A/N: Whether I'll continue this fanfiction, I don't know, it's really weird, like most of the stuff I write, and even if I decided to go ahead, I don't think I'd be able to provide a conclusion.

The inspiration for this story was a piece of stand-alone artwork made by shadowreaper12.

Otherwise, enjoy this idea.

JADED

CHAPTER 1

VANISHING POINT

: adjective

1. fatigued by overwork: exhausted

2. made dull, apathetic, or cynical by experience or by surfeit

jaded network viewers jaded voters

-Merriam Webster definition of jaded.

In graphical perspective, a vanishing point is a point in the picture plane π that is determined by a line in space. Given the oculus or eye point O and a line L not parallel to π, let M be the line through O and parallel to L. Then the vanishing point of L is the intersection of M and π. Traditional linear drawings use one to three vanishing points.

-Wikipedia definition of Vanishing Point

Shadow had almost no idea where he was going. Beneath him was an asphalt road painted black with two yellow stripes that seemed to stretch into eternity, said lines designating the direction drivers willing to take this long road would go. Shadow wasn't using any authorized G.U.N. vehicles or using his rocket skates at the moment, he was walking on the nearly infinite road. Walking was a new thing for him, it helped him concentrate on important details much easier than he would have done running.

Shadow thought back to last week, as the events to that point were lost in the random firing of neurons of his brain. He had gotten back after a vacation in Soleanna with Rouge, a mobian bat who was also a fellow G.U.N. agent, when it had been reported Sonic the Hedgehog had disappeared around the same time he was taking vacation. He was last known to have gone to Soleanna, coincidentally, according to his best friend, Tails. Immediate suspicion was aimed at infamous criminal, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, often referred to Dr. Eggman due to his rotund physique creating quite the derogatory nickname. Both had quite a rivalry, and Robotnik was responsible for the capture of Sonic on multiple occasions.

Dr. Eggman had attacked the city of a few days later, presumably to finally build the Eggman Empire after many defeats. G.U.N. came in to stop the attack, and with the help of Shadow, captured him and brought him to be interrogated. The interrogation revealed that Eggman had no involvement in Sonic's disappearance. Investigation revealed there was a witness, Amy Rose. He was in the room at the time, listening to the investigation. Amy said that she went to take Sonic for a 'date' and when he ran away, she chase him down an alley, where he saw him being held by a hooded figure. Amy attempted to swing her hammer at the figure, but he disappeared, with Sonic. A couple agents figured that what Amy saw could have just been the product of her imagination; after all, she wasn't good at picking up on the fact Sonic clearly wasn't looking for romance with her. Shadow had agreed to go on his own to find Sonic and call back up if necessary.

He had told the commander he had had been walking down this road because he could sense Chaos energy and the kidnapper, if there was one, must used a Chaos emerald to disappear like Amy had said, but his was a partially a lie. He had gone on the road in the first place because he had seen it in his dreams, the address burned into his brain. he knew it wasn't simply a coincidence because he could sense a bit of chaos energy in the air. He focused back to the present time.

Shadow continued down the road using the tiny rockets on his shoes to skate a little faster, as a growing sense of unease and fear began to creep into him, causing him to pick up the pace until he realized exactly why. Shadow quickly checked the front pocket of his backpack to realize it was gone. Upon turning around, the doll he had brought with him lay in front of him, on the endless stretch of road. He picked it up along with the other things that fell out of his front pocket of the backpack, which included his wallet, some rations, and a canteen of water. Shadow wasn't ready to admit it, but he was scared more often then he appeared. Exactly what his fears were concerning, he wasn't sure. Maybe he hadn't entirely got over the ARK incident, as he liked to refer to it. Maybe he was afraid of more things that he couldn't exactly grasp.

Whatever it was, the doll, specifically a doll of Sonic, oddly acted as his pacifier of sorts, it was what calmed him down when these fears became present. Otherwise, he'd have to just keep a straight face as his generally tough exterior and his underlying sanity was slowly eaten away. But nonetheless, he had brought it with him. This time he continued to walk, holding the Sonic doll close to him, into the unknown, where maybe he'd sort this all out.

A/N: As you can tell by the contents, this is pretty much exposition for something that could have been bigger. Leave and read something less meaningful for now.

EDIT: Fixed up some sentences.