"Are you kidding me?!"

"I'm not joking! Knuckles got his fist stuck in between a table!"

"That idiot! What was he even doing at the conference center anyway?"

"I dunno…he said he was training. Or something…anyway, I can't pull him out. I need you!"

Sonic and Tails were standing on a street at Station Square. Sonic had just gotten back from his daily run, and Tails had rushed up to him as quickly as he returned. The fox explained his situation to Sonic.

Sonic face-palmed. "I absolutely cannot believe that idiot got his hand stuck…in a table." Tails shrugged.

"He was hitting a punching bag, and he over did it and stumbled forward. Then his giant fist got stuck in the crack of the table." Sonic rolled his eyes and started quickly towards the conference center, where Knuckles was apparently stuck.

"C'mon, Tails," the blue hedgehog called. "Bring the camera too…this'll be a good memory."

Tails snickered as he pulled a camera out of his pocket. "Oh, don't worry…this'll be a VERY good memory," he laughed evilly and hurried off after his friend.

***

Sonic arrived at the conference center after a few moments with Tails close behind with a camera clutched in his hands. The hedgehog sighed and banged on the door. "Hey Knuckles, ya in there?"

After a silence, Knuckles' voice was heard: "Yeah I'm here! Help me out, I'm stuck!"

"Stupid," Sonic muttered as he pulled open the door. Tails giggled and held the camera at the ready.

The hedgehog fumbled for the light switch before the room lit up and he was met with a hoard of his friends around a giant table filled with cake, food and presents. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they all yelled.

Sonic's face immediately fell into shock, and Tails dashed around and snapped a picture of his face. The picture spit out of the camera and Tails grabbed it, waiting for it to develop.

"That's a keeper," he commented with a smile.

Everyone started talking at once as they ran over to greet Sonic. The hedgehog smirked as he looked around. "Ah, you guys!" he said playfully. "You remembered my eighteenth birthday!"

"Well of course!" Amy said in agreement, shoving her way through to crowd to grab Sonic's hand. The pink hedgehog winked. "Why would we forget?"

Tails and Knuckles soon followed Amy's lead and crowded around their friend. Sonic grinned and gave Tails a noogie. "I bet you planned the whole thing, didn't ya big guy?!" he said harshly. Tails laughed and tried squirming out of Sonic's grasp.

"Well, not the whole thing!" he admitted. Sonic let him go, and he shoved Knuckles forward. "It was Knuckles that thought of the whole 'fist getting stuck' idea."

"Oh, yeah," Sonic said sarcastically, giving Knuckles a fist pound. "I forgot about that. Way to go, genius."

Knuckles blushed and glared at Sonic angrily. "Shut up!" he demanded out of embarrassment. Everyone else laughed, but the happy time was broken whenever Amy grabbed Sonic's arm and started dragging him towards the table.

"C'mon, everyone!" she called. "It's cake time!" Sonic smiled widely whenever he saw the enormous cake that lay out on the table. It would have EASILY fed 100 people, and even those 100 could go back for seconds.

Sonic leaned on the table as the crowd followed him. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, looking at the giant cake. On the surface was a model that had Sonic standing next to a loop de loop. The cake went down in layers, each layer having some sort of creative green path. There were candy rings scattered everywhere, and little badniks rested on the different layers.

"This reminds e of the old days," Sonic admitted, standing back to look at it from a different angle.

Tails patted Sonic on the back. "That's what we were aiming for."

"Well, you certainly achieved it," the blue hedgehog replied with approval.

Suddenly, Charmy Bee, who was present at the party with the rest of the Chaotix, couldn't take it anymore. "Well, come on, what're we waitin' for?!" he demanded. "Blow out the candles so we can eat!"

Everyone laughed, and Sonic noticed for the first time that there were 18 candles set atop the cake. They had not been lit too long ago, but they were starting to wear down regardless.

"Don't forget to make a wish, Mr. Sonic!" Cream's tiny voice squeaked throughout the room. Sonic stepped forward and racked his brain for something he could wish for.

But what was something else that he could want? He was in a huge room, about to eat a giant cake made in his image, beside him was a table over flowing with gifts, and best of all, he had all his friends around him.

However, he had noticed that one person was absent. Sonic spun around to face all the anxious faces and called out, "Where's Shadow?"

There was a murmur that spread throughout the crowd, and Tails exchanged a few words with Rouge, who was the closest one to Shadow. Tails nodded and spun around with a worried expression to his friend.

"He was on the guest list," the fox affirmed. "But Rouge said that Shadow was supposed to meet her but never showed up."

Sonic sighed slowly and turned back towards the cake to see the dwindling candles. Without another word, one thought flew through his mind.

I wish Shad would show up before the party's over.

The blue hedgehog blew out all 18 candles in one go. A thin string of smoke spread up towards the ceiling. Sonic watched it float solemnly up as everyone else cheered and got in line to get a piece of cake.

C'mon, Shadow, Sonic pleaded in his mind. Where are you?!

*************************************************************

Darkness hung around the many buildings that made up Eggmanland. Sure, Eggman couldn't conquer the world just yet, but he still had a large area in the middle of the ocean that he called home.

It had only made sense that the entire island was mechanical. Dr. Eggman couldn't bear to set foot on regular EARTH. It might get his stylish black boots dirty.

These smug thoughts ran through Shadows head as he ducked behind a building on Eggmanland. The black hedgehog scanned the horizon with his red gaze before he deduced that there were no robots in the immediate area.

Shadow wordlessly darted out from behind the building in his trademark skating shoes before he heard alarms all around him. He clenched his teeth together in anger and looked around slowly at the barrage of robots that had suddenly gathered around him.

Meanwhile, in the main building on Eggmanland, Dr. Eggman himself was watching Shadow intently on the monitor. He jabbed at Shadow on the screen and yelled as if the robots could hear him. "Him! Shadow!" he chanted. "Destroy Shadow!"

After the screen went totally red from the fire of lasers, Eggman leaned back in his chair, a bit more relaxed. "I wonder what that other troublesome hedgehog is up to…" he muttered. "Especially today."

The screen suddenly went fuzzy from the loss of signal, which caused Eggman to panic. He was about to scream in outrage when suddenly the door behind him opened, revealing Shadow.

The doctor swiveled around in his chair and glared at the hedgehog. "Impressive," he admitted, stroking his mustache. "What do you want?"

Shadow strode forward and grabbed Eggman's collar, jerking him forward near his face. "I want answers, doctor," he spat. "I want to know everything. I want Dr. Gerald's reports." The hedgehog was inches away from Eggman's huge nose. "And I think you might have an idea of the consequences if you fail to comply."

Eggman struggled out of Shadow's grasp and leaned back in his chair, a smug smile planted under his mustache. "Oh come on, Shadow," he said in a fake caring voice. "No need to get violent…especially on a day like today."

"I wasn't aware we were celebrating a holiday," Shadow replied, crossing his arms. An amused smirk came on his face. "What's the occasion?"

"Don't you know?" Eggman inquired. "It's my birthday."

"Oh, I see," Shadow nodded, closing his eyes. "How old are you now…88? 89?"

Eggman's face turned red with anger. "No jokes today, Shadow!" he demanded. "Because in case you hadn't realized, it's Sonic's birthday too."

Shadow opened his eyes and rolled his red irises. "Oh yeah, that blue hedgehog…" he trailed off, remembering the invitation he had received. "Who cares about him? There's no point."

There was silence for a minute as Eggman tried to figure out WHY Shadow didn't care. Then he remembered that he didn't know anything about his past; that was the whole point of coming to Eggmanland today.

"It's not only his birthday," Eggman grinned. "It's also yours."

Shadow's pupils dilated. He gaped at Eggman in disbelief. "No way…!" he choked out. "Why would my birthday be the same day as yours and Sonic's?!"

"We don't pick when we are born," Eggman explained in a cheeky voice. Suddenly, Shadow was angry again. He practically jumped onto the doctor's lap and glared at him, eye to eye.

"You better give me those reports," he warned. "Or else you will cease to have any more birthdays."

Eggman gulped slightly, knowing Shadow was serious. "OK, OK," he chuckled, pushing the hedgehog off. "Come with me. The reports are on the third floor."

Shadow huffed and crossed his arms. "Gladly."

The two walked into the elevator, and the door closed slowly in front of them.

A/N: Oooh. How late am I? More than a week? Yeah, I thought so. I wanted to write this because I figured I should at least do SOMETHING for Sonic's 18th birthday. How long will it go on? No idea. But here it is...Flip Side.

I'll update whenever possible.