I Am...All of Me

Black Shadow (Part4)

Tails' Serum

   Tails took a sip out of his coffee mug as he typed in another code sequence with his free hand. He had slept for about four hours before deciding to get back to work. Sonic was probably going to kill him in the morning...well later morning..., but he just couldn't help it. When his mind was set on something, nothing could stop him. He yawned as he scanned over the information scrolling down his screen. He was trying to single out and analyze the black "dots" in Shadow's DNA, but for some reason it didn't want to separate from the samples he had been given.

"Must be a permanent bonding," he muttered to himself, "Will probably have to splice it later..."

His eyelids drooped, and he took another sip from his drink to fight off sleep. He was going to figure this out if it killed him. A friend needed him, so a little thing like sleep could wait. He suddenly jolted when the results from his last test finally appeared on the screen, and he had to keep himself from spitting out the lukewarm coffee he just drank.

"Oh man....Shadow's gonna hate this." Or kill me, his sleep-deprived and slightly morbid mind suggested. Yeah that too, he agreed and rubbed a hand over his face. This was definitely not good news. Not. At. All.

The next morning, Sonic woke up early and tiptoed downstairs. Normally, he could sleep in till lunch, but the invasion had definitely messed up his sleeping schedule. A light from the garage suddenly caught his attention, and the blue hedgehog sighed knowingly.

"Tails?" he called as he wandered into the lab, "Hey, little buddy, you in here?"

Sonic crossed his arms with a small smirk at the sight of his younger brother asleep at his desk with an empty coffee mug in one hand. He trotted up to the dozing fox and gently shook him. Tails started and jumped up.

"I'm awake!!" he yelled. When everything slowly began to register for him, he glanced up at Sonic sheepishly, "Hehe..Good morning, Sonic."

"Morning, Tails," the azure hero grinned, "What have you been up to all night?"

"Well, I--Oh! I need to get to Shadow!" he exclaimed and ran out of the workshop with a worried Sonic close behind.

The two brothers entered the living room to find Shadow curled up on the couch, his elongated tail wrapped around his shivering form. He appeared to be freezing, even though he had an extremely thick blanket covering him, and the room itself was warm.

"What's wrong with him?" Sonic asked while Tails check his temperature.

"He's ice cold. Shadow! Shadow wake up!" he called and shook the ebony hedge-arm roughly. The fox suddenly cried out in surprise and pain as thick black claws scraped his ear.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted and pulled the kit out of the striped hedgehog's reach.

Shadow groaned and tightened his eyelids before opening them slowly. He sat up and rubbed his head as he tried to piece together why he was awake. But he suddenly felt very anxious when he looked up to find Sonic holding Tails close to him protectively. The kit himself was holding his ear, and Shadow could almost smell the blood trickling from it. The black and crimson hybrid glanced down at his hand to find sturdy, sharp ebony claws protruding from his fingertips, and it all clicked instantly. What have I done?

"Tails," he began slowly and in the carefullest voice he could muster, "Did I?"

The blond fox nodded, but he was handling the situation surprisingly well, "Don't worry, Shadow. It was just a scratch. Nothing major."