Blades of grass waved like the tide of the sea from the passing wind of Shadow's air shoes as he bolted across the countryside, his trail of light being the single illumination piercing through the dead of night, where the moon appeared invisible in the bejeweled sky. With no leads to follow, he was moving on instinct, hoping that he was heading in the right direction in accordance with how well he knew both his partner and his enemy. 
Upon approaching the checkered pattern rock formations of Green Hill, the black hedgehog came to a stop near a grove of palm trees. To the sound of rustling leaves, he cautiously calculated the enemy's agenda while he studied the area, making sure his whits were attuned to his environment at all times. 

*This was different than before.* He thought as he explored around the grove, knowing this as one of Sonic's favorite spots to relax. 

*He was lured away, not taken by force, so Infinite didn't want a confrontation, not this time at least.*

As he rounded around the edge of the treeline, he saw the loopty-loop and couldn't help but recall how his silly hedgehog would run around that thing dozens of times in a row, finding immeasurable joy in such a simple activity. The memory traced a small grin on his face as he missed those days more than he realized, and making him reaffirm his promise to help Sonic feel that kind of happiness again. 

It was then that a silhoutte caught his eye in the distance. The unmistakeable shape of slicked quills waving in the soft breeze sent a chill down his spine. 

*Sonic?* he wondered to himself as he stared at the figure. The mysterious frame remained at the edge of the loop in ominous silence, either unaware of his presence or ignoring him entirely. Regardless, seeing his shape prompted Shadow to dash quickly over the terrain, navigating over the rocks and ledges to bypass the loop until he came into close proximity, all while remaining alert in case their adversary was lurking nearby. 

"Sonic?" he called out as he was now near enough for visual confirmation. The blue hedgehog's ear twitched to the mention of his name, though he kept his back turned. Shadow's heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest as he wanted nothing more than to embrace his partner and never let go; however, something was keeping him from approaching. A sense that something was very wrong. 

"Are you all right?" he questioned sincerely. 

"Never better, buddy!" was the cheerful reply. The broken hero then twisted around in a lanky manner, his arms swaying like a marionette without strings until he faced his concerned partner in a strange, off-kilter fashion. Now with little distance between them, Shadow was able to adjust his sight to pierce through the darkness, but the visage made his racing heart stop in its tracks.
His face was like cosmetic surgery that went horribly wrong. With multiple gashes, burns, abrasions, contusions, and bruises among other injuries of incalculable varieties covering his body from head to paw, he was a bloodcurdling wreck! Within his swollen purple eyelids, his gaze appeared empty, like he was devoid of all life. 

"I thought you'd never come, that you abandoned me...again," the damaged hedgehog retorted as he ambled towards him. 

The sense of danger escalated the closer he came, making Shadow's quills stand on end. He couldn't comprehend why he was on guard, but he knew from the moment he realized Infinite was involved that he needed to trust his instincts more than his other senses, including his heart. Though he was compelled to back away, he stood his ground, scanning the form in front of him as well as the area around them until he could decipher what was triggering his fight or flight. The more he focused on his senses rather than the mangled form nearing him, the more he realized what was really happening, and it pissed him off. 

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" he commanded.

Immediately, the broken hero halted, his facial expression switching from hopelessly detacted to emotionally dejected. 
He was paced only a few feet away from the black hedgehog, almost within arm's reach. He hugged himself tightly, appearing as though he was about to cry.

"What is it, Shadow?" he questioned with his voice breaking, "I thought you were here to help me. You promised you'd be there....was that all a lie?" 

"No!" he rebutted forcefully, clenching his fist as he took a step back, "I'm here for Sonic, the REAL Sonic, not a faker."

With that, a sinister grin enveloped the blue hedgehog's muzzle, his originally melancholic mien traded for one of derangement. Sheer madness clothed his cackling laugh, which echoed from the stout mountaintop in front of the undettered Ultimate Life Form. He glared ravenously at his black counterpart, like a fuse was waiting to be ignited.

"Heh! Guess you're wising up, huh? What's the old saying, 'fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me?' Though it took you long enough."

"I'm not here to play games, tell me where he is!" Shadow demanded as  he stared down the ruby construct. 
His rage was building by the second, every muscle fiber tightening, every nerve on edge; however, he had to contain his wrath, for if he unleashed it on his foe, he may lose his only lead. No matter how much he wanted to rip the Phantom replica apart for the information, he knew from past encounters that such action never yielded any results. 
Right now, time was precious and fleeting, and there was a reason the jackal sent this creature.

"You must really like me, huh? Poor, poor Shadow. Had me in your arms for all of a minute before losing me all over again. Maybe you should reevaluate your relationship goals," the copy smirked while putting on a dramatic display that only irked the Ultimate Life Form further. 

"ENOUGH! YOU'RE NOT SONIC! TELL ME WHERE HE IS--NOW!" he shouted in a threatening manner. 

The replica look unamused and scoffed at his hostility before shrugging in compliance, "Fine--you want him that badly?"
With the snap of his fingers, a horrendous scream stabbed through the silence and sent shockwaves through the black hedgehog as he instantly recognized Sonic's voice. The shriek was soaked in agony, desperation, and fear. He couldn't imagine what was happening to him, but it made every inch of his body rigid.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" he exclaimed, grabbing the copy by the throat. 

The twisted Phantom projection's grin only widened without displaying any trepidation whatsoever, "I just gave you a clue is all. --You're welcome, by the way."

He swiped Shadow's hand from his neck and took a step back, resting his arms behind his head as he stood casually while observing the scenery.
"He's somewhere around here, find him, and he's yours for keeps. Buuuuutt...there's a time limit..." he leered before snapping his fingers again, causing an even louder howl of pain to echo across the landscape.

"----YYYYAAAAGGGHHHHHH--"

Shadow turned towards where the the sound emminated, his pulse racing off the charts as he tried to predict the exact location from his vantage point. 

"I'd hurry if I were you. The little blue savior isn't as tough as he used to be," the replica snickered while waving his hand in a shooing manner. 

The more time he wasted with this hollow projection, the more Sonic suffered. THERE WAS NO TIME TO LOSE! 
Shadow lept off the ledge and dashed down the pass, serpenteening between the trees as he scanned each corner for a glimmer of where he could be. 

"Which way...." he whispered to himself, coming to a quick stop near the coast. 

"Lost already? I thought you lived around here,"  the replica snorted as he suddenly appeared on the overhead ledge, leaning against the rock face with his arms crossed in a relaxed manner. Shadow glared up at him, his anger ready to rupture at any moment.

"If you need another hint, I'll be happy to oblidge." The copy then snapped his fingers again, causing a chain reaction that led to another terrifying scream"---NNNNNYYYYAAAHHHH!!!!!---"; however, this time it sounded close by. "Ouch, bet that one left a mark," he giggled as Shadow turned away, blasting off into the night in the direction of the cries, leaving the copy to look on with delight. 

At every point along the route, the phantom projection kept appearing, somehow getting ahead of Shadow at every turn. With each corner, the deranged copy would taunt him, "Come on, dude! Haven't you ever played hide-and-seek?"

"Remind me to never ask you where I left my keys."

"You sure you want to find him?"

"Should have taken a left turn at Adabat. Hehe."

"Warmer, warmer--AH!--getting cold--- colder, colder---here let me help." 
This time, when he snapped his fingers, the scream was closer, but alarmingly quieter. Shadow began to fear the worst, but he couldn't let such thoughts cloud his mind. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the last whimper, which lead him to a hidden cave.

As he approached, he heard heaving breaths echo from within, with the static of electricity chirping off the walls and the blue bolts glittering in the darkness. Upon taking a step in, a string of lights turned on overhead, allowing him to see in full view his partner suspended in chains from the ceiling. Wires dangled like tendrils from clamps and patches that were scattered on various points of his body, connected to a generator that housed multiple batteries. The filth and damage, which looked identifical to the copy Shadow had been encountering, was seared so deeply into the flesh that the very sight of him made his stomach turn. 
Though he was weary at first, he quickly realized that he wasn't detecting any sense of danger, indicating this was HIS Sonic! 

Without hesitation, he sprinted towards him and placed his hands on his heavily wounded body, "SONIC! SONIC! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?!" he shouted as he gently shook him. 
His swollen eyelids twitched, but remained closed, his breathing had decreased dramatically in the last few moments, becoming short and weak. 

"HANG ON, SONIC!" 

Shadow began ripping the patches off, carefully removing the clamps, and though he wanted to just break the chains, he realized that their configurement would tighten around his partner's limbs should he do so, leaving him to figure out how to untangle them instead. After lowering him to the ground, he began working through the twisted links. He rested his head on his shoulder as he worked, doing everything possible to free him quickly without exacerbating his injuries. Just as he was making progress, he was stopped by the annoying cackle of the phantom copy, having entered the cave behind them. 

"Bravo, bravo! Looks like you won the doorprize!  Like his new look? We wanted to make sure you got the message."

Shadow sneared at him as he glared from the corner of his eye, prepared to shield his partner against any attack and counter accordingly, "--What message was that?"

On that note, two other Sonic coies joined him while two more entered from the opposite side, emerging from deeper within the cave until there were five different clones surrounding the Ultimate Life Form and his sleeping partner, filling him with anxiousness and indignation.

"Isn't it obvious?" the first projection stated, "JUST LOOK AT THE GUY!--you failed him."
And in sequence, each continued to berate the black hedgehog.

"You couldn't save him before, you couldn't protect him now."

"How many times have you let him down already?"

"He wouldn't be in this shape if it wasn't for you."

"You'll never be able to fix him." 

Refusing to let go of Sonic for fear that breaking contact would leave his injured lover defenseless, Shadow began to summon a chaos spear in order to drive away the projections; however, a temporal shift vibrated Shadow's core, alerting him that the Phantom Ruby itself was nearby, and with it, the bastard responsible for everything!
He scanned around every corner of the cave, looking past the group of clones, catching glimpses of the jackal from different distances like a ghost appearing and disappearing in the night. The tension was escalating to the point he couldn't ignore it, not before feeling Sonic's head move on its own. He quickly peered down with rising hope, only to see an empty pair of pale green eyes squinting back, his meek voice whispering, "S-sorry, Sha-dow". 

Black claws then pounced from the darkness and lassoed Shadow's throat from behind while luminescent cubes engufled them both. 
With an ominous chuckle pulsing in his ears, he felt his windpipe cracking under the grip. He couldn't move! His body was frozen in position. His trembling crimson eyes looked to Sonic, who had a strange tiny smile brandishing his muzzle as the Ultimate Life Form struggled to breathe. The jackal rubbed his masked face next to his black fur, the sharp metal grooves creating thin cuts on his cheek. As everything started to fade, he could hear his enemy speaking soothingly into his ear with words dripping in malice and twisted delight, "He's not yours anymore..."