The music and laughter filled the house as Amy Rose proudly hosted her New Year’s celebration, marking not only the end of the year but the long-awaited retirement of Doctor Eggman. Everyone reveled in relief—everyone except Shadow the Hedgehog.

Bored and restless, his crimson eyes scanned the crowd, quickly realizing something was missing. Sonic the Hedgehog wasn’t at the center of it all, wasn’t laughing or boasting like usual. In fact, he was barely seen these days. Slipping away from the noise, Shadow stepped onto the balcony and found him there, leaning over the railing beneath the cold shimmer of starlight. Sonic’s once-vibrant blue fur looked dull, streaked with gray along his quills, as if time had caught up to him the moment his greatest rival stepped down.

The world was finally at peace—but without the chase, without the fight, Sonic looked small against the sky, staring upward as though searching for something the stars refused to give back.