I just wanted to apologize for the very late update. I had so much going on with life. Ugh. But everything seems to be good now.

I wanted to give a special thanks to my superb friend; Anonymoux the Hedgehog, for helping me out with explaining the concepts of Chaos energy, I will make sure to implement his theory of Chaos energy in later chapters. It really helped me to form up more ideas for improving the story.

Hope you enjoy. ^^

Back in Mobotropolis 2.0

Castle Acorn, Rotor's Laboratory.

4:00AM

"Gah!"

Thud!

A figure suddenly caught himself sprawled out onto the floor.

Sonic could only sigh at his misfortune. It was bound to happen; clearly been told to not leave the bed at any costs, as his legs was still unbound from walking.

But he refused to sit there and do nothing.

Especially the reoccurring nightmares he had to deal with, yet again. So, going back to sleep was certainly out of the question.

'…At least no one's looking.'

"Sonic…?"

He mentally cursed for his bad luck.

"Oh… Hey, Nicole." Sonic nervously replied to the lynx who spontaneously appeared before him – as he remained flat against the floorboards.

The lynx starred at him with concern, taking a step forward. "You've been trying to leave the bed, haven't you?"

"Oh, no… I… Just wanted to give the floor a hug." Was his terrible excuse, whilst grinning sheepishly. Trying to angle his neck to stare up at the A.I. But was proven futile , as he ended up wincing from his pounded headache.

Nicole only stared, giving him a rather plain look. Her eyes revealed the unsatisfactory of his answer.

"You're not buying it, huh?"

"No."

The hedgehog gave an apprehensive gulp from the intensity of Nicole's tone. He watched as she crouched towards him, grabbing his peach-skinned hands before helping him up to his feet. Which caused the blue blur to look away, feeling embarrassed of how useless he felt at this moment.

Not to mention his sneakers and gloves were still sitting beside the bed and on the side table - unused. He was practically full-bodied naked.

Although, Nicole didn't seem to mind.

'Probably because she was worrying for my stupidity.' The hedgehog thought, grimacing at his idiocy from ever considering to leave the bed unnoticed. But he always forgets that Nicole was part of the city now.

"Didn't you hear what the doctor said? You… " Nicole's voice died down as her widened eyes lingered to his body. Registering his form of appearance. "Y-you're-"

Sonic could only blurt out a response. "I'm nude, I know." He panicked, letting go of her. He tried to look prideful, but his body language remained hesitant, feeling embarrassed, as he quickly sat on the bed and quickly covering himself with the blanket.

"N-no… It's not that. You're weight... It's drastic." Nicole corrected him; suddenly taking note of his full natural figure.

The speedster grew an urge to face-palm. "Oh… That. It's nothing." He responded, dull in his tone. Just about remembering his condition - unintentionally digging a hole for himself for being so blunt.

However, Nicole's eyes fell upon the azure hedgehog's distraught, his emerald irises grew almost lifeless. Essentially making the A.I shake out of her daze and immediately forgetting about Sonic's underweight. She grew frantic, worried for the blue hero himself.

"I'll see if Dr. Quack is available." She was about to reroute herself, if it weren't for a hand to suddenly grasp her wrist, almost startling the lynx from her intentions. Turning her head to glance at him.

"No! Don't... I'm perfectly fine." Sonic looked up at her with his pleading eyes, something that Nicole wasn't used to seeing upon the blue blur's features, his look eventually calmed her down, shoulders slouched in response to his desperation. "I just wanted to go for a run." He sighed, retracting his arm away from her.

"I'm afraid that I can't allow it, Sonic." Nicole frowned. "You're not capable of leaving the room so soon. Please try to get some rest."

"You know, that would be easy if I didn't have any problems with it." Sonic gave an irritable sigh, dismissing the suggestion entirely, but decided to give into the bed - swinging his feet back onto the mattress.

The holo-lynx realized what he was hinting, feeling her ears fold backwards. "You've been having the same dreams, again?"

The azure hedgehog continuously stared up at the ceiling, slowly lifting his arms over his head to get comfortable. "Pretty much." He replied, nonchalantly.

"So it's still… lingering within you?" She was afraid to ask, recalling the latest encounter they had with Sonic's counterpart, back within the digital realm. It took her Overclocked self and Sonic to barely manage to fend off the attacker.

She remembered Sonic absorbing the dark pulsed energy after their battle with the anonymous figure. Which caused Sonic's physical form to become – as Tails would class as – Dark Sonic. She could never detect substantial side effects, which made Sonic hostile during their battle against Eggman. She registered only pure bright warmth of energy, a wavelength that she was too familiar with; Sonic's chaos energy; maybe with hints of something else, but it wasn't overwhelming.

And even so, she still felt pessimistic to assume it was the end.

She watched as Sonic took his time to respond, the frozen demeanor exposed his contemplated thoughts. "When I saw the other me puff into… Some sort of cloud, I got a gist that it was end of all that." He readjusted himself on the bed, lifting his upper torso to sit up against the pillow, staring at the A.I with a half-hearted smirk. "Bet that's why I absorbed it. somehow."

"How did it feel, when its negative energy transferred into you?" Nicole asked, curiously.

Sonic took a moment to think about the question, running his fingers through the quills as he stressed to recall the vivid sensation. "You mean other than feeling normal? I guess I was calm for the most part. But I felt… Almost whole again, as if a piece suddenly connected."

Nicole perked her ears in response, finding the hedgehog's answer to be somewhat satisfactory. It given her newfound hope to see that Sonic was still able to comply with his negative energy. If given enough time to master it.

However, she was soon brought out of her thoughts, as Sonic spoke up.

"Oh, yeah! You're the new guardian for the city now, huh?"

Sonic changed topics faster than he was on his feet, which took the A.I by surprise. The inquisitive look he gave made her feel somewhat sheepish from not telling him sooner. She could only nod in response; The lynx didn't assume the speedster would be intrigued to know the details of how she managed to reconstruct Mobotropolis.

"Neat, so how did you do it?"

Again, Nicole found herself caught by surprise from Sonic's eagerness. An unknowing smile curled upon her lips as she rubbed her arm, almost anxiously. "Through A.D.A.M's nanites, I was able to dwell further into its programming and rewrite it, and re-implant it's functionality. It was my benevolent purpose to provide a back-up source for the city."

The lynx finally took note of Sonic's dumbfounded look, biting his bottom lip to bare his struggle to understand. "I apologize…" Nicole lowered her head, ears folding the same motion. "…The procedure really isn't as complicated as I described it to be."

An unexpected chuckle came from the bed, perking the A.I.'s head up to see Sonic's heartfelt smile. "Don't worry about it - I think I get it. Sounds like it took you some time."

"Yes, parsing its source code was… frustrating." Nicole averted her eyes away from the speedster, recalling the years she had been revising A.D.A.M's microscopic robots. The circumstances now only proven further that It was necessary to take upon years of her studies; she wasn't going to allow the post-geniuses timeline to remove her role of becoming the city's guardian, once more. Especially since she can start to renew her reputation among the people.

Another question popped into her processing thoughts, something that was stirring within her ever since the azure hedgehog had admitted it, during their time with Isolated Island, it was an opportunity to ask the blue blur.

"Sonic?"

"Hm?" The hedgehog perked his ear.

"What peaked your interest for technology?"

Sonic flashed her a grin as he glanced over to her direction. "I just like the way you influence it." He admitted, still giving her a playful smirk. "It's way passed cool."

"You like it because of… me?" She sounded bashful, staring open-mouthed, while her emerald eyes revealed disbelief.

"Sure thing. I mean, it's not every day you come across a Mobian, slash computer."

There was something off with his sentence that made her lose her proud smile. Causing her to swirl into doubt of her being. She came to an understanding that living organisms grow chemical reactions to develop and express natural behavior.

And through her friends' help and support, she managed to succeed to that limit.

But occasionally, she would revert to other assumptions. Sure, she was now capable of expressing same traits as a normal Mobian, but people still act as if she's an inanimate object, that has rely on reflex responses to express false emotions.

As if it was just an automatic response due to her stimulus, rather providing genuine feelings.

Sonic noticed her smile parting, her ears frantically lowered as her posture died down. "I wanted to fit into society, so that I could be as equal as everyone else. It is why I projected a form to look Mobian." Her tone grew quiet, suddenly taking interest at her feet. "But most of the residents still identify me as… Different."

Sonic lost his enthusiasm, reverting to a blank stare. His gaze fixated with her emerald irises as they became dull. Sonic could vaguely assume she was still not fully convinced of experiencing her living form.

"Maybe they are right…" She murmured softly, Nicole felt as if she walking into her pit of disparity for doubting so much.

It was enough to make the azure hedgehog snap; he didn't approve of Nicole's self-punishment.

"Nicole." He firmly called, grabbing onto her wrist and gently yanking it for her to motion to sit on the edge of the bed. The A.I. looked at him, slightly timid at the request. But Sonic's firm grip gave her the hint that he wasn't going to accept no for an answer. She reluctantly bent her knees, before sitting rather semi-comfortably on the edge. Since her solid form provided no substantial strains for physical activity, she hardly requires to sit down like regular Mobians do.

However, she found herself forgetting what she was logically processing, now eye leveled with Sonic, as she received an appointed look from the blue blur. "Don't take it the wrong way from what I said. You can't 'try' to be equal, because you are Mobian."

Nicole still held a small frown, refusing to believe Sonic's comment. "But I-"

"Can you feel this?" Sonic suddenly reached out for her paw, taking it into his own hands. Making Nicole abruptly freeze her sentence, while feeling his warmth transferring to her. She Felt at ease with the sensation provided.

"Y-yes." She abruptly confirmed, her mouth slowly parted with surprise at the contact.

"Can you feel the warmth emitting?"

"I do." She answered again, a small smile suddenly taking place upon her lips. Unable to look away from their hands.

"And how do you feel about it?"

"I feel…" She blinked, shifting her eyes to look at the azure hedgehog. Giving him a heart-warming smile, her eyes revealed her genuine uplifting emotions, stirring. "…Happy."

At that answer, Sonic grew his stupidly large grin. "So what's there to worry about?"

If Nicole was born with internal organs, her heart would've skipped a beat from the hedgehog's compassion. The Freedom Fighters seemed to be the only ones who understood her diminishing hope.

But even Sonic acknowledged her as a Mobian - completely dismissing the computer side of her. He was willing to embrace Nicole to who she was through his own perspective. Sonic was always a kind free-spirited hedgehog who overlooked at people's characteristics; a good heart is all it takes for him to like them.

And even though there were still residents out there who don't comply with the same view as his, Nicole dismissed it; If Sonic still believed in her; it was more than enough to make her feel alive. If not for the society, then it was with her friends.

She was broken away from her thoughts as she adjusted her ears to audible sound of snoring. Lifting her gaze, her emerald eyes rested upon the sleeping azure hedgehog on the bed, his head fell upon the pillow as she watched his peaceful and soothing rhythms of breathing - his chest motioned his intake of air. She was so into her thoughts, she never realized how long she was dazed for.

She revealed a gentle glow of her smile, softly gazing down to her paw, realizing that he was still holding onto her. An inner warmth grew ablaze the longer she starred at it. And an only thought that she could come up with to realize the scenario:

He never had the thought to let her hand go.

It was hypothetical to assume so, But It did give a somewhat view of Sonic growing comfortably around her.

She couldn't help but squeeze his hand, carefully. Feeling the passion intensify as her emotions begun to widely stir. Suddenly taking effect on her physical form, committing a dysfunctional crackling noise as it couldn't stabilize her wavelength of emotions.

It committed the same response to the room's lights as they begun to flicker, uncontrollably. Walls begun to deteriorate as the nanites failed to cooperate with Nicole's control. The lynx was abruptly startled, taking notice of the surroundings. But once she took her eyes away from Sonic, everything begun to reassemble itself, and the lights stopped its flickering effect.

Nicole gave a deep sigh, reverting her eyes back to the azure hedgehog on the bed – thankful that the he was still fast asleep.

A small frown plastered her muzzle; she still had to remind herself; Nicole practically had the city in her hands. She was the guardian of Mobotropolis, as well as it's hostess. If anything was to happen, she would be the one holding responsible for the lives of others.

That also included being under control of her strong unfamiliar feelings she possessed. Ever since the time in Isolated Islands, her feelings began to directly bloom for the blue blur. Her machinery side was unable to withstand the newfound feelings for him.

'Because you ARE Mobian.'

A quote that engraved deep into her memory banks, as if it's enlisted in her programming. Like a reminder of her chemically produced emotions. She was still half machine – but upon the quote; the lynx just couldn't find any reason to care anymore.

She noticed Sonic was behaving rather calmly. His hand still wrapped loosely around hers, as if all his troubles merely swept away from friend's touch, soothing his dreams from turning into nightmares.

It was something she was grown fondly used to; to be there for him when he needed it, even if that meant for him to sleep for the night. It's not the first time she had to deal with this; recalling the time where she kept him company during their flight back to Mobotropolis.

With her free arm, she took a graceful hold upon his hand, keeping his paw secured upon both her grasp as she softly leaned her gaze on the hedgehog's neutral expression.

Outside of Mobotropolis 2.0's walls.

During Nicole's hiccup upon the city's mainframe – where the nanites originally designate in order to control them through better standards – the protective sheet that covered the city's structure was almost diminishing, the energy dome was fluctuating, destabilizing its form from taking shape.

But only for a fracture of a second did it last before the shields remained to its rightful condition.

But It didn't go unnoticed.

A figure could have been seen upon a cliff of the lush green environment – just outside Mobotropolis. Suddenly emerging itself from the foliage as it stared upon the city dome. The powerful reflection of the moon glossed over the bounds of its metallic frame. while diminished, digitized eyes witnessed the synchronized shields that enveloped the city.

"Tzzt Arrived within mission parameters. Awaiting further orders." It suddenly beeped. Talking through its implanted communication device.

"Excellent, Metal Sonic! I'm pleased to see your loyalty still remains, thanks to that chip!" Eggman mentioned, through the static of Metal Sonic's internal speakers.

"I am only to serve; Tzzt my only existence lies within the loyalty of my creator." It complied.

"Yes, yes! Enough rambling. I want you to recall the orders I had given you." Eggman commanded, testing his machinery.

A low murmur sounded within Metal Sonic's hard drive, registering the listed orders. "Tzzt Infiltrate into enemy's base of operation and retrieve data on specie - identified as: Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Very good, Metal Sonic." The professor replied with utmost eagerness. "That is your secondary objective. I have managed to keep your old firmware from your… Previous installment. While you may have lost your full potential, I left you a little something from Metal Sonic Neo; You can register and comply data through your observation of an individual. However, Sonic will be different…" He said, cautiously. Notifying Metal Sonic's silence as an opening to continue. "To an extent, you may be unable to copy Sonic's new performance for your own uses. But I expect you to list his movement speed, analyse his points of strength, anything that will help me design a formidable opponent against him! I. Must. Know. His weakness!" Eggman essentially shouted through his speakers, but the copy provided no motion to react.

"Understood." The A.I confirmed. "What are tzzt your primary orders?"

There was a pause upon the question, Metal Sonic kept patient as his steel frame remained firm on the spot. "I want you to bring Sonic's demise. Make him angry. I don't care how you do it. It will be your only opportunity to analyse him. Oh, and plus… That hedgehog could give his rodent friends something to play with." The doctor's tone fell into mischief, practically feeling a malicious smile forming through the intercom.

"Acknowledged." The copy replied with its stern, automated voice. He didn't budge, however. Analyzing the city's defensive systems.

"Opportunity to engage within mission area provides zero point zero, zero percent chance of access. Source upon blockage… Tzzt calculating energy particles surrounding the designated point."

"What!" Eggman shouted in outrage. "How can they reconstruct Mobotropolis' shield at such short length of time!? I could have sworn striking the heart of the city would have taken out most of their system's defenses. Unless…" Another pause, Metal Sonic could only record the conversation he registered into his memory, whilst waiting for an alternative from Eggman. "Metal Sonic, analyse the source for its electrical power storage."

"Tzzt Proceeding." It replied, automatically. Motioning forward, walking to the edge off the cliff, before jumping below. The copy quickly activated the thrusters under his soles, gracefully hovering down to the lower level of the terrain, before deactivating the jets, causing a soft sounded thud upon the dirt, as he submerged into trees. He then crouched down on one knee, before placing a robotic hand upon the floor; activating its metal voltage detection system and emitting a pulse through his palm. Spreading through its radius up to the city's perimeters.

Gaining handful of feedback, Metal Sonic stood up, firmly posing. "Tzzt Readings have detected microscopic robots conducting electricity through a generating system within the city."

"So, she has been busy…" Eggman scowled. "And it seems that she configured A.D.A.M's nanites to use at her own disposal."

"Affirmative" Metal Sonic responded. "Readings have motioned a disruption of electricity flow between four-thirty am and four-thirty-five am."

"Now that is interesting! Looks like Nicole isn't capable of maintaining the city's mainframe like she once did. Maybe this journey hasn't been a complete waste of time, after-all."

"Ready for further instructions."

"Someone's eager to start chaos." Eggman hummed, setting off a bitter chuckle. "Very well, then. You will remain stationary until Nicole's defence system begins to act up again. It seems we don't have any other choice but to keep things low-profile. Make sure you don't get any closer in case she senses you. From what I gathered in the original timeline, she still provides security, especially outside the city's diameter."

"Understood, preparing for stand-by mode."

"Oh, before you do, Metal. I want to stress that you will not attempt to fight Sonic, you are only there to aggravate him, and then retrieve his data, do I make myself clear?"

"…"

"Metal Sonic!"

"…Understood."

"Good…" Eggman grew unsatisfied with his creation's lack of response, but swept away his paranoia. "I will trust you to find a way out of the city once you completed your mission. Eggman out."

The connection went dead, Metal Sonic dismissed his communicator. Before manoeuvring through the forest. He identified the environment through night vision; trying to relocate a safe spot to set up his stand-by.

He managed to locate a large, ancient tree within vicinity, that grew to the size of a ten-story building - providing the most satisfying location for a temporary lookout post. With his suppressed thrusters, he swiftly propelled himself upwards, setting off the steam of his suspensions from each leap of a branch. Until finally - he reached upon the perfect view of the city.

Metal Sonic once again prepared for his stand-by mode, leaning down whilst having his back glued against the tree trunk in attempt to blend in further into the environment without having to stick out like a sore thumb. The digital crimson irises begun to fade, while his metallic frame quietly purred; conserving his energy until further notice.

4 days later…

It was the four most dreadfully dull days since Sonic came back from his comatose. The azure hedgehog couldn't believe there's people on Mobius that could stay in one spot for so long, for it was, in his case; the most boring days he had to deal with, in his life. At least he still had some action when he was in a coma, but the fact he wasn't even allowed to move from his bed at any circumstance made him realize how frantically helpless he was. Especially since Nicole would sometimes 'scold' at him for even motioning his legs off the blanket. He was honestly scared with how intimidating the lynx could behave in regards to his condition. As far as he was aware, Sally never had given Nicole any orders to keep an eye on him.

Although, not everything was all doom and gloom for the blue blur. Every morning he would wake up to a sweet-scented aroma invading his nostrils, Sally and sometimes Nicole would surprise him by serving a try full of chilidogs, a kind of hospitality he was never used to; wondering how on Mobius Sally had the time to visit him almost every day; she was the Princess of the Acorn Kingdom, after all.

It was reasonable on Nicole's end. She could manipulate and control any part of the city since her programming on the newly updated Nanites bid her every order, so – essentially – she could reroute herself to anywhere she mostly desired to be. But even Sonic was immensely dumbfounded for how much she was willing to spend time with him.

He never doubted Nicole's responsibility. In fact, he was one of the few who couldn't care less with mistakes she did; no one was essentially perfect in the world. Especially if it was an intellectual processing unit – Sonic had every right to believe she was still a living life-form, there was no reason to doubt it.

He could evidently witness the expressions she performed throughout their conversations. Every night she would show up in her physical form of appearance, and sit by Sonic. Being his only friend that understood his circumstances, she didn't seem to mind keeping him company overnight until he fell asleep. Almost as if she… Enjoyed it.

Not that Sonic ever complained, he was eternally grateful to have someone to talk with and forget about his lack of rest.

Ever since his first night of being conscious, he couldn't process any nightmares after falling asleep whilst speaking with the A.I. Sonic could only assume that Nicole was the reason why he always felt so relaxed after waking up the next morning.

Unfortunately, there was no way of knowing that; he obviously lost his sense of awareness during his slumber. But Sonic could never recall Nicole leaving his side for each night, so far.

Speaking of his friends, he was overjoyed to see most of the Freedom Fighters visiting after Nicole had notified them of Sonic's return from his coma. The speedster was even glad to see Antoine's face again, despite their occasional disagreements - it was what made their friendship so distinctive from others.

Him and Bunnie managed to fill in the details of what was happening throughout the last few weeks during his comatose. Not that he really needed it, but it was a good subject to start the conversation, especially from another Mobian's view on it. So far as the azure hedgehog was aware, he didn't miss anything that he wasn't aware of already.

Amy was next to come visit in the later hours. The blue blur was still surprised of how reasonably calm she was throughout the conversation, despite giving in her urge to hug and hold Sonic for extensive amount of time before she had to leave for her duties around the city.

Sonic even had a surprised - but welcoming – visit of Cream. To which she gifted him with blue vivid flowers – one of Cream's usual hobby that Sonic was aware of. She even made an effort to design him a flower bracelet. Something that the speedster couldn't possibly deny the meaningful present from the small rabbit.

He never took it off since.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized his time spent in the Rotor's laboratory wasn't as boring as he made it to be. He was willing to admit that his friends were the main highlights of his last four days.

And although, he was a care-free hedgehog, he still grew an unpleasant gut feeling; imminent danger. was bound to reveal itself at some point.

Especially now that he's awake, Rotor had warned him of his reasonable theory of Sonic's manifested wavelength.

The speedster still had to deal with his sinister form, which might be linked with his eruption of negative emotions; He needed to find some sort of solution to control his anger whenever he comes across the scenario like he did previously.

But he decided to concern his worries some other time, as it was his day to finally leave the Castle. Being Doctor Quack's idea to give Sonic permission to free his despair from the bed. Sonic's intake of chillidogs provided him a reasonable physical appearance; gaining almost the same amount of kilograms as he used to, although his fast metabolism provided him an average amount.

But It was essential for the blue blur to start functioning his legs sooner. Due Sonic's energy levels increasing from his recovery, the physician thought he was more than capable to begin his practice, early.

"Sonic, you there?"

The azure hedgehog snapped out of his thoughts. He blinked a few times, readjusting his gaze before turning his attention to the chipmunk beside him, who was holding onto his arm.

"Huh?"

Sally could only sigh at Sonic's attention span. "You've been zoning-out, again."

"Oh, right… Sorry. I've been thinking a lot." Sonic told her, looking away, disinterested. He was primarily focused at his surroundings. Realizing that they were just about to exit the castle gates.

'That's right... Sally must have volunteered to help me around the city; my legs aren't as strong as they used to be.' He remembered. Glancing at their intertwined arms. Although, he couldn't help but feel as if Sally was a bit too close for comfort. Her side was literally against him.

The leader of the Fighters frowned at the reply. Her turquoise-colored irises revealed the concern. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She watched him shake his head slowly, which didn't please the Princess. But didn't wish to push the topic any further. "Alright… Let's try to get you walking a bit further." She changed the subject.

The azure hedgehog's breathing grew relentless. Reluctantly taking a step forward, but couldn't help grimace at the lack of strength he felt in his limbs. It practically felt like having wet noodles for legs.

Sally acknowledged his hesitance, supporting him with the arm she was holding onto. "I can still fetch you a pair of walking sticks Doctor Quack had offered."

"Don't you dare leave me out here, alone." Sonic panicked, earning an enlightened smile from the Princess. Sonic continued, looking down to his feet. "Besides, I'm not losing my pride against walking sticks." He took another step forward, feeling his determination grow from the mention of using crutches. He absolutely despised having to wield them; he was meant to be known as the fastest hedgehog on the planet, not the slowest. Although, he wouldn't be running anytime soon, unless he wants to intentionally pressure his legs to snap.

Then he won't ever run again.

He could only gulp, feeling his fur sweat at the thought.

Sally felt a smirk curl upon her muzzle, amused with the blue blur's response. "Ah, I see. Still trying to protect your image by having the Princess at your side." She teased.

"It's… It's not like that." He grew bashful, looking away from Sally. He was unable to part ways from her, as he had to rely on her grip to keep him balanced.

"Sure, it isn't." She gave him her playful smirk. "Now, where would you like to go?"

Sonic's fidget died down in response to the question, his face went blank as he stared out to the city before him with a longing gaze; there was a place he was curious to see for a while – he could still remember Bunnie telling him about it. "I want to see the Sky Patrol's wreckage site."

The chipmunk was perplexed at the odd request. But nodded, nevertheless. "Alright, but just be warned… It's not a pretty site."

"I think I'll manage." He gave Sally an uplifting smile. Which the chipmunk couldn't help but return with a smile of her own, while giving a slight nod.

"Oh, and can we find a seat? My legs are already killing me."

His response was a soft chuckle from the Princess. "As long as you don't keep complaining on our way there, I'll comply."

"Duly noted" He grinned.

They continued walking along the path and eventually made their way into the busy streets of Mobotropolis. Sonic couldn't help but notice that everything was how it used to be, before being hit into a coma. He didn't expect much else from Nicole; the lynx did a decent job calibrating the program of her nanites. It was still New Mobotropolis, but gone under a different name, with additional improvements.

The azure hedgehog noticed the odd stares and audible gasps they were receiving as they walked along the sidewalk, while passing pedestrians. It only made Sonic grow confused to observe the lack of enthusiasm from the public.

"Y'know, Sal…" He mentioned her nickname, causing the Princess to shift her gaze at the blue blur. "…I find it kinda funny how everyone's giving us weird looks after they see me up and about."

However, he caught a glimpse of the Princess' frown, making him raise his eye ridge, suspiciously. "Sonic, we never announced the public of your absence."

Sally didn't need to look at the azure hedgehog to come across the shocking expression he presented; she could practically feel it.

"So, they still don't know…?" Sonic questioned.

"For the past month, we kept our lips sealed so that the citizens don't feel too jumpy of not having you around to protect them. You usually spend your time out of the city's perimeter. So, naturally, no one had the reason to be suspicious." Sally explained, as they turned a corner, ignoring the stares they were receiving.

"I guess that kinda makes sense. So they still don't know about me turning into… You know…"

"That's right." She quickly confirmed, seeing where he was getting at. She didn't necessarily want him to speak out the word while in earshot range of other Mobians. "I don't even want to imagine the impact it would've caused if they find out."

"It was that bad, huh…" Sonic deflated his tone, looking down with a frown, as his ears folded back. He honestly couldn't believe the danger he must've put everyone in.

The princess glanced at her cobalt friend, she clearly understood the things Sonic had to put up with. Figuratively speaking; she used to be on the same boat as him. A memory that burnt an unpleasant hole within her mind, something that she semi-regrets to recall, when she was under manipulation of Eggman when robotocized.

"it isn't your fault, Sonic. And you know that." She tried to persuade him, squeezing his hand for reassured comfort.

"Still..." Sonic murmured, wishing to change the still couldn't help but note the stares they were receiving. "But I'll repeat; why is everyone giving us odd looks?"

Sally suddenly perked her ears, forming a small grin as she looked at Sonic. "Who knows…" She leaned into his ear and whispered. "Maybe it's because we're holding hands~"

A tingly sensation traced along the blue blur's spine upon hearing Sally's softly spoken words directed into his ear. Instinctively feeling his blood boiling through his muzzle as it formed into a blush.

As far as the people of Mobotropolis are aware of Sonic and Sally's relationship status; they were never seen anything closer than just friends – in this timeline, anyway. So, it was only normal to get this kind of attention from residents.

The speedster shifted his gaze back to Sally. But was surprised to see her completely unfazed from the attention they were receiving. "You don't look like you mind being in the spotlight."

"Well, why would I be?" She replied, almost innocently. She leaned her head against his shoulder, causing the poor hedgehog to grow shyly from her close intimacy. "The only worst thing they could do is spread rumors of The Hero of Mobius going out with the Princess of the Acorn Kingdom. Oh, I'm terrified." She joked. Beaming a smile as she walked confidently down the street, clinging her arms to an awkwardly shy hedgehog.

'Please-don't-make-rumors. Please-don't-make-rumors. Please-don't-make-rumors.' Was all Sonic could muster in his head as he tried to resist Sally's flirt.

Mobotropolis 2.0

Evergreen Forest – Sky Patrol's Wreckage Site.

The duo eventually reached their designated area. Sonic could already feel his stomach curl as he caught the view of investigation tapes, wrapped around trees that linked to another; covering a large section of the forest.

He witnessed a few other Mobians surrounding the wreckage site, the barrier tapes preventing access to get any closer for added precautions. Sonic wasn't surprised to see the lacking amount of people he saw; it was still an early morning for anyone to leave their house. Not to mention being a weekday, no one has time to stare at a month-old wreckage site as they had work to attend to.

It was a blessing in disguise, with Sonic's case; he wouldn't have to feel as awkward from getting anonymous stares at the back of his quills.

However, at a closer proximity, he could feel his heart beating faster, his quills puffing out from his skin, as he breathing grew unrelenting. He witnessed the unrecognizable large of metallic scraps that was formally identified as Sky Patrol at the distance. His eyes reflected upon the catastrophic damage, recalling the time when he witnessed the ear-splitting collision upon New Mobotropolis.

He couldn't imagine how he would cope if he lost Nicole and Rotor during that crash.

Sally was unable to move any further ahead, realizing the speedster standing stiff from his tracks. She analysed his expression carefully, watching his eyes tracing over the destruction of the ship.

"Are you alright, Sonic…?" She anxiously replied, feeling worried again.

"Sal, I want to sit down, right here." The blue blur requested, overlooking the worrisome tone Sally shown. She obliged, withdrawing from his side as she allowed him to sit onto the lime-green grass below. She joined him, pulling in and wrapping her arms around her legs as she sat closely besides him.

The speedster could feel her glancing towards him, but he was too pondered to let that bother him. His eyes couldn't stop lingering at the vessel that once classed as their main base of operations.

"Sonic?" Sally called out. He continued to gaze in silence, but his ear notably flickered at the Princess; which she knew he was listening. "Why did you choose to come here?"

"Beats me…" Sonic admitted, he placed his hands on the grass, relaxing his posture. "When I was in Egg-head's fleet, I was 'lucky' enough to get the first-row seat and saw Sky Patrol plummeting to Mobius." He mentioned through his inhibited dark humor. There was a small pause, before he spoke again - Looking at his feet. "I guess I just needed to see the after-math… All that time, I thought Rotor and Nicole were still in there."

"And you thought I didn't feel the same?" The azure hedgehog was startled from her raised tone, swiftly turning around to see a teary-eyed chipmunk.

"Sal…" Sonic frowned, watching her tears staining the coffee-colored fur.

"It was hard enough to think I lost Nicole and Rotor in that crash. But I couldn't bear to think of losing you, too!" She replied with a fiery passion, directing her hard glare at the cobalt hedgehog. "Forget the sake of Acorn Kingdom, my feelings are just as important…" She shifted her herself, placing her hands on the grass, her built up emotions caused her to rip the roots under the grip. "I know it's selfish for me to say it, but I just can't cope with the stress right now."

The blue blur didn't expect that sort of reaction from the Princess. It was up until this point where she fully opened-up to Sonic. It dawned to him that Sally must have been clogging up her feelings for some time, as she attempted to relieve through her words.

"When I saw you alive, I knew there something different about you. The way you looked, the way you acted, and the way you fought - I knew that It wasn't the same hedgehog I fallen in love with."

The way Sally expressed her words made the azure hedgehog frozen stiff, his eyes grew wider as his lips parted in awe. 'F-fallen in love?' He couldn't comprehend the word. Feeling disbelieved to assume such a thing came out of her mouth.

But Sally continued, refusing to look at the surprised hedgehog. "And when we finally managed to get you back to your usual self, I thought that would be the end of all of this. Everything could go the way things were. No MIAs, no KIAs, everyone was still breathing."

"Sal. I-"

"But no, you had to fall into coma for a whole month!" She suddenly burst, shifting her eyes back to the cobalt hedgehog. Her eyebrows furrowed with irritation. "Were you deliberately toying with our feelings, don't you think we suffered enough!?"

Sonic remained silent, starring into the pitiful sky-blue eyes. He couldn't come up with a pitiful excuse for his reasons of absence, it was something that the blue blur had to face without decision. No one was to expect the circumstances he was forced into.

And yet, he still felt as if it was his fault.

He caused many of his friend's suffering, he was the one who decided to infiltrate Eggman's ship by himself, it was his fault that he couldn't control his rage. Maybe, Sally was right.

His eyes laid upon the vivid blue flower bracelet Cream had given him. It was something that Sonic couldn't help but think of it as a symbol of deep regret for losing something that meant a lot, and a sign to show Cream's relief of getting Sonic back after all this weeks of waiting for his return.

"I'm... Sorry." Sonic spoke lowly, heavy sincerity in his voice. There was really nothing else he could have said to make things better. He shut his eyes, expecting to get more words thrown at him. Telling him how pathetic his apology was.

But nothing ever came.

Sonic opened one of his eyes, almost cautiously, before glancing at Sally. Noting her anonymous stare, as if she was waiting for something, her mouth parted, and her eyes were wide, as if something just came to realization.

Before he could question further, she flung her arms at him. Almost knocking them two off-balance from the sudden interaction. Sonic sat there, stiffly surprised; unsure as to why this was happening. He slowly responded, holding her gently while she had her arms attached around his neck, flinging her chin over his shoulder to hide her face away from him.

"You're such an idiot…" She spoke softly, her eyes tightly shut as she could only feel a pang of regret within her heart. "I should be the one apologizing. It was uncalled for me to blame you."

The cobalt hedgehog sweated from the scene they were causing, despite being few Mobians around, there was more tension in the air as he could practically feel all eyes on them. His sensitive ears picked up the small murmurs and whispers as a few seemed to be smiling at the interaction they were performing, completely oblivious at the reason why. He tried his best attempt to ignore them, turning his focus towards the chipmunk in his arms. "I had no idea you felt this way with me, Sal. I just wish I could still make it up to you, somehow. Someway to make you happy…"

As if it was her cue, it was an open opportunity to finally nab the chance for being with the blue blur. "Sonic… I want to talk about us." She answered, intently. Pulling away from his shoulder, rubbing tears away with her arm before locking her gaze into his emerald irises.

Now Sonic was truly in a state of panic. He managed to get himself caught into his discomfort zone; realizing exactly what Sally was talking about. But the way he was positioned on the floor, his weakened legs practically taking its toll for his mobility to run, and the way Sally had her hands clamped firmly onto his shoulders made him know there was no way escaping from the topic. The only thing coming to mind was to play dumb. "What about… Us?"

"I know it's been a couple of years since we had something between us. But it took me a long time to realize that I've been missing the interaction we used to have." She confessed, her eyes rested upon his chest as she placed a palm on It, feeling the smooth texture underneath her fingers while gently caressing his peach-colored skin. "I want us to be more than just 'friends'."

Sonic frantically stared as she raised her head to look at him, again. It was then the blue blur knew just by considering the cyan eyes that it was his turn to answer the question. And based on his answer - will practically change everything from here on out.

And that's why he was still worried; on one side of his brain; it was shouting at him to say 'Yes!' but the other side was telling him to escape the area while the legs was still intact to his sockets, despite his condition. But he had to answer now, before Sally would realize something was up. Sonic watched as her mouth begun to form into a frown. He subconsciously opened his jaw, about to answer her.

"Sonic!"

The said hedgehog automatically turned his attention to the name called out. Sally subconsciously let go of the speedster as they both noticed a pink Mobian rushing across the park, towards them.

"Amy?" They both exclaimed in unison. Quickly parting ways as the rosy-pink hedgehog came down skidding against the grass before aiming herself directly onto Sonic with a large leap of a hug.

"I'm surprised to see you here! I didn't know Dr. Quack gave you permission to let you off this early." Amy gave him an enthusiastic smile.

"Long time, no see, Amy." The hedgehog grinned, finding the genuine relieve of his tone. The tension between himself and Sally eventually faded away, replacing it with overwhelmed relief - it was a coincidental interruption to avoid the topic they were previously discussing.

"Oh, you." She giggled, parting the hug. "It's only been yesterday since I saw you." She then noticed Sally; too focused on Sonic to even notice the chipmunk with him. "Oh hey, Sally. I just finished my shift of patrolling the city's outer walls." She mentioned, smiling obliviously at her.

"I've figured." The chipmunk replied, flatly. Upset for being disturbed of her time alone with Sonic.

Unfortunately for her, the female hedgehog remained oblivious to the Princess' tone; catching her eye on the flower bracelet Sonic held. "Is that a hand-made bracelet? I bet Cream did that for you, huh?"

"Yeah, It's pretty neat." Sonic raised his wrist to give her a better display of his gift. Amy gave a playful hum while she nodded in agreement.

"It's really thoughtful of you to keep it all this time."

The azure hedgehog gave a playful scoff. "How could I say no? It means a lot to me." He stared intently at it, losing his smile.

"Sonic…" The blue blur snapped out of his trance, blinking repetitively before shifting his eyes towards the disproving look of Sally. She gave him a longing stare as her expression remained stoic. "You still haven't answered my question."

Amy – finally having realization hit her – figured something was up between them as she glanced at the two, before asking. "Oh, did I come by at the wrong time?" She placed a wondering finger upon her chin.

"No/Yes!" Sonic and Sally both exclaimed, respectively. Glancing at each other, Sonic could only watch her nervously, while the Princess gave him a hardened stare.

Suddenly a bright spark of sun-colored light enveloped the area before them, The trio quickly covered their eyes from the blinding flash while a thunderous boom of electricity sounded throughout the whole park.

It took literally a whole minute for everything to settle down. The trio, and bystanders nearby peeked curiously at the source of light that took place, but ended up having their jaws drop to see the dazzling light exchanged into an ivory hedgehog that stood firmly on its two feet with a yellow stone in hand, it's fists clenched while chest puffed out, eyeing at the three Freedom Fighters with an intimidating gaze.

"Silver?" The trio questioned in unison. Sally and Amy were the first two to quickly leap off the ground from the unexpected visit, leaving Sonic disbanded - who still had to cope with functioning his legs properly.

"Sonic? You're already awake?" The time traveler gasped, his eyes lit up as a smile formed. But it quickly reverted into a frown, realizing the true intentions of why he was here. "But it was only a few hours ago since I saw you still unconscious in Castle Acorn." He questioned, his eyes remained firm upon his appearance.

Realizing it was something Sonic couldn't properly answer, Sally decided to step in; crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at him, cautiously. "That was four days ago, Silver. You must have jumped further ahead in time to make that kind of assumption." She stated, still pondering his intention for visiting – to which the same thought came across everyone else's mind.

"Oh… I'm still figuring out the basics of the time stone." He replied, sheepishly. Scratching the back of his ear form his mistakes.

"Now, can you tell us why you're here?" Sally finally mentioned, growing impatient.

"I hope you're not here to warn us of another threat." Amy joked, letting out a small innocent smile for her humor. But it died down as Silver's expression remained firm while he stared at her.

"You got to be kidding me."

"I'm here for Sonic." He completely ignored her, taking a step forward. His eyes grew restless, as he focused his attention onto the blue blur on the floor.

"Huh? What do you want with me for?" The azure hedgehog asked curiously. His eye ridge raised, suspiciously; something didn't seem quite right with the ivory hedgehog from the way he revealed his demeanor.

But his response was Silver flickering his wrist, activating his energy powered psychokinesis that surged around his gloves.

Upon turning on his offensive, the two Freedom fighters jolted into alert. They instinctively took their place in front of Sonic. Raising their fighting stances whilst glaring at Silver. Surprising both Sonic and Silver.

"No way you're going near Sonic with that kind of attitude!" Amy retorted, refraining from summoning her mullet until it was necessary.

"I agree with Amy on this one, Silver. You need to explain yourself, now!" Sally scowled, giving him an irritated glare.

Before Silver could attempt to convince them otherwise. Digital particles suddenly took form within the air, materializing into a figure. More specifically - a lynx.

"Sally, my sensors detected of a newfound energy presenting in this particular…" Nicole slowed down, finally taking notice of everyone holding up their guard. Aside from Sonic, who only looked at her sheepishly while shrugging at the circumstances. She wasn't surprised to see the blue blur up and around the city; fully aware of the conversation he had with Dr. Quack from monitoring the surveillance cameras. But she was primarily lost to see Silver's return.

"…Location." She finished, before shifting her eyes to the Princess for much needed answers. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"On the contrary." Sally corrected her A.I friend, keeping her eyes on the time traveler. "Silver's up to something."

The ivory hedgehog sighed, rubbing his temple. "If you guys could hear me out for one second, I could explain my aggression towards Sonic."

Nicole gave him a blank stare. Placing her hands behind her back. "I do not approve you coming to my city unannounced and raising suspicion. Please refrain from using your abilities for the sake of everyone else." She firmly stated, already lacking the pleasant sincerity of her tone from the mention of the blue blur.

That's when Silver noticed he was in the busy parts of the city, glancing at the bystanders around them. He couldn't allow himself to harm innocent civilians through prejudice. He lowered his hands, dismissing the chaos energy he conducted through the tip of his fingers. "I… Understand. Sorry."

"Thank you, Nicole." Sally informed the A.I. As herself and Amy relaxed their posture.

"My pleasure, Princess."

"You can start explaining yourself, Silver." The Princess directed her attention back to the ivory hedgehog. Crossing her hands firmly once more.

The said hedgehog shut his eyes, taking a deep breath - regaining his composure - before revealing his amber-colored irises. "I never wanted to mention this in the first place; I thought finding an alternative solution will help solve the crises I gained within the future. But it looks like stopping Eggman alone wasn't enough to absolve it."

"Go on…" Sally's eyes narrowed.

"There was a threat that somehow managed to destroy cities, created destruction and clustered the planet into chaos. So it was-"

"No way Sonic would ever do that." Amy stubbornly interrupted him, feeling irritated for even making such silly assumptions.

Nicole quickly took her turn to speak, still not feeling satisfied with the information given. "Didn't you miscalculated a previous attempt to eliminate Sonic?"

"I have, but this time I'm on the spot with this one. He was lost within his anger, and decided to wipe out almost all of the civilization. It was all proven within the historical events." Silver hastily defended his knowledge. Although, the looks he received made him realize that no one is willing to remove themselves away from Sonic's side.

"Guys, I got this." Everyone suddenly perked their attention towards the cobalt hedgehog on the floor. Who was struggling to raise himself up from the ground, before finally managing onto his feet.

Sally rushed to his side; about to give him a hand, but he gestured his hand for her to stop, which she was reluctant to do so. "Sonic, you're not capable of walking yet." She frowned at him.

"It's fine, Sal. I gotta learn to deal with it myself, right?" He gave her a cheeky grin, only to be exchanged with a disproving glare from the princess.

"And you have some kind of plan for this?"

"You could say that. But just trust me on this one, okay?" He tried to reassure her.

She looked at him, intently. Before giving into a defeated sigh. "I hate it when you say that…" She spoke with annoyance. Giving him the acknowledgment to move forward. He gave his trademark smirk before glancing over to Amy, who held the same worried expression as Sally. But if the Princess was willing to trust him, then she had no doubt about it, too. She gave a small but hesitant nod, to which Sonic replied with a thumbs up for approval - it did cause her to smile the slightest bit at the gesture.

Sonic passed the two girls, before he limped over to Silver, who held his frown. Realizing that the speedster was in no condition to fight; making him further questioning his motives.

Before Sonic could get closer, he was stopped mid-way by a holo-lynx that reappeared before him, her arms crossed. He was surprised to see the hateful glare she was presenting as she eyed at the blue blur. "I don't want you to go any further Sonic. It's an unnecessary intention. We don't even know Silver enough to trust him."

But Sonic remained positive, revealing his careless spirit as he sent her a genuinely warm smile. He placed an arm on her shoulder, to which the lynx grew almost surprised at the interaction, she continued to stare at him. There was no need for communication as the calming touch, as well as his brightly lit emerald eyes explained that everything was going to be alright.

But seeing that Nicole still refused to budge out of the way, words were still needed in order to convince her. "But I know him, Nicole. He isn't as bad as you all think he is. Don't you trust me?"

"Of... Course I do." She was reluctant to say it, knowing exactly how Sonic tried to persuade others. "But, I don't want-"

"I promise that Silver won't do anything to me." Sonic interrupted. His tone lowered, as it expressed his determination, while the eyes dimmed to his relentless attitude. Nicole very well knew that the speedster won't change his mind anytime soon. But she refused to doubt him one bit, so with much of her will power, she finally nodded, before stepping to the side, giving him access to meet with Silver.

Sonic turned his focus on the ivory hedgehog, before he continued onward, he realized that all eyes were on him, including the bystanders that seemingly watched with tension. He could practically feel everyone biting their lips with anticipation, worried if what the blue blur was doing was necessary. But he was always reckless with his action, they all knew exactly how stubborn Sonic could be whenever his mind was focused to one side.

But Sonic himself remained enthusiastic. Beaming a smile.

He stopped in his tracks, inches away from the ivory hedgehog as he looked down at him - being just a few inches taller then him.

"You're... limping." Silver informed, bluntly. It was practically obvious, but he felt it was necessary to point it out.

The azure hedgehog gave him a small chuckle, scratching the back of his ear. "About that, it sorta happens when you just got out of the bed after sleeping for a whole month."

But Silver didn't find any humor in Sonic's sentence. His grip remained clenched, as he lowered his gaze onto the floor. "You do realize what I must do in order to restore our world... Right?"

"Do you really believe that would solve our timeline, Silverfish?" Sonic teased in a playful manner - as if he had no such care in the world right now.

"Of course it will!" Silver snapped his gaze back at the emerald irises. His statement remained firm, but Sonic noticed the deep regret within the golden eyes. His lips seemed to quiver while the teeth gritted. "I've read through history, studied upon hours of research to come up with this conclusion, there was no way I could be mistaking myself again. You killed almost everyone! I wanted to spare you before, but there's no other way!" Upon Silver's anger, he switched on his psychokinesis again, brightly cyan-color erupted over his gloves as it gave an intimidating glow. Refusing to follow the rules that he was supposed to undergo.

The three girls behind Sonic were quickly to acknowledge the hostility as they were about to rush in for support. But Sonic quickly gestured for them to stop, giving them a confident eye, before turning his attention back to Silver. "So you're really going along with this?"

"I don't have a choice, Sonic."

"Then I want you to fulfill it."

"W-what?"

"You heard me." Sonic give him his utmost honest smile." Then kill me. While I'm still vulnerable."

"What?!" The two girls yelled in unison, while Nicole could only squeeze her hands anxiously - refusing to intervene, giving her full utmost trust towards the blue blur motives, even if she hated his methods of doing so.

Sonic swiftly returned his attention at the three Freedom Fighters, his smile turned plain, while his eyes revealed his determination. "I don't want any of you to intervene, that's an order." The second-in-command leader had spoke.

"You are in no position to order me around, Sonic." The Princess grew frustrated. But nevertheless, they complied, unsure the will that was causing them to stay frozen.

Sonic just ignored her, turning around to Silver, again. "So, you up for it?"

The ivory hedgehog could only stay silent, his glare growing more imminent as time passed. He felt his motivation increase, but his frustration is what let his downfall to his determination of ending the speedster's life.

And yet, here he was. Sonic was giving him the invitation to strike while he was still weak. It was idiotic to consider fulfilling his duties while the leader of the Fighters were practically heating her hatred glare onto his head. Not to mention he was practically cornered to be subdued at any moment. But he still had the time stone in his disposal, as his only method of escaping.

But due to Sonic's intention, everyone seemed to stay still, believing of what Sonic said was true to his word.

'They trust him that much, huh...' Silver thought, his frown curled deeper.

He looked up at the blue blur. He could only see his honest smile as his gaze seemed to embed into his own. There was no signs of fault in his posture; only to reveal his loyalty. His guard lowered, and his legs practically useless in any means for him to escape. He was supposed to be doing this for the good of the planet.

To become a hero, he must face drastic actions, point out the greater good, filling in the benefits that outweigh the costs.

Even if it meant killing his one and only true friend he ever came across.

But was that considered as a good moral?

Was this the act of good, or evil?

Silver provided a longing gaze, as everything around him remained a blurred background, starring into the eyes of the target he was meant to eliminate.