Chapter Three – Explorations

Thankfully, it was the pure darkness of night when Sonic and Shadow, after hours of digging, finally pulled themselves onto the surface. Both were exhausted, having neither of them having been awake long, and they were still getting used to their very new bodies. They burst out onto open countryside, which had been perfectly restored after the final battle against Eggman. Looking around, it looked as though, it had never happened.

They looked at each other and gasped. Just how much time had passed? But just as they headed to the main road, with Westopolis in the background, they came within a short distance of Tails' old house. Sonic ran for it, but was immediately disheartened. The house was never rebuilt and the land, had a 'For Sale' sign in it, which had been promptly slapped with a 'Sold' sticker.

The Fox was gone.

Sonic did remember that Tails had a backup house, but he just couldn't recall where it was. Having his body explode out during that explosion, had really screwed up his memories. They weren't gone, just complete and utter mush, and Sonic was struggling to remember anything. Shadow heaved, throughly unsurprised at this. With Sonic 'dead', anything associated with him, would have been painful to deal with, especially for his friends, so they would have just moved on, and that included the Fox.

Suddenly, a chilly wind brew in, bringing with it a single front cover of a newspaper, which caught itself of the 'For Sale' sign. Shadow grabbed it, immediately checking the date.

His jaw hit the floor.

Ten years.

He showed Sonic, who was also gobsmacked. What? Well, that explained why the both of them had grown so much, especially Sonic, but the headline of the newspaper just said it all.

'A Decade Of Peace. Preparations Begins For Celebrations'. It splashed, but as Shadow scanned the newspaper, front cover article, there was no mention of Mobius's precious Hero. To commemorate ten years since the war ended, wouldn't the Hero also be remembered? There was no mention of Sonic? Shadow looked at the Blue Blur. What was going on? But with only one sheet of the newspaper, it wasn't much information to go on, but regardless, the speedsters couldn't stay where they were.

Sonic was beginning to flicker horrendously with wild electricity, and Shadow was feeling dizzy again, they realised they needed to go to ground. Get out of sight. Rest, recuperate, train, and then attack this anew. They didn't have a choice. Shadow desperately looked around. He looked up. The Ark was out of the questioned, he couldn't see it, in the sky, plus after ten years, did he still have access? He had no idea, but suddenly, he had a brainwave.

Just before the war ended, Shadow had purchased a secret basement apartment in Westopolis, for just this scenario. A place to hide if he needed it. He heaved. He could have Chaos Controlled there, but with a horrendous headache now coming on, Shadow had no idea if he could teleport without a Chaos Emerald. But with his incredible increase in superpowers he'd had, he suspected yes, but he really didn't want to test it right now, especially considering he wasn't sure if he could take Sonic with him.

Regardless, the electricity he was generating was producing a lot of light, so they had to move on, before they drew attention. Thankfully, Shadow knew where in Westopolis the apartment was, and with both the Hedgehogs still having their speed, they ran off for the city.

Shadow was sure the apartment hadn't been sold. It's location in the city was awkward to get to, and with it being entirely underground, it was rather undesirable. Regardless, it still took them several hours of sneaking around the city, avoiding being seen before they finally found it. Shadow dug out the place where he'd hidden the key, and to his delight, it was still there, and he used it to open the door and go inside. The apartment was what you'd expect for a place having been empty for ten years. Dark, damn, mouldy in places, wallpaper pealing, and cobwebs everywhere. There was little furniture, but it was all now mangled and matted, but Sonic just didn't care. His body constantly producing electricity was extremely tiring, and he just collapsed onto the nearest mattress, despite it being badly rotten, he fell fast asleep.

Even Shadow himself, was tired, as he just landed in a nearby chair, which buckled slightly beneath him. He rubbed his face, as he looked to his counterpart. Everything had changed. Sonic was still annoying, but Shadow's respect for him, just skyrocketed. Down in that cavern, the Blue Blur had awoken first. Shadow had no idea how long he was alone, but he could have so easily have left him. Abandoned him, and he had every right to do so.

But he didn't. He stayed, and right now, to Shadow, that meant the world. But seeing Sonic fast asleep, in such a depilated place, disheartened him throughly. The Blue Blur deserved better. He was the Hero, after all. After a short rest, Shadow got up, and searched the apartment. Finally, he found it. His large black box, which he'd left there, for emergencies. Inside, he'd left a huge pile of credit sticks. Money. A lot of money. All stored in electronic format, and only accessible by him, and a spare pair of dark grey, professional revolvers, with ammunition. Time to find his old disguise and get this place done up.

Shadow's disguise was deceptively simple, which was also in the black box. Blue coloured contact lenses, a dark brown neckerchief to hide the chest fur, a change of gloves and shoes, very different to his usual attire, and jet black fur and quill makeup, to hide his very distinctive stripes, which he still bore. All that, as well as hugely dubbing down his Chaos powers, as much as possible, which could easily be felt to those stood next to him, and Shadow was practically ignorable. Just a normal, everyday, Black Hedgehog, just getting on his day, answering to Onyx when asked, and right now, that was exactly what he needed. Time. To train, practice, and get to grips with his new life and freedoms.

As for Sonic, Shadow suggested he should stay put. He was far too wild and unpredictable, especially his electricity, and outside, potentially recognisable. But that didn't stop Shadow from completely refurbishing the apartment. If he had to go to ground, into hiding, he wanted to do it in luxury, thank you very much. Sonic just giggled. Seeing Shadow in that disguise, he looked daft, but it worked. As Sonic watched from the shadows, as the Ultimate Lifeform was just completely ignored, as he strolled through the busy streets of Westopolis. But the Blue Blur heaved, as he returned to the apartment, which was now a beautiful white space. A small two bedroom apartment, with a open plan lounge-diner, and a small kitchen, and no windows anywhere. Every room had stunning furniture and the bedrooms, really comfortable beds. The kitchen was basic. Neither Hedgehog now needed to eat, officially, which significantly simplified things, but the Ultimate Lifeform still liked his coffee, and Sonic, his chilli. Every single different variety the Blue Blur could get his hands on. The apartment now permanently stunk of the combination of the two, like a curry house, as Shadow had found as many different varieties of coffee as he physically could. Overall, with the decor, Shadow had good taste, but Sonic rubbed his face.

What was happening to him? He still hadn't worked it out, and was desperately struggling to control anything. The electricity was driving him bonkers. The levels of voltages he could generate was insane, potentially killing, which he could control using his newly developed Electrokinesis. But it was the fact that now he was nothing more then pure energy which was what really got to him. Ever since he'd woken in that cavern, he permanently felt weird. He definitely had a heartbeat, his own pulse he could constantly feel, but the rest of his body was just gone. Now Sonic could move, in around and through everything, and took some getting used to.

Shadow thought he knew what happened to himself, with the explosion. Not even close. As he was returning to the apartment, after some errands, suddenly, he buckled, dropping his stuff, falling to his knees. He screamed, as his eyes were on fire, his blood was boiling, his internal temperature just skyrocketing. Suddenly, it happened. He exploded, bursting into deep red-orange flames, as his entire body spontaneously combusted, with an almighty crimson red flash of light.

In amongst the blackened ashes, Shadow suddenly wakes up, enveloped the most bizarre feeling he could imagine, and yet, thankfully, not painful. He gasped, looking around, his body seemingly flickering side-by-side, like a dance, he couldn't stop. He could feel his own heartbeat ripple through the flames. Suddenly, someone came rushing from the apartment, as Sonic came out, squealing for him.

"Shadow?" He panicked. "Shads." He stammered, desperately looking around the alleyway. Shadow looked up. He could see him, somewhat hazy, and yet he was at ground level, literally, as he looked down at himself, he saw the the red, orange and yellow crackling of fire.

In pure fright, he screamed.

Suddenly, Sonic was lying on the ground, his nose right up to the apparent living flames, as he desperately frowned at it.

"Whoa, Shads. Is that you?" He puzzled, as he put his hand out to touch it, and then recoiled. "Oh, ok, that's hot." He gulped. But the flames didn't die down, they just flickered in front of him, as Sonic moved even closer, extremely curious. Suddenly, Shadow growled, his voice cracky and snappy, despite his extremely deep tones.

"Move any closer, and I'll burn your nose." He hissed, his voice emanating from the very flames themselves. Sonic squealed in pure delight, as he move away and bounced all over the dark alley.

"Yay, Shads, your alright." He praised. "Looks like I'm not the only one here now made of pure Chaos Energy. We both are." He giggled, utterly delight not to be alone in this. Shadow gulped. He had heard that Chaos Energy could manifest itself as fire, as well as electricity but he'd never seen it before, and now he was living proof of it. But he heaved. Now what? Shadow didn't fancy spending the rest of his life like this. He looked up and saw a metal box. He moved along the ground and up the side of the box, surprisingly quickly, leaving a line of fire and blackened scorched earth, behind him. He seen Sonic concentrate the Chaos Energy within himself, so Shadow decided to replicate it. Growling hard, he jumped, and suddenly, his body exploded out of the fire and with another flash of bright red light, he landed, fully formed, on the ground. But someone caught him, as he returned to normal, perfecting manifesting his gloves, inhibitor rings and rocket shoes again. Sonic smiled.

"Gotcha." He nodded, but Shadow was left desperately panting. He gulped and hard. Sonic was right. What indeed was happening to them?

A few days later, electrical explosions of extremely high voltage, pale blue sparks, and lightning were a regular happenings in the apartment, but Sonic absolutely panicked, screaming hard, when suddenly, with a flash of bright blue light, his entire body just disintegrated into nothing but a large electrical blue spark, which wizzed around the apartment at the speed of light, knocking into everything.

Shadow had been quietly meditating at the time, trying to desperately understand the fire within himself and instinctively came running. He ran in, saw the chaos, and with a burst of incredible speed, Shadow ran forwards, and closed his hand around the incredibly frightened spark. He painfully zapped him, but Shadow didn't let him go, but held on, feeling the subtle thump Sonic's heartbeat through the spark. He heaved, smirking, as he opened his hand.

"Sonic, calm yourself. Your alright. Remember, I was." He comforted, looking down at his hand. The spark twitched, very shaky, as it seemed to lift one end and look around, then it turned to face the Ultimate Lifeform. Suddenly, it spoke. The voice was incredibly otherworldly, extremely zappy, and very synthetic, but definitely the Blue Blur's. He sniffed.

"Are you sure?" He whimpered, desperately frightened. Shadow's smirk just broadened. He nodded as he placed the stunningly blue spark, gentle, on the floor. He nodded.

"Yes, your fine. Just concentrate on returning to your normal form. We're made of pure Chaos Energy now. I think you should be able to freely move between all your forms." He nodded. Suddenly, the spark vanished, bouncing around the room again, until finally, a large Blue adult male Hedgehog exploded, with another flash of blue light, fully grown, from the electricity, landing perfectly on his feet. Still desperately shaking with fright, Sonic ran for Shadow, and pulled him in for an enormous embrace. Shadow didn't stop him, knowing exactly how he felt.

Sonic had multiple forms with his electricity, Shadow quickly learned so did he, and it was entire dependent on his internal temperature. He had his normal form, with his fur and quills, but as the temperature got hotter, Shadow's fur would disappear, and his stripes glow red hot, and catch alight, as he body exploded in flames. Then when the temperature exploded, into the thousands of degrees, his entire body would turned bright yellow, red, with cracked black, as he became literal living lava. Then at any point, he could, disintegrate it all, at any moment and become to small, palm-sized living flames, to move, bounce, and teleport around, at will, and insanely good, he was at it.

The whole process fascinated and yet terrified him, at the same time. Sonic too, as they both found themselves struggling to control the intense emotions. Everything came at them, extremely hard, and panic attacks and temper explosions were a regular occurrence.

Regardless, all this change was so new, that their old rivalry just went out of the window. They needed each other, and it took a further two months of working together, in the quiet of the hidden apartment, for them to finally master everything. They became fast friends, a deep comradery, equally weird and wonderful as each other, vowing to never leave the other behind.

The Ultimate Lifeform now no longer needed a Chaos Emerald, to do anything that required one, such as his Chaos Control, Chaos Spear, Chaos Rift, Chaos Lance, and Chaos Punishment, all of them, now, just naturally coming to him, but his Chaos Blast was mushroom clouding, now with the potential to destroy entire cities. The Ultimate Lifeform could now pull come serious weight as he combined his powers. His Super Strength and his new Pyrokinesis were deadly together, as Shadow finally mastered the flames, exploding them from anywhere on his body, especially his hands and even though he was no longer as fast as the Blue Blur, with his Super Speed, he still understood him, even on the nanosecond level.

Sonic could explode E.M.P. (electro-magnetic pulse), almost on command, and could wiz down electricity lines, materialising at the other end, instantly. His body just disintegrated, turning into pure electricity, and solidifying back again, all the while, still remaining alive. Shadow to mastered the flames, able to manipulate the Chaos Energy within him, and freely move between his normal form and the living flames. But the fire couldn't move at speed like Sonic's light speed electricity, but it wasn't a snail either. They were slower and methodology, which was more the Ultimate Lifeform's style. But Shadow noticed, could bounce his living flames into a ball, and along with his previous superpowers he had before his transformation, he could combine and teleport at the same time, all still while a ball of fire.

Now he could keep up with the bouncy electrical spark of the Blue Blur, and soon their old rivalry sparked up again. Shadow was keen to train Sonic up, with his new skills, as well as himself. Someone had tried to murder them. This definitely wasn't over, time to prepare as such. But that didn't mean it wasn't fun. Soon the contests of speed were back, but this time, it was on a completely different scale, and significantly quickly.

It came down to one simple thing. Who was faster? Sonic as a singular spark, traveling down power lines at the speed of light, or Shadow, as a bouncing ball of flames, teleporting around by just mere thought. It was close, as they raced around and across the city, at night, almost instantaneously, now that Shadow was learning to think. Not only for himself, but also at speed. Before, his genetic engineering slowed the world down for him, so his mind could comprehend it. But now, entire on his own, Shadow's mind had been forced to speed up, to keep up, and it had left him slightly hyperactive himself, and understanding the Blue Blur even more by the day.

But it also left him rather giggly, much to Sonic's surprise. His emotional restraints were also gone, and Shadow had been dealing with everything, whereas before he hadn't. He'd been struggling, but over time, he developed a very sarcastic, cold, and very black sense of humour, which just left Sonic in stitches. Shadow was now developing into the person, he should have been if he hadn't been created. The Ultimate Lifeform gasped, when Sonic told him that, and took it seriously to heart. If Shadow had actually been born to real parents, 'this' is what he would have been like. He smirked, seriously liking the sound of it. Finally, he was coming around, becoming someone worth while. Well, certainly according to Sonic, but right now, he'd take it.

Of all of the forms, the spark was Sonic's favourite, as the living flames were Shadow's and in those forms the two Hedgehogs would just sit and talk, but it also got the both of them into trouble. Shadow as accidentally set fire to several buildings, and in exploring the power lines of Westopolis, twice, Sonic had accidental knocked out the power to the electricity grid, and plunged the city into darkness. He knew the planet so well, on foot, but now, made of nothing but pure electrons, traveling down a wire, at the speed of light, the world looked very different. It was beautifully colourful, but weirdly bizarre at the same time, and it took weeks of trail and error for Sonic to finally learn, from the inside, all of the different systems, there were. Computers, telephones, televisions, security systems, everything, and zips back down the line to the apartment, where often Shadow was waiting for him.

The Ultimate Lifeform still often meditated. He found it incredibly peaceful, and it significantly helped with the control of the internal flames, especially in tangent with his other superpowers. Sonic, still hyperactive as heck, spend more time as a singular spark, then in any other form, especially wizzing around the apartment, and Westopolis, but occasionally, Shadow would catch him, with his hand, and just stoke the spark with his finger, which would cause the little thing to instantly calm down, and purr into the Ultimate Lifeform's hand. Sonic heaved, the massage feeling really good.

"Shads, you keep this up, and people will start talking." He giggled, in his electronic voice, but Shadow just rolled his eyes.

"You know that's not us, and never will be. I'm not interested. I want a friend, not a lover." He hissed. Suddenly, Sonic stopped, as his spark jumped down from Shadow's hand, and a mysterious flash of blue light, he instantly materialised in front of him, back into his normal form. The Blue Blur stared.

"Are we friends now?" He wondered. It was a stupid question, considering what they had been through together, since the explosion. Helping each other out through the horrendous trials of learning their new abilities, so yes, they were. But the fact that piece of information had slipped passed the Blue Blur, didn't surprise Shadow in the slightest, as he rolled his eyes again. He smirked as he held out his hand.

"What do you think?" He asked. Suddenly, Sonic just exploded with pure excitement as the child-like persona he still had, despite being a fully grown adult, just went crazy. Bright blue electricity was fired everywhere, bouncing off the floor, walls and ceiling, as the Blue Blur just ran for Shadow, completely by-passing the hand, and went for a ginormous hug. He hit him, so hard, that Sonic completely winded the Ultimate Lifeform, as he was left coughing and gasping for air. But Shadow's smirk just broadened. Despite everything, nothing had really changed. New abilities, yes, but their personalities, they were exactly the same people, and it still took Shadow exploding flames from his deep red-orange stripes, which he now had beautiful control over, and burning the Blue Blur slightly, to finally get him to let go. The Blue Blur looked back at him, rather sheepishly, biting his lip. He gulped.

"Sorry." He apologised. But Shadow nodded.

"It's fine, but just don't push it." He hissed, warning him about his enormous temper. He still had it, and it very much fuelled the fire within him and Sonic's hyperactive grated heavily against it, like always, but now, he had better control of it. He suspected it was going to be significantly more explosive nowadays, with the additions of the new powers and abilities, so keeping a better lid on it, was essential.

Shadow heaved, at the pure Chaos Energy inside of him. Like the Blue Blur's, his physical body was gone, into just this very different manifestation of the powerful energy. All elements of fire he could control, and for the first time, he felt like he had true freedom. He was so much more, as he finally finding a sense of normality in his life, but as time wore on, Shadow couldn't help but get the feeling that they were in the calm before the storm.

He was right.

It all started as a seemingly normal day, as Shadow, in disguise, was wondering down the streets of Westopolis, being completely ignored, was per usual. However, on this day, decorations were all hung up everywhere all over the city, for the ten year celebrations of peace, since the war ended. Shadow, alone, rolled his eyes. That was one party he was going to miss. But then as he walked passed an electronics repair shop, the television in the window caught his attention. It was showing a news broadcast, with the preparations for the celebrations all over the world, and the reason why Westopolis was going rather crazy with the décor.

Sonic The Hedgehog was coming to visit.

What?

Shadow blinked, as he eyes trained themselves on the television screen. Then the newsreader showed the apparent 'Blue Blur' himself, in a family photo. He was stood there, happy with his wife, Amy Rose, and their two children, a boy and a girl. The perfect portrait of a happy life. But Shadow growled. That wasn't Sonic. The Blue Hedgehog shown was much to short, muscular, and broad. The whole point of Sonic The Hedgehog was that, the guy was all about speed. Literally. That was what he was built for. Slim, tall, light, and extremely delicate. Shadow growled. An imposter. But then he blinked.

But how?

That explosion clearly engulfed the both of them, during the finally fight. Sonic had been given a funeral, and his tomb, was still in the centre of Westopolis. By the fact that, that the Blue Blur's coffin was empty, must have left doubts in people's minds, and this imposter must have charged onto the scene, spouting some crud about how he'd jumped free from the explosion, it missing him, and survived. The fact that he was not only believed, but that a certain Pink Hedgehog was very noticeably hanging off his arm, the whole story must have been plausible.

But ten years?

Shadow seriously doubted a con, not matter how elaborate, would last this long. No, this was purely a front for the public. Sonic meant so much, to so many people. A real hero, a legacy, someone to be celebrated. From the photo of the 'Blue Blur', everything looked perfect. Shadow frowned. Was it? Amy looked as though she was playing happy families, but her smile for the camera, did look somewhat forced. She knew. Shadow's frown deepened. Then why play the game? Why not expose the fraud for what he is, and just leave. The public wouldn't really care. They love a good scandal, so what was she waiting for?

Did she, or more specifically, certain members of the Resistance, such as Tails and Knuckles, actually believe the real Blue Blur was still alive. Well, yes, especially from the Fox. He may have known about Sonic's superpower problems, before the war ended, and even though Sonic never told him, he knew the Blue Hedgehog well enough to work it out for himself. He may have even seen Sonic's Super-Speed exploding out when the bomb went off. He was intelligent enough to crunch the numbers, and figure out the truth, despite the enormous impossibility of it.

As for the girl, would Amy really marry and breed with a fake, just for the hope of seeing the real 'Sonic' again? Shadow sniggered. Most definitely, yes. She was that naïve, and that hopelessly in love with him. But then the Ultimate Lifeform heaved. All that waiting would have been literally for nothing. The real Sonic couldn't do anything for her. He was now as immortal as he was. He'd never age, change, or even breed. Now made of pure Chaos Energy, his electricity would kill her, just like his fire would. The reason why Shadow could withstand it so much, was that he was one, the Ultimate Lifeform, the strongest of them all, and two, now made of pure Chaos Energy himself.

Regardless, if the 'Blue Blur' was coming to Westopolis, then Shadow was sure the Resistance would be here as well. But as the days wore on towards the celebrations, things went from strange, like the arrival of this imposter, to downright weird.