"Alright, lil' buddy! I'm not entirely sure what half of the words you just said mean, but if you think it'll work..." Sonic said, as he, Tails, Knuckles, and their special guest loaded up onto the Tornado.

"I'll admit, my data is a bit wonky on the Phantom Ruby, but I know what I saw before you guys pulled me through! We HAVE to try!"

Knuckles gave a final look at the Master Emerald before they took off. He was leaving in an attempt to loosen the grip of the energies that currently surrounded it, but he never felt fully right just leaving it unguarded like this. "Be back soon, old friend." He whispered.

"Hey, something's coming over the radio!" Tails said, adjusting the volume.

"ALL-POINTS ALERT! Infinite has breached Restoration HQ! Return to base as soon as possible!"

Sonic and Knuckles gave each other a concerned look, before looking back at Tails. "Put the pedal to the metal, buddy!"

By the time they finally reached HQ, Infinite was long gone, having left a trail of destruction in his wake. Tails and Knuckles spread out to help deal with the damage, while Sonic sat with Amy as she got bandaged up. "So...He got them all?"

"Yeah, thanks to Shadow! He COULD be in here helping clean up his own mess, but instead, he's outside brooding!" Amy said, bitterly. "I mean, I know he didn't MEAN to hurt everyone, but-"

"Yeah, I get it. Just don't bust your stitches over it." Sonic replied. Amy peeked past him at the one who had come out of the portal. "Hey, is that-?"

"Uh, yeah. Was kind of a shocker for US, too." Sonic said with a shrug, before calling them over. "Hey, mind sitting with Amy for a second? I need to go check on something."

The guest nodded, sitting down next to the pink hedgehog and kicking their feet back and forth in the air. "So...You still chasing him around all the time?"

Sonic ascended to the top of Restoration HQ through the use of the somehow still-functional elevator, eventually seeing Shadow sulking in front of Silver's beloved garden. "Thought I'd find you here!"

Shadow said nothing, as Sonic suspected he would do. Merely stood there with his arms crossed, looking out to the horizon as the sun had just begun to set.

"So, listen, I know you must be pretty upset at what just happened..."

"I was used." Shadow said, the rage barely contained in his tone. "No one USES me!"

Sonic shrugged. "Well, uh..."

"This will NOT go unpunished!"

"I agree!" Sonic exclaimed. "But you know, you only got caught because you went at it alone...Again."

Shadow glared at the blue hedgehog, wordlessly admitting that he was right, to Shadow's irritation. "And I suppose you have a better plan than our last attempt? I would prefer to LEARN from my mistakes this time."

Sonic just winked in response. "It's comin' together!"