Please read, enjoy and review; the true darkness will start in Chapter 3.
Enjoy the randomness while you can. Apologies for the late update... next one will be quicker.
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After Sonic's cry of anger and disbelief, a lot of things happened in rapid succession.
Tails slammed on the breaks suddenly, and the van began to spin out of control on the slick highway.
Shadow slammed his hand down on the window unlock button.
All of the windows went down and rain began to spray through all sides of the van.
Amy Rose woke up seeing the world blurry.
No, it wasn't her. The van was spinning that fast.
Knuckles let out something between a roar and a howl, grabbing onto one of the suitcases only for it to fly open, sending the contents everywhere hitting everyone in the van.
Cream simply clutched Cheese to her chest, her brown eyes wide. Throughout all of this, sadly enough it was the little bunny that kept her composure the best.
Cheese held onto the front of her dress for dear life, repeating "Chao, Chao!" even as a sock covered his eyes.
And Sonic's howl hit a fever pitch. He was getting saturated, Amy was awake, and they were out of control.
A shoe then hit him on the side of the head, making his howl go even louder if that was even possible.
Tails was in a state of denial. The van was spinning so fast that the world outside looked like a watercolor painting gone horribly wrong and getting worse, and a shoe had just come out of nowhere and hit him on the side of the head.
Even throughout that, he was still in denial.
'There is no way this is happening, like this' the fox thought, only to be abruptly cut out of his thoughts by Shadow lunging out of his seat, grabbing the wheel and turning it slowly to the left.
The van's spinning gradual slowed, as did Sonic's howling. It eventually came to a dead stop on the highway, facing the right way.
A miracle.
"Is everyone alright?" Tails asked immediately, glancing behind him.
"Yep, everyone's okay! We go through more than that every week against Egghead," Sonic said in his usual cocky way, only for Amy to take a swing at his head.
The blue hedgehog dodged of course, although his emerald eyes were beyond annoyed.
'Here we go again' the blue hedgehog thought with a sigh.
"Good... I'm going to drive us to a gas station, fill up, then Shadow, your going to drive and Sonic's going to read the directions," the golden fox said, raising his hands up against the glares and disbelieving stares he got.
"No excuses!" Tails said, continuing down the highway at a lesuirely pace.
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They soon spotted a sign; it only showed one stop. A gas station call Searider. Tails immediately turned onto the exit.
"Wonder why there's only one stop," Cream murmured softly.
Shadow simply grunted in annoyance at having his nap disturbed, ignoring the glare he got from Amy, folding his arms across his chest and lowering his head so no one could see his eyes.
"We're here," Tails said, pulling up in front of one of the oldest looking gas stations any of them had ever seen.
Everything was a dirty gray color; even the gas pumps. The advertisements posted were so worn out they were unreadable, and the parking lines might as well be non existent. No other cars were there.
"This is creepy," Cream whimpered again.
"Aw, no biggie!" Sonic said to comfort her, before zooming off.
Sonic zoomed in, not noticing the strange silence filling the air. The cashier, a brown kangaroo with long purple lashes glanced at him, then broke into a wide smile.
"If it isn't Sonic the Hedgehog! You can have your gas for free; can I have an autograph though?" she asked.
"Sure, no prob," Sonic said with a grin, quickly signing the blank piece of paper she offered him, before zooming out.
"Start pumping; we get the gas for free for being Sonic Heroes," Sonic said with another cocky smirk, jumping into the van leaving Tails grumbling and sighing behind him as he pumped the gas.
"Sonic Heroes... why not just call ourselves The Sonic Sidekicks?"
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After everyone had pitched in and cleaned up the clothes, they headed out again. Shadow was driving, Sonic in the passenger seat; Tails' had taken the left window seat. Otherwise, same seating arrangements.
"Hey Shads." Sonic said with a smirk.
"What faker?" Shadow replied, his tone mildly irritated at being called his least favorite nickname.
"Any idea why Knuckles decided to take this vacation, instead of guarding the master emerald?"'
"Why should I care?"
"Just askin'."
"Ask the emerald's so called Guardian."
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Sonic cast his glance over the seat; everyone was sleep. Including Knuckles. The blue blur sighed in boredom, and laid back in the seat. He'd just go to sleep until they got there...
*One hour timeskip*
"Faker, what do the directions say?" Shadow asked, somehow throwing a nice elbow to wake him while still keeping them on the road.
"Uh...wah? Youch, keep your elbows to yourself Shads! Wait... where are we?" Sonic gazed at the window, seeing nothing but a thick fog, no signs, no headlights. Nothing, except for that ominous mist.
"Um... what street are we on again?" Sonic prompted, digging for the directions.
"Nevermind Faker," Shadow grunted, pressing the accelerator. Sonic glanced up, still not finding the directions.
"Where are they...?" Sonic prompted. He never noticed Shadow's smirk.
"You left them at the gas station."
Sonic's emerald eyes went wide, and he just looked at Shadow. The ultimate life form never turned, just stared ahead with that strange smirk on his muzzle. Sonic just stared at him, but before he could open his mouth there was the hotel looming before them. The blue blur sighed, sinking down into his seat filled with relief. Shadow had tricked him... before this vacation was over, Sonic would be sure to get him back. That arrogant smirk...
"We're here," Sonic announced, waking everyone up. Soon the next few minutes was rush and bustle as everyone got out and grabbed their bags, chatting excitedly on what they were going to do while they where there. Then, they piled into the lobby where a black goat gave them there rooms. Amy and Cream, Tails and Knuckles, Sonic and Shadow.
Everyone quickly dropped there stuff in there respective rooms, before quickly heading to dinner. Afterwards, everyone decided they wanted to go to the beach and see the sunset; so everyone began to bustle to there rooms. Sonic decided to mill around the hotel's rooms for a while, stalling. Maybe in their excitement they wouldn't miss him, and he could avoid going near water for a few more hours.
The blue blur waited thirty minutes, before heading back upstairs. There, he found Shadow sitting quietly in his room. Before the raven and crimson hedgehog was a small bowl of now cold soup; from the hotel dinner. Sonic tilted his head, noting Shadow's lethargy. The ultimate life form usually didn't talk much, understandable. Yet now, not even nod of acknowledgement or a shift in stance?
Sonic cleared his throat; still nothing. "Shadow?" The hedgehog in question turned his head very slowly, his crimson orbs meeting dark emerald ones. Sonic noticed right away they seemed alert, but gazing straight though him. That strange gazed stayed that way for a full five seconds, before Shadow suddenly shook his head and gave Sonic a strange look.
"When did you come in?" Shadow questioned, narrowing his crimson orbs slightly. Sonic just sighed, and flopped on the bed opposite of Shadow's.
"Just now. Aren't you going to the beach with the others?" Sonic questioned, laying out on the bed, keeping his gaze on Shadow.
The ultimate's face twisted in confusion for a second, almost as if he didn't comphrend Sonic's words. Then, his eyes came back into focus. "Maybe," Shadow grunted, then adding under his breath. "I have to go, but why..."
Sonic's ears flickered. Although that probably wasn't intended for him to hear, he had heard it. Something was going on, yet it didn't bother Sonic the least bit. Who knew what went on in the mind of someone whom had gone through things like Shadow the Hedgehog had?
"Alright then, see ya... when you get back Shads," Sonic said with his trademark smirk. Shadow didn't bother to retaliate, just rolling his eyes as Sonic's naivety, although that mildly confused look crossed his face again before he got up, and left the hotel room without a word. As soon as he did, Sonic walked over and sniffed the bowl of soup, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he did. "No chili? Huh." The blue blur dumped out the bowls contents and threw it away, curling up and dozing off on the bed.
On the beach, everyone minus Shadow was having fun. Amy was collecting seashells, Cream was making sand castles and decorating them with seashells that Amy gave her, Knuckles was just laying back and watching the sunset, while Tails' was knee deep in water examining baby squid. Shadow walked up, and then visibly shuddered. Something was wrong; he could sense it in the air. He sat down, noting it was rather peaceful; too peaceful. His crimson orbs began to wander over the beach almost subconsciously, while his ears stood upright.
"Strange," Tails suddenly muttered, catching the ultimate's attention. "The tide is extremely high all of the sudden." Shadow instantly got up, and walked towards Tails' slowly.
Every step he took, he felt something stirring within him. He suddenly stopped glanced down at his wrists feeling them warm up, only to see his inhibitor rings glowing, uneven lines of fine gold suddenly appearing as his energy flared up like an uncontrolled beast. Shadow stopped immediately, and Tails' then turned.
"Woah..." the young kitsune froze, his twin tails' stilling. Not only had his energy flared on Shadow's wrists, it was on his ankles as well. The ultimate life form's eyes were wide and glassy, as if he were seeing something no one else could. Tails' averted his gaze ever so slightly to see Knuckles up in a fighting stance, walking towards Tails' slowly.
"There's a Chaos Energy flare very close..." the echidna stated, stopping alongside Shadow and gazing towards the ocean. The guardian didn't freeze like Shadow; instead, he gently pulled Tail's out of the water, pulling him high onto the beach. "Cream, Amy, please come over," Knuckles called. The two quickly came, Amy opening her mouth to speak only to be cut off.
"Is it an emeral-" Tails began, only to be cut off as the water suddenly turned dark grey. The air grew still, and everything seemed to stop except for the water itself. It continued in a slow rocking motion, and on the third time it touched the beach something black and shiny slid silently upon the sand. Cream leaned forward to get a better look, but Amy quickly pulled her best friend back, holding her close to protect her lest something happen.
"What the-" Tail's was once again cut off, the silence surrounding the area being cut off by a howling wind. Tails couldn't help but smile as a familiar blue blur stopped in front of them.
"Hey guys," Sonic said, grinning wider than ever. Amy He then stopped, spotting Shadow gazing rigid at the shiny object now poking out of the sand. "What's going on?" the blue blur ventured after a few seconds, noting the silence, and the uneasiness. "Not sure," Tails' prompted, slowly approaching the strange object. Amy, Cream and Knuckles followed closely behind. Sonic walked alongside Tail's stopping to shake Shadow out of it. No response didn't stop him; instead, he increased the shaking until he heard Tail's gasp. He turned his emerald gaze upon the kitsune.
"It's a shard of the eighth emerald...! But that's impossible, it was lost beneath the ocean with for thousands of years- Sonic, you should come see this... something's wrong with it. It's tainted."
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Cliffy...Please review... and prepare. I didn't like the beginning of this chapter as much as the end, so I will be editing it soon; check back frequently.