Pt 1

Homecoming

Soon after Merlina's defeat, her dark kingdom collapsed, but the dark storm clouds still lingered in the sky. Paying them no attention, the Knights of the Round Table and the Lady of the Lake quickly ran up the hill to where a castle once stood to praise Sonic for his victory. When they reached the top of the hill, they saw him standing before the rubble, his golden armor shining bright amongst his dark surroundings, lightning striking the ground all around him. Then a strong bolt of lightning struck him in the back, knocking off some of his armor, exposing his golden fur.

Sonic slowly turned around to face them with an exhausted expression. "Hey…it's over" his eyes began to wonder and he stumbled forward onto his knees "…I don't feel so great though"

Gawain tried to approach him, but a strange force pushed him away as lightning circled around Sonic. Then with a bright flash of light, the storm subsided and Sonic was gone.

On Morbius, Rouge and Melony were sitting out in a field resting when Amy and Cream walked over to them with drinks and pastries. It was a relatively hot day and they all wore shorts and shirts with either short or no sleeves.

Amy sat down and passed out the drinks "Ah, it's such a nice day"

Rouge sat up and took a sip of the cool ice tea "Yeah, perfect weather for a vacation"

Melony held her drink tightly as her eyes shifted nervously back and forth to the others "Is it really okay for to do this now?"

Rouge looked at her casually "Why, because Sonics not here?" Melony looked away and gently nodded.

Amy flashed a smile at her "Don't worry about him. He'll show up eventually"

Cream held up a small saucer with a piece of cake on it "Where's Tails?"

Rouge, having finished her drink, lays back down on the grass "He's out there with Shadow and Knuckles"

Cream picked up another saucer of cake "Oh, then I better bring some more"

Amy picked up a third saucer and some drinks "I'll help you" Cream gives off a warm smile of gratitude and walked off, Amy followed close behind.

After a short walk, the guys came into view. Knuckles wore a sun cap with a large brim to keep the sun off his face and Tails had a small green tinted visor. Shadow wore his usually gear, since more clothing would only make him hotter. Once a little closer, it appeared that they were arguing.

Knuckles teeth grind in frustration "What are you trying to say Shadow?"

Shadow looked at him casually "It was a basic statement; I don't know what you're getting so upset about"

Knuckles balled his hands into tight fists "You just called me weak!"

Shadow crossed his arms, his expression showing a hint of annoyance "That's a stupid assumption. I didn't even mention…"

"I could take you in a fight any day!" Knuckles interrupted, holding up his fists

Tails stepped in between them, trying to stop their pointless argument "Calm down Knuckles, there's no reason to fight"

Knuckles looked at him with growing tension "He started it"

"It sounds like Knuckles is causing trouble again" Amy said as she walked within ear shot of them.

Knuckles crossed his arms while turning to face her "No one asked you"

Amy stuck her tongue out at him before holding out a piece of cake for him "Anyway, it wouldn't be much of a fight"

Knuckles took the saucer from her with a slight grin on his face "Yeah, I guess you're right" Shadow quietly grunted before turning away from them.

Cream walked in front of him and held out a piece of cake for him "Don't worry Shadow. You'll be all better soon" he quietly took it from her and started eating.

Knuckles began to laugh "Aww, poor Shadow's sick"

Amy looked at him angrily "There's nothing funny about being sick"

Tails joined in "That's right. You never know what will happen"

Knuckles smile began to fade as a frown replaced it "Man, you just ruined my fun"

Amy turned away and shrugged with a smug look on her face "It's not our fault that you have a poor sense of humor"

Knuckles looked at her agitated "What was that?!"

Amy turned towards him, returning his stare "You heard me!" they continued to glare at each other.

Tails sighed as he attempted to split them up "Wait, what are you so mad…" he's interrupted by the sound of breaking glass.

The three turn and see Shadow hunched over clenching his stomach with both hands.

Knuckles calmly watched a little confused by his friend's sudden actions "Hey Shadow, you okay?"

Amy quickly whipped out her piko hammer and smashed it into the back of his head, sending his face into the ground "HE'S CLEARLY NOT!"

Tails looked at him in shock "Knuckles! Amy, you didn't have to hit him!"

Amy swung her hammer onto her shoulder and placed her free hand onto her hip "He deserved it" Tails was about to protest when Shadow began to groan louder and fell to his knees.

Tails moved to squat opposite of Cream, trying to figure out what was wrong with the hedgehog.

"What is this intense pain all of a sudden?" Shadow said to himself now sweating and breathing heavily

Suddenly, the sky darkened and they looked up surprised at the sudden appearance of dark storm clouds, but there was something different about them.

"Hey!" they look back and saw Rouge and Melony quickly approaching them.

Rouge stopped next to Knuckles and helped him stand up "What's going on?"

Knuckles looked up at the sky while rubbing his soar head "No idea"

"Then why are you hurt?" Rouge asked while staring in confusion at the large bump on his head.

"Oh this; Amy hit me" Knuckles said with a slight smile.

Rouge immediately turned to yell at her angrily "What you hit him for?!"

Amy yelled back defensively "He deserved it!"

Melony stood back and watched as they began to argue "Do they care about what's going on?"

Shadow started to groan louder, breaking Melony's train of thought and ending the argument.

Cream rubs his back gently as she looked at him with worried eyes "What's wrong Shadow?"

Shadow opened his eyes a crack and looked down at the ground "I…don't know, but…" he's suddenly overtaken by the pain as his fur begins to shine a golden color.

Tails looked at him shocked "Super mode, now?"

Knuckles looked at Tails doubtfully "That's not possible. We haven't found all the emeralds yet, right?!" before Tails could answer, the sky started to roar and streaks of dark purple lightning began to swirl around the large thick clouds.

Cream looked up at the clouds a little frightened "Maybe we should move him indoors now"

Amy smiled, trying to hide her fear "That's a great idea! Let's get going!" she started walking towards Shadow.

"Wait. Something's coming out of the cloud" Rouge said as she points upward.

Amy turned her head to yell at her "Why would we want to wait?!" Rouge continued to quietly stare into the sky. Finally Amy too looked up and saw one of the clouds stretching into a point.

Melony held her hand up to her face, now trembling a little "What kind of cloud is that?"

Tails stiffened in fear and confusion "It might not be a cloud at all" now spooked by Tails comment, everyone stared frightfully into the sky.

The cloud continued to stretch until a small whole ripped and a small blue blur flew out. Everyone looks hard at the blur and then came to a startling conclusion.

"S-Sonic?!"

Shadow quickly stood up and flew off towards it despite Melony's protests.

Amy stared in a daze "Sonic's back…he's back?"

"What the hell is going on?!" Knuckles said rubbing his head frantically.

Meanwhile, Shadow quickly approached the falling object and confirmed it to be Sonic with his own eyes. "So he really is back. He just loves to make an entrance" he said to himself. Shadow grabbed Sonic's arm and pulled him close as they began to descend at a slower pace.

Thunder echoed through the sky "None shall interfere!"

"Who's there?!" Shadow said as he looked around, but didn't see anybody.

Lightning flashed all around him "No interference!" Shadow looks around again, but still doesn't see anyone.

"What's going on? Am I losing my mind? No, the thunder and this lightning…is the cloud alive?" Shadow said to himself as he tried to piece things together. "Who are you?! What do you want?!" Shadow yelled.

Thunder echoed around them "If you interfere then you will join him!"

"Interfere with what?!" Shadow yelled, still looking around.

Suddenly, an extremely loud burst of thunder roars forcing Shadows ears to flip down in pain.

"SUFFER!" a think bolt of lightning struck Shadow in the back. He almost instantly lost consciousness, reverted back to his normal form and began free fall with Sonic close behind.