"Just do it, Shadow."

"Sonic...Go away."

"Shadow, come on!"

"Go, Sonic, before I kick you again."

The blue hedgehog growled and walked over to Shadow, roughly grabbing his arm and yanking him to his feet. "Get up and come with me!" he snapped.

Shadow yanked his arm back, but Sonic kept a firm grip and pulled him closer.

"You need to apologize to Maria." Sonic said sternly.

Shadow stepped back and ripped his arm away, nearly dislocating his shoulder in the process. He then leapt up and kicked Sonic in the chest, knocking him down. He landed lightly on his feet and put a shoe on Sonic's wrist, slowly applying pressure. "Get out of my house or lose your damn hand."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Hey, Shadow, hang on!" He tried to move his arm, but his wrist was pinned...and it was starting to really burn. "Shadow, don't you think this is getting a little out of control?!" He noticed that Shadow seemed to react a bit to this, and quickly decided to try something else...though this would mean using his memories and feelings against him...But he had to do this. For Shadow. For Maria...For the friendship between the two.

"Shadow, just imagine how Maria feels about all of this! You realize she's heartbroken? She feels like this is her fault, for wanting to go talk to Eggman! She wanted to spend time with you, as well! But you're just pushing her away!" Sonic cried, before taking a deep breath.

Shadow's eyes widened, and he looked up, lifting his foot a bit as he stared at the wall. Maria...

"Shadow...I want to get better soon...So we can go down there together!"

"Shadow...Please...Do it for me...For a better future!"

A...better...future...Our future...That's right...You're...back...

Shadow fell back, and attempted to regain his balance, but just ended up falling on his side, groaning quietly as memories from 50 years ago flooded his mind. His eyes slowly closed, until all Sonic could see were white slits with faded red orbs hidden beneath the night-black lids. "M...Maria..."

Sonic quickly stood and picked Shadow up, frowning sadly. Forgive me, Shadow...But hopefully, this will change your mind on some things...

Shadow's eyes finally closed completely, and he fell limp, unconscious. Even still, memories of his past continued to swirl around in his head. All he could see was Maria's smiling face...Her eyes filled with hope...Her small form pressed against a window as she gazed down at the Earth beside him...

And then, her standing by a painfully familiar control panel...Her hands on that damned lever. All he could hear now were her words...Her begging him to make the world a better place...He felt his own hands pounding the glass, his vision blurring with tears... Maria...

Then, he heard it. That wretched gunshot.

"Mariaaa!"

And then, gravity seemed to stop as he was thrown to the top of the escape pod. Regaining his balance, he looked out and saw...Space. The stars. Endess waves of stars. Countless galaxies...

He looked down. Earth was hurtling toward him...But Maria was not beside him.

Suddenly, that vision vanished, and he now saw...Sonic beside him, in his Super Form. Looking up, he saw the Biolizard, a prototype of himself...attached to the Ark as it had been, ready to fire the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Earth... His own thoughts echoed through his head as he neared his enemy.

"I won't let you destroy the world Maria loved so much!"

"Shadow, please...I beg of you...Give them a chance to be happy!"

He then saw himself falling again, to the Earth, thinking what he'd believed, at the time, to be his last thoughts...

Maria...this is what you wanted, right...? This is my promise I made to you...

Shadow slowly opened his eyes, groaning quietly. He put a hand up to his head and winced. "Ow..." He had a terrible headache, and felt like burying his head in ice. Looking around, he saw it was dark out. And there he was in...a bed. He was on his back, covers neatly placed over him and a pillow gently supporting his head.

What...? He turned onto his side, taking another look around. ...This...looks like Sonic's room... he thought, blinking a couple of times. "S-Soni..." He stopped himself from allowing the word to fully come out of his mouth. Why am I here...? I can't remember what happened before this... He buried his face in his hands. Maria... He bit his lip rather forcefully, ignoring the blood he tasted immediately after doing so. Instead he focused on preventing the tears from coming. But it was to no avail. Salty drops spilled freely into his palms. But...why?

Why am I doing this...? Why do I feel so...guilty...? And...Where is Sonic? Is he with Maria...? He looked up through the slits his fingers had allowed, a horrifying thought having shoved its way into his mind. Do-do they...hate me now...? He suddenly remembered everything... Maria's tears, Sonic's cut cheek, and the blue hedgehog's stomach, wrist, and chest, which were undoubtedly bruised by now...

What have I done?! Shadow turned and buried his face in the pillow, clutching the sides of it as his body was racked with sobs. "Damn it!" He pulled his knees up beneath him and screamed.

"I'm sorry!"

He then turned onto his side, facing the wall now, and held the pillow to his chest tightly. "Please forgive me..." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Maria...I only wanted to protect you...I didn't mean to do this to you...And Sonic...I didn't want to hurt you...I don't want to hurt anybody..." He then hid his face again in the pillow. "Please!"

Couldn't I just use Chaos Control to go back and fix it...? a small voice in the back of his head suggested.

No... Shadow sniffled a bit, wiping his eyes with his arms. I'd probably just do the same thing...Or make it worse...Besides...

He thought back, to the look of utter sadness he'd seen on Maria's face during one of his...'breakdowns'. He then thought of the blood on his shoe from when he kicked Sonic in the face...and the look of sudden pain on Sonic's face when he'd kneed him in the stomach, kicked him in the chest, and even stepped on his wrist...

...I deserve to feel this pain.

He turned back onto his stomach and continued sobbing, even sometimes screaming into the pillow.

He didn't notice as the door slowly opened, allowing a thin ray of light from the hallway to enter the room.

There stood Sonic and Maria, both shocked. They didn't know Shadow would cry over what he'd done...

Sonic turned to Maria and politely ushered her out of the room. "I think if he sees you right now...he may just feel worse...Wait in the living room."

Maria nodded and cast one more glance at Shadow, deeply concerned for her beloved friend, but trusting Sonic's judgment, and hurried out.

Sonic slowly approached his sobbing counterpart, then lightly put a hand on Shadow's back. "Hey..."

Shadow reared his head back and screamed, then whipped around to face Sonic. Immediately, upon seeing who it was, the black and red hedgehog thrusted the pillow between him and the blue hedgehog.

"Ge-get out..." he said, attempting to control his breathing. "Go a-way..."

Sonic only shook his head and leaned forward, gently wrapping his arms around Shadow in a hug. "Shh...Calm down, Shadow..."

The hybrid hedgehog froze and tensed up, then bowed his head, eyes squeezed shut. "Sonic...Don't do this...I'm telling you to leave...please, I beg you..."

Sonic sighed and rubbed Shadow's back. "It's okay, Shadow. You're okay. We forgive you. We know how you feel."

Shadow suddenly pulled Sonic against him, burying his face in the other's shoulder and continuing to sob. "No, you don't...! I hurt you, and Maria...I don't want to hurt any more people... I told Maria, all those years ago...that I would protect people, and give them a chance to be happy...That was my promise to her. I swore to her I would, and I've already failed so many times...but in front of her...That's the worst of all..." He then yelled incoherently, pushing Sonic away and hiding in the pillows again.

Sonic gently grabbed Shadow's arms and pulled on them. "Shadow, I promise you, we do forgive you. We'd be the first ones...please know that..."

Shadow pulled his arms back up to his chest and shook his head. "You shouldn't, don't waste your time with me, I'll just mess up again. I'm insane. I keep messing up. I do the same thing; I kill, I make others upset. And yet, I always expect different results. And it doesn't change. 'Ultimate Lifeform'...That's a lie. More like Ultimate Failure."

Sonic yanked Shadow up to a sitting position and hugged him tightly. "Shadow, you are not a failure, and you are not insane! Do you understand me?! You're like family to us! We'll always forgive you! You are the Ultimate Lifeform, and you've gotten so far! You've even found Maria and saved her from eternal sleep! Imagine what would happen if someone else found her, Shadow!"

"I don't-"

"Think about it! She'd be taken away, tested on, questioned... But now that she's with you, she has your protection. That's what happened with Eggman, too! You just wanted to protect her! That's what you were doing, right?"

"What about-"

"Right?!" Sonic hugged him tighter.

"...Yes..." Shadow mumbled, nodding a bit. "But...I hurt you in the process."

"Shadow, it's okay. I know you feel guilty about that."

Shadow nodded silently.

"You know how I know?" Sonic asked quietly, pulling away slightly.

Shadow looked up at Sonic, red orbs meeting the gaze of green ones. "...How...?"

"Because... This..." Sonic put two fingers up against Shadow's chest, where a heart did indeed beat, though faintly. "...is one of the purest hearts I know."

Shadow looked down, at Sonic's hand, at the two fingers that were lightly pressed to his chest. "...But..."

"Shadow, everybody has a bit of Chaos in their heart. But it's their will to Control it which gives them purity. Their choice to be good. They choose not to be Black-Hearted Evil, filled with hatred and darkness. Instead, they become Brave-Hearted Heroes...not just of themselves, but of any and all who are willing to accept their help...Sometimes even those who resist it." Sonic murmured, looking up to see Shadow watching him steadily. "...Okay?"

Shadow nodded slowly, and hugged Sonic tightly. "Okay...I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Sonic said quietly.

Shadow sighed heavily, finally feeling his eyes dry up a bit. "Good..."

Sonic then pulled away, smiling a bit at his rival/friend. "Let's go talk to Maria." he said. "She'll be glad to see you."

Shadow's eyes widened. "She's here...?"

Sonic nodded. "She is. Her visit with Eggman ended while you were out. But she understands what you're going through, too. We may not be able to empathize, but we can definitely sympathize and forgive you." he replied with a smile.

Shadow nodded once, slowly. "Okay...Let's go, then."

Sonic stood up straight and helped Shadow out of the bed, then lead him to the door and out into the living room.

Maria lay on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Seeing the two hedgehogs arrive out of the corner of her eye, she sat up and turned to see them. "Hello..."

Sonic stopped walking in the middle of the room, gently pushing Shadow forward to urge him to keep going.

Shadow walked up to Maria and knelt down beside the couch, crossing his arms and laying them on it as he rested his chin on his arms. He then stared at her, his eyes filled with sadness, frustration, and guilt.

The blonde girl leaned over a bit and grabbed one of his hands with one of her own. "Shadow...Are you going to be okay?"

He nodded slightly, then reached up and wrapped his arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. "Please forgive me..."

She hugged him back, her arms at the small of his back as she pulled him up and onto the couch beside her. "Of course. You're always forgiven, Shadow..."

He nodded and curled up beside her, his head resting against her side. "I didn't mean to hurt you or Sonic..." he muttered.

"Shh, I know..." Maria soothed, stroking his quills gently. "But everything is going to be alright now. I promise." She grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Sonic came to sit on Shadow's other side, putting a hand on his arm to comfort him some more. "We're here for you, Shadow."

Shadow, having been exhausted from crying and yelling so much in the past couple of days, fell asleep almost immediately, feeling safe and loved with his two best friends by his side.