Chapter 1:

Shadow was jarred from his troublesome sleep by the sound of his alarm clock blaring it's horrendous beeping noise. Shadow's eyes slowly but surely opened as the sound continued to fill the room, he reached out and slammed on the snooze button irritated that he couldn't sleep all that well. Shadow pulled the sheets off of him and slowly pulled himself up to a sitting position so that his legs hung off the side of the bed. He hung his head groggily, still tired from the night before as he got up to turn off his alarm. I don't need it to remind me again, Shadow thought as he turned it off and flicked the switch to turn on the lights. Shadow then walked towards his closet and fetched his work uniform for the local grocery store he worked at which consisted of a red collared shirt and black khaki pants. He held his clothes in his arms as he sluggishly made his way towards the bathroom to shower. Shadow felt like crap, he couldn't get rid of the clutter of thoughts inside his head that were consistently pestering him. His former bandmates were like cockroaches, they kept nagging and crawling all over him and no matter how hard he would try to rid of them they would always find a way to hide and return to bother him. Shadow just wanted them to disappear from his conscious, he knew that they were important to him at one time but why couldn't he just live and forget them like they had done to him? It was a question that continues to haunt Shadow after all these years and now the real question seemed to be, will he ever be able to break free of the shackles that are his memories? Shadow pondered this, as he turned the switch on for shower and turned the handle towards hot water. He stepped inside the shower and felt the steaming warm water trickle down his fur. Shadow closed his eyes, feeling relaxed with every droplet that graced his fur, feeling relief with every second that ticked by. His thoughts raced as he stood underneath the water, he smirked as a memory came back to him. A memory of how the band had actually started and how they went to some extremes to form Controlling Chaos.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow all walked down the street heading home from school. They were walking down Main Street, the guys were talking about forming a band except Shadow was a little hesitant about it.

"C'mon Shadow it'll be fun, besides you got a guitar for Christmas as well as I did so let's put them to good use!" Sonic said, trying to convince Shadow that it would be fun. Knuckles turned to Sonic and smiled.

"Yeah pretty soon I should be able to have enough money saved up to buy a drum kit, I've been goofing around on a friend's for right now but I want to get my own so I can get my own." Shadow glanced at both Knuckles and Sonic before acknowledging Tails.

"I'll do it if Tails joins." Shadow replied with a smirk on his face, he knew that Tails wouldn't agree with joining, being in a rock band wasn't for him. Tails stopped in his tracks causing the whole group to halt and turn to face him. Tails didn't like the fact that everyone's attention was focused solely on him. He felt uncomfortable with all of them staring at him, awaiting his answer. Tails squirmed on the inside and he fidgeted nervously with the straps of his backpack before delivering a sheepish smile.

"Um….I don't know guys." Tails started. "I just don't think I'm cool enough for this kind of thing. I mean all the guys that are in bands just radiate an aura of being cool and I'm just a nerd. Nerds can't be in bands. They aren't cut out for it." Shadow folded his arms across his chest before delivering his famous "Hpmh." A smirk was firmly placed on Shadow's face as the Sonic and Knuckles gaped at how ridiculous Tails sounded.

"Looks like you have my answer guys. Looks like this quartet has become a duo project." Shadow scoffed as he began to walk forward leaving the rest of the guys behind. Sonic turned to Tails with a now serious expression on his face and placed his hand on Tails' shoulder.

"Tails, you sound absolutely ridiculous right now," Sonic scolded. "Some of the biggest nerds in the world are rockstars, Cliff Burton from Metallica played D&D and was a fan of H.P Lovecraft, Ozzy Osbourne wrote a song about a Marvel superhero, and not to mention Edgar Winter, the dude was practically considered a freak by many for being albino so he learned as many instruments as he could and sure enough look where he is! He's on top of the world, or used to be anyway, but that's besides the point. The point I'm making here is that you deserve to be in a rock band no matter what because you're not just one of the smartest people I know Tails but you are also one of my best friends and you deserve this just as much as everyone else who has been blessed enough to step onto a stage and perform to thousands of screaming fans." With these uplifting words Tails suddenly felt more confident about himself but at the same time there was still something preventing him from accomplishing his friends' dream, Shadow turned after hearing Sonic's speech and walked back towards the group. Knuckles could tell something was still bothering Tails and before Sonic could speak again Knuckles asked, "Something's still gnawing at you, what is it?" Once again all attention, including Shadow's who had now rejoined the group was focused on Tails who again fidgeted with his backpack straps.

"The problem is I don't know how to play, I mean I could learn bass since you guys have chosen drums and guitar but my parents don't want me to meddle with anything other than school and educational activities, I'm lucky I get to hang out with you guys as it is." Sonic face palmed at Tails' stubbornness, "Tails! C'mon! We'll help you get an instrument! Don't you want to be famous and live the life?!" Sonic grabbed Tails by his shirt and started shaking him before he was interrupted by Knuckles who quickly defused the situation. Shadow just smirked as the situation looked dire for Sonic and Knuckles recruiting Tails and him. Tails brushed himself off before addressing Sonic once more, "If I were to join this band, not that I'm saying that I am, but if I were, the question remains. How would I get the money to pay for it? My parents don't want me to work and my parents don't want me to do anything except focus on school." The question hung in the air as Sonic and Knuckles pondered while Shadow just stood with his arms crossed watching the three of them. Suddenly Sonic's face lit up, "What if we don't have to tell your parents?" Tails looked at him strangely.

"What do you mean? It's an instrument that I will have to pay for without a job to get said money so of course my parents are going to have to know." Sonic shook his head at Tails who didn't understand what he was hinting at. "What I meant buddy was, what if we borrowed an instrument?" Tails thought for a second, "Um...sure, but who do you know that would have an instrument?" Sonic chuckled lightly, "Not just an instrument, a bass guitar. I think it would be perfect for you and I know just the place to go and get it."

"But Sonic you didn't answer my-" Before Tails could finish, Sonic bolted off, leaving Shadow, Knuckles, and Tails scratching their heads wondering just what Sonic had planned.

Later that evening the guys met up a few blocks away from Shadow's house. Sonic had called them a couple hours prior to inform everyone to meet him on Antra Avenue, no one had any idea what was going on but they were determined to find out just what the blue hedgehog had schemed. However, Sonic was nowhere to be seen at the spot of meeting, leaving Shadow, Knuckles, and Tails standing by the street lamp. "That faker had better be showing up soon." Shadow said with an edge in his voice, frustrated that he had to get out of bed for this.

"I'm sure he will be here soon. He typically isn't late." Tails said as he looked around hoping to catch sight of Sonic at any moment.

"He has some gall to keep us here." Knuckles muttered just as a blue blur appeared from behind them.

"Hey guys, miss me?" Sonic said with a smile.

"No not really, you're a half hour late so either you showed up and you annoyed me into making me beat you up or you didn't and I would have to pulverise you!" Shadow angrily as Knuckles approached him, ready to restrain. Sonic just laughed at Shadow's hot headedness.

"Sorry I was late guys. I fell asleep and my alarm didn't wake me up. You ready to go and get Tails' bass?" Sonic asked as the rest of the group just nodded and followed at a slow pace. They walked in complete silence past various streets lit either by the street lamps or the light of the moon that hung above with the bright stars scattering the night sky. Since it was the outskirts of the city it was practically dead in this area. No one would be up in such the early hours of the morning. After walking for a solid thirty minutes, Sonic suddenly stopped walking and so did the others. "Sonic, why did we stop?" Tails spoke up, breaking the silence between them. Sonic said nothing but pointed to a the shop in front of them. The group read the sign that hung just above the doorway, "Mr, Bojang's Music". Tails looked over at Sonic as did everyone else and gave a questioning look. "We are getting your bass!" Sonic said cheerfully as he pointed to the front window. Tails turned his head and gasped at what he saw in the display window. It was an orange and white centered bass guitar with mahogany fretboard and headstock. "It's beautiful Sonic but, how are we going to get it?" Tails questioned as Sonic put his hand on the window. The question was answered with silence as everyone kept their eyes on Sonic, noticing his strange behavior. A loud humming filled the air as everyone watched in awe as Sonic's hands vibrated the glass window at an unbelievable rate.

"Sonic, what the hell are you doing?!" Knuckles yelled not caring if it was two in the morning or not, Sonic didn't answer as Tails looked on in horror.

"Oh my God Sonic! Is this what you meant the whole time? That we were going to steal it? You said you knew a guy!" The glass suddenly dissipated into sand that fell to a pile at Sonic's feet. "I did know a guy, he owns this shop he's going to let us borrow the bass, we just aren't asking if we can though is the thing." Sonic replied as he grabbed the bass from its stand Shadow just laughed internally as he watched Sonic try to hand the bass to Tails, I can't believe this hedgehog actually decided to go against his moral compass just to form a pitiful at best rock band, Shadow thought. Tails continued to shake his head aghast at what he just witnessed. "Sonic! You of all people should know that stealing is wrong!" Tails cried out making Sonic cover his mouth with his gloved hand. Tails continued to yell but his words were muffled by Sonic's hand and after a few moments he removed it leaving everyone in silence.

"What's the meaning of this Sonic?" Knuckles asked, wondering why his friend was acting like this.

"Yeah, what's the big idea faker?" Shadow chided in. The air stood still, no one moved and Sonic looked like he was at a loss for words however, after a couple of seconds he sighed and began to finally talk.

"I wanted to form a band and Knuckles was going to get his drum kit after he worked enough to pay for it but I wanted to include you guys too I just didn't know how and I figured that Tails would be hesitant to it so I figured the only way he would join was if I did something drastic and so I did. I also remembered what Shadow said earlier about how if Tails joined then he would." Sonic paused to look at Shadow whose eyes were wide as saucers. Shit, he remembered, Shadow thought as Sonic resumed talking. "I'm sorry if I went against morals but I really want this to happen, and I don't want this band to be anything but the four of us. I know that we can make something of ourselves and this is the way to do it. So what do you say Tails and Shadow? You in?" Sonic extended the bass to Tails who looked at it hesitantly. Tails thought for a moment before grabbing it and happily holding it in his hands.

"I'm in one hundred percent!" Tails said excitedly as Sonic turned to face Shadow who had his back turned from the group.

"C'mon Shadow, it'll be fun, besides you said you would." Sonic said as Shadow closed his eyes and weighed his options. If I do I'm screwed, if not I'm alone, ugh, Shadow's mind conflicted with itself and after a few seconds he sighed.

"Alright I guess I have no choice, but I'll sing and play rhythm guitar since everyone else has decided on what they want to play." Everyone cheered and celebrated at the fact that they had finally unified as a band. "What shall we call ourselves then?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, we gotta have a name." Knuckles replied, Sonic then pointed towards the window. Everyone turned, suddenly realizing what Sonic was implying and took off down the street not wanting to get caught out past curfew, or even worse, with Tails' new bass.

Shadow chuckled lightly at the memory of them becoming a band as he turned off the water to the shower. How ironic that the goody two shoes of the lot had to be the bad guy to get everyone to join him, Shadow thought as he started dressing in his work uniform, which consisted of a red button up collared shirt and black khaki pants. His fur was still damp from the hot shower but that didn't bother him as he began to brush his teeth. Hopefully work won't be too bad today, the last thing I need is to be bothered by pesky customers again, Shadow cast away the thoughts and decided he would worry about them when he got to work. He put his toothbrush back in his drawer and headed out the door ready to start the day.

I knew I should have eaten breakfast, Shadow thought as his stomach growled. Shadow hadn't eaten all day and work was busier than usual, leaving him with no time to go on break and eat lunch. With this predicament, Shadow decided that he would go and grab a burger and fries from across the street when he was finished. He could feel the warm bag against his hands as the aroma of food filled his nose with a plethora of delightful smells. He rushed home from the fast food joint to cease his stomachs' complaints and as soon as he had made it to his room that is exactly what he did. Shadow reached into his bag and began to devour his burger ravenously. He polished it off in no time and before long he had finished his fries too. Feeling much better Shadow threw away his trash and laid down on his bed. Shadow gazed over at his alarm clock, it read nine o'clock.

"Now what?" Shadow asked aloud as he wondered what to do for the rest of the night. He looked over at his desk which was cluttered with pieces of notebook papers and CD's of various bands. Deciding he would listen to some tunes, Shadow got up off the bed and grabbed one of the albums resting off of his desk. Looking at the title, Shadow faintly smiled as he popped in the CD into the radio next to his bed. Laying back down, nothing was heard but silence before some drums clicked off for the song to start. An old school sounding 80's rock riff sounded from a single guitar, it played a few times by itself allowing the song to gain momentum like a freight train before the whole band entered, thundering away as the song finally reached the entry of the vocals.

Neon lights

The magic of the streets

I knew from the beginning

You would take me off my feet

Shadow cringed at the sound of his own voice, it was gruff like James Hetfield but it was also trying to be higher like Rob Halford leaving the whole song to sound like 80's hair metal with no flare. The song was terrible and dry vocal wise but it was the instruments that made the song even remotely bearable. It was the first incarnation of Controlling Chaos, they had started off wanting to be an old school thrash, hair metal kind of band but they soon realized that they weren't cut out for that music. They ditched that scene and soon found more advancement as a band with fusing grunge music and thrash to form a more hard rock sound. It was a sound that would eventually lift them up to the success that they would experience. Shadow kept listening to the trash tune, bobbing his head to the guitar riff that played. Faker got that from Ratt, Shadow thought as he remembered the day that Sonic had introduced the riff he had come up with. They had been playing nothing but covers up until that point and when Sonic showed them what he had come up with the band was immediately inspired to write material. What followed was an absolute horrendous recording of their song "Heart of the City". Shadow finally had enough of the song and turned it off, the room no longer alive with the sound of distorted riffs. I can write so much better than that, Shadow thought as he put the CD back in it's case and set it back on his desk. He was going to go back to his bed and retire for the night when his mind suddenly challenged him, why don't you write a better song? The thought crawled through his mind like a serpent, Shadow knew that if he didn't then his mind would haunt him until he did. Without thinking any further Shadow turned back towards his desk and brought out a pencil from one of the drawers. He then began to scribble down some lyrics erasing here and there but all the while jotting his thoughts down onto the paper. He could feel a weight lift off of him as wrote and he continued to do so until he felt his eyes droop. Shadow laid his head down on the table just for a second to collect his thoughts on what to write for the next verse. However, after an exhausting day Shadow succumbed to a deep and peaceful sleep.

Shadow woke up the following morning and looked over at his alarm clock wearily, it read ten fifty. Shit, I gotta be at work in ten minutes, Shadow thought as he hurriedly got up from his desk and quickly brushed his teeth. He cupped some water in his hands and washed up some of the dirty parts of his work clothes that he had fallen asleep in. He rushed out the door and ran the four blocks it took to get to work. This was probably the first time ever in his entire employment to Cheeky's grocery store that he was late to work. Hopefully they aren't too pissed with me, or too busy, Shadow thought as he made his way inside and was greeted almost instantly by his manager.

"Glad to see that you have made it Shadow. You're late." His manager was a squirrel who was renowned for being calm except when under pressure. He was a ticking time bomb that everyone feared, including Shadow. Luckily though it didn't appear like his manager was going to explode but he did however look slightly angry at Shadow. "But I guess I can't be too mad at you since this is your first time being late." His manager said looking at his watch with a scowl. "It's only by ten minutes so I guess I can't be too mad at you. Just keep your nose clean and don't be late again." His manager concluded his lecture and began to head off to work on whatever it was that needed to be worked on that day. Shadow breathed a sigh of relief, narrowly dodging the bullet that was his manager. I love Cheeky, but damn, he sure knows how to be scary, Shadow wondered how someone like him managed to become that scary as he clocked in and took his place on register. It was a thursday, which meant that it was truck day. It was Shadow's least favorite day of the week for one reason and one reason only. It meant that while everyone else was working on unloading truck he had to attend the front and work register which meant that Shadow had to actually socialize, the worst part of the job. Shadow sighed as his day began to slowly but surely tick by with each and every customer that entered and exited the store. After a considerable amount of time Shadow looked down at the digital clock on his register. He was five minutes away from break which meant he could go and get a delicious burger and fries that had become a staple of his diet as of late. Shadow licked his lips as he suddenly craved the greasy food. He didn't have time to daydream for long about his appetite however, as a customer appeared and placed her groceries in front of Shadow. Shadow snapped out of his thoughts to assist the customer. He looked at her for a brief moment after he had scanned her items and told her the price. She was a pink hedgehog wearing a scarlet dress, her pink quills were parted, revealing her emerald green eyes that were absolutely stunning. Even Shadow could feel himself being drawn by them. He quickly turned away slightly embarrassed as the hedgehog continued to stare at him, thinking that he had been caught staring Shadow pretended to brush it off, repeating the price to the pink hedgehog. She gasped as she clenched the cash in her hands, she looked like she had seen a ghost.

"S-S-S-S-Shadow?"