A Shooting Star ~Kirby and Sonic crossover~

Chapter 31: A Watchful Eye With Straying Thoughts

Following the years of being exposed to the power of the chaos emeralds, Shadow was confident enough to say he was the perfect go-to regarding chaos energy. After all, he had far more experience with chaos than Sonic, and had a wider range of knowledge than Knuckles.

He knew the shortcuts to chaos. He knew how to use his chaos energy wisely, to keep himself from going unconscious by tiring himself out.

In other words, he knew exactly how chaos energy operated.

So it was a sudden surprise when Shadow found himself lying on the wooden floors of Sonic's house, his red gaze staring at the ceiling overhead. His breaths came out in short, ragged gasps as he tried his best to calm down his racing heart. His ears were ringing painfully, causing him to double over and hiss in agony. For a split second, Shadow thought he had gone deaf, for the only thing he could hear was the quiet hum of silence.

Ugh... What in the chaos...?

His eyes flickering like a drunk, Shadow waited for a few moments before lifting himself up, the pain in his ears lessening to some degree. His legs felt so wobbly and weak that he was sure that if an ant grazed him, he would buckle over and fall like a taken down deer.

"Owwwww..."

Shadow's ears caught the soft groan of Tuff as the cappy clutched his head, his hair bristling like a wild bush. The cappy boy stood up, a small, pitiful moan escaping his lips. It seemed like he felt as miserable as Shadow, and if not, worse.

The cappy was deathly pale, shivering as he hugged himself with his arms, attempting to warm himself up. Without the warm air of a furnace or heater, Sonic's house felt almost as chilly as Knuckles was strong.

Tuff shot Shadow a pathetic glance, as if asking, What in the chaos did you do to me? And although Shadow was aware that the Dreamlanders did not say chaos, but Nova, Shadow couldn't bother to change the two curses, so he kept it at that.

Shadow was also fairly cold, however he had a thick pelt full of fur and quills, which made the cold only a bit more bearable. Tuff only had his light clothes and skin. He felt a wave of pity directed towards the cappy boy.

Shadow began to speak. "Sorry. Looks like I..." he trailed off, pausing as he took time to think. What did he do to feel so tired? Why had he, Tuff, Dedede, and Son-

Shadow froze.

Dedede! Sonic!

Being caught in his state of fatigue, he had forgotten about the penguin king and the blue hero. Looking around frantically, Shadow felt his chest rising with panic as his throat closed on him, the helpless terror he felt clinging onto him like a burr.

Sonic! Where-

"Uh... If you're lookin' for us, we're righ' here."

Shadow whirled around to see Dedede staring at him with a puzzled expression, as if the hedgehog had claimed that he was a flying koala that went on a murder spree. The king was holding the twitching form of Sonic in his arms, who was draped snuggly in Meta Knight's slightly-damp cloak. He let out small, occasional whines.

Unlike Tuff, Dedede did not look the slightest bit cold. His shoulders were sagged and his face didn't look very pale. After all, he was an anthropomorphic penguin. They were used to cold climates.

A small, amused smirk had made its way onto Dedede's beak. He refused to laugh, although he was trembling uncontrollably. Tuff looked as stiff as a board in comparison. Shadow bared his teeth in warning, but this barely contained any of Dedede's sniggers. It appeared that the king wasn't afraid of Shadow's harsh threats anymore.