Still Here

by Takeshi1225

Based in Sonic X. What if in the moments that he had when falling to Earth, Shadow heard Maria's voice, pleading for him to live, giving the Ultimate Lifeform the strength for one last Chaos Control to save himself? Now with a second chance, Shadow navigates his new life with former enemies now allies and new enemies upon the horizon. No matter what happens, he will still be here.

4. New Moon

Still Here

Chapter 4: New Moon

It was the day of the New Year and right Chris Thorndyke along with his grandpa and their friends were on their family yacht, waiting until the moment of the first sunrise of the new year.

Chris, Chuck, Ella, Tanaka, Tails, Cream, Cheese, Vanilla and Amy were all having fun on the deck of the ship.

"Just a few minutes to go!" Chuck informed the others with a smile of anticipation.

"This is a perfect way to start the New Year." Amy said with a smile.

"Yeah. Much better than celebrating at midnight." Chris said with an enthusiastic smile.

"Celebrating the first sunrise of the new year. Great idea, Mr. Tanaka." Ella said, nudging her fellow caretaker with a smile.

"Thank you." Tanaka said with an appreciative smile.

"Get ready, guys. As soon as the Sun comes up, we use our noise makers." Chris said as he held out a box filled with said party favors.

"Hold on, Chris! I think we should just wave to the Sun instead because if we make too much noise, we might scare the Sun away!" Cream quickly warned with worry over the giant star, not knowing how planetary orbiting works yet.

"Chao~!" Cheese agreed with their friend, despite being in the same boat regarding planetary physics.

"The Sun isn't gonna get scared away, Cream." Chris said, smiling down at the young bunny, finding her lack of knowledge on how the Sun works both endearing and adorable.

"Don't you worry one bit, dear. The Sun will be happy to get such a nice welcome." Vanilla told her daughter with an assuring smile.

"Okay then. I'll take one." Cream said with new enthusiasm as she ran over to grab one from Chris.

"Sonic and Shadow are going to need some too." Chris said before noticing that the two male hedgehogs were nowhere on the main deck.

"Try up there." Tail said, gesturing upwards, causing the young Thorndyke to look up to find the blue and black hedgehogs on the ship's mast, with the former sitting and the latter standing.

Both speedsters were staring up at the sky, facing the direction where the Sun was supposed to rise. Both also have stern expressions on their faces, as if expecting something more than just a sunrise.

"Great minds think alike, I suppose." Chris said.

"They really are like brothers sometimes. They tend to bicker but then they can be on the same page the other half of the times." Amy said, looking up at her fellow hedgehogs.

"I guess that's just how they can be. Every relationship you have with someone does tend to be different from others." Chris said with an amused smile.

"A relationship…" Amy said to herself as she stared back up at the two male hedgehogs. She couldn't help but wonder about her own relationship with the two. More specifically about how it works with either one. "Boys can be so confusing." Amy commented, causing Chris and Tails to look at her in confusion.

.

.

On a beautiful sandy beach was Topaz, lying on a beach chair with an umbrella overhead and blanket prepared on the sand beside her. She was wearing nothing but a bikini with tanning oil already rubbed on her skin.

Currently, she was on the phone with her treasure thieving partner.

"I'm about to catch the first rays of the new year, Rouge."

"Yuck. When I go on vacation, I'll pick someplace nice. Like a dark cave." Rouge said on the other line.

"That doesn't sound very appealing to me." Topaz said with amusement with a matching smile and pair of eye smiles.

"I'm a bat. For me, a cave's the perfect place to hang out and chill."

"Well, hanging out in a hole is just plain depressing. Now I see why your social life is so dull."

.

.

"Hmph. You take that back. I have my own little social circle outside of you, you know." Rouge retorted with a frown as she was currently sitting in the President's chair.

"You mean Shadow and Omega? Sure~. I can definitely see those two as the social type." Topaz said with sarcasm.

"That's quite bold of you to say after your little shopping spree with the big hunk of metal. Ever since then, you both have actually been getting along quite well." Rouge brought up, still feeling offended over the 'lack of social life' comment.

"Okay, I'll give you that. He surprised me, just like you said." Topaz admitted.

"Told you so." Rouge said with a smirk.

"Kind of ironic though how the robot built for killing has better social skills than the hedgehog made to protect humanity." Topaz brought up.

"One of life's mysteries." Rouge said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Anyway, the Sun's coming up any minute. Tell Omega I wish him a Happy New Year, if you see him."

"I will. Enjoy the icky Sun, Topaz." Rouge said before hanging up.

Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps was heard entering the room, causing Rouge to look up to see none other than the ex-Eggman robot himself.

"IT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN." Omega stated.

"I'm well aware." Rouge said with a dismissive wave. "Also, Topaz says Happy New Year."

"I DO NOT SEE THE REASON TO CELEBRATE AN ENTIRE YEAR HAVING TO RESTART." Omega shared.

"Well, I guess it is different for a robot with a computer for a brain, but for us organics it's just a way to say hooray on making it pass another year." Rouge said, resting her cheek upon her knuckles.

"WITHOUT TERMINATION."

"Mm hmm." Rouge nodded.

Omega walked over towards the window.

"SUNRISE IS STARTING." Omega informed, as Rouge spun the chair to face the window as well.

.

.

Back on the yacht, everyone was preparing for the sunrise, but none more than Sonic and Shadow for similar reasons.

"You've been looking up at the sky ever since five o'clock." Sonic said to Shadow, while still keeping his attention above.

"You've been doing the same for the past few weeks." Shadow pointed out.

"Yeah, but you just started. There's something different about today, isn't there?" Sonic countered, with his only response being silence from the Ultimate Life Form.

"Okay, let's get ready." Tanaka said with an anticipating smile as he and everyone else prepared their noise makers.

'Here it comes.' Shadow thought to himself as the sky started getting lighter and lighter, until the shine of the Sun started making its presence known upon the horizon.

"Go!" Tanaka announced, as everyone gleefully unleashed their noise makers.

However, soon after the Sun was blocked out by something large and dark.

"What's going on?!" Chris said in shock.

"That doesn't look like the Sun." Cream said with a worried frown as Cheese was letting out worried sounds.

"Oh!" Sonic looked in shock while Shadow just furrowed his brow.

"It looks like a solar eclipse!" Chuck said in shock.

"But it can't be! Can it?" Chris looked towards his grandfather in confusion and worry.

Up above, Sonic turned to Shadow, who continued to stare at the 'eclipse' now knowing that he did see this coming.

"What's going on?" Sonic asked Shadow, only to still be given silence.

.

.

"There it is." Rouge said with her arms crossed as she now stood beside Omega.

Just then, the doors to the oval office opened to reveal President Michael K. and his staff.

"What are you both doing here?" The President asked, surprised to see two of his agents inside his vacant office.

"Enjoying the sunrise. At least, that was the plan." Rouge replied with a shrug.

"Well, as you can see, that is no sunrise. Not anymore at least." The President's aide, Christina Cooper, said with a frown as she and the others made their way inside.

"EGGMAN." Omega stated.

"Huh?" The President looked to Omega with a bit of surprise as he sat down in his seat.

"THIS WAS CAUSED BY THE EGG-MOON." Omega stated, turning towards the President.

"Just as I thought." The President said with a worried frown. "I need more details on the matter. Contact our nation's astronomers." The President ordered.

After a while, the President received a call from one of his agents.

"As was theorized Mr. President, this is an artificial eclipse created by the Egg-moon. Dr. Eggman has changed its orbit." The agent on the monitor before the President informed.

"I want to speak to that lunatic immediately." The President ordered with a deeply dissatisfied frown.

Just then, the doors to the oval office opened, to reveal none other than the said mad scientist.

"Have no fear, Eggman's here!" Eggman said with Decoe and Bocoe by his side, surprising everyone.

"How did you get pass security?!" Christina demanded an answer.

"I pretended I was a bar of soap and gave them the slip." Eggman said mockingly as he entered the office.

"D-Doctor! Wait!" Decoe called out with a look of fear.

"It's Omega!" Bocoe pointed out, also in fear as he and his taller partner noticed they weren't the only robots in the room.

Omega marched over towards, now standing in front of the President's desk with one arm up and ready with a Gatling gun.

"TARGET ACQUIRED: DR. EGGMAN." Omega stated, ready to fill his creator full of lead.

"N-Now hold on there, Omega! I came here peacefully!" Eggman quickly said with his hands up.

"Omega! Hold your fire! Let's hear what he has to say!" The President ordered.

"EGGMAN WILL ONLY SPEAK LIES." Omega warned as he was gearing up to finally destroy the mad genius.

"Hold on, Big Guy. I get what you're coming from, but in the end, the President has the final say." Rouge said, placing a hand on the ex-Eggman robot.

"I understand your concerns, Omega, but please, for the nation. What he has to say might be of vital importance." The President reasoned with the battle bot.

Omega stayed silent for the moment, never taking his sights off his creator or the worthless mechanical duo shaking behind him. Just then, he shifted his Gatling gun back into his original claw and lowered his arm.

"WARNING: IF ONE WRONG MOVE IS MADE, I WILL TERMINATE YOU WITHOUT HESITATION." Omega warned the robust scientist.

"I'll take that to heart." Eggman said with a deep frown. He carefully moved past his traitorous creation before making his way towards the front of the President's desk. "Mr. President, please believe me. I didn't move the Egg-Moon on purpose."

"You mean you moved it accidentally." The President said, frowning with an unconvinced expression.

"A solar storm affected the Egg-Moon's control system. The Egg-Moon went into a new orbit by mistake. I give you my solemn word that this eclipse was not caused by me." Eggman tried reasoning with the political leader.

"I don't believe you." The President stated.

"TERMINATION COMMENCING." Omega stated as he brought his Gatling gun back up.

"Hold it, Omega. At least wait until the President is out of range." Christina said, showing she meant business as well.

"New respect for you, sister." Rouge said with an impressed smirk.

"P-Please, sir! I beg you to believe me! For I have a plan to make the sunshine return!" Eggman quickly said, now feeling worried as he knew Omega would keep good on his promise once he was given the 'okay' by the others.

After a moment of contemplation, the President spoke.

"Well, we do need light desperately." The President admitted with a frown.

"And I'm the man to deliver it, sir. If I don't, lock me away."

"ALTERNATIVE: ELIMINATE HIM WHERE HE STANDS." Omega suggested.

"I do like that other option." One of the secret service men agreed with Omega's suggestion, earning signs of agreement by his fellow guards.

"What should we do, sir?" The President's aide asked her superior.

The President stayed silent as he weighed his options.

All the while, Eggman stood up straight putting on an innocent demeanor. One that was broken as he felt Omega press the end of his Gatling gun against his back, causing him to leap back with a look of worry upon seeing his ex-enforcer's red glowing lenses on him.

After finally coming to a decision, the President spoke.

"Alright, I'll give you one chance." The President said.

"DISAPPOINTING." Omega stated with annoyance as he was forced to lower his weapon and changed it back to his original claw-like hand.

"You won't regret this, Mr. President!" Eggman said with a bright grin.

"I hope not. Otherwise, I will let Omega do with you as he will." The President warned, now scaring the doctor.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega responded with appreciation as he now anticipated the moment Eggman slips up.

"I-I assure you; my sunshine plan will leave you beaming!" Eggman quickly said, trying to hide his fear.

Omega turned and headed for the door, with Decoe and Bocoe quickly moving away in fear of being in the killing machine's path.

"Where are you heading off to, Big Guy?" Rouge asked with hidden concern.

"I WILL BE IN THE SHOOTING RANGE. WAITING." Omega stated as he headed out of the office.

Eggman and his two still loyal robotic assistants gulped, now acknowledging that they had a major consequence to fear if they slipped up.

.

.

Back on the yacht, Cream and Cheese were sitting on the floor, crying their eyes out.

"I told you we shouldn't make all that noise! The Sun did get scared and now it's hiding!" Cream cried with sorrow.

"It doesn't work like that." Shadow said as he landed upon the main deck.

"Please, don't cry, Cream dear. I'm sure the Sun will come back soon. This eclipse surely won't last for long." Vanilla said, trying to ease her daughter's worries.

Shadow watched as Cream continued to cry with a disheartened frown and her eyes closed. After a moment, he placed a hand atop the bunny's head making her look up at him.

"You'll get your Sun back." Shadow said to the young girl.

"A-Are you sure?" Cream asked as she sniffled a bit.

"I promise." Shadow assured.

Cream wiped away her tears as she then got back to her feet with Cheese flying right up beside her.

"Thank you, Mr. Shadow." Cream thanked the dark hog.

Shadow pulled his hand away and looked back at the eclipse, not bothering to notice the looks of surprise and then appreciation that he was being given by the others.

Looking up, the Ultimate Life Form noticed that Sonic had a pondering expression, no doubt catching onto what was really happening.

Just then, a ringing was heard, catching everyone by surprise.

It turned out it came from Shadow, who now had a phone. Looking at the caller ID, he found that it was his avian ally.

"Rouge." Shadow greeted the bat on the other line.

"Enjoying the night life?" Rouge responded.

"I know you are." Shadow replied as he looked back up at the eclipse. "So, what is it?"

"Apparently, it's an artificial eclipse caused by the Egg-Moon being hit by, get this, a solar storm. It's going to be like this for a while, but until then, Eggman is offering to help by providing artificial sunlight to the people being affected on our side of the world." Rouge informed with less than enthusiast tone.

"And the President is okay with this?"

"Not really. No one is but Eggman. Omega is especially against any assistance from him."

"I don't blame him." Shadow said, sympathizing with the ex-Eggman robot. "Did they say how long until his services are not needed?"

"Unfortunately, that wasn't discussed, but knowing Eggman, I doubt fixing the moon's alignment is going to be his top priority." Rouge said, frowning on the other end.

"Keep me posted." Shadow said.

"You know I will. Take care, partner." Rouge said before hanging up the phone.

"That was Rouge?" Amy asked as she made her way towards Shadow. "What did she say?"

Just then Sonic landed right beside his fellow hedgehogs.

"Eggman, I'm guessing." Sonic stated more than asked.

"He claims that the Egg-Moon is now out of orbital alignment because of a solar storm that disrupted its circuitry. Until the problem is fixed, the President is taking his offer of supplying the people with artificial sunlight that he is creating." Shadow informed the group.

"The President is accepting Eggman's help?!" Chris exclaimed in shock.

"That can't be!" Tails said with disbelief.

"Accepting his help would be ill-advised." Tanaka said with a displeased frown.

"Agreed, but what choice did he have? Unless people get sunlight there will be major ramifications." Chuck pointed out with a frown and his arms crossed.

"Still, there had to have been a better way." Chris said with an unsure frown.

"How is Omega taking the news?" Tails asked, concerned for the Eggman hating robot.

"As well as you would expect." Shadow answered with a frown.

"Can't say that I blame him. I don't think there's anyone who hates Eggman more, and rightfully so." Sonic said with his arms crossed, earning an agreeing nod from Shadow.

"Guess this new year is a bust." Chris said with a bummed-out expression.

"Let's head home then." Chuck said.

Amy walked over towards the edge of the main deck, looking up with disappointment.

"I hope this doesn't last the whole year." Amy said with a saddened expression.

"It won't." Shadow said as he walked over towards her side.

"How are you sure?" Amy asked, looking at the artificial hedgehog.

"Do you trust me?" Shadow asked, looking back at her.

After a moment, Amy answered.

"Of course." The pink hedgehog said with a smile.

Shadow nodded in appreciation as they both then looked back at the eclipse.

Sonic watched the two's interaction with a frown, but right now, that wasn't the most important thing. There was a bigger problem looming high over their heads. Looking up at the artificial eclipse, Sonic frowned as he thought to himself.

'Alright, Egghead. What have got cooked up this time?'

.

.

Several days later at the Thorndyke Estate, everyone was watching the news to discover that the government was proceeding with a rocket launch that would assist with creating artificial sunlight. They watched as the rocket went into orbit where it then unleashed a satellite dish that reflected sunlight from the Sun that then shined upon a generator Eggman had created to supply the artificial sunlight from actual sunlight reflected off the new satellite dish.

"For several days now, the Endless Eclipse has blocked all sunlight from reaching our planet, but thanks to the work of Dr. Eggman, our world will be bathed in a new form of light." Scarlet Garcia reported.

"Hmph." Went Shadow as he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"And now a brief message from our sponsor." Scarlet added before the screen changed to an advertisement from Eggman.

"Are you feeling bad because it's always night? Eggman TV Shopping helps you see the light." Decoe and Bocoe sang before the doctor took the spotlight.

"Living in the dark is not only depressing and a public safety hazard, but it's bad for your lawn too. The solution?" Eggman directed behind him where Decoe and Bocoe pulled a curtain to reveal a metallic sphere on a rod. "It's the Sunshine Ball! Thanks to my new invention even the dingiest darkness can now be filled luscious luminosity!"

"If you call within the next twenty minutes you can take advantage of our special offer! New customers are eligible for free delivery and installation is half price." Bocoe informed.

"I wish I could provide installation for free also, but the Robot Union won't let me. Sorry about that." Eggman apologized with a bow.

"Hey, we robots have to pay for oil, you know." Decoe said.

"Call to order your Sunshine Ball today." Bocoe said.

"Our operators are standing by." Decoe added.

"How pathetic." Shadow said.

"I don't know, it sounds like a great deal." Ella said.

"I haven't known Eggman as long as you all have, but I have learned quickly to never believe what he says." Shadow pointed out.

"It does sound too good to be true." Tails said.

"You better call soon!" Decoe said.

"The Sunshine Ball is selling out!" Bocoe added.

"What do we do?" Chris asked.

"Well, I miss the Sun." Chuck said with a frown and his eyes closed.

"I hung out the laundry days ago and it still isn't dry. A Sunshine Ball would sure be handy." Ella brought up.

"I agree." Tanaka said with a smile.

"I don't." Shadow interjected.

"Ditto." Sonic said with a shrug.

"Well, it's not like we could last long without it. Sunlight is important, and not just for material usage. Even if it is being provided by Eggman, it's better than nothing. We should call right away." Chuck put in his two cents.

"Hmph. Count me out." Shadow said as he headed for the stairs.

"Same." Sonic said as he stood up and followed Shadow's lead.

"They really don't trust Eggman." Tails said.

"Well, like Shadow said, even knowing Eggman for only a little while you catch on that he isn't a man of his word." Chris reasoned.

"Yeah… but still, if we don't this time, we'll be in darkness." Amy pointed out.

"Are we even sure that's a good thing?" Chris asked.

"He sounded sincere to me." Amy said.

"Yeah. Why else would he make Sunshine Balls?" Tails questioned.

"I guess you're right." Chris relented with a frown.

"Although, I will admit that the fact Shadow is so against it is pretty concerning. He has good intuition, and what's more he and Sonic seem to be on the same page." Amy said, mulling things over a bit more.

"That is very concerning." Chuck admitted with a worried frown before looking back at the television to see Eggman and his robot assistants taking calls. "But when push comes to shove being overly cautious can cause as much problems as reckless abandon."

'I just don't know who to believe. I completely trust Shadow and Sonic, but what other choice do we have?' Amy thought as she sighed before getting up and heading towards the window. 'I just don't know what to believe in now.' Amy frowned as she looked out the window. However, a moment later she noticed both Sonic and Shadow outside. They seemed to be discussing something. 'What are they talking about?' Amy wondered to herself.

Observing things from the window, the pink hedgehog saw that Shadow seemed to be explaining something to Sonic. When he did, a look of momentary surprise was on the blue hedgehog's face before he gave a grin and a wink, giving Shadow a thumbs up before hurrying away to who knows where.

Shadow himself just flitted away from sight.

Okay, now Amy was suspicious. Whatever was happening, it looks like she was the only hedgehog out of the loop… and that upsets her very much.

.

.

Soon enough, everybody in Station Square was getting a Sunshine Ball installed. At least the ones who had enough money to pay for them, but now things were getting a bit out of hand.

For instance, the West Side of Station Square wasn't getting enough, and without any they were threatening to march into the East Side and take them by force. There were debates on where to focus Sunshine Balls more in before any other places, like more focus being put on the cities before rural areas.

Regardless of what was happening within the Station Square and any other unfortunate towns that were plagued with darkness, Eggman was clearly the victor.

People were relying on his Sunshine Balls and the money was flooding in.

With consumer demand continuously growing at a breakneck rate, Eggman had to call in the President to install a second Mirror Tower, otherwise known as those large generators, in order to keep the masses satisfied.

It was getting to a point where more and more mirror towers were being built in order to supply as many Sunshine Balls as possible to not only paying customers, but areas in the cities that needed light, like the parks and city streets.

Now Eggman was being considered a hero by the people of Earth.

A title he was becoming proud of as he was being given a squeaky-clean image, but it was a bane for those who knew how dirty the doctor really was.

One of them being a very irate moving arsenal.

.

.

Omega had been held up in the shooting range for days now doing nothing but unleashing hell upon as many targets that popped up. With each target he unleashed bullet after bullet, missile and missile, rocket after rocket, laser after laser and everything else in between.

He focused on only his capacity to destroy. It was the only thing that kept him occupied so as not to commit treason by going after Eggman himself.

He unleashed a massive amount of firepower until his current session was complete.

Once done, Omega deactivated his entire arsenal as before him was a mess of destroyed parts and a charred area, looking like an intense battle had been held within the room.

"It's a new record." A voice spoke, causing Omega to turn to see it was none other than Shadow, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"I WAS WONDERING WHEN YOU WOULD SPEAK." Omega stated, revealing that he knew of Shadow's presence since he first came into the room.

"I didn't want to disturb you." Shadow said as he walked over towards his robotic companion. "How are you holding up so far?" Shadow asked, with hidden concern in his voice.

"POORLY. IF I AM NOT IN CONSTANT BATTLE MODE MY FOCUS WILL IMMEDIATELY GO TO DESTROYING EGGMAN. HIS STATUS AS A 'HERO OF THE PEOPLE' DISGUSTS ME." Omega shared.

"Welcome to the club." Shadow replied, showing his shared destain for the doctor's 'hero' status.

"THIS BETTER ALL BE WORTH IT." Omega stated.

"It will be… but we'll need a little help first, and that's why I'm here." Shadow said with Omega immediately getting the gist.

.

.

As it turned out, Sonic had suddenly gone rogue and had destroyed a Mirror Tower within an area. Without it the Sunshine Balls in Station Square had become inoperable, causing a blackout to occur all throughout the large city.

Eggman immediately held a press conference to inform the masses of the Blue Blur's wrongdoing.

Amy, Tails, Cream, Cheese, Chris and Chuck were watching the news as Eggman began his announcement.

"I'm coming to you live from Eggman's emergency press conference. The doctor has prepared a statement on the blackout." Scarlet Garcia reported as she and many other reporters had come to hear Eggman's announcement.

"Today a Mirror Tower collapsed which overloaded the power grid and caused the system to shut down. We are doing everything we can to repair the damage quickly and we hope to turn the lights back on in a few more hours." Eggman stated.

"Do you know why the Mirror Tower collapsed?" Scarlet asked.

"We're investigating now." Was all the doctor could share.

"Sonic…" Chris said in a low tone, knowing it was likely his blue hero.

"What did you say?" Tails asked.

"Oh. It was nothing." Chris said with a small frown.

'It was not nothing.' Amy thought with a frown as she heard Chris and also believed that Sonic was responsible. After what she had seen gone on between him and Shadow, she knew it had to be the case. 'Those two are hiding something and I'm going to find out.' Amy thought with a serious expression.

Just then, Ella made her way upstairs.

"Tails, Shadow is on the phone. He wants to speak with you." The housekeeper told the two-tailed fox.

"Shadow?" Tails questioned with surprise.

"Give me that." Amy ran over and took the phone from Ella. "Shadow, what is going on?!"

"Amy, give the phone to Tails. I need him for something." Shadow said on the other line.

"No way, Mister! I have a few questions I need to ask you!" Amy said with an irritated tone.

"Can you please save it for another time."

"No! A lot is going on and I have a feeling that-"

"Amy… do you trust me?" Shadow asked, causing Amy to stop in mid-sentence with her eyes widening.

"Shadow…" Amy was very much shocked that he would ask her this.

"Do you trust me?" Shadow asked again.

Amy now had a trouble look upon her face. On one hand, she really wanted to know… but on the other, she didn't want to turn her back on Shadow like this. The moment she realized just how important the latter meant to her; she gave her answer.

"I do."

"Then please, hand the phone to Tails. I promise to tell you later."

"… I'll hold you to it." Amy said with softened eyes as she then handed the phone to Tails.

"Hello?" Tails greeted the dark hedgehog on the phone. "Okay, but why?" Tails asked, raising an eyebrow, only for his eyes to widen. "Really?! Okay, I'll be right over!" Tails said before handing Ella back the phone. "I have to go!" Tails said as he hurried for the stairs.

"Tails, wait! Where are you going?" Chris asked, now very much confused.

"I can't explain right now. I have to take the X-Tornado." Tails said as he hurried down the stairs.

"The X-Tornado?!" Chris questioned in shock.

"Tails, wait!" Amy hurried after the fox. She followed him all the way down to the workshop he had in the Thorndyke manor. "Tails, what did Shadow tell you?" Amy asked, hoping for answers.

"It's alright, Amy. Everything is going to be fine. Trust me." Tails said, offering his friend a smile before he hopped onto the X-Tornado.

"Is Shadow going to be alright? What about Sonic? Did he tell you anything about him?" Amy asked out of desperation.

"Everything will be explained soon, Amy. Just trust Shadow." Tails said before he started his aircraft's engine and started taking off.

Amy watched as Tails flew off in the X-Tornado off to who knows where.

Amy stared at the retreating aircraft with a small frown on her face.

"I do…"

After a few moments, Amy treaded her way back to where the others were looking downcast all the way. Just as she arrived, Scarlet Garcia gave a brand-new report.

"There's been a late-breaking development in the Mirror Tower case. A video tape just released by the government shows the towers being destroyed by… Sonic the Hedgehog!" Scarlet said in utter shock as footage of Sonic over a destroyed Mirror Tower was shown on screen.

Amy gasped as she took a step back with a hand over her heart.

"What? No way…" Chris said in disbelief.

"Sonic doesn't do things like that! It has to be a mistake!" Cream quickly said, denying the news report.

"Please let it be a mistake." Amy pleaded in a low tone as she felt she could cry at any moment.

Just then Tanaka hurried upstairs to inform everybody.

"An unruly mob is gathering outside the mansion!"

"Wonderful." Chuck sarcastically said with a frown.

As everyone headed for the stairs, Cream stopped as she noticed Amy didn't move from her spot.

"Amy?" Cream spoke the name of her best friend, after Cheese, with concern.

"It can't be…" Amy muttered to herself, still in disbelief.

"Do you trust me?" Shadow's voice echoed within Amy's mind.

'I do, but…' Amy started getting teary eyed as she looked down to her clasped hands.

Just then another pair of hands grabbed her own, making her look down to see it was Cream.

"It's going to be alright, Amy. We know Sonic would never do such a thing. Not without a good reason." Cream explained, comforting the pink hedgehog.

"… You're right, Cream." Amy said, now with a more hopeful demeanor. 'And that means the same for Shadow.' Amy thought to herself, finding a little bit of strength as she and Cream headed downstairs.

They rejoined the others who were outside on the porch witnessing an angry mob chanting angrily that they wanted Sonic in order for him to pay for his crimes.

"What'll we do? It sounds like they're really angry with Sonic." Chris said with worry. "What made Sonic do something so crazy?" Chris wondered aloud causing Amy to regain her troubled demeanor.

"Do you trust me?" Shadow's words rang within Amy's mind again, causing the pink hedgehog to let out a small, worried moan.

"They're breaking through!" Ella exclaimed as the mob were managing to push the gates further and further as the seconds rolled by, soon enough to the point where it'll come off its hinges.

Normally, Amy would do something to help, like push them back with her hammer ready, but right now she was in too much inner turmoil to do anything.

"I'll try to resolve this peacefully." Chuck said with a determined tone as he hurried over towards the gate.

"Grandpa!" Chris called out to his grandfather, worried about his safety, as just then the gate finally broke down, allowing the mob to charge into the estate.

"He's going to get trampled!" Amy said in fear for the scientist's life.

"Leave him alone or else you will have to face me!" Tanaka shouted as he rushed over to help Chuck.

"Calm down, everybody!" Chris called out, extremely worried and scared over the situation.

Amy was getting more and more anxious as the situation progressed.

"Everyone, hurry back inside!" Tanaka shouted as he came running back with Chuck.

The gang quickly ran back inside with Chris, Tanaka and Chuck quickly closed the door and tried holding it shut to keep the mob out.

"What's going on?" Vanilla asked as she walked into the main hall with a concerned look.

"Mommy!" Cream ran to her mother, completely scared over the situation.

"It's going to be alright, dear." Vanilla said, comforting her daughter the best she could with a hug. She then noticed Amy pacing back and forth with an uneasy look on her face. "Amy, are you alright?" Vanilla asked with concern for her daughter's non-chao best friend.

"I trust him, I know I do… but all this…" Amy muttered to herself with growing apprehension.

"Amy, what is it?" Chris asked, now noticing that she had been like this since she talked to Shadow on the phone.

Just then the angry mob broke right through the doors, sending Chris, Tanaka and Chuck flying.

Everyone of was backed into a corner by the mob with Amy having to be pulled back by Tanaka as she was so distraught that she hadn't registered that the mob had broken through.

"Where's Sonic?" Jerome Wise, the President's not-so-wise and disgraced former aide, demanded as the mob backed him up.

"He's not here, so go away!" Chris said with a steely brave expression.

"Then tell us where he is." Jerome ordered.

As Chris and the others were dealing with the angry mob, Amy was still having her own crisis.

"He told me to believe in him, and that's what I'm doing, but what am I supposed to believe with all this?" Amy muttered to herself.

"Amy?" Cream looked at her friend with worry.

"I have to put my trust in him. In all of them… but this is too much." Amy spoke to herself, feeling a breaking point.

"What's she muttering about?" Jerome questioned with irritation. "She knows where Sonic is, doesn't she?!"

"No! Amy's just as much in the dark as we are!" Chris quickly said in the hog's defense.

"Yeah right!" Jerome said, not believing them, with the crowd voicing their agreement.

"He told me to believe in him… he told me to believe in him…" Amy repeated to herself, trying to convince herself to have faith in those she cares about.

Just then, Jerome suddenly grabbed Amy by the arm and pulled her away from the others.

"Hey!" Chris shouted in fear for his friend's safety.

"You let Amy go, now!" Cream shouted, scared for Amy's safety as well.

"We've had enough! Where's Sonic?!" Jerome shouted at Amy.

"Yeah!" The crowd yelled out in agreement.

'He told me to believe in him…' Amy thought to herself as she felt tears welling up within her eyes.

"Amy…" Chris was now even more concerned as he and the rest of their friends noticed Amy on the verge of tears.

"You get your hands off her, right now!" Ella ordered with an angered expression as she and Tanaka were ready to put up a fight, regardless of the odds.

"I Want Sonic, Right Now!" Jerome yelled out in anger.

Amy lowered her head with her eyes closed not knowing what to do right now.

"Do you trust me?" Shadow voice echoed within her head as Amy started to shake. "Do you trust me?" His voice echoed again, causing Amy to grit her teeth as she was starting to get a massive headache. "Do you trust me?" Once more did it echoed, causing Amy to start growling as she clenched her hands tightly into shaking fists. She was on the verge of losing it and just right at her breaking point, did she hear it again. "Do you trust me?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Amy screamed out in anger, surprising everyone, even the mob. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Amy grabbed Jerome by the arm and suddenly spun him around so fast that he was sent off his feet before tossing him straight out the window. "I've Had Enough! You All Have Problems?! Well, So Do I!" Amy shouted with a growl and her fangs grit as she summoned her Piko Piko Hammer, causing the mob, and even her friends to back up in fear. "I don't know who or what to believe, but I do know this… regardless of your feelings, barging into someone's home and threatening everyone they care for… IS JUST STRAIGHT OUT OF LINE!" Amy slammed her hammer into the ground, causing the whole house to shake, scaring everybody. "If you're all asking for trouble, THEN TROUBLE IS ALL YOU'LL FIND!" Amy swung her hammer, completely destroying the nearby wall, leaving a massive hole as the whole mansion shook from the tremendous seismic force.

Amy roared in roar as she started swinging her hammer at just about anything, especially parts of the mansion, leaving nothing but destruction in her wake.

"Amy's gone mad!" Chris shouted as he, his family and friends, and even the mob, were all in fear of the hedgehog's newfound wrath.

"Through the hole, quickly!" Chuck ordered as he and the others hurried out the hole Amy had just made a moment ago.

Amy leaped high into the air and with a battle cry dived down and slammed the hammer into the floor, causing a large earthquake that sent the mob off their feet.

"Let's get out of here!" A man in the crowd yelled out as everyone ran out the manor screaming in terror at the pinkette's unrelenting fury.

Despite finally scaring off the angry mob, Amy did not cease her path of destruction. She continued to destroy everything that she found until she had no more rage to fuel.

Chris and the others watched from outside as Amy was on a rampage, destroying everything within the manor.

"This is insane! What's gotten into Amy?!" Chris exclaimed, scared of what could happen next. Just then sirens were heard, causing everyone to turn to see that the S-Team had arrived, led by Sam. "Uncle Sam!" Chris rushed over towards his uncle's car.

"What the heck is going on in there, Chris?" Sam asked, utterly shocked by all the destruction going on inside.

"It's Amy! She just snapped all of a sudden!" Chris answered as then a couch came bursting out from the roof of the mansion and came crashing down upon the ground.

"Snapped might be too lightly of a word. She's gone absolutely ballistic!" Sam said in shock and disbelief, along with a sense of fear.

"Amy!" Cream rushed back into the mansion.

"Cream, no!" Ella called out in fear for the bunny's life.

"Cream!" Vanilla rushed after her daughter.

Cream quickly ran into the mansion, seeing Amy destroying everything she could find, already leaving the main hall with a multitude of craters. She watched as Amy let out a roar as she leaped up and delivered a hard downward swing upon the large flight of stairs, destroying them in just one go.

Cream frowned with worry but all that was immediately replaced by a surge of courage as she rushed over towards Amy.

"Amy, stop!" Cream called out as Amy was ready to deliver another swing of her hammer onto something, when Cream suddenly embraced her. "It's alright, Amy! I know it's all scary. I'm scared too! But we have to have faith! We know Sonic better than this! We trust our friends, remember?" Cream said as Amy shook in place with her hammer remaining overhead and growling in response. "I know it's scary when nothing is clear, but that's why we need to trust in others! We need to be strong and believe in those we care about. Please don't lose faith, Amy. For Sonic! For everyone! And especially for yourself!" Cream tried to reason with her closest friend.

Amy shook in place, unresponsive. She then bit her bottom lip as tears started to pour from her eyes. She then dropped her hammer and fell to her knees, covering her eyes as she proceeded to cry.

"Oh, Cream… I don't know what to believe in anymore! Nothing is making any sense to me!" Amy said as she cried.

"I know Amy… but that's why we can't give up. We can't give up our faith in those we care about." Cream said, never releasing the crying hedgehog from her embrace.

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese came flying in, seeing the pain on Amy's face before following their best friend's lead and hugging the crying girl.

Everyone else had come in to see the mess, and the miserable state Amy was in with saddened expressions. They didn't know what was going on with the hedgehog, but then knew it was more serious than they had imagined.

Amy continued to cry as the images of the two most important men in her life suddenly came to mind.

'Oh, Sonic… Shadow… please, don't let me down.'

.

.

"I'm warning you, Mr. President! Sonic will stop at nothing! Nothing!" Eggman told the President within the oval office. "He must be eliminated!" He demanded, slamming his hands atop the president's desk.

"Please, don't get excited, Eggman. Just calm down." The President tried to reason with the doctor.

"Calm down?! How can I be calm with this menace on the loose?! I've worked hard to bring light to your people, but all Sonic wants to do is stop me!" Eggman responded, not relenting in his distress over Sonic.

"Yes… I believe you're right. He's a public threat." The President finally relented as he turned towards his aide. "Instruct my commanders that I want Sonic stopped immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" Christina replied, standing up straight with a stern expression.

"Uh, Mr. President, if I may." Eggman spoke, causing both the leader and his aide to turn to the doctor. "Sonic is very slippery. Even I have found little success in dealing with him during my less reputable escapades."

"Your point?" The President raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it seems to me that there's only really one person who has ever given Sonic any actual trouble in the past. More specifically, one other hedgehog." Eggman brought up.

"Shadow…" The President said, now realizing what Eggman was getting to. "Are you suggesting that we send out Shadow to deal with Sonic?!"

"He's the only one who is both powerful enough and fast enough to keep up with and even surpass Sonic! He's the only hope this nation has now!" Eggman tried to reason.

The President didn't really like the idea of having to incite both hedgehogs to fight against one another again. Flashbacks to when Sonic was accused of the crimes the darker hedgehog had committed came to mind, but now the situation truly was on the other foot as Sonic is indeed responsible for what is happening.

"Mr. President, I have to agree with Eggman." Christina intervened. "Shadow is the Ultimate Life Form and is our world's greatest asset in settling the matter. I believe we should send him out to put an end to Sonic's reign of crime."

The President sat back in his seat with a defeated sigh. He saw no other alternative in the matter other than other forms of force.

"So be it." The President relented with his eyes closed. "Send agent Shadow to deal with Sonic, immediately."

"Yes, sir." Christina nodded in response.

"Heh, heh." Eggman chuckled beneath his breath as he had a highly ecstatic grin.

.

.

Back at the Thorndyke manor or what's left of it, everyone went to the living room to watch any more development on the news.

"Thank goodness Amy's little fit didn't reach the rest of the house." Sam said upon making sure the TV was fine.

"That's not nice to say, Mr. Speed!" Cream, who was sitting next to Amy, said with a disapproving look.

"No, he's right." Amy said, looking towards the ground in shame. "Everyone, I'm so sorry for the way I was acting."

"It's alright, Amy." Chuck said with a sympathetic expression.

"Yeah. This whole situation has gotten to all of us in a really bad way." Chris said with a frown.

"TV's on." Sam said as he turned on the television and put on the news.

"This is Scarlet Garcia with a breaking news report." Scarlet spoke, earning the attention of everyone in the room. "Sonic the Hedgehog, the once great hero of the world and arch-nemesis to the now renowned Dr. Eggman has caused as much of a stir to enforce the President to act. As of this moment, the President has now ordered Shadow the Hedgehog to intercept and detain Sonic who will be tried for his crimes."

This caused everyone to gasp in utter shock.

"They're sending Shadow after Sonic?!" Chris exclaimed in shock and worry.

"This isn't going to end well." Chuck said with a deep frown.

No one was more worried and scared than Amy. The poor little hedgehog stared at the screen with her eyes widened with horror. All she could hear was her heartbeat as all the other sounds vanished and her vision grew hazy.

"Amy!" Chris' voice was the last thing she heard before her whole world grew dark.

Everyone was left in shock as Amy had just fainted with Chris and Cream being right by her side.

"Amy! Amy! Please wake up!" Cream begged her friend as she gently nudged her arm.

"It's no use. She's out cold!" Chris said, still in shock.

"I guess the news of Shadow hunting down Sonic was too much for her." Chuck said with an empathetic frown.

Tanaka walked over and picked up the poor overwhelmed hedgehog.

"Oh, poor dear." Vanilla said with a saddened, sympathetic frown.

"She needs rest. I'll get her a blanket." Ella said as she went off to get a sheet for the now unconscious Amy.

"Here we go." Tanaka gently rested Amy on the couch, making sure to put her down gently and adjust her head enough to rest it against one of the furniture's cushions.

"Amy…" Cream stood right by her friend's side with somber eyes.

"I hope she'll be fine." Chris said with a frown and a sympathetic gaze.

"For now, let's allow her to rest. It might be a while until she awakens." Tanaka said as Ella returned with a blanket for Amy.

"Let's hope she stays that way until this is all over. The longer this whole ordeal goes on the worse she might get." Sam said with a frown as Ella gently wrapped the blanket over the unconscious hedgehog.

"I just can't believe this…" Chris said as he hung his head. 'Sonic's destroying all of Eggman's Mirror Towers, Shadow is now tasked to stop him, and Amy passed out because of all that's going on… what is there to do?' Chris thought to himself as he felt helpless to do anything, and for everyone else the feeling was mutual.

"Hey, I just realized Tails isn't with you guys. Where'd he go?" Sam asked, finally taking notice of a lack of a two-tailed genius.

"Oh, he just left before the mob showed up." Chris answered.

"Yes. Shadow called saying that he needed to talk to him." Ella mentioned.

"Wait, Shadow called Tails before the mob showed? What for?" Sam asked, now noticing something strange.

"He didn't say. All Shadow said was that he needed Tails' help with something." Ella further explained.

"He did?" Chuck questioned as now everyone was surprised and curious about what it could have been.

"What could Shadow need Tails' help for?" Chris wondered.

"I don't know but it's awfully convenient that this all happened before he was ordered to take care of Sonic." Sam said, rubbing his chin, now suspicious of the whole ordeal.

There was more to this than what was being shared with the public.

.

.

Knuckles was hiding near a Mirror Tower. This one was Sonic's next target after destroying another one just recently. The people of Station Square had come up to be for Knuckles to help stop Sonic.

Despite the two being allies multiple times, there were just as many, perhaps even more so, where Knuckles questioned what compelled the blue blur to do such ridiculous actions, especially at the expense of others and what they desired.

Sonic may largely do good, but in this instance, Knuckles could not find any good coming from his actions. For that, the echidna will have to take action against said hedgehog.

After a while, Knuckles noticed Sonic speeding his way towards the Mirror Tower.

"At last..." Knuckles said as he walked out into the open.

Sonic sped all the way towards the next Mirror Tower, only to notice someone standing in between him and the large generator.

It was none other than Knuckles.

Skidding to a halt, Sonic greeted his old pal.

"Hey, Knuckles. Good to see you, old buddy." Sonic greeted the echidna with a smile. "What's up?"

"This." Knuckles was ready to throw a punch when the sounds of helicopters were heard.

The pair looked up to find helicopters along with other military aircrafts, and airborne Beetle series robots were surrounding the area.

Spotlights shined from the helicopters down upon both Sonic and Knuckles.

However, those spotlights soon shined upon the Mirror Tower, revealing another in the area standing atop it.

Glaring down at the blue hedgehog was none other than his now well-known adversary, Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Shadow's here too?" Knuckles spoke in surprise at the dark hedgehog's appearance.

Both hedgehogs had their focus on one another, glaring into each other's eyes.

They both knew how this was going to go down.

.

.

Everything was dark for what felt like the longest time.

Soon enough, the light was brought back. A very bright light as the now awakened being was staring up at the sky with the Sun shining bright. Looking downward they found several tarot cards in front of them.

Looking it over, the observer read that they were about to meet their hero on a place called Little Planet. Said observer was so excited that they went off on an adventure to meet their hero.

Finding this Little Planet was easy as it was a literal little planet in the sky. The observer had managed to find a chain connecting the small-scale planet to the much larger one she was on. Climbing on it, she arrived and scoured the place for their hero.

The observer then fell onto their hands and knees after tripping. They were lucky not to fall into the puddle in front of them. They looked down to see their reflection.

The observer was a pink little hedgehog girl with five long spiked back quills with three spiked quills sticking out from the top of her head working as bangs. She wore a red ribbon headband, green puffy-sleeved shirt, an orange-ruffled skirt and white and lavender sneakers with orange laces.

This was none other than Amy Rose, who was younger than she was in the present day.

Said hedgehog gently traced her fingers against a face that she realized she hadn't seen like this in ages.

Just then, a gloved hand was extended to her. She looked up to see none other than the hero that she had wanted to meet on the planetoid.

Sonic the Hedgehog.

The blue hedgehog smiled down at her, offering to help her up.

Amy's cheeks reddened and her heart fluttered as she reached for it. She took the hand and as he pulled her up, she jumped at him, putting the surprised hedgehog in a big, warm hug.

Just then Sonic broke out of it and hurried away.

Amy hurried after him, wanting to spend time with him.

He was fast, but she kept up. She increased speed, managing to catch up to his casual speed, which alerted the blue blur, who was shocked to find someone keeping up with him at this speed.

Sonic decided to increase speed from casual to actually trying.

Amy increased her own speed but as much as she tried, Sonic kept getting farther and farther away. Amy reached her hand out, hoping that she could manage to at least brush her fingers against his arm, but to no avail.

Just then, Amy tripped. The world seemed to slow down as she watched ahead with tear droplets flying from his eyes, staring ahead at the blue hedgehog ahead who was still too fast even with the world slowing down. She fell onto the ground and when she quickly looked up, she found Sonic already far too out of reach. She tried calling out to him with her hand out, but he was nothing more than a dot soon enough.

Amy's lip quivered as she hung her head in defeat. Developing a saddened frown, she closed her eyes with tears threatening to spill. She suddenly heard footsteps. Opening her eyes, she noticed the shadow of Sonic reaching out to her. She quickly leaped up and hugged him.

Amy smiled and closed her eyes to enjoy the warmth, but in an instant, she realized that there was no warmth. Only cold. The kind of cold only to be found from metal.

Opening her eyes, Amy looked up only to find a metallic version of Sonic, glaring down at her with soulless black eyes with red irises.

Amy leaped back in shock and fear as she turned and ran away. She tried to get as far away from the metallic copy as possible but soon enough it caught up and grabbed her, flying away with her. Amy tried screaming out for help, but no voice came out. All she could do was watch as she flew high above Little Planet.

Her lips quivered again as she then started to cry, covering her eyes in the process.

She had finally met her hero, but she had scared him away and because of that he was nowhere to be found. Nowhere near to help her. She was left to be taken away by this metal monster.

Her hero didn't care for her.

Amy bawled her eyes out. Upon pulling her arms back, she found herself immediately ensnared by a rope around her body and hanging from the ground. She looked up to find none other than the evil Dr. Eggman, laughing as he floated in his Egg Mobile with the metallic copy of Sonic floating beside him before they both flew away towards the distance.

There she was, all alone, left by the villains and by her hero to hang high over the land, robbing her of any control or any ability to help herself.

She couldn't help herself. She desperately did.

All she could do was close her eyes and cry. She continued to cry, only to notice that she could move her arms again upon realizing that she had her enclosed hands over her eyes. Not only that but it felt like she was being carried for the moment as the sounds of crumbling debris and explosions were heard around her.

Slowly, she pulled her hands away and looked around to find that she was not only free from her confinement but that she was put back onto the ground, off Little Planet. Turning around, she saw a dust cloud that left a trail. Following it with her eyes, she found in the distance that Little Planet was freed from its own confinement before shooting up towards the sky and bursting into countless pieces in a fashion no different to fireworks.

She quickly hurried over towards where the chain that had once held the once literal little planet, she found him there. Her hero.

The same blue hedgehog who had run away from her.

Slowly he turned to her. Their eyes locked. After a silent eye-to-eye contact, Sonic smirked at her and gave her a thumbs up, as the many sparkling pieces that were once part of Little Planet fell upon the land, creating an effect that bloomed the flowers around them.

Amy's eyes sparkled as she stared at the breathtaking visage of her hero. The hero who had not abandoned her. The hero who she thought ran from her, would always return to help her.

A hero who had proved that no matter what, he would not let her down.

Sonic then turned and hurried off, onward to his next adventure.

Amy felt a powerful feeling well up in her chest as she broke into a run herself.

Intent on catching up to her hero once again.

As she did, her life flashed forward in her eyes. She saw all the adventures she had managed to witness through her constant desire to be with Sonic in even his more dire of moments. All the friends she made, all the good that has been done, even by her own hands, in the end is attributed to the blue hedgehog.

From Little Planet all the way to the Chaos Incident, Amy saw it all as the faith she had in her hero grew more and more.

Soon enough, she, now as she looks in the present, managed to find her hero, who was now standing right beside his most recent rival: the black and red striped hedgehog, Shadow.

Both had their backs to the girl hedgehog, who stood in place, staring at their prone visages.

Soon the pair slowly started turning towards her. They gave her a side glance before the blue of the two grinned and gave her a wink and a thumbs up, while the darker one just smirked with his eyes closed.

In that moment, Amy, feeling that strong sense of faith, rushed forward with her hand out towards them before being enveloped in a bright light.

.

.

Amy gasped as she sat up from the couch with widened eyes.

"Hmm? Amy! You're awake!" Cream was happy to see her friend had reawakened.

Amy moaned as she rubbed her head a bit before pushing the bed sheet off herself.

"Careful, dear. You shouldn't be moving so suddenly after your little episode." Ella warned the pink hedgehog with concern.

"I'll be fine." Amy said now with a more resolute expression. She then noticed Chris sitting by on a nearby chair, hanging his head with a look of doubt. "What's wrong, Chris?" Amy asked.

"Oh, Amy, you're awake. Good." Chris said with a tone lacking enthusiasm and more wracked with solemn.

"You're still in doubt of everything that's been going on." Amy stated, knowing exactly how the young boy was feeling. Her answer came in the form of Chris looking away with a deepened frown. "I understand. It's been hectic for me too."

"We noticed." Sam said with his arms crossed, only to be nudged by Chuck to watch what he said.

"It's just… one part of me thinks Sonic could never do the things they say he's doing, but, well… I just don't know what to believe anymore." Chris admitted, causing Amy, along with the others to frown, sympathizing with the boy's plight. "I wish I could have total faith in Sonic, but I just can't understand what he's doing."

"Yeah, he does that sometimes. Just when you think you understand the guy, he just ups and does his own thing, confusing you even more if his head has finally gotten way too big." Amy said as she closed her eyes, envisioning the blue hedgehog grinning at her. "Honestly though, it's rather easy, so long as you don't make it hard for yourself like I just did." Amy said, looking at Chris and offering him a smile.

"Maybe it's just easier for you than it is me." Chris said, still looking down with a frown and furrowed brow.

"Listen… there have been times that Sonic did something or didn't do something that made me wonder why I ever liked him in the first place. That made me question if trying to reach out to him was the best thing to do in the first place. There have been times where I yelled, got angry or even cried because of something like that… a lot of the times it's because he just wasn't there, even when I felt I needed him the most." Amy confessed with her eyes closed again.

"Amy…" Cream spoke her friend's name as she and the others looked to her in surprise at now knowing the pain Amy has felt in regard to her strong feelings for Sonic.

"But somehow, even when it feels like it's all hopeless, and when it feels like he has abandoned you, when you're on the verge of giving it all up, he shows back up and he does the right thing the only way he knows how. When that happens, all that pain you felt can disappear and your faith in him is restored." Amy opened her eyes as they shimmered from the memories she had of the blue blur. "I've been through that avenue so many times, but I can assure you it's not a bad road to take. It may get bumpy, you may get hurt, even worse than you originally imagined but it always leads to something great, and through that the faith you had isn't just proven to be right, it gets even stronger."

'Amy…' Chris blinked his eyes in surprise, never knowing how deep such a connection with Sonic can go.

A connection he thought was always free of harm, in reality has times where you trip and get some scrapes, but like any adventure, it's made up of more than that.

"Sonic may do some crazy things, and he's definitely done some stupid things… but he has never done dishonest things. Even when it benefits him more, he always decides to make a detour if it means doing what he knows is the right thing, and he's done that many more times, both for me and others. Despite how often I wish I could trust him in certain things, like sticking around a bit longer, the things I do trust him in are more than enough to keep my faith in him. Like doing the right thing when no one else does. Every single time." Amy said with a soft smile before reaching a hand over and placing it on Chris' shoulder. "I know where you're coming from Chris, and believe me, I've seen Sonic act like a jerk plenty of times too, but I've seen him risk it all and be the hero that we both believe him to be even more. He's let me down a few times, sure, but I haven't lost faith in him yet, especially with all the times that he hasn't, so you shouldn't lose faith either, because I can't think of a moment where he had ever let you down." Amy told the Thorndyke boy with a warm, comforting smile.

Chris had gotten teary eyed. Just as Amy said, not once has Sonic let him down. So, he shouldn't let him down either by doubting him. It really is easy to have faith in someone, when they've proven that they earned it far more times than a single instance.

"Thank you, Amy." Chris thanked the hedgehog girl, who then gave him a hug, reassuring him that everything would be fine.

Everyone smiled, not just out of joy that Chris', and by proxy themselves, faith in Sonic had not only been restored, but also reinvented. A new level of trust has now been established for the heroic hedgehog, and it was all thanks to the one who believed in him most of all.

Sam himself was happy for his nephew, but upon instinct he turned back towards the TV, only to see something that was definitely going to put everyone back in a troubling mood.

"Oh, boy." Sam said with a frown, earning everyone's attention as they looked back at the TV to see live footage being taken of a Mirror Tower.

"If you're just joining us, we're here at the Mirror Tower that was determined to be Sonic's next target. Surprisingly enough, Knuckles had shown up to confront the blue speedster." Scarlet Garcia reported as she was in a news helicopter, taking live footage as not only her aircraft, but those of the military following immediately after.

"Knuckles is involved too?" Chris questioned in surprise and new growing worry.

"Whenever there's a chance to fight Sonic, Knuckles won't be too far behind." Amy said with a frown.

"It looks like a clash between the hedgehog and echidna is about to go underway- hold on a moment! Right there atop the Mirror Tower!" Scarlet directed the cameraman to take footage of a figure atop the Mirror Tower. Upon getting into view, and with help from both theirs and the military's searchlights, the identity of said figure left everyone in shock and worry. "It's Shadow! Shadow the Hedgehog has arrived onto the scene!"

"Shadow!" Chris was surprised and scared to see Shadow had arrived to confront Sonic.

"This won't be good." Chuck said with a worried frown.

Amy stared at the footage before her. Both hedgehogs who together had saved the world were now once more at odds, but this time it was Shadow being seen as the hero the world needed right now while Sonic was seen as the villain of this story.

Despite the anxiety that the circumstance was presenting, Amy remained resolute, determined to see things to the very end without faltering in her belief.

'I trust Sonic with all my heart. It's the same with you, Shadow. Please… don't let me down.' Amy thought to herself as she held her hands together in prayer for everything to turn out alright.

Somehow. Someway.

.

.

Shadow stood atop the Mirror Tower, glaring down upon Sonic.

Sonic stared back up with an intense and determined gaze.

Knuckles gritted his teeth letting out an irritated yet worried grunt.

"Sonic, things have officially gotten out of hand! You have to stop this now!" Knuckles told the blue hedgehog, but said speedster was focusing his attention squarely on Shadow, not bothering to register anything the echidna said. Growling with annoyance, Knuckles decided to address the other hedgehog within the area. "Shadow! Listen up! I'm handling this, alright? Don't get involved! It doesn't have to escalate this way!" Knuckles called out to the Ultimate Life Form, only to be given the same treatment as before with Shadow's eyes solely on Sonic. 'Dammit. These two are just up and ignoring me! I've had it with them!' Knuckles thought with a growl as he faced Sonic again. "Sonic! This is it! Stop or I'll-"

Knuckles stopped speaking as Sonic started walking forward.

The blue hedgehog walked past the echidna, irritating the red brawler more. Sonic stopped now in between Knuckles and the Mirror Tower, with Shadow never taking his eyes off him.

"End of the road then, huh?" Sonic said, looking up at Shadow.

"Right where you belong." Shadow said, staring down upon Sonic.

"Huh?" Knuckles blinked his eyes, a little surprised but mostly confused on what they were talking about.

Just then, Shadow raised his hand up, causing Knuckles and everyone watching both in the area and through the tense up. Six orbs of light then appeared around the black hedgehog, who continued to glare down at Sonic, who got into a stance, ready to react.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow swung his arm down as the orbs shifted into golden spear-like projectiles.

Sonic leaped up high, dodging the spears in midair as he rocketed upward towards Shadow.

Shadow launched himself down towards his rival where he met him halfway.

The two clashed, arm against arm and both butting heads as they glared into the other's eyes.

The two pushed back from one another, landing upon the ground. They both spin-dashed towards the other, fighting for supremacy until one was pushed away. The one being Sonic.

Sonic skidded back only to be forced to dodge more chaos spears that Shadow had summoned. Sonic ran off, avoiding the spears and trying to swerve around to get to the Mirror Tower. As he closed in on it, Shadow appeared by his side.

Shadow sent a backfist that sent Sonic rolling off course.

The blue hedgehog pushed himself off the ground and broke into a sprint upon noticing Shadow chasing after him.

Both hedgehogs raced around the area for a moment, before Sonic tried pulling the same trick on Shadow. It failed as Shadow ducked under and delivered a punch back.

However, Sonic used the momentum to spin around and duck under it to get on his hands and feet, getting in a runner's starting position. Sonic rushed back towards the Mirror Tower.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow disappeared from sight and reappeared over Sonic. Diving down he delivered a punch that Sonic leaped back from as it broke into the ground, breaking it apart and shaking the ground enough to make Sonic stumble backwards. "Chaos Spear!" Shadow unleashed a barrage of spears towards Sonic.

Sonic dodged as quickly as possible, but he was grazed upon the arm and leg, causing him to grunt with his teeth grit.

Shadow had taken the opportunity to charge and deliver a punch to Sonic's gut.

Sonic skidded back with a pained groan. Upon halting, he almost fell forward but managed to stay on his feet. Looking up with an eye closed out of pain, he watched as Shadow was marching his way towards him.

"Heh. Should have expected no less from you, Shadow." Sonic said, mustering a grin, albeit still reflecting the painful state he was in. "But I got my own set of tricks. Especially new ones for just this occasion." Sonic added as he then sped forward.

"Hmph." Shadow was unimpressed by this straight on approach. He engaged Sonic in this game of chicken, but when he threw a punch at Sonic, the blue speedster had run off towards the side. "Huh?" Shadow looked confused as Sonic started running around him in a circle.

"Get ready! Here we go!" Sonic said as he quickly spun into a ball and raced around at an even higher speed.

"What is he doing?" Knuckles wondered aloud just as he noticed the wind was picking up.

Shadow kept his eyes focused on Sonic, figuring he was going to attack him head on sooner or later, only to notice the wind around him picking up more and more, growing more intense with each roundabout from the blue hog. Right when he noticed Sonic's ploy, a blue tornado took shape surrounding Shadow.

Knuckles gasped in utter shock at the sight of Sonic's new technique, which he even felt from this distance.

Up above, those in their aerial vehicles were in shock as well, along with those watching the live feed from home.

.

.

"This is unbelievable! Sonic has now created an actual blue colored tornado, encircling Shadow, who is now trapped in the middle of it!" Scarlet reported in awe at the display.

"Unbelievable!" Sam said in utter shock, never knowing that Sonic could be fast enough to make an actual phenomenon of nature.

"That's incredible!" Chuck said in awe.

"Sonic!" Chris spoke his hero's name in shock and amazement.

While everyone was amazed, Amy had a look of worry for the safety of the hedgehog trapped in this hog-made twister.

Just then a tornado appeared within the center of the Blue Tornado, only its color was orange with streaks of black.

Everyone gasped in shock as this only meant one thing.

.

.

The growing orange and black tornado expanded and until it completely dissipated the blue tornado, sending Sonic flying as a result and hitting the ground with him groaning in pain.

The orange and black tornado dispersed as walked out of the now disappearing colored wind was Shadow.

"Anything you are capable of I can always do better. Or have you forgot?" Shadow said as he marched his way towards Sonic, who got on his hands and knees.

"I don't know about better, but you do have a bad habit of copying me." Sonic said with a grin, causing Shadow to growl before the blue bur rushed off with the black and red one chasing after.

Both hedgehogs raced around the land, clashing here and there, releasing sonic booms with each collision. Both soon raced up a cliffside where Shadow started delivering a barrage of punches that forced Sonic to dodge.

Sonic leaped up and delivered a barrage of kicks that Shadow blocked with his arms. With one last kick, Sonic pressed his foot against Shadow's guard before proceeding to spin in placed at such a high speed that he created a tornado.

Shadow gritted his teeth and tried resisting the increased force, but with another kick delivered to his jaw, he was sent rocketing downward where he struck the ground hard, creating a dust cloud.

Sonic had leaped high upward after the kick and landed upon the cliff. Looking down at the dust cloud, expecting Shadow to chase after him up the cliffside again.

Just then the cliff started shaking as cracks started to form up the side of it before the ground beneath Sonic broke apart, revealing Shadow who shot up and delivered an uppercut to Sonic's chin. He proceeded to finish things by delivering an airborne spin kick, sending Sonic crashing into the cliff that upon impact broke to pieces.

"Sonic!" Knuckles shouted the blue hedgehog's name in fear for his life.

.

.

"Sonic, No!" Chris screamed out in horror.

"Mr. Shadow, why?!" Cream questioned with a look of fear and pain with her eyes tearing up.

Amy looked on in terror. Horrified that the battle was progressing to such an extreme degree. She continuously reminded herself to trust that things would turn out fine in the end, that there was a solution nobody was seeing, but as the battle raged on, things were getting more and more difficult to hold on hope to.

.

.

Back within the oval office, the President and Christina watched the battle unfold with frowns on their faces.

They knew things would not turn out pretty, but knowing and witnessing it for yourself are two different ball parks.

All they could do was just suppress their feelings on the matter and continue looking on.

All the while in the background, Eggman was chortling with delight.

"Things are turning out better than I hoped. Not only is Sonic seen as the enemy, but he's being given the walloping of his life by none other than my grandfather's greatest creation. There's no way that things could possibly get any better." Eggman said with a wide grin as soon chanting was heard coming from outside. "Oh, wait… there is."

Walking out towards the balcony of the oval office, he, along with Decoe and Bocoe, bared witness to a whole crowd of people chanting his name.

"Look at all these people chanting for the doctor!" Decoe said with awe.

"It is a much more welcoming sight than being booed at constantly like before." Bocoe said.

"Thank you all! You're very kind!" Eggman said with a delighted grin and chuckle as he waved back at the people.

"Isn't it funny, Bocoe? Who would have thought this could ever happen? Now Dr. Eggman is the hero, and Sonic is the bad guy." Decoe said to his shorter, purplish metal partner.

"I'm so happy I could blow a fuse!" Bocoe responded as he and his much taller, gold-plated partner laughed with joy as they too waved towards the masses.

'People chanting my name while Sonic is on the verge of meeting his end. This is without a doubt the greatest day of my life, and my biggest victory yet. Nothing can take me down now.' Eggman thought as his maniacal grin widened.

.

.

Rouge and Topaz stood before a large dome-shaped construction with a flashing white beacon at the top.

The bat of the duo flew up high, delivering kicks upon the dome while Topaz tried digging under it to make an entrance as she couldn't find one anywhere on the thing topside.

Rouge growled as she continuously tried to kick the structure, but it was no good.

"No luck! It doesn't look like there's any way in Rouge!" Topaz called out.

"Figured as much." Rouge said with a mild frown. "How are things playing out at the Mirror Tower?" Rouge asked.

Topaz pulled out a device that allowed her to access the live feed from the news.

"Looks like Shadow is winning. Although, I think he's taking things a little too far." Topaz said, seeing the black and red hedgehog sending Sonic crashing into a cliff.

"Well, it is Sonic he's fighting after all." Rouge said, before her ears caught the sounds of rocket engines. She looked up to see the X-Tornado heading their way. "It's Tails!" Rouge said with a relieved smile.

Tails landed the X-Tornado right near the pair and the dome structure.

"About time you made it! Things look like they're escalating fast!" Topaz told the fox who opened the hatch of the cockpit.

"This is the power station?" Tails asked, looking at the beacon atop the dome structure.

"That's right. Unfortunately, try as we might, there's no way in." Rouge said with a frown as she landed upon the ground.

"Then we'll just have to make one." Tails said as he started pressing buttons within his aircraft. "I'm going to transfer some of the power of the chaos emerald within the X-Tornado to fire a beam to make an entrance. Both of you should move." Tails informed the pair of ladies, who obliged to his request. "Firing now!" Tails said as he unleashed a beam that carved into the power station, using his controls to guide the laser into making a makeshift door.

Once the laser stopped firing, Rouge leaped over and kicked the new doorway open.

"Better make it quick, Flyboy." Rouge told the two-tailed fox who hopped out of the X-Tornado with a handheld device in his hands.

"Leave it to me." Tails said, rushing his way towards the doorway with a determined expression.

.

.

Everyone within the area of the battle between the two hedgehogs stared at the now destroyed cliff, debris falling everywhere with a gigantic dust cloud.

Knuckles stared in horror at the idea of the blue hero finally meeting his end. He growled as he glared up at Shadow, who was still in midair. He knew that Sonic had to be stopped but not like this. He was going to make Shadow pay for this.

The echidna charged forward but stopped when he felt the earth starting to shake. He looked ahead with his mouth agape, while high above, Shadow was glaring down as signs of the debris shaking were made visible.

Just then a gigantic Blue Tornado shot from the debris, completely consuming what was once the cliff, along with Shadow.

Shadow gritted his teeth as he was sent flying around the ginormous blue tornado. He flipped in the air and landed upon one of the cliff's debris, which were all flying and spiraling around within the makeshift tornado.

Something fast started ricocheting from debris to debris, making its way upward until it shot towards Shadow.

Before Shadow could react, Sonic crashed straight into him after finally making his way towards him.

Sonic was scuffed up but was still up and fighting with his teeth grit and intense glare directed towards Shadow.

The two were sent flying out of the titanic tornado that immediately dispersed afterwards.

The two hedgehogs started dealing blow for blow upon one another. Neither relented in their assault.

Their only focus was victory over the other and attaining their goal afterwards.

As they were reaching closer towards the ground, Sonic managed to get the upper hand by spin into a ball, crashing against Shadow like a buzzsaw before pushing off and slamming back into him, repeatedly delivering homing attack after homing attack as he soon bashed Shadow into the ground.

Sonic continued his homing attack assault, but with a gleam from his eyes, Shadow shot up from the ground with a raging aura of black and orange surrounded him.

"CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow unleashed a barrage of orange hued energy spears up towards the blue orb above.

Sonic undid his ball form and started dodging the spears in midair. He let out a battle cry with his fist reared back.

Shadow shot up with his own cocked back as they both met each other halfway and slammed their fists against each other's.

The two leaped back, landing upon the ground before immediately going into their spin dashes. They bulleted forward, colliding against one another with sparking forming as they grinded against one another before being sent away from one another, only to ricochet back, repeating the process.

The two continuously clashed via spin dash. The area was being filled with streaks of blue and black hued orange as both hedgehogs bounced and ricocheted around the area, repeatedly colliding with one another, creating sonic booms with each collision.

The two soon started to spin around the area, glowing brighter in their hues as suddenly a giant tornado of their combined colors took shape, reaching high into the sky.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Knuckles screamed out as he leaped high up, now over the giant twin-colored tornado, before rocketing down with his fist ready.

Knuckles delivered an incredibly powerful punch into the ground at the center of the gigantic tornado, creating a giant plume of debris and a massive dust cloud with the force dispersing tornado surrounding it.

Sonic and Shadow skidded away before coming to a halt. The stood up straight staring ahead at the massive dust in the center of where they were. They were across from it on separate ends, never losing focus ahead of them as the massive cloud soon dissipated to reveal Knuckles standing in the center with a stern look upon his face.

.

.

"Ladies and gentlemen… the only thing word I can say to describe all of this is 'Astounding!'" Scarlet commented as everyone watching was on the edge of their seats, all in awe at the spectacle before them.

All except those at the Thorndyke residence.

They were all watching anxiously. They were all nervous as the fight kept getting more and more intense, and from the looks of it, it was going to reach a whole new level of intensity with Knuckles now getting in the middle of it.

Everyone had troubled expressions, but none more than Amy.

She kept her hands together in prayer, as she begged for any deity listening to her to end the madness. Make it where everyone made it out alive, no more fighting and where everyone could once again call each other 'friend'.

She prayed and prayed, but most of all, she kept the faith.

'Please… let is all end without any more violence. Shadow… Sonic… please… stop all of this!' Amy begged with her eyes closed.

.

.

Now within a three-way deadlock, the two hedgehogs and the echidna stared one another down.

"This has gone on long enough. You're both going to end up killing each other!" Knuckles warned. "Sonic, stop trying to destroy the Mirror Towers! People are depending on them!" Knuckles told the blue hedgehog before turning towards the much darker one. "Shadow… I know you're trying to do good for the world, but you're going too far! The world needs a protector! Not an executioner!" Knuckles told off the black and red streaked hedgehog. "Both of you stop this nonsense right now! Everyone is watching and despite everything that's happened, no one wants anyone here to lose! Not this way!" Knuckles scolded both speedsters.

"Just step aside, Knuckles." Sonic warned the echidna.

"None of this is your concern." Shadow told the red brawler.

"It is my concern! Both of my friends are in a fight to the death! That's plenty to be concerned about!" Knuckles shouted with anger before looking up towards the news helicopter. "Look up there. Everyone around the world is watching you both beat each other to death! Including our friends!" Knuckles pointed out, but both hedgehogs remained with stern, unrelenting expressions. "Don't you care?! All our friends! Chris! Tails! Cream! Rouge! Everyone! Even Amy!"

The mention of the pink hedgehog finally caused both hedgehogs to gasp in shock, finally realizing the true gravity their actions were having on not only their friends, but also the female hedgehog who has now become a strong part of their lives.

.

.

Amy had been watching the exchange with saddened eyes, glistening with tears as she just prayed for it all to end.

For the fighting to come to a halt.

For the pain to stop being shared.

For the two hedgehogs who became important to her to come to terms and be friends.

.

.

"She's watching right now, and you both don't care!" Knuckles shouted.

"Enough! Either get out of the way or we'll force you out!" Shadow warned the echidna, giving into his growing frustrations.

"You don't want any part of this Knuckles." Sonic told his frenemy as he got into a fighting stance.

Knuckles clenched his fists hard upon the declaration from both hedgehogs. They made their bed. Time for them to lie in it.

"Then make me." Knuckles said in a menacing tone, readying to fight.

Shadow and Sonic furrowed their brows, deciding there was no other choice left.

The two immediately spun into balls at high speed. They kept rolling faster and faster, while Knuckles prepared himself with both hands ready.

Sonic and Shadow then spin dashed their way towards Knuckles.

The echidna growled with his fangs grit before he unleashed a battle cry, snapping his arms out to the side.

Both hedgehogs collided into each of Knuckles' hands with the echidna fighting them off.

Knuckles gritted his teeth as he had to use all his might to fight off against both attacks that were sandwiching him. Despite the situation, he was not going to relent. He was going to stop these two from fighting any longer, even if it meant he had to be the one to fall tonight.

.

.

"In a shocking turn of events, both Shadow and Sonic are double teaming against Knuckles with the echidna holding them back with everything that he has!" Scarlet reported what she was seeing with shock and awe at the display.

Everyone around the world watched with shock and anticipation.

Those at the Thorndykes residence were watching in fear for the safety of their friends who were fighting it out against one another to the bitter end.

"They're going to kill each other!" Chuck shouted out with urgency.

"No!" Chris yelled out in fear for the lives of the three warriors.

Amy stared at the exchange with widened, tearful eyes. Her heart was aching as she watched both hedgehogs trying to break through Knuckles' defense to finish what they had started.

She couldn't take it anymore.

Once again, it was all too much for her.

"Please… everyone… STOP IT!" Amy cried out to the heavens.

.

.

Shadow gasped as he then leaped back, surprising both Knuckles and Sonic, with the latter following his lead.

"What's up?" Sonic asked with his knuckles against his hips.

Shadow had his finger in his ear, where an ear-com happened to be. After a moment, he pulled his hand back and spoke.

"It's done."

"Huh?" Knuckles were now very confused.

"I see. Took them long enough." Sonic said with a smirk as he rubbed the underside of his nose. "Got to say, as fun as this was, you have a bad habit of not holding back."

"What?" Knuckles looked at Sonic about what the heck he was saying.

"Hmph. If anything it's your fault for lacking the necessary strength." Shadow said with his arms crossed.

"Oh, come on, I saw the look on your face. I really blew you away with that new technique of mine." Sonic said with a cocky grin and a wink.

"Which I proceeded to outdo you in upon my first try." Shadow reminded his fellow hog.

"Hold on, what-"

"So Tails finally made it and came through. Just as I thought." Sonic said, interrupting Knuckles.

"He's with Rouge at the power station." Shadow informed.

"Wha-? Rouge and Tails?! Why are they-!?"

"Now we can proceed with the final phase." Shadow added.

"Hold It!" Knuckles screamed, interrupting the conversation between the hedgehogs. "What exactly is going on?! Just a moment ago, you two were fighting like you were aiming to kill each other! Now you're being buddies again!?"

"We are not 'buddies.'" Shadow said with a frown.

"Don't sweat it, Knuckles. There was no real danger happening. We were just making it look good for cameras." Sonic said with a thumbs up.

"The cameras? Hold on, are you saying you two were just pretending to be in a fight!? For publicity?!" Knuckles questioned with new annoyance.

"You're only half right." Shadow answered.

"It wasn't for publicity, but our show was intended for a certain audience." Sonic said, causing Knuckles to blink his eyes with curiosity.

.

.

Eggman chuckled as he just continued to smile and wave to the people.

"Just listen to those cheers, doctor." Decoe said with a pair of eye smiles as he continued to wave.

"Doesn't it make you feel good?" Bocoe said doing the same as his partner.

"Marvelous." Eggman said, fake crying before revealing an evil grin. "It's going just as I planned."

"Oh?" Both robots opened their eyes in confusion.

"What do you mean by that, doctor?" Decoe asked.

"Don't tell me you metallic meatheads think this hero act is for real. Why I planned this crafty little coup right from the beginning." Eggman answered.

"You did?" Decoe asked with surprise.

"Certainly I did. Look closely at those yahoos down there." Eggman pointed towards the crowd.

Upon closer look, the gold and purplish grey duo noticed that something didn't seem quite right. The clue was in the eyes.

"They look like they're in a trance." Bocoe said.

"Here's my secret. Every Sunshine Ball emits a hidden subliminal message that compels everyone who has one to hail me as their hero." Eggman elaborated.

"You mean all those people down there are hypnotized?" Decoe asked with surprise.

"To think you are good?!" Bocoe asked, surprised as well.

"That's not all. The Egg-Moon is in place and ready for stage two. The Eggman Empire is nearly here!" Eggman let out a maniacal laugh, while Decoe and Bocoe were disappointed to find out that they were still the bad guys.

"Having a good laugh there, Eggman?" Spoke the President, causing Eggman and his assistants to turn to see him and Christina now having their eyes on him.

"Why yes, Mr. President. See there's this funny little story I have to tell." Eggman said as he walked back inside with a grin on his face.

"Is it the fact that your 'miraculous' Sunshine Balls has hypnotized the masses into believing that you are their savior?" Christina asked rhetorically.

"What~?!" Eggman uttered out in absolute shock that they knew about his plan, and what's worse, they weren't fazed by it at all! Which could only mean… "Y-You knew right from the start?"

"Indeed we did." The President answered.

"It was all thanks to the efforts of Team Dark." Christina said before she began going into further detail. "Upon raiding the base that was mass producing your Shadow androids, Rouge, with the help of Omega, had managed to uncover secret files for your many plans, including your Egg-Moon scheme. With that knowledge, we managed to form a plan around it with Rouge spearheading it all. Once you started selling your Sunshine Balls to the public, an undercover agent purchased one of them and brought them to our labs, where Omega did a scan to discover its true purpose. With the assistance of Tails, a code was created that would connect to all your Sunshine Balls to reverse the effects in order to free everyone from your mind control."

"I see. However that won't work. Not without connecting to the power station that I've hidden." Eggman brought up with a defiant look.

"Hidden to all but a bat." Christina countered, causing Eggman to flinch with a shock and displeased look. "Rouge used her impeccable sense of hearing to detect the signal given off from the beacon on your power station."

"Impossible! How could I not notice such a development!" Eggman shouted in shock as he pulled out a handheld device from his back pocket.

"Simple. We gave you the one thing you could never take your eyes from. Sonic on the verge of defeat!" The President answered, causing Eggman to gasp in horror.

"Agent Shadow was more than happy to provide the distraction. He let Sonic in on your true plan, and with his cooperation, we provided the perfect spectacle to distract you with. Sonic destroyed your towers one-by-one until he earned enough attention to where we were forced to call in Shadow for his arrest. With the stage set, it was too much for you to ignore. Not that you put up much of an effort." Christina explained, causing Eggman to growl in anger.

"Beaten at my own game of hoodwinks. Bah!" Eggman tossed down his device in frustration. "It doesn't matter! Those numbskulls outside are still under my control! I am still seen as the hero, and whatever I say is considered justice to them! If I tell them that you are in league with Sonic, they will go into a rage and ransack the place!" Eggman threatened.

"That is if they remain under your control." The President retorted.

"A little present of ours will remedy that situation." Christina said as she pulled out a remote and pressed the button.

Outside throughout the area, Sunshine Balls were alit, but this time they unleashed a blue light.

The crowd outside that were chanting Eggman's name suddenly stopped, realizing that they were cheering for a mad man. They all looked at one another in confusion before going into a frenzy, spouting out how Eggman had done nothing but wrong and should be jeered, not cheered.

"What's going on?!" Eggman questioned in shock.

"The Sunshine Balls outside this building, along with all others that have been sold are now shining a different light. One that reminds everyone the kind of man you truly are!" The President said with a stern gaze.

"Tails had already successfully uploaded the code into your power station. Now the Sunshine Balls are under our control." Christina said with an even sterner one.

"You rats!" Eggman yelled with anger.

"I doubt you have any right to say such a thing." Christina retorted.

"My plan was perfect! Had it not been for those leaked files, it all would have been a success!" Eggman lamented with his teeth grit.

"Actually, we would have realized your ploy sooner or later. Shadow and Omega pointed out that your biggest flaw was actually the major piece in your plan. They were bound to notice the impossibility of the Egg-Moon permanently blocking out the Sun without following the exact orbit the Earth does. Whether that moon was stuck in place or following a different alignment an eternal eclipse is not possible without some outside assistance coming from you." The President brought up.

"Darn those two. My grandfather and I just had to program a high level of intelligence for them." Eggman said, blaming himself far more than his grandfather as his creation didn't have firepower and brains with an innate desire to destroy him with his own might.

Outside, police had arrived to break up the crowd outside.

"Alright everyone! Move along!"

"You all need to evacuate the premises immediately!"

Thanks to the police, the crowd started to break away from the presidential building.

"Hmph. A lot of good the police are. All they're doing by breaking up the crowd is providing me with an opening to escape." Eggman said as he pulled out another device to summon his Egg Mobile.

"Oh, they're just making enough room for there to be no unnecessary casualties." The President said.

"U-Unnecessary casualties?" Eggman questioned, not liking the sound of that.

"You can come in now." The President said as the doors to his office then opened.

The sounds of heavy footsteps causing Eggman to stiffen with Decoe and Bocoe holding each other out of fear as coming into the room was none other than the red and black weapon of mass destruction with its glowing red lenses focused on them.

"I-It's…" Bocoe started.

"Omega!" Decoe finished.

"Omega, you've waited long enough. Do what you wish." The President gave the okay.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega responded before many, many hatches opened up around itself and an equal amount of weaponry sticking out of him. "SIGHT LOCKED ON EGGMAN AND PATHETIC LOW-GRADE SCRAP METAL."

"Now that's just hurtful." Bocoe said in despair of being targeted and insulted.

"This is bad!" Decoe said as he and his partner shook in fear. "We should-"

"RUN!" Eggman screamed out as he turned and ran for the balcony with Decoe and Bocoe following his lead.

"ANNIHILATE!" Omega exclaimed as he unleashed a hell storm of firepower from the likes of missiles, bullets, ordinances, and all things in between. Even his new portable assault plasma railgun.

Eggman screamed as he, Decoe and Bocoe jumped off the balcony as it and the whole wall behind the President's desk exploded with debris and fire unleashed everywhere along with dust clouds, sending the doctor and his pair of robotic goons flying from the shockwave.

Everyone stared in shock as they saw the side of the President's workplace be destroyed with Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe sent flying out from it.

The trio of villains hit the ground hard, groaning in the process but quickly recalled that staying down was not a luxury they could afford right now.

Omega leaped out from the large dust cloud and landed upon the ground outside with his weapons still ready and active.

"SENSORS LOCKED ON EGGMAN. RETREAT IS FUTILE. SURRENDER IS ADVISED AND WILL BE HILARIOUS FOLLOWED BY TERMINATION." Omega stated as he kept his focus on Eggman and his cohorts.

"Run, You Mechanized Dolts!" Eggman screamed out as he, Decoe and Bocoe ran off, trying to get as far away the unapologetic killing machine.

"RUNNING IS POINTLESS. THE CHASE HOWEVER WILL BE ENTERTAINING." Omega stated as the jet engines on his back then fired out a strong amount of fire, giving Omega the boost in speed to catch up to the trio.

"Run Faster!" Eggman screamed out as he and his pair of servants increased speed, but Omega was hot on their trail.

"OBLITERATE!" Omega shouted out as he unleashed bullet hell again along with missiles and rockets, causing Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe to scream in terror as they were forced to dodge the rainstorm of firepower upon them.

.

.

Deep in space, Knuckles was riding on a G.U.N. rocket ship, piloted by Topaz with the Rouge accompanying them. They were nearing the Egg-Moon to rid it of a beacon atop its metallic half, which was what Eggman was using to control it.

"I don't know what I can't believe more. The fact that Eggman pulled such a trick or that I was left out like this!" Knuckles shouted with annoyance.

"I'm more surprised that you still believe there could be good somewhere within that rotten egg." Rouge pointed out, causing Knuckles to blush in embarrassment.

"Just tell me when already!" Knuckles shouted out, mainly to cover up his embarrassment.

"Now looks about right!" Topaz answered as they were now over the flashing red beacon.

"Alright!" Knuckles said as he hopped off one of the wings of the ship. "Let there be light!" Knuckles gave a battle cry as he delivered a hard blow to the beacon, destroying it and freeing the Egg-Moon from Eggman's control.

Now with the beacon destroyed, the moon went back to its original orbit, bringing the Sun back to the masses of the planet.

The nightmare of the Eternal Eclipse was over.

.

.

Everyone on the planet cheered for the return of the Sun.

As the shine of the Sun returned, new information was shed to light on the news.

"As it turns out, the Eternal Eclipse was another ploy from Eggman to overtake the world. Apparently, the Sunshine Balls were actually transmitting subliminal messaging to trick those in contact with them that Eggman was a hero and to be elected as supreme leader of the world. Fortunately, with the assistance of what the President has now dubbed Team Dark, made up of Rouge the Bat, Shadow the Hedgehog and E-123 Omega, not only has Eggman's plan failed, but it has been used against him to bring him out into the open. Reports are coming in that the former Eggman robot, Omega, is in hot pursuit of his creator, preparing to detain him." Scarlet, now back at the news studio, reported before getting in further detail. "I'm sorry. It turns out Omega is trying to eliminate Eggman, not detain him. Wait, is he allowed to do that?" Scarlet asked, surprised by the extremes of Omega.

"So, that's it!" Chris said as he and the others watched the news, now grateful for the clarity of the situation.

"That explains why we were so hesitant to doubt Eggman. Those infernal Sunshine Balls. Although, I will admit, it was a clever ploy with those subliminal messages." Chuck said with his arms crossed.

"Reports are coming in straight from the government upon the details. It turns out Sonic was in on the plan. The destruction of the Mirror Towers and the clash between the blue hedgehog and Shadow were all meant to distract Eggman, while with the assistance of Miles "Tails" Prower, the effects of the Sunshine Balls were reversed thanks to a new code uploaded into the power station." Scarlet added in.

"So that's what that was all about!" Amy said with a relieved smile, now realizing what the conversation between Shadow and Sonic was about, and why the former needed Tails' cooperation.

"I can't believe it was all a set up. Those are some sneaky hedgehogs." Sam said with a smirk.

"They weren't the only ones involved. Tails, Rouge and Omega did a lot to help as well." Chris reminded his uncle with a smile.

"I'm just happy everything all worked out." Ella said with a relieved smile.

"Me too!" Cream agreed with a super bright smile and eye-smiles.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese agreed with a joyous grin.

Amy's eyes shimmered with joy and relief with a smile reflecting those same emotions.

'Thanks guys. Thank you, for proving yourselves.' Amy thought with her warm smile now widening as she thought of the pair of hedgehogs who both have not let her down yet.

.

.

Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe ran through the streets of Station Square, trying to get as far away from the living arsenal known as Omega.

"Run Faster, You Dolts!" Eggman shouted.

"I liked it better when we were heroes!" Decoe exclaimed.

"At least heroes don't have to worry about being blasted to smithereens by Omega!" Bocoe exclaimed before they were sent flying forward by another explosion.

"ALL TARGETS THAT ARE EGGMAN AND RELATED WILL MEET ERADICATION!" Omega stated as he remained on their tail, unleashing all kinds of ammunition upon the trio.

"Why did you put him to guard a factory when he was this powerful to begin with?!" Bocoe questioned his creator.

"Just be quiet and keep running!" Eggman ordered as he, Decoe and Bocoe increased speed.

"Chaos Spear!"

A barrage of golden energy spears hit the ground, blocking Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe's way, as they burst with energy. The trio fell flat on their rears, startled by the barrage.

Appearing across from them was none other than Shadow, who kept a stern glare on them.

"S-Shadow!" Eggman was now even more worried. The sound of jet engines was heard above, making him look up to find the X-Tornado with Sonic standing atop it and Rouge flying right by it. "S-Sonic!"

"Hey, doc." Sonic greeted the doctor with a smirk.

"Had a nice run?" Rouge jokingly asked with her own smirk.

The sounds of sirens were heard as police started showing up in their cars, surrounding Eggman and his super nervous duo of bots.

"It's over, Eggman!" A police officer said through his megaphone.

Eggman gritted his teeth, groaning in fear of the situation he found himself in.

The sounds of heavy footsteps approaching caused Eggman and his assistants to turn towards Omega in fear, who now stood over them with his red piercing lenses staring down at them.

"EGGMAN… TARGET ACQUIRED. LOCKED AND LOADED." Omega stated as he aimed one of his arms at Eggman, changing his hand into a cannon as the barrel started glowing purple. "GOODBYE, DOCTOR."

"N-No! Please!" Eggman begged, seeing no other way but to plead for his life.

Fear replacing all logic as he knew it was futile.

"Wait!" Sonic jumped down from the X-Tornado, landing in between Omega and Eggman.

"MOVE ASIDE." Omega ordered.

"I get how you feel about Eggman, but this isn't the way." Sonic said.

"IT IS THE ONLY WAY. AS LONG AS EGGMAN LIVES, THE WORLD WILL CONTINUE TO BE AT HIS MERCY. HE WILL CONTINUE TO THREATEN IT WITH HIS ENDLESS AMBITION TO ESTABLISH THE EGGMAN EMPIRE. SO LONG AS EGGMAN SURVIVES… THE WORLD WILL NEVER KNOW PEACE. THIS WILL END THE SUFFERING." Omega stated, not backing down in his intentions.

"I know Eggman does a lot of awful things, but that doesn't mean we have to stoop to his level like this. To give the impression that killing can be an answer to your problems will just make things worse. Others will start to consider the same, even for the small stuff. It'll just inspire more chaos." Sonic tried to reason with the machine.

"A RISK WORTH TAKING." Omega stated, shocking Sonic and everyone watching, minus Shadow and Rouge. "A WORLD WHERE PEOPLE TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS AND USE COMMON WEAPONS TO GET THEIR WAY IS A FAR LOWER THREAT LEVEL THAN A SINGLE PLAN OF EGGMAN'S. THE WORLD BARED WITNESS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR."

The police officers watching were now unsure of what to do.

Sonic was right about how taking the law into your own hands can lead to more problems, especially when it's being done by the wrong people. Yet on the other hand, Omega was also correct. Eggman has caused so much trouble in the brief amount of time he has been within dimension. So long as he continues to live, the world will always be in danger.

They were so unsure on the matter of clashing ideologies that all they could do was stand there and watch.

Even if they tried something, getting in between Sonic and one of the strongest of Eggman's creations.

"I can't let you do this, Omega." Sonic told the armed robot.

"MOVE ASIDE IMMEDIATELY." Omega ordered.

"I won't." Sonic said with a steely gaze.

"THEN I WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH YOU TO GET TO HIM." Omega stated as the barrel of his laser cannon glowed brighter.

The police were either ready to intercept or duck for cover.

Sonic growled as he got into a battle stance, preparing to fight the weaponized behemoth.

Just then someone stepped in between both robot and hedgehog.

None other than Shadow.

"Shadow…" Sonic was surprised to see the Ultimate Life Form intervening.

"EXPLAIN." Omega demanded an answer as to why Shadow was making the same more as the other hedgehog.

"I understand your need for revenge. Perhaps better than anybody. Your argument isn't unfounded either. In fact, I agree with you. The world would be better off without the doctor." Shadow said, causing Sonic to groan with disapproval.

"H-How dare you! My grandfather created you and yet you'd let his grandson die?!" Eggman shouted with anger at his grandfather's creation.

"Professor Gerald was once a good man before that wretched day. You never proved to possess that same level of compassion that he once had. Not without these ridiculous tricks. You are not him, and you're definitely no Maria." Shadow said as he didn't even give the doctor some much as a side glance.

"You… how dare you say that to me." Eggman said in a low, angry tone.

"There is no reason to defend Eggman… but you on the other hand are a different story, Omega." Shadow said to the robot.

"I REQUIRE NO ASSISTANCE. DO NOT DOUBT MY CAPABILITIES." Omega warned the black and red hedgehog.

"I'm not… but if you do kill, the world will come to fear you, especially after a public execution." Shadow looked into the battle-bot's red glowing eyes and spoke. "I do not wish to someday be ordered to hunt down my friend."

Sonic blinked his eyes in surprise at Shadow finally calling someone his friend.

"I knew it." Rouge said with a soft smirk.

Omega stared at Shadow.

Ultimate Enforcer remained in a stare down with the Ultimate Life Form.

Both were made by a Robotnik. Both made a for a purpose that was robbed from them. Both seek their own desires for personal justice.

Both who understood each other. In certain circumstances.

Both could be called kindred spirits.

After a bit of contemplation over the matter, Omega cancelled out his charging laser fire. He lowered his arm, reverting the end back to his original claw.

Eggman, along with Decoe and Bocoe, stared in shock.

"It can't be…" Decoe said in disbelief.

"But it is." Bocoe said also in shock.

'Omega is choosing to stand down… it can't be…' Eggman thought, always in belief that such a possibility was inconceivable.

When Omega hated something, he destroyed it without a care.

Yet he is listening to abandon his personal ambition?!

It was beyond belief for the doctor.

"That's it, buddy. We're all cool here." Sonic said with a relieved smile.

"Don't ruin it, Sonic." Shadow told the hedgehog with a mildly annoyed frown.

"I WILL CHANGE MY MIND OUT OF SPITE IF PRODDED." Omega warned, pointing at the blue hedgehog who chuckled nervously.

"Well, don't worry, Big Guy." Rouge flew downward to join the group on ground level. "I already had it arranged with the President. Eggman is going into permanent solitary confinement. It'll just be him alone with his thoughts in a cramped room filled with nothing for the rest of his days. He'll be suffering from that. Now doesn't that sound more fun than just smoking him right now?" Rouge explained, still smirking.

"Man, that's cold." Sonic said, feeling a bit uncomfortable by Rouge's words.

"I think it's perfect." Shadow said with an impressed smirk and his eyes closed.

Omega then turned his attention back to Eggman, who flinched along with Decoe and Bocoe, afraid under his glaring red eyes.

"WARNING. I HAVE ACCEPTED YOUR DETAINMENT. HOWEVER, IF THE DAY COMES WHERE YOU ESCAPE, OR BETTER YET, WHEN, I WILL BE WAITING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THOSE WALLS." Omega warned his absolutely detestable creator.

"Don't worry! I won't be escaping!" Decoe quickly said.

"Neither will I! It's much safer in jail than it is out here now!" Bocoe said, as he and Decoe will take anything, even prison, if it meant being safe and as far away from Omega as they were able to.

Eggman just growled in pure anger. He would not forget this. Omega was correct in his analysis. He will escape someday. Even the threat of annihilation from Omega will do nothing to sway him from his unending ambitions.

The dream of the Eggman Empire will never cease so long as Eggman lives.

They knew that just as much as he does.

All this is just a minor hiatus.

"Bring him in boys!" The higher-ranking officer of the police unit ordered as they all then went in to detain Eggman.

Eggman was put into cuffs, along with Decoe and Bocoe as the police van meant to take them to prison soon arrived.

"This is not the end." Eggman stated before he was hauled away.

"We'll see about that." Sonic said with a stern expression, while none of the members of Team Dark said a word.

They all watched as Eggman was finally put away and sent on a one-way trip to prison.

After seeing the prison van drive off, Rouge couldn't help herself.

"Hmph. So, we're all friends, huh?" Rouge said to the two Robotnik made beings with a teasing yet knowing smirk.

"Don't push it." Shadow said, while Omega decided to give a thumbs up in response.

"Heh." Sonic couldn't help but grin at the interaction. "Come on, Shadow. Let's go home."

"Don't tell me what to do, and don't just call it that so casually." Shadow said to his rival.

"Well, it is your home, isn't it?" Sonic responded with a smirk.

"The planet is my home. It doesn't matter where I go, so long as I'm still here." Shadow said, looking ahead.

Just then a sound was being heard all around. It was the sound of applause.

Team Dark and Sonic looked around to find a whole crowd had formed, cheering for them with 'whoops' and praise and clapping hands.

"What are they-"

"They're cheering for you, of course." Sonic said with a grin.

"Better get used to it." Rouge said with a smirk and her arms crossed.

"THIS IS FOREIGN." Omega stated, looking around at the crowd by turning his head three-sixty degrees. "I AM MORE USED TO SCREAMS OF TERROR."

"You'd rather have that over this?" Rouge asked, still smirking.

"… NEGATIVE." Omega reluctantly confessed. "NOT FROM HUMANS, AT LEAST."

"Figured as much." Rouge said with a giggle and pair of eye smiles.

"Sonic! We better head home! Everyone is waiting for us!" Tails called to the blue hedgehog from the X-Tornado.

"Gotcha!" Sonic said with a thumbs up before turning towards Shadow. "Race you there."

"Hmph." Shadow smirked in response. "Chaos Control!" He uttered before vanishing from sight.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Sonic exclaimed as he quickly hurried to the Thorndyke mansion.

"Aw~. They get along so well." Rouge teased.

"IF YOU SAY SO." Omega said.

"I'll catch you guys later!" Tails called out to Rouge and Omega.

"Thanks for the help, Fox Boy." Rouge thanked the two-tailed genius as Omega waved so long to Tails, who waved back as he flew off towards the Thorndyke mansion.

.

.

Sonic and Shadow had arrived at the mansion, but after entering through the front door, instead of arguing who was the winner, the two were shocked by the sight of all the damage to the main lobby, which had broken stairs, furniture, a hole in the wall and littered with craters all around.

"What the heck hit this place?" Sonic wondered aloud.

"This looks to have been made by something with tremendous strength. Perhaps Eggman had a plan B, and this place was hit by one of his machines to attack the others." Shadow said, trying to deduce what could have happened.

"Close, but no." Tanaka said, causing the hedgehogs to turn seeing him approach them. "You are correct about only tremendous strength could have caused this, but it was not from a robot. It was all Miss. Amy's doing."

"Amy?!" Sonic questioned as he developed a worried, uneasy look while Shadow was in shock. "We better get out of here. When she's angry, staying close to her is the last thing you want to do." Sonic said to Shadow.

"I do not run from anything. Especially not an angry pink hedgehog." Shadow said with his arms crossed.

Just then they heard someone clearing their throat making them turn to see Amy glaring at them from the living room door. She glared at them so hard, both male hedgehogs could feel the dagger-like effect striking them to their core.

"You sure about that?" Sonic asked Shadow with a worried look.

"Running never solved anything. If anything it will make this worse." Shadow said, deciding to stand his ground.

"I really wish you weren't right." Sonic said, admitting that running wasn't going to make things any easier here.

Amy marched her way towards both hogs with the blue shaking in place and the black hedgehog steeling himself for whatever lashing. As she stood in front of them, still glaring, she lunged forward and hugged them.

Safe to say this wasn't what both male hedgehogs were prepared for.

"I'm glad you're both safe." Amy said with her eyes closed, happy both her boys were home.

Sonic and Shadow looked to one another with widened eyes, before Amy pulled back and flicked them in the arms.

"Ow!" Sonic yelped out in pain as he and Shadow rubbed their arm in response.

"You almost gave me a heart attack though! Do you know how much stress I went through?! Especially after seeing your little show on the news!?" Amy scolded the pair.

"Sorry, Amy, but we had to make it look convincing." Sonic tried to reason with her.

"I'd say you more than passed with flying colors! I really thought you were going to kill each other!" Amy shouted, still very agitated.

"Hmph." Shadow looked towards the side.

He was about to make a quip about how he wouldn't be killed so easily, only to stop upon really looking around the room. The damage was more severe than he thought upon a second glance. Thinking about it, she must have really been upset to do all this damage. For all he knew, she probably left scars upon the foundation somewhere.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter anymore." Amy said with a sigh before looking at them with a much softer expression. "I'm just glad you're both back home and thank you."

"You don't need to thank us. Saving the world from Eggman is no big deal." Sonic said with a more relaxed smile.

"Not that. I'm thanking you for not betraying my trust." Amy said, shocking both Sonic and Shadow, who looked at her with widened eyes.

From those words, Shadow thought over what he had told her over the phone. Asking if she trusted him. Upon reflection, that was probably a tall order to ask, considering that the mess before them was a result of those words.

"No problem, Amy." Sonic said with a slightly awkward yet warm smile. Noticing Shadow wasn't saying anything, he nudged the darker hedgehog, who just grunted and walked away. "Uh, I'm sure he feels the same way." Sonic said, offering Amy a comforting smile.

Amy just sighed as she watched Shadow walk over towards the craters to get a closer look.

"Yeah…" Amy said with a small frown.

"Are the others in the living room?" Sonic asked.

"They are." Tanaka answered.

"They were really worried too." Amy said.

"Then I better go apologize." Sonic said before speeding into the living room.

Amy looked towards where Sonic ran before glancing back at Shadow, who was kneeling in front of a crater she made. With a melancholic look, she slowly followed after Sonic.

Shadow brushed his fingers against the crater, which was not only large, but deep as well.

"She was very upset at us, wasn't she?" Shadow rhetorically asked as he sensed Tanaka now behind him.

"Yes, she was. However, it was all out of heartbreak than anger." Tanaka answered, causing Shadow to look at him with a somber gleam within his stoic eyes. "Having faith in another can be an oddity. On many occasions it can be seen as a powerful strength that can inspire anyone to push along even in such dire circumstances. However, when it comes into question in the face of certain other cases, it can be the ultimate double-edged sword, with the one holding it always being the first victim." Tanaka said, causing Shadow to look downward with hidden shame in his eyes. "A lot of us have felt the same, but none more than Amy. The level of trust she has in you is as staggering as her faith in Sonic. So much so, she was willing to go through much pain within herself to keep it." Tanaka added, causing Shadow to gain a deep frown. "Will you remedy it?" Tanaka asked the ultimate hedgehog.

Blinking his eyes, Shadow looked around the damaged area once more. So much pain painted this place. Pain that he caused. Pain that… he wants to heal.

Standing up from the ground, Shadow faced Tanaka and gave him a nod of appreciation before heading off towards Amy's direction.

"Amy." Shadow spoke, causing the pink hedgehog, who almost left the room to stop and turn to him.

"Yes?" Amy replied as Shadow stopped in front of her.

"I'm sorry." Shadow said, surprising Amy a bit. "I put you through a lot. I asked you to trust me, and I'm happy you did… but I'm not proud of what it put you through."

"O-Oh. It's okay, Shadow." Amy said, looking towards the side with a downcast glance and rubbing her arm.

"It's not okay." Shadow said, but Amy didn't look back at him. Taking a chance, he reached over and grabbed her hand, finally catching her gaze. "I'll make it up to you. I promise." Shadow swore to her.

Amy stared at Shadow with shimmering eyes that soon developed tears. Wiping them away and sniffling a bit, she responded.

"Thank you, Shadow."

Tanaka smiled upon the sight of the two hedgehogs reconciling. He decided to leave them be, as he went off to fetch some cleaning supplies.

Staring at Amy's crying face, Shadow made a decision right then and there.

'I won't make her cry again.'

.

.

Later, Shadow helped Tanaka with refurbishing the main hall by spackling the craters along the floor.

"We might need to get more plaster." Tanaka said, looking towards Shadow as he focused on spackling the walls.

"Right." Shadow agreed with a nod.

"Yeesh!" A female voice called out, causing Shadow and Tanaka to turn see Rouge flying right through the hole Amy made yesterday with Omega following behind. "The heck happened here? It looks like you were visited by a twister with fists."

"ANALYZING: SIGNS INDICATE A BEING OF IMMENSE STRENGTH HAD LAID DAMAGE AT A SPORADIC PACE FOCUSING MORE ON DESTRUCTION THAN ACTUAL INJURY TO A TARGET. POSSIBILITY: AN ATTACK FROM AN EGGMAN ROBOT." Omega analyzed and deduced.

"It was Amy." Shadow answered, surprising the two.

"Wow. I knew she was something, but I didn't think she had this much in her." Rouge said with widened eyes.

"HER PROWESS IN DESTRUCTION IS IMPRESSIVE." Omega complimented.

"Why are you both here?" Shadow asked as he stood up straight.

"Did Eggman somehow escape?" Tanaka asked.

"If he did, Omega wouldn't be here right now." Rouge said, gesturing to the heavy hitting pal.

"I WILL HUNT HIM DOWN THE SECOND HE BREATHES NO VENTILATED AIR." Omega stated.

"Then what is it?" Shadow asked, walking over towards them. His answer was in the form of a letter handed to him by Rouge. "What is this?" He asked, looking down at the envelope to see the President's seal on it.

"An invitation of the highest honor. The President is holding a banquet in celebration of our team's, and to a lesser extent Sonic's, efforts in saving everyone from Eggman and putting him away behind bars." Rouge answered, surprising Shadow and Tanaka, who was still nearby.

"ATTENDANCE IS NOT BEING MADE STRICKLY MANDATORY BUT IS HIGHLY REQUESTED." Omega stated.

"This is such a high honor, Mr. Shadow. Congratulations." Tanaka congratulated the Ultimate Life Form with a smile.

"I don't need this much effort for a thank you." Shadow said.

"Don't sound like that. Omega was the same way. Said he'd rather not but I managed to convince him to attend." Rouge said with a smirk.

"I DO NOT NEED VALIDATION FOR MY EFFORT. ACCOMPLISHING MY DIRECTIVES IS MORE THAN SATISFACTORY." Omega stated.

"You already said you're going anyway, Big Guy. Don't go chickening out on me now." Rouge said, glancing at her metallic friend before looking back towards Shadow. "What about you? Don't tell me I have to put in as much effort to make you go too."

Shadow stared at the letter for a moment before looking back up at his teammates.

"I'll attend." Shadow answered.

"Perfect!" Rouge said delightfully with a wink and thumbs up. "Oh, and you can go ahead and invite the rest. The President said we can invite anyone we like to this shindig."

"SO LONG AS THEY DO NOT POSSESS AN ACTIVATE CRIMINAL RECORD." Omega added.

"Loosely active." Rouge said, mostly in regard to herself as in the end she was still a treasure thief.

"I'll ask." Shadow said.

"See you then, handsome." Rouge said with a wave as she and Omega headed off.

"TELL MISS. ROSE THAT HER STRENGTH IS ADMIRABLE. SHE SHOULD CONTINUE TO HONE IT." Omega said before he followed Rouge out the hole they entered through earlier.

"Hmph." Shadow couldn't help but smirk at that.

"Shall I go ahead and tell the others?" Tanaka asked.

"I'll do it." Shadow said.

"Then I shall gather them for you." Tanaka said as he headed off to collect the others.

Once Tanaka left, Shadow stared down at the invite with a steady gaze.

It felt like a turbulent ride. The event on the ARK was still rather fresh in his mind, considering that because of stasis, it feels like it has only been a few weeks since then. Now, after nearly dooming the planet, he was being heralded for saving the world from his creator's grandson with a party dedicated to his efforts.

Humanity had once feared him and now they were praising him.

It all felt like it was happening so fast.

Regardless, he did give his word.

He didn't need a party held for him, but he would be there. All because his friends asked. That was reason enough.

.

.

Later that night at the Presidential building, a celebration was being held in honor of Team Dark and Sonic.

Reporters and paparazzi were there in attendance to photograph as much as they could of the event. There were also those of the high class, as expected.

In regard to the guests of honor, so far only two of them had arrive.

Rouge was dressed in a lavishing single strap black dress with a long slit down the side of her right leg, black heels, a white boa around her shoulders and a necklace with a golden pendant with a heart shaped pink gemstone.

Omega just simply wore a black bowtie, upon Rouge's insistence.

"A refine atmosphere, high-class cuisine and glamourous company; and I'm not just talking about the people." Rouge said taking note of all the jewelry and rich accessories the higher elite had. "This is my kind of party."

"THIS IS BORING." Omega stated.

"Try not to be too honest there." Rouge told her metallic companion.

"SILENT MODE ACTIVATED." Omega stated as he muted himself, causing Rouge to roll her eyes.

"Well, don't you both look nice." Topaz greeted the pair with a smile.

"Back at ya." Rouge said back, noticing her original partner wearing a long, light green spaghetti strap dress, silver heels, a pair of silver bracelets on each wrist and a pearl necklace.

"I'm surprised to see you dressing up for the occasion, Omega." Topaz said to the robot only to get no response, which confused her.

"He put himself on Silent Mode to avoid being honest." Rouge answered with a small frown.

"Can't say that I blame him. I've never been one for these types of parties either." Topaz said with an amused smile.

"I definitely am." Rouge said with a smirk.

"SHE'S BEEN EYEING EVERYONE'S JEWELRY." Omega informed.

"I thought you were on silent mode!" Rouge said with surprise and confusion.

"I LIED SO I'D HAVE NO REASON TO TALK TO ANYONE." Omega stated.

"Oh, so selling me out is reason enough, huh?" Rouge said with a pout as Topaz laughed at the robot's antics.

"So, where's our ultimate agent?" Topaz asked.

"He'll show." Rouge said.

"HE'S BEEN HERE." Omega informed.

"What?" Rouge and Topaz looked at the super-bot in surprise.

"Where?" Topaz asked.

"HE'S WAITING OUTSIDE." Omega answered.

"And you didn't tell me this earlier because?" Rouge asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I RESPECT HIS PRIVACY. YOUR RESPECT FOR IT VARIES." Omega answered.

"He's got you there." Topaz said, stifling a giggle.

"Hmph." Rouge gave a miffed pout.

.

.

Outside, Shadow was standing atop a lamppost with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

He was aware that it was rude to keep people waiting since his presence was needed as this was a party in his honor, as much as it was for Omega and Rouge, but he refused to enter. Not without a certain select few that he is waiting for.

After a little bit more time of waiting, he snapped open his eyes as he jumped down onto the sidewalk.

Just then Sonic sped up to his side.

"Hey, Shadow." Sonic greeted him with a smile.

"I'm surprised you showed up." Shadow said.

"Why wouldn't I? It's a party, after all." Sonic said with a smirk and shrug.

"Amy told me you didn't show up until late for the last party they held in your honor." Shadow brought up.

"That was different. I had already made a promise to a friend that day. Helen. She's the blonde girl from the Christmas party." Sonic said.

"I see." Shadow said, silently approving of Sonic's action.

Especially in regard to a promise to a girl who happened to be blonde with a critical condition.

"So, Amy told you about that, huh? You two have been pretty close lately." Sonic pointed out.

"And?" Shadow responded.

"Just… saying." Sonic said.

"Look! There they are!" A voice spoke, causing both hedgehogs to turn their heads only to be assaulted by the flashes of cameras.

Paparazzi were taking pictures of the two hero hedgehogs who had helped free the world.

Sonic smiled and gave everyone a wave, while Shadow just ignored the presence and focused his attention forward like before.

"Hey, come on, Shadow. You should at least give a wave to the people." Sonic said to his darker furred companion.

"They aren't the ones I'm prioritizing my attention on." Shadow said, causing Sonic to raise an eyebrow.

Soon as he said that a limo came driving up in front of them.

Coming out of the driver's seat was none other than Tanaka, who made his way over towards the passenger door and opened it to allow all their friends to come out.

Unlike Shadow and Sonic, their friends were dressed up in formal attire for the occasion.

Chris, Chuck, Tails wore tuxes with bow ties, with the fox of the trio not wearing any pants, Cream wore an adorable pink V-neck dress, her mother, Vanilla, wore a beautiful white dress with the bottom of it in a floral pattern made from golden thread, Cheese wore what they usually wore, Ella wore a blue dress with a light blue belt around her waist tied into a ribbon, and to everyone's surprise, Chris' parents, Nelson and Lindsey Thorndyke, had actually made time to arrive, with the patriarch of the family dressed in his usual fancy attire and his wife dressed in a lavishing velvet red dress with a slit down the side of her right dress with sparkling diamond earrings, several golden bracelets around her wrists and a pearl necklace.

The reports and paparazzi went absolutely ballistic with shock and awe that the famous business mogul and his widely acclaimed movie star wife had shown up at the party held at the President's residence.

"Thanks for inviting us to the event, Shadow." Nelson thanked the darker hedgehog with a smile.

"It's only right. You invited me to your Christmas party, after all." Shadow said in response.

"Nice to see you both." Sonic said, giving the married couple a smile.

"Congratulations on you both for your success. An invitation straight from the President is such an honor. I should know." Lindsey said with a sweet smile.

Shadow personally didn't think that highly of the offer. Sure, he respected the President after proving how much more noble and sympathetic he is compared to his predecessor fifty years ago, but he was more here upon the request of his friends.

The people who have welcomed him into their lives as their companion are what matter to him now.

Speaking of his companions, there was one missing.

"Where's Amy?" Shadow asked.

"Here I am." Amy spoke as she finally stepped out of the limo, revealing her outfit. She wore a long twin-colored dress that hugged her body that was red from the bottom at the way to the collar bone where the top was in the shape of a V-neck with a large rose accessory sticking out of the waistline of the red part of the dress, and as for the second color it was white at the collar bone and shoulder areas with long white sleeves that was loose and frilly at the ends of them, and to finish it off, a pair of red heels. "How do I look?" Amy asked with a smile as she gave a pose with one hand behind her hand and the other on her hip.

"You look good, Amy." Sonic said with a smile and thumbs up. "Hmm?" Sonic then noticed the way Shadow was staring at Amy.

The Ultimate Life Form's eyes were widened with an actual blush across his cheeks. After a moment, he quickly turned away to his heated face.

"It looks good on you." Shadow managed to say, avoiding eye contact and therefore missing the thankful smile and blush on Amy's face. "We should go." Shadow suggested to the group.

"Agreed." Nelson said with a smile as everyone started heading in while the paparazzi were taking pictures and the reporters tried to get a word with not just Sonic and Shadow, but also Nelson and Lindsey.

Meanwhile, Chris was unsure if he saw what he did earlier, so he leaned in towards Tails to double check.

"Was it just me or did Shadow blush a second ago? Because of Amy?" Chris asked the fox in a low tone.

"Yeah, I think he did. I thought I was imagining things." Tails responded, surprised that his mind hadn't been playing tricks on him a moment ago.

"Me too." Chris said, now super shocked. 'I don't believe it. Does Shadow… have a crush on Amy?!' Chris thought in utter disbelief.

As the group made it into the banquet hall where the party was being, they were met with people of high society and glamor, lovely music playing everywhere and all kinds of exquisite food and drinks.

"Now that's a selection of wine!" Chuck said with an excited grin as he ran over.

"Mr. Thorndyke, you can't just rush through a ballroom like that! You have a standard to uphold!" Tanaka called out as he hurried after the former Thorndyke patriarch.

"Look at all that food! It's impressive." Ella said in awe at all the kinds of meals they prepared for the event.

"It does look nice, but I think your food might still be better, Ella." Cream said to the Thorndyke housekeeper.

"Oh, thank you, Cream." Ella appreciated the compliment from the young rabbit girl.

"I'm going to try it out." Sonic said as he walked towards the buffet table.

"Right behind you, Sonic." Tails said, following after the blue hedgehog.

"Me too!" Chris followed after the duo.

"I'll come as well. They did go through all the trouble of making it after all." Ella said with a smile as she, along with Cream, Cheese and Vanilla headed for the buffet table as well.

"Nelson! Lindsey! Fancy seeing you both here!" A portly man with a mustache greeted them with a smile and wave.

"Well, if it isn't my friendly business rival, Mr. Tendo! How have you been?" Nelson greeted the portly mustachioed man as he and his wife made their way over.

Now the only ones left from the group were Amy and Shadow.

The pink hedgehog was admiring the atmosphere and decor while the dark hog didn't really care to give it any focus.

After a moment, Amy took notice of Shadow, seeing how good he looked in the light. The thought she had made her blush and look away, but she kept a smile on her face.

Shadow took a glance at Amy after feeling her eyes on him a moment ago. He took in her appearance more than he had the chance before. He did not expect her to wear something… very extravagant. Yet here she is, in a dress that made her look much more mature. The light of the room danced off the red fabric of it, making it somehow sparkle and as he got to her face to see the lovely smile she had with a tint of red on her cheeks, he couldn't help but instinctively look away with his eyes closed. It was just too much for him. If his now reddened cheeks were any evidence of it.

"It's a lovely party, isn't it?" Amy said to Shadow, trying to strike up a conversation.

"I suppose. I still think it's a bit much. A simple thank you more than sufficed." Shadow responded.

"Well, some people have their own ways of saying thank you, and this is one of them." Amy said with a smirk. "Also, what do you mean it's a bit much? You helped stop Eggman, after all. I'm just shocked they didn't decide to hold a parade afterwards." Amy said with a teasing smile, causing Shadow to grunt.

"My sentiments exactly." A female voice spoke, causing the pair of hedgehogs to turn to see Rouge, alongside Omega. "I could suggest the idea to the President later if anything." Rouge 'suggested' with a smirk.

"I'd rather you not." Shadow said causing Rouge and Amy to laugh in amusement at his predictable response.

"Congratulations by the way. You all earned it." Amy said with a smile.

"I keep trying to convince this hunk of metal, but he keeps finding this whole thing unnecessary." Rouge said, gesturing to Omega.

"Shadow's feels the same way apparently." Amy brought up.

"A simple thank you is just more than enough for someone like me." Shadow said, defending himself.

"AGREED." Omega said in agreement with Shadow's line of thinking.

"You two really are best buddies." Rouge teased the 'macho men' as she and Amy giggled at the red and black duo's expense.

Topaz smiled seeing the four mingle with one another. She decided to leave them and get herself a drink from the wine table.

As Topaz headed over, she was surprised to see none other than Tanaka there, trying to calm his employer Professor Chuck Thorndyke from having too much of the complementary high-class beverages.

"Mr. Thorndyke, please, be mindful of your alcohol intake." Tanaka warned the elder Thorndyke.

"Oh, come on, Tanaka. Lighten up. It's a party." Chuck said with a dismissive smile.

"A party should be no excuse for not watching one's own health. Now exercise caution." Tanaka warned with a more serious demeanor, causing Chuck to flinch with a bit of fear.

"Maybe just a single glass will be all I need for tonight." Chuck said with a nervous smile.

"You don't need to suppress yourself that much." Topaz spoke as she made her way over.

"Miss!" Tanaka was surprised to see his crush was here at the party as well.

"Personally I think two is good enough. Maybe three, but only if you have a designated driver." Topaz said as she grabbed a glass for herself. "After all, it's not every day that you're invited personally by the President."

"I suppose that is true." Tanaka conceded.

"Now you're speaking my language!" Chuck said with a grin. "She's a keeper." Chuck said to Tanaka, causing both the butler and Topaz to blush before he walked away, now feeling jovial again.

"F-Forgive me." Tanaka said with embarrassment over the scene.

"Don't be. I can be a bit controlling myself, but I learned to let loose at least once in a while. Always being on guard even in small ways than what is expected can be a real drain on one's mentality." Topaz said.

"I agree. That is the mentality of the warrior. A path I respect." Tanaka said, giving Topaz a warm smile, causing her to blush.

Rouge noticed this from the corner of her eye, causing her smirk to widen.

'You go, girl.' Rouge mentally praised Topaz with pride in her. When she looked back to Shadow and Amy, a thought came to mind as she then glanced at the band that was playing elegant music. "Say, this song is pretty good, isn't it?"

"NO." Omega answered.

"Well, I wasn't asking you. I already saw that answer coming miles away." Rouge said, looking at the battle-bot with a dull frown.

"It's fine." Shadow gave his answer.

"I think it's lovely." Amy said with a bright smile. "The way they play it, it feels-"

"Romantic?" Rouge 'asked', causing Amy to flinch with her cheeks flushed and Shadow's eyes widening as well. "Gotcha, didn't I?" Rouge said with a humorous smirk causing Shadow to grunt in annoyance and Amy to look to the side with an embarrassed smile and blush. "Still though, it is good music to dance to." Rouge pointed out causing both hedgehogs' eyes to widen again.

"What are you getting at?" Shadow questioned with narrowed eyes.

"What? You don't expect her to just stand around in heels for the whole party, do you? Be a gentleman." Rouge said, only to get no response as Shadow didn't get the point. "Dance with her." Rouge clarified, causing Shadow's eyes to widen again.

"I'll pass." Shadow said with a frown and his eyes closed.

Amy looked at him with a bit of a saddened look, but then she got determined as she grabbed Shadow by the arm and started dragging him towards the dance floor.

"That's more like it. What a go-getter." Rouge said with an impressed and satisfied smirk.

"Amy, I am not a dancer." Shadow said with a dissatisfied frown.

"And I can guess why." Amy said as she brought them to the middle of the dance floor and turned to him. "But you owe me, remember?" Amy said, giving Shadow a smile.

Shadow blinked his eyes in surprise before conceding with a sigh.

Without a word or managing to look her in the eye, Shadow brought up a hand, silently asking Amy if she would like to continue.

Amy responded with a thankful smile, gently grabbing Shadow's hand while giving him a small curtsy. Amy then placed her free hand onto Shadow's shoulder, while the darker hedgehog placed his against his hip as they then proceeded to dance to the rhythm of the classical band's melody.

Despite being embarrassed about dancing in public like this, Shadow put in the proper amount of effort. He wasn't going to embarrass himself even further by failing at a simple waltz or stepping on his partner's feet.

"You're really good at this." Amy complimented Shadow with an impressed smile. "You ever danced before?"

"No." Shadow answered.

"Could have fooled me." Amy said with a small giggle and a pair of eye smiles.

Shadow blinked his eyes as he felt his heart flutter a bit.

"You're… very good as well." Shadow gave his own compliment as he looked to the side with a bit of a bashful and embarrassed blush.

"Thanks. I practiced." Amy said with a bit of a proud smile.

'No doubt for that faker.' Shadow thought before surprising himself from the annoyance he felt in that moment.

"Thank you by the way." Amy said.

"You already said that." Shadow pointed out.

"Not that. I… practiced a lot, but I never got the chance to actually dance with someone. I'm… glad it's you." Amy confessed, looking downward with a bashful smile and blush.

Shadow blinked his eyes in surprise. He didn't expect a simple dance like this would have this kind of effect. He wouldn't say it out loud, but… he was actually glad Rouge pushed him into this. He didn't mind the embarrassment if it meant Amy was happy over it.

After the mental turmoil he put her through recently, he was glad to know that she was more at peace now.

"You're welcome, Amy." Shadow said, causing Amy to look up to him with a warm and grateful smile.

The pair were now more focused on the dance they shared that they didn't mind or even noticed the attention they were getting.

Two hedgehogs dancing with one another on a dance floor shared with humans was definitely eye catching, especially to their friends.

While Chuck was busy enjoying his complimentary wine and his son and daughter-in-law were still in the midst of discussion with their colleagues, although they did spare a glance and happy smile for the pair, the others definitely noticed and had a bit more difficulty looking away.

Cream was smiling, happy for her best friend to be having so much fun with someone, and though it isn't the hedgehog she originally wanted, Cream could tell Amy was satisfied with it being Mr. Shadow.

Ella and Vanilla could tell there was more to this scene than it being just a dance. They noticed how the hedgehogs were acting towards one another over the situation. There was something blooming between them. It was unexpected, surprising and a little unusual… but there was definitely something nice there. Seeing how happy the pink hedgehog looked was enough for them to know it was definitely a good thing that was happening before them.

For the boys who were with the ladies on the other hand, all had looks of shock on their faces, but none more than Sonic.

"Okay, I know I'm not just seeing things." Chris said, shocked by the sight of Amy and Shadow actually choosing to dance with one another.

"Maybe there's more happening between them then we thought." Tails said, which causing Sonic to flinch with his eyes widened.

Just then, Sonic put his food on the table and sped over towards Shadow and Amy's side, surprising the rest of his friends.

"What is Sonic doing?" Chris asked, confused and curious about Sonic's intentions.

"Sonic?" Amy was confused to see her longtime hero had suddenly appeared beside her and Shadow.

"Mind if I cut in?" Sonic asked with a smile and offering a hand towards Amy.

The others were shocked that Sonic actually asked that. It was so out of left field for him!

Amy silently gasped. This had been something that she had been wanting for so long. All that time practicing was in the hopes of this moment. The moment when Sonic would ask her for a dance.

Amy almost went to grab his hand, only to feel the hold on her grow firmer. She looked up at her current dance partner to see him glaring at Sonic, but not in a menacing way. Shadow was glaring at him in a defensive way.

Shadow was actually in defense of handing over Amy, if the glare and low growling was any indication.

Amy was surprised by Shadow's behavior. Normally she would have told him to calm down with a stern tone, but now? Now she didn't want to do that to him. She… actually was flattered that he wanted to keep dancing with her, even though he clearly didn't want to dance earlier. Was it because he was with her?

Whatever the reason, it was clear he wasn't ready to part with her, and she didn't feel good about leaving him. Even though she had always dreamed of dancing with Sonic, for her, right now, being with the dark hedgehog was more than enough for her.

So, she made the only call she felt was the right one.

"I'm sorry, Sonic. I'd love to but right now, I'm dancing with Shadow. Do you mind waiting until we're finished with ours?" Amy responded, surprising both Sonic and Shadow.

"Um… sure, yeah. No sweat. I'll just be waiting close by when you're finished." Sonic said, putting on a smile.

"Thanks, Sonic." Amy said with a grateful smile, earning a wink from said hedgehog before he turned and walked away.

Unknown to her, Sonic was super disappointed from being turned down by her.

First time for everything.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Shadow asked, now thinking about Amy's feelings after getting over his own after a moment.

"I wouldn't have said what I did if I wasn't." Amy said in response. "Besides, I don't know if I'll ever see you in a situation like this again, so I'm going to enjoy as much as I can."

"Tch." Shadow couldn't help but smirk in amuse with his eyes closed. "You better, because I doubt, I'll ever do this again."

'Doesn't mean I won't try again.' Amy thought with a widened smile.

The others were all slack jawed at what they had just witnessed.

"Did Amy… just reject Sonic?" Chris asked aloud in shock. "Where are we? In some sort of parallel universe or something?"

Sonic made his way back to his friends and stood beside Tails with his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"You okay, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Yeah." Sonic simply answered, trying to sound nonchalant.

"What happened?" Tails asked with concern.

"Nothing. Amy just wants to finish her dance with Shadow, so I'm waiting for my turn is all." Sonic answered with a nonchalant shrug.

"Oh, so that's all that happened." Chris said with a small smile, now less worried over the situation.

"It's okay, Sonic. You'll get your chance." Tails said, offering his best friend a smile.

"Yeah." Sonic said as he opened his eyes, now watching Amy and Shadow dancing together.

"And here I thought it was something important." Chris said, only to get a look from Sonic. "What?"

"Nothing." Sonic said as he turned back towards Amy and Shadow.

Topaz and Tanaka saw the whole scene as well with the butler of the two sighing.

"Love is indeed a battlefield." Tanaka said with a small frown.

"Yup. Waiting too long can be just as hazardous as taking rash action." Topaz said.

"Yes. It always matters on the right time to act." Tanaka said before turning towards Topaz and offering his hand, catching her off guard. "Would you care to dance?" Tanaka asked with a smile.

"Now that was right timing." Topaz said with a smile and blush as she happily took Tanaka's offer by taking his hand and letting him guide her to the dance floor.

Rouge couldn't help but smirk and giggle upon not only seeing Amy and Shadow dancing but Topaz and Tanaka as well.

"Love must be in the air." Rouge said.

"NOT AN OUNCE. THAT IS MOSTLY MADE OF NITROGEN." Omega stated.

"Do you even get metaphors?" Rouge asked with a frown.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND DRY HUMOR?" Omega questioned, surprising Rouge.

"Oh. You're good." Rouge said, impressed by Omega's brand of teasing.

The party went well overall. As time passed by, the President was talking to his aide, Christina, about something.

"Is the Commander almost here?" The President asked with concern.

"He will be here soon, Mr. President. I made sure of it by calling earlier and informing him that his presence was mandatory." Christina explained.

"I just don't understand it. Normally, he'd be okay with events like this, but lately he's been so adamant in regard to our newest recruits." The President said with a frown.

"Well, sir, it's not like it's that hard to understand. At one point they were all criminals of the highest degree. A treasure thief who managed to smuggle a few jewels before her recruitment, an Eggman robot that was made to be his strongest foot soldier packed to the brim with weaponry that can level a military base and a science experiment created by the grandfather of Eggman himself who had a hand in nearly wiping out the planet. If things hadn't went the way that they did, I'd be very much on the fence of their induction to our forces as well." Christina reasoned.

"Yes, I am aware as well, but they have proven themselves as allies after this moon incident. I just figured the Commander would see the same results as us." The President said.

"Even if it was a grand deed, you can't just change everyone's mind that quickly. Especially not Commander Tower. He was raised under G.U.N.'s protection and enrollment since he was a child." Chrisitna reminded.

"Now that I think about it, I never really found out how that all happened. Whatever happened to his family and why did G.U.N. consider it a priority to take him into their ranks at such a young age?" The President wondered.

"That information had been classified, sir."

"Even to us?" The President asked in surprise.

"Sir." One of the President's secret service agents marched his way over. "The Commander is here." He informed.

"Excellent." The President said with a relieved smile.

"Looks like we can proceed very soon." Christina said, also feeling relieved but hiding it behind her ever-professional demeanor.

Walking into the banquet hall was a tall, elderly man with a chiseled, stern face. He had grey combed back hair, a pair of heterochromia eyes; one brown, the other green and dressed in a gray colored high-ranking military uniform with white gloves.

He looked around the banquet seeing everyone enjoy themselves.

The smiles on the faces of the citizens have always been something that would make him smile… but not today. Their smiles were for dangerous individual, but none were more dangerous than… 'it'. It wasn't the kleptomaniac bat or the single-minded killing machine… it was him. The quote-on-quote 'Ultimate Life Form'.

People smiling for him was something that turned his stomach and made him want to vomit out blood.

That's how bad it was for him.

All that praise for that… weapon.

"Commander." The President addressed the Head of G.U.N.

"Mr. President." The Commander greeted his superior officer.

"I'm glad you finally showed up."

"Yes, well, I do enjoy the gatherings you organize. There's usually a nice atmosphere to them." The Commander said.

"Glad to hear it." The President said with a smile.

However, when the Commander said usually, he meant any other time except this one. His eyes looked around to find a pair of hedgehogs, one blue and one pink, waltzing on the dance floor with the former accidentally stepping on the pink one's feet occasionally.

"I see Sonic is here, along with a pink hedgehog, but I don't see… him." The Commander said with a frown as he almost felt like bile could have come up at any moment.

"Oh, don't worry. He's here." The President assured.

"I see." The Commander said as his eyes resumed scanning around the room, only to find the 'hog of the hour' standing off to the side, watching his fellow hedgehogs dance.

The Commander's heart stopped upon taking in the sight of that… beast!

Just then, memories of him when he was a child flashed through his mind. The image of Shadow within a machine while beside him was Dr. Gerald Robotnik and a shadowy figure, both having a discussion. The sensation of a chill running down his spine was felt as he stared into three glowing red lights. The memory was then focused on Shadow who snapped open his eyes as they glowed red.

"Commander?"

"Huh?" The Commander looked back at the President.

"I was asking if you are okay. You look like you've seen a ghost." The President said with concern.

"You could say that." The Commander said with a hidden frown.

"Oh, look over there. There's Shadow." The President said, finally noticing the dark and red hedgehog. "Let me introduce you." The President said as he headed towards Shadow, expecting the Commander to follow.

"Dandy." The Commander mumbled with a deep frown and furrowed brow as he followed his nation's leader.

Back on the dance floor, poor Amy was having a hard time.

"Ow!"

"Sorry." Sonic apologized for stepping on Amy's foot… again.

Sonic was definitely a runner, not a dancer. He may move fast and perceive things at the scope of a second to even a millisecond, but he didn't have the necessary grace one would need for waltzing. After a few too many steps on her feet, Amy called it quits.

"I think that's enough for now, Sonic." Amy said, offering the male hedgehog a smile as she tried her best not to show any signs of pain or irritation.

"R-Right." Sonic said with a worried and embarrassed smile.

"For what it is, it was actually pretty fun. Thank you." Amy said with a more genuine smile.

"Right back at ya." Sonic said with a more genuine smile as well.

"I'm just going to rest my feet for a while." Amy said as she walked away, a bit slower than her usual pace though since her feet had to endure some clumsy punishment. "It was a nice time. No need to get cranky over some bruised feet, Amy." Amy said to herself, trying to calm herself down a bit more.

"Need a seat?" Shadow rhetorically asked as he had appeared before Amy with a chair in hand.

"Please." Amy said as she sat down on the chair Shadow had brought for her before proceeding to rub her feet to ease the pain.

"That was some footwork from him." Shadow said in a calm, joking manner.

"Tell me about it. I give him an A for effort, but he should just stick to the fast lane over the dance hall." Amy said.

"At least I know I can accomplish both." Shadow said with a proud smirk and eyes closed.

"It's always about getting ahead of the other between you both, isn't it?" Amy said with an amused smirk.

"Had it ever stopped?" Shadow replied.

"No, and I guess it won't." Amy said as she giggled.

"Shadow." The President spoke to the dark hedgehog, making him and Amy turn to see him and a stone-faced elderly man in high-ranking military guard. "I'm glad you're here."

"Mr. President." Shadow greeted the leader of the nation.

"I see you also brought your friends as well." The President said as he looked towards Amy.

"Hello again, Mr. President. An honor as always." Amy stood up and gave the President a respectful curtsy.

"It's wonderful to see you too, Amy." The President said, giving the hedgehog a respectful little bow. "Shadow, I want to introduce you to the Commander of G.U.N. Abraham Tower."

Shadow locked eyes with the Commander, both stone faced with both having intimidating gazes, only the Commander's showed more aggression behind his own, which Shadow could sense.

However, as Shadow stared into the elder man's mismatched eyes, he couldn't help but have an itching feeling that this wasn't his first time seeing them.

'Why do I feel like I've seen that gaze before?' Shadow wondered to himself.

"Commander, how about greeting Shadow yourself?" The President suggested, sensing the tension between the Commander and Ultimate Life Form.

"We've already met before." The Commander said, catching the President and Amy by surprise while Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Back on the ARK. Fifty years ago."

"What?!" The President exclaimed in shock, while Amy gasped.

"Huh?" Shadow blinked his now slightly widened eyes in surprise.

"Is everything alright Mr. President?" Christina made her way over as the President's raised voice caught everyone's attention.

"Hold on a moment. Commander Tower… are you saying that you were there on the ARK during Shadow's creation fifty years ago?" The President asked, causing everyone to look in shock.

"I was. I was just a boy at the time. My family helped Dr. Gerald work on Project Shadow." The Commander said, shocking everyone even further.

"Did you know about this?" The President asked his aide.

"Like I said, the information regarding him was classified. I never imagined that the Commander had been there." Christina said now with a mildly worried demeanor.

'Perhaps that would explain why the Commander didn't wish to be here. Seeing Shadow must have opened old wounds.' The President said with a worried and slightly guilty frown.

"I remember now." Shadow said, catching everyone's attention. "There was a boy there with two different colored eyes. He always bothered Maria."

"Maria was my friend. She was like an elder sister to me." The Commander said, furrowing his brow.

The two were now in a standoff with the whole room feeling the tension in the air. The party just went from a nice gathering to an uncomfortable setting as the two surviving victims of the ARK stood before one another.

After what felt like forever, Shadow spoke again.

"I'm glad you're leading G.U.N. then." Shadow said, surprising everyone while the Commander remained stone faced, yet was also in confusion at this. "Maria wanted this world to be protected. I'm glad you're fulfilling that wish in a sense."

"She was a kind soul. It comes as no surprise that her last wish would be for the betterment of mankind, even if she never got to see the world thanks to that awful disease." The Commander said as he closed his eyes, recalling the smiling face of his old friend. "Even after all this time, she continues to inspire me to do better."

'I guess I'm not alone after all.' Shadow thought to himself, strangely finding a kindred spirit within this man who clearly held some suppressed animosity for him.

"It's insulting that her cousin is the exact opposite." The Commander said, snapping his eyes open, now having a disgusted frown.

"He's right where he belongs now." Shadow said.

"NEGATIVE. HE IS NOT IN THE GROUND." Omega stated, only to be nudged by Rouge.

"And you put him away there… good work." The Commander said, albeit begrudgingly as he didn't want to say that last part to Shadow of all things.

"I didn't do it alone." Shadow pointed out, nodding towards his team.

"Yes, I know." The Commander turned towards Rouge and Omega, who were nearby. "You all did great work. I am glad you are part of our ranks." The Commander said to the robot and bat, which was easier for him to say over telling it to Shadow.

"So are we, Commander." Rouge said with a smirk.

"MY CAPACITY FOR DESTRUCTION IS BEING LIMITED, BUT EVEN THEN, JOINING G.U.N. HAS BEEN MORE REWARDING THAN LISTENING TO EGGMAN." Omega stated.

"Glad to hear it." The Commander said, satisfied with the ex-Eggman robot's words. "I've had confidence in soldiers under my rank even when Eggman was still at large. Now… I'm just satisfied that with your inclusion, the protection of the masses is more assured."

"Well said, Commander." The President said with a relieved smile as everyone now felt more relaxed from the atmosphere being less tense now.

Shadow kept a stoic demeanor as he noticed that the Commander was making sure he didn't face or take a glance at him when saying this. It was clear that his presence brought the Commander much frustration. He figured it had to be that the Commander associated him as the symbol of all the misery brought upon the ARK fifty years ago.

As annoying as it should have been, Shadow could not blame the man.

In fact, despite the clear disrespect, he couldn't find it in himself to have any animosity for the Commander.

He just felt… pity.

"I suggest we move along with tonight's event." Christina said to the President.

"Quite right." The President nodded in agreement. "Commander?" The President looked towards the leader of G.U.N.

"Yes, Mr. President." The Commander agreed as the President guided him away.

Commander Tower gave Shadow one last glance, causing them to lock eyes for a second before the Commander headed off with the President.

Shadow stared at the Commander's retreating form as his teammates walked over to his side.

"HE DOES NOT LIKE YOU." Omega stated.

"I'm aware." Shadow responded.

"Some people just can't let go of some things." Rouge said with a shrug.

"I don't blame him." Shadow said, surprising Rouge a bit before she realized that what she said also applied to him.

Amy had a look of concern as she stared at Shadow. Upon instinct she reached over and placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder.

Said dark hedgehog looked towards Amy, seeing the look of concern on her face.

"I'm fine." Shadow said to her.

"I figured you'd say that, but still." Amy said, giving him a warm, caring smile.

Shadow stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes.

"Thank you." Shadow said causing Amy's smile to widen.

"At lease he has someone who likes him a lot." Rouge said to Omega.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega agreed.

"You aren't whispering." Shadow said as his eyebrow twitched with irritation.

"Oh. Was I supposed to?" Rouge 'asked', giggling with her hand over her mouth.

Shadow groaned in annoyance, failing to notice Amy looking away with a blush.

Despite the pink hedgehog feeling embarrassed, she couldn't help but gain a much warmer smile.

"Attention, everyone." The President spoke, earning everyone's attention. "I wish to thank you all for attending. This party is in honor of very special individuals who with proper planning, coordination and teamwork were able to finally rid us all of Dr. Eggman."

"NOT PERMANENTLY." Omega stated.

"Sh." Rouge quieted her metallic friend down.

"As always, whenever Eggman is involved, Sonic the Hedgehog was there to assist." The President said, gesturing towards Sonic as everyone applauded the blue blur, making him smile in appreciation. "However, as stated, he was not alone in this success. The fact of the matter is our plan to successfully trap Eggman was put in motion thanks to three other individuals who had come across his Egg-Moon scheme before the doctor ever put things into motion. I'd like to bring up these three to properly introduce them to the world as a new unit." The President said before looking to the trio in question. "Rouge, Omega and Shadow, would you please step forward." The President requested.

"Hmm?" Shadow, along with Rouge and Omega were a bit surprised but followed the President's request, nonetheless.

"It was thanks to these three and their tactics that our success was possible." The President said, gesturing to the trio now beside him. "Omega here was built by Eggman but had rebelled against his creator. Thanks to him, we were able to discover not only the Egg-Moon scheme but many of Eggman's classified files that our now to our knowledge with his schematic now at our disposal. Rouge was pivotal in the discovery of Eggman's power station and had come up with the idea to lull Eggman into a fall sense of security, bringing him straight to us with his ego becoming his downfall. Finally, Shadow here had played a major role thanks to the connections he had made during his time here on Earth. Thanks to cooperation with Sonic, they were able to keep Eggman distracted, and Shadow also had a hand in reversing the effects of Eggman's Sunshine Balls by bringing to us the only one who could not only match Eggman in intelligence but surpass him; that being Miles "Tails" Prower." The President informed, gesturing towards the fox, who earned his own round of applause.

"Aw, shucks." Tails smiled bashfully as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Thanks to their efforts, tactics and the connections they made we have finally put Eggman behind bars, and for that, we are here to thank them all. First, I'd like for Sonic and Tails to come up here." The President said as Christina walked up to his side holding five small cases in hand. Sonic appeared before the President with Tails joining a moment later. "Sonic. As always, you have helped rescue the world from Eggman's tyranny. This time, we wish to give you something as a proper thank you." The President said as his aide opened one of the five cases to reveal a medal. "This is a thank you from the United Federation. It is the highest honor we can bestow. For your extraordinary acts of bravery in the face of Eggman and your selfless actions for the betterment of mankind, we present you with this United Medal." The President said as he put the medal over Sonic's head and the crowded gave their praise with claps.

"It was no big. Just happy to help as always." Sonic said with a smile, now sporting a shiny golden medal.

Christina opened the second case to reveal another medal that the President took before facing Tails.

"Tails. You have really stepped up and saved us. Your intelligence has saved our people from being mindless slaves eating out of the palm of Eggman's hand. He robbed us of free will and you were the one who gave it back to us. For that, we cannot thank you enough." The President said, causing the two-tailed fox boy to blush at the flattery. "As a token of our appreciation for your genius that is only outmatched by the strength of your heart, we present you with the United Medal. We thank you from the deepest part of our hearts for using your gifts to benefit the world, saving us all from the one who uses his own for all the wrong reasons. Like Sonic, you are a perfect paragon for what it means to be a hero." The President announced as he put the medal over Tails' head like he did with Sonic as the crowd applauded the genius fox, truly grateful for his efforts.

"Thank you, Mr. President. It really means a lot, but I was just happy to help. Just like Sonic and the others." Tails said, giving a bashful but very grateful smile.

The President gave one last nod to both Sonic and Tails before making his way over to the trio of bat, robot and dark hedgehog.

Christina followed and opened the third case, which the President proceeded to take before facing Omega.

"Omega. We cannot thank you enough. Without you reaching out to us, we would have not only all have fallen victim to Eggman's latest scheme, but many others he had planned as contingencies. For what has felt like years, regardless of it not even being an entirely single one, Eggman has brought nothing but chaos and terror with his many instruments of destruction. The fact that it took one of his own creations to finally bring an end to his nightmarish tyranny is an irony not lost on any of us, but more than that, we are truly grateful for what you have given us. The doctor has made so many creations that brought about harm. You are the exception. Though you are more than capable and exceptionally powerful, it is your act of free will to oppose your creator and side with the benefit of others who needed someone who can match and surpass anything the mad doctor could create is what makes you in this world's eyes, the only thing Eggman has made that truly has earned the moniker 'Greatest'. We thank you for extending your hand to us and now being our nation's most powerful military might. To express our gratitude we present you with the United Medal. You are the definition of what it means to wield true power. It is not the might that makes anyone right, but how it is used, and that is what you are to our world. Might incarnate." The President said as he managed to place the medal over Omega's head.

Omega grasped the medal and looked at it.

"THIS IS MERELY A PIECE OF MEDAL." Omega stated, causing the vibe within the room to go down. "HOWEVER, HAVING IT COME FROM YOU HAS MADE IT MUCH MORE THAN THAT. IT HAS EARNED MY APPRECIATION." Omega stated, causing the crowd to go into an uproar of cheers and claps, everyone now amazed and inspired by Omega's words.

The President couldn't help but nod to the robot in appreciation for his kind words.

"Now look at that. Guess our boy can read the room." Rouge said to Shadow with a smirk.

"He always has. He's just too honest and doesn't see the point in sugarcoating." Shadow responded, causing Rouge to giggle in response.

"Rouge." The President spoke, earning the bat's attention who finally noticed he had a medal ready for her. "This I believe has been long overdue. You have been part of our ranks for a long while now and have gone above and beyond the call of duty. I am well aware you tend to have your own agenda, but when our nation and even the world needs you, you always answer the call, and it speaks volumes for your true character. You work in the shadows and when the mission is accomplished, you never expect a standing ovation of any kind. You show that a person is more than what is on the surface level. Like a jewel, it is not always the shine on the outside, but the strong character that has been made over time that gives it its true value. You showed such character in not only your efforts in aiding our nation and the world, but also in the formation of this team. Had it not been for you extending trust to both Omega and Shadow, our world would be without two amazing warriors who are now irreplaceable allies, same as you. As gratitude for all your efforts for the good of our nation, the world and its people, I present you with the highest honor we can bestow, and one long overdue. The United Medal. Thank you, Rouge." The President placed the medal over Rouge's head as the crowd let out applause for her.

'That's my partner.' Topaz thought with a proud smile as she clapped alongside the crowd.

"Thank you, Mr. President." Rouge thanked her superior with a smile before gently grasping her medal and examining it. 'It may not be a jewel, but it's still rather valuable.' Rouge thought with a genuine smile.

Christina then opened the final case, revealing the last medal.

The President took the medal before proceeding to turn and face Shadow.

"Shadow. What can I say? First off, I'd like to say… sorry." The President said, surprising the hedgehog.

"Mr. President." The Commander spoke up only for Christina to bring a hand up, signaling him to halt, which he begrudgingly, very much so, obliged to.

"Fifty years ago we let our fear corrupt us turning what was once a hope unlike any other into what had scared us to begin with. Fortunately, that hope had never faded away. It remained but is now something that this world is undeserving of. Words alone cannot express the regret this nation now has, and had we extended the trust that was needed, a better future would have occurred over the past that we had given ourselves. All those years lost cannot be given back and the people affected from that day I don't know if we can ever make it up to them, especially those still with us. However, the road to healing starts here." The President said as he proceeded to put the medal over Shadow's head. "Shadow the Hedgehog. I award you with the highest honor of the United Medal. I am aware you still have your hang-ups, but to everyone you are seen as a shining example of redemption and that no matter how much time has passed, it's never too late to make things right. You've proven your worth as an ally. I hope one day we can do the same for you." The President said, shocking the hedgehog with his words. "Thank you for your service." The President then bowed to Shadow, shocking him even further.

Everyone else was shocked by the President's actions.

After a moment, clapping was soon heard. It started with Chris, then Amy, followed by the rest of their friends with the crowd soon following.

Shadow looked at the crowd, shocked by the warm reception he was getting. He looked down at his medal, holding it in hand to find that it had the design of two hands intertwined in a handshake. Widely regarded as the symbol of trust throughout the world.

The only person who wasn't showing any kind of applause was the Commander.

Not only was he not moved by the President's words… he was downright livid over them.

The Commander gritted his teeth hard behind his lips as he fought to not show any emotion, but one can tell from his tightened fists that he was less than pleased.

"Commander, are you ready?" Christina asked the military leader only to notice him not responding. "Commander." Christina spoke again with a firmer tone.

"Understood." The Commander finally responded as he snapped his fingers.

Two male and a female G.U.N. operative dressed in formal female military attire and carrying three small cases, one in each of their hands with the G.U.N. insignia printed on the front of them.

The Commander walked over towards the President's side, with said superior turning his head towards the Commander and gave him a nod, signaling that it was now his turn to take the floor. The Commander cleared his throat before speaking.

"I'll keep this short since everything the President said is shared by the masses. I don't think any more needs to be said about your actions over recent events. You all did amazing work. That being said, there is still a single matter that needs to be addressed." The Commander said, before gesturing for the three G.U.N. agent to come by his side. "Omega, Rouge… Shadow. You three have sworn loyalty to our nation and gone above and beyond the call of duty to protect the people. In recognition of your actions, it has been decided that you three are to be awarded the position of G.U.N. First Class." The Commander said, as the three G.U.N. agents opened up the cases to reveal a G.U.N. badge that was golden with the design of wings around the side and Shadow, Rouge and Omega's names written at the top of them. "Congratulations." The Commander said, cordially as he was able to muster but clearly not enthusiastic over it if one pays close attention.

Despite the Commander's personal feelings over the matter, everyone else showed their support with more applause and genuine smiles on their faces.

"This is a surprise." Rouge said, staring down at her new badge with, well, surprise.

"WHERE DO I PUT THIS?" Omega asked, noticing the pin on the badge that was meant to be attached onto something less powerful than his metallic exterior.

Shadow stared down at the First Class G.U.N. badge in silence. This was… a mixed bag. Though he willingly joined, G.U.N. is still a sort of sore subject for him given what had happened, especially since experience still felt like it happened only about a month ago. Still… in order to help the world as he promised, G.U.N. was the best place to make it happen. That was proven as of recent, which means this badge now held a lot of relevance to the dark hedgehog.

'Maria… I hope this is good enough to you.' Shadow thought to himself, closing his eyes as he kept a firm yet tender hold on his new badge.

"You three have earned this status and are now one of our best units." The President said to the trio with a smile before looking towards the crowd to address them. "Here and now, I'd like to introduce everyone to our nation's newest squad. They worked in the shadows to make this all possible, so whenever you see darkness there will be nothing to fear as they will be there to make everything right, as it is supposed to be. I'd like the world to officially meet Team Dark." The President announced, earning a new round of applause as the newly named Team Dark turned to face the crowd.

Despite their appearance, way of doing things and their newly dubbed name, which sounds like it could be sinister, they were met with applause, cheerful and grateful expressions, and were photographed and recorded by the paparazzi and reporters.

"Team Dark, eh? I like the sound of that." Rouge said with a smirk.

"FITTING." Omega concurred.

Shadow looked back down at the badge in his hand as he thought it over. He then looked back towards the crowd. The people who once feared him now cheer for him. Again, mixed feelings, but when his eyes fell upon the rest of his friends within the crowd and seeing them show their support with smiles and applause for his heroic actions, that made things much clearer for him.

"Yeah. It is." Shadow said, now feeling more at ease.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Commander Tower was giving the black and red streaked hedgehog a subtle menacing glare.

'Disgusting. Just disgusting. They praise you when they don't know what you really are… but I do. I know exactly what you are, Shadow the Hedgehog.'

.

.

The event ended without a hitch. Everyone had finally gotten back home.

Everyone at the Thorndyke mansion made their way inside into the main hall, which had decent repairs made to it until professional renovators would show up.

"Well, that was a wonderful." Nelson said with a smirk.

"Sure was." Chuck said with a tired, drunk smile, walking pass his son as he then yawned. "Well, goodnight." Chuck said but before he could reach the stairs, he fell face first, unconscious from drinking too much.

"She only said two or three, and he went ahead and snuck a fourth one." Tanaka said with a disappointed sigh as he walked over and helped Chuck up to then guide him towards the scientist's bedroom.

"I'm going to go ahead and follow grandpa's lead. Eh, the going to bed thing." Chris said.

"Me too." Tails agreed as he rubbed his eye from tiredness.

"Night everyone." Chris said as he headed off.

"Goodnight, my darling sweet boy!" Lindsey said as she managed to wrap her only child in a tight, warm hug.

"Night, son." Nelson said as he joined in on the hug.

Everyone had been wishing one another goodnight afterwards.

However, the only one who didn't say a thing was Shadow, who was continuing to stare down at his medal, mulling over the night's event.

"It looks good on you." Amy spoke, catching Shadow's attention, finding that they were the only ones left in the main hall.

"It's just a piece of metal. Like Omega said." Shadow said.

"True, but he also said that how it was given gave it more meaning." Amy said with a smile.

"I suppose, but that isn't what matters. Everyone is safe from Eggman, and the world benefited from it. That's what's really important." Shadow said.

"True, but this is important as well." Amy said as she gently grabbed the medal between her fingers, examining it.

"How?"

"It proves that we were right about you. That I was right to trust you." Amy said with a warm smile, surprising Shadow. "I'm sure Maria would be proud of you."

Upon those words, Shadow looked down at the medal in her grasp.

"This medal isn't what brings pride." Shadow said as he passed her by. "It's those who words like that comes from that brings me fulfillment." Shadow said, causing Amy to turn to his retreating form in shock. The pink hedgehog watched as Shadow headed for the stairs but halted as he turned to her. "Good night, Amy." He said before proceeding up the stairs.

"Yeah… goodnight." Amy said with a blush across her cheeks.

Unknown to them, Sonic had come by when they were having their conversation, holding a small sandwich in his hands. He frowned upon seeing how close the pair were. He liked that they were friends and trusted each other a lot, but there was something that was nagging him in the back of his head.

Out of nowhere, a thought came to mind. A thought he would have disregarded in the past, but this time, he was willing to go for it.

"Hey, Amy." Sonic made his way over towards the pink hedgehog.

"Huh?" Amy was knocked out of her stupor as she turned to Sonic. "You're having a snack this late?"

"Don't worry about that. I just wanted to ask you something." Sonic said.

"Okay. What is it?" Amy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… would you… like to go on a date with me?" Sonic asked, shocking the female.

"E… excuse me?" Amy asked with utter disbelief at what she just heard.

"You know, a date. Hang out with me. Just one-on-one. You and me." Sonic clarified for the girl.

Amy was completely speechless. Since the day they first met she had waited for this moment… but now that it's here, she isn't saying anything. She always saw herself screaming 'Yes! Of course I will, Sonic!' But instead, she said nothing.

She wasn't even sure why she was being hesitant or why the butterflies in her stomach weren't going crazy as she thought they would have, but that's just how it was right now.

"Amy? You there?" Sonic said to the pink hedgehog, regaining her attention.

"Oh, uh, yes! Yes, I would like that, Sonic." Amy answered upon instinct.

"Well, alright!" Sonic said with a glad smile.

Unknown to either of them, Shadow had watched the whole scene from atop the second level. His hand was on the railing as the grip tightened with a frown on the dark hedgehog's face.

"Hmph." Shadow just walked away, focusing on getting to his room.

What was it to him if they went out on a date? It didn't involve him, so why does it grab his attention.

Regardless of the annoyance and confusion, one thing was clear: he was going to be angry.

.

.

Locked within an isolated room with a straight jacket tied around him, Eggman sat in the center with a stern expression on his face.

'This doesn't change as much as they think. All this is, is a minor setback. I will get free soon. After all, I don't need to be outside these walls to initiate any of my plans.' The doctor thought to himself with his confidence not deterred in the slightest, regardless of detainment. 'For now, it's too early for him to wake up. However, there is another who can help me attain freedom. I gave Bokkun the contingency plan of what to do with him if I ever got captured and now is the time. My grandfather's creation put me in here, and now another of my grandfather's achievements will get me out.'

End of Chapter 4

Happy New Year!

Kind of worked out I guess seeing as the first episode of the arc in the anime starts on it.

Honestly, this was my favorite chapter so far because of the badass fight scene I wrote. That was so much fun, and I wish we had something as epic as that for Sonic X. I mainly have to thank Sonic Prime for the inspiration which has some really good Sonic vs. Shadow fights.

I will admit though, it's sad to see the Fearless Year of Shadow finally at an end, but all good things must. It was a good year to be a Shadow fan, and it led to an awesome movie! I freaking loved Sonic 3 and am immensely satisfied, especially at the fact that it was also Amy Rose's debut at the end, which I'm sure at this point many Sonic fans know of. Maybe 2027 is going to be the Lovely Year of Amy, huh?

Hope you enjoyed what I put out. Until next time.

Takeshi1225, Out!