“Prepare yourself, Sonic, I’m going to show you and your friends just why any attempts to stop me are pointless.”

Even as I said it, the cringe factor almost made me want to grab my Chaos Emerald back from Amy and teleport away. In my defense, it had been an unexpectedly emotional time for me. I hadn’t been able to keep my cool anywhere near where I’d thought I would. Seriously, even just from this short encounter, it was like meeting a hedgehog version of Maria.

I admit I nearly lost it for a moment there….She and Amy were just so similar in all the ways that mattered. Still, I think I’d managed to get it back together in time…or maybe I hadn’t, considering what I had just uttered or that it wouldn’t seem at all out of place if some ‘boss’ music started playing in the background right now, like in one of Maria’s video games.

Still, as little effect as it was probably going to have, I thought I should at least try. Maybe if I just showed Sonic and his friends how outclassed they were, how he, all of them, could never compare to me and my strength….Ugh, I am starting to sound like a video game ‘villain’.….Well, if I just showed them that they couldn’t win against me, no matter how hard they tried…maybe it would at least delay them a little bit, and I might have the time to do what I needed to….I just couldn’t let them stop me from doing this…not even Amy.

Fortunately, when Sonic understood what was about to happen, he waved Amy off, who reluctantly moved away from the clearing. I think somehow she got how important it was to both of us that she wouldn’t be involved in what was going to happen next. I just don’t know what I would do, what it would do to me, to fight someone seriously who reminded me so much of Maria. I was truly grateful to the both of them that it looked like that wasn’t going to be necessary.

“Do we really have to do this, Shade?”

…Sonic looked so tired as he said this….And I did feel bad. I didn’t particularly want to be doing this either…but it was necessary.

“I’m sorry, Sonic, but I don’t see another way. Not unless you are willing to let me finish…doing what needs to be done.”

He didn’t answer…but he didn’t need to. I knew where he and his friends stood. Resigned, I began to fall back on my training. As much as I hated the ones who’d given it to me, I knew it would still serve me ‘well’. Quickly, I assessed the three ‘combatants’ in front of me. Sonic reluctantly took a fighting stance. Knuckles, I saw, had already assumed a position reminiscent of something from one of the more ‘ancient’ styles of fighting I had studied (though I could tell it was an effective position, leaving few openings). Meanwhile, some drones had appeared from somewhere and took up positions around Tails. I guess that made sense, considering everything.

Unfortunately, the ‘weakest’ link here was clear to me, and, drawing on my internal reserve of Chaos energy, I immediately launched into a spin dash that I knew even Sonic would probably have trouble keeping up with. Shouts of dismay rang out from Sonic and Amy, and even what was probably a grunt of worry from Knuckles, as I surged in the direction of the boy fox. Shortly thereafter, three drones burst into scrap metal (but that was it).

I’ll give Tails credit. He barely flinched and instead just kind of glared at me when I landed in front of him afterwards.

“Please just join your other friend at the side of the clearing. I don’t hit kids.”

And, with that, I turned my back on him, which, while it could just give him the opportunity for some kind of sneak attack, he didn’t seem the type. And whatever he may have eventually decided, Sonic soon asked the same.

“Tails, just join Amy for now. Knucks and I will take it from here, okay, buddy?”

I heard what was honestly a kind of cute little growl before I sensed Tails moving towards Amy and my Chaos Emerald. That was a relief.

Focusing my attention on the two remaining ‘threats’, I saw Knuckles just calmly regarding me and Sonic…actually looking at me with what seemed like gratitude, which apparently soon proved not just to be my imagination.

“Thanks for going easy on him.”

I tried not to scoff.

“It’s like I said, I don’t hit kids. I’m not that kind of girl.” As I prepared to say my next words, I could tell I had begun smiling, and probably it looked pretty fierce. “However, I’m not planning to go easy on you or your red friend there.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to.” Why did it look like he was smiling now too? Well, whatever, we’d had enough pre-battle ‘banter’, it was time to get serious.

Beginning to curl into the familiar position of a spin dash, I implemented the advice that had been ‘drilled’ into me over many training sessions: “Never use the same trick twice.”

Pulling on my internal reserves more deeply (I was really going to need a rest after this, but first I had a point to make), I surprised everyone by showing them that I could teleport even without a Chaos Emerald, though it took a lot more focus and energy (not that they needed to know that) and also wouldn’t work over long distances, at least not without a bunch of risk. Appearing behind Knuckles, I burned a bit more energy to give him an empowered kick, which sent him hurtling across the clearing and through a few trees, as far as I could tell. He’d be fine. I was pretty sure that out of everyone here he was the most ‘durable’.

Though, normally, I’d never be actively burning this much of my internal reserves, instead just mostly relying on the ‘passive’ strengthening my supply of Chaos energy afforded me (or drawing from an external source of Chaos energy, if I had one like my Emerald available and needed the boost), but, like I said, I had a point to make, and they didn’t exactly need to know how long it might take me to recover afterwards.

I turned my attention to my last remaining ‘foe’, though I was still keeping some attention out for when Knuckles eventually returned. Despite how much I’d put into it, I didn’t think even that kick was quite enough to put him out of the fight.

“Still want to do this, Sonic? Ready to quit?”

I figured I had a moment, and if what I’d already done somehow convinced him to give up, all the better. Unfortunately, though he was now looking more somber, it didn’t seem like he had any intention of giving up, which his subsequent response proved.

“Sorry, Shade, I don’t think I can do that.”

We both paused a moment before seeming to simultaneously decide to meet in what could probably be considered a Mobian hedgehog’s most iconic means of attack. As my spin dash collided with his, I felt the first real hit I’d experienced in a while. Both of us skidded backwards a fair distance and, barely pausing, launched into another spin dash, though meeting in the air this time. Twenty, thirty times, we probably met on land and in air, moving at speeds that humans and even most Mobians would be unable to follow. Though, I hadn’t actually been drawing significantly on my remaining reserves, instead wanting to see just what it was like to fight Sonic at something closer to my ‘natural’ strength. So far I was impressed.

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Eventually, we both landed at opposite sides of the clearing, maybe a little winded, but I could tell we both had quite a bit more fight in us. We looked at each other for a moment, with an odd, even strangely exhilarated, energy before….

“Sorry.”

Really pulling on my internal reserves again, I teleported once more (given the circumstances, I didn’t really count it as duplicating my prior attack) and launched a kick with some extra ‘oomph’ to it this time. As I watched a certain red echidna sail back through the air, this time going through even more trees, I hoped he’d stay down. Turning back to a surprised, amused(?), I actually had trouble telling, Sonic, I apologized again.

“Like I said, sorry. I didn’t want him to interrupt. We were busy.”

Sonic looked along the clear path of devastation, again with something that almost seemed like amusement. Err…I suppose he was familiar with just how ‘durable’ Knuckles was, so he wasn’t concerned? Anyways, we were busy.

We sized each other up for a moment before I decided to try something new, something that it didn’t seem like Sonic would have any real experience with….I was wrong.

Running forward at hedgehog speeds, I began to employ my close combat techniques, thinking this really wouldn’t be something someone like Sonic knew how to deal with, and, like I said, I was wrong. He actually began to respond as if he’d had real training….It was impressive. And, because it seemed like something we could manage, even now, I said so.

“Didn’t think a hedgehog like yourself would know any of this stuff.”

Proving that I was right about our ability to manage a little banter even while engaged in this type of combat, he gave me a knowing grin.

“Thought I was a one-trick hog, right? Well, while a spin dash might be enough for most of the machines Eggman throws at us, sometimes life isn’t that simple. Made sure a friend gave me the training to handle when it wasn’t and try to practice at least a little everyday.”

I tried to put him in a hold, which he knew how to slip out of.

“Well, it shows.” Judging by how his grin grew a bit wider, I probably wasn’t helping contain his ego any, but the truth was that I was impressed. He actually was proving competent. I mean I thought if I really began to put in the effort or drew on my reserves, it wouldn’t be much of a contest, but he wasn’t bad. For anyone who hadn’t gone through the, frankly, hellish training I had, this was good, even very good.

Eventually, I think we both felt it was enough and pulled back again, studying each other once more. I could tell he was now beginning to look tired and I knew I was beginning to slow down as well, though oddly enough he seemed to be grinning quite a bit…and I suddenly realized that I was too.

Actually, this realization drew me back a bit….What...what exactly was I doing? I’d started this to make a point and yet I realized other than breaking some of Tails’ ‘toys’ and punting Sonic’s echidna friend a fair distance, I hadn’t actually been putting much effort into doing that. If anything, what Sonic and I had been engaging in for, I don’t know, the last fifteen(?), twenty(?) minutes, well, it seemed more like playing than a serious fight, like we were just having some fun….I…I didn’t really know what to think about this anymore.

…It...it…was probably time to end this…and maybe if while I had been making my point, I happened to have had a little bit of ‘fun’ first, well, that wasn’t a bad thing, was it? As long as I made completely sure there wasn’t going to be a question about our relative strength in the end?

Decided, I relaxed my stance a little and saw that it confused him a bit. I was sure he knew that while we both were tired, neither of us were close to where we had to call it quits. And, his subsequent question, at least the tone of his voice, confirmed his obvious doubts.

“You ready to call it quits then, Shade? I mean I have to admit this has been one of the more difficult, uh, 'battles' I've had, if not entirely the demonstration you were planning to make.”

I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

“Sorry, Sonic, I kind of…forgot…for a moment and I apologize for doing that to you.”

I doubted he would entirely understand what I meant by that, and the evident confusion on his face seemed to prove that. To be fair, I’m not sure I entirely understood what I meant at this point.

“I’ll correct my mistake now….” With that, I pulled on my reserves to run up right in front of him, at a speed that would seem to almost anyone to be a form of my teleportation ability. When I stopped just a short distance from him and didn’t immediately make any other move, I could see his confusion only increased.

“I’m sorry it has to be this way, Sonic. Please just stay out of it in the future.”

I could see the pain my words caused him.

“Shade, really, can’t we just….”

I didn’t let him finish….Honestly, I couldn’t let him finish….After everything I’d recently experienced, I was starting to consider that maybe we could just….Cutting that thought off as harshly as I could, I steeled myself again to do…to do what needed to be done.

“I’m really sorry, Sonic. It’s just not going to be possible….CHAOS….BURST!!!!”

Concentrating nearly all the remaining Chaos energy I had inside myself and tapping into my ability to magnify it even further, at a cost, I released it all in a seemingly cataclysmic explosion of power. However, I knew my range and was sure that Amy and Tails were far enough away that they wouldn’t be harmed.

As the destructive energy blast I’d generated dissipated, I was relieved to see that, indeed, other than looking understandably horrified, neither of them appeared to be harmed in any way. Taking a look around at the circle of devastation that surrounded me, the nearby area burned and charred, even melted, almost beyond recognition, I decided my point had been made and that it was time to leave.

Making my way over to the pink hedgehog and her friend (who she was clearly tightly holding back from acting against me, and doing so with surprising strength), I put out my hand.

“Emerald.”

The fact that now even Amy was looking at me like I was some kind of monster nearly broke me, but again I steeled myself.

“He’ll recover. Now, my Emerald….Please don’t make me take it from you, Amy.”

Again, she looked at me with horror, like she couldn’t believe that someone would be capable of doing what I had just done, or at least looked like I had done. Honestly, given what I had left behind me, I wasn’t finding it in myself to blame her. But now, I just really, really wanted my Emerald back and to go, well, not ‘home’ but the closest thing I had for the moment.

Just when I was beginning to worry I might have to take it from her…though I wasn’t sure if I could actually do that to her…not to her…she tossed it back to me (while still keeping a tight hold on Tails).

“Thank you….It’s…it’s not actually as bad as it looks. He should be fine in a few hours….I…was careful.”

Hope re-entered her eyes at the same time as a great deal of confusion, and even Tails stopped struggling for a moment.

“See you all later…or actually, if at all possible, try to convince Sonic, Knuckles, and any other of your friends not to see me later. It will be so much easier for all of us.”

Giving them both a last look, I decided it really was time to go ‘home’.

“CHAOS CONTROL!!!”

And, once again, I was gone.