"No! It can't be!" Shadow shouted with panic.

His loud voice could be heard all over his house, so that made Kayla want to go into his room and go check on him. She walked into his room and saw him in his bathroom looking into his mirror. She sat on his bed and looked at him, "What's wrong, Detective Hedgehog?"

Shadow faced her with stress, "I found a gray hair!"

She shrugged her shoulders, "So?"

"Don't you understand, Kayla? Today's my birthday and I'm getting older by the minute!"

She smiled and pointed at him, "Silly daddy, daddy's are supposed to be old."

His ears flopped down, "Thanks Kayla, that helped a lot."

"You're welcome." She was actually making matters worse for him, but she had no idea he was getting sarcastic about it. "Oh, yeah. Detective Bat said to meet her and the others at the Chaotix tonight."

"But, it's a Saturday. We don't work today. Was it an emergency or something?"

She shrugged, "She didn't say."

He put on his black coat, picked up Kayla and put him on his back. "Kayla, you're getting a lot more heavier than usual or...is it me?"

She giggled, "You!"

He frowned at her answer, "I'd knew you'd say that."

Later, Shadow and Kayla were walking on the deserted sidewalk.

Shadow was looking around nervously, "Something isn't right. I just know something's wrong."

Kayla was too busy looking at the dark sky, "The sky is so dark. No stars are in the sky." She looked down at Shadow, "I'm scared."

"Don't worry Kayla, you're safe with me."

"Safe isn't the best term to describe you when you have a shitload of enemies on your ass all the time, Hedgehog." A familiar voice said from behind him.

Shadow quickly spun around and saw a blue wolf and with him a black and red wolf. His eyes widened with disbelief, "What? Midnight, you're alive?" He looked over to the blue wolf, "I was right, you did create another Midnight."

Hao made an evil smile.

Shadow set Kayla down on the ground, "Kayla, get back."

She nodded, "Okay." She then ran over to the other side of the street and began to watch Shadow fight them.

Hao looked over to the black and red wolf, "Okay Midnight, sick em."

The wolf nodded and came at Shadow with a punch. His powerful punch knocked Shadow to the ground.

Shadow fell to the ground and saw long black boots near his face. He looked up and saw a female black bat giving him a seductive smile. He was completely disgusted because he had looked under her dress by accident. "Nails!" He got off the ground quickly and faced her, "What do you want?"

"Well, I heard today's your birthday and it would be rude not to give you your birthday kiss."

Shadow was more disgusted with her than he was. He then punched her in her stomach, "Go to hell, slut!"

Nails fell to the ground and got up quickly with anger. "Shadow, how could you?"

"I told you before, I hate you! Get the picture!" Shadow was then tackled to the ground by a four legged black and red wolf. He looked up at him, "You don't give up do you?"

The wolf growled.

"Yeah!" Hao shouted with excitement. "Sick em, boy! Show that piece of road kill who's boss!"

Midnight then showed Shadow his huge sharp fangs by trying to bite him.

Shadow prevented him by grabbing his throat and holding him back but he had no idea how long it would last. He then used his free hand to grab his pocket knife from his belt. He pointed the point of the blade at the wolf's upper chest. He quickly jabbed the blade into his flesh and heard the horrifying cry of the wolf. He stabbed his blade in and out of the wolf's flesh until he had completely got off of him and backed away.

Midnight backed away from Shadow and stared at the blood that was dripping from his wounded chest. He looked up at his creator, "It hurts", he said.

He glared at the wolf with no pity whatsoever. He just wanted him to kill Shadow. "Why the hell are you complaining? It's supposed to hurt, idiot! Now you get your ass back over there and kill him!"

The injured wolf just stared at him with sadness.

"What are you doing? Obey me and kill him! Don't forget who brought you into this world, Midnight. Never forget."

Midnight slowly turned away from him and looked over to Shadow staring at his blade covered in his blood. He then turned into a two legged wolf again. He clenched both of his fists, "Yes, master", he murmured. He then ran over to Shadow and swung his fist at him.

Shadow quickly dodged his attack by jumping back. Even he felt bad for Midnight. 'If only', he thought. 'If only Midnight had made the right choice, we wouldn't be fighting like this.' He sighed, 'Oh well, I guess he only chooses what feels right to him.' His small pocket knife then transformed into a huge machete.

Midnight came at him again with another punch, this time Shadow didn't dodge now he kneeled down to the ground and swung the blade into the wolf's side. The cut was pretty deep.

Shadow watched as Midnight's blood scattered throughout the air. He looked up at the wolf and saw him crying. He was actually crying. He took his blade out of the miserable wolf's side.

Midnight kneeled down to the ground holding his bleeding side.

Hao stomped his foot on the ground with frustration, "Weak! You're completely useless! Why did I ever create something like you!"

Midnight's wet face looked over to Hao with his feelings hurt. "Master, I..."

The blue wolf glared back at him, "Forget it. I wish I had never created you. Your stupid feelings keep getting in the way." He then turned his back and started to walk away.

Midnight tried to get off the ground, but he was hurting all over he couldn't do it that easily. He had finally got off of the ground and started to follow his creator.

Shadow sighed and looked down at his bloody machete, "Sorry, Midnight", he muttered.

"Poor thing."

"Yeah." Shadow then realized that Nails was standing next to him. He quickly jumped back and pointed his weapon at her. "Get the hell back, witch!"

"Come on, Shadow. A kiss is all I ask for."

"Oh yeah? The kiss of death?"

She giggled a bit, "I love it when you play hard to get." She took out a yellow spear and pointed it at the hedgehog.

Shadow then used his super speed and got behind Nails and quickly kicked her down to the ground before she could act. He jumped up into the air with his machete about to strike down into her flesh, but she had quickly jumped out of the way making him miss.

She smiled, "No mercy huh?"

Shadow gave her a cold look and ran up to her while swinging his machete at her, but she was blocking it with her spear. He just couldn't get through to her because she was blocking so much. He then decided to attack her in a low position. He kneeled down to the ground and swung his machete at her, but she had used her wings and flew above him.

She smiled at him, "You'll have to do better than that, sweetheart."

The hedgehog gritted his teeth in frustration, 'This bitch loves to play.' He closed his eyes, "Chaos Control!"

Nails watched as Shadow disappeared from below her. "Uh oh, Chaos Control." She quickly looked behind her to look out for him, but she didn't see anything. "Huh? But he usually attacks..."

"From behind."

She was then knocked down from the sky and fell to the ground unconscious.

After Shadow landed back down on the ground, he was wondering if he should finish her off or not. He was the interrupted thinking when Kayla came from behind him and hugged him.

"Daddy, you're okay!" She shouted with happiness. She had then noticed that he had a load of bloodstains all over his clothes, but she acted like she didn't care.

Shadow kneeled down to her and hugged her back, "Kayla, I'm a little dirty right now."

"I don't care. I'm just glad you're okay." She then heard Shadow yell out in pain. She took her arms away from him and watched blood escape from his mouth. "Daddy! Daddy, what's wrong?" She then looked and saw a dagger deep down in his back. She ran over to him once more and pulled the bloody dagger out of his back. She quickly dropped the dagger on the ground in panic. Her eyes were full of tears to see her father in so much pain, "Daddy..."

"Daddy, isn't going to get better anytime soon", a voice said near them.

Kayla and Shadow looked behind them and saw a grey fox and red porcupine standing next to each other.

She screamed, "It's the bad people!"

"Kayla", Shadow called in a weak voice.

Kayla looked over to him.

"Run. I'll take care of them."

She hesitated to go anywhere until Shadow repeated himself.

"I said go!"

Kayla then ran away from the fight that was about to take place.

Shadow picked up his machete from beside him and slowly got off the ground. He faced the two in a cold glare.

The grey fox made an evil smile, "We just stopped by to say happy birthday. Here's you present."

The red porcupine's fur sharpened as he pulled some off of his arm and threw them at Shadow.

Shadow jumped back and the porcupine's quills had missed.

The grey fox frowned at the porcupine, "Appex, your aiming sucks."

Appex acted like he didn't hear his boss' comment and ran towards Shadow. He tackled him to the ground making Shadow drop his machete. He was about to punch Shadow in his face, but Shadow had stopped his punches.

Shadow had a hard time trying to keep him from hitting him. He was getting weaker and weaker by the moment. "Why, Appex? Why work for Lance? A being that doesn't exist in this world?"

"I told you before. I don't think I need to tell you again."

"Well, you really need to get a grip."

Appex was then hit in the head with a small rock. He coldly turned and saw a brown squirrel girl glaring at him. "You?" The fur in his hand then sharpened and sunk into Shadow's hand.

Shadow yelled in pain and had quickly let go of his hands.

Appex had got off of Shadow and started to walk over to the child with uprising anger. "You dare do that to me, child!"

Shadow looked at his bleeding hands and then back at Kayla, "Kayla, move!"

Kayla hesitated to move. She was too busy looking into the porcupine's furious yellow eyes.

"Don't let him touch you!" Shadow tried his best to get off the ground faster, but couldn't.

As Appex was about to grab her, Lance had held him back by his wrist. Appex's quills then sunk into Lance's hand uncontrollably. His eyes widened with horror. He had hurt his own boss and this wasn't the first time neither. "Lance, I-I..."

He gave him a warm smile, "I know you didn't mean to. It was an accident."

Appex knew why he was smiling. It was because he was built tough to last for years hopefully and Lance didn't want to see Appex so upset that he had hurt him. "Lance..."

"Don't kill the girl. She's not worth it."

Appex made a nod agreeing with him.

As soon as Lance's bloody hand released Appex's wrist, Appex was kicked down to the ground.

Lance looked over to the furious black hedgehog with his frightened daughter hiding behind him.

"Don't you dare..." he growled. "Try to do that to my daughter ever again."

Lance then clenched both of his fists and smirked, "Like we care about that useless girl." He ran over to him and tried to punch him, but Shadow had grabbed his fist and threw him down on the ground.

He then took his machete and tried to stab him while he was down, but Lance had moved and Shadow had only cut his arm. Shadow looked over to Lance in frustration.

Lance was panting heavily and holding his bleeding arm, "Talk about cutting it close huh, Hedgehog?"

He gritted his teeth, 'I'm getting sick of his stupid game. Time to put an end to this before Kayla ends up getting hurt.' He ran over to Lance and swung his machete at him again.

Lance surprisingly caught the blade of the machete.

Shadow was shocked at this. He had caught the blade and was bleeding, but he never let go. He decided to push the blade down in his hand even more trying to make him feel more pain. He had finally saw Lance wincing like he was in pain. Then he had finally heard him yell out in agony.

Lance then let go of the blade and collapsed to the ground holding his bleeding hand. He looked up at Shadow just staring at him.

"Hurts doesn't it you fake bastard?"

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to finish me?"

He made a small smile, "What's the use when Nack's gonna create another you anyway? Besides I could always use your powerful body for training."

Lance made a slight smile, "I love the way you think about me sometimes, Shadow." He looked over to the red porcupine then back at Shadow. "We had our fun." He turned his back and started to walk away from Shadow with Appex following him.

Shadow sighed, "I think I'll never understand artificial life forms." He then heard a scream coming from Kayla.

"Daddy!"

Shadow quickly spun around and saw a huge black monster holding Kayla by her wrist. "Kayla!" He glared at the monster, "Dark. What do you want?"

He smirked, "Today's your birthday right? You're growing up pretty fast huh?"

"Just shut up and get to the point already."

"I just came to warn you, son." He said as he tossed Kayla over to him.

Shadow had caught Kayla in his arms and glared back at the demon, "I'm not your son and what's this warning about?"

He pointed to him, "You Shadow, you control the power of chaos perfectly, but your demon powers...can you control them perfectly?

He crossed his arms, "What are you getting at?"

"As you mature older and older, it's more than likely that you'll stay in your demon form forever. Just like me."

His eyes widened, "What?"

"Not only that but you'll be able to control yourself much better than usual."

"Wait, when will this happen?"

Dark began to think for a moment, "Hmm, for you I'd say about the age of 50."

Shadow fell to his knees and looked at the ground with shock filled in his eyes, "It can't happen...it's not true." He looked up at Dark.

"It's very true. The same thing happened to me."

"So you were like me once?"

He shook his head, "Not exactly. I was a human before I became this...thing."

"But humans lived here centuries ago none of them are here anymore not even their dead bodies."

He nodded, "But their souls still remain."

Kayla wasn't sure about what they were talking about, but it seemed that Shadow was pretty upset about it. "Daddy?"

Shadow looked over to Dark again, "How can I stop this?"

"You have to come with me. So I can train your demon abilities and I guarantee the same thing that happened to me won't happen to you."

"Are you lying to me?"

He shook his head, "Why would I make something up like this, Shadow? I love you because you're my son. You were born from my blood. My blood gave you life. I'll look after you no matter what."

Shadow stood from the ground.

"Have you made your choice?" He asked.

He turned his back, "Not yet. I...have to think about it."

Dark nodded with a smile, "Let me know when you decide. I'll be waiting."

When Shadow turned his head, Dark was gone. Shadow sighed in sadness.

Kayla held his hand, "Daddy, what's wrong?"

Shadow kneeled down to her and hugged her. "I just needed a hug that's all."

She smiled and hugged him back.

Later when Shadow and Kayla got to the Chaotix, everyone shouted, "Happy Birthday!"

A small smile had appeared on Shadow's face, "A surprise party for me? Thanks, guys." He was then hugged and kissed by Rouge.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, "Happy Birthday, Shad."

"Thanks, Rouge."

Rouge then noticed blood all over his clothes, "Shadow, what happened? Did you get into a fight?"

"A few, but it doesn't matter." He looked over at a huge cake that was sitting in the center of the room. He looked over to Espio, "Es, did you hire a stripper?"

The chameleon's face glowed bright red, "Heh, maybe."

Then a naked man popped out of the cake and started dancing around.

Shadow and the rest of them just stood there and stared for a moment, until Shadow spoke out to Espio. He grabbed Espio by his coat, "Es!"

"Oh, my bad. I must have sent a male stripper by mistake."

"Your bad huh! Yeah right! I bet you did that on purpose, you perverted bastard!"

Kayla pointed at the stripper, "Daddy, why is he playing with his private parts?"

Shadow quickly placed his hands over her eyes, "Don't look, Kayla!" He turned to Espio in frustration, "Don't just stand there get rid of the stripper, Espio!"

"I'm on it already!" He shouted as he ran over to the stripper.

Tonya tapped Shadow's shoulder, "Are you okay, Shadow?"

"Okay?" He said, "Yeah right. Like hell I am. This is the worst party I've ever experienced in my life...but I enjoyed every second of it because I have all my friends with me."

Tonya smiled warmly, 'I'm glad, Shadow.'