Tails softly panted as he crawled through the air vent, his twin bushy namesakes swishing behind him. His miles electric concealed in his tails as he found a vent door below him that led into a room filled with computers of all sizes. Using his name-sakes, he hovered down and pulled out his tablet, connecting it to the closet computer while listening to any sounds outside of the room.

As he searched through the data base, his quick eyes scanned every word on the screen before stopping on a specific intake on something called Serum-762. Upon further inspection, he discovered it was a type of mixture that altered ones memory that blended with a new microchip that was inserted when Eggman first got a hold on Shadow.

"That must have been when Eggman first took Shadow," he scrolled a little lower and continued to read about a hand held device that controlled if Shadow remembered or not. "The serum is completely device controlled.. how.. new."

With a quick tap to his communicator, he spoke to Sonic's own communicator,"Sonic, apparently Shadow is under mind control. There's a hand held device that controls it but I'm pretty sure we already know where that's at."

Sonic grunted as he spoke back,"Eggman, got it. Thanks bud!"

...

Sonic glared at Shadow, there was barely a scratch on the ebony male. His Chaos energy was healing every cut and bruise he was given while Sonic was starting to struggle with every bruise and cut he was given, his body was starting to shut down.

After Tails' quick call, he knew he had to get Shadow to drop the fight and to find Eggman, but he knew Shadow was out for blood and wouldn't stop until he got just that. It was up to his other friends to find Eggman and take him down themselves.

"Shadow for the last time listen to me!" The cobalt hedgehog jumped out of the way as the ebony male tried to successfully drop kick.

As if Shadow suddenly decided to listen to reason, all movement stopped, his face scrunched up in pain as he grabbed his head, the ear piercing ringing was once again making him drop to his knees and cover his ears. Growling, the male opened his eyes to look at Sonic, only for the blue male to stare at him confused and cautious.

"M-make.. it stop," barely able to speak now, the black hedgehog yelled as the ringing got louder.

Sonic stared in disbelief, he stared into the eyes of his current foe who's once dilated eyes were now mismatched. One eye was dilated while the other seemed completely normal yet Shadow was experiencing an unknown pain Sonic couldn't see or hear.

"Don't worry, Shadow," Sonic reaches a hand out only for it to be smacked away by the kneeling hedgehog in front of him.

"D-dont," he growled, his overly sharp canine teeth showing every time he spoke or growled.

"Shadow, I'm trying to help," sighing softly, Sonic spoke again," I'm going to find Eggman. I'll put a stop to this. You don't deserve this."

With that said, the cobalt hedgehog was gone only to be replaced with a small dust cloud in his wake.

The ringing continued to get louder, he clutched his head tighter as if it would make the pain subside.

'Why is this happening?' He thought to himself. Within a moments notice, his other eye dilated and the ringing stopped.

His body was trying to rid itself of the deadly serum, but to no avail, it's extremities we're too overwhelming for his Chaos Energy to heal by itself. He growled as his hover skates roared to life with Chaos Energy, fuel and anger once again aiding him. He dashed in the direction Sonic had left to.

...

Tails tapped away at his tablet, trying to manually force shut down the handheld device that controlled Shadow. He was successful for a few moments, but the signal somehow got stronger. His sensitive ears twitched as the sound of footsteps hurriedly approached his direction. Quickly diving behind a metal desk, he held his breath as the being entered the room and hurriedly tapped away at a computer across the room. A button emerged from a hidden hatch next to the keyboard and the person slammed it. Suddenly, a loud alarm rang throughout the base, Tails' sensitive ears were pinned against his head as the siren rang on for a few more seconds before going completely silent.

The sound of footsteps leaving was the only significant way the fox kit could tell he was once again alone. Curiosity getting the better part of him, Tails ran over to the computer and typed away at the screen, trying to determine what the being had put in to action.

He gasped, his baby blue eyes reading over every detail the document held,"oh no."

Bringing up his wrist watch communicator, he spoke to his friends,"guys! I think Eggman just launched something horrible! It's the size of a six story building and this thing is massive!"

Knuckles voice sounded from his ear piece,"what are you talking about? There's nothing out here!"

Sonic spoke next,"don't worry bud, whatever it is, we can handle it. Try and find Eggman and shut down the device that's controlling Shadow! He's on my tail and I can't shake him."

Tails nodded although he knew his brother couldn't see him,"I'm on it! Stay safe everyone!"

...

The large metal doors screeched open for the first time in six years, loud metallic footsteps paraded out of the darkness. The large metal robot roared to life as glowing red eyes pierced out from the bunker, it's eyes scanning the distance and easily spotting the base it was needed at.

Upon stepping out from the shaded area of the bunker, it easily spotted what appeared to be a blue streak followed closely by a golden colored on. Easily scanning and concluding the blue streak was infact the blue hedgehog, the gigantic robot set off towards the speed demon, ready to annihilate the problem.

It's robotic voice spoke aloud, it's booming voice echoing throughout the open plains," initiating annihilation, preparing for take off."

Within a moments notice, the boosters connected to the gigantic robots back fired off, propelling it even faster than its walking speed.

Sonic's ears twitched when an overtly loud engine could be heard, he turned his gaze to the horizon, easily spotting the large silver robot with Eggman's logo on its chest flying towards him. Before he could stop and turn to avoid the large metal claw of the robot coming his way, he was smacked and flew through the air, his arm snapped in half at the sheer force of the hit. The bone crunching sound made even Shadow cringe, not sure of where the robot came from. The ebony hedgehog easily recognized the robot to be from the T-Series that the Doctor had shown him from his earlier years with the large robust man.

After finally seeing it finished and actually larger than it originally was, he easily concluded that the robot was on his side, but finishing his revenge for him was something he wasn't going to let happen.

The crimson striped male watched as his enemy flew through the sky and hit the ground hard. His body was already tore up and bruised from his own battle with the cobalt male but now trained ruby eyes could easily see the broken limb that Sonic held. The cobalt hero trembled as he stood up, his left arm hung onto his broken right one. He tried to run to avoid the stomping robot but his newly dislocated hip.

Without thinking, Shadow bolted towards his rival, his willpower over driven by something awakening inside him. His heart beat inside his chest as he sent more Chaos power to his hover skates, gaining more speed as every second passed.

His vastly pumping heart fueled his body, slowly but naturally draining the mind controlling serum from his bloodstream. Before the robot could touch a quill on the blue hedgehog's body, Shadow curled himself into a ball, Chaos energy sparks covering his body as he tore through the metal limb, leaving a hole in its wake.

The robot detected Shadow as the hedgehog entered and exited his foot and prevented him from stepping on the prime enemy. It watched as the hedgehog landed on the floor, glaring at its red robotic eyes as the T-series robot computed the new threat. After a few key calculations and a new order from Eggman, the robot aimed its claw towards the ebony hedgehog. Seeing it's immediate attack, Shadow jumped out of the way in time to avoid the claws that would surely break bones.

Before he could react, Shadow watched in horror as the robot used its foot to kick the blue hedgehog out of the way, successfully knocking the already broken and bruised hedgehog out.

Time seemed to slow down as Shadow growled, his pupils dilating significantly as his body pulled on the Chaos Energy from the atmosphere, this new power being new. Sparks irrupted and surrounded his body as he drew in the energy, it's power fueling his rage. In turn to sucking in any and all Chaos Energy, he was also redirecting some to Sonic to heal his wounds and broken arm.

His yelled and clutched his head as the loud ringing surrounded his head once again, his Chaos consumption never stopping nonetheless.

'Shadow..'

The black hedgehogs eyes shot open as he looked around for the familiar voice. He knew that voice. It was hers.

'Be brave, Shadow,' the voice spoke out,'bring joy and happiness to the world below us.'

The memory of one of the girls last words to him was replaying in his head, this memory being true and not made up by Eggman. He clutched his head again as all the memories came flooding back into him, memories from the Ark while it was still in space, his friends death, and finally, Sonic and Tails rescuing him from the capsule and caring for him.

Sonic groaned as the last of his wounds healed, now standing, he watched in horror as Shadow held his head. Without warning, the black hedgehog yelled at the top of his lungs, all the Chaos Energy that was surging through his body now flowed around him in a golden trance. Green eyes watched as Shadow outstretched his arms as the power of Chaos shot out from the palms of his hands, his fur flicking with golden strands as his trapped anger and treachery now flowed freely.

Watching the silver colored robot, Sonic noticed the T-series was stuck in place, now seeing the golden Chaos Energy holding it still. Without warning, Shadows body exploded in Chaos energy, the once golden color now an intoxicating red as he preformed the biggest Chaos Blast known on Mobius.

Sonic was blown back as the sheer force of the Chaos Blast tore through the open field and ripped apart the base Eggman resided in.

The trio barely had any time to escape the crumbling debris of the once secret base to seek safety. Spotting his older brother, Tails called to Rouge and Knuckles to meet with the blue hedgehog.

As the trio met up with the cobalt hero, they watched in horror as another Chaos Blast radiated from Shadow's body, this one being even more powerful, it's power ripping the metal from the robots body, it's wires and interior mechanics now showing.

Sonic suddenly fell to the floor as he felt his Chaos Energy draining, his body felt weak but he was able to pull himself together enough for Tails to grab ahold of him and help him stand. Within a moments notice, what felt like all the surrounding Chaos Energy left their current position and powered Shadow as his body started to glow golden, his red stripes and irises shown bright through the golden at was blinding the four friends. After a few seconds, they heard the hedgehog speak, his voice now seeming deeper and menacing.

"I am Shadow the Hedgehog," he growled as the Chaos energy flowed from his body to his palms,"you have deceived me for the last time, Doctor."

With one final push, Shadows body threatened to fall apart as he yelled in agony as the Chaos Blast completely erased any evidence of the robot that once stood five stories tall.

The world seemed to spin as his body faded back to black fur, his crimson eyes rolled back as he fell to the floor, all of his Chaos Energy completely drained.

"Shadow!" Sonic yelled out, using the last bits of his energy, he ran towards the hedgehog on the floor followed closely by his friends. "Tails, we have to help him!"

The voices started to fade as Shadow drifted further into his unconscious state, soon, he heard nothing but the sound of familiar voices.

"Who's there?" He called out into the black void.

'Shadow?'

His heart beat in his chest, afraid it would break out of his body and run to the person who spoke,"Ma-.. Maria?"

"Oh Shadow.." the young girl appeared in front of him, his eyes immediately watering at the sight of her. "I've missed you so much."

He wrapped his arms around her as she did the same. Tears flowed down his face as his beloved friend spoke up once again,"I've longed to see you, Shadow the Hedgehog, but now is not your time."

He looked at her, about to speak when he noticed she seemed to be floating backwards and fading away,"Maria?"

His vision faded to black and suddenly he was choking on something lodged in his throat. He couldn't open his eyes but heard the voices speaking.

"He's choking! Take the intubation tube out!"

"Okay, Shadow, relax," another voice spoke up and the tube was slowly being removed to not damage his throat,"take deep, slow breaths."

Shuffling could be heard before what felt like someone's gloves hand was placed against his cheek,"Shadow.. can you hear me?"

The ebony hedgehog still couldn't open his eyes, his body too weak to do anything just yet, but the voice spoke up once again when he realized Shadow wasn't going to respond.

"I love you, Shadow. I loved you from the moment I met you," the male voice sighed,"I'm only telling you this because I know you can't hear me. I just had to tell you one way or another."

Two sets of footsteps approached, one sounded like heels on a concrete floor while the other sounded heavy.

A sultry, female voice spoke up,"how's he doing, Big Blue?"

The voice that confessed his affection for the black hedgehog spoke,"he's breathing on his own now. Tails figured out his body runs purely on Chaos Energy so he has the Master Emerald hooked up to some wires that are connected to Shadow. He said he should awake sometime this week, but that it's hopeful thinking."

A gruff voice now spoke,"Sonic, are you sure keeping him alive is the right thing to do? He did try to kill you."

The hand was removed from his cheek as the love confesser spoke again,"He was under some sort of mind control, a Knuckles. He needs to have his own life. Not one that controls his every move."

The gruff voice now known as Knuckles, spoke again,"suit yourself, but we still can't find Dr. Eggman. We had a search team led by Amy and the resistance search the rubble but they said no one could have survived the Chaos Blast at that power rate."

The sultry voice spoke now, Shadow recognizing it as Rouge the bat now that his memory was slowly coming back to him,"who knew such a small hedgehog had such power like that. It was like seeing you in your super form on rampage mode."

Sonic sighed,"I know. He's capable of way more than we thought, but that's one of the reasons he needs to be free from all this possession. He needs freedom. You guys saw all that pent up anger and frustration."

Another pair of footprints entered, Shadow recognizing it as the fox kit, Tails," hey guys, maybe we should let Shadow rest, continue this conversation in the living room. He's still trying to regain all his energy."

Knuckles and Rouge agreed but Sonic stayed, his peach yet gloves hand drawing circles around the veins of Shadow's hands.

Slowly, Shadow opened his tired and weighed down eyes, looking over Sonic as the blue hedgehog continued to stare off into the distance in his own daze.

"I feel the same towards you, hedgehog."

Sonic's eyes immediately followed the sound of his ebony furred friend speaking, the statement the black hedgehog said going straight over the blue ones head,"Shadow!"

Without thinking, Sonic leaped up and wrapped his arms around the shoulders of the black hedgehog, burying his nose in the crook of Shadow's shoulder, inhaling the natural scent of the ebony's fur.

Shadow was taken aback by the sudden feeling of arms being wrapped around him, but he quickly gave in to the comforting feeling as he wrapped his own red striped, weak arms around the blue hedgehog.

Sonic was so taken with joy he leaned his forehead against Shadow's, laughing with pure happiness as tears slowly fell down his peach cheeks,"I was afraid you weren't going to wake up!"

Shadow was stunned by the sudden movement and closeness of the other, his body screaming at him, telling him to do something. Taking initiative, tan lips met peach ones as Sonic's eyes widened in complete shock but gave in to the sparks in his stomach, eagerly kissing back.

After a few seconds turned to minutes, both hedgehogs pulled apart. Emerald green irises gazed intently into crimson. Their eyes being windows to each other's hearts, saying the words they couldn't.