Sonic what out and about. Just running into the night as the cool breeze flows through his quills. He needed time to think, time to plan, and most importantly, time to relax. Maybe his friends were right, he shouldn't be hiding anything from them. In fact, he's going to tell everyone the truth. The full truth…

"And what do you expect will happen when you tell everyone? The great Sonic The Hedgehog has gone crazy with voices in his head! Ha ha ha!"

Since they were alone, he didn't have to worry about talking out loud.

"It's not like I'm going to the press! Man, I should've told them about you sooner. Who are you anyway? And where did you even come from?"

A loud and piercing laugh echoed throughout his mind. It sent chills down his spine and almost threw him off balance while running.

"I'm surprised you don't know me. All royals know me. Oh wait… That's right, you're not a royal. You're a local peasant pretending to be a hero. You left your home before they could even tell you. Tis a shame of your incompetent mother-"

Sonic screeched to a halt with his shoes sliding against the dirt. His voice and demeanor changed in an instant.

"HEY! You leave her out of this! It wasn't her fault what happened."

Sonic was offended by the voice's choice of words. His anger only fueled it even more. He laughed again but it wasn't as menacing as before. Almost like a chuckle…

"How about this, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and explain what I am…"

Sonic crossed his arms and sighed quietly.

"Explain, quickly." He grunted.

"I am a being with immeasurable power. Ruler of everything dark, a creature born of shadows and whispered legends, I wield a potent darkness that seeps through every thought and every dream. I am a coalescence of ancient power forged many millennia ago."

Sonic grew more and more impatient as he tapped his foot on the ground.

"Can we skip the boring part? How about you give me a name and I'll take care of the rest?"

"Silence!"

Suddenly, his head began to ring with pain. Almost as if someone was trying to crush his skull. The pain lasted a few seconds. But as it ended, he was on the ground.

"How… How did you-"

"I may be stuck in this prison, but it does not mean I do not have any influence on you. I can easily take over your mind and body whenever I please."

He slowly picked himself up from the ground and walked into the forest.

"You know I can just take it right back, right? I did it once before and I can do it again."

Sonic smiled smugly as he countered with that. But it only lasted a second before the voice chuckled once more.

"You fool, did you forget that the chaos emeralds were in close proximity when you fought me? If I were to control you now, you would never regain yourself again. The only reason I haven't done so now is that I enjoy watching you all trying to win the impossible…"

It's true… That night when he fought Eggman before they thought he was killed…

When he attacked Aleena, she did have a chaos emerald with her to save Sonic. But he went super without all the emeralds. What could this mean?

"But… about my name…"

Sonic stopped as he looked deeper into the forest.

"I go by many names, but there is one I prefer the most… You may call me, Nyxus."

Nyxus… He'll have to remember that. Sonic started to walk into the forest again. But this time, in a different direction.

"Nyxus, huh? Never heard of ya. Do you mind telling me where you came from?"

"Ah- Ah- Ah… I know what you are trying to do. You're attempting to obtain information on how to defeat me. It won't work."

Sonic shrugged with his shoulders.

"Worth a shot. If you're not gonna talk anymore, could you like, hide behind my mind or something?"

…

"Hello? Yo-hoo, anyone there?"

…

"Alright, fine…"

With that, their conversation has ended and Sonic increased his speed to a sprint. Or what he would call a sprint with his super speed. He reached the other side of the forest and froze once he ran out of solid ground to run on. He reached a large body of water that blocked his path and grunted.

"I should've taken the plane…"

"Sonic?" A new voice spoke and it wasn't from his head. A familiar voice…

"Silver?"

He turned around and saw Silver floating towards him. His cyan aura faded away as he stepped onto the ground.

"Sonic, what are you doing here?" Silver exclaimed.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Sonic countered.

Silver looked away and tried to think carefully of what to say. He didn't want to say what was stuck on his mind. At least, not yet.

"I was just flying around the area. It helps me feel relaxed."

He looked back at Sonic and asked again.

"What are you doing?"

Sonic crossed his arms and leaned slightly towards the ocean.

"I was going to visit a certain echidna. But I forgot about where he lives…"

He gestured towards the ocean and Silver noticed the floating island far off the horizon.

"Well, I could give you a lift if you want."

His hands started to glow with aura as he began to float.

"I'd appreciate that. Thanks, Silver!"

With those words, his entire body was surrounded by the same aura as Silver. They both gained speed and flew across the ocean as fast as his plane would've.

The sea was beautiful under the moonlight. The crests of the waves shining before combining into a new wave, the small glints of light reflected from the stars above, and the moon's reflection sealing everything together. If only his fear of water didn't ruin the whole experience.

"You are a so-called 'hero' in a weak world and you are afraid of water. How foolish…"

"Shut up."

"What? I didn't say anything!"

Sonic quickly looked over and forgot that he isn't alone anymore. He shouldn't be talking out loud.

"I- I just don't want to hear you laughing about my fear." He quickly quipped to try and deflect the real reason.

"I don't make fun of someone's fears like that, Sonic. I thought you knew this."

Sonic's fear slowly turned to regret, he's been too harsh on Silver recently and he shouldn't keep that up.

"Sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine…"

Both went silent after the awkward moment passed, still flying at a steady speed in the air. Angel island over the horizon becomes larger as they approach it.

Silver had to explain what he was thinking to Sonic. But how was he going to explain that he went back in time and accidentally interacted with his mother, prevented her demise, and possibly changed his past? There was only one way to find out…

"Sonic? I need to talk to you about something. It's important…"

Sonic looked at him with a curious glare.

"What is it, Silver?"

The white hedgehog paused, trying to think of the best words to use.

'Come on, Silver. You need to tell him! You can't hide it anymore!'

He took a deep breath, fear winding down but still affecting him. He gathered the courage and looked into Sonic's eyes and spoke.

"Sonic, what I am going to say might make you think less of me, but-"

"Wait."

He stopped confused. Why did Sonic just shut him up like that?

"Silver, at this point, nothing you can say would make me think of you anything less than what I think of you now. You're my friend and nothing will change that, alright?"

He spoke with such sincerity that it made Silver feel more confident to say the truth.

This was it. It was time to reveal it.

"Sonic, I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that-"

"Hold up, Silver! We're about to overshoot the island!"

He looked ahead and noticed that they were indeed about to miss their destination. He slowed down their speed and decreased their altitude to land nearby the shrine. Knuckles was sleeping next to the master emerald as it glowed even during the night. Sonic reached the ground first before Silver and he started to sneak up on the echidna.

"Sonic, what are you-"

"SHHH!"

He shushed Silver and carefully got behind him. Then, he quietly chuckled. Silver facepalmed as he knows what is going to happen. Sonic softly pushed Knuckles' head off the stone it laid on and the fall awoke him. He instantly jumped to his feet and raised his fists.

"Who's there!?

The first thing he saw was Silver and was going to attack, but he stopped once he fully recognized him.

"Silver? What are you doing here?"

"Uhh…"

"He's with me, Knucklehead."

The echidna turned around to see his blue hedgehog friend. His expression went sour.

"Sonic, you snuck up on me didn't you?"

Sonic laughed, always trying ways to mess with his friend.

"There's no hiding it, but it's always funny."

Knuckles crossed his arms with one brow raised.

"You're unusually cheery considering what you've just been through. Are you alright, Sonic?"

"Yes, Are you really alright?"

Sonic tuned out the voice from his head so he could respond without being interrupted.

"I'm fine now. But it's not about me I need to talk to you about."

"Is it about Sonia? Is she alright?" Knuckles asked so fast that it almost made Sonic go dizzy.

"She's fine! She's fine! She's still at the hospital safe and sou-"

POW!

Sonic flew to the ground in a spiral from the impact of Knuckles' fist landing a blow on his face. Silver just stood there shocked and Sonic groaned and struggled to get back up.

"That's for lying to me! I know what happened at the hospital. So, tell me the truth or I'll hit you again."

He pumped his fist into his hand twice before preparing for another strike as Sonic finally got on his feet and rubbed his cheek.

"Ooowwww… I forgot Tails told me that… Look, All I know is that she is safe. I can't explain more than that."

"Then, why are you here?"

"I need your help. Eggman broke out and I need all the help I can get to stop him for good."

"He escaped?!" Knuckles exclaimed. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised…"

"How did he get out?" Silver wondered.

"He somehow escaped using some kind of device. He faded away into the air right in front of me like he wasn't there at all! I've never seen anything like it."

Knuckles brought his fist to his chin,

"Hasn't he done this before?"

"Well, maybe. But he had a Chaos Emerald before. I made sure he didn't have anything on him when I locked him up. This is something else…"

Silver moved to be beside the echidna and placed his hand on his chest.

"I want to help, but what can we do about this new device?"

"I… I don't know. Right now, I just want to save everyone and everything. For that, I need every one of my friends to help. I can't do it alone and I know that now. I just need to find out how I'm gonna do it. I need to know how-"

His response was cut short by an unknown light illumination around him. It wasn't his aura and it wasn't coming from the Master Emerald. He tried to find the source of the light but it always surrounded him everywhere he moved. One quick glance at the others, he noticed that they were confused as well.

Then, he felt something.

A warm feeling started behind his head, more like in his quills. He reached in and found the source, it was the medallions. His and Sonia's were emitting a bright light. Was it because they were in close proximity to the Master Emerald? Maybe, but the emerald wasn't reacting and Knuckles would've known if it was.

Then, what is causing them to react?

"What's going on with the medallions?" Silver broke his silence.

"I… I don't know. But it feels like I need to find something…" Sonic answered, still staring at the medallions.

"Find what?" Knuckles spoke, "Besides the Master Emerald, there is nothing else on this island or maybe the entire planet that the medallions could use."

"I don't think it's the medallions looking for something…" Sonic looked up and stared at Knuckles and Silver as they got closer. "I think they want me to find something…"

In that moment of realization, the light of the medallions grew even brighter. It was so bright that it blinded everyone for a brief moment. When they opened their eyes, Sonic thought he was seeing double. Right in front of him, he saw a mirror image of himself that was almost identical. The only difference was that his copy was made of pure light and that's all it was, a bright white light.

"Is that… you, Sonic?" Silver puzzled.

They all stared at it until it began to walk away. It began walking down the staircase of the shrine, but stopped halfway to turn its head around to the group. It stared directly at Sonic's eyes. The others didn't move. Then, the clone reached out his hand as if to follow him. At first, Silver and Knuckles didn't move. However, Sonic did. He began to follow while Knuckles tried to stop him. He grabbed Sonic's onto arm, preventing him from moving further.

"What are you doing Sonic, are you just gonna follow any illusion blindly?"

Knuckles' interference wasn't taken too kindly by the clone. It raised its hand so that its palm was facing the echidna. Then, Knuckles' hand released Sonic's arm but it didn't end there. The echidna started to levitate and was held in place by whatever was holding him.

"Whoa… What's going on?!"

It didn't take long to notice that it was coming from the light clone. It pushed its hand forward, almost like it was tossing something away. Then, Knuckles was thrown into the Master Emerald!

"Gah!"

The impact caused the emerald to react. Its green glow grew brighter and just like before, the spirit returned. She noticed the guardian hurt on the ground, then Silver, then Sonic while holding two of the medallions, and finally the being of light. Once she saw it, she knew what was happening.

Knuckles slowly rose up and got on his feet.

"Oh, it's a fight you want. Alright, I'll give you one! RAA-!"

"STOP!"

Her voice echoed throughout the forest. She was able to grab Knuckles in time before he jumped off the shrine to attack. Knuckles and the others looked at Tikal with surprise. The light being however, levitated to the top and landed next to her. It bent down on one knee, fist to the ground, and head lowered in respect to the spirit. Tikal looked over to Knuckles with a very upset frown.

"What are you doing?" Tikal demanded.

"This thing attacked me! I was just returning the favor."

Tikal shook her head,

"It doesn't attack unless provoked. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! That thing started it!"

"That's impossible, a guidelight does not attack unless you attack its owner."

"A guidelight?"

The echidna was lost in confusion along with everyone else present. The guidelight stood up from his bow and stared forward. Tikal took a deep breath and tried to explain.

"A guidelight is a being of pure light that manifests into the form of its owner. In times of desperate need, those who have the power can create guidelights to guide them."

Knuckles tried to walk up to Sonic, but his guidelight appeared between them. It acted as a shield against Knuckles. It startled him at first, but tensions died out quickly.

"Hey, it's ok…"

Sonic tried to ease his guidelight and it slowly moved towards the steps. It only took a few steps down before repeating the same action as before, reaching his hand out.

"It wants you to follow it. Let it guide you."

Sonic was hesitant at first, mind racing, eyes dashing back and forth. He took a deep breath and followed his guide. Knuckles and Silver just stared at the two as they walked down the stairs of the shrine. As they reached the bottom, Silver decided to follow using his psychokinesis. Knuckles was a little slower to give in, but he followed as well. He jumped and glided towards the group. Once he was at a certain point in altitude, he dropped down and walked with Sonic behind his guidelight. To where they do not know. The only way to find out, is to just follow the guiding light….