Shadow kept his eyes glued to his rocket shoes, not daring to look at the humans around him. He didn't personally recognize them, but he knew that they were all G.U.N. soldiers, and that he was nothing but a failed project to them. He found his mind moving from his current situation to Knuckles, wondering what he was doing and how he was feeling.

He hoped he didn't hurt him in any way. Of course, remembering the scream he had as they took off, he doubted that he didn't. It was almost surreal, what had happened. It hurt him, horribly, to hear that scream come out from Knuckles. What was even worse was that would be the last thing he'd ever hear from him.

'At least I could protect you....' He thought sadly. 'Please don't think bad of me for this.... I had no other choice....'

He sighed quietly, trying to get the thought of the echidna out of his head.

__________________________

"We have to get him back!" Knuckles shouted as he ran after the helicopter, Tails and Amy on his heels.

"But how?" Tails asked. "Those are government agents, we can't just mess with them!"

"I don't care! I just want him back!" Knuckles cried out.

"And we also want Sonic back." Amy tried to reason. "Mephiles has him, and who knows what he could be doing to him!"

Knuckles stopped, breathing heavily with tears running down his muzzle. He felt almost trapped between saving his best friend or saving his boyfriend. He didn't know what those government guys wanted with Shadow, nor why Shadow went with them, but he wanted- no- needed him back. Then again, he knew Sonic was in trouble and he knew what Mephiles was capable of. He didn't want his best friend hurt, and he especially didn't want him gone for good.

He felt his body shake with uncertainty, amethyst eyes set on the fleeting helicopter.

Until something hit it.

And it went down in a flaming blast.

"SHADOW!"

_______________________

The first thought he had was to jump.

Of course, he was trained for situations like this.

And as he felt the helicopter go down, fire burning his fur slightly, he jumped into the ocean. He tried his best to avoid the other falling objects, getting scraped every now and again. He felt himself wash up on the shore, coughing and sputtering. Brown shoes appeared in his vision, and he looked up to see Sticks holding out her hand and saying something, the ringing in his ears making it hard to hear her correctly.

Nonetheless, he took her hand and stood up, groaning. "Sticks?"

He stumbled a bit as Sticks started talking again, it only coming out as a slur of noises to him. She started tugging at his arm, pulling him somewhere as the ringing in his ears started to go away.

"-and we have to go!"

"What...?" Shadow rubbed his head confused.

"Didn't you hear a word I said!?" Sticks questioned, blue eyes darting around behind him, probably looking for any surviving 'aliens.' Shadow shook his head, which was aching horribly. Sticks groaned in aggravation, pulling him more. He stumbled behind her as she dragged him into the woods.

"Ugh, Sticks...." He groaned out. "I need a few more seconds to heal."

Sticks let go and crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently. He leaned his sore body against a tree, taking deep breaths as he felt it heal. After a bit, he moved his arm, finding that there wasn't any pain. He walked back to Sticks and nodded. "Okay."

And with that, he followed behind Sticks.

_________________________

"SHADOW!" Knuckles found himself fall to his knees, despair clouding any thought.

"What a shame." A deep voice said. "I was hoping he'd suffer for the rest of eternity."

The group of three looked to where the voice was coming to see Mephiles on the other side of a huge gap, a river rushing far below. Knuckles clenched his fist in rising anger running closer to the gap, prepared to jump, but Mephiles stopped him.

"Ah, ah, ah. You wouldn't want to do that." Mephiles said simply before holding out a certain tied up blue hedgehog above the gap. "Unless you want your friend's body to live in the seas."

"Sonic!" All three shouted, causing Sonic to look up, his emerald green eyes glowing with something equivalent to fear. Everyone knew he hated water, and at this height it was sure that he wouldn't survive.

He felt his body shake, the situation hitting him at full force. If there was something he hated more than water, it was his friend's seeing him weak. But there was nothing he could do. If he tried to struggle again, he'd fall out of Mephiles' grip and into the rushing river below. The best he could do was stay cool and hope his friends could get him out.

The group of three stared at their friend, shocked and scared beyond belief. Amy was the first to speak up. "Why are you doing this!?"

"Simple." Mephiles said. "That echidna is the only reason I'm even bothering you."

"Knuckles?" Amy and Tails looked to their red friend, who had also said his name with them. He looked at the two before looking back to Mephiles.

"Why Knuckles?" Tails questioned. "What did he do?"

"Echidna's have power over me when controlling the emerald. Especially him." Mephiles glared into Knuckles' amethyst eyes. "The guardian of the emerald."

"Emerald? What emerald?" Amy asked.

"The Master Emerald...." Knuckles trailed off, memories hitting him hard. "But I thought it was shattered ages ago! Back when I was still a kid!"

"I spent all these years putting it back together, using Shadow as my puppet, only to find out that the guardian is alive." Mephiles clenched his fists, putting more pressure on Sonic's already sore arms. His ears flattened against his head in response to the pain. "Now, the price to pay for your friend's life is simple. You take the fall yourself."

The group of three froze, eyes wide at what Mephiles was saying. Sonic's eyes widened also, suppressing the urge to struggle in the Shadow look alike's grip.

Knuckles took a deep breath. "So if I do this, Sonic will be safe?"

"Of course. I have no other use for him." Mephiles said simply.

"You aren't actually considering this, are you Knuckles!?" Amy grabbed on to the echidna's arm gently.

"I have to...." Knuckles didn't even look at her as he approached the edge of their side of the gap. He looked down, shaking in fear, but as he looked back to his blue quilled best friend, he knew that he had to do this.

At least Sonic would be safe and he'd be with Shadow....

He took a deep breath as he looked back at his friends with a small smile. "Goodbye guys."

"Knuckles! Don't do it!" Amy and Tails shouted, but it was too late; Knuckles had already jumped.

Sonic's eyes widened as he watched the scene, feeling completely helpless. He didn't want Knuckles to do that for him....

He winced as he hit the ground beside his friends, Mephiles having thrown him across the gap. Tails and Amy worked quickly, undoing the ties around his wrists and ankles. He ripped off the duct tape and ran to the edge of the gap, ignoring the intense pain the movements brought him. His body shook as he fell to his knees looking down, tears running down his muzzle; he couldn't do anything....

"Knuckles...."