He woke with a start, a choked gasp escaping his dry mouth.

Fearful sweat dripped down his forehead. He saw nothing. Darkness was all he could see, his entire body seeping with a cold trepidation despite him being really warm. He couldn't move. He was lying on his back, his limbs frozen in place, his breathing laboured and fast. He felt something brush against his neck, like ghostly fingers were stroking the skin. Was someone there? What was going on here? Not knowing only made him panic more. He saw a glowing eye, an amber iris piercing the darkness like a flame. His fear heightened when the ghostly hand seemed to latch around his throat, forcing the life out of him as a choking sensation burned his neck and lungs.

Then it came. The ear-splitting scream. It emerged from his broken throat like a strangled cat. What was this thing!? What was it…trying to do to him!? He shut his eyes before letting out a second scream. He heard loud thumps on the bunker's metallic floor before he heard the bedroom door fling open. He was suddenly met by the blinding light of the bedroom lamp that made a dull pain enter his forehead. He felt a warm sensation on his arm. More fingers. He screamed a third time, fearing it to be whatever was trying to hurt him before, only to find warm arms around his slender body alongside the sound of someone shushing him. He managed to keep his eyes open. He had kept them closed because he felt threatened, not the mention the room was incredibly bright. As he blinked, the shape over him became clearer and much more familiar. Shadow. The Ultimate Lifeform was over him, worry written over his face. Why was the child screaming like that? At first, he thought maybe it was a nightmare, until he saw Sonic reach for his throat. After feeling around his neck, some of Sonic's blind panic subsided. No pain, no damage done. His breathing was still incredibly fast, but that was just the aftermath of his earlier panic. He also saw Cream, a beige and brown furred rabbit with chocolate-coloured eyes, behind Shadow, watching his behaviour in confusion. Being trained with medical knowledge despite her age meant her examinational glances was as if she was trying to figure out what might have happened. Sonic suddenly latched his arms around Shadow's torso, breaking down in terrified tears and refused to look in Cream's direction. Shadow glanced quickly at the young rabbit, not sure if it was her look that set him off or just the experience itself. If it was the former, he guessed it was because he loathed the way he was being seen. As a patient…or, maybe in his mind, a test subject. Shadow wasn't comfortable with the child around his stomach but, for the sake of keeping Sonic calm, he let that fact slide and ran his fingers through Sonic's quills. He was surprised at how soft Sonic's azure fur was compared to his. He then looked at Cream hard.

"Any ideas, kiddo?"

"…I have one." Cream's usual sweet and friendly tone was replaced with a serious voice, which was extremely unlike her. Seeing as she was around 7 or 8, she was one of the three youngest Resistance members. Charmy was younger at 6 and Tails was next at around 10.

"Well?" Shadow pressed when the next few seconds passed with no answer. Cream took a few seconds to organise her thoughts before speaking.

"…I think Mr. Sonic had an episode of sleep paralysis."

Sonic looked at Cream hard. That word. Paralysis. It shot through him, making his entire body shiver. He had quickly learnt to take words at face value and knew when words indicated bad things that he was unable to understand. They would make his body shiver and a creeping dread filled his blood. He could call it a danger sense. He had been in the bunker for around a week and a half now, but there were still so much about the world that his brain failed to comprehend.

"W-What…that?" He still talked in broken English, but he knew a lot more words than he did when Shadow had brought him in. That felt so long ago now. Shadow knew what sleep paralysis was, but explaining it to Sonic in a way where he didn't freak out wasn't a simple task: the boy freaked out at the smallest thing. It was one of many reasons why, out of all the lessons each Resistance member was teaching him like teaching him what was going on (Tails), recognising his enemies (Amy), relaxation and self-control to avoid his "powers" going haywire again (Blaze and Silver), agility and stealth (Espio), how to live life normally and to have fun (Charmy, though these usually resulted in a telling off), testing how strong his reflection powers were (Omega), social skills and language therapy (Cream), speed training (himself), weapon usage (Gadget and his friends Fuchsia and Ace) and basic self-defence (Vector), he had put Rouge in charge of helping Sonic's confidence and courage grow. It surprised him on how slow that was progressing. Eventually, he managed to think of a way that explained the phenomenon in a kid-friendly way.

"What Cream means, Sonic, is that it's when…" OK, now this was the crucial bit. "…sometimes, when you wake up, you have a bad dream while awake."

"Bad dream…when awake?"

"That's right. Your brain…" He gently tapped the boy's head. "…thinks you're still asleep, so that is why you can't move during one. I think the fingers was your mind playing tricks on you."

"Trick?" Sonic looked up at his head and scowled. "Bad brain…you trick me."

"It's nothing to worry about. They're rare, so I don't think one will happen again. You understand?" Sonic confidently nodded.

"All in head." He proclaimed. "All gone now!"

"I see your language lessons are working wonderfully." Shadow sarcastically mocked, with Cream nervously giggling.

"…I'm doing my best, Mr. Shadow. At least Mr. Sonic knows a lot more words now. He still mixes up tenses and pronouns though…"

"I suppose you're right, you're doing your best. Alright, kiddo, let's get you back to bed." He tucked the sheets around the blue hedgehog. "Want the light on or off?"

"On."

"OK, I'll leave it on. You can turn it off you it gets too bright for you." He ruffled Sonic's fur before leaving the room with Cream. As he closed the fixed door, as the members had to spend 5 days rebuilding it after he destroyed it (not his proudest moment), he and Cream went their separate ways. As Shadow lay on his bed, he could hear muttering from next door. The child was obviously playing some game out aloud. He began chuckling to himself, only to stop when a thought came to mind.

Wait. Am I…getting attached to this kid or something?

The thought made him growl. After what had happened in his past, he had vowed to never get so close to someone again. This child though, just his mere presence made his usual grumpy personality melt away. He hated that. He was the Ultimate Lifeform for Christ's sake. He was meant to be unpredictable. A weapon. A creature bound by firm rules: kill or be killed.

Sonic's an Ultimate Lifeform too though. He's like me.

That was true. Sonic had abilities similar to Shadow's: quick healing, an acute Chaos Sense, ability to use Chaos Control and, most importantly, DNA tests indeed showed he had similar DNA to himself, so it was true that he had been "made" into a likeness close to himself, though the idea that Eggman had changed an innocent boy into…into something as unusual as him…it both intrigued and disgusted him. Sighing, he closed his eyes. He didn't need to sleep, but he definitely felt weary. He blamed the long day he had had training Sonic. The boy was incredibly fast on his feet, just like the project report had stated, but he wasn't very skilled at controlling it. He now had endless cuts and scrapes littering his lower legs. Not only that, but it was actually difficult keeping up with him. The boy definitely gave him a run for his money. He was the Fastest Thing Alive, but it seemed Sonic might even be faster than him. He eventually drifted off, ignoring the chatter that was still quietly echoing through the bunker walls.

XO

Down in solitary confinement, saying Knuckles was angry was an understatement. The cell was big enough to wander around him and the only time he saw his ex-friends, as he had disowned them the moment he had woken up in the cell and been told of the new imposing rules on him, was when they came down with food or war updates, and every single one of them spoke with a hateful tone. Especially Shadow. His voice was like venom.

It was all HIS fault. That blue hedgehog. Sonic. Just his name made him sick.

"Still sulking?" Came a voice in the darkness as Knuckles saw a shape emerge from the shadows.

"I was wondering where you were. Anything?"

"I'm doing my best, hon, but it's not easy with cameras everywhere. Believe me, I'm doing my best to terrorize him." Knuckles growled and punched the steel bars running down in front of him. They were unbreakable and he was sure he felt a bone in his hand crunch from the impact. He shook it. He'd be fine.

"That's not good enough. This is taking too long." He thought. He needed a killer idea. One so good that he'd be able to get rid of that blue hedgehog as soon as possible. He beckoned the shape closer and whispered his epiphany in their ear. Cyan eyes widened in shock.

"Y-You're not serious, are you!? They'll…! I mean, his forces will…!"

"I know. Perfect way to get rid of him. Just don't let them trace it back to me, alright?" He saw the shadow reluctantly nod, cyan eyes shining with uncertainty.

"You got it."

XO

"You look like you're in a fine mood."

Shadow side-looked at Gadget. He had been in the control room with the others, checking their sub-wave network for any Eggman transmissions (well, they were. He was leaning against the back wall, just watching them). That is how they were going to beat him: stop his plans before Eggman got chance to execute them. Shadow didn't like the rookie much. He tried too hard to be a hero: tried to be brave when everyone was perfectly aware of how cowardly the kid was. Then again, it had diminished over time, but it was still subtly there in the red wolf's personality.

"What do you want, kid?" He hissed, snapping his head away. Gadget leant against the wall as well, eying the onyx Ultimate Lifeform with a playful expression. He had a smug grin on his muzzle.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." He got a scowl. "Do you know where Sonic is?"

"With Rouge. Why? What is it to you?"

"…You sure he's with Rouge?" Gadget questioned, confusion clearly labelled in his vibrant topaz irises. If there was one thing no-one dared do, it was question him…and this…this…rookie…had just crossed the sacred line.

"Are you questioning me, Rookie?" He snarled.

"N-No! I-It's just…I saw her wandering around a few minutes ago."

Shadow blinked at Gadget. This wasn't right…unless the child had run off to explore the base yet again. He did that when he got restless. Groaning, he went off, only to see Rouge ducking in and out of rooms, eyes full of question.

"Oh, Shadow! Just the person!"

"Rookie told me. Where's Sonic?"

"…I…I was going to ask you the same thing. Didn't turn up for our little lesson, so I thought the poor lamb had skedaddled and had gone off on one of his little excursions again. You haven't seen him, have you hon?"

"No. I'm not his babysitter."

"…Well, he can't have gone far."

"We'll check the cameras. He's probably hiding somewhere, playing a merry game of hide and seek with us. God, he's such a child."

"It's not his fault though, hon. He doesn't know any better."

Shadow felt himself feel guilty again. Was he being that selfish with his snide comments? Curse his attitude! With all he knew, Sonic could have gotten himself into bad trouble and here he was, making nasty comments about someone who might need his help! Rouge was right of course though. Sonic acted too young for how he was built. A 15-year-old acting like a spoilt preteen, but the trauma and the horrific experiences he had had to endure was the reason behind the delay in development…or, rather, the rewind in development. He trooped with Rouge back into HQ and began checking the cameras. He re-winded minutes and hours. Then, at precisely 11:45am, 3 whole hours ago, Camera 10 finally picked up a shape near the bunker entrance. The shape had climbed the stack of pillows, with little skill, but had reached the latch, had forced it open and had slithered out. It had been left half-open. Shadow felt every muscle tense as he rewound the footage and zoomed in.

Blue fur. Green eyes. It was definitely Sonic. He was crying, looking around frantically. At one point, he looked directly at the camera and had stared at it in wonder before continuing his escapade.

"…That's not possible. That latch should have been bolted."

Rouge had a point. Who was in charge of bolting the latch last night again?

Rouge herself.

"You say that…but YOU should have bolted the latch." He snarled, head twisting to look at her with a fierce expression. Rouge froze and gulped, cyan eyes tiny with shock. "You forgot, didn't you?" A meek nod. "But now look at this mess! He's out there with no means of self-defence in a fucking battleground, Rouge! How careless can you get!?"

It was like a switch had been clicked. Rouge's usual flirty but well-meaning look turned malicious as she smirked and crossed her arms.

"And why would I even care?"

Shadow looked at the bat hard. What had gotten into her?

"…What?"

"I said, why would care about that little tearaway? Let him die for all I care. He's useless to all of us anyway."

"…You're in league with Knuckles, aren't you!?"

When he said that, the whole room was alerted. Before, conversation had blotted out their words but Shadow's loud voice had interrupted the buzz in the control room. Rouge's smirk grew.

"So what if I am?"

"The child is in danger, Rouge! How can you let this happen!?"

"Oh, come now. All I did was give him a little…incentive."

"What incentive?" Shadow's voice was slow and low with rage. Rouge's smirk turned downright evil.

"If he didn't leave…I would personally end his suffering. I've been terrorizing him since we began working together, hon. He doesn't belong here, we all know that!"

Shadow would have argued further but no more words came out his mouth. The woman standing in front of him wasn't the Rouge he had always known, not the Rouge who would taunt with him, flirt with him, work with him…not the sassy agent he had forever known. She had been replaced by this cruel and cold replica, eyes full of malice, smirk evil enough to rival that of Eggman…OK, that was a bit of a stretch. Without another word, he threw a punch, but Rouge dodged and screw-kicked him in the chest. Silver and Espio held her back, with her mouthing cuss word after cuss word while Gadget helped Shadow to his feet. The kick had left him winded and he felt he was going to be sick. The two males restraining Rouge escorted her down to solitary confinement while Amy, face white, was activating cameras scattered all over the globe. All 3 monitors were needed. They had at least a few hundred cameras over the globe. Amy kept flicking from city to city, zone to zone, country to country, just in case Sonic's runner extended past Northamer. Nothing came up.

"The kid could be anywhere." Ace groaned, tapping his fingers on his arm as he watched empty cameras flick up and off screen. Eventually, Amy stopped and brought one camera into view. They saw a fast blue blur blast by. A second he was there, a second he was gone.

"Last seen sighting…City Centre, 12 minutes ago."

"Good. He's still in the provinces of the city. We'll need to split up. Gadget, Ace and Fuchsia, you form one team. Chaotix, you another. Omega and Silver, with me. Tails, Blaze and Amy, you form team 4. Cream, you stay here. I know you're not the best with tech, but we need you manning cameras. See a blur? Contact us, got it?"

"You got it, Mr. Shadow!" A blue chao next to Cream, who she lovingly dubbed Cheese, smiled as all four search teams filed out of the base and split into northern, southern, eastern and western teams.

The sooner they find Sonic, the better.

XO

Pain was arching from his hip from his right leg and eventually, he had to cease running, leaning against a destroyed building as he struggled to breathe. He hadn't run like that since…

…since…

He guessed it must have been when he was the hedgehog before. Whatever his name was. Whatever he was like. Sometimes, he could almost feel that past soul: so normal and full of zest. Smart, confident, cocky, energetic. That sort of energy flowed through him from time to time despite his memories of his past still being mostly blank. His chest badly ached as he softly gasped. His breathing was deep and rapid, which fuelled his panic. Why had he run off like that?

What was he? Stupid?

"You don't belong here, Blue."

He cringed as his brain forced him to listen to that white bat's menacing tone all over again.

"No-one wants you here. You're useless."

Maybe he was. What use was he in fighting? In supporting a cause to defeat that man in red. What was his name? Mr Egg or something?

"You're a burden to everyone."

He had wasted everyone's time. He remembered the shaking of heads, the tutting of tongues, the wary looks, the cold glares, the loveless attitudes. He didn't belong there, short and simple.

"Leave…and don't come back. If I see you again, I'll kill you."

He didn't know what this emotion was, but it felt crushing. Broken and numb tears trickled down his cheeks, splashing onto the dirt beneath his feet. What was…this feeling? The desire to die? The want to disappear? A harsh shiver went down his spine. He felt like a knife had gone through his heart. His legs crumpled as he slumped onto the ground, every breath a challenge. His eyes caught something. A figure watching him. He looked like him, only metal. Red glitchy eyes watched him both silently and emotionlessly, examining him. Eventually, the machine hovered down to the ground, its clawed hands outstretched. What was it doing? He eventually realized the robot wanted to help him up to his feet. He tentatively took the hand and the robot effortlessly pulled him back up to a standing position. A red light flowed up and down him then like a scanner.

"Scanning Lifeform…" The machine buzzed, its voice deep and robotic. "Project: Chaos detected."

Sonic knew that name. The man in red referred him to that. So this metallic copy of him knew who he was?

"…You know me?"

"Affirmative." Came the reply. "Master wishes to see you."

Master? Did he mean the man in red?

"…Man in red?" The robot made a deep buzzing noise.

"Negative."

"That's enough, Metal." Came another voice behind the robot. Behind him was a dark-furred jackal in a metallic mask: Infinite. "Go back to your station. I shall handle this."

"Affirmative." Metal flew off using the rockets in its shoes. Infinite eyed the child carefully. His usual calm and serious manner was replaced by unusual concern when Sonic cowered at the sight of him. The mask made the being seem like some demon. Infinite considered his options. The child was precious. Yet, to see him in this sort of emotional state, he was surprised his powers hadn't kicked in. Sighing, he removed his mask.

"Does this make me less scary?" He asked. Sonic slowly nodded. Infinite was surprised at this. His face was so unsightly, so…so worthless…and yet the boy wasn't the least bit turned off. He gently approached the blue hedgehog. "What are you doing out here alone, child?"

"…No home."

"I thought Shadow saved you." Infinite recalled. "Don't tell me they chucked you out." He got a slow nod as a broken wail emerged from the hedgehog's throat, making Infinite cringe. The sound seriously unnerved him. A few seconds passed as Infinite mentally thought of a plan. He could just take Sonic back to Eggman, but he doubted they would get anywhere, seeing as the secrets of Null Space were otherwise still guarded. He could try at least. Maybe the naïve child would relent the secrets? "I'll make you a deal."

"…Deal?"

"A choice, then, if that makes more sense. If you tell me what you know on Null Space, I'll take you somewhere happy and safe."

Sonic's normal innocent look dissipated instantly, being replaced by an extremely dark glare, one that instantly interested Infinite. A single snarled word came as a reply.

"No."

Infinite laughed.

"Well, so you do have a bit of fight in you. Why not? Why can't you tell me?"

"Secret." Sonic's palms glowed black and Infinite knew he had just triggered his Third Eye.

That was bad news.

A black ring of energy formed at Sonic's feet as the wind picked up. A tornado spouted from the ground, its velocity almost blowing the jackal off his feet, though he daren't hover, as the wind wouldn't hesitate to rip him apart. The ground trembled. Almost as if his child persona had dropped, Sonic's next words were spoken in perfect English and spoken in a dark tone that rivaled that of Infinite himself. "Face the wrath of the Guardian of Null Space, fool."

Infinite didn't know how to react. Most of him wanted to knock some sense into this "Guardian". So that is why he didn't give up the secret. He had shown signs of knowing the secrets of the pocket dimension but this…he really was one. He really was a Hybrid Child. However, somewhere in his brain, a sub-conscious was freezing his feet to the ground. He was unable to move, let alone speak. He tried to, but no words came out of his mouth.

On the other side of the city, Shadow, Silver and Omega, alongside all the other teams, had also spotted the massive tornado whirling on the horizon.

"What IS that!?" Silver trembled. Omega buzzed then.

"Detecting unknown energy source. Power level…" There was crackling. "Error. Power overload."

Shadow gritted his teeth. He knew exactly what that power was.

"Sonic."

Silver and Omega looked at him.

"…Are you seriously saying a kid like him has that amount of power?" Silver gaped, not convinced. He tapped his receiver. "Cream, can you direct cameras to that tornado and get some recon?"

"Give me a few minutes then, Mr. Silver!" Came a chirpy reply. "OK! Rerouting cameras now."

"Still sounds strange to hear a 7 year old kid say that." Silver mouthed, getting a shrug.

"Oh, hey you guys!" Fuchsia, Ace and Gadget had appeared behind their team-mates alongside the rest of the Resistance.

"OK. Getting info now." Cream reported, switching between several cameras. Thanks to the high winds, the pictures were a bit fuzzy but she recognised one of the figures she was seeing. "It's that mask guy!"

"Infinite? What is HE doing there?" Shadow growled. Amy smacked her lips.

"And Sonic?"

"Hang on…" She tried twisting the camera. "Yeah, I see Mr. Sonic too!"

"I swear if that bastard has done anything…!"

"Chill, stripes." Ace scoffed. "There are 12 of us and 1 of him. I think he's a little outnumbered."

"Ace is right. We have numbers on our side!" Vector cracked his knuckles. "Besides, I fancy on punching that idiot straight into next week!"

"Alright, let's go but remember to keep a low profile." Blaze directed, getting 11 nods in return. As the gang carefully approached the scene, the tornado by this point was massive, about the size of a mountain. Not only that, it was created a LOT of damage. Shadow could see Infinite hiding behind a rock for cover, growling to himself.

"Hope you're proud of yourself. What have you done with Sonic!?" Shadow growled, getting up in the jackal's face. While unnerved to see his tormentor once again right in front of him, he had larger problems than the Ultimate Lifeform at the moment. Yet, the name was unfamiliar.

"Who?"

"I think you know him as Project: Chaos?"

"Oh, that little blue hedgehog child." Now clarified, Infinite stood, only to get battered by the high wind that almost muted his voice. "I didn't cause this, by the way. I only asked one simple question."

"And that is?"

"I wanted to know what Null Space was."

Tails' ears perked at this.

"Null Space? As in…the mysterious twilight realm? The pocket dimension submerged in perpetual night?"

"Someone has done their homework. Whattya want, kid? A medal?"

"Stop with the sarcasm. Is he right or not?" Espio asked, pulling out a throwing star. Infinite rolled his eyes.

"Yes, but that is about all most people know. However, HE knows more than he lets on. He's a Hybrid Child or a Guardian of Null Space. Probably the last one alive."

"…Why does that matter? You were the ones who erased his memories!"

"Not the ones on Null Space. That is why the Doctor kidnapped him in the first place, but the child was extremely stubborn, so he had to…improvise."

"So he changed the boy's DNA and made him a living weapon…but he still didn't give up the information so you tried to terminate him." Shadow deducted. Infinite chuckled.

"Give this rodent a prize."

"You're sick."

"You're cruel."

"Whatever, you one-eyed scum!"

"So what, you red-striped fool!?"

"Um…guys…?" Tails asked. "I know we're enemies and all…but I think we have a common problem." He gestured to the still-blowing tornado that had only grown twice its size in the space of the argument. Infinite and Shadow looked at it and then each other.

"Put allegiances aside and deal with the tornado?" Shadow offered.

"Deal." Came the reply. Infinite swallowed his pride before saying his next line. "Alright…"team"…what's the plan?"

"Well…by the best that I can tell…these powers aren't normal energy. Any ideas, jackal?"

"I have a name, you two-tailed freak."

"Hey!"

"Never mind that. What are these powers?" Amy interjected while Charmy helped Tails cheer up.

"Sonic's Third Eye."

"…His what?" Everyone but Omega and Infinite gawked.

"Third Eye: the ability to see past, present and future simultaneously." Omega explained. Infinite nodded.

"Correct, robot. Once activated, he gets powers directly from Null Space itself in the shape of kurokinesis."

"Never heard of it." Silver grumbled.

"Guys, can we hurry this up? We're running out of time here!" Fuchsia screamed.

"OK, I've mapped out a plan, so you all better listen. I want Shadow and Infinite to enter the tornado from the top. The rest of us will distract Sonic's attention. With luck, he might calm down if he sees us. Once you two get into the tornado, calm Sonic down and, if needs be, fight him but do NOT hurt him too badly." Tails explained.

"You really think I would?"

"I wasn't referring to you." The entire group glared at Infinite.

"Why would I kill him? He's no use to the Doctor dead, you know."

"God, your ego's huge."

"Yours is bigger."

"Can you stop arguing? We have a tornado to destroy!" Blaze urged. Sighing, both Shadow and Infinite began making their way to the tornado. After buildings ran out, Infinite groaned as he used his Phantom Ruby to help Shadow fly.

"I have to admit, that gemstone of yours comes in handy." Shadow begrudgingly complimented.

"It has a name: the Phantom Ruby. Oh, or did you already know that? I'm actually surprised you haven't recognized me yet."

"Recognized you? I know your form is familiar but I'm lost as to where."

"3 months ago? Mystic Jungle? You punched my face in?"

"Wait, YOU'RE the jackal leader of that mercenary group?"

"Oh, so you DO remember."

Shadow was stunned. Memories flooded back. If he took away the mask, he could imagine Infinite's face: white muzzle, one blue eye, one amber eye and a malicious smirk. He didn't get time to ask as they entered the tornado. By sticking to the centre, they didn't get mixed in with the sharp wind. Landing, they noticed a black light in the centre of the chaos: a dark hedgehog with moon markings on his palms. His eyes shone amber: ears and muzzle tufted and he had claws and fangs. His eyes swivelled to see Shadow but no recognition filtered into them. He then saw Infinite, angering him.

"You don't give up, do you, you fool!?" Shadow almost got taken aback. What happened to the broken English? His cowardly persona? The child himself? This wasn't him. This was some other entity. "I'll never give up what I know on my brethren's homeland!"

"That is not why we're here." Shadow interrupted, stopping Infinite from lunging by grabbing his tail and pulling him back, despite the ranting he was getting. He silenced him with his signature death stare, which made him pull back and pout in a mood. "We need this to stop, Sonic."

"…Stop?"

Shadow recognised the child's meek voice. It had returned alongside his green eyes. The wind dropped slightly.

"Yes, this needs to stop. This isn't you, Sonic. You need to calm down." He tried approaching the hedgehog but, in a fit of panic, Sonic fired three black shots of lightning at Shadow at which he barely dodged.

"S-Stay away…!"

"I'm not going to hurt you, Sonic. You're not in any danger." But Sonic wasn't in a listening mood as he squealed and shot more bolts at his friend, as well as running away whenever Shadow tried to get close.

What's wrong with him? Why is he attacking me?

The answer came to him.

First, Knuckles tries to kill him…then Rouge threatens him…he doesn't trust me anymore. He thinks everyone is bad.

"Listen to me, Sonic. I'm sorry for what Rouge said to you, OK? What she said was out of order and not true. I don't know what she said specifically, but whatever it was it's not true. You have to believe me." More shots, but many more than before. He noticed Sonic's eyes had gone back to the cold topaz. Shadow bit his lip. There were two distinct personalities here: green eyes indicated the Sonic he had already become familiar with, cowardice and all, while amber eyes demonstrated his new persona: merciless and full of rage, heart as black as the deepest and darkest of abysses. The "adult" Sonic, as it were.

"You don't want to know what she said to me." Came a snarl, but his mask dropped. He looked at the ground, tears starting to drip from his eyes that suddenly merged: one amber, one green. "…You ever get that feeling? That everyone wants you dead?"

Shadow felt horror grip his heart. He knew what Sonic was alluding to.

"You…y-you don't mean you wanted to…!?"

"…I still don't know what I want. She told me the truth. The straight-up cold truth about how useless I am, what a burden I am…what a coward I am…she told me to leave or she'd kill me…I didn't want to stay there anymore…I was so scared, Shadow…s-so scared…"

Shadow didn't know how to react. When Sonic broke down into tears, however, Shadow knew what he had to do. He gently approached him and brought him into a warm embrace, gently sending a small shushing noise into Sonic's bent ears. Infinite flinched at the sentimental scene. It sickened him. He had stayed back to bide his time. This child was a liability. Important as he was, he was too powerful to handle. Of course, he could let him wipe out the Resistance for him…but where was the fun in that? He could get rid of the entire Resistance right here and now. He had the perfect opportunity! As he silently began charging an attack, he fired the laser straight at the two hedgehogs. What he expected, of course, was the reflective barrier and the sudden rebound, but he kept the heat on the orb that Eggman had implanted in the boy's chest. Shadow had noticed the attack and snarled at Infinite.

"What are you doing!?"

"What I was tasked to do from my employment with the good Doctor. I'm getting rid of his enemies: namely the Resistance! What luck that they're all in one place!" He increased the power of the beam. It was clear it was taking a lot of power for Sonic to protect the two, evident by the fact he was struggling to stay upright and that the barrier was beginning to crack like breaking glass. He painfully looked at Shadow. Something new was in his eyes. A loving and caring look. He then jumped as he realized Sonic had leant in and had kissed him on the lips before kicking him aside, just as the barrier shattered. Shadow landed on his back, now blinded by the magenta light radiating from the beam that remained in his line of vision for several seconds. He found himself unable to speak for several seconds until one frenzied word came out of his mouth in a panicked scream, a scream that easily overpowered Infinite's triumphant and villainous laugh.

"SONIC!"