HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SONIC!

WOOT WOOT!

(You as well, Eggman.)

Shadow: Part IV

Shadow honestly couldn't find a single logical reason for why he had kissed his rival, nor did he have one for why he enjoyed it. As far as he was concerned, he hated the cocky blue hedgehog. Whatever the strange emotion was that had been taking over recently was beginning to really irritate him, especially when he realized he was no longer annoyed by Sonic's childish behavior. Something in the back of his head kept insisting that it was endearing, and that confused him, which in turn made him angry at his own thoughts. Shadow was almost to the point of trying to force himself into hating Sonic right then and there. However, something told him that he had never truly hated the hero, even when he foiled his plans.

As the duo walked quickly up the stairs, Shadow could feel the other hedgehog's eyes boring into him. It was an unsettling feeling, and something even Rouge was more discreet about. It made him wonder. After that incident in the cell, and that affection outside the lab, what did that make them? Were they lovers? Were they still rivals? Whatever they were, how would Sonic's friends react?

"What does this make us?" Shadow could almost sense Sonic's shock at the question behind him, and the nervous chuckle accompanying his response confirmed it. "W-what?" The Ultimate Lifeform did not slow, nor did he spare a glance behind him. "You heard me, faker. What does what happened in that cell make us?" Another nervous chuckle, no doubt accompanied by a heavy blush. "Well… I guess I hadn't really thought about it. But I don't think it really needs a title. Let's just keep labels out of it for now. And let's not tell anybody yet, either."

Something had made Sonic uneasy, that much was for sure. That in turn made Shadow unsure if them being together was, in fact, normal. The hero had never acted this uneasy around Amy when she insisted something existed between them, even though she was pushy and obnoxious. There was something that Sonic knew that Shadow didn't.

After all, Shadow hadn't had much experience with matters of romance. He had heard of sappy romance movies, and had seen people walking down the street hand in hand. As far as he could tell, people doing these sorts of things were perfectly normal, so the fact that Sonic had acted so strange about it set him on edge. He might have been created around fifty years prior, but he had only spent ten out of some form of cryogenic sleep. Even then, none of those were really dedicated to learning how Mobians act.

Shadow spun around, halting the other hedgehog in his tracks. "There is something you are not telling me. Why must people not be told?" Not that Shadow told anybody anything about himself anyway, but there was something wrong here, and he needed information. Sonic seemed shocked. "You mean you don't know?" Shadow didn't feel like an answer was necessary, so he merely glared. "Well, Shadow. What this is… Well it's not exactly…ordinary."

The glare continued, silently urging to continue. "You see, most…some people don't like what this," he pointed back and forth between the two, "is. It's considered…wrong." Shadow continued glaring, not exactly getting what the point was. "Shadow. It's considered normal for a couple to be a man and a woman, not two men."

So that was what this was all about? Frankly, Shadow couldn't see what those people's problems were. As far as he had observed, a couple is between two people, not strict sexes. He had never even considered that he might be society's abnormal. Female anatomy had always repulsed him, but he found that natural due to the fact that he was the Ultimate Lifeform, and that anything he didn't have must be completely useless and no doubt a hindrance. Shadow had no plans to go out telling anyone about his relationship anyway, but he decided to put extra effort if that was what Sonic wanted. Chaos. I'm being sappy…

"If that is what you wish, then nobody will know." He turned and continued walking up the stairs. A hand appeared on his shoulder. "Thanks, Shads. It's just… I don't know how they would react. My friends… My fans… Blaze knows, but I know she won't tell anyone. I just don't what Tails to find out… Or Amy. I don't want to lose people. I mean, we can say something eventually, but just not right now. Now's the wrong time."

The duo reached the fourteenth floor, and Shadow gave a light nod as he gripped the handle to the door into the corridor. "Agreed." "The door opened, revealing an empty corridor. Plain grey office cubicles and windows lined the right wall, and the occasional bulletin board or bland painting was hung along the left. All workers had apparently been evacuated, and all guards had probably gone down to the brig.

The two hedgehogs walked quickly down the eerily quiet hallway, soon coming upon a plain dark wood door. A small golden plaque was posted upon the door, stating the word 'DARK' in simple capital letters. Shadow imagined that Sonic was probably inwardly excited to see his office, and he had to suppress a smirk as he pictured the inevitable reaction.

The gold doorknob was twisted, and the wooden door swung open to reveal a darkened room. Heavy purple curtains, (Rouge's work), were drawn over the windows, and Shadow didn't even bother flicking the light switch, for there was an automatic system, (Omega's contribution), that turned them on to a dim setting, (Shadow's preference). When the automatic lights came on, a rather unorthodox room could be seen. It was clear to see who had done what.

Strewn about the room were various mechanical and robotic components, some distinguishable, and others piles of twisted metal. The highest concentration of the scrap was around a workbench, on top of which were a variety of bullets and missiles, the reload for Omega's many guns. Luckily there had not yet been an accident with the explosives.

On the back wall was a large picture of the Master Emerald sitting atop its shrine. Scribbled around the picture were various notes and plans. Beneath was a desk that had a large safe installed into its side that only Rouge knew the combination to. Scattered atop the desk were various rhinestones and small photos of jewels, each with a few notes written on them. One in particular was a picture of the green Chaos Emerald with the note 'Forest. Damn camouflage.'

In one corner, completely separated from the other two and hidden by a simple black barrier, was another desk. Sonic could not see this desk, but Shadow knew exactly what it contained. In the top drawer was a handgun, and next to that was a picture of Maria. It was a picture from a few days before her death. She was standing in front of a window that gave a perfect view of the planet below the ARK space station, and the smile on her face was worth a million rings.

"Wow. Nice office. So is yours behind that black thing? You're so mysterious, Shads." Hmph. That wasn't the reaction I was expecting… "Then what were you expecting?" Shadow just slowly looked over at the blue hedgehog, who, coincidentally, was grinning hugely. That weird mind reading thing was not only beginning to irritate him, but also kind of freaked him out… Not that he would ever openly admit that.

Shadow shook his head and scowled as he walked over to the black partition, and he was almost behind it when he was stopped. "Um, Shads?" The only response was a well-placed glare. "I've been in a cell with other people for almost two days now, and I uh… y'know what I'm saying?" "No." "Well, I kinda need to know… Where's the bathroom?"

The Ultimate Lifeform sighed and motioned to the hallway. "To the left." A blue streak zoomed out of the room, leaving Shadow with his thoughts, which is the way he preferred. He walked around the barrier and into his small corner of the office, the place where he spent most of his time when he was at the GUN headquarters. It was a refuge, a way to be at work without dealing with people. Of course Rouge was hard to avoid no matter what, but that was something he had learned to live with.

Shadow perched himself on the edge of the ordinary black office chair behind the plain grey desk and slid open the top drawer. Just where he had left them were the gun and the photo, the former of which being what he was looking for. He grabbed the weapon and stood, ready to close the drawer and walk away, but was stopped as he always was. It seemed impossible for Shadow to walk away from Maria's picture without even acknowledging it; it just felt wrong.

After casting a cautious glance to see if Sonic was going to walk through the door, Shadow reached back into the drawer and pulled out the small photo of his first and best friend. He just stood there for a moment and looked at Maria's smiling face, letting a light smirk creep up onto his face. It wasn't a mean smirk, (the sort that were accompanied by a scowl and directed at pretty much anyone annoying him), but rather a warm gesture. In fact, it was almost a loving smile.

Shadow carefully placed the photo back into the drawer and closed it before exiting his refuge and making his way directly to Omega's heavy artillery workbench. He opened up a drawer with a small strip of red tape stuck to the front, revealing various ammunitions and handgun attachments. A few magazines and a small box of extra ammunition were selected and stowed away safely in Shadow's head quills before the drawer was closed carefully, mindful of the one next to it with a strip of purple tape across the front. There had yet to be an accident involving Rouge's bomb supplies in the office, and Shadow wanted to keep it that way.

Two reasons for coming now out of the way, Shadow approached the small wall shelf next to the door. Rouge had insisted on putting it there so the black hedgehog wouldn't forget his communicator, even though she knew he always brought it with him. She had apparently convinced herself that his ignoring her was not ignoring at all. Her exact words were: "I can't imagine why someone wouldn't want to talk to me. You just keep forgetting your doohickey." After getting thoroughly irritated, Shadow conceded to letting her put the completely useless, (in his opinion), shelf up on the wall.

Only one communicator was present, and Shadow quickly snapped it on his wrist. He reached for the button, prepared for a no doubt frustrating conversation with Rouge, when a sound behind him caused him to whir around quickly. Three men were standing just inside the doorway, two of which had guns pointed right at Shadow. The third, right in the middle, was the Commander himself.

"Agent Shadow. You are scheduled to be executed. The people are waiting to see it, and I intend to watch it happen." Shadow knew that even with his incredible speed, raising his gun even in the slightest would be incredibly foolhardy, so he let it slip slowly from his fingers. The guards appeared to increase in nervousness as the weapon hit the carpeted ground, but Shadow and the Commander kept unbroken eye contact the entire time. The mustached man raised a hand as a signal for the guards to stand their ground. "That was wise, Agent Shadow. Now, come with us. The sooner you comply the sooner we can concentrate our time on other matters."

The obsidian hedgehog stood his ground, not visibly moving a single muscle in his body. "Why are you doing this?" The Commander smirked. "Do I need a reason?" Shadow's voice did not rise, nor did it lower. It stayed perfectly calm and balanced. "Most people have a reason for attempting genocide, sir."

Shadow was sure that none of the other people could hear it, but there were swift footsteps coming down the hallway. The footsteps slowed down as they approached the door. He just had to stay perfectly still and hope that the result of Sonic's entrance wouldn't be too drastic. Somehow, I heavily doubt it.

The Commander's mouth opened to say something else, but he was swiftly interrupted by the door swinging open, both revealing a blue hedgehog and catching an edge on the head of the guard to the left of the Commander. The man wobbled a moment before sliding slowly down the wall. "Shads, who's the guy with the lip fuzz?"

Both conscious men turned to look at the new arrival, and Shadow took this as his golden opportunity. Working as quickly as he possibly could, the Ultimate Lifeform rushed forward and grabbed the gun in the guard's hands, instantly shoving it back into the man's face. The sound of his nose breaking could easily be heard as the guard's finger reflexively pulled back on the trigger. The dart escaped the barrel and stuck into an unlikely target: the Commander's neck.

Before the Commander was shot, he had just been able to pull a small knife out of his pocket. At the same time, Sonic moved forward to help Shadow by fully incapacitating the guard with the broken nose. By an odd twist of fate, the two collided, sending them both to the floor. Shadow rushed toward Sonic, pushing the now unconscious Commander away and completely ignoring the escaping guard with the bleeding nose.

Stuck deep in Sonic's upper thigh was the very same knife that had been in the Commander's hand just moments before. Strangely, however, the hero didn't seem too fazed. "Shadow. I've been stabbed." Shadow decided to ignore the fact that Sonic had stated the painfully obvious and instead hesitantly reached for the handle. "Whoa! Shads, are you sure it's a good idea to take it out?" The black hedgehog withdrew his hand and began peeling his gloves off his hands, revealing the red-streaked fur beneath. "I can't imagine why it should be left in."

It was then that Shadow noticed that Sonic seemed to be fixed on his now bare hands. He never would have admitted this for the weakness that it would show, but the blue hedgehog was one of the only other people other than his creator himself to see him without gloves. Maria was the last to see his bare hands. It felt somewhat special, even given the bizarre circumstances.

"Stop staring, faker." Sonic did not reply, but instead lifted himself halfway up and pulled Shadow's head in for a slow, loving kiss. It was several moments later when they broke apart, and when they did, Shadow felt a pleasant fluttering in his stomach. He suppressed a small smirk as he once more hesitantly reached for the knife handle. He saw Sonic brace himself, and instantly stopped. Despite times in the past, it was never truly Shadow's wish to cause the other any great pain, especially in light of recent events. But if he was going to help him, which was his current goal, that knife would have to come out no matter what.

Shadow mustered up his courage and grasped the handle. He began to pull slowly, careful not to twist even the slightest bit, and the blade itself soon became visible. Sonic's eyes were shut tight, and his mouth was made into a grimace as the blood-coated metal gradually exited his leg. Shadow grew sick, not from the blood, nor was it seeing Sonic in pain; he'd seen both those things plenty. It was an odd inner sensation, and something he couldn't logically explain, but would definitely try later on.

The knife fully parted from Sonic's thigh, and blood began to flow out of the now open wound. Knowing exactly what he had to do next, Shadow grabbed his removed gloves and placed one over the hole before placing Sonic's hand over it and instructing him to apply pressure. He quickly tied the fingertips of the gloves together, followed by the cuffs on the other side. The hero released the air he was holding in and leaned back on the floor, closing his eyes and making an obvious attempt at regulating his breathing.

Now there was an unpredicted complication to the plan. Sonic was hurt, and he couldn't very well run with that sort of wound in his leg, but he also wouldn't really enjoy being left out of anything. He would put up as big a fight as possible, one that even Tails wouldn't be able to counter. No, the only way Shadow would be able to get him to stay behind would be to bribe him. But the only problem with that was that Sonic was a hero, one that would never accept a bribe, no matter what. He would have to use personal information. His apartment would do.

Then there was the matter of the newly unconscious Commander. Shadow knew that he would likely go even more ballistic once he woke up, no doubt sending a full search force after every escaped prisoner and their loved ones. The Commander was not above it, and that was the truly frightening thing. Shadow just needed a place to keep him securely and unharmed until he could be brought to justice. The first and most fitting place that came to mind was a location with many painful memories.

Shadow helped Sonic up, letting him use him as a crutch. He'd have to come back for the Commander. He would contact Rouge at the same time…

Tails: Part III

The escape was rather uneventful, and it made Tails nervous. He could tell it made his echidna companions nervous, also, judging by the way Knuckles kept his hands in fists and how Tikal was constantly glancing back over her shoulder. He couldn't blame them, really. After what had been happening, it was almost expected to be thrown back in another cell that they would eventually break out of. It was a foreseeable, if slightly fantastical, play of events.

What actually happened was simple and, (compared to recent events), quite boring. There weren't any guards, nor were there any office workers. Tails judged by the sun that it was probably seven o'clock in the evening, almost primetime for all sorts of vandals and trespassers, yet there was no night watch. The GUN headquarters was eerily quiet, almost as if it were stopped in time.

The echidnas instantly took off for Angel Island and the Master Emerald, leaving Tails alone to return to his workshop to make a few adjustments to the holograph projector. When Shadow had ordered Tails to retrieve thieving supplies, he knew not only what he was planning, but also what to get. The genius had to admit that it would have been convenient if he still had the telescoping ladder, and that it would have been nice if he had remembered to grab a laser cutter when they were in the lab, but the projector would be useful on its own, anyway. I could swear Rouge already had both those two, anyway… Hmmmm…

As Tails saw it, when a man keeps an object of great power in his office, then he's obviously paranoid about it, and if he's paranoid, then he'll probably check back on it often. Also, the Commander was the type of guy to abuse his power and order several guards to stand next to it until they got sores on their feet. Therefore, someone would notice the book was missing quite quickly. After that moment there would be chaotic and violent search parties chasing Rouge around with large guns.

Tails reached his workshop in the Mystic Ruins as quickly as the train could take him, which was too slow for his taste. He practically leaped out the train's doors before they were even fully open and instantly began rotating his tails, lending him a speed boost. The fox ran as fast as possible through the waning light, growing ever closer to the building in the distance, standing in front of which was a small figure.

Tails squinted his eyes and slowed down a bit, attempting to see exactly who was standing outside his home at such an hour. They were shorter than him, but it was difficult to make out any more than that. Still straining to see, Tails pressed onward. Then, just as he was beginning to see colors on the figure, it raised one hand high in the air and waved it back and forth. Flying around the figure's arm was a small, blue chao.

Of all the times… Tails closed the distance between him and the workshop. "Hi Tails! I thought I would bring you some cookies! They might be a little cold by now…" Cream looked down sadly into the basket on the ground near her feet. The cookies within did indeed look rather less than fresh baked. "Cream? How long have you been here?" The small rabbit beamed at Tails as he reached under a stone for his spare key.

"Well, I came here this morning when they were fresh, but I guess you weren't here, so I came back about an hour ago." Tails had to admit that it was touching to have someone care enough to not only make him cookies in the first place, but to come and wait for an hour for him to return. It was a kindness that only Cream would give.

Tails unlocked the door and let the girl and her chao into the workshop. He quickly grabbed the basket of cookies before entering himself and closing the door behind him. "Thanks, Cream. That was really sweet of you." The chao flew up in front of their faces and quickly piped up. "Chao!" Cream waggled a finger at the small creature. "Now, Cheese. You shouldn't interrupt." "Chao chao!"

It seemed that whatever the chao had to say was very important, but Tails couldn't for the life of him understand what it was. Cream had always had an odd knack for knowing exactly what Cheese wanted to get across, however, but she never really translated for others. Tails found that he just had to guess most of the time. "Yes, Cheese. I'm sure Mr. Tails already knows about the bad people, but thank you for reminding."

This caught Tails off-guard. Already he had to deal with a thieving operation, the retrieval, recharge, and return of all of the Sol Emeralds, and an ancient evil spell book. Now there were 'bad people'? What kinds of 'bad people'? "Bad people? Who are the bad people, Cream?" The young rabbit's face turned into one of story telling, one that seemed like it should have a flashlight under it. "My mom said that there are bad people out there right now. She said the big guy at GUN made people not like us. She said I should be careful, but I still brought you cookies!"

The Commander turned humans against Mobians? Why? The train conductor did seem to be giving me an odd look. I guess I was lucky that there weren't any other passengers. Why would the Commander do something like this? Now he's made it dangerous for Cream to even step outside her house. I have to admit that it was sweet for her to bring me cookies, though…

"Cream, you should come inside. I have to do something in the workshop really quick." The rabbit beamed at him and grabbed the basket of cookies, following after into the building. Tails waited for Cream to enter before shutting the door and putting a finger up in a 'just a moment' gesture. He rushed to the workshop and to the tool bench within, letting Cream do whatever she would.

On the tool bench, right where he had left it, was the portable holograph projector. The device was not yet completed, however, due to the fact that the hologram wasn't quite to scale. Luckily, Tails knew how to correct that. If his calculations were correct, then the scanner module simply needed an automatically adjusting sensor calibrated into it. He also thought that he might have to fortify the connection wires…

Tails' work was quick, and the casual observer might have thought he was deliberately trashing the workshop. The actuality of it was that he was darting around the room collecting various technical parts and tools to connect the parts to other parts that were equally as technical. He assumed that there could be nothing done about the solidity of the holograms at the moment, but it would have to do.

A test was made, creating a replica of the Tornado. While the size should have been expected, it was still shocking how large the almost weightless hologram was. Needless to say, it worked perfectly. Tails looked down at the device in his hand, trying to remember if any other adjustments needed to be made. The battery power would only last four or five hours, but there was really very little he could do about that. There was really only one thing left to do, even if it seemed trivial. He had to repaint the button.