Tears from the Moon

Someone broke a stick right by his ear. Sonic shot into the air then landed on top of an extremely irritated someone.
"Morning Sonic" Knuckles' voice said from somewhere underneath him.
"Huh? What? What's going on?"
"Sonicu, would you kindly get off me?"
Bemused Sonic shuffled to the side. Knuckles picked himself up off the floor and dusted himself down, shaking his head and snorting slightly.
"Pleasant dreams?" Knuckles asked mildly, grinning.

Later in the day Rouge approached Knuckles and signalled that she wanted to talk to him alone. Willingly he removed himself from his current company and followed her a short distance through the trees.
"I've finished… my research I mean"
"Whoa! That was quick!"
"Yeah, the Project Shadow files are open at the moment… word about the Thousand has gotten out… The government are still wondering what to do about them at the moment… I think I managed to get my information without anyone getting too suspicious…"
"Thanks Rouge… go ahead…" he flopped onto the ground "I'm listening"
"Project Shadow, the Ultimate Life. The ARK Organic Weapons Development…" She paused "Are you sure you want to hear this?"
Knuckles turned away "Just talk"
"The project was conceived almost 80 years ago. It took 5 years to find the funding and get it off the ground. To begin with it was based in a small outpost in some desert. Gradually they made more and more progress. Within the team there was a brilliant young scientist, Gerald Robotnic. For 7 years the project was based in the desert, during this time Robotnic moved up through the team. When they moved to the ARK he was the head of it. The ARK was a state of the art Research Colony, at the time, perfect for Project Shadow because of its complete isolation. Robotnic was reluctant to leave his family behind, his then five year old daughter Maria, but he followed his work.
"Then when Maria was six her mother was killed, some kind of road accident, never adequately explained. There was a lot of opposition to Project Shadow, even then. After her mother died Maria was moved to the ARK to live with her father, she took to space well and evidently thrived…
"Project Shadow on the other hand was not going well… They were still experimenting with the Biolizard genome. The result was several malformed freaks that died during development, at birth, or shortly after. The Biolizard was the first real success, with her use of energy weapons, but she was fundamentally flawed."
Rouge watched the look of disgust cross Knuckles' face
"She grew too large, and became unable to support herself without breathing equipment. She was… discontinued… In the past other teams had worked on Shremu genomes, simply making normal clones… if you can say that. They toyed with the Echidna for a while, but never succeeded in creating a live specimen. After the failure of the Biolizard they moved on to hedgehogs, as that was the genome with which they had had the most success… Shadow as we know him was conceived. The Biolizard was number 12… Shadow… our Shadow is 28… between Bio and Shadow there were failed attempts… the most horrific of these, 15, died of internal haemorrhaging shortly after birth… News of this leaked out… Opposition increased, there were complaints from many groups among the humans, religious groups, Shremu rights, not to mention a small nervous breakdown and the threat of war from the Guardians" Rouge smiled "Apparently the fuss they made was monumental, Angel Island descended into chaos… for a while…"
The colour had drained out of Knuckles face
"As opposition among the humans grew Project Shadow was hushed up… The leaks were found and permanently plugged. Project Shadow continued, but only in secret. The Guardians released a statement saying they simply feared the inevitable, and that the only thing they could count on was human stupidity. As you can imagine that didn't go down well. But over time people forgot, other headlines dominated the news, and the people went back to their own little lives, and the Guardians did what they always had, they guarded things…
"Then our Shadow was created. He exceeded all expectations, no-one had even thought he would survive, but he did more than that. Every trait they'd tried to write into his genes seemed to have taken, and a few more along with them that no-one could explain. Shadow was hailed as a monumental success, a testament to human ingenuity and perseverance, the culmination of hundreds of years work… The most advanced weapon ever created.
"His training began almost the day he was born. Shadow's behaviour, from what I've managed to asses, left something to be desired." Knuckles managed to smile at that point "His relationship with Maria, Gerald Robotnic's daughter was not something they had anticipated, but after a time it was encouraged, as Shadow's emotional needs were acknowledged. There were some scathing reports though, evidently some of the scientists considered it 'obscene' that he should be allowed to continue such a relationship…
"Shadow lived on the ARK for almost two years. Then as a crisis down here that looked like it would develop into war escalated the ruling government began to demand that Shadow be made ready for military service. Robotnic lodged a formal report stating that he no-longer believed that Shadow was appropriate for such duties; it was dismissed and ignored as sentimental dribble. Despite Robotnic's complaints Shadow's training was brought to a close. When war finally erupted the final demand was made, Project Shadow was to be sent to Earth.
"It was Maria, who told him. Evidently Shadow didn't react too well… what was called… extreme force was required to subdue him. He was put into stasis and sent to Earth…" Rouge paused for a very long time. She sighed then looked up at Knuckles. "This is the part you won't like"
"You think I've liked any of this?" He asked helplessly
Rouge shook her head sadly; quietly she took his hand in hers. She wondered if he'd even noticed.
"When he was released from stasis he was very… angry. He went berserk… I won't tell you the numbers but suffice to say he killed a large number of humans working on the military base he was being kept in. They stopped him, but only just. He was deemed too dangerous to be sent out into military action, a paradox I know but… So they locked him back in stasis, in case another use for him could become apparent in the future, but they didn't lock him away before… before… he was punished." Rouge squeezed Knuckles' hand, as much for herself as him. "They let the families of the ones he killed… do what they wanted to him…. Anything, anything they wanted…"
Rouge was aware Knuckles had stopped breathing. He was sat still as a statue, his hand gripping hers so tightly she was afraid he might crush the bones. Rouge decided not to give him anymore of the gruesome details.
"It made me feel sick the first time I heard…" Rouge said softly "He's not a bad guy… even if he did kill all those people… That can't be right, can it? Regardless of what he did… You don't think he deserved that, do you?"
Knuckles didn't answer, his eyes were squeezed tightly shut and his jaw was clenched like a vice. Rouge got the impression that he wasn't really with her…
"Knuckles…" she whispered softly. When she got no response she reached out with her spare hand and stroked his chest. Knuckles jumped as though her fingers had been electrified.
"Ugh, sorry Rouge, my mind wandered… carry on"
"You can't honestly believe he deserved that? Can you?"
"Just carry on"
Rouge frowned at him before continuing to speak "The world continued without Shadow. Robotnic and Maria stayed on the ARK for a long time, both, along with a few of the other scientists that had worked with Shadow campaigned for him to be released and returned to them. Their campaign was ignored. There was a lot of resentment and fear placed onto Shadow. He was viewed as a dangerous menace, a murderer, fully aware and in control of his own actions. Public opinion had turned against him. Fear it seems is a powerful weapon. It was only the scientists who wanted him back.
"Other research projects were continued on the ARK, but Project Shadow was put on hold… until the problems could be sorted out. Then there was an accident… Part of the ARK's power core exploded. Toxic gasses were released into the ARK's atmosphere, containment systems locked down the affected areas, but there were people left inside… Maria Robotnic was one of them.
"After that the ARK was abandoned, left to slumber in space… As you can imagine some of the research projects were left behind. The Biolizard was one of them, evidently she grew a lot bigger during those fifty years.
"After Maria's death Robotnic abandoned his scientific career. He'd sworn not to have a hand in the creation of another creature like Shadow. He didn't. But the rest of humanity wasn't so willing to give up. Several small research posts were set up in separate corners of the world where research into Project Shadow was continued. The scientists strived to create identical circumstances to those in which Shadow was raised, even going as far as to hire small girls to befriend him. They thought it would be easy to use the same genes and simply mould him into a more obedient character through a combination of physical abuse and a cocktail of drugs. It didn't turn out to be so easy. It took them years to create another viable live specimen… between 178-29 and 32 the next live specimen there were lots of failures… They created 964 specimens, but never succeed in replicating Shadow's flames… By the time they thought about re-releasing Shadow and trying again there was too much fear, it would have been political suicide…
"Part of that fear was created by Robotnic himself. When he found out about the creation of the Thousand he opposed it hugely. His non-violent campaigns again fell on deaf ears… so he took matters into his own hands. He discovered the location of several of the bases, and made a pretty good attempt at destroying them. After Maria's death and the realisation he was never going to get Shadow back he became more and more violent and dangerous. His fight against them lasted almost 15 years, until he was captured and sentenced to death on terrorism and murder charges. He was executed by the electric chair, but not before he could make that recording we saw on the ARK, or before he could father another child…
"Shortly after Robotnic's execution the government pulled the funding for Project Shadow. The Thousand were simply put into storage, and left to gather dust. After several changes in government and much water under various metaphorical bridges they were no-longer considered a threat… simply a relic from the past. They began to be stored in places with increasingly lacking security. When they started to mysteriously disappear just over three years ago no-one paid particular attention. The government had bigger worries… It was only when Eggman released our Shadow that the various governments charged with storing the Thousand pooled their numbers and realised all but 54 of the Thousand were missing. Then a day after the ARK incident another 12 were taken. The governments realised they didn't have a hope in hell of finding Shadow 28 so the search for him was limited to say the least.
"Whether it was Eggman who was stealing the members of the Thousand, or Metal I don't know. How Shadow came to be where I found him, on Eggman's base, I don't know-"
"I wasn't the one stealing the Thousand"
Knuckles and Rouge jumped.
"I wish we'd stop talking about them as though they're property!" Knuckles growled
"I didn't take the Thousand… but I did lose Metal about three years ago… I guess he knew something I didn't. I knew about Project Shadow from my grandfather's diaries, but those I had never made it entirely clear exactly what he was… I was surprised to find a living creature… Although I have to say Shadow didn't display any of his more… unusual talents whilst he was with me… at least not that I saw… although there was a strong smell of burning on the ARK…
"After we abandoned the ARK I began research into finding out if anything had been found alive among the wreckage that fell, Bio or Shadow either would have sufficed for my purposes…
"I found him on the outskirts a provincial town. Don't ask me to explain it; even I thought it was almost impossible…"
A strange expression crossed Knuckles' face
"There was so much falling from the ARK that no-one thought it was particularly unusual. The military were looking for him and Metal Sonic. They were checking every reported ground strike all across the world, systematically… The military knew he would survive the fall… That was what made me believe my search was worthwhile… It was only a matter of time…
"But fortunately I found him first. You may not agree with me on that but I believe I offered him a better fate than the military or Metal Sonic would have given him. The military if they had found him would have locked him up in stasis for an eternity… or found a way to destroy him. If Metal had found him… better not to think about it…"
"But he was in stasis when Rouge found him"
"Yes, it was my only choice. He survived the fall, but only just. The villagers found him a few metres from a crater 50 feet deep, some merciful soul took him in. They assumed he'd been unfortunate enough to be caught by the fallout from something hitting the ground, none of them even imagined he'd been the one falling… I was lucky that I heard about him before anyone else… I persuaded the villagers to keep their mouths shut and took Shadow off their hands. When I found him his whole body was shattered and almost burnt to a crisp. The work of my grandfather is truly astounding… but I think he would have been appalled by what I found, as I was. When I found Shadow… he was conscious. His bones were literally shattered, like a powder… I truly did wonder what I would be saving. He was delirious… talking all sorts of rubbish… calling for various people… mostly saying something about how he wasn't supposed to survive… and how a voice had spoken to him…"
"You should have let him die…" Knuckles said softly, refusing to look up.
"I didn't know that he wouldn't. He'd just survived a fall from space; I doubted anything I could do would put him out of his misery. I couldn't leave him in limbo; I knew that if I put him in stasis at least he wouldn't be conscious. I have to admit it was a surprising fight getting him in there. I am not as heartless as you like to believe… I pitied the poor creature… I put him back into stasis because it was the only thing I could think to do. I monitored him closely, his wounds did appear to be healing in stasis, but I was captured before I saw them completed."
"Captured?!"
"Yes, by Metal… I didn't build the Airbase, I wasn't the one piloting those ships that attacked you all… they were Metal and his robots, and some of the smarter, early released members of the Thousand… I spent three weeks locked in that room with the Thousand, before I managed to get a message to Team Chaotix, so I got a good chance to learn a lot about them. I tried to release one but Metal stopped me… I have to say I was as shocked as anyone to see them…"
Knuckles sighed deeply "I don't know what to say… Thanks guys… for telling me… I needed to know, know what I'm getting involved in, I'm afraid I haven't heard anything to make me feel any better but, thanks"
Rouge smiled and loosed his hand before moving away. Once she was gone Knuckles turned gravely to Eggman. It occurred to Eggman that the Echidna had never looked him in the eye before, at least, definitely not the way he was looking at him now.
"Who was he calling?"
Eggman seemed taken back by that question. "Well… err mostly Maria, someone he called father, Gerald Robotnic I assume… Sonic once…"
"Anyone else?"
Eggman frowned with sombre surprise Knuckles would never have believed him capable of "You know don't you?!" Eggman's face rapidly turned to alarm.
Knuckles just stared at him "Who else?"
"He called you Red Echidna… and Guardian… Unless you know anyone else he might have meant…"
Knuckles closed his eyes, sighed and looked at the ground. For a moment he felt physically sick.
"Knuckles, is there anyone else?"
He didn't answer, he simply turned his back on Eggman and promptly disappeared

"Look Knuckles … The sky is crying"
"What? Shadow, the sky can't- whoa! Hey guys, look, shooting stars!" The others turned to look up. "Make a wish Shadow"
Shadow watched Knuckles close his eyes and mutter something to himself. Shadow found himself doing the same.
"I wished for-"
He was cut off by Knuckles who placed his hand over Shadow's mouth.
"Don't say. If you tell me it won't come true"

The blue arc of the Earth grew bigger. He was so afraid. He was falling, then burning. The fire was consuming him. He screamed, there was no point in trying to stop it, no-one would hear him here. It would be over soon… The fire was all there was in his world. He was falling, rushing, the Earth, a blue orb was drawing closer…

"I wish you weren't dead"
The voice in his mind surprised him. It wasn't Maria's voice; it was male, oddly familiar, but full of pain.
"I would have liked to get to know you…what went wrong? Why didn't you come back to us?"
The voice was becoming all Shadow knew. Suddenly he was consumed by a sensation that allowing himself to fall had been a mistake.
"I just wish you weren't dead, maybe if I'd come with you I could have saved you… I wouldn't have let you fall"
Suddenly Shadow felt Chaos Control welling up within him unbidden.
"Wait… are you still alive? Can you hear me!?"
There was a sudden snap accompanied by a bright light.

"Shadow wake up!"
He was screaming, and kicking, flailing his limbs in panic.
"Sonic… help!"
"Huh…? Shadow c'mon wake up!"

The green was close. The air had turned to ice around him, freezing the blood oozing from his burns. The grass rose up to meet him, and all went black.
"No!" Shadow jumped up knocking into Knuckles, crouched over him. "What…" Shadow trailed off. He looked around; the others were gathered about, at a safe distance. Shadow began to mutter to himself in a language incomprehensible to everyone, even Knuckles.
"Who…voice… falling… Guardian?"
"Hey Shadow? Are you with us?"
"Huh? Yeah… Sonic?"
"No, Knuckles"
"What you want me for?" Sonic asked coming cautiously closer.
"Sonic I fell, I fell…. The ground. Earth… The ARK did you all get off the ARK?"
"Yes Shadow, you know that"
"Huh? Oh… yeah… course… Sorry…"
"I told you he was the one who fell!" Knuckles said stubbornly. Sonic glared at him but didn't say anything.

He didn't sleep again that night. He spent the dark hours pondering his thoughts, searching his memory and finding more gaps than anything else. He watched the stars swing across the sky on their endless patrol of the heavens, never closing his weary eyes for more than a few moments at a time. He was grateful when the first hints of pink crept into the sky, and all but the brightest stars went out. By day the fragmented moon grew dimmed against the light of the sun, and though Shadow was never able to forget his sins, he could distance himself from them. Once there was enough light to see by he carefully stood up so as not to wake those sleeping near him. Absently he put more wood on the fire, he was tempted to toy with the flames to try and encourage them to lick across the new wood, but resisted the urge. The glowing embers soon took the new wood and the fire started to crackle again. Mildly Shadow wondered what they could have for breakfast. They'd eaten the lasts of Espio's stag the previous evening. Shadow himself wasn't hungry, he had a feeling he could go quite a while without eating, but only if he had to. Vector on the other hand was always hungry, the same was true of Tails, although he didn't manage to consume quite such a vast amount. Shadow was just about to head off to see if he could find anything when Espio woke, and softly asked where he was going. A few moments later Espio accompanied him into the trees.

When they returned an hour or so later after a fruitless hunting trip Shadow and Espio could tell the others were awake. They returned to the sounds of raised voices, Sonic and Knuckles seemed to be in the middle of a full blown argument, Shadow and Espio joined the others, who were doing their best to keep out of the way.

"Sonic we're all in this because of you! Metal didn't want anyone else! The rest of us could have abandoned you! Metal was unlikely to go seriously out of his way to finish us off. Shadow didn't have to come to warn you, he could have left you to be slaughtered. But he didn't. That has to be worth something to you!"
"Shadow needed help; he came to us out of his own selfishness, nothing else."
"If I hadn't been there… would you have helped him?"
Sonic didn't answer
"That makes you as bad as him!" Knuckles said "Though I didn't think for one minute you were any better"
"You're comparing me to him! He's an evil monster; and a murderer too!"
Knuckles stared at him, for a moment a blank expression on his face. "If no murderer can be reprieved, you must destroy both Shadow and me"
Sonic was silent for a moment "You're not a murderer Knuckles, not like him"
"That would be very much down to opinion"
"You're not! As soon as Shadow doesn't need us anymore he'll stab you in the back, that's what people like him do… they betray you" For a moment Knuckles thought he saw something else flash in Sonic's eyes but it was gone so quickly he wasn't sure if he had imagined it "Shadow'll stab you in the back in time, you'll see"
"Maybe, but its up to me to take that risk"
"Not when the rest of us are left to tidy up the mess you leave behind!"
"I don't need you to look after me Sonic… but maybe I was mistaken in thinking that
was what friends did?"
Sonic snorted "Is that what you're doing with Shadow? Looking after him?"
Knuckles sighed "Shadow is my friend… he's really not that bad when you get to know him… he's just a little lost, like a certain Blue Hedgehog was when he wandered onto my Island… I don't know why you can't accept that, if you can't bring yourself to be his friend, at least tolerate him, for my sake"
"I-am-not-like-him"
"You were a team once, on the ARK, there was hope there for a moment, our hope was in you… both of you. The hope of millions was carried on your shoulders… What happened out there to make you hate him with such passion… what did Shadow do to you?"
Sonic looked away and muttered something Knuckles didn't hear "This isn't the same Shadow…"
"He can remember falling…"
The same look flashed in Sonic's eyes when he said that
"He's a clone! Shadow's stupid nightmares don't prove anything! He's heard enough talk to know what happened, he's faking it like the faker he is. He's just a genetically engineered monster, and you're just too stupid to see it. You're the only one here who thinks he's the same one, except maybe Eggman, but that says it all!"
Knuckles bristled, his fur all stood on end making him look bigger than he actually was.
"You know Sonic, the fist time I met you I had a strong urge to rip out your throat. That urge never really went away"
Sonic's face darkened "You're willing to fight me over Shadow? Come on he's not worth it."
"What the hell is the matter with you Sonic?!" Knuckles roared, loud enough for the rest of the group to hear, even though they were some distance away.
"The question is more, what's the matter with you?!" Sonic retorted, equally loudly.
"There is nothing wrong with me" Knuckles said quietly.
"I could argue otherwise. There's something very wrong with you" Sonic's eyes narrowed "Very, very wrong."
"And what might I ask is that? It seems to me that the problem is with you"
"I'm not the one sleeping with the enemy"
Knuckles' anger reached a level he hadn't felt for a very long time. He couldn't speak; he was too busy trying to contain his rage.
"Why the hell don't you go back to guarding your stupid Emerald and leave the rest of us to deal with the real issues. Mind you, you're not even a very good Guardian, if you went back you'd probably only lose it again. It's safer without you, you stupid-"
Sonic got no further, because Knuckles punched him. Sonic was sent reeling through the air. The next thing he knew Knuckles was leaning over him his fist drawn back.
"Never speak to me like that again!"
Sonic knew at that moment if Knuckles wanted to kill him, he could.
"Stop it!" Tails' voice.
Amy was running at Knuckles her hammer drawn. Knuckles' fist tightened in the air but got no closer. Fortunately Shadow got to Knuckles before Amy. He grabbed his wrist.
"Please, shed no more blood and hatred over my fur!"
Knuckles sighed heavily, sent Sonic one last dark stare, seemed satisfied by the stream of blood running down his face, and relented. He stood up.
"Stay away from me scum" He snarled, before shoving through the rest of the group and vanishing into the trees. Amy was immediately at Sonic's side fussing over his injuries and bad mouthing Knuckles.
"Stupid Echidna, all fists and no brains… I'll teach him for hurting my Sonic"
Sonic also entered into a spiteful tirade of foul language.
Shadow was still standing over them.
"Sonic the Hedgehog" He said suddenly, in a voice that demanded attention "You are the focus of the hatred of many. Yet you seem oblivious of this. You blindly trample the feelings of others and act surprised when they retaliate. It will not be your curiosity which is your curse, but your arrogance. Your pains, are deserved"
"Well you would say that" Amy snarled
"Only because Knuckles is the only one here who can't see you for the evil Faker you are!"
Shadow blinked "I hope that one day, Sonic the Hedgehog, you do not rely on the statements of others to vouch for your character, depending on those who are chosen you may struggle more than your arrogantly noble heart would accept"
"You can't talk murderer!"
Shadow's face grew sad, almost tormented "I am always aware of my faults. The heavens will haunt me the rest of my life! I appreciate someone who can look beyond my sins, as you should too. None of you are perfect."
Shadow turned and began to walk away. The group parted to let him pass
"Neither are you. That Ultimate Life stuff's all crap!" Sonic shouted
Shadow looked back over his shoulder "I am a product of human curiosity. Trying my best to deal with the burden I was given. The Ultimate Life Form, does not exist"
With that Shadow moved into the trees.

Knuckles wasn't hard to find. Several trees had broken to his will before he found a suitable place to sulk.
"By coming to me you only ostracise yourself" Knuckles said simply without looking up at him
"My place is at your side." Shadow said "Wherever you are, loved or hated" He picked up some of the broken tree branches "I have no-where else to be"
Knuckles sighed and subconsciously rubbed his fists. In silence Shadow collected the broken pieces of wood together and placed them in front of where Knuckles sat. He then held a branch in his hand and let pale purple fire lick at its tip. Once it was burning he placed it into the centre of the fire and the rest began to burn yellow. Knuckles had been watching him
"You're learning control"
"Yes." Shadow nodded "but I am not yet ready to trust myself…"
"Those with any great strength and heart, capable of destroying never really learn to trust themselves… My Master, Master Ribern at the Guardian School told me that…" He rubbed his fist again "He was right you know. I could have killed Sonic today…"
"But you didn't" Shadow broke in "That's what matters. What you did is what matters, not what you could have done"
Knuckles laughed softly "My Master also told me I shouldn't second guess myself" he smiled as Shadow sat beside him.
"We're not as different as I first thought you and I…" Shadow mused then looked up "Though I suppose you are insulted that I would compare myself to you"
"No" Knuckles said, trying to straighten his fingers. Shadow was watching him. After a moment as Knuckles tried unsuccessfully to get his hand to respond Shadow reached out and took it. Knuckles tried to pull away but Shadow held firm so he simply relented. As he watched Shadow began taking his glove off, he wondered mildly if he knew the significance of him allowing him to do that in Echidna culture, of the trust it represented. Knuckles suppressed a groan as the glove came off. Shadow's attention was focused on his hand. He ran his own fingers gently over it before looking up, frowning.
"The bones are broken… I've seen you punch through walls… how did you do this to yourself?"
Knuckles shrugged but Shadow's accusing eyes wouldn't let him dodge the question. "Maybe I just didn't do it right… or I took on one too many trees"
"You did this on purpose… you did it to yourself?"
Knuckles turned his amethyst eyes away.
"Look at me and answer!"
Knuckles wouldn't. Shadow sighed
"I don't like fixing self-inflicted injuries… it always seems so… pointless. But there are still marks here from the burns… I had no strength for that when I healed your leg…" Shadow stated taking his own glove off "It's always easier skin to skin… My shoulder still hurts but it isn't drawing power anymore…"
Shadow reached out and went to touch Knuckles' hand with his bare black fingers.
"Wait… did you heal Sonic before you left to find me?"
"No" Shadow placed his hand over Knuckles' "His pains were deserved"
Before Knuckles could complain he started to feel a warm sensation. A tugging, urgent, demanding sensation began in his chest. It terrified him. His instinct was to suppress it. He felt as though his soul did a back flip. But, despite everything it was a sensation he rather enjoyed. Then all too soon it was over. Shadow let go of his hand and Knuckles tested it carefully. The fingers moved easily and the tightness of the lingering burns was gone from both hands.
"Funny… I always feel something odd when I heal you… maybe it is because I care more deeply for you than the others… I remember healing Maria once, she broke her arm… It didn't feel like that… but my memory is so bad I could have forgotten… Its almost as though it is easier to heal you, almost like I was just healing myself… odd don't you think?"
Knuckles smiled, he wondered if Shadow realised he'd just admitted he cared for him, but beyond that Shadow's words worried Knuckles, what he had said, was not a good sign. Shadow went to pull his glove back on, watching, Knuckles noticed a thick scar running across Shadow's hand.
"How did you do that? It looks old…"
Shadow looked down. "Yes, I remember how I got that. I was on the ARK"
"Will you tell me?"
Shadow shrugged "If you like… I'm not a good storyteller though…