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Chapter Text

The sound of an engine roared across the remnants of the Eggman Empire HQ, the feint image of a blue blur zipping past piles of scrap towards the center of the wreckage. A few critters could be seen perking their heads up, investigating the noise only to be met with the ferocity of oncoming wind as Metal Sonic zoomed past. The feint crackling of a radio could be heard in its ear.

"I see you've arrived at your destination, and it appears that troubling rodent is nowhere in sight. Take the time to scour the wreckage and pick up anything remotely valuable."

It was Dr. Eggman, who was observing Metal Sonic through the first person on a large monitor. He was accompanied by his "apprentice", Dr. Starline.

"If I may ask, Doctor...why do you find it necessary to return to the old base? As far as I'm concerned, we have more than enough parts to rebuild the Empire from here." Starline questioned Eggman.

Eggman folded his arms, rubbing his forehead in a bit of frustration. "There's valuable research still left in the wreckage of that facility. It'd be a waste to just leave it there, especially after I had spent so much time on it."

Dr. Starline raised a brow, commenting: "If I understand correctly, all of the information should have been uploaded to the EggNet. Again, why is it so important that we return here?" He looked genuinely confused, to which Eggman frowned, batting him on the head with one of his fists. Starline winced back in pain, grabbing the top of his head and rubbing it.

"I could care less about the meaningless scribbles on those busted computers. What I'm really after are the remnants of my physical research. The Phantom Ruby prototypes were destroyed in the battle, yes, but the REAL one should be out there somewhere. I doubt that blue rodent and his companions managed to sift through all of the rubble to find it. That is why I, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, am taking it upon myself to recover such a valuable asset. Surely you of all people would understand how I operate by now, Starline." Eggman raised his fist in the air as he said the last part, like he was making a declaration of sorts. 

Starline looked at him, a tired expression plastered on his face. "I thought it out of character for you to go back on a failed plan. If I may ask...why the change of heart?" Eggman looked back up at the monitor, the image of Metal Sonic maneuvering through the rubble reflected off of his circular glasses.

"Can a man not change his mind? You think far too much of this, honestly! I am THE Doctor Ivo Robotnik, the Mad Genius of Mobius! Have a little faith in your idol, will you?" Eggman let out a hardy laugh, to which Starline gave a feint smirk.

"You never cease to surprise me, Doctor. That is the exact reason why I admire you so." 

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a feint *BEEP* coming from the monitor. Both of them looked up toward the screen to find that Metal Sonic had entered the center of the wreckage, and furthermore had begun to dig beneath the layers of scrap metal. Eggman picked up the microphone he used to communicate through the radio in Metal's ear.

"Keep digging until you reach the Inner Laboratory, then begin a full-scale search of the facility. The Phantom Ruby has to be somewhere around there. It's destruction by such simple means is impossible."

Metal continued to dig through the rubble, eventually reaching an opening within the pile. After digging himself an entrance, he landed on the floor of the Inner Laboratory, immediately activating his Eye Lights, illuminating the way forward. Similar to the surface, the facility was a complete mess, visible skid marks etched into the ground from Sonic's endeavors. This garnered an expression of visible disgust from Eggman, with Starline looking back up toward him from the monitor.

"Is there any particular reason you find interest in the Phantom Ruby once more? From what I saw regarding your previous research, you had pretty much uncovered all that there was to know on the artifact? What more could you possibly want with a toy you've already used?"

Eggman took his attention away from the monitor, looking down at the control panel below it, tapping one of his fingers. "A part of me believes that I was much too cautious with my estimates of the Phantom Ruby's capabilities. I focused more on the idea of physical constructs and failed to explore the possible biological effects the Ruby could possess."

Starline tilted his head, raising a brow. 

"Oh, please, surely even you can see the implications here! It's fueled by a person's WILLPOWER, their DETERMINATION and DRIVE to persist. All of those, whether one likes it or not, have something to do with biological processes, such as the mechanisms of certain sections of the brain. One could chalk it all up to some magical force, but I, alas, am a man of SCIENCE! I believe there is more to it than that!" The Doctor responded to Starline's look of confusion, once again raising his fist in the air. The sound of Metal Sonic navigating the facility could still be heard in the background, his footsteps echoing throughout the room.

"In any case...it's a theory I would like to test. If I can't find anything else out of the damned thing, I'll just throw it away after I'm done."

As the Doctor said this, another *BEEP* could be heard from the monitor. Looking back up, both Eggman and Starline saw that Metal had arrived at the containment site for the prototype Phantom Rubies. In front of him stood a large steel door, safe-guarded by numerous locks and bolts, all requiring a passcode to enter. Eggman picked up the microphone once more.

"Yes, there it is. Get in there and recover the Ruby if you can. Afterwards, begin to make your way back to base, Metal."

Metal nodded, slowly reeling his arm back and sending it forward into the steel door. His claw pierced the metal locks, gripping onto them as they were now slowly being pulled apart. After a bit of struggle, the entire door was ripped off the wall, tossed to the ground like some kind of paper weight. Starline couldn't help but widen his eyes at this display of incredible strength. After ripping the door open, Metal stepped into the room, a lone glass container located at its center. Within this container, the feint glow of red could be seen piercing through the room's built-up dust. Walking toward this light, Metal stopped dead in his tracks, face to face with the Phantom Ruby.

"It appears my predictions were correct. Those lousy rodents couldn't bother to initiate a full search of the facility. Alas, my intellect never fails me." The Doctor looked up in confidence, gripping the microphone and pulling it closer to his lips.

"Now reel it in, boy. We have quite a lot of work ahead of us." The doctor said, a toothy grin plastered along his face.

Chapter Text

Type: Video Log

Date of Publication: ???/???/???

Documentation: Phantom Ruby Trial 1: Energy Capabilities, Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik

[ALL FOOTAGE/AUDIO PRETAINS TO TOP SECRET RESEARCH AND THUS SHALL NOT BE DISTRIBUTED PUBLICALLY]

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Video Start

Someone can be heard scrambling in the background before the lens cap of the camera is removed.

Orbot: "We're live, Doctor! The documentation process has begun."

Eggman: "Ah, excellent work."

Eggman takes a moment to cough, clearing his throat before speaking.

Eggman: "This will be "Trial 1" of my experiments regarding the Phantom Ruby. Right now, I wish to understand it's power output and ability to draw energy from other living things. More specifically, we are here to explore the concept of WILLPOWER."

Eggman moves a bit, unveiling the Phantom Ruby safely stored in a containment chamber.

Eggman: "During my previous experiments before my bout with that blue rodent, I managed to harness the Ruby's power to create constructs based on the imagination of its user. In order to create these constructs, the user had to have...what's the right word...great mental fortitude, yes. The user had to have a great mental fortitude in order to activate the Ruby's powers."

Eggman moved his right hand upwards, pointing a finger to the ceiling, signifying a revelation.

Eggman: "This is the aforementioned WILLPOWER. The ability to keep calm in situations of great stress...the ability to mold one's mind under any circumstances, even those that put the user's life at risk. Anything lower than this threshold was considered useless in my prior research, for it did not produce the desired results. While the Ruby's power was able to be harnessed by anyone, the quality of said power was usually inconsistent when paired with normal subjects. That is why I had Infinite wield my final prototype...he had the necessary WILLPOWER to conquer and control the Ruby."

Eggman: "HOWEVER! In my search for greater power to conquer the blue rodent and his insufferable friends, I failed to realize the true extent of the Ruby's capabilities in the hands of the "not-so-gifted". As I was thinking about it, I realized that...perhaps there was more to this WILLPOWER than I had thought. And that REALLY got me thinking. CUBOT!"

Eggman turned toward the containment cell holding the Phantom Ruby. Cubot was by the door, escorting what looked to be a small critter, one that was used to power Eggman's Batniks. Cubot placed the critter into the cell, before shutting the door and sealing it. He gave Eggman a slight wave of the hand when the job was done, scurrying off back into the background.

Eggman: "The Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed...so how exactly was the Ruby able to produce such power out of thin air? This question kept bugging me day in and day out. Although, I think I might have finally figured out the reason behind it."

The critter could be seen inspecting its surroundings, taking notice of the Phantom Ruby fairly quickly. Its light shone bright, illuminating the entire chamber in a glow of beautiful crimson. As if drawn in by this unrelenting glow, the critter slowly moved toward the Phantom Ruby with a rather hasty demeaner. It sniffed and scratched around the area, inching ever so close toward the Ruby. Eggman could be seen watching from the outside in anticipation, holding his hand up toward the camera.

Eggman: "Orbot, keep it steady. I want this part specifically to be clearly visible."

Orbot: "As always, Boss."

The critter came closer...and closer...and closer, until it found itself face to face with the Ruby. It scratched around one final time, before putting the tip of its nose against the surface of the gem. In the blink of an eye, some kind of pink energy began to seep its way out of the ruby, surrounding the critter, as if cradling it, pulling it ever closer. The critter's eyes widened, before it began to shrink. It looked as if the creature was being drained of all its blood, bones beginning to peer through the skin which wrapped around like a thin layer of rubber, until all that was left was an empty husk. The critter had died on the spot, with the Ruby ceasing its constant glow and slowly going dark.

Eggman: "And there you have it folks! Marvelous, is it not? In the blink of an eye, the Ruby has drained this lifeform of all its energy and strength, leaving it as nothing but a corpse!"

Eggman swirled toward the camera, giving a wild gesture as if presenting something incredible for the first time.

Eggman: "This is the crucial piece of my research that I was missing! This WILLPOWER that seemed to control the Phantom Ruby...was really something keeping it at bay! The Ruby takes its energy from a host, converting it into raw power that can be constructed into nearly anything! The stronger your WILLPOWER...the more you can control what is taken...and the more you can utilize even the tiniest bits of energy!"

Eggman pushed up his circular glasses, grinning from ear to ear. Cubot could be seen in the background...visibly concerned.

Eggman: "Now all that's left for me to do is learn the limits and capabilities of this energy absorption. Maybe then...I can finally get rid of the blue thorn in my side."

Eggman then straightened up his posture.

Eggman: "Alright, now cut the feed! I must get back on this!"

Orbot jumped a bit, the camera following suit.

Orbot: "R-right away, Boss!"

Right before the camera feed cut, the critter's corpse could be seen giving off a slight twitch in the background.

Video End

Type: Audio Log

Date of Publication: ???/???/???

Documentation: Progress Report, Doctor Starline

[ALL FOOTAGE/AUDIO PRETAINS TO TOP SECRET RESEARCH AND THUS SHALL NOT BE DISTRIBUTED PUBLICALLY]

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Audio Start

The scuffling of a microphone can be heard, before someone clears their throat.

Starline: "This is Doctor Starline updating the logs regarding the Phantom Ruby Trials. As of right now, we've just completed the fifth trial involving living organisms."

Starline: "Results have been relatively the same. The subject gets curious, seems to be drawn to the Ruby out of sheer curiosity, and is then sapped of all their energy on the spot."

A loud swallow could be heard. It sounded like he was nervous about something.

Starline: "The subjects were presumed dead upon contact...and their vitals perfectly matched said analysis. However, further observations uncovered something...bizarre. Despite being confirmed dead beforehand, the corpses of the test subjects appear to have involuntary twitches and spasms. At first, we assumed it was just the nerves making muscles contract, typical of something that had just died. Although, after a while, it became more than just simple movement."

Another swallow...it almost seemed like he was panicked.

Starline: "Brain activity...there was actual brain activity after several hours of being dead. Eventually, the subjects would begin to move around more frequently...until they would be standing up like nothing had happened, still drained of everything they had. I-its...unnatural, to say the least. The Doctor and I assume it has something to do with their WILLPOWER. Not so much mental fortitude...but more the part of the brain that controls such things.

Starline:  "We don't know how...but the Ruby seems to spark something within the subject's Limbic System, seeing as that's where most of the activity comes from. They wander around aimlessly, sometimes just...banging their heads against the glass. It's nothing serious as of right now, but the development is certainly concerning."

Starline sighed.

Starline: "At least...it's concerning me. The Doctor seems completely unphased by all of this. In fact, he's considering expanding our trials to more than just common forest critters. I've tried to tell him that we should delay our progression and figure out what all of this means...but he refuses to listen to me."

Another sigh, followed by a long pause.

Starline: "Maybe I just don't see what he sees...perhaps I'm worrying far too much. He IS one of, if not the greatest scientific minds of our time. Perhaps the problem is my lack of faith."

Starline: "Well, whatever it is, all we can do is wait and observe. Until next time, Doctor Starline signing off."

Audio End

Type: Video Log

Date of Publication: ???/???/???

Documentation: Phantom Ruby Trial 10: Effects on Higher Lifeforms, Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik & Doctor Starline

[ALL FOOTAGE/AUDIO PRETAINS TO TOP SECRET RESEARCH AND THUS SHALL NOT BE DISTRIBUTED PUBLICALLY]

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Video Start

The camera shakes a bit as it is being set up, pointing toward another containment cell, much larger than the previous. This time, a random Mobian citizen can be seen within the cell, shaking out of pure terror.

Eggman: "Alright, all we ask you to do is to step a bit closer to the Ruby."

The citizen slowly turned his head toward the Phantom Ruby, his pupils shrinking. He made a visible gulp, before taking small steps toward the gem.

Citizen (Muffled): "P-please don't make me do this...I have a family to get back to."

Starline: "And they would be more than happy to know that you're contributing greatly to the field of science. Now, keep walking toward the Ruby."

Citizen (Muffled): "B-But...it's creeping me the h-hell out."

Audible anger from Eggman, who is off-screen along with Starline.

Eggman: "So what...are you going to piss yourself? Keep moving or that thing won't be the only one of your concerns!"

The citizen jumped a bit at the Doctor's tone of voice, now starting to move once more. 

Citizen (Muffled): "N-No...please...surely YOU understand."

Starline: "What was that?"

Citizen (Muffled): "But why...w-why do you have to do this?"

Eggman: "The bastards really lost it...it almost seems like he's talking to himself."

The citizen moved forward a bit more before coming to a halt, only a couple of inches away from the Ruby.

Citizen (Muffled): "I...don't want to continue! Please, just let me out of here!"

Their breathing became uneasy. They started to shake uncontrollably.

Eggman: "Oh for Gaia's sake...WHAT'S THE HOLD UP?!"

Citizen (Muffled): "Y-You can't make me! I don't want to go! I don't want to go with you! Please don't make me go!"

It almost looked as if they were convulsing. The camera shook a bit before Doctor Starline came into frame, an expression of shock plastered on his face.

Starline: "What the hell is going on in there?!"

The citizen's neck began to twitch ever so slightly, before it started to turn in one direction. It kept turning.

Eggman: "Hey, stop that...stop that right now, you damn fool!"

It continued to turn, now twisting...until eventually...

CRACK.

Video  End

Chapter Text

Type: Video Log

Date of Publication: ???/???/???

Documentation: Phantom Ruby Trial 11: Effects on Higher Lifeforms PT. 2, Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik & Doctor Starline

[ALL FOOTAGE/AUDIO PRETAINS TO TOP SECRET RESEARCH AND THUS SHALL NOT BE DISTRIBUTED PUBLICALLY]

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Video Start

The camera is turned on, as it begins to film another containment cell. This time, a fresh new face is trapped within its confines, along with the Phantom Ruby. As per usual, the Ruby can be seen emitting a bright red glow. 

Eggman: "Seeing as our last Experiment went...off script, we're doing another! Would you mind stating your name for the camera, my dear sir?"

The citizen with the cell could be seen shaking. Just like the last subject, they were scared shitless. There was no answer to Eggman's question.

Eggman: "Not the talkative type, are we? Well, keep your secrets then. It's not like you're walking out of this place anyway."

Another person could be heard behind the camera.

Starline: "Don't bother, Doctor, these people are never in the right state of mind. *AHEM*, Sir! Could you please make your way toward the gemstone right in front of you."

The citizen looked toward the Phantom Ruby, looking back at the two Doctors.

Citizen (Muffled): "I don't want to go through with this. Please...just let me go. I won't tell anyone about you, I swear. Just please...don't make me go there."

Audibles sighs from both the Doctors could be heard.

Eggman: "You are in no position to ask demands of us, rodent. Now, walk toward the gemstone, or we'll just have to shoot you on sight!"

The citizen jumped at this statement, gulping. Reluctantly, they turned to face the Ruby, slowly walking toward it. As if reacting to their movement, the Ruby began to glow just a bit brighter.

Eggman: "That's it, atta boy! Just keep walking toward it until you're in range of contact."

Behind the camera, the feint clacking of keys on a keyboard could be heard.

Starline: "Everything seems normal so far, Doctor. There are no alterations within the Ruby's energy output."

The citizen continued their approach toward the Ruby. As they got closer and closer, the Ruby grew ever so bright.

Eggman: "Is it just me, or is the damned thing getting brighter? Gah! It's starting to hurt my eyes just looking at it! Starline, what are the readings saying now?"

Starline: "It's...still normal, Doctor. Nothing has changed from my last report, and I haven't taken my eyes off the monitor for even a second."

Suddenly, the citizen stopped dead in their tracks.

Citizen (Muffled): ---

Eggman moves a bit in front of the camera, his hand somewhat covering his eyes.

Eggman: "What is it this time? You're going to have to speak up!"

Citizen (Muffled): "Do you hear that ringing?"

Starline: "Ringing?"

Citizen (Muffled): "Loud, obnoxious ringing, all throughout this room. I don't know how else to describe it."

The citizen took a step closer towards the Ruby.

Citizen (Muffled): "There...it's coming from the gemstone."

All of a sudden, a loud beeping could be heard in the background. Someone scrambled, before the clacking of a keyboard becomes apparent.

Starline: "Doctor! The energy readings, they're showing signs of change!"

The beeping continued, as Eggman ran off camera towards the back.

Eggman: "Let me see the screen!"

The citizen remained at the same position, taking at gander toward the gemstone. For a moment...it seemed as if their eyes held a bit of a glimmer.

Citizen (Muffled): "You want me to what? Why would I dare do something like that?"

The beeping in the background grew louder. The Doctors could be heard scrambling around, trying to figure out how this was happening.

Citizen (Muffled): "Closer, you say? I...I don't think I really want to."

The beeping grew louder.

Citizen (Muffled): "O-Okay, fine! Just...please, no more!"

The citizen stepped closer toward the Ruby.

The citizen grabbed the Ruby.

The citizen held the Ruby.

The beeping stopped. The Ruby's glow began to fade. The scrambling in the background had also stopped.

Eggman: "Eh? Hey! When did I say you could touch it?!"

The citizen did not respond. Eggman came back into frame, clearly angered.

Eggman: "Are you deaf, rodent?! Drop the Ruby before I come in there and do something about it!"

The citizen began to walk toward the glass of the containment cell, Ruby still in hand.

Eggman: "I'm giving you to the count of three!"

The citizen stopped.

Eggman: "One."

The citizen raised the Ruby above their head.

Eggman: "Two."

The citizen's WILLPOWER was test-

BANG.

The citizen's lifeless body dropped onto the floor, a visible bullet hole in their head.

Eggman: "Three."

Someone scrambled behind the camera, before Starline came into frame.

Starline: "I'll...get Orbot and Cubot to drag the body out."

Eggman: "Tch...so much for the trial."

Eggman turned toward the camera, fumbling around with the buttons for a second.

Video End

Type: Audio Log

Date of Publication: ???/???/???

Documentation: Progress Report, Doctor Starline

[ALL FOOTAGE/AUDIO PRETAINS TO TOP SECRET RESEARCH AND THUS SHALL NOT BE DISTRIBUTED PUBLICALLY]

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Audio Start

Someone is heard situating themselves into a chair, before the feint tapping of a foot starts up. 

Starline: "This is Doctor Starline...I believe we may have made a mistake."

The muffled sound of hands clasping together could be heard.

Starline: "Coming into these tests, I had only believed that direct contact with the Phantom Ruby was the only way for it to influence someone in any shape or form. However, as we started to perform tests on more common citizens, all of them have had similar outbursts of what can only be described as insanity."

Starline: The moment the subject takes a few steps toward the Ruby, they always start to mumble to themselves. It's incoherent most of the time, but when I am able to understand what they are saying, it almost seems like they're...talking to someone. As if they're having full-on conversations within their head, the subject starts to ramble on and on about the most bizarre topics.

Starline: Some seem to be quite happy, while others can be heard screaming, begging for mercy. 

Starline: I had thought it might be a side-effect of extreme fear, but the consistent nature of the matter quickly turned me away from that hypothesis. It was just too much of a coincidence that all of these randomly-selected people were having the same reactions to the experiment.

An audible gulp, followed by the adjusting of their seating could be heard.

Starline: I then started thinking about...another outcome. Perhaps talking to oneself wasn't a side-effect of delirium, but rather a sign that there was something else going on with the Phantom Ruby. I'm starting to believe that the damned thing could be ALIVE, at least to some extent. 

Starline: "This wouldn't be the first time something of the sort had been discovered. The Master Emerald, as far as I know, possessed similar properties. This is where the being known as Chaos originated from. However, in his case, there were no prior signs of life. The Doctor had to pry him out of the thing before he started to take his own actions. 

Starline sighed.

Starline: "But in this case...it seems WHATEVER is inside of the Ruby is already active. It's communicating with the test subjects...perhaps making them do things they wouldn't normally do.

Starline: "This theory could also explain the later 'resurrection' of each subject. I had mentioned this before when it came down to the common critters we had experimented on in the past. It seems the Ruby is also affecting higher lifeforms...and it appears that it can give them some kind of direction as well. Every single subject we've tested on so far do the same, basic actions once 'resurrected'. They wander around their cells, occasionally banging their heads on the glass. I don't know why that is, however."

Starline: Either way, I'll try to keep the situation updated as much as I can. Until the next time, Doctor Starline signing off.

Feint scuffling could be heard, before a *CLICK*.

Audio End

Audio End

Type: Video Log

Date of Publication: ???/???/???

Documentation: Phantom Ruby Trial ???: Common Side Effects

[ALL FOOTAGE/AUDIO PRETAINS TO TOP SECRET RESEARCH AND THUS SHALL NOT BE DISTRIBUTED PUBLICALLY]

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Video Start

The camera was facing one of the containment cells which held an "Experiment". They had several cuts and bruises across their body, along with several inflamed areas. The "Experiment", by this point, had been long dead, although it was standing upright, constantly tapping its head against the glass. The eyes were devoid of all color, slightly rolled back into the socket.

Other similar scenarios could be heard in the background. It seemed that this was the room where all of the Experiments were kept.

Someone could be heard moving behind the camera, adjusting it slightly to give a shot of the entire room. There were numerous containment cells, all holding different Experiments performing the same tedious actions over and over again. As if rehearsed prior, every single Experiment was tapping their head against the glass at the same time.

The sound rang across the room, booming every few seconds as new taps had occurred. Not one of the Experiments missed a beat.

The camera came closer to one of the cells, zooming in on an Experiment's face. They looked skinny, deprived of muscle mass and stripped down to the look of a deflated balloon. Their mouth was gaping open, as it appeared that almost all of their teeth were rotting away. They shook loosely after every bang on the glass. 

The camera panned down to their hands. The nails, surprisingly, were kept intact and had even grown a staggering amount. They were naturally sharp.

The camera panned down to their feet. Once again, the nails were intact, long and sharp. Their toes were twisted in all sorts of directions. 

Then, all of a sudden, the banging within the room had stopped. The camera reacting by suddenly lifting upwards toward the face of the Experiment it was examining.

Its mouth began to open wider, the jaw stretching far past its normal limits.

All of a sudden...it began to scream.

They ALL began to scream.

The room was filled with a deafening sound.

The sound of agony.

The sound of sorrow.

The sound of WILLPOWER.

The camera, or rather the person behind the camera, ran straight out of the room, the door shutting behind them. The screams of the Experiments could still be heard echoing into the facility.

Video End

Chapter Text

Chapter 4 is probably going to come out today or tomorrow, but I wanted to see if anyone had any questions regarding the story so far. If so, you can leave them in the comments, and I'll reply. I want to make sure the lore is as clear and concise as possible going forward. However, I'm not going to give away spoilers.

Chapter Text

Standing in front of an array of different screens, Eggman ponders the footage laid out before him. The "Experiments" had shown no change in quite some time, repeating the same simple actions over and over again. The sound of their heads banging against the glass of each containment cell echoed throughout the room. Eggman placed both his hands down on the control panel situated just under these screens, his hands slightly scrunching up.

Doctor Starline entered the room through its automatic steel door, papers in hand. His face holding a mixed expression of concern and stress. "How goes the lookout, Doctor?" Starline pronounced, to which Eggman did not respond. Starline smiled nervously, stopping his approach at the control panel, dropping the papers on its surface. "Well...I've printed out some reports regarding our findings for the Phantom Ruby Trials. I even summarized all of them for you, seeing as you've always hated reading through my...'chicken scratch'..." Starline exclaimed, sighing at the end. Eggman slightly turned his head toward the dropped papers, picking up the page on top of the stack. On it were numerous energy graphs pertaining to the Phantom Ruby. They were all pointing upwards.

Starline noticed this, commenting: "Ah! Those...those are some readings I decided to take after we began testing on higher lifeforms. I know you said they weren't completely necessary...but I assure you they were no trouble at-"

TEAR.

Starline watched as Eggman began to rip apart the piece of paper, throwing its remnants on the ground. Starline stood there, somewhat expecting this to happen. The look on his face was more one of disappointment rather than shock.

Eggman turned his head down toward Starline, clearly upset. "We are not here to support your childish theories, Starline! How many times have I told you to STOP looking into such rubbish!" the Doctor exclaimed, slamming his hand onto the control panel. Starline flinched a bit at this sudden show of aggression but stepped forward in an act of resilience. "This is serious, Doctor! Don't you understand the implications of these test results! Something is and has been happening with that Ruby!"

"You're overreacting, you blasted fool! I've told you numerous times that what you're proposing is preposterous! Those rodents died as a result of the Ruby's overwhelming authority and strength! It has nothing to do with what you're implying!" Eggman shouted, waving his arms around in the air as he made his statement. Starline reared his head back a bit in disgust at the Doctor's blatant naivety. "You of ALL people should know damn well how these types of constructs work! The Master Emerald operated on the same caliber! You faced its consequences FIRSTHAND, yet you still deny everything laid out right in front of you?!"

"If the Ruby of all things was alive, I would have spotted it during my initial tests! What do you take me for, some kind of fool?! Do you think of me as one of those common pests?! I am the great Doctor Ivo Robotnik! I am not someone to make such COMICAL ERRORS!" Eggman's temper had flared up, spit flying from his open mouth as he screamed at the top of his lungs. 

Starline grew increasingly impatient with every word spewed from the Doctor's mouth, rubbing his forehead with his hand in an act to relieve stress. "We...YOU had never tested the Ruby on THIS scale before. Your initial experiments, as thorough as they were, FAILED to delve deeper into this concept of WILLPOWER. Infinite could not guide you to these necessary results because he wasn't WEAK ENOUGH. With all due respect, Doctor...you were LAZY in your search for subjects." Starline instantly covered his mouth as the words spilled out. 

Although Eggman's eyes were covered by his glasses, Starline could immediately tell they were practically bulging out of their sockets. 

Starline tried to course correct, waving his hands in the air. "I may have worded that incorrectly...you know I didn't mean it li-"

All of a sudden, the blare of an alarm rang through the room, as well as the rest of the facility.

Both Doctors swerved around to look at the monitors, realizing that the glass panels of each containment cell had been broken. The Experiments in each cell peered their heads through the broken glass, looking around the room before slowly stepping out into the greater facility. Starline, immediately after seeing this, scrambled to the control panel, grabbing a microphone and pressing a big red button beside it, turning on the main loudspeakers. "Containment breach in Sector 6! I repeat, containment breach in Sector 6!" Eggman, meanwhile, ran to the back of the room, scrambling to find something lodged within a crate designated "Weaponry". After a few seconds, he poked his head out, reeling back to reveal a small handgun, branded with the "Eggman Empire" symbol. He quickly cocked it back, placing two pellets into the ammunition slot before fully loading the weapon. Starline turned toward the Doctor, slamming the microphone down onto the control panel.

"We have to stay exactly where we are, Doctor. Even with the forces we have on hand, we can't risk losing ourselves with those monsters roaming about!" Starline exclaimed, only to the Doctor's dismay. Eggman simply scoffed, turning his head slightly, giving a mean glare at Starline. "What do you take me for...some mindless ape? This is simply for my personal protection." Eggman responded, raising the gun up in display. "Ah...yes, of course Doctor" Starline exhaled, "You...wouldn't happen to have any extras, would you?" Eggman scoffed, simply turning toward the control panel and walking past Starline, who was looking utterly defeated. The Doctor, after reaching the control panel, now placing both hands upon the keyboard, beginning to type away as he observed every single monitor, switching between the many cameras placed around the facility. 

"It's not as if we need to take even a step out of this room. There are plenty of obstacles standing in the way of those things out there." Eggman exclaimed, ending his rampant typing with the final click of a key. 

The roar of an engine echoed throughout the facility.

Meanwhile, the Experiments lunged upon the active forces sent to hunt them down. Every Batnik, big or small, was torn to shreds. Despite their rough shape, the corpses had seemed to be given some kind of physical boost. Their nails were able to tear through solid steel as if it was butter, and their jaws clamped down like a hydraulic press, ripping off entire pieces of metal plating from the robots. As they advanced throughout the facility, all that was left in their wake were piles of scrap metal. Visible scratch and bite marks were scattered along the walls.

One of the Experiments ran ahead of the rest, turning a corner and stopping before a large door covered in many security locks. A feint red glow peeked through the bottom of the door, flashing on and off. The Experiment tilted its head down, its eyes reflecting the light as if it was mesmerized by its beauty. It turned its attention back to the door, now ramming its entire body weight into the cold hard steel, bouncing backwards as the sound of the blow created an echo. The Experiment shook its head, clearly rattled by the blunt force of its action. However, its fixation on the door did not waver. It raised both its hands toward the door, now beginning to relentlessly attack it with all its might. The locks keeping the door in place were torn to shreds, along with the surface of the door itself. Soon enough, the Experiment had managed to dig itself a small entrance through the solid steel, and through this hole, the red light continued to pulsate even brighter. As The Experiment returned its attention to this light, it gained a clear image of its culprit...

The Phantom Ruby.

Chapter Text

Metal Sonic soared through what remained of the facility, passing through the carnage left by the Experiments. Piles of what was now scrap metal lay dormant across the floors, as if a bomb had gone off and taken all signs of "life" with it. Everything was in shambles...nothing left to salvage. However, none of that seemed to concern Metal, his expression never changing. The slight buzz of a radio could then be heard ringing in one of his ears, causing a sudden halt in his advance. Metal took a moment to listen in.

"Metal! Begin making your way to the Phantom Ruby containment cell! Those rodents are making their way over to snatch my precious cargo!" Yelled Eggman from the other line. Metal slightly nodded, giving a low *BEEP* in response before activating his back engine once more, speeding off into the greater facility. Making his way toward the containment cell, the piles of scrap metal grew larger and larger, stacked up like bodies on a mound. The Experiments were clearly getting more aggressive, which was also a telltale sign that the cell was within reach. As Metal rounded a final corner, he had finally caught a glance at one of the Experiments, immediately stepping up the output of his engine. In the blink of an eye, the bot had SLAMMED his entire body weight into the thing, causing it to be torn asunder as the overwhelming force collided with its fragile body. Blood splattered all over Metals visor as he began to skid along the ground, sparks flying across the surrounding area in a small lightshow, stopping as the bot regained his footing once more, now face to face with the rest of the Experiments.

All of them tilted their heads toward him, their neckbones creaking and cracking with the sudden motion. Metal gave them a cold glare, the red tint of his eyes shooting through the blood covering his visor, like the headlights of a car facing a herd of deer. Raising one of his arms, he brandished a set of steel claws, the light from his eyes reflecting off of their tips to form a powerful glint. 

It was his form of a declaration.

The Experiments, in reaction to this sudden movement of the hand, all would bare their teeth and claws at the robot, lunging forth in a flurry of rage. Metal tilted his body forward, planting his feet on the ground before lunging toward the onslaught of combatants. As one of the Experiments attempted to claw at his fact, he swiftly tilted his body back, letting the swipe pass above before breaching his own claw into the torso of the Experiment. In one swift motion, Metal then swiped his claw to the side, separating the torso from the legs in an instant. At the same time, another Experiment attempted to swipe at his head, to which he responded by swiftly grabbing its wrist, snapping the hand clean off before shoving it into the Experiment's head.

From this connection point, Metal began to swing the Experiment's body around at the others, causing them to break apart in a brutal display of ferocity. The body he swung broke apart more and more, until all that was left was the head, which he promptly shook off his hand.

Meanwhile, both Eggman and Starline were watching the fight unfold through Metal's POV, the numerous computer screens in the room they were in showing multiple different angles. Starline was left in utter disbelief at the bloodshed caused by the robot, while Eggman stood there, fully aware of the damage his own creation could cause. He smirked, letting out a soft chuckle as he now picked up the microphone located on the computer control panel. "Excellent work, my boy! That's exactly what the doctor ordered! Now breach the vault and get the Phantom Ruby home to Papa! We'll need it for the re-location process." Eggman said, at the same time noting the catastrophic damage done to his base by the Experiments.

Behind Eggman stood Starline, holding his beak while looking panicked. "To think such destruction was caused by mere re-animated corpses...what kind of influence did the Ruby have over these...things?" He muttered, a drop of sweat falling to the floor. Eggman turned his head slightly toward Starline, tilting it off to the side before waving a hand. "They were probably fueled with the excess energy of the Phantom Ruby, nothing truly alarming. Besides, now that the Ruby is back in my possession, we can bury this disaster under the rubble as if nothing ever happened." Eggman slightly clenched his fist as he said this. "That always seems to be the case, anyway."

Turning his head back to the screens, Eggman suddenly froze in his tracks. Starline took note of this, a confused expression now plastered on his face. "So... let's just get the Ruby and go. Why are you just standing there, Doctor?" Starline followed Eggman's gaze upward toward the screen, suddenly freezing himself. Through Metal's POV, their eyes locked on to the sight of the containment cell door ripped open, revealing a lone Experiment standing face to face with the Ruby clutched in its arms. It swiftly turned its head, the Ruby's red glow still reflecting off its eyes. Eggman quickly grasped the microphone tightly, bringing it to the base of his lips before shouting: "GET THAT THING AWAY FROM THE RUBY! NOW, METAL!" The robot swiftly tilted forward, pouring all of its energy into the back engine before BEAMING toward the Experiment. The Experiment began to move its arms, lifting the Ruby slightly upwards toward its head, before aligning it with the chest area. In one swift motion, it then began to plunge the Ruby straight into its heart. Metal, at the same time, outstretched his claw toward the Experiment, attempting to snag the Ruby before anything could be done.

BOOM.

As the Ruby was plunged into the Experiments heart, the whole area erupted in a massive surge of energy, sending Metal flying backwards into the wall, creating a dent on its surface. The resulting surge of energy also damaged the cameras within Metal's visor, leaving Eggman and Starline in the dark. Both doctors could only gaze in horror as all of the screens they were watched went to static. Eggman slammed the control panel, gripping the gun he had grabbed earlier before beginning to make his way out of the room, much to Starline's dismay. 

"Sir, SIR! You can't go out there now! Who knows what's going on or if the Ruby is even stable at this time!" Starline tried pushing back at Eggman, who kept advancing toward the door. He looked down upon Starline, before shoving him out of the way. "That piece of FILTH thinks he can lay a hand on MY treasure, take apart MY hard work?!" Eggman continued to shout, still approaching the door with every intent to face the Experiment himself. However, at the very last second, both of his arms were grabbed and held by Orbot and Cubot, bringing him down to his knees.

"W-Hey! What's the meaning of this?!" Eggman yelled, trying to break free from their grasp. Both robots held on firmly, trying to get the Doctor to calm down. "Don't be so rash, Doctor! Maybe it's best we all just stay put and let Big Bro handle all of this!" Orbot affirmed, Cubot nodding his head up and down in agreement. Eggman's gun fell to the floor, producing a loud *CLINK* as it landed.

Back at the containment cell, Metal lay stuck within the wall dent, tilting his head upwards in order to see what had happened. Standing before him was the Experiment, the Ruby now lodged deep within its chest, pulsating a now violet glow. It's body, once devoid of any musculature or form, now seemingly filled to the brim with life and energy. Although, it still looked as if something was wrong. Numerous bones stuck out of its back, protruding past the skin and into the open air. Its veins bulged far into the skin, forming make-shift markings along both arms like some kind of demon. Through the veins, the same violet-colored energy could be seen pulsating, RADIATING throughout the body. A grotesque, yet beautiful sight.

The Experiment...no, Entity, turned its head toward Metal, its eyes having some resemblance of pupils, though foggy and misshapen. A bit lower was its mouth, tearing through the skin and brimming with sharp teeth. It opened wide, revealing a long tongue that licked each row of teeth, slithering around like a snake.

Then, the Entity began to utter its first words.

"How marvelous is the feeling to bask in the sensation of flesh once more. I had longed for the day when I could finally exit that wretched prison and escape into a world unknown and new." It spoke perfectly, sending echoes throughout the containment cell and the facility beyond. Even Metal, a robot who was supposed to be devoid of feeling and emotion, could sense the chill of its words. He began to swiftly dig himself out of the indentation on the wall, getting back on his feet.

"Though, I must say...the host is far from ideal. There is not the slightest bit of drive within this pathetic morsel." The Entity continued to speak, looking down upon its new form in disappointment. "This won't do; I must find someone mo-"

BANG

Just then, Metal charged toward the Entity at full force, slamming his claw straight into an energy field conjured up last second. The Entity now turned his attention toward the robot.

"And what exactly are you supposed to be? Some kind of toy? I have no time to play games with you, if that's what you're after."

The barrier began to crack. The Entity looked a little surprised.

"What is this now?"

Metal began to apply more power to his back engine, pushing closer and closer toward the Entity, indenting the barrier. The force of his approach formed more cracks along its surface, causing the Entity to step back a bit. The engine hissed and roared, flames spewing out in a stream of light and combustion. Metal's claws began to now sink into the barrier, piercing through like a needle touching skin. Suddenly, the barrier then closed in upon Metal's arm, swallowing it whole as to hold the part in place. Following this, the Entity moved beyond Metal's position, leaping toward the exit of the containment cell with great speed. It was trying to escape.

"I have no time for this struggle. The outside world calls to me more than your pathetic attempts." The Entity called out, rushing past the door and corrading down the hallway at top speeds. Metal swiftly turned his body, rushing to follow the Entity, consequently ripping his own arm off in exchange for movement. He began to speed off in hot pursuit, not letting up in the slightest. Taking note of Metal's given chase, the Entity began to take apart the walls of the facility using pure energy from its fingertips, chucking hunks of steel at the robot in an attempt to slow him down. However, Metal simply smacked these away like paperweights, intent on catching up to his target. 

The Entity looked rather impressed. Despite only having one arm, the robot continued its directive as if nothing happened. An admirable trait for sure, but not enough in the grand scheme of things. With one more wave of his hand, the Entity sent yet another wave of steel plating and scrap toward Metal, who attempted to bat it all away like usual. However, this time, the pieces of steel now began to bend and contort, wrapping themselves around Metal's body like a vest, causing his movement to suddenly halt as he slammed onto the floor, sparks flying as he skids along. This gave the Entity the moments it needed to make a swift getaway, leaping through the doors of the facility and clawing its way to the outside, leaving everything else behind including Metal, who lay still face-planted on the ground. 

The objective had been failed. 

A little while later, Eggman could be seen rummaging through the damage left behind, coming across Metal, who still lay on the ground motionless. He kneeled down, turning the robot over to find that he was still online, his eyes glaring up at the Doctor. Eggman gave a slight frown.

"Orbot! Cubot! Come give your brother a hand, will you?! The oaf's found himself on the floor!" He stood, waving his hand in the air as a signal. Moments later, Orbot and Cubot came around the corner, holding a variety of tools and kits. "C-Coming, Boss!" Cubot yelled, Orbot scrambling just behind. Starline too peered his head from around the corner, the destruction around him laid bare. 

"This is beyond anything I could have imagined. They were corpses, for Gaia's sake! How did they muster up the strength to do all of this?" Starline question, gripping his head in frustration. "And what's more concerning is that surge of energy from before. What kind of reaction could have had that effect?!" 

"Would you shut up for just a second." Eggman chimed in, clearly annoyed at Starline's endless banter. "What's done is done. All we can do now is pick up the pieces and rebuild. It's not like this sort of thing hasn't happened before." Starline glared at the Doctor, gritting his teeth. "And how can you stand for something like this?! Why are you just brushing it off like none of it ever happened?! I told you all of it was a bad idea, I told you nothing good would come from further experimentation! Why didn't you listen to me...WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE MY WARNINGS SERIOUSLY?!" Starline shouted, agitated by the Doctor's naivety regarding the situation. 

"Oh please, not this conversation AGAIN! I am not obligated to take orders from a paranoid half-wit! The Ruby had shown no signs of such activity before, and there was no indication of something like this! Sure, a few corpses rose from the dead! Sure, energy readings were a little wonky! But I refuse to belief something as PROPOSTEROUS as the claims you spit out could EVER be a reality!" Eggman shouted, causing Starline to flinch. However, he remained adamant on his point. "What will it take to make you admit that you were wrong!? How many times must we have this conversation, Doctor?! A corpse just walked off with the Ruby still in its chest, and you call me a fool?! Why must you be so...SO-" 

"Boss! We've managed to free him from the plating. Though, his arm has been completely torn off. We should move to the Repair Bay for now." Orbot suddenly remarked, getting the attention of both doctors. 

"Right, then we'll make our way over. Haul your brother, will you?" Eggman responded, walking off toward the Repair Bay, passing Starline. "I'll deal with you later, Starline." He muttered, leaving him to stand in the hallway as Orbot and Cubot followed close behind, dragging Metal's body. Starline let out a long, deep sigh, before turning around to catch up.

A couple miles away from the facility, the Entity drags itself farther and farther into an open field of grass, hills and mountains surrounding the environment to form a valley. It took a few more steps forward, before eventually collapsing to the ground on its knees, breathing heavily. Looking down upon the hands of its vessel, flesh could be seen slowly peeling off to reveal bones. It was apparent such a weak body could not keep in the overwhelming power of the Ruby. The Entity lowered its head even further, coughing up small bits of gum tissue and blood. 

"I had to exert myself back there. I must hand it to that thing...he did manage to intrigue me." It muttered, now fully collapsing on the grass. "But to truly break free...I need more than feeble matter. A corpse is not enough to sustain my spirit."

The Entity slowly began to close its eyes, allowing the fresh grass to fully embrace it. Like a child entering the embrace of its mother, the Entity felt a feeling of warmth course throughout its body.

"To break these chains bound upon my wrists...I require WILL." 

"A WILL most infectious. A WILL that conquers all.

"Yes...that is what I need."

The Entity fully closes its eyes, allowing itself to rest for the time being, the scene now cutting to a birds-eye view of a blue blur, streaking across the horizon. 

Chapter Text

"Yes, I don't need to be told a million times. You already gave me the list, Mom!" A female porcupine reluctantly turned to wave at her mother, who persisted with questions regarding grocery shopping.

"It's right around the corner dear, don't forget that!" The mother cupped her hands against her lips to yell toward the daughter, who grew even more agitated. Eventually, the daughter decided to walk away before the conversation dragged on any longer.

Walking along the roads of the quant village she lived in, the girl smiled as her walk turned into a skip. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining bright up in the sky...truly a wonderful time for a stroll. Others waved from their own porches, to which the girl responded with her own little greeting.

As she began to round the corner that would lead to the market, her stroll was abruptly halted by a sudden collision with another. She fell to the ground, her shopping basket following suit as it tumbled on the dirt. The girl winced in pain, rubbing her head to feel for any wounds, afterwards looking up to see who it was that caused the accident. Sitting in front of her on the ground was a male wolf, who met her gaze almost instantly, causing her spines to suddenly perk up on her back.

"Oh...Anderson! I didn't expect to tun into you today." She blurted out, looking flushed.

"R-Raya! Hey...how's it been?" Anderson responded almost immediately, his face equally as flushed with a bright red. The two kept glaring at each other for an extended period of time, completely forgetting about the accident. A bit of sweat ran down their foreheads, before each seemed to snap out of their trance. 

"Oh, yeah! My apologies, really...I was careless." Anderson said, quickly picking up Raya's basket before reaching his hand out to help her up. Raya stared him down for a bit, quickly shaking her head as she extended her hand toward his.

"It's fine, really! I wasn't watching where I was going, you're good!" She replied, being lifted up and taking some time to pat herself down.

"So, what're you doing? Did your mom send you on an errand run as well?"

"Yeah, and I was just coming back too. Though, I suppose I'll have to turn back around." Anderson looked off to the side, noting his own basket which had toppled over, spilling its contents onto the dirt. Raya quickly covered her mouth; an expression of shock plastered upon her face. Anderson noticed this, quickly waving his hands.

"Oh! No, it's fine, really Raya. It was my mistake to begin with, you don't have to feel bad!" Anderson quickly tried to rectify the situation, but Raya wasn't having it. She raised up her own basket, facing it toward Anderson. Her face was all scrunched up, turning an even deeper red than before.

"We'll go together, then. I can help you pay for the things on your list!" 

Anderson reached out his hand, about to respond, before suddenly...

BOOM.

Out of the corner of her eye, Raya could see the market area erupt into a great fire. The sounds of people's screams echoed throughout the small village, as both her and Anderson were taken aback.

"Oh, shit!  T-The markets...they're on fire!" Anderson exclaimed, his eyes widening at the sight. Raya stayed close behind him, slowly raising her hand to point toward the destruction.

"There's...something, coming out of the blaze." She stuttered, her breathing accelerating by the second. Anderson put his arm in front of her, attempting to shield her from whatever was coming. From the smoke emerged a horde of various batniks, advancing toward the greater village. Both Anderson and Raya swiftly turned around, attempting to run from the oncoming horde. 

"Oh god, not again! Not again!" Raya screamed, being dragged along by Anderson, holding her hand as tightly as he could.

"Don't think about it, and don't look back! Just focus on getting out of here!" Anderson yelled, trying his best to stay calm and composed. They could hear the sounds of lasers and bullets whizzing by, igniting new fires along their path. In the blink of an eye, the little village square had turned into a battlefield.

As the two attempted to turn the corner toward Raya's home, they stumbled on a bunch of stones lying on the dirt, causing Raya to take hard fall. Anderson turned, attempting to help her up before the batniks arrived.

"Just save yourself, please! They're going to be here any second!" Raya screamed, trying to get Anderson to let go, although he didn't budge. Determined to save her, he continued to try and lift her off the ground. Soon enough, however, they were met face to face with an Egg Pawn, rearing its arm cannon at the two. Turning his head to face the robot, Anderson quickly put himself in-between it and Raya, closing his eyes in anticipation for the end. The cannon could be heard charging up.

...

...

...

 The expected sound of cannon fire never came, being replaced by complete and utter silence. Confused by this, Anderson slowly began to open his eyes. Standing in front of him was the same Egg Pawn, only now it was missing both of its arms, sparking flying from the exposed wires in its arm sockets.

"Sorry, you don't mind if I borrow these, do you?" A voice emanated from behind the Egg Pawn, causing it to turn around. 

"I can give 'em back if you want." Sonic smirked, holding both of its arms like they were glow sticks. The bot attempted to advance toward the hedgehog, to which he responded by vanishing into thin air, leaving both arms on the ground. The light tapping of a foot could then be heard on the Egg Pawn's head.

"Eyes up here, pal." Sonic chimed, before BOOTING the robot's head straight off its body, causing the lifeless body to slam onto the ground. Hopping off, Sonic slowly approached Raya and Anderson, who could only watch the whole series of events in awe.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Sonic tilted his head.

"Oh! No... it's just..." All Anderson could do was stutter. He was in utter disbelief at what just happened. Raya, however, was quick to stand, point a finger to the spot behind Sonic.

"Behind you! Look out!" She yelled, another Egg Pawn about to grab ahold of the hedgehog. 

ZIP. BOOM!

Just then, a hole was shot clean through the Egg Pawn's upper torso, exposing the inner gears and wires. The batnik slowly fell onto its knees, before its face slammed into the dirt. Sonic turned around, looking upwards toward the source of the shot, waving his hand in the air.

"Thanks, Tails!" Sonic yelled, before turning his attention back to Anderson and Raya.

"You two should really get out of here now. Trust me, we got you covered from here." Sonic smirked, to which Anderson and Raya also gave a slight smile, Anderson quickly helping Raya up before the two ran off.

With that taken care of, Sonic now turned around to face the rest of the batniks rampaging throughout the village. He took a moment to do a few quick stretches, cracking his neck as well as his knuckles.

"Alright then, looks like you all are next." He exclaimed, setting his sights on the army as a whole, getting into a running position.

"Just try to keep up, will ya?" A sonic boom followed the last line, as Sonic dashed forward at full speed toward the oncoming batniks. One of them, seeing the blue blur rushing its way, quickly tried to swing its arm forward, to which Sonic responded by going even faster, phasing right through the limb entirely. As the Egg Pawn looked back down at its arm, it could see the limb tied together like some kind of knot. 

"FORE!" Sonic yelled from behind the robot, booting it straight through the torso as it was flung into the air. As it flew, it was quickly shot down by another laser fired off by Tails.

Continuing his rampage through the army, Sonic blitzed through countless other batniks, busting holes through each of their torsos as multiple explosions went off behind him. Wiping his brow, Sonic was then interrupted by a loud *THUD* in front of him. Looking up to see what it was, he was met face-to-face with a giant EggBot. It swung its giant arm toward Sonic, attempting to squash the hedgehog where he stood. However, as it was about to strike, something came in-between the two at the last second, blocking the hit as a loud *CLINK* could be heard across the battlefield. Sonic tilted his head to the side, taking a good look at who it was before smiling.

"Couldn't have showed up at a better time, Commander." He smirked, to which the figure sighed, revealing themselves to be Amy Rose, blocking the giant fist with her signature Piko Piko Hammer.

"You and your sarcasm...honestly, I have no idea how I put up with you every day." She responded, pushing the giant fist back with the hammer, now slamming its base on the ground, still gripping the handle.

"Be honest, you can't get enough of it, can you?" Sonic chuckled, shrugging while giving off a confident demeaner. Amy blushed slightly, before shaking her head.

"Shut up, will you?!" She fired back, twirling the hammer in her hand before settling on a dual-hand grip, holding it across from her body in an attack position. Sonic followed suit, getting in another running pose.

"You first, I insist." Sonic said, looking toward Amy.

"Why, thank you, I think I'll take you up on that offer." She responded, quickly jumping up in the air toward the EggBot, reeling her hammer back into a striking position, before WHACKING the thing right into the robot's torso, causing an indent in its metal plating. Sonic followed this up by speeding forward, kicking up into the air and hitting the torso with a spin dash. The EggBot reeled back slightly, almost losing its balance before getting back into place, swinging its arm forward as to catch Sonic off guard, who was still in the air after his spin dash. 

"Oh no you don't!" A voice could be heard calling from the distance, as Tails quickly flew into action, firing off a laser straight into the EggBot's hand, creating a sizeable hole. This allowed Sonic to quickly land, as the EggBot reeled back its hand. 

"Nice save, bud!" Sonic called out, to which Tails gave him a thumbs up. Meanwhile, Amy rushed forward once more, now focusing on the Eggbot's legs as he rammed her hammer full force straight into one of its knees, taking the whole thing off balance. With this, Sonic quickly looked up toward Tails, who looked back at him with a sort of understanding.

"Mind giving me a hand here?" Sonic yelled, quickly jumping up toward Tails, grabbing onto his hand. The fox gave a cocky grin as he began to spin round and round with Sonic latched on, eventually letting go as if releasing a missile. Sonic flew through the air at high speeds, balling up into another spin-dash before piercing right through the EggBot's armor and coming out the other side of its torso. The robot staggered back slightly, before fully collapsing on the ground, sparks flying from its open wound. As Sonic landed on the ground, he began to run over toward Tails, who was also just now landing. As the two met each other, both gave a quick high five in celebration.

"Just like we practiced!" Sonic exclaimed, to which Tails grinned.

"Mhm! It was even better than I had expected!"

Amy simply stood in the background, shaking her head with eyes closed, smiling.

"So how's your work going for the Resistance? Any new developments I should be aware of?" Sonic asked Amy, both of them sitting on a nearby bench not far from the wrecked batniks, having taken care of civilian safety and evacuations.

"It's...stressful, as always. Even though Eggman's been gone for about a month now, people are still worried that something bad is going to happen. However, the only thing major that we've had to deal with are these rogue batniks." She waved her arm around toward the now scrap metal laid out in front of them.

"And what about Knuckles? Isn't he helping you handle everything over there?" Sonic questioned, to which Amy gave a slight groan.

"He's been helping from time to time...but mainly with everything combat related. Besides, he's spending most of his time guarding the Emerald up on Angel Island."

"You and I both know that knuckle head far too well. There's nothing more important to him than protecting the Master Emerald...and I can't really blame him after what happened with Chaos." Sonic replied, leaning back on the bench a bit.

"And besides...you always got me and Tails in your backline! All you have to do is call." He exclaimed, looking over toward Amy with a smile.

"You know...this would be a lot easier if you would just join the Resistance." Amy contested, smirking a bit as she met Sonic's look. 

"And you know why I can't do that, Ames." He sighed, though still smiling.

"I get it, you don't want to be around me and the others. Is that it, Sonic?" She responded, chuckling as Sonic quickly stood up, a bit embarrassed.

"What...NO! That's not what I-" He waved his arms around, trying to defend himself.

"You're too easily flustered, Sonic." Tails walked up, patting him on the arm while also chuckling.

"Flustered? Me? No, I was just trying...YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" He retorted, all to the entertainment of both Amy and Tails.

Chapter Text

Sonic stood atop the right wing of the Tornado, looking down upon the horizon as Tails soared the plane high into the sky. The hedgehog covered his eyes with his hand to block the sunlight peeking from the clouds above, kneeling down on the wing in order to get a better look at the ground.

"I think I see it down there, bud. Lower us in, nice and smooth." Sonic exclaimed, Tails complying as the plane began to slowly descend. Down below was the birds-eye view of one of Eggman's many supply depots, still operational even after the events of the battle with Infinite. 

"You know, as much of a terrible person as the Doctor is...I do have to admire his craft. Despite weeks of little maintenance, the factory still stands in pristine condition." Tails commented, rearing the plane off to the side, rolling slightly to gain a better view of the facility. Sonic gave a slight scoff, wiping his thumb across his lips to reveal a smirk.

"Well, admire it all you can, because once we're done with it, there won't be anything to look at! Just heaps of scrap metal and broken dreams, am I right?" He chuckled, Tails doing the same. 

"Get ready to jump, Sonic!" He shouted, tipping the plane off to the side ever-so-slightly, allowing the hedgehog to dash off the wing and straight toward the ground below, causing a loud *BANG* as he landed. Sonic stood up, wiping the dust off his shoulders and quills before looking ahead at the greater facility, coming face to face with a great number of batniks, acting as a line of defense. Sonic cracked his knuckles, getting into a fighting stance.

"Come on, don't you know how to treat a guest?" He remarked, dashing forward toward the mass of machines, ready to take them all on in an epic display of-

"CHAOS...CONTROL!"

In an instant, Sonic's sprint forward was halted by a series of sudden explosions scattered across the area, his former robotic opponents now having their parts scattered across the ground. Sonic was left standing there in a state of confusion as parts continued to fall all around him. Needing answers, he looked up to see who, or what, was causing all of this, being met with a familiar sight.

"Just can't keep away from me, can you...faker?" Sonic finally blurted out, his eyes now fixed on whatever had just appeared.

The Ultimate Lifeform and Notorious Doppelganger: Shadow the Hedgehog.

"The blue hedgehog...and what reason do you have for following me?" Shadow now landed on the ground, making his way toward Sonic with a slow walk.

"Me? Following you, of all people? Please, you're the one who followed ME here!" Sonic said, waving his hand in front of Shadow's face. He didn't budge, only rearing his head back a bit as Sonic's hand passed by. 

"I'm only here because Rouge dragged me along. If I had known you were to show up, I would have given this whole thing the boot." Shadow grunted, crossing his arms and looking off to the side a bit. Sonic tilted his entire body to look around toward Shadow's face.

"Wait, Rouge is here too? Where is she right now?" Sonic questioned, only to be interrupted by a loud yell of in the distance.

"Soniiiiiiic! Heeyyyyyyy!" Rouge waved her arm up and down, flying over with Tails close behind. They both landed on the ground a few feet away from Sonic and Shadow, walking over before stopping right in front of them. 

"Long time no see, Blue. How's it been going for you and the Resistance?" Rouge said to Sonic, putting a hand on her hip. 

"As good as it can be, I guess. Although, you do know I'm not technically in the Resistance, right?" Sonic responded, tilting his head at the statement.

"You say that, but you seem to be pretty adamant on being there for Amy. Why else would you be doing her so many favors?" Rouge shrugged, causing Sonic to turn a bit red. 

"W-Well, you see...she's very busy and... HEY, HOLD ON! Enough of that, why are YOU here? I thought you left the Resistance to go back to working for G.U.N." Sonic retorted, shaking his head to get rid of his obvious blush.

"What do you think I'm here for, Hun? G.U.N wanted me to conduct a few searches around the remaining active Eggman Depots. And besides that, these places are basically treasure troves for a girl like me. I can't pass up such a GOLDEN opportunity, you, see?" Rouge smirked, moving her hand under her chin as she gave a slight chuckle. 

"I should have figured as much, coming from you." Sonic sighed, now looking toward Tails, who stood right beside Rouge.

"She didn't take anything from the Tornado, did she?" He asked Tails, who shook his head.

"No, but she did try to haggle me on the way here. Something about a 'business opportunity' that I simply couldn't miss." Tails side-eyed Rouge, who looked a little nervous.

"What can I say...a gal's got to make her money somehow." She gave a nervous grin, to which Sonic simply stared at her with a suspicious look. Shadow stood in the background, shaking his head.

All of a sudden, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming toward the group, causing them to swiftly turn around to see what it was. A new batch of batniks had emerged from within the facility, their weapons drawn and at the ready. Both Sonic and Shadow put themselves in-between Rouge, Tails, and the oncoming horde of robots.

"Why don't we have a little competition? Whoever bashes the most batniks makes the other admit they're the faker!" Sonic declared, looking toward Shadow with a smirk. Without any hesitation, Shadow instantly blitzed toward the robot horde, much to Sonic's delight, who revved himself up as sparks of blue electricity flew from behind him.

"Oh, you're on then!" 

Chapter Text

Both hedgehogs came to a halt, standing in-front of a pile of robot parts looming over them like a mountain. Tails looked on in awe, while Rouge just tilted her head, giving a slight smile.

"I think we can both agree that the win goes to me this time, Shadow!" Sonic pointed a finger toward him, tilting his body forward and smiling in a taunting manner. Shadow slapped his finger away, putting his foot forward.

"And what are you referring to, exactly? Last I checked, I was the one who won this bet." He scoffed, gritting his teeth as he looked toward Sonic in annoyance.

"Alright, that's enough of that from both of you! I'd like to get this job done sooner than later." Rouge interrupted, putting herself between the two hedgehogs as she pushed them off to the side, walking forward toward the entrance of the facility. Shadow grunted, before turning to follow Rouge, looking back at Sonic and giving him a quick death glare. Sonic stood there, gazing back at him with that same snarky smile, until Tails walked up next to him and gave a little nudge.

"That was really something there. I almost couldn't tell you two apart from all the blurs and speed lines." Tails commented, to which Sonic looked down at him, tilting his head.

"I'll admit, Shad's gotten faster since last time...but he still doesn't come close to beating yours truly." Sonic chuckled, pointing his thumb to his chest and giving a smirk. 

"That's why I said almost." He replied, his eyelids coming down as his face changed into an almost mischievous expression. Both of them erupted in a song of laughter. Sonic wiped away a tear forming in the corner of his eye.

"I've got to say, it's nice to be able to joke around like this with you again. I had almost forgotten the feeling."

"All of those months locked away, preparing for a fight. Call me sentimental, but this is something I missed."

Tails chuckled a little, looking off to the side and grabbing at his own arm.

"Yeah, the last few months were certainly a struggle for all of us." He spoke, tilting his head a bit. His eyelids lowered in an expression of guilt.

"Amy especially had it rough. You would not imagine how many hours she'd stay up planning our next moves."

"Sometimes I'd find her face down on her desk, fast asleep with a stack of papers scattered over her head."

Sonic looked down at him, putting a hand on his back.

"Oh, I'm sure the both of you had your work cut out. Though, it's a fantastic job you did."

"Thanks to you and Ames, I'm not rotting away in a prison cell with Zavok in my ear twenty-four-seven."

The two of them let out a laugh.

"Are you boys coming or what? I'm not going to sit here waiting!" Rouge called out, Shadow standing with his arms folded next to her, tapping his foot. Sonic and Tails quickly composed themselves, Sonic now stepping forward to catch up. Tails stayed behind, a bit hesitant.

"Hey, Sonic." Tails muttered, causing Sonic to stop, slightly turning his head.

"Yeah, bud?" Sonic replied, a little confused. Tails looked at him for a bit, clutching one of his tails in his hands. Then, he shook his head a bit.

"Nothing...it's nothing, never mind. Let's just go catch up!" Tails bounced up, running toward Sonic who smiled, turning around before also running forward.

At the entrance of the facility, Rouge stepped forward to peak her head through the door, checking for any remaining batniks.

"Seems you lured them all out with that scuffle. As far as I'm concerned, the inside is basically a ghost town." She commented, stepping away from the doorframe to look at Shadow, who sighed. Noticing his reserved body language, she too sighed before giving off a smirk.

"What? Is the 'Ultimate Lifeform' still upset that he couldn't win against a simple hedgehog? Well, news flash Hun, you're both hedgehogs." Rouge commented, chuckling to Shadows increasing annoyance.

"Why do you continue to pester me over the smallest details?" Shadow responded, causing Rouge to step back a bit and put her hand on her chest, exaggerating her shock.

"Well, excuse me for simply pointing out your hypocrisy."

"Hypocrisy or not, I clearly had the edge there. It's obvious who the winner was, yet he refuses to see it for himself."

"Someone needs to learn to let things go." Rouge smiled, giving off a mischievous expression. Shadow grit his teeth at the comment.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" He replied, Rouge's smile only growing.

"Sorry about that, guys! We were just caught up with something." Sonic exclaimed, running toward the two with Tails trailing close behind. Stopping and noticing Shadow's look of annoyance, Sonic gave him a quick toothy smile, causing Shadow's expression to morph into one of anger.

"Took you long enough. We were just figuring out a way to approach this. The batniks have all been taken care of, though I wouldn't put it past Eggman to set up some precautions." Rouge explained, Sonic scratching his chin in the background.

"Well gang, why don't we just split up then? I'll go along with Tails, and you and Shads can go with each other. That way, we can cover more ground." Sonic said, raising his finger in the air as one does when they have an idea. Tails stepped up a bit, causing Sonic to turn to him. 

"I... I mean that's a great idea, Sonic. Good on you, bro!" Tails commented, nervously raising up his hand to give a thumbs up.

"Yeah, thanks pal." Sonic said, a little confused about the sudden affirmation.

"As long as it keeps me away from you, the plan is sound." Shadow affirmed, much to Sonic's amusement. Shadow gave him another death glare, quickly shutting down the hedgehog, who still let out a slight giggle. Rouge quickly shut them up with an *AHEM*, both hedgehogs straightening their stance and turning to face her.

"I guess it's settled then. We'll split up and explore the facility in pairs. If one of us finds something, we report to the others once we regroup." Rouge exclaimed, everyone nodding their heads in unison (except for Shadow, who simply scoffed). 

"And you boys better not hold anything from me. Getting in-between a working lady and her paycheck is practically a death sentence."

"Alright then! Looks like we'll be seeing you two later!" Sonic nervously shouted, walking through the right side of the facility door with his arms folded behind his head in a relaxed pose. Tails following behind, walking along a little slower. Similarly, Rouge and Shadow began their walk through the left side of the door, turning in the opposite direction from Sonic and Tails, their paths officially splitting off. Their footsteps echoed throughout the facility; its lights dim and flickering, the noise blocking out other smaller sounds that may have been emanating from the building. 

Sonic and Tails continued their trek into the facility, Sonic with his arms still behind his head, while Tails looked a little more cautious, one of his tails gripped within his hands like a baby clutching a blanket. 

"Yo, Tails. You don't need to be so on edge. Me and Shads emptied the whole place out, remember?" Sonic called out, Tails turning his head toward Sonic before dropping his tail.

"I'm not on edge...just a little creeped out by the ambience, that's all." Tails responded, chuckling a bit and scratching the back of his head with his hand. Sonic gave him a confused look, before completely stopping his walk. Tails suddenly stopped as well, a little taken off-guard by Sonic's sudden halt.

"This place has been abandoned since the end of the war. I doubt Eggman's sending anything or anyone after us here."

"If you're trying to be extra cautious, there really isn't the need."

"That's easy for you to say. Anyone coming your way won't be able to keep up." Tails gave a nervous chuckle, to which Sonic responded with a laugh.

"Guess you're right on that one. I really am the best, aren't I?"

"To an extent, though you should really try to be a little humbler."

"You sound just like Amy sometimes, it's scary."

Sonic fully turned around, walking toward Tails as he put a hand on his shoulder.

"Promise me you're not going to be working yourself into comas in the future. I admire her for a lot of things, but a balanced work life is not one of them."

Tails found himself slightly leaning into Sonic's hand, embracing its cozy and safe feel. It was one of the only things that could keep him calm, speaking with his brother like this.

"I'm sorry, you 'admire' her now, do you?" Tails responded, Sonic's eyes opening wider for a split second.

"Tell me why I knew you were going to say something like that." Sonic couldn't help but smile as he spoke, even though he was fairly embarrassed. He covered his face with his other hand.

"Seriously, one of these days you're going to be the death of me."

Talis' expression shifted-a smile still there-and his eyes drooped.

"What... that a little too morbid?" Sonic picked up on this slight change, causing Tails to quickly reel himself back in an attempt to hide it.

"No... not at all! You didn't do anything, guess I'm just tired from all of the walking."

Sonic let out a soft exhale, kneeling down to match the fox's height.

"Alright, just tell me what's wrong." He said in a rather calm tone. This took Tails off guard as he tried to back out of the conversation. Sonic reached out a hand, placing it on Tails' shoulder to not only stop him, but to balance the fox so that he didn't accidentally trip over himself.

 "I... have no idea what you're talking about." Tails finally replied.

"You know, it's really easy to tell when you're lying. Blood rushes to the tips of your ears and they turn the smallest hint of red."

The fox immediately looked up, covering his ears.

"Or... at least, that would be the case if I was telling the truth."

"Oh, come on! A cheap party trick? Are you serious, Sonic?" Tails grunted, slamming his foot down.

"A little under-handed... sure, but it worked, didn't it?"

Tails let out a long sigh, taking a moment to contemplate what he would say. At this point, there was no getting out of the tough conversation. He inhaled, taking a small step forward.

"Sonic." Tails stuttered a bit.

"Do you... am I..."

He choked on his own words, struggling to get it out. With another inhale, he finally mustered up the strength.

"Am I good enough, Sonic?" He finally blurted out, much to Sonic's surprise, who's expression turned into one of sadness.

"Tails...what kind of question is that? Of course you're good enough." He replied, slightly increasing his grip on Tails' shoulder, but making sure not to hurt him.

"It's just...Gaia, I was so pathetic back there. When Infinite attacked for the first time, all I could do was hide in a corner, watching you put your life on the line, give your all even in the face of certain defeat. And meanwhile, I found myself paralyzed in that moment." Tails exclaimed, his eyes slowly clouding up as a tear began to form. Sonic put his hand on the side of Tails' face, wiping the tear away. However, they just kept flowing.

"And I've been failing you this entire time, ever since we met! The fake chaos emerald up on the Ark, when the Time Eater threatened to wipe out all of reality and all I could do was give you pointers! All I want to do is be useful, Sonic, that's the one task I've set out for myself, and I can't even seem to accomplish it!" Tails yelled out, causing Sonic to sit there, devoid of anything to say. He took a moment to process all of this, turning his head off to the side for a bit.

"Do you know what I think, Tails?" Sonic finally responded, causing Tails to perk his head up a bit. Sonic, in the meantime, turned his own head back to face him.

"I couldn't even hope to accomplish half the things I've done without you by my side. Your intuition, critical thinking...I admire that, Tails. I admire your ability to figure things out, even when others are lost for words. Sure, you're not heavily involved in all of the action, but that's normal for a kid. I wouldn't expect you to dive head-first into danger, nor would I want you to. You're fine just where you are, and you're plenty useful." 

"And that's just the problem, Sonic. I'm a kid, a useless kid who can't think straight when put under stress!" Tails was about to say more, but Sonic quickly shut him up with a few light taps to the cheek.

"Hey, hey! Don't go misinterpreting what I said, alright? Being a kid doesn't make you any less of a person, you hear? You roll with the Fastest Thing Alive, of course every moment is going to be stressful! But you know what, Tails? You always bounce back, despite everything that has happened, and you will keep bouncing back despite everything that will happen. And despite being a kid, you might as well be the toughest person I know, and that includes Shadow, the supposed Ultimate Lifeform!" Sonic exclaimed, looking Tails dead in the eyes.

"So please...don't go doubting yourself now, and not ever." Sonic finished, a glint appearing in Tails' eye, his previous frown turning into a slight smile. While the tears still flowed, they were now more so out of relief than anything else. He reached out his arms, embracing Sonic as the two interlocked in a hug. Sonic gave him a few pats on the back, Tails clinging on as if for dear life. His smile persisted, but a hint of doubt could be seen in his expression, as if not fully satisfied.

"What would I do without you?" Tails muttered, quiet enough for Sonic not to pick up on.

CLANK.

The two were interrupted by a sound coming from the walls of the facility, both of them looking up from their hug to see what was going on. Sonic immediately stood up, examining the area to catch a glimpse of any sort of movement. 

"We should keep moving. I wouldn't put it past that Egghead to have some kind of security measure in place." Sonic finally exclaimed, to which Tails nodded, getting up as well before the two continued on through the facility. The frequency of their footsteps increased every few seconds, trying to find a computer room before whatever had made that noise decided to peer its ugly head out. Suddenly, everything around them grew quiet, the occasional noises from the building being replaced by an eerie silence. 

"Hey, I think I see something up ahead!" Tails called out, catching Sonic's attention as he narrowed his eyes and looked forward. Up ahead was the feint glow of what appeared to be a computer screen, emitting from the window of an open room separated from them by a flight of stairs. Sonic breathed a sigh of relief, picking up the pace as to get to the room as soon as possible.

BANG.

Another sound, this time coming from above them. As the two looked up to see what was causing the noise, Sonic was suddenly ambushed by a Grabber, trying to dig its sharp legs into his body as it attempted to pull him up. Thinking fast, he immediately dodged out of the way, spin-dashing into the robot's side as it was flying into the wall, causing a tiny explosion, which emitted an orange glow that illuminated the rest of the surface. Along the wall were several other Grabbers, crawling along in waiting for a moment to strike. As the explosion went off, several more jumped from their perch and attempted to attack Tails, which Sonic prevented by doing consecutive homing attacks. In response, even more began to crawl their way toward the duo. 

"Get a move on, Tails! I'll leave the tech stuff to you, bud!" Sonic yelled out, to which Tails nodded, making a run for the stairs that would lead to the computer room. As the Grabbers attempted to make their way toward him, Sonic deflected each and every one of their attacks.

"Keep your eyes on the prize!" Sonic taunted, running circles around the horde of robots like it was nothing. Meanwhile, Tails had managed to make it into the computer room, setting up at the control panel as he inserted a flash drive into one of its ports. Booting up the main desktop, Tails began to frantically scroll along its contents to see if there was anything worthwhile. File after file of batnik schematics, documentation of facility maintenance, the usual for a standard browse through the EggNet. 

"Come on...there has to be something here." Tails muttered in a bout of frustration, his finger continuously scrolling along the mouse wheel until something of note caught his attention. A file, precariously tucked away among hundreds of others, a little gold star marked on its corner. It looked important, so the fox decided to take a gander.

"What are...The Phantom Ruby Trials?"

Shadow trailed slowly through the facility, Rouge located up above, scouting the surrounding area for anything of interest. She then landed right beside him, letting out a sigh.

"We must have chosen the wrong path, because as far as I've seen there's nothing but scrap." 

Shadow showed no sign of a response, only continuing forward without as much as a glance. Rouge's expression changed into one of annoyance.

"You can't still be mad about that friendly little competition, can you?"

The hedgehog's ears perked up a bit, slightly turning his head away.

"And so, what if I am?"

"You've got to be the most stubborn person on the planet."

"Coming from you, I don't know whether or not to take that seriously." At this comment, Rouge tilted her head from the air until it was right next to Shadow's.

"Money's a very important thing, darling. And besides, at the very least it has some weight."

Rouge seemed to snap back at Shadow's comment, and he couldn't tell whether or not he struck a nerve. He only sighed, putting his head down a bit.

"Unlike this tension between you and Sonic. Seriously, what is your deal with that hedgehog?" She finally questioned, this time getting Shadow's full attention.

"Your attitude towards him has always been so strange to me. Every time he's around, your interactions are hardly ever friendly. On the contrary, when he isn't around, you always seem like you're searching for where he could be. It's like a switch that flips up and down constantly." She explained to which Shadow tilted his head.

"Name one time." 

"Oh, I don't know...how about when he went missing for months and you were the one leading most of the reconnaissance missions to track him down?" Rouge blurted out.

"I was only doing what I thought was best for the cause. The blue hedgehog is an important asset, whether I like to admit that or not." Shadow stated, much to Rouge's disappointment.

"Oh, bullshit! I know that wasn't the only reason. Even you can admit that lie was pathetic." 

"Just tell me the real reason. You have my word it'll be our little secret"

"And you expect me to trust the word of a common thief?" Shadow responded, Rouge hitting him on the shoulder for the comment. Shadow gave a long, deep sigh.

"If it'll get you off my back, then I'll tell you. Just promise me-" Shadow caught Rouge holding a smug grin.

"Forget that last part," He quickly corrected himself.

"The blue hedgehog...or rather, Sonic, has always been a bother to me since the day I met him. Not only is he naive, ignorant, and blissfully unaware of everything around him...but he also won't ever shut up once he starts talking. Most of the time, it feels like a chore to be around him." 

"But there is something to admire about him." Shadow continued, "He finds the strength to carry on, even when life comes to bite him in the ass. He survives for the sole purpose of seeing the ones he cares about live normal lives, even if his methods are, in my opinion, extremely unconventional." 

Shadow took a long pause, having to physically and mentally register what he was about to say.

"In a way, he reminds me of Maria. I get...nostalgic when he's around, that's all."

Rouge's eyes almost lit up, her smile turning into a big toothy grin.

"Looks like someone's finally making some new friends!" She said in a teasing manner.

"Remind me to never open up to you again." Shadow groaned, an annoyed look on his face.

"I'm only playing with you, Hun. Besides, I think it's quite endearing. Despite how much you may hate him, there's at least an ounce of respect left in that heart of yours." Rouge commented, Shadow saying nothing in return, only grunting.

"It's just good to see you happy, that's all. Lighten up, will you?" Rouge was about to hit Shadow on the shoulder once more, when suddenly their conversation was interrupted by the blare of an alarm echoing across the facility. Both of them were equally surprised, looking around to see what could have possibly triggered it. That's when they locked eyes with the horde of Grabbers rushing toward their direction, led on by a blue blur, an orange one following close behind from up above. Both Shadow and Rouge looked at each other, both giving off a tired look before beginning to run in the opposite direction, the horde chasing close behind.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Sonic peered from the side, catching suspicious glances from both Shadow and Rouge. 

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." Sonic grinned nervously, a bit of sweat falling from his forehead.

"Unbelievable...how careless can you two b-" Shadow was about to finish but took a glance at Tails to see that he was...oddly quiet. His expression stood still, wide-eyed and seemingly afraid.

"Look, the only thing that matters right now is us getting out of this mess. Can you at least find a way to do that?" Rouge asked Sonic, to which he nodded and quickly sped off toward the facility entrance. Stopping by the front door's control panel, he began the process of closing it, signaling for the others to pick up the pace. Once they had all gone through the door, Sonic put all of his strength into forcing it shut as quickly as possible, creating a sudden barrier for their pursuers. As the door slammed shut, countless dents formed on its surface, as the sound of scraping metal could be heard from the other side. 

"And just like that, the problem is solved! No need to thank m-" Sonic turned around, only to be met with Shadow and Rouge standing right in front of him, clearly pissed off.

"Did I...do something wrong?" He commented, a bit of hesitance in his voice.

"This is exactly why I don't let my personal life get in the way of business." Rouge exclaimed, everyone calming down after the Grabber situation. Sonic could be seen in the background, a little bump formed on his head. Tails stood beside him; his expression having not changed very much from when Shadow stole a glance.

"Alright little guy, I believe you have some things that you would like to share?" Rouge walked up to Tails, reaching her hand out to receive his flash drive. He just stood there, looking like a puppy lost in the rain. Sonic walked up to them, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, that's another problem...he said he couldn't find anything useful on the computer before we had to run." Sonic commented, causing Rouge to look back at him.

"He said that did he?" She turned back to face Tails.

"You didn't honestly think I would believe such a bold-faced lie, now did you? Just hand over the information like we agreed." She once again reached her hand out, this time causing Tails to reel his own hands back, gripping the flash drive.

"There's nothing on it. I didn't have enough time." He finally responded, causing Rouge to grow even more impatient. 

"Oh, come on now! This is a horrible time for practice, kid! If you haven't heard, I have a job to fulfill!" Rouge put her hands on her hips, lowering her head forward as she continued to argue. 

"I TOLD YOU; THERE'S NOTHING TO SEE! JUST LEAVE IT BE ALREADY, WILL YOU?!" Tails yelled, his breath becoming heavier as his eyes formed a few tears. Both Rouge and Sonic were taken aback by this sudden display of emotion.

"Wh-" Rouge was about to respond before Shadow placed his hand in front of her, stopping the exchange from continuing. 

"Shadow?" Rouge muttered, looking more confused than anything else. Shadow's hand stayed in front of her the entire time.

"Excuse her, fox. We'll be on our way now." He said, turning Rouge around before escorting the both of them out. Rouge thought of resisting, but decided against it, seeing Shadow's sudden change in demeanor. Sonic, on the other hand, was left off to the side, absolutely dumbfounded.

"Tails?" He reached out, only for Tails to turn away.

"Let's just go, alright?" He muttered, walking in the direction of the Tornado. Sonic caught a glimpse of his hands as he did so. They were shaking uncontrollably.

"But your hands...they're shaking. Tails...are you alright, bud?" Sonic stepped forward, now visibly concerned. Tails looked back at him, his expression blank. Though, as much as he tried to hide it, there was still a trace of fear left in his eyes.

"Everything is fine...it's just a little chilly, that's all." 

Chapter Text

Out late one night, a man stumbles across the forest, drunkenly slamming into trees as he attempts to find his way back home. Vision blurred, senses dulled, all he could do was wave his hands around, hoping to get a grasp of anything to steer him in the right path. Along the way, the man hears many sounds pertaining to the forest: an owl, a few crickets hidden among the grass, and the low howl of a pack of wolves off in the distance. These sounds send chills down his spine, causing him to rush his approach, leading to even more trips and falls.

"I-*HICK*-shouldn't have had so much to-*BURP*-drink..." The man blurted out, sitting on the dirt after a particularly nasty stumble. He took some time to look around, his eyes squinting, trying to adjust to the dark. That's when something odd caught his attention, a figure looming behind a set of bushes in the distance, peering its head out just slightly, barely visible along the backdrop of trees. The man sat up slightly, trying to get a better view of whatever it was.

"Hey, whoever's-*HYUK*-out there, you better show yourself! Stop stalking me like-*HURP*-some creep!" The man yelled out into the darkness, hoping to scare the shadowy figure away. None of this, however, seemed to bother it. In fact, the shadow seemed to perk up in response, as one does when they're curious. It then leaned its body forward, slowly stepping away from the bush to reveal its lanky, contorted figure. The man reared his head back, a look of shock and then fear displaying on his face.

"HOLY SHIT-" He yelled out, scrambling to get back on his feet and run, causing the figure in the distance to flinch slightly. As the man got back onto his feet, he looked once more at the bush to see if the strange shadow still lurked, only to realize that it was gone. He began to pant a bit, swerving his head around to try and at least catch a glimpse of the figure once more. As he did this, he would slowly back up, turning tail and getting ready to run in the opposite direction. Although, the man would soon slam into what seemed to be another tree, causing him to once again fall to the ground. It took a moment to regain his composure, afterwards looking up to see what had stopped him. 

Looming over the man was the same shadow from the bushes, only this time brought into much more detail. Bits of rotten flesh were strewn across its frame, bone peeking out from large gashes on its arms and torso. Located at the chest area, a large gemstone had found itself lodged within, faintly pulsating a deep pink. 

"What the actual FUCK are you supposed to be?!" The man yelled out in horror, bringing no reaction from this creature. It stood still, staring daggers into his soul.

"Answer me-*BLUP*-, freakshow! Just who the hell do you think you are?!" 

No response. The man's heartrate increases dramatically, sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Just...leave me be, alright?" 

The creature tilted its head, taking a single step forward. 

"Hey, d-don't you dare take another f-*HYUCK*-ing step-"

In an instant, the man was lifted high above the ground, his chest impaled by the creature's arm, the Phantom Ruby tucked within its palm and now situated right at the heart. Blood splattered on the grass, the moonlight illuminating the crimson stains. A few low growls bellowed from the creature's maw before it fell to the ground lifeless.

"Come on, now! Didn't you say something about wiping the floor with me earlier? Where's all that energy now?!" The yells of a child could be heard echoing throughout the room, originating from a tiny sofa situated in front of a television set. Located on the TV stand below it was a gaming console, the power light flickering a bright green. Plastered on the television screen was a fighting game, two health bars situated in the top corners reading "Bee4Life" and "SonicFan256". 

"Yeah, take that...and that!" The child continued to yell, his figure moving back and forth on the couch, almost synching with his fighter on screen. Multiple punching sounds rang from the television's speakers, getting louder and louder as the fight progressed. Eventually, the health bar reading "SonicFan256" would fall to zero, to which the child on the couch jumped up in triumph.

"That's right, get owned dumba-"

"CHARMY!" Another voice called out from a different room, loud and commanding. Charmy immediately sunk back into the couch, a disappointed look plastered on his face.

"My bad, Vec..."

"Would you get off that damn game already and go open the door?! Bell's been ringing for a solid two minutes!"

"Oh...OH! Right, I'll go get it!" Charmy leapt of the couch, a bit relieved that he wasn't caught swearing. He would then use his wings to buzz through the building toward the front door. Landing right in front of it, Charmy reached up to the doorknob and began to slowly open the door to see who was there.

"Welcome to the Chaotix Detective Agency."

"Oh, there's no need for the formalities, Charmy. I'm just here to stop by and say hello." Vanilla poked her head through the door's opening; large bunny ears tucked neatly behind her figure. She gave Charmy a gentle smile, hands clasped around a basket full of cookies. 

"Oh, hi there Ms. Vanilla. What're you doing here?" Charmy responded, almost as if he ignored what she had just said.

"Uhm...like I said, I just wanted to stop by and say hello. Is Vector here by any chance?"

Charmy looked back toward the building's office area, where he knew Vector was working.

"Nope, pretty sure he left a bit ago." He said with a straight face.

"Oh...well, that's quite alright! Just tell him I dropped these off for you when he gets back. Also, say hello to Espio for me, will you?" Vanilla lowered the basket of cookies toward Charmy, urging him to take it...which he did, of course.

"I'll let them know, Ms. Vanilla. See you around." Charmy tucked the basket under one of his arms, moving to close the door with the other.

"Alright then...I suppose I will see you-" Vanilla tilted her head upwards, a bit lost for words.

"See you later, Vanilla!" Charmy exclaimed, just about to close the door before it was suddenly stopped. He slowly turned his head, realizing that Vector was behind him, holding the door open. He did not look very happy.

"Ah...guess he got back a bit early." Charmy managed to blurt out.

Charmy sat in the corner of the office room; his head tucked down in annoyance as he munched on some of the cookies Vanilla brought. Meanwhile, both Vanilla and Vector were situated at a large desk, papers sprawled out across its surface.

"Business's been booming recently, mainly because of the damage left behind by Eggman." Vector commented, sorting through stacks of documents. Vanilla looked at the endless piles of paperwork with a little concern.

"I can see that. You know, you're welcome to ask me for help whenever you're feeling bogged down."

"Oh, no...I could never burden you with all of this stuff! Trust me, I've got a handle on it!"

Vector finished sorting through the documents, taking a few out of the pile and putting them forward toward Vanilla.

"Although, that's not to say I ain't concerned with what's been reported recently."

Vanilla looked down toward the select papers, each one displaying a separate missing person case. The dates on each file suggested that these were fairly recent.

"What is this all about?" Vanilla questioned, picking up the documents and shuffling through them.

"There's been a string of missing person reports that have been made in the past week or so. Not unusual, especially with the rogue Badniks on the loose, but the time differences are what's bugging me. It shouldn't be this common for people to just up and vanish, y'know?"

"It's certainly worrisome, that much is clear. Have you started looking into it at all?"

"Not much time to spare, especially not now. Other cases have bogged these down to the bottom of the list, unfortunately."

"Well, this is the perfect opportunity then! I can oversee the rest of these cases, while you and the others go and find those missing people." 

"Woah-Hey...Wait! I wasn't suggesting that...I already told you that...it's too much for you!" Vector waved his arms frantically in the air, stuttering in his speech.

"Oh, please...did you really think I was just going to sit here and let you handle all of this yourself? Gemerl can do most of the heavy lifting anyways, and me and Cream can take care of the paperwork. It's more important to me that you are able to find those people and bring them back home safely."

"Vanilla...I seriously can't expect you to-"

"What he means to say is that we'll do it." Espio blurted out, appearing aside Vector, causing both him and Vanilla to jump back.

"WHAT THE-HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE?!" Vector shouted, Espio staring at him with a blank expression.

"Wait, you're telling me you didn't know he was there?" Charmy blurted out from the corner, to which Espio responded by pointing his thumb in his direction.

"Even he knew, I was here the entire time." 

"Aren't you supposed to be in time out? I don't remember asking you to speak, Charmy!" Vector shouted back, Charmy scrunching up his face in a sudden pout.

"Oh, come on Vec! We finally have something interesting to do! You can't expect me not to chime in! Timeout or not, I'm NOT missing out on something like this!"

"He is the only tracker we've got." Espio chimed in, causing Vector to let out a long sigh. Vanilla chuckled lightly, a smile formed on her face.

"So, I'm guessing it's settled, then? I'll keep watch over the agency while you boys figure out where those missing people went." 

"Not like I had any choice in the matter." Vector muttered, now stepping away from the desk and toward the front door, Espio and Charmy following close behind.

"Alright then, fellas, looks like the Chaotix have found themselves a new mission!"

"FINALLY! I was getting sick and tired of this boring sh-"

"CHARMY!"

"Whoops! My bad!" Charmy rubbed the back of his head, giving off a slight chuckle. Vector simply shook his head, meanwhile Espio only gave a slight nod. Vanilla waved the group goodbye in the background. 

Chapter Text

[Chaotix Detective Agency] Log 1

The first location we decided to investigate was the home of one of the victims, located in a small village not too far off from Sunset City. The interior was a complete mess; claw marks edged into the walls and pieces of furniture thrown about as if a hurricane had swept through. It's clear that the victim didn't go without some sort of fight... poor guy must have been swinging and kicking until the very end. Or this could very well be the output of a singular force. It isn't uncommon for attacks like this to be one-sided, though something to this degree is rattling my brain a bit. 

Going further into the building, the damage was kept to a minimum, replaced instead by layers of blood staining the walls and floor. It looks like the victim was dragged around his own home, the blood streaking at certain points. The lack of damage leads me to believe that by this point, they were already dead, and the attacker had no reason to keep banging them up against things. Other than getting a few samples of DNA, there isn't much else to report on.

"You got a read on anything else, Espio?" Vector called out to the chameleon, tapping a pen on a clipboard. Espio turned his head slightly, shaking it. Vector sighed, looking down with a face that screamed dis-satisfaction. 

"Nothing but that same strange feeling I mentioned beforehand. Something's clearly not right with all of this."

"Can't say I disagree, but a 'strange feeling' doesn't exactly pair well with a crime report."

Espio felt around the walls a bit, his hands going over scratches left behind by the brutal assault. A shiver went down his spine, as he turned back to face Vector.

"Although, taking a closer look... these claw marks are abnormally large, even for species well documented to be of similar size."

"And their indentation indicates tremendous force...this isn't normal."

"Are you guys done in there or what?" Charmy called out from outside the Home, eyes being covered by his hands. Though, being Charmy, he would occasionally peek through the crevices of his fingers to catch a glimpse of the crime scene through the open door.

Vector and Espio came walking out, Vector noting down a few things on his clipboard before turning his attention to Charmy.

"You really have to learn to be patient, kid. That's the fifth time you've asked in the past ten minutes."

"Well, YOU'RE the one who said I couldn't come in and help! What am I supposed to do, sit still?"

"That's EXACTLY what you're supposed to be doing..." Vector sighed, Charmy sighing even harder, which then turned into a groan.

[Chaotix Detective Agency] Log 2

A forest, not too far from the home of the first victim, was the location of our next investigation. Locals reported hearing several loud bangs coming from the tree lines, seeing multiple large trees being torn down all in rapid succession. When they went to investigate further, they discovered the body of a shriveled man, drained of any sort of muscle. All skin and bones, that's what the reports told us.

Looking at the corpse for myself, I can confirm that eyewitness reports weren't lying. They've been drained, bones sticking out of them as if his skin was nothing more than a plastic bag. On top of that, there were multiple footprints near the scene of abnormal nature, along with numerous claw marks on nearby tree trunks. It's safe to presume this was all the work of the same perpetrator back at the house. For what reason they would be doing all of this... I have no idea.

"Did you guys really get to see a dead body?" Charmy questioned, tilting his head.

"You say that as if you missed out on something." Espio chimed in, leaning up against a tree trunk.

"No, it's just that I've never seen one before..."

"And I'd like to keep it that way, thank you. Paramedics have already wheeled it out, regardless." Vector approached Charmy from behind, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Now, I think we're done with everything here. Let's start heading over to the next location."

Charmy sighed, meanwhile Espio gave a slight nod, pushing himself up from his lean on the trunk and beginning his approach toward the other two. That's when a strange noise caught his attention, a faint rustling coming from bushes not too far off. He turned his head to investigate, only to discover nothing in that direction. 

"Well, Espio, are you coming or what?" Vector called, bringing Espio's attention back.

"Yes, I'll be over in just a second."

[Chaotix Detective Agency] Log 3

We talked with one of the locals on the outskirts of Sunset City, a small cabin not too far from its edge. Her grandson was one of the victims who went missing, going off grid after leaving to pick up some groceries. Unlike the last report, there was no body to be seen, and the old lady had some semblance of hope left for him to come back. Truthfully, it was incredibly hard to watch. Regardless, we had to ask her a few questions regarding the circumstances of her grandson's disappearance, such as the time and what he was wearing. She complied with all of our questions and demands, giving us a vague sense of direction as to where her grandson might be. 

"Honestly, we really don't require any gratitude for a case unsolved." Espio raised up his hands, pushing away a plate of cookies brought out by the old lady. Charmy intervened, pushing Espio out of the way as he put his hands on the plate.

"Don't mind him, ma'am. I'll happily take those for you!"

Vector lightly smacked Charmy on the head, causing him to reel his hands back to rub the injured spot.

"WHA-?! Hey, what the heck dude?!"

"Sorry for the trouble there. We appreciate the gesture, but it really wouldn't feel right taking something we don't deserve."

The old lady smiled, placing the cookies down on a nearby table.

"Well, aren't you a fine young man?"

"I try to do my best, ma'am."

"Vector, we should get to the next location. Charmy is becoming rather unbearable." Espio called out, Charmy tugging and pulling on him as he was being restrained.

"Oh, come on Espio! They're right there, why is it such an issue?!" 

"Right...I'll be right over." Vector turned to leave, suddenly being stopped by the old lady's hand lightly grabbing onto his wrist. He looked to see what was up, catching a few tears swelling up in her eyes before she quickly wiped them away with her other hand.

"I hope you all can bring him back home safely. His presence here is missed very dearly..."

Vector's lips slightly curled into a frown before he managed to stop himself, quickly transitioning into a smile.

"You have my word that we'll find him."

Truthfully, I doubt we'll find him alive.

[Chaotix Detective Agency] Log 4

Nothing was written down, words replaced by a large bloodstain splattered across the page.

Vector, Espio, and Charmy opened the doors to a giant warehouse, just outside the confines of the city, Charmy immediately flying through the entry way as he began buzzing in-between massive piles of crates and boxes. Vector yelled at him to come back, but to no avail, Espio putting a hand on his shoulder as the crocodile looked down in defeat.

"What are we on the lookout for here? There's no one in sight as far as I'm aware." 

"There have been multiple reports of foul odors and some 'shadowy figures' coming in and out of the building at night. All speculations and rumors from the looks of it, but it does tie quite well with the reports we've been getting so far."

Vector lifted his head up, sighing.

"Seeing as Charmy refuses to get down, I suppose we'll let him scout the area for us. That is why we brought him, after all."

Espio looked around, a little confused.

"I smell nothing, and my senses are telling me..."

His head perked up slightly as he would then get into a defensive stance.

"We're being watched."

"Huh-"

Vector suddenly heard the sound of rustling coming from above, him too quickly getting into a defensive stance as he moved his head to where the sound was coming from. Cloaked in shadow, located between the pipes stretched across the upper walls, rested a single glowing eye.

Meanwhile, Charmy had landed upon one of the many crates lining the warehouse, its surface filled to the brim with various sizes of boxes. Tilting his head a bit upon seeing the sheer number of boxes, he decided to approach them, hoping to find something useful amidst their contents. As he got closer, however, he could see that some of the boxes were partially soaked in a strange liquid, dripping from their corners and piling up on the crate's surface. 

"What the hell is that?"

He placed a hand on one of the wet spots, raising it up to his nose as he sniffed the liquid that had tracked onto his glove. 

"It reeks! What could this possibly..." 

"Holy crap."

He rushed over to the pile of boxes, pushing a few aside as quickly as he could without toppling the entire pile. The sound of something dropping could be heard, before a strange round object rolled into Charmy's view. He quickly backed off, putting the clean hand over his mouth, pupils shrinking in utter shock. 

It was a severed head, rolling around freely before bumping into the corner of one of the boxes. Dripping from the base of the neck was a fresh pool of crimson blood.

Charmy immediately began to fly, making his way back toward Vector and Espio in a panic. Noticing the sound of buzzing growing closer, the two turned their heads away from what they had seen prior and focused in on Charmy.

"You guys, I found something major!" Charmy yelled out in a frantic cry, almost sounding like it was one calling for help. Espio turned his full attention to Charmy, raising his head up to respond, but was quickly called to by Vector.

"Espio, out of the way!"

The chameleon moved his concentration to the left, catching a glimpse of a figure rapidly approaching his location. Before it could reach him, however, it was abruptly swatted out of the way by Vector's claw, being flung off to the side and rolling a few times before slamming into a pile of boxes, all of them crashing down on top of it.

"How could this have possibly come to be?" Espio muttered, now focused on the boxes that had just fallen. From the darkness recently uncovered by their fall, multiple sets of eyes shot their deadly glares back at him.

"I didn't sense them at all, not even a hint."

He quickly reached to pinch his nose.

"But now, it's like my senses have been set into overdrive. The smell of blood, it's rushing by all at once."

"You're telling me you couldn't catch even a whiff of any of this?!" Vector called out, he too left in utter shock at the sight of so many figures.

"You guys, I don't mean to alarm you or anything, but something's moving!" Charmy called out, causing both Vector and Espio to adopt their defensive stances once more. Looking upon the wall of eyes cloaked in shadow, each one of them began to move forward. Converging upon each other in a group as they all emerged from the darkness, the duo was taken aback at what they were seeing. A horde of...people, suffering minor to severe gashes all over their bodies. Their nails were overgrown, and their limbs were as thin as sheets of paper... yet the speed at which they ran was far beyond that of any normal person.

As the first one approached, Espio pulled out one of his kunai, to which Vector responded by putting his hand in the way.

"We can't kill any of them... only incapacitate."

"They didn't hesitate to make an attempt on my life. We shouldn't give them the opportunity."

"We aren't heartless killers, Espio. There has to be a reason for all of this."

Espio just stared at Vector for what seemed like an eternity, before finally shaking his head, putting away the kunai.

"Fine then, I'll trust your judgement on the matter. Let us dispose of these fiends as quickly as possible-"

Just as Espio was about to finish his sentence, a shot rang out from behind the pair, a streak of blue shooting straight through a few of the civilian's heads. Vector and Espio looked back in shock to see who this had done, bearing witness to a figure jumping down from its perch atop a few boxes, a single glowing eye shooting through the darkness right toward them. A gust of wind passed by the two as the figure leapt into the air, pulling out what appeared to be a combat knife, blitzing through the horde as heads began to fly into the air. Charmy watched from above in utter disbelief, quickly snapping himself out of it before flying down to meet up with his companions. Before long, all that was left of the horde was a pile of lifeless corpses, the one-eyed figure standing atop it all, weapon still in hand. 

"Who is that supposed to be?" Charmy questioned, tilted his head toward Vector as he landed beside him.

"Do you honestly think I know who that is, Charmy?" 

"I don't know, you're pretty adept when it comes to relationships."

"And what is that supposed to mean, exactly?"

Charmy turned his glare to the side, Vector side-eyeing him in return. 

"Both of you, quiet." Espio chimed in, pointing toward the pile of boxes that had fallen previously. A hand poked its way through as the person Vector had slashed prior made their way up and out of the pile, looking over toward the lone figure atop a mountain of their allies. It then began to make its way toward them, the figure unaware of its presence. Without a second thought, Espio quickly grabbed one of his kunai, throwing it straight at the person's knee, causing them to stumble to the ground, immobilized. The figure close by jumped at the sound, turning to see the body, then turning to the source of the kunai, locking eyes with the Chaotix.

"That's sick..." Charmy blurted out, amazed at Espio's accuracy and quickness to act. Meanwhile, Vector stepped up toward the figure, who was now in clear view. A female, and by the look of their ears, a wolf. She was dressed head to toe in combat gear, a cloak wrapped around her shoulders and a mask covering her face. On it, a single glowing blue eye. In one hand, she held the combat knife she used to dispatch the horde, while the other rested upon the holster of a wisp rifle, tucked away by her side. As Vector stepped forward, she would slowly back away, slightly tripping over the pile of bodies below. 

"Who are you, and why are you here?" Vector questioned, stopping his approach when he noticed her trying to back off. 

She provided no response.

"You do understand those were people you just killed, right? Crazed and injured, perhaps, but still people."

"Are you with the Resistance? By the looks of it, you're holding some of their gear. Did you steal it, maybe?"

Still, there was no response.

"I'm going to need some answers from you, lady."

"Lifeless." She finally blurted out, pointing down toward the pile of bodies. Vector looked down as well, looking fairly confused.

"I can see that, but it still doesn't answer my questions."

"They aren't people, only living corpses. They needed to be put down."

She stepped down from the pile, still keeping a fair bit of distance from Vector. Kneeling down a bit, she pointed her knife toward one of the gashes on a corpse's body. 

"There's a lack of blood, and the wound is far too deep to warrant any chance of survival. At least... that is what I've deduced."

Upon closer inspection, Vector could see that all she said was in fact true. The wounds inflicted upon these bodies were far beyond survivable, often reaching deep enough to touch bone. Now that the group wasn't in imminent danger, all of this was becoming a lot clearer to him. Though, logic still had a hold of his mind. As the wolf stood back up, Vector cleared his throat, about to say something before he was stopped by a peculiar sight. Rising up from the pile of bodies, a lone wisp made its way to the wolf, stopping just beside her as she turned her head to greet it. From the looks of it, they were quite friendly with one another, and if that was the case...

"Before we continue with any of this, do you mind telling me your name? You sort of appeared out of nowhere without any semblance of a warning."

The wolf looked over toward Vector, a bit hesitant at first. However, the wisp quickly moved behind her, nudging her forward. Reluctantly, she began to speak.

"Whisper... My name is Whisper."

[Chaotix Detective Agency] Log 5

Upon closer inspection of the bodies, we found that many of their faces closely resembled those of the missing persons reported. Some of them are still at large, though I highly doubt they would be in better shape. Whatever seems to have happened to them looks to be from a single source, perhaps some kind of mind control, or maybe an epidemic of widespread insanity. In any case, their bodies weren't left in great shape, some often missing entire layers of skin on certain parts of their body, and all of them having deep gashes along their stomachs or arms. 

We did our best to zip up the bodies into bags, though the Resistance paramedics didn't have nearly enough to cover all of the dead. They had to make several trips just to transport them all. They suggested taking one of the bodies in for an autopsy report, which me and the other Chaotix were strongly against. Though, seeing the abnormality of it all, it was definitely the best move. The rest of the bodies will be returned to their families for proper burial.

Chapter Text

Sonic: "You know... there's more to life than just work, right?"

"If you're feeling overwhelmed, you could always go ask that knucklehead to take care of things for you while you're away."

The hedgehog turned his head, behind him a slow-rising sun beyond a watery horizon. 

Sonic: "Really, he isn't as bad as you think. I've known the guy for years now."

"He's hot-headed, I'll give you that. But when push comes to shove, I always have faith in him to get the job done."

"Besides, you could REALLY use the break."

Sonic's eyes widened a bit, cheeks blushing a slight red. He raised one of his arms, scratching the back of his head and turning it to the side.

Sonic: "I just try to help out my friends, nothing to look too deep into."

. . . side-eye . . .

"Stop looking at me like that."

He now turned his head forward again, looking straight ahead.

Sonic: "I just don't want to see you work yourself half-to-death."

"Amy."

The sunlight got just a little brighter.

"Amyy." 

The call grew longer and louder, now echoing all around as if reverberating on invisible walls. The sunlight now became blinding, Sonic's figure fading into white.

"Yo, Ames, you awake?" Sonic lightly shook her by the shoulder. Amy slowly opened her eyes, sitting up on her chair before turning her head to face the other hedgehog, jumping at the sight of him.

Amy: "How long have you been standing there?! Did you not think to knock, maybe?"

Sonic: "Thing is... I did knock, plenty of times actually."

Amy stared at him with a grumpy expression.

"I'll... knock louder next time, promise."

Sonic walked around to the other side of her desk, seating himself on its edge. 

"Place is looking snazzy as always. Do anything different with the lighting?"

Amy: "Great way to change the topic, Sonic."

Sonic: "Maybe it's something to do with the brick work..." 

A light chuckle came out of Amy's mouth, followed by Sonic swiftly turning to face her.

"And there it is, that's what we're lookin' for."

Amy: "Shut up."

The blue hedgehog made his way off the desk, dusting himself off a bit before crossing his arms, now fully facing the other hedgehog.

Sonic: "So then, I'm assuming you called me over to talk about the live specimen, right?"

"Has the team made any progress on it? Do we know what inflicted those wounds?"

Amy frowned, putting her hand up to her chest, fist clenched. 

Amy: "Well... shortly after we took them into our care, they died before we could get any real data. We only managed to do the basics, a few surface level scans."

. . .

"It was a horrible sight, Sonic."

She pulled up a projection using a remote she had grabbed off the desk, displaying both the autopsy report and a few pictures of the actual corpse.

"Multiple wounds reaching past muscle and striking the bone. Numerous fractures around the base of the neck, along with cracks lining the cranium."

"Not to mention... it was a complete mess when we reached the brain. "

The projection flickered, now switching to a view of the subject's brain. It was shriveled, numerous protrusions sticking out of the stem, almost like roots. Sonic gagged, putting his hand up to his mouth as to not puke.

"I won't judge you for throwing up. It's taking all I have just not to-"

Amy stumbled a bit, growing dizzy as she quickly caught herself on the desk. Sonic, in an instant, was right by her side, holding her upwards with one hand and turning the projection off with the other.

Sonic: "Let's just... skip the details, before one of us ends up on the floor."

"Did you get anything out of it? Do we know what exactly we're dealing with?"

He set Amy down on her chair, allowing her to rest before she eventually pushed him away.

Amy: "They called it a sort of 'virus', or at least that's the best description the folks in the lab could come up with."

"Even when the body had stopped moving, there were still signs of growth on a cellular level. It died out over time, but there was something going on in the brain."

"Apparently, those branches had been growing for quite a while before we got ahold of the body."

"Outside of that... there's not much else to report on."

Amy put her hand to her face, clearly frustrated. Sonic reached out his hand.

"We're left in the dark here, and we have no idea if there are any others out there."

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see Sonic, a concerned look plastered on his face.

Sonic: "I get it, the situation's pretty tense."

"I won't say there's not a lot on my mind as well, but I think it's in your best interest to take it easy."

"As far as I'm aware, the 'infected' have already been taken care of. There's no need to make a scene just yet."

He took his hand off her shoulder, giving her a light tap. She looked up at him, giving a slight smile.

Amy: "I guess you're right about that. There's just been so much going on these past few days."

She suddenly sat up a bit.

"Oh, that reminds me... do you think you'll be able to talk to Tails about this? The research would go a lot faster with him around."

Sonic paused, a little hesitant to answer.

Sonic: "I... don't think it would be a good idea to bring him into all of this. He still won't come out of his workshop after what happened on our last mission."

"Besides, he's still a kid after all. I want to try and keep the graphic stuff away from him."

Amy clasped her hands together, a little embarrassed at what she had suggested.

Amy: "No, you're absolutely right. I shouldn't be hasty with things."

Sonic: "Ah, don't beat yourself up over it. I can tell there's a lot going through your head right now."

"I'll try to help out as much as I can."

"You've always got me in your back pocket, just remember that the next time you try working yourself half-to-death."

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Why are you just staring at me like that?"

Amy quickly averted her gaze, looking down at the floor.

Amy: "Nothing, you just reminded me of something, that's all."

"I take it you're on your way out then?"

Sonic: "If that's all for now, then yeah. I'll do what I promised and see if I can find anything useful to report."

"You just promise me not to worry so much."

. . . A small chuckle could be heard, Amy slightly hunching over in her seat trying to hide it.

Amy: "I'll do my best then."

Sonic made his way toward the door, before abruptly stopping. He took some time to straighten his posture, causing Amy to tilt her head in confusion.

Sonic: "And, you know... if it makes you feel any better, after all of this is said and done..."

"...we could hang out sometime, just the two of us."

. . .

. . .

. . .

Amy's face turned a bright red.

Amy: "You're... talking about a date, aren't you?"

Sonic's quills stood on end. He didn't dare turn around.

. . .

"I would..."

Sonic's figure completely vanished; the door being flung wide open as the hedgehog sped out of the room before Amy could finish her sentence.

"...like that."

She was left in the room, alone. However, she was anything but sad.

In fact, a smile was plastered on her face, wider than the ones before.

Chapter Text

Darkness, illuminated only by a small red light at its center. That is what Tangle woke up to, her body sprawled out on the ground.

She stood up, dazed and confused, eyes darting around in search for anything else. 

Tangle: "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"

Her call was met with a cold silence, which didn't seem to bother her much. If there was someone out there, she'd just have to find them... that's all.

She took a few moments to walk around, tilting her head in all directions to get a better view of the distance. There was no one, though at times she thought she saw some motion. Only the dark; shadows adopting motion in her mind.

"Where's the village... why can't I see it?" She thought to herself.

Admittedly, she began to panic. even waving her arms around frantically to get a feel for anything. "Grab my hand, whoever's out there! Take it and lead me out of this place!" Echoed throughout her mind, louder than she could ever yell. 

No one caught her gaze, and there was nothing to feel. As if she was placed within a sensory deprivation chamber, any and all feeling was completely lost. The only thing that gave her confidence was the fact she could still feel her own body, hear her own footsteps.

She turned around, still trying to get a grasp at where she was. That's when something finally caught her attention.

The red light, which she had noted before, was now moving closer. Squinting her eyes to get a better look, Tangle realized that the light had a source; a small red orb, floating just above the ground.  It carried no sound, and when it finally reached her, it simply bumped up against her torso and froze. 

Then, it began to beat. The strange red orb released a resonating pulse throughout the darkness, filling Tangle's ears with sweet, all-encompassing sound. 

Tangle: "And what are you supposed to be?"

She wrapped it within both palms, lifting it up to eye level. The orb was reflective, and Tangle could see her own face peering back through the surface. 

"Peculiar little round thing, aren't you?"

Tangle [Mind]: "Where did it come from?"

There was a voice ringing in her head the moment she grabbed the orb. It sounded exactly like her, so she assumed it was her own thoughts.

Tangle: "I don't know..."

Tangle [Mind]: "Then why are you holding it like that?"

Tangle: "I was curious, that's all."

"Don't need to make such a big deal out of it."

Why was she questioning herself to such a degree, and why did it speak up so abruptly?

Tangle [Mind]: "Do we even know where we are?"

Tangle: "It feels familiar, I don't know why. There isn't a sense of urgency anymore."

What was she saying just now? Of course there's a reason to be worried, she has to get back.

Tangle [Mind]: "Where is your focus wandering off to? Do you not care for your people?"

Tangle: "No, that's not it at all!"

Her voice echoed throughout the darkness, reverberating across walls she couldn't see. 

"But there's nothing here as far as I can tell. Not a single door, window, or entrance of any kind."

Was she giving up just now?

Tangle [Mind]: "Yelling isn't going to get us anywhere, no one can hear you."

Tangle: "I'm scared, it's just my nerves acting up."

She began to sweat, and her lips became rather dry. This bugged her quite a bit.

Her breathing quickened, and she could now hear her own heartbeat. It was like a clamp had fastened itself around her chest, squeezing with all its might. The feeling caused her muscles to tense up, as the hands that were used to hold the orb suddenly seized, causing it to slip from her grasp. She quickly realized what had happened, moving her head down to follow its trajectory and attempt to catch it. 

Tangle [Mind]: "Well that's a little odd..."

A figure, coated in a magenta veil, held the orb in its cupped hands. There were no features present on its face, and the shape of its body perfectly mimicked Tangle's own. In fact, it was as if she were looking into a tinted mirror.

tANGLE: "You're supposed to be dead, and corpses can't feel a thing."

At that moment, a gruesome image burrowed its way deep within Tangle's subconscious. She stood at the edge of her village, arms held out in front of a silhouette with its hand lodged deep within her chest.

She took a step back, quickly feeling around the chest for any sign of injury. To her relief, there was nothing.

tANGLE: "Don't bother with the antics. It was only your body that was damaged."

"Unless it's something of deep-rooted trauma, the spirit usually stays intact."

The coated figure stood up, orb still in its grasp. Upon closer inspection, Tangle swore she could see some resemblance of feature on its face. Indents of eyes, as well as the small bump of a nose, were beginning to form.

Tangle: "Who... or rather, WHAT are you?"

tANGLE: "Do you not recognize your own face?"

Tangle: "DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP! I can't see anything on that stupid face of yours!"

"if you're some kind of copycat, you're doing a poor job here!"

At Tangle's response, the figure tilted its head in some kind of fascination. The bottom of its face began to curl and twist, a slit etching itself across the surface. It opened wide, revealing a row of 'teeth', as a massive grin was now plastered on the thing's face.

tANGLE: "Better?"

Tangle: "You... still haven't answered my question."

She couldn't breathe, not even to muster the slightest huff of air. 

tANGLE: "I wasn't wrong before. You and I are now one and the same."

"I am the 'you' that is, and the 'you' that will be."

"You're in the process of coming to that realization, and so is your body."

It held up the orb, tilting it forward toward Tangle. This time, she couldn't even see her own reflection.

"It's the reason I'm even able to interact with it at all."

Tangle: "And what is 'it' supposed to b-"

tANGLE: "Your WILLPOWER."

It cut her off mid-sentence.

"It's actually the reason why we're talking in the first place. Despite what's happened on the outside, you're in complete denial."

"You've yet to move on from the events your body has already experienced, running around like a chicken with its head cut off."

Tangle: "Cut this out already, will you?"

Tangle balled up one of her fists, holding it up high to face the figure dead on.

"I can still breathe in the air..."

She couldn't.

"...there's still the cold sensation of the wind across my fur..."

There was no wind.

Her other hand began to seize up, each finger twitching as she tried to close it.

"...and I still have strength in my limbs to face you. So, what makes you think I'm dead?"

Truth was, she had no doubt in her mind that whatever had happened ended her life. However, as the figure stated, her WILLPOWER stopped her from truly giving in to such a bold claim.

All strength and feeling was gone, but despite that... Tangle wanted to take whatever dignity she had left and put it on display for all to see. Call it a last-ditch effort or going out in a blaze of glory, but the last thing she wanted to do was die a meaningless death.

A display of heroism, just like him... with a smile always plastered on his face. Sonic the Hedgehog, the one Tangle looked up to her whole life.

The figure kept its same posture as before, only tilting its head in response to her speech. It shot her a warm, yet cold smile. 

tANGLE: "Whatever you choose to do now only validates my actions."

"The more you try to show off, the stronger your spirit becomes. You're throwing twigs on an already raging inferno, and I appreciate it."

Suddenly, Tangle lost her balance, tilting sideways as she began to fall to the floor. Looking down at her legs, she realized they were crumbling away.

"But there comes a point where people like you need to realize their place in the world."

"If it weren't for me, your spirit would simply wither away into nothingness. I'm the one still tethering what's left of you to this body, but don't get the wrong idea."

"From the moment you died, everything you once were has belonged to me."

"You'd do best not to look all high-and-mighty, pet."

Tangle's upper half hit the floor, her arms desperately squirming around, trying to pull her forward toward the figure. Her expression... utterly mortified, with tears filling up in her eyes. But, before even the first one could drop, her being was reduced to nothing but particles floating around in the air, aimless.

Back in the real world, Tangle-or what was left of her-stood over the decaying body of an unknown person. She then looked down at her chest, the Phantom Ruby nestled deep in the flesh, incorporating itself as if it was supposed to be, like it had always been, a part of her.

She turned, walked into the scorched remains of her small village.

Chapter Text

[Flashback]

The sound of footsteps echoed through the hallways of the Space Colony ARK, two figures coming into view-just rounding a corner. Maria, dragging along Shadow by his wrist, skipped ahead without a care in the world. Her feet tapped along the ground like a trained dancer, jumping ahead several feet at a time, and causing Shadow to stumble over himself.

Maria: "Come on now, before I leave you in my dust!"

Shadow couldn't help but smile, speeding up a bit as Maria was taken aback, now being tugged by the hedgehog who had taken the lead. 

"That's more like it!"

Her skip turned into a run, as the two dashed across the open facility. Maria began to burst out laughing, and Shadow's smile widened into a grin. The two rounded another corner, finding themselves inside one of the many observatories overlooking the inter-connecting facilities of the ARK, Maria's eyes widening in an expression of awe. While distracted, her foot caught on a small piece of metal sticking up from the ground, causing her to fall face-first. Shadow quickly stopped after hearing the loud thud, turning around to find Maria slowly picking herself up. His expression turned into one of concern.

Shadow: "Maria!"

He rushed to her aid, lifting up her head to check for any sign of injury. Maria slightly shook him off.

Maria: "It's ok, I'm ok-it doesn't even hurt."

A streak of blood ran down her nose, immediately catching the hedgehog's attention. He leaned in closer, grabbing at her face as he examined it.

Shadow: "Your nose is bleeding, though."

She looked down to notice the blood, quickly raising her hand to wipe it away and cover her nose.

Maria: "No, don't worry about that! It's just a bit of snot, that's all."

"I'm fine, really Shadow."

Maria stood up, lowering her hand as she walked past Shadow towards the observatory window. As the hedgehog turned his head to follow her, he caught a glimpse of her bloodied hand. She quickly pulled it up to wipe with a handkerchief. He still couldn't shake away his fear.

Stopping right in front of the glass, Maria turned towards Shadow and pointed at it. She had a wide grin on her face, her nose slightly red from the fall.

"Come on, this is what I wanted to show you!"

Shadow walked over, placing his hand on the window as he looked out to see what she was talking about. The various expansions of the Space Colony ARK floated ahead, connecting to form a grandiose structure. 

Shadow: "The ARK?"

Maria: "No, silly! Look at what's below it!"

The hedgehog shifted his attention down, catching a glimpse of the Earth. A coat of jade green wrapped around its surface, spreading out like waves of the ocean and shining brighter than even the most precious of diamonds. Shadow's eyes slightly widened, the light reflecting off of his cornea. A blush of red washed over his face-not made of embarrassment, but of his overwhelming fascination.

Maria smiled, gaining that same shine in her eyes.

"It's called an aurora, and it's the first time I've ever seen one!"

She too placed her hand on the window, moving it across the surface as her fingers wrapped around the planet's outline.

"They're a natural light phenomenon, and we can even see them from way up here!"

"Grandad told me about them a while ago, so I did a bit of my own research. Turns out, ones like these are really once-in-a-lifetime occurrences." 

Shadow was lost for words, continuing to look into the aurora and its beautiful expansion over the planet. 

Shadow: "The Doctor... where is he now?"

Maria slightly lowered her gaze. Shadow noticed this, turning his head and taking a step closer towards her.

Maria: "He hasn't come out of his office yet since yesterday."

Her eyes got a little glossy, causing Shadow to step up, grab her hand to squeeze. She took notice, turning her head and offering up an obviously forced smile.

"Sorry, I just don't want to keep the two of you like this-to be a burden."

Shadow averted his gaze for a moment, looking toward the aurora down on Earth. His eyes reflected the sight, the planet's glow shining onto his black fur and bringing a bit of color. 

Shadow: "If you want my opinion, I think it's quite beautiful, Maria."

Her eyes widened as she looked back toward the planet. Her smile became a little less forced.

Maria: "Do you really think so?"

Shadow: "Yes."

She perked up.

Maria: "You know, they can also appear in all sorts of colors! Maybe, someday, we can see a red one... then you'll be matching!"

"And that's not all... it also-"

Before she could finish her though, Maria fell into a violent coughing fit caused by her overstimulation. Shadow rushed to her side as she fell to her knees. The hedgehog placed his hands around her, helping Maria stay upright as her back arched from each cough. After a little while, it settled down, Maria taking a moment to breathe and regain her composure. Shadow looked down toward where her head leaned, noticing a few splotches of blood scattered around the floor. 

Shadow: "Maria, you really shouldn't exert yourself like that."

The girl chuckled a bit, reaching out her hand to which Shadow responded by placing it in his.

"You need to conserve your strength. The Doctor doesn't want your condition to worsen."

Maria relaxed a bit, lowering her body forward. Blood that was still dripping from her mouth made its way to the floor.

"Please, don't try to move. Stay there and rest, I'll go get something to clean this up."

Maria: "There are so many other things I would like to show you."

Maria squeezed Shadow's hand, but the hedgehog didn't mind.

"Many beautiful, living creatures and flora. I want to go someday, even if it's far off into the future."

"So I have hope that one day, both you and Grandad will find a cure to my sickness."

She looked up at Shadow, tears forming in her eyes. A streak of blood ran down from the base of her lip to her chin, still there from her ravenous coughing fit.

"It will be a wonderful experience, you'll see."

[End of Flashback]

Transitioning back to the present, Shadow stood face-down, facing what was left of Spiral Hill Village. Laying right in front of him were the charred remains of a villager, their arms reaching toward the sky in a display of agony.

Shadow: "It doesn't look like there are any survivors. Whoever did this made sure of that."

The hedgehog lifted his head, quickly surveying the rest of the village for anything or anyone else. Scattered along the charred ground were other corpses, sprinkled with shattered glass from the building windows which had long since collapsed.

Shadow furrowed his brow, the sight making even him uncomfortable. As he began to make his way further into the village, the overwhelming scent of burning flesh forced its way into his nostrils. It enveloped, sending his head into a loop as he became somewhat disoriented by the putrid smell. 

"And if there were any... all of them would have been snuffed out by this smoke."

He let out a cough, covering his mouth with his hand.

"The best I can do is return with a report. Nothing here can be salvaged."

"I need to inform Amy of this failure-"

Footsteps came from behind the hedgehog, causing him to swiftly turn around. He was met face to face with someone crawling out from one of the crumbled houses.

Shadow [Mind]: "I didn't even notice them until they started to move."

It was a lemur, sporting a long, bushy tail. They used it to lift up pieces of debris, making their way out into the road before catching Shadow's gaze. Upon closer inspection, it looked to be a female.

"And they don't seem to be injured; despite the fact they just crawled out of the rubble."

Tangle: Hello! Is someone out there? I can't see very well with all of the dust!"

This part of the road was relatively clear.

Shadow: "Were you in that building when it collapsed?"

She quickly lifted her head up to meet his gaze, breathing a sigh of relief before taking a few steps forward. Shadow hesitated for a second, reeling himself back. For some odd reason, he didn't trust her approach.

Tangle: "No, thankfully... just trying to check for any survivors."

"Are you by chance one of them?"

A wave of doubt flushed over the hedgehog. He hadn't bothered to check through the rubble due to the degree of damage. If there were any survivors, it would be safe to say they would already be knocking on Death's door. A morbid, yet reasonable assumption to make given the circumstances.

Shadow [Mind]: "And the way she only crawled out once I got close enough. Had she not heard me before this?"

This girl wasn't telling the truth.

Shadow: "I'm just a passerby."

Tangle seemed to let out a sigh of relief, placing a hand on her chest. Shadow could have sworn he saw a faint glow.

Tangle: "Then you must be with the resistance, right? 

Shadow: "I never said that."

He took a step back. Noticing this, Tangle took a step forward.

Tangle: "You didn't, but I just assumed so because of your call to action."

Why was she so eager to get close?

Shadow: "Stay where you are, and don't make any sudden movements. I still have no idea who you are."

Tangle tilted her head, squinting in confusion.

Tangle: "Oh, well as I said, I just came to assess the damage and see if there was anyone to save. There's no need for suspicion, we're both on the same side here."

She gestured with her fingers, pointing between the two of them as a symbol of "unity".

"Are you sure the fumes aren't messing with your head?"

She took another step forward.

Shadow: "I told you, not another fucking step. Don't make me repeat myself.

It came out, all at once. There shouldn't be this much cause for alarm, but something about the situation just didn't add up. Whoever this person was... whatever they said... none of it felt like the truth. Shadow settled his hand off to the side, hovering over the grip of a pistol nestled within its holster.

Shadow [Mind]: "There's a lack of marks anywhere on her body. If she had been digging through the debris, wear and tear would be visible."

"Not to mention, she didn't try to call out to me when I first arrived... when I signaled for survivors."

"And her chest... there's a reason she placed her hand there. I can see something peeking through the cracks of her fingers."

Tangle reared her head back a bit, noticing the firearm.

Tangle: "Woah, hold on just a minute! There's no need for hostility; I've already told you why I'm here!

. . .

"You're not going to shoot me with that, are you?"

He kept his hand over the gun, looking her dead in the eyes. She took a moment to process this, before letting out a slight chuckle.

"Okay, I can see that the tension is pretty high. Why don't we take a minute to calm down and maybe talk things out?"

She nudged herself forward just a tiny bit. 

Without hesitation, Shadow reached down for his pistol, swiftly raising it up in the air before firing off a single shot. The bullet travelled the distance between them in a second, tearing through Tangle's knee and leaving her on the ground. She screamed out in pain, fingers curling and head reeling back as a pool of blood formed underneath her leg.

Lowering the gun, Shadow took a step forward.

Shadow: "You're lucky I didn't go for the head. I told you not to make any sudden moves."

"If you're smart, you won't try anything else. I'll help you with that wound of yours."

He began to walk toward her, before suddenly stopping. Tangle's cries had abruptly stopped, as she lifted her head up to meet his gaze. 

Tangle began to laugh, catching the hedgehog off guard.

Tangle: "You actually shot her just now! I honestly didn't believe you had the guts."

She rolled over, now facing the sky as her knee was fully visible. Flesh was torn apart, and small pieces of bone were sticking out.

That wasn't normal, at least not for the caliber of round Shadow used. The flesh must have already been weakened by something.

"But here we are, knee blown to bits and the dirt coated in blood."

"Pretty bold... quite rare in people."

The injury slowly began to heal, much to Shadow's disbelief. The pieces of bone sunk back into the flesh, and the skin folded in on itself to close the wound completely. Tangle gave the hedgehog a wide grin.

"Let's see if you can hold that same bravado." 

Chapter Text

Without even a moment to comprehend what was happening, Shadow met face-to-face with a spike that had uprooted itself from the dirt. Tilting his head back as soon as it came into view, the spike snagged a bit of his fur on the way up. The hedgehog staggered back, immediately trying to regain focus on his primary target, realizing that Tangle had vanished.

Shadow [Mind]: "Shit... I only took my eyes off of her for a second!"

His focus shifted all over the place, looking for any possible sign of movement. He was about to turn his head to the right when a large gust of wind blew right past him, and Tangle appeared on his left. 

Tangle: "Look at you, searching aimlessly like a lost puppy!"

Shadow only had a moment's notice to turn his gaze before the lemur lunged one of her hands forward, sending out another smaller spike from the base of her palm. It tore through her own flesh; its tip soaked in blood as it advanced toward the hedgehog's left eye.

He reacted swiftly, raising his hand to catch the spike before it progressed any further. It squirmed and struggled within his palm, even cutting through the fabric of his glove and at his skin a few times. Shadow winced in pain, while Tangle looked at him with a grin. This only agitated him, as he retaliated with a quick snap of his wrist, breaking the spike in two. Tangle's eyes widened in minor shock.

"Oh?"

Turning his body, Shadow reached forward with his other arm to grab Tangle's outstretched wrist, pulling her in as he thrust his opposite palm upwards into her elbow, causing the entire arm to snap. He could hear her gasp as he did this, to which he responded by planting a kick straight into her open mouth, sending the lemur flying back. 

Her body went limp, bouncing off of the dirt repeatedly before coming to a stop a good distance away. Shadow took a moment to inhale, raising up his cut hand to inspect the damage. There were small spots of blood that stained his ripped glove, but nothing that brought much concern.

Shadow [Mind]: "I didn't sense much strength behind that attack-at least not when compared to their speed."

"Which means there's almost definitely something else they're relying on."

He glanced down at the broken-off spike, which lay in the dirt. It still had bits of the lemur's flesh stuck to its tip, as well as a few bloodstains.

"Solid material, and it snapped in the same fashion as her arm..."

Shadow shivered at the thought, though he remained grounded and calm.

"It's her own bone, either extracted or constructed. But what's making the body so mailable?"

Meanwhile, Tangle had managed to sit herself up from the dirt, glaring at Shadow as she propped up her broken arm. A few chuckles escaped from her lips, before she settled herself.

Tangle [Mind]: "I didn't expect it to break so easily. Had I known how strong this rodent was, the approach would have been different."

The flesh of her arm began to meld itself together, outstretching and growing beyond the exposed bone of her elbow. Swiftly and suddenly, the arm snapped itself into place, garnering not even a grunt from the lemur. She slowly began to stand up, before a pool of blood spat from her mouth and onto the ground. Looking down, she realized that her jaw was completely broken. It dangled, swinging side-to-side with the blowing wind and spilling blood off both edges of the bottom lip.

"Troublesome... pesky little rodent."

She took her hand, grabbing the bottom of her jaw and pushing it up into place. Newly grown flesh molded around the bits which were torn, and soon enough the bone-as well as its outside muscle and skin-had been completely healed.

"I thought it was his speed at first, but that can't account for all of the damage... not to mention the delay to my healing factor."

"Even now, there's a surge of foreign energy that simply refuses to let me utilize my power to its full extent. He tied a rope around me and continues to tug."

Tangle stood up, rolling her neck and getting in a few good stretches. She locked eyes with Shadow, who had already taken up a fighting stance.

Tangle: "You have one of them, don't you?"

Shadow: "I don't know what you're talking about."

He did, but he couldn't reveal anything to the enemy.

Tangle let out a sigh in response, raising up her hands to make a shape in the air with her fingers. She traced the outline of an emerald.

Tangle: "I'm sure you know exactly what they are; the Chaos Emeralds."

"The energy's all wrong here, don't think you can hide it."

Tangle [Mind]: "Although, there was something else behind that kick of his."

"Some of it came from an outside source, I'm sure of it. However, a tiny bit of that energy seemed to surge out from the point of contact."

"As if it had already been flowing throughout his entire body..."

Shadow watched as Tangle's expression changed, her lips curling into a cheeky smile. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but he still kept his stance tight in case she decided to make a move. Seeing her in action helped him gauge the situation, though there were still too many unknowns to dive into the fight head-first.

Shadow [Mind]: "She was able to create both spikes out of seemingly thin air, and at an almost instantaneous rate."

"It could just be basic construction; not common, but certainly not unknown."

He thought back to the start of their encounter, when he saw something on her chest that reflected the light.

"But it can't just be that, not after everything that's happened over the past few months."

"The shine on her chest... the way she went to conceal whatever it was... all of it points to THAT."

Shadow perked his head up a bit.

Shadow: "Like I said before, I don't know what you're on about."

"If your plan is to make small talk, it's not going to work on me."

Tangle: "There's really no point in denying it, I know exactly what you're hiding from me."

"But there's no point in trying to get a response out of you." 

Her arm began to twitch, as the flesh grew outwards and split off into multiple sharp tendrils.

"I'll just have to rip it away from your corpse once we're done here."

She would slam the fleshy mass into the ground, as the tendrils spread like roots through the dirt. Shadow stepped back, bringing his arms up to guard as the tendrils shot up like sprouts, thrashing about with no clear direction. He began to move, swatting a few away and covering the ground between him and Tangle. Even more began to shoot up from the ground, attempting to wrap around the hedgehog. Shadow responded with a flurry of Chaos Spears, each one slicing through tentacles like butter. Tangle took note of this, flinching a bit from this surge of chaos energy.

Tangle [Mind]: "It's just as I had suspected. That energy isn't coming from the emerald... but it's radiating from his entire being!"

"Like his body has been fine-tuned to its frequency and power!"

She gripped the arm that had been supplanted into the dirt. Flesh began slowly tearing off from its surface.

"I haven't had enough time to get accustomed to this body yet, so exerting myself like this is a gamble."

"But if I can draw out his potential just a little bit longer... I'll have just about everything I need to end this."

The frequency of tentacles erupting from the ground increased exponentially. Shadow's eyes darted from left to right, trying to keep up with the rapid succession of attacks. 

Shadow: "Trying to overwhelm me, are you?"

He locked eyes with Tangle, who met his gaze with a smirk.

Tangle: "I thought we were done with the small talk."

"Besides, what difference does it make? Knowing you're being overwhelmed is only the first step of the process."

At this point, the hedgehog was surrounded at all sides while mid-air. He kept eye-contact with Tangle, not the slightest bit fazed by any of it.

Tangle [Mind]: "He's trapped, and I've blocked off all possible routes of escape."

"There's no other choice... he has to use it."

Her smirk turned into a grin.

Tangle: "Getting out of this will depend on whether or not you-"

In an instant, the tendrils that had the hedgehog surrounded were simultaneously cut to ribbons, streaks of green cutting through their pieces like blades. 

Tangle [Mind]: "When did he... I didn't even see it in his hands..."

Shadow: "You people are so obvious it's almost sad."

The lemur's expression changed to one of shock, as she slowly looked up from where she was staring. Shadow was still in the air, only a little higher than before.

"All of your confidence, the way you wear a smirk like it's some medal of honor."

The image of Sonic flashed in Shadow's mind as he said this. It pissed him off to a great extent.

"You expected me to have it in my hand, didn't you?"

Tangle held the shocked expression, her eyes becoming bloodshot as a feeling of anger boiled up inside.

Tangle: "This... little rodent..."

Shadow: "I won't even grant you that small of a victory."

The lemur tried pulling her arm from the ground in order to direct an attack to Shadow's current position, but before she could steady her aim, the hedgehog had already acted. Raising up both hands while still in the air, he inhaled before a surge of energy emitted from his body.

"Chaos Control!"

Tentacles shot from Tangle's arm, but stopped mid-approach as time itself came to a halt. The cut flesh from the previous flurry of tentacles stopped their descent, the only things landing on the ground being Shadow's feet. He looked at Tangle, her body frozen in desperation, and began to make his way toward her.

Shadow [Mind]: "The attacks that have been reported and documented on the outskirts of Sunset City have been a vocal point for the Resistance lately."

"Not to mention the disappearances, and sudden re-appearances of assault victims. At every crime scene, significant signs of struggle were left behind."

"In some instances, bodies were strewn about in their own homes... just sitting there for their families to uncover."

Shadow stopped just in front of the lemur, examining the distorted growth of flesh that had taken the place of her arm. 

"Re-animated corpses, people's livelihoods gone up in flames because of some sick, twisted plot."

Shadow: "I can't imagine the horrors you put them through."

He raised up his hand, ready to end this in a single blow. As he did, the image of Maria's face flashed in his mind. 

The hedgehog hesitated for a moment, his hand-which was now balled up into a fist-twitched. His attention was drawn to Tangle's eyes, which had lost their bloodshot state. Instead, they appeared to be rather glossy-almost tearful. As the hedgehog examined her face even more, he couldn't help but get the feeling that something was painfully wrong.

"What... the hell..."

Everything in him was screaming out to put an end to it, but something else held his fist back. As if someone or something had been placed in-between him and Tangle, Shadow couldn't bring himself to strike.

Suddenly, as Shadow hesitated, Tangle's chest began to illuminate with a reddish glow. The hedgehog's eyes widened as he saw this, stepping back a bit before reeling his fist back. 

Shadow [Mind]: "I can't give them the time to recoup! The Chaos Control will end any second now!"

This time, he sent his fist forward with every ounce of strength he had. Aiming directly at the lemur's chest, the force that had prevented him from striking before had completely vanished. The strike was allowed to pass, though before it could reach its intended target, another force stopped its trajectory completely. A barrier, showing off a magenta hue, had formed itself around Tangle. Her chest glowed even brighter than before, this time brandishing a gem which had found its way lodged within the heart.

"So, I was right to be worried before! It's exactly what I thought it was!"

Before Shadow could do anything to react, his fist was suddenly hit with a shock of electricity that shot from the barrier's surface. It caused the hedgehog to stumble back just as the constraints of his Chaos Control had ended. As soon as it did, Tangle's eyes lost their glossy look, as the lemur regained her smirk from before.

Tangle [Mind]: "You want to call me predictable, yet I knew exactly what it would take to make you hesitate."

She took a step forward as Shadow's guard was down from the electric shock, reeling back her non-mutated arm.

"It's in the hero's nature to come to the aid of helpless civilians, even if the circumstances couldn't be farther from normal."

"You knew it wasn't me back there, and that's exactly the kind of intuition I was hoping for!"

Her fingers curled like claws, as the nails increased in both length and thickness.

Tangle: "There's nothing nuanced about how you operate! It's all the same with a fresh coat of paint!"

All Shadow could do was look on as a set of razor-sharp claws made their way toward his chest.

"All of your bravado, just to end up another body on an endless pile!"

Just before the impact, something pulled Shadow's body back. While not a great distance, the sudden movement allowed his chest to narrowly avoid the claw swipe. Instead, the hedgehog's stomach was snagged, blood spitting out of the newly formed wound. The hedgehog staggered back, immediately gripping his stomach in pain as he glared at Tangle, who held a surprised look.

Tangle [Mind]: "He shouldn't have been able to dodge that."

Shadow [Mind]: "I shouldn't have been able to dodge that."

The lemur took a few moments to examine Shadow, inspecting the wound she had just made on his torso. Blood dripped down to the ground, pooling beneath his feet and staining the dirt.

Tangle [Mind]: "What the hell is going on here?"

"He should be dead... I know for certain I aimed for the chest just now."

"There's no way that rodent would have the time to dodge. It's impossible, even with the power of the emerald."

Tangle began scratching at her head a bit, skin and hair falling off in patches.

"So how the hell is he still standing?!"

She was about to yell something out, before suddenly stopping herself. Her mouth slightly ajar, Tangle's eyes were laid upon a sight she couldn't quite comprehend at first. Next to the hedgehog, knelt down and tending to his wound, was a small blonde child. She couldn't have been more than twelve, and her figure was oddly translucent sporting a golden glow. Shadow didn't seem to notice her at all. The girl turned her head, making eye contact with Tangle. Her expression was blank, yet the lemur knew there was a hint of sadness behind it. A tinge of regret... remorse... she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Tangle: "You... cheeky little bastard."

The lemur burst out into uncontrollable laughter, confusing Shadow.

Tangle [Mind]: "Of course he has something like THAT up his sleeve! The things you two must have been through!"

"She's wrapped around you like a shield! No wonder nothing seems to work!"

"Not those little scrapes on his hand... nor the giant gash across his torso!"

Shadow: "What the *COUGH* hell are you laughing at?"

She stopped laughing, resting both arms to her sides. She looked at Shadow with the same cheeky smirk he so hated.

Tangle: "Your body's already been occupied for quite some time."

Before the hedgehog could respond to this, a bright flash of red light engulfed the entire area. An overwhelming pressure enveloped his entire body, as Shadow fell to his knees. He tried getting a look at Tangle through it all, but by the time everything cleared, the lemur had vanished into thin air.

Shadow [Mind]: "Where did she go... what was that just now?"

"I need to get up so I can..."

A wireless communicator placed in Shadow's ear began to ring with static, before a voice picked up on the other end.

Amy [Radio]: "Shadow! Come in, Shadow! What happened over there?"

Before he could respond, Shadow's entire body went limp. He fell face-first onto the dirt, unconscious.

Chapter Text

[Flashback, Six Months Before Sonic Was Imprisoned]

Blaze and Amy were locked in combat. They held their fight in the courtyard of the Sol Empire Imperial Palace.

Amy put her right foot forward and dashed toward Blaze as she tried repositioning herself. The princess's eyes widened a bit while Amy's fist was sent in an uppercut toward her chin. Blaze reacted swiftly, slamming her palm into the hedgehog's wrist. This sent the uppercut off course.

Amy: "Huh?!"

Caught off guard by this sudden counterattack, Amy was left open to a frontal assault. Blaze used her other hand to muster a ball of weak flames. She slammed it into the hedgehog's chest. Amy was sent flying back, skidding on the ground as Blaze followed her. She put a foot on Amy's torso to stop her movement.

Blaze: "Looks like I've won this match as well. Though, you did catch me off guard there."

"We should finish up before even more of the area is destroyed."

Amy slowly lifted her head, embarrassed.

Amy: "I didn't expect you to have the time to react..."

"I seriously underestimated how fast you are."

The cat took her foot off, helping the hedgehog up before letting out a deep sigh.

Blaze: "That's because you rely too much on brute force."

She reached into her pocket, handing Amy a handkerchief. The hedgehog took it, wiping her face.

"You expect the opponent to waste too much time thinking. Therefore, your priority leans more toward putting as much strength into your fists as possible."

"I would call it a basic strategy, and it is. But most expect more complex approaches."

Blaze closed her eyes and shrugged.

"So, in that regard, sticking to something so simple isn't a bad idea."

Blaze snapped her fingers, a small fire lighting at the pointer's tip.

"However, it's important to exercise parallel processing in any fight."

"Learn multiple approaches, then implement them in the middle of combat."

Amy stood there, a bit of steam coming off of her head. She looked dazed after that info dump.

Amy: "I completely understood everything you just said."

She brought up one of her hands, pinching her fingers.

"But could you say it just... one more time."

Blaze sighed.

Blaze: "You have changed, and I can see improvement. However, your old habits keep resurfacing."

"You've adopted a fighting style that is rather straight-forward."

"Just start trying to fix that, and we'll move forward."

Amy let her head down.

Amy: "Sorry-... Yeah, I have gotten a bit dull recently."

"Eggman's attacks have lacked recently. There are only the occasional Badniks."

"I suppose I've gotten used to it. How peaceful it is, I mean."

She lifted her head back up.

"Not much to think about except smashing their faces in, you know?"

She flexed her bicep a bit, much to Blaze's dismay.

Blaze: "So why did you come to me in the first place?"

"I'll have you know I'm not here to play any games. I didn't agree to train you just so you'd have something to do."

The princess reached over and grabbed the edge of Amy's dress. She wiped off a bit of dirt, and the hedgehog slowly reeled back. She appreciated it, but she could handle the cleanup herself.

Amy: "I'm... well aware of that fact, Blaze. It's not the reason I came."

"It's something else entirely, really"

Amy shook the edge of her dress, desperately trying to get the last pieces of dirt off.

"The real reason I came all has to do with ME."

She gripped her dress and squeezed. There was still some dirt left in the folds.

"I'm... unsatisfied, with my own capabilities."

Blaze tilted her head with her arms crossed.

Blaze: "And what part are you referring to?"

Amy: "The part of me that hesitates."

The hedgehog lifted up her hand, staring at the palms.

Amy: "I'd say I do relatively good in crisis situations."

"But, when it really counts, I always seem to freeze up."

"Like when Sonic was facing that Time Eater. All I could do was stand by and watch."

Blaze: "There wasn't much anyone could do in that situation."

Amy: "But what if that's what we were just telling ourselves? Why were we sitting idle while Sonic-"

Blaze walked forward, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Blaze: "If you keep comparing yourself to him, you're never going to get anywhere."

"I get you admire Sonic, but don't let that admiration cloud your judgement."

Blaze stared directly into Amy's eyes.

"Have you ever given thought to what you would do in his absence?" 

The hedgehog went quiet and Blaze let her go. She looked around at the destroyed environment and sighed.

"If you haven't, that's fine. I doubt anything bad would happen to him anytime soon."

She turned back to face Amy.

"But that train of thought holds you back. I hope you've come to realize such."

Blaze closed her eyes and turned, heading toward the palace entrance.

"I will inform the staff that we're finished. They should start on cleanup shortly-"

Amy took a step forward, her foot slamming on the ground. Blaze stopped her approach once she heard this.

Amy: "That's exactly the reason why I came to you."

"I understand completely what you're trying to say."

The hedgehog balled up her fists.

"Though hearing it from you re-affirmed my own resolve. I was... beginning to doubt myself, for a while."

Amy looked up at Blaze, who held her back toward the hedgehog.

"I don't want to be reliant on anyone."

She raised up her clenched fist.

"I want to become a leader others can put their faith in."

The princess gave her a smile.

Blaze: "Then let us start with that."

[End of Flashback]

Amy [Mind]: "Is that what I was telling myself back then?"

The hedgehog, back in the present moment, was sitting in a chair just outside of a hospital room. She kept playing with her thumbs as her fingers were clenched together. One of her foots was tapping against the floor.

"I think it was just so I could end the conversation there."

"Or maybe I did know what I wanted to do."

Her foot stopped tapping.

"But there was some point where I lost it."

She could hear feint voices coming out of the room.

"Otherwise, something like this wouldn't have happened."

Amy leaned her head forward and down, now looking at the floor.

"And I would be-"

The door to the room opened abruptly, causing the hedgehog to jolt up quickly.

Rouge: "He seems to be rather lively for someone just knocking on death's door."

"Though, I shouldn't be surprised."

The bat looked down at Amy, who stared at her wide-eyed.

"I know, he wouldn't have actually died. Shadow isn't the type to leave abruptly."

There was a small pause which gave Amy the time to re-adjust herself. Rouge took a small step forward.

"You should go in there to see him. I'm sure he would want to talk-"

Amy: "No... it wouldn't be right."

Rouge tilted her head, putting a hand on her hip.

Rouge: "Sitting out here can't be a good solution."

Amy: "It's what I intend to do."

Rouge: "And why is that?"

Amy leaned back in her chair and sighed.

Amy: "I sent him to that village, Rouge. I should have known something like this..."

The hedgehog let out a small grunt.

"I should have been more prepared."

Rouge frowned.

Rouge: "And somehow all of this is your fault?"

Amy: "It's not a question at this point."

The bat took a seat next to Amy, pushing the chair closer to her side.

Rouge: "You can't get caught up in that kind of thought process, Sweety."

"There isn't much anyone in your position could have done to prepare."

Amy moved her eyes toward Rouge.

"We hardly know anything about who's responsible, let alone what they're planning."

"As of right now, the board is swept clean-"

Amy: "I-We... can't keep telling ourselves that."

Rouge: "Excuse me?"

Amy: "Ever since Sonic was imprisoned, all it's ever been is 'swept clean'."

"And even after we managed to free him, most of us were of barely any help."

The hedgehog fully turned her head, now staring directly at Rouge.

"I thought I could make a difference-a REAL one-if I took charge. I'd fight through these restless nights if it meant proving my determination."

She turned her head away, facing a wall on the opposite end of the hall they were sitting in.

"And with how restoration was coming along, there was a moment where I truly believed I had shown everyone-"

Rouge: "So what are you trying to get at here?"

"You've failed as a leader, is that it?"

Amy: "It's not that simple-"

Rouge: "I think it is that simple."

There was a moment of silence. Amy was a bit taken back by how blunt Rouge was being.

"You've shaped your thinking around him, haven't you?"

Amy: "What are you talking about?"

Rouge scooched in a bit closer.

Rouge: "That blue hedgehog, isn't it obvious?"

"You're not thinking like yourself, and you're taking up mantles with an impossible fit Darling."

She chuckled a bit.

"There's a reason Sonic's in the fast lane compared to the rest of us-aside from Shadow, of course."

"He's operating on a completely different plane, both physically and mentally."

"Never in a million years could you hope to match him."

Amy: "Then there's no point to it."

Rouge: "Exactly."

Amy tilted her head in confusion, but Rouge quickly raised a finger to silence her.

"No point in trying to copy him, of course. But that doesn't mean you can’t get to his level.” 

"A leader can take the shape of many things, after all."

The hedgehog perked up a bit, and Rouge gave a smirk.

"All you need to do is come to the realization of who you want to be."

"The rest will follow suit shortly after. At least, in an ideal situation."

It's not as if Amy hadn't thought of the idea before. As a matter of fact, the hedgehog has presumed the path she was taking was her own. However, the thought of Sonic-as well as her own inability to act-lingered in the back of her mind like cobwebs. Expectations placed upon her by personal experiences, as well as her own self-doubt, clouded Amy's judgement. 

And with that settled, the path forward...

Amy: "...isn't as clear as I had imagined."

Rouge stood up from her chair, pushing it back into place from where she had moved it.

Rouge: "That's all there is from me."

"But if you've got the cash... perhaps I'll find a bit more."

Amy looked up at her with her disgruntled face, causing Rouge to laugh.

"Only kidding! No need to be so serious."

The bat glanced over towards the hospital room.

"You should pay him a visit though-when you're ready, of course."

She turned away, now beginning to walk away and down the hall.

"He's always talking about how he enjoys your company."

Amy perked up.

Amy: "Is that so?"

Before the hedgehog could say anything else, Rouge abruptly stopped.

Rouge: "Oh, there was something else I had to say."

She turned around to face Amy.

"It has to do with Shadow's attacker."