“Is this where the G.U.N. base is supposed to be, buddy?”

“Yeah, Sonic, we should be coming up on it in a minute.”

“Hmm, I expect we will likely be encountering the ‘Dark One’ soon then.”

“Knucks, I just said she was a little…” Well, okay, a lot, if I’m really being honest here. “...edgy. I think calling her the ‘Dark One’ is a bit much and probably offensive if she hears you call her that.”

Currently, I was running towards a G.U.N. base that was presumably under attack, with one of my friends flying along and the other running, almost at my speed (at least when I wasn’t really pushing it, but, hey, I didn’t want to leave them behind - a hedgehog’s life is tough and filled with compromises after all).

Not really having any other means of getting to the bottom of this, well, other than asking around about an extremely edgy hedgehog or waiting for Rouge to reappear with information (which, let’s be honest, she’ll only do that when it suits her), I’d asked Tails to monitor G.U.N. communications (one of the benefits of having a computer whiz as a friend, the little egghead - no relation to the Dr. implied, thank you very much), being pretty sure that the girl was unlikely to stop at just the one incident, even apart from her having already basically promised it.

Unfortunately, it seemed I’d been right, if the distress calls Tails had been picking up were any indication. Though, like with Knucks’ rather impolite designation, I think G.U.N.’s call names for their attacker as ‘Reaper’ and ‘Omega’ were a bit much…or at least I hoped so.

In a few more moments, I came to a sudden halt, with Knuckles stopping at about the same time and Tails quickly hovering to my side. That was…a lot…of destruction.

“Uhm…Do you think she is behind this, Sonic?”

I was about to answer my understandably concerned friend when there was an explosion from one of the sides of the considerably damaged G.U.N. base (I hoped they had really good insurance) and suddenly someone came pelting out at speeds only a hedgehog could manage.

In not very long, a familiar figure had halted in front of me and my friends, apparently surprised and somehow also looking not very surprised to see me. Meanwhile, two very familiar looking drones flew up beside her, and I began to get a very bad feeling, not to mention a sense of deja vu.

“Sonic.”

I really couldn’t read her expression but at least it seemed she was willing to talk.

“Eh, yeah, that’s me. But, uhm, I don’t think you actually introduced yourself before. Well, other than to say that you were clearly not me.”

She grimaced a bit.

“Yeah, seemed kind of important to stress that at the time. I mean….”

I shared a look of understanding with her. Yeah, definitely some humans could really be idiots when it comes to us Mobians. That part at least I could understand.

“Shade.”

I took a moment to process that before understanding what she meant. But, oh man, not really helping me here with refuting Knucks' little nickname, or, you know, shaking the whole emo hog, ‘Reaper’, ‘Omega’ rep she had going on and everything.

Knuckles turned to me and with a seriousness only he could manage:

“It was as I said, Sonic.”

Yep, and there it is. Seriously, ‘Shade’, not helping, but at least you’re being kind of friendly(?).

“Well, uh, it’s nice to formally meet you, Shade. But, uhm...”

I took a look back at the considerably less intact G.U.N. base.

“So, what’s, uh, with all that?”

I mean. I really hoped I didn’t have to specify what ‘that’ meant. It seemed kind of obvious.

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She turned and looked back at the heavily damaged base.

“They deserved it.”

Oh, yeah…definitely not helping. And seriously, if looks could kill, everyone in that base would be dead….I really hoped they weren’t.

“Hah, yeah…” I mean how do you respond to that? Still, I had to try to get some answers.

“So, uhm, it’s obvious you’re not exactly a fan of G.U.N., but what exactly did they do to ‘deserve’ this.”

Oh, wow, if I thought her earlier expression was intense, I was somehow surprised that every G.U.N. agent on the planet didn’t spontaneously combust (and were her eyes actually glowing now?!).

“More. Than. Enough.”

She growled out her response with the most intense expression of loathing I’ve ever seen. And, while not really an answer, I sensed that was the most I was likely to get right now. And, actually, it was kind of an answer. Real or imagined, G.U.N. clearly had done something extreme to her or someone she cared about. Nothing less could provoke a reaction like this.

Then, having apparently gained a bit more control of her emotions, she gave me and my companions another look before suddenly jetting behind us.

“I don’t want to have to fight you, Sonic, so stay out of this.”

And with that, she was racing away from us at a speed I honestly would have to put in some work to keep up with…Nice…uhm…I mean…Cool…Err… ‘...not….good….’ I finished thinking kind of lamely.……Well, I’m glad no one is aware of my inner thoughts right now, that might have been a bit embarrassing.

“Really, Sonic, I know your small rat mind is too primitive to understand things like this, but you’re clearly on the wrong side of things. Leave my ‘friend’ Shade to deal with this…or you’ll regret it…More than you can possibly imagine.”

And with that, my sense of deja vu was confirmed as the two very familiar looking drones suddenly blasted off following the path Shade had taken.

“Dr. Eggman!!”

I stared for a moment in the direction Shade and the two drones had left before turning back to my buddy, who had recently been the one to shout the name of our far too frequently encountered enemy, whose voice had unmistakably been the one to come out of the drones moments before, not that the words alone wouldn’t have been enough to identify him, no matter what he sounded like.

“Yeah, buddy, seems like it.”

“I see another fool has once again succumbed to the Doctor’s persuasions. He truly possesses a silver tongue.”

Very blunt, Knucks, and maybe a bit harsh considering your history, since that would mean, unless my echidna friend was acting in a way that was more oblivious it seemed than even he could manage, that he was one of those ‘fools’ as well. But, then, for all his other…limitations…Knucks never really shied away from admitting fault, at least once it got through his rather impressively dense head that he’d messed up somehow.

Honestly, I was almost impressed, well, at least if I weren’t so disgusted. How exactly it seemed the Eggman seemed so often able to find powerful but also gullible or at least desperate allies that he would ‘help’, while secretly ensuring that only his plans were actually advanced, I couldn’t really fathom it. But then, for all his other faults (and I mean, wow, were there a lot of faults), it reminded me that he was a genius, an evil genius, sure, but still a genius. Nothing else could really explain how he always seemed to be able to turn situations to his advantage, as short-lived as that advantage, fortunately, usually turned out to be.

Sighing, I decided we’d accomplished about as much as we could expect for the evening.

“Come on, Tails. It’s probably best if we get back home before G.U.N. reinforcements arrive. They will probably decide we had something to do with this.”

Really, if the other day had been any indication, that would almost certainly be the case. Normally, I’d have liked to stay to help out, but, under these circumstances, that would likely only get me or my friends thrown into a G.U.N. detention center, or shot. I wanted to avoid either outcome.

“Yeah, Sonic, I’m picking up incoming G.U.N. ships, arriving in approximately five minutes….We probably should just go.”

I could tell it didn’t sit well with Tails either to just leave the site (he’s a good kid) but he also clearly recognized the necessity if we wanted to avoid entanglement with G.U.N. forces.

“You can crash at our place too, if you want, Knucks.”

My red friend regarded me solemnly for a moment before replying:

“Regrettably, I must decline your offer of ‘crashing’. I have been too long from my post and must ensure nothing is amiss. Though, please contact me the next time you pursue the ‘Dark One’. I have sensed a great threat lies ahead of us and I suspect it is likely connected with this one.”

With that, he gave me a nod of respect and apology, before running off, presumably, in the direction of Angel Island and the Master Emerald. One of the perks of being the Island and Emerald's guardian, apparently, was that he always had an unerring sense for their location. Still, for all that I didn’t really understand the connection he had with that rather large manifestation of Chaos energy and the island it mysteriously kept afloat (or how much either the Emerald or the island’s isolation might have to do with some of his quirks), I knew any ‘impressions’ he received were usually accurate.