Me: *walks into room rubbing eyes* Ugh…

DW: What happened to you?

Me My brain is mush. I just read practically every comic that Scourge shows up in (for research purposes. I like capturing the personalities of characters) and I'm sick of his attitude. I feel like I'm going to have Nicole punch him until he's not breathing…

DW: Okay…little violent.

Me: Sorry, but you try reading all of that and not be mad of him.

DW:…True.

Me: Okay, on a happier note, the last time we spoke, Manic had just gone 'poof' and Mint had been injured, literally an hour after Manic had just met Ethan for the first time. Actually, that's not really a happy thought.

DW: And I tried to kill you…

Me: Right…okay let's get going.

DW: You better fix this.

Me: I will, just not this chapter.

DW: I really don't like you sometimes…

Me: Miss you too, now let's get going.

Nicole's POV:

I woke up on the floor…which was a little strange, but hey, I still had my memory. I stood up with a groan, "Ugh…note to self: sleep on bed tonight." I groaned again as I tried to pop my back, back into place.

Shadow banged on my door, "Come on, we're looking for Scourge today so time to get up!"

I smiled slightly, "Some things never change…"

Five minutes later we were in hanger with 2nd Generation and…Ethan.

If he had a bad night of sleep last night, he didn't show it. I vaguely wondered if he'd slept on the facility grounds, but shook it out of my head. "Don't matter, Don't care."

"What did you say?" Miley looked up from the gun she was playing with.

"Nothing…" I looked at the Tornado 7. "So this is your plane? Nice…"

The said plane was painted a lot like the X Tornado, but instead of blue and yellow, it was black and yellow.

"Were you aiming for a bumblebee?" I smiled at the thought.

'Ace' frowned. "Um…no. I almost did black and red, but I decided that would be a little redundant."

"Well I just hope it fly's better than a bumblebee…"

"It's really fast…like almost as fast as me!" Jr smiled at the fox.

"Well it's pretty simple math. You just take the flux override and times the output needed to break the sound barrier plus the amount of force that a single engine can put off…"

I droned the conversation out as Shadow motioned for me over. "Have you seen Manic recently?"

I shook my head, "Ari said he dropped in last night, but he always' disappears. I'm sure he'll show up eventually."

"Alright, I just got a message from Star. She was worried sick and apparently something is blocking her from traveling between dimensions. We're lucky we have a signal. Get back to your team, we have a mission to start."

Shadow split us into four teams, Annie and Jr, Topaz and Arnold, Miley and me, and lastly Shadow would take Ethan.

When we were dismissed, Miley fired up the Tornado 7 and we blasted off.

Ace was right…the plane was really fast.

"So we're the eyes in the sky while everyone else searches the streets…great." Ace turned on the radio. "This is going to be a long day…which means you can finally spill the beans on what you've been up to this past year."

I groaned, "I thought you'd gotten over this?"

"Nope. Trust me, when you're dating Jr, you get really patient. Now spill. Or I will launch you out of this plan…and I can do that."

I moaned and leaned back, but decided not to argue. "You know Maria?"

"Um…are you talking about the Maria or some other Maria?"

"Some other Maria," I respond sarcastically.

"Really?"

"No Ace. What other Maria would I be talking about?"

"Sorry, just asking. So yes, I know Maria."

"Well I met her?"

The plane jerked to the left in surprise. "What?!"

I crossed my arms and glared out the window, "Why do you think I don't want to talk about it?"

Silence filled the air for the next few minutes.

"So…what happened?"

"I watched her die. Right in front of me…and I couldn't stop it."

"I'm sorry…but that's how history played out. You can't change the past, but you can influence the future."

"Did you get that from Shadow?"

"…Maybe."

"Great…now my partner is turning into my mentor."

We let out a small laugh and then went back to silence.

More minute's passed until Miley popped the next question, "So that took a whole year?"

"Um…no. Just about 1 and a half months."

The plane jerked to the right. "Then where were you the rest the time? And where did Ethan come in."

I rubbed the back of my head, "I knew Ethan for not even a day…Nicole knew him for less than a day."

"Um…why did you just speak about yourself in the third person? Please tell me some Missy like sprit isn't in you."

"I got amnesia…"

The cab filled with silence, and then Miley's shoulders started to shake. "You…got…amnesia?"

"Yes…"

She started laughing hysterically. Her hands let go of the steering and she flipped the plane to auto-pilot.

"Ace!"

"I'm sorry…it's just…so, funny! Ha!"

I rolled my eyes and tried not to funny, it's not funny…"

"Yes it is…" Miley wiped her eyes, "And why didn't you just call us?"

"One; I lost my phone. Two; I didn't exactly look like…me."

"Um…what?"

"I recently discovered my chaotic abilities can change what I look like…it's actually pretty cool…except that I was light purple when I hit my head. Not the best situation."

"Okay…so I'm guessing that Ethan found you."

"Yep…spent the next 9 and a half months with him."

"Okay…I'm guessing there's more here than meets the eye." Miley turned the plane around for another loop. "Anything else?"

"Charity…may have dated him for the last few months."

"Who?"

"That would have been me as the purple hedgehog."

"Okay. Now I get it. Let me guess…you broke up with him when you got your memory back; horrified that you actually fell in love with someone. Now that he's back, he's different then you remember and you can't seem to forget how you used to felt."

"Sometimes I wish you weren't so smart…"

Miley smiled. "Wish not granted. You want dumb, go talk to my cousin. She's an idiot…"

Slowly, we circled the city until Jr and Annie called in.

"Um…guys? I think we found something."

"Jr, how does this not say, 'we found something?' Seriously?"

"Well I'm not the brightest lightbulb so I thought I'd point that out."

Miley mumbled something under her breath, then pick up her radio. "Stop arguing and send your coordinates already."

Half an hour later, the whole crew was crouched down in an alley near an old warehouse.

"And you're sure this is the place?" Shadow directed the question at Annie.

She nodded. "I'm positive. Based off Lavar's description and holograms, I'm pretty sure Jr and I saw the green mercenary."

The hedgehog looked back at the warehouse. "I don't know…"

"Seems a possibility," Ethan leaned against a dumpster. "It's far enough away from any GUN facility that it would have lighter security, but in the city so they can have a nearby base of operations." He rubbed his hands together, "We'd need to come back tonight to get it confirmed though. If they are in there, then they're on alert and probably out of sight. Annie and Jr got a really lucky glance. Best bet right now, so I think we should go for it." The hedgehog glanced at everyone else, "With your order's, of course. Remember, I'm just the informative and mercenary. I don't make battle plans."

Shadow closed his eyes in thought, "If we came back tonight, some of us could sneak in undetected while everyone else was nearby…and we'd all be properly rested…" He opened his eyes and nodded at Ethan. "We'll launch at midnight, so all of you get home and rest. It's going to be a long night…"

Back at headquarters, I climbed out of the plane. "Hey Ace, want to do a training session together? Just for thirty minutes, it's been a while."

The fox shook her head, "Sorry Nikki, but I need to prepare the Tornado 7 and the Tornado 5. We'll need both planes tonight; which mean's I'll need the rest of the time to rest. Maybe tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded and left the hanger.

"How about a session with me?"

I turned around and found Topaz walking behind me.

"I know I'm no Miley, but I need something to do…besides, you look like you need the practice."

Five minutes later Topaz was trying to knock me off the balance beam. Correction, she was knocking me off.

"Ugh. When did you get so good?"

The bat smiled, "Been training with Dad, you know. For the Guardian thing."

"Of right…almost forgot about that. How does your Dad feel about that?"

"Well at first he wasn't for it. My mother had to pin him down and give him a talking to before he would even consider it. But after we started training, Dad realized how quickly I learned and that I wasn't always daydreaming. True, Arnold will always be the heir and his kids will continue the Guardian tradition, but I'm in his position until he wakes up and realizes it."

I smiled and attempted to tackle her to the ground. She countered by flapping her wings then trying a spin-kick. I moved out of the way.

"How about we move to the air?" I summoned some chaos energy and lifted myself off the ground.

Topaz flew up next to me. "Still think that's so weird how you're stronger than Shadow in that stuff."

"Anyway, do you really think Arnold will want his job back?"

The bat shrugged as we began to spar. "Maybe, but until then, I'm happy to stay on the island and help Dad with that giant gem. It's a gem after all."

"Yeah, noticed that." I punched her pretty hard and she dropped onto the mat below.

"Ugh…that hurt." She dusted herself off. "So Ethan…what do you think of him?"

I turned away so the bat wouldn't see my face. "He's…interesting."

"You like him."

"I do not!"

"You totally do."

"Topaz!"

"What? What's not to like? He's smart, driven, cute, and has a slight bad boy side. Totally your type."

"And you would know my type, how?"

The bat smirked, "I know people. I'm a spy."

"He's not my type…" I grumbled. "Is this why you wanted to train with me? To figure out my feelings? Well news flash Topaz, I'm not impressed. Why don't you just go hang out with Annie?"

Topaz crossed her arms and groaned. "Hon, if I wanted you to share your feelings I would've been more stubble about it. As for Annie, she's too busy with Arnold. I swear, those two make me want to throw up sometimes."

"I thought you supported Annie and Arnold. You even offered to set up a date."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I miss my Annie and me time. She barely hangs out with me anymore. Even in training sessions, she's always sparring with my brother. I've become the third wheel."

The bat fluttered her wings, "I think they're cute together, really I do, but I just wish I wasn't left out of everything…"

"Why don't you just go find a guy for you?" I frowned slightly. "I'm sure there are tons of guy's who'd love to date you."

"Yeah, too many of them. And none of them really…hit me as good. Call it ironic, but I like the strong, serious, types. None of this, joking around or floating in his own little world. I want a guy who's kind, but stern; gentle, but firm. Mostly controlled temper, nothing like my father and he has to respect my freedom. And he has to be smart, not like Jr, whose dumber than a can of turnips." Topaz sighed then smiled at me. "I hope too much. I think I'll just stay single my whole life."

I frowned a bit confused, "You liked that one dude we fought a year ago."

"He was cute…that was it." The bat face-palmed herself, "Oh you're good. We started with your love-life and somehow transitioned to mine."

With a shrug, I turned towards the door, "What can I say, I don't like talking about my feelings. That doesn't mean I don't have them though."

"Keep telling yourself that. See you later Nikki," Topaz called as I left the training room.

As I walked down the hall I couldn't help but think about what Topaz had said about Ethan. "I really hate that bat sometimes…" I grumbled to the floor. "Wonder what Ethan's doing right now…"

I walked up to the medical bay, towards Ari's room. When I passed by Manic's old room I also couldn't help but wondered to that little gray hedgehog. "Eh, I'm sure he's stirring up trouble where ever he is."

Just before I reached Ari's door, Nova went off. "Who is it?"

"You're ex."

"Ugh…" I flipped open the phone, "Ethan, what do you want?"

I listened and felt my heart beat speed up, "Wait, repeat that…no way…hang on Ethan, where are you…I'll be there shortly, I'll explain later. Just don't do anything stupid until we get there!" I snapped the phone shut and ran off to find the team. "Shawnee's going to kill me…"

Narrator's POV:

If only Nicole knew how right she was.

Manic felt like he'd been hit by Shadow when the hedgehog was really angry (and he knew what that felt like). Slowly he opened his eyes and found himself facing the ground. "Ugh…"

He sat up and looked around. The room was about eight feet by five feet…a pretty small cell. Only one door lined the walls and there was no furniture in the room.

"Where…where am I?" The confused hog asked the room. Vaguely, he noticed that his gold belt was missing, but he didn't really care for that thing anyway. Rubbing the back of his head, her tried to recall what happened.

There had been an alley and a cold laugh then…Mint.

Manic could hear the dog's yelp of pain in his ears. "Mint? Mint!" He stood up and banged on the door (and immediately got a headache).

"Let me out of here! Where's my dog?! Let, me, OUT!"

"SHUT IT IN THERE." The intercom blared in the cell

Manic fell back on the ground in shock. "Who- who's there?"

"ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF." The door clicked open allowing someone to enter the room.

"My name is Scourge, and you, my dear friend, are going to be very helpful to me."

"Scourge…" Manic's eyes narrowed. "I've heard about you from my Aunt Shawnee. She's not going to like that you've kidnapped me…"

"I don't know a Shawnee. Now quit your yammering and be a good little hedgehog, okay?" The hedgehog gripped his leather jacket. "Nice meeting you Manic, hope you survive the oncoming storm."

Scourge left the gray hog pondering those words.

Fiona looked up from her paper's when he walked in, "Hey babe, how's our prisoner?"

"Been better…I don't like this job, Fi. Remind me why we took it…"

"To get revenge on a blue hedgehog and they paid really good." She looked back down at her clipboard, "But I have to agree. Taking out GUN is one thing, but the boss gives me chills every time I look at them."

Scourge walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, "Don't worry Babe. As long as we do the job correctly, we'll be fine. Remember, this isn't our world. We won't have to live in what's coming."

"True. Let's just get the job done then get the heck out of here."

"Agreed."

The two of them went back to work, meanwhile, a certain hedgehog was trying to figure out what to do.

"A; wait for rescue. Yeah right, who's going to find me in the middle of…where ever I am. B; try and break out myself. With what, my gun? C;…there is no C. Chaos, I wish my Mom was here…"

Across town Ethan walked into the juice bar. "Man, after spending the whole day with Shadow, I could use some juice…and a break."

It was about eight pm, so Ethan figured he had two hours to kill…only one problem with his plan. As soon as he walked in, Johnny practically tackled Ethan to the ground.

"Have you seen One-shot boy?"

The hedgehog tilted his head slightly. "Who?"

"Manic! His dog showed up around lunch time, practically bleeding to death!"

Ethan felt his blood go cold, "Where is he?"

Johnny motioned towards the back room. "The dog will be fine, but I'm more concerned about that kid. He has a nose for trouble… I had Buddy checking the security camera's since Mint got here. He's only found that Manic was in the downtown area a little after he came here. Go check it out, please. I'd do it myself, but I've got a bar to run."

Ethan nodded. "Anyone who beats up some idiot's for me is my friend. We'll find him, Johnny. I promise." The hedgehog whirled around and ran out the door. As he ran down the street he pulled out his phone and hit speed dial. After two ring's a very annoyed Nicole answered.

"Hey Nikki, I may be late to the stakeout. A friend of mine is missing. Can you cover for me."

"Wait, repeat that?"

"My friend, Manic, has vanished. He was last seen last night about 11 pm."

"No way."

"What's wrong?"

"Hang on Ethan, where are you?"

"Um…I'm heading for the corner of Brown and Main."

"I'll be there shortly, I'll explain later. Just don't do anything stupid until we get there!"

Ethan shut his phone. "Okay…that was weird. But she's the boss."

He ran off down the street at top speed, praying that Manic was alright.

DW: If you kill him, I will have Star tear Nikki to shreds.

Me: Why, pray tell, would I kill him? I think Manic is awesome!

DW: Where's his belt? With Scourge and Fiona?

Me: …Um…I don't know… Where did that thing go?

DW: Eh, it's not important anyway. Everyone review my friend's story! She needs the feedback to keep her writing spirit happy! Then she doesn't kill characters!

Me: I do not!

DW: Do too!

Me: Do not!

*fight continues*

Nicole: Okay…next time is figuring out where in chaos Manic has vanished off too. See you all soon!