Pt 2

Homecoming

Bask on the ground, the other stood waiting for Shadow to return with Sonic in hand, but it was taking longer than they expected it would.

Amy put her hands together, entwining her fingers as she swayed from side to side with a large smile on her face "Ooh! I can't believe he's finally back! I bet he missed me"

Rouge raised an eyebrow to her "Really?"

Amy stops swaying and glances over at her smugly "Of course. I am his girlfriend after all"

Rouge shook her head and shrugged "What you are is delusional"

Amy's once radiant smile twisted into a sharp frown "What was that?"

Rouge turned away to hide her smile "Oh nothing" Amy continued to stare at her suspiciously.

Melony continued to stare up into the dark sky "What's he doing? I can't see him anymore"

Knuckles closed his eyes and crossed his arms "It's his own fault. Flying off like that when he's clearly not feeling well"

Amy summoned her piko hammer back from wherever she puts it when not being used and raised it onto her shoulder "Knuckles!"

Knuckles eyes shot open and he quickly turned to face her with a scared expression on his face "Of course I'm sure he's okay! After all, we are talking about Shadow!" Amy continued to glare at him.

Tails broke the tension with a quick yell and point of his finger "Look!" the others looked up into the sky and saw that Sonic was still falling from the sky rather quickly.

Amy's expression changed once again, fear emitting from her eyes, she dropped her hammer and held both hands to her mouth "Oh no, Sonic!"

Rouge looked around the sky confused "Where the heck is Shadow?!"

Knuckles started running "That idiot! Let's go Tails"

"Uh, right" Tails responded before following. After a little running, he began to glide across the ground as his tails propelled him forward.

Knuckles watched Sonic closely as they ran "Crud! We're not going to make it in time"

Tails stayed close behind his red companion, looking around confused "I don't get it, where did Shadow goO?!"

Knuckles startled him when he suddenly grabbed his hand and threw him into the sky "I don't know, but right now we need to catch Sonic"

Once in the sky, Tails spun his tails so fast that they became a yellow blur and he began to fly off towards his fast descending friend. As he approached, a small shine below Sonic caught his eye. He stared at it carefully and as he moved closer, he saw that it was Shadow's ring band attached to what appeared to be his wrist. Tails couldn't really tell, since the black hedgehog practically blended in with the dark storm clouds around him.

"Okay" Tails said aloud as he shook off his shock and continued towards them. He took deep breathes as he grabbed Sonics leg and reached for Shadow's "I can do this". He managed to grab Shadow, but the little fox wasn't strong enough to hold both of them and began to fall. "Okay, that wasn't a good idea" he said to himself as he tried to slow down, but he was already passed his limits.

"Tails, drop him!" Knuckles yelled from bellow.

Tails sighed in relief and let go of Sonic so he could fly again. He couldn't let go of Shadow since there was no way that Knuckles would see him coming.

Knuckles took a few more long strides before catching Sonic. "Got you!" he said with a slight grin. He then looked back up into the dark sky at the yellow fox "I got him Tails!"

"Okay! I'm coming down!" Tails yelled back as he shifted Shadow around so his dark arm rested on Tails shoulders.

As they descended, an unnaturally thick streak of lightning struck just behind Tail.

"DEATH!" the thunder sounded.

Now scared out of his mind, Tails stopped his slow descent and began to fly back to the others as fast as he could. Halfway back the storm subsided.

Rouge looked up at the disappearing clouds "I have a feeling that this is the end of our vacation"

Amy waved her hand, her smile growing bigger with every passing second "What are you talking about? This is just the beginning. Now that we're all here, we can really have some fun" with that, she happily skipped towards Knuckles and Tails.

Rouge placed her hands on her hips and gave her an awkward look as she skipped away before shaking her head and throwing her hands up "I swear, she needs to see a psychiatrist about her bipolar attitude"

Cream smiled at her comment "Yeah, but then she wouldn't be Amy" Rouge smiled back amused while Melony stood by not quiet getting their humor.

Later, it was very dark, Sonic couldn't even see his hand an inch in front of his face, but he continued to wonder aimlessly. After what seemed like an eternity, he stopped, crossed his arms and tapped his foot in irritation as he looked around trying to figure out what to do.

"Where am I anyway?" he thought to himself.

"Oh look, the big hero doesn't know what to do" an ominous voice said, its words ringing throughout the vast empty space.

Sonic's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly resumed his original gaze, replacing his annoyed frown with a slight smirk "Okay all knowing voice. Care to tell me where and why I'm here?"

"The great hero Sonic the Hedgehog, despised by so many. It would be so easy to just kill you, far too easy. No, you are here to suffer" the voice echoed violently, causing the ground beneath Sonic to crumble away.

Sonic reached out and grabbed the edge of the hole before looking down into the fiery pit. The flames grew larger and wilder with every second and they had a strange purple and black glow to them.

"Yes, suffer! Fall into darkness and fill me with your cries of pain!" the voice laughed maliciously.

The edge Sonic was holding crumbled away and he began to fall into the pit. He screamed, reaching out for anything, but there was nothing around to support him. He closed his eyes and continued grasping at the air when his hand snagged something. He held on with all his strength and pulled up, forcing his eyes open. He looked around confused at the room he was in. His eyes stopped when he noticed Rouge, Cream staring at him.

"…Guys? What…where….why can't I…" Sonic blurted out incoherently. He looked down and saw Amy lying on him, her hand trapped in his vice grip "Amy?".

He let go and watched as she slowly rose to her feet, rubbing her face.

Amy continued to rub her face but split her fingers so she could get a good look at him "Ow, I didn't expect tha…"

Sonic didn't wait for her to finish her sentence and pulled her into a hug "Amy!"

They stayed like that for a moment, leaving everyone else in the room surprised. Sonic hadn't actually realized what he had done until he felt her arms around his waist.

Just as quickly as it had happened, Sonic pulled away and nearly fell off the bed in an attempt to get away "Gah, Amy!"

She was surprised by his quick release, but quickly put on an angry frown as she placed her hands on her hips "What's that supposed to mean?!" Rouge and Cream chuckled while Melody just stood there seeming to have missed the joke again.

Sonic held his hands in front of him as a makeshift defense "I-I mean, it's great to see you again" he looked over at his chuckling friends and his eyes locked on someone he didn't recognize. "Uh, hi" he waved at Melody and she shyly waved back.

Amy's mood changed once again "Oh that's right, you haven't met her" in an instant she was behind Melody and gesturing to her as if she was something at an auction "Sonic, this is Melody. She's spending the week with us"

Sonic's eyes widened in surprise "Melody? The princess?"

Cream smiled, she strangely enjoyed his shocked expression "That's the one"

It went silent for a moment before Sonic shook away his surprise and looked back at the girls "Wow, how long have I been gone" he didn't get a response, just an assortment of grins that confused him. "Well, whatever. It's great to see you guys again and it's nice to meet you Melody"

"Likewise" she mumbled back just barely audible.

"I'll assume he's awake since it's so noisy in here" Knuckles said as he walked into the room with Tails close behind. He stopped when he saw Sonic sitting up on the bed "Yup"

Within seconds, Sonic was out of the bed and patting Knuckles on the shoulder with a large grin on his face "Hey buddy, it's been a while! How you been?!"

Knuckles grinned back "I see you haven't slowed down a bit. Your mouth is still just as fast as your feet" Sonic ignored the insult, he's just happy to see Knuckles after putting up with Gawain.

Tails moved quickly from behind Knuckles to give Sonic a bear hug, or at least it would've been if he was stronger "Sonic!"

Sonic patted his younger friend on the top of his head as he waited for him to let go "Nice to see you to Tails"

After a moment, Tails let go and looked up at Sonic a little angry "Where were you? Do you have any idea how long you've been gone?!"

Sonic could only smile at his sudden seriousness "Heh, not really" he figured that it had only been a couple of weeks, but his friends were acting as if a year or two might have passed. Sonic doubted this since they didn't seem to be any older than before he left. Maybe a couple of months.

At that moment, Shadow walked in, but as soon as he saw that Sonic was up, he about faced and started walking away. "Hmph, no wonder it's so loud"

Sonic quickly zoomed past the others and stopped just in front of Shadow with their faces just inches apart "It's nice to see you two Shads"

Shadow grunted as he walked passed his blue counterpart "Who said I was happy to see you?"

Normally, this kind of response would've deterred Sonic from continuing, but not today. His usual grin shone unusually bright today, he had some sort of plan up his sleeve.

Sonic quickly grabbed Shadow from behind and put him in a head lock as he commenced with a noogie "Oh come on Shads, you know you're happy to see me" he rubbed harder until he could feel the thin layer of skin under his thick center quill.

Shadow grabbed the arm around his neck but couldn't to pull it away. Once he felt Sonics hand brush against his skin, he reached up grabbed the hand and pulled Sonic over him "Cut that out!" despite his wishes, Sonic landed on his feet.

Shadow took a few hushed breaths, he still wasn't in any shape to do any fighting. After a moment, he felt confident that he had regained his composure and pointed an accusing finger "You're gone for 3 months and this is how you act on your first day back?"

"So it's been months" he said to himself, happy to finally know. Despite his knew found knowledge, Sonic started to frown. Shadow was ruining his little scheme, but his remark gave him an idea. He placed his hands on his hips, leaned forward and puffed out his lips "Aw, what's the matter Shads, am I going too fast for you?"

Shadow's finger dropped and he raised an eyebrow to Sonic's strange posture and remark "What?"

Sonic continued his little act, holding his hands out in front of him, his lips curved back into his trademark grin "Would poor Shadow like a hug instead"

The gesture alone infuriated Shadow and as soon as the words came out, he found that he wasn't as composed as he thought. Without warning, he rushed at Sonic and threw a punch.

"Gotcha" Sonic thought to himself as he effortlessly dodged Shadows brash attack. He then grabbed hold of Shadow's back and used it to repel himself over "You'll have to do better than that!" as soon as his feet touched the ground, he was gone in a blue blur down the hallway.

Shadow growled, clearly furious as he pursued the blur, making his own streak that went almost unseen "Get back here!" it didn't take long for his skates to kick in and he quickly caught up to Sonic a little sooner than either were ready.

Because of his sudden burst of speed, Shadow slammed into Sonic and they both busted through the front door and rolled a couple of feet on the front lawn. Sonic quickly slowed himself down enough to stand up and continue his run, but Shadow wasn't planning to let him go. Without bothering to slow down, Shadow pushed himself into the air and came down at Sonic with a homing attack.

Sonic quickly rolled himself into a little ball and spun counterclockwise to counter Shadow. It worked, Sonic's move had thrown Shadow back into the air. He quickly turned himself, still in a tight ball and launched off the ground towards his target. Shadow managed to unroll himself and saw Sonic coming. He swung his leg back, causing himself to spin around and kicked Sonic to the ground with the back of his heel, the force pushed him in the opposite direction.

Sonic unrolled involuntarily and stared up at the sky until it decided to stop spinning. He then shook the rest of his dizziness away and stood up , his grin returned when he locked eyes with Shadow a few yards away.

"Nice try, but you'll have to do better than that Shads" he said as he instinctively took his fighting stance, bouncing on his front foot in anticipation.

Shadow wasn't finding this to be nearly as amusing as his counterpart, but grinned all the same, also taking his fighting stance "Hmph, just you wait. I'll permanently remove that annoying smirk of yours"

Sonic's grin only grew "Ooh, I'd like to see you try" he charged and when right in Shadows face, he threw a punch.

Shadow ducked and countered with an uppercut. Sonic moved his head a little to avoid it before grabbing his arm so he could try anything else. Shadow returned the gesture by grabbing Sonic's still extended arm and just like that, they were in a stands still staring each other down. Just as quick as it had happened, it was over and they continued to fight in close combat.

Sometime after they had started, the others had walked outside and we're watching from the safety of the front yard.

Rouge leaned against Tails shoulder with a devilish smile "Ha! Pay up"

Tails groaned "Fine, I'll go get your money" he walked back inside, somewhat dragging his feet.

Once he was inside, Knuckles turned to face her "Pay for what?"

Rouge stood proud, still smiling devilishly "Oh nothing. We just had a little bet to see how long it would take for those two to start fighting. He said a couple of days, I said a couple of minutes.

Cream took a second to think about it "It was more like a couple of seconds"

Rouge's smile faded a little, but only a little as she shrugged "Whatever, I still won since I was closer"

Amy leaned towards her curiously "How much did you bet?"

Rouge leaned towards her holding up two fingers "2 gran"

Everyone's eyes widened in amazement "What?!"

Knuckles laughed aloud "Oh, poor Tails"

Amy continued to stare in disbelief "I can't believe you got him to agree to that"

Rouge shrugged once more "What can I say. When you're good, you're good"

"That would've been perfect to replace the door" Cream said as she looked at the door's remains scattered about the ground.

Melody turned to her with a reassuring smile "Don't worry, I'll replace it"

Cream looked at her surprised "Is that really okay"

Melony's smile grew "Of course, it is my cottage after all"

Everyone's once happy demeanor immediately shifted to guilty frowns.

Melony waved her hands "No really, its okay" she turned her attention back to the fight "But is it really okay to let them fight?"

Knuckles crossed his arms defiantly "Well, I'm not going over there"

"No point in getting the hot head involved" Rouge mumbled to herself, but Knuckles heard her.

"What was that?" he said a little annoyed

"Oh nothing" Rouge replied while turning away.

Amy smiled reassuringly "Don't worry, their fights never last very long"

Melony gave her a curious look "Why is that?"

Amy just shrugged "Something always interrupts them"

"Yeah and now Shadows sick too" Cream added a little sad.

Knuckles clenched his fists "If you have something to say, then say it to my face!"

Rouge returned his angry gesture "Just drop it already!"

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the others, Shadow was beginning to enjoy the fight, but there was no way he was going to let Sonic see it. They continued their fight, Shadow punched hard against Sonic's guard and managed push him far enough for an effective homing attack. Sonic also felt comfortable with the distance and commenced with his own homing attack. They clashed several times, neither willing to stop, so it was quite a surprise when they both stopped in mid air at that.

"Wha…?" Sonic blurted out as he flailed around in the air.

Shadow was just as surprised, but too out breath to show it.

They floated up until they were level height with another hedgehog, Silver.

"I don't think the girls worked out this little trip for you too to fight" Silver said with a joking tone.

Sonic gave him a casual smile "Hey Silver, what's up?" both Shadow and Silver stared at him surprised.

"Yes, my name is Silver. Have we met before" he said calmly, but clearly still surprised.

Sonic mentally kicked himself for not thinking before he spoke. He hadn't actually met his dimensions Silver until just now "I…uh, well no but…"

"Silver!" the three hedgehogs looked down at the others. At what point had they floated over to them? Oh well, at least it ended the awkward conversation.

Silver brought them to the ground before releasing them from his telekinesis grip "Hey Amy"

Amy gave him a genuine bear hug that had him gasping for air "Oh, you have great timing. We were just thinking about how to stop the fight" she looked over his shoulder and gave Sonic a disapproving look, unaware of Silvers darkening blue tint "You shouldn't be up and fighting yet Sonic, and neither should you Shadow. What if something happens?"

Shadow grunted before looking away, so Sonic answered "Aw, we were just messing around"

Knuckles looked at him dully "Yeah, you messed up the front door pretty bad"

Sonic cringed "Oops"

Amy finally noticed Silvers changing color and let him go, he immediately inhaled and coughed, turning back to his usual color.

"So…you're Sonic?" Silver said while looking back at him, he looked a little pale, probably from the lack of oxygen. Sonic simply nodded and he turned back around to Amy "So you already told him about me?"

"Ack!" Sonic thought as he once more gave himself a mental beating.

Amy shook her head "No"

Silver looked at her really confused "But he knows my name" everyone looks at Sonic waiting for answer, but all they got was his back as he walked away.

"Sonic!" Amy yelled a little annoyed that he's just walk away.

Upon hearing his name, Sonic was back instantly in front of her "Yeah?"

Amy placed both hands on her hips "What do you mean yeah? How can you just walk away like that? Where are you even going?"

Sonic met her gaze but kept his blank expression "I was going to look around since I don't know where we are" he looked past her towards Melody "Is there a town or something around here?"

Melony pointed off "There's a city about 10 to 15 miles that way"

Sonic's expression returned to its usual happy demeanor "Great, let's go Shadow" he threw his arms around his counterpart's neck without warning.

Shadow jerked forward at the sudden contact, but Sonic's arms had already folded around his neck "Whoa, what?!"

Sonic leaned over his shoulder and winked at him "Don't worry, we're not going to race or anything, just a little tour" and with that, they were gone in a flash of blue and black as Sonic dragged him away.

Amy clenched her fists at her side as she fumed "Oh, why does he have to be so difficult?"

"He wouldn't be Sonic if he wasn't" Rouge spouted out as she counted the money Tails had just handed her. Without another word, she walked back inside.

Minutes later, Sonic and Shadow were calmly walking down the city streets. Sonic stared up at the tall buildings and whistled at the height.

Shadow raised a brow to his action "Why did you drag me along exactly?"

Sonic glanced back at him with a light grin "What can I say, your better company than Lancelot was"

Shadow dropped his arms to his sides and stared clueless at him "What? Sonic…"

Sonic sighed "Yeah, I know. I'll explain later" the smell of food caught his attention "But right now, I'm going to get a chili dog"

Shadow couldn't help but chuckle at this "Some things just don't change"

Sonic turned towards him, still grinning "What? Come on Shads, I'll buy you one if you beat me there"

Shadow "I thought we weren't racing?" but it was too late. Sonic was gone before he could finish his sentence. With a frustrated growl, he pursued. Once Sonic came into view, he sped up, but not by much. Their earlier fight had severely drained him and his illness wasn't giving him a break either. "Sonic, stop!" he yelled hoping Sonic would listen, for once.

Sonic turned his head to look back at his black counterpart with no intent on stopping "Oh come on Shads! You can run…cough!" he looked forward again, everything began to fuzz. He swayed, but fought desperately as he tried to stop, but his feet weren't listening to him.

Suddenly, everything went black and Sonic collapsed in the middle of a busy intersection. The speeding truck slammed on its breaks, but wasn't coming to a stop fast enough if at all.

Shadow, despite his body's protesting, picked up speed trying to reach Sonic in time "SONIC!" that was the last thing that could be heard before skidding tires and crashing cars drowned everything out.