Smoke singed Wesley's face as he hobbled blindly in the dark. Wet blood slipped out of the horizontal cut traced above his eyebrows. Frantic voices whispered all around him. After the hours of prolonged bombings, noise sounded distorted, oscillating from painfully loud to indistinguishably minute. The air tasted like salt and a wound in his inner thigh burned with every step.

"Mom?" He pleaded to the darkness. Wesley was no longer certain whether his eyes were open or not. The blackness around him was so complete he felt enveloped by nightmare. His foot struck a stone and he winced. Wesley felt someone's hot breath beside him. He wanted to reach out to them, to hold this stranger in the dark and cling to them for comfort, but he resisted the temptation. "Mom?"

"Shhhh!" The stranger hissed.

"What's going on?"

"Is it over?"

Disembodied pleadings echoed out of the darkness. Wesley limped towards the voices. "Mom?" He was trying to shout but the pressure in his chest kept his voice at a whisper. His cheeks were wet but not from tears.

During the initial panic and surge into the subways, Wesley's mother had hoisted him onto her shoulders to speed their descent. She had been so busy fighting the crowd she had not noticed the low level bar. It smacked Wesley in the forehead, cutting him right above the eyes, dripping red fluid and discoloring his blue iris.

What happened next was all a blur. His mother cradled him despite his size and age. She was small and frail but, in the moment of panic, had seemed to gain extraordinary strength. Wesley had clung to his mother as his vision blurred and chaos reigned all around him. He tried to piece together everything that had happened that day but the sequences were difficult to set in order.

The sirens had interrupted their lunch. His mother had stood up with a concerned but slightly annoyed expression on her face. She checked the window of their apartment and did not notice anything out of place. Wesley covered his ears to block out the sound. He had heard the sirens twice before. Once as a test when they were first set up and a second time during a bad storm. Even a cursory glance at the window told him that today was a perfectly sunny and pleasant day. Wesley was content to chalk the sirens up as a test when he heard glass shatter. His mother had dropped her cup and gaped open mouthed at something in the sky.

Wesley raced over and felt his heart skip a beat. It appeared like one of the great battleships Wesley had seen on the history channel. Only this one was five times larger and was floating in the sky. The ship was joined by dozens of huge planes. Wesley didn't even get a chance to guess what he was seeing. His mother took him by the hand and a minute later they had fled the apartment.

The stairwell was filled with people and the sight of their confusion and panic flooded Wesley with fear. What was going on? It seemed like it took forever to make it down the stairs and by the time they did and had left the building they heard the first blast. The sound brought Wesley to the ground and his mother had to quickly scoop him up.

She squeezed his hand and the two of them raced down a city block. Hundreds of other people were doing the same. Smoke rose from the top of a distant building. Wesley covered his ears as he saw the great battleship fire indiscriminately down at several other skyscrapers. Wesley screamed and wept as they ran. He had just turned ten the month before and he remembered how old and distinguished he had felt. All that bravado washed away as he clutched his mother's hand and ran in a panic.

The hoards of people all congealed at a set of stairs leading into the subway. After running it was physically painful to stop and wait for the line to move. Explosions kept sounding from all around them. Wesley tried not to look but his eyes were drawn to the flames and disaster.

The main battleship had reached the center of the city. It faced the largest set of buildings that marked the center of downtown. Everyone around him shuffled and groaned in a collective preparation for trauma. Wesley's mother tried to cover his face but it was no use. The ship readied a central cannon. But it never fired. Something blue flashed in the sky. Suddenly all of the smaller planes sprang into action and started to pursue something that was too small to see.

Everyone seemed to realize that this was their chance. The back of the line pushed at the front and slowly but surely they started to descend down the stairs. Just before he was picked up and taken underground, Wesley looked back up. He saw streaks of black as a new armada of ships entered the airspace above the city. On their hulls he could just make out the purple and white GUN ingsina. They were saved.

Hours later, and all that hopeful optimism was gone. In the subways they had heard the sounds of the battle being waged above them. At first they had even had playing the news. Wesley could not hear what was being said but he could see the footage of the epic battle being waged.

His mother tended to his forehead and Wesley wondered how long they would be forced to stay underground. That was when the lights had cut off. A boom issued from somewhere nearby and all the power shut off. There was a brief minute of calm that was punctured by a scream and then all out chaos. People started running in every direction and Wesley was separated from his mother. That had been almost an hour ago. There had been no more explosions but he was now lost in the darkness.

Exhaustion forced him to the ground. He knew his mother had to be nearby but fumbling in the dark was pointless. Wesley tried to rub out the cramps in his legs and keep himself calm. He was safe. His mother was safe as well. Just because he couldn't see her, didn't mean she was gone.

"Gabe! Come over here. There's a light, they've found a way out." Someone shouted in the darkness and dozens of people moved in response. Wesley pushed himself up and allowed the mass of bodies to carry him along like the waves of the sea, praying they were leading him towards shore.

Eventually, Wesley saw a faint light up ahead. A section of the subway was still powered on and the lobby was quickly swelling with people. Officers in blue suits were motioning to the collapsed stairs that led to the surface. There was no way for him to locate his mother in all the chaos, he could only hope that she was there.

A young officer with a plain, friendly face caught the attention of the crowd with a megaphone. "We received word from upstairs that it is safe to come out. GUN has destroyed all the terrorist planes. The stairs are blocked in but construction crews are on their way." A palpable sigh of relief transferred from person to person. Despite his fear for his mother, even Wesley felt reassured. GUN did it.

Wesley had an entire set of GUN army action figures waiting for him back in his room. The planes, choppers and drones that entertained him for hours and hours had saved his life. Perhaps there would be a special on T.V. about the battle. His mother wouldn't want him to watch it but he knew he could convince her, he had always managed to do so in the past.

The young officer got everyone's attention a second time. "GUN has set up relief stations all around the city. When we get out, report to one if you need medical attention. For now, everybody just stay calm and we will all be-"

A soundless wave struck Wesley and everyone else in the lobby with such intensity Wesley lost all sense of himself. A piercing white light filled the expanse of darkness. The clogged stairwell burst. Hot air billowing like a jet's propulsion blew into Wesley's face. The subway lobby was gone. A crater had opened right within the street.

For a moment, Wesley was preserved perfectly within a living storm. Lighting smote the earth rapidly in the same places, air dissolved and vaporized. The earth melted into the sky and the sky solidified into earth.

He was exposed and he knew with calm certainty that another burst was coming. A sudden thought bubbled to the surface of his conscience. Wesley wanted to die brave, he wanted to die on his feet. Whatever happened in the end didn't matter. The most important thing in the world was that his last moment was not one of despair.

Movement wasn't possible but what mattered was the state of his heart. He would not be afraid. He would stare unblinkingly at the danger and not blink. It was coming. He could feel the pressure build in the air. Wesley focused his mind on his toys. He thought of all his favorite movies and all the great heroes he loved so much. All of them had left a deep impression on him, each of them combining to serve as the father he never had. One stood triumphant over the rest. The boldest and bravest hero of them all.

Sonic stood before him. His quills flapped in the heavy winds. He stood defiant in the face of the storm. Wesley's heart lifted. Even as Sonic blurred out of sight and Wesley's body started to burn away, he never felt the pain. With his eyes on his hero, his mind was clear and he faced the end with courage.

Chapter 29

Sonic's eyes drifted open. A starry night whirled overhead accented with a shimmering green light that shone in his face. Sonic blinked and tried to sit up. The attempt ignited viscous cramps all over his body. He groaned and his voice woke Tails who was propped up at Sonic's side.

"Sonic!" The fox flung his arms around Sonic's neck and pulled him into a hug. Sonic felt Tails shudder as he started to cry.

"Let him breathe." Knuckles pulled him away and Sonic watched as Tails wiped his face clean only to have fresh tears replace the old ones.

"I…I thought…" Whatever he thought was too terrible to say. Tails covered his face with one of his tails and hid.

Sonic shook his head and tried to clear away all the fog. His body was completely spent. He noticed that his friends had laid him out right beside the Master Emerald. The light of the gem sparkled on Sonic's skin and kept him warm. His head throbbed and recent events kept playing out of sequence in his mind. Again and again he saw the white light. Everything that happened after was a complete blur.

"What you did had to be either the bravest or the dumbest thing I've ever seen," Knuckles commenced dryly.

Tails revealed his face and hiccuped. "You did it, Sonic. You held the blast back. GUN was able to evacuate-"

"I was too late," Sonic snapped. He made a fist and even that effort made him wince. His gloves were burned and his fingertips were blackened.

"No," Tails insisted, shaking his head. "Sonic you-" More tears made it difficult for Tails to finish his sentence. "Aurora lied. She made it seem like you had ten seconds but she detonated at four…Sonic.." Tails could not contain himself. He shook like a withered leaf and wept into his hands.

Sonic sighed. Because of all their adventures, he sometimes forgot that Tails was just a kid. Knuckles walked over and put a reassuring hand on the fox's shoulder. "You did all you could Sonic. That blast could have had a radius of a hundred miles. You saved millions of lives. They said so on the news."

"And how many did I fail?"

"It wasn't you…" Tails managed through a sob. "It's…it's my fault Sonic. I thought…I thought I had kicked Aurora out of that base. She must have left a fail safe protocol for detonation..I didn't look for one…I didn't think-"

"Didn't think that you were dealing with a psychopath?" Knuckles finished. "None of this is either of your fault. You didn't think of it, Tails because you aren't twisted and evil." Knuckles effortlessly lifted Tails to his feet. "I don't want to hear you suggesting anything like that again."

Tails rocked back and forth, shivering violently. He continued to sob. "Cream's village….it was….it would have been in the blast radius…"

Sonic didn't know what to say. Blaming nobody felt too empty and Sonic was desperate to feel something other than grief. He stared down at his feet and could not help but think that they had failed him for the first time. The soles of his signature red shoes were burned and he would need to replace them.

"Because of you Tails, there were only one of these explosions instead of three. And Sonic, you nearly ran yourself to death containing the other one. You can't win every battle in a war, sometimes there are casualties." Knuckle's words drifted through Sonic's head without any meaning.

It was easy enough to say it wasn't his fault, but Knuckles hadn't been there. Even if Aurora had detonated early, Sonic could have still reached the battery in time if he had run faster. For once in his life he had doubted and that doubt had made him slow, and that delay had extracted a heavy toll.

Flash! A purple light exploded at the base of the Master Emerald shrine and Shadow stepped out of the void. He walked up the steps and addressed Sonic without looking at him. "So you survived? I thought the effort would have killed you."

When nobody answered him, Shadow looked around and noted their grief. "Don't tell me you guys are doing something as stupid as blaming yourselves?"

"Something like that," Knuckles acknowledged.

Shadow shook his head. "Aurora made a move that had no tactical advantage. There is no way we could have prepared for it."

"What happened back at the base?" Sonic asked, risking the effort to push himself onto one knee. He wasn't in the mood to have Shadow talk down to him.

Shadow held out the Chaos Emerald. "I was able to prevent the other two batteries from detonating. After that there was nothing more I could do." Shadow turned to Sonic and Sonic had the feeling Shadow was making an effort to mask his expression. "Metal and the others are worried. They fear Aurora's actions will make them targets of GUN. The humans cannot let an atrocity like that stand without payment."

"But Metal had nothing to do with Aurora!" Tails insisted.

Shadow scoffed. "As if humans care. Do you honestly think they will stop to distinguish Mech from Cyber? There will be another war, but this time, Metal can fight it on his own." He turned to face Tails. "Do you have that data on professor Gerald?"

Tails reached into his belt and retrieved a flash drive. "It should all be in here."

Shadow accepted it and turned aside. "Things are sure to get interesting around here. Are you still planning on leaving, Sonic? Will you continue to hunt down the Eggman when your world bleeds?"

Sonic did not answer. He kept his head down. Shadow shrugged and prepared to warp away when Tails interrupted him. The fox wiped away his tears and stiffened his chin. "Shadow what did you mean by your last question? When we were with Aurora, you wanted to know if there was anything on her database about someone called the Realm Lord?"

After a long pause, Shadow answered. "Perhaps he is no one. Or perhaps…he is the one." Shadow gazed into the depths of the Chaos Emerald but did not elaborate. A second later, he disappeared.

"What was that all about?" Tails mused.

"Just Shadow being cryptic and creepy as usual," Knuckles said dismissively. "Although…I think I've heard that name before."

"You have?" Sonic was surprised to find that he was curious. After everything that had happened he wasn't sure he would feel anything any time soon.

Knuckles thought for a minute and then stomped his foot. "That's it! It was when I sent Eggman away. While Aurora was searching for a destination she bugged out and then I heard this weird voice say something about the Realm Lord. It didn't come up again so I didn't think much of it at the time."

Sonic stood up and attempted to brush aside all the ash and grime that had caught up in his fur. He knew he should be interested in this Realm Lord, but for the moment his attention was redirected towards Eggman. It bothered him that he could not let his nemesis go. Just picturing that Eggman was off somewhere, uncontested and free to hatch his evil plots, filled Sonic with dread.

He turned and noticed Tails was staring at him. The fox had a knowing look in his eye. "Sonic…you aren't still planning on going after Eggman are you?"

Sonic clenched his teeth and turned away. "I…"

Tails ran over to him and grabbed his hand. "Look at what's happened! We have enough to worry about without adding Eggman to the list. Shadow is right. There is sure to be severe fallout from this attack. If Metal and GUN go to war, how many people will be caught in the crossfire? We have to-"

"I've made up my mind," Sonic said sternly. His sharp tone cowed Tails. Doubt had slowed him down once, he wouldn't let that happen again.

"Ordinarily I wouldn't care," Knuckles added. "But Tails is right. The world needs you here and it definitely doesn't need Eggman to come back. Metal may be your friend now but in a war against GUN who knows what he may do?"

"And you both think Eggman is just lounging on a beach somewhere? I know he's up to something." His insistence did nothing to convince his friends. Tails and Knuckles shared concerned glances. Tails shuffled his feet and looked slightly afraid to challenge Sonic.

"Sonic…I know what you're thinking. Maybe you're right and Eggman is up to something. But he isn't here, and his plans don't concern earth. This is our world, shouldn't we be protecting it?"

Sonic could not bear to look Tails in the eye. Why didn't he understand? Knuckles was one thing, but Sonic had always counted on Tails to support him. "Listen, I've rarely asked the two of you for anything. But I'm asking you for this."

Knuckles looked as if he was about to continue arguing but Tails held him back. The fox sighed. "Okay. I have the coordinates and transporter schematics back at my workshop. It will take me a couple of days to figure out how to retrofit the design to accept the Master Emerald as its power base."

Sonic turned to his friend and saw the solemn and grieving expression on the fox's face. Tails bid them farewell and flew off into the night. "What are you doing?" Knuckles folded his arms and set his steely gaze on Sonic. "You slip up one time and now you want to leave?"

"That's not it!" Exhaustion made it difficult to think and impossible for him to put his reasons into words. All Sonic had was a feeling. In the past that was always enough. He had always let his heart guide his ship and he wasn't about to change captains now. "Eggman left because of me. Wherever he is now, whatever he's doing, I'm responsible."

"So am I. I powered his way out of here but you don't see me begging to go after him." Knuckles countered.

"But you're not me." Sonic took a deep breath and exhaled. He shuffled closer to the Master Emerald. Standing right beside it was the only remedy to his cold and fatigue. "I've never done anything out of a feeling of obligation or responsibility. All the times I've fought I never focused on what was at stake, only the challenge ahead of me, the voice inside me. But now…now I'm not certain." The admission was not easy to make. Especially since Sonic had always prided himself on his surety.

Sonic gazed at his reflection in the Master Emerald. Whatcha see is whatcha get, just a guy that loves adventure. Was that still true? Could it remain true when the pursuit of adventure risked so much? And what if he stayed? Would he still be himself, or would the contradictions eat away at his will and leave him doubtful and slow, suppressing his ability to even be the protector so many saw him as.

"What would you do?" Sonic asked. "If protecting the Master Emerald meant forsaking who you are, and if remaining true to yourself meant losing the emerald?"

Knuckles did not answer quickly. He walked over to Sonic and put an arm over his shoulder. "That is a paradox of life, I suppose. I don't know what I would do, but if anyone has earned the right to find out. It's you."

AN: Next chapter will be out 4/30