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~Somewhere In The Shatter-Verse
Sonic the Hedgehog’s day couldn’t get any worse.
First, he was in Green Hill Zone helping his friends defeat the notorious Dr. Eggman, who tracked down a mysterious relic known as the Paradox Prism. According to legend, it is said that it can unlock the outer reaches of the multiverse, accessing dimensions filled with endless possibilities. Despite the warnings of his best friend, the blue hedgehog spin dashed into the prism and split them into pieces – causing him, his friends, and arch-nemesis to be sucked into a dark blue and white void.
The whereabouts of Dr. Eggman and Sonic’s friends are unknown, but the blue hedgehog himself first awakened in New Yolk City – a place ruled by the Chaos Council which was a group organized by multiversal variants of the mad doctor. After teaming up with a group of Freedom Fighters, Sonic found himself in another universe before he soon channeled into another one.
As he began his journey across the dimensions, something clicked inside of him – he began to notice that every place was an altered version of Green Hill Zone and all of his friends took up different identities. In one universe, his friends were a band of rebels leading an army against a dictatorship, another world featured them fighting against a jungle predator, and the one he recently visited had his friends pursuing an ancient pirate treasure.
Little did Sonic know… that treasure was a piece of the Paradox Prism.
After an uneasy time fitting in with the pirate crew, Sonic ventured across the seas and located the shard. As he sped across the sands to get it, he tripped over himself and accidentally fell right on top of it.
Now, he found himself floating through the same blue void he encountered every time he’d visit a new zone.
But instead of finding yet another universe, he was stopped by a familiar face.
Shadow the Hedgehog.
Long before the world was shattered, the ebony hedgehog attempted to warn Sonic about what was going on, but in typical Sonic fashion, he didn’t listen to a single thing he said. Instead, he went straight to the fighting.
Now, the two were face to face once again.
Sonic, rubbing his forehead, looked up at his rival and widened his eyes. “Shadow?”
The black and red hedgehog clenched his fists and snarled, shooting a deadly glare.
Sonic gently facepalmed and sighed. “Ugh, I don’t have time to deal with whoever you are. I just want to go home.”
Shadow noticed a low sigh as Sonic mentioned their homeland, but as soon as he heard the word home, he gritted his teeth and tightened his fists again. Shaking them slightly, he stared the hedgehog down and replied, “Home? Home doesn’t exist anymore… BECAUSE OF YOU!”
And with that, the Ultimate Life Form used his air shoes to dash forward with his fist pulled back.
Realizing what was happening, Sonic waved his arms and legs, screaming at the top of his lungs.
Before he could move out of the way, Shadow smacked him right across the jaw and sent him flying through the void. Sonic fumbled around for a while, spinning backward and feeling like the world had gone upside down. He continued screaming before he caught wind of a floating turquoise crystal to his right. Spinning around, he aimed his feet toward the platform and landed right on top of it. With a sigh of relief, Sonic pressed his hand against his stomach and looked up – not even a second and Shadow was already charging toward him like a rampaging bull.
“Yikes!” Sonic shouted as he leaped out of the way, allowing Shadow to break the crystal platform with a single blow.
The cobalt hedgehog landed on another platform and watched his rival swerve back around for him – a black and red aura surrounded his body as he boosted forward and snarled loudly.
Just like before, Sonic dodged out of the way and repeated the same process at least three more times.
“Hold it, Shadow!” he called out, avoiding another attack. “We can talk about this!”
“What is there to talk about!?” Shadow snarled, throwing punches from left to right. He destroyed two more crystals before he finally caught up to Sonic and grabbed him by the shoulders. “You destroyed our home! Everything is gone all because you didn’t listen to me!”
With that, Shadow spun Sonic around before he flung him toward a crystal – watching him crash into it back first.
Sonic moaned in agony before he growled and avoided another punch.
“There’s a reason I didn’t listen to you!" the emerald-green hero retorted, blocking Shadow's next blow. "You attacked me first! I was just cruising through Green Hill getting ready to help everyone stop Eggman when you came out and attacked me! If you really wanted to talk, you could have just said – Hey, Sonic. It’s me, Shadow. Why don’t you stop running for a second so you can listen to me brood?”
“Shut up!” Shadow threw the other hand, but Sonic caught it too.
Both hedgehogs struggled against each other before the blue hero pushed the ebony rival off of him, charging up a spin dash. Before Shadow planned his next attack, he was met with a homing attack to the gut.
Sonic untucked and boosted to where Shadow was going, stopping him before he could crash into another crystal. He grabbed Shadow by his two top quills and slammed him against the shard, breaking it into pieces.
Shadow floated through the endless void for a bit before he opened his eyes and snarled again.
Just as he was about to do a spin dash of his own, his eyes widened when he noticed something different about his opponent.
Normally, Sonic would run around in red shoes and white gloves – but these were different. Instead of their traditional colors, they were brown and black with hints of gold. Most importantly, there were silver circles on both of his gloves. Shadow squinted his eyes as he noticed the circles, wondering what they could be.
It was at that moment he froze and remembered something.
Throughout his own journey, he'd been trying to communicate with Sonic but it would only happen if the blue hedgehog ran at a high speed. His memories were a bit faint, but he recalled Sonic generating power from those circles.
“Those silver things on your hands,” Shadow said. “Where did you get them?”
“Like I’d tell you,” Sonic sneered.
“Stop fighting and just tell me where you got them!”
“You’re telling me to stop fighting! You’re the one who attacked me!" Sonic shouted as he charged up another spin dash and revved right into Shadow's face. "Look, Shadow. As much as I enjoy our little contests, I have no time to deal with you right now! I need to find all of these shards so I can get back home!"
Shadow broke free of the hedgehog’s grasp and kicked him across the face. “You think I don’t know that!? I saw you running across different dimensions! There’s some kind of power coming off from those silver circles! I can sense it!”
"Oh, yeah? Let's see you sense this!” Sonic punched Shadow twice before he kicked him and boosted into his stomach, sending him flying across the void.
The dark combatant stopped himself by landing on a crystal and leaping off of it, charging toward his rival with the intent to maim. Shadow gritted his teeth and clenched his fists again, ready to strike. But Sonic had a different idea, he dodged out of the way and roundhouse-kicked Shadow in the back of the head.
The black hedgehog slipped up and fell onto another crystal.
He got up and rubbed his quills. “HEY!”
“That’s what you get for attacking me earlier in Green Hill!”
Shadow stood up and brushed himself off. "I'll admit. I didn't have the best approach and I apologize.”
“An apology from you? I can’t tell if you’re the real Shadow or some doppelganger from a Shatter-Space.”
“Shatter-Space? Doppelganger?” he raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing that concerns you, Faker. Stay here and go about your business while I figure out how to save the world," Sonic said back as he turned around and floated toward the nearest crystal. He hopped across a few of them before he suddenly came across a bright white portal. "Maybe this will take me somewhere. Hopefully, I'll find a dimension where everyone knows me this time."
“Sonic, wait!” Shadow called out as he began his pursuit; he jumped across the same crystals and reached his hand out.
Unfortunately, he didn’t account for his rival noticing and kicking his hand away.
“Argh!” Shadow snarled, grasping his injured fingers.
Sonic kicked the hedgehog in the face before he leaped through the portal.
“Come back here!” Shadow shouted as he chased after the blue blur.
~A Snowy Mountain – Somewhere In The Shatter-Verse
It didn’t take long for Sonic to step through the portal and notice that his shoes were different. This time, they had a bright blue hue with a white snowflake pattern all around – and the same design was on his gloves. He smiled and looked up, seeing a world that sparked a bit of nostalgia.
He was on the top of a mountain that was covered in snow. So was most of the area, and some of the lakes were frozen solid. The sky was bright blue, and snowflakes slowly fell from above. Not a single cloud was in sight as the sun shined bright.
“This looks like Ice Cap Zone.” Sonic scratched his head. “I wonder if I’m back home.”
Just then, Shadow stepped through the portal and looked around. “Sonic, I-“
But the hedgehog turned around and gasped. He grabbed a pile of snow from the ground, rolled it into a ball, and chucked it right into his rival’s face. Shadow fell on his rear and wiped the snow off of his face, grunting in annoyance.
"Sorry, Shadow. But I'm not in the mood to fight you anymore, I gotta find out how we can get home," Sonic winked. He jumped over the side of the mountain and began to free-fall toward the ground below.
Shadow finished cleaning himself off before he leaped after Sonic and pressed both arms and legs together, which increased his falling speed. Within a matter of seconds, the ebony hedgehog caught up to the blue blur and grabbed him by the back of his quills. Once Sonic was in his grasp, Shadow reached back and grabbed the one thing Sonic forgot he had.
A Chaos Emerald.
The shiny green gem was firmly grasped in Shadow’s hand as he tossed it upward and caught it.
“CHAOS CONTROL!”
The two of them suddenly teleported and landed on the ground below, where Shadow – still holding his enemy by the quills – spun him around two times before he chucked him into a snowy tree. Once Sonic's face collided with the icy bark, he fell to the ground and was covered in a pile of snow from above.
“If you’re smart, you’ll stay down,” Shadow grunted. “Now let’s talk.”
Sonic slowly got up and cracked his fingers.
He clenched his fists when he suddenly heard a loud scratching noise. Looking around to see what that was, he gazed down upon his wrists to see that two objects had appeared before him. Shadow saw them too and widened his eyes, wondering how they got there.
Two swords made of ice were wrapped around Sonic’s wrists.
“Whoa…” the blue hedgehog said, admiring the shiny blades. He swung them around a bit before he glared at Shadow and smirked. “I’m not one for using sharp objects, but unless you want to become a kabob – you’ll let me take care of things.”
“The last time you did that, you caused a fracture in the multiverse,” Shadow retorted with a grunt. “Stop messing around and let me talk. I’ve spent some time in that void and I’ve been able to track you down. I don’t know what’s going on, but I was hoping you could tell me-“
Sonic pressed both hands and a snowball suddenly appeared. He threw his arm back before he chucked the ball forward, which Shadow dodged this time.
“Are you an idiot!?” Shadow yelled. “I’m trying to help you!”
“Yeah, because you did such a good job last time,” Sonic rolled his eyes.
He summoned more snowballs from his new gloves and kept throwing them forward – increasing his speed by the second.
Shadow felt as if he was being shot at by Dr. Eggman’s robots except snowballs weren’t half as deadly. He used his air shoes to skate across the area and hide behind a large tree, where Sonic ran forward and kept pelting everything with his new powers.
Shadow took a moment to think of a plan before he snapped his fingers and rolled to the left – leaving his hiding spot.
“Chaos Spear!” he shouted as a yellow blade came out and struck Sonic in the stomach.
The blue blur's snowball dropped to the ground, but his blades remained intact. Speaking of which, Sonic got up and rubbed the blades against each other. With full force, he ran toward Shadow and started swinging. Summoning another Chaos Spear, the ebony warrior clashed his golden weapons against the blades and deflected every blow that came towards him. Sonic swung at Shadow's chest, legs, and arms – he didn't want to seriously injure Shadow; he just wanted to subdue him so that the fight could end quickly. He moaned every time he missed and would snarl whenever Shadow would try to attack him.
Both hedgehogs bashed their weapons together like professional fencers before Sonic suddenly jumped over Shadow and kicked him in the back, causing the green Chaos Emerald to fall to the ground.
Sonic landed near the gemstone and picked it up right as Shadow recovered from his fall.
“Give that back!” he demanded.
“Maybe this Chaos Emerald can help me,” Sonic said.
“It can’t! Don’t ask how I know!”
“Why not? I’m sure Super Sonic would be able to fix the Shatter-Verse and get things back to normal.”
“You don’t know that for sure. You could end up making the situation worse just like always!” Shadow charged at the hedgehog and started throwing punches left and right.
Sonic dodged a few of them before he leaped up and threw a roundhouse kick, missing Shadow completely. “And you attacking me isn’t making it worse? If anything, you’re just delaying me! I’ve found several shards in multiple dimensions so clearly, that means I’m doing something right!”
Shadow blasted Sonic with a Chaos Spear and pinned him against a tree. “Do you have those shards with you?”
“Ugh… n-no,” Sonic coughed.
“Then how could you be fixing this?”
“It’s complicated!” Sonic snarled as he kicked Shadow off of him and revved up another spin dash. He crashed his whole body into Shadow’s stomach and fired three punches, an uppercut, and a volley kick. “I can’t touch those things without them sending me to another zone! Do you want to know how many versions of Amy I’ve met throughout lately? One of them dominated the freakin’ jungle!”
“Where’s the real Amy!?” Shadow barked, punching Sonic across the jaw.
Sonic got up and landed the same blow. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out! I can’t do that if you keep wasting my time!”
“I wouldn’t be fighting if you’d shut up and listen to me!” Shadow retorted, firing five Chaos Spears all at once.
Sonic ran around and dodged each of them before he climbed up a tree and sat on a branch.
“What do you mean you’ve met different versions of Amy?” Shadow asked. “What other worlds have you been to!?”
“Why should I trust anything you have to say!?” Sonic replied, folding his arms.
“Sonic… I’m not your enemy.”
“But you did attack me in Green Hill.”
“I know… and again, I apologize. I was… angry with you.”
“When are you never angry?”
"Let me explain – you and Eggman had a battle and during that fight, you deeply tapped into your power and caused a small earthquake. It broke a piece of the mountain. I wanted to know what was going on and again, I apologize for not having the best approach… but you didn't tell me what was going on. When you broke the Paradox Prism, I'd been stuck in that void wondering what was going on. That was when I saw you in that place – that world with all of those robots sent by-“
“The Chaos Council,” Sonic stood up and clenched his fists. “A rebellion and I were fighting against them.” He then looked to the right with a frown. “They… probably hate me again for disappearing.”
“Chaos… Council?” Shadow raised an eyebrow, but shook his head. “Never mind that. Every time you went fast, I was able to communicate with you. I tried to warn you about misusing the Paradox Prism, but you wouldn’t heed my warnings. Sonic, I need you to listen now. I want to go home as much as you do, but we can’t do that unless you tell me everything you know.”
Sonic registered all of that within his head and closed his eyes. For a brief moment, he thought about spilling the beans, but he recalled all of the times he and Shadow battled in the past. That was when he opened his eyes and shook his head. “Sorry, Shadow. But I need to do this on my own. I caused this mess… I created New Yolk City… I’m the reason my friends are gone. If anyone’s gonna save the world, it’s me.”
“You’re being reckless! Let me-“
“Help? Yeah, no thanks. The last person I need help from is you,” Sonic smirked before he leaped off of the tree and took off down the snowy forest.
Shadow shielded himself from some snow that brushed up from the take-off and he took off skating.
Due to them being just as fast as each other, both hedgehogs were neck and neck and they caught wind of each other’s glances. Sonic increased his speed to the point his feet mimicked the shape of a figure-eight, but even that wasn’t enough to stop Shadow from trying to spin dash into him. Sonic leaped over the hedgehog’s red aura and slide underneath another set of Chaos Spears.
“Sonic, stop!”
“So, you can hit me? No thanks.”
Shadow hung on to one of the trees and fired more Chaos Spears. “That’s your problem, Sonic! You never listen! Tails tried to warn you not to shatter the prism, but what did you do!? What did you do!? You shattered it anyway!”
One lucky shot caused Sonic to break his speed and tumble across the ground.
He hit his back against a tree and rubbed his head.
Just as he was about to get up and attack, he noticed that his shoes were glowing.
Shadow hopped onto another branch and saw the same thing. “Hmm?”
“Whoa… my kicks are glowing again. That means another shard is nearby.”
“Your shoes can detect a shard?” Shadow inquired, stroking his chin. “Interesting. How is that possible?”
Sonic spin dashed into Shadow’s chest, knocking him off the tree. He then grabbed the branch, swung around, and shot himself into the air. He boosted through the sky before he descended downward and landed on a snowy bush – his shoes getting brighter by the second.
Despite Shadow being close behind him, Sonic had no intention of stopping.
Eventually, another piece of the Paradox Prism was buried in the snow – the sharp pointy top was sticking out, waiting to be grabbed.
“Finally,” Sonic said.
But Shadow appeared in front of him and smacked him across the face.
Sonic landed in another bush before he got up and watched Shadow approach the shard.
“What… does this do?”
“Don’t touch that!” Sonic shouted.
He jumped up and ran towards Shadow, landing a solid punch against his face.
But in the process, the shard fell right on top of Sonic’s head – causing both him and his opponent to disappear.
~The Ocean – Somewhere In The Shatter-Verse
A flash of light sent Sonic and Shadow into another dimension, where Sonic found himself floating through the air for a while. He turned around and saw nothing in sight except Shadow, who had crashed into the sand below. Sonic was about to say a snarky remark about how the dirt suits Shadow so well, but just when he opened his mouth, he felt a mountain of liquid fall inside and he immediately closed it. Covering it tightly, he looked around and noticed the whole area was light blue, aquatic, and covered in sand. The sun’s light shined from above, but nothing could be seen from afar.
Sonic widened his eyes and was tempted to gasp, but he held back knowing what would happen.
He and Shadow were stuck underwater.
Sonic looked around to see if he could find any air bubbles as he feared the worst and much to his surprise, he located one straight to his right. Smiling with relief, he swam towards it as fast as he could and inhaled a fresh air bubble that came out of the ground.
Closing his mouth, he pressed his hand against a beating heart and shut both eyes for a brief moment; he was relieved to have found one so he could stay alive.
Unfortunately, he forgot about one important thing.
Shadow swam from behind and kicked Sonic in the rear, inhaling a bubble for himself.
Sonic swam around and tried to rev up a spin dash, but Shadow cupped both hands together and teleported toward the blue hedgehog, landing a solid kick against his shin.
Sonic went flying to the left before Shadow reappeared and kicked him upward.
Then, he flew in from above and slammed Sonic’s chest with both fists.
Finally – before Sonic could descend downward – Shadow appeared and finished things off with a final kick.
Since they were underwater, Sonic didn’t skyrocket as fast as he normally would, but he flew fast enough to crash against the sand.
In the process, sand particles flew around him as he wiped his eyes and waved his arms upward, trying to swim up.
But as he did that, he took a look at his gloves and noticed something different – they were white and dirty – just like how they were when he first got to New Yolk City.
Looking down at his shoes, he noticed they were back to their classic designs only they were dirtier than before; they were blanketed in ash and dirt.
But if there’s one thing that made Sonic’s heart jump out from his stomach…
…it’s that the silver circles given to him by a close friend were gone.
Sonic looked around for the powerful items before he found one floating beside him. With no time to lose, Sonic swam up to grab it but he was punched by Shadow, who held him down by the forehead and he grabbed the circle for himself.
Tempted to shout, Sonic sealed his mouth to prevent more water from getting through.
Shadow pressed the blue hedgehog down against the sand as he inspected the object, admiring its craftsmanship and its power. This thing was able to make Sonic’s shoes and gloves appear differently and it also granted him some kind of strange power. How was that even possible? Shadow thought of many answers to his question, but one thing was for certain, he had it in his possession meaning Sonic would no longer “abuse” it.
Speaking of Sonic, he swatted his arms as if he was trying to catch a fly. Due to him being pinned down, he couldn’t reach Shadow’s face to give it a good old smack, and Shadow himself sneered at the hedgehog.
Finally, Sonic grunted and kicked the piece out of Shadow's hand. Then, he grabbed the hedgehog's hand and bit his pointer finger, making Shadow open his mouth and groan in agony. Shadow quickly closed his trap as the water came inside and he looked at the silver circle. Before reaching it, Sonic punched him twice and kicked him in the jaw. Swimming up towards it, he grabbed it and placed it back on his right glove – but just before it could transform his clothes again, Shadow swooped in and grabbed it, trying to yank it out of Sonic’s hands.
Annoyed by this, Sonic kept a strong grip on his item and pulled it towards him, trying to kick Shadow with both of his feet. The ebony combatant dodged all of the kicks and struggled to release Sonic’s grip over the object.
Both hedgehogs kept this struggle up for a while, trying to see who can outmatch the other.
Both eyes were squinting.
Both hearts pounding.
Both muscles aching.
And both grips tightened.
None of them had the intention of letting go of what they were fighting for.
Sonic was just about to head-butt Shadow when all of a sudden, his vision became hazy. He shook his head and squinted his eyes, only to see there were three more Shadows at the same time. Holding his breath tighter, he felt his mouth start to give out and it slowly opened, allowing more water to get inside. Sonic's arms started to feel achy as his grip on the silver circle got weaker and weaker. Shadow was just about to take it for himself, but he looked forward and saw Sonic close his eyes and opened his mouth all the way. Little bubbles escaped and he began to fall backward.
Gasping, Shadow looked around for his Chaos Emerald and realized he didn’t have it.
Panicking, the black blur searched high and low for the magic gem when he remembered that Sonic stole it back in the snowy mountain zone. Swimming towards him, Shadow pulled the Chaos Emerald from Sonic’s backside and held it in his hands.
Grabbing the blue hedgehog and holding him close, Shadow gripped the emerald and shouted, “CHAOS CONTROL!”
Despite his excessive gurgling, the Chaos Emerald heard its user’s command and both hedgehogs were consumed by a white light.
~The Beach – Somewhere In The Shatter-Verse
Above the ocean both combatants were brawling in – there stood a sunny beach with palm trees, soft sand, and small crabs roaming around. Sea shells covered most of the ground; however, they were closer to the water than they were on the top part of the land.
All was quiet and peaceful before a white light appeared and most of the crabs jumped up and ran off.
Both hedgehogs collapsed on the ground, feeling the soft seashore against their faces.
Sonic and Shadow layed on their faces for a few moments before the former woke up and coughed, spitting a flood of water from his mouth. After all of the water came out, he released more coughs and collapsed on his backside. Rubbing the sand off of his gloves, he rubbed his eyes but quickly cringed as a piece of particle got in his eye. Shaking his head, he cleaned his eye and shook his hand, cleaning it off better this time.
As for Shadow, all he did was lay down on his back and look up at the sunny sky. Panting heavily, he slammed both hands against the ground and closed his eyes.
He looked at his right glove and saw the Chaos Emerald. Then, he switched his attention to the opposite hand and saw the silver circle he took from Sonic.
Speaking of which, the blue hedgehog rolled over on his side and glared at his rival.
He gently pressed both hands against the ground and stood upward, clenching both fists tightly.
Shadow saw this and rolled his eyes. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Give… that… back,” Sonic snarled. “Nine made that for me.”
“Nine?” Shadow inquired as he got off the ground and planted both shoes against the sand. “Who’s Nine?”
“None of your business.”
“Do you want to know something funny?" Shadow asked in a stern tone. "That's what you said to me when I asked you why you were going to fight Eggman in Green Hill! Had you not been so cocky and told me the truth, none of this would’ve happened!”
"Well, it's not my fault you went straight to the fighting!" Sonic yelled back, stepping back and forth. "I would've made it to my mission on time had you not acted like such a jerk!"
"I told you I apologize!"
“Sorry isn’t gonna cut it! Give me back my relic and get out of my sight!”
“Why? So, you can mess things up again!?”
“Oh, sweet Chaos,” Sonic moaned and facepalmed. He turned around and ignored Shadow’s rant.
“Do you want to know why I attacked you in Green Hill!?”
“Please enlighten me,” the cobalt hero said sarcastically.
“I was concerned by the earth-shattering quake you caused during your fight with Eggman! You literally shook the world and that concerned me! I’ve never seen that kind of power from you! Clearly, something had to be wrong, so I needed to investigate! I knew you weren’t going to listen if I approached you peacefully, so I needed to use brute force! I am well aware it wasn’t the best idea and I’m sorry for that, but you should have told me what was going on!”
“Well, excuse me if I didn’t want to talk to a guy who punched me in the face! Did I mention you were the one who attacked me? No? Here’s a reminder… YOU ATTACKED ME!”
Shadow growled and continued to shout. “Yeah? Well, at least I’m not the one who fractured the stability of the multiverse! I was in that cave when you, Rouge, and the others were fighting Eggman! I saw you run for that prism despite the fact Tails told you not to! Tails is your best friend, isn't he!? I'm sure he listens to everything you say! Why couldn’t you do the same for him!?”
“I don’t need to listen to this,” Sonic rolled his eyes and turned around. He started to walk away when Shadow stomped beside him.
"And that's my problem with you, Sonic! You never listen to anyone but yourself! You ignored Tails' plea, you refused to heed my warning, and look where that got you!" he stopped as Sonic continued walking. "LOOK WHERE THAT GOT US!”
Sonic stopped in his tracks and felt anger roam through his veins. His fists were closed, and his eyes were as red as a tomato. He felt steam coming out of his ears; he was that angry, yet he remained calm enough to let Shadow keep talking.
“All of this could have been avoided had you not been so reckless!”
“At least I’m trying to undo my mistake!” Sonic roared at the top of his lungs, catching Shadow off-guard. “What have you been doing, huh!? I’ve been running around all these worlds being shot at by Badniks and various versions of my friends! I’m trying to save the world and what the heck were you doing!? Huh!? Nothing! You did nothing! All you did was sit there in some random void and attack me again! That’s what you always do, Shadow! Every time something happens, you always blame me! You think fighting me is the best option you got well guess what!? As much as I like kicking the crap out of you, it doesn’t solve anything! I could be exploring another universe trying to figure out how to fix this mess, but no! You just have to keep being a one-note jerk!”
“Would a one-note jerk constantly warn about what happens when you mess with the prism shard!? Would a one-note jerk go out of his way to prevent a crisis!? WOULD A ONE-NOTE JERK SAVE YOU FROM DROWNING IN THE OCEAN!?”
“YOU WERE ABOUT TO LET ME DROWN! WHAT DO YOU WANT, A THANK YOU!? YES, SHADOW! THANK YOU FOR ALMOST LETTING ME DROWN IN THE OCEAN WHILE YOU MAKE OFF WITH THE ONLY THING THAT ALLOWS ME TO TRAVEL BETWEEN DIMENSIONS!”
A moment of silence struck the two as they were in each other’s faces – huffing and puffing.
Sonic glared deeply into Shadow’s eyes before he said. “Do you think I’m not trying to save everyone?”
He shrugged and motioned to the environment around him. "This is all new territory for me… can I be honest? I have no idea what I'm doing… I've been through similar stuff like this, but… this is a first for me. I've never been to other universes where I don't exist and my friends constantly treat me like I'm the bad guy… the only friend I have is Nine, who's a version of Tails who grew up as a mad scientist but that doesn't matter to you, does it?"
Shadow remained silent.
“I regret not listening to Tails. I regret not listening to you – you’re right… I was reckless. Before I found out about the Paradox Prism, Dr. Eggman sent one of his Super Badniks to fight Knuckles, Amy, Tails, and me. I thought he was inside of that thing and he wanted me to attack him so I did. I put all of my power into that spin dash despite Tails telling me not to, but I didn’t care… I just wanted to beat Eggman again. Little did I know, he was recording my speed data. The result of my spin attack caused part of the mountain to crumble, which revealed the prism’s location… I led him right to it. You should have seen the disappointed look on Tails’ face that day. Never in my entire life have I ever seen my little brother so upset… and what hurts is that I made him feel that way.”
Sonic closed his eyes and sighed deeply, covering both eyes. He rubbed them gently and quivered his lip. “I… I know I messed up… and you’re right. I should have come clean… I’m sorry, Shadow. I’m sorry for not telling you the truth, I’m sorry for letting Eggman trick me into revealing the Paradox Prism, I’m sorry for not listening to you or Tails, I’m sorry for everything… if I could take it all back, I would. But I can’t… I can’t change the past, but I can change the future. Again, I don’t know how…”
The blue hedgehog paused before he said his last words, “…but I’m going to try.”
Shadow was taken aback by everything that was said. His jaw dropped to the ground and his eyes lit up like stars in the sky.
His arch-rival wiped his nose and sniffed before he held out his hand. “Shadow… I need that thing back.”
The black and red hedgehog stared at Nine’s invention for a few seconds, debating his next move. For the next minute or two, he veered from the item back to Sonic. With a quiet huff, he nodded and finally handed it back to where it belonged.
Sonic took the item and placed it back on his right glove, which transformed his clothes into the same style they were in when he ventured with Captain Knuckles the Dread and his pirate crew. Without cracking a smile, the blue hedgehog nodded and spoke in a quiet tone.
“Thank you… I’m sorry.”
He turned around and began walking away.
Shadow huffed one last time before he stared at the ground and pondered his thoughts – despite Sonic being the one to instigate this disaster, he had a role to play too. Had he not been so aggressive, he could have gotten his information quicker and Dr. Eggman could have been apprehended. Everyone would have been okay and Green Hill would have been unscathed. This made Shadow recall a promise he once made to a certain someone about keeping the world safe. She wanted him to protect the planet and its people and the battle against Sonic made him feel like he failed. With a deep exhale, Shadow opened his eyes and watched Sonic walk toward the edge of the water – trying to figure out where he should go next.
The Ultimate Life Form watched from afar before he finally approached him and said his name.
“Sonic,”
The Shatter-Verse traveler stopped and listened.
Shadow couldn’t think of the right words for a minute but soon, he came out with, “I’m… sorry too.”
Sonic raised both eyebrows in shock. “You shouldn’t have to be.”
A quick pause allowed Shadow to think about what he wanted to get off of his chest. “Why? You’re right about me being too aggressive. I technically had a role to play in this. If I hadn’t attacked you, I would have helped you and your team Eggman sooner. Yes, you shattered the prism… but I made you late for your mission. That is something I can’t undo… I’m sorry.”
“Nah, it’s cool.”
“Weren’t you complaining about me attacking you a second ago?”
“Yeah, but…” Sonic stopped for a moment and sighed. “Honestly, if I were in your shoes and I heard a cocky blue hedgehog used his powers to shake the world, I would have attacked him too… I gotta work on my listening skills. I should be the one who’s sorry for causing this whole thing… I’m sorry, Shadow.”
Shadow stood there with a neutral expression before he did crack a slight smile. “I’m… still angry about this whole thing, but… the fact you’re willing to fix it shows you do care. I’ll accept your apology once we save the world.”
"You got it,” Sonic winked.
Both of them sat in silence for a brief moment before Shadow had something on his mind.
“Sonic…”
“Yes?”
“I commend you for keeping your determination. I don't know what happened in those other worlds but it must've hurt knowing there are places out there where you don't exist, which results in your friends acting differently."
“Yeah,” Sonic placed a hand on his hip. “It took some time to get used to.”
“Answer me this… what worlds have you traveled to?”
"Well… let me tell you this first. They're all different versions of Green Hill."
“Hmm?”
“Yeah, it was weird. Every world I travel to, I see the same loop de loop as the one back home. Every location is just Green Hill remodified.”
“I see… how many worlds have you been to?”
“Three. There’s New Yolk City which is ruled by an organization called the Chaos Council. It’s managed by five variants of Eggman. I worked with a small rebel group led by Knuckles and Rouge to stop them… Amy was there, and she was a robot named Rusty Rose and Tails… well, he called himself Nine and he was… he was…” Sonic paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. “He was different than the one we know. Heck, he almost reminded me of you.”
Shadow rolled his eyes.
“I’m kidding,” Sonic joked. “Nine was the one who helped make this silver thing. It's meant to help me travel through the universes or Shatter-Spaces as he calls them. I found one of the shards in the Chaos Council's HQ and I traveled to a different Shatter-Space. This time – Amy was a fierce jungle warrior named Thorn and she became enemies with Rouge, Knuckles, Tails, and Big. She was trying to prevent them from gathering supplies from her jungle."
“Okay… and the last one?”
“This one actually reminded me of Blaze’s dimension. It was a pirate world. Knuckles was a captain who used to be a feared sailor, but something happened and he became a coward.”
“Knuckles being a coward is something I find hard to believe.”
“Tell me about it, ha-ha,” Sonic smiled. “Once I got there, I helped him get his courage back and he helped me find the last shard. The moment I touched it and entered that void… that’s when I saw you.”
“Interesting how those three worlds center around your friends. New Yolk is about Tails, Amy is the center of the jungle world, and Knuckles is the star of the pirate world. It makes me wonder what Rouge and Big’s worlds are like.”
“I can only imagine,” Sonic shrugged. “Going back to the Chaos Council for a second… they know about the Shatter-Spaces and they sent Rusty Rose to the pirate world. She almost got away with the prism had my crew and I not stopped her. She may be stuck with them, but I know it won’t last long; she’ll be coming for me sooner or later.”
“One question about this council, is it run by the real doctor?”
“Nope. None of them recognize me.”
“And the same is said for your friends, correct?”
“Yes.”
“So… you and I were the only ones to make it out of the blast in one piece. I wonder why… but what about the silver thing Nine gave to you? Why did he make them?”
“When I first arrived in New Yolk, my shoes started sparking and glowing. Nine scanned me and said I had some kind of energy inside of my body. That energy allows me to react with the shards and travel between dimensions. I don’t know much about it, but… it’s mostly helped.”
Shadow stroked his chin. “It’s possible that since you were in the epicenter of the blast, you absorbed part of the prism’s energy. That’s why when we were in that snowy place, your shoes reacted to the shard’s energy.”
“Do you have that same power too?”
“I… don’t know. I haven’t had the same problems you did.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
“What is your next move? What is your plan?”
“Well, my original plan was to travel between dimensions and locate the shard pieces but it’s a little hard to do what when all the shards do is send me to other locations.”
“Does that happen to anyone else?”
“No. Knuckles the Dread picked up one of the shards and nothing happened to him.”
“Then it’s clear that since you have the shard’s energy, it reacts to you. Anyone who doesn’t have that energy is fine.”
“So, what you’re saying is… I can’t touch it,” Sonic moaned. “Great.”
“Don’t be discouraged… you just need to get someone to help you,” Shadow cracked his fingers and nodded. “And you have someone right here.”
Sonic’s eyes widened. “Wait… you want to help me?”
“It’s the only way we can fix the Paradox Prism and restore balance to the Shatter-Spaces.”
“Since you have a Chaos Emerald, do you think our super forms will do anything?”
“Let’s not risk that. Chaos Energy is different compared to what we’re dealing with now.”
“Gotcha,” Sonic winked. “Okay, Shadow. I’m down for a little team-up. Where do we-“
“Before we agree to work together, I need you to promise me something.”
The blue hedgehog remained still before he nodded.
Shadow took a deep breath before he said, “Promise me that you’ll listen to whatever I need to say, and I will do the same for you. In fact,… I need you to listen to any allies we come across. If we see this Nine character or any other friends you’ve made, I need you to promise me you’ll listen to them. I don’t want you making the same mistake you did before.”
Sonic acknowledged what was said with another nod and smiled. “I promise.”
Shadow mirrored that expression and held out his hand. “Good.”
Sonic shook his new partner’s hand and the two exchanged soft smiles.
They soon released each other’s hands.
“So… is there a shard around here?” Shadow inquired.
“Let me see,” Sonic replied.
He took a few steps forward and stuck out his foot.
Aiming to the right – no signature was found.
Aiming to the left – same result.
Aiming to the middle caused his shoe to glow bright white.
“Gotcha,” Sonic smirked. “Down this way.”
“Perfect,” Shadow replied. “Let’s get moving before it’s too late.”
“Got it… race ya!”
With that, Sonic the Hedgehog took off faster than the speed of light.
Shadow was left with an annoyed look, but that soon morphed into a casual grin as he boosted down the sandy path – where he caught up with Sonic.
The two hedgehogs ran together as the sun set below the horizon.
Both of them had no idea what they were in for, but they didn’t care – all they wanted to was save the world and go home.
END OF STORY