Shadow surrendered to the Emerald City Police without so much as a whimper. He was taken down to the 1st Sector house and initially booked for illegally brandishing a firearm in public. Due to suspicion of him being the vigilante, Stauerbach and Moroder were called in to see him, while he remained handcuffed to the table in the interrogation room.

"So, we meet at last…Shadow the Hedgehog," said Stauerbach.

Shadow merely stared at Stauerbach and said nothing.

"Are ya hearin' us OK?" asked Stauerbach.

Shadow kept staring and saying nothing.

"Ya know, we have a bit of a peculiar situation here, Shadow," said Stauerbach. "Yes, we understand ya may have had a few jolly little soirées in our proud city." Stauerbach stroked his chin. "Let's see…illegal discharge of a firearm within city limits, first-degree murder, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, addition of poison additives to ammunition…illegal possession of a fully-automatic firearm! You go up before that judge, and since ya won't do us a favor by dyin', it's pretty much a guarantee that you'll be gettin' life in prison with NO possibility of parole. Are we clear on this?"

Shadow remained silent.

"I said, are we clear…SHADOW?"

Finally, Shadow nodded. "Crystal."

"Then uh…maybe ya wanna tell us your side of the story?"

"I tell you NOTHING without my lawyer, Detective…"

"Stauerbach. Sergeant Stauerbach. That's my partner, Detective Moroder."

"Then you can go screw yourselves unless you get my lawyer. I have a right to one, you know."

"Look, it's nothin', really. We just have a huge misunderstanding, and I want it cleared up as bad as you. You can do that by givin' us your side of the story."

"I'll give you this: did G.U.N. let Maria Robotnik give them her side of the story? Better yet…did you assholes let Ferdinand Rozmiarek give you his side of the story!?"

"Shadow, we're sorry about Maria," said Moroder. "You have nothing but our deepest condolences. As for Rozmiarek…well, believe me, as a human, I sympathize with his family. However, you have to understand: shooting somebody is the last thing that most – if not all – officers want to do. See, whenever we fire a weapon for any reason whatsoever, we not only have to fill out a bunch of paperwork, but we also have to appear before a shooting review board that will determine if we were in the right. Hell, I still remember the first time I got called down before that board. It was for shooting some kid that had a .357. A kid, for crying out loud! I tell you, I've lost count of the number of times I've had trouble explaining to my wife and son why I do just what it is I do."

"Then you have a vague understanding of all the pain I've been through," said Shadow.

"So how 'bout it, Shadow?" said Stauerbach. "Wanna help us out?"

"One more time: lawyer, or else."

"OK, OK, we'll get ya one…"

Stauerbach got out of his seat and dialed the front desk with the wall-mounted phone.

"Yeah, this is Detective Sergeant Stauerbach. Get our suspect a lawyer ASAP."

After some negotiation between Stauerbach and Moroder as well as Shadow and his lawyer, Shadow was not only let free, but also allowed to keep his Model 29. However, he was warned that if he ever committed vigilante actions in Emerald City ever again, he would be turned over to G.U.N. and imprisoned forever.

That evening, Shadow was invited to the Royal Palace, where he appeared in the Common Yard to give a speech, with news crews from all over the world filming him:

"Good evening, citizens. You might not know me, but I'm Shadow the Hedgehog. My creator designed me as 'The Ultimate Life Form', and his granddaughter made me promise to give everyone on this planet a chance to be happy. Since my imprisonment, I've tried to strike a balance between both of their wishes, but tonight, I'm here to strike a balance of a different sort. Since the incident that resulted in the taking of Ferdinand Rozmiarek's life, I've seen quite a few of the ugliest things society has to offer. However, in my life, and especially since I met my girlfriend, I've also seen a few of the most beautiful things society has to offer.

As I stand before you, I can feel the love that each and every one of you are capable of, and it is my hope that all of you will use this love to its fullest extent in the restoration of peace to this Kingdom. I know that you're capable of doing this, because whether or not you're human, you all have wants, needs, hopes and fears, and nobody should prevent you from upholding the values of Liberty, Integrity, Fairness and Excellence on the basis of your species. While I do believe that human lives matter, I also believe in a higher calling. You see, in Tedesca, they have this saying, and even if the words are foreign to you, I truly believe the meaning transcends the language. In essence, it means that we all bear responsibility for ending such horrible monsters as racism no matter our species, but to put it simply, wir…sind…MENSCHEN!"

Shadow raised his fist as he shouted out "Menschen". Once his speech had concluded, everyone who was watching got out of their seats and cheered for him, including Rouge, Hope and Omega, who were sitting onstage behind him. Shadow smiled and put his hands over his heart, knowing that he'd made such a difference.

Back at Rouge's mansion, Shadow and Hope were standing on the rooftop observation deck, watching as the last of the daytime sky faded away.

"The sunset's really beautiful at this time of night, don't you think?" said Hope.

"Yes, it's certainly something," said Shadow.

"So, how are you feeling?"

Shadow crossed his arms. "You mean, how do I really feel or how am I supposed to feel?"

"Shaddy, is there something still eating you?"

Shadow uncrossed his arms. "Well…yes…it's just…Hope, can you ever forgive me for all the people I've killed?"

Hope stroked her chin. "Hmmm…that's a very good question. On one hand, murder is wrong, and that's not something I can easily forget about."

Shadow hung his head.

"But…" said Hope. "…I know you're not all about killing, and you've proven you're willing to make up for mistakes, so yeah, I forgive you!" Hope smiled.

Shadow looked Hope in the eyes and smiled. "Thank you. That means A LOT to me."

"Any time!"

"By the way, Rouge tells me you went out shopping and bought a new MP3 player. How do you like it so far?"

"This?" Hope pulled out an Astell&Kern A&norma SR25. "I love it! It's even nicer than my old one! Why don't we give it a try?"

Hope pulled out a UE Boom 3 Bluetooth speaker, synced everything and set them down next to a nearby wall. Shadow was a bit nervous about what was coming, but he needn't have worried: the observation deck became awash with the sound of "Why Can't We Be Friends?" by War. Shadow gently grabbed Hope's hands.

"May I have this dance?" asked Shadow.

Hope nodded. "Absolutely!"

And so, Shadow and Hope danced their hearts out underneath the starry sky. Even if Emerald City needed plenty of physical repairs, the city had made very good progress on the emotional repairs.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.