Rapt Sorrow Chapter 2: Races and Dreams

The stands stood still. Gathered together in the stands were Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, and several others. The announcer speaks, "Welcome to Emerald Grove High's first track meet. Today you will witness feats of speed and agility. Without further delay, we shall begin the first event."

Time goes by slowly, and events go by slower. Finally, the long awaited One Mile Race is about to begin. "All runners take your places." Sonic and Shadow line up at the starting position, waiting for the race.

"Ready to lose Faker?" Sonic glances at him and responds, "Just watch, you'll be eating my dust!" The count down began. "On your marks, get set…. GO!"

Right as Sonic and Shadow begin, everyone else is left in a cloud of beige dust. "Isn't it amazing? The school's two fastest runners already ahead, even after a short amount of time!"

Sonic looks to his right at shadow and gives him a "thumbs up". Shadow speeds ahead about an inch and looks back at him. 15 seconds and they've both already finished their first lap. Everything seems frozen in time as they continue their run, unaware that they've lapped everyone more than twice.

Amy sits staring musingly at Sonic. She wished she hadn't run out on him earlier at lunch. "I don't believe that I could've been so mean to him," she thought to herself. "Something troubling you dear," Cream's mother, Vanilla, asked. "Oh no, nothing at all." Amy didn't feel so excited.

A white haired girl arrives and sits between Knuckles and Amy. "What's the matter sugar? You seem down," Rouge asked bewildered. "It's nothing, really," she lied. "Don't give me that. I know when I see a sad face," Rouge said sensibly," you're worried about something right?" Amy looked straight at her. "How did you-" Rouge quieted her. "You want to keep it secret right?"

Sonic and Shadow were on their fourth lap just seconds away from the goal. "I'm going to do it. I going to beat Sonic," Shadow thought to himself. "Too close…" Sonic thought. "Goal!" Both of them passed the finish line. "We should find out who won in just a moment…Oh my, It's a tie!"

"Not bad, not bad at all Sonic." Sonic wiped off his forehead and replied, "Your not so bad yourself Shadow."

Back in the stands, it was nearly unanimous that the two were a hit, even the other team cheered for them. "Wow, Mr. Sonic and Mr. Shadow did it!" Cream shouted as Cheese bounced on her shoulder.

"Wait just a moment…" A silence covered the field like one of Espio's smoke bomb frenzies. "Unbelievable, they both finished in EXACTLY one minute!" The crowd, swarmed with joy once more and another announcement came on. "It's a new world record!"

Back in the locker room, Shadow and Sonic are getting cleaned up. "I can't believe it. With speed like that, you should take on Eggman in a race," Shadow smirked. "That terrorist? No way!" They continued in awkward silence until Shadow spoke up.

"You didn't give it everything you got did you?" Sonic paused and answered him, "You held back too didn't you?" Shadow pretended to act surprised. "Some how, something calls out to me. It says that I am a hero, reborn." An eyebrow is raised. "You believe that voice?" Shadow asked him. "I don't know what to believe. Do you have any weird things like that happen to you?"

Shadow seemed to drift into pain as he stood there. "You don't have to answer," Sonic finally replied, "well, see you later Shadow." Shadow stood still for a moment until he said, "See you later Sonic."

On his way home, Shadow pondered Sonic's question some more. "A voice calls out to me. It says, 'Shadow, you are the Ultimate being.'" The only thing he could remember from his dream was himself screaming the name Maria, and then an explosion. "Who is Maria?" he thought. Shadow dropped to his knees and screamed out in pain, "MARIA!"

Amy's apartment was a pink hell to Rouge. She ignored it for the greater good. "What happened between you and Sonic earlier?" Rouge asked inquisitively. Amy began to tell her.

Sonic chased after her. "Amy wait," Sonic said as he grabbed her arm. "Let go of me!" Amy yelled through her tears. "Just listen to me for a moment okay?" he said. Amy stopped struggling. "Bunnie and Sally don't matter to me like you do. They are just friends to me. But you, you are special to me," he said gazing into her glittering eyes.

"Please don't run from me anymore." Amy moved closer to him. "You don't go running away from me either." Laughing is heard in the background. "Oh man did you just screw yourself!" Knuckles laughed. "Shut up, you punk!" Sonic stepped toward him. "Knuckles. Hey look its Rouge!" Knuckles fell from his spot on the 10-foot tall fence and landed on the ground. "Oh my god! Run for your life!" Knuckles said as he ran.

"I wasn't there was I?" Rouge asked. "Nope," Amy said reassuringly, "Sonic just made that up to mess with Knuckles." Rouge laughed. "That poor fool. I still love him though."

Amy looked up just then. "What did you just say?" Amy startled Rouge. "Oh, nothing!"

"Don't be so shook up if it went well. Okay?" After a few more minutes of girl talk, Amy asks Rouge a question. "Rouge, have you ever loved someone?" Rouge turned bright red. "Um, well his hair definitely not the same color as my face right now…" Amy giggled and said, "Oh I see. You like Knuckles don't you?"

"Well this has been great and all, but I've got to go now Amy. See you tomorrow!" After Rouge left, Amy began to write a letter. "You helped me, so I'll help you…"

Vector and Charmy entered the dreaded white halls. "Dang it! Why do hospitals have to be so creepy," Vector said. "Don't be so silly Vector. Hospitals are calm places." They approached the receptionist. "Hello, how may I help you?" Vector hesitated to respond. "MAY I HELP YOU OR NOT!" Charmy turned gray like the concrete outside. "See what I mean?" Charmy nodded his head.

"Uh, we're looking for Espio's room." The receptionist typed something into a computer and turned to them. "Room 07." Both of them nodded and headed toward room 07. Vector entered the room with Charmy following him.

"So how are ya doing Espio?" Espio sat up and looked at them. "Well I'll be okay. I should be able to go home tomorrow." Charmy seemed ecstatic. "Please don't play with your dangerous toys at school anymore okay?" Espio nodded in agreement.

Cream, Cheese, and Tails were having a little tea party. "Mr. Sonic sure is fast isn't he Tails?" Tails takes a sip of his tea. "He sure is. Um, Cream?" Cream seemed curious. "Yes?" Tails seemed a little embarrassed to respond. "Here, I got these for you," he said as he handed her a bouquet of ginger colored flowers. "Wow, they're so pretty! Thank you!" Cream gave Tails a little kiss on the cheek and he blushed.

The doorbell rang just then. "Mama! Someone is at the door." Vanilla came from the kitchen and answered the door. "Why hello Big. What brings you here?" Big looked around for a moment before he answered. "Hello. Have you seen Sonic?" Vanilla stood there for a moment and then glanced at her watch. "He's running a little late to pick up Tails. He should be here any minute. You can come in for a moment and wait for him if you like."

"Thank you!" Big sat down next to Tails. "So Mr. Big, how's football going for you?" Cream asked. "It's great, but Knuckles is a little rough though. Has Vector been troubling you?" Tails took a sip of his tea. "Oh no, not at all. Do you want some tea Mr. Big?" Big seemed delighted at the offer. " Why sure I would."

After a few more minutes the doorbell rang again. Vanilla answered it. "Hey Tails, time to go home." Tails finished his tea and said goodbye to Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla. "Hey Big, what are you doing here?" Big finished his tea and said, "I'll tell you all about it outside."

"A message from Amy?" Big turned to face him. "Yeah. She wants to see you tomorrow at lunch. Alone!" Laughter is heard from somewhere. "Oh man did you just screw yourself!" Sonic looked at him irritated. "Go home already!"

Shadow stared at the ceiling restlessly. He had been staring at it for the past hour. "I can't seem to sleep," He thought. There was a rustling downstairs. "It must be Rouge. She sure was out late though." He thought about his roommate for a while and drifted to sleep.

He opened his eyes and found himself in a bathroom. A girl with peach hair stood there. "Shadow, you must realize the truth. Remember, I am Tikal." After that she disappeared.

Shadow heard gunshots and explosions. Then he looked into the mirror. Breathless quiet seized him as he realized this image was like him, but as a hedgehog. He looked behind him as the door opened. A blonde haired girl entered the room panicked. "Shadow, we have to get out of here while we still can. G.U.N. is here!"

She pulled him out into the corridor. They ran into a large control room. I'll get the escape pods ready. Horror grabbed Shadow as loud banging was heard outside the room. "They mustn't escape! Kill them if you have to!" Shadow became more terrified by the moment.

"Please come with me!" Shadow pleaded to the girl. "I will, but there's not enough room for both of us in there." The doors were broken down, and men with the word "gun" on their uniforms burst into the room. "There they are, stop them!"

Suddenly the girl thrust him into an escape pod. "Shadow!" She spoke something to him, yet he responded like he wasn't in control. "I promise…" The door's of the escape pod closed and Shadow was detached from the station and shot off toward earth. He saw a dark crimson explosion consume the colony where the girl was. Shadow saw was a faint shimmer of light speeding away. Last thing he heard was himself screaming, "MARIA!"

Shadow screamed and sat up in bed. He looked at the clock, and discovered it was morning time. "It was a dream…but it was so real."