"So… it's in here?"

"Yes. That's where the emerald seems to be reacting most, anyway…"

Two hedgehogs stood in a barren wasteland, skeptical at the area in front of them: a deteriorated building of some sort.

One of them was charcoal in colour, having perked, sharp quills with red streaks. There were technologic features about his being, including a set of jet shoes on his feet. Inhibitor rings were sat around both his wrists and his ankles, there to maintain power the hedgehog had and to keep him from collapsing if he used it too much. One, green emerald sat in his left hand, and it glowed brightly. Beside him, was a carefree hedgehog, bearing an azure coat, and flicked down quills that blew in the wind. Red shoes, white-striped in the center, sat on his feet. Both beings wore gloves, along with their respectively coloured cuffs, the ebony hedgehog having a difference with red on top of his.

"Hmm…" the black one seemed thoughtful for a moment, before he folded his arms.

"…What's up, Shads?" the blue rival asked, tilting his head.

"Heh." Shadow closed his eyes, chuckling to himself.

"…What? What did I miss? Something funny went on? Dang, I must've missed it."

Pity I know exactly what this place is, Faker…

"Oh, it was nothing… just me simply joking over your demise," the anti-hero said with a smirk.

His reply was a worried frown. "Again?"

"…Hm?"

"You said that earlier, Shadow… outside the freakin' booby-trapped minefield."

"…That… that was merely a mistake on my part."

"You clearly SAW the guy with a sniper, Shadow, and you didn't think to tell me!" Sonic snapped, folding his arms, clearly not amused. "I almost DIED out there!"

"Pity you didn't; I could've taken all of your dear fan-girls… and your franchise."

The blue blur glared at his rival, before once more turning to the wooden, old door of the building. "Yeah… well, we got this to deal with, right now… and we gotta' hurry and get these emeralds… I don't think I can survive another moment getting shot at by random humans, anymore…"

"Oh, can't you?" Shadow asked, leering with his smirk curving further upwards. "I could easily give you back to the raiders' camp, Sonic."

"You wouldn't dare…!"

"I'm pretty sure I would, Faker," was the ebony one's snide reply.

A growl reverberated in Sonic's throat, and he clenched his fists, before looking dead ahead at the odd building in front of him.

"I don't suppose you know anything about this one, then, Shadow?"

"Of course not."

"Why do I get that odd feeling that you're lying?"

"Because my smirk is far more superior to yours?"

"I'm not even smirking…"

"Well, a shame for you… You should be more optimistic, Sonic, considering you get to explore the great outdoors and new places. I thought you liked those activities…"

"Getting murdered by overgrown pink rats is an activity I like doing?" the blue blur asked, staring at him skeptically. "Dude, I cope with a mad scientist every day of my life, who shoots me about a dozen times. I get RINGS in that universe, but I don't here!"

"I guess you're not as hardcore as people think, then…" Shadow trailed.

"Says the guy whose attacks are helpless against thousands of aliens, and he needs guns just to kill them..."

"Homing attacks work, you know…"

"Yeah, but besides that, you were hopeless against the guys from the Black Arms. Guns, Shadow… I wouldn't be caught dead with the things… All hedgehogs would be ashamed…"

"Of themselves, as the fact that I could not waste my energy on weaklings stands clear. Guns… That's why it's so simple for me, here," Shadow pointed out, smiling as he pulled out his ol' Shadow Rifle. "Guns are more common than brawling in this world, Sonic. Get used to it."

"Tell that to the Super Mutant with the sledge hammer," Sonic quipped, deadpanning.

Shadow remained silent at those words, remembering vaguely it had taken a while to take the said bastard down.

"So, we gonna' do this thing, or not?"

"… Very well," Shadow answered, before opening the old door, and walking slowly in. This lead to taking a step forward towards the tall, vault door that stood before them. Those steps he took came to a stop as a noise protruded the silence, and the hedgehog paused for a second, knowing full well the noise came from inside the vault.

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked, now behind his rival with a smirk. "You aren't planning to chicken out, are you, Shadow?"

"…" The ultimate life form pursed his lips for a moment, before giving a side-glance to the speedster beside him. "…No. Are you?"

The blue hedgehog sniggered, "'Course not! I'm the fastest thing alive! If anythin' tries to get me, I'll just run!"

Oh, how misfortunate that this place is rather cramped, Sonic…

"Is that so?"

"Yup. I'll leave you in the dust if you can't keep up!"

"Coward…" the black creature muttered, glancing at his gun before tugging at the door of the vault.

"Hey, at least I'll live."

"At least I'll maintain my dignity."

Once more, he pulled at the door, and it only had a moment before it gave a loud, unnerving—

CREAKKKKKK…!

Alas, he'd only pulled it open an inch.

"Ya' need a hand there, Shads?" Sonic asked, stepping towards his adversary with a kind, knowing smile.

The glare Shadow had plastered on his face told the hedgehog to back off.

"Fine, fine!" Sonic concluded, putting up his hands defensively. He watched the hedgehog tug at the vault door once more, shaking his head.

Grunting silently, Shadow gave another hefty pull, and then found the gap big enough for them to fit through. Cracking his knuckles and smirking, too knowingly, he took a step towards the hole, then bowed to Sonic, gesturing towards it.

"After you…" he said cryptically, making the other seem uncomfortable under his gaze.

Following an awkward stop, Sonic took a brief step towards the hole, until he heard something.

"…ry…"

The voice echoed out into the open, and it was cut off at the beginning, yet one could tell it was a form of English.

"Uh… what the Hell was that?" the blue blur asked, looking to his companion for an answer.

Shadow rolled his eyes, cringing slightly afterwards as he realized getting the hedgehog in there wouldn't be as easy as he initially thought.

"It's nothing, Sonic…"

"I'm pretty sure it isn't!" the azure mammal proclaimed, furrowing his brow. "Are there more psychopaths, here, too?"

"It would be hard to say…"

"What do you mean by THAT, exactly?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll find out…" Shadow rubbed his temples with his free hand, before once more gesturing to the gap in the door. "Now, Sonic, are we going to retrieve this damn fourth Chaos Emerald, or not?"

"… Okay then… but you better have my back, or I'll make sure to have yours shaved."

"Can you even shave quills? Not to mention, wouldn't it be physically impossible to do so during death?"

"… … I dunno! It'll just happen, alright?"

All the anti-hero could do was shake his head and smirk at his equal's mild naivety.

Giving the impression he was full of courage, Sonic lowered his head as he walked through the gap, and into the dark entranceway beyond.

He looked around, seeing the room devastated and clearly afar from much repair. There were a few stairs about, and he reckoned they led to higher stories, and more rooms, at that.

"Why'd the emerald have to be in a place like this…?" he questioned, shivering as the tense atmosphere got to him. "Shadow? You comin', buddy?"

"Yeah, Faker, hold on a seco—"

CREAKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

The door suddenly slid back into place, and he heard a muffled voice from outside.

"S-SHADOW?!"

"SHIT!" came the said being's voice, thick with annoyance. "Sonic? Sonic, can you hear me?"

"…Y-yeah…" the blue blur bolted to the now-sealed entrance, seeing a small gap in between the door and the wall. He could scarcely see Shadow's red eyes through it.

"Did you get in okay?"

"Why the concern all of a sudden?"

"Just tell me, because if you didn't, you'll be in a serious amount of trouble later!"

"I'm f-f-fine…" A sweatdrop fell down the cobalt hero's head, and he paled as he asked nervously, "What k-k-kind of trouble?"

"…Well…" There was hesitation in the project's voice. "…Psycho trouble."

"PSYCHO TROUBLE?! But you said…!"

"I never told you outright!" Shadow snapped, narrowing his eyes at the barely see-able Sonic. "I'm going to have to get in there… Knowing you, you won't last two minutes! And the progression of getting home will be far from fast."

"Oh, not to mention you'll lose your best buddy, right?"

"Don't joke around, Faker!" the ultimate life form snarled, before placing both hands on the edge of the door. "I'm going to open the door…"

"Yeah, like I didn't know that."

"Just stop bickering and help me, unless you want to be stuck in this God-forsaken place forever!"

"Oh, r-r-right!"

Another pair of gloves began pushing against the door.

There were a few grunts of infuriation, and both Shadow and Sonic continued to attempt to heave the door forward.

"Urgh… It won't move!" he growled, angry at the fact that his strong muscles couldn't even move a blasted door.

"Well, it is sorta' rusted, Shadow."

"Rusted? It opened before; it should open now! I mean, there's the two of us pushing it right now!" Shadow gritted his teeth as he pushed harder, but alas, it still didn't move, despite all odds. "It must be jammed somehow!"

Sonic stopped at that sentence, and his face grew incredibly pale as he gazed at one end of the room.

"Sonic, you're going have to spindash it, or something. It needs more force."

A gulp erupted in the blue one's throat, and he took a step backwards.

"I don't k-k-know, Shadow.."

"…Sonic?" the ebony hedgehog peered as much as he could through the incredibly small gap, but couldn't see his companion anywhere. Sonic must be directly on the right of the door. "Sonic? Where are you? Get back here! We need to move this before something—!"

"O-oh, I think I found the p-p-problem, Shadow…" Sonic stuttered, his face suddenly misshapen with terror as he backed up against the wall.

"What was it?"

"It was being stopped from opening…"

"…Sonic?"

There was a silence, and his rival seemed too petrified to answer.

"…S-Sonic…? SONIC?!"

Again, silence.

"ANSWER ME IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE WITHOUT SHADOW RIFLE MARKS!"

"S-Shadow…" the one on the inside whimpered. "P-please… h-hurry…"

Shadow stared with wide eyes as he witnessed a human pass by the gap, wielding a baseball bat.

"AH, HA! GARY!"