It was early the next morning before Sonic got a chance to rest. Exhausted and dirty, he hauled himself up the steps to his little house, then collapsed onto the porch swing, falling asleep almost immediately.

He only got a few hours rest before his communicator buzzed, waking him. "Ugh...Tails...?"

I'm afraid not, Faker.

Sonic looked up at the image. "Shadow...Didn't see you out savin' the day."

I can't leave the base. Tower was wounded in the blast and...I've been assigned to run GUN until he recovers, as Standing Commander.

"Huh. Lucky you..."

Right...how's the kid?

"Silver's okay. Just shaken and tired...a lot like the rest of the world."

Yeah. From the reports, Station Square, here and Spagonia were hit the hardest.

"Geez, just when I thought Station Square had suffered enough...!"

You okay, faker?

"Exhausted from disaster relief, but I can handle myself."
That happened to be the same time a searing pain rushed through his body, but mostly his head, and he yelped in pain. "Ah!"

Faker? Sonic! What's going on!?

"I don't...Ah! I don't know...!" He curled up in a ball, holding his head and dropping the communicator on the ground. "Uh...!"

Don't go anywhere! I'll get a hold of Prower.

As Shadow's face vanished from the screen, Sonic closed his eyes tightly, heat and pressure building in his head.

Weak! Hissed a voice in his head. Useless! You've served me poorly!

Sonic shook his head. "N-No! Leave me alone!"

Give it up! You are weak, alone, and fighting a pointless battle!

"NO! Stop it!"

He laid there, trembling and finally feeling the pain subside, but he knew something was wrong. He knew that voice...so angry.

The problem was...it was his voice.

"Sonic!"
Sonic looked up, seeing Tails and Amy headed towards him. "Whoa...! Sonic...?"

Sonic's eyes went from his friends, to where his blue fur had turned to a dark bluish purple. "Tails...I'm so sorry...!"

"What are you apologizing for?"

Tears slipped his cheeks, some leftover from the pain, and new ones from knowing he'd been keeping secrets too long. "I...I haven't told you the truth, I...I'm sorry...!"

He sobbed into his hands, then felt Tails and Amy bend down and hug him. This only increased his sobs' severity, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"Shh...It'll be alright, Sonic...!" Tails whispered, rubbing Sonic's back in a gentle pattern. He'd never seen Sonic even cry before, much less sobbing like a terrified child. Something must've really scared him.

He waited until Sonic's cries eased, then whispered. "...you gonna be okay?"

"I...I don't think so..." Sonic looked up at him, wiping tears from his eyes. "One of them is going to win...and I don't think it's going to be me..."

"Who?"

"The demons inside my head..." He took in a deep breath. "Over the years, I've used lots of different energies...some positive, some negative... But the negative energies somehow forged their own personalities, their own minds...and now they're all fighting me and each other to get control of my body... It's been going on for a while, but with all this stress-"

"Don't worry, Sonic." Tails clenched a fist. "We'll find a way to stop Eggman and get rid of those energies, I promise."

Sonic nodded. "Right...I'm sorry."

"Hey..." Amy gently elbowed him. "Even heroes gotta cry sometimes."

"So where do we start?" Tails asked.

Sonic got up onto his feet. "...we rally the troops."

______________________________________

Inside Tails' workshop was a massive set of computers and sensors, a part of an elaborate communications network spread across the world.

Tails slipped on the headgear, his fingers flying across the keys. He waited a few moments, watched as several lights came on above the screen. "Mobian Strong, this is Central Division. All divisions, call in."

"Rogue Division, squirt." Wave the Swallow replied. "We're all ears."

"Chaotix Division." Espio answered.

"Nocturnus Division, awaiting orders."

"GUN division." Shadow responded.

"Island Division." Knuckles replied.

"Guys, you must have all already seen and heard about the current catastrophe we're facing..." Sonic explained. "Eggman is making us stretch thin with disaster relief, but we've got a plan. You all in?"

"Agreed." They all answered.

"Good. Chaotix, your job is to locate Eggman currently, and keep tabs on him. Alright?"

"You can count on us, blue!" Vector announced.

"Rogues, you find as many Eggman bases as you can. Raid them of weapons, resources, etc, then trash them."

"Blue, you've got yourself a deal...!" Jet crowed.

"Shadow, you guys keep doing what you can from your location."

"We'll do our best."

"Silver, Blaze, see if you can locate the Chaos Emeralds. We might need them, but we definitely need them out of Eggman's hands."

"We'll get on that." Blaze replied.

"Knuckles, you, Shade and Chaos keep Eggman from touching the Master Emerald. For the same reason we need the Chaos Emeralds. Keep them away from Eggman."

"Roger."

Sonic nodded. "The world is counting on us...This is our biggest fight yet. Do your best to make what you do count."

"Uh...Sonic? Where are you going?" Amy asked, seeing Sonic head for the door.

"To help clean up downtown."

"Oooooh no." Amy took his shoulders. "No. You're not going anywhere until you rest."

"But I-"

"Sonic, you're not just fighting Eggman, but yourself too. You need as much rest as you can get."

Sonic closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "...okay."
He went to the couch in the corner, curling up on it and closing his eyes. "Tails...I hope you can stop these negative energies before I wind up doing something...evil."
____________________________________

...Our hours are numbered. We're going to be killed for running away like this.

If we die, our secrets die with us!

What secrets? This is the first time we've ever rebelled...
Orbot shook his head, then looked around as he heard movement. ...Cubot, I think we should-gyah!

He yelped as suddenly a net wrapped around them, lifting them up off the ground and hanging them upside-down. Oh no...!

"See? I told you we'd catch them this way." A feminine voice said.

Don't break us! Cubot whimpered.

"Don't you worry...It'll be over soon..."

That was all Orbot heard before his systems went silent.