Obsolete

Chapter 4

Rouge called work to say that neither her or Shadow would be there that day. Her and Sonic discussed what they knew and what they could do to help the situation but it was no good without Shadow. "It's been long enough. I'm going to get him from the bedroom, he's had enough time to himself." Rouge said and got up from the sofa.

Sonic waited for Rouge to come back with Shadow but she came back alone looking panicked. "Shadow's gone and his window's open." Rouge said worriedly. Sonic sighed and ran to the door.

"Should I go and look for him?" Sonic asked.

"You won't need to look for him, you'll just have to retrieve him… I know where he's gone." Rouge said putting her face in her hands.

"He hasn't gone and tried to defeat the faker, has he?" Sonic asked. Rouge nodded.

"It's the only thing he could have done." she groaned. "Let's go."

The two of them ran down the stairs and across the street. Sonic rushed ahead and Rouge stopped on the spot. "Sonic, wait!" she yelled and pointed to the building she had stopped by. Sonic walked back looking confused. "He's here." Rouge said and sighed with relief, looking through the window of the pizza place.

The two of them walked inside to see that Shadow was the only person there eating. "He's a bit of a comfort eater." Rouge whispered to Sonic before Shadow could notice the two of them. The depressed hedgehog was stuffing his face full of pizza, he finished off the last slice.

The waiter came to his table. "Would you like thirds sir?" he asked. Sonic couldn't help but snigger, that is when Shadow looked up and saw the two of them entering the quiet pizza place.

"Hmph, yes." he said to the waiter who was also the owner of the shop. "And another drink." Shadow added and folded his arms. "Also, I don't think I'll be eating alone." he looked straight at Sonic and Rouge who were slowly walking towards him.

Rouge smiled at him awkwardly while she and Sonic got chairs and sat down at the table with Shadow. The grumpy hedgehog just sat with his arms folded and turned his head to the side looking miserable. "Shadow…" Rouge began to say sympathetically.

"Save it!" Shadow snapped and looked at her with a death glare. "Nothing either of you can say will make me feel any different, I know my fate and I'm going to face it. The best you can do now is enjoy your last moments with me." he said sadly. "I should have known better than to make any types of positive relationship with anyone. I'm sorry." he added shamefully.

"Shadow, stop acting like this! You're not going to die!" Sonic exclaimed.

"I certainly hope he's not going to die, he's my best customer!" the owner of the small cafe exclaimed while he served the next large pizza.

Shadow began to dig into it without a word or hesitation, picking up the first slice and taking his first bite. "Shadow, how can you eat this fast if this is your third pizza?" Sonic asked looking astonished. "I thought I ate a lot."

Shadow didn't say anything. "He has a big appetite, I swear he spends half of his wages on food." Rouge said seriously.

"Well go on! The food's on me!" Shadow swallowed his food and said, he pointed to the pizza.

"But… Shadow, I don't have any idea about the salt or fat content and it looks really greasy…" Rouge said sounding anxious.

"Just forget about your weight for one meal!" Shadow snapped. "I don't know what's up with you girls, you're just fine the way you are."

All of them tucked into the meal, Shadow ate half of the pizza and Sonic and Rouge ate the other half of it between them, Shadow was faster at eating than they were. "The sad thing about this place is that there's no bathroom here." Shadow said looking uncomfortable.

"What!? Who would run a restaurant, where they serve drinks and not have a bathroom!" Sonic exclaimed as the owner came back in the room.

"Someone who only has one customer! It would cost a fortune to install a bathroom when I only have one customer!" he exclaimed. "Here is the bill, and again, a ten percent discount to my best customer." he added cheerfully.

Shadow delved into his quills to find the money needed. "Here." Shadow said and passed him the notes of currency and then got up to leave. When they all turned to leave the window smashed and Shadow cried out in pain. Sonic and Rouge turned to him, there was a chaos spear lodged in his shoulder. The spear faded and Shadow put his hand on his wound. As Shadow was hissing and trembling with pain, his doppelganger walked through the door.

"Dude! What is it with the shoulder!?" Sonic exclaimed angrily.

Now the three of them could get a close look at him, it was light and he wasn't hiding anything. He looked just like Shadow but he was wearing different clothes, his inhibitor rings were silver and his shoes were grey and red instead or white and red, they were also more streamlined. "Who are you!?" Shadow yelled in fear.

"Isn't it obvious? I am Shadow The Hedgehog." he said sinisterly.

"No, he is Shadow!" Sonic yelled and pointed to his friend. "You're just a faker!"

"Says the faker." the new hedgehog scoffed. Sonic made fists in anger.

"Look, can we do this at a different time? I have a full stomach." Shadow said nervously. "I can't fight like this."

The new Shadow began to chuckle sinisterly. "That is where I have an advantage, while you have to perform all of those bodily functions… I don't, I simply have to breathe, nothing else." he said menacingly and confidently. Shadow's ears drooped to the sides of his head in sadness. "And I don't have those emotional problems of yours."

"I don't have emotional problems!" Shadow yelled in anger and distress and charged towards his adversary with his fist out. The distraught hedgehog tried to punch his rival but his fist was caught easily. The stronger hedgehog got a hold of poor Shadow's fist and held him still. "Please-"

Shadow was blasted back with a small chaos blast which was big enough to simply hurt Shadow only. "He can control the strength and direction of his chaos blasts." Sonic breathed. "Our Shadow can't do that."

Shadow hit the wall at the back of the wall where the shop owner was standing in fear. "Are you sure you haven't got a bathroom in this place?" Shadow growled while trying to get up off the floor. "Because if there was one it would make this fight a lot easier." he added. The newly made Shadow began to laugh evilly.

"So pathetic." he chuckled. "This is how I come at a real advantage. While you're off doing all of that disgusting stuff, I could be killing your friends or taking over the world." he teased spitefully.

"No way, he can hold the pee in with one hand and fight with the other!" Sonic joked he then gave a yelp and jumped to the side as two chaos spears came his way.

"Shut up Faker!" both Shadows yelled.

"Fair enough… you go home tonight and rest. But you must turn up at Eggman's base to meet your fate tomorrow evening." the new Shadow offered. "That should give you enough time to rest and…" he made a disgusted look. "If you don't turn up by then, I'll come for you and innocent people may be hurt in the process." he hissed and disappeared with chaos control.

Sonic and Rouge slowly walked over to Shadow who was in a heap on the floor, laying against the back wall amongst a pile of wall plaster. "This is the end of me…" Shadow trembled while trying to get up. Rouge helped him up while he had his right hand on his left shoulder, his white glove becoming strained with green thick, black arms blood.

"Let's get you home Shadow, this isn't the end of you, once you've had a nice 'comfort break' and a long sleep you'll feel better and you'll be able to fight." Rouge said sympathetically while putting her arm around him to comfort him.

Shadow cringed at her words. "He's right, I'm pathetic. I don't deserve to live, I'm no ultimate life form." Shadow said sadly.

"We'll see Shadow, I swear you're better than this, I know you're better than this." Sonic said optimistically. "You are the ultimate life form, you can defeat anything!"

"Yes, anything but my… update." Shadow grumbled. "Like I said earlier, all I can do is enjoy the time I have left." he sighed sadly and they made their way back to the flat.

Lucy Labrador