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The shift is so sudden he almost crashes into the ground.
For a moment, he can barely comprehend what's happening. A breath, and instead of bolting through the prismatic-energy filled air that left a metallic taste on his tongue and made his skin itch, he's hit by a fresh breeze. A second, and his ears fill with the chirping of birds and rustling of palm leaves instead of the deafening wind fighting against him, the only sound staying the same being his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. A blink, the purple void and the glowing portal, the only way home, is replaced by green grass, loops and a sunny sky.
For a second, Shadow feels relief.
Then he trips, but somehow manages to stop himself from falling face first into the grass under his feet despite knowing that doesn't make any sense, at the speed he was going there should be a crater around him. He blinks several times, trying to adjust to going from the speed of sound to standing in a field, the adrenaline still pumping in his veins, still slightly dizzy and weirdly light despite carrying another person-
In that exact moment he realizes he's not holding Sonic anymore.
Instead, there is a single chaos emerald sitting innocently in his hand.
Shadow stares at his arms, almost dumbfounded. His other hand is still in the air, like he was still holding something, holding him. The realization slowly sinks in, like a cold thread, sliding it's way under his ribs. In sudden panic he looks around for the blue hedgehog, he wants to yell for him, but his voice dies in his throat. It's not like Sonic would even be able to respond in the state he was in.
Sonic is gone.
Shadow's ears droop and he sucks in a breath because it shouldn't be possible. He did it. They did it, they put together the paradox prism, they saved the shatterverse, they brought back Green Hill and he was standing in the middle of it alone.
Quick, he's not gonna make it!
He was too late.
Shadow throws his head back, his free hand gripping his quills as he glares at the sky, the bright blue almost mocking him. He grits his teeth, his other hand clenching the chaos emerald with such force it would have cracked if it was a normal gem. The pit in his stomach quickly turns into boiling rage that he doesn't bother trying to quench.
With a yell, he slams his hand into a nearby boulder, which immediately cracks on impact.
Once again, with no one to talk to, with no one even knowing that someone was gone, without even a body to bury, he lets his grief out in one of the only ways he knows how to.
Because that's what it is, isn't it?
Grief.
Shadow's familiar enough with the feeling by now.
He does it over and over, slamming and kicking and yelling until the rocks crack and break and shatter.
How could he let this happen?
A kick.
Why did he let Sonic give up his energy?
A punch.
Why wasn't he faster?
Hands raised, about to slam into the remains of the destroyed boulder, the chaos emerald shining in the sun-
Why the hell is the chaos emerald here?
Shadow stops, his anger temporarily forgotten as he focuses on the gem. The gem that shouldn't exist right now because it feel into the void right in front of Shadow. It should by all means be gone. Yet here it is.
As Shadow looks around, something he didn't notice because of how overwhelmed he was with everything, is that he isn't in the cave of the paradox prism. No, he's actually a few hundred feet away, which he didn't question, that portal could have spit them out anywhere, but now that he thought about this, he isn't sure if he even physically left the portal or if he just appeared after leaving it.
Exactly where he was a few minutes before the prism shattered.
And if Shadow's here with the emerald, then-
He is already running before he even finishes the thought.
He's sprinting towards the mountain, his only thoughts being the cave of the paradox prism. He can already feel the naive hope bloom in his chest but he almost immediately starts to push it down, he can't let himself hope yet, Sonic might still be gone. It could just be denial.
His heart is about to beat out of his chest, his brain constantly chanting you better be alive, you better be alive, you better be fucking alive as the mountain gets closer and closer but still feels too far from reach, always in front of him yet always too far away-
"...another one of those truck stop chilidogs on the way over?"
Shadow is close enough to make out Knuckles's, their Knuckles's words now, but the laugh that follows them makes his breath stop for a second.
"Something like that"
He's okay. He's okay and alive and not dying and apparently feeling well enough to be a smartass.
Not that almost dying ever stopped him.
Shadow exhales in relief. It's fine, Sonic's fine, everything's fine.
Fucking finally.
"You and your furry friends are adorable when you try this hard, hedgehog! But the result is inevitable"
Shadow scowls at Eggman's taunts. Even if he knows Sonic is okay, he is still pissed to all hell and hearing the asshole that started this whole thing is NOT helping.
As he finally reaches the entrance, he takes in the situation - Sonic's friend group standing protectively in front of the paradox prism with Eggman marching towards them.
Shadow holds up the chaos emerald as his eyes lock with Sonic's, who gives him a nod and a wide grin.
As Shadow teleports the paradox prism out of the cave, as he discusses where to hide such a powerful thing with everyone in the aftermath, as he looks from under the palmtree he's leaning on at Sonic, who's laughing together with his friends, he feels glad everything is going back to the way it should be.