A/N: I always imagine Sonic having his Japanese seiyuu's voice, only it speaks in perfect English. His voice is so adorable and can sing, it's just...too perfect. Amy's voice in Sonic Boom has grown on me. I didn't like it in Generations, but now it's much better and I really like it. With Shadow I hear Jason Griffith the most because I really love how smooth his voice is, but sometimes I hear Humphrey. Tails I hear either as Kate Higgins or his voice in Sonic Boom. I really liked Blaze, Cream, and Rouge's voice in Generations. Knuckles, I don't really have a set voice in mind when he speaks. Any of them would work tbh. Either one of Silver's two voice actors work for me too. I don't know, I just find it cool to read dialogue in their voices, haha.

Chapter 4: Chaos Emerald Chaos

Silver walked with Sonic and his family to their dorms since his was right above the other's. Honey had left on her own to her dorm, since her place was right by the park. For the others, it was an easy couple of minutes to walk. Sonic and Silver lingered a few feet behind the kids, all of whom were talking cheerfully.

"I don't know how you've done it," The white-haired Mobian commented. "Raising all those kids like that. You're my age, right?"

"Um, excuse you. I'm fifteen and Knuckles is sixteen."

"So, basically around the same age." Silver watched as Amy smugly sent them a knowing look over her shoulder. "Still though, that's a lot of kids to be responsible for, even for an adult."

Sonic carelessly shrugged. "I try not to think about it too much. I just do it."

They arrived at their residence and waved bye to each other, Silver was a bit hesitant to leave the blue teen, but eventually did. Amy sent Silver a wink and thumbs up, which startled him. Sonic rolled his eyes at her and ushered all the kids inside, mentally bracing himself for any teasing his echidna brother could possibly give him.

oOo

It was time for dinner soon and the family went out to the same cafeteria they went to that morning. They sat at the same table and met up with Blaze and Silver. Conversations went around and across the table while everyone ate as though both parties had known each other for a long time. Cream, Amy, and Cosmo had all definitely taken a liking to Blaze and vice versa.

Sonic ate his hamburger cheerfully as he listened to Knuckles and Silver attempt to talk to one another. So far, it was hilarious how awkward the two were with each other. Tails, however, was silent and sketching in a notebook.

"Yo, Tails, what's wrong?" Sonic asked with deep concern.

"Trying to draw some plans and solve some issues…hey, the speed of sound is 343 meters per second, right? But maybe I should incorporate the speed of light just to be safe?" He muttered.

Sonic watched him with a confused expression. "Um, I have no clue about anything you just said."

"Sorry, these things get really complicated…I had to switch to the metric system."

"Uh, okay. Well, calculate all you want, just make sure you eat your food." He nodded towards the untouched hot dog on Tails's plate. The fox hybrid nodded and began taking a few bites.

Sonic continued eating and occasionally joined the others in conversations, that is, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see that black hedgehog hybrid from before, Shadow.

"We need to talk." He said lowly. "In private." He added as he saw the other's stare at him in surprise. Sonic nodded as he stood up. Before he could do anything, he felt the other grab his wrist and drag him until he was outside.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Sonic frowned as he rubbed his bruised wrists. "Dude, don't do that!"

"Who are you and where are you from," Shadow demanded.

"I told you earlier, I'm Sonic! And I'm from Green Hill Zone. If you wanted to know, you could've just asked."

"No, that's not what I meant. What are you?" Shadow asked again with a rising temper.

"A…Mobian?" Sonic asked with a raised brow. "I don't understand why-"

Shadow cursed under his breath as he rubbed his temple. "No! I meant-" he pulled out a red gem from his black jacket's pocket. "This. Have you ever been in contact with this or something similar to it?"

Sonic wearily looked at the gem. "A ruby?" He asked while looking at Shadow. "No, I can't say that I have."

"It's an emerald-a Chaos Emerald. Tell me, Sonic, do you feel strange with this gem near you?"

Sonic hesitantly nodded. "Yeah...but I don't understand what you're getting at."

"Explain to me exactly what you feel."

Sonic became a bit flustered. Chaos, this was so weird. "I feel like…like there's a lot of energy and adrenaline in me and that it's running wild, a lot of power too…my hearts beating pretty fast." Though he wasn't sure whether or not that was because of the gem.

"Have you ever felt like this before?"

Sonic shook his head. "Not that I know of."

"Then it appears to me that I wasted this trip." He grabbed Sonic's hand tightly and the blue Mobian blushed as it got tighter and tighter. Suddenly, he felt a boiling sensation; he glanced at his clasped hand with Shadow's and noticed a green aura surrounding it. His eyes widened at the sight.

"W-what was-?"

Shadow smirked. "Not completely wasted then, after all." He released Sonic's hand harshly and glared at the teen. "You are not to speak about this to anybody. If I learn that you spilled this, I will come after you myself. Is that understood?"

Sonic nodded with a roll of his eyes. "Alright, but listen here, buddy-" He jabbed his finger into the other's chest. "Manhandle me again and we're gonna have problems." After having his hands smacked off the other's chest, he crossed his arms. "I'll keep your little secret, but in turn, you gotta treat me with a little more respect."

Shadow nodded at the other. "Very well then, we have a deal. This goes to no one. Not even your family."

Sonic frowned, but complied. "Got it." He went back inside the cafeteria and sat in his seat, a few others watched him questionably as well as those from his table.

"What happened?" Amy fretted. "He didn't challenge you to a fight, did he?" She didn't trust the guy; his glare was too intimidating.

"Nah, he just wanted to have a rematch with me sometime."

"So he dragged you outside to tell you that?" Knuckles asked with disbelief. "He looked like he was going to murder you!"

"He's not good with expressing himself." Sonic reasoned. The other's eyed him with long frowns on their faces, including Silver who was also attempting to bring down his sudden anger. It arose when Shadow touched Sonic and hadn't calmed down since. Its cause was still a mystery to the silver hybrid.

Dinner continued with an uncomfortable silence.

oOo

The girls rushed into their rooms to take their showers and get ready for bed and Knuckles told Tails to take the first shower in the boy's bathroom. Sonic knew what this meant. There was silence between them as the echidna eyed his younger brother skeptically.

"Listen," Sonic began when he heard the shower start. "You don't have to do this."

"What's going on?" Knuckles asked as he narrowed his eyes. "Don't think I'm going to buy into that story. Not with that look he gave you."

"Trust me, nothing serious happened. We just talked."

Knuckles observed Sonic with a glare. "Talked about what?"

Sonic blushed as he recalled how Shadow's warm hands grabbed his, and his display of assertiveness. "Nothing that concerns you!"

Knuckles raised a brow when he noticed the blush on Sonic's cheeks. Millions of possibilities ran through his head. "Did he-"

"No!" Sonic exclaimed as he chucked a pillow at the other's head. "You can be so thickheaded at times!"

Knuckles caught the pillow and gave Sonic a knowing grin. "Then-"

"Just drop it! He wanted a rematch with me so I agreed. There's nothing wrong about that!" Sonic easily lied, despite still being flustered. How could Knuckles even assume that he and Shadow were flirting with each other…he hardly knew the guy! Not only that, but the dude was a total jerk! No way would he ever get involved with a guy like that. Nope, no way in hell.

"Whatever." Knuckles teased. "Never thought that whole 'inner femininity' still existed. My suspicions have been confirmed."

"Oh, shut it! I was a kid! It was a disguise." Sonic hissed.

"You're defensive about it, which proves its still there!"

"You get defensive when I talk about Rouge. Does that mean you like her?"

Knuckles glared at Sonic, but choose not to respond. That would only give Sonic exactly what he wanted.

oOo

Sonic walked into the girl's room after his shower with Tails behind him.

"Ready for bed, guys? Oh, Amy, I ate some of that pie you made. Hope you don't mind too much."

Amy beamed. "No that's fine! Did you like it?"

"It was delicious." Sonic encouraged her while he sat on her bed. Tails sat comfortably on the floor, leaning against Cosmo and Cream's bed.

"So, are you going to sing to us, Sonic?" Cream asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.

"A song or story?" Sonic asked the kids. They all agreed to a song, and Sonic left the room to pick up the guitar in his bedroom. He returned and sat comfortably with the guitar resting on his lap. "Which song?"

"Any!" Amy responded with her head in her hands as she laid on her stomach.

"Alright, how about this new one I came up with recently?"

"Sure!" Tails smiled.

"Does it have words?" Cosmo asked, knowing that Sonic played both melodies and actually sung songs for them before bed when he wasn't telling them stories.

"Yeah, it does!"

Sonic began playing the instrument naturally. His fingers strummed the strings like a pro while his other hand moved swiftly up and down the neck.

"This is my escape, I'm running through this world and I'm not back." His voice was calming, in key, and overall perfect. "Cause I know I can go, where no one's ever gone and I'm not looking back."

His strumming quickened, and his voice softened. "But how will I know when I get there? And how will I know when to leave?" His voice gained a little more force, but not too much since he was supposed to lull the kids to sleep. "We've all got to start from somewhere and its right there for me! The possibilities are never ending!"

"I see it, I see it and now it's all within my reach." His voice carried the lyrics smoothly. "Endless possibility! I see it, I see it now. It's always been inside of me. And now I feel so free. Endless possibility!"

Sonic's voice was again softened with a slightly forceful ending. "And so I'll carry on, my time to shine has come…I feel it! As fast as I can go, Straight to the top I know…you'll see it!"

His voice was so melodious that it made the others awestruck all over again even though they were used to it. "So please wake me up when I get there? It feels like I'm lost in a dream. I know in my heart that it's my time and I already see! The possibilities are never ending!" He stopped his singing to strum his guitar to a rhythm that continued the song; a small solo.

"I see it, I see it and now it's all within my reach. Endless possibility! I see it, I see it now. It's always been inside of me. And now I feel so free. Endless possibility!" He stopped playing and watched as the kids begged for another song.

Sonic shook his head. "Tomorrow. It's time to go to bed and I'm beat."

"Awww," Amy whined. "Can you sing 'Reach for the Stars' tomorrow? I love that song!"

"I don't know, Amy," Tails began. "I really liked this song."

"Of course! All of Sonic's songs are perfect!" Amy huffed. "It's just that song is so- Ahhh!" Amy squealed as she tightly hugged her pillow. "I love it!"

Sonic chuckled. "All right. I'll sing that one tomorrow." Sonic got off the bed and laid his guitar against Amy's bed. He pulled the sheets over her body and ruffled her hair before turning around to focus on the younger girls. He tucked them in and kissed both their heads gently before poking Cheese's cheek affectionately. He and Tails went to their own bed and settled in comfortably. Like every night, he hummed to his little brother as he drifted into sleep.

oOo

The following day seemed to be go by fast, much to Sonic's delight, though it was mostly due to the lack of confusion. They ate breakfast with Silver and Blaze and remembered to bring their new book bags with them. Afterwards they followed routine and dropped the younger kids off at the elementary and middle school, but this time Silver and Blaze accompanied them. When they arrived at the high school, Blaze separated from the group to head to her own homeroom. Sonic wished she had first period with them as they were becoming fast friends.

Sonic conversed with the people around him, especially the girl who had lent him the pencil the other day: Mina Mongoose. He and Silver also shared a few jokes in class, earning a disapproving look every once in awhile from the teacher. Mina threw around the occasional joke, but mostly listened and giggled when she found something humorous. Knuckles seemed to be conversing with a rather large, green Mobian beside him who looked too old to be in school. Eh, he had no right to judge.

English went by very quickly. They watched a documentary, meaning everybody just talked the whole period. Sonic dreaded when science came, he walked in with both Silver and Knuckles by his side. He remembered how he landed himself detention for the next day…and Scourge was there too. Ugh.

He was prepared to have an ordinary lesson where the teacher would make his life slightly miserable due to his first impression like they did in movies, but not enough where it'd really bother him. What he was not expecting was Dr. Eggma-Robotnik to pull him aside and inform him that detention was moved to that day instead of tomorrow.

"Something came up." The professor told him. Sonic went to his seat and endured 45 minutes of being flirted with by Scourge and doodling in his notebook. He really didn't care much for the flirting though, since he got to practice his sarcasm. However, he could've sworn he felt Silver kick his seat. He turned around and there Silver was, fuming. Why? He had no clue.

The boys and Blaze sat together at lunch; eventually Rouge joined them and flirted with Knuckles for a bit; everyone was amused by how his face could become just as red as his hair, despite his brown complexion. She then asked both Sonic and Knuckles some strange questions about gems and the possibility that maybe somewhere one could hold magical properties. Knuckles laughed at her while Sonic bit his lip, remembering the deal he made with Shadow. He responded with that he didn't doubt the existence, but he wouldn't believe it unless he saw one.

The double period of Pre-Algebra also went by fast. After learning the lesson, the students managed to convince the teacher to look up funny videos on the internet. Knuckles introduced Sonic to the crocodile-hybrid from before, named Vector; his animal species evident by the random patches of green scales on his skin. As Sonic assumed, the reptile was an older Mobian student. He was twenty and ran a detective agency with his two 'business partners'. Apparently one of them was Knuckles's age.

Gym had been fun. Sonic and Tails kept at a steady jog- well, steady by their standards. They ran two laps when Silver did one. Sonic attempted to talk with Shadow, but the other seemed too agitated to be bothered. After pestering him for a while, Sonic decided it wasn't worth it before returning to friends.

The end of the day came and Sonic remembered his after school detention. He waved to his brothers before heading towards his science class.

Sonic knocked on his teacher's door. "Yo? Doctor Robotnik?" He called from the other side. "I'm here."

"Come on in!" The elder human beckoned. Sonic twisted the knob and opened the door feeling very awkward. "Don't just stand there! Put your bag somewhere and start with cleaning the board!"

Sonic dropped his bag onto a table without much care and picked up an eraser. He did as he was told rather quickly. "Am I done yet?" He asked when finished.

"No, wash the tables. There's a cleaning spray and some paper towels by the sinks."

Sonic frowned, but again, did as he was told. He scrubbed his table first until he found it spotless. He worked on the other tables, and soon enough got to the one in front of the teacher's desk. He eyed the Doctor with curiosity as he scrubbed. The teacher had his large nose stuck in some book opened on his desk. Sonic tried to get a good look at the page, but found himself unable to read it.

"What are you doing? I thought I told you to scrub those tables!"

"I am!" Sonic argued. He pointed to the book. "What's that you're reading? It looks weird."

The professor growled. "None of your business!"

Sonic frowned. "You're getting really defensive about it…are you hiding something?"

The professor frowned after realizing it would be less trouble to show the boy the damned thing. "It's an old rune from the Ancient Pachacamac Tribe in Mystic Ruins. I've been trying to translate them."

"Why would you do that? Seems pointless." Sonic shrugged.

"Legend has it that these people guarded gems that harnessed Chaos Energy. Perhaps if we could find out how, we too could use that power."

Sonic frowned, partially sitting on the teacher's desk, "Why would you want so much power? Guarding gems?" Sonic recalled Shadow's red gem for a moment before remembering he couldn't speak about it. "Seems like a heavy responsibility. I wouldn't want to waste my time doing that. Besides, what's so wrong with the world right now that would cause us to need that power? It's not like we're having another alien race attacking us soon."

Robotnik sighed. "There's a limit to everything, hedgehog. Everything, but those gems. Imagine how much power they would give, the machines they could power, and the lives it would improve."

Sonic pursed his lip. "I feel like you have another reason to seek out those gems…"

Robotnik frowned, the kid was a lot smarter than he assumed. He lifted a tattered journal and handed it to the blue hedgehog. Sonic flipped through the pages and skimmed through the rough handwriting that had scribbled an abundance of notes. "It was my grandfather's." The teacher began. "He was studying ways to cure diseases for the sake of my cousin's life. He believed the gems and the echidnas were the key. I merely wish to carry on his dream."

Sonic looked up at his professor, momentarily tearing his gaze from the journal. "What happened to them?"

"They both died around 50 years ago. GUN believed my grandfather was performing dangerous research. They arrested him and shot my cousin. She was fourteen."

Sonic gaped. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"No need to be. I never really knew them; just my grandfather's research. He was an admirable man."

Sonic smiled as he pointed to a notebook beside Robotnik's computer in an attempt to change the sad topic. "What's that?"

"Ideas, inventions. Private stuff; don't bother asking to see it!"

"Can I see it?"

"No!"

"Honestly, Robotnik, I just want to see the drawings. I could care less about all the technical stuff." Sonic rolled his eyes.

Robotnik hesitated, but handed the hedgehog the notebook.

Sonic smiled. "Yay!" He eagerly looked at all the detailed sketches of all the machines. "Are these airships? Sweet!" he flipped the pages. "And robots? They look like mini yous! They're adorable!"

Robotnik huffed. "It's for copyright purposes."

"Sure, and here I thought you just had a big ego." He flipped through another page, "Crabmeat? That's so cute! Wow, these designs keep getting better and better!" He flipped to another page where he saw a drawing of the gem Shadow held. He quickly read the note beside it in his head 'Chaos Emeralds. Confirmed there are multiple, but how many in all?' Underneath that was the number seven circled a few times.

"Awfully long time to look at one picture, don't you think?" Robotnik scolded.

Sonic closed the book. "Your designs are really cool; you should make one based on me!" Sonic smiled. "It'd be so awesome! Handsome too!"

"We'll see." Robotnik answered without much care, causing Sonic to pout. "Tell me, have you seen this before? Ever? It would be rather large, almost your size."

Sonic looked to where Robotnik repeatedly tapped his grandfather's journal with his index finger. A sketch of a large green gem on an altar. "No, can't say that I have." Robotnik furrowed his brows. Nothing his grandfather's surviving creation told him added up.

"What about this?" He flipped a couple of pages then pointed to a picture of a mural with some strange water beast. Something about the monster made Sonic uneasy, but he couldn't remember why. The creature's eyes really bothered him.

"Oh yeah! Because I've totally seen water monsters spring up all over the place on my daily stroll."

"I meant the mural itself!" Robotnik hissed.

"Nope."

Robotnik let out an exasperated sigh and waved Sonic off. "Get back to those desks. Then the windows. After you sweep the floor, I'll dismiss you."

"How about we keep talking and forget the whole 'detention' thing?"

"No," The teacher responded with a glare.

"Aw, man."

oOo

Sonic returned just before the family left for dinner. He was exhausted, and his arms were sore from those stupid, repetitive circular motions.

"It's alright Sonic!" Amy addressed the teen as he collapsed onto the couch. "There are leftovers in the fridge. Snack on those if you want."

"Wait, what-"

"Stay home! It's fine, I can tell you're tired."

"Oh, okay. Thanks!" Sonic replied with a smile. The family left with promises of being back shortly.

Sonic relaxed into the couch and let his eyes rest. He dozed off into a light sleep until he heard a knock on the door. He groaned as he pushed himself off the couch and opened the door. His arms were almost healed, but they still felt a little strained.

Sonic met with a pair of aqua eyes. "Oh. Rouge?" Sonic asked with a raised brow, unsure of why the bat would visit him.

"Hey, big blue." She gestured towards the door. "Might I come in?"

"Sure." Sonic moved aside to let her pass. She sat on the armchair and crossed her legs professionally.

"I have something I need to talk to you about. Very urgent." Rouge warned him in a serious tone. "This message is directly from GUN, I need you to keep this information confidential as well as my ties with them. If this gets leaked, my cover could get blown."

Sonic widened his eyes with surprise. He sat on the armrest of the couch and crossed his arms. "All right, I can keep a secret."

"My current mission is to keep an eye on you, your Chaos Energy level spiked to 32 percent when you raced with Shadow, my…friend."

Sonic paused and furrowed his brows. "Wait, how is that bad? I thought Rank As were 50 percent?"

"Ranks are based on the capacity. Rank As can reach to the maximum of 50 percent, where they become like demigods. You were dangerously close to that capacity, and you weren't even giving what we assumed to be your all."

Sonic bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. "I get it, and I agree. If my feet didn't burn up so badly, I know I would've gone faster."

"Exactly," Rouge gestured toward him. "GUN is unsure of how to deal with such power. There is only one known person in existence currently that has passed A Rank." Rouge frowned. "That person holds incredible power and could one day destroy us all…"

"You sound like you know them. Who is it?" Sonic asked with curiosity.

"Can't say. I have yet to tell GUN that such a person exists and wasn't destroyed as they had thought. I'm onto something big and I can't let anything or anybody interfere."

Sonic immediately thought of Shadow with that green energy. "Don't tell anybody I told you this, but Shadow…is he the one?"

Rouge waved her hand for him to dismiss the thought. "Don't concern yourself with Shadow. There's a lot about him you don't know, but I am very well aware of his situation."

Sonic nodded and dropped the idea. "What about Knuckles? When I first came here, they said he had Chaos Energy too?"

Rouge nodded. "His situation is very...complicated. He reached 50 percent, but the energy doesn't increase rapidly and burn out like it usually should. It lingers, and for that, most of us are stumped. We honestly don't know what to think in a situation like this. It's only happened once before where an actual person held the power of a god, but GUN still believes they took care of that problem ages ago."

"Power of…a god?" Sonic asked with surprise.

"Any creature or person that reaches 100 percent Chaos Energy is considered a god. All legends and religions involve Chaos Energy in some form or another-Gaia, Solaris, etcetera. All of whom would technically be gods, assuming they were real."

"Ohhh!" Sonic waved his hand enthusiastically. "That's why you guys are concerned about me and Knux! Don't worry; he and I can't possibly be gods. It's probably just a lot of energy in certain areas messing with your radar?"

Rouge frowned and gave him a doubtful look. "The technology we hold secret from the civilians is very advanced. It wouldn't make foolish mistakes."

Sonic was about to comment on the secret technology, but held his tongue.

Rouge sighed. "Now that I explained this to you, I'd like to get back to my question." She paused and intensely gazed at Sonic. "Do you recall any moment of your life that could've possibly led to your drastic supply of energy?"

Sonic bit his lip and thought very deeply. He had always been the same. There was no change in energy for him; everything felt the way it always had. Nothing could've happened. He'd been in the orphanage since he was a few days old. Sonic shook his head, "There is none. I've always been like this." He gestured to himself, now unsure of what this was.

"No? None at all?" After seeing Sonic's wavering frown she stopped. "I see; that leaves me in quite the predicament…" She rubbed her chin in mild frustration.

"Any other bits of info you were looking for?"

"Yes. During your race, how much faster did you think you could go?"

"Honestly? That race? I'm sure I didn't give it my all, my shoes were just unable to keep up." Sonic thought for a moment. "Believe me when I say this, but that was just a warm up."

Rouge smiled. "I believe you. Must've been your first time to use up so much energy. I'm sure the next time you go, you'll use up less as it adapts to your new capabilities. The Chaos Energy enables you to move as quickly as you do, as well as generate physical energy."

"That's actually pretty interesting."

Rouge sighed. "I had to do quite a bit of research before I landed this job. Usually I steal treasure, but I suppose that'll have to wait until I have this whole ordeal settled."

The two conversed about idle things for a while, now that Rouge had been given answers to her current questions. After a few minutes, Rouge stood to take her leave.

"Remember, this is secretive. If anyone asks, I was asking you on how to get that echidna to come with me to the Lounge Saturday night." She said with a wink.

Sonic snickered. "Alright then. Do you seriously want to know or?"

"A few quick tips would suffice."

"If you stroke his ego enough, he'll quickly warm up to you."

"Thanks, dear!" She left with a goodbye wave and that was that.

oOo

Sonic ate the leftovers and waited for his family to return. He then told them to finish their homework and ended the night with the song Amy requested the night before. As he lay in bed, many thoughts swarmed into his mind. Chaos Energy? Chaos Emeralds? God-like power? It was like some myth, and very confusing. Sonic wasn't sure if he could make sense of it all. Shadow…he had that emerald…and that emerald had created an aura of powerful green energy. It seemed very dangerous, not only that, but Robotnik's grandfather believed there to be multiple gems. What could happen if somebody gathered them all? Life used to be much simpler than this; before all he did was travel between South and West Side Island and provide for the kids. Though it was troublesome to find shelter and food, he always managed to get the necessities out of the way. Whether he earned money by doing small jobs and performing on streets, charming a person to get what he wanted, or even stealing when he was desperate, it always worked out. Now, they had the necessities, but the family seemed like it was…growing apart. Perhaps he was just imagining it.

Not only that, but he seemed to be facing many complexities now. It was like a huge puzzle he had to solve on his own. Shadow, Robotnik, and Rouge were slowly filling him in, but nothing made sense! It all tied in together, but he still had trouble why it was him who was so special in the first place. Why was he the one who caught GUN's attention? Why was it like he was at the center of the mystery? He used to think he knew himself very well; now he wasn't so sure.

Sonic groaned softly in annoyance as he twirled a strand of Tails's blond hair around his finger. He decided that this was an issue for another day. It would work itself out eventually. He closed his eyes and relaxed before letting sleep take over.

A/N: Oh, ranks work like this: Rank A is 50 percent Chaos Energy, Rank B is 25, Rank C is 12.5, Rank D is 6.25, Rank E is 3.125, Rank F is 1.5625.

Most Overlanders are at Rank F, which is why it doesn't exist in any Sonic games (By the logic of this fic, anyways). They have Chaos Energy due to their mutation, but not enough to be given special abilities. The common Mobian is Rank E. Any gifted Overlanders are usually Rank E, like Robotnik and his extreme intelligence.

There's one more rank, I'm sure you guys can guess what it is. ;) Predictable story is predictable.

Next chapter will be sensitive though. Story rated M for reasons.