A/N: Hey, everyone. I want to apologize for taking longer than usual to update. Real life kicked my butt this week, and I'm still trying to recover from that. Also, since I haven't done any real writing in the past few days, this chapter may not be as well-written. Anyway, here's the twentieth chapter, and I'm kind of excited because this is one of the only parts that I remember from the dream that I had. Enjoy, and I encourage you to review! :)

When Rouge had finished explaining in a shaky voice why she was staring at Shadow and Omega, Shadow looked at the ground with some sort of thoughtful yet outraged expression.

"Those humans are toying with Chaos Energy like it's some kind of simple matter," he whispered, "if they continue to send out pulses so violent like that, more humans could be seriously hurt. And who's going to get blamed for that?"

Rouge curled her lip.

"We are," she replied.

"Guys! Hey, guys!"

Sonic appeared before Team Dark in a flash of barely visible blue. He panted and seemed panicked as Rouge was.

"Did you . . . I mean, the pulses . . ?"

"Yes, we got hit by them! Well, these two zombies did," Rouge replied, pointing to Shadow and Omega. "Could you feel them?"

"A little," Sonic said, "and Knuckles started spazzing out like crazy."

Shadow growled and stared up into the sky. He gazed at the thinning clouds and blue backdrop that fell behind them.

"The humans are getting dangerously close to causing more trouble for themselves," he stated, turning his red eyes to Sonic. Rouge shuddered, reacting to a violent chill that erupted from her back.

"What are we going to do if and when that happens again?" she asked nervously. Sonic rubbed his chin.

"Well, we could just keep those three in the basement until everything passes over," he suggested, "that, or we could just leave them alone."

"I am not going through that nightmare again!" Rouge cried, waving her hands in front of her, "There is no possible way I would stand through that anymore."

"What exactly happened over here?" Sonic inquired.

Rouge described the incident in detail. She explained the green eyes, the expressions that resembled Mephiles, and the horrifying screams that Shadow let out.

"I never scream," Shadow insisted, crossing his arms. Rouge gave him a murderous look.

"You wanna bet?" she challenged. Shadow shrugged indifferently.

"I suppose I'll believe you," he replied blankly.

Rouge narrowed her eyes.

"What did those pulses do to you?"

"Well, for starters, they gave me a very bad headache," Shadow said, suddenly clutching his temples and massaging them. Rouge stepped away from him, leaving a slight amount of distance between them.

Sonic shut his eyes and put his thumb and forefinger on each one of his eyes.

"We'll have to think about this later, guys," he said.

Rouge threw her hands up in the air.

"What? We can't just sit here and let these guys keep having seizures! What if something serious should happen to their brains?"

"Oh, so now you care?" Shadow mocked, smugly grinning. Rouge backed down from that comment quickly.

"Well, Knuckles was affected. Can't have my boo getting possessed, now, can I?"

Shadow scoffed with disgust.

"Hmph."

Sonic's expression became one of anxiety.

"Guys, do you hear that?"

A moment of silence commenced. Everyone's(minus Omega) ears twitched as an approaching sound came closer. Three helicopters appeared from over the trees, all flying dangerously low.

"They're back," Peter breathed, looking up and letting his chest rise and fall heavily. "Dear God, they're here."

"No time to stare, pa," Knuckles shouted, pounding his fists together. "I'm ready for this action."

Sonic ran back to where they were standing and took Gabriel by the shoulders.

"Okay, sport, you know the drill, right?"

Gabriel nodded frantically and tried not to look terrified. Sonic flashed him a thumbs-up.

"You've got this, sport. We'll all be right here."

Meanwhile, Rouge, Shadow, and Omega stood in a triangular shape as the metal beasts began to swarm, hungry for prey. Team Dark readied themselves for battle. Shadow snarled and let loose some Chaos bolts from his hands and into the ground, with the intention of appearing threatening. Omega pinched his fingers together and let sparks fly from them. Rouge fluttered her wings and smirked.

"This'll be easy."

Three helicopters appeared low to the ground and whirred above the trees and the house. They were close enough to cause quills to fly like hair behind the Mobians and clothing to fly about with the force of the wind. All of the Mobians knew what they were supposed to do. The humans did too, but were not as confident as the Mobians were.

"I feel like a soldier entering his first battle," Gabriel said, both awed and terrified by the feeling. His father stood close to him and prepared his bebe gun.

"That's what this is, son. We have to fight to keep everyone safe. I'll be right here with you."

Team Dark encountered the lowest- flying helicopters first. They came right over their heads, zooming by with frightening potential. They all moved out of the way and scattered as one started to land on the yard.

"We can't let them get to the other side or inside the house!" Rouge screamed over the deafening sound of the chopper's blades.

Shadow nodded and began to shoot bolts of Chaos Energy at the helicopter, hoping to cause some sort of damage to it. Sounds of the radio voices erupted from inside as they felt the blasts of Chaos Energy hitting their vehicle. No one had come out of the helicopter yet, which gave Rouge a quick idea.

"Omega, fuse the doors shut!" she yelled as the blades slowed down.

"Affirmative."

Omega used his claws to create a blowtorch effect as he brought it closer to the door of the vehicle. Using hyper-extensive arms with his blowtorch fingers, the helicopter's door started to fuse shut with the heat. Rouge celebrated as Omega finished up the job.

"Yes!" she cried, pumping her fists in the air.

Loud banging came from behind the door and eventually there came the sounds of gunshots. Shadow reacted instantly by grabbing Rouge and pulling her behind a thick tree. She wrenched her arm from his grip.

"What can they do to us if they're stuck in there?" she asked calmly.

Shadow took Rouge by her arm and jerked her back around to face him.

"May I remind you that there's two more government helicopters?" he said, pointing to the other two that swarmed overhead.

Rouge stared at them and smiled grimly.

"Let's go with the others," she said.

Sonic, Knuckles, the Charises, and Team Dark met up next to the garage.

"There were three! Where's the third one?" Sonic asked Shadow over the noise.

Shadow chuckled.

"We took care of it already."

This comment alarmed Sonic, but he had no time to state his feelings about it because one helicopter started lowering men down from it.

"There they are!" cried the overhead voices.

Everyone formed a circle, looking up to the government agents all descending from the choppers.

"Okay, guys," Sonic said dramatically, "you all know what to do."

With that, they all sprung into action.

Sonic spin-dashed into a few of the men, bouncing off of them and knocking some of them out. Knuckles did what he does best: he threw his fists into the faces and chests of his opponents, mostly trying to knock the air from them. Shadow started yelling "Chaos Spear" and "Chaos Control" while flashes of yellow and white flew from his hands and hit his targets. Rouge used her wings to the best of her ability, flying above the men and sending them flying with her screw kicks. Omega didn't need to do much fighting, seeing that the guards were looking with fright at the hulking metallic figure.

The Charises hesitated to do anything. Mr. Charis aimed his gun and shot into the crowd of agents. One collapsed, but was not dead.

Gabriel panicked.

"Dad, I can't shoot these people!" he said, overwhelmed by the morality of the situation. The only one who heard his desperate cry was Shadow, who came close to him with a look of murder in his eyes.

"You're backing down already?" he growled.

Gabriel shook his head.

"No, it's just—there has to be another way!" he shouted.

Shadow ceased shooting Chaos Energy from his hands and hovered a few feet above the ground, coming at eye level with the boy. He suddenly struck him in the face, sending Gabriel reeling backwards and his gun to the ground.

"You're an awfully weak soldier," Shadow taunted, picking up the boy's gun. "There's no mercy in this battle. Fight, or go back inside and tell your mother that you're too afraid to protect her."

Gabriel watched as Shadow ran away with his gun and started shooting into the crowd of men dressed in black uniforms. He thought about what Shadow had said and, now that he had no weapon, ran through a bullet storm and into the garage to find a large tool that would effectively knock out the agents.

Rouge and Knuckles ended up fighting together. If a man came running to grab Knuckles, the white bat would swoop in and take him down. Knuckles sent the enemies flying with his massive fists and, with cries of effort, would pick up large and heavy items and whack the men with them. Rouge flew up into the air and charged at a man who tried to sneak up behind Knuckles. The man, as Rouge saw, looked her in the eyes with a cold, blank stare, and aimed his gun at her. She only had time to widen her eyes mid-charge before she heard the crack of the gun.

The white bat hit the ground hard. Knuckles, of course, was the first to see her fall.

"Rouge!"

Knuckles slugged the man behind him and ran to the open space where Rouge had fallen. Her eyes were open; she hadn't been shot anywhere severe.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled, standing up shakily. Upon closer inspection, Knuckles noticed a bloody tear in her wing, where the bullet had gone through. "It's only a little cut."

"Don't you dare do that again!" Knuckles shouted.

Rouge tried to fly and hit the concrete ground again. Knuckles stood close to her and tried to hold her steady.

"Stop it! I'm fine!" she protested. The duo continued to fight, though Rouge was a bit wobbly on her feet. Flying wouldn't be happening for the remainder of this battle.

Sonic spin-dashed everywhere until he couldn't see any more standing guards.

Once all of the men from both helicopters were lying down on the ground, everyone gathered on the side of the house. Knuckles was the last to appear with Rouge, with her arm flung over his shoulder. She seemed limp and unmoving.

"Rouge, what happened?" Shadow asked, looking her over for wounds. When he saw the hole in her wing, Shadow shook his head.

"Great."

"Guys, it's not a big deal," Rouge insisted, standing on her own, "it's only a tiny little tear. I'm fine."

"But you're not going to be able to fly anymore," Sonic commented.

Peter and Gabriel Charis appeared extremely shaken by the turn of events. Neither of them talked.

Sonic approached Gabriel.

"How're you holding up, sport?" he asked gently. Gabriel looked down on Sonic with a blank expression.

"It's hard to say," he mumbled.

It was clear that Gabriel had been traumatized by the sight of the entire scene. Sonic and Knuckles felt sorry for him, while Shadow simply scorned him with silence. Everyone stared out at the driveway, where there was a crowd of knocked-out agents. Knuckles snarled as he gently lowered Rouge to the ground.

"Now what?"