"Do you hear that?" The fox asked as he went over the video again. "That growl at the end."

"Yeah, I heard it. Isn't it Sonic?" Shadow asked with his arms crossed as he looked at the screen. The video remained black as they watched it over and over.

"I don't think so. What if there was someone else there? Whoever this call was made to should know."

"Have you been able to trace it?" The Hedgehog sat on the chair beside him as he rewatched the video again and ate an apple.

He felt like he had to take care of himself now that there were clues about Sonic again. He needed to stay alive long enough to find him.

"Not really. I found where the phone was bought but it was bought about 5 years ago, there's no way anyone would remember who would had bought it. We can only wait."

"Have you tried calling the number? Or trying to-" The communicator in front of him suddenly turned on with a message. "Fox." The ebony one said as he grabbed it and opened the message and read it out loud. "Do you want Sonic? You'll have to do something for me."

"They must have done something to hide their location. Nothings coming up." The fox said clearly annoyed then looked at the message again and looked at Shadow.

"They have Sonic."

"Alive?" The fox asked what Shadow couldn't.

"We will have to find out. Text them back, ask them what they want."

They wondered since they got the clues about Sonic if they should had told anyone. But in the end they decided to keep it a secret. It wouldn't harm anyone else if this turned out to be fake. However if this was real and they could get answers about what happened to Sonic, it would save the others the pain of having to have hope.

"You'll need to build this at Eggmans old lab. Will send the blueprints now." The fox read out loud then transfered the prints to his computer where he then printed them out. "I don't know what this is or does. I'm scared to find out."

"Just do as they say." The rival said as he took the communicator and typed. 'What happened to Sonic?'

U: All in good time. You'll get your answers soon.

All the Hedgehog wanted to do was throw the communicator and find whoever was messing with them and get his answers. He couldn't help but feel helpless and annoyed at the situation.

"Will you help me? I need a lot of materials I do not have."

"I will."

"The let's get started." The fox stood up as the other followed. For once, the ultimate life form was taking orders without complaining.

Once they were at Eggmans lab, they set everything down and followed what the mysterious person wanted them to do. But as the hours passed, Shadow wanted answers, he wanted to know more about the Hedgehog who had taken over his mind and life.

"What was he like?" The ebony one asked as he picked up a wrench.

"Sonic? You knew him, that was always how he was. Hyper, cheerful, adventurous, very confident. He thought he was indestructible..." The fox sighed then cleaned sweat off his forehead. "He always risked himself to save others, especially us and his family."

"Why? I don't get why he did that. Why would he let himself get taken?" Shadow asked his new friend as he worked on their project.

"Sonic went through a lot growing up, he promised himself he won't let anyone else get hurt if he could help it. He lost family and friends because of Eggman and people like Eggman."

"You were there through it all?"

"Ever since Sonic found me. I owe him my life, that's why I will not give up. He gave himself for us, I'll do anything to get him back, I don't care what this machine does. If it's another thing that will destroy the world, or something that will make whoever took Sonic stronger, I don't care as long as I can see Sonic again." The fox let tears roll down his muzzle.

The ebony one stared at his hands, imagining what Sonic had gone through in his life. He had nearly died in multiple occasions, he always risked his life for his friends, but this time Sonic hadn't thought it through. As time passed, the Hedgehog got in his own mind and reminded himself that he would keep Sonic safe if he was given to them alive.

"You found out too late, didn't you? You miss him now that he's gone?" The fox asked as he got back to work making the hedgehog stay quiet.

"Do you think he will forgive me?" Shadow asked as he took a step back to look at the blue prints, trying to figure out what they were building but for his life, he couldn't understand.

"Of course he will." The fox laughed. "Shadow, Sonic had feelings for you. He was more annoying to you because of that. He didn't know how to act around you."

"What?" Shadow immediately snapped his head to look at the fox. "You've got to be kidding me." This made the fox laugh a bit more but he was clearly still silently crying.

"I figured there's no harm on telling you now." The twin tailed one cleaned his tears. "I was the one to convince him not to tell you. I thought you'd kill him."

"It's better that way." The other answered with a long sigh. "Tell me more about him."

As the hours passed, he continued building the machine they were asked for, talking about Sonic the entire time, unaware they were being watched.