Author's Note:
Hello everyone! A LOT has happened this month. Real life has been a pain lately. So, I will be a bit less active here than I originally planned and I need to keep up with rl. Aside from that, here are some good news. Prologue, and chapters 1 - 7 have been remastered a bit. They are mostly just little parts of Nevil speaking to Saura. And then, I did add a little stuff for some of the chapters. Finally, we now have 1 chapter left and then epilogue!
Also, I still would like to know if there are any grammar or spelling errors in this fanfic. I would really appreciate it a lot if you let me know if there are any as I look through them as well the best I could. That is all I have left to say! I hope you guys like this other long chapter! ^^
Shout-outs:
Fanakatsuki - Indeed. He's finally gaining courage after hanging out with Classic Sonic a bit! I always wondered why Tails was so afraid in Forces. Then again, he still might not have gotten the use of Sonic being "dead" for six moths. *shrugs*
Bajy - Lets see how everyone else reacts to the discovery Sonic and the medic finds. Who knows what each individual will think.
RagingWolf2124 - Huh, I didn't know about the new Sonic Comics. I'll have to read it sometime. But yeah, I feel like Forces left out some of the characters that should've been involved with the war or rather what they did during the war, like Blaze for example. ^^;
chrisj32347 - Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoy reading it! :)
Thanks for reading and please review! :D
Chapter 27: A Wish of Determination
Sonic watches his friends as they read the article of a brown wolf named Nevil and his criminal records. To the blue hedgehog's surprise, the brown wolf wasn't wearing the medallion he previously saw; but nonetheless, it's still him. According to the records, this wolf has been charged for child abuse, first degree murder, and voluntary manslaughter. There were even picture proofs of what he's done. Because of this, Nevil's punishment was instant death to prevent any more lives from suffering the same fate. There were also a few video clips of a few mobians explaining their missing children and how upset they are when they found the results of their loved ones. They all explained what punishment Nevil deserved and everyone of them said death. When the police found the brown wolf, he was seen pinning down an unconscious little blond wolf with a bleeding neck.
Amy was the first to start shivering as tears formed in her eyes. And here she thought Eggman was cruel… maybe. "Th-that's horrible," she mumbled. "How could someone do such a thing especially to their own kind?" she added.
Silver was in shock as he read and watched about Nevil. He, on the other hand, thinks this is worse than Eggman's take over. The only thing that's keeping him from finding this wolf is the fact that the brown wolf is already dead. But, there are still several questions he has about how this relates to Saura's condition. "I'm still confused. All of this happened thirteen years ago, so why would the derealization symptom happen now?" he asks.
Knuckles looks down for he's thinking the same question along with many other questions he has; however, he wants to find the answers himself. He thinks about what he read and watched. Saura had to have been with that wolf for a significant amount of time in order to have her condition, like days or weeks perhaps. And, the echidna wonders if the blond wolf had witnessed something similar to the images he and his friends saw but at a young age. How long and what can those images along with going through the same abuse affect and do to a child?... Knuckles doesn't want to know the answer, but at the same time he does.
Shadow had his arms crossed while looking down. He knew humans can be evil at times, but he didn't think there were other mobians, aside from Infinite, that can be evil. And this wolf had no part of Eggman's schemes. The black hedgehog looks back at the big screen. He may not know much about Saura; but, whenever he sees her with Infinite in the same area, he imagines the wolf being misplaced with a blond hair human with blue eyes and the jackal as himself. Sighing quietly, Shadow watches the group to see if anyone can answer Silver's question.
"Torture," Sonic finally answers. Everyone turned their attention to the blue hedgehog. "Just… constant torture," he added as his hands turned to fists. He looks to his friends and noticed some showed a confused look and others showed shock. "Remember how you guys brought me back and Rouge had to explain the six months of torture Eggman had me go through? Imagine that, but instead of six months it was thirteen years," he explains.
Now, everyone showed a shocked look as each one looks down. Years of torture… Now, that is something that could even out with war. Knuckles has his hands to fists now as he looks at the red bird mobian. "Is there any kind of cure for this symptom?" he asks.
"My team and I are currently trying to think of the best solution for it," the red bird replies. "So far, the only solutions we thought of-"
The alarms suddenly went off causing the group to look around with shock. A male black bear comes in to the computer room when the doors open. "S-sir, Infinite has escaped," he exclaims to Knuckles!
Knuckles showed a shocked expression on his face with his friends. "Hurry and search for him! Who knows where he will go," he says to the bear. He watches the bear leave to look for Infinite. The echidna looks to his friends. "Come on, we need to find him before he escapes," he says to his friends!
Sonic quickly stops Knuckles. "Hold on Knux, I think I have an idea where he might be going, and we can meet up with him there," he says to the echidna. The blue hedgehog looks to the rest of the group. "I'm heading to the medical area with the recovery room Saura is in. I'm sure that is where Infinite is heading to," he announces. Before anyone can protest, Sonic already took off to the medical area.
Knuckles watches Sonic with surprise but nods and follows him. The group look to each other and then back to where the blue hedgehog and red echidna ran off. Shadow was the first to follow which had Amy, Rouge, Espio, Vector, Blaze, and Silver show a surprised look. Quickly snapping out of it, they too start to follow along with Omega and the red bird.
When two of the three medics returned to check on Saura, Cream, Cheese, Charmy, and Vanilla walked out of the recovery room, so the medics can do their work. After a few minutes, however, the alarms suddenly went off which caused the medics to stop their work and leave to find out what's wrong. Cream stayed close to her mother and watched the medics leave as the alarms are going off. "Wh-what do you think might be wrong Mom?" she asks with a worried look.
Before Vanilla could answer, Charmy sees a group heading towards him and both rabbits. He first spotted Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow. Just as the bee got ready to ask, the blue hedgehog stops him. "Infinite is on his way here," he answers Charmy's unasked question. Sonic noticed the Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla showed a confused look. "We'll explain later; but right now, we need to be ready for any incoming attack by him," he says to the three. "I need you guys to-" he starts to explain but notices Tails isn't around! "Guys, where's Tails?" he asks with worry.
"Tails just ran out to go do something. But, he never said what he was doing for he was in a hurry," Vanilla replies with a small look of worry herself. Cream nods in agreement which only increased Sonic's worry.
Shadow watches Sonic and Knuckles think of an idea where Tails could be until he sees the recovery room with Saura in it. He watches the wolf closely and noticed her head constantly turning. He wonders what the wolf is thinking about but knows he won't get an answer.
The red bird noticed Saura tossing and turning her head and decides to check in on her. The moment he walked into the room, the heart moderator was beeping rapidly while the wolf was groaning and tossing her head! Sonic and his friends hear it as well, but the red bird immediately closes the door before anyone can walk in. He gets his equipment ready to try and calm Saura's heart down.
Knuckles watches through the window with worry. He wants to go in there to make sure everything is fine, but he knows not to interfere when the medics- er, medic is in work. He then noticed Saura grabs the red bird's arm when the red mobian tried to keep Saura still. The wolf started to speak despite still having her eyes shut, but the echidna can't hear what she's saying. And then, Saura struggles until she falls to the ground. "Damn it," Knuckles mumbles.
Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla were watching as well. The three were worried as the young rabbit hugs the older rabbit. Amy, Sonic, Silver, Blaze, Rouge, Vector, Espio, and Charmy frowns a bit as they watch Saura, but all they can do is watch. Sonic then hears someone coming! Perhaps it is Infinite finally arriving. "Guys be ready," he says to his friends. The blue hedgehog walks in front of his friends and gets ready to face Infinite.
Everyone sees the upcoming company and are shocked! Yes, they do see Infinite, but there was someone in front of him, guiding the jackal. It was Tails! "Tails?" Sonic questions with shock. He watches Tails look shocked as well until he frowns with a guilty look. Sonic looks to Infinite, who is glaring at him and the others, and then back to Tails. "Did you release Infinite?" he asks the fox.
Tails frowns as he looks away while Infinite eye narrows. The fox should've known that Sonic and the others would catch up to him and the jackal… But, he knows Saura needs him since she has been calling out for him. "Y-yeah I did," he answers with a bit of shame. Having his hands to fists, Tails looks up to Sonic with a bit of determination. "But, I did it because Saura needs him," he explains with a serious look.
Amy showed a confused look until she remembers her previous theory and Saura admitted she had feelings for Infinite. Was the wolf mumbling about the jackal in her sleep? She watches the jackal glaring at her and her friends as he slowly raises his red sword. In case if he attacks, the pink hedgehog has her hammer out as she steps forward a bit. "Why are you willing to help us?" she asks directly to the jackal.
Infinite continues to glare with a suspicious look. After hearing Amy's question, he starts to growl a bit. "I'm not here to help you nor your friends," he replies to the pink hedgehog. He noticed everyone tensed up a bit as they either get ready to attack or watch suspiciously. The jackal also gets ready to attack.
Rouge suddenly hears a scream in the other room thanks to her sense of hearing! She looks through the window and noticed the red bird's back is against the wall like he had been thrown. The bat looks to the wolf and noticed Saura curled herself up with her hands on her head while screaming. Rouge shows a worried look as she watches Saura. Shadow catches Rouge watching the recovery room and looks as well without moving his head. He too sees the wolf in the position she's in and eye narrows. Saura then looks like she stopped screaming while looking down with her hands still on her head. Finally, the black hedgehog starts walking towards the recovery room and opens the door to walk in. This caught Rouge's attention. "Shadow, what are you doing?" she asks.
Infinite noticed Shadow walking towards the recovery room, so he starts charging to get to the door. Unfortunately, Knuckles caught him before the jackal could get any closer. "Oh no you don't," the echidna grumbles out as he holds back Infinite. The jackal growls at Knuckles while trying to break out of the echidna's hold. Because of that, Silver now starts to help Knuckles hold down Infinite.
The red bird had a look of shock after Saura had kicked him away when she got out of the bed. When someone is in their derealization state, they should not be moving at all! And yet, here he sees the wolf moving around like she is awake but sees another world. The red bird noticed Shadow walking in to the room. "S-sir, you need to head back out before you or anyone else gets hurt," he tries to warn the black hedgehog! Shadow eye narrows at the red bird. "I-I don't know why she's able to move. She just got up and tried to attack me whenever I try to get near her," he explains.
Shadow, despite his emotionless expression, shows a confused look. He turns to Saura and starts walking to her. The black hedgehog can hear the others asking what he's doing or telling him to come back, but he ignores them. Once he's close, Shadow can see the wolf shivering with her hands still on her head. He lowers down, so he is on one knee and watches Saura lift her head and open her eyes. To the black hedgehog's surprise, the wolf's eyes are glowing red. Noticing someone is beside her, Saura glares at Shadow as if she sees someone she despises. Shadow glares back a bit, but he continues to watch. The wolf tries to get up; however, she only got to her knees while using a hand to support herself. "I'll… I'll do… more than fight back," she starts to say. The black hedgehog questions what Saura is trying to say.
Shadow then noticed the red bird coming closer to him and Saura! "Stay back," he warns the male mobian! The red bird flinched; however, before he could step away, the wolf noticed his presence and made her move. Saura quickly got behind the red bird and kicks him towards the black hedgehog. Shadow dodges the red bird as the male mobian crashes to the wall closest to the exit. He glares at the wolf and sees her deep breathing a bit while holding her arm a bit and looking down like she's trying to hide something on her face.
"I'll… I'LL MAKE SURE YOU WON'T HURT ANYONE ELSE AGAIN YOU MONSTER," Saura shouts in anger with tears in her eyes! The wolf starts charging towards Shadow at an attempt to tackle him. Shadow dodges Saura easily as he smacks her to the ground. The wolf yelps as she falls to the ground.
Shadow continues to watch Saura as she groans. He then noticed Sonic saw his actions for he gets ready to barge in. In order to stop the blue hedgehog, Shadow gently has his foot on the wolf's head; however, he makes it look like he's somewhat squeezing her head. "Don't come any closer Sonic," he warns the blue hedgehog.
Sonic stops and glares a bit at Shadow. "What's the deal Shadow?" he asks the black hedgehog.
"She isn't affected by some symptom. It's the Phantom Ruby," Shadow answers with a serious expression.
Upon hearing Shadow's response, everyone froze and showed a shocked expression, including Infinite. Sonic showed a shocked look as well while looking down at Saura. The wolf starts growling as she glares at Shadow. The blue hedgehog can see the red glow in the wolf's eyes. "But how? The Phantom Ruby was destroyed when Eggman disappeared…" he questions until he stops himself to think. Is the real Phantom Ruby destroyed… or did it just return to where it came from like the other Sonic did?
"Who knows," Shadow says to Sonic. "But now that we know the real situation, we need to figure out how to get rid of this problem before it makes her do something that could put others in danger," he added.
Infinite finally snaps out of his shock state with a glare as he breaks free from Knuckles and Silver's grasp. The jackal starts to charge towards the recovery room and sees Shadow's foot on Saura's head while the wolf growls with red glowing eyes. Infinite glares at the black hedgehog as he points his sword at Shadow as Sonic flinches. "Release her now," the jackal commands with a growl.
Shadow glares back at Infinite. "I suggest you back off unless you really don't care what happens to her," he threatens the jackal. The black hedgehog watches Infinite flinch while lowering his sword a bit, but the jackal's glare deepens. Shadow eye narrows at Infinite since he doesn't understand why Infinite cared. The jackal had never thought about someone else's during the war. While ignoring everyone else, the black hedgehog watches the jackal. "Why do you even care for her?" he suddenly asks.
Infinite tenses when Shadow asked his question. He looks down to Saura, who is still glaring at Shadow until she shuts her eyes. And then, the jackal glares at the black hedgehog. "Why should I tell you anything?" he questions. He then hears the others getting ready to grab him as he gets ready to attack them.
Sonic and the others suddenly hear Saura start screaming again. Shadow quickly removes his foot off the wolf, but she continues to scream. "Buddy," Sonic tries to call out to Saura! The blue hedgehog places his hand on to Saura's shoulder and noticed how much she's shaking. Sonic lets go instantly out of reaction and frowns. Saura must be going through something horrible if she's shaking up like this. Then it hit him; what the wolf is seeing, hearing, and feeling the same experience on what she's been through for thirteen years, that brown wolf he and Infinite saw back at the tower! The blue hedgehog lowers down to his knees as he watches Saura with worry. "Saura, you can't let your uncle win! You need to fight back," he tries to tell the wolf!
Infinite had a shocked expression while he accidentally drops his sword. He looks to Sonic. "Are you certain that is what she sees?" he asks. The jackal didn't wait for the blue hedgehog's answer since he's already attempting to hold Saura. He feels the wolf shaking, after she stopped screaming, which only got him more worried than he already is. "Saura," he mumbles quietly.
Saura still thought about Nevil's question as she continues to hold down his whip. Once that answer came, her glare deepens. "I have a chance now because I now have friends who don't judge my voice," she answers! She then uses the whip to drag Nevil towards her and kicks him hard. She remembered Knuckles would tell her to use her fists from time to time when she isn't equipped. But he also mentioned her feet can give her a better result, so she used her foot to attack. Seeing Nevil on the ground and release his hold on the whip, the blond wolf breaks the handle and tosses it along with the whip away.
Nevil noticed Saura's actions and growls madly at her. "What makes them so special? They'll be just like everyone else," he exclaims as he pulls out a dagger and charges at the blond wolf. Saura sees him heading towards her, but she couldn't dodge the tackle in time! The blond wolf crashes to the ground hard as she stared up a bit in shock. Finally snapping out of it, she sees Nevil above her about to thrash the dagger at her throat. Saura quickly grabs the brown wolf's arm to prevent him from stabbing her on the neck. "They will abandon you just like everyone else," he says while trying to get the dagger to the blond wolf's throat. That way, he can finally get rid of that ridiculous sound.
Saura glares as she tries to keep the dagger away from her throat. Growling, she kicks Nevil off her and snags the dagger from him. The blond wolf attempted to roll away from the brown wolf, but she was surprised to fall off from the floor a bit. She groans a bit; however, she stops herself, so she can destroy the dagger by breaking the blade part of the object. After smashing it to the ground a few times, she successfully broke the dagger. She makes a satisfied smile, but that quickly ended when she looked up. The blond wolf showed a look of pure shock and horror. What she sees in front of her are bodies of three of her friends: Tails, Sonic, and Infinite. All three continued to lay there lifeless as blood seeps out from below them. "No," she mumbles as tears start to appear in her eyes. Saura then feels something on her shoulders, but she didn't bother to look at who it is. "Please no," she mumbles again. She looks to where Nevil is and sees a dark smirk on his face. She feels herself shaking as her rage comes to her along with something trying to move her. "RRRAAAAAAGGGHH," she shouts as she kicks whatever or whoever had a hold of her! She then charges towards Nevil; but then, she noticed the brown wolf had a hold of something and shoots it at her head. She feels something latch on to her head and suddenly feels it electrifying her. She screams from the pain as she falls to the ground with her hands on her head and curls herself up.
Nevil lets out a dark chuckle as he uses his taser to zap Saura. After a bit of time, he stops zapping the blond wolf, but still lets the probe pads stay on her. He walks up to Saura as she deep breaths while shaking. "Look at that, the same thing has happened again. I told you: if you speak, there will be consequences to you and those around you. Do you still continue to fight back even with the consequences?" he says while staring down at the blond wolf with a dark chuckle.
Saura looks to Nevil with a deadly glare. She then tries to get up, but she was only able to get to her knees as she uses one hand for support. "I'll…" she starts to mumble out while deep breathing. "I'll do… more than fight back," she finally says. The blond wolf suddenly notices a black figure beside her, probably another one of Nevil's traps! Feeling her anger rise a bit more, Saura quickly got behind the black figure and kicks it towards the brown wolf. She watches Nevil dodge the figure as she tries to keep her balance and cover her left arm. Seeing the dead bodies of Sonic, Tails, and Infinite, the blond wolf feels her tears come back. She looks down, so she won't be able to see them. It hurts… no wonder Infinite wanted to destroy Shadow. Finally done with hiding her face, Saura glares at Nevil as the tears roll out of her face. "I'll… I'LL MAKE SURE YOU WON'T HURT ANYONE ELSE AGAIN YOU MONSTER," she shouts in anger! She then charges towards the brown wolf in an attempt to tackle him again.
Unfortunately, Saura misses and was smacked to the ground. She yelps a bit in surprise and falls to the ground. The blond wolf groans as she tries to snap out of the impact. By the time she does, she feels someone's foot on her. Looking up, Saura sees Nevil and glares while growling at him as she ignores the upcoming black figures. "Monster? Now that is a strong word to say to your uncle," he mocks. The brown wolf noticed Saura's growls increased as she tries to remove his foot off her with her eyes shut. "And for that, you should be punished for your bad choice of words," he then says in a serious tone as he removes his foot.
Saura then shows a shocked look until she feels the electrifying pain from before. She screams from the pain as she has her hands on her head again. The blond wolf stops screaming and shivers from the pain once the zapping stops. She then feels someone holding her. Saura looks to the source and notices another black figure, but this one is in a different shape and… familiar. Why does that shape look familiar? She tries to get up, but the figure continues to hold her and comfort her… but why comfort? The blond wolf looks around and sees more black figures surrounding her. Most of these figures have a familiar shape; however, she couldn't think of where she's seen them from. It seems her brain is too fried from all the electric shocks.
"Don't let what Nevil say get the best of you. You can't let those sadness and anger emotions get to you…"
Saura suddenly sees the background show an image of a blond female wolf with red eyes until that memory stops. She looks around for that blond wolf but doesn't see her. She continues to watch the black figures and notices one of them looks like a rabbit child even though she can't see its face. Remembering Nevil in the area, she starts to try to get up again, but the black figure, that is holding her, stops her from doing that. "Run, he'll come after you next," she tries to warn the little rabbit figure! She watches the little rabbit figure back up a bit until she's next to an adult rabbit. Good, the child has a parent… she hopes. Saura then noticed Nevil walking towards her with a strange weapon in his hands. Now that she notices it, she also sees a little rope and it goes to her head! Is that how the brown wolf was able to electrify her? Glaring at Nevil, Saura grabs the ropes and rips them out of her head while unaware of the black figure, that was holding her, helping her. Tossing them away, she notices the rope actually passes through some of the black figures! What's going on here?
Nevil growls as he sees Saura rip off his probe pads. He quickly retreats them as he gets ready to launch them at the blond wolf again. Apparently, Saura is finally out of that one figure's grasp for she dodges the pads. He was then kicked by the blond wolf as he lands on to the ground in a sit position. Why is that female wolf still fighting? "Why are you still resisting? Can't you see that your pathetic friends are gone," he states to try and lower Saura's guard.
Saura shivers a bit as she remembers the bodies of Infinite, Sonic, and Tails… True, there is Knuckles and the others; however, those three have been her closest.
"We will always be with you Saura, even when we are apart."
Images of a brown wolf with blue eyes starts to appear around the background. And to Saura's surprise, when the background glows a bit around her, the figures' shapes became more noticeable. Now, she recognizes some of the figures. Aside from the two rabbits and now a bird, there was: Shadow, Knuckles, Amy… and Sonic, Tails, and Infinite! Saura had a shocked look as she looks between the dead Sonic, Tails, and Infinite and the black figures that look like Sonic, Tails, and Infinite. Which one is… real? Are the dead trio actually illusions? She rubs her eyes a bit and noticed the dead versions had disappeared! They really are illusions! Noticing Nevil about to shoot at her again, the blond wolf dodges the ropes as she glares and growls at him. "My friends are not pathetic, none of them are," she says to the brown wolf! She quickly dodges the ropes again and grabs them at an attempt to rip them off the weapon. Instead, Saura managed to rip the weapon out of Nevil's hand. Once the strange weapon lands close to her, the blond wolf steps on it, so it would break.
Nevil glares madly at Saura while backing up a bit. Why? He doesn't have any ideas left to break the blond wolf. Her friends, and even her parents are too powerful now! "Damn you all," he mumbles in defeat. He then gets tackled to the wall by Saura and glares at her with a growl.
"L-let go of h-him… U-uncle Nevil will… n-never leave us… a-alone until we d-do…"
"You can't let those sadness and anger emotions get to you…"
Saura flinches even as the background shows two blond wolves, one with red eyes and the other with blue soulless eyes, flashing in the background. She looks around along with the black figures as she thinks about those phrases. Saura then shows a surprised look along with a small sigh once she understood what they meant. Loosening her grip on Nevil a bit, she glares at him. "It's over," she states as she releases the brown wolf. "Now stay out of my mind. I'm done with your tricks," she added. She turns to the black figures and starts walking towards them slowly thanks to the weakened state she's in.
Nevil showed a little surprised, but mostly a confused look. She's letting him go, just like that? He growls at this. He then remembers seeing one of her friends, or rather her love interest, be just like him. "Your jackal friend is just like me," he starts to say. "When time goes on, he will return to that state and destroy everyone in his path including you," he added with a dark smirk.
Saura stops when she heard Nevil mention Infinite. She looks to the jackal figure, who she thinks is Infinite. She remembered the words she said to the jackal at the fortress. She still meant them too; the blond wolf will show Infinite what it means to be a friend. That way, he won't be alone and help others, the same thing she'll do. "He will never be like you," she says while looking back at Nevil. "He's stronger than you, not because he had the Phantom Ruby. It's because he still cares for his friends, even if they aren't around. He is nothing like you and never will be. Because, he still has a friend and more in the future who will help him avoid that path," she explains. Saura noticed Nevil's expression shows more shocked.
Before Saura can turn away, she noticed her body starts to glow red! She looked shocked and it increased when she sees Nevil disappear along with all of the dead bodies around her. Some of the red glow suddenly leaves her body and travels to where Nevil was at. "Finally, your wish has been completed," a voice suddenly says, the blond wolf heard it before! The red light materialized until it is shaped and appeared as a blond wolf with blue soulless eyes in a black outfit. Saura gasps as she stares at the blond wolf in shock. The blond wolf walks to Saura and has her hand on the living wolf's shoulder. "Live on Saura," the blond wolf says as a little red light appears in her eyes. Both blond wolves start to glow which caused Saura to cover her eyes.
Infinite watched Saura look at him with a confused look. Noticing the wolf is trying to get up, he gently lowers her back down to him. "Saura, calm down," he says gently while trying to comfort her.
Sonic watches as well with a look of worry. "We're all here for you Saura," he says to the wolf, hopefully she can hear him and the others. "Please hang in there," he added. The blue hedgehog doesn't really know what else to do from this point if the Phantom Ruby is affecting her. He then noticed Knuckles, Amy, and Tails walking in to the recovery room as well to see Saura.
Much to everyone's surprise, Cream comes in as well to see Saura. Infinite glares a bit at Sonic and his friends but decides to ignore them to focus on the wolf first. The group noticed Saura turning her attention to Cream as a look of worry appears on the wolf's face. Saura tries to get up again; however, Infinite holds her and brought her back closer to him. The wolf looks to the young rabbit with the look of worry still shown on her face. "Run, he'll come after you next," Saura says to Cream!
Cream had a surprised look on her face and backs up a bit. Noticing her mom walking up to her with a bit of worry, she looks up to Vanilla and then to Sonic. "Mr. Sonic, what did your friend mean by that?" she asks the blue hedgehog.
Sonic looks down a bit. He isn't sure if he really wants to answer that. He looks to Saura with a concern look to whether or not answer the young rabbit's question, but he then noticed the wolf starts to glare. "Everyone, get back," he quickly warns Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and the two rabbits! The group, aside from Infinite, backed up. The jackal had a hold of Saura; plus, he didn't want to leave her side.
Saura then grabs at nothing; well, at least it was like that to everyone else. The wolf starts to push; although, it looks like she's having a hard time with getting something off. Infinite quickly has his hand on hers to try and help her. Once the jackal feels the wolf no longer pushing, or rather ripping, he quickly releases her. Saura tosses whatever it was she had a hold of away and glares to the end of the room. Before he could stop her, the wolf jumps out of the jackal's hold and makes a kick there at an attempt to hurt someone. Infinite gets up as he watches Saura glaring at the end of that room and turns as if she's watching someone make a move.
Amy noticed Saura started to shiver as she looks down now as if something terrible had happened. She stiffens and watches with worry. "Oh no," she mumbles quietly. The wolf then noticed the jackal, pink hedgehog, and her friends. Saura looks back to the ground and then to Sonic, Tails, and Infinite with a look of shock and confusion. Is there another version of Sonic, Tails, and Infinite that Saura sees? "Saura," Amy tries to call out to the wolf!
Saura starts rubbing her eyes a bit and looked back to the ground she was staring at which led her to another shocked expression. She then looks at another direction and ducks down to dodge something. Once she gets back up, the wolf starts to glare and growl at the same direction. "My friends are not pathetic, none of them are," she says in anger!
Knuckles looks surprised. Is someone mentioning him and the others? If so, then he'd be mad too if someone talked bad about him and his friends. The echidna then noticed Saura grabbing on to something again and tugs on it like last time. He wished he knew what she's pulling on. Saura then stops pulling for she's looking down below her feet until she makes a good stomp at the spot she was looking at. He then noticed the wolf charges to a wall and push whoever it is she sees to the wall. All Knuckles can do is watch and hope that Saura is winning the challenge the Phantom Ruby has for her.
Sonic and his friends continue to watch Saura crushing something to the wall until she flinches. The wolf looks around her, including the blue hedgehog and the others, and then back down to think. Finally, she showed a surprised expression with a small sigh as she looks back to the wall. "It's over," Sonic hears the wolf say. Is she trying to speak to Nevil? "Now stay out of my mind. I'm done with your tricks," she added.
Tails frowns a bit for he has no clue as to what Saura is saying. He then noticed the wolf look back to him and the others and starts walking towards them. "Saura?" the fox tries to call out to the wolf. Before anyone can walk up to Saura, she suddenly stops.
Infinite watches Saura look straight at him with a bit concern, despite the red glow in her eyes. Infinite took a step closer to Saura, but the wolf suddenly looks back to the wall. "He will never become like you," she then says. The group showed a confused look at what she's saying. "He's stronger than you, not because he had the Phantom Ruby. It's because he still cares for his friends, even if they aren't around him," she explains. The jackal and the others then realize the wolf is talking about Infinite! "He is nothing like you and never will be. Because, he still has a friend and more in the future who will help him avoid that path," the wolf added. Infinite showed a surprised expression while everyone else looked towards him.
Saura suddenly started to glow red especially on her left arm and waist which caught everyone's attention. The wolf continues to look towards the wall until the glowing around her got brighter as she covers her eyes. "Saura," Infinite calls out as he runs to the wolf! By the time the jackal reaches to her, the red glow moves out of the wolf to a red aura cube with glitch noises. The cube itself then disappears with the sound until it is no longer there. "Saura?" Infinite tries to call out again.
Saura uncovers her eyes when she hears Infinite. She looks to the jackal with a surprised look. To everyone's surprise, the wolf's eyes are back to normal! "I-Infinite?" she says with surprise. The wolf looks to the jackal as she slowly places her hand on his cheek. Infinite watches Saura's expression, to which it shows concern and doubtful. To prove the wolf he's real, the jackal has his clawed hand on the wolf's hand and holds it a bit while pressing it to his cheek with a small smile. Saura looked shocked and turns to Sonic and Tails for more clarification. "S-Sonic? T-Tails?" she calls out to the blue hedgehog and two-tailed fox.
Sonic had a look of relief as he shows a thumbs up to Saura. Tails looks to Saura with a small smile as he waves to her. Shadow just stood there with his arms crossed while, Knuckles and Amy stood there with relief. Cream and Vanilla looked happy to see the wolf okay. Amy walks a bit to Saura. "Oh thank goodness you're alright! We were all so worried when you haven't-" the pink hedgehog starts to say until the wolf releases Infinite and falls to a sit position to the ground. "Saura?" Amy says in confusion and worry.
Saura didn't respond to Amy. Instead, tears start to appear in the wolf's eyes as a relieved smile is shown on her face. "You're alive," she starts to mumble out. "You're all alive," she added increasing the volume a bit as her tears start to flow out.
Infinite, realizing what Saura might saw from the Phantom Ruby, quickly sits next to the wolf and pulls her to a hug. "Don't worry Saura, it's okay now," he tries to comfort Saura. The jackal feels the wolf hug back along with her shivering. "It's okay," he mumbles out quietly.
Sonic watches Infinite hug Saura and smiles. He walks to the two with a smile still on his face. "We're all alive Saura," he says to the wolf. "We wouldn't leave our new buddy behind," he added with confidence.
Saura smiles to Sonic and Infinite. She then noticed Knuckles, Amy, and Tails walking up to her with a smile of their own. Silver, Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Rouge walked up as well when their friends are okay. The wolf looks to the group as the smile and tears continue to show. Saura wipes the tears off her eyes until she feels Infinite's grip on her tighten a bit. Smiling gently to the jackal, the wolf gently has her hand on Infinite's shoulder. "Thank you," she says to the jackal. Saura starts to get up along with Infinite. She then looks to Sonic and his friends. "Thank you all," she says to the group.
Sonic smiles with his friends. Saura is finally opening up to him and his friends. Not only that, she's even made a new friend on her own, even though he was once the enemy. The blue hedgehog then sees Saura look down at her left arm and winces. "What's wrong Buddy?" he asks the wolf.
Saura, after realizing she feels pain, looked at her left arm and side to see what's going on. She noticed her arm and side had bleed though her bandage. This caused her to flinch in reaction. "I-I think I accidentally opened my wounds again," she answers Sonic's question with a little look of concern. The wolf noticed everyone looking worried. In this case, she starts to freak out a bit. "I-it's okay. It doesn't hurt that bad," she tries to say in order to calm everyone down.
"Miss Saura," Saura hears a voice say and stiffens. Sonic and the others start to flinch when they hear someone else speaking and turned around to see Vanilla walking up to the group while looking towards the wolf. Cream and Cheese are right beside the older rabbit. "I can help you take care of that for you if you like," she offers.
Cream smiles to Saura, unaware of Saura's tensed expression. "Yeah, Mom is really good at helping everyone's injuries! She's been helping a lot of people in the resistance," she says to the wolf as her pet chao cooed in response. Cream noticed the wolf being silent as she nods a bit. "Are you okay Miss Saura?" the young rabbit asks with worry.
Sonic noticed Saura continuing to nod. He chuckles a bit and looks to Cream. "She said okay and thank you both," he says to the young rabbit as he pats her head gently. He looks to the wolf who nods in agreement with a smile. The blue hedgehog also noticed how close Saura is to Infinite. It isn't a bad idea to have the jackal with wolf for the time being. He knows Saura is getting there especially with Infinite's help. All it takes is time.