PoV: Shadow

It had been weeks since the Sear gave us the prophecy. I felt so impatient. Sonic could no longer go further than the chain on the emerald, he was still trapped as a floating soul. I wanted to do everything possible to get him back.

--- Atempt One ---

"Okay, are you ready?" I grabbed Sonic's hands.

"I'm ready," he smiled.

I started slowly, not releasing too much at once. I was carefully attempting to transfer some of my own chaos energy into Sonic's spirit, hoping he could deliver it to the emerald.

"Do you feel anything yet?" I asked.

"Warm~ You energy is really warm," he was purring.

"I'm going to add more-"

ZZT! KaBOOM!

I was knocked back by a sudden blast. "SONIC!" I called for him through the dust.

"I'm still here! The emerald is okay," he called, "Um... I couldn't absorb anymore energy. I think you built up so much it turned into a small chaos blast."

"Yeah... I noticed," I coughed and dusted myself off. I had managed to destroy my living room. I groaned and started cleaning.

"Are we trying again?" Sonic asked.

"No, not that. And we aren't doing this in the house anymore."

Our first attempt to speed up the process failed.

--- Atempt 2 ---

"We are a good distance from the house," I checked our location, "Nothing flammable. Okay."

"I thought you said we weren't trying again," Sonic asked.

"I said I'm not blowing up my house again. I have scorch marks on my floor," I picked up the emerald and took a seat, "Don't talk unless it works or if it explodes again."

"Sure..." Sonic sat down besides me.

I closed my eyes and started again. Releasing a small amounts of chaos energy into the emerald directly.

"Shadow... that doesn't look good..." Sonic started talking.

"Shit-"

BOOM! I had set off another explosion.

"Shadow? Are you okay?" I could still hear Sonic's voice, A least he's still here.

"I'm alright."

Our second attempt ended in failure.

--- Atempt 4 ---

"Shadow... maybe we should ask Tails for help?" Sonic suggested.

"I can handle it," I wasn't going to risk anything happening to him.

"Yeah but-"

Boom!

Another attempt failed.

"Are you okay Shadow?" Sonic called.

"Just... fine..." I wasn't going to fail!

--- Atempt 5 ---

"We should really talk to Tails," Sonic repeated.

"Not yet-"

Boom!

--- Atempt 7 ---

"Can we go to Tails yet?" He groaned as he did constantly now.

"Not. Yet."

Boom!

--- Atempt 13 ---

Boom!

"Can we take to Tails now please?" Sonic sighed.

I pulled myself out from the rubble and collapsed... "I give up... We can talk to Tails..."

PoV: Sonic

--- Atempt 14 ---

"Thanks for taking over Tails, Shadow was determined but he ran out of angles to try a long time ago..." I stayed in the designated position he wanted me in.

"It's my pleasure. This could be the only time for anyone to know what's beyond life. Okay, now this machine is going to take Shadows energy and recalibrate the current to the exact voltage needed to charge the emerald. It's basically a giant charger powered by one chaos spear. And you're all hooked up. Ready Sonic?" Tails finished connecting the emerald to the machine.

"Yeah, I'm ready to come back," I took a deep breath and held my position.

"Ready Shadow?" Tails shut the glass to the contained area I was in, I could no longer hear them.

I watched as Shadow created a chaos spear and placed it in the machine. Then, all I could hear were sparks. The charger was starting. It was getting so bright. I felt it slowly drawing on me, it was Shadow's chaos energy. It felt so warm and gentle.

"Ah... Huh?" It burned me, only for a second, but it hurt. Shadow's chaos energy... it was getting too hot, "Ah... ngh... Tails! Something's wrong! AAHHH!"

It was dead silence... I couldn't hear a thing. I felt adrift, yet I couldn't feel anything at all. I could see nothing... not even my own hands. The world had vanished. Then slowly, like the gentle beating of a drum, I could hear my own heart. I couldn't tell what it was supposed to sound like. But mine was loud and strong. Each beat echoed in my hears and beat constantly in even paces. Suddenly a light was blinding me. I could hardly tell what it was behind it. I reached for it, to see what it was. It seemed so far away.

Suddenly all I could hear were small distance echoes of voices. Voices of people I knew, all calling me to them. And then the beat of my heart vanished, and the sounds all began to drown in the dark as the light came closer...

~~~