Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team.

March 8th 2000.

"Shadow, please, production is only three days away." Rouge pleaded.

"I'm sorry but I'm still not sure about this." Shadow said.

"Shadow, please, this will be a great opportunity and it's gonna be difficult for me too, It would be nice if I had good friend to be there." Rouge told him.

Shadow sighed, still debating in his mind on what call to make.

"Tell you what, why don't you come down here and meet everyone face to face, get to know everyone?" Rouge suggested.

Shadow was hesitant but eventually agreed.

"Alright, I'll be down there in a little bit." Shadow said.

He hung up the phone and proceeded to nervously prepare.

"It'll be alright, besides, this'll give me a chance to have a word with Knuckles for what he did." Shadow convinced himself.

Sega Studios.

"So, where are we filming this time?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, we filming in Station Square again?" Knuckles asked.

"No, we wanted to create something similar to Adventure, but for it to be more bold and all out." Ray said.

"More action, more complexity and higher stakes." Ray told them, with conviction in his voice.

"That's why we're filming in Central City." Ray added.

"No way, Central City, awesome!" Sonic shouted.

"Oh man, I can see it now, relaxing on the beach, the ocean waves, and all those women begging me for my autograph." Knuckles said.

Sonic and Ray sighed, not exactly thrilled with Knuckles' recent behavior.

"Is that all you ever think about?" Sonic asked.

"It's all that matters." Knuckles said.

Thankfully, Rouge walked in the next moment, Ray excusing himself to talk to her.

Knuckles' attention immediately turned to his ex wife, slightly irritated and regretful as he looked.

However, those feelings turned to pure anger as someone else walked in and joined Rouge.

"Who's he?" Knuckles asked, gritting his teeth as he did.

"Oh, Rouge mentioned she was bringing her friend in, she wanted him to meet us and get him to join the movie." Sonic told him.

Knuckles crossed his arms, grumbling to himself.

"What make's him so special?" Knuckles said, with a scowl on his face.

After talking with Ray, Rouge and Shadow made their way towards Sonic and Knuckles.

"Control yourself, just try to be courteous." Sonic whispered.

"No promises." Knuckles whispered back.

"Hey, Sonic, Knuckles, I'd like you to meet Shadow The Hedgehog." Rouge introduced him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two." Shadow said, extending his hand out to shake.

Sonic shook his hand, happily.

"The pleasure is all ours, right Knuckles?" Sonic said.

Knuckles glared at Sonic a bit before shaking Shadow's hand as well.

"Right." Knuckles said.

More awkward silence followed, until finally Sonic had had enough.

"So, Shadow, are you gonna take the part?" Sonic asked.

"Still debating over it, I have been trying to get roles, I'm just not sure that this one is right for me." Shadow told him.

"Believe me, even I felt that way when I started out, but over time, everything just clicked." Sonic said.

"He's just afraid that we're gonna show him up on screen." Knuckles said.

Shadow shot a glare at Knuckles and what happened next would shock both of them, as well as Rouge.

Shadow rocketed away from them at a speed unmatched, blasting them all backward due to the sonic boom.

Shadow sped across the entire studio within seconds, creating a windstorm in his wake.

No one had seen anything like this since Sonic's audition, all those years back.

Shadow came to an immediate stop in front of them, no screeching to a halt or any problem in stopping.

It was almost like he was gliding.

"I think I can keep up." Shadow said.

Sonic and Rouge were astounded by the hedgehog's display, Knuckles just frustrated that he was just shown up.

"Dude, you have to do the movie now." Sonic said, still amazed.

Shadow sighed and said he still wasn't sure.

"Alright then, we'll settle this my way." Sonic said.

Sonic got into running position.

"I'll race you, you win, you make the call, I win, you do the movie." Sonic said.

Shadow thought about it for a moment, amused by the idea.

"Very well then, let's see which one of us is faster." Shadow said.

Shadow took his place beside him and prepared.

"Rouge, start us off." Sonic said.

Rouge smiled and obliged.

"On your marks." She said.

"Get set." She said.

Anticipation and adrenaline built up in both racers as Rouge called out that last word.

"Go!"