It was a bright sunny day, and Sonic was racing his rival, shadow. It was two weeks before Sonic's birthday. Sonic was right in front of shadow, racing for an emerald of great power. When Sonic was getting close to the emerald...it started to shimmer, and to Sonic...it felt like he was having a heart attack. Shadow was way in front now...and he turned to see his rival...but...he wasn't running like always...he was walking..clutching his heart and shutting his eyes very tight and he was trembling. Shadow saw this...and went back to what he called faker. "Faker!" Shadow called to him, and he watched what was happening, worriedly. Sonic was breathing very heavily, and sweat was coming off of him, dripping off him like water. Suddenly Sonic screamed out with agony, and a piece of his soul came out of his heart, and went into the colorful jewel. Shadow's eyes widened with concern. Sonic passed out...and Shadow caught Sonic before he fell. Shadow saw his facial features change. Sonic's fur was a duller blue, and Sonic's muzzle was a whiter tan. Shadow took him to Knuckles, because Knuckles knew everything about these emeralds.
OVER AT ANGEL ISLAND
Knuckles was just eating some grapes, and watching his shining master emerald. He was having the time of his life...until Shadow came that is. Shadow came with sonic in his hands, and sonic didn't look like himself anymore. "Shadow, did not expect you to be here, and with sonic."
"Can you just help Sonic?! He is very sick, and this is due to the Chaos Emeralds acting weird!" Shadow yelled, looking down at his blue counterpart. "If you cannot fix him, can Tikal do something about it?! I don't want another one to die! I don't want him to be like Maria!" Sonic coughed a little, and his hand was on his heart.
"...I am sorry... He chose his fate long ago... This is his destiny... Even though he doesn't deserve it... He has two weeks to live. On his birthday... That'll be his last birthday he has... When the clock strikes twelve... When the new day begins... He will die... He... Will be no more-" "What do you mean he chose his fate?! Can you explain this to me?! I can't allow this to happen! He is like a brother to me!" He continued to stare at the poor hedgehog in his arms. "Just... What did he do...?"
"This idiotic hedgehog gave up his soul in order to use the Chaos Emeralds... He wasn't born or created with the power to use the Emeralds... Like you were... So in order to use them... He had to give up something to use them... He borrowed the Chaos powers... Now he is suffering the ultimate price..."
He shook his head sadly, and started to cry. "No... Faker... Why...?!" He looked down at the poor hedgehog who gave his life to save everyone. He started to cry, and some of his tears fell on Sonic's muzzle. Suddenly, Sonic woke up.
"Be-because... I couldn't handle seeing s-someone in p-pain..." He smiled softly, and coughed a little. "At l-least it w-wont b-be in v-vain..." He reached up and held Shadow's cheek with his right hand.
"F-Faker..." Shadow muttered and fell on his knees while holding Sonic. He held the faker so close, it was almost like Shadow was preventing Sonic's body from disappearing. Sonic smiled weakly. "S-Shads... I-I still h-have two weeks..." He smiles at Shadow. "C-Can we do s-something...Fun? I-I don't want you not to have good memories of me..." Shadow nods softly, and sadly. "Sure... I don't want you to die unhappily... This is for you... Not me. Where would you like to go? And... Can you...walk?" Shadow asked, looking at his legs, as they just dangled, and not moving much at all. "I don't know... Let me try to move them..." He tried to move his legs, and he wasn't able to. "Nope... I... I guess I am no longer 'Sonic...'" He sighed, and he looked up at Shadow. "My real name is Olgilve Maurice Takashi... Sonic is just a nickname." He said, starting to tremble, not wanting to remember the past.
"S-Sonic...?" Shadow asked while starring at the dying hedgehog. Knuckles' eyes widened as he knew what he was doing. He has never said anything about his past, until now. He turned his head, respecting his decision.
"No, don't call me Sonic. The Sonic you once knew has vanished, along with his speed. Call me Maurice. That is my real name, and I wish to be addressed as such." He said a little rudely, but Shadow understands, because he lost something dear to himself. "Anyway... I am Prince Olgilve Maurice Takashi..." He cleared his throat. Shadow's eyes widened as well, and he looked away from Sonic, disgusted that he would keep something so important away from them. "I am sorry... I didn't have a choice... It was either keep it to myself or... Have my mom die. She is imprisoned by Egg-man right now..." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Wait... That means that you could have saved her, this whole time?" Shadow started to growl. "Why did you not go after her when you had the chance?" Sonic started to cry, and knuckles started to shed some tears as well.
"He killed my brother and sister... He... Eggman slaughtered them with a very strong robot... He threatened that if I tried to save her, she would die... And it would be my fault... Sonia and Manic were their names... They saved me from his attack... They gave me a chaos emerald to have me teleport away from them... That is when I made the stupid agreement with Tikal, and basically gave up my life..."
"Tikal is the reason you are like this...? I thought she was good..." Shadow said while looking at the blue hedgehog. "Shadow... She is good... I just had to give something in return for the power, and my soul was the only choice..." He looked down, but quickly lifted his head up. "Hey Shads... Can you do me a favor... Can you please rescue my mom? I want to say goodbye to her one last time..." Shadow nodded softly, and put Sonic down on the grass, away from the Emeralds.
"Sonic... Can you tell me what your mom looks like? I can probably teleport to her and save her quickly." Sonic nodded and gave all the crucial information for Shadow. "Her name is Queen Aleena. Please save her..." Shadow nodded and teleports away.
