Chapter 20

Farewell Until We Meet Again

Nothing happened. Shadow left again without another word. He wasn't sure if what he did was right or wrong. Sonic and the others followed slowly behind. Nothing more they could do even if they didn't completely understand Shadow's actions. They had saved the world.

As Sonic sprinted through the trees, he could tell he was being followed. He also knew by who. Sonic screeched to a halt.

"I know you're there. You can come out Kaira. You're stalking me for a reason right?" asked Sonic turned around. Kaira jumped out of the tree she was hiding in.

"I feel a presence in the air. Something familiar that I used to hate. A feeling of envy… This time, though, it's not quite the same kind of envy. I think it's her," she answered.

"What?" asked Sonic.

"She's…"

"Oh my gosh! She's back?! Quick! We must tell-"

Kaira grabbed onto him and shook her head. Sonic knew what she was thinking. Let her talk to Shadow herself. "You tell everyone but Shadow." Sonic couldn't argue with that. She was the one holding her hand over his mouth. He nodded.

"Good."

The sun was still down and the crickets chirped. The stars twinkled up in the sky. No one would be able to tell what happened that day. Shadow gazed at it all from within a tree. Maybe she and Rouge were right about trees being better than the ground. He couldn't help but feel eyes burn into his skin.

"I felt it. I felt what you did. I've felt nothingness. I know what that vision was that I had… I was concealed within stone like you. A voice whispering to me to bring her back… I don't know if I did that…," Shadow stated.

"Well, I wouldn't say you didn't!"

Shadow flipped around unable to believe it. She was fluttering just behind him. Her gaze was serious rather than happy even so.

"I thought-"

"That's the problem with the world. Everyone's always assuming. I don't really like it when people assume. Being a rock will rattle anyone so do you really think it would have taken two seconds?!" she demanded.

"No." He couldn't help but roll his eyes at how annoyed she was. It was, at least, normal. He hadn't known what normal was for two or three weeks. Everything was all over the place ever since Rouge heard someone leave the chaos emerald in the clearing. He was going to nickname Zaira "The Stalker" because she wouldn't stop following him.

"I suppose that I shouldn't blame anyone, though… I've got a lot of work ahead of me. My story's not over yet," Zaira said gazing off into the distance.

"None of our stories are over unless if someone shoots Sonic in the head with a dangerous weapon."

Zaira giggled. It was the first time in weeks since she was last able to. She wanted to talk about how glad she was to speak. However, she always learned that a wise man and woman holds his or her tongue when needed. If she didn't want to annoy Shadow, she wouldn't speak of such things. Zaira didn't know that Shadow wouldn't mind anymore.

Shadow, in his mind, knew that deep down, he could have stopped it all if he weren't so mean. It was surprising to see how she completely changed how he felt and the way he saw things.

"It really is a shame that I'll have to leave in the morning… I still have to try and undo everything I did. If I can't do that, I'll, at least, have to make it up to everyone I did horrible things to. That may take a while…," Zaira explained.

Shadow knew that what she was planning to do was the right thing to do. It still didn't seem right to him, though. It still seemed like there was something missing. Something was just not there. She was going and it felt like a punch to the stomach? How does that work? Continue going. That was all they could do. Live their lives the way they would and try not to look back on what they left behind.

"The sun shall soon be rising. I shall soon be leaving… I find it odd still. You hated me. Now, it's the opposite. We get along somehow. I guess… that after this, I will see you again sometime. It sounds cliche, but it is completely true!" Zaira exclaimed.

"If we are to meet again, don't expect me to run up to you with a big grin!" Shadow snapped.

"Yeah! You'll be standing in the background blushing to yourself because you don't want me to notice that you are glad to see me is what I see in the future. After this, our timelines will be shifted. I'll be doing a lot of time-travelling. For you, it may be days. For me, it may be years…," Zaira said heaving a heavy sigh with the weight of years on it.

They both looked up and saw the sky begin to light up. The sun was rising and Zaira knew that she was going to be leaving.

"I suppose that this is it. The goodbye you've been dreading," Shadow said.

"Yeah… I already made my callback to Maria for you. Let's try something new… I'm… sorry about what I did to you. There's only one way I can make up for it all. Fix everything I did. Because I'm going to do this, I only have one thing to say. Farewell, my Shadow, until we meet again," Zaira told him taking to the air.

"Until we shall meet again!" Shadow told her.

She waved and flew on towards the rising of the sun. It was a new day. It was a new beginning. A new beginning for the world.

Shadow blinked and allowed a smile to cross his face before it vanished again. He stood up and hopped from his tree. In a full sprint, he rocketed away from the place. Forever or a day? I don't care. Just may it not be forever.

While Shadow was off with his creepy love plots, Sonic was grinning to himself and nodding. Tails was with him. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do or say. He didn't even know what Sonic was nodding about.

"What are you nodding about?" Tails finally asked.

"This is where we're going to have our party of the century!" Sonic yelled.

"It is?" asked Knuckles walking over.

"No! Ha! I'm kidding! Of course, we have to celebrate our great victory right here!" Sonic said looking around.

"Actually,We're going back to our homeworld on the Blue Typhoon. You know, right now…," Tails answered to his response. Sonic's face clouded a little.

"Our party can work with just us… It won't be nearly as fun," Sonic said. Some of his enthusiasm faded away and his attitude took a beating. Tails couldn't help but be brought down with Sonic just to see his happy-go-lucky attitude damaged.

"I'm sorry Sonic… We can still have the party even if they aren't there," Tails told him.

"Nah… Forget it. The moment is gone. I'm going to go for a run. I'm not good at goodbyes," Sonic explained to Tails running off in another direction.

They all met up with them in the Blue Typhoon. Sonic had finished his run by then and had disappeared in the Blue Typhoon somewhere. The Blue Typhoon took off with everyone waving to their friends that they were leaving behind. Time to return to normal life. Hang out with friends and collect the chaos emeralds all over again. However, as long as Eggman lived, there would always be a danger for them to face. Evil to fight off will come to them. The story wasn't over. Not for any of them.

Amy figured out something that made her glad. The danger was in the past… She could tackle Sonic again! "Sonic! All deals I made are now off!" she yelled as she charged towards him. Sonic's face turned pale.

"Um, Tails, I GOTTA GO! NOW!" Sonic cried running away as fast as he could.

"Sonic, come ba-a-a-a-ack!"

"Yep. Things are definitely normal again…," Tails said to himself.

Shadow was staring out at the sea outside of the ship with Rouge beside him. Rouge knew what he was thinking about. They stood in silence. Shadow got out a chaos emerald that he had found before they had left the planet.

"Well, we know what we're going to do," Shadow stated.

"Go back to what we doing from the very beginning? Racing for the chaos emeralds?" asked Rouge.

"I thought that was obvious. Chaos… CONTROL!" he yelled holding up the chaos emerald. They vanished without a trace.

Sonic caught the sight of the chaos control just before it disappeared. He didn't respond for a moment, but then he smirked to himself. "Later, Faker!" He thought up a response from Shadow.

"Is that so?! I think that you're the Faker! This'll be a battle to die for!"

"I'll make you eat those words! Anyway, see you sometime, Shadow. Some things just never die. Your mysteries are one of those things. Although, we'll meet again."

As soon as they returned to their world, something happened. Tails detected something. It was chaos control related he said. It wasn't Shadow. It was different. Who were these people who had come here? Sonic had no clue. Then it hit him!

"Ow! Hey, what's with-?!" demanded Sonic. A rock had hit him in the back of the head.

"Uh-! Er-! Sorry! I just needed to talk with you! You're Sonic aren't you?" asked a silver hedgehog with a purple cat. They both had golden eyes and didn't look like they were from around their area.

"Yes…," Sonic answered slowly.

"Well, I'm Silver the Hedgehog. This is Blaze the Cat. We come in peace to this time. We've heard a lot about you Sonic the Hedgehog," Silver explained. Blaze nodded.

"Um…," Tails started unsure of what to say.

"Great… Now we've got silver hedgehogs who can time-travel with felines… Terrific… Here comes the sequel!"

Of course, Sonic was right because this is the end of the book. You'll have to wait for the sequel, The Story of Silver and Blaze, to find out what happens next! Or, you can just read my preview and then wait for the sequel!

Preview: The Story of Silver & Blaze

Get out of here you rodent! I don't ever want to see your stupid face again!" yelled a man throwing Silver out of the building. He grunted when he fell onto the ground in a large puddle. His silver fur became soaked. The man slammed the door in front of his face.

"Rough day for poor Silver… Again…," the silver hedgehog sighed standing up. He trudged over to a tree and sat down under it. It was too early in the morning for anyone to see the fourteen-year-old begin to cry to himself from beneath the tree. Three in the morning actually. Silver didn't even know what he did to get kicked out of the orphanage. He'd been kicked out of so many. Nobody liked him. It was because of his power. His psychokinesis. His power made his life hard. He could make things float or levitate at will. Including himself. He could control it just fine. Well, maybe not in his sleep…

Silver huffed. Now wasn't the time to be feeling sorry for himself. He had to find himself a new place to call home. He may as well be a loner. There was no one who wanted him. Not even his own mother. He stood up and began to walk down the sidewalk away from his torture ex-home and on to his next. There was nothing stopping him from doing anything. Even the police now didn't do much about anything. There could be a murder and they wouldn't care The only thing they care about is if the donut shop is being robbed. Then they send everyone onto the scene. Were things really better a long time ago?

Silver found himself a park bench. It was unclaimed by anyone which was a rare sight. With the bad police and all the bad people in the world, almost every park bench would be claimed by someone. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Everyone was supposed to have a home with a heater and shelter. Food should be sold almost everywhere! Not just in one town. You could only obtain food from the capital of Mobius. Sure trucks ship food to the other cities and towns but it's useless to wait for them.

"Life is just wrong. What am I supposed to do? What is every good soul left in the world supposed to do?" asked Silver settling down on the bench. He closed his eyes but sleep never came to him. How could it?

Silver lay on the park bench until the sun came up. Nothing changed. The only thing that was at all different was the time of day. The sun was blocked out. There was no such thing as sunlight anymore. It was because there was a thick layer of clouds in the sky at all time. It was from all of the machines in the world created by the people paid to do it. When the world ran out of non-renewable resources, guess what they turned to. They started burning chemicals that made even more smoke just to run machines. People tried to convert to solar power, but the sun was blocked out because of all of the smoke in the atmosphere. Plants can't grow anymore, the government is terrible, and there was just nothing.

Silver got back up and went to the town. It was a trash dump. Everyone was sick. The only reason he wasn't was because of his power. He could force the smoke away from him with his psychokinesis. He couldn't possibly be healthier. It was a shame that his eyes had to work so perfect as well. He walked into an ancient, abandoned grocery store. He swiped a leftover power bar that was at least a year old. Why did that matter? Anything was great.

Silver nibbled on his power bar. Slowly, his energy began to return. If only things were different. Like they were two hundred years ago. There was a hero who would stop all of this from happening. He'd be able to see the sky and breathe real air. There'd be nature and chao colonies. The chao in his time were extinct. The waters became polluted which wiped them all out. The hero, Sonic, would have stopped this. Maybe-

Silver stopped. He heard something from behind him. Was it yelling? Hardly anybody lived here anymore. There was no one left here except for very few. That is, unless if they were from the orphanage! Silver bolted towards the yelling of a gang. He heard a whimper. Then a gasp! Then a yell in pain! The voice was female. He heard laughing. Silver hissed. A street gang.

As soon as Silver reached the area, he saw a yellow teenage cat of sixteen holding down a purple cat of fourteen. They were both female and the purple cat was bleeding at the mouth. She was bruised bad and the other guys in the gang were laughing and yelling things like, "Finish her off!" or "Her time to live is over!" Silver couldn't stand it. He observed them a second more.

"Well, Blazie… Do you have any last words before I finish this?" asked the gang leader who was the yellow feline. Blaze hissed.

"I don't care who you are! I'm not joining you! You will just have to kill me then!" she hissed.

The yellow cat shrugged. "Suit yourself…"

Right as she was about to attack, she realized that she couldn't! Something was controlling her hand. Then, her legs began to walk away from her foe! She didn't get what was going on!

"I-I can't move my body! WHO'S DOING THIS?!" she demanded.

"It's the freak! Silver the Rat…," hissed a gang member.

"I'm a hedgehog," Silver explained.

"Whatever! You shouldn't be here!"

"Or should I? It looks like you're hurting someone. Stop it," Silver told them with a stern tone of voice.

"You don't tell us what to do," the leader hissed violently.

"Really?" asked Silver. He took control of them all and lifted them into the air. They all flailed and yelled in protest. Silver was immune to their cries. The purple cat watched in amazement.

"How are you doing that?" she asked.

"Psychokinesis," Silver answered simply.

"Hang on a sec! Let me try something!" the cat told him. She focussed her mind and lit up her hands. Her hands were on fire! Although, they didn't burn her one bit. The flames increased slowly and she formed them into a massive ball. The gang realized what was happening.

"No! We're sorry we said those things about you! We won't touch you ever again! Please don't use your pyrokinesis!" they all cried.

She didn't stop. The fireball grew larger. She then launched it soaring at them. Silver let go when it hit them.

The gang yelled in pain and the gang leader hissed again. "You… You aren't normal! You don't belong in a world like this! You don't!"

"I'm through with them! Make them leave!" the pyrokinetic cat told Silver. He nodded in agreement.

"Bye! Hope to see you again someday!" Silver chirped to then. He picked them up again. The gang was too occupied with the flames to care. Silver lifted them up and threw them as far as his mind could throw. Away they went. The two of them sighed with relief. Silver turned to leave.

"Thank you," the cat told him.

Silver stopped. Nobody said that anymore! He thought that he was the only one who'd ever say that at all! Anybody else would just say nothing. Silver turned back around. "What?"

"Thank you," she repeated.

Silver walked back up to her. "How do you know those words?"

"My parents taught me. I thought everyone said that to show gratitude," she explained.

"You're obviously not from around here. Nobody expresses gratitude anymore. I'm the last sane person in the world. Well, there's also you," Silver replied.

"I see… It's a shame. Where are we then?" she asked.

Silver thought. Did he know? Really know? The most he knew was that he lived on Mobius. Anything else was a blur in his brain. "We live on the planet Mobius. Anything beyond that, I have no clue."

She didn't say anything else about locations. She continued. "Well, I do thank you. I hope that it's refreshing to hear that. What you did was brave. At least, I think so. You see, I don't know my way around here. Maybe I could… come with you?"

Silver was surprised. She was so nice. It would be refreshing to actually have a friend. He knew that she could be leading him into a trap. However, he's the one with psychokinesis. He'd be fine. Besides, it was nothing he's never seen before. It would be better if he took a friend around with him. "I'd actually love to have you join me! I could use some friendly company! So, what's your name?"

"I'm Blaze the Cat."

"Nice to meet you, Blaze. My name is Silver. Allow me to fill you in on everything," Silver explained.

Silver told her about how he was kicked out of an orphanage and is the last person to really have good emotions and qualities. He told her about why there was no sun, why there were few people, why there wasn't much food, why there were so many street gangs, and everything that she'd need to know. Well, everything other than the one hero from two hundred years ago who could potentially help them.

"Where are we going to go to next then?" she asked.

"Where are we going? Somewhere that's untouched by evil and is light all the time. A place where people won't kill us and steal our stuff that's plentiful when it comes to food and-"

"Silver, I don't think that there's such a place like that left on Mobius… I used to live in a place sort of like that back in the Sol dimension. I'm a princess there and I'm also the guardian of the Sol emeralds. I hear that in this world there're the chaos emeralds. I came here to this dimension in search of someone by the name of Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. Have you heard of him?" Blaze asked.

Silver froze. She knew of Sonic the Hedgehog! She was a couple hundred years off… Maybe the Sol dimension had a separate timeline that had time flowing differently than in his dimension. That might have been why she thought she could be able to find Sonic but was two hundred years off.

"I'm afraid that in this time… It's kind of odd… He's sorta… Kinda… He's dead," Silver explained bluntly.

"Sonic can't be dead! He's the fastest thing alive!" Blaze said.

"I'm sorry! He was in his glory days two hundred years ago! Do you know anything about time-travelling? If you do, then maybe we can see him," Silver said trying not to make her mad.

Blaze sighed. "It can't be helped. If Sonic isn't alive anymore, it's no one's fault. I'll just have to stay here until I can find a way to get back home. Until then, I'll be traveling with you, Silver."

"Okay!"

"Did you say that time-travel is possible? Or did you only say that if I had the ability to we could?" asked Blaze thinking to herself.

"It's been done a few times before I'm sure. I think it requires a glowing stone or two to make it work…," Silver said thinking back.

"The chaos emeralds!" Blaze yelled suddenly.

"The what?! WHY ARE WE YELLING?!" demanded Silver.

"You have the chaos emeralds in this dimension! I know what we have to do now!" Blaze exclaimed getting excited.

"What is this one thing that we have to do?" Silver asked still confused.

"I thought that it would be obvious!" Blaze shouted now exasperated.

"What do you mean obvious?!"

"I mean that we have to go and find the chaos emeralds! Once we find the emeralds, we can cause chaos control and go back in time to find Sonic the Hedgehog! With his help, he can save the future and I can tell him what I came here originally to tell him! Don't you think it's the perfect plan? Come on!"

To be continued…