Upon Shadow’s brief contemplation, Knuckles, meanwhile, decided that he’d just about had it with all of Sonic’s loud protesting.
“All right, THAT’S IT!” And with that, he violently dumped the other into the clear liquid with a grand splash.
“Help me, HELP ME! Can’t swim!” he yelped as he thrashed around in the water, his spiky head soon becoming submerged in the chaos.
As the red echidna grumbled and paced while thinking of Sonic’s stubbornness, Shadow’s gut dropped as he lost sight of the hero. Out of pure impulse, he sprinted to the edge and dived in. Underwater, he found the unconscious hedgehog touching the very bottom of the pool.
‘Save him. Get to the surface.’ The mantra chanted vigorously in his mind once he registered that both he and Sonic were losing precious air. ‘Wait… My Chaos Emerald!’ Shadow hastily reached into his upturned spines and grabbed the glowing green gem. Upon retrieving the Emerald, he quickly swam over to the drowning hedgehog. He then latched his gloved hand to Sonic’s, simultaneously thinking of those infamous two words: ‘Chaos Control!’
Knuckles blinked at the bright light radiating from below the shimmering water’s surface as Shadow warped through time and space to near the pool’s edge to save both himself and the azure hero.
The drenched Shadow quickly tried to see if the other was still alive and breathing, ignoring the inquisitive-yet-somehow-defensive shouts coming from the Guardian nearby. He found a slow, faint pulse on the blue hedgehog, albeit failing to find any respiration. The Ultimate Lifeform hurriedly pondered on how to get the hero to breathe once more.
“Oh, Chaos… Damn it, Faker, breathe! Ah. Right, CPR. Must do CPR… ” A brief exhale escaped Shadow’s lungs, strong fingers and pointed ears twitching in a rare case of what he positively refused to admit was jitteriness.
‘Mouth-to-mouth…’ The realization made his crimson eyes widen and a blush mask his otherwise tan cheeks. “Well, here goes nothing…” His murmuring swiftly grew silent, his lips uncertainly hovering closer and closer to the soaked speedster’s.
