Disclaimer: No, I don't own Sonic or Shadow. Sometimes I own Tails, but only on on the second and third weekend of every month. Only not really, I do own the story and the words though. Don't steal that, because stealing is just Lame...with a capital L.

Author's Notes: Can I just say...finally?

This chapter KILLED me. So hello, I am now a spirit in the afterlife. I tried, tried, and tried to write this chapter for months but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. But! I've shifted into one of my writing splurges and got it all out, not to mention I've revised and added a few things to Chapters One, Two, Three, Seven, and Eight. So what an update this is, hm?

Aaaah, I really hope you guys like this. I just hope people are still following this story! Geeze, it's really been awhile. I am sorry for that. The next one definitely will not take as long, considering it just may be the last chapter. So! Consider this one...the climax chapter of the story I suppose.

Gah, I hope you enjoy! Reviews would be amazing, really, since I've been out of the loop for a long time with this. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far though, and who even managed to read through it. I appreciate it soooo much, so thank you!

Fading Reminder

Chapter Nine: My Friend, My Betrayal

The easiest way around the unknown is avoidance.

A week had passed and there was noticeable distance between the two hedgehogs. They would each share more then a few awkward glances to one another and they weren't together like they usually had been lately. Sonic began asking Tails to go out with him before Shadow would wake up and then stay out late, hoping to return when Shadow was off on one of his recent hobbies, very long walks by himself.

Shadow had debated on leaving several times. He even went so far as to planning out how he would do it and places he might be able to go, but there was something holding him back that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He found himself getting up in the middle of the night, just as he planned several times in his mind, but when his fingers would wrap around the emerald and 'Chaos Control' had started to leave his lips, he couldn't say it. His mouth would always go dry, the emerald would return to its place in the drawer, and he would return to the bed that was referred to as his.

The two each had a ball of nervousness unwinding within their stomach's as the end of the week approached. It would be a night they were forced to really be around each other for the first time since that day.

--------

The dinner was at Amy's apartment this time. All of the guests gathered around the table, just like they did at Sonic's the month before. Shadow almost hadn't come but persistent friends insisted Sonic bring him along mostly out of complete etiquette. The blue hero had said nothing though, and he had actually hoped that Shadow wouldn't be going, but he wanted to avoid questions such as "Why didn't you bring Shadow?" "Where is Shadow?" and "I thought you were going to bring Shadow, are you two fighting or something?"

Irony had placed the two right next to each other at the dinner table, as irony would. It always seemed to ring out of one's favor when least wanted to.

Sonic was given strange looks throughout all of their dining; his silence was just past abnormal to just plain weird. Amy was the first to speak up. She, of course, was sitting on the opposite side of her handsome hero. Sonic's silence was odd enough, but Amy not near him while in his presence would mean the world has turned completely upside down. She put her hand on his knee.

"Sonic? What's wrong with you tonight? You've barely spoken."

He just shrugged as he prodded his mashed potatoes with his fork. "I haven't been feeling good lately…must be a cold," he lied and then sniffled for effect.

Shadow listened to conversations happening around the table as he sat quietly eating, his ears began to pick up on this one, and he had to withstand a smirk at Sonic's blatant lie and bad acting.

"Aw," Amy slightly whined. She pulled her arms up around his neck and as she pulled him close, the chair tilted just enough to still keep its balance.

Shadow noticed this little scene out of the corner of his eye. He felt an overprotective wave smooth itself over him. He had never liked Amy, and he knew that her constant clinginess annoyed his friend to no end, so why would he sit there and not do anything about it? His eyes never shifted from his plate, but he brought a hand away from the table and pressed down onto the seat of the chair so it would fall back into its upright position. He wasn't sure why this feeling had come over him; all he knew was that it had, and that he didn't want Amy touching him that way.

Sonic fell back into his previous position with a bit of a thud to the floor from the chair. He stared down at his plate of food with a look of disbelief on his face. He wasn't sure if the disbelief was at the situation or at the smirk that had just grew onto his muzzle. He counted to three in his head, waiting for what he knew was to come next. Amy was never one to keep her mouth shut.

1...

The glare in Amy's eyes grew and everyone at the table seemed to be looking at her except for Shadow and Sonic. Shadow's actions had angered her enough. Why, she practically fell off of her own chair as Shadow forcefully made it move like that. But Sonic's smirk at the situation made her even more angrier, considering he had barely hinted towards anything of a smile the entire night.

2...

Her fork seemed to place itself down.

3.

"What's going on?" She asked, just as it was expected of her. Amy was always upfront with everything.

Sonic took a deep breath, not wanting to get into this situation. He wasn't sure what was happening himself, how would he begin to tell Amy? "I told you, Ames, I'm sick."

"Excuse me, I was asking Shadow." said the persistent girl with her eyes on the streaked hedgehog. She had never liked him in the first place and she was just waiting for the first sign of disrespect from him so she could say something.

Shadow's eyes didn't lift to hers but he felt everyone's around the table focused on him. His fork was held loosely in his hand and his mind was filled with apathy. He didn't want to come to this dinner in the first place. He especially didn't particularly care for the situation, nor did he even know how to answer so he just ignored her. In truth, he was somewhat confused himself. The protectiveness, and jealousy that filled him at her touch was…odd and unfamiliar to him. Usually, he wouldn't care of such things, but this was something he felt like he couldn't help.

But one thing Amy didn't like, was to be ignored.

"Shadow?" She asked, each molecule of confidence and bravery surfacing.

He let the fork drop onto his plate with high annoyance and a rather loud clang considering the complete room was silent now. He turned his head toward her.

There was something about his eyes that always seemed to intimidate Amy. They always seemed angry, and had a dark demeanor about them. With just that one silent gesture, he managed to knock her whole wall of confidence down.

"Amy? Just forget it." Sonic added in. "Why don't you grab some more of those awesome sweet potatoes you made for us?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

She smiled at him. It always made her happy that he liked her cooking. "Alright."

The dinner continued. Sonic spoke up a bit more and tried to be himself. If he played it casual and normal, no one would question what was on his mind. How could he tell them that he and Shadow had…kissed?

He just shut his eyes at the thought of it in disbelief…disbelief that it happened, and that he actually wanted to do it again. Sonic the Hedgehog rarely felt fear, and this was one of those rare occasions. He had never even kissed anyone before. He never counted Amy's surprise "death smooches," as he called them, actual kisses. But this was completely different. Shadow had been the one to kiss him first, but it was him that ignited the kiss. What was even more odd, was that he didn't even think. He went completely on instinct, like the restrictions of his mind and morals were completely stripped and he was inside out at that point.

The whole time Shadow was staying with them, Sonic has liked him as company. He was this dark creature that didn't praise him constantly and they always seemed to be in competition. Shadow was different, and that's what attracted Sonic to him. He was like a balance between the two. The good guy and the bad guy each on different paths. The light path crossed the dark to create one. Sonic liked this, a lot actually. The smirk that pulled at his muzzle when Shadow rudely pulled him away from Amy was an example of this, and he knew it.

-------

The dinner came to a close. The table was cleaned up, the dishes were piled in the sink, the chairs placed neatly under the table, and the stomachs were stuffed. All sat in the living room, just like they did last month in Sonic's home to catch up with one another. They were scattered across the floor, the couch and the chairs. The group seemed to be near each other, all except for a black and red hedgehog who sat a good a ways on the floor against the wall.

"So, then I said, 'I don't care if you are my superior, I get the jewels that I earned.' And I grabbed the gems off of his desk and walked out!" Exclaimed Rouge with pride as she finished one of her many stories from her very eventful life. She was the-girl-always-on-the-go, so to speak.

Shadow didn't even know what was going on. He heard them laughing and sharing stories in and out of his own thoughts. For the most part, he just sat there with his legs bent up and his elbows leaning on top of them. His mind tried to wander into other things and so did his eyes, but no matter what he tried to focus on, they both ended up drifting back to the one thing he didn't want them to.

There the bored hero was, sitting beside Amy on the floor. Half-sitting anyway. Half of his body laid on the floor while his neck was propped up against the couch with hands folded over his chest. His sight kept scanning the room at the random knickknacks that were hanging and placed all over the place. He couldn't concentrate either. When he heard his friends laughing, he would join in, even if he didn't know what the joke was about. He kept questioning in his head, just exactly what was going on with him.

So, he decided to put things to the test.

Sonic looked up towards Amy hesitantly. This was probably a bad idea, but he had to find out somehow. She noticed his attention and tilted her head with curiosity. The blue hedgehog bit his bottom lip and took a quick look towards Shadow. Just as he suspected, Shadow was looking at him, but turned away quickly when he was spotted. Sonic gave him a soft smile before he turned back to Amy. He leaned to whisper in her ear. "Can we…go for a walk?"

She nodded her head with enthusiasm. Alone with Sonic? Her heart almost shot through the roof.

Shadow's eyes followed the two until the apartment door shut behind them. What he had felt earlier when she had wrapped her arms around his neck surfaced again.

Complete jealousy. He hated it.

It was a cooler night out. It wasn't too late, so traffic was still buzzing by on Amy's busy street in the middle of Station Square. The two just walked with no particular destination and Sonic avoided the subject as to why he brought her out here; he was still trying to piece that together in his own head. So, he just let her talk about the dinner, about Rouge and Knuckles-how she thinks they would be a cute couple or something. He wasn't paying too much attention anyway, not until she got onto the topic of Shadow that is.

"Ya know, Sonic. I don't understand why you hang out with him so much. He's so quiet and rude. I think only Rouge likes him around. I know I sure don--"

"You just don't know him," he interrupted after his head jerked towards her as if she threatened his life. "You won't give him a chance." He said in a defensive tone.

This surprised Amy a little bit, but she didn't let up, "Did you forget that he almost killed you? I mean, the two of you were rivals before he…" She stopped, not wanting to bring up the time when all of them thought he had died. That was a tough time for Sonic and she couldn't figure out why, neither could he. "Well…you two were rivals before."

He nodded," I know, Ames. But he is a friend to me now, and I am happy. Isn't that all you should be worried about?"

She stopped him and the two were facing each other, "I do care about that Sonic, but I don't want him to hurt you. I have a bad feeling-"

"Don't worry about it, Amy," he said as he cut her off. "I know how to take care of myself. You of all people should know that." He shot her that trademark smile.

She could've melted inside. "Oh, Sonic, let's get married!"

"What!" He yelled and jumped back a bit. He shook his head and began walking again. He actually thought she wasn't crazy for almost three whole seconds. "Can't we have a normal conversation without you going all fangirl on me?"

She ran to catch up with him, "but we'd be so cute together."

He suddenly strongly regretted coming out here with her. "Let's head back." He said as he turned around in the direction they came from.

"Wait, why did you ask me out here in the first place?"

"Oh, uh…" He felt heat rush to his cheeks and immediately let the pervious conversation leave his mind, "can I, kiss you?" Before he let her hopes fly sky-high, he had to explain without telling her exactly why "Now, don't take this the wrong way. It's only a kiss, I just need to figure something out. It means nothing."

"Oh, Sonic!"

She didn't hesitate. Her lips were on his immediately with her heart a flutter. He actually wanted her to kiss him! This was what she always wanted.

The whole point, was to see if this kiss with her would have the same effect on him. It was a drastic way to find out, but at this point, he was desperate. That kiss from Shadow was his first, and he wasn't sure if after any kiss at all you were supposed to feel like this. But, as their lips were parted, and their tongues were nervously dancing around each other, he thought of nothing but Shadow. He thought of how badly he wanted him on the opposite end so he could just feel what they had at that moment again. When he tried to focus in on Amy, he felt bored, and began thinking on when to pull away.

That was enough for him.

He parted from her, turned around, and headed back to her apartment building. "Thanks Amy, let's head back now." He said with a hurried voice. He felt like he could panic inside. He had hoped that he would get the same effect with Amy so he wouldn't have to be so scared about feeling passionately about a male hedgehog….but he didn't.

"Oh! Sonic!" She yelled after him with frustration and stamped a foot on the ground. He was out of her sight and she crossed her arms. "Darn, almost had him."

--------

It wasn't late, but it was late enough for a young fox of only the age of ten to be asleep. They had returned from Amy's a little later then usual. "I'm heading to bed." said Tails as he trotted off to his room, "Goodnight you two."

The two hedgehogs both said 'goodnight' in return and Tails was out of sight.

Sonic walked right into the kitchen, leaving Shadow alone in the living room. "You uh, want anything to drink?" He said as he stuck his head in the refrigerator. A part of him wanted to stay in that cold air forever, just so he didn't have to turn and look at his company.

"No," he responded almost inaudibly in his deep voice, "I'm fine, thank you."

Shadow sat down slowly on the couch. The moonlight was peering through the windows giving the room its only source of light. He felt nervous. He and Sonic haven't been alone together since that day on Angel Island. Whenever it seemed like they would be in that situation, one of them would think of some sort of excuse to leave. Nothing came to mind for Shadow, so he just sat there, waiting. Besides, he couldn't avoid him forever.

Sonic returned to the living room with two glasses in each hand filled with water. "Here, Shads. I know you said you didn't want anything, but what the hey." He handed his friend the glass and sat down beside him.

There was a bit of silence that rested between the two, but it hadn't been awkward like they had both thought it would be. Fireflies danced by the window and crickets chirped, the wind whistled through the trees and the owls sang their nightly song…it was soothing.

Shadow leaned back into the sofa and rested the glass on the tuft of white on his chest, still holding it in place with his two gloved hands. He smiled. He wasn't sure why, but he felt the need to. The situation just amused him. All this time he spent avoiding Sonic, contemplating on leaving, he forgot the feeling he got in his presence. Just sitting beside him, he felt good again, pure, and just happy. The world was beautiful. The fireflies, the owls, the wind, him, it was all too perfect. He felt right.

Sonic noticed the rare grin on Shadow's face and it swept a smile onto his own. "What are you smiling about?"

Shadow leaned up, pulling the glass with him, "you, hedgehog."

An eyebrow lifted, "what?"

"I've noticed we've been avoiding each other since that day."

Sonic looked away and his voice softened, "yeah…Listen, Shadow-"

The black hedgehog put a hand up to stop him from speaking, "it's alright. I forget now why we've avoided each other. Believe it or not, I really appreciate your company and feel…like a better individual around you."

Sonic lifted his eyes, "you do?"

Shadow only gave a curt nod. He leaned forward to place his glass on the coffee table in front of them, then leaned his elbows onto his knees. His gaze directed itself towards the window just across the room. Two fireflies were beaming around one another. One light would flare, then the other would. They fed off of each other, each causing their own lights to shine.

The blue hedgehog leaned down as well and did the same with his glass. "Uh, Shadow, can I ask you something?" He asked, actually somewhat nervous. Might as well speak his mind now since they were somewhat on the topic. He wasn't sure if another opportunity like this would arise.

"Hm?"

"Do you, regret it?" he asked. His eyes lingered on the being sitting beside him.

He didn't turn. "Regret what?"

"You know…the, kiss." He actually had trouble saying it out loud and he mentally cursed himself for sounding so stupid.

Shadow took in a silent breath before turning his head around to look at Sonic to answer. His voice was quiet, "No, no I don't."

Sonic had a smile tugging onto his lips. His eyes locked with Shadow's for a split second and then he let his head look into his lap at his hands. His voice was as equally quiet, "yeah, me neither."

Shadow smiled at him, pleased with his answer and even his reaction. A weight that rested upon his shoulders this entire week lifted, and he felt a lighter feeling in his stomach. He wasn't sure what it was because he hadn't felt it before, but it wasn't a bad feeling.

He turned his gaze back to the window and leaned forward to pick up his glass again. Suddenly, he noticed the fire flies seemed to panic and fly away, the crickets went silent.

The night turned deaf.

Shadow's ears perked up. The contentment the two were feeling had left, and he grew annoyed at that. But then, a bad feeling crawled through the dark hedgehog's skin; a dangerous one. He stood up quickly from the couch, dropping the glass of water to fall to the wooden floor and shatter. His eyes darted around quickly to every dark corner but his body was stiff and alert.

Sonic looked confused and let his gaze fall onto the broken glass and liquid on the floor, "what are you doing?"

"There's something wrong."

Sonic looked around, somewhat amused at Shadow's reaction, "you're just paranoid, sit back down. I still want to talk to you. Look, there's been something on my mind lately, and it's better just to get it out in the open." He began.

The concerned creature lifted a hand to silence the hero. He stepped quietly forward; the moonbeams shifting from one upturned quill to the other. Then it hit him, and he suddenly stopped.

It must be Robotnik.

If his skin weren't covered completely with black fur, the sudden shade of white that had painted over him would be visible.

He felt panicky inside. This was very unusual for Shadow, considering he was the type that could drink a cup of coffee and read the newspaper in the midst of a war. But Sonic could be in danger…their friendship could be in danger. Sonic will find out that Shadow had betrayed his trust, even worse, Sonic could get severely hurt.

Sonic stood up and took a step forward beside Shadow. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Shadow turned to him as the bad feeling turned into a state of alarm, "Sonic, we have to get out of here."

"What? Why?"

"Listen to me, we have to leave now. Something horrible is going to happen." He grabbed hold of Sonic's wrist to lead him towards the door. "Let's just go-"

"What are you up to?" The hero asked, and backed a few inches away from his friend, pulling his wrist away with him. "You're acting pretty strange." He pointed out.

Shadow took a firm step forward, "listen, hedgehog. We have to get out of here-"

And there it was.

There was a loud crash heard not too far away from the tiny home as if something large had just landed. The sound of metal clanked against the grass as birds were heard chirping away in the distance.

"I have to wake Tails up." Sonic sped off into Tails' room to wake the young kit.

Thump. Thump! THUMP!

It was getting closer.

Sonic was back in seconds with a tired fox beside him, rubbing his tired eyes. Sonic stared at Shadow for what seemed like a long time, trying to figure out what he was hiding as the noise seemed to grow. He was most definitely hiding something, that was for sure. It was readable on his face, and how he reacted to what was going on, it was like he knew exactly what was going to happen.

Sonic had turned to exit but a split second before he did, the ceiling above came crashing down onto the three of them. A dust cloud filled the air where the house had been hit, wood chips were flying everywhere, and the sound of machinery retracting was heard outside. Sonic and Tails were fortunate where they were standing; they weren't hurt severely, but had just managed to lose their balance. Though, Shadow wasn't so lucky. A beam had landed on his head with a hard blow, almost rendering him unconscious.

"Sonic, my pesky friend. Why don't you come out here?" A familiar voice hung in the air, and Sonic's jaw clenched.

"Eggman." He said under his breath as he helped Tails up. He looked over to see Shadow struggling to his feet and he shifted into a state of alarm. "Shadow!" He ran over, "are you alright?"

Shadow's hand immediately went to his head to the new sensation of pain caused from the beam. His mind seemed to be even more affected. Flashes of different places, people, lights, medical instruments…he barely saw Sonic. "I'm alright," he managed to get out through random visions filing through his head.

"What a lovely little home you have here." Said the evil voice from above. The Doctor was sitting above them in the cockpit of the machinery, operating the large mechanism. It had four legs so to speak, each with small platforms on the bottom to keep balance. They looked retractable, as if it were a machine for air and land considering there was protruding steel on each side that resembled some sort of wings. There were two steel arms from either side with clamps on the end of them as hands, and they were moving about as Eggman controlled the entire mechanism. The central part of the entire thing was circular with two thick black stipes lining around the base of it; lights were blinking all over just under the cockpit. The machine was at least two times bigger then Sonic's tiny home. One of the machine's clamps was even about as big as an automobile.

He continued, "it may need some alterations." The left clamp raised and fell down forcefully on the back of Sonic's home. Everything within seemed to dive upward then fall back down even harder. Glass had shattered, a water pipe had been busted causing a small stream of liquid to shoot up, and there was wood and ruined furniture scattered everywhere. Robotnik had destroyed Sonic's entire home within barely a minute.

Sonic felt anger rise inside of him. Out of all of his fights with Eggman, the evil doctor had never figured out where he had lived. It was always Sonic perusing Dr. Robotnik, rarely the other way around. How this had happened, was a question that would bother him, but an answer that he feared considering he put the pieces together. He had hoped he was wrong.

After helping a dizzy Shadow to his feet, Sonic ran to the foot of the large machine and shouted, "Eggman! What kind of hunk a junk is this?" He tried to be his sarcastic self, but it was hard not to let his anger push through him since his home and practically everything in it was just demolished.

"Oh, Sonic, why do you mock something that had just ruined the very place you live, hmm? Why, I'd like to take credit for this entire fiasco but I'm afraid I cannot."

The hero felt that fear within him rise to high numbers that he couldn't count to. His gut told him that Shadow's name was about to come out of Eggman's mouth next, but every inch of him had hoped it wouldn't.

The doctor had turned his machinery slightly as if it were to look down at the dark hedgehog. "Thank you, Shadow, for bringing me here and showing me this tiny place. I never thought a great hero like Sonic the Hedgehog would live on a dump like this island." The sarcasm rolled off of his tongue as he said 'great hero.'

All of Shadow's insides tightened at the sound of his name. His eyes slowly shut, and he let out a distraught sigh through clenched teeth. His secret was out, and he felt like a lot more was ruined then just a home.

Sonic's fists clenched. For a moment, he wasn't sure if he should attack Shadow or Robotnik.

"Shadow!" He yelled, the betrayal stinging him. He heard Robotnik laugh at his reaction. He moved towards Eggman so fast, within seconds he was at the top of the machine doing numerous homing attacks against the cockpit. The window was beginning to crack already.

But Doctor Robotnik wouldn't go down that easily, not after working on this new machine for so long. He needed to finally take over the world. This was it for him!

He raised the machine's left clamp and timed one of Sonic's homing attacks just right to grab him.

Sonic grunted as he felt the steel wrap around his tiny frame. He was pulled towards the front of the machine so Eggman was able to look at him from the cockpit. "Ah, Sonic, not exactly a hunk of junk now, is it?" He mocked to the squirming hedgehog in his grasp. "You seem awfully angry and energetic tonight, my old friend. Oh, is it because that black invention sold you out?" He smirked evilly and Sonic managed to sneer as he was being squeezed tighter. He wasn't going to show any pain. He'd be damned if he gave Eggman that much.

Shadow felt a protectiveness rise in him that he hadn't felt in a long time; not since he and Maria were on the ARK for the last time together. He needed to help Sonic fight. He darted as fast as he could to help, but he froze halfway there, his eyes focused on the image in front of him. His head started to quickly ache.

Sonic smirked at the Doctor. He breathed in deeply and curled his body together as much as he could, then used a spin dash within the clamp. His spines stuck out like blades and cut through the steel like it were fruit due to the speed they were spinning.

Robotnik yelled, "Argh! You little pest! You will regret that!"

"Oh yeah!" He retorted as he landed on the ground perfectly on his two feet. "We'll see about that!"

Sonic was nothing but a blur. He whipped from one side of the large enemy to the other, leaving a trail of damage in his path with each homing attack and spin dash he could muster. Tails was at the foot of the machinery, dodging in and out between the legs, and then pulling at wires and circuits in hopes to ruin its mean of movement.

But as Shadow looked at this, despite his want to help, he couldn't. He felt his mind going hazy, and his breath getting caught in his throat. His vision faded, all except for Sonic zipping around a few feet away from him. He felt as he did when he arrived in the city, and that memory of Maria had surfaced in the tunnel. His eyes flew shut at the enormous headache he had, and only a gold hedgehog came into his view behind his eyelids. He buckled over onto the ground, grasping at his forehead as this memory decided to play out right now, of all times.

"Shadow! Are you okay?"

Sonic's concerned voice yelled towards him. Shadow was filled with overwhelming power and he felt like nothing could stop him as determination coursed itself through his blood stream. He was flying towards a large beast in space just miles away from the space colony ARK and Earth. The beast resembled some sort of dinosaur creature. It was shooting out pink beams, but both the hedgehogs managed to dodge all of them without much trouble.

Then that roar that neither of them thought they'd never forget pierced itself through their ears over and over again as they attacked.

"Sonic! You need more rings!" Yelled the once ebony hedgehog, but then gleamed with a beautiful silver coat. He felt a state of panic come over him when he noticed that Sonic needed more rings, then a sense of relief when he had seen the gold hedgehog had acquired some. They were a team then, no longer rivals. And from then on, he felt like they would always be a team.

The beast was weak, obvious that it was holding on to its last bit of life, but it needed one last blow to really finish it off. The two hedgehogs sped towards the demon at an alarming rate side by side. They had moved so fast that fire began to form around their super forms.

"Chaos! Control!"

They both yelled simultaneously at the top of their lungs, and the beast was gone in the blink of an eye.

But one didn't hold on. He felt like his purpose was fulfilled. Maria had gotten what she wanted, the Earth was saved; there was no other purpose for him to exist. He felt like he had accomplished everything and nothing all at once because of the look on the gold hedgehog's face as he fell was turning to despair and fear. He looked horrified as silver faded away further…further…

"Shadow!"

"Shadow!"

The black hedgehog felt like he was just jolted out of a deep sleep. There he was, kneeling on the ground, his head in his hands, and debris all around him.

"What?"

"What do you mean what! I know what you did! I take you into my home, and you tell my worst enemy where it is! Why!" Sonic was obviously seething with complete anger. He hadn't had time to think about the situation, the circumstances…all he saw was betrayal.

Shadow looked confused, as if he was trying to process all of this. His mind felt like it was still adjusting to this new push of reality.

Then there was the push. The angry hero acted out a swift homing attack against Shadow's white tuft of fur, sending him backwards to land in a pile of ashes and wood. The dust flew up all around him creating a tiny cloud that slowly dissipated, revealing an azure hedgehog that seemed like he could be enveloped in an aura of angered crimson light.

"Answer me." His voice sounded cold. It had done a complete 180 to what everyone was used too. Even Tails seemed taken aback.

Shadow realized the situation, and looked around. There were random pieces of machinery tossed about, and sparks flying up from a large piece that obviously belonged to the Doctor's machine. Sonic must have defeated him. How long was he out?

Shadow was trapped. He got himself into this, now how would he get himself out of it? "I'm sorry, Sonic." He said quietly, as he began to lean forward and regain his balance from the blow. He genuinely meant the apology. He hadn't wished this upon his friend. He tried not to care about it before, but Shadow was a completely different hedgehog now.

"Sorry? Sorry isn't going to bring my house back, Shadow. Tails and I were almost killed! I wasn't prepared for this. If you were going to be a traitor like this, why on earth would you stick around! And since you did stick around, you could've warned me like any normal person with a conscience would."

The angered one stepped backwards, away from the guilty animal in front of him. He passed a sympathetic and somewhat frightened fox who seemed to be physically frozen. Sonic let his fingers run over his quills as he looked over the debris of his home. Emptiness filled his entire being as he looked down at the wreckage. Robotnik had never attacked his personal home. Sonic was so used to that safety realm that he had never prepared for something like this. He should have known something like this was bound to happen.

He trusted others too easily.

"Eggman was always too stupid to figure out where I was, and I took advantage of that. I should've been more prepared. But I didn't know someone sell me out like this after all I've done for them." He said more to himself then to Shadow, though it was loud enough to be heard.

He turned around to his silent friend, "I saw you as something more then a killing machine. I even hid you away from the humans so you weren't captured! And even after you had almost killed me! I don't get how you could do this. I asked you if you had told Eggman where you were and you lied right to my face! It's so…low, even lower then Eggman and that is saying something."

"Some people never change. I was stupid to think that you were different. I should have seen you as the selfish murdering bastard everyone else does."

Sonic noticed a gleam of green light beside his foot covered a little by just a few pieces of wood; he knew exactly what it was. He picked it up, the energy feeling strangely strong in his palm, then retreated quickly back to where Shadow was sitting. He tossed the emerald into his betrayer's lap.

"Get out of here. You've overstayed your welcome."

He said then turned around with every intention of not looking back.

"Sonic, wait," said a deep voice.

He stopped, with hesitation, but he did stop. He felt his teeth biting down hard against one another. He didn't want to stop, his stubborn self told him to keep going but something held him back. A strong feeling he begged himself to ignore pulled him back from moving any further like a rope, though he did not turn around. He listened to what this hedgehog had to say to him.

"I did betray you yes, but that was before I considered you a friend. You've changed me Sonic. You've given me validation towards life. I had no idea why I was here, just that I hated the humans for what they have done to Maria. You've helped me remember my past, and helped me change into a being that matters now. Don't walk away from that, I beg of you. I'm supposed to be the Ultimate Life Form, and I feel like I only live up to that standard when I am in the presence of you. I cherish our friendship a great deal, and it cannot end like this."

"Yes it can."

The rope holding him back snapped, and he resumed walking back to his original destination.

The dumbfounded fox walked along side his longtime friend and helped him salvage all that they could from the debris. He didn't glance in Shadow's direction once.

Shadow sat there for only a moment before standing on his two feet. He felt an emotional seed plant itself inside of him and quickly begin to grow. It contained angst, fear, anger, and sadness. Though despite all of these feelings rooting themselves within him, he straightened himself, held his emerald tightly, and whispered the two words quietly, "chaos control."

--------

Shadow found himself sitting on a large rock with the moon and the stars beaming down upon him. He was a few miles from Sonic's house in the middle of the forest. His elbows sat upon his knees, and his forearms and hands hung loosely down holding the Chaos Emerald. He looked as if he was sitting there for hours instead of just appearing there. A stream of water rustled beside him quickly, though for him, the world and everything within and outside of it moved in a crawl like motion. The water seemed to slink by, the wind took its time, and even his own breath seemed to slow down. He shifted the gem slowly in his palm as he thought over the situation. He was still in shock that it had happened. He knew, deep down this was inevitable even though all this time he tried his best to ignore it, always pushing further and further back the opportunity to warn him about it.

"You should have told him," he said quietly to himself.

But if he did, he would've been turned over to the authorities by Doctor Robotnik immediately.

He shook his head, "stupid."

He should have never gotten himself involved in this mess. Back when he had first found his Chaos Emerald was he should've left. He had promised himself never to trust another individual again after he lost Maria. And now, he had lost Sonic.

He let his guard down.

Shadow tossed the emerald gently in the air and it landed back in his palm again. Now what was he to do? He had no place to go, he most definitely couldn't go back to the city, he was still a wanted felon. He couldn't go back to Doctor Robotnik's base, he'd probably turn him in, or want Shadow for his own evil bidding. He definitely couldn't go back with Sonic. In one way, that was the only place he wanted to be, but in another, it was the last. He felt ashamed, like he wouldn't be able to face him again.

He was exhausted. It was late, and his emotions were taking a toll on his energy.

Shadow stood up from the rock that he was sitting upon, and noticed a Weeping Willow tree not too far off in the distance. He walked towards it and sat at the bottom of the trunk. He dug a small hole for his emerald to lay in. He placed the gem inside, then covered it with a layer of dirt and blades of grass. When he was finished, he let himself lie down beside the tree and attempted much needed sleep.

He was alone again, just like it seemed he was always meant to be.