Night had fallen, and I remained on the roof of the house. Shows that Sonic either hadn't had the chance to talk to his human companions, or they refused to let me in the house. But if they refused to have me in the house, they would most likely have demanded that I left the premises as well. So, most likely the blue hedgehog was preoccupied.

Luckily, the robot forces had not followed us. The area remained quiet. I kept an eye out, my senses focusing on every movement, and sound that happened to make sure that no threat was present. One sound I hadn't expected though was a notification. I jumped at the buzz and the ping of my phone.

Pulling it out, I check what caused the commotion. A message from Esme. The stress in my chest lessened a bit.

It read, 'You, okay? I saw you made it to your friends.'

I rolled my eyes and typed my response. 'I wouldn't really call them friends, but we are safe. They are recovering in a safe place.'

'Good.' She quickly wrote. 'And why wouldn't they be friends?'

I let out a breath. 'Because the last time we met I was trying to destroy the earth with their arch nemesis.'

'But, you did also safe the world with them when it came time.'

'Some people aren't as forgiving as you.'

'It looked like the blue one forgave you.'

She had a point. Sonic seemed to let go of his anger towards me and what had happened and was willing to welcome me with open arms. But I also understood why the rest of them were apprehensive in letting me in. It was a tough situation. And forgiveness took time to earn. A couple good deeds don't erase a novel of bad ones.

Esme pulled me from my thoughts with another message. 'Are you outside?'

'Yes.' I responded as I looked up at the sky.

'Can you find Polaris for me?' She asked.

It was easy to find. 'I see it.'

'Good,' though I couldn't hear her voice, the message was warm. 'Then we are looking at the same star. Now we know, that no matter how far apart we are, we can still see the stars together under the same sky.'

A small smile came to the corner of my mouth.

'That is unless you go to the southern hemisphere, they can't see Polaris, they have the southern cross.' She added.

A breath of amusement escaped my chest. But it was cut short when I caught a shadow pass by. My phone was put away immediately, and I stood up. Looking around for the shadow, I remained silent. Soon enough, I found it. It found an entrance to the attic of the house. A glare came to my brow and I teleported in.

The rest of the household was still in the lower regions of the building. So, I didn't have to worry about them finding out about me, yet. I hid and watched the shadow move. It didn't have the same silhouette as the robots, but it wasn't a human shape either. Whatever it was, it was the same size as me and the others.

It wasn't being destructive, rather looking for something. It moved around silently. Carefully lifting and shifting items before putting them back where they were so no one knew they were there. They were distracted, so I took the opportunity to strike.

I teleported right behind them and grabbed the back of their clothes. "You look like you would fit right in with the rest of us. But the thing is, you're not part of the group."

I used my free hand and pulled off the mask they wore. A flash of white entered my field of vision as the light seeping into the attic revealed who was in front of me. Angered eyes of someone like the rest of the aliens that have recently come to this planet. Large ears, but no quills. She wasn't a hedgehog.

Letting out a frustrated growl, she quickly spun around and kicked my grasp away from her. A pair of wings unfurled from her back. She was a bat. I took a fighting stance and she kept herself in the space of the air the attic allowed.

"Listen, small, dark and broody." She spat in a hushed voice. "I'm not here to cause any harm. I'm just looking for something. If you leave me be, I'll take what I am looking for and be on my way. It will be our little secret."

So, she didn't want to fight? Fine, but it didn't mean I was going to let her take anything either. I crossed my arms and glared at her. "You're not taking anything. Either you leave empty handed, or you leave with bruises."

A smirk came to her painted lips. "Well then, you're just going to have to catch me. I found what I was looking for."

She lifted up a folded paper. I didn't know what it was, but I didn't trust it to not cause trouble later. She dashed out her opening and I followed suit. She was fast, being in the air, but I was faster. She gave a good chase, twisting and turning abruptly. It was a change in what I was used to. It took some skill to keep up with her. Finally, I got in front and tackled her to the ground. The impact was hard enough that she fell unconscious.

Grabbing the paper from her pocket, I unfolded it. It as simply a drawing. A drawing of the gems that Sonic and I used to destroy the Ark and save the earth. She was looking for these? Why? I looked back down at the bat. I couldn't leave her like this, and I couldn't just let her go either. We needed answers. Lifting her limp body, I made my way back to the safe haven.

Back in the attic, I found something to place her on and restrained her to the best of my ability with what was around. I had to get Sonic's attention. Teleporting back outside, I made my way around the house until I got to a good position for him to see me. Once he looked my way, I pointed up, signaling that we needed to talk. Made a quick excuse to the humans, and he and his two friends ran up to the attic. I met them up there.

"Shadow," Sonic started, "What's going on?"

He froze when he saw the bat.

"What happened?" Tails quickly asked as he ran over to look at her.

"She was breaking and entering." I explained. "Looking for these."

I handed over the paper, and the three looked over the drawing. Furrowed brows looked at me in confusion.

"I wasn't able to get any answers from her." I added. "She took me on a chase. When I grounded her, the impact was hard enough to knock her out. Though, that wasn't what I was trying to do. She's a skilled flyer."

Tails quickly looked over the bat again. "I don't think she has any serious injury. Just a bump on the head. She'll probably wake up soon."

As if it was queued. A groan came from her throat. Her eyes fluttered open and she began to look around. Letting out a gasp she tried to move, but found herself bound. She looked at us and glared.

"I demand that you release me at once." She growled.

"Sure," Sonic took charge. "As soon as you tell me why you were after these?"

He showed her the drawing and her face fell a bit. But she had a quick answer. "Oh please, I'm a jewel thief. I find a shiny jewel and take it. And the Chaos Emeralds are the shiniest jewels in the universe."

"Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic looked to Knuckles.

He gave him a look as if it was old information to him. "These are part of the Master Emerald. You have used them several times now."

She let out a laugh. "Where do you think the Master Emerald get's it's power? Together those Emeralds are the most powerful thing in the universe. Separate, they can give anyone a boost."

"Yeah," Sonic interrupted. "We know."

She continued. "But tell me where it is, and I'll happily take the Master Emerald for you."

"I will not allow that." Knuckles interjected. "The Master Emerald is my responsibility. I am charged with guarding it with my life."

She looked him up and down. "Oh, that won't be a problem, big red."

"Stop." Sonic jumped in. "Look, batgirl, you're not getting any of the Emeralds. So, you better just give up. Because it's four against 1. And Shadow was pulling his punches."

She pressed her lips together in a glare. She looked down at the ground, and a portion of her stealth suit fell away from her neck. A simple jewel thief, huh? Then why did she have a G.U.N. pin on the collar of her neck?

"I don't think we are getting the full story." I stated and walked over to her. Grabbing the pin, I showed it to the rest of the group. "She's a G.U.N. Agent." I looked back to her. "So, where is Director Rockwell then?"