This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

Chapter 4: Break Point

Shadow left Knothole behind; he just couldn't tolerate it any longer. It wasn't so much the grieving over Sonic that got him down, nor was it how uneasy anyone that came within 10 metres of him felt, and thusly made him feel. No, it was an emptiness in himself. Ever since he came here, he really only knew one thing, he detested Sonic the Hedgehog. But now, Sonic was gone; he had no one to hate.

Shadow trotted along whatever path he could find, not even bothering to run, he had no need, there was no reason to.

For almost two hours, Shadow walked on, trying to put as much distance between him and that horrid little village as possible. The path before him seemed totally vacant, not a soul to be seen around, just endless forest on either side. Well in front of him, the trees thinned out and soon came upon an open plain. This was near Bunnie's patch, perhaps he should pay one last visit, possibly tell her about what happened, if she hadn't heard yet. A few dark thoughts passed his mind; perhaps he'd have a bit of fun with her as a going away present, but for some reason that thought wouldn't stick. Instead, maybe he should take her away from here; it would get much more dangerous with Sonic gone. Another thought passed him, why should he even care at all?

Shadow shook all those ideas from his head, and continued on for another ten minutes.

* * *

In the distance, Shadow could hear some commotion, although he wasn't sure what, it sounded like it was coming from Bunnie's patch.

* * *

Within seconds, Shadow had arrived to what was Bunnie's carrot patch. A number of Robotnik's robots were on the scene trashing the place, similar to the ones who were building the dam.

"Hey! Stop that!"

The group turned to face the black hedgehog.

"Emergency procedure: Initialize anti-Sonic attack subroutines."

"Sonic?! You made a BIG mistake there!"

Shadow leapt into battle, charging the robots. The robots' scanners tried to lock onto him, but were having an unusual difficulty; their scanners were upgraded to be able to see Sonic, but the shadowy moves of this other hedgehog were much harder to get a secure lock on. Before they could even fire one shot, Shadow was already in the middle of them and jumped straight at one of them.

Rolled into a spiny ball, Shadow tore into his target like a circular saw, ripping it in half. Using the two halves of the destroyed machine as a jump point, he launched into another one, slamming it right in its chest; that is if machines had chests. Another jump and a swift kick later, and another robot was left decapitated.

By now, every robot on the field had rushed towards the vicious hedgehog; each trying to subdue him in what was clearly a suicidal attempt. One by one, they were struck down, some totally destroyed, others severely damaged, but equally out of commission.

After two minutes, the entire troop was defeated. Shadow stopped to survey his work. Beneath his feet, the remains of over two dozen robots were left in a state similar to what they had left the carrot patch in. A few of them were still semi-functioning, and chanting a monotonous "Error: malfunction." over and over again.

"Bunnie?!" Shadow started to look around him, trying to find the rabbit that originally occupied this land. "Bunnie?!"

When he passed one of the still undestroyed robots, he gave it a quick kick to end its misery. He continued to search, until he heard a strange but familiar voice. Taking a few steps to his right, he found another damaged robot idly chanting the two strange words, "Error: malfunction." Shadow looked down and turned the robot over. Its face, though metal, was very familiar.

"What? How is this possible? Bunnie?"

At his feet, the rabbit who once tended this land and tilled it with her heart and soul was now a mindless machine helping to destroy it.

"How did this happen? What kind of monster is this Robotnik?!"

Shadow dropped to his knees and picked up the robot rabbit in his arms. "I'm sorry, I wish I could have been here to stop this."

His heart, once filled with hatred, then made empty, was now filling with despair; an incredible grief came over him. For what seemed like an eternity, Shadow felt as if all was lost, that the world around him had collapsed with the loss of this one person.

From around his neck, the large gem he wore reacted. It fed of his sorrow and started to glow, then it started to crack. All his sadness seemed to overflow him, and from his once hateful eyes, he cried one tear.

The gem shattered, bathing both of them in a brilliant green light.

Shadow felt his body burning up as the crystal shards seemed to infuse into his chest, and with them, two words, two very strange words, echoed through his mind.

{Chaos Control…}

Shadow let out a mighty scream that could be heard for miles. Soon the voice and the light were gone. All that was left in the decimated carrot patch was the dark figure of the black hedgehog and the form of a rabbit, now again flesh.

"Bunnie?" Shadow shook her a bit, but got no response. "Bunnie?"

He laid her on the ground and tried to check for any sign of life. Her breathing was very weak, as was her pulse.

"Don't worry, kid. I'll get you some help."

He picked her up, then looking for a route, took off.

* * *

Elsewhere, the incident has not gone totally unnoticed. Dr. Robotnik had received a message saying that Sonic was spotted in the fields around the great forest.

"What, a 'Sonic alert'? Impossible. Bring up the data from this alert."

Up came the details of the recent sighting, including an image of the dark hedgehog on the large screen.

"That's not Sonic. Play back any video you have of the incident."

Robotnik watched the few available seconds of video transferred to him before the robots were decimated. What was shown before him, bore resemblance to his former nemesis, but with almost a ghostly appearance. Robotnik refused to believe that this could be the ghost of Sonic, but who or what was it?

"Computer, compile a new profile on this creature, and tie in all data from any future 'Sonic alerts' to him."

"Profile 'H49' created."

* * *

After almost five minutes, Shadow had once again found Knothole. He didn't take notice of how well Knothole was hidden other than it how it slowed his progress; searching for a place he had been to before should not have taken this long to reach. Upon reaching the small huts of the village, he started asking around for a doctor. A few of the residents were a little surprised by his appearance, and his carrying a young rabbit in his arms, some even mistook him for their late hero.

Eventually, he got an answer, and headed towards the building that they referred to as a "hospital", though from the outside it appeared to be nothing more than a normal hut that was larger than the others.

* * *

"What happened to this girl?"

"It was those blasted robots; she got into a tussle with a bunch of them."

Doctor Quack continued to examine the rabbit now hooked up to a breathing apparatus. "That's something, I'm surprised she isn't in worse shape."

"Is she going to be alright?"

"Maybe, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong, not physically. It's more like she's incredibly exhausted; its like she's so tired instead of falling asleep, she's about to fall dead."

"Can you help her?"

"There's not a lot I can do. I can make her comfortable and hope she snaps out of this. Hopefully a good night's sleep may bring her back. But I'm afraid to say she might not be able to get that here."

"Why not?!"

"We just can't take her right now."

"Do you want money? I can pay you." With out thinking, Shadow reached into his pouch and pulled out one of the rings he collected.

"Money has no value here; it's that we're in a very tight spot right now. Dr. Robotnik's forces are heading our way. Our forces are out there, but it doesn't look good. If those robots break through, then they might find this place, and we'll have to evacuate. If they don't then our own casualties will be severe. I can't take care of all of them and the girl too." The doctor sighed and considered the situation for a second. "I can keep her here, but not for long."

Shadow was starting to get angry, there was that name again, "Robotnik". It was he that did this to Bunnie; it was he that would pay for it.

The doctor then noticed the ring that Shadow was holding. "Could I see that for a second?"

The duck took the ring from Shadow and examined it. "Well, this could be useful, if it wasn't expended."

"Expended?" Shadow took a closer look at the ring; it definitely appeared darker in color than before. The polished sheen was there, but it lacked the slight glow it had.

"What are these things?"

"You've never seen a Power Ring before?"

Shadow whispered to himself. "'Power ring'?"

"Yeah, they're a source of energy; they can be used to power machines, and in certain individuals can also grant special power. But this one is used up."

Shadow thought back, the Chaos Control. At first he thought that it's power came from the jewel in the necklace, but it seemed to take power from the rings too. He wondered if he could do it again, or if there was anything else he could do.

"Can you take care of her until I get back? I shouldn't be long."

"Well, that's what doctors are for."

* * *

Shadow returned to the small room where Bunnie was.

"I have to go. I'm going to make it up to you, kid."

Shadow took off the empty necklace and placed it on the night table.

* * *

Shadow left the hospital and started to look upon this village. Knothole seemed very dark, rivalling the darkness that resided in his own heart, but instead of feeling at home here, he felt it infringed on him even more, almost as if it was trying to be even darker than he.

"This place is so dead, the energy is totally gone."

In the air about him, he could sense what everyone knew, Robotnik was coming, eventually he would find this place, and then…

His fists clenched at the thought, after what he did to Bunnie, he couldn't allow this to continue. Taking a few quick steps, Shadow launched into his phase run.

In their dreaded state, only one citizen of Knothole even noticed the black hedgehog at all. A female panda was taking her clothes to the river to wash them, but froze in place when she saw the "ghost of Sonic" charging off before her.

After a pause of 5 seconds, she screamed.

To be continued