Alright, folks. We're back again for another chapter of Trials of War and this time, we're finally doing it. It's the thing that we've all been dreaming of for years. We're gonna do it. The Reunion is here and God, I am looking forward to writing this chapter! So what are we waiting for? Let's begin!

Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite
Chapter 33-
Birthday Bash!

Tails wasn't sure if it was the harsh winds of Holoska that made his fur stand up on end or the scene that was laid out before him. On one end of the metallic platform were him and his travelling companions, each of them with varying emotions and expressions, and on the other was none other than two of the world's greatest oppressors. The only thing between them was the frigid air, carrying flakes of delicate snow wafting quietly along the breeze and the tension that didn't seem to leave them.

Sonic was standing with his fists clenched, spines bristled and at the ready to strike at a moment's notice; Blaze palms were already alight with flame, taking on a sort of karate stance as she was ready for battle; Omega had a single arm turned into a machine gun trained on Infinite and only Infinite; and Tails still just stood there, practically trembling at the sight of the one who had caused him so much harm.

Tails hated this feeling, wanting to do everything in his power to fight against these two but he was caught like a deer in the headlights under the masked gaze of the jackal standing before him.

Infinite remained calm, cool and collected, casually tipping his mask closer to his face as miasma flowed casually along one side.

Shadow on the other hand was standing on the ground with his arms crossed and looking away from them.

"My… My… What do we have here?" Infinite asked. "A couple of strays left to fend for themselves in this harsh and cruel world?"

Sonic was quick to respond to that. "Says the little puppy with a cone on his head over here. What's wrong, did Eggman forget to take you for your shots?"

Shadow rolled his eyes at this one while Infinite scoffed.

"I should be asking you, little one. You're an awfully long way from home, aren't you?"

Blaze stepped out before him, flames pointed dangerously at him. "Yes, and whose fault is that?"

"None but your own." Infinite snapped. "You are the ones who toyed with Infinite power and now look where that's ended you up? Stranded in a world not your own, dismantled and corrupted only to shoddily be put back together again and lost and abandoned looking for anyone to steer you in the right direction. To think that you've come this far and now wish to face me? You're almost not worth the time."

Tails' fists were shaking he was still trembling, but he did his best to respond. "Th-that's not true… We-we can fight against you!"

"Oh… So you still have spirit in you? Here I thought that that hope had been dashed when I took him from you all those months ago. But now I see you have brought more of your friends for me to crush underfoot."

Tails whimpered, slightly stepping back at that. Sonic stepped up, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a reassuring smile.

"I-I'm not g-going anywhere!" Tails insisted.

"And we're right behind him!" Sonic insisted, a smirk splayed across his face as he flicked his nose and raised his fists in the air.

Blaze joined him as well, ready to fight.

Infinite began to rise up in the air, his miasmic energy flowing around him. "If you all wish to stand together then you shall all fall to the Empire's might together! Come Shadow! Let us take them!"

Shadow finally turned his attention towards them and looked them in the eyes.

Omega finally spoke up. Keeping his gun arm pointed towards Infinite but not daring to take his eyes off of his friend.

"Shadow…."

~Trials of War~

"Tails!" Sonic shouted as he ran atop the winding paths of the chemical plant.

It was mere minutes after he had left Celeste and the others behind in Green Hill, having made a mad dash towards Holoska. Nothing else was on his mind other than making sure that his brother was safe and sound.

After so long… so long, he was finally going to find him again! It was like a dream and a small part of him couldn't believe it was actually happening. But first… he had to get through the Chemical Plant and smack around a masked clown if he dared to lay a single claw on him.

No. He was going to get there before anything would happen to him.

He poured more power into his legs, the boost aura quickly covering his body again as he continued down the winding paths as the frigid air and flakes of snow blew around his quills.

Sonic the Hedgehog was atop one of the many frozen pathways that made up the Chemical Plant, an ocean of oil was beneath him. Amongst the open air and all the paths of the Chemical Plant were large tracks using pulleys in order to carry materials all over the facility.

Sonic was quick to jump off one of the paths he was on and towards one of the pulleys, using it like a zipline to propel him along the skies.

That zipline lead him up to an oil tanker rising out of the ocean with a platform that snaked around it. He landed and quickly ran along the platform before diving off yet again and grinding atop one of the machine lines carrying crates throughout the facility.

After grinding along the track for a while, he caught one of the winding blue paths of the Chemical Plant and jumped off of the rail and onto the path. He let out a burst of speed, and boosted down the trail.

It didn't take long for that trail to lead to a platform where a pack of Eggpongs met him. But something like that wasn't going to stop him as he simply mowed them over with little effort.

Where are they…? He wondered as he continued running along the path.

And then he heard it, the ever familiar sound of the Phantom Ruby followed up by an explosion in the horizon.

Sonic's eyes widened in fear before a look of determination came across his face.

Hold on, buddy. I'm coming!

And without another word, he raced off towards the source, prepared to see his little brother again.

~Trials of War~

"Shadow…" Omega stated.

The group faltered in their stances, the three of them nearly forgot that he was there.

Shadow faltered too, immediately looking away from the robot.

"What are you doing?"

Shadow sighed. "Omega… I…"

"What are you doing?" Omega asked again.

Shadow didn't answer now, looking down at the floor.

Infinite couldn't help but laugh. "For one of the world's most sophisticated pieces of machinery, you have quit the infantile understanding of the events before you."

He hovered down to him, getting up close and personal with the robot.

Sonic was quick to get to his feet. "Hey! Leave him al-"

The other three got into position at this, but with a wave of his hand they were frozen in place.

"Infinite…" Shadow growled.

Infinite laughed again, lazily floating around the machine. "What? Is it wrong for me to want to get to know one of your closest companions? I thought we were close, Shadow." That last sentence dripping with a level of sarcasm that didn't go unnoticed by the group.

"He's not my- I mean- he was but…" Shadow grit his teeth in frustration, unsure of what to really call Omega at this point.

Omega decided to bridge the gap by asking him a question. "Shadow… Why are you siding with him?"

Shadow looked down, his eyes screwed shut. "It's complicated, Omega. You wouldn't understand."

"Is this unit not your companion? Someone that you have confided in in your times of need?"

Shadow sighed again. "You are, but-"

"Some friend you are!" Sonic shouted from where he was frozen.

All eyes darted towards the hedgehog who continued. "You stand there siding with this creep and taking over the world. I wouldn't call you a friend."

"This doesn't concern you, faker!" Shadow snapped at the smaller Sonic.

"Oh yeah, sure! You're gonna stand around and act like you're all high and mighty and better than everyone when you're part of the reason the world is like this! If I had to guess, you're probably doing this because you just love being better than everyone."

"Shut up!" Shadow snapped at him. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Perhaps he does." Omega stated. "My desire is that you return to the side that you were meant to be on. I do not believe this unit to be faulty in that regard, but perhaps I was wrong."

Shadow looked down at the floor unsure of what to say.

Infinite floated over to him and laughed. "Oh, how sad… Your friend doesn't understand where your loyalty lies."

Shadow growled at him. "Back the hell off, Infinite! This isn't about you!"

"Oh, but it is…" Infinite noted. "You have helped burn the world down and what? For me? No... It is about time that you prove yourself."

Shadow looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Strike him down!" Infinite insisted. "Prove your loyalty to the Eggman Empire by destroying your friend."

Shadow looked at Omega and Omega stared back at him.

Omega still had his gun raised towards Infinite and Infinite still hovered lazily in the air. Sonic, Tails and Blaze attempted to move but remained frozen in Infinite's grasp.

Shadow sighed. Raising his arm and producing a Chaos Spear in his hand.

Infinite looked on, prepared to watch the show.

Shadow looked at Omega again, prepared to deliver the blow.

"Shadow…."

Shadow screwed his eyes shut.

"Friends do not hurt each other."

Shadow stopped as he took in those words, remembering the initial raid on GUN HQ and how he met with his friends. How they refused to attack him after he had so clearly fallen so far without little rhyme or reason in their eyes but trusted him entirely and now… Here he was ready to strike him down after so long. What sort of monster was he…?

His eyes then fell on the jackal who was floating before him, watching with baited breath to see if he would do it.

All this useless fighting for an empire that he didn't believe in and for what? Someone who refused to grow or change like he had? No. Infinite did not care at all and he had been foolish to believe that somehow he would at all in the first place.

No. He would not allow this.

Shadow looked to Omega and gave him a curt nod to which the robot understood.

A lone Chaos Spear fired upon Infinite from point blank, knocking him out of his comfortable perch in the air and into the sky where a volley of gunfire from the world's most sophisticated piece of machinery trailed shortly after.

The surprise was enough to knock the three trapped heroes out of the miasmic energy and onto the floor.

Omega wasn't done though, switching to his rocket attachment arm which fired one last time, enveloping Infinite in a fiery explosion.

"Success!" Omega announced as he raised both hands in the air.

Shadow however got into a battle stance and stood at the ready.

"You would dare?!" Infinite shouted.

He appeared before them in a glitchy red haze and looked down at them furiously.

Now the other heroes were on their feet and ready to fight him.

"Heck yeah, you thought that it would be easy?" Sonic grinned, punching his fist into an open palm.

Blaze followed this up by sending twin balls of flame from her hands and towards Infinite but Infinite met them with his own balls of fire.

An explosion rang out over the platform, knocking the group off of their feet.

Infinite came soaring through the explosion, red ruby energy trailing behind him as he went and scooped Shadow right off of the ground. In mere moments, the two were flying through the air.

"Shadow!" Blaze cried out. She rose up to her feet and began to blast balls of fire at the evading jackal which were soon followed up by Omega with his machine guns.

Sonic and Tails however, were already on the run, taking to the various winding paths of the Chemical Plant.

Infinite had his hands clasped around Shadow's throat, purple electricity coursing around his fists as he attempted to strangle the life out of the hedgehog. Shadow let out harsh gasps as he desperately clawed at Infinite's hands like a starving dog trying to get a bone that was just out of reach.

"After all this time, all you've tried to do, you finally show your true colors, Shadow!" Infinite roared. "You traitorous scum, I will enjoy extinguishing that flame of rebellion that lies within your soul!"

Sonic and Tails were running on the path below him.

"Hey, you leave him alone!" Sonic shouted.

"Stay out of this, child!"

At that, Shadow finally began to fight back. To Infinite's shock and surprise, Shadow was able to grab at Infinite's wrists and with what power he could muster unleashed a Chaos Blast at point blank.

Infinite was knocked out of the air and Shadow plummeted towards the oil ocean like a rock.

"No!" Tails cried out.

Quickly, he flew into the air and was able to snatch the hedgehog out of the air.

Shadow looked at the fox and let out a ragged yet relieved sigh as he carefully lead him back onto the platform where he took a few moments to get his breath again. Tails' eyes widened when he pulled out the red emerald in order to heal up even faster.

When Infinite found his bearings in the air again he had to quickly throw up a wall of cubes to repel that was the raging ball of fire that was Blaze the Cat as she propelled herself towards him with an air boost.

She landed on the ground in a crouch only for Sonic to hop right up and over her and try and home in on Infinite but not before the jackal lowered the cubes and struck him with a laser.

Infinite growled as he whizzed his way around gunshots from Omega only for Blaze to try air boosting into him again. With his focus on dodging Omega's shots, she was able to land a hit on him.

Infinite fell to the ground and that was all Sonic needed to run up to him and perform a drop dash on top of him, grinding him into the metallic platforms.

"Haha, hurts doesn't it!"

Infinite disappeared in a blink of an eye.

The hedgehog looked around only for Infinite to come zooming towards him yet again.

The hedgehog gasped and did his best to run out of the way but was run over and sent flying off the trail.

Sonic screamed as he flailed his arms through the air and descended down towards the water.

Lucky for him, a hand reached out for him and he was happy to see that it was none other than Tails, looking down at him with a smile.

"I can't leave you alone for a second, can I?" Tails asked.

Sonic chuckled. "You know me, always getting into trouble."

Sonic and Tails managed to get back on the path and raced back to where Infinite was fighting the others.

As Infinite continued on the path with the angry red aura surrounding his body, he was right in the path of Omega.

Omega was about to take the blow only for Shadow the hedgehog to boost on past him and clash against Infinite's own boost.

The two grappled with each other for a few moments, before the energy finally cancelled each other out and knocked the two back.

With Infinite flying through the air, Omega took aim and fired at him with his rocket.

Tails and Blaze were quick to join him and added their own firepower to the blow.

Infinite was knocked out of the sky and they cheered.

Only for him to come rising up looking angrily at them as wispy red energy flowed off of him.

"Enough!" He roared as a wave of power rushed out at him and knocked each and every one of them off their feet.

The five looked up at Infinite. Shadow in particular was the first to attempt to move but he was quick to fire at him with a laser agan, forcing him down to the ground.

"You all have come on a very long journey…" Infinite growled as the ruby glowed with power. "But this is where it ends."

The Ruby finally stopped glowing and he grinned.

"Say goodbye."

Just as he was about to let all that power loose on them again, a familiar rush of wind passed by them and smashed right into Infinite.

Infinite was knocked out of the sky again and looked around. "Who dares stand against Infinite pow- You!?"

"I told you a long time ago, Infinite." The figure landed in front of them, standing proud and strong in all of his glory before them. A confident, cocky smirk was stretched across his face, dark blue fur on end, ready to tear the jackal apart.

"Keep your claws off my friends!"

Infinite's fists clenched and glared at Sonic himself.

"Sonic…"

The others were able to get up, standing strong along with Sonic as they all looked at him.

Sonic took in the familiar faces around him and had to do a double take at the sight of Shadow, Blaze and Omega. He knew Tails would be here and- was that his younger self?! Okay, he could worry about that later.

Infinite chuckled. "Well now, isn't this just wonderful? Your savior is here to protect you!"

Sonic smirked. "What's wrong, Infinite? Are you scared I'm gonna take you down?"

"If I recall, our last encounter had you running with your tail between your legs. Forced to be defended by the little Rose. Tell me, did she kiss your wounds and make them better?"

"No more than old Eggface kissed yours. I see that you're hiding them."

The miasma around his face slightly faltered. He clenched his fists and growled at him.

The younger Sonic the older one a bit and laughed. "Looks like you made an impression."

Infinite stopped and glared down at them. "The only impressions that will be made around here are the ones my claws will make in your bodies."

Sonic got into a battle ready stance to which the others continued. "Try it."

Without another word, the battle kicked off yet again when Sonic boosted off down the track. Infinite was quick to chase after him, balls of energy in his hands.

Quickly, the younger Sonic, Tails and Blaze followed the two.

Sonic the Hedgehog grinned as Infinite now hovered in front of him with balls of energy in hand and fired them down on the track in front of him.

He quick stepped around them, dodging them with ease while the Jackal followed things up with a homing attack that the jackal easily blocked with a wall of cubes to the face that sent him skidding backwards.

To his surprise though. The younger version of himself simply hopped up and over him along with Blaze and the two rammed into the jackal, causing him to groan in pain.

"Now we're talking!"

Sonic got up to his feet again and attempted to home in but he was repelled yet again.

This time he went flailing through the air but was caught by his little buddy.

Both of them shared a silent conversation with each other, knowing that they had a lot to talk about but agreed to let it all happen later. Without another word, Tails spun Sonic around and chucked him across the field at Infinite who landed.

Infinite landed on the track and glared at the group before forming sending a lance of energy out at Blaze and the little hog, forcing them to the ground.

Sonic and Tails attempted to jump him too but they too were sent down by his blade.

Infinite rose into the air again at this only for a flash of light to appear above him and down came Omega firing a bullet storm on him that forced the jackal to retreat. But not before a certain black hedgehog came out from the other side and rammed a Chaos Spear into his chest, sending him flying across the battlefield.

Infinite groaned at this and once again had to dodge as Tails fired a volley of shots from above only for Blaze to chuck fireballs at him at his side.

Infinite once again let out another blast of energy at all sides that sent the others flying. But this time Shadow was prepared, using his Emerald to initiate Chaos Control and send himself and the closest person to him away from it.

He opened his eyes and looked to see that that person was none other than Sonic. He groaned. "Ugh, of course."

"Aw, Shads. You shouldn't have!" He grinned.

"Just don't get in my way." Shadow rolled his eyes as he raced off towards Infinite.

Sonic let out a chuckle as he boosted after him. The two were able to boost towards the jackal as he began to recover from the attack in a blur of red and blue before they slammed into Infinite and knocked the jackal into the sky.

Shadow and Sonic landed on the other end with the former crossing his arms and smirking and the latter doing a little break dance.

They looked up at Infinite, who was now battered and beaten. The energy around him flowed erratically and he struggled to keep himself afloat.

He hated to admit it, but he was not prepared for a fight against six powerful foes. A retreat had to be made now.

He looked at the group as they all stared him down, ready to attack at another moment's notice. After last time, he could not return empty handed. No, the Doctor could possibly make things worse for him if he didn't at least have something to show for the battle.

Infinite's eyes landed on Shadow the Hedgehog and remembered that he had brought one of the Chaos Emeralds to the battle. Yes, that would do just fine.

Too fast for them to react, Infinite soared down towards Shadow and to the shock and surprise of them all, phased through his body. When he came out on the other end, he had the chaos Emerald in hand.

"We will meet again…" He growled and with another word, he vanished from sight.

For a few moment all was silent for the group except for the sounds of the howling winds and their heaving breaths. Their bodies were rigid and poised, prepared to attack at a moment's notice in case Infinite's retreat was yet another trick from Eggman's enforcer but nothing came.

It was Blaze who was the first to speak up. "I- I think it's over… H-He's gone…"

A beat of silence passed within the group, but slowly they were finally able to relax and truly comprehend the situation that they had been thrown into.

They had fought Infinite and managed to get him to run away. Unfortunately, he had done so with Shadow's Emerald but that would be a battle for another day.

It didn't take long for two brothers' eyes to fall on one another and for a moment, it was as if the world had stood still for them.

A plethora of emotions raced through them as they took in one another. There, after so long, so damn long, the one each of them longed for more than anyone else in this crazy world was finally in front of them. Months of fighting, months of regrets, months of acceptance that they might never see each other again had lead up to this moment. And yet, neither of them immediately know what to do.

For Tails, it really was like seeing a ghost. Sure, he had known Sonic had been alive for quite some time. Weeks now, but for months he had truly believed that his best friend in the world, his brother, the one person who would always be there for him was gone and that he was partially responsible for it. A part of him didn't believe that he was real, despite literally fighting alongside him just now, working together as if nothing had changed. But there he was, right in front of him.

Sonic on the other hand, felt a wave of relief wash over him that he had never felt before. Tails had truly come back to him after all this time, it was great. He actually lived, he actually survived! Amongst all the fighting, having to be a symbol of hope for the people and just trying to do what he could to make sure that all his friends had made it out okay, Tails… Tails really did get lost in all of that.

Neither of them knew or even cared as to who ran to the other first but it didn't take long for them to find themselves into each others' arms.

Tails immediately started sobbing, his words spilling out of his mouth faster than Sonic could even run. "SonicIthoughtyouweregoneI'msosorryI'vebeenlookingeverywhereforyouandIthoughtI'dneverseeyouagainandand"

Sonic did his best to contain his own tears, but his own emotions betrayed him as a few stray drops came out the corners of his eyes. Yet he smiled down at his little bro and said, "I'm here, Tails. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. When I heard you were gone, I thought that… It doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're safe."

Tails sniffled but gave his big brother a wry smile. "Me too, Sonic."

The two brothers held each other for a few moments, just taking it all in. Even after being away from each other so long, the feeling of just being in each other's arms just made it feel as if they had been a way from each other for just a few hours or a few days instead of the near year apart. Memories of a young child cowering from thunderstorms in a cave while his big brother told him everything would be okay to movie nights in his lab, it was an all too familiar feeling that they melted into so easily.

Standing off at different sides, the younger Sonic took it all in and had a sad smile of his own. He was happy that the two had reunited but he couldn't help but think of his own little buddy.

Blaze stepped up behind him and gently put a hand on his shoulder. She gave him a small slightly lopsided smile on her own face. "You'll get back to yours too. I promise."

The child nodded as she gave his shoulder a light squeeze.

He looked down at the metal frosted ground and sighed. "Just a little longer, buddy…" He whispered to himself.

Shadow and Omega fell into light conversation as well.

Shadow had his arms crossed, eyes closed, a smirk upon is lips as he and Omega stood together. "Thanks, Omega. Without you, I could have never…"

"You would have made the correct decision eventually, Shadow." Omega confirmed. "This unit knows that you fight for what you believe is right and would not have stood for the Empire forever."

Shadow nodded. "No one knows me better."

"Except for Agent Rouge of course."

Shadow laughed. "Yes, of course."

Sonic and Tails finally let go of each other and addressed the group, Sonic took it all in and grinned as his eyes fell on the young doppelganger before him. "Wow, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

The younger Sonic looked up at the older version of himself and couldn't help but crack a mischievous grin. "What's wrong, gramps? Getting so old that you can't see what's in front of you?"

The older Sonic couldn't help but accept the challenge. "No more than you, ankle biter. Did you learn to count yet?"

"Not high enough to count up to your age, grandpa." The younger one retorted with a flick of his nose. "Can you even run on those legs?"

"How about we go a few laps around the planet. By the time you finish one, I'll have already done five."

Tails couldn't help but let out a laugh of his own. "You know what, I take it back. Maybe I didn't miss you."

Sonic laughed, leaning on the kids shoulder and ruffled up his hair to which Tails couldn't help but smile.

Sonic took in the doppelganger again and laughed. "Seriously man, it's been generations since I've seen you. You doing okay? Meet Knux yet? Just by the look of you, I can tell you haven't run into Chaos or anything like that yet."

Sonic rubbed his arms and chuckled. "Uh… yeah… about that…"

Tails was the one who spoke up. "Sonic, the little you is the one we met before but… he's experienced things that we didn't before."

Sonic looked between the two of them, confused. "Huh?"

"Yeah, I had some crazy adventures after I got back from the whole Time Eater thing. Met Knux but then there was this thing with the Phantom Ruby, robots called The Hard Boiled Heavies and now I'm back here again."

Sonic still scratched his head.

"I personally have the theory that when we had that adventure, Sonic's new knowledge of the future is what truly changed his timeline so that we don't really know what his future will be anymore. He'll be you… but I don't know if he'll ever experience all the things you did and may even do things that we never have."

Sonic put his hand to his chin in thought at this for a few moments before he smiled. "Dude, that's awesome!"

The young one looked at him in confusion. "What? But I'm not gonna be you?"

"Yeah, but that means that you get to grow up into whoever you wanna be and I think that's awesome, man! Be your own Sonic and make sure that he's a good one!"

The younger Sonic smiled and offered a fist to him. "Thanks, old timer."

"Don't mention it munchkin." Sonic smiled and then turned his attention to Blaze. "And you, what's your story?"

Blaze shrugged. "It's Tuesday."

"With how crazy our lives are, yeah that makes sense." Sonic nodded.

With that, a bright light shone down upon them causing the group to cover their eyes and get into battle stances yet again.

Sonic squinted his eyes and looked up into the air only to see none other than one of the resistance ships coming down to retrieve them.

The group relaxed, glad to see that for now, the fight was over and they could all go home.

Blaze couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "All's well that ends well, right?"

"Mission complete!" Omega confirmed.

The younger Sonic offered a fist bump to Tails which he gladly returned.

"Told ya getting into trouble would get their attention." The child smirked.

Tails chuckled. "Alright, point to you. I definitely should listen to you more."

"Heard that buddy!" The older one smirked to which the fox sighed in dismay.

Sonic laughed and ruffled up the fox's hair again as the ship came down.

They all piled in and were on their way back to the resistance base.

But there was something on Sonic's mind that he couldn't quite shake and that came to light when his eyes fell on the black hedgehog sitting across from him, catching up with Omega.

He spoke up. "You've got some explaining to do, Shadow."

His rival looked up at him.

"Why did you join Eggman's side?"

All eyes were on Shadow. The hedgehog didn't say anything for a very long time, looking around the room for a possible way out of it. But he relented, his shoulders slumped a loud sigh escaping from his lips. "Very well, I suppose I do owe you all an explanation."

EPISODE SHADOW UNLOCKED

After such a long journey two brothers finally reunite.
I cannot believe I've actually written the reunion now. Holy crap. This has been such a long time coming and now that I'm here it just feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Without getting too much into it, this was a tough chapter to write and it left me stumped on certain aspects for a while. So many things to do and so many things to see but now I think it finally came together in a way that's left me satisfied and I hope all of you guys are satisfied too.
Not only did we have the reunion though, but Shadow finally switched sides! Man, after 30+ chapters, man is finally where he's supposed to be and that makes me so unbelievably happy as well. I don't have to write a questionable bad guy anymore. But now, we get to see what his deal is and that's gonna be fun. People are either gonna love or hate what I have in mind but time will tell.
Also, keep an eye out as I may separately upload an alternate ending to this chapter. Nothing huge like "Infinite wins" or anything like that but more of a very early idea I had but ultimately scrapped when I started this story all those years ago.
I'll see you all for Episode Shadow next time and the second to last chapter of the reunion arc but until then, let's get in with some review replies.

numberjacksoctonauts:
Rhythm truly is a joy to write.
Rouge and all the rest of them too. It's just fun.
I'm very glad you enjoyed Celeste's battle.

TheLostEternity:
Celeste is going through a lot and growing up and I love it. I'm glad you're enjoying her development.
Rouge truly is a gift.
Silver and Big was not a duo I was expecting to write when going into this story but hey, anything can happen. Haha.
Even though it's got its fair share of issues, I do hope you're enjoying Colors Ultimate if you've picked it up already.
Thank you always for the kind words. I hope you had a good summer and were able to stay safe and healthy too.

SilverNova:
Thanks for the continued support and your reviews.
If I can work Chris into another chapter, maybe? But most cameos are one and done.

The Sensational SpiderDom321:
No worries, man. Really glad you enjoyed them.
As always, Rhythm is always a joy to write and I'm glad you enjoyed the dynamics there with Team Rouge. Seems like they were the favorite for most haha.
Celeste's development was a joy to write here and I'm glad it came off well.
Really glad you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoy this one too.

CVGWJames, tekina fiction:
Glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you all for 400 Reviews.
See you next time for Episode Shadow.
R&R.