you guys have my full permission to hate me now

The world faded back to color as the ARK blinked away. A few gut wrenching seconds passed before it appeared again, orbiting the world in its proper place once again. Sonic, caught in the teleportation field, appeared in front of the colony, still screaming as his momentum was stolen from him. A faint white light, falling towards the planet slowly faded as Sonic watched in horrified realization of what it was. The speck blinked, signifying the end of a Super State as it disappeared completely, only carrying a few words on the solar wind as it went.

"Maria… This is what you wanted, right?"

"This is my promise I made to you…"

"Shadow…" Sonic hiccuped, losing the ability to speak as his body grew weak.

He shot towards the planet, straining his eyes for the tiniest speck of black in the void. The atmosphere burned around him, cast aside by the power of the Super State as the hedgehog continued. Tears flooded around him, leaving behind a burning trail of lights as Sonic pressed onwards.

"Shadow!" Sonic called, straining his ears for some sort of response, only for the emptiness of space to answer.

"Shadow!" He called again, looking left and right for some sign of movement, or something falling through the atmosphere. Absolutely nothing.

"Shadow!" He cried, growing even more frantic as he slowed to a halt. Where was he?

"Shadow!"

"Shadow!"

The only response in the blankness was the echoing return of his own voice. It reverberated around him, forcing the hedgehog to hear the emotion as it faded into space.

"Shadow!"

There was nothing. Only nothing. The void reflecting the growing emptiness in his heart back at him in a cruel twist of fate. Weakness grew on the young hedgehog as time ran on, forcing Sonic to realize he couldn't stay. He needed to go back inside before his energy ran out…

"Sonic! What happened?" Tails crackled over the communicator. "The ARK is back to position, are you okay?"

Sonic didn't respond, he only stared in heartbroken sadness as the world slowly rotated below.

"Sonic, you need to come back inside." Amy urged. "Come on, lets celebrate!"

"Shadow…" Sonic sniffed. Reluctantly, he turned towards the ARK and sadly began to ascend. Slowly but surely, it's gentile shields began to cover him, granting him the air he would need in a short while. Red sneakers touched the cold steel of the colony walkways, letting his golden form dissipate in a bright flash of light. The blue hedgehog fell to his knees, shaking and whimpering as his heart burned…

When he finally made it back to his friends, they were delighted to see him. Amy jumped up and down, dancing around him in grateful glee. Tails flew around the room, doing loop de loops and swirls as he laughed with joy. Knuckles actually smiled, bumping fists with Rouge as she hovered excitedly in midair.

It didn't last long, however, as the children noticed Sonic's dejected look.

"What's wrong?" They asked. It did not take Sonic long to completely break down again.

"Shadow! He...he…" Sonic sobbed. "He.. fell…"

The room fell silent as the group tried to comprehend what Sonic had just said. Shadow fell?

"He died?" Tails asked, painfully blunt with his broken friend.

"I… I… I don't know…" Sonic coughed, choking on snot and tears as he wept yet again. "He can't be…"

"Sonic…" Rouge gently spoke, approaching him carefully and laying a comforting hand on his wounded shoulder. "No one could have possibly survived that…"

"You don't know that!" Sonic shouted, smacking away her hand.

"Sonic!" Tails hissed, warning Sonic against fighting with a single word.

"Why do you even care so much?" Knuckles snorted. "Didn't he kidnap you and… like… hurt you? He hurt Rouge."

"Yeah - he did." Rouge chimed in. "It really burned."

"You don't understand!" Sonic growled, quills standing on end as if he were threatened. "He didn't know what he was doing!"

"And that makes things different?" Rouge scoffed. "He was doing real harm."

"But he made up for it!" Sonic hissed. "Didn't you see anything that went on out there?"

"Yeah…" The group answered.

"He helped me fix what he did!" Sonic shouted. "Knuckles and Tails saw him try and make up to me in the core!"

"What difference does it make?" Knuckles groaned. "He paid for his crimes, and the world is better for it."

"Y...You…" Sonic growled, crouching down in preparation to pounce. But alas, Sonic knew this was a fight he could not win. Knuckles was stubborn and solid, not only in body, but in mind. The burning in the Blue Blur's joints told him this was not the time. It only made his heart ache more.

Standing up, Sonic bolted out of the room, leaving his friends behind. He hurt too much to be putting up with this, so why should he stay? All they were going to do was mock his pain, so what point was it to change their minds? It took a long time to change Shadow's, it would take a long time to change theirs.

Shadow…

Sonic dropped to his knees, coughing and wheezing as the memories overtook him. The embrace… the watery rescue... the donuts…

The blue blur felt guilty that he realized how much fun he was having with the adult only now. It may not have seemed like it, but Shadow was having fun too. Radical highway… Central City… heck, even the lake was probably fun for him.

An adventure was something Sonic always loved doing. But this adventure was something else. It was more than simply taking down Eggman or running around Christmas Island. It was so much more. It was like South island, when he met and bonded with Tails. It was like Little Planet where Amy became one of his friends. It was all so much more than an adventure. All of it.

"Sonic!" Tails cried, flying over to his crumpled friend. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Tails…" Sonic gasped, latching on to his fox friend with a mighty hug.

Miles was surprised by this act of affection. Sure, Sonic gave out hugs all the time, but this was more like him seeking affection rather than giving it. Gently, the fox wrapped his short furry arms around his older brother.

"I'm so sorry." Tails consoled, patting his Sonic lightly on the back. "He clearly meant a lot to you."

"He's my friend…" Sonic sniffed. Gosh how his ribs burned.

"He died heroically." Tails comforted. "We will remember him for that."

"He's not dead!" Sonic coughed, doubling over from pain. "Why do you keep saying that!"

"Sonic…" Miles sadly began. "No one can survive a fall from orbit."

"..."

"It's just not possible."

Sonic's world twisted around him. The ground seemed to move as his mind tried to comprehend the reality that Tails laid in front of him. Tails… was right. No one could survive a fall from orbit. The atmosphere would burn them up before they hit the planet. And even if Shadow did pass through, the impact alone would kill him. It was a painful way to go. Sonic's body burned as he tried to comprehend the pain and agony that Shadow must have felt as he died.

Turning pale, the blue blur turned away from his fuzzy brother and vomited on the floor, yielding nothing but vile and globs of mucus. Tears that fell from his eyes mixed with the acid on the floor. The shakey emerald eyes blurred over, Tails reaching over to stabilize his friend as the blue hedgehog trembled harder and harder.

"Come on Sonic…" Tails sniffed, his own heart breaking to see his brother in so much pain. "Let's go home."