So Long Goodnight (Sonadow)

Chapter II - Act I

Shadow turned to his side, hardly remembering anything that had taken place before. Narrowed, deep scarlet eyes showing confusion as he asked lowly, "Where the hell are we?"

The guardian turned his head to the side, anger with a hint of concern reflecting from his purple orbs as he looked back at the ultimate life form from the corner of his eye, "The ARK."

"What," Shadow took a step back, abruptly cutting eye contact to wander his eyes around, getting more startled and disarrayed the longer he examined the place. He paused to let things sink in – the dull whirring of generators lighting up the colony was the only noise one could hear, an ambiance only noticed in the absence of everything else.
Occasional sparks coming from snapped wiring would interrupt the echoes. 'Fortunately,' he mentally remarked as it eased his thoughts from the heavy and thick silence brought by the machines.

With the ARK's operating system being the only thing that spares the area from total silence, Shadow ignored the eeriness and turned his attention back to the guardian, "What is going on–"

'Beep!'

Both pairs of eyes turned to the guardian's wrist where a flat, watch-like device was strapped firmly around his cerise fur; a blue light emitting from its small, rectangular screen. The echidna looked back at the raven hedgehog who had his arms crossed, still waiting – almost patiently – for explanations.
Knuckles pushed a metal button located at the watch's side as he brought his hand close to his muzzle, prolonging the stare-down, "Knuckles here. How is he?"

"He was already sent to the E.R at Metropolitan Möbius Center and we were supposed to stay around until he's completely stable, but it's two o'clock in the morning so the visiting hours have been long over, hun," a familiar voice at the other end of the line caught Shadow's full attention.

"What's an E-"

"Emergency Room, echidna," the midnight blur gave a slight hiss as he blocked the other from asking the obvious – the ultimate life form slowly losing his patience while the guardian rolled his eyes, muttering a "whatever" under his breath.

"Was that... Shadow? Is he alright?" Rouge, it instantly clicked inside the antihero's head; and whenever she gets involved in someone's business, it usually means something serious. He couldn't be mistaken; he was sure of it – it was nothing else but the same strict and motherly tone of his partner-in-crime.

"He already woke up just earlier, although he seems to be-"

"I'm more than alright, Rouge," the red-streaked male deadpanned as he lifted his head a bit, striking a condescending stance. 'Although less than ready to have another damn amnesia.'

"But you shut down earlier, Shadow," the bat's concern was getting more noticeable. "Your chaos energy suddenly became unstable right after you stepped into the fight while harnessing the fake chaos emerald."

"Agreed, and about that, he seemed to forget what happened," Knuckles walked closer to the glaring Shadow so both could hear what the parent figure bat was about to advice.

"Other than your usual short-term memory loss, I'm just glad you're okay, Shadow. I thought I had to go back there and rush you," she let out and exasperated sigh, the ultimate life form nodding calmly as a response although he couldn't be seen.
Not receiving an audible reply, she took a short pause, processing where to start, "According to Miles, the fake emerald reacted the other way around, it was only supposed to drain and immobilize Bio Lizard's energy source, not Shadow's."

"Bio Lizard?" Shadow snapped right away. "What do you mean?"

"Sonic should've done it instead," the echidna cupped his chin as if he was thinking. "I don't think it would have created a friction between him, the emerald, and that creature. I mean, at least he doesn't run with chaos energy unlike Shadow."