The only sound in the room was the drinking of liquid. All the mobians had arranged themselves in a circle. Sonic was leaning against a wall, a frown on his face as he watched the other two blue hedgehogs. They were all sitting except for him and Shadow. Asher had barely drunk at all but stared into the cup as if to find some hidden meaning.

"I'm sorry." Asher's head shot up like a rocket to look at his counterpart. "It was my fault, I didn't even think about your feelings or anything...so." He sighed, looking at his coffee, "Yeah, it was my fault, and I, er, well…" He chuckled nervously. Asher's eyes widened before he looked away. Triste's eyes darted to the floor when he got no response.

"Well, guys, I hate to be the first to say this," Sonic started after a few moments of silence, "But we can't keep you here Asher...I'm sorry dude, but," he lowered his voice, "This isn't something you can run away from." The lighter blue hedgehog tightened his hands. "Sometimes you gotta face the things you're afraid of. I don't know how many times I would've liked to run away from a zone filled with water, but I couldn't, I had to keep pushing on."

"But nothing that I do helps!" Asher stood up, his fists clenched. "I just want to have friends again, but...no one will even try...and I can't even think of a good reason for them to even try. I'm-I'm...worthless." The outburst left the rest of them quite startled. Tears leaked out of Asher's eyes.

"Don't say that." Triste said quietly. Asher turned to him violently.

"Don't pretend like you know what it's like." He said darkly.

"Hey," Tails had stood up, his hands up in defense, "Let's not start fighting again. I really don't need a destroyed workshop." His eyebrow twitched as he smiled nervously.

"Tails is right." Shadow hissed. Sonic, who hadn't moved, watched with wide eyes.

"I haven't really changed have I?" Asher muttered sadly. This caused Triste to stand up.

"Don't say that." He put his hands on the lighter hedgehog's shoulders. He, in turn, stepped away.

"No! I'll keep saying it Triste. People have died because of me." Silence filled the room. Asher's breathing was heavy, as tears dripped down onto the floor. Triste still had his hands out where he had put them on his counterpart's shoulders, struggling to deal with what had just been said.

"Yeah. People have." The rest of the four mobians turned to Sonic. "There's not a day when I don't regret who I haven't saved." Asher's pupils dilated.

"But- But- that isn't the same- you were trying to be good, you weren't the bad guy!" He waved his arms, trying to make a point.

"That depends on who you ask," Sonic replied in a somewhat detached way. "Sometimes even I wonder if I'm really the hero...have you completely forgotten?" He didn't wait for them to answer. "Not everything is Black and White. Life's more Gray than anything." The hedgehog looked out the window and leaned on the window sill. "Bad guys can be good….good guys can be bad...sometimes people are just misunderstood."

Silence once more filled the room. This time it lacked the tenseness it had before.

"Wow," Triste breathed, "That was surprisingly...not cheesy." Though his face was not visible to the rest of the group, Sonic's face fell.

"That's all you have to say!?" He asked indignantly, but there was humor in his voice. Everyone turned to Asher, who looked ashamed.

"Okay...I know I have to go back...but…" He paused, and looked to the ground, before a nasty grin came on his face, "Have you made that speech before? Cause I feel like I've made the speech before, and well, I can't be cheated out of an original 'Sonic the Hedgehog Speech'!" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, er, maybe...I can't exactly recall, but- you- you can't deny, that it's a good speech, so." The hero rubbed underneath his nose, a grin on his face. Asher smiled back, but it faded quickly.

"You know…" Shadow started, "It's always best to start small. Especially when you're rebuilding everything you know." The hedgehog played with his purple vest.

"I guess I'll start with smiling more, doing things that make me happy…" He shyly smiled, "I'm going to eventually have long overdue conversations...and to try to move forward...I guess. Um…" He chuckled nervously. Then slowly Tails started clapping. Shadow and Sonic joined, though the small group was rather awkward about doing so.

"Alright, um, this has been nice and all but, can we leave- like now?" Everyone stared at Triste. His shoulders heaved as he sighed. "Yes, I know I'm an insensitive prick." Asher's smile wavered for a split second, but then he too sighed.

"Yeah, I s'pose, we should get going before the entire multiverse falls apart or something." He glanced towards the other three mobians in the room. "Uh, it was nice meeting you, in this short period of time, but...eh…um...it was nice, I guess." Sonic tipped an invisible hat to the other two blue hedgehogs. Shadow gave them both a little smirk.

"Uh, Asher? Um," Tails held out his fist, "Fist-bump?" The blue hedgehog's eyes widened and probably looked happier than any of them had ever seen him. He responded to the fist-bump, ending it with a pretend explosion.

"Okay, I'm ready to leave now...Commander." Triste tensed up suddenly.

"Don't say it like that…" The lighter blue hedgehog snickered.

"It says it the parole handbook that I shall refer to the officer that I am in the care of, by their title, after all, you were so insistent."

"Oh shut up." Then, Triste grabbed Asher's hand, and a prism of light reappeared, this time, completely blinding them. After a moment they all lowered their hands from their faces.

"Hey," Sonic's eyebrow furrowed, "Everything's back where it was before he arrived."

"What!? I don't understand-what!?" Tails rushed over to his computer, looking at the statistics that were shown on a program. He then furiously went over notes he had taken earlier. "But? How did everything get back where…? And these readings…?" His words dissolved into unintelligible mutters.

"Well," Shadow cocked an eyebrow, "I suppose I'll be going then." He sidestepped around the frantic fox.

"Shadow, wait!" The hedgehog paused in his step as he heard the blue mobian call to him, "Don't...don't be a stranger." He momentarily considered this, then gave a quick nod, and was out the door. Sonic turned his gaze to his brother, the young fox was still analyzing his work station. He couldn't help smiling at his brother's eagerness to learn. After a moment he went out of the Workshop and into the main part of the house.

It still was in the state of messiness due to the party. He went up the stairs to his room, before going out the window, and pulling himself onto the roof. It looked like it was going to rain soon. The dark clouds filled up the sky, casting a gray onto the world. Sonic closed his eyes and hummed a light song.

Side Effects...are always present...life is full of Side Effects. There will always be a cause and effect for every action I take.

Yeah...well that doesn't necessarily mean you meant to cause bad Side Effects...besides, they can even be good sometimes.

Hmm…

Dude, what are you even thinking about now?

Just how incredibly lucky we are.

Okay chill with the satire.

It's not satire! I'm being serious.

I know. I know...I was just messing with ya'...with me?

I really need to stop having these conversations...but at the same time...no one will notice…there's no side effects to a little internal monologue, or conversation.

Sonic opened his eyes...he had to admit...his life was pretty great. And he was lucky to have friends that acted as family surrounding him. Especially when he seemed to fight within himself. This whole...separating experience and the two visitors were really an eye opening experience.

And maybe...if would even prepare him if there was ever a next time…

The End…

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