The New Heartbeats

Author's Note: Well, it's been loooong overdue for this to be updated, not like it needs to be mentioned. Though, I do think what needs to be mentioned, it's officially been 2 years (and 2 days lol) since I started working on this story. Geez, it's been two years already? It does not feel like it at all. I know 2020 might be going slow for some of us given what's been happening in the world, but putting the pandemic aside, time really flies. Anyway, I've wasted enough time. Let's get started on chapter 20!

Intro Music: Fullmetal Alchemist Opening 1

Chapter 20: This Machine

Shadow and Emerald.

Emerald and Shadow.

Sometimes, these two can prove to be quite the grumps of Team CMES. Though technically, that could be said for all of them.

Emerald doesn't know why she agreed to help Shadow to find some important item he's lost. Shadow doesn't know why he bothered to ask Emerald to help him in the first place.

This was an extremely bad combination.

When you combine the fact that they're in a club, the stress has to be dealt with somehow.

Emerald made her way to the bar, shaking her head in disgust as she truly wondered why she went with Shadow on this pointless mission. Some important thing he's looking for wouldn't end up in a freaking club of all places.

When Emerald sat down, the bartender looked at her up and down, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you a bit young to be drinking?"

Not the question the bartender should have asked, because anything at this point can tick Emerald off.

She slowly but surely moved closed to the bartender, getting right up in his face as she pulled his tie, their faces being mere centimeters from each other. It was at this moment the bartender knew he messed up.

"When your teammate drags you out of bed, says there's an important mission he needs to go on, needs help to find something, you reluctantly agree, and then you find out he's trying to find this thing in a club, soon realizing you could have went about your day as you were instead of wasting all these seconds of your life that you'll never get back, I think I have the right to get a drink to calm myself down!" Emerald's tone gradually got louder as she spoke, putting absolute fear into the bartender not just by her voice, but the fire in her eyes as well. She sounded straight up menacing.

Cinder may be rubbing off on her.

Or Emerald is just crazy.

Either one could work.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" the bartender nodded quickly, Emerald's grip fully loosening as he fell backwards. "I'll get started on your drink! In fact, you can have ALL the drinks free of charge!"

Emerald slowly but surely formed a small smirk on her face, enjoying how she eventually got her way. "Now that's more like it."

Still being fearful for his life, the bartender ran, getting all the drinks he could for the irritated Emerald.

BGM: Lady Gaga – Poker Face

On the other side of the club, we had an annoyed Shadow trying to get past the massive crowd of people partying and dancing. This place was way too hyper for his liking, but what secretly made him even more disgusted was seeing the dance moves of these people. It was a traumatizing sight to behold, because some of these people really, really couldn't dance.

If Shadow wasn't always… You know, Shadow, he would get on the dance floor and bust out some real moves.

He already thinks he's the coolest, but he thinks he's too cool for something like that.

"Darn that Emerald… darn the Chaos Emerald for being somewhere on this cursed planet, and darn Sonic for letting this happen in the first place!" Shadow shouted to himself, clearly being frustrated on the matter. He was sure he could find something here, because Chaos Emeralds have a knack for being in places you'd never expect.

As he was continuing his search, he was stopped by a few women grabbing him by the shoulder. Shadow was not expecting this in the slightest, but to be frank, he was an attractive dude. When he turned to face the ladies who grabbed him, all of them were giving him 'the look.'

"My my, you're certainly a fine one." one girl said, getting closer to Shadow as her finger glided on his chest.

"Indeed he is." the other girl agreed, getting behind Shadow and started to slowly rub his back.

Another girl came closer to Shadow, beginning to whisper in his ear seductively. "How about we all get outta here and make a movie?"

Oh, how sometimes Shadow wished he wasn't the Ultimate Life Form.

Well, okay, he never wishes that, but he swears him being the Ultimate Life Form was one of the reasons why women on his world, and apparently on this world too, seem to like him. Even if these women have no idea he is the Ultimate Life Form, it's what Shadow's conceited self has always thought to be the reason why people find him attractive.

Hearing the quote that was whispered into his ear, Shadow visibly cringed. This was the last thing he needed or wanted. Why, oh why does this have to happen to him?

"Idiots. Idiots everywhere." thought Shadow, stepping away from the ladies. "Not interested." he sternly told them, walking away as the three girls pouted.

Some guys would have killed to be in Shadow's position, but hey, the dude has more important things on his mind.

Usually, that's how it always is.

As time passed, Shadow searched all over the place for the Chaos Emerald. At this point, he was hoping for a hint, a sign, heck, anything. He would even ask freaking Omochao for help right now if he had the option.

Because right now, this was turning out to be an absolute, unmitigated disaster.

Traveling all around the club, he definitely wanted to pull his hair out. This fact would be emphasized due to him making it to the bar and seeing Emerald drink.

Luckily, he was able to catch her on only her third drink. Before Emerald could finish it off, Shadow grabbed the bottle and threw it, crashing into the wall as it broke into tiny little pieces.

Now Emerald was seething with rage.

"What's your problem?!"

She dares to come back at him?

"What's my problem?! Oh no, the better question is what's your problem!" Shadow pointed, not backing down in the slightest. "You're the one who left me in the first place!"

"Well, it's your fault for asking me to come here!"

The bartender looked on at the sight of Shadow and Emerald arguing, only being able to assume one thing. "Look, if you're having couple problems, could you guys at least take it outsi-"

"SHUT UP!" Shadow and Emerald yelled in scary unison, as the bartender would indeed shut up. Great, dealing with Emerald was enough, but now he had another psycho on his hands who might be crazier than she is. This caused the bartender to immediately duck for his life, leaving Shadow and Emerald to continue their bickering.

Shadow looked like he was about to say something else, but then he stopped himself. Emerald was fully geared for another argument, raring to go so she could let Shadow have a piece of her mind. She was waiting for Shadow to say something else so she could clap back. All she needed was an excuse.

But when Shadow stopped himself, he took deep breaths as he rubbed his head. Throughout all his adventures, has he not learned anything? This is what he was thinking about right now. One person could act immature, but both of them?

Shadow's better than that, he knows it. He's way more mature than he's letting on currently.

"Look, Emerald… If you really feel that bothered about being here, then you can go." he told her sternly, yet calmly in his own little way. Emerald now looked slightly confused at Shadow's change of tone, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not going to force you to do anything. If you want to go back to the dorm, then go back to the dorm. I apologize for wasting your time."

That's when Shadow began to walk away, leaving the green haired girl speechless for a moment. She was fully expecting Shadow to come back at her. The last thing she expected him to do, of all things, is to apologize. He, of all people, apologized?

As often as the story of his face told, Shadow's face looked blank, yet empty all at once. Emerald couldn't describe it, but there was a certain amount of pain in his eyes he was keeping locked up.

This made Emerald feel like a jerk.

As she should.

Knowing that she messed up, Emerald groaned loudly, as it was now her turn to rub her forehead in frustration. Shadow, freaking Shadow was making her rethink her actions.

He proved to be the bigger person by apologizing first, and it was hurting Emerald to her core.

"Dang it…" she told herself, eventually making up her mind to talk to Shadow. "Shadow, wait!" she said, beginning to run after him. Once she was close enough, she placed her hand on his shoulder, making him turn around.

"I was being a jerk, even by my standards. You asked for my help, and I'm only making things worse." During this, Emerald actually sounded sincere, which caught Shadow off guard. "I haven't been much of a teammate tonight, not a good one anyway, and… I'm sorry about that."

Oh Jesus, the world might be ending.

Both of them apologized to each other on the same night.

If there was anything Emerald took pride in, it was being a valuable asset to the team. She wasn't being valuable right now, and she intends to change that.

She showed Shadow a small smile, saying, "Whatever you're looking for, I'd be glad to help."

Well, Shadow was certainly shocked, much like how Emerald was when he apologized. Shadow's face remained emotionless, even though deep inside, he appreciated that she apologized.

"I don't think this place has what I'm looking for." he replied, Emerald now putting her hands on her hips. "We can go if you want."

This time, however, Emerald would have other plans. She wanted to make it up to Shadow somehow.

"I don't think we should go just yet. I mean, since we're here, we might as well enjoy ourselves." she said.

Shadow gave a disagreeing nod. "There's nothing in here for me to enjoy." he said, looking at all the people dancing.

Emerald had a small laugh. "Geez, you're just a big ol' ray of sunshine, huh?" she joked, but then she noticed what Shadow was looking at. She was starting to watch the people dance as well, but then she wondered…

Why was he paying attention to this?

She turned back to him, asking, "You seem to be really into watching those people dance."

Shadow remained silent, almost like he was in his own world until he gave Emerald a response.

"Their dance moves disgust me."

Emerald folded her arms, a sly smirk forming on her face. "My my, Shadow. I didn't know you were a dancing expert."

"It's not that hard." he casually replied.

"Well, why don't you show these people what a real dancer is made of then?" asked Emerald, her smirk getting wider as she tried to edge Shadow on.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

As they were going back and forth once more, albeit a lot calmer compared to a few moments ago, a song would come on.

It's arguably the ultimate club song.

BGM: Nelly – Hot In Herre

When this song came on, people started dancing without any regard for human life. Arms were swinging everywhere, absolute fails at breakdances, their bodies looking like they just don't work…

It was disgraceful.

And Shadow couldn't bare to watch it any longer.

"I've changed my mind." he told Emerald, running to where everybody was dancing and made a grand entrance by backflipping. Emerald definitely didn't want to miss this, so she ran to where everybody was dancing as well.

What proceeded next was Shadow busting out an absolute array of moves, from flips, breakdances, moonwalking, spins, and what made it even more amazing was that it looked like he wasn't even breaking a sweat. He was doing it so effortlessly, as it could be compared to how Sonic did his thing at the Beacon Dance before everything went to crap.

Emerald couldn't help but to laugh, but to say she wasn't impressed would be an understatement. This dude was just full of surprises.

"I thought you were playing around when you said you could dance. It's safe to say you shut me up!"

While she was speaking, she was dancing too. She may not be on Shadow's level, but she could most certainly hold her own on the dance floor. She was matching Shadow's energy, the two getting closer to each other as they were synchronizing.

The people were gathering around in awe at how Shadow and Emerald were dancing together, multiple colors of lights flashing all over the club that went at the exact speed of their movements.

"Don't ever doubt the coolest." Shadow told her, as it was now his turn to smirk. "Let's give these people a show."

At blistering speeds, she came behind Emerald, grabbing her by the waist which caught her completely off guard, hints of red being on her cheeks.

"S-Shadow?! What are you doing?!"

"Just follow my lead."

Shadow's and Emerald's steps were still matching with each other, the green haired girl eventually turning around as they were now extremely close to each other. Every movement Shadow did, Emerald would do as well.

And the weirdest part?

It didn't look like dancing.

Not the usual kind, anyway.

It almost looked like they were fighting each other, avoiding their attacks so gracefully and smoothly. That's what made it so great. To see how unified the two were, it was something to behold.

The bartender who met Emerald and Shadow awhile ago, was one of the people who looked on in amazement.

He was feeling inspired.

"Come on, people! Let's join them!"

Massive chaos would ensue, as the bartender got on the dance floor with Shadow and Emerald. He was pulling off dance moves that shouldn't be possible.

And what I mean by shouldn't be possible, is he specifically looks ridiculous.

He was putting his heart and soul into it, though, so bless him.

Whether or not the bartender's antics were working, other people eventually got back on the dance floor, doing their best to replicate Shadow and Emerald's chemistry.

They were failing, but they were trying.

The club seemed to be in total harmony due to Shadow's and Emerald's efforts…

But then everything changed when an Egghead attacked.

BGM: Sonic Adventure 2 – E.G.G.M.A.N.

Crashing through the roof of the club in a giant mech, the people looked up and started screaming, running away because they didn't want to be crushed.

Seeing where the mech was about to crash, Shadow knew it was coming for him. And since Emerald was close to him, she was about to get crushed too.

Not on his watch!

"Emerald, look out!" Shadow said, using enough power to push her completely out the way as she skidded across the floor. The foot of the mech would painfully impact all of Shadow's body, the only part unharmed being his face.

After she got pushed out the way, her eyes widened at her realization, shouting, "SHADOW!"

An evil laugh was now covering the whole club, not knowing who he crushed. The reason why he was here in the first place was the same reason Shadow was here as well.

"I'VE COME TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!" Eggman shouted, having an evil laugh in between. He was about to go on some long speech about how the Eggman Empire will rule and all the other typical stuff he's said over the years, but then after a few seconds, he finally realized who was under his mech's foot. It didn't take long to realize who he was, even with him being a human now.

"Oh hey, Shadow."

"Long time no see, Doctor." Shadow replied, wincing in pain. He knew it was only a matter of time before he saw Eggman again. "What brings you here?"

"Well, my Emerald Radar led me to this club. I assume you're here for the same reason?" Eggman asked menacingly, already knowing Shadow's answer. "If you answer yes, I would hate to completely crush you right now. Such a pitiful end that would be to the so-called Ultimate Life Form."

"Leave him alone!"

Eggman looked to the other side of the club, seeing Emerald who had her two dual pistols out. She started firing at the mech Eggman was in, but it was proving to be futile.

"OH HO HO HO HO! You think those puny pistols are supposed to do anything to my mech?! Pathetic!"

As soon as Eggman said that, the wall behind Emerald was blasted furiously, creating a grand entrance for whoever the blaster was.

BGM: Sonic Heroes – This Machine by Julien K

The smoke covered the person, or thing that made the entrance, but when it cleared, Shadow became wide eyed.

In fact, his wide eyes were generally happy.

"Omega?"

E-123 Omega, the black and red robot, his hand being the size of a massive cannon currently, was now aiming it at Eggman. If anybody knew Omega, it was safe to say that he hated his creator.

And Eggman knew this all too well, now fearing for his life.

"Target acquired. Sights locked on Eggman and his worthless consumer model. New mission, eradicate him." Omega confirmed, charging up his canon as it made the club shake, the people now running out. "Locked and loaded… FIRE!"

An absolutely massive electric beam shot out of Omega's canon, almost engulfing the entire club. Emerald jumped out the way, because obviously she didn't want to be blasted by some death beam.

Unfortunately for Eggman, his reflexes were not as good.

"Oh crap."

The beam was a deadeye hit, blasting Eggman's mech out the club which finally gave Shadow the opportunity to be free again. Groaning in pain, he tried to sit up, but it was proving to be more difficult than he though. Running to his side would be Emerald, helping him sit and eventually stand up.

"You okay?" she asked, actual concern being in her voice.

"Yeah. Been through worse." replied Shadow in a casual manner, which really wasn't an exaggeration.

"Not sure if I wanna know exactly what you're talking about…" Emerald trailed off, sighing. If being crushed by a giant mech was the least of Shadow's problems, then she could only imagine what type of pain he usually goes through.

How about using your full power on a prototype Ultimate Life Form, trying your best to save the planet, and while you succeed, you're now falling from space to earth with nobody able to help you?

Now that is painful, but nobody knows about this. At least, not the people of this world, anyway.

Omega walked towards the two, saying, "It's nice to see you again, Shadow."

Shadow smirked, placing his hand on the robot's shoulder. "Likewise, especially since you came in the nick of time too."

Emerald looked at Omega, then back at Shadow. "You two know each other?"

"Affirmative." Omega confirmed.

"You could say that." added Shadow. He turned to Omega, asking, "How'd you find us anyway?"

"You can thank me for that!"

Flying into the club from the hole in the wall Omega made, Rouge has joined the battle. Landing gracefully on her feet, she smiled at Shadow. "My treasure hunting expertise led the both of us here. We didn't expect you would be here, though."

"Rouge!" Shadow exclaimed. Man, things were looking up for him. His actual, original team was here now.

This caused Emerald to look at Rouge up and down. She looked like she was a faunus, because of her bat wings and all that jazz.

Emerald's head was spinning, trying her best to keep up with everything happening. "I am so confused right now."

"I'll bring you up to speed later." Shadow told her.

"UNFORTUNATELY, THERE WON'T BE A LATER FOR YOU ALL!"

Eggman's mech looks like it recovered from Omega's beam, as powerful as it was. He was pissed off, that much was certain.

"ALL MISSILES, FIRE!"

Every missile Eggman had was being fired at Team Dark and part of Team CMES. Shadow gritted his teeth, looking to all his teammates. "Rouge, Omega! Get close to him and we'll be able to do a team blast!" he ordered quickly, knowing he had limited time.

"Just like old times, eh?" Rouge replied, liking the sound of doing a team blast.

"This shall be fun." Omega clenched his fists, knowing what Shadow wanted to do.

Shadow then turned to Emerald. "Emerald, you're going to attack from the front after Rouge and I do our thing. You'll know when to strike."

"Sure, sure." Emerald replied, acting like she knew what Shadow was talking about but had no idea in the slightest. She was impressed at how Shadow was taking command, though. It reminded her a bit of Cinder.

Like, a saner and not 'as' ruthless Cinder.

Everyone would separate, running from the missiles Eggman shot. This was Shadow's bread and butter because he could obviously travel at super speeds, but Rouge, Omega, and Emerald weren't slouches in that department either.

Rouge would be the first one to make the first strike, getting close enough to Eggman's mech and swiftly placed four bombs on it. One on the front, two on the arms, and one on the back. Thanks to her flying abilities, she was able to this without much difficulty. Heck, Eggman didn't know she did this in the first place.

"Omega!" Rouge called out, but he was already way ahead of her. He was charging up another powerful beam, causing Eggman to turn around.

"Not this time, you waste of metal!"

Dang it, Eggman shouldn't have said that.

Omega eyes glowed a bright red, seeing nothing but Eggman's blood and wanted to dye his walls with it.

"I'LL SEND YOU TO THE AFTERLIFE!" Omega yelled to the heavens, firing the same beam attack he did last time.

But since Eggman was expecting this, it would be a lot harder for Omega to hit him.

This is where Shadow comes in.

"CHAOS SPEAR!"

Every Chaos Spear Shadow shot had a purpose. They all hit the bombs Rouge placed on Eggman's mech, making them explode which temporarily stunned it.

Emerald, being busy avoiding the missiles coming after her, saw what was happening and connected the dots for herself. This was her time to strike. Running towards the mech, she jumped high in the air, the missiles going off course and hit it instead of her.

"Gah!" Eggman said, the screens inside his mech becoming static like, now not being able to see a thing.

Still, Emerald wasn't done.

With her pistols turning into blades, she forcefully slashed the middle of the mech, creating a weak spot right into its core.

That's all Omega needed.

With the beam colliding with the mech yet again, hitting right into its core, it utterly destroyed it. This caused Eggman to blast out of it, being in his Eggmobile as he was shot into the sky. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIIIIIIIISSSSS!"

And he was gone.

The whole team regrouped, celebrating their victory. "We did it!" exclaimed Rouge.

"That model was trash." Omega stated, referring to the mech Eggman was using. "Clearly, I'm the superior robot."

"Indeed you are. You pack quite the punch." Emerald confirmed, making a mental note on not to mess with Omega anytime soon. Or ever. Probably ever.

Still, that wouldn't be the only thing she would say.

BGM: Sonic Adventure 2 - Reflection

She turned to Shadow. "Shadow… I want to say thank you for saving me. I still have no idea how you were able to take being crushed, and then pull off what you did just now. You planned things out and we won." she said, Shadow having his arms folded and shrugged.

"It's no big deal."

Emerald place her hand on Shadow's shoulder. "It is. Even after all the crap I gave you, you still didn't hesitate to save me. Again, I thank you for that, and I hope I can repay you someday."

Shadow was silent, still showing a lack of emotion on the outside, but to hear Emerald's words… It did touch him to some degree. The Ultimate Life Form is a confusing guy, that much is certain.

But deep down, he's a good guy, a good person who'd make the sacrifice play for his friends and the world.

He's had some bumps in the road. Heck, he still has his bumps, but he's come a long way.

Somewhere in his mind, in his heart, he hopes Maria is watching him… He hopes she sees him trying his best to make her memory, her legacy, her wish live on.

Her wish of giving people a chance to be happy.

He hopes he's making her proud.

After the commotion ended, the bartender came out running. He looked like he was holding something too. "Excuse me! Excuse me!"

The group looked at the bartender, as he was apparently out of breath. "Please… *pant* take this… *pant* as a token of our… *pant* appreciation."

His arm extended, showing the cyan Chaos Emerald.

"Don't mind if I do, honey!" Rouge said, being the first to swipe it out the bartender's hands. Shadow didn't react to this, since he figures Rouge already knows what's going on, given that they're in a completely different world.

Emerald tilted her head, trying to figure everything out. "Is that what you were looking for?" she asked Shadow.

He gave a nod. "Yeah."

"You know you're gonna have to explain some things, right?"

"I know."

END OF CHAPTER 20: THIS MACHINE

BGM: Sonic OVA – "Look-a-Like"

Mercury: You're telling me it's my turn to go on a life changing field trip with Shadow?! No, no, NO!

Shadow: Oh God…

Cinder: The author is evil for doing this.

Emerald: Who wants to bet on them killing each other?!

Next time on The New Heartbeats!

Planet Mercury

Mercury: Best title ever!

Author's Note: My goodness, chapter 20 is finally done. Can we call this a 2-year anniversary chapter? Technically, we could. However, there's an idea I have in my head where I can do a chapter that's kinda separate from the main events, but still remain canon within the events I put into this fic. Something similar to the DBZ movies. If you guys want to see a true anniversary chapter, then let me know. Nonetheless, we're going to have Shadow and Mercury spend some time together soon. As you all know, they get along swimmingly. These mini character arcs will all make sense in the end, and I can't wait for you guys to see the results of it.

Oh, and as a reply to one review, shout out to Gojiradon for literally making an entire plot, lol. I don't want to spoil anything, but what I can say is that your ideas are really good. Is that the direction I was planning the story to go in, though?! Well, that's the question of the day, isn't it? Haha. Like I said, everything will make sense in the end.

As for everyone else, thank you all so much for reviewing this story, following it, and favoriting it. You guys are amazing and I promise to give more frequent updates to this in the future. In the meantime until the next update, you guys can check out my newest fanfics if they interest you. I have a Persona fanfic, a Ben 10 fanfic, and a Spider-Man fanfic. Fans of those series? Then go check them out!

As always, if you're new and like what you read, leave a follow and a favorite. Don't forget to READ AND REVIEW! See you guys next chapter!

(Side Note: Also, try to predict who Shadow will be shipped with. Maybe I'm doing all of this to not even ship him at all. LOL. I'm a troll, I know. Let the shipping wars commence.)