Last time on Sonic the Hedgehog, Team Relic - consisting of Relic the Pika, Amy Rose, and Julie the Echidna - began their mission requested by Relic herself. A treasure hunt for an obsidian statue turns into a fight for survival though as Bean the Dynamite follows the trio and attempts to seal them inside the makeshift tomb. Thanks to Relic's quick thinking, the team survives and Julie opens her heart towards her friends, in a way leaving with a treasure of their own…

At the Genocide City beachside, Sonic and Rei were in a heated fist fight, with the speedy hedgehog trying to land a hit on the swift rat. Though Rei had no vision, her heightened senses allowed her to predict Sonic's movements quite clearly, allowing her to dodge and even counter Sonic.

Rei: "Sonic, I can sense your attacks growing more desperate. Did I perhaps touch a nerve earlier?"

Sonic: "Yeah. Landing that lame kick is one way to tick me off."

Rei: "Or is it that I'm right? And you choose to not accept it?"

Sonic: "I get enough lectures from Mom. I know she means well, but I don't want the life she wants me to have. I want to be free to do what I want first and foremost!"

Rei dodges a roundhouse kick before… standing back up, not countering this time.

Rei: "Is that why you foolishly charge into battle on your own? No plan, no back up. Just winging it?"

Sonic: "It's not just that. I do love my friends enough to want to keep them out of harm's way."

Rei: "That's a load of crap and you know it, hedgehog."

Sonic: "And how would you know!?"

Rei: "...Because we're a lot more alike than you realize."

Sonic raises an eyebrow, taking a step back. Rei looks up at the sky, a sad expression on her face.

Rei: "...I wasn't always blind. But ironically, becoming blind allowed me to see a lot more than I could before. And not in a literal sense either. Clarity of my own actions…"

Sonic: "...What happened? How did you lose your eyesight?"

Rei: "I was your age, actually… It was during a skirmish at North Island. Myself and two of my closer mates were basically child soldiers in that skirmish, not that I personally minded at the time… At the time, I want to emphasize…"

In a flashback, a younger Rei stood with two other figures - a teenage Bernadetta de Hedgehog and a mid teens male crocodile, wearing nothing of note beyond a pair of sunglasses. The trio have been together for a while on North Island, having fought the opposition during their stay there. One afternoon, the trio sat at the campfire, chatting to pass the time.

Bernie: "...And that's why I don't really style my quills anymore. It's not very easy to get gum out, you know?"

Crocodile: "I hear that. Uh… aside from the quills part… I once got candy stuck in my teeth. Hard to get out."

Rei: "You ever tried to brush, Guile?"

Guile: "Ah, hush! I brush just fine! …Just my toothbrushes break when I use 'em…"

Bernie: "... We're pretty deep in the fight now. So calm nights like these are something special."

Rei: "The Southern Barons have gotten bold. Had it not been for the tip given to the Kingdom of Acorn, I'd think these punks might've started a Civil War much sooner."

Guile: "That's why we aim to stop it, right?"

Bernie: "Yeah. Stop their production of gunpowder and leaving a dent in their forces. That should halt their plans enough for the Kingdom of Acorn to make their move."

Rei: "Cool. How do we go about that?"

Guile: "They have cargo ships that are leaving at noon. We sink those before they leave the island, they won't get their supplies."

Rei: "Why not take out their supply directly?"

Bernie: "Oh sure, if you want to wake up the whole northern hemisphere. Our job is to cripple the Southern Barons' supply, not cause undo harm to anyone."

Rei looked at Bernie with a bit of annoyance, but said nothing.

Guile: "Alright. By tomorrow, we'll have that supply run sunk and the Kingdom of Acorn can do their thing."

Bernie: "Right."

Rei: "Very well. Everyone, bed time. Let's get some rest for tomorrow."

With that, the trio get some rest for their mission tomorrow. Though Rei was certainly restless about something. She gets up, looking to her comrades as she quietly steps out.

Rei: "I'm hoping it's nothing but a bad feeling… But I feel like the plan Bernie just laid out might be too predictable…"

She leaves their camp, making sure to cover her tracks as she heads to the enemy base camp on her own.

Rei's infiltration goes very smoothly, avoiding the spotlights and using darts fired from her silenced guns to knock out any patrol on the outer perimeter. Running through the base, she finds her intuition on the mark - some Southern Baron militia were setting up traps around the boats, which were made as decoys to throw them off.

Rei: "Tch… Try and make a fool of us, will you…"

Rei sneaks her way to the enemy's supply tent where the manufactured gunpowder was stored, as well as plans to use it for explosives to destroy the castle of the Kingdom of Acorn and start the aforementioned civil war. As she read over the plans, a figure starts to loom over her. She turns to the tall figure, eyes widening before she moves out of the way of an axe coming down upon her, smashing the table the plans laid on. Rei skids to a stop outside of the tent as she starts getting surrounded by, not Southern Baron goons, but a few soldiers of the Kingdom of Acorn dressed up like the Southern Barons. The figure that attacked her steps out of the tent, cracking his neck as his imposing size towers over the much smaller rat - a lion dressed in the royal garb of a Warlord, holding a mighty double sided axe.

Rei: "Warlord Kodos!? What are you doing here!?"

Kodos: "Isn't it obvious?"

Kodos stands over Rei, only his piercing glare staring down at her becoming visible as a shadow casts over his upper half.

Kodos: "I'm starting a war."

Back at the trio's camp, Bernie and Guile remain sleeping as a couple of assassins appear from the shadows. Upon Rei leaving under what they suspect to be solo recon, the assassins took this as the signal to strike and kill the remaining duo. The duo pull out a couple of daggers with a sinister smirk on their faces. But as they approach, a fist lands on Bernie due to Guile rolling over, waking her up.

Bernie: "Gah! Guile! Could you not roll over so suddenly!? A girl needs her beauty… rest…"

Bernie's voice trails off as she sees the assassins. Guile soon wakes up, having heard Bernie's yelling at him.

Guile: "Huh? Sorry… I'm just bushed…"

Guile looks at his partner for a moment before looking at where she was looking, only to go wide eyed as the assassins suddenly attack.

Rei glares up at the much taller Mobian in front of her, the size difference definitely intimidating her. But she stood tall while being aware of the goons surrounding her.

Rei: "Start a war…? Is that what I heard? Why the hell would you want that!?"

Kodos: "...Why?"

Kodos simply bursts out laughing, as if he had just heard the best joke of his life… before then grabbing Rei by the neck, holding her high above the ground as she starts struggling.

Kodos: "Simple. Life's dull without a little action. Battle… Bloodshed… The smell of gunpowder and smoke… All of it is what gets my blood pumping! And all it takes is make a couple of little white lies…"

Rei: "Wh-White… l-lies…?"

Kodos: "I was the one that told his majesty that the Southern Barons were up to no good. I knew he'd send a recon team, but to send novices like you? He must be losing his touch. You see, the real cargo isn't the gunpowder… Oh no. That's for my troops to use to ensure the war will happen. The cargo going to the Southern Barons… are the bodies of their kin, sent by the Kingdom of Acorn as a message of war."

Rei: "Y-You… You bastard…"

Kodos: "And I wouldn't worry… You're not dying alone… Your friends will be joining you too."

Kodos starts laughing as Rei's eyes widen. The idea that her comrades were dead was enough to push her past the boiling point.

Rei: "...You… I'll never FORGIVE YOU!"

Rei quickly draws out her guns and shoots Kodos' wrist holding her neck, blasting it clean off as it causes him to reel back in pain. Kodos' soldiers start to open fire on Rei, but her swift movements combined with her adrenaline fueled rage made it so she was too quick to hit. She fires back at the soldiers, injuring many, killing some. But as she retaliating, a swing of Kodos' axe almost slices her in half, though she narrowly dodges this attack, with only a bit of her getting ripped. The two, through their rage, fought to what felt like to the death. Kodos' bulk proved down right impervious to the ammo Rei had, but the rat's speed proved faster than the lion's might. Landing a flurry of kicks to Kodos' face, he is sent stumbling back. He grabs Rei's tail and slams her into the ground before getting ready to slam his axe into her backside. Rei growls before seeing the gunpowder. Not thinking about what the cost of the next action would be, she shoots directly at the gunpowder, blowing up the tent and blowing her and Kodos away. But for Rei, because her face was so close to the tent, she was left scarred. For her, this would be the last thing she saw…

It was days later, at the Kingdom of Acorn's hospital… Rei was awake, but all she could see was darkness. Her body was weak, like it had been hit by a truck. But then she heard a noise beside her. Two voices…

Guile: "Hey! Rei! You awake!?"

Bernie: "Guile, give her some room to breathe!"

Rei: "B-Bernie…? Guile…? You two are alive? B-But… Kodos… Wait… Where am I? Why can't I… see anything…?"

…Silence… An awkward silence…

Bernie: "...R-Rei… We… spoke to the doctor a while ago… And despite all of his best efforts… He says… you are permanently blind…"

Rei could feel herself unconsciously shaking. Then she felt her body jump out of the bed she was in, slamming into the floor. Bernie and Guile scream for her, but Rei drowns them out. She slams into a wall, then into another wall, and just going down a hallway was… unnatural to her now. Doctors and nurses were called to restrain her as Rei cried out…

Rei: "Where are my eyes!? Where!? The sunset! The oceans! I want to see them! I WANT TO SEE THEM!"

The flashback ends to the present, Rei staring out to the ocean, but could not see it properly. Sonic looks at her, a look of genuine guilt on his face as he listened to her entire story.

Sonic: "You… You lost your vision… because of some jerk warlord…?"

Rei: "...Yup. I lost… at that time anyway… my entire life… All because I decided to play the solo hero… My vision… My sense of self… And for a time… my dreams… I was a broken girl… Whose vision was a thing of the past…"

Sonic: "...I'm sorry to hear all that, Rei… Really…"

Rei: "...But despite that, you're still going to play hero… huh…?"

Sonic goes silent, but that silence said it all to Rei.

Rei: "...If there's anything to take away from my story, it's that playing a hero isn't bad. In the end, the war was delayed for a couple of decades until the Southern Barons decided to act of their own accord… And Kodos was sentenced to death by hanging for treason against the crown. His subordinates outed him in exchange for simple life in prison… And… I did find a better purpose in my life… A bounty hunter… and teacher to the younglings in my group… If you continue to play hero, then at least learn what you're up against… and accept help where you can…"

Sonic goes quiet as Rei picks up her holster belt and long coat, putting both back on as she concludes the day's lesson.

Rei: "Now… Come on."

Sonic: "Huh?"

Rei: "I heard trouble in Relic's personally made ruins. Which means the other two groups may be in trouble too."

Sonic: "What!?"

As Rei walked ahead, looking ever calm, nearby Team D'Coolette and Team Tiara was in the midst of a tussle between Fang and his Hooligans, along with a fourth member of his team, likely a new recruit in the form of the 'rising thief' mentioned during the mission briefing. A big battle was soon to take place…

To be continued…