Shadow paced in front of Creams' house, looking toward the place where Chris ran off. He sensed Cream standing by, watching him in concern, but he didn't bother to talk to her.
"Don't worry, Mr. Shadow. I know Chris and Sonic will come back, eventually. They might be on their way right now."
As if hearing Creams' statement, a huge cloud of dust filled their visions. Shadow squinted and saw a laughing Chris riding piggyback style on Sonics' back.
"AWESOME! That was a rush! We gotta do that again!"
Sonic smirked, "Next time, we'll take a trip down Green Hill. It'll change your life." Shadow walked up to the two friends and looked at Chris.
"Did you sort everything out?" Chris nodded his head, giving Shadow a bright smile. "Yes, Shadow. And Sonic would like to say something to you." The boy turned toward Sonic, giving him a smile.
Sonic looked at Shadow with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry for my attitude, man. I was having a bad day."
Shadow nodded, folding his arms. Sonic snorted. This guy is all business.
Said hedgehog turned toward the road and murmured, "I think I'm going to go on a little run. I'll be back soon." With that, a black and red dash flew from the crowd of friends and raced down the dirt path.
Chris frowned, looking out at the road with worrisome eyes. "You think he's going to be okay?" Sonic gave him his signature wink and thumbs-up.
"He'll be fine, kid. If he survived that ARK incident, he could survive the loss of memories." Chris just continued to look down the road, blue eyes filled with helplessness.
If only I can take some of his pain away…
….
Shadow ran on in silence, looking around at the nature with unemotional eyes. His memories still hadn't returned yet. What if they never do?
Would he just have to remember himself as Shadow the Hedgehog, and make a new life for himself?
He could do that, but he would still have to deal with his visions of the blonde-haired girl. Last night, during his pain-induced sleep, he figured out the girls' name.
Maria…if you can hear me…will you help me? Silence answered his thoughts.
The hedgehog continued his run, on single thought continuing to burn in his mind.
Who am I..?
….
Chris sighed in relief when he saw Shadow out the window. Asking politely to be excused, he got up to exit the house, Cream and Cheese soon following him. "Shadow, how was your run?"
The hedgehog folded his arms, closed his eyes, and bent his head downwards. "It was a little confusing."
Chris' eyes filled with concern, but he didn't press him. Shadow still needed to take it easy; it was best for his memories to come back naturally.
A whoosh out of the corner of his eye announced the arrival of Sonic. "Hey, what's up?"
Cream smiled, "We're just talking, Mr. Sonic." Sonic smiled at her. "Hey, does anyone want to go grab some chili dogs?"
Before anyone could answer, a cold, quiet voice appeared out of nowhere. "You're not going anywhere."
Screams from Cream and Chris got the two hedgehogs' attention, and they looked up to see Chris and Cream suspended in mid-air, a light blue ball made of some energy surrounding them.
Footsteps caused Shadow and Sonic to turn back to the intruder. A gloved hand, illuminated by the same light-blue energy was the first thing they noticed. They moved their gazes to the intruders' face and studied him.
It was a snowy-white hedgehog. His quills were spread out, and he had three quills sticking straight up from his head. He had white chest fur and two gold rings, similar to Shadow, only the gold rings had a light blue light in the middle. His gloves had light blue patterns on the palm and top of the hand. Gold boots, with light blue and black patterns were on his feet, a zipper in the middle of each boot.
His golden eyes glared at the four people, his mouth a cold, hard frown.
Sonic tensed up, getting into attack position, Shadow following suit. "Who are you?"
The unknown hedgehog abruptly released his telekinesis, Chris and Cream forgotten. "I am Silver the Hedgehog." He pointed his hand at Sonic, and his glare intensified (if that was even possible).
"And I am here to stop you."
…
Chris and Cream stared at the three hedgehogs, eyes wide with fear and concern for their friends. Cream turned to Chris, "W-Why does that hedgehog want to stop Mr. Sonic, Chris? He didn't do anything."
Chris shrugged helplessly, "I don't know. Oh, I wish I never made that promise to stay out of trouble."
He stood up, "Wait a minute… Silver, right?" The white hedgehog turned his gaze to the boy, eyes filled with annoyance.
"Stay out of this, kid. This doesn't concern you." Sonic and Shadow both gave him the same looks. Chris ignored them, lowering his voice to a more gentle tone.
"Why do you want to stop Sonic? What did he do?" Silver continued to glare, and used his telekinesis to push Chris away harshly.
Chris groaned, feeling a little bit of deja-vu from the Space Colony ARK incident, when Shadow kept pushing him against the wall.
Sonic growled at that, and leapt forward, punching the unsuspecting hedgehog in the stomach. Shadow zoomed forward as well. Nobody hurts his friend and gets away with it.
Silver stood up and glared, tightening his hands into fists. This was gonna be a bloodbath.
To be continued…
Sorry for not updating for a while, guys. My computer messed up back in December, and all of my files disappeared, so I was too upset to do it again. But after rereading all my reviews, I knew I had to at least get another chapter for the loyal fans. Next chapter will be longer, don't worry.