Sonic was exhausted, with mounds of sweat dripping down from his forehead in the humid, summer heat. He had been fighting with Eggman's forces for quite some time, battling through what seemed like an endless supply of enemies. It wasn't anything Sonic couldn't handle, though. He dispatched them easily, one by one, and left the robots in pieces, leaving them to collect dust.

Sonic had no time to rest, though. He was hiding down in a corner of the harbour, collecting his thoughts and planning his next move. Still, he was exhausted, panting heavily as he slumped down to catch his breath. But he wouldn't give up.

"I've got to find a way back to Knothole, sooner or later," he exhaled, "then I'll be able to gather more support against Eggman. Sooner or later, we'll be heavily outnumbered, no matter what we do! If only I could somehow get back to Tails and get on his Tornado back there… then we can get the Freedom Fighters on our side!"

Sonic heard the rumble of a few engines just above him. He looked up and saw that there were many planes and drones circling the area, scanning for any potential threats.

"No rest for the weary, huh? I'll have to get going or I'll be turned into mincemeat!"

Sonic got back on his feet, jumped off the top of the aircraft carrier, and started to run across to the other end, sprinting with speed and velocity. Sonic got away from anybody that managed to see him there, as he shot by barely leaving a trace, disappearing no sooner than he had arrived. He jumped off the carrier and flew for a bit, before landing on another aircraft carrier, and running to the edge of that one as well. Noticing one of the soldiers nearby, Sonic knocked him off his feet and stole the paraglider that was nearby, and ran towards where the edge almost turned into a ramp.

"Sorry to take this without asking, but I'm in a hurry. Promise I won't damage this too much!" Sonic mocked as he lifted off and glided towards the Green Forest, covering a much greater distance than he would have otherwise.

Sonic didn't mind flying so much, since it gave him a bit of a pause from the constant barrage of enemies that had almost surrounded him just a few minutes earlier. He looked around himself, and saw nothing but trees in the distance, and as he got closer, the sheer size of the forest stunned him, noticing how thick it was, and how much wildlife was rolling around, waiting to be seen.

Then, of course, there was the usual supply of robots patrolling the area, moving around in unison, waiting to attack their adversaries.

"I'd better be careful, or they might alert the entire squadron," Sonic mumbled to himself. He leapt off the paraglider as he hovered just about the forest, making sure to land softly as he hit the ground. He scanned the area to check for any enemies he could until he could take out his GPS and try to locate where Tails was located.

Sonic took a quick look at the GPS and squirmed in disbelief. "He's on the other side of the forest? Great, looks like I'll have to run straight through this place."

Before he could think any further, a dark figure appeared from the midst of the forest, catching the corner of Sonic's eye. He looked very similar to Sonic, but was much, much, different to him, both in terms of personality and in judgment. The figure glanced down at Sonic for a moment before leaping downwards and approached him from a distance. Sonic quickly turned around and instantly knew then who it was that he found – the mysterious life form known as Shadow the Hedgehog.

"So, you've finally decided to show yourself here, and stick your neck on the line," Shadow growled.

"The same to you, jerk! You're showing little sense causing all this chaos around here!"

"Who's to judge what's really right or wrong here? I only have one goal, to take over the entire world!" Shadow then hauled out his Chaos Emerald. "I have the power to destroy anything I see unworthy of my plans. If you're smart, hedgehog, then you better stand out of my way."

"If you really believe all that talk, then prove it to me and fight!"

"You'll live to regret those words, Hedgehog…"

The two then bolted towards the centre, running directly on top of a grassy platform conveniently located between the two. They narrowly brushed each other aside, narrowly missing direct contact as they skidded to avoid falling off the platform, and then turned to face each other again.

"You'll be sorry, you loser!" Sonic yelled, as he started towards Shadow again.

"We'll see about that… faker."

Shadow followed suit, and then leapt at the same time Sonic did. Sonic went to throw a huge punch on Shadow, but Shadow blocked the punch out of his way. They landed not far from each other, and Shadow quickly jumped towards Sonic again. Sonic responded by delivering a Homing attack on Shadow, cancelling the attacks out. They continued homing towards each other for a few seconds, each of them stronger than the last one, and both of them showing no evidence of slowing down.

The two eventually landed back on the platform again, and Shadow pulled out the Chaos Emerald again, using his Chaos Spear move on Sonic. Sonic dodged the attack quickly and jumped towards Shadow to attack him while Shadow wasn't moving.

But Shadow waited until Sonic was very close to him, until Sonic moved his arm back to throw a large punch. Shadow responded with a quick uppercut, sending Sonic off his course and making him land on his stomach, before Sonic got back up with a bit of dirt left on him.

Shadow then got a big rock and lifted it up high in the air, then he hurled it directly at Sonic. Sonic moved out of the way just in time, and found a tree to latch just above them. Sonic checked to see if the threat had cleared, then he landed back down on the platform and sprinted towards Shadow again. Shadow did the same and leapt into the air again, preparing a Homing attack on Sonic. But Sonic slid under Shadow's jump, and when Shadow was looking for Sonic to appear again, Sonic did a Homing attack of his own right behind Shadow, tossing him forward and landing him flat on his face.

Sonic went towards Shadow again while he was down, but Shadow quickly got himself back up, turned to face Sonic, and leapt into the air. Sonic landed and saw Shadow right above him, readying another punch. Sonic jumped and defended the punch, but their heads bashed into each other, sending them flying in opposite directions and crashing themselves down in to the ground. They slowly got themselves back up, staring at each other intently and briefly catching their breath before bolting towards each other again.

The two collided with each other, but Shadow was able to grab him by the chest. Sonic broke free from him and started throwing punches on Shadow while he was close. Shadow took a couple of hits before sending some punches of his own. Technique was now thrown out the window – the two were pummeling themselves up constantly. Shadow and Sonic both punched and kicked each other, one hit right after another, while they also tried to dodge each other's hits.

Shadow landed a clean punch right across Sonic's face with his right hand, and threw another with his left, sending Sonic to the ground, giving him a few bruises along the way. Shadow tried to attack Sonic while he was trying to get up, but Sonic managed to grab Shadow and throw him down on the ground, before getting up, running towards Shadow and stomped him in the stomach. Shadow pushed Sonic away and created some distance, giving Shadow a moment to collect himself. Looking directly at Sonic, Shadow vaulted himself towards the centre. Sonic duly responded, but the two bashed their heads again, sending them both backward, and having them land not far from each other.

They both got back up swiftly and Shadow took a swing right at Sonic. The punch landed on his face again, sending Sonic backward and into the ground. There was blood coming from Sonic's mouth, and he got up and ran towards Shadow. The two sparred for a moment, blocking each other's punches, before Sonic landed a kick right on Shadow, sending him backward and hitting a tree behind him. Shadow slid to the ground and groaned in pain, before getting back up, dashing towards Sonic in fury and anger.

The two landed more punches on each other, sending more blood and bruises across their faces. Shadow lobbed his knee on Sonic, but Sonic threw an uppercut across Shadow's face, pushing him backward as more blood came from their faces. Sonic went to throw another punch, but Shadow blocked it and hit Sonic's shoulder, keeping the two apart for a moment. Then they both took steps back before launching themselves at one another again, throwing Homing attacks at a rapid pace, each one more intense than the other. The two continued until they both charged up their next move, and then dove towards themselves with great velocity. The force bounced them backwards, sending dirt flying into the air, as the force landed them on opposite ends of the platform.

Waiting for the dirt to settle down on the ground to see each other, a villainous voice interrupted them on Shadow's intercom.

"Shadow! Where the hell are you? There's only a few minutes left until the island blows up with you on it!"

"What? What does he mean, 'blows up?'" cried Sonic.

Shadow showed no change of emotion from Eggman's urgent message, and glided up in the air using his powered boots. "We'll see who gets out of this island alive, then… Hedgehog…"

Sonic licked the blood off his lips as he saw Shadow bring out his Chaos Emerald again, while holding the intercom with the other hand.

"Make sure that Hedgehog doesn't leave the island," Shadow ordered to the robots, "or any of his pathetic little creatures with him!" Shadow then made a fist with the Chaos Emerald, and shook it violently, drawing from its power. "Farewell then, you piece of filth, and never return!"

A bright flash of light drew across the sky, and Sonic moved his arms around his eyes to protect the blinding energy. Just as soon as it was there, though, it vanished from the sky. Shadow had teleported himself out of the island, and the bomb on the island was still ticking away, somewhere.

"I've got to get everyone off this place, and fast!" Sonic shouted to himself. He then started running across the forest, jumping across the trees one right after another. Sonic then landed on a pathway that looped around and then ended with a spinner than leapt Sonic up in the air, before bringing him back down to where a couple of robots had assembled to meet him. Sonic quickly dispatched the robots by somersaulting at them, before quickly going back on the path ahead of him and sprinting like crazy towards the other side of the island. He kept going faster and faster, speeding towards a spring that was located ahead of him, and bounced on it, sending him to a vine where he swung around and used the momentum to find a hill where he could run down on and build up speed.

Sonic kept running and was pushing himself to the point of exhaustion. He was hurrying like mad, wanting to get everyone off the island. He had no time to look at the GPS again, he simply had to run and find Tails, somehow.

Sonic approached another spring, and instinctively bounced on it and grabbed on another vine from above. This time, though, the vine moved downwards, as Sonic looked to see what was down below. There was a large lake of water below him, as well as spinning spiked balls circling where Sonic was directly heading towards. Sonic jumped out of the vine to avoid the spikes. However, he couldn't find anywhere to land. There was nothing but water all around him. He could see where the lake ended, but they were too far away for Sonic to reach in time.

Sonic grew worried as he neared the lake, tensing up as the waters grew darker. He had no choice but to fall in, and Sonic gulped as he looked towards the lake. He stared beneath his feet as he fell downwards, until right before he smashed into the abyss, he closed his eyes in anticipation of the depths below.

Sonic felt the water crashing around him, and suddenly he was sinking like a rock. He tried to move himself upwards but could do nothing but wave around and swing his arms aimlessly. He felt the water cling onto him and weigh him down, and the cold lake was making him numb as the temperature spread out across him.

"Oh man, this isn't good, this IS NOT good!"

Sonic kept holding his breath as he kept struggling to get up towards the surface. He looked up as saw that the light above was fading quickly, and Sonic was quickly running out of time. Not only did he have to get to his friends somehow, he also had to get out of this lake, one way or another. Sonic continued to fight his way through the water but everything he did to combat it was ineffective. He kept sinking, drifting slowly away from the world. He let out a tiny amount of air out and quickly covered his mouth with his hands, reminding him that there was no air around him. Sonic started to worry as he got further and further away from the surface.

His lungs were now becoming more and more pressurized as it begged for more air. Sonic resisted the urge to let what he had left inside the lungs, but his heart started to beat more quickly and heavily as it started to panic. He had been under for more than a minute. His eyes started to widen and his lungs pounded more and more, deprived of its' most valued resource. Sonic kept pushing with his legs, trying to find some kind of leverage to bring him upwards, but there was nothing but water underneath him. He started to stop accelerating towards the bottom, but he found himself no closer to the top than he was before.

Sonic let out another gulp of air, but he was able to close his mouth again in time. His lungs were painful than ever before, heaving back and forth as Sonic kept thrashing his legs and swatting his arms, doing whatever he could to get some air. He closed his eyes shut as his lungs started to pulsate and his chest started to move back and forth, and Sonic was now using all of his energy to get to the surface, while holding his breath as much as he could.

His lungs felt like they were about to burst, and Sonic briefly put his hand on his chest to try to soften the pain, but then returned to pushing himself as far as he could upwards. But the light up above grew weaker and weaker, and the distance between him and the surface was growing.

Sonic was reaching his limit, and he pressed his lips down as the air left inside him tried to seep out and escape. He kept holding his breath inside, doing what he could to retain what he had left, until he simply could not hold his breath anymore. He let a huge breath of air out into the sea, and tried to breathe it back in, but there was nothing around him but cold, bitter water. Sonic coughed it right out immediately, bringing his hands to his neck out of pure reflex. He continued to hack away, by now entirely focused on his own condition and nothing else. His mind was swirling with fear and horror as he coughed violently, realizing that it was becoming more and more likely he wasn't going to be able to make it to the shore. He tried calling out for help, but he was silenced by the ocean smothering his cries. He then focused back on himself, doing what he could to keep what was left of his air.

Sonic kept choking on the water, rejecting it every time his body urged him to breathe in air. He was desperate for some kind of miracle, anything to rescue him out of his trap. He was still coughing, but the air coming out of his mouth was getting smaller and smaller. Eventually, all of his air had run out.

Dread finally started to set inside Sonic. "No," he thought, "this can't end like this! I've got to find a way out, now!"

Just then, Sonic's lungs impulsively took over and breathed in whatever it could, air or no air. His lungs quickly filled up with water, making the pain inside his body hurt even more, as well as making his heart beat harder and faster. As he swallowed more water his face began to turn purple as his body was reacting adversely to the water, but his survival instincts kept trying to breathe. Sonic did what he could to keep the water out, even trying to cough it back out again, but it was all to no avail. Sonic was inhaling water, whether he wanted to or not.

He had been in the water for a few minutes now. Sonic had taken in a large amount of water, and he was becoming one with the ocean. His vision started to fade and narrow, and his senses started to weaken around him, even as the water continued punishing his lungs. His heart was becoming sluggish as his body could not retain enough oxygen, and the reality of the situation finally started to set in.

By now, Sonic was attempting to distract himself from his inevitable death, thinking of those who were always around him when he needed them most. He thought about his friends, his parents, those who loved him the most. It made him sad that he would never get to see them again as he lay beneath the waves.

Sonic was now breathing in the water slowly, as his lungs were almost completely filled with water. He stretched his arm out one last time in the slight possibility that somebody would respond to reach him out, but the distance from the surface was too great, and he was too far from anyone to pull him out. As his world started to collapse, he held fond memories of those who he loved the most…

Knuckles…

Tails…

Even Amy…

His parents, wherever they were…

And Sally…

His senses started to cut off, starting with his sight as his eyes sealed up, then his sense of touch as the cold around him faded away until he could feel nothing around him. All that he could sense now was the sounds of the water swirling around his ears. His mind shut down and his thoughts disappeared from his memory, and then the noises around Sonic dimmed down, leaving him with nothing, laying down in darkness. Bruised and beaten, Sonic vanished from existence and fell into the abyss below.