Chapter 18: Shadow's Family

Once they had landed, Shadow looked back toward Station Square. After Tails had told him they needed help against Eggman, he felt bad just leaving.

Want to go back or stay here? He asked his sons.

The smaller birds looked around. We're used to being here...could Tails look after us?

Shadow nodded. You could live in Tails's backyard. I'll be there with you as often as I can.

The two birds nodded and flew back to Tails' house. Shadow turned back into himself once they got to Tails' house. Knocking on the door, he waited for Tails to answer it.

"Hey," Tails said. "what do you want now?"

"If my sons lived in your backyard, could you help them out?"

"Sure. What about you? Are you going to stay here?"

"I might as well." Shadow smiled. "You said I could try and work for G.U.N., right?"

Tails nodded. "I'll give you the directions. "

Tails explained everything to Shadow and the hedgehog nodded. "Thanks, Tails. I'll be back later."

Shadow left and Tails went in the backyard. The two birds were sitting on the fence.

"I could make a birdhouse, if you like." Tails looked around the yard. "Maybe hang a bird feeder..." The two birds nodded and chirped happily. A smile crossed Tails' face. "It's going to take a few hours."

Jet and Shade chirped and turned back into hedgehogs.

"Can we help?" Shade asked. Excitement was shining in his eyes as he looked at the fox.

Tails nodded. "Sure."

The two followed him back into the house and into the lab. Tails gathered everything he would need before telling them how they could help. They nodded and began to work. A few hours passed and the birdhouse and bird feeder were finally built.

"There," Tails said. "Let's go put them up now. You guys tell me where you want them."

They went into the backyard and placed the objects in different places. Tails stepped back and nodded, smiling at his backyard.

"Does this mean the two of you are going to be birds more often than hedgehogs?"

Jet and Shade nodded.

"It is our true forms," Jet told him.

Tails smiled. "Of course."

Shade nodded and turned back into a swallow, and Jet became a dove. The two birds flew around the backyard. Tails watched them with a smile on his face. Tails went back into the house to wait for Shadow. The black hedgehog had just gotten a job at GUN as a secret agent, and headed back to Tails'. Once he got there, the fox looked up at him.

"Welcome back. How did it go?"

"Good," Shadow said. "I got a job as a secret agent. I'll be pretty busy off and on. How are my kids?"

"Happy. They helped me make a birdhouse as well as a bird feeder." Tails looked out the window to see them flying around.

Shadow looked at them and smiled, then transformed into a dove and flew with them also. Tails watched the birds for a while, starting to wonder when Eggman was going to attack again. He smiled as he continued to watch them. The three birds landed on the birdhouse and went inside. They stayed there until the next morning, then got some food and did the same thing. Tails watched them for a good portion of the day, all of them interrupted when there was an explosion.

Shadow turned back to normal. "What was that?" He asked.

"I think it was Eggman again," Tails said.

Shadow sighed. "I'll stop him."

He held up a Chaos Emerald, activated Chaos Control, and vanished in a flash of light. Jet and Shade turned back into hedgehogs.

"Is dad going to be okay?" they asked.

"He'll be fine," Tails said with a smirk.

Jet sighed and nodded, waiting for their dad to come back. Shadow appeared farther in the city and looked around for Eggman. By his name, Shadow figured it wouldn't be too hard to spot him. A few minutes later, Eggman showed up, laughing. Shadow smirked and crossed his arms, clearly not impressed at all.

"So you're Eggman?" he said. "You don't look that threatening."

Eggman chortled. "I can be if I want to," he said. "Who are you?"

"Shadow."

"Well, Shadow, get out of my way or pay the price."

Shadow said nothing. He chuckled and began to attacked Eggman. It only took a few minutes until Eggman died.

"That was easy," Shadow said. He looked around the town in anticipation of something else happening.

Nothing much exciting had happened. People were praising him for defeating Eggman, even though Shadow had killed him. The hedgehog smiled, then transformed into a dove and flew back to Tails' house.

Tails smiled when he saw him return. "Did you kill him?" The dove nodded. "That's great. What are you going to do now?"

The dove chirped happily and flapped its wings, flying into the backyard to be with its chicks. Tails smiled, knowing that Shadow would be happy with his kids for a long time.