Quick summary: I'll leave everything in the dark, since I'd probably blurt out the entire plot in one paragraph and ruin the surprise. Here's the basic premise for your convenience: Sonic and friends investigate a disturbance out in the sea on the President's request. Some stuff happens and the incoming plot twists are worthy of Shamalamadingdong's presence. But not really, because even with an enormous internet ego such as my own I ain't that delusional.

Warnings: I gotta put in a warning for something or else this is going to be bland. Let's see now; swearing, violence, mention of blood and well… lots of subtext. Specifically, it's gonna be Sonadow subtext. Nothing overblown or rushed for now, I'm more inclined on developing their comradeship first and we'll continue from there. But being the fangirl I am, there will be a whole lot more of it than in a usual fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic or his friends. The last time I tried to claim copyright over them, it resulted in an apocalypse filled with killer robots and fast food restaurants. That was a nasty Monday morning to wake up to.

.:Abandoned Fragments:.

Chapter 1 - Adventure Must Go On

A gloved finger wagged into an unknown direction, trying to get an answer from his two current companions, ''You sure this is the closest you can get?''

''Definitely sure. It might not be much to you, but it's the best I can do for now…'', the two tailed fox confirmed and began decreasing the altitude of the red biplane to get a closer look at their current position. A flash of uneasiness settled on his face almost immediately as he worryingly pointed out, ''I have a feeling it'll be almost impossible to find a decent landing site. It will take a while to get down either way. You sure you two wanna go off now?''

Quickly, the blue hedgehog rubbed his nose with no particular concern, ''Piece of cake! I'll leave everything else to you, Tails!''

The younger of the three mammals smiled faintly, ''Okay! Try to call me once you're down there!''

''No problem'', he replied smugly and turned his emerald eyes back onto the distant horizon.

He raised his hand to shield his face from the blazing sun and otherwise perfectly observe the green environment below him along with a smirk rising up his peach muzzle. The cobalt mammal stood almost immobile on the sturdy wing of the biplane, wind resistance or laws of gravity barely having any effect on his being. On the other side, another similar looking hedgehog did largely the same thing as his rival, except with his arms folded tightly around him and a vaguely uninterested expression on his face.

With a slight chuckle, the Blue Blur squinted over to his darker counterpart with a thumbs up, ''Are you ready? Try not to hit a branch on your way down!''

To his surprise, he barely looked annoyed, ''I hope you land face first in the dirt. See, I can make childish insults as well.''

''Hah! So you can be fun after all!''

XXX

It was an early morning according to the hour, the sun still trying to slip past the horizon to announce a new day. The Mystic Ruins sounded particularly peaceful at this moment, only the recent waves beat themselves against the old cliffs as a sign of solitude. Usually, there were whole squads of human archeologists in this part of the world, but this time around it must've been end of the season for any further investigation. To be honest, it's been a while since anything world shattering happened. Most of the good old forgotten weapons of mass destruction or severely angry abominations of the planet or otherworldly origin were either destroyed or put down to rest for the time being. Dr. Eggman was back in hiding somewhere far away from United Federation, possibly planning a more complex idea of conquering the world once and for all, if the length between his last appearance and present day was any indication.

But at the moment, there was nothing that could possibly disturb the peace anymore.

Tails managed to open up his workshop once he received a message from the Fastest Thing Alive about a new mission and brought out his Tornado from the garage for a quick inspection. It was slightly odd his friend was quick to accept this peculiar task without any specific reason, but at least something was happening after months of perpetual silence. As much as they enjoyed the summer vacation without the fat egg causing trouble for them, the ever present boredom started to grate on everyone's ears. Like Sonic requested from him, he sent the same message to Knuckles to gather up Team Sonic back together and investigate whatever bothered the President.

''Hey, Tails!'', the blue hedgehog appeared right out of nowhere, bringing a portion of the wind along with him. Anyone else would probably be slightly startled or even freaked out by his sudden appearance, but the fox was used to his unpredictability and turned around to meet him. He smirked lightly at the situation, ''Great, you're already up. I'm impressed.''

With a small smile, the younger mammal quickly answered, ''Calculating your exact location, your maximum speed and distance between us usually gives me an idea when you'll get here, so I'm always ready.''

''That's kinda scary. Imagine if Eggman suddenly decided to do that'', Sonic snorted at his buddy and shrugged, ''Actually, let's not give him ideas.''

''Okay'', the pilot nodded in agreement and turned the propeller around, ''What's going on? You mentioned something was up…''

When Tails twirled around, the blue hedgehog was already gone from sight and was instead leaning on the side of the Tornado with his arms folded. His eyelids fell halfway downwards as if he was thinking about something important. Of all things possible at this moment, Sonic eventually yawned and rubbed his chin, ''Yeah, about that… apparently there's an island out there that's been causing some trouble. But even the big guy doesn't know what to think of it.''

His yellow furred friend sounded surprised, ''Why is that?''

With barely any movement, the blue one now held a piece of paper in between two of his fingers, ''This is all I got. I thought you could make sense of it.''

Tails took the paper away from him, unfolded it and held it close to his face. Scanning it thoroughly, it contained a bunch of random numbers which to normal eyes seemed to be completely meaningless. However, he quickly managed to recognize the real meaning behind them off the top of his head. The fox scratched his ear in clear confusion. Scarce information like this was rare to come from a high official, especially from the President of the entire nation. He didn't exactly know what the human was thinking, but this appeared to be very little help as far as he could think about it.

He questioned the speedster with a puzzled tone, ''Coordinates? That's it? Not even a name or an exact location?''

The Blue Blur stretched his arms up in the air with a lazy look, ''Nope. Nobody knows a thing about it.''

''That's pretty strange. I'll need to check the coordinates myself, we need to be prepared for whatever waits for us there…'', the two tailed fox thought back on the scribbled white paper.

Right before he decided to take off toward his quarters, the pilot marveled at his friend's decision with a doubtful voice. This definitely wasn't a usual assignment the speedy hedgehog would ever sign up for out of shear interest that quickly. Especially since he only rarely took upon other people's missions and the human leader had many other skilled people to handle the job just as well, ''But don't you'd think G.U.N. would be more appropriate for this? Why did the President send for you anyway?''

Opening his eyes slightly, the Fastest Thing Alive merely shrugged with his shoulders, ''A little adventure never harmed anyone, so I said, why not? It shouldn't be a problem for us'', Sonic answered lazily and immediately started to rub his nose as he looked around the greenish plains and the blue skies.

''Speaking of which… where's Knuckles?''

The fox couldn't really say at the moment, ''I don't know. I contacted him as soon I woke up. I thought he'd be here sooner.''

''Slow as ever'', he snorted out, ''Why am I not surprised?''

''Who are you calling slow?'', a booming voice disrupted the once peaceful environment between the two companions. Seeing how they immediately recognized the distinct voice and face behind it, Tails waved into his direction while the blue hedgehog merely started smirking as soon the other team member walked in near proximity. The red echidna appeared from an entirely different way than the Blue Blur earlier and stomped over to his two colleagues with heavy steps that were more likely to cause earthquakes all throughout the plains anytime soon. Like most of the time, Knuckles didn't look particularly amused, but when did that surprise anyone?

''Hey, Knuckles! Didn't see you coming!'', Sonic widened his grin and remarked with a playful yet nonchalant tone, ''I'd appreciate if you hurried the next time around, the world ain't gonna save itself, you know.''

''Don't push it. Not everyone can break the sound barrier with a jog in the park'', the echidna guardian berated the indifferent mammal with a lifted fist, even though he knew the blue furball was most likely enjoying himself by listening to his fall outs and arguments every step of the way. He turned away from him to completely ignore his smug face and decided to speak with the yellow furred pilot instead, ''I got here as soon as I could, but I need to tell you something first.''

''Sure, what's up?'', the multicolored hedgehog asked him anyway out of indifference, even when the red guardian was giving him a silent treatment.

As much as Knuckles got the urge to turn around and yell at the blue hedgehog for butting in on his and the fox's conversation with no indication, the echidna heavily sighed to calm himself down and decided to get his thoughts out without any further delay.

''I'm not going with you this time around.''

''… what?'', Sonic's overgrown smile completely sagged down to its proper place, keeping his mouth wide open as if he had a shocking revelation, ''What are you saying?''

In that moment, the red guardian was the one to fold his clenched fists, ''You heard me. I'm not going with you on this one.''

Brushing against his chin and barely even listening to the other's words, the blue hedgehog truly believed this had to be some sort of hoax from the echidna. With hardly any inclination to the previous statement, he replied onwards with his patience keep lowering with every second, ''Stop kidding around, Knuckles.''

''I'm serious.''

The Blue Blur couldn't believe his ears and glared at his red companion as if he just committed the most awful crime that ever existed in the world's history. There was no way Knuckles was leaving their team after so many successful years of operating against the mad Doctor and his machines, especially after doing so much to protect the planet against various outbreaks and its detractors. There had to be something else the echidna was thinking of. Maybe he was tricked again for the umpteenth time in succession by someone else.

Sonic loosely gripped his hips and leaned toward the red furred guardian to talk some sense into him, ''Come on, think for Team Sonic here. Did your precious rock shatter again or did Eggman told you I was bad for your health?''

Nodding with a grunt, Knuckles only calmly left out, ''This has nothing to do with the Master Emerald or Dr. Eggman.''

Shrugging at him, the blue one asked again, ''What is it then?'', this time hoping to get some sort of answer out of this mess.

''Hello, boys.''

And boy did he ever. Just hearing that poisonous feminine voice made Sonic feel vaguely uneasy every time it showed up on screen. All three members of Team Sonic (or two, taking this sudden twist into consideration) shifted their eyes toward the white furred female, revealing the infamous thief in her regular garments, a cheeky smirk and an unusually strong but pleasant smell of roses and lilies. In this moment, the Blue Blur could notice that even Knuckles changed his expression for Rouge's random introduction. However, since the look he was giving the bat wasn't of the threatening nor the glaring type, it was more than enough of a reason to start questioning their current position.

Still, the younger hedgehog couldn't resist the temptation to have a little fun first when he still had the chance, ''Oh look, who finally came out of the cave. Should've seen it coming, what with the sudden changes in the atmosphere. Just wondering, do you wear that perfume to turn on or smother people?''

''Very funny, Sonic'', the batgirl merely laughed, ''I'll let you know that it distracts even the lowest kind.''

He pushed further with a scratch to his cheek, ''Is that before or after they run away?''

There was a mild but definitely playful sigh coming from her, ''Aren't you clever? Unfortunately I have no time to play with you. Knuckles, are you ready to go?''

Sonic should've known this was the moment he was waiting for to reveal itself upon him. The expression on echidna's face looked like it was pulled out of that sappy romance movie Amy once dragged him to see and the winking giggling thief made everything even worse by running a gloved hand through a patch of her short white hair. This looked like the right time to improvise a quick freak out secession on his part, ''Whoa, hold on a minute here! You're dumping us to go with her?''

''Why do you care?'', the guardian tilted his head in an unusual position, widening Sonic's eyes even further.

''What… how… when…'', he tried to question Knucklehead's decision, although the hedgehog couldn't even reply with a coherent sentence as it turned out in the end.

He eventually lowered his eyes with an interest, ''Hey, is that a flower?'', the Blue Blur didn't notice it before, but his big red (and possibly former) friend was holding a light blue colored plant. Sonic managed to recognize it as a rose, however blue was not a natural color for that kind of blossom. Then again, how many times do you see a naturally blue colored hedgehog in the wild? It was just one of those things nobody wanted to think about because it made little sense to begin with anyway.

He opened his mouth to try and reply further without snorting too hard at both of them lovebirds, ''Well… I'll be damned, Knuckles. Are you going soft and mushy all of a sudden? Did she put you under a spell or something? I can tell when something's not right, you can't fool me!'', the blue speedster pointed unnecessarily dramatically at the nocturnal female, a pose that he was all but too well known for.

''Sonic, calm down!'', Tails tried to act as the peacemaker between the three, ''I'm sure it's nothing like that.''

Knuckles quickly reinforced the fact and glared into the younger one with a roll in his eyes, ''No, Sonic, I'm not brainwashed or fooled this time. As much as you keep making me out to be, I'm not a complete idiot and I'll prove that once and for all. ''

''Hah, good luck with that!'', he wanted to stick his finger down his throat at the sheer thought of their relationship and avoided the echidna's deadly look that would only cause him trouble. Out of nowhere, the blue hedgehog wondered something else as well, ''How did you get here anyway?''

''Is that really necessary?'', the guardian broke the flow of their conversation again, but the agent lightly put a hand on his shoulder much to his surprise.

The bat replied silently, ''You don't have to worry, I can deal with him myself…''

Rouge turned her brightly shaded eyelids back toward the blue speedster, ''If you really want to know about that… Shadow gave me a ride. I was hoping for a more dynamic entrance from him, but he refused. Speak of the devil… it's not very nice to eavesdrop, you know.''

According to the sudden tilt of her head, the black and crimson furred hedgehog was lounging on the other side of Tails' workshop to stay away from everyone's sight. He quickly formed out an unsatisfying grunt due to the batgirl's meddlings in uncovering his location to just about anyone important in this scene. As much Shadow wanted to stay in the shadows and mind his own business, he felt the urge to walk over there anyway and start a chat with Rouge, just for her to get the idea how unbelievably pissy he was due to lack of sleep when thrown out of bed so suddenly.

Eventually, the darker counterpart of Sonic looked around the corner and fully revealed himself before them a second later. With a deep exhale, the older hedgehog's eyes immediately landed on the batgirl as he said with a bitter voice, ''You know damn well it's a G.U.N. motorcycle. There's a penalty for accidentally scratching it.''

''That's a petty excuse'', she countered with a tease, ''You're just a neat freak.''

''Now he doesn't want to show off his badassery because of a penalty? When did you become an admirable citizen?'', Sonic was quick to interfere into the situation and grin at his informed grumpy rival. However, the blue one mildly staggered forward and wondered something particularly interesting that didn't leave his thoughts even seconds later. Just how they manage to get from conversing about Knuckles and Rouge's little romance sequence to Shadow's bike problem was anyone's guess.

He noted with a confused appearance, ''Wait, why am I talking about…'', the younger hedgehog appeared to be a little flustered at the two members of G.U.N. and the last living echidna in front of him, ''You two, stop changing the subject! And you, Knuckles. Have some sense, will you? This is Team Sonic we're talking about. Remember us, your pals?''

When the blue hedgehog saw that his buddy actually closed his eyes for a moment and propped his chin against his knuckle, there was a sparkle of hope that he still understood what the younger one was talking about. Knuckles finally answered with this little gem, ''Sorry, Sonic. But this is what I decided…'', upon hearing that, the Blue Blur's ears flattened against his skull and his mouth was left completely open wide enough for an insect to find its way in. Did he just look like he was hurt from a comment like that? And something like that coming from Knucklehead, nonetheless. Most likely shocked, but still not something that usually got to him.

''See you later, boys!'', the batgirl gripped to echidna's free hand and blew a kiss back to the other three as a goodbye gift. Both of them managed to disappear rather quickly behind the scenery, leaving behind a fox with blue eyes and a pair of multicolored hedgehogs, one of them looking extremely bored out of his mind and the other as if he was petrified entirely and had to be shaken a few times around by the yellow furred pilot just to make sure he didn't die standing up out of sheer shock.

Although generally uninterested in his surroundings, the black hedgehog felt the need to point out, ''Abrupt ending.''

Tails was still trying to wake up his friend from a dazed expression, ''Uhhh… Sonic? Are you alright? Say something.''

''Did you just see that?'', the blue hedgehog pointed into an entirely insignificant direction, different from the path the two lovebirds left to, making everyone believe he was getting a little confused.

Knuckles leaving the team was like an action movie without the action or a parody without a single good pun or a joke. It felt like an unbelievable and ridiculous dream the blue one believed he would never have to face in his lifetime, ''That little… he dumped us for a girl! There can't be Team Sonic without a power formation! Who am I gonna make fun out of now the next time he throws me into random debris?''

''Isn't that a little harsh? He must have his reasons…'', the pilot tried to calm him down for all good it did.

''Nah, it's just right for him…'', the blue hedgehog staggered back and leaned against the Tornado with an even lazier outlook than before. As he contorted his mouth, he immediately decided that if the red guardian didn't care, then the Fastest Thing Alive will not either, ''You know what? I'm not gonna even bother with him. If he wants to act like that, then that's fine with me. Who needs power formation anyway?''

A slightly condescending comment followed afterwards, this time from the darker hedgehog who brought himself into the conversation by some chance, ''He must have an important role in the team, if that's all he's good for.''

''Cuz you know everything, don't you?'', Sonic tilted his head toward the deeper voice with the biggest yawn he ever produced this morning. Even if it wasn't exactly his style or nature, he might as well give his counterpart a quick indication that he wasn't in the mood for any acts or frolics on the account of their constant on and off rivalry, ''Why are you still here anyway? If you're looking for a race or something, you can forget about it.''

''For once in your life, you might have a point'', it might have sounded like a sort of minor compliment, but it really wasn't. In the end, Shadow the Hedgehog didn't see the point of staying in the Mystic Ruins anymore and turned toward the stone stairs to take his leave with the two barely noticing. He might've had a chance to catch up on some sleep while it was still early morning, as impossible it sounded in his case.

As much the blue hedgehog tried to get Knuckles out of his mind, he felt the need to reminisce at least a little even if it wasn't going to achieve anything on his account. He even sounded as if everything that happened just now occurred years ago and decided to tell the tale of how a close friend dumped him right before an important mission, ''Hmm… Tails? Remember the times when it was you, me and Knuckles fighting crime, saving people and beating up Eggman's robots into oblivion? You know, stuff like that. We were like, the ultimate trinity of heroes. Always there and always did our job when it was necessary. Heck, even our fur colors are the three primary colors, right?''

The two tailed fox felt a little bad about the whole situation, so he quickly proposed, ''We can still get a replacement, if it means that much to you.''

''Yeah?'', he wondered for a split second, ''Like who?''

''Well… maybe Amy?''

It sounded like a good idea at the time, but it quickly turned against him when the hedgehog grunted painfully, ''You're kidding, right? My back still hurts from yesterday's glomp attack!'', he bowed down to stretch his elongated arms all the way to his shoes, cracking a bone or two in the process until he picked himself with a weary feeling in his head.

The yellow mammal decided to change the idea around and thought on further with a tilted head, ''Okay, that was a bad example. What about Cream? I don't know if her mother will allow though. Maybe Big?'', he probably deserved it, but the scowling look on Sonic's face upon mentioning the biggest indigo cat in existence was definitely something he wanted to remember for the rest of his life.

Tails backed up a little away from him with an awkward smile and quickly switched over into a defensive pose, ''Heh… don't look at me like that.''

Shrugging again, the Blue Blur leaned backwards, ''There's no one, is there?''

Actually, he had someone else on his mind. Someone who was here just a moment ago. It probably wouldn't work in this moment but he tried nonetheless, ''What about Shadow?''

''Shadow? I doubt he cares'', he was quick to object, ''Besides, I already blew him off anyway.''

''You haven't even asked him yet…'', the yellow furred pilot tried to counter his claim as he sighed at the blue wonder, ''We can go alone if you want. But if you really want a Team Sonic back, it does feel like we'll need another member. I won't mind whatever you decide.''

Sonic scratched his head and closed his emerald eyes for a moment, ''I feel like this isn't going to be fun at all.''

''I'll go inside and check the coordinates. It might take a while, okay? Come on in when you're ready'', as soon the blue leader nodded in complete silence, Tails made his way inside the workshop and left the hedgehog alone with his conflicting thoughts. As much Sonic tried to tell himself otherwise, his yellow furred buddy was right. There was no Team Sonic without the third member. Sure, he and Tails have been a team long before they even met Knuckles, but it just didn't feel right when someone out of the three was away in times of distress. In less than a moment, the red echidna dumped them as soon he had the chance to speak and replacements for him were few and far apart.

Shadow definitely wasn't Knuckles, although several noticed that his relationship with the two was strikingly similar, being rivals with one another. But it was entirely different with his darker counterpart. They were both hedgehogs and had similar abilities that largely canceled them out, especially in battles and races. In most cases, their rivalry went to alliance for a short while, but then quickly back to rivalry. However, that was expected to happen every single time anyway as most would probably consider their friendship a worldwide scandal. It wasn't that bad of an idea, but he still wasn't sure if he'll actually reconsider his offer given the sudden circumstances.

Upon thoroughly thinking about it, Sonic slowly pushed himself from the biplane and kicked a small stone in the way. It's not that big of a deal, is it now? If anything, he could at least pat himself on the back for trying and at least reconsidering getting on good terms with the black one at least once in his lifetime as ridiculous that idea sounded. Although he was pretty literally a supersonic being, the blue hedgehog instead took a light stroll down the rocky steps in slight hesitation.

Like he vaguely expected, Shadow was still at his motorcycle. He seemed annoyed by various leaves stuck under the mudguards and rear set, implying that Rouge was right about him being tidy after all. Sonic didn't know why he needed a bike if he could run just as fast as he could, at least 500 or 600 mph faster than a standard vehicle. In the end, he figured it just came along with an insufferable attitude.

The Blue Blur merely lifted his hand as he approached him from behind, ''Hey, Shadow? I was wondering if you could-

''You're short for one member in and you want to ask me to join in'', with no particular interest in his younger counterpart's words, Shadow picked himself up from his kneeling position to turn toward him. He brushed the dust off his white gloves and returned back to his usual arm folding pose as he leaned against the bike.

Sonic nodded in slight surprise, ''Whoa… you read my mind completely.''

''Not really. I heard every word you had to say'', it looked like the batgirl was also right about the eavesdropping part as well. The black hedgehog pointed with one of his hands toward the nearby trees in a slightly sarcastic episode, ''You talk so loud even the birds flew away in terror. I now know why people say the nature is noisy.''

For a short moment, Sonic didn't really know what to say and shifted his eyes around, ''Oh… look, I don't have all day.''

''Hold on for a moment'', the darker hedgehog took a step toward the hero and lifted one of his fingers, ''Just one question. Why do you insist on a three member party?''

He blinked a couple of times before the emerald eyed hero could even answer, ''What kinda question is that? I dunno, it just sounds right. Number three is a Team Sonic number; it's always been like this! One is boring, two is barely anything and the third adds an extra head but keeps boredom out of the way.''

''That makes literally no sense'', he replied with a lifted eye ridge.

The blue hedgehog shrugged at the other. Not surprising, as he made up that answer in about two seconds, ''It works for me.''

''I think I'll pass.''

''Wait a sec!'', Sonic should've seen this coming from a mile away. But instead of leaving the informed Ultimate Lifeform to his own devices, he challenged fate anyway and kept talking with him. After all, he was probably the closest thing to getting his team back into working shape. The Fastest Thing Alive lunged forward the second his counterpart turned around, but was left mildly embarrassed by the position he managed to portray as if wanted to jump on his back and glomp him instead.

Before the black hedgehog looked at him again, the blue one pulled himself backwards with a short whistle and egged him on, ''I bet you don't have anything else to do, right? I'm sure you wouldn't be here anyway, you'd be out there doing some G.U.N. stuff.''

Like he expected, Shadow folded his arms again with a half lidded look in his eyes. He wouldn't be here in the first place if the thieving batgirl wasn't feeling incredibly lazy, otherwise she could've just flown here on her own, ''The only reason I'm here is because Rouge wouldn't let me sleep until I drove her here. Thanks to her I'm fully awakened now.''

''No wonder you're so cranky today. Actually, you always are but that's not the point'', as soon as his darker rival gave him the death glare he was waiting for since the beginning of their conversation, the blue hedgehog was quick to smirk at him just like always. Clearing up his throat, it was time to get back to the casual pep talk, ''Still, you're currently available. I'll take a shot at it. So, what do you think? Wanna jump in?''

The black one rubbed his forehead and left out a deep breath, but eventually asked anyway, ''What's this mission about anyway?''

''It's just a basic routine, at least according to The Man. All we gotta do is find an island, check it out and leave'', Sonic brought back the cliché thumbs up, ''A piece of cake.''

Scanning through those words quickly made it sound like he was talking to his superior instead, ''Sounds like something G.U.N. would do.''

''Yeah, everyone says that'', the blue hedgehog rolled his eyes at the thought he already found out from Tails just a few minutes ago. However, he was more than happy to be intrigued by an exciting adventure as he always made sure to show off to various people, ''But as the resident hero, I might as well jump at the call.''

The older hedgehog didn't sound convinced just yet, ''A basic routine? That's all?''

''I swear it on my stash of golden rings!'', maybe that was a bad idea to say. He did need the rings after all and he wouldn't lose them for any price in the world. Never leave home with at least one in your pocket. Who knows when you may need one.

''Hmm, you better…'', Shadow pointed at the blue hedgehog and propped his hand against his chin for a slight moment. The mission he talked about was definitely suspicious, but the President wouldn't have asked Sonic and his friends for help if it was different from anything else G.U.N. has to put up with. After all, you don't send for an outsider to fix a complicated machine when you have a skilled engineer in town. Still, it sounded both interesting and boring at the same time, just like the beginning of most missions.

Considering it was his day off, he might end up regretting it in the end but that realization should come by later, ''Very well… I'll tag along.''

With a short laugh finally out of his lungs, Sonic punched his fist right into his other open hand, ''Hah, I knew it!''

''Don't get any ideas, hedgehog. I'm only going because I want to.''

XXX

When Tails turned on the computer and typed in the coordinates from the human President, it couldn't find anything interesting to look at first. He instead tried connecting with one of the satellites monitoring the planet, choosing the latitude and longitude the numbers pointed at. He was certain that nothing was broken or infected with a bug inside the machine, his computer was much sturdier and a lot more powerful than most machines he worked with outside of his workshop. Once he finally managed to plug into one of them, the two tailed fox ran a quick automatic search and was mildly surprised just how quickly it found the correct location this time around. The pilot zoomed into the area and tried to figure out the exact name or at least some sort of information about this mysterious place.

He scratched his head in a slight puzzlement, ''Strange…''

''Anything yet, Tails?'', he was interrupted when Sonic opened the door to his room and went inside along with the darker hedgehog following somewhere far behind.

The fox spun around on his chair to meet the two mammals and present his findings to them, ''I think so. The coordinates the President gave you linked me to an unknown island located a few miles toward East, right in the heart of the ocean. It's uncharted, which makes me wonder how anyone could've missed a large landmass like this one. The satellites should've documented all lands no matter how small they are.''

Sonic shrugged, ''Maybe they're broken?''

''I doubt it, they're made by high quality research facilities. They can last for years, even decades with constant improvements made in this day and age'', Tails was quick to counter his claim with a waggling finger, ensuring that no such thing could happen regularly. He then spun back to his computer and turned on the projector on the far side of his fairly large table, projecting the computer image right on the opposite wall of the trinity.

The yellow furred pilot showed off the landmass he managed to record just a second ago, ''Here's a satellite picture of the island. I've never seen it before and there's no information about it in the database. It might as well be classified as terra nullius.''

The blue hedgehog folded his arms, repeating what he's been saying for ages now, ''Like I said, they couldn't tell me anything about it.''

''I take it you at least know the exact location?'', Shadow asked aloud, tearing his crimson eyes away from the projected flashy image.

He nodded as a quick confirmation, ''Of course, it's just gonna be a longer trip than I presumed.''

The black hedgehog tilted his head at the fox's last sentence, slightly doubting his decision now, ''How long are we talking here?''

In a short moment, the pilot grunted out a small mumble before he turned back to the computer with a thoughtful expression. He typed immensely fast on the keyboard, appearing to Sonic as if he was just slamming his fingers against random letters and numbers for all intents and purposes of being a computer nerd. The image on the screen zoomed out, showing the continent they were standing on right in this very moment. A few random numbers and symbols reappeared and disappeared to nowhere due to automatic calculations done by the machine. It wasn't long until the yellow furred fox managed to get a straight answer from the machine, ''A few hours, four or five at most.''

''Doesn't sound too bad, we've been across the world before'', Sonic shrugged with a big grin slapped over his face, ''Think you can handle it, Shadow?''

The signature glare returned as per tradition, ''Hmph… I'd be more worried about you at the moment.''

''Oh, don't make me blush'', the blue hedgehog faked a high pitched snicker and flailed his hand around the air, ''I might start to think you actually care.''

''Wipe that smirk off your face, hedgehog'', the annoyed doppelganger replied harshly much to the Blue Blur's own amusement and turned away from him with an unappreciated grunt. He could've still walked out on the mission in this very moment and it wouldn't make any sort of difference, but he wasn't going to let himself to be pushed aside by an attitude like that. He was going to let Sonic know that he can handle anything just as well. Both of them were too stubborn for the other hedgehog to understand each other correctly, so this will probably take a little more effort than usual.

Tails tried hard not to chuckle, as their outbursts at one another weren't anything new at this point. Eventually, the yellow furred pilot jumped off his chair with a quick announcement, ''Whenever you're ready. I'll be outside preparing the Tornado.''

''Okay!''

Chapter 2 - Tornado Scramble

The flight toward the mysterious island was a particularly uneventful one. Tails kept them directly on course, with the Fastest Thing Alive becoming more and more restless as he continued to walk up and down on the wings of the Tornado with no obvious effort, annoyingly leaning the plane to either side every time he passed the center. In the meantime, Shadow pulled himself into the back of the biplane right behind the pilot, sitting on the side with his crossed legs slightly flailing over the edge. While it looked like a very unconformable position at best, the black hedgehog made it work in his favor and had no qualms with it at all. For a moment, he even managed to take a short snooze despite the loud sounds of the flying machine.

Back in the Mystic Ruins, five hours didn't sound like a long trip, but it proved to be extremely tedious once they actually took off. The conversation between the newly gathered Team Sonic barely helped the blue hedgehog stay still without trying to launch himself off the plane, although that wouldn't be a very good idea at this time. Firstly, there was his number one enemy right below him. Usually it wouldn't be a problem, but the two tailed fox decided to fly unbelievably close to the sea until Sonic managed to convince him to lift them up into the immaculate white clouds to distort the view of anything even vaguely liquid.

Second, standing immobile for a few hours… heck, even a few minutes was practically an absurd idea for a speedster type who just had a good night sleep a few hours ago. He really should've walked it off on the highway before getting on the plane in the first place, but he had completely forgotten to do so due to certain bothering events. To get his mind off the recent problems including a certain echidna, the impatient mammal instead worked on his breakdance, stretched and cracked his knuckles, leaned against the wind pushing him backwards or just casually lied down for second or two. Then again, it wasn't a very good idea to fall asleep on the wing.

Some time later, his darker counterpart got sick of napping and took the other side of the biplane's wing for himself. To Sonic's suggestion and eventual childish whining, the two mammals played rock, paper, scissors to pass time a little faster than usually.

Much to the Blue Blur's annoyance, he kept losing to the older hedgehog for a reason he couldn't explain. He knew the game as the back of his hand and nobody could've beaten him this easily. At least the Ultimate Lifeform was having a good time with it if nothing else.

''That's not fair!'', Sonic pounded his fist into the red wing when scissors beat paper again. Noticing a slight smirk on his rival's snobbish face, the younger one looked up to the black hedgehog immediately as if to plead for his life, ''Just one more! This time I know it's gonna be my lucky move, I'm sure of it!''

Shadow exhaled heavily, ''You've been saying that for the last six turns. Your luck must be on vacation. Save yourself some trouble and just admit defeat.''

''No way! Who do you think I am?'', the Blue Blur grinned immediately at his darker counterpart and pointed at himself as he stood up proudly, ''I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, I don't quit for anything or anyone in the world. Isn't that right, Tails?''

When he heard his voice coming from the above, the yellow furred pilot only smiled and nodded in confirmation, ''He really doesn't. You can tell him whatever you want, he'll never back down from anything he decides to do.''

''That's right. Thanks, buddy!'', the blue speedster thumbed up his fox friend with a wink. He then dropped down on his stomach once more with his hands supporting his cheeks as he gave out a brash but contended smug that the older one wasn't incredibly fond of.

He whistled out cheerfully and lifted his hand up to the crimson eyed agent as he chanted, ''C'mon, just one more. Just one more, just one more… I'll keep on bugging you until you agree. You should know that already.''

''Should've guessed it from the size of your thick head instead…'', the black hedgehog mumbled under his breath.

The younger mammal started to remind him of an obsessive compulsive gambler, which wasn't surprising anymore due to the amount of pinball themed buildings and saucer shaped cities around the world. If the mad scientist just got Sonic addicted to his own pinball gadgets, he would have an easier time conquering the world but he guessed the over bloated Doctor never really thought of it before. Or maybe he did, but it didn't work anyway.

As much Shadow wanted to stand up and climb somewhere in the back of the plane to avoid anymore confrontations or punch the blue annoyance in front of him upside his big spiny head for being so incredibly conceited, he did like playing the game with Sonic. Firstly it was because it's been a while since he had the time to play around with anyone at all just casually, as childish it managed to sound. Secondly was winning and seeing the younger hedgehog squirm in defeat was quite enjoyable, since this was a rare time he got to see some genuine anger and desperation out of him.

Due to it, he wasn't about to quit when he had already gained an upper hand, ''Alright, seems like you need some more humiliation.''

The emerald eyed hero showed off his teeth right away as he pointed out and manned his hands, ''Haha, you wish!''

As soon as they could, the two hedgehogs quickly lifted up their gloves fists against each other and nodded to prepare for the last turn. They proceeded shaking their hands as soon one of them started the countdown from number three. When the number reached zero once again, the supersonic hedgehogs chose their hand gestures according to the game.

And this time around…

''Dammit!'', the blue mammal yelped out and lightly banged his forehead against the red biplane wing much to the Ultimate Lifeform's amusement. He went with rock this turn, but then his darker counterpart just had to go along with paper, literally destroying his chances of winning at least once this entire trip. If he didn't know any better, Sonic would've started thinking that the black hedgehog had the ability to read minds. Once the blue hedgehog lifted his head up, he saw his rival sitting beside him rather nonchalantly while he stared off into the ocean with a pretty satisfied expression on his face.

It didn't really have to end like this, so he had to ask again with an awkward smile, ''Uhhh… Shadow? Two out of three?''

He squinted down at him with a mocking voice, ''No... you just lost the game.''

''Doh!'', the blue hedgehog grunted out childishly.

But there was barely any time for hissy fits when Tails' voice interrupted them, ''Sonic, Shadow! We're approaching our target!''

The Blue Blur literally jumped on his feet as soon he heard the announcement and had to take an early look into the distance of the endless blue ocean. He could only see a snippet of the green landmass they were flying toward, but the thought of them finally being at their destination was the most exciting thing he had heard all day. The blue mammal couldn't wait until he was back on solid ground yet again so he could run around for hours to no end.

The biplane's indicator started to buzz with an irritating beeping noise the moment they were in the island's proximity. When the Tornado slowly approached it, the beeping intensified and much to Prower's immense surprise, their objective finally uncovered itself through the wandering clouds.

They all seemed amazed as they looked at it, ''Whoa! Look at the size of it!''

''Sweet! It's even bigger than Angel Island! If Knucklehead was here, he'd be so jealous!'', the blue hedgehog snickered at the yellow furred fox with a smirking appearance, ''Looks like we'll have fun getting lost in there.''

Right away, the red Tornado started flying over the island to observe the enormous landmass below them. The two tailed pilot initiated a quick scan of the island, although it was merely for a portion of what they could see from their position. As much as the fox tried to see anything through the thick jungle, it turned out it was almost impossible, ''I'm not getting any huge activity down there, human nor animal. Seems like it could be largely deserted after all.''

''For an island of this size?'', Shadow disagreed with a nod.

The Blue Blur merely shrugged at him, ''We won't know until we land and take a look up close and personal.''

''Just a second…'', Tails quickly scanned through the numerous specifics again, confirming his suspicions about the place little by little. The yellow fox managed to analyze and recognize the strange signal quickly as possible to present it to his fellow companions. If only they knew anything else about it other than whatever they managed to figure out by themselves at this point.

He scratched his head, thinking about the possibilities, ''Hmm… looks like there might be something down there after all. Guys, I'm getting a fairly faint electromagnetic signal. This might mean there are machines somewhere below us, but I can't see anything through the jungle.''

''Can't you land anywhere close?''

The pilot sent a nod at his blue friend, ''No, sorry. The entire island seems to be covered in thick trees. Even if we could find a clearing big enough for Tornado, this place is way too big for a normal one day investigation.''

Sonic thought for a slight moment and rubbed his finger under the nose, ''So the only way down would be to jump.''

When those words left his lips, the darker hedgehog finally stood up before the blue speedster, much to the Fastest Thing Alive's eventual surprise as he snarled harshly at him, ''You're not seriously thinking about jumping down into an unknown territory?'', his idea was stupid enough for him to reconsider his position on this ever so escalating routine mission that probably wasn't a routine after all.

Once he realized that the expression on his face barely changed at all, he exhaled out, ''I hope there's enough brain cells left in that big head of yours to think this over.''

As a reply, the blue one merely smirked at him and lifted his gloved hands as if he was actually reconsidering his words right about now. From the looks of it, the black hedgehog must have believed the emerald eyed hero was completely out of his mind, so why not take advantage of it and play around with him for short moment. Sonic lazily tilted his head to the side like a small lost puppy, ''I don't see why not. It's no problem for me, I've survived worse things back in the day. A twenty foot jump from a biplane is barely anything new for me nowadays…''

''If you're implying I can't survive situations like that, you haven't been listening nor looking properly'', with a bitter taste in his mouth, the older mammal folded his arms around his chest into a very defensive pose.

Shadow did, after all, survive an atmospheric reentry. That wasn't something you could just sweep under the carpet and call it a day, ''I am the-

Immediately, the Blue Blur rolled his eyes as he had heard the same catchphrase about a hundred times already. Ever since he met his darker counterpart actually. Thus it was a lot easier to make fun out of it, ''Yeah, yeah. The Ultimate Lifeform and all that jazz… oh, how dare I? Excuse me for doubting His Ultimate Majesty…'', he even bowed down in a sort of tribute mockery to his rival, which didn't particularly amuse him in the slightest.

Rolling his crimson eyes and turning his head away, these kinds of jokes and puns were starting to get old after a while. Then again, it would be a lot better if he himself cut down on mentioning anything related to the words ultimate or lifeform. It would make life easier.

Straightening his body with a confident smile back on his face, Sonic was again seen with his usual expression. The only thing missing was his signature pose and you could nail him on your wall like a poster, ''Well… I've decided. I'm gonna go right ahead and cover this island in less than an hour. You can keep track if you want.''

He then steeped away from an annoyed Shadow towards the edge of the biplane's wing, leaving out a mocking sigh, ''You're welcome to stay here if that's too much for you.''

''Go ahead, hedgehog. See if I care'', the other mammal replied, gaining a provocative whistle the moment he turned his crimson eyes back onto the horizon.

But instead of dealing with him right now, the Fastest Thing Alive crouched down to speak with the pilot, ''You okay with it, Tails?''

''I know I won't be able to convince you anyway'', the yellow furred fox sighed out and pulled out a walkie-talkie from a small compartment, ''Still, try and stay in contact with us. You know what to do if anything happens…''

''No problem'', he replied with a nonchalant voice as he bent slightly toward him to take the small machine, ''This is me after all.''

''I'll find a safe enough location for you to jump off'', Tails handed the handheld transceiver over to him and focused back on his piloting.

Shadow went back to his seat behind the fox's cabin to ponder why he agreed to go on this mission in the first place at a particularly leisurely pace and try to forget about everything else. However, the Fastest Thing Alive still waited for his chance to leap off the edge of the biplane and into the massive jungle below. The tension between the two hedgehogs was high up in the clouds (no pun intended), which the yellow pilot could still sense all too well. Even when out of a direct conversation or an argument, the familiar feeling that stayed afterwards began slowly withering away little by little, but sometimes not fast enough for the environment to get used to the sudden differences.

Once he looked up toward the blue hedgehog again, Tails was still worried about the whole ordeal and didn't manage to get it out of his head at any cost. Since he knew there was nothing he could do to turn Sonic away from it, the yellow fox only had one more idea up his sleeve which might not turn out to be a very bright one at all. When Tails was positive that his speedster buddy was busy looking into the unknown beyond, he turned on the autopilot to buy him some time.

Carefully and swiftly, he turned toward the mammal behind him, ''Shadow?''

''Huh?'', the black one must've taken a short nap, even though he let his mind wander only for a second. He wasn't particularly known to fall asleep this quickly.

Manning his eye, the darker hedgehog tilted his head towards the two tailed fox with a sullen appearance, with the other quickly trying to apologize for waking him up. He clenched his hands together with an awkward smile, ''Sorry, I didn't know. I was just wondering if you could do me a favor?''

Shadow's eyelids fell about halfway downwards, indicating that he was at least mildly annoyed by it. However, the Ultimate Lifeform didn't turn him down nor stop him from continuing their conversation, so the fox took this opportunity to ask him a question while the blue one was still facing away from them.

''This is gonna sound ridiculous but… would you mind going with Sonic on this one? I don't like the sound of this place.''

Fixing one of his gloves, the older hedgehog noted with a single sentence, ''I'm sure he's capable of protecting himself.''

''It's not just about that. It's Sonic, you know…'', Tails sent a short squint toward the Blue Blur who was still too busy searching aimlessly in the distance and mumbled to himself certain details, all while balancing on the edge of the wing with only one leg. The pilot exhaled quietly as he conversed further to convince him otherwise, ''I've never seen him this excited for a mission in his life. Usually the adventures come by themselves, but this is the first time he accepted one on his own. It's a little weird, you know?''

The other mammal was quick to shrug, ''I wouldn't put it past him if the whole reason is the lack of Doctor around, considering he went AWOL a while ago.''

''Yeah, I guess. He gets easily bored after all'', he managed to admit it to himself. However, he was still hopeful for a different reaction, ''But you said it yourself. This is an unknown territory. I just don't like the idea of Sonic being out there alone.''

Thinking over that sentence for a slight second, Shadow leaned one of his hands against his cheek as he realized the fox's intention, ''You want me to babysit him.''

''No, it's just that… you know what I mean'', the yellow furred pilot tried to fix the mess he'd gotten himself into and stared at the older hedgehog with a distressed look in his baby blue eyes. He wanted to make sense of the situation and peeked slightly toward the landmass below them that managed to terrify him even now, ''Who knows what's on that island. The two of you would fare better than just one.''

Sighing harshly, the darker counterpart rubbed his spiked head out of sudden irritation. Just as Tails said it himself a while ago, his suggestion was absolutely ridiculous after all, ''You're asking a lot more than usual from me. Spending time alone with that hedgehog might make me want to strangle him more than any of the island's inhabitants.''

''I know, but that's why I had to ask. If you do this for me, I'll return the favor whatever you like it'', the two tailed fox nodded at him with a hopeful look on his face.

Seeing that the black one wasn't exactly happy nor agitated about his quick proposal, Tails started to trip over his own words a bit clumsily and began to stutter in fear of rejection from the older mammal. Eventually, the yellow furred pilot chuckled out in embarrassment when sweat started gathering on his forehead and tried to come up with a compromise, ''You know, I could… heck, if he really does annoy you that much, have two favors from me. It's the least I can do.''

The Ultimate Lifeform was slightly taken aback by the child prodigy's sudden generosity, although he probably shouldn't have been surprised by it anymore at this point, ''You're too nice, Tails…'', Shadow noted with a softer voice when the pilot downed his head and scratched it in clear awkwardness. The fox was slightly confused when he got another quick reply from the black hedgehog, but this time around it was much more bearable to listen, ''You really care about Sonic.''

Tails managed to send a slight nod toward Shadow, but he refused to look him directly into the eyes. For as long as he could remember, the Blue Blur always looked out for him even if their chances were slim or nonexistent. In turn, he wanted Sonic to be just as safe as he and the others were whenever he was around, ''He's like a brother to me. I never let him down before and he'd never do the same thing to me or anyone else. You understand, right?''

''Sure…'', the black hedgehog nodded at him and folded his arms again.

He looked at the blue one perched on Tornado's wing to get a better look at the island, as if he was going to get anywhere by doing so. While he didn't exactly understand Sonic or his way of life, he was extremely important to his friends and people who have met or heard of him at least once in their lives. Even in Station Square or rather, the whole of United Federation you couldn't go one step without something mentioning the heroic speedy hedgehog. Humans conversing with one another, TV reports or a new type of ice cream, shoes or other types of merchandise based on his very appearance.

To think someone like the famous Blue Blur would actually need someone to keep him out of harm's way was somewhat of an oxymoron to the black hedgehog. Then again, he never claimed to know everything when it came to various hedgehogs, or for that matter, Sonic the Hedgehog himself. Even Tails appeared to be literally on the edge of nerves at this time. Not particularly a sight the fox would ever found himself in, at least not without a good reason. The island was also perpetually unknown at this point… just about anything could reside down there and wait for someone to enter its territory.

The situation he got himself into could go either way at this time; very good or very bad. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to regret another decision anytime afterwards, ''Give me one of those, will you?''

''Shadow…'', the two tailed pilot widened his eyes and managed to leave a faint smile on his face for once, ''… thanks. I really appreciate it.''

XXX

''Changed your mind, huh?''

Sonic grinned at his shadowy companion and looked down toward the land which was still a little too high from their position. Tails started to decrease the altitude of the biplane, as he finally found a decent height between the Tornado and the landmass to make sure the two would manage to land without any major consequences. The mammals prepared themselves on the red wing and decided to jump off at the fox's already carefully planned countdown. Nervously, the pilot made it onto the desired altitude sooner than he expected. Now he just needed to wait for a perfect chance before he could tell them it was safe enough for their leap.

With a slight chuckle, the Blue Blur squinted over to his darker counterpart with a thumbs up, ''You ready? Try not to hit a branch on your way down!''

To his surprise, he barely looked annoyed, ''I hope you land face first in the dirt. See, I can make childish insults as well.''

''Hah! So you can be fun after all!''

''You guys ready?'', Tails asked them. Noticing their nods and grunts, he quickly continued, ''Okay! On my signal…''

As if they were positioned on the beginning of a race track, the blue hedgehog bent down on one knee with the other imitating his rival's moves perfectly. Even on a mission, battle or a simple plane ride, Sonic always found the time for a quick contest between the two. While in comparison Shadow couldn't exactly be bothered by juvenile frolics like that in the middle of such important events, he wasn't going to let him hog all the credits for himself. As much as he believed the idea behind the leap of faith into the unknown was incredibly stupid, it was the only way down onto the island for now. To get down safely will require perfect timing on Tails' and later their part to land safely.

''Three… two… one…'', the pilot started the countdown and the multicolored hedgehogs prepared themselves for the jump. He was approaching the exact spot he believed to be the perfect location according to his calculations, to ensure they would have an easier time with the landing and avoid the trees while doing so.

Breathing out quietly, Tails passed the point of no return when he finally shouted, ''Now!''

Simultaneously, the blue and black hedgehog pushed themselves away from the wing into the clear blue sky and started falling into the green overland. Spreading out their arms and feet they quickly started to approach the island at an impressive speed. Now that the first part was done, the second was about to click into motion anytime soon. Sonic grinned as he waited until the right moment to yell a helpful order, ''And… spin dash!''

Taking into consideration both the falling speed and charge of the dash, the two could very well create a massive hole in the ground as if a meteor crashed into it. To prevent that, they separated themselves from one another to allow room for the actual landing and keep their powered spin dashes at bay. They dashed into a perfect arch across the island, leaving behind merely a light blue and yellow aura emitting during their charged attack. The pilot could only watch them for a brief second before they disappeared from his sight into the greenery below. Acknowledging that his companions were now gone, Tails flew away in search of a landing site and waited for their response.

Shadow dodged the incoming trees successfully, being very careful not to hit any branches during the fall. He bounced off a particularly large and hard trunk, navigating himself through the forest more efficiently by pushing himself away from various obstacles and use them as leverage. Eventually, the black hedgehog came upon a small clearing and dashed toward it. Interrupting his spin dash in midair, he turned to sliding and stopped himself from going any further, lifting a great deal of dust particles into the air.

When it finally settled down, the Ultimate Lifeform stood up from his crouching position and brushed off the dust that gathered on his dark body during the landing. He then looked around, only to find an eerie silence all around him, something he wasn't exactly expecting to find on this island. Not even the engine of the biplane was able to echo all the way down here. From the black hedgehog's perspective, the trees were completely blocking the sky from his reach, but the sun still managed to find a way to lighten this dreadful place. The island must've been abandoned for a long time to allow this jungle to grow this size.

''It's beautiful, ain't it?'', he was interrupted by an awed voice coming from somewhere above him.

Looking upwards, the black hedgehog recognized Sonic sitting on a lone branch as he inhaled in the fresh forest air, traveling through it with an interesting whistling sound every now and then as one of the few sources of noise in this place. Chuckling, the Blue Blur jumped off to the ground and caressed his chin with sheer amazement, ''It's been a while since the last time I've seen a forest of this size.''

''No time to get sentimental'', Shadow cut off the other as he pointed into the deep jungle, ''We have a job to do and that's not sightseeing.''

The blue hedgehog pouted alongside his mocking voice, ''What's the rush? Is the fresh air killing you or something?'', Sonic snickered out lightly against the rolling eyes of his darker counterpart who continued to observe the silent environment. Finishing with his taunts earlier than usually, the blue hedgehog was ready to run off into another direction to investigate on his own. That is, if he didn't widen his eyes at the last second due to a quick and sudden realization.

The Blue Blur gasped out in astonishment as he left out, more to himself than anyone else, ''Geez, I almost forgot'', he quickly whipped out that walkie-talkie he got from the yellow furred pilot, to Shadow appearing as if he just pulled it out of nowhere.

''Tails, can you hear me?''

There was a slight static in the transmission but other than that, the two could hear the fox clearly, ''Sonic? Is everything okay?'', he sounded worried.

''No problem, we're alright down here'', the blue one was quick to reassure his friend while the black hedgehog carried himself closer, ''How's the sky?''

''Good to hear that…'', there was a sign of relief in his voice and managed out a deep exhale just so he could calm himself at least once in this unusually long day. The yellow furred pilot continued with his extensive flying over the land and talked further into his headphones, ''I still haven't finished covering the island from above, it's so huge! I think you two would have better luck from down there than I ever could from up here.''

''As long as you don't force us to draw any maps, I'm cool with it'', he mentioned sarcastically, ''In the meantime, try to land somewhere. We'll need to get off the island too, you know.''

''I'll get right to it, don't worry!'', the two tailed fox quickly yelped out in excitement.

He was ready to finish up the conversation, when another thought hit him as soon his indicator beeped out once more and informed him of a certain detail, ''Oh, I almost forgot! One more thing, Sonic. Remember that signal I was talking about earlier? I'm almost positive it's located somewhere toward North West from your approximate position. Maybe you two should check it out and see if there's anything there.''

Listening in carefully, the blue one mumbled to himself and the darker hedgehog, ''North West, huh? Sure, we'll take a look.''

''Alright'', he sighed out and prepared to finish up the dialogue between the trinity, ''And please, be careful. Both of you.''

With a smile, the younger hedgehog winked toward the transceiver, ''You too, buddy…'', and finally put it away from everyone's eyes. He turned toward his older companion with the biggest grin he has ever seen on his face until now, ''Let's go. Race ya there!''

The Blue Blur dashed swiftly into entirely different direction than he was supposed to, mildly puzzling the black hedgehog at this very moment. That way was neither North nor West, but exactly the opposite. Don't ask how the Ultimate Lifeform knew that in the first place, he just did. He started wondering if the blue hedgehog even had any sense of direction on this strange land. What about in his daily life then? You know, other than dashing forward with no real direction and just hoping to come across something interesting. If not, this was going to pose a very serious problem he'll have to take care of instead.

Before the emerald eyed hero could go on and drag the two hedgehogs even deeper into the immense jungle, Shadow managed to get the upper hand and appeared in front of Sonic right out of nowhere to quickly stop him in his track. The younger one mumbled out an unrecognizable complaint, but the other didn't bother figuring out what he was saying exactly, ''Where do you think you're going?''

Widening his eyes, that was the weirdest question he ever got from him, ''Uhhh… toward the signal?'', Sonic wondered if his counterpart was even paying attention to him earlier.

''North is that way. And West…'', surprising the blue hedgehog, Shadow pointed somewhere behind him.

The Fastest Thing Alive tilted his head slightly and looked over his shoulder. However, the blue hedgehog started believing his counterpart was confused instead, ''What are you talking about? How do you even know that?'', he was convinced that his way was definitely the right one. His natural instincts never failed him before and they never will. Whatever his darker rival was on right now, he felt like this conversation wasn't going to end well at all.

Shadow folded his arms and started counting, ''Several factors. Warmth of the wind, the position of the sun…''

''Typical bookworm mumble jumbo'', the younger hedgehog smirked lightly at the point and shrugged at him. Even if he was wrong about it, Sonic wasn't going to admit it to anyone, especially not Shadow, ''I know where I'm going''

Much to the younger mammal's displeasure, the black one was still fixed on the idea that he was the only one who knew anything about this place, despite none of them even heard about it until this very day, ''And that's the wrong way, hedgehog.''

''Nah, I'm sure it's this way'', the Blue Blur wasn't going to give up on his decision.

''Did you not hear me?'', his eyelids lowered which indicated to Sonic that the older hedgehog was going to get pretty annoyed about this. None of them were particularly fond of losing, even if it was just a simple matter of varying directions. Who would've thought the two actually managed a second or two together before starting up another pointless argument right in the middle of a mission.

This was suspiciously similar to cliché situations where a couple gets into a heated argument about losing their way, the man being a stubborn dolt for not stopping over and asking for directions out of sheer pride. That said, both of them were more likely to fill up that spot. Aren't those pretty quick to die in movies as well? The blue hedgehog was positive that his way was the right one, there was no indication to why he would've been wrong about it. It's not like the island itself was giving him bad directions on purpose.

''I hear ya, Shadow and I'm telling you…'', the blue one mumbled out lazily. Thinking over this situation, he decided to come up with a fair compromise, ''Look, let's just go our separate ways, that way both of us can be happy. And if anything happens, we'll just use talkies to communicate.''

Getting separated at this point didn't sound that bad, although the island was still unknown to them in every possible way. The black hedgehog would've proposed the offer sooner, but at the same time he didn't want to lose Sonic in this jungle. It was mainly because then Tails will get mad and if the Blue Blur hurts himself out of his own incompetence, the yellow fox will probably blame him for that as well.

Then again, why did he care so much about what the pilot or anyone else for that matter thought about him or his work? The Fastest Thing Alive can handle himself just fine and if he can't, then Shadow will be massively disappointed about the blue hedgehog. There was a reason the two were rivals in the first place; almost creepily similar abilities, but perfect opposites in everything else imaginable. He expected from him to fare just as well as he did in situations like these.

''You think that would work?'', Shadow gave out an impression of disinterest.

''Of course!'', he answered precisely the way the black one thought he would, ''We can cover more ground that way too.''

''… alright'', the Ultimate Lifeform thought for a short moment before he let his younger counterpart on his merry way. Walking past him, he snorted with a slight grin on his face, ''Just don't come crying to me when it turns out you've been wrong all this time.''

The blue one was quick to counter, ''That's what I should be telling you!'', he wagged his finger in front of his face, almost hitting the other hedgehog in the nose.

Sonic's childishness never seemed to amaze him greatly than it should have, but for a 15 year old hedgehog he must've expected him to behave a little more mature as time went on. Actually, scratch that. Sonic and mature together in the same sentence? If the older hedgehog in question wasn't right in front of him, he'd probably laugh toward the ridiculousness of his own claim. But even with that kind of attitude, lame jokes and puns, the most overused pose since arm folding consisting of pointing and waggling, the blue one was considered a hero to most. Annoyingly determinate, but a hero nonetheless.

''Heh… almost gotcha there.''

Before moving on, the black mammal had one more thing to ask, ''Just how on earth do you manage to survive every single day of your life?''

He held up his thumb and smirked, ''Easy… I improvise!''

Apparently that wasn't the answer he was expecting, ''… forget I asked.''

Chapter 3 - Dilapidated Way

''… forget I asked.''

The blue hedgehog shrugged in advance and tilted his head with a smug grin, ''Let's get moving! If you find anything, give me a call. Although I kinda doubt it…''

Shadow was getting tired of the implication that he didn't know a thing or two about orientation. The only reason he was willing for this separation act was to prove the blue annoyance wrong and finally wipe that smirk off his face at least once in his life. Although wherever it would actually affect him that much was a bit of a question to the darker hedgehog even now. Sonic was in no way fond of losing because of the inflated ego in the way of reason, but that didn't mean he wasn't sneaky enough to pull out a half assed excuse for failing.

He'd seen it before. The informed hero wasn't the one who knocked over a few poles, it was just a sudden gust of wind… inside a closed building. Not the one to mess around with colorful wires he obviously had no clue to what they were connected or accidentally destroying public property because of a few badly thought out ideas.

Putting it lightly like that, the black hedgehog resumed his reply with a harsh sound, ''You stick to your business and I'll stick to mine. There's no point in having this conversation any longer, it's just wasting time.''

''Still touchy, eh?'', Sonic sighed out mockingly as his counterpart turned away from him. The Fastest Thing Alive merely snorted in return and twirled around, ''Well, whatever happens... see ya later! Take care of yourself and be home by eleven!'', and quickly rushed into his chosen direction.

By the time the Ultimate Lifeform spun toward him, the blue wonder was already gone from where he previously stood.

Grunting to himself, he skated into his own way as quickly as possible just so he wouldn't fall behind schedule, ''No problem… I'll be back sooner than you think'', the black hedgehog mumbled under his breath and continued through the seemingly endless jungle. Whatever this island was or used to be, there was something wrong with it. The way it shrouded itself in the deepest silence Shadow ever encountered was enough to creep out even the toughest of men.

As he skated onwards, the older mammal came upon nothing more but humongous trees, pathways overgrown by grass, broken down timbers possibly due to an unexpected weather changes and muddy ground that wasn't exactly friendly toward his jet shoes if he slowed down or accidentally took a wrong turn all of a sudden. Although the black hedgehog already crossed miles and miles since the landing site and thought the same of the Blue Blur at this point in time, there was barely anything of significant interest on his way there.

Hurrying further along the path, there was nothing that could provide an insight to this mysterious land. No enemies, no animals, no buildings and no humans anywhere, just shades of brown and green mixed in with some colorful flowery patterns every few steps. While he did expect to run into mountains such as the land appeared to be so from the biplane, Shadow only had to jump over a few crevices and deep gullies filled with streams of water running through them, continuing by grinding down fallen but tough branches to keep himself on a higher level just in case. Even as the scenery became much beautiful and prettier to look at, he didn't bother to peek at them one bit and kept moving faster to beat Sonic to the destination.

''Rolling around at the speed of sound…'', it must've been due to uneventfulness, but just hearing the lyrics in his head made him want to do a U-turn right into a nearby tree. Instead he just hit his forehead for a less painful experience. Hearing that song over and over and over again coming from his rival's whistling mouth was the most cringe worthy experience he ever had to put up with. As much he tried to forget it, even he had to admit the song was pretty catchy, ''Ugh… his cheesiness is horrendous, but strangely addicting.''

Shadow wondered how far into the island's interior he was at this point. To him and Sonic it must've taken only a couple of minutes to cross a large amount of land that would usually take most people hours or even days. After all, the black hedgehog was certain he was going toward the location properly, unlike the blue hedgehog who probably picked a direction at random. But at the same time, if it turns out that his prediction was wrong all this time and not Sonic's, he was going to need a long facepalming therapy afterwards.

However, the black one knew it wasn't going to happen to him in any case. The older hedgehog might have been an experiment in his early life, but that didn't mean he was stupid… far from it. Surrounded with nothing but scientists, tubes and textbooks, learning was pretty much the only thing he'd do in his pastime, whatever time he didn't spend with Maria or the Professor. The Ultimate Lifeform was much smarter than he let on, keeping all that knowledge sealed inside his head. By not directly revealing it, that very much acted as his primary advantage against other enemies. He could see through most of people's schemes and he himself wasn't so easily tricked or played with… not anymore at least.

''Not Doctor, not Sonic, nobody…''

He decided to take a higher ground at some point, to see if there was anything in the distance that could possibly resemble life on this land. After managing to climb up on one of the sturdier trees, he over viewed the island around him. No such luck appeared, as the forest continued to drag on, while escaping into faraway mountains. Shadow was getting pretty certain that the yellow fox might have been right after all and there was nothing left worth searching for here. It looked like this was turning out to be the most anticlimactic mission he ever had up until now. Sonic is going to be fairly disappointed as well once they've trailed all of it.

Shadow started wondering in his mind hesitantly, ''Should I go on anyway? It looks so incredibly pointless…''

However, he decided to stay on course and kept skating until he came upon something interesting or end up on the edge of a cliff. The black hedgehog would've hated to quit right now in the middle of an informed race with the Blue Blur. He slid down the trunk of a nearly collapsed tree to gain enough speed to jump on the other side of the gorge. Whatever waited for him onwards, the black hedgehog could only hope it would lead him to his destination and end this tediousness.

For the first time in a while, the Ultimate Lifeform was getting bored. Nothing living ever managed to come across him the entire way he'd travel on foot. This was getting ridiculously weird with every second. Where was everyone? Where was anything at all? Was he supposed to believe that this huge island was really deserted, with only an expansive ecosystem of trees and plants? He thought the distinct loneliness resided only in a specific part of the island, but it began stretching outside toward every corner of the known land.

''This is getting tedious. How long am I supposed to put up with this?'', he thought to himself aloud, believing that he should have been at the signal a few miles ago. The fox's calculations weren't always correct, so he himself could've been going into wrong direction the entire time.

Shadow could only hope that wasn't the case, but he could never tell.

Due to perpetual boredom clouding up his mind and slowly drowning in his thoughts, the older mammal almost didn't notice that he was skating toward a purposely and differently colored object in the distance. He only saw it when he was close enough, skidding to a quick halt before he'd slam into it face first. He approached it from the side, visibly glad he finally ran into something more unusual than gigantic trees and various colorful plants.

The black hedgehog eventually concluded that whatever was in front of him had to be a building or a part of it. The metallic layer barely glinted anymore and where it ended was a mystery to him, with the surface remaining entangled in old moss and vines. To clarify its exact purpose, he walked alongside the wall, trailing one of his hands on the surface and followed further toward an almost noticeable end.

So he continued to walk… and walk… and even more walking ensued much to his annoyance, ''How long is this?'', Shadow rebutted what he said earlier and started believing he came across an outer wall that protected something from the outside world.

Almost annoyingly, the pleasant silence was interrupted by a high pitched screech, ''Hey, Shadow! I found it!''

XXX

Sonic rushed into his chosen direction.

His path started out a bit more linear than expected, until it was eventually riddled with streams, fallen and worn out trees and numerous snapping vines he could easily swing on. In comparison with other jungles and forests he went through, this was probably the biggest yet most refreshing place he'd ever see. Then again, every place he visited for the first time had that effect on him. Just when the blue hedgehog thought he'd seen it all, he came upon something like this. Even when he claimed to have traveled and discovered the entire world more than he could count, numerous secrets always managed to pop out of nowhere.

This island was one of them, waiting to be rediscovered once again under his watchful eye.

When he got the President's request the first time around, he was initially reluctant to accept it. But Sonic had to admit… he was horribly bored out of his mind and the mission was looking more interesting than anything around him at that very moment. A while longer and he would go insane. It was actually surprising he had enough enthusiasm left in him to actually go forward with it. At this time, he was glad that anything at all was happening, even if it was just a small investigation trip. With Eggman and his robots gone from the media coverage, there was nothing interesting going on. He had nothing to do.

That's right.

Him, the hero of people, animals and the world itself, was out of work in the blazing summer. Usually that would've been a good thing, but even his laziness and running marathons were beginning to look like a hassle. Except saving a few cats from trees and doing a few favors around, there was virtually nothing worth doing anymore. Sonic felt the need to run somewhere far away, somewhere he's never been before or he hasn't been in a long time.

Anyway, this wasn't a bad thing. He finally got his adventure back after all. That's all it mattered to him right now. Away from the iron jungle that was the whole of United Federation, this must've been the first time in a few months to be back in an overgrown nature. Others would say to him to just run toward the nearest forest, but those were usually over in matter of seconds. He liked to dash through it rather quickly and it still appeared to be a very short walk through the park. He preferred places like this instead, mysterious and unexplored.

Just like during his first adventure on South Island, the blue hedgehog managed to cross green refreshing plains, lava filled caves, literal pinball cities and… the younger one made a grim expression at the possibly worst thing he ever had to go through. A maze filled with water, spikes, pissy looking robotic fish, more water, easily breakable poles, rings, TV screens and even more choke inducing water. The only way through was to walk underwater and hold his breath for as long as he could until the air bubbles appeared from the floor to give him some chance at actually getting through alive.

Sonic didn't like it back then and he never will. He kept up with the entire thing as best as he could, but the surrounding malevolent walls and darkness around him managed to be more horrifying than drowning at that point. He managed to pull through in one piece, hoping he'd never have to see that place again.

Boy was he wrong… it's like his early adventures chasing after that fat egg had some sort of fixed route just for him. Well, it wasn't the first time Eggman would be more than happy to have the speedy hedgehog finally drown in one of those zones, ''Hah, better luck next time, Doctor!'', he was glad those days were over and pretty much decided to never approach any of those watery zones for as long as he lived.

He swung off a branch to gain enough speed and run up a trunk of a fallen tree. The Blue Blur launched himself into the air to jump onto the awaiting branches in the distance to get to his destination as quickly as possible. He was sure his darker counterpart was keeping with the highest speed possible as well, as he knew for certain that the other wasn't going to lose either accidentally or on purpose. If both of them stayed on course and kept pumping to obvious limits, they could actually even tie at normal occasions.

The Fastest Thing Alive decided to take Knuckles off his mind for the time being and worry about him after they're done here. He still couldn't believe that the echidna blew him off just like that with barely any hesitance. Did he have a problem with his leadership? Sonic somehow hoped the other would've been more specific about it. Although after a long discussion with himself during the plane ride, the hedgehog decided he won't try to convince him otherwise, since the guardian would probably just get mad at him anyway.

Plus he really didn't want another up close and personal punch to his face either.

''I swear, the last time he did that I could've flown off straight to the moon!'', he frantically noted with a chuckle, ''But I'm not gonna lie… it was a great view from up there!''

Other than that, he was grateful he got Shadow along for the ride. Now, while he got away easily by annoying Knuckles, it was usually difficult to determine just how far he could go with the older hedgehog. But really, the only malevolent thing he's done to him this entire adventure was countering his puns and mercilessly beating him in a game of rock, paper, scissors with Sonic losing every step of the way. He wasn't that lucky in the past where they pretty much had to fight one another because they were on opposing sides, but managed to team up by the end of it to save the world. Even after he was declared dead to all of them, Shadow came back with all but his memory damaged.

That's what he called determination!

Despite annoying the Ultimate Lifeform so much, he really did want to help him get back on the right track. Once he figured out that the black hedgehog was pleased with how things turned out in the end, there wasn't much he could've done further and backed off immediately. He had to admit this was the first time he actually talked to him properly after the whole deal with the Black Arms invasion. It was such a faint memory to all, even if it happened a short time ago. There was a lot of things he wanted to tell him, but the other probably already knew them or didn't want to know.

That was fine with him. He wasn't going to bother talking if the older one wasn't listening.

Sonic quickly dodged the tangled branches and landed back on the ground, ''Awww, man…'', he didn't take his time to check where he was going to jump and landed into a sticky puddle of mud. He would be wasting his time if he tried to clean them thoroughly right now, so he quickly stomped to get most of it off and continued boosting through the jungle. He quickly picked up the lost pace from that small interruption and navigated through the trees that became thicker as he progressed.

When the blue hedgehog noticed he was going to run right into a silvery looking wall, he quickly skidded, creating a long trail behind him. After composing himself, Sonic leaped over a few more obstacles in the way to get toward the strange structure. Upon closer examination, he found a metallic structure hidden behind massive amounts of moss and greenery. He smirked at himself. His way was definitely the right one after all. He couldn't wait until he could rub it in the Ultimate Lifeform's face. The Blue Blur wasn't exactly sure what its purpose was, but it didn't matter as long as he found it.

To quickly announce his victory, he drew the walkie up to his mouth to answer in a cheerful voice, ''Hey, Shadow! I found it! Bet ya can't say that!''

Picking up the small machine, the other hedgehog answered with a mocking voice, ''You don't say… I happen to be standing in front of a wall as well.''

Hearing those words made the Fastest Thing Alive die a little on the inside. Just how long was Shadow there before he even picked up the transceiver? He replied with a nervous sound as he felt slightly confused, ''Wait, you too?''

His first thought was that he was probably lying to make up for falling behind, but the blue hedgehog didn't mention a wall to him at all. It seemed like they were both right after all. He was wondering if his darker counterpart knew something he didn't. This structure probably stretched all the way around the island, but the two multicolored hedgehogs must've been miles and miles apart at this point.

''Hey, you think we found the same wall?'', if it really is that long, who knows what kinds of secrets it shielded from them.

There was a hesitant silence from the other side, ''I've been trailing it for full five minutes and there's still no end to it.''

The Blue Blur scratched one of his spines, ''I wonder what's on the other side'', he wondered before dashing onto the nearest branch, ''I'll take a look…'', were his last words to Shadow before he started climbing up. The wall was definitely high but it was far from endless. It was still low enough for it to be completely overgrown by gigantic trees. No wonder none of them could spot it from the biplane.

After he managed to reach the highest point, he clung closely to the wall. Sonic gripped the edge with all his might, but he almost slipped due to moist that's been gathering on it for Chaos knows how long. A few more tries later, the younger hedgehog pulled himself onto it with a grunt and sighed out deeply once he was positioned correctly without falling on his face right away. He scratched the top of his head, but he quickly dropped his arm once the blue mammal opened his eyes. His mouth literally dislocated and continued blinking to assure himself that this was indeed reality.

As it turned out, it was real after all.

Snorting quietly, he picked up the talkie again, ''Shadow, you gotta see this to believe it! It's amazing!''

While he waited for his response, Sonic continued to stare with awe. What he saw was a gigantic iron city, effectively and completely hidden in the overgrown jungle. Some of the buildings were completely destroyed or run over with various trees, but a few of them still stood to the test of time and awful mood swinging weather. What was even more astonishing was its size. It must've been huge if the wall was anything to go by.

''Huh… this was unexpected'', the black hedgehog's stoic voice was eventually heard through the talkie.

''You could at least act surprised!'', the speedy hedgehog berated the other. He quickly pulled himself over the wall to jump over and dropped down onto his feet, ''Let's investigate, I have a feeling things might get a little more interesting from now on.''

The deeper voice scoffed out of annoyance in clear static, ''It better be or I'm leaving.''

''You sound bored'', the blue hedgehog teased, ''That's a first one.''

''Keep moving, hedgehog'', Shadow quickly demanded, ''Meet me later in the center… if you can found it that is.''

''No problem!'', Sonic continued to chuckle, only to have his darker counterpart on the other side roll his eyes and cut off the blue hedgehog's voice as soon as possible. Hearing the familiar click, he was only mildly surprised.

Storing the transceiver away, the Fastest Thing Alive looked around himself, only to finally gain a nice view of the iron city lost in midst of a green jungle. Ever since he dropped off the wall, the buildings before him became slightly bigger from his perspective, with large trees, vines and flowers decorating a ruined civilization that continued along a large portion of the island's interior. He and the black hedgehog must've been on completely different ends of the ruins and he was sure nobody of them knew just how big it was. He could barely even point out where the center was approximately. It looked like he'll have to rely on his instincts again to find it.

Before the Blue Blur continued further into the town for a more thorough investigation, he felt the need to contact the pilot as well, ''Tails, I think we found what we were looking for. It's even more amazing than I thought!''

The two tailed fox was happy to hear his voice again, ''That's great news. What is it, Sonic?''

''There's a whole city in here'', he replied with excitement, ''I can barely believe it.''

Tails widened his eyes. He wasn't expecting to hear anything like that in an estranged place like this. He coughed out a short, ''Really? That sounds very interesting!''

He let the Tornado drift onto the side and fly back to the location where the two hedgehogs jumped off, just so he could take a better look at it again and possibly find something himself as well. He replied with an obvious high pitch, seemingly excited by the news, ''You know what that means, Sonic? It opens all sorts of new questions! I wonder who used to live here. What they were like or what their culture was about. I really wish we knew more about this island…''

There was a harsh sigh from the other side, something he didn't hear often from Sonic, ''Me too, buddy. Are you still up in the air?''

''Yeah, sorry'', he apologized with a downed head and corrected his headset, ''We only have a few hours left until sunset.''

Looking upwards, the younger hedgehog could barely see the tips of the trees blocking the sky. The only thing he knew for certain was that it was currently still sunny, but he didn't know what part of the day it was exactly, ''Has it been that long? We left in the early morning, I didn't know we'd burn the day this quickly.''

''I know, it's weird. Honestly, it hasn't been a very long day either…'', the yellow furred fox assured him and worryingly shot a look toward the panel in front of him.

Knocking on the fuel gauge, he grunted out a small sigh and decided to tell his friend about this as soon as possible. It was only going to become worse if he delayed it any further, ''Sonic, I need to tell you something. If I don't find a landing side anytime soon, I'm going to run out of fuel. I'll need to go back to the nearest island to refuel, but it's pretty far away from this place. Which means…''

He rubbed his nose in clear realization, ''… we'll be stuck here until you come back.''

''Yeah.''

Breathing out a snort, he reassured his buddy with an overly enthusiastic voice, ''I think we can handle it. More time for investigation sounds fine by me!''

''Speak for yourself, hedgehog.''

Hearing the rough voice from the black mammal, he merely grinned and switched over to a shared line between them, ''Glad you could join us! What's up?''

The Ultimate Lifeform felt the use for him in the current moment was completely nonexistent and decided to interfere into their conversation. He needed to reinstate his part in the party and mission alike to keep the blue hedgehog from speaking for both of them, ''I refuse to be the third wheel in this mission.''

''Nobody said you were, Shadow'', the pilot mentioned with a softer voice.

Grunting harshly, he tried asking the yellow furred fox in a calmer manner, ''Tails, when can you get back here?''

''Let me think for a second. According to the average time it takes to fly to the nearest island, refueling time and flying all the way back here…''

Tails hesitated to answer truthfully out of slight fear. He knew the black hedgehog wasn't going to like the answer at all. However, the two tailed pilot managed to scrape the last bit of courage left in him to continue and wait for whatever Shadow's reaction to his next message was going to be, ''… probably the next morning.''

''Why aren't I surprised?''

His voice was clearly annoyed, which started to concern the pilot. Tails thought that by apologizing to him would ease the tension, ''Sorry, I didn't know it would take this long.''

''It's a little too late to be complaining now. We all decided we'd go here in the first place…'', much to the fox's relief, Sonic decided to take over the awkward conversation and continue from here on his own. For a moment he sounded as if he was scolding Shadow, ''We just didn't expect much, that's all.''

Like expected, the voice on the other side snorted in irritation, ''I volunteered out of sheer carelessness. I knew this wasn't going to be a simple basic routine.''

''What, you gonna blame me now? We're all in this together, remember?'', the blue hedgehog kept a high spirited mood to refrain from breaking into another argument with the black one at this point in time, ''I trust Tails to get back as soon as he can… you should too.''

The two tailed fox nodded, ''Believe me, I wouldn't leave you two here if I had any other choice.''

Shadow sighed out heavily and moved the walkie talkie away from his ear. He should've known they were going to run into some problems along the way. This particular mission was beginning to look stranger as the day progressed. Even if it did appear like a simple routine, what was the President thinking, just handing it over to Sonic without any second thoughts? He knew nobody had any information about the island, so why not consult G.U.N. first? The black hedgehog must've been either very lucky or unfortunate to come here in the first place. Even now, Shadow was here only because the blue hedgehog asked him to tag along and not because of work, meaning the Ultimate Lifeform was acting out on his own.

However in the end, he wasn't left with much choice. But due to his duty as a government agent, he decided to investigate something else in the meantime, ''There's really not much we can do then.''

''Nope, but we got the city all to ourselves. Just like old times, right?'', the younger hedgehog grinned, ''It'll be like Prison Island all over again… except this one is boring.''

''From what you said, there's nothing particularly dangerous here. If there was anything, you'd think you'd come across it already'', the yellow furred fox noted with an unconvinced expression on his face, ''But there's a city… who knows. Maybe someone is still here.''

''Nah…'', Sonic scratched his cheek, ''If you were down here, you'd be surprised how silent it is. It's deader than disco.''

The black hedgehog looked around out of curiosity again. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing that could even qualify as a whisper or an actual physical being and that disturbed him greatly, ''It's the silence that bothers me more than anything living in this place.''

''What doesn't exist can't hurt us'', the other mammal brushed him off.

Tails shrugged at himself and decided to continue with as confident voice he managed to produce, ''I promise you two, I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll be flying around the island for a bit, I still have a little time left before sunset. We'll hear each right before I go.''

''Sure, Tails'', the blue hedgehog answered optimistically, ''Hear you later.''

On that last note the two tailed fox said goodbye and turned himself off the line, possibly leaving the two hedgehogs to work this out on their own. As soon Shadow was absolutely positive that Tails was gone, he started questioning his younger counterpart. Thinking back on his conversation with the yellow furred pilot about the Blue Blur, the black hedgehog needed to know if there was anything more to this mission than he was supposed to know, ''What are you doing here anyway?''

''What?'', Sonic wasn't sure if he understood him correctly, ''Can't I look for adventure on my own?''

''Is that really the only reason?''

Sonic winced slightly. He didn't like the way the black hedgehog sounded with that particular line, ''What else would it be?''

''The President doesn't go handing out missions to random people just like that'', Shadow felt like he was going to start a riot on his part with that sentence, but he couldn't waste another moment without figuring out just what the hell was going on.

The Blue Blur rolled his eyes, ''Hey, I've saved him and the world many times over. Why do you think I get called on stuff like this anyway? I'm the world's hero after all.''

There was a snort from the other side, ''You barely move your lazy bottom unless it's Doctor who's been ravaging the world in the first place.''

''Since when have you become an expert on what I do with my free time?'', Shadow's sudden interest in him wasn't something he was used to, as the Ultimate Lifeform ignored him and/or beat the crap out of him for most of the time he has known him. The black hedgehog seemed suspicious of him in one way or another and he didn't like how this conversation was turning out. He wasn't sure if the older mammal was thinking about this the entire time… maybe even for the whole plane ride for that matter. Anyway, Sonic wanted to change the subject to something else. He almost felt like he was being forcibly interrogated by an authority and there was something about the older hedgehog's voice that sounded peculiarly off.

He started wondering if the other was alright and stayed hopeful Shadow just wasn't feeling well, ''Are you… okay? You sound really weird.''

Immediately, the black one snapped back, ''None of your business, hedgehog.''

Sonic would've lied if he said he wasn't expecting that. He still believed the other was a repressed schizophrenic with the amount of temperament he showed, ''Shad-

His darker counterpart had enough and turned off the walkie talkie, ''You…'', he growled at the silent machine.

Maybe Tails was right. There was something fishy about the Fastest Thing Alive. However, he realized he'll need to learn a lot more before he'll confront him properly about it. He wasn't sure if it was the blue hedgehog or the President that was hiding something about this particular place, but he was bound to find out sooner or later. Then again, why would the Blue Blur be hiding something and for that matter, how? He was as shallow as a street puddle, Shadow could see right through him at all times. It wasn't possible the younger one was playing him for a fool.

In the meantime, he decided to continue through the iron jungle and ask questions later. According to Tails, it will be night soon and they wouldn't be able to see anything in the darkness. In all fairness, the trees blocking the sky didn't make the island anymore brighter, but when the darkness dawns on them, it will hit them hard. Even if there was anyone or anything still living in this city, Shadow was sure that he and Sonic won't have the time to check it out before the sun disappears. Besides, he was better off thinking there was nothing here at all. It made him feel easier at heart, but at the same time he couldn't help but wonder there was something out there… something tucked away in the ruined town. Something they didn't find just yet and could be watching their every step from afar. He could chalk it up to being paranoid, but he still refused to believe this island was completely abandoned.

Shadow followed through the nearest abandoned alleyway, skating into the interior of the city. The silence didn't change much when he made his way toward the center, hearing only the sounds of his burning jet shoes. He arrived in the town's square from what he presumed, with a broken down fountain and gigantic pillars situated in a perfect circle or so they were in the past. Branching paths and alleys were numerous from his position; many of them could lead to just about anywhere.

The Ultimate Lifeform didn't want to waste anymore time and ran through one of them, but as soon he steeped merely one more time, something bumped into him from behind. Even if it was just a light brush against him, the black one still wasn't expecting it to be this sudden.

''Seriously, what's your problem?'', a recognizable voice asked. The blue hedgehog stood to Shadow's side with his hands at his hips, looking extremely dumbfounded and confused at the same time. The older mammal was surprised he actually managed to find him this soon. Did Sonic really go all the way across the city to ask him that, because he refused to speak and pretty much blew him off through the transceiver?

He was slightly taken aback by that remark, ''Why do you think I have problems now?''

''First you ask me some weird questions, then you tell me to mind my own business and then you refuse to talk to me. Even Amy doesn't change her moods that regularly…'', he snorted out almost mockingly before reverting to a more composed speech. Sonic replied truthfully, ''I'm gonna say it again if it makes you feel better. I didn't know it was gonna turn out this way.''

Upon hearing those words, the black hedgehog rolled his eyes immediately. He heard that excuse before and it wasn't going to work on him anymore. Seeing it had no positive effect on the older one, the Blue Blur stopped bothering with his counterpart and shrugged lightly as he examined his surroundings instead as a quick result, ''Nevermind. We really seem to be the only ones here though.''

Shadow wasn't surprised anymore by this point, ''You didn't found anything?''

The Fastest Thing Alive twirled around with a playful expression, ''Nada, nichts, nanimo nai… nothing at all'', before doubling over with a sigh.

The older hedgehog folded his arms with a hoarse grunt, ''I'm starting to think there was no point in coming here.''

''It's still a good place to investigate…'', Sonic replied as soon as he picked himself up with an effort. He was very much excited about the whole ordeal and was ready to keep up at all times, even if the Ultimate Lifeform wasn't the adventurous type… that could soon change if he only realized the possibilities the unknown world offers.

Looking up toward the blocked azure, small orange tendrils of the sunset sky touched the ground below them, the only real indication of where the burning sun was going at this time, ''It's getting dark though. We should find a shelter or something, otherwise we're gonna get lost.''

''I think I saw one earlier'', Shadow pointed behind his rival but still refused to look at him properly. The black hedgehog didn't know for certain how far it was since then, but during his own little investigation he saw a rundown building almost resembling a cave. They could probably find something better or even cozier, but he thought he'd mention it anyway just so they would have somewhere to go, if everything else fails in the meantime.

''It should be safe enough.''

Snorting condescendingly, Sonic heightened his voice to a high pitch, ''Safe from what? There's nothing here!'

''You can never be too careful, hedgehog'', the black one replied to make him understand and verbally beat some sense in his head. But this was Sonic he was talking to, so it might not work effectively.

''You really think something's just gonna jump out of a bush at some point and kill us.''

That was surprisingly right, especially for the blue hedgehog. He took words right of his mouth, ''Exactly, hedgehog. I'm not about to lose my guard in this place. The false sense of security and abstract silence doesn't fool me at all.''

''If you say so…'', the blue one replied nonchalantly, leaving the Ultimate Lifeform wonder if he was even present or listening to him anymore. However, Shadow didn't wait for him and turned around immediately, deciding to go back the way he came and search for the place he mentioned earlier.

Sonic ran at his side as quickly as possible, ''Also, can you quit it with the hedgehog thing? I have a name, you know.''

''I'll call you whatever I want.''

The blue hedgehog pouted his lips, ''Fine… then I'll call you Fluffy.''

Chapter 4 - Blue Star

The two hedgehogs ran all over the place as soon Sonic decided to engage in a sort of weird mix between tag and hide-and-seek much to Shadow's frustration. He wanted to find the location he had seen before as quickly as possible, but he decided to play along for the time being, just so the black hedgehog wouldn't lose him in the iron jungle when he wasn't looking. But that was mostly because he would then have to waste more of his precious time trying to find him and drag him back on track by his tail like a little kid. Since he knew the Blue Blur's rising stubbornness in such situations, the Ultimate Lifeform wasn't going to have an easier time convincing him either. The most he could do is keep an eye on him while his rival was still too hyperactive for his own good.

He eventually noticed that the darkness began advancing much quicker than he presumed at first… it started to concern him more than anything at the moment. Without a proper clock in this place, he wasn't sure just how long it was until the next sunset as his earlier predictions seemed to be incorrect. In the same way, he couldn't be sure when the yellow furred pilot would come back to pick them up from this place.

But as of now, he was stuck on this mysterious island along with the blue hedgehog and they'll have to endure one another until morning.

Joy.

This mission was only getting better and better.

''Tag, you're it, Fluffy!'', the blue hedgehog slapped him across the back and quickly dashed away when the other tried to leap on him from behind only to stumble forward, ''Too slow!''

The Ultimate Lifeform was getting sick of his games and that stupid name, ''Get back here, hedgehog!''

Even with a threatening tone like that, Sonic showed little concern for his words and continued to grin while running off the track. Immediately, when the Blue Blur turned his head around, he ran straight into a low hanging branch that appeared right out of nowhere, '''Ouch!'', he yelped and staggered backwards. The impact however wasn't strong enough to send him flying to the ground or give him a considerable bump on his head, which the black hedgehog considered to be a big shame. But at least it could give him some headaches if nothing else, something Shadow's been struggling to keep at bay ever since the emerald eyed hero started yapping his gigantic loud mouth.

Seeing Sonic holding his forehead in slight embarrassment, the black one dragged himself closer with his arms folded, ''It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. Next time, keep your eyes in front instead of flailing around like an idiot.''

''If you think that's bad, you haven't seen anything'', the Fastest Thing Alive finally shrugged with one of his hands and lastly leaned on his knees as he exhaled, ''I handled worse stuff than that. All in a day's work, ya know?''

''Is it your way of life to get beaten mercilessly then?'', Shadow rebutted his statement, although he seemed to regret it once the expression on his counterpart changed.

He chuckled at the thought, ''So what if it is? You want me to lead a boring, normal life? No thanks!''

''Of course, how stupid of me…'', the older hedgehog pointed out sarcastically and moved away as soon the other mammal opened his mouth to say something back.

Sonic, who was beginning to get bored again, stopped with his games for the time being, although much hastily than he was known for. There were a few times Shadow recalled that the blue hedgehog could run for hours straight without stopping once in his track, usually to get from one city to another, from one danger to the other as fast as it was possible. He wondered if he even slept during those days… even with the maximum speed it would take him a while to get from one continent to another.

Just what did he do these days without Dr. Robotnik in the picture? Run and investigate? Even on certain G.U.N. missions he regularly saw a glint of the Blue Blur in the distance, passing through like a strange vision that nobody noticed but himself due to its speed, even if nothing in particular was going on.

When the blue one started to talk nonsense once again or touch suspicious things in the way, the Ultimate Lifeform exhaled heavily for about twentieth time today. It wasn't until now the black hedgehog felt like a babysitter in a store. He could barely remember how many times he had to tell Sonic not to touch anything or fall far behind just because he saw something shiny.

''Hey, is that a restaurant?'', Sonic pointed at a large building as he found a broken down sign leaning against its exterior, but the blue hedgehog only managed to make out a few words due to the amount of rust eating away at it. He didn't seem to notice that the black one was ignoring him but it was probably for the best, ''Hmm…''

With a quiet snicker, the hero's eyes eventually lightened up like small bright stars in the evening sky as he ran in front of the older hedgehog and checked out something he happened to notice in the distance. He picked up a small poster hidden amongst all the rubble and mess the atrocious weather left behind, encased in an unusual but severely damaged picture frame one could usually see hanging in theaters or galleries.

Grinning sheepishly, the blue hedgehog for once managed to read something in this bleak, boring and gray place after all, ''Chao in Space 2! Now that's like… the only thing I'll watch. I got really excited when they decided to make a series out of it… but it was so boring and I always missed the best episodes.''

Shadow snorted as he passed him, ''What kind of a Fastest Thing Alive are you if you can't even catch a TV show?''

''The busy one, that's who!'', the blue hedgehog lifted his waggling finger at him and dropped the poster back on the muddy ground to catch up with his rival.

After a few more steps, Sonic was still getting bored by the perpetual silence ever since he bumped his head on that stupid branch. He started wondering if this trip was ever going to end. Just where the hell was the Ultimate Lifeform going, to the moon? He scratched his forehead and yawned lightly to imply irritation, ''Man… are we there yet?''

He sighed as a part of his response, ''No, hedgehog.''

With a short but quiet laugh, he smiled at the perfect opportunity he had given him and shifted playfully as he hurried in front again, ''Hurry up then, Fluffy!''

The older hedgehog thought he was going to have a migraine attack anytime soon. He probably should've expected his counterpart to pull that obtuse name out to taunt him again. This was highly humiliating. Shadow felt like he was spoken to as if he were some sort of pet, ''Stop with that, hedgehog. I'm not a dog.''

''Sure thing, Fluffy'', the condescending tone spoken by the blue annoyance was almost enough to make him rage, ''When you decide to call me by my real name, I'll stop.''

During Sonic's hard attempts of not bursting out laughing in a maniacal, almost in a Dr. Robotnik kinda way, the black hedgehog grunted out an entire breath he had left in him and continued through the melancholy background. He wasn't about to give in to the Blue Blur's demands as much he was going to bother him about it, ''You are so annoying.''

''Thanks, I heard you the last fifty times…'', the blue hedgehog actually sounded flattered by his harsh complaints. That wasn't anything new these days.

From what he'd seen, Sonic was incredibly hard to seriously offend or get him extremely furious, mostly because he appeared to take everything with a joke or two. However, in those rare, almost precious times when he did get mad weren't exactly the nicest thing in the world… and that was putting it lightly. Shadow managed to be surprised every single time that someone like the Fastest Thing Alive could actually show that he was capable of such strong emotions, being such a rebellious free soul with no qualms otherwise.

But he usually ignored those outbursts, as those events were few and far between to count in his opinion. Still, the black hedgehog sometimes wondered if there was more to his lively counterpart than he was willing or able to show, alongside that ever growing potential that seemed to increase every time anything disastrous was in the making. Saying otherwise would be practically lying to those few but largely true specifics. The older one expected from those he called his equals to hold their own just as good, if not a little better than he could. Granted, the blue annoyance managed to be a wholesome mystery to him even now, which was highly ironic.

Shadow was the one people deemed mysterious, yet nobody batted an eyelid at a blue hedgehog.

Once he straightened out his thoughts, the older hedgehog stopped in his track, along with his counterpart grunting childishly who continuously polished one of his sharp spines with his finger out of boredom. He pointed toward a location in front of him, ''I believe this is it.''

''What a dump'', the Blue Blur commented unenthusiastically, ''At least it's huge, I'll give you that.''

They weren't exactly sure what the building was used for before its collapse, but the exterior resembled a pretty important structure, with dark, bleak and torn drapes coming from the highest position possible and ending somewhere halfway downwards alongside shattered windows. There was probably nothing left in it anymore, having been washed away by rain and decayed by rust for many years before the hedgehogs even came here. It must have been a magnificent sight back in the old days, but now it fit right in with Hang Castle's stereotypical haunted mansions. While the upper section seemed to be leaning dangerously at a certain angle, there didn't seem to be any indication of it falling down on them. A cave like entrance to its insides led to a largely hollow interior that seemed to invite just about anyone in this very moment.

The hedgehog duo carefully steeped in, staying on guard if anything in particular was to jump on them through the darkness.

Shadow wasn't exhilarated by it in any way possible. He needed to see where he was going, ''I'll make a torch'', he said and turned around, ''We'll need fire anyway.''

''Afraid of the dark so soon?'', Sonic mocked the other, even if he ignored him afterwards.

The blue hedgehog watched him disappear back outside, while he pulled himself into the interior with a lazy drag and a bored whistle that echoed through the massive building. He could barely see anything in the dark but he continued to advance slowly through it nonetheless, running into small rocks and other unfamiliar junk gathering on the ground. His shoes eventually started to echo against the ground, having finally come across some decent flooring other than grass and mud. This was pretty good for a temporary shelter… at least better than having to trail through the night with no light or appropriate hideout at all.

Hearing an unrecognizable sound from the outside, Sonic quickly twirled around to see what it was. He tilted his head around with a confused mind, as there was nothing there in the first place, not even the infamous Shadow the Hedgehog himself as he first presumed. Thinking he was imagining things, he still peeked outside in vary curiosity, ''Uhh… what? Already?'', the way the forest darkened in front of his eyes was jaw drooping.

''Seems like we were wasting more time than we thought'', he was surprised at an approaching warmth. The black hedgehog returned to the blue one from the opposite side, with a burning piece of wood in his hands that was incredibly welcome right now.

Sonic didn't know what to say as he scratched his ear.

The Ultimate Lifeform merely grunted as a response and left him to explore the insides of the building by himself. While it was a particularly large place, there was nothing in it that could have been of interest or worth. It was completely and thoroughly empty, with small and generally useless stuff decorating the ground and walls instead. In the back, Shadow managed to find a ruined staircase leading up onto the next floor, but he wasn't interested in it at all as he preferred to stay on the lower floor.

When he returned back to his original position, the Fastest Thing Alive was still in the same place as earlier, looking into the nonexistent sky in the dark forest, ''Don't just stand there'', the black hedgehog conversed with the seemingly oblivious hero, ''Make yourself useful and find some wood.''

As soon he crouched down to make some room for the campfire, the blue one was back already, ''Like this?''

''Show off like always'', the older mammal nodded after he squinted at him over his shoulder. It must've taken only about three second before the emerald eyed hero emerged with a pile of branches in his hands.

He obviously wasn't amused by the black hedgehog's lack of emotion, ''At least I'm having some fun around here'', he tried to do his traditional pointing pose, but he instead only managed to drop a few branches on the ground due to the busyness present in his hands, ''Oops.''

''Just bring them here already'', the Ultimate Lifeform brushed his forehead and gave out a very unimpressed glare.

The Blue Blur whistled cheerfully as he literally dropped to the floor near the campfire and fixed himself into a proper sitting position. The older hedgehog simply had a displeasured expression on his face… like always. Even when the black one refused his assistance with the campfire, Sonic just couldn't help but point out several general instructions about camping and lighting fires his older counterpart got completely and utterly wrong. It was pretty obvious from his perspective that his darker rival never went camping in his life.

''You gotta dig a hole.''

''I know.''

''The wood's gotta be in a circle.''

''I know.''

''The tinder has to be inside to protect it from the wind.''

''I know.''

''You suck at this.''

''I kn…'', upon waking up from his short trance, Shadow was quick enough to realize what the blue one's intention was.

The younger hedgehog sat in a cross-legged position with his hands supporting his cheeks and grinning sheepishly at the grumpy black mammal. When he had enough of him, he flicked at the hero's forehead with merely his finger, sending the blue annoyance on his back with a quiet thud. The Fastest Thing Alive grunted out at first, but immediately afterwards burst out into a very predictable high pitched laughter to the point of crying. The Ultimate Lifeform just couldn't get to him with anything these days, could he? On that vaguely irritating note, he turned back to the campfire and continued with the construction.

While managing and keeping the fire alive in the meantime, Sonic stalked the entrance again, ''It's already dark…'', he couldn't see anything in front of him, only various shapes in the dark that the blue hedgehog couldn't make out or even imagine what they were supposed to represent, other than trees and rundown buildings.

When he started stomping up and down while mumbling to himself and holding his spiky head, the Ultimate Lifeform stared puzzled at the blue one, until he eventually approached him with an annoying grunt, ''You can't even see the sky'', the Blue Blur whined and sat back on his side of the campfire, ''No stargazing this time.''

''Stargazing?'', the black one asked.

''Yeah, watching the stars go by is better than counting sheep'', stretching his limbs, Sonic yawned out in excitement, ''It's the most wonderful thing ever. You should try it out sometime.''

The crimson eyed agent shrugged lightly. He wasn't into that sort of thing, especially not at night. For one, he enjoyed having a roof over his head and he didn't like getting caught in the rain while outside. The black hedgehog was glad he could at least skate fast enough to avoid the ever changing weather.

It made him slightly puzzled to whatever or not the blue hedgehog even had a place to stay at. As far as he knew, Shadow never heard the blue hedgehog mention it at all nor have others for that matter. They all usually hanged out or talked business over at Tails' workshop, Cream's house and other establishments they could think of at important rushed times, ''Speaking of which, where do you even live?''

''Live?'', he sounded confused at first but quickly changed his mind, ''Everywhere.''

It seemed like he didn't pose his question correctly, ''I meant a home.''

''Oh… why didn't you say so then?'', the Blue Blur grinned and scratched his chin with a thoughtful expression, ''I don't really have one. Let's just say I do have a place for desperate times, but even then I'm rarely there at all.''

''And where's that supposed to be?''

Sonic immediately wagged his finger in front of him and clicked his tongue most annoyingly, ''Tsk, tsk, tsk… that's a secret, Shadow'', the Blue Blur replied playfully and started rocking back and forward in a particularly kiddy way. The black hedgehog's eyelids fell down a notch, almost as if he appeared to be disappointed over him and his answer.

Noticing it, the blue mammal explained quickly, ''Sometimes I need my peace too. But I will say this… it's warm, it's peaceful and nobody knows about it.''

The older one snorted as he leaned his hand against his cheek, ''Never thought of you as the loner type.''

''Really? You'd be surprised…'', he once again smiled almost painfully until he let out another long yawn. He asked further and tilted his head to the side, ''Say, you bored?''

''Not really…'', he lied.

''I am kinda. This brings me back though…'', the emerald eyed hero decided to reminisce for a bit as he manned his hands over the fire, ''A campfire in a desolate place and no one to talk to.''

''I am here, you know'', Shadow reminded him with an obvious pitch.

The blue hedgehog smirked, ''Exactly. Nobody to talk to.''

Shadow felt his fist clench into tight fist, but he dismissed the idea of hitting the blue hedgehog. Although he wondered with a mock feeling if he was even able to hurt something that wasn't there… namely Sonic's intelligence which was definitely somewhere up in the clouds altogether. Even so, the black hedgehog already decided to keep violence to a minimum. He and the Blue Blur weren't enemies anymore, but that didn't mean they were friends either. Instead, he thought of more discreet humiliations for him which managed to be more satisfying than beating him into a bloody pulp. But sometimes the blue hero just didn't know what the hell he was talking about as he noted, ''You're just asking for trouble.''

''I'm kidding, I didn't mean it like that!'', he started to defend himself with an awkward grin. However, that gave him an idea, ''Well… do you wanna talk?''

Sonic put the emphasis on the word 'you', so it was obvious the younger one was at least somewhat interested in a friendly conversation. Might as well reply to that now, seeing how he got frustrated at the opposite claim just a moment ago as if he wasn't a good conversationalist. What would they talk about anyway, the weather? They weren't exactly the best buddies in the world, but he didn't know what the blue hedgehog was thinking about that option, ''… maybe.''

''Shoot then, don't be shy! I'm waiting.''

And thus he gave him the upper hand this time around and handed him the responsibility to start their conversation. It didn't seem like a big deal at first, but this was probably the first time the two actually decided properly to listen to one another. Sonic continued to pucker his lips as he waited for any sort of interaction from the other mammal, but the black one could easily see he was going to get bored soon, so he needed to take this rare opportunity he still had at his disposal. Maybe this time around he can actually find out something new about the younger hedgehog, it's not like he knew much or cared enough to find out back in the day. Shadow was certain there was something going on with Sonic on this peculiar mission and he was wondering wherever or not he can find out anything interesting that could point out any inaccuracies.

To try and keep the conversation flowing for the time being until he came up with something subtler without raising his suspicions, he picked a random sentence out of his head to see his reaction to the question, ''How did you and Doctor became enemies anyway?''

''Now that's a story to tell'', he waved his hands up in the air and smiled, ''Ever gone to South Island?''

Gone to? He has never even heard of the place until this moment. He nodded at him, ''I don't think so.''

''That's where it all started. Many, many years ago, in a land far away…'', Sonic started talking in an overly dramatic voice, but he couldn't handle it for too long as he started coughing out harshly. The other merely snorted as the Blue Blur tried to ignore the situation with a light shrug.

Smirking eventually, the blue hedgehog eventually switched back to his normal speech pattern to continue his story, ''It was a pretty peaceful place back in the day. Flowers grew, the sun was shinning bright and everyone was happy. Ya know, it was like that until Eggman came causing trouble for everyone. He started kidnapping all the animals in the area and stuffed them inside his machines. I don't even want to know what went on in there…''

He felt a slight cold shiver run down his spine at the mere thought of it, ''Anyway, I took a nap for a second and when I finally woke up, everything was crawling with robots. I was like… whoa. Damn, that was quick for a fat egg like him!''

Although he appeared to be disinterested even more than usual, Shadow was beginning to warm up, ''You weren't caught?''

He flailed his finger around, ''No way, I was too fast for that fatty. None of his machines ever managed to catch me. So, with everyone turned into robots and nobody there to help them, what was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave them like that, I had to do something. It wasn't easy…''

The blue one rolled his eyes slightly once he thought of Labyrinth Zone and all other difficult locations he had to conquer just to get to the self proclaimed Doctor and finally spin dash him into oblivion, ''… but I managed to defeat him and he ran away like a big loser that he is. At the time, I wasn't aware that by doing that, I'd gain an archenemy for a lifetime.''

The Ultimate Lifeform questioned further, ''How long was that ago?''

''I think… you know…'', for a few seconds, the younger hedgehog's face turned completely blank, ''I can't remember. It's been so long I sometimes think we've been at it for eternity.''

The black one raised one of his eye ridges in a sarcastic manner, ''Should I be surprised at that?'', but the emerald eyed hero simply shrugged.

Sonic simply chuckled out loud once he thought of another thing that boggled him about the man, ''But ya know, Eggman… he keeps coming back. I maul his machines, robots and airships until they're nothing more than a pile of useless junk. You'd think by now I already made enough property damage to put him out of business. He still hasn't learned his lesson!''

''I doubt he ever will'', Shadow replied with a small grunt.

''I know!'', the blue hedgehog threw his hands up in the air again but calmed his voice a second later. He flicked at the dust on the ground, ''But that's fine by me. As long we're here, we'll be always there to stop him.''

No matter what the mad Doctor did to him, the entire world or anyone else, Sonic never minded fighting him or his robots. While he wasn't all that afraid to use violence, he barely ever thought about harming or heck, actually killing a living being. Genuine heroism prevented him from acting as such, but Shadow wasn't sure if he was going to put up with that act successfully anymore than it was necessary. For years, the Blue Blur has been beating Eggman into submission, yet he always got away to fight another day. The younger hedgehog before him must've been one heck of an idealist, if he refused to kill him right there once and for all or at least drag him to the nearest prison cell and keep him there for the rest of his life.

And how did an obese Doctor manage to escape from someone hailed as the Fastest Thing Alive? Adrenaline rush or airplane arms technique? Although, he didn't really feel the need to ask him about that just yet. The black hedgehog didn't want to make Sonic feel like he was being questioned like a criminal or wish to invoke the same feeling he got a while back through the transceiver. As long Shadow got the Blue Blur engaged into conversation, it mattered little to him where this was going.

He thought about that place again his younger counterpart mentioned earlier, ''About South Island…''

''Yeah?''

He brainstormed for a second if this was actually a good idea to ask. In the end, he took the chance anyway, ''Were you born there?''

For a moment, there was silence between two multicolored hedgehogs. Sonic mumbled out something under his breath and folded his arms as he looked at his darker counterpart in a mildly questionable way, ''Why are so interested in me all of a sudden?''

He should've seen this one coming. Shadow cursed harshly in his mind, thinking it wasn't that good of a moment at all. Sonic was bound to get suspicious about him at some point, which wasn't surprising considering his outburst earlier. The longer they were on this island, the more they will get vary of one another due to various doubts they pilled up against each other like panicked animals. Possibly to the point they probably didn't even think about trusting each other properly.

However, the black hedgehog decided to stay collected in front of the emerald eyed hero, just to keep him from being skeptical about it. Shadow came up with the next best and quite innocent answer he could think of at the moment, ''You wanted to talk, so I pose questions. If it's too personal…''

''Nah, I don't mind. It's better than doing nothing'', as soon he replied to that, the black hedgehog felt relief for a slight moment, ''I only grew up there.''

He asked further, albeit a little more carefully this time around, ''May I ask what your real birthplace is?''

''Sure…'', Sonic shrugged at him, ''Christmas Island.''

The black hedgehog really felt like he should read up on geography of this world a little more than he was required. Having been thrown all these unknown locations at him at the same time was bound to make him heavily confused for a short while. Unlike the blue one, he never really got the urge to run through entire countries at once, except for that one time the black hedgehog was supposed to catch the Blue Blur and bring him in on a quick request, which eventually ended up taking the entire day because they kept canceling each other out. Only a well planned Chaos Control managed to take care of that. But that was a tale for another day.

He quickly nodded, ''Never heard of it.''

''You and everyone'', the blue hedgehog didn't even pretend to sound surprised and pointed his finger at him, ''I have a club for guys like you.''

Puzzled, the Ultimate Lifeform wondered once more with a slightly widened expression, ''Has nobody ever heard of it?''

''Who knows…'', much to the black hedgehog's surprise, Sonic only raised his shoulders as he noted with a smirk, ''I don't exactly ask just about anyone I meet where it is.''

''Don't you remember anything about it? Surely you have at least a clue about it…'', Shadow wasn't exactly sure why he was asking such personal and sentimental things in the first place. But he had to admit this was beginning to look like a very interesting conversation with the informed emerald eyed hero, even if it wasn't going to add nothing to his small investigation here. What hurt did a casual pep talk like this ever do to him anyway?

''I…'', he hesitated for a short moment as if he was trying to remember something, ''I was really young at that point, so I don't remember it very well.''

''You never felt the need to go back?'', even Sonic should've gotten homesick at certain points.

''It's been a while, but… no. I just never got the time.''

It didn't say much at that point, but the blue hedgehog definitely had too much of a free spirit in him to ever stop running around the whole world and help people and animals alike in trouble. The Ultimate Lifeform didn't try to question it, since Sonic was pretty much the best definition of a rebellious wanderer he ever had the unfortunate pleasure to meet in his life. Whenever Rouge mentioned any of the greatest wanderers from classic westerns, the Blue Blur instantly came to mind with just that one word. Then again, he could hand wave it somewhat, since he didn't watch movies all that much nor did he actually have a word reserved for him… other than calling him annoyance or that similar looking hedgehog that keeps getting on his nerves. However, Shadow wasn't all that sure that most beings could be described with merely one word.

Out of nowhere, the black one suddenly got a big question mark in his head. He was astonished he never asked himself the question before, but in all honesty it sounded embarrassing just thinking about it, ''I never questioned this before but…'', his voice sunk lower, as he believed this was going to make him sound outright and unbelievably stupid. At the same time, he kinda felt the other wasn't going to notice much anyway, but that was just wishful thinking, ''Others our species. Do they hail from the same island as you do?''

Blinking, Sonic rested his head on the side and replied with a bored voice, ''I'm not sure.''

The black mammal was surprised there was neither laughter nor mocking gestures coming from his counterpart like he previously expected to happen. Was he saying that he himself had no idea where hedgehogs came from? He was the one who spent most of his life up in outer space, not his young rival before him who has lived on the planet for as long as he could possibly remember. Shadow twitched slightly as he was beginning to get more confused at the spaced out blue wonder, ''Are you saying with all that running around the world you do, you never managed to figure that one out?''

''Actually…'', Sonic formed an awkward smile on his face and brushed his nose as he tried to cover up the nervousness in his voice. He coughed out as if he was choking at first, but quickly admitted to what the other was suspecting to hear, almost hoping Shadow wouldn't catch a word of it, ''Other than you and Amy, I've never met another hedgehog.''

Widening his eyes, the black hedgehog was left completely dumbfounded by that statement, ''You're not serious, are you?''

There was no response from his blue counterpart at all, as he continued to twiddle his fingers with a quiet whistle. Sonic was quick to mentally kick himself in the head for it. He didn't say stuff like that on accident nor did he actually want to have this kind of conversation with Shadow any further. For a moment, the other almost had nothing more to say than just wonder, ''How's that possible? Don't tell me you run too fast to actually meet somebody.''

''No way, I do stop!'', he quickly yelped at him and folded his arms around his chest. The blue hedgehog appeared displeased, possibly because he couldn't figure out how to continue this dialogue any longer. Sonic grunted harshly for not paying attention to what he was saying at the time. The mess he was in right now wasn't exactly known to just about anyone on the planet. At first his statement didn't sound so awkward in his mind, it only started to make sense when it actually came out of his mouth. Just what the hell was he thinking at the time? The Blue Blur really didn't have any other choice than to try and wriggle his way out of this embarrassing situation.

So, here went nothing as he continued from his last sentence, ''… from time to time. It's just that they're so few and far between it's kinda hard to find them. They say that hedgehogs are considered loners and don't exactly have an established civilization like some other animals have. I read all about it.''

Looking at the older mammal's puzzled expression, Sonic tilted his head at him, ''You look surprised.''

What, he only happened to notice it now? He's been confused ever since he told him the fact. However, Shadow turned this into something more lighthearted to brighten the mood around him a bit and keep him engaged in their chit chat, ''I'm surprised you can read.''

''Haha, that's funny!'', looks like it worked after all. Sonic was back to grinning like an idiot, if only for a slight moment.

He returned back to a more thoughtful look on his face, along with one of his hands on his chin as he looked up toward the ceiling. He grunted out lightly, ''But really… did you know we have a generally poor eyesight?'', he pulled down his eyelid in a mildly teasing akanbe taunt, ''And that we're supposed to be much slower and active mostly during the night? There's also this thing called anointing. Actually I'd rather not talk about that, something sounds really dodgy about it. They put a lot of research into it.''

The older mammal asked again, this time more thoroughly, ''Just how much do you even know about hedgehogs?''

''Quite a lot'', the blue hedgehog quickly shrugged, but the other wasn't searching for that exact reply.

''From personal experience, not books.''

''Uhh…''

That was good enough of an answer for him. Even at this point, Sonic was struggling with the next possible answer. He snorted at the blue one with clear disbelief, ''A hedgehog that doesn't know anything about hedgehogs. That's a good one.''

The Blue Blur nodded his head to defend himself, ''That's not what I said.''

''You clearly sound like that'', in response, the younger one merely pouted at him. Rolling his eyes at him, Shadow moved the dialogue forward regardless of how annoyed his counterpart was going to get at the end, ''Didn't you have anyone to teach you about it?''

Sonic was clearly getting flustered at the older hedgehog, which would possibly be the first time Shadow ever saw him as well. The emerald eyed hero's breathing quickened and his pupils ran all over the place, just not the one he was supposedly speaking to at the moment. He finally threw his hands in the air just to answer it quickly and be done with it as fast as possible, ''I don't know any other hedgehogs and I most certainly wasn't gonna ask Amy or you about it. I grew up with all sorts of animals, but not hedgehogs.''

''Parents?''

That was a haste answer, even for the blue hedgehog, ''Can't remember them for the life of me.''

''Are you-

Before he could finish up his question, Sonic interrupted him by stretching out very awkwardly and faking the largest yawn the Ultimate Lifeform has ever seen. The older hedgehog could see the other was trying to get out of this situation quickly for some reason, even with the most obvious of distractions, ''Ya know, it's getting late! I'll be cranky if I don't get a good night sleep and I won't be able to run very efficiently.''

This was just beginning to look interesting and the Blue Blur had to pull this off. Shadow wanted to know why the other appeared so irritated, ''Sonic…''

''I'm just tired, Shadow…'', the blue hedgehog manned his eyes and eventually fell down on his back, with hands behind his spiked head and lastly threw one of his legs over the other. His emerald eyes were only slightly open and stared into the ceiling, refusing to budge to the side.

Sighing heavily, the black hedgehog decided not to push him anymore, even if the conversation was cut short by Sonic's interference. He was surprised just how quick he was to hesitate. Usually the younger one wasn't this secretive at all, but it seemed to confirm his suspicions. If the blue hedgehog was hiding something, it was obviously not related to the mission at all. Everybody had secrets, so there was no way the blue one was anymore cleaner than anyone else. In the end, Shadow guessed he dug a little too deep and made him accidentally converse about something he didn't want to. However, the crimson eyed mammal could never be too sure, although he figured he should calm down on his questioning from now on.

Pulling out a transceiver, Shadow only now realized they didn't talk to the pilot yet. Seeing that the blue hedgehog was almost asleep, he took it upon himself to get to higher ground and talk to him about a few things, ''I'll go talk to Tails'', he replied and picked himself up from the floor.

''You…'', he seemed surprised, ''Really?''

He nodded at him and steeped over to the gigantic exit, ''I'll be right back.''

''Don't get lost'', Sonic yelped at him mockingly albeit with a yawn breaking up his sentence, ''Or eaten… or both.''

As he expected, the day was almost over since he could barely see a thing or two in front of him. If it weren't for those few tendrils of the sun leaking through the thick woods, he wouldn't even know where to step, much less get anywhere. Still, the warm color indicated it was a very late sunset, but he needed to inform the yellow furred pilot to keep him from worrying about them. He decided not to stray far away from the building anymore than it was necessary, just so he could see the light of the campfire in the distance to guide him back in worst case scenario. To get a better signal, Shadow jumped onto the nearest broken down tree to get closer to the darkened azure.

When he felt he was high enough, the black hedgehog tried calling him immediately, ''Tails, are you still here?''

There was a slight static before Tails managed to get through, ''Yeah… but I'll be out of range soon.''

''I see.''

The yellow furred pilot exhaled out, feeling the need to explain himself to the black hedgehog, ''Look, whatever happens-

''Don't sweat it'', Shadow quickly interfered to prevent them from straying off topic, ''I'll survive.''

''I sure hope so…'', the two tailed mammal sounded somewhat distressed, albeit he tried covering it up with an obvious shaking chuckle. He quickly asked about his hedgehog friend, keeping up with the dialogue as they only had so little time to spare, ''What about Sonic?''

''He's fine, if that's what you want to know'', the Ultimate Lifeform replied truthfully, but it seemed this wasn't everything the young genius had to ask or say.

Tails coughed out as he felt the need to share his assumptions about the whole ordeal they were dropped in all of a sudden, ''I was thinking about it and…'', he still sounded a bit hesitant, as if he didn't really want to trust his own words, ''Ever since Sonic came up with that mission from the President, I've had a feeling there's something we weren't informed about.''

''You think Sonic is hiding something?'', Shadow managed to sound a little more sarcastic this time around, ''Be reasonable.''

''Well… we just found a deserted island which could possibly hold a key to a lost civilization and I kinda doubt it's another Angel Island'', the pilot nodded lightly as he continued to fly further toward an unknown location, away from the mysterious landmass, '' But… I don't want to accuse Sonic or the President of things like that. I think he'd be pretty disappointed at me if he knew.''

He was quick to pick up on his uncertainty, ''You don't want to or don't believe it?''

''I… I don't know'', Tails wasn't sure what to think anymore.

Even if Sonic was acting his usual, he still believed there was something in the background that none of them knew anything about… or maybe they weren't supposed to know the reasons at all. However, at this time he was more worried that something could've happened to his hedgehog companions while he was away, as he didn't trust this place. But he didn't have much choice in the matter. If he wanted to fly, he needed fuel. The yellow furred fox hoped both of them would handle themselves just fine.

He tried to calm down the older one just in case, ''But I'm sure they wouldn't hide things from us without a good reason.''

''Good reason doesn't equal a smart one'', the black hedgehog replied harshly. Hearing him sighing once again on the other side, Shadow decided to agree with him for once, ''Still, I'm starting to take your word for it. There is something suspicious going on after all. If there is anything, I'll found out soon.''

''Just take it easy, okay?''

Chapter 5 - Trespasser

Shadow was ready to disconnect himself from Tails' line when the other implied he only had a few seconds, until they would lose contact on their own. For some reason he felt this was going to be the last time in a while he'll be able to hear the pilot's voice this clearly. As soon he turned off the transceiver, the environment quickly filled with an ominous atmosphere, only the rare cold wind whistled through the iron jungle with a piercing pitch. The realization came to him almost immediately. From now on, he and Sonic were all alone on the island and most likely the only living creatures as well.

Quickly, the black hedgehog decided to go back to the camp as he jumped back on the ground. Fortunately, the campfire in near distance helped him through the dark forest with little effort, otherwise he could've wasted a lot more time trying to find it again or worse, getting lost without a proper warning.

He was thinking back on the yellow fox's words. Shadow had this gut feeling that he was missing something important in this whole situation, but he didn't know what it could have been. The two tailed pilot sounded more and more distressed at the implication there were things nobody told them about this place, namely because they both seemed suspicious about the blue wonder and even the President at this point. However, Tails believed he was better off thinking there was nothing here at all. And of course, insist that his friend wouldn't be secretive without any sort of reason. Maybe that was alright for him, but the Ultimate Lifeform was the one who was alongside the blue hedgehog at this very moment. That's why he will need to be careful about what to say to him from now on. He was convinced that Sonic was pestered by something, probably whatever Shadow himself accidentally brought up, but that wasn't going to stop him from being alerted at the younger hedgehog at all times.

The older one will need to keep an eye on him… something strange was going on after all and every small clue will be helpful in solving the mystery of this island. There was no significant trait about it that could tell him who lived here in the first place. Not even an insignia or a sign about its past belongings. Humans were probably a good idea to think considering how much it resembled their primary architecture, especially when compared to the rest of United Federation, although animal civilizations weren't unheard of, if only slightly more out of the print.

Sighing harshly, the black mammal finally steeped back into the rundown building, relieved to be at least in a remotely safe and lighted area. Approaching the campfire, he noticed that Sonic had already fallen asleep while he was gone. He walked slowly and quietly enough so he wouldn't wake him up at any cost.

Once close enough, he seemed to notice something weird about his counterpart. Unlike his usual confident and overly cocky position he took on earlier, the blue hedgehog was now curled up in a fetal position, almost completely tightened up in a small blue furball like a usual hedgehog in danger. Shadow found himself staring at his sleeping form, considering just how different it seemed from his very distinct personality he showed off to drive the point home.

That wasn't the position of an annoying and egoistical hero he knew during the day. It resembled more of a lost hoglet instead.

The black one nodded fiercely at himself once he remembered something. Shadow always seemed to forget that Sonic was still a kid after all. Yet this was a kid who tore through the metal just as easily as a heavily sharpened saw and he probably went through more than most adults could ever admit. It was funny the only time he thought any different toward the Blue Blur was whenever he was sleeping and even then he wasn't exactly sure what to think. The Ultimate Lifeform breathed out lightly and pulled himself on the other side of the campfire, sitting down with his legs close to his chest. Manning his gloved hands at the fire, he took another short look at the blue wonder and wondered which side of him he was currently looking at.

Subconscious thoughts during sleep weren't all that rare after all. The only thing he knew for certain it was a side he will probably never see again.

It turned out it wasn't as bad as he believed at first. In all honestly, the deadly silence was starting to rub on his senses. For once, he'd be glad if the blue hedgehog was actually awake to talk his ear off, but they both had enough of one another for the day. Instead of voices, the only noise he could listen to was their quiet breathing and the crackling fire before him. Shadow wasn't feeling sleepy or tired at all. In fact, he felt like he could run across the city about two times over and still have enough energy to do a hundred push-ups.

With nothing on his mind anymore, he leaned backwards against some rubble and stared directly toward the entrance. In the meantime, the black hedgehog might as well keep an eye on this place in case something happened… until he finally yawned for the first time. He covered his mouth with slight surprise. Shadow figured the perpetual boredom was going to catch up with him anytime soon and the presence of the sleeping hedgehog beside him greatly influenced the possibility as well. With a corner of his eye, the older mammal thought the Blue Blur moved slightly, although he couldn't see anything unusual going on with him. He started to think the silence was to blame for it and he really needed a nap to straighten out his mind, even if it was just a short one.

He only closed his eyes for a second… honestly. However, the miscellaneous sounds from all around managed to wake the Ultimate Lifeform from his faint sleep. With his arms tightly around his chest and head against the debris, the black hedgehog still continued to drift back into unconsciousness every so often. He thought at first he was being delusional because of tiredness, but he heard a soft voice talking to someone.

Looking at his right, Sonic apparently repositioned himself to somewhere else. He'd probably jump right on his feet, if his blue counterpart was actually gone from this place entirely. Quietly manning his eyes, the agent's crimson eyes found the Blue Blur sitting in front of the giant entrance, staring into the darkness of the outside world and for once, surprisingly calm and still. He was mumbling to himself and the older hedgehog only caught a few words without informing or startling him.

''I wonder if this was a good idea…'' the blue one grunted out with a confused voice and leaned on his crossed legs.

''… it seems like...''

The G.U.N. agent couldn't even pretend to know what the Fastest Thing Alive was saying. Still dazed from that short nap he'd been abruptly waken from mostly by his inability to stay still on this disturbing island, he listened albeit without Sonic's knowledge. It's not that he was used to eavesdropping, but he had the innate ability to position himself just perfectly and overhear various conversations by sheer accident. That's all there was to it… honest to heart. And after all, he was a government agent after all. It was a useful ability on the field to appear indifferent to the rest of the world while spying on something important.

For the longest time, the blue hedgehog barely moved, other than to keep his head up in the air due to it keep falling downwards for some reason. He should've already gotten the hint that he needed some sleep at this moment.

''But…''

Shadow thought about alarming him, but changed his mind at the last second. Taking Sonic's sudden avoidance in their previous dialogue into consideration, he didn't think they were going to have a pleasant conversation at all tonight nor would he be anymore excited if he knew he was peeking at him when he was supposed to be sleeping.

''I just hope…''

He didn't notice it until much later, but Sonic's incomprehensive words were putting him to sleep much quicker than he desired. Even if he wanted, the black hedgehog didn't believe he could stay awake any longer than it was necessary for him. Whatever the Blue Blur was babbling about, it will have to wait unanswered for now. With a heavy head, Shadow finally nodded off back to sleep as soon his blue counterpart picked himself up from the ground and propped his gloved hands against his sides.

''… understand?''

XXX

In the early morning, the campfire extinguished itself out a long time ago and the lost city once again bathed in a vague warm color. Just like the previous day before this one, the unwelcome silence still appeared to be dominating this secluded island. There wasn't even a chirp of a bird anywhere to brighten up the dreadful ruins. The only sounds were those of nature itself, the wind blowing through the openings of trees whistling out a melody and the ocean's waves hitting themselves against the huge cliffs, repeating the process every second or so.

Shadow awakened with a hoarse grunt, seeing the blurred out light coming through the makeshift entrance of the building and its small cracks. Yawning out a short, he laid against the harsh debris for another minute or two, just staring at the now slightly visible ceiling which contained a washed away painting and caught his interest for a short moment. He couldn't really figure out what it actually represented nor did he have the time to be thinking about it at this time. The black hedgehog knew he should get up at some point and wake up the Fastest Thing Alive, as well as to await Tails' return.

He picked himself up, feeling slight stiffness in his back from the other night and stretched himself with an unpleasant grunt. It's been a while since he slept on hard flooring such as this, but that didn't mean he was spoiled about it. He was far mode adaptable than he might have appeared at first sight. The Ultimate Lifeform quickly fixed his messy spines before starting a new day on this mysterious and largely annoying island.

He looked around to adjust his eyes to the sudden bright sunlight. This place looked much different in broad daylight. There was the entrance, the campfire right next to him stopped smoldering sometime ago, Sonic was gone and…

In a fit of realization, the black hedgehog started rotating his head around hastily, ''What…'' his blue counterpart was nowhere to be found, at least not in this building anymore. He tried not to get angry at the Blue Blur's unannounced disappearance, but the so called hero always had to cross the line whenever there was one. Rolling his crimson eyes particularly grumpier than usual, he quickly lunged toward the exit, to try and find out wherever the younger hedgehog went this time.

''Hey, you're awake!''

That is, if the Blue Blur didn't jump straight in his face the moment he stepped outside their temporal shelter. Just like always, the blue annoyance was grinning like an idiot in front of him and eventually steeped aside defensively once he realized his darker rival held a very pissy expression on his face. For a moment, Sonic thought he was going to tackle him to the ground and strangle him to death.

If he didn't know any better, Shadow started believing he was doing stuff like this on purpose. Actually now that he thought about it… the emerald eyed hero was severely more bearable during sleep after all. The black one was clearly frustrated when he voiced his thoughts, ''Where the hell did you went?''

''What? I got hungry,'' the younger mammal didn't see what the big deal was as he reached behind him and pulled out a banana of all things possible. He continued to twirl the yellow fruit in front of him and eventually offered it to him, ''Want one?''

The black hedgehog merely folded his arms and decided not to argue with him this time around, ''No…''

He also didn't exactly trust this island well enough to be eating its food.

''More for me then,'' Sonic whistled cheerfully and started playing with the fruit, juggling it over his head and having it land perfectly in his other hand that remained strangely twisted behind his back. Then there was another stunt where he threw it in the air, did a fast cartwheel and caught the yellow thing just in time before it fell on the ground. And only then he started spinning it on one of his fingers like a basketball, while doing a balancing act on his free hand.

Any moment now and Shadow expected the blue hedgehog was going to start breakdancing with it too.

Turning his head away from the Blue Blur's morning acrobatic tendencies, he took a long stare toward the sky, trying to figure out by the amount of light just how early the new found day still was. And as silent the forest remained, he couldn't hear the plane's engine either. He quickly tilted his head back to the excited hedgehog, ''Tails isn't here yet?''

''Nah… tried calling him but I got nothing,'' the blue one continued to do stretches and lastly pointed upwards with his free hand, ''It's barely sunrise anyway. I'm sure he'll come by later.''

It was obvious the two should investigate more of the city before the pilot would come back. He wasn't sure just how long they were going to stick around this place under these circumstances, but he felt like this was his last opportunity for some thorough examination. Otherwise this entire trip here will be rendered completely meaningless and he won't be able to figure out anything like he previously intended to do… even though the Ultimate Lifeform could've been perfectly fine if he just moved on with his life and never mentioned this island ever again. However, the black one was still certain there was something behind all of this and decided to learn of whatever it was. If there was someone pulling their strings all this time, he had the right to know.

It was pretty ironic considering what his first reaction to being stuck on the unknown land along with the blue annoyance was, ''We should have a few hours on disposal then. Seems like we have the time to check out the rest of the city.''

''Cool,'' the other commented, ''You're finally interested.''

''It's better than sitting around and doing nothing…'' Shadow held out one of his hands and rested it on his chin, ''But where to start?''

At first, the blue hedgehog raised his slightly bored eyelids at him, with his darker counterpart merely grunting out. Most of the town was in utter ruins, so there was a high possibility there was nothing worth searching for as far as material possession went. By now, they still haven't managed to figure out what kind of civilization lived here before their time. If it was human, which was highly likely as of now, it would raise a lot of questions about how anyone could've have missed it on the map or why they prospered so well. That is, if the spectacular image of a gray and civilized city before them meant something.

Fortunately, looking at the banana once again, Sonic had an idea he seemed to recollect a mere moment ago, ''Hey, I almost forgot about it. When I was up in the trees, I saw a building somewhere around here. It caught my eye cuz I thought it looked weird.''

''Why is that?'' the black mammal asked.

''Well for one, it was actually standing the right way!'' he chuckled out slightly and leaned to the side on one foot like the Tower of Pisa. Afterwards, the blue hedgehog looked around at the gray ruins that were either destroyed or toppled over by various trees, all while juggling with that annoyingly distracting banana, ''It looked in better shape than the rest. If it wasn't for the green stuff on it, I'd say it was built just recently.''

That actually sounded interesting to him, ''Do you remember the way?''

''Uhh…'' the younger one thought for a short moment. That is, until he grinned sheepishly and pointed to the ground all of a sudden, ''Sure!''

The black hedgehog wasn't completely sure what his blue counterpart was thinking for a second. But once he turned over to the place his finger was pointing, he realized almost obviously with a slight snort added to his reply, ''Did you ran out of breadcrumbs?''

As it turned out, from whatever way the Fastest Thing Alive was coming from previously, once he managed to find the yellow fruits, the blue glutton ate almost all of them during his way back and dropped the largely noticeable peels behind him if as to leave a trail. That was actually pretty clever, but considering it was the work of the younger hedgehog, this had to be the best and worst contrived mistake that worked for once in his favor.

With a big grin on his face, the Blue Blur seemed to be proud of himself, ''At least I thought about marking it.''

Shadow's eyes narrowed as he knew this was just accidental if quite convenient on Sonic's part. Like he mentioned before, the guy before him always had numerous excuses to get him out of trouble or embarrassment any time or day of the week. Shrugging with a heavy sigh, he seemed to agree to that suggestion anyway, seeing how it was the only exciting thing he had heard this whole short morning, ''Alright… lead the way.''

For a moment, the blue hedgehog stared at the other in sheer disbelief, ''You're okay with just… following? You must've gotten used to watching my back,'' the ever present grin started to grate on him even more, mainly because the emerald eyed hero liked to fool around at all times.

''Be glad there's someone watching it,'' he quickly blurted out.

Sonic visibly rolled his eyes, ''You're still paranoid? Gosh…''

''It's a good survival tactic,'' the black hedgehog managed to cover up his rising smirk and replied with a calmer voice as if in slight mockery to him, ''If something jumps out in front of you, which in this situation is more likely to happen, give it or take a couple percents, then I'd rather stay in the back and have you take the hit.''

The Blue Blur was usually fine with being a meat shield for everyone else, so why should he stop now?

The other mammal slightly snorted out and started rubbing his nose as he heightened his voice. ''Thanks a lot, that's really nice of you. I feel safer already!'' the sheer amount of sarcasm in his voice was scarily incalculable. With a twirling finger, he imposed himself as the current leader of the small hedgehog duo, ''Let's go and follow the yellow peeled road, Tin Hog!''

Shadow twitched hard when he started following him. He used to believe for a slight second that Sonic was more than just spewing out the lamest puns and shout-outs in the world, but obviously he couldn't change what he already was in the end, ''Can't you think of something more useful to say? You're making my head hurt.''

Tilting his head slightly, the blue hedgehog looked at him with an incredibly innocent look, ''That's a bad thing?''

The Ultimate Lifeform felt like he was going bananas (pardon the pun) lately because of him. Grinning back at the black hedgehog with the most annoying of chuckles, Sonic began following the trail and almost slipped on one of the peels, seeing how he was preoccupied being generally egoistical. However, it barely moved him out of his rhythm and he leisurely continued onwards toward wherever he was supposedly going. For the time being, they walked in complete silence as if not to disturb anything around them. After the path started to go loopy and crazy, the older one figured his counterpart must've been monkeying around instead of running during his early morning hunt.

It never ceased to surprise him just how much one has to improvise to gain up some speed in the process, especially in rundown places like these. Then again, he did say that word all too often for his taste. With the Blue Blur, everything deemed impossible was instantly possible.

After a while, Sonic exhaled heavily and finally seemed to notice the two supersonic mammals were silent throughout the entire trip. Disturbed and annoyed by the ever present quietness, he needed to fill up the air with some dialogue before he'd go absolutely crazy in this place.

''Hey, Shadow…'' the blue hedgehog gripped onto the branch and flung himself across a small approaching gap, ''What do you think we'll find there?''

''Hopefully nothing,'' his voice was just as stoic like always.

The younger one thought about smacking him in the head a few times to change some acoustics here and there.

He grunted out instead, ''You're such a bore. How about showing a little excitement, huh?''

Rolling his crimson eyes again, the black one was about to answer as truthfully as possible to let him know he wasn't amused by any of this in the slightest. Interested, yes, but not excited in any possible way, ''Alright, I want to find a gigantic mecha dragon that will preferably stomp on you…'' punching himself mentally, the older mammal couldn't figure out why he said that instead of a straightforward answer.

For a moment, he sounded like he was trying to impersonate his counterpart with the weirdest of ideas. It wasn't anything Shadow would ever say, but at least he got the point across if nothing else.

''Hey, that's better!''

Or maybe not.

The smirking blue hedgehog pranced a step or two, before the Ultimate Lifeform started a new conversation with a similar question the other posed earlier, ''What do you want to find here anyway? Just yesterday you were claiming there was nothing here.''

''Changed my mind…'' Sonic quickly turned around and walked backwards, although quite slowly with a shrugging movement, ''Don't get me wrong though. I still think it's deserted, but that doesn't mean something wasn't left behind.''

Folding his arms around himself, the darker counterpart replied with a snort, ''That sounds reasonable, for once.''

''C'mon, admit it!'' the blue hedgehog stopped himself and his rival dead on track in the middle of the silent forest. He stretched out his arms into all possible directions of this island, ''Aren't you interested in the slightest about what this place has to offer?''

''Sure, but it doesn't look anything special.''

When he replied with what the older mammal believed was a particularly innocent remark, the Blue Blur made a slight grimace on his face, slightly confusing the other hedgehog. He appeared as if Shadow just insulted him in some way or another, ''Why wouldn't it be? Just look at this place!''

He quickly rebutted his opinion, ''We have locations like this all over the world as well,'' it's not it wasn't interesting to investigate, but the picture of a gray metropolitan city wasn't all that foreign to his eyes, even if it was kept in secret from them all these years.

''Yeah, but how many times do you find a secret like this in everyday life?''

The black hedgehog seemed to realize the blue one wasn't going to stop asking until he agreed to at least one of his questions. To quickly sweep this conversation under the carper in order to continue with their trip through the forested city, Shadow tilted his head to the side, ''Alright, I'll give you that…'' seemingly satisfied with that answer, the Fastest Thing Alive nodded playfully and twirled back forward with a light chuckle.

However, the Ultimate Lifeform wasn't done with questioning just yet, ''Are you sure nobody knew anything about this island?''

''Nah,'' he pouted, ''If they say so, it has to be true.''

That didn't make any sense to him, ''Why are you so certain all of a sudden? It didn't just fall from the sky.''

''They tried to explain it…'' Sonic replied further, although even he had little idea of what to think of it, ''… somehow.''

Shadow was eager to find out whatever he knew about it, ''Well?''

Steeping over a downed trunk of a viciously rotten tree, the blue hedgehog grunted out, ''The big guy thought it was probably hidden from them in some way, since nobody was able to find any information about it. Apparently it doesn't even exist as far as they know,'' with a quick thought over his mind, Sonic started snickering, ''I'm still expecting it to have a giant red button entitled 'Invisibility Mode' somewhere around here.''

''That's just ludicrous…'' even with ridiculous contractions and machines they had to deal on a daily basis, an invisible island was more exciting and probable to some extent than anything Dr. Robotnik managed to come up with. Albeit still overly complicated and completely pointless as he figured, ''How or why would anyone hid an island that way?''

''That's the question,'' the Blue Blur was quick to answer along with a chuckling disposition, ''I dunno either, but I can dream about it.''

Afterwards, they both fell silent again for a few minutes, but it wasn't completely quiet until Sonic folded his arms and started rubbing his nose in a particularly thoughtful fashion. The black hedgehog didn't really notice it in the slightest until moments later. It was only when the blue one once again swiftly stopped in his way and twirled toward his counterpart that everything decided to take a turn for the better or worse.

The younger one spoke out in a questionable tone, ''Shadow? You don't think…''

Shadow was completely oblivious to what he was indicating at the time. Then he started pointing out things such as flinging an arch over his belly as to indicate obesity, tug at invisible mustache under his nose like a mischievous cartoon villain, bending his fingers into circular patterns and then positioning them right in front of his eyes along with some terrible, almost horrifying depiction of squinting, taking the abnormal shape of their eyes into consideration. Much to Sonic's obliviousness, the black hedgehog already got what the other was trying to show him. However, the ridiculous poses that his blue counterpart kept making in trying to replicate the local mad scientist were too much for him to miss. If he didn't have any self control over his image, he would've been laughing hysterically on his knees right about now.

''Doctor? He's easily eccentric enough to pull off something like this. But I'd rather not have to put up with him now.''

The blue hedgehog grunted out childishly and pouted at the other, seemingly disappointed it probably wasn't the work of Eggman this time around, ''Too bad… I guess we don't really need Egghead to be causing trouble every single time.''

''The longer he's away, the better in my opinion,'' the black one replied.

Sonic snickered sardonically, ''Oh yeah… I can't wait what diabolical plan he's gonna come up with next. Previously, it was robots!''

That was nothing unusual for the scientist, as the black hedgehog noted with the same tone, ''And before that, more robots.''

''And even before that… robot ballerinas. Sheesh, he must be getting lonely up there.''

He was glad his blue counterpart didn't turn around as Shadow formed a little smile on his face because for once that was legitimately pretty funny. Well, at least funnier than the usual stuff the Blue Blur came up with in the meantime. Moving onwards, the black hedgehog happened to notice that Sonic started looking around frantically, searching for the next banana peel he dropped sometime earlier. However, it seemed his lead has finally gone cold and there was nothing left anymore.

''This is where the trail ends.''

''Weird…'' the blue one was sure the building was somewhere around here, although he should've admitted to himself that it's been a while since he was here and the forest itself was largely the same old green mass he'd been looking at for hours, ''I was sure I dropped more of these.''

However, he didn't get himself distracted by the lack of clues as the Blue Blur moved further and remember the correct way to the mysterious location. From down here, everything looked the same but he knew for a fact there was a small clearing somewhere around the area he passed somewhat quicker than usually. Even if he saw the gray building with merely a corner of his eye, the younger hedgehog already knew what it looked like and how it stood. Sonic liked to believe he wasn't merely fast on his feet, incredibly responsive and reflexive, but also a good observer of his environment. That skill was pretty significant whenever he continuously boosted up to amazing feats of super speed through the more occupied parts of the world, especially cities and highways. Noticing objects and obstacles in the distance and knowing where they would land was as equally important as dodging the objects in time without colliding with them and causing enormous damage, both collateral and his own.

''Where now?''

Sonic could feel his darker counterpart was getting impatient. He needed to find it quickly, ''Just wait a second, I know it's around here somewhere.''

''I hope you know where you're going,'' without any hesitation, Shadow continued following nonetheless.

''It's this way, I'm sure of it!'' the emerald eyed hero finally managed to rediscover the unique pattern of two trees he noticed earlier, believing this to be a starting point for the time being.

He hurried under the trunks that were crossing each other like a bridge in an almost perfect arch. Coming from under there, he began to remember the familiar environment around him and finally managed to figure out where the clearing and the building were located approximately. So, from here on it was… under the arch, across a dozen bushes growing in a circular pattern, up a fallen rock formation, taking the right direction toward a pack of wild flowers and up a small cliff. Once the two hedgehogs came to where Sonic was guiding them, the Blue Blur snickered lightly as he jogged all the way to get up before his rival.

''That's a…''

The black hedgehog actually managed to get a little astonished at the sight, if only for a second. Even when overgrown by trees, the clearing was large enough to house a small city. Instead, there was only one building. It was bigger than anything they've seen in the town, but it was also very well preserved compared to the rest of the rust ridden ruins. Like Sonic previously mentioned, greenish moss and vines hanged in various ways as if to indicate this was actually as old as the rest of the ancient metropolis. It was built from gray metal and iron most likely, with large chimneys hiding up in the trees. There was a possibility it was even larger from the inside than it looked on the outside.

''Told ya. It's isolated but pretty big,'' the blue hedgehog pointed out, ''Maybe that's why it's not like the others?''

Shadow thought about it for a short moment. The shape of the building was more interesting that anything to him at the time, ''It looks like a factory. It would make sense to build it outside the city.''

''Really?'' a big grin emerged on Sonic's muzzle as he clapped cheerfully, ''Trashing factories is my specialty. Let's take a look!''

As much his blue counterpart was eager to go inside to either catch it on fire or set off an explosion by some strange coincident, the black hedgehog would rather stay outside and out of its range, ''Don't you know it's a lot more encouraged to investigate the outside first?''

''C'mon, Shadow. What's the worst that can happen?'' saying something like that was bound to jinx them sooner or later.

''I can think of a few examples,'' as soon he folded his arms again, the Ultimate Lifeform felt like he was playing a losing game against the blue hedgehog. Because no matter what, the two are going inside that building and the rest is history.

Only now the older mammal was surprised to find out just how much he let himself be guided around by Sonic, even though Shadow himself believed he would've handled the situation better than the emerald eyed hero any day. He wasn't completely sure what to think of it, but it probably went hand in hand with his suspicions of the younger one's behavior about this place. By observing his actions, the black hedgehog hoped for the right moment when his counterpart finally made a mistake that could possibly reveal something new. It was almost unbelievable how much he bounced around the faint idea of the Blue Blur knowing more than it met the eye or he was just as clueless as the rest of them.

At the same time, this could've been all completely pointless anyway.

Predictably, the other only shrugged in no particular annoyance and waggled his thumbs up right in front of the black hedgehog's face, ''Just relax, Shadow. If something happens, we'll get out of there.''

There had to be a catch to this as he usually predicted with the blue hedgehog, ''Sounds acceptable.''

''But not before we bust some heads.''

He should start hating himself for being right all the time, ''You just love to look for trouble, don't you?''

''Not my fault if they keep coming my way,'' the blue wonder decided to defend himself.

''Honestly, Trouble Magnet fits you more than the Blue Blur'', the black hedgehog nudged over to the side and steeped over into the clearing to get a better look of their location. As soon he positioned himself just right, the younger mammal one decided to bump into him and stay in front of his darker rival. It appeared he wasn't about to be left behind nor was he going to be a mere follower at any cost.

He rubbed his finger under his nose with a particularly painful smirk, ''That's fine, I can shrug them off anytime.''

The ever present devil may care attitude was nothing new from the hero, but that didn't stop Shadow from thinking the other hedgehog will sooner or later find himself in a serious mess from where he'll probably never come back again. Although after seeing him fight even when their chances were severely low or while being beaten to an inch of his life, that seemed more like a senseless dream at this moment. Still, the black one was almost certain that his luck will run out sooner or later in some way or another. He did wonder if he ever got immensely hurt before, since the blue annoyance did pretty much exhibit the amazing ability to smash into solid ground face first while falling from the upper atmosphere and survive with barely anything broken in his body.

''You really believe you won't lose one day?'' even when he asked that, the Ultimate Lifeform already knew the blue hedgehog's answer won't be telling him anything else than he already knew about his counterpart.

''Lose?'' Sonic widened his eyes and started scratching his spines out of illusive wonder as he snickered, ''You're kidding, right?''

Then again, Shadow was probably exaggerating the issue. The blue hedgehog in front of him was definitely an example of sheer stubborn will that will never change. He nodded with a flick of his finger, ''You're the most unrealistic hedgehog I have ever met.''

''That's because you don't know any other hedgehogs,'' the Blue Blur brushed back with a smile, even if the line sounded a little too hypocritical for his taste.

And yet, the black hedgehog took the opportunity to blow it out of proportion and rub it in his face, ''Nor do you for that matter,'' with no particular worry or assumption, the Ultimate Lifeform lifted one of his eye ridges as he decided to move onwards toward the strange building. Sonic merely snorted out as he decided to join him immediately.

''Hey, wait up!''

Chapter 6 - Waking Up

''Hmph! It won't budge at all!''

Pushing against the entrance, the blue hedgehog kept leaning against it in hope that it would open by some convenient miracle. He didn't bother figuring out if it was actually closed shut entirely or just rusted to the point of uselessness. The building seemed to be enveloped into a single gigantic layer of iron, hidden behind an entangled garden of vines and moss that made it its home in the past few lonely years. The two hedgehogs weren't able to find the real opening anywhere due to the amount of overgrown greenery, so they had to satisfy themselves with the backdoor entrance, which like the rest of the factory appeared impossible to open. The windows were humongous and significantly darkened as to prevent any insight into it… or hide something from the outside world. Placed in a particularly random order, most of them were strengthened to withstand even the worst of storms or sudden attacks.

''Are you still bothering with that?'' Shadow sighed harshly when he returned from his search, only to realize he would've had better luck searching for a needle in a haystack. He left the Blue Blur alone by the door when he became aware of the fact that his rival wasn't going to move away from it. That is, until he got some results out of persistent pushing. Since he was determinate enough to get it open, the older mammal finally managed to breathe out on his own without Sonic bumping into the scenery the entire time.

His younger counterpart didn't even turn around and merely continued with his current irritation, ''I don't see you doing anything,'' he growled out with an impatient tone and pushed against the metallic doors one more time before losing his breath entirely.

Sonic brushed his gloves against each other and turned to the black hedgehog with a predictable question, ''Anything?''

''Nothing,'' Shadow's answer was as swift and clear as always, but no help at all.

Pouting sullenly, the Blue Blur started tapping his foot against the grassy ground, ''Geez… this is our only chance to get inside. If I could just…'' positioning himself against the metallic entrance, he kept pushing against it regardless of the situation he was presented with.

In the meantime, the older hedgehog only managed to roll his eyes at his meaningless endurance, ''I still don't see why is it so important for you to get inside,'' his suspicions managed to arise once more.

''I came here with high hopes,'' the emerald eyed hero replied after a long pause he had taken during his struggle with the door, ''I'm not leaving until I find something worthwhile in this place.''

His initial excitement was beginning to be torn to shreds by a massive letdown this island represented for the past day. He wasn't used to such unfulfilling adventures in the past, especially considering the blue hedgehog volunteered for this mission. Sonic could've given up and searched for another more interesting location to scavenge about, but it was already too late as he pretty much refused to budge away even an inch from the building.

As far as the black mammal could understand, his rival came looking for an adventure, yet it looked like they were both going to leave with nothing more but faint memories of an unusual greenish silence and outright dullness, ''You clearly sound disappointed. I don't think anything here is enough to make up for it.''

This ruined city was the only thing that managed to spice up the massive and confusing jungle, but at the same time, this was possibly the most underwhelming discovery ever found in the past century. Shadow doubted there was anything here that would make him suddenly realize that this place might not be so bad after all… It was clearly impossible by this point. All that was missing was a gigantic yawn to accompany it.

''That's why you gotta be persistent!'' the blue one chuckled out lightly.

Shadow folded his arms while his head tilted to the side, ''You mean pushy.''

''I like persistent better,'' Sonic blurted out with the last of his breath before taking another break, but as it was in his nature, he continued to be stubborn about it. He could pretty much feel that his darker counterpart was glaring right into his blue spines, but he was going to try anyway before announcing the whole idea was completely pointless. Sonic could've asked the black hedgehog for help, but sometimes there were things he preferred to do on his own. He wasn't as strong as Shadow when it came to a full blown physical strength, since he had little interest in fighting outside his spin dash and homing attacks that have made him remain as his worthy ally for years. Boring but practical.

''Wait… I heard a creak…'' after getting his attention back, the blue one flattened his ear against the surface and pushed lightly, just to confirm he heard it correctly. Looks like his persistence did something good after all, as he started forcing the door aside with all his might.

Tired seeing the blue hedgehog trying to get them open, Shadow nudged his finger at him to indicate that he wanted him out of the way. Sonic stepped away with a pouting appearance as the Ultimate Lifeform positioned himself on the far left, ''Simultaneously now…'' the older mammal replied as he waited for the blue annoyance, ''On the count of three… one, two, three!''

The two pushed against the metallic surface, struggling for a few seconds until they finally got it off the ground. Once the door finally managed to move aside for an inch, the Blue Blur started rejoicing sooner than usual, ''Jackpot!'' and after a few well positioned pushes against the rusted doors, they managed to pry it open just enough for the two to possibly squeeze through with some effort.

Shadow removed himself to the side, leaving his hand open as if letting his counterpart to take the first step inside. The other was slightly confused, ''What?''

''After you,'' the crimson eyed agent pointed it out, even though it was obvious what he was showing, ''It was your idea after all.''

Snorting at his darker counterpart, the Fastest Thing Alive slightly rolled his eyes and looked through the gap. He sighed lightly, as the inside seemed as dark as the night they had to spend here. Since this really wasn't the time to be backing out, Sonic decided to squeeze past the door.

Luckily, the blue hedgehog had the ability to contort his limbs and body more than an average Mobian, making it easier to slip through tiny spaces like this. It was a useful ability in daily life, although pretty much required for him and others for the trademark spin attack by transforming into a destructive ball. Using your own body as a weapon against sturdy machines didn't sound like an exceptionally brilliant idea, but it was the most convenient one for him, especially hedgehogs. Curling up into a buzz saw was a standard yet dangerous attack, but luckily he learned to adjust the spine's muscle intensity to prevent accidentally cutting or impaling someone outside of battles. Only during fights were they actually sharp enough to hurt anything, while Sonic let them sway around in the wind completely harmless until further use.

The place he ended up was completely dark, although the blue one's eyes managed to adjust to the faint light which was always a pleasant welcome in these kinds of situations. It was merely a small hallway with a pair of stairs leading upwards into the building, ''It's only up from now on,'' Sonic remarked as he noticed his rival arriving through the gap as well, ''I hope it's not rusted down like that one was.''

He went on without Shadow, reaching up a flight of stairs quickly. The blue hedgehog still had to search the surface more thoroughly to find the handle due to poor visibility in the area. Once he found it, the older mammal realized that Sonic was hesitating and only stood there for a moment. It was just a second, but when you're one of the fastest living beings in the world, you start to notice delays such as these. It's especially noticeable when you're confronted with another speedster type such as yourself.

With a quiet breath finally out of his system, the Blue Blur casually turned the handle. Remarkably, it actually worked for once, ''Hey… that was actually pretty easy,'' he pushed them inside with an annoying screech echoing through the entire building.

The room they stepped in was at least marginally more exciting than the previous one, but not by much. The only thing this place had to offer was a more bearable investigation, what with an actual lighting this time coming through the tinted windows. As interesting the building looked, its insides didn't match up to it. It was almost completely empty, with dark iron walls covering every square inch of this bleak space. You could argue this was merely a lobby or some type of a common room, but why did it have to be so dull and lifeless? It seemed like a waste of space, although the speculation of it being a factory was still a little too vague to get the point across.

''Whoa… it's even duller than the outside,'' Sonic could barely believe his eyes. After investing a lot of his time searching through the silent but at least somewhat colorful jungle and then trying to open a door for many minutes straight, this was starting to get massively disappointing on his part. They finally managed to find something more interesting than a rundown town, but they could've at least made it look a little more cheerful.

The black hedgehog caught up with him immediately, ''What did you expect?''

''It's supposed to be a factory,'' the younger one yelped out, with the older one mildly nodding his head to indicate negativity. He only said it looked like a factory, not that it actually was. Sonic started to twirl around with the most astonished expression on his head, ''Where are the easily breakable… uh, stuff making machines?''

''The outer appearance must've been intentional for some reason,'' Shadow thought for a moment, ''Besides, we're barely one room in.''

''Two rooms, technically speaking,'' the blue hedgehog corrected him laughably and without further ado, ran all the way to the other side before the black one could say anything in return. He skated after him, stopping before the only door in this entire room. Ridiculous, considering the size of it.

Not wanting to stay in the blandest space he has ever seen in his life, Sonic quickly rushed through them with no hesitation, ''Okay, let's see what's hiding behind door number 2,'' he announced playfully and stared at the ceiling that managed to be slightly more interesting at this moment.

However, it didn't help him feel any better, ''Ding, ding, ding… boring!''

The blue hedgehog thought it was impossible, but it was just as equally bleak as the previous one. Unexpectedly, the Blue Blur visibly shivered immensely when a recognizable thought flashed through his mind. This is what Eggman's vision of a future world usually looked like… a gray dystopian backdrop. He couldn't imagine anyone living in a mess like that. Sonic didn't know why or how the inhabitants found places like this to be a perfect settlement.

Shadow however was more or less feeling right at home… well, almost. Even Space Colony ARK was livelier than anything he has seen in this place and that was saying something. The only breathtaking thing he could see from up there was the blue planet and millions of distant stars shining onto them through thousands of years before, even though some of them might actually be completely dead at this point. The only noticeable different thing between this and the previous room was a great circular gap in the middle of the room. Looking down into it, there was no bottom to be seen from this height.

''Heh… it's a Sparta pit'', he noted and made an awkward kicking move over it.

Shadow wouldn't get the reference even if he tried. Seeing the black one raise his eye ridge was enough for the blue hedgehog to reconsider his next reply, ''Nevermind. I'll tell you some other time. Next room!''

Sonic dashed toward the other side quickly. Considering how excited he seemed about investigating the mysterious building earlier, the Blue Blur now looked like he couldn't wait for the entire tour to be finally over, although he could see why it was like that in the first place. Shadow sighed heavily at himself for going along with his plan as he was expecting nothing more but a huge letdown all over the place.

The Fastest Thing Alive literally flew through the entrance and started cracking his knuckles with some vague amusement on his face, ''Now we're talking! This actually looks tolerable. Conveyer belts, my favorite!'' for once it managed to shift into something more exciting. It didn't excuse the ever present grayness of it but it was somewhat different after all.

''Would you stop jumping on those?'' the sound the manufactures started making under Sonic's shoes were a pain to listen to.

''… why is it so quiet?'' the Blue Blur shivered lightly as he crouched down, just as the low temperature began settling onto them. The only sounds echoing through the room in this very moment were Shadow's footsteps and nothing else. However, it wasn't until now the building started to resemble a factory after all. Huge conveyer belts worthy of the mad Doctor himself led into the enclosed walls or up into curiously shaped tubes, except they were usually more elaborate and full of spikes. One could only wonder what was happening here in the past, although some of its more confusing inventions would make OSHA have a field day with this particular place.

With a grumbling noise out of his system, Sonic leaned on his folded hands and started getting annoyed at the silence that's been running about for ages, ''Ever since we came here there hasn't been a decent noise. It's deserted, but c'mon…''

He eventually jumped off the belt, holding his head and grunting out childishly, stomping toward the next visible door right away. The black hedgehog was quick to question him, ''Where are you going?''

''Somewhere…'' he replied in a higher tone, ''I can't stand this anymore! I need something interesting to happen.''

''Wait a second…'' Shadow stopped him in the middle of his alleged yawn, having finally heard a suspicious sound somewhere in their closeness. Although he firstly believed it was just a figment of his imagination, as soon the emerald eyed hero stopped in his place to listen up more closely, it emerged again from just about anywhere in the vicinity. It was muffled and silent, travelling through the walls like a ghost that wasn't meant to be disturbed after all these years. Twitching his ears slightly, the older mammal approached the wall from where the sounds originally started, having grown more omnipresent as the scene progressed.

Sonic walked over to his counterpart on tips of his shoes, as if afraid to make any more noise than it was necessary, ''What was that?''

''You've been waiting for a noise,'' the crimson eyed agent pointed at the wall, ''Wish granted.''

Chuckling slightly, the blue one scratched the back of his head with a seldom embarrassed look on his face, ''You know what, I changed my mind. I liked the silence better.''

''Where is it coming from?'' touching the metallic surface, Shadow trailed it all the way toward where it must've disappeared to and eventually flattened one of his ears against the wall to listen to it more carefully, ''Or better yet… where is it going?''

As collected he managed to be at this point, even now any source of strange sounds that weren't his or Sonic's was generally a surprise for a quiet place like this. While silence and darkness usually managed to draw a more ominous atmosphere than a horrifying scream out of nowhere, having finally heard some noises created a tenser situation in their case. It made him wonder just what the hell was really going on here. Did they accidentally step into a haunted house?

Sonic initially drowned them out, as they were gone for now and knew they will probably never come back. Nearing the door again, he reached out for the handle with a halfhearted grin, only to stop stiff in his place as a cold shiver trailed down his spine. It seemed like it coming from the room he was only a second from opening, ''Sh… Shadow…''

Having heard him call his name, the black hedgehog turned around, ''What?''

''There's…'' with a widened appearance, the Blue Blur noticed he was still holding onto the suddenly cold handle and literally jumped away from the door in a disturbed manner. The Fastest Thing Alive managed to compose himself, but the fact stood firmly that he wasn't about to return anywhere near the door, ''… something beyond that door.''

''Why don't you open it?'' although he could clearly see that his blue counterpart was quite startled, that didn't stop his from testing him out.

With an awkward smirk, he step sided onto a safer distance, ''I'll… leave that to you.''

''You're closer to it,'' Shadow folded his arms and looked at him in the most bored out fashion he managed to portray. He managed to snort in his mind once he realized just how incredibly scared his younger counterpart was looking with every passing second.

As he presumed, the blue hedgehog wasn't going to do it after all, ''Old people first…'' even with that kind of hypocritical grin plastered all over his façade, he won't be able to hide the fact that he's too panicky to even move correctly, courtesy of an almost unnoticeable but admittedly creepy sound behind the walls.

He decided not to beat around the bush any longer, ''Sonic, if you're going to be a scaredy cat…''

''I'm not!'' the other hedgehog yelped at him with a pointer finger, ''I just don't want to open it.''

Smirking at his younger rival, the Ultimate Lifeform approached the door himself and as he did, the sound managed to return once in a while as if to intimidate them one last time, ''Leave it to me then. Why don't you go and hide under that table in case you start to scream?''

''Nuh uh, I don't need to. I'm staying right here,'' Sonic defied any sort of laughable comments against him and pulled himself into a pose that originally belonged to the black hedgehog himself, although that was nothing new by this point in time. The two supersonic hedgehogs constantly plagiarized the other's moves out of a subconscious reflex as to establish who was more worthy of them. It was a good thing they didn't trademark them or they might as well start suing one another.

''Suit yourself,'' the G.U.N. agent couldn't see him, but he could feel that the Blue Blur behind his back moved a few steps backwards just in case.

Grabbing a hold of the cold handle, the noise returned for a short while, creeping towards them from beyond whatever remained in the room. As much he had a bad feeling about it, the black hedgehog wasn't about to back off like his counterpart did just earlier and went with it all the way, whatever may happen with him in the process. Taking a few good breaths, Shadow turned the handle downwards and literally threw the door aside into the next unexplored place as he quickly switch to his attack pose to strike down anything that would come out and get in his way.

Almost amazed, aside from the annoyingly screeching noise the rusted door provided, nothing came out of it, which at the moment was a gigantic relief to him, ''See? It's nothing,'' he replied with a condescending tone, ''You can stop freaking out now.''

Just when the blue mammal thought it was safe to speak again, the muffled sound returned, this time from another direction entirely. He started spinning around his axle again as if to determine the exact location of it and pointed into several directions as it moved around with every living breathing second. It still confused them both as the younger one yelped, ''But it's still doing that… this place is screwing with us!''

He couldn't stand it anymore. This was getting weird and he was pretty determinate not to stick around this place anymore as he started sweating along with twitchy fingers, ''You know… maybe it wasn't a good idea coming here after all.''

''Sonic?'' he wasn't sure anymore if this was actually his blue counterpart he was talking to at the moment. The Fastest Thing Alive looked visibly bored and yawning all over the place every so often while watching a horror movie, but cringed and screamed like a girl at the mere thought of reading a sappy romance novel or hell, watching one with his eyes wide open. Ever since they came to this island, he started to act somewhat abnormal in a way that was completely foreign to the black mammal. Even if he tried to hide it behind that mocking grin of his, Shadow could see there was something very wrong with him. He wasn't the kind of hedgehog to show fear of any sort, so why was he freaking out now?

''I'll just…'' Sonic tried to reply with an awkward chuckle before he blurted out the rest of his sentence as quickly as possible, ''I just need some fresh air! See ya!''

As soon he turned the other way to quickly skip back toward the exact same door they came through in the first place, the black hedgehog quickly dashed over to him and grabbed his wrist to prevent him from leaving. The force of Sonic's starting acceleration almost dragged Shadow along with him much to his surprise. He did manage to hold him for long enough for the other to finally realize that he wasn't moving anywhere due to his rival's meddling.

''You're not going anywhere,'' he stated firmly and tightened his hold on him. To get to the bottom of this mess, the older hedgehog wasn't about to allow him to leave this building without any form of reasonable explanation, ''It's because of you we're here in the first place. You better start acting serious about this and do something useful for once.''

''Who're you to decide that for me?'' as he quickly decided, Sonic wasn't going to put up with any of that from the Ultimate Lifeform.

He swiftly twirled around with a displeasured look on his face and tried to pull his hand away from Shadow's grasp, although he already knew he wasn't going to let him go. When any of them decided to do something, they were pretty much set to finish the job, even if that meant treating your current ally as a child. Even when he put his entire body into work, he only managed to move the black hedgehog for a slight inch, pretty much showing that his darker counterpart wasn't fooling around with him anymore. The younger one was thinking about spin dashing to get out of this particular situation, but taking his power into consideration and the way he'd have to do it in the first place, it was more likely the Blue Blur would end up with a broken arm which wouldn't do him any good at this point.

''Would it kill you if you cooperated at least once in your life?'' the older one was slowly losing his patience, ''Don't make me drag you around instead.''

''I'd like to see you try,'' the grinning hero already indicated that he wasn't going to lose this argument over anything.

Tired of seeing Sonic taking the lead to this point, Shadow decided to go to extreme measures and fulfill his dare anyway. It surprised the blue hedgehog who still refused to budge away from his place and hoped the floor's friction against his shoes would manage to stop him, although little to no avail as it turned out in the end. Like he predicted, the black mammal was pretty good at keeping his balance, even when the annoyance at his back somehow tried to twist out of the situation by any means possible, ''Wait, wait, wait! Shadow, stop!''

As the blue one held backwards to try to counter the black hedgehog's attempts to pull him forward, his rival exhaled heavily once he turned around toward him again. He most absolutely didn't let go of his wrist when he replied with a pretty obvious question, ''You're a stubborn brat, you know that?''

''Comes with the package deal, what do you want from me?'' he replied sarcastically with a pouted appearance, still locking his face with the immensely pissed off red oval eyes. Sonic didn't notice it until now, but his wrist was beginning to ache from the grip that seemed to tighten sometime during the eventual dragging. He had a feeling everything will become much worse in just a few seconds of this heated conversation.

''Responsibility, something you probably never heard in your life,'' the Ultimate Lifeform had enough of his childish antics and rebel attitude the blue hedgehog displayed on a daily basis. This would've been okay, if it weren't for the fact that they were stranded in the middle of a uncharted island and now they were inside an unknown building with no way to figure out any of the stuff that boggled both of them.

It seemed like the Blue Blur was ready to bargain for his hand and freedom back as he formed a smirk on his face, ''Let me go and I'll reconsider it.''

''So you can run off and make a fool out of me?'' he was expecting to hear something similar from his blue counterpart, but he wasn't going to listen in on his demands. That atrociously stupid pet name was one thing, but this was a different event altogether. Although the black mammal knew that the emerald eyed hero rarely ran away from a fight, he could never be too sure of it, especially in this situation. Until now, he still hasn't loosened his grip, ''Not a chance.''

Regardless of all that was happening at the moment, the younger of the two didn't lose his condescending grin at all, ''And you say I'm the stubborn one? I'm not the one trying to dislocate somebody's shoulder!''

As much the Blue Blur hated to admit it, the other hedgehog was beginning to get very brutal at his wrist without even noticing. At least his obvious plea seemed to work for the time being, as the older one finally loosened his grip over his wrist, but kept him trapped just in case. Sonic was actually surprised at first, although he still appeared displeasured over it. The blue hedgehog replied with a cheerfully sardonic disposition, ''Gee, thanks. How about giving me back my entire hand?''

Shadow's answer was quick, ''No.''

''Gah, you!'' the older one had a bit of an annoying smirk on him when the blue hedgehog started struggling for his freedom again, even putting his foot against the Ultimate Lifeform's chest as if to push off him somehow. That was actually a minor irritation to Shadow as Sonic started grunting again, ''What are you, a lead wall?''

''Huh?'' the black one managed to hear a different sound effect regardless of the whole commotion with the Blue Blur, tilting his head to the side. Eventually even the blue hedgehog realized there was something else in the air that was now completely foreign to both of them.

And out of nowhere, the cascade effect was in motion.

''What is that!?''

XXX

''I hope they're alright…'' the yellow furred pilot wondered with doubtfulness. It's been a while since he landed on the nearest civilized land, although he spent most of the time checking out the Tornado for any abnormalities, waiting for the fuel to fill up or take a short nap. However, Tails was too concerned for the two hedgehogs' safety back at the incognito island to sleep with no qualms. One thing he was more than glad about was the remarkably short distance between the landmasses. It wasn't going to take nearly as much time than it would've had if he flied back to Mystic Ruins. The plane was fully examined and refilled in only a couple of hours, something that managed to be mildly encouraging. Climbing into his biplane and finally taking off, he was feeling bad for leaving them all alone. Sonic obviously didn't mind it, although admittedly he did expect more backlash from Shadow than he received at first.

''Folks, seems like this is your lucky day! Another sunny day all over the country and not a cloud in sight! The waves are high, the beaches are bursting with life and the hotels are running out of rooms! Some of you might want to hurry up if you want to spend an exciting summer down by the Emerald Coast! Now excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I'll be hitting the waves as well! This has been SSRC with your-

Tails turned off the radio when it started crackling, indicating he was going out of range. If he calculated correctly, the yellow fox was going to arrive back sometime during the sunrise, take it or leave an hour or two. In the meantime, he was wondering about the recent events that took place since he had the time to think this stuff through. His first thought was Sonic of all things possible. He just couldn't get the idea out of his head there was something wrong with him. Then again, Shadow could've been also correct in saying that the blue one was there for the kicks, yet their last conversation still echoed through his mind.

The black hedgehog was probably up to something… or at least had an idea what was going on, something even he couldn't figure out. The two tailed pilot could only hope it wasn't going to end with the two fighting it out again, since while Shadow seemed perfectly in control of his behavior, sometimes his blue friend was the only thing that managed to turn him aggressive instantly. It wouldn't be a big deal, but Sonic did actually enjoy teasing his rivals and others alike right in front of them with no thinking at all. That's how much pride the Blue Blur had as he wasn't afraid of consequences his attitude would bring him.

His second thoughts were about the mission itself. Sure, it sounded like a G.U.N. mission to him and possibly to Shadow as well, while for Sonic it was an attempt to recover the adventures he'd been missing out for a while now. It was obvious it could've gone to just about anyone, but the President seemed to call for the emerald eyed hero this time around. Or did his friend go there on his own decision? Or was it coincidence altogether? Trying to figure that out only gave him more reasons to worry about it. Tails tried not to think too much as he fixed the altitude and hoped everything would reveal itself before anything serious happened. That is, if there was anything in the background at all. Maybe they were being suspicious with no reason. Who knew? All of the options were still open at this point.

Grunting lightly, the pilot turned toward the location he was searching for. And… that was weird. The more he approached his destination, the more clouds obstructed his sight. While the radio report said nothing about the weather in the middle of the ocean, it was safe to assume the sky back home was still fine and dandy. As he flied through the white blanket, the blue sky and the immaculate clouds began darkening. Tails was getting confused and it wasn't until a strong flash across the sky finally broke the silence around him, ''What!?''

Scaring the fox entirely, he almost lost control as he was flung to the side. When he managed to turn the Tornado back on track, he finally realized he was in the middle of a very bad weather mood swing.

''Where did it come from this quickly? The weather forecast said nothing about storms,'' the oceans were by far the most unpredictable place in the world. For a moment, he must've believed he was dreaming, but the clouds were actually rotating around the location where the island was supposed to be. That didn't even start to make any logical sense. Another lightning flash brightened the night, with Tails wincing and almost hiding his head between his legs. After yet another strike the rain started pouring immensely, as if grumbles and flashes themselves weren't bad enough already. The visibility dropped significantly, crippling him in the most sensitive of areas he used during flying.

Constantly distracted by lightning, the pilot quickly reached for his headphones when he still could, ''What should I do? The line is dead and I can't contact them…''

He was getting distressed at the situation that would most likely end badly for him. Not only was he deathly scared of lightning, Tails was now left completely on the mercy of the storm. That was his death sentence if he was going to stick around this place any longer. The pilot's mind was scrambled up with various ideas on how to handle it, but he couldn't even decide anymore what to do, say or think for that matter.

However, he did manage to reply to the empty air as if they could hear him, ''Please, forgive me… I don't know what to do.''

Tails could only hope that the two hedgehogs were safe. There was no way he could approach the land without crashing into the ocean on his way down and end his life prematurely. The storm was getting worse by a minute. The two tailed fix had to make a decision quickly.

''Sonic, Shadow! I'll come back for you, I promise!''

That is, if the island will still be here upon his arrival.

Chapter 7 - Leading Lights

''What is that!?''

Astonished by a sharp noise, the blue hedgehog quickly took the chance to pull his hand out of Shadow's grip. Along with his darker counterpart he jumped into his attack pose, ready to dash at anything that was about to approach from the darkness. The strange echo started to creep toward the multicolored hedgehogs from all possible directions and confusing as it were to the temporary allies, the exact cause for these ominous sounds never appeared before them. Shadow eventually realized it wasn't a being making those noises. In fact, they were caused by awakened light bulbs, coughing engines and anything even remotely resembling a mechanical creation in this place. The lights turned on by itself and revealed the room in all its glory. The machines began to grumble, with buttons and screens of varied sizes flickering in various colors. It was as if the whole building just woke up from a disturbed sleep and they were merely the catalyst for such an event.

''Everything is… turning on?'' the Ultimate Lifeform was slightly taken aback by ghostly actions around him and glanced over to the blue hedgehog out of sheer curiosity.

The way his rival looked at him, the Blue Blur suddenly had a feeling as if he was accusing him of something he couldn't have done. There was no way he was responsible for it, not if his aching wrist meant anything, ''Hey, don't look at me! I didn't touch anything!''

Snorting at his defensive outburst, the older one merely folded his arms, ''Is that so?''

''You were grabbing onto me like a Crabmeat! How was I supposed to do it, telekinesis?'' that was indeed a very ridiculous idea.

With no particular care at Sonic's current expression, the black hedgehog turned away with a heavy sigh, ''It doesn't matter anyway. There's no way one switch could spontaneously turn on the entire building,'' whatever happened just now couldn't have been an accident or a strangely convenient coincidence. There had to be a point behind it. Maybe this factory of sorts really was haunted and it didn't want two speedy hedgehogs running about their business like they owned the place. Even if it wasn't, the building itself had to be several years old. The power source couldn't have survived all this time to flip the entire thing back on track.

''As long I'm not blamed, I don't really care,'' the Fastest Thing Alive commented as he looked around with mild interest.

''There's light now. That's something new,'' it's been a while since they entered this miserable place and saw any sort of daylight. It wasn't half as bad as anytime before when they could barely see a foot in front of them, ''It should make things easier from now on.''

The blue hedgehog kept twirling around with a cheerful whistle, ''Everything is so weird now that we can actually see stuff. Thousands of buttons everywhere…''

''Don't touch them,'' the Ultimate Lifeform needed to reinstate that rule, even though he knew the other wasn't going to listen anyway. If anything, he's most likely going to spite him regardless. His younger counterpart wouldn't fare well in a restricted military base, not with all the shiny and colorful buttons that usually inhabited every inch of solid and unusual surfaces. It was just another reason not to ever allow him into one without a proper guidance. Although he can pretty much waltz into any of Eggman's over-the-top fortresses and compensating machines, ruining pretty much all of them before the mad Doctor even had a chance to react.

He creeped over to them with a smirk, ''Come on, what's the worst that can happen? Blowing it to smithereens?''

''Do I have to repeat myself?''

Seeing how his darker rival started nearing him from a flank, the blue hedgehog jumped away just in time with a slightly widened appearance, ''Hey, get away!'' one time was enough for his wrist. It still ached as a remainder to never ever come in close proximity of Shadow's death grip.

''Glad to hear that,'' the black one exhaled heavily with a pinch of sarcasm as he ordered, ''We should go further. That is, if you're not scared with the lights on this time.''

The Blue Blur pouted, ''It's not that. I just can't see in the dark very well,'' he wasn't exactly equipped with a night vision like some of his on and off companions, like Rouge for example. Her overly perfumed scent was actually a good indication of where to go in the dark. Not that you would actually admit it to her, the bat was more likely to slap you for even mentioning she had too much perfume on her. Knuckles already learned that lesson the last time around. Although hedgehogs were usually classified as nocturnal creatures, they had a very lame sight to begin with, no matter how pretty his emerald eye color was. It didn't help him see any better at all.

Luckily, his heightened sense of hearing and smelling compensated for his crippling sight instead. Sometimes that was the only thing he needed to survive as not all fights could be won by simply putting all your faith on whatever your eyes saw. But as far as this place was concerned, the only thing he could smell clearly was metallic rust floating in the air which was slightly off putting but not unexpected.

Shadow shrugged at him, ''I can…'' it's not like he was used to bragging in front of his blue rival. He just felt it was a necessary thing to bring up. While his eyesight was probably better than a normal hedgehog or Sonic might've had, that wasn't saying much. Being the best amongst the worst wasn't exactly a very complementing thing to say to the Ultimate Lifeform.

''Well, excuse me, Mr. Ultimate Eyes. Not all of us are perfect living beings,'' as much the blue hedgehog was getting annoyed by Shadow's superior attitude he had to put up with every single time they got into a conversation, he had a good ability not to show it.

Twitching slightly, the older mammal had to think about that line for a short while before he questioned him. He was sure his counterpart wasn't going to admit anything positive, ''Did you just call me perfect?''

Coughing harshly, the Blue Blur felt like bursting out laughing but at the same time he started feeling uneasy. The hedgehogs knew none of them ever admitted any sort of respect for one another, other than they were perfect rivals in many outlooks. In some rarer events it did happen, but nobody was around at the time to actually see it. To answer it somehow, he developed a more composed sound in place of a mocking one, ''If being perfect involves being a douchebag, then yeah,'' he wasn't afraid to voice his inner thoughts at any time, accompanied by a condescending grin that could be plastered all over the place and still recognized as Sonic's signature. He was prepared to counter any sorts of verbal or even physical attacks the older hedgehog might've had in store for him.

The G.U.N. agent merely snorted in return, ''Point taken.''

That in turn turned out to be the most confusing sentence the informed Ultimate Lifeform ever said to him this entire mission or anytime before. As he started mumbling to himself, Sonic rubbed his ear as if he just heard it wrong. He wasn't sure if Shadow was playing with him or just took his insults like a hedgehog would, but that wasn't him. As he widened his eyes, the blue wonder tried to make some sense of it, ''No insults? No comeback? No sarcasm? You're giving me nothing to work with.''

For a moment, the emerald eyed hero thought somebody creeped itself into his brain, kicked the real Shadow out of it and basically took the black hedgehog's body as his own to operate from now on, ''Okay, who are you and what have you done with Shadow?''

''He's on vacation,'' the black one snorted out lightly, half indicating that he was getting tired of these games they had on the account of their rivalry. It was fun the first time around, but now it was just getting trite. The world will always see them as clear oppositions even when they weren't acting as such. Maybe he should ditch Sonic and find a new counterpart, but that would be too tedious. It probably wouldn't be the same anyway as he figured somewhere deep in his mind. The blue hedgehog pretty much attracted jealous and arrogant rivals like bees on honey, but for the most part he pummeled them into the ground and showed them he wasn't one to be messed with. But the black hedgehog liked to view himself as the one to stay as such for as long as he wanted due to presentable similarities and the fact he could beat the Fastest Thing Alive in a race if he desired so. He was, after all, the only one who could keep up with him at his best natural run… just raw unaltered speed.

''Phew, you're still there,'' the Blue Blur whistled out, happy that wasn't the case with him, ''I thought I lost you for a moment.''

''You sound relieved.''

Sonic tilted his head quite innocently, ''If I had to choose between a douche or a doormat, who do you think I'd go with?''

''I see... the latter is too weak,'' the black hedgehog responded with a knowledgeable tone as if he already knew the answer. In fact, it seemed like a noble excuse from the younger hedgehog not to pick on those below his strength and speed.

The blue wonder mockingly corrected him with a finger wag, to the point the other couldn't figure out if he was joking or not, ''Nah, it's too easy.''

Shadow's eyelids fell down a couple of inches to indicate annoyance, but at the same time sheer puzzlement. Not many times do you see a hero who acts and thinks like a complete jerk. He asked with a snort, ''And I'm considered the bad guy?''

''At least I'm nice…'' the blue hedgehog claimed with an awkward shrug. As nice a blue speedster with ego issues could get?

Shadow wasn't questioning his attitude against others. He'd seen it all before, when the Blue Blur stopped for a small event such as a runaway balloon. He quickly sped up on top of a tall building and jumped off just to get it back to the ground to a crying kid. He then casually went on through the busy streets with numerous people clapping in amazement. Oddly enough, the Fastest Thing Alive never stopped to brag or pose for newspaper articles… he barely even noticed them. Sonic didn't seem to bother with excessive attention. Nothing really displayed if he was doing it because he liked to show off or because he was actually a very compassionate being. There were so many inconsistencies in his behavior; the black hedgehog had trouble figuring out what was real about him and what wasn't.

''That's enough of that. Hurry up already,'' the Ultimate Lifeform ignored those thoughts for the time being and motioned toward him with his finger. He began investigating his environment once more, although a lot quicker this time around. Even with the power on, they couldn't be completely sure just how long it was going to last. They didn't even know what the cause was in the first place. It was reasonable to try and get it over with as soon as possible before anything unexpected happened again.

Rolling around on the conveyer belt and using it as a treadmill, Sonic snickered and eventually jumped off, ''Ya know… for a factory, it looks barely used,'' he then examined the various flickering machines near him. So many pretty buttons to push, but it would be a lot less painful if he didn't go anywhere near them.

''It still doesn't tell us what they were doing here,'' the machinery here was vastly advanced for such an isolated location.

The blue hedgehog lifted his finger, ''I know from experience that factories usually include giant robots.''

''Thank you. That obviously wasn't clear by now,'' the older mammal tried to facepalm at that remark, but he only managed out a small sigh. Without further ado, he quickly skated away toward the next door instead of Sonic this time around, as if to hurry up with the investigation.

''You're just angry cuz you didn't think of it first,'' the Blue Blur taunted him and followed after him through the door. He yelped out in a sudden high pitch, ''Hey, the lights are on!''

Shadow mourned the day his counterpart became a full blown Captain Obvious, ''So what?''

''Why is it going darker then?''

He didn't catch on the first time around, but as soon the two steeped further into the new room, the lights turned on as if the building itself was following their progress like a very persistent stalker. However, that wasn't the only weird thing as Shadow noted with a question, ''What's going on outside?'' as they could see from the nearby windows, the once brightly colored day began darkening upon them, as if the sun decided to hide away for some unexplained reason. It couldn't have been night already. They just barely woke up and they haven't been here for an excruciatingly long time. Something completely different was going on.

As the black one turned toward him, Sonic was already reaching for his transceiver and turned it on. He quickly found out there was nothing but static leaking out of it. He tried adjusting the frequency, but it only became worse as the high pitched sound hurt their ears. He instead hit it a few times against his glove until he grew tired of it, ''… it's not working.''

The older hedgehog stirred slightly when a bright flash stroke the window and distracted his eyesight, ''Lightning?''

''Whoa, is that a storm?'' the blue hedgehog exclaimed and dashed forward to build enough speed to run up a wall. He whistled out in clear surprise when he hanged himself onto a tiny platform and looked through the window. The strong wind intensified, with the trees cowering in fear and letting their trunks twist and turn around entirely on the mercy of the torrent, having been flung around like grass until at least one of them snapped in half with a very terrifying sound. The bright lightning flashes returned, blinding Sonic for a moment as the heavy rain finally joined in on all the fun. Grumbling loudly, the storm continued to echo throughout the entire island. The Blue Blur was amazed at the sudden changes, ''Look at that! The whole weather just went insane.''

When he dropped back down to his rival's side, the other mammal was trying out his own transceiver in hopes of getting a signal despite his doubtfulness, ''Mine doesn't work either. We can't call out.''

''Does that mean we're stuck here?''

Shadow gave out a fairly clear answer, ''Seems so.''

''Really now?'' the Fastest Thing Alive manned his hands but quickly put away the mischievous smirk that appeared on his face in this very inappropriate moment. He instead tried to reply with an awkward sound, ''I mean… I don't wanna go outside now. It looks so bad but…''

With a murmur, the older hedgehog gave him a normal look for once other than perpetual glaring, ''We can't stay here forever.''

''Then what are we supposed to do?'' the emerald eyed hero was starting to explore the possibilities they still had in this unfortunate situation. However, it wasn't until another thought flashed in his mind along with an accompanying audible lightning from outside that made him completely distressed. The blue wonder widened his eyes and flattened his ears against his skull as he exclaimed with a gasp, ''Tails! What about him!? He's still out there somewhere! What if something happens to him…?''

Hearing out his problem, the black hedgehog decided to calm him down if somewhat coldly, ''If he's smart, he shouldn't even be flying in this condition. I'm sure he's alright.''

''… thanks for your concern'', that didn't seem to make the Blue Blur feel any better as he left out sarcastically. The speedy hedgehogs were at least dry, while the yellow furred pilot could've been anywhere by this point. Sonic however did want to believe his rival's words that his buddy would stay away from the island in such situations, especially in this unexpected storm that dawned upon them. If anything happened to him, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself, ''Damn, Tails… okay, let's say you're right for now, but… what can we do? Wait it out?''

''The weather is atrocious, our communication is severed and we're in the middle of the ocean on an unknown island. What else do you think we should do?'' Shadow pointed out harshly and turned his attention back to the now incredibly useless walkie-talkie for some reason or another.

Snapping his fingers, the younger hedgehog offered an idea he immediately thought of, ''The power is up. Maybe we can call out from here.''

''It's possible but the storm might be interfering with machines here as well,'' the black hedgehog wasn't very hopeful, particularly less in this crappy weather. Plus, none of them knew just how complicated the technology on this island was, ''Besides, would you even know how to manage a transmitter?''

He shrugged nonchalantly, ''I can fly a plane.''

''And that makes you a master at...?''

''Handling difficult controls?''

''I've seen the Tornado'', the black hedgehog flung his head backwards with a very uninterested look, ''An idiot could fly it with such basic controls.''

Putting his gloved hands at his sides, the agitated Blue Blur immediately berated him with a finger wag, ''Yo, don't diss the Tornado! It has feelings too.''

Ignoring him for the time being, Shadow decided to try it out anyway since they didn't have any other ideas at hand, ''Seems like I'll have to do it. If it even works, that is…''

The room they recently discovered was filled with nothing but odd technological wonders that probably never saw the light of day on any other known continent. He was almost sure there was an office or a transmission room hidden somewhere around here. At first sight, it seemed like an appropriate place for it, the only problem was actually finding the damn thing. The two hedgehogs went from a bland exterior, to the conveyer belt room and only then into another techno land. As they progressed through it, the doors became more prominent but well hidden behind all sorts of machinery. Sometimes it was even harder to determine what an entrance was and what a pointless closet with various unknown gadgets.

''Maybe here?'' Sonic tried opening another metallic door on his own, only to find out they were tightly locked. Unlike some other door he had to push continuously to get through, this one wasn't about to succumb under his numerous tries, ''I'm not sure where to go anymore.''

He kept moving regardless of the Fastest Thing Alive's progression, ''The storm is only going to get worse. We really have no choice in the matter.''

''But who knows how long that'll take!'' the emerald eyed hero stomped the ground and for the first time, glared at the Ultimate Lifeform's back without him even noticing.

''Would you rather sit outside with a soaked fur? Be my guest, but it won't be my fault if you get sick,'' Shadow replied with an unsatisfying growl and continued onwards without the younger one's oh so useful guidance, even when he ran off into another direction entirely and left him on his own. He only seemed to notice when the lightning drowned out all the sounds around him, even Sonic's voice which was usually an incredibly difficult thing to pull off. It forced the Ultimate Lifeform into changing his direction immediately in order to follow his reckless counterpart.

Finding yet another locked door, he kicked them out of irritation, ''I wish there was something here…'' and cut his sentence halfway through.

''Sonic? Are you even listening to me?'' the older mammal quickly went out of his way to find his rival, not willing to go anywhere far as long he still ran around like a headless chicken.

''Huh…'' it seemed like he wasn't paying attention to him at all and continued with his extensive search throughout the room. As it turned out, the blue hedgehog was completely zoned out from the rest of the world and ignored the G.U.N. agent, which he noted with a raised eye ridge. There were only so few times the younger mammal would be found with his head up in the clouds, but not unheard of. And even then, he didn't exactly just ignore everyone or let them speak whatever they pleased. His suspicions will probably make more sense now.

He wanted to know where his thoughts were at the moment as he decided to ask, ''What are you searching for?''

''Something that can help us, what else!'' the younger hedgehog seemed frustrated answering it. That didn't sound like the Blue Blur at all. Just what irritated him so much to the point of aggressiveness? There had to be something behind these senseless wanderings he was currently making.

''In this situation?'' Shadow deliberately started questioning him with incomplete sentences.

Meanwhile, the blue wonder still appeared as if his darker counterpart wasn't even there as he mumbled to himself, ''There has to be…''

Nodding in sheer puzzlement, he tried to keep his voice lower than usual, ''Sonic, what's wrong?'' the crimson eyed agent was getting annoyed by his curious behavior that once again managed to appear out of nowhere. Even when he asked simple questions, the blue hedgehog was too out of this world to answer them correctly.

''What? Nothing…'' he replied quickly with no real insight.

That was a mistake to say, ''I don't believe you for a second, hedgehog.''

''Whatever, Shadow…'' much to the black mammal's instant surprise, the Fastest Thing Alive was quick to blow him off as if he were nothing, ''Is that…''

Struggling to keep his emotions in check and himself at bay, the Ultimate Lifeform growled, ''What is it now?''

''I think…''

''You…''

This was getting ridiculous. The blue hedgehog continued to run around with no clear destination, with the other barely following as he kept doing swift turns amongst all the machines before quietly lamenting a thing or two, ''Why can't I rem-

''What's the matter with you!? Ever since we came here, you've been acting suspicious! Even Tails doesn't know what to think!'' Shadow was about to strangle him over and over again, if he didn't stop right away. The Blue Blur's half answered questions and complete disregard of his own existence was beginning to get on his nerves. He wanted to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible and he didn't care how difficult Sonic had to make it in the process. As he managed to get the upper hand in a quick sequence, he jumped right in front of him to stop his rival from going any further. Amazed even at himself, the black mammal lost it completely when he started shouting at him.

''Tails? What are you two…'' the younger one literally had no idea what he was on about.

''I'm warning you…'' the older hedgehog pointed at him with a threatening voice. He had enough of being ignored and denied any sort of information. The blue hedgehog only slightly leaned backwards as to escape his glares, ''If you know anything about this place you better spill it out now!''

With no changes in his slightly confused expression, Sonic turned slightly to the side and folded his arms with a laidback sound, ''I don't know what you're talking about.''

''I think you do,'' Shadow wasn't going to let himself be fooled anymore, ''I want to know who is behind all of this.''

Stomping his shoe against the floor with an impressive echo, the Fastest Thing Alive was quick to retaliate with a yell, ''Behind what!?''

Blinking at his sudden outburst, the Ultimate Lifeform manned his forehead as he left out a sigh. He needed to stop it before the argument went out of his hands, ''This mission… there is something wrong with it and you're not making it any more tolerable,'' but he couldn't allow the Fastest Thing Alive to get away with it, whatever was going on with him in this specific moment. He'd been led around for too long… and now his counterpart has some explaining to do. However at the same time, this appeared to be a major mistake on his part. In the worst case scenario, he's going to look like the biggest jackass in front of the blue annoyance.

''Why do you always do this?'' the emerald eyed hero asked, ''Every time something like this happens, you get paranoid about it.''

''Don't change the subject,'' he growled in return, although he was trying hard not to completely unleash a day worth of anger on his current ally, ''Don't even dare to imply I'm wrong.''

Sonic rubbed his finger under his nose without any hesitance, ''But you are… absolutely! I get it… you just wanna blame someone because you're stuck here with me,'' the younger hedgehog was obviously misinterpreting everything that happened by now, ''It annoys you, fine, just don't start passing blame on everyone else.''

''Who is this everyone else?'' as if he just triggered the beast within, Shadow was once again on the hunt, ''Is it someone we don't know about?''

Pulling the last straw out of his hands, the blue mammal had enough of the Ultimate Lifeform and his absurd questions, ''There you go again!'' he threw his hands up in the air and turned around to leave his rival with a loud mumbling voice under his breath.

Shadow dashed after him right away, ''Where are you going? I'm not through with you yet!''

However, the emerald eyed hero wasn't about to give him anything else than that, ''But I am!''

''Don't you turn your back on me, Sonic!''

Hearing the completely enraged black hedgehog behind his back, the Blue Blur finally faced him again and glared at the other in pure frustration, something he hated to show at this very moment. This was the biggest mistake he had ever done in his life and it showed, ''Why did I even ask you in the first place? You know, for once I thought, maybe it's not such a bad idea. Maybe somehow I could finally get to you, but no!''

The Fastest Thing Alive never got this angry at anyone in his life, even his numerous rivals and enemies who continuously insulted him, his speed and his attitude every step of the way. He managed them just fine because he knew how to get back at them with a composed mind and show them he was more then they gave him credit for. However, this situation was different from anytime before. The black hedgehog didn't understand what was happening here at all and thus didn't give him the right to judge his younger rival like that. The way he continued to question him with every single ludicrous idea in his pocket was extremely annoying and for a second, reminded him of Shadow's behavior from when he first met the mysterious hedgehog.

It looked like Sonic couldn't make up with him and they would stay in the exact same place they began, ''You're just the same old Faker!'' the blue one didn't think he would ever have to bring up anything like that again.

Shadow cringed at that demoting name finally making a comeback after all this time. Sooner or later it was bound to make an appearance from any of their mouths as much they both despised it, ''Don't ever call me that again. What if I decided to talk like that?''

''I'd deal with it!'' he pointed at himself, ''After all, I'm not the one with a stick up his ass!''

He wasn't pleased at that analogy as the black mammal answered harshly, ''Me? You're pushing your luck, hedgehog.''

''Whatcha gonna do, fight me?'' his infamous grin returned as he prepared his attack pose, ''Hey, I'm all for a brawl if you want one!''

''I'm not going to fight you in this place,'' the Ultimate Lifeform refused and let his hands drop down his sides unguarded. He started nodding, more to himself than anyone else as if the entire thing really was blown out of a visible proportion. However, he wasn't going to admit it in any way, even if his life depended on it. He was far too mad to be thinking about anything else as he only wanted to move on, ''Why am I even wasting time with you? We could've been off this damn island if you weren't throwing a tantrum this entire place.''

The emerald eyed hero showed him his fist, ''You started it in the first place!''

''You were the one who wanted to get inside!'' the other countered his reply. It was a surprise they didn't engage into a full blown duel by now.

''Then why did you follow me here in the first place!'' Sonic remembered the older hedgehog wasn't fond of jumping down onto the mysterious island and yet, he came along for the ride for anyway. Why was he blaming him if it was his decision he made all by himself, ''I didn't ask you to come along, you could've stayed with Tails!''

Struggling hard, the black mammal tried not to shout again, for all good that it did, ''I'm not here because of you.''

The blue hedgehog was on the edge of his nerves and started throwing a hissy fit over it, ''Then why are you here!? All this time you've been complaining about me, this mission but you're still here anyway! What the hell is up with you!? I had enough of you, your questions and your-

''Tails asked me to!''

The Blue Blur blinked in shock when he was interrupted with the most unexpected answer, ''… what?''

''You heard me! Are you happy now!?'' shouting back at him, Shadow turned away from his blue counterpart, embarrassed by the fact that he finally cracked under pressure and rattled out the yellow furred pilot. Nodding at himself, he exhaled heavily before he decided to leave as quickly as possible to preserve some dignity.

As much the Fastest Thing Alive barely believed what he had heard a second ago, the second he noticed his darker counterpart was leaving him behind, the blue hedgehog ran after him and yelped out, ''Shadow, wait! Why? Why did Tails…'' when Sonic approached him, the black mammal hesitantly stopped in his track and kept silent for the time being. He crossed his arms over his chest tightly as if his thumping heart was going to jump out from various irritations he had to deal with at the moment.

''Tell me, please!'' the emerald eyed hero pleaded and waited impatiently for any kind of response.

Eventually, the older hedgehog looked over his shoulder to tell the truth. His voice reverted back to his well known soft spoken tone, ''Tails is worried about you. He doesn't like this mission one bit. I went along on his request to keep an eye on you.''

''That's just… really? And you…'' the younger hedgehog still couldn't believe it. He was even more surprised that Shadow actually agreed to it, ''… he could've told me.''

''He doesn't like having doubts…'' he answered and sidestepped again to give himself and Sonic some space, ''As if he thinks he'll become untrustworthy towards you.''

The Blue Blur sighed out with a short chuckle, ''Tails, what… oh, buddy…'' he wasn't sure what to think anymore.

Keeping his gloved hand at his spines, the blue hedgehog had never found himself in such position before. It was the first time that any of his friends ever admitted to doubting him, even if they never said anything about it in first place. The Fastest Thing Alive wasn't expecting such a thing from Tails, but it was possible his yellow furred buddy had a reason for feeling the way he did. If this was any other situation, he would've been left heartbroken at the mere idea. After all, friends trusted each other no matter what. But it's not like he himself was always honest in a way to completely hinder someone else in the process. Sonic only managed to realize it now, but it was time to convince himself that this wasn't a way to go on anymore. He was making this mission confusing for everyone else and was only causing trouble.

It seemed both Shadow and Tails were right about something. Maybe this was the time to stop pretending, ''I… I think you're right.''

''What are you talking about?'' the Ultimate Lifeform asked with a stiff snort but didn't look at Sonic at all.

''I… shouldn't have kept things from you and Tails,'' it wasn't until that very sentence the black hedgehog widened his crimson eyes and completely lost the sense of environment around himself, seeing only the blue mammal in front of him as if he were some sort of ghost coming to haunt him. Through the entire situation, the Fastest Thing Alive held a genuine but awkward smile on his suddenly honest face, ''I guess I should come clean. Shadow…''

The older mammal will never forget this particular event for the rest of his life.

''Welcome to Christmas Island.''

''… what?''

Chapter 8 - Mechanical Resonance

Sonic's midnight marathons over the coasts, highways, and plains were the only thing keeping him from completely ruining his vacation. Even at night, the vast regions of United Federation suffered from the hot climate that pilled up in the early afternoons just to spite him. As it turned out, almost the entire continent was drowning in an immense heat wave which according to the weather reports wasn't going away anytime soon. While everyone else threatened to melt because of the sun's irrational behavior, the only thing it did well was help the tourism a little earlier than usual. By the end of the week, every building that even remotely resembled a hotel sold out entirely. But it kept shining down on them with such power, eventually even the fans couldn't handle it and broke down completely. Anything that was of plastic origin didn't manage to survive for very long.

The blue hedgehog found it extremely difficult to get a good night sleep and instead hoped his super speed would find the cold wind and bring it back into the city. However, that was just wishful thinking on Sonic's part and he'll probably have to suffer the heat along with the rest of them. He was the kind of guy who could handle a slowly approaching magma closing in on his every orifice, but that was nothing compared to this summer. At the very peak of his hotter than life thoughts, he even thought about jumping into the ocean to cool off. But the only thing he would successfully accomplish by that would be drowning himself which in this painful weather seemed like an easier and sweeter salvation. However, since he wasn't a suicidal type and enjoyed life far too much, he quickly dismissed that idea, as swell it may have seemed the first time around.

Sonic was going slightly out of his mind ever since the mad Doctor decided to retreat and literally disappear from the face of the Earth, leaving him with nothing to work with for months. He spent his days running away from the giant hammer, wandering through the country with barely any time to stop and find a different source of entertainment. The Fastest Thing Alive was horrendously bored and there was nothing that could make him feel better. Even the engrossing and highly addicting pinball machines couldn't keep him amused for more than a few minutes.

When the Blue Blur decided to leave further up north in search of anything interesting such as, in all possibility, a colder climate and to test out the newly built highways, it wasn't long until a luxurious black limousine caught up with him on the bridge to another continent. Curiously, he slowed down to see what the deal was, only for the window to open as he was invited inside by the President of the United Federation himself, much to Sonic's surprise who barely had an idea of how he managed to find him here in the middle of the night. Although clearly not interested in whatever the big guy had to offer at this time, the younger hedgehog decided to accept his offer anyway and lounged on the back seat along with the human for a little while.

''Excuse me, Sonic the Hedgehog,'' the President felt the need to apologize, ''I hope you forgive me for making such an abrupt appearance.''

The blue mammal merely grinned and flailed his hand around to imply nonchalance, ''No problem. Who can sleep in this heat anyway?'' he snorted lightly and folded his arms, ''What's up?''

''I was hoping for your help with something very important,'' the male sounded hopeful as he held a curiously shaped box in his lap.

''Oh, yeah?'' closing his eyes for a short second due to weariness, Sonic wasn't really interested enough to be talking favors right about now, even if it was from the authorities that actually respected him for once, ''I'm not exactly in the right mood, so…''

Lifting his head, he replied quickly with a lower voice, ''Please, will you at least listen to my offer before you decline? It might sound interesting to you.''

''I doubt it…'' the Fastest Thing Alive held little hope that anything could brighten up the boring atmosphere around him. However, he decided to listen to his problems anyway as he propped one of his hands against his muzzle in sheer disinterest, ''Fine, I'm listening.''

Coughing out a short, Mr. President opened his box and pulled out a curiously shaped laptop. He typed something before turning the bright screen over to the emerald eyed hero to give him a concise explanation, ''Here's a short briefing. A few hours ago, the G.U.N. intelligence reported to have located a curious landmass east from here, an island that many believed to have been lost for years. Nobody knows how it appeared there. We haven't managed to find any proper information about it, so we have no idea what we're dealing with here.''

Looking at the map of nothing but light blue sea and small dots that indicated various locations, the blue hedgehog shrugged and asked, ''Okay… what does that have to do with me?''

''We need someone to check it out first to see if it's any threat to us,'' the human explained, ''That's where you come in.''

''So it's routine then?'' the fragile speedster asked.

''You could say that.''

Rubbing his gloved finger around his earlobe, Sonic still didn't sound convinced that it was his kind of adventure and replied with a bored expression on his face, ''Sounds like a G.U.N. mission. Are they busy or something?'' he didn't know if they even cared about small missions like this as much as he did, but that usually wasn't surprising by now.

''I believed it would be far better to send out a scout first before the military. The press has been hanging over their heads for a while now and I don't want to concern the citizen with such a hassle. Somebody who is more familiar with the people of Station Square wouldn't cause as much mindless tension about it,'' the President answered with blatant honesty.

''Great, it's a publicity stunt,'' the blue hedgehog mumbled to himself under his breath and asked the big guy a more curious question, ''But why me? There are others out there who could do the job just as fine.''

Mr. President was quick to reply as if he said the same exact sentence before in his life, ''We want to be discreet about it. We don't want to make a big fuss out of it if it turns out to be nothing important. You are low profile enough and already a wanderer on your own anyway.''

''Makes sense, I guess,'' the Blue Blur understood somewhat, but it didn't help his interest about it being anymore lower than it was right now.

''The island is located somewhere around here…'' clicking on the keyboard, the chessboard map zoomed out to reveal the distance between this continent and the mysterious island which was located in the middle of nowhere. As he handed a scribbled piece of paper over to the blue hedgehog, Sonic had a difficulty staying present at this time when the President talked further to explain anything he might have known about the enigmatic location and keep the hero interested about it. However, the younger mammal felt sleepier with every spoken word, ''We're not sure how it moved there on its own, but we're positive that it's not another Angel Island. While most information about it has been lost, we do know its name.''

''Only the name?'' the emerald eyed mammal grinned with half lidded eyes, ''Humor me, Mr. President.''

''It's called Christmas Island.''

''That's impossible, I'm from… wait a second…'' at the very mention of the name, Sonic widened his eyes significantly and went completely silent as he stared at the male and eventually turned toward the paper with the exact coordinates. The island's name echoed in his mind ever since he told him about it, zoning out entirely into his own world. It was a name he hadn't heard in a very long time, but many years ago that was the only thing he knew about himself as well. He very well expected not to care anyway, as it only mattered back then and the past wasn't something that sounded exhilarating to investigate. But why did he feel the need to reinstate if this thing was actually real?

The blue hedgehog looked up to the dark haired male, hesitating to ask as if afraid this was an actual fact, ''Did you say… Christmas Island?''

''That's right,'' the President of United Federation nodded. Noticing Sonic's empty expression, he asked with a worrisome voice, ''Is something wrong with it?''

''What? No, it's nothing. Actually that sounds kinda…'' the Blue Blur still appeared to be intoxicated in his own thoughts. However, he already made a decision for himself as he unexpectedly chuckled out to confirm it again. Not to keep the other at bay anymore, Sonic smirked greatly and jumped on his feet to shake the human's hand much to his surprise,''… awesome! Consider it done, Mr. President! You can count on me!''

''That was quick…'' the President had to blink a couple of times before coming up with the present events, ''Usually it's harder to convince you.''

''I'm all for an adventure, especially in this heat!'' the blue hedgehog replied with a brush to his chin and eventually jumped out of the limousine through the car's ceiling window back onto the road right beside the Presidential car.

Quickly, the Mr. President opened the window to say his last appreciations to the blue speedster, ''Thank you very much, Sonic. I'm not sure how to repay you.''

''No problem, it's what I do! I'll be back before you'll even notice I've left!'' with those last thoughts out of his mind, the emerald eyed hero skidded on the road to leave his mark and turned back toward the city of Station Square to start a new adventure and possibly rediscover the meaning behind all of this.

XXX

''You… did… what!?''

Shadow was completely shocked and widened his eyes in clear astonishment at Sonic's awkward chuckling. All this time, the Blue Blur was using him, pulling his nose wherever he went next like a marionette. He could barely believe it… Shadow was tricked by Sonic the Hedgehog. He, the Ultimate Lifeform, the protector of this planet, the G.U.N. agent and the superior user of Chaos energy was tricked by a 15 year old speedster who probably couldn't even spell his own species' name for that matter. It simply did not compute with him. All this time he believed there was something wrong with his blue counterpart and it constantly bothered him, but at the same time he held hope his rival wasn't the type to do something like this. It seems Shadow was wrong and he always underestimated him, but this was low even for him.

Sonic took advantage of him in barely a day. He never believed the Fastest Thing Alive could do anything like that. This turned out to be incredibly embarrassing as he finally shouted at him on top of his lungs, ''You knew all this time and you didn't bother telling me!?''

The younger mammal retaliated with a softer yet stumbling voice as soon as he tried to explain, ''Calm down, I was just-

He interrupted him immediately, ''I don't want to hear any of it!'' the black hedgehog's hands started forming into shaking fists as soon he brushed the Blue Blur off. He was in clear danger of exploding with rage and doing terrible things to his counterpart.

Sighing, the Blue Blur started sounding desperate, ''Just listen to me.''

''No, Sonic! You can deal with this crap on your own!'' the G.U.N. agent had enough and decided to turn away to get out of his sight as soon as it was possible. He couldn't even stand him in his presence anymore, much less look at him ever again. He did not like to be taken for a fool, yet his rival just managed to do so in the most unexpected of places.

''I didn't know what to expect…'' Sonic tried to explain quickly as he was left behind, ''I didn't know it would turn out like this…'' he wanted him to see that this was not his fault, for all good it did, ''I didn't want to get my hopes up!''

Stopping in his track, the Ultimate Lifeform tilted his head back at him with no remorse and pointed at him with his finger, ''You should've thought of that before you started fooling around with me! I'm getting out of here! You can stay here for all I care!'' Shadow was determined to leave all of this behind him.

''Shadow, if you just hear me out…'' the blue hedgehog ran after him in belief his darker counterpart would start listening to him if he bugs him enough about it, ''I can explain. I was-

Clenching his fists even tighter at the irritating voice following him, he turned toward him and ended up with the emerald eyed hero right face to face. Shadow raised one of his hands against his muzzle in a threatening manner. The other was slightly taken aback as he couldn't even finish his sentence but didn't dare to move aside, ''Don't you even think about it! You… you little…'' the black hedgehog wanted to pummel Sonic's face and his cringe inducing smirks into the ground so hard, he wouldn't even know what hit him. He deserved it for all the annoying crap he had to put up with. There was nothing the Fastest Thing Alive could possibly do or say that would make him change his mind about it.

And yet, the blue hedgehog didn't say anything to counter him. Sonic didn't even grin for that matter. No sarcasm and no explanations came from his side. He just stood there with the most heartbreaking expression Shadow has ever seen on his blue counterpart, along with his ears folded next to his head and half lidded eyes. It seemed like he decided to take whatever was coming his way after all… the way it should've been in this situation anyway. But even as he convinced himself that was the perfect punishment for him, Shadow still hesitated to do so and refrained from swinging at him as hard as it was possible.

When his arm dropped back to his side, the Blue Blur closed his eyes for a slight second, as if he really believed he was going to get hurt in some way. Upon opening his eyes again, the black hedgehog growled at him with a raised fist, ''You're not worth it,'' and skated away.

''Shadow, I…'' the blue mammal only managed out a weak voice the older one couldn't possibly hear. Sonic downed his head and propped himself against his knees with a heavy exhale. Why did he have a feeling he was now scaring people away from him? The only thing he knew it wasn't a very good moment to be spouting out the truth. Yet another team member has abandoned him and he could do nothing that could make anything better.

''This hasn't been the greatest week of my life. First Knuckles… and now Shadow…''

XXX

The black hedgehog was enraged. Completely and utterly enraged.

Leaving the sneaky Blue Blur far behind him in this building, there was only one thing on his mind; getting off this damn island. He didn't care how much the storm intensified during their heated argument. He was going to get through it no matter what, just to get away from Sonic and this tedious place. This wasn't like him at all. Shadow wasn't the type to fall for such stupid tricks, less from someone like Sonic. He could barely believe a hedgehog like him even succeeded. It instantly shook his confident disposition and made him look like a complete fool. As soon he finally realized his blue counterpart was pulling his strings through the whole ordeal, Shadow knew that was his cue to leave and save himself from further embarrassment.

This was probably the most awkward thing he had to go through in his life and he'll never look at him the same way again. For a very long time, the blue annoyance was merely a small thorn in his heel, but this time he crossed the line completely. He might as well despise him even more than anytime before. He knew Sonic was up to something, yet he didn't want to believe it. He hoped the other had more brain cells in his head than to pull off something like this without a proper warning… and with him in the middle nonetheless. The Ultimate Lifeform felt completely exposed and betrayed.

But there was one thing he couldn't figure out… why did he hesitate in front of him? Why didn't he just let his anger get the best of him and beat the crap out of Sonic when he had the chance? He was even expecting it, for the love of Chaos! Yet at that moment, he couldn't even punch him and he was looking the informed hero straight into his eyes. He didn't move or anything, it's like he was giving him a chance to strike him down. And how was he going to tell Tails about this mess? That his proposed older brother of sorts was a self-centered liar? Then again, does he really need to know? With a scoff, he pushed away those thoughts. He was far too concerned with getting off this island first and back to the metropolitan homelands.

Shadow found himself in the room with the pit… he didn't care what anything was in this place anymore. He wasn't completely sure how he'll get back home, but the black hedgehog was ready to do anything that was physically possible to get away. He was surprised that Sonic hadn't come after him already. Then again, he was going outside and considering just how much the blue annoyance hated water of all things possible, it was entirely obvious that his good for nothing rival wasn't going to dare steeping outside. But it wasn't like the older mammal himself was even remotely enjoying the atrocious weather dissonance that came up a moment ago. The lightning flashes and loud thunder that continued to accompany each other throughout the sky didn't make things any better.

Much to his displeasure, the irritating footsteps of the blue hedgehog's hyper friction resistant shoes finally managed to come after him, ''Shadow, wait! Listen to me!''

Gritting his teeth, the other wasn't going to have any of it as he sped up, ''I'm done with that, hedgehog!''

''I was just-

Having been accidentally led into a corner by some very inconvenient chance, Shadow turned around with a stomp and stopped his blue counterpart from nearing him even slightly as he pointed a finger at him. The Fastest Thing Alive stopped immediately, as if the Ultimate Lifeform was about to launch a Chaos Spear right into his face, ''You're a complete idiot for thinking I would go along with this.''

The blue mammal was quick to turn that reply around, ''What, are you saying you'd tag along if I told you in the first place?''

''Of course not!'' the black hedgehog shouted, creating a pout on the other's face, ''But at least you'd be honest about it!''

Sonic exhaled out significantly before folding his hands in a very awkward position and avoiding his rival's death glare. With no particular expression on his muzzle, the Blue Blur composed himself for the time being as he tried to calm him down with a smoother voice, ''I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want to believe this was real.''

''Why the hell is that!?'' as much as he started to show that he didn't like being yelled at, Shadow kept continuing with a heightened tone that eventually started echoing throughout the entire room in an almost frightening way, ''You traded away a simple explanation for your own selfish reasons and now look where we are! Why did you think it would work anyway?''

''I never asked for much, Shadow…'' the peach arms sagged back to his sides, ''I wasn't expecting to get you into this mess, but I had no choice. I didn't want to be here alone.''

''Sonic…'' he tried to keep himself from bursting out completely at him yet again, although he literally couldn't stand this conversation anymore. The older mammal decided he wasn't going to let something like this haunt him ever again, ''This is your mess, not mine. I'm done with that sort of thing!''

Sighing harshly, the black hedgehog nodded erratically as he walked past Sonic and slightly bumped their shoulders together as if to discourage him from following him around anymore. Now, one of the few things left to do were to never look back again and just keep on walking. The Ultimate Lifeform understood clearly what his younger counterpart wanted to do in this place, the black one found himself in that same exact position as well. But the way he did it was completely unacceptable to him or anyone else for that matter. It's one thing to be fooled by an enemy, but a different thing entirely when tricked by someone you've known and fought by their side.

When he finally believed he was far enough from him, he could still hear that particular sentence from him that managed to both frighten and puzzle Shadow for whatever reason, as he could feel shivers going down his spines, ''At least you remember it!'' the whole reason was the blue hedgehog's high pitched voice which sounded like it was going to break down at some point for good. That was also another part of his confused past self the crimson eyed agent wasn't glad to be reminded of.

The emerald eyed hero managed to be both surprised and disappointed, although he couldn't figure out if most was directed at himself or Shadow. Then again, he didn't have a reason to feel anything against the Ultimate Lifeform as he did play with him long enough to figure something like this was bound to happen. He must've been pretty naïve, if he really believed the other would take it all in its stride and go along with no hesitation. This was Shadow after all, he never expected sentimental things like that from him. Sonic could've told him from the beginning why he was interested in this island, but if this wasn't actually his Christmas Island he believed it was, then he was bothering himself and everyone else for nothing.

Sonic had a faint idea that if he went back to somewhere familiar, he'd manage to remember something. It seemed to work with his darker counterpart after all, so why wouldn't it be the same with him? But coming here in a flash of quick decisions, everything from the jungle to this building was completely foreign to him. He started wondering if this was his home island at all. It was mere luck that brought him here, but Sonic started thinking that he shouldn't have come back here in the first place. Some things were better left in the past and were never meant to be rediscovered again. This was probably just one of those things, but the younger hedgehog was too stubborn for his own good to pass such an opportunity. Shadow was probably right… this was his own mess to clean up.

''What's that?'' Sonic's ears twitched into a particular direction not far away from him, having heard a very distinct sound somewhere beyond the nearby wall. It was approaching slowly with a threatening sound as if it was coming for someone. Hearing a significant pitch in the noise, there was never a better time to freak out, ''Shadow, watch out!''

He turned around with an annoyed expression on his face, deciding that this will be the last time he will ever speak to the blue hedgehog, ''I told you-

But as soon he opened his mouth, the wall between them was smashed in by an unknown force with a ear piercing screech and threw its pieces to the ground like a broken toy, lifting up a great deal of dust in the air. It happened so fast the two didn't have time to react properly and coughed loudly due to the smoke. When the place finally cleared away after a few seconds, they could finally see what punched it aside like a ragdoll. It reached out from the gigantic hole with a mechanical claw, supporting itself when it entered the room with a stomp that could easily emulate earthquakes. A robotic creature, almost as big as any of Eggman's flashy toys and better equipped than any sort of armed vehicle in military's possession, looked from a hedgehog to a hedgehog with a rotating head and yellow eyes that functioned as its scanners. The machine growled out with a particularly screeching techno sound and steeped out into the open, adorned in a dark material and glowed with electricity from top to bottom until it disappeared entirely.

It looked like the being also woke up recently, but didn't exactly appreciate the effort, ''What the… I thought this place was deserted!'' Sonic yelped at the giant robot, only to have the metallic beast turn his way in mild surprise and crush the iron debris with ease in-between its giant claw.

''Wait a minute…'' the black hedgehog was left astonished at the sudden events taking place as he took on his attack pose, ''Could it be Doctor after all?''

The younger hedgehog somehow managed to hear him over all the noise caused by the machine, ''No way! That doesn't look like anything he'd create!''

Shadow didn't know why the blue annoyance was so certain. However, the only recognizable robots of Eggman's were the Egg Pawns created in his image, along with the irritating grin, round spectacles and obnoxious fat design. Other than that… this robot could've belonged to anyone. Screaming once more, the machine dislocated its arm in an awkward way and launched itself at the black hedgehog, only to have him dodge it in the last second. The arm traveled back to the robot's body through a chain hanging out of its torso. Shadow grunted out as he landed, ''I think it wants to fight.''

''That's fine by me!'' the other hedgehog replied and jumped into his well known pose to start the battle.

''Ready?''

Shadow motioned in agreement and they ran up at the machine from their flanks. The blue hedgehog dashed into the air to build up enough speed and spun at the robot's chest, only to almost knock it over but did no damage to speak of. As an amazing turn, the robotic beast had no qualms with its position and punched the air with its claw hand extraordinarily precisely, flinging Sonic into the opposite wall. In the meantime of Sonic's recovery time, the black hedgehog launched himself behind the robot and tried to strike it with a Chaos Spear. While it might have done more damage than the blue one's spin dash, it still largely appeared to annoy the robot more than anything else. Using its hands as a weapon, the machine started flailing wildly at Shadow, eventually hitting him from the side but that didn't stop the Ultimate Lifeform.

Jumping back onto a safe distance and starting a spin dash out of necessity, the black hedgehog dashed around the robot's legs to confuse it and double it over with a makeshift tornado. When he believed he had it at his advantage, Shadow spun back upwards only to be caught by the stumbling machine's claw at the last moment much to his irritation. As much as the agent resisted against the hold, the more the robotic being threatened to crush him completely.

Out of nowhere, the blue speedster charged at the head this time from both sides and up its chin, slightly dislodging it from its initial position and grinded back to the floor on its back. He then quickly hurried to its feet and caused him to fall by taking advantage of Shadow's whirlwind, creating a combination with his own. Before it could even hit the floor and take the rest of the damaged wall with it, the black hedgehog managed to pull himself out of the situation and jump backwards along with the Blue Blur.

''Charge while he's down!'' the blue hedgehog replied with an almost ordering voice, gaining a mere rolling eye from his rival. The two quickly charged up their dashes to finish off the robot, only for the machine to envelop itself entirely into an electrical field which stopped them in their track immediately. While they were distracted by the pain coursing through their bodies, they were punched to the floor like old scraps of metal. As much as the robot appeared incredibly well protected against their attacks and how much beating the mammals had to endure in the process, the two hedgehogs got right back up again and started pounding the machine even more just to get some sense of satisfaction through it.

While Sonic continued dashing at its head, the black hedgehog powered up himself and shot a quick successive chain of Chaos Spears against the robot. The robot stumbled as he tried to hit the blue hedgehog dashing up and down his enormous body until he was eventually pushed backwards by Shadow into the same hole the machine came from the first time around. The younger one was trying to find a weakness somewhere on its body, although he was prevented from going anywhere to its upper parts by the rotating hands that started defending its shell. It turned on its electric shield once more, staying in a stationary form in front of the two.

Grunting out of annoyance, the black hedgehog was getting impatient and his Chaos energy will soon need some time to recharge if he continues like this. He wasn't about to wait for the robot to move again and expose itself as he created another Chaos Spear and decided to throw it right through the shield.

''Shadow!'' the blue hedgehog tried to stop him and ran after him when he didn't listen. The black hedgehog launched it at the shielding machine, only to be greeted by an electrical bolt coming for him. Sonic, who came after him, pulled the Ultimate Lifeform out of the way much to his resentment and in turn pulled himself away from his rival. The emerald eyed hero merely shrugged at the G.U.N. agent's ungrateful attitude. As Shadow turned back to the machine, he dodged another bolt trying to hit them.

He moved out of the way right after Shadow, ''Ouch! Just by a hair!''

''This is unacceptable!'' the black hedgehog pointed at the stationary robot that continued to defend itself with electricity. This must've been the first time the Ultimate Lifeform looked particularly angry in battle and was ready to launch the next attack hastily, despite not being a reckless type. He only wanted to get over with it as soon as possible. His distaste for this island only managed to become higher, ''Stand up, coward! Show me what you're made of! Now!''

As if the machine actually listened to his demanding voice, it started to move slowly and got up with the shield still on as if to wait for the right moment to attack. The two prepared themselves for whatever surprise attack the robot was going to pull this time. It finally removed its hands away from its chest and launched them like rockets at light speed, causing them to dodge quickly as they tried to reach the machine and destroy it once and for all. Yet again, they spin dashed at its chest simultaneously for some elaborate damage and pushed it backwards some more. Getting back its detachable claws, the robot began destroying the floor between them, trying to catch the hedgehogs into a corner like a pair of mice in a labyrinth.

Sonic ran alongside the black hedgehog, but was eventually separated from him as the massive machine punched entire holes into the ground right between them. Without further ado, the blue one had to find a way to defeat the robot faster. Speaking from experience, attacking the head was usually the best way, however this time around he only scratched it and their spin dashes continued to prove useless.

It was time for another tactic. Almost tripping over the scraps in the way, the robot's hand blocked his path completely and threw the iron debris at the Blue Blur. Jumping into the air at a quick reflex, Sonic pushed himself away from the incoming piece of metal and kicked the incoming one right back into the machine's face. Hearing a clearly disturbed sound coming from it in slight surprise, he finally realized what he did and turned to his darker counterpart, ''Shadow, the top!'' bright vicious sparks coming from the top of its head indicated that he finally found its weak point, ''That has to be its weakness!''

''Watch its patterns and learn them!'' looking toward the mechanical monstrosity, Shadow was determined to finish it off himself as he ordered to his rival, ''Distract him long enough for me to get up there!''

Pouting at the Ultimate Lifeform's suggestion, he was quick to object, ''Hold on, why am I the bait!?''

''Consider it a payback for lying to me, hedgehog!'' the black mammal still sounded incredibly bitter, ''But don't worry, that's not the only thing waiting for you!''

Facepalming himself, the Blue Blur could hardly wait as he replied in exasperation, ''Oh, brother…''

He turned to the machine to take its attention away from his darker counterpart as he flailed his hands through the air, ''Hey, buddy! Come on and catch me!'' the robot was quick to smash its fist down on him which startled the blue hedgehog who jumped away just in time. Seems like it had enough of fooling around and finally got down to business. Sonic continued to mock the giant nonetheless, sticking out his tongue during his dash and show it to the gigantic robotic creature, only for it to grow even more violent and pissy as he progressed. It started trampling everything beneath it just to get to the speeding annoyance and crush it as fast as possible.

The emerald eyed hero did everything to keep the deranged robot on his trail and dodged any incoming attack from behind as best as he could. However, he was starting to run out of places to run freely and the machine was slowly catching up to him, ''Shadow, I know you're probably enjoying this but could you hurry up a little!''

As the black hedgehog predicted, his plan worked. When the robot focused entirely on Sonic, his job was to get high enough and strike the top of its head with the last Chaos Spear he might be able to produce for a while. However, he needed enough time and speed to be able to pull it off just perfectly as he watched the robot from afar. Seeing the yelling blue hedgehog getting chased around made for great entertainment in his eyes, but the Ultimate Lifeform had to prepare himself for the final attack.

The machine cornered Sonic and bent over slightly toward him with a large fist hovering right over his head, finally giving the crimson eyed agent the advantage he waited for. Dashing toward it with great speed, he spun and hit its back at the right angle, launching himself higher to land perfectly on its head. Shadow immediately jammed the Chaos Spear down the electric conductor on the robot's head, also giving an opportunity to the blue hedgehog for a quick escape sequence. It spazzed out completely, the electric current went through its entire body and prevented it from moving anywhere anymore.

Pushing away from it, the black hedgehog landed back on the ground near the Fastest Thing Alive as they shielded their eyes from the bright electricity that covered the entire robot. The twitching machine eventually gave up under its weight and sagged onto its knees, leaving the room yet again in terrifying silence. The smoke started emitting from the burned robot and covered the entire room, just as it fell to the ground with an outstanding echo.

When it settled down, the blue hedgehog sighed with a tired sound as he hesitantly neared the robot with a question, ''Is it over?'' he overlooked the still twitching machinery and dragged himself closer. The emerald eyed hero eventually kicked the shell with his foot and jumped backwards into his attack pose.

Nothing happened, much to his relief.

Shadow was positive the raging machine was never going to get back up ever again, ''That should have taken care of it,'' but as soon the Ultimate Lifeform turned around to take his leave, the quiet air started echoing with a strange clicking noise.

''What's that sound?''

''It's coming from the robot…'' the Blue Blur pointed at it with his gloved finger. The strange feeling the two hedgehogs shared about now only managed to turn even worse.

''Shi-

Chapter 9 - Supporting Me

Back at the familiar mainlands, just like the radio report this morning predicted, the city of iron was still drowning in a very unreasonable heat. Even Tails, who finally managed to enter the jurisdiction of the United Federation, could feel the significant difference between the temperature here and the much colder breeze back at the mysterious island. The two tailed pilot flew back to the Mystic Ruins, still feeling a sense of anxiousness in his chest for abandoning his hedgehog companions in the middle of the unknown and unpredictable seas. However, he had no other idea that could help them at that desperate point. If he had accidentally crashed his plane during the storm that enveloped the island, that wouldn't do him nor the trapped mammals any good.

Somebody needed to go and search for help, although he was wondering if anyone else knew where to find them ever again if he didn't decide to go back. However, it left a bitter taste in his mouth merely thinking about it. For now, only Tails and the President must have known where they were at this exact moment. When the biplane landed at his workshop, Tails felt relieved that he was back at the place he knew like the insides of the Tornado.

He wasn't about to waste anymore time than it was necessary. Turning off the propeller and jumping down to the solid ground he hadn't seen for a few hours straight, the pilot scratched his head and thought thoroughly about what was the next best thing to do. Eventually he realized he couldn't come up with any sort of wise solution and shrugged at himself, ''I can't just stand around and do nothing. I need to find somebody quickly.''

Running down the stone stairs, he prepared to launch himself into the air with his twin tails and flied off toward the train station, tiring himself just before he reached the base. He continued up the wooden staircase with a quick sprint as fast as he could. Once the blue eyed genius finally reached the top, he stumbled slightly when he accidentally ran into a pair of giant pink... I mean, Tails bumped right into the person he might have or haven't been looking for this entire time, but that was about to reveal itself properly in the incoming conversation.

Scratching his worried head, Tails backed up a bit in slight awkwardness, ''Oops, excuse me,'' he apologized quickly with a blush over his muzzle and ran around the woman, not recognizing her until she happened to address him with a noticeable sultry disposition.

''What's the rush, fox boy?'' skidding against the hard wood flooring, the yellow fox twirled around with widened eyes as he did not expect the batgirl to be here at this time, especially not this early in the afternoon. Then again, he wasn't sure what at all was happening all this time back at home while they were off on a mission far away.

''Rouge?'' he asked with clear disbelief, only to quickly recognize the red mammal beside her with excitement, ''Knuckles! You're both here! I'm so glad!''

''Hmm?'' the guardian of the Master Emerald grunted out confusingly and tilted his head at the anxious fox, ''What is it, Tails? You look worn out.''

With an embarrassing chuckle, the pilot rubbed his forehead as he began explaining, ''Well, I just flew all the way back from…'' he pointed toward his workshop with his finger and ended his sentence right there with a questionable blink. In that moment, the ever present turmoil returned back to him as if to haunt him over the fact that he just left the dangerous island with no proper warning and abandoned the two multicolored hedgehogs to fend for themselves with no support whatsoever.

He gripped his head as a guilty conscience started overcoming his mind, ''And I… oh, no…''

Squinting over to the female bat with a shrug, the echidna was quick to start a conversation with a new set of questions to move the dialogue further, seeing how the pilot seemed to be losing his words at this time. He spread out his hands in question, ''Did something happen? For that matter, where's Sonic?''

''We got to the island…'' Tails nervously downed his head to stare into the ground and refused to look at the two. He flattened his ears against his head as he could only think about the worst case scenario that was bound to happen to them. Nodding slightly, the yellow furred fox had a feeling he just made a grievous mistake, continuing with a vague sniffing noise that managed to intensify as he talked, ''I didn't want to. I only left to refuel the Tornado. And now both Sonic and Shadow are…'' he found it hard to continue any further with that heavy dark cloud hovering over him the entire time.

''Shadow?'' Rouge was surprised to hear about her G.U.N. colleague and propped her hand against her chin in interest, ''What does he have to do with this?''

Crossing his hands on his back, Tails answered honestly and for once, precisely and to the point, ''Sonic… asked him to come along with us instead of Knuckles.''

''What!?'' much to the displeasure of everyone's good hearing, the red echidna shouted out in sheer doubtfulness. He could barely believe the blue hedgehog's decision to replace him with his own darker counterpart of all possible existing choices. Breathing loudly and deeply, he pointed his fists at Tails with an infuriated expression on his face that seemed to entertain the giggling female beside him, ''Does he think he can replace me with that angsty furball!?''

Developing an awkward expression on his face, the two tailed fox started stumbling over his next sentence, trying to imply what both he and the emerald eyed hero seemed to believe about the red guardian and the female thief. Twiddling his fingers around, Tails asked with a puzzled tone, ''But I thought you didn't want… you two were… uhh… together?''

The look on Knuckles' face was obviously not one of an amused persona, ''Are you serious, Tails?'' that implication apparently wasn't the case after all and the pilot slightly backed away from the raging echidna, almost tripping in the process, ''I only went with her because I lost a bet!''

Tails asked again with a confused look in his eyes, ''But why didn't you-

''Tell Sonic?'' Knuckles already knew the conclusion of that question and finished it in his tone of voice which was usually louder than the yellow furred fox predicted it would be. However, the pilot's shrugging disposition only managed to make him even more annoyed than he already was in this situation. The child prodigy already suspected what his answer was going to be in the next few seconds. He was actually quite right when he pumped his fists into the air dramatically for no reason than to drive the point home, ''And have him gloat all over it! Not a chance, I'd rather die than ever admit it to him!''

Lastly, Knuckles pointed at the white female, ''I don't even like her in that way!''

Running one of her hands through a patch of short white hair, Rouge grunted out as if she was insulted by that remark. She strayed off the dialogue the two mammals were having and interfered with a scoff, ''Liar, you enjoy my company,'' she replied with a pouting expression and leaned towards him with a wink, ''Besides, you still owe me that Chaos Emerald.''

''Shut up, bat!'' he wasn't all too happy to hear about it and shouted at her, ''You're not getting anything from me!''

Once again, the yellow furred pilot stepped in to play the peacemaker, ''Please, calm down.''

Uttering a loud guttural sound, Knuckles turned his back on the two quite childishly, folding his hands as he stared off into the bluish sky. He was getting sick of people treating him like a naive idiot who could be manipulated for anything possible. While it was true in some cases, although quite regrettably, the red echidna merely believed he had far worse luck than he believed at first. However, the guardian of the Master Emerald wasn't a moron. He knew far more than anyone gave him credit for, he had an idea what to expect from various situations and he remembered that his position was also a very important one.

After he literally abandoned the team just to prove that other different bet he had with Rouge, he didn't have any regrets doing so, hoping that Sonic would realize just how much their trinity of heroes was important to him. He liked to imagine the blue hedgehog would come crawling back to him on his knees and beg him to return to the team. That is, until he realized that the Fastest Thing Alive had no qualms replacing him with someone else. And with Shadow the Hedgehog no less, yet another guy Sonic just barely got along with which was surprisingly and suspiciously accurate for a third member of Team Sonic. Clearly, the two never have and never will think on the same level.

''Oh, ignore him,'' the white furred female suggested with a wink and brought her eyes toward the younger fox, ''Now, why don't you tell us the whole story?''

''There's no time but…'' Tails realized they have strayed off topic way too much and he quickly needed to explain the situation to someone. Sniffing lightly and staring upwards toward the thieving batgirl with widened eyes he almost looked worthy of pity, ''Long story short; I left them on the island for the night and I said I would come back in the morning to pick them up. But then a storm came out of nowhere and I couldn't get anywhere near. Now they're stranded there all by themselves… I couldn't do anything other than leave and find some help. I'm worried, Rouge! What if something happens to them?''

Rouge wasn't the type to comfort somebody in these kinds of situations, even if it was the yellow furred genius. But she knew the two rivaling hedgehogs well enough to contemplate the idea that they were fine after all, ''I think you're underestimating them. They might be a pair of jerks, but I wouldn't expect them in any serious danger,'' the bat flapped her leathery wings as she folded her arms around her chest with a cheeky smile, ''I'm sure they're alright.''

Nodding his head, the pilot felt slightly awkward for doubting their abilities, ''I guess.''

''I hope they are…'' the red echidna voiced his opinion on the subject and turned around aggressively, ''Because I'll be the one to show them a world of pain when they come back!''

Sighing heavily, the female was slowly getting annoyed by the attitude she's been putting up with for some time now. She waggled her finger at him in a very teasing yet berating manner and spoke out, ''Give me a break, Knuckles. What are you going to do against them?''

''You see these fists?'' he lifted them right in front of her face, ''They're not here just for show, bat!''

Much to his surprise and eventual irritation, the batgirl shrugged him off like a joke and started giggling loudly as if the last sentence from his mouth sounded like the most ridiculous idea the G.U.N. agent has ever heard in her life. She flung at his forehand with her fingers and developed a grin on her muzzle, ''But that's all you are. All talk and no show.''

''What? You… what!?'' while her snorts were getting louder with every action he preceded with, the pissy echidna was unsuccessfully deciding between flailing his arms around wildly like a child or talk in broken sentence to somehow counter the cheeky woman in front of him. The most they could decipher from his blabbering was something about the power formation, Rouge's annoying attitude and how much time he'd spent punching boulders, tearing down trees and sending the blue hedgehog so high into the air with one punch he was merely a twinkle in the sky after a few seconds, until he was found a couple of miles away with his head stuck in the ground.

It didn't occur to Tails until this very moment, but the red echidna and the bat in front of him clearly had nothing going on at this point, as much as Rouge herself was usually teased by those who believed she had a crush on him. To break them up a little faster, the yellow furred pilot addressed her, ''Rouge, can you do me a favor?''

Contorting her bright lips and deviating away from Knuckles, she seemed puzzled by his request, ''Me? What do you need, fox boy?''

With a vague but sweet smile on his muzzle, he spoke out bluntly to waste no more time then they had already, along with the biggest hopeful blue eyes she had ever seen on the two tailed fox until this point, ''Do you think you could arrange a meeting with Mr. President? It's very important.''

''You mean right now?'' still surprised at the sudden request, the thieving agent didn't see the point in it the first time around when she thought back on the missing hedgehogs. She asked further to learn more, ''How will that help them get off the island?''

He nodded, ''I need to know what we're dealing with before we do anything and we'll need the President's help for it. I'll tell you all about it once we're there.''

Squinting over to the guardian and back to the pilot, Rouge exhaled heavily. She wasn't completely sure what Tails was up to, but the yellow furred fox was a lot smarter than his childlike appearance let on. He pretty much rivaled the old Doctor himself after all. Whatever it had to do with the enigmatic island he mentioned earlier and the hedgehogs' safety, he must've had an idea in his head and decided to go along with it.

The bat nodded as she pushed herself from the ground and into the air, ''If you say so. Follow me.''

XXX

''Come in.''

The President invited Tails and Knuckles inside, along with the floating batgirl sitting in midair right beside the human's chair with her arms and legs crossed around her lithe body. They walked through the gigantic doors into the Presidential office, a very tidy and uniform place where touching something would disrupt both the peacefulness and neatness of the room, even if to a small effect. Unlike most of the city in this moment, the room was significantly colder with a lighter breeze running through it, almost a relief due to the heat generated outside.

The only thing that appeared messy was the President's desk, with papers and documents lying in no particular order all over the place with differently colored pencils resting upon them. While it was difficult to make out any contents successfully with the desk in this confusing condition, the only thing that managed to stick out amongst all the junk was a photograph of Sonic and Shadow, a very rare occasion of them caught on camera together. Even single photos weren't much of a deal for that matter, since most pictures depicted only a brightly colored supersonic blur, passing by like a ghost of some sorts.

Looking up from the scribbled notes, the human stared right into the yellow furred fox with his hands clasped together, ''Miss Rouge tells me it's important.''

The pilot decided to speak out immediately, ''It really is, Mr. President. I promise not to take anymore of your time than we need.''

''Go on,'' the President leaned back in his chair and carefully listened to the two tailed mammal.

Pilling up a greater breath in his lungs than he ever required for anything else other than diving underwater, Tails went straight to the point, ''I want to know about the mission you offered to Sonic yesterday.''

Tilting his head to the side, the President seemed confused by those words, ''Why do you need to know it from me? I was sure he would tell everything to all of you.''

Gaining nothing but clear silence and blank looks from all anthropomorphic animals in his office, the human started rubbing his chin in a very thoughtful manner along with the winged G.U.N. agent beside him who considered doing the same. The pilot could say nothing more but down his head for a moment and sigh out completely, with Knuckles being the one who finally who broke the quiet yet tense air around them, ''Typical for him.''

''Strange…'' the President wondered aloud and stood up from his chair. He walked over to the cupboard behind him, pulling out a very thin folder he had on the subject of the mysterious land he managed to gain from only a few reliable sources. Offering it to the two tailed fox, he sat down again with his hands supporting his chin, ''As you can see here, the island was found completely by accident two days ago in the early morning. I've been conversing with G.U.N. and my acquaintances wherever or not it's worth investigating it. Since I knew sessions were going to take longer than it was necessary, I asked Sonic for help to see if the island is any threat to us before we make a fuss out of it. However, I've been recently informed by the intelligence that it has disappeared from the face of the earth.''

Tails was shocked to learn of it and yelped out with a gasp, almost dropping the files out of his hands, ''What!?''

Thinking for a short moment, the batgirl turned to the yellow pilot as she remembered something he had said before, ''Maybe that storm you mentioned has something to do with it?''

''It was as if it was rotating around the island. Maybe it's preventing us from seeing it,'' the two tailed pilot explained it, but almost as if he didn't believe his own words either, ''But I've never seen anything like that before.''

Rouge wondered with a grunt, ''Hmm… how mysterious.''

The fox stood firmly with worried eyes as he recalled the bad weather back at the unknown land. As far he could speculate, the storm looked as if it was generated right out of nowhere and its only location was that particular island. Tails couldn't be sure what the cause for it was or why it was there in the first place. Maybe the island itself was having weird effects on the climate or it was just another terrible mood swing the ocean had to offer due to its unpredictability, although weather manipulation machines weren't unheard of in this time or age. Even Eggman at some point must've thought about creating one for his world domination projects. How he would actually do that, nobody knew, but considering he came from the Robotnik lineage, the mad Doctor was capable of many things just as horrible as the previous one.

Scanning over the rest of the papers, Tails quickly asked the human, ''Mr. President, how much do you know about the island?''

Shrugging lightly, he answered with a disappointed yet confident tone, ''Almost nothing. This file is all we have. We couldn't find anything in the database, the old archives… even the libraries and professional geographers could tell us nothing. The only thing we managed to scrape for was its name… Christmas Island.''

Tails blinked, ''Christmas Island?''

''Never heard of it,'' claimed Rouge.

''Me either,'' so did Knuckles.

''You can count me in as well,'' said the President as the last member of the mind boggled trinity, ''It's especially weird now…'' he leaned forward to stare at his messy desk and thought back on his short meeting with Sonic late at night that still managed to bother him, but particularly in this conversation as he learned quickly, ''Sonic didn't seem even remotely interested in the mission until I mentioned the name.''

The yellow furred fox suddenly confirmed it much to everyone's surprise, ''I've heard the name before.''

At the initial puzzling expression, the human, the bat and the echidna turned their heads toward the younger mammal to learn something new, ''Really? Where?''

''It was completely by accident but…'' it's been a while since the blue hedgehog actually referred to it by name but having managed to hear it from someone else's lips this time around, it all came back to the fox's memory in an instant moment. He explained further the same way he remembered it, ''Sonic let it slip once… but only once. When I asked him about it, he avoided the question like there was something bad about it. But I eventually figured it out by myself.''

The human asked with sheer interest, ''What does it mean then?''

''It's Sonic's… home island.''

Snorting slightly, the red echidna commented on the fact most people didn't even think about these days. Nobody present here or for that matter, nobody in the entire world seemed to know anything about the Blue Blur's background. Surprisingly, nobody questioned it enough to make a big deal out of it, ''He was actually born somewhere? I thought he just blinked into existence.''

''That's interesting,'' the winged female giggled lightly as she thought about it, ''Even Sonic the Hedgehog gets homesick, huh?''

''Are you sure that's the reason?'' the President asked the pilot again to be sure.

''I'm positive,'' Tails replied with a nod and stared into his busy hands, right back at the rare photos of Christmas Island and those little facts that only pointed out its location but nothing about its actual history. Finally he understood why Sonic wanted to get to the island as soon as possible, even going so far to spend a night there to get a better look at it. At this time, the yellow furred fox was also wondering what Shadow was going to think of it once he finds out about it. He could only hope the black hedgehog wasn't going to get angry at the Blue Blur or anyone else for that matter.

However, his attitude made no sense to him even now. The Fastest Thing Alive lived for the present. He didn't even remotely seem like the person to ever set his foot into the past, less likely his own. That is, if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

Nobody knew where he came from, how he came to be or why he was whatever he represented.

Sonic was just… there and they all accepted it as such.

The President wasn't sure what to think of it, ''Why didn't he tell anyone? The subject appears personal but still…''

Tails shrugged alongside a deep sigh, ''I don't know but he must have a reason for it.''

''Not a good one, that's for sure,'' Knuckles gritted his teeth and folded his arms tightly around him before turning away from everyone in a rude fashion.

Noticing that the two tailed fox won't be able to defend the blue hedgehog's decisions for too long, he did have another idea up his sleeve to change everything for the better. He wanted to understand his older buddy and find out the forgotten history behind the elusive Christmas Island. However, Tails wanted his permission first, ''Mr. President, can I have a look through the archives? I want to learn more about it.''

''I don't see how it will do you any good,'' he replied with doubtful eyes, ''We couldn't find anything about it in the first place.''

However, the pilot wasn't about to give up on the search and kept insisting, approaching the desk with a nod and handing over the useless folder right back to him, ''There has to be something we've missed. Give me a chance, Mr. President.''

''I highly doubt there's anything out there that hasn't been already found. But if you believe you can find something we couldn't…'' the human President started searching through his messy desk, with a few of the flimsier papers and scribbled documents falling to the floor in quick succession as he reached for an old fashioned looking phone with a rotary dial. When he was done dialing the correct number, he turned to the intelligent fox with a nod, ''I'll inform the G.U.N. Commander to allow you the entry to the archives. Miss Rouge, would you be so kind and escort Mr. Prower to the G.U.N. headquarters?''

Landing elegantly on the floor and bowing like a lady before the leader of the entire United Federation, the cheeky batgirl was glad to do so, ''Certainly, Mr. President,'' and motioned for the yellow furred mammal to come along with a teasing click of her tongue, ''Let's go, fox boy.''

The red echidna quickly inserted himself back into the picture, ''I'm going too.''

''No echidnas allowed in the base, sugar,'' she blinked provokingly, only to generate a haste and angry disposition on Knuckles' face which at this point wasn't all too surprising.

''Don't joke in times like this, bat!''

Tails felt like facepalming himself, ''Knuckles…''

Grunting out a high pitched noise, the female pouted at the serious mammal in clear bitterness, ''I'm sorry for you not being able to take a joke.''

''Whatever, bat,'' he answered with a mumbled and irritated voice.

Exhaling out significantly, the yellow furred pilot didn't know what to expect from these two anymore. However, he was happy that the fox wasn't alone in this troubled situation, just like he was glad he asked Shadow to go along with Sonic. At this point, Tails believed he would probably die of worry if the blue hedgehog was there all on his own. As soon Rouge whistled for him from the corridor outside the President's room, he turned back to the annoyed violet eyed guardian, ''Come on, Knuckles. Let's go!''

XXX

''Shi-

As it turned out, the clicking noise was actually the robot's self-destruct mechanism and the two didn't realize it quickly enough until the sound completely disappeared after that last particular click. It resulted in a massive explosion with the two hedgehogs involved in all too close for their comfort, with shrapnel and pieces of metal flying through the air like weightless beings. The incoming shock waves engulfed the two mammals from all possible sides, sending both of them backwards through the air and right down the deep pit stationed in the room, the ever so loving chasm that Sonic himself just had to give it an obscure nickname as if it was a sort of pet.

Shadow proved himself to be completely powerless while up in the air due to the shock treatment of the explosion that managed to surprise both of them in this place. But as he was falling down the pit, the black hedgehog managed to flip himself over and tightly grabbed a malfunctioned pipe conspicuously standing out from one of the walls on his way down, one of the few things he saw that seemed to have a sturdy composition to it. As he propped his feet against the wall and somehow tried to lift himself through the falling shrapnel and the cough worthy smoke, the black mammal happened to notice that the blue hedgehog just passed right next to him with a corner of his eye. With no hesitance, he grabbed the blue one's outstretched hand out of reflex and kept him from falling further down the drain. In this very moment, the crimson eyed agent was now holding onto the pipe with one hand and Sonic with the other, each pulling him into different directions.

''Dammit...'' he swore harshly. The Ultimate Lifeform kept himself close to the wall to avoid falling metal which turned out to be a much difficult task than it appeared at first, having strained his limbs too much at this point. Eventually, various flying rubble and debris stopped raining down the chasm, but the two multicolored mammals still suffered from extreme ringing and confusion in their heads. The air smelled of burning metal, much to the displeasure of their sensitive noses that picked up on it and blurred out everything else. The black hedgehog slightly shook his head to compose himself, but at least he had his hearing back, whether that was a good thing or not.

Whistling in relief, Sonic commented on the situation with amazement, ''That was close!''

The other rebutted with an enraged voice, ''It was close enough!''

Looking downwards with a slight shiver, the blue hedgehog could see nothing more but a white mist covering what it appeared to be the bottom of the pit. Even from this height he couldn't see anything nor figure out just how deep it actually was. Bottomless pits were his everyday enemy he had to deal with constantly, but this wasn't the most conformable position to think about such things at this point. The only thing keeping him from finding out that peculiar question was Shadow's tightened grip on his wrist, slightly surprising him that the black hedgehog did actually catch him after all, as much as it started to pain him.

Sonic turned his head back upwards to talk to his darker counterpart, ''What was that thing?''

''It doesn't matter right now. We need to get up first,'' the black one sighed heavily as he nodded his head and tried to find a way to get out of this mess.

''Okay,'' the blue mammal pouted sarcastically, ''How?''

Shadow imitated the Blue Blur's voice out of annoyance as he squinted down on him, ''Whaddaya mean, how? Climb, hedgehog,'' he replied and swiftly turned his head away from his smug expression.

As the older mammal finally realized, his suggestion wasn't a very smart one now that he thought about it. The round walls of the pit appeared to be cleaner than he believed at first. The pipe he was holding onto turned out to be one of the few things that actually stuck out through the wall and offered some support to him. Trying to think how to get out was turning out to be a harder job to pull off. Other than actually climbing out, of course. While he wasn't going to admit it, the black hedgehog felt exhausted after the battle with the giant robot coming out of nowhere, so no instant teleportation for them this time around but casual old fashioned climbing.

And dear Chaos, did he hate it doing it the normal way.

Because at this time he wasn't looking out only for himself, but he also had the blue hedgehog hanging on the edge of his fingertips. And before anyone accuses him of loathing Sonic's guts ever again, if he really did, he'd probably leave the blue hedgehog on the mercy of the pit. If it was either his promise to Tails or genuine goodness out of his heart (yes, that's right) that made him do such a thing, but it didn't matter much to Shadow at this very moment. The only thing the black one wanted was to get out of the deep chasm and talk about it later.

Searching for any sort of platform that could help them climb upwards, the Ultimate Lifeform suddenly twitched his ears towards an irritating screeching noise, only to realize the pipe he was holding on was slowly succumbing under their combined weight, ''What the…''

''Oh…'' the Blue Blur didn't like the sound of that.

The pipe buckled under the pressure and dropped slightly, swinging the hedgehogs dangerously over the pit and threatened to throw them into the unknown oblivion. Shadow tried not to panic or accidentally sever his hold on Sonic's wrist as he grunted out painfully and tried to keep himself on the level of the pipe, ''Damn!''

Staring upwards, the blue wonder started to sound worried, ''Shadow, are you okay?''

''I'm fine!'' was the black hedgehog's only answer and tried to breathe slowly with an instantly racing heart, all while clinging onto the useless thing in front of him.

''It's not gonna hold,'' the Fastest Thing Alive could feel this wasn't going to end well for any of them.

Looking downwards again, the blue hedgehog once again saw nothing more but clouds obstructing his vision of the actual ground. That is, if it even existed in the first place. A fall down there appeared to be a long and painful one. As the pipe still turned dangerously to the side, only his darker counterpart appeared to be completely distressed as a shiver covered his entire body, slowly but surely, considering he was the one put under the most stress in the situation. In contrast, Sonic was terrifyingly calm and still which usually wasn't his style nor natural for someone in his position, especially when he was hanging over a bottomless pit with his would be rival and previously his enemy preventing him from falling to his eventual death.

Someone else would probably be freaking out completely at this point in time, but the blue hedgehog hardly seemed worried about it. He was more concerned with the Ultimate Lifeform as corny as it managed to sound in his head. Shadow was slowly going anxious and the Blue Blur didn't know just how long he was going to hold on or how long until the pipe completely succumbs under the pressure. Taking in account the black hedgehog's stern and almost determinate grip both on him and the crumbling pipe, it looked liked he wasn't going to let any of them go, even when both forces pushed him upwards and downwards to a great effect.

If this went on any longer, both hedgehogs would fall down the chasm.

Nodding and closing his eyes, the Fastest Thing Alive couldn't let that happen and decided to come up with a solution on his own. He expected his darker rival to completely taken aback by anything he was about to say, but he couldn't help himself, ''Shadow… let me go.''

For a moment, the black hedgehog widened his crimson eyes in shock before he even considered looking down at his rival, ''What?''

''It's not gonna hold us both,'' the emerald eyed hero explained with a bit of an ironic grin on his muzzle, completely out of place in this situation, ''Just let me go.''

''Sonic…'' the Ultimate Lifeform didn't get the idea behind it nor did he want to understand what the blue wonder was up to this time around. The various problems he had to deal with just kept pilling up with every incoming second. They were stranded in the middle of nowhere, they didn't know where the two tailed pilot was, they fought a gigantic machine that came out from the wall which then randomly exploded in their faces and now they were hanging for their dear lives over a deep chasm with the black hedgehog being the only one responsible for their safety or able to do anything at all.

And now his lively blue counterpart was having suicidal tendencies.

The day couldn't get any better than this.

Gritting his teeth tightly together, the black mammal suddenly became enraged at Sonic's ridiculous suggestion. If the blue hedgehog believed Shadow couldn't handle this situation without the other butting in, he was thoroughly mistaken, ''You are the biggest idiot I have ever seen in my life!''

''Hey, if you're worried or anything…'' the Fastest Thing Alive chuckled out much to his surprise and offered him a wink, ''I am Sonic the Hedgehog after all, right?''

''I'm not.''

Shadow tried to convince himself and the emerald eyed hero that he was perfectly alright even with the painful strain put on his arms that felt like it was about to tear his body cleanly apart, all very much to the blue hedgehog's utter disgruntlement. The black hedgehog decided he wasn't going to listen to him nor was he going to suffer the consequences that came along with it, ''But I'm not going to be the one to blame if you die! Think for a second before you say anything, hedgehog! I'm sick of being pulled into this mess because of your stupid decisions!''

But even after that, the blue hedgehog wasn't going to change his own or his counterpart's mind. The pipe screeched again under the black one's grip, echoing throughout the entire room as if announcing the incoming fall the two hedgehogs were about to become very much acquainted with. Twitching his eyes slightly, the older hedgehog shook all over as if a lightning just struck through his entire body, once he realized the younger one just gently gripped his wrist with his free hand by some chance, ''Shadow?''

Hearing a completely calm and soft voice from Sonic sent electric shivers down his spines, ''Don't you even think about it…'' he didn't want to look at him at all nor did he want to know what the blue mammal was about to say to him.

Enough was enough for him.

''Sorry.''

It took him a minute to register that the blue hedgehog was actually apologizing to him for some strange reason. It took him even longer to realize what he really meant by that.

What the emerald eyed hero did next was unlike anything the Ultimate Lifeform had ever seen before. It all happened so fast and yet so slow he could've prevented it immediately with no consequences at all, but he didn't… he couldn't.

Right out of nowhere, the Fastest Thing Alive suddenly tightened his grip on the agent's hand and purposely twisted Shadow's wrist with his free hand much to the black hedgehog's surprise who finally gave in to the pain and accidentally opened his palm, dropping Sonic out of his hold immediately. As much as the other panicked and tried to grab the falling mammal, he was already out of his reach. Shadow could only stare in sheer shock along with his outstretched arm as the blue hedgehog disappeared in the depths of the chasm.

And even with that small corner of his eye, he could see the younger one's final expression he gave out to him.

It wasn't one of regret, fear nor resentment… it was a genuine smile. Something Shadow only saw once in his entire life and in this kind of situation.

He still didn't understand.

''Sonic…''

Chapter 10 - Disquieting Shadow

In that very moment, the entire building went silent all of a sudden as if in mourning. The black hedgehog continued to stare blankly into the depths of the chasm, trying to catch a glint of his blue counterpart who immediately disappeared out of his sight. He was utterly shocked when he realized that the entire event actually happened in mere seconds and yet, in those few seconds he could do nothing to make the situation any better and only watched as the other's decision took place. Sonic was gone… that obvious realization only managed to hit him in the head only a few moments later.

The eerie silence present was new and foreign to him, almost believing in slight horror that this is how it's going to stay for the rest of his abandonment here. Shadow shivered significantly at the thought before he tightened his outstretched hand into a shaking fist, angry for letting something like this happen to him. There was a sign of distraught on his face, but at the same time the black one was holding back a lot more anger than he could ever properly show.

Finally realizing that the Ultimate Lifeform was still hanging over the pit on nothing more but a dangerously broken pipe that was about to collapse on him anytime soon, the older mammal pulled himself back towards the wall with a tired grunt. He leaned his head against the wall with a sigh that escaped his lips and with a shaking breath looked upwards to find a way to get out of this situation more calmly, as much the sudden cold air from below decided to shiver his spines.

Noticing a small platform a few feet away from him, Shadow just might have had a chance to jump up there and grip the edge before the pipe succumbed under his weight. Then again, it's not like he had any choice in the matter anyway. It was either down the pit for him or grab any opportunity he could find.

Preparing himself for a dash, the black hedgehog positioned himself correctly as much as he could. There was no possible way he could ever gain enough speed in this position, but he had to try. Wasting no more time then he wanted to, Shadow pushed away from the pipe and the wall in quick succession in what he believed to be a perfect launch upwards. However, he slightly lost his balance once the pipe finally buckled under the pressure and spiraled down the deep chasm with no particular goal. By some strange miracle, the older mammal caught himself on the edge of the platform with one hand, straining his arm again significantly as he grunted out painfully. The first time that same hand was used to stop the Fastest Thing Alive from falling further down into the abyss… for all good it did anyway. Fortunately, the path to the upper parts of the building was padded with small sticking out pipes that weren't as easy to hang on as the previous, but at least they were bound to bring him back to the surface.

Shadow followed up an improvised ladder, finally reaching the completely destroyed room where the robot exploded only a moment ago, still filling the air with burnt technological material. Forcing himself over the largely damaged fence with an effort and staggering forward with an awkward stance, the darker counterpart looked around the place that had nothing more to offer than debris and junk metal. He snorted slightly with no breath left in his lungs as the black hedgehog collapsed on his backside like a sagged ragdoll with no support, leaning against the railing with a downed head staring right into the ground and disappointed mind that wouldn't give him a break.

Even now, he could barely believe what just happened down there. The black hedgehog went from exploring this island, to being stranded on it because of a massive storm that probably still continued regardless of the situation he was in, finding out that the blue hedgehog was lying to him this entire time, being attacked by a gigantic robot and to finally losing the hero in one clear but confusing event that could've been easily avoided if he only realized in time what his younger counterpart was really scheming.

He didn't understand the blue hedgehog at all, especially after he saw what happened. It raised all sorts of meaningless and unrelated questions in his mind he probably shouldn't even be thinking about at this moment. He figured he should just get up and keep moving forward to somewhere else, but he had neither the will nor intention of standing up anytime soon.

Why did Sonic do something like that? And for him out of all people in the world? As much of an annoying ego he possessed, the emerald eyed hero proved himself to be a stubborn figure that couldn't leave when evil was afoot, but a fully self-sacrificing one... at points the Blue Blur had no problems running away from smaller problems and sometimes he'd be glad to help, even if there was no reward or nothing interesting to gain from other than grant someone a bit of happiness in life. The black hedgehog now experienced it himself, with Sonic almost breaking his wrist in the process just so Shadow would finally drop him. His painful hand was the only reminder of the blue hedgehog at the moment. He never figured he had that much strength in him, but he kept underestimating his younger counterpart every step of the way.

Did he really look like he required rescuing from the informed hero? Or anyone else for that matter? One other person who did the same thing for him a long time ago died doing so. Did his actions force him to relieve the entire thing all over again?

Looking and caressing his aching wrist, his fist suddenly tightened when a realization crawled in his mind and shook his shoulders beyond belief. Shadow was getting angrier with every living moment as his last visions of the blue hedgehog's fall became clearer. It was all the same… the situation, the purpose… and that goddamn smile that will haunt him forever even in the sunniest of days and calmest of nights if he doesn't do something about it. Pulling a quick but short breath through his nose, the Ultimate Lifeform gritted his teeth as a cold shiver traveled down his spines like a ghostly touch from the netherworld.

With swift movement, the black hedgehog gripped the fence behind him and pulled himself up, staring down into the chasm with a distressed look on his face as he screamed into clear nothingness, ''Sonic, you idiot!'' his enraged voice echoed all the way towards the invisible bottom. He could only hope the Blue Blur couldn't hear him right now, at least not in this desperation act. However, at the same time the black one didn't want to believe that his blue counterpart will never hear his voice again. He dropped down to his knees unexpectedly while still holding onto the railing with his shakings hands and made out short yet deep exhales, looking downwards into the hole that claimed his younger rival.

Widening his crimson eyes, another quick thought flashed through the older hedgehog's mind with a startled start. It should have been obvious before, but he didn't want to think about the worst case scenario. Sonic couldn't be actually dead, could he? The sheer thought of the Fastest Thing Alive dying like this was completely unimaginable and an absurd idea to just about anyone who knew him.

He wasn't sure why in the world would he be so upset about any of his former enemies ending up in a dreadful event such as this, especially since this was the Blue Blur he was thinking about. He always stuck his nose into things that weren't his, got himself in worse trouble than he should have in the first place, he would come out of nowhere to discuss business or just play around with him for a while… as he nodded at himself, a self mocking grunt left his muzzle.

If there was anything he ever admitted about the blue hedgehog to himself, it was the fact he made everyday life less boring. Especially for him despite the various annoyances he had to deal in the process to finally get somewhere with him. The black mammal snorted harshly at himself as he manned his forehead, thinking about it as a very ridiculous idea, yet he couldn't deny it. He did like having Sonic around, if only because of that one fact. He could barely imagine it in any other way.

Nobody this young should face death… not like this. Not when they had a full life to be looking forward to and that was something the blue one was supposed to do in the first place.

As he continued staring into the unknown depths, the chasm still appeared endless from this high up above and he had no idea if anyone at all could've survived that fall, but considering this gigantic hole in the floor, he quickly started doubting the statistics. He'll have to be lucky to find anything at all.

Speaking of which, how is he going to tell Tails or hell, anyone about this? The yellow furred pilot will go completely out of his mind if he heard that the emerald eyed hero was killed in the worst possible way, not even in a battle for that matter. Everyone else would react in their own way, but there was no way Shadow could ever face them with dignity after all of this happened right in front of his eyes, especially since he couldn't do a thing to actually stop it.

This entire island was a trap waiting to catch its invaders and it didn't seem like it was ready to let him go. Tilting his head over to the damaged robot, he didn't know if there were any more of these things out there somewhere, just waiting until he approached them by accident and was completely done for.

And soon enough, Shadow managed to hate the Fastest Thing Alive even more now. Hate him for pulling him into this situation in the first place and then leaving him alone in the mess the younger hedgehog pilled up on him in a short moment of quick and life threatening decisions that were bound to end badly for both of them. Which was about to happen just a moment ago, if Sonic didn't take the initiative and act like a sacrificial lamb. However, besides his conflicting feelings about his younger counterpart and his presumed death, that wasn't the only thing he felt at that very moment. It didn't seem to disappear as of now either as to ease his heavy heart.

The black hedgehog sensed something shattering in his very soul... something that didn't feel right and he only experienced it once a long time ago. When he watched him fall, he felt weak. It was something the Ultimate Lifeform never displayed to anyone in his life, no matter what the situation called for, staying calm and composed even under extreme pressure whenever it called for a sensible mind.

He believed Sonic must've noticed it somehow. He was sure his rival wouldn't go around making stupid decisions like this, if the younger hedgehog didn't think in some way or another that any of them were in any serious danger. Even if it was like that, the black hedgehog couldn't help but feel completely helpless and embarrassed by the notion that he needed somebody to sacrifice himself for him in his weakest moments. It didn't end well the first time around or years afterwards.

Nodding his ever so contradicting head, Shadow decided to pull himself back on his feet and keep searching. He needed to find a way down there as soon as it was possible, quickly deciding that he wasn't going to leave this island without Sonic, regardless if he was dead or alive. He couldn't tell which one was the better option in this moment, but if he was still alive, the Ultimate Lifeform will give him a piece of his mind.

Maybe the Fastest Thing Alive was in better position being dead at this point. However, he needed to find him first and make sure he's alright. Only then will he start asking questions before he'll decide what to do with him. Although the deep chasm didn't really indicate anything good going on at the very bottom, it still possessed a glimmer of hope.

Because he said it himself… he was Sonic the Hedgehog, right?

He better be right about it.

Shadow skidded to a complete halt almost immediately after spending the next couple of minutes traversing an unknown territory. The black hedgehog was not happy about this at all. It might have been mere minutes that passed ever since his search started, but those were the minutes he didn't like one bit and had no time to be wasting just like that. Before he came down here into what he believed was a crossroad of underground corridors and finally questioned his own orientation in this tedious place that Sonic called his home island, the crimson eyed agent skated around extensively through the entire known building. He double checked the rooms he already visited the first time around, such as the conveyer belt room and other bland rooms before that and only then he moved onto the new ones, believing there might be something the black one missed entirely.

After his investigation proved to be completely worthless, it wasn't until later that he finally realized that actively searching for something was completely and utterly meaningless in this place. For a slight moment, Shadow felt dumbfounded by it but he guessed this was how the blue hedgehog got his work done in a flash; no planning, no goal and no thinking at all, doing everything completely by accident and improvisation. By those standards, Sonic must've been an oblivious and absent minded genius, but he wasn't holding out his breath for it to ever come across as anything more but pure luck.

He searched with his mind wide open to the environment around him despite Shadow's skepticism. By some convenient chance that managed to fall on him at least once in his life, he finally found a staircase leading downwards, believing it could possibly bring him closer to where the blue hedgehog might have fallen. However, it did appear suspicious to him that the door to the actual place was pretty sneakily hidden behind old machinery as if it didn't exist at all, as if somebody decided to cover it up for some reason.

To hurry up and save his energy for when he'll really need it again, the Ultimate Lifeform grinded down the support railings in the middle of the stairs with remarkable speed which he usually couldn't get to in tight spaces such as this without carefully improvising, just like the blue hedgehog who was more used to implying this sort of technique to the real world situations. After a few minutes of nothing but grind abuse that could only slightly compare to Rail Canyon's lengthy grind rails, the black hedgehog finally hit a wall on his way down and came to a screeching halt as quickly as it was possible. Reaching the bottom wasn't as spectacular or glamorous he imagined it at first, but at least he finally arrived where he wanted to be.

The black hedgehog followed through the only door in the tight room and trailed the long claustrophobic and dark corridors that probably intervened themselves as well by some strange coincidence just to spite him for whatever reason. Probably to get him lost even more than he already was. Without being able to see where he was going, he kept tripping over useless junk on the floor, so he skidded to a slower speed and walked carefully but still pretty quickly by hugging the walls. Instead of merely skating up, down, left and right blindly and try to find his way out of it, Shadow decided to use his hedgehog senses this time around and follow his nose to get anywhere close to an exit and possibly the blue annoyance as well.

Whatever he was going to find at the end of the tunnel, it better be worth it all this way. When his crimson eyes got used to the darkness just slightly enough for him to see the vague environment, the black one seemed to notice that while the corridors did have lights installed on the ceilings, they weren't working like the rest of the building which was pretty much obvious by this point in time. He could only hope the power didn't go out sometime after he got down here. That's another annoyance he didn't want to deal with as the Ultimate Lifeform already had enough problems than he needed.

After a while, the corridor finally ended with a sudden stop. Hoping he reached some sort of exit or entrance at the end of the perpetual darkness, the black hedgehog started feeling his surroundings and trailed the wall in front of him with his gloved fingers. If it looks like a door and feels like a door… Shadow started searching for some sort of handle, finding it very difficult to get a very good grip on it for some strange reason. They were actually quite sturdy and heavy, as if someone installed a bulkhead instead of just some regular door. Pulling the door aside was even tougher than it seemed at first, but once he overcame those thoughts and pulled harder, the black one managed to open them up somewhat. He was amazed to find that the room on the other side was actually lighted. The evidence was the light shinning through the crack he made, feeling a sigh of relief in his mind that reminded him of his previous concerns.

When he finally pushed the steel block to the side so he could pass through it with no problems, he wanted to keep it from closing up again. Finding a small rock on the floor was good enough for him and propped it in between the door and the small step.

He didn't seem to notice it before, but the height of various machinery and doors was considerably lower than humans would've built them. In fact, he was almost the perfect size for it. Taking in consideration Sonic's words, this just might have been the place where a hedgehog civilization flourished once, if in complete isolation. If the Blue Blur really was born here like he claimed, then where is everyone else and why doesn't anyone else seem to know about this place? There were so many questions he wanted to know the answer to, but there was so little time to even concentrate on one thing entirely.

Now that he had light passing into the dark corridor, Shadow noticed a slightly beaten up fuse box hanging right beside the door. Opening it after punching it hard enough due to his previous nicer attempts failing, the box revealed itself to be empty and the wires stuck out as if something was forcibly ripped out of it. Being able to see in the corridors would've been a generally good idea, but he would need to find a working fuse somewhere which in this place seemed unlikely. The box itself looked damaged as well and even if he had the fuse, the black hedgehog couldn't know if it was going to work anyway. He wasn't exactly up to Tails' or Doctor's levels when it came to fixing stuff like this, but he could give it a go out of sheer curiosity.

However, before any of that happens, Shadow's first priority was to find the blue hedgehog to make sure he's okay and get some answers out of him.

Shadow could chalk it up to his nose, but he had a feeling he was getting close to finding him.

XXX

''Sorry.''

''I have to do this.''

''Don't hold it against me, okay?''

Those words still echoed in his dreams, returning to him like every so often… as if they had something to do with him at this point. Everything that surrounded him turned back to darkness the moment he tried to remember something very important to him and help him come out of the deep nightmare. Nothing can be scarier than something you can't even see, right?

Wandering around a complete void with no place or goal to go, what's a hedgehog to do? You can run from it, but you can never outrun it. You can hide from it, but it will find you even in the safest of places in the world, even the tender insides of your own mind. The only thing he needed to do was to wake up from these darkening thoughts… he wasn't sure how, but if he kept on running into a specific direction, something interesting usually happened and changed his adventures little by little, contributing to his life experiences he had written inside his head as chapters in a tightly sealed book.

That's all he knew how to do after all. Just run somewhere familiar, somewhere that felt like home for some time before he moved on with his life and ran to somewhere else entirely in the world. Whatever caught his eye, he ran toward it and investigated it. Something that kept distancing away from him and ended up like a shiny glimmer in the horizon, until he came across anything that was able to help him out in the most interesting and unimaginable ways. The possibilities were endless for someone in his position and he knew all about it. However, he wasn't going to get anywhere by running in here, not in this hollow echoing world he never liked meeting even in his unconsciousness. This wasn't the place he was looking for and never has been his private corner of safety.

It was merely a place of confinement and loneliness… just like he used to feel about the entire world once before.

Sooner or later, he needed to wake up… that's all it mattered now.

… only to realize a little too late that it might be a mistake.

Slowly, the darkness started withering away, having been replaced by a blurry vision of the blue hedgehog's dazed eyes. He could barely lift his head properly without spraining his neck a bit more than it already was, much less his entire body from the metallic floor. He stayed on the cold ground with an insufferable headache as he slowly started blinking, hoping for his sight and that annoying ringing noise in his brain to mellow out and never return again.

After a few moments, the emerald eyed hero could finally see what was around him, if only a small portion of the supposed location he landed in of a sudden, but he decided not to bother with it at the moment. Lying down almost motionlessly, Sonic needed to think for a short moment to barely recall his own name before he'd start speculating about more complicated things that argued amongst each other in what succession they would enter his memory again.

When the blue hedgehog believed it was time for him to get up on his feet again, the Blue Blur only lifted himself for a short moment before dropping back to the floor with a painful grunt. Like the previous time, it didn't work the way he felt it would. Just about anyone would find his position to be utterly pathetic in this situation, but he wasn't going to give up yet and kept trying to overcome the pain that travelled all over his body. Eventually he summoned all his remaining strength into his limbs and pulled himself on his bruised knees, slowly but surely.

However, the younger hedgehog found himself overtaken by the sudden pain in one of his arms that supported his equally aching body, doubling him over on his back with a small yelp as he cradled his hurt arm close to his chest. It's been a while since he felt any actual pain like this. It's been even longer since he hurt himself this badly.

Ignoring the pain for the time being and breathing deeply, Sonic stared upwards to see nothing more but a hole above him with a curious white mist traveling all around it like clouds in the sky. He must've fallen all the way through it and ended up down here as he quickly predetermined in his incoming search. Sonic knew who he was despite having a massive concussion that continuously made him disoriented and confused. The emerald eyed hero only needed to figure out what happened to him a while ago. Hoping his memory would return slowly and reconstruct the event that took place at that specific time and location, the blue hedgehog tried recalling back whatever he could.

So he fell from somewhere high up above… what was the exact reason again? And where was Shadow?

''Shadow?'' he whispered lightly, almost shocked that he didn't lose his ability to speak after everything that happened to him.

Widening his eyes, he finally realized that he completely forgot that his darker counterpart also came along for the ride on his request. Upon mentioning his would be rival, the only memories of him in this strange place were of very unconformable situations they found themselves in. The other appeared to be enraged at him, shouting at him with all his might and kept walking away from him to keep his distance as much as the hero tried to explain himself to him.

But there was another flash that was completely different from the previous ones he'd seen so far. He could see the black hedgehog reaching out to Sonic, with a clearly upset expression on his face which the Blue Blur couldn't get out of his mind. He never saw the Ultimate Lifeform in such distress before. Did his fall really upset him that much? Or something he said along the way? He'll need to think for a moment before he remembers anything at all.

Sonic cleared up his mind for the time being and tried to pick himself up, finding himself in a more comfortable sitting position as he sat up with a weary feeling. Looking at his hurt arm, as soon as he touched it with merely his finger, the throbbing pain sent shivers down his spines. He knew next to nothing about medical help or even basic care for that matter, so the blue hedgehog didn't know if it was either just badly twisted or threatening to snap at some point. Manning his eyes, the blue hero needed to stand up somehow and folded his arms carefully around his chest to hold his hurt arm close to him at all costs, almost as if he was afraid he was going to shatter it completely if he moved it around too much.

Finally back on his feet after much painful grunts and lost breaths, Sonic got the chance to check his surroundings a bit more. The oval room he landed in was, like the rest of the known building, dirty in gray colors with the only greenery growing out through the ruined floor. He was closer to the underground than anytime before. With a gaping mouth, the younger mammal seemed surprised at no considerable damage on his body other than the arm. He still considered it better than having his head stuck in the dirt again like a peacock… or was it a flamingo? That didn't sound right at all.

Looking around slowly, there must've been about three or four doors worth mentioning but the only thing that caught his eye was a transparent wall with sliding doors. Sonic didn't really know where his mind was at the moment. The only thing he really wanted to do was walk it off as best as he could, even though something told him in the back of his head that it wasn't the brightest idea he ever had. He stumbled over to them, catching himself against the nearby wall as he tried to step further without shaking too much. A moment too late and he would probably end up back on his knees.

Squinting through the small opening, he could only see a part of the room's insides but it was as equally dirty as the floor he found himself lying on. It didn't look anything special in his eyes, with just some broken junk and glasses all over the floor. It almost looked like a laboratory of some sorts, but empty.

Nodding his head and turning away with an unimpressed feeling from the disappointing room that had nothing to offer, he couldn't stay here any longer and needed to move on to find Shadow. He could only imagine just how angry and upset the other hedgehog must be at this point. The blue one was sure that if he didn't die right now, he will probably wish he did as soon as the black hedgehog comes across him and finally lets out everything he's been bottling up against Sonic. Due to at least three different doors to choose from, he didn't know which one could bring him back to the surface and at the same time he felt like his legs would eventually give up under his weight.

In the worst case scenario, he'd only manage to get deeper into the building and lose himself in it with no way out.

He could only hope his adventures weren't going to end here.

Somewhere in the near distance, his ears twitched into the direction of muffled noises coming toward him. As exhausted and beaten to an inch of his life he appeared, Sonic still had a good enough hearing to catch the sounds behind the walls, coming ever so closer with every living second. Something was coming his way and in this condition he just might not stand a chance against it, whatever it might have been. He couldn't even run for that matter, as he could barely stand upright without his legs giving him a nasty shake through his entire body and threatening that they would drop him on the floor anytime soon.

Leaning his back against the wall he came across a moment ago, he decided to take it in its stride anyway. The Fastest Thing Alive wasn't a coward nor was he going to run away from anything imaginable, even at this desperate point. Closing his emerald eyes, the blue mammal merely waited with a calm, if frequently dazed mind as the heavy sliding footsteps drew closer to meet the wounded blue hedgehog.

Wait...

''Sonic!?''

Chapter 11 - Open Your Heart

Much at the Fastest Thing Alive's pleasant surprise, his darker counterpart burst right through the doors and almost broke them down in succession like a piece of carton. He stood there with widened but angry eyes and continuously breathed out the rest of the air out of his lungs that didn't burn up during his extensive search. It only took him mere seconds to cross the room he came to through the underground corridors, finally catching a different scent in the air that wasn't one of ancient mold and slow movements from far away that were different from the usual metallic or robotic origin he was used to tracking with his ears as a G.U.N. agent on the field. He didn't know what to expect from it, but he had no other choice but to investigate in the manner as any sort of hint was welcome in this awful place.

And now, the Ultimate Lifeform finally found him here, alive and somewhat well. As much he was glad that he was at least considerably fine and not dead like he previously out rightly assumed, Sonic is going to wish for a quick death once he's done with him. As if this ghost building wasn't enough already, the blue hedgehog's behavior was enough to put chills down his spines for appearing completely calm yet unusually confused at his alleged home island that was now utterly empty.

Just what did he expect from this forgotten place anyway? To give him a warm welcome? If being attacked by a massive robot that explodes upon defeat is in any way a welcome home party, somebody should reconsider hiring a new planner, possibly one with less eccentric ideas.

The way the Blue Blur addressed him was completely out of place, ''Hey, Shadow! Glad you could make it down here,'' just hearing him again with that shrill yet nonchalant voice of his, the black hedgehog wanted to punch him so hard he'd probably drop dead before he'd even attempt to do such a thing against the blue wonder.

Feeling enraged at his attitude again, Shadow was completely distraught as he stomped forward with his hand outstretched at the younger mammal. He wasn't about to even hide his boiling anger anymore as he shouted out entirely, ''You idiot! What the hell were you thinking!'' as much he yelled at him with his entire mind, the blue hedgehog didn't appear to change his expression at all and looked blankly at the black one as if he didn't make any sort of sense with his words.

Quickly checking him out, the emerald eyed hero looked completely damaged from head to toe, just his mind remained the same as it appeared from his outlook. The only way he could even stand was by leaning against a wall just to disguise the fact that he needed help with it at this point. His head must've gotten reinforced during all those falls he dealt with in the past, so maybe it explained his durability to some degree of plausibility. Then again, you needed some sort of vague explanation when you weren't able to immediately turn into a bloody pulp at the mere contact with the heavily enforced metallic ground.

However, no matter much pain he endured at the moment, the black hedgehog wasn't going to take lightly to him.

''Well, I was just-

''You could've been killed!'' the black hedgehog quickly interrupted the Blue Blur's explanation, finding those incredibly dazed emerald eyes staring into his of all places.

Shadow didn't want to give out the impression that he was worried about his younger counterpart the entire time, even though it was true to some degree. The black hedgehog didn't want to return to the mainlands with the world's hero dead in his hands. That would be absolutely the worst thing ever happening to him, to anyone who placed all their faith into Sonic and one could only imagine what sort of chaos would ensue over it. The Fastest Thing Alive needed to understand that he wasn't invincible nor someone who can pull off stunts like that with such reckless behavior and expect that everything will be just turn out alright in the end.

The older hedgehog barely noticed just how upset he had gotten towards him, ''Think about the others for a second! What would they say about this? Are you so indifferent that you don't even care anymore or are you just completely out of your damn mind!''

Trying to calm his darker counterpart down, Sonic leaned toward him with a puzzled feeling as he tried stepping on his aching leg, ''Shadow, I just…''

With swift and almost unnoticeable movement, the black hedgehog twirled away from him completely and ignored any words the other might have had in store for him. Surprisingly, the Blue Blur said nothing as he probably felt like it would make the situation even worse than it already was. As much as he wanted Sonic to explain his actions, at the same time the Ultimate Lifeform felt like he wasn't going to like the answer and shunned him out for as long as he could until he was calm enough to even be able to listen to him. He couldn't figure out why it was like this in the first place or why it was his rival out of anyone possible in this ever so rotating blue planet.

Only so few people would be willing to give up their own life for someone else.

Remembering the most significant and confusing moment of the entire fall, he had one more thing to ask him. Shadow firmly hesitated as if he was afraid of the answer he might get. However no matter what the blue hedgehog was thinking about, the thing had to come out eventually.

Even though he was shouting at him just a moment ago, the Ultimate Lifeform's voice turned out to be at least reasonably calm, if slightly irrational and on the edge of breaking into another yelling session, ''And that smile…'' the black one leaned his hand against his forehead with a deep shaky sigh as if to question Sonic's sanity, ''… what's wrong with you?''

Sonic didn't think for long until he answered with a dull voice, ''I did what I had to do.''

''That is such a cliché answer,'' the black mammal wasn't convinced when he turned toward him again, as if with a threat he was going to tackle him right there with no regards for his words at all. He wanted to know the real reason behind it and the blue one knew what it was he was asking him, ''Why in the world did you think that was a good idea?''

With half lidded eyes, he only scratched his spines with no care whatsoever, an action which angered his older counterpart even more, ''Not sure.''

Once again, Shadow was getting impatient. He wanted a straight reply out of him and he was going to get it no matter what. He was done with lies and incomplete sentences Sonic had been giving him before for no reason at all, ''That's not an answer at all!''

And right out of nowhere, as if somebody just dropped a large anvil on the Ultimate Lifeform's head, Sonic suddenly hit him with this little gem that made no sense at the time, ''I think you'd do the same for me…''

He didn't know why, but the blue hedgehog believed that was an answer he wanted to say to his darker counterpart for the longest time. For the first time, the Fastest Thing Alive felt as if something just lifted up entirely from his heart and was able to breathe once more without something pushing him toward the edge. However, he didn't seem to recall why the sentence appeared to be so important to him in that very moment or why he felt such relief when he finally said it. The bouncing headache didn't help at all, as it made the emerald eyed hero feel woozy and out of place. However, if that's the answer he was looking for, then he didn't mind much.

''Are you kidding me?'' as much the black hedgehog believed that his younger rival managed to withstand the huge fall from the top of the surface onto the metallic ground, he was getting the impression the Blue Blur was just spouting out random words due of necessity and that huge bump on his head. Sonic was clearly in some state of shock as he couldn't say anything correctly or anything else the older one was trying to get out of him. He was wondering if he even understood his words at this point or knew what he was saying at all.

He decided to ask gentler but endearing this time around, hoping it would bring him to a clearer conclusion of this event, ''Why would I risk my life for you?''

''What are you… you…'' just like the previous time and with no warning whatsoever, Sonic's voice lowered significantly when he gripped his head as if in extreme pain, remembering something that he must've forgotten to mention a long time ago. And after saying it, the brief relief he experienced finally disappeared into nothingness, ''You did it before!''

Shadow appeared puzzled for the umpteenth time, ''What are you talking about?''

''What do you mean?''

''Wait… what?'' as soon as the blue hedgehog tilted his head at him when he had just a second ago shouted at his rival for no apparent reason, the black one felt like his younger counterpart was either playing around or really had no idea what he was saying. It started bothering him as he nodded at him with slanted eyes, ''Sonic, what's going on here?''

The Ultimate Lifeform wasn't the only hedgehog puzzled by the words they were throwing at each other, ''You… don't remember? But I thought…''

Slightly shivering in his mind, the Blue Blur came to a realization that was incredibly shocking to him as well. The immense fall down here didn't help with his largely unsorted mind and that only made him panic more, especially if he had forgotten something else that was important to him. While he felt relieved the first time around when he remembered that particular event and left out those words, Sonic suddenly and quickly comprehended that those were the words his darker counterpart was never meant to hear from him. Because that's how he decided at the beginning and that's how it was supposed to stay, but now he made a huge mistake of bringing it up in his presence.

Pulling a fake grin on his face and shrugging wildly to draw away the attention from his initial sentence, the emerald eyed hero chuckled out and started making circles around his head with a finger as if to imply insanity, ''You know what, forget I said anything! I feel kinda loopy up here.''

''Sonic…'' the older mammal didn't trust him. He was going to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible, whatever the blue one might say in return, ''What do you know about me?''

The Fastest Thing Alive decided to play dumb and like it was in his nature, Sonic jumped in his place if only slightly due to his injuries and pouted at the black hedgehog with that annoying waggling finger, ''Nothing… absolutely nothing! We should get out of here, don't you think?''

''Not before you tell me what you know,'' pointing at the Blue Blur, the black hedgehog had a feeling the younger mammal was hiding something which wasn't surprising by now, as he did lie to him before about this island. Shadow didn't understand why his blue counterpart would know anything about him. In fact, it was more confusing as to why he was hiding something from him, especially if it was about him in the first place. If it was important, he wanted to know about it, even if it meant shaking the Fastest Thing Alive around a little. He wouldn't have mentioned it if he didn't feel it was in any way significant to him.

Yet, the other didn't feel concerned and acted as if nothing was said in the first place, ''I told you, it's nothing.''

Unlike in most of these unfortunate situations with the blue annoyance, Shadow wanted to stay completely calm during this conversation as much the Blue Blur managed to piss him off at the moment. He knew the blue one was faking this attitude that returned all of a sudden as to make the situation seem pointless and make him forget about various revelations that came upon him. The younger hedgehog had none of Shadow's trust anymore ever since he admitted to him that he knew about this place after all and he wasn't going to put up with it anymore. He didn't liked to be lied at, especially straight in the face for no good reason.

The Ultimate Lifeform demanded the truth right now, ''I don't believe you. Not after you pulled that stunt on me. You're not fooling me again, hedgehog.''

''Look, I just wanna get out of here,'' Sonic completely ignored his words with a swipe of his hand and tried to leave the area by passing him.

It turned out that was a massive mistake on his part, since the black hedgehog grabbed his arm as quickly as he possibly could before he could get anywhere far from the insisting mammal. And to Sonic's eventual horror, it was the exact place his arm was hurting really badly and he didn't trust the extremely pissy Ultimate Lifeform to be gentle with it. Shadow mumbled out with an unimpressed look in his eyes, right after the Blue Blur tilted his head toward him, ''You're not going anywhere.''

He needed to get out of this mess quickly. He didn't need to know about it, ''Shadow, I told you-

His half interrupted sentence was the last straw the older mammal was going to deal with at the moment. The sooner the blue hedgehog tried to leave him behind with those few words, his darker counterpart harshly pulled him backwards to slam him right against the iron wall much to Sonic's initial surprise who already had a massive headache to deal with from the previous accident. As much as the black hedgehog caused him pain over his gigantic motor mouth, the Blue Blur couldn't really blame him for it as he got into this by his own accord. And if that wasn't enough already, the crimson eyed mammal grabbed both of his arms and kept him pinned against the wall, with the Blue Blur staying trapped there until the other decided when he was going to leave him alone.

However for now, the G.U.N. agent had no such attempt as he replied calmly but with a furious tone, ''Don't you even think about leaving. We're not going anywhere until you tell me what you know. So, what will it be?''

Slightly shocked at the sudden events taking place, the blue hedgehog didn't notice at first but his darker counterpart was gripping his arms tightly and even managed to become tighter as seconds went by. If this was any other situation he could easily fight against Shadow's hold, but the pressure he put against his wound was slowly becoming too much for him. The way the black hedgehog was staring at him made him uneasy and he could clearly see the largely pissy look on his face as he was close enough for their noses to brush against each other. Shadow was getting all too close and personal for his liking. He could count on that in any minute or so, the Ultimate Lifeform would get sick of waiting for an answer and instead just smack him over the head like an irresponsible kid.

Still, he was worried more for the state of his arm in this very minute as he turned his head to the side to avoid his glare. At the same time, Sonic wasn't sure if he should tell him the truth or not. The most sensible thing would be not to even mention it in the first place and thus he wouldn't have to deal with it, but his big trap just didn't have any limits. Then again, he held it in for a very long time, so long he even forgot about it sometime during his travels and adventures.

If something like this never happened, he would've taken his secrets along in his grave. At the sheer mention of it, the Fastest Thing Alive began regretting the decision of ever coming to this place and asking his rival to come along even more. Who would've thought that something so small can become such a nuisance?

He snapped out of his thoughts when the black hedgehog's grip tightened on his arm and he couldn't take it anymore, ''Okay, okay, I give! Just let me go first,'' after turning back to him with widened eyes, Sonic would tilt his head away as immediately as he did before.

Breathing out harshly, the black mammal eventually pulled away from him with only slight hesitation, much to the Blue Blur's surprise who was expecting something entirely else to befall over him. Taking this chance to remove himself from the wall, Sonic sidestepped to the side and turned his back on him, covering his hurt arm by folding them across his chest.

Finally, it was Shadow's time to speak out as he tapped his foot against the floor, ''Well?''

Without turning around to meet him once more, the blue hedgehog shrugged at him. He eventually remembered he wanted to wait for the perfect moment to say anything, but that never came. So instead of saying it, he kept it for himself because he felt it was the best decision for both of them. This wasn't the right moment either, but did he have any choice anymore? He might as well tell him now and give himself some peace and quiet after all the mess that crumbled upon him.

''I didn't want to tell you,'' a weak sound followed, ''I couldn't. Not after all that.''

XXX

''Chaos Control!''

After a massive and grueling battle with the Biolizard in the everlasting black void of space, the humongous creature was finally dead after the striped mammal dealt his last attack from a well positioned flank, quickly and glamorously dodging its deadly lasers that tried to kill them both and prevent them from operating against it. The being was defeated by two Chaos powered hedgehogs that were now the last remaining hope to save the little blue planet and humanity from imminent destruction from the hands of a fallen man's conspiracy that was unknowingly years in the making behind everyone's backs.

Even with incredible differences in their attitudes and looks, the two speedsters, who in previous conflict basically declared themselves to be mortal enemies of each other, made for an amazing team even at the world's end, supporting and helping each other whenever they could in this particular battle and situation. After all, without them there would be no world left to protect or live on anymore. A warm home is a precious thing to cherish and kept safe against all odds. Finally managing to avert what most wouldn't have the power to do, the shining golden hedgehogs prepared themselves for the last bit of action they ought to fulfill and end the battle once and for all, saving what one of them set out to destroy the first time around in hopes of getting revenge.

As it turned out, Space Colony ARK was still on a rapid course to collide with the blue planet called Earth and destroy everything living on it as quickly as it possibly could, right after the Eclipse Cannon proved itself to be insufficient due to a sudden malfunction. They must have had expected it to happen in the worst case scenario, preparing plan B to carry out the end of the world in its place. With no other way to bring it to a quick halt or destroy it completely, only one chance remained. Something only the two hedgehogs had the power to do so at the moment. By sending it away from its prerecorded axle onto an appropriate distance in the limitless universe, using a Chaos influenced power of teleportation known as Chaos Control. Combining their immense powers into one, Sonic and Shadow stopped it from coming anywhere close to the world and sent the floating mass away onto a safe distance.

The extreme force of Chaos Control's power sent them flying backwards through the weightless sky as they held their best in this ultimate struggle for everyone's sake, continuously powering up and keeping it in line with the other hedgehog's energy. As they could finally see, the ARK disappeared and reappeared in the distance of the black space, not too far but not too close, at least without it being a danger to the little significant planet anymore. One fulfilled the duty as the world's hero and the other his promise to give them another chance at life.

Sonic brushed his sweating forehead out of sheer relief that it was finally over, noticing that his darker counterpart appeared right beside him with a more exhausted disposition than he was. Nonetheless, the Fastest Thing Alive smiled at him and sent him a thumbs up for a job well done as per tradition, ''We did it, Shadow! That was amazing!''

''Yes…'' the red striped hedgehog commented back with a satisfied and somewhat peaceful look on his face. He was right in the middle of his harsh exhale, holding his stomach with one of his hands while the other continued to hang lifelessly next to his side. The battle was long and hard for the two multicolored mammals. They will both require a long rest afterwards.

Grinning lightly and full of joy, the younger golden being took a notice to that and replied hastily with sparkling eyes as if to cheer his darker counterpart up, ''Hey, you know what? When we get back down there, you'll be a hero. Just like me!'' Sonic pointed at his chest quite egoistically, gaining merely a small snort from the crimson eyed hedgehog's mouth. Tilting his wild head toward his supposed supersonic rival, he asked him a very small question regarding his previous statement, ''What do you think, Shadow?''

''I guess…'' the Ultimate Lifeform's head dropped in exhaustion, as much he didn't want to show it nor say anything about it to his blue counterpart, ''… that's a good thing.''

''Oh man, once we're finished up here…'' taking a long look toward the blue dot below him and later repositioned them onto the ARK floating away into the distance, Sonic held so much thoughts in his mind at the moment that he was eager to spill out all at the same time, particularly to the Ultimate Lifeform who merely listened to every word he had to say. That was a first, but nobody out of the two seemed to care about it at the moment.

Now that he thought about it, it suddenly occurred to him that he finally found someone who could both match him in sheer speed, as if that wasn't already all too clear before. It felt weird since the self-proclaimed Fastest Thing Alive didn't really mind it that much anymore, considering just how angry he initially got at the absurd idea of any living being faster than him. However, that was only a small part of the fun they could've had together. The golden hedgehog already decided he would help Shadow get a new start on the blue planet he and his friends loved so much. Hopefully, the black hedgehog would understand their thoughts if he tried hard enough. Considering what the black mammal went through in the past, he really needed to sort out his head and try to live a normal life for once.

At least as normal a supersonic hedgehog can get anyway.

''There's so much stuff I gotta show you back on Earth! The cities, nature, snowboarding and… heh, it's gonna take forever to cover all of that!'' the usually blue hedgehog yelped out in excitement and talked as if he was already filling out their busy schedule in his head. He wagged his finger at him with a big grin, ''I think you're gonna love them! I just feel like this is a start of something new and exciting. I can hardly wait.''

As in response, the red striped mammal only nodded weakly but Super Sonic still had his back turned on him completely and couldn't see it well.

''Huh, Shadow?'' he asked again, thinking his rival was ignoring him out of spite, ''Hey, are you even listening to me?''

When the Fastest Thing Alive slightly tilted his head at him with a lazy look on his face, Shadow wanted to smile lightly as he lifted one of his hands to say something in return, ''I…'' however he never got to finish that sentence, because as soon he uttered out one single word, the Ultimate Lifeform's transformation ran out of power and he quickly turned back to his normal black colored scheme.

There was no warning or anything at all from the older hedgehog, as if he had no intention to call out for help.

With a corner of his reddish eye, the golden hedgehog noticed there was something wrong with his current companion in battle. This time he turned towards Shadow as fast as he could, only to see him fall over almost immediately and right out of his Chaos powered ability, just when the other believed there was still enough time for them to stay out here with no problems whatsoever. Quickly panicking and widening his already humongous eyes over the sudden event, the Blue Blur flailed his arm toward him, catching the black one by his wrist before he could fall further down toward the Earth.

With a shaking breath, Sonic called out to him out of pure desperation when his darker counterpart appeared to give up entirely, ''Shadow!''

''Huh… seems like…'' breathing heavily and harshly, the Ultimate Lifeform hung completely at the mercy of his informed rival. He didn't mind it at all, whatever was going to happen with him afterwards. As it turned out, the older mammal felt completely exhausted and devoid of strength he had previously used to battle against the Finalhazard. The black hedgehog wasn't used to the Super transformation as much his younger counterpart seemed to be, having literally no experience with it in the past and only now realizing the sheer iron will he needed to possess to handle it at least a little better than he did.

Forming a slight smile on his muzzle the other might not be able to appreciate in this situation, Shadow just couldn't help himself, ''… I won't be able to see them after all.''

Just like he predicted, Sonic didn't want to hear any of it as he yelled at him, ''Come on, don't say that!''

''Anyway… after everything I've done…'' his breath felt worse with every new exhale he made and he didn't know just how long he might be able to hold on or stay present for that matter. He also wasn't sure just why they were able to breathe in space, but it didn't matter right now. Especially not in this very moment. That was for another time… maybe or maybe not, he couldn't tell just how it was supposed to be. All that Shadow was aware of now was that he was hanging on the edge of the never ending space and he probably won't make it out of this situation alive under any circumstances.

The black hedgehog did a lot of things that already hurt many people, some probably even awakened the dead for that matter. That was a massive mistake on his part. There was no way he could ever forgive himself after he had done so many bad things in her name. The Ultimate Lifeform convinced himself this was the only way to go and earn at least some sort of forgiveness from everyone else, ''I think… I deserve it.''

''Stop it, Shadow!'' the golden younger hedgehog interrupted his thoughts and tried to pull him upwards, for all good it did anyway as he struggled with keeping his own transformation in check and battle against the vacuum pulling his darker counterpart downwards as if actively trying to rip him out of his grip for whatever reason. Sonic didn't want to accept his sacrifice nor was he going to allow it. He was the hero after all and he had certain responsibilities that he needed to fulfill, ''I'll get you out of here, you'll see! I'm not leaving you here!''

Pleasantly surprised by his rival's persistence, the black hedgehog already realized he had no chance of survival just by looking at the glowing Super Sonic. It was almost funny how the usually thick line of pessimism and optimism showed up between the two every so often. It made for a nice contrast of their thoughts and ideals.

''I don't think… you have the energy… for both of us…'' even if left out extremely painfully out of his mouth, the Ultimate Lifeform didn't want to have another person on his consciousness, ''I'm not worth it. I just want to…''

But even then, the Fastest Thing Alive held on and didn't let go. In fact, he even tightened his hold. He replied with a shaking breath as he tried to disagree, ''Shadow, please…''

Feeling his last remaining power slowly seeping away from him, the black hedgehog concluded this was the right time to make some last goodbyes to the last person that will see him alive in this situation, although not as blatant or cliché as somebody would usually be. He just wanted him to know one thing, as ridiculous and out of place it might have sounded coming from Shadow, especially alongside that lighthearted but genuine smile he managed to form, ''You know, Sonic… under any different circumstances… we could've even been friends.''

Seeing Sonic's widened and utterly shocked eyes on him, the black hedgehog had a feeling like he was going to cry. As it turned out, that last sentence from Shadow was more like a stab in the chest for the Fastest Thing Alive than any sort of reassurance. However, everyone should be okay without him. If they survived before, they should have no problem living further down on that blue planet. Besides, they have the speedy blue hedgehog after all to protect them from any sort of trouble. The only reason the black hedgehog was still alive and well in the first place was to fulfill his initial purpose no matter what the cost, his promise to his only real friend up in the never ending space who's legacy wasn't about to be forgotten even after fifty years.

His work here was done.

Accepting his futile state, the Ultimate Lifeform released his tightened fist on the very hand his blue counterpart was holding onto with all his strength, slipping out of Sonic's harsh grip right through his ring bracelet the other was gripping the most, plunging downwards to his doom by his own choice as he knew the black hedgehog won't be able to convince Sonic to drop him on his own.

And yet, the hero didn't want to give up… he never did. He was just stubborn like that. That was one thing he could always be sure about his rival. He tried to grab his hand again, only to watch him fall out of his range and down toward the planet they saved with their own hands, ''Wha- no! Shadow!''

The black hedgehog left out almost inaudibly as he started falling, ''Sonic… can you live… for everyone's sake…''

''Shadow…''

''… instead of me?''

Nodding weakly to the distraught hedgehog, he couldn't see anything anymore as his vision went blurry, feeling only a warm light shining down on him as he reached toward it, ''Maria… is this enough? This is what you wanted, right? I did this for you…'' and with those last words, Shadow closed his watery eyes and left himself on the mercy of the fall.

With clear distress and helplessness on his face, Super Sonic could only watch as the other hedgehog fell toward the blue planet, turning into a literal fireball as he entered the atmosphere of the little planet he called home. Shaking slightly and breathing aloud, he only stared in shock as he tried to comprehend the recent events that happened so quickly and yet, he couldn't do a thing or two to stop it from happening so suddenly. Whatever he was holding in his hand right now, that was the only thing left of his darker counterpart right now and he would never see him again. A small realization like that left him completely numb and still, afraid to even move at the time.

Tightening Shadow's bracelet in his gloved hand, he felt the urge to just let it all out and cry. The Fastest Thing Alive rarely cried. In fact, he hated tears so much for bringing sadness into the world in the first place, but only now he felt a swell of strong emotions piling up his clouded mind with disbelief and sorrow as his greatest rival disappeared from his sight forever. When one tear finally slipped down his muzzle and disappeared into the black universe, Sonic wasn't completely sure just what he was crying for exactly.

Cry for his fallen companion or his inability to do anything about it.

Or the fact he promised to help him live.

Chapter 12 - Live & Learn

During the reminiscence the Fastest Thing Alive finally decided to tell in one straight monologue that kept filling up with unbelievable yet truthful words, the blue hedgehog still refrained from looking at Shadow at all costs. He retreated onto a safer distance between himself and his darker counterpart, taking a seat on some fallen debris not far away from where his black rival was leaning against the wall in his usual thinking posture. Keeping his arms crossed tightly around his peach chest and his spiny head down, the Blue Blur was persistent with his story until the very end and the black hedgehog finally decided to listen to him for once on this damned island.

As the rarely told tale began unfolding before his eyes, the Ultimate Lifeform could only stare with an appearance of puzzlement and shock on his face. Just as the emerald eyed hero was finishing up his tale, the older hedgehog left his mouth agape and blinked in sheer wonder, wondering if this is how it happened exactly such a long time ago. The black mammal had to admit he held no memory of his fall from the ARK at all, even less the conversation the two supposedly shared in his last moments.

Shadow only knew about one simple fact. He did fall toward the Earth sometime during their battle with the Finalhazard and everyone assumed he had died in the process since it is generally believed that no one could have survived an atmospheric reentry. That's all it mattered to him since the unfortunate event only brought him massive problems later on. It was only a small piece of the gigantic puzzle he didn't really care about all that much other than his own past. However, it seemed extremely important to Sonic, otherwise he wouldn't be bringing it up at this point in time, even though he actually had to force it out of him.

To confirm everything his blue counterpart just said, Shadow asked him with clear disbelief in his voice, ''That's how it happened?''

Sighing out, the other merely exhaled heavily without turning around, ''Why would I lie about something like that?''

''I wanted to die?''

Taking his last words into consideration, the black hedgehog needed a moment to think about it. If everything the Blue Blur just said was indeed true, why did he choose to do such a thing? Their positions back in space looked extremely hopeless if any of them were to run out of energy before the battle was over. It seemed like he was actually thinking rationally at the time, deciding the only good thing for him was death, especially after unleashing certain chaos on the entire world that would destroy every inch of it. And what was even worse was the fact that he did it all in Maria's name. It was obvious she wouldn't be too happy about it.

However, everything he did only happened because of his sudden revival from a cold sleep that lasted for a half of century and damaging interferences in his fabricated memory. Shadow started wondering just how he must have been really feeling at the time when he was hanging on the edge of space with only his rival keeping him from falling any further. Did the black hedgehog even deserve to live? That was one of those endearing thoughts he used to have but didn't think of them too much until now.

Sonic must've thought in the favor of living.

Because even after he had impersonated him, got him thrown into jail and tried to kill him several times throughout the entire occurrence, he didn't want to let him go, no matter how close to death Shadow already was or how quickly the blue hedgehog's body could have gave up under intense pressure.

The younger mammal probably had a better explanation then he could ever try to think up in the meantime, ''And you still wanted to save me… why?''

Lifting his heavy head, the Blue Blur didn't hesitate with his reply at all, ''Everyone has a right to live, no matter who they are.''

''Quit with that kiddy bull, Sonic. It's something else, isn't it?'' the Ultimate Lifeform deemed that answer to be complete diversion from the original topic. It was fine to preach something like that to children who don't know any better, but not to the black hedgehog as he was more than glad to point out, ''Why?''

After a moment of silence from the emerald eyed hero, Shadow sighed heavily as he already knew he won't be getting a straight answer from him unless he actually tries with his questions, especially after something like this. He started walking up and down the strange room they were in, as if to think for a short while and leaving Sonic to straighten out his own thoughts. The Ultimate Lifeform tried to remember it again as he closed his crimson eyes for a moment, yet the unfortunate event the Fastest Thing Alive was talking about just now was still just a blur in his head. It slightly annoyed him that the memories he didn't think about or even considered them to be that important closed on him like a thick blank veil.

After all, the only witness to his fall was the blue hedgehog himself and in the meantime he'll have to hold onto his words if anything wants to get sorted out.

Meanwhile, the Fastest Thing Alive tightened his embrace around himself and eventually snorted out almost automatically but comically, surprising even the older mammal with the unusual monotone tone in place of his upbeat voice he used daily around everyone else to keep an active spirit up and running. He replied with a quiet voice as he found himself staring into his open gloved palm, just when he had previously winced painfully at the black hedgehog's questions, ''Ever since Eggman appeared, I was the one who managed to fix everything no matter how late I was. Animals and people, they were safe because of me.''

Not sure what he was talking about, the black one called out for his name in clear confusion as if to snap him out of a self-induced trance, ''Sonic?''

''I'll be honest…'' the Blue Blur left out with a sigh and turned his aching body toward his rival.

Even when he was talking about these sorts of things, the Ultimate Lifeform wasn't all that good at reading Sonic's emotions as he rarely showed anything else but positive thoughts to everyone around him. If anything, there was a slight possibility of a wrecked regret in his voice, something that came off as extremely weird and unusual from the hero's muzzle. He started to speak again as he blinked, ''When you fell, I was devastated. I was the only one there and I still couldn't do a thing to prevent it from happening.''

However, ignoring what did resemble a clear guilty conscience, the black hedgehog had a better question to ask. He tried not to raise his voice too much or else Shadow felt the other would never speak to him again, ''You knew about it all this time and you never bothered telling me?''

''No… I wanted to, I swear!'' Sonic started defending himself as he quickly turned away from the older mammal and leaned his hands against his forehead, gaining a short nod from the Ultimate Lifeform instead. The way the Fastest Thing Alive saw it from his own perspective, the crimson eyed agent didn't seem interested in any of it before nor after he had discovered his past once again only so long ago and thus didn't want to bother him anymore with it.

Slightly distressed and on the edge of his seat, the blue hedgehog wanted to point out that he only did what he felt was best for both of them, ''I just never got the chance. When you said you got your memories back, you seemed okay with it. You never asked either, so I didn't see the point.''

Nodding at him, the Ultimate Lifeform really had no reason to pressure him over it since the younger mammal was thinking the right way. Shadow said it himself before that the memories he had now were everything he needed to move on, ''I wanted to remember my past. Nothing else mattered at that time.''

''I know,'' the blue hedgehog replied with a meek sound.

While he never exactly cared enough about those memories, he was interested to see just what Sonic was feeling over them. Albeit still slightly shocked over the revelation that he was clearly out to kill himself for the sake of his own redemption, Shadow's past self clearly wasn't the most mentally stable hedgehog who had been meddled with his mind and faint recollections far too much for his liking. Not that his new found amnesia after the infamous fall and reckless rescue mission from the good old local scientist made it any better anyway.

When the black hedgehog questioned the mad Doctor about his rescue and treatment of him, he found out that the Ultimate Lifeform was stuck in a deep, permanent coma for months to no end. Even Robotnik himself couldn't wake him up despite his genius mind, as he was forced to leave him in troubled sleep and could only wait if his condition would get any better. Even when he did have time to monitor a part of his brain, there were always restless dreams and nightmares that decided to invade his mind during his inactivity and haunt him like vengeful ghosts from a forsaken past. For once in his life, Shadow was glad he couldn't recall anything about those at all and could at least sleep peacefully, if nothing else.

Fortunately, the only thing that shattered completely after his would be resurrection was his memory, while he himself turned out to be in perfect health as far as his physical structure went. However, that was actually the most important thing to the older mammal, more than his own being for that matter and he wouldn't hesitate to trade for it at any time.

Folding his hands around his chest, the black one tilted his head toward his counterpart, ''Did my fall really devastate you that much?''

''Not just that. It was something you said,'' the younger hedgehog yelped out all of a sudden as he sharply turned his head toward the G.U.N. agent. The Blue Blur pointed at him with a grim appearance as if to berate his darker counterpart for something he did, ''You looked me right into my eyes and told me you wanted to die. And you know what? I believed you for a second. But how was I supposed to react to that? I had my share of ungrateful rescues before but that was just…''

Shadow nodded his head as he finally seemed to realize his turmoil, ''Are you frustrated about the fact that I didn't want your help?''

''What do you think?'' the blue hedgehog left out sarcastically, ''If you really thought I was gonna let you go like that, you're out of your mind.''

''You could have dropped me when I told you to and I wouldn't have held it against you,'' the black mammal stated with blunt honesty as he raised his hands. Sonic needed to know that whatever he decided back in space was entirely from his own mind and he had no say in it whatsoever. Even if it wasn't an extremely intelligent decision, it was still his right as an independent living being to make choices for himself, just when he previously believed none of them would have mattered due to his condition, ''It was my decision, was it not?''

Unexpectedly, the emerald eyed hero had to say it right away with no hesitance whatsoever, ''Why didn't you then?''

''Don't bring that up…'' the black hedgehog rubbed his forehead in clear annoyance and looked away from him, albeit in reality that was a question to him as well. Why didn't he drop him when the Fastest Thing Alive told him to do so? He guessed it was at least partly understandable why the blue hedgehog didn't want to leave him back in the endless universe. He wasn't the kind of person to leave others in distress after all.

There were a lot of different reasons in his head that tried to explain why he didn't want listen to his words. There was his promise to the yellow furred pilot, proving that he didn't hate the Blue Blur as much as the others liked to poke him around about that misinformed fact and of course, why would Shadow have to be the cause behind Sonic's injuries or even death for that matter? The last reason he firmly hated to think about right now was the fact that he didn't want or need help… especially when it included someone else getting hurt in the process.

Exhaling with a mocking sound, the blue one propped himself on his lap with crossed arms, ''If you're not listening to me, then why should I?''

The black hedgehog never even considered that an accident like that could happen all over again. They were extremely and almost creepily similar, right down to their thoughts and situations they found themselves in. A déjà vu, if you will. They were also extremely stubborn, the probable reason why they didn't want to lose their hold on one another. In fact, it was one of those things that drew parallels and similarities between the two.

Yet, they probably weren't that similar as his next answer might show, ''One more question,'' the black hedgehog replied with no exact tone.

''Shoot,'' the blue wonder didn't wait for a second as he stared at the ground.

''How do you deal with it?''

Blinking a couple of times the first time around, the Fastest Thing Alive tilted his head to the side in slight puzzlement, ''With what?''

''Feeling completely helpless? Feeling guilty for the rest of your life because you couldn't prevent something terrible from happening?'' the black hedgehog knew he had outrageous coping issues and almost let his strong emotions of pure revenge consume his entire life from inside out until he would lose himself entirely and forget the true purpose he was meant for.

He wanted to know how the blue hedgehog managed to keep even his most honest emotions from resurfacing all this time. The Blue Blur always appeared supporting, happy and incredibly cocky, so it was entirely obvious that a person like that could only rarely feel anything negative about their being or anyone else for that matter. As for the emotion of supposed guilt Sonic must have harbored all this time since his fall from the ARK, just how did he keep himself on the right path and prevented his mind from getting completely overtaken by it? He wouldn't be hiding it for so long if it didn't affect him in some way or another.

Shadow shook his head, ''How?''

It was this time around the blue hedgehog stopped fiddling around with various meaningless words and said exactly what he felt about the entire ordeal. Turning around on the debris, Sonic surprisingly grinned, although more at himself than anyone else in this moment. He replied with an honest mind right away with nothing holding him down this time around, ''I learned to live with it. I try to do well but no matter what I do, bad things keep happening to those around me. I've accepted the fact that sometimes even I can't do everything to make things better every time… just like I accepted your death.''

Leaving his arms dangling by his sides and turning his crimson eyes right into the ground, the Ultimate Lifeform leaned backwards, ''Is that so?''

Acceptance and moving on was not foreign to him at all. In fact, he did it all the time because that's how he lived his life by his own rules and had no time to be looking back at how things could have happened if something was done differently. Nodding and remembering something else, the Blue Blur spoke out more to continue his reasons, ''You see, when you showed up out of nowhere in Frog Forest, I felt like I've been given a second chance. I wanted to help you even when you didn't want me to… because I couldn't the last time.''

Snorting lightly, the black hedgehog remembered that encounter in the forest. It was incredibly awkward and even he himself had no idea what he was saying at the time.

''It will be a date to die for!''

Even when he couldn't tell who the blue hedgehog was at that point, the other mammal managed to influence his mind beyond belief. That was probably because he could barely recall his own persona and had to borrow it from somewhere else for just a little while before finding his own in the confusion made by his second revival. However, Shadow understood what the blue hedgehog was saying. It was an idea of living your life further no matter what the consequences. No matter what horrible things happen to you in the past, you still have the entire future to live to the fullest and provide yourself a happier fate. That was something he only recently found out about. It was the right idea of living for someone like him as well.

During the alien invasion the world suffered not a long time ago, Sonic only occasionally left his side other than to do certain things on his own or help someone else at that point, as much as the black hedgehog tried to lose him in the gigantic confusion or burst out in anger at him every chance he got. Considering it was a massive emergency at the time, there was no time to talk it over either, so he had no idea why the Blue Blur kept coming back to him even when he didn't need any guidance or help from his side. If it was genuine help or sense of guilt Shadow himself resurfaced from the blue hedgehog by appearing once again in front of his eyes, he couldn't actually tell.

While still feeling slightly angry at the other mammal for not telling him about these things sooner, he had no reason to blame him for anything that happened to him during that accident. For the last time, the Ultimate Lifeform wanted to make sure the Blue Blur understood perfectly that his unfortunate fall had nothing to do with him as he hesitantly admitted to Sonic his inability with his then new found powers, ''I… fell because of my own inexperience.''

''But I had it,'' the blue hedgehog quickly disagreed and clenched his hands into loose fists, ''I've used the Chaos Emeralds for as long as I can remember. I could've saved you and then you wouldn't have to go through that again.''

Nodding at his back, the Ultimate Lifeform only faintly remembered the two of them together wouldn't have stood a chance in any case as both of their transformations already reached their climax. It was only going to get worse from then on. That was enough for him to believe there was no other way out of it, ''You pushed yourself to your limits as well. It was either me or both of us.''

''I wouldn't mind,'' the emerald eyed hero snorted and briefly looked over his shoulder, ''It's what I do.''

Repeating what the black hedgehog did for his rival's sake and his own redemption, Shadow didn't know anymore if he should be grateful to Sonic or mad at him for making him so distraught. The only thing he did know was that both of the choices the hedgehogs made were pretty damn stupid on both of their accounts, ''What you did earlier…''

Hearing his words, the Fastest Thing Alive replied with a halfhearted grunt, ''I never got the chance to do something for you. I owed you big time. But I'd probably do it in any case.''

The older mammal lifted his head, ''Why?''

''Because I'm your friend,'' turning his head around again, Sonic left out a short chuckle, ''Or at least, I wanna be.''

Occasionally the blue mammal wondered if things turned out differently then they have, would their relationship be any different from how it was now? If the Ultimate Lifeform didn't fall from space, would they actually be able to stand next to each other without spouting various insults and puns or just casually beat up one another?

Probably not but it was a nice thought.

''… we could've even been friends.''

Snorting slightly, Shadow leaned back against the wall to think about those words and in turn left his blue counterpart alone with his thoughts as well. He and the Blue Blur weren't even friends in such a way, more like companions in battle. Anything else seemed to drive them both on the edge of their nerves when they even considered being anything more than that. One of the few things that did tie them together was their different as day and night personalities, which while odd, actually managed to work according to some. They represented certain views and aspects the other hedgehog won't be able to show nor feel as much as the next one could in various situations. It's only then you come at a full circle.

Now, while the blue hedgehog did consider him a friend, the black hedgehog was still hesitant to say anything about the whole subject. They pretty much built up this entire façade about them being lifetime rivals and it was almost impossible anyone else would view them any differently even if they publicly announced it to the whole world. Even Eggman would probably fall on his giant nose for a second before forgetting about it and returning back to work.

However, it wasn't a bad thing to be thinking about.

Maybe someday, they could bury the rival hatchet. Sooner or later, both of them and everyone around them will get tired of seeing them as nothing more but two ego inflated multicolored hedgehogs with superiority complexes over each other. Probably to the point somebody will practically demand for them to stop their act. Shadow was fine with how it was now, but he wasn't going to forget the possibility. Although the black mammal felt they still had a long way to go, this was a nice start for them. Especially since they could actually be completely honest to each other and thankfully nobody's looking at them anyway. It's gonna take even longer when they'll be able to act like this in public.

Slightly tightening his fists, the black hedgehog felt something wet on one of his hands. Quickly looking at it, he noticed it was actually blood seeping through his white glove and onto his fur. It wasn't his, as he could already tell. Instead, he peeked over to the sitting blue hedgehog who kept his arms around his chest at all times. It wasn't long until he noticed a slow trail of dripping blood from one of Sonic's wounded arms he had hidden with his own hand from Shadow's sight.

Sighing at himself, the older mammal hasn't been thinking about his blue counterpart's condition and must've accidentally pressed on his wound far too much, ''Did I…'' he tried to ask somehow, only to get a confused look from the other.

''What?'' the younger hedgehog only now noticed that his wound opened up and his gloved hand started filling up with red sticky substance all over the place. To assure his darker rival otherwise, he shrugged it off immediately for no apparent reason, ''Nah, it's from the fall.''

Walking closer and kneeling next to him, Shadow wasn't going to let him sweep it under the carpet, ''Let me look at it.''

Slightly scooting over to the side as if to avoid the black hedgehog, the Blue Blur started nodding with an awkward grin on his face, ''It's nothing really, it'll heal by itself.''

Getting annoyed with the stubborn hedgehog, the older mammal growled out with a heavy sigh, ''Not like that it won't,'' and grabbed his wrist much to Sonic's surprise, although this time he didn't even try to fight back nor move away further.

Slightly embarrassed, the blue hedgehog looked away and rubbed his nose out of awkwardness, the only thing on his body that was at least considerably fine and wasn't full of perpetual aching and painful throbbing. In the meantime, he left the older mammal to do his thing. The black hedgehog made it up to his bleeding wound, sending a small electric shiver through the hero's spines as he touched it out of interest with his finger. Examining his peach arm, the Ultimate Lifeform eventually concluded the wound was going to become much worse if he doesn't cover it up with something soon. From his observation it didn't seem broken at all, but it still wasn't a good idea to be moving it around too much. Pulling out a white handkerchief, he wrapped it around the wound area and managed to gain a small wince from the younger one as he tightened the knot around it.

''It should hold for now,'' he finally replied, ''As long as it doesn't get infected, you should be fine.''

''Well, geez. Remind me to buy you a new one,'' checking out the immaculate white handkerchief that slowly filled with his leaking blood, the blue hedgehog turned back to the crimson eyed hedgehog with a question, ''Speaking of which, where did you get it?''

Snorting almost noticeably, the Ultimate Lifeform asked in return as if to lightly mock him, ''Where do your rings go when you collect them?''

''Uhhh…'' lifting his finger and leaving his mouth wide open, the blue hedgehog had to shrug immediately with a hand on his chin, ''That's actually a very good question.''

Standing up from his crouched position, the black hedgehog asked something that was more important to answer, ''Can you walk?''

Hearing his question, he slowly started picking himself up from the debris and Sonic eventually replied with a quick nod, ''Yeah…'' only to feel a little dizzy after repositioning his spiny head back on the right track. The blue hedgehog tried to keep himself from falling over until he got used to the sudden differences in the environment, even though he found it hard to remain still in this situation. However, when the entire room somehow rotated around him before his very eyes, the Blue Blur stumbled lightly in confusion, not being able to stop himself from dragging unconsciously to the side.

The emerald eyed hero was quickly caught by the older mammal before he could welcome the floor with his face, ''Easy now,'' he replied endearingly as he kept Sonic from falling over.

Only now Shadow realized that his blue counterpart was going to have massive problems walking or even standing correctly, much less get through the building and the entire island in one piece. It was the first time he has ever seen him this weak and battered up. Even in the worst of situations they used to deal with in the past, the Blue Blur barely ever qualified for a doctor's appointment. Whatever happens on their way back to the surface, the Ultimate Lifeform will need to look out for him around a lot more closely than he usually required, since Sonic appeared as if he'll break down into unconsciousness anytime soon without a warning. Not that the younger one would ever admit being in tremendous pain but that was only one of the many problems they might have. It was also the first time the black hedgehog will have to take point and responsibility for both of them, even though his previous decision was completely nullified once his rival made a choice for both of them.

Mumbling out a short grunt, the blue hedgehog brushed his forehead in a clearly tired manner and tried to calm himself with a quick shake of his head. It wasn't long until he looked up to his darker rival with a cheeky grin on his face, ''I think my leg's asleep.''

Typical answer for the Fastest Thing Alive as the black one sighed out entirely over that small thought in his mind. Straightening him completely and keeping Sonic on his feet the entire time, the older mammal replied, ''We need to get out of here as fast as possible.''

Tilting his head to the side, the blue one blinked in a puzzled manner, ''You're not mad at me anymore?''

The Ultimate Lifeform snorted at the mere indication he brought up, ''Far from it…'' he answered laughably but kept his voice as low and less condescending than it needed to be to relieve the various tensions between the two rival hedgehogs. He was still angry at the blue wonder for keeping secrets from him and getting him into this mess. However, the black hedgehog wanted to forget about those problems for the time being and focus on getting to safety instead, ''But we'll deal with it once we're out of here. I don't want to stay here anymore.''

''Great,'' as a sort of surprise, the younger mammal only left out a sigh of relief, ''For a moment I thought I actually got to your soft spot.''

Carefully releasing his hold around Sonic's torso and leaving him to stand on his own for a short while trying to confirm his balance, the black hedgehog suggested with a simple finger point, ''We better be on our guard from now on. There might be more of those robots out there.''

''But who's commanding them?'' folding his hands around himself once again, Sonic tilted his head, ''I don't think it's Eggman. And the city is deserted.''

As much as the Ultimate Lifeform really wanted to get far away from this place as quickly as it was physically possible, he still required some answers from his blue counterpart, particularly about this mysterious location of all things possible. He had no idea what to think about this island or its history. It was entirely possible nobody else had either. Sonic seemed to be the only person to know anything at all and if by some strange coincidence the younger one didn't hit his head far too much against the hard metal flooring, the emerald eyed hero might as well be his only source of some strange and vague information for the time being.

Shadow decided to ask with slight doubtfulness in his recognizable smooth tone, ''Are you really from this place?''

''Of course!'' the blue hedgehog yelped quickly and sent one of his aching arms into the air, only to slightly gasp out in pain. He then spent the rest of his time here petting it in sheer concern with a twitchy eye, ''How many Christmas Islands are out there anyway?''

Thinking for a slight moment, the crimson eyed agent remembered their short lived conversation the previous night where he had questioned the Blue Blur about his rivalry with the mad Doctor and his unknown origin nobody questioned or even thought about bringing up. As much as the blue hedgehog tried to avoid that exact topic, the older mammal did get some vague answers that might be a key to solving the mystery of this island and perhaps even the younger one's past as well. Sonic mentioned before he doesn't recall anything about his true home or for that matter, he doesn't even know how a normal hedgehog is supposed to act like in the wild or with those of his own kin. Whatever happened all those years ago to Sonic, the blue wonder possibly had no idea even in this time or age.

Lifting his eye ridge in slight wonder, the black one chose to use that as his second question, ''You mentioned you don't remember a thing about your real home. If that's the case, how do you know its name then?''

''That's the only thing I remember,'' the Fastest Thing Alive shrugged immediately.

''Really?'' the black hedgehog quickly predetermined that this won't be as easy as it appeared, ''Does anything around you look familiar?''

Looking around slowly and keeping his large emerald eyes on the various rust and cobweb stricken walls, the Blue Blur already checked out the building and the green jungle outside earlier to try and recall anything plausible in his head. Through seeing certain things in this place, there was surely something that could push his memory into the right direction anytime soon. However, Sonic was surprised to find out it didn't work on him as well as he believed it would.

He answered with a deadpan expression, ''No.''

Not letting him give up so soon, the agent asked again, ''Not even slightly?''

''Everything looks so… foreign,'' Sonic felt disappointed in himself and caught himself on his knees when he almost doubled over, ''It doesn't mean anything to me.''

Stroking his wild spines and exhaling quietly, the Ultimate Lifeform wasn't sure what to think of the blue hedgehog's situation. He found himself in the same position not a long time ago, so he was obviously the best choice to help his lively counterpart as best as he could. However as he seemed to realize fairly quickly, unlike the emerald eyed hero, Shadow had some blurry memories left of his previous experiences that kept him awake for several nights to try and figure them out. Even when some of them turned out to be completely inaccurate later on, they were his only starting point to solving the purpose behind his creation.

However, his blue rival has barely anything to work with which managed to sound even worse in comparison, leaving him completely stranded on where to go next, ''This is going to be much difficult then. It's not like in my case where I at least had a basic idea what to look for.''

''Nothing rings a bell. Not even a convenient flashback or anything,'' the blue hedgehog mentioned and picked himself up with a grunt. Sighing out, the Fastest Thing Alive scratched his ear in a short lived embarrassment and kept looking at the walls as if in hope of remembering something in the meantime.

Turning over to him, the black one growled out quietly in return, ''I really hope you didn't expect it to be that easy.''

''I didn't…'' the younger hedgehog quickly nodded, gaining only a snort from his darker counterpart. He was actually lying again as much as he hated to do so anymore in front of the Ultimate Lifeform. Sonic really believed this would be a piece of cake for him. It wasn't until he finally landed here he realized the place held no memory or familiar feelings for him whatsoever. The blue hedgehog started feeling lost and wasn't entirely sure what to do next. When they found the building earlier this morning, he thought it was the next best thing he could ever find in the jungle. After all, he really had no other choice than wander around aimlessly with no set destination.

''Then what do you remember?''

With a widened thoughtful look and a finger pressed against his muzzle, the blue hedgehog tilted his head slightly to the right as if to recall anything, ''It was a long time ago but I was told I was found washed ashore on South Island as a kid. I couldn't remember anything, except for that name. Other than that, I have no idea.''

''Must be a trauma induced amnesia,'' it's been years since the last time the emerald eyed hero was anywhere near this island and even then he must've been too young to preserve those memories. It was fairly obvious to him that Sonic wouldn't be able to remember anything even if he tried hard enough, ''And let me guess… nobody knew a thing?''

Sonic shrugged as if to confirm his statement quickly as possible, ''Bingo! The more I asked, the more it became annoying.''

As far as he could remember, at that point he was a lone hedgehog in the world amongst all those weird and strangely interesting animals he had met instead. All of them belonged to a certain group usually by mere appearance or common traits, only Sonic didn't exactly fit anywhere. It was his more prominent features, the sharp spines coming from the back of his head, his outrageous speed and his odd cobalt colored fur that differentiated him from everyone else. A blue speedy hedgehog probably looked more like a weird tourist attraction, but that slowly calmed down as the time went by. Even so, he made himself comfortable with all of them, regardless of how different the various species were to him.

It must've worked all too well as evidenced by his next reply, ''I eventually just settled down and created a new life until Eggman came along. I even forgot about Christmas Island. I couldn't remember or find out anything. It just seemed pointless to be asking around anymore.''

The black hedgehog didn't exactly accept that answer, ''I have a hard time believing you would just forget about it.''

In return, the Fastest Thing Alive merely smirked and waggled his finger up in the air in front of him, ''Is it really that difficult to guess?'' he replied with a short whistle coming out of his mouth and pointed at his chest, ''I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, I run with the wind and I never look back. This is who I am.''

''I still don't understand you,'' Shadow backed away slightly from him to lean against the cold wall with a thoughtful expression. He was more likely to learn the meaning of life than figure out the blue hedgehog in any possible way. Then again, sometimes you just had to ask honestly and bluntly instead for an easier approach as he found out recently, ''Why is it that you do this? Put yourself in danger whenever evil's afoot?''

The emerald eyed hero replied as if it was common knowledge to just about anyone on this planet, ''I just do what I wanna do. I don't care what everyone else thinks, I'm my own hedgehog,'' noticing the older mammal still tilting his head at him with vague conclusion, Sonic slightly extended his explanation, ''If I can help someone, I'll do it. I don't like rules to prevent me from achieving that, Shadow.''

Nodding his head around, the black one replied with a peculiar question, ''Is that why you don't live in the city?''

With a bit of a blank look in his eyes, he only shrugged, ''One of them,'' and pursed his lips for some reason or another as his arms dropped almost lifelessly against his sides. He probably even believed the idea of a fellow citizen was completely absurd.

As it turned out, the blue hedgehog was as stubborn as much as he didn't care about what the entire world thought about him or anything he came up with. It was his choices that mattered the most after all, especially in crucial situations and nobody in the planet was capable of turning him against his own wishes. Sonic only did what he felt like doing and considered it to be the best way in his opinion, view of the world be damned. It extended all the way to disregard his own safety to achieve a desired effect. There was a reason he didn't wish to be affiliated with various groups or organizations. Staying tied to them would only be interfering on his freedom and his perseverance in saving anything dear to him.

And he liked having it, that odd thing called freedom… more than anything in the world.

However, if the blue hedgehog really goes with the wind all the time, why is he here then? Shadow rubbed his forehead in curiosity, ''Hold on. If you don't look back, then why did you come here in the first place?''

''I just…'' the Blue Blur hesitated for a short while and tried to answer it as best as he could. His previous statement did make him look like a complete hypocrite and he rather carefully picked his words this time around, ''I just wanted to know if this was real. I didn't want to at first but curiosity got the best of me.''

''And when where you going to tell me or Tails about it?'' that was another question bothering him.

''Actually I wasn't going to tell anybody,'' for a slight moment Sonic felt like that wasn't the smartest thing to say, as his darker counterpart was quick to exhale tremendously and threaten to ignore him again all of a sudden. The younger mammal stopped him from rethinking this situation over to explain it properly this time around, ''Wait a second, just listen. If there was nothing here, you'd have no reason to know about it. It doesn't really concern you all, so…''

The black hedgehog nodded as he did make sense of it, even if he remained slightly frustrated over the fact, ''I understand,'' the Fastest Thing Alive never really liked to pester anyone with his problems anyway and dealt with them himself.

''You do? Cool,'' the blue hedgehog was relieved they were finally on the same page and added another thing with a chuckle, ''Oh and… thanks.''

Slightly puzzled by that claim, the Ultimate Lifeform looked over his shoulder, ''For what?''

''For helping me.''

Chapter 13 - My Ambition

''Oh and… thanks.''

Slightly puzzled by that claim, the Ultimate Lifeform looked over his shoulder, ''For what?''

''For helping me.''

Seeing that recognizable big smile on the blue hedgehog's muzzle, Shadow could see he was serious with that sentence. Forcing a sharp snort out of his system, the black mammal managed to reply with a short raspy cough, ''You're welcome…'' which in turn seemed to amuse his younger rival.

It's not that he wasn't used to being thanked, it was just another one of those things he never really expected to hear from his heroic counterpart. It appeared as if he'll need to change his views of the Fastest Thing Alive little by little as the day progressed. As this so called routine mission suddenly transformed into a survival mission and decided to carry on throughout the rest of the day, they will need to work together as best as they could to get through this place in one piece.

Shadow still had many questions stocked up in his head and he wished to find the answers from wherever he could. However, the older mammal only wanted to move on as soon as it was possible since they already wasted enough time here.

The Ultimate Lifeform finally asked the younger one, ''You haven't seen a workshop or anything similar around here, have you?''

Sonic thought for a short moment and shrugged with his shoulders in a confused state, ''Uhhh… no. What do you need it for?''

He quickly explained himself, ''I was thinking about fixing the fuse box in the corridors. I would rather much like to see what I went through to get here.''

''You gonna fix our way out?'' the Blue Blur chuckled out and folded his arms with a small smirk, ''That's exactly what Tails would do.''

''I'm not surprised.''

Seeing the nodding older hedgehog, the Fastest Thing Alive dragged himself rather slowly away from the debris to see if his legs still worked correctly, ''I don't think there's anything here,'' he replied lightly and kept his balance in check. He then leaned against the wall and pointed into the room with the transparent walls he previously only mildly examined but didn't seem to contain anything interesting or useful from his quick check up.

However, the blue one mentioned it anyway if it was useful enough for his darker counterpart instead as he pointed out, ''I only looked into that room and it's a mess.''

Tilting his head toward it, the black hedgehog nodded with a rare tone of appreciation in his voice, ''Right. I'll take a look around.''

However, the younger mammal didn't want to be left behind as he quickly staggered forward with a mumble, ''Wait a sec, I wanna go too.''

''No…'' with clear persistence in his voice, Shadow turned toward him swiftly and caught him by the shoulders to prevent him from moving any further much to the blue hedgehog's eventual annoyance, ''You stay here and don't move.''

The Ultimate Lifeform wanted him to rest for the time being when they were still willing to stay in one place for so long to get anything done. The way back up will be long and hard if those stairs were any indication, especially for the Blue Blur in this unfortunate situation. He wanted Sonic to regain at least a part of his strength back in the meantime, just so he'll have an easier time walking if not anything else. He replied further to the emerald eyed hero to discourage him from his incoming actions as best as he could, ''You're not in your best shape just yet.''

Pouting harshly, the blue wonder countered with a nonchalant look on his face as he started leaning against the older mammal as if to taunt him, ''What am I supposed to do then?''

''How should I know?'' the black hedgehog pushed him backwards gently enough to not hurt him again until he came across the debris and forced him to sit back down. With a slightly irritated appearance alongside his propped hands on his hips, he asked the blue hedgehog to find out what would keep him from moving around, ''What do you do when you're bored?''

His reply was mockingly simple, ''I run.''

Rolling his eyes, the G.U.N. agent crossed his arms with a heavy exhale, ''Other than that?''

As soon as the younger hedgehog could, he put his hand up to his chin and started looking around with an obvious thoughtful expression. He grunted out every so often to play around with the façade that already looked fake enough to embarrass most professional actors and the older mammal was slowly getting annoyed by it. He wasn't sure if it was because of Sonic's playful nature just now or his lack of any actual hobbies and interests other than speed and racing. For being such a carefree and impossibly irritating hedgehog in general, he must have been pretty boring otherwise. Then again, he could say the same thing about himself but at least he had enough life left to make something worthwhile out of it.

He almost burst out at him in irritation as the blue hedgehog kept playing around with him, ''Sonic…''

However, it was the Blue Blur who did that instead much to his initial surprise, ''Fine, I'll just lie down and stare at the ceiling or something!'' after pouting out tremendously, he hugged his legs and brought them against his chest, right before he started rocking forward and backwards with an unsatisfied and grumpy look on his face.

''Just don't wander off anywhere,'' were Shadow's final words to him before he decided to take off toward the transparent room.

''Like I have somewhere else to go…'' the Fastest Thing Alive replied mockingly and dropped on his back soon afterwards, hitting all of his spikes against the debris as he exhaled deeply in certain boredom and mumbled various complaints to himself.

Pushing the rusty slide doors aside until they were perfectly out of his way, the black hedgehog stepped inside into the unknown room. At the first sight, the strange place didn't look anything special, with various long tables and mostly broken, possibly even hazardous junk lying on the floor for many years before they came to disturb the horrifyingly tranquil peace of this specific area.

The previously clean and white walls were now covered in heavily littered cobwebs, cough worthy dust and unpleasant moisture, only that weird and distinct smell was entirely different from the rest of the building. Around the entire factory, most scents were of mechanical and electrical origins, here it was more close to what the outside world would feel like… earthly and strangely clean, if somewhat rotten. As if something died in here and was forgotten about until the earth claimed its remains.

That was an unpleasant comparison to make.

As much as the light in the underground corridors wasn't exactly needed since the Ultimate Lifeform did find his way through with little consequences, the always present darkness was starting to severely grate on his nerves and he could never tell when he'd get lost in there without a proper warning. And he hated getting lost in unknown places like these with a fiery passion of a million succeeding Chaos Blasts. Especially considering the whole building seemed to be covered with light spots as of now, only the mysterious underground wasn't for some strange reason. He found that to be somewhat suspicious.

It would be much easier to keep an eye on the Fastest Thing Alive as well, since his younger counterpart would most likely go off on his own eventually or find himself in some remote area from where there was no escape, if such bad luck existed in this location anyway. That being said, he should hurry up since he doubted that Sonic will wait for him even in this incredibly worrying condition he found himself in.

Besides, right now he was the only one who could protect himself and the Blue Blur successfully as the younger hedgehog barely looked ready for action anytime soon. It was still an oxymoron in his head, but it was true. As cheesy and berating it began sounding in the older mammal's head, his rival was still a kid after all and the unfortunate fact was that he just fell down here unprepared and unsecured. Yet, he was doing considerably fine for someone he previously believed he would only find a bloody print splattered all over the floor. He was grateful that a horrible sight like that was spared from him and that the emerald eyed hero managed to survive.

Shadow noticed a pair of cupboards in the distant background, hurrying over to them in quick succession to investigate them out thoroughly. The shelves were sparsely filled with those few full jars that were left unscathed with various suspicious looking liquids dripping inside of them. By now, they must have turned into a dangerous corrupted poison that could only do more harm then good. He was wondering if this was some sort of laboratory or something similar back in the old days when it was still functional. The layout of the room resembled one at least. It still begged the question if this was a normal factory after all.

Opening the drawers instead, the black mammal found many smaller instruments he was either very familiar with or had no idea what they did exactly, most notably scissors, nails and screwdrivers of various sizes and even all colors of the rainbow for that matter.

The latter was pretty important in this situation and his mind, as he hastily grabbed the nearest one and examined it before closing the drawer with a small echo bouncing off the decaying walls. A working fuse turned out to be much harder to find in comparison, as those few he actually managed to discover were either empty or destroyed entirely. It must've been luck he found at least one in another fuse box that appeared to power up a nearby broken machine of some sort, but even this one looked in severely bad shape. Even more so than the blue hedgehog for that matter and that was saying something.

It probably won't last for a very long time, but at least long enough for them to get the hell out of the underground and back to the surface.

XXX

''When are you gonna be done with that thing?'' leaning against the heavy doors, Sonic watched with a bored expression as his darker counterpart worked on the damaged fuse box, trying to get all the wires back into their original positions before they were mercilessly ripped apart.

The blue hedgehog had nothing to do at the moment and he was slowly drifting into a world of irritation. Though he did offer his help so many times that Shadow was tired of hearing it any longer, the Ultimate Lifeform told him that he doesn't need his assistance and thus he should just wait until he's done with it. Injured completely with a stressful headache, this was one of those times that incredibly annoyed the Blue Blur.

After all, he couldn't even remember the last time he ever had a simple cold, much less a broken arm or a leg that prevented him from making his usual adventures around the entire world. He couldn't run so well anymore nor do any of his over the top stunts he enjoyed doing to battle whenever boredom entered the scene. Sonic couldn't even stretch properly without getting massive cramps in his legs or back.

In the meantime, Shadow treated him like a patient and didn't want him to touch any of the stuff he was dealing with. As much as he even implied he wanted to do something, just about anything in this very moment, the older mammal shrugged him off and put him back in his place despite his resistance.

Sonic felt… useless. That managed to bug him more than the loss of his speed. Despite how he looked, he still had enough spirit in him to do the job just as fine. Maybe he couldn't run right now, but that didn't mean there wasn't something else for him to do.

''I only just started,'' the black one replied with no hesitation and backed away slightly when a spark left the contraption, ''Give me a moment.''

Slightly rocking left and right due to sudden dizziness in his head yet again, the blue hedgehog repositioned himself slightly to try and think about something else in the meantime. And yet, he couldn't do it as he figured out in the next couple of seconds when he started to bug his darker counterpart further, ''C'mon, do we really need it?''

Sonic found it slightly ironic that his rival wanted to fix the lights somehow, when just a moment ago he wanted to get out of this mildly terrifying place quickly. He even found his way down here with no light at all, so he didn't see what the problem was.

''I'm not about to wander in the darkness anymore,'' he explained right away with a grunt and continued working without turning his head around.

He clicked with his tongue, ''We could've been miles away at this point, you know?'' the emerald eyed hero sighed out significantly and pushed himself away from the heavy doors when he didn't get a reply from Shadow.

The Fastest Thing Alive eventually found himself staring right into the silent darkness of this large and complicated hall. The sheer feeling of loneliness, various unknown dangers of the underground corridors and lack of any natural warm light was enough to send shivers down his spines for very good reasons. Back in the day, he'd investigate similar locations before but not in this kind of darkness. Doctor Eggman's various fortresses and laboratories usually inhabited anything that was possible to create from random scraps, yet the clear and utter darkness usually stood firmly away from them.

And he was glad for it in most cases.

However, the blue hedgehog didn't want to wait anymore for the Ultimate Lifeform to finish with his work. He quietly dragged himself onto the edge of the darkness and called out with a mischievous whistle, ''Hey, I'll take a look.''

The older mammal immediately stopped fiddling around with the fuse box when he heard him. Shadow turned to the other with a particularly strict tone and pointed the screwdriver right at him as if he was going to throw it in his general direction anytime soon, ''You can't see anything in there.''

''I won't go far, I promise,'' the Blue Blur grinned and flailed his hand through the empty air with nonchalance.

He rolled his crimson eyes once more, ''Sonic…''

''Come on, Shadow. Don't you trust me?'' the emerald eyed hero wiggled his finger before the G.U.N. agent, right before leaving out a chuckle that started echoing in the unknown darkness. He then slowly started drifting into the black corridors regardless of what his darker counterpart was going to say next to prevent him from doing so. He might have appeared battered up and unable to do any of his fast actions right now, but he didn't need the Ultimate Lifeform to guide him around by his hand since he was perfectly capable of standing on his own.

The other mammal replied with a deadpan look on his face, ''I trust you to get murdered in there.''

''Oh, you're no fun, you nanny…'' the younger hedgehog complained with a mocking snort as he heard the surprisingly worrying tone in Shadow's voice, ''What's the worst that can happen to me? Trip, fall over and break my nose? Maybe you should kiss it later for better healing.''

As the Blue Blur started distancing from him with echoing steps, the older hedgehog thought about dragging him back with his own two hands with no regard for the Blue Blur's words. However, it was already obvious it wouldn't work on the blue hedgehog anymore, not even in this situation when Sonic was obviously a complete and utter wreck that was about to collapse on his head anytime soon. One thing he was immensely glad for was the fact that his ever so grinning counterpart wasn't able to run at any point, even if he tried very hard. If he did, the only thing that would come out of it was a sprain or worse, something very much broken and very agonizing.

And that was putting it lightly. The Ultimate Lifeform was at least a little sure the other mammal wouldn't be so reckless to forget that now.

However, it assured him that he won't be going anywhere far. Since he won't be bothering him anymore if he complies with his choice, Shadow should get a little peace at the moment as well and get his work done even quicker, ''Fine, but don't go far…'' the black hedgehog agreed with a sharp breath and turned back to the fuse box with visible hesitance as if knowing this wasn't a good idea to be making at this point in time.

He completely missed out on the blue hedgehog's thumbs up he had prepared for him, ''Of course! You gonna be done soon?''

With no intention of answering straightly anytime soon, his black rival merely muttered out, ''Soon…'' which eventually caused the Fastest Thing Alive to shrug lightly and take his immediate leave toward the darkening unknown.

Brushing his large eyes, the Blue Blur proceeded slowly with one of his hands always touching the wall as he moved away from the safe and warm light, thus even farther away from his only backup in this weird and esoteric place. He had thought about the numerous possibilities of this place before, but he wasn't all too sure to share them with his darker counterpart just yet until he had a clearer picture in his mind. Even if he couldn't remember anything at this moment, Sonic was sure this was the right island for him to be investigating, no matter how foreign it seemed or how well it tried to hide itself from his presence.

He just needed to search for something. He didn't know what exactly he should be looking for, but that was just a small part of this entire investigation after all. The blue hedgehog was trying to figure it out by himself the first time around, but when he got here, the Blue Blur was hit with the fact that he didn't want to be here alone. Especially not after what happened to him in this place, as if it was out to murder him with no remorse for returning back here in the first place.

Shadow seemed like a weird choice of a companion for this sort of mission, but it worked for now and he didn't mind it much. Better yet, his darker counterpart dealt with stuff like this before. However, when they're back in the lands of United Federation… oh boy, he couldn't even imagine what his black rival was going to come up with to make him pay for keeping secrets from him. However, he'll deal with it just like he always does. A friendly race with an eventual sonic boom on the continental bridge always made everything better in his opinion and thus didn't worry about it too much.

The emerald eyed hero juggled with the idea of asking the Ultimate Lifeform about his own memory search he invested a lot of time into during the alien invasion. While he was usually around him whenever he had the time to help him out, Sonic wasn't always present, so he couldn't exactly expect how or why certain things happened in particular ways. However, he figured that his darker counterpart didn't like to be reminded of those times as the Blue Blur vaguely noticed at one point earlier, so he kept quiet at least about one thing without frustrating him any longer.

And yet, as if he wasn't at any time before this one, he was now literally wandering in pure unaltered darkness. Exception being that the previous darkness represented his complete and utter obliviousness to the foreign environment.

The blue hedgehog hoped his eyes would adjust at least slightly to see various shapes in the distance, but that clearly wasn't something to be happy about when he didn't know what they even represented. In situations like this, he was incredibly blind but he still pushed onwards with no clear destination. For a moment, he was wondering if he was even going the right way at this point. Sonic started guessing just how the black hedgehog managed to pull through it, but knowing his status it probably wasn't as difficult as he must've figured.

Turning around slowly with a slight shiver as both the perpetual silence and coldness dragged on through the underground corridors, he quickly widened his eyes. The blue hedgehog now found himself in pure darkness, with no light source to guide him back to his darker counterpart. With an awkward cough, Sonic decided to yell out in hopes of reaching the Ultimate Lifeform's ears, ''Okay, now I can't see anything! Shadow, are you done yet?''

''I'll be done soon!'' was the immediate echoing reply from somewhere else, sounding a lot more worrisome than he did ever before.

''You said that earlier…''

Sighing harshly under his breath, the blue mammal continued with slower but bigger steps, this time by pulling his hand away from the secure wall. He decided to wander through the dark hallway along with his shoes echoing against the metal flooring, giving him at least some sense of sight with his ears instead just so he wouldn't bump into walls by accident. However, before he could make even two steps into his blind chosen direction, Sonic already tripped over the next best thing that was lying on the floor.

''Ouch! What did I just trip over?''

Curiously, the blue hedgehog scratched his hurt head and sat up on his bottom with some effort, right before reaching over to where his legs were supposed to be right now. After feeling the cold surroundings with his fingers, the Blue Blur came upon a hard round object, most likely a very large stone of some sort as it appeared too small and too round for a Chao egg or anything similar.

While he felt like cursing at it for making him trip in the first place, the Fastest Thing Alive instead decided to examine it in pure blindness, amazed by its random design, ''Wow, it feels so weird. It's full of holes.''

Back at the warm unnatural light emitting from the previous room, the Ultimate Lifeform was finally finished with the fuse box and fixed it as much as he could. The only real problem were the ever so colorful wires, having been brutally dislodged from their original position by some strong force a long time ago. By some sheer luck, they were still connected with the box just barely enough for the energy to flow through it and lighten up the malicious darkness they were stuck in for so long. In hopes that he made enough rearrangements to it, Shadow breathed out deeply as he decided to try out the mildly decaying fuse, holding it carefully as if he'll accidentally break it in the process.

With no more hesitation, the black hedgehog slowly pushed it inside, ''Here goes nothing…''

When it locked into the right position, a small electrical spark mildly shook his hand, revealing that it was still in working order. To his immense surprise, the various lights began to light up slowly while the sparks flew all over the place. He sighed with genuine relief out of his mind, noticing the immense difference in the hallway before he managed to light up the place. Few of the ceiling lights still flickered occasionally, possibly indicating at a more internal damage then any of them expected. However, it should be enough for them to get through the underground labyrinth.

''Finally!'' the blue hedgehog looked around himself, readjusting to the new found light that was always welcome in his presence. He brushed his emerald eyes with his free hand, ''How am I glad to see you.''

It was as if he had been wandering around in the darkness for days nonstop. It was great seeing light once more, even if it was artificial at best.

With a mocking grin, Sonic exhaled heavily in relief and turned back to the strange stone he was holding in his hands.

Only to widen his eyes in an unexpected horror.

That wasn't a stone at all.

Brushing his forehead, the older mammal leaned against the doors and grunted pleasantly at his own resourceful mind. Then again, he really didn't have to be as prideful as it appeared. After all, it was only a broken fuse box and it probably won't hold for too long as he was already expecting, but the Ultimate Lifeform did his best to drive away the ominous darkness from himself and the emerald eyed hero.

Speaking of which, he really should take off right away and find the little bugger before he hurts himself or something.

However, the black hedgehog was sent immediately back on his feet the second he heard the blue hedgehog's scream from near distance, disturbing even him at this point as it managed to send a shiver down his spines, ''Sonic!'' he called out and dropped the screwdriver in quick succession, skating down the corridor as fast as he could.

With a stern but widened look on his face, he quickly followed toward the location where he believed his blue rival might have been at this moment. Passing down a very long corridor, he was slightly surprised just how far he managed to get in the darkness without any light. Whatever it was, the Ultimate Lifeform could only hope nothing serious happened to him or else he'll have to beat himself over the head with the fact that he just let the blue hedgehog wander around for no reason other than granting him some freedom before he'd get impatient again and started annoying him.

Shadow knew he should have kept a close eye on him and yet he still couldn't to do so. He should have known by now this wasn't the place nor the time to be this reckless like he had been now. This wasn't usual for the black mammal, he didn't make such careless decisions right out of thin air.

When the black hedgehog finally got around the corner at the very end of the hallway, he found the Fastest Thing Alive in a very unusual position.

He was sitting in the corner, with his hands tightly around him and visibly shaking.

Just what happened and scared the Blue Blur so much? He approached him with one of his extended hands, ''Sonic, what…''

Only then he managed to notice something entirely different not far away from him with a corner of his crimson eye. The older mammal widened his eyes in shock at the event he wasn't expecting one bit, almost paralyzing him to the ground and the world around him. All over the metallic floor, old bones were scattered in various ways, with skulls being particularly noticeable and shaped in such a way even someone with no experience in biology could recognize them immediately.

Hedgehog skeletons.

''What the hell happened here?''

Almost unable to speak in this very moment, Shadow the Hedgehog asked his own disturbed mind with disbelief, his eyes growing even more shocking at the thought that he was previously stumbling over this stuff in the darkness. The colorful tone continued to echo in his mind long after he had made that particular question. For once, he would have been grateful if he ignored his own wishes at this point in time, just so neither of them would have to see this now. However, he couldn't unsee it… not in any way possible could he ever forget about something like this. If he didn't think of this island in the same way before, he did now and it wasn't something he was glad about believing.

Christmas Island was a horrible place that should have never resurfaced and save them the trouble of going here.

This was getting out of hand.

This was getting too much for both of them.

Hearing stifled weeps and awkward sniffs coming from the younger hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform quickly turned away from the shocking event before him and hesitantly crouched down to the blue hedgehog's level. Sonic kept his face hidden from him and tried to keep his voice as low as best as he could to hide the obvious fact that he was on the edge of tears and a potential breakdown. Shadow wasn't sure if he should feel pity or at least try to comfort him.

''Are you alright?'' he asked softly, even though the older hedgehog clearly knew that wasn't the most sensible question to be asking someone who was in utter shock from seeing a bunch of long dead skeletons that happened to be of the same specie as them.

When Shadow didn't get any sort of response from him, the older mammal carefully gripped his shoulders, surprising him just how much his younger counterpart was shivering at the moment. The Fastest Thing Alive didn't react to his touch and even buried his head deeper in his arms. Shaking him gently in return to get his attention, he asked with a more endearing voice, ''Sonic… say something.''

Sniffing harshly, the blue hedgehog only started nodding at first as if in clear denial of the world around him and the unfortunate event he had seen just recently, ''I… was just…'' his voice sounded incredibly weak and muffled until he finally lifted his head up slightly and took a deep breath. He still didn't say anything for the time being when he shook again all over his body as if electricity just passed through him.

He refused to look at his darker counterpart when he posed a straight but somehow simple question, ''Why? Why is it like this?''

As if it was intended for him, the black mammal answered honestly, ''I don't know.''

''Shadow…'' when Sonic tried to move by gripping his counterpart's shoulders in return, he found himself leaning with his forehead against the Ultimate Lifeform's chest, along with his emerald eyes still staring down into the hard flooring. Catching a few breaths in-between his inconsistent trembling and heavy sniffs, the younger one eventually managed to reply with an incredibly shaking voice, ''I need to know… I need to know what happened here…''

Finding himself in a pretty uncomfortable position, the black hedgehog was out of words at this time. With the emerald eyed hero on the edge of tears in the middle of nowhere, what was he supposed to do about it? Comfort him? Give him a shoulder to cry on? What were the chances of him refusing because he was going to feel just as awkward about it as he did? This wasn't something Shadow was used to or would ever found himself in, not with the blue hedgehog nor with anyone he actually knew. The Ultimate Lifeform already figured out this was a very disturbing place as he just recently found out, but even he wasn't prepared to see what else would come out of it to haunt both of them.

He only knew they both needed to get out of here when they still had the chance. Or at least, out of the underground. This wasn't a good place for them.

With no real intention at first, one of Shadow's gloved hands somehow ended up on the blue mammal's head, gently stroking it. He didn't realize until a minute later just what he wanted to accomplish with that, but if it worked on those Chao creatures, maybe it will here as well. He didn't really know what to do or say instead, as he feared it might make things worse if the Fastest Thing Alive doesn't calm down first. Much to his surprise, it did actually work as Sonic calmed down after a while and his shaking started to slow down. Well, at least something good came out of it.

The Ultimate Lifeform was starting to get pained by the awkward position they were stranded in and decided to say something that might be encouraging enough for Sonic, ''We'll find something… if that is what you wish.''

As much as this island appeared to be a pretty messed up place, the Blue Blur wasn't going to leave in any case, especially not right now. Not when they've actually found a real honest proof of hedgehogs' existence on this land and not until he finds something that will be useful in solving this island's mystery; the true fate of all those disappeared mammals. And until the storms clears out, the crimson eyed agent didn't have much choice but go along with it.

At first, the emerald eyed hero said nothing but eventually agreed with his older counterpart when he nodded his head slightly with another electric tremble following down his body. As frightened as he appeared to be by this place, Sonic wasn't going to give up on this opportunity just yet. Nobody said it would be easy or pleasant, but as long as he was here, the blue hedgehog was going to make the best of it and find out whatever he can.

No, he will definitely find out what happened here.

As much as the black hedgehog felt the blue one would really need some time alone, the G.U.N. agent really wanted to move out of this dungeon, ''Can you stand?''

''Yeah…'' Sonic whimpered out in a high yet quiet pitch, trying to get rid of those ridiculous hiccups that came along as a result of the younger mammal's silent weeping. The older hedgehog helped him up, with the Fastest Thing Alive finding support on Shadow's arms along with his head still leaning against his chest. Eventually, he pulled away from him and brushed his eyes with one of his gloved hands to get rid of anything resembling tears from his face, as well as to keep himself composed before his darker counterpart.

After a while, the Blue Blur replied with a calmer voice as he stared into a wall, ''We should be going now. There's nothing here anymore.''

''Sonic, if there's anything…'' the black hedgehog almost chocked himself on that particular sentence, but he wanted him to know that he wasn't alone in this.

Dear Chaos, even in his head it sounded incredibly sappy.

However, if it makes him feel any better, the Ultimate Lifeform can't really complain about it, ''You can talk to me, alright?''

''I'll be fine,'' the blue hedgehog shot a pretty confident look toward his rival despite the situation that has recently befallen him, ''But thanks anyway, Shadow. I'll remember that.''

Chapter 14 - Sea of Sorrow

Having crossed the unforgiving corridors and met more horrors in the way than it was necessary, the hedgehogs managed to arrive back at the top where everything started. It took them a great deal of time getting up numerous stairs, since the blue hedgehog wasn't in any shape to take simplest of jogs at this moment. At the same time, Shadow couldn't even count how many times he refused his help with the same old sentence he had heard all too much for his liking, ''I'm fine… really! I can walk by myself,'' only to look at the Blue Blur with the most dubious expression the Ultimate Lifeform ever developed on his face.

Sonic kept moving upwards with a downed head whilst keeping one of his hands on the rail to preserve his balance. Shadow was almost awed he didn't break under immense pressure right about now, what with various misfortunes pilling up on his back all of a sudden. It appeared as if the island itself was taking tremendous pleasure in torturing the younger hedgehog with anything it could think of. Even at this stage, none of them could predict what would be the next horrible thing thrown at them with great force. They haven't found out anything useful or insightful about the so called Christmas Island, but if those bones were any indication, they were hedgehogs living on this land a long time ago. Now they only needed to figure out what happened to them and why.

The older mammal wasn't going to make any conclusions in his mind until he figures out what they're up against this time. However, he felt a certain disdain toward anymore information about this place. It's not that he didn't want to find out anything about the island or its civilization, but this land wasn't exactly what you would call a welcome home. He hoped his blue counterpart thought or at least considered the same, since the darkest secrets of this building might not be exactly what Sonic hoped for when he decided to come here, even though he should've known by now there's nothing that could possibly make the situation seem any better. In fact, it may even be worse than the last thing they saw.

If he knew the emerald eyed hero any better now than anytime before, he might be able to handle whatever comes at him next time… would he really? This unfortunate adventure is a lot more personal than anything else the blue wonder must have been dealing with in the past.

The black hedgehog scoffed at himself in pure sarcasm, thinking over the well-mannered intentions in his mind. He was actually worried for Sonic's wellbeing, if only because the situation isn't going to look any brighter in his favor. Whatever they find here, it's something he'll need to live with for the rest of his life, knowing the ugly details of his forgotten past and whatever horrible things happened in this place that turned it into such mess.

Even the blue hedgehog said it himself he had no time looking back and thus didn't worry about it. Perhaps he did make a humongous mistake of coming back here in the first place, but can you really blame him? To have such opportunity rise right out of nowhere and it's exactly about that one thing you thought was lost forever to the flow of time…

Shadow would probably do the same if he was in his place. Actually, he did it when it proved to be his only chance to figure out the real truth.

With no obvious direction of where to go next, the black mammal decided to lead them back into the room where the insane robot attacked them and self-destructed upon defeat. He was curious about that particular machine. He wasn't sure just how it was going to help them both, but he was out of any other options at the moment and the building might hold more secrets than it appeared. Arriving to their destination at a leisure pace, the room was the same the black one left it after he went to look for the Blue Blur. Large debris of the mechanical beast laid spread out, some of which were thrown into the walls and the ceiling with such force they left a permanent mark. The black hedgehog was quick to search through them, with the blue one leaning against the wall to take a short breath from the seemingly endless stairs.

''Huh…'' Sonic gaped at the room with an open mouth as the hazy visual memory of events here started to unclear themselves, ''I'm surprised it didn't blow the roof off after all that.''

Hearing him, the Ultimate Lifeform commented with relief as he came across the gigantic but completely torn torso of the robot, ''At least it's not getting up ever again,'' and continued to overturn various bits and pieces of the mechanical beast.

There was one question he wasn't going to regret asking, ''Just what is it doing here?''

Instead of just standing around and doing nothing, the blue hedgehog decided to help and look. He couldn't even imagine what Shadow was searching for, but he guessed anything at this point would come in handy. Almost tripping over the small debris in his way, he approached what he believed was a horribly mangled clawed hand. He whistled with a cocky tone once he noticed just how utterly wrecked it was. Its belongings were completely shattered into tiny little pieces and sprawled all over the floor, even in the tiniest places where it would be impossible to reach them. It would take ages to find all of them and put them back together.

Most likely the worst jigsaw puzzle anyone would ever like to deal with.

Coming across the robot's destroyed head and gaining a bit of power into his foot, Sonic overturned it slightly to the point it was firing sparks at him and knelt beside it with curiosity. He squirmed in discomfort when he noticed a strange transparent liquid dripping out of its shattered eyes, but it didn't smell like oil. It didn't smell like anything to be completely honest. However, it didn't stop him from looking at it a little closer. The Blue Blur noticed something under the heavy dust clinging to the back of its head and lightly brushed it away, only to reveal an interesting symbol of sorts.

''Shadow?'' folding his arms around his chest and staring at the thing with a tilted head, the emerald eyed hero called for the black hedgehog who was minding his own business further away. The blue one started pouting when he tried to make out the words, but as soon as he leaned closer to get a better look at it, his vision suddenly blurred out and his head started to hurt again. He was considering two options at this moment; either he needed glasses or he'll drop to the floor in a few minutes. Feeling dizzy, the Fastest Thing Alive decided to sit down for a short just so he wouldn't fall over and waited for the other to come by.

When the black one joined his side, he sighed quietly but the blue wonder was completely unfazed by it when he questioned, ''What?''

Poking the robotic head out of curiosity and boredom with his finger, Sonic replied with a shrug, ''There's something written on it.''

Stepping closer and kneeling next to the informed hero, Shadow took a closer look at the machine's head. It was harder to make out what it was saying due to the text being burned out by the massive explosion. By running his fingers around the letters he could already tell what the words were supposed to spell out without actually seeing them. The edges of these particular words were sharp but clean, as if to emphasize that one clear distinction between hedgehogs and other animals. Either that or it was just a major coincidence on someone's part. To better familiarize himself with the text, he took one long look at it before nodding in acknowledgement.

''GenEXE?'' the black hedgehog quietly added to his observations, making out the strange name in one quick breath, ''What is that supposed to mean?''

The blue mammal immediately came up with an idea, ''Maybe it's the name of a robot factory?''

It was possible that the building itself was one. Nodding negatively toward the Blue Blur, Shadow thought otherwise with a dubious tone when he put his hand on his chin, ''It sounds like a program.''

Sonic snorted as he looked over to his counterpart, ''What, a program is trying to kill us now?''

''It could be the name of a self-defense mechanism we probably triggered by accident…'' the Ultimate Lifeform theorized with no exact specifics in his mind, but it seemed to fit as long as he was concerned, even if the younger hedgehog was still in doubt over it, ''And it unleashed this thing on us.''

''What kinda paranoid self-defense mechanism uses robots?'' the blue hedgehog replied in question as if it was the most ridiculous idea anyone ever thought of. However, then he remembered the basic idea behind the entire sections of the good old Doctor's Egg Pawns and various other charming contraptions that liked to destroy, chomp and stomp on everything in its path, including the Blue Blur himself.

Sonic dropped his eyelids halfway down in a short sarcastic episode as he sighed out, ''Oh, wait… nevermind.''

Standing up immediately and offering his blue counterpart a hand, the black hedgehog replied on a more positive note, ''If we want to find more about this, we'll need to find the main computer first. If there's anything that can tell us more, any remaining data in this place might be our only chance.''

Repositioning himself and clapping his hands together, the blue wonder grinned at him with a lifted finger, ''Alright, sounds plausible. Mission objective: find the computer room!''

Twitching his eye slightly in sheer discomfort, the Ultimate Lifeform glared at Sonic when the storm outside decided to flash a lightning and lastly grumble terrifyingly in his favor. Shadow quickly informed the shrugging hero as he leaned forward with an annoyed appearance, ''For everything that you hold sacred, please, never say that line again in my presence.''

With that out of his system, the black hedgehog turned away and moved on, leaving the confused speedster behind, ''Uhh, okay?''

As the investigation continued throughout the building, the ferocious torrent outside wasn't going anywhere for a very long time. It appeared it was going to stay here for as long as it was needed to prevent their escape. It was just a matter of time how or when they were going to leave again or see another familiar face that wasn't of their own. However, as long as they pushed forward, the better it was for them to finally end this complication and find whatever they can about this place. They both wanted to go home.

With various electric, boiler and other computer based rooms it was almost difficult to determine which could've been the right one. At this point it was best to look for an office or something similar instead, considering this place even got one by some coincidental chance. However in Shadow's opinion that was their best bet anyway. Anything important about this place would be most likely saved on only one significant place.

''Do you even know where you're going?''

The black hedgehog was interrupted out of his thoughtful trance when the other mammal sighed out completely. Shadow quickly admitted with no hesitation, ''No. But we'll find something eventually,'' overall, the Ultimate Lifeform stayed positive for both of them just in case, even if it wasn't his shtick. He wasn't about to quit knee-deep in this mess and finish the job while there was still some vague trail to follow through.

It was only when his sharp ears stopped hearing the younger one's approaching footsteps behind him that he finally stopped and turned around with a slightly puzzled question meant for his blue counterpart, ''Is something wrong?''

With a hand on his forehead, the Blue Blur didn't respond for a while until he lifted his head again with a grin, ''Nah, I'm fine.''

Not risking anything with him at this point, Shadow walked over to the Fastest Thing Alive, ''We can stop for a while, if you want.''

''No, it's okay. Let's just go and get this over with…'' the blue one refused right away with a waving hand and tried to walk past his darker counterpart, only to stop in his track immediately a second later. He continued to stand there with widened eyes and slightly agape mouth, puzzling the older mammal even more until he finally decided to speak out again. The blue hedgehog started rubbing his ear, ''Did you hear something?''

Shadow listened in despite all mechanical contraptions in the area disturbing peace and quiet. Other than that, there was nothing unusual about the sounds, ''… no.''

''I thought I did…'' the blue hedgehog gripped his forehead again and leaned on his knees when his vision started to blur out again. As if the headache and blurry vision wasn't bad enough, now he started hearing things for no real reason than to confuse him. He couldn't even tell what the noise was at all. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't put his finger to it. It wasn't the sounds of machines, he was sure of it. It sounded melodic, like a whisper. However, a soft melody in this desolate place sounded incredibly jarring. The Blue Blur was starting to wonder if this building was having its final laugh at him.

The black hedgehog joined by the younger one's side, his voice seemingly worried, ''Are you alright?''

''It's nothing,'' he claimed and picked himself back on his feet with no real hesitance and ready to move on. Sonic wasn't about to let himself be swayed that easily, ''Nothing to worry about! I'm a-ok…''

The emerald eyed hero smirked at him alongside his respective hand gesture, only to finally realize he wasn't going to last standing up anymore in this situation. As soon as the lighted environment before him straightened out once more, it was right back to the blurry oil painting where he couldn't make out anything, barely even his own rival's face for that matter. The melody skipped a few notes unexpectedly and ended abruptly, never to be heard again. Despite telling himself a thousand times that this wasn't the time nor the place for such unannounced actions, the younger hedgehog suddenly drew a blank in his head and stumbled backwards when the world around him went out of focus.

Quickly realizing what was going on and widening his crimson eyes, the black one tried to stop him but missed him completely when the blue wonder collapsed entirely under his weight. Kneeling by his side, the Ultimate Lifeform propped him up on his knee, his emerald eyes still half open that stared blankly into the ceiling. They began to look deader than anything in this place. Shadow tried to get his attention as he shook his counterpart's shoulders roughly, ''Sonic? Sonic!''

Yet the only thing he managed to accomplish by that was gaining an empty stare from the Fastest Thing Alive until his pupils rolled up in the back of his head and dropped to the side.

As much as the black one raised his distressed voice upon him, the blue hedgehog was still and limp, devoid of any ability to speak or awaken at this time, ''He's out cold,'' frustrated once more, the Ultimate Lifeform was getting more and more impatient with this place and the Blue Blur, ''Dammit… this is just going to slow us down.''

However, Shadow couldn't leave him here just like that. He was ultimately positive that every inch of this building was a death trap waiting to happen and none of them were safe from whatever it had to offer. At this point, even the torrent outside that continued to topple trees and discharge its lightning force upon the land seemed like the most sensible idea to run into, but he wasn't going to risk it for anything in the world. With Sonic finally out for the count, he will need to rethink this one out. As bad as this was starting to look, the black hedgehog was going to get them away from this island… no matter what the cost.

Immediately deciding his next destination, he scooped the limp hedgehog up in his arms, ''Better find that room quickly.''

XXX

''He's been in there forever…''

Ever since the dreaded report of the mysterious island disappearing off the radar and taking the two supersonic hedgehogs' very existence with it, the entire G.U.N. base was more than confused about the whole ordeal then they should have been in such cases. In these situations it was their duty to find out background information about the current events, but considering how little anyone actually knew what was going on at this very moment, it wasn't helping them in any way. Rouge led the yellow furred pilot and the red guardian right into the main base and quickly went on by herself to explain the situation to her superior.

One phone call from the President later and Tails was allowed into the extensive archives. He stayed there for what it seemed like an eternity for Knuckles, although seeing the gigantic shelves and thousand upon thousands of paperwork should have triggered a few warning signs the first time around.

Nearing the annoyed echidna who continuously tapped his foot against the floor, the thieving batgirl returned from the command center. Looking over to him, she shrugged with her bright lips curved up in an uncomfortable way, ''Tails?''

Knuckles shifted slightly in his place as he waited outside the archive room, ''I'm getting sick of waiting.''

Smirking slightly, Rouge leaned in with a teasing disposition and whistled, ''I guess even geniuses need to take their sweet time once in a while.''

''Anything new, bat?'' without even looking at the white female, he wanted to get down to business as soon as possible. The red furred echidna wasn't all too happy about being copped up in this strange military base and waiting for the yellow furred fox's return or dealing with the thieving agent. However, if she knew or found out anything that could be important, this was the best time to talk it over.

''Nothing,'' folding her arms around her chest with a heavy sigh, she turned toward the direction of the command center where the white bat was just a moment ago. The coordinates of the unknown island seemed to be intact as far as they were concerned, but there was no land to be found there. One thing they did find was a gigantic storm twirling around that one specific place as if to hide something from the outside world. Nobody was able to explain why or how such a weather format existed and if it did, it must have been extremely rare.

Rouge eventually replied with a disappointed voice, ''They're still trying to track down the island but the equipment keeps failing due to outside interferences. If it is how Tails said, it might not be an ordinary storm after all.''

Still getting annoyed by the wait, the echidna growled out at her for wasting his time, ''Tell me something I don't know.''

''You don't have to act so rude toward a lady,'' the female bat immediately burst out in sheer annoyance. She was extremely irritated by the fact that Knuckles never appreciated and showed no respect for anything she did or said for that matter. For now, she was in the same bucket as everyone else in this base.

''Lady? Hah!'' grunting out significantly, he only tilted his head to the side, ''I'll do whatever I want.''

''How about I kick you out of the base first?'' Rouge the Bat was more than glad to take this outside since the G.U.N. base wasn't exactly the best place for such heated arguments and it would get her in trouble with her superiors as well. She pouted slightly in sheer mockery, ''Then we can do whatever you want in that little forest of yours.''

Pushing himself away from the wall with a loud stomp, the red echidna glared at the female, ''You wouldn't…''

''Wanna bet?'' she asked with a teasing wink and wiggled her finger in front of him.

With no intention of ever doing something like that again with the white furred batgirl, the red guardian leaned back against the wall with a mumble under his breath, ''It's bets with you that keep getting me in these situations…''

First of all, it was her idea to dump the blue hedgehog's team based entirely on the fact that Rouge believed he was nothing without his two color coded companions. Somehow along the way and countless hours spent just to retaliate against a vague conclusion like that, the two decided to make a bet instead. The date part was only a part of it due to batgirl's amusement. It was possibly the biggest and worst mistake Knuckles ever let happen to him, but it was already too late to make it any different.

''Would you rather be out in the middle of nowhere with Sonic?''

She only seemed to realize it now, but if it wasn't for her in the first place, it would have been Knuckles stuck on that island instead of Shadow. In some way she was glad, but at the same time the batgirl felt like she unintentionally screwed up the black hedgehog's weekend and put him in danger. However, she focused on the red guardian first, ''You wouldn't last a day out there considering the circumstances right now.''

He quickly decided to counter her claims, ''I come from an island myself! I'd sooner turn yellow then let some bad weather have its way with me.''

''Don't say what you can't fulfill, echidna,'' as much as he was getting irritated by her, she pushed further anyway for the sake of having a little fun with him.

''Are you saying I'm weak?'' his fists were clenched so tightly he could easily plow through an entire building in this very moment.

The G.U.N. agent cupped her cheeks in her hands and pouted as she left out teasingly, ''Oh no... you're just too easy to tease.''

''Bat, stay away from me,'' the red guardian pointed at her with his fist until he drew away into the corner with a scoff on his face, ''Go bother someone else.''

She wasn't done yet, ''But you're so cute when you're mad.''

''What? What!'' Knuckles flushed slightly as he tried to hide his muzzle from her, only for the female bat to be always right up and personal in his face for no good reason than to confuse and toy with him. He was on the edge of turning into another gibbering angry wreck and held his head tightly in irritation, ''You… you… you… arghh!''

After the echidna's supposed freak out and one massive punch into the wall later, a heavy reply followed from the background, ''Agent Rouge…'' prompting the suddenly aware Rouge the Bat to turn around with a quick salute out of a common militant reflex. A rather large human in a military uniform with gray hair and striking mismatched eyes held the most ridiculous yet entirely convincing facepalm the batgirl had ever seen on him, making her chuckle in slight embarrassment. He replied with a deep sigh as he nodded, ''How many times do I have to tell you?''

''I know, Commander…'' the white furred female finished her salute and snickered lightly, ''The base is not my personal make up place. Storing lockers aren't a good place for a nap. Don't hog the mirror in the bathroom. All shiny objects must be returned to their rightful place by the end of the day.''

The G.U.N. Commander nodded again when he finally removed his hand from his aging face, ''Correct.''

In a quick realization, the thieving bat widened her eyes at him as if in a form of hope, ''Has anything come up?''

''No sight of Christmas Island as of now,'' the human G.U.N. leader wasn't glad to be saying something like that and kept his arms on his back, ''Our radars and planes can't get through the thick storm and it doesn't seem it will clear out anytime soon.''

Overhearing them, the red echidna became enraged once more as he started banging his fist against the archive door, ''Tails! Hurry up already!''

Exhaling heavily, Rouge looked up to her superior with a shrug, ''Isn't there anything we can do?''

Inside the room, the yellow furred pilot continued onwards with his investigation through a massive amount of paperwork, books and folders as fast as he could. When he finally realized just how large the G.U.N. archive was in reality, Tails started losing hope of ever finding anything. It was practically a paradise of lost, forgotten and hidden treasures that piled up during the military's activity. Even if there was anything that could possibly tell them at least something about the mysterious island, the chances of finding it were very low. It was no wonder the President himself insisted that nothing was available, the only information that was any good was found only in recent days.

Finishing another shelf unsuccessfully, this day in particular was beginning to look very grim. The extensive lines were arranged by alphabetical order, but that wasn't helping him in the very least. Some of the boxes had no appropriate tags or contained little to do with the actual subject, old history and geography books were ready to crumble into dust by merely looking at them, badly done translations of no worth and various scribblings that made no sense even to him. The two tailed fox kept looking anyway, as this was the only way to somehow help the trapped hedgehogs. Based on the fox's observations, G.U.N. had no intention to go any further into the storm as they were powerless against its intensity. Merely approaching it was already dangerous enough, with machines acting out on their own will with no exact explanation and causing them to almost crash into the ocean.

Dropping to the floor with a sigh, Tails took a short break to compose his mind before taking the nearest box from the lowest shelf into his lap. Opening it only revealed more parchments and various plastic bags that looked like useless junk in his eyes. The pilot was getting impatient. How long is he going to put up with this? Honestly, he couldn't even remember how long he's been checking out this particular place. He only needed to hurry up, but it looked so pointless and time wasn't something he had plenty in this situation. The hedgehogs didn't have much of it either.

Standing up and kicking the box aside, the yellow furred pilot felt angry and disappointed at himself when he rubbed his sweaty forehead. Squirming, he knelt back to the ground with an unsatisfied grunt and swore to himself that if he doesn't find anything this time around, he might as well admit defeat and try to think of something more productive. He looked over the same shelf again, finding old folders with various doodles and scribblings in weird stylized calligraphy that made no sense to him the first time around. Then the yellow furred pilot remembered they looked similar to the ancient murals back at Angel Island. It was mildly surprising to find such obscure information, but it gave him the drive to continue searching onwards in hopes of finding something that was even more mysterious. As interesting the Echidna writings looked right now, search for information about Christmas Island was his top priority.

He put the folders aside, grabbing the decaying brown book instead as carefully as he could and positioned it in his lap. It started out a little vague as to what the various paragraphs were implying or talking about. As the pilot quickly started scanning the words, the specific sentences that caught his eyes either hinted about lost or ancient civilizations, islands or hedgehogs. Whatever seemed plausible enough, he checked them out as fast as he could.

''Christmas Island? Christmas... hedgehogs…'' Tails thought to himself, hoping to find these words together in at least one sentence.

A few of those numerous paragraphs included those words at least once. It took him a lot longer to realize the information wasn't all that small or short either. The pilot's baby blue eyes watered slightly once he was actually sure that this was what he was looking for. Standing up quickly and tightly holding the book with both of his hands like it was some sort of ancient artifact, the yellow furred fox quickly approached the hallway door with a smile on his face. He opened them with such force that the pissy red echidna, who kept banging on the door with his fists, was knocked right into the opposite wall and almost squashed in-between those two objects.

''Everyone, I found it!''

Both the human military leader and G.U.N. agent Rouge simply stared with blank and almost awkward expressions on their face as Knuckles slid down the wall. He eventually picked himself up on his knees, ''Watch where you're going!'' he muttered out loud and rubbed his head.

''I hope you have something useful, fox boy,'' the smirking batgirl approached the pilot and dragged him off to the command center much to the two tailed fox's surprise, interested in what he might have found in the archive room.

In the meantime, the G.U.N. Commander approached the open doors and peeked into it, widening his eyes upon seeing the massive mess Tails left behind, ''What the… not again! Who's going to clean this up?''

XXX

Arriving into the exact same room the white furred female had seen so many times before, the yellow furred pilot quickly but carefully laid the old book onto the table and waited for the other three to join him. The command center was a fairly large room with massive monitors installed on every wall, with at least two or four people monitoring each wall and keeping an eye on the world that has been devastated by numerous battles and irregular weathers before. One of them in particularly showed the immense storm taking place in the area where the ever so mysterious Christmas Island was supposed to be, but whenever the cameras would zoom in or get anywhere close to it, the entire system jittered, jammed and shook beyond belief, giving them no chance to get even an inch closer. It seemed impossible to ever get a clear picture of what was happening there.

''I was right,'' Tails started announcing his observations as he began flipping the pages of the book and quickly skimmed through the text in hopes of learning anything they haven't already knew. Stopping on a particularly interesting page, he propped his hands on his sides, ''Christmas Island does exist after all, just like Sonic said.''

''So, it's really his home?'' Knuckles asked aloud as he folded his arms and leaned against the nearby wall.

''Yeah…'' the child prodigy nodded and continued to flip massive but bleak and boring paragraphs of writings with a heavy sigh, ''This information wasn't easy to come by. But the pages have been ripped out and the book looks like it's about to disintegrate into dust.''

''What did you find out?''

Quickly scanning anything important as much as he could, the pilot came upon at least some interesting conclusions that told them about the unknown island. The paragraphs seemed to talk about as if it were an ancient myth, ''According to these writings, Christmas Island was a secluded island where a large amount of hedgehogs once lived'', the yellow furred fox pointed out for a short reminder to everyone in the room. That much they already figured out on their own but Tails found the faded ink to be harder to decipher much to his displeasure as he found out in the next few minutes. As much as he was happy for any sort of information about it, books like these really needed a very good restoration procedure, otherwise they're doomed to fall apart.

''I can't read much right now, but apparently they were highly advanced even by today's standards,'' Tails continued and lowered his voice, ''However, the island one day simply… vanished.''

Rouge found herself propped against the table as she snapped her fingers, ''Just like that?''

''Yeah.''

With a hand on his chin while venturing back to the table, the G.U.N. Commander grunted out thoughtfully as he asked, ''If they were so highly advanced, could they have created anything so powerful that would by any chance mess with the weather?''

''It's possible,'' the younger fox nodded, ''My plane managed to gather some interesting data before I was forced to leave. And the way it acted was very suspicious as well. The storm has a high count of electromagnetic particles that are unnatural for that kind of weather. Whatever's making that storm it has to be a machine,'' the yellow furred pilot theorized purely out of his head, still hopeful they might find a plan to override it completely.

Standing up from the table, the thieving agent looked toward her superior, ''Is there any way through it?''

''Not by natural means,'' the human male nodded negatively as soon as possible, ''We would need a powerful force field to withstand it.''

Grunting out with a saddened voice, the two tailed pilot wasn't completely sure of that idea at all, ''But it would take months to build something like that from scratch. I don't think Sonic and Shadow have that much time…''

In that exact moment, the command center fell into an eerie silence again, devoid of any voices other than constant clicks and jittering computer screens that shook and turned to static the second they approached the point of no return. Tails needed to figure out something that would help them get through the storm and find the missing hedgehogs before anything bad happened to them. However as of now, the situation was beginning to look hopeless. Most of the planes were affected greatly by specific weather conditions, particularly this one. It would take a pretty good plan to work this one out.

''You said the storm was rotating around the island, right?''

Hearing the red guardian break the silence between the small group, the yellow furred pilot replied with a somewhat confused disposition when he turned to face him, ''Yeah.''

''I was wondering something…'' Knuckles continued onwards as he waved his hand in the air, having noticed something that seemed like a meaningless idea in his head but he needed to say it aloud ever since it popped up in his mind, ''When a tornado moves around, it looks like a funnel. Would a storm have something like that?''

''I see. Like a cyclone…'' a sudden but particularly clever brainstorm hit the fox's mind, bringing some new hope into this conversation after all. He smiled toward his red companion who only gained a puzzled expression as if Knuckles just said something incredibly enlightening to the proclaimed genius, ''Thanks, Knuckles, that's a great idea!''

Blinking with sheer interest, the white batgirl wanted in on whatever the youngster was thinking at the moment, ''What? Do you have an idea?''

''I think so. If we could fly above the storm... if it really is rotating around the island, that would mean it has an eye,'' Tails quickly explained his plan, ''If that's the case, one way getting to the island would be by flying right inside the eye.''

''Would that work?''

Nodding to Rouge immediately, he explained further, ''In theory, the eye of a tropical cyclone is usually completely shielded from the weather, even its own.''

Pushing himself off the wall and pumping his fists into the air, the red guardian suggested with a simple shout, ''Then what are we waiting for? Let's fly in there!''

''Not with the current Tornado,'' the yellow furred pilot disagreed right away since the only thing coming out of it would be a crushed biplane and at the moment that was the last thing the fox wanted out of this situation. It's been a while since Tails updated his plane and now he started regretting the decision to leave it alone for a while before conducting anymore tests or various experimental machines on it.

''There's no way it could survive the pressure or the heavy winds.''

''Our fighter planes are some of the best in the world,'' the G.U.N. Commander mentioned, ''They can't get through the storm, but they should have better chances going around it.''

The two tailed fox quickly agreed to his offer, ''That's what we need. The only problem is that even if we do approach it from above, the controls might still get messy.''

''It would take a really good pilot to handle such a task,'' the odd-eyed male mused further, ''Unfortunately, most of my better pilots are on worldwide missions and might not be back until months later…''

Hearing that particular sentence in the Commander's thick voice, the child prodigy pushed himself away from the table and quickly approached the leader of G.U.N. who instead held a slightly puzzled look in his eyes. The pilot only now realized the sheer size difference between his tiny body and the large human when he proposed to him, ''Let me try it.''

The female bat shrugged with slight doubtfulness in her tone, ''Tails, do you really think that's a good idea?''

''The last time you were there you almost crashed,'' as soon as the red guardian walked closer to the desk, he punched a small hole into it which vaguely annoyed the rest in the room.

''I left them there, it's my responsibility to get them back home safely,'' the two tailed fox insisted with all his heart, still beating himself over the fact that he shouldn't have left his companions on potentially dangerous land for any cost. He looked up toward the military man with a hopeful expression, ''May I, Commander?''

''Mr. Prower, you know I can't let just anyone without official military training on any of those planes.''

Upon hearing a slightly disappointed but largely ordering voice from the G.U.N. Commander, the yellow furred fox's ears fell flat against his skull and his pupils turned to stare at the floor as if too afraid to face the older male any longer, ''But… I can fly. I know enough to get through with little problems if I have the right equipment,'' Tails replied with an almost heartbreaking tone of voice anyone has ever heard in their lives which didn't help a lot with the tense atmosphere in the base, ''I was scared off the first time around but I won't do that again.''

''Commander, can't you make an exception?'' Rouge the Bat stood up from the table as she decided to convince him otherwise for the hedgehogs' sake, ''It is for our agent after all.''

''A civilian doing military work is not a particularly good idea…'' the human male raised his voice once more, adopting a strict look on his face that didn't seem all that foreign on him and it showed well. Thinking that this conversation might be the last rusty nail in the coffin for the missing supersonic mammals, the red echidna and the white bat sighed out significantly, only to receive one last piece of information from the leader which immediately inspired curiosity, ''Although there's always room for voluntary agents…''

Blinking in sheer disbelief, Tails' ears quickly repositioned back onto its rightful places as if to ensure that what he just heard right now was true. He gaped at the human in amazement as he asked quietly, ''… really? Can I do that?''

''That's one way of dealing with lengthy procedures,'' propping his hands behind his back once more, the human male nodded in approval, ''And of course, a recommendation from a current G.U.N. member would be necessary.''

Grabbing the opportunity the moment she got one from her superior, the G.U.N. thief launched herself into the air and landed softly next to the yellow fox's side much to his immediate surprise. The cheeky female replied with a confident tone, ''Let me handle that, Commander. This little pint has all the necessary abilities the job needs.''

''Rouge…'' if the two tailed fox wasn't in public right now, he would probably blush like crazy.

Nodding at the white bat, the military man grunted out as he held out his hand at the fox, ''So, it's settled?''

''Thank you so much,'' Tails shook the Commander's hand with utter excitement in his voice and turned to the agent on his left, ''You too, Rouge.''

The white bat merely wiggled her finger at the pilot and puckered her lips, ''Now, now, I'd usually ask for a ruby or two in exchange but since it's you-

''WHERE IS SONIKKU!''

Interrupted by what it seemed like an extremely loud earth shattering kaboom, a shadowy silhouette surrounded by a blinding light coming from beyond the doors gasped for air and held a very pissy look on her face. Knowing who and what it was most likely about, other people in the room could only facepalm in sheer annoyance.

Chapter 15 - Brief Relief

Having been significantly slowed down all of a sudden, Shadow the Hedgehog was running out of options and places to investigate. Along with an unconscious blue hedgehog in his arms, who held onto him as if he were made of Velcro, he basically walked right into a complicated system of rooms that seemed neverending from his position. There were no maps hanging anywhere in this horrendous place, slightly boggling the black hedgehog how the building operated in its prime days. The abstract silence was another thing that kept getting on his nerves, if he hadn't mentioned it already. Other than the harsh sounds of working machines and other contraptions, there were no suspicious noises. Yet, they seemed perfectly fine to haunt them both some time ago for no good reason besides giving them a good scare or discourage them from investigating further. He was still expecting the noises to return at some point. While he couldn't hear the lightning or the rain hitting against the steel roof anymore, the weather was probably still awful outside, but he didn't bother checking it out right now.

The Ultimate Lifeform eventually made it into a long room that could've been used for storage, but was instead completely ridden with endless tables as far as his eyes could reach. It was almost scary just how much of this place was practically unscathed as if no one ever walked in it. In the background, only one door managed to hold his interests long enough before shrugging the room off as just another useless barrier in his way. It was also the only door in the entire place other than the entrance, so that was something to cheer about, albeit not as enthusiastically as it was necessary. The older mammal didn't really think the whole ordeal could get anymore depressing than it already was, but it will probably come back to smack him in the face for even mentioning the idea.

When he approached the door, he only had two questions in his mind at the moment; is the place behind it any good and is the door locked. Considering he was lacking in patience ever since the emerald eyed hero fainted, Shadow was fed up with anymore questions that frequently elongated his unexpected visit here. Instead, the black one grabbed onto blue annoyance a little tighter to position himself just correctly and kicked the door open. Slightly surprised it worked so well the first time around, he didn't beat around the bush anymore.

Pushing the door aside with his shoulder, he carefully steeped into the room, revealing the lighted area before him through a very exquisite if slightly broken chandelier. It appeared to be a pretty prestigious office, if somewhat covered in cobwebs and dust but the wealth stood firm above all. The black hedgehog wasn't expecting to find anything like this in a factory. A room like this was more fitted for a mansion or a skyscraper. Numerous bookshelves, a wall sized window hidden behind torn drapes and faded paintings were merely the beginning, with the only thing at least vaguely disturbed being the mirror, shattered into million pieces by an outside force of some kind. However, one thing was for certain; the table with the computer was the most important thing on his list as far Shadow was concerned.

Appearing as a reasonably safer place than anything out in the open, the black hedgehog was about to take any excuse to stop for a moment. And get Sonic off him, since he was getting cramps in his arms from carrying him around for so long. He put the blue one on the nearby couch as carefully as he could without waking him up and eventually had to literally fight for his neck considering his counterpart wasn't about to just let him go. Shadow sighed out heavily at him, viciously grateful something like this happened on a completely deserted island and not in the middle of a crowded street with numerous paparazzi stalking their latest victims. Because a picture of the Blue Blur seemingly cuddling with his informed darker rival would obviously make for an interesting magazine cover… not to mention incredibly embarrassing. The Ultimate Lifeform wouldn't be able to show his face in public anymore, much less step outside.

As he soon found out, it wasn't easy to get him off at all. Even an entire building worth of a fall into the underground or knocking himself unconscious didn't seem to do the trick, since the younger hedgehog had enough strength to keep clinging onto the black hedgehog this entire time. For an added measure, Sonic started shaking all over and buried his head into the other's chest whenever he even remotely indicated that he wanted him off. If he wasn't going to show himself cracking under pressure when awake, his sub-consciousness would beat him to it. If the older mammal didn't know any better, he would even consider the emerald eyed hero to be extremely pitiful at this moment. However, it was the kind of pity the blue wonder wouldn't accept. Mainly because he was too prideful, arrogant, misleading and oh so childish…

Just like a kid.

How Shadow's perception of his supersonic rival changed from an annoying hero into an oblivious kid who doesn't know when to quit in just barely a day astounded even him. However, the black hedgehog couldn't deny that this place was going to leave a permanent mark on the blue one, so he might as well keep him from breaking down completely and push him forward. Sonic wasn't a quitter as far as he knew but he could never be too sure, especially in this kind of situation.

Feeling his grip on the back of his neck finally faltering at some point, he quickly took the chance to untangle his younger counterpart's arms from him. Leaving out a short sigh when he finally got himself enough room to stretch his body, the Ultimate Lifeform was mildly pleased in this very short moment but he wasn't going to hold onto it for too long.

The G.U.N. agent also examined his wounded arm, making the blue wonder twitch and wince slightly in his sleep as he touched it. The white handkerchief was almost completely soaked with blood, but as he removed it, the bleeding seemed to have stopped significantly for the most part. Since Shadow didn't exactly hoard tissues in his hammerspace to have his opponents wipe their tears after defeat, he instead searched for an alternative. Ripping apart the fabric covering the couch, the black one folded it precisely and wrapped it around Sonic's wound. Unexpectedly, he tightened the knot very harshly and he winced again. Watching over him for a short while to see if he was about to wake up, the Fastest Thing Alive eventually calmed down and drifted back to sleep.

Lastly, Shadow put his hand on his forehead. He didn't seem to have high temperature or anything similar, so he stayed convinced the entire reason behind his sudden collapse was exhaustion and nothing too serious. That was good. He didn't need anything else to complicate matters even further.

He left the younger one to his rest for the time being and instead turned his attention to the table. It was quite the majestic case, with a giant computer, a cobwebbed lamp, various picture frames and just about any sort of office supplies that's usually important in a director's life. It was also covered in extreme amounts of dust which lifted up with a mere footstep and he almost sneezed due to it. Shadow mildly pushed away the drapes covering the large window and looked outside. It was just as depressing and gray as the inside of this building did. The rain stopped, but the heavy wind and occasional lightning strikes were still present in the ragged environment.

Finally, the black hedgehog took a seat behind the desk, ''Let's check this out…'' he said to himself with an utmost irritation but vague relief as he rubbed his aching neck. Just like everything else in this place, the computer was turned on by some strange miracle. Moving the mouse only slightly, the screen eventually cleared out the black void before him and spelled out the exact thing he imagined to see in this very moment.

''A password… of course, what else would it be?''

In the worst case scenario, it was probably the most random word in the history of the known dictionary that will only take an eternity to find. The older mammal started thinking aloud to himself if only to disturb the silence, ''Christmas Island? Too easy. GenEXE? Too short…''

With no other ideas in his head, he started opening drawers to find absolutely nothing but decaying papers or cockroaches fiddling around and eventually running away to hide from his sight. Leaning on the table with a deep sigh and brushing his eyes in the process, Shadow propped his chin against his hands to think for a short moment on what to do about this. It wasn't long until his eyes caught a peculiar framed sight in front of him out of sheer coincidence. It was a generic family picture of happy hedgehogs, but nearly unrecognizable behind the smoky dust and faded areas of the sepia colored snapshot.

All this technology and they still used 19th century styled photography? How grossly old-fashioned.

He snorted at himself when a thought flashed through his mind, ''If it's really this simple, I'll smack myself.''

Without further hesitance, the Ultimate Lifeform quickly typed in the most obvious word anyone could think of in this moment. As expected, the annoyed computer beeped mercilessly at him for even getting the idea in the first place, ''What am I thinking?'' he nodded at the sheer possibility that anyone would be so stupid to put his own specie name as a security password.

Completely stranded and out of words, the older mammal took another look at the supposed antique picture and picked it up in his hands somewhat carefully. It didn't seem as interesting as before, but as he turned it around, the black one found out that the back of the photo was somewhat openable, possibly for the photo to be inserted in. Somewhat intrigued by it, he removed the top from its place to be instead greeted by a blank piece which wasn't exactly helpful at first. Interestingly, only one single word was written on the back of the photo as if to leave a hint. Having faded away by numerous years and constant removes, it was still there if barely readable.

''Ha…'' he started whispering to himself, thinking what the word was supposed to spell out, ''… rine?''

Somewhat surprised by a terrible lack of sense of whoever owned this office all those years ago, the crimson eyed agent repeated the word for sheer clarification as his black eyelids fell down a notch, ''Harinezumi? Are you serious?'' Shadow typed it in anyway due to lack of any better word to fit in. As soon as he confirmed the password, the computer buzzed cheerfully and the older one was finally allowed into investigating its mysteries.

''Well, what do you know?'' he snorted with an obvious sarcastic episode and pressed his fingertips against the keyboard, ''Tell me what I need to know.''

XXX

''Where is that spiny furball?!''

The G.U.N. base suddenly trembled under a loud voice of an extremely pissy individual with a big hammer quite dangerously looming over the yellow fox's head like a gigantic kaiju ready to stomp onto fragile streets for the millionth time. Tails was willing to talk to the pink hedgehog as soon as it was necessary to explain a few details here and there, all while the red echidna continued to lean against the wall with folded arms with an unexcited look on his face, seemingly still agitated by the wait they were put through. In the meantime, Rouge the Bat and the human Commander disappeared elsewhere, most likely to continue with the work and get the new plan up and running as soon as it was physically possible.

''He stood me up… again!'' Amy Rose shouted on the top of her lungs, with the slightly intimidated pilot doing everything in his power not to be smashed right into the ground by her Piko Piko Hammer, ''This is the third time this month and now he's gonna pay. I know he's here, the cards told me so.''

Awkwardly smiling and defending himself with lifted hands, the two tailed fox tried to make her understand, ''Amy, please. Let me explain.''

''Oh, don't tell me. He's out on another adventure, right?'' regardless of what Tails' response was going to be in that favor, the female hedgehog already seemed to realize that was probably the case with the speedy blue wonder, ''Jerk. He always has time for that…''

Straightening himself out and gulping quietly, the pilot started rubbing the back of his head and confirmed her statement, ''Yeah, you're right about that. He's on an adventure.''

''Figures,'' the pink girl rolled her eyes in irritation.

When he noticed she was at least somewhat calmer than before, Tails asked her hesitantly as he pointed above him, ''Umm… can you put the hammer away?''

''Well… I was gonna save it for his big lying head when he comes back,'' she exhaled out and put her signature weapon on her side, leaning on it with an unappreciated grunt. Being left standing right next to the park's most beautiful fountain like an idiot for over an hour does things like that to a girl's mind. The pink hedgehog eventually asked with a slight pout on her face, ''But didn't you and Knuckles go with him? Or did he dump you too?''

Relieved significantly, the child prodigy tilted his head with a simple shrug, ''Actually we should've returned yesterday but… something came up.''

''Yesterday?'' the hammer girl blinked as she thought for a second, ''But… that means he could've been home sooner, right?''

He nodded, ''Yeah.''

Turning her back on the younger fox hesitantly, Amy rubbed her temples with a questionable grunt. She mumbled about her earlier words and eventually realized she might have been jumping to conclusions a little too early this time around. She replied to herself as the pink one looked at him again, ''Maybe it's not his fault this time.''

''It really isn't, I swear it,'' the yellow furred fox confirmed it as quickly as possible and pointed toward the jittering screens to inform her of the situation, ''See that? That's a storm and it's completely covering the island he's on. We weren't able to get through as of now.''

Gasping roughly, she ran toward them with widened eyes and yelped out at the sheer possibility, ''Don't tell me he's there all alone?''

Joining her side, Tails immediately answered with a small smile, ''Don't worry about it, Shadow is with him too.''

''Shadow?'' the pink hedgehog was somewhat confused by that statement and replied with a doubtful expression, ''But I thought you three were a team.''

The two tailed fox rubbed his neck in slight awkwardness. She was right about that since they almost always went on various missions together and couldn't imagine leaving anyone of their team behind in times like this. It might have been a good idea to try and explain it to the girl more thoroughly, but the yellow furred pilot couldn't find the right words at the moment. He instead tilted his head toward the echidna in the corner, prompting the female hedgehog to turn her eyes to him as well. When he noticed that the two were staring at him with dumbfounded faces, he proceeded to shout at them, ''What?! Don't look at me like that!''

''I'll tell you later,'' Tails quickly decided and explained the plan instead, ''Right now, we need to get on that island and bring them back safely.''

Amy Rose didn't hesitate to reply as soon as she got the chance to do so, ''If that's the case, I want to go too.''

With a grunt, the yellow furred pilot warned her about the situation just like he always did, ''But you know, it could be dangerous. With the storm, rain and all that… even we don't completely understand what's going on.''

''If it's for our friends, it doesn't matter what I need to go through,'' the pink hedgehog quickly put her hands on her sides, all while one of her boots started tapping impatiently against the metallic surface. She leaned toward the two tailed fox with slight annoyance, ''Did you really think something like a little rain would scare me away?''

He only shrugged nonchalantly, ''Not really.''

XXX

Feeling an unreasonable throbbing pain in his head, the blue hedgehog stirred in his disrupted sleep and began opening his heavy eyes. He could barely think without numerous scrambled thoughts bouncing around in his mind like a flock of disoriented seagulls and ringing at every opportunity like an emergency siren. Sonic wasn't aware of anything around him, neither himself as he tried to see through the dark void in search of a vague light. Blinking a couple of times before it finally dissipated away into a depressing but warm toned blurry environment he was stranded in, the younger one felt completely stiff and devoid of any motor skills. He wasn't completely sure if he even knew how to move anymore as none of his commands seemed to put his body back into working order.

Leaving his mind blank, the Fastest Thing Alive tried summoning as much strength as he could in one of his limbs, lifting his hand slowly up to his forehead and brushed at it with an annoying grunt. The blue one never felt so equally tired and weak in a million years. As if fainting wasn't already enough, the echoing headache decided to keep on invading his mind. Sighing heavily, his lifted arm dropped over his eyes in an unexpected way, needing some time to focus his mind before trying anything else. Just how deep is he going to continue falling into this mess he brought upon himself? Sonic was getting tired of this place and its questions that might never be answered for him, if things keep going the same way as they had now. As much as he felt this was just another way of torturing his very soul with details he never really cared about until the moment he had heard about this place actually existing. Giving up at this point would be just saying to himself that he isn't good enough to handle the pressure.

That wasn't right. He was Sonic… the Hedgehog. Little details like that never bothered him. The need to search for a forgotten feeling, to find wherever or not there's anything out there to tell him what his past was like and what his future would've been like.

He snorted at his own mind. The blue mammal started wondering if this was actually him and not some other disoriented hedgehog he knew about. Maybe it was the sudden forced situation that allowed him to finally stop for a brief moment and think this over. Was this how his darker counterpart used to feel like? Completely lost and on the edge of his nerves? If this is how it's like, then this isn't something he's enjoying. After so many successful travels and battles, one location messes him up beyond recognition. Magma caves, watery graves and technological lairs proved themselves to be a walk in the park compared to this.

One place he's yet to acknowledge decided to take one step further and destroy everything he believed in all these years.

It was awkward just thinking about it.

''About time you woke up.''

When the Blue Blur moved his arm away from his face, he heard that deep but strangely soft voice again that followed him wherever he went in this place. Still, it was nice that anything at all even sounded familiar anymore, if not the location itself. The Fastest Thing Alive moved his head slightly upwards, encountering the black and red rival sitting on the edge of the armrest with folded arms and a stern look on his eyes. He was wondering just how long the black one had been sitting there.

''You alright?'' the crimson eyed agent asked him.

Dropping his heavy arm back onto his face, the blue hedgehog sighed out a weary grunt, ''I feel like I've been run over by a train.''

''You fainted. It happens…'' Shadow replied with no concern. As soon as he jumped down from the armrest back onto the squeaky wooden floor panels covered by a chewed out carpet, he caught a recognizable whiny mumble from the other mammal. The blue one was either annoyed or embarrassed due to suddenly dropping unconscious right in front of his worst rival who probably shouldn't have even seen him in this situation. Not like this when he was weakened and damaged to an inch of his life to return a small favor, became teary eyed and suffered a sudden blackout all in one short day. He couldn't even rely on his strengths anymore, as his speed was already lost and his head filled with too many thoughts to count.

Worst day he ever experienced in his life.

Sonic eventually propped his hands against the couch, trying to get up into a sitting position by any means possible. He asked with a drowsy voice, ''Where are we?'' slightly confused at the sudden change in environment he only vaguely remembered from before, the Blue Blur started rubbing his ruffled spines. They proved to be a lot sturdier than he thought at first, having gone through more than the rest of his body and thus remained as sharp as always.

''It looks like some private office,'' the black one proposed, ''It seemed like the best place to find some information.''

''Did you find anything?'' widening his emerald eyes and heightening his voice all of a sudden, the blue hedgehog scrambled to his feet as quickly as possible only to be eventually swayed by a lighthearted dizziness that sent him back onto the couch with an incredible headache. With a tightened jaw, he ignored it for the time being and stood up again right in front of the unconvinced older mammal who wasn't about to just leave him to wander around like that.

Nearing closer, Shadow merely flicked with his finger at his peach chest, ''Don't rush me. Sit down, you look like you're gonna pass out again.''

''I'm perfectly fine,'' the Fastest Thing Alive merely shrugged and pushed the black hedgehog's hand away from him, ''I just wanna be done with it already.''

''Not if you're going to be pulling blackouts on me when I'm not looking,'' the more Sonic insisted on being alright this entire time and thus refused to tell him whenever something was wrong with his head, the more this peculiar mission was going to drag on. Did he even trust him anymore or was he just stubborn and too convinced in his own abilities? If the Blue Blur doesn't drop the attitude and actively starts asking for help, this isn't going to work out any better for him. Shadow won't be able to tell what will be the next thing striking his younger rival upside his head and the next time he might not be able to help him properly.

''It happened once,'' Sonic once again saw no harm in it, ''Big deal. It's not like it's gonna happen again.''

The Ultimate Lifeform replied with at least some sort of knowledge in his head, something his younger counterpart lacked, ''Have you fallen on your head one too many time? It's not just over. Until you get some proper medical help, you are in no position to say or do anything.''

''What are you, my doctor?''

And so it begins all over again. Shadow somehow believed the more the blue hedgehog suffered, the more he became ignorant of his own health and absolutely lost his head to that one specific goal he wished to achieve right now. It was a sort of an unconscious self-defense mechanism to avoid torment and navel-gazing at all costs which actually sounded appropriate for his rival. Sonic did not engage in such acts, especially when it was his own life at stake, as he was known to brush away his problems in mere five seconds and went back to work immediately. Crying and constantly thinking about your problems wasn't any better than stuffing them in the deepest corners of your mind, but the black hedgehog really needed his honest cooperation.

''You can prescribe my narcotics later, we gotta get a move on,'' the younger one replied with nonchalance. The fact was that the Blue Blur was getting tired of this island and he only wanted to know wherever or not anything disastrous happened to what he called his forgotten home. After all, a whole civilization cannot just disappear without any trace, no?

When the blue mammal was about to move away again, the black hedgehog stopped him, ''Sonic, this isn't going to work out.''

''What now?'' Sonic sighed out at him, gaining a genuine annoyed look in his eyes. If they don't hurry up already, they won't leave this place anytime soon.

''Didn't you hear me?'' the Ultimate Lifeform had enough of repeating himself for every single word he ever uttered out to his counterpart. It's like he needed to specifically inform him that he was not in command anymore and should stick to the background from now on, ''You're in no condition to continue like this and until we're done here, you'll listen to me.''

Not surprisingly, he only largely smirked at him as if he was kidding. The Blue Blur lifted his finger up to Shadow's face with a surprisingly childish tone of voice, ''Give me one good reason why should I,'' passing his authority to someone else wasn't needed at all.

It seemed the younger hedgehog still liked to believe he was in control of everything around him.

At this point, the Fastest Thing Alive was just asking for extreme consequences to take place, ''Take one good look at yourself and then tell me,'' before the blue annoyance happened to notice the older mammal flicked at his forehead quite lightly, only for the other hedgehog to stumble backwards and land on his backside, hitting his head against the sturdy couch with a painful grunt. Even the black one was incredibly surprised just how easy it was to topple him over. He only wanted him to realize how weak he was at the moment, but not out rightly hurt him like that. He somehow knew Sonic wouldn't be able to stand correctly if it wasn't for him in this situation.

''Geez!'' the blue hedgehog furiously held his head and angrily pointed at his rival with his free hand, ''What was that for!''

Instead of trying to apologize right now, he decided to turn this little incident into something useful. The crimson eyed agent blurted out immediately, ''You can't even catch yourself falling and you want to continue like this?''

''If you'd stop treating me like some damn patient, probably!'' Sonic was sick of being handled like he needed someone to watch his every move. His darker counterpart acted if he was going to drop dead right in front of him anytime soon if he doesn't hold him gently like some priceless antique vase. So he had an irritating headache and a few accidents happened to him a while ago that both hurt and confused him. Stuff like this was regular for the Blue Blur and they never rested until they got a piece of his mind. Fainting was a different matter in itself, although it never caused any problems for him before.

''You should realize by now I'm only trying to help,'' the Ultimate Lifeform claimed.

''Help?'' the younger one chuckled out sarcastically with a shaking breath. It didn't feel like help or support at all most of the time. Instead he felt like some useless backup sitting calmly on a bench or that little unpopular kid who always got picked last for dodgeball, ''You're limiting me. I only follow and do nothing.''

Shadow merely shrugged with his head, ''So? Get used to watching my back from now on.''

''That's… my line…'' opening his emerald eyes wider than usual, he only now wondered if his darker counterpart might have been doing this out of spite and generally useless position he occupied during the blue hedgehog's time as the self-proclaimed leader of the hedgehog duo, ''Is this a payback because I brought you here? It is, isn't it?''

He was quick to brush it away, ''It has nothing to do with that. I already said I only came with you because I wanted to.''

The black one also wasn't sure if the younger mammal was forgetting things because he just didn't listen anymore or the fall cleared out his memory a little too much at this point. The other hedgehog wouldn't admit it, but Sonic was in desperate need of a watchful eye right now. Who knows what else may happen to him in the meantime, ''The point is that you have almost zero defense rate without me right now. And until you get better, I can't allow you to take any action without me knowing first that you'll be alright.''

Whenever in a team, you're supposed to watch out for those who have been wounded or are otherwise unable to proceed with their orders as no man should be left behind. It's not strictly military strategy, it's just common sense when it comes to teamwork.

''That's weird,'' snorting harshly, the informed hero replied mockingly, ''You sound like you want to protect me.''

''What else can I do?'' that's why he was here in the first place and willing to help him get through this as Shadow replied quickly, ''If you're going to break down on your knees every time you have a headache, we'll have tough time getting anywhere.''

''It's because of Tails too, right?''

Folding his arms around him and looking away for a short moment, the black one nodded almost unnoticeably, ''I always keep my promises…'' he whispered out loudly enough for the other to hear. It managed to be both a weakness and strength in his case. The reason he was still alive was due to a promise. Everything that happened from his revival to this day was because he had a promise to fulfill until the end of time. He promised to take care of those whom he previously wanted to destroy for their insolence. Give them another chance and ensure their survival when everything looked hopeless. Protect them from harm and anyone or anything that threatened to destroy the significant blue planet and its inhabitants.

''Watch over them… like a shadow.''

''I figured that's what it was,'' Sonic bowed his heavy head and leaned against the couch, feeling an uneasy pain bouncing around his mind once again. If anything, Shadow had that going for him. If the Ultimate Lifeform promised anything to anyone, he did so with no hesitance at all times. That actually sounded touching to some degree. Not something he'd usually show and say to anyone, but it felt quite nice anyway.

Finally, the black hedgehog offered him his hand, ''Come on. Let's get this over with. We both have something to fulfill after all.''

Lifting his spiny head and hesitantly taking Shadow's hand, the blue hedgehog grinned slightly, ''Just don't act like the boss of me and we'll get along just fine,'' the older mammal pulled him on his feet, but only to force back onto the couch by the shoulders and a stern look in his eyes. It seemed like he'll need to think of something else before his darker counterpart stops with his all too caring attitude he still wasn't used to at all. Although it was still better than getting punched in the face.

As he landed back on the couch, the Fastest Thing Alive felt a small throbbing sting in his spine, shivering slightly at the mere feeling. He responded quietly, ''Ouch.''

''Are you alright?'' the black one still sounded like a worried old nanny.

Reaching behind him, the blue hedgehog eventually found the tiny problem and immediately brushed it away with his hand, ''It's just my tail, nothing else.''

''Don't tell me you hurt that too?'' Sonic was already beat up from head to toe. He could walk, albeit slower with no supersonic speed and a little drowsier as if he had too much to drink at the nearest pub, his head was also okay for the most part and nothing at all seemed broken or twisted. It was almost a miracle he didn't get hurt a lot more than a normal person would in this situation, especially since he pretty much hit metallic flooring on his way down the shaft. The only real problem was his arm, but even there the bleeding slowed down for the time being, so it shouldn't cause anymore problems.

What's wrong with his tail then?

''Shadow, what are you doing?'' it took him a while to actually realize what the other mammal was trying to do. Shadow leaned behind him with one of his hands on the younger one's shoulder to take a look at his back, only for the younger one to almost choke up with a blushing expression. The Blue Blur quickly pulled away from him backwards as if he wanted to join with the couch. Noticing a slightly irritated and puzzled look in his darker counterpart's eyes, the blue hedgehog quickly yelped out, ''Hey, the tail is off limits!''

The Ultimate Lifeform merely shrugged in indifference at the other's slightly flushed face, ''I was just going to take a look at it to be sure.''

''Nuh uh, respect the tail! You don't touch it!'' the emerald eyed hero quickly started nodding his head in a panicky fever and put his hands on Shadow's chest to prevent him from coming anywhere closer than it was necessary.

After all, if there was anything that was incredibly sensitive on his body, it was the tail. That goddamn, good for nothing tail. The blue mammal had no real use for it as far as he knew, it was only there for people to pull it and make him squirm in displeasure whenever it got caught into something or by someone. Even if it was pretty short and almost incapable of doing anything other than wiggle around for no apparent reason, it still managed to bug him just how helpless and embarrassed he got at the sheer indication of anyone touching or pulling it. It was the only weakness of his nobody needed to know about, especially not his enemies or closest rivals.

With no real clue in his head what just happened, the black hedgehog stepped away anyway.

''Geez, finally some privacy,'' Sonic sighed out heavily when he got some air to breathe on his own. The older mammal just liked to get all over the place as of this moment and poke his nose into things that weren't his. He eventually pouted at him, ''Next time you wanna invade my personal space, at least ask first.''

The older hedgehog looked at him weirdly, ''You'd actually allow it?''

''Depends…'' the blue one shrugged at him, grinning as he asked him teasingly, ''How close you wanna get?''

Shadow occasionally heard something like that before, but it was usually from various girls with lovey-dovey looks in their eyes who would apparently kill just to hear his voice calling their names, much less get into his proximity. It was at that point he realized he might've been hanging out at Rouge's club a little too often to attract such attention from anyone at all. The only thing he remembered to say was whatever the thieving bat said sometimes, usually out of boredom, ''So I can see your eyes,'' that however came out awkward between the two males.

That was unusual thing to say, especially for the black hedgehog. Sonic was complimented about his eye color many times before by various people, but he never thought that the Ultimate Lifeform himself would hold the same opinion. With a sneaky tilt of his head and an arising smirk, he asked jokingly, ''Why?''

Contorting his mouth, the black hedgehog only now seemed to realize why he must've thought of that at this very moment. Before he left the other day for work, he accidentally forgot his Chaos Emerald at the bat's place but he never came back for it. Or maybe she just stole it right away yet he never bothered to notice for some reason. He finally responded albeit more to himself than the Fastest Thing Alive before him when he put his hand up to his chin, ''I miss my green Emerald.''

''Yours? Hah!'' the blue one laughed at that sentence, notifying the Ultimate Lifeform with a berating finger point, ''Heck no, I've used that one before you even appeared.''

''I never saw your name on it, hedgehog,'' the older mammal retaliated immediately, ''Besides, you got adjusted to the blue one just fine.''

Grinning even wider, Sonic folded his arms when he leant back in a very sophisticated way and threw one of his no matter how aching legs over the other one, ''Cuz it almost matches my fur color.''

''Egoist.''

Chapter 16 - Secluded Stronghold

''Did you find it already? Is that supposed to resemble anything? So… what's up with you anyway?''

After the small talk they exchanged previously, Shadow eventually agreed to show his blue counterpart what he found about this island. He only skimmed through the numerous files the first time around, so this was an opportune time to get through these logs and writings more thoroughly with the Blue Blur. Of course, Sonic would start to bug him when he didn't open up the files at least a millisecond quicker than the blue hedgehog was used to, twitching and rocking all over the place. He shouldn't be surprised anymore that the younger one was still filled with positive energy after so many terrible things happened to him, which would put other luckier people into a deep coma and out of commission forever. He guessed that any information found here should give him the last bit of drive he needs to move on.

''Sit down already,'' the Ultimate Lifeform was beginning to get annoyed and pointed downwards, ''Do you want me to tell you or not?''

With a sardonic whistle and an eventual pout, the blue mammal dropped down onto the nearby chair with an unsatisfied grunt. Folding his arms around his aching stomach while his rival searched on the computer in the most boring way possible, the younger hedgehog noticed a peculiar picture appear on the screen. He quickly nudged himself forward, slightly pushing his darker counterpart out of the way much to his displeasure, ''What's that?''

''It's the main core of the building,'' Shadow explained hastily while typing with one hand and nonchalantly pushing the blue annoyance back to his seat with the other to keep him from hogging up the entire screen.

Meanwhile, a wire frame presentation blinked into existence onto the giant monitor and explained the entire building from inside out like a handy map, spelling out the names of important locations and various rooms one at the time. Only later did it finally stop at what it seemed to be the very power source of all the commotion, ''GenEXE... it looks like this is what kept the city alive without any outside help.''

Widening his emerald eyes, the Fastest Thing Alive quickly remembered, ''GenEXE? That's the thing…''

''I know… the robot. I was right about it being a security measure,'' the black hedgehog answered and tried opening some important looking files, only for the computer to buzz angrily at him and informing him he has no access there without a proper identification code. While he believed at first only a few documents were locked, many other system and execution files were most likely under a direct watch of the core and thus remained under tightest security at all time. If GenEXE faced an immediate shutdown, there was no way the building itself or the entire town as it turned out, could even survive without its energy source. Cutting off the core would be cutting off the power supply for these things to run after all.

After a few more clicks and blips, he eventually gave up with a heavy sigh and leaned backwards in the chair. The black hedgehog didn't really have time to be hacking into this machine or try and sever the core's security. Moreover, Shadow wasn't all that skilled with such things like some other thief he thought of in this very moment, ''Some of these documents are blocked by that thing. Let's hope there's any useful information elsewhere.''

''So if I getting this correctly…'' Sonic scratched the back of his head, ''The core is controlling this?''

''Seems likely. It must've thought of us as trespassers,'' the older mammal theorized boldly with a hand on his chin.

Whatever that thing in the center of the building was, it was probably monitoring their every move ever since the lights turned on. It must've sent that enraged robot on them as well, but it didn't seem to do anything as of now. Did it lose its track or was it preparing for something much bigger to crush them completely? Without any knowledge of how the core operated and with no access to its files, they might not figure it out, but they need to be prepared if it will intend to attack the supersonic mammals once again.

The Blue Blur eventually interrupted his thoughts with a poke to his shoulder, ''Yo, did you find anything about this place?''

''I did,'' the Ultimate Lifeform nodded immediately as he opened up a random file full of photographs of several locations on the island, showing what it appeared to be a group of hedgehogs traveling from one research area to another, taking pictures of jungle plants and other forms of life, as well as excavating marvelous caves and conquering the mountain tops. If anything, they seemed to be pretty active for such an isolated location. This island was big enough to remain under investigation for many years as it held many interesting secrets in its depths.

He turned his head toward his blue counterpart with folded arms, ''Seems like you were right. This was once a place of the biggest hedgehog civilization, advanced but isolated. Actually, the only official one if these writings are something to go by.''

The younger mammal tightened his fists and smirked roughly, ''I knew it…'' after so many mistakes and unconvinced judgments, it was now entirely cemented that this island was his home years ago, even if he couldn't remember it in any possible way. However, what happened to it? Why did it become such a depressing ghostly mess? There had to be a reason for such a prosperous and seemingly happy civilization to just tear apart like that and make everyone disappear into nothingness.

''Maybe I can find a log or a diary,'' the older one shrugged with no intention, ''There's got to be something to keep track on that thing and its functions.''

Sonic snickered lightly, ''Like why it's trying to kill us?''

''I believe this is it,'' the black hedgehog found a certain document he only slightly glanced at just a moment ago and noticed the date, ''The last entry is about 15 years old.''

Upon hearing that fact, the Blue Blur snorted out with a slight shiver coming down his spines until he finally bowed his head and folded his arms around himself. Noting his immediate hesitance, Shadow started coursing through the pages backwards just as easily as flipping strangely durable pages of an old heavy book, ''Let's go back a few days…'' the document itself had a very obvious and sophisticated diary layout that wasn't all that foreign to him as he spend numerous days just to get through Professor's diary in one sitting. The writing itself was also filled with various techno babble and excitable titles, but was otherwise typed by a fairly educated mind from the looks of it.

''It's signed somebody by the name of Sage…'' he happened to stumble upon the actual name of the writer while scanning one of the pages. An appropriate name… if you happen to be a stock character in a role-playing game. Another name was just as bizarre once it rolled off his tongue, ''Gens? That thing has a pet name now?''

Jumping on his feet again, the younger mammal brought his face right next to the screen with obvious interest, ''What does it say?''

''Could you please stop that?'' the black hedgehog tried to push him away again, but the other refused to budge from his spot. Sighing out, Shadow brought himself closer to the monitor as well and ended up brushing himself against Sonic's spiny head the entire time. To keep him from continuously pushing him to the side with a smirk on his face, the older mammal trapped the blue annoyance into a choke-hold. When the Fastest Thing Alive didn't manage to escape, he started pretending he was choking himself to death but quickly realized it didn't work on him, so the Blue Blur merely pouted out in discontent and decided to deal with it when he gets a better chance at it.

Snorting down at the younger one and lifting his eyes, Shadow finally started reading the entry, 'Gens is operating normally for the time being…' the older one interrupted himself in mid-sentence and scrolled down a bit with his free hand, '… after removing the Chaos Emeralds. Even with such everlasting power, they only manage to stay in one environment for only so long when this close to one another.'

''Chaos Emeralds?'' the Fastest Thing Alive hastily removed himself from his hold and the computer screen, making his darker counterpart stumble back to his seat almost immediately, ''But I didn't sense anything.''

The Ultimate Lifeform nodded in return, ''Neither have I.''

If there used to be a flow of Chaos energy in this place, it was probably thoroughly dispersed or spent somehow, otherwise at least one of them would be able to sense it, even if it couldn't be detected by the strongest machines in the world. When hunting for Chaos Emeralds, the powerful energy inside of them was very sensitive to their noses, attracting them like bees on honey. It's the kind of addicting feeling that only comes up when you're nearing the extraordinary gem at some point, although even a strong lead of one might take you a few days until you actually find it at the exact spot miles and miles away… maybe even a whole continent away if the smell is still strong enough in certain region. The green Emerald he left at home still had a fresher scent than anything in this place.

Maybe that's why Rouge is obsessed with gems so very much (besides being shiny).

They smell nice.

Gaining control of the computer once more now that the blue hedgehog backed his head away, the black mammal continued to read, 'Due to a high concentration of Chaos energy made by Gens in process of refining it into useful expendable power, everyone in the city gained exposure to it across several months. Several officials are petrified by the current investigation, but there is no proof that Chaos Emeralds are in any way lethal to organic beings. However, it's been noticed in newly born hoglets that the concentration of Chaos energy is much higher than those who were merely exposed to it, possibly adopting a genetic mutation. Still, this hasn't been disproven yet nor is considered to be dangerous.'

Upon reading that out loud, the older hedgehog only mildly shifted his slanted glance over to his younger rival who apparently listened in while his gloved finger continued cleaning his ear with the most irritating squeaky sound effect ever produced by nature.

It took him a while to realize that Shadow was staring at him and asked with an oblivious shrug, ''What?''

''… are you the… there is no way you could…''

After consulting with his own mind, Shadow brushed the thought away and turned back to the screen with a grunt, ''… nevermind.''

''Wait, what is it?'' the Blue Blur was completely dumbfounded.

The other hedgehog merely nodded, ''Let's move on,'' and scrolled further down until another thing caught his eyes.

'Gens has been acting weird lately. Could it be due to Emeralds' removal? It's a known controversial fact that some machines simply cannot adapt to another power source if fed too long on one alone but nobody wants to hear of it. They just want us to fix it. However, that's not the only thing. Gens… is talking to us through the core,' even Shadow himself was mildly baffled by that claim but continued onwards nonetheless even when the blue one began going cross-eyed at him for some reason.

'Of course not in a language we speak, but in a complicated binary code. Is it… no, it might just be a malfunction.'

''Can the Emeralds grant sentience now?'' he mentioned sarcastically with a harsh sound. The crimson eyed agent knew just how irregular and uninvestigated Chaos energy and the gems were, but this would be an achievement even for them, ''What else are they going to come up with?''

''That can't be it,'' Sonic disagreed with a slight pout on his face, ''Tails used to power the Tornado with one of those and it never tried to murder us.''

In an agreement with his younger counterpart, the black hedgehog reconsidered differently, ''Maybe it's not the Chaos Emeralds… it could be the program's faulty design,'' it was possible the core itself was too imperfect to handle sudden changes like that and the gems had nothing to do with it.

''A machine addicted to Chaos energy?'' the Blue Blur snickered out and grabbed a nearby dusty pen from the table which he began twirling in-between his fingers, ''Maybe I should write this stuff down, this can go for a reasonably bad sci-fi movie.''

However, the Ultimate Lifeform only listened to his real questions, ''It is considered an option. Whatever that thing wants, it probably wants it from us now,'' if the core of this building is able to think in some way and can detect Chaos energy of any sort, then that means it will come after them anytime soon. Which in his mind was made up all the more horrifying since the older one could only imagine what happened to all those unknowing hedgehogs here…

''Oh, yeah? What would that be?'' the blue one shrugged with a brush against his cheek and balanced the pen on his nose until it eventually fell down and landed on his lap.

As if he needed to reinstate his own being once again, Shadow pointed at him with a tilted head, ''If you have forgotten already, I was built with the intent to carry massive amounts of Chaos energy, more than any other known creature in this world,'' so much in fact that without his special bracelets the black hedgehog was constantly in danger of spending all of it in one single attack and leave himself vulnerable against further enemy attacks. They helped keeping his power in check and in the worst case scenario, his last resort was to use any power that had remained under the limiter's restrictions.

''And it says here the machine works on Chaos energy,'' he knocked on the glass monitor and expected him to figure out on his own, ''There are no Emeralds here at the moment, so…''

As he twiddled his fingers in slight thoughtfulness, the Fastest Thing Alive only needed a short moment to put one and one together. He pouted out with displeasure, ''So, we're considered walking batteries as far as it knows. That's just… fantastic.''

''And you were born here which would mean…''

If there was anything the black hedgehog knew about, it was the fact of science. Falling asleep in midst of dictionaries and textbooks later than he was supposed to and then getting berated for it in the early morning didn't sound like a bad idea any longer. Whatever or whoever Sonic actually is, this is an incredible discovery in itself. Maybe Shadow wasn't all that wrong when he considered the blue hedgehog to be his only rival in the world that can match him, ''If this research is correct, your affinity for Chaos energy is a genetic defect, passed down from your exposed parents and implanted right into your gens.''

''Can't just anybody use it?'' the Blue Blur didn't really seem to be shocked or even care about it. He even yawned as a result, ''I thought it was natural.''

He quickly explained with a nod to share his findings, ''They can, but it's dictated by the amount of experience and energy the user can hold. Just because one has access to the energy, it doesn't mean they can control it,'' the older mammal learned the same thing by himself one time as his Super transformation involved a lot more strength and mind power in comparison with anything else he could create easily, ''But it would explain so much. Your natural compatibility with Chaos Emeralds…''

''Oh, tell me about it,'' the blue hedgehog smirked lazily.

''Your speed…''

''Heh, that one's easy. I was a Formula racer in my past life.''

Shadow squinted at him, ''If you were ever a Formula racer, then I am a turtle.''

''Well, you do like to reel in enough problems already, so…''

''Forget it.''

As far as normal Chaos powers were concerned, they needed a perfectly concentrated mind to mold them into something more destructive, such as was the well known Chaos Spear. It was pretty basic but strangely effective, and thus ridiculously fun to spam all over the place. Just as well was the fact that by merely snapping his fingers he could fling somebody into the nearby wall so hard they couldn't make any sense of it even after they had picked themselves up. The Ultimate Lifeform did regret spending so much of his precious energy on that robot alone without thinking at all. However, he came out looking so incredibly angry at both the distraction in his way and the Fastest Thing Alive, so he spent way too much time on it than he would have in a regular battle.

''I don't really see any use in it anyway. What's wrong with good old-fashioned boosting through obstacles?''

It's at this point that he really wanted to question Sonic about those facts as well. Wherever it was true or not, the blue hedgehog before him had all the necessary abilities for the same exact powers but didn't cash in on them at any time, even in the middle of a losing battle. It seemed like such a waste of talent and potential. He understood the notion of sticking to what you know, but new abilities would only increase his fighting choice in battle. Then again, the younger one did solve problems by impulse rather than choice.

''Seems like we're more equal to each other than I thought,'' their similarity was almost undeniable when he replied out with a snort, even if it didn't seem like much at the moment. At this point the black one still didn't want to think about it… if he really was what he believed him to be.

''Except color wise,'' the Blue Blur grinned lightly. Just how could anyone, especially in broad daylight, managed to confuse them both for one another was anyone's guess. Everyone just saw what they wanted to see.

Shadow wasn't about to stop right there as he folded his arms tightly. It was pretty pointless to be bringing up stuff like this right now, but he did wonder about it far too much not to, thinking about the possibilities of this sudden discovery. He started wondering if his younger counterpart ever thought of it before as he pretty obviously implied, ''Maybe I was right about you. Could you be the answer to the theory of the Ultimate Lifeform? One that formed in nature?''

The black hedgehog noticed that the younger one looked through his very soul with a squint, before he brushed it away with an honest smirk, ''Sounds like an accident to me.''

''Even if unintentionally…''

''Keep the title, it's rightfully yours,'' Sonic smiled at him, pulling his thumbs up on him a second later as a quick reassurance, ''One Ultimate Lifeform is enough for me.''

XXX

After traveling a great distance through frozen ice caves, flying bases, hot sandpits and lava filled mazes with his Chaos Emeralds stolen by Doctor's new dreadlocked buddy, the blue mammal and the yellow furred pilot finally made it inside of what it seemed to be an ancient sanctuary of some sort, possibly built by a civilization that used to live on this so called Angel Island. It was a different sight from the previously red and extremely hot interior of the Lava Reef, having been replaced by calming tones of blue and violet with a cold breeze running through it like a soft yet ancient memory. Extremely gigantic and sealed perfectly inside a huge mountain, just what purpose did this place have for anyone other than to keep long forgotten secrets from the rest of the world?

Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails finally managed to catch up to the sneaky echidna, demanding the Emeralds back and a quick explanation for the fat egg's schemes this time around. Of course, they only ended up in a full blown fight with the red guardian as none of them would comply with any of the orders. However, as soon as it started, the imminent battle was already over, irritating the Fastest Thing Alive more than the loss of the rainbow colored gems.

Standing up on his knees and breathing heavily, the echidna punched the floor with all his might at his easy failure, ''This can't be… how did I lose?''

''That's all?'' the Blue Blur was either on the edge of laughter or tears at this point as he could barely believe what just happened, ''I just spent this entire time running after Eggman's little partner in crime and he goes down in a couple of seconds! Would it hurt you to give me a little challenge?''

''Hey, Sonic! Look at that,'' catching something incredibly imposing and colorful on the wall, the two tailed pilot brought his attention to it out of sheer curiosity.

The blue hedgehog shrugged lightly as he twirled over to the wall in one quick succession, ''What?'' and upon seeing it, he widened his emerald eyes at the sheer majestic sight the strange mural radiated. With a whistle coming out of his mouth, he reached toward it with no concern as he was completely mesmerized by the picture, ''So cool… what is this?''

''Hey!'' picking himself up from the floor with a grunt, the red guardian prevented him from doing so, ''Don't touch that!''

With a laughable snort, the grinning mammal turned toward him immediately, ''You still wanna fight?''

''I'll pummel you into the ground, hedgehog!'' the echidna threatened with a clear intention while pumping his fists into the air confidently, ''Do you even realize what this place is? This is a sacred sanctuary of my ancestors, the place of the planet's past and future!''

Tails scratched his head, ''Ancestors?''

Completely taken over by a strange feeling in his mind and heart, Sonic continued to stare at the mural as if he were possessed by something. The more he looked into it, the more it became familiar in some way but he couldn't put his finger to it. The blue hedgehog could only mildly hear what the pilot and the guardian were conversing about in the meantime, but he didn't really care at the moment. He wasn't all too sure what the picture was supposed to represent, but the bigger beast on the left was holding something… or rather, stealing a very large green Chaos Emerald and tried to get away with it as soon as possible by flying away. On the far right, there was another creature covered in a yellow fire as it fought the one on the opposite site. As if it were telling a great story of a battle that took place in a far distant past and somebody decided to recreate it in this sanctuary, but the outcome wasn't present anywhere or even hinted at. Maybe it was left up to interpretation of an individual?

The emerald eyed hero only then heard the red one yell again in an ordering voice, ''The ancient Echidnas, one of the greatest civilizations of this world. I'm the last one of them, brought up to protect the Master Emerald no matter what and you two aren't getting near it!''

Pulling himself away from the mural, the younger hedgehog asked calmly, ''If they were so great, then why is there only one of you left?''

''You question their legacy?'' the guardian was enraged just hearing those words, ''I'll beat that nonsense right out of you!''

Before the mammals could strike at each other once more to start a new battle, the two tailed pilot got in the way of them to stop the two from dueling it out once and for all, ''Wait a second, you got it all wrong! We're not here for the Master Emerald. We don't even know what that does…''

''Shut up!'' he shouted instead and refused to listen to them, ''I know what I've heard from that flying man!''

''You mean Dr. Eggman, right?'' the yellow furred pilot sighed out heavily when he wanted to explain everything to the red mammal as clearly as possible, ''You can't trust him! He's gonna backstab you at the first chance he gets!''

The other merely folded his arms and laughed it off as a fluke, ''Hah, what a bunch of lies! You can't fool me.''

''This guy's unreal,'' the blue one shrugged.

Tails immediately turned to his speedster buddy, ''I don't think he even knows who Eggman really is…'' but when the earth shook angrily, the fox already knew what was coming next. He pointed toward the pedestal not far away from them as a clear warning, ''Sonic, look!''

The Fastest Thing Alive shouted at the clueless red guardian as soon as he saw it, ''Hey, your Master Emerald is flying away!''

''What?'' turning around swiftly on his heels, the echidna finally saw that the hedgehog and the fox might have been right after all much to his surprise. The overweight human he was trusting this entire time ripped the Master Emerald out of its resting place with his floating machine and threatened to fly away with it. Quickly, the red guardian launched himself up the pedestal with a shocked expression as he tried to make sense of this, ''D… Doctor, what's going on? I thought we had a deal!''

The fat man in the Eggpod merely laughed out loud as he stopped in midair to taunt him, ''Ohohoho, you really are a twit, Knuckles! But a useful one nonetheless!'' he then waved at the three in a quick farewell and prepared himself for a quick launch out of the mountain, ''Sayonara, imbeciles! I don't think we'll ever see each other again!''

''Wait!'' Knuckles the Echidna jumped onto the old man's machine, trying to stop him as the other tried to fly away.

''You idiot!'' with a heavy sigh left on his lips, Doctor Robotnik was sick of the insolent duo always getting in the way but as of now this may become a triple problem with both the blue and yellow coming to help out. If he doesn't do anything quickly, he'd be defeated again but this time he wasn't going to let them take him down that easily anymore. With an eventual big grin on his face, he brought out his little secret weapon to help him incapacitate the anthropomorphic vermin as humanly possible, ''I'll deal with you myself then!''

As the duo approached the fat flying egg, the Blue Blur called out, ''C'mon, Tails! Let's bring him down right here, right now!''

However, even with the combined strength of the three mammals, they barely scratched the good old local mad scientist, much less prevent him from taking the Master Emerald. Before the red echidna could even climb up toward the human's cockpit and preferably punch him out of it, he was quickly electrocuted by his little weapon stored away in the Eggpod and dropped to the floor like a fly. The two friends lost their chance as well before they could hit him again, resulting in Eggman's escape and causing another brief shake of the mountain, as if the giant gem itself held it from breaking apart. It seemed his flying fortress was up and ready to fly up into space once more and conquer the world from then on.

Eventually, Knuckles came to with a slight headache, ''But why?''

''It's Eggman. Does he really need a reason?'' the blue hedgehog replied with a tightened fist and turned his head up toward an opening where the scientist just disappeared. The sun continuously lost its light as it was overshadowed by a great big orb lifting up in the sky like an early eclipse, ''We need to stop him before he gets away.''

Approaching the downed and slightly embarrassed echidna, the yellow furred fox asked with a tilted head, ''Is there any way we can reach Eggman's fortress from here?''

Thinking about it for a short bit, the red guardian sighed out with widened eyes as he seemed to recall one specific location that nobody but he had the access to. However, since the Master Emerald was in great danger, he needed to do something quickly and he might be too weak to handle it by himself, ''There is one way… Sky Sanctuary. It's the only route possible if you want to reach the Death Egg.''

''I wonder what he plans to do with it…'' Tails began said out loud, more to himself than anything else.

''The Master Emerald holds incredible amounts of energy,'' Knuckles quickly explained as he lifted himself from the floor, ''It's what keeps Angel Island in the air.''

Tapping his foot angrily against the echoing floor, the pilot sighed out with a slanted look in his eyes, ''He probably wants to harness that energy for his own good. Nothing new for Eggman right there…'' but he immediately noticed that his blue buddy wasn't listening entirely as he kept staring back at the picture in the distance and didn't say a word. Tails approached him from behind and called out to the speedster, ''Sonic?''

Without turning around, Sonic kept his eyes in place and asked anyway, ''What's the story behind that mural?''

''That? It's an ancient legend of my tribe,'' Knuckles replied as he leaned against the wall with a tired breath. He heard the story so many times before that he could recite it completely word by word. He kept it short for convenience, ''It was said that one day the one who possesses the true potential of Chaos Emeralds will be able to protect the Master Emerald and then the entire world… or destroy it. Whoever that was supposed to be, he was always well respected but feared at the same time.''

When the Blue Blur said nothing, the red echidna motioned for the two to come with him, ''Come on, I'll show you the way!''

''Sonic?''

Hearing Tails' calling, he said hastily, ''I'll be right there with you…'' the yellow furred fox only hesitantly ran after the guardian.

After finally turning around but taking another good look at the distant picture on the wall over his shoulder, a strange feeling still coursed through his entire body, something he couldn't really explain at the moment. It was a powerful feeling, as if something should be done about it as soon as possible. It called to him to take the initiative and begin anew, as if time and place didn't matter anymore. Ever since they arrived to Angel Island by sheer coincidence, he felt as if he was summoned here for a reason, to help and figure out his fate in this world. Was it his future that the island foretold and wanted him to follow it as such because it was destiny? If this was really what he thought it was, he must've come across a turnabout of his life. A significant moment to devote his entire life to something he didn't exactly understand or even knew about it.

However, his last action was to grin widely and reply to himself with a mocking nod, ''… nah.''

XXX

As the Master Emerald was finally brought to safety from Eggman's grabby robot hands, Knuckles worked quickly to put it back to its righteous place in the middle of the altar. Relieved that everything was okay with it after the space battle, Angel Island slowly started to lift from the sea amongst the white clouds where it belonged in the first place. Even after the unusual landmass was high up in the sky to the point you could barely see it from the ground, the red guardian kept repositioning the giant green emerald as if it needed to be in the exact same place as before, ignoring both Sonic and Tails for the time being as they stood to the side.

''It's fine, really. No need to thank me or anything…'' the blue hedgehog sighed out sarcastically when the last living echidna didn't turn to them at all, gaining an eye roll from the Fastest Thing Alive, while the two tailed pilot chuckled out awkwardly.

Exhaling heavily and leaning his hands softly against the Master Emerald, Knuckles started wondering, ''Has everything I've ever been taught true?'' sidestepping over to the two mammals he had previously labeled as his enemies, the knuckle barring guardian widened his violet eyes at the younger hedgehog, ''Just who are you anyway?''

''We've been through this already,'' the Blue Blur shrugged with his shoulders, ''I'm Sonic the Hedgehog.''

The echidna nodded immediately, ''No… who are you really?''

''What are you on now?'' scratching his spines with a dumbfounded appearance, the Fastest Thing Alive didn't have any clue to what he was talking about.

''It was just like it was said…'' Knuckles lifted his hands up in the air, clearly astounded by the entire thing as he started to ramble, ''The Chaos Emerald's powers turning into pure light, the golden glow leading up into the sky and the Master Emerald safe from harm!''

Noticing that both the hedgehog and the fox held quite uninterested and largely confused looks on their faces, the red guardian's hands turned back into enormous fists and spilled out with a straightforward remark as he stared into the speedster, ''You were the one foretold to come here! You saved Angel Island and the Master Emerald! You used the light of the Chaos Emeralds to turn into a golden glow!''

Leaning forward with a blink, the younger mammal just had to ask, ''… did that electric shock fry your brain or something?''

''Don't you understand what this means? Your arrival here was not unintentional,'' he tried to make him understand, ''You came here because you were guided here.''

When those words left the echidna's mouth, this was Sonic's opportunity to interfere into the conversation as quickly as possible to inform him that wasn't the case with him. He only came to this island because he and Tails took a wrong turn somewhere and this was the only thing that looked somewhat bearable than the deep blue seas below their feet. He brushed his finger under his nose, ''The only thing that guides me is the wind that blows free. Besides, what's done is done.''

''But…''

''I need to go for a run,'' interrupting him again with a large grin on his face, the Fastest Thing Alive jumped into the opposite direction and waved back for a short second, soon leaving a long trail of smoke behind him. His voice echoed toward them like a faint memory of his existence, ''See ya guys later!''

Chuckling out a bit, the two tailed pilot turned over to the red guardian, ''Sorry… he's always like this.''

''Ugh… am I wrong again?''