"Hello son," The hedgehog on the view screen purred, "Look at how grown up you are."

Sonic's head snapped over towards Shadow, gaze accusing, "You know this psycho?"

Shadow's head nodded once, looking almost bored with the proceedings, "It is as he said -- I believe he is my father."

Silver looked up from the helm, confusion etched over his young face, "You 'believe'?"

Shadow nodded once more, his grip on the railing firm enough to show this news had unsettled him, "I would not know if this man's claim is true or not, as my father was exiled from the ARK long before I would have been able to remember his face."

Shadow looked to be carved from stone as his gaze fell on the Black Arm. So this was his father?  His family had taken great pains to strike Doom's image from their records, Shadow had no idea what his father had looked like until this very moment.

Doom resembled Shadow strongly, so much in fact the crew kept sneaking glances between the two aliens. They were almost like mirrored images, aside from one major flaw.  Doom carried an additional eye set in his brow -- typical markings for a normal Black Arm in combination with the odd markings.

Schooling his face into a mask of detached indifference, Shadow moved from the spot he had taken next to Sonic to move closer to the wide screen. His stomach made an odd lurching sensation that Shadow recognized as disgust. Perhaps it had been foolish in the past for Shadow to think of the mysterious figure of his father as anything other than an exile -- but he hoped Doom would be more than this foul beast.

More than a murderer.

Was this the being who had sired him?

It was then Doom decided to throw his two cents into the conversation, "I assure you that I am your father boy," The Black Arm's lip curled with distaste, "And I see that you've been properly brainwashed into that hippie-style worship of Chaos."

Shadow opened his mouth to refute his father's claim but the alien spoke over him, anger flashing across his face in a way that would have any respectable Black Arm raise an eyeridge in disapproval.

"I will show you Chaos as you have never seen it before Shadow," Doom hissed, garnet eyes then locked onto the silent form of Mogul, "Captain, you will board my ship the Comet, and we will discuss... peaceful terms of your surrender." A thin, cruel smile flitted over his face, "And Shadow?" He looked over at the hedgehog whose full attention was focused on him, "Watch."

With those words, the view screen clicked off.

Sonic whirled on Mogul without waiting for instructions, "It's a trap sir. He's going to kill you."

Mogul raised an unimpressed eyeridge at Sonic's declaration but stopped when Shadow agreed with him.

"Your survival is unlikely."

"Tell me something I don't know," Mogul shook his head and gave Shadow a sharp look before the Black Arm could actually attempt to fulfill his request, "Shadow, Sonic, Silver. I'm off to the shuttle bay, and you're coming with me."

As they walked, Mogul began to give them sharp instructions, "Sonic and Silver are going to be doing reconnaissance to find out what type of heavy artillery Doom is planning on using against the planet. This will leave Shadow as Acting Captain and I'm putting Sonic as First Officer."

Sonic did a double take, and would have laughed his ass off at the expression Shadow made if the situation had not been so dire. Instead of demanding a logical explanation for his decision, Shadow surprised Sonic and nodded once at Mogul and took off back towards the bridge.

-::-

Sonic wanted to know how the hell someone could weaponize a black hole.

It was genius. Complete insanity of course -- but genius none the less.

He and Silver had been perched on the side of a low hanging enemy ship while Sonic did the daredevil stunt of Extreme Code breaking -- which consisted of him engaging a few crazy Black Arms in mortal combat while attempting to hack into their databanks.  He thought about having this sport patented under his name after all this madness was done.

He had successfully cracked their firewall and relayed the information up to Rouge for translation when Silver had to pull Sonic's tail out of the fire.  The kid really knew how to take care of himself when push came to shove, even going as far as shoving an enemy right off the side of the craft they were dancing on.

Even when they arrived back on the Enterprise as safely as they could have managed, Sonic would chalk this day firmly in the category of 'suck.' 

It only went downhill from there.

The ARK only had seconds left of existence before it was consumed by a black hole, and Shadow was going down there.  For some reason, the idea of Shadow planetside was terrifying.  More than that -- it was suicide.  Shadow had to save his mother and the elders who resided in an area protected from outside interference.  They could not be beamed out while they were in the holy altar of Chaos and he had to go himself.

Those people were the core of the Black Arm civilization and held many of the secrets and customs that defined what their species were.  The teachings of Tikal and Chaos for example, would forever be lost if Shadow did not act.

Sonic could remember standing rooted to the spot as he waited for the acting captain to return safely. He itched to go along, but knew as First Officer he was bound to the ship should something happen to Shadow  He might have disliked the guy, but they were comrades. Nothing more could be said about allies that were joined by battle, and no matter how much Knuckles tugged at his arm to try and get him to come to sickbay, Sonic stood there until the glowing lights of the transporter sparked to life to signal Shadow's return.

Sonic's heart leaped and a smile curled at the corners of his lips as he saw the shapes forming.

It abruptly slipped off his face once he realized there was something terribly amiss.  One of the shapes caught in the beams evaporated, lost in the transporter and Miles -- who was operating it sagged in his seat in numb horror.  It was in that moment when the ARK was destroyed did Sonic realize Shadow was mobian. Perhaps even more so than he.

Sonic had never seen Shadow so achingly vulnerable. Ruby eyes wide and a hand extended out to grasp the fading lights of the transporter beam -- Shadow looked almost child-like. He was frozen where he stood, even seconds after they had been safely transported onto the Enterprise. Sonic didn't know what happened down there on that planet, but one thing was for certain.

The expression on Shadow's face would haunt him when he went to sleep.

"I lost her," The sad voice of Ensign Tails came from the transporter console, "I'm sorry Captain Shadow..."

"Mother..."

-::-

Shadow escaped onto a turbolift to have a moment to himself. To try to recollect his thoughts and organize all of his emotions. He needed to attempt to shut off the flow. Needed to center himself.

Needless to say, he was surprised and frustrated that his attempts at being left alone were thwarted when Sonic zipped into the turbolift at the last second.

They stood in each other's company in silence for a long moment. Sonic jabbed the button to stop it in mid-lift, emerald eyes dark with remorse and apology.

"I'm sorry," Sonic murmured.

Shadow's breath caught at the heartfelt words. He didn't risk looking at Sonic, otherwise he was certain the hedgehog would see the vulnerable expression on his face. Shadow forcibly schooled his features and pressed the button for the lift to continue.

"Your condolences have been noted although they are unnecessary Mr. Sonic," Shadow intoned, voice flat of emotion. His tenuous control was wavering in the presence of the cadet. He jabbed the button for the lift to stop, even though it was at the wrong floor. Without a backwards glance or word of farewell, he left the lift with Sonic still in it.

Shadow fought to keep his emotions tamed and under control, but in the sanctuary of his own mind they were howling for release. His hands trembled by his sides, but to the outside world he retained his calm and detached persona. He could feel the eyes of Sonic on him no matter where he paced on the bridge.

That distracting chaos energy was reaching for him, coaxing him to give into his emotions. To let it all out and embrace it. Shadow cringed away from the energy, steeling himself against the intoxicating effects of Sonic.

Shadow wanted to curl into a tiny ball and cry his soul out. But he was too angry. Far too angry to grieve.  He wanted vengeance. He wanted to take the life of Doom, the monster who had the gall to call himself Shadow's father.  Doom was to pay.  He was the one to put an end to the only beautiful thing in Shadow's life -- his mother, Maria.

Gone were her smiles.  Her sweet presence. Her everything.

Doom stole it all from him.

Hurt him. Kill him. Make him suffer as you have.

No. Shadow forced himself to think, logic warring over raw emotions. They were outmatched, outgunned, and their ship had already sustained several vicious blows by the enemy ship.  The only logical approach left was to join up with the rest of the fleet in the Delta quadrant to warn them of Doom's warpath.

He gave the order for Ensign Miles to plot a course for the fleet, but no sooner had the words left his mouth, a certain blue annoyance was on him in seconds.  Sonic was angry, in his face with righteous anger that he did not even bother to try to control -- Shadow wasn't sure if he should be jealous or furious.

'Neither,' he told himself, 'You are above emotions. They do not touch you.'

Sonic was shouting at him. All Shadow heard was the buzzing of his anger in his ears, but he had the idea that the cadet was telling him to go after Doom instead of regrouping with the fleet. Doom was going after Terra next: Sonic's Earth. It was clear Doom not only wished to cripple the Federation, but he wanted to annihilate it. He had the power to do so.  Shadow was wholly in agreement with Sonic. He wanted to go after Doom himself and squeeze that monster's head from his shoulders. Shadow barely managed to keep himself in check.

Logic must prevail.

Serenity must flow through him and replace the rage.

He could not grieve.

He had to think, something was not adding up. The ship for example -- Shadow could not begin to imagine where Doom had managed to get his hands on such a powerful vessel.  It wasn't Black Arm issued, because when his father had been exiled they made certain to equip him and his followers with a ship that would do no one harm. The Black Arms -- now an endangered species, had always been peaceful.

This was not that ship.

Or if it was, the ship had been so heavily modified it no longer resembled its original design.

Sonic's voice was rising, saying they needed to stop Doom and save Captain Mogul. Shadow knew this and didn't need Sonic shouting in his face to tell him otherwise. However it was not the logical course of action. They needed to inform Starfleet. Wage an assault against them when their chances were greater for victory. They all saw what happened to the seven federation vessels that engaged Doom before they arrived.

"Captain Mogul ordered us to return to the fleet," Shadow said, frosty in the face of Sonic's anger. The blue hedgehog was not used to being at the whims of another. Especially when their viewpoints were so contrary.

"He also ordered us to come back for him!" Sonic shot back, emerald eyes blazing with fury. Shadow's gaze was locked with Sonic's.

For a tense moment, he felt his control unravelling. He could feel himself locked in those bright, passionate eyes and couldn't escape them. They cajoled him into freeing his emotions from his logic-bound cage. They urged him to give into the rage and do what felt right. Sonic's chaos energy was licking at Shadow's body -- distracting his already perilous control.

Why did Sonic have this effect on him? Why did this infuriating hedgehog always invite him to loosen his hold on his emotions, for even a second? It was too much. His taut and worn emotions couldn't handle this exposure to Sonic right now. He had lost his planet, his home, and his mother in a matter of minutes. What more, he was fighting an internal war between doing what was logical and what he needed to do to avenge his mother's death.

"Shadow you're captain now!"

"I am aware of my responsibilities."

"I won't let you run with your tail between your legs to the rest of the fleet!" Sonic growled. Blue quills bristling as determination lined every muscle on his body. It looked like Sonic was about to reach out and touch Shadow, one of his hands curled up in a fist to appear as though he would hit the Black Arm. The other hand however was stretched out to Shadow in a beseeching kind of call, his fingertips brushed very briefly against Shadow's shoulder.

That was it. The sheer shock of that fleeting touch was enough to engulf all of Shadow's nerve endings in a glorious, hot blaze. The seduction of Sonic's chaos energy was irresistible and it had been felt through the fabric of Shadow's science blue shirt.

Shadow hated Sonic for it.

"Security. Please escort Mr. Sonic off the bridge," Shadow said in cold, detached voice.

But of course, Sonic wasn't going to go easily. He never did. Shadow suspected that nothing could stop the blue hedgehog once he had decided something, and security barely managed to get a hand on the cadet before he slipped from their grips and dispatched them with alarming speed.

Sonic fought, even as Knuckles shouted for his friend to stop and listen to reason for once. Shadow had seen more than enough.  He couldn't stand for this distraction to be anywhere near him.  Shadow's hand enclosed over the back of Sonic's neck, sending a powerful jolt of chaos energy through the struggling hedgehog.

Emerald eyes went wide with shock and his body stiffened, back arching in one fluid motion. Then, without another word, he crumpled to the ground in a limp heap.

"Get him off this ship," Shadow hissed.