"Sonic, you should sleep a little more," Said Sage, "But, knowing you, I can't stop you. Let's head out."

"Yes!" I whispered.

Espio and Charmy immediately went to work on filling up packs with supplies. I decided to help them. I was told to wrap some meat in plastic. I went to work. I could smell the meat as I was wrapping it. It smelled sweet, like sugar cookies.

"Hey, what type of meat is this?" I asked.

"Promise not to barf?" Said Espio.

"Uhh..." I mumbled.

"It's Chao meat." Said Charmy.

I covered my mouth and quickly put the meat in the pack. Espio gave me a long, hard stare.

"This mission is not needed." Said Espio, "If you had half a brain, you'd know that someone could wind up getting killed."

"Espio, give respect." Said Charmy, perfectly mimicking Espios' voice.

"Charmy just... stop." Said Espio.

Charmy gave a little giggle, and I couldn't help but smile too. Then I noticed an apple in the pack. My eyesight turned red again and I picked it up. I analyzed the apple and frowned.

"This fruit has expired 3 days ago." I said, in a somewhat robotic voice, "It will make us sick."

I threw the apple behind my back and looked back at Espio and Charmy. They both looked at me in silence. Then they looked at each other and shrugged.

While we were finishing up, Espio snuck off to see Sage. And she's... rubbing his face? Gross... I looked back at Charmy. I then realized something.

"Hey Charmy," I said, "Where's Vector?"

His head shot up, and I saw his huge eyes. They were glazed over and starting wetting. Right at that moment, I felt the hurt and pain that Charmy had endured. Vector was dead.

A high pitched whine came from Charmys' lips. Tears were starting to form and his lips started to tremble. Espio quickly came back and picked Charmy up. Charmy started to scream in tears. Espio kept on trying to shush him and pat his back.

The sight of seeing Espio act... well, fatherly towards Charmy would usually make laugh out loud, but now, this is very different. Charmy is really hurt and as Charmys' new gaurdian, Espio's supposed to help him. He's not having much luck though.

"What did you say to him?" He mouthed.

I could tell that Espio was seething with rage. What was with him? He's so touchy anymore. Sage took Charmy from Espio and started to hum. I don't usually hear her sing, but she has an amazing voice. The song was obviously making Charmy drowsy. Espio seemed to have calmed down too. It seemed that her song had affected everyone.

"I miss Vector." Charmy whispered.

Charmy fell asleep.

"We should leave now." Said Sage, "Espio, get the pack. I'll carry Charmy."

Espio did as he was told. We climbed out of the opening into a ravaged black field. The grass had spots that seemed to have been burned. There were slabs of metal scattered every where. I then saw what seemed to be a mother crouched over her child. I couldn't tell what species they were though, that's how bad they've been beat up. I cringed and forced myself to look away from them.

I stopped and saw something very strange. There was a giant circle path that went in a loop. But it was jagged and was burnt to a crisp. It seemed familiar though, some how. Then it hit me.

"We're in Green Hill." I whispered.

I couldn't describe the feeling I had when I saw the crumbled bits of what used to be a beautiful work of land. Espio noticed that I had stopped, so he came back to me. He saw what I was looking at and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on." He said.

Espio and I both caught back up with Sage and Charmy. I didn't say anything until something hit my mind.

"Espio, I know that everything is screwed up at the moment." I said, "But why do you get so angry anymore?"

Espio let out a long sigh. He looked at me in a serious way which instantly caught my attention.

"Sonic. Do you remember what Sage said about her powers?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Sage can't feel any emotions of her own. Which means..." He let out a sigh before speaking again, "Sage is not in love with me."

I looked up at him, shocked.

"You mean," I said, "She doesn't care about you at all?"

"Well, she seems to prefer me over Charmy." He said, "And I hope she prefers me over you."

Espio gave me a look. I gave him a weak smile.

"But I believe that is the main reason why I'm angry." He said, "Also, I received Shadow's powers. Some of his anger may have rubbed off on me."

"Are you going to cross your arms, ride motorcycles, and shoot guns?" I asked.

Espio chuckled.

"Shut up..." He said, playfully.

I gave off a small laugh, but soon became quiet.

"I can't believe I'll never see him again..." I said

…

YAY! The adventure begins! :D

I hope you enjoyed!

Glnn Bck out...