A/N: Okay, I finally got this chapter up! Thankfully, I finished it a lot faster than I was expecting. It's still a little shaky to me, so be sure to review and let me know how it is! Ask questions if you need to. :)

Sonic examined a blue plate after taking it out of the dishwasher, looking for any spots of food. When he didn't see any trace of food, the hedgehog stepped on a stool to reach the cabinet and carefully placed the clean dish in its rightful place. He hopped down from the stool and looked at the counter. There was still a small pile of dirty dishes and silverware to put in the dishwasher.

"I'll help you," said a deep voice from behind. Knuckles stood in the doorway, his arms crossed and expression stern. Sonic gave him a thumbs-up.

"All right, knucklehead," he replied.

Knuckles held down his annoyance and started to collect the dirty silverware. The two of them were silent for another few moments, each rinsing the dirty dishes in the sink and putting them in the correct spot in the dishwasher.

The pair finished faster than if Sonic had done it all alone. Knuckles closed up the dishwasher and turned it on.

"Hey, thanks, big guy. What's with the sudden kindness?"

Knuckles wiped his wet hands on a green dish towel.

"I figure that, under the circumstances, I should start trying to get along with everyone more." The echidna leaned in closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Someone did tell you the news, right?"

"Yeah, Rouge did," Sonic replied, becoming less cheerful. Knuckles kept his voice down.

"I'm assuming you don't have a plan yet?"

Sonic heard Shadow's voice in his head again.

Just like the lazy hedgehog you are . . .

"Hey, I'm working on it! And this time I can say that for real!" he protested, slightly offended by Knuckles' question. Knuckles raised his eyebrows.

"All right, all right! Geez, I was just wondering . . ."

"Well, this time I'm going to tell my plans to you guys. Who else knows?"

"Everyone except Tails, Cream, and Amy," Knuckles specified.

"What don't we know?" inquired a small voice from another room. Tails poked his head through the doorway.

"Shh, Tails!" Knuckles hushed frantically. He pulled Tails into the kitchen and covered his mouth up. "You gotta be quieter than that, pal." He uncovered Tails' mouth and looked around. Sonic set a hand on Tails' shoulder.

"Now, Tails, we've got some bad news."

"The Charis family is kicking us out?" Tails guessed, overwrought. Sonic didn't act surprised at the sudden reaction.

"Well, I hope not," he mumbled. Knuckles gave him a scowl.

"See, Tails, we weren't going to tell you the news yet," Knuckles stammered slightly as Tails looked at him with pure innocence and worry. He turned to Sonic. "Would you . . ?"

Sonic nodded.

"So Tails, the humans have a new leader. He's-"

"That's what you're making such a big deal about?" Tails interrupted. Knuckles gave him a small punch on the shoulder.

"Shut up and listen!" he snarled. Sonic went on as Tails rubbed his shoulder.

"This guy, whose name hasn't been said, doesn't like Mobians."

"He wants to kill us all," remarked a voice from behind. Shadow stood in the doorway, arms crossed and full body weight set on the frame of the door. Tails glanced at Shadow, and then back at Sonic.

"Sonic is . . . is this true?"

Sonic glared at Shadow, who willingly glared back.

"More or less," Sonic muttered. Tails gaped for a moment at Knuckles, who simply nodded.

"Why . . . why would he want to . . ."

"This punk thinks that we're dangerous," Shadow persisted, seemingly trying to scare Tails, "and apparently he's requesting 'politely' that we come out of hiding to confront him," he added, holding up the most recent newspaper. Sonic squinted at the headline.

"President Promises to Use Force as a Final Resort Only—Requests that Mobians Come Forward Peacefully"

Sonic exchanged glances with Knuckles, who shook his head.

"That's not very convincing," Knuckles stated suspiciously. "Sonic, what will we do? I wanna punch this guy so hard . . ."

"Watch it, knucklehead. We can't just attack him; there's too many problems that would come from that. Plus, if the humans' new leader is telling everyone that we're dangerous, then everyone would be after us, not just the president guy."

"Then what do you suggest we do, faker?" Shadow inquired darkly.

"Well, the way I see it, we could do two things: We could stay here and wait to see what happens next, or we could face this guy and see what his deal is."

"He might kill us on the spot!" Tails cried.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. Sonic stroked his chin for a moment and then snapped his fingers.

"Maybe he's not trying to kill us after all," he thought aloud.

"What? Are you crazy?" Knuckles replied, appalled.

Sonic shrugged.

"Hey, maybe he isn't so bad. This little invitation might be a good opportunity to make peace and he could actually help us to get home."

The other three stared at Sonic, all shocked at his decision.

"While you do have a point, faker, what reason has this man given us to trust him?"

"Well, what reason has he given us not to trust him?" Sonic countered.

"Oh, perhaps that he's broadcasting to the world that we're dangerous and could potentially destroy entire cities," Shadow retorted.

"That's true, but what if we just reason with him?" Sonic asked, looking to Tails and Knuckles for help, "C'mon, guys, it wouldn't hurt, would it?"

Knuckles and Tails nervously glimpsed at each other.

"Sonic, that sounds really . . . risky," Tails stuttered. "What if he thinks you're threatening him?"

"You can't be serious, Sonic," Knuckles interjected, "Don't you find this suspicious at all?"

Sonic mulled it over, feeling stuck.

"It's either I go and try to make peace, or we stay here and put everyone in danger, including the Charis family."

A brief silence ensued. Tails piped up to break it.

"I'm going, too."

"No, Tails. You're too young, and if somehow I do get hurt, I can't see the same thing happen to you."

"But Sonic-"

"Your attempts to be noble are almost comical," Shadow directed to Sonic, "However, he's not just looking for you. He's trying to get rid of all of us."

"But if we help him find some sort of Chaos Energy that could send us home, maybe he'll change his mind."

More silence. No one spoke for almost five minutes. Shadow retired from the group and the discussion, saying nothing as he left.

Sonic buried his face in his palms. Knuckles spoke up.

"These are tough choices, Sonic, but we'll have to make one sooner or later."

After saying that, Knuckles also departed. Tails said nothing, but patted Sonic on the back sympathetically. The little orange fox walked sadly up the stairs. Sonic, all alone, sighed deeply.

"I should go. I mean, what's stopping me?"

"My mom."

Sonic turned to see Gabriel standing in the doorway. He had a very serious expression on his face.

"Hey, sport," Sonic managed to say, cracking a slight smile, "how did you know about it?"

"My mom told me and Agatha about the new president," he explained grimly, "I don't know how to react to all this."

"Neither do I," Sonic replied.

Gabriel invited Sonic to sit at the dining room table with him. Sonic gratefully accepted the offer.

"My mom seems pretty determined to keep you guys away from him. You know, she considers you family now."

"I can see that."

A short pause initiated. Sonic stood up suddenly.

"Tomorrow night, I'll sneak out of the house. I've dealt with this kind of thing before, you know. I'm pretty sure I can handle this one guy."

Gabe looked at the table, concerned.

"No human can really understand what you've been through, Sonic. That's why my mom is struggling to let you guys go."

"But if I stay here, I could put your whole family in danger. I can't just sit here and do nothing; not anymore."

Gabriel hesitated to respond. He stared out the window at the starry sky, lost in thought.

"Well, I won't stop you, then. Do what you think is right."

Sonic watched silently as Gabriel disappeared through the doorway.

"Tomorrow night . . ." he vowed, "I'll be gone."