ZairaDrayan: Well, I've finished chapter 2. No big important messages this time. I just hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2

Shadow was a lot older now. About in his teen years. He was pulling a large wagon behind him that was stuffed with hay. He was running at dangerously high speeds with Tails sitting on the front seat of the wagon staring ahead in pure terror. A city came in sight.

"SHADOW! STOP!" yelled Tails.

Shadow heard what he said and dug his feet into the ground. They came to a screeching halt in the middle of the city and Shadow literally dug a long and deep ditch when he stopped. Tails sighed with relief.

"Thanks, Shadow. Although, I would prefer if you went slower next time…," Tails said.

"That's what you said last time!" Shadow complained not wanting to go in a simple jog. He picked up the large stack of hay that was almost twelve times taller than him with one hand. Tails shook his head.

"Don't unload it just yet. I have to finagle with Storm. You should stay here," Tails said.

Shadow sighed and put the hay back down. The wagon collapsed when Tails left. Shadow was able to repair it in five minutes and then sat down on the ground and leaned against the wagon. Occasionally, someone would walk up to him and begin to ask something, but then realize who he was and make up some excuse to leave. This was common, but it drove Shadow nuts sometimes.

He was playing with a stone on the ground when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He saw a bunch of others his age playing soccer. He had once asked if he could participate, but they knew of his speed and said no because they knew that he'd go from zero to sixty in a minute. They only turned him down. Why couldn't he be like everyone else? Why couldn't he be accepted?

A frisbee flew to the ground next to him. Shadow picked it up and glanced up at the people it belonged to.

"Hey! Pass it here! Hey!" they yelled running over.

Shadow stood up with the frisbee in his hand the other kids almost gasped, but stopped themselves and forced a nervous smile on their faces.

"Uh… Hey, Shad! Could you hand us back that frisbee? We want to continue playing!" a young eagle asked. A falcon next to it nodded.

"Well, would you mind if I joined?" asked Shadow.

"Uh… No. We already have three and we want to keep it an even number!" chirped the falcon.

Shadow counted on his fingers and thought for a second.

"Wait… Three isn't an even num-"

The eagle snatched the frisbee from Shadow and they dashed away quickly. The two birds took to the air and joined up with a harpy eagle. They tossed the frisbee to each other and giggled to themselves.

"You see that black hedgehog? He's such an idiot!" the falcon laughed.

"Yeah! He's so lame! He'll make it nowhere close to the stars! He'll be in the Slackisphere! Slacker in the Slackisphere! Slacker in the Slackisphere!" they all chanted.

"I'll show them…," Shadow mumbled to himself. He had to restrain himself to keep him from running back up to them and yelling something mean back to them.

Shadow started to just walk around. He saw people happily chatting with their friends. When they saw him, they looked away. Who knew that super strength and super speed could be such a curse. The frisbee that the eagles and falcon were playing with fell in front of Shadow again. This time, he picked it up and got into a throwing position. He threw it as hard as he could at the eagles and falcon. It hit the poor falcon on the side of the head. The falcon was knocked out of the sky and landed on the ground. The two eagles shrieked in terror. They swooped back down to the ground.

"Silverwing! Silverwing! Are you okay?" asked the eagles.

Silverwing weakly looked up at them and mumbled something. It fell into unconsciousness. Shadow took a step backward when everyone stared at him.

"He was the one who hurt Silverwing!" yelled the harpy eagle pointing at Shadow. All of the people in the clearing began to close in on him. They slowly began to grow into a mob. The black hedgehog didn't actually mean to hurt Silverwing. Although, the crowd didn't believe him when he told them. Tails raced in front of the crowd.

"Hang on a second!" the yellow fox yelled.

"The hedgehog is a menace!" someone shouted.

"He's too dangerous to be around us normal people!" another in the crowd said.

"He just can't control his own strength! It was an accident!" Tails snapped.

The two eagles walked up to Shadow and sneered at him. Shadow took a few more steps back.

"I'm warning you… Tails, you'd better keep that freak away from this place. We see his ugly mug again, we use him to sharpen our claws!" one of the eagles growled.

Shadow couldn't take it anymore. He turned around and bolted sound speed for the door and was gone in a flash. Tails ran after him.

"Shadow wait!" cried the fox.

"Yeah! Never come back!"

Tails ran back to his house that was quite a distance away from the city. He walked up to Cosmo.

"You seen Shadow?" asked Tails.

Cosmo pointed through the woods to the cliff that led to the ocean. Shadow was staring out at the water feeling completely miserable. He was sitting on a log. Tails sat next to him.

"Shadow, you shouldn't let those people and what they said get to you…," Tails said.

Shadow sighed and looked at the ground. He didn't even glance at Tails.

"But Tails, they're right. I am a freak. I try to fit in, I really do. I just can't. Sometimes.. I feel like... like I really don't belong here. Like I'm supposed to be.. someplace else…," Shadow said.

"Well, Shadow… Um… Nevermind," Tails said walking away. As soon as he did, Shadow stood up and grabbed a stone he threw it across the water and it skipped a few times.

I have often dreamed of a far off place

Where a great, warm welcome will be waiting for me

Where the crowds will cheer when they see my face

And a voice keeps saying this is where I'm meant to be

I will find my way

I can go the distance

I'll be there someday,

If I can be strong

I know every mile

Will be worth my while

I would go most anywhere to feel like I belong…

Shadow then walked back to his house. Tails and Cosmo were waiting for him at the door.

"Um… Shadow, we gotta tell you something," Tails said.

Cosmo handed him a golden metal. It said Shadow the Hedgehog on one side, the symbol of the gods on the other. Shadow rubbed his hand over it. Pure gold.

"It was around your neck when we found you," Cosmo explained.

"This… This is it! Maybe, thanks to this, I can find the answers! Maybe…," Shadow said looking at it.

"Maybe…," Tails said with a nod.

"Would you let me go to the temple of the gods? Maybe if I go there…," Shadow said.

"We'll let you. You deserve to know the truth," Cosmo said.

"Thanks," Shadow replied. He smiled at them and ran off in the opposite direction. Tails and Cosmo waved to him as he left until he was out of sight.

I am on my way

I can go the distance

I don't care how far

Somehow I'll be strong

I know every mile

Will be worth my while

I would go most anywhere to find where I belong.

After a journey on foot to the temple, he slowly enters the dark room with a large statue of Sonic in the middle. Shadow looked up at it.

"Sonic, is there a reason for why I am here. A reason for why I have my strength and speed? I really need to know…," Shadow said.

A hard gust of wind whipped into the room and swept past Shadow and to the statue. The torches were lit and the statue of Sonic in a heroic pose instantly came to life. The stone Sonic blinked open his eyes. He looked down at Shadow.

"Why Shadow! I haven't seen you in… well… forever it seems!" Sonic exclaimed.

Shadow froze in terror for a moment. Then he took a step back and bolted for the door while screaming.

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

"Hang on a second! Do you really think I would hurt you?! Is this any way to greet your father?!" demanded Sonic pointing at Shadow who was at the door. Shadow froze again.

"F-F-Father?!" asked Shadow in wonderment.

"Didn't know you had such a heroic father did you? You've stayed for the most part, the same. What a shame," Sonic said.

"I-I don't understand! If you're my father, that would make me a… That would make me a…," Shadow couldn't say the last word to the sentence because it seemed to be too crazy to be true.

"A god. Yes," Sonic finished.

"A god… A god!" Shadow repeated. He fell backward into a sitting position on the floor.

"Well, you were the one who wanted answers. I figured that you were old enough to know the truth!" Sonic explained.

"Why to leave me here on Earth where I don't fit in?! Didn't you care even a little bit about me?!" demanded Shadow.

"Whoa! I and Amy didn't put you there! I think Eggman did… Although, nobody really knows for sure… He stole you and turned you mortal! Only gods can live on Mount Olympus," Sonic said with a sigh.

"You can't do anything to reverse it?" asked Shadow.

"I can't do nothing! However, you can!"

"I can?"

"If you can become a true hero on Earth, you god-hood will be restored!" Sonic exclaimed.

"A true hero! Right! Uh… How do I become a true hero…?" Shadow asked to Sonic.

"First, you must seek out Knuckles the Echidna. He is the trainer of heroes. He's a knucklehead, but is still an awesome trainer of demi-gods," Sonic said.

"Seek out Knuckles! Right! I'll be on my way," Shadow replied turning around.

"Hang on a sec, Shadow! You forgot a little something!" Sonic called. Shadow turned back around.

"What?"

"This." Sonic whistled long and hard. Something came flying down from the heavens above. He was a silver hedgehog (and, well, didn't change much from the beginning). He lowered himself to the ground and saluted to Sonic. He fell to his knees when he saw Shadow, however.

"Holy Amy… I never thought I'd be seeing you again after so long!" Silver cried hugging Shadow.

"Uh… Who are you exactly…?" asked Shadow awkwardly. Silver let go and gave him an odd look.

"You don't remember me?" Silver asked looking a little hurt.

"Am I supposed to?" Shadow questioned. He tried to think back to when he saw Silver, but couldn't quite grasp the memory. Silver walked closer to Shadow.

"Well, maybe this will help you remember!" Silver chirped. He bonked his forehead against Shadow's. A faint memory fluttered back to Shadow.

"Actually, that helped a lot… Been seventeen and a half years Silver!" Shadow exclaimed. Silver smiled.

"So, you do remember my name!"

"I didn't expect you to remember Silver. He's a fine, noble, and loyal hedgehog. I used to use him as my messenger boy because he was one of the few characters that had psychokinesis. He has the brain of a bird!" Sonic said.

"Who are you calling bird brain?!" demanded Silver. Sonic and Shadow giggled. Silver didn't think it was so funny.

"Don't worry Silver. It's just no use!" Shadow said. Sonic and Shadow laughed again. Silver was really annoyed.

"NO USE TO GET SOME RESPECT AROUND HERE!" Silver cried.

"He's fun to mess around with! Anyways, good luck Shadow on your journey to become a true hero!" Sonic yelled with a wave.

"See you Sonic!"

Silver grabbed Shadow with his psychic powers and they flew off to find Knuckles.

I will beat the odds

I can go the distance

I will face the world

Fearless, proud and strong

I will please the gods

I can go the distance

'Till I find my hero's welcome right where I belong!