[TAILS]

After Knuckles had sprinkled the magic dust over us I immediately started feeling more relaxed. My throat and chest felt warm and my shoulders finally were relieved of the tension they'd been carrying. I gulped as Knuckles held out the hat to me first.

Here goes nothing...

I reached in and grabbed the first piece of paper that came into my hand. My heart dropped all the way to the bottom of my stomach when I opened it up and saw the neat handwriting and the very last name that I wanted to see. Fuck.

"Shadow"

Are you effin kidding me?!

Shadow looked at me and we stared at each other in silence for a few moments.

Knuckles urged us to go have our talk. "Ok guys the hat has spoken! Go find somewhere private to chat."

We both stood up awkwardly. I could feel Sonic's gaze burning into us out the corner of my eye.

"Just relax and go with the flow!" Knuckles shouted after us as we walked a short way into the trees. "Let your heart do the talking!"

We found a small clearing and sat on the floor between two dead logs. The temperature was much cooler away from the fire and the sun was beginning to set. The sound of crickets lazily buzzing nearby was the only think to break the uneasy silence between us.

Sitting down opposite Shadow I took in the sight of savage creature. He was definitely someone you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of. But I couldn't help myself... For some reason I suddenly burst open in rage and couldn't stop myself from voicing all of my thoughts and feelings to him.

"I hate you Shadow! You took Sonic away from me. You don't deserve someone like him! You're a nasty piece of work who follows his own rules and doesn't care who he hurts along the way. I don't know what Sonic sees in you. You're evil!!"

I stopped to take a breath of air. Shadow glared at me with his piercing eyes. He looked furious and devastated at the same time. I thought he was about to reach out at me and grab my neck, but instead he sighed and said, "So you're in love with Sonic, huh?"

My heart skipped a beat. This was the first time I'd admitted it out loud to someone. But I couldn't hold my words back.

"Of course I love Sonic! He's the best! And not only that, we've been friends since almost forever! Now suddenly he is spending all his time with you and has forgotten me!"

"Well," said Shadow, "I love him too."

My eyes widened in disbelief. Was Shadow the Hedgehog really sitting in front of me declaring his love for Sonic?! I didn't know it had gone this far...

"B-but... Y-you can't!" I cried. "You're Shadow the Hedgehog, you don't love anything!!"

"Technically I haven't told him 'I love you' yet, but I know in my heart I do love him. And I'll do everything in my power to protect him."

Shadow shot me an intimidating glare and kept talking.

"My whole life I have been living in hell. Pain from losing those I called family. Rejection. Being labelled at the bad guy because I act angry all the time. But what no one realises is that I live with pain every single day from my past. Or at least I did until I experienced something with Sonic. Being with him relieves me from the suffering and gives me belief that I can be free again."

My anger shifted into confusion. I'd never heard Shadow talk about his past or feelings before. I thought he was just a bitter person with not much else to him, I didn't realise he was suffering.

"I don't mean to step on your toes Tails, but Sonic and I... we're connected somehow, I just know it. Do you realistically see yourself with Sonic?"

I frowned and looked into Shadow's eyes. They were so deep and held years of wisdom. I didn't like what he was saying but I was beginning to see him in a different light. I still despised him for trying to take Sonic away though.

"Sonic will always be there for you, but he loves you like a brother," he continued. "That's an unbreakable bond right there. You're luck to have it because some people never get to feel what it's like to have a brother."

I sighed. I knew he was right. What a mess this was.

[SONIC]

My heart nearly stopped as I watched Shadow and Tails walk off into the forest. This isn't good! I hope they don't end up in a fight! My thoughts were interrupted as Knuckles pushed the hat into my face.

"Pick a name Blue!" he said.

I swirled my hand around the loose papers in the hat a few times before settling on one and pulling it out.

"Cream"

Phew! This will be awesome.

"Yayy!" Cream cried, jumping up and walking over to me to link my arm.

We walked a few meters away from everybody else and sat down under a large mushroom adjacent to Knuckles' cave.

"So Sonic, what's been happening!" Cream said happily. I was relieved I got to speak to her first, I love Cream, she's makes everyone happy wherever she goes.

Now, feeling the full affect of the magic dust, I couldn't hold back anything and began pouring my heart out to her.

"Well, a lot's been going on actually, where do I begin? I've kinda met someone. Well I already knew them, but to be honest Cream, I think I'm falling in love!"

"Oooohhheeeee!!!" Cream squealed in delight.

"But the thing is, I've fallen out with Tails, and that's really been getting me down," I continued.

"Oh no! But you and Tails are forever friends, how could that happen?" Cream cried.

"Yeah, everything's a bit of a mess right now," I sighed.

"Well you can talk to me Sonic! Maybe I can help you figure things out."

I was so grateful for Cream and her friendship right now.

"Thanks Cream, you're the best," I said, giving her a hug. I decided to tell her everything.

"Well it all began recently when we realised Shadow had been missing for a while. Rouge, Knuckles and myself decided to go over to his place to check on him. When we got there we found him nearly dead. He had tried to commit suicide."

"Oh my goodness! Poor Shadow! I had no idea that was going on! Oh why didn't I think to check in with him?!" Cream looked crestfallen.

"It's ok Cream, we all should have done a better job of checking in with each other. No one's to blame."

Cream nodded sadly.

"Well anyway it turned out that he'd tried to poison himself. Luckily Knuckles knew what to do with his plant medicine and saved his life."

"Wow," Cream said.

"Yeah, for real. He's lucky to be alive. And you know, I'm so glad he is. There was something about nearly losing him that made me realise how much I cared about him. I mean, really care..."

"Sonic, is Shadow the person you're falling in love with?" Cream asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah Cream, he is..."

"Oh my goodness!!! You and Shadow! It makes so much sense!!"

I smiled. I had been so scared of what people would think if they found out about us, but Cream was so supportive, I couldn't believe it.

"Really? You think so?"

"Of course, you're perfectly matched in everything from strength to even your height!" she giggled.

"Wow thanks Cream, I'm relieved you support us."

Cream smiled then said, "So how about you and Tails then? What's going on there?"

"Ah. Well here's where I gets complicated. You see, me and Shadow had just shared- well let's just call it a moment of passion... And yeah... heh... Tails walks into my house and sees us together... And he flips it. Like, loses control. He screams at us and storms out of my house."

"Oh Tails!" cried Cream. "He's probably just scared of losing his brother!"

"Nahhhh I don't think that's it," I replied. "You see, a while later I go over to his house to try to talk to him. He left his front door unlocked so I just strolled in as I usually do. I find him in his spare room at his computer. And there on the screen... There was... me. In his bathroom."

Cream's face scrunched up in confusion. "So he filmed you in secret, is that what you're trying to say?"

"Yeah I think so dude! I dunno what to make of it! And it gets worse. When I confronted him about it he told me he was in love with me!"

Cream was silent. Her little face looked horrified and tears pricked in her eyes.

"Cream, what's the matter! I'm sorry is all this too much information?"

"I-it's not t-that Sonic," she said, starting to sob. "It's j-just... I like Tails... I-I thought he m-might like me b-back!"

Ah crud. Why did I have to say that to Cream! Have I just made this whole situation a whole lot worse?!

[BLAZE]

After Cream and Sonic walked off to have their chat I was my turn to pick a name out the hat. I reached in and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper.

"Amy"

I was hoping I'd get Rouge but I was happy with Amy. I hadn't really spoken to her since she last called me frantically looking for Sonic. I usually didn't enjoy talking too much but after that magic dust Knuckles had sprinkled us with I was in the mood to talk and my usual defences had subsided somewhat.

Amy walked over to me and grabbed my hand. I smiled and we walked to the other side of the fire until we were out of sight from everyone.

Amy immediately pulled me into a hug and started crying.

"Amy, what on Mobius is wrong?" I said, hugging her back. "Sshhh it'll be ok girl!"

"Ohh Blaze, I've really fucked up!!" Amy began. "And I really need to talk to someone about it. I've done something unforgivable!"

"Did you kill someone?" I said.

"No!!! Of course I didn't kill someone!" Amy squealed.

"Well then, chances are you can be forgiven then," I replied calmly.

"But you haven't heard what I've done yet!" she said.

"Tell me," I said and released her out of our hug, grabbing hold of her elbows affectionately.

"Well you know when you told me that Sonic and Rouge were together on a mission or a date or something...?"

My heart stopped for a second. I knew exactly what she was about to tell me.

Chaos! This is all my fault!!

"The fire...?" I said, hoping that it wasn't true.

"Huh?! But how did you know?!" Amy cried.

"Rouge stayed at mine while her apartment was being repaired. She told me someone had set fire to it."

"Oh fuck, does she know I did it?!" Amy screamed in terror.

"No, no. She just told me about it. I had a feeling it could have been you who started it," I replied.

"How?!" Amy demanded.

"I'm psychic... duh!"

"Oh. Of course."

My heart beat nervously. I knew I had misled Amy about Sonic and Rouge, and I knew I had to come clean.

"Well actually Amy, I'm afraid this is all my fault," I began apprehensively.

"Huh, what do ya mean?" she replied.

"Well, when you called me that day in a frenzy looking for Sonic, you interrupted my telekinesis practice. As you know I have a fiery temper and I got really annoyed. I snapped at you and gave you misinformation I shouldn't have. Sonic and Rouge were together on a mission, but they had actually gone with Knuckles to Shadow's house. He had tried to commit suicide and they saved his life. I'm sorry, I never should have mislead you like that."

"Blaze what the fuck!!" Amy screamed. "Do you even understand how much that triggered me?! I've been battling with my mental health so much recently and that pushed me right over the edge!!"

She shook her head in frustration.

"Anyway, I already found out the truth about the mission from Sonic but it's too late, the damage is already done. Rouge is going to kill me. I can't believe I flipped over something that wasn't even true!"

Am broke down into more floods of tears. I felt awful.

"I'm so sorry Ames, I wish I'd never said it." I wrapped my arms around Amy and held her while she cried, feeling really responsible for my friend's life falling apart.

"I wish I'd been a better friend to you..." I started to well up myself, and before I knew it I was in floods of tears alongside Amy. She reached out and grabbed me, and we sat in each other's embrace, crying our eyes out together.

[KNUCKLES]

"So, that just leaves me and you!" I smiled at Rouge.

So far I was pleased with how my 'Truth Serum' exercise was going. The hat had provided some interesting pairings in the first round of chats. I could feel the effects of the magic dust in full swing. Everyone's hearts and voices were unlocked, just as I'd hoped.

As everyone else was out of sight we stayed seated in our spot a few meters away from the fire.

Rouge took my hands in hers and smiled at me.

"You know Knux, I've always admired you. You really try your hardest to look after your friends."

I grinned back at her. "Of course, someone has to!"

"I'm so impressed with how you're handling today," she continued. "I mean, potential disaster is about to hit Mobius again and here you are just handling it, with some crazy magic dust that makes me just want to pour my heart out to you! And everyone is talking through their problems. We are going to work through this and come together as a team again! It's genius!"

I smiled at her enthusiastic compliments. To me it just made sense that this is what needed to be done. I was just happy to have everyone together again and talking.

"You know I do have something I'd like to tell you though," she continued.

Oh great, what could this be?

For some reason my heart started beating a little faster and my palms started sweating under my gloves.

"I've always had a bit of a crush on you!" she said blushing. "I know we've had our ups and downs along the way, but I just can't help being attracted to you!"

My face turned a deep crimson. I don't know why but I felt warm and happy. I've never had much time to have a crush on someone before, as I truly believed it was my duty to remain alone in order to guard the Master Emerald properly. But Rouge definitely had something special about her.

"Haha but Rouge," I began, trying to hide my embarrassment and deflect the attention away from me, "You flirt with everyone!"

"I know I do. But that's just my nature. Everyone is attractive in their own special way."

I admired Rouge for her ability to see the beauty in anyone.

"But I've never seen you in a relationship with anyone Rouge, why's that?" I questioned.

"It has been a long time," she sighed sadly. "In all honestly it's hard to find someone who wants the same kind of relationship as me."

"What do you mean?" I said.

"Well I'm polyamorous!" she exclaimed proudly.

Well I wasn't expecting that...