SONADOW – The Real Faker

It was one of those sunny days Sonic loved so much.

He was speeding along the coastline to train his speeding limit, only to stop at a hill to look over the city. It was so beautiful out here, especially in the mornings or evenings, where the houses were drowned in orange-red sunlight. The scenery with the ocean and green of the forests all around were just perfect.

Sonic had just finished his 100th leap for today, so he decided that he'd run to the forests too to check if everything was all right.

As he ran back along the way where he came from, Sonic spotted a strangely familiar black-golden blur gliding between the trees that he hadn't seen in months.

"Shadow", he murmured and sped up even faster.

When Sonic saw him, he shouted his name. "What are you doing here?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes and grinned. "Thought I was gone, didn't you?"

Sonic flushed, but then shouted angrily. "We all thought that you weren't - ", he gulped, "there anymore since no one saw you disappear except for me! And I clearly saw you falling down the sky to earth!"

"This doesn't prove anything", Shadow growled loudly. "And I'm here, all alive, so why don't you come over and check?" His grin was like the devil's grin.

The two hedgehogs were running trough the forest, one trying to surpass the other.

"I don't need to check to know it's fake!", Sonic replied in a calmly manner.

"What was that?", Shadow asked harshly. "I sure see a faker in front of me! - CHAOS SPEAR!"

Sonic quickly dodged the exploding glowing spears. "Why do you call me a faker anyways?"

"Because you are imitating me, that's why!"

"I'm NOT imitating you! I was here first!"

"I was there 50 years before you!"

"But you were asleep!"

"But you're just a hedgehog!"

Sonic huffed angrily. "Well at least I was not CREATED!"

Shadows eyes flashed a deep red and his entire form was glowing. He showed his teeth. "I AM THE ULTIMATE LIFE FORM!", he shouted back aggressively.

Sonic felt the passionate fire burning inside him. "YOU'RE NOT BETTER THAN I AM!"

Shadow suddenly grinned sadistically. "Prove it!"

"Dare race me!", Sonic screamed furiously.

In that very second, an indigo blue and a golden lightning was seen disappearing at the horizon.

Sonic panted lightly, but he felt he wasn't near at the end of his powers.

"What, giving up already?", Shadow shouted at him. The blue hedgehog laughed.

"I'm good! Seems like you're the one trying to mask lacking skills!"

His red-striped counterpart huffed. Each insult thrown at him was smashed back tenfold.

"Even the Super-You is a thousand times faster!", he growled back.

"Oh yeah?", Sonic said, concentrating on his newly found, weakly trained speed limit. "Then watch this!"

His legs were carrying him like the starlight itself. Sonic put himself into this feeling. He slowly gave up control over his acceleration, drowned reality out and let his energy take away.

Shadow could only gasp as he felt the energy pulsating from his rival. Then, he was slightly pushed from his path as Sonic passed him near the speed of light.

Speed of light...! Sonic was putting himself at risk if he was close to the time travel speed!

And if he was at the speed of light, there would be no escape.

Shadow needed to stop him.

'The inhibitor rings...', he thought. 'I could take them off now, but then I might be to strong and bring him in danger.'

The black hedgehog chose to run after the other, even if he didn't take off the rings which limited him to a minimum of his immense energy.

Sonic was panting heavily, his energy was decreasing by minute. Even though, he kept on dashing and didn't even look behind, when Shadow appeared on his side.

"Are you crazy?!", Shadow screamed against the air pressure.

"I can't hear you~", Sonic replied loudly.

Shadow's eyes widened. "Do you even know what you're doing, you moron?"

"Do you like it?", the blue hedgehog asked, hope sparking in his eyes. "Because that's my new speed limit!" His breath was getting out of control, and sweat was dropping from his forehead. "Wait until I-"

"YOU HAVE TO STOP!", Shadow screamed in alarm. "You are in GREAT DANGER!"

"I STILL DON'T HEAR YOU!", Sonic screamed, but his voice cracked at the last word.

Not spending a last time thinking over it, Shadow dropped down the inhibitor rings on his wrists and concentrated. The world around came to a halt in mere seconds, and Sonic was caught and stopped by his rival's arms.

Sonic was at a point of exhaustion he had never before been, and felt his legs burn. His body felt numb and he dropped onto his knees when he was caught by the strong arms of the other.

"Do y- do you-", he panted heavily. "Did you - like it?"

Shadow was shaken by the mental state of Sonic. Not only had he exposed to himself to a self-destructing practice, but also to time travel, which he had only achieved by training his speed and acceleration. Amazing in every way. But it was a miracle that Sonic was still conscious after all his used-up energy.

"Sonic...", Shadow started carefully. "You stupid little hedgehog. Do you know what you did?"

The only thing heard was Sonic catching his breath. He closed his eyes, and it almost seemed that he had slipped into the dark, but he opened his eyes again. "S'upid?"

The black hedgehog didn't know how to tell him. "Time travel."

Sonic was still half present in reality, half in the black void. But as he realized what Shadow said, his eyes widened. "Time travel...!" Then he looked up at Shadow's form who was still holding him, probably to prevent him from falling unconscious. The hedgehog's face flushed. "Me?"

Shadow sighed. "Using the power to control time in oneself at will is not dangerous unless used incorrectly. What you did was just that."

Sonic's body was powerless, but some rest of energy was still there. The last thing Shadow had said was too complicated to understand at his state. And by the face he made, Shadow assumed the same thing.

"You are still weak from your presentation", he grinned, but then his expression went serious again. "If you consider to use this power though..." He averted his eyes and blushed slightly. "...then maybe I could take you as an apprentice."

"That would be awesome", Sonic whispered and smiled at his counterpart, to which he only blushed darker. The blue hedgehog chuckled. Suddenly, he felt the energy drain from him and he felt traces of panic. "Shad..."

The other nodded sympathetically. "I see. As you will presumably fall unconscious, you are asking me to bring you back. - Considering how far away we are from the city", he added then, but the form in his arms was limp already.

"Fa-" He inhaled deeply. "Sonic The Hedgehog."

As he prepared for teleportation, he whispered: "I am fascinated by your efforts. You are a worthy rival, but could be exceeding yourself by far if you were my apprentice. Even though you cannot hear me." And with a last look at the surrounding area, he teleported.

Neither of us is the faker. We are real.

To be continued...?