Firon laid stiff on solid ground, his eyes closed. He opened his eyes, but found that he was still surrounded by a full view of darkness and the color of black. He looked at himself, seeing his body clearly, looking unaffected by the darkness. Firon's head began to hurt as confusion set in.

"Where am I?" he wondered, getting up from the ground. Firon felt like he was walking on solid ground, even though he knew there was nothing to be seen that he would be able to stand on.

"This is your mind, Firon...I brought you here for us to talk," said a familiar voice, that echoed through the black-emptiness of the dark void that Firon was trapped in. Firon tried to find the source of the voice, but because the voice echoed so much, he couldn't see the one who spoke. But soon, a tall, black-colored, red-eyed hedgehog walked up to him, his spines sticking up as an opposite to Firon's downward spikes.

"S-Shadow Shade?" Firon stammered, backing up a few steps "This is what you look like?" Shadow Shade seemed to have no mouth, and his eyes glowed with a hateful and insulting blood-red color, and his black fur grew darker to blend in with the black void that surrounded him and Firon.

"Yes...as you can see, this is what I...currently look like," the dark demon-looking hedgehog replied. He wore Firon's gloves and shoes, but the rest of him looked completely different, and much more demented. Firon walked a few steps closer to him, looking deep into Shadow Shade's deathly-red eyes as they glowed as a response to his presence.

"You mean...this is just your...beginning form?" Firon said, still stammering fearfully. He was scared stiffed from everything being so unreal. Shadow Shade stood completely still like a statue, and even though he had no mouth and showed no expression, Firon could tell Shadow Shade was enjoying his torment.

"No, not exactly...I started out as a little thought of hate, and as time went on, your hate grew...and so did I...now I am powerful enough to take control whenever your hateful...angry...fearful...or want your revenge...sound familiar?" Firon was stunned by Shadow Shade's words, feeling weak in his bones.

"I...was controlled...the whole time? but how?" Firon asked in confusion, falling back to the ground. Shadow Shade walked over to him, overshadowing the gray hedgehog, nearly making Firon blend in with the black void himself with his own shadow.

"You had great hate, and you ignored all the warnings you were given, and so...I took control you at certain moments, such as the destruction of Robotroplis, and the death of Dr.Eggman...But now, since those problems are gone, it's time for a little of...what I wanna do..." Shadow Shade gripped his fists tightly, a red glow surrounding his fists. Firon crawled away by a few, sweat dripping from his forehead as he began to realize the truth.

"It's all...my fault?" Firon gasped and stopped crawling, laying on the ground at every angle. Shadow Shade advanced further, once again overshadowing Firon.

"Indeed it is...and your so-called friends will not forgive you...do you not know how many of the freedom fighters hate you? Quite a lot...trust me, I know hate when I can sense it rush through their viens and into their mind, as a silent message for you to leave the camp forever..." Shadow Shade bent down and grabbed Firon by the throat, and, with his unimaginable strength, lifted the gray hedgehog like a leaf.

"If you let me take control of you...we could destroy them together! We could finish all our enemies off at once and never have to worry about them anymore!" the black demonic hedgehog roared at Firon, with a somewhat evil enjoyment in his speech. Firon struggled to speak, as Shadow Shade's grip was too strong for him to break free. He began suffocating, using all the strength he could to pull apart Shadow Shade's grip, but to no avail.

"I pity you...Firon the Hedgehog...you weak and pathetic disgrace..." the darkened nightmare released his grip, forcing Firon to fall to the ground, gasping for air. Firon turned to look at him, hate in his eyes.

"What was that for?" he yelled out in question, gripping his fists, focusing chaos energy into them. Nothing happened for a while, but as Shadow Shade looked down and saw the chaos energy radiating from his fists, he laughed manically, his eyes closed and finally making him invisible in the black void.

"If you want your mind to be at peace...then let me control you! Listen to me and let me kill all who have angered you! Let me!" Firon struggled to ignore Shadow Shade's voice, as he closed his eyes and concentrated. Everything began to quiet down as Firon heard Shadow Shade's maniacal and mad laughter, slowly losing sound. Soon, everything was silent and Firon dared not to open his eyes.

After a while, sound returned to Firon's ears. He heard wind blowing and a few birds chirping. He opened his eyes to find himself in an open, grassy field. He stood up and shook his head, feeling a headache in his forehead. Everything was a blur to him, and he thought everything was a dream. After long minutes of cluelessness, Firon decided to head back to the Freedom Fighter camp. He started speeding off the field and into the Great Forest.

What he didn't know, was that everything he thought he had dreamed, was real, and that Shadow Shade was finally getting what he wanted...his revenge.