Shadow and Red's Spark – Chapter 2: The Comments Section

"Welcome to the INTERNET!" shouted Vanellope at the top of her lungs. Shadow and Red were in a silent state of awe. If the internet could be called anything, large certainly was an understatement.

All around were flying cars with people inside of them, but they weren't like normal humans. No, not at all. Their features seemed to be the same as any other except for the blockiness that made up their bodies. It was like they were robots, but with faces and bodies replicated to match that of an actual person.

And there were tons and tons of buildings. Shadow could not believe this. It was like a shopping mall, but somebody had multiplied it by three thousand, and forgot to turn it off. If the hedgehog was shocked, though, his face did not give anything away.

"Well, what would you like to do?" asked the girl. Shadow grumbled. His only focus was to get back home. There was no time for distractions, as far as he was concerned. But unfortunately for him, he had a companion – no, acquaintance – who thought otherwise.

"What's the best thing we can do?" asked Red. Shadow caught his eye and Red quickly added, "And can it help us get home?"

Vanellope thought for a moment, with a frown of concentration, before her face cleared up. "I got it! See, when Ralph and I got in a pickle some time ago, we went to a place called BuzzTube. Maybe they can help you? Plus, I also gotta go and check my account. It's been unused for a long time." She put some emphasis on this statement by moving her hands apart.

"That is of no importance to me." Shadow said

"Well," she replied, "you can upload videos there…"

For a few moments, there was an awkward silence. Vanellope raised her eyebrows, hoping they would catch on, but they didn't. There was an even longer quiet period between the three of them. She sighed and explained about uploading videos on the site, where they could become popular and get money.

The bird thought for a second before saying, "Ok, why not? But do we need money?" he questioned Shadow. He shook his head. "Meh. Well, we've got somewhere to start."

"Alright, then what are we waiting for? Come on!" And before anyone could stop her, Vanellope was already halfway to the site via glitching. The pair wouldn't have made it running, nonetheless, they had another way.

"Chaos Control!"

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Glitching through the purple rimmed doorway above her. Vanellope took a quick breath. Today had already been a blockbuster of a day, after having beaten all the players in her game, "Slaughter Race" and giving them a run for their money. Then the game had closed for a major update, reopening in a week, so she'd been preparing to go to Litwak's Arcade to meet Ralph again, her best friend. Well, tied with Shank. She couldn't choose, even if you simplified it.

Remembering the visitors she was guiding, she looked back, expecting to see the bird and hedgehog behind, panting. Shockingly though, they weren't there. "Are they that slow?…" she spoke to herself, before bumping into something.

Looking up, she saw a tall, red figure. "You were saying…?"

The girl muttered something about cheating, as Shadow looked around the site. Somehow, he actually felt amazed. There were screens almost everywhere they could be fitted, and lots of visitors. In the centre, a tower of videos were playing, and people stood near them collecting what could only be hearts.

The site also had a small section in the corner, where Red was convinced he saw a picture of himself. "Hey, Shadow, I'm gonna go over there! I'll be back!" he said, running off in the direction he was pointing in.

Shadow chased after him, and stopped in front of what appeared to be three phone screens. Vanellope ran behind them, and was starting shouting, but remembered what this area was, and piped down.

The subject on the corner two was on a fan video about Shadow and Red, and quotes from people seemed to be flooding in at an alarming rate. Red started reading some of them out loud.

"'Red is always so angry, that's all he ever is.'"

"'Shadow is the moodiest life form to exist.'"

"'Outcasts are what they are, they'll never be accepted'"

"Who are all these people?" asked Shadow. He felt angry, but that was usual. Everyone hated him anyway. Red was also feeling the same, but seeing it all instead of floating in the air had a more direct effect on him. It disheartened Red, as more messages popped up.

Vanellope looked at them sadly. "I forgot to tell you. This site isn't all positive. The comments section can be… really harsh. My friend Ralph, well, he learnt the hard way."

"This world is the same as my other. Nobody liked me anyway, and I don't care." Truth be told, Shadow cared ever so slightly about it, but not enough to mentally break him.

Even though she'd only just met them, the little girl could easily tell a truth from a lie. "Oh, stop bein' so uptight. It's ok to express your emotions every once in a while," she tried.

Shadow was ready to give her a comment on focusing on herself more than him, since he was doing just fine, when Red called out from the comment section, with what appeared to be a bit of a mirk in his voice, "Take a look at this, Shadow! Maybe it'll change your tune." A grumble came from his mouth, nevertheless, he walked up to the section and stared in amazement at what was pinging on screen.

The nasty commenters were being swarmed with a bunch of aggressive comebacks. But that wasn't all that surprised the pair. Everyone defending their reputations online were genuinely being nice, and saying all the most positive things they could think of

"'Shadow is better than you'll ever be, and he's faced much worse. What have you faced?'"

"'They're not outcasts, you are, for your own comments.'"

"'Red is kinda like me, an outsider but willing to be more than that.'"

"'If the world decided to turn on you, would you be able to fight like Shadow?'"

"'The angriest bird of all was just judged by his appearance. Don't let that happen with your remarks. Free advice.'"

The pair were recovering from the blow of the people who had stood up for them. Some were reporting these people, others were contacting companies about this inhumane behaviour, and quite a few were even offering to have protests if they kept going. The mean commenters tried to retaliate, but it was futile. They were swarming with even more comments until not a single word more was heard from them.

Shadow was the first to say, "These people… they care about us?"

And the reply was, "In all my years…"

Then both of them were hit with memories, flooding back to them. Of the people, family, and friends that did care about them. Sure, it might have been in their own annoying, yet funny ways, but they were still being cared about, not cast aside.

Vanellope just stared at them. "Are you ok? That seemed to be a… lot." For the first time in a while, Shadow nodded, being serious.

"I can't believe… I had forgotten all those… moments," the bird managed to release. All his memories had been changed into making him feel like he was just the outcast he once was. Once. But no longer. His surprise morphed into anger. "That Eggman is going to pay." The dark hedgehog agreed with this statement too. He had messed with his memories for the final time. He was not getting off this easily.

A/N: You can leave a guest review if you want... But thanks to all those who keep reading. You keep me going during my busy times. I would love to work with others as well on Disney stories, but for now, this is my final chapter. Don't worry, I will keep working on it, and release it when the time comes!

Oh, and I do need to know if there is interest for this, so review. If there's a significant amount of interest, I'll upload whatever I can again.

Thanks for reading so far. The journey is far from over...