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There were no disturbances that night. For once they got to sleep without having any rude awakenings. Shadow was the first awake. He looked down at the little blue hedgie curled up against his torso and smiled softly, stroking his head.
Sonic purred in his sleep.
Shadow leaned down and gently planted a kiss on his cheek.
Sonic purred more.
The dark hedgehog smiled at how cute his mate was ran his fingers gently through his blue quills, forming a cemicircle motion around his ear to make the blue hedgie shudder.
Sonic shuddered while he continued to purr.
Shadow gently blow some air near his ear to make it twitch, waking him up gently.
Sonic's ear twitched a bit and he looked up at Shadow drowsily.
"Come on, Faker. Wake up" he whispered softly in his ear.
Sonic woke up a little more. "Huh...?"
"The others are having breakfast. Come on. Up you get" Shadow urged.
Sonic sat up and rubbed his eyes.
Shadow smirked and roughly, yet in a playful manor, ruffled his quills.
Sonic blushed a bit.
"Come on, lazy" Shadow's normal rough tone and cold nature towards Sonic had changed dramatically to a kind hearted warm voice when in Sonic's presence.
Sonic smiled. "Fine, fine.."
Shadow got to his feet and offered a hand to help him up.
Sonic took it and pulled himself up.
The ebony hedgehog pulled him in for a kiss.
Sonic kissed him lovingly.
SHadow blinked as he glanced over his shoulder at his tail, seeing it wagging.
"Why does it keep doing that?"
"Because you're happy."
"Hmm..." He grabbed his tail, trying to get it to stop.
Sonic kissed his cheek.
He purred but quickly covered his mouth upon hearing the sound. It looked hilarious, Shadow holding his tail with one hand and covering his mouth with the other.
Sonic chuckled.
Shadow blushed and removed his hands.
"Breakfast you two!" Tails called from the hut near them.
"Coming!" Sonic called back. "Let's go, Shads."
He nodded the followed his mate to the hut where the smell of cooking eggs and toast filled the room. Tails had found some bread and 2 eggs that hadn't spoiled.
"Well, it beats soup" the fox smiled.
"Definitely." Sonic smiled.
Tails gave the cooked bread to them and let them have the eggs on toast while he ate just cooked bread.
"... Tails, you should have an egg too."
He smiled a little and shook his head.
"You two need them more then I do"
"Miles. Sonic's right. You need to eat more. You've been living off soup. Your practically all fur and bones"
"Your exagerating, Shadow" Tails said with another kind smile.
"Just have mine, Tails."
"Sonic, no" Tails' smile dissapeared and was replaced with a serious look.
"You need to eat more than I do."
"Im fine, okay? Just eat" he munched on his toast.
Sonic frowned.
Now that Sonic looked at Tails, he could see a few ribs showing on his skinny figure.
"Tails..."
Tails put a hand on Sonic's arm, smiling warmly.
"Eat"
Sonic handed his food to Tails. "I don't really want to."
Tails sighed and looked down.
"Then I'll put it aside for you later"
"No, Tails. I want you to eat it."
Miles frowned.
"Don't make this into a fight Sonic. You need the food more then me. I'll just heat up the can of spagetti I found before"
Sonic sighed and gave up. "Alright, fine..."
Shadow sighed and rubbed his temple at Sonic giving up so easily.
"Miles. If you don't eat, you'll starve to death. And without you, we'd probably not even know about half the gadgets on us at the moment. AND we'd be completly lost. You can't live off canned food. You need solids. Now eat before I force feed you. And believe me, I will" he frowned as Tails flinched, glancing at Sonic.
"He will." Sonic said.
The fox's ears drooped.
"What will YOU eat, Sonic..?"
Sonic shrugged. "I'm not really hungry.." He lied.
"A-are you sure?"
The blue hedgehog nodded.

Tails hesitated but slowly ate the food.
Sonic smiled.
Shadow nodded in satisfaction and split his own meal in half, handing it to Sonic as he whispered.
"Here, before he looks"
"Thanks.." Sonic whispered back before he quickly and quietly ate the half Shadow gave him.
Shadow smiled at him and ate his own half.
Sonic smiled back.
Tails finished his food and looked at the two.
"So umm...are you two like..a couple now?" he asked straight out.
Sonic blushed.
"Oh, come on Sonic. I already knew you liked him. I still remember when you told me about your cru-" Sonic covered his mouth quickly to make hiim stop talking.
"M-my um... my... my crutches from that one time I hurt my leg! Tails, that's not relevant." Sonic said while blushing madly.
"Yeah~ The crutches" Tails smirked deviously.
Sonic blushed a little more. "Let's stop talking about them, okay? I don't need them anymore so we can just let them drop."
"Alright, bro. We'll stop talking about the CRUTCHES" Tails said the word loud and clear as he tried to give Shadow a hint that that was what they were really talking about. Though Shadow didn't really seem to notice.
Sonic sat back down next to Shadow.
The dark hedgehog put an arm around him, gently kissing his head.
Sonic purred.
Tails smiled a little.
"Come on. You two should start training again while we have the chance"
"Okay."
Miles stood and walked out, waiting for them.
Sonic stood as well.
Shadow followed as he and Sonic walked around Clyde who was still asleep.
Sonic went to Tails.
The fox was outside the old training yard.
"I remember when I used to train here.." Sonic smiled a bit.
"The equipment should still be in the room out back. I'll go get them" Tails said as he ran out back.
Sonic looked around a bit, remembering some of the good times he had here.
Shadow walked in beside him, staying silent as he let Sonic enjoy the moment.
Sonic looked back at him and smiled.
He smiled back and held Sonic's hand gently.
Sonic smiled a little more.
Tails came back with some equipment, dumping them on the ground.
"Lets see"
Sonic looked through the equipment.
Shadow found a bunch of targets. He smirked and threw it up like a frisbee before pointing his hand at it and firing a chaos spear as it shattered.
Sonic clapped a little.
"Do you have something similar to my chaos spear?" Shadow asked.
"Not that I know of."
"I actually gave you a new chaos power, Sonic. Called Chaos Dart. It can stun your enemy" Tails said.
"Really? How do I use it?"
He told Sonic, quite technically, how to operate and activate the Chaos Dart in his robotic hand.
"Throw me a target would ya please, Shads?"
He nodded the hurled one of the targets up in the air.
Sonic tried to use Chaos Dart on it.
It hit the target but the dart missed the center mark and hit the outer ring.
"I'm gonna need a lot of practice.."
Shadow chuckled and walked over.
"Don't feel so down. Its impossible to be able to hit a moving target on your first try"
"I guess you're right."

Shadow smiled softly and ruffled Sonic's head quills gently to cheer him up.
Sonic smiled and purred a little.
Tails smiled at the two, staying quiet as Shadow helped Sonic by showing him how to aim and how to determin how far it would land.
Sonic asked for him to throw another target.
He nodded and complied, hurling another target into the air.
Sonic took aim and fired another Chaos Dart at it.
This time however, it hit the target right in the middle.
Sonic grinned. "I got it!"
Shadow clapped as he smiled.
"The more you practice the faster you'll get"
"Thanks for helping me, Shadow."
He nodded and quickly threw 3 targets in the air, shooting them down easily.
Sonic smiled a little.
"You try" he smiled back and got ready to throw the targets.
Sonic got ready to fire his Chaos Darts.
"Ready...Now" Shadow said as he hurled the 3 targets into the air.
Sonic took aim upon them and fired.
Three direct bullseyes!
Sonic grinned. "Haha, I did it!"
"Knew you could" Shadow smiled as he put a hand on his shoulder.
Sonic widened his grin. "Thanks again, Shadow."
The dark hedgehog blushed again when Sonic threw his arms around him in a loving hug.
The blue hedgehog slightly nuzzled his face into Shadow's shoulder as a form of showing affection.
Shadow smiled a little more and held the blue hedgie close to him. Tails smiled as he walked out.
"Keep training you too"
"Okay." Sonic said.
Shadow gently kissed Sonic's cheek, still blushing cutely.
Sonic kissed Shadow's cheek in response.
He gave a cute chuckle and scooped Sonic up into his arms.
Sonic blushed a bit.
He sat down on a bench with Sonic just outside the training center.
Sonic smiled.
"So. You had a crush on me~?" Shadow smirked as he looked at him slightly.

The blue blur blushed madly and looked away. "W-what? Where did you hear that?"
"The fox" He smiled.
"H-heh heh... Y-you must have m-misheard him..."
"Did I?" He smiled, gently making Sonic look at him.
Sonic blushed even more.
"Stupid hedgehog~" Shadow teased and tapped his nose.
Sonic flinched a little with a small smile.
They nuzzled each other gently and smiled.
"Why do you have to be so adorable, Blue~?" Shadz smiled.
"Don't judge me for who I am." He snapped jokingly and chuckled.
"Oh im not judging" Shadow said softly and kissed his cheek.
Sonic purred.
He gently scratched under Sonic's chin.
Sonic purred more.
"Think fast!" Tails suddenly said as he threw an apple each to Sonic and Shadow.
Without even looking, Sonic outstretched his hand and caught his apple.
The fox smiled as Shadow did the same in sync with Sonic.
"Your reflexes have gotten faster. Good"
Sonic smiled a little.
"I found these on the old apple tree. There were 4 good ones left. I gave one to Clyde and had one myself. Eat up you two" he smiled back.
"Okay." Sonic said.
The fox walked off again as Shadow bit the apple.
"Mmmm~"
Sonic bit into his own apple.
Shadow leaned against the back of the bench with a content sigh.
Sonic snuggled him a little.
The dark hedgehog smiled as he took another bite from his apple.
Sonic pet him a bit.
Shadow shuddered a little and nuzzled him gently.
Sonic kissed his cheek.
He smiled and put a hand on the blue hedgie's cheek.
Sonic blushed a little.

Clyde trotted over with a whinny.
Sonic smiled at him a bit.
He galloped over and looked at them curiously, wondering what they were doing.
Sonic pat his head.
He whinnied softly and nibbled his quills to make him laugh.
He chuckled a little. "H-hey, that tickles!"
Shadow smiled at them as he leaned back, watching the horse nubble Sonic's quills.
"H-help, Shadow!" He laughed.
"I can't~" Shadow teased, "He's to strong~!" he pretended to push Clyde off, of course he could if he wanted to.
"Shadow! You can do it!" Sonic giggled.
Shadow chuckled and gently pushed Clyde off.
"Knock it off Clyde" he smiled as the horse whinnied.
Sonic calmed down a little.
The horse sneakily lowered his head to Shadow's hands and ate his apple, galloping off quickly.
"Oi!" Shadow ran after him, "Get back here!"
Sonic started laughing.
Shadow managed to catch up to Clyde and tackled him down as the horse gave a fake whinny as if he was being defeated before he rolled onto his feet and ran off again.
Sonic followed them.
"Come back here! You owe me a new apple, you giant pot of glue!" Shadow shouted as Clyde neighed as if laughing, galloping around as he easily avoided Shadow.
Sonic flew ahead of Shadow using his jets and landed on Clyde's back. "Whoa there!" He laughed.
He whinnied and rared up, smirking at him as he tried to buck him off playfully.
Sonic held on to his mane.
The horse soon gave up and looked back at Sonic as if saying he won.
Hesitantly he let go of Clyde's mane.
Clyde laid down slowly to let him off.
Sonic got off and grinned.
Shadow walked over and gave Clyde a playful punch to the shoulder.
"That was MY apple" he said as Clyde snorted.
Sonic sighed with a smile.
"Better watch your apple, Sonic. he might swipe that next" Shadow warned.
Sonic chuckled a bit.

Something caught Sonic's eyes near one of the huts as he walked over. It was a fresh grave...Tails must of buried the child from before. His heart sunk at not even seeing a name on the wooden placement at the back of it that only said 'Rest In Peace'
The blue hedgehog sighed and walked over.
He felt tears welling up in his eyes as he stopped at the edge of the grave.
He tried to wipe them away.
Shadow walked over and set a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Sonic looked at him.
He smiled a little at him.
Sonic sniffled.
Shadow gently pulled him into a hug.
Sonic held him tightly. "We killed that kid.."
"No Sonic...We killed the monster...We free'd him" Shadow said softly.
"B-but it cost him his life... There must have been another way..."
"We'll find a way" He whispered softly, rubbing his back.
Sonic snuggled against his chest fur.
He cradled him close, eyes closed mornfully.
Sonic sighed a bit.

Meanwhile

"They took out a quarter of my pets" Mephiles hissed as he paced back and forth.
"So what are we going to do about it?" asked Enerjak.
"Can you not track them with those chaos abilaties you brag about?" the demon snarled.
"They're in hiding somewhere. It'd be sort of tedious, but I'm sure I'd find them eventually."
"There has to be some way to find them quicker. Do you know of any big hiding places they may use to train in? No doubt the fox is training them"
Enerjak thought. "Well, there's that big gym in Station Square and I'm sure there was one place in Knothole..."
"We shall check that 'Station Square' first. Im sure the gym is still standing somewhere in there"
"Okay."
Taking the lead, Mephiles opened a portal for them, walking through.
Enerjak followed him.
Mephiles walked around, eyes scanning for any signs of life.
"I can't sense anything." Enerjak announced.
"Hmm...They must be at that other place you mentioned. What was it again?"
"Knothole."
Mephiles opened a portal, allowing Enerjak to step through first.
Enerjak smirked and stepped through, seeing if he could sense anything.
He saw Tails just outside of the entrance, going back to the apple tree to see if he could find any more.
His smirk grew and spread across his whole muzzle as he started walking quietly toward the fox.
He reached up, trying to grab an apple that was higher then the others.
"Come...here..!" he strained, on his toes as his fingers touched the bottom of it.
"Here." Enerjak taunted as he grabbed the apple with ease.
The fox cried out as he backed up quickly.
Enerjak charged at him.
His pupils shrank as he screamed.

Shadow looked up quickly, hearing the fox's cry.
"Miles!"
Before he knew it Sonic was running in the direction of the scream.
"Sonic! Sonic wait!" Shadow chased after him quickly.
"What?! I have to help Tails!"
"Its them" he said with his ears flat against his head, "Their using him as bait"
"I don't believe you..." Sonic turned on his Chaos Energy detector to see if Enerjak was nearby.
His ears drooped when he sensed both Enerjak and Mephiles.
Sonic turned it off. "Wh-what do we do?!"
Shadow's ears drooped as he tried to think.
"I.. I'm just gonna rush out there and fight!"
"No!" he tried to stop him, "No Sonic!"
"What else am I supposed to do!? They could be hurting Tails and I'm supposed to just stand here and let them?!"
He looked back at the entrance as he heard Tails give another weak cry.
"Sonic. The second you go out there they'll kill you AND Tails. Think about it"
Sonic growled in worried frustration.
He suddenly saw Tails get hurled through the entrance, hitting the ground hard and bleeding uncontrollably from the stomach.
Sonic ran over impulsively.
Mephiles walked in with Enerjak as Shadow ran in front of Sonic and Tails.
"Knuckles..." Sonic muttered as his eyes saddened at the sight of Enerjak, who grinned.
Tails quivered in Sonic's arms, his chest and stomach stained with his blood, his pale eyes staring into Sonic's.
Sonic held Tails tightly. "How could you, Knuckles?!"
Enerjak frowned. "Don't call me that. I'm Enerjak now."
Mephiles' hand glowed as he pointed it at Shadow's chest which would mean it'd go right through and strike Sonic's head too.
Sonic tried to push Shadow away.
Shadow suddenly snarled and lept forward, punching Enerjak in the face so hard his helmet flew off. He then turned and shoot 3 chaos spears at Mephiles, knocking him down.
Sonic smiled a little. Enerjak grabbed his helmet and smacked Shadow with it.
He yelped but snarled and punched him hard in the gut, firing some more chaos spears against him at the same time.
Enerjak growled in pain and fired some Thunder Arrows at Shadow.
He grunted, blood trickling from the wound. He panted and growled as he took off his rings, dodging a punch from him.
"Chaos..BLAST!!" he sent Mephiles and Enerjak shooting for the walls, a barrier forming around Sonic, Tails and Clyde. He landed back on the ground as he fell to his knees then onto his stomach weakly.
Sonic looked at Mephiles and Enerjak. Enerjak stood. "Not much of a challenge, unfortunately."
The streaked hedgehog tried to get up but Mephiles stepped on his back, easily keeping him down.
Sonic suddenly sneered and fired his Chaos Darts at Enerjak, accidentally missing him entirely. Enerjak glared at him.

Clyde whinnied as he ran forward, kicking Enerjak away.
Enerjak hit Clyde. "Stay back, horse! Know your place."
He neighed and rared up.
Sonic fired more Chaos Darts, this time at Mephiles.
He narrowly dodged before firing a crystal shard at him. Tails suddenly gripped Sonic's shoulders and pushed himself up as the crystal dug deep into his back.
"Urg..!!"
"Tails!!"
He laid limp against him, giving a quiet whisper.
"The....emerald..."
"What..? What about it..?"
Shadow heard him and understood. He grabbed the chaos emerald and summoned as much strength as he could before warping himself, Tails, Sonic, Clyde and Nicole out of there.
Enerjak only smirked. "What a feeble attempt. Decide quickly, Mephiles; do we follow them or let them be for a while?"
"We'll wait until the fox is dead" he hissed.
"Alright."

Sonic held Tails close. "Why did you do that, Tails..?!" He cried.
The fox's weak hand fell from his stomach would, showing the deep slash marks that had torn through him.
"D...don't..wanna..g...go..." he whispered, tears in his pale blue eyes.
"Tails..." Sonic sobbed a bit.
He rested his weak head against Sonic, crying quietly.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you...!"
He gripped onto Sonic with his trembling hands, his vision blurring.
"Sonic. I can give him a temporary bandage with this" Shadow said as he held up a cloth, "It won't do much...but we might be able to find a way to help him"
Sonic nodded an 'okay'.
Gently Shadow tied the material around Tails' biggest wound.
"You'll be okay, Miles" he sighed.
Sonic held back his sobs.
Shadow gently got Sonic to hold him up as he pulled the crystal from his back. The fox gave a weak cry, grilling Sonic a little tighter.
Sonic continued to hold him up.
He could feel his little buddy shivering in his grip, cold from lose of blood.
Sonic sniffled.
Shadow gently set a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't cry, Faker. It'll be alright"
Sonic smiled a little, but was still down.
"Come on. You ride Clyde. We have to get as far away from here as possible"
Sonic nodded and got on Clyde's back.
Shadow attached Nicole to around Clyde's neck like a necklace as he and the horse ran side by side.
Sonic was quiet.

A wall of crystals suddenly rose in front of them as they crashed into it.
The blue hedgehog was startled and fell off of Clyde.
Shadow gripped the arm that had taken the force of hitting the wall and turned to see the enemies walking towards them.
Sonic looked at Shadow helplessly.
"It'll be okay" his ears drooped a little as he looked up at Enerjak with pure hatred.
Enerjak only smirked in response.
"Let me ask you a question, you red fuck" Shadow frowned and walked up to him, "What could you possibly have to gain from all this? You take over the world. Then what? Whats after that when everyones DEAD or a mutant?"
"Then I conquer other realities until they're all like this one."
"And then what? After you've conquered EVERYTHING! Then what?" He put his finger on Knuckles' chest, looking into his eyes, "You'll be standing on some god forsaken hill looking out at a wasteland! Well good for fucken you! You'll own a wastland with zero inhabitants!"
Enerjak grabbed Shadow's hand and used it to twist him around by tugging the hand around Shadow's back. "Don't touch me, 'Ultimate Life Form'," He said sarcastically, "There may not be anyone left, but I'll still have the pride of knowing I helped completely destroy many worlds. That's quite an accomplishment, I must say."
He gritted his teeth but forced a smirk.
"Your parents must be so proud" he taunted.
Enerjak twisted his arms more. Sonic growled. "Knuckles, stop this! You don't have to work with Mephiles!"
"He's working FOR me, you little blue rat" Mephiles hissed and grabbed him.
Sonic struggled. Enerjak laughed a little.
Shadow suddenly burst into laughter and looked at Enerjak.
"Your working for him? But I thought you were the almighty Enerjak? A God? Or are you nothing but a sidekick~?"
Enerjak snarled at him. "Shut your mouth!"
"You shouldn't be taking crap from a pile of crystals. Your a god ain't you? Or were you bragging again~?"
Enerjak growled and twisted Shadow's arms back more. "J-just shut up!"
He grunted but smirked.
"You must be pretty embarressed~"
"I-I..." He only growled more.
"Finish him off already!"
"You going to listen to you boss, Enerjak~?"
Enerjak was in mixed decision.
"Kill him!
"Make your own decisions for once!"
Enerjak let go of Shadow and fled.
Sonic smirked. "Knuckles always did hate peer pressure."
Mephiles snarled and ran after him.
"Get back here!"
Sonic broke free. "Come on Shadow, let's juice while Knux buys us some time!"
He nodded and lifted Sonic onto Clyde as the horse galloped off, Shadow carrying Tails.
Sonic looked back to see Enerjak still running.
"Don't look back. Keep going" Shadow said as he ran beside them.
Sonic nodded in understanding.
Tails gave a struggled wheeze as he tried to call for his big brother, curled up weakly in Shadow's arms.
".. I can take him.."
He gently passed Tails up to him, still running.
Sonic took Tails from Shadow and cradled him.
The fox opened his eyes a little.
"Hey, lil' bro..."
He gave a tiny smile, not able to do much else.
"Hey Sonic! Is that a town up ahead?" Shadow smiled as he spotted the intact town. It looked completly untouched by Mephiles' dark powers. Theres was a big cyan dome over it like a force field.
"Let's check it out!"

They ran up to the sheild, looking up at it.
"Its solid...What is it?" Shadow asked with his hands on the strange aura.
"I guess it's some kind of force field to keep Mephiles out.." Sonic pondered.
A section in front of them opened up just big enough for them to go through. Shadow glanced up at Sonic before walking in.
It closed up behind them as they looked back ahead, seeing the many survivors walking around. All mobians. No humans.
"Wow..." Sonic gawked at how many survivors there were. "I wonder who runs this place?"
"I'll ask someone" Shadow said as he walked over to a male mobian and tapped his shoulder, "Who's in charge around here? And where can we find them? Its urgent. Please"
He pointed at a building.
He nodded and ran to the building with Sonic. A few little girls ran over as they watched Clyde.
"Pony!"
Sonic chuckled a bit. "Looks like Clyde'll have some company."
"We'll leave him with the girls for now. He'll stay close by. Come on. Lets go inside" he helped Sonic off the horse and opened the door to the room for him, glancing at Tails sadly.
Inside was a silver hedgehog, glowing the same colour as the barrier outside. He was sitting in a chair leaning back and munching on an apple.
"Hey, uh.. could you maybe help us?"
The hedgehog fell off his chair in surprise but quickly recovered and stood as if he hadn't fallen at all.
"Ahh~ Your the ones I just let in, right? I saw you from a MILE away" he bragged.
"Right.. Whatever, we need help. My friend, Tails.. He got hurt by Mephiles."
He walked over and gently moved the cloth to look at the wound. He cringed and nodded.
"I can tell. This way" he ran upstairs to where the infirmary was.
Sonic followed, carrying Tails along.
The hedgehog raised a glowing hand as the pillows and blanket fixed itself up on the bed before they stopped glowing.
"Lay him on the bed. I'll get the doctor" he said before leaving.
"What a strange trick that guy has.." Sonic said as he gently lay Tails down on the bed.
"I can't believe theres a whole town thriving here. Its incredible"
"Yeah."
The hedgehog ran back with a doctor who immediately worked on helping the dying fox.
Sonic watched helplessly.
"He'll be okay" the hedgehog said, "The names Silver by the way"
"Nice to meet you, Silver.. I'm Sonic, and this here is Shadow.." Sonic said and gestured to Shadow.
Silver glanced at their robotic parts questionably before his eyes widened.
"W-wait..! Y-you DIED didn't you?! I saw it in some old newspaper! Y-Yeah! Thats you!"
Sonic nodded. "Yeah.. But Tails brought us back to fight Mephiles and Enerjak.."
"Are you two Cyborgs?" he grinned childishly, though he was completly serious.
The blue hedgehog shrugged. "I guess so."
"So cool~" he smiled as his eyes shone. He cleared his throat and stood up straight again, "S-Sorry" he sweat dropped.
Sonic chuckled a bit. "No reason to be sorry."

Silver smiled again and motioned to the barrier.
"In case you haven't noticed already, Im the one keeping the barrier up. Its hard work and I've been doing it for about a month now" he breathed out heavily, "What I wouldn't do for a break"
"Well, last we saw of them, Mephiles was busy chasing Enerjak down, but they might be on the hunt again.."
"I can't take the risk of taing the barrier down. I even have to keep it going while I sleep...thought I haven't slept in a week since the barrier weakens when im asleep. One of those mutants broke through and carried someone off...I can't let that happen again"
"I understand." Sonic said. "But you need sleep. Maybe me and Shadow could keep watch while you rest?"
"A-Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
He smiled.
"Thank you. Your in charge until I wake up, okay?"
"Okay."
The hedgehog yawned and walked past to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
"Poor guy" Shadow sighed, "He has a whole towns weight on his shoulders. Quite literally"
Sonic nodded.
"Come on. Might as well have a look around"
"Sure, let's go."
Shadow grinned and walked out with him.
"Wonder how Clyde's doing"
"Maybe we should go check on him."
Shadow nodded and walked out with him, chuckling when he saw the horse giving rides to the kids.
Sonic smiled a bit.
"Well it looks like HE'S having fun" Shadow smirked.
Sonic nodded.
"Come on. Lets have a look around"
"Okay."
He noticed Sonic looked abit down and smirked.
"Wanna race to the other side of town?"
"Thanks but no thanks."
Shadow's ears drooped at the response as he gently held his hand.
"Whats wrong? Tails is going to be okay. We're all safe now"
Sonic shrugged.

"Lets go for a walk around the dome then. It'll clear your head abit"
"Fine."
He sighed and stopped him.
"Whats the matter? Please tell me"
Sonic shook his head. "It's nothing.."
He gently made Sonic look at him.
"Talk to me faker. Please"
Sonic sighed. "Alright, fine.. I'm just a little depressed about not being able to protect Tails from Mephiles." He admitted.
Shadow put a gentle hand on Sonic's cheek.
"Its all okay now. None of it was your fault. Okay? Come on. Wheres that smart ass smile you're always giving me~?" he smirked, trying to get his mate to crack a smile at least.
The blue hedgehog smiled a little. "Thank you, Shadow..."
He smiled back sweetly and nodded.
Sonic got closer to kiss him.
Shadow smirked and picked him up.
"Was all that just to get a kiss~?"
"No!" Sonic smirked as well.
A small laugh came from the dark hedgehog as he gently kissed Sonic's forehead.
"Stupid hedgehog. You just have to ask~"
"Okay. Can I have a kiss?"
Shadow smiled softly and planted a gentle kiss on the sapphire hedgehog's lips.
Sonic kissed him back.
They slowly parted, smiling at each other.
"You've made me gone soft~" Shadow whispered softly.
Sonic smirked again.
Shadow gently set him back on his feet, walking with him.
Sonic leaned against him lovingly.
The two walked along the rim of the barrier, keeping an eye out for any trouble.
"I hope Enerjak hasn't given up and gone back to Mephiles..." He sighed. "But what are the odds of that not happening?"
"Quite low" Shadow sighed and held Sonic's hand a little tighter, "Maybe theres a way to snap him out of it. Bring Knuckles back"
Sonic looked at him. "You really think so?"
"Its our best chance. We'd have a better chance of taking down Mephiles that way"
"Well, I do think I know of one way to free Knuckles, but it might be impossible.."
"What is it?" Shadow asked, stopping and turning to him.
"We'd have to find the Master Emerald... Chances are, to make Knuckles into Enerjak, a seal had to be put on the Master Emerald. I've dealt with Knuckles being Enerjak once before, but even if we do find the Emerald... To break the seal, a life has to be sacrificed.."
Shadow's ears drooped to this as he looked down.
"No..."
"I don't think there's any other way to free Knuckles.."
He sighed and held Sonic's hand tightly.
"Not you..."
"Who then?"
"W-We'll figure it out at the time...But not you...Please..."
Sonic held him close.
"I don't want to have to lose someone else close to me..." Shadow cradled him close, ears drooped.
"You won't.."

That Night

Silver, who was now awake, was taking Sonic and Shadow to the great hall where everyone ate at.
Sonic yawned a little.
He saw Tails sitting at the table, laughing with some mobians.
He smiled.
Tails looked over, seeing Sonic as he smiled.
"Sonic!" he waved him over.
"Hey, Tails." Sonic walked over.
The fox was covered in bandages but otherwise looked okay. He patted the seat beside him.
"I saved you both a seat"
"Oh, thanks." Sonic smiled a bit. "But I think I'm going to take a walk around the town.."
"Are you sure? I hear they have chillidogs~" Tails grinned, knowing the hedgehog could NEVER turn down his favourite meal.
"... Just one chilidog." Sonic gave in and sat down.
Shadow chuckled and sat down beside him.
"We need to keep our strength up anyway"
Sonic seemed to be lost in thought.
Shadow's smile faded at this as he gently nudged him.
"Sonic?"
Sonic looked over quickly, startled out of his thoughts. "Sorry, did you say something?"
"You still worried..?"
"I don't really wanna talk about it right now.."
He wrapped an arm around the blue hedgehog, pulling him close.
Sonic looked up at him.
A plate of chillidogs was put in front of Sonic especially for him.
"Thanks.." Sonic forced a small smile.
The mobian smiled at him and nodded, handing food out to the others too.
Sonic started to eat slowly.
Shadow curiously picked up a chillidog.
"Hmmm..." he took a bite.
Sonic looked to see his reaction.
He swallowed the bite, abit of chilli on his lips.
"Not bad. I can see why you like them" he smiled.
Sonic smiled a little back.
Shadow licked the chilli off his lips as he ate some more.
Sonic continued eating as well.
The dark hedgehog suddenly began to feel a little weak, putting a hand on his head as the rest of the chillidog fell onto the table.
"Shadow?"
He teetered abit, falling heavily against Sonic.
"Shadow!" Sonic caught him.
The others at the table looked at them quickly, Tails standing as he moved closer to look.
The hedgehog gave a shaky groan, his vision spinning as he blacked out.

Description
There were no disturbances that night. For once they got to sleep without having any rude awakenings. Shadow was the first awake. He looked down at the little blue hedgie curled up against his torso and smiled softly, stroking his head.
Sonic purred in his sleep.
Shadow leaned down and gently planted a kiss on his cheek.
Sonic purred more.
The dark hedgehog smiled at how cute his mate was ran his fingers gently through his blue quills, forming a cemicircle motion around his ear to make the blue hedgie shudder.
Sonic shuddered while he continued to purr.
Shadow gently blow some air near his ear to make it twitch, waking him up gently.
Sonic's ear twitched a bit and he looked up at Shadow drowsily.
"Come on, Faker. Wake up" he whispered softly in his ear.
Sonic woke up a little more. "Huh...?"
"The others are having breakfast. Come on. Up you get" Shadow urged.
Sonic sat up and rubbed his eyes.
Shadow smirked and roughly, yet in a playful manor, ruffled his quills.
Sonic blushed a bit.
"Come on, lazy" Shadow's normal rough tone and cold nature towards Sonic had changed dramatically to a kind hearted warm voice when in Sonic's presence.
Sonic smiled. "Fine, fine.."
Shadow got to his feet and offered a hand to help him up.
Sonic took it and pulled himself up.
The ebony hedgehog pulled him in for a kiss.
Sonic kissed him lovingly.
SHadow blinked as he glanced over his shoulder at his tail, seeing it wagging.
"Why does it keep doing that?"
"Because you're happy."
"Hmm..." He grabbed his tail, trying to get it to stop.
Sonic kissed his cheek.
He purred but quickly covered his mouth upon hearing the sound. It looked hilarious, Shadow holding his tail with one hand and covering his mouth with the other.
Sonic chuckled.
Shadow blushed and removed his hands.
"Breakfast you two!" Tails called from the hut near them.
"Coming!" Sonic called back. "Let's go, Shads."
He nodded the followed his mate to the hut where the smell of cooking eggs and toast filled the room. Tails had found some bread and 2 eggs that hadn't spoiled.
"Well, it beats soup" the fox smiled.
"Definitely." Sonic smiled.
Tails gave the cooked bread to them and let them have the eggs on toast while he ate just cooked bread.
"... Tails, you should have an egg too."
He smiled a little and shook his head.
"You two need them more then I do"
"Miles. Sonic's right. You need to eat more. You've been living off soup. Your practically all fur and bones"
"Your exagerating, Shadow" Tails said with another kind smile.
"Just have mine, Tails."
"Sonic, no" Tails' smile dissapeared and was replaced with a serious look.
"You need to eat more than I do."
"Im fine, okay? Just eat" he munched on his toast.
Sonic frowned.
Now that Sonic looked at Tails, he could see a few ribs showing on his skinny figure.
"Tails..."
Tails put a hand on Sonic's arm, smiling warmly.
"Eat"
Sonic handed his food to Tails. "I don't really want to."
Tails sighed and looked down.
"Then I'll put it aside for you later"
"No, Tails. I want you to eat it."
Miles frowned.
"Don't make this into a fight Sonic. You need the food more then me. I'll just heat up the can of spagetti I found before"
Sonic sighed and gave up. "Alright, fine..."
Shadow sighed and rubbed his temple at Sonic giving up so easily.
"Miles. If you don't eat, you'll starve to death. And without you, we'd probably not even know about half the gadgets on us at the moment. AND we'd be completly lost. You can't live off canned food. You need solids. Now eat before I force feed you. And believe me, I will" he frowned as Tails flinched, glancing at Sonic.
"He will." Sonic said.
The fox's ears drooped.
"What will YOU eat, Sonic..?"
Sonic shrugged. "I'm not really hungry.." He lied.
"A-are you sure?"
The blue hedgehog nodded.

Tails hesitated but slowly ate the food.
Sonic smiled.
Shadow nodded in satisfaction and split his own meal in half, handing it to Sonic as he whispered.
"Here, before he looks"
"Thanks.." Sonic whispered back before he quickly and quietly ate the half Shadow gave him.
Shadow smiled at him and ate his own half.
Sonic smiled back.
Tails finished his food and looked at the two.
"So umm...are you two like..a couple now?" he asked straight out.
Sonic blushed.
"Oh, come on Sonic. I already knew you liked him. I still remember when you told me about your cru-" Sonic covered his mouth quickly to make hiim stop talking.
"M-my um... my... my crutches from that one time I hurt my leg! Tails, that's not relevant." Sonic said while blushing madly.
"Yeah~ The crutches" Tails smirked deviously.
Sonic blushed a little more. "Let's stop talking about them, okay? I don't need them anymore so we can just let them drop."
"Alright, bro. We'll stop talking about the CRUTCHES" Tails said the word loud and clear as he tried to give Shadow a hint that that was what they were really talking about. Though Shadow didn't really seem to notice.
Sonic sat back down next to Shadow.
The dark hedgehog put an arm around him, gently kissing his head.
Sonic purred.
Tails smiled a little.
"Come on. You two should start training again while we have the chance"
"Okay."
Miles stood and walked out, waiting for them.
Sonic stood as well.
Shadow followed as he and Sonic walked around Clyde who was still asleep.
Sonic went to Tails.
The fox was outside the old training yard.
"I remember when I used to train here.." Sonic smiled a bit.
"The equipment should still be in the room out back. I'll go get them" Tails said as he ran out back.
Sonic looked around a bit, remembering some of the good times he had here.
Shadow walked in beside him, staying silent as he let Sonic enjoy the moment.
Sonic looked back at him and smiled.
He smiled back and held Sonic's hand gently.
Sonic smiled a little more.
Tails came back with some equipment, dumping them on the ground.
"Lets see"
Sonic looked through the equipment.
Shadow found a bunch of targets. He smirked and threw it up like a frisbee before pointing his hand at it and firing a chaos spear as it shattered.
Sonic clapped a little.
"Do you have something similar to my chaos spear?" Shadow asked.
"Not that I know of."
"I actually gave you a new chaos power, Sonic. Called Chaos Dart. It can stun your enemy" Tails said.
"Really? How do I use it?"
He told Sonic, quite technically, how to operate and activate the Chaos Dart in his robotic hand.
"Throw me a target would ya please, Shads?"
He nodded the hurled one of the targets up in the air.
Sonic tried to use Chaos Dart on it.
It hit the target but the dart missed the center mark and hit the outer ring.
"I'm gonna need a lot of practice.."
Shadow chuckled and walked over.
"Don't feel so down. Its impossible to be able to hit a moving target on your first try"
"I guess you're right."

Shadow smiled softly and ruffled Sonic's head quills gently to cheer him up.
Sonic smiled and purred a little.
Tails smiled at the two, staying quiet as Shadow helped Sonic by showing him how to aim and how to determin how far it would land.
Sonic asked for him to throw another target.
He nodded and complied, hurling another target into the air.
Sonic took aim and fired another Chaos Dart at it.
This time however, it hit the target right in the middle.
Sonic grinned. "I got it!"
Shadow clapped as he smiled.
"The more you practice the faster you'll get"
"Thanks for helping me, Shadow."
He nodded and quickly threw 3 targets in the air, shooting them down easily.
Sonic smiled a little.
"You try" he smiled back and got ready to throw the targets.
Sonic got ready to fire his Chaos Darts.
"Ready...Now" Shadow said as he hurled the 3 targets into the air.
Sonic took aim upon them and fired.
Three direct bullseyes!
Sonic grinned. "Haha, I did it!"
"Knew you could" Shadow smiled as he put a hand on his shoulder.
Sonic widened his grin. "Thanks again, Shadow."
The dark hedgehog blushed again when Sonic threw his arms around him in a loving hug.
The blue hedgehog slightly nuzzled his face into Shadow's shoulder as a form of showing affection.
Shadow smiled a little more and held the blue hedgie close to him. Tails smiled as he walked out.
"Keep training you too"
"Okay." Sonic said.
Shadow gently kissed Sonic's cheek, still blushing cutely.
Sonic kissed Shadow's cheek in response.
He gave a cute chuckle and scooped Sonic up into his arms.
Sonic blushed a bit.
He sat down on a bench with Sonic just outside the training center.
Sonic smiled.
"So. You had a crush on me~?" Shadow smirked as he looked at him slightly.

The blue blur blushed madly and looked away. "W-what? Where did you hear that?"
"The fox" He smiled.
"H-heh heh... Y-you must have m-misheard him..."
"Did I?" He smiled, gently making Sonic look at him.
Sonic blushed even more.
"Stupid hedgehog~" Shadow teased and tapped his nose.
Sonic flinched a little with a small smile.
They nuzzled each other gently and smiled.
"Why do you have to be so adorable, Blue~?" Shadz smiled.
"Don't judge me for who I am." He snapped jokingly and chuckled.
"Oh im not judging" Shadow said softly and kissed his cheek.
Sonic purred.
He gently scratched under Sonic's chin.
Sonic purred more.
"Think fast!" Tails suddenly said as he threw an apple each to Sonic and Shadow.
Without even looking, Sonic outstretched his hand and caught his apple.
The fox smiled as Shadow did the same in sync with Sonic.
"Your reflexes have gotten faster. Good"
Sonic smiled a little.
"I found these on the old apple tree. There were 4 good ones left. I gave one to Clyde and had one myself. Eat up you two" he smiled back.
"Okay." Sonic said.
The fox walked off again as Shadow bit the apple.
"Mmmm~"
Sonic bit into his own apple.
Shadow leaned against the back of the bench with a content sigh.
Sonic snuggled him a little.
The dark hedgehog smiled as he took another bite from his apple.
Sonic pet him a bit.
Shadow shuddered a little and nuzzled him gently.
Sonic kissed his cheek.
He smiled and put a hand on the blue hedgie's cheek.
Sonic blushed a little.

Clyde trotted over with a whinny.
Sonic smiled at him a bit.
He galloped over and looked at them curiously, wondering what they were doing.
Sonic pat his head.
He whinnied softly and nibbled his quills to make him laugh.
He chuckled a little. "H-hey, that tickles!"
Shadow smiled at them as he leaned back, watching the horse nubble Sonic's quills.
"H-help, Shadow!" He laughed.
"I can't~" Shadow teased, "He's to strong~!" he pretended to push Clyde off, of course he could if he wanted to.
"Shadow! You can do it!" Sonic giggled.
Shadow chuckled and gently pushed Clyde off.
"Knock it off Clyde" he smiled as the horse whinnied.
Sonic calmed down a little.
The horse sneakily lowered his head to Shadow's hands and ate his apple, galloping off quickly.
"Oi!" Shadow ran after him, "Get back here!"
Sonic started laughing.
Shadow managed to catch up to Clyde and tackled him down as the horse gave a fake whinny as if he was being defeated before he rolled onto his feet and ran off again.
Sonic followed them.
"Come back here! You owe me a new apple, you giant pot of glue!" Shadow shouted as Clyde neighed as if laughing, galloping around as he easily avoided Shadow.
Sonic flew ahead of Shadow using his jets and landed on Clyde's back. "Whoa there!" He laughed.
He whinnied and rared up, smirking at him as he tried to buck him off playfully.
Sonic held on to his mane.
The horse soon gave up and looked back at Sonic as if saying he won.
Hesitantly he let go of Clyde's mane.
Clyde laid down slowly to let him off.
Sonic got off and grinned.
Shadow walked over and gave Clyde a playful punch to the shoulder.
"That was MY apple" he said as Clyde snorted.
Sonic sighed with a smile.
"Better watch your apple, Sonic. he might swipe that next" Shadow warned.
Sonic chuckled a bit.

Something caught Sonic's eyes near one of the huts as he walked over. It was a fresh grave...Tails must of buried the child from before. His heart sunk at not even seeing a name on the wooden placement at the back of it that only said 'Rest In Peace'
The blue hedgehog sighed and walked over.
He felt tears welling up in his eyes as he stopped at the edge of the grave.
He tried to wipe them away.
Shadow walked over and set a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Sonic looked at him.
He smiled a little at him.
Sonic sniffled.
Shadow gently pulled him into a hug.
Sonic held him tightly. "We killed that kid.."
"No Sonic...We killed the monster...We free'd him" Shadow said softly.
"B-but it cost him his life... There must have been another way..."
"We'll find a way" He whispered softly, rubbing his back.
Sonic snuggled against his chest fur.
He cradled him close, eyes closed mornfully.
Sonic sighed a bit.

Meanwhile

"They took out a quarter of my pets" Mephiles hissed as he paced back and forth.
"So what are we going to do about it?" asked Enerjak.
"Can you not track them with those chaos abilaties you brag about?" the demon snarled.
"They're in hiding somewhere. It'd be sort of tedious, but I'm sure I'd find them eventually."
"There has to be some way to find them quicker. Do you know of any big hiding places they may use to train in? No doubt the fox is training them"
Enerjak thought. "Well, there's that big gym in Station Square and I'm sure there was one place in Knothole..."
"We shall check that 'Station Square' first. Im sure the gym is still standing somewhere in there"
"Okay."
Taking the lead, Mephiles opened a portal for them, walking through.
Enerjak followed him.
Mephiles walked around, eyes scanning for any signs of life.
"I can't sense anything." Enerjak announced.
"Hmm...They must be at that other place you mentioned. What was it again?"
"Knothole."
Mephiles opened a portal, allowing Enerjak to step through first.
Enerjak smirked and stepped through, seeing if he could sense anything.
He saw Tails just outside of the entrance, going back to the apple tree to see if he could find any more.
His smirk grew and spread across his whole muzzle as he started walking quietly toward the fox.
He reached up, trying to grab an apple that was higher then the others.
"Come...here..!" he strained, on his toes as his fingers touched the bottom of it.
"Here." Enerjak taunted as he grabbed the apple with ease.
The fox cried out as he backed up quickly.
Enerjak charged at him.
His pupils shrank as he screamed.

Shadow looked up quickly, hearing the fox's cry.
"Miles!"
Before he knew it Sonic was running in the direction of the scream.
"Sonic! Sonic wait!" Shadow chased after him quickly.
"What?! I have to help Tails!"
"Its them" he said with his ears flat against his head, "Their using him as bait"
"I don't believe you..." Sonic turned on his Chaos Energy detector to see if Enerjak was nearby.
His ears drooped when he sensed both Enerjak and Mephiles.
Sonic turned it off. "Wh-what do we do?!"
Shadow's ears drooped as he tried to think.
"I.. I'm just gonna rush out there and fight!"
"No!" he tried to stop him, "No Sonic!"
"What else am I supposed to do!? They could be hurting Tails and I'm supposed to just stand here and let them?!"
He looked back at the entrance as he heard Tails give another weak cry.
"Sonic. The second you go out there they'll kill you AND Tails. Think about it"
Sonic growled in worried frustration.
He suddenly saw Tails get hurled through the entrance, hitting the ground hard and bleeding uncontrollably from the stomach.
Sonic ran over impulsively.
Mephiles walked in with Enerjak as Shadow ran in front of Sonic and Tails.
"Knuckles..." Sonic muttered as his eyes saddened at the sight of Enerjak, who grinned.
Tails quivered in Sonic's arms, his chest and stomach stained with his blood, his pale eyes staring into Sonic's.
Sonic held Tails tightly. "How could you, Knuckles?!"
Enerjak frowned. "Don't call me that. I'm Enerjak now."
Mephiles' hand glowed as he pointed it at Shadow's chest which would mean it'd go right through and strike Sonic's head too.
Sonic tried to push Shadow away.
Shadow suddenly snarled and lept forward, punching Enerjak in the face so hard his helmet flew off. He then turned and shoot 3 chaos spears at Mephiles, knocking him down.
Sonic smiled a little. Enerjak grabbed his helmet and smacked Shadow with it.
He yelped but snarled and punched him hard in the gut, firing some more chaos spears against him at the same time.
Enerjak growled in pain and fired some Thunder Arrows at Shadow.
He grunted, blood trickling from the wound. He panted and growled as he took off his rings, dodging a punch from him.
"Chaos..BLAST!!" he sent Mephiles and Enerjak shooting for the walls, a barrier forming around Sonic, Tails and Clyde. He landed back on the ground as he fell to his knees then onto his stomach weakly.
Sonic looked at Mephiles and Enerjak. Enerjak stood. "Not much of a challenge, unfortunately."
The streaked hedgehog tried to get up but Mephiles stepped on his back, easily keeping him down.
Sonic suddenly sneered and fired his Chaos Darts at Enerjak, accidentally missing him entirely. Enerjak glared at him.

Clyde whinnied as he ran forward, kicking Enerjak away.
Enerjak hit Clyde. "Stay back, horse! Know your place."
He neighed and rared up.
Sonic fired more Chaos Darts, this time at Mephiles.
He narrowly dodged before firing a crystal shard at him. Tails suddenly gripped Sonic's shoulders and pushed himself up as the crystal dug deep into his back.
"Urg..!!"
"Tails!!"
He laid limp against him, giving a quiet whisper.
"The....emerald..."
"What..? What about it..?"
Shadow heard him and understood. He grabbed the chaos emerald and summoned as much strength as he could before warping himself, Tails, Sonic, Clyde and Nicole out of there.
Enerjak only smirked. "What a feeble attempt. Decide quickly, Mephiles; do we follow them or let them be for a while?"
"We'll wait until the fox is dead" he hissed.
"Alright."

Sonic held Tails close. "Why did you do that, Tails..?!" He cried.
The fox's weak hand fell from his stomach would, showing the deep slash marks that had torn through him.
"D...don't..wanna..g...go..." he whispered, tears in his pale blue eyes.
"Tails..." Sonic sobbed a bit.
He rested his weak head against Sonic, crying quietly.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you...!"
He gripped onto Sonic with his trembling hands, his vision blurring.
"Sonic. I can give him a temporary bandage with this" Shadow said as he held up a cloth, "It won't do much...but we might be able to find a way to help him"
Sonic nodded an 'okay'.
Gently Shadow tied the material around Tails' biggest wound.
"You'll be okay, Miles" he sighed.
Sonic held back his sobs.
Shadow gently got Sonic to hold him up as he pulled the crystal from his back. The fox gave a weak cry, grilling Sonic a little tighter.
Sonic continued to hold him up.
He could feel his little buddy shivering in his grip, cold from lose of blood.
Sonic sniffled.
Shadow gently set a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't cry, Faker. It'll be alright"
Sonic smiled a little, but was still down.
"Come on. You ride Clyde. We have to get as far away from here as possible"
Sonic nodded and got on Clyde's back.
Shadow attached Nicole to around Clyde's neck like a necklace as he and the horse ran side by side.
Sonic was quiet.

A wall of crystals suddenly rose in front of them as they crashed into it.
The blue hedgehog was startled and fell off of Clyde.
Shadow gripped the arm that had taken the force of hitting the wall and turned to see the enemies walking towards them.
Sonic looked at Shadow helplessly.
"It'll be okay" his ears drooped a little as he looked up at Enerjak with pure hatred.
Enerjak only smirked in response.
"Let me ask you a question, you red fuck" Shadow frowned and walked up to him, "What could you possibly have to gain from all this? You take over the world. Then what? Whats after that when everyones DEAD or a mutant?"
"Then I conquer other realities until they're all like this one."
"And then what? After you've conquered EVERYTHING! Then what?" He put his finger on Knuckles' chest, looking into his eyes, "You'll be standing on some god forsaken hill looking out at a wasteland! Well good for fucken you! You'll own a wastland with zero inhabitants!"
Enerjak grabbed Shadow's hand and used it to twist him around by tugging the hand around Shadow's back. "Don't touch me, 'Ultimate Life Form'," He said sarcastically, "There may not be anyone left, but I'll still have the pride of knowing I helped completely destroy many worlds. That's quite an accomplishment, I must say."
He gritted his teeth but forced a smirk.
"Your parents must be so proud" he taunted.
Enerjak twisted his arms more. Sonic growled. "Knuckles, stop this! You don't have to work with Mephiles!"
"He's working FOR me, you little blue rat" Mephiles hissed and grabbed him.
Sonic struggled. Enerjak laughed a little.
Shadow suddenly burst into laughter and looked at Enerjak.
"Your working for him? But I thought you were the almighty Enerjak? A God? Or are you nothing but a sidekick~?"
Enerjak snarled at him. "Shut your mouth!"
"You shouldn't be taking crap from a pile of crystals. Your a god ain't you? Or were you bragging again~?"
Enerjak growled and twisted Shadow's arms back more. "J-just shut up!"
He grunted but smirked.
"You must be pretty embarressed~"
"I-I..." He only growled more.
"Finish him off already!"
"You going to listen to you boss, Enerjak~?"
Enerjak was in mixed decision.
"Kill him!
"Make your own decisions for once!"
Enerjak let go of Shadow and fled.
Sonic smirked. "Knuckles always did hate peer pressure."
Mephiles snarled and ran after him.
"Get back here!"
Sonic broke free. "Come on Shadow, let's juice while Knux buys us some time!"
He nodded and lifted Sonic onto Clyde as the horse galloped off, Shadow carrying Tails.
Sonic looked back to see Enerjak still running.
"Don't look back. Keep going" Shadow said as he ran beside them.
Sonic nodded in understanding.
Tails gave a struggled wheeze as he tried to call for his big brother, curled up weakly in Shadow's arms.
".. I can take him.."
He gently passed Tails up to him, still running.
Sonic took Tails from Shadow and cradled him.
The fox opened his eyes a little.
"Hey, lil' bro..."
He gave a tiny smile, not able to do much else.
"Hey Sonic! Is that a town up ahead?" Shadow smiled as he spotted the intact town. It looked completly untouched by Mephiles' dark powers. Theres was a big cyan dome over it like a force field.
"Let's check it out!"

They ran up to the sheild, looking up at it.
"Its solid...What is it?" Shadow asked with his hands on the strange aura.
"I guess it's some kind of force field to keep Mephiles out.." Sonic pondered.
A section in front of them opened up just big enough for them to go through. Shadow glanced up at Sonic before walking in.
It closed up behind them as they looked back ahead, seeing the many survivors walking around. All mobians. No humans.
"Wow..." Sonic gawked at how many survivors there were. "I wonder who runs this place?"
"I'll ask someone" Shadow said as he walked over to a male mobian and tapped his shoulder, "Who's in charge around here? And where can we find them? Its urgent. Please"
He pointed at a building.
He nodded and ran to the building with Sonic. A few little girls ran over as they watched Clyde.
"Pony!"
Sonic chuckled a bit. "Looks like Clyde'll have some company."
"We'll leave him with the girls for now. He'll stay close by. Come on. Lets go inside" he helped Sonic off the horse and opened the door to the room for him, glancing at Tails sadly.
Inside was a silver hedgehog, glowing the same colour as the barrier outside. He was sitting in a chair leaning back and munching on an apple.
"Hey, uh.. could you maybe help us?"
The hedgehog fell off his chair in surprise but quickly recovered and stood as if he hadn't fallen at all.
"Ahh~ Your the ones I just let in, right? I saw you from a MILE away" he bragged.
"Right.. Whatever, we need help. My friend, Tails.. He got hurt by Mephiles."
He walked over and gently moved the cloth to look at the wound. He cringed and nodded.
"I can tell. This way" he ran upstairs to where the infirmary was.
Sonic followed, carrying Tails along.
The hedgehog raised a glowing hand as the pillows and blanket fixed itself up on the bed before they stopped glowing.
"Lay him on the bed. I'll get the doctor" he said before leaving.
"What a strange trick that guy has.." Sonic said as he gently lay Tails down on the bed.
"I can't believe theres a whole town thriving here. Its incredible"
"Yeah."
The hedgehog ran back with a doctor who immediately worked on helping the dying fox.
Sonic watched helplessly.
"He'll be okay" the hedgehog said, "The names Silver by the way"
"Nice to meet you, Silver.. I'm Sonic, and this here is Shadow.." Sonic said and gestured to Shadow.
Silver glanced at their robotic parts questionably before his eyes widened.
"W-wait..! Y-you DIED didn't you?! I saw it in some old newspaper! Y-Yeah! Thats you!"
Sonic nodded. "Yeah.. But Tails brought us back to fight Mephiles and Enerjak.."
"Are you two Cyborgs?" he grinned childishly, though he was completly serious.
The blue hedgehog shrugged. "I guess so."
"So cool~" he smiled as his eyes shone. He cleared his throat and stood up straight again, "S-Sorry" he sweat dropped.
Sonic chuckled a bit. "No reason to be sorry."

Silver smiled again and motioned to the barrier.
"In case you haven't noticed already, Im the one keeping the barrier up. Its hard work and I've been doing it for about a month now" he breathed out heavily, "What I wouldn't do for a break"
"Well, last we saw of them, Mephiles was busy chasing Enerjak down, but they might be on the hunt again.."
"I can't take the risk of taing the barrier down. I even have to keep it going while I sleep...thought I haven't slept in a week since the barrier weakens when im asleep. One of those mutants broke through and carried someone off...I can't let that happen again"
"I understand." Sonic said. "But you need sleep. Maybe me and Shadow could keep watch while you rest?"
"A-Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
He smiled.
"Thank you. Your in charge until I wake up, okay?"
"Okay."
The hedgehog yawned and walked past to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
"Poor guy" Shadow sighed, "He has a whole towns weight on his shoulders. Quite literally"
Sonic nodded.
"Come on. Might as well have a look around"
"Sure, let's go."
Shadow grinned and walked out with him.
"Wonder how Clyde's doing"
"Maybe we should go check on him."
Shadow nodded and walked out with him, chuckling when he saw the horse giving rides to the kids.
Sonic smiled a bit.
"Well it looks like HE'S having fun" Shadow smirked.
Sonic nodded.
"Come on. Lets have a look around"
"Okay."
He noticed Sonic looked abit down and smirked.
"Wanna race to the other side of town?"
"Thanks but no thanks."
Shadow's ears drooped at the response as he gently held his hand.
"Whats wrong? Tails is going to be okay. We're all safe now"
Sonic shrugged.

"Lets go for a walk around the dome then. It'll clear your head abit"
"Fine."
He sighed and stopped him.
"Whats the matter? Please tell me"
Sonic shook his head. "It's nothing.."
He gently made Sonic look at him.
"Talk to me faker. Please"
Sonic sighed. "Alright, fine.. I'm just a little depressed about not being able to protect Tails from Mephiles." He admitted.
Shadow put a gentle hand on Sonic's cheek.
"Its all okay now. None of it was your fault. Okay? Come on. Wheres that smart ass smile you're always giving me~?" he smirked, trying to get his mate to crack a smile at least.
The blue hedgehog smiled a little. "Thank you, Shadow..."
He smiled back sweetly and nodded.
Sonic got closer to kiss him.
Shadow smirked and picked him up.
"Was all that just to get a kiss~?"
"No!" Sonic smirked as well.
A small laugh came from the dark hedgehog as he gently kissed Sonic's forehead.
"Stupid hedgehog. You just have to ask~"
"Okay. Can I have a kiss?"
Shadow smiled softly and planted a gentle kiss on the sapphire hedgehog's lips.
Sonic kissed him back.
They slowly parted, smiling at each other.
"You've made me gone soft~" Shadow whispered softly.
Sonic smirked again.
Shadow gently set him back on his feet, walking with him.
Sonic leaned against him lovingly.
The two walked along the rim of the barrier, keeping an eye out for any trouble.
"I hope Enerjak hasn't given up and gone back to Mephiles..." He sighed. "But what are the odds of that not happening?"
"Quite low" Shadow sighed and held Sonic's hand a little tighter, "Maybe theres a way to snap him out of it. Bring Knuckles back"
Sonic looked at him. "You really think so?"
"Its our best chance. We'd have a better chance of taking down Mephiles that way"
"Well, I do think I know of one way to free Knuckles, but it might be impossible.."
"What is it?" Shadow asked, stopping and turning to him.
"We'd have to find the Master Emerald... Chances are, to make Knuckles into Enerjak, a seal had to be put on the Master Emerald. I've dealt with Knuckles being Enerjak once before, but even if we do find the Emerald... To break the seal, a life has to be sacrificed.."
Shadow's ears drooped to this as he looked down.
"No..."
"I don't think there's any other way to free Knuckles.."
He sighed and held Sonic's hand tightly.
"Not you..."
"Who then?"
"W-We'll figure it out at the time...But not you...Please..."
Sonic held him close.
"I don't want to have to lose someone else close to me..." Shadow cradled him close, ears drooped.
"You won't.."

That Night

Silver, who was now awake, was taking Sonic and Shadow to the great hall where everyone ate at.
Sonic yawned a little.
He saw Tails sitting at the table, laughing with some mobians.
He smiled.
Tails looked over, seeing Sonic as he smiled.
"Sonic!" he waved him over.
"Hey, Tails." Sonic walked over.
The fox was covered in bandages but otherwise looked okay. He patted the seat beside him.
"I saved you both a seat"
"Oh, thanks." Sonic smiled a bit. "But I think I'm going to take a walk around the town.."
"Are you sure? I hear they have chillidogs~" Tails grinned, knowing the hedgehog could NEVER turn down his favourite meal.
"... Just one chilidog." Sonic gave in and sat down.
Shadow chuckled and sat down beside him.
"We need to keep our strength up anyway"
Sonic seemed to be lost in thought.
Shadow's smile faded at this as he gently nudged him.
"Sonic?"
Sonic looked over quickly, startled out of his thoughts. "Sorry, did you say something?"
"You still worried..?"
"I don't really wanna talk about it right now.."
He wrapped an arm around the blue hedgehog, pulling him close.
Sonic looked up at him.
A plate of chillidogs was put in front of Sonic especially for him.
"Thanks.." Sonic forced a small smile.
The mobian smiled at him and nodded, handing food out to the others too.
Sonic started to eat slowly.
Shadow curiously picked up a chillidog.
"Hmmm..." he took a bite.
Sonic looked to see his reaction.
He swallowed the bite, abit of chilli on his lips.
"Not bad. I can see why you like them" he smiled.
Sonic smiled a little back.
Shadow licked the chilli off his lips as he ate some more.
Sonic continued eating as well.
The dark hedgehog suddenly began to feel a little weak, putting a hand on his head as the rest of the chillidog fell onto the table.
"Shadow?"
He teetered abit, falling heavily against Sonic.
"Shadow!" Sonic caught him.
The others at the table looked at them quickly, Tails standing as he moved closer to look.
The hedgehog gave a shaky groan, his vision spinning as he blacked out.