Heart of a God, Soul of a Warrior

The Gang is Back Together Again

All fun times must come to an end, for one of Eggman's robots was filming the fight from the shadows. Watching Sonic destroy all of the badniks bit by bit before reuniting with his closest friends. Once the fight was done, the robot reported back to Eggman. "WHAT?! HE'S ALVIE?!" Eggman screamed once he got the report. "Yes Doctor. It seems that the infamous Sonic the Hedgehog, who was claimed to be dead for three years, has returned," the robot reported.

Eggman couldn't believe it. Even though he was very happy to see Sonic gone at last, he didn't even expect him to be magically alive the next few years. He wanted to pull his mustache hairs out, but yet his robot assistants Orbot and Cubot happened to remind him of some footage he had filmed during that fateful moment. "That's right!" Eggman exclaimed. "No wonder I was getting so worked up over nothing!" He got on his huge laptop and began to pull up the footage, since he had forgotten what it was all about ever since he first watched it. Eggman smirked at the screen, as what was on it began to project the footage.

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There was a victory meal to celebrate the return of Sonic the Hedgehog. The group of friends went to a local Italian joint in the city, where they talked and had the best time of their lives. Sonic, as perky as ever, got his usual chili dog. "Ah man have I missed the taste of these!" he said happily, his mouth drooling in excitement. Annabelle looked over at him and smiled, happy to see her other boyfriend back to his normal self.

Shadow and Silver laughed. They knew this was typical Sonic, and they were just as happy as Annabelle to have their third S back. "What brings you and Blaze here?" Sonic asked Silver after finishing his chili dog. "Oh nothing. We decided to come over for vacation. We were heartbroken when we found out that you were..... well dead..... for that long time," Silver told Sonic. "Yet back in our worlds," Blaze started, "It's been the same usual deal. Silver protecting his future world and me doing my usual duties of protecting the Sol Emeralds in my dimension."

"You two must of have been busy," Tails piped in. They both nodded and laughed at this cause. Amy then wanted to get into the Sonic topic, so that's what she did. "Hey Sonic! How did you escape from Dark Gaia's clutches?" she asked. Sonic, shocked, looked at her. "Eh like I usually do. Beat up the spawn and find a way back up here," he lied. Sonic didn't want to reveal his deadly secret to them just yet, just like what Chip, Abyss, and Lucius told him back underground. "Oh. Of course," Amy replied, knowing that was typical Sonic.

Sonic was happy that Amy managed to believe him. This won't be as hard as I thought, Sonic thought smiling to himself. He took another chili dog down, happy to have the chili's spicy taste once again in his mouth. Tails noticed the bracelet Sonic had on his wrist. Then he noticed Sonic's curved ears and slightly longer tail. He wanted to question them, but didn't. He continued to enjoy his meal with his sister. Sonic smirked at Shadow, asking him for a race. "It's on," Shadow replied. "A race already?" Amy asked in shock. "That was too fast."

After the meal the two hedgehogs got into position. "The first one to run around the clocktower and return to this spot wins," Annabelle explained. "Sounds great!" They both said in unison, making Annabelle chuckle. She knew both of her dates very well. Once she said three, the two took off. Amy was filing the race. As The two hedgehogs were neck and neck, Sonic winked at Shadow before sprinting ahead of him. Shadow mumbled and sprinted after him. Sonic had reached the clocktower first and decided to stop at it and let Shadow catch up. Sometime later, Shadow caught up to him.

"Ready to lose?" he asked. "You should be the one ready to lose!" teased Sonic as he dashed off again. Shadow, growling, followed after him. Sonic was enjoying the race, feeling the thrill of the hunt as the wind whipped his quills. It's been so long since I last ran. Back in the ground, there was nowhere else to run, Sonic's thoughts rambled as he saw his friends ahead of him. Shadow had caught up to Sonic while he was daydreaming. The two hedgehogs were neck and neck as they both crossed the end line at fast speeds.

They both stopped and turned around. "Ok we're back who won?" Sonic asked crossing his arms. Amy, surprised, looked at the footage. After studying it, she said, "Well...... you both crossed at the same time. It's technically a tie." Both of them stared at her dead faced. Tails and Knuckles both laughed. "A tie is a tie you two!" Blaze added. After when the two admitted their tie, Tails happily hugged his best friend. "I'm so happy to see you alive, Sonic! We missed you!" he said happily. Sonic laughed nervously. "Yeah. Good to be back," he replied. Shadow noticed Sonic's weird behavior. What are you hiding? he thought with a suspicious look.

After awhile, Annabelle insisted on Sonic staying at a dorm at the university for the night. At first he said no, but after the times Annabelle had pleaded him to stay for the night, Sonic had no choice but to accept it. She told him about Operation: Gaia, the plan they had set up to rescue Sonic before he came back to them. "You guys did all of that for me?" he asked. "Of course! You're the world's best hero!" Annabelle replied, making him fluster.

Once in the spare dorm, Sonic asked Annabelle if he could have some spare time on his own. She agreed, and after a kiss, she left the dorm. Sonic touched his cheek. He remembered the last time Annabelle had given him a kiss like that. Who knew how many times she kissed Shadow! The moon above him glistened brightly, causing several patterns, along with a "third" eye, to appear on him. Sonic happened to notice this. Woah. Check me out! Sonic said to himself as he looked at his glowing body. Even his bracelet shone in the moonlight as well.

After looking outside for a bit and taking in his patterns and the sight of his home, he decided to call it a night. He took off his bracelet and looked at it. "Night you guys," Sonic said to it. He wondered what they were up to. He sat his bracelet on the desk next to him as he laid there for a few moments. He pulled his gloves off and looked at his hands, which were normal and not clawed, but also did not have any patterns on them like the rest of him. He was happy to have his normal self back, but if his friends did find out he was a god, how would they react? Would they fear him, treat him as the enemy, or still be his friend?

Sonic shook the thought off, trying not to think about it. He instead let sleep take him over, as he readied himself for his next day back with his friends.