When Sonic and Tails finally made it into the theater, Sonic's belly started rumbling.
"Ah, shit," said Sonic, "Hey, Tails, you go ahead. I got to make a run to the restroom."
And as it turned out, Sonic had the runts from eating too many hot dogs. He spent a good fifteen minutes in the theater's men's restroom practically vomiting out his ass. He wondered what he was missing out on. He made sure to wipe really, really well. You know, since he doesn't wear pants and didn't want to stain the theater seat he would be sitting in.
By the time Sonic had left the restroom and made his way to his seat, the show had already started. The stage was dark except for a single spotlight on Shadow, center stage. Soft music started playing. Shadow gazed out at the audience and opened his mouth.
"Maria…" he sang, "Maria… I just met a girl named… Maria!"
Shadow's voice was kind of raspy but also silky smooth. Think Meat Loaf meets Adam Levine. Except perhaps not quite as talented as either of them. Anyway, he gave a rather mediocre performance of the classic Bernstein song. Not that it mattered when it was all said and done.
As the song finished, the crowd went wild. There was cheering and whistling all around. Women started taking their bras off and throwing them on the stage. Sonic and Tails just sat there, their jaws dropped. He wasn't even that good of a singer!
For the rest of the performance, Shadow nailed his role as Tony with a sheer sense of nonchalance and grace. Although he wasn't the greatest singer, he was a decent actor and had undeniable charm. Yes, Shadow was the hot, new, sexy Broadway star. And Sonic was yesterday's news. No one cared about him anymore. It was the Shadow Show now.
After the musical had finished, the entire cast and crew took the stage to give a bow, as is customary. They received a fifteen-minute standing ovation. Everyone was standing except for Sonic, who refused to do so. Even Tails stood up, much to Sonic's chagrin.
Sonic's blood was boiling. He wanted to kill Shadow, right there and then. Not long ago, when he had saved the world from Perfect Chaos, he was the recipient of such praise of this level and magnitude. Why, in fact, all these people would be dead right now if it weren't for him. And this Shadow guy had done nothing but give a mere stage performance. It wasn't fair, Sonic thought.
As the people surrounding them continued clapping, Sonic nudged Tails.
"We gotta follow this Shadow guy!" he said, "Find out where he lives."
"What are you talking about?" said Tails, "You want to stalk him now?"
"I don't want to stalk him," he said, leaning in closer to Tails' ear, "I want to kill him!" he whispered.
Tails gave him a look of disapproval.
"Bad idea, Sonic," he said, shaking his head, "Look, let's just go home and I'll pretend like I never heard you say that."
"What, are you going to turn me in to the authorities?" Sonic mocked him.
"I really don't want it to have to come to that," said Tails, "But I will if I have to."
"Good luck with that," said Sonic.
Tails finally convinced Sonic to leave the theater and go back to the hotel without trying to further pursue the black hedgehog. They went straight back to the hotel. Sonic was still furious at the circumstances. He couldn't believe Shadow was received so positively by the general public.
But who was he kidding? It was a no-brainer. Shadow was created to be a cooler version of himself. But who were the people who created him and what were their motivations to carry out such a sinister plot? Did he have enemies he wasn't even aware of out there trying to break him down psychologically? These thoughts kept him from sleeping.
So, he finally took to Twitter on his phone and tweeted out the following:
"Shadow the Hedgehog? More like Shit-head the Hedgehog, amirite? #bluelivesmatter"
After that, he went to bed, feeling quite content with himself, a wry smirk on his face as he dozed off. Little did he know that, further down the road, he would come to regret that tweet.