So Long Goodnight (Sonadow)

Chapter X - Act II

Shadow's POV:

The moment I heard the horrifying scream, I was more frightened to know that he would suddenly bolt away to locate the source of the voice without thinking twice.

With a flash of blue, I immediately set my shoes ablaze as I chased after this stubborn hedgehog, "Faker, you're putting the both of us in grave danger!"

I knew it.

From the moment we tore the entrance down, I knew something was off. Setting our foot on the empty lobby, I had a feeling in the stomach that I hated. By the time I started to initiate combat with yet another robotic fleet, they were irritatingly persistent until it occurred to me – I noticed one of them glitched as it hit the floor. Another hologram?
There was an explosion, and I feared the worst. I never dared to disclose such hunch to him lest this would've been worse than it already was.
At this point, I no longer knew whether I was grateful for being allowed to accompany him or to regret the very fact that it all led to a situation wherein we had to save someone's neck in replace of our own safety.

This was the reason why I convinced him that I gave nothing else but the energy my body was simply regenerating. Truth be told, it was far from reality.
In case things go from bad to worst, I intentionally gave him half of my pure chaos, half of the very thing which had been keeping me alive and breathing, half of my life source – he wouldn't be able to point out the difference.

If it is for his own sake, there is no need for him to know.

All the things I do for you, hedgehog.

My premonition of an incoming peril was further strengthened when the lights around us were killed.
I could only come up with two, logical explanations that could possibly overlap and intertwine depending on the situation's severity: if this was the doctor's way of enticing anyone of us to use chaos given the environment he provided, then I would like to give him full credit for his ingenuity; if this was enkindled by a certain hypocritical hedgehog I regard with profound contempt, I will have his head.

"Faker, I swear to chaos, listen to me for once!" but even if anger was mixed with my pleading, my words seemed to fall on deaf ears as his speed increased – forcing me to consume more chaos and make myself a living target just to keep up with him. "Shit."

"Faker, you don't even know where to go!" growling at the top of my lungs, I skidded through the what-seemingly endless space. "Faker!"

Weighing the possible outcomes, I gambled an abrupt depletion of chaos energy to reach him in an instant over a long-term chase yet steady consumption of power. Gathering raw chaos, I slowed down my pace to prepare for a boost.
Feeling my power grow, my crimson eyes snapped wide open as I released the energy – lights flashed everywhere in a blink, bringing the room back to life when zaps of unknown energy coming from every direction collided with me and-

"Shadow?" was the last thing I heard before a sharp pain slithered all over my body like electricity – slightly lifting me off the ground and immobilizing all my muscles in an instant.

It hurts—

I couldn't move, speak, nor breathe properly; the same sensation I felt when Sonic pulled his newly found move during the training. My body adapted to the pain, considering I already received it beforehand, yet I couldn't deny that it didn't hurt less all while rapidly draining the rest of my life source.

"S-sonic," was all I could utter when my gaze just dropped to the ground from the extreme and sudden exhaustion, the image of the facility with white walls registered in my head. So, it really is an empty hall, and everything that had occurred earlier was yet another illusion.