HEEERE'S THE NEW CHAPTER! It's been waaaay too long since I've written a chapter for this story. Sorry if it's a bit shaky, I had to re-read my story to figure out where I was going with this (note to self, never go on a hiatus when you're still trying to build up the plot). I think this is all the OC's I'll bring into the story thus far. As you can see, the plot is starting to develop so at this point I can't introduce any new plotlines. I have the next chapter planned out so it'll be uploaded soon. And to PeaceLoveSonicandChao, I would LOVE IT if you drew a pic for this story. That would amazing :D and thank you for the offer!

R&R!

Disclaimer: Everything but the plot and OC's belong to Sega (y)

'These people are way too oblivious for their own good.'

Blaze's eyes burned with a fiery rage as she left the room her teammates were formally in.

Someone they've despised, someone that betrayed their trust, was easily let back into the group without further thought? Sally joining their team after all she's done was about as likely as Eggman conceding defeat and becoming their school principal. Oh wait.

She suddenly felt a hand tug at her wrist. Blaze spun around in alarm only to meet twin ruby eyes beckoning her to stay quiet.
Blaze nodded silently and followed Shadow into a vacant hallway where, surprisingly, Knuckles was waiting patiently. She waited until Shadow stopped walking to finally speak.

"What are we going to do about this?" Blaze asked. "We can't have Sally coming to break up the group, especially not at this time."

"Relax, Shadow's got a plan." Knuckled assured her. He jutted his chin at the ebony hedgehog to start speaking.

"Obviously we can't trust Sally's gotten a sudden revelation and has decided to join the team." Shadow started as he leaned himself against the wall. "So she'll to prove herself."

Blaze furrowed her brows in confusion. "She's already agreed to go undercover as Scourge's and Fiona's ally."

Shadow's eyes glinted menacingly. "I think we need to go deeper than that."

Blaze's and Knuckles' eyes met in mutual confusion.

"I have reason to believe Scourge is actually working for the doctor."

"Eggman?!" Blaze and Knuckles both shrieked. A dark glare from Shadow silenced them immediately.

"That's impossible." Knuckles snarled in a hushed tone. "Eggman already said he wasn't evil anymore."

"While you guys were at the party, I paid him a visit." Shadow continued. "He doesn't realize this but before I left, I placed one of these in his lab."
Shadow pulled out a miniature camera the size of a gumball. Knuckled grabbed it and observed it curiously.

"Where did you get this?"

"Rouge uses these on your island all the time." Shadow responded with a shrug. Knuckles gasped indignantly.

"That friggin' bat!"

"That's beside the point." Blaze said and grabbed the camera from Knuckles' hands before he crushed it in rage. "What did you find?"

Shadow reached into his uniform pocket and pulled a white iPhone with pictures of half-naked male singers plastered all over it. Blaze and Knuckles stared at Shadow in questioning (and horror).

"It's Rouge's" Shadow dead-panned. Both the echidna and cat nodded in understanding (and relief). He tapped a few buttons on the screen and showed the two animals the video.

Flashback

A broken and bruised green hedgehog limped his way into the middle of the dimly lit room. He groaned in pain before collapsing in front of an ominous black chair.

"It seems you have failed your mission." A voice drawled.

The green hedgehog lifted his head towards the chair.

"There was something different about him." The hedgehog coughed defensively. "He got all dark and overpowered."

"But here I thought you were ten times stronger than him." The voice growled mockingly. The chair swiveled around and revealed the figure to the hedgehog.

"I thought you were perfect for the job, Scourge."

The hedgehog in question snarled. "I wouldn't be talking, Eggman."

The mad doctor's glasses glinted menacingly as he leaned forward in his chair.

"So it seems he can become Super without the use of seven Chaos emeralds." Eggman fumed. "That damn hedgehog."

Scourge lifted himself upright and glared at him.

"He went Super but it wasn't the full thing." Scourge rasped. "Like I said, he turned a dark colour."

"Dark?" Eggman's brows lifted considerably."What, exactly, provoked this?"

Scourge snorted in disgust. "I told him I'd get his little girlfriend and he got all pissed."

"So it was caused by rage!" Eggman yelled in delight. Scourge's eyes widened at the doctor's quick conclusion. Clearly, his intelligence wasn't exaggerated.

Eggman smirked in victory as he rose to his feet. "Scourge, you can leave but be ready at anytime."

"What the hell are you on about?" Scourge yelled after the doctor's descending back as several Egg-bots surrounded him. Eggman turned to the injured green hedgehog with his signature maniacal grin.

"Scourge, I think it's about time you've received an education."

Present

Blaze and Knuckles both pulled away from the phone as the video came to an end. They were both at a loss for words.

"Sally was right." Blaze breathed. "Scourge is here."

"I can't believe the doctor lied to me again." Knuckles fumed as he cracked his namesakes angrily.

"The only reason I'm showing you this video is because I'll need you to give Sally her new mission." Shadow said as he pocketed the phone. "To not only go undercover as Scourge's ally, but to get information on the doctor as well. She would never accept it if it came from me."

Blaze narrowed her eyes in suspicion as Knuckles nodded and turned to leave.

"Was that the only thing captured on the camera?"

Shadow's gaze averted. "Don't worry about the rest."

"Shadow, I can help you." Blaze said softly as she reached towards the hedgehog. He turned around and stared daggers at Blaze. The intensity of his glare made the normally stoic cat shiver.

"I work alone on my own missions for my own intentions." Shadow snarled dangerously. "I think you, and Silver, should know all about that."

Blaze pulled her arm back in shock as the ebony hedgehog turned and stalked down the hallway and out of sight.

The lavender cat bit her lip as her mind processed what had just happened. She pulled her phone from her jacket pocket and dialed a number.

'I need to find Silver fast.'

"Just so you know, we don't need help finding the Babylon Gardens." Jet bragged as he led the visitors back into the Sonic Team's meeting room. "Wave's the smartest person around, she'll find it no sweat!"

"But it wouldn't hurt to have some extra information." The swallow intervened with a sharp glare at the hawk. The wolf's features lit up in a huge grin.

"That's no problem!" He laughed as he thumped Jet on the back. Jet flew forward with a loud cough.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you helping us?" Wave asked cautiously as Sonic ran over to the sputtering hawk. "And how did you know we're looking for the Gardens?"

"Word travels fast around this school." The wolf's companion remarked. Wave shot a glare at the out of breath hawk.

'He and Storm just can't keep their mouths shut!'

"We've been looking for it for a while, so extra help would be good." Night spoke up with a shy smile. Wave nodded her head and motioned for the group to follow her.

"Jack?!"

The large wolf turned around with large grin. Blaze was standing in the doorway with Silver, both in obvious states of shock.

"Silver, Blaze!" Jack boomed as he pounded the backs of both animals. "It's been too long!".

"Way too long." Silver gasped at the brute force. "Let's catch up in the hallway!"

With that said, Blaze and Silver grabbed the wolf's wrists and dragged him unceremoniously into the hallway, much to Wave's chagrin.

"We were in the middle of something here!" She yelled at the slammed door.

Silver immediately released Dee as soon as the door was shut.

"What th-"

"What in the WORLD are you doing here?!" Blaze cut Silver off

"Boss wanted a status report." Dee replied with a canine grin. "Is the hedgehog him?"

Silver averted his glance as Blaze nodded silently.

"Perfect." Jack smiled proudly. "Your mission is complete. You can return home."

"Not yet!" Silver protested fiercely. "He's my friend now and I want to know what you're going to do with him!"
Blaze sighed sadly as she noticed the silver hedgehog shaking in rage.

'Why did you get attached so quickly?'

But even she couldn't deny her own trembling posture.

"We're not going to hurt him." Jack reassured the two. "You can even stay for the remainder of the mission to make sure."

Silver opened his mouth again to protest but Blaze silenced him once she took hold of his hand.

"Thank you." She said quietly. "Be sure to update us consistently."

The cat then led the distraught hedgehog down the hallway and out of sight.

Jack smiled fondly at their backs.

"Don't you just love kids?" He remarked.

"Because they're so painfully oblivious to everything?"

"You know I have no choice, Dee." Jack's broad smile dropped as he turned to face his approaching companions. The echidna sighed heavily.

"I know how much this is killing you." Dee started. "But if we don't do this-."

"Our world will be destroyed." Jack finished with a dark frown. "I know."

"I don't know why they're complaining though." The ebony hedgehog stated with a yawn. "They're not doing the hard part."

Jack stared down the hallway Blaze and Silver had walked down. "That's not true Mari."

"They've formed a bond with him. We came too late."

"Their mission was to find the Iblis Trigger." Night said forlornly as her companions proceeded to walk back into the room they exited.

"And ours is to kill him."