Sonic groans, cracking one eye open. Blinking as his eyes adjusted, he sat up, rubbing his forehead carefully. His vision clears, but one eye couldn't open fully--it's sensitive to the touch as well, so he assumes it was bruised. Glancing to his left, he gasps aloud. "Tails!" His adorable fluffy friend lies limp and unconscious a few yards away, and the cerulean hedgehog scrambles unsteadily to his feet, rushing forward. "Tails! Buddy, are you okay?"

The orange kitsune grumbles, rubbing his forehead. "Ugh...Sonic?"

"Are you hurt?" Sonic asks, gently picking his friend up, cradling him in one arm, the other wrapped around the little orange fox to keep him from falling.

"I'm fine," Tails replies, curling up into the fetal position, his twin tails dangling below. "I hurt my ankle pretty bad falling though."

"It's okay. I'll carry you." Sonic responds, turning around. Knuckles was dragging himself to his feet, holding his head in one hand. "Yo, Knux, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." The echidna growls. "Got a whangin' headache. But I'll live." He straightens up, throwing his shoulders back in his usual confident pose. "They whipped us pretty badly, huh?"

"Unfortunately." Tails replies, sighing. "I still don't know how they did it." He continues in a melancholy tone. "We normally win. How is it that they managed to get the upper hand this time?"

"Usually, we fight those three individually," Sonic replies with a smirk. "Didn't ever imagine Rouge would team up with Shadow and Omega of all people..." His brow furrows, suddenly troubled. "They make for a pretty explosive trio."

"You're tellin' me." The violet-eyed echidna remarks. "But somethin' was a little off."

"What d'you mean?" Sonic walks over to a nearby bench, one of the only things not destroyed in the fight, and he gently places Tails onto it. Carrying the weight of his friend was starting to hurt his back a little.

"Well," Knuckles pauses, thinking. "It seemed to me like Shadow in particular was a bit off his game. Moving a little slower than usual, y'know?"

Sonic's ears perk up as he sits down. "You noticed that too?" He leans back, crossing his legs to keep them from bouncing--a bad habit he developed a few years ago and hadn't been able to kick--and smirking at his ruby-red friend. "He also seemed a little unprepared to fight. In fact, of the three, he was the only one who looked like he actually didn't want to fight."

"Yeah!" Tails chimes in. "And when I hit him in the face with my wrench, he looked really surprised, like he didn't know I had one." The little fox shakes his head. "Weird."

"D'you think something happened to him?" Knuckles queries, looking concerned.

"Pff, why would that be any concern of ours?" Sonic leans back, chuckling. "Who cares about that emo kid anyways? Not me!"

"I'm more concerned with why Rouge, who usually works with the government, has suddenly teamed up with two people known to have connections to Robotnik." Tails murmurs, lifting his inured ankle into his lap to look at it.

"Rouge is a thief for hire." Knuckles scoffs. "Robotnik probably promised her some jewels in return for a favor or two." He sneers.

I watch their interactions from the shadows of a nearby alleyway, crimson eyes glittering vividly as I crouch, peering around the corner to watch them. Known to have connections to Robonik? Wait... did these people... did they know me, at one point in time? I bite my lip. Clearly we didn't get along... Sonic speaks of me so bitterly. And Knuckles--why does he seem disgusted by the idea of Rouge receiving payment for her work? Or is he more upset by how far she will apparently go, just for some gems? I scratch my ear absentmindedly, staring at the ground. If I worked with Robotnik at one point in time, I can understand why they would hate me. But shouldn't it be apparent that we're no longer working together? I just destroyed a couple hundred of his robots. Why would they still think I was working with him? I sigh, turning away. I would have thought that I could ask them who I was, but they'd clearly give a biased view of my life. I'll just have to find out on my own.

I get to my feet carefully, then sprint out of the alleyway, hightailing it as far away from them as possible. At the very least, I ponder as I run, I know for certain that my name is Shadow. I groan inwardly. I guess that's technically progress. I elegantly leap over a box in my way, springing up to run along the rugged brick wall. At the end of the building, I leap off the wall, soaring forward to land in the center of a small courtyard. The stones beneath my feet--for this small area has elegant cobblestones laid down instead of concrete--crunch, my landing stirring up quite a lot of dust. Looking up, I come face to face with a peculiar statue. It features a hedgehog, my height and stature, standing proudly. Its spines appear to be drifting upwards, and it bears a strikingly familiar smirk to it. At its feet, seven jewels lie, carved of the same stone as the original statue. At its feet, a bronze plaque bears the words, "To Commemorate The Day Our Hero Sonic Saved The World." Intrigued, I look back up at the statue. It doesn't really look like him. The hair's all wrong. Then again, he might not have always worn his hair down.

"Admiring the local artwork, are we?" A familiar velveteen voice purrs as Rouge lands beside me, the wind from her wings stirring my fur.

"You could say that," I reply, not looking at her. "Why was this statue made?"

Rouge sighs, looking up at it with me. "It was made by one of the citizens to permanently preserve the way Sonic looked when he saved the world for the first time."

"The first time?" I echo, looking at her.

"Yep, the first time. Seems like he's gearing up to do it again. That's what Robotnik's ultimate goal is, y'know, to enslave the world or destroy it or something." Rouge scratches her head. "Sonic uses the seven Chaos Emeralds to turn into this form, bright gold with anti-gravity hair." She snorts. "Looks pretty dumb to be honest."

I glance over at her, surprised by her last comment. I thought it looked alright. "Why the hell would he want to destroy the world? Where's he gonna live?"

Rouge laughs. "Man, I don't know. The guy's crazy."

"What are the Chaos Emeralds, anyways?" I query, but before Rouge can reply, two glowing red eyes appear in the darkness, followed by Omega.

"I have not found the answers we seek." He drones. "In fact, I could find very few people to question."

"Same here," I lie, turning to face the hulking robot. "I couldn't even find one."

The white bat droops, looking dejected. "Ugh, I'd hoped you two would find something...My search turned up empty."

"Sorry, Rouge." I shrug. "Guess we're gonna have to find some other way of tracking down Robotnik."

"It's not Robotnik I'm interested in," Rouge rolls her eyes, "I just want his stuff. Rumor has it, he's stocked some pretty impressive gems, and I want 'em." She smirks at me, her eyelids half-lowered and her blue eyes glowing with a peculiar sort of greed. "And what I want, I get."

Unnerved, I restrain myself from grimacing, and raise an eyebrow at her instead. Something about that glittering avarice in her eyes reminds me of...something unpleasant. Something I can't quite recall, but an unpleasant thing nonetheless. Sighing, I turn away from her, feigning disinterest. "You're not at all concerned with what Robotnik may be planning, are you?" I grumble, exasperated.

"Not particularly!" She chirps, cheerful. "Sonic handles that stuff. He and his buddies. So really no one else needs to worry, 'cuz it's guaranteed he'll take care of it."

Frowning, I look away from my team, thinking to myself. Man, everyone places all kinds of faith in Sonic, but we beat him pretty easily today. He hardly seems the type to accept help from us, but I wonder if he'll be able to take care of Robotnik all by himself; I can certainly understand the desire to work alone, but even I know there's some things you can't do by yourself. Behind me, I hear Omega and Rouge chattering on about where we're going to next, but I find myself disinterested. I watch the sky above change colors as the morning sun bleeds its light across the clouds, the deep blue of night fading to a paler, lighter cyan, with delicate pink and orange hues swirling in the stratosphere. It's a wonderful sight to see--so many colors blending together. I only wish I had a better view than this, what with the buildings cropping the wide sky-scape into a small square. Why is it that people build things like this, massive buildings that blot out all the beautiful views? At the very least, if you're going to build something, make it look nice. I scowl with distaste at the bland, boring and chipped concrete composing the buildings near to me. Dirty bricks, weathered and gross-looking concrete--the whole city screams despair.

Rouge interrupts my thinking with a tap on my shoulder, jolting me back to Earth. "Hey, wake up, Shadz, we're ready to go!"

"Go?" I blink, rapidly attempting to get it together. "Where?"

She smirks, grabbing my arm. "Hurry up!" The white bat laughs cheerfully, beginning to run down a nearby street. "Weren't you listening to us?"

"Not really," I reply, attempting to run along with her. She doesn't let go of my arm, even though I'm much faster than she is. "I was busy."

"Busy?" She echoes, giggling. "Busy brooding, you mean?" Her giggles transition to laughs. "You really are emo, you know that?" She starts flapping her wings, and leaps up into the air, finally letting go of my arm.

"Huh?" I stare at her, confused. We just met earlier today--how is it that she's being so...familiar with me? We hardly know each other. "What do you mean?"

"N-nevermind," she stammers between laughs, sweeping me up into her arms in one surprisingly fluid movement. I stutter out a protest, trying to wiggle my way out of her grip, but she just holds me tighter.

"I don't need a lift, y'know!" I yelp, annoyed. "I'm perfectly capable of running just as fast as you can fly!"

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I don't like doing this," she giggles, infuriating me, and then continues, "and besides, I'd prefer to go as the crow flies rather than navigating all these winding streets."

"Hmmph!" I cross my arms and shut my eyes, defiant. "Whatever. Put me down as soon as possible." The height makes me queasy, and she's only flying higher and higher.

A smile dances across her face. "Don't worry, I've got you." She pulls me close to her, shifting position to carry me lying on my back across both her arms. Her right wing flaps just above my head, stirring my hair. The wind streams through my fur, whistling in my ears and stinging my eyes; a bit below us, I can hear Omega's engines straining to lift him. "Hey, Shadow..." She looks down at me and hesitates.

"What?" My eyes flick up, meeting hers. I'm already on edge; I really don't want to have a chat right now, I think to myself, agonizing.

"Do you remember anything? Anything at all?"

Ugh, this again...I sigh inwardly. "I don't remember anything. At all. Sometimes, some situations, places and people seem familiar, but the feeling is fleeting." Annoyed, I look away, down at the scenery we pass. "And no matter how often you ask, that won't change."

"Sorry," she replies, sounding sad. "I just keep hoping you'll remember...It must suck, not knowing."

"Yes, it does." I growl coldly. "I don't need you to remind me of that." I continue in a bitter tone, bristling. Why is she so intent on trying to emphasize with me? I don't even know who I am. What makes her think I'm even someone she should empathize with?

She flinches, staring at me in shock. "Shadow, I--"

"Save it," I snarl. "Let's just get where we're supposed to be going. I don't care for heights at all."

She sighs, dropping the subject, resigned to silence. He's not gonna open up at all about this...Though if he really doesn't remember anything, he's not even hiding anything. It's so weird, seeing him like this, she thinks, looking down at me again. I knew so much about him, and now he's a completely different person. Should I tell him about his past? The white bat bites her lip, staring off into the skyline. He always looked so tortured by it... So sad. I don't think I can do that to him. Not yet, anyways. I can't bring myself to ruin him like that. She holds me a bit tighter, and I half-open one eye.

What's up with her? I muse, opening both my eyes to glance at her, then to survey the horizon. She looks really troubled. I hope she's not too mad at me...I just don't want to talk right now. Beneath us, trees whip past at breakneck speed, and I begin to sweat nervously. Oh God. I really don't like heights. I shudder and pull myself a bit closer to Rouge. She chuckles. "I'm sorry you're so uncomfortable, but we have to hurry."

"I know." I reply stiffly. "I'm fine, really."

"You're sweating bullets and shaking like a leaf," she retorts. I don't reply, since she's just begun her descent, angling to dodge the path of an incoming commercial plane wielding a banner streaming behind it. My stomach lurches as the world tilts, and I squeeze my eyes shut, desperately trying to keep myself together. I'm really quite tired, and could use some sleep, but I don't know if I'll be able to sleep up here, I think as I curl up a little bit tighter. For a short while, the trip is a turbulent one, but after a while it evens out, Rouge keeping a steady altitude. Eventually, despite my tension at being so high above the ground, my exhaustion overtakes my fear and I drift into unconsciousness.