I paced back and forth outside of the infirmary, my quills quivering, my eyes stuck on my shoes as I walked. Nervousness was growing inside me, and panic was making me anxious.

"This is something I didn't miss!" I snarled, spinning around to face Crimson, who had been standing by the door, watching me pace. She put a hand on my shoulder.

"I know, Shadow. Your mind is a mess. You need to calm down. We already know what happens." She reminded me. I shook my head, not necessarily disagreeing, but just in denial.

"Do we? I mean, do we really know that this is the past?" I questioned. Crimson frowned, pulling her hood back to smooth back her fur.

"I guess not. But then...where or when are we?" She wondered aloud. An idea occurred to me, and Crimson raised her eyebrow.

"That's not a bad idea! Come on!" She exclaimed, starting to run off. I grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks.

"Crimson, not right now. I've got to make sure Maria's okay!" I explained. Crimson's eyes scanned my own, then she sighed.

"Yeah. Okay." Her eyes were soft and understanding as I turned back around and waited for the doctors to open the doors.

It was another ten minutes before they finally let me in. I raced to Maria's side and took her hand. She was pale and sickly, but she smiled when she saw me.

"Hey, sorry for the scare." She apologized. I shook my head at her, laughing slightly.

"It's fine." I told her, as opposed to saying my original thought, that I was used to it. I looked at the doctors. "Is there anything I can do to help?" The doctors checked their charts and shook their heads.

"It's just a fever. Her disease makes her more susceptible to sicknesses, and her immune system has trouble fighting of said sicknesses, but we've given her medicine, and with a little rest, it'll pass." One of them said. I just nodded, looking back at Maria, who yawned, her eyes dropping closed with a content smile. Crimson put her hand on my shoulder.

"She's going to be okay. Come on, let's go find out what's going on." Crimson suggested. I nodded and turned away, thanking the doctors as we left the room. Crimson and I both tensed when G.U.N. soldiers jogged past, their booted feet still nightmarish to hear. One of the soldiers stopped and walked back to us. It was the one who had escorted me to my tests. He smiled at me, waving slightly.

"Hey, Shadow, how you feeling? I heard what happened, is Maria okay?" He wondered. Crimson tensed slightly, but I nodded.

"The doctors say it's just a fever, that it'll pass." I reported. The soldier nodded.

"That's good, that's good...and what about you?" He asked. I crossed my arms uncomfortably, still not able to forget the badge he was wearing and just look at the man.

"What about me?" I inquired. Just then, the group of soldiers he had made wait on him called his name, sounding irritated.

"Sean! Come on!" One exclaimed. The soldier, Sean, gave me an apologetic look, gave Crimson a smile and a tip of his hat, than ran back to the other soldiers. I looked over at Crimson, who had a strange look on her face.

"What are you thinking?" I wondered. She shook her head slightly, laughing.

"It's just weird, is all, knowing what we do about what's going to happen." She explained, looking after the soldiers that rounded the corner at the end of the hall. I shrugged.

"If this even is the past. Come on, let's go." I called her thoughts back. She nodded and we were off again. I let Crimson lead the way, since we were going to her room. After a few more turns and doors, we arrived at Crimson's old room.

"Okay," Crimson whispered to me before opening the door, "if we open this and she's normal, then we know we're in the past. If we open this and she's an angel, then we know something's wrong." I nodded, then raised an eyebrow at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, she's in there, Shadow." I shrugged, smirking slightly.

"Just making sure." I defended myself. Crimson pushed my lightly with her shoulder before taking a deep breath, her hand reaching towards the button that would slide the door open. She froze, her fibers dancing across the surface of the button.

"Crimson? Are you okay?" I worried. She closed her eyes for a moment.

"Just a little nervous about who's going to be on the other side..." She admitted. I gave her a reassuring smile, a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be okay. No matter who's over there, she's still your sister. She's not going to hurt you." I pointed out. Crimson just nodded, turned her head back to the door, took a deep breath, and...

"Shadow! Crimson! Wait!" We both froze and turned around to see Kyoki running down the hall to us, her eyes yellow in fear.

"How did you...?" Crimson started to ask. Kyoki cut her off.

"You can't go in there." She said firmly. Crimson crossed her arms, glaring at the fox.

"And why's that? This is my room, after all." Crimson growled.

"Kyoki, how did you escape?" I asked gently. The antsy fox's eyes flashed red and she spun towards me.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child! I've been through more than you know!" She snapped. I bit my tongue to keep my anger in check. I took a deep breath. Watching my temper was something I had been trying to do for a while, but all my progress was lost when Virus transfused me with Chaos Energy and they tried to use Maria against me.

"Fine." I snapped back, unable to calm myself enough for another gentle approach. "Then don't answer my question, and answer Crimson's!" I scathed. The black fox winced, her eyes flashing back to their normal aqua blue color.

"The girl in there...well she...what I mean is..." She stumbled. I rolled my eyes and Crimson read my mind. She pushed the button and the door slid open. There was a moment where nothing happened, then there was a yowl like that of an enraged cat, and Oblivion's Angel leapt from the darkness, her fur and wings completely black, her uncovered eye blood red. She pinned Kyoki to the wall, snarling.

"You! I will rip you apart!!" Oblivion snarled, her claws digging in to Kyoki's shoulders. Crimson growled and pulled Oblivion off the startled fox that seemed oblivious to the pain.

"Oblivion! What's wrong?!" Crimson demanded. Her sister's eyes snapped to her, narrowing.

"She works for him!"