I woke up in sweat, panting. I was in my bed. I was confused. Hadn't I fallen asleep on a chair? I got up and tried to smoothen my clothes as I hadn't changed out of them when I fell asleep.

After brushing my teeth and washing up, I went to look for Tails. He wasn't in the workshop or in his house. I wondered where he could be. Checked the clock. It was eleven a.m. I brewed myself some coffee and sipped it as I opened the front door only to be swarmed by so many reporters I stumbled backwards.

"W-What's going on?" I stammered.

"Why haven't you done anything about this situation yet?" one reporter asked.

"Do you have any comments on Shadow the Hedgehog?" another asked.

"Hold on a minute. What situation? Who's Shadow the Hedgehog?" I asked.

"You don't know what happened this morning?" several of them asked in unison, obviously shocked.

"Well, I just woke up. What exactly happened this morning?" I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.

"After a battle with Dr. Eggman and Shadow the Hedgehog, team Sonic is being held captive by Shadow." One reporter said.

"What?!" I was so shocked I spat out the coffee in my mouth. I tossed the coffee mug aside and rushed indoors to grab my dual extending swords. I dashed out of the door and took off into the air, spinning my tails like helicopter blades as fast as I could. How come no one had told me about this?

Where could my friends have been held captive? Suddenly, I spotted a dozen police officers surrounding an old warehouse but not daring to go in. That must have been the place.

I dropped from the sky and crashed through one of the windows. Sure enough, my friends were tied up in the center of the room, their mouths duct-taped shut. When I crashed in, they all turned their heads to me.

"Heard you needed a little help?" I said.

"A little won't be enough." I heard a voice say behind me. Quick as a flash, I extended one of my swords and pressed it against the neck of whoever had spoken. I froze right there when I was faced with a devilishly handsome black hedgehog. He had red streaks of fur on his head and white tuffs of fluffs on his chest. He must have noticed my blushing because he smirked.

"What's wrong? Hedgehog got your tongue?" he asked.

"Nothing's wrong. And you better shut your trap if you don't want me carving out yours." I said, pressing my blade against his skin.

"How about we start over. Hello, I'm Shadow the Hedgehog. I am Sonic the Hedgehog's arch-enemy. Who may you be?" he asked. Oh, great. I was flustered because of a villain. I swallowed down my emotions like I'd done so many times before and answered valiantly.

"I am Trix the Fox. I am the newest member of Team Sonic. And unless you want to lose your head, I'd suggest letting my friends go." I said.

"Feisty. I like that." he said.

"I will give you five seconds." I said.

"As much as I'd love to see you succeed at your feeble attempt to intimidate me, I'm afraid that's not an option." Shadow said.

"I'll make it an option." I growled. I drew my other sword and slashed out with both, Shadow stepped back just in time.

"Hmm, seems you're just another pretty face. No one can defeat me." he said.

"Choose your words wisely, hedgehog." I said, slashing and stabbing at my adversary. He drew his gun and deflected my blows with it. He then aimed it straight at me.

"Honestly, I was expecting a bit more of a challenge. Oh well, what a shame such a charming girl had to die." he said, loading his gun. He shot, and the world seemed to slow around me. I reacted without thinking, I deflected the bullet with my sword and slid under him before jumping up behind him and stabbing him in the shoulder. He let out a cry of pain.

"That's your warning. Let my friends go. Or else." I said, dead serious.

"Seems I underestimated you." Shadow said, chuckling.

"You asked for it." I said.

"Heh. This'll be fun." he said. What followed was a one on one combat so quick, it was practically impossible to keep track of. All I can tell you is that after several tiring minutes, he caught me off guard and kicked me hard in the chest. I heard a few ribs crack. I flew backwards and hit the wall. Shadow pinned my against it.

"Did you really think you could win." he whispered in my ear.

"Of course." I said, kicking him between the legs. He let out an unmanly whimper and I thrust my sword into his other shoulder, stabbing so deeply, it was stuck in the ground.

"Now I got you right where I want you." I said. I walked to my friends in the center of the room.

"A little help might have been just what you needed after all." I said. I shot a deadly glare at Tails.

"Now would you please explain why I was not informed of this situation beforehand?" I said, ripping the duct tape off of Tails' mouth, leaving a square red mark on his skin. He winced in pain.

"Well, you see, I just thought that maybe... Since... Well, you see..." he said nervously. Suddenly, his expression turned to fear.

"Look out!" he cried. I turned around, only to see Shadow ram the sword I had used to pin him to the ground in my shoulder. I let out a cry of pain. Shadow twisted the blade in my wound and pushed it in deeper so that it had completely impaled me before letting go of it.

"Trix!" Tails cried.

"Shut up, Tails!" I snapped. If he'd woken me up this morning, none of this would have happened in the first place.

I gripped the sword and pulled it out in pain. Blood dripped out of the wound, staying my clothes. I turned and faced Shadow. He too had a dripping wound where I'd impaled him.

"I guess we match now." he said, his tone slightly amused.

"I'd rather die than look like you." I said.

"If you wish." he said, pointing his gun at Tails.

"This is between you and me." I said.

"Who said it wasn't?" he said. He moved his gun slightly to the right, pressing it against my chest.

"Tell me, how much do you value your life?" he asked, an evil grin spreading on his face.

"You know how this ended the first time." I said.

"Oh, but the first time, you weren't so exhausted. I was at a further distance and you didn't injure your sword arm either. Do you really think you can deflect a bullet with your shoulder bleeding out like that?" he asked.

Tails P.O.V

When Shadow pointed his gun at Trix, my heart stopped. I couldn't let her get hurt because of me. I'd stupidly left her out of an Eggman battle because I doubted her capabilities. Now, she was going to die.

"Hmm... Interesting." Trix said.

"What's interesting?" Shadow asked suspicious.

"I've been working on a body language translator. It works quite well." She said, holding up a small device in one hand.

"And?" Shadow asked.

"You showed all twelve of the twelve signs of romantic attraction and yet you threaten to kill me. I know you wouldn't. So what's your next move. What do you hope to gain?" Trix asked, a smirk spreading on her face. My jaw-dropped. Not because of how sneaky Trix had been, but because yet another person had a crush on her. Shadow seemed very flustered. The rest of us were all gaping at them.

"You know, death threats don't really work when the person you're threatening knows you aren't intending to kill them." she continued. Shadow blushed bright red as she moved his gun away and leaned her face closer to his.

"And the fact that you have a crush on me gives me a huge advantage." she whispered. Shadow looked down to find that Trix had twisted his gun around and it was now pressed against the white fur fur on his chest. He flushed with embarrassment. My friends had their mouths dust taped but I could tell from their expressions that they were speechless.

"Tell me. How long did you expect to live while trying to hurt my friends?" she asked.

"I'm immortal." Shadow replied, a hint of worry in his voice. Anyone who could scare Shadow was seriously scary.

"How about we test that theory?" Trix asked, clicking back the gun and pressing it deeper into Shadow's chest.

"I would've killed you if I had a chance." Shadow said.

"With a gun that wasn't even loaded? I doubt it." Trix said, putting her index on the trigger.

"Are you going to kill me? I thought you were attracted to me." he said. I could tell he trying to turn the tables.

"Perhaps. But I've learned over twenty long years to suppress my emotions. I willed myself out of crushes. I'm not some goody two shoes. I remember my past now. I don't have time for drama. My focus is destroying Chimera. And I'm not about to let a little nat like you stand in the way. People only like me for who they think I am. I assure you. I am so much more..." she said, slightly tugging the trigger. Shadow looked genuinely scared. I was completely terrified. The rest of the gang was blanched like terror.

"I-I surrender." Shadow said. Trix looked satisfied and turned around to face us before hesitating and turning back to Shadow to land a punch on his face. He flew back a few feet, knocked out. Once she was sure he was harmless, she turned around to face me and the gang, smiling as if the whole incident never happened.

She delicately peeled the duct tape off the mouths of my friends and untied us.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Sonic said.

"Ditto." Amy said.

"Ditto, ditto." Sticks said.

"Triple ditto." Knuckles said.

"What did you mean when you said twenty long years?" I asked. Trix sighed, not making eye contact with me.

"I think its time I told you the truth. The whole truth." she said.