Two

The loud boom was the only warning the pair got, before the front door swung open in a whoosh of cool air. Sonic, quills slightly ruffled from his run, stared dumbfounded at his little brother, and a certain red echidna who seemed to be in the middle of pacing the workshop's living room. Knuckles whirls around to face the cobalt mobian, whose eyes were slightly widened, his blue ears perked up as he stared. The ruby guardian runs forward, grabbing the blue hero by the shoulders, his amethyst eyes filled with nothing but concern. "Chaos, Sonic are you alright?"

The hedgehog blinks, taken aback by the echidna's sudden outburst, before realization takes over him, and his eyes narrow sharply. With a harsh push, he sends his friend away from him, much to the other's surprise. "What the hel-?!"

"Don't!" Sonic exclaims before Knuckles could finish. He points at the guardian with an accusing finger, his other hand balled into a tight fist. "What the heck are you doing here?! Do you have a death wish?"

The echidna freezes, his eyes widened, before the red lids narrow down as well. "I'm here to make sure you're okay!"

Sonic facepalms himself, before running a hand through his quills in irritation. "Knuckles, after what happened the day before, you shouldn't be anywhere near me."

The echidna throws his arms up in the air. "Are you fricking kidding me?! You're my friend, and have been for how many years now?! I don't need anyone's goddamn permission to be around you, especially Shadow's!"

Sonic takes a step forward, jamming his finger into the echidna's chest. "Well you could have at least given me the chance to explain it to him!"

"I shouldn't have to!" Knuckles jabs back, grabbing Sonic's wrist with a tight grip. "And you shouldn't have had to explain anything to him! He's a selfish bastard that doesn't care about anyone but himself! He'll do anything to get something that benefits him, whether or not it hurts anyone else around him!"

"That's not true..." Sonic growls, his quills raising defensively. "He's just a paranoid wreck who needs some common sense smacked into him. I could have done that hadn't you provoked him to begin with!"

Tails stood frozen still, watching the two argue back and forth. Please don't start fighting. Please don't start fighting. Please don't start fighting...

"I provoked him?! He came up to me with the intent to kill! Trying to talk with him is like trying to tell a train to stop! You know damn well that nothing you could have said would've stopped him, and don't try to deny it!"

Sonic grinded his teeth, his patience faltering. "And what would you know?!"

Knuckles leans forward, his voice low as he spoke. "I know that you're just trying to defend his ass because you don't want things to seem as bad as they are. We all know he's hurting you, Sonic. Doesn't take a blind man and all those bruises on you to figure that out. I don't give a damn if you say you can handle it, because if you could, we wouldn't be having this argument in the first place, because there would be no damn reason to!"

Sonic yanked himself away from the echidna, his fur raised and his ears pulled backwards. The two stood there, tense and seemingly ready to start beating each other at the slightest movement. Tails's heart was pounding, his ears and namesakes lowered sadly and fearfully. Knuckles slowly takes in a deep, shaky breath, clenching his hands into fists before unclenching them to relieve some stress. "Sonic," he starts, his voice a bit calmer. "You love him, I know that. I don't why the hell you do, and why out of all people it had to be him. What I also know...no, correction...what we all know, is that he's beating you, locking you up, restraining you, and Chaos doesn't even want to know what he's doing to you in that bedroom of yours..."

Sonic flinches, swallowing, as Knuckles continues. "...and you, because he has your heart wrapped around his finger, are letting him get away with it under some, what I think is a false, belief, that he's just worried he'll lose you or some other lie he may have told you."

When the hedgehog opens his mouth to speak, the echidna raises his hand to cut him off. "And don't give me the, 'he's had a hard life/he's been through terrible things/he has every reason to be the way he is', bullshit. You've had just as shitty of a life as he has, and you're probably the most innocent damn thing on this planet." Knuckles crosses his arms now, watching Sonic fidget where he stood. "Shadow does what Shadow wants, because he's a smug bastard who thinks he can get away with it. He's using you, so he can tear you apart from the inside out. Don't be the cliche boyfriend that gets himself into more trouble than its worth, just because you think you can 'help' him."

More silence followed, an awkward silence at that, as the pair stared intently at each other, emerald wavering under amethyst. Tails silently wonders if he should do something, and goes to before Sonic sighs and pinches the skin in between his eyes. "Just leave it be..." he murmurs quietly. "Don't sit there and assume you know everything, because you don't. Let me deal with Shadow."

Knuckles groans in exasperation, his hands going over his head and resting on top of it. "Fine. Whatever. Stubborn hedgehogs will be stubborn." He walks up to the cobalt hedgehog, talking a step too close to his personal space. The Blue Blur flinches and leans back, Knuckles getting in his face with a low voice. "But if this gets any worse, Ultimate Lifeform or not, I will find a way to kill him in the worst way possible. Got it?"

Sonic's eyes narrow, fawn arms crossing over the same colored chest. "I don't care. Just go."

"Tck!" the echidna huffs, pushing passed the younger mobian with a scowl, and then out the front door with a slam shut behind him. Both Sonic and Tails wince at the loud crack that followed, both expecting the door to fall down. When it didn't, the elder of the two looks almost timidly at his younger brother, a guilty frown over his muzzle, his brows furrowed upward in concern. "Sorry, bud..."

Tails takes in a breath, sighs, and then nods slowly. "It's fine, Sonic..."

The blue hedgehog raises a brow, sensing the discomfort in the kitsune. A pang of guilt hits him in the chest, and his triangular ears flatten to their sides. "I can uh...go if you want. I didn't mean to kick Knuckles out of your workshop..."

The fox's eyes widen, the golden kit running up to his brother and grabbing his hand. "No, no! I want you to stay! Knuckles was just waiting for you, anyways...and technically...this is our workshop, since we both built it together...and the Tornado's here..."

A soft, weak smile curved Sonic's lips, and he ruffled the yellow bangs atop the younger one's head. "Heh heh, I suppose you have a point..."

Tails smiles sweetly at his older brother, pulling his hand through the living room and into the back room, or the lab of his workshop. "That reminds me; I installed the finished Chaos Energy Tracker in the Tornado this morning, and it says there's an emerald nearby!"

Sonic's ears perk up at the mention of a potential Chaos Emerald, and he lets his brother take him though the lab and into the garage where the famous red plane sat looking polished and as bright as ever. It wasn't the original Tornado that Sonic had built so many years ago, but it was made from the old parts left behind that had survived the crash during the EggCarrier fight a while ago. Tails had felt bad about losing Sonic's beloved plane, despite building the X Tornado afterwards, and the two had scavenged for the old parts and rebuilt the plane together. Sonic smiled easily at the sight of it, noticing the fox had added some things to it and cleaned up the scratches from their last battle. "Looking good," he complements, and the fox smiles brightly and rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "I replaced the engine with one that can alternate between Chaos Energy and solar power, and it stores the extra energy and keeps it until the Tornado needs it." He smiles and waves his tails behind him. "In case of emergency and all that... I also added a cloak and shield to it," he adds.

Sonic couldn't help but grin. "Sweet. That'll all come in handy big time."

Tails seems to glow from his brother's words, and takes his hand excitedly and pulls him over the red and white machine. "Oh yeah, I also added a back up propeller! If this one is damaged, all I have to do is press this button," he points to a small blue one on the control panel," and the damaged one will fall off and the new one will immediately replace it! I also have plans for a self-repairing system that will automatically fix any part of the plane that's damaged in a battle, using nanites!"

Sonic raises a brow, placing a hand on his hip. "Nanites?"

Tails nods enthusiastically and jumps on the wing of the plane, sitting with his legs dangling merrily. "Yup! To put it simply, nanites are little, microscopic robots that can form into nearly anything you command them to. I'm working on a personal code that only I can operate, so that way the nanites will only respond to me."

The Blue Blur frowns thoughtfully, pursing his lips. "So, wait...you said that these robots are microscopic, so you'll need what? Hundreds? Thousands of them? How're you gonna make all of 'em?"

The eight year old waves the other away as if it weren't a problem. "Easy! I'm working on the machine that will automatically make them for me. I just need to feed it the right parts for it to work. It'll also program my code into them so that way I can control them right away without a problem. Once that's done, I'll install them into the Tornado's defense system, and anytime we're hit, all I'll need to do is press the right code in and they'll patch up the spots that were damaged!"

Sonic smiles. "Wow, you really got this thought through. The only thing I recommend is that you keep this quiet. You might give a certain someone the wrong ideas..."

"Ugh, Eggman," Tails groans. "Yeah, I nearly forgot about that little problem. The last thing we need is him making his own nanites to rebuild his robots..."

"Exactly," Sonic chuckles. "Despite that, I think it's a cool idea."

Tails beams, jumping down from the wing and waving his tails happily. "I hoped you would!"

Sonic wraps an arm around the fox, pulling him in for a side hug. "Tails, there isn't much you do that I don't thinks a cool idea, besides last year's Christmas tree..."

The fox blushes guiltily. "Yeah...not one of my better days..."

The blue mobian chuckles again and nudges the other forward. "So what about that emerald, huh? We going, or do you have any other projects you wanna share with me?"

He winks, and Tails laughs lightly. "Whoops, I almost forgot about the emerald... I was just excited to talk with you."

Sonic laughs, before jumping up and standing on the wings of his trademark plane, right in the center as always. "I know, bud, and I enjoy listening to ya."

Tails smiles oncemore and runs over, hopping into the plane, pulling the seat belts over his shoulders. He presses a button to start the new engine, and a healthy purr rumbles as the Tornado sparks to life. The propeller begins to spin as the garage door opens, the runway lifting up and out of the ground, pushing any and all trees aside as it lifted up for take off. "Okay!" the fox cheers, grabbing ahold of the wheel. "Let's go get that emerald!"

Sonic smiles and laces his fingers behind his head of quills, lifting his nose to the air and smelling the fresh breeze as they pulled out, the fight with Knuckles and the thought of Shadow just little ticks in the back of his head. It was so easy to forget his worries and troubles when it came to Tails. The little fox was a contagious bundle of sunshine, and Sonic couldn't help but catch the optimism in order to keep the young mobian's spirit up.

The Tornado slowly pulls itself outside the garage, and only a second later, it shoots forward up the runway, and up into the air. Tails's namesakes flew out behind him, while Sonic's cobalt quills waved and ruffled in the wind. The red bi-plane flew smoothly across the sky, a bright streak of white left behind it as it tore through clouds and split them apart. Sonic turns an eye back to his companion, raising a brow in curiosity, his voice spoken up over the howl of wind and the roar of the plane.. "So, how far exactly is this emerald?"

"Well," Tails starts, pressing a few buttons on the console in front of him. A white dot appears on a green map before him, and he presses a few small, yellow buttons beside it. The screen zooms in on the dot, showing a more detailed view of the selected area. "Far, but not too far. The radar is pretty strong, so it reaches out pretty good ways away."

Sonic nods, a small smirk growing on the side of his muzzle. "So...how far exactly?"

Tails rolls his eyes, smiling knowingly. "Alright; rough guess... how does ten minutes sound?"

The Blue Blur groans with exaggeration, plopping down on his rear and turning his body, laying down on the plane with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed. A yawn passes his lips and he shrugs, closing his eyes. "Too long. Wake up me when we get there..."

Tails laughs at his brother's impatience.

The echidna stepped up the stones leading to the Master Emerald, grumbling under his breath about stupid hedgehogs. Rouge sighs as she watches him, crossing her arms under her large chest. "He's not stupid," she speaks up, making him jump in surprise. "He's in love, and he doesn't know what to believe or how to handle it."

Knuckles scowls, turning around and sitting on the top grey step in front of the emerald. "But he knows what Shadow's doing is wrong! That bastard's abusing him in every way possible, and he's letting it happen! Sonic is more than capable of fighting him and putting him in his place!"

Rouge shakes her head, walking over and sitting down beside the conflicted and agitated guardian. "Knux, hon, you wouldn't understand it unless you've been through it yourself. You don't get to choose who you fall in love with. It just happens, and its beyond your control until a time comes when you're mentally and emotionally strong enough to pull away from it, and even then it's probably the hardest thing you will ever have to do."

Knuckles shakes his head. "But that doesn't mean Sonic has to go and let Shadow hurt him like this."

Rouge sighs, looking forward with sad, teal eyes. "Love is when you care for someone more than yourself, and you would do anything for them to be happy, alive, and well, no matter what the cost. Sonic wants nothing more than Shadow to be happy, alive, and well, no matter what the cost, despite what his better judgment says. He can't help it, hon. He's in love, and love changes you, especially if it's the first time you're experiencing it."

The echidna's brows furrow, and he rests his chin on his hands. "So love is basically a way to brainwash someone and kill ninety-percent of their morals. The Sonic I know wouldn't put up with this. He'd beat the shit out of Shadow. Doesn't he realize he's delusional?"

Rouge smiles pitifully. "I'm sure Sonic is more than self-aware. He's just confused and hurt because he knows it wrong, but he wants to help Shadow all the same. He doesn't want to hurt Shadow because he thinks it will only make things worse."

"Do you have any idea why Shadow's doing it to begin with? I mean, what does he have to gain?"

The female hums quietly in thought, her eye lids falling halfway as she stared into the distance. "...I won't lie when I say Shadow is a little screwed up in the head. He was raised by a group of power-hungry, psychopathic humans who trained him to be a war machine. His father was an alien lord who wiped out hundreds of planets and tried to massacre everyone on this one. His only 'relative' to date is a maniac who's trying to take over the world and turn everyone into robots, and who has also used him as a weapon as well. The only two people who ever showed him love and kindness were both murdered; Maria right in front of his eyes, and Gerald on live TV. Because Eggman was the one who woke him up, with an impaired memory, the only way Shadow thinks he can do anything or get anything is by taking it by force on his own. He doesn't want to open up to anyone because he doesn't want to lose them like he lost Maria...the list goes on..."

Knuckles was quiet as she spoke, and gave her a minute of silence to see if she was done. When not another word was spoken from her, he turns and meets her eyes. "Then why is he hurting Sonic?"

She frowns, really thinking it through. She felt like the answer was right there, but she couldn't seem to grasp it. "Maybe..." she murmurs softly. "Maybe he wants Sonic to hate him... Maybe he wants us to hate him. Maybe this is his way of forcing everyone away from him, even if it hurts him. After all, he is immortal. Sonic isn't...well...I mean I don't think he is. It's questionable, really, considering he's still alive as of today," she chuckles, "but maybe he thinks that if he pushes everyone away, he won't have to worry about getting too attached and causing more pain."

Knuckles groans and rubs his eyes. "Then why'd he get with Sonic in the first place?"

Rouge shrugs. "He's in love, sweetheart. Maybe he didn't realize or think of any of this until after he and Sonic got together. Some sort of flashback or something must have triggered this all to start happening."

The echidna closes his eyes, his mind processing all of it a bit at a time. "Then maybe it would help him to know that Sonic is immortal..."

Rouge freezes, turning to look at the echidna with wide eyes. "W-What?"

Knuckles sighs and opens his eyes. "Sonic's Chaos Energy is strong, probably the strongest, and it's only gotten stronger. You remember, don't you? Shadow ran out of energy during the ARK battle, but Sonic didn't. Shadow is supposed to be the Ultimate Lifeform, yet he couldn't even outlast Sonic. You've seen Sonic take hits that could kill a normal mobian, or even me, and get up like it's nothing. He fought Chaos itself for Mobius's sake, and won. The thing is," Knuckles starts, looking at the bat with a stern face. "Sonic's energy is so strong, that even if he were to get struck through the heart, his energy would heal him fast enough to keep him just barely alive. He could be 'brought back to life' so to speak with enough energy. He hasn't aged since he turned sixteen. Why, is because as you get older, you're body gets weaker and closer to death. His energy is keeping him young and at his prime. He'll stay alive as long as his energy lets him."

The white bat's mouth was open just slightly in shock. "So...I mean...does he know this?"

The echidna shrugs. "I don't know, and if he doesn't, than I hope he doesn't have to find out the hard way. It's just...if what you say about Shadow is true, than what if we tell him that Sonic's immortal?"

The female frowns, her eyes narrowing in thought. "It might help, but it all depends on what he's afraid of losing. Sonic's life, or Sonic's love."

"Wait, what?"

She sighs. "What if Sonic moves on and leaves Shadow? It'll kill him. Sonic is something special to him, hon. He's the only one of us who has really put an effort in to getting to know Shadow, and getting him to open up. He may be afraid that Sonic may die, but he might also be afraid that Sonic will leave him anyway."

The echidna blinks, dumbfounded, before groaning in distress. "Oh, this is just one big headache! Why can't he just wait it out and see?"

"Because the more and more time he spends with Sonic, the more and more attached he'll get with him. And this could also be a scenario: Remember when Shadow disappeared after the Black Arms battle and we didn't see him for quite a while? Even I started to think that something may have happened to him. You saw the way Sonic paced around everywhere helplessly. Those two were already getting close beforehand, and then Shadow just disappears... What if something happens to Shadow? What if Shadow disappears for good, or it turns out he can die? What if Shadow doesn't want Sonic to be upset or get depressed because of it? He rather have Sonic hate him, instead of being upset that something happened to him."

Knuckles said nothing, feeling a bit of empathy for that scenario. He could understand it somewhat... "Still doesn't make this right."

"I know."

"So what if," the guardian starts, "it isn't any of the above, and Shadow's just a complete, selfish douche?"

"Then," Rouge starts, her voice lowering, "I'll kill him myself."

The venom on her tone alone was enough to make even Knuckles wince. "You know," he starts slowly, "you seem to have a lot of knowledge about this stuff."

She blinks, before giving him a sad smile. "I was in a sticky relationship myself a few years back. I left him, of course. It hurt like hell but, it was for the best. Now I'm flyin' solo for now...although..." she leans forward, making the other's eyes widen slightly. "I would never hesitate to be with a man who's loyal, protective, honest, handsome, and loving. Know anyone in particular I may be interested in, darling?" she asks in a suave, playful voice.

An uncomfortable heat spread from his chest to his muzzle, turning it a suspicious shade of pink. "Not at the top of my head, no," he grumbles, turning away from her. She giggles and stands to her feet. "Aw, what a shame... Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. Anywho," she begins making her way down the steps. "I say we just let Sonic be for now. I promised him I'd step back, and I would only get involved if something starts up again. I want to see if those two can figure themselves out. It'd be better for them if they did, ya know? They need to learn eventually."

Knuckles scoffs and crosses his arms. "Highly unlikely, especially with how Sonic has been about it."

She chuckles. "I know, hon. Just give them a moment, will ya? It's irritating, and I don't like seeing Sonic hurt so bad, but I want to know what we're dealing with here exactly. If Shadow has a valuable reason behind what he's doing, I want to help Sonic help him. If he's doing it just for his own amusement, then well..."

"He dies," Knuckles says without a bit of hesitation. She nods. "Definitely. Slowly and painfully. As I said, let's just wait and see."

"I hate waiting."

"You sound like Sonic."

The fallen leaves crunched under the pair's tennis shoes as they hiked through the thickest part of the Great Forest. There were too many trees around to find a proper place to land the Tornado, so the two hopped off and made through the old fashioned way. The breeze was a bit colder, despite the sun shining brightly towards the west. Sonic stretched his arms above his head, before a particular cold wind swept him and he pulled them back down, shivering slightly. "You can tell Winter's 'round the corner," he mumbled.

Tails nods quickly in agreement, his namesakes pulling closer to his body to keep himself warm. "I probably should have brought a coat with me," he says, his eyes glued to the scanner in his hands that was slowly leading them towards the Chaos Emerald. There was a soft beeping from the yellow device, getting louder and more frequent as they pushed through the thick growth.

Sonic yawns and Tails looks up with a small frown, glancing at his brother in the corner of his eyes. "Hey, Sonic?"

"Whattup?" the hedgehog replies with a raised brow, looking back at the golden kit. He immediately noticed the concerned look on his brother's face, and he frowns, as if already knowing what Tails was going to say.

"Are you okay?"

Sonic sighs. If he had made a million dollar bet, he would have just won the jackpot. Should have seen that one coming...

"I'm fine, bud. Don't worry about any of it."

The vulpine shakes his head. "I can't help but worry, Sonic. You look terrible, and after what Knuckles said-"

"Don't worry about what that knucklehead said," Sonic interrupts, his brows furrowing slightly. "Knuckles likes to think he knows everything, but he just doesn't. I know what I'm doing, buddy. Nothing Shadow says or does is a problem for me." He looks at the doubtful kit, giving him a flashing smile. "There's nothing that can keep me down, bud. You know that."

Tails gives him a weak smile, hoping that was true. "Whatever you say, Sonic. Just...promise that you'll let us help you if things get too out of control, okay?"

The hero blinks, looking away...his eyes set forward...and he shrugs. "If it makes you feel better, then yeah, I promise."

Tails nods and looks forward as well. As long as he had Sonic's word, he would be okay.

The sound of rushing water then captured both mobians' ears, and Tails smiles brightly as the sight of a large cliff comes into view. A rushing waterfall as clear as crystals poured down over the side of the cliff, filling a small oasis below. Tall weeping willows grew along the sides of the water, their roots growing down and swaying along the current. Bushes and shrubs of red, orange, and yellows shook their leaves into the water, while blue mist flowers dripped clear droplets off their petals. Little orange fish swam in the pond, most of them together, running away from the approaching mobians as their feet imprinted the beige sand where the water lapped rhythmically. Sonic whistled and smiled, and Tails gaped with sparkling blue eyes. The scanner in his hands was going nuts, the beeps loud and one right after the other.

"Let me take a guess: the emerald's in the water, huh?" Sonic says, a drop of sweat going down the side of his head with a weak smile. The yellow kitsune beside him laughs lightly, holding the scanner out for the aquaphobic to take.

"Yup! I'll go and get it so you don't have to get your quills wet," he chirps. Sonic chuckles. "Fine by me. Be careful."

The fox waves him away and turns around, winding his tails up and spinning them out behind him, flying over the water until he was right above where the scanner said the emerald should be. Taking in a deep breath, he dives head first into the water with a splash, sending droplets spraying out across the pond. Sonic wouldn't admit he flinched at the sound of the water splashing, and instead played with the scanner in his hands.

He hadn't wanted Tails to get involved with him and Shadow at all. It was bad enough Knuckles was involved. Rouge sort of had a right to be, considering as she was a close friend of Shadow's, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. He rather just deal with the problem himself, and not let the world jump in with him.

A soft sound, like buzzing, brought his attention skyward. He frowns, his eyes scanning for anything unusual, the buzzing sound becoming louder.

He tensed the moment he found the source of the buzzing.

A pod that could belong to none other than Dr. Eggman zoomed by through the clearing, high above the cliff and followed by strange, hawk shaped robots. A scowl curves Sonic's lips as he watches the madman disappear, considering going after him.

Can't leave Tails... he thinks with exasperation. Noting that the doctor seemed to be heading south, he turns his attention back to the water, his foot tapping impatiently. What was taking Tails so long?

Just as the thought passed through, another splash of water shot up as Tails resurfaced. A gasp broke his lips and he smiled, holding up the bright, cyan Chaos Emerald as water dripped down from it. Sonic grins and holds a thumbs up, taking a few steps back as Tails stepped to shore and shook himself off. "I didn't think I would be able to get it in time," he said, beaming with pride. "But I did it!"

The Blue Blur smiles and hands his friend the scanner. "I'd ruffle your hair, but you're all wet. Awesome job, Tails."

The fox seemed to glow at the praise, turning off the scanner and handing his brother the emerald. "So anything interesting happen?"

"Yes, actually," Sonic said, his gaze drifting back up to the cliff. "Eggman just flew by with some new robots. They went south."

The fox's eyes widen. "Do you think he was looking for the emerald?"

The hedgehog shrugs. "Who really knows? It'd probably be a good idea though if we collected the other ones."

Tails nods. "Just in case."

"Always," Sonic smiles.

Sonic frowned as he stepped through the front door, shutting it slowly behind him. "Shads?" He didn't feel the bio-hog's Chaos energy within the house, or surrounding it, so he made the safe assumption he wasn't home. With a sigh of what would be taken as relief, he trudges though the house. Stepping into the kitchen, he tosses the Chaos Emerald up and catches it with his other hand, his mind set on food. His stomach growled as he stepped up to the fridge, but a scowl curved his lips once he opened it. Hardly anything to eat. With a groan he closes the fridge and grabs the list from the door. Tossing it on the counter, he grabs a pen from a nearby drawer and begins writing down a list of food. He'd have to go shopping tomorrow for sure.

After that was said and done, he turns away and goes over to the pantry. Opening it gave him the same horrid results as the refrigerator, and with an angry groan, he turns about face and makes his way to the front door.

His mind focused on the small chili dog stand he had seen on his way home...

His eyes forced themselves open at the sound of a door closing. Rubbing said eyes, he rolls over, his hands grabbing the blankets as he did. His emerald irises fall on the red lights of the clock, which red brightly, "3:48 AM".

He watches Shadow leave the bathroom, probably done showering, and meets his eyes as he crawls in bed with him. The ruby red irises seemed hard and darkened, and he could only frown worriedly. Shadow was obviously in a bad mood...

"Go back to sleep," sounded more like an order, a threat, than anything, and Sonic scoffed and rubbed his eyes again. "Hello to you too..." he mumbled.

Shadow lifts the blankets up over their shoulders, before reaching for the blue hero and pulling him over. Sonic lets the dark hedgehog wrap an arm around his waist, his face burying in the white fluff of Shadow's chest. He breathed in, breathed out, and closed his eyes. He felt a kiss press against the top of his head and he smiled softly. Using his Chaos energy, he reaches out towards the darker hedgehog's own energy and holds onto it.

He fell asleep with the weird feeling that something was...different about it. Wasn't Shadow's energy supposed to be warmer than this?

The being grunts and squints his eyes open. Where was he? He lay on his side on a cold, rocky flooring, his hands bound behind his back by some sort of electric shackle. His ankles were bound as well, and the same, orange electricity was around his head, over his muzzle. His eyes narrow as they try to focus on anything and everything in front of him, but upon seeing nothing but darkness after some time, he growled in frustration and closed his eyes again, this time narrowed.

He was in pain from head to toe, and every time he tried to move in the slightest, a sharp pain would strike through his body, wringing a hoarse scream from him. Cold sweat coated his ruffled, dirty fur pelt, and his breathing was forced to come in harsh, quick rasps. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, and when a cold wind hit him, he felt something wet along his back, thick and most likely blood.

He groans again, agitated beyond belief.

"Ah," a low, smooth voice said from the darkness. "You're awake..."

Author's Note:

The reviews made each and every day I got them. You guys have no idea how much reviews motivate me to write. All I can say, is thank you for that.

So what do you guys think? Is Shadow an asshole, or do you like to believe that he has a motive behind his actions?

Yes, I made Sonic immortal. If you've read my Taken (from Life of a Hedgehog), you would understand where I got the Chaos theory from... It's also a very important piece of this story. Enjoy the immortality, people.

Should I ship Rouge and Knuckles in here? Or should I keep them the way I have them here? I haven't decided, and I wasn't gonna really do it, but if you want it, it wouldn't be a problem.

I've decided the world will be from the games. I usually use Sonic X or Archie for my worlds, but I'll use the game world for this story. This story takes place sometime after Sonic Lost World.

Fun tip: I was going to put some smut in the end of this chapter, but I'll save it for the next one :D

Oh, I also made a Sonadow Community and have already archied some stories. I'm looking for staff members, so if that interests you, send me a PM!