How to Catch a Hedgehog

Wild Shadow! Strategic Capture Operation

Shadow was in a ranch defending Amy from Dr. Eggman and his robot, E-88 Lightning Bird. Lightning Bird thundered toward them, then flashes a blinding light at them.

"Shadoooooow!" Amy said.

As soon as Shadow was able to see again, he saw that Amy had been captured by Lightning Bird which was flying back to Eggman.

"Bring her back!" Shadow said.

Eggman laughed.

"If you want her, come save her!" Eggman said.

Even though Amy was caught in Lightning Bird's beak, she still tried to attack it with her hammer.

However, this act caused her dress to rip slightly. She cried out.

"Heeeeelp! Hey, that's a brand new dress, buddy!" Amy said.

"Amy, you just hang on tight!" Shadow said.

Eggman and Lightning Bird flew away.

As the villains disappeared with Amy, the X-Tornado arrived.

"Shadow, here comes the ring!" Tails said.

"Okay!" Shadow said.

The X-Tornado fired a Power Ring to him and he caught it.

"Got it!" he said.

Using the power of the ring, Shadow leapt up and barreled through Lightning Bird. Unknown to him, a tiny chip landed in his ear. Shadow reached the same altitude as Eggman.

"Don't worry, Amy; I gotcha." Shadow said.

"You're my hero!" Amy said.

They landed in a haystack.

Soon they were relaxing on top of the haystack together.

"Isn't this just beautiful? I wish we could just stay here for days and listen to the wind. Wouldn't that be... romantic?" Amy said and looked over at him while he dug in his ear.

"Have you been listening?" Amy said.

"Say what?" Shadow asked and gently hit the other side of his head, causing the chip to fall in deeper.

"Ohhh, you men!" Amy said and shunned him.

"Uh..." he said and shrugged. "What's wrong?"

In Thorndyke Mansion driveway Tanaka was cleaning the car, and Shadow was on the roof of the garage, still digging in his ear. Amy was shouting at him from the ground.

"You're impossible! You never hear a thing I say!" Amy said.

Then Chris and Tails approached.

"Hey Amy, what's all the shouting about?" Chris said.

"Your friend Shadow's acting weirder than ever!" Amy said.

"What do you mean, "he's acting weird"?" Tails asked.

"He's off in his own little world!" she said.

"That's not weird, Amy. That's Shadow." Chris said.

"He's worse then ever! He hasn't listened to a single word I said all day!"

"Well, maybe he's got something on his mind."

"I should've known you wouldn't understand!"

Tanaka pressed a button, which inadvertently triggers something in the chip. An LED light started flashing on it. Shadow let out a shriek, then leapt off the roof and ran away.

"He does seem stressed." Chris said.

"He thinks he's stressed?! Try being me!" Amy said.

"That'd be horrible."

"What did you say?!" she asked annoyed.

"Eheheh..." he said. "The only way to find out what is really going on with Shadow is to follow him in the X-Tornado." he said to Tails.

He nodded

Later Shadow was at Station Square running in the road and avoiding the traffic.

"I don't get it! I can't stop my feet!" he said and a car started to skid. "Heheh, sorry!"

Further down the road, Sam was speaking to a criminal with a mohawk.

"Listen, punk, your car may be cool, but if you don't wear seat belts, you're a fool." Sam said when Shadow raced by. "Huh? That was Shadow!" he said. "Thanks to him, you're not gettin' a ticket today! Now go get a haircut!" he said to the criminal.

Then he pushed the criminal aside, ran to his car, and hopped in.

"I gotcha now, Shadow!" he said then revved the motor and sped off after Shadow, weaving through traffic as he drove. "This is S-Team leader to base. In hot pursuit of high-speed hedgehog going south on Broad Street. Over." he said on radio.

"I can't stop!" Shadow said.

Meanwhile Tails, Amy, and Chris were in the X Tornado in hot pursuit of Shadow.

"There's Uncle Sam." Chris said.

"Looks like he's trying to catch up with Sonic." Tails said.

"I'm gonna radio him." Chris said. "Hey Uncle Sam, this is Chris." he said on the radio.

"When you're on this frequency, it's S-Team Leader, got it? Besides, I can't chit-chat right now; I'm on a mission." Sam said on the radio.

"Sorry, but I need to talk to you about Shadow."

"If you're calling to ask me to take it easy on him, forget it!"

"But he's acting really strange today. We're worried that there might be something really wrong with him."

"There must be if he thinks he can beat me. Hahahahaha!" Sam said and increased his speed.

"He acts weirder than Shadow."

At Station Square Sam caught up to Sonic.

"I got him now." he said.

Shadow involuntarily increased his speed.

"What's going on?!" he said.

"All right..." Sam said then gunned the motor, but slowed down. "Huh? Out of gas!" he said and his car slowed to a stop in the middle of the road. "That little hedgehog may have outrun me this time, but there's always next time. I'll get him."

Shadow shrugged and ran past a newspaper stand, blowing over most of the papers. Then he dodged an incoming bus.

"Oops!" he said and entered the subway, ran down an escalator, and headed out onto the tracks.

Then he narrowly avoided two oncoming trains.

He ran along the top of the second train, then leapt off of it once he reached the other side.

"I hope there's a light at the end of this thing!" he said.

Above ground, the X-Tornado circled once as Shadow left the subway.

"There he is." Chris said.

"He's heading for the desert." Tails said.

"I wonder why he's going there." Amy said.

The sun set as the X-Tornado was pursuing Shadow through the desert.

"He's still running." Amy said and Shadow increased his speed. "Now he's speeding up again. But why?"

Then he started digging in his ear again and she remembered a chip falling into Shadow's ear.

"Maybe something happened to Shadow while he was battling that robot. That could be why he's acting this way." she said.

"What could it be?" Chris asked.

"I don't know."

"Let's go talk with my grandpa. He might be able to figure out what's wrong."

"I hope so. Because if something's wrong with Shadow, it's because he saved me." she said as Shadow dug in his ear. "Please be okay, Shadow."

At Egg Fort II.

"Doctor, here is something I think you will enjoy." Decoe said.

A screen activated, showing Shadow running across the desert.

"Hehehe... Well, well... Looks like Sonic is working up quite a sweat!" Eggman said.

"Perhaps you might want to do the same, Doctor. You have been getting a bit round around the waist lately."

"What?! Cut the wisecracks or I'll "waste" you, you impotent trash can!" he said and turned back to the screen. "Sonic must be up to something, but what could it be?"

Meanwhile the Thorndykes and Shadow's friends were gathered in the lab.

"He doesn't stop, Grandpa. He just keeps on running." Chris said.

"We just have to figure out what's wrong with him." Amy said.

"The only way to do that is to examine him. But first we have to catch him, and that's not going to be easy." Chuck said.

Cream and Cheese watched him think. Then he pounded his fist into his palm.

"I think I may know a way." he said.

Meanwhile Amy was standing out on the balcony, watching Tails and Chuck hard at work in the lab. Chuck yawned. Amy looked at the moon.

"What's wrong, Shadow? Where are you?" she asked.

At the desert Shadow was wide awake and still running.

"Almost there! Almost there! Where am I going anyway?!" he said.

At Egg Fort II Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe were asleep.

The next day, Chuck had set up a mission room in the desert. The Thorndykes and Shadow's friends were gathered there.

"With the help of Tails, I have devised a plan that I believe will work. It's actually quite simple. Step one: we locate Sonic from the X-Tornado. Step two: we launch a specially-designed bubble bomb which will hold him securely and lift him off the ground." he said.

Then a diagram showed the X-Tornado firing a balloon bomb at Shadow that, upon impact, formed a balloon that carries Shadow into the air.

"And once Shadow is off his feet, we can discover what's been causing him to run amok!"

Everyone but Amy fist pumped.

Later on the desert the X-Tornado flew directly above Sonic.

"I've got company!" Shadow said.

"Target spotted, Chuck." Amy said on the radio.

"Roger. Stay alert. Don't let him out of your sight." Chuck said on the radio.

"I'll stay on him."

In the mission room Chuck was watching the radar.

"Get ready." he said.

Back in the desert Amy had prepared a bazooka ready to fire the bomb.

"Fire!"

Amy fired the bazooka, and the bomb flew down and hit Shadow.

"Yeow!" he said and slowed to a stop in front of the mission room as the balloon started to inflate.

"It really worked!" Amy said.

"Look guys, I'm flying!" he said but the balloon floated too high, and he started to drift away. "Hey, get me down! I'm floating away!"

"Perhaps I used too much helium." Chuck said while Shadow started to float over a fast-moving river.

"Aaaahhhh! Help me! Somebody get this thing off of me!" he said.

Knuckles was watching from a nearby rock.

"What now?" he said.

"Hey! Knuckles! Help me! Help me!"

Knuckles threw a small stone at the balloon, causing it to burst. Shadow landed in the water, but immediately started running on the surface of the water toward Knuckles.

He deposited a fish in Knuckles' hands as he ran by.

"What the...?" he said and looked down at the fish in his hands.

Back in the mission room.

"Now what do we do?" Tanaka asked.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Chris asked.

"I'm worried..." Cream said.

"It's all my fault." Amy said.

"Just too much helium." Chuck said.

Then Knuckles approached, holding the still-wriggling fish.

"Well. Shadow just tried to run me over." he said.

"Great! Did you stop him?" Amy said.

As Ella prepared stew, Knuckles held up his fist.

"He missed me, heheh..."

Amy pulled out her hammer.

"Well, I'm not gonna miss ya!" she said.

"What's the big deal? All I did was step aside."

"It isn't his fault, Amy." Cream said.

"Chao..." Cheese said.

"Cheese is right. I'd bet you could come up with a new way to help Shadow after you've had a nice hot lunch." Ella said holding up the stew.

Later in the desert everyone was sitting on a picnic blanket, eating the stew that Ella made.

"I bet poor Shadow must be starving by now." Amy said.

"I'm sure he's fine, Amy." Chuck said.

A tumbleweed enveloped Tails and carried him away.

"That game looks like a lot of fun, Tails." Cream said.

"Chao-chao!" Cheese said.

Then Chuck stood up.

"That's it!" he said.

"Knuckles will wait at the top of a hill with a specially-engineered wheel trap. As Shadow approaches, we'll give the signal, and Knuckles will roll the wheel down the hill, trapping Shadow inside. He'll be like a hamster in a cage!" he said showing them his next plan.

Everyone fist pumped.

Meanwhile Shadow was running through the desert. An arrow directed him to turn left, which he does. A second arrow pointed right, and he followed it as well.

"All right, Tanaka, he's almost in position." Chuck said.

"Right." Tanaka said.

"Roll it!"

Tanaka signaled to Knuckles with a pair of flags and he pushed the cage down the mountain. The moment was reached Shadow, Chuck pressed a button that locked the cage in place, and Shadow within the cage. As the cage resembled a hamster wheel, he was now running on the wheel.

"Hey Grandpa, it works!" Chris said.

"Of course it does." Chuck said.

A tray extended out of the cage containing a chili dog and a glass of water.

"I thought you might be hungry after all this running." Amy said.

Shadow took a bite of the chili dog.

"Pretty tasty." he said.

Moments later, he was done and yawned.

"He looks like he's falling asleep!" Amy said.

"That's good. If he falls asleep, he'll have to stop running." Chuck said.

"Maybe I can help, Shadow! Want me to read you a bedtime story?"

"No, thank you, Amy." he said.

At the Egg Fort II. "That looks like fun! Exercising, I mean. I'm going to start!" Eggman said.

"You should!" Bocoe and Decoe said.

"Tomorrow." Eggman said and started eating.

"Oh, Dr. Eggman, tomorrow never comes!" Decoe and Bocoe said.

At the desert Shadow was still running in the wheel.

"Looks like Shadow's nap isn't slowing him down at all. He's going even faster." Chris said.

"I've never seen anything like it. His energy is positively boundless." Chuck said.

"Shadow has more power than my food processor." Ella said.

"Shadow, that wheel wasn't built to withstand this intensity!"

Then strain started to build on the wheel.

"Knuckles, look out!" Tails said.

Suddenly the wheel broke loose from its frame and rolled toward Knuckles, flattening him. Then the wheel fell on its side. With Shadow still running on the wheel, it started to drill through the earth. Everyone looked in the resulting hole.

"Run!" Chuck said then a wall of water pushed Shadow out of the whole. "Well, that was a washout."

Later at the mission room it was sunset.

"So far your plans haven't worked, have they?" Amy said.

"Not quite, but I'm confident that if we just keep trying, we'll eventually come up with a plan that will work." Chuck said with his arms crossed.

He watched Ella apply cream to the injured Knuckles' back.

"I've got it!" he said and the others looked at him in disbelief. "In fact, it's the best plan I've had all day. We just need a little help from a friend. Mm-hm." he said and nodded for emphasis.

That night, Shadow was sleeping while running through the desert.

At the Egg Fort II.

"Shadow is running himself ragged. He must feel as worn out as an old sneaker. This would be a perfect time to launch a sneak attack against him! Ready?" Eggman said and they nodded.

"Aye-aye!" Bocoe and Decoe said.

"I'll destroy him right after my nap."

The lights dimmed.

"Please, Doctor!" Bocoe said.

"Now is not the time for snoozing!" Decoe said.

The next day Chuck was in mission room looking at his watch.

"Right on time." he said.

Just then Sam rolled into the desert, parking right in front of the others. He climbed out of his car.

"I would've been here sooner, but I stopped for donuts." he said.

"I appreciate you coming to help us out, Sam." Chuck said.

"You can always count on the Speed King to put the rubber to the road when a friend needs help."

Chuck nodded. "Well then, let me bring you up to date on our plan." he said. "Now we all know Shadow has quite a competitive streak, just like you do, Sam." he said and showed them his plan.

"It's Speed King, Chuck."

"Sorry. Speed King. The plan is to have Speed King challenge Shadow to a test of speed. But unbeknownst to Shadow, a trap will be set at the end of the finish line. Speed King will get on Shadow's right side in lane two. Shadow will be forced to race in lane one beside him, and that will lead him straight into our trap. Then Shadow will be out of the running!" Chuck said and showed Shadow stuck in the mud behind the first panel. "Now let's get ready for the race, shall we?"

Everyone fist pumped.

With the plan underway, the X-Tornado was tailing Shadow. Amy has a radio with her.

"Stand by. He's almost there." she said on the radio.

Sam was sitting in his car, waiting for his cue.

"Roger. I'm ready." he said.

"Go!"

Sam took off, and soon Shadow was running alongside him. Shadow stumbled over a stone and fell behind.

"What's the matter, slowpoke? Can't you do better than that?" Sam asked.

Shadow tried to pass him, but the latter cut him off.

"What are you doing? This isn't supposed to be a real race! You're supposed to be a decoy!" Amy said on the radio.

"Guess again, sweetheart. He beat me once. It's not gonna happen twice." Sam said on the radio.

Amy shrugged.

Sam pulled ahead of Shadow once again.

"Oh yeah?" Sonic said.

In the mission room Chuck was listening to the transmission.

"They're getting close to the finish." he said.

"Remember, Speed King, whatever you do, keep Shadow in the right lane!" Amy said on the radio.

"Right lane? I thought I'm in the right lane!" Sam said on the radio.

In the desert.

"That's right! Just stay in lane two. Remember, you're number two. Number two!" Amy said on the radio.

"Not me, sister! I'm number one! Hahaha!" he said and drove through the number one panel and got stuck in the mud while Shadow ran through the number two panel and started running in circles.

"That didn't work out too well." she said.

"Hey Chuck, I'm picking up something weird on my scopes. Do you see it down there too?" Tails said on the radio.

"Yes, I've noticed it myself, Tails." Chuck said on the radio.

"I recorded the wave patterns. Maybe you can analyze it and figure out what it is."

At the ranch a newly-repaired Lightning Bird was being pursued by a cow as the X-Tornado arrived.

"Ready up there, Tails?" Amy asked.

"I'm ready when you are!" Tails said.

They located Lightning Bird.

"Okay, Tails. Keep it as steady as you can." Amy said and climbed out onto the wing, and was about to smash Lightning Bird with her hammer, but the latter fired an electric net at her.

Amy cried out, but the electracy backfired on Lightning Bird. Shadow ran in.

"Amy!" he said and kicked Lightning Bird into the air, causing it to explode.

As he did so, the chip fell out of his ear. He ran into a haystack.

"Shhhadooooow!" Amy said and leapt off the X-Tornado's wing and into the haystack.

"Shadow, I was so worried." she said.

But Shadow dug in his ear again.

"Now what's the matter?" Amy asked.

"Something's in my ear again." Shadow said.

Amy blew some straw out of his ear.

"Yeah, that feels much better. Thanks." he said and lied back, and they enjoyed each other's company.