Skilled in every form of combat, knowledgeable of all computer programing, vigilant of every detail, deadly to all enemies; Project: Shadow. The Ultimate Lifeform. Or, as he is most commonly known, Shadow the Hedgehog.

On a mansion's balcony, leaning against the doorframe, the black hedgehog stared out across a garden that appeared to spread out before him as far as the eye could see. His arms were folded across his chest and a frown was plastered on his face. It was clear he was deep in thought about something.

Closing his eyes, Shadow let out a sigh before lowering his arms from his chest and walking over to the balcony edge. Folding his arms on top of the railing now, he finally seemed to truly be taking in the view, but he still appeared quizzical as his eyes scanned over the gardens. He didn't seem to find anything interesting, because after only a short amount of time, he returned to his musings, looking down to the ground below him.

"Ah, there you are." The voice came from behind. Shadow closed his eyes in irritation, the voice having rattled his thoughts. "I've been looking all over for you. This place is huge."

Shadow turned around partially, leaving one of his arms resting on the railing, to look to the open doorway. It was his coworker from G.U.N., Rouge. She stepped out of the doorway and onto the balcony in front of Shadow, her bat wings brushing against the drapes of the window and causing them to sway slightly. Her white fur almost seemed to radiate the rays of the sun, causing Shadow to squint slightly.

Walking up to stand next to Shadow, Rouge looked out over the gardens. "It's magnificent really. I wish I could live here all the time."

Becoming more irritated, Shadow turned his back to the gardens, leaning against the railing and facing a wall of the mansion. "Is there something you wanted to tell me? Or are you only here to admire the view?"

Rouge turned to Shadow with an almost amused look. "My, my. Grumpy are we?"

Shadow still faced the wall in front of him. "If the latter is the case, then I suggest you access a balcony from a different room." His tone had a menacing bite to it, obviously wanting to be left alone.

Raising her eyebrows, Rouge stepped away back towards the doorway. "Alright, if that's really the way you want it to be." She stopped just in front of the doors and turned to face him once more, "But, Shadow, it wouldn't kill you to lighten up, would it? After all, we are on vacation."

Shrugging, Shadow looked away from Rouge with a frown as she left his presence.

That night, the black hedgehog didn't feel like sleeping. Although he had been provided with the choice of any room in the house, all having nice big comfortable beds, he preferred to stay out on the same balcony, sitting on the railing and staring up at the moon as it hung over the gardens in an eerie glow.

There would be no rest for him until he was back at work with G.U.N. to complete any mission they threw his way. That was all he wanted. He didn't need vacation.

The next morning, Rouge was just about to head outside after eating a nice sized breakfast. As she was putting her dishes in the sink, Shadow silently entered the room behind her. Grabbing an apple from a fruit basket on the granite countertops, he bit into it as Rouge turned around. "Oh, hey, Shadow."

He nodded to her in acknowledgement, but said nothing.

"I wasn't sure if you'd already gotten up and had gone off somewhere or if you were still asleep." She wiped her hands off on a dish towel as she spoke.

Leaning his back against the counter shadow answered, "I didn't sleep."

"Oh? And why would that be?" She gave him a puzzled look, but her expression very quickly changed to look almost bothered. "You weren't thinking about that Maria again were you?"

Shadow instantly seemed to stiffened, a grimace appearing on his face once more. "I told you to never say that name, Rouge." His voice was nothing less than a growl.

"Hmm, guess that means I was right then." She smiled now, almost seemingly singing her words. But then her face became serious once more. "That was so long ago, Shadow. You don't need to keep-"

"That's not it." He now looked directly at her, cutting her off completely.

"W-what?" She blinked, "Then what is it? Obviously there's something bothering you."

Shadow let out a sigh and looked away from her, "It's nothing." He stood up straight and proceeded to leave the room.

"Wait!" Rouge grabbed Shadow by the shoulder. "Some of the others are going to be coming over today. Just thought you'd want to know."

Glancing over his shoulder at Rouge, Shadow answered plainly, "In that case… I'll be gone all day." And with that, he shrugged her hand off his shoulder and walked out of the room.

Rouge watched as he left, frowning to herself. She was sure there was something bothering him. He just didn't want to share it, as always.

About two hours later, a sun bathing Rouge could hear a helicopter approaching. Sitting up on a lounge chair by a shimmering blue pool, she raised her sunglasses and looked into the distance. Sure enough, there was a chopper hovering towards her and the mansion.

Placing her sunglasses back over her eyes, Rouge stood up and began to walk towards a large grassy field near the pool where she knew the chopper would most likely land. She stood off to the side as the helicopter neared the ground and eventually landed.

Once the engine was cut and the blades began to slow, Rouge approached, seeing that a small two tailed yellow fox, Tails, was the pilot. The door on the side of the chopper suddenly slid open just before a blue blur whizzed out and past her. Rouge whirled around in an attempt to see where what she knew was Sonic the Hedgehog went, but he was long gone. She turned back around to see who else had come.

"Man is it cramped in here. Oh hi, Rouge!" A light gray and white hedgehog with peculiar glowing rings around his wrists hoped out onto the grass.

"Silver," Rouge nodded to him with a smile.

Behind Silver came out a purple and pink colored cat, an apprehensive expression on her face. "Blaze." Rouge also nodded and smiled to her.

"Hello, Rouge. How are you?" The cat smiled as well, but it seemed somewhat forced.

"I'm fine. But Shadow seems to be acting as anti-social as ever." She laughed to herself. "I don't think he'll be joining us at all today."

"Sonic?" The high-pitched voice came from behind Silver and Blaze. "Sonic! Where'd you go? Did anyone see him?" It was Amy, the pink hedgehog. She jumped out of the helicopter and pushed past Silver and Blaze. She then cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted into the distance, "SOOOOOONIC!"

Rouge gave her a weird look before turning back to the others. She leaned forward to look into the chopper. "I could have sworn I saw Tails in there. Wasn't he flying?"

Silver nodded, "Yeah, he was. He isn't staying though. He has to go back and work on something."

"Ah, I see."

The door slid shut behind Rouge and the blades of the helicopter began to spin above them. The bat almost had to yell to the others for them to hear her over the rising sound, "How about we all go get some lunch?"

Back inside the mansion's kitchen, it was just Rouge, Silver, and Blaze. Amy had wandered off somewhere into the gardens in search of Sonic.

Rouge was getting out some food while Silver snacked on crackers, sitting at the counter on a barstool. "Are you sure she's not going to get lost out there?" Silver sounded concerned as he directed his question to Rouge.

She answered, seemingly completely indifferent, "Nah, she'll be fine. And even if she somehow does get lost, we can always send Shadow or Sonic in after her." She smiled, amused by the idea.

"I thought you said Shadow wasn't here?" Blaze questioned rather than stated.

Rouge handed her a bag of chips from the pantry as she replied, "Oh, he's here. Somewhere." She shrugged. "He's just not going to show his face."

"Oh." Silver looked confused as he popped a Goldfish cracker into his mouth. "Why is that?"

"How would I know," the bat shook her head. "I'm pretty sure something's bugging him. But like always, he won't share what that is."

"Hmm…" Blaze looked down in thought as she set the chips out in a bowl.

Silver took a handful of Goldfish while he stood up from the counter. "Well, I'm going to go look for Amy. I'd rather not let her get lost out there."

Blaze nodded and Rouge watched as Silver left the room. There was then an almost awkward silence between the cat and the bat as Rouge turned to take out some salsa from the refrigerator. As she dumped the contents of the jar into a bowl, Blaze finally spoke up, "So, Rouge. Why do you keep trying?"

Rouge looked up, "Huh?" She had to pause for a minute to understand what Blaze was talking about. "Oh. Back to that conversation?" She turned away, heading towards the pantry to get something else out.

"Don't just dismiss the topic Rouge. He's a jerk. Why keep trying?" Blaze's arms where now crossed, her tone harsh and critical. "I wouldn't let somebody treat me the way he treats you. Like dirt."

Rouge stopped where she was and looked to the ground. In a quiet voice, she answered, "You don't know Shadow… He's a complicated guy."

Letting out a sigh, Blaze lowered her arms and walked over to Rouge's side. "I don't understand what you see in him. Rouge, I'm worried for you." She touched the bat's arm lightly, concern showing in her eyes. "You keep trying to help him open up… But what has he ever done to help you? Nothing. Am I right?"

Finally, Rouge looked back up to meet Blaze's eyes, her passive attitude no longer showing at all, "No. You're very wrong, Blaze. I'll never forget what he did for me…" She paused, but did not take her eyes off of Blaze's. "Shadow saved my life."

Closing her eyes momentarily, Rouge remembered the day Shadow saved her from that bomb on Prison Island. She remembered how helpless she had felt and how she was sure it would be the end, the seconds counting down before her eyes. And then how absolutely relieved she was when shadow had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to take her to safety.

The cat blinked, "O-oh…" She took a step away from Rouge, looking away, obviously feeling slightly ashamed at all she had said up to this point.

Rouge nodded, opening her eyes again, "So, you see? He's a complicated guy, just like I said. It might not seem like it, but he does care." She smiled slightly.

"Amy!" Calling out for the pink hedgehog, Silver had wandered farther into the gardens than he had originally planned. He let out a sigh as there was no response yet again and began to walk along the edge of a large clear watered pond. Koi fish could be seen close to the surface every now and then, feeding on insects and other microscopic snacks.

Leaving the pond behind, the hedgehog made his way through some thicker foliage a ways until he found himself in a clearing. Looking left and right, he wondered if Amy was around here somewhere. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he tried yelling out once more, "Amy!" He paused and waited hopefully for a response, but none came.

Letting out another sigh, he began to trek across the clearing. His feet were starting to hurt and he had unfortunately run out of Goldfish, but he was thankful most of the ground around him was relatively flat. Once he reached the other edge of the clearing, he saw a very welcoming willow tree with a nice sized stone underneath its weeping branches and leaves, seemingly calling him to come and sit down.

Silver let out yet another sigh, but this time in relief. He made his way, rather quickly now, over to the tree's trunk. He happily hopped onto the rock and looked out beyond the branches over the clearing he had crossed. Raising his eyebrows, Silver realized he couldn't even see the mansion from where he currently was and wondered if he would even be able to find his way back.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but relax at the sight of the scenery around him. It was nearly twilight, and the sun gave everything around him a beautiful golden glow. His worries of finding his way faded as he leaned back on the rock to lie down and enjoy the way the light filtered through the willow's branches.

However, the moment he did, he suddenly didn't feel relaxed at all as he saw two red colored eyes staring back at him. Silver jumped to his feet and just about fell over as he looked back up into the branches of the tree. "Sh-Shadow!" He sounded as if he didn't know whether he should be angry or surprised by the dark colored hedgehog's sudden appearance.

Shadow's red markings now also seemed to glow a golden color in the sun's fading light as he looked down upon the other hedgehog from his perch. He blinked and then dropped down from the tree's branches to stand in front of the startled Silver, causing the younger hedgehog to almost fall over in surprise once again. He nodded to the other hedgehog, "Silver."

Taking in a deep breath, Silver seemed to have calmed down for the most part. "It's… good to see you. Rouge said you weren't around."

Shadow merely shrugged in response.

"Well, I'm out here to look for Amy. Have you seen her?"

Rolling his eyes at the mention of Amy, Shadow shook his head. "No, I haven't."

"Ah, ok…" Silver looked up and around, obviously feeling awkward now. "Do you want to help me look for her?"

Shadow continued to look straight at Silver, his face not showing any real expression, "I don't have much of an interest in hide and go seek."

"Oh…" Silver gulped. "It's actually not really a game… She came out here right away, looking for Sonic and—"

"Sonic?" Now there seemed to be some interest in his tone.

"Y-yeah, Sonic." The younger hedgehog seemed unsure of what he should say now. "I'm pretty sure he came out here to get away from her… You know how she is."

"Unfortunately, I do…" Shadow frowned and finally took his gaze off of Silver, crossing his arms and turning away.

"Well… It's about to get dark, so…"

"Fine." Shadow turned his head to look back at Silver.

"Huh?"

"I'll help." He uncrossed his arms and looked up towards where the sun was slowly disappearing on the horizon.

"Really?" Silver looked truly surprised and grateful at the same time. He was amazed that he was somehow able to change Shadow's mind so quickly.

"Yes. But only because I know I would have to find both you and that obnoxious girl later if I didn't help now."

Silver nodded bashfully, knowing that unfortunately the black hedgehog was right.

"Let's get going then." Shadow turned, ready to head off in search of Amy, but just as he was about to take a step forward, an ear splitting scream could be heard from behind.

Both Shadow and Silver whirled around to face the direction the scream had come from. Shadow's eyes flicked to Silver, wondering what his take was on the noise. He didn't have to wait long before the light colored hedgehog turned to him with a horrified expression on his face, "That sounded like Amy!"

Not wasting another moment, Shadow launched himself forward past Silver who shouted after him, "But I just came from that direction!" There was a short pause before he added, "W-wait for me!"

But Shadow wasn't about to wait for him. He was much faster than the younger hedgehog, his speed easily rivaling Sonic's. His hovering shoes gave him the appearance of rollerblading or ice-skating along the ground at an incredible pace. It only took him seconds to reach Amy.

Taking a few moments, Shadow took in the scene before him. It was a pond. The same one Silver had passed by just a short time ago. But now the koi fish didn't appear as they had earlier. They had been scared away to the depths of the pond by the thrashing pink hedgehog that was now at the surface of the water.

It seemed to Shadow that she had climbed out onto a fallen tree that reached out over the water, possibly to look at the fish, and had somehow managed to fall in.

Water. A hedgehog's worst nightmare. Shadow couldn't swim either, so he actually hesitated momentarily. "H-help!" Amy's gurgled screams quickly brought him back into action.

Shadow could hear Silver crashing through the bushes behind him as he began to run towards the water once again. Jumping up onto the fallen tree, the black hedgehog hover bladed all the way to the end of the trunk. Without pausing for a second, he leaped straight off of the tree to fly over the water to where Amy now was.

The pink hedgehog had stopped thrashing and was now sinking into the water. Her head had submerged and her hand was all that could be seen, slowly being swallowed by the water along with the rest of her body.

The black hedgehog was plummeting from the air, right towards the disappearing hand. As he was nearing his collision, Shadow bellowed out for the lighter hedgehog who now stood on shore watching in wonder, "SILVER!"

It wasn't a cry for help. It was a demand. And Silver new exactly what the older hedgehog wanted. Lifting up his hands that had now begun to glow a peculiar turquoise color, the younger hedgehog initiated his telekinetic ability.

Only a foot away from falling to his demise, Shadow stretched out his hand and grabbed the now nearly submerged one below him. And just as he did, he stopped falling, held in the air seemingly by a string. Shadow's whole body was now glowing the same turquoise color that Silver's hands were. He closed his eyes in relief as the lighter hedgehog used his ability to pull him and Amy up, out, and away from the water to the safety of the shore.

Silver watched worriedly as Shadow skillfully performed CPR on the unconscious pink hedgehog. It didn't take long before Amy was coughing up water and then, soon after, breathing almost normally again.

Reaching out a hand, Silver helped Amy stand up on the sandy shore of the pond as Shadow stepped back and out of the way. She had a bit of a dazed look as she asked no one in particular, "What happened…?" She brought a hand to her head as if she had a headache. "One second I was looking at the fish… and then…"

Shadow finished her thought for her, "You fell in."

Silver nodded, and patted Amy on the back, "You'll be alright though." He looked at Shadow in admiration. "Shadow saved you, so you're alright."

Frowning, Shadow turned away, not wanting the amount of credit he was suddenly being given.

Amy looked over to Shadow with wide eyes, obviously surprised, possibly not having even noticed him. "You did?" She then gave him a wide smile. "Thanks so much Shadow!"

Shadow looked to her momentarily and then looked away again, obviously uncomfortable with the attention, not saying anything.

After quite a long walk, Shadow managed to lead Silver and Amy back to the mansion. It was now dark, and Shadow sat outside by the pool Rouge had been at earlier that day. He stared into the water. The water that although dangerous, had such a peaceful appearance.

Silver came up behind him and sat down in a chair next to him. He also stared into the pool's water. "Hey, Shadow."

The dark hedgehog glanced over to Silver before looking back to the pool. "You're still here?"

"Yeah."

"Hm."

There was a long silence. A silence that lasted over a minute. But then suddenly Silver let out his thoughts, "You risked your life today… You risked your life for someone you don't even like…"

Shadow didn't answer, still staring at the flowing blue water in silence.

Silver took in a deep breath and continued, "And you didn't even know if I would help, or if I would react quickly enough to help." He turned to look at the older hedgehog.

Still not looking to Silver, Shadow responded now, "Yes I did."

Taking a few moments before answering, Silver wondered aloud, "So…Basically… You trust me?"

Now Shadow turned to look at the younger hedgehog. There was another long silence before he answered, "Yes, I suppose I do." He then looked away again as if he hated to admit it.

Silver smiled slightly, happy. "Well that's good." He leaned back to look up to the stars now. "But Shadow… You hate Amy. And you really could have drowned too if I hadn't been able to do anything."

Shadow looked down to the ground, not seeming to want to add any comment.

"He's a complicated guy." The voice came from behind the two hedgehogs. Silver turned around, but Shadow still looked forward. He recognized the voice. Rouge and Blaze were walking up the steps towards them and the pool. It was Rouge that had spoken, but Blaze had an understanding smile on her face. Silver only looked to the two of them confused.

Nobody would have known, but a small smile appeared momentarily on Shadow's face as well.

Phew! That was a loooot longer than the prologue part! This is probably about how long chapters will be from now on. Well I hope everyone's liking it so far! Please review! :D