Thalia P.O.V

We left the smoldering ruins of Tails' workshop behind and Tails contacted the team. I was really mad at Torin. He almost hurt Trix! I silently swore to myself that I would be the one to slay him. Trix still had her amulet around her neck. It had a deep crimson tinge. I knew that wasn't a good sign.

Once we were in town, Trix evacuated everyone by harnessing the power of her amulet and changing the course of a nearby river so that it ran right through town. The people evacuated by boat.

Sonic, Knuckles, Amy and I were given the duty of storming Eggman's lair and using it as a safe house, but I insisted I do it on my own. I flew there by spinning my tails an dropped down onto the little island.

I kicked the door down and defeated all the motobugs and beets without any problems, besides a little scratch here and there.

As I ran through the empty hallways, I suddenly heard the sound of clattering metal. I peered around the corner to see...

"Shadow?" I asked.

"Hello, gorgeous." he said. He stood in the middle of a pile of scrapped robots. He had Dr. Eggman in a headlock.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I wanted to help." he said.

"And why would you do that? Aren't you supposed to be bent on evil or something?" I asked.

"And I thought you were the one who convinced everyone otherwise." he said, still with Eggman in his vice-like grip.

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"You sided with me on arguments, you defended me, you knew how I felt, you were even stronger than me. I guess, that triggered something inside me. I felt inspired. By you." he said. A shy smile spread on his face as his cheeks turned rosy.

I was shocked. Shadow was smiling. And blushing. He was actually smiling earnestly, not some smirk or mischievous grin. I had never seen this side of Shadow. I knew I saw something in him, and I was right, just when I was losing hope.

I went over to him and raised my fist. Shadow winced, preparing for a blow, but he didn't defend himself. I landed the punch, not on Shadow, but Eggman. Shadow dropped his unconscious body and I embraced him in a hug. He was so surprised he stood frozen for a good ten seconds before hugging back.

"I didn't know you hugged." he said.

"I don't. But I guess you triggered something inside me. I felt inspired. By you." I said, repeating the words he'd spoken. What happened next nearly made me jump out of my shoes.

Shadow kissed me.

On the lips.

It was my turn to stay frozen there like an idiot.

"Flustered much?" he asked.

"Very. I'll kill you later. But for now," I said, bringing my lips back into contact with his, "I'll enjoy the moment."

"You two are so cute right now!" We heard a voice say. I whirled around to see Trix standing in the doorway, a robot impaled in her sword.

"Is this... okay?" Shadow asked.

"I got no problem with it. I'm just concerned for your health and safety." Trix said. I rolled my eyes and punched her arm. Shadow laced his fingers in mine.

"I'm warning you! This is happening just for today! You will suffer and burn everyday for what happened today!" I said.

"That's just her way of saying she likes you." my bothersome twin said.

"I'll kill both of you later." I said.

"Come on! We have a village to evacuate!" she said, removing the scrapped robot from her sword.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." I said.

"Also, Shadow? You might not want to make a huge appearance in town. I mean, no offense, but everyone still hates you." Trix said.

"Including me." I said. Shadow rolled his eyes and snorted.

"I turn over to the good side and yet you still hate me." he said.

"Well, it's my sister you're dealing with. She hates or dislikes everyone. If she hates you, it means she either really cares for you or really wants to kill you whenever she gets the chance. If she dislikes you, you're just in between." Trix said.

"I hate you both." I said, crossing my arms. I cared about Trix more than anything else since I was technically two minutes older than her it was my duty to act as a big sister, but sometimes she could be extremely annoying.

"Let's get going!" Trix said. We each grabbed one of Shadow's arms and lifted him off the ground. We both flew him over to the mainland as fast as our tails could carry us and dropped down onto the beach. Sonic and the rest were filling lifeboats with townspeople. When Sonic saw Shadow, he bolted over and landed a punch to his face.

"Hey! Cool it! Shadow's on our side now!" I said, helping the hurt hedgehog back up.

"And how'd you manage that?" Sonic asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, Thalia-" Trix started.

"Not. A. Word." I said, glaring at her. She rolled her eyes.

"My twin 'inspired' him, I guess." Trix said, air-quoting the word 'inspired'.

"I see. Well, sorry, Shads, for punching you. I still don't trust you but I hope you'll do the right thing in the end." Sonic said, holding out his hand. Shadow grabbed it and shook it in a sign of alliance.

Once the population was off the island, our team reassembled.

"Chimera is going to get here any minute. We should start heading to their base so we can head them off. I'm sorry to say that this might be the end for some of us. So just in case, do any of us have anything we want to say or do before doomsday?" Sonic asked the team.

"I love you, Sonic." Amy said, wiping a tear from her eye. Sonic blushed.

"I love you too, Amy." he said.

"Aww! Here come the marshmallows!" Trix said. 'Marshmallows' was the term she used for cheesy romantic moments. I personally wasn't a huge fan of those kinds of things.

"I'd just like to say, I told you so! I told you the robot-apocalypse was nigh! And did you believe me? No! Well, I told you so!" Sticks said, doing an 'I-told-you-so' dance.

"And I'd like to say, I have no regrets! I may be the last of my kind but I'd be honored if my bloodline ended here in this glorious battle. It's been an honor fighting alongside you all." Knuckles said.

"Wow, Knuckles. That was really sentimental! I never thought you had it in you." Sonic said, astonished. Knuckles smiled.

Afterwards, it was Tails' turn. He pecked Trix on the cheek. He planted his lips there for a whole second before pulling away. Both of them turned bright red and looked away.

"Just in case I don't make it out of this..." he said.

"Trix, Tails, you two disgust me with the slowness of your relationship." I said. Trix violently straightened.

"W-w-what?! N-n o! W-we don't have a r-relqtionship!" Trix stammered.

"Y-yeah! W-what are you t-talking about?!" Tails said.

"Really? Come on now, the truth. Do you or do you not like each other?" I pressed.

"Oh, would you like everyone to know about what's going on between you and Shadow?" Trix said back.

"Shut your trap or else!" I said. I looked down to see that my hand was in Shadow's. I mentally face-palmed. It was never good when your little sister could blackmail you. I quickly slapped his hand away while Trix and Tails made kissing noises and everyone laughed. Great, they knew...

"You would have known, huh?" Amy said.

"Yeah! I'm pretty surprised too!" Sticks said.

"Wait a minute. I just realized he's way older than her, physically." Knuckles said.

"Well, does anyone have anything else to add?" Sonic asked. No one said anything.

"In that case, let's go to war." he said.