There is a room. Dark, quiet. What is this room? There's nothing here.

A light appears, shining down upon the checker tiled floor, a spotlight of sorts.

It floats there, its head cocked, its eyes empty.

Can you feel the sunshine? That's all it asks.

I don't know! Leave me alone!

Can you feel the sunshine? It asks again.

Who are you!?

Can you feel the sunshine?

What are you!?

Can you feel can you feel can you feel can you feel can you feel-

It repeats the question over and over, overlapping itself as if there's more than one being inside of it. I grasp my head, the insanity too much for me and scream.

Tails shoots up from his bed, in cold sweat. He breathes heavily, cautiously looking around the furbished room. He looks down to his bandaged arms, unable to move them.

"Tails?" says a voice to his left.

He turns to her, even more confused than before. "Amy…? Where am I?"

The concerned hedgehog sighs in relief. "I'm so glad you're OK." She smiles warmly. "I…I thought you were…"

"You almost died," said a deeper voice, this time to his right.

"Shut it, Shadow." Amy shot him a look, and returned her attention to Tails.

"Don't worry, we got the emerald," she says, smiling.

Tails smiles softly upon hearing the news, only for his expression to turn into fear upon remembering the scene. "Wait! What about that…that…'thing'?"

Amy smiles. "Don't worry, Shadow took care of it when he saved you." She glances to the black hedgehog. "Right, Shadow?"

He sits there, unwavering from her question. "I couldn't." He closes his eyes, sighing. "That demon far outmatches me."

Silence falls over the room, an unsettling chill lingering.

"So…what now?" asked the fox.

Shadow pauses, lowering his eyes. "There's not much we can do. Besides, our mission was to get the emerald, not deal with a monster."

"But we can't just sit here and do nothing! We unleas-"

"I know. But now, it's beyond Team Dusk's scope." He glances to Amy. "We'll talk to the leaders here at the Academy, and let them decide a course of action. For now, rest up." He rises from his seat, and heads for the door, signaling to Amy. She nods, but hugs Tails before getting up.

"I'm just glad you're alright."

Tails blushes, his muzzle a bright red. "T-thanks…."

She gets up and heads out of the hospital room with Shadow. "We'll be right back."

The door slowly closes, leaving Tails alone in the room. He lies down, resting upon his pillow, his head pounding. "What are we going to do…?"

Amy trails along behind Shadow, briskly walking through the corridors to the main office of the Academy.

"Shadow…what's going to happen?"

"If this is anything like the Asteroid Springs incident, I assume they'll take action immediately."

Amy takes a nervous gulp. "Well…what about Tails…?"

Shadow smirks. "The boy's been through much worse; he'll recover from this in no time." He chuckles under his breath. "Besides, I wouldn't have trained him I thought he was weak."

"I hope you're right…."