Soooo ... This is either going to be seen as one of the boldest and most intriguing things I've ever written, or one of the most confusing and pretentiously stupid. It's definitely something that I've been really nervous about, to a degree greater than a lot of what I've done in the past. I don't even know what to say that won't come across as a pandering self-congratulatory assessment of my own material. All I'll say is that in a world that may very well have no inherent meaning or agency, we make our own. Sonic's been trying to do it, Silver and Blaze realized that they've always been doing it, and now Shadow relearned how to do it.

Or I've just written a whole bunch of nonsense. Up to you.

And with that, we end what would be Shadow's "campaign" had this been the game's plot. Obviously it's not the end of his story entirely, but we won't revisit him until the "endgame" portion of the fic begins. This chapter also sets up the finale of Sonic's campaign, which I think I can finish in the next chapter? It'll probably be one of the longer chapters, unless I feel what happens is too heavy to squeeze into one. Then of course, Silver and Blaze's path is coming to its own head.

But yeah, if you have thoughts on this part, please let me know.


Gag speech:

"Rmmrf?!" - "Elise?!"

"Mrrmphnnph!?" - "Princess!?"

"Rmmff, mphrmf!! Mrrnnhmrr, hrmmrmmph!!" - "Elise, it's us!! We're in here, help us!!"

"Hmmh!! Mmphmmph!!" - "Help!! It's us!!"