Maria was running home, flyer in hand with an excited grin on her face. It had been just over two weeks since Shadow had taken down Chaos. Reconstruction was going great thanks to Shadow, who helped with delivering supplies when he could. He still kept his distance, unsure of how unstable his powers were but he stayed close enough.

As Maria walked into her mansion, she saw...Her mother and Father? What the heck were they doing here? And sitting across from each other no less?

Nelson turned around. "Oh, hi honey! How was school?" He asked and Maria stammered out her answer, saying it was fine.

"Oh, that's just marvelous dear. Please come sit." Lindsey offered as Maria sat in the chair between them.

"Now...I know what you're thinking..." Nelson stated nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Your mother and I...Well, we've thought about it and..."

"Here it comes..." Maria thought sadly.

"We've decided to stay together." Lindsey finished.

"I unders- huh?" Maria stated, very confused. Did she hear them right? Her parents...were staying together?

"We're a family...And we have to make it work." Her father replied proudly. "So, we'll get into counseling and act like a family again." Maria had a huge smile on her face as her father looked in her hands, asking what the flyer was.

Maria was so happy she actually forgot she still had the flyer in her hands. "Hm? oh. It was just a uh..."

Lindsey reached out as she took the flyer, reading it out loud. "The annual Starlight Carnival is coming here!?"

"It's to help raise money for the city." Maria explained.

"Well, when is it? Let's all go!" Nelson stated, clearing his schedule for the day.

At that point, Shadow came inside, slowing down to a mere walk. As he walked into the house, he stopped and noticed Maria's parents, together. He mentally nodded as he went upstairs, ready for sleep.

Maria gathered everyone else, telling them about the carnival and that they should go.

"Wow! A carnival!" Cream exclaimed excited. "Maybe we could convince Shadow to come to. What do you think Cheese?" She asked her chao, which from what everyone else could tell had agreed.

Amy huffed. "I bet he doesn't even want to go. He'll probably be to busy brooding." She stated jokingly as tails spoke up.

"The last carnival he went to...wasn't meant for fun." Tails stated, remembering that theme park Robotnik built back on Mobius as he shivered. That place was a nightmare to get through, even for Shadow.

"How...old is Shadow anyways?" Maria asked. Tails and Amy looked at each other, shrugging as they stated he'd be 18 in a few months. "Wait, he's 17 and has only ever been to...THAT Amusement Park?" Maria asked. If the place was enough to make Tails shiver, it must be bad. "No way. It's time he was able to try and be a teenager again. Come on Cream!"

Maria and Cream marched up the stairs, determined to make Shadow go to this event.

.

Elsewhere, Robotnik was tinkering with the invention of his. He wanted to make sure that Shadow would be done here. He stepped back, marveling at his invention as it walked forward. Red "shoes" as feet with black shins sporting glowing red highlights, and silvery claws.

"You're ready." Robotnik stated. "Find Shadow, and kill him." He ordered as the robot nodded, it's chest glowing a red color along with the red appearing from it's head piece before it burst off into the sky, looking for Shadow.

.

Shadow kept his head low, walking along with everybody else at this carnival. How Maria and Cream managed to convince him of this he'll never know. He shouldn't be here, he should be out looking for Robotnik, or testing out his new ability. But no, he was at a carnival. At least everyone was safe. He looked behind him, seeing Cream chatting with Tails, Maria having a talk with her parents, and Amy was...heading for a hammer game.

"Oh no..." Shadow thought as he caught up to her, but it was to late. Amy hefted the hammer she was given and slammed it down. The bell rang as it popped off from the force of the blow, Shadow catching it. Everyone stood in awe of what Amy just did as she gave a nervous chuckle. "Maybe, hold back just a bit." Shadow advised as Amy nodded, setting the hammer down. The two walked off, separating as Shadow entered a hall of mirrors.

He walked through, taking it slow when he walked past a reflection that wasn't his, but shiny and metallic. He took a step back, looking into the mirror that just showed himself. He shook his head, continuing on his way thinking he was just getting paranoid.

He made it out as Maria found him near the entrance. She went over, grabbing his arm as she pointed to the giant Ferris Wheel. Shadow shrugged, not knowing what lurked on the roof of the building behind him.

As the two were going up, Shadow kept a watchful eye outside as Maria kept a hopeful one out.

"Hey Shadow?" Maria asked, getting Shadow's attention. "I don't mean to pry..."

"I don't want to talk about it." Shadow answered, knowing it was a question of his past. "It was a long time ago." He explained. Maria nodded as she saw a tear form in his eye. Whatever happened, it hurt to remember.

"So...what does it feel like?" She asked, Shadow raising an eyebrow. "Going Super like that."

"I feel...I don't know." Shadow answered, thinking on it. "Good, I guess. Invincible even."

Maria nodded. To feel invincible...what would that be like? "How are you handling your Chaos Powers?"

"They're fine. I have them under control." Shadow answered. Maria nodded. Guess he still isn't one for short talk. She enjoyed the view as Shadow looked on, seeing a slight shimmer. And it wasn't a star.

Shadow saw the shimmer arc a bit, smoke coming out the back as it came towards them. "GET DO-"

SMASH!

Whatever had been stalking Shadow grabbed him, taking him into the sky above the clouds. Shadow struggled, kicking himself away as he fell from the robot. He looked down, seeing the water below him. Figuring only one way out of this, Shadow spin dashed straight down as he slammed into the water in a massive splash before flashing blue, appearing on the shore of a power plant not far from the carnival. The plant had been fenced off, the opening having something of a road along it as it snaked around showing small building and massive pillars, along with what appeared to be metal cylinder silos, and a giant building in the center of it all. He saw the Shimmer land in the area as he jumped over the fence, waiting to see what was in store.

As he searched around, he did find what he was looking for. A robot on two legs, the thighs silver with the shins black with glowing red highlights on the side, silver claws coming out of its hands with the arms being just like the legs. The robot turned, facing Shadow, as he visible faltered a bit. It was a robot that looked very similar to him, though it appeared to only have three "quills", one on the top and on each side of its head, each having the same glowing red highlights. It even included two black ears coming from the top.

"Hello, rodent." The robot stated in a familiar voice.

"You...I should've known you'd come back!" Shadow stated.

"Did you really think I'd let you have a vacation? HA! You're dumber than I thought." The metalic duplicate voiced. "Now...meet your doom, METAL SHADOW!" Robotnik yelled as the two charged after one another.