Author's note: I realize that it has been some time since I updated Hopping Universes. By "some time", I mean years. I've matured a bit, interests have shifted, and my life has gotten considerably busier since I first published this story. Rest assured, however, I have not forgotten about this story. Every now and then, I've found my thoughts return to it, and every time I do so, I find myself excited at where it can go, but frustrated at having little time or motivation to actually get it done.

Another reason why this chapter took so long to be written was that it required a lot of research on my part. I had to rewatch many episodes of Sonic X, especially to remind myself of Shadow's backstory (conveniently, all the episodes are on YouTube). In fact, I had to rewatch the entire third season, as this story takes place almost immediately after the events of that season, so I also needed to remind myself of the context that surrounds the story. Some details I had to look up through the Sonic wiki on Wikia, such as the name of Cream's mother.

I'm very pleased to say that the next chapter is written and ready to be read. I only hope the next chapter won't take as long as this one.

On Sonic's planet, the sky was bright and the grass in a large field rustled in a slight breeze. Against the backdrop of this peaceful atmosphere, a dark, spiny figure strolled down an obscure dirt path.

Since being reawakened, Shadow had actually not visited Sonic's planet before. He had spent his entire length of consciousness in space. Nevertheless, he was confident that he would be able to find his way to Sonic. When you can run at supersonic speeds, time and distance becomes less of an issue. In order to arrive on Sonic's planet, Shadow had hitched a ride through space by stowing away in a ship that was passing by.

Shadow paused, the dirt of the path crunching beneath his feet. He closed his eyes and tried to remember, as he had done every day since his reawakening.

"Remember the last time the three of us used Chaos Control?" Rouge the Bat had said. At the time, Rouge, Shadow, and Christopher Thorndyke had been on a mission to break into a station operated by the Metarex. "As I recall, the circumstances were rather explosive."

"You mean Prison Island!" Chris had replied.

Prison Island. Something about that name struck a distant bell in Shadow's memory, and Shadow scrunched his eyes, racking his mind for some clue as to why the name felt vaguely familiar. Alas, no such clue was forthcoming.

"I was afraid Shadow would leave me there," Rouge had continued. "And do you remember what happened next?"

"Of course I do," said Chris. "Shadow transported us to Space Colony ARK."

"That's right!" said Rouge. "Shadow, wasn't that the home of your friend Maria?"

Maria! Of all the words from his supposed past that had struck Shadow with some degree of hazy recollection, this was the one that had quite literally knocked him off his feet. Shadow knew with a powerful sense of conviction that he once cared very deeply for this Maria, whoever she was, but he also knew with a deep sense of sorrow that she no longer existed. And it was at the mention of Maria's name that Shadow had collapsed onto the floor of the Metarex fortress.

Shadow opened his eyes again with his fists clenched. With a sudden boom, Shadow began to run at close to the speed of sound. He would find Sonic, and he would learn his story!

"Happy birthday, Cream!" shouted a massive group of friendly faces.

Cream the Rabbit was speechless. She had expected her friends to arrive one-by-one, trickling into the party. Instead, they had purposefully congregated outside of her house in order to surprise her together when she opened the door. Who knew that a party which you yourself planned could still be a surprise party?

"It's been a crazy year, hasn't it?" said Sonic, grinning.

"Yeah!" Amy agreed enthusiastically. "Remember when Eggman kidnapped you? That was right after your last birthday too. We all know how that turned out."

As a result of kidnapping Cream, Eggman caused Sonic to accidentally unite the seven Chaos emeralds and cause Chaos Control, sending all of them to the world of Christopher Thorndyke.

"It was a blessing in disguise!" said Tails. "If Eggman hadn't kidnapped you, we would have never met Chris or Chuck or Ella or Tanaka or all of the others!"

"And I wouldn't have met your mother!" shouted Vector the Crocodile in his usual overenthusiastic manner. He then clasped his mouth shut, blushing as he noticed Cream's mother, Vanilla the Rabbit, standing behind her, observing the scene with a loving smile. Vector quickly clarified: "W-when you were sent to that kid's world, she asked me to find you to make sure you were all right, remember?"

"I remember," said Cream, giggling.

Vector blushed harder as her mother began to speak. "I'll never forget the great work you did to find my daughter. I'm endlessly grateful."

At this point, Sonic began to snicker. As he recalled it, the Chaotix detective agency had mistaken Tails, Amy, and Chris as Cream's captors, and the misunderstanding had led to a mildly violent skirmish at Chris's house.

Ignoring Sonic, Vector rubbed the back of his head modestly. "Aw, it was nothin'. We're detectives, after all! It's our job."

"Heh heh, thanks for the invite, kid!" said Knuckles to Cream.

"Yeah, I love how you decorated your whole house!" said Amy.

"Do you all want to come inside? My mother and I baked a delicious cake!"

The whole gang shuffled inside happily. Party music began to play as they celebrated. Amy tried to convince Sonic to dance with her, but Sonic strategically shifted away, pretending not to notice her. As Amy was just about to corner Sonic, Tails said to everyone, "Boy, I haven't had this much fun since Cosmo threw that party for us on the Blue Typhoon!"

The whole party shouted in unison: "Mm-hmm!"

"I only wish she could be here with us now," Cream said. "I miss her a whole lot."

"We all do, Cream," said a misty-eyed Amy, momentarily distracted from her chase after Sonic.

Tails smiled. "Don't you worry, Cream. It's just as Sonic told us the other day. Cosmo's all right! If you ever miss her, just look to the trees and the sky… that's where she'll be."

The party resumed. Espio the Chameleon and Charmy the Bee were trying to convince Vector to ask Cream's mother to dance.

"Come on Vector, it can't be that hard!"

"Forget it, Charmy," said Espio. "Vector won't do it because he's scared."

"Hey!" shouted Vector. "I'm not scared! But what if she takes it the wrong way? I want her to know I like her, but I don't want to overwhelm her. Oh, but what if she says no? What if she doesn't like me? Then it'll just be awkward. What if—"

"Would you guys like some more cake?" interrupted Cream, offering a large platter of leftover cake for the Chaotix to share.

For the second time that day, Vector blushed profusely. "Hey kid. Did you, uh, hear what we were talking about just now?"

Cream smiled guiltily. "I know it's not nice to overhear, but were you talking about someone you like?"

Espio held back a grin, but Charmy grinned massively. "He sure was!" shouted Charmy. "He's too scared to tell the person he likes her!"

"I. Am Not. Scared," said Vector.

"Well, I'm sure she's very nice, whoever she is," said Cream. "Just tell her the truth!"

Vector turned away in embarrassment. "Look at me," he muttered to himself. "Taking love advice from a seven-year old."

Suddenly, the door slammed open. The music stopped as the partygoers took in the unexpected arrival. The light from the outdoors temporarily blinded the group, so initially the only thing they saw was the silhouette of a dark figure, just about as tall as Sonic. Tails was the first to decipher who it was.

"Shadow!" he exclaimed.

As soon as the others identified the mysterious figure, they all rushed to greet him.

"Shadow!"

"I can't believe it!"

"You survived!"

"Welcome back!"

"We thought you were gone forever!"

"You nearly sacrificed yourself… again!"

"Thank you so much!"

Shadow widened his eyes in surprise at this reception. He then turned away. "Hmph," was all he said, crossing his arms.

The others were confused. Sonic then walked up to Shadow and playfully nudged him. "I never took you for a partygoer, Shadow. You always were fun to be around."

The others laughed, and Shadow turned towards the door, seemingly to leave.

"Wait a second," said Tails. "You can't go now!"

"Do you want some cake?" said Cream, offering again her large platter.

Shadow stared at the cake for a few seconds, as if seriously contemplating accepting Cream's offer. Slowly, he reached with a gloved hand and took a plate.

"Someone get a picture of this!" shouted Sonic. "The dark and mysterious Shadow the Hedgehog can't resist Cream's famous cake!"

Everyone laughed while Shadow scowled, and the party resumed. Shadow stood alone in a corner of the room; every attempt at conversation with him ended tersely, so eventually they stopped trying. Shadow merely stood and observed as the others had what they considered fun. In all of Shadow's current memory, he couldn't think of a single instance in which he had experienced this phenomenon of fun. He watched with perplexity as Amy chased Sonic, as Tails talked to Cream, and as Vector repeatedly strolled up to Vanilla, only to walk back without saying anything, much to the disappointment of Charmy and Espio. In Shadow's mind, this was all a waste of time. What substantive purpose could these activities possibly serve?

Eventually, he shook his head and sought out Sonic. In a low whisper, he asked Sonic if they could talk outside alone.

Sonic was perplexed, though he was finally happy to have an excuse to avoid Amy. (Sonic did like Amy, but he wasn't the type to get all mushy and slow his famous speed down for a dance.)

"Where are you guys going?" asked Amy as Sonic got up to leave. "Sonic, don't you leave the party before we've even danced!"

"Heh heh, I've gotta go chat with Shadow about something," replied Sonic nervously. "Alone. You know, hedgehog-to-hedgehog. I'll be back soon, I think. Gotta run!"

Sonic then sped out the door, Shadow closely following.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Men."

"You want me to explain your past to you?"

Shadow scowled. "I don't need your help," he said with his teeth clenched. His expression then softened as he looked away. "But I would appreciate it."

They stood on a balcony in the dark, as night had fallen. The moonlight just barely illuminated Shadow's dark black and red body—if one were not careful, Shadow might have been imperceptible at night.

Sonic grinned. "Sorry, I'm just a little surprised. You've never been the type to even ask for help. Also, didn't Eggman ever talk to you about your past life when you were with him? While we were fighting the Metarex, I mean."

Shadow's expression hardened again at the sound of his old boss's name. Lowly, he explained, "The Doctor promised that if I did what he told me to do, he would tell me about my past. He never did."

Sonic nodded as understanding dawned. "I guess I should have figured that old egghead would play that kind of trick. You can never really trust him, though he does have his moments."

Shadow said nothing at this, only looking towards some moonlit trees in the distance. During the fight against the Metarex, Sonic and Eggman had to work together repeatedly. Although Eggman would still take delight in making Sonic's life miserable, Eggman's help was instrumental in the effort to defeat the Metarex. For example, while Sonic and his friends had been stranded on a planet seeking repairs to the Blue Typhoon, the evil Metarex commander Pale Bayleaf had been waiting in orbit around the planet, ready to ambush the Blue Typhoon when it left the planet. Privy to the planned ambush and unwilling to let Sonic and his friends be defeated, Eggman disguised his own ship as the Blue Typhoon and allowed it to be attacked by the Metarex, while the Blue Typhoon was able to leave unharmed. Prior to the incident, he had warned Sonic and his friends of a surprise Metarex attack. When the attack didn't happen, Sonic and his friends attributed the warning to Eggman's trickery. However, Sonic knew deep down that Eggman had really wanted to help him.

And here was Shadow, asking Sonic for help. Shadow was not really a friend. Not yet, at least. Although by the end of the fight it was clear that Shadow and Sonic were on the same side against the Metarex, it seemed at times that they were working against each other. When Shadow discovered that Cosmo the Seedrian had an implant that allowed the Metarex to access her sight and hearing, Shadow had tried to assassinate her. Indeed, Shadow wasn't a friend, nor was he an enemy. Shadow was a competitor, a rival. And here he was, asking Sonic for help.

"You remember Chris, right?"

Shadow nodded. "The kid." His right hand subconsciously moved to touch the inhibitor ring on his left hand—the rings Chris had given him.

Sonic nodded in confirmation. "You were created in Chris's world by Professor Gerald Robotnik, the grandfather of the same Doctor Eggman we all know and love. You were supposed to be the Ultimate Life Form, the most powerful biological creature to exist. Robotnik created you so that you would help people and benefit mankind. That is, until…"

Sonic paused. He wasn't sure how Shadow would react to the tragic story of Maria's death. His mind flickered back to Shadow's intense anger on Space Colony ARK before Chris had remarkably managed to change his mind. He didn't want history to repeat itself.

Shadow coughed, tacitly urging Sonic to continue the story. Sonic sighed, and with a deep breath, he carried on.

"Look, the main thing you have to remember is, you were created to be good, to help others. While you were on Space Colony ARK, you took care of Robotnik's granddaughter, Maria."

Shadow sharply inhaled at the sound of Maria's name again. This time, however, he didn't collapse. He stared at Sonic intently, desperate to understand who Maria was and why his emotions flared so violently whenever she was mentioned.

"As I understand it, you and Maria were really good pals," said Sonic. "The only problem was, the government thought you were a threat. They kept your creation a secret from pretty much everybody, and when they found out about you—what Robotnik had created—they got scared. They sent people to capture you, but Maria wouldn't have it. She… er, they… the people that were after you… they…"

Again, Sonic had to pause. He studied Shadow's face carefully. Since he had mentioned Maria's name, Shadow's face had remained in a constant, unreadable frown. He was still unsure how Shadow would react.

Looking away, he said softly, "To stop her from releasing you, they killed her. They arrested Robotnik too. Robotnik spent his days in prison plotting revenge, and years later, that revenge plan went into action when Eggman accidentally activated Space Colony ARK. Eggman wanted to use the ARK to rule over Earth and establish the Eggman Empire, but instead, he found that the ARK was precoded to collide with Earth and kill everyone on the planet. Robotnik said in a recorded message that he wanted others to feel what he felt when he lost Maria, and you…"

Sonic paused only briefly, looking into Shadow's eyes. His expression still hadn't changed: it remained in an unreadable frown.

"At first, you wanted to go along with Robotnik's plan." Sonic smiled. "But then, Chris reminded you that you were really good, that you had promised Maria that you would help people, not destroy them. After that, you and I—together, we were able to use Chaos Control on the entire ARK, sending it away from the Earth and stopping it from colliding. You saved us, Shadow."

Sonic looked away, his face becoming sorrowful. "That Chaos Control took a lot out of you, Shadow. You took off those rings, and I wasn't able to save you. We all thought you were dead."

It was at this when Shadow's expression finally shifted into one of surprise: his eyes widened. The confused reactions of every one of Sonic's friends when he had first met them in their fight against the Metarex finally made sense.

Sonic looked back at Shadow with a smile on his face. "That is," he said, "until you showed up that day and saved Chris from the Metarex."

Sonic turned towards Shadow and began to approach him. He stopped when he was directly in front of him. "You nearly sacrificed yourself to save us. You did it then, and you did it again against the Metarex. For that, we're all thankful. Each and every one of us—both here and on Chris's world. So thank you."

Sonic stretched out a hand, inviting Shadow to shake it.

A long moment passed, and Sonic began to feel awkward with his hand outstretched. A soft breeze blew across the balcony, and Sonic shivered slightly. Shadow's eyes widened, then furrowed, then widened again. After a while, Shadow finally decided on a frown, and he turned away, declining Sonic's hand.

"I don't trust you."

Sonic let his hand fall. Of course Shadow didn't trust him. Sonic could only imagine what it must feel like to need to have your past explained to you. If he were Shadow, he wouldn't trust one person to explain his entire life to him.

An awkward silence quickly surrounded the two hedgehogs in the moonlight. To end it, the two hedgehogs tacitly agreed to do the one thing they did best: they ran. Sonic watched as Shadow leaped over the edge of the balcony and sped off away from Cream's house at speeds that rivaled cars on a freeway back in Chris's world. Sonic ran too, though slower, back into the house to rejoin the others.

I sure hope he'll be alright, Sonic thought.

Chris raced up the stairs. At the top was a set of double doors and a sign which read:

Station Square Institute of Science

Extraterrestrial Research Laboratory

After Chuck had told the family what Agent Eppes revealed, Chris demanded to go immediately to the lab to find a new way to travel to Sonic's world, hoping to use the new information.

Chris's uncle Sam Speed immediately offered to use his Formula One police car to reach the laboratory in almost Sonic speed. The others were on their way too in separate cars. As he booted up his computer in the lab, Chris heard multiple footsteps racing up the stairs. Soon, the lab was filled with his friends and family.

Chuck sat at a computer next to Chris, and together, they began to conduct new analyses of the latest sets of data, now having the freedom to disregard any sort of change in the passage of the time. Periodically, Chris and Chuck would explain to the others what they were doing, though most of the time it was too technical for them to understand. After several hours, the computer gave a small "chirp", causing Chris and Chuck to look at each other and groan.

"What happened?" asked Danny.

"Nothing," said Chris.

"Then why do you look so disappointed?" asked Helen.

"That's just it, Helen," said Chuck. "We've adjusted all of our calculations regarding the connection between our worlds, and nothing has happened. Our results are the same as they were before."

"The last time I travelled back to Sonic's world, I was able to tap into the energy signature of the Master Emerald, which we had recorded the last time Sonic was here," Chris explained. "When I came back from Sonic's world, we discovered that we could no longer find the Master Emerald's energy signature. Grandpa and I analyzed the data, and our results haven't changed, the signature is still nowhere to be found. Without it…" Chris's voice faltered.

"Without it, there's no way for us to restore the connection between our world and Sonic's," Chuck completed.

Tears began to well in Chris's eyes. "When I left Sonic's world," Chris said, voice shaking, "Doctor Eggman told me that the 'quantum alignment' between our worlds would be terminated indefinitely."

"Well," said Ella, "I'm sure you could you find a way to bring the alignment back."

But both Chris and Chuck were shaking their heads before Ella even finished.

"It's impossible," said Chris.

"The whole situation of our worlds being aligned in this way was a huge fluke," Chuck added. "There's no telling when the alignment will return: it could be next week, could be a thousand years, or—most likely, I'm afraid—it might not happen ever again."

Everyone in the room hung their heads.