With Sonic and the Wild Kratts

Sonic ran alongside the createrra, the Kratt brothers' all-terrain jeep, and wondered about what had gotten into Shadow lately. Martin looked down at him, while Chris drove and noticed that his blue friend wasn't his normal chipper self.

"What's on your mind, Sonic?" he asked. The hedgehog glanced up at him, not needing to look where he was running. There was nothing but the African plains as far as he could see.

"It's nothing," he answered with a confident grin, hiding what he was previously thinking about, "Just enjoying the run. I don't sense any Chaos Emeralds anywhere nearby. I'm not as strong in that department as Shads is. See anything on that Chaos Tracker?"

The blue clad Kratt looked down at the device in his hand, which looked like a mini sonar combined with a tablet. He frowned when he finally got the results.

"Sorry, man. I got nothin'."

Chris parked the jeep, as they thought about their next move. Sonic tapped his foot and rubbed his chin, while looking at the noon horizon. They still had a lot time before they had to meet up with Shadow and the rest of the crew, and there weren't any Chaos Emeralds in the area.

"Maybe we could go on one of your creature adventures? I can tell Shads that we couldn't find another emerald."

They agreed to go exploring the savannah, but after an hour or so, a delicious scent reached Sonic's nose. He took in a deep breath and licked his lips with a hungry sigh.

"Hamburgers. It may not be chilidogs, but it'll do since I missed lunch," he said to himself before speeding off to follow the appetizing smell. The two humans had to get back in the createrra to follow him. But he was long gone.

"Why would there be hamburgers in the middle of the African savannah? We're at least twenty miles away from the nearest service station," Chris mused to his brother. It suddenly clicked.

"Gourmand!" they exclaimed at the same time.

"SONIC!" Martin tried to tell, but they were too far away for the blue blur to hear.

"Phew! Finally, some chow," the azure hedgehog said to himself. He looked to see what appeared to be an RV, except it was a restaurant too, complete with a full kitchen and dining patio. Sonic whistled.

"What will this world come up with next?" he said to himself and zoomed down to it. He promptly stopped however, when he saw the chef.

"Egghead? How'd you get here? And what happened to your 'stache? You're missing like...all of it. And when did ya get so short? The portal shrink your legs or something? It didn't take any of the rest of your fat; it's sad it took the only skinny part of ya that you had. Why are you even cooking? You've always been a bad cook! Do you have any chilidogs anywhere? What scheme are ya up to this time?" Sonic spoke at a hundred miles per hour, literally, as he ran around the RV in a blue streak.

"What on earth?" the chef yelled and swung his ladle to try to hit the blur buzzing around him, but of course he wasn't fast enough to touch it. Sonic stopped and perched himself out of the human's swing with a burger in his hand.

"Y'know, I'm starting to think that maybe you're not ol' egghead afterall, cause this burger is delicious," he reported absently.

"A talking blue cat?" the man asked himself, and Sonic rolled his eyes. He was getting bored with everyone not knowing what species he was.

"In case you haven't noticed the quills yet, I'm a hedgehog, and yes I can talk. The name's Sonic; who are you?"

Sonic missed the cook rubbing his hands together with an evil chuckle, as two voices yelled, "Gourmand! Stay away from our friend!"

Martin and Chris had finally caught up to him, and they climbed our of the createrra as fast as they could. They were both angry at the fat chef in front of them. Sonic hopped down from his seat and stood a few paces away from Gourmand, in case he needed to run.

"Well if isn't my two least favorite customers," Gourmand greeted sarcastically, "You just in time for my newest appetizer, Sonic Soup!"

"Wait! You were gonna cook me?! That's insane, dude! Not even my own arch-nemesis would sink that low, and that's really saying something!" Sonic exclaimed as he dodged a sticky bun. Martin and Chris ran to help as best they could, but only managed to get in the way of both parties. Chris was to trip Gourmand, but Martin got hit with a sticky bun, plastering him to the wall. Sonic tried to help free him, but was having a tough time.

"How does he make this stuff?" he asked no one in particular, as he tried to fling some of the goo off his fingers.

Gourmand managed to kick the green Kratt off of him and hit him upside the head with a nearby frying pan, knocking Chris out instantly. Sonic witnessed it, and his fur darkened, but he didn't go completely Dark. This was the second time he had witnessed a human friend get injured to the point of unconsciousness.

"Hey!" he growled and lunged for the villain, and the two wrestled on the floor of the illegal establishment. Sonic soon gained the upper hand, but he was distracted by hearing a faint groan from his passed out comrad. It gave Gourmand just the opening he needed to knock the hedgehog off him and successfully hit him with a sticky bun, attaching him to the kitchen island. Sonic's fur faded back to its normal hue, and he struggled as hard as he could, but it was no use. He couldn't free himself.

"You're sick," he spat viciously. If there was one thing the Hero of Mobius couldn't stand, it was having his freedom taken from him. Gourmand laughed and pulled out a large pot and filled it with hot water. Sonic's quills bristled, fearing that he was going to be boiled alive. I never thought I would go down like this..., he thought and renewed his efforts. His captor began slicing carrots, onions, and other vegetables into the pot, the smell filling the air. He hummed victoriously to himself, and it wouldn't be long until Sonic himself would be added to the batch of steaming ingredients.

"You won't get away with this, Gourmand!" Martin challenged, clinging to the hope that someone would rescue them.

"Of course I will, blueberry," he retorted and waved his spoon dismissively.

"Chaos Spear!"

The aforementioned spoon was dashed clean out of his hand, and he looked up in fear and surprise. Sonic looked up too and smiled, knowing who had come to save them. Shadow stood menacingly before them, his quills raised and lips curled upward in a snarl directed at the villain. A red aura surrounded him, and he held another Chaos Spear charged in his hand. With lightning speed, he cut through Martin and Sonic's bonds before he leaped up and gripped Gourmand's throat with his free hand and lifted him off the ground by activating his hoverskates. Their faces were so close, Shadow could feel the man's ragged breathes on his face, and bared his canines murderously.

Red tinted the corners of his vision as he roared and tightened his grip, choking him a bit, "If you dare come near Sonic again, I promise that you will die a cruel death by my hand. I will torture you so slowly you'll be begging me to finish you off. Now get out of my sight," he snarled and dropped him roughly. The cook scurried as far away as he could from the furious hedgehog. Sonic had gotten the Kratt brothers away from the RV, guessing what would happen next. The red aura surrounding the black hedgehog grew as his fury pent up before erupting.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

The vehicle was sent catapulting into the unknown with flames and smoke tailing behind it. The ground where it had once stood was scorched a sooty black, and in the center stood Shadow himself, the red aura fading but still faintly visible. He couldn't believe someone tried to cook his brother. The thought alone would be enough to unleash another Chaos Blast. He took in several breathes to calm himself, since he knew the threat was eradicated for the time being. Gourmand was still alive, he knew; he just won't be cooking hedgehog anytime soon.

His back remained facing the group left. The sound of the explosion was enough to wake Chris, who had a large oncoming headache, and both humans stared mutely at the antihero. Sonic stood still for a moment, unsure about what to say next. Shadow threatened a man simply because he had captured his rival? Several villains had done far worse, and Mr. "Ultimate Lifeform" never batted an eye at it before. Not to mention he had used a threat so sinister, Sonic had shivered at the thought. He was even angry enough to let out a full Chaos Blast!

"Shadow?" he asked carefully.

"I leave you for two hours, and you get almost turned into a human's lunch!" he thundered, cutting Sonic off, "Why couldn't you call and give your location?! I searched the entire continent because I knew you were in some sort of trouble! Not that I should be surprised at this point."

Sonic raised an eyebrow at his ally's rant, "I didn't think you would be so worried! He caught us off guard, that's all. Sheesh! You make it sound like it's the end of the universe or something."

"That's all!" Shadow demanded incredulously, "You're recklessness almost got you killed!"

"Why are you so worked up all of the sudden?! I've been through a lot worse, and you didn't care at all!" Sonic yelled. This was an argument the two humans knew they couldn't stop. Shadow's ears folded back, hurt by the statement, but his anger and pride wouldn't let him back down.

"That was before I knew the truth! And I did care; you were just too caught up in yourself to notice!"

"So~rry for being a hero!" Sonic bit back sarcastically, "And what truth?! What could be so important that you would Chaos Blast a cook because he held me hostage for a few seconds?! Why do you think you have to look after me, all of the sudden?!"

"I am your brother, all right?" Shadow spat back, his voice hitching slightly, "I learned the truth from Lakit and the second heart, Malkia. I'm not an artificial creation; I never was. I saw what really happened, and...I CAN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN! You don't have to believe me," he said, his voice lowering below a shout, "You can hate me all you want, I don't care. I can't lose another part of my family. I've already lost two of them to humans, and I couldn't allow a third. I'm sorry, Sonic...for everything."

But before the blue blur could answer, not that he could say anything in the first place, Shadow skated away in a black and red streak, breaking the sound barrier in a couple of seconds. Sonic slumped to his knees, as he processed everything. Shadow really was his...brother? They had been bitter rivals for years, and yet it made sense. Their physical similarities and nearly identical powers. How neither could recall if they had parents. Why he always felt some sort of invisible bond with Shadow that he couldn't explain. But why did he hide if from him? Why didn't he tell him? Why would he keep something this important away from him?

Sonic's eyes snapped shut, tears of sadness and confusion threatening to fall, and he pounded his fist into the ground. Its sheer force sent a small tremor through the ground, and Martin realized that he had been going easy on Gourmand. Sonic's body shook uncontrollably.

"Grrraaaaahhhhh!" he roared, at his wit's end. He stood and began running in the same direction Shadow had gone. He needed answers, and he needed them now.