I Am...All of Me

Midnight Mayhem [Part 1: A Favor]

    It was exactly six months after the Dark Gaia incident. The world, which had been shattered, was now restored thanks to a certain blue hedgehog named Sonic. However, Shadow, Sonic's darker counterpart, had not been present to help put the earth back together. In fact, he had been space, battling on the New Black Comet and destroyed it. He had only just gotten back about four months ago. The mission had taken longer than expected due to some...incidents aboard the comet.
(Read Archie Shadow Fall to find out what.)

       But at the moment, Shadow was at home, trying to straighten the place up a little. He had moved out of Club Rouge a few weeks ago, feeling that he should take care of himself instead of living at his partner's establishment.

      The house was on the outskirts of the city, near the park and away from most people in general. It was a simple two-story home with a garage, where his motorcycle sat proudly. His and the guest bedrooms were upstairs, along with a large bathroom. Downstairs, the spacious living joined the kitchen with a long breakfast bar to separate them and a second bathroom was down the hall across from Shadow's personal gun collection. But although the house had plenty of room for guests, he very rarely had any, much to his relief. He wasn't exactly a "people person."

       Shadow was in the middle of washing the dishes, when his doorbell rang. Who could that be? he thought, as he dried his hands and turned off the water. 

      "Might as well see who it is," he grumbled to himself, "As long as it isn't that idiot faker."

     Meanwhile, Tails stood nervously outside on Shadow's doorstep, a slip of paper with the dark hero's address on it in his hand. It's a good thing I stopped at Rouge's place, or I would have never found him, he thought. His twin namesakes said her behind him nervously. 

       Shadow opened the door to find the short kitsune on his doorstep and narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?" he asked, more harshly than he meant. 

      "Um...can I...come inside?" Tails stuttered slightly. Shadow rolled his eyes and made room for the fox to enter his home. He had gotten used to being feared by everyone a long time ago. 

    Tails's eyes grew slightly at the neatness of his house. He had half-expected to see weapons strewn everywhere, or a body of an unfortunate soul dumb enough to cross him. However, it look clean, fresh, and dare he say inviting. Shadow walked back into the kitchen and grabbed a cup.

        "You want something to drink? It's long ways from town, by foot or flight."

     Tails nodded and sat down on the black leather sofa. The antihero took a quick glance over at him and saw how fidgety he was. He sighed and poured a glass of hot tea, knowing it would calm the fox. There was no sense trying to get him to talk, if he was too rattled. He came back into the living room and gave Tails his drink. After a couple of sips, the fox began to calm down. Shadow sat down across from him and waited for him to begin.

       "What's this all about fox?" he asked sternly after a couple of seconds.

       "Well...uh.. I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor?" 

     The ebony hedgehog raised an eyebrow at this, "What did you have in mind?"

     "It's about Sonic," he burst all at once, "I think there's something wrong with him."

      "And why should I care? He's your best friend, not mine. And if something was wrong with him, wouldn't you be the first person he would tell? I doubt he would like it much at all if he knew I was getting into his business."

      "You make a lot of good points, but he won't talk to me. He keeps disappearing a couple of nights each month and comes back the next morning very tired and worn out. We've all tried following him, but he loses us so fast!"

       "And you think that I can keep up with him long enough to satisfy your curiosity?"

      "No! It's not like that!" Tails defended, "We're all worried about him. He's been acting really weird ever since the Dark Gaia incident."

  "Dark Gaia?" Shadow interrupted.

     "Where have you been?" Tails wondered incredulously, "The whole world split apart like a giant puzzle for a whole week! Sonic and some flying chihuahua thing restored the whole planet. I didn't see him much, which was really weird, considering everything. But after that he seemed just fine, until..."

      "Until what, fox?" Shadow demanded, his patience fading fast. 

      "Well, a couple of days each month he just disappears and comes back really put out, like he hadn't slept at all..."

      "Is there any sort of connection with the dates?"

  "I did a search, and the only link is that all of the days are on a full moon."

      "That's not suspicious," Shadow stated sarcastically, "Did you ever think he just likes to run at night?"

     Tails shook his head, "I've known Sonic for a long time, and I know he doesn't like running at night. Too many things to trip over at that speed."

     The kitsune had a valid point, so what would the faker being on a night of the full moon? Shadow would be lying if he said he wasn't the tiniest bit curious. And it wasn't like he was doing anything exciting at the moment anyways.

      "I've got nothing better to do," the ebony hedgehog sighed, and the fox lit up. Tails had to admit that he didn't think Shadow would actually agree to check on Sonic for him. 

      "Thank you, Shadow! I owe ya one, big time." 

   Shadow frowned, but the kit wasn't sure why, "I've agreed to help, as long as you promise to keep this low profile. There's no need for Faker to catch wind of this. It's almost sunset, so you better get going."

      "Right," Tails nodded, and the two mobians stood. Shadow escorted the young genius out and closed the door rather quickly. He strode into the kitchen and turned on the sink and splashed some cold water on his face. He looked at his reflection through the window and stumbled backward. His four dominant canines were sticking out of his mouth in long sharp fangs, his skin was several shades paler, and his eyes were a deeper shade of red. He rubbed said eyes and shook his head, before looking back at his reflection, only to find himself looking completely normal. 

       "I must be seeing things," he told himself. But he wasn't hallucinating when he felt his stomach turn, and he suddenly felt extremely nauseous. The dark hedgehog leaned over the sink just in case and tried to focus on his breathing.

     This had been happening a few times each month since he had come back to Earth. He would feel perfectly fine one minute and terribly sick the next. However, ever since the month of October started, the waves of nausea had visited more often, to the point where he was constantly on guard and was only grateful it hadn't hit him when in front of others.

     He knew he was ill, but he had always assumed it would pass. He was immune to all human and mobian diseases, so his only explanation was that his system was trying to get used to the planet's atmosphere again. That reasoning had several holes, but it was the best he could come up with. If anyone, Rouge in particular, noticed he wasn't 100%, he knew he would have to get checked out. 

      His train of thought was interrupted by another sharp jab in the gut and a hot burning sensation in his back that spread across his entire body. This pain was new, and it was enough to make Shadow slip and collapse to the floor. For several agonizing seconds, he layed there till it finally passed. He was getting worse, not that he'd ever admit it...