Note: This is a continuation of Part 3. Ты need to read some of the other stuff first.

The rush of wind flowing past his ears made Sonic feel alive again. Of course, he wasn't running at the speed of sound, exactly. He was just running faster than 60 miles an hour, because he had both Tails and Knuckles following him at 50 miles an hour.

"Feels like old times, huh?" Sonic called back. "Man! I'm unstoppable!"

"Just like old times." Knuckles rolled his eyes. "At least I have a life and a career! I'm not living in my mother's basement!"

"You don't even know your mom." Tails snapped. "Anyway, the Chaos изумруд locator says the изумруд should be in that big abandoned небоскреб ahead of us."

"What skyscraper? OOF!" Sonic ran into the base of the giant steel structure. "Ow."

The sky grew darker. A lightning bolt flashed through the sky. It would rain soon.

"Well, we found it." Knuckles leaned against the building. "How do we get to it, Tails?"

"Well," Tail always had 1,000 ways to do something very, very simple. "We could just fly up, but I'm detecting some other life form up there, though. Maybe if we sneak up from the inside...there is a spiral staircase for Sonic and an elevator shaft for Knuckles and me."

"Does it still work?" Knuckles asked.

"No, why would it work if no one is here?" Tails raised an eyebrow. It all seemed pretty dang obvious to him. “Are Ты really that primitive?”

"Just asking.” Knuckles replied, offended.

Then, it began to rain. Sonic, who absolutely loathed water, burst through the broken doors. The result of that was getting drenched. The ceiling had a leak. Make that a big hole in the middle of the particular level above.

“EW!” Sonic screamed, shaking violently. Water flew off in every direction. “I absolutely HATE getting wet! Why’d it have to rain! I mean, seriously, I was all there! Now…”

“It’s just a little wet.” Knuckles deliberately shook himself dry so all the water splashed onto Sonic. “You didn’t get struck by lightning.”

“Are you implying that Ты were?” Sonic chuckled grimly.

Knuckles pointed at his shoulder. A small scar glared mercilessly at the hedgehog. Knuckles’ expression grew dark. “Duh. Ever since Eggman disappeared, the weather on Энджел Island has grown out-of-control. For the past three years, I’ve been avoiding another shock. It hurt, Sonic. Don’t underestimate lightning.”

“Not every person who’s hit by lightning lives.” Tails pulled out a book that he had managed to keep dry. “About three-quarters of them die. The reality is that if Ты get struck by lightning, Ты just get burnt and the electricity temporarily runs though your veins, shocking you. Ты don’t get Сверхъестественное powers. To avoid getting shocked, Ты might-”

“We don’t need a safety lesson right now, Tails.” Sonic started walking towards the stairs. Let’s go find the Chaos Emerald!”

***

“♪Midnight, not a sound from the pavement. Has the moon Остаться в живых her memory? She is smiling alone. In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet and the wind begins to moan.♪” Lil sang along with her iPod. Oh how the Музыка touched her soul.

The window opened silently. Lil heard it, but paid no heed. She knew who it was.

“♪Memory! All alone in the moonlight! I can smile at the old days, I was beautiful then! I remember the time I knew what happiness was. Let the memory live again!♪” She twirled in her small kitchen.

The silent figure that had entered her house stood at the edge of the floor now. His dark shape tense and ready for action. Something was wrong.

Lil smiled, carefree. “I’m a soprano.” She laughed. “I don’t believe Ты care about that. Lemonade? I’m lactose-intolerant. Can’t have milk.” She bent over to open her small fridge. “I’m getting myself some, even if Ты don’t any.”

“You had a bad day?” The figure started to approach her.

“Yes. It’s nice to kick back and sing sometimes. Don’t tell anyone that I actually do, Shadow!”

The hedgehog chuckled a little. “So, what song are Ты listening to tonight?”

“‘Memory.’ It’s from the musical, ‘Cats.’ I have the version by Barbara Streisand if Ты want to look it up on iTunes.” She laughed again, knowing Shadow wasn’t into songs at all. “You don’t come over often,” she took a sip from the lemonade, “so Ты must have a reason for this meeting.”

Shadow’s smile wiped completely off of his face. Lil was one of his only Друзья that actually related to him. She didn’t care about his past. She most often was the reason he had a little bit of light left in his DARK nature. She made him hold on.

He chose his words carefully. “I need to know about someone.” He decided. “Someone very imperative to my existence.”

Lil raised her eyebrows. “Who?”

***

Sonic dashed up the stairs in a трещина, сплит second. Only a blue-blur remained of his body as he sped up to the вверх of the building. That’s when he found the door leading to the room where the изумруд was. He slowed to a stop. He heard noises. Someone else was inside the building!

Slowly but surely, he opened the door. He couldn’t see that well in the dark, but he saw a figure overtop a safe. Summoning up his knowledge of martial arts, Sonic quietly crept over to the person. Just when he was about to attack…

He was flipped over too fast for him to react! Sonic felt himself being kicked in the stomach. Hard. Not giving up, though, he grabbed his opponent and fought back. He knocked his fist against his attacker’s nose. Big mistake. His enemy grabbed Sonic’s arm and hurled him into the ground. The attacker then backed up, off of Sonic.

“Oh no Ты don’t!” Sonic yelled and threw himself onto his opponent. What came at him was a booted foot right in between the hedgehog’s legs. That was the last thing Sonic could take. He crumpled to the ground, his tenders aching. “Ow.”

“Well, sorry ‘bout that.” Came a quick, sarcastic reply. “Can’t have ya’ll takin’ my изумруд now, can I?”

“It…ow…doesn’t belong to you!” Sonic wheezed. “Where are Ты anyway? Still in the shadows? Come out where I can see you!”