Shadow writhed, clawing at his own chest, mouth open wide as he struggled to get air. His mind was a roaring white of panic, and the more he moved the tighter everything seemed to get. The chaos energy going haywire within him was not helping him either. A part of him knew the solution was to calm down, but he just couldn't stop!

Suddenly, the ropes around him seemed to loosen as if they'd been cut, and there were hands touching him, moving his body, laying him flat on his back. Whoever it was held his wrists, restraining him from scratching at the invisible vise on his lungs.

"Woah, woah! Shadow breathe!"

It was Sonic. A wave of relief washed over him. The bands on his lungs loosened ever so slightly.

"Come on," Sonic said encouragingly. "Your body remembers the motions. In and out."

Shadow felt a hand on his stomach, pressing and lifting to emphasize the correct motions. He did his best to match it, and it took a few tries, but he got a successful breath in and out. The rhythm stuttered.

"Keep trying Shadow," Sonic said. "You've got this. Try again, you almost had it!"

Shadow relaxed his shoulders and focused on his diaphragm. This time, it responded and suddenly he was able to breathe again. The panic subsided a bit, but his chaos energy still felt wrong.

Sonic pushed him gently onto his side and Shadow meekly complied. It felt less vulnerable than being stretched out on his back.

"So uhhh… GUN then," Sonic said.

"Don't even start… faker," Shadow said. The last thing he wanted was a discussion with the Hero of Mobius, justifying his allegiances with a group that would abandon one of their own without even blinking. Even with his ulterior motives towards GUN, Shadow was currently having a lot of trouble justifying it to himself at that very moment.

"Shadow!" Sonic protested. "They're considered terrorists in almost every other zone and region out there! Besides, weren't they the ones responsible for-!"

"I know!" Shadow shouted, sitting up and throwing his arms out for balance. "I know perfectly well how low they're ready to stoop."

"Then why did you join up with them?" Sonic asked.

Shadow could just make out Sonic's features behind the spots of color blossoming in his vision. He didn't look angry anymore.

"After… after what I almost did to the earth," Shadow said, wondering why he felt the need to explain himself, he'd resolved that he wasn't going to, and yet... "I didn't want to make the same mistake again. If there's even a shred of good in GUN, then I have to save it."

Sonic was quiet for a little as he seemed to process this, triangle ears swiveling slightly as he thought. He closed his eyes after a moment and sighed.

"Shadow," he said. "I hate to break it to you, but at its heart, GUN is a human supremacist group. That isn't to say all humans are bad, but it's gonna draw like minded people to it's cause."

Shadow didn't have an answer to that. The more he'd dug into GUN's ethics, the more evidence he'd found to support Sonic's judgment of the organization.

"I know you want to honor your promise any way you can," Sonic said, sounding serious and oddly gentle. "But in their case, you'd probably be keeping Maria's promise better if you took them down. They're actually next on my list after Eggman."

It hurt to think that, once again, Shadow had picked the wrong direction. He closed his eyes. Chaos, Maria had always seemed to know what to do. He'd once told her that he didn't know what he'd do without her, and here he was, sick and at a crisis point with his current employer.

"Looks like you took the worst of their little toy," Sonic said. "Lucky for you, I've encountered this before. Eggman came up with this waaaaaaayyyy before GUN did."

Shadow shuddered as his chaos energy continued to flip out inside him. It was horrible. There was a high pitched squeal in his ears and he was smelling and tasting things that most certainly weren't there, and whenever Sonic spoke, splotches of yellow blossomed behind his eyes. It was also really disconcerting when he told his legs to move, and his arms would twitch instead. His equilibrium was gone, and he just felt sick.

"You know how to stop this?" Shadow said hopefully.

"Yep!" Sonic said. "I'm gonna get us to Tails' workshop in the Mystic Ruins, and then it will be Angel Island from there."

Shadow frowned. He never liked going to that island. "Why not just jump straight there and get it over with."

"I got hit by that too you know," Sonic said. "I'm really starting to feel it. Chaos control over that long a distance might not be such a great idea right now, but Tails' place is halfway there. It's the only thing I can think of at the moment. He also has a way to treat it.. Sort of."

"...Fine."

"Okay," Sonic said. "One chaos control coming right up."

Sonic put a gentle hand on his shoulder and said the magic words.

"Chaos Control!"

The second they materialized, Shadow threw up. He bent over as his stomach muscles began to heave painfully on his near empty stomach. He'd been surviving on chaos energy, water, and anger for the past three days. The only thing that came up was acid, and after that he continued to dry heave, choking and gasping painfully.

Sonic was quick to get behind him, holding back his quills and murmuring in a way that was surprisingly comforting.

"Easy Shadow," Sonic said quietly, even going so far as to pat his back. "Easy there. Try to breathe through it. It'll stop eventually. We just need to get you into Tails' workshop. He can help us, I promise."

By the time it stopped, black spots had joined the color splotches in his vision. He gasped for air, trying to get his breath back. Chaos, he hadn't felt this sick in… Well it had been a while. Sonic had slung an arm around him, and much to Shadow's chagrin, it was to keep him from toppling over and landing in the mess he'd just created.

It struck him then, just how bad this situation was. Here was a weapon that could take down the ultimate life form and it was in the hands of a human supremacist terrorist organization.

"That weapon cannot remain in their hands," Shadow said. "I need to find a way to get both it, and whatever blueprints they might have of it."

"Yep," Sonic said, slowly hauling them both onto their feet. "First thing's first though. We gotta get our chaos energy sorted out. Then we can plan this heist properly. Either way, I think we're gonna need Tails."

A sharp gust of wind hit them, and Shadow glanced up in surprise. He'd been too busy throwing up before to notice, but the weather in the Mystic Ruins area was currently not being very welcoming. Looking out to sea, Shadow saw the boiling clouds of an approaching storm. Even the water had gotten a restless, choppy look to it. This area was in for a bad one.

Great… Could his day get any worse?

Sonic had gotten them up to the door. He didn't bother knocking, he just pushed the door right open and yelled: "Tails! I'm home!"

There was a sudden loud crash from deep within the workshop.

"Sonic! Uhhh… I'll be right there!" Tails shouted back, sounding a little beleaguered. It took a minute, and Sonic got them a little further into the building. The door closed behind them, keeping out the sounds of the weather… for now at least.

The little yellow fox rounded a corner at last, his headlong rush stopping in its tracks the second he saw Shadow. His tails started to bush up, but then he took in the fact that Sonic was practically carrying his dark counterpart.

"Uh… woah, what happened?" the fox asked. "Are you two alright?"

"Well," Sonic started. "You remember that one device Eggman had?"

Tails sighed. "Sonic… Eggman has a lot of devices," he said in a tone of long suffering. "Could you be more specific?"

"It's the one that had my chaos energy all out of whack," Sonic said. "The one where I pretended it didn't work so he wouldn't try to use it again."

"Oh! I know the one," Tails said, brightening up, but that immediately turned into concern. "Shadow got hit by one? Who were you fighting?"

"GUN has it," Sonic said.

Tails' expression blanched. "That's not good. Did you get hit too Sonic?"

"I did, but Shadow took the worst of it," Sonic said. "Think you can help us out?"

"Yeah," Tails said, waving them further into the workshop. "Step into my office! I think I even have the thing I used to help you out last time still. Haven't thought of a name for it yet."

"I'm still in favor of the Descrambler," Sonic said, starting to follow the little fox.

Tails' workshop could have been an element of chaos by itself. There were tools and chunks of technology cluttering up every single workbench, shelf, and corner. He had everything from drill presses to hammers, from hydraulic supports to computer chips. Shadow recognized bits of salvaged GUN equipment to weapons Eggman himself had created, the latter placed carefully in very strong looking containment cells.

The place was a technological wonderland that would have put most of the rooms aboard the ARK to shame. It smelled of oil, and saw dust, and metal. Currently, it was a lot to take in. Shadow's stomach just about dropped into his feet when Sonic suddenly stumbled a bit.

"Gosh Tails," Sonic said. "I think this place is even more disorganized than the last time I saw it."

"Yeah…" Tails said bashfully. "I was actually trying to clean up a bit, but then I found my old designs for that matter transporter, and I thought it deserved another look. Oh! And I want to dig out the crawlspace into a proper basement. I really need a particle accelerator."

If Shadow hadn't grown up around Maria, he would have been astonished at the twelve year old fox asking for expensive and dangerous scientific equipment like it was the latest and greatest toy. He could only listen as the two bantered back and forth. It left him feeling a little out of place.

"What use do you possibly have for a particle accelerator?" Sonic asked. "And aren't those huge?"

"Sonic!" Tails whined as he cleared off a workbench by tipping everything onto the floor. "I can do a lot of things with a particle accelerator, and they are huge. That's why I need a proper basement."

"You sure you haven't outgrown this place bro?" Sonic asked.

Tails patted the newly cleared space. "Have a seat," he said, sounding distracted. "And not if it grows with me. I have a lot of custom built equipment here Sonic, I don't think it would stand up to being moved."

"Okay fine," Sonic said as he helped Shadow up to sit on the workbench. "We'll talk to Knuckles about inspecting the foundations when we get to Angel Island."

"Yes!" Tails crowed. "Stay here, I think I just saw the thing we need."

Sonic hefted himself onto the workbench and plunked down besides Shadow.

"You okay there, bud?" Sonic asked him. "You've been awfully quiet."

Bud?

Shadow wasn't sure how he felt about that endearment, so he ignored it.

"Is that so surprising?" Shadow asked. "When have I ever been talkative?"

"Gotta point there," Sonic conceded. "But I've been through this whole thing before, and it wasn't exactly a barrel of fun last time either. And you always have such tight control over yourself, to have that taken away, that's gotta be scary."

It was scary. Shadow knew exactly how destructive chaos energy could be, and he just happened to have copious amounts of it. Now, it roiled around in his body pressing alarmingly against his inhibitors, against his will. It left him wondering just how long he could hold it back, and the longer he held onto it, the more it chipped away at his coherency. It was getting more and more difficult to tell which way was up, and the room was spinning, or maybe he was.

"It's not a great feeling," Shadow admitted.

Tails made his way back to them holding a device about the size of a watermelon in a grey unpainted housing. All kinds of leads and wires were plugged into the front. It had a few switches that had been labeled with masking tape and permanent marker. Tails set it down between Sonic and Shadow and stepped back.

"Alright," the fox said with the confidence that came with knowing the device inside and out. "Shoes and socks need to come off."

Sonic reached for his footwear without hesitation, the sudden twitch he'd developed notwithstanding. Shadow, however, was feeling the first flickers of apprehension. He almost never took his shoes off, not even to sleep.

Tails saw his hesitation and his blue eyes filled with understanding. "Shadow," he said. "I promise it's safe for you to take your shoes off here. I have sensors installed almost all the way through the Mystic Ruins. If something's gonna attack us, we'll know about it long before it gets here."

Shadow reluctantly reached for his shoes. Tails ended up having to help him when he nearly toppled off the workbench.

"Since this is your first time, I'm gonna explain everything as I go," Tails said, setting the shoes on the workbench nearby. The fox hopped up onto the table with them and began to sort through the wires.

"My device can't fix what's happening with your chaos energy, but it does address a couple of issues. This will fix your equilibrium and it will even help with the directions you give your limbs, so if you tell your foot to move, your hand will stop responding instead. I'd still advise against using chaos based abilities until after we can get you to Angel Island."

"Will I still feel this sick?" Shadow asked.

"This will actually help with that too," Tails said. "Essentially, what's going to happen is the device is going to run a tiny current of the ambient chaos energy through your body, and like stirring a cup of coffee, the rest will align to that flow. So I have a couple of contacts that need to be touching skin or fur, thus the shoes needing to come off."

Shadow would have nodded ordinarily. The fox's reasoning with the device was sound. The solution, while simple, was actually quite brilliant.

"And since your inner ear is probably a scrambled mess right now," Tails continued, holding up a couple of wires. "These two contacts are going inside your ear canal. So with your permission, Shadow?"

Shadow sighed, but he saw the sense in that too. The fox was good, he'd give him that.

"Go ahead," he said.

"Okay," Tails said. "I'm gonna do your right ear first."

Shadow could hardly tell left from right at the moment, but he still appreciated the warning.

"Don't worry Shadow," Sonic said. "You're in good hands, I promise."

There was a light touch on his ear, and Shadow couldn't help the involuntary flick. Tails cupped his ear, gently, but firmly pinning the top with his thumb to keep it open.

"Here's the contact," Tails warned.

There was an odd sliding sensation, and a spot on Shadow's ribs tingled strangely in response. The sound got muted slightly on that side. The other contact caused a tickle on the bottom of one of his feet, and he gave an involuntary kick.

He dimly heard Tails explaining about how the next two contacts would be going on the pads of his feet. "So don't kick me, 'kay?"

The metal was cool against his feet, and he had to shove back an abrupt memory of another time with contacts and electricity. His quills bristled in spite of himself.

This isn't going to hurt me.

"Okay, we're ready," Tails said. "Sonic says this part feels pretty strange, but it only takes about ten seconds, so count with me."

Tails hit a couple of switches and the device began to hum quietly.

"Here goes."

Tails hit the final switch.

Shadow's chaos energy went nuts… well more nuts.

"One."

Nausea hit him like a semi truck on the interstate.

"Two."

Suddenly, an indescribably nasty smell assaulted his nose, and he couldn't tell if his abruptly seizing muscles were a reaction or another twitch, but he couldn't get them to loosen and relax. His vision hazed over with dark colors. Then just as suddenly, it quit, his body going limp. The smell was gone as well.

"Seven," Tails said, sounding very concerned suddenly.

"I think he's recovering," Sonic said with a serious calm. "Keep counting."

"Eight."

What happened to three, four, five and six? Why was he lying down on the table suddenly? At least he could feel the wild chaos energy responding to the outside influence.

"Nine… Ten."

Shadow opened his eyes and hauled himself back upright. Sonic and Tails were both staring at him with concern shining clear in their eyes.

"What happened?" Shadow asked. "Did it work alright? I feel better."

"Shadow?" Tails asked. "Do you have a history of seizures by any chance?"

"No?" Shadow said, a small chill crawling down his spine. "Is that why I lost a little time back there?"

"Pretty sure," Sonic said. "But you came out of it really fast, so all's well that ends well right?"

Tails still looked worried. "Just how bad were you hit?" he asked. "Sonic didn't start seizing until day three."

"Point blank range, dead on," Shadow admitted. "I think I shielded Sonic from the worst of it."

"No wonder," Tails said. "Sorry, if I'd known how bad it was getting, I'd have worked a little faster. Are you good for me to treat Sonic now? Or do you want to give it a little longer?"

Shadow glanced to his left and watched Sonic's foot spasm several times before the hedgehog gave a frustrated huff and finally got his hand to respond and lift so he could scratch a spot on his upper arm.

"I'm alright," he said.

Tails shut the device down, and Shadow narrowly held back a cringe as the flow instantly began to deteriorate.

"I'll have to build a second one," Tails decided as he cleaned off the contacts with what looked like some hand wipes. "I think I can have it done in a few hours."

"You're the best Tails," Sonic said, sounding a little strained. The hedgehog was looking a little green.

Tails hopped up onto the workbench behind his friend and inserted the contacts into his ears with the same care and attention he'd given Shadow.

"So you've seen the long term effects of this?" Shadow asked.

"Yep and they're not pretty," Tails said in a subdued manner. "Sonic was getting pretty frantic by the time we figured out that the Master Emerald was the cure. He was really strong about it, but given enough time? I think it could drive anyone insane."

Tails hopped off the table and slipped the other contacts onto Sonic's feet.

"Read?" Tails asked him.

"Go for it," Sonic said hastily.

Tails turned the machine on again and Sonic inhaled sharply.

"One," Tails counted.

Sonic joined in on two, voice pitched higher than normal. It was pretty clear the blue speedster was doing his best not to squirm.

Ten seconds ticked by and Sonic's form relaxed.

"Better?" Tails asked, smiling sympathetically.

"Yeah," Sonic nodded. "A lot better, thanks little bro."

"Kay!" Tails said brightly, as he turned the machine back off. "I'm gonna go check the weather and start preflight checks on the Tornado. You should run that for Shadow again, I think he could use it already."

The little yellow fox rushed off.

Sonic carefully pulled the contacts out of his ears and cleaned them again, offering them to Shadow.

The ultimate life form didn't want to appear desperate, but he could feel the flow of chaos energy breaking up. His ears were ringing already. He went to take the contacts from Sonic, but his hand over shot, and he just about punched him in the chin instead.

"Tails was right…" Sonic said in astonishment. He didn't sound at all offended, and Shadow felt relieved. "That wore off for you really fast. Let me…"

If anything, Sonic was even more gentle then Tails had been, sliding the contacts back into place in his ear canals. Shadow suppressed a shiver. The sensation was stronger inside his ears this time because it wasn't ricocheting to some other nerve in his body, yet.

Sonic slipped the bands onto his feet and turned to work the machine.

"Ready?" Sonic asked.

"Do it," Shadow said.

His reaction wasn't nearly as bad this time, and Shadow couldn't stop his sigh of relief.

"Yep," Sonic said, taking a step back to give Shadow a considering look. "You're at about where I was on day three of that whole adventure. So we're just gonna leave that machine running until we can get to Angel Island."

"How long did it take for you to discover the cure last time?" Shadow asked, morbidly wondering just how much of this Sonic had to suffer.

"It was about a week," Sonic said casually, but there was something dark behind his eyes as he remembered. It was clear that he didn't like talking about it, but he forged ahead anyway before Shadow could say anything.

"Day seven, I was so exhausted that I passed out and Tails couldn't wake me up," Sonic continued. "He was so freaked out that he put me in the Tornado and took me to see Knuckles for advice, and then proximity to the Master Emerald was enough. Just one of the many times Tails has saved my life over the years."

The blue hedgehog shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

Just then, Tails burst back into the workshop.

"Sonic!" he shouted.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted back, quills abruptly bristling. "Where's the fire? We under attack or something?"

Shadow's own quills came up in response.

"Sorry Sonic, nothing like that," Tails said, visibly trying to dial down on his panic. "It's just, there's a horrible storm out there, we're talking almost hurricane force winds! There's no way we can leave now, I won't be able to get you to Angel Island until tomorrow morning at this rate!"

"Bud, calm down," Sonic said, sounding a little amused, quills slowly relaxing back down. "Everything is gonna be okay. We already know the solution to this problem, and it'll only be a few hours."

"More like twelve," Tails grumbled, but he let Sonic pull him in for a hug. "I just hate it when there's nothing I can do."

"Tails, you've already done plenty!" Sonic protested. He pushed back slightly to look the little fox in the eyes. "And if we can't leave right away, why not get started on that second machine?"

Tails gave him a weak smile. "Well, I do have a few ideas on how to improve the design from the original."

"See that's the spirit," Sonic said, booping the little fox on the nose and earning a giggle.

"Sonic!" he whined. "I'm twelve now! Don't you think I'm a little old for that?"

"Never!" Sonic cried and started tickling along the fox's sides.

The resulting shrieks of laughter were slightly infectious, and Shadow felt the corners of his mouth begin to curl upward. Whenever they felt well enough, he and Maria used to have tickle fights like that…

A flash of light. A crimson spray of blood.

Agony.

"Maria!"

His amusement abruptly died.

Shadow turned the machine off, swallowing as the current of chaos energy immediately began to slow, but Maria's absence was currently more hurtful than his malfunctioning powers. It was almost a physical need to remove himself from the reminder of what he'd lost.

They looked up as he pulled his shoes on.

"Shadow are you sure you-," Sonic started to ask.

"I just need a minute," Shadow cut him off and stalked out of the workshop to find solitude.

Tails looked at his older brother. "Is he okay?"

Sonic remembered the answer Shadow gave him when he'd asked him the same question directly.

"No," Sonic said. "And I have no idea how to help him either."