Chapter 7

Sonic stood ready for an attack. His idea sounding less and less good with each passing second. He stared at the water. Unable to move.

'How am I supposed to focus when I can't move?' He asked himself. 'How did he know that I can't stand water?'

He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. The black hedgehog watched him from the trees and smirked. He chaos controlled behind the blue hedgehog and was about to hit him but Sonic noticed he was there and spin kicked him, knocking him to the ground. Shadow smirked and Sonic's serious look transformed into one of pure joy.

"I-I did it... Yeah! I did it!" he jumped and held his fist up.

Shadow nodded and couldn't help but let his smirk transform into a small smile.

"You did very well Sonic. I suppose we should celebrate. However, the others would want to know of your success before we do anything."

Sonic smiled at him and nodded, the two took off toward the house. As soon as they got there, Sonic ran into the base to talk to the Doctor. Shadow walked into the house and sat next to Rouge.

"So how's baby blue?" She asked.

"He finally managed to hit me. He doesn't show any progress with remembering his old life though."

"I thought the doctor said that his memories would never be returned"

"They can't. Him knowing who we are should be natural though. He should return to the cocky hero that got on everyone's nerves. Not from his memories, but from his nature alone. He grew up by himself and the fact that he was with the doctor for a few years shouldn't affect that." Shadow explained, in deep thought. "It's quite concerning. Maria told me that one's heart can never be changed."

Rouge's look of pity she gave him went unnoticed from the black hedgehog who was currently trapped in his thoughts.

Meanwhile, the blue hedgehog was talking to Orbot and Cubot while they made him a batch of chili dogs.

"He took me to this place where there was a small pond and since I'm scared of water, I couldn't move but I remembered what you guys told me and closed my eyes, letting myself focus and I sensed him when he showed up behind me! I kicked him down!" Sonic explained, excitedly.

"We're proud of you that you didn't let your fear control you" Cubot said.

Sonic nodded and Orbot glanced at the door.

"Did you tell Doctor Eggman about this yet?" he asked.

"Not yet. I was planning on telling him after I told you" Sonic explained.

"Well then, make sure you eat lunch before you go tell him. I'm glad that you're able to fight better and that you're spending more time with others like you" Cubot said.

Sonic smiled and nodded. After he had eaten a bunch of chili dogs, he took off towards the doctor's office.

"Ivo! Where are you?" Sonic called once he opened the metal door to the doctor's lab.

"Over here, Sonic!" Eggman replied from his spot at his newest invention. "Wait there, I'll be right over!"

"Alrighty!"

Eggman tinkered with the metal of the machine a bit more before pulling a blanket over it so that the blue hedgie couldn't see it. He set a hand on the blanket that hid a secret he wanted to keep from everyone. Sonic couldn't know about it. Shadow definitely couldn't know about it. It would cause too many problems. Eggman was thankful for his glasses he wore that hid his eyes. If he didn't have them, he wouldn't be able to hide his regret. He shook himself out of his thoughts and went over to where Sonic had his hands behind his back and was looking down at his feet as he rocked back and forth patiently.

"Alright Sonic, what did you want to tell me?" Eggman asked as he lead the small one out of his lab.

"I finally managed to block one of Shadow's surprise attacks!" Sonic said excitedly. "He took me to a little area with a pond and it kinda freaked me out but Cubot told me to just not put up my guard and it worked! I was able to feel him since he kept attacking me when I let down my guard so instead I didn't even put it up and I beat him!"

Eggman couldn't help but smile slightly at the blue hedgehog's actions. He'd rarely seen him act so excited before so he was glad that Sonic could still be happy. It had been moments like this that made him glad he removed the blue hero's memories. Who knows where he might be if Eggman hadn't wiped the memories of thinking all his friends were killed. Eggman found himself lost in thought as Sonic rambled. He remembered when he'd found out from the oracle that Sonic's memories would be restored if he met his soulmate. This caused Eggman to have to keep Sonic hidden not only because of how different he was now, but also so that he wouldn't be able to meet this possible soul mate. Silver had come from his future several times, trying to convince Eggman to let him take Sonic to find his soulmate and restore his memory but when Eggman thought about how things were and how things would change back to how it was, his heart broke. He couldn't stand it if Sonic came to hate him again. Sure they'd had their ups and downs but it wasn't something that the Doctor had been proud of after. He never really hated the blue hedgehog, he just constantly got in the way. They hadn't been able to actually talk since Eggman wiped Sonic's memory.

Eggman looked at Sonic, who was still rambling, and smiled.

'Just like Maria...' he thought.

"Alright Sonic." Eggman said, causing the blue hedgie to stop in the middle of what seemed like one of his usual praisings of the Ultimate Lifeform. "I suppose you're still very excited but wouldn't it be better to celebrate after you've learned as much as you can from Shadow and his friends?"

"Yeah... I guess..." Sonic said thoughtfully, then gasped as if he'd remembered something. "I gotta get back to Shadow so that he can teach me more! I almost forgot! Bye Ivo!"

Eggman waved as the small form of the blue hedgehog disappeared over the horizon. When he returned to his lab, he found none other than the white time traveling hedgehog himself, about to remove the blanket that was covering his machine.

"That's not yours to touch" Eggman said, his hands behind his back, making his form seem bigger to the shorter figure.

"What did you build, Eggman?" Silver demanded. "Another world could be destroyed like mine was if you keep Sonic locked up like this!"

"He's not locked up, he's with Shadow the Hedgehog. Remember him? If something happens, I'll take care of it. But until then, I'm not letting Sonic go with you."

"You have no idea what kind of damage you've caused! If you don't change him back, chaos knows what will happen!" Silver clenched his fists.

"That's enough!" Eggman yelled, which caused the time traveler to back away. "I'm about tired of you constantly appearing and saying that what I did will destroy the world when it's been several years and nothing has happened. If you feel the necessity to constantly badger me about this, give me some proof that would cause me to want to change him back. For now, Sonic will stay how he is and nothing will change that."

Silver glared at the man before turning away and taking out his chaos emerald. With one last glance at the Doctor, he jumped through his portal and disappeared.

"I thought so..." Eggman grumbled as he walked back to his room for some rest.

Little did he know of the white bat that had been watching from her perch in the ceiling beams.

Oh no! Eggman's plans have been discovered! By Rouge (enter fake gasp here)! See you next chapter!