Thanks, guys, for all the nice reviews that I'm getting! Sorry for the late update, but Regents week was killer, and I was studying like a maniac for 3 weeks, so I had no time to write at ALL. In case you're wondering, though, this chapter was actually inspired by one of my anonymous reviewers, named bigc. Thank you so much, even though you might not be reading this now! XD And a guest OC, named Chuck Carter, has been offered to me by Kratos Pwns—so he belongs to Kratos. Thanks for offering to let me use this character!

And, just so you guys know (and I know I said this before, but I'll say it again) fanart is being done for this story by the lovely and awesome and amazing kagehime-sama53! Just go to her profile, and she has the link to the fanart for Academy for Mutants! (I'm not putting the link on here because fanfiction deletes it :D). Go check out her pictures, they're absolutely AMAZING! Thank you so much, kagehime, for doing the fanart!

OK, now we go on to the story!

Disclaimer: Yes, I own Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm also President of the United States, I have a mansion, am married to Liam Hemsworth, have all the money in the damn world because I robbed so many banks, and I live in a world where unicorns eat rainbows and poop out butterflies. In case any of you guys didn't catch that, it was all sarcasm. I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog, guys. Please don't sue me, SEGA!

If you knew Amy Rose, you would know two things about her—that she was completely obsessed with Sonic, and that she was also a very perceptive person at times, and could point out the littlest things about how a person felt or what they were hiding. Of course, she couldn't see that Sonic's running away from her was from pure fear, but that was beside the point.

It was during her Geometry class with Shadow that she noticed that something was wrong.

Sometimes, she noticed, he would suddenly slightly wince during classes, choking out a small curse, as if he'd accidentally hurt himself by banging his knee against one of the metal legs of the table or had accidentally given himself a paper cut because he had been leafing through some papers too fast. When Amy would ask if he was all right, he would give her the typical response—that he was just fine. As long as that kid had breath in his lungs, he was fine by his standards (Amy would always roll her eyes when she thought of this).

However, it was more and more often that Shadow seemed to be 'hurting himself', and Amy was getting the odd feeling that he wasn't accidentally doing a small trivial thing to harm himself, and she was getting more and more worried. She knew that he wasn't intentionally harming himself, but…it was almost as if he was sick with something. As if he was having internal pain. That was what it was looking like to her as time progressed.

While the class was absentmindedly talking amongst themselves as they tried to solve some of the problems that Mister Woods had given them to do, Amy heard a small, choked breath escape Shadow. She looked out of the corner of her eye to see him closing his eyes, placing his forehead in his palm, trying to be inconspicuous about it. Amy could see him clenching his jaw.

"Shadow, are you all right?" she asked him in a worried whisper.

"I'm fine," was the natural response from Shadow. However, his voice was the slightest bit strained—only someone who really knew Shadow could tell the difference in his usually simply deep and slightly gruff voice. His grip on his pencil was also unnaturally tight, and his jaw refused to completely unclench and relax.

"Shadow, do you think that I'm stupid?" Amy said, looking at him with annoyance sparkling in her green eyes. Shadow took his hand from his forehead and looked at her, his ruby red eyes slightly irritated as well, and decided not to answer her, simply lightly glaring at her for a few seconds before turning back to his work.

"Look, I know that something's hurting you," she told him. "Are your Chaos powers acting up or something?" Everyone knew about the light internal conflict that Shadow had with his power over Chaos, which sometimes—but very rarely—caused him pain.

When he didn't reply, it only made her even more worried.

"Shadow, what's wrong?" she asked him, her tone slightly scared. Hearing the light fear in her voice caused Shadow to look up at her again, seeing the worry for him and slight fear for his health within her grass-green eyes, the eyes that always overflowed with whatever emotion she was feeling, the eyes that were so easy to read, easily showing her soul. Seeing that expression on her face caused him to slightly sigh a bit, shaking his head.

"It's not the pain that Chaos sometimes gives me," he actually admitted to her in a low voice, one that was so quiet that Amy was almost unable to hear what he had said. "This is…different than that pain. Somehow." It was almost as if he was trying to puzzle it aloud himself, almost forgetting the fact that Amy was still there with him, listening to him.

"How is it different?" she asked him softly.

Shadow honestly had no idea why he was actually answering her questions—maybe the fear and worry in her eyes that she had for him had managed to soften him up somehow, managed to get him to open up slightly to her by actually admitting his pain to her.

"It…the pain that Chaos causes me is usually centered towards my internal organs, mostly my heart, because it's within me," he confessed, once again, more like speaking to himself than speaking to her. She heard the smallest traces of confusion within his voice as well, and she was also surprised at the fact that he was actually telling her something. He continued quietly, his voice barely even a whisper as she strained to hear him speak. "But this pain…it's almost like I'm having a headache that's extremely powerful, as if…as if someone's screwing around with my head. Almost as if I have a connection to someone, and that someone is hurt, and I'm feeling that pain as well…sometimes, it's worse than others, and other times it's just annoying headaches, but they…I've never felt this before…"

"How long has it been like this?" Amy needed to know, her voice, once again, worried for his health. Maybe he was sick!

"About…a little over a month or so," Shadow replied, seeming to have regained control of himself. The pain had passed, and his breathing was more even than it had been before.

For some reason, Amy felt as if the fact that he had been feeling it for just about a month was important…what else had been going on for a little over a month now…?

And then it hit her.

"Hey, that's just about as long as Professor W's been feeling the weird thoughts from the unnatural mutants, the ones that he thinks the people that Raiyne called the Eggmen are making," she whispered in surprise, her eyes wide. It had been just under a month since Professor Wayne had announced to the school about the odd vibes that he was getting, and a little before that when Knuckles had told them at lunch. "Do you…do you think that the pain that you're feeling might possibly be related to that, in some way?"

"I honestly don't think that's it, Amy. I've probably just got an illness or something—I'm sure it'll pass," Shadow said indifferently. "Probably from stress or something…" However, Amy could tell that he, too, was beginning to doubt his previous suspicions about simply having a passing sickness.

"Shadow, I think that you should talk to Professor Wayne about this," Amy told him seriously. Instinctively, she reached out and felt his forehead with the back of her palm, and, to her surprise, wasn't exactly met with resistance. His only objection was a light huff, but he didn't jerk his head away as she gently felt his temperature. When his forehead didn't feel like it was burning hot, she pulled her hand back. "You don't have a fever…and if you had a cold, you'd be sneezing and coughing and stuff…this might be really, really serious, Shadow. You've been feeling this way for over a month—I think that you have to tell the Professor as soon as possible."

He was silent for a few minutes, thinking about the similarities of this conversation with the one that he had with Sonic about his darker alter-ego not too long ago. He had told the other teenager to go to Professor Wayne, telling him of his dilemma, but Sonic had refused, thinking he could take care of it himself and that it wasn't too big of a deal to annoy the Professor with; Shadow had felt annoyed as a result. Now, he was in a similar situation, except he was seeing it from the other side, from the point of view that Sonic had been in. He knew that Amy would probably become annoyed and unhappy if he didn't talk to the Professor—she seemed to actually care about his wellbeing.

He gave a slightly defeated sigh, actually slightly concerned about this himself. "All right, I will," he said in condescension to her request, and his reply made her smile brightly at him in return.

"Go after Geometry—there's enough time between classes, right?" Amy asked. "And if you're late, then it won't be by that much, right?"

Shadow shrugged absentmindedly in reply, making Amy internally roll her eyes again. And here was the silent Shadow who opted to give you barely even a gesture as a reply to a question.

In a few minutes, the bell rang that signaled the end of classes. Both Shadow and Amy simultaneously got out of their seats, and then Amy turned to look at Shadow.

"Remember—go see Professor W, or else…" She allowed her words to trail off threateningly, making Shadow roll his eyes. As if she could truly harm him in any way. But, then again, that Piko-Piko hammer of hers was rather powerful, from what he'd heard…he'd never been on the receiving end of that deadly hammer, but a few that had been unfortunate enough to have incurred Amy's anger were Knuckles and Sonic, both of whom had complained about having huge bumps on their heads and pounding headaches. So, he thought that it was better not to piss off Amy extremely if he wanted to not gain a bump on his head and a concussion as well.

"Yes, I'm going," he told her in assurance, and she nodded to him.

"See ya, Shadow," she grinned towards him, and he replied with a silent nod, before he began to walk over to the office of the Professor.

Eventually, he reached the office, just as the old man was coming out of the door, apparently having been expecting him.

"Ah, Shadow," Professor W said amiably, looking at the slightly glowering ebony-and-crimson-haired teenager, whose ruby eyes seemed to be the slightest bit annoyed. "I'm glad that you came. Come inside."

Slightly guarded, Shadow followed the Professor into his office, where he dismissed one of the teachers quietly. Shadow recognized him as Mr. Johnson, Sonic's History teacher, who was going out of the room, quietly speaking something to the Professor in his ear. The mind-reader nodded, and Mr. Johnson nodded in return, before giving Shadow a glance as he left the room.

What had that been about?

"Have a seat, my boy," Professor Wayne said amiably in invitation, and Shadow sat down in front of the desk, while the old man went over to the cooler. "Would you like a soda? Or is water fine?" As he was speaking, he pulled out a small water bottle for himself, before turning back to the boy.

"…Water's fine," Shadow answered in a mutter, and the Professor nodded and pulled out another water bottle, holding one in each hand as he came back to the table. He passed one of the bottles to Shadow, who took it and unscrewed the cap before drinking a bit of the cold refreshment. The older man opened his water bottle, but didn't take a drink from it yet.

"So, I presume that you wanted to talk to me?" he asked the young man in front of him. Shadow stopped drinking his water, placing it down in front of him slowly at the reminder that the old man had said. He turned away slightly, not wanting to meet the gray eyes of the Professor, before nodding.

"Well, before that, I have a question," Professor Wayne said, and Shadow turned to look at him with one eyebrow slightly raised. It was his silent way of saying that he was listening, waiting to hear the question.

"Do you know if anything's been…odd…with Sonic lately?" he asked the teenager. At that, Shadow slightly stiffened, the hand that had been absentmindedly holding the water bottle slightly clenching.

"Why?" Shadow retorted.

"He fell asleep in Mister Johnson's class yet again," the Professor replied, sounding the slightest bit amused and a bit stern as well, "and he says that he's been acting odd. Sometimes, he lets out moans in his sleep, as if he's…pained, or wakes up as if he'd been seeing ghosts in his sleep. He's been acting like this for a couple of days, and it's worrying his teachers. It has happened in some of his other classes as well, and is concerning everyone. And if I try to pry into his mind gently to see if he's sick, I'm strangely blocked off by something like…an unnatural mental wall. This isn't like Sonic at all—even his teachers are saying that. He's not the troublemaking teenager that they know. Do you know what's going on?"

Shadow was silent for a few moments, looking away once more, debating on whether or not to tell the Professor what he knew. He didn't want to betray Sonic's trust and blab when he'd made a vow not to, but…he also didn't want his best friend hurt (not that he'd ever admit that Sonic was actually his best friend aloud to people). The cobalt-haired speedy teenager thought that he was strong enough to take care of it himself, but the effect that Dark Sonic was having on him was becoming the slightest bit obvious—sleeping in class and crying out in pain were definite signs, and another sign was the mental wall. Only Dark Sonic could've put that up in Sonic's mind, so that the Professor wouldn't be able to know what was wrong with him.

The undeniably handsome features of Shadow's face were pensive as his intense ruby red gaze looked at nothing exactly, as he decided on what to tell the old man.

"I know what's going on with Sonic," he began, "but he doesn't want me speaking about it with anyone. If you want to know, I suggest that you ask Sonic himself. It isn't my place to reveal what he wishes to keep secret."

The Professor nodded. "That's understandable—I'll find out soon enough. But enough of that." The mind-reader looked knowingly at Shadow. "There's something that you wanted to tell me, is there not?"

Shadow fell silent once more, crossing his arms almost defensively against his leanly muscular chest as he closed his eyes. "…Yes," he answered after a period of silence. "I…well, lately, I've been…" Damn, talking about his problems to the old man was much harder than it was when he was talking to Amy…he honestly had no idea why it was easier for him to tell her what was bothering her and not the Professor.

"I haven't exactly been feeling well all the time," Shadow confessed, absolutely refusing to open his eyes. It was much easier to talk when eye contact wasn't being made. "Sometimes, I feel…I don't know, this odd type of pain inside of my skull. It's not the pain that Chaos sometimes causes me…it's more like someone is messing around with my brain, causing me headaches that are almost like migraines. Sometimes they hurt a lot, and other times they don't…and I'm not sure why. It doesn't feel right…and I don't think that I'm sick…"

He finally opened his eyes to see that the Professor had a thoughtful expression on his face. "How long have you been feeling this way, Shadow?" he asked, even though he probably knew the answer but wanted to make sure that it was true.

"Only a little over a month," Shadow replied, looking away slightly. "It…I'm becoming a bit…concerned. I'm not sure what I have…and I'm not sure of the side-effects of whatever the hell I have…"

He's afraid that he might die, Professor Wayne translated in his head. He knew that Shadow would never say that aloud, but it was true, and it was completely reasonable for the boy. He was only fifteen, and still had so much to live for. The thought that one could possibly have a terminal illness was a bit unnerving for anyone.

"I don't think that you have an illness, either, Shadow," he stated. "And I noticed that you've been feeling odd ever since I first sensed the unnatural mutants…I wonder if it could somehow be linked to that? Is there anything else?"

"…Sometimes, my power over Chaos acts up when this happens," Shadow admitted. When the Professor heard the word 'Chaos' again, he felt the odd feeling that there was something else that he should know about Chaos, that there was…

His eyes widened a bit as it suddenly came to him. He'd heard rumors, but had never believed them.

There were stories about a set of seven magical, beautiful jewels, shaped like diamonds, that were able to grant unimaginable power. However, only those that knew how to harness this power were able to use this magical, sacred power; and, if misused, these gems could plunge the very world as they knew it into pure despair.

They were called Chaos Emeralds

Now, Professor Wayne had a hunch that these Chaos Emeralds were actually linked with Shadow's mutation…and that these object might have been the ones causing him pain. But why would they be, even if they were affecting him?

"Shadow…" Professor W trailed off as he looked at Shadow in the eye, the younger man's crimson gaze meeting his warm gray one. "…Have you ever heard of a set of things called…'Chaos Emeralds'?"

When he heard the words, something tugged at his memory lightly. His eyes widened slightly as he remembered what it was.

"Yes, I have," he replied, his voice slightly thoughtful as he remembered. "Grandpa…he sometimes told Maria and I about them, and he said that, if they were collected, that they would help him in scientific breakthroughs. After I gained my…mutation, he even thought that finding these Emeralds would help him find out how I got it, and maybe help me control it better. He said that he also thought that they might be an alternate source for energy, and that they might help the growing problem of global warming." Everything was rushing back as he remembered the conversations that Maria and him had sometimes had with their grandfather as he talked about the things that he built with them.

"Have you ever considered that they are what is causing you this pain?" the Professor continued, as he, too, mused on that option.

"How the hell would I know? I just remembered that now, Grandpa just sometimes rambled on about it, and it wasn't exactly deemed of any importance to me until this very moment," Shadow grumbled, slightly peevish.

Professor Wayne began to think, his eyes widening as he suddenly began to put things together, based purely on guessing. But now, things were beginning to make sense. Why he was suddenly getting strange vibes from outside, why Shadow was feeling pain, and why the unnatural mutants felt mutated. They were being forced by a power source, a power source that Professor Wayne had a good idea of what it was.

"Shadow…if it is these Chaos Emeralds that are causing you pain, I think that I have a vague idea of what's happening now," he told the young man.

At that, Shadow averted his gaze away from the wall and turned to look at the older man. "You might?" he asked. "Because most of it isn't making sense."

"I think that the ones that are mutating the children—those that Raiyne said who called themselves the 'Eggmen'—are using a power source to forcefully mutate children, after conducting experiments on real mutants, such as Raiyne herself. And, based on the fact that you've been feeling odd internal pain that isn't caused by Chaos within you but as if someone is messing with your head, I have a feeling that they've been using the Chaos Emeralds to forcefully mutate the kids."

Shadow's ruby red eyes widened in pure shock. "What?" he said in disbelief. "You mean to tell me that you think a possibly mythical set of extremely powerful gems is causing the mutations?"

"It makes sense, Shadow, if you think about it. You've told me that you've been feeling this for a little over a month—that's about as long as I've felt the odd vibes from those who I believe are being artificially mutated. Your power is power over Chaos, and maybe it's not a mere coincidence that you came up with that name for your power—maybe it's somehow linked to these Chaos Emeralds, making you linked to their power as well. They are probably being misused so much by these Eggmen, who I have a belief are using them, that you are feeling it inadvertently, without you truly knowing. And, if these gems are even real and have such power as they are rumored to have, then I have no doubt that they have the power to cause some unnatural mutations. This is, of course, all merely my own speculations."

Shadow was looking at the older man oddly, one eyebrow raised. How the mind-reader came up with all of this, he had no idea—and it was mostly based on the idea of a set of supposedly mythical super-powerful gems.

"I swear, old man," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "Sometimes I wonder if you're always completely here. You're almost as bad as my grandfather was. You're extremely smart, yes, but also a bit eccentric."

Professor Wayne grinned a bit at Shadow. "Well, I have to have a vivid imagination, based on the things that I've seen and read in people's minds. But, Shadow," he said seriously, making eye-contact with the teenager, "don't simply rule out what I've said. I think that there's a good chance that I might be pretty close in guessing."

Shadow rolled his eyes again. "You know, I would be much more inclined to believe all of this if I actually saw a Chaos Emerald for myself. Then, maybe, this would all seem the slightest bit more believable than it seems right now."

The Professor's eyes lit up slightly. "Then what's what we'll do. We'll find a Chaos Emerald."

"And how, exactly, are we going to do this?" Shadow retorted, giving the mind-reader a look. "It's not as if we can magically find one simply by willing it." His tone was dripping with sarcasm as he rolled his as at the old man who he believed was slightly senile.

The Professor smirked. "Just recently, I saw on television that a museum that focuses on rare jewels was proudly proclaiming that it had one of the legendary Chaos Emeralds in its possession." That particular reason had also been why the Chaos Emeralds had come to his mind.

"And how are we going to obtain it, even if it is real?" Shadow challenged.

Professor W's smirk grew the slightest bit wider. "Who do we know that is speedy, absolutely loves mischief, and enjoys causing trouble even if it isn't necessary at all?"

Now, Shadow actually smirked lightly along with Professor Wayne. "Of course," he said, betraying a slight chuckle. "But what if Sonic isn't up for it—which I doubt he will be, but on the off chance that he is?"

"I'm sure that Rouge wouldn't mind nabbing the jewel for us," the Professor said offhandedly. "She could get there relatively fast, considering her ability to fly, and is quite the master at stealth—in fact, she was a jewel thief at one point, wasn't she?" Shadow nodded; it had been something that Rouge hadn't minded people knowing about her past, the fact that she had stolen jewels—in fact, she'd been proud of the things that she'd managed to steal. "And, even if she can't do it, then I'm sure that Espio could be more than helpful, so that the cameras don't even see him and the previous training that he had as a ninja. And, even if that doesn't work, then we have you to use Chaos Control if need be."

Shadow betrayed a chuckle once more, shaking his head slightly. The old coot had this all planned out. "Encouraging us to steal—I never knew that you had this side to you, old man. I like it."

"I don't understand why it always surprises everyone when I suggest things like this," the old man grinned in reply. "I was rather the childhood delinquent, in all honesty. Why is everyone so shocked when they hear of this?"

Shadow snickered, getting out of the chair that he had been sitting in. "Do you want me to tell Sonic about the potential crime that he has to commit?" he asked the Professor.

"No, I'll inform him," Wayne replied, taking a sip from the almost-forgotten water bottle that was in front of him. "You should go, so that you're not late for your next class."

Shadow nodded, before walking towards the door, his hand turning the handle and opening it.

"Oh, and Shadow," the Professor said from behind him, and Shadow paused, halfway in and halfway out of the room as he turned to look back at the mind-reader's gray eyes.

"I'd rather you not tell anyone else about our assumptions until we're sure about this," he said seriously, and, at first, Shadow was going to readily agree. Then, he remembered what made him speak to the Professor in the first place, and honestly wondered if he would be able to not tell Amy about what had happened, and the others who could keep secrets, their small group of friends. After all, they always shared things that they heard with him, and he felt slightly inclined to return the favor, and he knew that Amy would pester him until he actually told her what was going on.

Seeing the slight uncertainty that had entered the normally taciturn teenager's crimson eyes, Professor Wayne added, "Now, I don't mind if you tell a few kids—I know that your little group tells each other everything. But don't tell anyone that you doubt can keep it secret, understand? I'd rather not the whole school go into a panic."

Shadow nodded once more, showing that he got Professor Wayne's point, before he left the room, heading over to his next class.

When he was gone, once again, the older man sighed as he placed his face in his hands. So many things were going awry—first, Sonic's odd acting, something that Shadow refused to tell him because he didn't want to betray his friend's trust, which obviously warranted that something rather serious was going on; next was the odd pain that Shadow was feeling, which brought the idea of the Chaos Emeralds being real; and, among all of this, was the ever-present threat that these Eggmen were mutating these children, and that they might try to get their hands on some of the kids attending his school. Raiyne had already experienced the terrible things that they would do to children, and it was obvious that she didn't want it to happen to anyone else, as did Adrian.

Why did so many dangers have to be in the shadows for the children? Why did they sometimes have to worry for their lives, not sure if an ominous threat was going to take them in the middle of the night? They were good children—yes, some of them were too mischievous for their own good, but they were all good kids, not deserving of the things that happened to them and the things that could possibly happen to them simply because they were mutated. The reason that he had created this school was so that they would be safe, but it seemed as if it was slowly becoming more and more unsafe by the minute. These gifted children had to hide themselves from the outside world to stay safe, but it seemed as if they were still being targeted, even in their solitary place.

Why couldn't the children just be left alone, to be able to live out normal lives, not signaled out because of their mutation? Why were there always dangers that they had to watch out for?

Why couldn't the world just accept them?

Just as the Professor had thought, after Shadow had informed his friends of what had transpired and had been brainstormed in his office, Sonic eagerly accepted the task of breaking and entering into a museum to steal a supposedly super-powerful gem, and, just like Shadow, was completely surprised that the old man actually had a side to him like that. However, he didn't quibble, and agreed to do it.

After being told where it was a while after accepting the challenge, Sonic instantly sped away to the museum after he had all the necessary information he needed. He ran down the streets as fast as he could without creating a sonic boom, dashing as quickly as he could down the necessary streets. It was quite a bit into the afternoon, almost nighttime, but not quite. Just around the time that the museum was closing.

He entered the museum undetected, walking in casually, as if he was the random person that wanted to look through the museum in about fifteen minutes before it closed. Yeah. Totally normal.

He casually strolled around the museum for a little bit, finally passing by the exhibit that was showing the so-called Chaos Emerald. It was set on a velvet pillow, and boxed in by a railing—four metal posts connected by chains, making a square around it. He made a mental note of where it was before continuing aimlessly around the large building.

When the owners announced that the museum would be closing in 5 minutes, Sonic knew that this was his chance. Being as slow as he could, he began to walk back towards the exit, stalling as much as he possibly could, so that he would be able to dash out of the place without much trouble after quickly grabbing the gem. As he walked past the exhibit again, he quickly spotted the cameras; one was at an angle that captured the video of whoever was walking by, and the other one was right above the Chaos Emerald.

Sonic smirked—even though they had cameras, they were still no match for his speed. He just had to make sure that he wasn't seen by the camera that showed people passing by the exhibit—if they checked the video to see who was in that section at that time and saw that it was stolen when he was around, then they would become suspicious.

However, it wouldn't be a problem for the cobalt-haired teenager at all.

Sonic walked behind the camera casually, before quickly using his power. In less than a second, he had dashed away so that the first camera couldn't see him, grabbed the jewel, and sprinted all the way to the entrance, where there were still quite a few people milling about. He mingled easily with the throng of people as he went towards the exit.

Once he was out the door, he looked around, making sure no one was looking, and began to speed home.

On his way back to the Academy, Sonic actually took his time in looking at the gem that was in his hands, the supposed Chaos Emerald, slowing down to a 'jog' of about three hundred miles per hour. It was very pretty, he had to admit—like a perfectly faceted diamond. It was rather large, all things considered, just able to fit in his palm. Colored a light cyan, a sky blue, almost the same hue as Tails' eyes, it slightly reflected Sonic's face back at him in the nighttime. What surprised him, though, was the odd fact that it seemed that he could…feel some of the power of the gem within—it was glowing slightly, as if giving a comforting warmth, reassuring him that it would be all right.

"What the heck's going on?" he mumbled to himself, shaking his head lightly. "This can't be a normal jewel. Maybe it really is real—"

What he wasn't expecting was the sudden pain.

Dark Sonic reared his head back within Sonic's mind when he felt the power of the Chaos Emerald, causing Sonic to break off what he had been saying and to exclaim in agony as he brought one hand up to his temple, where the sharp and sudden pain was emanating from, tripping from the unexpected, sheer agony. He lost his footing and scraped his knees a bit on the rough pavement, but that was the least of his troubles right now as he opened his mouth in a silent scream, before he found his voice again and began to shriek with pain.. Both Dark Sonic and the physical teenaged Sonic screamed with pain, Dark Sonic inside of the teenager's mind, and Sonic aloud, an inhumane, blood-curdling scream of agony as the pain suddenly escalated. He couldn't do anything but scream and scream and scream in the pain, as his darker self shrieked as well.

It seemed that the pain went on forever, that it would never have an end. Thankfully, though, it suddenly stopped, leaving him as if it had never been there in the first place. Sonic was gasping, his throat hoarse with his savage shrieks, the screeches of pain that didn't sound like they were able to be made from human vocal chords. His forehead was damp with his sweat, and some involuntary tears had leaked out of his eyes from the unbearable agony.

Through his slightly misty vision, Sonic looked at the beautiful gem that he was holding after getting over the pain, inspecting it a bit. The aftermath of the pain had left him with a pounding headache, but something nagged at his mind.

Did this gem…was this jewel what had caused Dark Sonic to suddenly scream in pain? If it was, then…

If they got all seven of these Emeralds (which Sonic was now pretty convinced of their reality—what normal gem would make a dark presence in your mind scream with sudden agony?)…was there a way to destroy Dark Sonic? Could Sonic's darker half be vanquished, leaving the teenager alone?

Maybe, just maybe, it was a possibility.

Dark Sonic continued to moan slightly in pain, causing Sonic to wince as he picked up speed once again, heading back to the Academy with a sliver of hope within his heart. Maybe this eternal internal war that he was fighting almost every day now with his darker half would be stopped…and he had to tell Professor Wayne what was happening to him. If he wasn't told, then he wouldn't be able to possibly help Sonic with his predicament.

Because Sonic thought that he might actually have a fighting chance against Dark Sonic. Maybe…

Maybe he could finally be truly free from the omnipresent darkness within his mind.

Professor Wayne was damn near ecstatic about the fact that a Chaos Emerald had actually been found. It was confirmed that it was a real thing when Shadow simply touched it, and his eyes had widened in surprise as power flowed through him. Sonic also confessed what had happened on the way back to the old man, and telling the Professor about his internal predicament as well, while Shadow was silently waiting on the sidelines, holding back the 'I told you so' that was threatening to bubble through him.

The mind-reader agreed with Sonic, based on the information that he'd been given, that Dark Sonic probably could somehow be defeated with the power of these Chaos Emeralds.

Professor W said that they should find the other six, just so that they could have all seven of them grouped together, just to keep them safe. However, how they were going to do it was the question.

A question that was quickly and obviously answered.

When Tails was informed of a new challenge—to create a device that could track the other locations of the other Chaos Emeralds—his eyes gleamed as he eagerly accepted, ecstatic about having the hardest challenge he'd come across yet.

The Professor announced to the school about what he had learned after the Chaos Emerald had been found—well, stolen by Sonic was a more accurate term. All of the kids had eagerly listened, and had been surprised when he said that he thought that the people who were mutating other children were using some of these Emeralds to cause the unnatural mutations within the kids. They would get their answer when Tails finished the tracker that he was beginning to create, based on the energy of the Chaos Emerald. If there were a few Emeralds grouped together, then the Professor's guess was that those were in the possession of the Eggmen, and were what was allowing them to mutate the children.

At least, that was his theory.

After he had dismissed the students, saying that 'lights out' was going to be in three hours, most of them had begun to mingle amongst themselves, and Sonic had gone over to Blaze, Knuckles, and Rouge.

"Guys," Sonic said quietly, looking at them all with hope dancing lightly in his emerald green eyes, "I think that the Chaos Emeralds might also help me with Dark Sonic."

"Really?" Rouge asked, her turquoise eyes widening.

"How?" Knuckles demanded to know, looking at his close friend with surprise in his violet gaze as well.

Sonic them explained to them about what had happened when he took the Emerald from the museum—how it had affected Dark Sonic unlike anything else had ever affected his dark alter-ego before, and how the Professor thought that it was possibly the one weakness of Dark Sonic.

"If we find all seven of these things, then who knows what could happen? Maybe I can finally get rid of him for good," Sonic finished, unable to hide the slightly hopeful smile that he had on his face. He didn't have to tell Shadow about this, because the ebony-and-crimson-haired teenager had already heard all of this when Sonic had gotten back after completing his 'mission.'

"That's great, man!" Knuckles told him eagerly, actually cracking a grin while he patted Sonic lightly on the back, causing him to slightly stumble forward with the unexpected and accidental strength that the red-haired teen had used in his slightly brotherly gesture.

"I agree with Knuckie," Rouge grinned, making Knuckles' cheeks darken a bit with his anger and embarrassment at that nickname as the bat-winged girl shot him a smirk, before turning back to Sonic. "I'm glad that things'll probably turn out all right."

"That's absolutely wonderful, Sonic!" Blaze said with a smile, wrapping her arms around his neck in a sudden embrace, truly happy for her friend. Sonic's eyes widened for a moment, before he grinned as he eagerly returned her hug, slightly picking her up in his lightly muscular arms, both of them laughing as he lightly spun her around in his hold.

"If things work out as the Professor thinks they will, you won't have to worry about Dark Sonic any more," the princess said after he placed her back on the ground, still hugging him lightly.

"I hope so," Sonic replied, his voice betraying his pure relief that there seemed to be a way out of the internal battle that he fought almost every day. He let go of her as she pulled away from him at the same time, both of them lightly grinning at each other.

"So, that's what Tails has been doing for the past while, huh?" Rouge asked after Sonic had let go of Blaze, smiling a bit internally. They both were so cute together, and they didn't even know it! They would make an absolutely adorable couple, but the white-haired girl knew better than to push things, and that relationships eventually budded in their own time.

"Yeah," Sonic answered with a nod. "Right after I got the Emerald, Professor W got Tails and asked if he could build a tracking device to find the other Emeralds. Of course, he jumped right into it. Knowing Tails, he'll have that thing done by tomorrow."

Just then, a high-pitched, familiar squeal sounded from behind the cobalt-haired boy.

"SONIC!" came Amy's voice from behind him, causing his eyes to widen comically. Without a word, Sonic instantly dashed away, leaving his friends instantly as he ran away from the dreaded voice.

However, Amy had been talking to Shadow, having instantly dragged him aside so that he could fill her in even more about the Chaos Emeralds. She turned her head, confused, as Sonic quickly dashed by them without even noticing that it hadn't been Amy who uttered the sound.

Instantly, annoyance sparked in her eyes, and she turned towards the culprit, who was next to a few other mutants. Among them were Jason, Charmy, and Vector, who were cracking up at the smug look on his face.

"CC, what the hell was that?" Amy demanded, crossing her arms as she turned to face the boy.

Chuck Carter, nicknamed CC, continued to smugly inspect his fingernails before he turned to face Amy. His long-ish shaggy brown hair fell around his face, slightly covering his bright, playful green eyes. His skin was lightly tanned, and he was currently sporting a pair of camouflage shorts along with a black T-shirt. He was eleven years old, and was slightly new to the Academy as well, having only been there for almost two years. His mutation was one that was interesting, to say the least—he had enhanced vocal chords. This enabled him to be able to perfectly imitate anyone's voice, and also any sound effects that he wished, causing people to call his mutation his 'magic voice.' This attributed to his personality—he always loved to make people laugh, and was almost the unelected class clown; not even teachers could hold back their smiles when he did one of his impressive imitations. Even though he did love to cause mischief, however, he was a boy who loved to lend a helping hand whenever he possibly could.

Before he had come to the Academy, CC was born into a family of criminals. As his parents committed their robberies, they forced their son to make false voices over the phone to the cops, so that the authorities could be led away from wherever his parents were making their heist. One day, however, CC had had enough of it, and told the cops the truth, ratting out his parents to them, and ran away before they were arrested. However, even without solid evidence, his parents knew that he had been the one to point fingers to them, and they swore that they would get him back one day. CC was oblivious to his parents' vow for vengeance—however, he had a terrible feeling within his gut that they did wish for revenge. He wandered aimlessly around, feeling slight guilt at what he had done, realizing just how alone he was. Eventually, however, he had been found by John Wayne, who took him back to the Academy, where he easily fit right in with all of the other children there.

"Oh, well," CC began, grinning, "the other guys had a bet on how fast Sonic would run away when he heard your voice. So I decided to test that theory. It was two seconds, guys," he then said, turning around, while Vector let out a triumphant "whoop!" as some of the other boys grudgingly began to hand him money.

"That isn't funny," Amy told them peevishly, rolling her own grass-green eyes with annoyance. While the boys sniggered in response, her eyes dangerously lit up, causing some of the wiser boys to instantly gulp in fear as they stopped their laughter.

"You know, Amy, Sonic runs away from you because you are freaking scary," CC informed Amy, smirking at her.

"No, it's not that," Amy objected. "He's just shy, so there. Hmph!" With this, she jerked her head away, causing her short pink bob to lightly swish around her face.

"He's scared," CC said, a devilish grin now on his face. "Who wouldn't be scared if they were in his shoes?" Suddenly, he changed his voice easily, imitating the slightly wheezing, robotic, famous breathing of Darth Vader, before perfectly imitating the deep voice of the Jedi-turned-Sith-turned-Jedi-again. "Krrrrrrrrrrrrr-kraaaaaaaa. Sonic…I am your girlfriend!"

This caused the students who had been listening to the conversation suddenly crack up. Even Shadow couldn't resist his own light chuckle as he watched the events transpire in front of him.

Amy's eyes darkened angrily. A few of the wiser people instantly stopped their laughing, but it was too late. Suddenly, the large, red-and-yellow hammer that she affectionately called her Piko-Piko Hammer was now in her grasp. It was huge, almost as big as her, which made it seem almost impossible that she was actually able to hold it, but she was hefting it up as if it was nothing. The boys seemed to notice how much trouble they were in, and CC couldn't resist as he let out a terrified squeak that sounded like it would've come from one of Alvin's Chipmunks, causing some more people to laugh.

It was the last straw.

"YOU LITTLE SON OF A BITCH!" Amy shrieked, running towards the group of boys with a sudden speed that surprised everyone, brandishing her hammer like a foreboding weapon of doom. Which it was, in a sense. Anyone that had been in that little group that had any sense began to run madly for their lives, especially CC, who honestly had no idea what he had done to make her so pissed off that she was currently running after him like a crazed lunatic, trying to smash him with the huge hammer that seemed way too heavy for someone like her to lift.

Once the danger was gone, the other people who had witnessed the scene began to laugh amongst themselves. The little things like this were what they had all begun to appreciate, considering what most of them had been through.

They all knew that there was trouble ahead, based on what the Professor had said. But they knew that, as long as they had each other, that everything would be fine.

"Cosmo, can you pass me the screwdriver?" Tails asked, his big blue eyes seeming even larger behind the goggled that he was wearing to protect his eyes from what he was working on.

The green-haired girl smiled as she reached over and took the screwdriver, giving it to the fox-tailed boy. After quickly thanking her, he continued to work on his Chaos Emerald radar, completely in the zone with the machine that he was currently working on. The Chaos Emerald itself was over on the side of his work, always close by so that he could run some more tests on it, if he needed to.

Cosmo found it rather cute when Tails would get extremely absorbed in a project, like he was now. His sky-blue eyes were focused, his twin tails curling up a bit unconsciously as he worked hard on the tracker. When he was given a task, he finished it to the best of his ability. Cosmo couldn't help but smile.

"So, Tails, how much longer do you think it'll take before this is finished?" Cosmo asked him.

"Well, I think that I could finish it in just a little bit—I'm almost done! I just need to recalibrate the circuitry to the precise measurements so that it can pick up the electromagnetic pulses that this Chaos Emerald is emitting!" Tails replied eagerly, unknowingly clicking into 'science mode', as Sonic had called it.

Cosmo laughed a bit as he unknowingly used such large vocabulary as he spoke. "Well, that's great! Then, we can start looking for the Emeralds! And maybe we can find out where these people who are mutating the other children are, and maybe we can rescue some of them!" Cosmo looked away. "I'd really like to save someone…"

Tails knew that tone that was creeping into his friend's voice. He took the goggles from his eyes and placed them on his forehead, placing down the welder that he'd been using, as he looked at her.

"Cosmo, it wasn't your fault. The Metarex are gone now, thanks to you," he said softly.

Cosmo shook her head. "I should've been able to…"

Tails gently took her hand in his, and she felt the rubber texture of his glove in her palm. "Cosmo, you couldn't've done anything. You did your best, and you stopped the Metarex in the end."

The Metarex had been a gang, a gang of criminals that were interested in one thing—the beautiful red gem that Cosmo held in her possession. This gem was a special jewel, one that had been passed down Cosmo's family for generations. What made this jewel so special was this: if used in the hands of someone who knew how to harness its power, it could possibly give eternal life.

It was a special gift, one that had to be protected. Cosmo's family had been entrusted with this precious jewel by its creator; however, no one exactly knew who the creator was, but it was rumored that it had been a dragon, one of the dragons that had existed in the very dawn of time before the magnificent creatures became hunted and eventually extinct. Most people never believed in the existence of these creatures, but Cosmo's family always had.

It was a tradition to pass it down to the daughter of the family, the oldest one if there was more than one daughter. As such, Cosmo wasn't supposed to inherit the beautiful stone. And she hadn't at first.

But then, the Metarex had come, and everything had suddenly gone downhill.

A few days before the arrival of the Metarex, the jewel had been passed down to Cosmo's older sister, Galaxina. Cosmo remembered exactly what she looked like—she'd been sixteen, the age that it had been believed that the daughter should be entrusted with the jewel, and had skin as pale as her own, beautiful teal hair, and pinkish-purple eyes that were almost like one of the colors of the beautiful sunset.

Cosmo had been seven years old, and was playing a hand game with her older sister—they were playing Numbers, and had managed to reach eighteen without either of them messing up. It was then that their father and mother, Lucas and Earthia, had come into the room, with Earthia wearing the beautiful red jewel around her neck. She then had called both of her daughters to her, and Galaxina and Cosmo had both gone to their mother.

Earthia had then told them both what her mother had told her—the red jewel had the ability to grant eternal life, and was entrusted to them so that they could protect it and not misuse its power. Only they would know the spell that, when spoken, would give immortality to the person who desired it.

"Galaxina," Earthia said quietly, "I am entrusting you with this gem. Promise me that you will never use it for ill will, and that you will always protect it. Do you understand?"

Galaxina nodded. "Yes, Mother," she replied seriously, and closed her eyes as Earthia placed the necklace around her neck. Cosmo was watching this all, enraptured, after she had climbed up into her father's lap. Lucas was watching the scene with seriousness, but a small smile of pride on his face as well. He had been told about the whole thing from his wife, and was proud that his daughter was now being entrusted with the jewel.

"Pass this down to the first daughter that you have, when she is sixteen years old," Earthia told her eldest daughter, gently, as she kissed her forehead. "And, if you aren't blessed with children, then give it to Cosmo, who will pass it on to her daughter, if she is granted with children." Earthia turned to her second child, smiling a bit. "You understand, right, Cosmo?"

Cosmo nodded as well. "Yes, Mother, I understand," she told the beautiful woman, looking into her mother's lovely blue eyes. Everyone told Cosmo that she looked exactly like her mother, with the green hair and blue eyes and pale skin. She didn't look like her father at all, who had darkly tanned skin, extremely dark red-violet hair, and dark orange eyes—he was almost the complete opposite of her mother, and her as well.

"Good," Earthia smiled. She then stood up, along with Galaxina. "Now, how about we go somewhere out to eat to celebrate?"

"Yes!" her daughters replied, while Lucas grinned as he stood up, still holding his youngest daughter in his arms. Cosmo giggled as she grabbed onto her father, wrapping her small arms around his neck.

"I think we all are in agreement with that," he said, causing Earthia to smile. She walked over to her husband, kissed his cheek gently, and then held onto Cosmo's hand, which she had dropped from around Lucas' neck, now holding onto him with one hand. Galaxina went out of the door, holding it open for the rest of her family, before walking near her mother and father, smiling, as they all walked to the closest restaurant to their home. It seemed perfect, as if nothing could ever go wrong.

And then it all shattered.

A few days later, the Metarex had found out about the whereabouts of the keepers of the sacred red 'jewel of life', as it was sometimes dubbed as. The Metarex themselves were a crazy bunch of men that wore protective armor, making them seem like robots. They'd even changed their names. Their leader was Dark Oak, and under him were people who were named things such as Black Narcissus, Yellow Zelkova, Red Pine, and Pale Bay Leaf. They were the five main leaders of the Metarex, with Dark Oak being the highest, and they wanted nothing more than to get their hands on the red gem so that they could obtain eternal life.

They had attacked in the middle of the night. Cosmo and Galaxina had been sleeping soundly in the room that they shared, before a piercing scream of terror was heard, followed by a sharp cry of pain. Galaxina and Cosmo had jolted awake at the scream, and their eyes widened as they heard the cry of agony.

It had been from their father.

Instantly, they got out of their beds, still wearing their nightgowns, as they ran down to their parents' room, with Galaxina tightly holding onto Cosmo's hand. They then heard the hysterical sobbing of their mother, causing them to run faster.

"Give us the gem, missy," they heard a dark voice say in their parents' room, and Galaxina stopped short, protectively standing in front of Cosmo. She turned around, placing a finger to her lips in a silent gesture to stay quiet, and Cosmo nodded, terrified, clinging onto the nightgown of her older sister.

"I don't have it any more," Earthia replied, her voice breaking. "I don't." She then continued to cry, sobs of pure heartbreak.

"Look, we don't wanna have to kill anyone else. Unless you want more people to join your husband," a different voice said, this one darker, while Galaxina's eyes widened. She shook her head in disbelief, and turned to see Cosmo's eyes begin to well up with tears. She had understood.

Their father was dead.

Galaxina knelt down, and Cosmo ran into her older sister's arms, while the older girl held Cosmo close to her, running her hands through her hair comfortingly.

"I don't have it. Please, just leave me to mourn in peace," Earthia whispered, her voice cracking with her sobs at the loss of her love.

"Even better—you can join him," a slightly sadistic and insane voice said, before Earthia let out a small shriek of pain, before she quickly fell silent. Cosmo couldn't believe what had happened, crying even more into her older sister's bosom while Galaxina felt tears fall down her cheeks from her sadness.

It was then, however, that Galaxina knew what she had to do. She quickly took off the necklace that she was wearing, and pulled away from Cosmo gently for a moment. She then placed the necklace on Cosmo—it seemed the slightest bit big for a little girl like her.

"Galaxina, what—" Cosmo wasn't able to finish her sentence, because her older sister quickly placed her fingers on the little girl's lips.

"Cosmo, it's your job now to guard it," Galaxina told her quietly, her voice slightly breaking with the aftermath of her tears. "Do you understand?"

"But, why?" Cosmo croaked out.

"Please, just…do you understand?" Galaxina asked her yet again, her magenta eyes full of pain.

Cosmo nodded, and Galaxina quickly pulled her little sister into a hug. Cosmo returned it, nearly squeezing the life out of her older sister as she clung to her tightly.

"I love you, Cosmo. Never forget that," Galaxina whispered, hugging her tighter.

"I love you, too, Galaxina. Always," Cosmo told her, burying her head in the crook of Galaxina's neck.

The older girl gently leaned down, so that her mouth was extremely close to Cosmo's ear. "Now, Cosmo, I want you to listen to what I'm going to say. When I tell you to run, you run, do you understand? And please don't argue with me. Just, when I tell you to run, please, run, run and don't look back, OK?"

Cosmo nodded against her sister, and Galaxina held her for a few more seconds, before letting her go and standing up. They then heard footsteps begin to get closer to them, causing Cosmo to whimper.

"Run, Cosmo!" Galaxina hissed, her eyes glaring forward. "Now!"

Cosmo listened, and began to run, listening to her sister and not turning back as she fled for her life. She heard Galaxina's fleet footsteps right behind her as they both ran away. It was then that a voice rang out.

"Stop!" the first voice that had spoken shouted. This only prompted Cosmo and Galaxina to run faster.

"Remember what I said, Cosmo! Go, now!" Galaxina yelled, and Cosmo listened, even though it seemed that Galaxina's voice had gotten fainter, as if she was getting farther away from Cosmo. The little girl ran, terrified.

Then, suddenly, as she ran for a little while longer, an achingly familiar cry sounded out. Galaxina.

"RUN!" Galaxina shouted, and then her voice transformed into wracking coughs. "RUN!"

However, Cosmo stopped. She couldn't keep on, and she turned around, running back to where her sister was.

The sight that greeted her was terrible.

Galaxina was on the floor, her glazed, violet eyes unseeing, blood pooling around her throat. She was gone.

Cosmo was barely able to see through the tears that now obscured her vision as she glared up at the Metarex, who were all looking at her now. Cosmo fell to the ground in sobs, while the Metarex advanced on her.

"So you're the last one, huh?" one of them, clad in yellow robotic armor, lumbered forward as he walked over the dead body of Galaxina. "Well, you're a little shrimp. Do you…" However, he didn't have to finish, his eyes widening as he caught sight of the beautiful red gem resting around her neck.

"She has it!" the man in the red armor shouted, as he began to advance upon Cosmo.

"Wait, Red Pine!" the one in black warned. "Maybe it's a fake."

"Really, Black Narcissus? Why would it be a fake?" the white-armored one asked sarcastically.

"Pale Bay Leaf, you really are an idiot. You never thought that people would be smart enough to switch things?" Black Narcissus demanded to know. "She probably has the fake, and she probably knows where the real one is. In fact, I would've done that myself."

"So, where's the real one?" the one clad in yellow armor asked, walking right up to her.

"She won't answer you, Yellow Zelkova," Black Narcissus replied, his voice suggesting that he was rolling his eyes. "She's too shocked right now."

Cosmo was barely registering the conversation that they were al having with one another, only seeing Galaxina's body in front of her as she sobbed. First her parents, now her sister.

"All of you, step aside," a deep voice, filled with authority, demanded, and instantly, the bickering between the four stopped. Cosmo looked up to see the largest robot-man above her, clad in dark brown armor. He even had a long cape attached to his shoulders.

"Is this the last one?" he demanded, turning around to the other four men-turned-robots-or-whatever.

"Yes, Dark Oak," Pale Bay Leaf replied. "Everyone else is dead."

Hearing that made something suddenly snap within Cosmo as she continued to sob. Her eyes suddenly widened, her breathing speeding up the slightest bit, as her pale fingers clutched the gem on her necklace.

"Give us the gem, girl," Dark Oak demanded of her, extending a slightly clawed hand towards her in expectance. "If you don't then we'll kill you. If you do, then we'll consider letting you live."

Cosmo shakily drew in a breath, before she began to speak in a quivering voice.

"You killed my family…all of them…" she croaked out, her voice shaking. Small thorns began to sprout through the floor of the house, forming around the bottoms of the feet of the Metarex., unknowingly to both Cosmo and the Metarex themselves.

However, the thorns suddenly began to grow in their size, suddenly shooting up out of the ground. The Metarex were shocked as the thorns twisted around their robotic armor, winding and curling tightly around them as they were lifted up into the air. Instantly, they tried to use their guns, but they were somehow blocked off with twisting tendrils of ivy that continued to grow and grow, no matter how much they tried to stop it. They dangled helplessly in the air, trying to get out, but unable to escape the deadly grips of the thorns that were holding them captive.

"Y-you k-k-killed th-them!" Cosmo shouted, her voice constantly breaking as she sobbed. "I H-HATE YOU!"

The robot-men—they were so merged with their robotic armor that they would even call themselves cyborgs, even—were hefted even higher as the thorns kept their tight hold on their metal armor. They struggled to get out, but it was completely useless for them to try and escape from the choking hold that the plants had on them.

It was then that Cosmo looked up, realizing what she'd done. Her dark blue eyes were now wide with pure shock, still shiny and red and puffy from her tears.

Then, she snapped to her senses, and, as quickly as she could, called the police.

After that, everything was a blur. The Metarex were taken to prison, where they rightfully should be; the police asked Cosmo how the thorns had managed to capture the cyborgs, and she lied that she had no idea; she told them about the murder of her sister and parents, and they were given a proper funeral and burial while she sobbed with heartbreak throughout the whole thing; she refused to be brought into a foster home, and had run away…

And she had finally met Professor Wayne, who then brought her back to the Academy. She'd been here for two years, and had fit in nicely with the other kids in the group.

However, she always felt angry at the fact that she'd been unable to do anything to prevent the deaths of her family members. It was why she always tried to save someone whenever she was possibly able to.

"Cosmo, you tried," Tails told her quietly as she snapped back to the present. "It's OK."

Cosmo took a deep breath, and she nodded. "I know. Thanks, Tails."

The little fox-tailed boy grinned at her. "No problem. Hey, can you give me the wrench?"

"Sure thing," Cosmo answered, grinning now as she reached for the wrench, giving it to him. Tails took it, offering her a quick thanks, before he continued to work on the device after he placed his goggles back on his eyes. Cosmo grinned at that.

Yes, she hadn't been able to save her family from the Metarex. However, she had been able to end their threats once and for all. She'd gained a new home and new, true friends, who accepted her for who she was.

Just like most of the children at the Academy for Mutants, she was glad that she'd been brought here. Even though she'd gone through quite a bit, the good spirits of the kids here had helped her heal. She'd learned how to forgive herself, that her parents' and sister's deaths weren't her fault.

New, true friends, and a safe home. Honestly, Cosmo couldn't ask for anything better.

Heyyy, guys! Well, I'm gonna be totally honest with you here—I was completely blank at how to write the beginning of this chapter until about a month ago, after rereading a review that one of my lovely reviewers had given, and I was suddenly struck my inspiration. Then, after I wrote the first half. I got stuck and couldn't write for another two weeks, because our schedule was all screwed up because my family was all going on vacation and it took a while for us to pack up. And then, I finished most of the chapter today, and am very eager to get it out.

Not that anyone cares about that! XD anyways, well, I hope this chapter suffices! A little break from the extremely dark stuff…yeah, the last chappie was pretty dark, but here's a little break from all of that. What'd you think of it? I hope this was worth the wait. Oh, and the idea for Cosmo's past just totally hit me, like, yesterday, and I just HAD to put it down! I hope you guys thought it was all right, hope this was worth the wait! Oh, wait, I said that already…oh well!

Anyways, please review! Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and may also prompt me to write more chapters faster! :D So…please review and leave your thoughts, guys, they're literally what I run on! XD