Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Thank you," Sapphire said to the airport clerk. Having picked up her luggage, she started making her way outside.

A slightly small mobian for her age, below average in height, Sapphire kept her yellow quills short, the two front ones on the sides with small split ends on them. Unlike most hedgehogs, she also had blonde hair framing the front of her face, bringing out her blue eyes. She wore a blue headband, a sky-blue dress with a blue jacket on top, white gloves with blue, slightly transparent wrist rings, and blue and white sneakers.

As Sapphire made her way outside, she began to look around, searching for someone. She began to get nervous. She knew she had to look for a fox mobian with two tails. She turned to ask someone about it, when she heard, "hey! Are you Sapphire the Hedgehog?"

She turned around to see a yellow-orange fox mobian with two tails, sky blue eyes, and wearing white gloves with simple metal bands, and red and white shoes.

Sapphire was quiet for a moment, taking in who she was just meeting. Then she smiled and said, "You're really him. Tails! Mechanical genius! World savior! You... you... you..."

Tails smiled and held out his hand. "No need to give praise. Just a humble mechanic, like you."

Instead of shaking his hand, Sapphire pulled back a bit. "Uh, I... I-"

Tails raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay...?"

"Uh-uh, yes, sorry... I- I'm... a little shy," Sapphire replied meekly.

"A little," Tails replied. Then he gave a small laugh. "Hey, that's okay. Let's try this again." Tails stepped back. "I'm Miles Prower, but my friends call me Tails."

"I'm... I'm Sapphire. Sapphire... the Hedgehog?"

"Okay, pleased to meet you," and Tails held out his hand again, but raised it a bit slower this time.

Sapphire shyly gripped his hand, and Tails gave her a shake. "Nice to meet you, too," Sapphire replied.

"So, are you excited?" Tails asked. "You got a chance to learn with one best mechanics in the world. Um, not to brag." Tails rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh, yeah, this is... exciting. I'm just... really nervous."

"Hey, it's okay. You're already really good. The device you sent was amazing. I mean, you made a hardlight laser!"

"It was just made from scraps. I'm not as good as you think."

"Oh, come on. Don't underplay this. I'm yeah, you could work on your durability, and learn how to put shells to cover the 'inner workings'. But that's more than most amateurs can pull off. Where'd you get the crystals, anyway?"

"Oh, I found them by exploring the mountain cliffs near my home."

"Hm, cool. So congratulations on winning the contest, and becoming my protégé. I-" Tails stopped and looked at Sapphire, who was looked more nervous than before. "Um, let's skip all that formality for now. Let's just catch the train."

Tails led Sapphire out of the airport, and traveled to the closest train station, catching the next train.

Once they were off, Sapphire starred out her window.

"So are you new to city life?" Tails asked.

"Oh, um, no. Well, I'm new to this city. But I lived in a city before. I'm from the Blue Wave Islands," she responded.

"Oh, huh, cool. Where we're going, it might be a change of pace for you."

"Okay, then. So... where are we going?"

"Oh, my home and workshop are in the Mystic Ruins, outside of the city. I set up a room for, so you can stay with me."

"Huh, that's convenient, I guess."

Tails was quiet for a bit. "Is something wrong."

"It's just... this is all so new to me. I've never had an opportunity like this before. Not to mention... I've heard so much about you. And, um, Sonic, too."

"Are you a fan?"

"Y-yes. In fact, you inspired me. I became an engineer because of you. Which I guess means, I haven't been doing this long."

"Hey, that's okay. Though, may I ask. Why engineering? If you look up to me AND Sonic, why not adventuring? Going out to see the world?"

"Mostly because I'm not as fast as Sonic... or brave, really."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"But really, I've always wanted to be... smart, I guess. I like reading. Learning. And you're really smart. Following in your footsteps made sense to me."

"Oh, that's cool. Well, it's great to meet someone as smart as you, Sapphire."

Sapphire gave a soft smile. "Thank you."

"And you know, Sonic does hang out at my place a lot, so..."

Sapphire was stunned by this. She didn't think of that. A chance to Sonic the Hedgehog. The fastest thing in the world. The world's hero. THE Sonic.

Tails gave a small chuckle. "I guess that got you excited. Little extra bonus, I suppose."

"Yeah, I can't wait!" Then Sapphire paused. "B-but, I'm here primarily to learn from you. I don't want you to think-"

"Hey, it's okay," Tails replied, stopping Sapphire. He looked outside, and smiled. "We're here!"

Sapphire looked out herself. They just exited a tunnel, as the train began to slow down. Outside, she could see cliffs, a few dropping down into the ocean, along the far edge, up into the mountains. Tails pointed over to a small area by the ocean, that was raised up in the cliffs. Sitting on the top was metal building.

"That's home," Tails told her.

All Sapphire could say was, "wow..."

They both got off as Tails led Sapphire down off the station, then over and up to his workshop.

"It may be secluded, by the quiet is nice, and I have friends who visit all the time. Though if you'd rather stay in the city..."

"No, that's fine. It'd be nice not to stay somewhere so busy," Sapphire replied quickly.

"Well, come in, come in." And Tails opened the door and led her.

Until now, Sapphire had only been in public workshops, where she was closely watched, to make sure she didn't hurt herself, by order of her old home. But here, she saw a more personalized workplace. Tools hung on one of the walls. Of few work tables, most of them cleared, with two covered in projects that seemed hastily organized.

Towards the front, two planes where parked, one red, and one blue.

"Wow, this is..." Sapphire spoke up, stunned.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I tried to clean up," Tails replied.

"No... it's fine." Sapphire looked at the planes. "So, you have two planes?"

"Yeah. The red one actually belongs to Sonic, the Tornado. But I did build the blue one myself, modeled after the Sonic's, the Tornado 2."

"That's cool. I've never... been on a plane. I mean, aside from the one I took from my home. But... I've never been in a biplane."

"Hey, if you want, I can take you out sometime."

"Uh..." the thought made her nervous. A small plane in the sky, no air cover, aside from some goggles. "Well..."

"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to answer now. And now that I think about it, you've had a long flight haven't you."

"Yeah... but I can-"

"Say no more," Tails told her. "Come with me."

Tails led her to a door in the back. He opened the door, and show her inside.

The room was simple. The metallic room's walls were bare, and there a window in the back. A bed was placed in one corner with a nightstand, a desk in another. There was also a bookcase and dresser along one of the walls, and a built-in heater/AC by the door.

"It's not much, but I figured we could decorate, make it more homely," Tails told her.

"Wait, so this is for me?" Sapphire asked.

"Yep, this is your room. I put a lot of effort in making it for you. Literally. I built this room from the ground up, adding it to the side of my workshop."

"I- I don't know what to say. Thank you. I've... I've never had my own room."

"Huh." Tails was silent for a moment. "Well, I'll give some time to rest. We can begin lessons whenever you want. Soon, preferably. Well, have a nice rest." And he stepped out to leave Sapphire to herself.

Sapphire placed her luggage next to the desk, and walked over to the bed, and she sat down on it. She grabbed the gray blanket that was laid over, and lifted it up. She then laid down, resting her head on the pillow.

This was her room. Her bed, her desk. This was a new life for her. She smiled in the thought, as she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The following morning, Sapphire began unpacking. She didn't have much, some extra clothing, some of her favorite books, and a few toiletries.

She was putting away her stuff, when there was a knock on the door. "Sapphire. Can I come in?" Tails asked on the other side.

"Um, yeah, sure. I'm good. You can come in," Sapphire replied.

Tails walked in. "Hey, I made some breakfast."

"Oh, um... what you make?"

"Just some cinnamon rolls. I wasn't sure what you would like."

"Oh, that's fine."

"...So, wait, are those the clothes you wore yesterday?"

"Yeah, um, I just, went to bed after you gave me the room... I..."

"You were tired?"

Sapphire nodded.

"Yeah, that's okay. Come on, food's getting cold."

Sapphire enjoyed her food, while Tails wrote some things down while eating.

"So, I'm betting you want to spruce up your room?" Tails asked.

"Well, yeah. I'd like to paint the walls. Maybe get some more books, and stuff for my desk..."

"How much stuff do you have?"

"Sorry, no. I have some clothes and personal items, but..."

"Hey, no worries, we'll get you some more stuff. Anyways, when did you want to start working on your, well, lessons."

Sapphire's eyes lit up. "I, um sorry, this is just so exciting. How about... this afternoon! I want to get started as soon as we can."

"Well, okay then." Tails got up. "Well, I'm going to need to set things up."

"Okay, what are we going to make first."

"Something simple, to start. Is that fine, or maybe..."

"No, that's fine, that would make a good warm-"

Suddenly, the front door opened and closed impossible fast, with a burst of blue wind.

"-up," Sapphire finished, suddenly freaked out by what just happened.

Tails gave a small chuckle. "Hey, Sonic. Back so soon?"

"Wait, what-"

"Sup, Tails." A blue hedgehog suddenly appeared beside Tails. His quills were styled into spikes. He had green eyes, and wore white gloves, and red sneakers with white straps and gold buckles.

Sapphire couldn't believe it. Tails said she might meet him, but he was really here, in front of her. "You're... you're..."

"So, who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is my new protégé. You remember the contest I set up," Tails told the blue hedgehog.

"Yeah." He turned to Sapphire. "So what's your name?"

Sapphire remained quiet.

"She's shy, apparently," Tails said.

"Oh, I see." The hedgehog held out his hand. "Nothing to be shy about. I'm-"

"You're Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sapphire blurted out.

Sonic smiled and pointed at his chest. "Yep, that's me! Sonic the Hedgehog. Faster than sound. Scrambler of Eggmans."

Sapphire laughed. "That's really funny. It's good to meet you. I'm Sapphire."

"Nice to meet you," Sonic replied, and held out his hand again.

Sapphire pulled back a bit, like before with Tails, but then grasped his hand, followed by a shake.

"Well, that went better then I thought," Tails said.

"So, when are you two tinkerers going to start tinkering," Sonic said with a smirk.

"Sapphire said she wants to start this afternoon."

"Huh, is that so." Sonic leaned towards Sapphire. "So, you're ready to learn from someone younger than you?"

Tails was younger than her, wasn't he. Sapphire didn't think about that. She was fifteen, and Tails was, what, eight? No, he should've been older than that, given the time she's heard about him. Still, he was still a kid, and much younger than her.

"Yeah, pretty impressive for my little buddy, right?" Sonic continued.

"Geez," Tails replied. "Oh, Sapphire! Important question? Do you have any protective gear? You know, a mechanics outfit, a pair of safety goggles?"

"Oh," Sapphire looked down. "I'm sorry. I didn't have a lot of my own stuff to take with me, and didn't think about that."

"No worries, we can pick some up for you. We've got some time," Sonic replied.

"Wait, huh? Wouldn't it take a while to get into town? The train-"

"Well, you don't need to take the train, when you've got my fast two feet." Sonic offered his hand to Sapphire.

Sapphire pondered this. "Well, I suppose that... I will need this stuff. And if I'm going to be staying here, I might need some more clothes anyway... And it would be nice to see more of the city."

"So, what are we waiting for?"

Sapphire looked back up and nodded, then grabbed his hand. Sonic led Sapphire back outside, speaking to Tails, "We'll be back in a few hours."

"I should have everything ready by then. Oh, and don't forget to grab lunch before you guys come back."

Sonic nodded, and exited the workshop. Once outside, Sonic scooped Sapphire in his arms.

"Woah... th-this is, um..." Sapphire stuttered, nervous

"Trust me, going this fast, this is the safest way to travel," Sonic assured her.

And in a second, they were racing off.

They had been in the city, shopping for a few hours. Sonic, the nice guy that he was, offered to pay for Sapphire's new clothes. She didn't want to get a big wardrobe, but she made sure to get the essentials.

Now, with shopping bags in tow, they were wandering around, as Sonic pointed out different locals across the city.

"...And down there, is the Casinopolis. Um, you don't gamble, do you?" Sonic asked.

"No... I much rather earn my rings through hard work," Sapphire replied. "Besides, I'm still a little young for that, and, well..."

"Eh, don't sweat it. Just curious. I've been there once, searching for something. But that was a long time ago, one of my older adventures."

"I've heard a lot about your adventures, but never really got the chance to hear the exact details. I'm sure there's a lot of fun stuff you can tell me about."

"So, where do you come from, anyway?"

"Oh..." Sapphire looked away, "um, I'm from Blue Wave Islands."

"Really? That's a resort island, right? Must've been fun, growing up there."

"Not so much."

"Huh, why?" Sonic scooted up in front of Sapphire, walking backward.

"I... um..."

Suddenly, there was a voice calling out from behind them. "SONIC!"

Sapphire turned around to see a pink hedgehog running up. She had green eyes, a lighter shade than Sonic's, and was wearing a red dress, white gloves with gold wrist rings, and red boots with white stripes on the front.

Sonic sighed. "Amy..."

"Is she a friend of yours?" Sapphire asked.

"Yeah, you could say that."

Amy caught up to them, and took a good look at Sapphire. "Hey, um, who is this?"

"Oh, this is Sapphire, she's a new friend," Sonic replied.

"New friend?" Amy replied. She sounds skeptical.

"Yeah. Actually, she's-" Before Sonic could finish, Amy got in Sapphire's face. "Um, Amy?"

"Are you trying to take Sonic from me!?"

"H-hi..." Sapphire responded.

"Sonic is MY boyfriend!"

"I- I'm not-" Sapphire froze, as Amy, out of seemingly nowhere, pulled out a large, wooden hammer, with a red hammerhead.

Sapphire shrunk back, dropping her bags. "I'm sorry. Please, I- I-" And then she burst into tears, and ran off.

As Sapphire ran off, Sonic yelled, "Amy! That's Tails' new protégé! Remember the contest thing he was doing."

"Wait, what?" Amy replied.

"Trust me, I just met her. I was helping out with some shopping, and showing her around. Also, you've got to cool it with the whole dating thing."

"No! We're meant to be together!"

Sonic just crossed his arms, and tapped his foot. "And what tells you that?"

Amy grunted in annoyance.

"So, what are you going to do about Sapphire?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I-" Amy looked around. "Wait, where did she go?”

Sapphire ran away, crying. Amy really scared her. She'd never had anyone threaten her like that. Was Sonic really that important to her? Was it a bad idea to try to be friends with him?

She slipped into an alleyway, and crouched behind a garbage bin.

"...I'm really pathetic," Sapphire said to herself, sobbing.

She sat there for a while, lost in thought.

"Hey, kid, you okay?" a new voice spoke up.

Sapphire looked up to see a human, shaggy brown hair covering his face.

"Yeah, I just... got scared by something." Sapphire got up, acknowledging the new arrival.

"Oh, that's fine. Come on out," the human said.

Sapphire stepped out, and almost immediately noticed some odd shadows around. "Hey, um..."

"No, no, quiet now." Two figures appeared behind the human. As Sapphire stepped back, she bumped into someone. She spun around to see another two people. Soon, she was surrounded, three humans, a mobian jackal, and a mobian bear towering over her.

The first human she spoke to said, "no need to be scared. Give us everything you have, and we won't have to harm you."

Chapter Text

Sapphire never felt so scared in her life. Surrounded by all these people, all threatening her.

"I'm sorry, I don't have anything," Sapphire said.

"That's a lie," one of the humans said. This second human had black hair and amber eyes. "We know you have something."

"Maybe she can take us to her place," the jackal said. "Then she can give us everything from there."

"Good idea," said the first human. He turned to Sapphire. "So, what are you waiting for?"

"It- it doesn't belong to me, I-" Sapphire stuttered.

"Of course not. It belongs to us."

"No... no... I... I have friends."

"Amazing." The human pulled a knife. "We don't care about your life. We want your stuff. So... GIVE IT TO US!"

Sapphire fell to the ground, and started sobbing. This day started out so great. Meeting her heroes, getting some new clothes. But now, she was scared off by one of Sonic's friends, and now she was getting mugged.

"She's crying, boys," the bear spoke out. "How cute. Now, you do what we say you have to do, or else! NOW!"

Sapphire only continued sobbing.

The bear turned to the first human. "Fine. Give it to her."

He lifted up his knife, ready to stab her. Sapphire was about to scream, when they all heard, "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

All of Sapphire's oppressors turned to whoever just spoke, but Sapphire couldn't see him.

"Who the heck are you?" the human with the knife said.

"Go away," the third human, his hair caramel brown and eyes blue, replied. "This is none of your concern."

The new voice laughed. "Really. You're going to tell me what to do. As if I'd listen to the likes of you."

"Well, would you look at that," the bear responded, "he thinks he's a tough guy."

"Heh, I'm rather confident," the voice replied.

"Boys, let's show him who he's messing with."

"Oh... I know who I'm messing with. Common thugs trying to pry on an innocent person. In other words... cowards."

"What!" the knife-wielding human cried out. "Who do you think you are?"

Sapphire heard a few steps come towards them. "Let me tell you who YOU'RE messing with... I am Shadow the Hedgehog! The Ultimate Lifeform!"

"Wh-what." They all seemed to be pretty scared now. "You're lying!"

"Then let me show you." In the next second, the knife-wielding human was struck back, flying over Sapphire, and onto the ground, unconscious. The next few moments were so quick, that Sapphire couldn't determine who the new figure was.

The jackal pulled out a knife of his own, but in his attempt to stab the mysterious person, his wrist was grabbed and twisted, the jackal screamed out in pain, dropping the knife. The figure then pulled the jackal in the air, swinging him into the black-haired human, taking them both out.

The bear pulled back for a punch, but as he swung, the figure grabbed his fist, not even being pushed off balance, and threw him into a wall. As the bear slumped to the ground, still conscious, the figure jumped into the air, and brought a swift kick to him, finally knocking him out.

The last human scrambled back, trying to get away. But the new figure dashed up, grabbed him by the shirt, and slammed him into a wall.

"Tell me, why do you think it is okay to harm someone else?" the figure, Shadow, asked.

"We... we just want-" the human started crying.

"Now you know how she feels. Do you feel any regret with that?"

"I- I- yes..."

"Good. If I find out that you and your friends do this again, you'll regret it." Shadow then punched him in the face, and he fell to the ground.

Shadow turned to Sapphire, and with all the action over, she was finally able to take a good look at him. He was a mobian hedgehog, one who kind of reminded her of Sonic. His fur was black with crimson red streaks going down his quills, which were styled into spikes, going down his arms and his legs, and around the rim of his eyes. His eyes were the same red color. He had white fur on his chest, and was wearing white gloves with gold rings and black and red wrist bracers, and white, black, and red shoes with another set of the same rings and bracers. The shoes themselves seemed to be some kind of special technology.

Sapphire was still frightened by everything, and Shadow's appearance and expression wasn't helping much. She was only staring at this hedgehog in silence.

But then, as Shadow took her in, his expression softened. He seemed surprised, and a little confused. Then he collected himself, and helped Sapphire up. "Are you okay?"

Despite his intense appearance, his grip was warm and comforting. Sapphire looked at him, and nodded, "Yeah."

"What did they want?"

"They wanted everything I had. They wanted me to take them to my home, but... it's not mine. And- and-"

"It's okay," Shadow pulled her into a hug. "You're safe now, Maria."

Sapphire was confused by this. "Um, my name isn't-"

Shadow stepped away. "I'm sorry."

"I- uh... It's okay... I didn't introduce myself, so, um..."

"Let me start then. My name is Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Oh, okay... I'm... Sapphire. Sapphire the Hedgehog. It's nice to meet you, Shadow."

"It's nice to meet you too, Sapphire."

Then they heard voices outside the allay, calling out for Sapphire.

Shadow stepped to the side of Sapphire, as Sonic and Amy walked by. Amy looked into the alley, and yelled, "Sonic, there she is."

Sonic turned, and smiled. "There you are!"

The two of them dashed in. Sapphire stepped back in sight of Amy, and noticing this, Shadow stepped in front of her protectively.

Sonic and Amy slowed down as they reached her and noticed Shadow. Both of them were holding Sapphire's shopping bags.

Sonic took a look at Shadow. "Well, long time, no see, Shadow."

"Sonic."

Sonic and Amy looked around, seeing all of the knocked-out thugs. "What happened here?" Amy asked.

Shadow looked at Sonic. "Sapphire, is she a friend of yours?"

"Uh, a new friend, but yeah. But that's not-" Sonic started, before Shadow interrupted.

"These cowards attacked her. If it weren't for me, who knows what would have happened to her."

"WHAT!?" Amy yelled. "How dare they! They're gonna-"

"Amy," Sonic interrupted, "you were the one who scared her away."

"Well, I-"

Shadow got up close to Amy, and then said, "if she is your friend, you'd better treat her as a friend. Or else." And then he walked off.

"Wh-what's wrong with him...?" Sapphire asked.

"Shadow, well, he's always like this. Though..." Sonic shook his head. "We should go back. Sorry about this. Maybe, you shouldn't... that thing with Tails."

"Yeah. Let's go back."

Sonic and Sapphire took the train back, not wanting to give Sapphire any more unnecessary excitement. Amy stayed behind, in order to make sure the police got those crooks.

The two of them made their way back to Tails' place. When Tails saw the sad shape Sapphire was in, he brought them in, and got Sapphire a cup of cocoa.

Sonic explained to him what happened, and Tails went lost in thought. "Wow, geez. I mean, Amy doesn't surprise me, but still... man, this is not what I wanted to you deal with. And on your second day, too."

"Amy made sure that they're going to get what they deserve," Sonic said.

"Yeah, but... I don't know, do you feel safe here, Sapphire?"

"I-" Sapphire didn't know what to say. "I... I'm sorry. I'm not very strong or brave. This could've happened at home, too. I was lucky to have people here to help me."

"What about home?" Sonic asked. "Don't you have friends and family?"

"Family? I..." A tear fell from Sapphire's eye. "No, I... never had any."

"What? Come on, you have to have someone... no parents? Siblings?"

"As far as I know, I don't have any siblings. That's because, I... never knew my parents. I'm an orphan."

"Oh..." Sonic replied.

"You're home... you're from Blue Wave Island, right?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, I lived in the local orphanage, but no one really liked me. I liked to read, and talk about smart stuff. No one at my orphanage wanted to be around a geek like me. And a lot of them even..."

"Hey, it's okay," Sonic replied.

"I didn't want to bother you with my life story. I'm just here to learn. Not to meet my heroes, that was just..."

"Hey, Sapphire. Don't worry about it. You're in good company, now."

"Yeah. Maybe you've been alone your whole life, but you have friends now," Tails said.

"Hm... actually," Sonic replied.

"Sonic what are you... oh."

"I'm sorry. What are you two talking about," Sapphire asked.

"Hey, how would you like to have your first family?" Sonic told her.

"Wh-WHAT!?"

"Well, Tails is like a brother to me. I have no problem with also having a sister."

Sapphire couldn't believe what she was hearing. She thought she came here to learn how to improve her skills as a mechanic. Never would she have thought she would find a family.

Tears in her eyes, Sapphire got up, and dashed towards Sonic, pulling him into a hug. "This... this is the happiest day of my life!"

"From bad to good, huh?" Sonic replied.

"Well, even still, maybe we should postpone your first lesson until tomorrow," Tails said.

"That's okay. Actually, I'd like to get to know my new brother better."

Sonic smiled. "I'd like to get to know my sister, too."

Sapphire stepped out of her hug. "Can I show a book I really like?"

Sonic gave her a thumbs up, smiled, and ran off to her room.

Tails gave a small chuckle. "So, Sonic, why haven't I ever met your family."

"Well, haven't talked to them in a while. But if you want to meet them, sure. I'd make a visit sometime."

The two of them laughed, as Sapphire happily picked out a book from her stuff.

Finally, her life had changed for the better.

Chapter Text

"...Okay, so now install the power source. Make sure the power switch is off first!" Tails told Sapphire, guiding her through the creation of the device they were making.

"Hm-hm," Sapphire replied. She already knew the basics, but she wanted to do this as a warmup. So she listened to Tails' instructions carefully, and wrote down notes on what she was doing.

They were working on that first machine Tails promised to help Sapphire make. For Sapphire, this was the first step to becoming a great mechanic.

They finishing up, adding the outer shell to the device, when Sonic came in.

He strolled up to Sapphire, and put his arm around her. "Hey, how's my new little sister?"

"Oh... I'm fine," she replied.

"I see you're feeling better after yesterday."

"I- uh, yeah. Thanks..."

"Like your new outfit?"

Sapphire smiled and nodded. She was now wearing her new mechanics' outfit, a blueish-gray top and pants with blue sleeves, grey boots with zippers, and a set of mobian-made welding goggles. It was practical, and fairly cute and comfortable, too.

Sonic looked over at Sapphire and Tails' device. "So, what'cha makin'?"

"A blender!" Sapphire proclaimed.

"Really...?"

"Well, she's got to start somewhere," Tails replied.

"Um... I do already know how to do most of this kind of stuff myself. But some of it is new," Sapphire commented.

"Huh... Welp, when you finish that thing, are you planning to test it?" Sonic asked.

"Yes. Though, um, we may need some fruit or something."

"Well, we've got a few fruits in the fridge. Anything in particular you like?"

"Oh, do you have strawberries. I really like strawberries, they're my favorite food."

Sonic put his hand to his chin, then dashed out of the room for a moment. In seconds, he came back with a box of strawberries. "We have a few left."

"Yay!"

"Don't get too excited now," Tails replied. "You still have to finish the machine, first."

"Right." Sapphire returned to the blender, and began working with Tails to finish the lesson.

All they had to finish up was putting on the shell of the machine, put on the glass container and lid, and other small fixes and adjustments. Then finally it was time for the testing.

They ran the kitchen tool a couple of times to make sure it ran properly. When it did, they gathered the ingredients they needed for a strawberry smoothie.

"Okay, first official test. Time to make a smoothie," Sapphire exclaimed.

She looked over to Tails, who nodded in response, then to Sonic, who did the same.

Then they put stuff and hit the power. At first, everything was going okay.

Then it all went wrong. The blades began to spin faster and faster and then Tails said, "wait... GET BACK!"

Everyone stepped back as the glass of the blender's top burst open. Luckily the glass didn't hurt anyone, but they were covered in an unfinished strawberry smoothie.

Everyone was quiet, until Sonic spoke up, "welp, that was fun."

"Wh-what happened," Sapphire said, shaken, "I thought did everything right."

"It's okay," Tails replied. "I think the power source was too strong." He opened up the mechanical base, and looked inside. "Yeah, we put too many power wires into the mechanisms."

"I'm... sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, I said to do that. You did okay. Next time, I'll readjust the power source requirements... and bring fewer glass materials, next time."

Sapphire nodded.

Sonic dashed away, and came back, cleaned up and holding towels for everyone. As Sapphire and Tails took them, and cleaned themselves up, Sonic asked, "so, who wants to order a pizza?"

"Sonic, this wasn't lunch. Also, they don't deliver here. We're the Mystic Ruins, way out of the way from the city."

"I know. I was kidding. Trying to lighten the mode."

Sapphire looked over. "Maybe could you pick one up? I liked pizza, too."

"Sure, coming up, with Sonic speed!"

Sonic sped off, and Sapphire sat down, while Tails started cleaning up the mess.

"I screwed up, didn't I?" Sapphire said.

"Hey, it was just one mistake," Tails replied. "We don't learn if we don't make mistakes, and then try to do better."

Sapphire nodded.

"It'll be okay. We'll get back up, and we'll try again."

"Okay... we'll try again." And Sapphire got back up. "Mind if I help you?"

"Sure."

And the two of them finished clean up, as Sapphire recollected herself, and readied herself to do better next time.

Chapter Text

Near the edge of the city, lay a small house surrounded by flower fields. This was the home of Cream the Rabbit, her chao friend, Cheese, and her mother, Vanilla.

Cream was a cream-colored, lop-eared, brown-eyed rabbit. She wore a white-collared orange dress with a light blue ribbon, white gloves, and orange and yellow shoes. Cheese was a small light-blue and yellow creature with rounded, blobby limbs and tail, pink, butterfly-like wings, a teardrop-shaped head, and a tiny yellow ball floating above him, like all other chao, while also wearing a red bowtie.

The two of them were hanging out with their friend, Amy Rose. They were making flower crowns, enjoying their time, though Cream noticed Amy seemed a little down.

"Amy, are you okay?" Cream asked.

"Huh, what? Oh, yeah, yeah I am," Amy replied.

"I don't know... you seem a little down."

Cheese flew up behind Cream, his arms crossed.

Amy sighed. "Fine. You know about Tails' new protégé?"

"Um, I heard he was looking for one," Cream replied. "Did he finally find one?"

"Yeah, he did, but... I don't think I got off on the right note with her."

"...Her?" Cream noticed. "Amy, did you think she was after Sonic?"

"...Maybe."

"Amy..." Cream sighed.

"Well, she was REALLY close to Sonic, acting all friendly with him. I KNEW she had to be after him."

"And?"

"Well... Sonic said that she was Tails' new protégé, and he was showing her around and... I... may have scared her away before that..."

"Did you find her and apologize?"

"Well, I found her, after Shadow saved her from some crooks, and she left with Sonic before I could say anything."

"Oh my! ...is she okay?

"Yeah... Shadow got in my face about not treating her like a friend, then left."

"Well, you should."

"Yeah, but it's been a week, and I haven't seen her, since. Or Sonic and Tails, for that matter."

Cream put her hand to her chin. "Well, do you know where is she staying?" she asked.

"Well, I'd imagine she's been staying at Tails," Amy replied. "Or at least, he'll know where she is."

"So, let's go meet her," Cream said, getting up and pulling Amy up, too.

"H-hey, wait a second!" Amy cried out, as she was dragged along.

Tails and Sapphire were in Sapphire's new room. They were finally looking into decorating the room. The heater did good in keeping the room warm, but with the metallic walls, they were considering adding carpet to help insulate warm. They were going to paint the walls, get new covers for her bed, and get a few doodads for her desk.

"So, what colors do you like?" Tails asked.

"Oh, um, I like the color blue, though maybe the walls should be a warmer color?" Sapphire replied.

"Maybe the carpets could be blue."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

There was a knock on the front door. Sapphire jumped a bit at the sudden, faint sound, while Tails turned to look out of the room.

"Sorry," Sapphire said, "I don't hear knocking a lot."

"It's fine..." Tails replied meekly. Then he went to the door to see who it was.

Amy and Cream stood at the entrance. Amy was holding her hands behind her back, looking nervous, while Cream hung behind her with Cheese looking over her shoulder.

"Hey, Tails," Amy said, "is, um, Sapphire around?"

Sapphire, hearing Amy's voice and remembering what happened with her a week ago, hides behind her bedroom door. What did she want? Did it have to do with Sonic?

"Um... yeah, she's here," Tails responded. "...Why don't you come in."

Sapphire saw Amy walk in with a cream-colored rabbit girl she's never met before, with a chao flying behind.

"Hey, Sapphire, someone would like to talk to you!" Tails called out.

Nervously, Sapphire walked out of her room.

"Sapphire, I'm sure you've met Amy before. And this is her friend is Cream the Rabbit, and her chao friend, Cheese," Tails introduced, then turning to the new arrivals. "This is Sapphire the Hedgehog, Sonic's new sister!"

"Oh, Sonic has a sister?" Cream replied. She walked up to Sapphire, and bowed to her. "It's really nice to meet you."

"Oh, yeah, nice to meet you, too," Sapphire said, rubbing her arms. "Um, no need to bow. ...I'm not that important."

"Cream's mom teaches her to be polite," Tails said. "Very polite."

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel bad or anything!"

"No, it's okay, Sapphire," Cream replied. "Cheese, say hi."

Cream's chao, Cheese flew up, and extended out his arm in greeting. Sapphire lightly squeezed it with her index finger and thumb, and shook it.

"Hey, Sapphire," Amy spoke up. "I wanted to apologize for what happened last week."

"Oh, I..." Sapphire hung her head low. "Sorry, it's... I don't blame you for those crooks. You couldn't have known that would happen."

"Thank you for not blaming me for that. But that's not the only part of it. I'm sorry for..." Amy took a deep breath, and remained quiet.

Cream leaned over. "Amy, what do you say?"

"I'm sorry for mistaking you and Sonic for... being together. And scaring you away."

"Um… Thank you." Sapphire was still nervous around Amy. Even with her apology, she still knew about her hammer. And her intensity about her… passion.

Still, she owed it to her to at least try to be thankful for her apology. She was a friend of Sonic's after all.

"Yeah, it's okay. Besides, Sonic took me in as his sister, so you're free to, um, be his girlfriend, I suppose.

"Sure she is…" both Tails and Cream replied in unison.

Sapphire looked at both of them in confusion. "What?"

"Oh, it's nothing you should worry about," Tails replied.

Amy seemed annoyed by Tails and Cream's comment, but she cooled herself down, and said, "okay, is there anything I can help you with? You know, to make things up to you."

"Um, I don't know…" Sapphire replied.

"Actually, maybe you can take her into town, and help her pick out some stuff for her room," Tails spoke up. "We're trying to decorate her room, make it more lively for her to stay in."

"YES!" Amy replied. "I'd love to go shopping with her."

"Your shopping for supplies, Amy. She's already had plenty to wear. Now, I'll provide the funds, you go out and find what you need."

Amy seemed a little disappointed, and Sapphire was nervous.

"Tails, are you sure about this?" she asked.

Tails leaned in to speak quietly to her. "Hey, it's okay. I know it's… difficult dealing with Amy, but she is a very nice person. I think it will do you good to get to know her, and you know, become friends. And besides, she knows more about all this… girly stuff…" he motioned to her room, "…than I would."

"I… um, okay," Sapphire was still a bit nervous, but he was right. She turned to Amy. "So, Amy, Cream. When do you want to leave?"

Amy smiles and turned to Cream, who seemed to be excited herself.

Sapphire, Amy, and Cream were walking around the city, checking a few different stores that would have what they were looking for. Tails made sure to give Sapphire a list of what they needed to look for, and a card with the rings needed to purchase these items digitally on it. She and Amy were talking about what Sapphire was looking for her room.

"...You know, if you're looking to use a blue carpet, maybe get yellow paint. It would match your colors," Amy told Sapphire.

"I guess, but not everything I wear is blue," Sapphire replied.

"Really."

"Well, most of my clothes are…"

Amy laughed at that.

Sapphire was getting more comfortable with Amy. She was still a bit nervous around her, partly due to her shyness, partly due to her knowing what Amy was capable of.

"So, can I ask. What is it that you like about Sonic?" Sapphire asked.

"Oh, he is so dreamy, and courageous. He's always there when you're in need. Aw, I would love it if he here now," Amy replied.

"Okay, well you don't have to worry about me and Sonic. He took me in as family, so I won't come between you two. And I don't want to."

"Hey, Sapphire…" Cream spoke up. She leaned towards Sapphire, and whispered, "this relationship is kind of one-sided."

"You sure?"

"Mhmm."

"What are you two talking about?" Amy asked, a little tense.

"Nothing!" both Sapphire and Cream replied at the same time.

"So, Sapphire," Cream started, trying to change the subject, "um, may I call you 'Saph'?"

"'Saph'? Oh, sure, Saph is fine."

"All right, so Saph, you're working with Tails now, right? How's that going?"

"Oh, it's going great. My apprenticeship with Tails is like a dream come true. I always wanted to meet my heroes, and this more than I could have ever asked for. I mean, I couldn't even imagine them becoming family. …Oh, and I'm learning so many new mechanical skills, too. Sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No, that's okay. It's really amazing that all this has happened for you, Saph!"

Sapphire smiled. Cream was such a good person. Saph would love being friends with her.

"You know, I remember when I first met Sonic," Amy said.

"Oh, what happened?" Sapphire asked.

"Oh, I predicted that I would meet my hero on the Little Planet."

"'Predicted'?"

"Oh, yeah, I used to read tarot cards. But anyway, I went to Little Planet, met my hero, Sonic, as I predicted... then got kidnapped by Eggman and his robot copy of Sonic. Then Sonic came to save. Ah, my hero..."

"Oh... Hey, Cream," Sapphire turned to her. "When did you meet Sonic?"

"Oh, Sonic saved me and Cheese from Eggman, then we worked together to save my mom."

Cheese nodded behind Cream.

"Oh, so Sonic helped both of you. I guess you must be really good friends with him, then," Sapphire said. "I'm glad you know him."

As the three of them (plus Cheese) were walking along, talking, and searching for the items they were shopping for, Sapphire fell behind her friends. As she tried to catch up, past a couple of mobian boys.

"Hey, babe, how ya doin'," one of them asked.

Sapphire turned to them, confused. "Wha- huh? Did you want to ask me something?"

"Yeah," the other boy asked, "why don't you come hang with us."

"Um, sorry, I'm not sure... I don't know you guys. Maybe I should get my friends..."

"Oh, nothing to be nervous about," the first boy said, getting uncomfortably close.

"May… I leave now? I'm getting uncomfortable."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with us. Now-"

"HEY!" a voice called out. Looking over, they saw Amy, holding her hammer in her hands.

Seeing that hammer, Sapphire backed away. These creeps were one thing, but she still remembered Amy's weapon, and it scared her more.

Cream appeared behind Amy, looking furious, Cheese flying with her, pounding his "fists" together. "Are you trying to hurt my friend!?" Cream exclaimed.

The second boy said, "hey, hey, we just wanted to have some fun."

"She doesn't look like she's enjoying herself," Amy pointed out, before taking another step towards the boys.

"W-well, ma'am, we-"

"Buzz off!" Amy exclaimed, raising her hammer.

The mobian boys freaked out and ran off, leaving the girls alone.

"Sorry, Saph, we didn't realize you fell behind," Cream said.

"Seems you can't be left alone without someone trying to take advantage of you," Amy replied.

Sapphire didn't say anything, only staring at Amy's hammer.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked.

Cream picked up on what was going on. "Amy," she whispered, "your hammer. I thing Saph might…"

"Oh." Amy put her hammer away. "Sorry. You still don't like that, don't you."

Sapphire nodded, staring at the ground.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I'm… really sorry." Amy approached Sapphire. Saph stepped back nervously, but eventually let Amy give her an apologetic hug.

"It's... okay," Sapphire replied. "I'll get used to it."

"You know what, let's all get some ice cream. Then we can finish shopping."

"Yes, ice cream!" Cream exclaimed.

Sapphire nodded. She was still a bit scared of Amy when she pulled out her hammer, but she was a good friend, as well as Cream. Sapphire knew that they would be great friends.

Chapter Text

"Oh, today's going to be so fun! I can't wait." Sapphire was happily humming to herself as she prepared herself snacks and a lunch for an outing she had planned.

"Hey, Sapphire, so what are your plans today?" Sonic asked, slipping into the kitchen at his famous speed.

"OH! Sonic!" Sapphire replied in shock. She was getting more used to talking with Sonic, getting over her shyness with him, at most, but he still managed to constantly catch her off guard with his speed. "You surprised me! I... um, Cream wanted to spend some more time with me after that shopping day. I spent a lot of my time with Amy, mostly, so Cream asked if she could have a play date later."

"Hm, so, did she want to do anything special with you?"

"Yes... she wants us to visit her favorite Chao Garden. Though she hasn't told me where it is yet..."

Sonic gave her a thumbs up. "Hey, that's great! Cream is a good friend to have, and a lovely girl once you get to know her. I'm sure you'll have a great time with her."

"Thanks, nice to know. I'll remember that, Sonic." Sapphire finished making her lunch and snacks for the day, and began making her way to the front door. "Well, I need to go now. Have a good day!"

"Yep! Maybe I'll drop by to see how you're doing."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Anyways, see you later!" And Sapphire made her leave.

Cream was with her mother, finishing up a picnic basket lunch for the day out with Sapphire.

"Oh, I can't wait for Saph to come over. I hope she likes the food we made," Cream told her mother.

She smiled. "Oh, I am sure she'll love it."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Cream exclaimed, heading to the door.

Once Cream opened it up, she found Sapphire standing there, holding a small thermos-duffel bag.

"H-hi, Cream, …I'm here," Sapphire said.

"Hey, Saph. You don't need to be so nervous. We're friends," Cream replied.

"Yeah, sorry… I'm just… not used to having friends."

"Alright. Hey, why don't you come meet my mom!"

Cream grabbed Sapphire's arm, and pulled her towards the kitchen.

There, Sapphire saw a tall rabbit-mobian woman. She shared the same cream-colored fur, brown eyes, and lopped ears as Cream, though she had a tuft of light brown hair on her forehead and between her ears (which reminded Sapphire of her own hair framing her face). She wore a long, light purple dress with white trim, a dark red-ish purple vest and blue ascot on top, white gloves with gold cufflinks, and low-heeled shoes the same color as her vest, and she had pink lipstick on.

"Oh, hello. You must be Cream's friend, Sapphire. My name is Vanilla. I am Cream's mother," she said, introducing herself.

"Um, yes. I'm Sapphire, Saph for short," Sapphire replied.

"Oh, well don't you like such a nice girl."

"Thank you." Sapphire took a look around the kitchen, and noticed the picnic basket. "…Um, is that for us?"

"Hm," Vanilla turned to where Sapphire was looking. "Oh, of course! It's for all of us. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I…" Sapphire presented her small bag. "I already made my lunch. I'm sorry! I didn't know you were going to… well…"

"Oh, don't worry about it, dear." Vanilla lightly pushed Sapphire's arms down and smiled. "It's okay. You can still feel free to have some food from our basket."

"Oh, thank you. I... if you want, I could share a bit of mine."

"Oh, how nice of you." Vanilla turned to Cream. "Sweetie, could you go and get a picnic blanket."

"Yes," replied Cream, and she ran upstairs, with Cheese right behind her.

"So, you live with Sonic and Tails, correct?" Vanilla asked.

"Yes. It's so nice to be able to... well..." Sapphire trailed off, too embarrassed to finish what she was saying.

"A family," Vanilla replied. "Amy and Cream told me all about you. About you being an orphan, and how Sonic took you in as his sister."

"Oh, I don't remember telling them... Sonic or Tails probably told them."

"It's okay. Though, I can't imagine what it must be like to not have any parents." Vanilla sighed. "You know, I really don't tell anyone this, but it's not easy being a single mother. That's why I'm happy Cream made so many good friends that we can trust. But on the other hand, I'm sure, deep down, Cream is grateful to have a mother. And, I bet you wish you had one too."

Sapphire looked down. "Yeah. I do. The people who worked at my orphanage were nice enough, but it's not the same... not that I know what it's like to even have parents."

"Oh, it's okay, dear..." Vanilla came in and gave Sapphire a hug.

Cream and Cheese came back down, holding the blanket she was asked to get, as Vanilla let go of Sapphire.

"I got the blanket!" Cream exclaimed. Cheese gave a happy "Chao!" response.

"Thank you. Okay, I believe we have everything now. Shall we pack up the car and head out?"

"So, Ms. Vanilla, where is this Chao Garden? I've read stories about them, and I know they're hidden all over the place, so... uh..."

"Oh, don't worry. This one is in a safe and familiar place. As far as I know, it's only known to our closest friends," Vanilla replied as has grabbed the now packed picnic basket. "It's in the Green Hill Zone."

Sapphire was excited. She had read about Green Hill, and Sonic had told her a lot about the area as well. From what he had said, Sapphire knew that it was his favorite place to run.

Moreover, she was excited to see a natural Chao Garden. She had seen lots of chao before, and has even been in a couple of the manmade habitats on her home island. She has always longed to see a real Chao Garden.

They were supposed to secret paradises, hidden from the world, where Chao would live free of all the of the dangers in the world, happy and safe. They are rare and very hard to find. And usually, if someone found one, they would choose to keep it a secret between themselves and their most trusted peers, or else the chao's home would sooner or later find itself destroyed by malicious outsiders.

Vanilla drove Cream, Cheese, and Sapphire to the edge of Green Hill, a sprawling field of bright green grass, crystalline lakes, and mountainous cliffs. Sunflowers, palm trees and strange totem poles dotted the landscape. Numerous waterfalls could be seen flowing from the distant cliffs, leading into the many lakes and rivers, a few spanned by bridges. And the oddest thing, the cliff sides had a checker-board pattern to them.

Still, there was only one thing Sapphire could say to all this...

"This... this is beautiful..."

Cream ran to her side as they exited the car. "Yep. I love coming by here, and just frolic through the plains," she told Sapphire.

"Yeah… I can see why."

Vanilla grabbed the basket and blanket. "Well, from here, we'll need to walk. Shall we."

Sapphire nodded, while Cream said, "yes," and Cheese followed with a resounding, "chao!"

The four of them walked along ridges and across bridges. Sapphire took in all the beauty of the Hills, watching small animals happily roaming about.

After almost an hour of walking, they reached a cliffside, surrounded by large bushes.

"Here we are," Vanilla told the young girls.

"So… is this where the Garden entrance is hidden?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes, it's pretty well hidden, follow us." Vanilla began slipping between two the bushes, and Cream and Cheese happily followed along.

Sapphire carefully slipped between the bushes, and found herself catching herself on lower footholds, as she was now in a small tunnel leading down a small slope and into a low-ceiling passageway.

She could hear the others already ahead of her. So she crouched down, and began walking through the tunnel, careful not to hit her head on the low ceiling.

It wasn't long before she could see light on the other side of the tunnel, and once she emerged, she held her breath.

If Green Hill itself was beautiful, then this was a paradise. It was a small cove area, surrounded by cliffs, with a few tiny waterfalls flowing into shallow pools. Scattered about, there were trees and bushes bearing numerous fruit. A sandy and pristine beach spanned the short length across from her.

…And chao. Chao everywhere. Flying about, resting or playing, enjoying the fruit taken from the plant life. There were chao of many different colors and types.

It was better than Sapphire could've imagined.

Cream and Vanilla were setting up the blanket, while Cheese had started playing with the other chao. Luckily, Sapphire was able to pick him out among all the other Chao thanks to his bow tie.

"Hey, Saph! Over here!" Cream called over.

Sapphire listened and joined Cream and Vanilla with setting up the picnic stuff. While that happened, many of the chao being to slowly approach this new, mysterious stranger who was with some of their occasion visitors.

At first, Sapphire was oblivious to this. But after a while, once the picnic was set up, one of the chao got brave enough to get closer and grab her leg.

Sapphire freaked out, scaring the chao away, but Vanilla approached to calm her down. "It's okay," she told her. Vanilla grabbed her hand, and the two of them slowly approached the scared chao. They carefully crouched next to the little guy, and Vanilla coached Sapphire to carefully hold her hand out to it.

The chao was a neutral chao, similar to Cheese, though this one was green. He shyly bundled up into a ball.

"H-hey, I'm sorry I freaked out, you just... um..." Sapphire spoke softly with the chao.

She didn't say much, but it seemed the chao understood, and slowly flew into her hand.

"Oh." Sapphire then giggled softly. "Aren't you cute," she said, as she began playfully poking his stomach.

Over a few hours, Sapphire slowly became comfortable with the all chao in the garden. The green chao, especially, became rather close with Sapphire. At this point, Sapphire was considering giving him a name.

Sapphire, Cream, and Vanilla had begun lunch. sapphire had made a simple peanut-butter-and-jam sandwich, with strawberries as a snack. Vanilla and Cream had prepared sandwiches themselves, though their's were cucumber-and-cheese sandwiches. They also had brought crackers and various fresh fruit, some of which were used for the chao. Sapphire happily fed the chao the fruit.

"So, Sapphire, I hope you do not mind if I ask, could you tell me what was life like where you come from?" Vanilla asked.

"Oh, well, you know I'm an orphan," Sapphire started," I used to live on Blue Wave Island, and well… I felt more comfortable reading books, and, when I got older and inspired by Tails, tinkering. I was always smarter than everyone else at the orphanage, and they… didn't seem to like it. I was that one girl everyone bullied. The caretakers did there to stop it, but…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sapphire. You've had such a hard life. I guess, all orphans want a family… they might've been scared that not just beautiful, but also intelligent young girl would get adopted before you."

"I guess that makes sense… But then never happened. I guess… I was always too shy to speak to others. I never really let myself become noticeable, because I was too nervous to."

"Not one to communicate with others, it would seem."

"But, Sapphire, look at you now," Cream exclaimed. "Sonic is your brother now, so you are adopted. You also now have friends like me and Cheese, Amy, and Tails. And there are a lot more people we think should meet as well."

"I guess… yeah! I suppose that's right," Sapphire replied. "I mean… I still getting used to you all. But I do feel a little more comfortable with you. This… none of this might of ever happened if Tails didn't choose me as his apprentice… or if I even wanted to learn mechanics in the first place."

The green chao happily flopped on Sapphire's shoulder. Then he slid down, and took one her remaining strawberries, though Sapphire didn't mind.

"Yes, that's right!" Vanilla said. "Because you are that beautiful and intelligent girl I mentioned. And you deserve to have those who love you and care about you."

"Thank you, Ms. Vanilla," Sapphire replied. She really liked Cream's mom. She was so nice and loving. This was someone she could look up to. She wanted to spend more time with her in the future.

"She's right you know," a voice spoke behind her, immediately followed by a burst of wind.

"AH!" Sapphire freaked out by the sudden new arrival, scaring the timid chao away, except for her green friend, who flew behind Sapphire, and clung to her leg, hiding from the new arrival.

"Sonic, I know you're fast," Vanilla told the arrival, "but you should slow down enough not surprise others when you approach them in greeting."

Sapphire spun around to find that, indeed, the Blue Blur himself was standing above her.

"Wh-what are you doing here!?" Sapphire cried out.

"Well, I did say I might drop by. Besides, what kind of brother would I be if I didn't mess with you," Sonic replied.

"Oh dear," Vanilla said as she shook her head.

"Figured that this would be the place you were going to. Glad to see that you're having a good time," Sonic continued, "you're growing. Now, who's your favorite chao here?"

"Oh, uh... this little guy," Sapphire carefully grabbed the green chao, and held him up for Sonic to see. The little guy raised his arms to Sonic.

"Yeah, this guy is shy, but he attaches quickly. Hm, makes me think of someone..."

Sapphire looked away and blushed as every else laughed this.

Still, Sapphire was happy to have made such good friends. She never thought this would happen. And she knew Sonic had more friends for her to meet. She wondered who she might meet next...

Chapter Text

Near the edge city, living in a small building, was Shadow the Hedgehog. He was sitting alone, drinking hot cocoa, and staring out the window, lost in thought.

"...That girl," he muttered, "who was she? What does she have to do the Sonic?"

"Are you still brooding, Shadow?" a sultry voice spoke at the door opening.

Shadow turned to his visitor. "Rouge."

Rouge walked into the room, and stood behind his chair, leaning on it and looking down at him. She was one of Shadow's closest friends, as well as one of his only true friends. She was flirty, and a bit greedy, having a love of precious jewels.

Rouge was a mobian bat with white fur, bare, tan skin on her arms and muzzle, and teal eyes. She had large pointy ears, sharp bat fangs, a short tail, and large black bat wings on her back. And her figure was quite well-developed. Her short hair was flared back, and she had blue eyeshadow and some lipstick on. She wore a black, sleeveless unitard with a pink heart in white trim on the upper-chest, revealing some cleavage, and had long white gloves and tall high-heeled boots, both of which had pink cuffs, and the boots had pink hearts on the toes.

"I know you do this on occasion, but you've been really down in the dumps lately. What's going on with you?" Rouge asked.

"Do you have a mission for me?" Shadow responded.

"That's all you've asked about the past few weeks!" Rouge exclaimed, starting to walk away.

"It keeps my mind off things."

Rouge spun back around. "So you admit something is wrong!"

"Rouge…"

"Yes?"

"This is none of concern," Shadow said sternly.

"Oh, come on. We're friends, right? You can tell me," Rouge pleaded.

Shadow gave out a big sigh. "If I tell you, will you stop bothering me about this?"

"Of course!"

"Fine… If you want your answers. Go to Sonic's home, ask about Sapphire."

"Ugh, so cryptic," Rouge replied as she began flying low out of the room. "…Though," she said quietly, "if Sonic has a jewel like that, I wouldn't mind… taking a look at his possession."

As Rouge left the building, Shadow, looking out the window, watched her fly off.

"Wait… I probably should've told her that Sapphire is a person."

Sonic and Sapphire were visiting a café to grab some lunch. It was called the "Violet Café", and was a small restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating areas, with, of course, a general purple color scheme, with flower designs painted on the walls. Neither of them had been there before, but Saph wanted to give it a try.

As they sat inside, and waited for their food, they had a nice chat.

"Oh, okay, so Saph, huh?" Sonic said, chuckling a bit. "You know, that is a pretty good nickname. Mind if I use it?"

"Oh, sure, that's fine," Sapphire said, "I mean, I don't think my name is that hard to say, but short versions of names aren't bad. Amy and Cream wanted to use it, so you can, too."

"Heh, alright," Sonic said, as their food arrived. Sonic got chilidogs (no surprise there), while Sapphire got some pizza and a few pastries she wanted to try. Both got cups of sodas for drinks.

As they ate, Sonic asked Sapphire, "so, are you enjoying your new life here?"

"Oh, it's great. I'm learning so from Tails, I've made some new friends, I… I have a family now," Sapphire told him.

"Well, I'm glad that you're liking it here. You know, I've never had a sister before. I have tons of friends, ones that I care about a lot. But a sister... that's something I need to get used to."

"I feel the same, but I've never had friends either. It's hard to believe I do now, but it's… really nice."

Sapphire reached for her soda, but she accidentally bumped it, and it fell over and spilled on her clothes.

"AH!" she screamed.

"Ah, geez, you got to be more careful, Saph," Sonic said, laughing a bit.

Sapphire pouted at him, but quickly calmed down. "At least it didn't land on my food. I'm going to the restroom to try to clean up."

As Sapphire left, Sonic called for someone to come clean up and get her a new drink.

A few moments later, just as Sonic was leaning back to relax, someone spoke behind him.

"Ah, there you are, Big Blue!" the sneaky woman said, walking out from behind him, in front of Sonic.

"Oh, uh, hey, Rouge," Sonic replied. "Always have to sneak up to us, I see. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Oh, you know, business as usual. So, do you mind if I join you?"

"Uh, sure…" and Sonic tapped by an empty seat, between his seat and Sapphire's.

As Rouge sat down, she noticed the other plate of food. "So, are you on a date with someone special, Big Blue?"

"Well, not a date, but she is important to me," Sonic replied.

"I see. Well, enough about that. I'm here to speak with you."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

"A little birdie told me that you have something… precious."

"Oh, okay, now I know what this is about. You think that I have some jewels, and you're trying to get me to tell where they are."

"What, of course not!"

"Please, we may not hang out much, but I know you. You probably snuck into Tails' place, found nothing, and then decided to get the info from me. Well, here's the honest truth… I don't have any."

"What?" Rouge replied, trying to sound more confused than annoyed.

"You've been duped, Rouge. You know that I often have Chaos Emeralds, but not at this current moment. And I've never been interested in normal gems," Sonic explained.

"I see," Rouge responded. "Well, I suppose I'll be going now."

Rouge was about to get up to leave, disappointed in her findings, when someone said, "u-uh, hi…" She turned to see a hedgehog girl with yellow fur and quills, blonde hair, and wearing blue clothes, sitting down where the previously unattended plate of food was. "Sonic, is this another friend of yours?" the girl asked Sonic.

"Kind of," Sonic told her. "This is Rouge the Bat. She's… um… Oh, now I see what's going on."

"What?" both girls exclaimed, for different reasons.

"Oh, nothing. Now, why don't you two introduce yourselves."

"Alright, fine. Okay then, Blondie." Rouge turned the new girl. "As Big Blue said, I am Rouge. I'm known as the world's greatest treasure hunter."

"Oh, that's… interesting," the girl said meekly. "I'm Sonic's n-new, uh, adopted sister... And Tails' apprentice. My name is Sapphire."

"Sapphire," Rouge said flatly.

"Yeah, or Saph… for short."

"Your name is Sapphire."

"Y-yes…"

"You're what Shadow was talking about!"

"Sh-Shadow? You know-"

"Of course there weren't any jewels. It was just some random girl!"

"I knew it," Sonic chimed in.

Rouge just gave out a "hmph!" to Sonic.

"W-wait!" Sapphire spoke up. "You know Shadow?"

"Yes, we are part of the same team, Team Dark. What, have you met him?"

"He saved her from some thugs trying to rob her," Sonic replied. "Then he just left, after getting in Amy's face at least. It was a... complicated situation."

"Is that so." Rouge leaned in towards Sapphire. "Okay, so tell me, Blondie, why is Shadow so interested in you?"

"I don't know! And please don't call me Blondie," Sapphire replied.

"Wait, Sapphire is still on Shadow's mind?" Sonic asked. "I mean, I haven't seen him since then, but I don't see why he'd be bothered with her."

"That's what I'd like to know," Rouge responded, "so what exactly happened."

Sapphire explained how after Amy sacred her off, she ran into those thugs, and Shadow came in to save her.

"...Oh! There was one... kind of strange thing he said," Sapphire continued, "I think, before he introduced himself, he called me... Maria."

"Maria?" Rouge responded.

"Y-yeah... Does it mean anything important?"

Sonic and Rouge looked at each other, seemingly thinking the same thing.

"I really haven't seen her," Sonic replied, "I've only heard recordings of her voice."

"I've seen photos of her in G.U.N. reports," Rouge said. She took a quick glance at Sapphire. "I guess, maybe she looks kind of similar... but no, I don't think she the same as that girl."

"What are you two talking about?" Sapphire asked.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with." Rouge got up, and prepared to leave. "I need to go talk to Shadow about this. See you Big Blue, Blondie." Then she exited left the building and flew off.

"Sonic, what's going on?"

"Uh, best leave that up to Rouge and Shadow," Sonic said.

"Oh, okay." Sapphire looked back to where Rouge was.

So Shadow... remembered her. And he was thinking about her. Could she see him again, maybe become friends?

Sonic sighed. "You know, for now, let's get take-out containers, and head home. It's been a weird day."

"S-sure," Sapphire replied. But she still could only think about Shadow.

Why did she bother him so much? Was it anything she did wrong? And what was the deal with this "Maria" character?

Chapter Text

It was a peaceful morning. Sapphire was getting herself breakfast. Tails was tinkering in the workshop downstairs. Sonic was out for a run.

Many mornings were like this. They were nice, and Sapphire enjoyed them. Sonic wished there would be a little more action, always looking for the next adventure, but he was happy that his friends and family were enjoying the peace. And Sapphire, not much one for adventure, liked the quiet days. Well, as quiet as you can get with two mechanics consistently working each day. She was thinking she'd have to invest in some earplugs.

As Sapphire was finishing up her waffles, she heard the door open. Looking over, she saw Sonic coming back in from his run.

"Hey there, sis," he said, walking in through the balcony door. Hey, if you're as fast and agile as Sonic was, you could easily make it to a balcony from the ground with ease. At this point, Sapphire has gotten used to it.

"Oh, hi," Sapphire replied, taking a moment to look up and acknowledge him. "Enjoy your run?"

"Yep. From here to Green Hill."

"Wow, that's pretty far. And you ran there in only a few hours? Just how fast are you?"

"Hm, never really thought about it. I know Tails occasionally tracks me and tries to record my abilities. Maybe he could tell you."

"It must be fun, to be able to run so fast," Sapphire said, as she put her waffles on a plate, and began buttering them.

"So, are there any waffles for me?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't think that you'd-"

"Don't worry about it, I'm just teasing you," Sonic cut in. "You know, it isn't just about the rush of speed."

"Oh, yeah, it's… about the adventure, right?"

"Yep," Sonic said as he grabbed the orange juice, "Now, I do love running, but it's easy to miss the small things. Sometimes, you've got to stop and take it all in. And then, of course, there is overcoming the challenge of getting there, where ever that may be. Sometimes, you don't know until you get there."

"Must be nice. And whenever Eggman attacks…"

"He's a good excuse for adventure, I'll give him that. But he wants to destroy everything that there is to experience, not to mention taking away everyone's freedom. That's why he needs to be stopped every time."

Sapphire hung her head low. "Still, it's nice to see that you can still have fun with it."

"Yeah, Tails told me that you didn't think it was for you. But you know, I think you haven't given it a change."

"Well, I... I'm not..."

"He said you didn't think that you were fast or brave," Sonic replied. "Though it isn't about speed. And as for being brave... Well, to overcome fear, you need to face it."

"...Thanks, Sonic, but I don't think I can."

Sonic shook his head. "Nah, nothing as big as helping me stop Eggman. Maybe something smaller, but exciting."

"I'm more comfortable with my machines," Sapphire responded.

Sonic thought for a moment, then smiled. "Then I know just the thing. Meet me in the hanger after you finish your breakfast."

"You mean the workshop?"

"Same thing here, really."

"Sonic, are you sure about this?" Tails asked his blue friend.

"Come on, buddy, what's the harm?" Sonic replied.

"Look, she learns quickly, but this is expecting a lot, even for her."

"Don't worry, I'll go up with her. Just like you and I do all the time."

At that moment, Sapphire came into the workshop. "Sonic, I don't know what you have planned, but I..."

"Hey, sis. Ready to get started?" Sonic asked her.

Tails rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. Let me see if I can't connect to the remote control and autopilot, just in case." And he went grab his computer device.

"Sonic... really... I..." Sapphire tried to say.

"Come on, Saph, give it a try," Sonic replied.

"...What do you have in mind?"

"You're… going to fly… my plane!"

"W-w-w-wait, WHAT!?" Sapphire exclaimed. "But I've never-"

"Oh come on, you said that you're more comfortable with machines, right? Well, I think this is the best of both worlds."

"This isn't exactly the same thing…"

"Listen, I'll fly up with you. Tails said he'll get the remote control running for the plane, just in case something goes wrong. And come on, don't you want to try it?"

Sapphire had to admit, she wanted to get a chance to fly in one of the Tornado planes. Or at least, get a closer look at them. She saw them every day, and really wanted to open them up to see how they worked. But neither of those did she want to do without permission, or without a lot more taught to her about mechanics. And never did she think about flying the planes herself.

...But now that the offer was being given to her, she was tempted.

After giving it some thought, she made up her mind. "...Okay, just give me some time to familiarize myself with the controls, and maybe I'll... give it a try."

Sonic smiled, and then turned to Tails. "Hear that, she's said she going to do it. Now backing down!"

"W-wait- Now hang on! I didn't mean it-"

"Don't worry," Tails replied, "Sonic knows what he's doing, and so do I. We'll keep you from crashing. And Sonic, signal me on your communicator if you think she needs help." He input some commands on his device. "Now, let's get you familiarized with those controls."

Past noon-day, Sonic's red and yellow Tornado biplane was rolled out onto the runway. That alone was impressive, because Tails had it hidden under this long strip of road outside of his workshop, with palm trees planted along the edges. How it worked was that the potted trees would be leaned away from the runway, while the runway rose from the ground, starting from the workshop's garage.

Sapphire was sitting in the cockpit, examining the controls, as the engine powered up. She now sported a pair of spare aviator goggles that Tails gave her, and had zipped up her jacket.

Tails was right about one thing. She had already memorized what controls there were, and what they did. But trying to working them was another thing. Sapphire was beginning to rethink taking flight.

Before she could fully consider that, though, Sonic jumped up onto the top wings of the biplane.

"That doesn't seem safe," Sapphire quickly noted.

"For me, it's fine. I always do this," Sonic replied.

Well, if you're the fastest thing alive, and far more agile and perhaps more durable than the average mobian, Sapphire thought. Still, doesn't make it seem any less dangerous.

"So, ready to take flight?"

Sapphire looked down the runway. "Can't really start slow, can you?"

Sonic looked down the runway. "Sometimes you have to run before you can walk."

Sapphire wanted to say something, maybe consider something else, but she was here now...

With everything ready to go, Sapphire hit the acceleration.

As the engine roared to life, the Tornado shot down the runway.

"Pull up! Get us in the air!" Sonic said, sounding almost excited.

Sapphire pulled up, and Tornado flew into the air.

"Good job, now keep it level," Sonic said. But the plane kept climbing in altitude. "Sapphire?"

Looking down, he could see that she had clammed up. She wasn't moving, testing the controls, checking the gauges, anything. She was completely stiff and pale.

"Sapphire!" Sonic called out.

"YES!" She replied stiffly.

"Loosen up!"

"I... I can't-"

Sonic was thinking he might need to call Tails to remote control the plane, but he still wanted to give her a chance.

"Okay, Saph, listen to me. Close your eyes and listen."

"BUT WE'RE FLYING A PLANE!?" she cried in response.

"Just listen."

Sapphire closed her eyes, and listened to the wind. She was still freaked out, but it was... calming.

"Okay, pull down, just a bit..." Sonic said.

Sapphire did so.

"Alright, stop. Pull it back up. Keep it level. Okay... open your eyes."

Sapphire's eyes slowly unclenched. Now she was flying the plane level.

"Sapphire, look down. Not straight down, just take in the view. There's no need to be afraid."

She looked down below. Mountains, valleys, forests, the vast ocean. Seeing them up in the air, it was terrifying. ...And yet...

"It's... beautiful!" Sapphire exclaimed.

"See. It's not just about the danger and excitement. It's also about what you see on the other side. And there is always something to see," Sonic explained. "Something worth finding, something worth protecting."

"Wow... So this is why you do what you do."

Sonic smiled. "So, think you can try something more exciting?"

"Ah... Wh-what!?"

"Come on, Saph. 'An adventure is no fun if there is no challenge.'"

Sapphire wanted to argue, but Sonic was right. The longer she stayed up here, the more terrified she got, but still, she made it this far. Might as well go farther.

"Okay, what should I do?"

Sonic leaned down on the wings, looking down at the valley. "Try flying down there."

Sapphire nodded, and carefully lowered the plane until she was gliding above the tree line.

"Okay, what next?"

"Fly through there." Sonic pointed to break in cliffs, wide enough for the plane to fit through, though still not the safest place to fly through.

"Are you sure!?"

Sonic smiled and nodded.

Sapphire was scared, but she gripped he controls, and turned towards the crevice.

The moment they entered the rocky crevice, Sonic began rapid-firing commands, Sapphire quickly following and zipping through and around the rocky terrain. But as they flew, Sapphire began to calm herself and focus. Soon she was thinking before Sonic, maneuvering the plane near-perfectly before Sonic could tell her what she needed to do.

After a few minutes, they began to reach the end of the crevice, with an in climb leading out. Sapphire pulled up, almost touching the ground of the exit, and shot straight into the air, performing an aerial loop, and flying back down towards the ocean.

"Woo-hoo!" Sapphire screamed in excitement.

"Hey! Seems you're enjoying this!" Sonic replied. "You sure this your first time flying?"

"Yes. I've... I've never felt so... ALIVE!"

"Heh... this is the life," Sonic exclaimed.

Sapphire giggled, and then performed a proper barrel roll, spiraling upside down, and then flipping back down, letting the wings skim the top of the ocean as they flew over it.

"That was pretty good," Sonic said.

"Th-thanks..." Sapphire replied. She closed her eyes, and don't a deep breath. She may have felt scared at first, but now she felt confident in her skills. She felt like she could do anything. She-

"Uh, Sapphire?" Sonic said nervously.

Sapphire looked up at him. "Yeah."

"Pull up! We're about to-"

Sapphire looked forward, and she quickly saw the problem. She quickly pulled up, and barely scraped off the rock they almost hit.

"Okay. I think we should head back now," Sonic said after a few seconds of silence.

"Yes," Sapphire replied flatly.

As the plane landed back on Tails' runway, Sonic's foxy pal was there waiting, bringing them in.

"Geez, you guys are crazy," Tails said. "I was tracking your movements on my device. I saw all the crazy stuff you did. I was almost ready to take over, but Sonic sent a signal NOT to."

"I just felt like she had it. We agreed just in case-"

"You guys almost flew straight into a rock! In fact, I almost took control until Sapphire pulled up herself." Tails turned to Sapphire. "You could've pulled up higher, by the way."

"Sorry, I-" Sapphire stared to say.

"No need to apologize. I'm glad you’re okay," Tails responded, "And... don't worry about the scraped bottom. Sonic will pay for that, right?"

"I guess I deserve that one," Sonic replied. "Yeah, I'll pay up."

"Were all those crazy stunts your idea?"

"Well partially. Saph took over after a bit. She's a natural, I've got to say."

"Well, I was... just freaked out," Sapphire replied, "but I figured it out how to do it. And I think I got overconfident."

She took a deep breath. "I think, for now, I should stay on the ground."

Sonic and Tails looked at each other, then turned back to Sapphire. "Yes."

After that, the three of them went about their business for the day. In the following days, Sonic began talking about other adventures he could take Sapphire on, hopefully not something as dangerous. While she considered it, she was happy to stay where she was, and just enjoy the quiet days.

Chapter Text

"...Okay, now adjust the magnetic field."

Careful hands began work on the device, as they readjusted the focusing of the beam.

Sapphire wanted to do some more work on her hardlight prototype, to see if she could improve it, and try to find other ways it could be used. She wanted to start advancing with her own technology skills.

Tails has been helping her improve, showing her how to build her tech with properly machined parts instead of scraps, improving the power stability and battery life of the device.

After the adjustments, the pair of mobians stepped back, and raised their welding masks.

"Okay, ready for the next test?" Tails asked.

"What test was this, again?" Sapphire responded. "Test number 87, right?"

"Well, if you want things work the way you intend them to, it usually takes several attempts. The more complicated the concept, the more tests needed."

"Yeah, I know..." Sapphire said. She's been through this before. She had to go through this when she initially tested her hardlight tech. It wasn't unique, but it was she had started with, all on her own. And now she was going through it again. She didn't mind, she enjoyed it, but it was exhausting at times, and at other times, frustrating.

Tails tapped few things on his computing device, the Miles Electronic, a large yellow tablet device, and used its remote controls to darken the room so they could better see the focused light. Sapphire picked up a separate remote control, and began fiddling with the controls.

As the device powered up, they watched closely as the ends of the beam began to close into each other, separating from the machines channeling the beam.

“Yes...” Sapphire said softly, before getting excited. “Yes, I did it! I was able to do something new with my hardlight tech!”

“Cool,” Tails replied, “so, do you know what you’re going to use it for?”

“Oh... I-I don’t- um...”

“Don’t worry about it, Saph. I’m just asking. Often times, you create something just for the sake of it, and figure out what you can use it for later. I’m sure you’ll find some use for this.”

“Th-thanks...”

“And think about exactly what you accomplished here. You were able to create a means to not just to create focused beams of light into a safe, solid-state, but you’ve begun the process of shaping it into what you want.”

“...Yeah. I should keep going!” Sapphire exclaimed. She recorded the settings for the successful test, and began messing with the devices again. “If I can find the focused adjustment, I might be able to change what shapes I could make.”

“Woah, now, don’t get too excited. You might... oh boy...” Tails tried to stop Sapphire, but she was already working on her tech, too focused to pay attention to Tails.

Maybe try turning off the machine before messing with it, he thought.

Sapphire began changing the magnetic field’s focusing prisms, trying to find the primary variable, so she could effectively manipulate the field. The beam ended up stretching back to the focusing devices, and then began to grow brighter. Dangerously bright.

Sapphire stopped as she began to see the beam growing brighter. “Uh oh. Uh...”

“Sapphire, slow down! It’s going to go critical if you keep going!” Tails warned.

“Yeah, it might be doing that already be doing that... Can you help me?”

“Don’t worry,” Tails grabbed his Miles Electronic, and checked the levels. “Okay, it isn’t critical yet. Just start lowering the levels, slowly, don’t overpower it.”

“R-right,” Sapphire began to do so, starting with the first variable. Soon, the beam began to dim, and she began to lower the second variable to make sure she was still lowering it to safe levels. But then something interesting happened... the beam began to extend and lax.

“Huh?” Sapphire left her position and approached the beam, now fallen to the floor. She knelt down to check it.

“Sapphire, be careful,” Tails told her.

Sapphire slowly tried to pick up the lax beam, careful not to burn herself, in case the field weakened enough to make the beam dangerous. But that wasn’t the case, as she was able to lift it up without any harm to herself.

“It’s... it’s like a rope,” she said.

“Huh... Interesting,” Tails replied. “I don’t like how we got here, but this is a pretty awesome result.”

“...Sorry, Tails. I’ll be more careful next time! I didn’t want to cause-”

“It’s okay,” Tails interrupted, “just be more careful next. I know your adopted brother is very fast, but this is complicated and sometimes dangerous work. You need to take it slow and think these things through.”

“Yeah...” Sapphire took a closer look at her light rope, and then at the channeling devices making it. “You know, this looks kind of like... hm...”

“You come up with something, Saph?” Tails asked.

“Yeah, a bit of an... entertaining idea. But I need to make some changes. Change the shape of the machine to be more compact, and cap the interiors.”

“So add the shell, and make it portable. That will take some work. Not mention testing to make sure the beam is strong, if that’s how you want it to be.”

“How long do you think it would take?”

“Given how smart you are, as long you do anything reckless again, and with me helping a bit... a few days, maybe. But you’re in charge of the project. You’ve got to learn how to do these things by yourself at some point, right?”

Sapphire nodded in agreement, understanding what he said. But she was more excited to make something fun for her friends to do.

Amy, Cream, and Cheese were heading over to Tails’ workshop, after Sapphire had called them, saying they should come over. She wanted to show them something.

As they approached the workshop, they Sapphire waiting for them, hiding something behind her back.

“Sapphire!” Cream called out as she began running up to her, Cheese quickly following behind.

“Cream! Amy! You came!” Sapphire responded.

“You wanted to show us something?” Asked Amy, catching up to Cream.

“Look!” Sapphire pulled the item behind into view. It was a cylindrical device, which seemed to be designed to split into two, with rubber grips, and dim blue rings around the edges of the cap-ends.

Amy, unimpressed, said, “so, you made a metal rod? Is it for you’re shower curtain?”

“Amy, be nice,” Cream told her. “That’s a very nice thing you’ve made, Saph. What does it do?”

“Well, I when running an experiment of sorts with Tails, and we ran into this interesting development,” Sapphire explained, “I thought it would make for a good time, so...”

Sapphire grabbed both ends, and twisted the device. It began to softly hum, and the rings on the ends lit up. She then separated the two parts, and beam of light connecting the separated parts.

Sapphire then hit a button, and the beam extended, and it fell to the ground like a rope.

“Woah, what!? That beam-“ Amy started.

“That’s really cool!” Cream cut in.

“This is the latest development in my hardlight tech,” Sapphire explained, “I was able to create beam-rope, so I thought I’d turn it into a jump rope!

“That- that can’t be safe,” Amy replied. “I mean, touching that beam-”

“Oh, it’s completely safe,” Sapphire said. “I TRIPLE-checked the magnetic field that holds the beam together. Touching it can’t hurt you. Go on, pick it up!”

Amy and Cream approached Sapphire and her laser jump rope, nervously staring at it. But it was Cheese who bravely flew down, and picked up the hardlight rope. He used his little nub arms, grasped the beam, lifted it into the air...

...And he was completely fine.

“Cheese, does it hurt?” Cream asked.

“Chao, chao,” he replied, holding the beam above him.

“Wow, that actually is really cool,” Amy said, as she held her hand out, and Cheese dropped the beam into her hand. It didn’t even light her glove on fire. “Sorry for doubting you before. Still, did you really just make an overly advanced device for something as simple as jump roping?”

Sapphire, running on a rush of her own success, felt her confidence break a little. “Well, you see, I- I thought it would be fun... And I wanted to- um.”

“Sapphire, please don’t be upset,” Cream said, trying to ease Sapphire’s feelings, “we’d love to play jump rope with you and your new toy!”

“...It’s not really a toy...” Sapphire said quietly.

“We’ll play with her, won’t we Amy?”

“Well, yeah, of course,” Amy replied. “I didn’t mean to say that your invention was bad. I’m just wondering why. But I’ll play. Let me see one of those ends.”

“O-oh, okay,” Sapphire handed Amy one end, and then they were led into the nearby field.

“Okay, Cream, do you want to start first?” Amy asked.

“Of course, come on Cheese!” Cream responded.

Amy and Sapphire began swinging the rope, and Cream jumped in, jumping in time with the laser rope. As Amy and Saph began counting her jumps, and soon sped up, Cream began to flap her ears, seeming to hover a bit. And Cheese just flew by her, trying to mock jumping

She hit the rope at a score of 37 jumps. Cream stepped out of the way, panting. “That was fun... hah... This is the best thing... you’ve done so far...”

“Yeah... thanks,” Sapphire replied. “Um, can I ask... you were flapping your ears, and doing that, you seemed to hover in the air... How?”

“Oh...” Cream caught her breath. “I can use them to fly, kind of like Mr. Tails does with his tails.” She demonstrated by flapping her ears again, and taking to the skies.

“So, that means you cheated, then,” Amy joked.

“Hey! I only used them to stay in the air for a little bit!”

“Oh, i-it’s fine, Cream,” Sapphire replied. “Cheese was flying to, and we let him keep going. Right, Amy...”

“Oh, of course,” Amy responded. “So, Cream, want to take the rope. I want a go next.”

Amy and Cream traded places, and they began swinging the rope for her. Amy proved to be quite agile, keeping them on their toes, or more accurately, Amy kept off of hers. By the time Amy got caught by the rope, she had managed 52 jumps with breaking a sweat.

“Woah, that was awesome,” Sapphire said. “You so good.”

“Well, I am a pretty athletic girl, just so you know,” she replied.

“Because of chasing Sonic, I’m sure,” Cream quietly mocked.

“What was that!?”

“Nothing! Hey, Sapphire, it’s your turn!”

“O-oh, yeah, I’ll try,” Sapphire responded.

Sapphire handed Amy her end, and motioned to get in position and start swinging, keeping Amy from getting mad.

Sapphire began jumping... and lost after nine jumps, tripping on the beam-rope.

“Oh... I didn’t even get into double digits...” she responded as she sat down on the ground.

“Yeah, after years of going on adventures, and fighting Eggman, you become pretty agile,” Amy told her. “You’re just not used to that much physical activity.”

“Well, I guess. I used to run a lot when I was younger, but not so much now. I’m not very active.”

“So, maybe you should get more active,” a new voice spoke in.

Looking over, there was Sonic, walking up to the girls, while commenting on what they were talking about.

“Sonic, you’re here!” Amy exclaimed. “I’m so happy you came to see me!”

“Nah, I just got back from a run,” Sonic replied. Ignoring Amy’s pouting, he took a look at Sapphire's new device. “So, is this the thing you and Tails have been working on?”

“Y-yes, this is a hardlight jump rope,” Sapphire explained. “You see, it’s light focused through prisms, with a magnetic field holding it together. It’s quite an adva-“

“Calm down, Saph,” Sonic stopped her. “No need to explain how it works. Now, if this is a jump rope... care if I have a try?

“Yes, of course! Amy, would you help me?” Sapphire asked her.

“Yes, anything for my darling Sonic!” she excitedly replied.

Sonic rolled his eyes as everyone got in position.

Once they began, it wasn’t long before Sonic outshone them all. He quickly began performing flips and tricks, push of his hands as well as feet to jump off the ground, even occasionally spinning in the air to get two, one time three “jumps” without even touching the ground.

They began to lose count around 150, maybe 160 jumps. And they didn’t even stop because Sonic got caught by the rope. Sapphire simply grew tired, and dropped her end of the rope. And even as the rope fell lax, Sonic simply backflipped out of the way, just barely, yet expertly, missing the falling beam, and making a perfect three-point landing a few feet away.

“Woah... I... I can’t... wow...” Sapphire panted.

“That was quite the... workout,” Amy said.

“I lost count,” Cream replied.

“I think... it was... over two... two hundred jumps...?” Sapphire guessed.

“Nope,” Sonic told them. “Good guess, but not even close.”

“What!” all the girls said at once.

Sonic gave his signature finger wag. “317.”

“Over 300 jumps!” Sapphire cried out. “That’s incredible!”

“Well, I’m just that awesome.”

“Yeah, you really are...”

Sonic picked up the dropped end of the hardlight jump rope, and handed it back to Sapphire. Amy also gave her the other end, and Saph put the two parts back together, shutting off the device.

“Sapphire, that was so fun!” Cream said. “We should do it again, sometime.”

“Yeah, did you make any other fun things, we’d love to try them out!” Amy said.

Sapphire shook her head, as Tails come out and waved to them. “Sonic, welcome back! I got some snacks for you guys.”

“All right! Come on, guys, let’s go inside,” Sonic said.

Everyone nodded, and followed him inside for some food.

Now, as far as Sapphire was concerned, in regards to her hardlight rope... The project was a success!

Chapter Text

It was early morning, and Sonic was running around Central City and Station Square at the speed of sound, getting in a good morning run.

After dropping by a hot dog cart, and buying a couple of chili dogs, his favorite food, he ran up the sides of the city's scapers, leaping from one to another, before stopping on top of a roof, sitting on the edge as he began to enjoy his impromptu breakfast.

Looking down at the skyline, Sonic pointed his finger out, and cheekily said, "yeah, now this is happening."

"Words can not begin to describe for infuriatingly annoying you are," someone spoke behind him.

Looking behind him, Sonic found Shadow standing behind him, arms crossed.

"Hey, Shadow. Fancy seeing you here. ...You're brooding as ever it seems," Sonic said to his black and red look-a-like.

Shadow just closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "May I join you?"

"Uh, sure. Always love having a friend join me!"

Shadow walked up and sat by his blue rival, staring out beyond the horizon.

"Hey, I've got an extra chili dog. Want it?" Sonic said, offering his second dog to Shadow.

Shadow simply nodded, and grabbed the offered food, taking a good bite out of it.

"So, what's up?" Sonic asked. "You seem kind of..."

"I'm fine," Shadow replied, "it's just..." he sighed, "you know, as much as you irritate me, you know that I respect you, right?"

"Well, yeah, kind of figured. What, did you want to be friends?"

"Not really, but... I would like to become part of you're circle."

Sonic was expectedly confused. Why would Shadow, of all people, want to be a part of his "circle"? Shadow wasn't exactly the most outgoing person, even if he did have a few friends (though those friends were a treasure hunter / thieving bat with lots of feminine charm, who somehow had a side job as a government agent, and an ex-Eggman E-series robot that was battle-crazy and practically a walking arsenal).

"Okay, Shadow, what do you want?" Sonic asked as-a-matter-factly.

Shadow was quiet for a moment, before saying, "Sapphire... you adopted her as your sister not too long ago, right?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah, I did. She was an orphan, and never had a family, so I took her in. What about it?"

"There's... there's something that... bothers me about her," Shadow said.

"What!?" Sonic exclaimed, appalled by the statement. "You don't think she's going cause the world to end, do you? I mean, I know I've dabbled in dangerous stuff like that before, like with Emerl, but Saph is just an ordinary, kind girl. She couldn't possibly be a part of something like that!"

"Idiot, I didn't mean it ANYTHING like that! She just... she reminds me of someone."

Sonic had a feeling about who he was talking about. Maria. Sapphire had told him that Shadow had called her "Maria," and Rouge mentioned that the two looked kind of similar, but not really.

"So, you want to get to know her, huh?" Sonic asked his rival.

"Yes... to put it simply," Shadow answered.

"Well, okay then. I could introduce you two properly, and I'm sure Saph would love to thank you for helping her before."

"Actually..." Shadow finished his chili dog, and then pulled out four strips of paper.

"Are those... tickets?" Sonic asked.

"Yes. I... just looked online for the closest big event, and there is a baseball game in a week. I don't know if she would like to go, if that's something she'd interested in, but if she wants to..."

"Yeah, I don't think she's a sports fan, but it's to hang out with me, and maybe Tails... she'll probably go."

"Good. I got four tickets. One for me, and then three for you, Sapphire, and Tails," Shadow explained, handing him three of the tickets. "It would help if you and Tails were there. I don't want anybody to get the wrong idea. That, and I'm worried that your sister will..."

"What, find you intimidating? Edgy? A complete 'bad boy'?" Sonic replied, starting to have fun with what he was saying.

"I just told you I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea!" Shadow exclaimed, irritated. "You really are annoying..."

"Aw, but we're still friends, right?"

"Hmph! Maybe."

"All right, welp..." Sonic finished his own chili dog, and put away his tickets. "I guess I'll see you in a week. I better go and let Tails and Saph know about this now. See ya!"

And with that, Sonic lept of the side, and dashed straight down the side of the building, before racing off towards the Mystic Ruins.

"See you then," Shadow quietly said, before yelling "Chaos Control!" and disappearing in a flash of light.

"Yo, Tails! Saph!" Sonic called out to his housemates as he walked through the front door.

While Sapphire was getting used to Sonic's sudden arrivals, this outside caught her by surprise, causing her to drop the book she was reading. Tails was doing maintenance on his Tornado 2, but pushed himself out from underneath the plane on his roller, in response to his friend's arrival.

"Geese, Sonic, you really scared me," Sapphire said, picking up her book.

"Heh, sorry," Sonic replied. "So, guys, you would not believe who I just talked to."

"Knuckles?" Tails asked, as he flew (literally) onto his feet.

"No. Shadow!"

"...Okay, and this is surprising because?" Tails asked skeptically.

"Well, guess what he gave me!" Sonic pulled out three tickets.

"Um..." Sapphire just looked at them confused.

Tails walked over to Sonic to get a closer look at the tickets. "Are those... baseball tickets?"

"Yeah, crazy right?" Sonic responded. "Shadow apparently wants to join our 'circle,' so he got us tickets to the next game. In particular, he wants to get to know my little sis over here," he continued as he nodded to the hedgehog girl in question.

"H-he wants to get to know me!" Sapphire replied in shock. She remembered the last time she saw him, when he had saved her. He was really intimidating, but she remembered that warm feeling he gave her. And when she met Rouge, the mobian bat said she also knew him, and had mentioned that Sapphire had been bothering him for some reason.

"Yeah, I guess you're pretty popular now."

"I guess..." Sapphire responded meekly. While she liked having friends, she really didn't want all this attention.

"Well, these tickets are for me, and the two of you. I don't know if you're into sports, but-"

"Oh, baseball is a guilty pleasure of mine!" Tails interjected.

Sonic gave him a quizzical look. "Really!? We've been friends for a VERY long time, and I'm NOW just hearing that you like baseball!?" he exclaimed.

"Well, I've admittedly never gone to an actual game, but I'll watch them on the computer during my free time, and I'll listen to past games while working. You've just never really been around. And you know what, I'm surprised YOU don't like baseball more," Tails countered. "It seems like you're kind of sport, AND they have a team called the Blue Blurs, which was named in YOUR honor. In fact, they're going to be playing next week, probably for the game those tickets are for!"

Sonic took a look at them and nodded. "I've heard about the Blue Blurs, and sometimes, when I'm on a run, I'll drop by and watch a few of their games, though I'd sit on TOP of the stadium. I never have tickets. You should've told me you're a fan, I'd definitely would've taken out to a game!"

"Yeah, but you're always on the go, you know."

"Um," Sapphire spoke up, wanting to get her say in, "I'm not a really big fan of sports, but I'll go if it means doing something fun with you guys! ...That doesn't involve nearly crashing a plane!" she quickly added at the end.

"Okay, if everyone's on board, then next week, we're heading out to the ball game!" Sonic exclaimed.

The following week, the trio of Sonic, Tails, and Sapphire were arriving at the Diamond Stadium.

"Wow..." Sapphire gasped. "That's a really impressive stadium. I wonder how its structure is made."

"Uh, yeah, that's an interesting thought..." Sonic said, a little baffled. This was the kind of thing he'd expect from Sapphire, but still...

Tails was just trying to contain his excitement, as he was going to his first game ever. He was even wearing his team's baseball cap, and wondering if he'd get to meet some of his favorite players.

As they approached the stadium, they saw their provider of tickets, Shadow.

"Hey, Shads!" Sonic called out.

"Don't call me that," Shadow replied, annoyed, as he was approached.

"H-hi, Shadow," Sapphire said meekly.

Shadow's slight anger disappeared as his attention turned to the yellow hedgehog. "Hello, Sapphire. Is... Amy treating you well?"

"Oh, yeah, she is. We're good friends now, but I don't want to see her hammer again."

"Yes, as long as you don't get on her bad side, she'll only use it to fight the doctor's mechs. And I would to never want to see you involved fighting him."

"The doctor? Do you mean Eggman?" Sapphire asked.

"He does," Tails explained, "Shadow may be an enemy of Eggman like us, but he does have some respect towards him. I think it's partially because Eggman's grandfather, Profesor Gerald Robotnik, created him."

"Cr-created?" Sapphire responded in shock. "Shadow, are you... um..." she couldn't finish her sentence.

But Shadow got the idea. "Yes, I was born artificially, but I'm still a mobian hedgehog, just like you. I'm just better than the rest of you," he finished smugly.

"Yeah, and you're also part alien," Sonic remarked.

Shadow glared at Sonic. Sapphire was just trying to process what she just heard. She remembered that he claimed to be "Ultimate Lifeform", but did that mean he was actually made that way?

"Hey, Saph, don't worry about it too much," Sonic told her, noticing her distress. "He may be cocky, and we might make fun of him for that, but he's an alright person."

Sapphire nodded, as Shadow rolled his eyes at Sonic. "We should get inside if we want to get good seats," the black hedgehog said.

Everyone was in agreement, and they began to make their way into the stadium. As they did, lots of people were gawking or pointing in their direction, which made Sapphire nervous.

Tails hung back with the girl when he noticed her discomfort. "Yeah, those people are probably fans of Sonic and Shadow, maybe even me. Just hang back, and let them deal with it."

As if on cue, some people approached them, exclaiming, "You're Sonic the Hedgehog! And Shadow! Can we have your autographs!"

The look-a-like hedgehogs looked at each other before turning back to there fans. "Sure!" Sonic said, excited to meet some fans, while Shadow just nodded in agreement.

As they were signing various apparel that the fans had on hand, one of them looked over and asked, "so, is that the girl you adopted as your sister?"

Sonic looked over to Sapphire and said, "yeah. But she's not a big fan of attention, so maybe..." but was ignored as several of the fans split off to see the yellow hedgehog.

Sapphire shrunk into her jacket as the overenthusiastic fans swarmed her.

"So, what's your name?"
"What's it like to be Sonic's brother?"
"Do you go on adventures with him?"

As she kept getting bombarded with questions, she started to freak out. She tried finding a way out, until a dark shadow fell over.

"Excuse me! If you stayed and listened, maybe you would have heard my associate saying that his sister wasn't comfortable with attention. And yet, here you are, bothering her anyways."

The fans backed away, and Sapphire looked up to see Shadow above her, with an intense look on his face, and protectively standing between her and the crazy fans.

"Now, I appreciate how much you adore and respect Sonic and I for who we are," Shadow continued, "but you shouldn't drag others in they don't want to. We are here to enjoy a game, just the same as you. Not to bother others. Agreed?"

The fans nodded in understanding and ran off.

Sonic walked over, and hung his arm over Shadow. "Nicely done, Shads."

Shadow just glared and push Sonic's arm off him. "Let's just go find our seats."

They managed to get seats close to the field. Sonic sat next to the aisle, next to him was Sapphire, then Shadow, and lastly Tails.

Sapphire was happy to be next to her brother, because with Shadow on her other side, she was nervous. He was intimidating, but that wasn't what was bothering her about the black and crimson hedgehog. She just didn't know what it was.

As they sat down, Sonic turned back towards a food vendor, and called out, "hey, can we get two chili dogs over here? And put the works on 'em!" Turning back to his friends, he asked, "anything you guys want?"

"Um, I'll take a hot dog, without no chili, please," Sapphire replied, "and maybe a soda. Oh, and see if they have any pizza slices. I love pizza!"

"I'll get a soda as well and a pretzel," Tails said.

"I'm fine," Shadow told them.

Sonic added those items to the order, and soon the game began. Tails watched with great earnest, while the rest of them just enjoyed the game.

As the game went on, Sapphire looked over at Shadow. Should she say something to him?

Gathering her courage, Sapphire said, "hey, Shadow?"

The black hedgehog looked over, "yes?"

"I... I wanted to thank you for saving me from those thugs when I first got here. Oh, and from those fans too, I guess, though they weren't as dangerous, of course."

"...You're welcome. I just want to make sure that people are safe and happy. You included," Shadow told her.

"So, um... you know I met Rouge a while ago, and she said she knew you."

Shadow nodded. "I should apologize, I should've told her that when I said 'Sapphire', it was the name of a person. Rouge is obsessed with jewels, so I must have been... awkward dealing with her."

"Oh, that's okay. Sonic handled that, sort of." Sapphire turned to her brother, who was paying attention to the game and his enjoying his chili dogs, of which he had already finished one of them. If was listening in on their conversation, he wasn't showing any signs of it. "He mostly made a fool of her."

"I see... Well in all fairness, she was the one that fooled herself. Sonic probably just took advantage of that for the sake of a joke."

"You'd really say that about a friend?"

"Well, it's not like I despise her. She's a good ally. But, I'm not... good with friendships."

"Oh..." Sapphire glanced down. "Anyways, I wanted to ask, she also mentioned that I bothered you for some reason. And Sonic said you got us into this game to see me. Why is that? Is... is there something wrong with me?"

"No... nothings wrong... it's just..." Shadow fell silent.

"Does... does it have anything to with Maria?"

"Don't mention her name!" Shadow said angrily. He wasn't too loud, but it did freak Sapphire out. Other people around them looked over with looks of either annoyance or worry on their faces.

Sonic looked over, quickly saying, "yo, bro, calm down. No need to get angry. Or else they might throw you out. And you scared Saph, too!"

Shadow looked at the trembling girl in shame. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. It's just... a sensitive topic for me," he said.

Then Shadow did the last thing anyone expected. He leaned over, and hugged Sapphire.

"I won't do it again, Ma- Sapphire," he told her.

He feels so warm, Sapphire thought.

Sonic whistled. "Wow, Shadow, feeling a little touchy there, huh?"

Shadow quickly snapped back. "Screw you."

"It's okay... thank you..." Sapphire said quietly, though nobody heard her over the roar of the cheering fans, as just then, an incredible play happened.

One of the players had managed to hit a home run, and as he took off running, the ball was sailing towards the stands.

Now, an event like this is fairly quick, so there isn't a whole lot of time to react. Well, except for the two hedgehogs sitting to the sides of Sapphire, that is.

While it was too fast for her to really take in, she found the two rivals looking over her at each other, with a competitive look in their eyes. Then, before she knew, the two of them were GONE, Sonic having run up on the seats and hopping from one to another, avoiding people's heads, while Shadow literally disappeared in a flash of light!

In an instant, Sonic had traversed the stands, leaping up towards the ball. But then Shadow appeared again, right next to Sonic, reaching for the ball himself...

...But rather than either of them catching the ball, the two hedgehogs collided into each other, and the ball bounced off of them. As they unceremoniously fell back into the stands, the ball sailed over to a certain someone...

Without even meaning to, the ball landed in Sapphire's open hands. Sapphire had been so focused on the doppelgangers, that the ball freaked her out, and she nearly dropped it.

Once she had a good grasp of it again, she looked around, noticing all that everyone around her was staring at her in amazement.

"Wow, would you look at that folks!" the game's commentator's announced over the loudspeakers. "After a spectacular fail from our very own heroes, it seems that this little cutie hedgehog has caught the ball!"

Looking up, Sapphire saw that some unseen camera had zoomed in on her, showing the image of a flustered yellow hedgehog girl in a blue hoodie and dress holding the baseball, upon the jumbotron screen.

"Woah, good job, Saph!" Tails cheered, "nice catch!"

Sapphire began to shrink into her jacket as all this attention was placed on her. On the inside, she began to freak out as everyone began cheering on this unnamed girl.

Sapphire would've run off crying, if were not for the timely arrival of her brother, Sonic. He walked in to frame, giving a cheeky smile of embarrassment, waving at the camera, then waving them off, signaling to them that she didn't want attention.

Once the camera was off her, and the game continued, and Sonic, followed by Shadow, sat back down. "Geeze, that was embarrassing! And sorry you had all that attention on you. Didn't think YOU'D catch the ball," he said sheepishly.

"Uh, yeah. I wasn't planning on it either. It just fell in my hands," Sapphire replied.

"Huh..."

"You know guys, I'm surprised," Tails said, "you two usually have pretty good synergy in battle. And yet you two unceremoniously smacked into each other trying to catch a ball! That is something you two aren't going to live down for a while."

Sonic gave another sheepish smile, while Shadow looked away. "Wasn't like I was planning on running into him!" the black hedgehog replied.

"Wait 'til I tell Rouge!" Sonic said.

"You were the one who ran into me!"

Everyone just laughed at the angry hedgehog. He simply gave an unhappy grunt in response.

Once they calmed down, Sapphire took a good look at Shadow. He's so nice... she thought, he's not as scary as he seems. Maybe... I wonder...

Shadow looked over at Sapphire, causing her to look away in embarrassment.

Why... do my cheeks feel so warm? she thought.

The rest of the game went on by without any more crazy events. At the end of it, the Blue Blurs won by a landslide.

"Yeah, just what I'd expect from a team named in my honor!" Sonic cheered.

"Go Blue Blurs!" Tails followed. Shadow just smiled, glad to see them so happy, while Sapphire hugged the enthusiastic Sonic.

Before they left, while they agreed the ball was Sapphires to keep, Tails convinced them to have Sonic go and get it signed by the player who hit it into the stands. A task that would normally only happen by chance, but for the speedy blue hedgehog, getting through the crowds was a breeze to him.

As they were leaving the stadium, they were ecstatic for the victory of their favorite team.

"Man, Shads, I'm so glad you got us these tickets," Sonic said, "I never hated this game, but I also never thought I'd enjoy baseball this much either. I can see why you like it so much, Tails!"

"Yeah, we should go to the next game!" the fox replied. "What about you, Saph?"

"Well, it's still not my favorite thing, but I'd love to come!" she replied.

"Yeah-ha-ha," Sonic exclaimed, patting her on the back.

Shadow turned to the group and said, "well, this is where I leave you guys."

"Hey, thanks again for the tickets. See you later, buddy!"

"I'm not you buddy," Shadow told his rival, before yelling out, "Chaos Control!" and once again, disappearing in flash.

"Yeah, we'll about that, Mr. 'I'll just teleport away now'," Sonic mocked.

"Bye Shadow," Sapphire said softly, even though he was already gone.

As they returned home, Sapphire couldn't get her mind off of Shadow. He may have seemed intimidating, but he was kind, strong, maybe a little mean at times, but he was always there to protect those who needed.

Sapphire looked away from her brother and her instructor, trying to hide a blush as she realized, I think I like him.

Chapter Text

Above the clouds, a blue biplane soared, in transit to another adventure. One of the passengers, Sapphire, looked down at the world below. She wasn’t afraid of heights, but her prior experience with flying hadn’t exactly left her feeling comfortable in the air.

Of course, it was Tails who piloting the Tornado 2, while Sapphire was sitting behind him, and Sonic, once again, standing on the top wing of the plane.

Sonic had another exciting "adventure" he wanted to take Sapphire on. This time, he wanted to take her snowboarding. It sounded simple, much better than flying a plane. But Sapphire was still nervous, of course, despite having agreed to this.

"Sonic, ...I'm having second thoughts," she told her brother.

"Hey, come on, it'll be great. Trust me, and believe in yourself," the blue hedgehog replied.

"But, you know people get hurt doing this," Sapphire argued.

"Don't worry, I'll be there to show you the ropes. And besides, we're going to the best slopes in the world."

"And where is that?"

"Right there, in the distance!" Sonic exclaimed, pointing over the clouds.

Off in the distance, was a large mass of rock... that was just floating in the air, several hundred feet above the ground. On the top, vast amounts of plant life spread across the airborne grounds, with lush jungles and forests. Old ruins dotted the landscape, and near the back, a range of tall, snow-capped mountains stood.

"A sky island..." Sapphire said in awe. "How is it float- What is that place!?"

"That... is Angel Island," Sonic told her.

"Angel Island... I've heard stories of this place, but I was never sure if it was real..."

"Well, here it is. The legendary island in the sky!"

"...But it's not the only 'island in the sky' we've been to," Tails commented. "By the way, you sure Knuckles won't be mad if we do this here? Without his knowledge?"

"'Course not. He's gotta know that his slopes are the absolute best!" Sonic replied.

"Right..."

Tails flew the Tornado 2 up to the tallest peak. Once they landed, Sonic lept off the top wing, and began rummaging in the storage unit of the plane, before pulling out a pair of snowboards.

Tails and Sapphire hopped out. "I'm really not sure about this," Sapphire said, looking down at the snowy slopes. For the snowy weather, she was wearing blue earmuffs, a large blue coat, dark snow pants, and blue and black boots.

"Yep, it's another crazy stunt from Sonic, eh?" Tails replied.

"Hey!" Sonic called out. "I just want my sis to experience the thrills of life."

"Yeah, but I'm not as much of an adventure as you are," Sapphire argued.

"That's why I'm doing smaller things, like this. Get you comfortable with the idea," Sonic said, before rushing off to a position to start boarding.

"Don't worry, I made sure to land near one of the safer slopes I could find," Tails told Sapphire. "And I'll fly overhead to catch you in case something goes wrong."

"Okay..." Sapphire said.

Sapphire walked over to Sonic, who offered her one of his snowboards. This one was blue with yellow lines, while Sonic's was simple red. "You ready?"

"Um... maybe...?" Sapphire replied. "Give me a minute..."

"Okay."

Sapphire took a deep breath... breath out... another deep breath... breath out... in... out... in... out...

"So..." Sonic said, getting a little impatient. "Do you want me to help you get set up?"

"Sure..." Sapphire said. She was kind of glad Sonic asked that, because she wasn't sure if she could hype herself to do this if her thoughts weren't interrupted.

Sonic helped her get strapped onto her board, and showed her how to balance on it, before getting himself ready.

"Alright, just stick with me," Sonic told her. "Keep your stance, and lean side-to-side to turn. Just remember to be brave, and you'll be fine."

Be brave... right, Sapphire thought. She wasn't very brave. It was the main reason she didn't think she could be an adventurer.

...But being with Sonic... his confidence, his care-free nature, his kindness... it was almost contagious. She was scared, but he made her more confident in facing those fears.

Staring down the slopes, she took one more deep breath. Sonic rolled his eyes, and then pushed Sapphire's back, causing her to freak out as she began sliding down.

"W-woah!"

"You got this!" Sonic called out as he kicked off the ground, and followed after her, while Tails simply face-palmed before flying after them.

Sapphire quickly started losing her balance, and soon after, she finally fell over. Luckily, as a hedgehog, she was able to detach from the board and roll into a ball.

Which of course, led her to being rolled into a snowball before hitting a wall.

Sonic caught up to her as she was digging herself out of the snow.

"Whooh! Th-that's cold..." Sapphire said.

"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have pushed you," Sonic replied. "I thought that would help, guess not."

"Th-that's okay." Sapphire shook all the snow off her, and looked at Sonic, before deciding, "I... I want to try again."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay, let's try again."

Tails lifted her back to the top, while Sonic grabbed her board. They strapped back up, and Sonic held out his hand. "Come on, I'll hold you up, and help you keep your balance, 'kay?"

"Oh, okay," Sapphire said, grabbing his hand.

Sonic started sliding down, pulling Sapphire along with him. Sonic began weaving down the slopes, Sapphire doing her best to keep her balance as she was pulled behind.

"You're doing great!" Sonic told her.

"Y- Yeah!" Sapphire replied.

"Okay, think you can handle yourself from here?"

"Uh- um, sure."

"Okay, you ready? Here we go!" Sonic said as he pulled Sapphire in front of him, then let go, speeding her down the hill as Sapphire tried to ride the slopes on her own.

She was able to keep her balance for a bit, until she nearly fell again, though this time, Tails caught her.

"Hey, you were pretty good that time," Tails said.

"Thanks," Sapphire said. "...I want to try again, until I get this right."

"You sure..."

Sapphire nodded.

"Okay..." turning his attention to Sonic, Tails called out, "hey, Sonic, she wants to go again!"

Sonic gave thumps up as he came to a stop.

Sapphire tried, again and again, trying to get the hang of snowboarding. And slowly, but surely, she did. It wasn't great, but eventually, she got her balance.

Reaching the bottom of the first slope for the first time, Sapphire proudly stood, Sonic sliding in by her.

"Nice job, Saph," Sonic told his sister.

"Yes... I did it. WOO-HOO!" Sapphire cheered with a loud echo.

Which, unfortunately, was the last thing they needed at that moment.

Tails, who was again, flying above them, was going to land to congratulate Sapphire, but then he noticed some snow falling off the cliffsides. Eyes widening, he shouted down to them, "Guys, avalanche!"

The two hedgehogs look up to Tails, before Sonic's gaze lowered to the snow starting to fall down. A large amount of snow.

"We gotta go!" he said, pulling Sapphire away.

"But Tails could-" she started, before Sonic interrupted her.

"No time!" Sonic grabbed his board. Sapphire was still strapped to her board, so she simply dragged along, sliding behind Sonic as he stepped on his board and boarded down the next slopes as the snow toppled down into a large wave of white doom.

Sapphire wasn't exactly happy to be chased by an avalanche, but looking at Sonic, his face of shock and worry had been replaced by one of glee. An extremely dangerous situation, and yet, he was enjoying it.

He loves seeking adventure, ...and danger, Sapphire thought, that's why I always looked up to him, though.

As they rode down, Sonic pointed over to one of the rocky walls. "Look, a cavern!" Sure enough, there was an open cavern in the side.

Sonic leaned to the left, guiding the two of them into the cavern, with the snow barely behind them. Sapphire squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the worst, until there was nothing but cold and darkness.

"Hey, Saph."

No response.

"Sapphire...?"

Still no response.

"We're good now. Come on, say something."

"It's over?" a soft, female voice replied, "we're safe?"

"Yeah. ...But, the entrance is blocked. The snow is packed pretty tightly. I tried digging through it, but I nearly got myself stuck instead."

"Oh." At this moment, the second of the two, Sapphire, began to process her surroundings. Or rather, the fact she couldn't see them. It was dark. Pitch-black dark. She couldn't see her own hand, much less what was in front of her, if anything.

Sapphire curled up into a ball, while Sonic, who also couldn't see anything, made that painful aware. "Man, I can't see anything. I wish I had a torch or something. That be so helpful right about now, right, Saph?"

Sapphire didn't reply.

"Oh, come. Are you mad at me?" he asked. "Hey, sorry if you feel I forced you into this. But hey, it was pretty exciting, you got to admit!"

Still no response.

"Okay, come on. We gotta find a way out of here, Saph."

"I... I can't... it's... it's..." Sapphire whimpered.

"Saph? You okay?"

"NO!" she shouted. "I can't stand the dark! I don't want to go through there if I can't see anything!"

"Wait, you're afraid of the dark?" Sonic asked softly.

Sapphire started crying softly.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Sonic said, as he knelt down by the girl. He carefully wrapped his arm around her, trying to comfort her. "I'm here, you're not alone."

Sapphire clutched her brother. "I'm sorry... I'm trying to be the best sister can... but I'm not even strong enough to face my fears."

"Hey, you did great with the snowboarding!"

"But I was... you're so strong, and I want to be strong, too, because of you."

Sonic was silent for a bit, as he took that in. "I guess I'm not being a good brother. I might be a little too pushy with you joining me on these little escapades."

"No, I was the one who wanted to-"

"Because I'm someone to look up to," Sonic interjected. "But you don't need to be like me. I shouldn't have been so... insistent on making you come with me. You're different from me. You have your own strengths and weaknesses. You shouldn't try to do what I do just because I want you to try it, and I shouldn't ask you to do anything you're not comfortable with."

"It's okay... Sonic, you're a great brother. And as your sister, I love you."

"Heh, thanks, sis." Sonic got up, and grabbed Sapphire's hand. "Come on, get up. I'll help lead you through the dark."

"But... you don't know where you're going either," she replied, though she got up anyway.

"It's my fault we're in this situation., so I'll get us out. Now, come on."

Sonic began to lead Sapphire further into the dark cavern, with the latter staying close to her brother. Sonic moved slowly, keeping his hand on the wall to make sure they didn't run into anything.

It wasn't long before they found a light source, an orange glow around the corner. Sapphire was excited, being terrified of the darkness, and wanted to get into the light, so to speak.

"Sonic, look, light!" she dashed off, leaving Sonic behind her. She rounded that corner...

And found herself smacking into a fist.

"Saph!" Sonic cried out, running after her.

Sapphire had a bump on her head, and was a little dazed, but was alright, already trying to get up. Sonic turned to see what hit her, starting to shout, "okay, you're going to get... uh, Knuckles?"

"Sonic!?" a deep gruff voice replied. "What the heck are you doing here!? Who is this!?"

Sapphire sat up, and found herself looking at a mobian, a species she'd never seen before. He had red fur with dreadlock-like spines, and a crooked tail, along with purple eyes and a white crescent mark on his chest. He wore white mittens over large fists with two spikes on his knuckles for each hand, and red and yellow shoes with green cuffs and grey plates with six bolts on each one (which reminded Sapphire of toys that she used to play with at her old orphanage). He was holding up a fire-lit torch.

"Wha..." Sapphire started, still trying to regain her focus, "who..."

"Is there I reason you hit my sister?" Sonic said, his anger rising back up.

"Sister!?" The red mobian replied. "How was I supposed to know this was your sister!? She tried attacking me!?"

"I wha..." Sapphire replied, still in a daze.

"She's afraid of the dark, and you have light. And you really shouldn't hit random people, especially girls!" Sonic countered.

"I am the guardian of this island! I'm supposed to deal with intruders, like HER!" the red mobian said, pointing to Sapphire, then to Sonic. "YOU shouldn't be here either!"

"Oh, yeah! Wanna go?" Sonic said smugly. "You know you can't beat me!"

"Bring it on!"

This was quickly going from a shouting match to a rivalry fight, and now that Sapphire had (mostly) regained focus, she didn't want to see this happen. "STOP!"

The two mobians stopped and looked over to Sapphire as she stood up, almost stumbling back down.

"Stop! Please don't fight! I don't want to see any fighting..." she started to tear up.

The red mobian looked to Sonic. "What's her deal?"

"Well... perhaps she's right, Knux," Sonic told him.

"Fine," the red mobian turned to Sapphire. "What's your name?"

"It's... Sapphire," she replied shyly.

"Alright, my name's Knuckles," the red mobian told her, raising his hand. "Knuckles the Echidna, the guardian of Angel Island."

"Oh, okay..." Sapphire said, as she shook Knuckles' hand. "Echidna, huh. I've never met an echidna before."

"Yeah..." both Sonic and Knuckles replied.

"What?"

"I'm... one of the last of my kind," Knuckles explained.

"Oh... oh, I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay."

"So... you're the guardian of this island?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes, which brings us back to my first question. Why are you two here, especially in these caves!?"

"Well, me and Saph here come to do some boarding in Ice Cap..." Sonic explained.

"You came here for SNOWBOARDING!" Knuckles responded, once again angry. "This is a sacred island. You can't just come here to snowboard!"

"Hey, you've got a carnival here!" Sonic countered.

"Eggman was the one who put it there!"

"Yeah, when you decided to trust him, and he stole the Master Emerald!"

"STOP!" Sapphire interjected. "Please, stop!"

"Sorry..." the boys replied.

"Thank you... So, um... Knuckles, can you help us?" Sapphire asked.

"Yeah?"

"We're down here because when we were boarding, an avalanche started, and we got stuck because the snow blocked the entrance. Do you know a way out?"

"Well," Knuckles said, with a smug expression, "this is my island, and I know it like the back off my hand. I know another way out. Or..." he pulled out a pair of metal, glove-like gauntlets, each with a pair of sharp, shovel-like blades, and put them on, the blades fitting right over his spiked hands. "...If it's just packed snow, with my Shovel Claws, I could dig right through it!"

"You can?"

"Have to give it to him, he's right," Sonic said. "I'd say we go with that second option. Tails is probably worrying about us on the other side, and we're not too far away."

"R-right, okay, Knuckles, let's do it!" Sapphire replied.

Tails was, of course, worried, and already trying to save his friends. Luckily for him, his Tornado 2 plane was designed to transform. Its second form, the Cyclone, was a combat walker. Flying the Cyclone down to where Sonic and Sapphire got trapped, Tails intended to use the walker's features to free them from the packed snow.

He started by performing a geological scan of the area, so he could make a plan on the best way to breakthrough. At least, he was trying to, but then the hardened snow wall started to break.

Looking up, Tails watched as the snow wall broke open, revealing a red echidna wearing metal digging gloves. Tails was happy to see his old friend, but was even happier to see the two figures who walked out behind him.

"Knuckles! Sonic! Sapphire!" Tails called out in joy and relief. "You guys are okay!"

"'Sup, bro!" Sonic replied. "Glad you're okay!"

"I'm okay!? I was worried you two got buried!"

"Don't worry, we're fine. Knux got us out."

Tails breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Knuckles, you really came through."

"You're welcome," he replied. "Now, I'll see you guys later. Got off my island."

"Wow, you're not beating around the bush, are ya, Knuckle Head," Sonic remarked.

"What did you just say!"

"We... should probably listen to him," Tails replied.

Sonic rolled his eyes while smiling, and hopped on the Cyclone.

Sapphire picked up the dropped boards in the cave, and walked up to Knuckles. "It was nice to meet you, Knuckles. Um... do you... do you mind if I come to visit? You know... just to hang out?"

Knuckles' eyes closed as he thought about it, then sighed. "Sure, you can. Just let me know first before you try something like this again on MY island."

"Yes, of course!" Sapphire then walked over to the Cyclone, packed the boards into the vehicle, and climbed into the back seat.

"Sonic, that sister of yours, she's got a good head on her," Knuckles said. "You should take good care of her."

"Of course. Wouldn't have it any other way," Sonic replied.

Knuckles smiled. "Well, goodbye. And Sapphire, I know dealing with Sonic isn't easy, but he's a good guy. Trust him, and you can't go wrong."

Sapphire smiled and waved goodbye to the echidna, as Tails moved his vehicle into a better position where he could take off.

Once the plane was in the air, and the three mobians were flying away from Angel Island, Sapphire couldn't help but stare back at the island.

"I feel sorry for him," Sapphire said.

"Knuckles, why?" Sonic asked, once again, standing on the plane's top wing.

"He must be so alone there. Without anyone to keep him company."

"Well, Knuckles has a big job. He has to protect the Master Emerald, and that's a pretty important job," Tails explained.

"The Master Emerald... what is that?" Sapphire asked.

"It's this massive gem that sits on a shrine on the island," Sonic answered.

"It is the controller of the Chaos Emeralds," Tails added. "And its power is the reason Angel Island floats in the air. Without it, the whole island will fall into the ocean."

"Oh... that does sound important," Sapphire said.

"Knuckles is a good guy, if a bit of a loner," Sonic said. "We bring him along in our adventures sometimes, and his strength is immensely useful, not to mention he's a fantastic friend to have on your team."

"So, you bring him along, like you did with me?"

"Yeah... like that..." Sonic replied cheekily.

"People follow Sonic," Tails said. "A friendly, free-spirited guy who protects the world, that's just what happens. Even people like Knuckles will join in when asked."

"Yeah, guess so," Sapphire replied.

The three laughed at that, as they flew home, ready to rest from another exciting day.

Chapter Text

It was a calm morning. Sapphire was in her room, reading a book, while Tails was preparing for something he needed to do today.

"Hey, Sapphire, could you come here really quick!?" Tails called from the workshop area.

Sapphire put a bookmark in her reading material, and left her room to speak with her mentor. "Y-yeah, did you need something?"

"Not really, I just wanted to ask if you could come with me to Cream's place today?"

Sapphire blinked. She had no problem going to visit Cream and her family, but she did wonder why Tails wanted to go. "Okay... why?"

"There's something I have to go do, and I figured that you might want to watch," the twin-tailed fox replied. "You see, I don't know if you noticed last time you were there, but they have this robot, and-"

At that moment, Sonic came rushing in. "Yo, Tails!"

Sapphire jumped back a bit. "Sonic, can you please stop doing that?"

"Sorry, Saph, but this is important," Sonic replied quickly.

"You do seem a little rushed," Tails noted.

"Eggman's back!"

"...Right now!? Today was supposed to be Gemerl's monthly maintenance check-up," Tails replied.

"Oh, right..." Sonic replied. "Do you want me to go it alone this time?"

"I don't know, I suppose I could delay it until we're back-" Tails started before being interrupted.

"Could I do it?" Sapphire asked.

"Huh?" Tails replied, a little shocked.

"Well, Tails you wanted me to come with anyways, right?" Sapphire explained.

"So you could watch me work on robotic mechanics, and see what's it's like to work with them, but I didn't want you to actually work with them now. Robots are a lot more advanced than other machinery, and more difficult to work with. That, and Gemerl is a complicated machine, even for me. Honestly, I think you should wait until you're a little bit better-"

"Hey, Tails, if she wants to give it a try, let her," Sonic interjected. "She's smart, I'm sure she'll figure it out. And it would be a good way to learn, right?"

Sapphire was suddenly a lot less sure about this, but Tails thought it over, and said, "Okay... fine. I have records of my previous maintenance check-ups that you could use to help you, if you think you can do this. If you don't know what to do, don't worry about it. It's just a monthly check-up, not a huge upgrade or anything like that. If you miss something, I'll fix it next month. ...Or when I get back."

"You sure...?" Sapphire replied. "I'm not so sure anymore..."

"Hey, Saph," Sonic spoke up. "You can do it. I know you can do it, if you believe in yourself."

"Okay... yeah... I can do this! My first time working on a robot! I'm excited!"

"That's what I like to hear!"

"Okay, I'll call Vanilla and let her know what's happening, and I'll send you my notes, update files, and schematics for Gemerl," Tails said. "Fair warning, they're not... amazing. Gemerl was originally one of Eggman's robots, and his tech is notoriously weird. And not only that, he was based off of another very ancient, yet advanced robot. So I couldn't really make really great schematics without reverse engineering him, which... well, there's a good reason we didn't do that."

"Right, I'll keep that in mind."

Sapphire was on her way to Cream and Vanilla's house, carrying her toolbox in one hand, and her Miles Electric, which Tails gave her, in the other, using voice command to review Gemerl's schematics.

"Man, I should really talk to Tails about making a smaller version of this thing. It would so much more convenient. Maybe we could call the 'Miles Gear'," Sapphire said to herself while walking, looking up for a moment to make sure she wasn't about to run into anything, as she did occasionally.

She was trying to make sure she knew everything she could before arriving, and was hyping herself up for the monumental task ahead of her. Sure, it's was just a maintenance check, but from the sounds of it, this robot was incredibly important to the Rabbit family.

Looking up once again, Sapphire found that she had arrived at the Rabbit household. Smiling, she made her way to the front door and rung the doorbell.

After a minute, the door opened, revealing the tall rabbit mobian that Sapphire knew to be Vanilla.

"Ah, you're here," she greeted. "It's good to see you, Sapphire. Tails called me, said you coming to check up on Gemerl?"

"Yes... Um, I'm sorry, I didn't see him last time I was here," Sapphire replied.

"Oh, he was watching the house while we were gone. Please, come inside, and I'll introduce you."

Sapphire was led into the home, and guided over to the living room. There, Cream and Cheese were watching cartoons on a large TV, while another figure stood by them.

"Honey, Sapphire is here," Vanilla announced.

Cream looked over, and happily jumped and ran up to Sapphire. "You're here!"

Sapphire let Cream hug her, nervously returning it in her shy mannerisms.

"So, you're here to look at Gemerl?" Cream asked, as she looked up at the older, albeit short mobian, and then let go and backed off.

"U-um, yeah, I am," Sapphire replied.

"Yay! Hey, Gemerl, I want you to meet Sapphire!"

Cream led Sapphire to the other figure she saw before. He was a mobian-modeled, black-colored robot with some parts colored yellow. His metal face had a three-pronged horn-like part, shaped like an upside-down T, with an opened third eye in the middle, his normal two blue-eyes just below the horn's side-prongs, with red lining underneath. There were three circles on his chest, fin-like blades on his forearms, and his upper arms and legs were thin steel rods.

He looked really intimidating to Sapphire, but regardless of that, he approached her, and held out his hand. "Greetings. I am designated as 'Gemerl'. Pleased to meet you."

Sapphire gave a shy smile, and nervously shook his hand. "H-hi, there. I'm... Sapphire. I'm here to do your maintenance... In place of Tails! Sorry!" She said that last part quickly.

"I see. So Tails is busy at the moment?"

"Uh, w-well... yeah. He and Sonic had to leave... b-but I am his apprentice, so don't worry!"

"You seem nervous?"

"Saph is shy," Cream explained.

"And I think this is her first time doing maintenance on a robot," Vanilla added. "Though I'm sure this will be a good experience for her to take."

"Well, a friend of Tails and Sonic is a friend of mine," Gemerl said, "and they trust you to be able to run my maintenance, then so will I!"

That lifted Sapphire's spirits, have been given confidence from the very robot she was supposed to be working on. "Thanks. So, should we get started?"

Over the next few hours, Sapphire had begun working on Gemerl's check-up. Cream was in the room, continuing to watch her cartoons, while looking over occasionally to watch her friend work.

Right about now, Sapphire was finishing up with the hardware maintenance, while Tails' pre-made security software update was almost completed. It was difficult, but Sapphire loved it. Working with new technology, it was so fascinating for her.

"...And, done!" Sapphire said. She grabbed her Miles Electronic computing tablet, and hit the remote turn on to reboot Gemerl.

As Gemerl eyes flashed on, with him saying with his robotic voice, "powering on."

Waiting a short bit for Gemerl to finishing booting, Sapphire afterwards asked, "so, how do you feel?"

"I am a robot. I can't feel anything. But it appears that I am operating at optimal efficiency," Gemerl replied.

"Well, that's good," Sapphire replied, "I was worried I might have messed something up."

"I am not experiencing any flaws in my systems. All systems are running normally."

"Oh... good." Sapphire got up, and took a good look at Gemerl. "You're a really impressive robot. I mean, I haven't seen a ton of robots before, or any really," she said whispering that last part, "but you are definitely the coolest one I've met. Your AI is so impressive, and the technology you are made of is unlike anything I've ever seen!"

"Thank you, miss Sapphire," the black robot replied.

At that moment, Vanilla walked into the room, carrying a plate, and took a look at Sapphire's finished job. "So, I take it that you're all done?"

"Yes! It was very interesting examining your robot! Thank you for this opportunity!" Sapphire replied.

"Well, don't forget to thank Tails too, for allowing you to do this. He's the one who usually checks up on Gemerl. But I'm glad you enjoyed it. I knew you could do it." The tall rabbit mother lowered her plate. "I just finished making cookies. Would you like one?"

"Oh, sure," Sapphire said while grabbing a cookie. "Thanks. I didn't know you were making these."

"Huh? But you could smell them from here," Cream mentioned.

Sapphire just gave a small, nervous laugh. She was so focused on Gemerl while working on him, that she didn't notice. When it came to technology, she could become fixated on it, everything else got blotted out of her perception.

"Anyways, I assume that you are doing alright now, Gemerl? Nice and strong, I presume?" Vanilla asked the robot.

"Everything appears to be operating at maximum efficiency," he replied.

"Good, good."

"So you're happy with my work?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes, of course," Vanilla replied.

"Thanks. That means a lot to me. Not a lot of people really show interest in what I do, except for Tails, Sonic, and some of their other friends."

"Oh, Sapphire." Vanilla pulled Sapphire into a hug. "I know you must have felt so alone for much of you're life. If you ever wanted to find someone to talk to, I'm always here if you want to come by."

"Thank you..." Sapphire replied, small tears in her eyes. Besides Sonic, she never had anyone show her this much kindness.

"Anyways, Gemerl, since you're working alright, I wanted to ask if you and Cream could get some more groceries. We seem to be running low."

"Of course, ma'am. I will serve this purpose," Gemerl replied.

"Oh, I'm happy to help out, mama!" Cream jumped in.

Sapphire thought on this for a moment, and then asked, "You mind if I come along? I'd like to make sure that he is working properly."

"Of course, Saph! We'd love for you to come with us!"

Vanilla smiled and giggled, amused by the display. "Okay, just be sure to get everything we need, and of course, please be safe."

"Of course!" the two girls said that the same time, Gemerl simply standing by, waiting to begin this mission.

About an hour later, Sapphire, Cream, Cheese, and Gemerl were walking (or flying) back to Cream's home, taking back the groceries they just purchased for Vanilla and her family.

"So, from the looks of it, you're working just fine," Sapphire observed, seeing as Gemerl was near effortlessly carrying most of the groceries, including some of the more heavy ones.

"Thank you, miss Sapphire," he replied.

"Oh, I'm just so happy that you're working so well. That means my first time working on a real robot wasn't a huge failure."

"You shouldn't be so worried, Saph. Your work is amazing. I think you can do amazing things in the future!" Cream told her.

"Th-thanks..."

"'Saph?' This is a nickname for you, I assume?" Gemerl inquired.

"Uh, yeah, my brother calls me that a lot," Sapphire explained. "Um, do go by a nickname? Gem, maybe?"

Gemerl was silent as he contemplated the question, though with his robotic face unable to show emotion, Sapphire thought that he didn't like it.

"Sorry, I guess it sounds more like a girl's name-"

"No, it is fine. I have never been given a nickname, so I had to consider it. If you wish you to call me Gem, I'll allow it."

"Oh, thanks. ...So, um, Gem, do you mind if I ask... What kind of robot are you, or at least, what were you before?"

Gemerl was startled by this, but figured he owed her an explanation. "I am a replica of an ancient, weaponized, mechanical warrior known the gizoid. Apparently, the original gizoid I was based on was a close friend of Sonic's, but he had to be destroyed when he lost control due to Eggman's interference. Eggman made me afterward, based on the previous gizoid's model, and yet I also lost control and betrayed him, later being fixed and reprogramed by Tails."

"I... see." Sapphire was surprised to hear that Gemerl was intended to be a weapon, and was modeled off of another weapon. A very old weapon. How ancient was this gizoid weapon? she thought, I should ask Sonic about it, if he really did know the original one.

As they continued along, Gemerl suddenly stopped.

"Gemerl? What's wrong?" Cream asked, worried. Cheese flew by him, equally worried.

"I'm detecting an unknown presence," the robot replied with warning.

Looking around, they didn't see anything. There wasn't any else around, at least, that they could see. There was an alleyway by them, seeing as they were in a small city are near Cream's home, but it was empty, save for some large trash bin.

Sapphire becomes nervous. She wasn't a fighter. She heard that Cream had gone on adventures before, so maybe she knew how to fight. Gemerl just said he was made as a weapon, and when working on him, she saw some of his built weaponry, such as missile launchers in his arms. So she could depend on him, right?

At that moment, there was the sound of movement behind them. Gemerl moved to act against this disturbance...

But when a loud bang and burst of energy. It merely put Sapphire and Cream's fur on end, when it passed over the black robot, he shut down and fell over.

"GEM!" Sapphire cried he ran over to him, but then a small object was tossed on the ground by them, which then began spewing some sort of gas.

The two mobians and the Chao tried to cover their mouths, but unfortunately, they breathed in some of it, and they began to become woozy, as their conscious' began to fade.

"What... why...?" Sapphire weakly said, before falling into slumber.

Chapter Text

When Sapphire woke up, she was lying on a couch, within a familiar room. As she got up, very groggy, she looked around and realized she was in Cream and Vanilla's living room. Her vision was blurry, and she had a hard time fully understanding any more detail, but once she rubbed her eyes, and her vision began to clear up, she found the least likely person she expected to see here.

"You're awake," a deep voice said. Taking a good look to make sure it was who she thought it was, she saw the black-furred hedgehog with his crimson eyes staring at her with their usual intensity, but also with a hint of worry.

Seeing she was alright, Shadow smiled. "Good to see that you're okay. Were you hurt?"

"I... don't think so..." Sapphire responded. "What happened? Why are you here?"

Shadow looked off to the side. "I found you and your friends knocked out on the ground, so brought you back here."

"Oh... is everyone okay?"

"Seemingly, although..." Shadow looked away. "Apparently, someone wasn't there."

"Wh-what?" Sapphire responded, nervous.

At that point, Vanilla walked in. "Oh, thank goodness, you're awake! Cream just got up, too." As if to prove it, Cream walked out from behind her mother, and ran up to Sapphire, very distressed.

"Saph! It's terrible!" she cried.

"H-huh?" the yellow hedgehog replied.

"Gem- Gemerl, he's..."

Shadow shook his head. "Based on what Vanilla told me, he was with you girls, but when I found you, I didn't see him anywhere."

"He's... gone...?" Sapphire said.

"Sapphire... What happened?" Vanilla asked.

Sapphire was distressed by this news, but she tried to explain what happened. How they were walking home, then someone used some kind of energy burst to shut down Gemerl, then followed with some sort of gas, which caused them to fall unconscious.

"An EMP," Shadow summed up, "plus some sleeping gas... Whoever did this, they knew what they were doing."

"I... I can't..." Sapphire started to tear up. "Tails trusted me with Gemerl, you trusted me with him, he... trusted..."

"It's okay, Sapphire, this wasn't you're fault," Vanilla replied, trying to comfort her.

Shadow got up. He was not happy that someone made Sapphire cry, even unintentionally. "Sapphire."

Sapphire looked over to the black hedgehog. "Y-yeah," she managed between tears and sniffles.

"Whoever did this, whoever thinks they can simply take your friends from you... I will find them, and I will make them pay! And I will bring Gemerl back, one way or another."

"My, aren't you determined," Vanilla replied. "But are you really going to do this alone?"

"If necessary. I work well when alone."

"Well, for something like this, you should ask for help. And I know who could help. Why don't you take Cream and Sapphire down, and ask for their assistance?"

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "You aren't talking about- ...No. I don't want help from them!"

"I can't believe we have to talk to these guys," Shadow grumbled.

The three mobians (plus Cheese) now stood in front of an old, run-down building in town. The sign on top read "Chaotix Detective Agency".

"You know these people?" Sapphire asked.

"I'm familiar with them," Shadow replied.

"Aw, they aren't that bad," Cream chimed in, with Cheese adding in with a "Chao Chao!"

Shadow gave a sigh. "Fine, I'll admit, they're helpful allies in the heat of things. But they are also a group of bumbling idiots, ...except for maybe Espio, and even then-"

"Give them a chance. They're good friends, and great detectives!"

"I don't know about great," Shadow mumbled.

Sapphire was very nervous. She hadn't even met these people yet, and she was already unsure if they would be helpful or not.

...But she still felt that she was responsible for Gemerl's disappearance. If these guys could help her find him, and her friends trusted them, then she would accept their help.

Sapphire took a deep breath, and said, "let's go." Then she went forward to enter the building, before Shadow and Cream could react.

Inside the building, she found herself in a waiting room, with a couple of short, potted palm trees and cushioned benches.

Within the room, she saw two mobians. One was a teenaged purple chameleon with yellow eyes, a yellow horn between his eyes, a heart-shaped area of bare chest, and was wearing metal-reinforces ninja gear. The other mobian was a child bee with amber-colored eyes wearing an orange vest with a bee symbol on it and a black, dark-pink-rimmed helmet with a pair of google on it.

The two of them were in a conversation, until the chameleon noticed the newcomer. "Hello there," he replied. "My name is Espio the Chameleon. Are you here looking for some assistance?"

"Y-yeah, you see I..." she started. "I need... um..."

"Hey, come on, we're not going to hurt you!" the bee chimed in, in response to Sapphire's nervousness.

"Charmy, calm down," Espio told the bee, "She seems nervous already, you're only making it worse."

"Oh, I-I'm okay," Sapphire said. "It's nice to meet you, Espio, Charmy."

At the moment, Shadow and Cream appeared from behind Sapphire.

"Oh, Shadow," Espio responded.

"Hey, Cream!" Charmy greeted his fellow kid.

"So, what brings you here?"

"Well, me and my friends need some help with something," Cream answered.

"And she believes you are the ones to ask," Shadow continued, with no enthusiasm in his voice.

"I see," Espio replied. "So, this is a friend of yours?" he asked, referring to the yellow hedgehog.

"Yes! This is Saph!" Cream exclaimed.

Shadow sighed, and added, "Sapphire the Hedgehog in full."

Sapphire merely smiled at her friends, still nervous about talking to these guys.

"Well, it is good to meet you, 'Saph'," Espio said. "So, what seems to be the problem.

"Um, a friend of mine is missing, and Cream says you can help us find him," Sapphire explained.

"Wait, so does that mean we got work?" Charmy said, before excitedly flying into another room, crashing through the doors. Espio gave a slightly exasperated expression, and then motioned for everyone to follow.

In the next room, they found a messy office, with a large, reptilian mobian with green scales, red spikey-scales going down to his tail, and gold-yellow eyes. The shoulders on his broad upper body had black shoulder pads on them, along with white gloves with large, black-and-orange cuffs with a gold buckle on them, black shoes with a little white and orange on them, and of course, a gold chain around his neck and a pair of wireless black-and-gray headphones. His entire attire made Sapphire think he was more of a DJ, rather than a detective.

"Charmy, what do you want!?" the detective angrily asked the bee.

"Vector! We've got work!" Charmy replied.

"WHAT!?" Then the detective looked up, and found his guests, along with Espio, watching him. He cleared his throat, and said, "Hello. Sorry about my associate here. He can get... a little wild."

"Th-that's okay," Sapphire replied nervously.

"So... Cream, Shadow. Strange to see you two together. Who's your friend?"

"Oh-oh, I'm Sapphire."

"Sapphire... hm, yeah I've heard of you. You're Sonic's friend, right?"

"Um, actually, I'm his sister. A-adopted! He adopted me!"

"Ah! That's good to know." The detective got up, and walked up to Sapphire, offering his... rather large hand in greeting. "My name's Vector, head of the Chaotix Detective Agency! And I bet you've met my friends and associates, Espio and Charmy."

"I have..." Sapphire replied, looking at the large mobian, still very nervous.

"Hey, no need to be nervous!" Vector replied. "I won't bite." Then he looked off to the side. "Okay, so maybe I've got a big mouth, but it's fine, really!"

Sapphire smiled and raised her hand, giving a return shake to him. "So... Vector. Does that mean you're an alligator?"

Vector gave a big, hearty laugh. "That would make sense, but no. I'm a crocodile. Vector the Crocodile," he explained.

"Oh. Sorry, I've... never met an alligator or a crocodile before, so I don't really know the differences between them."

"Ah, that's alright. People make that mistake all the time. Though, I have thought of the title 'Vector the Detector'."

"Which is DUMB and STUPID!" Charmy countered.

"Oh, come on!" Vector replied.

"I have to agree with Charmy, to a point," Espio added. "it is fairly... lame."

"You too!" Vector continued.

"Um, I kind of like it," Sapphire said.

"Yeah, we think it's cool!" Cream added.

Shadow gave no comment. Though he agreed with Espio and Charmy, he really didn't care.

"Thank you! I knew it would catch on!" Vector exclaimed. "So, what do you need!?"

"Well... you see... Cream and I, we were with Gemerl, bringing groceries back for Vanilla..." Sapphire explained.

"Okay, okay. Go on."

"And then, we were attacked. There was an EMP and sleeping gas... And when we woke up... Gemerl was gone..."

"And we don't know who took him," Cream added.

"I see," Vector replied, trying to seem professional and calm. However, someone was more than willing to disrupt him.

"WHAT! Someone took Gemerl!" Charmy blurted out. "But he's so much fun! Why would anyone-"

"Charmy! Please, calm down," Espio interrupted. "It's okay, we'll figure this out."

Vector sighed. "Still, this is distressing. Gemerl's been a big help in the past, and he's a good buddy, too. Whoever took him is going have to pay for the consequences." Vector then went silent, realizing something. "We're not going to get paid for this one, are we?"

Sapphire looked around nervously, while checking her jacket pockets. "I don't have any rings on me. Cream, do you?" she asked.

"No. Mama usually handles that kind of stuff," Cream answered.

Vector sighed again. "It's alright. You guys are friends, it's okay if this one's a freebie. Still..."

Shadow, recognizing the stress he was feeling, and how badly his friends wanted their help, decided to speak up. "Fine... As an agent of G.U.N., I get quite the hefty paycheck. But I don't care to use it. You help us, I'll give a month's worth of my salary in payment."

"How much?" Espio asked.

"Enough to pay your rent."

"You... really don't need to do this for us, Shadow," Vector replied.

"Says the greedy crocodile," Shadow said in return. "Ma... my friend here... wants your help, and I want to help her. Consider this compensation for staying out of my way if things get heated."

"Fair enough." Vector smiled. "Looks like we got our rent paid for! Now, let's this case started!"

"Yeah!" Charmy, Cream, and Cheese exclaimed (Cheese is with his "chao" speech), while Shadow and Espio remained stoic, but grinning, and Sapphire softly smiled in gratitude.

"Thank you," she said to all of them, and they all gave her big smiles in return.

Chapter Text

"So, this is the scene of the crime?" Vector asked.

"Mhm," Sapphire replied. Shadow had led them back to the alleyway where they were knocked out.

"So, please, could you tell me again what happened?" Espio asked.

"Well, we were walking along, and then Gemerl detected a threat or something," Sapphire explained. "Then someone fired off an EMP, shutting him down. And then they immediately released some gas that made us fall asleep. When we woke up, we were back at Cream's place, and Shadow said he brought us back."

"And what were you doing at the time of the assault?" Vector asked the black hedgehog.

"Minding my own business," Shadow said, "up until I heard some commotion. I went to investigate, and I found the girls knocked out on the ground."

"Was anyone else around?"

"A few people, but I was more concerned with Sapphire's well-being."

"...And Cream's too, right?"

Before Shadow could respond to Vector, Charmy butted in. "Hey, aren't you a government agent? Why didn't ask where the bad guy went!?"

"Charmy!" Vector shouted.

Shadow scoffed. "My job as an agent is to handle large-scale threats. G.U.N. has other agents for the smaller investigation-type stuff like what you do, along with other things. Besides, I was off duty. Also, I would've gone after the 'bad guy', if I had known what was going on, but it was all over by the time I got there. I acted on what I could see, and that was the unconscious girls."

"What were these other people doing, might I ask?" Espio inquired.

Shadow sighed. "There were maybe three or four others. One was checking on the condition of the girls, until I said I'd take care of them. When I asked what happened, they said they came to find out about some loud sounds going off."

"Did any of them call the police?"

"I didn't stay long enough to see if they had."

"Very well, we'll have to check that ourselves."

"All right!" Vector called out to his team, "time to get some information. Espio, go around and ask the residents what they saw."

"Does he have a badge?" Shadow asked as Espio literally vanished from sight, which surprised the unaware Sapphire.

"He does..." Vector replied, "getting them certified was a pain. Anyways, Charmy, you're with me. We're looking for evidence. And remember, don't TOUCH any of it!"

"Aw, you're no fun!" Charmy complained.

"After what you did last time? We were lucky to still have completed that case!"

"...Um, if I may, I'm not super familiar with explosives, but maybe the bomb casings are still here?" Sapphire interjected.

"She's right," Shadow added. "Unless the perpetrator was smart enough to get rid of them, the casings could help in the investigation."

"Right, okay, let's look around!" Vector cried, as he and Charmy ran into the alley to search.

"Let us help!" Cream cried and she and Cheese followed along.

With Sapphire and Shadow, things... felt a bit awkward. "So..." Sapphire started, "how did Espio... disappear like that?"

"He's a chameleon," Shadow answered. "it's what they do."

"Oh... right." Sapphire felt silly. Chameleons were known for their ability to change their skin and blend into the environment. She knew that, she just never realized they could be so good at it, even the broad daylight.

"That... and he is a trained ninja," Shadow added. "Stealth is his primary skill. That's why I think he's the only competent member."

"Oh, that's cool. It must be nice, to have a ninja as a part of your detective group."

"I think they were friends before they made their agency, but I don't know for sure. When I first met them, I had amnesia, so I had other things to worry about."

"Oh, that's really sad. Did... did you ever get your memories back?"

Shadow nodded, but didn't provide any more details.

Before Sapphire could ask anything else, Charmy cried out, "I found something! Woo-hoohoo!" he sang that last part.

"What you find?" Shadow called out, walking over to check.

Vector came over too. Whatever it was, it was in the trash. Digging it out, he pulled out a few strange objects. "Bomb casings?"

Shadow checked them and nodded. "Looks like it. Whoever this is, they were sloppy, trying to hide the evidence."

"Hey, that's good for us!" Vector replied.

Sapphire came over to see what they found. On was a metal can of sorts, and a mechanical cylinder that looked fired.

Shadow motioned to be passed the can. Once he was given it, he said, "the is a sleeping gas can, alright, standard military issue. They must have good connections to get their hands on this stuff. The EMP on the other hand..."

"What about it?" Charmy asked.

After inspecting it, Shadow said, "it looks custom made."

"Well, that doesn't help."

"Actually it does," Shadow explained. "If it's handcrafted, they might have a specific way they make it, so what can compare it to other similar devices, and determine who made it."

"That makes sense. Every mechanic has a different way to built their machines," Sapphire said. "Tails said so. And sometimes, they also have their own specialties, like my focus on hardlight tech."

"That's great!" Vector exclaimed, before realizing a problem. "...But we don't have the means to examine it."

"I have some contacts in G.U.N. that might help," Shadow said. "Just give me some time."

"Hey, I thought you said you didn't know about this stuff," Chramy told Shadow.

"I said it wasn't my job. Doesn't mean I don't know anything about it. Sometimes I'm tasked to work with other teams, each of us with different jobs, and I've worked with bomb experts before."

"Well, then, take these," Vector handed Shadow the evidence.

"All right, contact me if when Espio comes back with some info," then Shadow teleported away.

"Did I miss something important?" a voice asked, causing Sapphire to freak out. Then Espio appeared before them. "I suppose she's not used to that."

"No," Vector and Charmy replied at the same time.

"Did you find anything?" Cream asked.

"I asked many of neighbors if they saw anything," Espio replied, "most just mentioned how they heard some loud sounds, found some girls unconscious, then the Ultimate Lifeform himself came and carried them off."

"I see, I see."

"But I did find out something from one. They saw a purple van in the alleyway from their window."

"Did he catch the license plate?"

"No, he didn't think much of it, and went back to sleep. And he missed the rest of the event. But... he did mention that he swore he saw the same van often at a diner on the edge of town."

"Well... it's a better lead than anything else we got," Vector replied. "Okay, I'll send a message to Shadow to meet us there. Did you get info on where the diner is?"

"Indeed."

"Aw yeah! Lunchtime!" Charmy exclaimed.

"Charmy, we're not going to get a meal!" Vector told him.

The group had traveled to the "Seven Rings Diner". Waiting for them was Shadow, who was standing by the front dark.

"This better be good," he said as they approached. "I didn't come here a meal."

"No, we heard that a strange van might've been seen here," Vector went on to explain what they had learned.

"Hm, okay," Shadow replied. "Then shall we?"

Entering the diner, they found a quaint little place, with a few different people enjoying their meals.

Approaching the bartender, Vector introduced himself. "Hey, there, my name's Vector, and I work the Chaotix Detective Agency. May I ask you a few questions?"

"Ah, name's Eric," the bartender replied, a tall, dark-skinned human with dark brown hair. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, we are on a robot theft case, and we believe there may have been a vehicle involved that has been seen here."

"Did you see a purple van here?" Sapphire continued for Vector.

Eric took a moment to think about it. "Yeah... I see a purple van occasionally in the parking lot. I don't think much about it."

"Do you know who the driver is, at least?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah... sort of," Eric started. "So here's the thing. There is this guy. He's a regular here at my diner. He claims to be an 'informant'. Of what, I don't know."

"You never thought to ask what he does. It sounds suspicious," Espio commented.

"Hey, it's none of my business, as long as they order something," the bartender explained. "Anyways, this guy, whenever he's here, he's visited by somebody. Perhaps his clients or whatever. And the driver of that van... that's one of them."

"So, who are they?" Vector inquired.

"Well, the driver... I couldn't say. They're always wearing a hooded jacket with the hood up, fully covering their face. I never listened closely to their conversations, but the hooded person sounded feminine. The other guy, mobian, fox with dark gray fur, unusually tall, like you good sir." Eric motioned to Vector.

"What's his name?" Vector continued.

"I... don't know. But I remember what he ordered. He always orders two cheeseburgers, fries, and a soda. So, I can go look at copies of the receipts for his orders, if you want."

"That would help."

"Okay. So, while I look, do you want my chefs to whip something up for you?"

"Yeah, come on, Vector," Charmy cried out. "Let's get some food!"

Vector groaned. "FINE! We'll order something! What do you want!?"

After ordering their food, everyone, gathered in a booth, began discussing what they had learned as they ate their food.

"So, a hooded figure and an informant," Vector noted.

"Yeah... they must be the ones who took Gemerl!" Sapphire cried out.

"Now hold on. We don't know that yet," Vector exclaimed. "If the second guy is an informant, then he might not be responsible for the theft..."

"But he may have given the real thieve the target," Shadow continued, "likely the hooded figure."

"Exactly."

"How would he know about Gemerl?" Cream asked. "And why would someone target him?"

"It is hard to say," Espio replied, "my working theory is that this 'informant', must've been searching for locations where high tech is, so he can tell others where to steal it."

"And Gemerl was an easy target," Vector put together, "high-grade, repurposed ex-Eggman robot, living with a common family, so there would be nothing really protecting it from theft."

"Except for Sonic and Tails," Shadow added. "Fastest Thing Alive, and his buddy, a master mechanic, who is also Gemerl's personal mechanic. But right now, they're gone, off on some adventure."

"Perfect time to make their move," Espio summed up.

"Gemerl..." Sapphire softly said.

"Shadow, when will your guy at G.U.N. be done with his analysis of the EMP?" Vector asked the black hedgehog.

"I don't know, these things take time," he replied back. "It may take a few days. If we're lucky, it'll be done tonight. What I can say is that the EMP is very much custom made, and that is a feat not so easily accomplished."

"I see..."

"Well, whoever he is," Charmy said while still chewing some food, "when I find him, I going to beat him up!"

"Charmy, sallow your food before speaking!" Vector bellowed.

At that moment, Eric came back. "Hey, I got those receipts. The informant guy? His name is Raz Sly."

"Raz Sly..." Vector mused. "Whelp, it's the only lead her have so far. Let's run it through the database, and see where he lives."

"Finally, now we're getting somewhere," Shadow replied.

A little over two hours later, the group found themselves in an old apartment building, looking for the apartment number the landlord had given them.

"Here it is," Espio said, as he stopped everyone in front of the right door.

"You think he is here?" Charmy asked.

"Well, your info better be right," Shadow replied.

"Only one way to find out," Vector said, as he knocked on the door.

They heard a voice on the other side of the door, but they couldn't make out what he said. About half a minute later, the door opened.

The guy at the door fit the description Eric gave them, a mobian fox with dark gray fur, yellow eyes, almost matching Vector in height, but he was more scrawny. He was wearing a simple white tank top and cargo pants, going barefoot, though he looked well-groomed.

"What do you want?" he asked, irritated.

"Are you Raz Sly?" Vector asked.

"Yeah. What does it matter to you."

"I'm Vector, head of the Chaotix Detective Agency."

Raz let out a laugh. "Really. Oh, I've met your type before. Always want to know something. Listen, I deal in gathering and giving out information, but you detectives never get how this works. I don't give away for free. And it doesn't come cheap, either."

"Do you really want to mess with the law then?" Vector threatened.

"You're not even real cops, are you? Don't make me laugh! Listen, you either do business with me, or you can screw off!"

"I'm getting really tired of these 'business-types'," Shadow said as he began to move on Raz, but Espio held out his arm and stopped him.

"Allow me," the chameleon ninja said, before turning to Raz. "How do you get your information? You could tell us that for free, at least."

"Well, of course. I've got eyes and ears everywhere, and I also do a lot of... personal investigation."

"And did it ever occur to you that your information could be indirectly causing harm to others?"

"What is this? Are you trying to appeal to my greater sense of good...? News flash: I don't have one. Now get lost." Raz tried to close the door, but Espio stopped him.

"Perhaps..." Espio said with a hint of menace. Then suddenly, Espio make a quick motion. No one really saw what he did, except for Vector, who was very aware of Espio's capabilities, and Shadow, who had a high level of perception and reaction himself. But everyone heard a 'shink' and then a 'thud'. Once they could make out what happened, it became clear that Espio threw a kunai, and it sunk into the wall behind Raz. Raz himself wasn't harmed, but some of his fur was cut off, now falling to the floor. "...You should look a little harder."

"Ah, yeah, here we go!" Charmy said, and then fly up to Raz. He was noticeably spooked by Espio's false attack, so having this enthusiastic kid bee fly in his face did not help his nerves, and backed away rather quickly. Vector just facepalmed, as not only did Charmy act non-professionally (even though it was expected of a kid), he kind of ruined Espio's cool moment. "Now, where's Gemerl!?"

"Wha-what!? Who are you talking about? I don't deal in people!" Raz cried.

"He's a robot," Shadow explained. "An ex-Eggman, combat-learning robot. He's an android built like a mobian, colored black with yellow pieces, has a third eye on a three-pronged horn."

"W-w-well, you see... I... I don't know a robot like that," Raz told him.

"Don't lie. You just said you have eyes and ears everywhere."

"L-look, I deal a lot in the locations of old Eggman tech, true, but there is only so much I can find. If it's protected by the government, or say, someone like the Ultimate Lifeform," he pointed to Shadow, "then I can't learn anything without putting myself into major danger, or maybe a leak getting through. And I deal in the information, not taking the items themselves."

"Even old Eggman robots living with a regular family?" Vector asked.

"Doesn't change the fact that I don't know anything about a 'combat-learning robot'. Even I can't know everything!"

"But... what about the person you talk to?" Sapphire asked.

"You're going to have to be more specific, doll."

"We have reason to believe that you have spoken to a hooded figure, one who may be the actual thief we're looking for," Vector explained.

"Look, I have lots of contacts. And they want to keep their identities a secret," Raz explained.

"So you don't know who they are," Espio noted.

"Oh, I know who they are. At least a few. At their digression, they'll tell me who they are. It's guys like you that aren't supposed to know who they are."

"Definitely shady," Sapphire said to Cream, who nodded in agreement.

"How many hooded figures do you meet at the Seven Rings?" Vector continued.

"A few," Raz replied. "And remember, I don't know all of them."

Suddenly, a beeping sound was heard. Shadow pulled out a phone, and checked the message he received.

"What's that?" Charmy asked.

"The EMP was fully analyzed, and we have the identity of the maker," Shadow explained, before turning to Raz. "Was 'Cybra' someone you talk to in the Seven Rings often?"

Raz grumbled. "Perhaps."

"Who's Cybra?" Sapphire asked.

"She's a weapons dealer, often dealing in terrorists and other such criminals. She happens to craft her own weapons, too, but by scavenging other tech, and remaking it," Shadow explained. "She's marked as one of the most dangerous criminals in the G.U.N. database, because her weapons have cause lots of trouble. But Eggman tech is especially valuable to people like her, because it's so advanced, and if you know how to work with it, one could make amazing... and very dangerous contraptions."

"That's... scary," Sapphire replied.

Raz started laughing at this. "If Cybra was the one who took your robot friend, then there is no way she hasn't already pulled him apart."

"No..." Sapphire replied in despair.

Vector approached Raz. "Okay, do you know where Cybra goes when you're not meeting at the Seven Rings."

Raz was about to tell them to screw off again, but then he saw Vector cracking his knuckles, Espio, having recovered his thrown kunai, ready to throw it again, Charmy getting ready to sting him, and Shadow standing there, arms crossed, and glowing with Chaos energy. Even Cream was being threatening, waiting to command Cheese to attack. Only Sapphire wasn't trying to threaten him, as she had no means to fight. "You guys really aren't real cops, are ya?" the sly fox replied.

"I'm an agent of G.U.N.," Shadow said, "but I little tolerance for those hiding things from me. And that's not considering my comrades here."

Raz grunted. "Fine, I know where she is."

Chapter Text

The Chaotix team, the Ultimate Lifeform, Cream and her Chao friend, Cheese, along with Sapphire, now stood in viewing distance of an old factory.

"He better be right about this," Shadow said. "Because if not, I'm going to find him." He said nothing more, but his further intentions were pretty clear.

"It looks scary," Sapphire said, trying to calm herself.

"Come on, Saph!" Cream replied. "Be brave! We can save Gem!"

Vector crossed his arms. "Hey Sapphire, I get that you aren't a fighter, and I get the feeling that one is coming. If you want, you can stay behind, and let us professionals handle this."

He was right. Sapphire had no combat ability, so it would be highly unsafe for her to go any further. But... Gemerl was stolen on her watch, and she felt responsible for her friend.

"I- I'm coming. I h-have to see this through," Sapphire said.

"Sapphire, I don't think-" Shadow started, wanting to insist that she stay behind, but Vector interveined.

"It's okay, Shads. Just keep a safe distance, and let us do the talking, alright?"

"I can help you find a place to hide and watch, if you want," Espio replied. "This is what I'm skilled at, after all."

Sapphire nodded and got closer to the chameleon, for the time being.

Shadow was clearly not happy with this decision, but said nothing. However, he did plan on keeping his eyes on Sapphire.

"I'm getting bored," Charmy called out. "Let's go already!"

"Right, but let's be careful, as well," Espio added.

Vector nodded and then led the way, followed by Charmy, Shadow, Cream and Cream, and then finally, Espio and Sapphire.

They found an entrance into the factory. Once they got inside, they began to searching around for anything suspicious.

...And once they got what was once the production floor, what they found was more than suspicious.

Scraps of various mechanical parts, including robotic parts, were in piles or boxes. There were several tables set up with various projects of sorts, all in different stages of completion, and there was a purple van parked in one corner.

"You think that's the one Eric mentioned?" Sapphire asked about the van.

"Likely," Vector said quietly. "Okay, Saph, time to find a hiding place."

Espio was already examining the area by the time Vector said that, so he immediately pointed out where Sapphire should hide, a nearby large box out of the way of the open area. Sapphire nodded and immediately ran behind it, peeking around the corner of it.

Vector nodded to his group, and then he, Espio, and Charmy all walked into the open area, Shadow and Cream following behind.

"Is anyone here!" Vector called out.

There was silence. The group slowly made their way further in, careful to watch for any threats.

...Unfortunately, they weren't careful enough. Once they got to the center, four tall rods hidden in the ceiling fell to the floor in the corner of the area, staying upright, and then started generating energy, creating a field of electricity that boxed them in.

"Gee, some ninja, Espio," Charmy mocked.

"Even I am fallible, Charmy," Espio countered.

"She knew we were coming..." Vector said, more concerned about why they were trapped.

"Of course I did," a female, Mexican-accented voice replied, as a figure appeared from behind the mechanical junk.

The one whom the voice belonged to was a tall mobian woman, a rat with violet fur. She had long hair swept over the right side of her face, where it was mostly shaven on the other side, revealing cybernetics wrapping from front to back of her head. She had eerie yellow eyes, and wore a closed, purple-tinted leather jacket and dark gray shorts. She also had cybernetics on the backs of her hands and fingers, and what they thought was a pair of boots, upon closer inspection, were actually fully mechanical limbs from just above the knee down.

"How did you know we were coming?" Shadow asked with an unamused expression.

"Why, I have cameras everywhere," the rat cyborg answered.

"Of course you did," Vector replied.

"That, and I figured that I would be found sooner or later," she continued. "I work so hard to erase myself from your networks, and yet, you G.U.N. types always seem to find a way."

"So you're Cybra?" Espio asked.

"Of course," the woman answered. "To, think that G.U.N. would send such a bumbling group of idiots to apprehend me. How moronic."

"I didn't hire them on behalf of G.U.N.," Shadow explained. "I got assistance from them, but this was an off-the-books operation."

"Exactly. We caught you trying to solve a smaller case," Vector added. "Which means you screwed up."

"Oh, I screwed up, you say. And yet, here you are, caught in my trap," Cybra mocked.

Shadow smirked, and then disappeared in a flash of light. He then reappeared by what seemed to be an electrical box. Shadow punched it, which tore it off the wall, and as a result, the electric barrier shut down.

"An educated guess," Shadow simply said.

"Ah, I thought you looked familiar," Cybra said. "But now I see. You're the infamous Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow the Hedgehog. It seems I'm outmatched." Then her smile dropped. "So, if this is 'off-the-books', then how did you find me? ...It was Raz, wasn't it?"

Shadow simply nodded.

"Of course. I knew he was a coward. But the information and rumors he sells are so useful."

"Where is Gemerl?" Shadow demanded, getting tired of this dance and finally getting to the point.

"Yeah, where is he, you big meanie!" Charmy cried out.

"We want our friend back!" Cream added, Cheese giving a "Chao!" as well.

Cybra whispered to herself, annoyed, before asking, "so, who is Gemerl?"

"Black robot, has yellow parts and a third eye, mobian-like frame," Vector described.

Cybra thought for a moment, before snapping her fingers. "Ah, you mean the Eggman gizoid."

A flying drone appeared behind Cybra, and it was carrying none other than Gemerl, being held by the arms, deactivated, and hanging in the air.

"Gemerl..." Sapphire whispered to herself, wishing she could do more to help.

"Give him back!" Cream cried out.

"You're that bunny girl that was keeping the gizoid from its true potential," Cybra responded.

"If by that, you mean the Gemerl was her friend and protector, then yes," Vector old her. "And what do you even mean by 'true potential'?"

"You see, the gizoid is the world's most powerful tool, its most powerful weapon. The technology is ancient, and yet, it's so far beyond what we've accomplished," Cybra explained. "I've always wanted to get my hands on one, and yet, none remained. But imagine my joy when I found an Eggman-built gizoid, just sitting there, useless, among some pathetic, everyday family. I just knew... I had to liberate him."

"You kidnapped my friend!" Cream countered.

"He is a tool, my dear child, not anyone's friend. And tools are meant to be used. And have no intention of relinquishing my prize to the likes of you."

Suddenly, several machines in the room activated, and they all sprung up, revealing themselves to be combat robots, all fully equipped.

The group gathered in a circle, facing outward to the threat that now surrounded them.

"I thought you said she built weapons?" Espio exclaimed.

"Robots can be weapons, you dimwit!" Shadow countered. "You've fought Eggman, why do you think he builds his robots!?"

Cybra laughed. "I may be outmatched, but I'm still resourceful. I'll let you play with my toys, but I'm afraid I must go. Adios." And she turned to enter her van, the drone with Gemerl following behind.

The group prepared for battle. A shining yellow light appeared in Shadow's hand, like a star. Espio drew some shuriken, ready to toss them. Vector and Charmy had each other's back, ready to string and punch respectively. Even Cream was ready to fight, prepared to give an order to Cheese.

Sapphire watched as the drones dumped Gemerl's inactive body in the back of the van, and knew that someone had to act. And at that moment, the robots all went in for the attack, and the fighting-ready group moved to counter them. So, they couldn't go after Gemerl and Cybra. So, the only person who could after them... was Sapphire.

Seeing no choice in the matter, Sapphire mentally prepared herself, and began to quickly move from behind one pile to the next, trying to get to the van before it drove off.

Meanwhile, the fight with the robots had begun. Shadow shouted "Chaos Spear", and threw his yellow light, which was revealed to be an energy spear projectile, which priced through a robot, destroying it instantly. Espio likewise threw his shuriken, which stuck to several of the robots. Apparent, the ninja stars had explosives on them, since they exploded, taking the mechs with them. Then Shadow and Espio disappeared with their respective means of doing so, Shadow teleporting rapidly behind robots and kicking them all to the ground, while a few others were cut down by something invisible, likely Espio.

Vector was knocking down robots one after another, even biting down on one, snapping all its connecting wires, forcing it to shut down. Charmy flew around, stringing robots right in their power sources, and quickly getting away before they exploded. And Cream was directing Cheese around, where the little guy was flying around and breaking through robots left and right.

The robots were no match for the group, but there were a lot of them, and it seemed like they would be unable to get to the van before it got away.

The fight continued as the van's engine roared to life. And they were no closer to breaking through.

But as the back doors seemed to automatically close, Sapphire ran up and leaped inside, just as the doors close behind her, with the van driving off and an open door, her inside the vehicle.

Watching this happen, Shadow cursed. "Dang it, Sapphire! What are you doing, you idiot!?"

"I must admire her courage," Espio responded.

"But she's in danger!" Cream cried out. "She's not a fighter, and that woman looked dangerous."

"Shadow, you're the only one who can get her!" Vector exclaimed. "So go do it!"

Shadow nodded, dodged an enemy attack, and then teleported outside of the battlefield.

Unfortunately, the van was fast, and it had already driven outside of Shadow's range of teleportation, and he couldn't do it multiple times to close that distance. Not without draining his energy or using a Chaos Emerald, at least.

He quickly looked around for a solution, and luckily for him, he found one. There was an old motorcycle in the junk. Shadow ran over and pulled it out, and hoping it still worked and its tank wasn't completely empty, began to hotwire the vehicle. Once its motor revved to life, Shadow smiled, got on, and rode off, chasing after his reckless friend.

Back in the factory, Vector was preparing for one final "hurrah", as it were. "Okay, Cream! Get out of here! You don't want to get caught up in this!" he shouted to the bunny girl.

Cream nodded, and she and Cheese flew upwards, out of range.

"Boys?" Vector called out, pulling out a mike. "You ready?"

"Roger!" Espio replied, bringing out a three-stringed instrument called a shamisen, and getting ready to strum it.

"On it!" Charmy shouted, pulling out a marching-style bass drum, and putting it on, then pulling the appropriate drum sticks.

"On three!" Vector ordered. "One... Two... THREE!"

Suddenly, all of the Chaotix members started playing their instruments and shouting and singing with no discernible rhythm, nor control in volume. The resulting cacophony of sound was so intense, it created soundwaves that began breaking down the remaining robots,

"Chaotix Recital!" They finally shouted together, creating one last sonic blast that ultimately destroyed all of the robots, and even shattered what windows in the old factory were still intact.

"Good job, boys," Vector praised, admiring their handiwork. "Now it's up to Shadow and Sapphire."

Sapphire wasn't noticed as she felt the vehicle drive off. She took one look at Cybra, who was focused on driving away, and then at Gemerl, who lay still inactive.

Well, she got to Gemerl. Now what?

Looking around, Sapphire found a box of tools. She figured that with those, she could open Gemerl up, and manually reboot him. But could she do it silently enough?

Sapphire, remembering the notes from Gemerl's maintenance checkup, carefully pulled out the right tools, and began to go to work. Unfortunately, she forgot about the pressure release when opening up Gemerl.

"What the...?" Cybra said as she heard the sound. She got up, the vehicle somehow still going forward, and looked in the back. "Oh, I knew I was missing someone," she said as she pulled an energy pistol and fired it at Sapphire.

Sapphire screamed as the energy shot nearly hit her, hitting the wall of the van's interior.

"What a brave play," Cybra teased. "You come here with all of these big, strong men, hide like a coward while they do the work, and then at the last moment, you rush in to be a hero. How cute." Cybra was about to take another shot before she noticed what was in Sapphire's hand. "Hang on, those tools... ah, I see, you must know what you're doing." Cybra put away her pistol. "Fine, I'll give you a chance. These, I so rarely get to talk to a fellow mechanic. Perhaps I could teach you a few things."

Sapphire looked back at the empty driver's seat, where the van was still driving along as if someone was still driving it. "How is this moving on its own?"

"Oh, it's quite simple, and yet quite advanced," Cybra responded. "Every part of this vehicle has been modified with robotics, from the steering wheel, to the doors. And it's all controlled by this," the mobian rat tapped the cybernetic attachment on her head. "Neural brain implants. I can drive this vehicle just by thinking about it." She turned to look out the front window as she continued talking. "And micro-cameras sent a visual feed directly to my brain, so I always know what's around me, and where I'm going. I could literally text and drive with no threat to myself! Or in this case, threaten and drive."

While she was looking away, Sapphire took the opportunity to continue working on Gemerl. All she had to do was hit the manual power switch to activate him.

"I also used this to control the robots you saw outside. But just imagine... if I could connect myself to the gizoid's interface."

Sapphire was able to get to the power switch and push it, just as Cybra said, "I know you hope to reactivate him. But it won't help you, you'll just die before he could save you, and then I'll make him mine!"

Well, it was too late to back down, all Sapphire had to do was wait. So she had to stall Cybra. "Why are you doing this? Why not use your skills to help improve the world?"

"Oh, such a naive child. I am helping the world," Cybra responded.

"You build weapons and sell them to terrorists!" Sapphire countered, remembering what she heard about her before.

"Is that what you think? Well, you see, war is the only way to advance. With war, someone wants to win. And when you want to win, you want to become better. And to be better is to improve."

"You're... not wrong... But that's still morally wrong! We should be making peace! And then you could use your knowledge of cybernetics to help those who might need it. Or maybe help create clean energy, or-"

"Let me stop you right there," Cybra interrupted. "I give that away for free, then someone else will want it. And they'll fight to have it. Such is the cycle of war."

"But it's not right. Hurting others just because you want something. Like how you took Gemerl, our friend from us! That hurt us more than you realize!"

"You see the gizoid as your friend? You are such an-" Cybra paused for a moment. "Ugh, it seems like that blasted hedgehog boy is persistent."

Cybra walked towards the back of the van, pulling out her energy pistol, along with a second identical one. The doors automatically opened, revealing Shadow, who was cashing them on a motorcycle.

"You're tenacious, boy," Cybra called out to him. "But I won't go down so easily!" She began firing her energy pistols, and apparently, they functioned more like sub-machine guns, as they fired bursts of shots at Shadow.

Shadow managed to evade the shots, and increased the accelerator, trying to close the lost distance. Unfortunately, using her neural control, Cybra sped up the van too.

"You're not getting any closer," Cybra smugly said the riding hedgehog.

"You sure about that?" a robotic voice said behind her.

Cybra, in shock, turned around to find Gemerl, fully active, and his metal fist pulled back, just at the right moment for the black gizoid to punch her in the face.

As Cybra fell to the ground below, the van began to swerve. Gemerl immediately grabbed Sapphire, and using his built-in jet thrusters, flew out of the van, just as it lost control and rolled over. At the same time, Shadow dodged Cybra, then leaped off his bike, leaving the discarded vehicle to flip over, soon after exploding.

Cybra got up, and found that her pistols had bounced away from her. Apparently, her cybernetic feet had jet thruster themselves, as she used them to dash and grab one of her pistols. However, Shadow grabbed the other one and immediately fired at her.

Cybra dodged and flew up, firing back, but Gemerl finally put Sapphire down, and then flew up to join the fight. He made a swing at Cybra, who barely dodged the attack, and flew at a distance from the robot and hedgehog.

"Why would you fight for these pathetic whelps!?" Cybra questioned. "Do you not know the potential that you have?"

"I'll find my own potential, thank you very much," Gemerl countered. "And also, I'll always protect my friends from the likes of you!"

"It seems that those oafs have filled you with their faulty ideology."

"They've taught me that I should care for people, and to help those in need! It's people like you who need a lesson!"

"Then I suppose there' nothing for it," Cybra said in disappointment, as she fired on Gemerl.

Gemerl simply flew above the shots as Cybra raised her aim to try to hit. Then the sides of Gemerl's arms slid open, two rotating-drum missile launchers sliding out. He then fired a volley of four missiles at Cybra.

Since Gemerl wasn't aiming to kill Cybra, they only flew and detonated near her, but they were close enough that the force from the explosions caused her to stagger. She managed to remain flying, but not for long, as Shadow then teleported in front of her, and delivered a two-fingered karate chop to her, which sent her flying into the ground.

Once Cybra slammed on the ground, she spun around to try to get up, but Gemerl flew above her and slammed on top of her, planting his feet at her sides, so she couldn't get up. He then raised his fist, threatening to punch her again. "Looks like I win," Gemerl told her.

Cybra looked around for a chance to escape, but Shadow then slid over on his hover stakes, aiming his stolen gun at her. So, Cybra closed her eyes in contemplation, then opened them to stare intently at Gemerl.

"Really, you're giving him a death glare," Shadow responded. "How pathetic."

This continued for a few seconds, before suddenly the cybernetics on her head started sparking, and she then winced and grunted from the pain.

"What?" Shadow replied, confused.

"I stopped her," Sapphire said, approaching with her Miles Electronic in her hands. "Cybra told me that she has neural implants that let her send signals with her mind. It's how she's been controlling all these machines. I don't know what she was doing just now, Maybe she was trying to call some drones to help, maybe she was trying to hack into Gemerl, I don't know. But Tails' device here has a jamming function, so I used it to stop her."

"Well, it seems like you've got no options left," Gemerl says. "Time to give up."

"Fine..." Cybra responded in defeat, dropping her remaining pistol.

Shadow then came over, grabbed her other gun, tossing both of the weapons aside, and then grabbed her wrists, holding them behind her back as Gemerl got off her, and Shadow lifted her up. "I'm going to take her straight to G.U.N.," Shadow told the others. "Gemerl, if you would, call the police, and have them meet me at the nearby factory. I can't teleport that far, so I need to meet them halfway."

Gemerl nodded, and said, "done."

Shadow smiled and nodded in recognition, then disappeared in a flash.

At that moment, Sapphire came up and hugged Gemerl. "Oh, Gem, I was so worried!"

Gemerl turned his head to Sapphire. "I don't know what exactly happened, but it seems my disappearance has been difficult for you."

"You were stolen under my watch, so I felt responsible. I'm just glad that you are okay!"

"It's already," Gemerl said, returning the hug. "I think it's time to go home."

"Yes, I'd like to go home, too," Sapphire said smiling.

The group needed time to rest, so once Cybra was handed over to the police, they went home to do just that. Also, Sapphire made sure to redo Gemerl's entire maintenance again, just to make sure the Cybra hadn't done something bad to him, which was seemed to not be the case.

The following day, Sapphire, Shadow, Gemerl, Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla were all meeting the Chaotix in their office.

"Here you go," Shadow said, handing Vector a check.

"Thank you," Vector replied, accepting the payment. "Man, that was a crazy case!"

"I hope that you didn't put my daughter in danger?" Vanilla exclaimed.

"Well- uh... you see-" Vector replied, tongue-tied.

"Ugh, honestly, you boys..."

"If it helps any, the case escalated beyond our expectations," Espio noted. "And she wasn't doing anything she hasn't done before when we challenge Eggman, including fight robots."

"Yeah, right guys?" Charmy asked, hoping to get some validation to Cream's defense.

"I wasn't reactivated until after the combat-encounter Cream was involved in, so I no record of what her actions were," Gemerl responded.

Shadow remained silent, as he didn't feel that it was his concern as to whether or not Cream should've been involved. After all, he didn't join the case to be her babysitter.

"I do not feel any better about this," Vanilla stated.

"Come on, mama," Cream said, "I just wanted to help Sapphire. She felt responsible for all this, and I was also there, so I felt I needed to help too!"

"Th-thank you, Cream," Sapphire replied.

Vanilla sighed. "All right, then."

"Even still," Vector said, "What seemed to be a small robot-kidnapping case, led us to capture a high-threat weapons dealer. And that was off the government's watch, and with only minimal help from them. Though we still do appreciate your help, Shadow."

"I only helped because they messed with Sapphire, even if it was indirectly," Shadow stated. "And I'm not going to let that happen."

"Hm, it seems you like Sapphire, don't you, Shadow," Vanilla responded, which caused Sapphire to blush.

Shadow grumbled in response. "It isn't what you're thinking, I just... whatever..."

"Also, I don't think this case was ever small. We just didn't realize how big it was it first," Espio pointed out. "Gemerl is a highly advanced machine. If people know about him, he'll be the target of many technology thieves."

"I'll endeavor to learn how to better protect myself, and my family and friends," Gemerl responded. "So that way, I can prevent a situation like from ever taking place again in the future."

"Good plan. But my point is," Vector interjected, "imagine what this could do for our reputation! I mean, I'm not ready for another case on this level, but once word about this gets around, we might start some bigger-paying jobs!"

"Well, I hope that works out for you," Vanilla said.

"What about Cybra?" Espio asked for clarification.

"She has placed in G.U.N.'s custody, and is facing a long prison sentence," Shadow answered.

"Yeah, take that, you robo-thief!" Charmy exclaimed. "That's what you get for messing this us!"

"Calm down, Charmy!" Vector replied. "Still, it's good she's off the streets."

"Well, I think it's time we get going," Vanilla said. "I'm glad everything worked out

"Of course, have a good day!" Vector said in farewell.

Everyone gave their goodbyes to the Chaotix. Shadow gave a quick goodbye to Sapphire before teleporting away.

"Sapphire," Vanilla said to the blonde hedgehog before she left. "Shadow told what you did. It was... certainly reckless. But considering the circumstances, it was very brave."

"Thank you, miss Vanilla," Sapphire replied. "I'm just... I don't want to be in that situation again."

"I understand, but considering how often Cream ends up involved with her friends... adventures, someday, you'll probably find yourself in another situation like that one. When that happens, try to find that bravery again, and solve the situation in your own way."

"O-okay, thank you, for the advice, miss Vanilla," Sapphire said smiling. The idea scared her, but it was comforting to be given advice on the subject. With this encouragement, and after giving her farewell to the bunny family, Sapphire made her way home.

And once she got home, she was greeted by a surprise.

"Oh, hey Saph!" Sonic greeted.

"Sonic! You're back!" Sapphire ran up to give her brother a hug.

"Good to see ya. We just got back a few minutes ago."

"Yeah," Tails said as he came up to his hedgehog friends, "Eggman didn't have a big plan this time around. He was just being a nuisance. So, Saph, how did Gemerl's check-up go?"

"Oh... it went well," Sapphire replied. "But it was a stressful couple of days."

"Days? Did it really take that long for you?"

"Not really... but, you see..." Sapphire had quite the story to tell them.

Chapter Text

"So... the fox boy wants to pass on his knowledge, eh?" a voice said while he watched from behind of screen, spying on his nemesis.

The person chuckled. "If anyone should pass on their legacy, it should be me! Hm..." he began to muse, before pushing a comms button on his dashboard. "Metal Sonic, prepare to stand by for a new mission!"

Sapphire was tinkering with her hardlight tech, trying to see if she could make shapes out of it, following up on the project she had started a while ago with Tails. Sonic and Tails had taken the Tornado out for a joyride an hour prior, leaving Sapphire to her experiment.

Sapphire had managed to make a sphere, and was trying to flatten it into a simple circle, while recording the magnetic parameters, so she could later program them to be done automatically via a controller program on her Miles Electronic.

Once Sapphire got the hardlight sphere to become a circle, she recorded the new parameters, and began setting up her beta controller program. Testing the program, she reshaped her experiment between a sphere and a circle a couple times, which made her happy to see her project progressing well, but she wanted to go a bit further. She knew it was probably a bit early to try this, but she wanted to make a more complex shape.

Figuring a five-pointed star wouldn't be pushing it too far, she decided to try to program it into her controller program, hoping to get more control over making new shapes with it.

She continued to mess with it... until finally, she managed to make her star!

"I did it..." she said softly. "I did it! Yay!"

"Hey Saph!" a voice called out.

Not expecting this, Sapphire freaked out, and accidentally dropped her device on one of the power plugs for the hardlight's magnetic generators. Because of this, the magnetic field cut out for a split second, but it was enough for the hardlight star to be launched off at high speeds, unfortunately towards the one who spoke and scared Sapphire in the first place.

"Woah!" they freaked out, barely avoiding the hardlight star, which got stuck in the wall by her.

Sapphire immediately looked up to who she practically just attacked, finding it was Amy, and following behind her, was Cream and Cheese. "S-s-sorry!" she quickly exclaimed.

"What the..." Amy leaned over to look at the hardlight star, but it only lasted about five or six seconds after getting stuck in the wall, before it basically evaporated. "Huh?"

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Sapphire repeated as she rushed over to her friends.

"I-it's okay, we could tell it was an accident!" Amy exclaimed. "But was that a... glowing ninja star?"

"I- Uh... it's uh... it was my hardlight... thing," Sapphire explained. "I was trying to make shapes out of hardlight, but when power cable got bumped, it shot off towards you. I'm sorry!"

"That was light? How did just... stick there?"

"Um, the magnetic field must have been able to retain its form after being separated from the generator, at least for a moment."

"Are you feeling alright, miss Sapphire?" Cream asked.

Sapphire went silent, still freaked out by the... well, freak accident.

"Let's go make some cocoa," Amy said. "It might help us all calm down a bit. I think Tails keeps some in the kitchen."

"Okay. Where are Mr. Sonic and Mr. Tails, by the way?" Cream asked.

"Um, they went out in Tornado for a joyride, I don't know..." Sapphire started to say, before started to hear something outside. She took a closer listen, and realized it was the sound of a plane's propeller and engine.

"Sounds like they're back, I guess," Amy noted.

After Sonic and Tails landed, and the girls made hot cocoa for everyone, they settled down a chat.

"Geez," Sonic sounded, after hearing about what happened. "Glad no one got hurt."

"Yeah. Amy, Cream, I know we let come and go as please, but maybe it's time to start knocking. You know how easily spooked Sapphire is. If she's here alone, and... something like that happens again..."

"Yeah, I know," Amy replied.

"We're sorry for scaring you, miss Sapphire," Cream apologized.

"Uh, th-thank you," Sapphire replied.

"What brings you guys here anyway?" Sonic asked.

"What, is there something wrong with seeing the guy I love?" Amy said affectionately.

"I- uh..."

"Well, to be completely honest, me and Cream's mom talked, and we've decided to pull money together so we can go on a vacation together with all our friends!"

"Wow, that sounds fun," Tails replied.

"And we wanted to invite you guys," Cream added.

"Awesome," Sonic said. "Where to?"

"Oh, this amazing place, a romantic island with the sand and the waves, it's sounds so magic..." Amy replied dreamily. Everyone else sweatdropped.

"S-so, what's the name of this island?" Sapphire asked.

"Blue Wave Island..." Amy continued in the same tone.

"B-Blue Wave?"

"Yeah, momma says to super pretty there!" Cream said.

"W-well, I'm sure you'll have fun there..." Sapphire replied.

Amy snapped out of her lovely-dovey daze to say, "are... are you saying that you don't want to go?"

"Why don't you want to come with us, Saph?" Cream added.

"I- I just-" Sapphire started, but Sonic interjected.

"Allow me, sis. Amy, Cream, Sapphire is... she's from Blue Wave Island," he explained.

"Oh, then, you could show us around, Saph," Amy replied.

"Yeah, is that why you don't want to come? You don't want to do that?" Cream continued.

"It's not like that," Sonic said. "You remember that Sapphire is an orphan, right?"

Amy and Cream went silent. It was a while since Sonic took Sapphire in, that it slipped their minds that Sapphire was an orphan. But now they understood why Sapphire didn't really want to go.

"It must have been so lonely for you," Amy said. The magic of the resort island was lost when thinking of how much Sapphire probably felt different about that.

"Does thinking about that place really make you that sad?" Cream asked.

"I... I..." Sapphire started, unsure of what to say.

"It's okay, Saph, you've got a family with us now," Sonic said to comfort her. "But if you don't want to come with us, it's alright."

Sapphire thought about what her adoptive brother said, and decided, "n-no, I'll come, but... could we stay away from my old orphanage?"

"Sure."

Sapphire smiled, and Amy and Cream leaped out of their seats to give her comforting hugs.

Sonic smiled in return, but he felt something more was going on as to why she didn't want to go back to her old home. Sure, it may have felt lonely to her, but now that she had friends and family, it wouldn't be so lonely now, would it? So why did she not want to go?

Sonic felt that maybe he should ask a favor of someone to watch her, and make sure she was okay, just in case.

Shadow was leaving a forest, when a blue blur rush in front of him.

"'Sup, Shads!" Sonic greeted as he skidded to a stop in front of his look-a-like.

Shadow groaned. "Could you not go bother someone else right now?"

"Aw, but I've got a favor to ask you."

"Go away."

"It has something to do with Sapphire," Sonic teased.

Shadow paused for a moment. "I'm listening."

"So, you remember that Sapphire is an orphan, right?"

"Yes, I am still aware of that."

"Well... you see, Amy and Cream invited us on vacation to Blue Wave Island, and Sapphire agreed to come with, but... not without some hesitation. You see, that's where Sapphire is from, that's where she lived as an orphan."

Shadow thought about this new information for a moment. "It sounds like she didn't have a good life there."

"Well, she never elaborated on that. I mean, sure, she said that the other orphans didn't like her very much, and just the idea of being an orphan sounds awful, but I feel like there's more to this."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Well... don't tell anyone else about this, but I want you to come with, and keep an eye on my sister, okay? I know you like her."

"I told you before, it's not like that!"

"Well, those weren't you're exact words. Eh, whatever. I can't get you a ticket with us, but I'd figure you'd have a way to get there by yourself."

"Blue Wave Island, correct? I haven't been there, but I've heard it's a G.U.N. territory. I can request a transport to the island. When are you leaving?"

"Two days. Time for us to pack, and then it's a week of island fun!" Sonic exclaimed.

"You sure it won't be difficult for you, to be surrounded by water?" Shadow teased.

"Oh, haha. I'll be fine. It's not like a small boat, it's a fairly sizable island, I here. So, can I expect to meet you there?"

"Of course. And no one will hear of this, trust me."

"Thanks, buddy."

"I'm not your buddy."

The flight over was a little nerve-racking. Sonic was getting claustrophobic, since he didn't like enclosed spaces, and would've much rather have flown on the Tornado, and Sapphire was still nervous about coming back to her old home, though she tried to distract herself with a book.

Amy sat by with Sapphire, while Cream and Vanilla, along with Cheese, sat across the aisle from them, and Sonic and Tails sat in front of them.

"You sure you'll be okay, Saph?" Amy asked.

"Yeah..." Sapphire said, looking up from her book.

"You must've done something fun here, right?"

"Well, I liked reading, and tinkering... like I do now. Um, I used to enjoy the beach, when we were allowed to go..."

"Oh, do you swim, Sapphire?" Vanilla asked.

"Yeah, I do. It's really fun!"

"Well, that's better than Sonic," Tails said from the seat in front of her.

"Hey!" Sonic replied. "You know I'm not good with water! Plus, I'd rather go out for a run."

"Perhaps we should go swimming, that might calm you down," Vanilla reassured her. She had heard from Amy and Cream what Blue Wave Island was to Sapphire, so she wanted to make sure Sapphire was okay.

"Y-yeah, that sounds fun!"

A short while later, the plane landed. Sonic was the first off, already planning on running off.

"Finally, open space!" he exclaimed. "I'm gone, I'll see you later!" He was happy to be in an open running space after a few hours of flight in that small space, though, unbeknownst to the others, he also had to go find Shadow.

Sonic didn't wait for anyone to say anything he disappeared in a blue blur, leaving Amy fuming.

"The very least he could do is wait for us to check into the hotel!" she exclaimed.

"You know Sonic is a free spirit," Tails replied. "He'll be back soon."

"Let's go get checked in," Cream replied, "then we can go swimming!"

"Y-yes, I can't wait!" Sapphire said, genuinely excited to go swimming at the beach once again.

A few hours later, the group had traveled to the beach.

Sapphire put on a blue bikini with transparent blue wrap around her waist, a butterfly clip on her hairband, and blue flip-flops.

Amy had on a red bikini with yellow hearts in a polka-dot style, and a swimming-skirt, and red flip-flops with a green and purple striped strap with a yellow heart.

Cream wore a yellow one-piece swimsuit with a purple skirt and flowers on the purple straps, along with purple flip-flops with flowers on the straps.

And Vanilla had on a maroon-colored one-piece swimsuit and similar colored flip-flops.

Sonic (who had since rejoined the group) and Tails were present too, though they had on the same outfits as before.

Sonic and Vanilla chose to relax on the beach (the latter to watch her daughter), while the girls, along with Tails, approached the water. Without any waiting, Sapphire jumped in and began swimming.

"It's been so long since I've done this!" Sapphire replied.

"Well, no time like the present," Amy said, as she joined her yellow friend, followed by Cream, Cheese, and Tails.

While the group began to play water, splashing each other, Sonic smiled. "I guess Saph's going to be alright."

"Why don't you go join them?" Vanilla teased.

"You know I don't like water," Sonic reminded her. "Besides, I'd like to take time to relax right now."

Vanilla turned to the blue hedgehog. "Have you been a good brother to her?"

"Well, I tease her, which is something siblings and even good friends do, but I treat her well. I make sure she knows she's loved, and I do what I can to protect her."

"You know she got caught up in that business with Gemerl's kidnapping."

"Yeah, Saph told us about that. I wish I was there, not just for Sapphire's sake, but Gemerl's, too. I won't let anyone mess with my friends."

"Sapphire didn't want to come here for some reason, what you will do if her past catches up to her?"

"I'll rush to her side, and I'm even willing to ask my friends to help. In fact, I already have."

Vanilla was confused, so Sonic decided to tell her about Shadow. Meanwhile, back at the water, the others were considering a way to add to their fun.

"Why not play some volleyball?" Cream said. "That always seemed fun on TV!"

"Okay, but we don't have a ball to use," Amy replied.

"Maybe we could ask Sonic for help?" Tails joked.

"I'm okay with hitting Sonic around in his Spin Attack if it's a combined attack, but I'm not going to use him as a makeshift volleyball!"

"Yeah, that's really mean. Plus Sapphire isn't as combat capable as we are, so she couldn't play with us," Cream added.

"Hey, hey, I'm just joking," Tails replied.

"I think there is a place where we can buy volleyballs and other beach stuff nearby," Sapphire replied. "And they should be cheap. Let me go grab my ring purse, and I'll get us one."

"Okay, Saph, we'll be waiting," Amy said.

Sapphire smiled as she ran over to where they were keeping their stuff, which was by Vanilla and Sonic, waved to them as she grabbed her ring purse, and headed over to the shacks that sold stuff.

She was happy. She was back home, but she didn't feel like she was trapped here like she did before. She had friends, family, people who were helping her grow, and showing her how to enjoy life.

Even the beach didn't feel the same as before. In the past, it was one of her places of solace, along with the library and that one workshop that kindly let her tinker there for free. But now it felt like a truly fun place, thanks to her new friends.

Sapphire reached a shack where she could see that they sold volleyballs, but no one was up front at the moment. She was about to hit the service bell, when someone called her out.

"Well, well, if it isn't Sapphire," they said with a voice all too familiar to Sapphire.

"I'm guessing that Tails couldn't stand you, so he finally sent you back, right?" another familiar voice said.

Looking over, Sapphire found a dark-skinned, overweight human and a dark red mouse mobian, both about Sapphire's age.

"T-T-Tom? Jeremy!?" Sapphire replied. "Wh-what are you doing, h-here!?"

"Hm, just as pathetic as always, ain'tcha," the large human, known as Tom said.

"Well, good to have you back. Now we can get down to business," the mouse Jeremy replied. "Now... give your good friends all your rings."

"N-n-no, it's my money," Sapphire said, trying to stand up to them.

"Ah, that's cute," Tom said, and then he punched Sapphire in the stomach, causing her to keel over and drop her ring purse. Tom picked up the purse, while Jeremy pulled Sapphire's headband off.

"Stupid idiot," Jeremy said as he was about to try to snap the headband in half...

...Before someone behind him smacked him on the head, HARD, causing him to drop the headband on the ground.

"You bastard... How dare you!" Jeremy shouted as he spun around punched whoever was behind him in the face.

Except he didn't flinch. The black hedgehog who hit the mouse mobian just stared down at him, clearly not happy.

"I've felt lowly Badniks with more impact than you," he replied.

Jeremy backed away, as did Tom when he realized who it was.

"Th-the Ultimate Lifeform!" Tom exclaimed. "What do you want with us!?"

Shadow's expression did not change, as he demanded, "give me the ring purse."

Tom looked down at the stolen bag of rings, then at his buddy. Both of them nodded and ran past Sapphire...

...Only for Shadow to teleport in front of them, blocking their way.

"I said... Give... Me... The ring purse... NOW!" Shadow repeated.

"N-no, it's our's!" Tom said.

"And you think I didn't notice you take it from Sapphire?"

"I don't know what talking about!"

"Let me... remind you..." Shadow replied. He then hit Tom in the stomach, harder than he did to Sapphire. And to add insult to injury, after he had the wind knocked out of him, Shadow grabbed the top of his head, and slammed him to the ground.

Shadow turned to Jeremy. "Do you want to eat the asphalt too? If not, then tell me, why did you attack Sapphire?"

"W-well, she's a nerd, and you know nerds deserve to get beat up," the mouse explained, which only served to anger Shadow further.

"Choose your next words... wisely."

"Y-y-you beat up that Eggman nerd, right? So, I'm r-right!"

Shadow immediately grabbed the mouse shirt, and lifted him off the ground. "You don't seem to understand. We don't fight the doctor because he's smart. We fight him, because he is a threat to others. JUST... LIKE... YOU!"

Shadow tossed Jeremy onto Tom, who was trying to get back up, only to collapse again when Jeremy smacked into him.

Shadow leaned down and grabbed the ring purse from Tom's weakened grip, and walked over to Sapphire. She was crying softly, looking down at her hairband.

Shadow kneeled down, and pick that up as well. "It's not damaged," Shadow said as he kindly placed it back on her head, brushing the hair out of her face.

"...What are you doing here?" the yellow hedgehog asked.

"Admittedly, your brother asked me to come. He was... let's say, concerned your past would catch up to you while here. So, he asked me to watch over you, and make sure you were safe."

"Wh-why didn't he tell us about this?"

"Good question. I imagine that he just wanted you to have fun, and not worry about looking over your shoulder. He really cares about you, you know that, right, Maria?"

"That name again..." Sapphire noted. "What does that mean?"

Shadow looked away, cursing to himself.

At that moment, they heard Amy's calling out. "Sapphire! What's taking you so long!?" She came up, and was shocked by what she saw. "Shadow! What are you doing here!?"

"Cleaning out the trash," Shadow replied, pointing behind him, towards the two bullies.

"And you are?" Amy asked them.

"Sapphire's friends, of course," Jeremy said.

"Don't lie," Shadow responded. "Because if you do, she will not treat you as kindly as I did," he continued, putting emphasis on the word "kindly".

Amy glared at the duo. "What did you do to my friend?"

"We just asked her for her money," Tom defended.

Amy pulled out her hammer. "You mean 'steal her money', don't you?"

"N-no..." the two said together.

Amy turned to Shadow, who shook his head in response. Then she turned back to the duo, saying, "if you think you can steal from my friend... then you've got another thing coming!"

Amy went to work, beating them up with her hammer, while Sapphire tried to hide behind Shadow. "She's really scary like this."

"That's why I don't get on her bad side," Shadow told her.

After Amy's beating, the group gathered around the beaten-up Tom and Jeremy.

"So..." Sonic started, his arms crossed. "I was right."

"You could have at least told us you asked Shadow to come," Amy said. "I understand why you did it, but you still should've let us know."

"I didn't want anyone to worry. That's Shadow's job!"

Shadow just glared at Sonic. "I should've known."

"Why- why are you guys here?" Jeremy asked.

"We wanted to come on vacation," Sonic explained.

"But- but we would've thought you'd tell that idiot to go home," Tom said. "She's pathetic!"

"You do realize that I officially adopted Sapphire as my sister, right?"

"But why!? She's too stupid to be with cool guys like you!"

"Because I thought she deserved to have a family."

"So this is why you didn't want to come back?" Cream asked. "Because these two bullied you?"

"B-because... everyone bullied me," Sapphire admitted.

"What!" Everyone else exclaimed together.

"Well... not everyone, but most of the other orphans either teased me or bullied me."

"Sapphire," Vanilla spoke up, "didn't you try talking to your orphanage's caretaker?"

"She never cared..."

Vanilla took a deep breath. "Well, I would like to talk to her then, if you don't mind."

Sapphire looked up in surprise. "Wh-what!?"

"I'm with Vanilla on this one," Sonic said. "You're a good kid. Nobody like you should be treated like this."

"Yeah, and if she's that awful..." Amy pulled her hammer again, which freaked Sapphire out again. "...She's going to get what's coming to her!"

Tails leaned towards the look-a-like hedgehogs. "Are we going to TRY to stop her?"

"I'm not," Shadow flatly said.

Sonic smiled nervously. "I just want people like Saph to be treated right, so... I don't know."

"Let's just go," Amy called out. Then she glared at the bully duo. "You still belong to that orphanage right?"

They nodded.

"Well, you're getting into trouble, I promise you," the pink hedgehog continued.

"Huh... I would've thought a resort island would've had something a little more... fancy," Sonic said, looking up at the building in front of them.

The orphanage was completely run down, with an old playground off to the side, and a broken-down sign that said "Sunny Day's Home for Orphans".

"'Sunny Days'?" Amy said. "Sure... always fun, sunny times around here..."

"It was brighter at the beach," Sonic added.

"Yeah, this place desperately needs a renovation," Tails noted. "Maybe we should give some donations later?"

"Sure..."

Shadow had taken the task of holding the bully duo, while Vanilla, Cream, and Cheese took to guarding Sapphire.

"Let's not just stand around," Vanilla said. "Let's go. I want to talk to this caretaker."

Sonic nodded, and everyone went inside.

Sapphire was the first to enter the main area, and everyone noticed her, and recognized her.

"Oh look, it's Sapphire," one said unamused.

"Guess it didn't work out," another said.

"Of course it didn't," a third said, "she is so stupid and boring, they probably tossed right out!"

At that moment, Sonic appeared at Sapphire's side, along with Amy. "Do you watch the news?" the blue hedgehog jabbed.

Suddenly, everyone's focus was on the hero of the planet. "It's Sonic!"

"Oh, wow he's so cool!"

"Could you take me with you!?" an orphan asked.

Sonic shook his head. "Yeah, I'm cool, but the only guys here who are UNCOOL here, are you!" he explained. "Sapphire was right when she said no one liked her, the first thing you guys do is make fun of her. You should know, I adopted her as my sister... because she was kind, and smart, and deserved much better than this!"

"Look, we get you're all orphans, but no one is going to adopted if you act like this," Amy added. "You should treat people with kindness, help build them up, not tear them down! If you act like jerks, nobody will like you, not even your heroes."

All of the kids and teens went quiet, looking away in shame.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it," Shadow said as he walked by with Tom and Jeremy. "Where is your caretaker?"

"Over there." Someone pointed over to the door in the back corner.

"Thank you." Shadow dragged the bullies over.

Shadow, followed by Vanilla and Sapphire, then everyone else.

Walking inside, they found a human woman with short, messy brown hair, and sloppy clothing. "What do you want?"

"I have some 'gifts' for you," and Shadow dropped Tom and Jeremy. "They attacked my friend."

Sapphire walked into view, and the woman groaned. "Ugh, you again!" She looked down at teens on the ground. "You two, screw off!"

The duo nodded, and ran out of the room a quick as they could.

"Um, are you not going to discipline them?" Vanilla asked.

"Who cares, so long as they don't bother me"

Vanilla huffed. "Isn't it your job to raise these kids?"

"Yeah, I feed them, I get them to school, but other than that, I don't care what they do."

"You should be nurturing them! Not forcing them to fend for themselves!" Vanilla argued.

"Why should I care!? No one else cares about these kids, so why should I!?"

Everyone went silent at that statement. Well, except for Shadow, who was very clearly angry. "It's your job to care," he replied.

The caretaker stared at him, then at the rest of the group, particularly Sonic, Tails, and Amy. "You're a famous group, aren't ya?"

"What's it to you?" Shadow answered.

The caretaker looked towards Sapphire and said, "wow, you are so desperate for attention, aren't ya? Got yourself mixed in with celebrities. News flash, kid, you're their feel-good project. They took ya in to make themselves look good to the public."

"What? N-no, that isn't-" Sapphire stuttered.

Sonic intervened, slamming his hands on the desk, genuinely angry. "Who do you think we are!? She's not our 'project'! We actually care about Sapphire, unlike you!"

"Really, can you prove it?" the caretaker replied.

"I don't have to prove ANYTHING to you!"

Sapphire started to tear up, stepped back, and said, "I- I want to be alone!" before running off and out of the building.

Vanilla glared at the caretaker. "You are a horrible woman!"

"Yeah, Sapphire didn't need to hear that, because it's not true!" Cream added.

"Says you," the caretaker replied.

Shadow stepped up, and placed his hand on her desk. "You know, I work for G.U.N. I can get you fired. And I will."

"I don't work for the government, moron."

"This is G.U.N. territory. I have more pull in this situation than you think." And then Shadow turned and walked out.

"I think for once, I'm going to follow Shad's lead," Sonic said, doing just that. Tails, Amy, and Cream followed, and Vanilla crossed her arms and made one less glare at the woman.

"You don't even know what it's like to be a parent, do you? You're supposed to care for your children, not ignore them and let them harm each other. I think it would be best if you never bothered Sapphire again, and that you told the children the same," the mother rabbit before making her leave.

"Whatever," the caretaker replied as her last statement.

Sapphire made her way into the nearby jungle, just walking by herself.

She knew what was said wasn't true. Sonic, Tails, and everyone else did care for her. But coming back home... it hurt her so much. At first, she was having fun with her friends, not worrying about her past. But then it came hitting her harder than anything, and even though her friends stood by her, it didn't stop the pain from coming back...

She should have never decided to come back.

For now, she just wanted some solace, time to calm down. Surely, Sonic would come looking for her at some point.

After a half an hour alone, Sapphire heard a noise behind her. Looking back, she thought she saw her brother.

"Sonic, I'm sorry, I just wanted to be alone for a bit..." Sapphire said. "You... you do love me, right? You want me as your sister, don't you?"

No response.

Sapphire started to cry. "Please, you do-"

Before she could continue, "Sonic" shot forward, and Sapphire could see that it WASN'T the blue hedgehog.

It did look kind of like Sonic, but it wasn't him. It wasn't even a mobian, or a living being...

It was a robot, designed to look like Sonic, with red eyes focused on the yellow hedgehog.

"Who- what- why do you-" Sapphire didn't get the chance to form a question, as the robot grabbed her, and then shot into the sky, flying away from the island.

"Ah! No! Let me GO!" Sapphire screamed as she was taken away from land... and her friends.

Following the sound of Sapphire's voice, Sonic ran into the area Sapphire was just at. "Saph! Where are you!? Are you okay..." he trailed off as he looked up. The robot and Sapphire were too far away to make out any good details. But he knew what this was. "Dang it! Why- Grr! I need to get Tails and the others!" And then Sonic ran back to tell his friends what happened, and make a plan of action.

Chapter Text

The gang of mobians were sitting in a nearby park, waiting as Sonic went to find Sapphire, as they mulled over what they learned about their new friend.

Shadow had temporarily left to find out who was in charge of the island's branch of military occupation, so he could discuss his grievances with the orphanage.

"Man... Saph had it so rough," Amy finally said.

"A caretaker should actually take care of her children," Vanilla exclaimed. "That's the literal title of their job!"

At that moment, Shadow returned.

"So...?" Amy asked, wanting to know how his discussion went.

"While it isn't normally under their derestriction, the general here will see about getting the orphanage under stricter regulation," Shadow told Amy.

"Good. I hope those kids learn their lesson after this," Amy replied.

"Being an orphan must be really hard, but that does not mean you shouldn't nurture them..." Vanilla added. "And discipline them if needed."

"I hope miss Sapphire is alright," Cream said. "We would never treat her like that."

"It was that awful woman who was out of line," Vanilla replied. "She should have never said those things, making her feel like we don't value her for who she is."

"Sonic will probably find her soon," Tails said. "We just need to-"

"Guys!" they heard the blue hedgehog shouting as he frantically ran up to them. "We've got trouble!"

Everyone turned to Sonic with various expressions in reaction to his arrival. "Speak of the devil," Shadow said. "Where's Ma- Sapphire?"

Sonic stopped in front of the group, saying, "Sapphire's been kidnapped!"

"WHAT!" Everyone else shouted together.

"W-wha- Why? Who took her!?" Cream exclaimed, immediately thinking about what happened with Gemerl.

"Eggman," the blue hedgehog replied.

Shadow immediately approached his look-a-like. "Why did you stop him?" he asked, barely containing his anger. "I thought you were the 'Fastest Thing Alive'?"

Sonic gave him a glare that wordlessly said "don't you dare go there". "The robot that took Sapphire was already flying away when I got there. I couldn't even make out the details, but I knew it had to be one of Eggman's."

"No doubt there..." Tails replied with disdain.

"As much as I would've rather followed them... They were already pretty high in the sky and flying off... and well, we're on an island... I can't exactly cross the ocean to give chase."

Shadow stepped backed, growling, but understanding. No one could just cross the ocean like that, not even Sonic OR himself.

"But why would Eggman want to take Sapphire?" Amy asked.

"I don't know... A hostage, maybe? We've kept her out of the public eye, for the most part, since she's not comfortable with the spotlight, but it's not like it's unknown that she's my apprentice and Sonic's adopted sister," Tails noted.

"I bet you anything that Eggman's been spying on us," Sonic replied. "I won't put it past him."

"The question is..." Shadow began, "where did the doctor take her?"

Sapphire was holding on for dear life. Being this high reminded her of her air ride with Sonic that one time, and it terrified her. Of course, being kidnapped definitely wasn't helping either.

"Please take me back...!" Sapphire begged over the winds.

The Sonic-look-a-like robot did not respond, as he continued to fly further away from the island and Sapphire's friends.

Eventually, they approached something in the sky... a massive flying aircraft that was red in color. The Sonic-bot flew above the craft, so he could descend and land on the deck, where someone was waiting.

He was human, tall, bald with a large reddish mustache jutting out the sides of his face, under a large nose, while wearing glasses complete covering his tiny eyes and a pair of machinal googles on the top of his head. His body was large, but oddly shaped, like an egg. He was wearing a red jacket with yellow cuffs and fur golden, rectangular buttons on the upper chest, which was worn on top of a black uni-suit-boot combo. He also had white gloves.

"Greetings, Sapphire the Hedgehog," the man said. "Welcome to my Egg Carrier."

"H-how do you know who I am?" Sapphire asked. "A-and what d-do you want with me?"

"Oh, my dear apprentice, do you not know who I am?" the tall human replied.

Apprentice? Sapphire thought. But I don't know you...

"I can tell you're thinking about it," he noted. Then he loud a loud, maniacal laugh. "Hohohoho...! My name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik! Better known as Dr. Eggman, the great scientific genius in the world!"

Sapphire reeled back in fear. She had never seen him, but she heard about him, even before she knew Sonic personally. Dr. Eggman, the man who had constantly attempted to conquer the world, only to be stopped by Sonic, time and time again.

"I've been observing you, young hedgehog. I can see you learning under that fox boy, and I realized... I need to continue my legacy. So I figured that you would prefer to learn under someone superior," Eggman explained.

"...S... so you kidnapped me... b-because you thought I'd want to-" Sapphire stopped herself, and attempted to gather some of that courage Sonic always displayed. "I-I wanted to learn under Tails because I admired him not just as a mechanic, but as a hero. Why would- would I ever want to learn ANYTHING from an evil man like you...! You... you... Egghead!"

Eggman's ego would've caused him to get angry and lash out, but he made an attempt to remain composed. This was his new student after all. "Oh, you'll come around, eventually. Once you realize how much more you can learn from me."

Sapphire looked up in fear, but then stuck her tongue out, trying to remain confident.

Eggman smirked. "I admire your attempt to be courageous, Sapphire, but I will not be swayed." He turned to the Sonic-look-a-like robot. "Metal Sonic! Take her to her room!"

Suddenly the robot grabbed and forcefully guided Sapphire inside the flying fortress.

Soon, they reached the room Sapphire was meant to stay, where the robot left, and the automated door locked behind her. For what she knew would effectively be a prison cell... it was nice. Not much, there was a bed (with a red blanket with Eggman's symbol on it, which was just his face), a table with a couple chairs, and a desk with a laptop.

Sapphire immediately went to the laptop. Maybe she could contact Sonic or Tails or someone who could come and save her. To her surprise, there was no security log-in set, and she loaded right in. However... the laptop was connected to the "Eggnet", and had no access to the greater internet, preventing her from sending any kind of email or message of any sort to the outside world. In fact, what access she did have was limited.

Sapphire's hopes dropped. If she knew how, she could hack through the network and get a message out. But she was not a programmer, not beyond basic mechanical coding. She knew how to make machines move automatically, but she didn't know how to break into, or out of, a network.

The yellow hedgehog fell back to a corner, curled up into a ball, and began crying. She was trapped. She had just gotten a good life, and a chance for freedom, to grow. But now, she was ripped out of it.

"Sonic, I'm sorry..." she said quietly, weeping. "I shouldn't have let her get to me..."

After a night of having cried herself to sleep, she was woken up to the sound of a couple of robotic voices.

Looking up, Sapphire found two small, floating robots in front of her. One was red and shaped like an orb, and the other was yellow, shaped like a cube. Beyond that, they were similar. They had colored tops, a pair of blue circular lights for eyes, teeth-like lighting imitating a mouth of the bottom of their heads (the yellow cube bot had a sort of jaw too). From there, they had small, ball-joint bodies, with mechanical arms and gloved hands with their colors, and then a bottom the looked like it could fit on the bottoms of their heads attached to another limb.

"Ah, she's awake," the red orb bot stated.

"Dr. Eggman wants to see you," the yellow cube added.

Sapphire just looked away. "I want to go home."

"Uh, okay," the cube bot replied. "Where did you want to go?"

"You buffoon, the boss will get really mad if we just let her go?" the orb bot warned him, while also smacking him. He turned to Sapphire, and said, "best not leave him waiting."

"No..." Sapphire says, trying to sound defiant, but not carrying the confidence to pull it off. She was too scared.

"Well, that's a load off my back," the cube bot replied.

"You lazy idiot," the orb bot said. "Please, don't make us call take drastic measures. We don't want to have to... force you," he told Sapphire with warning.

Sapphire didn't like it, but it seemed she wasn't going to have a choice.

Getting up, the robots led the terrified girl through the halls of the flying warship, until they entered a workshop room.

"Good morning, Sapphire," Eggman said, waiting in a seat by a table. The table had some plates of food. The mad doctor grabbed one, and offered it to Sapphire. There were eggs, bacon, and French toast. "Breakfast, my dear?"

Sapphire didn't want to argue with him, since she was too terrified. She begrudgingly accepted the food, and sat down in a nearby chair.

Eggman grabbed the other plate of food, and began to dig in. Between bites, he began to say, "I hope my assistants treated you well."

"I... I'm not..." Sapphire stuttered.

"Nervous, 'ey? Don't worry about them. They're morons, but they listen. Hm... go on, eat, it's not going to hurt you."

Sapphire took a bite. It was good, surprisingly. And she didn't feel sick from anything afterward.

But it didn't ease her fears.

"So, I figured that we should just jump right on into the creation of Badniks. There is a lot to learn, so I think we should just dive right on in. Orbot! Cubot! If you will, please set things up for us."

The red and yellow robots from before, now given their proper names (seems their names were pretty on the nose from Sapphire's acknowledgment), scampered (hovered?) off, as the sounds of machinery began to sound.

"Alright, finish up," Eggman exclaimed, "Then we start."

After their meal, Eggman began his lesson into Badnik construction. For all intents and purposes, it was very good. They were advanced, but with the premade building AI, they could be made very, very fast. But there was one detail that bugged Sapphire...

"How... do you power them?" she asked.

"An excellent question, my dear!" the mad doctor replied. "You are aware of the smaller animals that exist in our world, correct?"

Sapphire didn't like where this was going.

"Well, all we have to do is collect these little critters, place them into a Badnik shell, and viola. Instant army!" Eggman continued.

"B-b-but, why...? Th-that's cruel. You're taking away their freedom," Sapphire replied.

"So? They'll serve a better purpose this way."

Sapphire became really upset at this. "Is... there... any kind of alternative power source?"

Eggman paused. "Well... there are chaos drives, but they're regulated by G.U.N. I've done raids on them in the past... one time managed to even dismantle them entirely." Eggman thought of the time where he almost had the entire world in his grasp, thanks to the power of the Phantom Ruby. "But they still managed to control most access to drives. Besides, on such a large scale, they're inefficient. I only use them for my most advanced robots, and even then, I used to use animals for them, too, like my early E-Series."

"E-Series...?"

Eggman laughed. "I suppose I should show you some of my genius. ...Though there isn't much left to show."

The egg-shaped man walked over to a panel on the wall, and hit some buttons. As machinery roared to life behind the wall, after about a minute, the chute opened up, and Eggman pulled out a metal crate.

He placed the crate down on a table, and hits a button, causing it to open up. Inside were some parts for an incomplete robot.

"This was a model of E-Series I started a long time ago. Never finished it," Eggman explained.

"...And does it need animals to be powered," Sapphire replied with a mix of nervousness and distaste.

"No, this model was meant to use those chaos drives I mentioned. In fact, I think..." he opened up one of the parts, and inside were some crystalline cylinders. "Ah yes, seems I left some drives here." Turning back to Sapphire, Eggman said with a malicious grin, "the point is, animals are far more effective for the basic units."

"N-no wonder Sonic hates you..." Sapphire replied.

"Enough of that!" Eggman exclaimed. "Let us continue!"

Eggman's lessons weren't bad, Sapphire was honestly learning a lot. But the fact she was being forced to learn them, on top of them involving kidnapping poor little critters... it didn't sit well with her.

Come noon, Eggman would decide it was time for a break. "Ah, seems it's time for lunch." The large man got up, and informed Sapphire, "Orbot and Cubot will escort you to your room, so you can have your meal. We'll reconvene in an hour." He then began shouting down the hall for the robot pair to come.

Sapphire looked away. She was still terrified, wanting to go home. But how...?

If only Sonic were here...

Then she thought... but, what if I tried to... follow his example. He wants everyone to live free... That's why he fights Eggman. So could I...

She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath... what would Sonic say?

Just remember to be brave, and you'll be fine, he once said. To overcome fear, you need to face it.

I need to face it. Sapphire opened her eyes and took a hard look at Eggman. How do I fight him?

She then looked at the box of E-Series parts. The chaos drives were left out, just sitting there.

Sapphire looked towards her captor, finding that he was still putting his attention towards his lackeys.

Can I do this? He'll probably be monitoring me...

But as she thought that, she realized... It was now or never.

While Eggman was distracted, she took the chaos drives.

Eggman turned to Sapphire as Orbot and Cubot turned the corner. "My dear..."

Sapphire nodded. As she passed the man, she asked, "w-would it... be okay if I had some scraps to work with... in my room."

"Hm... well, I wouldn't want you to make anything you could use to escape. But some parts without any power source, that should be alright."

"And maybe some crystals," Sapphire quickly added.

Eggman raised an eyebrow.

"It's something I work with at home," she quickly explained. "I know I can't power them, but I want to be able to keep thinking about ways I could use them, and working with them, in a mechanics sense... would help me..."

"Ah, yes, the engineer's mind needs to see it to believe it, correct?" Eggman replied.

"Th-th-that's one way to say it..."

"Well, I think it's unnecessary, since my tech, which you'll be learning how to create, is superior in every way. But I'll indulge you. Perhaps, I'll ask to see it, one day."

With that, Orbot and Cubot began to lead Sapphire back to her room. She did it. She got away with taking the chaos drives. She had a power source, now she just needed to use her ingenuity, to take what she knew, and make something of it.

Then she could escape this place.

Chapter Text

Sonic was frustrated. He knew Eggman was behind the kidnapping of his adopted sister. He knew it was a matter of time before Eggman, with his infinite ego, came out and announced his scheme with Sapphire.

But it wasn't happening fast enough.

Eggman was completely off the radar, which made it more difficult to find him than usual. And because of this, Sapphire remained trapped with him.

And the longer she was trapped, the more worried the blue hedgehog got. He had no idea what Eggman was doing to his sister. For all he knew, the next time he would finally be able to see her, she would be different, ...for the worst.

At least he knew that Eggman would not treat her horribly. He treated his captors well, for the most part. But that was not enough to ease his fears.

Sonic wasn't the only one who was agitated by this. Shadow was beyond pissed. He had conscripted Rouge to do her spy thing, and figure out where Eggman was hiding. And while the bat spy was doing her thing, and helping Tails find a place to hack into the Eggnet, and track Eggman's current location, the black hedgehog spent the remainder of his time searching for Eggman himself. He even started searching with Sonic, and ironically enough, their shared goals and fears kept them from fighting during the search.

Everyone had come back home from Blue Wave Island because, one, they could use their resources at home in the search, and two, between finding out about Sapphire's bullying at her old orphanage, and then having that followed by a kidnapping, the fun was more than ruined.

Sonic and Shadow just returned from another search. At this point, they had exhausted any nearby abandoned bases to search.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous," Shadow said, exasperated. "The doctor is usually not this quiet."

"I just want to get my sister back, and give him his comeuppance already!" Sonic complained. He walked over to his buddy and asked, "any leads?"

"Still nothing," Tails said. "Seems like he must've finally wised up, and is keeping things lowkey. Rouge has begun searching outside the country, but we can't get into the Eggnet. He's completely off the map."

Shadow slammed his fist against the wall, causing a dent in it. "I will DESTROY him!"

"Woah, woah, woah, calm down, Shadow," Tails replied, trying to calm him down. "I get you're mad, we all are, but let's not go THAT far!"

"Look, Tails, at this point, I'm not going to argue with him," Sonic said. "If he wants to fight Eggman, whatever, let him, so I can get Sapphire out of there."

Tails sighed. He realized that there was no calming the two hedgehogs down. Not at this point. Eggman had gone too far, and had managed to get away with it somehow. They just wanted revenge.

Tails had turned back to his computer, just as he got a ring on it, informing him that he got a notification. Checking to see what it was, he noticed that he had an email from...

"Sonic! Shadow! Look at this!"

A short time earlier...

After a week of capture, Sapphire had finished her escape plan. She knew that she couldn't just leave. She was on a flying airship hidden in the clouds above the ocean. She couldn't even survive if she jumped off.

But she had worked out what she would need to do when she broke out. Adding the finishing touches, she examined her work.

It was nothing amazing. It was a couple springed-loaded rotating joints attached to metal rods, bound together by duct tape and roughly set screws, with various pieces of tech wired throughout.

Rudimentary, but functional.

Sapphire closed her eyes, and thought about the week. Eggman had been doing his lessons with Sapphire the whole time, and while she certainly learned some things, she was more focused on her plan.

She tried sending messages to her friends, regardless of her lack of access. Of course, they couldn't get through, and during her lessons, Eggman would comment and laugh about her frivolous attempts to get some outside help. But for Sapphire, it was just to set up a distraction of sorts, so the large man didn't question her tests on her secret program. It was the same with her ample note-taking, just means to make lots of files, so she could bury her program.

And as for her weapon...

She remembered the hardlight jump rope she made before...

And she recalled the shaped hardlight mass that accidentally shot off when the magnetic field was interrupted...

And she stole the chaos drives to power her creation...

She didn't have any computing tech in her weapon, so she had to manually set up the magnetic fields and how they functioned from memory and testing, without any digital variables to help.

But now she had done it...

She made a makeshift hardlight bow. Her means of escape.

She took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy. But she couldn't stay here under the tutelage of this madman. So, she had to be brave.

Taking her weapon, she made a call for Orbot and Cubot.

They weren't the quickest, but they were fast enough to attend to her needs, so long as that didn't include her escaping or causing problems.

...As long as they didn't know that was what was happening.

Once they came in, they found a smiling Sapphire with her hands behind her back.

"Well, you sure seem chipper," Orbot commented. "So, what do you need?"

With fake cheerfulness, Sapphire replied with, "oh, I need you to move aside," as she hit a switch and could hear the hum of her weapon power on, with hardlight bowstring forming.

"Oh, sure," Cubot dumbly said.

"You idiot!" Orbot replied, slapping Cubot, "You not supposed to- ...Wait." He began to notice the sound too.

Sapphire then pull out her rough mechanical bow from behind her, held down a button that would form a hardlight arrow, then grabbed it and the string, pulling back, and letting go.

This motion was designed to disrupt the magnetic field long enough for the arrow to be sent flying with the motion of the string. She was worried her calculations may have been off, since she couldn't test it and had to do the math in her head. But thankfully, they were right, and her arrow flew true.

She didn't hit the robots, but she wasn't intending to, either. She just wanted to scare them. And it worked, the pair of shaped bots fled out of the way screaming.

Sapphire then dashed out through the door, and spun around to hit the button controlling the automatic door, shutting the robots inside.

Okay, she trapped Eggman's lackeys, but there was no time to relax. She didn't know for sure, but there had to be something that would cause the alarms to go off if she wasn't careful.

Looking around, there were already a couple of other robots. Perhaps there to back up Orbot and Cubot if their hostage made a break for it. ...Like she just did.

These reddish-orange robots with Eggman's likeness began to move in on her, to attempt to recapture her. But Sapphire was prepared for this...

Well, mentally, she was ready.

Have no prior combat experience, she missed her first couple of shots, but she did manage to take out the robots before they pin her down.

With that done, she took a deep breath, and then running off her memory, she made a mad dash towards her goal.

She had to sneak around robots, or shoot those that saw her, but she was slowly making progress towards her objective.

And finally, she made it to she wanted to be. Before her, stood the mechanical opening, and inside, her chance at freedom.

"Okay, now-" Sapphire barely said, just as alarms started ringing. They found out I escaped! She thought.

And unfortunately, with that, the doors closed, sealing her away from the objective.

"Oh no!" she cried. She needed to get in there. She had to...

Okay, time to put those mechanics skills you've been learning to the test. Maybe if she took apart the controls here.

She took her weapon and aimed carefully, before finding the right angle to fire at, which would hopefully not break anything important. After firing it, the control panel blew off.

Immediately going after the internal mechanisms of the door's controls, she began trying to rewire it, hoping to trick the door into opening back up.

It took about a minute, too long to Sapphire, who needed to be fast, but eventually, she managed it. Then she ran inside.

And before her, the main computer, a link to Eggman's personal network.

The final phase to her escape plan.

First, she needed to hack in.

Any time Eggman logged into something, she had been shoulder-surfing, trying to get an idea on what his username and password would be. She had a couple of ideas.

She put in her first guess. When she hit enter, a message popped up, saying "incorrect login, two more attempts before lockout".

Uh oh, that's bad, Sapphire realized. If she failed at this point, she wasn't escaping. Eggman would increase the security, and she'd never be able to get out again!

"Okay, maybe it was this?"

Another failure.

Come on, come on, I can't screw this up now! She closed, thinking very hard. "Okay, I got it."

She put in the username and password.

"Login accessed, access granted. Welcome back, Dr. Eggman!"

Sapphire breathed in a sigh of relief. And then she pulled out the final piece to her puzzle.

A flash drive. With her program on it.

She plugged it in, and hit run on the screen.

"I did it..." she softly. "I did it!"

"Did you now?"

Spinning around, she found Eggman standing behind her, along with the robot the kidnapped her in the first place. Metal Sonic, right? Fitting, given his similarity to her brother.

"So, all this time, you were tricking me," Eggman mused. "Stealing from me, lying about your intentions with that junk I gave you. All for this?" He waved his hands at his main computer. "So you could hack into my systems? Was this an attempt to escape?"

Eggman approached her, a menacing smiled on his face. Sapphire simply looked up at him, sacred, but expectant. She knew this was coming.

"I'll admit, I am impressed you made it this far," Eggman said. "But you should've known that it would end in failure. I didn't think you knew how to program a virus, but it won't work. I have the best anti-malware program ever developed. Made by me, of course. Besides, how would this..." He motioned to the screen.

Sapphire looked back, and could see her program had started, opening, operating, and closing various windows at, well, computing speeds that no human or mobian eye could process.

"...be able to save you," Eggman finished.

Sapphire didn't say anything.

"Metal Sonic!" Eggman called out. "Take her to the deck!"

And with that, the robot grabbed her, and took off through the halls. The yellow hedgehog was barely able to hold onto her weapon.

Eggman looked back at his computer with disgust, before following after his favorite robot and forced-protégé.

Outside on the ship's deck, Eggman had hopped into his flying pod, so her could properly stare her down. Sapphire was forced into a kneeling position by Metal Sonic, forced to look up. The robot had also finally tossed the weapon towards the edge of the ship.

"My, my..." Eggman started. "This is quite disappointing. As impressive as the attempt was, I expected you to obey. I am offering you something invaluable! My knowledge. And this is how you thank me!?"

"Why...? Why would I want that?" Sapphire countered.

"Excuse me? Why would anyone not want to help continue my legacy? The legacy of brilliance!"

"You hurt people! You put animals in robots against their wills! I don't want that! I want to help people! Not control them!"

Eggman's face twisted in anger. "So you dare not appreciate my genius... Well, I don't like to be cruel to my captors. But I can't simply turn you into a robot, or else I'll lose my protégé. So, I guess I have no choice... Metal Sonic! Start with a low voltage, but enough for her to feel it."

Metal Sonic's arms began to hum, as the energy built up, ready to shock the hedgehog girl the robot was holding.

Sapphire closed her eyes, as they got filled with tears.

BANG!

A loud burst of energy sounded off behind Sapphire, but not a discharge of electricity as she expected, and the robot was knocked over, letting go of her.

"WHAT!?" Eggman angrily shouted, as he began to search for what caused this.

That search only took a second, as the perpetrators were standing out in plain sight. Looking back, even Sapphire could see them.

Standing at the end of the deck... was Sonic the Hedgehog, cocky smile on his face, joined by Shadow the Hedgehog, glaring angrily towards Eggman and Metal Sonic, energy sparking of off his hand.

"How... HOW DID YOU GET HERE!?" Eggman shouted at the hedgehog duo. "I tried to keep on this on the down-low. I didn't want anyone interrupting our lessons!"

"What are you talking about?" Sonic replied with a smirk. "You gave us an invite, and Shadow here was kind enough to teleport me up here with him."

Shadow simply scoffed, and approached the doctor. "How dare you take Sapphire. She didn't need to be dragged into these scuffles, and yet... You did so anyways! And now... you're going to regret it!"

"Wh-what? I didn't invite-" Eggman started, but then Shadow made an attempted dash towards him...

...But Metal Sonic, who had since gotten back up, made a counter-attack, and blocked Shadow's movements. After being knocked back, Metal Sonic pulled back to slash his claws at Shadow, but then Sonic jumped towards them, dropped in from above, and dive kicked the robot.

"I got Metal!" Sonic told his partner. "You go after Eggman. Saph, find a place to hide!"

Shadow nodded and turned back to the mustached villain. Sapphire backed away, and slowly made her way towards where her weapon was tossed away, just in case.

Sonic made a dash towards his metal doppelganger, and forced the robot to face him in combat, rather than go after the escaping girl.

Eggman looked, getting angrier and angrier at how the situation was going out of his control. "You weren't supposed to be here..."

"Neither was Sapphire..." Shadow replied with equal anger.

Eggman growled and then hit a button. "Then I'll destroy you!"

Shadow smirked and shot back, "you can try," as he watched a large machine fly up behind Eggman. "Hopefully, you'll give me a challenge this time!"

Eggman's pod flew back, and inserted itself in the machine behind him. Then, the mech activated, and two large arms sprung to life, as a metal shell encapsulated Eggmam's pod, a red top with spikes and a simple windshield, allowing the man inside to see outside his mech.

With a brief breather, Sonic looked over, and when he saw the mech, he just sighed. "Really, that thing again?" Then he leapt backward to avoid an electric discharge from Metal Sonic.

"Yes, indeed! The new... Big Arms," Eggman announced through the machine's speakers. "But it has been upgraded! This new model has increased durability and speed, in order to keep up with your improving capabilities."

"Hm, it's just some pathetic machine to me!" Shadow countered.

He leapt towards the machine, trying to go a swift kick, but Eggman's mech quickly wound back, and smacked Shadow aside.

"Hm, there's more where that came from!" Eggman gloated.

Shadow got back up, and threw a Chaos Spear at the mech. The energy projectile struck the machine, which did pierce the metal, but not enough to cause any real damage.

"Is that all you got!" Eggman continued, as he made a forward palm attack, which released a shockwave that blasted Shadow back.

But Shadow wasn't going so easily. Being forced back into the air, Shadow flipped around, landed on the side of a tower wall, then launched himself at Eggman, rolling into a ball, just like how Sapphire saw Sonic do before.

Eggman made a blocking motion with his mech's arms, and forced Shadow to bounce off. "Enough of this!" Eggman shouted. As Shadow, despite landing on his feet, was recovering from his fast motion attacks and getting knocked around, the mech charged the hedgehog, and then with both hands, grabbed him, and flew up.

"SHADOW!" Sapphire cried.

"Dang it!" Sonic shouted. He tried to make a move to save the black hedgehog, but Metal Sonic stopped him, forcing the blue hedgehog to remain in his original fight.

And at that moment, Eggman shot back down, slamming Shadow into the ground.

Sapphire looked on in horror. Luckily, Shadow was able to move, but he was hurt, and couldn't move much.

"Please... stop..." Sapphire whimpered, but not loud enough for anyone to hear.

Eggman flew up, the mech raising its fist, pulling back for a smashing punch.

Sapphire looked around for an answer to ANYTHING that would help Shadow. Then her eyes rested on her makeshift weapon, which she was backing away to in the first place. Looking back up, the Big Arms's had its back to Sapphire, its thrusters exposed to her.

Without a second thought, she grabbed her weapon, and prepared an arrow, aiming towards the mech, and fired.

It missed, the hardlight arrow struck the edge of the mech's engines, harmlessly sticking out.

"Come on," Sapphire whispered, as she rapidly fired another arrow. Another miss. The mech was taking its sweet time, but was ready to swing down. Sapphire fired one more arrow.

And it struck right into one of the engine thrusters. It jammed into the rotating mechanism, causing the jet to jam, overheat, and explode.

"WHAT!?" Eggman shouted as he suddenly lost control. His mech happened to spin towards Sapphire, and the man inside could see Sapphire, her bow up.

"You little-" Eggman started, before Shadow came up, and finally got a good kick in.

As the Big Arms got launched back, Shadow landed, and began to glow red. "Enough of this..." he mocked. Suddenly, he began to hover in the air, as the glow grew brighter.

"Chaos Blast!" Shadow then shouted, as a large crimson red beam of energy shot out from his body, and collided with the Bigs Arms, where it released a massive explosion of red energy.

The machine fell on the deck, broken and useless, unable to work again.

Shadow turned to Sapphire and smiled. "Nice shot."

"Th-thank you..." Sapphire replied nervously. "Can we get out of here now?"

Shadow quickly spun towards Sonic and his battle, and shouted. "Get over here! We're ready to go!"

"Got it!" the blue hedgehog called back, and began running over to them.

However, Metal Sonic was not done with his rival, and gave chase.

Not wanting the robot to get her again, or harm her brother, Sapphire began to fire arrows toward him.

Between Sapphire's unpracticed aim, and Metal Sonic's swiftness, the robot was able to dodge them, but they were slowing him down.

And with one last arrow, Sapphire met her mark, and a hardlight arrow struck Metal Sonic's eye.

"Ooh!" Sonic winced, as he reached the other hedgehogs, while watching his rival crash into the ground.

"Time to go," Shadow said, once Sonic was close enough. "Chaos Control!"

And with that, there was a bright flash, and then everyone disappeared, teleporting back to Tails' workshop.

"Sapphire!" Amy and Cream cried as they, Vanilla, and their chao friends.

Sapphire was now sitting on Tails couch, a blanket wrapped around her, and a cup of hot cocoa in her hands.

Shadow was sitting next to her, silently watching, as if still seeking threats. Tails was configuring a defensive array, just in case Eggman made a comeback. And Sonic and Rouge were behind the girls, coming back from a patrol.

The girls ran up to Sapphire. They would've hugged her, but they did want her to spill her cocoa, and accidentally burn herself.

"H-hi, it's good to see you," Sapphire softly said.

"Goodness, dear, are you okay?" Vanilla asked.

"Yeah... just, exhausted."

"Eggman almost had you electrocuted," Sonic noted.

"WHAT!?" Amy shouted.

"B-b-but I knew you'd come and save me," Sapphire replied.

Amy turned to Sapphire. "Really, that's your response to that!? To almost getting shocked!?"

Tails turned around, and grabbed something off his workbench: Sapphire's bow. "So... what's this all about then?"

"Well... I tricked Eggman into giving me what I needed to make that, stole the rest of the parts, and then I used it for my escape plan," Sapphire explained.

"Seems like you didn't get that far," Sonic said.

"But I did!" Sapphire replied. "I knew it wouldn't help me get OFF the ship. We were hundreds of feet in the air, above the ocean. There's no way you could escape that... alive. So, instead I went for the central network hub on the ship, and broke into the main account. I made a program... Eggman thought it was a virus, and was sure his malware defense would stop it."

"I did hear that G.U.N. tried to launch virus attacks on Eggman's network before. Didn't work," Rouge added.

"So... what did it do?" Amy asked.

"It was made to do a set of simple tasks, but very, very fast. Faster than I think I could've done on my own before getting caught," Sapphire continued.

"Hang on," Tails interjected, "are you saying that... the email Eggman sent us, which told us where he was... that wasn't him, was it?"

"No, it was my program."

"And that's why you knew we'd come save you," Sonic said.

Vanilla sat down next to Sapphire. "What you did was very brave. I just wish I could have comforted you about what happened after visiting your... old home."

"Yeah... glad you could still trust us, after what they said..." Amy said.

"I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten upset. You've been so nice to me, not like that place... I shouldn't have believed them, but I... I... didn't know what to think, and I was... unsure, and..." Sapphire said. "Maybe if I didn't run, then I wouldn't have gotten kidnapped."

"So... what did Eggman want with you, anyways?" Sonic asked.

"He... he wanted me as... his apprentice. He thought he'd be better than Tails, and he wanted to continue his legacy..."

"What!?" Amy shouted. "Who cares about his legacy!?"

"Eggman does," Rouge stated. "He has enough of an ego to care about his own legacy. Though it does explain why he was able to keep his ego in check to keep him from revealing where he was... He was too busy showing off to his 'apprentice'."

Sapphire simply nodded in response, agreeing, having seen it firsthand.

"Geez, everything Eggman does is so extravagant," Sonic said to himself, but loud enough for everyone to appear. "Hard to miss it. So, what exactly was his plan with Sapphire?"

Everyone was quiet. No one had an answer, And nobody wanted to know. They didn't want to ever see that.

Tails, however, was visibly getting more and more annoyed, for no discernable reason, until he announced it. "Eggman's been spying on us..." he stated. "I didn't want Sapphire to get caught up in our battles with Eggman, especially after Sonic decided to adopt her as his sister. Sonic's brought her into the public eye a couple of times, but I wanted to keep her out of the sight of any malicious people. But no, Eggman must've been watching us, and decided to take my well-meaning wish to teach a new generation of mechanical builders, into his living nightmare!"

Shadow started glaring at no one in particular, replying with, "well, doctor, if you are watching, just know this. If you ever lay a finger on Sapphire again... I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth, and I'll destroy you!"

Sonic nervously looked over to the wall, unsure if Eggman was in fact listening.

And then suddenly, Sapphire started crying.

Vanilla immediately leaned over to hug the crying girl. "It's okay. Just let it out."

"H-h-he wanted me t-to do these... he e-expected me to... these awful things. He was t-trying to teach me to put a-animals in r-robots. T-to hurt people! Control them!" Sapphire got out.

Sonic sighed. "...Unfortunately, not new information there..."

"B-but he expected ME to do it, too!" Sapphire shouted. "I just... I just want to help people... with my technology. I want to make people happy..."

Shadow became still with that last line.

"...B-but that man. He doesn't want that... He wants everyone to suffer!"

"Sapphire..." Vanilla softly.

"Are you okay miss Sapphire?" Cream asked.

"I... I... I can't let this happen!" Sapphire shouted. She got up, put her cocoa down, and grabbed her bow from Tails. "I'm going to perfect this..." she said softly, before turning to her brother, "and then, Sonic, can you teach me to fight?"

"Um, sis, are you sure that is-" Sonic started, but he was cut off as Shadow got up himself.

"Why shouldn't she learn to fight?" Shadow asked. "If Eggman thinks he can just own her, then she should fight back!"

Sonic looked at her bow, and then at her. "Well, I'm not familiar with the bow and arrow... but I do have experience with old-fashioned weapons."

"For something made from scraps and stolen batteries..." Tails added in. "It's very well made, and takes advantage of everything Sapphire has practiced and worked on. It's not a bad idea."

"Then... well, get to work when you're ready, and we'll keep an eye out for the egg-head," Sonic said. "Give you time to arm yourself. And I guess... it's time to step up our adventures together!"

Everyone agreed with the blue hedgehog (even Shadow), and Sapphire smiled, happy to be around people who cared about her, and were willing to help her become stronger.

Chapter Text

A couple of days later, Sapphire and Sonic found themselves in Central City, heading over to meet someone at the Violet Café.

And as they approached, their friend was waiting for them: Shadow the Hedgehog.

"What do you think he wants?" Sapphire asked.

"I don't know, but I'm sure you'll be fine," Sonic replied.

They walked up to Shadow, who greeted them. "Hello, thanks for coming..."

"Yeah, anything for you, Shads. So... what did you want?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I've had some time..." Shadow looked away in shame, "...to think... And I've decided... I need to talk to Sapphire. Alone."

"A-a-alone!" Sapphire freaked out.

Sonic sweatdropped as he asked, "Why...?"

"Something that's... been on my mind," Shadow replied. "Please, let me talk to her."

Sonic turned to Sapphire, who was nervously looking around. "Um, okay." He put his hand on his sister's shoulder, which caused her to yelp. "Hey hey, it's alright. I'll be nearby. He won't hurt you, I'm sure of it."

Sonic ran off, leaving the two remaining hedgehogs alone.

Shadow offered Sapphire a seat, and the two sat down. As they made some food orders, Shadow began to speak. "Sapphire, I want to tell you..."

"Y-yes?" Sapphire replied, her heart beating.

"I can't stop thinking... about you..."

"WAIT WHAT!?"

Everyone who was around looked over in surprise at the duo.

"Shoot! Okay, I didn't mean it like that! I-" Shadow sighed. "You remind me of someone I used to know..."

"O-oh... who...?" Sapphire was somewhat relieved, but also somewhat... distraught. She felt so confused.

"It's complicated. You see... you know they call me the Ultimate Lifeform?"

"Y-yeah, I've heard that title. Why do they call you that?"

"You see... I was... created. By a man named Professor Gerald Robotnik."

"Wait, Eggman said he was Dr. Ivo-"

"Yes, I know," Shadow interjected. "He was the doctor's grandfather."

"O-oh... that's... um..." Sapphire didn't know what to say to that.

Shadow continued. "He created me 50 years ago aboard the Space Colony ARK, as the Ultimate Lifeform. He did this for many reasons, but the primary one... was to find a cure for his granddaughter, Eggman's late cousin, ...and my first friend, Maria."

"Maria..." Sapphire said softly.

"Yes. She was suffering from NIDS, and was attempting to create Ultimate Lifeform to find a cure."

Sapphire had heard of the disease. Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, NIDS for short. A disease that weakened the nervous and immune systems, making its victims susceptible to many other diseases. Incurable, and inevitably fatal. She couldn't believe that Shadow was made just to cure that. "So... did Maria... get cured... or did she... pass away... from the disease?"

"Neither," Shadow solemnly answered. "You see, the project I was made for, Project Shadow, was funded by the government, But eventually, they saw Project Shadow as a threat, and they raided the ARK. They either arrested or killed everyone aboard. They captured Professor Gerald. But as for me and Maria... we tried to flee." A tear dropped from his eyes. "And we almost made, but then... the soldiers found us... and they shot Maria..."

"Shadow... I'm so sorry..." Sapphire didn't know what to say. It was just so sad to hear.

"In her dying breath, she sealed me into an escape capsule, and shot me down to the planet. But I was intercepted on the ground, captured by G.U.N. regardless, and placed inside cryostasis."

"How... how did you get out?"

"Eggman freed me. As a part of one of his evil schemes. But I... used him. You see, the professor was enlisted to continue doing research for the government, but was later executed. But during the remainder of his life, he plotted his revenge for the death of his granddaughter. To say that I was... willing to help, would be true, but not completely true. He... reprogrammed me, his own creation, who he saw as a son, and 50 years later, I would use his grandson to exact his revenge. And it almost worked."

"What... what did you do?" Sapphire was starting to get scared.

"Do, you recall when the moon got blown in half? And shortly after, when there was the threat of the ARK crashing into the planet, trying to wipe everyone out?"

"V-vaguely..." Sapphire did recall a bright beam in the sky one night, and the moon shattering, leaving only half of it remaining, and then a message being broadcasted that everyone was going to die. "Those were scary times..."

"Well... that was all me..." Shadow solemnly admitted. "Gerald wanted to wipe out humanity for taking his granddaughter from him, and I was his willing puppet. But when Sonic and his friends invaded the ARK, and tried to stop it, Amy inadvertently caused me to remember something, something the professor must've suppressed. Maria's last wish to me, her remaining promise. She told me... 'Shadow, I beg of you! Give them a chance to be happy!'" he repeated.

"Shadow..."

"And that's what I wanted to tell you, Sapphire... Because... you remind me of her. When I first saw you, you reminded me a lot of Maria, despite the fact you're a mobian, and she was human. That's why I called you Maria before," Shadow admitted.

"I look like... her..." Sapphire responded, trying to come to terms with that.

"And then, you said those words, that you want to make people happy. Just like her," Shadow continued. "And... I began to feel guilty..."

"What, why?"

"Because I broke that promise! Yes, I've saved the world by Sonic's side multiple times, but I've attempted to destroy it, too! Twice! And all in her name. Yes, my mind was reprogrammed, and the second time, I had amnesia and was almost misled because of it, but those were still my actions, and I did it for her, for Maria, when it was the opposite of what she wanted." And with that, Shadow finally broke down into tears. "Wh-when I got my memories b-back, I dec-cided to leave me p-past behind me. But look-king at you, you remind me off that promise, that b-broken promise, and feel all my failures, all my past sins, crashing down me!"

Sapphire began to feel tears of her own welling in her eyes, as she tried to process everything that she just heard. "Shadow... I'm sorry... I don't want to make you feel this way..."

"I know..." Shadow replied. "It's not your fault... It's my own memories hurting me... You shouldn't blame yourself..."

Seeing this black hedgehog, who before seemed so terrifying and so powerful to her, now lying broken before her, all because she looked like someone she never knew, made Sapphire depressed, and desperate to do something.

...So she decided that she HAD to do something. Something bold.

She got up, and with the loudest, the most commanding voice she could muster, exclaimed, "Shadow, look at me."

The black hedgehog looked up at the hedgehog girl, tears still in his eyes, wondering what she was doing.

"I can't fix the past. And neither can you! So, stand up, and march forward!" Sapphire continued.

Shadow simply started back.

"I SAID STAND UP!" Sapphire shouted, and the black hedgehog stood up. "You've lost something important to you, and you've made many mistakes because of it. That can't be changed. But in the end, you turned back around, and you tried to do better. You're a hero, Shadow the Hedgehog. Don't forget that. And Shadow, if this promise is so important to you... then I want you to promise me..."

Sapphire went silent for a moment. "Yes?" Shadow asked.

"I want to make everyone happy. Including yourself. Let the past remain the past, and live to make things better for everyone. So says I, Sapphire 'Maria' the Hedgehog!"

Shadow gave a nervous smile. "That last part..."

"I know... it sounded stupid," Sapphire said.

"No... that name..."

"It's not really my full name. I'm an orphan, remember? I never had a last name, much less a middle one. Well, guess I'd have Sonic's last name now, but I don't know what it is... but Maria sounds nice," Sapphire explained.

"It's a lovely name," Shadow replied.

"Th-thanks."

Shadow then closed his eyes, and announced, "you've been listening to all of this, haven't you, you blue idiot!"

"Hey, I said I'd be close by!" they heard Sonic's voice from behind a nearby bush.

"Of course," Shadow growled.

"Hey, don't worry!" Sonic said as walked out from behind his bush. "I'll keep this between us... and everyone else..."

Indeed, people were still watching, especially after Sapphire's grand gesture to Shadow.

Sapphire suddenly lost her surge of confidence, and shrunk down nervously.

"Fine, whatever," Shadow said, as he turned to leave.

But before he left completely, he turned to Sapphire to say, "thank you, Sapphire. Or can I call you Maria?"

"M-Maria is fine," Sapphire answered, before quickly adding, "b-but only from you!"

Shadow nodded in agreement, before teleporting away.

Sonic then came up and hugged his adopted sister. "Hey, that was brave of you."

"Thanks. I just... I don't know," Sapphire replied.

"He must be important to you."

"I guess..."

"Oh, and it's 'Zephyr'."

"Uh... Zephyr what?"

"My last name."

"Oh. That's cool!"

"Yep! Nothin's going to stop Sonic Zephyr the Hedgehog and Sapphire Maria Zephyr the Hedgehog!"

"Uh... are people still watching?"

"Ah, are you feeling embarrassed, little sis?"

"C-can we just go home...?"

Sonic laughed, with Sapphire soon joining in, as they made their back home.

Chapter Text

From atop his shrine, Knuckles looked down at the world below, over the edge of the floating island. The light of the Master Emerald filled him with warmth as the sunlight shone down on him as well.

Even still, he had to wonder... what was going on down below? He had his duty, and yet, he still had his friends.

Not to mention the new girl... He hadn't exactly made a good first impression on her. Not that he really had any interest in her, but she was Sonic's sister.

"You know what, I'm going down there. I need to see if she's okay. Hopefully, Sonic's been treating her well."

Knuckles leaped off the shrine, and looked back up to the massive gem. It would be fine for a couple of hours.

And with that, he leaped off the side of the island, catching the air in his spines, and safely gliding down to the surface below...

But the moment he was gone... A portal opened up on the island... And from it, a large man walked out...

Several flashes of light burst out, as hardlight arrows flew away.

Sapphire, after weeks of work and days of sleepless nights, had finally finished her project: A proper weapon, taking advantage of her own developed hardlight designs.

It was no longer the prototype she made to escape. Not some scrap metal held together with duct tape and screws. It was now a well-crafted mechanical bow, and sleek metal casing to protect the inter technology. It was now powered by proper chaos drives, fully-modified electro-magnets built into rotating joints, and a computer chip to control everything (instead of simply relying on assumptions and faith that it'll work). There were even motion detectors to activate the weapon automatically.

Completing her weapon had made Sapphire super excited, so much so that she wanted to test it right away!

...But she had only been sleeping every other night, so Sonic forced her to go to bed that evening and sleep until noon.

But now that she was completely refreshed, Sonic had gathered all of Saph's friends, so they could watch her make the first tests with her bow.

Sapphire had fired off a few arrows, showing off the capabilities of her creation.

"Wow, that's so awesome!" Amy exclaimed after her demonstration.

"You're so amazing, Saph!" Cream added.

"Y-yeah..." Sapphire responded. Yes, she had indeed made a fantastic weapon.

But none of her shots hit the target.

Looking dejected, Sapphire lowed her bow. But then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Looking over, she found Sonic there, trying to be reassuring.

"Hey, don't be so disappointed. You just started. No one's expecting you to get it right away," He told his sister.

"Th-thanks, Sonic," Sapphire replied.

"But, for now, perhaps we should get something to eat!"

Sapphire nodded, and made her way to the rest of the group.

Vanilla and Cream (with Cheese) were there, and had taken advantage of the get-together to make a picnic. Tails had set up a portable-outside workshop to help out Sapphire with anything she might need. And Sonic, Shadow, and Amy were watching as Sapphire tested her weapon.

As everyone got sandwiches, cookies, strawberries (Sapphire told her friends that she loves them), and juice drinks, Shadow gave Sapphire an encouraging smile. "I'm impressed. Honestly. Once you get a good sense of combat, you'll be a real asset to Sonic's team."

"What, you don't want her on yours?" Sonic teased the black hedgehog.

"W-wait, what!?" Sapphire replied in shock, misunderstanding.

"I'm joking, Saph," her brother replied.

"Even so, my team, Team Dark, are unofficial members of G.U.N., and we take many high-risk missions, along with reconnaissance," Shadow explained. "As much as you annoy me, Maria would be better suited with your group, Sonic."

"Wait, Shadow, did you just call Sapphire-" Amy started, but Sonic quickly interjected.

"It's a thing between the two of them," he explained.

"Oh... Oh!"

"Whatever you are thinking, Amy, you are wrong," Shadow told the pink hedgehog. "Sapphire simply reminds me of an old friend, and she took the name as her middle name of sorts."

"Y-y-yeah, we're just friends!" Sapphire quickly sputtered.

Amy simply gave the two a smirk. Shadow might have a good poker face, but Sapphire... Whatever the black hedgehog thought of the hedgehog girl, said girl's true feelings were on full display, as much as she tried to hide it.

"Anyways, it's nice that you found some way to help everyone," Vanilla said. "Just please be sure to be safe when you start going out there."

"Yeah, I'm... nervous about all this. But I can't just let anyone take advantage of others and hurt them. Especially if they want me to take part," Sapphire replied.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure to get her in tip-top shape," Tails put into the conversation. "But for now, I'm just kind of happy to have a great together with friends that doesn't end with bullying, a kidnapping, and an overall disastrous vacation."

Everyone laughed at that, even Sapphire, the victim of said events, and the stoic Shadow, who was chuckling lightly.

Turning to Sapphire, Tails asked, "by the way, did you want to show everyone the other features of your new bow?"

"Yeah, what is your new toy hiding?" Sonic teased.

Sapphire had started munching on some strawberries after calming down, and was immediately trying to recollect herself and finish chewing. "O-oh, yeah, sure," after she did that. Sapphire got back up, and grabbed her bow. "So... on top of being able to fire arrows..." she started to explain, as she pushed in a dial on the edge of the grip.

Light formed around the front of the weapon, creating an elonged, dome-like shell.

"A shield?" Cream asked.

"Y-yes. Now the shield will shut off if I pull back the bow. The change in position for the generators-"

"We don't need to know all of the long details, we get it," Amy interjected.

"Oh... well, it would also overload the power cores..." Sapphire quietly finished.

"How well does it work?" Amy asked.

"Um... well, I've only function testing, making sure it's solid and can take a lot of pressure. I haven't done stress testing yet, so..." Sapphire lifted her shield. "Perhaps now is a good time."

Without much warning, Shadow got up, took aim, and announcing "Chaos Spear!", threw a yellow energy projectile at Sapphire's guarded stance.

...Except it wasn't that guarded.

While the shield remained held up, and it completely blocked the Chaos Spear, but Sapphire shrieked in surprise, and cowered a bit, best she could while holding the shield.

After the shield deflected the spear, Sapphire then sheepishly looked up. "I-I thought you guys were going to throw a few rocks. Not, um..."

"Oh, sorry," Shadow apologized (surprising Sonic by how genuine it sounded). "You seemed ready. I'll better judge you're preparedness next time."

"Maybe ask if she's ready," Vanilla reprimanded.

"Yes, of course," Shadow replied, not planning on arguing about his mistake.

"But hey, it still works!" Amy exclaimed.

Everyone looked at the shielded bow, and the energy barrier was still running strong.

"Nice!" Sonic exclaimed. "Barriers I run into usually break in one hit."

"Okay..." Sapphire sounded. "Also, one more thing! Just in case the bad guys get too close..."

She twisted the handle of her bow, and it separated into two parts, and light blazed onto the edges, forming energy blades along them.

"Dual swords!" Amy exclaimed. "Nice!"

Sonic smirked. "You know, I happen to be practiced in swordplay. So, I could give a few pointers, or practice with you, if you want, sis."

"Wait, since when?" Amy asked.

"You know... that time I got stuck in that magic storybook... And became King Arthur..." Sonic nervously said.

"That again? I still think you were just trying to get out of our date!"

"Wait... I thought you got stuck in the Arabian Nights?" Tails asked.

"...No, that was before the King Arthur thing..." Sonic replied to his buddy.

"You always find something strange to get yourself involved in," Shadow said.

Sapphire just nervously laughed, not quite understanding how Sonic got stuck in, or even found magic storybooks for both Arabian Nights AND the Legend of King Arthur. It sounded very weird.

"W-well," she continued, "I can switch the halves into mini-shields if I need to, or I can set them up as reverse-double blades." She put the blades back together, but one backward, setting up a 180 double blade instead of the normal bow.

"That's super cool, Saph!" Cream replied.

Shadow smiled. "I think it's an excellent weapon. Once you master it, you'll be very strong."

"Th-thank you," Sapphire said, blushing.

Sonic looked up, enjoying the moment, when he saw something red in the sky. "Well, well, well, look who decided to drop in."

Everyone looked up to where Sonic was watching, and indeed, they saw the image of a familiar echidna.

"Knuckles!" Sapphire exclaimed, happy to see a friend she hasn't seen in a while.

Landing on the ground with a slight skid, the red mobian waved. "Hey, guys. It's been a while, so I decided to drop on in."

"'Sup, Knux, long time, no see!" Sonic greeted.

"'Sup!" And the two of them high-fived each other.

It was at this moment that Knuckles noticed the bow in Sapphire's hand. "Hey, what's that?" he asked her.

"O-oh, it's a weapon I made," the yellow hedgehog replied. "It's a hardlight bow that is designed..."

And Sapphire just went off on the functions of her weapon. Someone would've stopped her, had it not been more entertaining to watch Knuckles's eyes spin from an overload of smarts.

"Stop!" he finally cries out. "Okay, I get it! It's super special and all that!"

Sapphire got her sheepish look again. "S-sorry, I..."

"It's okay, Maria," Shadow told her. "You're just excited. This is a big advancement for you."

"So... what's going on...?" Knuckles asked for further explanation.

"Sapphire going to learn to fight!" Cream exclaimed. "She going to join us on our adventures!"

"Is that so!" Knuckles looked over to the hedgehog girl. "So, how's it going?"

"We've just started. She is testing her new weapon right now," Sonic explained.

"Well, have you done any sparing yet?"

"Sp-sparring?" Sapphire asked.

"Yeah, you practice fighting with someone?" Knuckles explained.

Everyone looked at each other. She just started practicing, and probably needed some more instruction before she got into a proper instruction. Sonic was even talking about showing her some sword moves. This seemed to be a bit early.

But before anyone could speak up, Knuckles made a decision. "How about you spar with me? If you hadn't done it yet."

"Hu-huh!? U-um, s-sure," Sapphire stuttered.

"Woah, woah, woah, don't be so hasty, Saph," Sonic interjected.

"Oh, well, I... maybe I should?"

Sonic just sighed. "You're really going to do this, huh? Okay, Knux, go easy on her. And no digging. That's too much for now."

Knuckles smirked. "Okay, get ready," he said as he got in a fighting stance.

Sapphire readied an arrow, and aimed towards the echidna.

And with absolute confidence, Knuckles said, "your move."

And with that, Sapphire launched several arrows at Knuckles, but her aim was still poor, so he evaded them easily, and almost didn't even have to.

Sapphire bit her lip, disappointed in herself for missing, and just planning on trying to do better. But she really could think about that for long, as Knuckles dashed forward after evading the volley of arrows, aiming for a punch.

Sapphire activated her shield, bracing for impact. Unfortunately, Knuckles hit hard. Very hard. So while the shield had prevented the punch from actually hurting her, she was sent back onto her rump.

At this point, Sonic and Shadow looked at each other with concerned expressions, realizing that Knuckles was NOT going easy on her. Even Amy was reaching for her hammer, planning on intervening if necessary.

Sapphire quickly got up, switched her weapon to its reverse blade form, and began trying to slice at Knuckles. The form and motions were sloppy, and against a master martial artist, it wasn't effective, but at least it kept him on his toes.

Up until he grabbed the blade with one hand, stopping its swing, and holding it in place. A soft sizzle could be heard, as the hardlight blade began to burn into Knuckles glove, and he seemed unaffected by the pain.

"Is that all you got?" he asked.

Thinking fast, Sapphire twisted her to handle, splitting the bow, and attempted to spin around the free blade to attack the red echidna. Knuckles simply let go and jumped back.

Sapphire tried to rush at him with blades, again with wild slashes, but Knuckles simply evaded each strike, waited for an opening...

And punched Sapphire in the stomach. This knocked the wind out of her, causing her to drop her blades, and kneel over, clutching her stomach.

Knuckles stepped back, crossed his arms, and with a smug expression, said, "I win."

Sonic and Shadow immediately ran over to the yellow hedgehog. "Hey, Saph, it's okay. It's just your first sparring match. None of us expected you to wow us," Sonic said to comfort her. "You'll get it eventually."

"At the very least, I think we got a clear look at where she lies in terms of her abilities, and there is a lot of work to be done," Shadow added, not meaning to sound rude, only instructive, which the other two hedgehogs recognized. "We should start with your form. I can help with your aim, too. Sonic, could you-" he attempted to ask Sonic about his swordsmanship again, only to get cut off...

...As it would seem that Knuckles had a different thought. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that's a good idea."

"Wha- wha- what do you mean?" Sapphire asked.

"I'm just saying, it's clear to me that you've never been in a real fight," the echidna explained. "And you seem to freak out over any kind of attack. The weapon is cool and all, don't get me wrong, but you just don't seem cut out for this."

"B-b-but I can learn. I have to. I can't just-"

"Listen, you need to know when it's time to let things go."

"Oh, like you're one to talk!" Amy shouted to the echidna, getting very irritated.

"Okay, understand my point, she's not a fighter. Never has fought. Many of us have been fighting Eggman for a long time now. She hasn't. She probably won't be able to catch up at this point," Knuckles exclaimed. "She's just not going to cut it."

Sapphire finally burst into tears, grabbed her blades, and rushed off into the jungle.

"You little..." Shadow growled, approaching the red echidna.

"Hey! Why are you so uptight about this! You can't seriously-" Knuckles started, but he stopped when Sonic came up and stopped Shadow. He clearly wasn't happy, but he was managed to stay calm. More than anyone else.

Looking straight into the Knuckles, he said, "I know it's been a while since we last saw each other, but you are aware that Sapphire was kidnapped by Eggman, right?"

"Um, no, that's... news to me," Knuckles replied, though Sonic knew that was going to be the answer. Pretty obvious.

"Yeah, well that happened. Eggman planned on forcing her to be his apprentice, so he took her, right under our noses. By the time we realized that she was taken, it was too late."

"Also, Eggman stayed under the radar, so we couldn't find him. We were only able to save Saph because she broke out and made a plan to escape. By herself," Tails added. "She revealed his location to us, so we could go save her, while she was facing ALL OF HIS ROBOTS. Alone!"

"Not to mention, none of us are sure that Eggman dropped this idea of his, so Sapphire might still be a target of his," Amy noted.

"I... okay, so she wants to be able to defend herself, is that it?" Knuckles asked.

"Not just that," Shadow replied. "She saw what Eggman really does, first hand. We all know about it, and we agree that it's inexcusable. But Sapphire... she was horrified. Especially so, considering Eggman expected her to do the same. She can not just stand by, watching this happen."

Knuckles went silent. He didn't know what to say, he just knew that he screwed up.

"You know, we get it. Sapphire has never really fought before," Sonic said. "But she wants to learn. And considering she fought back a whole army of robots by herself, I'd say it's worth doing. What you did... that was uncalled for."

Knuckles sighed and groaned, and said, "fine, I'll go fix this!"

"I don't you should-" Shadow started, but Knuckles cut him off.

"This is my mistake, so I'm going to fix it!"

Shadow glared at the echidna. "Fine, but if you make things worse, your next opponent will be me. And it won't be a friendly sparring match."

"I get it," Knuckles growled, as he made his way into the jungle.

Sapphire was running through the jungle, her eyes full of tears. Why didn't he understand? She could get stronger... but she just couldn't stand by and let the bad guys get their way...

She got pretty deep into the jungle, and was starting to get lost, not that she was paying attention.

Eventually, she found herself by a stream, and fell to her knees, crying.

Looking into the rushing waters, the hedgehog girl could see fish swimming.

She got up, reconnected her blades back into its bow form, and readied an arrow, aiming at the fish.

She took a deep breath, focused, and...

Missed. The arrow didn't hit any fish.

She tried again and again and again, until the fish began to swim away from the disturbance. And she didn't hit anything.

Once again, Sapphire collapsed, upset. Was she really that weak? Could she not get any better?

"Hey, there," a voice spoke up, deep but calm and soft, sounding very simple in tone.

Sapphire looked back... and almost had to do a double-take.

There was a mobian cat, except he was BIG. Like, he was one or two heads taller than Vector, and also was more wide. He had purple striped fur with a white belly and muzzle, large floppy cat ears, and tiny yellow eyes. He was yellow fishing gloves, sandals, and a big ol' belt with a gold ring buckle. He was also holding a fishing rod over his shoulder, and there was a green frog on his head.

"U-uh, hi...?" Sapphire nervously greeted.

The big cat simply walked up to the river, and sat down, readying his fishing rod. "Are you here to fish, too?" he asked.

Sapphire started to calm down. He seemed to be no more than a gentle giant. No harm to anyone. "S-sort of..."

"That's a weird fishing rod," the big cat noticed, as he swung his pole, tossing out the line.

"...It's not a fishing rod," Sapphire explained. "It's a bow. A special one, but... I was trying to shoot some fish, and I couldn't hit a single one. I only scared them away..."

The big cat didn't say anything, just listening to Saph. That was until there was a tug on his line. "Something's biting!" he cried out, as he began to struggle with his catch, and reel it in!

...And he succeeded, pulling out a massive fish from the water!

...Which didn't help Sapphire's mood.

"Even you're good at fighting, in your own way," she said sadly. "And I'm terrible."

The big cat looked over. He didn't quite understand what she was saying, but he did understand one thing...

"Why are you sad?" he asked.

"I... it's hard to explain, I just... want to be able to fight, to help my friends..." Sapphire explained. "But, they don't... don't think I'm strong enough..."

The big cat thought for a moment (well, the best he could) and asked, "do you want to try?", offering her his pole.

Sapphire didn't know what else to do, so she took the offer. The cat showed her how to swing the pole, sending out the line.

As the hook fell into the water, the cat said, "now... we wait."

"Okay... so it's about patience," Sapphire said.

"I think so," the cat replied.

"Right... oh, I never introduced myself. My name is Sapphire. Saphire the Hedgehog."

"That's a pretty name. I'm Big the Cat. And this..." Big motioned to the frog on his head. "Is my best bud, Froggy."

Froggy ribbited in response.

"It's nice to meet you, Big and Froggy," Sapphire told the relaxed duo.

"Nice to meet you, too," Big replied. "You know, I want to help my friends, too."

"You do?"

"Yep, and I do my best. I don't like it when people make fun of my friends."

"Oh... yeah..."

"You're my friend, too, right?" Big asked.

"I... am...?" Sapphire replied. She didn't know at what point they became friends, but... she didn't hate the idea. She liked this guy.

"Of course. And I don't want to make fun of you. Not like your other friends."

Before Sapphire could reflect on that, she felt a tug on the rod.

"I-is that...?" she wondered.

"Pull it in!" Big said, and Sapphire began to reel in.

It was hard. Sapphire wasn't the strongest person. But the fish wasn't fighting that hard. So she focused, took a deep breath, tried to pull in the prize, and eventually...

She pulled out a medium-sized fish. Not as big as the one Big fished up, but it was decently sized for someone like Sapphire.

"Wow..." she sounded. "...I didn't think..."

"Good job!" Big exclaimed. "You got a fish!"

"Th-thanks... So, do we... cook them now?"

"Okay," Big responded. "I wanted to get more fish, but I'm feeling hungry."

Sapphire laughed at that, with Big joining not too long after.

With Sapphire's help, the two of them were able to start a fire and cook up their fish. Big of course had the large one he fished up, but per his name, he was the bigger guy, so he probably had the bigger stomach to fill.

Sapphire looked at the fish with disappointment. "Eh... heh-heh... I was so excited... I forgot that I don't like fish...!"

"Oh... do you not want it?" Big asked, as he began to eat his own.

"No... I'll... be fine." She took a bite and grimaced. It wasn't great, for her, but she didn't mind. She couldn't be that picky.

Sapphire thought about what happened, when she was fishing. "Patience... Focus... Is that what I need?"

"Hm?" Big sounded.

"Sorry... just thinking..."

"Okay. You're a great friend."

"Yeah, you too."

"You should meet my other friends, Amy and Cream," Big said, "they're really cute girls."

Sapphire could tell that he meant that in an innocent way. But then she realized, "wait, Amy? Cream? Are they a pink hedgehog and a bunny kid?"

"...I think so. Yep."

"No way! I know them, too. Amy's... a little scary. But Cream is super nice!" Sapphire replied.

"Awe... I wanted to show them to you... but you've already seen them," Big said, disappointed.

"U-uh... it's okay..." Sapphire told the big cat, trying to comfort him.

Big went silent in his clueless way again, before his ears twitched.

"Big...? Is something wrong?" Sapphire asked.

"I hear something." He got up, and began to bound into the jungle, presumably towards whatever he was hearing.

"Wait, hang on!" Sapphire cried out, as she got up, grabbed her bow, and ran after her new friend.

As Sapphire chased after Big, she found herself in a clearing, where her purple friend was staring down...

Knuckles.

The red echidna was trying to ask Big something, before he looked over and saw the hedgehog girl.

"Sapphire! There you are!" he cried.

Sapphire immediately tensed up. She really didn't want to see him right now.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to... dang it, what do I say?"

Big wasn't the brightest... but he knew enough to figure one thing. Or at least be curious about it. "Is he the one who said you're not strong?"

"Yes..." Sapphire nervously replied, barely noticing Knuckles looking away in shame.

Big turned to Knuckles, suddenly a little angry. "It's not nice to make fun of my friend!"

"When did you two become- Whatever!" Knuckles shouted back. "Look, I know screwed up!"

Big got confused, and looked over to Sapphire, who was equally as surprised.

"...Okay. You're definitely new to this fighting thing. And I... I wasn't sure if you were cut up for it. But... I didn't know what you were going through. Eggman... he's crossed all of us, at one point or another."

Sapphire didn't say anything.

"You've got a lot of good friends. I'm tempted to say to rely on them, and you should. But if Eggman's going to do underhanded stuff like... kidnapping you. I'd understand wanting to protect yourself."

Big nodded. "I think he took Froggy a couple times." He didn't know for sure, but he felt that he must've been responsible in some way for both kidnapping of his friend.

"Eggman has attempted to, and a couple times succeeded in stealing the Master Emerald," Knuckles added. "I understand what's it's like to have something valuable taken. I'd imagine that's how Sonic and the other felt, when he took you. And I can't imagine how you felt."

"I... was so scared," Sapphire admitted. "But... maybe a little angry, too. I wanted me to do what he does, all these terrible things. I don't want to do those kinds of things. And I don't want him to, either."

Knuckles smiled. "That kind of conviction. That's admirable, if I'm going to be honest."

"Thanks... B-but you still went too hard on me, during our spar! I'm still learning, and this is very... nerve-racking for me, okay."

Knuckles sighed. He wasn't sure what to say to that. Personally, he didn't completely agree. Besides, he could've gone even harder on her during the sparring match.

At this point, Big had zoned out. The other two did notice this, but thought it was fine. Sapphire figured Big was always like, and Knuckles knew he'd be like this.

...But when he suddenly got a weird look in his eyes, and scrunched up his face... it was worrying.

"Big...? Are you okay?" Sapphire asked, concerned about her new friend.

"...Something smells funny," Big replied.

Knuckles got very pressed by this statement. "What!? What do you mean by that!?"

"I really don't like this smell," Big continued. Knuckles's expression said that he was going more enraged by this, but Big wasn't even looking at him.

"Why don't you say that to my face-" Knuckles exclaimed, before everyone heard a strange sound.

Everyone turned to the source of this mystery sound. Some nearby bushes were rustling, and then something came out...

And Sapphire nearly screamed.

It was a robot, an Egg Pawn, like Eggman had on board his ship. But this one was black with red-lining, and looked a little more advanced, sci-fi-like even.

Freaking out, Sapphire managed to say, "i-is that what you smelled, Big?"

"I think so," the large cat replied.

"Oh... well, um, sorry, I didn't-" Knuckles sounded, eyes on the robot, before Big continued.

"But Knuckles does smell kind of weird, too."

"HEY!" the echidna shouted.

Then, another robot of the same type walked out into the open.

Then another... and another...

Soon, the three of them were surrounded by dozens and dozens of these strange, black-and-red Egg Pawns.

...And now Sapphire began to truly freak out!

"N-no, I'm not ready..." she sounded. "I've been preparing so much. But I'm not ready yet! I don't want to be kidnapped again!"

Big immediately did not like how his little friend was acting, but knew enough to know why she was freaking out. He looked at the robots with his deadpan look, and angrily shouted, "you're scaring my friend. Go away, or I'm going to hurt you!" And he pulled out his fishing rod, ready it as a weapon.

Now, someone wielding a fishing rod as a weapon with a frog on his head isn't that intimidating.

...But a massive purple cat that could literally crush you by sitting you, wielding a fishing rod with a frog on his head. THAT was quite imposing.

Sapphire started to calm down, and even smiled slightly, happy to have such a good friend on her side. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Looking over, she found it was Knuckles. "Listen, I'm sorry about before. But if you want to be ready... if you want to fight by our side... Well, you'll never be ready if you can't look the problem in the face, and tell them 'no, I won't lose to you!'"

Then Knuckles stepped back, cracked his knuckles (how ironic), and then entered a battle stance, ready to rumble.

Sapphire looked down at her bow, and nodded. Then she prepared a hardlight arrow, taking aim at the robots.

And she shouted, "I won't lose to you!"

Chapter Text

"I won't lose to you!" Sapphire shouted at the top of her lungs, with her new bow ready, taking aim at the robots.

Knuckles grinned at this. He didn't mean for Sapphire to take his advice so literally, but he was glad to see it taking root. "Now, let's crush them!"

Sapphire let loose her arrow, which managed to hit one of the black-and-red Egg Pawns in the shoulder, staggering it. And Knuckles immediately rushed in, taking advantage of the robot's trip-up, and tearing through it, before lunging at another bot.

Big swung out his fishing rod and got it stuck in the plating of another Egg Pawn, then using all of his strength, which was a lot, easily pulled it off the ground with his surprisingly strong fishing rod and line, and began using it as a makeshift wrecking ball to smash more robots.

Sapphire took sight of all this, trying to form her own plan of attack. And that's when one of the robots approached her from behind.

...But it wasn't very good at being sneaky. Even over the rings of battle, Sapphire could hear. She spun around, and fired an arrow straight into its face.

As the robot fell to the ground, Sapphire took a deep breath. "I can do this... I can do this!" And she pulled her bow apart in its dual blades, and charged another robot.

These things weren't very fast, so even the rookie Sapphire could cut them down. But they were strong, and surprisingly tough. Though they weren't much harder than normal, even the two powerhouses of the group were struggling a bit.

"What are these things made of?" Knuckles called.

"I don't know!" Sapphire replied. "But they don't seem resistant to the cutting energy of my weapon.

Knuckles thought for a moment. "Okay, did you ever see those arrow rain things?"

"Th-that's usually just fiction. I mean, I might be able to make my bow do that... but I'd need to modify the magnetic fields, and the needed energy might overheat my bow."

"But can you do it?"

Sapphire closed her eyes, then nodded. "Yeah, give me a moment."

"Okay, Big! Let's cover her!"

Big nodded, smacked a robot aside, and began to, almost literally, cover Sapphire's back, while Knuckles ran up to cover her front.

As her friends beat back the robots, Sapphire pulled out her new Miles Gear, a smaller version of the Miles Electronic that she and Tails worked on, so it was... less awkward to carry and use.

She connected to her mech-bow's private network, and saved a new setting for her arrows, before editing its magnetic fields and power output.

"Okay, scattershot, scattershot... I think that might... okay, I think I got it!" Sapphire called out.

"Okay, ready?" Knuckles replied, waiting for the signal.

Sapphire aimed upwards, and readied her arrow. Her hand began to feel warm as she could feel her bow heating up. "Drop!"

Releasing her arrow, it shot up with so much force, it pushed Sapphire onto the ground. The sky lit up blindly as the projectile split into numerous bolts, barely even holding their forms.

Knuckles and Big looked up at the sky, the former realizing only now how dangerous the plan was, and the latter, only half-knowing what was going on, stared in wonder at the pretty lights.

"Big, cover Sapphire!" Knuckles called out, as he put on his Shovel Claws. Without question (or more so even thinking about why), the large purple cat covered up the hedgehog girl, while Knuckles used his digging blades to tear out a large piece of earth, flipped the robots off of it, and raised above the three as a shield.

...And just in time, as countless bolts of bright light showered down, tearing the remaining Egg Pawns apart from the blinding rain.

It didn't last long, but Knuckles's rock shield almost broke from the force of the raining bolts.

With the assault ended, Knuckles tossed his boulder aside. Looking around, the robots were all defeated, but the ground was scorched.

"...Wow, do you think your bow's shield could block that?" Knuckles asked.

"Not when it's overheated," Sapphire responded. Getting up, and picking up her weapon, she looked around. "That's... that's a lot of damage..."

Even Big looked troubled by this. "Scary..."

"It'll... it'll be fine," Knuckles said, trying to be reassuring. "All I'm going to say is... I think Eggman is up to something. This looks bad, but he'll do much worse if we don't-"

Suddenly, there was some heavy slamming heard behind them. Looking back...

There were three more robots, having just arrived. They looked like the same black-and-red Egg Pawns, but they were much larger, had much heavier armor plating, and were each holding a large hammer.

"Hammer Pawns," Knuckles growled. "Of course there's more..."

Sapphire stepped back. "My bow's still cooling down. I-I can't help right now..."

And then the lead Hammer Pawn's back-shoulder opened up, as a new mechanism rose up, a ring of a dozen pointed objects, aiming at the group.

"...And now, they have missile launchers," Knuckles responded. He raised his Shovel Claw armored hands, while Big readied his fishing rod. Both prepared to fight. "We'll protect you. Big, you grab Saph, jump back. I'll dig into the ground, get them from underneath."

The missiles began to whir up, ready to launch.

Sapphire hid behind Big, as he spun around, and picked up the smaller hedgehog girl.

But then the missiles fired.

Big quickly lept away, but the missiles tracked them.

Knuckles began to dig, only to see the missiles tracking his friends.

And before he could do anything...

...They froze in the air.

Sapphire waiting to hear explosions, looked up, and was surprised by what she saw...

The missiles were stuck in midair, glowing a cyan color. "...What?" she sounded.

But Knuckles... knew what this was. "Well, what do you know. Cutting it a little close, there, buddy."

Suddenly, a new figure dropped in from the air, right next to Knuckles. He was a hedgehog, with silver fur, his quills styled into two large spikes on the back of his head, two small spikes on his back, and five spikes in a fan shape on his forehead. He had yellow eyes, and thick white fur on his chest, going around the back of his neck. He had white gloves with cyan circles on them, golden brace-bands with cyan lining on his wrists, and black boots with cyan tips, having vertical white stripes on the front and golden tops the same as his gold bands.

"As they say, long time, no see, Knuckles," the silver hedgehog told the echidna.

Then he waved his hands, which caused the missiles to spin around, aiming back towards the robots that fired them. And with a flick of the wrist, he sent them back at them, blasting them with their own firepower!

"No way..." Sapphire sounded. She had never seen anything like that before!

As the dust and debris cleared, the giant robots were still standing, but they took clear damage.

With that, the silver hedgehog started glowing cyan, and flew at the robots. He literally levitated off the ground and flew forward at great speeds. Not as fast as Sonic, but fast enough to be a blur.

The lead Hammer Pawn raised its hammer, and swung down at the new hedgehog, but he raised his hand, and the massive hammer stopped with a cyan glow. Then made a forward palm motion, which blasted the massive robot back.

Sapphire could only watch in amazement...

...At least until Knuckles said, as he got out of his partially-dug hole, "let's not leave him hanging!"

That knocked Sapphire back into reality, and she checked her bow. It took a moment, but it flickered back to life.

Big and Knuckles charged robots. The purple cat leapt onto the robot the silver hedgehog knocked over, using his weight to collapse and crush the robot's already-damaged mechanisms into itself, getting a nod from the silver hedgehog. Knuckles, on the other hand, challenged a different robot, and started pounding away at it. The massive robot tried swinging its hammer at him, but Knuckles kept dodging and then going in for more attacks.

Eventually, it revealed its missile ring, and that's where Sapphire saw her chance.

"Knuckles, get down!" she shouted. Knuckles looked back, seeing her pull back her bow, and take aim. Knuckles ducked into a guarded stance as she fired.

And it was a really good shot...

...If she meant to shoot right through the ring.

"Eh heh... uh..."

But then the arrow stopped, turning cyan, then spun back around, and shot into the intended targets: the missiles.

The Hammer Pawn's entire shoulder blew apart, allowing Knuckles to leap up from his guard, a dig into the shattered shoulder.

But Sapphire looked around to see how her arrow flew back like that, and took notice of the silver hedgehog, who was looking back.

"...What are those arrows made of? I could grasp their solidness with my psychokinesis, but it was... weird," he said.

"It's hardlight," Knuckles called back in place of Sapphire. "It's weird science stuff, don't ask!"

"Psychokinesis?" Sapphire asked. "So you have psychic powers? You can lift stuff with your mind?"

"Yeah," silver hedgehog replied. But then the last robot started to move in to attack. "Okay, let's talk about this later. How good of a shot are you?"

"Not very good..."

"That's okay, your fire, I'll catch 'em and send them where they need to go," the silver hedgehog said. "Knuckles! Big! Get ready for the finisher!"

"Got it!" Knuckles called back, while Big nodded in response.

Sapphire didn't know who this other hedgehog was, but she admired his optimism. "Okay, I'm ready."

The silver hedgehog held out his hands, which started glowing. Sapphire, started firing arrows rapidly, which were grabbed by the psychokinetic field. Once the silver hedgehog had a little over a dozen arrows grabbed, he refocused their aim.

And with a quick motion, he sent them shooting at the last Hammer Pawn, striking numerous vulnerable points, joints and other kinks in its armor, and causing its armor to start to fall apart.

Then it was Big and Knuckles' turn. Big started, dashing up, and knocking it over with his belly. This caused its armor to break apart to the point...

...where Knuckles could finish it off, by lunging at its chest, and tearing down on it, breaking it open, and with a second punch, breaking its internals apart.

Leaping back, everyone watched as the last Hammer Pawn finally blew up.

"And I hope this is the last it!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Yeah... I'm pooped," Sapphire agreed.

"I'm hungry," Big inputted.

"I don't sense anything else," the silver hedgehog told them.

"Oh, thank you, Mr... uh, silver hedgehog... um?" Sapphire tried to say. "Sorry, that's not like me to not ask your name! I-"

"Please, Silver is fine," he interjected.

"Your name is Silver?"

"Yeah."

"Oh... uh, cool. M-my name's Sapphire! I'm Sonic's sister... Adoptive sister!"

"...I see."

"What are you doing here, Silver?" Knuckles asked. "What did Eggman do?"

Silver looked at Knuckles with confusion, before realizing what he was saying. "Oh, right. This isn't Eggman, at least not the Eggman you think. This is Eggman Nega."

"Eggman... 'Nega'?" Sapphire asked. "There's a Nega now?"

"Uh oh..." Big sounded.

"Him!? Okay then, where is Blaze?" Knuckles continued to ask, ignoring his friends.

Silver raised an eyebrow. "...As much as I'd like Blaze to be here, too... What does Blaze have to do with Eggman Nega?"

"Well, isn't Eggman Nega from Blaze's dimension?"

"What!? No. Eggman Nega is Eggman's descendent from my time."

"EXCUSE ME!" Sapphire shouted, trying to get everyone's attention, to which she got. "Can someone tell me what's going on here?"

Sapphire's surge of annoyance quickly dissipated, but Silver was happy to give her an answer. "I'm sorry. I'm guessing you're new here, and no one's had the time to tell you about me. I come from the future. 200 years in the future. Your present is the past to me."

"Wait, so you're a time traveler. Like, for real?" Sapphire asked for confirmation.

"Yes. I travel back to the past to prevent events in this time that may threaten my future," Silver explained. "Or when something from my future came here to ruin your present. Which is the case now."

"Eggman Nega?"

"Yes. You see, Eggman Nega has... kidnapped someone very important from my time. And I have to he- them back."

Sapphire cocked her head. It seemed like Silver wasn't telling them everything... but she decided to ignore it. If he was from the future, he probably had a VERY good reason for it. Something that if they just knew it, even that could ruin the timeline.

Knuckles crossed his arms. "I still don't get it. Not the whole 'he kidnapped someone' thing, but the fact he is from the future."

"You know that Eggman Nega was the one who caused the Onyx Island incident AND the Ifrit incident."

"Wait, it was HIM!?"

"Yes, he was pretending to be Eggman himself."

Knuckles gripped his fist in anger, but he still had to ask. "Okay, so he's from your future! Then how did he come from Blaze's world?"

Silver was just silent. He genuinely didn't know.

"I'm confused," Big spoke up, pretty much summing up how everyone felt.

"...So, this... Eggman Nega. Nega kidnapped someone from your time," Sapphire repeated, before getting to her own point. "So, why did he attack us? Does... he want me?"

"Why would... 'Nega'... why would he want you?" Silver asked in return. "Is there something special about you?"

"Not really," Knuckles responded. "She's smart like Tails, I suppose. And Eggman did kidnap her recently. He's also crossed Big before, kidnapping his frog friend. Twice even. Something to do with Chaos?"

"The Chaos Emeralds?"

"No, Chaos. God of Destruction? The first guardian of the emeralds?"

Silver shook his head, confused.

"It's a long story," Knuckles quickly finished.

Sapphire certainly felt... distant here. These guys have been through so much. Fighting gods of destruction and ifrits. Going to onyx islands. Time travel, alternate worlds. Multiple Eggmans. It was all so much.

But one thing was true...

"Well, Nega attacked us for a reason," she noted one more. "Maybe... he wanted to distract you, Silver? Keep you from finding him by making you save us instead?"

"A distraction?" Silver repeated. "...Maybe? But I ran into you by chance. I don't know where he is, so I've been tracking his robots. So, why would he need to distract me, if I already don't know where to find him?"

"Then... I... I'm not sure-"

Then there was a loud, crackling sound, echoing through the air. It was like thunder, but... not.

"Is... that an earthquake!?" Sapphire exclaimed.

"No, the grounds not shaking," Knuckles exclaimed. "And that sound is coming from the sky..."

"But it certainly wasn't thunder..." Silver noted, before looking up, and appearing shocked. As Sapphire saw this, she looked up...

...And saw the shadow of something falling from the sky. Something MASSIVE!

"Is... is that a meteor?" She asked.

"If it came from space, wouldn't it be on fire?" Silver replied.

But Knuckles... he knew what this was...

"Angel Island..." he said.

It took Sapphire a moment to understand what that meant, until she remembered what Tails told her about the island and the Master Emerald, after her first visit to the floating landmass.

It is the controller of the Chaos Emeralds, Sapphire remembered him saying. And its power is the reason Angel Island floats in the air. Without it, the whole island will fall into the ocean.

They watch as the massive rock slammed into the ocean, causing a large tidal wave away from the mainland, as it settled into the water.

"He... he STOLE THE MASTER EMERALD!" Knuckles shouted in anger. And without a second thought, he started running towards the island.

"Knuckles!" Sapphire shouted at him.

"I going to get the bastard!" he continued to shout.

"I need to help him," Silver said.

Sapphire turned to Silver. "Wh-why?"

"I don't think he's going to let this go. Besides, I... could use some help here," he admitted.

But... Sapphire could tell that he didn't want the help, at least not in this situation. Perhaps he wanted to keep the secret of who this person was, and people of this era helping him would make that difficult. But he didn't see a choice.

And Sapphire... knew that she had to help. "Then I'll come to."

"What?" Silver replied in surprise, turning to her.

"I want to help. Knuckles is my friend. A-and a friend of a friend is a friend, right?"

Silver smiled. "You said you were Sonic's sister, right?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well, I know him. And I trust him, and his friends... And I..." he sighed. "I can't say. But I think you need this. A chance to grow strong."

"Thank... thank you, Silver," Sapphire replied, smiling softly.

"Me and Froggy will help, too!" Big exclaimed. "I don't like people being mean to my friends."

Silver laughed. "Then it looks like I have a team. So, what do we do now?"

"Let's catch up to Knuckles, and then... I've... heard Tails talk about Emerald radars," Sapphire said. "Maybe we could go see him about it, and see if he can help."

Silver smiled. "Okay, sounds like a plan. It's going to take some effort to calm Knuckles down, though. Let's go!"

Sapphire nodded, a look of determination in her eyes. This was her chance to prove herself, and she was going to do everything to do so.

As she, Silver, and Big, Froggy atop his head, all chased after Knuckles, she gripped her bow, wondering... what did Nega want?

Chapter Text

Tails was sitting alone in his workshop, starting at Shadow. After the drama with Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and her family went home, while Sonic went on a run to clear his head. Shadow, on the other hand, refused to leave, as he wanted to wait and see what happened with Knuckles.

And this was awkward for the two-tailed fox. He... didn't exactly have anything to talk to the hedgehog about.

"So..." Tails asked, deciding to at least try to find something about. "Is... work good?"

Shadow looked toward the fox. "It's fine, though my team is separated for the moment. Rouge is on a scouting mission. There is suspicious activity in southern Central City, the warehouse district. We suspect that it is Eggman activity. Omega is off wandering, looking for something belonging to Eggman to break. I'm on leave right now."

"Right..." Tails responded. "Same old, same old, huh?"

No response.

"...Should we let Sonic know about that possible Eggman activity?"

"Best not. That is G.U.N. business," Shadow said.

"Right."

Tails went back to tinkering. No use talking to the black hedgehog. They didn't really have much of a friendship, they were more like common acquaintances.

Then the front door opened.

"Tails, I'm back!" he heard called out. "We need your help!"

He turned over to look who had come in, and he found that Sapphire had come back, along with an annoyed-looking Knuckles, a silver hedgehog that he recognized, and a big purple cat... who had to squeeze through his front door.

"Sapphire! You're back! Thank goodness!" Tails exclaimed.

Then Shadow got up and walked up to Sapphire, placing his hand on her shoulders. "Sapphire, are you okay?"

Sure, he'll talk to Sapphire just fine, Tails thought. Not out of annoyance, he was just surprised that the black hedgehog had an easier time talking to his apprentice.

"I'm fine... but we were attacked... And Silver and Knuckles need some help."

Shadow glared at Knuckles, which set the echidna off.

"Hey! This isn't my fault. It's the Eggman Nega's fault!" Knuckles countered.

"Eggman Nega!?" Shadow and Tails exclaimed at the same time.

"What is he doing in this dimension?" Tails continued.

"Dimension? I thought he was from the future," Shadow noted.

"We've already had this discussion, and no, I don't know what the deal is," Silver said. "But Nega had taken m- someone important from my time." Shadow and Tails noticed that he stopped himself in the middle. "And just now, Angel Island fell. So we think he went after the Master Emerald."

"Just now!?" Tails exclaimed. He checked his Miles Electronic, and indeed, an area scan, plus general security footage, did show that the floating island was indeed no longer floating. Tails sighed. "One of the disadvantages to soundproofing my workshop, I suppose. And Shadow and I were too distracted after Saph ran off."

"Huh? Why did she run off?" Silver asked.

"Ask Knuckles," Shadow told the silver hedgehog.

"Hey! I apologized!" Knuckles shouted back.

Knuckles was ready to spare with the black hedgehog, but then Big got between them. "No fighting."

Shadow groaned, turning to Sapphire. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Sapphire was silent for a moment, then put on a brave face. "Yeah. I-I want to help Knuckles and Silver."

"Okay," Tails spoke up, "what do you need then?"

"I-I heard that you may have an Emerald tracker?"

"Well... yes, my Chaos Emerald tracker could locate the Master Emerald, they share the same energy wavelength and frequency. But I'll need something to tune the tracker, meaning I'll need a Chaos Emerald."

Then Shadow held out his hand, where there was a green flash, and a glowing, diamond-cut emerald was in his hand. He then tossed it to Tails, saying, "I'd like this back."

"Figures Shadow would have one," Knuckles noted.

"Okay, Sapphire, I can quickly install the tracker in your device," Tails said. "That would probably be the most convenient way for you to have the tracker. The upgrade should only take me an hour."

"Right." And Sapphire handed her Miles Gear to Tails.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah, I want to help."

"Don't worry," Silver stepped in. "I know she is a novice fighter. I'll stay close to her."

"Thank you..." Shadow sighed. "Okay, I was telling this to Tails, but we've heard some rumors of Eggman activity. It's possible that it's actually Eggman Nega."

"...I thought that was supposed to G.U.N. business," Tails noted.

"Well, this may be a new development," Shadow told the fox.

"It's a lead," Silver replied. "Thank you."

"...So where are we going?" Big asked. He was having trouble following along.

"A lot of complicated stuff," Sapphire told him. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay, this will take a bit," Tails said, as he had begun working on Sapphire's device. "Think you can wait that long, Knuckles?"

Knuckles wasn't happy with this, but it was the best chance he had to get his charge back.

Hours later, as the sun had just set, the group was now standing at the city's warehouse district.

"Reminds me of what happened with Gemerl," Sapphire noted.

"What happened?" Silver asked.

"He was stolen by a criminal weapons dealer. Me, Shadow, and some detectives had to go into an old factory to save him."

"Well, regardless, any Eggman will probably have something hidden deeper," Knuckles said. "Traps, robots, any kind of danger you could think of."

"Pit traps?" Sapphire asked.

Knuckles and Silver raised eyebrows.

"Sorry, someone in my old orphanage dug out a pit when I was younger, covered in a blanket, and... said we were going to have a picnic," Sapphire explained. "That was a lot of work for an unfunny 'prank'."

"...Right. Okay, We'll keep our eyes out for those," Knuckles replied.

Sapphire pulled out her Miles Gear, and began to use the new tracker. And instantly, she got a ping. A STRONG ping!

"Guys, it might be here," she told the group. "Follow me."

She guided them through the district, until they found themselves in front of one of the larger warehouses. The tracker was now pinging like crazy.

Sapphire looked up at the building. "This must be it." She then looked at Knuckles. "So, what should I do? Do you want me to stay back, and shoot?"

"Just stay out of my way," Knuckles replied.

Sapphire stopped, stunned. She thought that she was fixing things with the echidna. Did she do something wrong? Was he still not impressed?

"You okay, Sapphire?" Silver asked.

"I just... I want to be stronger, but Knuckles... he said that... I wasn't cut out for it. But I can't just ignore the bad stuff anymore," Sapphire explained. "I thought that I maybe impressed him in the ambush fight, but..."

"I think he's just annoyed that the Master Emerald got taken," Silver told her. "I've worked with him before, and this kind of stuff gets on his nerves."

"Alright..." It was nice to hear that Knuckles might not have been specifically mad at Sapphire.

"Hey guys, let's bust on in there, and-!" Knuckles shouted, but Sapphire interrupted.

"Hang on, let's not just rush in," she said. She looked around outside the warehouse, and found a path to a potential plan. "Hey, Big, could you lift me up to the ladder?"

"Huh, okay." And Big grabbed Sapphire, lifting her up to a ladder just out of her reach normally.

She grabbed and began climbing the ladder. Once she was on the platforms above, she found a broken window and looked inside.

"What do you see?" Silver asked.

"...Uh, nothing... I'm sor- Wait!" Sapphire started. The interior was empty at first, but then a pair of black-and-red Egg pawns, like the ones from before, walked out from behind a corner, guiding a large, mobile, laser turret into the space. "There's a couple of robots, and a turret of some kind."

That's when Sapphire had a thought, and pulled out her bow.

"Um, what are you doing?" Knuckles asked, seeing Sapphire from the ground.

"That turret looks dangerous, so I'm going to disable it," Sapphire called down to him.

"And if you miss!?"

"It's pretty big," she replied. "Chances are that I'll hit it." Though she didn't mention the greater chances of her not hitting something important. She was just confident that she could knock it out.

Being careful around the remaining broken glass, Sapphire stepped back, readied an arrow, and took aim.

"This is a bad idea," Knuckles dismissed.

"No, I think she's got it!" Silver countered.

"The stars look really pretty tonight," Big mused.

Taking in Silver's encouragement, Sapphire smiled, and fired.

...And she hit the ground in front of the turret.

The robots, of course, noticed this, started making alarm sounds as they looked up to where the arrow came from, saw Sapphire, and the turret powered up, and turned to aim at her.

"Eh heh, oops..." she sounded. "...I missed. And they're looking at me."

"Of course," Knuckles replied. "Alright, I'm going in-" But then he was stopped by Silver's psychokinesis.

"Wait for it," he said.

"Huh!?" Sapphire and Knuckles replied together. The hedgehog girl was in danger, and the echidna just wanted to rush in there already. Why was Silver telling them to wait?

The barrels of the turret began to glow, as the robots pulled out laser pistols.

"Ready?" Silver asked Knuckles.

"Yes!" he angrily replied.

That's when Silver smirked, and made his move...

A large burst of psionic energy blasted the doors open. The robots were too focused on Sapphire to react in time, as Silver then used his power to throw Knuckles at them.

Knuckles was surprised, but instantly took stride in this, spinning the air, and threw a punch, straight through the turret, thanks to the combined power of Silver's throw and Knuckles' sheer strength.

The unprepared robots attempted to turn to take aim at Knuckles instead, but then Silver and Big rushed in. Silver, using his psychokinesis, launched the one robot into the ceiling, then slammed it back down at meteor speeds. Even being built to withstand his power, it couldn't resist being broken apart from the force. Big, on the other hand, just grabbed the other bot in his arms, jump up, and flopped on his belly, ...which crushed the robot underneath him. Build to withstand heavy impacts, but not a heavyweight.

Sapphire was ecstatic. She screwed up, but Silver was able to turn her mistake into a strong distraction, saving the day.

But of course, an alarm was sounded before...

And more robots came pouring in from below the building's interior, including some of more of the Hammer Pawns.

"Finally, time to rumble," Knuckles exclaimed, pounding his fists together. And he, followed by Silver and Big, rushed into battle.

Watching from above, Sapphire was impressed by Knuckles' display. It seemed he had learned from the last battle, and since they were resistant to his powerful blows, he was now aiming to strike at joints, damaging their limbs, even knocking the heads off of some of the bots. It was incredible that Knuckles was showing to have as much skill as he had strength.

Big wasn't as clever, and was struggling with the robots, but he had begun lifting them up and slamming onto the floor, into walls, or other robots. If that didn't shortcircuit them, it at least stunned them a bit. At one point, he took his fishing rod, and hooked the missile rings of one of the Hamm Pawns that was preparing it. Big's tug seemed to be an attempt to pull it off, but instead, he only pulled off one missile...

...Which collided into the rest of the ring, and blew the whole thing up!

"Sapphire! Give me some ammo!" Silver called up.

The snapped Sapphire back to reality, and she began to shoot arrows towards Silver. She knew she didn't have to worry about aim, as Silver grabbed the hardlight arrows, and guided and threw them with his more precise aim.

The arrows tore through the broken leftovers of their power fighter's ramage, cutting their number down bit by bit.

As the battle came to its end, Knuckles jumped onto one of the Hammer Pawns with their missile ring out, tore out said ring, and then he leapt off of the giant bot while throwing the explosive ring back into its shoulder, the resulting explosions tearing through the machines structural supports.

As the robot fell, Knuckles landed behind, smirking at his work. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying attention.

Sapphire was, however, and saw the robot coming up from behind the echidna.

"Knuckles, watch out!" she shouted, as she took a drastic action, taking aim, and firing at the robot.

Unfortunately, her aim was off...

Knuckles barely looked up at Sapphire when the arrow hit him in the side. "GAH!"

Sapphire dropped her bow in horror. She didn't mean to do that! She didn't mean-

"WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON!" Knuckles shouted.

...Still failing to see the robot coming up to him.

The echidna got up, and pulled the arrow out. Not a bad wound, he was tough, and fine. But he was very angry.

He was about to give the girl a piece of his mind when...

...A cyan glow appeared to his right.

Looking over, that's when Knuckles finally saw the attacker, stopped moments from hitting him, only interrupted thanks to the timely intervention of Silver.

The psionic hedgehog lifted the robot above them, and then, using all of his power, tore it into two.

As the pieces of the broken bot fell to the ground, Silver turned to Sapphire. "Are you okay!?"

"Why are you asking her!?" Knuckles angrily shouted.

"It was an accident," Silver calmly said. "She was aiming at the robot walking up behind you."

Knuckles growled. "She's not the one fighting the stupid robots!"

Silver sighed. But while those two were arguing, Big came over to the distressed Sapphire.

"Hey, it's okay," Big told the hedgehog girl.

"I hurt Knuckles..." she cried, "how... how can I-"

"I almost sat on froggy sometimes," Big said. Froggy ribbited in response. Big continued. "He was really mad. But then I apologized to him. It makes all things better."

"I... right..."

Big held out his arms. "Can I catch you?"

Sapphire nodded, carefully stepped around the broken glass, and hopped down, into Big's arms and bouncy belly, where he safely let the girl onto the ground.

Sapphire and Big approached the arguing pair, who had calmed down a bit.

"Knuckles, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to hit you, I just was trying to-" Sapphire started.

"I don't care! You should leave!" Knuckles interrupted.

"Wh-what, Knuckles, I-"

"You're not cut out for this!"

"Knuckles!" Silver shouted. "She wants to help. And she's new to this. She's going to make mistakes!"

"Well, why is this so important to you!?" Knuckles shouted to the white-ish hedgehog. "We don't even know who we're saving!"

Silver looked down, trying to contain his anger (something he was better at doing than Knuckles). "It's because this isn't her time. She can't know that this is the past!"

"She?" Sapphire asked, but was ignored.

"Okay, so what!? We can help! But she...!" Knuckles pointed to Sapphire. "She's not cut out for this!"

Silver took a deep breath. "And how else do you think she's going to learn." He turned to Sapphire, before continuing, "I think her problem is that you keep putting her down. But I think she has potential. She's smart, she just needs that chance to show off her capabilities, and grow into her strengths."

Sapphire smiled, tears in her eyes. "Th-thank you, Silver."

Knuckles growled. "You know what, I'm going after the Master Emerald. You handle your stupid missing person, or whatever they are."

"Knuckles...?" Sapphire asked.

He didn't answer, as he walked deeper into the warehouse, planning to search for his charge alone.

"Silver, thanks for defending me, but I... I don't know anymore..." Sapphire said. "Am I really that bad...?"

"That's okay," Silver replied. "Maybe this isn't your time. Go home, train harder, and I hope to see you again. It's best that I find my- that I find who I need to find alone."

And with that Silver left to delve into the warehouse, too.

Sapphire looked down. She wanted to try. She wanted to try so hard. But why could she not mesh well with others? Why could not be helpful?

Sapphire turned to leave, planning on leaving the area...

...But then she ran in something soft.

And looking up, she found Big, standing in her way.

"They're wrong," Big said. "I think you should keep trying."

"Big?" Sapphire sounded.

"I don't like it when people hurt other people. But you're trying to help other people."

"But I did hurt someone..."

"Were you mean to him?"

"N... no... I didn't want to be..."

Big then hugged Sapphire. "Silver thinks you are strong. But he doesn't know how to help you... But you want to help him, right?"

"Yes..."

"Do you think you can?"

"You mean... do I... believe in myself?"

Big thought for a moment (must've been hard for him), but said, "yeah."

"I... I want to... But..." Then Sapphire stopped. She understood what she had to say. "No, I will believe in myself. I can't let myself get dragged down. I need to prove myself!"

"Then let's help our friends."

Sapphire looked down at her bow. She had to keep trying. She had to help. In any way she could.

"Yeah... Let's do it!"

Knuckles, fuming, continued to delve deeper into the underground base hidden under the warehouse. With the first room cleared of robots, it wasn't hard to find.

Now alone, he began to his hunting sense to track the Master Emerald.

And it was close...

As he tore through the odd robot getting in his way, eventually, he made his way to a door. It was seemingly unassuming, but he could sense his quarry... somewhere behind it.

With no patience, Knuckles punched the door down, and rushed inside, where he found someone.

He looked like Eggman. But he had a white mustache instead of the reddish-brown that the echidna recognized. He also wore a black and yellow jacket over a red jumpsuit, with boots similar in style to his jacket. And his goggles were more of a visor set.

"So, you must be Eggman Nega," Knuckles exclaimed.

"And you must be Knuckles, no?" the man replied, with a voice like Eggman's, but higher and thinner. "A pleasure to meet you at long last, outside of a ruse."

"Where is the Master Emerald!?"

"Straight to the point, eh?" Nega began to pace in front of the echidna. And then he laughed. "And you think you deserve it?"

"Deserve it? You're the one trying to abuse its power!"

"And have I hurt others?"

"What, the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"I've been watching you, Knuckles. In your quest to be strong, to be the best 'guardian', you've put others down. Just like Silver... Speaking of which."

At that moment, the silver hedgehog appeared from the doorway.

"So eager to split up for your individual goals, that you've forgotten both of those goals lies with me," Nega said as Silver joined the group. "So, tell me, which is more important, the Master Emerald..." Then he looked straight at Silver. "Or her?"

Then the ceiling opened up, and a mechanical chair was lowered into the room. Sitting in the chair, was a hedgehog girl, with silver fur and quills, a tanned muzzle, and yellow-and-green eyes. Her quills were styled into two spikes, curves to her back, with a couple of smaller spikes brushed down along the sides of her head, the tips of all these spikes fading into a cyan color. She wore a cyan jacket over a white shirt with a small v-neck, blue and cyan bracelets with white gloves, a blue skirt with a belt with a gold buckle and over black shorts, and blue shoes that were similar to Sonic’s, with long white socks.

She was gagged and held down to the chair by metal lock-cuffs. But upon seeing Silver, she seemed shocked.

Knuckles, however, was equally shocked. She looked a lot like...

"You aren't going to get away with this, Eggman Nega!" Silver told madman.

"He-he-he!" Nega laughed. "Aren't you such a good guy, Silver. Coming here to help such a helpless little girl! But does she even know what you do?"

"Wh-what?"

At this point, Knuckles had enough. "Okay, tell me what's going on here, already! Silver, is that girl you came here to safe!? And why does she LOOK like you!?"

"Oh, he didn't you?" Nega teased. "Of course, he didn't. He has to protect the future, but that apparently includes not telling you about his future time..."

"They know that it's a happy time. Where people live in peace, and are always smiling," Silver explained.

"Oh please," Nega countered. "Perhaps it's better than now, but no matter the time, no matter the place, there will always be someone who is suffering. Like me... like you... like her."

"That doesn't answer my question!" Knuckles shouted.

"Oh, you see it, don't you? You said so yourself," Nega replied. He walked over, and "cutely" used his fingers to squeeze his captive's face, causing her to glare angrily at him. "Why Silver is here to save his dear twin sister, Silvia. Though, of course, he does so under a veil of his own lies."

Chapter Text

Sapphire and Big were delving into the underbelly of the warehouse, hoping to catch up to Knuckles and Silver. Saph figured that they would all end up in the same place, since they were effectively both going after Eggman Nega.

They were following the path of broken robots, likely done by Knuckles, considering the broken limbs or missing heads, given that was the only way he could take them down.

Eventually, they found an open doorway, where it looked like the door had just broken down.

That's when they heard it.

"YOU HAVE A SISTER!?" It sounded like Knuckles.

Sapphire quickly approached the door, and sneakily looked inside, where she saw Knuckles and Silver, standing in front of a large man who looked like Eggman, but with a white mustache, and the colors of his outfit inverted, being a black coat and red jumpsuit, and silver and cyan hedgehog girl, who looked a lot like Silver, trapped in a mechanical chair by him.

And the girl happened to look like Silver.

"I... I didn't... I was trying to protect her," Silver said. "You don't understand!"

"Let's see what she has to say," the Eggman look-alike said, taking off a gag that the hedgehog girl had on her.

...Only for her to immediately go off on the Eggman look-alike.

"Let me go, you Egghead wannabe!" she shouted, "so I can give you some just desserts. Evil people like you shouldn't be allowed to mess with people as you please! And what the heck is all this about 'future' and 'time'? You're a moron!"

"Hm, brash aren't you! And rude," the 'Egghead' replied.

"Let her go, Eggman Nega," Silver warned.

This is when Nega pulled out a laser pistol, aiming it at the silver hedgehog girl. "Neither of you are in a position to give me demands."

...Then the hedgehog girl spit in his face.

Wow, this girl isn't afraid of anything, Sapphire thought. She thought that was admirable.

"Why... why are you doing this?" Knuckles asked. Even he didn't like this threatening act.

"Do you remember the last time we met, Silver?" Eggman Nega asked.

"You were trying to unleash an Ifrit to destroy the world," Silver replied, unhappy.

"And you left me trapped in that dimension. You and that Espio fellow," Nega affirmed. "I begged for you to help me, and you abandoned me in that fiery landscape."

This line shocked Sapphire. Silver looked like the good guy, a hero to Saph.

But... that wasn't right. Why would Silver do that? And Espio was involved? ...Would Sonic do this? ...Is this... something she would ever want to do?

"Let me repeat, you tried to destroy the world!" Silver countered.

"Oh, you and your heroic, righteous views," Nega said. "Do you know what happened after that? I was able to escape that dimension, and found myself in the Sol Dimension. No one knew of me, or about my genius legacy, and how it was ruined by my descendant, Dr. Eggman. So, I was able to start anew. But here's the interesting thing about traveling from one dimension to another, without first establishing a proper, stable connection. Time and space warp in interesting ways."

"Years after establishing myself as a citizen and future conqueror of the Sol Dimension," Nega continued, "I got an interesting message. Dr. Eggman, the same one that ruined our legacy, contacted me from my home dimension. He wanted to work together to conquer both our worlds. And he didn't seem to recognize me! Apparently, upon traveling to my new home, I was thrown into the recent past, before he ever encountered me as I remembered. I decided to take the opportunity to work with him, maybe understand him... as equals, rather than as a ruinous legacy, before my past self inevitably 'betrayed' him."

"Oh, wow, how super interesting," the captured girl responded, bored.

"What does this have to do with Silvia?" Silver shot back.

"Because, eventually, Eggman betrayed ME," Eggman Nega said with vile disdain. "I thought we had a shared vision, after working with him. But no, apparently I was too 'radical'. Those on both sides tossed me aside. So I thought it was time to tear them down. Starting with you... And lucky me, you've already given me everything I need."

"Huh?" Silver sounded

Even Sapphire was confused. What did Nega have that Silver left?

"Tell me, Silvia," Nega said, "What do you know about your brother?"

Silvia sighed. "He's a nerd, got psychic powers, but he's not as cool as I am. Though I love him anyway. Now, let me go so I can punch you in the face already!"

"...She's so cool," Sapphire said quietly.

Nega snickered. "Oh Silvia, I've heard how you've always wanted to go on an adventure, just like your ancestor."

"That's creepy. I don't know you, or anything about you, other than no one likes you," Silvia retorted.

Ignoring her comment, Eggman Nega continued, "well, tell me, what does your brother do with his time?"

Silvia was about to retort again, but then stopped, looking at Silver. "What DO you do?"

"Silvia... you really need to understand, I have to do this, to protect what we have. I didn't... I didn't want to... disappoint you."

"What...?"

Then Nega started to laugh maniacally...

...Before Knuckles rushed up, and punched him in the stomach.

"Enough of this! Silver can handle his sister. Where is the Master Emerald!?" he shouted.

"...Have patience... dear Knuckles," Nega replied, trying to recover from getting the wind knocked out of him. Then he began to back away.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going!?" Knuckles retorted.

"...Oh, nowhere, my dear echidna... I'm right where I want to be."

Suddenly, the floor opened up, and Nega descended below.

Knuckles had to back up, and something began to rise up.

A large robot... a humanoid, black and red, hulking machine, with a cockpit where the head and neck would be, though there was still the design of a mustache wrapped around the front, with a pointed nose, and two beady green lights acting as eyes. And Eggman Nega smugly sitting inside. And inserted into its chest...

A massive, glowing emerald, probably five times the size of Sapphire (or two or three times the size of Big). Sapphire couldn't make out the cut of the gem, since she could only see its top in the machine, but from what she saw, she figured that it was a diamond cut.

"...Is that... the Master Emerald?" Sapphire asked.

"Yup," Big confirmed. "Really pretty."

Eggman Nega laughed maniacally. "Impressed, Knuckles? You should be proud! Your Emerald has now reached its full potential. Serving my vengeance against Silver, Eggman, all of them. Unfortunately, that does include... you." The robot raised a fist, aimed toward the echidna. "Time to return the favor."

And then the robot punched the ground, where Knuckles was. The echidna managed to leap out of the way, however... on the impact of the strike, it released a large blast of green energy, which launched the echidna back... far.

As Knuckles hit the wall, the blast washed over Silvia. The back of her metal chair protected her from the attack, but being unable to escape, she screamed in fear, knowing if the next attack hit her, she couldn't do anything about it.

"Silvia!" Silver screamed, as he made his way to his sister.

"Nah-ah-ah," Nega berated as the chest of his robot opened up several holes, glowing green inside of them. Then, emerald energy orbs shot out of them, all homing in on Silver. They struck the ground around Silver, bursting on impact, and forcing Silver to leap away, keeping him from the captive hedgehog.

"We have to help them! I- I can... uh... uh-uh," Sapphire spoke up, but she found she couldn't move. She was terrified.

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Big's hand.

"I think you can be brave," he said. "I really do! You're here to help your friends, right?"

Sapphire sniffled. "How are you so nice?" She then switched her arrow mode, took aim...

A deep breath... She could do this...

Focus. You have only one target.

"You're looking distressed, Silver," Nega exclaimed from his robot. "Let me help..." And he reached his hand towards the psychic hedgehog.

Silver tried to use his power to hold the giant hand in place... only to find it could not take hold.

"What!?" he exclaimed.

"Ha ha!" Nega started. "My robot was made to be immune to your pathetic-"

Sapphire let loose her arrow... and it flew true.

A hardlight projectile, glowing brighter than usual, struck the front of Nega's cockpit, ...and then burst into blue energy, knocking the robot back and away from Silver.

"Explosive burst arrows," Sapphire exclaimed, brimming with excitement. "A classic. I knew that it might be helpful."

Before Silver could speak, he saw Big barreling past him, following up on Sapphire's attack. The robot was still standing, but not for long, as Big made a shoulder charge into its leg, using his sheer weight to knock it over!

As the robot fell over, Sapphires made her way to Silvia, along with Silver.

"Hey guys. You didn't hear me scream earlier, right?" Silvia announced.

"U-um, well, I was scared too. Actually, I feel the fear coming back, and-" Sapphire started.

"If you're going to say it's alright, we both were scared, so that's not helping," Silvia jested.

"Glad to see you're in good spirits," Silver said, as he finally got to use his psychokinesis on her restraints. With some effort, he was able to break them off, freeing his sister.

Silvia jumped out of the seat, and hugged her brother. "Finally! Now a can show that stupid mustached freak what's what!"

"Silvia, I-"

"Sapphire," a voice called out. Looking over, Knuckles had recovered, and was addressing the yellow hedgehog. "Wow, you really did a number on him... dang..."

He looked over at the robot, which Big was leaving behind as he ran back to the group. "I'm sorry. I... overreacted. I should've believed in you. You're more capable than I could've imagined."

"I..." Sapphire began to tear up. "Thank you. I just wanted to help."

Then a loud mechanical whirring sounded. The robot was getting back up.

Knuckles turned the machine, angrily shouting, "I'm not getting caught off guard again! I'm getting my emerald back!"

Silver turned to his sister. "You need to go. Get as far away as possible."

"But-" Silvia started.

"I don't want you getting hurt!"

Knuckles actually stopped his tirade to watch the scene before him. "Hey, Silver-"

"I can take her," Sapphire said. "Me and Big. We'll keep her safe. Leave the real hero work to the professionals."

"Hey! I'm not leaving," Silvia complained.

"Big, can you help me?" Sapphire asked. Big nodded, and picked up the silver twin.

"Hey! Let me go!" Silvia complained, as Sapphire and Big left the large room with her.

Knuckles approached Silver. "I don't think you've learned the same lesson."

"I know, it's just- more complicated than you realize," Silver countered.

"Is it?"

The robot finally recovered, and Nega was glaring down at the pair. "I'll see to it that you're destroyed. Forever!"

Sapphire had made back up to the main warehouse area, Big in tow as he carried Silver's sister.

"Come on. Throw me a bone here," Silvia complained.

Sapphire motioned for them to stop, as she caught her breath. "Okay, what now?"

"Can we go fishing?" Big asked.

"Boring!" Silvia replied. "Seriously, why can't I help?"

"Silver just wants to protect you," Sapphire replied.

"And you trust him?"

Sapphire looked down. "I just met him. But... my brother trusts him. But I... I couldn't imagine just... leaving someone behind to die. Even if they are a villain." She then turned to look at Silvia. "...Isn't he your brother? Don't you trust him?"

"Good point. He's... always been shifty with me. I..." she sighed. "Honestly, I feel like he's keeping things from me. But what about you?"

"I... keep getting these spurts of confidence, but then I... I start thinking-" Sapphire shook her head. "I don't know. I finally got Knuckles's approval, and Silver always believed in me, and-"

"Okay, stop," Silvia replied. "Can you drop me now?" she said to the big purple cat that had his arms wrapped around her. As Big complied, she knelt down next to Sapphire. "Your problem is that you're thinking too hard."

"H-huh?"

"You want to help and protect your friends, right?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Then just go for it! Don't overthink things. Block out all of those negative thoughts, and just do what you need to," Silvia said.

"Just... do what I need to do?"

"Yeah, that's all you need to worry about." Silvia got up. "Look, I'm tired of my brother telling me that I can't help and fight. And it seems like you've also got someone trying to keep you out, too. So, let's show them what we're made of!"

Sapphire looked up at the silver hedgehog girl. Then she slowly nodded. "O-okay, I can try..."

"Come on. Put more into that, sound confident!"

"I'll do it!" Sapphire stated.

"Awesome. Now, try to keep up!" And then Silvia... sped off in a blur.

"Wha-wha-wha- She's fast!?"

Big just stared in the direction Silvia ran. "What are we doing?" he asked, sounding confused.

Sapphire turned to Big, trying to look confident. "We're going back. And we're going help our friends!"

Eggman Nega's robot built up power, as it fired a laser out of its nose, blasting the mobian duo away.

The battle was not going well. Nega's robot would fire its laser orbs, or punch the ground with an energy burst, forcing Knuckles and Silver to stay away from the giant machine, which was especially hard for Knuckles, who needed to get close to attack. Silver couldn't grab lasers with his psychokinesis, nor could he use it on the robot, due to whatever Nega managed to pull off to make it immune to his powers.

They found a way around these disadvantages, with Knuckles using his strength to pull stuff out of the ground, and either throw it at the robot, or to Silver, who would use his more precise, if a bit weaker, psychokinesis to throw them at the robot.

Unfortunately, Nega either swatted it away, or it bounced harmlessly off of the metal shell.

...And now it had a nose laser.

"A bit disgusting, but oh so satisfying," Nega teased.

Knuckles growled. "You... STOP TREATING US LIKE YOU PLAYTHINGS, AND GIVE ME BACK THE MASTER EMERALD!"

"Why...? I already told you, it is now serving a much better purpose."

"It is not! You stole it, and are using it for evil purposes!"

"You simply don't understand. AWAY WITH YOU!" And the Nega started charging another laser, this time, from the Master Emerald itself.

Knuckles wasn't going to take any of this. And he began charging the robot. He must've assumed that because it was charging for one big attack, it couldn't do anything else in the meantime.

Wrong. The chest opened up, and fired its laser orb, undeterred with charging its main laser. Knuckles noticed too late...

As the laser orbs flew towards the echidna, he felt a strange grip around him, and then he was pulled back. Silver had used his power to pull Knuckles back, and save him!

But this left him open, as the main laser fired a massive beam of emerald light traveling along the ground... towards the silver hedgehog, who was not in a position to get away quickly.

He attempted to bring up a psionic shield to protect himself, but it wouldn't be able to do anything to stop the laser...

Then suddenly, something quickly grabbed Silver, and pulled him out of the way.

"There you go, bro. No need to thank me," a voice spoke after Silver was tackled to the floor. He got up, and found it was his sister.

"Silvia, what-" Silver started, only for his sister to interject.

"I'm not standing back anymore, Silver. You know I want the chance to be a hero, and you can't take all of the spotlight."

"It's dangerous."

"I know." And then Silvia sped towards Nega's robot, at Sonic speeds, both figuratively and literally.

...Which caught Knuckles' eyes. "Wait, what? She's... she's as fast as Sonic!"

Silver just nervously smiled back. He didn't know how to explain that clearly, and quickly, given the current stakes.

Nega attempted to fire his laser orbs at Silvia, but she outpaced where they struck, and sped up to the robot. Then she started hopping up it.

"You dare!" Nega shouted.

But Silvia made her way to the cockpit, and punched Eggman Nega in the face. "That's what you get!"

Nega recoiled from the direct attack, but then grabbed something from inside his cockpit...

...And pointed his laser blaster at the silver hedgehog girl.

"Fool... Do you really think that you could stop me that easily?" Nega taunted.

Silvia simply planned on sidestepping out of the way, but then the giant robot she was standing on jostled, causing Silvia to lose her balance. She didn't fall over, but now she couldn't move quickly as she intended.

"Say goodbye to your sister, Silver," Nega teased cruelly, as he prepared to fire at her.

Silvia tried to regain her footing, only for Nega to jostle his robot's controls again. And Silver desperately tried to find a way to stop him, but he couldn't make it up there quickly enough.

Then something flew up towards Silvia...

All Silvia knew was that something hooked onto her jacket, and pulled her back. She flew off the robot, just as Eggman Nega fired his blaster, the beam flying above the girl, missing completely.

Silvia was pulled back to the ground, at an angle, but she landed into something... soft, and fuzzy. Even a little bouncy.

Looking up, she found that she was lying on the belly of Big the Cat, his fishing line still hooked to her jacket. And standing by him...

"You're right, Silvia," Sapphire said, smiling at her fellow hedgehog. "I shouldn't overthink things! I just need to act!"

Nega growled. He was tired of being interrupted by this yellow hedgehog and her big cat friend. They weren't even Blaze or her annoying raccoon friend! He immediately retaliated by preparing to fire laser orbs from his robot's chest.

Sapphire turned to him, and shouted, "you're really terrible! Can't you understand that we just want to live in happiness? Also, it's not good to steal from people. You don't know what those things might mean to people!"

She chose her target, pulled her bow back, and fired, only aiming as much as she needed to.

And her arrow flew true, striking into one of the holes that fired the laser orbs, breaking the interior. This ended up causing a disruption of energy, which caused a chain reaction, making each and every orb launcher blow up, completely disabling the weapon!

"Why you little-" Nega shouted, as he punched the ground, causing another energy burst, knocking everyone back.

Silver managed to catch Sapphire and Knuckles with his psychokinesis, allowing them all to safely land. Meanwhile, Big held tightly onto Silvia, who was still on his lap prior, as he bounced to a stop.

Nega pulled his robot's fist back up, and glared down at the group.

"Okay, that's a start," Silvia said. "But we need to really knock that thing down!"

"It's immune to my power, somehow," Silver said. "And no matter what we throw at it, it just keeps standing."

"I don't think it's going to be caught off guard by a shoulder bash again," Knuckles noted.

Sapphire studied the robot, and made a theory. "What if it's the Master Emerald preventing Silver from using his power?"

"Yes... it could be generating a field that nullifies our powers," Knuckles noted. "I could command the Emerald to weaken its power. Unfortunately, without getting close, it won't do much."

"It's also too big for me to push it over, at least not without a lot of effort," Silver added.

"Can't you just pull the giant gem OUT!?" Silvia asked her brother.

"I can't be that precise with my psychokinesis."

"Then we give you something else to focus your power on," Sapphire said. "Knuckles, can you fashion some of that scrap into a hook for Big?"

"Huh?" Knuckles sounded. "You want to...?"

"We're going to fish for Emeralds!"

"Ooh, I like fishing," Big announced, somewhat oblivious to Sapphire's plan.

Seeing as they didn't have long before Nega attacked again, Knuckles pulled out a sheet of metal from the ground, and began making a large hook.

"Big, when Knuckles is ready, you need to help Silver fish out the big gem!" Sapphire told the cat, who nodded in understanding. "Silvia, you and I need to distract Nega, so the boys can do what they need to."

"So you're a plan maker?" Silvia replied.

"Well, I studied a lot. But... battle is still completely new to me," Sapphire said, blushing. Then she started to focus again. "Okay, let's go!"

"Enough of this! TIME TO DIE!" Eggman Nega finally shouted, as he began to punch again.

Sapphire made the risk of firing a few burst arrows, hoping to not overheat her bow. Her aim struck true, and the fist was knocked away before it could even come down.

While Nega attempted to recover, Silvia ran back up the robot, and then kicked Nega, careful this time not to stay where he could shoot back. On her way down, she dropped by the Emerald. She tried to loosen it a bit, to help her brother and friends, but she wasn't strong enough, and it was pretty tightly fitting in there.

But she did find a good place for the hook to go, a gap in the metal ring around the Emerald that helped hold it in place. "Hey, Silver! Aim it here!" she shouted down.

"Got it!" Silver responded, seeing where Silvia was.

Silvia heard some mechanical motion, and noticed that the robot was moving to smush her on the chest. "Woah!" she shouted, as she jumped over the hand just in time.

"The servers are the seven Chaos," Knuckles began chanting, holding his hands out toward the Emerald, despite not being close, while Big attached his new, large, makeshift hook. "Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos. Master Emerald, answer my call, and weaken your power so we can free you!"

"Stand still, and-" Nega growled, before stopping to notice that his energy output started to slowly drop. "Huh!?"

"Now!" Silver called out, and Big threw out his custom metal hook. Guided by Silver's power, the hook grabbed onto the edge of the metal ring holding the Master Emerald. Silver then began to use his psychokinesis to both pull on the hook, and strengthen the fishing wire, so it didn't snap, while Big pulled his rod back and began to try to reel in his catch.

"What!? NO!" Nega shouted, and he began to charge up his nose laser again.

"Silvia!" Sapphire shouted.

"Got it!" the silver hedgehog girl replied.

Just as Nega was about to fire the laser, Sapphire fired another burst arrow, knocking the robot back, and causing the laser to go wide, and miss everyone. The force also helped the Master Emerald pop out a bit. It was stuck lodged in there, but now it was sticking out a bit.

Taking advantage of this, Silvia leapt back up the robot, slipped between the ring and the metal chest of the robot, and began to use her legs to push the ring out.

Knuckles, with his job done, jumped in to help Big, grabbing onto his rod, and adding his strength to Big's as they pulled together.

"N-no!" Nega cried, as he began to notice the connections to his power sources breaking off, until finally...

The Master Emerald was pulled free of the giant robot.

The force of the pull launched the massive Emerald towards the boys, and Knuckles quickly recovered, and grabbed the gem before it could hit the ground, while Big fell to the ground, looking blankly up. Silvia slipped to the ground, managed to recover in the air, and land on her feet.

Silver recoiled a bit after his psychic grip broke when the Master Emerald was freed, but quickly balanced himself, and began to build up power, as he glared up at Eggman Nega, who was beginning to panic.

"It's over, Eggman Nega!" Silver called out, as he released a powerful psionic energy wave, knocking the robot flat on its back.

"I thought you said that you couldn't push it over," Knuckles cried from below his Emerald.

"I said not without a lot of effort," Silver replied, panting.

Silvia ran around to avoid her brother's powerful attack, and grabbed onto Sapphire's arm. "Ready for a finishing trick shot?"

"Wh-what? N-no, I just figured out how to aim properly, I'm not ready for-" Sapphire stammered.

"No overthinking! Let's go!" Silvia interjected, and she grabbed Sapphire's other arm, lifted Sapphire onto her back, and then shot off towards the robot at Sonic speeds.

Silvia leapt onto the robot's leg, which was bent, allowing the speedy hedgehog to run up at an angle, and jump high into the air. Then she tossed Sapphire above her, shouting, "GO!"

Sapphire was freaked out, but she quickly realized that she didn't have the time to worry, so she readied a burst arrow, aimed down...

And fired it straight into the slot where the Master Emerald was. In her quick thinking, she figured that if the Emerald was meant as the main power source, then everything should be connected there. So if she could blow it up...

BOOM! As the core exploded, the whole thing went up into flames, and the blasts continued down the limbs of the machine, breaking thoroughly.

Sapphire began to fall to the ground. And this is where her freak-out reached its peak. She didn't exactly know how to safely land.

That's when a red blur shot by and grabbed her!

Sapphire's eyes were squeezed shut, but once she felt herself being grabbed, and her falling momentum shifting to a gentle glide, she opened them, and found that Knuckles had grabbed her!

"I got you, Saph," he told her. He had her in one arm, his free arm stretched outward, as he used his dreadlocks to catch the air currents, and gilded slowly down.

Knuckles dropped Sapphire on her feet as he landed himself. "Thank you, Knuckles," Sapphire told him.

"Yeah. You did good," Knuckles replied.

"O-of course."

Silvia and Big, the latter of whom was carrying the Master Emerald for Knuckles, came up to meet the group. Silver took a bit longer, but it was clear as to why, as he came over with Eggman Nega hovering behind him, trapped in his psychokinesis, and was also burned, beaten, and thoroughly knocked out.

"I'm glad to have my Emerald back!" Knuckles exclaimed, as he took it from Big. Turning to Silver, "So, what's going to happen to him?"

"I'll probably be taking him back, so I-" Silver started, before getting interrupted.

"Silver," Silvia interjected flatly. "We need to talk. What is it exactly that you do? And you can't hide anything from me. I saw you fight. You're WAY more than the nerdy psychic I thought you were. And you've been fighting things like this, without me knowing!?"

"Silvia..." Silver started. "I'm sorry, but what I do is to protect you. You and our whole world."

"Protect me, huh? So I can't join in and help? You know that I've been wanting to go out adventuring, you know, to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors? And you've been doing it yourself, behind my back, and you're saying that I can't be a part of it because it 'protects me'?"

Silver tensed at that, which Sapphire picked up on. It seemed like Silvia said something that he didn't want her to say. "Sis, I'm sorry, but it's a lot more complicated than you-"

"Complicated!?" Silvia shouted. "It's complicated? Seriously!"

"Silver, I think we should go, so you two can finish this argument without us hearing," Sapphire said. "I know it's-"

"Wait, hang on, I have something I want to know," Knuckles interjected. "What is your ancestry, Silvia?"

"Um, Knuckles, I... don't think now is a good time..." Sapphire said, hoping to urge Knuckles to drop the question.

"What? But ancestry is important to me. Can you blame me for being curious? Besides, this might be the last time I could see her before she goes back to the future, and Silver-"

"Sonic the Hedgehog," Silvia stated.

"Huh? What about Sonic?" Knuckles replied, confused.

"Sonic... the... Hedgehog... is... mine... and... Silver's... ancestor," Silver said slowly.

"Hey! You don't have to treat me like I'm an idiot! ...And wait, did you say Sonic!?"

"Yeah, where do you think my speed came from! Inherited from the long line of the Blue Blur's descendants!" Silvia said proudly. "...And Silver got psychic powers instead, which is probably cooler, but I think my speed is awesome! It bonds me with my history. That's why I want to be an adventurer, to be just like him."

Sapphire was also shocked, trying to process what she just heard. The part of wanting to be an adventurer, she understood. That's what Sapphire originally wanted to do, as well. But Silvia was the descendant of Sonic? Her own brother?

Silver fell to the ground, almost losing his grip on Nega. "You just had to say it... didn't you, Silvia..."

Silvia looked around, confused and annoyed. Everyone (except for Big, who was absent-mindedly looking around) had reacted with surprise or despondence. "Okay, look, I get it, Sonic is a legend. But it's not that big of a deal. And you too, Silver, you know this, we're siblings! Twins! What's wrong with you!?"

Silver motioned to Knuckles. "Knuckles hinted at it, and for them, what you said is..."

"What? What are you-"

"Silvia, your brother says he's a time traveler, and that he, and by extension, you, are from the future," Sapphire finally said. "And we... know Sonic, personally. You're in the period of time where he's in his prime. A-at least I assume his prime." She didn't want to say that, but at this point, it couldn't be avoided.

"Wh-what...?" Silvia sounded. "Y-you're kidding, right?"

"...Are we in your history?" Knuckles asked.

"Um... Knuckles, right?" she thought about it, and then her eyes widened. "You mean THE Knuckles, the Idiot Guardian?"

"Excuse me!?"

Silvia turned to Silver. "You're... really a time traveler? We're... in the past?"

Silver's gaze fell. "Y-yeah..."

Silvia's eyes actually teared up at this point. "Silver... you... you've not only been living my dream life, but you've... been having the chance to have the best one ever. You even got to meet our ancestor, MY ICON, didn't you!?"

"Sis, it wasn't my choice. I was chosen-"

"No. No, there is no excuse. I-I can't- I-" Then Silvia ran off, tears falling through the air, as she ran faster than the liquid could fall to the ground.

Sapphire turned to Knuckles. "See... I think that this should've been left alone."

"W-wait, you think this is MY fault!?" Knuckles countered.

"Knuckles, do you understand the implications of time travel?"

Knuckles was going to say something, but stopped. She was right. He didn't know anything about that.

Sapphire looked at the exit, which Silvia escaped through. "I... I want to find her."

"Sapphire?" Silver asked.

"I want to talk to her, okay?"

Silver nodded, and Sapphire left, hoping to find the descendant of the Blue Blur.

Chapter Text

Silvia found her way onto the roof of the warehouse. Looking around, the world was different from what she knew. Further proof that what her brother said was true.

The silver hedgehog girl sat on the roof edge, and looked down distraught. Could her brother really hide this from her? He was doing everything SHE wanted to do, and even more that she couldn't have known she wanted. And he wouldn't tell her? To protect her? She didn't want to be protected.

Silvia was a strong girl, but this really upset her, and she began to cry.

After a while, she heard, "Silvia!? Hey, Silvia, are you around!? I want to talk...!"

"Sapphire..." Silvia sounded. "Up here...!"

The yellow hedgehog girl walked outside, and looked up, seeing Silvia on the roof. "Silvia! There you are! Can I talk to you!?"

Silvia wasn't sure what to do, so she decided that talking to her would be alright. She hopped down so Sapphire didn't have to find a way to climb, and landed perfectly on her feet.

"You speeders sure have a way of being able to handle high falls," Sapphire noted.

"Eh, we hedgehogs just... slow our fall with our quills," Silvia explained. "You're a hedgehog, too. Maybe try it sometime?"

"I... 'm not interested in... sky-diving," Sapphire replied. "Silvia, are you okay?"

Silvia stiffened. "I- not really."

"L-let's sit!" Sapphire said, following with, "sorry, I'm not good with this."

"It's okay... how well do you know my brother?" Silvia said as the girls sat down on some wooden crates.

"I've kind of only just met him," Sapphire said. "I thought he was a good guy, but... I'm not sure. But... I think he's just trying to do the best he can."

"I just... I was the one who always wanted to go on an adventure, you know? I never knew what Silver wanted, and I always encouraged him to find something. I mean... I only make fun of him since I'm his sibling, but you have to admit, those powers are useful and pretty cool. But I- I-" Silvia sighed, "I just had my own dreams I wanted to follow, and now it feels like my brother stole those for himself."

As Silvia wiped her tears, Sapphire thought about this. "You know... time travel is... difficult. I mean, if you screw up the tiniest thing, then maybe your entire future will change, and you can't tell how. Like... how do you know that me knowing that your Sonic's descendant won't affect things?"

"I... suppose I don't know... but how could it change anything?"

"It could change the course of history. I mean... I'm Sonic's sister... his adopted sister! I don't know if I'll be recorded in history, so, you know..."

"I... think I recall hearing the name Sapphire in history class... but I never really paid attention, so I don't know."

"That's okay. If I'm going to make a name for myself, then I want to figure that out by myself. But, that's the thing. If I can speak on Sonic's behalf, as I was wanting to say, I haven't known him for very long since he adopted me as his sister. But I can see that he is a free spirit. ...I don't think that he's very interested in getting tied down to a girl."

"Okay..." Silvia said, starting to see her point.

"Well, for you and your brother to be his descendants, that means he has to have kids at some point, so eventually he will get tied down. If... he knows this will happen... then who knows what might happen. He might give up on everything he likes, which could affect how he might of changed if it were to happen naturally. Or he could refuse it somehow, and then it'll never happen, or happen right."

"That sounds convoluted," Silvia replied.

"Yeah, but... it's possible. I don't know how time travel works!" Sapphire exclaimed. "It could be that, it could be a split timeline, or a paradox, or a million other things. Time itself could collapse! I don't know! ...But Silver, he might know. He probably does, to a point. He might of had to make hard decisions before, terrible ones even! And I think... he needs to be careful, you know. That's how he's protecting you."

"B-but- I'm from the future. To me, this time... it already happened. How would this affect me!?"

"I... well, maybe people are... coming to the past, and doing things that might change time. So, Silver maybe has to be the one to fix things. It must be a difficult job," Sapphire said. "Maybe, whoever told him to do this, thought that he was the only one who could do it."

"...So you don't think that I'm capable?" Silvia asked with sorrow.

"N-NO! I don't think that. But we're dealing with something so complicated that even I can't understand it. I'm just saying that Silver might understand it, but well... everyone has their own strengths. And those strengths should be used where they are appropriate."

"...I just... I just wanted a chance, okay. And it feels like I was just... overlooked."

"Well, I don't know what the future is like, but maybe it's not like that. But you know, you should be proud, to have a brother that'll do his entire world... just to save his family."

Silvia smiled a bit. "I suppose." Then she thought of something. "I like you, Saph. Could we be friends?"

"H-huh? O-okay, sure, but- Aren't you going home soon? Like, to the future?" Sapphire asked. "Don't get me wrong, I-"

"Hey! You're right, except... Silver didn't explicitly say that, so... I was thinking..."

"Wait, you want to stay here? In this time?" Silver said in surprise, once his sister and friend returned to the group.

"Yeah, I want to have the chance to see this time, and make new friends here!" Silver told her twin.

"But Silvia, you don't-"

"I do get it, and I'm not just saying that to get you off my case. Saph and I talked about time travel, and I get that it's challenging. But I won't tell anyone else but our ancestry, and I'll try not to screw anything up!"

Silver sweat-dropped a bit. "But... you don't know history that well."

"All the better!"

"That just means-"

"Silver, don't you always come back to fix things anyways," Knuckles noted. "Like, I've heard you've come from destroyed timelines."

"Wait, what- How does time travel work for you!?" Silvia exclaimed in surprise. "Like, do you wake up one day in a different... world?"

"You mean 'timeline'?" Sapphire said. "Do you exist permanently in our timeline?"

Silver sighed. "I use legendary gems, similar to the Chaos Emeralds, but they control time specifically. They're called the Time Stones. I can use them to time travel, in turn, I have to protect them." Then he turned to his sister. "Are you sure you want to stay here? I have to go back, you know..."

"Yeah, I've already decided."

Knuckles put his hand on Silver. "Don't worry, we'll make sure she's safe. And I know she'll get along with Sonic."

"Yeah... okay, Silvia, you can stay here."

Silvia cheered. "Oh, thank you, bro!"

"But you have to be careful. Whatever adventures you join, just don't be reckless, okay? I'll come visit, but I need to take Eggman Nega back, before he wakes up."

Silvia hugged her brother, saying, "I'll see you later."

Once they were done, Silver turned to Sapphire, Knuckles, and Big. "Thank you, for helping me save my sister."

"And thank you, for getting me my Emerald back," Knuckles replied.

"Your welcome. And Sapphire, keep getting stronger," Silver said. And then seven hexagonal gems appeared around him, and the still unconscious Eggman Nega. As the gems, the Time Stones, Sapphire assumed, began to circle around the silver hedgehog, there was a bright light, and the two then disappeared.

"Silver will be alright," Knuckles reaffirmed. "Now I need to get this back to the island," he said as he patted the large Master Emerald.

Big, who had just been watching, pretty confused, outside of the touching moments of the twins, asked, "can we go fishing, now?"

Sapphire looked up. It was dark now. "I think we need to go to bed. But I'd love to fish with you tomorrow!"

Silvia chuckled a bit. "Not my style, but okay, I'll come."

"I suppose I'll come to, once I am sure that the Master Emerald is secure," Knuckles added.

"Okay! I guess it's a hangout!" Sapphire announced. "I'll make sure to get everyone fishing rods!"

"You're kidding me, I thought you were Silver!" Sonic exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting a girl. Sorry about that."

Sapphire and Silvia decided to stay at a hotel that night, instead of heading back to Tails' workshop, while also informing them that they were seeing Big for the next day, and to both confirm that they were okay and successfully helped Silver and Knuckles, and to ask if Tails could get them some extra fishing rods.

Since Sapphire didn't tell them about Silvia, they thought that she was Silver, since they looked alike, aside from how they styled their front quills, their clothing and quill dye, and of course, gender. They were surprised to find this it wasn't Silver at all. Though Sapphire was surprised herself by who came with Tails.

Sonic and Shadow came with, as well as Amy, Cream, and Vanilla. Knuckles had arrived earlier just after Sapphire and Silvia did, and everyone else came about half an hour later.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Silvia told Sonic. "I've tried really hard to prevent this, but sometimes people still confuse me with my twin."

This shocked everyone further, except for Knuckles, who was smirking in amusement, Big, who was just minding his own business as he prepared everything for fishing, and Sapphire, who was starting to giggle at the situation.

"Wait, you're Silver's sister?" Sonic asked.

"Not only that, but his twin!?" Amy added.

"...So was this what Silver wanted help with?" Tails asked Sapphire.

The yellow hedgehog nodded.

Shadow recovered from his shock quicker than everyone else, and decided he didn't care, at least not as much as he did about Knuckles. "I hope you treated Maria properly."

"Maria?" Silvia asked.

"I-it's a nickname," Sapphire explained. "It's a long story."

"Eh, I like Saph better."

Knuckles couldn't meet Shadow's eyes. "Well, I-"

"It was rocky at first, but after I really saved him with Big's help. I think we're okay now. He even helped me after a... impromptu finishing blow."

"My, that sounds quite... exciting," Vanilla said, trying to hide her concern for Sapphire's wellbeing.

"So, Silvia, do you got powers like you're brother?" Sonic asked.

"No, I'm more of a..." Silvia started, before running behind the blue hedgehog, "quick chick."

"Oh, so you're fast, eh? Nice to know that there are people like me in the future. I can't believe Silver never thought to tell me about you."

"I-I'm sure he had a good reason," Sapphire chimed in.

Sonic raised an eyebrow at his sister, before turning back to Silvia. "Just so you know, you're not the first person to challenge my speed," he said smugly.

"Oh, so you think I'm challenging you?" Silvia replied, equally as smug. "Then why don't we make this official and have a race?"

Sonic pointed to a large mountain in the distance. "From here to that peak, and then back. Think you can handle that?"

"Oh, I've been waiting to test myself like that. You're on!"

"Tails, can you time us?" Sonic asked his buddy.

"On it!" the fox replied.

Sonic and Silvia stood by each other, getting into running positions, as Tails prepared a timer on his device.

"Ready... set... GO!" Tails shouted as the hedgehog runners shot off.

"Be careful!" Sapphire shouted to the racers, though she wasn't sure if they could hear her.

"Oh my, she is a lively one, isn't she?" Vanilla said.

"She seems really fun," Cream added.

Amy huffed and turned away.

"What's wrong?" Sapphire asked Amy.

"There is no way in Chaos that Silvia is taking Sonic from me," she replied.

"Um... I think she has good reason not to want Sonic. She's a lot like him. More about the rush of freedom, and not romance."

"What was that!?"

Then Shadow appeared by them. "Don't threaten her."

"I... I wasn't," Amy freaked out.

"I'm sure Sonic and Saph's new friend will be back in a short while," Tails interjected. "Until then, I got everyone fishing rods, at Sapphire's request. Hey, Big, want to show us what to do?"

Big couldn't be happier to share his hobby with everyone. Knuckles and Shadow got extra-strong reels, to account for their heightened strength, while the other had regular rods, Cream being supervised by her mother.

Once Sonic and Silvia returned (Sonic won the race, but it was close, apparently, and the blue hedgehog claimed to have a new record. Did he race from here before, or was he just bragging?), they also joined in the fishing fun, even though it wasn't something they'd find super enjoyable. Sonic actually got into a competition with Knuckles and Shadow to try to get the most fish. This was a competition that Sonic actually lost, due partially to his lack of patience, while Knuckles was able to pull out several large fish. Tails noted that fishing competitions were based on the weight of the fish, so the echidna actually won through the combined weight of his fish.

Silvia tried to compete too, with the girls, but they were more chill, and just wanted to fish. Sapphire, in fact, wanted to fish together with Big, and Amy tried to get close to Sonic (perhaps another reason that he lost). Big, the fishing expert, of course, got the most fish, and might have won the impromptu competition, if he actually cared to be part of it, but all he wanted was a fun day with friends and a delicious meal.

Which of course, everyone got, as all of the fish they got started to get grilled. Vanilla also brought stuff for a picnic, to make up for what happened earlier.

While everyone began to enjoy their fishy meal, Shadow came up to Sapphire, who was eating a sandwich, since she didn't like seafood that much.

The yellow hedgehog girl began to blush brightly as Shadow sat next to her.

"Hey, Shadow..." she said. Then she remembered, "oh! I-I have your emerald!" And Sapphire handed Shadow the mystical gem.

"So, do you think you've become stronger, taking part in yesterday's mission?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah... but I also had to question what... it means to be a hero," Sapphire admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"That man we fought, Eggman Nega... He said that Silver abandoned him. He did everything he did, stealing the Master Emerald, and using Silvia as a hostage, for revenge. I just... I thought Silver was a good guy. I get that being a time traveler is probably tough, and he's a good friend, but..."

Shadow's gaze fell. "...I'll admit, I'd probably would've done the same. And I don't even need to consider the angle of time travel. Quite frankly, I'd rather not get involved with it, personally."

"Really?"

"If I did, then you'd think I'd go save the real Maria... But that's not the point. I'm just not that kind of hero, if you'd even consider me heroic. Sonic would probably try to save someone, if he could. If that's the kind of hero you want to be, then be it. Don't let someone else's actions discourage you. Your path is yours to forge."

"Shadow..." Sapphire replied, starting to tear up. "Thank you."

Shadow looked at Sapphire's weapon at her side. "If you want, I could help you with target practice. I'm more of a firearms expert, but I think I could... help."

"I-I- Yes, I'd love that," Sapphire responded.

Shadow finished his fish, and got up. "Then I'll see you later for training. I think it's for me to go."

"Hey, can't see you soon enough, Shads. See you later!" Sonic called out. Everyone else gave their goodbyes, and Shadow then disappeared in a flash.

As Sapphire was about to continue with her sandwich, Silvia popped by her next.

"...So," Silvia coyly said. Then she whispered into her friend's ear, "you like him, don't you?"

"What!? What are you talking about?" Sapphire exclaimed.

"Shadow, of course. Your face says it all!"

"I- no-"

"Come on, admit it."

Silvia's grin was so big, that Sapphire felt like she'd just keep being pressured if she kept denying Silvia's observation, so she decided to tell the truth.

"...O-okay, I like him. B-but don't tell anyone!" Sapphire replied nervously.

Looking around, no one was paying attention, all of them in their own little conversations, and Big was playing with Froggy, Cream, and Cheese.

"Don't worry, my secret. And also, I freaking knew it! I got an eye for these things," Silvia said.

"Y-you do?" Sapphire replied. "I didn't think you were into that, you're so much like Sonic."

"I am, but I love romance. Not for me, but other people's. My brother thinks I'm too nosy."

Sapphire nervously giggled, not sure how to take that.

"But don't worry, I've got your back!" Silvia continued. "I'll help you get with Shadow!"

"I thought you weren't supposed to mess with history," Sapphire said, honestly just hoping to make Silvia drop the idea.

"What, are you saying you DON'T think you have a chance with him? Wrong! You just gotta go for it!"

Silvia raised her hand for a fist bump, and Sapphire shyly returned it. If anything, she was happy to be making such great friends.

Chapter Text

Okay, so I am going to upload this as its own chapter, so it can be read separately from the last chapter (except on DeviantArt, one of the sites I post my stories, and my main site, as I put my art there, too. I can put this as a Journal update and link to it from the comments). I don't know if it's appropriate to just upload an update as its own chapter, but most of the sites I upload to don't have an effective way to drop updates, so Imma do what I gotta do. This will be deleted once it's irrelevant and I start up on this story again.

But yes, I am putting Sapphire the Hedgehog on hiatus as of the upload of Chapter 23: "Block Out the Negativity" and Chapter 24: "Future's Past". Let me give you guys details on what exactly is going on.

Is Sapphire over?
No, I mean, I'm sure you guys know that hiatus means it's probably coming back at some point (hopefully), but as it stands, Sapphire is not finished or canceled. I just really want to stress that, and alleviate any possible fears you might have.

To add to this, I've actually been planning on putting Sapphire on hiatus since I was writing the "Kidnapped Sapphire" arc, which was the story arc before this current one I just finished. Meaning I've been thinking about this for about five to eight chapters worth of writing (not including what I've written for my other stories).

If it isn't obvious, then I've basically been planning to put this story on hiatus only once I reached a good stopping point, which I feel I've reached with Chapter 23. Under that logic, cancellation wouldn't make sense, because if I was going to still be putting effort into writing more the story, then I might as well have planned an actual end to the story. And I also haven't written an end to the story either. We still need to explore Sapphire's crush on Shadow, and I have more plans for the story too.

So why am I putting this story on hiatus?
So, reason one, while I don't consider this a main or even important reason, did help me come to this decision. And that is... this story wasn't getting a lot of traffic?

Now, I'll admit, I mostly look at reviews and comments on my stories, as I live for that feedback. It tells how much people liked my stories, what I can improve on, allows me to interact with the readers, and might even help give ideas for future chapters. Now, I know that I should also consider favorites, kudos, or what the particular site you're reading on calls "likes", but I often overlook those, particularly because they don't give me the same kind of feedback.

But Sapphire wasn't getting much of either, especially reviews, and the other statistics don't look too great either (well, it's hard to read them on Deviant Art, given that each chapter has to be uploaded as its own separate piece, and not part of an actual "book", like on proper literature sites, and I have to link and group those together myself). Now, I don't let that bother me, I'll write a chapter regardless of how popular the story is, since I do this as a hobby, and for my creative drive. But it still is kind of disheartening. (Undertale Fallen Determination is in a similar state, but it still gets more traffic and reviews than Sapphire does, so this story is the one story that I feel doesn't get enough attention.)

Now, for the real reason, and that is... burnout. I just need a break. Now to be clear, I wouldn't say it's regular burnout. I mean, maybe, I am writing different four stories at once, so I might be stressing myself out without realizing it. But again, I do this as a hobby, because I had quite the imagination, and I wanted to get some of that creativity out there. Plus, I'm kind of stubborn. I started this, and I've made it this far, so I want to see it through.

I think it's more creative burnout. While I have lots of ideas for Sapphire, I don't have enough in-between, one-chapter stories (or you could just call it fluff, I guess), and I don't want this to just become one arc after another. (I've got the same problem with Ultradimension Neptunia: Big Nep and Smolgear, but I have even less ideas for that story as of now, but I still want to keep writing that one, since it's still a relatively new story, compared to Sapphire.)

There is also the matter that I still want to write other stuff, but despite what I said earlier, I think that four stories should be my max to write at once, for the sake of continuously uploading stuff for each (ignoring potential one-shots, which I don't much, but I do have a plan for one this year (2022)). So, taking a break from Sapphire will give me the chance to write something else.

So when will Sapphire come back?
I don't know for sure. All I can say is that this hiatus will probably be a long one. I'll probably come back to Sapphire when one of my other stories is over, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Undertale Fallen Determination is my longest-running story to date, and I don't think I'm finishing it anytime soon. In fact, I believe this story may go on for years, including sequential Books (and I'm only barely reaching halfway for Book 2, I feel). Ultradimension Neptunia: Big Nep and Smolgear, while I am needing to take some time to come up with more ideas for this story, as it is similar in structure to Sapphire... as I already stated, I really don't have any intention of stopping that story right now. And as for Nepsisters: Healing the Empty Heart, while I hope to finish this story this year or early next year, I also have a sequel planned that I also want to write, though I do need to do some brainstorming for that.

So, chances are that the new story I plan to write will be finished before everything else, so Sapphire is most likely to come back after that story. I don't think it'll be very long, but we'll have to see.

So what am I planning on writing next?
While I don't want to give everything away until I'm ready to publish my new story (and keep in mind, I haven't started working on it yet, since I've been trying to get to the stopping point for Sapphire), I will tell you a few things:

First of all, I want to address that in my Hyperdimension Neptunia stories, and I have alluded to the fact that I originally had two different ideas for Neptunia stories, but I put both of them on the shelf to write Nepsisters and Smolgear instead. I still really want to write these stories, but I'm bringing them up now to make it clear that neither of them are what I'm planning on writing in place of Sapphire.

Reason one, as I stated, two of the four stories that I am currently writing are Neptunia stories, and I kind of don't want to make it three. I mean, at some point, I think it' might have to become three, but for now, I'd rather not. Reason two is that I had a different idea that I wanted to try out.

This idea is a Zelda story, based on the Breath of the Wild world, and it takes inspiration from the character mod that I use with the Wii U version of the game (does anyone remember Linkle from Hyrule Warriors?), and one or two fanfics that I don't remember that much, but I do recall that they never got past one or few chapters, and thus, never was capitalized on. So, I kind of want to capitalize on it with my own unique story.

This is also going to be a "what if?" type of story based on Breath of the Wild's story (kind of like Kirby's Meta Knightmare or Dedede Tour game modes, but this'll actually have a diverging timeline at the start). Given how little story BotW has, even though I plan to add a little more to it (taking inspiration from Age of Calamity, of course), this is why I don't think it'll be a very long story. I kind of don't want to write too much of the journey from place to place, so there might be a few skips. But who knows, new ideas come to me all the time.

On top of this new story not being planned to take very long, I also don't want to make a sequel for it. I mean, I don't know if the BotW sequel that's coming out will change my mind, but I don't think so, based on what my story is. Plus I won't know until the BotW sequel does actually come out, and it feels like it never will. I mean, it's been delayed to next year, which, while more development time is always good, it is disappointing, because I was looking forward to the game being my big game this year (mostly because I didn't want to put my eggs into the Sonic Frontiers basket, since until recently, we haven't gotten ANY gameplay footage of it, and I can't put my faith into it without knowing how it's going to play like.)

But whatever the case, I think people can agree that this is a good time to start a BotW-inspired story, because of the hype around the sequel. But honestly, as for my hype, I just want to know what the sequel will be called. I'm tired of calling it "Breath of the Wild 2", cause I know that will not be its name.

When will the new story come out?
You'll need to give me a couple of months. My rule with new stories is to always post three chapters (which includes the prologue as one of these chapters, if there is one) when publishing something new, give people something to really put their teeth into. On top of that, since I am a digital artist too, I will want to make a cover art for the new story, too.

I'll probably be working on the new chapters as I am writing Nepsister chapters, kind of like I am doing now with Sapphire, just I won't be posting them immediately. As for the cover art, I more than likely work on it closer to the release of the story, given what my current art plans are (a lot of stuff is coming up). This will include me trying to come up with a name for the story, as well.

Anyways, I hope you look forward to my new story, and I also hope you look forward to Sapphire's return!