'. That's not how someone talks about his boyfriend, so I assume, that you are seeing him as an object, that you own and that you can treat, like you want."

The dark hedgehog let her words sink in, before he swallowed dryly and visibly deflated. Kylie had apparently opened his eyes.

Too late, though. "You know the rules and you broke one of them. You also know, what happens now." Kylie's voice had become strict and authoritative. "You have thirty minutes to pack your stuff and leave these grounds. You may try and return in a year, not one day earlier. Do you understand?"

The male just nodded, looking defeated, broken even. He slowly made his way across the room towards the exit, the hedgehogs making way for him, some already going outside, too, while others stayed. They didn't seem to trust the male not to disobey Kylie in some way.

The dark hedgehog stopped suddenly and turned his head to his left, where a small group of four ukes stood. One, with creamy white fur, held the pink hedgehog from before in a tight hug, while a light blue and dark brown one stood protectively between them and the single seme, glaring daggers at him.

"Espy.," the seme called his former partner's name, which caused the pink hedgehog, who had his face buried in the chest of the one holding him, to flinch.

"Espy, I...I'm sorry...," he sighed, sad because of his reaction. "Just go!," Espy sobbed, muffled by the fur. "You've done enough, wouldn't you agree?," the light male holding him added and the dark seme just nodded silently and left the foyer.

Kylie waited, until he was out of the building, before she went over to the four ukes, the two protective ones letting her pass without a problem. She knelt down in front of the pair. "Espy, can you please look at me for a moment?," she asked gently. Tremblingly, the male complied.

Sonic winced upon seeing the ugly bruise over his left eye. The pink male flinched every now and then, while Kylie carefully examined the wound, as well as the side of his left arm and left leg and his left side, on that he had apparently landed after being hit, seeing the bruises forming under the fur. Her fingers were prodding the areas gently, on their search for fractures.

"I'd say, that nothing is broken, but I want you to go to the ward today, so the injuries get examined properly.," she finally explained. Espy nodded and sniffed, wiping his uninjured eye.

Kylie smiled sadly and gently patted his head. "How about you go the canteen and get yourself an ice pack for your eye – and a big sundae for the heartache.," she added with a gentle grin. Espy smiled back weakly and nodded.

"Oh, yeah! Me, too!," the brown, apparently younger, uke cheered happily, jumping up and down in excitement. He took Espy's arm and started to pull him with him towards the left hallway behind the desk, telling him on the way about his favorite sundae, that was, judging by the longer and longer becoming list of ingredients, taller than him, when it was prepared. The other two followed them with fond smiles on their faces.

Once they were out of sight, Kylie turned to one of the ukes, who were still there, with dark purple fur and green eyes. "Do you mind repairing the foyer, Vremy?," she asked.

The uke grinned. "Of course not, no problem." He took off his unusually thick leather glove, knelt down and placed his right hand on the ground.

Immediately, the complete room started to glow and the friends watched with dropped jaws, how the cracks in the ground closed, crawling backwards to where they had started and disappeared, how the desk and the doors built themselves again, the debris and glass pieces just jumping back in place. In less than a minute, the foyer looked just like the moment they had entered it.

Satisfied, the male straightened and bowed to the cheering and applauding ukes and Kylie, as if he had just showed a trick during a contest. "Well done, thank you.," Kylie praised. "You're welcome, anytime.," the male replied, putting on his glove.

"How did you do this?," Shadow asked, unable to hide his surprise. If he didn't know better, he'd say, that he had used Chaos Control to manipulate time. But that was impossible... right?

"Oh, I can turn the time of objects backwards, to repair them. It's rather useful.," Vremy explained, waving his gloved hand uncaringly.

"Could you do that to persons, too?," Rouge asked. "In theory, but I rather don't. Who would want to be in diapers again?" With that, he turned to leave the foyer. It seemed, as if he suddenly fled the scene.

"Thanks again!," Kylie called after him, before she turned to the friends. "Hi guys, sorry, that I couldn't tend to you earlier.," she welcomed them, coming over.

Sonic wanted to reply something, when Tails stepped forward, towards the woman. "K-Kylie, I...I think, it's my fault, that this happened.," he confessed meekly, his ears pressed to his skull.

Sonic wanted to comfort him immediately, however, he wasn't the only one – his adoptive brother was suddenly surrounded by lots of ukes, who were cooing reassurances, that got mixed with each other.

Sonic felt quite a bit panicked to see his brother disappear behind the many colorful furs, quills and limbs, the picture causing some kind of pounding in the back of his head, that he couldn't explain.

He got distracted from it almost immediately, when he heard Kylie chuckle with a shake of her head and saw her weaving her way through the mass and towards the middle, bending down and picking a curled up Tails up.

"Guys, enough, you scare him.," she scolded gently, while she carefully held Tails to herself and petted his back to calm him down. "Go, here's nothing to do for you anymore.," she continued and the crowd dispersed as fast as it had been built in the first place.

"Oh, you're injured!" Amy jumped, when she heard the voice next to her and she whirled around to see a hedgehog with pure white fur, long, flowing quills and shining silver eyes standing there, staring at her knee, until she turned and then looking up, watching her concerned. He wore green sneakers and thin, light blue gloves.

"Um..." Insecurely, she turned around to Kylie. "Kylie?" The woman looked over to her. "It's okay. Rio is studying medicine, he just wants to make sure, that you aren't hurt badly.," she explained.

Reluctantly, Amy nodded and allowed Rio to guide her over to one of the chairs, sat down and let him examine her leg.

It reassured her, that Sonic and Knuckles were keeping a firm eye on the white one, ready to take him out, should he do something inappropriate. They trusted Kylie with Tails, but not the stranger with Amy.

"There's nothing broken, thankfully, but the bruises will hurt for a while. If you want to, I can take care of that.," the white hedgehog named Rio offered.

Amy blinked. "Take care of it? How?," she asked. "I can use my Chaos Energy to heal wounds...well, minor wounds, that is...," he corrected, blushing a little. "That's impossible.," Knuckles scoffed.

"It is possible, Knuckles, don't judge, just because you haven't seen something like that, yet.," Kylie replied, while she carried Tails to a seat a few chairs away from where Amy sat and carefully set him down. "Just let him do this, it doesn't hurt and spares you days, if not weeks of pain.," she added towards the hedgette.

Still a little reluctant, Amy nodded again and watched, how Rio took off the glove of his right hand, how a warm, dark green glow appeared around his hand and how he held it above her leg. In mere seconds, the bruise and the pain were gone. "Wow. Thank you!," she smiled.

Rio smiled back. "After what you did for us, it is the least I could do.," he replied. "What I did?," Amy repeated confused.

Rio's smile turned sadder. "You don't remember, do you? You have been the one, who had opened our cell two years ago on the Island."

Amy couldn't help it, her jaw dropped. "Y-you are...?" She recognized his eyes now. He had been the first hedgehog, who had left the cell, in that the ukes had been held.

"Y-you...er...l-look... better.," she stammered. Which was the understatement of the century. She wouldn't have recognized the dirty, dark gray furred, broken skeleton from two years ago, if he hadn't mentioned it.

Rio grinned. "Thank you. Although, I should thank you far more. You saved many lives back then." Amy blushed and looked down quickly. She wasn't used to being praised so much.


Meanwhile, Tails had calmed down again. "Sorry about that.," Kylie apologized, kneeling down in front of the fox, so he could look at her easier. "Ukes can't see a distressed child without trying to calm him or her."

"It's okay, I just thought, that they were going to run me over.," Tails replied. "Yeah, they are sometimes a little too enthusiastic... Anyway, care to explain, why you think, that you are responsible for this mess?," she changed the topic.

Tails played nervously with his fingers. "W-well...the black hedgehog was...kinda bullying me, when this pink hedgehog appeared and they broke up a minute later, so..."

"Tails." Kylie interrupted him and placed her larger hand over his small ones to draw attention to herself. "Listen, this wasn't your fault. What happened here – minus the beating of Espy, of course – was completely normal. Not every couple is as lucky as Sonic and Shadow are, you know?" This let the fox and the two hedgehogs stare at her confused. "Huh?"

Kylie smiled and stood up to sit down next to him. "Mobians have an inner instinct, that tells them, when they have found their true mate. Sonic and Shadow just needed to see each other once to know, that they are made for each other." Both males felt their cheeks heat up at that.

"But that's rare, thanks to the huge population nowadays. It's close to impossible to find 'the one', so most mobian couples aren't true mates. That's nothing bad, there are so many happy non-true couples, that last until death.

A few months away from mating season, however, those non-true couples, whose relationships are younger than a year, start to question, if their partners are the right ones for them. This is normal, they want to make sure, that they can start a family with their partners, or that they can rely on their partners in general.

Ukes and females therefore watch discreetly, how their partners act, when they think they aren't watched by their boy- and girlfriends. They want to learn, how they interact with others, especially children, when they plan to start a family, to see, how they would treat their own offspring.

This situation with you was for sure just the last straw, Espy wouldn't have broken up just because of that. There had been more incidents in earlier situations, I'm sure of it. So please don't blame yourself anymore, okay?"

Tails nodded. "It was...rather cool, that all of those ukes were suddenly there.," he admitted.

Kylie grinned. "Yeah, I know. I have only seen it a few times, but it's amazing every time. Ukes and females are used to stick together, because in older days, the semes often left for hours, at times days, and they needed to defend themselves, if the colony got attacked."

"They considered the attack on one of them as attack on everyone?," Shadow asked incredulously. "Of course." Kylie shrugged. "What threatens one member of the colony, threatens them all."

"Is it normal, that semes react like that, when the uke breaks up?," Knuckles asked with a distrusting voice. Although he didn't look at him, it was rather clear, that he was talking about Shadow.

"Absolutely not, no, and I'm sorry you had to see that. Most semes worship their ukes and vice-versa, but there are always black sheep.," Kylie explained. "Weren't you a little too lenient with him?," Sonic growled.

Kylie smirked inwardly. She had actually asked herself, when he would ask. She was the Alpha of this unusual colony and he was an Alpha, too – it was normal, that Alphas criticized and questioned each other's methods.

"Sonic, do you really think, that I just throw him out for a year and then welcome him back with open arms?," she asked with a smile. "Well..." Sonic frowned in thought, as if she had completely surprised him.

"Wow, thanks for your trust. No, if he wants to return – taken, that he actually wants that –, he will have to talk with three psychologists working here separately. Only if their reports all three agree to take him in again, I'll consider it. If only one of them is against it, he can forget it."

"Oh.," Sonic said dumbly. Kylie grinned smugly. It wasn't easy to impress an Alpha, she knew that much.

"Are you done finally? Can we move now back to my topic?," Mephiles suddenly asked, simply growing out of Kylie's artificially outstretched shadow behind her.

Said woman groaned without turning around. "Not again. You didn't stop bothering me during the surgery already – isn't it enough?," she sighed.

"Not until you answer my question – besides, I left you alone, when you were dealing with the problems here and that's done now, isn't it?," the male replied.

Kylie sighed again, stood up and turned around to Mephiles. "The problem is just, that you aren't asking a question. You just started a whole speech, in that you keep complaining about nonsense like too sunny weather or people not minding their business, as if I could magically change it. So, out with it. What is your problem? And get to the point this time.," Kylie ordered dryly.

Mephiles crossed his arms. "Fine. I gave Silver a few 'spells', his word, not mine, so he can warp himself anytime to me and I underlined several times, that they are solely for emergencies. Yet, he used one, just to transport the people around you here. I think, that he is starting to rebel against me.", he ended, clearly upset now.

Kylie blinked, before she snorted and raised her hand to unsuccessfully stifle her laughter behind it.

"What the hell is so damn funny!?," the dark being raged, while Shadow feared for Kylie's mind – only a fool would laugh at someone as powerful as Mephiles.

"You are.," Kylie giggled. "I told you, that reading those magazines was a bad idea, didn't I?," she asked, having calmed down.

"Why should it be? Silver is a teenager, I am far too old to understand, what goes on in his mind. Which doesn't mean, that I can't try.," Mephiles defended himself.

"But not with family magazines, you idiot. They are for parents. You are not Silver's father, you're his boyfriend and soon to be-mate. That's a huge difference, in case you haven't noticed it, yet."

"Did you just call me an idiot?," Mephiles growled. "How else should I call someone, who tries to research with the worst possible literature?," Kylie replied innocently.

Mephiles bared his fangs. "Fine, if you are so clever, then you tell me, why Silver disobeyed me in that way!," he ordered.

Kylie's glare hardened. "First of all: he isn't your servant, so don't call it 'disobedience'. He can do, whatever he wants, got it?," she growled.

Mephiles nodded curtly, his pride apparently the only thing keeping him from scrambling back.

He didn't see Silver as a servant, he never would, he had just been angry because of Kylie calling him...rightfully...an idiot.

"Good." The expression of her eyes softened and she smiled suddenly. "The reason, why he did that, is easily explained. He was showing off."

Mephiles scoffed. "Impossible, that's not Silver's style." He knew, that Silver would only show off, if he felt completely comfortable. Towards Sonic alone, okay, but Shadow and the guardian would have scared him to much.

Kylie chuckled. "It's not his style to climb on top of the Shelter and to scream 'My mate is the most beautiful one in the whole world!', true."

"Did the idiot do that again?," Mephiles asked with a raised brow. "Thankfully, no. Anyway, it's absolutely natural for females, semes and ukes to show off their current relationships or their mates. Females love to compare, how much their boyfriends, husbands or mates spoil them, with material things or immaterial values, like affection. Semes can start mini-wars trying to find out, whose boy- or girlfriend is more beautiful, intelligent and so on. And ukes like it to show off, how much they are cared for. Even the shiest ones do that, just more subtly. What Silver had been doing there, had had a simple message: 'Look, Sonic, how much Mephiles cares about me'."

While Mephiles fought to get the blush off his face, Sonic perked up at his name. "He wanted to show off in front of me?," he asked, confused. "Well, not consciously, I'd say. Mephiles is right about him being too shy for any act of showing off.," Kylie explained. "However, you are about his age and an uke, too, so my guess is, that he wouldn't have used this spell, if you hadn't been there to see it."

"I see..." Sonic frowned in thought. Would he show off with Shadow? Well, he was strong, caring and always seemed to know, what needed to be done, when it came to a fight, but he didn't feel, as if that was something he wanted to share with someone...

"Is your question answered then, or do you want to ask something else?," Kylie's voice got him out of his thoughts.

"Was Silver also showing off, when he crossed his boundaries again?," Mephiles asked, a growl in his voice.

"He did?," Kylie asked, surprised. "Yes. To help this girl...Kari, or whatever her name was." He waved uncaringly.

Kylie smiled. "No, that wasn't to show off. It was to help. Accept it, your Silver is someone, who wants to help everyone to the best of his abilities."

"And if it kills him? Should I accept that, too?," Mephiles growled. "No. You should simply protect him, as every good mate does.," Kylie grinned.

Mephiles smirked back. "You bet I will." He frowned in thought for a moment. "...Thank you, I guess. And...sorry, for threatening you with your murder earlier..."

Kylie chuckled weakly, sounding tired, and Sonic remembered the threats the Shelter got, according to Zen, all the time. As the director, she was probably one of the few only people seeing those threats. It was clawing at her being, yet, it didn't affect her this much anymore. "No problem, it's not, like you actually tried something drastic.," she shrugged.

Just nodding once in response, the dark hedgehog merged with her shadow again, that returned to its normal place, when he was gone.

"Alright, you came for an examination, correct?," Kylie came down to business, turning to the blue hedgehog.

"Yeah, if it's possible.," Sonic shrugged. The prospect of an examination was never a reason to celebrate for him, no matter, who did it.

"Sure, I-" A ringing sound coming from the pocket of her coat interrupted her. She pulled out the mobile and looked at the display. "Sorry, that'll be just a minute.," she apologized, before accepting the call and moving a little away.

Even though the friends pretended not to hear anything, they heard every single word effortlessly.

"Hey Scythe, what's up? ...You did? That's great! Where are you now? ...Why? ...The short version, please, I'm kinda busy. ...Okay, I see. How long will it take? ...Scythe, we talked about this. Our lawyers are already working overtime. ...That's not the point. The point is, that I don't want to hear anymore about you hurting people... ...Would you stop with the joking? ...Thank you. Now, just be patient – and call me, when you are back. ...Bye, Scythe.," she ended the call impatiently.

"Everything okay with Scythe?," Amy asked. "Yeah, she just likes to go on my nerves.," Kylie replied, putting her mobile back in her pocket. "Anyway, would you like someone to accompany you to the examination? It's completely up to you.," she asked and then added.

Shadow, Knuckles and Tails immediately perked up at that, looking over to the blue hero expectantly.

"Er, give me a sec.," Sonic replied and dashed off towards the bathroom, feeling a sudden urge.

"Sorry about that, it's probably all the vegetables he's eating lately.," Tails apologized, slightly embarrassed. "No problem, really.," Kylie shrugged.

"Miss Ellen, Miss Ellen!" The twin shout let the friends turn around to see no one else but Bocoe and Decoe running towards them, almost falling over their feet. Incredulously, the friends stared at the two robots built by Eggman, stopping in front of Kylie. "We cleaned the basement, just like you told us!," Decoe told her excitedly.

Kylie chuckled fondly. "Good, thank you. You did a great job, I'm sure of it.," she praised, which let the two robots beam.

"What are those two doing here? Are you spying for Eggman!?," Knuckles asked distrustfully.

Kylie rolled her eyes. "Would you stop assuming that? Bokkun already complained about that towards me. If you must know, Eggman gifted a few of his robots to me, including those three. And I'll let you know, that I trust every single one of them completely.," Kylie told him strictly.

She didn't notice Bocoe and Decoe looking up at her in awe. Eggman had never before said something like that...or generally anything nice...about them.

"Why did he gift you robots?," Tails asked confused. Kylie sighed and rubbed her forehead. "For some reason, he is determined to date me. And that equals in his opinion with giving me lots of stuff and robots he doesn't need anymore to try and bribe me into going out with him.," she grumbled.

She looked up to see horrified faces. "Why would Eggman date you? I mean, for a human, you're for sure attractive and all, but still..." Rouge let the sentence drop, the fact just not getting in her head. "First of all, thanks. Second, he doesn't date me, he just tries to get me to agree to one date – which he can forget, by the way. And third, he said something about proving, that he is 'charming', or something like that." She frowned in thought, trying to remember the exact words.

Tails felt heat creep up his cheeks. "Er...K-Kylie? I...think, that's my fault.," he explained reluctantly. "Huh? In what way?," the human woman asked surprised. "Well, two years ago, Eggman was bragging with how 'charming' the artificial semes were, that he had sent after Sonic. I might have...provoked and challenged him a little there by saying, that they weren't.," he explained sheepishly.

"Fantastic. And I was probably the first female being he could think of, huh? Could you do something against this next time you see him?," Kylie asked exasperated, but not as angry, as Tails had feared. "Er...okay.," he quickly agreed, although he had no idea, how the heck he should do that. It wasn't, as if he and Eggman were having a nice talk over tea or coffee every week...

"Alright.," Kylie turned to Bocoe and Decoe. "You two can take a break for now, I don't think, that I have another task for you.," she explained.

To her surprise, both reacted with panic. "We can work, promise!," they quickly said, falling on their knees with a very uncomfortable sound, clinging to her legs, almost tripping her. "Guys, calm down! You can take a break, I won't throw you away at all, especially not, if you don't work 24/7. Remember? I told you, that I'm not like Eggman. You can simply relax for a while, okay?," she soothed. Reluctantly, the robots nodded.

Kylie smiled. "How about you get yourself some food? I'll let you know, when there is something for you to do.," Kylie offered and the two nodded again, far more enthusiastically now, standing up, bowing to her and going through a hallway to their left.

"...What exactly are these robots eating?," Rouge asked with a raised brow, looking after them. "Toxic waste. A few calibrations, and they had become true saviors of Mobius. There are several companies, that send their toxic waste here to get eaten and digested to harmless products by them. They don't see it as something useful, though, although it is.," Kylie replied.

"And what other robots are here, besides these three?," Knuckles asked. "Emerl and Shard. Although she isn't a robot, Nicole, too.," Kylie listed up. "Can't say I have ever heard about one of them.," the echidna mused. "No wonder, Eggman considered them failures, he never wanted to use them. But they were apparently good enough to gift them to the one he wants to date." She shook her head.

"That's strange." Rio looked around. "Usually, Nicole appears immediately, when someone calls her name.," he mused, looking over to Kylie.

"I'm sure she is a little ashamed to meet my friends here eye to eye. She had been programmed to find a way to kill Sonic, after all."

"But she would never do that!," Rio defended this Nicole immediately. "Doesn't change the fact, that this had been her original purpose. Rio, could you do me a favor?"

The male blinked. "Sure." "Could you please tell your brother, that I'd like to talk with him?" Rio's eyes widened. "Come on, you know, that Finn is just...okay, he sometimes overdoes it, but seriously, this guy had it coming, and-"

"Rio.," Kylie interrupted his rambling. "I'm not going to cut off his head, or put him in a cell. But it is high time, that we talk about a little self restriction. If Mali would have been behind this desk, she would have been gravely injured, or worse. Besides, I'd ask him to come to me tomorrow, so he has enough time to think about his behavior and about a good defense."

"Oh." Rio sighed in relief and smiled. "Sure, I'll do that." With a friendly nod towards Amy, he quickly left the foyer.

When he was gone, Rouge looked around to find their group of one more person short. "Did anyone see Shadow?"


Shadow congratulated himself for his genius idea to get past the obstacle of the stinking door. He just used Chaos Control.

It was a little risky, since he had never before seen the bathroom from the inside and could, in the worst case, warp himself straight in a toilet bowl, but Sonic was worth it.

He landed thankfully in the middle of the room – and the stench filling it immediately stung his nose. Well, now he knew, what was taking Sonic so long.

He winced in pity upon hearing the retching, that he had gotten used to in the last few weeks. How he wished to comfort Sonic...

He perked up, when the toilet got flushed and Sonic stumbled out of the first cabin. He looked a little pale and green and was sweating. He made his way over to the sinks, discarded his gloves and proceeded to wash out his mouth and clean himself up.

When he was satisfied, he straightened. "Hey, Shads.," he greeted, looking through the mirror at him.

"Can I do something?," Shadow asked calmly. "Mind bringing me a new pair of gloves?" He held up his and Shadow could see a faint yellow stain on them. "Sure. Throw over.," he replied.

Sonic did just that and the dark agent snapped his fingers, transporting the dirty pieces of clothes straight into their washing machine and getting a new pair out of Sonic's drawer. He caught it, when it landed in his hands. "Here." He threw it over and Sonic caught it, putting the gloves on. "Thanks." "No problem. Are you feeling better?," Shadow asked.

"Yeah, sure. I mean, it's just morning sickness, right?," the blue hero asked, knowing the term thanks to Tails' research.

Shadow flinched at the cold words and looked up to see Sonic glare at him. So he was still upset about this, huh?

"Sonic, I-" "How could you even for a SECOND think, that I would betray you like that?," he interrupted him. There was disappointment audible in his voice.

"I... I just didn't know, what to think, so I..." "So you just stuck to the most ridiculous and hurtful explanation for the both of us? Great plan, Shads, really.," Sonic bit out.

He pushed away from the sink and came towards Shadow, stopping in the distance, that had become comfortable for him. "Listen here – and listen good. I. Love. You. You – and only you. Even if I would share a carton box with Knux and not a whole island, it would never change this fact. My heart belongs to you only. Do you get that finally?," he asked, not once blinking, staring in his boyfriend's eyes.

Shadow nodded solemnly. "I do. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" Sonic smiled, all anger gone. "Of course. Just don't ever assume something about me again. Ask me first next time, okay?"

Shadow nodded sheepishly. Sonic grinned brightly, turned around and went to the wall opposite the door, opening the small rectangular window there – through that wouldn't even fit a child – to get the stench out. "Hey, Shads, could you stay still for a minute?," Sonic asked, with his back still to the other.

Shadow raised a brow. "Sure I could, but why?" "Oh, I just want to try something out.," Sonic replied, a smirk in his voice.

Shadow frowned, but stayed, where he was. He had the feeling, that Sonic had a rather crazy idea again. Last time, a few months ago, he had tried out, if just swallowing his chilidogs without chewing would let him eat more. In a way, it did...since he vomited the first two dozens out, he needed to repeat his meal...slower this time. What did he plan to do now?

He watched, how Sonic took a deep breath, before he turned quickly around. Shadow's eyes widened, when a strong gust of wind brushed past his left side and out the door. He almost stumbled from the strength of the gust and his left side felt suddenly very cold and numb, but not even that could stop him from feeling the slight tingle on his left cheek. He brushed his fingertips over the spot. Did he imagine it?

He felt the corners of his mouth lift. No. Sonic had found a way to trick his instincts – by letting the physical contact last under a second. And he was for sure the first one ever to get a super sonic kiss.

He looked up and sweatdropped upon seeing the bathroom...slightly untidy. The doors of the cabins had been pushed open, the toilet paper pooled under the empty rolls, dry leaves and a few blossoms had been dragged in through the window and the towels had fallen to the ground.

Knowing, that Kylie would give them hell for this chaos, he went to clean up, a smile on his lips all the time. That had been so worth it.


Outside the room, Sonic leaned next to the door against the wall, waiting for his nausea to calm down.

It had been a stupid idea to try that, but he had wanted to find it out. And well, he had been right. Besides, giving a kiss while running – who could say, that they had ever managed that? Okay, it had been just on the cheek, but hey, it had been the first try!

Frowning, he turned his attention back to other problems. He was actually glad, that his body had started this vomiting. It had distracted him from his panic – and hidden the smell from Shadow. Seemed, as if he had waited for too long to go to a doctor.

Doing his best to hide his rising dread, he started to walk towards his friends. "...think, that that's a good idea?," he heard Tails ask, when he turned the corner. "No worries. We check all of Eggman's former robots regularly for bugs, viruses and so on. But if it makes you feel better, you can always check them yourself. Tomorrow, though. Emerl and Shard need frequent charging days – and this is today.," Kylie explained. "Okay. I still want to do that. I don't feel comfortable with Cream this close to something, that Eggman built.," the fox explained.

Kylie chuckled. "That's, how most of the ukes feel. Cream's the most watched over girl here, I assure you. However, you can always check this yourself, I'm sure they won't mind.," Kylie replied and then looked up to see Sonic. "Hey there. So, back to my question?," she asked.

For a second, Sonic had no idea, what she meant, but then he remembered. "Ah, that. I can handle my own, really.," he shrugged. "Okay, then come, let's get this over with. Oh, Mali, there you are! Do you mind bringing my friends to my office, until I'm done with Sonic?," she asked the woman, who had apparently just appeared behind Sonic. The hero turned around – and his eyes widened in shock.

Now he knew, why Mali's chair had been gone with her before – she sat in it. Mali was sitting in a wheelchair.

It was a highly technological one, with all kinds of buttons on her arm rests, painted in light blue on the bottom and light brown at the top half, making it look like a regular chair, when she sat behind her desk, which was probably the plan. What he could see from her pale legs, that wasn't covered by her more than knee-long dress, was full of almost faded, hardly distinguishable scars of all forms and patterns and he quickly looked away to not make her uncomfortable.

"Sure, I can do that. I wouldn't go to the open ward, though. Veit and Tebian are there.," Mali advised. "Don't tell me Tebian challenged Mephiles again.," Kylie groaned annoyed. "No, nothing like that. Veit got attacked by the killer robot your friends brought along. It wanted to destroy Bokkun, actually, but Veit was in the way.," Mali replied easily.

"Did Veit get hurt?," Kylie asked, looking rather angry – and Shadow didn't exactly choose a good moment to come back, when he stepped into the foyer in this very second. He stared openly at Mali, as if she had suddenly three heads.

"No." The young woman pointedly ignored the staring. "I asked Thilo to make up a lie to keep Veit there for the next hours. Since Tebian won't leave him there alone, I figured, that this would be for the best, to keep him away from Sonic for as long as he stays here today."

"I see. Good thinking.," Kylie praised, before turning to Shadow. "Shadow, you and Rouge will remove your robot friend now.," she ordered.

Shadow ignored her, still staring at Mali, before he slowly went towards her. Mali looked at him with mild curiosity. "I...wanted to apologize. For my earlier behavior.," he explained neutrally.

Mali snorted. "Feeling guilty, because I'm disabled?," she asked mockingly. There was a subtle hint of bitterness in her voice and posture, she had apparently experience with that kind of behavior.

But Shadow shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I just got chewed through by my mate for my behavior earlier and realized, that I did not only him wrong, but you, too. For that, I apologize." It wasn't like Shadow to admit, that he had been scolded, no matter by whom, but Mali didn't need to know that.

And really, the woman looked surprised, yet pleased. "It's...it's alright, I guess...," she stammered.

"Alright then. Shadow, the robot. Come on, Sonic, we have a few private wards here, there's everything I need." Kylie waved the blue hedgehog with her, while Shadow just huffed, a smirking Rouge behind him.

Sonic waved at his friends and followed the human woman along a hallway. There were only a few flower pots with bushes in them along the wall to his right and big windows to his left.

The only other decoration were children's pictures, that were on the right wall, so close to each other, as if they were to replace the wallpaper. The children had drawn pretty much everything there was to be drawn – animals, their family, their houses and he even discovered a certain blue section with pictures of him. Most of them were hardly resembling him, but some of the little artists did have a talent, even he could tell.

"You are one of their favorite motives.," Kylie smiled, having noticed his look. Sonic smiled back weakly. He couldn't bring himself to put as much joy in it, as he wanted.

To make it worse, Kylie noticed it. "Is something the matter? You seem closed off, since you came from the bathroom!," she mentioned. Sonic sighed. No use in lying about it or keeping it hidden – he would tell her anyway, when she would ask about his symptoms. He should get this over with and just come out.

He took a deep breath and confessed, "I think, I'm dying."


A few minutes earlier:

"Come with me, I'll show you the way to Dr. Ellen's office.," Mali waved. "And we are removing Omega.," Rouge replied, looking over to Shadow, but the seme was staring in the direction Sonic had gone to, not indicating at all, that he had heard her.

She rolled her eyes. "Shadow, relax already, Kylie won't harm him, you know that.," she grumbled and moved to push him out the door – which was, since he didn't move, about as successful as pushing against a brick wall to make it fall.

Shadow couldn't help, but frown in thought. Sonic's last smile towards his friends, just before he had been gone with Kylie...had looked fake. Was something up he didn't know? Or was he just nervous about the examination? From what he learned, Sonic didn't like examinations – after the Island-incident even less – and was for sure not thrilled to go through this. But, was this really all?

A sharp hit over his head let him jump – more in surprise, than out of any other motive – and turn around quickly to see Knuckles facing a less than amused Rouge. "What? You asked, if one of us had an idea to wake him up!," he defended himself.

Shadow rolled his eyes and turned to march out of the building. He truly forgot everything, when it came to Sonic. It was a miracle, that he hadn't messed up any mission yet due to thinking about his love. Well, usually, Sonic was absolutely well, when he left him, or at least in the best possible hands, so he didn't need to worry...

He stopped thinking, when he almost crashed into Omega. The robot had stood up by now and turned to him the minute he came out.

"We need to move you.," Shadow told him simply. He knew, that Omega wouldn't ask for reasons – he wasn't programmed to ask questions, or to question anything. And really, Omega just turned and started to walk.

Shadow noticed a slight change in his moving pattern, as if his joints were rusted or blocked. He knew, that this happened, when he hadn't moved for a while, but that time span was usually a complete week. Blush probably did some damage to his joints. It was for the best to let him walk a bit to see, if he needed a repair, that the robot couldn't do himself.

The dark agent wasn't surprised to see a white bat landing on Omega's shoulder a minute later. Even a feral butterfly would have caught up to them easily.

"A penny for your thoughts?," he heard her ask. Shadow just shrugged. "Let me guess, Sonic? Come on, Shadow, you know, that Kylie will do her best to help him.," Rouge sighed.

She knew, that Shadow could become close to obsessed with Sonic, when he wasn't well. While he had been recovering from the Island-incident, Shadow had rarely left him alone and when he did, for example, because his friends came for a visit, then he had hovered next to the door, as if he needed to fear, that Knux, or Tails, would try to kill him. Thankfully, he had calmed again, when Sonic had recovered enough to stand up, but every minor injury, every small cough or sneeze let mother hen Shadow celebrate a comeback... She had no idea, how Sonic managed to tolerate this.

"I know that. It's not about the human. Sonic just...seemed strange to me the last time I saw him, that's all."

"In what way?," Rouge asked, surprised, that Shadow actually talked about Sonic and that without his standard answer of 'That doesn't concern you', 'He's fine, don't worry', or 'Stop asking about him, or I'll have to break something', which usually indicated her bones. Not that he would actually do that, it just showed, how much he was annoyed then.

"I'm not sure. He just seemed...upset, I guess." He shook his head. "Forget it, I'm probably seeing things."

Rouge snorted. "That's a first." "That I'm seeing things?" Shadow raised a brow. "That you admit it.," Rouge smirked, even wider, when Shadow shot her an annoyed glance. "Yeah, yeah, you're going to break something, I know."


Back to Sonic and Kylie:

Kylie almost tripped over her feet upon hearing that, but she managed to catch herself. Just to be safe, she stayed where she was, though. Sonic stopped, too, looking lost and worried, for sure having a million thoughts going through his mind. Kylie's thought process was far simpler: Shadow, I'm going to murder you!

How could he keep such an important information from Sonic!? She knew of course, that Sonic was immortal, she had been the only witness of seeing him becoming this, watching, how Shadow shared his blood with him, listening to him explaining, that Sonic was probably not as immortal as him, that his regeneration was probably not as good as his own... And she was VERY sure, that she had advised him to tell Sonic about this as soon, as he was better. What, had he been bedridden for two years straight!? Oh, she was going to kill him, if he was immortal, or not.

Taking a deep breath and calming down, she turned to Sonic. "What makes you think that?," she asked as neutrally as possible.

Sonic looked up at her, having apparently expected a bigger reaction (unaware of the murder plans in his friend's mind), before his ears pressed to his skull. "It's just, I was in the bathroom and well, there was...blood... when I peed...," he almost whispered the last part, embarrassed as he blushed deeply.

"Ah." Kylie frowned. Well, no wonder, that he was disturbed, but her medicinal education refused to see it as something fatal for as long as Sonic was walking and talking as effortlessly as he was now. "Well, I don't think, that we need to worry too much. You seem coherent and not in pain, so it's most likely nothing bad. I'll look at it during the examination, okay?," she smiled reassuringly, nodding her head to indicate, that she wanted to go further. Sonic followed her. "You're taking this surprisingly well...," he mentioned.

Kylie chuckled. "If I would spiral into a panic every time, when something like that would happen, the Shelter and my family would have already drowned in chaos. I rather wait for a solid reason to panic – and then I freak out."

Sonic snorted. "Yeah, probably for the best.," he agreed, chastising himself for getting terrified this quickly. Usually, Tails – or Shadow, or someone else for that matter – needed to spell out, why a certain situation was a good reason for panic, so he would take it remotely serious. This illness was really messing with his head.

"Hey, how's your family?," he changed the topic. He noticed a small tension on Kylie, when he asked that, but it was gone quickly. "Oh, my children are fine, they grow up to be fine adults. I even say this about Vanessa, and she is just eight. She's fine, really, fine..."

Kylie was rambling, which was a first for her. Sonic just couldn't imagine, why. However, she was only talking about her children...

"Kylie.," he interrupted her. "What about your husband?" Kylie seemed to think about not answering, but then she sighed and brushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. "My husband and I...divorced. We aren't mated anymore.," she explained right away, knowing, that Sonic wouldn't understand the word 'divorce'. Not because he had never before visited a school to learn it, but because mobians didn't marry.

During her research, she had learned, that the concept of marriage was completely human territory. Sure, there were many mobian couples, who married after they had mated, but it was only to have a real ceremony for it, since the actual mating didn't have one. They also called themselves 'wife' and 'husband', because they imitated human behavior, not because the two words were used traditionally.

Mating happened only during mating season, which was usually the time, when couples mated for the first time ever, their instincts in this time span working in an unique overdrive and urging them to do so.

While being 'at it', the partners marked each other as theirs, usually with a bite – thanks to the instincts being so active, they would never remember the pain – which was the equivalent of putting a ring on a finger for humans. The wound would get minimally treated, scar over and be visible even through the fur, signaling to everyone: back off, he/she is taken!

Sadly, a mark was as effective, as a ring on the finger – it didn't stop other semes to try and make a move on a mated uke/female and vice-versa. The chance for success was rather slim, though.

Mobians referred to their boy- or girlfriends often as 'mates' long before mating, or before mating season started, which was actually a promise, a promise to mate them one day. It was a love confession, that couldn't get any stronger.

Since mating was an unconscious process, couples, who weren't ready for this step – they usually kept coupling for two weeks straight and almost always ended up with a child on the way, since protection wasn't something they could actually think about during this time – either separated before this time started, to meet again, when it was over, or they took a special herb, that would artificially calm their instincts, giving them the illusion, that mating had already happened.

If the partners belonged to two different species, this was easier, as the mating seasons were happening separately and would start to sync with each other over the time of up to five years, until the mates would feel the unique instinct overdrive during a completely new time span, different to both mating seasons and just working for them.

To humans, or better: to Kylie, it had appeared strange, that a bite and sex were enough to bind two people together forever (in most cases, that is – as she knew by now, most couples weren't meant to be and were more prone to break-ups, than the true ones) and also, that the mates would have no recollection of this time. Strangely, the next mating season as well as every other, however, would stay as very intense memories in their minds...

On the other hand, humans put a small metal ring around their mate's finger and then considered them theirs. Their rituals were both very strange.

Breaking up, however, was for mobians a greater hassle, since they needed to get rid of the mark, which had been a mostly deadly procedure in older days. Nowadays, this was the job of a surgeon...

"...Why?," Sonic asked, ripping her out of her thoughts. As predicted, he couldn't imagine a single reason, why she should break up. Mating was a strong connection, created by the most feral, basic thing mobians had: their instincts. They weren't attracted by looks, money or character, but by the wavelength the instincts worked on, that was compatible. It was so deeply engraved in them, that there was so little being able to separate them beyond death... Even mobians, who hadn't have a mate, yet, knew this...by instinct.

He didn't ask about why her last name didn't change – as mobians usually didn't have a last name, this didn't cross his mind.

"My...husband didn't agree with what I did on the Island.," she explained slowly. "Wha-" Sonic's jaw dropped. "But you didn't do it, because you wanted it! Perringten forced you, that's-"

"Sonic.," Kylie's calm voice cut him off. "He didn't agree with what I did for YOU on the Island." Sonic's eyes widened in realization. "He's-" "-mobiphob, exactly.," Kylie replied dully.

Mobiphobia was a nice word for describing humans, who were afraid of mobians and/or hated their guts. People with mobiphobia thought, that mobians were freaks of nature and that they needed to be extinct. Towers, the former GUN-Commander, was a prime example for this group of people.

"...Why did you marry someone like him, when he's like that?," Sonic asked confused. He couldn't imagine, that Kylie would marry someone, who had so contradicting thoughts to her own.

Kylie sighed again. "It's not like I ever asked, 'By the way, what do you think of mobians?', and he never asked, either. We both just assumed, that we shared the same opinion on that topic. Since we lived in an all-human-district and our children went on schools with only humans, it's not, as if it ever came up."

"And you never wondered about seeing only humans?," Sonic pried, having the feeling, that she was keeping something from him.

Kylie turned around sharply and faced the surprised Sonic, who stopped at once, since she was now blocking his path.

"You want the truth? Here it is: I was wary of mobians, okay? I'm not proud of it, even though it's only human to be afraid of what I don't know. I...I was even a little proud to be a human and not a mobian..."

"What changed it?," Sonic asked, not having missed the past tense. "The first time Perringten showed me, what happened on Paradise, I hated to be a human. I hated to have partly the same blood running through my veins. I realized painfully, that humans weren't better than anyone, if they acted like that."

"Yet, you still had to be wary of us..." "Of course I was. Do you have any idea, how often I got bitten by the ukes I tried to help? I can consider myself lucky to still have all of my my fingers!," Kylie chuckled tiredly. "The only good thing coming from the Island, besides our friendship, were the tools there, that heal wounds, so they never left a scar.," she added thoughtfully.

"What changed it? Your opinion about mobians?," Sonic asked. Kylie smiled, while her glare turned distant. "My doubts vanished with every patient I had, but Silver definitely broke a very good part of my walls down. He was so innocent, just like a newborn pup, never hiding anything, just as honest as a child. My very last of doubts and hesitance, however, crumbled under the hands of a certain blue hedgehog." With that, she turned around and walked on, leaving a stunned Sonic behind.

It took the blue hero a good minute to snap out of his stupor and ten more seconds to catch up – thanks to his still slightly upset stomach, he needed to take it slow.

"What did I do?," he asked, confused. Kylie smiled sadly. "Although I felt great sympathy for the hedgehogs, I had no idea, what I should do. It was, as if I was working for a big laboratory and knew, that there were some people experimenting on animals. I would feel bad for the poor animals, but would know, that opening the cells wouldn't help them. I...just didn't wreck my brain for a solution, before I met you."

"And I changed it how?," Sonic couldn't help, but ask. Kylie had always seemed to be pretty determined to help them and risk everything in the process, from what he remembered.

"This will sound so stupid and selfish, but I recognized you, of course, and you are my children's idol, so the moment I saw you, I saw the faces of my children in front of me, when I told them, that I saw their beloved hero in trouble and didn't even try to help him and I couldn't bear that thought." She talked quickly, as if she needed to get the words out, before they burst out of her.

"Kylie." Sonic's call let her turn around and look down on him. "If that was true, then you would have smuggled you and me off the Island and not cared about anyone else. You wouldn't have cried for those suffering and you wouldn't have rescued my friends, neither off the Island, nor out of the Uke Institute. You wouldn't have risked your life and that of your family."

Kylie frowned in thought, biting her lip. She had apparently asked herself several times already, why she had risked everything, even her beloved ones' lives for mobians she hardly knew.

She had cared from minute one, not just after meeting Silver, Sonic was sure of it, but this behavior towards mobians she had been wary of before, was a mystery for her.

Her thinking about it had probably bothered her from the first moment on, that she had had an opportunity to do so. She had had maybe even some sleepless nights over it and just stuck with the explanation from before in her desperation to get it out of her head. But the blue hero had broken her argumentation with ease.

Sonic grinned, when he got an idea. "Ask me, why I am a hero.," he asked. The woman blinked, but obeyed, "Er...why are you a hero?".

"My, what an unexpected question!," Sonic gasped dramatically, making Kylie laugh lightly. "As to answer your question, dear Kylie –," he continued, pretending, as if they were in a live streamed interview right now, "I have absolutely no idea."

"Huh?" Kylie blinked. "I know, that there are people, who think I'm doing it because of the money, the fans, the respect or the fame, but that isn't true. I just do it, end of story. You know, I think, that there are many people out there, who have a heroic heart, just not the means to show it as openly and extensively as me. I'm convinced, that there are many heroes among us, without even realizing it. They probably even find excuses for their altruistic, illogical deeds, like 'doing it for their children', or-"

Kylie interrupted him with an unexpected hug. Thankfully, Sonic was used to surprise hugs – mostly thanks to Amy – and his quills quickly pressed down on his back, so the human wouldn't get hurt.

"Y-You sometimes really know, what to say to make me feel better.," he heard her say, her voice trembling and her grip tightening in an attempt of seeking comfort. "Eh, no problem...," Sonic replied embarrassed, glad, that the hallway was empty.

It should take him another minute to realize, that Kylie had touched him without his instincts causing any problem...


Meanwhile:

Tails couldn't help, but feel a little torn. Mali's wheelchair did look really cool, especially now, that he was walking behind it and got a good view on its inner structure, since it wasn't closed off at the back. He would love to see its whole system, but he was very sure, that Mali wouldn't appreciate it to be without her chair.

He jumped out of his musings, when he saw a flash of pink suddenly appearing on his left, but it was just Amy, who had a worryingly big smile on her face and a creepy shine in her eyes.

"Er...Amy? Is...everything okay?," he asked slowly. Now, that he thought about it... he hadn't have seen her in the last few minutes, she had strayed away to somewhere...

"Oh, just fine.," Amy grinned still, somehow talking, without changing her mimic in the slightest. She seemed to have regressed to her worst obsessed with Sonic-days. "Where have you been anyway? I was just about to look for you!," Knuckles chastised.

Amy didn't seem to have listened and thankfully, Mali stopped in this very minute, before the fight could escalate. "Here we are.," she explained, her chair turning around on the point and Tails would have loved to know, how it did that.

Mali pointed to a wooden door, that had a sign with the words 'Dr. Kylie Ellen, Director' on it. Mali's chair turned again, so that she could open the door for them, before she rolled back, to let them in.

Curiously, the mobians looked inside. At the other side of the big room, in front of a big window with white curtains in front of it, they saw a large desk stapled with papers and files in some kind of controlled mess. Some chairs were arranged in front of the desk.

"You can wait here.," she explained, gesturing inside. "Do you maybe want something to drink? Or a snack?," she asked, while they entered.

"No, th-" Amy, who suddenly screamed and quickly clung to Knuckles, interrupted the echidna.

"W-what's wrong!?," Tails, who had just crossed the threshold, asked, having jumped, too. "Th-the book! It just fell on the ground! From midair!," Amy stuttered, shaking like a leaf, pointing to something out of Tails' vision.

A little frightened, the fox inched closer into the room and peered around the corner. Opposite the desk and next to the door was a large, packed bookshelf, taking the whole space of the wall. A few meters away from the shelf, on the gray carpet, lay a book, innocently. It seemed, as if Kylie had left it there, but that wasn't like her at all.

He stumbled back, when the book suddenly started to tremble, as if someone tried to lift it, but found it to be too heavy. But... there was no one!

He was about to back away more, when he heard a chuckle behind him. He turned around to see Mali looking also at the book.

"Ah, hello, Mist. Back again?," she asked casually, as if that was completely normal and a daily phenomenon. The book stilled.

"What was that?," Knuckles asked distrustfully, not trusting the peace to last. "This was just Mist, a ghost, who often hangs out in Dr. Ellen's office. He doesn't talk and can't interact with much objects. Could someone please pick up the book? Mist apparently lost too much energy again.," she asked.

Carefully, Tails inched closer, after some hesitating, always expecting some kind of attack, that thankfully didn't come, and picked up the book, that was about psychology, judging by the title. He discovered one gap in the lines of books on the shelf and carefully put the book in it, pushing it in, until it reached the wooden back of the shelf.

He flinched, when something white appeared suddenly next to him and quickly turned around to it. It was a hedgehog, with pure white fur and silvery eyes, looking almost like Rio, but with far shorter head quills. He looked pretty meager, had no clothes and his left ear was missing. Tails could see the wall behind him through parts of his body. A smile was on his colorless lips and he bowed to Tails, before disappearing at once.

"That was his way of saying 'thank you'.," Mali explained with a smile. "W-will he come back?," Amy asked, still clinging to Knuckles' arm, that slowly lost all feeling.

"Sorry, I can't say. Mist has his own head, he only listens to Dr. Ellen.," Mali replied honestly.

She noticed the anxious glares of the three mobians. "Would you like to wait in the foyer? Dr. Ellen needs to cross it, when she wants to come here.," she offered, which the friends accepted with relief.