Alright, I really know I shouldn't have. I really shouldn't have. I REALLY shouldn't-

Shadow: Then why did you?

Shut up. You don't even know what I'm talking about.

Shadow: No. I just wanted to annoy you.

You're evil.

Shadow: I know.

Anyways, as I was saying, I know I really shouldn't have started another fanfiction, but in my pursue of ideas, I was reading others' fanfictions and was inspired to do this. I have three in progress (for those of you who haven't looked at my profile, I've reopened purpledemon 21, you lucky perverts) and don't need a fourth, but I thought that, if I waited, the inspiration for this would be lost. *frown* And now, although it's summer, I'm about to be swamped with work. Whoopee.

Silver: Shut up, you know you love your fans too much to complain.

Yeah, but I'm upset that I've got four stories in progress and one of them I've no idea how to continue (also on my profile.).

Silver: Stop complaining.

And what if I don't?

Shadow: I'll leave.

*pouts* But Shadowwww...!

Shadow: *walking away* Bye.

No! *clings to Shadow's leg* I'll be nice!

Silver: *laughs*

Shut up, weed-hog.

Shadow: Bye.

No! Sorry!

Silver: You'd better be... I happen to be very self-conscious about the marijuana leaf on my forehead.

Shadow: Yeah, that was a stupid design on your creators' part.

Speaking of which, before we begin, I must say this: None of the characters in this fanfiction, unless specified, are under my ownership. They belong to the SEGA and the Sonic Team Corporations... no matter how desperately I want Shadow to be ALL MINE! DAMN YOU, SONIC TEAM!

Silver: Alright, I suggest you begin the story before you lose your sanity.

Oh, that's long gone, my metallic-coloured friend. But, anyways, I agree, and will therefore begin this story. Please enjoy.

Perfection? It's just some word they created to make me feel inadequate.

Perfection? It's never been real, never been achievable.

Perfection? It's a goal that can never be attained, by me especially.

Imperfection, however? Too easily achieved, too difficult to escape, too horribly truthful...

I sigh. I understand all of that only too well.

"Um... Shadow?" a voice says, interrupting my terrible depression.

I look up into the comforting eyes of the one who has saved me from myself. I manage a smile as I say, "I'm alright. Sorry."

I can tell, from the look on his face, that he knows I'm lying. He doesn't press on the situation, though, and I'm grateful. I could never confess to this man my tale of terrible woe. He deserves not to worry about me, as I know he would if I told him.

"So, Shadow, anything interesting to share?" my friend, Amy Rose, asks me. She's always one for gossip.

"Not today, Amy," I say with a smile.

She groans. "You never have anything juicy for me...!"

I laugh and shrug. "Sorry, Ames." Damn, I'm good at masking my depression.

"What about you, Silver?" she asks.

"Same. Nothing huge," he says, and it takes everything I have not to melt at the beautiful music that is his voice.

"Grr! You people give me nothing! Sonic! Dish!" Amy commands.

"Well, actually, I don't-"

"Damn it, Sonic! You always have something!"

"I've been lazy recently!"

"Oh, like that's anything new!" I joke, which receives a glare from my blue friend. I giggle.

"Hey, these legs didn't just randomly get so sexy," Sonic shoots at me.

"Yeah, but as soon as you're done running, you gorge yourself with beef franks covered in fattening beans and spiced meat while you sit on a couch and watch some idiots try to kill themselves."

"Hey, they're called chili dogs, and Jackass is hilarious!"

I laugh. "Of course it is."

"Alright, alright, break it up, you two," Rouge says, giggling. "Eat."

"But I'm full," Sonic complains, and all of us laugh.

"Well, then, give me some of your food," I say, taking what's left of his corn chips and stuffing a few in my mouth.

"Y'know, I still have no idea how you're so thin, when you eat like a pig," Rouge pointed out, receiving a few nods of agreement from my other friends.

I have to use a lot of energy to keep from bursting into tears at that statement; it really hit home. I've barely eaten outside of school for the past three years. I manage a sly smile, though, and reply, "I have my ways."

"You'll have to share sometime," Amy says, waving her fork warningly at me before she stabs a piece of lettuce and puts it in her mouth.

"Not today," I say, popping more of Sonic's corn chips into my mouth. Not ever, I add in my head.

"So, Tails," Silver says, "How've you been doing in Geometry?"

"Well," the thirteen-year-old fox says with a smile.

"Think I could get a bit of help with the homework tonight?"

Everyone laughs. "It's actually a bit challenging to me."

"Says the kid who's way too smart for his own good!" I say. Miles, or as my friends tended to call him, Tails, should be in eighth grade right now, but instead, he's a sophomore along with all of us, and could easily afford skipping another grade.

"Oh, hush," Miles says, blushing just a little. "I'm not that smart."

"Tch! Yeah, right!" Rouge says.

"You're a genius!" Sonic says.

"Shut up," Miles snaps, his blush deepening, "I am not."

"Whatever you say," Silver says. "Am I getting help or not, though?"

"I suppose, as long as I get something," Miles says, winking.

"You are not the innocent little kid you pretend to be around the teachers," Silver groaned.

We all laugh again. "Alright, if everyone's done, I'm feeling polite, so I'll take all the trays," I say to my group of friends and am immediately loaded with every tray on the table. After being given five "thank you"s, I carry the six trays over to the window and hand them in.

"Hey, Blackie," an all-too-familiar voice calls, and I freeze in anger. Fuck. This is the last thing I need right now.

"Blackie, I'm talkin' to you," the voice repeated, more forcefully this time.

"Yes?" I say, pouring venom into my voice as I turn to face that stupid green hawk and his group of friends.

"Yikes, someone's pissed," Jet says sarcastically, making his friends laugh stupidly. "Why don't you sit down?" He moves over a bit to make room on the semi-circular bench at the table.

"Why don't I leave?" I retort, more venom in my voice.

"Because I'll hurt you if you do."

I sigh, irritated. I know he's not joking, and I'm in no physical condition to fight back. I reluctantly sit down next to him, staying as far away from the hawk as the bench will allow.

"So, Blackie-"

"My name is Shadow," I snap at him.

"Whatever. You know my friend Tikal, right?"

"That echidna girl? Yes."

"Good. She has a crush on you."

"I'm sure she does," I say irritably and sarcastically.

"I'm serious. She wants to go on a date."

"Too bad. I don't want to."

"Well, if you don't, I'm sure her brother, Knuckles, will have your ass."

"I don't care. I don't like her that way."

"Go on the date," Jet says forcefully.

"No."

"Do it!"

"Look, he said he doesn't want to, so leave him alone for it, alright?" another familiar voice says, and I immediately feel both grateful and fearful at the same time, for this is the voice of my twin brother, Mephiles.

"You stay out of this, Mephy," Jet snaps. "This isn't your business."

"What concerns my younger brother is my business, Jet."

"Mephiles...," I whisper, a worried look on my face. Jet's terribly testy.

"Shut up, Blackie," Jet yells in my direction, then says to my brother, "I told you to stay out of this!"

"Well, I'm ignoring that command, Jet."

"You'll do as I say, you idiot!"

"When did I take an oath, hawk?"

At this point, a feathered fist is thrown at Mephiles's face. My brother spits out a bit of blood, then replies with his own fist much more powerfully. My eyes widen as Jet glares threateningly at Mephiles. Then, without warning, the hawk lunges at my brother, and I wince as I hear the thud that results from Mephiles hitting the floor.

Jet showers my brother with vicious punches to the jaw. Mephiles quickly begins coughing out blood and even a filling after a moment, completely defenseless.

"Mephs!" I yell, running over to the two-man violent dogpile. In a fit of unusual anger-and-worry-fueled-strength, I throw Jet off of my brother and then begin to punch the hawk just as he had been doing to my brother. "No one attacks my brother!" I yell in immense anger.

"You little idiot!" Jet yells as he throws me off and hits me in the stomach with his heel. I try to catch my breath, but am then kicked forcefully in the ribs. I yelp and clutch my side as I'm punched in the side of the face, and I know that I'll be getting a black eye. "You'll stay out of a fight with the bigger kids if you know what's good for you."

Jet gets hit in the back of the head then, and I smile a bit as I see Mephiles standing there with his fist raised for another hit.

"What do you three think you're doing?" a female adult's voice asks sternly. My heart sinks and my smile disappears as I see Blaze, our Geography teacher, standing there with hands on hips and a "you're in extreme trouble" look on her face.

"Uh..." I mutter.

"Come with me, boys," she says, walking to the cafeteria door. We all follow, not daring to speak.

Great, I think, I get to face my father with this after school...

(*!/0\!*)

"You did what?"

"I-I got into a fight at school...!" I say, terrified.

"Why would you do such a thing?"

"I-I'm sorry, F-Father!"

"This isn't like you, Shadow!"

"Forgive me, Father! Forgive my incompetent behavior, please!"

Father sighs angrily and clamps a hand over his muzzle, trying to calm himself. "You'll have no dinner tonight. Fetch your brother for me."

"Yes, Father! Of course!" I hurriedly leave the room and head to the room that I share with my brother. I sit down on my bed, still convulsing in terror. That look in his eyes... It could have brought a feral grizzly bear down. I am terribly fortunate I was not stricken.

"Father... would like to speak with you," I manage through the shaking.

He nods, and I can tell how worried he is, although he's trying to hide his fear for my sake. He begins to leave.

"Wait," I interrupt his retreat.

"Yes?" he asks.

"Thank you," I whisper. "Thank you for standing up for me today."

He smiles. "Of cou-"

"Mephiles!"

"Good luck," I whisper as he dashes to the living room.

I pull out my MP3 player and try to distract my mind with the screams of my favorite band. It works for a moment, but then I look at the music player and start thinking again. This MP3 player is one of the only luxuries I have left from happier times in my life. From three years ago, when I still had a mother, when Father wasn't so excitable and abusive, when Father wasn't even "Father"... He was "Daddy", a completely different person, always so happy, never angry with us... He especially never beat us...

By this point, my face is wet enough to look like I just got out of a pool. I'm shaking even more than I was before. My music sounds garbled and I can't understand a word being screamed into my ear. "Fuck my life," I whisper.

Why do I still live? The question that's bothered me terribly for three years. I've never given it a good answer. My voice of reason has only ever fought with it and wrestled it down temporarily.

The question won't go away, so to feed it and my voice of reason, I pull out the dagger I've hidden underneath my pillows. I turn it around in my hands for a moment, then hold it to my chest.

Do it, just shove the thing into your heart, My depression screams. Die. Kill yourself. No one will care, and you know it.

No! My voice of reason argues. That isn't true, Shadow! You have friends!

Only five of them. They're not going to miss you much.

You know that one is a load of bull shit! And besides, what about your brother?

If he had any sense, he'd follow you, Shadow. If he doesn't, it'll be his own fault that he's miserable.

But he wouldn't have a single companion, and you know you could never allow that to happen.

... But-

And what about Silver? Hm? If you kill yourself, you'll never even have the chance of getting him for yourself. Do you want that, Shadow? Do you want to die without even knowing how he feels about you?

"... Voice of Reason wins another round," I tell my depression as I put the knife away. My face is still wet, though, and my eyes are still producing tears. I'm not shaking quite as much anymore, but I'm still sobbing.

The door opens and closes, and I look up to see a stunned Mephiles staring at my tear-stained face. I take the headphones off of my head and look at him, trying to control my sobs.

"Were you... crying again?" he asks, coming over to sit next to me.

"Only a little bit," I say, trying to be indifferent. My effort at nonchalance, however, is ruined by a violent sob and a new wave of tears.

Mephiles pulls me into a tight and comforting hug. "Shads, everything will be okay. It'll all be fine."

"How?" I ask. By this point, the right side of his shirt is completely soaked with my tears. "How can you be so optimistic when you lead such a life of woe?"

Mephiles lets go of me, but holds me in front of him and looks straight into my watered eyes. "Do you remember back when we were little children? Like, seven years old? And Momma would read us those fairy tales?"

I convulse dreadfully and cry more forcibly as I hear him speak of our mother, but I still manage to nod.

"You remember how the beginnings were always so terrible, how the main character was having a horrible life?"

I nod, still shuddering uncontrollably.

"But then, in the end of the book, they would always be saved from their troubles, be carried away by some wonderful person and they would live 'happily ever after', as they always said."

I manage a smile at that.

"I like to think of our situation as the beginning of a fairy tale. Before too long, we'll have our 'happily ever after'. It might take just a little bit more suffering, a bit more woe, a bit more torture, but it will come to us, and the torture, the suffering, the sadness, it will all be worth it."

I give him a tight hug as I smile at his point of view. In this moment, through my sadness, through the darkness in my soul, shines a light. A very small, yet very bright, ray of beautiful light that makes me feel whole again. A small ray of shining hope, hope that this suffering will be worth it, that maybe Silver will be mine at some point, that maybe my life could be worse...

As I choke back my last sob, as I wipe the last of my tears away, I know that I will survive this torture. No matter how difficult it will become, I will survive the pain. And it will be over as soon as I can make it so.

After the last of my emotional breakdown and Mephiles's brotherly comforting, we stare at the wall for a moment in silent contemplation. After a moment, though, Mephiles interrupts my wandering thoughts.

"Shads," he says, "guess what I just remembered."

"What's that, Mephs?" I ask.

He smiles at me and replies simply, "Crackers."

"What?" I ask, a little annoyed by that smug expression on his face.

He stands up and reaches under his bed, then pulls up a rectangular plastic bag. "Crackers," he repeats.

My eyes widen and my mouth waters at the bag of grains and salt. Chuckling, he hands me a small stack of them, and I immediately stuff one of them into my mouth. Even this extremely small morsel, no matter how unfulfilling, has to be savored, for it will likely be the only food I eat tonight.

But, just as I've chewed my fourth cracker, the most terrible event imaginable happens.

Father walks into the room and sees my brother and I with cracker crumbs all over our muzzles.

I swallow thickly as I meet his gaze. Suicide may no longer be necessary to relieve me of my woes.

Don't you all just hate me now? *smiles evilly*

Shadow: You're honestly going to kill me off? That's a new low.

Shads, Shads, don't worry. I'm not that evil. You'll survive, I'm sure.

Shadow: I'd better.

Silver: I'll kill you if he doesn't.

Okay, okay, relax, people! Really! Anyways, I am dead tired and must go to bed soon. I really hope that you've enjoyed. Until next time, remember: FAIRY TALES CAN TEACH YOU VALUABLE THINGS.

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