Chapter 6: Tragedy Strikes

A few months passed, and Shadow and Sonic were living happily in the palace. Shadow had taught Sonic to be a good merhog prince, and Sonic was happy with his new life. The two were currently swimming in the ocean with Sonic in his dolphin form. After a few hours, Shadow sighed. He watched the dolphin swim deeper into the ocean and swam after it. The prince grabbed its dorsal fin and rode along. After a while, the two stopped. Shadow looked around, starting to get worried. Something didn't feel right. The dolphin let out a few clicks as it sensed something. Suddenly a great white shark came out of nowhere and attacked.

Shadow moved away from the shark, looking over at the dolphin. He was in no way equipped to fight a shark, not unless he could think of another form to take. He looked to the dolphin and saw that it was fighting back. The prince smirked and thought of a form to take that would defeat the shark. maybe he could become a shark also. He closed his eyes and began to transform into a great while shark.

Shadow grew in size, grimacing as the fins at the end of his tail twisted 180 degrees. All of his teeth got sharper and pointed, mouth growing in size. Shadow whimpered slightly as he felt his face extending, nose coming to a point at the end. Two nostrils opened on the under curve of his face. The way Shadow's body angled and connected together also changed, more or less becoming a straight line. The quills on the back of his head moved down, changing into a dorsal fin at the top curve of his back. Long flippers took the place of his arms as his eyes changed location on his face and the rest of him finished transforming. The skeleton's restructuring was painful, as he had expected. Shadow shook himself and looked at Sonic before swimming to help him.

The dolphin clicked rapidly as it noticed the two sharks. The shark that was Shadow looked at the other. It lunged forwards, attacking the enemy one, using its sharp teeth to bite into the enemy shark's hide. The dolphin moved away as blood started swirling into the water, more coming as the shark twisted to attack back. It watched the shark, trying to find an opening where it could help.

The other shark was attacking the enemy one more ferociously; it was biting into the enemy's flesh, tearing away as its razor-sharp teeth drew blood. The dolphin knew that the shark that was Shadow could handle this by itself. Soon, it was proven right as the enemy shark started floating to the surface, dead. Shadow turned to Sonic in triumph.

The dolphin's eyes widened as it saw the bloodlust in the shark's eyes. The shark growled as it advanced towards the dolphin; the scent of blood had driven it mad. An instinctual fear rose inside the dolphin and the mammal swam away; the shark kicking its tail and following its prey. The dolphin looked back at the shark, swimming as fast as it could. The shark growled more. It opened its mouth and bit down on the dolphin's skin. The dolphin tried to move away, only making the damage worse. The shark used its jaws to tear at the dolphin's flesh, soaking the water in blood.

Shadow! The dolphin that was Sonic shouted telepathically as the shark continued to injure it. Stop this!

The shark paused, recognizing Sonic's voice. Recognition flickered in its eyes and then became red again as it attacked Sonic even more.

Sonic tried to pull himself away from Shadow. The shark didn't let go, however. It continued to attack the dolphin as blood poured from its wounds. The dolphin was barely alive and didn't know if it could last much longer. Sonic tried to hold on but couldn't. Within the next minute, he died. The shark looked at its prey, wondering what to do. The dolphin turned back into Sonic, and Shadow remembered what he did. Shadow changed back into himself as well, tears instantly forming in his eyes. Wrapping his arms around him, Shadow pulled Sonic close to him, starting to cry.

"Sonic...oh, God, what have I done? Please, come back..."

"I can help with that," a voice said.

Shadow spun around, still holding Sonic, to see a sea dragon.

"Who...who are you?" Shadow asked.

The sea dragon smirked. "Mephiles."