Everything was quiet in the HQ, everyone was sitting around, waiting for something, anything to happen. You were currently cleaning your Burst, making sure it had enough juice in it for your next battle. The others were all sitting around or near the computers, some talking amongst themselves and others sleeping or doing their best to relax. You turned to see Sonic walk over to you, clearly bored.

"Hey Rookie, how are you feeling after the little battle with the fake earlier?" He asked.

You looked up, froze, cheeks heating slightly. That was something you didn't want to think about right now; being defeated by a clone of Shadow sounded like fighting a toddler and losing. It didn't help that the real Shadow had little faith in you. And your back gave a small throb of pain at the memory of being thrown into the wall. It was definitely not your finest moment.

So, all you could manage was a shrug, before you turned back to your wispon, scrubbing at it's red handle. The hedgehog frowned slightly and sat next to you, your heart started to thud in your chest. Why did you feel so uneasy all of a sudden?

An image of Sonic standing over you, clearly protecting you, appeared in your mind and you silently growled at yourself as your cheeks heated more.

-He'd do that for anyone...- You thought to yourself, before jumping at a hand on your shoulder.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked again, "It was a pretty big hit, I'm surprised the wall didn't give way."

He chuckled slightly, trying to turn the fight into a joke, but stopped as he saw your ears lower. He chewed his cheek slightly, rubbing his quills.

"Hey, you did pretty good for a Rookie who hadn't even seen Shadow before. Don't beat yourself up over it okay?"

You nodded and kept cleaning, trying to distract yourself form the warmth of your cheeks and the humiliation filling your mind. The hedgehog sighed and leant back, you couldn't help but look back at him. He had his eyes closed, his hands behind his quills. Was he trying to relax? He didn't look relaxed, in fact he looked almost ready to pounce on anything.

So you decided to stay as still as possible, only lightly rubbing the wispon in worry that you'd startle him. Though you weren't surprised, it was best to be on high alert during a war, that's what your old team always believed. But then, it still was never enough. You sighed and lowered your gaze to the floor, imagining again the limp bodies of your fellow comrades as they fell to the hands of Infinite.

Suddenly, an alarm went off and Knuckles burst into the room.

"Listen up! We just got word that Eggman's forces are undermanned at his headquarters in Metropolis!" He yelled, hurrying over to the computer and bringing up a map of Eggman's base.

"They're probably staging somewhere else as part of Eggman's plan. This could be our only chance to take the city." Espio jumped over, scanning the large computer screen almost desperately.

Knuckles nodded, "Exactly! That's why we're focusing on a full-frontal assault on Metropolis! I'm calling it, 'Operation Big Wave'!"

"Who cares what it's called? What's important is to have a well thought out strategy." Silver said, walking over.

"I thought up this strategy in about a minute and a half. We're going in hard and fast and we're not going to stop till Eggman's army's destroyed. We've got the strength and the spirit to win. There's no finer group that I'd want to fight with." Knuckles chuckled slightly, holding a large fist to his chest.

"Ha! Great speech! Let's give Eggman an old-fashioned beat down!" Vector punched the air, Charmy flying around him excitedly.

Tails soon joined them, and you felt as if you should too, "They have more in sheer numbers, so the idea of a quick, focused attack isn't bad. We also have Sonic-- I mean, the other Sonic-- so I have no doubt we can do this!"

The smaller Sonic jumped and punched the air as well, giving Tails the thumbs up.

The kitsune smiled, "Also, if we can destroy the Phantom Ruby, we should be able to send the other Sonic home! At least I hope so... this is all new territory for me..."

"Okay, let's head straight for Eggman's HQ! Time to save the world, people!" Knuckles hit his fist in his hand, before running out of the room. The others followed close behind.

"Finally, some action." Sonic chuckled, jumping up.

You stood next to him, the buzz from everyone else in the room filled you with excitement of your own, you started to shake a little in anticipation. Sonic turned to you, tilting his head. You offered him a small smile, before running out of the room, he chuckled and followed you close behind.

Soon enough you were all in separate aircrafts, heading to different points of Eggman's base. Knuckle's plan to split up and attack from all sides was a brilliant plan. The element of surprise will surely help them this time.

Although, as you neared your entry, you started to feel nervous again. What if Eggman was actually still there, and was using this as a trap to get rid of the Resistance. Sonic, who was partnered with you due to the similar speed, pat your back.

"Hey, don't be scared! This is your moment to shine!" He yelled over the noise of the aircraft, smiling, "Keep going, don't let your fear own you."

You smiled and nodded, gripping onto your Burst tightly. Finally you arrived, jumping out of the aircraft, the two of you looked around.

"Right, I'll go this way, you head that way. If anything happens, just call out okay?" Sonic turned to you, before stopping and rubbing his head, "I mean, signal. Signal for me, you remember how right?"

You nodded and held up your wispon, and he gave you the thumbs up, "Good luck Rookie!"

And he took off. You watched him go and sighed, before running the other way. But as you ran, you couldn't help but wonder, why was Sonic so nice to you? He didn't know you, not even your name. He had no reason to be so kind, he had no reason to talk to you when he had others that he hadn't seen for over 6 months. So why did he seem to talk to you first?

You huffed to yourself and shook your head. No. Stay focused. You can't be thinking about Sonic right now, not when you're about to break into Eggman's base.

But still, you couldn't help but think of the blue hero, how he stood over you to protect you against the fake Shadow, how he saved you from those robots when you first met, how he always seemed to care and make sure you weren't down.

Your chest started to feel funny and you growled, hitting your head.

-No. Now is not the time to start getting attached. We're in a war (Y/N), no one has time for these sorts of thoughts and... Feelings...-

But you just couldn't help it.

Suddenly, a chuckle bad you stop in your tracks and you looked up, freezing in place as the evil jackal you once called the 'Masked Villain' came into view. He was staring down at something, though you couldn't tell what it was.

"More ants to crush..." He chuckled to himself, crossing his arms, "I wonder if this world can offer me a real challenge."

You took a deep breath, before walking over and holding up your wispon. You couldn't stop the shaking in your arm, the weapon suddenly felt like lead.

"And as if to answer, the world sends me a trembling child..." The dark jackal shook his head, before he disappeared. You blinked, confused, but not a moment later he appeared right in front of you. You jumped slightly, eyes wide as he stood not inches from your muzzle.

"Are you going to fight and die here? Or, run away in fear again?" He asked in a low voice, a hint of amusement sparking in his only showing eye.

You started to back away, trembling like a piece of paper in the wind. The jackal watched you, waiting for you to run off with your tail between your legs, and that sounded like a pretty good idea when Sonic's words came back to mind.

"Hey, don't be scared! This is your moment to shine! Keep going. Don't let your fear own you!"

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, before stepping closer to the jackal and raising a fist, challenging him to a fight. He blinked, before chuckling and floating above you.

"Fine. I will teach you fear, then pain, and then... Well, at least the fear and pain will end."