The city blurred past in streaks of neon and shadow as Shadow blazed through the streets, his hover shoes leaving trails of burning light in his wake. Every second felt like an eternity, every moment without finding her another failure that clawed at his chest.
His communicator crackled. "Shadow?" Rouge's voice, tight with concern. "We've got teams sweeping the industrial district. Come back to base, we need to coordinate—"
He switched channels with a savage motion. The warehouse district stretched before him, a maze of abandoned buildings and broken dreams. Perfect for hiding someone who didn't want to be found.
"SHADOW!" Sonic's voice cut through this time, sharp enough to make him hesitate for a split second. "Listen to me! The blood at the hotel could mean anything—"
Shadow ripped the communicator from his ear and crushed it, the pieces scattering like stars across the cracked pavement. His chest heaved as he stood there, chaos energy crackling around his fingers in crimson arcs.
"Where are you?" he whispered, his voice raw. The words tasted like ash in his mouth. He could still see their last moment together—his own face twisted with anger, throwing accusations about her family's involvement with Project Shadow. The hurt in her golden eyes as he'd snarled that he couldn't trust her.
A distant explosion rocked the night. Shadow's head snapped up, his quills bristling. Fire bloomed against the sky, painting the clouds orange.
Fire.
His heart stopped.
"Blaze," he breathed, and then he was moving, faster than he'd ever moved before. The world stretched and blurred around him as he pushed himself to his absolute limit. Not again. He wouldn't be too late again. Not like Maria. Not like—
The thought cut off as he rounded a corner and saw it: an old steel mill, flames dancing in its broken windows. And there, spray-painted across its rusted doors in violent green:
TICK TOCK, ULTIMATE LIFEFORM
Shadow's hands clenched into fists, chaos energy surging through him with such intensity that the concrete cracked beneath his feet. His last words to Blaze echoed in his mind, mocking him. How could he have been so blind? So caught up in his own pain that he'd pushed away the one person who—
The steel mill's doors groaned as he ripped them from their hinges, the metal screaming in protest. As he stepped into the darkness beyond, one thought burned in his mind with crystal clarity:
He had to make this right. Had to tell her he was sorry. Had to save her.
Or he would tear the world apart trying.
—-
Rouge landed on the rooftop where Sonic was waiting, her wings folding as she touched down. The blue hedgehog was pacing, practically vibrating with restrained energy.
"He destroyed his communicator," Rouge said flatly, not bothering with pleasantries. "I heard it break over the feed."
Sonic ran a hand over his quills in frustration. "Yeah, I heard it too. He's completely off the grid now." He stopped pacing long enough to kick a loose piece of gravel. "Chaos, I haven't seen him like this in a long time."
Rouge frowned, her expression grim. "This is different. This is personal."
"You think?" Sonic's laugh was sharp and humorless. "We find out Blaze's family helped fund the project that created him, he blows up at her about it, and then hours later we're all standing there staring at blood all over her balcony?" He shook his head. "The look on his face when we found that, Rouge..."
"I know." Rouge's ears flattened. "He's going to get himself killed. Or worse—walk right into whatever trap they've set for him." She crossed her arms, teal eyes narrowing. "And there is a trap. That blood was staged. Too perfect, too visible. Someone wanted us to find it."
"Yeah, and Shadow's too busy beating himself up to see it." Sonic resumed his pacing. "The way he just... froze. Then took off before we could even form a plan. Wouldn't even let me run a proper search pattern with him."
"Because he thinks it's his fault," Rouge said quietly. "He said those things to her, pushed her away, and now..."
"And now he's terrified she's going to end up like Maria." Sonic stopped at the edge of the roof, staring out at the city. In the distance, they could see flashes of chaos energy lighting up the industrial district. "Only this time, he thinks he's the one who put her in danger."
Rouge moved to stand beside him, her expression softening with worry. "We need to find him before—"
A massive crimson explosion ripped through the night sky, the unmistakable energy signature of a Chaos Blast lighting up the warehouse district.
"Shadow," they said in unison, both recognizing the devastating attack.
"He's losing control," Rouge said, wings already spreading. "He only uses Chaos Blast when—"
"When he's desperate," Sonic finished, dropping into a ready stance. "Let's move. And Rouge?" He caught her eye. "If this is a trap..."
"Yeah." Her usual confidence wavered for a moment. "Then we better get there before he tears apart half the city trying to find her."
They launched into action—Sonic blazing across rooftops, Rouge cutting through the air above him—both racing toward the fading red glow of Shadow's attack.
Another crimson flash lit up the night sky, closer this time, and they could only hope they weren't already too late.
—-
The steel mill's interior was a cathedral of rust and shadows, moonlight filtering through broken windows in pale, dusty beams. Shadow's footsteps echoed against metal walkways, each sound bouncing back at him like mocking whispers.
More graffiti covered the walls, that same violent green paint dripping down corroded surfaces:
ULTIMATE FAILURE
TICK TOCK
YOURE TOO SLOW~!
BARS CAN'T HOLD EVERYONE FOREVER
Something cold settled in Shadow's stomach. This wasn't right. Fiona was calculating, precise—she didn't leave theatrical messages or play mind games. This was someone else's signature entirely.
He passed a particularly large scrawl: WHO WILL YOU LOSE THIS TIME?
The chaos energy crackled around his hands again, casting crimson reflections across puddles of stagnant water. His own reflection stared back at him, fractured and distorted. The last time he'd seen Blaze's face, it had worn that same broken quality—hurt and betrayal warring in those golden eyes as he'd thrown her family's sins in her face.
A metallic clang echoed from somewhere above. Shadow's head snapped up, quills bristling. "Show yourself!" His voice rang through the empty space, but only silence answered.
More graffiti lined the stairwell as he ascended:
PROTECT THEM?
YOU CAN'T EVEN PROTECT YOURSELF
SOME THINGS DON'T STAY LOCKED UP
Shadow's fist slammed into the wall, denting the metal. This wasn't random. Whoever had taken Blaze knew him—knew his past, his wounds, exactly how to make him lose control. The staged blood, the messages, the whole setup reeked of a deeper game.
But why Blaze? Unless...
Unless she wasn't the real target.
A door hung ajar at the top of the stairs, more green paint dripping from its surface: COME AND SEE
Shadow paused, every instinct screaming that he was walking into a trap. But then he remembered the blood on that balcony, and the thought that Blaze might be bleeding out somewhere while he stood here calculating risks...
He pushed the door open.
The room beyond was large, probably once an overseer's office. Moonlight spilled through a massive broken window, illuminating more messages covering every surface. But these were different, written in a familiar elegant script that made his blood run cold:
YOUR PAST IS NEVER TRULY BURIED, SHADOW
NO CELL CAN HOLD THE KING
In the center of the room, on a metal desk, lay an inhibitor ring—identical to the ones he wore on his wrists. But this one was covered in fresh blood.
Shadow's world narrowed to a single point, chaos energy surging through him as confusion and dread collided. He glanced at his own inhibitor rings—both still firmly in place. Then whose...?
"Where is she?" he whispered to the empty room, his voice raw with barely contained fury.
Of course no one answered. But he did hear something. Laughter.
And something about that laughter, that mocking echo, tugged at a memory he couldn't quite place—something about prison cells and green quills and a laugh that sounded just like that…