A/N: In advance, I'd like to say that the plot may be somewhat confusing at first. I say this now because the plot will expand, and more elements will be added, unresolved. The story only tells as much as the characters know. This is all intentional, and as the chapters progress, you may start to see why.

Also, there are no 'OCs' in this story. There is only a main universe and an 'alternate universe'. All unfamiliar names are still those of the canon Sonic characters that we all know and love.

Previous chapters may be edited as new ones are posted, but only for the sake of fixing mistakes I may have missed. This is also why updates may take longer than neccassary. As I upload, I review every single past chapter in hopes to make things clearer and more refined. If you find yourself rereading the first few chapters as more get uploaded, you may find small differences, though they are insignificant to the plot. Some scenes have been changed in order to be read more clearly or to fit closer to the personalities of the characters.

With that out of the way, let us begin.


Leaves began to crunch underneath the shoe of a silhouetted figure, who was hidden within the murky shadows of the night. Undetected, they walked around, mindful to keep out of sight as they progressed through – what appeared to be – abandoned roads and crumbling houses.

The hidden being pursed their lips together, their eyes scanning the horizon, waiting for a few seconds. Afterwards, they shook their head. No one else was here but them, it seemed.

Coming to this conclusion, they then continued to walk, secretly glad for the shade that helped them remain unseen, although no one seemed to be around. Should they be spotted . . .

They crouched low against the ground. Then, they leapt upwards and held onto the side of a large building – perhaps a hotel of some sort, though it didn't quite matter.

With a low grunt, they pulled themself upwards and stared ahead. They also found themself doing a reluctant double-take as their gaze met with a picture posted on a large billboard.

There, it seemed, the ever-famous Sonic the Hedgehog was grinning at them. Along with some positive nonsense written down on the side, he added a cheesy 'thumbs up' to finish it all off.

Normally, people would get calmed or excited over the sight of the world's wonderful 'hero' . . . That is, everyone but the person glaring at the billboard right at the moment; Shadow the Hedgehog.

The hedgehog eyed the picture in distaste, muttering to himself under his breath, before turning his attention back to the task at hand. He had been given a mission, and he would not fool around. His priority was set, and he would not get distracted by any means.

Shadow's fingers curled to form a tight fist at his side, his eyes narrowing as he began to recap over the information he had acquired so far.

There had been a human spotted around this area, said to have – with the help of some already-captured fools – almost destroyed Westopolis in an attack of explosives and military-grade weapons. How they had acquired tools so powerful was currently unknown.

The city would have been destroyed, had Miles "Tails" Prower not been able to stop the timed bomb before it exploded. The fox had, thankfully, been able to do so with great speed and professionalism, and was awarded with medals and praises galore.

Still, it had been close . . . Too close, to Shadow's disapproval.

"Well, you're not getting that far, again," he proclaimed as he moved to stand, Chaos energy pulsing within him. "The next day, I was to find you and put an end to this, and that day has come! You risked too many lives, human."

Pulling his arms back, Shadow made his way across several rooftops, his speed decent, but his attention as full as ever . . .

All his determination faltered, though, when he heard a painfully familiar voice break through his thoughts; one that he loathed to hear, especially while on a serious case like this.

"Terios!"

Shadow turned his head to the sound of the voice, his lips pressing together as he mentally prepared himself for the unavoidable confrontation that would surely follow the cheery cry.

"Sonic." There was a small pause. "Terios?"

His mission temporarily forgotten, the dark hedgehog began to scout for another living being nearby, wondering who exactly Sonic was referring to.

Seeing no one else around, he placed his attention solely back onto the other hedgehog.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" the younger of the two questioned, his voice as chirpy as ever. Sonic's hands then moved to rest at his hips as he ducked his head lower, quite obviously eyeing Shadow over.

Shadow, though, found that he didn't really have the patience for the younger hedgehog's antics, nor the time.

"What language is this?"

It was a possibility that crossed his mind. Sonic wasn't entirely uneducated, and – through his travels – he had picked up many languages. Perhaps he was using one of them right now, though Shadow couldn't really see any reason for it.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked, equally confused. "English, obviously!"

Narrowing his eyes, Shadow let out a soft growl. "I have no time for your foolishness, Sonic."

To Shadow's surprise, Sonic's expression twisted to mimic the exact look Shadow himself had worn when he had been called Terios.

"Are you giving me a nickname or something?" Sonic asked, becoming a little more serious. He then pressed his lips together, his eyes narrowing, as he added, "If you are, I expected something a little more clever! Sonic?"

Shadow had enough by this point; he had already wasted too much time.

"Quit it, Sonic. I have a mission to do, and I don't want you ruining it."

He had been glaring at Shadow for the intentional addition of Sonic, but the blue hedgehog's eyes slowly widened upon learning this new piece of information.

"You have a mission?" he repeated, his lips tugging upwards at the sides. "Man, who'd ya get it from? I never get any missions, anymore!"

"You . . . you had to save Soleanna a few days ago from one of Eggman's robots."

"-Eggman? Ha, who's this Eggman, buddy?"

After allowing himself an amused grin, then began to frown once more, adding, "Did you hit your head or something, Terios?"

Shadow clenched his fists in pure frustration.

"Stop fooling around, Sonic. I have to find the person responsible for threatening Westopolis' safety. The bombs could have destroyed the entire city, and-"

The last thing Shadow expected from Sonic was to hear him snicker. The Blue Blur had never been seen more proud than when he had found out about Tails' accomplishments . . .

Shadow began to hesitate.

"Westopolis? Blow up? Nothing like that happens, anymore. At least, not since that Ivo Robotnik guy was captured and defeated for good."

Sonic scratched his head in thought, though Shadow ignored the gesture.

"Ivo . . . Robotnik . . ." Shadow whispered quietly.

The name seemed somewhat familiar, though he couldn't recognize it.

He did, on the other hand, know the last name.

Robotnik . . . Could it be . . .?

Shadow's gaze fell to the ground.

Doctor? It can't be . . . Perhaps this is a dream? No, I never dream.

His eyes narrowed.

Something . . . something didn't feel right.

Ignoring the blue hedgehog, Shadow's attention moved to the sudden pulling-like feeling in his chest, which traveled to his head. A small ache, something he couldn't quite describe.

Strangely, he had a foreign urge . . .

Thoughts jumped into his mind that weren't quite his own.

This isn't your place, they said, this isn't your time. You aren't where you belong.

He wanted to push the intruding feelings away, but for some irritating reason, he simply couldn't.

You don't belong here, so why do you stay? Why do you insist?

Grinding his teeth together, Shadow turned his attention away from his thoughts. Instead, he focused on the blue hedgehog, who stood a meter or so from him, his expression now that of concern.

Sonic is acting strange . . .

His mind was buzzing with his own questions and the sudden, intrusive thoughts.

"What was I . . . planning to do today . . .?" Shadow asked in a low voice. He didn't want to do this, but perhaps if he played along . . .

'Sonic' shrugged.

"Uh, you would've probably gone off to visit Nails . . . Maybe even Venice, while you're at it."

The blue hedgehog then grinned, looking a little mischievous. "Knuckles would be pretty jealous if you did, though."

-Knuckles?

Shadow was confused.

On one hand, some people seemed to have different names, while on the other, some seemed to stay the same.

. . . Just what kind of a game was Sonic trying to play here? The lack of continuity seemed flawed, and Shadow was beginning to doubt his doubts.

". . . and may I ask who is this 'Nails' and 'Venice' you speak of?"

Sonic's lips pressed together in response; he didn't seem very happy with Shadow's answers.

"You really did hit your head or something, huh? We don't need any more of that." he grumbled.

He then sent Shadow a reluctant look, as if he were playing a game he didn't want to participate in.

"Venice is a time traveler - a hedgehog, just like us." Sonic then paused before he added, "Nails is your best friend, remember? I probably know her as much as I do thanks to Knuckles' little crush on her – though he never admits it, it's so obvious, right?"

He paused to let out a laugh, as if he were reminiscing on a memory. "It's pretty funny, watching all his failed attempts at catching her attention – though he denies his intentions, of course."

A friend who Knuckles . . .

"-Though, she'll never take her attention away from those jewels of hers." Sonic mused.

Shadow blinked, taken aback.

Rouge?

For some reason, as unknown to him as those thoughts from earlier, his stomach seemed to churn at the thought of Knuckles and Rouge together; a feeling that was quite . . . unfamiliar to him.

Normally, he couldn't have cared less about Sonic's offhanded remarks. He wasn't the type to feel this way, which is why this all just irritated him more. These weren't his feelings. Those weren't his thoughts.

Nonetheless, he was speaking about Rouge and Silver – two of the few people he held any trust for. Perhaps, if he were to speak with them . . .

"Sonic . . . Could you . . . take me to them?" Shadow mumbled, not quite liking the thought of relying on someone else but realizing he didn't have much of a choice.

The boy grinned.

"Sure," he said, and then moved to lead the way.

Shadow's eyes narrowed, but after a few more seconds of consideration, he began to follow with great reluctance. Just as he did, though, the sign he had seen earlier caught his attention once more . . .

At that very moment, the blue hedgehog himself paused to look back at Shadow, as if contemplating . . .

"-And by the way, since you seem to be playing 'forgetful', allow me to introduce myself . . ."

Shadow's breath escaped his lungs all too suddenly. His eyes struggled to register to words beside the picture of the blue hedgehog - or rather, to be more specific, his name.

It was true, then? Had he really . . .?

His gaze settled back on the real Blue Blur that stood before him – one who shot him a smile in return, wagging a finger playfully.

"My name is Needlemouse, Needlemouse the Hedgehog."

.

. . .

.

Sonic the Hedgehog began to worry as he paced around Tails' workshop, his expression troubled.

"Where is he . . .?" Sonic murmured.

This usually wasn't his style. If this were anyone else, he would be out there, not cooped up helplessly inside. With him, though, there was no possible way to search. He could be anywhere.

The sound of tools being placed on the side followed his words.

"Shadow will show up, Sonic. I don't know why you're so worried!" Tails exclaimed, brushing his bangs away from his eyes. Sonic had been acting a bit strange, as of late . . .

"I know. It's just weird, is all. Even Rouge doesn't know where he is, and she always does. I didn't mean to find this all out, I just stopped by to remind her about the party, but Shadow was brought up, and . . ."

Tails shook his head, pointing out, "Rouge doesn't always have to know where he is. Shadow's his own person, too, and you know how he likes his privacy."

Sonic frowned. He knew that to be true, but he couldn't help but wonder . . .

"You only found out about it because you guys planned a race today and he never showed up. If it wasn't for that, you wouldn't even know." Tails pointed out, the voice of reason once again.

"Yeah, well, still . . . It's like he simply . . ." He raised his hands and made exaggerated motions in the air. "-vanished."

He stopped to let out a sigh, his arms dropping to his side once again. "I dunno, Tails, I just feel all weird. Like, something's not right here. I don't know how to explain it, but something really feels . . . wrong.

"When I spoke to Rouge earlier - about Shadow never showing up for our little race - she told me that she hasn't seen him in days, and even G.U.N. doesn't know where he could be. The whole thing just felt so . . . I dunno, Tails. I just got a really bad feeling about it all."

"It's probably nothing – maybe he wanted some alone time. You know how Shadow can be."

With that said, Tails slowly began to get back to work. He was quite proud of his newest invention – a tracker of Chaos energy. Hopefully, he would find it useful in the near future, should he complete it.

"What about what Rouge told me? She's not one to worry, but she said that Shadow's room was a disaster on the day he disappeared – not suspicious enough, yet?"

The walls had been torn, his important paperwork scattered, his Chaos Emerald missing . . .

That's what bothered him most of all. As he stood in the black hedgehog's room with Rouge there to escort him, he could only frown, crouching down to observe a trail of scattered glass.

It trailed just a little further before he could see the rest, clumped together by a picture frame that held a photo of both Maria and Professor Gerald Robotnik.

Shadow wouldn't have ever done that himself. Something had happened, and whatever it was, it had to be connected to his strange disappearance.

What made this all even weirder was the weird sense of familiarity that spiked within Sonic as he stepped foot inside the dark hedgehog's room. It was as if someone else had been there, someone that Sonic should have recognized but didn't. It wasn't a positive energy, though – quite the contrary. It made his chest hurt like it never had before.

All this put together . . . Sonic could tell that something had happened, something very, very wrong.

"He could just be a messy guy." Tails explained with a weak smile.

Sonic frowned, crossing his arms behind his back.

He hated knowing his friend may be in trouble. He hated it even more when there was nothing he could do about it. He liked control. He liked to be in control. It was easier that way, safer. No one ever had to worry.

Now, though . . .

"Oh, I just remembered! Darn, how could I have forgotten? I need to go see Rouge. I totally forgot why I went to see her in the first place. I brought up Shadow, and one thing led to another . . ." he trailed off, walking over to one of the shelves of the workshop that held a glowing jewel – a Chaos Emerald.

Sonic then turned to face Tails.

"Wanna come with?"

After a few seconds of consideration, Tails nodded his head, pushing aside his work for later.

Walking over to his approaching friend, Sonic gripped gently at the fox's shoulders.

With a shout of, "Chaos Control!", the two disappeared in a bright flash of light.

After waiting a few seconds, Sonic pried his eyes open.

"Wow, that trick sure does come in handy!"

Looking around, the two friends began to wander the building, hoping that someone was home . . .

That was when a voice called out to them, causing the two to freeze up.

"Well, well, boys, what manners you two have!" A whooshing noise followed, then the quiet yet elegant tap of heels on wooden flooring. "Breaking into a friend's house without an invitation, tsk . . ."

Sonic and Tails moved to turn around and greet the voice.

"Hey, Rouge." Sonic greeted, looking a little sheepish.

Tails echoed the greeting, his eyes glued to the floor and his fingers intertwining with each other behind his back.

Normally, the hedgehog would've indulged in some sort of small talk, but instead, he went straight to business, feeling that it wasn't quite necessary for this visit.

"Has Shadow come by, yet? I was really looking forward to that race."

All he got was the shake of the head as a response.

"That's a bummer . . ."

He then scratched the back of his head nervously. This wasn't a nice atmosphere to be in, he knew, and it was making him a bit uncomfortable.

"Well, enough with the worrying, I guess. Shadow's always been able to take care of himself, and I'm sure he wouldn't ever back down intentionally from a race – even though he knows I'd totally win."

He then glanced around the house, paused, then grinned. Oh, right, the main reason he came over . . .

"Today is Halloween, anyway!"

He gave the bat a wink.

"I'm going as a vampire, so you should watch your neck, Rouge." he said, trying to brighten up the mood with a playful wink.

Sonic then turned to Tails and wrapping an arm around his buddy's neck. "-And my little buddy here is going as a . . ."

He paused in an attempt to remember his friend's costume.

"I'm going as a zombie." Tails spoke up, looking quite satisfied with himself.

"Yeah," Sonic said before giving his friend a teasing grin. "Those overrated things. He's been watching too much TV, if you ask me."

"What are you going to go as?" Tails asked, then paused and quickly added, "I-if you are going, of course."

Nervous, he continued on, "-Because you know, Sonic is hosting a Halloween party tonight . . . Since we don't all hang out together that much, outside of world disasters."

Rouge moved to the side, pointing to a few pieces of fabric that rested on the couch – a Halloween costume of her own.

Surprise, surprise, Sonic thought, a witch.

He snorted but grinned, nonetheless; typical.

Sonic could recall a recent argument between the bat and a certain echidna, one where Knuckles had called Rouge a 'witch' as an insult. What a surprise he'll be in for tonight. Of course, this was probably something Rouge had in the back of her mind while preparing for the night of Halloween.

"What else would you be?" he decided to say, the smile still there.

Rouge, on the other hand, placed her hands on her hips and gave him a quick glare.

"I would go as something else, but I use most of my money on the things I need to live off of . . . and jewels."

Jewels? Likely story . . .

Despite her tone and expression, behind that look rested a hint of playfulness…

Sonic held out his hands in fake surrender.

"Okay, okay, I get it," he said. "At least you are coming."

He then turned around, but his head strained to stay focused on Rouge as he gave her a quick thumbs-up.

"It's getting late, so put on your costume! The party's gonna start soon, and I'm sure you want to 'look your best.'"

It wasn't long before the three said their goodbyes, and the two boys teleported back to the workshop, leaving Rouge alone.

She leaned back against the nearest wall.

No one was there to see her frown.

No one was there to see her turn her head and close her eyes in worry, turning to face the room, where her costume rested on the couch, next to another set of clothes . . .

Shadow's costume – such a weird thing to say, she realized, almost in disbelief herself that she had managed to get that grumpy hedgehog one.

It was the costume the two friends had picked out together weeks before his disappearance, one of the last times she had seen him before he left.

"Shadow . . ."