Third Person POV

"How is it that every time I leave him on his own he gets into some sort of trouble? It's like I have to hold his hand everywhere we go! Did he always get into so many incidents on Mobius?!" Shadow ranted, "How long ago did this happen? And WHY AREN'T WE OFF THE GROUND!? We need to be following that jet before they do something to him!"

"Shadow, darling, I'm going to need you to calm down a little bit, okay?" Rouge said slowly. She held her hands out and carefully stepped closer to her distressed partner. Everyone else had begun backing up to the walls in slight fear. The striped hedgehog growled as anger fueled him, and red began to tint the corners of his vision. He felt like he had failed to look after the only real family he had, and that, along with the pent up stress and reviving sibling instinct, was beginning to take its toll for the worse. His form began to glow a deep shade of ruby, and everyone knew what that meant. And there was nowhere they could escape.

"How can you tell me to just calm down? He is my--" he suddenly paused midsentence before he could blow anything else, literally and figuratively, "I need him in order to get us out of here," he finished instead. That was WAY too close, he thought as the glow faded, I can't believe I almost did a Chaos Blast on them! I..I could have killed them! I need a vacation..

The ship rocked, and Shadow felt them going airborne. He figured that his rant and city-leveling temper had helped speed up the process. His ears folded and he hung his head as he mulled over his reaction. Why couldn't he keep his composure anymore?

"Aaaahh! It's a rat! Somebody get it!" Amy and Koki screamed. Shadow looked up and pinpointed a familiar patch of brown. However, Jimmy and his frying pan were coming in close to it.

"Wait! Don't hurt him!" he yelled and blurred between them. Jimmy stopped midswing, as everyone stared at the hedgehog in confusion. Shadow looked down at the mouse panting wildly, and his features softened ever so slightly. He knelt down and scooped the panic-stricken creature into his hands and rubbed his thumb over its head.

"This one's a friend of mine," he explained, "Souris, you okay? Nobody step on your tail, did they?"

No, I'm good, he huffed, Phew! What a rush! Where are we? I'm a long ways away from the castle.

"I think you accidently caught a ride with us. Do you wanna stay?" he offered, and Souris nodded happily.

Yeah! That place was lonely. You all sound so exciting!

"Then it's settled. Everyone, meet Souris. He's joining us," Shadow announced, and Rouge grimaced.

"Of course he is," she mumbled sarcastically. Martin and Chris quickly welcomed him, while Jimmy hid the frying pan. Souris crawled up on to his rescuer's shoulder and soaked in his new surroundings.

Why were you glowing earlier?

"Long story," he replied simply, "but first we have particular blue idiot to rescue."

With Sonic

The cobalt hero drummed his fingers on the floor of his cage with his head resting in his palm. This had been the second time he had been captured, and he could only imagine Shadow's face when he would find out. He lightly flicked the metal bars, testing their strength as an idea formed.

I can bust outta here, no problem! he thought, as he curled into a tight ball and began to spin in place. One ought to do it. After building enough speed, he leaned forwards, drilling through the bars in seconds before landing squarely on his feet. He dusted his hands.

"Sheesh, this guy is definitely no Egghead," he told himself, "Now I just gotta find a way out of this joint."

He wandered around the large storage hanger, dodging the crates scattered all over the place. The automatic door began to slide open, and he quickly darted behind a few boxes. Zach stepped into the room with two of his robots hovering on either side.

"All right, let's see what we have here," he chuckled darkly. His amusement fell however, when he saw the opened cage.

"Zacbots! Find it!" he ordered, "Don't let it escape! I need it to lure the other one here!"

What does he want with Shadow? Sonic thought before running to a new hiding place. The door was still open, and he decided that was his best option out. In a flash of blue, he disappeared from the room, but the action didn't go unnoticed.

"Zacbots! That way!"

"Time to go," the cobalt hero told himself and risked a quick glance behind him. The robots were growing farther away, and he grinned. But that was just before he ran face first into what had once been an open door. Must have those automatic alarm system things.

He did a sharp right and followed the hallway, but it didn't stay open for long. The metal wall began to close quickly, and Sonic skidded underneath it seconds before it would have crushed him. On the other side was a fresh line of Zacbots. The hedgehog grinned.

"That was getting boring anyway. Time for some real fun," he said to himself before he rocketed forward in a blazing spindash. Bits of metal scattered everywhere as he cut through them in a blue blur. While he continued rolling, he bounced off the walls like a pinball and scattered the parts of anything that remained in his way.

"Way too easy!" he whooped and uncurled, flashing his signature grin as his human "captor" ran in panting heavily. Sonic twirled one of the demolished robots eye lenses on his finger.

"Please tell me you have something more challenging than this scrap heap," he taunted and exaggerated a yawn. Zach frowned. Neither of them had a chance to react, though, as they felt the jet violently lurch to the side.

"What was that!?" Zach panicked, ignoring the blue hedgehog, who was just as confused as he was. There was an explosion, and large hole opened between the two from one of the walls. Smoke filled the area, making them cough. Sonic squinted his eyes and made out an all-too-familiar outline.

"I'm in trouble," he muttered to himself, however, his brother's focus wasn't on him.

Shadow's dark glare was centered on the human before him, his small fangs glistening in the fire he just created, as he stalked out of the smoke. This creature had dared to steal a member of his family, and that would not go unpunished. Zach wasn't afraid of him yet, but he will be.

"Zacbots! Get the stripey one! I want that one!" he ordered, and the robots advanced. Shadow snarled.

"Chaos Spear!' he commanded, and lethal daggers of golden energy found their targets, destroying them instantly. Zach cowered behind one of his only machines remaining, but it didn't last long as Shadow became a red blur and dismembered it. There was nothing standing between them now.

Quicker than anyone could think, the black hedgehog rammed Zach into the wall, his hand firmly gripping the human's throat. His prey squirmed and tried to get away, but it was pointless. Shadow allowed a part of his heritage to surface, as a small smirk appeared as he began to squeeze. Most of his advanced thought had ceased to function, and only two instincts were at play here. To protect his family. And to kill. His claws dug into the man's neck, as something that hadn't come to light since the Black Arms invasion emerged. He was about to kill him, and he enjoyed it...

"Shadow!" Sonic yelled, "What are you doing!?"

The distraction was all he needed to snap out of his trance, and he roughly dropped Zach. The human gasped for air like a fish out of water and hurriedly ran out of the room. Shadow ran a hand through his quills in shock. After all this time, all of his practice, the predatory instinct that he had tried to hide since he met Black Doom had take over him. He had let it control him. He thought he had lost his thirst for blood after the invasion.

"Shadow?" Sonic asked slowly, "Are you okay?"

"Don't tell anyone what I almost did," he said lowly. There was no threat, but the younger hedgehog read the fear in his voice clearly.

"What happened?"

"I let my darker side take control," he sighed, "While you have 'Dark Sonic' as you call it, mine is 'Black Shadow.' It's when I allow Doom's DNA to cloud my vision and take control. I've been trying to keep it from happening, but..."

"Hey, man, don't worry," Sonic interrupted, "Everyone has a dark side, but you didn't go through with it. And I have a feeling you won't let it control you, but if you do, it will probably be to get me," he joked, and Shadow released a miniscule smile.

"Y'know Blue, you're a lot smarter than you act."

"And you're a lot nicer than you act," Sonic grinned, grateful that the conversation had become more casual, "I'm still gonna have to get you for calling me 'Pipsqueak' in front of the gang."

The older shrugged, "I know, but I have to admit, your face was priceless!"

Sonic rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Got any plans on how to get out of here before the licorice stick gets back?"

"Licorice stick?" Shadow asked as he rose an eyebrow. Sonic grinned.

"That's what he reminded me of when I saw him."

"Is that why you always call the doctor 'Egghead'?"

"The dude is big, fat, and bald, so...yeah, pretty much. And he's fun to tease. But I always wonder if I push him down a hill, would he roll like a ball?"

Shadow chuckled, "I guess we'll have to find out when we return. As for a way out, hold on."

Sonic did as instructed, and the two chaos controlled back inside the Tortuga. The brothers shared a look of respect before they were greeted by the team. They knew they would look out for each other, and not just from others, but from themselves as well. They were brothers, by blood and by bond.

"In all fairness," Sonic announced, "I had it completely under control."

"Since when?"

"Hey! Zip it, Stripes!"

"Make me, Pipsqueak!"

"Here we go again," Tails groaned and facepalmed as the two began another race on the walls.