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?''