Okay, here's a new chapter! I know I was skimpy on Chaos . . . don't like him all that much . . . but I promise that once I get the next chapter actually written, I will post it! I should really get on that.


When I headed to school on Thursday, I was surprised by the buzz that was going around.

"Shadow turned into his other form last night—I swear it looked familiar!" said Fang loudly in English before the bell rang.

"Imagine if he went to school here!" sighed Elise, a redheaded, ditzy female human who I actually couldn't stand. We did have a mix of humans and furries in our classes, after all. Knuckles gave a noncommittal grunt. Rouge was staring blankly at the board.

"What's the matter, Knux? You can't make sense since last night. What was with you anyway?"

"I realized that I've been an idiot and a jerk. Why do we beat up the kids who are smarter than us? Why bother? It gains us nothing."

"They do our homework," pointed out Fang, narrowing his eyes.

"Which we could probably do ourselves if we weren't so busy at parties. I'm tired of being the big idiot bully, okay?"

"So . . . you're basically ditching Elise, Rouge, and I."

"I'm staying with Knuckie," said Rouge dangerously.

"Dropping down to what level, Knuckles? Just below the top? Or to the bottom of the barrel?" Fang sneered, jerking his head in my direction when he said "bottom".

"Look—it doesn't have to be that way, Fang. We could still be buds, top of the world and all—you'd just have to stop threatening people in alleys with knives and guns."

"As if! That's the only way to get anything done! I'd bet you anything that whoever Shadow is, he's a sharpshooter, too! No one could have good aim like that otherwise!"

"Or maybe he got lucky," I said, "That's how he said it worked out. After that, it was just practice, instinct, and trying to stay half-alive at best." Fang turned and narrowed his eyes at me.

"Look, I don't really think you ought to butt in on things you don't know about," he growled.

"I know more about Shadow the Hedgehog than anyone in this school, Fang the Sniper," I snapped.

"I doubt that. Unless you make it a bet, I won't believe you."

"Fine, it's a bet. First person to find out Shadow the Hedgehog's secret identity, and come up with fifty legit facts about him, wins."

"You're so on. What are the stakes?"

"Well, when I win, you have to give all of your bodily harming weapons to me and watch me melt them all down, and you can't buy, borrow, steal, or obtain any new ones for the rest of high school. That includes summers," I said warningly.

"That's some high wager! All right, then . . . when I win, you have to be mine and Elise's slave for the rest of high school. That includes summers," he mimicked my voice badly.

"It's a deal then." We shook on it just as the bell rang and class started.

Amy got on my case at lunch.

"What are you thinking? Now he might find out your secret and blab it to the world!"

"Do you think he's going to think it's me when I made that wager? In his mind, Shadow the Hedgehog would be elusive, powerful, cool, and above all, not me."

" . . . Just be careful."

"And besides. If my secret is ever blown, I win." Tails laughed. Suddenly, there was screaming in the parking lot. I turned invisible and into Shadow, Chaos Controlled there, and saw a weird glowing water thing walking around.

"All right, whatever you are, I suggest you stop before you get a pounding," I warned. It turned towards me and an electrical shock zapped through the air towards me—I dodged, but attacked it soon after. All it did was regenerate, though, so I needed to keep moving. I attacked it again and again, but nothing happened.

"Kill it, Shadow! Kill it!" shouted none other than Fang.

"Shut up, kid! I need to concentrate!" I yelled back, "and get out of here unless you want to end up on one of the receiving ends of my Chaos Spear or this guy's attacks!" Everyone seemed to take my advice. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that, one by one, it was taking the Chaos Emeralds. I only noticed when it started to grow and change rapidly.

"Whoa—this isn't supposed to be happening," I said. It started to glow, and before I could do anything about it, a huge tsunami washed over me. I swallowed a mouthful and attempted to reach the surface. Before there was much I could to, I saw that people were on top of buildings for refuge—the thing had just flooded the town!—and that it now resembled a sort of water—dragon—thing. I did the reasonable and responsible thing this time. I swam through the water, which I shouldn't because I can barely swim, up towards its head, and through the neck to where I could see the Chaos Emeralds glowing. I was starting to lose consciousness, when a warm feeling spread through me, and I knew it was the emeralds. I turned into Super Sonic—as I figured that it would use less energy in this case, and began beating on the monster that felt more solid now like no tomorrow. Finally, it died down to its original form. Just as I was going to suck it into the thermos like usual, a voice called.

"Wait!" I turned—it was Ember! I got ready to fight, but she didn't look angry.

"I don't want any trouble, okay? This is Chaos. He's an old friend of mine."

"Your friend just nearly destroyed the entire town," I said bluntly.

"I know. He wasn't in his right mind, ever since we got separated . . . in the fire back home . . ." she said. I was stunned, suddenly realizing what that meant. It must have been her friend until they both . . . died. I couldn't say that outright though.

"No, of course, I get it. You can go back, I won't force you, just don't cause trouble," I said. She smiled gratefully.

"Thanks. You have no idea. Chaos? It's me, Tikal. Let's go back to the Zone, okay? Betcha I can beat you there!" Chaos, like a puppy, ran in the direction of my house. She followed quickly.

"That was certainly interesting," I said as normal Shadow with the Chaos Emeralds around me. I guess ghosts weren't always all bad.

I was not afraid of finding the next piece. I was afraid of getting the five, the seven, and the thirteen. That was scary. What would I have to face? What was I going to have to give up with those? Sure, I learned that Ember and Chaos were okay . . . but the other ones worried me. Meanwhile, I wrote up fifty facts on my computer about myself, including that I was Shadow the Hedgehog, and hid them away to shove in Fang's face if I ever had to give up my secret.

But anyway, I was fighting the usual ghosts when I met a strange sight. A ghost echidna with a dark outfit that had glowing symbols on it joined—and she helped me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Call me Shade the Echidna."

"Nice to meet you. Now, how about we finish him?"

"Sounds reasonable enough. Chaos—"

"Spear!" we both shouted, and our combined attack finished the large blob of green goo with red eyes. It shrieked and disintegrated. I went into an alley, changed into Sonic, and came back to find the echidna girl gone. In her place stood a young girl, twelve or thirteen. She was a hedgehog with blonde hair down her back.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hi. I'm Sonic. Do you need help?" I asked.

"I'm Maria . . . I don't . . . know. Can you help me? I don't remember . . ." she tried to convey it, but looked at me helplessly and immediately. I don't remember who I am.


Any good? 'Dani' Phantom . . . well, I tried my best . . . I thought Shade fit the role nicely. And since I couldn't do anything else, I figured, why not bring back Maria the Hedgehog? This is the end of all prewritten content, so I'll be taking longer on this story. Feel free to check out my other ones though, I'll be updating soon!