Because he wasn't really sure if Zachary would stand on side of common sense or was still blinded by his greed, Nyls decided to contact Eggman by himself. He knew which buttons he needed to press with the doctor, after all. He went to one of Eggman's lair on the Seaside Islands. The doctor was supposed to be there by now.

Nyls stepped inside Eggman's control room.

"We, have both messed up massively, Ivo."

The doctor turned around in his chair to face the blondish hedgehog. "What do you mean, 'we'?", he grumbled.

"You have to shut your off your stuff. The operation is off."

"Well, it's a little late for that now", Eggman grumbled amused, not really taking the hedgehog serious this time.

"Sage has already been doing her work. Exceptionally well, I might add, but that is to no surprise. She is gaining access to all sorts of AI-controlled infrastructure, muhuhuhaha. It's all gonna crash! Actually, now that I think about it, that could realistically get me to world domination. Nobody can simply shut everything down now."

Shit, was all that Nyls came to mind. He's losing it again.

"That means, we've got some problem then…"

"What do you mean, I see no problem for me."

"Listen Doctor, I'm no IT guy but, what latest research is telling me, is that Sage will basically corrupt any device with some reasonable computing power. That's how all that weird ancient cyber stuff works. She will spread cyber corruption anywhere. You know how nearly everyone has gained access to some sort of beta-version unstable AI and how like nearly every fucking important… umm, thing is running on some. I have no idea what will happen but I can only imagine that it will be catastrophic. And here we are with you losing your mind again due to your weird tyranny-complex."

Eggman scoffed: "You guys have just seen too many doomsday movies. Sage will not allow such thing. Not that I could change it anyway anymore. They shall just unplug everything for day or so if necessary."

"Yeah, you heard of batteries or solar panels, or let's say satellites before, right?", the hedgehog scoffed back.

"I was ironic, hedgehog. Sage will handle it perfectly. She is perfection."

I don't really know what I'm talking about but that's my chance to bluff a tiny bit, Nyls thought.

"Like your Egg OS is just a Linux with stupid interface? You will lose your access to her from what I understand, Eggman. The corrupted AI will run loose and fight Sage at some point."

Eggman froze for a moment. It couldn't be, Could it?

He regained his frame quickly though.

"Pfff, no way. Sage is far too genius for that. Just like me. And you'll still have Sonic. He was able to manipulate this stuff. And being a superhero and so on, he better should be."

"…Sonic is barely alive right now! Because of it", the hedgehog said in an untypical dark tone.

That's when the still rather fat man became silent.

Sonic is barely alive…That sentence hit Eggman. A chilling wave rushed over him. I should be infinitely excited about these news but…oh well. And if he's correct about Sage… Sage…no….

Eggman rubbed his temples, "in that case we might actually have a problem. It doesn't fit in any of Sages parameters that this would happen…" Eggman mumbled in thought.

Nyls swallowed. "Argh, just do what you can then, doctor…"

The hedgehog left the building.

Shit, Nyls thought again. This is getting out of hand. And it's my fault. I never appreciated enough how Sonic always had the whole world's back. How much we depended on him in the past. He sighed. Get well soon, Sonic… In the meantime, I've got to figure something out! I have to make it right!

He called Shadow.

"Yes, something to report?"

"Bad news or really bad news first?"

"Just talk."

"Like you said, Eggman wasn't aware of the full effects of cyber corruption. And he is using Sage to gain control about major AI-driven infrastructures. I kinda think he snapped out of it though is trying for some damage limitation…"

"…Well, shit…"

Sonic was fast asleep in his hospital bed but visibly uneasy and glowing hot. Shadow arrived there, eagerly awaited by Tails.

"S-Shadow, you made it", the fox stuttered trembling.

"Obviously."

"S-So I-I did some scans on him. It seems like Sonics energy levels are highly unstable. Further his body temperature is continuing to rise."

Shadow only nodded. "Stay with him for now, Tails. I'll handle the rest."

"D-do you have an emerald with you? S-Sonic asked for one."

"Yes. Don't lose it". Shadow handed Tails the green chaos emerald. "Might as well borrow it if I need to teleport myself somewhere quick. But for now it's at better use here."

"Got it", Tails said with an acknowledging smile. "Do you have any idea what's going on with him?"

"I do. Some top-notch experts already are on their way here. We'll explain then."

"I wonder why he asked for you specifically, Shadow. I mean, no offense", Tails mumbled.

Shadow thought about it. Sonic had been acting rather appreciating towards him lately also less annoying. They actually had shared some deeper conversation. However, he couldn't really come up with a striking reason for that on the fly. "You have to ask him when he's awake."

About half an hour later Amy arrived at the hospital together with a very intelligent looking anthropomorphic fox and a tall bird both wearing lab coats.

Amy froze as she saw Sonic sleeping in his bed visibly in a very bad shape. Tails updated her what happened with him. My poor Sonic…, Amy thought. She had to sit down somehow unable to control her emotions. Something she had not experienced for some time now. Sure, she got to know all sorts of new people recently. Met attractive young men. Followed her own dream. But now she saw her longterm crush laying there it all came back up to her. She couldn't imagine losing her Sonic.

As the tall bird began some examinations together with the hospitals head doctor and looked into Sonics file and the young fox made some more scans on Sonic, Amy thought: never take any ideas from that insensible junkie of a hedgehog again. I never could stand that guy anyway, assuming the source of the idea to sip lean to kill the agony.

In the background Amy could hear the scientists discussing things about medication, cyber here and cyber there.

"Turnes out that weird energy you researched somehow altered his chaos levels in some form. Having some inconvenient effects to his nervous system. I have seen that in our studies with Ms. Rose as well. In a way less worrisome scale, though. From what his friend told us and my experience with Ms. Roses therapy, I can only assume it must have cause major nervous shocks, neuralgia, even depression and anxiety slowly altering his personality in the process. Yet, he hangs on strong. Sonic here, is really one impressive hedgehog", the black bird diagnosed.

The hospitals head doctor added: "Thanks Doctor Blackbird. It seems like all that stress on his body took his toll on his immune system. He caught a major flu or some similar infection causing him fever. We will give him some medication to minimize is pain and calm him down, ensuring good sleep. Man, I'd also like that stuff, makes you feel al fluffy, I tell you", the doctor tried to joke but ended up being the only one laughing.

Then the tall fox took the word: "I will keep monitoring his chaos levels given his special biology. That green emerald there is required not to leave his bed. Please ensure that, Doc."

"Noted, Dr. Foxington." All three experts left the room. Soon, Sonics medication was provided and the blue hedgehog calmed down recognizably in his slumber. The chaos emerald laid right beside his chest under the comforter and every thinkable device to monitor his condition had been assembled. Amy and Tails were feeling a little more relaxed because of that. As it got late, they left the hospital saying their goodbyes for the night to a now peacefully snoring Sonic.

At the hospitals entrance they met Shadow who just came.

"Oh hello Shadow", Amy waved.

"Greetings", Shadow mumbled and went right by without making eye contact.

"Err…what's wrong with him", Amy protested.

"It's just Shadow, Amy."

"Yeah, I guess…"

A few hours later Sonic opened one, then both eyes. Everything seemed foggy and dizzy and it took some time for him to realize where he was.

Ah yeah, hospital. Seems like I'm still alive.

Sonic still felt sick. He was coughing. But at the same time, he felt so fluffy and light. Well, at least a change of pace from burning pain and freezing numbness, I guess.

Shadow stood in the doorframe arms folded in front of his chest. Sonic was still looking around realizing all kinds of monitors and medical devices around him and an actual chaos emerald by his side. On his bedside table there were get well soon cards from Tails and Amy too and a few snacks. "Who assembled all this…" he thought aloud in a very weak voice.

Shadow took a step forward into Sonics sight. "I did."

Sonic looked towards the door, his eyes wide open.

Before Sonic could say a thing, the ebony hedgehog turned around again and walked out of Sonics room pausing and leaning at the door frame once more. "You're welcome, Sonic. G.U.N. pays by the way."

With that Shadow walked outside, leaving the flustered and still dazed blue hedgehog alone. Shadow couldn't deny that this actually triggered some warming feelings in him. Get well soon, Sonic.

"T-thanks Shadow", Sonic mumbled to no one, a minimal tint of red forming on his muzzle.

Soon, the head doctor barged into the room. "Oh Mr. Hedgehog, you are awake, how are you feeling?"

"Sick and weak but… better, I guess?", Sonic mumbled.

"I am the head doctor in this hospital. Some specialists were hired by Mr. Shadow the Hedgehog for your situation. They informed me about your condition. You are currently under medication to keep your vitals stable", the doctor began to explain. "I think you should speak to them if you feel that way, Sir."

"Ugh…yeah sure", Sonic agreed feeling his head spinning.

Soon after a tall fox came into the room. After Sonic has managed to become somewhat awake, he was actually able to follow what the lab coat wearing people were telling him. The fox explained his findings about cyber corruption and it's effect to Sonic.

"B-but all that cyber corruption and energy was supposed to be gone after I went all out with it to fight The End", Sonic wondered.

"Oh, it is. You have no traces of cyber radiation left within you. But scans show that your chaos levels are all over the place. Causing a bipolar state of it which caused damage to your nervous system and mental health. We found proof that both energies are very reactive with each other. After what Miss Rose told us, you were able to control both energies to add their power up. However, that might have offset your chaos energy in the process. It's a theory, but possibly, after the controlled interference your chaos energy never fully came back to its normal state and is still vibrating enhanced or suppressed respectively. Could be caused by a tiny offset when you amplified the energies. Or just some sort of bad coincidence. That condition would most likely worsen and accelerate with time by putting stress on your body which then is struggling more and more to regulate it."

"O-Okay, I'm not the biggest science guy, doc. But I think I somewhat understand, I guess?"

Sonic looked down. "So, ehhhm…i-is there a cure?", Sonic asked barely louder than a whisper. "I felt the desperate need for a chaos emerald before dozing off the last time."

The doctor scratched his chin: "That could help since the emeralds oscillate with perfect chaos energy frequency. They are the metronome so to say…Other than that, don't worry too much. Your medication will take most physical stress from your body helping it to find its balance. Plus, Shadow told us about some chaos healing technique. You will be alright Mr. Hedgehog."

Sonic felt totally dazed now. "T-Thanks doctor…? I f-feel very very weak though…M-May you call Shadow in? I'd like to have a talk with him in private. You know, before I am off to sweet hedgie dreams again from whatever they pump through me."

"As you wish, Mr. Hedgehog."

Shadow was typing something on his communicator while sitting outside of Sonics room. He came back here towards the evening since Tails told him that Sonic wanted to talk to him. At these hours the chance of no interruption would be largest.

"Ah Mr. Shadow", the doctor-fox stated. "The patient wishes to converse with you, Sir."

"Okay, thanks". Shadow let himself in.

Sonic looked sleepy.

"So, Sonic. You wanted to talk? Here I am. Don't make it too long please", Shadow muttered with a tiny hidden smile.

Sonic chuckled a bit looking down and ears drooping.

"Heh, t-thanks that you are here, Shadow."

"Don't mention it. You know, to be honest…the world needs a hero like you. I've come to admit that."

Sonic looked at him a little flustered than rolled his eyes with some humor to it. "W-Wow, Shadow the Hedgehog calling me a hero? How long was I out?", Sonic joked with a weak grin.

"Don't let it get to your head."

"Hah, yeah, right."

Sonic became silent and thoughtful again.

"T-thing is Shadow…", he sighed. "This whole last, well, months… to be completely honest…they made me think. What happens if something happens to me? If I cannot help my friends? Heck, what if I'm not there anymore at all? Tails is almost grown up by now…." Sonic flinched from the fever. "B-but if anything happens to me or if I will not make it through this…"

"You will make it through this, Sonic. The world needs you."

Shadow gulped forcing the words on his mind out: "Heck, with has been going on recently again, even I think I need you sometimes", the ebony hedgehog muttered looking away bashfully.

Sonics eyes widened and he sat up a little shocked. He couldn't suppress a little smile his face heating up even more than just from the fever.

"W-Wow S-Shadow, I-I…I'm touched a little. Never thought you would think that way. Or could find such words."

"I'm no monster Sonic. And you being less annoying most of the time, makes you less… repulsive. But that's it with the compliments for today."

"Hah, yeah right."

Then Sonic sighed again letting his ears hanging low.

"But back to topic. After all, I'm just mortal. Like anybody else…well except you to some extent, I suppose, heh. Lately, I have also realized that I have been ignoring my own issues by always running recklessly into everything head on. Turned there are quite a few growing with me… Argh what I am saying…"

Sonic looked down slightly flinching again. "S-Shadow, to be honest I might have been a cocky jerk over the years. But I could never deny, I had lots of respect for you. And I felt scared. About what happens if… I always ran away from these thoughts. I just came to realize it…"

Sonic moaned a little in pain, the fever making him dizzy. "Just in case I can't be there anymore… can you promise me something?"

Shadow had sat down besides Sonics bed trying to process what the blue hedgehog just said.

"…What may I promise to you, Sonic?", the ebony asked his voice colder than he wanted it to sound.

Sonic looked into Shadows eyes, dull, weak emerald eyes meeting Shadows rubies. "W-Will you care and look after them, if I can't anymore? Especially Tails? I know he is almost grown up now but argh, I don't know… It's just…currently I'm not the hero, they need. I don't know if I can be ever again. But you can be, Shadow."

Shadow was filled with a mix of emotion. In a way he had not experienced yet. On one hand he felt full of pride that his biggest rival out of all people saw him the way he just described.

On the other hand, there were feelings of responsibility, determination but also some sort of affection?

Plus, it actually hurt him seeing his faker in the state he was. Shadow knew, he opened up somewhat over the past years. He did not really know how to handle this situation, though.

Just do what you feel is right.

Shadow stood up from the chair besides the bed. He reached his right hand out to Sonic who looked at it a little confused. After some moments Sonic got the hint and grabbed onto Shadows hand.

Shadow closed his eyes, a proud smile forming on his muzzle. "I promise, Sonic. But…" Sonic froze. "That'll have to wait because I also promise that you'll be back. Big time."

Sonic looked at him astounded. Even a little teardrop formed in his right eye, thankfully on the side Shadow couldn't see as he quickly averted his eyes a little bashful. A very comfortable energizing feeling suddenly washed over him for a second. "T-Thanks Shadow."

The ebony hedgehog only nodded, letting go of Sonics hand. This will help you, Sonic.

"Goodnight Faker."

"N-night Faker…", the still weak hedgehog mumbled with a weak but heartwarming smile before falling asleep feeling better than in months.