Blizzard and Ruby had no choice but to return to the Council's main office with Ivy and Reaper with them. Immediately as they pulled in, their parents came out. Lightning raced past all of them and was overjoyed to see Ivy race out to her side. "Mama!" she cheered, running up to her. Lightning couldn't even speak as she embraced her daughter in her arms tightly. "Oh my gosh..."
The others were smiling seeing them so happy. Lightning put her down on the ground and took a good look at her. "Where have you been? Where's Mystic?" she asked worriedly. "Back home... Uncle Mysty is back home... I'm scared!" she cried. Lightning's ears flattened and glanced over at the others wondering what to do. "W... Why? What's going on? Is Mystic hurt?" Ivy shook her head. "No..."
Shadow turned to Reaper who flew over to his side. He held out one hand to hold the Chao in his hand. "What's going on?" Reaper showed them his necklace, projecting the events that unfolded back in their home. Shadow almost gasped seeing his daughter's eyes bright green from the curse put on by Eggman. "That bastard. He's using our damn kids!" he snapped, turning to Rouge, Scourge, Infinite, and Mephiles. "That Chaos Emerald I gave them, he's using its power against them!" he snapped. All of them snarled. "That son of a bitch is going to pay." Rouge huffed. "What the hell does he want from them!? We've got nothing worth fighting for anymore!" Scourge snapped.
"Yeah, well, they don't know that. As far as we know, this could've been anyone's idea and now Eggman's decided to take over. Either way, I'm killing the man whenever I get the chance." Mephiles growled. "How?! There's a barrier blocking our way into that town! There's no way we'll be able to get there without being completely melted! I mean you saw that! Even Shadow can't break it!" Infinite ranted. Shadow turned to Sonic who couldn't believe what they had learned. "We've gotta do something." they said at the same time. They smirked briefly and thought about what they could do. "I'm not sure what we can do. There's very little we can do at this point. Neither of us is as strong as we used to be. And both of us together can't break that thing." Shadow replied.
"Yeah, I don't know. I definitely don't think I could do that on my own. Could the two of us do it together?" Sonic questioned. "Hardly. At least not alone. We'd need the Chaos Emeralds. Not to mention it might be too hard on the two of us. Doing anything with those things alone nowadays is a huge risk to us. We'd need..." Shadow then trailed off, trying to come up with something. Sonic's ears then raised slightly. He turned to Blizzard who still stood alongside Ivy and Ruby. "Blizzard!" he shouted. Blizzard turned to see him. "How's your dad doing?" he asked.
Blizzard sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Better... But he's not a hundred percent." he sighed. Sonic and Shadow shrugged. "Can we see him?" Not having any other options, Blizzard nodded.
...
Silver sat up in his bed while making smaller items fly around the room. He wasn't even there long and he was already bored. Just as he changed the channel on the tv again, he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Great, another round of lights in my eyes... He stretched out only to be surprised by Sonic, Shadow, and Mephiles walking inside with Blizzard leading them into his room. "Woah... I must be hallucinating. Sonic and Shadow are in the same place and their not fighting... That's a first."
"I'm just as surprised. Usually, I would've had to hold someone back by now." Mephiles noted. "Anyways- how are you feeling dad?" Blizzard questioned. "Sore if anything. I feel a lot better! So much better. I could really just get up and walk out. I hate it here. Please! Get me out!" Silver whined. "Dad, relax. I'm sure they'll let you out soon. But, if anything they need you out of here already... Apparently Dark Side's in danger..." he replied. Silver gave a worried look before turning to the others. "Trust me, we don't like it either," Shadow replied.
Mephiles held Reaper out in his palm. "Our sources tell us that our kids have been indoctrinated by that bastard of a robotic man. And unfortunately, no one is capable of bringing down that shield. Not even these two can do it alone or together. They want your help to bring the shield apart so that we can start this again."
Hearing this, Silver glanced down at his hands. He clearly was hesitating. "Silver?"
He still looked down. "Can't... Can't Scourge do it?" Sonic and Shadow shared a confused look. Blizzard noticed his dad's behavior. "Dad? Are you okay?" he wondered worriedly. "Can Scourge do it or not?!" he snapped back. Taken off guard, everyone flinched hearing him raise his voice like he did. Mephiles' gaze softened realizing what this was about.
"Scourge doesn't have the power needed to get on our level. He was lucky to be able to handle its power back home. If he did it again it could do wrong." Shadow explained to him. Silver then shook his head frantically. "I'm sorry, I can't do it..." he cried. Sonic approached his friend, placing a hand on his arm. "Silv, we'll be with you. It'll be okay!" he reassured. "Didn't you hear me!? I can't do it! Now leave me alone!"
Shocked by his burst, Sonic backed away. Mephiles then began gently pushing Shadow and Sonic toward the door. "Let me handle this. You're stressing him out," he told them softly. He nodded to Blizzard who followed his lead and ushered the others to come wait outside while the two talked. "I'll try to see what I can do. But I'm not going to talk him into something he doesn't want to do. So just give us a minute... I can tell this goes deeper than what we think it does." Mephiles told them. They agreed to listen to him and walked away to give them both privacy.
Mephiles then turned to a trembling Silver who continued to stare at his hands. "Alright, talk to me, what's wrong?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. Silver raised his gaze up and wiped away a tear. "I messed up..." he whimpered. Mephiles heard the change in his voice and sat on the bed.
"When the attack happened... I was doing everything I could to help... You saw us... We were losing Mephiles... So much could've happened. And all the while I was unconscious. I let my friends down! I let everyone down! I was the only that could've held them off long enough if Shadow hadn't done anything about it! I could've gotten everyone killed! All because I let my guard down..." he cried, hiding his face in his hands. Mephiles' ears flattened hearing how hurt Silver sounded from the incident. After all, he wasn't sure if he would've recovered properly from getting hit as hard as he did. "I just can't risk being a failure again... I failed everyone... And I left you vulnerable! I just can't do it!"
He began crying again, tears hitting the sheets. Mephiles leaned over and hugged him tightly, trying to comfort him. "Silver, you never failed anyone. In fact, you did everything you could. You kept a large portion of the fleet back long enough for Cream to get Shadow from the prison. I know you don't believe that but it's true. It saved your town and no one died because you were able to hold them off. No one expected you to get hit by the robot as hard. It was just an inconvenience. Everyone else was happy that you were alive! Hell, I was worried that it killed you from the way you were limp in my arms. It doesn't even seem like you got hit so hard in the head! You're making the fastest recovery. So stop bitching and man up already!" Mephiles reassured him.
After a minute, Silver let go to look him in the eyes. "Do you really think I can?" he whispered, his eyes glistening. Mephiles' cheekbones filled, indicating he was smiling. "Of course I do." he reassured him, placing his hand on Silver's. "You're so great that you could beat my ass any day if you tried." Silver smiled back, wiping his face. Mephiles then gently grasped one side of his face while smudging away tears. "I've always believed in you."
This made Silver's heart slightly thump. He moved away and got up out of bed and got ready to leave the hospital. He didn't care if the hospital tried to stop him. They wouldn't last very long.
As he made it to the waiting room, Shadow, Sonic, and Blizzard all stood up. They were shocked to see him so confidently walking up to them with a serious expression. He paused in front of them. When they didn't say anything, he scoffed. "Don't tell me we're not just gonna stand here! C'mon! We've got work to do."
...
The three made it to the front of the shield. Everyone else was standing behind them alongside Mobius' army. If they were going to make a move, it had to be now while Eggman didn't expect it. The remaining Chaos Emeralds were placed in front of them. They glanced at one another reassuringly before standing around them. "We've got this... Let's get your kid back Shads." Sonic told them. Shadow nodded and Silver took a deep breath. They stood there together, gathering their focus on the power.
Slowly but surely the Emeralds began to spin before spinning around them rapidly. It caused their fur to turn a lighter shade of gold but didn't alter their eye color as they gathered enough power. "Okay! Let's take the shield down!" Shadow ordered them. They nodded, directing their energy toward the shield. It hit the surface, creating a large crack in the shield. It began spreading across it. Each of them pushed harder and harder. It kept spreading, making it harder for it to resist its strength.
Once the cracks met up in the middle, they completely broke apart from one another, making the whole thing collapse. Shadow, Sonic, and Silver descended to the ground. They caught their breath before staring at the open space in front of them. "Let's get this over with." Shadow declared dashing off into the town. The others followed behind him, racing into their territory.
