Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

PSA as off September 16th 2025:

To anyone who's trying to get me to pay for "comic page" deals, illustrations, etc...

FUCKING STOP IT!!!

I do not want anything to do with you people. The last person who commented (which, in case they delete it, I HAVE A PICTURE AND EMAIL OF!!!!!) was so very clearly AI that I am utterly disgusted.

People keep commenting, wanting to make a deal with me, and when I don't reply or reject them, they delete their comment. You know I get an email whenever you comment on my chapters, right?

So, to anyone who reads this and still wants to try their luck with me...

DON'T.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

"I'm not gonna kill you, but your fatherless behavior is embarrassing us. Stop it."

- Count Dankula, 2022

Chapter Text

After another victory against Eggman, Sonic and his friends, including Shadow of all people, retreated to Tails' lab.

Eggman had been trying to collect odd scraps of metal, possibly to build something stupid again. Amy sighed and asked, "What do you think he wanted with that stuff? He already tried so many robot takeovers that he has to run out of ideas at some point, right?" Rouge offered, "Maybe he's trying to rebuild the Death Egg?"

"Unlikely. The metal he was trying to steal was too low quality for something like that. You know that he only settles for the best for that." Tails argued, sitting down at his desk and typing something into his computer. "Maybe he's giving Metal Sonic an upgrade?" Knuckles asked. "Oh geez. That guy is enough of a problem as is! I'm not in the mood to fight another doppelganger." Sonic lamented, not so subtly looking at Shadow, who just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever it is, we can deal with it!" Amy said. Rouge, Knuckles and Sonic cheered with an enthusiastic, "Yeah!"

"NO!" Tails suddenly shouted. The blue hedgehog turned towards the fox and asked, "What is with you, buddy? Got no faith in us this time?" The other sighed, "No, it's not that... you know how I've been trying to get those tickets?" Sonic tensed, not sensing anything good. "Well... they're gone." "WHAT?!"

He immediately rushed over to the large computer screen, and there it was clear as day. SOLD OUT.

"How the hell?! They just went live an hour ago! You even set a timer! How are they already sold out?!" He whined. Tails frowned, "You know how mad some people are over this. This is her biggest event yet. And I may have underestimated the die-hard fans..." Rouge stepped over and asked, "What tickets?" Sonic sighed and explained, "We've been trying to get tickets for the Echo concert for ages. Now they're all sold out and we have to wait another 2 months for the next one."

Both Knuckles and Rouge deflated with a saddened groan. The latter said, "At this rate we're never gonna see her live..." Shadow chimed in and asked, "Who's Echo?"

Everyone else gasped and shouted, "YOU DON'T KNOW WHO ECHO IS?!"

Sonic asked, "There's no way you haven't heard of her! Have you been living behind the moon for the past decade?!" Shadow just wordlessly raised an eyebrow. "Okay, point taken. Tails, presentation!" The fox quickly worked the computer and brought up a website. Everyone gathered around the screen.

It looked like a social media site. It had tabs for posts, videos, a forum, concert updates, newest songs, and a merch tab. As Sonic explained, Tails whipped up the corresponding media.

"Echo the Wolf is one of the most popular Mobians in all of Mobius. She's a singer who captured the world by storm about 10 years ago. She was only 14 years old at the time. Her career started with little street performances here and there that slowly got her into singing at clubs and the like. People would leave tips for her and over the course of 2 years she went from a couple dozen fans to over 100.000, and social media only made her more popular. Her blog has millions of followers and concerts are sold out within hours, as you've seen earlier... Getting tickets is like a war."

Tails said, "She updates her fans on anything to do with her music very frequently. Her latest post was 10 minutes ago." When they looked at the screen, the post read the following:

Already sold out??? Omg if I had known this I would've rented a bigger stage! >.<
You guys are awesome! See y'all this weekend! <3

"Isn't a few days before the actual event a bit too short notice?" Shadow noted. Rouge said, "Not really. Almost everyone in the area is going to be there, and since Echo is so loved, everyone who can't attend wish those who can a safe trip." Sonic deflated, "And now we have to wait another 2 months until we have another chance to go there..."

Everyone sighed heavily and sank to the ground. "And scalpers are gonna boost up the price of the extra cards they got through the roof..." Tails whined. Suddenly, the blog on Echo's site updated with a ping.

I just noticed how many tickets are being auctioned off at twice the price of the original! NOT FUCKING COOL GUYS! >:(
I'm gonna have to blacklist some people...

"Ouch..." Knuckles said. "Well, not much we can do now other than wait for the next one or look for people who are willing to have mercy on us for the tickets..." Sonic whined. Amy on the other hand wasn't worried at all, and the blue hedgehog took notice of it. "Are you okay? We all know how badly you wanted to see her live, but you're not bothered by this?" He asked. "No. I'm fine." She said as she gave him a smug grin. He knew that face. "Amy. What did you do?"

The pink hedgehog giggled and pulled out something from behind her, proudly exclaiming, "Ta-da!" In her hand were 6 paper slips, the colors immediately recognizable. "6 tickets to the Echo concert!" Sonic snatched one of the slips and carefully examined it. "Amy. These are front row tickets! How did you get these?!" She giggled again and said, "Check the back." When he did, his jaw hit the floor.

"VIP?!" He shouted. The others scrambled over to Sonic, looking at the ticket he held. Rouge said, "Hun, these are invaluable!"

"Blaze and Silver gave them to me. They know her personally if I recall correctly. And I'm allowed to invite anyone I want!" Amy explained. "...does that mean...?" Sonic started shyly. The pink hedgehog gave a fake sigh and a sly smirk, "I guess I can invite you all." Rouge, Knuckles and Tails broke out in giggles as Amy handed them their tickets. With 2 left in hand, one for herself, she looked at Shadow, who immediately said, "No."

"Oh come on, Shadow! You'll never get a chance like this again!" Sonic said. "I'm not a fan of music." The other argued. Rouge argued, "Correction, you're not a fan of certain genres." The dark hedgehog just scoffed and crossed his arms. "Come on, hun. You're going to love it, trust me!" The bat said.

Shadow thought back and forth for several minutes, looking at the others as they gushed over the tickets, the monitor that had Echo's blog open, Rouge who was giving him puppy eyes. Ultimately, he gave an exasperated sigh and said, "Fine." and took the paper slip from Amy.

"I just hope we don't run into any problems down there. No one is gonna notice if something happens since they'll be at the concert." Knuckles suddenly said. "What do you mean 'down there'?" Shadow asked. Sonic explained, "Oh right, you're not from here... The concert is going to take place in Echo's birthplace, like always. The place is called 'Downtown District'. Access to it is very strictly monitored because of... various reasons. It's way below ground, so you never know if it's night or day down there if you're not a local."

"Sounds isolated." Shadow commented. "It is. The thing about Downtown District is that a gang of Mobians with a strong sense of justice runs rampant. They call themselves the 'Downtown Canines'. That ring a bell?" Sonic continued. "Oh. Yes, that does ring a bell. I ran into one of their members while out on a mission once. They were... ruthless, to say the least." The dark hedgehog confirmed. Rouge said, "They mostly keep to Downtown District, but sometimes they leave the town to take care of outside threats."

Sonic said, "As long as we don't stand out too much or cause a ruckus, we should be fine. We wouldn't want a repeat of... the incident." At that, everyone except for Shadow had a shudder run all over their bodies. "What is 'the incident'?" He asked. Amy said, "We do not speak of that day."

Shadow just shrugged and let the others go on with their excitement for the upcoming concert.

Chapter Text

The weekend was finally here. Echo's concert was just a couple of hours away. Everyone was getting ready to leave for Downtown District.

"I can't believe we're finally seeing Echo live! We've been trying to get tickets for this for at least 5 years." Tails said to Shadow. "Persistent, I'll give you that." The latter commented. "If Sonic is known for anything other than speed, it's his stubbornness." The fox said. Shadow couldn't deny that.

The girls were taking the longest, but soon the 6 of them made their way towards the Tornado. "We're gonna have to stop shortly before the tunnel to Downtown District. They don't allow foreign vehicles unless you have a valid license. And I don't have the patience to go through all that paperwork..." Tails explained, then continued, "Well, all aboard!"



The flight towards the city was peaceful. Shadow was still apprehensive about going to such a big event. If Echo was really as popular as the others said she was, there would be potentially hundreds and thousands of people at the concert. That freaked him out.

After getting off the plane and Tails depositing it at a friend's place for the time being, they searched for the train that would take them to Downtown. When seeing a rather... large crowd, they all frowned but made their way towards it nonetheless. This was the only lane that takes people to and from Downtown District. And departure and arrival were very sparse. On normal days. The train changes from a normal ground-based machine to hanging from a rail as it crosses the border.

From the window of the train they could already see the stadium. It was lit up in Echo's signature colors, light purple, blue and white. As time went on, Sonic's ability to stand still lessened. But he quickly stopped moving as he saw something outside on one of the tall buildings. Tails took notice of that and asked, "Are you okay?" The other shook his head and pointed at something through the window, "Look."

The fox did as he was told and immediately saw what had the hedgehog concerned. "Canines..." The rest of the group quickly looked outside and saw a person squatting at the edge of a building, watching them. Their clothes were mostly grey, but had glowing accent strips all over them as well as a metallic mask to conceal their identity. "Sonic, are we in trouble?" Amy asked with a frown. The hedgehog in question said, "As long as we behave, no."



The stadium was enormous. That was the first thing that Shadow noticed. The second thing being that it was loud. They were almost through the entrance when Tails said, "As soon as Time For Everything plays, we need to be in our designated row." He quickly looked at Shadow, "Echo always opens her concerts with that melody. It was her first successful hit." The dark hedgehog nodded. "I wonder what song she'll perform first. Last time it was Lost One's Weeping, right?" Rouge thought out loud. "I hope she sings B.B.F., I can't live without that song..." Amy said as she daydreamed.

"I wonder what her new song will be. She always performs at least one unreleased song at concerts." Knuckles said. Shadow felt a small drop of sweat run down his face, "Just how many songs does she have?" Sonic made a gesture that indicated him counting on his fingers, "About 200." The dark hedgehog looked dumbfounded, "Why did I even ask..."

As they neared the entrance, Shadow looked more and more nervous. "Are you okay?" Rouge asked as she put a hand on his shoulder. The other scoffed and shrugged it off, "I'm fine." "If the music is too loud for you, they offer earbuds to make it more bearable." The bat informed him. That might not be a bad idea...

Finally, it was their turn to show the security their tickets. The security people were... tall. To say the least. They were lions who were at least twice their size, with permanent frowns on their faces. As one of them scanned their tickets they said, "These tickets are registered under 'Silver'." Amy quickly explained, "I'm friends with him. He gave those to me so I could invite some of our other mutual friends." The lion seemed skeptical and tapped the earbud he had in his left ear, "Registration verification required for tickets 000003-000008."

This made them sweat. If they're accused of stealing tickets or faking their identities, the whole trip to Downtown District would have been for nothing. "May I know your names?" The security guard asked. They all said their names one by one and a few seconds later the lion took out a few glowing bracelets, saying, "Show these to security at the end of the concert to enter the VIP area. You may keep them after this event is over." Overjoyed (except for Shadow), everyone grabbed a bracelet and walked into the stadium. They were in the last hallway before entering the stage area. This was where Shadow quickly took some of the offered earbuds before rejoining the group.

The stage area was massive. If Shadow had to guess, there were at least 200.000 people. And new ones just kept arriving. "Didn't Echo post something about renting a bigger stage because she didn't expect it to be sold out so quickly?" Knuckles pointed out. Oh geez...

Although there were a lot of people there already, the stadium didn't feel cramped at all. One could easily pass through the crowd in case they needed to leave. Since the concert wasn't due to start for at least another few minutes, Shadow decided to look around. He remembered that the tickets were front row, so finding his group again shouldn't be too hard.

As he walked through the stadium, he felt an odd aura all around, yet it felt... familiar. Following the source of the aura, it took him all the way across the building to a door to a restricted area, guarded by security. Judging by the looks of it, this was the door to the backstage area. There were some people in elaborate attire coming and going, and they looked like they were in a hurry.

The aura felt similar to Chaos Energy from the Chaos Emeralds, but at the same time it didn't. That's what was odd about it. He couldn't just waltz right into the backstage area, that would get him kicked out and possibly blacklisted by Echo. However, Shadow had to get to the bottom of this. If there was, in fact, a Chaos Emerald here, then Eggman won't be too far behind. And with over 200.000 people in this stadium...

He had to find Sonic.



Getting back to his spot took longer than expected due to more people having arrived. But once he got back, Sonic's face lit up, "There you are! Where were you, Shads? We've been looking all over!" Shadow put a finger up to his mouth and shushed him, then made a hand gesture for everyone to come closer. When they did, he plainly whispered, "There is Chaos Energy here." The others' eyes widened, the blue hedgehog took a deep breath to feel if he was right.

"What the hell..." He mumbled, "Wait... do you think...?" The dark hedgehog nodded, "It's likely. If Eggman shows up, we have a problem." "Do you know where the source is?" Rouge asked as she looked around the stadium. "Backstage. No way we're getting in without being discovered and kicked out." Shadow explained. Sonic grumbled, "Damn it... Tails? Any ideas?" The fox shook his head, "No. If it's backstage no one has access to that except-"

"Sonic! Never thought we'd see you here!" A booming voice said. When the group looked at the source, they saw Team Chaotix. "Vector! How did I know you were going to be here?" The blue hedgehog said, the mood suddenly skyrocketing. "Oh, you know me! Gotta support your favorite artists! We were lucky to snatch some tickets early! We're in row 2!" The crocodile said. "Nice! Thanks to Amy, we were able to get front row!" Said hedgehog waved at them. Charmy deflated and said, "Seriously?! Aw man... what I wouldn't give to be front row for once in my life..." "We just barely missed the VIP tickets as well. Even though we ordered ours just 5 seconds after they went live." Espio informed them.

Team Chaotix collectively sighed. Then, Charmy noticed something on Sonic's wrist and exclaimed, "VIP bracelets?! Oooooh you lucky bastards! How did you do it?!" The others just whistled innocently. "I can't believe they're meeting her in person... This isn't fair!" The bee cried as he flew off, Espio chasing after him. Vector said, "Sorry, gotta go. You all have fun later!" and then he ran off to follow the others.

"Poor Charmy... he's been trying to get a personal autograph from Echo for ages." Amy said as she frowned at the situation. "Meeting her in person..." Sonic mumbled, and then suddenly had an idea. He gathered his friends again and said, "Are you all thinking what I'm thinking?" They nodded. "Okay, we're most likely going to get kicked out and blacklisted for this, but once the show is over, we only have one chance to go and find that Emerald. We can only hope that Eggman doesn't crash the concert..."

As if on queue, the signature starting riff of Time For Everything started to play and crowd blew up in cheers. Shadow quickly put in the earplugs he grabbed earlier and looked at the big screen above the stage.

It displayed about 3 people, one person on the drums, another on the keyboard and the last on the electric guitar. They all wore the same dark cloak to conceal their faces and body. The song had no lyrics, but it displayed a lot of energy regardless.

As soon as it was over, the people in the stadium cheered and shouted their excitement. The person with the guitar put the instrument down and walked forward. They tore off their cloak to reveal...

Chapter Text

"HELLO MOBIUS!" None other than Echo shouted into the mic that was hanging from the earpiece in her left ear. Even with the earplugs that Shadow was wearing, the crowd was so loud he might as well not be wearing them at all. "I'm so happy to be here, everyone! Unfortunately the concert 2 months from now has to be delayed by another month due to some difficulties behind the scenes." She announced. The crowd sulked at the information. "I also have another piece of news to share! Today's concert is actually for charity!"

"As you all know, I didn't grow up in the best situation. And many families are plagued with the same fate today. But I plan to make a difference! To anyone who is willing and able to, please don't hesitate to donate to the Lifeline Charity. The event hall next to the stadium will be open for the next 4 weeks for donations. Rings, clothes, books, old toys, even hands-on help is greatly appreciated, no matter how little. Remember-"

"EVERY LITTLE THING COUNTS!!!" The whole stadium said in unison. "I'm so proud of all of you! SO! In order for you to not miss me while I'm gone, I gotta sing EXTRA loud!"

Echo then walked back to the other 2 people in cloaks as they removed them and more of them entered the stage. The lights went out and the sound of a retro TV could be heard.

The song was called ECHO, conveniently enough. Echo's voice was interesting. It sounded almost artificial. Shadow had no idea what to make of the lyrics. Most people who write and sing songs put their own experiences in them. If that is the same for the wolf, then she must have one hell of a backstory. Being afraid of change is normal, but burning a house down? That's extreme. And the dance emitted so much energy, Shadow'd be surprised if she was able to keep it up the entire night.

The next song was a bit more upbeat. The title being Ikkitousen. The dark hedgehog had no idea that Echo spoke multiple languages, but 2 monitors on the sides of the big one in the center had translated lyrics that were very helpful in understanding what this was about. This song was about keeping on going no matter what the odds against you are. And honestly, he should have expected it, but hearing Echo swear in this song... he liked it. The dance this time was not as elaborate as the previous one, but still very nice to look at. The background dancers definitely helped.

Next up was WILDFIRE. This song had a heavier topic, although it had a rather positive melody, the meaning behind the lyrics did not escape Shadow. To him, it sounded like it was about an abusive relationship. But Echo sang the song with such a big smile on her face that he can't imagine it ever being real. Everyone chimed in when the Wildfire cheer appeared. Except for him. And the guitar riff... Oh goodness, the riff. Now this was something more up Shadow's alley. She worked the guitar like magic, her movements during it going wild with passion. This showed that she truly loved what she was doing.

The next song was Crystalline. And that song, much to his dismay, reinforced the abusive relationship theory. This time there was no elaborate dance, just some movements here and there. But this was the moment where Shadow realized that Echo was no ordinary singer. She put so much love and care into every performance, it's no wonder she's so popular.

Up next was B.B.F., the song that Amy hoped would be in the program today. This one had 2 different languages and the lyrics were certainly... something. Putting boys with inflated ego's in their place is something respectable, and Echo definitely seems like a person to not shy away from voicing her opinion. The dance this time was, yet again, energetic. But this time it wasn't all about choreography, it was about having fun. And Amy and Rouge were absolutely having fun in the way they moved with the song. And then there was the rap part... Shadow didn't know a person could talk so fast. If she did it any faster, Echo would be right up Sonic's alley.

The song that followed was called MONSTER. Throughout the whole concert so far, Shadow has noticed a pattern. The order the songs were played in was as if she was telling a story. And this song was no exception. MONSTER was about not backing down in the face of criticism and negativity.

It could've been so different between us
But then you went and messed everything up
You took a knife and stabbed me in the back
Took everything I had
Went to your friends and laughed
This is the last time
I'm gonna tell you now
If you try to break me
I'm gonna burn you down
Oh baby I'm done with you
Not coming back for you

That must've been quite the altercation... Echo's face during the bridge was filled with pain and hate as she sang. The dance that followed was full of raw energy, and no one could pull that off without having first-hand experience with things like this.

Then, Echo grabbed a normal microphone and walked along the catwalk that connected to the middle of the stage. "I'm sure all of you know what time it is!" She said into the mic and put a hand to her ear to hear the crowd.

"FAN REQUESTS!!!" They shouted.

Shadow looked at Sonic and asked, "What does that mean?" The blue hedgehog replied, "Fan Requests is the time where the next 5 songs can be randomly chosen by attendees of the concert. You can choose any song you want, no matter how old!" That was... oddly generous of her.

Echo looked through the front row and hummed in deep thought. "You there." She pointed at Rouge. To say that the bat was flabbergasted was an understatement. The wolf leaned down and said, "Don't worry, there's no rush. Take your time." when she saw how nervous the other was. Rouge looked at her friends as she thought about which song to pick. She spotted Shadow and suddenly got an idea. He didn't like the look on her face. Echo held the mic to her and the latter said, "Killer Lady."

Echo looked a bit taken aback at the suggestion and asked, "Are you sure about that?" Rouge pointed at Shadow with her eyes and the wolf followed her look. When she spotted the dark hedgehog, she said, "Oh." Then, she smiled and stood up again. "Well... as you wish." The music started as she took her first step back towards the stage. Shadow immediately questioned the bat, "What are you doing?!" "You'll see~."

Killer Lady, to put it mildly, was vulgar. From the first pre-chorus onwards, the song took a turn. Shadow did not expect to read such lyrics today. And don't get him started on the dance. It was downright seductive. How she's able to sing and dance like this with a straight face was beyond him.

The next song that was chosen was Masked Bitch. "Keeping with the theme, eh? Damn y'all are down bad today!" Echo said. Oh no.

This one was more on the tame side, but you could still tell that it was rather suggestive. The choreography wasn't any better. Still seductive, just a bit toned down. However the underlying message of the song was... concerning.

WAVE was requested next. The melody was full of energy yet again, however the theme of the lyrics did not fly past the dark hedgehog. It was subtle, and many people may disagree, but his interpretation of it was that the song was about heartbreak and the depression that follows after. The healing one goes through, as well as looking towards the future.

Love Is War. A cliché that Shadow saw coming from a mile away. However in this song Echo was able to work her guitar, which the hedgehog had to agree was pretty nice. Dancing was not a big part of this one. Apparently this one was the remastered version since the old one was already 7 years old.

Only one more song request to go.

"Luvoratory? That's an oldie. How long have you been a fan?" Echo asked the audience member. "I was at your first street performance..." They replied. The people around them cheered and patted them on the back. "Well fuck me! The world is small! As you wish!" Echo had a huge smile on her face as she walked back to the stage.

This one was not as bad as Killer Lady, but a bit worse than Masked Bitch in terms of lyrics. And the way she could hold a note, Shadow was surprised her vocal cords were still in tact. There were a few parts where a man was rapping, but he had no idea what was up with that. He'd ask Sonic or Rouge later...

"Phew! That was something! You know how it goes, every 10 songs we take a short break. Buuuut since I was feeling generous I let you get away with one more. I'll be back in 10 so don't go anywhere while I'm gone!" Echo announced and walked backstage.

Sonic immediately shook Rouge by her arms, "You got picked by Echo! This is a huge honor!" The bat looked like she was about to pass out when he let go, "Chaos, I was so nervous I thought I was gonna mess it up!" Knuckles chimed in, "Good thing you didn't or else we would never be able to show our faces down here again..."

Shadow tapped Sonic's shoulder and asked, "What was with that male voice just now?" The blue hedgehog explained, "Oh, that was an unknown singer that was part of a very few songs. No one knows who the guy was but some theories are going around that it could have been her brother, cousin, or even boyfriend at the time. Actually... guys?" He looked at the others, "Do you think she'll perform FADE again in the future?" Amy looked skeptical, "Unlikely. The male part in the song is way too prominent and leaving it out or changing the voice would cause a great impact on her performances."

"I can still hope!" He argued.

Chapter Text

The concert resumed 10 minutes later just as planned.

Can't Stand You. It was one of the more calm songs. However, the last line was unexpected to say the least.

I can't stand myself.

What followed were a series of songs that had a prominent self-destructive nature. The Faulty Feline Philosophy, Goodbye, Crocodile Skin, Again, Cannibalove, Cotton Candy, Cry, How To Pretend, and Digital Girl.

It was as if Echo was slowly losing it through her music.

After the break, the songs that were up next were Conqueror, Snobbism, Piece Of Art, Nobody Makes Sense, The Last Of Me, Ladylike, Konoyo Loading, Ghost Rule, Burn Me Down, and a remastered version of Lost One's Weeping.

"Alright, everyone. Last round of Fan Requests! Make it count!" Echo announced.

The first request was Locked In A Game. Another gamer song, of course. How did Shadow see this coming. This song showed off just how vast her vocal range was.

The second one was Karma. The old version that wasn't in a foreign language. Imagining Echo as a very spiteful and petty person wasn't as hard as the dark hedgehog thought.

The third was Machine Gun. During the chorus, the dance turned very snappy and the lyrics caught his attention as well. Did the wolf have experience with weapons?

The next one however...

"You there. Which one would you like to hear?" Echo asked her chosen audience member. With confidence he replied, "I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry."

Collectively, the entire stadium gasped. Sonic put a hand over his mouth and mumbled, "Oh, fuck... not this one..." Shadow could see Echo's expression on the big screen and she was absolutely frozen in place by the person's answer. "...Sick fuck..." She murmured into the mic and took a few deep breaths.

"What's so bad about that song?" Shadow asked. "It's one of the most controversial songs that Echo has ever released. It was only up for a week before she had to private the video. Only those who have the link have access to it now." Sonic explained, "It was supposed to be a song to raise awareness of the situation in Downtown District, and it achieved its goal. But..." Shadow rolled his eyes and pressed on, "But what?"

"Wipe that smug grin off your face, you sick fucking asshole. You're blacklisted after this." Echo said. "Everyone, if you can, please ignore the lyrics and enjoy the melody." And then the music started playing.

From the moment the lyrics started, Shadow realized why everyone's reaction was so bad. He wanted to throw up. What the fuck was wrong with this place?!

After the song, he immediately grabbed Sonic, "Tell me this isn't what she went through." The blue hedgehog's eyes widened as he frantically explained, "Good Chaos, no! It was about a friend she lost who was in exactly that situation..." Good lord.

"I know none of us expected for... that song to be requested... but please don't let it bring you down! You are all here because you enjoy listening to my music, and I'm here because I love performing for you! I won't let a single song request like that bring me down, and it shouldn't do that to you guys either. Let's all take a short 5 minute break while we collect ourselves so I can end this concert on a positive note!" The crowd cheered for her speech as Echo left the stage.

The person who requested the song had his VIP bracelet taken away and was escorted out of the stadium as the other audience members reprimanded and shunned him, saying he should be ashamed of himself and that he deserves the blacklist.

Shadow had to admit, that song made him feel sick to his stomach. To even have the guts to write such a thing, let alone sing it, Echo had to have the strongest stomach in the world. Sonic put a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?" The dark hedgehog shrugged it off with a snarl, "I'm fine, faker. Stop worrying so much."

"Trust me. Everyone had a hard time processing I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry. It came out of nowhere that day..." Tails trailed off. Amy continued, "At the time, people were worried about Echo's situation because she published the song without a caption or explanation. Some fans even went so far as to call local authorities for a welfare check. A week later, the video was removed and Echo explained that her closest friend had been in that exact situation described in the song... and passed away."

Ah. Now it clicked. This song wasn't just a memorial for her friend, a very... crude one at that. But it was a cry for help...

...He'd have to do more research on this place.

Chapter Text

When Echo returned to the stage, she announced, "Alright everybody! I know there's technically only one Fan Request left, however due to the... incident earlier, I've decided to add another request!" The wolf walked down the cat walk part of the stage and looked carefully through the crowd in the front row.

When she picked an audience member they said, "GimmexGimme!" "Ooooooh! It's been a while since I've done that one!" The singer replied.

The song was rather poppy, not really Shadow's style. However, the choreography was very good. Especially since all the background dancers were in sync with her movements to a T. From what Shadow counted, there were at least 30 dancers, so getting every single one of them to perfect it must've been a nightmare. And at the end, he understood what the song was about. Honestly, depending on which perspective was hers, it was either very surprising or not surprising at all. The former because Echo doesn't seem like the person to purposely cheat, the latter because of Echo's popularity, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for people to flirt with her, male or female.

"Alright, last request for today's concert! Let's see who's the lucky winner!" She announced and walked down the catwalk one last time. All of the attendees in the front row raised their hands, begging to be picked. Echo looked deep in thought as she took each step, eventually ending up at the very end.

"...you." She said and pointed at Shadow. The others' eyes went wide, knowing he wouldn't be able to pick a title since he hadn't heard about Echo up until a few days ago. Way to put a guy on the spot...

"You're new here right? I can see in your eyes that you've never been to events like this, let alone mine." She said. The dark hedgehog hesitantly nodded. Echo smiled and asked, "Well, what would you like to hear?" and held the microphone towards him. Shadow thought for a few seconds, not really knowing what to answer with. He settled on, "Your favorite."

Echo raised an eyebrow and questioned, "Are you sure? This one might be doozy." Shadow nodded again. The wolf smiled, "Alright. You might want to take out your earplugs though, I want everyone to hear it in the most authentic way. Bring it up for KIMERA!"

"Kimera? Wait, isn't that the one that was canceled 2 years ago?" Knuckles wondered. "I think so. She must've finished it behind the scenes. I'm excited now!" Tails squealed. The lights went out completely in the stadium, so Shadow reluctantly took out his earplugs.

From the very start, the song sounded... different. Shadow didn't know if Echo used something to alter her voice, but it was a bit more grainy than the previous songs. The way the stage was lit up was interesting as well. Most of the light came from the attire the the background dancers were wearing, and Echo herself was lit up from that light as well as some strange aura. It felt like...

...Chaos Energy.

It wasn't a lot, but the dark hedgehog certainly felt it.

The choreography of Kimera was less of a dance and more of an art. The way they moved their hands reminded Shadow of something he saw a while back, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

During the second verse, Echo's voice turned even more rough, and more and more dancers appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The last chorus was where he counted more than 100 background dancers, with the wolf right in the middle of them. They were in perfect sync.

Something about the lyrics of Kimera struck Shadow in an odd way. Feeling like you're 2 different people, those sides conflicting with one another, trying to rid oneself of one without hurting the other, but failing. This might be his favorite yet, however not for positive reasons.

After the song, Tails began to ramble, "I can't believe she actually finished this one. Ever since her announcement of having to cancel the release of Kimera, people lost hope and thought that it would forever be stuck in a type of development hell. After all the teasers and practice clips, people were excited only to ultimately be disappointed." Rouge continued, "Kimera was a project that Echo put so much time, love and effort into that we couldn't help but feel bad for her..."

Echo once again stepped forward, announcing, "Alright everyone, it's time to wrap this up!" The audience voiced their disapproval. "Now, now. There's no need to be upset. You all know how much I love being here, how much I love seeing all the happy faces when I give them something they enjoy. If someone had told me 10 years ago that I would end up here, on a big stage surrounded by hundreds and thousands of people, I wouldn't have believed them. Every single person here is the reason why I can continue to do what I love."

"Thank you for being part of this journey with me. I love you, all of you."

After Echo finished her speech, Sonic said, "This is the last song for today. It's kind of the song that encapsulates every single era she went through. It has 4 different parts and every single one is a doozy. So try to keep up, faker." He teased. Shadow snarled at him as the lights went out once more.

ME!ME!ME!

The first part of the song had a very positive vibe and all around very bubbly, as well as the dance. The lyrics reinforced that, being about good memories and seeing towards the future with high hopes.

However, it quickly took a turn. The atmosphere turned dark, the text spewing resentment and disdain. The movements of the dance were more snappy and hard than before the shift.

The lights changed to a more somber vibe as the second part of the song started. The lyrics captured the sadness and heartbreak perfectly, and the way Echo moved during it showed raw emotion that not many are able to achieve.

The third part barely had any lines at all and had yet another vibe change. For this one they used the same lighting technique as Kimera, and the dance was full of aggression that was only seen back when she performed MONSTER.

For the last part, Echo stepped onto the end of the catwalk connected to the stage. It had a similar atmosphere to the first, but the text was more sassy and full of disgust. Her solo dance was full of energy and she had this bright smile on her face that was downright contagious. Something else that Shadow noticed, there was an enormous Chaos Energy spike. And it was coming directly from Echo.

For the final verse, the light only illuminated her, everything else was dark. The text was as if she was calling out for a better love and life than the one she had in the past. The Sayonara at the end signified the finale of the concert as Echo was surrounded by smoke and disappeared.

The crowd was still going crazy over the performance, the background dancers slowly leaving the stage as the first attendees left the stadium. Shadow stood there, staring at where Echo once was. He flinched when Rouge but a hand on his shoulder, "You good?" "If we don't go now, we'll miss the chance to get the Emerald." Knuckles reminded everyone. The dark hedgehog nodded as they all made their way towards the VIP area of the stadium. "Okay, one of us has to go looking for it while the others distract-"

"HOLD IT." They were stopped by one of the lion security guards. Uh oh.

Sonic started sweating when he saw the man, "Uh... is something wrong, sir?" The lion looked at Shadow, then at the others, then back at Shadow, "You there. These with you?" He hesitantly nodded and the security guard said, "Follow me." as he turned around and beckoned them to follow him, way from the VIP area.

"Oh no... are we in trouble?" Amy frowned. "Did someone hear our plan and reported us to Echo and now they're kicking us out?!" Rouge whisper-shouted. Sonic was downright panicking, "Nonononono... this can't be happening... this is bad, this is bad..."

"You coming or do I have to make you?" The lion threatened. The group looked at one another and reluctantly went with the guard.

Chapter Text

They had been following the security guard through a long, white corridor and were wondering where they were being led. They can't be backstage, because that door was next to the one they went through.

Amy decided to speak up, "Uhm... excuse me? Where are we-" "Quiet." The lion interrupted her. The pink hedgehog flinched at the harshness of his voice and immediately shut her mouth. He stopped at a plain door and said, "Wait inside." and then walked off. The first one to go inside was Tails as he checked out the room. It had furniture like tables, chairs and a few couches, and was rather big. Other than that however, it was empty. It looked like a lobby room or a common room you would sometimes see in dorms.

"What is this place...?" The fox wondered. "Is it safe?" Knuckles asked, looking around for any possible traps. "I doubt they would put anything dangerous here, considering that Echo had her concert today." Rouge argued.

Sonic sat on one of the couches and said, "Well, not much we can do other than what we were told. Shadow, is the Chaos Energy still nearby?" The hedgehog in question closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling the aura. "It's still close, but further away." Rouge opened the door just slightly and peeked outside. The bat saw multiple security guards on both ends of the hallway. She closed the door again and said, "We're surrounded. No way we're leaving without being spotted." The others sighed in annoyance.

Sonic, however, had an expression on his face that suggested that he was deep in thought. Tails sat next to him and asked, "What's wrong, Sonic? We'll get that Chaos Emerald before Eggman, don't worry!" The hedgehog shook his head and replied, "That's the thing. What if it's not an Emerald?" Shadow raised a questioning eyebrow, "Are you saying I lied?" The other quickly put his hands up in defense and explained, "Chaos, no! It's just... the energy feels similar to them, but not the same. Just similar. That's what stumps me right now. Is there anything else that holds similar power to a Chaos Emerald?"

This... had them thinking. "Unlikely. The only other thing that is as strong, or stronger is the Master Emerald. Unless..." Rouge said and trailed off as she looked at Knuckles. "What? Why are you looking at me?" He questioned, until the dots connected, "As far as I know, there is no other object more powerful, let alone similar to the Emeralds. Well... except for..." He looked at Sonic, who frowned and groaned out a response. "Ugh, don't remind me... but that thing was destroyed and disposed of ages ago."

"So back to square one. Hmmm... if this is a new power we don't know about yet, Eggman will surely be on the hunt for it. Since you guys say that the energy feels similar to a Chaos Emerald, there's no doubt that it's going to be powerful." Amy reasoned.

But what could that be?



About an hour and a half later, the door suddenly opened, revealing the lion security guard that led them to the room in the first place. "Come with me." They all looked confused, but walked after him.

The lion took them to another room and they heard a rather familiar voice.

"...yeah, I'm in my room. How long until you're here? ...awesome! I can't wait to see you again! ...yeah, yeah! I know! I'll see you in a bit, kisses!" They then hung up the phone.

"Miss, I brought them." The lion said, and the person turned around to reveal none other than Echo herself. "Oh! Thanks, Leo! You can go now!" The lion, Leo, left the room.

The wolf's eyes widened, "Oh... my... god... you're Sonic the Hedgehog!!" She immediately hounded him and rambled on, "Oh Chaos, it's such an honor to finally meet you! I can't believe this is happening...!" She even squealed from excitement. Sonic was, quite frankly, dumbfounded. "Uuuuh... you know me?" He asked. Echo looked offended and gasped, "Of course I know you! You're the fastest thing alive! The blue blur! The one who keeps beating the shit out of Doctor Robotnik!"

She jumped in place, "I'm a huge fan! Can I get your autograph?!" and handed him a pen and a piece of paper. After Sonic, nervously, gave THE Echo an autograph, she happily taped it to a mirror full of sticky notes with celebrities' names on them. She gave a proud smile and nod before turning back towards Sonic and his friends. "Sorry about that, I get excited pretty easily... I should formally introduce myself." She held out her hand for him to shake, "Hello, I'm Echo. Pleasure to meet you." Slowly, the blue hedgehog shook her hand, "Sonic..." After they let go, he mumbled, "I'm never washing this hand again."

"Ewwwwww." The others collectively said while Echo just laughed.

She then turned to the others. "And what are your names?" She asked. They all introduced themselves one by one, first Amy, then Knuckles, Rouge, and when Tails introduced himself, the wolf's eyes went wide again, "Oooooh, I've never met a fox with 2 tails before! That's so cool!" The fox blushed at her compliment. The last one to introduce himself was Shadow. And when Echo looked at him, her smile went wide, "Aaaaah. The newbie. What's your name?" "He doesn't talk a lot. So don't be disappointed if you don’t get a satisfying answer." Rouge informed the wolf.

"...Shadow." The dark hedgehog said plainly. Echo chuckled, "Edgy. I like it. You're actually the reason why you and your friends are here." Sonic started to sweat, "Did we do something...? If we offended you in any way we sincerely apologize!" "Oh no! Don't worry! I was just curious about something. Specifically the newbie."

Huh?

"Shadow? He's literally the most boring person on Mobius." Knuckles was exaggerating, and they knew that, but Echo didn't. "But that's exactly what makes him interesting!" She then turned towards the dark hedgehog and asked, "You've never heard of me, have you." It wasn't a question, but a fact. "How did you know?" He asked. The wolf crossed her arms and explained, "Easy. The way you looked at me suggested that you've never seen me before, and the fact that you didn't do the Wildfire cheer when I sang that. Everyone who at least heard of me knows about it." "That's true." Knuckles said.

"So? Is it a crime to not like music that much?" He asked. Rouge coughed, "Certain genres..." He glared at her and the latter just stuck out her tongue. "Chaos, no! I'm not offended at all! I'm just impressed! What with you having a VIP bracelet and all. Actually, now that I think about it... can all of you show me your tickets?" Echo asked. Everyone took out their concert tickets and handed them to the wolf. As she carefully checked the paper slips, she typed something on her watch. A holographic screen appeared in the air in front of her, which could be physically interacted with. It was the latest technology of holographic gear, Tails had told them about it a couple of weeks ago.

"So I was right! These are the tickets I gave to-"

"Silver! You can't just go into her room like tha-" Someone said as the door was opened.

"Silver! Blaze!" Echo exclaimed and hugged the both of them close. "You guys were taking forever!" Blaze rolled her eyes and said, "That's because someone wouldn't stop hoarding all the snacks at the party." Silver cried, "You know how much I love macaroons!" The wolf facepalmed, "Fucking damn it! I forgot about the After Party!" "What party?" Sonic asked.

"Everyone who gets VIP tickets has the chance to go to the Echo After Party. All kinds of celebrities and shit will be there, they exchange information with people who might be good for their brand and stuff." Echo explained, "And you all have VIP bracelets. So.... Who's ready for a little party?"

Chapter Text

An After Party was not in Shadow's plan. But neither was meeting Echo in person. On the way there, the wolf kept on talking and talking with Silver and Blaze, acting as if they hadn't seen eachother in months, when in reality they had been together just 2 weeks ago. How the fuck Silver of all people knew Echo was beyond everyone's understanding.

Getting to the party was easy, but interacting with it was another story. Shadow was not one for social interactions, and the concert alone was more than enough for him.

The party took place on the top floor of a very fancy hotel. It had an outdoor disco, a bar and even a pool. Echo had mentioned renting the big stadium that the concert took place in. Did she also rent this hotel for the night?

The moment that Echo stepped in, the people there cheered for her and patted her on the back. This is why Shadow didn't like celebrities. Too loud, obnoxious and annoying. However, something about Echo was... different.



Throughout the night, Shadow stood at the sidelines, watching the others so they don't get out of hand. He could still feel the strange aura in the area, but where was the source? He felt it in the stadium, but now they left it and the energy felt closer than ever. Could it be...?

Rouge walked up next to him with a glass of champagne in her hand. "How're you holding up?" She asked. The hedgehog rolled his eyes and replied, "You know the answer to that." "Sure do. Was just hoping for a different answer this time." Suddenly, Echo walked up to them with Amy in tow. "Rouge! Guess who's here!" The pink hedgehog seemed very excited. The bat had no idea, so she replied, "I don't know, hun. But judging from your reaction it has to be someone I'm interested in."

"Serafina the Cat." Amy said.

"Shut. Up." Rouge replied in disbelief.

Echo chuckled, "It's true. 'Fina is an old friend of mine and she just returned from her latest fashion show."

Shadow remembered that name. Serafina the Cat is one of the most powerful people in the fashion industry. What she says, goes. And Rouge had been idolizing her for years, owned every single magazine that had her clothing in it, drew her own sketches inspired by her style, heck she even had the opportunity to be at one of her shows once. One time she managed to get an appointment at her headquarters to show off her work, only to be rejected at the reception for reasons unknown. That day was horrible for both of them.

Since Shadow and Rouge were practically neighbors, he went over to her house when she didn't reply to his messages anymore, and found her absolutely destroyed on her couch, eating mint chocolate ice cream and watching a bad romcom. When she explained what had happened, that Serafina canceled the appointment and forgot to inform her, Shadow offered to... talk to the receptionist. The way the bat made it sound, the person wasn't nice about it and resorted to having her kicked out unpromted. The hedgehog didn't know how to comfort people, but Rouge was one of the select few that he tolerated and trusted enough to try.

He ended up watching the romcom with her and when he made a funny comment at one of the scenes, he managed to get a little chuckle out of her.

"I can introduce you to her if you want. Amy told me how much you like her!" Echo offered. Hesitantly, Rouge turned to Shadow, shooting him a questioning look. He nodded at her and said, "I'll go with you. Just in case." The look in the bat's eyes told him that she understood what he meant. They both don't want a repeat of what happened a year ago.

They went over to Serafina, and she was way taller than they both thought she would be, not just because of the heels. "Hey, 'Fina! We're back!" Echo announced. Serafina smiled at them and replied, "Is that the sweetheart you told me about, Amy?" "Yep, that's the one! Meet Rouge, one of my best friends, big fan of yours and aspiring designer." The hedgehog said. The cat looked confused, "Rouge? Why does that name sound familiar..." The bat started sweating and explained, "I had an appointment with you about a year ago, but..."

"Oh right! You're the one who didn't show up that day! It was such a bummer, I was looking forward to it. Did something happen that made you miss it?" The cat looked worried. To say that Rouge was confused was an understatement. "Wait... but you were to one who canceled on me without informing me." She said. Serafina argued, "I never cancel appointments without telling a person. I know that time is valuable and I would never waste someone else's like that. My secretary personally makes sure of that."

...

"Oh." That's when it clicked for them. The cat looked angry as she shouted, "Alejandro!" A lime green fox in a fancy suit walked over to them, "Yes, m'lady?" An angry looking wolf, bat, 2 hedgehogs and a, quite frankly, furious Serafina greeted him. When he spotted the bat, he tensed. He remembered her.

"Care to explain what's going on here, hun?" The cat said very calmly. Alejandro started to sweat, but kept a straight face, "Well, I thought-" "You thought? Alejandro, not only did you waste my time that day, you wasted hers as well. You broke an innocent girl's heart for what? Just because you THOUGHT something and didn't consult me first. Look, I've let the first time slide, because you were new, the second time I gave you a month of unpaid time off to teach you a lesson. This time, I'm not gonna let that continue. First time's a chance, second is coincidence, third is a pattern." Serafina crossed her arms as she went on.

"You're fired." She said. Alejandro pleaded with her, "M'lady, please, I won't do it again! I beg of you, I need this job!" Echo then snapped her fingers and shouted, "Leo! Lio!" Then, both of the lion security guards grabbed the fox by the arms and dragged him away. Serafina sighed and turned to Rouge, "I'm so sorry about this... I can book another appointment with you if you'll give me another chance." The bat's wings shivered from excitement as she nodded and said, "Of course! I'd be more than happy to!"

The tall cat smiled and put a hand on her chin, "I do need a new secretary though... Barbara!" A fancy looking pink lemur stepped up next to her, "Already on it, miss." The lemur must've prepared to take over Alejandro's position for quite some time. As she looked through the calendar for a date, Serafina looked over at her event manager that was currently downing one sweet treat after another and said, "Hailey, you're getting promoted to my personal assistant." The lavender hedgehog in question stood there, completely frozen as she dropped a cupcake.

"Hailey has wanted that position for months. Since I'm the secretary now, she's getting my spot." Barbara said nonchalantly. "Does Wednesday in 3 weeks at 2pm sound good to you?" She asked Rouge, who nodded, too stunned to speak. Echo gave a relieved sigh and said, "I'm so glad that he's gone. Alejandro has always been an asshole to people, high status or not." Serafina lamented, "If you had told me that earlier I would have fired him ages ago!"

Shadow asked, "Are celebrities always this nice to fans?" The wolf's ears lowered a bit as she explained, "Not always. There certainly are some rotten apples around, you just have to be careful when you interact with them." Amy smiled and chimed in, "But that makes you all the more amazing! You're very understanding, you love your fans, you go through great lengths to give us something we enjoy. Most people wouldn't even give VIP stuff to anyone. Not even their closest friends. What you do is admirable." Echo couldn't help but blush at that.

"Echo! There you are!" Someone from behind them suddenly shouted, which made the wolf in question tense up. Serafina quickly shook her head and said, "Not this bastard again..."

A dark brown dog walked up to them and said, "Thank goodness I found you! I was wondering if you got my messages." Echo groaned and replied, "Yes, Surge. I got all 254 messages you sent me over the last year." 'Excessive.' Shadow thought. "I'm just here to ask you to think about-"

"Shut up, Surge. I told you like a million times that I'm not interested in any kind of deal you have to offer me. I told you to leave me the fuck alone and what you're doing is harassment of the highest degree. Now fuck off before I decide to drop the nice face." The wolf interrupted him. The dog scoffed and replied, "All I'm trying to do is to do what's best for you. One day you're gonna need me and then you'll be sorry that you missed a great opportunity."

"And all I'm trying to do is to get you to leave me the fuck alone you piece of-" Echo's voice got louder as she talked until she stopped herself and took a deep breath, mumbling, "Calm down, Echo... he's not worth the energy... think of your happy place... zen..." When she calmed down, she said, "Surge, please leave my party before I have you escorted out by force. I don't need you, I don't need anyone to help me. I got here all on my own and I will go even further on my own. I. Don't. Need. You. Bye."

Echo turned around to leave, but...

"Oh no, you don't!" Surge said as he harshly grabbed her tail and tugged on it, making the wolf lash out and bite at him with a startling bark.

Everyone around them was taken aback by the noise and took some steps back. Shadow frowned at the display.

Echo was in a defensive stance, her teeth were bared, her fur stood on end and her eyes were full of fear. He recognized a reaction like this. Trauma response.

Chapter Text

Echo was still growling at Surge, who had just gotten the fright of his life. Immediately, the lions from earlier were at her side. "Echo! Are you okay?!" The first one asked. "Miss, we're here now. He can't hurt you." The other said. The wolf took a couple more seconds to calm her breathing and mumbled, "Get him out..." So they did.

Serafina put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Come on, honey. Let's get you a seat and some water..." as the cat led her to an empty chair. As she sat down, Silver and Blaze came running over along with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. The moment the white hedgehog saw the wolf, he kneeled in front of her and asked, "Are you okay...? Did he hurt you...?" "I'm fine... just got a little fright..." Blaze quickly got a glass of water for Echo, which the latter gladly took.

After Echo calmed down, she explained, "That guy has been trying to make me sign a contract with his agency for years. I was about to sign it the first time he gave it to me when I noticed something about the fine print. Not only would I not have a right to the songs I make in the future, I would also lose my rights to the ones I already published, only 5% of the revenue I make now would actually go to me, the rest to Surge, AND I wouldn't be allowed to interact with fans ever again."

Everyone grimaced at this, with Sonic speaking up, "That's probably the worst deal I've ever heard of." "Tell me about it... he kept changing the terms of it but I still wasn't satisfied. The thing is that he's getting desperate. His agency is close to bankruptcy, so if he were to get me in, money would flow into it like a waterfall. But I'm not about that. Once it closes down I can finally rest..." Echo sounded exhausted at the end.

"It should only take about another 6 weeks before he closes." Serafina said. "Honestly, I would have filed a restraining order ages ago, but someone decided to be stubborn as always." She shot an accusatory glare at Echo, who simply stuck out her tongue and hugged her tail close to her chest. The fur of her tail was still puffed out as she tried to get it to lay flat once more.

Echo must've been terrified when that Surge guy had yanked her tail back. The noise she made when she went out to bite him was one of pure fear and panic. Silver rubbed small circles on her back as Leo and Lio returned. The former said, "The threat has been dealt with, miss." The latter groaned, "You always sound so serious, Leo. You should chill out once in a while."

"I am."

"Are you?"

"Yes. Maybe you should take your job more seriously."

"Asshole."

"Bastard."

Echo chuckled, "Guys, that's enough. Sonic and friends, meet Leo and Lio, my bodyguards." Lio's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Sonic?! As in Sonic the Hedgehog?!" Leo sighed, "Here we go..."

Lio immediately beamed and crouched in front of the blue hedgehog due to their respective heights. "Oh my Chaos, I'm a big fan! May I take a picture with you?" He asked. Sonic, although flustered, looked at his group of friends and replied, "Only if you include them." "Of course! Even better!" The lion had a similar holographic watch to Echo's, activating the camera feature. As they got ready for the picture, Rouge noticed that Shadow was still standing away from them. When Lio said, "Say Eggman!" The bat pulled him into the frame as the camera sound went off.

Lio squealed over the photo as Shadow berated Rouge for what she did as she just stuck out her tongue at him.

Leo sighed and said, "I can't believe you're actually my brother sometimes." The other lion pouted, replying, "Let me be happy for once..." Leo then shook his head and, with a barely noticeable smile, gently ruffled his brother's mane.



They all stayed close together as the night went on. Serafina had to leave early due to having a meeting the following morning. Eventually, Rouge asked Echo, "I can't help but be curious, how exactly did you meet Silver and Blaze?" The wolf looked at the people in question and answered, "That was about 4 years ago now, I think. They were at one of my concerts and had VIP bracelets just like all of you. It may not look like it, but Silver and I get along really well! I remember how nervous he was when he first saw me. I thought he was gonna pass out."

The white hedgehog sighed, "I made a fool of myself that day..." "Don't you always?" Teased Blaze. After Silver crossed his arms, the cat continued, "At first, I was very apprehensive about meeting Echo in person. I thought she was going to be another one of those fake celebrities that pretend to care about their fans. But it turns out, I was wrong." Echo blushed and looked away.

"She liked us so much that we exchanged contacts and the rest is history." Silver finished. "It's not my fault I don't see people from the surface that often..." Echo argued. The white hedgehog smirked and aggressively ruffled the wolf's hair, "Don't worry, we still love ya!" Before Echo could get a chance to kill him, Leo spoke up, "Miss, Ruby is here." She cursed under her breath and quickly fixed her hair before saying, "Sorry everyone. I have to leave for a bit, but I promise I'll be back in a jiffy." The wolf left with both of her bodyguards in tow.

"Who's Ruby?" Amy asked as she looked at Silver and Blaze. They both frowned, Blaze replying, "I don't know. I've never heard this name before." The other mused, "Based on her reaction, it must be someone very important." "Another celebrity?" Tails asked. "Unlikely. We know almost everyone down here by name, and that one never came up before, so this Ruby person can't be too popular." Blaze argued. Rouge looked in direction that Echo left in and said, "She looked so serious... do you think something bad happened?" "Let's hope not."



As the party started to fizzle out, Echo still hadn't returned. It had been about an hour and a half. To say that Silver and Blaze were worried would be an understatement. Sonic and his friends watched as the both of them paced around the venue. The both of them knew Echo, better than anyone. So when they panic, it is grounds for others to lose their minds as well.

Silver kept looking at his phone every single time he got a notification in hopes that the wolf had texted him something like, hey something came up or I'm too exhausted to go on tonight, sorry. But that didn't happen.

Amy frowned at the display and offered, "Maybe we should go look for her?" Silver immediately shot that down with, "Absolutely not. Downtown District is dangerous, especially to newcomers like you. If you get lost, there's no way anyone can ensure your safety." Sonic tried to argue, "But-" "He's right. If you're not a local, the chances of you getting in trouble rise significantly. The law down here works a bit differently than up above." Blaze cut him off.

The group of friends kept arguing back and forth, so Shadow decided to step away and look over the railing of the balcony of the top floor of the hotel they were at. He had to be honest, the view was amazing. The fact that Downtown District looked a lot like modern cities on earth was interesting. It was just a bit more... advanced, as was evident with the gear that Echo and her security guards were wearing.

Someone walked up to him from behind and leaned against the railing as well. It was Blaze. "Quite the commotion back there." She said. Shadow just shrugged. "You know, I can tell you're curious about her." He stiffened a bit. "Hey." This time, he looked at the cat as she continued, "If you wanna talk to her, she's up there." She nodded up towards the roof of the hotel. "The fire escape stairs are just on the side." She added and walked back towards the others.

Shadow spotted the stairs that Blaze was referring to and pondered on it for a bit. Although he would prefer to keep his distance, he had to admit that he was curious about Echo. Something about her just... intrigued him.

If anyone said they spotted Shadow going up those stairs, they're lying.

Chapter Text

The second Shadow got to the roof, he noticed the absence of wind. Usually, the higher you go, the more windy it gets. The dark hedgehog noticed Echo leaning on the edge with her arms, looking down at the city. He approached her with light steps, but flinched when she spoke up, "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Shadow stood next to her and looked at her.

Echo had such a fond expression on her face, as if she was looking at her greatest achievement. "I've always thought that Downtown was breathtaking." She said. Shadow looked at the view below, it was the same view from earlier, just at a slightly different angle. "But... living here isn't always easy, y'know..."

"You're fucked from the moment your mom pushes you out. You'd be lucky to be born in a relatively safe area. There is no education system or schools down here, so your parents have to teach you everything. Pay isn't very good either. You have to have a very stable position at your job in order to get by on your own. I was lucky with my little street performances." She explained.

Echo put her chin on her hand and continued, "Sometimes living down here is like chewing through leather. If I didn't have the job I have now, I probably wouldn't be alive today. Same with my sister." "You have a sister?" Shadow asked. The wolf nodded, "Yep. I love her a lot. That's why I'm trying to get her out of here."

"Like I said, you're fucked from the moment you're born, and she's no exception. I want to get her out of here so she can have a better future. She's only 16, so I have to wait a little longer until she's an adult, but I almost have enough money saved up to set her up for a good while once she's up there."

"Is it that difficult?" He questioned. "Mhm. When you're born here, leaving is almost impossible. First, you have to get a travel permit. Not only is that expensive, but time consuming. They have to check your background for any criminal activity. If they determine that you're at high risk of causing trouble in the overworld, they won't let you leave. Because any problems you cause up there are Downtown District's responsibility." That sounded exhausting.

"Second, with that travel permit you can request a visa. There are 3 different kinds of visas down here. The visiting, working, and moving visa. The first 2 are not too hard to get once you have the permit, but the last one... you'd have to pray on a miracle that they allow you to permanently leave Downtown." Echo sighed and sat down on the railing, letting her feet dangle above the street below.

As he processed her words, Shadow noticed something about her wording from earlier, "You said you want to get her out of here, but what about you?" The singer stiffened. She looked uneasy, but said, "I have responsibilities down here that I can't just abandon. As long as my sister is safe, that's all that matters to me. And it's not like they're gonna give me a travel permit anyway. I've done things, and still do, that are heavily frowned upon by both the outside world and Downtown District."

He decided against asking what those things were, as that was most likely a sore spot and very personal topic for her. So he went with something a bit more simple. "Hypothetically, if you could leave, what would you want to do up there?" Echo looked at him with a taken aback expression, then back at the city below. She thought about her answer with a long hum before replying...

"I want to know what rain feels like, I want to know what the air smells like up there, I want to feel the sand of a beach under my feet, I want to know what grass and the sun feel like, I want to play in the snow and build snowmen, make snow angels, but most of all..." She looked up at the black void that is the ceiling of Downtown District, and Shadow suddenly felt another spike of that aura he felt back at the stadium.

"I want to see the stars. I've read about them in books, about constellations, other planets. I've also heard about a place called Earth. I wish I could see it for myself one day. And I don't just want that for myself, I want that for everyone down here."

Something in the hedgehog's chest constricts at that. What she was saying reminded him a lot of Maria. The way she was looking up at the ceiling told him that she was daydreaming about the stars, imagining what they would look like. But then her expression changed to a somber frown, "But I know I will never experience it. I'm stuck here, whether I like it or not. And there's nothing I can do about it..."

There was about a minute of heavy silence before Shadow said, "I've been to earth before." "Shut up." Echo replied with a small chuckle. "I'm serious. In fact, Downtown District looks like a modern city on earth that I've been to." He pointed out. The wolf looked dumbfounded as she looked at the city below once more, "Huh. Is that so..."

She tilted her head in a rather cute manner and continued, "I'll be honest, I don't know how technology started down here. All we know to do is advance it to the best of our ability." Then, her face lit up, "Oh! Did you know that our most used tool is actually the Wisps?" Wait, what? "You have Wisps down here? How?"

"I don't know, when I was born, they were already here. But my sister is so interested in them, and she treats them like they're part of the family! She's really good at replicating their abilities in gadgets that she develops." At this point, Echo was just gushing about how proud she was of her sister, of how far she's come at such a young age. Once she realized that she had been rambling, she covered her mouth with her hand and apologized.

Shadow chuckled and reassured her that she was fine. They fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the city.

A few minutes pass before Echo says, "Sad that the night is over. I would have loved to spend some more time with you and your friends. They seem like nice people." The other scoffed and replied, "They're annoying. Can't get a moment to myself sometimes." The singer chuckled, "I know the feeling. I'll take all of you to the station before the last train leaves, okay?" "Sure."



The both of them got back to the rest of the group and instantly got some suspicious looks, to which Shadow said, "Don't even think about it."

"I'm gonna accompany you to the train station. The last train leaves in about half an hour, so we better take our legs into our hands and hurry." Echo said. However, as soon as she finished talking, her watch made a notification sound. The look on her face may have looked joyful but Shadow could tell that she was bottling up some intense rage. As she checked the message she received, she was mumbling obscenities and curses.

One of her bodyguards, Leo, spoke up, "Miss, your presence is being requested on the other side of town. I was only able to hold them off on contacting you directly for so long." The wolf looked over the message, then the group of friends, and back at the text. "You know what? Screw them. They can handle things on their own for a little longer. I have some friends to take home." She said, but then noticed her error, "...if that's... alright with you guys...?"

Sonic tilted his head, "You're kidding, right?" It wasn't very noticeable, but Shadow saw her flinch at the other's words. "Of course that's alright! The more the merrier. You can never have enough friends!" The blue hedgehog quickly continued. Echo sighed in relief while Shadow rolled his eyes. He couldn't help but disagree with that statement.

"Oh, before I forget! I would like to take a picture with all of you. I know you've done a lot of that today, but I want to remember this day where my best friends," Echo looked at Silver and Blaze, "introduced me to some of their closest companions." Oh right. Shadow almost completely forgot. In Downtown District, friendship, family and unity are among the most valued principles of all time. It explains why Echo is so close to and cares so much about her sister.

As they got in position for a big group picture, Shadow had to think. They didn't really know her that well, she's kind of all over the place, she's easily excited which he already got enough of with Sonic and Rouge, but...

Although he could tell she was hiding something, she didn't lie the entire time they interacted, and Shadow could tell! She's compassionate and even managed to get on Blaze and Silver's good side. That takes time and effort. Especially in Silver's case...

And most of all, Echo doesn't feel like the person to be up to something malicious. She feels... genuine.

So, with his inner voice screaming at him not to do it, the dark hedgehog stood next to Echo in the frame of the camera screen of her holographic watch. On her other side was Sonic. Blaze and Silver were right behind the 3 of them, with Amy, Tails and Knuckles behind those 2 as well. Rouge was in the back, right in the middle with Leo and Lio at her sides. Lio exclaimed, "Say Echo!"

Everyone posed and said, "ECHO!!" before the sound of a picture being taken went off.

Chapter Text

Here are some character designs I made for the story!

This won't be the only one of these I will make and I will probably make some other art for the story as well in the future.

Echo!

This is not the only outfit I plan to give her.

Serafina!

Barbara and Hailey!

I also plan on making like a height comparison of all of these characters so you can look forward to that in a few... weeks.

Or months idk how quickly I can draw that, not to mention I keep wanting to make more characters and at some point I will have to draw Shadow and the others which I haven't done in like 7 years so yay-

Chapter Text

It had been a couple of days since the Echo concert. Silver had sent everyone the picture that the wolf took of all of them, which Shadow was currently looking at. The more he looked, the more he noticed some oddities about Echo.

First off, her fur. Wolves usually only had a singular fur color, maybe with some darker or lighter ombre. But Echo had very clear patterns in her fur, the dark grey contrasting with the white.

Second, her hair. Shadow had no idea if it was dyed or not, but having such a clear distinction between body and hair was not the norm.

Third, her eyes. Echo's eyes were a pretty shade of blue, but something about them felt... off. He just couldn't place what exactly it was.

Shadow had no idea what to make of her. So he went to the only place where he could get some insight on her life. Her blog.



Echo's blog was... interesting. To say the least. Going back to the start of it took him ages, because he had over 8 years worth of content to go through.

Most of the things he saw weren't particularly noteworthy, however he did see some things that stood out. For example...

Posted 7 years ago

Some weird guy approached me today about making me sign a contract for some sort of agency? He said his name was Surge. Has anyone worked with him before?

Shadow decided to look through some comments on that post and it was exactly as he had feared. Surge the Dog ran a talent agency that didn't have the best reputation. His "talents" were severely overworked, underpaid, they didn't have any freedom, and they weren't even allowed to talk about what was going on.

The next day, she posted an update which read...

I looked into that Surge guy and yeah there ain't no way in fucking hell I would sign that piece of shit paper. Fuck agencies.

There was a middle finger emoji at the end. A couple of months worth of posts pass until he sees another interesting post.

Posted 6 years ago

What does love feel like? Like... I know you can feel love towards family members and shit but idk. There's this one guy that I've been talking to and I feel like I love him but it's different from the way I love my sis y'know.

A couple of days later, she posted another.

We decided to give it a shot! I don't know how to do relationship stuff so we'll see how it goes! Thanks for the support guys ily <3

Not even 2 months later, Shadow read something... concerning.

Posted 6 years ago

Remember that Surge guy? Yeah he somehow knew I was going to a club today and showed up as well. He had another contract with him that was somehow better than the last but also not? Honestly who the fuck does shit like that? At a night club no less? I already told him no. Welp. I'm off to get wasted.

With a peace sign at the end. He knew where Echo was going? That's bordering on stalker territory. With a deep frown, Shadow continued looking through the posts.

Posted 5 years ago (edited)

I'm working on a new project rn and stuff has been going... eh. Something about it just feels off y'know. I'll show some clips of the choreography later so you guys can help me a bit. The lyrics aren't entirely finished either... I'm like... not feeling too confident about this.

A few dance clips were attached below the post. Judging from the, although unfinished, background music, it was the Kimera project. The dance looked so much different from what he saw on stage, and the melody was very different as well. But somehow still recognizable.

About 2 days later she posted an update.

I took some advice from y'all and reworked the choreo a bit. I feel a bit better about it now but still not great. This is a thing I put a lot of thought into and I feel like it has to be perfect. I've mostly finished the lyrics now, it just needs some cleanup now!

He doesn't read about the project for another 5 weeks worth of posts.

Posted 5 years ago (edited)

The project is not going great. I've hit a wall. I scrapped the whole lyrics because I wasn't satisfied. I don't know what it is about this piece of shit project but I'm seriously considering deleting the whole thing.

Edit: Choreo has also been scrapped.

Damn. It was that bad? The posts that followed were mostly trivial. New song MP3's, clips of other dances, pictures of her with Silver and Blaze. And then a picture of her with her partner(?).

Posted 4 years ago

We decided to go public today! Meet Crash! He's been so good to me the past 2 years that I feel like we're gonna spend the rest of our lives together like this. Love you, babe! <3

And there was a comment on the post from someone who said they loved her more. That must've been him. Crash was a blue-grey-ish wolf with unsettling yellow eyes. Shadow didn't know why, but he instantly got a bad feeling about him.

And it appears he was correct because not even a month later, Echo posted this...

Boys are scum.

That was all she wrote. Judging from some comments she left, Crash had not only insulted her sister, but also stolen something from Echo and cheated on her. That was so god damn low.

And the bad streak continued with a deleted post, followed by...

Sorry about the video from last time. I promise I'm fine. I made that song out of frustration because everyone down here in this shithole refused to help someone who was very dear to me. She passed away yesterday.

Edit: It wasn't my sister don't worry.

That must've been the 'I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry' song. Just thinking about it made Shadow want to throw up again.

What followed was about 2 years of trivial posts, new songs, updates on concerts, and then the bombshell...

Posted 2 years ago

Kimera is officially canceled. I'm sorry guys. I just wasn't happy with it so I decided to stop working on it. It's been giving me a headache for 3 years now and I just don't have the mental energy to keep working on it.

At least Echo was honest with her fans. Most other celebrities would keep making empty promises and keep stalling until everyone forgot or lost interest.

Shadow kept going through the posts until...

Posted 1 year ago

How did Surge get my phone number

No punctuation, no more context, no nothing. She must've written that in a panic. Shadow was honest, he would be scared too.

It continued with Echo constantly being harassed by this Surge guy, non-stop calls, messages and even him showing up to some private events of hers. Her fans urged her to report him, but Echo had explained that his agency is so close to bankruptcy that it wouldn't even matter. Maybe this was the point where he got desperate.

And then her latest post...

The picture they took together.

Posted 5 days ago

It's been such an honor to meet THE Sonic the Hedgehog in person! The night couldn't have gone any better! His friends are so nice too! If they're reading this, thank you for your service!

Shadow smiled at that, even if just a little. But then, he got a message from an unknown number.

Hello. Is this Shadow?

Chapter Text

He stared at the message he received for about half an hour. He had no idea how to react to it, not to mention... how the fuck did this person get his number? He decided to keep it short.

Who is this.

About 5 minutes later, he got a response.

Oh, sorry! Silver gave me this number and I wanted to make sure it was the right one. This is Echo!

Wait, what? Okay, first off, he was going to kill Silver for this. Like what the hell? Secondly, why did Echo want his number? Although...

How do I know you're really her?

And then he received a picture. It was, in fact, Echo. She was in what he recognized as her practice room. He's seen this very room in her dance practice clips. Below that, she wrote...

Convinced now? :3

Okay. What the fuck.

Yes, this is Shadow.

He didn't know what the hell he was doing or why he was doing it, but he couldn't just leave her hanging like this.

Echo
Awesome! I was worried that Silver had given me the wrong number again. He likes to pull pranks like that.

Shadow
Does he now. Why did you want my number?

Echo
Idk tbh. I just felt like we have a lot of other stuff we could talk about. The night ended too suddenly for my liking.

Shadow
But why me?

It was a valid question in his opinion. Echo kept typing and typing for several minutes, which meant that she was either writing a very long text, or she was deleting what she was writing and redoing it over and over until she ultimately went offline. Shadow scoffed at that and put his phone down. It might've just been a prank after all. If he catches Silver ever again, he will kill him. But then he got a notification.

Echo
...I don't know. You just seem like someone I could get along with.

That... will do for now.



That's how they got talking for the next 2 hours. They talked about earth, the stars, the overworld as a whole. Echo wanted to know as much as she could, since she stated that she could never leave Downtown District for reasons unknown to him.

Echo
Do you think you could send me a picture of a tree sometime?

Shadow
Odd request. Why?

Echo
I've always wanted to see a real tree. The ones in our books are always just very old photos and drawings. A more recent picture would be the next best thing.

Shadow
If I may ask, why exactly can't you go up?

When Echo immediately went offline again, he knew he stepped over the line. It must be a pretty sore spot for her. He was about to apologize, but then she went back online and started typing. It took her about 10 whole minutes to give a reply.

Echo
Let's just say... I've done some things that could get me in big trouble up there. I'm saying jail time worthy. Downtown doesn't wanna risk me bringing them more trouble than we already have with everything going on.
Echo
The situation down here is more dire than news let you believe.

He could actually get behind that. News aren't always the most honest.

Shadow
Is there any way to help?

He mentally slapped himself for that. Why does he care so much? He literally just met her!

Echo
I don't think so. You would have to turn the whole place upside down and inside out.

Shadow
How did it get so bad in the first place?

Echo
I don't know...



They talked a bit longer until Echo had to leave. Apparently something went wrong with some equipment for the next concert and one of her background dancers got hurt.

Shadow had to be honest, talking to her didn't feel like a chore like it sometimes did with the rest of his... friends. That word still felt so foreign to him. And even though he would instantly deny that they were important to him, he really did care about them. Then, he got another message.

It was another picture of Echo. This time she was at some sort of hall that looked like it was being decorated for an event. The wolf was holding up her hands in a peace sign, winking and sticking out her tongue. Next to her were a Magenta Rhythm and an Ivory Lightning. Echo did say that they work closely together with the Wisps. Shadow had to admit... it was cute.

He could tell that the Wisps were being treated well by their happy expressions. She must care about these little guys a lot. He wondered just how big that heart of hers actually was.

Another text appeared at the top of his phone screen.

Sonic
Hey. We need you here for a sec. U free?

With a sigh, the dark hedgehog used Chaos Control to teleport to Tails' lab. What greeted him was Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy and Rouge looking at the big computer screen, all of them frowning. "I'm here. What do you need?" Shadow said as he crossed his arms. The blue hedgehog turned around and replied, "We found an Emerald." "Then go and get it." The other huffed and turned around to leave again. Sonic simply stated, "We can't."

Shadow faced him again and raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean you can't?" Rouge chimed in and said, "Take a look yourself." Slowly, he approached the screen and looked over what was displayed on it. It showed that they had indeed located a Chaos Emerald. However, its position wasn't... optimal.

"Downtown District..."

Chapter Text

"How the hell are we supposed to get down there? Last time was an exception because of the concert, but this time we would need an entry permit." Knuckles explained as he paced around the lab. "More paperwork..." Tails groaned and let his head fall onto his desk. Amy mumbled, "That's gonna take ages..."

Shadow frowned. However, if there really was an Emerald down there, why didn't he feel it? Was Downtown District really that big? If it's really there, they have to get to it before Eggman does.

Tails lifted his head again and said, "I'll get to the needed documents. Reading them won't take too long, but filling them out and getting them approved will take at least a few weeks. So I wouldn't get my hopes up..." The others nodded and left to do their own thing.



A couple of days later, everyone had filled in the necessary paperwork for an entry permit request. Within like a day, all of their requests were denied. "That was fast..." And that was coming from Sonic himself. "What do we do now?" Amy asked with a deep frown. Rouge sighed and explained, "Not much. The most likely reason they rejected all of us is, well... us. They know who we are and it looks like they think we're too much of a liability." Ouch. "So, do we try again?" Shadow asked.

"No. We're running the risk of being banned from entering, even if we get new concert tickets for example. They'd think we're trying to get in for some shady business." Sonic paced around the room as he spoke.

That's when Shadow received a notification on his phone. It was Echo again. They had been talking a lot over the past few days. He hadn't told her about what they were trying to do, not wanting her to interfere in some way. "Who're you texting, Shads?" The blue hedgehog asked. "No one." The other replied a little too fast. He hoped they wouldn't notice.

Echo had sent him yet another picture of her with a Wisp. This time she was with a Red Burst. At this point, the wolf has sent him pictures of her with every single Wisp out there. Below the picture it read...

Newest addition to our group! The last one was at its end sadly but left behind a fragment of itself so we were able to restore a whole body for it!

Kind of cute, Shadow had to admit. "Come on, it has to be someone very special to have you smiling like that!" Rouge teased. Wait, he was smiling? He chaos controlled out of there faster than they could look. Once he was a safe distance away, he replied to Echo's text with...

Shadow
Are there any Wisps that you don't have?

Echo
Nope ;P

Shadow
Why am I not surprised.

It took a while for Echo to reply again. Judging from the length of her typing and the breaks, she wasn't sure what to say in her text, but the one she sent...

Echo
Are you okay? You seem troubled.

Shadow
How can you tell?

Echo
Call it a hunch.
Echo
Now tell me what's going on in that head of yours.

Shadow contemplated doing that. The wolf was from Downtown District, so she knows how things work down there. Maybe it was worth a shot after all...

Shadow
We have some business to take care of in Downtown District and tried requesting an entry permit. All of them got rejected within a day.

Echo
Ouch. That's fast even for them. Yeah entry permits are hard to get unless you have someone who knows their way around the system.
Echo
How important is that business you need to take care of?

Shadow
Very. Possibly life changing.

Echo
Damn. And I'm guessing it can't wait but you don't wanna risk being banned?

Shadow
Yes.

She was good...

Echo
Mind if I lend a hand? I might have a solution.

Shadow
You don't have to. We can take care of this just fine. You have enough to worry about.

She didn't reply after that. Echo had went offline almost immediately. Had he hit another nerve?



The next day, Shadow and his... friends were sitting in a circle, brainstorming ideas on how to get to Downtown District without raising suspicion or getting into trouble. Even after 2 hours they hadn't come up with something cohesive. Until Shadow got a call. When he looked at the caller ID, Rouge, who was sitting right next to him, gasped, "Oh my Chaos, Echo?!" The hedgehog quickly shushed her before picking up the call.

"What do you want?" He asked. It might've sounded cold, but he was rather anxious with 5 pairs of eyes staring directly into his soul. "Is everyone else with you right now?" The wolf asked over the phone. Shadow replied with confirmation, which prompted her to ask, "Could you put me on speaker?" And he did.

"Hey guys!" She greeted happily. Tails questioned, "Echo, is that really you? How does Shadow have your number?" "Long story, but that's not important right now! He told me you have some business to attend to in Downtown right?" Everyone looked at Shadow again with Sonic speaking up, "What the hell, dude?" "She is very persuasive." The other replied, causing Echo to giggle in the background.

"Enough of that! The system was pretty quick to reject you, which I'm actually very surprised by. Normally it takes a whole week or more to get an answer. So, I have an idea. As long as you don't do anything stupid down here, I'll be willing to send you Downtown IDs." Echo said. When no one said a thing to that, she sighed and explained, "Basically it's like a fake ID that allows you to pass the border without issue. Those things look exactly like the real thing, so there won't be any problems with that."

Amy raised a concern, "Isn't that... illegal?" Echo replied, "How do you think Silver and Blaze keep visiting me?" So she's done this before. Great. "I'll send 6 blank IDs. You'll have to fill in the necessary info on your own. If you need help with them, let me know, okay?" "Will do. Thank you so much, Echo!" Sonic said. Shadow was about to hang up, but then the wolf interrupted him, "One more thing about the IDs..."

"Do not, under any circumstance, lose them. The technology that goes into those things is not public, and it can definitely be traced back to one of us. If someone who doesn't work in my circle gets a hold of them, it's bad news all around." "You have our word." Shadow said. Echo thanked him and hung up.

A few seconds of heavy silence was broken by Sonic saying, "So, Echo?" "Shut it, faker."

Chapter Text

About 2 days later, Silver and Blaze showed up at Tails' lab with a small package. Almost right away, the fox called everyone and told them that the IDs had arrived. Not even half an hour later, they were ready to unpack the devices. However, Silver interrupted them and said, "You have to be very careful with these. I honestly didn't expect you guys to join the gang of rule breakers." Amy gave an exasperated sigh and replied, "We didn't either, but here we are."

As Sonic opened the package, he spotted 6 little mechanical... sticks? He took one out of the box and examined it. Blaze quickly took it from him to help and said, "You open it like this." She put both index fingers and thumbs on the ends of the stick and proceeded to pull her left hand down and her right hand up, effectively opening the Downtown ID. It looked very similar to Echo's holographic watch.

"Woah..." Tails was absolutely fascinated. It was a given that the mechanic of the group would be interested in new technology. How Downtown District became so advanced, nobody knows. The ID was blank, but the things they had to enter were simple. Name, age, height, a picture of themselves, occupation, fingerprint, and current residence.

Blaze and Silver helped them immensely with the process. The only one who had some form of trouble was Shadow, as expected. He didn't know what to put into the occupation slot. He couldn't just enter his real job. That would raise suspicion. Silver noticed his inner conflict and asked, "What's wrong?" Hesitantly, Shadow responded, "About the occupation..." They racked their brains for a feasible lie that wouldn't give him away instantly but would sound convincing enough to line up with the things they were doing down there.

Amy snapped her fingers and exclaimed, "Private investigator!" The others were skeptical, understandably so. There was a lot on the line after all. The pink hedgehog rolled her eyes and elaborated, "PI's sneak around all the time, they stay in constant contact with their clients, they have access to places that normal people don't, and we can get certain information without going the... not legal way."

Shadow mulled it over for a while. Although the title didn't really suit him, it was the closest thing to the job he actually has. There was still the option of detective, but those focus mainly on crime investigations. And having an outside detective in Downtown District did not sound like a fun time...

"It's stupid enough to work." The hedgehog mumbled and put it into the occupation slot.

"Now we just have to find a way down there. Tails, where exactly is the Emerald?" Sonic looked at the fox. Tails typed something into his computer and a map showed up on the screen. "It looks like it's in the East District." He said. The blue hedgehog scratched his head, "That's gonna take a while then..." With a heavy sigh, he complained, "Why can't anything be easy..."

"East District?" Shadow looked at Rouge with a confused expression. The bat explained, "Downtown District is bigger than you think. The concert we were at was held in North District, the most accessible part of Downtown. East is a little harder to get to, same with West. And good luck trying to get to South." Sonic said, "I did mention that there was an... incident while we were in Downtown. It was actually in South District. Getting in and out is already pretty hard, but staying alive in there is even harder."

"We were on a mission to destroy one of Eggman's latest attempts to take over Mobius and found ourselves in South District. It was a mess... Barely any electricity, almost completely vacant, the whole part of it was just... gone. While we were fighting Eggman, we caught the attention of the Downtown Canines. Even though South was pretty much dead, we still destroyed part of their territory." Sonic explained.

Shadow frowned, "What did they do?" Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Sonic looked at one another with solemn expression and nodded in unison, with the pink hedgehog continuing, "Sonic was their main target. Some of the taller buildings in South were already badly damaged. Although it was mostly deserted, there were still people there. One of the Canines was going after him, and Sonic used one of the collapsing buildings to defend himself."

"I swear it was falling in a safe direction... But something must've changed its angle and..." The blue hedgehog trailed off. Knuckles crossed his arms and said, "About a dozen people were crushed by the debris." Sonic's ears lowered against his head. Amy put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

Shadow couldn't believe it. Sonic of all people...

"To say the Downtown Canines were mad would be an understatement. It wasn't really a fair fight because they had their suits and weapons and all I had was my speed. But I was so in shock at what happened that... I could only run away. I couldn't think..." Sonic clenched his fists and closed his eyes.

"It wasn't your fault." Shadow said. They all looked at him in confusion. He continued, "It was an accident. While yes, it could have been avoided, when dealing with someone like Eggman, casualties are..." He trailed off, thinking about that day again, "...inevitable."



Shadow was home, staring at the ceiling. Downtown District is much more ruthless than he anticipated. He had run into a member of the Downtown Canines before, and it was not a nice meeting. Seeing a Canine on the surface was a rarity, and some even believe it to be a bad omen.

He was out on a solo mission that day, everything had been going well. Until it didn't...

Shadow had been trying to sneak into a building to retrieve some information, and he was successful, but a member of the Downtown Canines seemingly had the same mission. They got in his way, fought tooth and nail for the file, and managed to escape with barely a scratch on them while Shadow got kicked in the guts and jaw. He may be able to heal his injuries in record time, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt.

But... something about them didn't feel right. The entirety of Downtown District didn't feel right!

He racked his brain for all the details he remembers about Downtown. Before he met Echo, and before he heard Sonic talk about it, he only remembered one thing.

Eggman had a base there.

Back when he still kind of worked with him, he had mentioned the place in passing. At the time, it was irrelevant information. He wasn't causing a ruckus in the overworld, so that meant he was already in Downtown. He has the advantage. If he gets to the Emerald before they do, it's over.

Suddenly, he received a notification on his phone. He had texted Echo about 2 hours ago and told her that getting the ID's ready had been successful. He hadn't gotten an answer until now.

Echo
Heya, this is Echo's sister. I'll let her know that it went well!

Her sister? Why did she have her phone?

Shadow
Is Echo okay?

Echo
Yeah she's fine. She just got a bit hammered today. Nothing new. She's asleep right now.

Shadow
That's good. As long as she doesn't do anything stupid.

Echo
Don't talk too fast, edgelord. She's the queen of stupid.

Shadow
Edgelord? What does that mean?

Echo
Omfg are you from the moon or something? I've seen the picture she took with all of you and honestly? I immediately thought about a typical edgelord. Black and red is so overdone and come the fuck on. Shadow? If that's not edgy I don't know what is.

Okay, first of all, ouch. Second, how old did Echo say her sister was? 16? Typical teens...

Echo
Gotta say though? Echo seems to like you. So as long as you don't hurt her, I'll tolerate you.

Shadow
Wow. Thanks.
Shadow
You care about her a lot, don't you?

Echo
Of course I do! She practically raised me. She's the best sister one could ask for and I'm not gonna let anyone take her away from me. Especially after what happened with a certain... someone.

Right. Shadow remembers that Crash, Echo's ex, insulted her sister once and did many more unspeakable things.

Shadow
Could you tell me more about him?

Echo
Why, jealous?

The hedgehog almost choked on his own spit as he read that. Staring at his phone, he had no idea how to respond.

Echo
Hit the nail right on the head huh.

Shadow
You didn't. I just want to make sure what I'm getting into if I ever run into him.

Echo
Fair enough. When I first met him, he had this weird air around him. I didn't like him from the start but I tolerated him because of my sister. She loved him. But when she wasn't looking, he would bad-mouth her, steal from her, cheat on her, I saw it all. I even took pictures as evidence. Sadly there's no real justice system down here so he can't be thrown in jail.

When did they start dating again? About 6 years ago? So Echo would have been about 18 at the time, with her sister being about 10 or so. They did say that kids had insane intuition when it comes to strangers, and this seems to be proof of that.

Shadow
Is he violent?

Echo
Very. Sometimes Echo came home with light bruises. I had to beg her to fight back. It didn't end well.

He should have expected something like that. Shadow could tell at first glance that the guy was bad news.

Echo
Hey Shadow? If you ever decide to get closer to my sister, don't turn out like him please.

That message kind of broke his heart a little. From what he can tell, the both of them have been through hell and worse.

Shadow
I promise.

Chapter Text

The dark hedgehog couldn't sleep. Something about the entire situation left him restless. He knew more about Echo now, but not too much about where she comes from. He wanted to know more about the place. However, looking up information was harder than it seemed. It was almost as if Downtown District didn't really exist, with Echo's blog being the only true window into it.

Shadow could ask his... friends. But talking to the blue hedgehog was out of the question as of now after what he found out a few hours ago. Amy was more likely to give him information, but it was also unlikely that she knew much considering this was the first time she was ever down there. Rouge would tease him until the end of time and Knuckles... was Knuckles.

So that only left one other person.



Shadow knocked on the door and waited impatiently. After about a minute, he was about to knock again when the door opened. "...Shadow? Do you have any idea what time it is?" They asked as they yawned.

"Tails, I need your help." The hedgehog stated. The fox rubbed his eyes and replied, "Can't that wait until the morning? I was about to hit the hay..." "No." The other said and pushed past him. With a deadpan, Tails mumbled, "Sure, come on in..."

As they walked through the fox's lab, Shadow said, "I need your computer." With confusion, Tails asked, "What do you need that for?" "Information." The hedgehog cut right to the chase. The fox was even more confused and asked him to elaborate. Sighing, Shadow explained, "I was trying to find out more about Downtown District, but I can't find anything other than what Echo posts. I was hoping you'd know why and how to help me."

Tails yawned again and said, "Oh. Yeah, that was inevitable. Downtown doesn't exactly... allow certain information to get out." Typing away on his keyboard, the fox explained further, "Have you ever heard of the Deep Web? It's kind of like that. You can't find it by simply looking it up. You have to know your way around multiple barriers in order to get in. The way they differ is that the actual Deep Web is legal, while this part is... well..."

With a frown, Shadow asked, "Will you get in trouble?" The other shook his head, "No. As long as we get out within an hour, it'll be fine." After hitting ENTER one more time, the screen suddenly changed to a more grim layout. "Look for anything you want. I'll go take a quick nap..." Tails said and rested his head on the desk.

The hedgehog quickly searched for any information he could get his hands on. Mostly on the Downtown Canines. According to multiple news posts that dated back many years, the vigilante group had been active for decades, long before Sonic and his friends and even Eggman was alive. There was mention of a leader in one post, but no name, photo or anything else was given.

Another thing he was curious about was South District. The first thing that popped up was a post that dated back about 8 years. Apparently, there was an enormous power overload in the middle of the district, causing the entire part of it to lose electricity permanently. The cause of the outage is unknown, or rather undisclosed, to this day.

Shadow looked at a map, and Downtown District was literally divided into 4 districts. There was a cross shaped bridge in between all of them and based on the size of a singular district, which was roughly the size of New York on Earth, to get from South to North it would take roughly an hour if he used his air shoes. In between the districts was water. And due to having no natural sunlight, if you fell in, you'd be a goner.

Crimes were like their bread and butter it seemed. Everywhere he looked, he saw vandalism, smuggling, and more murder headlines than he could count.

The time was almost up, but Shadow decided to look for one more thing.

As it turned out, Eggman has indeed started to wreak havoc down there. The post was dated to the night before, but no mention of the Chaos Emerald. That was a good sign as it meant he had yet to get a hold of it. He was in the middle of an ambush when the Downtown Canines intervened. They were able to hold him off, but the destruction of the environment was inevitable.

The hedgehog quickly woke up Tails, who exited the Downtown Dark Web without a hitch. "Did you find what you were looking for?" He asked. Shadow contemplated the information he had gathered, and came to a conclusion, "Yes and no. There's still much I don't understand, but it's a start." "Good. Now get out so I can sleep."



Lying in bed once more, Shadow stared at his phone. Echo's sister had logged off a couple of hours ago, but he couldn't help the feeling that something was wrong. While looking through the hidden posts, he found only a singular article about Echo.

It was a newspaper site which stated that the wolf had been involved in a case of assault. It was written off as self-defense at the time, but the situation went much deeper. The post didn't give too many details, but it appeared that her sister was also involved. It was 10 years old, meaning that Echo was about 14 at the time. That would have made her sister no older than 6 years old. He could only imagine what happened...

But this once again showed how much they cared about one another.



As morning came, Shadow realized he had slept in. He had agreed to meet with the others at the train station at noon, and the sun was already past its highest point. If he hurried, he could still make it.

"I expected Sonic to be late, but you? Unbelievable. He's starting to rub off on you." Rouge berated the dark hedgehog. "Don't compare me to him. I was just busy last night." He said. The bat raised a questioning eyebrow and the other became slightly agitated, "Not like that, Rouge!" "He's telling the truth." Tails butted in, "Shadow came to the lab last night to ask a favor of me. Which I fully intend on having him pay back." On closer inspection, the fox had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. He only kept him awake for another hour and it's enough to derail him like that? Oops.

As they got on a different train than the one they used for the concert, Shadow received a message. It was Echo.

Echo
Did my sister say anything weird yesterday? I hope she wasn't too mean! I know she had my phone!

He only just noticed it, but all of the messages between him and her sister were deleted. Huh.

Shadow
She didn't. She was worried about you.

Echo
Typical. It wasn't that bad!
Echo
This time...

Shadow
Old habits?

Echo replied by sending a middle finger emoji.

Echo
So, anything new up there?

Shadow
We're on the train to Downtown. Shouldn't take too long.

Echo
Damn. Already? Which district are you going to?

Shadow
East.

Echo
I'm in West atm so I can't meet you right now. I'm gonna get in contact with a friend. She can help you if you need anything.

That was... oddly kind of her.

Shadow
I'll let you know if anything happens.



The train ride to East District was longer than the time they went to Echo's concert. And not to mention, they weren't just going to any station, they were going to border control. Every district had their own border control. To say they were nervous would be an understatement.



As they exited the train, they saw how long the line at the reception was. Everyone looked at one another and sighed, mentally preparing for a long day.

Standing in line, Shadow looked around the building. Everything was littered with cameras, security, and annoyed Mobians who looked ready to kill someone. And who could blame them? These things can take hours to get through.

It took almost 2 hours until they finally reached the counter. The person at the desk, a purple female rabbit, greeted them with a dry, "ID please." Sonic was the first to hand his over. The rabbit lady continued, "Are you traveling alone?" The blue hedgehog replied, "No. I'm here with 5 other... colleagues." The lady looked over at his friends and asked, "What's the purpose of your stay?" "We're here for work." Amy answered.

"Are any of you carrying any guns, explosives, knives or any other weapons with you?" The rabbit asked as she checked the IDs. They all denied it, which prompted the desk lady to call over an officer, a crocodile, who thoroughly patted them all down, raising an eyebrow at Knuckles' gloves. When the echidna explained that the spikes were part of his body, the officer let it go. They even went through Sonic's and Shadow's quills!

"Clear." The crocodile said. The rabbit lady then took out 6 sheets of paper and handed them to all of them, "These are agreements that you will follow Downtown District's laws to the letter. Should any of you violate any of our laws, we reserve the right to deport you or punish you depending on the severity of the violation. Feel free to read through them on your own."

Then, a button on the lady's desk started blinking rapidly. "...God damn it."

Not too far away, a commotion started breaking out. The crowd was getting more and more panicked, running away to safety. Security was standing around a Mobian who was currently being held captive by a Downtown Canine. Sonic and his friends were about to jump in when the rabbit lady jumped over her desk and ran towards the security guards, along the way blocking an attack from a second Canine that was hiding in the unruly crowd.

Suddenly, the one who was holding the Mobian against their will pushed them out of the way and pulled out a small object, a smoke grenade, and pulled the pin, throwing it at the guards. The smoke quickly spread throughout the building, causing everyone to lose sight of everything.

Shadow was covering his mouth to not inhale too much, but was bumped into by someone. When he looked, he saw that it was the hostage. He grabbed their arm and the person started to squirm, trying to pull themselves free. They looked into one another's eyes, Shadow's full of confusion while the other's were terrified. They looked behind themselves, eyeing the exit that lead to the train that would leave Downtown District at any second. They looked back at the dark hedgehog and begged, "Please...!"

Hesitantly, Shadow let the person go. They bolted toward the exit as the smoke slowly dissipated. When everyone caught their bearings, the desk lady asked the security guards, "Where are those Canines?" One of the guards said that they escaped. "What about the hostage?" Another guard replied, "Gone. The Canine got to them before the person could show their ID, so we have no idea who it was." "Damn it... "

A few minutes later, the rabbit lady went back to her desk, Sonic and his friends having filled out the paperwork, still stunned to silence. The lady said nonchalantly, "Welcome to Downtown District. Enjoy your stay."

Chapter Text

Still shocked at the display from earlier, Sonic and his friends kept walking through the border control building, heading towards the exit. On the way there, Amy decided to pick up a brochure of Downtown District that contained all of the notable sights to see, a timetable of ongoing and future events for the next 6 months, and most importantly, a map.

Once they finally got outside, they took in their surroundings.

For the the second most bustling city district, it was unusually quiet. The technology was slightly less advanced than in North, but still unlike anything they see on the surface. There were what looked like security drones flying around everywhere, even security bots on the ground.

One thing Shadow noticed was that the air down there was different than on the surface. Normal Mobians wouldn't be able to smell the difference, but the dark hedgehog felt as if a wave of... melancholy hit him.

"So, where to now?" Knuckles asked. Sonic looked at the pink hedgehog next to him, "Amy?" Said hedgehog was currently looking at a comically large map of Downtown District that was about twice the size of her own body. "Hmmm... depends on where the Emerald is exactly. We need to come up with a strategy first." Rouge decided to fly up to take a look at the surrounding area. She suggested, "How about we split up for now? Get a better feel for where we go, escape routes and stuff?"

"Alright. Let's meet here again in 4 hours."



Using his air shoes to get around faster, Shadow was trying to etch the streets of East District into his mind, but it was proving to be difficult. There were way too many corners and way too many alleyways for him to keep up with. Deciding to slow down a bit, he took a closer look at the buildings around him.

It seemed that the style of the buildings had changed the further he got. They didn't have doors with hinges anymore, but sliding doors. The streetlights were more colorful and decorated, and were made out of paper instead of glass. It was scary just how similar Downtown District was to some cities on earth.

Suddenly, Shadow heard frantic steps behind him and turned around, only for someone to bump into him and knock him over.

The hedgehog sat up and took a look at the person. It was a red mouse with black hair and a white qipao with a flame pattern on it. They were rubbing their head from the collision, speaking up, "Idiot! Watch where you're going next time!" From the voice alone Shadow could tell they were female. As they stood up, he noticed how short the mouse was.

"You can't just stand in the middle of the street like that! Some people are trying to get places!" She screeched. The hedgehog scoffed and said, "Listen here, kid-" "I'M NOT A KID! I'M-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" A booming voice made the mouse tense up. Looking at the source of the voice, the both of them saw a bunch of security bots and drones, along with some actual officers. "What did you-" "RUN!" The mouse grabbed Shadow's arm and took off.

For someone a whole head shorter than him, she sure was fast. And she seemed to know exactly where to go. She pulled out what looked like a ball, pulled something out of it and threw it behind herself. A couple of seconds later, Shadow heard and felt a huge explosion behind him. Looking back, he saw the destruction. Some of the bots and drones were destroyed, smoke was everywhere and debris was flying around.

The mouse pulled him into an alleyway and climbed up a ladder. The dark hedgehog looked at the alley entrance where a wounded officer aimed a firearm at him, causing him to follow the mouse. Once on the roof, the red mouse was already way ahead of him. "Come on, you sloth! They're gonna get us!" She shouted. Shadow quickly caught up to her and they jumped from rooftop to rooftop, the mouse leaving more explosives in her track, leaving a smoke bomb at the last one before jumping down into another alleyway.

She opened a manhole cover and got in, holding it open for the hedgehog, who quickly followed.

Down in the sewers, they kept walking for what felt like an hour before climbing a ladder to another manhole. Lifting the cover, the mouse got out and checked the alley entrances. Determining it was safe, she walked out and breathed a sigh of relief. Shadow was not far behind. "What the hell was that all about?" He asked, "You could have killed someone with those bombs!" The mouse scoffed and replied, "So what? Down here you have to ensure your own survival. You can't watch out for others."

She started walking again as the hedgehog argued, "And why did you take me with you?" She stopped walking and said, "You're from the surface. If you die down here, that's Downtown's responsibility." "Echo told me something similar about you people leaving for the overworld." He said. The mouse tensed again, "...you know Echo?" "Yes, why?" He asked. The mouse replied, "Stay away from her."

Alright, now he's had it with her. "Listen, I'm not gonna let a small mouse like you-" "I'm a rat!" Taken off guard, Shadow paused. "I'm not a mouse... I just stopped growing early..." She gripped the front of her qipao as she grit her teeth. It was obvious she was about to cry. That's one thing Shadow could not deal with. "Hey, I'm-" but the rat kicked him in the shin and ran off before he could finish his sentence.

Looking after her, Shadow just now noticed where he was. He was near the border control station. And one look at the time told him that the 4 hours were up.



Shadow reunited with his friends shortly after his encounter with the red rat. After telling them what happened, Rouge spoke up, "And I thought Sonic would be the first to get into trouble." "Hey!"

But now that they were all together again, what now? It was getting late and they had nowhere to stay. It was unlikely that this place had hotels because everything was so accessible. Amy took one look at the map of the brochure she grabbed and confirmed that suspicion. So they really only had one option.

Shadow was staring at Echo's contact with immense conflict. It was like they were relying on her, especially after she already got them the Downtown IDs, but they didn't have any other choice now. Other than sleeping on the street. He called her.

After 3 rings, she picked up. "What's up?" She asked. Shadow hesitated a bit, "We... could use some help." He could practically hear how she lit up, "Sure! What do you need?" "We need somewhere to stay." He said. "Alright. I'll see who's available. I'll text you the location as soon as I hear something." They exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

Not even a minute later he received that location.



They were walking down the street that Shadow had taken earlier, with the colorful lamps. Apparently this was called Zither Street. They stopped at the building they were told to go to and knocked. A shaky voice sounded behind the sliding door and a very short, elderly mouse opened it. "Oh, what a pleasant surprise. Velvet! Your friends are here!" Another voice said, "Give me a second!"

The elderly mouse said, "Come on in. Make yourself at home. Would anyone like some tea?" Everyone entered the house and saw just how big it was inside. "My name is Sayaka, but you can call me Granny Sa." She said as she walked towards the kitchen, the sound of her walking stick echoing off the walls. Amy and Rouge took the offer of tea while all of them got comfortable on the pillows that surrounded the low table in the living room.

They could hear that water was starting to boil, Sayaka walking into the living room with a tray of sweets and delicacies that looked a little too heavy. Sonic jumped in to take it from her and set it down on the table. "Thank you, young man. I recognize you. You're Sonic the Hedgehog, I take it?" The blue hedgehog in question nodded as the mouse smiled at him, "You and your friends are doing great work. That lowly Doctor deserves to get put in his place."

"It's nothing! But it's surprising how well known we are down here." Sonic remarked. "You're almost as popular as Echo. Ah, I remember when she was just a little pup..." Sayaka started reminiscing about the past as she tended to making the tea.

Soon, the tea was set on the table and the elderly mouse sat down on a pillow as well. "So, what brings you to Downtown District?" She asked. At the question, everyone tensed, making the mouse say, "Ah, I see. Well, you're not the only ones who do things against the law down here- VELVET!!!" Sayaka shouted. Her loud voice spooked everyone as she seemed to have lost her patience. "I'm coming! Geez..." "You'll have to excuse her, she can get quite caught up in her work." The mouse said.

"Seriously, there's no reason to shout at me like tha-" The person who stepped into the living room was none other than the red rat that Shadow ran into earlier. She made eye contact with the dark hedgehog almost instantly and froze in place. As she processed what just happened, she said, "I'm gonna kill her..."

Chapter Text

Shadow was sitting right in front of a very angry rat that was glaring at him as if he killed someone. "So, you and my granddaughter have already met before." Rouge looked at the hedgehog and commented, "So that's the girl you ran into earlier." Velvet was growling at this point, absolutely not happy about the situation. Sayaka scolded her granddaughter and said, "Vel, be nice to our guests. They've had a long day."

Velvet jumped up and shouted, "He disrespected our entire family! That is unacceptable!" Shadow defended himself, "All I did was call you a mouse." The red rat slammed the table with both hands and screeched, "I TOLD YOU I'M A RAT!"

"Enough."

Everyone looked at Sayaka's neutral expression as she sipped her tea. "Is it true that you called her a mouse?" She asked. The hedgehog nodded as the elder rat explained, "It is easy to mistake us for mice due to our size, but we are in fact rats. Although all of the children I had were normal sized, Velvet seemed to have inherited the short gene from one of my daughters. I myself was the smallest in the family back in my day." "Speaking of family, this house is so big, but there's only 2 of you."

The rats both tensed, Velvet's ears dropping as she said, "My dad is dead, my mom left to the surface, same with all of my siblings." Sayaka set her tea down and continued, "Velvet is the youngest of 6 children. I thought my daughter was done after the 5th, but gave us one more little surprise before my son-in-law passed away. Shortly after Velvet had her 6th birthday, my daughter took off towards the surface without looking back. The others followed not long after."

"Then, why didn't you join them?" Amy asked, making Velvet sit down in silence. Sayaka said, "The same reason that Echo cannot leave this place either. She has duties here that keep her in this cage of a city. I don't blame my daughter for leaving like that." Hesitantly, Sonic asked, "Can you tell us more about what's going on down here?"

The rats looked at one another, the elder explaining, "Downtown District is facing a crisis. Lately, more and more security bots and drones have been sent out, some of them being made by Robotnik himself. We have to watch our every step. We don't know what started it, but it can't be good."

Velvet sipped her tea as she added, "The Canines will take care of it. They have been protecting Downtown for many decades and will continue to do so until life down here gets better." She stood up and left the living room, "I'm going out. Don't wait for me for dinner."

Sayaka sighed, "Her and her fireworks..."



That night, Shadow slept... not too great. Kept waking up every couple of minutes. They had been divided to boys and girls, the latter bunking in Velvet's room. The red rat still hadn't returned from earlier and it was gnawing at him. Was she causing trouble again?

There was a light in the hallway that caught his attention, so he got up and left the others to sleep a little longer. In the hallway, the light went around the corner, and when the he followed it, he saw Sayaka getting a glass of water. "Can't sleep either, I take it?" She asked. Shadow almost jumped out of his skin at that. "Y-yeah... it's hard to sleep in a foreign environment." She waved him over to the table in the living room, "Come, take a seat with me."

They sat down, the rat speaking up again, "So, tell me what's bothering you, young man." Shadow hesitated. This person was an outsider, could possibly bust them for their fake IDs, not to mention the real reason they're here. However, she did mention that she knew Echo, but to what extent?

"...We're looking for something." He said. "I'm all ears." The other joked. After asking for a piece of paper and a pencil, the hedgehog drew the rough shape of a Chaos Emerald onto the paper to show to the elder. "Have you ever seen something like this?" As Sayaka examined the drawing, a frown made itself known on her face. "Wait here."

After looking through a large pile of newspapers, the elderly rat returned with an article that Shadow took a look at. It was an article about a new exhibit in a museum. An assortment of portraits, centuries old instruments, specimens of different flowers from the surface, and a mysterious, ancient gem. That must be it. The exhibit was called Surface Treasures. The museum was, in fact, located in East District.

"Will this help?" Sayaka asked. Shadow showed her a small smile and said, "Very. Thank you." Before he got up from the pillow, the rat stopped him, "Wait. I have something for you and your friends." She took out a small box and continued, "These used to belong to my kids, but they left them with me before they went to the overworld. You could get more use out of them than me. You can keep them."

Sayaka opened the box to reveal 6 holographic watches. Almost the exact same kind as Echo's, just a little more dated. "That's very nice of you, but-" "No buts. Just take them." With her insistence, Shadow reluctantly took the box and went back to the bedroom, where the others were still sound asleep.

Shadow contemplated if he should wake them up for this, considering they've all had a pretty long day. But this was a Chaos Emerald they could be onto. They're never going to get a chance like this again.

After shaking everyone awake, the dark hedgehog explained the situation. Tails lit up as he mentioned the holographic watches and immediately rushed to examine them. "I wanna say these are about 10-15 years old. It's not the best, but it will do the trick for now." The fox turned one of them on and familiarized himself with the settings, working on turning these watches into Emerald trackers.

The girls suddenly entered the room, Amy asking, "What's going on in here...? Why are you up at 4 in the morning...?" They both rubbed the sleep out of their eyes.



It only took about 30 minutes to get all of the watches running. Now they all had a map for this place, as well as a tracker for the Emeralds. Now all they had to do was go and get it.

They decided to leave that night, not wanting to waste any time while Eggman was probably already hot on their heels. The museum was on the other end of East District, meaning they had a long way ahead of them. What they didn't expect however, was that there were more security bots outside at night. Avoiding them wasn't that easy. The bots had microphones, which they found out thanks to a certain hedgehog arguing about whether they should break them or not.

As they made their way through the last alleyway before reaching the museum, one of the drones must've spotted them, causing it to send out an alarm. Knuckles said, "I'll handle these. You go on ahead." He turned around to walk towards the bots that were quickly approaching. Amy jumped in, "I'll help you." and took out her hammer. "Are you sure you can handle them?" Sonic asked. In unison, both the echidna and the pink hedgehog gave him a thumbs up and said, "Piece of cake!"

Without arguing further, the rest continued their way towards the museum.

"So, ready to beat up some scrap metal?" Amy asked. Knuckles scoffed and replied, "I was born ready." As the security bots drew nearer, the both of them charged at them.



Finally arriving at the stairs to the Downtown Museum, Tails, Sonic, Rouge and Shadow stared at the enormous building. It was bigger than they thought it would be. Just how many things do they have on display here?

"Rouge, can you check out the roof for a possible entrance?" Shadow asked the bat, who replied, "On it." Rouge flew up the large building, avoiding the circling security drones along the way. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds.

Getting to the roof, the bat examined every inch of it. There was only one feasible way to get in other than the main entrance. An air vent. After flying back down and picking up Shadow, Tails following with Sonic, they had to come up with a plan. Air vents are notorious for being mazes. They didn't have a map for this place, so they had to think of something else.

As the hedgehogs argued about how to go about it, Rouge stepped between them and walked up to the vent. All she did was open her mouth and hold her ear up to the vent. Confused, Sonic looked at Shadow who sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I forgot she can do this." The blue hedgehog asked, "Do what?" The other looked at him and simply said, "Echolocation." Then it clicked, "Oooh. Right. Bat." Rouge turned to them and said, "I'll go first." and hopped into the vent.

Just as Shadow was about to follow, they heard an alarm go off. Another security drone. "Don't worry. Tails and I will handle those. Right, buddy?" Sonic looked at the fox. The latter replied, "Yeah! You and Rouge can go on ahead." The dark hedgehog nodded at them and entered the vent.

Chapter Text

The air vents were cramped. Rouge and Shadow could barely move through them. As the bat continued to use her echolocation, Shadow thought of just how secure this museum must be if there were already hundreds of security bots and drones circling the building.

"I think this is it." Rouge said as she led them to a vent opening. Looking through the slits, the bat examined the room they had reached. It seemed to have various models of different tech that was used hundreds of years ago. This wasn't the right room, but a start. There were security guards patrolling the exhibit, so this wouldn't be easy. They couldn't exactly kick the cover off, it would immediately draw attention to them.

Suddenly, they heard a crash from somewhere in the building. One of the guards looked in the general direction it came from, speaking into a walkie-talkie, "07, what was that?" After receiving no answer, they asked again, "07, can you hear me?" No answer. "Damn it..." They cursed and snapped their fingers, pointing in the direction the sound came from. The rest of the guards followed them into another room.

This was their chance. Rouge quickly kicked the vent cover off and jumped down, Shadow quickly following. The lights were off, except for the display lights. Looking at the items, Shadow recognized some of them from the overworld, some of it was Eggman tech, and one of the items was something he couldn't make anything of. It looked like a broken mask of sorts. Curious, he looked at the title of the exhibit. Canine Past. So this must be things that the Downtown Canines have used in the past.

There were 3 large open doors that led to more exhibits of the museum. Mobian History, Earthly Discoveries, Surface Treasures. That was it. As they ran across the room, they saw a flashlight and quickly hid behind a display. A security guard slowly walked into the hall and looked around. They spotted the broken vent and shouted, "Guys! We have a situation!" When no one replied, they mumbled, "Fuck..." and quickly ran to another room, possibly to get backup.

"Rouge, you need to go." Shadow said. The bat looked offended, "Excuse me?" "I'm serious, you need to go back the way we came and lock the vent cover. They'll find us if you don’t." Frantic footsteps approached. "What about you?" She asked in genuine concern. "I'll find a way. Now go!" Rouge then hurried to grab the cover and flew up to the air vent to go back, closing it tight on the way.

The security guard returned with a colleague, shouting, "Look! I told you we have a problem!" pointing it at the air vent. But it was now closed. They looked at it in shock and confusion, their colleague pinching the bridge of their nose and sighing. "I swear it was open! Someone is here, I know it!" The other took a deep breath and said, "As you can see, the vent... is closed. No one is here. Now if you're done chasing ghosts, we have more pressing matters at hand." They grabbed the back of the other one's collar and dragged them away. "I'M TELLING THE TRUTH THIS TIME! SOMEONE IS IN HERE!"

That was too close.

Shadow snuck out of the Canine Past exhibit and peaked around the corner, no one was there. Odd...

Entering the Surface Treasures exhibit, he saw all sorts of different flora. Palm trees from their beaches, sand from said beaches, different flowers, some Flicky replicas, and at the end of the very long hall...

The Chaos Emerald.

Bingo.

The case it was in was very far away from the rest of the displays, so Shadow had a sneaking suspicion...

He plucked out one of his quills and threw it in the Emerald's direction. As soon as it hit the ground not too far from him, countless lazers went off in the room. How fun. The weird thing about this whole situation was, however, that only now he started picking up on the Emerald's energy. The buildings of Downtown District must be made from a material that doesn't let Chaos Energy through. Although Shadow never heard of a material like that. Then again, this is Downtown District. Who knows what else they are hiding.

Examining the lazers, the hedgehog determined that the people who run this place were smarter than expected. The lazers practically left no wiggle room. He couldn't even picture a way for himself to get through. And the lazers were too close to the case, so he couldn't even use Chaos Control to get over there. He was stuck it seemed. Although...

Sneaking back into the Canine Past exhibit, he looked around for anything reflective. If these lazers were just light and not actual lazers, this would be a piece of cake. Shadow was standing in front of the broken mask again, seeing just how busted it was. The metal of it was a little rusted, the glass of the eyes broken, the mask itself was in 3 pieces. Judging by how the cracks look, the person who wore this mask was shot in the face. Not a pretty way to go.

Shadow took off one of his gloves and used his claw to cut a circle shaped hole into the glass, taking the mask. He saw that the inside of the mask was clean, and not rusted, only the outside was badly damaged. The person who designed and built this was truly a master of their craft.

As the hedgehog was about to go back to Surface Treasures, he noticed just how quiet it had gotten. There were no flashlights anywhere, no footsteps, no voices. What was going on? He wanted to investigate, but right now, the Emerald had priority.

Standing in front of the lazers, he carefully held one of the mask fragments under one of them. And just like he hoped, they were just light. Walking through the maze of lazers, Shadow couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. This couldn't have been that easy.

Finally, he stood in front of the Chaos Emerald. Just like earlier, he used his claw to cut a hole into the glass case, taking out the precious item and inspecting it. There was no doubt about it. This was the real deal. Hiding the gem in his quills, Shadow walked towards the exit of Surface Treasures when he heard a commotion at the far end of the hall. There was screaming, and something that sounded suspiciously close to a gunshot.

The hedgehog hid behind the wall and peeked around the corner. There he saw the security guards of the museum shooting at someone or something in another room. He couldn't see who or what it was, but the guards looked absolutely shaken and terrified. Then, something was thrown in the middle of the group, causing them to scramble to get away, but it was too late.

The object exploded, obviously a grenade. It wasn't a big one, but it was enough to kill at least a couple of the guards, the rest being either injured or thrown across the hall. The explosion must've finally triggered the security system, as an alarm started blaring through the building and safety doors started to go down. It forced Shadow back into Surface Treasures, making him curse under his breath.

At this point, he was slightly panicking. Whoever entered the museum must be quite the big deal to take out so many people at once. He had to get out. Now.

He frantically looked around the hall of Surface Treasures for a possible exit. A vent, a window, something!

The walls were vacant of any opening. Shadow could hear multiple sets of footsteps coming closer behind the safety wall. The alarm sound cut out abruptly.

As soon as they stopped, he put his ear against the wall to listen for what they might do. No words seem to have been exchanged, but he heard the sound of something cutting through metal.

Looking down, he saw a lazer cutting through the safety wall.

He stepped away from the wall. This was bad. If these people find him, he's in trouble.

The hedgehog suddenly stumbled backwards, looking at what tripped him on the floor. It was a loose tile.

He inspected it and saw that there was a space below the tile, and more than that. There was a whole tunnel down there!

Noticing that the lazer was more than halfway through the wall, Shadow decided he had no other choice but to use this strange tunnel and jumped down, dropping the tile back in place, making it look like he was never there.

He could hear the wall fall down from being cut, the people who broke in walking over the tile he just entered. They were talking, but he couldn't tell what was said.

Judging from the tone, the people in the exhibit were mad at something. Were they looking for the Emerald as well? By the sound of it, they were now leaving. Shadow breathed a sigh of relief, but that seemed to have been a mistake.

"What was that?" He understood the sentence clearly, but the voice sounded... wrong. Distorted. Artificial. Shadow covered his mouth with a hand and stopped moving. He could hear them walking through the room, looking for him.

His heart was pounding in his chest. A light was shining through the thin tile he went through. Hastily, Shadow looked where the tunnel would lead, but it was so dark he couldn't see anything.

Deciding that it was better to leave through the tunnel than to stay and potentially be discovered, Shadow took one last glance at the light through the tile before getting the hell out of there.



Surprisingly, the tunnel was not a labyrinth like the air vents earlier. But the hedgehog crawled for a long time. He arrived at a dead end, which means that either the person who dug this tunnel never finished it, or there was an exit somewhere. He felt around the walls a little, noticing how... odd the dirt felt. It was nothing like the dirt at Green Hill. It was... lifeless and dry.

As he examined the walls, there was a curve that sharply went up. There was enough room for him to stand up, so he examined the space above his head and hit another wall, but this one felt a bit different. It was too flat to be part of the tunnel. This must be the exit. Or rather, entrance. Trying his luck by pushing the heavy object above him up, it gave away slowly.

Turns out it was a stone tile, one that was part of an alleyway. After getting out of the tunnel and putting the tile back into place, Shadow left the alleyway to see where he was. He was not too far from the museum, but far enough away to be out of danger. He could finally breathe easy. But...

Where were the others?

He quickly took out his phone and dialed Rouge's number. It was ringing for quite some time, making the hedgehog curse under his breath. Then, finally, she picked up. "Shadow? Where are you? Are you okay?" She bombarded him with questions. "I should be asking you that. Is everyone alright? What happened?" He asked. The bat explained, "We were ambushed. As soon as I got out, Downtown Canines just started attacking me! The others weren't much better. Sonic is a little out of it but he'll manage." So it was the Canines. But why? "What about you? Did you get the Emerald?"

Shadow rummaged through his quills and fished out the Chaos Emerald he had collected. "It's right here." He smirked. "Oh thank goodness... You're not hurt in any way?" To hear her genuine concern... it was... nice. "I'm fine. Just got a little surprised. I'm not far away from the museum, I'll be-"

He was cut off by someone in a grey suit and mask grabbing the Chaos Emerald he held in his hand, speeding past him. It caused the hedgehog to stumble a little, looking at what just transpired in shock and disbelief. "What's wrong? Did something happen? Shadow?!" Rouge asked in a panic. Shadow growled and said, "I'll call you back." and hung up, speeding after the culprit.

He had to give it to the person, they were good. They were moving in a similar style to him, but as he caught up, he noticed how different they were. They didn't use air shoes like him, but they had a strange full-body suit that glowed green at their feet and red everywhere else. They wore a metal mask, concealing their identity. They had long white hair that was tied in a high ponytail, their fur also being white.

The way they moved was much more sharp, they were bent closer to the ground for less air resistance. This was a professional. They took a sharp turn, which Shadow quickly tried to catch up with.

As he closed the distance between them again, he failed to notice the cart of metal pipes in front of them. The person in the suit however took out a gun and shot at the vehicle, causing the pipes to come loose and tumble towards them. The person jumped over them with ease, Shadow having to dodge to the side. The person who handled the cart apologized profusely and stepped out of the way so the hedgehog could continue the chase.

The person in the suit was starting to go faster and jumped again, this time over a railing. Shadow then heard a splash, prompting him to stop at said railing. He looked over it and only saw water. The person must've jumped into it, meaning they, as well as the Emerald, were gone. Shit.

This was more than just bad. This person... he had no idea if they worked for Eggman or who knows who else. They could be another one of those people who want to use the Emeralds to take over the planet. He didn't know. Behind him, he could hear a few pairs of approaching footsteps. Those must be his friends.

Out of frustration, Shadow harshly brought his fist down on the metal railing, causing it to deform. What now?

Chapter Text

Shadow was mad. As soon as he had the Emerald in his hands, it was gone again. This had to be the worst day of his life. Well... second worst.

His friends had caught up with him and asked countless questions. Honestly, all he wanted right now was to fall asleep and hope this was a dream.

As they made their way back the way they came, Shadow noticed the person from earlier, the one with the cart of metal pipes. They were desperately trying to get said pipes back onto the cart, without success. It was an odd colored rabbit, the color being perfectly split down the middle. From the body shape it was obviously a woman, and she looked absolutely defeated. Sonic was the one to step in, "Excuse me, miss! Do you need help?" The rabbit turned to look at him and replied, "O-oh no! I'll be fine, I just-" She was cut off by one of the pipes rolling away again. "...yes."

One by one, Sonic and his friends carried the pipes back onto the cart. They were huge, but it was manageable. Once the pipes were secure, the rabbit sighed in relief, "Thank you... You're Sonic, right?" The blue hedgehog bragged, "The one and only!" The other laughed and said, "My name is Alyx. You really saved my butt here..." she motioned towards the cart. "What are these for anyway?" Tails asked as he took a closer look at them. Alyx explained, "Oh! These are for South District! The pipeline is in desperate need of an overhaul and we haven't been able to get the go-ahead for ages. But now the reconstruction is finally in full motion!"

"Pipeline? Like oil and gas?" The fox questioned. The rabbit shook her head and said, "No, it's for energy! We're hoping to restore power in South, but so far nothing has worked. This new pipeline is our last option..." Shadow stepped in and asked, "Do you remember what caused the power outage?" There was nothing in the post he saw a while ago. Alyx put her hand on her chin and looked deep in thought.

"Hmmm... No, I don't. Sorry. I'm from North District, so I didn't witness the incident first-hand. I do remember some details about that day though. It was about 8 years ago, there was an event going on at the time. I don't remember what kind, but it must've been really big. The lights in South District suddenly flashed as bright as the sun before there was a loud boom, followed by a big vibration that was felt all over the other districts. The power went out only a second or so later."

A vibration? "Are you sure it wasn't an earthquake?" Sonic asked. Alyx nodded, "I'm certain of it. If there was an earthquake, we wouldn't feel it either way." The rabbit pointed to the ceiling and the walls of Downtown District. "We're in a metal globe of sorts. It was constructed in a way that any outside vibration gets absorbed so we don't feel it at all!" Shadow looked at the ceiling, all around the city and thought... how did all of this start?

Alyx boarded her vehicle and said, "Thanks again, guys! I owe you one!" Sonic waved his hands, "That won't be necessary. We're happy to help!" The rabbit denied, "Nonsense!" She took a piece of paper, wrote something down on it and handed it to the blue hedgehog. "My phone number. If you need anything, give me a call!" She made a call gesture with her hand before taking off.

They all waved after her and shouted, "Safe travels!"

Knuckles asked, "Do you think the pipeline is going to work?" Tails frowned and replied, "I have no idea. It highly depends on what the actual cause of the outage was. If it was a normal power outage it could be fixed with the flip of a switch. But having an entire pipeline overhaul? That's extreme. Not to mention... What kind of energy are they using?" Now they looked a bit concerned. Amy questioned, "What do you mean?"

The fox turned to the rest of the group, "The pipes that Alyx is transporting aren't just ordinary pipes. Those are made out if special material that can conduct a special type of energy." Sonic mumbled, "Special energy... like... the Chaos Emeralds?" Tails nodded.

"I have 2 theories. Either A, They've been secretly using the Emeralds' power to keep this place running, or B, They plan to use them now to fix South District." He explained. "Wouldn't the latter mean they would have to keep the Emeralds?" Rouge commented. "If that's the case then we won't be able to efficiently fight Eggman anymore!" Amy exclaimed.

As the others argued, Shadow was lost in thought about the person who took the Emerald from him. Who were they? How did they know where he was? Did they dig the tunnel in advance as a trap? What did they want with the Emerald?

Rouge noticed the dark hedgehog spacing out and put a hand on his shoulder, "You okay, hun?" The other frowned and said, "No. No, I'm not okay." Crossing his arms, he continued, "That person who took the Emerald from me got some nerve..." "Can you describe them?" Tails asked. "White full-body suit, strange mask, red lights all over."

Sonic seemed to tense up, "...did they have anything on their chest?" Shadow thought back to when he was chasing them, trying to remember every detail. Then he recalled, "They had a strange rhombus shape on the chest of their suit." The others looked at one another, suddenly going silent and sweating. Sonic mumbled, "We are so fucked..."



"Nonononono, we need to get out of here. We can't stay here if SHE is the one getting in our way!" Sonic said. Knuckles argued, "We can't just let them take off with the Chaos Emeralds like that! If Eggman catches wind of that, a whole war could break out!" "And I don't want to be part of that! This is much bigger than us!" As the both of them argued, Sonic and Knuckles were punched over the head by Amy and Rouge respectively. "Will you stop arguing already? This back and forth will get us nowhere!" The pink hedgehog said.

After they all calmed down a little, Shadow asked, "What is going on? Who was that person?" Sonic sighed and explained, "The person who took the Emerald from you was none other than the leader of the Downtown Canines. Diamond." Wait, leader?

Tails used his newly acquired, although slightly outdated, holographic watch to display a picture of the person Shadow ran into, "Also known by her official title, Blood Diamond. Whoever crosses her will feel the wrath of all the Canines that came before her." As Shadow looked at the displayed picture, he noticed something about this Diamond person. In the picture, she was in the middle of a wreckage, the photo being taken not looking the best. Judging from her stance, she was calm but angry. The combination of white all over and red glass for eyes made her look like an albino.

However, what caught his attention the most was that they felt... familiar. The way they moved and the aura they gave off. Was this the same person he ran into on the surface a while ago? Or did he recognize them from somewhere else?

"If we run into her again or she decides we're in her way, we're done for." Sonic said. Amy looked determined when she argued, "We've dealt with worse! We saved the world multiple times already. One little vigilante group is gonna derail you like that? That's not the Sonic I know!" She then turned to the others, "Who knows, maybe she's even on our side without knowing it!" Knuckles asked, "What do you mean? She wouldn't have taken the Emerald if she was one of the good guys."

Amy scratched the back of her head and continued, "Maybe 'on our side' is being too generous... but think about it! No one would willingly work with Eggman. And there are dozens of his surveillance bots flying around among the ones that are from Downtown District. I doubt Diamond's happy about that, considering this is her territory. He's invading just as much as we are! And you know how the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend!"

The others still looked a bit skeptical, but Shadow stepped in and said, "She's right. Diamond wants to protect Downtown District at any cost. And Eggman is a pest she'd want to get rid of." Knuckles put a hand on his chin and argued, "However, there is still a chance they have their own agenda that doesn't align with neither Eggman or us. And it's highly unlikely they know how to use the Emeralds effectively. If they do anything wrong, it's bad news for the user."

Sonic sighed again, "So, what do we do?" "I say we stay on the side of caution and keep looking for the other Emeralds. You never know who to trust. Especially down here..." Rouge said. The others nodded in agreement.

Amy said, "We should probably head back to Granny Sa. She's probably worried. And I wonder if Velvet has returned yet." As they made their way back, Rouge and Knuckles stayed a bit further behind, the former saying, "I didn't know you could say something smart, Knuckie. Well done.~" The echidna scoffed, "I have my moments, bat." The other just giggled with a smirk on her face. "However..." He suddenly sounded more serious, "...I'm not convinced of what Alyx said. This whole energy thing doesn't sit right with me."

The bat frowned and asked, "What do you mean? What's wrong with it?" Knuckles looked conflicted as he explained, "I don't know, but I keep circling back to the question you guys asked me back at the concert. Is there anything else that holds similar power to the Chaos Emeralds? I feel like I forgot something, so I'm not so sure about my answer anymore."

Rouge offered, "Maybe we need to jog your memory a bit. If you're sure you forgot something, there must've been something important." Knuckles mumbled, "Maybe..."

Chapter Text

"You sure took your time, Vel. Where have you been?" Sayaka asked her granddaughter who just returned a few minutes after Shadow and his friends. The red rat pouted and replied, "I was out testing my new fireworks in South..." "All night?" Shadow asked. "What are you, a cop?" Velvet snarled at him. The elder rat reprimanded the younger, "Be nice to our guests, sweetie." But the other just walked away to her room.

Sayaka sighed and said, "I'm sorry for her behavior. She's normally so nice..." Amy chuckled and brushed her off, "Don't worry. We have our own little hothead over here. It's nothing new." while pointing at Knuckles who stuck out his tongue at the hedgehog. The rat giggled and started reminiscing, "Ah, I remember when my old friends and I used to joke like that. You could never get Serafina's mother to stop teasing us, no matter what we did." "You know Serafina?" Rouge asked. Sayaka nodded and stood up.

She looked through a cupboard for something, it looked like a book, and returned to the table. "This photo album has been in my family's possession for centuries." And it certainly looked the part. It was at least 500 pages thick. When she put it on the table, it visibly shook. Opening the book, Sayaka smiled and said, "I knew little 'Fina's mother since we were in diapers. We used to make music together and were even part of the same orchestra."

The rat showed a picture of a younger version of herself standing next to a comparatively tall cat that had similar markings to Serafina. They were both holding an instrument, the rat holding a Dizi and the cat holding an oboe. They both looked to be practicing as they both had sheet music standing in front of them.

"Her name was Bijou. Although she looked intimidating and scary, she had a heart of gold beneath that stoic exterior. She is what kept our friend group together." Sayaka explained as she flipped the page, revealing a big picture with a couple dozen Mobians in it, all of them holding different instruments. "We were inseparable. Over the years we became less and less, most of them leaving Downtown in order to thrive."

The rat shot everyone a sad smile as she said, "I don't blame any of them. If anything, I admire them for their strength. Leaving Downtown District is a grueling and heartbreaking process." Velvet stepped back into the room and said, "You should show them the time when 'Fina was in her teens." She had this smirk on her face that spelled bad news. Sayaka turned to another page and the others almost couldn't hold back their laughter.

There was the fashion icon, Serafina, with braces and glasses, holding a violin. It was quite comical. However, Amy pointed something out, "I just noticed that all of the people in this album are playing instruments. What's up with that?" The elder rat chuckled and replied, "Ah, music... One of the most beautiful things one can participate in down here. Whether it be instruments, your voice, or just dancing to the rhythm. Music is what keeps us sane." "Does Velvet play?" Rouge asked.

The young rat stiffened as the elder said, "She used to, but for a few years now all she could think about was her fireworks. I remember the first time one of her inventions worked." Velvet mumbled, "It was just a small rocket..." They could tell by Sayaka's expression that she was proud of the smallest things her granddaughter achieved.

Velvet said, "I usually plan the firework show that happens every few months." She blushed a little and continued, "...if you want I can... get some tickets for you... for the next show..." "We would love to see that!" Tails exclaimed excitedly. After everyone chimed in with the fox, the red rat turned around, more than just flustered. However, none of them saw the relieved smile she had on her face.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Sayaka stood up and opened it, 2 Wisps flying into the house. An Orange Rocket and a Red Burst. The both of them flew straight at Velvet, knocking her over. They were cuddling her and tickling her, making her laugh uncontrollably. Sayaka returned with a familiar face. Or rather, 2 familiar faces.

"Leo! Lio!" Sonic exclaimed. The former of the brothers said, "Greetings. Did you have a safe trip down here?" Tails replied, "Yeah! But at the border control we ran into a bit of a situation..." "To keep it short, we had a run in with the Canines." Knuckles crossed his arms as he said it. Lio looked worried, "Did any of you get hurt? The Canines can be ruthless." The blue hedgehog brushed it off and said, "We're fine. We've had worse than smoke bombs to deal with."

"How is Echo doing?" Shadow asked. Rouge gave him a look, which the other promptly ignored. The lions stiffened and looked at one another, Leo replying, "There... was an incident." Lio continued, "There's no need to worry, she's fine! Just... got a concussion." Velvet looked panicked as she rushed to him to grab his collar, having to jump to reach it, "What happened?! Is she awake?! Who do I have to kill?!"

The lion pried the rat off of him by the back of her clothes and explained, "She ran into a certain someone and got into a fight. It got so bad that Aziza had to intervene. Echo didn't want to let it go, got in her way and Aziza accidentally... kicked her in the head."

...

"WHAT THE FU-"

"SHE'S STUPID, OKAY?!"



Leo and Lio decided to stay for a cup of tea. The conversation about this Aziza person was... interesting.

"So, who exactly is she?" Sonic asked. Lio explained, "Aziza, or Zia as she prefers sometimes, is an old friend of Echo. She can be a bit much, I'll admit. She mostly hangs out in South with the rest of her gang. She can be very territorial when it comes to strangers." He looked at Velvet, the latter groaning out, "Don't remind me... I couldn't lift stuff for weeks..."

"Why did Echo get in a fight in the first place? She could've been the bigger person and walked away." Shadow pointed out. Leo said, "It was Crash." "Nevermind."

"Is Aziza very protective of her friends?" Rouge asked. Lio replied, "Not just Zia. Everyone down here holds together like glue, no matter size, background, ailments, or whatever else. Although she is definitely up there as the most protective. I do, however, pray you never run into her when Echo isn't there." That doesn't exactly calm their nerves.

"Will Echo be okay?" Shadow asked. "She's more hardy than she lets on. Have faith in her." Leo said. "She takes after her mother when it comes to stubbornness." Sayaka commented. The older lion chuckled and replied, "That is very much true. And she's just as much of a hothead." The elder rat laughed, "Via was such a rascal. No one could keep her in line, not even her father."

Sayaka opened the photo album again and opened a page where a young adult Serafina stood next to a white wolf with red eyes. "This was Echo's mother. Her name was Viola but we all just called her Via. Serafina and her used to play in the same orchestra group. They were the best of friends." She turned the page, "She played the violin. The both of them sounded so good when they played together. Musical soulmates, you could say." The rat chuckled. "And then, she met Echo's father."

Turning the page again, they saw a photo of Echo's parents who were holding a familiar face in their arms. "Is that Echo?! She's adorable!" Amy exclaimed. Sayaka nodded and explained, "She was about a year old in this. She was Via's pride and joy. After Echo was born, Via mellowed out significantly, but her stubbornness turned into motherly protectiveness." The next few pictures were of Echo playing with toy instruments, sleeping in the strangest positions, and then, a picture of her holding another young wolf. That must be her sister.

"Whisper was born when Echo was 8 years old. Shortly after that, their father sadly passed away. And their mother..." The rat trailed off as her as well as the lion brothers lowered their heads. "We do not speak of that day, as it is the day we realized Downtown District is not what it seems." Leo said.

Tails asked, "Wait... Velvet's dad died early too, right? What's up with that?" The red rat in question slammed both hands on the table and shouted, "It's all Robotnik's fault!" The others were taken aback by her outburst as she went on, "It's his fault that most of us lost our families... He's the reason everything went to shit... And he is the reason none of us can leave!"

Sayaka sighed and elaborated, "What she means is that his ancestors are responsible for what is going on here. And she would be correct. The Robotnik family has been terrorizing us ever since our technology has gotten more advanced. It started 2000 years ago from what I remember..." "That long?! What the hell?!" Sonic was shocked but was cut off by the elder rat, "Let me finish. Back then, it wasn't as bad. But the longer it went on, the more the people of Downtown District got divided. There are citizens of this city that stand with Robotnik, and citizens who don't."

"Granny..." Velvet warned her. Sayaka continued, "There were a group of people who couldn't take it anymore, so they started to rebel. Those people later became the Downtown Canines, due to them being almost completely made up of wolves. They are not just a vigilante group. They are the ones keeping the citizens who stand with Robotnik in check. If they didn't, a war would break out."

Sayaka frowned and sighed, "We do not know what his goal is down here... While yes, his ancestors got the ball rolling, we haven't had issues with him personally in over a decade. We have nothing he could want that I am aware of." However, Shadow was skeptical. He asked, "How do you know all of this?"

The elder rat stayed silent for a bit, before replying with something that had her granddaughter sweating.

"I used to be a Downtown Canine."

Chapter Text

"You're joking, right?" Sonic stammered. To think that a gentle person like Sayaka could be part of a dangerous group like the Downtown Canines...

"I'm afraid not, young man. I have retired from my position many years ago, but I still remember my days as a member clear as day. I used to be in the Support Squad, assisting my fellow comrades from afar." The elder rat explained. Shadow commented, "A sniper." Sayaka smiled, "Indeed." Sonic and his friends looked incredibly uncomfortable, considering what happened just earlier that day.

Leo and Lio looked at one another before the latter spoke up, "Our parents were also part of the Canines." Taken off guard, the blue hedgehog mumbled, "What the hell is going on here..." "Please, rest assured that I mean no harm. Our number 1 rule was and will always be, protect those who are innocent and have wronged no one. I myself was spared by them back in the day." That was grounds for concern. "What do you mean?" Amy asked.

Sayaka explained, "Back in my day, things were much worse. They are still not great, but a far cry from what was the norm back then. I did many things I was not proud of. Stealing, gambling, dealing. Anything to make the slightest amount of money. I had 5 children to raise and take care of, and when they hit the age of 6, I was getting desperate. There is no such thing as schooling down here, but I wanted to give my family the best I could offer them. I stole money from someone I should not have messed with, and almost paid the price. They were shot by a Canine before they could harm me."

With a deep sigh, she continued, "I was almost next. Since I had stolen, I was automatically on their hit list. However, Diamond held them back and offered me to join them so I wouldn't have to worry about my family anymore. I accepted and became a sniper for them. I was still present for my children during the day, and once they fell asleep I would go on my way to help the Canines. They fight for a better tomorrow, a brighter future. But sadly I will not witness that future. I'm afraid my days on this planet are numbered..."

Velvet gently held her grandmother's arm and said, "Don't talk like that, granny... I promise I'll get us both out of here. By force if I have to." "What is Diamond like?" Shadow asked flatly. Sayaka shook her head and replied, "I don't know. The Diamond of today is 2 generations ahead of the one that I knew."

Shadow had to admit, this was frustrating. All of this has been going on right below their feet and no one knew about it. Why were these people so isolated? It couldn't be just Eggman's doing. This was far bigger than anyone let on. And what exactly does he want down here in the first place? Something must've piqued his interest, and it sure as hell wasn't the Chaos Emeralds alone.



The lion brothers finished their tea, leaving shortly after. They had to return to Echo so she doesn't continue to get into trouble. When Sonic asked if the wolf got into trouble often, Velvet groaned out a reply, "Don't get me started with that girl. She either falls, gets electrocuted, into fights, almost stabbed, shot at almost every single fucking day and it's driving all of us NUTS!"

Everyone, with the exception of Sayaka, stared at the red rat with wide eyes as if she just said the most batshit crazy thing in the world. And to an extent... that wasn't even wrong.

"How is she even still alive?" Tails asked. Velvet deadpanned, "Ask me something I actually know." Amy butted in, "Say, is there anything, y'know... fun to do down here?" The rat crossed her arms and said, "That depends on what you understand as fun. For example, if you're looking for a fist tight, you just have to go to West. Or right around the corner... But if you're looking for something less... confrontational, you could always go to South. That is, if you're friends with Zia. North is mostly known for the Shopping Alley and the Casino. And East... has just the museum and the Arcade."

The others stiffened at the mention of the museum.

Deciding to try and save themselves the awkwardness, Sonic said, "How about we go to the arcade? I'm sure there's something for everyone!" Velvet laughed, "You have no idea, hedgehog. You want it, we got it." She stood up and told her grandmother that they would be out for the day.



The Arcade was located in the opposite direction of the museum, so they were spared that roadblock. The building wasn't very tall or big, but appearances can be deceiving. As soon as they entered, their senses were hit with loud music, flashing neon lights, and the scent of all different kinds of food.

Velvet turned towards them and said proudly, "Welcome to Kitty Arcade. Here, 8 stories full of fun await you." Confused, Tails pointed out, "Wait, but this building is only a single story high. How does that work?" The rat shook her head and chuckled, "Not all buildings are built upwards, foxy." She pointed at an elevator that showed the numbers 0 to -7.

The rat then went up to the counter to ring the bell. A tiger lady emerged from behind the employees only door. "Hiya! I'm Ha-Yun, how can I help you today?" Velvet waved to get her attention lower, and as soon as Ha-Yun saw the rat, her face lit up more than it already was. "Vel! It's been a while! The usual?" The rat nodded and replied, "Yep. Same thing, but for 7 people." Ha-Yun looked at the others, "O-M-G! Sonic the Hedgehog?! I never thought I would live to see the day! How are you liking Downtown so far? Do you like the food? What about the scenery? Is Vel treating you well? Hey that rhymed!"

Velvet snapped her fingers and brought the tiger out of her trance. "Oh! So sorry! I get a bit excited when I meet celebrities..." Ha-Yun said. Amy whispered to Rouge, "A bit?" The tiger cleared her throat and said, "Sonic the Hedgehog, would you do me the honors of putting your name on our wall?" The tiger pointed at a black wall that had hundreds of names in neon colored markers on it. They had to be honest, it was impressive.

Walking up to the wall, Sonic recognized many of the names written on it. Tangle, Tikal, Wave, Storm, Jet, even Vector, Espio and Charmy were on there. And almost unnoticeable, Infinite. "No fucking way. Guys, look at this! Infinite is on the wall!" The blue hedgehog called his friends over and they stood around him to inspect the writing. "Oh yeah! The jackal! He was with a strange looking fox. They looked like a couple." Rouge looked at Shadow and asked, "You don't think...?" The other just shrugged.

Knuckles said, "Looks like she was good for him after all. As long as she keeps him in check, everything is fine." Amy brushed him off and replied, "Oh please. She doesn't need to do anything but smile and he turns into a lovestruck puppy." "Fair."

"Look at that! Even Silver and Blaze are on here!" Tails pointed at the respective names. And right below that was none other than Echo. Ha-Yun took out the neon markers and handed them over, "All of you can have a go at it! The more the merrier!"

Sonic proceeded to write his name in blue, Amy in pink, Tails in yellow, Knuckles in red, Rouge in purple, and Shadow in white.

After Velvet paid for 6 hours of arcade fun, the others took a look at the map. Yes, this place was big enough to need a map. On the 0th floor, there were classic arcade machines, Dance Dance Revolution and crane machines. The 1st and 2nd floor had Virtual Reality of various sizes. The 3rd floor had basketball throwing, a small shooting range and normal ball throwing. The 4th floor seemed to be a restaurant of some kind. The 5th, 6th and 7th floor all had something that was more oriented at smaller kids, like a rollercoaster, ball pit, a life sized crane machine for people, a playground area and a crafting corner. This place literally had everything. Velvet wasn't kidding.

Ha-Yun gave everyone 100 arcade chips in a little bag and explained, "These chips can be used in various different ways. You can either use them to play a traditional arcade game for a single round, or you can use them on the basketball game and get 2 minutes to get as many points as possible. If you're running out of chips but your time isn't up yet, you can pay with the points you gathered and buy more! Each of you gets one of these." The tiger took out a little device that looked a lot like their holographic watches, "These store your points. At the end of your stay, you can decide to either spend your points or collect them depending on the prize you want!"

The tiger then pulls out a 7th point collector and did something with it before handing it to Velvet. "Thanks. We'll be off then. Oh, by the way Ha-Yun, your dye is growing out." The tiger lamented, "I knooooow... I haven't had the time to buy more yet..." "You'll have to do it soon or else you're gonna look like shit. You can take a day off you know."

Ha-Yun huffed and replied, "I can't. I need the money, and it's not like I can count on Do-Yun to not scare away the guests with his emo phase..." "Fair enough. We'll see you later!" "I'll see you always!"

When Amy looked at the rat in slight confusion, the latter pointed out, "Security cameras." "Ooooh... Makes sense."

Sonic was eyeing the DDR machine that was currently unoccupied, poking Shadow in the side with his elbow, "You up?" The other grimaced at him and said, "I don't dance." "What, scared you'll lose?" Shadow frowned, looked at the machine and back at Sonic, "In your dreams, faker." Both of them walked towards it as the others watched. "This is gonna be a rough night." Rouge sighed.

"GUYS! THERE'S A SLUSHIE MACHINE!" Amy shouted from the other end of the hall. Never in their lives had they run so fast.

Chapter Text

Hey, so... I'm alive! Sorry about not posting for... 8 months- Oops-

I didn't plan this actually. I wanted to draw the characters first but then shit happened and I never finished 2 of them and later realized that they're not gonna be part of the main group for quite a while (if at all) so I decided to leave them out for now.

Anyway!

Velvet and Granny Sa!

And here are the tiger twins, Ha-Yun and Do-Yun!

This is all for now, I should be able to post a new chapter very soon, and sorry again for the long wait on this TwT

To anyone who's still reading this even after all this, thank you. It really means a lot. I've never been this passionate about writing a story before and it genuinely makes me so happy that people are reading this. I hope that you stick with me til the end of this because I can promise you, this will not end the way you think ;)

Chapter Text

Sonic and Shadow were still going wild on the DDR game as the others watched drinking their slushies. The 2 hedgehogs amassed quite the crowd as they went on. Velvet commented, "They're good, I'll give them that." Tails chuckled and replied, "You haven't seen half of it. You should see them on the surface." "Sounds a lot like Echo and Zia." The rat said. "Are they competitive like that?" Amy asked.

Velvet sighed, "Don't get me started. Whenever we're getting chased by those pesky security drones, they have to see which one of them takes down the most. And most of the time, it ends badly." She took a sip of her slushie as she watched the blue and black hedgehogs come back to them. Judging by the smug look on Sonic's face, he won their little competition.

"So, where should we go next?" The blue hedgehog asked. Amy looked at the rat next to her and questioned, "Do you know if they have any rhythm games here other than DDR?" "Sure do. It's also on this floor, but way in the back. Follow me."

Velvet led them to a Maimai machine that looked pretty dusty. It had a sign hanging next to it that said,

Beat the record and win our biggest prize!

- Management

"What record do they mean?" Tails asked. Velvet explained, "Well, there's this one level that is insanely hard. Echo currently holds the record for it at near perfect accuracy." She pressed some buttons on the machine and showed them what she meant. The song in question was Cyber Thunder Cider by Echo. The accuracy was at 98,75%, the next lowest being 82,45%. "Echo has held this record for about 2 years now, and most have already given up trying to beat it. That's why this thing looks so dusty. Ha-Yun even considered getting rid of the machine because no one plays it other than to try and beat her."

"That's sad... It's a fun game." Amy lamented. Knuckles raised an eyebrow and asked her, "You've played this before?" The other replied, "Of course. I've gotten pretty good at it, too!" Velvet tilted her head, "You wanna have a go?" The pink hedgehog smiled and said, "Sure! Wouldn't hurt to try."

The beginning of the song was pretty easy, but as it went on, the notes became harder to follow, causing Amy to miss a couple of them. The chorus was the worst. Not only was it fast, the notes were all over the place. But she got through it surprisingly well. The second verse wasn't as bad this time, because now Amy knew what to expect.

By now, the Mobians on the 0th floor heard the song play throughout the building, making them look towards the Maimai machine. More and more people gathered around them to watch how far the pink hedgehog could get. The second chorus was still difficult, but she managed to only miss 2 notes and get 3 late. Then, the song got surprisingly easy... for about 10 seconds. The last chorus was a nightmare because it took the difficulty of the previous ones and pumped it up to 11.

The song was done, and the result showed 92,85%, effectively catapulting her to 2nd place. The crowd that had gathered around them cheered for Amy, which gave her a little fright because she was so focused on the game that she didn't notice the people around them. Velvet was staring at the screen in disbelief, "Wow... I haven't seen someone get this close to Echo's record in ages." Amy chuckled and said, "Told you I've gotten pretty good."

"Bravo, Amy! Well done!" Someone from the crowd said, and it was none other than Silver with Blaze right behind him. "Silver!" Sonic rushed up to him and gave him a fist bump, "Never thought we would meet you guys here! How are things?" The purple cat replied, "Pretty alright. Gotta say, that was impressive Amy." The pink hedgehog chuckled bashfully and scratched the back of her head. Rouge butted in and asked, "How's the puppy doing? Is she okay?"

Silver said, "You mean Echo's concussion? Trust me, she's had worse." Blaze nodded and commented, "She's got a pretty thick skull." Tails asked, "By the way, what brought you guys down here again so quickly? You just delivered that one package to us a couple of days ago." The cat crossed her arms and explained, "We're just here to help Echo. You see, Downtown is in the process of renewing the energy pipeline to South District, and they need all hands on deck. Echo is the one who funded the project."

Shadow raised an eyebrow, "Wasn't she saving for her sister to leave Downtown?" Silver said, "She has many things she's saving for. There's her sister, fixing Downtown, her concerts, the fireworks show, merchandise, her bike, and some more that I probably forgot..." "Are you optimistic about the pipeline?" Amy asked. "Absolutely. We just came back from the construction site and it's looking quite promising." Blaze said. Sonic's face lit up as he realized, "Then you worked with Alyx?"

Silver mirrored the other hedgehog's joy and asked, "You met Alyx already?!" Tails chimed in, "Yeah! She lost her cargo while we were uh... y'know." The time travelers made a noise of understanding. "How did that go by the way? Everything went as planned?" Blaze questioned. Shadow had this bitter, angry expression on his face that told them everything they needed to know. The white hedgehog released an exasperated sigh and said, "That's one point for Eggman then..."

"Oh no, Eggman wasn't the one who took it. It was Diamond." Sonic said. Silver and Blaze flinched at hearing the name. "...This is bad." The latter mumbled under her breath. Amy asked, "Can you tell us something about her? Anything to get a hint as to what she wants with them?" Silver shook his head and replied, "We don't know much, sorry. But if you're looking for someone with intel, you should talk to Ha-Yun." "The tiger lady from earlier?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

The other nodded and continued, "When it comes to getting information, Ha-Yun either has it, or knows someone who does. Her brother prefers to stay on the sidelines, but they work great as a team. Since they are basically polar opposites, they have no trouble getting into any group."

"Life down here seems much more intense than I thought..." Sonic frowned. Blaze looked around the arcade and said, "You have no idea." Amy looked deep in thought as she tapped her chin. Rouge noticed it and asked her, "Everything alright, hun?" The hedgehog replied, "I could go talk to Ha-Yun and try to get her number." The bat said, "That's not a bad idea. How about the rest of us check out the other floors of the arcade in the meantime?" "Sounds like a plan. I'll rejoin you guys once I'm done. Shouldn't take too long." Amy said as she left for the reception desk.

Sonic said, "So, any other games we could check out, Vel-" He looked around, but couldn't see the rat anywhere, "Velvet? Where did she go?" Blaze sighed and explained, "She's probably playing games to gather more points. She has been saving those for months." "What does she need them for?" Tails asked. "It's best if you ask her that yourself." Silver commented. Sonic put his hands behind his head and said, "Oh well, we can still have fun exploring the arcade on our own."

"Yeah! I'm really interested in the VR machines they have here. It'll be interesting to know just how similar Downtown District is to earth." Tails said and started walking towards the elevator. The blue hedgehog smirked and added, "And research their technology for future reference." The fox chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "You know me too well."

However, before they reached the elevator, a familiar voice could be heard from nearby. A voice they didn't think they would ever hear again. "Anyone else who wants to try and beat me?" The group looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a rather unwelcome face as its source. A certain green hedgehog stood not too far from them. Sonic's eyes were wide as he mumbled, "You've got to be kidding me..."



Amy made her way through the crowd to get to the reception desk. A lot more people suddenly started coming in, which made it even harder to navigate the maze-like arcade. It was like a pack of sardines. When she finally made it to the desk, she breathed a sigh of relief as her legs almost gave out. She heard laughter next to her and when she looked, she saw Ha-Yun covering her mouth to stop the giggling. "Quite the ruckus, huh?" The tiger joked. Amy replied, "You can say that again. I've never seen so many people in such a small building at once."

"Don't worry, it's just the afternoon wave. People are coming back from work, or just waking up. As soon as it's over I get 5 hours of doing nothing before the night wave hits. And you don't wanna be around for that." The other chuckled as she handed out arcade chips and watches. Ha-Yun was doing it without breaking a sweat, without messing up a single thing, and could even keep entire conversations going.

The pink hedgehog was, quite frankly, amazed. The tiger saw her expression and smiled, "It's all part of the job. You fall into rhythm pretty quickly and it's not as hard as it looks once you get used to it." All the while she was still handing out the stuff the customers needed. As soon as everyone was situated, the tiger turned to Amy and said, "I saw what you did on that Maimai machine back there. It was pretty impressive! Congratulations!" The other blushed and brushed it off, "It was nothing. I heard you were considering getting rid of it?"

Ha-Yun's expression fell as she sighed, "Yeah. I'm afraid so. All they care about is that stupid record. The now 3rd place score was achieved maybe half a year ago and since then nobody even wanted to touch the machine again. I never should've put that sign there..." Amy frowned, but gave her a reassuring smile, "It is quite fun. I'm sure some people still wanna play casually, but are afraid to because of the pressure. I would be surprised if no one is on it at this very moment after I played."

The tiger decided to look at the security camera footage. The feed from the camera near the Maimai machine did in fact show a few people standing around it, with one of them actually playing. Ha-Yun smiled and joked, "Oh well, guess I won't get rid of that thing after all. Bummer." The both of them chuckled at that.

Amy said, "We should hang out sometime. We can even have a girl's night with Rouge and Blaze if you're feeling up for it." The tiger grabbed the other's hands and exclaimed, "Really?!" The hedgehog replied, "Of course! You can never have enough friends!" Ha-Yun was now straight up squealing at the prospect of making new friends, so she took out a slip of paper and wrote down her number before handing it over.

"I usually have Wednesdays off, as that's the day all of our machines are due for maintenance." The tiger said. "That often?" "Of course! With the amount of crazy people that walk in here daily, weekly maintenance is almost too little!" Then, a voice over a strange walkie-talkie like device next to Ha-Yun on the desk said, "Ha, trouble near the elevator. Looks like a heated argument." The tiger took the device and replied, "Heard you loud and clear, Do. How bad is it?" She quickly pulled up the footage from the outside elevator camera as the voice said, "Not good. They're getting louder."

As soon as the voice said that, the first punch was thrown. "Okay, that's it. Not in my arcade." Ha-Yun pulled up a Be Back Shortly sign before jumping over the counter and walking towards the commotion, Amy following closely behind her.

Chapter Text

Sonic and the others were staring at none other than Scourge himself. The blue hedgehog was in complete shock as Tails whisper-shouted, "I thought we got rid of that guy ages ago!" "Why is that guy here?" Knuckles growled. Rouge crossed her arms and mumbled, "More like how..." Sonic quickly shook his head and said, "No matter. As long he doesn't know we're here, there's no need for concern. So let's just get the hell out of-"

"Well well well, if it isn't the blue blur himself." Damn it. "I'll admit, seeing you down here certainly is a... surprise." Sonic almost wanted to hiss at him, but held himself back for his friends' sakes. "The hell are you doing here?" Knuckles asked. The green hedgehog scoffed and replied, "What, am I not allowed to be here like everyone else? For your information, I'm here on vacation and you have no right to tell me to leave." He had this smug expression on his face that made the others' blood boil.

"Let's just ignore him." Tails grabbed Sonic's arm, "He's not worth the trouble." The latter sighed and relented. "Yeah, you're right. Let's just go." Hesitantly, the group of them once again made their way towards the elevator. However...

One of the Mobians that had stood behind Scourge gasped and exclaimed, "Hey, the Maimai machine is free! Let's go!" They dragged a friend over to it and the Cyber Thunder Cider song could be heard again. Another Mobian sighed and said, "Oh man. Here we go again." The green hedgehog looked confused, prompting the other to explain, "If someone beats Echo's record, they supposedly get the biggest prize the arcade has to offer."

"Echo? Really? I'm surprised people still care about her." Scourge looked disgusted. "What did you say?" Silver stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to face the other hedgehog. Blaze butted in and said, "Silver, leave it. It's not worth it." Scourge however, pressed on, "What, I'm only telling the truth. How long has it been? 8 years? Come on, people. Echo writes the same songs over and over again. It's time for something new, isn't it?"

Silver got right up in his face and growled out, "Listen here, Scourge. You know absolutely nothing about Echo. She tries harder than anyone else down here to make everyone's lives a little less boring and she's doing a damn good job at it. She's kind, loyal, selfless, and the best friend we've ever had. You will not drag her name through the mud like that, not if I can help it."

"Damn Silver. Almost sounds like you got a crush." The green hedgehog teased, "You know... I heard about what happened between her and that other puppy. What was his name?" He pretended to think hard about it, "Oh right, Crash! That was one nasty breakup, huh?" Silver's face turned dull at the name. "Don't." He warned.

"I do wonder... if he reacted that way, Echo must've done something to justify it, right?" This earned Scourge a punch square in the face.

But instead of Silver being the one to hit him, it was Blaze. "Say that again and I'll burn your fur off so it doesn't grow back." She said as she created a small fire in her palm.

Scourge was angry to say the least. He wanted to lunge at the purple cat, but Silver blocked him from reaching her and that's how a brawl broke out.

Shortly after, the 2 hedgehogs were separated by Ha-Yun and another tiger with blue fur. That must be her brother. The tiger lady said, "And what in Chaos' name do you think you're doing?" The tigers were accompanied by a Violet Void and Indigo Asteroid. The white and green hedgehogs pointed at one another and said, "He started it!"

"I don't care who started it! We have a zero tolerance policy here in Kitty Arcade and you leave me no choice but to kick you out!" Ha-Yun shouted. "That's not fair! Silver was just defending Echo and protecting Blaze!" Sonic pleaded with the tiger. "Yeah! Scourge said that Echo deserved what Crash did to her!" Tails chimed in. The tiger twins looked at one another in conflict. Silver threw the first punch, but Scourge provoked him.

Then, the latter spoke up, "I call an Arcade Battle." The crowd around them, including Ha-Yun and her brother, gasped in unison. Confused, Sonic asked, "Uuuh... what's an Arcade Battle?" The blue tiger crossed his arms and explained, "When someone calls an Arcade Battle, the 2 participants have to play every game in the arcade on every single floor. Whoever wins the most games wins. The loser gets a life-long ban from the establishment."

Amy looked at her new friend and exclaimed, "Is that true?! Can't we just decline?" Ha-Yun shook her head, "Sadly no. It's the rule. Whenever someone calls an Arcade Battle, it has to be seen through 'til the end. No take-back's, no backing out." "It's a stupid rule." Shadow scoffed. "But it works." Blaze sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What do we do? I don't wanna get banned from this place!" Silver panicked. "You have to participate. But you don't have to do it alone." Velvet suddenly pushed through the crowd. "Oh right! I totally forgot! You can participate as teams! As long as there is an equal number on each side, it's fair! However, if you lose as a team, the whole team gets banned as well. Good thinking, shorty!" Ha-Yun said and ruffled the rat's hair, the latter punching her arm. "Haha!... ow..." The tiger mumbled.

"I'll join you too. The dude's been hogging my machine for too long." Velvet said, looking at the rest of the Sonic crew, "Who else wants to join? The more variety the better." They all looked at one another and nodded with determination. Except for...

"Shadow? You've been awfully quiet for some time. What do you say? Wanna help us kick his butt?" Rouge smirked at him. The dark hedgehog didn't say a word as he stepped towards Scourge. He got right up in the other's face and said, "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us." The green hedgehog smirked, "Oh yeah? Bring it, edgelord."



The rules were simple. Every arcade game with a score system is to be played once, no practice runs, no redo's. In group battle scenarios, both groups have to have an equal amount of participants. The people who pair up in one game don't necessarily have to pair up for subsequent games. This is to ensure both groups have a chance at getting the highest score possible based on their strengths. Each group member has to have participated at least once. The losing participant(s) shall receive a lifetime ban once the Arcade Battle has concluded. Should they resist, they will be reported to authorities.



They decided to work their way up from the 3rd floor to the 0th floor. The basketball hoop was the first game they decided to play, as it was fairly easy.

For this, Sonic decided to go up against Scourge himself. They all had talked about which games would be played by who, to ensure the highest scores they could possibly get. However, Velvet hadn't joined them. She was doing her own thing while they worked on a plan. They didn't even know what her strength was in any of these arcade games, since all she said was that the green hedgehog was 'hogging her machine', but they had no idea what kind of machine she was talking about. When they asked, she just stared at Scourge with this look full of resentment.

The first game started. They had 60 seconds to get as many basketballs through the hoops as they possibly could. Deciding to not go overboard, as it would probably break the machine, Sonic went just a little faster than his green counterpart. He struck up a conversation, starting with, "Do you really think of Echo that way?" "Less talking, more throwing." Wow, okay.

"I'm just curious. How come you don't like her? She's universally loved, so it's quite odd you think of her like that." Sonic kept talking. The green hedgehog was getting agitated, "People like her make me sick. Fake all around." That made the other pause, "What do you mean, fake?" The others were shouting at him to not get distracted. Scourge groaned and explained, "The charity, the positivity, she's fake as fake can be. Everything is just a facade."

By now, Scourge had twice as many points as Sonic. The latter hummed, processing what the former had said. Then, in the last 5 seconds, he used his speed to throw as many basketballs through the hoop as he could. In the end, Sonic had one single point more than Scourge, winning the first game. "I don't think that she's fake at all. I've met her personally and I can tell you that she is one of the kindest people I have ever met. Good game, though."

To say the audience was stunned would be putting it mildly. Tails gave Sonic a high five while Amy said, "You had us worried there, you know." Ha-Yun announced, "That's one point for Team Sonic!"

The green hedgehog was angry, but kept his cool for now. For the next one, they decided to go to the hammer game. Hit the point with a hammer with as much strength as you can muster. The maximum force on the machine was 1000 points.

One of Scourge's teammates was up first. They picked up the hammer and brought it down on the target as hard as they could, getting to 867 points. Almost breaking the best recorded record of 890. "Beat that, surface dwellers." They said in a mocking tone.

Sonic and Amy looked at one another, the former bowing, "After you." The pink hedgehog pulled out her piko-piko hammer and replied, "With pleasure." She walked up to the machine, inspecting it. "This thing isn't rigged, right?" She asked. Ha-Yun said, "Nuh uh! Every machine in this establishment is as authentic as can be. Even the claw machines. You have my word as a tiger."

"Good." Amy said and swung her hammer. The sudden ding of the bell caught everyone off guard. Ha-Yun couldn't believe her eyes and exclaimed, "Max points?!" The hedgehog rolled her shoulders bit and stretched her arms, "Years of kicking robot butts."

Scourge's teammate threw up their arms in surrender, "I'm out." They proceeded to push through the crowd, but were stopped by Do-Yun, who promptly brought them back. Ha-Yun continued to stare at the machine, "What the fuck..." Amy chuckled awkwardly and waved a hand in front of the tiger's face, "Hello? Mobius to Ha-Yun?"

She napped out of it and announced, "A-another point for Team Sonic!"

Next up was the punch machine. Scrounge's team member was a rather unassuming serval lady. Knuckles volunteered for this one and stepped up next to his opponent. The serval decided to go first and almost maxed out the machine. 978 points. The echidna made his amazement known with a grin, "Not bad." The serval said, "Thanks. That was a new personal record for me."

Knuckles eyed the machine a little as Sonic shouted, "Don't break the thing, Knux!" "Not planning on it!" He shouted back. He took off his gloves and handed them to the blue hedgehog. "This is gonna be good." Amy smirked. The echidna took a deep breath...

...and maxed out the machine.

The serval lady applauded him and said, "Well done! I'm impressed." The others were confused. "Why are you cheering for us?" Sonic asked, clearly suspicious. "I'm not competitive at all. For me, this is all in good fun."

After Ha-Yun announced another win for them, while Scourge wasn't looking, the serval got up close to the blue hedgehog and whispered, "I'm friends with Echo. She's been trying to get him out of the arcade for ages. I'm here to make that happen. It was only a matter of time before he called an Arcade Battle." Knuckles chimed in and asked, "Wait, so you lost on purpose? You gave it everything you got!" "I did. But there are ways to manipulate the machine."

"But 978 points is still massive! How did you know I was gonna score higher than that?" The echidna asked again. The serval explained, "I'm originally from the surface. I know about the things all of you have done for Mobius. Most people down here are only aware of Sonic." The group was rather perplexed, Rouge asking, "What's your name, hun?"

"You can call me Keisha."

Chapter Text

The Arcade Battle went on until they reached the 0th floor of the building. Shadow obliterated Team Scourge's teammate at the shooting range, to no one's surprise. Blaze and Silver were surprisingly good at the Virtual Reality games, Tails stepped up for the strategy games, and Rouge was all over the classic arcade games.

However, they did get a lot of losses as well. It was currently 37- 34, so they were pretty evenly matched. Most of the games left were rhythm games. Amy was about to volunteer for a game called Taiko no Tatsujin, but Velvet grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Let me handle this one." She said. Confused, the pink hedgehog let the red rat take her place.

Keisha was her opponent in this and had chosen a pretty difficult song to play. The song was called Zenzenzense and had a difficulty of 8 stars on 'Oni'. The serval was quite good, they had to give her that. Taiko no Tatsujin was a drum based rhythm game and didn't look easy at all. In the end, Keisha made a full combo with a perfect score. Team Sonic was worried.

"Velvet, are you sure you can do this? I don't mind stepping-" Amy said, but was interrupted. "Shut up and let me work." The rat retaliated. Shippuudotou was the song she chose with a difficulty of 10 stars on Oni. Ha-Yun asked, "A-are you sure that's a good idea? You're quite rusty from what I know..." Velvet didn't respond and started playing.

The start was rather easy, but that only lasted about 20 seconds before she started going ham on the drum. If they didn't know any better, they would have thought Sonic was the one playing. Never had they seen someone's hands move so fast. And Velvet kept a straight face throughout. The rat scored a full combo with a perfect score.

Amy ran up to her, "That was awesome! How did you learn to play like that?" The other replied, "Years of drum playing." "You're a drummer?" Sonic asked. "Is that so surprising?" The rat raised an eyebrow. The others said in unison, "Yes." Velvet just shrugged. She then turned around, looked at Scourge and said, "That's what you get for hogging my machine." So that's what she meant. The green hedgehog just flipped her off and turned away.

The rest of the Arcade Battle continued with Velvet handling most of the rhythm games. Strangely enough, for a handful of them, Keisha was her opponent. Every time they were up against one another, they smiled in a way that signified they were close friends. And since both were good friends of Echo, it wasn't unlikely that they knew one another quite well.

The last game in the battle was a dance game. It was an indie game developed by someone from Downtown District. The closest they could think of for comparison would be Just Dance. It was currently 49 to 49. This last game would determine whether they'll be banned or not. Just like in Echo's concerts, the finale was ME!ME!ME!...

Amy decided to take this one, along with Scourge for the other side. Echo was the one dancing on screen, showing them how to move. It was an exact copy of the wolf's performance. The both of them were able to keep up quite well.

The pink hedgehog was so locked in that no one could break her out of her concentration. When the second part of the song started, Shadow couldn't help but think about how the tone of it made him want to tear up. It was something subconscious that he couldn't quite explain. Then, the third part began and Scourge was making a face that signified he was getting frustrated. He clearly wanted to win. So, he did something uncalled for...

He pushed Amy away from the machine, just as the bridge started where not much happened. She fell down, and the other hedgehog had such a nasty grin on his face that made her want to punch him. Amy was about to get up when she noticed that her right leg and wrist were hurting. She couldn't compete like this!

They only had a couple of seconds left before the last part would start. Sonic was about to jump in, when suddenly Shadow stepped in front of the machine. Scourge was dumbfounded, but shook off the confusion as the finale started.

Shadow took a deep breath and instantly jumped into action. He had only seen the moves once in his entire life, but somehow he remembered them to a T. It was no difficulty for him at all. If they didn't know any better, Sonic and the others would have been convinced that the dark hedgehog had watched Echo's performance dozens, or even hundreds, of times.

In the end, Shadow pulled off Echo's moves perfectly, and landed himself just slightly above Scourge's score, winning them the Arcade Battle.

Rouge immediately jumped on him to hug him tightly, Sonic slapping him on the back with a big smile on his face, "That was incredible, Shads! How did you do that?" The dark hedgehog was still stunned himself that he was able to pull this off on a whim.

"And the last point goes to Team Sonic!" Ha-Yun announced, the crowd cheering for them. They had won. But...

"Not a chance! You cheated! I demand a rematch!" Scourge shouted. Keisha stepped in and said, "Technically you cheated first by pushing..." She looked at the pink hedgehog, "Amy." "Amy to the ground. And you know the rules of the Arcade. No rematches allowed." The green hedgehog scoffed, "Yeah right. I doubt that 2vs1 like that is allowed. So you cheated too."

"Actually, the moment you pushed her, you were disqualified." Do-Yun chimed in. Looking at his sister, the both of them explained, "Touching your opponent during a game is strictly prohibited. This can cause faulty game results, or in worse scenarios even bodily harm." Amy rubbed her wrist. "So the moment you touched Amy to push her away, you were disqualified. Team Sonic would have won regardless."

"You're kidding, right? Why didn't anyone mention that before the battle started?" Scourge raised his voice. Ha-Yun said, "I mean... Isn't that common sense?" "Why you-"

"Hey, you lost. So take that like a man and leave. You know the rules." Shadow crossed his arms as he glared at the other hedgehog. The other looked furious at that and stomped towards him, "Watch your fucking mouth you piece of-" Just as he was about to grab him, Ha-Yun gave him a firm karate chop to the side of the throat, knocking him out instantly.

The others looked at him with wide eyes, then at the tiger, who sighed and put her hands on her hips, "They're all the same. Sore losers that can't take the heat. Do?" The other tiger nodded and said, "On it." He threw the hedgehog over his shoulder to drag him out of the arcade.



The rest of Scourge's team was banned from the arcade, just like the rules said. Keisha however was still talking to Ha-Yun, even after the rest was thrown out.

When questioned, the serval laughed and said, "This was all part of a plan we, and to an extent Echo, hashed out. Scourge has been terrorizing people in the arcade for ages and we finally had enough. We had to wait until he cracks, because then he would be careless enough to make mistakes. And we were proven right with the last game."

The tiger chuckled, "Yeah, that guy needed to go. He takes people's favorite machines and plays them until the other person's time runs out." Velvet chimed in, crossing her arms, "He did the same with me. Taiko no Tatsujin is my favorite game, and he hasn't let me on it for months."

Ha-Yun snorted, "I'm surprised you even pulled that off. You haven't even gone to practice in just as long." "Oh shut up. As if you're any better. You haven't gone to dance practice in like, what, 2 years?" Keisha threw back. "I'm very busy with the arcade, if you didn't know already!" The others laughed along with them.

However, Shadow was still silent, and Rouge took notice of that. "What's wrong?" She asked with a frown. The hedgehog sighed and turned to walk towards the exit, "I need some fresh air."



Shadow stepped out of the arcade and took a deep breath. The air down here still had this depressing note about it and it didn't help the hedgehog feel better at all. Taking out his phone, he noticed he had a text from Echo.

Echo
Heya! Just wanted to check in. How's it going?

This was about 3 hours ago when they were in the middle of that Arcade Battle. About half an hour later, she texted again.

Echo
Omg I just got a text from Velvet. Is this actually happening??
Echo
Dude if you don't beat his ass in this I'll have you personally deported.

It was obviously a joke, but it made Shadow smile just a little bit nonetheless. About an hour ago she sent a picture of herself winking at the camera, showing a peace sign and sticking out her tongue while she crouched in front of a pile of broken security drones. He also noticed a small bandage on the top of her head. There was another person with their back facing towards her and flipping her off.

Echo
Hoe's mad I got more than her again.

Based on that, he can only assume that this was Aziza. But he had to wonder, if she was injured, why was she out and about like that? Not to mention beating up security drones?

The last text was a weird one. It was from about 5 minutes ago.

Echo
Hey I'm in East right now. By now you're probably done with the battle so I was wondering if you wanna catch up or some-

The message cut off. What happened? He was about to call her, when he heard hurried footsteps and shouts to his right. He looked and spotted someone running away from a hoard of security drones. He would have sighed and ignored it if he hadn't recognized the person as they ran past him...

...It was Echo.

Chapter Text

Shadow's eyes were wide from the shock of seeing Echo run past him. Time seemed to slow down as the wolf turned her head to look at him. She stopped dead in her tracks, surprised to see him standing there. Before either of them could say anything however, a large security bot appeared and ran straight at Echo. She smiled apologetically and dashed away, the bot following quickly after, its footsteps so heavy that they shook the ground.

The dark hedgehog stood there, completely dumbfounded. What just happened? He couldn't dwell on the thought too much. Echo was in trouble. Shadow looked back towards the doors of the arcade, seeing his group of friends banter with Velvet and Keisha, Ha-Yun having gone back to work. He continued to look between the arcade and the direction Echo ran to with great conflict. Cursing under his breath, he ran after Echo. His friends can handle themselves for a while.

For such a big machine, the security bot was surprisingly fast. The same went for Echo. She only recently sustained a pretty bad injury. This can't be good for her. The bot chased her through the streets of East District, the security drones from earlier also following them. Occasionally, they would try to shoot at Echo in order to get her to stop, but the wolf was able to dodge them with ease.

She took a sharp turn into an alleyway, one that was slim enough so that the security bot couldn't get through. Shadow grinned, thinking, 'Clever girl.'

However, the bot jumped on top of one of the buildings that made up the alleyway, continuing to follow after the wolf. Shadow quickly followed as he sped into the alleyway. To be honest, he wasn't even mad, just impressed at the persistence.

These alleys were a real labyrinth, twists and turns everywhere. This wasn't exactly ideal for him, but complaining wouldn't do any good right now. Shadow was almost right behind Echo and was about to call out to her, when a green glow emitted from the soles of her shoes. The way she moved changed, now much more similar to the hedgehog's own style.

Echo exited the alleyway, the drones quickly following. The security bot jumped down from the building and landed on the ground, damaging the concrete just a bit. Damn, everything built down here must be very sturdy.

Now that they were on a linear street again, Shadow could finally catch up to her properly. Once he was next to her, he noticed that her body was bent much closer to the ground, probably for less air resistance.

A security drone flew over them to get in front of them, shooting at Echo from the front. The wolf moved smoothly to dodge and jump up, her feet landing on the drone. Her next move could only be described as insane.

She grabbed the edge of the drone, let her body fall foward, and used the momentum to throw the drone onto the ground, breaking it in the process. She then landed safely on the ground while still going at the same speed as before. Echo looked to the side, right at Shadow, and grinned at him. He knew that kind of expression from Sonic. She was challenging him.

At this, Shadow had to frown. There was no way in hell he would take that challenge. He made his disapproval known by shaking his head. Echo simply pouted and took down the next drone that came at her. He was just here to make sure the wolf didn't get herself killed.

They were approaching a dead end. There was a railing that, if they jumped over, would lead them straight into the water that surrounded Downtown District. Then, Echo grabbed a lamp post with one hand and Shadow's own hand with the other. She held onto both until they were lined up with another alleyway, then let go of the lamp, propelling them down that path.

Only the drones followed them this time. One of them approached Shadow, making him kick it into the water. The wolf made them do another sharp turn, away from the railing. They got to an empty road that was rather wide. It looked similar to the one they met Alyx at after the failed heist. All of the remaining drones flew in front of them to surprise them, but Echo jumped on each of them, kicking them towards Shadow who quickly helped destroy them.

After the last one went down, the security bot from earlier suddenly appeared in front of them, running straight at them. Echo's expression hardened as she sped up. Shadow dashed around its legs as Echo jumped over its head. When she landed, she seemed to trip a bit, but managed to catch herself before she fell over. Shadow concluded that she wasn't at 100% after all. This girl...

The security bot then shot a straight up missile at them. Were they crazy?! Echo proceeded to tap something on her watch, the sound of 'Cube!' coming out loud and clear. A Blue Cube wall appeared behind them and blocked the missile, also protecting them from the shockwave. Shortly after, the wall disappeared.

The smoke and dust was thick, giving them enough time to jump over a railing and land on a lower sidewalk, hiding them from view. They could hear the security bot slowly walking past them, scanning the area. On the ground, they saw the shadow of the bot approaching them. They both looked up and saw the security bot looming over them.

Shadow was about to grab Echo's hand and bolt the hell out of there, but the wolf held him back. Her expression was locked in on the bot, almost blank. After a few seconds, the machine walked away with heavy steps. When they couldn't hear them anymore, Echo jumped up to take a peek of the street. The coast was clear.

The idol breathed a sigh of relief and climbed up, swinging her body over the railing. "That was a close one." She said. The hedgehog stood next to her and crossed his arms, "No shit. What the hell happened?" Echo replied, "Just some of Eggman's bots bothering us again. Nothing big."

"You shouldn't engage in these situations considering what happened earlier." Echo looked confused at that, so Shadow pointed at the bandage on her head. "Oh, that..." She pulled off the bandage, revealing a slightly faded bruise, "That's just my sister being worried about me. It's no big deal. My skull is thicker than it looks." Echo proceeded to lightly bring her fist down on the bruise, wincing involuntarily.

Shadow sighed, pinching his eyebrows. "You need to take it easy. You'll only make it worse." The wolf had the audacity to pout at him. "You're acting like a child, you know that?" "Bite me." This was getting nowhere. "Come here." He grumbled. Echo looked confused, until Shadow pulled down her head to inspect her bruise.

As he touched it, he noticed that it was still slightly swollen. Considering the time that has passed since it happened, someone must've tried to heal her. Powers like that weren't uncommon. Considering that Silver and Blaze had telekinesis and pyrokinesis respectively, healing powers were tame compared to that.

"I'm telling you, I'm fine." The wolf reassured him again. Shadow relented and let go. "Still, be mindful of it. Concussions are no joke." He said. Echo gave him a bright smile and a thumbs up. There were a lot of similarities between her and the blue hedgehog, he noticed. The outgoing personality, the cockiness, excessive positivity, getting in trouble, not caring for injuries, it was almost scary.

"So, how are you liking Downtown so far?" She asked, tilting her head in a way that was almost... cute. Like a puppy observing something. The hedgehog looked around, crossing his arms, "The place is an odd one for sure." "Yeah, we get that a lot. You get used to it. How was the arcade?" Her tail started wagging a little bit. "It was alright. Didn't expect Scourge of all people to show up though."

She groaned at the mention of that name, "That guy is a pain in the ass. He's been blacklisted from Downtown already but somehow always finds a way back in. I hope you at least beat his ass in that Arcade Battle." With a grin, Shadow replied, "Sure did. It was pretty close though. We ended on 50 to 49." "Seriously? Geez, if I had known, I would've made time to help."

Shadow shook his head, "There was no need. At the end, he managed to disqualify himself." At that, Echo snorted out a laugh, "Let me guess, my dance game?" The hedgehog nodded. The wolf put a hand on her chin, thinking, "Hmmm... I assume it was Sonic who managed to piss him off?" "No, it was actually Amy."

Echo looked sad at that, "Really? She's such a sweet girl though! Did he hurt her?" "She twisted her ankle and wrist a bit, but she'll be fine." The idol breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, because anything happening to you guys while you're here is my responsibility." Kind of made sense, because she was the one who got them down here in the first place.

The wolf stretched her arms above her head, "I dunno about you, but I'm pretty pooped after that whole being-chased-by-city-robots shtick." Shadow rolled his eyes, "Honestly, that was barely anything compared to what you do on stage." Echo just shrugged and started walking. When the hedgehog didn't follow, she turned around and asked, "You comin' or what?" He was a bit dumbfounded, but slowly made his way towards her.



Echo had led him to a spot that provided an amazing view of East District. She was currently dealing with a malfunctioning vending machine, looking quite agitated. The wolf looked around, then hit the machine with her hip, causing the items to fall down. She took them out, smiling in triumph and returned to Shadow.

"Here. Arguably the best lemonade around here." She offered him a can of what seemed to be lemon-elderflower flavored drink. He took it, looking at it with conflict. Noticing his expression, the wolf giggled and reassured him, "Relax, I'm not trying to poison you." She sat down on the railing, turning around on it to face the city below and opened her own can. Shadow was simply resting his forearms on it.

"Personally, I like this flavor the most. A friend of mine describes the taste as 'blowing soap bubbles on a warm beach day'. That makes me feel a bit closer to the surface. Is that weird?" Echo explained. The dark hedgehog took a sip of his own lemonade, letting the taste sit on his tongue for a second before replying, "I can definitely see why they describe it like that. It's not weird at all. The taste is... not bad, I'll admit." The idol was quite giddy at that, as evident by her silly smile.

They sat in silence for a bit. Shadow didn't deny that this was rather nice. He almost never got the chance to just hang out with people like this. Either because he didn't see the point in doing so, or because he didn't know who to hang out with. Even though Echo was this bright light for Downtown District, she was friendly to everyone, she treats them like close friends, even when she just met them.

"Velvet giving you a lot of trouble?" She spoke up. Shadow replied, "She's hotheaded, that's for sure. She was pretty mad because she didn't know we were the ones staying over at their place." "Yeah, I heard. You called her a mouse?" He sighed and nodded. The wolf chuckled, "I'm surprised you're not dead." "You might be when she gets her hands on you." He took another sip of the lemonade. "So, a regular Tuesday then?"

This admittedly got a little smile out of Shadow. Another comfortable silence took them over. As the hedgehog looked over the city below, he couldn't help the want to ask Echo about something. She's lived down here her whole life, so she must know at least a little bit...

"Hey, Echo?" He started. The wolf said, "Shoot." He took a breath and asked, "Do you know anything about Diamond?"

Echo paused. "The Canine leader? Why do you ask?" Now he had to be careful with what he tells her. "Just curious. I did some research on this place and found out about that vigilante group."

The idol hummed in thought, "I see. Well, I can't tell you much because no one really knows anything about her, but I can tell you, I am absolutely on her side." Raising an eyebrow, Shadow asked, "What do you mean?"

"Diamond is either loved or hated, no in between. There are a lot of people down here that stand with Robotnik, and they try everything in their power to take Diamond down, but have never succeeded because she's just too smart." Echo emptied the can and continued, "What she's doing goes against everything those assholes try to do. They're trying to take away our freedom, our homes, our families, and the Canines are the only ones who stand up to them. There is no law system down here, so everyone makes their own, which leads to conflict."

"Have you had any run-ins with them before?" He asked. "A few times, actually. Especially back in the day. God, that makes me sound like Sayaka..." She chuckled dryly, continuing, "I got in trouble with some of those Eggman bootlickers a while back. It was a simple misunderstanding that escalated into a fight." Was that the incident mentioned in one of the news articles he read?

"A Canine came to my rescue just in time before I got seriously hurt." She explained. That sounded a lot like what happened to Sayaka. Shadow couldn't help but ask, "...Are you a Canine now too?" "Hell no. I ain't got time for that vigilante shit. As soon as the situation was sorted, I got the hell outta there." Echo immediately replied.

She turned around and got off the railing, "You gotta stay on your toes and keep moving. Don't let yourself get caught. Especially in North District." The hedgehog frowned, asking, "Is it that bad?" The other laughed bitterly, "You have no idea. Security bots everywhere, you constantly feel like you're being followed, you can't speak your mind about anything that goes against Eggman's little army, and not even I am immune to this."

"Seriously? But you're-" "An idol? A beacon of hope? Yeah right. Those assholes don't give a shit about status. Only their own. I can't wait for my sister to get out of this fucking shithole..." She took a deep breath, "Calm down... Zen..."

Shadow put a hand on her shoulder and said, "She'll be fine with you helping her. And one day, you'll get out of here as well." Echo flashed an appreciative smile, thanking him. Then, she got a notification on her holographic watch. The contents made her sigh heavily, "Zia is 'requesting' that I meet her in South. Seems like an issue with the pipeline." The wolf looked at him, "Think you can get back to the arcade on your own?"

Looking around, he had no idea where exactly they were. The look on his face made Echo laugh and say, "Come on, I'll show you the way." As they started walking, the hedgehog noticed the green glow on the other's shoes again. Just like earlier, she was gliding across the ground just like he does with his air shoes, but at a much more casual and relaxed pace. "What's that all about?" He pointed at the shoes.

Echo looked down and explained, "Oh, they're hover shoes! It's our own invention. They run on the power of the Green Hover Wisp. Pretty cool, huh?" After observing her for a few more seconds, he spoke up again, "How are you doing that?" The wolf looked confused, so he said, "The slow pace." "You can't do that?" She raised an eyebrow at him. Shadow shook his head, "I only ever go fast with mine. I never have the time to... slow down."

With a giggle, Echo looked at her watch, typed something on the small screen and the sound of a metronome started playing. "I mostly prefer about 25 bpm, but sometimes I use songs that have about 100 bpm. Just follow my lead." The hedgehog watched her move from left to right in a smooth action, as if she were on rollerskates. He tried mimicking her movements, unfamiliar with the leisurely pace.

After about a minute, he got the hang of it, so Echo decided to start playing some music. The song was at 100 bpm like she said she preferred, which threw him for a loop a couple of times. The idol assisted him by counting to 4 while on one foot, then the same with the other. Soon enough, they were moving along the road in sync.

He'll never admit this to Sonic and the others later, but... he enjoyed himself.

...This was nice.

Chapter Text

The hedgehog sighed and turned to walk towards the exit, "I need some fresh air."

Rouge looked after him as he left. She had to be honest, she was worried about him. In the background, she could hear Keisha, Velvet and Ha-Yun still bickering. After a while, the tiger had to excuse herself due to being on the clock.

"We really need to drag her back to practice one day." Keisha said. Velvet nodded, "Yep. You think we can lure her with some... y'know?" "Oh, absolutely." The serval chuckled. "Hey, Keish? It's good to have you back here." The rat mumbled. The other smiled down at her, replying, "It's good to be back. You know I love you guys too much." She put an arm around Velvet's neck and ruffled her hair with the other, making the rat cry out in protest.

When she stopped, Velvet's hair was a complete mess. Her eye was twitching from irritation, but due to her short stature it didn't do much to look threatening.

"Where were you, if you don’t mind me asking?" Tails questioned. Keisha explained, "I had some business on the surface and came back last night. Downtown wasn't happy I had to extend my stay up there, to say the least." "Why did that happen anyway? You never said anything..." Velvet asked, trying to fix her hair.

The serval groaned, "Don't get me started. I got there on time, did everything I had to, but then, for some reason, they lost my certificate at the last minute. I informed border control of it, and they said that they can't let me back in without that stupid paper. So I had to do all that shit all over again."

"Certificate for what?" Amy asked. The other smiled and said, "I'm a hairdresser." "Speaking of, do you have any leftover pink and blue dye?" The rat finally gave up on fixing what Keisha messed up. "Let me guess, Ha and Do haven't come around to the shop yet?" "Nope. Stubborn as always." The serval sighed, "I'll see what I can do."

"Why do they dye their fur anyway? Isn't that a lot of work and really bad for fur?" Sonic scratched his head as he thought about what goes into dyeing a whole body of fur. Keisha replied, "It's kind of like a culture here. Most people down here don't exactly like their appearance, so they change it. Dye, styling, piercings, you name it. The dye we use is safe because otherwise I would be out of business faster than you can say Eggman."

"Ha-Yun and Do-Yun aren't as much work as Zigzag though." The red rat commented. Keisha sighed in annoyance, "Don't get me started on that girl..." "What the hell kinda name is that?" Knuckles mumbled. "You'll know when you see her. But let me tell you, getting white dye on black fur is a NIGHTMARE. It takes at least 3 hours to simply get the dye in, let alone wash it out and put in the stuff that helps the dye stick. I just... GAH! I need a slushie!" The serval stomped off.

"I recommend the new woodruff flavor!" Velvet shouted after her. "Thank you!" The other replied from down the hall.

"Is this 'Zigzag' person at least nice to her?" Amy asked. "Yeah. Zigzag is kind of over the top, but she means well. The thing about black fur is that dye doesn't really stick unless the dye is like... acrylic paint thick. Like a coat." The rat explained and continued, "But I gotta say, whoever did that Shadow guy's dye job, hats off to them. Not everyone is willing to work with black fur." Sonic corrected her, "Actually, Shadow didn't dye his fur at all."

"Seriously? That's impossible, no one is born with that big of a color contrast." Velvet scoffed. The blue hedgehog was about to reply, when Rouge cleared her throat to get his attention. She made an aggressive zip motion over her lips, effectively shutting him up. "Where is he anyway?" Tails asked. The bat told them that he went outside, but when they looked, he wasn't there. "We lost him again?" Knuckles commented. The rat looked at them in confusion, but shrugged it off, walking away towards the Taiko no Tatsujin drums.

The others followed with Amy speaking up, "Hey, Velvet? Can I ask you something?" "Shoot." She said, grabbing the drumsticks. "What do you need all your points for?"

Velvet paused at that. "...Why do you wanna know that?" Tails butted in, "We're just curious, that's all." The rat looked like she was having an internal conflict, then sighed in defeat, "I'm trying to get the most expensive prize in this arcade. If I had the means, I would play the Maimai machine, since you get it automatically by beating Echo's high score. But... my arms are too short for it. So, I do it the hard way."

"What is that prize anyway?" Sonic asked. The other didn't respond, as she was too focused on her game. The group decided to let her play.



Velvet played around 10 songs perfectly, getting her about 250 points. She decided she wanted to play something else, picking Echo's dance game in the end. "Hey, Blaze. You wanna join?" The cat looked surprised, but then it clicked, "...In front of all of them?" "Yeah, why not? Up to 4 people are allowed after all." Blaze gave in and stepped up next to her. As they were about to select a song, Ha-Yun ran up to them. "Not without me!" She beamed. "Hell yeah! Fire Trio!" Velvet commented.

Now it was Ha-Yun to the right, Velvet in the middle and Blaze on the left. The song they chose was called Can I Friend You On Bassbook?

The song started and was easy enough. But that quickly changed as the chorus approached. As soon as it dropped, all 3 of them went ham with the dance moves. Both the bass and the weight of the choreography seemed to shake the walls, and the trio all had smiles on their faces. The rest of the group was shocked that Blaze of all people could dance like that. She's always so proper, collected, so to see her dance with so much energy was... a little frightening.

After the song was done, Ha-Yun quickly rushed back to the front desk. The trio had gotten a new high score, which Velvet gave Blaze a high-five for. Sonic raised an eyebrow and asked, "Fire Trio?" "Don't worry about it." The rat replied.

Pretty soon, their time in the arcade was up. They all made their way to the front desk, returning the gear they were given at the beginning. As Velvet returned hers, she said, "I'll have that prize now, please and thank you." She had this smug grin on her face that, unfortunately, Ha-Yun had to wipe off. With a frown, the tiger replied, "So sorry, Vel. I can't give them to you. You don't have enough points."

Absolutely dumbfounded, the rat asked, "...What? The fuck do you mean I don't have enough? I collected all 3,200,000 points required for this! I've been coming here every single day for almost 3 fucking years and couldn't get it sooner, because that stupid swamp colored hedgehog got in my way!" The other explained, "They asked me to raise the amount again. The new goal is 5,000,000. I'm sorry..."

"Are you serious?! That's gonna take me another year at least! You promised!" Velvet was close to crying now. "Vel-" "FUCK you!" She shouted and stomped out of the building.

With a defeated sigh, Ha-Yun looked down, her ears drooping. Amy spoke up, "What... was that?" The tiger explained, "I know I shouldn't say anything, but... Velvet's been trying to raise enough points for the biggest prize we have to offer here... which is 2 moving visas to go to the surface." Realization then dawned on them.

"She wants to get these for her grandma and herself so they can finally get out of here. If I wasn't bound by the rules, I would've happily given them go her right now, but I can't..." Ha-Yun elaborated, adding, "I could lose my job if I did." Rouge looked at the door and mumbled, "Poor thing..."

Tails jumped in and asked, "Can we transfer our points to her? We'll happily give them up!" The others chimed in to agree. The tiger shook her head in sadness, "I'm afraid not. Policies." This really bummed them out. Not only was this unfair, it must be absolutely heartbreaking for Velvet.

"If you ask me, I wouldn't give a shit if this place burns to the ground tomorrow. We've been through enough. And I don't care if half the population wants us de-" Ha-Yun got cut off by Do-Yun's voice over the walkie-talkie, "Ha, trouble with one of the classic machines." "...Shit. Well, I hope you guys have a good rest of your day. And... do me a favor... don't leave her alone." The tiger placed the Be Back Shortly sign on the desk once more and made her way to her brother and the broken machine.



The group stepped out, minus Blaze and Silver, because they had been called to an emergency with the pipeline. All of them went into the arcade feeling great, but now, coming out, they just felt... defeated. None of them said anything.

The door opened behind them as Keisha walked out, half empty slushie in hand. She greeted them with a big smile, "Hey, still here?" Amy responded, "Yeah. We're just getting ready to go back to Velvet's." The serval made a noise of acknowledgement, asking, "Where is the shorty anyway? I gotta thank her for the woodruff suggestion. I'm already on my third one!" No one responded.

Keisha took notice of that, "...What's wrong?" Knuckles looked in the direction that led to the rat's home, mumbling, "About that..." They went to explain the situation to her. Mentioning just how angry Velvet had been. The hairdresser's face fell as she heard the new goal amount. She slowly walked towards the nearby trash bin, throwing away the rest of her slushie, suddenly feeling too sick to finish it.

The serval sighed, "I knew this would happen..." Sonic raised an eyebrow at that and asked, "What do you mean?" The other took a deep breath and elaborated, "Border control provides those visas. They've raised the goal amount before, from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000, then to 2,400,000. Now from 3,200,000 to this?! If this keeps up, no one will get them at all! And I'll be honest... I think that's their end goal. They don't want us to leave."

"That's absolutely ridiculous. Why would they offer them and not give them by raising the amount?" The pink hedgehog frowned. Keisha looked at the train station that could be seen from where they were standing, "Because they want to trick us into believing we have a chance. Seriously, Yvonne could've at least given us a heads up..."

When questioned about who Yvonne was, the serval explained that she was employed at border control, and that they probably ran into her when they got to Downtown, even if they didn't notice as she's always around. Her words, not Keisha's.

They proceeded to tell her about the incident that happened when they first entered the train station. The hairdresser didn't look surprised, saying, "Yeah, that happens a lot here. Rule of thumb is, if a Canine is involved, don't intervene. They're only trying to help the people who need it. However... your timing couldn't be worse."

The group looked confused, so Keisha looked them in the eyes and said, "Diamond is going to burn this place to the ground." Before they could panic, the serval continued, "Metaphorically. She's been getting more aggressive in her pursuit to save the city. She'll stop at nothing to stop that mad man from controlling our friends and family. Not even death."

They were interrupted by the lights around them flickering a little. "What the..." She mumbled. Then, they flickered again. "Ooooooh boy... You guys need to go. Like right now." She urged. "Why? What's wrong?" Sonic asked. "This happens quite a bit around here but we're about to have an outage. And you don't want to be outside when that happens."

Then, they heard the sound of air shoes approaching. Shadow slid up to them, looking confused at their worried expressions. "What's going on here?" He asked. Rouge replied, "There you are! Where were you?" "I ran into Echo but we spilt up a while ago." He said. Keisha said, "I highly suggest you make your way back now. We'll meet again another time." After that, she walked away.

Confused, the others also made their way back to Velvet's house, Rouge still reprimanding Shadow for just walking away like that.

Chapter Text

Shortly after parting ways with Keisha, they reached the front door of Velvet's and Sayaka's home. When they entered, the house was quiet, save for the sound of a TV running. They entered the living room and saw Sayaka sitting on the ground, her granddaughter resting her head in her lap as they quietly watched the TV that was mounted into a cabinet. They seemed to be watching an old children's cartoon.

Sayaka spoke up, "Ah, you're back. I was getting worried." The elder rat turned to them and had this sad expression on her face. Shadow asked, "Okay, what the hell happened?" The others walked up to where the rats were sitting and sat down next to them. The dark hedgehog followed with an annoyed expression. None of them had told him what transpired while he was gone.

"Bullshit, that's what happened..." Velvet mumbled. On closer inspection, they noticed she was wearing her pajamas, and a tub of chocolate fudge ice cream was standing right next to her. "She was trying to win the top prize in the arcade. She's been gathering points for years because she's too small to play the Maimai machine." Rouge explained. "They raised the limit again! We'll never get out of here! This isn't fair!" The red rat shouted and shoved a big spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

"Those bastards at the border control can kiss my ass and die in a ditch!" She cried. The whole scene looked like she was going through a really nasty breakup. Sayaka stroked her granddaughter's hair, reassuring her, "Now now, no need to lose your head over it. You've come so far just for me. I could not be more proud of you." "You're just saying that to make me feel better..." The other grumbled.

As Velvet kept eating her ice cream, all 8 of them sat in front of the TV watching the cartoon together. About 10 minutes into it, Knuckles of all people speaks up. He asked, "So... You're just gonna give up?" Confused, Velvet replied, "Well... There's not much I can do about it... I don't really have a choice..." "Where did that fire from earlier go?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Huh...?" She finally looked up at him.

"You were so fired up during the arcade battle. Nothing could stop you from achieving your goal. You've not backed down the first time they raised the goal amount, or the second time. What changed?" The echidna pointed out. Shadow jumped in, reminding her, "He's right. When we ran into one another, you evaded those security guards like it's nothing. You're smart, stubborn, and you know what you want."

"Yes, you may be a bitch sometimes, but you're more resilient than you think. So stop moping and get those damn visas!" Knuckles looked at the rat angrily. Velvet was staring at him in disbelief. Even Sayaka was quite shocked. About a minute of silence passed, making him believe that he overstepped. But...

"You're right." Velvet said, standing up. She continued, "I made it this far, I can't back down now. This is just another minor setback." The rat turned towards everyone and said, "This time, I'll work twice as hard! I won't let them knock me down like that! I'll show those bastards who they're messing with! WHO'S WITH ME?!" Everyone chimed in with, "YEAH!"

Then, the lights went out. "UGH! WHAT NOW?!" "Oh dear." Sayaka said.

"What just happened?" Amy asked. "Must be the power outage Keisha mentioned." Tails commented. They noticed how quickly the house started to cool down. "Is it just me or is it getting cold in here...?" Sonic questioned. Sayaka's voice was stern and serious as she said, "None of you go outside. Velvet, be a dear and get the candles." "On it, granny." The other said and scurried through the living room.

Sayaka left the room and went into the hallway. In the meantime, Velvet put candles on the table of the living room and said, "I'm ready!" They heard the noise of a Wisp nearby, along with the elder rat, "Go ahead. We need to get this place warm until the power comes back." The red rat took a deep breath and soon after, a small light illuminated the room.

The others looked at the source and saw that Velvet had created a small flame in her hands. With the help of that flame, the rat lit up the candles without saying a word. Sayaka helped as well, but she had some trouble igniting her own flame, maybe due to her age. Once every candle was lit, the Wisp they heard set itself down on the table. It was the Red Burst. And a... White Boost? Where did that one come from?

Both Wisps huddled together on the living room table, emitting a comfortable warmth that spread throughout the room. "You have fire powers?" Sonic asked in disbelief. The rat scowled at him and replied, "What's it to you?" "Now now, no fighting. Outsiders like them are very new to this place, so give them some grace, Vel." Sayaka intervened, sitting down at the table.

"I guess I should explain." The elder rat cleared her throat and said, "Us downtowners have been cut off from the surface for a very long time. Over those many years, we started evolving in a different direction. Nowadays, almost all of us have some sort of magical power." She proceeded to ignite another small flame in her hand, "These powers are very few and far between. They must be used carefully, lest they get out of control and take you over."

"Is that what you meant by 'Fire Trio'?" Asked Amy, referring to what Velvet said when Ha-Yun joined them for the dance game. "Yep. Ha-Yun can use fire too. Her, Blaze and I are good friends, so we call ourselves the Fire Trio." The rat explained, then continued, "You guys are lucky that you're staying with us right now." When they looked at her in confusion, Sayaka went ahead and stood up, walking towards the window and pulled the curtain to the side.

The outside was completely dark, save for a few small lights and the windows were slightly fogged up. "We don't have natural sunlight down here. And since we're so far underground, if the power goes out, this place will rapidly cool down. No one goes outside during that time." The elder rat informed them. Then, her face lit up, "And while we wait for the power to come back, we can play some games." Her granddaughter groaned loudly at that, "Not again!"

The other just ignored her and pulled out a big box full of board and card games and several others, "Who's up for some Mahjong?"

"NOOOO!!"



For the next 3 hours or so, they played games like Poker, Chess, Checkers, Rummy and of course, Monopoly. Sayaka was insanely good at every single game they played, until she was up against Velvet for Mahjong.

The way they played was foreign to them until now. The Mahjong tiles were put upside down into 2 neat piles and lined up into 9 rows, 4 tiles each row. There was one extra tile that served as the starting point. Velvet started by putting the tile at the top of one of her rows and pushing out another from the bottom, turning it over and giving it to Sayaka. The goal was to uncover each row, being mindful of the patterns.

While the both of them were busy, Shadow played some more Chess with Rouge. "So, what was that about running into Echo earlier?" Asked the bat. The hedgehog tensed, but quickly shook it off and said, "While I was getting some fresh air, she happened to run past me. She was in trouble so I went to help her." "What happened?" Rouge looked genuinely concerned about that.

"Security drones were after her. And one of those big machines. They chased her through half of the district." Shadow sighed as he made his next move on the board. The other hummed in acknowledgement, smiling at him in a teasing way. He took notice of that and pointed it out, "Why are you looking at me like that?" Her smile turned into a grin as she said, "You like her." "I do not." He immediately shot down. The bat had the nerve to pout at him.

They played in silence for the next minute before Rouge spoke up again. "You know, you're allowed to open up to other people. Not that I don't enjoy our late night talks, but there's more people out there who are willing to listen and help if you need it." She said. Shadow groaned at her words, pinching his eyebrows, "Rouge..." The bat huffed, "Listen, if you're gonna be an a-" "It's not that." Huh?

The dark hedgehog looked towards the others, making sure they weren't listening. Especially Velvet and Sayaka. He then looked back at his friend and kept his voice as low and quiet as possible, "I think I've been hypnotized." It took every ounce of will in Rouge not to laugh out loud.

"Listen, every single time I hear that finale song of hers, I get this overwhelming feeling of sadness that I can't explain. If Velvet, Sayaka and Ha-Yun can have fire powers down here, who's to say that Echo can't have some sort of hypnosis that she uses through her music?" He practically whisper-shouted.

Rouge sat there in disbelief. "...Do you really think that?" She asked. "What do you mean?" "Do you really think that Echo would do something like that?" She clarified. "I... I'm not completely sure... But if it is true, I doubt any feelings I have towards her, positive or negative, are genuine." He crossed his arms, which meant that he was not budging. The bat was speechless. With a blank expression, she said, "...Checkmate." and made one final move on the board.

Confused, Shadow looked at the chessboard and saw that she had indeed pulled a checkmate. Before he could say anything about it, the lights flickered back on.

As soon as the power was back, Velvet's phone received a notification. She picked it up and read it as the others celebrated the return of lamp light. "Looks like the pipeline was the issue." The rat said. She looked up and explained, "Apparently one of the pipes was installed wrong and it caused a blowout. All of Downtown District lost power because of it." Sonic asked, "Is everyone else okay?" "Group chat says yes." The drummer shrugged. Sayaka turned on the TV, landing on a news channel.

After today's city wide power outage, many citizens of Downtown District were worried that what transpired 8 years ago had repeated itself on a wider scale. However, the cause for today's outage has been fixed. The new pipeline that has been in the works for the last 2 years was completed just a few hours ago and after a few minor mishaps, it is with great joy that we announce that power has officially been restored to South District!

But this news is not all positive. While yes, the district is back online, the consistency of the power flow is still quite unstable. If you venture to South District, please be aware that things are not completely resolved as of yet.

"That means I can visit Zigzag again!" Velvet exclaimed as she bounced around the room. Her grandmother chuckled at the display, "Easy now. I know this is exciting, but you should still be careful." The other groaned at that, "I know, granny. I'm not a kid anymore."

Sonic and the others moved a little to the side to talk. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" The blue hedgehog asked. "South District is our next stop." Shadow said. "But we need to make sure there aren't any more Chaos Emeralds here." Commented Amy. Tails mentioned, "You should work on that girls' night with Ha-Yun as soon as possible." "Will do."

Shadow looked at the rats, who were still arguing over the younger being too reckless sometimes, and thought, 'Let's hope nothing else gets in our way...'

Chapter Text

That night, they all slept pretty soundly. While everyone was getting up and ready for the day, they noticed that Velvet was absent. When questioned about it, Sayaka informed them that she got up earlier to immediately go to the arcade. She took working twice as hard quite literally it seemed.

It was currently Tuesday, which meant that Ha-Yun would be off work early since she had the day off tomorrow. Amy was texting back and forth with the tiger for a while, finally managing to come to the agreement that they would hold a girls' night today. Almost at the same time as the pink hedgehog was done with her plans, Rouge got a call.

She didn't recognize the caller ID, but decided to pick up anyway. The voice on the phone asked, "Hello, am I speaking to Rouge?" "Yes, what is it?" She confirmed. "This is Hailey, Serafina's s-secretary. God, that still feels weird to say..." The bat lit up at that, "Oh, hey hun! Is everything alright?" The purple hedgehog was noticeably nervous, stuttering and stammering, "Y-yes, everything's fine! It's just... w-we might have to adjust your appointment with us..."

"Oh no, did something happen?" Hailey took a deep breath and explained, "One of our sponsors just notified us that our next runway show had to be brought forward due to an external problem, so Miss Serafina has to adjust all of her appointments accordingly. And since she heard that you and your friends are in Downtown right now, she asked me to tell you that she would like to see you tomorrow."

"TOMORROW?!" Rouge exclaimed, quickly covering her mouth. She took a shaky breath and pressed further, "What do you mean tomorrow? Isn't that a bit too soon?" The other replied, "I-I'm really sorry! I wish we could do this another way but- but-" Over the phone, Rouge could clearly hear that Hailey was hyperventilating.

"Hey, sweetie. Listen to me. You need to breathe." She said. The hedgehog struggled at first, but with the bat guiding her, she managed to steady herself again. "I wish things had turned out different, but we can't afford to postpone this show. And we would hate to cancel another one of your appointments..." Hailey said. With a heavy sigh, Rouge replied, "Alright, I'll come in tomorrow." The other gave the cutest, saddest, relieved little 'Yay...' that almost made the bat's heart melt.

Shortly after, the call ended. Sayaka asked, "Was that Hailey? She sounded like she was going to pass out." Rouge nodded, "Yeah. Instead of in 2 weeks, I'll be meeting with Serafina tomorrow." The elder rat frowned, "The poor lass has never been good with confrontation." Knuckles pointed out something from the After Party a while ago, "Wait, didn't she get promoted to personal assistant? Why was she the one calling and not Barbara?"

Sayaka went on to explain that, despite the lemur being more organized and collected, her blunt demeanor was putting off the sponsors and the people she made appointments with. So, Serafina gave her back her old role, and Hailey took the place of the secretary.

"Quite the mismatch, isn't it?" "That is true, but she's trying to be more assertive. It's not always easy, but she's made great progress." The rat responded. "Serafina makes sure that all of her employees are well cared for." She added. "Hailey said something about a sponsor having to reschedule a runway show." Rouge informed the elder. Sayaka sighed and explained, "I have a feeling I know which sponsor she's talking about. They've been at odds for quite a while now and, excuse my language, continuously tried to fuck her over."

A small grin made its way onto the rat's face then, "But no one messes with a downtowner. Not even with the old and frail such as myself." Sonic butted in, "Deservedly so. You guys are tough. Not everyone has the guts to cross Eggman's lackeys." Tails scooted up to the elder and asked, "Granny Sa, I remember you saying that you were a sniper for the Canines, but did you ever have any actual run-ins with those Eggman supporters?"

"Why yes I did, young fox. Just because I supported them from a distance did not mean that I was spared from a brawl or two." Sayaka said. "Do you still have some equipment from back then?" Rouge inquired. At that, the rat smiled and stood up, walking over to the closet. When she opened it, they didn't even realize that there was a secret compartment. It was a very slim cabinet door that revealed a suitcase. It blended in with the other doors so seamlessly.

"We get our houses looked through on the regular, so I hide it here in order for them to not find it." She took out the suitcase and presented it to the others. When she opened it, it revealed a sniper rifle. Shadow's attention was captured by the sight alone. Sayaka took the weapon out of its case, and they noticed that it was almost as long as she was tall. "This rifle is my pride and joy. Aside from my family, that is..."

Shadow walked up to her and asked, "May I?" The rat handed it to him, "Be careful. She hasn't been used in well over a decade." The hedgehog looked over the weapon with a trained eye. The rifle was very light, and there were a few details on it that suggested that it was custom made for someone of Sayaka's stature.

"Do you have any other weapons?" Amy questioned. Sayaka just chuckled and made shushing gesture. There was a very loud knock on the door, followed by an angry voice that said, "SAYAKA! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" "...Crud."

"Who is that?" Rouge asked. "The security squad. Can you hold them up? I need to hide this." The rat said, taking the rifle back. Sonic gave a thumbs up, "On it." and sped to the front door. When he opened it, the blue hedgehog was greeted by 5 squad members, all of them looking very angry. His friends all joined him at the door. "What's the matter, officer?" Tails asked politely.

"Where's Sayaka? We need to speak to her." The leader of the squad said. Amy jumped in, "She's not here at the moment. We're house sitting for her." "Cut the crap. We know she's in there. Her granddaughter has been a thorn in our sides for years and it's about time she faces consequences!"

"Why are you here then? Shouldn't you be looking for Velvet at the arcade?" Knuckles stepped forward, crossing his arms as he got right in the face of the squad leader. The other growled, "That little pest hasn't been at the arcade since early morning. She's been running around causing chaos left and right. Sayaka knows where she is at all times, so either you step aside and let us in, or it's gonna get ugly."

"If you step even a single foot into this house without permission, you'd be trespassing. And I highly doubt you have a warrant." Rouge shrugged and flashed a sassy grin. "You clearly have no idea how things work down here, you surface dwellers." The leader snapped their fingers, making the other members pull out their weapons of various types. One had a gun, another gauntlets, and was that a whip?!

Sonic and his friends looked at the security squad members with narrowed eyes as they got ready for a brawl, but before any of them could charge for an attack, they heard a gunshot. A bullet sped past all of them, but grazed the cheek of the squad leader, drawing blood before hitting the wall of the building across the street.

They heard footsteps coming from the hallway of the house. Sayaka walked out of the house, now with a completely different gun in hand. She was holding her cane with her long tail as he held the gun with both her hands. The hunched back she had earlier seemed to be gone. "If you take one more step, I will not hesitate to escalate things." She threatened.

"Granny Sa, you should stay back!" Amy exclaimed. "And let them waltz into my precious home? Blasphemous! Outta my way." The rat spat and pushed past everyone, coming face to face with the squad leader. She pointed the gun at them, "Will you go on your own or do I have to make good on my promise?"

The leader wiped the blood off their face, all the while scowling at the elder. The air between them was tense for a second, and in the blink of an eye, shots were fired. Sayaka, despite her fragile appearance, managed to dodge the bullet and fired her own, making one of the squad members drop their weapon. Sonic spin-dashed at them, knocking them backwards as Shadow blipped into existence behind them.

The squad member was agile, moving out of the way of the dark hedgehog's attack. Knuckles fought them with his fists, and it looked as if they were pretty evenly matched. "I got this one! Go help Sayaka!" He shouted. As if on queue, another bullet was fired, almost hitting Rouge, making her fly up into the air.

The rat had disarmed another squad member, Amy taking on this one along with Tails. The way Sayaka was fighting almost made them think she was only pretending to be old. Some of the moves she pulled off were hard, even for them. Once she was out of ammo, she discarded the gun and used her walking cane to fight. The material it was made of must've been pretty sturdy, as she practically used it like one would use a sword or rapier. She even blocked a bullet with it!

She effectively took down two more members, only leaving the leader. For this, Sayaka decided to use her fire powers. The rat used them in a similar way to how Blaze would, with a few minor differences. While she was busy with the leader, the others dealt with the defeated squad members by piling them up and tying them together with the whip that one of them had dropped.

Out of nowhere, a massive fireball flew past all of them. When they looked, Sayaka had taken down the leader as well, towering over them despite her short stature. "You are not welcome here. Either you leave now, or I'll have to take more drastic measures." She said. The squad leader just grumbled and took the end of the whip, dragging the others away.

As soon as it was over, Sayaka cried out in pain, "My back...!" She leaned on her cane, her joints audibly protesting about what she'd just done. Sonic and his friends ran up to her so she wouldn't fall, the blue hedgehog asking, "Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?" The rat waved him off and replied, "I'm not as sturdy as I used to be... But I'll be fine."

"You should still rest. What you did was hardly a small feat." Shadow said. "I shall, but I'm worried about Velvet. If the security squad has taken note of her again to the point of coming to me, then she's in huge trouble." She admitted, looking at the others in concern, adding, "I know it's not your business, but would you do me a favor and watch out for her? She says she can handle herself, but I would never forgive myself if something happened to her."

"We'd love to, but since she's not at the arcade, and hasn't been for a while, we have no idea where to look." Amy said, frowning at the prospect of having to look through all of East District for one small rat. In the distance, they heard the sound of a small explosion.

Shadow sighed, "I think I know where to start."

Chapter Text

"If it goes like the time I first ran into her, it's gonna be one hell of a mess." Shadow grumbled as he skated across the floor, the others either next to him or in Tails' and Rouge's case, above him. The bat flew a little lower, crossing her arms as she said, "I really don't believe that such a small rat can cause that much damage. You sure you didn't exaggerate the first time?"

The hedgehog scowled at her and replied, "I know what I saw. You can ask her yourself when we get back." "I actually fully believe him. I mean... is it really that out of left field?" Sonic shrugged, pointedly looking at the pink hedgehog next to him, "No offense, Amy." She just pulled down her eyelid and stuck out her tongue at him, the other doing the same.

They rounded the corner to Pipa Street and looked around for any sign of Velvet. This street was full of high buildings, but not quite skyscraper level. That would prove to be difficult considering they were way underground. There was not much going on, very few people, and not that many security bots or drones going about.

"Tails, can you find anything?" Sonic asked the fox. The latter said, "Already on it. It looks like she's not around here." These holographic watches that Sayaka gave them have proven to be quite useful. "Should we ask around? Someone's bound to have seen her." Amy offered. Shadow grimaced at the thought and replied, "I advise against it. We don't know who is with who down here. We could end up talking to a member of the Canines or someone who's on Robotnik's side. It's best not to trust anyone."

"Geez, what crawled over your liver today?" The pink hedgehog frowned, putting her hands on her hips. The other looked away, keeping an eye on all the people that were walking around as he explained, "We're in foreign territory down here. We don't know anyone well enough to not walk on eggshells."

Amy deflated at that, her ears lowering against her head. "Hold on, I think I got something." Tails said, adding, "It's really close by and approaching quickly." "We should probably get to higher ground." Shadow started walking away. "Why's that?" Sonic fell into step behind him. The other hedgehog sighed and replied, "Just trust me on this."

Rouge huffed, "Shadow, hun, I feel like you're exaggerating this whole thing. Yes, Velvet may have one hell of a temper, but come on. There's no way she-"

The bat was cut off by an explosion above them, making everyone look up towards one of the tall buildings they were standing near to. They couldn't see anything until a few seconds later, where another explosion went off. The large windows broke, the shockwave propelling a certain red rat forward, over multiple buildings. "You were saying?" Shadow said through gritted teeth. All of them wasted no time running after her.



Velvet landed on a rooftop with a loud thud, her short heels skidding across the concrete. She looked behind herself, spotting her Wisps flying towards her, as well as the nearby security drones that she had caught the attention of. She took off again as the Wisps caught up to her, jumping from roof to roof until she was low enough to land on the street.

She kept running when she heard footsteps next to her. Security squad again. Neat. The rat took out some firecrackers the size of flares, lit them with her fire powers and threw them at the squad members. They stopped when they spotted the firecrackers, quickly running the other way, but they exploded into large clouds colorful dust. With a mischievous cackle, Velvet took off, her Wisps in tow.

The drones were still after her, some of which she was able to destroy by throwing fireballs at them. More kept coming, and when she heard new sets of footsteps. Thinking it was more of the security squad coming after her, she groaned in annoyance and lit another firecracker, throwing it behind herself without looking. When it exploded, she grinned, "Serves you right."

But the footsteps persisted until she spotted something blue in the corner of her eye. She looked to the side and saw Sonic running up next to her, covered in colorful dust. He coughed up some of the pigment, glaring at the rat as he said, "Not cool." Velvet was perplexed he was there, "What the- What are you doing here?" "Uh, helping you?" He replied.

"Go away! I don't need-" The rat was cut off by the sound of a drone breaking to her right. Turning her head, she spotted Shadow. "You're welcome." He said. The drummer simply scowled and growled at him. A pack of drones approached from the front, which Velvet was completely prepared to take on. But Amy dropped from above, breaking the leader drone with her hammer, followed by Knuckles. Tails and Rouge flew up above, having dropped the other two.

The rat and the two hedgehogs came to a stop, the former complaining, "I could've handled that myself. How the hell did you know I was here anyway?" Amy explained, "The security squad showed up at your home and Granny Sa told us to go help you."

Velvet's annoyance instantly vanished, replaced with concern, "...What...?" Tails landed on the ground, explaining how the security squad attacked them. The rat's face fell, "Is she okay? Why didn't any of you stay behind to make sure everything was fine?!" "First, explain what the hell is going on." Shadow pressed the other.

She simply threw her head back and groaned loudly, blurting out, "OH MY GOD! All I did was blow up border control! There's no need to be so butthurt over it!"

...

"YOU WHAT?!" They all shouted in unison.

Velvet rolled her eyes and said, "Oh please. It's not like that's anything new! There are no laws down here so it's not like I'll go to jail!" Sonic jumped in, "That's a horrible way to think about it! You could have seriously hurt someone! Innocent people, Velvet!" The rat clenched her fists and took a threatening step towards the hedgehog. "You really don't get it, do you? Down here, it's everyone for themselves." She said.

The blue blur was appalled at the other's words, taking a few steps back. "You're all insane." He mumbled. "What took you so long, idiot? No one down here is innocent. If they say they are, they're lying." Velvet had this look on her face that practically said I don't care, and it was terrifying. "And just so you know, I used pigment flares in there, just like I did earlier!"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!!" Security squad again. How fun. Velvet groaned again, ready to take off when she noticed the others weren't moving. "You gonna come with or do y'all wanna be thrown out of Downtown?" She asked. This pulled everyone out of their heads as they all ran after the rat.



As they all made their way through the streets, Velvet kept redirecting them through alleyways and over rooftops, trying to lose the security squad members. Suddenly, a security bot caged them in from the front, forcing them to stop. The drummer was sweating at this point. They were surrounded and if they didn't figure out a way to get out of this, Velvet and Sayaka would be in trouble. Sonic and his friends would also most likely be thrown out for causing trouble.

"Do we split up?" Tails asked. Rouge replied, "Not a chance. It looks like the whole of East District is after us." "Then what do we do?!"

Velvet looked at her Wisp companions with great conflict, "Looks like we have to use the ol' reliable after all..." Before anyone could speak up about what she meant, she took out what looked to be a little sparkler you'd see on New Years. "What, you wanna put on a show for them now?" Shadow threw a bitter look at her.

Without a lighter, the tip of the sparkler ignited. She swung it like a magic wand, drawing various shapes with the light trail left behind. The shapes caused ranged firework explosions to go off near the squad members, making them back off a bit. "Follow my lead." She ordered.

The Wisps and fireworks swirled around, allowing the others to ambush them. The colorful explosions and smoke were great distractions that they could take advantage of.

The security bot was the biggest problem, however. It was bigger than the others they had seen so far and had a slightly different build. A distant, drawn-out war cry caught their attention, making them look up. Something or someone was falling towards them at rapid speed. Velvet quickly took out her holo-watch and pressed a button, the Cube! sound filling the air as a blue cube barrier formed around them. Just in time as well, as the person came down hard on the bot, effectively squashing it like a tin can.

When the dust settled and the barrier disappeared, they were surprised to see Keisha standing there. She was accompanied by a Yellow Drill, her hands being covered in a see-through, glowing material that made it look like she had giant hands and claws. "You guys alright? I didn't hit anyone?" She asked.

"As long as no blood comes out of the wreckage, you should be good." Velvet deadpanned in response. The serval made the big hands disappear before crouching down to inspect the broken metal. She explained, "Although this is an operable bot, no one was in there. Thank Gaia..." Sonic stammered, "W-wait, you didn't even know if someone was in there or not? You just went for it?!"

Keisha looked at the hedgehog with indifference, "Well, yeah? You guys were in trouble. If I had actually murked someone, it would... not be ideal, sure, but I'd rather protect my friends." Shadow took a step forward and practically growled at her, "I've had enough. What the hell is going on here? First, Diamond and her Canines blow up a group of people in the museum, then Velvet says it's everyone for themselves, and now YOU say you'd kill to protect your friends?! Nothing justifies this!"

The hairdresser opened her mouth to say something, but she saw Velvet making a hand shaking motion next to her throat while shaking her head, effectively telling her to shut up. The serval sighed and replied, "You wouldn't understand..."

The dark hedgehog's anger was boiling over at this point, and he wasn't the only one. But then, they all tensed at Keisha's next words.

"Wait... How do you know about the museum?"

Chapter Text

The air was tense between them. They had to come up with a believable excuse now or else there would be issues later down the line. Even Velvet was looking at them weirdly at this point.

"We were in the area when it happened and saw the commotion." Amy blurted out, continuing, "And when we saw Diamond leaving the scene we just put two and two together." Keisha didn't look completely convinced, raising an eyebrow.

The Yellow Drill Wisp that was next to her suddenly pulled her ear, pointing at one of the nearby buildings in a panic. When the serval looked, she spotted another security bot, but this one seemed... different. It was just standing there on the rooftop. As if it was observing them.

"...Hey, Vel? How many manned bots have you seen lately?" The hairdresser asked. The rat looked a bit confused before replying, "Not that many, why?" The bot jumped off the roof and headed straight for the group of friends. It landed not too far away from them. Keisha took a few steps back as it slowly walked towards them. The closer it got, the more nervous she and Velvet became.

Then, she saw it. An Eggman symbol on the torso of the bot. "Shit, that's Eggman's!" The serval shouted, materializing her large claws when the robot came running at them out of nowhere. She was able to stop the thing from getting closer by putting her hands up, but the heels of her shoes skidded across the concrete, leaving visible marks.

Velvet took hold of Sonic's and Shadow's arm, running away as the others followed, leaving the serval behind. Keisha took hold of the bot's hands and started swinging it around, then threw it a great distance away. Another came running at her from somewhere. She looked at her Wisp and nodded, tilting her head to pop her joints.

"Let's get 'em, Tornado."



"Did you seriously just leave her there?!" Sonic berated the rat. Velvet just kept running with them in tow and shouted back, "Keisha can handle herself! If those things catch us, it's over!" Heavy footsteps sounded behind them. The drummer was panicking at this point. She knew it was another one of them.

She took out one of her signature firecrackers, the last one she had, and lit it with her fire. "When I say so, you enter the next alleyway!" She instructed. The others looked at her in great conflict, but didn't protest.

Velvet closed her eyes and held the firecracker close to her, as if in a prayer. She took a deep breath and shouted, "NOW!!" and spun around, coming to a stop while throwing the firecracker straight at the robot that was following them. The small object exploded right in its metaphorical face, creating a large cloud of the colorful pigment it was filled with.

Sonic, Shadow and the others took the chance to bolt into the nearest alleyway while the rat stayed behind. She was completely out of breath from all the running and just stood there, panting.

Out of the cloud came the robot's fist, taking her by complete surprise. Her eyes widened as she realized that it was coming right at her.



The group kept running down the alleyway, eventually coming to a stop. Everyone except for Sonic and Shadow was a little out of breath, and as they looked around to figure out where they were, Knuckles pointed out, "Wait... Where's Velvet?"

They all looked at where they entered, and realized that the rat hadn't followed them. "Don't tell me..." The echidna frowned, trying to run back, but Sonic stopped him. The other looked almost offended, getting angry. "What the hell? Let me go!" He demanded. Rouge jumped in and said, "You've seen what she's capable of. She can handle it, I'm sure."

"We promised Sayaka we would watch out for her. If we don't go back to help, what do we tell her?" The echidna argued. The others looked a little uncomfortable, Sonic wanting to speak up, but Tails covered his mouth and pointed up at the rooftop edge. Everyone looked up to see Diamond speeding across the gap, likely trying to get to Velvet. "Great, now they're involved..." The blue hedgehog groaned in displeasure as soon as the Canine leader was out of earshot.

"What do we do now?" Amy asked. Shadow replied, "We stay out of it. If we go back, we'll only cause more trouble." The rest deflated a bit, not happy with the situation at all. "Looks like we need to really hurry up if we want to get the other Emeralds before Egghead does. No doubt that he's down here now." Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose.

"But how do we get the one that Diamond took?" Tails questioned. If this was really a three-way battle, they had no hope of ever seeing the Chaos Emeralds again unless someone used them. Normally they had no problems fighting Eggman, but with another person or group in the mix... it complicates things. They didn't even know if Diamond was willing to negotiate if necessary.

The whole team was out of their element. In a place that was completely cut off from the outside world and was apparently very violent, with a vigilante group that even Sonic was afraid of, Robotnik having actual supporters here, and to top it all off, everyone in Downtown District had some sort of magical power. The last part was the biggest shock for them.

While yes, news and such from Downtown was pretty much nonexistent on the surface, but something like this is a pretty big thing to keep secret. There were some Mobians that had left Downtown District to live on the surface, but there was no trace, let alone a mention of those powers that they supposedly possess.

"We'll figure that out later. I'm going back to help Velvet, whether you like it or not." Knuckles announced, hurrying down the alley. Before he could get very far, there was a big explosion, the smoke filling the area and the adjacent alleyway that they were all in.

Everyone covered their mouth to not breathe in too much of it. They were pretty much blind now too. They heard footsteps, many of them at that and suddenly felt themselves being pushed in the opposite direction of where the smoke came from.

They all exited the alleyway, catching their breath as they looked around. That's when they realized that the Canines had saved them. There were at least 6 members standing in front of them, but none of them were Diamond. One of the members had Keisha with them. She looked pretty exhausted. Her dress was dirty and torn in some places, her hair a mess, and she had a few cuts and bruises here and there. Her Yellow Drill Wisp was passed out in her arms.

Then, Diamond herself emerged from the smoke, Velvet tucked under her arm. The rat coughed violently as soon as they got out and the leader put her down. Diamond carefully examined her for any serious injuries, also checking her face. That's when everyone noticed that the left side of her face was slightly swollen, and her eye was dark too. There was a pretty large scrape mark on her right arm, as well as on her leg. Her Wisp friends were nowhere to be found.

Velvet's condition was pretty rough, so she'd be out of commission for a good while. Keisha was a little better off, but still not great.

Diamond let go of the rat's face and said, "Let's go." Her voice was distorted to hell and back. It was so jarring to hear. The Canine members quickly scrambled away from the scene, the leader staying behind for a moment longer. She turned to Sonic and the others, the blue hedgehog quickly hiding behind his friends.

"...Stay out of our business." Diamond said, jumping up to the nearest roof. She looked back at the group, at Shadow specifically. The hedgehog froze. The last time they met was when she took the Emerald from him. In a split second, he could have sworn he saw her eyes behind the mask as she turned away and left.

The threat seemed to be over, so Keisha quietly excused herself and left, her expression simply just tired. Velvet took a few shaky steps toward the others. Her right leg was clearly hurt more than just the abrasion, as she was limping a bit. She simply mumbled, "Let's go home..." and kept walking. Knuckles wasn't having it, so he picked her up, to which she heavily protested, and moved her to sit on his shoulders. "Just shut up for once and let someone help." He scolded her.

With a defeated sigh, Velvet closed her eyes and relaxed, letting herself be carried as they all walked back to her and Sayaka's home.

Chapter Text

Dinner that evening was silent, awkward. Velvet's injuries had been tended to, her leg and arm now wrapped in bandages and a patch on her cheek. Turns out her right ankle was sprained, hence the limp, so she's forced to stay home until that healed. She couldn't really use her right arm either. When she moved her wrist or flexed her muscles, the skin would stretch and the abrasion would burn.

Watching her try to eat with her left hand was almost sad. Her hold on the chopsticks was shaky, so she dropped the food a couple of times. Sayaka had a frown on her face as she ate, her ears hanging low. When the group got back, the elder rat was resting in her room. Her back was better now, but they were still worried. The Wisps that were with Velvet joined them on the way back, now sitting on a pillow nearby, dead asleep.

Amy was the only one not eating as she had to leave soon for the sleepover with Ha-Yun. The tiger had texted that there would be mountains of snacks and drinks that she snuck out from the arcade earlier that day. The pink hedgehog was getting ready to leave, looking at everyone at the table with an almost conflicted expression. Ever since they got back, Sonic has had this... frown on his face. He was angry, she could tell.

"I'll be off now. See you guys tomorrow..." She said and quietly left through the front door. Rouge couldn't come with her due to her appointment the next day. The house was silent now, the atmosphere tense. Usually Shadow would be the one brooding and scowling at everyone, but this time it was Sonic. It was weird seeing him like that.

Out of nowhere, he spoke up, asking, "So, you gonna explain yourself?" He was looking at Velvet. The rat asked back, "What's there to explain?" "You know exactly what I'm talking about! You blew up border control!" He shot back. The drummer growled in agitation, "Are you seriously still hung up on that? This is not the surface! Get used to it!"

"Now now, let's calm down..." Sayaka tried to soothe the situation, but to no avail. The blue hedgehog's head snapped towards her, "No, I'm not calming down. Your granddaughter could have seriously hurt someone innocent, maybe even killed them!" "I told you that it was a pigment flare!" Velvet argued. "That doesn't change anything!"

Shadow raised his voice, "Sonic, calm down. You're making it worse." That's when the other snapped, "How are you so calm about this?! I expected this stuff from the Canines, but from regular civilians? These people are all savages!"

Velvet had an empty expression on her face before it contorted in genuine anger. She got up and coated her left hand in fire, ready to attack Sonic, but Sayaka grabbed her other arm to hold her back. "Velvet... Let it go..." She said. It took a few seconds, but the drummer extinguished the flame and settled down once more.

The elder rat sighed and motioned for the hedgehog to sit. He was hesitant, but chose to silently sit down. "I don't know how to put this lightly, so I will just be honest... Downtown District is on the brink of war." Everyone except Velvet looked at her with wide eyes. Sayaka continued, "The citizens of this place are divided. The Canines are doing their best to make sure the Robotnik supporters stay in check. These people have hijacked the security squad, they terrorize the ones who just want to live their life... We innocent citizens have no choice but to fight back..."

"Surely there's another way to-" Tails wanted to speak, but was cut off by Velvet, "There isn't." She looked... defeated. She got up and repeated, "There really isn't..." and left to her room. Knuckles was ready to go after her, but Sayaka stopped him. "Let her be... I'm afraid what she said is correct..." She confirmed. Sonic was still agitated, "Is anyone gonna explain what the hell is going on down here?!"

The elder rat looked into the hallway, making sure Velvet was out of earshot before closing the door to the living room. "Everyone down here thinks that we can do this on our own, but we can't. If Velvet finds out that I'm helping you, she'll be furious. I don't want that." She said.

Sayaka looked at the group and explained, "Due to certain circumstances, I cannot speak about anything. But that doesn't mean I can't point you in the right direction." The blue hedgehog's face lit up a bit. "No one here is permitted to speak about what is truly going on down here due to our laws. Unless you find out yourself, that is."

She looked around the shelves for a piece of paper and a pen, writing down a word. She handed it to Sonic, saying, "Go to the library, show them this and tell them that Garnet sent you." The note read Rhythm. "You coming down here is a blessing in disguise. I am begging you, please put an end to this."



Amy was walking down the path of Haegeum Road, looking for the house number that Ha-Yun gave her. Turns out that the tiger didn't live too far away from work, the house being only a 15 minute walk away from Kitty Arcade.

The hedgehog mumbled to herself as she counted, "34... 35... 36!" She walked up to the front door and checked the name just in case. It seemed to be the right address, so she rang the doorbell and waited. Just a moment later, the door burst open as Ha-Yun shouted, "AMY! Come on in!"

The tiger was wearing what looked like pyjama's, but also something you could wear outside. The door led right into the living room, which was massive. There was a big open kitchen as well. There was a large couch that fit at least 5 people, bean bags, a huge flat screen TV, and the snacks.

Ha-Yun had a whole assortment of chips, chocolate, marshmallows, gummies, soda, you name it. These couldn't have all been from the arcade, no way. On the couch were Alyx and, surprisingly, Keisha. Some of her bruises were still visible, but other than that she looked mostly okay. One of the bean bags was occupied by a red fox that was unknown to Amy.

The tiger ushered her to sit down somewhere, so she decided to sit next to the fox. "Yoko should be here any minute now. Amy, you've met Alyx before from what she told me?" She asked. Amy confirmed with a smile and a nod. "Alright then! Amy, this is Vermillion." Ha-Yun gestured to the fox, "She does odd jobs here and there, but she's a beast at shooting games." Vermillion stuck out her tongue with a smile and peace sign while looking at Amy. The games part explains how they know one another.

Do-Yun then came from the hallway behind them, saying, "Ya-Ya sadly can't come. She just texted that work is hectic. Serafina called her about 30 minutes ago." The other tiger frowned, "That bad? Damn... Oh well, there's always next time." "Yeah, Hailey told me that they're working overtime." Vermillion added. Alyx raised an eyebrow, "How come you're here then?" The fox replied, "Friend's place." "Ahhh..."

"Zia and Zigzag can't come either for obvious reasons..." Keisha informed them. The doorbell rang again, to which Ha-Yun skipped towards the door to open it. A pink salamander emerged, her hair a darker pink with white roots. She had at least a dozen colorful clips and bows in her hair, and so many bracelets. Her whole outfit was an explosion of color, mismatched shoes and stockings, rainbow glitter on her face, and now that Amy looked closer, the way her hair was styled reminded her of an axolotl.

She had a big backpack with her, which she took off and opened. Out came a... Wisp? It looked like one, but not one that was familiar to the pink hedgehog. "Yo, catch." The salamander said, throwing something at Vermillion. The fox caught it and looked at it. "Oh, you did not." She gasped with sparkles in her eyes. "Oh, yes I diiiiid~" The other sang. Vermillion smiled as she cursed, "Fuck you, Yoko. You know how difficult this is to make!"

Yoko blew her off with a wave of her hand and an eyeroll, "Oh please, it's not nearly as difficult as making hair dye." She pointedly coughed in the direction of Keisha, who just put her hands up in defense. The salamander then spotted Amy next to her and smiled again, "Hey, a new face!" She extended her hand for the other to shake. Amy gladly took it, introducing herself, "Hi there, my name's Amy Rose." "Yoko, nice to meet ya."

"What did you give to Vermillion?" The hedgehog asked, looking over at the item in the fox's hand. "Millie's been dying to try a new paint variety. It's really expensive, but I offered to just... make it. Wait, you still have enough pigment, right?" Vermillion confirmed with a nod. "Then the rest can go to Velvet."

Alyx asked, "How's the Droplet stash looking?" Yoko sighed in sadness, "Sorry, Lexi... They're all burnt out from the whole South debacle." The rabbit lamented the information with a small groan. "What about the next dye batch?" The serval asked, which earned her an angry look and a growl from the salamander.

"We can wait, y'know." Do-Yun said. Keisha argued, "Nuh uh. We are dyeing your fur next weekend, whether you like it or not." Yoko looked at the tiger twins more carefully and jumped in, "You know... you two do look like shit." Ha-Yun cried out, "Oh come on!" The others laughed at her dismay.

Amy found it surprisingly easy to laugh along with them, even though she hasn't known them for long. While everyone settled in for the sleepover, she took notice that Do-Yun was still there and not at a friend's place or in his own room. When pointed out, Ha-Yun replied, "Don't worry, he's gay." while preparing popcorn in the kitchen. The hedgehog raised an eyebrow at that, which made the male tiger just shrug his shoulders and say, "It's true. I'm very open about it." Huh.

The first hour or so after Yoko arrived mostly consisted of gossip. Half of it was about things that Amy had no background on, but one topic caught her attention...

"Oh my Chaos, have any of you heard about Estela? She's supposedly been spotted a couple of times in West." Vermillion informed them. Alyx gasped, "Really?! It's been so long since I last saw her! I miss when she used to come to dance practice with me and auntie..." Keisha said, "True... I mean, she taught some of the best performative dancers in the area. The way she used her Resonance in her choreography was revolutionary!"

"...Resonance?" Amy tilted her head in curiosity. Ha-Yun lit up at that and explained, "Oh right, you're not from here. The powers we have down here are called Rhythm Resonance. Do-Yun and I have fire," She then pointed at Yoko, "She has water," at Alyx, "She has blades in the shape of a crescent moon," at Keisha, "This kitty has giant claws," and then at Vermillion, "and she can make a bow and arrow." Everyone that was pointed at showed off their abilities as the tiger listed them.

"That's actually really cool!" Amy was in genuine awe, then added, "What kind of Resonance does Echo have? It's gotta be some kind of hypnosis or something, because her music is just so good!" The others became silent at that, which threw the hedgehog off a bit. Before she could ask what was wrong however, Keisha said,

"...Echo doesn't have one."

Chapter Text

Sooooo... I'm not dead ^^"

At the moment there's a lot of stuff going on, such as me working on a big artistic project, and some other big shit-

I haven't really had motivation to write but I think it's slowly coming back! In the meantime... characters!

This is Alyx! I drew her a whole while ago, but forgot to add her in the last batch of characters. Oops-

Here we have Keisha!

Here's Vermillion, a character that a certain someone reeeaaaally likes. If you're reading this, you know who you are -3-

And the last one for today, Yoko!

I finished all the other characters that are gonna be important to the story as well, even ones that haven't been mentioned before, but I have to redraw at least one of them because I didn't like how it turned out.

I haven't forgotten about the scene pictures yet! They're just on the back burner for now, because of the other project I mentioned at the top of the chapter, and getting used to my new PC hasn't been too smooth. But I'm getting there!

Anyway, that's it from me for now. I'll (hopefully) be back with the next chapter soon!

Chapter Text

"...What?" Amy asked, perplexed. Vermillion replied, "Yeah, Echo has no Rhythm Resonance. All the concerts, the songs, performances, that's all her. Pure talent,  stubbornness and sheer will."

The hedgehog took a few seconds to take in that information. "That's honestly... impressive, I won't lie." She said. Alyx beamed and jumped in, "She's a role model for us! We don't really use our Resonances outside of defending ourselves, but the fact that she got this far without one at all is admirable!" Her little tail was twitching with joy. It was kinda cute.

"Not having a Resonance is rare, especially since her sister has one and she's younger. There's a limited time someone can develop a Resonance. Once that period passes, it's a no-go." Keisha explained. Yoko perked up and looked at Vermillion, "Speaking of, any news about-" The fox shook her head, "Nope... Nothing." "Aw..."

"I've known Echo since before we hit double digits. I was honestly quite worried when she said she wanted to make music back then. When someone doesn't have a Resonance, you can't tell if they have Inner Rhythm or not." Ha-Yun shrugged. Amy looked confused again, which made the serval light up. "Oh, you're gonna love this." She said and pulled out her holo-watch. It looked almost identical to the one Echo had.

Keisha adjusted a few settings, and shortly after, a holographic screen appeared that displayed something that looked like sound waves you would see in a recording. A soft, rhythmic sound could be heard throughout the living room as the hairdresser confirmed, "This is my Inner Rhythm."

Amy was awestruck at the display. "That's so cool...!" She whisper-shouted. "Right? It's like our version of a heartbeat. Without it, you're completely lost down here." Yoko said, showing off her own Inner Rhythm, the others following. Funnily enough, when all of these rhythms played at once, it sounded very harmonious, as if they all belonged together. Every one of them had a different kind of sound to it, kind of like different instruments, but the hedgehog couldn't pinpoint exactly what they sounded like.

What she noticed however, was that Ha-Yun's and Do-Yun's Inner Rhythm was not identical like she thought. When asked, the blue tiger said, "It's sort of like fingerprints. We may be twins and have the same Resonance type, but some things are still fundamentally different."

"How come no one on the surface knows about this?" The hedgehog questioned. The salamander groaned loudly, "Because the security squad is a load of bullshit!" She pulled on the lowest set of her pigtails, elaborating, "They always tell everyone that the surface is dangerous, that Mobians on the surface just want our Resonances for power, that they wanna kill us, none of it makes sense!"

"I have to agree with Yoko. None of what they say makes any sense whatsoever. I mean, you're here. That's proof enough for me that they're wrong." Ha-Yun said as she looked at Amy. The latter was touched, but there were still bad people on the surface. However, the fact that just having Amy, Sonic and the others down here was enough to put them at ease about the things the security squad told them says a lot.

"Wait... is that why some people keep calling us surface dwellers?" Amy frowned, recalling the times where they were called that term while being met with condescending looks.

Keisha's ears lowered, clearly upset at the mention, "...Yeah. It makes all of us sick. Especially Echo. It's just so infuriating that almost half of our citizens judge others simply based on them being from the surface. We're all Mobians, we all bleed the same blood, and yet..."

Alyx said, "Maybe that's why Echo was so eager to invite you here. You see, she gets attached very easily, and she wants everyone to get along. She loves her home and by personally inviting you, she's trying to make you see only the good things about Downtown." The rabbit adjusted her sitting position and continued, "Yeah, she can be a bit much, but she's doing her best. She's so popular that she hopes that, when she extends her hand to people from the surface, all of her fans will follow."

The group was stunned, blinking as the rabbit shrunk into herself a bit. "Damn girl." Vermillion commented, adding, "Sounds like you got a crush." "SHUT UP!!" Alyx threw a pillow at the fox, hitting her straight in the face. The latter picked up her own pillow and threw it back at the former. The rabbit ducked, making the pillow hit Ha-Yun instead.

The tiger stood there, completely still as she processed what just happened. Everyone froze as Yoko mumbled, "...Oh fuck... Take cover!"

"PILLOW FIIIIIIGHT!!!"

Ha-Yun grabbed the pillow she was hit with and hit Alyx as hard as she could, breaking the fabric and making feathers fly everywhere. The laughter started instantly, pillows being thrown, being tackled to the floor that was covered in blankets and feathers.

Keisha ducked behind the couch to avoid being hit by a fluffy object. She came back up and shouted, "HA!" Right after, she took a pillow to the face. "Serval down!" Yoko exclaimed.

Left and right the feathers flew, until Do-Yun stepped in to calm down the crowd, "Girls, let's keep it down a bit... We don't wanna break anything..." The girls stopped, all looking at the blue tiger. Just when he thought it worked, he was buried under a mountain of pillows. Ha-Yun chuckled at the display.

"So, what kind of movie should we watch first?" The pink tiger asked. "Oh! I vote comedy!" Said Alyx. Vermillion chimed in with, "How about a thriller?" "Nuh uh! We're watching romance!" Yoko declared. Everyone else said in unison, "Ewww!" "Hey! Just because y'all are single doesn't mean all things romance are automatically disgusting!"

"Simp!" Keisha said, earning herself another pillow to the face.



They ended up settling on a very badly made horror movie. Amy was currently munching on some sour gummies, which actually didn't taste that bad. She was more of a sweet flavor lover, but this... was good. The chocolate was also very nice. Apparently this Ya-Ya person handmade those bars and truffles.

By the time the second movie started, Ha-Yun declared, "Spa time!" and took out a large bag of cosmetic stuff. The girls excitedly cleared the table of its contents, getting comfortable on the floor. When the tiger took out the nail polish, Amy noticed something that she missed about all of them, and even Velvet and Sayaka.

None of them wore full gloves. They either had fingerless ones or none at all. The pink tiger noticed the hedgehog staring at her hands and asked, "Something the matter?" while tilting her head. The other smiled awkwardly, "It's nothing! Just... Your gloves." "What about 'em?"

Amy sighed and explained, "It may be another culture difference thing like the dyeing, but up on the surface, everyone wears full gloves. We only take them off when we really trust someone, like family or partners." Everyone gave an understanding Ooooooooh...

"Yeah, that's never been a thing here as far as we know." Yoko shrugged. Ha-Yun looked at the nail polish and frowned, then looked back up at the hedgehog, "You don't have to if you're uncomfortable with it, y'know." "Thanks... I can still do yours though." The tiger squealed at that.



Amy had done Ha-Yun's nails while Yoko did Vermillion's and Keisha did Alyx', then they switched. The girls, except for the hedgehog, had gone into the bathroom to apply some face masks, leaving only her and Do-Yun in the living room. The blue tiger looked at the nail polish that was still put out on the small table with great conflict, as if he was debating whether he wanted to paint his own or not.

She took notice of that and asked, "Do you want me to do it?" This pulled him out of his thoughts, taken aback at the offer. He hesitated, and just as Amy was about to take it back, he stood up and walked towards her, sitting down across from her.

Do-Yun's gloves went all the way up to the middle of his upper arms, which he slowly took off. Under the fabric was... a sight, to say the least. From almost his elbow to his hands were scars, clearly from burns, and almost no fur. Amy asked what happened, and Do-Yun explained, "When my Resonance developed, it... wasn't a smooth experience. Ha had an easier time."

That must've been horrible for him. It had to have happened when they were very young, and considering that the pink hedgehog didn't see a hospital on the map she took a few days ago... The thought made her skin crawl.

She took his hands into her own and smiled sadly at him. "It could've ended way worse. Fire is nothing to scoff at, so the fact that you're still here could bring you a little comfort." Do-Yun smiled a bit, nodding at her.

Amy got right to work, taking the nail filer to trim his claws a bit. They were a little misshapen, most likely from the burn damage, but nothing a little cutting and filing can't fix. Once she was done with that, she put some nail hardener on his claws to make them a little sturdier, during which Ha-Yun came back into the living room. Her hair was held back with a bandana, her face covered with the face mask.

"Finally getting around to it too, eh?" She asked smugly, leaning against the door frame. Do-Yun pouted and said, "Shut up..." "Nah." Amy chuckled at the display.

After the nail hardener dried, she went ahead and picked out a color that she thought would fit the tiger very well. Papaya, with an added layer of subtle glitter on top. As it dried, Ha-Yun said in a low tone, "...It's been a while since you painted your nails." She had this sad smile on her face, as if she was reminiscing about something.

"I don't see the point in doing it when I wear those gloves all the time..." He replied. The other argued, "You don't have to, y'know. Your scars are long healed." "I hate them." Ha-Yun sighed, "I know, I know... I still blame Eli for that. I mean look at Mocha! Sure, what she has isn't scars but she still stands out like a sore thumb!"

Yoko yelled from the bathroom, "I'm telling!"

"YOU BETTER FUCKING NOT!!"

"The difference between her and me is that Mocha is pretty... and has confidence... she can embrace what she looks like..." Do-Yun said. The hedgehog asked, "Who's Eli?" Ha-Yun groaned and replied, "Do's ex."

The pink tiger looked angry, "Dude was a shitbag. Tried to isolate my brother from us, convinced him that his scars are something he needed to hide, mocked him for liking his claws being painted, and the one time he tried on a dress from a bet, the guy flipped out and hit him. The guy's lucky to be alive after that one, because GAIA HELP ME-"

"Are we talking about Eli?" Vermillion suddenly said, having laid down in the hallway behind Ha-Yun, her hand on her cheek. "Yeah..." The blue tiger confirmed. The fox scrunched up her nose in disgust, "Dude's a shitbag."

"That's what I said!" The other tiger exclaimed. "Especially considering he's part of Crash's gang." Vermillion said. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Came from Ha-Yun. Amy tilted her head, "Echo's ex?" "Yep, they're all awful, we don't like to talk about them."

"Yeah..." Do-Yun sighed, "...and I really thought he was perfect at first..." The pink hedgehog carefully asked, "Well... What's your type?" The tiger thought for a moment before replying, "I... like guys who are smart, on the quieter side because I can't hold conversations well... and someone who can take it easy once in a while..."

"That almost sounds like Shadow." Amy mumbled. The other shook his head, "No, not him. Too broody..." She chuckled and shrugged, "Can't argue with that." Do-Yun smiled, but then came to a realization, "...You're gonna try to hit me up with someone, aren't you..." "Guilty as charged."

The blue tiger sighed in defeat, "This sleepover was a mistake..." His sister asked, "Was it though?" He looked back at her, then at Amy, then at his freshly painted claws.

With a fond smile, he mumbled, "No..."

Chapter Text

...Amy couldn't sleep. She should be exhausted after today. Not only from being chased by the hijacked security squad, but also from the sleepover. They played games for hours. Ha-Yun and Do-Yun had the dance game from the arcade at home, so naturally the pink tiger and the hedgehog had to see who did it better. Ha-Yun beat her by miles.

The sports games almost had half of the group dying of laughter. Keisha was playing a bowling game, missed every single pin and ended up almost throwing herself at the TV.

Right now, everyone except Amy was asleep. The twins were curled up around one another, Yoko was hanging halfway off the couch, Alyx was practically buried under at least 3 blankets and a bunch of pillows, Vermillion somehow managed to fall asleep up right, and Keisha was the only one who slept normally... except for the snoring.

Amy decided to get up and get a glass of water from the kitchen. As she was about to return to her sleeping spot, she saw Yoko watching her from the couch, her head resting on her arms, which were resting on the back of the piece of furniture. The hedgehog asked in a hushed voice, "Is everything okay?"

The salamander was looking at her with a half-asleep expression, almost like a deadpan, and said, "Love is such a beautiful thing, isn't it?" This had her... very confused. Yoko sluggishly crawled over the back of the couch, flopping down on the floor before crawling towards the kitchen island. When she got there, she leaned on the counter and elaborated, "You're in love. I can see it on your face."

Oooookaaaayyyy...

"How can you tell?" Amy questioned. Yoko smiled dreamily, "You have this aura around you. An aura only people who've found true love have. You look happy whenever you speak, look at everyone with kindness... it's such a beautiful feeling." The other smiled as well, "Are you also in love?"

The salamander giggled lazily, answering, "Very. My boyfriend is so kind to me. Treats me like a princess. Gets me my favorite pastries. Gives me massages when I get back from work." Then, her expression turned sad, "But he's away at work now. They sent him to the surface, so he won't be back for a few more months." Amy frowned, "How long has he been up there?" "A year and a half..."

That... seemed too long to go on a business trip. From the way Yoko talked about it, it didn't sound like he even took a single day to visit her during that time. "What about you? Does your boyfriend treat you well too?" The salamander asked, her expression sleepily cute. Amy waved her hand, "Ah... he's not my boyfriend...! I mean... I wish he was, but that's besides the point!" The other tilted her head, "How come?"

The hedgehog's expression softened in a melancholic way. "I've known him for a very long time now, since we were kids actually. He's... incredible, really. His confidence, his heroism, the way he cares about others... He's all I could ask for in a man." She said. Yoko continued, "But...?" With a heavy sigh, Amy explained, "...But he deserves to be free."

The pink hedgehog sat down across from the salamander, leaning on the kitchen island. There was a smile on the former's face, "He's quite the free spirit. He's fast, lives mostly outdoors," She giggled, "and Gaia help me he cannot sit still. I've loved him for years now, confessed my feelings multiple times, gave him gifts, but he always avoided giving me an answer. At first I thought he was just playing hard to get. But then..."

Her mind wandered to memories still freshly etched into her brain. Starfall Islands. The image of Sonic being overrun with cyber corruption will never leave her, no matter how much she tried. "...We almost lost him. More than once actually... if me and the others hadn't been there, he wouldn't've..."

Her eyes stung. Quickly blinking away the tears and taking a deep breath, she continued, "It was a painful few days. It sort of made me realize that, if that's how far he'll go for friends, how bad would it be if he had a partner? I could never do that to him... so, I made the decision to keep my feelings to myself, be a better friend to him. Even if it hurts..."

Looking at Yoko, Amy could see that she was crying, but her expression hadn't changed at all. "You must be in so much pain..." She mumbled. The other reassured her, "It's no big deal, really. I'm fine as long as I can stay by his side."

Yoko smiled slightly, her eyelids drooping. The hedgehog perked up at that, watching the other fall asleep. As soon as she was out cold, Amy quietly got up and helped her to her sleeping spot on the couch. That's when she noticed the salamander hadn't taken out her hair ties. Holding back a chuckle, Amy took back her spot next to the twins. Yoko's hair would be a mess the following morning.



...And it was. Everyone awoke to the smell of pancakes being made in the kitchen. Ha-Yun had somehow silently made pancake batter without waking the others. Impressive.

"Morning, sleepyheads. Everyone slept okay?" She asked. Keisha stretched as she yawned, "Like a rock..." "With how loud you were snoring, you better have..." Alyx mumbled from her pillow den. Vermillion had already stood up to walk into the kitchen, fetching herself a cup of coffee. Yoko sat up, her eyes closed tightly to block out the light of the other buildings outside. Her hair looked bad. Some of the ties were misplaced, one of them completely missing, and her hair partially slipped out of the rest.

She lamented, "Not again..." Keisha laughed, holding her stomach while Ha-Yun commented, "That's what you get for sleeping with them still in." She put a hand on her hip, flipping a pancake while still looking at her friends. She must've done this hundreds of times before. The serval caught her breath and offered, "I'll help you fix it, okay?" "Thank yoooouuuu..."

Do-Yun came out of the hallway, having returned from the bathroom it seemed. His gloves were still off, showing his scars that Amy saw the day before. He was combing his hair with a brush, which the hairdresser swiftly took out of his hand. The tiger pouted as Keisha stuck out her tongue at him.

She sat on the couch, behind Yoko who was sitting on the floor, and assessed the damage. "Geez, you really need to get a cut. You have so many splits that the ballerinas are jealous." She commented. "Good one." Alyx said. As the hair ties were removed, the salamander cried out, "I don't wanna! Kenji said he likes my hair long!"

All of them tensed, with the exception of Amy. Even Ha-Yun was stunned, causing her to almost burn one of the pancakes. A small curse in a different language was practically punched out of her lungs. "...Maybe just a small trim, then?" Keisha tried to offer. "Fine..." Yoko deflated. The serval started brushing the other's hair from bottom to top, saying, "Should we also get another dye job? Or are you fine with the white growing out?"

The salamander took her bangs and looked at them with a judging eye. With a contemplative hum, she replied, "I guess I'll let it grow out. It's a pain to redye it every time..."

"At least you're not Ha-Yun." Vermillion said, taking a sip from her coffee. "Hey!" "You know it's true. Not everyone walks around with a rainbow mohawk." The fox grinned. The pink tiger shot back, "No pancakes for you!" "NOOOOO!!!"

One by one, everyone took a plate to put their breakfast on, along with either chocolate or maple syrup. Amy had to admit, Ha-Yun was good at cooking. The pancakes were light, fluffy, just right.

During cleanup, the hedgehog was helping the twins do the dishes while the others focused on making the living room presentable again. There was one last thing she had to do there before she left, and she was nervous to speak up. But the others were counting on her, so she cleared her throat.

"So, I've been wondering..." She started. Ha-Yun hummed, signifying that she had her attention, so Amy continued, "Has there been any... weird stuff happening recently?" Tilting her head, the pink tiger asked, "Weird? How do you mean?" "Just... stuff out of the ordinary, random power surges, things working differently, that sorta thing."

The other put down the dish she was cleaning, looking up in thought. "Out of the ordinary... Wait, wasn't there that one thing at the construction site?" Ha-Yun looked over her shoulder, "Hey Lexi? Didn't something weird happen at the construction site on Dan Tam Road?"

"Oh yeah!" The rabbit perked up, "One day, after I delivered some stuff there, the construction workers suddenly all evacuated the site, because one of the machines had gone into complete overdrive. No one knows why or how, but it was over after just a few minutes." Vermillion butted in, "They still had to take the machine offline, though. It was still riddled with excess electricity, so no one could really touch it."

"How long ago was that?" Amy asked. Alyx replied, "Hmm... maybe two weeks ago?" That had to be it.

Before any more questions could be asked, however, Do-Yun's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, frowning while picking up. The room was silent while he listened to the person on the other side, heaving a defeated sigh. He hung up and turned to his sister, "We have to go to the arcade. Now." "What? Why?" She looked confused. "The maintenance people have to come early. Some external problems arose and they have to quickly finish all their business for the day."

With a childish wail, the pink tiger announced, "We have to end the sleepover early..." Everyone lamented the fact. "We'll have another one soon. But we really need to go..."



"You should come over again!" Yoko said to Amy, "And maybe you can come to my next show! We learned a new choreography and it's even better than the last one!" "I'll think about it. I'll ask the others too if they want to come." The hedgehog smiled at the salamander.

"And don't forget to come over to the arcade again some time. You still have a record to beat after all." Ha-Yun winked at her. With a chuckle, Amy waved goodbye to the group as they all went on their own way.

As she walked, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. These people were so nice and welcoming, and yet they're only in Downtown for the Emeralds.

...Maybe she'll come back on her own time in the future.

Chapter Text

After Sayaka gave Sonic the paper slip, the atmosphere in the house lost some of its tension. Velvet was still holed up in her bedroom while the others stayed in the living room. The elderly rat was working on an embroidery piece, Tails was playing cards with the Wisps of the house along with Knuckles, Rouge was helping Sayaka, and the two hedgehogs, well...

Sonic still looked incredibly conflicted, having sat down next to Shadow without a word. He kept staring at the paper slip, confused as to what to do. They had two options.

Either quickly get all the Emeralds and beat Eggman's ass... again...

Or try to uncover what was really going on in Downtown District, maybe even save them from tyranny.

Both sounded appealing, but the problem with these options is that no matter what they choose, the Downtown Canines will interfere, and Sonic hates that fact. He would never openly admit it or show it much, but ever since the incident with the building, he's been terrified to go back down here. The blue hedgehog would prefer to stay out of their way indefinitely, but he would have to leave for the surface in order to do that, which wasn't an option anymore.

"What would you do, Shadow?" He suddenly asked. The other was startled by suddenly being addressed. "What do you mean?" This made Sonic realize that he didn't voice his inner conflict out loud, which he was kind of grateful for. He elaborated, "I don't want to step on Diamond's toes, but I eventually have to if we want the Emerald back that she took. And now this..." He motioned to the paper in his hand.

The dark hedgehog contemplated his answer. He knew Sonic was still tense from the situation earlier, but he also knew that they were on a time limit with two other parties trying to hunt down the Chaos Emeralds. So, he kept it down to earth, "There are tons of things that I hate doing, like talking to certain people at G.U.N., because I know there will be conflict waiting for me. But what's important is that you stand your ground. Don't let them take advantage of your apprehension."

Before Sonic could reply, Shadow continued, "And... you're not alone down here. So stop pretending like you are." He jabbed the blue one's side with his elbow and a slight upturn of his lips. Sonic reluctantly nodded, showing his own wary smile.

"Still, if we just take the Emeralds and leave, I'd feel awful just throwing all the downtowners to the wolves... I don't know which problem to take care of first." He admitted. Shadow looked at the paper slip in Sonic's hand, then at Sayaka who was bickering with Rouge about something he couldn't quite make out, then said, "...Why not do both?" "Huh?"

Shadow explained, "Since both things are connected by Diamond and the Canines, why not take care of both at the same time?" The other hedgehog looked conflicted, "Is that even doable?" Shadow pulled out his Downtown ID, "I can make use of this thing. I'm a private investigator after all. Tails finds the next Emerald location, I do some research around the area, we make a plan, and if either Eggman or Diamond interfere, I'll distract them while you go get it."

It sounded crazy. Mostly because it was, but it might just work.

Sonic gave him an unsure nod, still not fully convinced, but it was their best bet right now.

Sayaka sighed, putting down her embroidery and standing up from the floor. "Would anyone like some tea? I'm sure today was stressful." She asked. All of them nodded as the rat walked into the kitchen to put the kettle on. While she was gone, Rouge looked... jittery. Shadow took notice and moved to sit next to her, "You alright?"

The bat shook her head, "No. No, I'm not alright. Tomorrow is a big day, I'll finally have the chance to prove myself to my idol, and I'm terrified." She nervously fiddled with her fingers and continued, "What if I mess up?" Knuckles chimed in, "You're overthinking."

They all looked at him as he kept playing the card game with Tails and the Wisps. "You've been preparing for this for years, studied every single one of her magazines, my ears still hurt from the time you rambled on about the first appointment you got."

"You remember that?" She raised an eyebrow as she tilted her head. The echidna rolled his eyes, "Hard to forget after your romcom marathon." "I thought we said to never speak of that again..." She mumbled. "What I'm trying to say, is that you worry way too much. You'll do just fine. And if she doesn't see your talent, then she's simply stupid."

Everyone was stunned into silence.

One blink.

Two blinks.

"What?! I can be supportive too!" Knuckles shouted.

"Now now, let's stay calm." Sayaka said as she stepped back into the room, tray with tea in hand, "Would anyone be so kind to fetch Velvet?" "I'll go." The echidna quickly said, put his last card on the pile, "Uno Uno, I want blue." then stood up and walked away. Tails and the Wisps looked at their remaining cards. One of the Wisps angrily threw their cards on the floor, flying away in a huff.

Knuckles walked through the hallway, reaching a stairwell that was practically hidden by a wooden sliding door. As he ascended the stairs, he took note of all the paper being strewn about, string littering the floor as well. The closer he got to Velvet's room, the messier it got.

There was pigment powder all over the walls in various shades, and it vaguely smelled like gunpowder. The rat's room was half open, so he stepped inside. Velvet was sitting on the floor, putting together various kinds of flares and fireworks. Knuckles watched her as she diligently built a paper case for a pigment flare, poured in some odd mixture of pigment powder and what looked like gunpowder.

After she put in the fuse and sealed it shut, she moved to the next one. The echidna cleared his throat to get her attention. Velvet looked at him, dumbfounded and asked, "Why are you in my room?" "Sayaka wants you to come down." He said plainly. She looked back at the mess she made with her materials and sighed, "I'll be there in a minute..."

The rat started to put away the pigment and gunpowder, but her right arm was still shaky. As she was struggling to stand up on her tiptoes to reach one of the higher shelves in her room, Knuckles decided to help by picking her up and letting her use his arm to sit on. "What the hell?! Put me down!" She shouted.

However, he ignored her and simply handed her one of the small containers of pigment powder. With a resigned grumble, she took the container and put it where it belonged. She mumbled, "All of you are so damn insufferable... You're lucky I can't kick you out..."

Knuckles continued handing her items to put away, so they were done in record time. Once the room was tidy again, Velvet said, "Okay, you can put me down now." The echidna thought for a moment, considering her hurt ankle. She would take a while to get downstairs, how she got up in the first place without asking for help was a miracle. Then again, she was pretty stubborn.

So, he did what any sensible person would do.

Simply carried her out of the room.

The rat heavily protested, screaming bloody murder as they descended the stairs, trying to hold onto the door frame. When they got to the living room, everyone except for Sayaka looked perplexed. Knuckles proceeded to put her down on one of the sitting pillows, which was the moment she finally calmed down. Her face still showed that she wasn't happy, though.

The Wisps handed out the tea cups, putting Velvet in a much better mood.

Maybe 5 minutes went by before they heard a phone ring. "Oh, that must be her." Sayaka said excitedly and got up from her pillow. She quickly got the phone from the hallway, handing it to her granddaughter with a smile.

She looked confused, but took it anyway and spoke into the microphone, "...Hello?" The voice on the other side had her beaming. "Hey sweetie!" "Mom!"

"How's my little munchkin?" "I've been great! The next firework show is gonna be the best one yet! Do you think you and the others can make it?" Her tail started slowly swishing from side to side. "Most definitely! We wouldn't miss it for the world! How are the twins?"

Velvet proceeded to tell her mother about the Arcade Battle, how she beat her opponent at Taiko no Tatsujin, about Echo's last concert, the fact that some new friends of hers were staying with them, and other stuff that Sonic and his friends had no insight on.

The call went on for at least half an hour before her mother said, "Could you give the phone to granny? There's still some things we need to discuss." "Sure thing. Say hi to everyone from me, okay?" "Will do!" After Velvet handed the phone to her grandmother, she headed for the bathroom to take a bath.

Sayaka immediately put the phone on speaker as soon as she was out of earshot and said, "So, you plan to come down here, Chenxin?" The rat on the other side of the line sighed heavily, "I try my best to, but you know how brutal reentry can be." Sonic chimed in, "How so? Isn't it just like if you went down for the first time?" "Hey, I know that voice. You're Sonic, right?"

The blue hedgehog replied affirmative. "My name is Chenxin, Velvet's mom. Sadly, the process of reentry as a natural born citizen of Downtown District is far more complicated than that. They check everything. From bank statements, phone records to where you've traveled."

Chenxin sighed, "That's part of the reason why I left. I constantly had to leave Downtown for work, and it was getting exhausting. I had to make a decision, and everything was already in order for me to leave, but then... my little munchkin happened. I had to postpone the move. And to put the cherry on top, my husband passed not long after she was born."

"We're sorry for your loss..." Rouge said with a frown. "Don't be. That's just the nature of Downtown District. Velvet was too young to leave with me, so I had to leave her in my mother's care." "Wait, what? How does that work? You're her parent!" Tails questioned.

Chenxin explained, "Under Downtown law, children below the age of 10 are not allowed to leave, due to them not being able to control their powers very well yet." Shadow scoffed and mumbled, "What bullshit..."

The rat continued, "I felt absolutely horrible for leaving her behind. I still do. But my time was running out." "What do you mean?" Sonic asked. "I wish I could say more, I really do, but this call is about to be able to be monitored again, so I have to leave it at that. But know this...

...There is information that I possess that would put my whole family in danger."

Chapter Text

The call was cut off shortly after. Sayaka explained that she had arranged the call to lift Velvet's spirits, and then had the idea to let Chenxin talk to Sonic and co. Two birds with one stone so to speak.

After hearing her story, Shadow couldn't help but feel like something didn't add up. What Chenxin said was way too vague and ominous. Information that could put her family in danger? That had to mean that she was somehow connected to what was going on in Downtown. It was very likely that she was also a Canine at some point of her life.

The others were still hung up about the fact that she had to leave her child behind, which, don't get him wrong, it was incredibly unfortunate, but that wasn't what stood out to Shadow.

Before he could ask for more information, Velvet returned from the bath and sat down next to Sayaka again. If he wanted to find out more, he'd have to wait and do as the elder rat said. Go to the library. Question was, where is it?



Rouge was pacing back and forth the next morning, going over everything she was going to say and do while at Serafina's office. The others were helping her with the mental checklist when Velvet walked into the living room, confused, "You're still here? I thought you left already." "What do you mean? I still have time until I have to be in North." Said Rouge.

The rat mumbled, "Oh, right. You're not locals..." and explained, "After 10 AM, all the train stations will be absolutely packed with workers. If you wanna get to Serafina at a reasonable time, you gotta leave before 9."

Everyone whipped their heads towards the digital clock that sat near the TV.

8:51

Shit.

The bat quickly checked if she had everything. Holo-watch, ID, money just in case, map-

"Wait, Amy has the map!" She exclaimed. Velvet said, "Don't worry. The building is pretty hard to miss." "I'll come with." Shadow jumped in. Rouge looked at him, and the look he gave her told her everything she needed to know.

"We'll join you later after Amy comes back. I hope they allow visitors..." Sonic thought aloud. "Less talking, more hurrying." The rat rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"You've got this!" Tails said encouragingly.

"If she's being difficult, I'm sure I can convince her." Threatened Knuckles as he punched his fists together.

"You will do no such thing!" Sonic protested.

With a lighthearted chuckle from Rouge, she left the house with Shadow in tow. The hedgehog was speeding towards the station with his air shoes while the bat used her wings. It took them not even 10 minutes, but when they got there, the last train before the worker wave was already in position.

The doors were starting to close, but they made it through just barely. They heard and felt the machine moving, which made Rouge breathe a sigh of relief. Shadow decided to sit down in one of the seats, crossing his arms. The bat sat next to him, her wings fluttering a little from the nerves building up again. The hedgehog put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, and it did help a little.

For now, they could breathe easy,



A few minutes into the ride, the lighting outside changed. It caught Rouge's attention, so she looked out of the window behind her. She quickly tapped Shadow on the shoulder, "Shadsy, look!" The other cringed at the nickname, "Do not call me that again." "Just look outside, will you!" He rolled his eyes and turned around. There he saw almost nothing but water.

"Downtown really is massive..." The bat observed. Shadow had to agree. He could barely make out a single building on the other side of the massive body of water. The further they got, the more was revealed to them. At around the halfway point, they could see all four districts. Rouge quickly took out her phone to take a panorama photo of it.

Once they reached their destination, Shadow took note of just how much louder it was. There were way more people up in North than there were in East.

There was a big display board in the middle of the giant station hall that listed departure times of the upcoming trains. The time on it read 9:42, so they still had plenty of time before Rouge had to be at Serafina's office.

The bat looked around the magazine and postcard stands for a map, but all the slots were empty. With a nervous sigh from her, the both of them finally stepped out of the station.

Their eyes were immediately assaulted by bright lights, even more noise and was that the security squad...?

They seemed to have been in a hurry, so they paid no mind to the bat and the hedgehog. In the distance, they could indeed see the big logo of SeraFemme. It was a long way away, the road leading straight through the bustling city. The station was pretty high up, the stairs down quite long. It was surrounded by buildings that started small, but got bigger the further away they were, with the skyscrapers scattered about.

"What do we do now? It's still a few hours until your appointment." Shadow broke the silence. Rouge looked at the SeraFemme logo for a good minute before she had an idea. "How about... we go on a little shopping trip to pass the time? Get familiar with the area?" She offered.

The hedgehog looked at her with suspicion, he knew her too well to not know what she meant by 'shopping trip'. He replied, "As long as I'm not a pack mule by the end of it." The bat pouted as he walked past her, "You're no fun."



Luckily, there weren't too many people around at this time the further they got away from the station. They had passed a café that looked very good. Judging by the theme of the exterior, it was a maid café. Once the others visit, they have to go there.

They also passed a jewelry store. This one, Shadow had to drag Rouge away from in fears of her taking all of them. With or without the store owner's knowledge.

Next, there was an ice cream parlor. They had tons of flavors, along with toppings, even other kinds of frozen treats like gelato, parfait, sorbet, among other things. The duo decided to stop by and purchase a cone each. Rouge got a rainbow gelato with glitter sprinkles while Shadow got a simple coffee flavored ice cream with dark chocolate drizzle. He was surprised that it was a thing down there, but the clerk explained that they have so many flavors because most of them are customers' suggestions. Huh.

To no one's surprise, there was a music store. Just looking at the window, it was obvious who dominated the music scene in Downtown District. Echo's face was plastered almost everywhere. There were even billboards high up that showcased ads for her newest releases.

Shadow couldn't help but think about her when she ran past him in front of Kitty Arcade. For a celebrity of her caliber, she was surprisingly easy to talk to. Almost too easy... He wondered where she was right now. And if she was causing trouble again.

Shadow was getting tired of this shopping trip, so he almost missed the next store they walked by. He almost flew against the glass window of the store with how quickly he ran back. His face was pressing against the surface. It was a motor shop.

Rouge had to gather all her strength to pull him away from the glass as they didn't have time to fool around with bikes right now. Serafina's office was already in sight, and it was almost time for the bat to meet with her.

The closer they got, the more clothing stores they noticed. Under all their logos it said provided by SeraFemme. So many styles, from lolita, scene, punk, to ethno, casual, even prom and wedding dresses. She did it all.

This is why Rouge loved Serafina so much. She's not afraid to branch out with styles, she makes sure everyone can wear everything she makes, as her dresses and such can be requested to be made with other fabrics.

Working with her would be a dream come true.

Now, they were standing in front of the entrance to the SeraFemme building. The bat was taking deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves again. Her wings were fluttering like crazy. "Okay, I can do this. I just need to stay calm, speak with confidence, show her my sketchboo-" She froze.

"I forgot my sketchbook on the surface!" Now she was positively panicking. She paced back and forth, almost hyperventilating when Shadow grabbed her arm to stop her. She looked at him in confusion, to which he rolled his eyes.

He explained, "I knew this would happen. So I came prepared." The hedgehog reached into his quills, pulling out the sketchbook she was looking for. Stunned, she took it from him and held it close, "You brought it with you? How did you even get it?"

He sighed, "When you came back from the last appointment, you were so crushed that you threw it into the trash. I saw, when we were having the romcom marathon. I..." He trailed off. Rouge was honestly touched, voicing her awe, "You saved the book..." "If you tell anyone, I swear I'll-"

The bat pulled him into a hug. An almost bone-crushing hug. He tensed up, wanting to push her away, but she whispered out a sincere thanks, which made him defeatedly reciprocate the affection. "...Don't mention it."

Shortly after, they let go. "Now, show Serafina what you're made of." He told her, flashing a rare grin. With a confident nod, Rouge went through the entrance doors.

'Now... where was that motor shop?' Shadow thought to himself.

Chapter Text

The lobby was relatively small compared to what the size of the building made you believe. It looked almost exactly the same as the last time Rouge was here. The thing that changed the most is that it looked more... colorful. There were new plants, a new carpet that led to the reception desk, a new one at that.

Hailey was behind the desk, visibly panicking as call after call came in. When the lilac hedgehog spotted the bat, she sighed in relief and hung up the two phones that were in her hands. "Thank goodness, you're here! I realized too late that I didn't give you directions on how to get here! I'm so sorry!" She apologized profusely. Ah, right. Last time, she took the train that came from the surface and stopped right around the corner from this place. Rouge shook her head and reassured her, "We got here just fine, but is everything alright here? You look troubled."

The hedgehog made an embarrassed noise, her short quills flaring up slightly, "I am... Frankly, the office has been a mess since we got the news that we had to cram all our appointments and events into such a short time frame. Again, thank you for being so understanding..." The bat nodded with a smile.

"Serafina is not in at the moment, but she should be back any minute now." Hailey informed her. As if on cue, they heard the sound of heels clacking against the smooth tile floor in the hall to the left of the reception desk. Looking in that direction, Rouge saw the cat in question, along with Barbara, her still personal assistant.

Serafina wasn't wearing the red dress she wore last time during the After Party. This time, she wore a black dress with white details, a matching hat and coat, and in her left hand was her pipe. The closer she got, the more Rouge could see that the cat was mad. Pissed even.

The duo made it to the desk, which made Hailey ask, "How did the meeting go?" Barbara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Bad. Very bad." "What happened?" The hedgehog frowned.

"The bastards seriously had the nerve to ask if I would be willing to sell 50% of my company to branch out and make more profit. Ridiculous. Absolute blasphemy." Serafina ranted. "What?! That's insanity!" Hailey exclaimed.

"No matter. It looks like I have my next appointment to attend now. Isn't that right, Rouge?" The cat looked at the bat with a smile, a complete switch-up from a moment ago. The other nodded as Serafina and Barbara walked to the elevator doors behind the reception desk, motioning for her to follow them. With a final deep breath, the bat stepped into the elevator.



They went up about 8 floors. When the elevator doors opened, Rouge was greeted with a big hall full of tables filled with colorful fabrics, workers running around and lots of Wisps floating about trying to help.

Serafina, followed by Barbara, led her through the hall, up a flight of stairs that ended at her office. There was a table in front of a large window wall where you could look over half of the district. A nice, long, red carpet led from the door to said table. There were 3 Wisps messing around in her office. A Blue Cube, a White Boost and a Cyan Laser.

After shooing them away, the cat sat down at her desk, turning towards the bat as the lemur moved to stand next to her boss. "Alright then, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Serafina started, making Rouge hold her sketchbook tighter. She continued, "Again, my sincerest apologies for what happened last time. And my apologies for having to rearrange our appointment to today."

"Now, down to business. First, how did you find out about me and my brand?" The cat asked. Rouge replied, "The first magazine of yours that I saw was SeraFemme No. 13. I was just browsing through different things when I saw the cover. It was so expertly shot and beautifully designed that I couldn't help but look through it. I may or may not have bought every single installment after that..." She giggled sheepishly.

With a nod, Serafina continued, "Why do you want to be a designer for me?" The question hit a little deeper than Rouge would have thought, as she tensed at the thought. "I... want to show people that I'm more than... what I do for work." Intrigued, the cat raised an eyebrow and asked, "What exactly do you do?" Shaking her head, the other replied, "It's nothing too big really," Lies. "but it makes people think of me in a certain way." "More than a pretty face kind of deal?" Serafina added bluntly. Rouge could only give a stiff nod.

"Hmm, I see. You... remind me of someone, and dare I say you look just a little bit like her." She admitted, continuing, "Now, do you have any reference work that I may look at?" The bat handed over her sketchbook, allowing the cat a look inside. Silence permeated the room as she flipped through the pages, taking in every detail. "You studied my magazines?" She asked, not looking up from the page. "Y-yes, especially the nature collection from a few years back. It's... one of my favorites." The other replied. "It's very evident." From the tone alone, Rouge couldn't tell if that was a negative or a positive.

Snapping the book shut, Serafina handed it back to her and said, "Very well. I'll allow you a test run. You have 3 hours to put together a mockup of a dress with one of these 3 themes." She pulled out a few folded slips of paper with the terms Childhood Dream, In The Wild, and Grand Performance written on them. "Barbara will bring you to an available work station."



The lemur led her to an unoccupied table in the worker hall. There was a sewing machine on it, as well as other equipment needed for making clothes, and a mannequin. "All sorts of fabrics are on the wall over there." Barbara pointed to the wall behind the row of people working, where many rolls of fabric lay, all sorted by color and type. "Should you need any assistance, feel free to ask around." The lemur said before walking back to the office.

Now, Rouge sat at the table by herself, internally screaming at the fact that this was actually happening. She had to slap her cheeks to calm down and get back on track. 3 hours was not a lot of time to make a whole dress, but Serafina did say that it was only supposed to be a mockup, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem. First, she had to pick a theme.

Opening the first paper slip, Childhood Dream, it gave hints as to what the theme entailed. Every girl's dream is to be a princess. Make that dream come true. Frills, ruffles, glitter. View SeraFemme No. 21/45 for references. Must be from her lolita collections a few years back.

The second slip was titled In The Wild. Animal prints have been a staple in fashion for ages. Over the top or subtle. View SeraFemme No. 06/19/36 for references. Those are the collections Rouge studied the most.

Grand Performance was written on the last slip. Be it the stage, or a ceremony, one needs to look their best. Elegant, yet simple. Eye-catching, tasteful. Less is more. View SeraFemme No. 22/42 for references. Those collections were quite hard to come by, even the reprints. For some reason, those specific ones were very sought after.

Now, she had to pick one of them. They all spoke to her in different ways. The second one because she has the most experience in it, but if she chose it, it would be too easy and too obvious.

The third one was more challenging because making something elegant and simple at the same time without making it look boring takes a really good eye.

The first one was the furthest out of her comfort zone. The bat was more drawn towards styles that were more lady-like, mature. Lolita is more childish and cutesy, more up Amy's alley.

Well... perfecting a craft requires you to challenge yourself. So, Childhood Dream it is.



Having picked her color scheme of white, light blue and some colorful accents, Rouge got straight to work. Her plan was to make a sweet lolita styled dress with a two-layered skirt and long sleeves. The start was going well, but as time went on, making the vision a reality became harder and harder. This style of clothing was not her forte and it showed. Many of the workers offered their help, but she mostly refused.

Half of the time had already passed and all she had was a rough outline of the bodice and the second layer of the skirt. The first layer was supposed to be patterned, but she couldn't pick one that she liked.

Around that time, Serafina walked into the worker hall, clearly on edge. She asked Barbara, "Where the hell is Ya-Ya? She was supposed to be here an hour ago." The lemur replied, "I've heard nothing from her so far." The cat sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "She promised she would leave work early today..."

Then, the signature ding of the elevator door sounded through the room. "I'm here. Sorry for the delay." Said the person walking out. Rouge gasped as she saw this Ya-Ya. She subconsciously dropped the fabric she was holding.

She couldn't help but stare, couldn't believe her eyes. Ya-Ya looked so much like...

Chapter Text

Shadow walked the way back, passing the clothing stores, to find that motor shop again. He couldn't get a good look at the inside since Rouge tore him away from the window, so he wanted to go back to check it out for real.

The shop stood out quite a bit, them having a giant motorcycle neon sign above the entrance and all. Luckily, it was open.

The hedgehog went inside and took a good look around. There were a couple of Wisps flying about, mainly a Green Hover and... a Gray Quake? What would that kind of Wisp do in a motor shop?

There were so many different motorcycle models on display, from vintage all the way to futuristic. Not only that, but on the wall in the back were hover boards that looked very similar to their old Extreme Gear. Just looking at them brought back memories, but he shook his head to dispell the thoughts. No time to reminisce.

"Can I help you?" Someone said from behind him. Shadow turned around to look at them, and it was clearly the shop owner. A hare by the looks of it. "No, I'm just looking around." He replied. The owner shrugged and went back behind the counter, seemingly taking care of paperwork. The hedgehog decided to ignore the dismissive attitude and continued looking at the models on display.

One of them in particular stood out. It was an almost pure silver motorcycle with a relatively simplistic yet modern design. There were some very thin tubes that went seamlessly around the edges, containing what looked to be energy. Apparently, he was looking at it for quite a while, because the shop owner spoke up once again, "Something caught your eye?"

Shadow's head snapped back to him, being slightly startled. "Maybe. What is this?" He asked. The hare's face was laced with a grin as he walked towards the hedgehog and said, "That, my friend, is the Cyber Angel 2.0, my finest work if I do say so myself." It really did look quite-

Wait.

"You built this thing?" Shadow asked, disbelief written all over his face. The owner scoffed, only mildly offended, and replied, "Not just that, everything you see in here was built by my hands."

...

"How...?"

"Hm?" The hare looked confused. Shadow elaborated, "How did you build these? I mean, Downtown is quite isolated here, and most of these are identical to models that I've only seen on-" He cut himself off. He noticed the shop owner grinning at him, "On earth?"

With a lighthearted sigh, he kept the smile and started walking around the shop, explaining, "Yes, especially the older models. Most Mobians don't care for them, which is quite sad to me. So, I took it upon myself to... replicate some." "But how? You would have to see and dissect the original." Shadow countered. "We have our ways. We may not be able to reach the surface most of the time, but no one said earth was off limits." Said the hare, "The more modern-looking ones are my own creations, however."

"...What about the Cyber Angel is so special?" The hedgehog dared to ask, admittedly mildly curious. "This baby," The hare patted the seat of the model, "is able to use the abilities of the Wisps. Each power-up gives it a different feature. Took me ages to figure out how to incorporate them."

Shadow nodded, taking in the information. "And the 2.0 part?" He questioned. The hare scratched his cheek as he replied, "There were a few... hiccups, to keep it brief. I'm actually already working on the 3.0 model. The 2.0 doesn't have enough power with how it's designed."

"And where is that one?" "That one's still a prototype. Echo is currently play-testing it." The owner said nonchalantly as he removed some dust from the Cyber Angel model he was leaning on. 'Wait... Echo?' Shadow thought to himself. "Could you tell me a bit more about her?"

The other shook his head, "Nope. Not too involved with her. I did teach her sister a little bit about mechanical work, but that was a few years ago, and that's about it." The answer was not what Shadow wanted, and his disappointment was obvious on his face. "But... if you wanna know more, you should talk to the guy from the music shop. Total Echo fanatic."

Shadow nodded politely, thanking him for his time before heading to the exit. "Ah, before you go there, I gotta tell you something." The hare called out. The hedgehog turned his head to listen.

"Don't be too creeped out by him. He's a little... special."

...Oy vey.



The music shop was not too far away from the motor shop. Very hard to miss with Echo's face plastered all over it.

As Shadow entered the shop, the unmistakable lyrics of Machine Gun filled his ears. The music was quiet, barely there so you could still hear people talking... except, the shop was empty, save for the owner.

...who was currently dancing to one of Echo's Kimera choreography.

The video was playing on a TV near the counter. He messed up one of the steps, becoming agitated and pulling on his ears. Sighing in defeat, he turned the video off and turned around, suddenly seeing Shadow standing there. It scared him so much that he stumbled backwards and scurried behind his counter. He slowly peeked over the edge, asking, "H-how much of that did you see...?"

"A bit." The hedgehog saw no reason to lie. The shop owner groaned pathetically, "This is the worst day of my life..." Propping himself up, the guy was quite tall. About as tall as Serafina was, if he remembered her correctly. From what Shadow could tell, he was an owl, and quite young to be owning a store. If he had to guess, the owl was in his very early 20s, if even that.

"How can I help you?" He asked. Shadow quickly shook his head clear and said, "I'm just looking around. Heard this was a good place for all things Echo." Technically not a lie...

The other's face lit up, his expression turning smug, "You're at the right place then! Tell me your needs and I'm absolutely sure I can provide." The hedgehog pondered on how to phrase it, so he just kept it simple, "I want to learn more about her. Think you can help there?"

Silence.

The owl looked unimpressed. Just as Shadow was about to speak up, the other did it first. "Is that a serious question?"

"Uh..."

"Bro, do you see this store? What's in it? Of course I can help! Who do you take me for? An imbecile?!" Not the word he would use, but... close enough.

"Alright, what do you wanna know?" The owl asked. That had Shadow thinking. Since this guy was such a massive fan, it was likely he knew stuff that the general public wasn't aware of. He knows the kind. Sometimes, Tails would almost slip into that category, but he always pulls back before he falls too deep into the rabbit hole. He had to think hard about what he wanted to know, especially since he was a little bit on a time limit. It was unlikely that they would spend the day in North, and Sonic and the others wanted to come join Rouge and him soon as well.

He settled on, "Tell me about her music career." "Ah, rookie. My lucky day it seems." The owl grinned. Shit.



The store was temporarily closed as the owl, or Apollo as he's apparently called, gave Shadow a crash course in Echology. One piece of information that did catch his attention near the start of Apollo's ramblings was that he was the one who requested Luvoratory back during her last concert, the one that Shadow also attended.

"Luvoratory? That's an oldie. How long have you been a fan?" Echo asked the audience member. "I was at your first street performance..." They replied.

At the time of said performance, the owl would have been barely a teenager.

The 'lesson' went on for a good hour, maybe longer. The most notable things that stuck out to him were;

1. Echo's street performances weren't always allowed, so she had to run from the security squad quite a lot of times.

2. Almost no one knows anything about her sister, people calling her a hermit.

3. Echo's first concert was sold out within a minute. That was back when she had freshly turned 18, booked a small stage, and the rest was history.

4. There were two stages in North, one in West, and one in South. The last one being permanently out of order due to the continued, now hopefully resolved, power outage. So the one they were at last time was not the biggest in Downtown. Scary thought.

And 5. Surge, the dog who was trying to get her to join his agency, frequently stalks her, even randomly showing up at the dance studio in East where she practices her dances. From what he knows, however, Surge does not know where she lives. Thank Gaia.

"Any questions, my dear student?" Apollo asked, that grin still on his face. If he could, Shadow would drop dead. One thing he noticed was that all the things the owl talked about were after Echo started performing on the streets. Maybe it's because he's too young, so he doesn't know anything before that point.

Shadow admits, "There is one thing that's been bugging me." "Well, out with it. I shall enlighten the uneducated." Good Chaos, he wanted to vomit. But, despite that, he kept his cool. "There was an article about Echo that I found a while back, but it was very vague. Do you know anything about that?"

...

...

"...Who are you." Apollo demanded, his voice grim. The sudden switch-up caught the hedgehog off guard, "What?" "Why do you wanna know about that? Are you with them?" He was getting more hostile by the second. "Them? Who are you talking about?"

"You know exactly who I mean!" The owl looked angry now. Furious even. This was bad.

Before things could escalate further, Shadow pulled out his Downtown ID, showing it to the other. "Shadow the Hedgehog, private investigator. I'm from the surface." Apollo was perplexed, "What the hell..." The hedgehog added, "I'm not with Robotnik. I'm with someone called Sonic the Hedgehog. We're on your side."

The music shop owner seemed to be having an internal conflict. He inevitably calmed down a little, saying, "Right... I remember you now. You were in that picture that Echo posted a while back." Shadow nodded, "I'm not here to cause trouble." "...Why do you want to know about that incident?"

...Why did he wanna know?

"I'm... concerned. The things that I saw and keep hearing about are grounds to believe something is being covered up. And I think Echo may have gotten caught up in it. I simply want to make sure she's okay, and her sister too." Please buy it please buy it please buy it-

"Fine... but let's make it quick." Phew... Apollo sighed heavily, looking towards the door to see if anyone was walking by. He signaled for his Wisps the guard the door just in case. "Alright, but you have to promise not to tell anyone." After a final confirmation, the owl explained, "That day, Echo's sister was kidnapped. She practically saw it happen before her own eyes. Echo went after the guy, and got him pretty quickly. She was so angry that she beat him up so bad that he almost died. The guy was one of Robotnik's supporters, which is one of the reasons why she despises him so much."

That... explains things a little bit.

"Why they were targeted specifically, no one knows. Not even me." The owl hung his head. "That was still pretty helpful. Don't beat yourself up." Shadow tried to cheer him up. Apollo asked, "...Are you going to investigate further down here?" "Most likely. Why?"

He gestured for the hedgehog to lean in closer, which the latter complied with, and whispered, "I recommend staying away from main streets for the time being. The security squad is becoming more aggressive, and no one knows why."

"Diamond perhaps?" Shadow offered. "Possible... They've been trying to unmask her for ages now. But some words of advice...

Stay away from her. She may not be on Robotnik's side, but she's not on our side either."



Due to the shop having been closed for the past 2 hours, during opening hours no less, Apollo was forced to resume normal operations as if nothing happened, and Shadow was fine with that. He partially got what he wanted. He bid the shop owner farewell and was just about to head out... until he was stopped by him.

"I have something for you." The owl fished something out behind the counter, presenting it to the other. "An MP3 player?" "It has all of Echo's songs on it, even the newest ones! It's on the house."

Shadow vehemently denied the gift, but the young man insisted, in the end convincing him to take it.

Then, Apollo's phone received a notification, making his face light up brighter than ever, "Echo posted a new song!" He scrambled for the TV remote, turning it on to stream the audio and video throughout the shop. "You wanna stay to listen with me?" He asked the hedgehog.

"...I don't see why not."

Chapter Text

Lose Your Head.

The song's beginning was... interesting.

The instrumental was similar to other songs she'd sang before, but still so distinct that it sounded like something wasn't quite right.

And Shadow was correct in that assumption. The song had various religions undertones, mentions of loss and the struggles of previous and current generations. The repeated words childish ending stuck out. It's as if someone was hoping for a good ending, but they slowly realized that such an ending was unattainable, begging for someone to help them.

It was a very intense song, if Shadow had to be honest. This was very unlike the Echo that he met. Even the video was odd. Glitches everywhere, Echo's crazed look at times, and the tears looked... a little too real for his liking.

Apollo, however, was in his own little world. He was gushing over the song, literal stars in his eyes. Figuring that the owl was too far gone to care about anything else, Shadow decided to leave.

Once outside, he had to take a breath. Echo's new song felt... too raw. Even during Kimera she sounded more collected, so hearing her like this was a shock. He hadn't heard from her since he ran into her, thinking that maybe she was too busy with career stuff, but now he couldn't help but feel like she was somehow in trouble. Checking his phone, he noticed that there was an unfamiliar notification.

New Blog Entry!

Blog? He never followed any of these kinds of profiles, so why was...

Oh.

Echo's blog.

But he never followed it...

...

...Rouge.

The entry wasn't anything spectacular, simply the music video with her hyping up her newest release. The comments, on the other hand, seemed to share his sentiment of thinking that something was going on with Echo. One of her fans asked if she was alright, and her response, her only response on the entire blog post was...

im tired.

This was highly unusual for the wolf. Normally, she would reply to at least 20 comments. And it's been 30 minutes since it was posted. People were now starting to flood the music store, meaning Apollo had his hands full. There was no use in staying, so he turned to leave.

...Until someone bumped into him.

The person yelped when they collided with him, the papers they were holding flying everywhere and causing both of them to fall. Great, this day was beginning to irritate him more and more by the minute. They apologized profusely, trying to gather their lost papers. When Shadow looked at them, he noticed... another owl?

"I'm so sorry! I was in such a hurry I didn't see you!" This owl was definitely female. "Watch it next time." He huffed, opting to help her gather her things. There was so much paper, the owl could only work in some sort of office job. And that assumption was only solidified when the hedgehog saw the employee card hanging around her neck. That logo looked oddly familiar.

When asked, she introduced herself, "I'm from the Lifeline charity. My name is Athena." Then, the light bulb went off. "From Echo's concert?" The owl nodded, "We're really grateful that she allowed us to participate that day. It was like a dream come true!" She beamed as she spoke, her feathers puffing up a bit, "Working with her is such a delight!" Those mannerisms were like a mirror to the other owl he met. He questioned, "Do you perhaps know someone named Apollo?"

"Ah-" Athena tensed, her following giggle coming out strained with embarrassment, "That... would be my brother..." "Hm, I can see the resemblance." The owl sighed, "That bad?" Shadow confirmed, making the other deflate. "He at least didn't creep you out, did he?"

Did he? Like the motor shop owner said, he was a little special. Sure, he was a little obsessed with Echo, a bit too confident in his ways, but he wouldn't classify the guy as creepy, per se. More... unfiltered, passionate, so to speak. Who was creepy on the other hand was Surge. That's what actual creepy behavior looks like. Apollo, from what Shadow could tell, was nothing like that.

The hedgehog shook his head, easing Athena's worries. As she relaxed, she almost dropped her papers again. She seemed to really be struggling. "Do you need help with that?" Asked Shadow, which had the owl scrambling for an excuse. He simply looked at her, and she eventually caved, giving him half of the stack. The charity worker led him in the direction of their office, which was quite a ways away from the music shop. All the places that he and Rouge stopped at were relatively well aligned in a straight line. The charity's office was the other way, leading away from the SeraFemme building.

Now that more people were either leaving or going to work, the streets were packed. They bumped into him like no tomorrow, but Athena seemed to be completely fine. Perks of living in Downtown District all your life, he concluded.

The office of Lifeline was very well hidden on the bottom floor of a 10 story building. There was a pretty sign written in cursive, but it blended in a little too much to be noticed right away. Athena opened the door, quickly setting down her stack of papers on the reception desk, Shadow's following shortly after. He caught a small glimpse of a Wisp pet bed behind the counter, occupied with a Pink Spikes and Crimson Eagle. They were deep asleep, the noise of their owner returning doing absolutely nothing to wake them.

"Thanks for the help, so sorry to trouble you...!" The owl said. Shadow gave a curt nod and looked around the space a bit more. There was a big poster hanging from the wall in the back, filled with drawings of children, photos of various locations he didn't recognize, and what he assumed were other members of the charity.

Athena took notice of where his attention went, her expression morphing into a melancholic smile, "That's what we're fighting to fix... It's been hard. A lot of things have been slowing us down. But the new pipeline was a big step in the right direction." "That was you?" Shadow questioned. "Yep. South is... not doing well, as you can see..." Said the owl.

The hedgehog took a few steps closer to the poster, analyzing the photos. He saw many destroyed buildings like houses, markets, and playgrounds. It looked as if a bomb was set off and blew half of the district to pieces. "Our next goal is to rebuild the hospital." Athena explained. He whipped his head around towards her, "You don't have a hospital?" "Not at the moment, no... South had the only one in all of Downtown." The charity worker clarified. "...When was it destroyed?"

That question made her a little uncomfortable, it seemed, but she still decided to answer, "About 12 years ago, I think?" "What do you do in an emergency, then? Without a hospital, you can't just simply-" She just shook her head. She took a deep breath and said, "We're all left to fend for ourselves. And most... either don't make it... or don't live full lives."

Taking in the information, Shadow couldn't help but think out loud, "...What happened down here...?"

"Robotnik did. It's all his fault. He's been after our most valuable possession that we have, the thing that keeps us alive down here..." The owl said. "And that thing is...?" "I can't say..."

Great. More running around. Shadow sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Could you at least tell me where the library is supposed to be?" Athena perked up at that, suddenly feeling more upbeat, "The library is on the other side of North. It closes pretty early, however." He raised an eyebrow, "How early are we talking?" The owl put a feathered hand on her chin, "Let me see... Today is a weekday, so they should close at around 3 pm."

Looking at the clock, it was already 2:18 pm. There was no way the others could make it in time, especially because Sonic had the paper slip from Sayaka that they needed to get in. This would have to wait until the next day.

The sound of a phone ringing caught both Mobians off guard, making the owl look towards the reception desk. "Ah, I gotta take this! Thanks so much again for the help!" She said as she rushed over to it. Shortly after, she left into another room with some of the papers that they had put on the counter.

Now, Shadow was alone in the reception lobby. Sonic did mention that the situation in South was bad, but he never expected that it would be this dire. He fully believed that when the destruction of that district was going on, that the inhabitants simply moved locations to the other parts of Downtown. Seems like he was wrong.



Athena returned to an empty lobby, her Wisps still dead asleep. It put a smile on her face, really. Those two rascals always cause so much chaos that it's a miracle they even have the ability to sleep. Just as she was about to take the rest of the papers, she noticed a smaller piece of paper right next to the pile. 'That wasn't there before...' She thought.

Picking it up, it was a check.

"...eh...?"

...

"EHHH??!!"

Chapter Text

Still shaken from Ya-Ya having come to the worker hall, Rouge quickly finished the mockup she was working on. Ya-Ya had left shortly after arriving due to an emergency at work. From what the bat could hear, a certain item was being delivered and only she could help to put it in the storage.

The 3 hours were almost up, only about 15 minutes left when Rouge received a message from Sonic.

Coming to visit in a few!

Crap. She hadn't asked if them visiting was even allowed, and Serafina was holed up in her office again so she can't even go in to ask. The rest of this day was going to be a disaster. And she had no idea where exactly Shadow went either. She texted him to ask where he decided to pass the time, but he never replied. It wasn't unusual for him, but good Gaia did she get more anxious by the minute.



The dress was finished right when the time ran out, prompting the cat to finally step out into the worker hall again. "I trust that everything went smoothly, darling?" She asked as she walked up to the bat. The other stuttered out, "Y-yeah, all went well." Serafina picked up on her tone, "Is something the matter? You seem troubled." Rouge shook her head, "N-no, I'm alright." She didn't look convinced, about to press further when the elevator suddenly opened.

Out came Sonic and the others, them apparently having fished up Shadow somehow. That's one problem solved...

The boss looked confused, casting her gaze at the bat once more. "I forgot to ask if it was okay for my friends to visit. My apologies..." Rouge lowered her head. The cat started laughing, mirth written all over her face, "Of course it's fine! I'm not heartless!" She then walked towards the group, giving everyone a warm greeting.

Then, Barbara walked in from the office and said, "Boss, we really need to start the shoot now." Serafina looked at the clock above the elevator, frowning, "But we can't start without her. She promised she'd be back in time." This had Rouge rushing over to her friends. "Shadow, you need to leave." Said the bat. Her bluntness quite frankly shocked the dark hedgehog, and the others too. "What? Why?" He looked almost hurt. He just got there after all. The other replied, "I can't explain right now, but you really need to go." "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on here." He stated as he crossed his arms.

'Stubborn as ever...' Rouge thought. Then, the elevator opened again. The person walking out announced, "I'm back. Sorry it took so long." Everyone looked at her, but Shadow straight up froze in place when he saw her.

Ya-Ya had returned. She was a yellow hedgehog with long quills and blue eyes. Her dress was blue as well, with some white ribbons as accessories. It was sort of lolita-magical girl themed. She was carrying a matching umbrella, a Blue Cube, an Orange Rocket and a Yellow Drill flying behind her.

All Shadow could hear was the ringing in his ears as he took in her appearance. The resemblance was uncanny, impossible even.

She looked just like Maria.

He couldn't breathe. Felt sick. The memories of that day came rushing back through his brain. Her voice, her smile, her laugh... her tears. The gunshot. His heart was pounding like crazy, he felt as if it was going to explode.

"Marya!~ You're back!" Serafina smiled as she walked towards the yellow hedgehog with widespread arms. Shadow's head snapped towards the cat as she said it. Even the others couldn't deny that this was no mere coincidence anymore.

"You love me, right?" The cat asked, her tone sickeningly sweet. Marya crossed her arms, "Alright, what did you do this time?" The voice was wrong.

"Nothing! The sponsors just decided to... do something different today is all." The model knew exactly what she meant, "Again? I told them a hundred times that I hate it!" She wouldn't shout like that.

"I know, I know! But I sadly can't do anything about it..." "Ugh, fine. But this is the last fucking time, ya hear?" She would never curse.

The anger on Marya's face was evident. She seemed to finally notice the other people who were standing around her, especially Shadow who was still not so subtly staring at her. With what he could only describe as disdain, she asked, "Do I know you?"

He wanted to throw up.

When he didn't move or reply, Marya rolled her eyes and walked towards the door that was under the staircase to Serafina's office, the cat in question following right behind her. "Shadow...?" That was Amy's voice. He saw all of his friends as they looked at him with great concern. "You okay, Shads?" Sonic. Only he calls him that, even if he constantly tells the other hedgehog to knock it off.

Shadow had to shake the memories out of his head, "I'm fine." Rouge shot him a glare, 'Liar.' Knuckles looked towards where the other two had left and asked, "Was it just me or did that girl look like-" "Yep. Absolutely." Tails interrupted. The blue hedgehog then asked the question that even he wanted an answer to, "But how? And the name too? Sure it sounds a little different, but she's like a carbon copy! Well... minus the hedgehog part."

"Perhaps Eggman had a hand in this?" Amy suggested. "Unlikely. If Serafina trusts her, then so does Echo." The dark hedgehog argued. Yeah, there was no way he did something. Echo would have told them back when she was giving out the IDs, especially Silver and Blaze, who would have told the team as well. Either way, that information would have made its way to them.

Serafina peeked out of the door and shouted, "Oh! By the way! Rouge, you and your friends are free to join us if you'd like!"



Marya was currently changing behind a curtain, the cameras for the photo shoot being set up. The yellow hedgehog was mumbling away about how this was stupid, that she wanted to change into her usual style of dress. Amy had asked Serafina why Marya was so ticked off, and she explained that for each style there was a different model, but due to the time constraints, all of them had to cancel.

All except for Marya.

She was a lolita model, which explained her choice of dress when she walked into the worker hall. She emerged from the curtain, now clad in what looked to be scene style clothing. The hedgehog looked almost unrecognizable thanks to the hairdresser and makeup artist.

Marya struck different poses for the camera, the lights flashing nonstop. Change of outfit, new makeup, new photos, rinse and repeat in rapid succession. For Shadow, it was almost disturbing to watch. Due to the resemblance, his mind drifted to the real Maria. She never got to live her life, and now, with someone who was practically her mirror, he couldn't help but think about what could have been.

What kind of person would she be today?

"How many more pictures do I have to fucking take?!"

...Definitely not that kind.

Marya was getting fed up and refused to pose more for the camera. Serafina's frown deepened, "I'm sorry the others couldn't be here. I can't really find any last minute..." Her gaze drifted to Rouge and Amy, who were standing right next to her, "...substitutes..." She could feel the light bulb go off. "Ideaaaa..." She whispered.

The cat turned towards the hedgehog and the bat, a grin adorning her features now, "You both, how about you join her in the shoot?" They both exclaimed in unison, "WHAT?!" "Come on, it'll be fun!" The other argued. The yellow hedgehog looked at what the sudden noise was about, mildly intrigued. "Do they have any experience? I don't want them ruining my rep."

The uncomfortable look they shot her had her growling, "So I'd be working with rookies? Perfect! Throw in some torn clothing as well why don't ya?!" "Marya!" Serafina reprimanded her model, making her huff and pout like a child.

For about half a minute, no one said anything, until...

"Ugh! FINE!"



Amy and Rouge were given a separate area to change into the clothes they were supposed to show off. The yellow hedgehog insisted on it, but didn't give a clear reason. Fine by them.

Standing next to her made both of them a little uncomfortable, as they saw that Shadow wasn't looking at them. Marya's existence must be a real punch in the gut for him. The first few photos were a little stiff. They noticed that the model wasn't following any instructions, as the photographer didn't give any. "You need to become what the clothes make you feel." Marya said suddenly. Confused, they looked at her to ask what she meant. She elaborated, "Exactly what I said. If the outfit makes you feel like a posh bitch, be the posh bitch. If it makes you feel like a child again, be that child." Serafina nodded, "It's true. We don't care about absolute perfection here. Think of it as... role-play, of sorts. For now, just try to have fun."

That... could work.

Following their advice, Amy and Rouge improved their posing for the next style of clothes they changed into. The longer it went on, the more they realized that they were right. It was kind of like role-play. Apparently, the photographer was loving it, as he took even more pictures than before. Marya's anger seemed to dissipate within minutes, and once the lolita clothes came into play, her whole demeanor changed.

This one she was doing group and solo pictures for. During her solo poses, she looked so... happy. Carefree even. Her Wisps posed with her, sitting in her arms, holding her umbrellas, making cute faces, you name it. This was more like the actual Maria that Shadow remembered. Her happiness explained why she chose to wear the dress she was wearing when she walked into the worker hall.



When the shoot was finally done, it was early evening. Serafina was inspecting the mockup that Rouge had made, the group standing around her. The cat looked at the mannequin with great scrutiny, taking note of every detail. She asked a couple of questions, which the bat quickly answered.

"Well done, darling. I must say, I'm impressed." She declared. Rouge released a breath, glad that Serafina liked it. "You passed the first phase. Congratulations." This had her wings fluttering from excitement. The cat then said, "Would you mind coming back in two days at around noon? I would like to proceed to the next step." She didn't hesitate to say yes.

Marya walked by, having changed back into her regular garments, and spotted them standing around the mannequin. She stopped dead in her tracks as she looked at the dress the bat had designed. The yellow hedgehog shoved past them, trying to get a closer look at the article. "Who made this?" Her voice was quiet, unlike her earlier attitude. Rouge raised her hand at the question, making the model turn towards Serafina, "...I want it."

The cat was almost shocked, but then her face was laced with mirth as her breath evolved into a chuckle, "Guess we're skipping the second phase and going straight to the third."

SeraFemme's modus operandi was that the models of a particular style first have to approve an article of clothing before it goes into production, so the fact that Marya, the lolita model, instantly liked what the bat had put together was a massive step in the right direction.



Rouge stretched as they all walked out of the building and towards the train station. "I'm positively busted..." She lamented, and then grinned at the echidna walking next to her, "How about you give me one of your massages when we get back, Knuckie? Hmm?" The other rolled his eyes, "In your dreams."

Tails looked confused, "You know how to do that? How come you never told us?" Knuckles groaned in annoyance as he explained, "Because it's not important!" "I knew." Sonic blurted out. They all looked at him as if he grew a second head. "What? I had him give me one a long time ago." Amy raised an eyebrow, "When?" "Remember how I told you about the Werehog thing? Yeah, turns out constantly transforming has its toll on your muscles." The hedgehog shrugged, "During a spar, he noticed how stiff I was and practically forced me to sit through a massage, but trust me when I say that he knows what he's doing." Knuckles simply scoffed and looked away.



Once at the train station, they saw that they were just in time for the next one towards East to arrive. The station was packed once again, most likely people going home from work. Just as they were about to step towards the platform, a commotion erupted behind them. The word that one of the locals shouted sent chills down their spines.

"CANINES!"

Chapter Text

The Canines barged into the train station, countless Wisps following behind them. The civilians ran around in a frenzy, trying to get to safety. While yes, the Downtown Canines were there to protect them, there was no arguing that they were also dangerous. Question was, where was the threat?

Sonic and his team helped in getting the people out of the station. It was complete chaos. Shadow was looking around for Diamond in hopes of confronting her, to get the Emerald that she took back. The ground shook from what seemed to be an explosion just outside of the building. The dark hedgehog ran towards the exit to make sure no one got hurt, Sonic calling after him to stop him. He didn't listen.

Once outside, he was greeted with minimal destruction, a few cracks in the concrete here and there, some shaken up civilians, but no sign of the perpetrator. Shadow quickly made sure that the people were okay, getting them off the main path. He had a bad feeling about this.

The air started to feel weird, almost buzzing. He recognized that aura. It was a Chaos Emerald. That must be why the Canines attacked. Judging by the feeling, it was moving, and fast. His air shoes carried him around the area, but for some reason he felt slower than usual. He decided to move up onto one of the buildings to get a higher vantage point.

Since the Emerald was moving, he looked for any fast moving people, vehicles, maybe even a Wisp that had picked it up. Then, he saw her.

Diamond. On a moving air train. Emerald in hand.

Where the hell did she find that? Before him no less?

The train sped past him, leaving him standing there in complete befuddlement. The fact that Diamond was able to get the upper hand again did not sit well with him.

'She won't get away this time!' He thought, dashing after the vehicle. Shadow jumped off the roof, landing on the rail that the air train was attached to. He slid across it to follow it, slowly getting closer to it. The line they were taking led through the central part of North District, high above the ground. Shadow's face was hit by the light of countless billboards, Echo's face everywhere he could see.

Clips of her concerts, advertisements for snacks and drinks, interviews, photos from photo shoots, some even with Marya. This...

This was her home. The hedgehog thought back to the first real conversation he had with her. At the After Party.

"I've always thought that Downtown was breathtaking."

Those were her words. She loved Downtown District, even if she says she hates it. Shadow was all too familiar with that kind of facade. She cares.

...And Diamond is destroying it.

Shadow jumped from the railing, landing on the roof of the train to face the Downtown Canines' leader. She stood there with the Emerald, her posture unreadable. It was different from before. The picture he saw of her in the rubble had the aura of a leader who'd just fought a great battle. The time where she took the other Emerald from him near the museum, she had a certain smugness to her. She was like an open book, but today that book was closed shut. Her ear flicked in his direction, meaning she noticed him. Diamond turned around to face the hedgehog. She wasn't attacking, which was strange. 'Maybe I can talk to her after all...'

"Listen, Diamond. We are not here to cause trouble. All we're doing is trying to help." He tried to take a few steps forward, but was stopped by her taking out what looked to be a baseball bat. It looked a little strange, but the shape was unmistakable. "I don't need help." She said in that distorted voice. Shadow frowned, "We hate Robotnik just as much as you do. We're on the same side!"

"No, you're not. I'm not on anyone's side but my own." The leader argued. Her head whipped around to the massive billboard next to her just as someone burst through the screen and landed between Shadow and Diamond. The former's eyes widened at who it was.

"Metal!"

Metal Sonic stood before them, his gaze switching between the other two people present. Looks like he didn't expect the dark hedgehog to be here. 'So Eggman is down here after all...' Shadow thought.

With incredible speed, the robot rushed at the Canine, which the latter expertly dodged. Metal looked as if he fell off the train, but he quickly recovered by staying in the air thanks to his boosters. The next time he tried to attack, Diamond hit him with the bat. Just before it made contact with him, Shadow heard the distinct call of the Ivory Lightning. The weapon was now infused with electricity.

While Diamond was distracted, Shadow silently crept closer to her to take the Emerald out of her hand. She must've noticed, because she spun around and hit him with her bat as well. The hedgehog was knocked off the train, but held on to the edge. Just barely. His muscles were buzzing from the electric shock, making it difficult to pull himself up.

Diamond stood above him, threatening to step on his fingers to make him fall, but Metal kicked her to the side, causing her to drop the Emerald. The Canine was in a fist fight with the machine now, her combat experience obvious. Shadow was finally able to get back on the roof of the train, his quills still standing on edge. Metal was about to shoot Diamond with a canon that was built into his palm, but the latter grabbed his arm and threw him into the next available billboard, completely breaking the screen.

She heard Shadow coming to attack from her side. Any move he tried on her, she dodged. He even used a Chaos Spear, which she somehow hit with the bat, which then made it hit Metal instead, who just wrestled himself out of the electronic wreckage. Diamond picked up the Emerald again, activating a different Wisp power to infuse into her weapon.

"QUAKE!"
Fuck.

She hit the train roof, causing it to come to a screeching halt and shake violently. While Shadow was busy keeping his balance, the Canine jumped off. Once the train stopped shaking and he made sure that the civilians in it were safe, the hedgehog jumped after her.

As they fell, Metal joined in again. He was starting to look quite broken considering he was hit by a damn Chaos Spear, but he was stubborn as ever. "LASER!" sounded from somewhere on Diamond's suit, the lights of it changing from red to cyan. The laser acted as a form of rope which attached itself to a different train railway. She swung around it, landing on it safely while the other two kept falling.

Metal Sonic was the first to activate his boosters to fly back up to her. Shadow had a bit more difficulty when trying to activate his air shoes. Were they starting to break? It has been a while since he's done some maintenance on them, now that he thought about it...

Once he was close to them once more, he saw the both of them fighting brutally. Diamond's bat lit up with different Wisp powers as she tried to keep the Emerald in her possession. It was cradled in her tail so she could use both hands if necessary. Spikes, Quake, even Bomb were used. A rare one that Shadow hadn't seen in ages was Jade Ghost. Metal was about to fire another energy beam at her, to which the Canine responded by using Ghost to let it go right through her, leaving her unscathed.

She threw the Emerald into the air, the object getting caught by something big and really fast. Shadow couldn't make out what it was, but he immediately gave chase. The thing turned out to be a massive kind of bird, but it looked... off. Yes, it looked like a bird from the shape, but it was a mass of feathers that were constantly shifting and moving, as if there wasn't a body underneath.

The bird tried to hit Shadow with its wing-like structure, which he easily dodged. The Chaos Emerald was nestled in its beak, meaning he couldn't just take it. He had to get this overgrown poultry on the ground. They navigated through the city's skyscrapers, the bird pulling crazier maneuvers by the minute. He couldn't stay close to it, as it would only swat at him with its wings. He couldn't go from below either due to the talons. So the only other option was from above.

His air shoes were starting to give out, so he had to be fast. The hedgehog made his way higher, readying another Chaos Spear. With all he had, he threw it at the bird, successfully hitting it on the back. It caused it to practically explode into feathers. He could see the Emerald falling, so he went after it. He didn't get far, because he was hit by a now out-of-commission Metal Sonic, which propelled him into the nearest building.

Diamond had thrown him at Shadow to stop him so she could get to the gem first. 'Not on my watch!' He thought, discarding the robot and jumping after her. As they both neared the object the were both after, the feathers from the bird started gathering around them. Just as one of them was about to reach it, they hit the ground hard, unsettling the dust.

As it settled, Shadow opened his eyes to see that the bird had reformed, but was curled up into a ball, Diamond nowhere to be seen. The feathers unfurled to reveal the leader holding the Emerald, meaning he had lost the race. He threw one last Chaos Spear in her direction to drop it, but she caught it with her hand right as it was about to hit her. Shadow was stunned, baffled that she was able to pull that off so effortlessly. No one had been able to do that before.

In the blink of an eye, Diamond did what he was going to. Threw the Spear at him.

But before it left her hand, the last thing he heard was "BOOST!" and his world went black.

Chapter Text

After Shadow left the station to help the civilians outside, Sonic was starting to get frustrated. He knew he could hold his own against most foes, solo even, but this was different. They were invading her territory. The name Diamond brings the inhabitants of Downtown District immense peace due to her ability to protect them, but also inflicts great fear. The title of Blood Diamond is something that is only granted to the most brutal of leaders.

There were Diamonds who were opposed to fighting and bloodshed, long ago. And then there were the ones who had bloodlust coursing through their veins day in and day out. Sonic had the unfortunate privilege of meeting the current Diamond back when that incident happened. There weren't a lot of things that the blue hedgehog was scared of. The most glaring one was water, the other one being Diamond herself.

And right now, he was trapped in a city surrounded by water, with her. He felt caged in with nowhere to run to. With Shadow constantly disappearing, and the attacks getting more violent, it felt like a nightmare come true. If he loses one of his friends in the crossfire, he would never forgive himself.

He must've been zoning out, because a loud sound from outside startled him. It sounded like something had turned up a speaker and played the loudest synth sound they could muster, cracking the windows of the train station.

Team Sonic rushed outside to see what was happening, thinking Shadow had something to do with it, but he was nowhere to be seen. A flying projectile caught Rouge by surprise. She barely dodged before it hit her. The ground shook as it hit the concrete. "What the hell was that...?!" She exclaimed. The dust around it settled, revealing a strange device.

Tails immediately approached it to analyze it, "Hmm... this looks like some sort of metal energy ball..." The fox picked it up to take a closer look. "I recognize the technique. These are used to store the powers of a Wisp, but this style is different from the other types I've seen. Only a handful of them made it to the surface. This one is completely new."

"TAILS, WATCH OUT!!" Amy shouted as another energy ball was about to hit the mechanic. She hit it with her hammer to block it, but it seemed to have been another Quake ball. The impact sent a shockwave through the hammer and up her arms, making her incredibly dizzy and lose her balance. Knuckles caught her before she could fall. The pink hedgehog looked dazed, petrified even. "That... was too close..." She stammered. "Agreed..." Sonic said.

"I just saw my life flash before my eyes..." Tails mumbled, frozen from the close call.

"Should we check it out?" Rouge asked. The speedster looked around one more time in hopes to find Shadow. He sighed and nodded, "Let's go."



There was quite a bit of collateral damage done to the nearby buildings as a result of different Wisp Orbs, as they learned they were called from Tails. Spikes, remnants of Cubes, drilled through concrete tiles, remaining electricity from Lightning. The barrage of Orbs had stopped, luckily. The signature voice of a familiar pest could be heard from not that far away.

They could see his silhouette as he hovered in the air. Eggman was heavily berating someone for breaking his assistants Orbot and Cubot. They were laying in a pile of junk, barely recognizable. "Do you have any idea how long it will take to repair them?!" He spewed his nonsense. "No, I don't. And neither do I care." That voice was new. It was distorted to hide their identity, just like Diamond, but this one was different.

Before they could stop him, Sonic called out to the human, "HEY EGGHEAD!!" Said man groaned in frustration, "As if my day couldn't get any worse..." He turned around and shouted, "You damn blue pest! First, someone breaks my bots, and then you show up! I really don't need this right now!"

"As if we would sit idly by and let you take the Emeralds. You're clearly outnumbered, and even the Canines refuse to let you go on a rampage here." Sonic crossed his arms. The man grinned and said, "Oh, I'm not outnumbered. Just you wait. And did you really think that it's the Chaos Emeralds I'm after? HAH! No, no, you speedy rat... There is something far more valuable down here that-"

"RHYTHM!" A Wisp Orb hit his flying contraption a moment later, knocking it off balance, making it malfunction and causing him to scurry off. The sound that penetrated their ears was the same one that they heard earlier in the station. Looking at where the Orb came from, they spotted a member of the Downtown Canines. This one was a rabbit by the looks of it, their uniform similar to Diamond's with a few changes made. It looked more like a leotard rather than the almost full body suit that the Canine leader had.

"That... That's Fluorite!" Amy said. The others looked at her, Rouge especially confused, "Who is Fluorite?" For Sonic, it clicked then, "She's a high ranking Canine. Rank 3 at the very least." The blue hedgehog was shaking as he looked at the vigilante, who summoned Magenta Rhythms and Gray Quakes all around them. Fluorite bore holes into him behind her mask, he could tell. "She was there when the incident happened..." Tails added.

"...and she remembers." Amy finished.

The rabbit started moving her feet like typical ballerina while the Rhythms guided her with music. After a few moments of warm-up, she jumped down from the building she was on and advanced towards the group. Sonic was about to shout for them all to leave, but Fluorite moved at such an incredible speed that he could barely react. She almost kicked him in the chest!

She danced to the music, using her legs and feet to attack. Meanwhile, the Quakes dropped during major beats to knock them off balance, Fluorite being unaffected due to her jumping while the Wisps hit the ground. It was so perfectly coordinated that they must've been practicing these moves for months.

Her agility allowed her to avoid any and all counter attacks they launched. Brute force didn't work, evident my Knuckles being the first to be knocked out. Amy didn't last long either because of the earlier Wisp Orb still leaving her quite rattled and unfocused. Rouge was no match for her in leg work. Tails was yanked out of the air by a ribbon that Fluorite had... summoned? It looked like one that people typically used in rhythmic gymnastics. That only left her against Sonic.

The hedgehog was quite frankly panicking. He was constantly dodging the rabbit's legs, knowing he would be done for if he stopped for even a moment. One of her kicks went straight for his head, which was a very close call, but it was his inevitable downfall. The vigilante spun around and used her other leg, successfully landing a hit to the side of his head.

He was down, but not out cold. Fluorite slowly walked up to him, maybe to finish the job. At least she wasn't out to kill. This time...

Sonic pleaded, "W-wait...! We can talk! We're on your side! We're trying to-" "-Help? Don't make me laugh. Your sorry excuse of a hero, working with us? With her? Oh please." Ouch... "It's best you leave now while you still can. Next time, we won't be so merciful." She said. "...We?" He questioned.

He didn't notice, but Diamond walked up behind him, punching him in the back of the head, effectively knocking him out. "Took you long enough." Fluorite spat. The other shrugged, "I was... preoccupied." She motioned to the dark hedgehog that she had dragged along, who was also out cold. "Hm. Did you get it?" The rabbit asked. "Of course. Who do you take me for?"

"An insolent child that doesn't know when to quit." Fluorite answered honestly. "As if you're any better..." Diamond mumbled. "You'll never learn... You're lucky the title of Diamond can only be passed down through blood relatives. Otherwise I would have taken over a long time ago." The other bumped against her shoulder as she left.

Now, Diamond was alone with the unconscious hero team. She didn't move for a long while, seemingly in deep thought. She cast her gaze over to Shadow, whose fur was still alight with remaining Chaos Energy. She looked at him for quite a while before sighing.

"...What a pain."

Chapter Text

Shadow slowly opened his eyes, closing them again after being assaulted by light. His head was pounding like crazy as if he had been hit by a train. With a groan, he sat up and tried one more time to look at where he was. The others were right next to him, also starting to come to.

It appeared like they somehow made it back to Sayaka's house in East District. The rat in question entered the room with her granddaughter, their conversation cut short. "Goodness, is everyone alright?" The elder asked. "Well, we're all in one piece, so that's something..." Knuckles tried to joke, but his chuckle was cut off with a hiss due to what seemed to be a head injury. "Idiot. You still need rest. All of you do." Velvet scolded them, "You were in pretty rough shape when you got here."

"How did we make it back here anyway? We were in North before we ran into the Canines." Sonic wondered. The younger rat looked at the echidna's injury as she explained, "Well, said Canines were the ones to bring you back here. We were pretty shocked to see Diamond herself drop you guys off at the front door." Tails asked, "Diamond was here? But we didn't see her back in North."

"I did." Shadow said plainly, "And Knuckles was right. Robotnik did give Metal a few upgrades." "You saw him?!" Amy looked worried. "Not just that, Diamond absolutely destroyed that thing. Took an Emerald, too." Rouge sighed, "And the man himself is down here too. Just great..." "Maybe the fight with Fluorite was just a fluke. We can still-" Amy was cut off.

"No." The dark hedgehog said sternly. "The Canines are not on our side. They made that abundantly clear. And that damned brat had the audacity to use my own Chaos Energy against me." He was starting to get riled up, still angry from having lost the fight and yet another Emerald to Diamond.

Everyone in the room frowned, realizing that the odds are against them. Tails looked to be deep in thought, which Sonic took notice of. "What's up, buddy? Something bothering you?" He asked. The fox nodded, "It's about what Eggman said. He mentioned something 'far more valuable' that was down here. What was he talking about?" At the mention of it, Velvet accidentally pressed on Knuckles' injury a little too hard, causing him to cry out in pain. The rat quickly apologized.

The others noticed, Shadow looking at her with a suspicious glare, "You know something." "Even if I did, I couldn't tell you." The other replied. Sayaka agreed, "It's true. Our lips are sealed." This whole spiel again...

Velvet finished tending to the echidna's head, promptly leaving the room. The older rat walked out as well, "Excuse me for a moment."

Now, they all sat in silence, contemplating what they should do. "So, what now?" Rouge asked. "Did you find out anything new?" Sonic looked at the pink hedgehog next to him. Amy nodded, "I did, actually. The girls gave me a hint on where the next Emerald could be." "Really? Where?" The blue hedgehog questioned. The other replied, "A place on Dan Tam Road, apparently. I have no idea where that is, though..." Tails jumped in, "Looks like it's somewhere in West District." He was looking at a holographic map that originated from the gifted holo-watch.

"And there was something else... Remember Velvet's powers? And Sayaka's and Keisha's? Apparently, the people down here call it Rhythm Resonance." Amy shared. Shadow perked up at that, giving Rouge a look that said 'I told you so'. "Oh stop it, Shadow. You know that it's ridiculous." The bat scoffed. Sonic tilted his head in curiosity, "What is?"

With an eye roll, Rouge explained, "Our dear Mr. Edgelord over here is convinced that Echo uses some sort of power to turn her music hypnotic, which the Rhythm Resonance thing only seems to have cemented that theory further for him." "You cannot deny that it's a sound conclusion." He crossed his arms, his frown deepening.

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Sonic stood up abruptly, glaring at his not-twin, "How can you say that? Echo has been nothing but kind to us and you're insinuating that she's evil? If you weren't part of the team, I would punch you right now." Shadow stood up as well, arguing, "Once you actually use your brain to think for a second, you'll realize that I'm right." Before Sonic could shout at him again, Tails' ears dropped to the side of his head, "If she did use some sort of... hypnosis power, then... her entire career is fake..."

"Uh, may I?" Amy raised her hand as if she were in class, making everyone look at her, "This might be hard to believe, but Echo doesn't have a Resonance."

Silence.

"...What?" Shadow looked confused. "Are you sure?" Rouge asked. The pink hedgehog nodded, "Keisha said so herself. Apparently, Echo's sister has one, which makes it odd that she herself doesn't." The speedster grinned, "See? Told you she was genuine." The other just scoffed and sat back down, "There's still something about this that I don't like." "Which is?"

Shadow groaned in frustration, "It's just... whenever I hear the second part of her finale song, I feel... sad. Overwhelmingly so. I don't usually feel that."

...

Amy said, "Shadow... that's called empathy." "No, I doubt that. You know how he is, Ames. Cold as a rock in winter." Sonic shrugged. "I doubt it's empathy as well. When I saw her run from that giant security bot, I had to help her. The way she smiled at me, it felt like I had this weird... tingling in my chest."

More silence.

The pink hedgehog put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile and squealing. Even Rouge was taken aback from his further confession. "Oh my Chaos. I never thought I would see the day." Sonic said with genuine shock in his voice. "What the hell are you on about this time?" His counterpart questioned angrily. "You're in love!" Amy exclaimed happily.

"What?!" The dark hedgehog looked positively mortified at that. Tails squealed together with Amy, while Rouge had a shit eating grin on her face. "Oh goodness, my heart can't take it..." Sonic held his chest, "Who am I gonna race now when you're with her all the time?" "I'm not in love with her!" Shadow shouted. The smugness just radiated from the blue hedgehog, "Riiiiight, and you don't secretly wish she was here right now."

He chuckled and chanted, "Shadow and Echo sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-" but didn't get to finish as he took a fist square in the face.

He fell back, the others gasping in shock. Shadow had stood up and punched him, luckily not with full force. "What the hell man?!" Sonic questioned. Shadow was panting a little, his quills bristling in anger, "You've really done it now, Faker!" Then, he lunged at him. The others had to be careful that they didn't break anything while also trying to calm them down. Shadow was not only angry, he was furious this time.

Out of the blue, the fighting hedgehogs got whacked over the head, making them stop. Sayaka stood there, walking stick in hand as she looked down at the perpetrators, "What in Gaia's name is going on here?"

"He started it!" They said in unison.

"I do not care who started it! Either you stop this childish behavior or I'm throwing both of you out!" She shouted.

"Yes, ma'am..."

"Good. Now behave. We have guests." She said, motioning to the entrance to the living room they were currently in. Around the corner came Blaze, Silver and... Echo?

"Where have you guys been?!" Tails asked, clearly upset the time travelers didn't say anything of their whereabouts. "And what are you wearing?" Amy raised an eyebrow. Blaze was wearing something similar to what she saw Vermillion wear during the sleepover, with the exception of the pants. Silver had different gloves and shoes, similar to Do-Yun.

Echo smiled and said, "These are their Downtown looks, courtesy of yours truly." The wolf herself wore something more casual compared to her stage outfit. It was a tricolor bandeau with a fishnet top, shorts and matching fingerless gloves and stockings. "How come you're here too?" Rouge asked. "I heard from Velvet that you guys ran into the Canines again. Is everyone okay?" Echo inquired, concern written on her face.

"Mostly. We tried talking to them, to convince them that we're only here to help, but they won't listen..." Tails lamented. The idol frowned, "I see... What exactly is it that you're trying to do here anyway? I know I should've asked before." Sonic explained, "We're looking for the Chaos Emeralds. Eggman is after them as well. The Canines have 2 of them now. If we don't get them back, we're in trouble."

"I think I heard about those before. What do they do?" Echo asked. The hedgehog went on to relay the countless times he's defeated the mad doctor with the help of the Emeralds, how he can turn into his super form, and how they disappear after being used. Echo meanwhile had this look of complete wonder on her face that a child would have when they get shown something cool.

"So, what can I do to help?" She asked. Sonic's eyes lit up, "Are you serious?" "Of course! I want to do anything I can for you guys." The wolf said with a smile. "We need to visit the other districts. Is that possible?" Shadow rubbed his head where he was hit with Sayaka's cane. For a frail old lady she sure packed a punch.

Echo's face fell, along with Blaze's and Silver's, the wolf explaining, "West District will be tricky. That place is practically ruled by Eggman supporters. Can't take a single step without being watched. You have to have connections to get anywhere over there." Great. More hurdles. By now, Shadow wished he hadn't come along. Would've saved him one hell of a headache.

"However, I can get you into South." She said, "I was actually about to invite you all there. Since the road is open again, y'know?" Blaze butted in, "You'd still have to stay close. The place is still feeling the aftermath of the long outage." "And you need to watch out for Zia. She doesn't like outsiders..." Silver informed them while showing an awkward smile.

Amy raised her hand again like she did earlier, "Is there somewhere we could stay in South District? Having to come back here at the end of the day and leave early the next is a little..." Echo put a hand on her chin in thought, "I see what you mean... hmm..." She then snapped her fingers, "Maybe I can convince Zia to let you into the hide out! It will take a lot of bribes, but it's worth a shot."

Throughout the entire exchange, Knuckles hadn't said a single word, and Rouge noticed. "What's wrong? You've been awfully quiet." She raised an eyebrow at him. The echidna replied, "What Amy said about the Rhythm Resonance thing, it rings a bell." The bat perked up at that, "You mean the thing you said you forgot?" The other nodded, "But I still can't put a finger on it." "Maybe it's high time we went to that library, then." She offered,

"But it looks like we're taking a small detour first."