This is just a little something I thought of after reading a friend's issue of Sonic Universe. This takes place at the end of the 'Sonic Universe 30 Years Later' story line. It's my attempt to wrap up some lose ends of the story and redeem Shadow.

For those of you who don't read Sonic Universe or any of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic's I'm not going to bother explaining the whole thing, however I will provide a brief summary in beginning of the chapter.

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Chapter 1: One Last Time

Sonic the Hedgehog stood, once again the hero of Mobius. He had just faced one of the biggest threats in over 30 years. While attending a celebration of Five Years of Peace, a missile was launched at him and his family by a group of terrorists know as the Dark Presence, and their leader Lien Da. Thankfully the missile was destroyed, by Silver the Hedgehog, who then accompanied them home to speak with Sonic.

The Dark Presence brought an end to their talks by invading the castle. After telling his wife Sally, and their children Sonia and Manik, to get into a safe room with Silver, Sonic rushed off. He quickly picked up Lara-Su, the daughter of Knuckles and the current guardian, and Melody and Skye Prower, who parents Tails and Mina had recently been captured by the Dark Presence. With the Dark Presence in control, Sonic and the others made contact with Argyle, the tech savvy son of Vector the Crocodile. To Sonic's delight, Argyle revealed that he had other guests, Jacques D'Coolette and his sister Belle. Forming the New Freedom Fighters, Sonic led the team to Castle Mobius, only to be met by the monstrous Tikhaos.

During the battle Sonic was also joined by Tails and Mina, who the Dark Presence had apparently released. While the others fought Sonic went underground to rescue his family and Silver. Once they were safe he tried to defeat Tikahaos by hitting the weak point that was its brain, the same way he did so many years ago. Instead he received a blast of energy from Tikhaos's for his trouble. Thankfully his children Sonia and Manik then took his place and successfully defeated Perfect Tikhaos, allowing Lara-Su to seal the beast. Sonic watched Silver leave and then went to join his friends, family and team-mates in celebration.

Unfortunately the celebration was soon cut short, as the sky suddenly began to turn dark. Ice cold rain began to pour down, the wind began to whip and howl with destructive force, and thunder began to roar alongside fierce flashes of red lightning.

Sonic looked up at the storm, fear beginning to rise in him. In all his years he had never seen anything like this. One thing was for sure, this storm wasn't natural. "What's going on?" Suddenly he heard Argyle, attempt to contact him over the comm-link he was wearing. He pressed his finger to his ear activating the comm-link. "Argyle, what's up?"

"Bad new sire, really bad. I've got massive emergences coming in from all over the globe. I've got repots of earthquakes, fires, floods, city wide power outages. It's like the whole planet has suddenly gone mad."

Sonic grimaced. It was times like this he hated being King. He was a hog of action, a front line solider, not a general. Ask him punch a bad guy and he was happy to oblige. Handling emergency disasters, directing people, that wasn't his thing. Still as the King it was his responsibility to take care of his people. "Do what you can on your end Arglye. Call every Chaotix and former Freedom Fighter that you can. Send emergency units to the areas where the most people trouble is. Try and save as many places as you can, and evacuate any that you can't. We'll try to stop in from here."

'Yes sire.'

Tails saw the distressed look on Sonic's face. In all his years he had never seen his best friend look so worried. "Sonic what is it? What's going on?"

Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"The end of the world as we know it."

The others looked over to where the voice had come from. Their eyes went wide in astonishment as they saw a familiar raven colored hedgehog walking toward them. In his hand was a small crimson velvet bag, tied with a gold colored rope.

"Shadow?"

"But…but how?" asked Lara-Su, almost too stunned by the dark hedgehog's sudden return to speak. "I froze you in time."

Shadow smirked. "I have Lain-Da to thank for my freedom."

In an instant realization dawned on Sonic. "That's what why she and the Dark Presence invaded the castle. To set you free. Where is she anyway?"

"She's been taken care of," replied Shadow, a hard cold look on his face.

"What do you mean?" asked Lara-Su. She didn't like the tone in the dark hedgehog's voice. Even though she despised her aunt for the horrible and treasonous deeds she had committed over the years, she was still family.

"I removed the armband that protected her from the time-line shift," responded Shadow in uncaring tone. "Whether she's still alive or not, I don't know. Nor do I care."

Lara-Su growled in angre. "Why you son of a..." She marched toward the back hedgehog, her eyes filled with rage, as fully intended to pound the ebony hedgehog into a red and black paste.

However she was stopped by Sally's gently but firm hand restraining her. "Hold it Lara-Su, you can settle things with his former lowness later. Right now we've got a bit of a situation on our hands."

Lara-Su frowned and folded her arms, but said nothing.

Sally then turned to her former husband contempt evident in her eyes. "Now then Shadow, what exactly did you mean by the end of the world?"

Shadow glared slightly at Sally for the lowness comment, she'd obviously been spending too much time with Sonic. He said nothing instead turning his attention to the sky. The storm was still raging; and it was only growing fiercer by the second. "What you see is the result of the 'King's' attempt to meddle in forces that he does not understand."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Me? How is this my fault?"

Shadow turned his attention to the cobalt hedgehog glaring daggers at him. "The time-line you idiot. This entire mess is a direct result of you naive attempt to use a machine you didn't know how to use in order to fix a problem you didn't understand."

"That's impossible," defended Sonic. "I repaired the time-line and the trouble it was causing."

Shadow shook his head. "Still as naive as ever I see. Yes, you did repair the damage that was done, and prevented the disaster that would have occurred, but in doing so you also created an even bigger one. By meddling with the time stream you caused a disturbance in the flow of cosmic energies that keeps the universe together."

Sonic stared in confusion at the dark hedgehog. "Say what?"

Shadow sighed and shook his head. Apparently age had not brought the benefit of wisdom to the cobalt hedgehog. "Think of it this way. Time is like a river. By writing yourself out of the time line you caused a whirlpool in the river. That whirlpool has been growing larger and larger ever since your return. Now it's grown out of control, and we've become caught in it."

Shadow looked back up at the sky, seeing the violent storm that was taking place. "This global chaos will only continue to increase, and it won't be long before it becomes enough to destroy the entire planet, and eventually the universe."

"Ok, so how do we stop it?" asked Sonic.

Shadow turned his attention away from the storm, and back toward Sonic. "We don't. I do."

"And just how do you plan to pull that off?" asked Sonic. Shadow may have been powerful, but even the Ultimate Lifeform couldn't after. Not on his own anyway.

Shadow held up the bag still in his hands. He untied the golden colored string, showing the contents to Sonic and the others. "With these."

Sonic's eyes went wide in astonishment. Inside the bag were the seven large different colored jewels.

"The chaos emeralds," said Tails. "Where did you get those?"

Shadow pulled one of the emeralds out of the bag, and held it in his hand. He could feel the immense energy pulsating inside the gem. "I collected the emeralds years ago, and stored them in secret room in the palace."

"But how did you know you would need them?" questioned Sally. Shadow had always been the type to strategize rather them simply running in blindly the way her husband usually did. But this seemed just a little too convenient.

Shadow smirked. "You forget that I am The Ultimate Lifeform. I am more connected to the chaos force then anyone. I detected hits of this anomaly years ago, and have been secretly preparing for it ever since. When I was awakened by Lain-Da I immediately felt the disturbance in the chaos force, and knew that it wouldn't be long before the universe began to rip itself apart."

"If that's true then why didn't you tell us before now?" asked Tails.

"I knew that after everything that had happened, and with Lain-Da's attack, you wouldn't believe me, and that by the time you did it would be too late. I had to get to the emeralds as fast as possible, so I released Tikhaos, and transformed her in into her perfect form in order to get you away from the castle."

"What?!" yelled Lara-Su in rage. "You mean you unleashed Tikhaos just to distract us! Are you insane?!"

Shadow shrugged. "I knew you could handle the situation. I even ordered the dark Presence to say that they had renounced me, and help with the evacuation efforts, as well as to release the Prowers in order to give you some back-up."

"Guy's," said Mina. "I don't mean to interrupt, but we've kinda got a bigger problem at the moment."

Everyone looked toward the sky as the powerful storm was becoming even more violent.

"She's right," said Shadow. "You stay here. I'll take care of this."

"What?" asked Sonic.

"This is a chaos induced storm," said Shadow. "That means that only those connected to the chaos force can stop in. Lara-Su isn't powerful enough, and since Knuckles isn't here, I'm the only one can stop this."

Shadow removed the other chaos emeralds from the bag and set them on the ground. He closed his eyes and concentrated, letting the immense energy flow through him.

The chaos emeralds began to glow, as they rose from the ground and began circling the dark hedgehog. Faster, and faster, and faster the emeralds spun, until they were only a blur of colors. Finally there was an explosion of bright light.

When the light faded, the emerald fell to the ground and Shadow stood in his super form. His once midnight black fur was now a golden yellow. His body glowed with golden energy, as he floated a few inches off the ground.

The younger members of the group had never seen anyone in their super form before, and stared at the golden hedgehog in amazement. Even Julie-Su who was the oldest among the young heroes was at a complete loss for words.

"Mon Dieu," said Jacques.

"Wow," said Skye.

"That's so cool." said Manic.

"He looks so pretty," said Sonica.

Without so much as a word Shadow flew into the sky, heading straight for the heart of the destructive storm.

Sally watched as Super Shadow flew off into the sky. She turned to her husband, worry evident on her face. "What do we do now?"

"One thing's for sure," said Sonic. "I'm not letting Shadow hog all the action."

"But Sonic…"

Sonic ignored his wife protest, stepping into the ring of chaos emeralds that were now lying on the ground.

Just as he began concentrating on the endless energies stored in the emeralds, he was stopped by his wife grabbing his arm. He turned, seeing the fear and worry in her eyes. "Don't try to stop me Sal. This is something I have to do."

Sally nodded. "I know. Just be careful ok. I just got you back. I don't want to lose you again."

Sonic smiled playfully. "Come on Sal, how many times have I done something like this before."

Sally raised an eyebrow. "That depends, are we taking this decade, or last?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Just watch the kids Sal. I'm going in."

With that Sally released her husband's arm as he walked into a circle of chaos emeralds.

Just as Shadow had done Sonic closed his eyes, concentrating on the powerful energies he had not tapped into in over two decades. The emeralds reacted, as they floated up and began circling the cobalt hedgehog. There was another flash of light as Sonic transformed into his into Super form.

Up in the sky Shadow had reached the center of the destructive storm. Lighting flashed all around him as winds blew with the strength of a hurricane. He cleared his mind concentrating on power that fueled the destructive storm. He could feel the energy all around him, pushing against him with the force of an entire ocean pounding. He had never felt such a torrent of wild unchecked energy. 'It's worse than I thought. Dame that blue hedgehog.'

Shadow raised his hands letting his chaos energy and mentally dove head long into the deadly storm, His mind entering into a trance while his body acted as an anchor so that he wasn't completely overwhelmed why the deadly energy. In his mind's eye he could almost see the waves of energy moving wildly like strings in tornado. Slowly and with the utmost precision he weaved the ragging energy, doing strenuous metal gymnastics as he tried to halt the fluctuating energy, attempting to correct the flow and halt the destruction that was taking place around the world. He had to be careful one slip and entire construct would collapse, setting off a chain of destruction that even he wouldn't be able to stop.

So focused on his task was he, that he failed to take notice of the wild and out of control lightning bolts flashing all around him. Shadow yelled in pain as a bolt of destructive energy ripped through his body. For a split second his concentration slipped, and he felt the chaos energies begin to spiral out of control. He could feel the energy pushing against him like a flood, as he struggled to maintain his concentration. He couldn't afford to lose his connection to the energy. If he did the energy would become too wild for him to establish another one.

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Back on earth the ground began to shake violently as the storm suddenly became worse. Large fissures began to open in the once solid ground swallowing the surface, and lighting began to strike the ground.

Tails grabbed his wife as the ground beneath them suddenly began to collapse.

Sonica and Manic jumped as they were nearly struck lightning. They ran to their mother held onto their mother as tightly as they could.

"Mommy, what's happening?" asked the slightly panicked Manic.

Sally hugged her children reassuringly. "It's ok kids. Don't worry. Everything will be ok. I'm sure you're father can handle things." 'I hope.'

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Up in the sky, Shadow attempted to regain control of the wild energy. His muscles stiffened, his heart raced, and sweat began to trickle down his face.

Suddenly he noticed another bolt of lightning headed straight for him. As desperately as he wanted to move he knew he couldn't. If he did it would sever his already weakened connection to the chaos force, and by now the energy was far too out of control for him establish another. Yet if he didn't, he ran the risk of further disrupting the chaos flow, accelerating the already out of control energy. Shadow closed his eyes and braced himself. It would be excruciatingly painful, but with skill, and a lot of luck, he could ride out the painful energy without causing too much damage to the earth.

But although Shadow braced himself, the painful jolt never came. Cautiously he opened his eyes and was surprised to see the golden form of Sonic the Hedgehog in front of him.

Shadow glared at the golden hedgehog. "What the hell are you doing here Faker?"

Sonic smirked. "Come on. You really think I'm gonna just sit back and let you hog all the glory. Get real."

Shadow glared the golden speedster. If he wasn't so busy trying to prevent the end of the world he would have pounded the hedgehog. "You don't get it do you. This isn't about glory. This is about saving lives. Just because you're super doesn't mean you can do anything. My chaos powers means that's I'm the only one who can fix this."

Sonic's eyes filled with what Shadow could swear was remorse, before becoming stern again. "I know. But you said so yourself Shadow. I'm the one who caused this mess. That means it's my responsibility. Even if I can't repair the damage I've done it's my job as King to do whatever I can to protect my people."

Shadow stared at the golden hedgehog. He could see the seriousness in Sonic's eyes. This was not the same hedgehog Shadow had known so many years ago. Time had brought age and experience, and humbled the once cocky teenager. Something Shadow would have thought was impossible.

Finally Shadow submitted to his old rival request. "Fine. If you want to help so badly, then keep that lighting off me. I may be invulnerable in this form, but if that lightning hit's me it could interfere with my chaos energies. And results would be disastrous."

Sonic nodded. He floated into the air while Shadow turned his back to him and continued the work he had begun.

As Shadow worked to repair the damage to the time stream, Sonic zoomed around him at light speed, blocking every bolt of lightning that even got near the ebony hedgehog. However one bolt slipped past Sonic and hit Shadow directly in the back.

Shadow growled in pain as he struggled to hold together the repairs he had already made. "Dame it. Where is that Faker when I actually need him?"

Suddenly there was another bolt of lightning headed straight for him. But just before it could reach him, it was blocked by Super Sonic. "Sorry Shadow, that last one slipped by me."

Shadow grumbled. "Guess you're not as fast as you used to be," he said, then when back to work.

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On the ground the others watched as slowly the lightning began to die down, the winds slowed, and the sky beginning to return to its normal color.

Once the storm stop passed they all waited with bated breath for the two hedgehog's return. After what felt like an eternity they finally spotted the golden pair floating down toward. Their chaos energies began to leave them as they floated down, and by the time they reached the ground they had returned to their normal forms.

Sally, Manic, and Sonica rushed to Sonic. Sonic smiled and embraced him in a loving hug.

Sonic left his wife's loving embrace, and turned to his dark counterpart. Shadow had just returned from what should have been an eternity in suspended animation. Again. And helped save the world. Again. The question was…what now?

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That's all for chapter one. Like I said the story isn't that long, there will only be 3 chapters total.

Please Read and Review. I am always open to questions comments, and constructive criticism.