Something within Sonic burned.

Even if Shadow was going to kill us… He changed his mind… Maybe he's mentally unstable… or crazy… but I know he's a good person at heart…! I won't let him die like this! And I won't let him hurt Rouge either, because she doesn't deserve it at all! "You creep!" Thorn never saw what was coming. In an instant, the fifteen year old was in front of him. He kicked Thorn in the gut. The knife was ripped from Shadow's hand. Thorn lost his breath, but before he could even gasp, Sonic kicked him from behind right in the back. The clone slammed down onto the asphalt, unintentionally cutting himself in the arm.

He barely had time to process this before Sonic grabbed him up from off the ground, swinging him in circles fast enough to generate a wind devil. He was promptly sent flying though the air, crashing to the street ten yards away. On impact, his skull cracked. The dagger fell to the ground.

"Sonic, stop!" Shadow called out.

Reluctantly, Sonic did. "B-but… He was going to kill you! He's one of your clones, and you always take them down, and I don't want you or Rouge to get hurt anymore!" He stared at Shadow in confusion.

Thorn forced himself into sitting position, trying to recover.

"…T-take Rouge… Leave us… I have… to do this myself…" The Ultimate Life Form released his embrace on his best friend. "S-stay out of it…"

Sonic stared in grief. If Shadow tried to finish the fight alone, he knew he wouldn't survive it. There was already so much blood on the ground…

And most of it was Shadow's.

"No, I c-can't leave you…!" More tears slipped from Rouge's eyes. "Please!"

"Yes… you can… P-please do it f-for me…"

Sonic walked over to them, full of sorrow. He knew he needed to respect the black hedgehog's decision. "Come on, Rouge…"

Rouge didn't want to lose Shadow. "N-no! I pr-promised I would s-stay right h-here! I said I-I would stay w-with you…!"

Shadow fought to ignore the pain as he forced her to let go of him. He wasn't sure if he was talking to himself, or to Rouge as he spoke. "Don't c-cry…" He glanced at Sonic.

The fifteen year old knew what this meant, and quickly, but gently pulled the white bat away from her best friend. She couldn't help but to continue crying, but she stayed silent. The young hero led her away from the battle. She looked back as she was pulled away, feeling like she would never see Shadow again.

Thorn got up off the ground, looking angrily back at Sonic. He wanted to go after him, as well as Rouge, but he knew he had a job to do first.

He had to kill off his look-alike.

Watch your back. The voice warned. Shadow complied, weakly and dizzily forcing himself up. He looked over his shoulder at the clone, nearly choking on tears as the voice spoke up again. You can do it.

Thorn picked his knife up off the ground. He began to advance toward the Ultimate Life Form.

Shadow turned himself around, pressing forward and fighting back tears. It was hard to stay focused…

"Do you really think you can win against me like that?" The clone sneered. "Any moment know, you'll drop dead because of blood loss. Now that I know what to expect from that blue hedgehog, it shouldn't be so hard for me to take him down, as well as your female friend."

"I can defeat you…" Shadow whispered. "I'm just as strong as you are… if not stronger…"

"Ah, but you've taken much more damage then me." Thorn replied, becoming almost cocky. "I'll take you down in three seconds…"

"I won't go down without a fight. I won't leave Sonic and Rouge to have to deal with the likes of you."

"Well then, this should be interesting…" The clone pointed his dagger at Shadow. Shadow did nothing but keep walking forward. After a few more seconds, they both stopped about three feet from each other. Sonic and Rouge watched from a distance.

Wordlessly, the battle reengaged. The knife was swung; a few punches were thrown and few kicks, too. Spindashes. Homing attacks. Chaos attacks, though they were limited. More blood spilled. Rouge could hardly bear to watch. Time passed; seconds, then minutes. For Sonic, not being allowed to get involved was torture, especially when the outcome was looking so grim.

Shadow was losing.

After seven minutes, he collapsed, falling in a puddle of cold, pure crimson; his own blood.

Just as before, everything hurt. Just as before, his senses were fading in and out. His vision was nearly gone. The only sense that seemed to still be working well was his hearing. The pain was so great, he would welcome death. He would welcome it to take away the agony and weariness that he felt… if only he knew Rouge would be safe.

But he knew she wouldn't be. Sonic could probably finish the job, but there was no guarantee that Thorn wouldn't pull some trick and manage to take Rouge's life while Sonic watched helpless. Rouge would not be officially safe until Thorn was dead.

He couldn't give up yet.

"Oh, how sad… The hero's going to drown in his own blood…" Thorn, who was quite a bit more injured than before, knelt over Shadow, pushing his head down on the ground. Of course, it would actually be hard for Shadow to drown in such a way, but Thorn was enjoying himself making a mockery of his adversary.

…It might have been wise if he had learned not to play around with his enemies, even weak or dying ones. Shadow was not completely helpless yet. He jerked his good hand up, snatching Thorn's dagger and using his other arm to push himself (mostly his head) up off the pavement. "…Not… if you go f-first…"

The clone seemed rather surprised, backing off a bit from Shadow like a coward. However, he stopped after only a few feet, realizing that such a thing could prove to be a huge mistake. "My, my… I suppose you are stronger than I thought."

"Did I not warn you?"

"Indeed, you did…"

Shadow kept his head lifted, but remained on the ground. "I w-will fight… to stay a-live… And I'll fight you… I w-won't die u-until… I've defeated you…"

"And how do you intend on that? I could probably kill you right now if I stepped on your head. It would crush your skull and brain."

"I-I won't let you win…"

Thorn looked thoughtful. "… What sort of reasons do you have for being so protective? I've always wondered why my victims would trade their lives for certain people, or certain things…"

"I told you… Sh-she's my best friend…"

"And you love her?"

Shadow paused, glaring firmly. "…What's it to y-you?"

"Love is the most pathetic reason to ever give." Thorn spat. "Pleasures are one thing, but real love is useless."

Something sparked. Suddenly, Shadow was up, and before anyone realized what he was doing, he had already knocked Thorn to the ground, pinning him down. "Y-you're wrong… Real love is everything… E-even if it's just… the love from a fri-endship… 'Love conquers all'… 'Love never fails' … Love… is kindness… and care…" Shadow began to cry. "Friendship… and n-nothing… in this world… nothing would be any good without love… real l-love, not 'pleasures'…! I… would be… d-dead already… i-if not for kindness… or care I-I've been given… I-I would have d-died… before you e-even existed… War, hate, anger, illness, suffering… would be all… that ever existed… w-without love… U-unlike you, a sadist… most people are gr-eived by those th-things!" Thorn struggled against Shadow's hold, not seeming to be listening.

The Ultimate Life Form shook, barely keeping him down. His vision was even worse than before, and he could barely tell white from black. "I-I feel sorry… for you… That you can't understand… But I can't… I won't… Let you go, so you can hurt Rouge… I-I do care a-about my friends… And I d-don't care… if it's a c-crime… I'll protect them… until the day I die…"

"Fool!" Thorn hissed. "You say all these things… You don't even know if they would do the same for you! You say all these things, yet one false move and you know that you could end up back in an experimentation lab where there is no such thing as 'love'! You act as brainless as a child!"

"Children… are much smarter than m-most people th-think… S-sometimes… they u-understand… m-more… Maybe I'm just more… appreciative of w-what… care I'm given… N-now that I've… seen… the other side… I know… my friends would do the same f-for me… they a-already tried…" He slowly raised the dagger, trying to ignore how sorry he felt.

"So be it... watch as the whole world turns its back to you!"

"At least I won't do the same." Shadow whispered. He brought the knife down on Thorn, aiming at something he could barely identify as being white. The clone was unable to escape. The Ultimate Life Form was unable to miss. The knife pierced through copy's heart, killing him immediately.

After what seemed like hours of pain, it was finally over. Shadow moved off of his dead enemy, weakly crawling several feet away. He looked toward Sonic and Rouge.

Both were glad the fight was over… But Shadow looked very tired and very weak. His eyes seemed almost lifeless… They both ran over, Sonic pulling Rouge behind him.

"Shadow, are you alright?" Sonic asked. By alright, he was actually asking if Shadow thought he would make it, since it was most obvious that Shadow was not alright.

Even though the battle was over, Rouge was still crying. She wanted to hug Shadow, but she worried about hurting him more… and she worried that any time she took up to do so might take away time from getting him to a hospital. She'd rather have him survive than have him dead because she couldn't wait to comfort him.

What the Ultimate Life Form did next nearly shocked them.

Shadow slowly forced himself to his feet. For a few seconds he stood tall. However, as he made his way towards Sonic and Rouge, every step he took was strained, agonizing, labored… Most of his vision was painted in black. His wounds were surging with pain. He was stumbling a bit, barely able to keep his balance. His knees were ready to give out on him, and his breathing was shallow and ragged.

He had lost too much blood now. He could feel death taking him away again…

But he was thankful. Thankful that Sonic had let him fight for himself. Thankful that Sonic had kept Rouge out of danger…

He was thankful that Sonic had come back and had forgiven him. Now that he was forgiven and Rouge was safe, dying didn't matter to him. He felt that he was okay with it, and that now, he was at peace. Death would come upon him at any second, but there was only one thing he wanted to say…

Sonic wanted to cry. Shadow fought his way forward until he was only a foot or so away from Sonic. "I-I-I'm… alright… n-now… Th-thank y-you… S-sonic…" And just like that, he collapsed; lifeless.

Sonic caught him before he hit the ground, taking his old friend and adopted brother into his arms.

Now he couldn't help but cry.

He cried hard.