Things had been pretty calm ever since Ella found out about Shadow and crew. It helped that everyone got to go out and not have to worry so much about getting caught. Cream and Cheese were watching this weird show, but they seemed to enjoy it. Maria was sitting next to Tails watching the two dance as Amy and Ella brought in pies.

"Snack time everyone." Ella said with Amy close behind.

"Ella showed me how to make Apple Pie." Amy said as she and Ella put the two pies down on the coffee table.

"I think Amy has a nack for baking. If I'm not careful, I'll be out of a job." Ella said in a joking manner.

"I wonder if Shadow will want a piece..." Amy thought out loud looking outside.

Tails ran out of patience. "Well, you guys can share that one cause this one is mine." He said as he reached for one of the pies, but Amy smacked his hand away.

"You'll share that mister, or no pie for you." Amy said sternly and Tails chuckled while scratching the back of his head. Suddenly, the T.V went out, right in the middle of Creams dance.

"Don't worry Cream, just watch." Maria said as she clicked a button on the remote...and nothing happened. "Ok, we might have a problem..."

Cream teared up and started to cry, and Shadow came inside to see what was wrong. "Cream and Cheese are upset because the T.V went out..." Maria explained.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Tch, children." He thought. It didn't get much better when everyone else saying what show they would miss. Shadow simply shook his head and walked away, but something outside caught his eye. A small creature that he recognized as Robotnik's message delivery, Bokune. Bokune got a T.V monitor out of the little yellow bag and evryone except Shadow ran for cover.

"Not even a hello? Rude." Bokun asked.

"Get to the point runt." Shadow said quickly with Bokun turning on the monitor and shadow saw-"Robotnik"

"Hello Shadow. I'm sorry we haven't fought i awhile, but I've been pretty busy you see?" Robotnik stated, showing a feed of a giant green robot with the face of a bird sucking up satellite parts. "Don't get any funny ideas Shadow. I highly doubt you could reach up here anyways." Robotnik gloated. Shadow grabbed the monitor.

"We'll see about that." Shadow spoke as he threw the monitor a few yards, telling Bokun that he'd be next unless he left. Bokun left on his own. "Tails, let's fly." Shadow said and Tails nodding, the two of them running to get into the tornado.

They took to the sky, but Tails was worried about something. Shadow noticed this, asking what was wrong.

"Well, I don't know if the Tornado can reach as high as it needs to..." Tails voiced his concern. Shadow nodded in understanding.

"It'll have to. We need to stop Robotnik from destroying more equipment." Shadow responded as the E-90 robot came into view. But as soon as they got in range, a laser was fired from E-90 and Tails barrel rolled out of the way, trying to get close. He shot several bullets at the massive machine, but it didn't even dent the metal.

"That armor is extremely thick!" Tails yelled over the wind.

"Get in close!" Shadow responded. Tails got close as the mouth opened. Tails swerved away to avoid getting crushed by the giant jaws and Shadow let loose a Chaos Flare, but that did nothing against the monster.

Tails moved around flanking the E-90, but the triple laser turret turned and fired backwards, almost hitting them. "A little To close." Shadow said.

"Hold on, I think I've got an idea." Tails responded. But the E-90 opened a small port on it's back and released explosive junk, blinding the two, but Tails pushed. Showing his ace piloting skills, Tails started to move in circle around the mech, forcing it to corkscrew. Firing another shot, Tails blew a hole in the armor. "GOT IT!" Tails yelled excited. But things started to take a turn.

E-90 started to go higher, and then released a massive bin from it's body. Tails narrowly avoided it before chasing E-90 into the clouds. When he came out the other side, E-90 had turned to face them and fired a volley of Missiles. Shadow jumped out of the plane, and jumped from missile to missile, using his momentum to push them away and turned one on the E-90. Tails caught Shadow as he fell watching the missile hit the E-90. When the smoke cleared, the E-90 had it's mouth opened and started to suck the air in, trying to swallow the Tornado.

Tails pulled up, getting out of the vacuum and hiding in the clouds...before E-90 sucked them out to. Things became to much for the propeller and it gave out, causing Shadow and Tails to fall. they plummeted to the ocean below, and Tails pressed a series of commands and turned the Tornado into it's jet form.

"Tails, get us out of here." Shadow said.

"But Shadow! We can-"

"Tails...there will be another time." Shadow cut him off as the two headed back to Maria's.

.

Shadow sat on the roof, staring into the starry night. He kept pondering what went wrong in that battle with Robotnik...

He then heard Chuck and Tails trying to come up with solutions.

"We need to get faster." Shadow said as he appeared in the garage doorway.

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"Our main problem was we weren't fast enough. Is there any way to upgrade the Tornado?" Shadow asked.

"Well, maybe I can super charge it with a Chaos Emerald..." Tails said, but shook his head. "But we'd have to much energy. Maybe a second engine?" Tails suggested.

"You're the genius. I trust you'll find a way." Shadow said as he walked away and Tails nodded. Tails had a small smirk on his face when Chuck spoke up.

"Well, I do have something to show you. Come on!" Chuck said as he opened a door, leading the two down to a lower level. Tails looked around and saw what could be considered his candy store. "Let's get to work!" Chuck said as he rolled up his sleeves and Tails gave him a thumbs up.

Tails worked through the night on the improved Tornado, making sure everything would be perfect. Chuck offered food for the young genius, but Tails turned it down saying he was almost done. Chuck shrugged and walked away, wanting some sleep. As Tails was connecting wires, a hand fell on his shoulder. Tails turned to see Maria offering her help.

.

Shadow watched the sunrise, waiting for what would happen today.

"SHADOW!" He heard Tails call. Shadow turned and hopped off the roof as Tails led him to the garage.

"Introducing..." Tails said as the garage opened to reveal a new plane entirely. The body was something of a cylinder, with a point at the end of it and a glass cockpit up top with four wings making an X through it. the booster rockets on the back were something of a box shape. "The X Tornado!" Tails exclaimed.

"Well done Miles." Shadow said. Tails nodded his head with a big smile on his face.

"Let's go!" Tails said as he and Shadow hopped in.

"I'm coming to." Maria said as she walked up, but Shadow stopped her.

"Not this time." Shadow said as Maria cocked an eyebrow. "It's to dangerous on this one. Sit out."

"I faced danger before, Shadow." Maria pointed out.

"I know, and each time you came closer to getting hurt. This isn't a game Maria." Shadow explained.

"Well what if I don't want to stay here?" Maria countered.

"I wasn't asking. I'm telling you, sit this one out." Shadow finished with an edge in his voice. "Let's go Tails." Shadow said as Tails nodded, both of them hopping in the new plane as it took off. Maria looked down as Amy came over.

"Hey..." Amy comforted.

"I didn't mean to make him angry...I just wanted to help." Maria said a little downcast.

"Shadow's always angry." Amy said flatly.

"Mr. Shadow kept you here so that you wouldn't get hurt. He does care about you after all." Cream said.

Maria sighed. He she was getting counsel from a six year old. But, Cream has known Shadow longer...

.

Tails and Shadow rocketed into the air, searching for the E-90.

"You know..." Tails started. "She only wanted to help."

"I understand that." Shadow responded. "But I don't want anybody else hurt. I trust you enough to come along, but I've only known her for a few months now."

Tails pondered that when the screen started beeping. They found their target.

E-90 had spotted them and launched a volley of missiles and Tails dodged them, showing the X-tornado's agility. Shadow opened the cockpit and jumped out, jumping from missile to missile and finally landing on the E-90. Seeing a large golden cylinder, Shadow had guessed this thing had been upgraded. It fired lasers at Tails and Shadow ran forward, slamming through the piece with a homing attack. But when it blew up, Shadow was launched into the air. Tails caught him on his way down.

"Follow it!" Shadow yelled as they ascended. Suddenly, the E-90 slowed, sticking out it's vacuum to suck in Shadow and Tails.

"Hold on!" Tails yelled as he shot the vacuum, destroying the part. E-90 dropped it's cargo hold, shooting into the stratosphere as Tails and Shadow followed. But Shadow started to feel the cold. It was 50 below as high as they were, and Shadow eventually froze over. Suddenly, he started glowing red and the ice began to crack. He shattered out of it as the E-90 launched more missiles.

Shadow growled, shooting forward and launching from missile to missile into the E-90's mouth.

"CHAOS... BLAST!" Shadow roared as he unleashed his rage, forming a red dome of violent chaos energy and incinerating E-90's head. He fell downward as Tails came to catch him, noticing how tired Shadow looked. It wasn't often Shadow used Chaos Blast, and there's a good reason why. "Let's...get back Tails..." Shadow said as Tails nodded, opening the cockpit for Shadow. They flew back to Maria's place, Shadow forced to have several blankets on him. Maria came over and sat next to him. The two nodded at each other in understanding. Shadow went back to his sulking state and Maria smiled a bit.

.

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A/N: Alright, I finally finished this chapter. Sorry it took so long. Life ended up in the way. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, have a nice day...or night...whatever.