Chapter Text
I
The world had begun to give up. What began as a relentless fluttering quest for optimism had begun to die, each passing day a little faster. First it was the greater kingdoms, then friends and acquaintances from different parts of the world and even universe. It all died with the departure of the mission from the Echidna, followed shortly thereafter by the Chaotix.
Quite understandably; Knuckles, Tails and Amy were devastated. None of them wanted to give up the quest, but it had been too much. Too much searching, too much traversing mountains, plains and seas; going into caverns and out between planets—only to keep coming up against nothing more than an enormous pile of… nothing. It was seriously as if existence had simply erased him.
Hours had passed since sunset. Knuckles, Tails and Amy had spent the afternoon at the latter's house by the beach, discussing what they could do next to find their long-lost friend. Meanwhile a shadow had been stalking them from atop a nearby cliff, listening to everything with his hyper-sharpened hearing. He wasn't at all surprised to hear the echidna say what he said, and that the other two had nothing to do but burst into tears, dejected at the unavoidable reality. Sonic was gone. And the best thing they could do for themselves was to let him go, to keep moving forward in life and not let the pain just tear them away from any more joy.
The echidna stayed as late as necessary until the other two's crying finally ceased. From moment to moment he had been looking over his shoulder toward the cliff, always finding nothing. With the last slurp of snot from Tails his attention turned back to the front, trying to use a soft tone so as not to upset them further.
“I know it’s painful, but it's for the best. We've done everything possible, up to the impossible… But we can't go on like this.”
Tails was collapsed on his knees, crying with his face hidden behind his hands. Amy was leaning beside him, comforting him with gentle caresses on his back, also with marks from the passage of her tears. Still, after running the back of her hand over her face she managed to face the warrior and nod, much to her grief.
Knuckles left soon after, not without first assuring them that he would return the next day to check on them. What was left of the night he would use to plan something to distract them with. Tails for his part would stay. He was too desolate and Amy didn't want him to be alone. She didn't really want to be alone either. Not with the thoughts of loss.
Knuckles walked away over the edge of the beach, glancing one last time towards that empty cliff, before heading into the brush towards the path that would lead him to his own home. Perhaps his mind had been playing tricks on him. After all, like everyone else, more than a year of relentless searching had exhausted him.
The silence of the night came as Tail's crying stopped due to exhaustion. Thus only the chirping of crickets, the sea breeze and the waves breaking on the sand under the moonlight remained.
At the top of the cliff however there was something else. A presence; same that had been listening to the entire conversation among the three friends since it began. He would not leave, for sleep was something he rarely came to need. For him it was preferable to take advantage of the time, even if it was only to think, to calculate, his next move. With eyes closed, he had been maintaining focus thanks to the white sound the elements around him produced, until out of nowhere a new sound came; wind being cut. It was wings flapping.
“Sigh… What are you doing here?”
“Well, you'll be surprised! I happen to care about you.”
Shadow again sighed the irritation. He wasn't really in the mood, yet he was still well aware that Rouge wasn't the least bit to blame for that, and that all things considered he should be grateful to her. He uncrossed his arms, trying to loosen the tension in his face before turning to face her.
“Why are you up so late?”
“Huh? Well… You know… I'm a bat.”
She said this gesturing with her hands while still flapping, like someone trying to point out the obvious, to which Shadow responded with a snort followed by a smile.
“Right…”
His next sigh wiped away his smile before he turned back to Amy Rose's silent home.
“What do you plan to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ugh… Come on Shadow! I know you! I know if you had already given up you wouldn't be here to begin with…”
It was true. Still Shadow wasn't going to admit it to her. He didn't even feel like dealing with that.
Rouge stared at his back covered in quills still flapping in anticipation of an answer she knew wouldn't come. She decided to give him some time, and when that didn't pan out either she tried to prod.
“I miss him too, you know? Although not as close, I did see him as a friend.”
“That faker and I are not friends…”
The bat had turned as he uttered his last sentence. Shadow's response tugged at a thread, making her face contract before she flapped her wings violently, moving quickly in front of the hedgehog. Shadow only opened his eyes, challenging her with his red gaze. This only infuriated her further.
“How do you do it? How is it that at this point you still pretend you don't give a damn!? And even in front of me!”
Shadow didn't respond, just folded his arms as he averted his gaze to the beach. The bat for her part stayed in place, trying to apply pressure with her gaze. It wasn't going to work. The black hedgehog was still too stubborn.
“Sigh… Well… What do you plan to do? Do you have any leads to go on?”
“I almost have one… But I'm going to find him.”
“You almost have one?”
“Mhm. I need confirmation…”
The bat wrinkled her muzzle in an attempt not to clench her fists and punch him. It wasn't right.
“Shadow, why won't you tell me what you plan to do?”
At that moment the black hedgehog's face had a complete change. A very rare expression that even the bat had had very few occasions to see, and as far as she knew she was the only one. It made her loosen all wrinkles in her face and raise her eyebrows, refraining however from speaking. She would let him explain himself.
“Because I know you care about me.”
Each word was uttered without looking up; like an embarrassed child. Undoubtedly an extremely rare behavior for Shadow, and this only fueled Rouge's distress.
“Shadow… Oh, Shadow. Please tell me what you plan to do!”
“I just told you. I'm going to bring him back…”
His voice had sounded harsh. He had not the slightest doubt of what he had just stated. However, the bat wasn't stupid enough not to realize that there was a lot more there; otherwise he wouldn't have kept it to himself, not after literally the whole world went looking for Sonic without finding him.
She kept flapping her wings, holding his gaze in a plea. Shadow didn't buckle. He held his stance, absolutely unchangeable, until she had no choice but to sigh in resignation.
“How can I help you? What can I do?”
“Only one thing.”
He met their gazes, his red eyes dead in earnestness.
“Don't try to stop me.”
The bat felt her breath catch. It hadn't exactly been a threat, and yet it felt like one. But this being Shadow, it was partly to convey reassurance to her in the sense that he knew what he was doing and how he was going to do it. That he refused to give her details was part of the same thing; both to keep her safe, and to keep her from trying to stop him.
Rouge was trying to find a way to fly away without making things uncomfortable. She was sure her gloom was easily visible to the black hedgehog, yet she didn't want to add to the pressure she was sure he had enough of. So she opted to simply turn around and fly towards the black of night, though before she could do so a gentle hand stopped her. Looking back Shadow spoke gravely, albeit softly.
“I'll be back… along with him.”
II
Sonic's lonely hut was in considerably good condition despite being only a few steps away from the sea and its salty breeze, almost as if someone had been coming back regularly to keep everything in place, in the hope that its owner would soon return. Nevertheless, the only presence that house had seen in the last few months was the shadow of a certain black hedgehog pacing on the sand around it.
That night was no exception. Shadow was there again, looking out to the lost sea over the dark horizon, silent and with his arms crossed, as he always used to do every time he waited for the other hedgehog.
And as usual his citation showed up only a few minutes late. He knew of his arrival without even having to see him. The sound the portal made every time it opened and closed was easily distinguishable. Its green light was also very noticeable in the middle of the night. Shadow allowed it to illuminate his back, resisting turning around until the latecomer apologized for his delay.
“Sorry I'm late.”
Shadow snorted before turning on his heels in the soft sand.
“Being you, I'm not surprised… Hmm. Still, it's good to see you, Silver."
The hedgehog of the future smiled nervously as he scratched his head. Then he gave a small bow to emphasize his sense of apology. Shadow let it happen, for he had far more important things to worry about.
He didn't think long before he took a couple of steps toward the other hedgehog and set things in motion.
“How's Sonic?”
Silver immediately made a head gesture of not understanding, until suddenly the wires connected.
“Oh! You mean the one from my time? He's fine! He's still… existing.”
Shadow nodded in satisfaction. Just what his ears wanted to hear, as it meant that the Sonic of his present had to still be alive.
“You have the emeralds?”
Silver nodded, pulling both gems out from between the quills on his head.
“Are you sure you want to do this Shadow? The risk is enormous.”
“I don't care. I have to bring him back.”
Shadow took the gems. One was yellow and the other lilac. At some point he thought one had the energies of time and the other space, until Silver explained that it wasn't so. It was much more… complicated, especially since he wasn't going to be moving on a timeline as it was; rather, between different realities from the same source.
He contemplated the emeralds some more as he felt their chaos energy. It was the same as the one coursing through his body, yet entirely different. Indeed, what he had planned to do was going to be extremely difficult.
“Still… What are my chances?”
“Honest? Very few… Parallel universes are infinite! And the paths between them are often crisscrossed as well. The chances of you getting right to the one he's in… even if you exit from the same point where he disappeared… they're tough.”
That was it. Just that. Sonic's house. When he first disappeared it was the first place everyone looked for him. It was weird because nothing about the place seemed to indicate that at any point he had gone anywhere. Rather, it was as if one moment he had been there, and the next he had been sucked into an interdimensional hole, whatever that means. He would leave the technicalities to Silver. He was only concerned with one thing.
“Once I find him… how do I get back?”
“Well… the same way you left, I guess. You should make sure the starting point is the same way you came in, like in here."
Shadow nodded. Silver and he had had this same conversation a couple hundred times already, so there was no point in wasting any more time. Every minute that passed was a risk for Sonic.
The black hedgehog turned his back on the other hedgehog, concentrating on his chaos energy and the one he possessed in each hand after taking off his gloves. He had been practicing it for months, and in spite of the pain it caused him, he was able to accomplish it without much delay, opening a portal in front of the sea; a dark whirlwind of purple, gold and black. Before stepping forward he released the emeralds, which fell smoking onto the sand, darkened. Silver noticed that the pads on his paws had been severely burned.
“Um… What…? What should I tell the others?”
Before taking another step Shadow paused, lowering his head, his thoughts roaring. His head burned, no longer just from the excess chaos energy that had coursed through every cell in his body. He didn't want to admit to himself that he actually cared, but at the same time he was able to see the impact it was going to have on his entire reality to know that he too had vanished. He couldn't be that selfish.
“Tell them… that I'll be back as soon as I can. And that when I do Sonic will be with me. I promise.”
It was the last thing he said before he stepped into the portal and, like Sonic, completely vanished from existence.