Sonic Wild

A New Power

Third Person POV

Sonic glanced down at Shadow's sleeping form in the hover chair. He didn't know what to do or think at the moment. He had never seen the Ultimate Lifeform so exhausted. Guess he would have to wait until tomorrow to hear about what Shadow had seen. Aviva rushed to his sleeping comrad's side to check on him.

"He's alive, thank goodness," Chris stated. She breathed a sigh of relief then checked his pulse and made sure he didn't have a fever. Her eyes fell to his rings, and she traced a finger over the cold metal.

"I don't remember those markings being there..."

"They're new," Sonic answered, "They showed up after he absorbed some weird energy from a copy of the Master Emerald in a cave."

"What is the Master Emerald? You mentioned something about it earlier," Martin asked.

"The Master Emerald controls the seven Chaos Emeralds and grants or takes away their power," he explained, "It usually rests on Angel Island, a floating island in Mobius. My friend Knuckles is its guardian. But sometimes he has to leave it when we need his help. Rouge, GUN agent and Shadow's partner, likes to try to steal it. She has an...eye for precious jewels."

"But what does that have to do with Shadow? He's just a hedgehog. Right?" Jimmy wondered. Sonic looked away uneasily. He wasn't sure if he should divulge that kind of information. Shadow was a very reserved person, and Sonic doubted that he would want him to say anything.

"He's not just a hedgehog. He's the Ultimate Lifeform. But that means that his body thrives off of chaos energy or something close to it. That's why he doesn't eat or sleep much. He lives off the stuff that's emitted from the emeralds and living things."

"So what your saying is that Shadow must have taken in that energy," Aviva caught on, "And from the looks of it, too much."

"Yeah. Hopefully, he'll wake up soon."

"Maybe I should run some tests, just to make sure he's ok."

"NO!" Sonic glared, a look the humans had never seen, and they were surprised by its hardness, "We've already made it very clear that neither of us will be taking any tests."

"Ok! Ok!" Aviva held her hands up defensively and slowly backed away from both mobians.

"Point taken," Martin smiled, easing the tension that had suddenly built up in the room. Sonic visibly relaxed and sat down in the chair beside Shadow.

"Sorry," he said, rubbing his face with one hand, "It's just...I've never seen him like this, so...vulnerable. He's always the tough one. The one that never shows weakness in the face of a threat. In every adventure we've been through together, he's always the one that keeps us all on track and faces every challenge head on...."

"Sounds like he's not just a rival," Chris stated. Sonic smirked.

"Oh, no. Friend would be too scandalous."

Everyone laughed, then Jimmy looked at the clock. It was getting late and he was tired. "Well, guys, I'm hittin' the sack," he said as he stretched his arms and yawned, "Night!"

"Night, Jimmy!" they all waved. Chris scooped Shadow out of the chair and carried him back to the brothers' bedroom. If not for the seriousness of the moment, Sonic would have laughed. Instead, he shot Chris a quizzical look.

"Our rooms are a lot more comfortable," he explained, "You and Shadow can sleep in there tonight. I know those cots aren't the most comfortable things in the world, and Shadow needs all the rest he can get."