-Shadow's P.O.V
I returned to Angel Island only an hour ago. Knuckles and Rouge were nowhere to be seen, so I decided to watch over the Master Emerald.
The stars were starting to come out when I felt a powerful force...it felt like Chaos energy...but different.
"What is that...?" I looked to the south, where the energy seemed to be coming from.
Where had I felt such an energy? I tried to recall back to a certain battle with the Metarex...this was a dark energy.
"Wait a minute, Sonic let off an energy like this...he was...angry about something," I said. He had tried to rescue Chris and Cosmo, but he ended up having more trouble instead, "He lost his temper and transformed inot a darker form of himself."
Whether it was those fake emeralds the Metarex had, or just him, he had a brief power boost and a complete change in attitude. From the cocky, showboating hedgehog, to a menacing, almost evil hedgehog. Sonic and I gave this form a name: Dark Super Sonic.
Well, regardless, this energy was clearly powerful, and heading this way. I stood by the Master Emerald's altar and readied myself. I saw the source of this energy, and was surprised.
"Tails? Is that you!" I asked the figure who landed in front of the altar. It looked like Tails, but his fur was darker, almost a murky orange or brown. A black aura surrounded him.
"It's time to do what I should've done awhile ago, Shadow," the young two-tailed fox spoke, "I'm going to destroy you...for trying to harm Cosmo."
My fists clenched, "Tails, look, I'm sorry for that! I didn't realize she was unknowingly a spy until after the fact! Trust me on this!"
"SAVE IT FOR THE AFTERLIFE!" Tails yelled, shaking with raw emotion.
"Tails, what happened to you? You changed." I asked him, noticing the way he was glaring at me.
His expression suddenly changed. He looked fearful, "S-Shadow...help me...I-I feel like I've lost control of myself."
"So you did transform...Tails, listen to me, you've got to let go of the anger in you! You'll only do more damage to yourself by staying as you are." I told him.
Tails glared at me again, and a ball of energy, blue this time instead of the usual yellow, glowed in his hands, "Prepare yourself Shadow..."
"So be it Tails...I'll give you a beating you'll never forget." I said, getting into a fighting stance. I didn't want to fight Tails, but this wasn't the Tails I knew.
Without any warning, Tails leapt at me, covering the distance between us in hundreths of a seconds. I blocked a swift kick, then gave Tails a left hook into the jaw. He crashed into a tree, but got up immediately. He looked unphased. That energy ball in his hand grew, still charging up.
"Chaos spear!" I threw back my hand and flung a pointed blast of Chaos energy. Tails jumped up, but fell for the trap. I quickly moved right above him.
"Right above you!" I yelled, slammed my elbow into his back. At least, that's what I would have hit, but I only made contact with air. He was gone.
I looked up to see a blur of murky brown tail lash at me. I closed my eyes, and felt my cheeks sting. I began to feel blood run down my face.
"Are you finished?" Tails asked, grinning menacingly.
"Not a chance!" I kicked him in the stomach, and he let out a gasp of air. He winced, then looked at me again. He had a fearful look on his face again.
"Shadow, my Chaos emerald...it's in my tail fur...get it..." he pleaded.
I nodded, and grabbed him by the throat to keep him from getting away, but enough to allow him to breath a little. I tried to get at his tails, but they thrashed about. His darker side was in control again.
"Tails! You need to stop! You are letting your hatred and negative emotions get to you!" I growled. He glared coldly, then suddenly bit me in the arm. I let go from the pain of his canines puncturing skin, and he hopped out of my grip.
"Listen to you! What good would that do?" he then lifted his hand and aimed, only inches from my face. I was too close to dodge it in time, I stood there, ready to endure the blast. I closed my eyes as the light began to shine in his hands.
A sound of rushing wind, almost like wings, followed by the sound of an object hitting another was all I heard. I looked to see Tails on the ground, unconsious. Rouge stood next to him with her hands at her hips. Knuckles was picking up a white Chaos emerald that Tails had with him only moments ago.
"Thanks Rouge." I said.
"No problem Shadow." she said with a wink.
I went over to pick up a now normal Tails. He was breathing steadily, and only had a small bruise on his head. Rouge was good at stunning blows, and from what I could see, she dealt Tails a light one.
"Knuckles, we need to get him to your place. He needs to rest, and I have to talk to him." I said.
"What happened? Why was he attacking you?" the echidna asked, crossing his arms.
"I'm not entirely sure. Whatever the case, it was caused by negative emotions...he pulled off a transformation like Sonic did with those fake emeralds that the Metarex had." I answered.
"I thought I sensed a dark energy on the island. It's a good thing we got here when we did." Knuckles added.
We brought Tails to Knuckles' place, and put him in Knuckles bed with a cold rag over his bruise.
"I wish I hadn't kicked him so hard. For all I know, I may have caused him a concussion, or brain damage..." Rouge said with a worried look.
"Don't worry, Tails is a tough kid. He's had worse injuries." Knuckles reassured her.
Tails was unconcious for only fifteen minutes when his eyes snapped open. I sensed him awaken, even though I was in a different room.
"Shadow? Shadow, are you here?" he called out.
I walked in, "Right here, Tails."
Tails gave a relieved sigh, then slumped back into the bed, "Good, for a minute I thought I had-"
"It takes a lot more than a few punches and kicks to do me in." I added, smirking.
"Yeah, I realize that...but what happened to me? I didn't use Chaos control, did I?" Tails asked me, a confused look forming on his face.
"Yes...and no...you were using the Chaos emeralds negative energy to become stronger. Negative energy is easier to access. Sonic reacted similarly with a bunch of fake emeralds when we fought the Metarex. We call that form the Dark Super form." I explained.
"I didn't want to use the negative energy. I was just really upset, and the next thing I know I'm fighting you." he said.
"I'm sure you didn't mean to, but you did. It's not the fact that you did, it's how powerful and volatile you were in that form that disturbs me." I replied, crossing my arms.
"I just remember thinking about Cosmo...how she said it was her destiny to give her life to save the galaxy...I just couldn't accept that. It's my fault." Tails said, shaking his head.
I knew where he was coming from, because i felt the same when I watched Maria die in front of me. Death didn't seem right for her.
"Tails, I don't want you going down the dark path that I had taken at one time...this may sound harsh, but...move on...when Maria died, I felt bitter and hateful. However, thanks to you and the others, I'm starting to recover a little...slowly but surely." I spoke in a quiet tone, not entirely comfortable speaking about my past.
"You're right Shadow. You know, I'm glad you're around, I don't know what we would do without you." Tails smiled.
I laughed a little, "I appreciate the compliment Tails. Get some rest now bud, I'll-" I stopped in mid sentence.
"What's the matter?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.
"I just called you 'bud'; that Sonic is rubbing off on me...heh. Sleep in today, I'll wake you up around eleven." I said, and left the room to let him sleep.
I walked out into the pre-dawn light of Angel Island. Knuckles and Rouge were resting next to each other on blankets covering a rock.
I smiled, and enjoyed the awkward feeling of happiness.
I guess I really was beginning to move on.
end of chap.13 Shadow smiled? gasp Yeah, these will be rare moments, getting in touch with Shadow's emotions. I'm currently working on the following chapters, so give me a while. Thanks!