Hello again! This time I'll make it short…
Sonic, Shadow and co are of Sega. Steal them and feel their wrath.

Authoress' Note: just to say it, I think that the color of the light of the Chaos Control depends on what emerald Sonic, or Shadow, is holding. You see, at the beginning of SA2 Shadow Chaos Controlled using the green emerald, and the light was white-green. At the end he used it again to save himself, but the color was white-purple, from the purple Chaos Emerald. But again, this is only my opinion.

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CHAPTER THREE

Reunion Of The Gang

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Rouge was sitting comfortably on the couch of her home when she turned on the TV; she changed channel until she found what she was searching. "Well, what happened now?" She asked to herself eyeing the screen with interest.

The TV was showing the map of the forest near the Mystic Ruins; the place had a path of downed trees that went for more than six miles. For the most it was straight, but sometimes it was turning slightly to the left or to the right; the whole thing ended with an almost circular clearing.

The map disappeared to let a female journalist take place on the monitor "… So far any information on who or what caused the disaster isn't leaked out; we will keep you informed. And now we will pass to the economy news; the…" The speaker was silenced by the bat who changed channel in hope to pick up another news regarding the event "Maybe it's Eggman's fault, he's always up to something…"

Her searching was disturbed by a sudden ring; she looked down and noticed that it was her cellular. She turned off the TV and picked up the little machine; looking at the display she recognized the number to be the one of Tails. The bat pressed the green button and brought the instrument to her ear "Hello Tails." She greeted him cheerfully. Before they parted for their respective homes she gave her number to the others, so they could track her down wherever she was.

There was a second of silence from the fox's end before he realized that he was at the phone "Oh, hi Rouge! How did you knew it was me?" Rouge chuckled a little "I saw your number on the display." "Oh, anyway, Rouge, I called you for an interesting news."

The bat straightened up in her sitting position and gave her full attention to the young vulpine "Is Eggman back with another of his schemes?" "Yes, but…" He stopped for some seconds to think "But there's more and… and I don't know it all. Besides, Rouge… Shadow is alive."

Rouge's eyes widened in shock "W-what? How?" She stammered unable to come up with a good sentence. Her thoughts went to the black hedgehog; he had survived the fall, but how was he? Surely he would be badly burned and unable to move from a bed "I don't know how, but he showed up last night with Sonic. They were full of cuts, water and mud. They said that they fought the BioLizard, but more than that… nothing."

Rouge just listened to what the fox was telling her "Anyway Rouge, I phoned you to ask you to come here." The bat snapped back to reality as soon as the bi-tailed vulpine spoke. She cleared her mind from all the questions about Shadow "I'll be there in a hour, Tails." "Ok. See you later."

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The orange fox lowered the phone and turned around to face his two guests; they were still on the couch and not fully awake yet "Rouge will be here in a hour or so." He informed them. The blue hedgehog looked at him and rubbed his eyes "Knuckles?" He asked with a still sleepy voice.

Tails turned around and picked up the receiver once again "He's on his way and he'll probably be here in a hour too." He said dialing a number. Sonic stood up and stretched, finally getting rid of the sleepiness that was plaguing him "Who are you calling?" He asked seeing him with the phone in hand.

The fox turned to him "Amy, yesterday I promised her to call her if I found you. Just to light her up, Sonic. She was so down and worried about you…" He said smiling somewhat apologetically; he knew how much his best friend was annoyed by the girl. Yes, he cared about her, but sometimes she was damn annoying with her continual propositions of marrying.

The blue hedgehog sighed resigned "Ok…" He said sitting back on the couch and wearing his shoes. When he was done he stood up again and walked to the stairs "Listen, I'm going to the Chao Garden. See you in a hour."

Tails placed the receiver back where it belonged "Sonic, wait!" He exclaimed walking towards him. The blue hero turned around and looked at him "Yeah?" "Sonic, you aren't meaning the Garden of the capital, right?" Sonic crossed his arms and leaned his back on the wall "Yes, I have a chao there. Why?"

"Sonic! Even for you it'll take half a hour to get there, and the others will be here in a hour!" The fox scolded with a seriousness that was hard to give to someone of his age. The blue hedgehog grinned happily and produced the red Chaos Emerald in his right hand.

Tails felt like his arms would fall on the floor; Sonic had this particular ability to literally absorb the emeralds into his body and carry them without the aid of bags. Although he knew that he, and Knuckles, could do it too, he was amazed by the swiftness and ease of how he could do it; it was impressive to see, and sometimes he wondered how much ability the blue hedgehog had with the powerful gems.

The twin tailed fox passed a hand over his head and sighed "And where did that emerald spring from?" He asked turning his head towards the black hedgehog, who attracted his attention by walking at Sonic's side and taking the gem in his hand "We found it in a stream in the forest, after the fight against the BioLizard." He answered absorbing it with the same ease as his blue double.

Tails' eyes widened a little at that; they had more things in common than he had thought. The fox wondered how much they could still share between them; it was quite hard to think that they were just a coincidence…

Tails looked up at the two "Ok, but be back in a hour." He said smiling at him. The blue hedgehog smiled back and stood up from the wall "You coming?" He asked looking at his black counterpart.

The ebony hedgehog nodded and gave back the emerald to Sonic "Yes, besides I have a chao too." The blue hedgehog looked at him with a shocked face. Shadow raised an eyebrow "Well?" He asked crossing his arms. Sonic blinked a few times and waved a hand "Oh, just being a little shocked here… I never would have expected it from you…"

Shadow closed his eyes halfway and smiled a little mischievously "Yeah… just like me when I found you alive instead of dead…" He said uncrossing his arms and bringing them on his hips "Anyway, you still have to tell me how you managed to use Chaos Control, and with a fake emerald too…"

Tails' ears abruptly stood up as soon as Shadow mentioned that "That's right, Sonic! How you were able to do that?" He questioned him and getting into the conversation. The blue hedgehog looked at him, then at his double; both were waiting for an exhaustive answer.

Sonic thought for some seconds before he scratched his head in embarrass "Uh, well… I precisely don't know how I managed to do that… you see… when I was into that explosive capsule with the fake emerald I remembered you using it. It was my only way out, and I just… how to say it?" The blue hero paused to find the right words; it was really hard to explain how he succeeded. Damn, it was hard even for him to understand…

In the end he just sighed and threw a hand into the air "I really don't know how I managed to use Chaos Control… I wanted to get out of that capsule and I thought at how to use it. Then, something clicked into my mind and there I was, right next to Knuckles…"

During the whole explanation Shadow's expression went from unfazed to a really shocked one; he remembered how he learned the technique, and it was far from the method described by Sonic. The black hedgehog let his arms fall at his sides and looked at his double; how could he have learned the Chaos Control like that?

There was silence for several seconds with Sonic looking between Shadow and Tails "H… hello?" He asked breaking the unpleasant quiet. The black hedgehog blinked and subdued his shock, meanwhile the fox just continued staring at him deep in wonder.

Shadow walked onward, so he was in front of his blue doppelganger, and looked at him in the eyes "Now, Sonic… tell me… what are you?" He asked with a firm voice. Sonic backtracked a little and smiled a little uneasy; his instinct told him that this was going to be the beginning of a squabble "I already told you… I'm just a guy who loves adventures…"

Shadow's eyes flared up "That's not an answer!" He yelled frustrated. Sonic turned heels and ran down the stairs "Yes it is!" He yelled back. The black hedgehog clenched his fists and followed him "This time, Sonic, you're gonna tell me the truth!"

The fox followed them and stopped right out of the door of his workshop; his ears dropped as soon as he saw the scene. The two hedgehogs were running madly through the entire meadow; Sonic in the lead and Shadow just behind him. An inch further and he would be able to catch his blue counterpart by his quills; unfortunately for him he always managed to stay out of his reach.

The two passed near him and he noticed their expression. Sonic had changed his uneasy expression into a smiling one, he was also taunting his pursuer with his eyes; you could clearly see that. Shadow, instead, was angry, but not the same anger of before they teamed up; this seemed to be a childish anger.

In the end the fox could came up with only a comparison; they seemed to be boys of four, five or six years that were squabbling for a toy. Tails sighed and shook his head in resignation; how could someone like Sonic and Shadow behave like that he simply couldn't understand.

The young vulpine watched the two ran, until Shadow finally managed to grab Sonic's quills by using a quick, but short burst of speed; the blue hedgehog was flung backwards by the tug, and his double lost his foot ending to fall forwards. Before the two could hit the ground, a white-red light engulfed them; when the light disappeared the hedgehogs were nowhere to be seen. The fox sighed and returned into his house 'Better call Amy…'

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It was just a low day in Capital City; the shops were closed and no cars were on the streets. Only few people were walking on the sidewalks and they were just enjoying the sunny day after the heavy storm of last night; most of them were still asleep after the worldwide party that went on for the entire day of yesterday.

The celebration at the space airport was broadcasted through every main channel; the president was there to deliver, representing everyone on Earth, a symbolic medal to the saviors. Even Eggman received his, and just for once he didn't spoil the ceremony; to tell the truth, he simply enjoyed it talking with the others.

But there was a downside on the ceremony; into the box containing the medals remained two of them. One was, of course, for Sonic, and the other was for the other hedgehog that teamed up and actively saved the whole world from a catastrophe.

No one knew why they weren't there; not even Tails, his best friend, knew where Sonic was. Everyone was sure to see him there smiling and telling how things went, but that never happened; for some strange reason the main heroes were not there. Little they knew how things really went…

The tranquillity of the city was broken by a white-red light that just appeared out of nowhere; the light faded away to let two hedgehogs appear right on the edge of a fountain. The black and red one was holding tightly the quills with his right hand and the right ear of the other, and it seemed that he wasn't going to let them go until he received what he wanted.

The other, that would have been his perfect copy if he wasn't blue and peach colored, was half turned to him and holding his grasping hand with his left one and pushing his head backwards with the other trying to let him lost his grip on his quills and ear.

The two stayed there struggling for some seconds totally unaware that the common people were staring at them in total confusion "Sonic! Give me that answer!" The black hedgehog exclaimed not letting his grip slack off "But I already told you!" The blue one whined still trying to free himself. Shadow rolled his eyes "That's not an answer!" He said tugging repeatedly at the other's quills.

Sonic responded letting a little ow of pain every time there was a tug; he huffed and tugged back as best as he could "Yes it is!" He talked back taking a step backwards. Unluckily for them he slipped on the edge and fell into the water taking his black double with him; the two had to struggle in the one-foot-and-half deep water for a second before they managed to upright themselves and surface.

Shadow spitted the water that was into his mouth "That was not fair…" He muttered with eyes half closed. Sonic took an alga from his left shoulder and threw it back into the water "First of all, I didn't know that we were on the edge of a fountain. Second, do you really think that I was really going to throw myself into the water after the 'shower' of yesterday?"

The black hedgehog stood up and briefly shook water and algas away from his body "Anyway, where are we?" He asked looking around for clues and not bothered by the various gazes given by the people that were now just standing there wondering what two hedgehogs, one of them also worldwide famous, were doing into a public fountain.

Sonic stood up and shook too "Somewhere in the center of the capital…" He said walking to the edge and looking for something. The other hedgehog followed him "What are you looking for?" He asked cocking an eyebrow. The blue hero stopped and pointed a sign; it was an arrow with a chao face and the 'Chao Garden' writing on it "That."

The two hedgehogs jumped out of the water "If we go at a cruising pace it'll be five minutes or so." Sonic informed the other. Shadow moved an ear; there was something out there that was watching them intently, and it wasn't one of the staring people. He casually walked next to his double and crossed his arms "Can you feel it?" He simply asked hoping that he could understand.

Sonic put his hands on hips and leaned his weight on his left leg "Yeah… and I think that I know who it is…" He responded not looking away from the street. The black hedgehog hinted a smile; it was so strange… A day or so ago the two of them would have killed each other, at least from his part, and now here he was; side-by-side with his former enemy and with a perfect understanding. Not to mention that this understanding between them just popped up right before they used the emeralds…

The hedgehogs looked at each other and nodded; it was best to pretend to not have noticed the observer. Sonic grinned and motioned the road with his eyes; Shadow's eyes flared up in a challenging way. A little race was of obligation; just to lose whatever was observing them, and just for the fun of it.

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Eggman watched the screen with interest "So he's still alive, uh? Humph! It doesn't matter! If I locate where the 'CT-Project' is situated, neither Sonic nor Shadow can stop me! Not even if they team up and go super. I'll be invincible! Hooo ho ho ho ho!" The man stopped gloating and looked at a red button on the console "But they say that it's better anticipate than treat…"

The doctor pressed the switch and cleared his throat "Metal Sonic! Metal Shadow! Meet me immediately in the control room." He commanded in the intercom. After he released the button he turned around and walked to another console; there was a different text file showed on the screen. The man sat on the chair and read for the fifth time what little he could, since most of it was computer gibberish and it couldn't be restored due to the ruined file.

"The ex… out …ssful… …growing… …e…gy readings… … … … …con…able… … … …every aspect… … … maybe… … … … … … Maria's… …"

Eggman sighed again; if only the file regarding that particular project wasn't crippled he could exactly understand what he was going to find. The prospect of another incident like the one involving that mad lizard was too creepy even for him, but reading the words that his grandfather wrote it seemed that this was just an armless project for his cousin's sake.

The door of the control room hissed open and two almost identical robots stepped to Eggman's side; the only difference was their color, like their originals. The doctor stopped staring at the computer and turned around to face them 'I know that they are strong and can beat my powerful robots quite easily, but they are living beings… and if I can keep them under continual fights they'll get weaker… and sooner or later they'll just fall…'

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It would have been a peaceful day like any other if it wasn't for the fact that two chao were squabbling animatedly over who knows what; the two stopped for a brief moment to take some breath before they resumed what they were doing. The loud yells emitted by the two could have been heard even from someone standing outside the door.

An azure chao peeked through the leafs of the ferns adorning the cascade; she seemed interested by the behavior of those two chao. Differently from the others, who were calm and collected, they were lively and always messing up with something; in that particular moment they were just breaking the peaceful silence of the mid-morning nap…

A red chao, symbol of strength, stood up and walked next to them; he raised his two paws and divided them. No 'words' were spoken from then on, and the two litigants stopped; there was no way that they were going against a red chao. They could outrun him fairly well, but he was too close to do that; a hint of escape and he would just grab them.

The two sighed and sat on the ground a little bothered by the fact that their 'fight' was interrupted before a winner was found; not that it mattered… they always ended on a draw…

Iris watched the two as they yawned and walked away from the others to take a nap; the two stopped near the rocky wall next to the waterfall and lay down. A minute later they were sleeping soundly; in the distance she could see the red chao being cheered by the other for having ended the disturbance.

After the celebration ended and all the chao went back to what they were doing, Iris slowly crept out from her hide and slowly made her way to those two unusual chao; they were peacefully sleeping and they had a content smile on their faces.

Her 'inspection' of the two was abruptly interrupted by two distant voices; she looked up and saw two hedgehogs, one black and red and the other blue and peach, calmly walk towards her position. Her eyes became large with fright and she quickly ran into her previous hide, covering herself with the leaves so they wouldn't be able to see her; from there she watched what the two were doing.

The blue one looked up at the fake sky and sighed "Luckily we managed to lose that robo-spy…" He said to the other "Yes, but why the doctor started to spy?" The ebony one asked briefly glancing back at the entrance. Sonic shrugged "Who knows… but I bet that it has to do with something that was into that CD that Tails told us about…"

Shadow kneeled next to his chao and lightly scratched his belly "Here you are, Lucifer." He said with a soft tone of voice that was hard to believe it was his. He carefully picked him up and watched him sleep like nothing had happened; usually when a chao was lift he would wake up, but he just continued sleeping. The blue hedgehog sat next to his own "I'd like to know who moved him here…"

The black hedgehog put his chao back on the ground "Before you say it, I didn't. Besides, my chao was in the dark garden, not here…" He said sitting next to his doppelganger. Sonic chuckled "Maybe he didn't like it… and he moved here, like Michael did." He responded shrugging.

Shadow looked at him a little confused "They told me that chao can't move alone." He stated remembering the first day he came here. He was fleeing from the military and he just stumbled onto this place; he took repair into the neutral garden and in his little stroll he found an egg. Wondering of what animal was, he lightly poked it and some seconds later he found himself with something in his hands; he knew what it was only after the passing attendant told him to read the board in the hall.

Since the military search for him was still high into the city, he had to wait for hours before he could leave; in that meantime he found himself cuddling up in a corner, watching that same creature crawl around making infant's noises. That innocence instantly remembered him of Maria, and he couldn't hold back tears of sorrow and pain for the loss; surprisingly he found himself raising that strange creature and ended up with what was called a Dark Chao.

Shadow's remembering was interrupted as Sonic let himself fall on the green grass on his back "Chao perfectly reflect your true personality. No matter how much you try to hide it… a chao discover it and grows like the real you." He paused and closed his eyes "You're not evil, Shadow. You were just clouded by all the sadness you were feeling over the loss of Maria…"

The black hedgehog didn't answer or tried to do it; Sonic had perfectly hit the spot. He was clouded back then, and he regretted it; for his fault the Earth was nearly sent into pieces "You stupid hedgehog, did you really had to bring that back?" He muttered managing to hide his anguished voice over the whole fact, and hiding his almost tear-signed face from the other hedgehog.

Sonic sat up "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring that back…" He apologized not looking at him "Besides, what I wanted to say is: if our chao reflect our true personality, they felt the need to come here for something. Your chao surely didn't like the garden you have put him in and came here to seek a better place, and mine… well… I really dunno…" He concluded shrugging, but deep in his heart he knew very well what it was, and his chao seemed to have found it.

Shadow sighed and stood up "We better get going… your friend said to be back in a hour, and considering that you took the sightseeing tour of the city just to lose our metal 'friend', the time at our disposal has ended." He said looking down at the blue hedgehog.

Sonic sighed and shook his head "Wake up, Shadow! He's your friend too! He's just shy when it comes with new people, but he's a really good hearted boy, and knowing him… he already consider you a friend." He explained standing up and stretching a little "Besides, if he was contrary to the idea of having you in his house, he would have taken me apart and told me straight away."

The black hedgehog diverted his eyes away from his double's; it was the first time that he couldn't endure that confident stare "You seems to know him pretty well…" He commented wondering if he could find someone that could be like what Tails was to Sonic. He heard the blue hedgehog chuckle "Yes, and yes." He said handing him the red emerald.

Shadow looked in the gem deep in thinking; it was faintly reflecting his image and he looked right into his eyes. He was wondering why the blue hedgehog had confirmed his statement two times; it was like he had read his wondering right in his mind and answered it. Suddenly he snapped out of it and looked at his double "Why are you handing me the emerald?"

Sonic scratched his head behind his ear with his free hand "Well… umm… I hate to admit it, but I have this sensation that if I use Chaos Control I'll end us teleporting right in the near lake… and sincerely, I don't plan to take another wash."

The ebony hedgehog took the emerald from his doppelganger's hand "You sure are strange, Sonic. You actually admitted, in front of me, that you're not good in the landing process of Chaos Control…" He said returning to his normal self and forgetting the sorrow that he felt a minute ago.

The hero's left eye twitched in an angry manner "I didn't say that!" He quickly remarked. Shadow smiled mischievously; he found himself loving the fact that he had admitted that, but not because he wanted to be superior, but for something deeper. He couldn't describe it; it was like he had received a praise after a long and hard work, and he purely liked it.

Unknown to him, he smiled a little "Whatever, blue hedgehog… whatever…" He said not breaking his first sincere smile after that tremendous incident happened fifty years ago. His smile faded away as he realized something "Umm… Sonic?" He asked breaking his moment of triumph.

The blue hedgehog crossed his arms "What?" He asked sighing at the fact that he had just lost an argument with his rival. Shadow looked at him and handed him the emerald "I still don't know where your friend's house is…" He finally admitted, ashamed that he had ruined him moment of glory.

Sonic quickly sighed heavily "So we have to risk another bath?" He asked to his doppelganger. The prospect of a dive in the cold water of the lake near Tails' place was making him want to just run there, but the fact that the fox was expecting him and Shadow in that precise moment was something that made the run an option out of reach.

The two stood there in silence for some seconds before Shadow's eyes lit up "We could try to cooperate." He said looking at Sonic's slightly downed head. The blue hedgehog raised it and looked in his ruby eyes; a grin grazed his lips. He had perfectly understood his idea; he would think at the place where they needed to go and teleport, and Shadow would help him with his better control over the technique.

Shadow held up the red Chaos Emerald and watched as his blue double put his hand on it; it was different than the last time at ARK, but hopefully they could pull it off without errors. The hedgehogs concentrated for some seconds, and when they felt that everything was green, they spoke the two word-named technique in perfect unison; the white-red light of the Chaos Control engulfed them and took them away from the garden.

When everything went back to normal, Iris put her head out of her hiding place and looked around; when she felt that nothing was coming, she slowly walked near the two sleeping chao and sat down, resuming her study.

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A red echidna slowly made his way to the workshop's door and knocked; a faint reply came to his ears and some seconds later the piece of solid wood was swung open by the two-tailed owner "Hi Knuckles!" He cheerfully greeted him.

Knuckles smiled and waved his response to the verbal greeting; he entered the building as the fox motioned him "So, tell me again what happened to make you so agitated…" He said walking up the stairs followed by the young vulpine; as he reached the end of it, his eyes widened a little. He had seen a too familiar pair of wings and white ears sitting near familiar pink quills.

Tails walked past him and went to the little kitchen "Take a seat Knuckles, I'll explain everything I know in a few seconds!" He exclaimed taking a bottle of water and some food. As the fox spoke his name, that too familiar pair of wings and white ears swiftly turned around "Hello." She said in a charming way. The echidna gulped and slowly walked to sit on the bench at her right; Amy had to move left to make room for him while she whined at the fact that she was keeping the seat for a certain blue hedgehog.

The young fox put everything he had in hand on the table "Feel free to take what you want." He said smiling and sitting in front of Rouge, who eagerly took a biscuit. The fox smiled, but his mind went back to the two hedgehogs that were still out; he was preoccupied over the fact that they were late.

Tails blinked and briefly looked at his three friends, then took a deep breath and prepared his throat "Ok, this is what I know. Before we embarked for Earth, I saw Eggman pick up a CD, and he's now in motion. But this is not all! Yesterday night, I come home to find that Sonic was walking towards me. The shocking fact was that he was followed by Shadow! And they both were covered in cuts, water and mud." He stopped and looked at the other three's expression.

Amy had a wide-eyed reaction and was just gaping at what she just heard about Sonic, Shadow and cuts. Rouge was a little less shocked, but the fact to hear that the black hedgehog had just some cuts after that fall was enough to make her stare in wonder. Knuckles was more preoccupied than shocked; he knew that the blue hedgehog was hard to injure, and if he was covered in cuts, he had surely fought something hellish.

Rouge was the first between her and Amy to recover from the shock "Do you know why they were so messed up?" She asked looking at the young fox in front of her. Tails sighed deeply and prepared for the worst "What Shadow told me made me white…" He started not taking away his eyes from the three "He said that they fought again the BioLizard."

This time even Knuckles was shocked beyond belief; he saw the lizard in person, and he felt that annoying sensation that told you to just run away as fast as possible. Back then he wondered how Sonic and Shadow were able to stand her so well, and sometime he still was.

Amy just stared again, more shocked than before; she heard Rouge talk about it during the last fight, and she shuddered just hearing about it.

Rouge was shocked and gaping something like it wasn't possible that the mad beast had survived after the combined heavy blows of the two hedgehogs full powered up by emeralds. This was indeed a bad news; a really, really bad news. She had seen what the lizard could do in space, and she didn't dare to think what she could do while on Earth; the path of broken trees that she saw on the TV was probably made by her passage.

The whole shocked moment was suddenly broken by a white-red light that appeared right in front of the stairs; the fours had to shield their eyes until it dissipated. When they resumed looking at the point, they just saw a blue hedgehog wave frantically his arms and then fall down the stairs, taking with him a black hedgehog.

From their point of view it all happened in slow motion; the combination had succeeded, but the fact that it was the first try made them appear right on the brink of the first step. Sonic was the first to lose balance, and he waved frantically his arms to regain it or to grab something to prevent his falling; in doing so he got into Shadow's forearms, grabbing them and taking him down the stairs with himself. The whole thing happened so fast that they didn't have the time to curl up and safely roll down; the world turned 360° in a matter of a second and they felt every single step hit their body.

When the fall ended, Sonic found himself on top of Shadow's back quills; he had the black hedgehog's right arm over his left one, which was just stretching forwards, and his head. The blue hedgehog moved slightly and found out that he had his right arm under the other's belly and over his left arm, and that his right leg was under his left one; his left leg, instead, was trapped between Shadow's left arm and torso. In both their minds the question of how the hell they ended up like that popped up as soon as they realized it.

From their point of view, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge and Amy just heard a rumble and some screams; when all ended they abruptly stood up and dashed to the stairs. Looking down the fox, the bat and the echidna started snickering; Amy just widened her eyes in fear that her hero had gotten hurt in the fall; she rushed down the stairs and kneeled in front of Sonic.

The blue hedgehog looked at her, but didn't move; if he did it, he would hurt himself and Shadow "Hi Amy." He said trying to not shift in his position "Are you alright Sonic? Are you hurt? Do you want a hand?" She asked being very concerned about his welfare. Sonic looked up and hinted a smile "Thanks Amy, but we can manage…" He said resting his head on the wooden ground.

Suddenly there was a flash that surprised the two; Sonic looked up and saw Tails with a camera in his hands "Sorry, guys. But I had to take a picture." He said apologizing with a smile. Knuckles, that was at his side, was trying hard to not burst into laughs; Rouge had just a wide smile on her face.

Sonic sighed miserably as he saw the vulpine ran away to hide the camera; he turned his eyes at the black hedgehog. His head was turned the other way so he could just see his quills "Are you ok?" He asked seeing that he didn't move.

Shadow turned his head to look at his lookalike "My arm is being crushed by your weight…" He accused keeping his cool. The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes "Oh yeah… and your quills are drilling right into my chest, so shut up and start taking your right arm from over me."

It took them more than a minute of careful navigation to disentangle, but in the end they were free. They were now sitting on the ground massaging the parts of their bodies that were hurting; the other four stood in front of them waiting patiently for an explanation over the whole thing.

Rouge uncrossed her arms and looked at the black hedgehog "It's good to see you alive, Shadow." She said reaching into her pocket and taking out a golden bracelet. She handed it to him and he took it hinting a smile "Thanks." He whispered loud enough to be heard only by the bat, but looking at the little grin on his blue doppelganger's face it seemed that he had managed to pick it up.

Shadow's hinted smiled didn't fade away at that; his double had a sharp hearing, right like him. The ebony one sighed and shook his head, still with that little smile on his lips; might as well drop that 'I'm the better' attitude. Not matter how much he searched for something that he was better at than Sonic; he always ended finding out that he had it too.

Sonic's grin transformed into a smile; he understood what the black hedgehog had thought. Finally they were going with the right foot; they would be good friends and sometimes rivals, but now he finally had someone that would truly be able to keep up with him. Sure, Tails was able to keep up fairly well, but Shadow was the one that he always dreamed about; someone that was like him in every aspect.

The fox broke the silence by stepping onwards a little "So… hum… what happened?" He asked referring to all the events that happened right after the ARK incident. He longed for an explanation since yesterday night, when he saw the two hedgehogs slowly walk to him so messed up and tired enough to fall asleep right were they were.

Sonic's smile became a little sad and then faded away; everyone noticed that his black counterpart had the same reaction "After we landed, I ran away because of him." And he motioned Shadow with his head "I knew that he had survived teleporting himself back to Earth. When I found him, we were attacked by the BioLizard. How she survived is a mystery."

"Maybe she took advantage of our Chaos Control too to save herself, and come here…" The black hedgehog chimed in with a shrug "Who knows…" He then faced Sonic "But the real mystery to me is how you knew that I was in that forest and not somewhere else. When you showed up you seemed to know for sure that you were going to find me there… not to mention that you knew that the mad lizard was there too…"

Sonic just shrugged nonchalantly "My sixth sense?" He responded asking. Seeing that the others gave him only a blank stare he sighed preparing for a better explanation, but a distant purring sound caught his, Shadow's and Rouge's ears.

The black hedgehog stood up, followed soon by his counterpart; he had a bad feeling about this "Problems are on the way…" He muttered concentrating on the sound. After some seconds of silence he ran outside and found that Sonic was at his side the whole time.

The two looked up and towards the sea; surely it was something artificial…

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What do you think about the new version of this chapter? Better or worse than the previous?

Az