Act I: CATACOMBS

Chapter XXIV: Gospel For A New Century

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth."– Genesis 9:13

Knuckles sat with his head hung towards the ground, shuffling his feet nervously. His fur headdress was soaked with blood and rain, and it hung in his grasp as it dripped and dripped onto the ground.

The only sound in the air being that sounds of dripping fluids - not enough to drive him from his thoughts.

Tikal lay asleep in front of him. She hadn't woken up since the previous days – but her heart continued to beat.

He wasn't sure if she would ever wake up.

Rouge sat with Shade, allowing her to lay her head and sleep on her shoulder. Rouge couldn't help but stare at Tikal either – not once did her eyes leave the sleeping echidna.

"What did Blaze say?" Rouge asked, gnawing on her nail.

Knuckles sighed, shaking his head. "She's the vessel for Chaos now. As far as Blaze and Silver are concerned – she might never wake up."

The bat sighed, standing up and laying Shade's head on the wall behind her. She approached Knuckles, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She rested her head against his, rocking him side-to-side slightly.

"Tikal is a strong girl. One of the strongest belle's I've ever met. She's gon' be quite alright – I gotta feeling. God or not, I haven't met someone who's been able to knock her all the way down before."

Knuckles chuckled slightly, wiping some old tears that lingered on his cheeks.

"This is different, Rouge. I 'dunno what's gonna happen to her."

The bat stared at the floor for a moment, allowing her thoughts to collect into the best possible response she could muster up in this moment.

"Okay," Rouge said, nodding her head. "I know. I'm here."

The tension in the echidna's body seemed to ease for a moment, allowing himself to lay into Rouge's arms more comfortably.

She was right – Tikal was strong. One of the strongest girls he'd ever known. If anyone could beat this – if anyone could take the control back – it was her.

He wasn't sure if she would. He wasn't sure of anything.

But he had to hope – that's all he was able to do now.

Reaching forward, he grabbed the comatose echidna's hand, giving it a light squeeze.

He was here, and when her finger twitched slightly – he knew that she was aware of that too.

Sonic sat atop a roof with Amy, Cosmo, and Tails, gazing at the rainbow that still hadn't faded from the sky.

The promise.

That's what it had to be.

He let out a sigh, shaking his head slightly. The town was a mess, but he watched the townsfolk all working together to fix what was damaged – like an army of worker bees.

He turned his gaze, seeing the charred and destroyed church. He wasn't sure what the plan for that was – but such a monumental pillar of terror being destroyed didn't seem so wrong to him.

Erasing it to give way to something more beneficial for them all would be the most logical next step.

"Such a shame about Tikal. Gaia, I hope she wakes up soon," Amy said, fiddling with her thumbs.

Sonic nodded, clicking his tongue quietly. "I know – I may not understand much about what all this deity stuff means – but Tikal ain't deserve to go under for it, that's for certain."

Sonic's eyes followed the Babylon Rogues, who were helping the police repair some fallen wooden from surrounding buildings. The bright pinnacle of abundance that Westopolis once was – is gone.

Not forever, however. Not when the citizens cared so much about making sure it stayed afloat.

"How do you feel about bein' part of some Holy Trinity?" Tails asked, giggling at the sentiment.

Sonic shrugged in an overexaggerated fashion, letting out a laugh of his own. "Ah, what can I say? I'm so great even the gods like me!"

Amy rolled her eyes, giving Sonic a soft smack on the back of his head. "Take it down a notch, pal! Don't let that make your big head even bigger."

"I kid, I kid!" Sonic pleaded, though the cheeky smirk never faded. "It's interesting, but I'm not gonna let that dictate my life! I'm me! That's all I am, and all I'll be!"

"No wonder he's the Spirit," Cosmo giggled, leaning her head on Tails' shoulder.

"Besides – if I can be some sort'a pillar of good, that sounds great to me. But for now – I'm just gonna be me, help this city get back on it's feet, and enjoy doin' my thing."

Tails snickered, digging his elbow into Sonic's side. "I like the sound of that!"

The hedgehog laughed, wrapping his arms around Amy and Tails, pulling them closer to his side, feeling his gaze wander to the rainbow in the sky.

He liked the sound of that too.

Vector let out an exasperated sigh, leaning back in his chair. He kicked a couple bags of money under his desk, before facing the police-force.

"So – what's the word on the remainder of Robotnik's buddies?"

Espio nodded, removing his hat. "Surge and Kit were arrested this morning. Starline is still in custody. Clutch, Nack, and Robotnik are obviously all dead."

Vector hissed, rubbing his head. "And I guess that Undertaker took all the corpses, huh."

"Seems that way, sir!" Rotor said, lounging with Charmy against the wall.

"There weren't any traces of any of them. We'll have to contain this inside the town. Make sure no neighboring cities hear about any of this," Sally said, nursing Nicole's arm at a table.

"Way ahead of that," Vector said, before raising an eyebrow, "And how are you doin', Nicole."

Nicole weakly put her thumb up, giving the crocodile a weary smile. "Better than ever, Vec."

"She's had a great nurse named Sally helpin' her out!" Bunnie said, giving the pair a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Sally rolled her eyes with a smirk, allowing the red on her cheeks to give her away.

"I can see that," Vector snidely stated, whistling quietly.

"Besides the point," Espio said, checking his watch, "Everything necessary to be contained has been contained. The only loose end we cannot tie up right now are Bark's whereabouts."

"The polar bear?" Vector asked.

"Right," Mighty spoke up, "We ain't sure where he is. We'll probably end up letting him go – but if you wanted to charge him with anything…"

"Please," Vector chortled, "Sure, maybe this is a 'bit dirty of me, but he did us a favor by shattering Robotnik's skull to bits. Let him go live his life – I'm sure he ain't want nothin' else besides that."

"Ain't that the truth," Antoine muttered, stroking Bunnie's hand absentmindedly.

Espio stood up, stretching his fingers out. "If there's not anything else, we will all get back to work for the day."

Vector shook his head, putting his hands up. "Not a damn thing more needed, Espio. Y'all have done excellent work as always."

Espio grinned with a nod, turning on his heel and leading the police out behind him. Vector sighed, spinning his chair to watch the townsfolk rebuilding the city outside.

He nodded, smiling to himself.

"What a great thing to see."

Nazo sighed, watching as Zero placed the last bag of money on the table.

Nazo counted the bags quickly, before nodding to himself. He looked up, his gaze meeting the Babylon Rogues, Scourge and Fiona, as well as Shadow.

"Well – y'all did it. Price for Robotnik's head was two-hunnid' thousand. So – how do you wanna divvy this up?"

"Well, I don't wanna say that the four of us did most of the work, but…" Storm began, earning a slap on the arm from Wave.

"Can it, big guy. Look – we all did equal work for this. How's we all split it amongst ourselves?"

"I like the sound of that. What say you, babydoll?" Scourge said, slithering closer to Fiona.

The fox rolled her eyes, inspecting her claws. "Meh – money's money. At this point, I could give less of a damn how much I get paid."

"That's some personality development for you there, sugar," Jet cracked wisely.

Fiona grumbled, shooting him a glare. "At least I have some, feather bag!"

"A'ight! Don't start fightin' in here – I'm nursin' a wicked headache," Zero snapped, rubbing circles on his temple.

"What Zero's try'na say is that we don't give a hoot who takes more then the other. There's an even number on the table – just do your math and split up between y'all," Nazo said, lighting a cigar.

Bean hopped up, jamming a finger under his beak. "Yeah – sounds good! But er – what about big guy right there?!"

Bean pointed in the corner, where Bark leaned against the wall. He was mostly washed out in shadows, not paying much mind or attention to the negotiating happening.

"Ah, so Big Bark was involved, ay?" Nazo began, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"What exactly was he involved in?" Zero asked.

Shadow stepped forward, removing his hat. "He killed Robotnik."

Nazo whistled, and Zero leaned back with a groan.

"The hell you groanin' about, jackal?" Jet snapped, before Nazo waved him off with his cigar.

"You're tellin' me that this entire time, the guy who actually killed the preacher was standin' over there – and you're all naggin' about who gets what?" Nazo asked, taking yet another long inhale from his cigar.

"Well, I 'dunno if we were really fightin' that much…" Storm trailed off.

"Point is – if he actually killed the man, he gets the bigger cut. No ifs or buts – that's how it works," Zero stated, before getting up from his chair.

The jackal began to push the bags of money towards Bark, yet the polar bear put his hand up.

"Don't want it."

Nazo raised an eyebrow, scoffing in disbelief. "Heh? What do 'ya mean you don't want it?"

"Don't want it, don't need it."

Shadow turned to Bark, tilting his head. "Bark, now that the church is gone – you need somewhere to stay. This money can help."

Bark shook his head, shrugging. "Not a big deal. I can figure it out. I don't want blood money. All I wanted was Robotnik gone – and I got that."

Zero groaned even louder, putting his hat back on his head. "Y'all are ridiculous. Just take the damn money and figure it out away from here, please?!"

Scourge whistled, throwing an arm around Fiona. "You heard him, buds. Let's take this shit downstairs."

As Nazo gave them a smirk and a wave, he watched the crew carry the bags downstairs. Shadow hung behind at the end of the staircase onto the ground outside, watching as the Rogues began screwing with each other almost immediately. Scourge walked with Fiona in his grasp, enjoying the nighttime sky.

Shadow turned to Bark, who was staring off into the distance.

"Why did you refuse the money?"

Bark shrugged. "Like I said – I don't want blood money."

"If you don't want money – what do you want?"

Bark sighed, biting his lip. "I don't know."

Shadow shook his head, crossing his arms with a glance to the full moon hanging above them.

"Come on – you must have some idea. You've been wantin' out of the church for this long – what have you truly wanted?"

Bark pondered his question for a moment. Shadow could see the wheels turning behind his eyes. He knew Bark wanted something. He got his first wish – but what did he really want with his life?

"I want to be like you. I want to go where I want. I want to live rebelliously. I want to fulfill myself…because I never got to before."

Shadow looked at the ground, placing his hat back on his head.

"Talk to Rouge. Talk to Whisper – there are plenty of routes. I know they would love to have you join them. I would say you could talk to Jet, but I'm not sure if those buffoons are your scene."

Bark shook his head. "No, not at all."

Shadow smirked, holding his hand out. "I await to see what you do with us. Thank you, Bark."

Bark stared at his hand for a moment, and Shadow could tell he was hesitating.

There was darkness between them. Bark was the one who shot and killed his closest friend.

And Bark could have only figured Shadow would hate him forever because of it.

But Bark can see who the true enemy was – it wasn't him.

It was Robotnik.

Bark reached forward, grabbing onto Shadow's hand and giving it a firm shake.

"No, thank you, Shadow."

Silver watched Blaze, Gold, and Marine scour through the remains of the church – looking for anything important that may need to be salvaged.

There was nothing – as Silver anticipated.

It was a charred, wasteland of burned books, burned wood, and burned dreams.

All destroyed by the power of Robotnik.

Silver sighed, picking up a fallen candelabra and situating it back upright. He turned to see Blaze walking towards him, holding her arms across her chest.

"Any luck?"

Blaze shook her head. "Not so much. All I can feel is dark energy."

Silver cocked his head knowingly. "I figured as much."

Blaze sighed, leaning her head on his shoulders as she watched Gold and Marine continue perusing throughout the ruined church.

"Yet, despite the darkness, there is a glimmer of purity. Perhaps the start of something new."

Silver chuckled, flicking a few falling strands of hair from her eyes. "I think you might be right there, Blaze!"

Blaze smiled, before sighing once more. "How terrible this all is…"

Silver nodded, swallowing a lump through his throat. "Terrible indeed. But, like you said, maybe we can start something better here!"

Blaze shook her head, starting to walk forward. Silver followed behind, hoisting his hands into his white coat pockets.

"I cannot say we should. It has harbored so much darkness. Perhaps the best course of action is to leave it be. Allow the town to figure out what it could be together."

Silver pursed his lips, nodding at the cat's idea. He smiled, removing his hat.

"I think that's a lovely idea, Sunchild!"

Blaze turned the shoulder, giving him a smirk and a squint. "Many thanks, Moonchild."

"Please," Marine interrupted, whilst throwing an arm around Gold, "The titles are getting so old!"

Silver giggled, and Blaze rolled her eyes with a genuine smile.

"Our apologies, Marine!" Silver said sarcastically, giving her a bow.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Gold whispered, walking forward and throwing her arms around Silver's frame. He held her closer into a hug, petting the locks on her hair.

"I am too, Goldi-locks."

Marine sighed, leaning against Blaze as she placed her head on her shoulder.

Silver turned to Blaze, all the while holding his sister. "Despite everything, I'd say we're pretty lucky."

Blaze turned to share a gracious look with Marine, nodding at the sentiment.

"I'd say we are."

Sonic reclined at the table in the saloon, eyeing the half-empty keg of alcohol he had been served. He shook his head, already feeling the effects of the booze sully his senses.

"I needed this."

"You're tellin' me'," Knuckles remarked, taking a swig of his own beer. Sonic watched as Knuckles chugged and chugged, earning a perplexed look from the hedgehog.

Knuckles set down the empty glass, holding his hand up towards the bar.

"Oh, what?! You already finish your fourth fucking glass, big guy?!" Julie-su shouted.

"Maybe I did! What's it to 'ya?!"

Julie-su rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "Yeah, yeah – just keep drinkin', dum'ass!"

Knuckles groaned, leaning back in his chair. Honey approached with a new glass of booze, rolling her eyes.

"You really gotta slow down there, man. You still got Shade to watch over."

Knuckles shrugged. "She'll be a'ight. I just need this right now."

Honey smiled. "Well, that's good – cause Julie and Rouge are coverin' the bill for this one."

Knuckles scoffed, feeling red creep across his muzzle. "Oh, what? Now you're enablin' me?"

Rouge shrugged with a snicker, elbowing Julie-su as the pair laughed and laughed.

As Honey trodded off, Sonic whistled lowly. "Women are just great, ain't they?"

Knuckles grumbled. "Yeah, they're a real fuckin' treat."

Sonic nodded, taking a small sip from his drink. "Hey – I'm sorry about Tikal, man. I'm prayin' she wakes up soon. If there's anythin' I can do…"

Knuckles shook his head, offering a small smile. "You've done plenty. Thank you, Sonic."

Sonic raised his glass, and Knuckles followed the suit. The pair clinked their glasses together, earning a snicker out of Sonic.

"Well damn – maybe we won't be the only gay ones around here after all!" Tangle hollered from the bar, earning a middle finger from Knuckles.

"Better watch it – I'll snap that finger in half!" Whisper added.

Sonic wheezed a laugh, shaking his head. "Like I said – women are just the best."

"Oh, I can agree there!" A voice said, snapping Sonic and Knuckles from their thoughts. Looking up, they saw Silver and Shadow saunter inside. Behind them, Amy and Blaze skipped into the saloon arm and arm, though Sonic could tell this place was way out of Blaze's comfort zone.

Silver and Shadow sat down, and Sonic gave them a chuckle. "Well, howdy howdy, Shepherd and Lamb!"

"Don't start," Shadow spat, fidgeting in his seat.

"Ah, relax – it's just a title. Just keep goin' on as you were, Shadow," Silver said.

"That was the plan."

The four drank and talked for what seemed like hours, and in this moment, Sonic finally felt at home in Westopolis.

He had wanted to for so long. He ran for years – going wherever his heart took him. Yet in every place he ended up, it never quite felt all the way correct.

Once he came across Westopolis, he could tell this was where he was supposed to be. However, he couldn't quite call it home until they got rid of the blanket of death that hung over it.

After they did, it was clear as day to him – Westopolis was his home.

And he felt so lucky to be able to call it that.

After Shadow hammered down his final drink, he stood up, placing his hat back on – not after lighting yet another cigarette.

"And with that, I'll be going for the night."

"Where you off to, Shadow?" Silver asked, tipping his hat to him.

"'Dunno. Wherever I feel like goin'."

"Well then – it was great to have 'ya tonight. Don't be a stranger," Silver said, leaning against his fist.

"I never would."

Knuckles raised his glass in goodbye, and Silver chuckled at how little control Knuckles had over himself. Glasses upon glasses of booze would do that.

As Shadow said his goodbyes to Rouge and the rest, he began making his way from the saloon.

Sonic watched him leave, before smiling to himself. He placed the hat back on his head, hopping up from his seat.

"I'll be right back, boys. Don't wait up on me."

Sonic hopped over the table, rushing through the saloon doors. He saw Shadow walking towards the fountain that used to occupy Mephiles, facing the setting sun.

Sonic rushed up behind him, killing the momentum when he reached the black hedgehog.

"Hey – where are you really off to?"

Shadow shrugged, blowing a cloud of smoke into the air. "Not sure. Think I'll ride for a while – finally have the chance to clear my mind."

"How long has it been all cluttered up there for?"

"Far too long."

Sonic chuckled, taking a cigarette that Shadow offered him. Sonic lit it up, taking one long drag from it, feeling the sweet sensations tingle across his skin.

"'Yanno, we may have gotten off on a rocky start – but I'm glad to call you a friend," Sonic said, tilting his head.

Shadow chuckled dryly, returning the gaze to Sonic. "As am I."

Shadow began walking off, tipping his hat to Sonic as the setting sun cast his shadow in the horizon.

"Don't keep us waitin' too long!" Sonic shouted, causing Shadow to turn over his shoulder to nod at Sonic.

"I won't."

Sonic smiled, watching Shadow walk off into the distance. The blue hedgehog took one long look around the town, seeing how far the work to rebuild had come in such a short time.

He sighed to himself, nodding. Westopolis, you truly were outdoing yourself.

"Hey! You comin' back?! Silver's getting' another round!" Amy shouted, leaning against the doors of the saloon.

Sonic gave her a smile, before taking yet another look at the town around him.

"Don't keep waitin' up on me. I'll be there!"

Amy nodded with a smirk, heading back inside.

Sonic sighed, ignoring the red that peppered across his muzzle. With one more exhale of smoke, Sonic nodded to himself as the sun set over Westopolis.

"I'll be there."

END OF ACT 1.