Chapter 4: Old Friends that Know What You Did Last Summer

Disclaimer: In America, I don't own Sonic. In Soviet Russia, Sonic doesn't own me.

"Helen! We need to get to the house before the Phantoms find us!" A man shouted as he pushed the wheelchair that his wife was confined in. They got into a car with their maid and butler. They sped off into the night. The man was sweating as he drove, the fear made plain in his eyes. As they drove, they watched the roofs of all the buildings they passed by, watching intently for hoods of blue and neon green. They listened for any guttural sounds; for in the urban area, this was the hunting cry of those who stalked the alleyways and those who roamed at night. They made it to their mansion in record time. They all hurried out of the car. "Wait!" The butler cried silently. The butler motioned to the right and they found two hedgehogs, a rabbit, a fox, an echidna and a crocodile. "Are they…?" Asked the man. "They are, Chris!" Cried the woman in the wheelchair. "It's PIE!" Shouted the butler. "Sorry," said the butler, "I'm not wearing my glasses." The man turned to his wife, butler and maid and said, "Helen, Mr. Tanaka and Ella, we need to get them inside." They picked up the unconscious animals and brought them into the house. The man sealed the door behind them.

A dark hedgehog gritted his teeth as he faced the center of the large compound. Men garbed in blue hoodies whispered and jeered amongst themselves, waiting for their leader to speak. Their leader was a young woman, garbed in a robe that bore many colors. She wore a necklace that boasted three gems that glowed and hummed with intense power. Her hair was silver, her skin was grey. Nevertheless, she held an air of command, respect and loyalty as she sat in her throne. This made the following silence quite uneasy as she raised her hand.

"So," the woman began, "why do you bring this aberration here?" She stared at the ebony hedgehog. "What is your name? I like knowing whom I am about to kill."

The hedgehog spoke, "I am Shadow. And I challenge you to a fight."

All the men in the compound laughed. Who had the audacity to challenge the leader of the Phantoms, the strongest gang in the quarantine, who owned the region?

Shadow stood, not noticing the laughter of the blue-hooded men.

The woman played with her long hair as she pondered Shadow's challenge.

"Shadow is your name?"

Shadow stared at her.

"You favor silence then? Fine. I'll talk, you listen. I have heard your name; it was carried to me by a wind as slow and silent as a whisper. The humans claim you are the ultimate life form." She raised her fist. "Our battle shall be legendary!" The Phantoms cheered.

Shadow then said, "If I win, I want the Chaos emeralds."

"The what?"

"The Chaos emeralds! The ones you are wearing as a necklace!"

The woman held here necklace tightly, as if afraid the emeralds would fly away from her.

"And if I win…" Started the woman, "Aw, f- it. I'll kick your butt for free."

The men surrounded the circle before the throne as the woman stepped into it. She disrobed, revealing more common street clothing underneath. The men started chanting, possessed by the spirits of old tribal denizens, and nodded their head to an invisible intoxicating rhythm. The woman and Shadow charged at each other and Shadow socked her in the jaw. She fell over, but she got back up. The bout continued with this process and eventually, Shadow charged at the woman. The woman scratched Shadow with her talon-like figure nails and punched him in the nose. Shadow fell back, unconscious. The men in the blue hoodies cheered and yelled and jeered. With an unknown force, the woman flung Shadow across the city toward a mansion with her will alone.

A figure watched the entire spectacle. He turned away. Why did you fail Shadow? The figure thought. I thought you were the one most prepared for what is coming. I guess Maria and Molly taught you nothing.

Awakening was a pain for Sonic. His body shivered and convulsed in agony. The bright lights hurt his eyes and made them water. He tried to move his arm, but found he was cocooned in a thick roll of blankets and sheets. Sonic sighed. In a quick spin, Sonic shredded through the sheets, held up his arm, and scratched his back. "Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh," Sonic moaned in ecstasy. The convulsions stopped. But the pain was still present. He ached in many places. "Shame about the sheets, though," Sonic said as he looked at the torn fabric. "Never one to stay still, were you, faker?" Sonic spun around and caused a small tornado. At the doorway stood a dark, ebony hedgehog, which stood with a sneer that almost looked like a smile. His dark quills were colored red at the tips and the quills themselves bent in wild ways. His eyes were red and intense.

"Oh," said Sonic, "hey Faker."

"You're lucky I don't fight injured people," said the hedgehog, "and I have a name. It's Shadow."

"Haven't seen you when you teleported with the exploding planet egg. What did you do with that thing, anyway?"

"I dumped it in the space between planes." Sonic sat, looking confused. Shadow continued, "A place where it won't go boom and kill millions."

"Where are we anyway?" Asked Sonic.

"I'll give you three guesses." Shadow said. Downstairs, Sonic heard a voice calling, "Shadow! Get down here! This place is getting filthy!"

"That's…that's Ella's voice." Sonic said. "So…this is Chris's mansion?"

"Yep. Now come downstairs. You're done lounging in bed." Sonic couldn't help but notice an odd mark on Shadow's forehead. Five horizontal, red streaks ran from temple to temple. "Where'd you got those?" Sonic asked.

"It's nothing to burden your little brain with for now." Shadow spat back.

"Yikes, I only asked."

"And I only refused."

Sonic and Shadow walked down the flight of steps and found themselves in the living room. It seemed just as pretty as the day Sonic left. If Shadow was telling the truth, and this was Chris's mansion, it'd be safe to say Chris would like to keep everything the same. Sonic saw Tails, Cream, Cheese, Knuckles, Rouge and Amy eating breakfast on the furniture. Along with a few old friends, mainly a man who resembled his father.

"I hope Mr. Sonic is alright." Cream said.

"He is. At least, I hope so," said Chris.

"Of course I am," said Sonic, "I always make it out alive."

In surprise, all heads turned to the blue hedgehog. Chris stood up and walked over to Sonic. He gave Sonic a hug. The rest of the characters gave Sonic a hug.

Everyone except Shadow.

They all sat down on the sofa for breakfast. "So how'd you find us?" Sonic asked as he ate his potatoes. Helen explained everything about how they found Sonic and his friends. "Wait," asked Rouge, "how did Shadow get here?" Everyone turned to Shadow. He grunted. "When I teleported with the planet egg, I pitched it into the space between planes; a place where the planet egg could explode and harm no one. I went back to Mobius and I made a grave for Molly. I placed a flower on it."

"Why didn't you stay on Mobius?" Inquired Tails.

"I saw no reason to stay on Mobius. I wanted to think things out for myself. I was caught in between Mobius and Earth. And I chose to go to Earth." Shadow then looked at Tails. "I wanted to be alone."

"But," started Rouge, "why didn't you come back to Eggman's base?"

"I don't like the doctor. He's a psycho and a failure."

Sonic was thinking about what happened on the night he and his friends arrived. "Wait," said Sonic, "I know this is off-topic, but why is the region quarantined?"

"Sonic," said Chris, "what happened was that a deadly plague started sweeping the city. G.U.N tried to contain the virus by quarantining the entire region."

"So Topaz is involved in this?" Interrupted Rouge.

An uneasy look spread across Mr. Tanaka's face. "What's wrong, old man?" Said Sonic sardonically. Ella intervened; she knew about Sonic's bad blood with Mr. Tanaka. "Topaz disappeared when the quarantine started," said Ella.

"It's true," said Chris, "but anyway, when the quarantine was put into effect, we were locked in with the psychos. Now, an urban gang called the Phantoms rules this place. And another gang called the Conclave is gaining ground."

"This isn't important," interrupted Knuckles. "We need to find a way to get back to Mobius and find the guy who stole the Chaos emeralds and the Master emerald."

"SOMEONE STOLE THE EMERALDS?!" Shadow shouted. "I thought you were supposed to guard them, not let them be pilfered."

"Tough talk from the guy who tried to kill a kid!"

As Knuckles and Shadow stood up to fight, being held back by Amy and Rouge, Tails remembered what Knuckles shouted at Shadow. Shadow tried to slay Cosmo when he found out she was an unwilling Metarex collaborator. Tails tried to stop Shadow from doing so, and Tails was beaten to within an inch of his life for it. Tails did it because he loved Cosmo. What was even more saddening was that, although Tails saved Cosmo from Shadow's intents of stopping the Metarex's advantage, Tails couldn't save Cosmo from Dark Oak, in the end. Tails began to cry. Cream rushed over to Tails.

"And what's more," shouted Knuckles, "you made Tails cry!"

"YOU BOTH SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!" Shouted Cream. She grabbed Tails and they ran to an adjacent room and locked the door.

Everyone was stunned. "What just happened?" Shadow asked. Amy knew what happened. Knuckles' cheap shot at Shadow reminded Tails of Cosmo. "Nothing," Amy said harshly, "you dumb-dumbs both know Cream can't stand fights." Silence broke out between all of them. Tails' dirge decreased in volume until it disappeared. "I want my momma," Cream said in the awkward silence that heralded the birth of a mutant.

In the adjacent room, Tails had fallen asleep in Creams arms as she finished humming a nursery tune her mother sang to Cream when she felt sad. He looks so cute when he sleeps, thought Cream. His fuzzy body and fluffy twin tails seemed so comforting. It was astonishing to Cream how Tails could've felt depressed. He always seemed so cheerful, as if nothing bad ever happened to him and never would happen to him. That's why he needs me, thought Cream. She loved him, and it was that feeling that kept her at Tails' side through the best of times and the worst. The reason she stayed with him now. Cream nuzzled her face into Tails' furry chest and blew a little raspberry. Tails chuckled in his sleep and smiled. Cream giggled, and fell asleep.

"You sleep quite soundly for a murderess." A gravelly voice said.

Cream immediately woke up. "Who's there?" She called out. It was night outside. She searched around the room. The voice started again, "You'll need a conscience like that to help you when what is coming comes."

"Who are you?"

The voice took no notice. "I saw what you and Cheese did to Emerl. I almost wish there was another robot here for you both to destroy. The sadness and terror Emerl felt when he knew what you did to him. You were important to him. If he could speak, Emerl would have shouted, 'My love! You have killed me!' And you did it for the greater good." The voice disappeared after giving an evil cackle.

Cream sank to her knees, defeated and crying. She knew what she did to Emerl. She despaired. She was helping Tails; she was there for him. But who was there for her? Who would comfort her? Tails didn't seem to think of her in a romantic way. She wasn't Cosmo. And she didn't want Bokkun's affections. But she sat up and wiped the tears away. She was told from Vector and her mother about what happened to her father. He was killed for whatever paper he had in his wallet. And Vanilla had to be strong for Cream, strong for her late husband. Cream would do the same, and be strong for Cheese, Amy, Emerl and, for most of all, Tails. Cream knew that Cosmo's death left a scar on Tails' heart. But the scar was only a skin deep thing; it would not survive time. It would not survive Cream. She would wash the scar off and would replace Cosmo in Tails' heart. "And then Tails will love me," Cream said with determination as her happy-go-lucky smile returned to her face. The dream faded.

Meanwhile, Vector had woken up and walked downstairs. "Yikes, what's with all the yelling?" Vector asked as he saw all of them on the sofas. Helen wheel chaired up to Vector. "YOU!" She yelled.

"Uh oh."

"YOU OWE ME FIVE BUCKS!"

And an irate Helen chased Vector all around the living room.