So clever

Whatever

I'm done with these endeavors

Alone I walk the winding way

Here I stay

-"Until the End", Breaking Benjamin

It Doesn't Feel Right

He stood on the highest point of the tree. Shadow liked being alone. It was here in the solitude of the forest that he could forget all of his problems. Or rather, his problem. Every day brought him closer to death. And that was the one thing that Shadow the Hedgehog feared. Death. What would death have is store for him? The Sonic Team had told him about God, and how he had sent Jesus to pay for his sins, and how one day, the souls of the ones who had believed in Him would join Him in heaven. Truth was, all of that stuff just pissed him off, because in his heart, Shadow knew that he couldn't possibly have any of that. All because he had been grown.

"Shadow?"

Great! So much for forgetting his problem. Now he was in a bad mood, and his surprise visitor wasn't going to help it one bit. He jumped down to the floor to greet his guest. "Tails, what are you doing here? Is this about what happened back on the Typhoon?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah. It's about what happened on the Typhoon." His voice was firm, but Shadow couldn't tell if he was here to start a fight.

"Well, if you came looking for an apology, you're barking up the wrong tree." Shadow secretly laughed inside at his own joke, while his face remained as straight and stern as ever.

"Actually, I came to apologize myself. As much as I hate to admit it, you were right. Cosmo was a danger to the universe. Killing her would have been the right move."

Shadow couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wait, what? Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be? The Metarex knew everything about us. They knew everything about the Typhoon! We almost lost, all because they used Cosmo as a spy!"

"Yeah, I know all that, but you were willing to die to protect her." Shodow could only imagine how hard it must have been for Tails to accept this.

"Sometime in war, the right decision is the one that feels the worst."

"Yeah, I guess." With that, Shadow turned to walk away. He wasn't really in the mood to talk about "right".

"Hey Shadow." He stopped. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Decide what the right thing to do is, and then just do it, in spite of your feelings?"

Tails had hit the nerve. "Tails, I used to make decisions based on my feelings. That was back when I worked for Eggman. I did what I was told because being loyal to him was what I felt was right. Remember the ARK? I knew allowing the death of millions was wrong, but my feelings told me that I should be loyal to Eggman. After I sent the ARK back, I did a lot of thinking. I still felt as if I had betrayed Eggman. I wondered how it was that my feelings could lead me so wrong. And then it dawned on me. I have no soul, Tails."

"No soul? Is that even possible?"

He was really worked up now. "Of course it is! Don't you get it! I was created, grown in some laboratory! Given all of these amazing abilities! But there's one thing man can't create: a soul. So now you know the truth. Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form, is the only person that can truly die! And he's the only person without a conscience! So to answer your question: There's only one way I can do what's right regardless of feeling, and that's by not letting myself feel anything in the first place!"

Tails was just beginning to understand the full impact of what Shadow was saying. He couldn't imagine what it felt like, knowing that you had to be dead inside to do what's right. "Shadow…" He sighed, not knowing what he could possibly say.

Shadow just turned and walked off into the shadows of the trees, the darkness enveloping and concealing him. And then he started to run, trying once again to forget.

To Be Continued...