Here it is: the first chapter update since my life in University has begun! :D

Disclaimer: Don't own it. If I did, that would be awesome. But I don't. So It's not.

Chapter 12
To Dream a Better Dream

Celestic Town

The atmosphere of the entire building had changed. There was no longer any joking or teasing, no pointless bickering between bat and echidna, no scolding from any humans, and not a single word to or from Ash Ketchem.

The boy sat alone in the reception room, with nothing but his thoughts to accompany him. But they would not console him. The soft summer breeze trickled in through the shattered window he had helped cause. The room stank of Gloom and smoke and antiseptic, each scent only reminding him of how terrible his actions were.

Ash twirled Charizard's Pokéball between his fingers absentmindedly, staring at the red and white as though it would give him some clue as to what had happened.

One moment, he was sitting there, intrigued by the day's events and the newly discovered Mobian Pokémon. The next, he found himself loathing everything and everyone in the room. It wasn't him. It couldn't have been him. But those were his words; that was his Charizard. If it wasn't him, then…who?

The automatic doors opened and Ash lifted his eyes to find Professor Oak looking on him with a mixture of concern and disapproval lining his aged features.

Ash stood. "How is it?" he asked quietly.

"Alive, but barely. We can't seem to revive it. But after all it has been through today, it's no wonder."

By 'all that it's been through', Ash interpreted 'all that you've done to it'. He lowered his eyes to the floor.

"I'm sorry…"

The professor approached the boy. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Ash shoved his hands in his pocket. "I don't know."

"You don't know what happened or you don't know if you want to tell me?"

"Both."

Samuel Oak waited expectantly.

With a sigh, Ash went on, "I can't explain it, Professor. I feel…agitated. Frustrated. Like the world is out to get me."

The aged expert crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow. "Well it sounds to me like you're stressed. You take so much on your shoulders all the time, it must finally be getting to you. But until you can work out these feelings you're having, I think it's best if you steer clear of our visitors."

Ash nodded. "I guess you're right…"

Professor Oak gave the boy one last uncertain look before heading back to the infirmary.

"Professor?" Ash intoned, causing the man to stop and glance back at him. "Is…is it—he—going to be alright?"

Professor Oak shook his head. "It's not looking good."

...

"Come play with me, Shadow," the girl coxed, holding out her delicate hand and smiling at him.

Shadow stared unbelievingly, not daring to even blink for fear that she would disappear from his life again. "Maria?" he asked cautiously.

"Of course it's me, you silly hedgehog," she giggled. "Why do you look so surprised?"

His heart swelled inside of his chest and his throat formed a lump. With the pressure of unshed tears stinging his eyes, he reached out and took the hand.

Maria smiled knowingly. "Oh, Shadow, don't look so sad."

"But…but the A.R.K., the soldiers—"

"None of that matters here." Her voice was as soft as a breeze, just as he remembered it. She held his hand and pulled him into a place that seemed so familiar, but somehow foreign to him: A meadow, filled with flowers of every bright colour he had ever known. The grass was soft under his feet, the air clean and fresh, the sky a beautiful blue—but something seemed strange about this place. The sky, the flowers, the trees, Maria—they all seemed to shine around him.

"Maria, what is this place?"

"This," she replied wonderingly, looking around the world, "is my home."

Shadow couldn't stop the liquid crystals of salt water from trickling from his eyes. "It's beautiful," he whispered.

She laughed, "I knew you'd like it! It's just like we always dreamed it would be. A place that's perfect, just for the two of us."

And it was perfect. Any place would have been perfect if it meant seeing his only friend, his only reason, one more time.

"Shadow, you're smiling!" Maria exclaimed happily, taking his other hand as well.

"I am?" He hadn't even recognized its touch on his lips; so long it had been since he smiled.

"Come here," she said softly, tugging at his hands. "There's something I want to show you."

The two ran through the meadow together, side by side, laughing and playing just like they did fifty years ago, just like he always wished he could do again.

...

"…And that's how I saved the world the fifth time. And then, there was this monster, and Eggman ate a kid, but he spit him back out because he was a vegetarian, but the frog ate the monster and then the monster ate the kid again—"

"What are you talking about, Sonic?" Knuckles interrupted. "Eggman never ate a kid."

"But he wanted to!"

"That's not the same thing."

"Well, he would have if he wasn't a vegetarian."

No one was really listening anymore to Sonic's ranting. There seemed to be no point, since none of them thought it would ever end and besides, the hedgehog was doing a very good job of entertaining himself with his somewhat exaggerated retellings.

Brock and Dawn exchanged intense conversation with Rouge, gathering every detail of life in Mobius. Knuckled occasionally added his say, but for the most part, his time was spent either swatting at the Mime Jr. or glaring back at the Persian at Rouge's side. All had finally become acquainted and could address each other by first name without adding 'a' to the Mobians', and for a few minutes they could seem to forget about the hedgehog in the next room, clinging to life by merely a few tubes and wires.

But only for a few minutes.

"And just as I finished off that G.U.N robot sent to catch me for something I didn't even do, Shadow—"

Sonic stopped abruptly, and a heaviness burdened the hearts of the Mobians.

"That…" Sonic began again, slowly, quietly. "That was when I met him. He started off trying to destroy Earth but…" He swallowed hard. "In the end, he helped me save it. That...was the seventh time."

A moment of reverence passed, all eyes cast downward in a silent prayer that somehow, Shadow would be okay.

The door opened.

Immediately, all were on their feet practically shouting questions, until quiet and calm Nurse Joy screeched at the top of her lungs,

"QUIIIIIIIETTTTT!"

This was only partially effective, as now everyone felt the need to complain about their busted eardrums. She had, however, made her point; a few moments later, all had settled down enough for Rouge to ask the questions everyone wanted answered.

"Has there been any change?"

The nurse shook her head solemnly. "If anything, he's worsening."

"Can we see him?" Sonic asked

"I suppose," Joy began hesitantly, "one at a time. If he wakes, I don't want him to be overwhelmed."

...

Knuckles closed the door of the intensive care room quietly behind him and waited for a moment, hand resting on the doorknob. It was completely silent, except for the slow and steady beeping of the hedgehog's heart monitor. It took a few seconds for him to work up the courage to turn around, and much longer to gather his thoughts.

There he was, as silent and motionless as death itself. His face showed no sign of life, chest barely rising with every breath.

The echidna took a seat in a little fold-up chair next to Shadow's bed and for the longest time merely stared at the floor.

"Well what am I supposed to say?" he finally asked quietly, to either himself or the hedgehog.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Knuckles sighed, the sound echoing around the clinic room. "You are…absolutely the most stupid creature ever to walk the earth, you know that?"

Silence.

"Eggman. Eggman!" Knuckled exclaimed. "After all the crap you put up with from him—after the crap we have all put up with from him—you actually let him trick you?" His voice slowly rose from barely above a whisper to nearing a shout. "I mean, yeah, that's usually what happens to me…But you're supposed to be some kind of god, some kind of impenetrable brick wall. You're an obnoxious, egocentric, vain, rude, self-centered, and supposedly perfect jerkwad, but you still managed to pull off the stupidest, most undeniably idiotic act of the century!"

Knuckles was standing now, waving his arms around in exaggeration, pacing wildly and turning red.

"I mean, do you even think before you do something? Why do you always have to be such an idiot? Blow up the moon, sure. Try to destroy the earth, why not? Use your powers to try to kill our intergalactic friend, wonderful. Man, you've had some major screw-ups, but letting Eggman send us all to Pokey-ville has got to be the worst!"

The door creaked open in his rantings and a blur of white flew into the room.

"I just can't understand you, Shadow," Knuckles continued, stopping to look at the incapacitated hedgehog. "Just when I think I have you all figured out, you do something like this. And don't think I've forgotten about what you did to me yesterday…It's not like I was asking for something that you hadn't given up before! Was it really so bad that I didn't say please? Why would you give it to Sonic, but not to me? One thing, just one little thing that I wanted from you, but no. Because I wasn't good enough for you!"

"My, Knuckles, I had no idea!"

The repulsively familiar feminine voice drew Knuckles' attention to the ceiling, and thus to an upside down bat.

Rouge giggled deviously.

"And all this time, I thought you had a crush on me!"

Blood rushed to the echidna's cheeks and his eyes widened, looking back and forth between Shadow and Rouge in utter embarrassment.

"No…N-no, it's—uh, well—it's not like—we never…I'm not—!" he stuttered, face nearly glowing red in the dim lighting.

"Suuuure," Rouge teased, flying down from the ceiling and landing beside the echidna. With one hand on her hip a finger on her lips, she winked at him. "It's okay, Knucky. I won't tell anyone."

"But—But I don't—!" Embarrassed and enraged, Knuckles turned on his heel and marched out the door, sticking his head in once more to declare, "I AM NOT INTERESTED IN SHADOW!"

Rouge laughed heartily, whipping an imaginary tear from her eye. Such joy could always be found in harassing the hot-headed Guardian.

"Oh, Shadow," she said, "if you could have seen the look on his face!"

Her laughter continues, echoing off the ceiling and walls, its sound multiplying and rising, until Rouge realized that Shadow wasn't going to join her. Until Rouge realized that he may never join her again. She assumed the chair left behind by the echidna and rested her hands on her lap, eyes fixated on the beeping heart monitor attached to her companion.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," she said quietly. "Knuckles and Sonic, they would have been fine. They always are. And me, well…if it meant you would be okay…I would have gladly taken a hit. Even if it meant tainting my beauty." She smiled weakly. "So you pull through for me, okay? You owe me that much."

She rose from her seat, taking a deep breath to keep at bay the liquid crystals she'd been fighting back since their reunion. Looking into his sleeping face, her hand unconsciously found his.

"Shadow…"

Without thinking, Rouge leaned in slowly, polished lips barely pausing before his. A single tear fell from her eye and came to rest on the hedgehog's cheek. The bat blushed slightly and brought a gloved hand to his face, brushing the droplet away with a whisper.

"Get better, handsome."

With a final hesitation, she pulled away, wiping her eyes dry and faking a smile before pushing through the door and into the hallway.

...

For the longest time, it was all Sonic could do just to stand there, glaring at his ebony counterpart as he lay deathly still on the clinic bed.

He was angry.

With what—or who—he wasn't sure. There was just too much to be angry about to pinpoint just one factor.

"You're kind of stupid, you know that?" he finally said. The steady beep of the monitor was all that answered.

"You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? Had to do something. Stick your big egosineric…egosist…Eggo…your big nose into it. It's bad enough you brought us all to this world…now you're not even sticking around long enough to accept the responsibility for it."

Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…

"I'm the fastest thing alive, Shadow. Don't you think I could have gotten us all out of the way? But you had to use Chaos Control, you had to be the hero. You just had to nearly kill yourself…again."

Without warning, something inside of him snapped open and Sonic whipped around, snatching the chair and throwing it across the room at superspeed. It crashed against the far wall and shattered.

"Dangit, Shadow, when are you gonna see that you're worth more than that?" Sonic shouted at the unconscious form. "You're the Ultimate Lifeform, for Pete's sake! You're supposed to make a difference! You're supposed to be great! And I don't think…" he paused, lowering his eyes. "…I don't think I can get us back home alone this time."

Silence resumed. Sonic stood quietly, eyes cast downward, gloved fists clenched at his sides.

"Just come back, Faker."

...

"Come on, Shadow!" Maria called. "We're almost there!"

They must have been running all day, Shadow realized. They were in a forest now, filled with beautiful evergreens and massive oaks, berries growing everywhere and birds singing their individual melodies. It was like walking in a dream; a dream that he had longed for so long to have. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and looking up he could catch glimpse of the occasional star as they slowly revealed themselves one by one through the fading light and cover of tree tops.

He watched the girl, now running in front of him to lead the way, barely believing that it could be true, that he could finally be with her again. But there she was, in every detail right down to the light blue dress that was her favourite. Not lying on the floor, not surrounded by a pool of her own blood—running, dancing, laughing. The Maria he knew.

It was dark when the girl suddenly halted in front of Shadow, putting her arms out to signal that they were here.

"Close your eyes," she told him, a huge grin brightening her features.

He obeyed, and soon felt her small hands in his as Maria guided him forward slowly. When they had gone a little ways, she told him to sit down, then to lay on his back. She released his hands and, a moment later, said, "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

He did.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

Maria was beside him, staring up at the sky.

"It's just the moon," Shadow replied quietly.

"I know, it's just…" She looked at him and smiled. "It's so much smaller than it was on the ARK. But it's so small…and still makes everything so bright. It's beautiful."

The hedgehog considered her words carefully. "Yeah," he finally said. "I guess it is."

The two remained silent for a long time after, simply enjoying the other's presence. It was so calm, serene, peaceful…Shadow couldn't remember the last time he had felt so whole. There, with Maria…that was how it shold be. That was how it always should have been.

"I missed you, Maria," he whispered, for it was all the voice he could find.

"I missed you too."

"I'm sorry…" He couldn't stop himself. "I'm sorry I didn't stop them. I'm sorry I didn't protect you. I should have—"

"No, Shadow," Maria replied, wrapping her hand in his. "I didn't want you too. I wanted you to live. I needed you to live."

"I needed you, Maria," he countered. "I couldn't do it on my own…I lost myself…"

"I know."

"Maria, promise," Shadow pleaded, turning to her and looking deep into her blue eyes. "Promise me you won't leave me again."

Maria was silent.

...

Night had fallen on Celestic Town, marking the end of the Mobians' first day. Back in the lobby, the crew worked tirelessly to replace the broken glass and then set up a small table, resorting to playing cards to pass the time. Resentfully, Rouge finally allowed Ash to join them without threatening to strangle him. As it turned out, Nurse Joy was quite good at poker, and if they had been playing for more than fun, all players would have been out a few dollars.

Conversation had shifted from Ash's participation in the latest tournament to what kind of socks were everyone's favourite, which led to discussion of how Sonic's feet were so big and why Brock never opened his eyes. Both questions were never fully explained, but still they all managed to steer clear of the topic that was Shadow the Hedgehog's condition. They all knew it probably was not going to get better without the proper equipment.

A storm had started. First the wind began to slowly pick up, and soon the dark clouds had rolled in and hidden the full moon from view. Rain and hail battered the small building, but it had seen its share of storms and Nurse Joy assured them that there was nothing to worry about.

A flash of lightning and a crash of thunder later, the lights of the compound flickered and went out.

"Don't worry," Joy asserted amidst the rising panic. "We have generators."

Sure enough, a few moments passed and the lights came back on.

"See?" Professor Oak said. "Everything is all—"

WHOOOSHHHH

The door of the center suddenly flew open in a blast of wind, sending the recently reorganized papers and documents flying around the room once again and pelting the patrons with water and ice.

And in the center of it all, standing tall and powerful in the doorway, was a golden-furred canine creature with intelligent, determined eyes and more tails than necessary, each tipped in red. It strode into the room gracefully, majestically.

"A golden Ninetales," Professor Oak whispered in awe, rising from his chair.

"What a beauty!" Rouge exclaimed.

"Niiiinetales," the creature replied, its voice a soft melody in the roaring night. When it lowered itself carefully to the floor, the company took a collective gasp.

There, huddled in a tight ball in the crook of the Ninetales' neck, was a patch of orange fur that didn't belong. It was sopping wet and shivering, clutching tightly to the fur of the animal with one hand and holding a brown hiking bag close to its body with the other.

"Tails!"

Sonic was over in a flash, pulling the kit from the fox-like creature's back and holding him close.

"Tails! Hey, little buddy, you okay?"

Tails' bright blue eyes flicked open. Through chattering teeth, his child-like voice sounded pathetic and tired.

"S-S-S-Sonic?" he asked, relief flooding his features.

"It's me, Tails."

The kit smiled and sneezed all over Sonic's face.

"Ew."

"Sorry…"

"Oh you poor dear!" Nurse Joy exclaimed worriedly. "You're chilled to the bone! Come, let me get you dried off and something hot to drink.

Several minutes later, the group was once again all seated in the lobby, with Tails wrapped in a towel and sipping some tea. Ninetales curled up next to the reception desk and proceeded to lick itself dry. Tails' shivering had ceased and, with his fur all wet, there wasn't much difference between the adorable fox kit and a drowned rat. This was something Sonic made sure to point out shortly after his arrival.

Ash was feeling back to his normal self, actually offering to help make the tea and making sure Tails was warm enough. He even made it a point to refrain from calling the young one an 'it'.

"And then there were five," Professor Oak said in wonder once everyone was resettled and introduced.

"Five?" Tails asked curiously, looking around the room and counting his friends. Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge, and himself… "There are only four of us here."

The silence that followed was enough to alert the fox that something was not right.

"What's going on?" he asked quietly, afraid to hear it. "What's happened?"

"Tails…" Sonic began carefully. "It's…it's about Shadow."

Tails stared at him, eyes wide in fear. "What…" He swallowed hard, trying to be brave. "What's wrong with Shadow?"

"It was my fault," Ash admitted. "I was stupid. Shadow was just trying to help them…"

"He used Chaos Control again," Knuckles explained. "He did it to save us, even though he knew that he didn't have enough energy to use it. He did it anyway."

"With what happened this morning, and without his inhibitor rings…" Rouge continued.

The rest was left to Tails.

"Is he…?"

"He's alive," Professor Oak interjected. "But barely."

"Tails…" Sonic laid a gentle hand on his dearest friend's shoulder. "It doesn't look like Shadow's going to make it."

All he could do was sit in shock, staring into nothingness. Shadow. Dying. How could that be possible? Shadow was the Ultimate Lifeform, ageless and powerful. But he had a weakness, and that was relying on other powers to keep his own contained. Without that regulation, the overuse of power could kill him. It had nearly happened once before.

Tails held his bag close to his body, knuckles aching with tension, before realization hit him.

"Wait!" he exclaimed suddenly, flipping the cover of the bag open and unzipping the pocket. Desperately, he felt around inside with one hand until he found what he was looking for. First one, then two…Smooth golden circles that could only belong one place. He pulled out his hand and the two identical items and leapt to his feet.

"Are those..?" Knuckles began.

Sonic finished for everyone. "Shadow's inhibitor rings." He dared to smile in hope. "Tails, you're something else."

Moments was all it took for the four Mobians, Professor Oak, and Nurse Joy to crowd into the room where Shadow slept. Joy expressed some concern about the shattered chair, of which one blue hedgehog unconvincingly pretended to know nothing about with a hand behind his head and a soft, convicting innocent whistle.

"Will this work?" Rouge asked hopefully and Tails replaced the rings over Shadow's bandaged wrists.

"I'm not sure," the kit replied. "At least it will keep him from expelling more Chaos energy."

"It's the best we can do for now," Knuckles said solemnly. "Better than nothing."

"Sonic?"

The Mobian hero looked from his black companion to his inquiring friend.

"It's Shadow we're talking about…He's a pretty stubborn one, Tails. You've given him a fighting chance."

Tails smiled and looked back to the silent Shadow. If Sonic thought he had a chance, then so did the kit.

Thanks again to all of my faithful readers and reviewers, your words are clouds of awesomeness shading my life from the burning spotlight of loneliness. Y'all are coolsters ;)