Archive of Our Own

Shadow had to keep moving.

He sprinted between massive walls. He kicked to the side, pushing off the terrain, and the occasional Grim robot trying to grab him. Behind him, a horde of bots was following.

His stamina had not been tried like this in a long time. Endless running, with an endless army in pursuit. Staying alive down here, in this enormous canyon, in a barren world. Nine’s world.

He was an intruder, one who couldn’t leave. Hiding was his best option, if he could get out of sight. He was desperate to avoid being killed or incapacitated. If Sonic came back, which was far from a guarantee, then Shadow had to be present. To prevent him from doing anything stupid.

Two robots awaited him in the distance. He did not slow down. Covering ground quickly, he was already on top of them. An Amy robot swung her hammer, and a Knuckles robot swung his fist. Shadow juked them out, forcing them to hit each other.

Another two enemies dealt with. But there had been a hundred previous enemies, and there were likely a thousand more. He couldn’t afford a single mistake.

Now gliding to the right, he took a moment to try to figure out if there was anywhere to hide. The numerous crevices were options, but he had no time to evaluate how deep they went.

Having slowed down for a moment, there were now a few robots right on his tail. A robot version of himself lunged for him, but he jumped to avoid it. Then another hedgehog robot landed a punch on his side. Shadow rolled for a moment, but kept his momentum and scrambled to his feet, still moving.

But there were more robots in front of him now, in addition to the ones behind. They practically surrounded him. He snarled, and lined up a spinning attack.

He whisked around the circle of robots, landing blows on them all. Some of them were taken out, but others took the hit and stayed up. A few Sonic robots briefly grabbed him, one at his arms and one at his legs, but he used his air shoes to blast one away, while using his momentum to throw the other.

Turning just in time, he ducked to avoid a hammer, then rammed the robot into the wall.

Shadow was perspiring, breathing heavily. In his mind, he was prepared to fight here for as long as he could. And yet...

There was no sound of movement from the robots now. Not here, or coming for him in the distance. It was an uncanny feeling. Shadow looked around. Nothing was threatening him. Rather than put him at ease, it increased his urgency. He needed to find a place to hide.

“Pretty impressive...”

A distinctively scratchy voice was amplified around him. The walls of the canyon would have made it echo under normal circumstances, but the way in which it filled the air was even more forceful. It was like the sky itself was talking.

Shadow looked up. He caught a glimpse of Nine’s image, looming in the atmosphere. His self-contented smirk adorned his face.

“But you can't run forever...”

Shadow was briefly paralyzed as he tried to take in what was happening. The words reverberated through him. He squinted, still panting, struggling to comprehend.

What Shadow saw wasn’t just Nine’s face in the sky. It was all of him. He was a bit transparent, appearing like a gigantic hologram. It was like the strange, imposing Eggman figure who had threatened them at Green Hill – what was the term, prismatic titan? However, while the Eggman titan seemed more like a puppet, who did not speak, Nine was talking.

And now there was a massive black glove with silver fingertips moving towards his spot in the canyon.

Shadow had run out of time to think. He could only flee.

He dashed away, running back in the opposite direction from where he had come. He ran and ran.

Shadow turned back. The hand was gaining on him.

Running and skating as fast as he could, he jumped over scrapped robots and navigated tight walls with jagged rocks. He leapt, kicked, glided, sprinted, and did everything he could do to stay moving.

The canyon was narrow, but somehow the titanic hand was unimpeded by anything. With another glance over his shoulder, Shadow saw it was alarmingly close.

Climbing the walls. That was an option, but wasn’t sure it would improve his position. Though as he now realized the hand could not be slowed by the canyon, he figured he should try to get up to open ground. He might just be able to find a new top speed.

He made his move. With a quick cut, he began skating up the huge wall.

Looking right, he saw the hand was almost on top of him. Frantically, he pushed hard off the side of the wall. He smoothly flipped to the canyon wall opposite him, still skating rapidly.

It was a skillful trick, but the hand was too close now. There was a buzzing emanating from its vicinity, like it was charged with energy. His fur began to stick up. The temperature around him seemed to increase.

He would not make it to the top. He made one more decision, maybe in the last instant he could control himself.

Tucking into a whizzing ball, he prepared for a spindash. He aimed right at the danger, which was just a meter away now.

It was time to find out whether prismatic titans felt pain. He zipped downwards.

Shadow did not know how it would feel, but felt a slight give as he slowed down, like he was entering a space with different gravity. His spinning harmlessly stopped, a mass of energy gently but firmly halting him.

His eyes tried to adjust to his surroundings, but he didn’t know what was going on. His body was telling him he was not moving, yet he was moving. Or at least, everything blurred like it was.

Attempting to kick, he strained and struggled. He was completely unsure of where he was, but he now became aware that there was pain all around him, like static electricity prodding him over and over, on every point of his body. He groaned, continuing to fight.

The mass of energy was too difficult to escape. He became enveloped in it, and it froze him. Wriggling only caused further constriction. He gasped for air. His lungs had nothing, his chest tightened, being squeezed. Another exhale left his mouth, but no inhale could follow it. He shut his eyes.

Shadow stopped moving.

The first new thing he felt was the sensation of freedom, and open space. His arms floated upward slowly, nothing to hold them down. It provided some immediate relief.

Shadow’s eyes opened. He took in a thin rainbow of colors tinting the rest of the space. His new habitat was a medium-sized room. He glanced around, trying to remember what had just happened. Just a moment ago, he was in the grim, fighting Nine and his robots. How had he gotten here?

The air seemed thicker, somehow. But he breathed normally.

Turning his attention outwards, he looked at the room. Nine was facing away from him, sitting in a chair as he typed out a few things on a screen. He was calm and engrossed in his task.

Shadow scowled. So he was in Nine’s base. But what had he done to him?

His hand met resistance as it finished floating upward, just barely above his head. There seemed to be no gravity where Shadow was. His feet floated off the ground. But there was also nothing to push off. He tried to take a step, but couldn’t. His air shoes would not activate. He tried to move his arms as if to swim, but his body stayed right where it was. It was as if he was in a tank, but the boundary was difficult to see.

It must have been some prism-powered container. He wished being trapped in a tank wasn’t such a familiar feeling.

“Ugh...hmph...”

Nine turned at the noise. Seeing Shadow, he exhaled through his nose in satisfaction. He finished what he was typing, then closed his screen.

"You weren't out for long," he said.

They locked eyes. Nine waited to see if he would respond. When it was evident that he wouldn’t, Nine got up, approaching him with a sly smile.

“I trust that extraction wasn’t too taxing on you...the paralysis was temporary, already worn off.”

Shadow just stared angrily at him, ignoring the implications. Nine’s casual demeanor was as unnerving as it was annoying. To Shadow, just seconds ago he was fighting for his life. Nine knew it, and was enjoying it. Shadow could see a message written on his smug face: See what I can do?

“This is much better for us both. Now you don’t have to spend all that time fighting my robots. And I don’t have to worry about you hanging around outside my place.”

Shadow was still angry, but he made sure his expression displayed the right kind of anger. He calmed himself enough to show coldness, not frustration.

Nine’s eyes walked over him. Being inspected like some kind of prize was demeaning. But he wouldn’t give Nine the satisfaction of verbalizing this.

“So...” Nine strolled around to the other side of him. “You probably don’t need me to tell you this, but the prism is the perfect source of energy for my tech. It’s like all I have to do is think of something, and the prism energy does the rest. That tank you’re in? I designed it in a few seconds.”

Shadow’s head turned to follow him. His stare was the only way he could make Nine feel something.

Nine had his hands behind his back, continuing to study him as he walked around the tank. “Yep, if there’s a limit to what the shards let me do, I haven’t found it.” He paused, then added resentfully, “Not that I’ve had much time since you guys barged in on me.”

He stopped, then waved himself off. “But now I don’t have to worry about you anymore.”

He pressed a button. Shadow felt a rippling sensation within his strange container.

“I don’t expect you to have any prism energy...just need to test this.”

Shadow felt goosebumps as a cold sensation moved up and down his body. He grimaced.

Something dinged from another room. Nine’s eyes widened as if he had forgotten something important. He turned and hopped up on his metallic legs, skittering towards the sound. Shadow was left alone.

The scanning was still going on. Shadow fought against the sensation. He rotated, but now the air around him felt denser, restricting him. He pushed as hard as he could, but the air pushed back harder, preventing him from moving. It was as if he was in quicksand.

“This disruption was inevitable once the Chaos Council opened these portals. I'm just taking what I need to keep my world safe…”

Shadow could hear him, but didn’t care to process it. He scrunched his face, clenching the rest of his body. Doing anything he could to feel in control of himself.

“You can't run away from me.” From the other room, Shadow could hear him talking.

He was shivering, or maybe simply shaking. He was furious that he couldn’t beat whatever this was.

“I know you're fast enough to save them all. That's the hero you are.”

Finally, the coldness vanished. Shadow took a deep exhale. He looked himself over, making sure everything was normal. After taking stock, he tilted his head, trying to peer into the other room. He could barely see Nine, at some kind of station.

The words he had been hearing now began to register. Nine had to be talking to someone. Shadow figured he knew who.

“You can't do this forever, Sonic. You're all alone now. Help me, and all of this stops.”

Of course it was Sonic. Where was he? What was he doing?

The last question applied to Nine as well. The words now repeated back in his head. Save them all? What did that mean?

Craning his neck as far as he could, Shadow peeked farther into the room. In front of Nine, who had his back turned, he could see something rotating around. It was like a large coin, moving in slow motion. Except the coin had something built up on top of it. It looked like a hologram of New Yoke.

Shadow felt a surge in his chest.

Nine continued to play around with the projection. “You’ll never make – huh?…”

The lights in the room flickered for a second. The rainbow colors tinting Shadow’s vision suddenly flashed and turned clear, before returning to their normal state.

Nine had been sitting, but now stood up at the glitch, looking around in frustration.

“The energy is still unstable...”

He now talked into a device. “Sonic is outside the Council's HQ perimeter. Go get him.”

Shadow fumed as he watched the fox. Anger from everywhere was overwhelming him. Being trapped in a cage of prism energy. Sonic’s ignorance of Nine’s motivations getting him stuck here in the first place.

And now Nine was playing with the lives of everyone in the shatterverse like they were nothing.

Shadow wished he could kick him in the back of the head. Instead, he sat there, boiling.

He cursed the universe for making Sonic the only one who had the prism energy to travel between worlds. This all could have been avoided. But of course, Sonic only had the energy because he shattered the prism in the first place. Shadow had to try to gain some control of the situation before everything came apart.

“Nine...” he growled.

He was too quiet to be heard. It was just a momentary bubbling up of his emotions. As badly as he wanted to tell Nine off, he knew it wasn't the right way to go about this.

But Nine walked back into the room anyway, temporarily satisfied with the current happenings. He walked over to an output on a nearby screen, one that seemed to be connected to Shadow’s container.

“...As I thought...” muttered Nine.

Shadow’s expression was a little different. He was still giving a determined, angry glare, but now he was a bit more tense. Tense, not anxious. Shadow didn’t get anxious.

Nine looked at him, nonchalant but curious. “So...it’s Shadow, right?”

Shadow took a breath to speak, but hesitated. He was wary of giving Nine any ammunition to torment him or Sonic with. For now, he would only say what was necessary and reasonable.

With no response, Nine began walking over to his desk. “You’re a lot quieter than Sonic, aren’t you?” he smirked. “I appreciate that.”

Deliberately, he took another walk around Shadow’s tank. He bent down and took one more look at the readings it displayed.

“That scan I was running...” he said. “...didn't find any prism energy, like I expected. But it did tell me some other things...”

Shadow watched as Nine glanced between him and the readings.

The fox gave a small laugh. “You’ve got an interesting genetic makeup. Pretty unique. Guess you aren’t Sonic’s twin.”

Why would anyone think that? It was a ridiculous notion. Insulting, even.

Still, Shadow didn’t say anything.

Nine shrugged off his lack of reaction. “Yep, I could get used to having this tech. But don’t worry, I’m not gonna do anything to you besides keep you in there...for now. I really just needed someone about the same size as Sonic to test this.”

Shadow snarled. Nine’s face was looking even more punchable than he usually found it.

His captor moved to another topic. “So...how do you and Sonic know each other? You two are friends, I take it?”

Shadow broke his silence to correct this statement. “Only when we have to be...”

Nine was intrigued. “Off and on, huh?”

The corner of Shadow’s mouth curled down in disgust. He looked away.

Nine shook his head. “Guess that’s just how he rolls...”

Shadow said nothing.

Nine continued. “One minute you’re friends, and then...” He made a gesture.

Then he stopped. He curled his fists, staring at the floor. A moment passed, neither of them looking at the other.

Nine swung his foot in a kick, like there was an invisible football with Sonic’s face on it.

Shadow turned at the movement. Nine saw his attention shift, and locked eyes with him.

“...And then it turns out he’s just using you...”

He took a few steps towards the tank. Shadow kept his eyes on him, betraying nothing.

Nine’s chest began to rise and fall more visibly. “...that he’s just as selfish as everyone else...”

His eyes were shimmering.

“...that he doesn’t care if you live or die!”

Now he was fully distraught. His shaky breaths were audible.

Shadow's eyes widened the slightest bit. Gears were turning in his head.

If the fate of all the universe rested within this prodigious, angst-ridden, vengeful young fox, Shadow was going to have to adopt a new tactic for the time being. His preferred method of direct action, physical force, would be of no use while in this tank.

Instead, he would have to gently nudge him with his words. Ugh.

Shadow took a deep breath. Nine was struggling to regain composure.

There was another statement for Shadow to correct, so he started there. “He didn’t want you dead...he’s just stupid.”

Nine took a moment to look at Shadow. He tilted his head, mouth slightly open, a little taken back by this response. Shadow only continued to stare at him, letting him have the next word.

From the other room, the prism pulsed, working hard to fuel Nine’s engineering. It changed the lighting for a moment, the room losing some artificial light, bringing out the rainbow color of the shards. Shadow’s own tank seemed to pulse. But it quickly restored, before he could tell anything was different.

Nine took a sharp breath, turning slightly to hide a sniffle. But then he crossed his arms and hardened his features. “Well...if he really cared, he would have listened to me. I even offered him the chance to...be here. But he made his choice. He never offered me anything. He only cares about his own world.”

“Sonic wants you alive...and okay...” Shadow murmured, forcing himself to say the words though they repulsed him. Nine would be wise to understand Shadow did not have the same level of compassion.

No longer distraught, Nine blustered, “Pssh, yeah right!” He turned his back, arms still crossed. “I don’t mean anything to him. No different from anyone else he tries to rescue, or whatever. And that’s fine. I don't care.”

Shadow went on, feeling silly. “Though he throws himself after all sorts of people, there are some...who he cares about more than others...”

Forcibly, the fox whirled around. “Oh, is that right?” he snapped. “Let me guess, you’re saying I’m one of them? One of his buddies?”

He held his gaze for a moment, then dropped it.

“I could have been erased from existence...” Nine said, quieter. “If he didn't care enough to see that, then...”

The thought dangled, unfinished. Shadow understood it.

He almost pushed on trying to clarify Sonic's intentions. But he had said enough. Actions spoke louder than words. And it sure appeared Sonic hadn't cared about Nine.

Instead, Shadow pursued another opening. “Putting the prism back together...is going to erase people?”

Nine grit his teeth. “No, it doesn’t have to erase people. Just the opposite. If I do it my way, I can stop the universe from collapsing. No one else needs to die. All it will take is one dumb, insignificant, self-centered hedgehog’s energy...”

At these words, several thoughts ran through Shadow’s head. But before he could ruminate on them, Nine’s expression changed, a lightbulb visibly coming on. He cooly narrowed his eyes and regrew his smirk.

“I think...you and I could help each other out...”

Shadow scoffed. “You’ve got nothing I want,” he said, without hesitation.

Nine slowly took a step forward. Shadow despised his conceited expression.

“What would you say...if I told you that I could give you your world back?” asked the fox.

Shadow’s jaw was clenched. His eyes moved down, then quickly back up.

“Sonic is resisting my efforts to bring him here. But I think you could convince him to come quite easily.”

Shadow kept a neutral expression.

“All you have to do is talk to him. I can reach Sonic no matter where he is in the shatterverse,” Nine continued. “I let you talk to him, you can pretend you stole my equipment or something...you tell him to drop everything and come here right now...and then I take his energy.”

Shadow couldn’t pretend like he wasn’t processing what he was saying. Even if he was giving it no real consideration, just having to think about it gave Nine a victory, winning back any control he had wrested away when he calmed him down. This alone made him frustrated.

“And I restore Green Hill. Just as it was.” Nine spread his arms. A few of his robotic tails mirrored the movement.

Shadow kept staring. He did not want to say anything. But as he continued his silence, he struggled to fight off any hints of appearing torn or pained. It was muted, but he knew some emotion was slipping through the cracks of his expression.

“Come on...” Nine said, relishing the opportunity to push him. “Sonic started this whole mess. The spot we’re in right now, both of us? He put us here. He knows it. This is the fairest deal for everyone.”

Shadow closed his eyes. It was difficult to argue that point.

Nine moved closer to the tank. “I’m getting Sonic’s energy sooner or later. I don’t need to do this for you. If you want to see your world again...this is your chance.”

He breathed in, and out. He really did not want to say anything. He was suddenly worried about what might come out.

Another moment passed.

He knew what he wanted to say. He knew the right thing to say.

Or did he?

Green Hill was home to more than just Sonic. Many others could have their lives back.

What was right? What was fair? Were they different?

There was a pit in his stomach. The more he stalled, the more power he let Nine have over him. He needed to make his decision.

“He’s a jerk...” Nine growled. “You don’t need him...”

Shadow’s eyes opened.

Which one of them was Nine really trying to convince with those words?

The waves of doubt were pushed away. Shadow found his determined frown again. Playing Nine’s games would only help one of them. He could not be counted on to keep his word. Not with what he was projecting. Not with the way things were right now. Shadow had to buy Sonic as much time as he could to find a way to fight back.

“Using universes...to bargain...” Shadow said, volume low. He shook his head to communicate his disdain. “Restoring each world is a choice you make. Not a condition of a deal.”

Nine snorted. “I’ll have a reason to restore yours if you give me Sonic.”

Another pause.

Still quiet, Shadow declared, “I’m no traitor.”

He stared fiercely. Some anger flashed in Nine’s eyes at the rejection of both his premises.

But then Nine shrugged. “Fine, if that’s how you want it. I don’t have to restore your world.”

He moved away from the tank.

“And if you don’t think I’m gonna use you to bring Sonic here anyway, you’re dumber than he is.”

Scathing. But Shadow did not react.

“But we’ll see if that’s even necessary. My birdies have the first crack at getting him.”

He made sure Nine was the first one to drop his gaze. Once Nine looked down at a gadget on his wrist, he blinked and lowered his own eyes, beginning to think.

Ultimately, Shadow trusted no one other than himself to do what needed to be done with the prism. He could see its light reflecting from somewhere deeper in the base. So close, yet so far.

It had to be Shadow who restored things. It had to be. But there were complications. First, he needed to find a way out of this tank. He hadn’t found a weakness yet. Assuming he did, next he would need to steal the prism. There were likely numerous obstacles before he could do that, ranging from shard-powered robots to a multi-tailed fox who had the shatterverse on a string. And then, he also would need Sonic’s energy. How would Shadow get that energy out of him? How difficult was it to complete the prism?

Then there were the other shatterspaces. Nine had just essentially confirmed that every world could be restored or preserved, if the person who controlled the prism so desired. Sure, Shadow would preserve the others if he could. But what did he need to do to make that happen, exactly?

How did one even use the prism? What kind of control could be had once the prism was complete? He didn’t know what it felt like.

Shadow would have to make it work somehow. Because if not him, then who?

He looked back at Nine.

Nine knew how it all worked. Nothing was stopping him from fixing the universe and saving everyone. Except for himself.

Now Nine was looking at him again, maybe thinking Shadow’s stare was a continuation of where they had left off. “No one is different. Everybody just wants the power for themselves,” he huffed. “It’s all so predictable.”

He waited for a response. But none came.

Nine cupped his chin with a hand. He moved it to idly stroke one of whiskers as he thought. Shadow knew he had more to ask. But he would show no emotion. He steeled himself.

“So, you won’t sell out Sonic...” Nine’s eyes met his again. “How sweet. But I’ll have him here in time. And you can have a front row seat when I take his energy! How would you like that?”

It was rhetorical, but Shadow knew he wanted to get under his skin.

He would get no response. He stared Nine down.

At Shadow’s continued refusal to engage with his attempts to elicit a reaction, Nine soured. He took a few listless strides around his tank. Shadow moved his head to follow him, waiting for him to speak.

“I’ve never gotten a chance, you understand?” Nine pointed to himself. “You had your chance with your world. But now it’s gone, thanks to your buddy Sonic...”

Shadow almost couldn’t help himself. “...He’s...” he whispered, but he stopped himself. It wasn’t worth it.

Hearing him, Nine leaned towards the tank. Shadow’s eyes fell on the floor, tracing it over.

He could feel the fox’s gaze on him, anticipating something else. He moved his own gaze back towards him.

“What?” Nine prompted.

Shadow kept himself under control.

Nine waited, then tried again. “Do you have something you want to say to me?” There was a craving in his eyes. “I know you do.”

He did, certainly. Nine wanted him to get upset. Show that he was really frustrated.

But Shadow’s will could not be so easily bested. Nine wanted him to crack? Lose control? That would never happen.

Was he expecting him to behave like Sonic? That was almost as insulting as Sonic thinking Nine was Tails. Sonic was easily distractable, overly energetic, unthinking of consequences. If the motormouth were in Shadow's current position, he would be begging, pleading, making jokes, trying to bounce off the walls if the tank would let him. Probably saying how he knew Nine, and this wasn’t like him, and all those sappy words that meant nothing to someone in Nine’s current mental state.

Shadow was not Sonic. He straightened himself. He glowered at Nine, a message of his own on his face: This is who I am. Get used to it.

In short, abrupt movements, Nine’s head started shaking back and forth. Failing to get around Shadow's mental wall, his exasperation was leaking out. Maybe he wished he had a hedgehog somewhere in the middle of the talkativeness scale.

But he eventually reeled himself back in. “Whatever. You can’t stop me now. No one can.” Nine gave him a final look of indignation, then turned away, walking towards the other room. "...Need to check on Sonic..." he muttered.

Shadow watched.

Nine hesitated for the briefest of moments. Then, he took another step. But he stopped again, for longer this time.

He started up again. Then, he stopped, for several seconds. He didn’t move. He rubbed one of his arms.

Shadow’s perpetually narrowed eyes kept him right in the center of his view.

Nine sharply exhaled. “So-“

Faltering again, he turned his head to the side. He said something under his breath. Another “S” sound.

Shadow wondered if anything else would come. After a few seconds passed, it seemed like he was done.

But then Nine turned a little more.

“Did Sonic ever...he- he talked about me with you?”

There was a pause. Shadow was momentarily puzzled. Subtly, his expression softened.

The lighting dimmed as the prism pulsed from deeper within the base. For a moment, Shadow could see most of Nine’s body silhouetted in the temporary darkness. But the colors of the shards somewhere threw some light on his face, in reds, greens, and blues.

Sonic had talked about Nine. How he was going to be the one who helped them fix the universe. How much Sonic trusted him. How much Sonic thought of him.

It was the truth. Was Nine willing to hear it?

Before Shadow could decide what to say, however, the lighting returned to normal as the prism cooled down. Nine’s demeanor changed. He clenched his fists and scrunched his face.

“...Doesn’t matter...” he grumbled as he turned away.

He walked out of the room.

Shadow stared after him, troubled. His tank gently fizzed and hummed.

He may have just missed an important opportunity. He needed to keep planting things in Nine’s mind. While there was still a chance.

Shadow’s tank pulsated again, the outline of his containment suddenly becoming crisper, seeming more physical for the briefest of moments before becoming translucent. It was happening more and more, as Nine used more power to threaten more of Sonic’s allies.

“I'll never let you escape, Sonic. I need you to finish the Grim.”

Shadow was expecting to have been used as bait by now. But it hadn’t happened yet.

As he tried to peek into the room, he couldn’t see much. He only heard Nine’s various threats. He was still enamored with using his tech to engage in a battle from across the shatterverse. Maybe part of him enjoyed testing out his capabilities. Feeling the power. It was easy to become distracted with the limitless potential of the prism.

Or maybe Sonic was just so annoying that he couldn’t help placing all his attention on him.

Another pulse. With this one, Shadow suddenly felt himself lowering, gently, like a switch had turned gravity back on. Which, considering what he had seen Nine do, was absolutely on the table. But he quickly returned to his state of suspension, in quicksand.

“No!” Nine cried out from the other room. “So close...”

Unsure as he was, Shadow took some relief in hearing Nine’s defeated tone. Sonic was succeeding in whatever he was doing. Running around saving people, so it seemed. Recruiting them to join the fight against Nine? He could only hope. They needed everything, and everyone to fight back.

Unless Shadow could find a way out of here. No new ideas on that front had come to mind.

Shadow wanted to appear strong and uninterested. But he was still staring straight into the room when Nine emerged. He dropped his gaze for the moment, hoping Nine hadn’t picked up on his rapt attention.

Nine marched up to him, holding onto one of his shoulders, somewhat hunched over.

Shadow looked back up to him. Nine's eyes were darting around, bouncing between Shadow and the room. Something was going on in his captor’s head, but Shadow wasn’t sure what.

The fox’s organic tails twitched. “The rest of Sonic’s friends escaped me...but if they keep fighting, they’ll be destroyed.”

Now Nine stared at Shadow. He didn’t say anything for a second, then another. Shadow saw some kind of reflection in his eyes, making them appear redder. Or maybe it wasn’t a reflection. His words and inhalations were raspy, and he continued to clutch his shoulder.

Shadow wondered about the long-term effects of prism usage.

Nine took a gasping breath. He was still for a moment.

Then he stood up straight, seeming more composed.

“So, Sonic cares about some more than others?” he asked. “Well, it’s time to see how much he cares about you.”

After a second, he moved over to a nearby desk, across from Shadow. He picked up a device and sat down in the chair.

More clearly observing the tolls of using the prism, Shadow knew now was as good a time as any to speak. That and the fact that Nine seemed ready to do something with him now. Though he’d thought it over, he didn’t really know what to say. Nothing beyond vague counsel about not going through with whatever he was planning. Or some far-fetched threats. I’m going to hit you so hard that Tails will feel it and regain consciousness.

Maybe he couldn’t judge Sonic too harshly when it came to pleading with Nine. It was a desperate situation.

It looked like Nine was designing something with his device. Exactly what, Shadow wasn't sure, but he knew who it would be used to endanger.

He had to speak. Try to delay things, at least.

“...All this power...” he whispered.

Nine looked at him with hostility, but sat in attention at his captive initiating conversation for the first time.

“...And it’s still not enough...”

Nine scowled, perhaps thinking this was a threat of some imminent action. Or maybe Shadow opening his mouth voluntarily was simply enough to arouse intrigue and suspicion. He put the device down. “...What does that mean?”

Shadow kept as still as possible as he talked. “It means...you’re more powerful than anyone in this universe...and you’re not satisfied.”

Nine took a deep inhale. He slowly got up.

Shadow continued, “...Will that extra bit of power really make you whole?”

“Listen, hedgehog,” Nine pushed the chair aside as he moved towards him. “We’re both going to die if I don’t get Sonic’s energy. Everybody is. The universe is collapsing thanks to what the Chaos Council did. So it’s in all our interests for Sonic to give himself up.”

Shadow snorted. “But that’s not really your reason...it was always about power, you said.”

Nine balled his fists as he held his arms down at his side, now in front of Shadow’s tank. His additional robotic tails spread out, pointing at Shadow.

Still Shadow went on, calmly. “And that everybody wants it for themselves...And that everyone only cares about their own world...”

Nine waited, simmering. Shadow decided to go for it.

“...So it’s odd you seem to be losing to a team of Sonic’s friends from across different worlds.”

“They don’t know what they’re doing!” Nine yelled. He waved his hand. “Anyone who helps Sonic is acting against what’s best for the universe. Are they blind? He destroyed his world once, and he’ll do it to the whole universe if he keeps stalling! They’re fools to work with him! He...”

Losing some steam, Nine took a half turn away, his robotic tails contracting. “He...he pulls everybody in because he...makes you feel like you’re somebody...but he can’t...he doesn’t really...”

Another brief pulse flashed through the tank. But Nine didn’t notice.

His voice was almost a whisper now. “...any of them... They don’t really mean anything to him...”

Nine was looking at the floor. Shadow let some of the ferocity out of his expression, just in case he turned back. But he kept the determination.

Shadow waited. Nine did turn back to face him, but his face hardened.

“You’ll see. His friends will doom us all.”

Shadow agreed with the sentiment, though the particular friend of Sonic’s who was dooming the universe was different in his eyes.

Still, though it had vanished as quickly as it had appeared, the uncertainty had surfaced again. The pain flickering, and taking a different form. Making Nine question things.

Nine went back into the other room, muttering, "Friends...hmph...show you friends..."

Shadow opened his mouth, but no words escaped.

An influx of prism energy made the whole room rock. Its energy churned, sputtered, and blasted to life. Shadow’s tank shuddered and glitched.

A few new robots suddenly popped into existence, taking the form of Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow. Taking a step backwards, Nine admired his creations. Now Shadow could see his satisfied look.

Nine saw Shadow looking at him. He patted a robot. “These guys are better friends than Sonic ever was. Way more trustworthy. I don’t need anybody else.”

Shadow snorted. “Don’t kid yourself...”

This comment caused Nine to give him an irritated look out of the corner of his eye. Good. This emboldened him.

“They aren’t friends. They’re just soulless shells of metal.”

A jab at Nine’s passion for engineering was an excellent way to tick him off.

“Hey! They’re my shells of metal! I made them!” he retorted. “And they do what I want!”

“Exactly. They only offer what you put in them, nothing of their own.”

Nine seethed, wanting to fire back. But he couldn’t come up with anything.

As someone born as an expression of chaos and power, Shadow typically wasn’t one to advocate for friendship. But this kid clearly had a void that needed to be filled. Shadow said nothing else, forcing Nine to reckon with his inability to find a leg to stand on. 

“...Gyah!” Nine threw his arms up and marched back out of sight.

Shadow could tell he was just outside of his view. Working on another machine, or checking whether Sonic had been captured by his robots, or perhaps simply pouting. Or all of the above. In any case, Shadow knew he could hear him. This was another chance to get into his head.

“It’s not even about the others. Think about what you’re turning into,” he said with disdain.

Nine was barely visible, his back to him.

“What is it that you gain? Power?” Shadow asked. “You already have more power than anyone else in the universe.”

Nine’s mechanical tails drifted aimlessly from his back, the only part of him that he could see in full.

“Revenge? Is that what you want?” he went on. “You want to make others feel the way you’ve felt...feel your pain...”

He couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like Nine’s posture changed slightly, like he had tensed, or turned away just a little. But maybe he was just seeing what he wanted to see.

“It won’t take it away...you’ll think that it makes the pain stop, but really...if you feel it less, it’s just because you’ve gone numb...”

Shadow was still looking in Nine’s direction, but his focus unconsciously moved into the distance.

"...and it’s become part of you...”

His voice became lower.

“...until you’ve been feeling it for so long...you can never...”

He took a breath.

“You forget who you were...when...”

He trailed off.

Floating weightlessly, with colors blurry and dim all around him, he breathed slowly.

Lost inside. Time had frozen.

The lab was different in his head. Like a dream, he could see everything, even behind him. All those years ago.

The past was the present. He was in a trance.

Who was beyond the doorway, just out of sight? The yearning to see them again came in full force.

He couldn’t move his eyes. They had unfocused. He didn’t see the room beyond its simple shape. He only saw what was in his mind’s eye. And who was in it. He could see her...

He took a breath.

“...You better be prepared to...live with your choices...”

His words were quiet. They floated in the tank with him.

If this was about to be the end, he wanted her to know that he had tried...

Another few seconds passed. No reaction came from the other room. The buzzing prism energy filled Shadow’s ears.

His hand, drifting idly, brushed against his leg. This simple feeling was enough to make him blink. Requiring far more willpower than he anticipated, he took another sharp breath. A deep inhale, and an exhale.

This infernal tank. It was making him lose his edge. But it was just a momentary loss of concentration. He straightened up and drew his frown, realizing he had lost it.

What had he been doing? He had been trying to get through to Nine. Right.

Nine was going to regret this, he knew. He was pushing blindly ahead in pain. Maybe given some time, he would realize that this was not the way to go. But there wasn’t time with the current state of the universe. It was true that the prism needed to be completed before every world collapsed. If only the individual who controlled the prism wasn't so damaged on the inside.

It was all just sickening. Of course, Sonic had to go to this kid for help. Of course, Sonic had to ignore his point of view. Of course, Sonic alienated the one potential ally with the smarts to easily harness the full power of the shards outside of the Chaos Council.

And now, to think some strange hedgehog could get through to him and change his outlook after just meeting him – well, that was just foolish.

Nine re-entered the room, frowning with a vacant stare. This expression offered no clarity on how he had taken Shadow’s words.

He walked over to the panel on the side of Shadow’s tank and pressed a button. It felt like the air in the tank became more rigid.

Nine looked up, smirk small but present. “Cheer up, Shadow. You’ll get to see Sonic soon enough...I’m sure he’ll save you, like everyone else.”

Shadow said nothing.

Still smirking, Nine grabbed the device he had been designing with and went back into the other room.

A weight in Shadow's chest reminded him of the reality of the situation. Nine clearly had a plan for him. That was not ideal. He was going to be bait, perhaps threatened by an even more powerful design.

While the perfect scenario would be to convince Nine to use the shards to fix things, it was a flimsy hope from where Shadow stood. Or rather, floated, here in his tank. He had pursued that path as far as it would go. Now he was out of time.

The best remaining path that Shadow could take, the only one that he could possibly forge himself, was stopping this jerk by force. Anything to prevent the universe from fracturing beyond repair.

He set his mind on this. He could not be frozen by indecision.

Which meant that Shadow had to break out. He didn’t want Sonic to surrender himself, certainly not on his behalf. The noble hero he was, Shadow couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t. And then what?

Nine would take his energy. Without intervention, Sonic would die.

Shadow might live, but what would come of his new life? He had lost his emerald. He was unable to travel to the other shatterspaces. Spending his days in the void. Or the Grim, if Nine wanted a toy that wasn’t made of metal.

Death might be preferable to these options. At least it would be final.

He closed his eyes. If he was in position, if he could somehow ensure a safe universe through a sacrifice...it would be far better than being used as a pawn to destroy Sonic.

Taking deep breaths, Shadow cleared his mind.

The only thing that he could focus on was his dedication to protecting the universe. He would fight back, no matter what he was facing. As he always had.

A minute had gone by. Shadow couldn’t tell what was going on in the other room, but then he heard something.

“So, you’ve finally come to your senses?”

As stiff as Shadow already was, he tensed up even more.

“Agreed.”

It had to be Sonic.

“Deal.”

Shadow squirmed. This didn’t sound like Sonic charging into battle. This sounded like him making a deal with Nine. One without much leverage.

Would there be no chance to fight?

But these feelings turned into a more rational assessment. Nine had been pushing Sonic hard. He was unlikely to stop unless Sonic agreed to show up, even as the shatterverse crumbled. Maybe Sonic had a trick up his sleeve. Shadow could only hope. Well-thought-out plans weren't Sonic's forte.

He took a long exhale. Something was going to happen. He just hated being sidelined.

Nine appeared in the doorway, though didn’t appear intent on stopping for long. “Looks like he’s coming anyway. Lucky you.”

In a slightly showy manner, he dropped his designing device on a desk in front of Shadow. He walked out of sight, satisfied.

Shadow turned his head to try to see what was on the device. It seemed like Nine wanted him to get a glimpse of what he had been planning for him. But perhaps accidentally, the device was on a home screen, not the specific design he had been making.

He refocused. Should he call to Sonic? In his tank, he may not hear him. He wasn’t sure it would help matters anyway.

Shadow floated there. The fate of the universe may hinge on this single interaction between Sonic and Nine. And he had done all he could. But in the scheme of things, his actions mattered little.

He tried to drive away the bout of helplessness coming over him, but absent anything else to cling to, it spread throughout his body.

He quivered, clenched his fists, and closed his eyes.

Only the sound of his breathing anchored him. And the faint buzz of prism energy.

Unthinking. Unflinching.

Be ready. Be ready.

Breathing. Be ready.

His ear perked up.

“Ever wonder where we’d be if things had gone differently between us?”

He could hear Sonic, far away. Shadow quieted his breaths.

“You had your chance,” Nine said.

They were somewhere below Shadow, and behind him. There must have been an opening somewhere, a crack, something. But Shadow could listen in.

“Right back at ya, bud.”

A pause.

“You know, after all this time, I think I finally understand you, Sonic.”

Shadow could visualize Nine’s expression from the words. Just hearing it made him sneer. It would feel so good to punch him straight into the void.

“You want to save everyone. Friends, foes, total strangers. You say it's because you're a hero, and that's what heroes do, but deep down, after what you did...destroying your own home...it's the only way you can ever live with yourself. Even if that means you won't live at all.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

So maybe Nine understood Sonic was not malicious, or selfish. Like Shadow had told him, he was just stupid. The quicker everybody learned that lesson, the better.

But for as smart as the fox was, he still didn’t understand Sonic.

Shadow didn’t pretend to get why. But there was one motivation he could rule out. Sonic didn’t go around saving people, wanting the best in every single individual, out of guilt.

He would want to save everyone even if he had nothing to do with the shattering. Even if someone else had shattered the paradox prism, and thrust him into this situation. He would consider it his duty regardless.

It was just who he was. As immensely frustrating as Shadow found it.

“If I don't make it and you do, how do I know you'll keep your promise?”

“Don't worry. Your friends are safe. Once I have your energy, I can restore everything. They can have their silly lives and their silly spaces as long as they leave me alone.”

Shadow harumphed. Was Sonic really going to believe that? There was absolutely no way to ensure Nine would keep his word.

Though from a more optimistic point of view, with Nine’s words being outright dismissive of everyone else – well, at least it was a signal of honesty. Perhaps he had dialed back some of his other impulses. Maybe his aggression really was simply just a means to get Sonic to show up, and he wouldn’t threaten anybody else again. And Nine would restore “everything?” Did that include Green Hill?

Shadow was not an optimist. His dwelled on the worst case. Something along the lines of an immature megalomaniac allowing other universes to dissipate while he fueled his inventions. Or maybe he would keep the other worlds around to play with them. Would Nine really be perfectly content to keep to himself while he had access to the prism? The line between indifference and cruelty was a thin one. He’d already proven himself willing to endanger countless others - or worse - out of spite.

Nine raised his voice in anger. “Don’t!”

Shadow had missed some of the conversation. He listened in again.

“Think whatever you want...But it's true,” said Sonic. “Even after everything you've done, everything we've been through, together, against each other...you're still my friend, Nine.”

No immediate response.

It was such a typical Sonic line. One that induced an eye roll from Shadow, even here and now.

Would Nine believe him? Would it even matter? Shadow waited, not knowing if there was something non-verbal occurring out on the surface of the strange world.

After another moment, Shadow began to realize that this was it. This was the extent of Sonic’s plan. No trick up his sleeve. No nothing.

He had just come here to give himself up to Nine. Put his fate completely within his hands.

Was there really no other way?

Sickening.

Shadow felt a rumble, and heard a noise.

“What are you doing?” Nine shouted.

“I’m not doing anything!” Sonic responded.

There was something massive moving into the Grim. Shadow had a feeling he knew what was happening.

Sonic's relentless recruitment of friends had some upsides.

The fight. He needed to get into the fight.

It was what he had been waiting for. He could hear it from in here, all around him, shaking the walls, distorting his view as prism energy was siphoned off. It fueled Nine’s attacks, an expression of his anger, as he threw everything he had at Sonic and his allies. And he had a lot to throw.

In between the jumps of prism energy, Shadow at times felt like he was being bounced up and down. His tank would lose power for the briefest of moments, then turn back on, dropping him and catching him time and again. It was becoming disorienting.

Sonic still had no idea Shadow was in here. He still had no idea he was even alive. He could try calling out for help, but besides it being degrading, the heat of battle was far too intense for him to be heard. And the last thing Shadow wanted to be was another distraction, another individual for Sonic to save. Because that idiot would prioritize temporarily ensuring the safety of his fellow hedgehog over winning the fight and getting the shards.

He snarled. He had to get out of here. He had to will it into existence.

Trapped in this tank. Sidelined from battle. His anger began to swell.

Nothing could keep him in here any longer.

Another pulse dimmed the lights and dropped Shadow before he became stuck again. Something big was drawing a lot of energy. The instabilities in the tank were becoming more frequent.

Shadow felt his fury coursing through him. He had to control it and wait for the right moment.

Taking a deep breath, he twisted his hips just a little, preparing to add some torque.

He would need to be fast, and deliver a perfect punch. Luckily, he was the most capable being in the universe.

One more deep breath. He felt the battle outside, the rhythm of it vibrating the walls.

The opening would arrive. He felt it coming.

Low rumblings. Explosions. Tuned out.

Be ready.

The din from outside swooned, a momentary valley.

Three, two, one.

The tank pulsated.

Shadow punched the outline of his container, temporarily depleted of shard power. It shattered like nothing.

As the pulse ran its course, the tank tried to return power, and restrain the hedgehog. But the quicksand feeling was leaking out. It couldn’t hold him. He threw himself forward, and felt himself being carried by the energy.

Untethered, he threw another punch. Even with the shard energy attempting to rein him in, the tank splintered, opening a gaping hole.

It began to dissolve. The tank flickered, losing its more opaque features.

Shadow rolled forward, catching himself with a hand to the floor.

The Ultimate Life Form was free.

He took a moment to assess things. He glanced around, to the left and right, out of the corners of his eyes. His arms were just a little more wobbly than normal, as he readjusted to normal pressure in the air again. But he was not in immediate danger.

The sounds of the battle outside drew his attention. Shadow turned his head to hear what was going on. For a moment, he heard the intensity of the battle. Robots, swords, lasers, punches.

As he shook his arms out, Shadow considered his position inside Nine’s main base. He was unseen, and was much closer to the shards than anyone else. This could be very fortuitous.

But as his eyes moved over the room, he glanced at the device that Nine had been designing with, that he had left in front of him. 

It made some strategic sense to get a look at what Nine may have been planning, the blueprints he had been working on. And, well, he had seemed to want Shadow to know earlier, anyway.

He swiped on the screen. Numerous blueprints went by. Designs for robots, tanks to hold captives in, tanks to roll through enemies with. A few cosmetics, improved gadgets. Nine could whip up designs with ease, and he had made quite the gallery. Shadow noticed it was arranged chronologically.

He scrolled back a few days. He frowned.

A high-tech motorbike. There was a note in the description: Must be racing speed.

Shadow swiped back once more. The next design was some kind of jetpack. He tapped an icon, and it revealed two different versions: one that could be attached around a set of robotic tails, and one that was more normal, and slightly larger.

Now why someone like Nine would need a second jetpack that was one size bigger and didn't account for robotic tails, Shadow didn't know.

That wasn't true. He knew exactly why.

He sighed.

It was too late for these designs to come to use. They were in the distant past of a few days ago, when everything was different. Before hearts were broken and backs were stabbed. He couldn’t waver. He had made up his mind.

Suddenly, the noise outside went quiet. Like something had sucked the sound from the room. There was a nothingness in the air that had moved in.

Before Shadow knew it, his body had already reacted. He dove to the side and braced himself.

The floor under his feet had given way, crumbling and cracking. And though he had avoided the first point where it had caved, lots of the floor was giving way. In fact, most of the floor in the room was cracking.

Shadow was beginning to accelerate downwards. With his incredible reflexes, he was able to scramble up and jump off a portion of the floor, attempting to grab onto what was once the floor, but was now a ledge. However, what was beneath him did not provide any force to help him push.

He fell with the rest of the floor. For a moment, he did not know how long he would fall. But then he hit something with a thud, tumbling forward. It wasn’t graceful, but he avoided injury as he rolled to a stop.

Shadow put a hand on his head. He hated not being able to teleport.

Looking upward, it seemed he had fallen a few stories. Whether because of the ongoing battle, or the dissolution of the tank he was in, somehow, he did not know. But he was not terribly far from where he had fallen. Climbing back up was an option. And if he got back up, he might just be able to find the shards.

But, with his gaze still fixed upwards, he saw a few pairs of red dots staring back at him. On the floor above were several of Nine’s robots - versions of Sonic and company. Their eyes narrowed as they locked onto him.

Shadow growled and clenched his fists. If he wanted to navigate this base and get to the prism, he would have to fight through more robots.

Fine. The fall had shaken him, but galvanized him. He spent so much time running, falling, and being trapped. He was ready to explode. Scrapping that jerk’s bots would be a great use of his anger.

He felt his power returning, coursing through his body.

But then something caught his eye. To his left, he could see outside. Now, most of the battlefield was visible. And he could make out the fighters.

There was Prim Rouge, locked in a fight with a Robot Rouge. Rusty, Thorn, and Black Rose battled a horde of robots in tandem. Renegade Knuckles punched out another robot. There even seemed to be a few other citizens out there, like a freedom fighter from New Yoke, and a pirate raccoon.

Shadow also saw the Chaos Council. They were difficult to miss. Dr. Deep whisked around in his flying suit. The large mech of Dr. Babble was easily visible. And their largest ship, which had to have Mr. Dr. Eggman at the helm, was moving forward.

At least everyone seemed to be holding their own.

And then he saw Sonic.

He was balancing precariously over the deep fissure where Shadow had been before. He had stopped for a moment, steadying himself to avoid a fall.

From behind, Shadow saw a Sonic robot charging towards the blue hedgehog.

Sonic did not see it coming. For a moment, Shadow held his breath.

Blindsided, Sonic was tackled. The deep crevice swallowed him up.

Shadow scowled. He felt the adrenaline in his body, itching to spring into action. Looking up again, the robots were beginning to move. A Knuckles robot jumped down to his level. It landed in front of him, preparing to engage.

In this instant, Shadow weighed his options.

On one hand, the shards were the source of Nine’s power. If he could get to them, he might just be able to end the battle at a moment’s notice. Right now, he was so much closer than anyone else on the battlefield. Being here in Nine’s base was not a position that he wanted to give up. He didn’t exactly know the kinds of defenses Nine had set up around the shards, whether they were just more robots or something else, but he would find a way to deal with them. And maybe he didn’t know exactly what it was he had to do with the shards, but he just needed to retrieve them so Nine couldn’t use them. Maybe he could just grab them and jump back into the void. He could figure out something then.

Sonic was needed to complete the prism, of course. Restoring Green Hill, now that it was destroyed, likely required all the power that the prism originally held, and some of that power was in Sonic.

So he and Sonic would meet up somewhere in the void with the shards. Shadow would handle it. He wouldn’t let Sonic even touch the shards. He’d restore things, somehow.

However, there was a problem: Sonic still needed to be around. If Sonic was captured now, and Nine took his energy...

Game over. Universe over, maybe.

He grimaced, and closed his eyes.

“Damn it,” he muttered.

Fleetingly, he looked up once more at the hole in the ceiling above him. Somewhere not too far beyond was the prism. What they had been after all this time.

But there was another hedgehog who needed to be saved...again.

And so, Shadow pulled his eyes away, and looked towards the crevice. He bent his knees, preparing to make his move.

Shadow took off as the robot took a step towards him. He pushed hard, right, left, right, left, and hit top speed. Abandoning his prime real estate, and skating towards the massive fissure.

His rhythmic strides helped him focus on nothing else but his mission. Even as explosions, lasers, and numerous sources of metallic clanging and clanking rang out, he slipped through it all like a breeze. Eyes narrowed in focus, he parted the battlefield as he approached his destination.

Nothing slowed him down. Nothing even came close. It was entirely possible that nobody noticed his presence. Likewise, he took no note of anyone else’s presence as he flew towards his destination.

He came to a stop. The crevice was deep, and dark. It was also wide. Where exactly had Sonic been tackled?

Shadow heard robotic sounds, as well as a kind of groaning. Operating on instinct, he jumped.

His air shoes made his landing smooth, though he was still rushing a bit. He fell just a bit harder than was typical, and again had to put his hand to the ground to fully halt himself.

Not seeing Sonic in his vicinity, his head quickly moved back and forth, his senses trying to find a sign of life. Something to focus on.

Then, he heard something. He didn’t even have time to think, he was already moving.

Near a dead end in the canyon, there was something moving. It was a robot. And it was about to kick a dazed individual’s teeth in.

Shadow took off with a grunt, jumping right at his target.

“RRRRAAAHHHH!!!”

He landed with a kick, flattening the bot into the ground. It sputtered and died.

Shadow’s gaze landed right on the surprised hedgehog in front of him. Sonic made no move yet. Shadow stood up tall, putting a hand on his hip. It took Sonic a second to process. But then he realized who it was. Naturally, Shadow was not going to be the first one to talk.

“Shadow, you’re alive!” Sonic exclaimed. As if there was ever any doubt. “Help a brother up?”

Even as he took his hand, Shadow sneered. “We are not. Related.”

“Never mind,” Sonic shrugged. He looked expectantly at Shadow.

“I survived...I was thrown down here at first. I had to smash a few robotic Sonics,” Shadow began, gesturing around. Several defeated robots littered the bottom of the canyon. “Nine deployed a massive army. Eventually, he...captured me and took me to his base.”

“What?!”

“But I broke out.”

“Wait, wait, he captured you? He was holding you in there?”

“Yes. We can talk about this some other-“

“But you’re okay? You’re okay, right?”

Shadow nodded.

“Good.” Sonic had been looking him up and down, but seemed to be satisfied now. He quickly moved on. “So...did you see anything in there? Learn anything?”

Shadow hesitated. Had he learned anything of use?

The shards were still there, in the base. But that was already obvious. Shadow didn’t know the full floor plan and layout, so any relevant tactical intel was minimal. As for non-tactical fronts...

He thought back to what he'd seen from Nine. He was still a hurt kid lashing out. He was also still a cosmic threat to multiple universes. He still needed to be stopped.

Shadow shook his head. No, he had not learned anything. A few hazy signals that some part of Nine still yearned for Sonic’s friendship would do nothing to help their present situation. If Shadow gave any indication like Nine was still salvageable, he knew exactly what would happen. Sonic would only want redemption for his little buddy. Even though Nine had shown them time and again that he was unequivocally not his best friend. He just had his best friend’s face, and best friend’s voice, and best friend’s smarts, and best friend’s pair of tails.

It had taken so long for Sonic to see this, and at last, he appeared willing to fight the fox. Shadow would not jeopardize that for a faint hope that Nine would come to his senses. The most important thing was stopping Nine, and Shadow needed Sonic to be focused – a rarity, but one that was possible now on the battlefield.

“No, nothing. We don’t have time for this now, Sonic.” He took a step forward, looking upwards. “Let’s get back up there.”

He looked towards the distant ledge, seeing a few pairs of red eyes returning his stare. He harumphed.

Sonic drew even with Shadow, looking up in the direction of his gaze. A fight was waiting for the two of them.

One of them smiled. The other frowned. But the same determination was present in both.

“Up for smashing a few more mes?”