Chapter Revised [x]

(Rachel's POV)

DING DONG!

My body shifted slowly on top of the couch cushions. "Mmmm? Mmm..." I moaned tiredly, searching for another comfortable position.

Did the doorbell just ring or was that my imagination? Oh please let it be my imagination. I just want to sleep.

A few minutes of silence passed, and I started to drift away again, sinking into another deep slumber...

DING DONG!

"Ugh!" I cried out tiredly, pulling myself up into a sitting posture and rubbing one of my eyes with my knuckle. I took a look a look out the windows in the living room. Through the blinds, I could see orange daylight coming through and printing lines on the wooden floor.

Morning already? I wonder what time it is. Who the heck would show up this early?

But then, I forgot about the people waiting outside completely. All the events from yesterday hit me like a ton of bricks. A sudden breath hitched in my throat, and I found myself gripping onto the necklace's chain for comfort.

Shadow the Hedgehog. He returned. He's in Westopolis. I…I met him.

Wait a second. Where'd my family go? Did they leave me home alone? This isn't even my home, it's Grandpa's. How could they just leave me like that after everything that's happened!

DING DONG!

The person at the door was now knocking.

"Hello?" a husky voice called from the other side after four urgent knocks. "Is anyone in there?"

I looked towards the door whilst holding the necklace, rising up and stepping cautiously towards it. I realized I'd grown an irrational fear of strangers after what happened last night. After staring at the door like it was seconds away from exploding, I finally spoke up.

"W-Who..." I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. "Who is it?"

At first, the person didn't answer. Then another voice spoke up. "That doesn't sound like the G.U.N. commander," the voice said. The owner sounded young, like a boy who had not yet hit puberty.

Now another voice had chimed in, this time it sounded like it belonged to a slightly older female. "Maybe I should just use my hammer to bust the door down. We don't have time for this nonsense!" She sounded only about thirteen or fourteen.

The voices, despite being foreign, somehow granted me comfort in hearing the youth in them. It sounded like they were just kids. What did I have to be afraid of?

I wrapped a hand around the door knob and yanked it open. Light hit my eyes instantly, causing me to squint until they'd finally adjusted. When I opened them all the way, what I saw caused me to step back in shock. "What the-?" I choked out. My hair stood on end.

Everyone's favorite heroic blue hedgehog, also known as the Fastest Thing Alive, peered back at me happily. He flashed a casual wink and held up his trademark thumbs-up sign. "How's it going? I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!" he said, radiating with an outgoing and friendly vibe. "Is this the residence of Abraham Tower? You wouldn't happen to be Rachel Tower, would you?"

I gazed at him in awe, my bottom lip barely cupping back a building puddle of drool. I had never been this close to Sonic the Hedgehog before. Ever. He was one of the biggest idols in the world, if not the biggest. It felt so surreal. He was a world famous hero, for, well saving the world! And he was standing right there in front of me! I couldn't believe this was happening. Yesterday was a scary rollercoaster ride, but this, in some ways, definitely made up for it.

I then realized he'd asked me a question and straightened up. I'd gotten so caught up in the shock that I managed to forget my own name. Oh yeah, Rachel Tower.

Well then say it you moron!

"Yes! Yes it is. And yes I am."

I then stopped and scanned over the other anthromorphic characters that stood on both sides of him. There was the red echidna with spikes on his gloves who I recognized as Knuckles the Echidna, a twin-tailed orange fox, whom everyone called Tails, (He was usually seen flying around Station Square in a blue jet) and a female hedgehog who was colored a rosy pink and had short quills to substitute hair. She also wore a red dress and matching headband. I didn't know her name, but I'd seen her around before somewhere.

According to my parents, who were always up to date with worldly facts after reading the 'Did You Know' section in the news articles every morning, Sonic and his friends hardly aged over the past sixteen years, since their bodies didn't age like ours did. One year to us was the equivalent of one month to them. So they only appeared physically older by a year and few months. But they had grown significantly taller. Just a few more inches and we would've all been level. Well, minus Tails and the pink hedgehog, who still looked like children.

The pink hedgehog looked me up and down. "So you're the one who ran into Shadow?" she asked curiously.

I fought back a shudder. "Uhm, yes. Please come in," I said stiffly, with all the woes bombarding me again. I allowed them to enter the house before shutting the door. At first they all stood around, examining the house carefully. The pink hedgehog jumped onto the couch out of nowhere, stretching in the place where I slept.

Her legs wove around themselves in delight. "My, what a cute and cozy little couch!" she exclaimed. I narrowed my eyes at her, looking back at Sonic, Knuckles and Tails for an explanation. Sonic gave a reassuring smile. "Sorry about Amy, just try your best to ignore her. She didn't get any sleep last night, so at this point she would probably find a rock comfortable."

I looked back at her. Amy was her name. And she didn't get any sleep last night? She seemed to have more than enough energy right before they came in.

"She isn't the only one. Not a single one of us went to bed last night," Knuckles said in a far more serious tone than his blue comrade. His low, husky voice matched the one that had been knocking on the door. "We all stayed up wondering if it was really true that Shadow was back on Earth. We all thought him to be dead or at least somewhere in a different galaxy, far out of Earth's reach."

Once again, I involuntarily shuddered. "I suppose we can't always be so lucky. I already knew who Shadow before this. My grandpa told me the story concerning him and the Space Colony ARK when I was seven years old. Ever since then, I wanted to believe the same thing. I hated him."

Sonic and Tails looked at me, confused by my knowledge of the Space Colony ARK, and my hostility towards Shadow. However, Knuckles didn't seem fazed. Amy had surprisingly already fallen asleep on the couch, so she had no comment on the matter.

They weren't kidding when they said she was exhausted.

"Don't worry. We're not too fond of the guy either. Just when you think you've gotten rid of him for good, he finds a way to show up at the most random, most unexpected time. I personally have had enough of him and the trouble he causes," Knuckles spat in hatred.

Tails looked a little a bit more merciful. "But don't forget you guys, he did save Earth from the Biolizard, and he never got to using the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the planet like he had sought to from the beginning. He had a change of heart, and some of it partly wasn't his fault. In the end though, he helped save the whole planet, even sacrificing himself in the process.

AND, let's not forget when we were nearly defeated thanks to the Metarex, he teamed up with Sonic to save us. So you have to admit, he's helped us at times," Tails reasoned on.

Knuckles shook his head. "Tails that is complete malarkey! Who cares if he didn't use the Eclipse Cannon, the point is he was going to originally for his own selfish reasons! And it wasn't considered a sacrifice if he lived. Sonic could've handled the BioLizard himself in some way. And don't you even remember him trying to kill Cosmo?"

Sonic widened his eyes. "Knuckles!" he said in surprise.

I noticed Tails had gone extremely tense, and even became a little sad. I honestly had no idea what they were talking about. Metarex? Cosmo? I didn't know who this Cosmo person was, but obviously it was someone that mattered to the little fox a lot, judging by the hurt look in his eyes.

Knuckles looked back at me. "Long story short, Shadow can be a hero as much as he can be a villain. All the good I can remember him doing was just cancelled out by how much trouble he unleashed beforehand. Don't be fooled by the fact that he saved you last night."

I blinked. "W-What? You know about that? How?"

Sonic looked away from Tails, who appeared to be trying to console himself. His eyes met mine, expressing care and concern.

"The Commander called us late last night, telling us that Shadow the Hedgehog was here in Westopolis. At first, we weren't sure if we could believe him, and thought he'd been mistaken or something. But he then said that his sixteen year old grand-daughter was the one who saw him. Apparently Rachel, you were attacked by a group of men, and a hidden figure came and fought them off. From your description of him, your grandfather automatically knew it was Shadow that you were talking about. The main indicator was you claimed he was a hedgehog that resembled me, but had red eyes and teleported with a red gem."

I nodded. "That's right. He held it up and yelled 'Chaos Control'. And then he was gone. I don't remember if my grandfather ever mentioned that he could do that or not. But it happened."

They all nodded towards me. "Yeah, that confirms it. Chaos Control is an ability that only Shadow and I possess," Sonic said. "I didn't even know I could do it too until I met him. Chaos Control is something that existed before him. It's something that's produced from the power of Chaos. But you usually need all seven Chaos Emeralds to make it happen. He has the power to summon it with only one. It takes a lot out of me, but he can do it effortlessly."

I bit my lip. This was becoming a little too real for me.

A Chaos Emerald. That was what that jewel was. And there were seven more.

I decided not to tell them about the weird connection I felt after seeing it. It probably meant nothing.

After I retained all their information, I looked down at the floor, sliding my socked foot back and forth awkwardly.

"So, what happens now?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "That's just it; we're not sure what action to take at this point. We were a little unprepared as you can imagine! But no matter. We'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure Shadow didn't just come here for no reason. He probably has business to take care of, meaning he could be working with Eggman again too." He threw his hands apart and shrugged. "I guess old habits die hard."

Tails nodded. He was more perked up than he had been previously. "Oh and by the way, if you're wondering where your family is, you don't need to worry. Your Grandfather went to G.U.N.'s base to inform the troops about Shadow's return. This might be far more serious than you realize, Rachel. Hero or not, he's still a threat to the human race, and precautions have to be taken. He said something about preparing missiles for defense, and putting more guards out on watch, just to ensure safety. As for your parents and siblings, they went to the Subway Station, and let you stay so you could talk with us and provide some explanation.

The commander told us to stop by and check on you, to make sure you were okay while everyone was gone. Your father was going to stay behind, but we advised that he let us speak with you alone.

Also, we didn't mean to wake you up. We just figured you'd be awake already. It's nearly noon. But it's also understandable since you didn't get much rest last night."

I just smiled at him, blushing with embarrassment. "Don't be sorry. I don't mind. I needed to wake up eventually. And being that it's you guys, I have no problem whatsoever.

But do you happen to know why my parents are at the subway station?"

"They want to get scheduled to get on the first train back home to Station Square, so they can take you home, where you'll be safe," he answered.

Knuckles frowned. "Yeah, we were asked to stay once arriving in Westopolis just in case any of Egg-butt's robots show up, or even better, if Shadow shows up. He'll get taught a lesson he won't soon forget!" he declared, cracking his knuckles and throwing a few practice punches.

I couldn't help but giggle. A part of me wanted to help them bring Shadow to justice.

But I think I really would be better off home. It's where I belong. I'll leave it to them.

Sonic got closer. "Anyways, once we get a call from your parents to let us know they found available seats on the next train, you can get your stuff and take a taxi cab there. I'll go with you if you want me to, you know, as an escort," he said with an anticipated grin.

I smiled back at him, my heart doing back flips and just how genuine that grin of his was. How could I turn something like that down? "Thank you, Sonic. I would like that a lot."

I then hurried to the guest-bedroom to get dressed.

After changing into a regular white T-shirt with a loose black cardigan, a pair of denim Capri-pants, and my usual black tennis shoes, I went to the bathroom to fix my hair. Right before I went in, I grabbed my mp3 player out of my overnight bag and crammed the headphones into my ears. After selecting a song, I went to work on my appearance in the mirror.

The music usually acted as a temporary barrier for my thoughts. But it barely filtered anything. I ran the brush through my hair tentatively, taking a few breaths every now and again and letting everything slowly sink in.

Don't worry Rachel. Shadow may be out on the loose now, but he will get caught. Whatever kind of havoc he's trying to cause, Sonic and the others will stop him before the situation has a chance to get out of hand.

You need not worry about him anymore. Even if he saved you, it still doesn't change a thing about the way you feel about him...

I then stopped myself. Even I found myself being a little harsh. Not only did he save me from getting raped and injured, he might have saved my life as well. Do I really still hate him after that?

I then remembered everything my grandfather told me about him. Maria's vain death. The vain deaths of innocent soldiers. The times when he aided the Black Arms, even though I was a too young at the time to understand what was happening. I definitely understood it all crystal clear now. The heart shaped necklace glistened a blue luster in the lighting of the bathroom. I slowly continued on my hair, sighing absent-mindedly to myself.

Yes. Yes I do. And I'll never stop. I'm smart enough to tell good from bad.

I finally managed to push those lingering thoughts aside and let the music take my mind away from the world.

(Shadow'S POV)

"We're just going to remain here in the Mystic Ruins the whole time?" I asked, referring to the plan that Dr. Eggman told me the night before.

He nodded with a smile, turning around in his chair to face me. "Indeed. The Subway Station isn't far from here. There won't be any guards, weapons, or any means of defense there, or at least none that I know of. Even if that girl did happen to tell someone about you, what are they gonna do, hire heavy-set police equipped with machine guns? I don't think it happens that fast.

So, first things first. You'll take Abraham Tower's son hostage, keeping him at gun-point, gun supplied courtesy of yours truly, then bring him back to the Egg Carrier. After that's out of the way, we'll hover over Westopolis, I'll drop my robots down to create mass hysteria and deliver the news that we have the commander's son captive, and if he doesn't hand over the Chaos Emerald we won't hesitate to kill him. After we got the Chaos Emerald in our possession, we'll give him back his puny little son and be on our way. And you will follow through with your part of the deal."

I had ignored everything he said after the first few sentences. I already knew the plan forwards and backwards. The only thing I was unsure of was if I had to go back to Westopolis to kidnap the Commander's son. But, I guess we were waiting here, for their train to come to us.

I looked at the Doctor. "What do we do if the Commander resists and doesn't give us the Chaos Emerald?"

He paused and tapped a finger against the corner of his lip in thought. "Hm, I guess we can either continue to hold his son hostage, or we can kill him and kidnap another family member in his place. Maybe his daughter-in-law, or one of his grandchildren. That would definitely be a wake-up call, don't you think? Though, murder isn't really my first option. Not this time, at least."

I tensed up. Hopefully we wouldn't have to resort kidnapping other humans. Especially the grandchildren. I hated kids with every fiber of my being. But he was right. Doing so would scare the Commander straight into submission.

Dr. Eggman turned his back to me and glanced down the controls. "Now all we do is play the waiting game. Would you like a beverage or something? Maybe a cup of coffee?"

I didn't answer. I simply left the control room, making no sound except for those of my footsteps. Maybe walking around for a while would kill some time.

But for some reason, my mind kept wandering back to that girl from last night.

Sometimes I was able to forget about her, but other times I couldn't get the image of face out of my head. I kept seeing her dark green eyes. The way they were after I saved her from those disgusting men, like a lost, wide-eyed child. Her look of fear and confusion, lit up and set into glow by the thunder clapping around us.

It was almost difficult for me to leave her the way I did. A part of me wished I could've stayed for a moment longer to ensure nothing would happen as soon as I was gone.

Oh well. That was in the past.

It was over with. And now it was time to move on.

(A/N) Like zomg, the next chapter will be THE chapter that I have been waiting to write since I started this story. The chapert of the kidnapping! (And Shadow and Rachel's first real encounter, with light, no rain, and stuff) I'll write it whether you review or not, but reviews help my try harder :) Anyways, I know this chapter was kind of boring. I tried to make it as interesting as possible, and failed. Okay well until next time.