"Jerald, get away from him."

The white hedgehog froze. Captivated by the process, he didn’t hear the door open and a third character appeared in the room. Without changing his position, he slowly turned his head and stared at the newcomer. “You,” he breathed angrily through clenched teeth.

“Me,” his opponent confirmed with distinct sarcasm, but then firmly continued, “And I repeat: get away from the prisoner.”

Sonic stopped breathing for a second. A mad hope flashed in his chest, but he wasn't sure if the voice he was hearing was the one. Too unusual intonation, too impossible situation. The chance was almost negligible, but he dared to hope, although he had not heard that voice in a long time.

“Why should I? He is mine, and I can do the interrogation as I want,” the white hedgehog pressed the blue hero closer to the table, reminding him of himself.

But a third voice retorted with the same cold tone: “Any prisoner is, first of all, the property of the Amateria, so I have every right to dispose of him... Lieutenant,” he highlighted with a grin the last word.

Jerald gritted his teeth, holding back his rage. The order was given, and he had no right to disobey, but he was still playing for time: “Give me five minutes and he's all yours.”

“No. This time I want to be the first.”

The tense atmosphere deepened even more. There was clearly some kind of history behind this phrase, but Sonic was not in a position to analyze what was said. He still felt Jerald was ready to invade him, which only fueled his panic.

“Your death won't be easy, freak.”

“Yes, you already told me that.”

Suddenly, the weight pressing Sonic to the table disappeared. The white hedgehog let go of him, moving away from the table, and Sonic, not expecting this, immediately slid down, unable to keep himself on bending legs. He badly and rather painfully hit the floor with his tail, but it was normal pain. He was ready to endure a thousand times more than that, just not to return to the previous terrible moments that promised much worse pain.

He managed to turn around and finally saw his sudden savior.

Ebony black fur. Blood-red stripes on bent upward quills and folded arms. Golden rings. And ruby ​​eyes, sparkling with contemptuous calm from under half-closed eyelids.

‘Shadow…’

Yes, it was undoubtedly him. The Ultimate Lifeform, the Protector of Mobius, the Dark Hero.

His rival and... friend.

Sonic just now felt that tears were still pouring from his eyes. But now they were tears of relief. 

Shadow just gave him a quick glance and then turned away. “Why wasn't I reported about the intruder?”

Jerald gave a displeased "tch" in response and fell into a chair, arms folded across his chest, clearly unwilling to explain himself. He spent several seconds in silence, but the cold gaze of the black hedgehog, coupled with a questioning raised eyebrow, made him speak after all.

“I was near the command post,” Jerald crossed his legs and leaned back in the chair, “The situation was not critical, so I alone was enough. Plus,” he narrowed his eyes angrily, “Last time I checked you were quite busy sucking the Commander’s dick.”

Sonic, who had already managed to more or less calm down and take a comfortable position sitting on the floor, involuntarily flushed and looked at the black hedgehog in bewilderment. Was it in an allegorical sense..?

“Infiltration of the main base up to the eightieth sector,” Shadow ignored the second part of the phrase without changing his face, “And this was not a critical situation?”

The white hedgehog snorted. “He drove himself into a trap - entered from the side of the living quarters.”

“Hmm, so it’s the Diamond Dust?” Shadow turned back to the prisoner and gave him a scornful look. "Now it's clear why he looks so pathetic."

Sonic was not deceived about his own state - he felt lousy, so he looked the same. His head was splitting, he could hardly restrain a tremor from weakness and the shock he had experienced, his eyes were red, his cheeks were still wet with tears, and the metal gag painfully dug into the skin. Yes, Shadow arrived just in time, and the blue hero was sincerely grateful to him. But the hell he will allow him to look at himself with such contempt even in this situation.

Although, what else did he expect? Shadow always looked at him that way.

“However, I'm not you,” the dark hedgehog suddenly came up to him and sat down opposite, so that they were face to face, “I don't really need prey that resists.”

He smiled grimly, and Sonic went cold. He had seen a similar smile before. He knew this ravenous look. Not even five minutes had passed since Jerald looked at him the same way.

…

Was this really Shadow?

The dark hedgehog reached out and grabbed his chin. Sonic twitched belatedly, but this didn't have much effect - the grip was strong, and he was still weak.

“The overall color, of course, is not the same, but you liked the eyes, right?”

“Go to hell,” Jerald growled.

Shadow (Sonic still hoped it was him) chuckled contentedly as he continued to study his face. The hero tried to look back as menacingly as possible. It was difficult, as fear rose inside in a wave. And when the dark hedgehog moved his gaze lower, glancing appraisingly over his body, he was again overtaken by a shiver. It was all wrong. This shouldn't happen. At first he was almost raped by some sadist, and now…

He closed his eyes tightly, trying to calm the ragged breathing. Shadow clearly hated him, but not that much, did he?

“I'm taking him with me.”

His chin was abruptly released, causing Sonic to almost fall on his side, losing his balance. He opened his eyes and, not sure how to react, stared at the dark hedgehog who was heading for the door.

“What?!” Jerald immediately jumped to his feet and rushed after him. Grabbing the black hedgehog by the shoulder, he literally growled: “What the fuck, Richard?”

“Subordination, Lieutenant,” Shadow (‘Richard?’) threw off his hand with the same cold sarcasm, “As I said, I have every right to dispose of any prisoners. At least until the moment the Commander gives another order.”

"Aidan won't like this," Jerald added with a threat in his voice.

The dark hedgehog raised an eyebrow mockingly. “Unlike some, his anger doesn’t frighten me. I would only be glad to have a pause of a few days…” he looked Jerald up and down and grinned, “Or weeks.”

The white hedgehog turned red with rage. He clenched his fists, clearly wanting to punch back, but only viciously watched Shadow open the door, letting in two more hedgehogs in identical black uniforms.

“To my cabin,” the dark hedgehog nodded towards the prisoner and, without waiting, went out into the corridor.

Two subordinates grabbed the Hero of Mobius by the arms and, not caring about his well-being at all, dragged him out. Jerald watched them go away with a murderous look.

Sonic would be lying if he said he didn't feel a huge relief leaving him behind. 

***

So, there were living beings on the ship.

Sonic couldn’t decide what to call these aliens. At first glance, they looked the same as the inhabitants of Mobius. There were no significant external differences, but still, when looking at them, there was a feeling of unnatural alienation, which he couldn’t explain.

And also they were hedgehogs.

Perhaps not all of them, but along the way, apart from two guards who were still dragging him under the arms, they met at least a dozen more inhabitants of the ship, and there were no other species among them. Considering that Sonic didn't know that many hedgehogs in all of Mobius, including himself, this already seemed crazy.

Aliens also wore the same-looking clothes, somewhat resembling a diving suit, since it completely covered the body, including the hands and feet, leaving only the head free. Clothes varied in color: black with white stripes of bracelets on the wrists and ankles and one wide one across the chest for men, and white with black stripes for women. Apparently, as he initially suggested, it was some kind of uniform.

He also noticed strange colored markings on everyone. They went from the outside of the eyes, covering the entire width, and, tapering, formed triangles on the sides. He didn’t know if this was a genetic trait or a form of makeup, but he remembered that Jerald had the same, black in color.

Shadow had red ones.

Overcoming the nausea from the intensified headache, Sonic looked at the hedgehog walking in front. It was definitely Shadow. It should be Shadow. Even if the local hedgehogs had some kind of contact with Black Doom and his race, and had managed to create a hybrid of the same color and shape, it was unlikely that they could have made exactly the same inhibitor rings and air shoes. The probability was just negligible.

But it's not zero, is it?

Sonic brushed aside the treacherous thought, but it still sat down somewhere in the subcortex, making him nervous. No, this was definitely not possible. All that set this “Richard” apart from Shadow were those red eye markings that complemented his natural ones. And also... behavior.

Goosebumps ran down the hero’s spine, as soon as he remembered the expression absolutely alien to the dark hedgehog’s face that he saw a few minutes ago. What if Shadow lost his memory again? What if he was somehow also captured and then brainwashed? After all, Sonic had not the slightest idea what other technologies these aliens, capable of creating gigantic spaceships and deadly drones, had. What if this wasn't the Shadow he knew, and now it was actually Richard? 

Fear coiled inside him into a tight ball. The imagined scenario was the worst case, but it couldn’t be ruled out either. In the current state, he had no chance against the Ultimate Lifeform. And, in truth, even in a normal situation, he couldn’t do much - in terms of sheer physical strength, Shadow always won, so Sonic relied on speed and agility. But his boots, which were of great help, were taken away from him and he didn’t even know where to look for them now.

Also, he shouldn’t forget about that strange powder. If he understood correctly, it was called the Diamond Dust and it served as some kind of a defense system against intruders. The way it worked was not entirely clear, but he already felt the effect to the fullest. Perhaps even a small dose would be enough to disable him again.

His head was splitting. That way he certainly wouldn't be able to come up with any plan. And if he could, what’s the use? His legs didn’t obey him at all, and with the speed with which the guards were leading him, he barely had time to take even a step before they began to drag him again.

‘I can't give in to panic. I have been in much worse situations and have always found a way out.’

But was there really anything worse?

Sonic closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, trying to calm down. Everything was fine. Tails and the others remained outside. And as much as he wanted them to not interfere, he knew they would do it anyway. He had been captured before, and they pulled him out. Yes, six months passed, Eggman took control of almost the entire planet, but in the end they still won. Just this time they got a different opponent.

And Shadow wasn’t on their side.

But this had already happened, right? They were definitely enemies the first time they met, and Shadow was seriously trying to kill him. Then there was Black Doom, when to the last he wasn’t sure on whose side the black hedgehog was. And, to be honest, he still didn't know what kind of relationship they had - they weren't enemies anymore, but not really friends either. Shadow almost never called him by name, all the time using nicknames, and Sonic, in turn, didn't miss the opportunity to tease him. But it didn’t seem that either of them were against the situation.

It was all the more painful to think about the possible option that they again became strangers to each other.

But on this thought he was pulled into reality.

They stopped at an inconspicuous door. Sonic wouldn’t even have noticed it, mistaking it for a strange pattern engraved in the metal wall. They had already passed several doors that were already familiar to the hero, the last of which led them into this corridor, which seemed completely empty. White walls went into the distance, ending in a dead end, and, looking closer, he noticed several more similar patterns-openings. Near each shone a small rectangle, similar to a touchpad.

Shadow (or was it Richard?) raised his right hand, to the inhibitor ring of which an acid-green diamond-shaped locket was attached, and held it to a panel next to the door where they stopped. There was a melodic trill, the door slightly drowned into the wall and, with the already familiar rustling, stepped aside, opening the passage.

For a spacecraft, the cabin was surprisingly spacious. On the left wall there were a table with two chairs and a sofa, on the right there was a large double bed with a sideboard. On the opposite side of the room was a door, apparently leading to the bathroom. Everything was made of material that looked like dark wood. The floor was completely covered with white pile, silky to the touch, as suggested by the bare feet. The ceiling glowed with a soft yellow light, complementing the light shade of the walls. Sonic automatically noted all this to himself, having time to look around the room, while he was dragged inside.

The dark hedgehog entered first, but remained standing at the open door, letting them go ahead. “On the bed,” he nodded in the right direction, “And get out.”

The guards, still silently, casually threw the prisoner face down on the mattress. While Sonic, completely unhappy with this situation, tried to roll over, helping himself with his hands chained behind his back, he heard receding steps, and the door rustled again, closing.

They were left alone.