A/N: GOTTA OPEN YOUR HEART TOO. Crush 40 is bae.

Chapter 9: Open Your Heart

Amy awoke to find her cell was cold and dark. She shivered as she cradled Birdie in her arms. She smiled as she felt the bird nestle into her chest for warmth. At least she wasn't alone this time.

'This time? Had this happened before?' She scrunched her brows together as a memory scratched the surface of her mind.

'I want you to do something for me, Amy...Everything that's ever made you sad or hurt or scared, just forget it all okay? I'll carry your pain for you.'

They were just fragments of what was truly said that night, but those words were all she had left. She had to honor those words. Her fingers caressed Birdie's head gently, as she pursed her lips in thought.

'I shouldn't force myself to remember things he doesn't want me to, I promised him I wouldn't. It'll be okay because he'll save me. He always does.'

She glanced up and tensed at the sight of green, glassy eyes staring at her intensely from the other side of the bars. Had that robot been watching her this entire time?

Her caring hold on the Flicky became protective as she attempted to conceal Birdie from the other's blank gaze. She narrowed her eyes.

"What do you want!"

"Hand me the bird," it replied monotonously.

"No!"

"Quietly hand me the bird."

"I said no!"

"Why?" It asked her.

She paused for a moment, surprised that a robot was questioning her, before going back to her cold demeanor and pointing an accusatory finger at the robot with her free hand. "I don't need to tell you anything! Tell me why you want Birdie, now!"

"Does not compute…"

"What?" She tilted her head to the side as she walked up to the bars with suspicious eyes. "Are you...trying to understand me?" Her eyes widened with realization. "You're not like that other robot...the one that captured me." She gave it a pleading look. "Please, won't you help us?"

"Insufficient data. You have feelings for something you know nothing about...illogical!"

She let out a heavy sigh before giving the robot a sympathetic glance. "Love mustn't be part of your programming then. That's sad, you're missing something good."

Birdie flew out of her hands and hovered before the robot's eyes, staring deeply into it. She raised a confused brow as she watched the interaction between the two, before jumping in surprise when she noticed the robot turn towards the levers and pull one, resulting in the bars of her cell to descend out of view.

"Go. Escape."

She blinked, startled, as her eyes met those of the robot. "A-are you sure?"

"It's dangerous here."

Relief rushed through her, she couldn't help the gentle smile that melted on her face. "Thank you, that was very nice of you...you really are different from that other robot." She mused aloud as her gaze drifted towards Birdie who flew back to her side and rested on her shoulder. She glanced back at the robot. "You have a soft spot inside you. If you want, we can be friend! Okay?"

Birdie tweeted happily as Amy raised her hand to give the robot a gentle wave. "We'll be seeing you soon, alright? Thank you so much for your help!" She turned and ran out of the room to find a way back to her family, meanwhile the robot stared at the door as it closed, before glancing back to the lever with conflicted thoughts.

oOo

Silver and Big had been hunting together for Froggy for a while now. They stowed away on Eggman's ship after they saw four robots capture different frogs and leave, with one of them being Big's companion. They walked through the twists and turns of the hallways inside the ship until they reached the deck. There they saw Amy run towards them from another doorway, only to watch as her bird friend was snatched from her hands by a mechanical claw.

"H-hey!" Amy yelled before becoming angry and summoning her hammer. "Give her back!"

Eggman had the claw pull the necklace off the Flicky before throwing her back at Amy, who rushed to catch her. He brought the claw close to him and with his hand, he took out the purple gem and admired it.

"That doesn't belong to you!" Silver hissed as he attempted to use his powers on the emerald, but to no avail.

"Where's Froggy?" Big asked. As Eggman prepared to respond, Sonic and and Tails arrived nearby in the Tornado. The blue Mobian glared at Eggman as he saw the gem in his hands.

The robot from before arrived with the green frog in hand and the Doctor summoned Chaos. Sonic rushed over towards the robot in an attempt to grab Froggy, but quickly dodged the sudden bullets being pelted towards him.

Amy panicked as she looked between the two. "Stop!" She begged. The robot began flying while aiming more bullets towards Sonic, the frog still in hand. The teen managed to jump high enough to kick it down hard so that it would crash onto the ship. He ran towards it to give it a finishing blow before Amy ran in front of him and held her arms out to defend the robot.

"Don't hurt him! He saved me! We're friends!"

Sonic halted and stared at her for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "Alright. A friend of yours is a friend of mine!" He replied with a small smile. The frog leaped away and advanced towards a puddle that had appeared. Eggman, now noticing Chaos' arrival threw the purple emerald towards the creature, where it was once again absorbed into its being. It morphed into a scorpion-like creature with razor teeth, eight eyes and devilish tail. It's brain was too situated in its body to be reached. Knuckles had run onto the deck too late with a sack, noticing the creature with a startled look. Sonic saw his brother's arrival and crouched into a fighting stance, prepared to take on the monster. It didn't take Knuckles long to realize that the younger wanted his help.

They worked together to defeat the monster by freezing it and hitting it with its own ice it created and shattering it, but they tried their best not to aim at the poor frog that was in the middle of all the action. Chaos eventually let out a crying wail before completely shattering, leaving the emeralds and Froggy behind.

"That was amazing, Sonic!" Amy squealed as she hugged him tightly.

"N-No! This can't be!" Eggman yelled in anger. He pressed a button on his Egg Mobile and the airship began to shake uncontrollably. "So long, hedgehog!" He spat as he flew away from his own aircraft.

"Sonic! We're losing altitude!" Tails panicked.

"Your plane!" Amy pointed at Tails' plane as it was being hijacked by a clueless Big and Froggy. They flew off into the abyss beneath them as the ship continued to slowly descend.

Knuckles, who still had the sack, put the six emeralds into it, pleased to know that the frog had the courtesy to get rid of it before leaving.

"How's the big one?" Sonic asked Knuckles.

"It's just about good. I got the rest of the pieces from Casinopolis, Station Square, and this ship."

Sonic nodded before looking at the kit. "Tails, take Amy with you and leave the ship."

"What about you!" He asked worriedly. "You're the only one left here who can't fly!"

"I jumped off a helicopter with these shoes, remember? I'll be fine, don't worry about me. Just take care of each other." Tails nodded and held Amy's hand as they ran off, but first, Amy had to make sure her robot friend was okay.

Knuckles sighed and glided his way off the ship while Silver used his psychokinesis to get off, sending Sonic an unsure glance before he did so. After a running start, Sonic launched himself off the ship and fell to Mobius; he could feel the wind fill him with the same amount of adrenaline as running did. It was only until he got closer to the bottom did he start yelling for his life, crashing into the many trees on his way down and landing with his face in mud.

He got up and looked around, finding himself near the main temple. He went to a nearby stream and washed his face with the water. As he did so, he heard the familiar sound of Eggman's Mobile and watched as the crazy scientist flew across the sky with it. He immediately ran after him.

The base was found at the end of the ruins- Eggman's hidden base. He sneaked his way inside it and beat up as many troublesome robots as he could, before meeting up with the Doctor and his Egg Viper. He used a rocket to launch himself to a higher platform and collect rings to beat the damned thing and its many lasers and spiral, spiked platforms. When the Doctor was near defeat, he tried to take Sonic out with him by aiming the explosive machine in his direction- which failed. After the thwarting the Doctor's plans, he left the base and ruins to meet up with Tails at the workshop.

There they both decided it would be best to find Knuckles.

oOo

They found red hybrid not too far from the altar on the falling island with the sack tightly in his grip. As they got closer, they were surprised to find an unconscious Eggman by his feet.

"Eggman? But I just beat him?" Sonic turned to face Knuckles. "Did you do this?"

Knuckles crossed his arms and growled. "No. I found him like this."

Tails grabbed a nearby stick and used it to poke the Doctor, only to tense in shock when he began to stir. "H-he's alive!?"

Eggman huffed. "Of course I am!"

"Hey, I just beat you!" Sonic frowned. "How'd you get here? What happened?"

"Chaos! Chaos happened!" The Doctor spat. "He turned against me!"

"Why?"

"He wants to use the power of the emeralds for himself!"

"Tell us where he is!" Knuckles snapped while clenching his fists.

"Calm down there, Knux." Sonic soothed the echidna while gently lowering the other's fist.

Eggman rolled his eyes. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have an escape to make!" With that said, the Doctor ran into the forest.

"Should we go after him?" Tails asked.

The redhead shook his head. "If what he's saying is true, we should find Chaos and stop him. If he gets all seven emeralds, it'll be impossible to defeat him."

Sonic nodded in agreement before his vision became clouded in darkness.

The blond hybrid froze in fear as both his elders fell to the ground beside him.

oOo

"A continuation of my dream..." Knuckles said from beside him. Sonic watched as many ancient echidna warriors charged towards the Master Emerald on its altar, only to vanish in a bright light. "They all disappeared?"

The blue teen shook his head. "All but one..." He ran up to the girl he saw before, currently laying on the ground with eyes closed. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

The echidna hybrid weakly pushed herself off the ground and looked at him with her blue eyes. "I knew this would happen!" She gazed at the burning altar with the flames reflected in her eyes. "I knew this would end only in disaster!" Her hands covered her head in shame. "Why, father? Why didn't you listen to me!"

She walked up the stairs to the Master Emerald with Sonic and Knuckles close behind her. "You must understand," She began without tearing her gaze from the emerald. "The servers are the seven chaos. Our hearts intensify their power. The controller serves to unify the chaos. The seven Chaos Emeralds take what's in our hearts and turn it into power." Suddenly, she became frantic. "But if the heart that wields the emeralds is full of nothing but anger and fear, then that power will bring pain and destruction to the world!" She clasped her hands tightly in a prayer. "You must stop Chaos!" The emerald shined brightly until the entire vision went white.

Sonic and Knuckles simultaneously woke up with Tails standing beside them with a relieved expression.

"Do you understand what she meant?" Sonic asked.

Knuckles eyed Sonic with seriousness. "We can't let Chaos get the last emerald."

Just then, they saw Amy running towards them with a cyan gem in hand followed closely by Silver. Knuckles stared at the two in horror.

A rush of water enveloped the two hedgehogs, and Sonic rushed in to save them both. Knuckles dropped the sack and kicked the water, leaving an opening for Sonic, with Amy in his arms, and Silver to escape. The sack that had been dropped fell into a crack in the earth that had only just appeared, and Tails quickly flew towards the others as the crevice beside him became filled with water before draining as it devoured the gems.

Amy screamed. "The emerald! It fell from my hands!"

The five searched for any remaining gems, only to find them all missing.

Knuckles stared at them all with crestfallen eyes. "I guess...that's all seven emeralds now."

"How could one field trip come to this?" Amy exclaimed in apprehension, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "I'm so sorry, you guys!"

"That creature...it has all the emeralds...it's invincible now..."

"We have to try to stop it!" Sonic encouraged. "It would've found that gem anyways, so don't get worked up over it, okay Amy?"

Amy nodded, but the unsettling vibration as the island hit the sea made her wrap her arms around Sonic's neck in fear.

His emerald eyes widened in realization. "We need to get to Station Square immediately!"

"I saw your plane as we ran here! It's not too far away!" Silver informed them all.

Immediately the group followed Silver to get to the Tornado before it was all too late.

oOo

Rouge sat in the president's office looking at the news. The manholes bursting with water, the tsunami, the many citizens running for their lives. It was terrible.

She briefly wondered how Shadow was. After all, the Doctor had made it clear he wanted the darker hedgehog to lie low. She heaved a heavy sigh as she watched her co-workers all fuss over sending more forces to the flooded city.

She could only hope for a miracle.

oOo

The gang struggled to keep on the small plane, though Amy was secured in Sonic's firm grip. They looked at the ruined city below them and saw many Overlanders and Mobians running about with grief-stricken faces. They looked at the sky above them as once again, a large shadow appeared above them.

"I thought that thing was destroyed!" Silver yelled.

"Back off, Sonic!" Eggman's voice over an intercom snapped at them. "Chaos double crossed me! Now it's payback time!"

"He's on our side now?" Sonic raised a brow.

They watched from above as the water began to vibrate, as well as the broken down structures. A building that was barely standing had water rush into its upper levels. From it, appeared the giant face of a reptilian, water monster. Sonic remembered those hateful eyes from his nightmare and saw them once again, only this time they were real. The monster stared at both their ships and its pupils contracted. It let out a fearsome roar.

"I built the Egg Carrier 2 just in case something like this happened!" The Doctor yelled at the beast with the intercom still on. "Now, you stupid beast! You have defied your master! You must be destroyed at all costs!"

The teens on the plane watched as Eggman's second airship shot lasers at the monster as it separated itself from the building and moved forward. It opened its huge mouth and aimed a strong ray of Chaos Energy at the machine. Tails himself had barely avoided it with his plane. The airship caught on fire and began a series of small explosions as it headed towards the water down below.

Sonic pointed towards a bridge with several Overlanders on it with his free hand. It looked stable enough to support the plane. "Tails! Land on that bridge!"

The fox Mobian quickly steered his control wheel and landed on the bridge. The gang all immediately got off the plane and planted their feet on the concrete. A bright light appeared before them and the echidna girl from the flashbacks appeared.

"You again?" Sonic raised a brow.

She looked at him sadly. "My heart has always been in the Master Emerald along with Chaos'. Now he's filled with anger and sadness. If this goes on, he'll destroy the world like he did before!"

Everyone's eyes, the gang and crowd, were set on Chaos. He spat the emerald's out, and they landed on the bridge with the others. The were no longer the vibrant colors they had seen and marveled at before, they were dull.

"He's absorbed their power..." Tikal said with horror as she picked up an emerald and held it close to her chest. She looked at Sonic. "He must be sealed in the Master Emerald now!"

Sonic furrowed his brows in deep contemplation as he stared at her. "How would that work?" Tikal watched him with confusion. "Sealing him won't change how he feels, will it? If we leave things the way they are now, then his anger won't vanish! He'll just be trapped and nothing will change!"

"What choice do we have?" The girl asked with desperation.

Sonic bit his lip as he thought, until he saw Silver, Knuckles, Tails and Amy walk up to him with an emerald in their hands. Big and the Doctor also ran up to him with emeralds while Tikal opened her palm slowly to reveal the drained gem.

"Chaos only used the negative power of the emeralds!" Tails explained. "Maybe we can find a way to harness their real power!"

Knuckles sighed with a smile. "I think the kid's right."

"Don't you hold a lot of Chaos Energy in you?" Silver asked. "You can definitely do this!"

"Perhaps negative forces aren't the only way to empower the Chaos Emeralds!" Tails continued. "If we concentrate our positive feelings on them, then maybe that can make them work!"

"Yeah, and together we should create a lot power!" Amy cheered.

They handed Sonic the gems and the nearby Overlanders watched Sonic with anticipation. A news reporter named Scarlett Garcia made sure to capture what was going on Live as she watched what happened before her.

The blue Mobian closed his eyes and concentrated on the positive energy of his friends and himself, before feeling the weight of the gems lift from his arms. The other's nearby and those watching TV all watched as the gems returned to their glimmering color and encircled him. A bright light surrounded him and a rush of energy enticed him. He opened his eyes, now red, and wore a traditional ancient echidna red skirt with a golden breastplate around his neck that displayed the Emeralds. His hair was golden, as well as the aura around him. He looked like...a god.

The viewers from the White House and GUN watched the screen in awe.

"I thought..." Tikal uttered to herself. "That the power of the emeralds could only be unleashed with fear and anger..."

Sonic rose from the ground and charged at Chaos faster than he ever had before. The speed and flight the emeralds gave him...he felt so powerful, but he knew what he had to do. He had to protect his friends, family, everyone, from the monster before him.

He aimed right towards Chaos and broke through the other's forcefield and dodged the ray of Chaos Energy emitted from the other's throat. He noticed Chaos aiming another ray towards the bridge and quickly flew back towards the others. With his hands in front of him in a defensive position, he protected everyone on the bridge, earning many cheers from the crowd.

"You can't stop me!" Sonic taunted Chaos with a determined grin.

Chaos, angered even further by the taunt, went to attack Sonic with one of his water tentacles. The crowd screamed in terror until he caught it with his clasped hands. It disintegrated shortly after. The power he displayed was so incredible to them.

The teen shot the creature a cocky smirk. "Is that the best you can do?"

It charged up another ray from its mouth and aimed it directly at him. Everyone watching the action stared in horror as he charged towards into it, disappearing into the monster's mouth. A breath-taking second later, small rays burst through Chaos and the creature froze in place as it became golden in color, then dispersed.

Sonic flew nearby, marveling at his work on neutralizing Chaos. He felt a pang in his heart as the energy within him completely drained, a light enveloped him before his clothing and natural color returned to normal. He fell to the earth, his eyes closing since his body was worn out. He could vaguely hear his family's distinct screams and yells as he fell from a great height into the flooded city below him. They knew he couldn't swim.

A dark shadow caught the exhausted hedgehog quickly out of sight and brought him onto the high story of a nearby ruined building. He opened his emerald eyes to see a familiar hedgehog-hybrid staring at him with ruby irises.

"S-Shadow?" He asked in a soft voice. "Where have you been?"

The dark hedgehog shot him a sympathizing glance. "That was your first time holding all that Chaos Energy. Next time, it won't be that exhausting."

Sonic, once recovered from his exhaustion, immediately noticed the position he was in. Shadow was holding him like he was some sort of damsel. He became flustered as he pushed himself out of the other's grip. Noticing the confusion in the other's eyes, he sighed. "Thanks...for not letting me fall to my death."

Shadow responded with a simple nod before staring at the nearby bridge, where currently everyone fussed over his disappearance. "It seems as though your adventure is not yet over. You'd best get over there before you miss something important."

The blue Mobian nodded as he spared one last grateful glance towards the other before getting a running start and launching himself off the building and onto the bridge. Everyone cheered at his seemingly dramatic arrival, and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of so many people praising him.

A small puddle shot out of the water and joined them, taking the form of Chaos 0.

"It wasn't destroyed!" Knuckles yelled as he readied his fists. He stopped when several chao emerged from the water and surrounded Chaos, cheering. The creature's eyes squinted happily. "Actually...he doesn't look angry anymore..." The redhead relaxed.

"Yeah, he looks pretty happy!" Tails announced.

Tikal took a step towards Chaos with a small smile. "These were the chao you were protecting. They stayed alive for generations and now live peacefully with these people. The fighting's over, harmony's restored, and life goes on." She looked at Sonic. "Thank you!"

She extended her arms towards Chaos before the two slowly ascended into the sky and disappeared.

Tails looked at Sonic, "All's well, that ends well. Right, Sonic?"

Sonic smiled at his younger brother before pulling him into his chest for a light noogie.

"What do we do now?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic paused, "Wait, what day is it?"

"Monday." Amy answered.

"Are you serious? I could've sworn it was still Sunday!"

Everyone laughed, except for Sonic. Nobody had noticed until it was too late that the evil doctor had run away the first chance he got. Deciding that they all had done enough for the city, they decided that finding the evil ex-teacher should be left to GUN.

After all, they all had a long weekend.

oOo

Sonic strummed his guitar as he hummed along to a song he recently came up with. It was inspired by his final battle with Chaos, the God of Destruction. He placed his palm over the strings to silence their sound as he reflected on the past. That was only one week ago...

He pursed his lips as he set the guitar on the floor and positioned it so it leaned against the couch. Maybe he should go on a run later...the dorm was very lonely lately.

He sighed. Ever since his family returned from their adventure, things had been different. In school, his teachers and peers all treated him as if he were suddenly an idol, and though he enjoyed the attention, it didn't feel right. It seemed to him as if they only cared for him because he saved the world, not because he was an all-around nice guy. The only people he was actually 'friends' with were Rouge, The Chaotix, and Freedom Fighters. Everybody else only talked to him because of how he suddenly grew in popularity. Rumors of him actually being a god spread, but that wasn't true! He had powers of Chaos, but he was still just a Mobian.

A Mobian who was now on GUN's watchlist, so Rouge had warned him.

After he returned, he received many invites from the President, as he completely won over the old man's favor. The Commander, however, made it evident that he disliked the blue teen and didn't trust him one bit. The glares he sent Sonic annoyed him up to the point where he retorted by childishly sticking out his tongue. Somebody had to remind the older man that he was still just a teen and not some weapon of mass destruction.

The girls in his family had been spending more time with Blaze and their own friends. Amy had told stories about her adventure with the robot Gamma during the adventure, though Sonic was completely unaware of the fact that the robot even had a name. She told him that the robot had turned out to be a Flicky like Birdie, only roboticized and brainwashed by the doctor, along with its brother Beta. The three Flickies reunited and resumed their lives, much to her delight. For some reason though, that reminded the blue teen of another situation that had occurred long ago, only he couldn't put his name on it.

Blaze and Silver became even closer to their family than ever after the adventure. Though the two were already close with Sonic, Blaze had begun to see the girls less as friends and more as younger sisters. Silver got along very well with Tails and Amy, enough to call them his closest friends besides the feline and blue hedgehog hybrid.

Knuckles had remembered his past in its whole over the course of the trip. His father, an echidna named Locke, raised him as the next Guardian of the Emerald, destined as its lonely protector. When not interested with the responsibility of his future role, the young boy ran away and eventually forgot about his past. Now, Knuckles accepted who he was and the importance of his duty. He made very frequent visits to Angel Island to check up on the Master Emerald.

Tails spent more time in the storage area than ever, constantly grabbing materials and building things. He especially spent time working on his Tornado, as well as a new design for an aircraft he planned on building from scratch. Sometimes, Sonic would hear building from their bedroom. He was convinced Tails was constructing a lab beneath their dorm. He'd seen the blueprints and the huge hole in their closet was a big giveaway.

Sonic frowned as he thought about what Knuckles said at Sky Sanctuary. How he was so dependent on the kids and that one day they would leave them. It was okay for them to leave him, he told himself. No matter what, he'd be a hero. As long as someone needed him, he was fine...

A knock on his door disrupted his thoughts. It was probably Silver, as the younger hedgehog seemed to get awkward after his dorm became filled of young girls. With a smirk on his face, Sonic got up and opened the door, prepared to invite the white hedgehog to a two-person party as he planned on making chili dogs, only to find the one person he least expected.

Shadow.

The dark hedgehog stood with his arms crossed, his ruby eyes focused on Sonic.

"Uh, hello?" Sonic said as his smirk twitched before faltering.

"May I come in?" He asked with narrowed eyes. Sonic shuffled in his spot awkwardly before moving aside and gesturing for the darker hedgehog to enter.

"Well, what an unexpected surprise!" Sonic commented with a nervous smile as he attempted to lighten the tense mood.

Shadow grunted in response as he observed the dorm, resulting in the blue teen to frown.

"Not to be rude or anything, but why're you here?" He asked while looking around the room with Shadow. "There is literally no one here, but me. No need to look for some escaped convict or runaway chao."

"I wanted to know if you told anyone that I saved you from falling." He said as he faced the younger hybrid.

"Um, no. Was I supposed to? Do you want credit or something cause-"

"No," Shadow shook his head. "Keep it a secret."

"Okie dokie." Sonic bit his lip as he pushed his index fingers together. What else was he supposed to do when the atmosphere was very tense?

He pursed his lips as the darker Mobian stood before him with an intense stare directed at him. "Hey? Is it alright if I ask a question that's been bugging me for some time?" He nodded and the blue hybrid let out a huge sigh. "How did Eggman get your red emerald? It was the first one in Chaos."

Shadow froze for a split second before speaking coolly. "The Doctor, as you know, is a relative of mine. We established a trade."

"A trade? What was more important than the emerald?"

He hesitated, giving the other a once over before deciding he was good enough to know. He pulled a small, folded piece of paper from his sweater pocket and handed it to Sonic.

The younger Mobian unfolded the paper carefully, only for it to be the same one Eggman had shown him when he was a teacher- the one of his Grandfather and cousin. "I don't get it..." he said as he examined the sepia-toned photograph. "Didn't they die 50 years ago? Why would you need this?"

Shadow snatched the picture from his hands and folded it carefully before placing it back in his pocket. "None of your concern." The darker Mobian widened his eyes as he realized the other's confusion. The blue teen wasn't at fault for being curious, after all, he was young...unlike himself. He sighed, "It's...a valuable family possession."

Sonic nodded, cheeks blushing as he noted Shadow's sudden concern for his feelings. "Oh, okay!"

"I have a question for you now."

"I'm all ears."

"Where'd you put the emeralds?"

Sonic shrugged. "I scattered them around, but I'm not exactly sure where they went off to. I figured it would be best if nobody knew where they were. Nobody could abuse their power."

Shadow let out an exasperated sigh, but nodded anyways.

"Oh, wait! That red one was yours, right? I probably should've returned it to you...sorry."

The black hedgehog waved his hand in dismissal. "Doesn't matter, they probably would've scattered on their own if you hadn't. Anyways, if I need it, I'll find it myself."

"How do you know so much about Chaos Energy?" Sonic inquired. "You're like a genius when it comes to this stuff!"

"I do my research." Shadow responded simply.

He frowned, not at all pleased with his answer, but dropped it. "Alright, I'll take it."

"I'd best be off now." The darker teen said as he advanced towards the door.

"W-wait!" Sonic said, instinctively grabbing the other's hand.

Shadow jumped at the touch, not prepared for the sudden action. He glared at the blue teen before growling. "What?"

The blue hybrid blushed. "W-would you like to race with me sometime? You beat me that one time by default! Now that I can go my true speed, it should be a fair match!"

Crimson eyes softened for a moment before becoming cocky. He gently tugged his hand out of the other's grip. "Sure, but this time, I won't go easy on you."

Emerald eyes sparked at the challenge. "Is that arrogance, I'm hearing?" He teased with sudden courage. "I'll let you know that they don't call me the Fastest Thing Alive for nothing!"

Shadow chuckled. "Then how about we settle this score, once and for all?"

"Right now?" The other nodded. "You're on!"

The two immediately dashed out of the house, catching the eye of a suspicious bat, whose aqua eyes twinkled at the sight of Shadow getting along with somebody. She decided that she would confront the dark Mobian about it later...

A/N: And that concludes the Sonic Adventure Arc. Time to go back to school and work our way to the next stage (Exactly what you think it is). Sonic knows now that he's gifted with God-like powers, cool. That's one thing about himself that we now know, but there's so much left to explore. Many questions that can only be answered with time. In the meantime, how about some bonding?

Buuuut, there's some hints to some past memories...Amy thinks of a cell while Sonic thinks of roboticized Flickies...fragments from different points of his life that won't be revealed for a long time. One day it'll all make sense. Hopefully.

Well, Sonic and Shadow seem to be a bit friendly with each other. That's good for us.

Sonic has a desire to feel needed, which is why he wants to be be depended on. He thinks that if no one needs him then he'll have no purpose. Being a hero should satisfy that desire. Might make matters worse though. Either way, he needs some growing up to do.

Shadow is lonely, we all know his story. He finds someone similar to him and that allows him to drop his stoic appearance to become the arrogant Mobian we all know he is. Sonic brings out the real him, too bad he has a mission to complete and can't get too carried away.