Perhaps they were just clever, or she had a good sense of direction; maybe it was the Emerald she had hidden within the confines of her clothes, acting as a guiding star, leading them intuitively toward its sibling gem - regardless of the reason, they were the first to come within spell's reach of the Chaos Emerald. They could feel the electricity in the air, the hum of raw, cackling energy belonging to an unbridled source of power. Both hedgehogs' ears pricked forward as they came closer, their fur standing on edge; Amy was half-expecting her own Emerald to come flying out of the front of her dress, intent to stand alongside its other half. It was pulsing rapidly against her chest, hot to the touch, thrumming like a second, alien heartbeat. She wondered if Shadow could sense its intent, the undeniable attraction between the two gems on the brink of linking up, leading them further into the bowels of the sewers. But then again, she remembered, he had his own Emerald to be distracted with, stringing him further along just beside her.

Finally, they rounded the final bend, finding themselves face-to-face with the last remaining Emerald. It hovered in mid-air, as though suspended by a puppeteer's fine wires against a brick backdrop. Its brilliant red hue casted a glow upon Amy and Shadow's face as they drew nearer, sparkling and star-bright, encompassing them in its mysterious red glow. Amy felt a flutter against her chest, and she wasn't sure if it was the Emerald's counterpart or her own tingling anticipation, the murmur of her heart-beat. Both she and Shadow reached for it at the same time, and seeing each other make a grab for it, they both halted, giving each other room to proceed. Amy giggled.

"May I?" Shadow asked her finally, when it became clear neither was going to take hold of the gem without approval from the other.

"You may," Amy told him, and he plucked it easily out of the air before them. The stone grew white-hot in his hand as it linked up with its sibling gem Shadow had stored on his person. Shadow released the Emerald and its sister rose to meet it; the two swept around him in a lazy circle, looping slowly in mid-air. Their eyes flickered back and forth as the Emeralds continued to orbit around the darker hedgehog, momentarily entranced.

"We should probably call the others," Amy said after a moment.

"Let me see the radio," Shadow said, and the small device exchanged hands. The black hedgehog seemed to study it for a moment, as if trying to pluck the words out of the atmosphere before him as easily as he did with the Emerald. Then he held down the 'talk' button and lifted it to his mouth. "We've located the final Emerald."

Sonic was the first to respond. "Good job, guys! Can you find your way back from here?"

"Quite easily," Shadow informed him.

"Alright, make your way back towards the manhole and we'll meet up there."

Amy was already walking away, but Shadow didn't immediately follow. When she turned back to wave him over, however, the black hedgehog held up one hand to halt her. He seemed to 

ponder something for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was calm and clear and not entirely directed at her: "Aha. You see, therein lies the paradox."

There was a pregnant pause. Then, at last, it was Knuckles who spoke, his voice full of apprehension: "And what do you mean by that, Shadow?"

"What I mean is, echidna," Shadow said coolly, slowly pivoting on his feet so that he and Amy were now standing face-to-face. She immediately began to back away, feeling suddenly weary, "that that is most certainly not what I'm about to do." And he smiled. Amy stared at him, vaguely aware that this was the first time she had ever seen anything even remotely resembling joy etched across his dark features. And it scared her.

"Let go of me!" she screamed at him again. The past five minutes had been a whirlwind of activity - Sonic had reached them in a blast of supersonic speed, Tails and Knuckles in hot pursuit. Although they were cornered in the bowels deep beneath the surface of Station Square, Shadow seemed completely unruffled by his lack of a proper exit. He simply secured his hand around Amy's wrist and thrust her behind him, forcing her back against the wall.

"Shadow," Sonic was snarling. "After all this time, Knuckles was right! You have been working alongside Robotnik. You were a bad guy all along!"

The comment seemed to roll off of Shadow like water off of a duck's back. "I don't have time for this, Sonic," he told him airily, securing his grip on Amy Rose's arm. "I have things to do. And if you want to see Amy again, you'd better go fetch your Emerald for me."

"But before I do," Sonic growled, clenching his fists at his side. "I want you to tell me something. Why?"

"Why?" Shadow unconsciously held onto Amy's wrist tighter.

"You're hurting me!" Amy protested, her forearm throbbing painfully from the sudden abuse. Shadow's gaze flickered back at her and his grip relented just slightly. She thought it was a trick of the light but she thought she saw an apologetic look. She was so confused.

How could this have gone so terribly wrong? She thought she knew him - she was so completely convinced of his honesty, his integrity, his dedication to the path of what was right and true. She knew he was capable of heroic things, capable of being right and just - if not for himself, at least for her. Was his infatuation just for show? Had it all been a ruse, to lead her into a trap?

Right now she wanted to say yes, that she had been foolish, blinded by adoration - but she wasn't sure - something was very wrong about the entire situation. It just didn't fit. Shadow was not really the sneaky and manipulative type - he was brutally honest, opting for the more obvious route than a path of deception. Playing her a fool just didn't seem like his style.

Was she stupid to think that he had loved her? Was it even stupider than she had loved him back?

"Yes. Why," Sonic continued, oblivious to the silent exchange between them, done with simple glances. Amy had lapsed into silence, bewildered. "What has Eggman offered you, Shadow? What was something that you just couldn't refuse, to take on your friends and sell us out? I thought Rouge was your friend, Shadow - and you beat her up. All for some stinkin' Emerald you could give up to 'Buttnik! How could you! Don't you care about her?"

"I told her," Shadow said, looking suddenly pained. "I told her she shouldn't have - that she would get hurt. I did it with the utmost regret."

"See! You do feel remorse!" Sonic shouted, pointing at him. "Then why, Shadow? What made you betray your friends? To betray Amy?"

Amy was staring at him. She saw the undeniable look of shame cross Shadow's face this time, and he turned away.

"Look at her, man! Look at how you're hurting her!"

But Shadow wouldn't. He fixed Sonic with a steely gaze now, his resolve suddenly strengthened. "Don't talk to me about hurt, faker. You know nothing of regret and despair. You're always been quick enough. But sometimes - sometimes speed isn't enough. I couldn't break through the glass," he muttered as he bowed his head. "I couldn't save her. And then I was jettisoned into space, removed from her forever, separated by death--"

"She's dead, Shadow." Sonic said, and his voice was not entirely unkind. "There's nothing you can do about it."

The words worked as a catalyst; Shadow's head snapped up suddenly as though coming out from a trance. "Not for long, hedgehog!" he cried. "Robotnik is going to give me the one thing no one else can. He found a DNA sample of her back on the Ark, you see," he told the trio excitedly, and Amy felt sick to her stomach. She had never seen him so gleeful. "He has devised a method of cloning her, a way to bring her back to me! The man is a genius. And the price was small to pay. Trade in some measly Emeralds to be reunited with Maria? I would do anything to see her again."

Amy felt something inside of her plummet. It was Maria. Maria had come between them - again.

"You're out of your mind," she whispered, feeling hot, wet tears sting her eyes. She looked to Sonic hopelessly, who was wearing a strangely sympathetic, almost pitying expression which he had leveled at Shadow. She wondered briefly what he was thinking. Knuckles had grown increasingly more hostile as they had discussed Rouge, and was now being physically restrained by Tails.

Shadow's quills bristled at the comment, but he said nothing.

"So that's why you've teamed up, then?"

"What would you do, Sonic?"

"I would let her rest in peace!" Sonic said loudly, his voice ringing hollowly off of the stone walls. He stepped forward, about to spring into action, but he seemed to be trying to restrain himself from doing something too rash.

"You're lying!" Shadow spat in disgust, and he dragged Amy forward. "Time's up! No more negotiation. Fetch me your Emerald and hand it over. You'll know where to find me. Just turn your eyes toward the sky." The two Emeralds he had began to whip past him, faster and faster like helicopter blades. Amy knew what was coming next, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Chaos Control!"