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Chapter Text

They arrived at another station looking identical to the first, hewn from bedrock and dripping with groundwater. E-123 led them out from the depths and to a central hallway, though ‘hallway’ probably wasn’t the right word- it reminded Shadow of a museum atrium. The metal here was no longer pristine and silvery, instead fading to something more akin to unpolished brass. Along the sides of the hallway were many doors. Signs flickered on above them as E-123 marched past, but shorted out when Shadow approached. 

E-123 paused about a hundred feet short of the largest door at the end of the hall. 

Omega’s own voice box crackled. “DETECTING A CERTAIN MEATBAG AHEAD.” 

If Omega had fangs, Shadow imagined, there would be venom dripping on the floor by now. 

“Hey now, remember your promise.” Rouge said.

“IT WAS NOT A PROMISE.”

“Compromise, then.” 

E-123 turned his torso around. “DO NOT FORCE ME TO DESTROY YOU.” 

As he said this, Shadow could see his optics zoom in on him instead of on Omega’s frame. 

“I promise that no harm will befall Ivo.” Shadow offered. 

Omega and Rouge turned their heads to stare at him as well. He said nothing.

E-123 continued ahead to a small touchscreen mounted on the side of the large door frame. He pressed a button. “WE HAVE ARRIVED.”

“Good, good, bring them in!” 

E-123 left his finger on the call button for a few seconds, before pulling up a keypad and entering a code. 

The door rolled open. Against the wall ahead was an enormous monitor, rolling with camera feeds, code, note-taking apps, and many more things Shadow could not recognize. The screen narrowed as it traveled down, pointing at the bottom to a single man sitting in a comfortable office chair.

The man turned around. The red mustache was immediately prominent. Missing were the goggles and the round spectacles, replaced with a less fashionable and more practical set of square computer glasses. He wore a red coat without buckles above a simple black flight suit. 

Dr. Ivo Robotnik stood from his chair and adjusted his glasses, before giving a strange sort of laugh. 

“Well well! My most esteemed nemesis, whom I am welcoming into my workshop, no less.” Robotnik strode over. 

E-123 stood in front of him. “FATHER. AS I DETAILED IN MY REPORT, I INSIST THAT YOU REMAIN AT LEAST-”

“Now now, my boy.” Robotnik placed a hand atop his head. “If he wanted me dead, he would have teleported and snapped my neck the moment he laid eyes on me. That is what your simulations would have predicted, is it not?”

“IT IS.” 

“Were you able to implement the hotfix to your targeting?”  

“AFFIRMATIVE, ON THE TRAM RIDE.” 

“Good, good. Now I bid you, please step aside.” 

E-123 slid out of his way, his gaze locked on Shadow’s quills. 

But before Shadow could move, Omega exploded into a fury of motion. His hands swapped between three different armaments, before he pushed them back to his sides and stomped from the room. Something guttural poured from his voice box. He scratched the doorframe on his way out.

“I’ll go talk to him.” Rouge took off to follow him. 

Shadow looked at the two empty spaces beside him. 

“Doctor.” Shadow said. 

“Shadow. Is it not?”

“Yes.”

“So named after Project SHADOW?” 

“No.” 

“Apologies. Do tell, then.”

“I was named by. . .” his mouth went dry. 

“My grandfather?”

“It’s complicated. How much do you know?”

Robotnik shook his head. “Bits and pieces. Your counterpart erased the Project: SHADOW datafiles before I could have a really good look at them. A few family recounts thrown in there didn’t help much.” 

“Things may be different here. In this version of things.” Shadow gestured around. 

“I would certainly expect the possibility. Come here so that I might take notes while we speak.” Ivo walked back to his desk chair. 

Shadow walked slowly, with his palms open, towards the desk. E-123 followed close behind, stopping within arms’ reach. 

He arrived just as Robotnik brought up footage of the Eclipse Cannon’s control room. A lone hedgehog, black and red, was at the controls. Seven emeralds gleamed in the power core. The hedgehog inputted coordinates into the system, and the camera footage jostled as the ARK was oriented towards the core of the Earth below. 

The hedgehog placed a hand on the firing lever. His mouth formed the shape of the name; Shadow could see it so clearly he felt himself mouthing along. 

He yanked the lever. 

The Eclipse Cannon charged. In the last few seconds before firing, the coordinates entered into the computer flickered out, and the cannon’s aim began to drift off the Earth. 

Not soon enough. 

The screen went white. 

“What do you make of that?” 

The white of the screen burned away any words Shadow might have had. 

“Not a pleasant sight, now is it?” 

“How was the planet not destroyed?” Shadow asked quietly.

“LIKE WE WOULD TELL YOU.” E-123 snapped.

“Easy,” Robotnik turned and patted the robot’s shoulder. “Did you see the change in coordinates? Or do I need to rewind the footage?”

“I saw it.”

“A less-than-timely interception by yours truly.”

Robotnik stared at his hands on the keyboard. Shadow heard E-123’s joints whir, and he looked to see the robot’s hand now on his creator’s shoulder. 

Shadow considered his next words carefully. “I’m grateful there was someone to intercept at all.”

“Are you now?”

“I know why he did this.” 

“And why he seeks to finish the job?”

“Yes.” 

Robotnik paused. Stared at him. The glint of light from the white screen reflected from his glasses. 

It felt like Shadow was in cryofreeze again, fighting against the stiffness of his lips and throat. 

“. . . tell me what happened to Maria.” Shadow mouthed. 

“I’m sorry?”

“HE SAYS: ‘TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO MARIA’.” 

“Maria? As in-”

Shadow nodded.

“She died aboard the ARK. She had a terminal illness that my grandfather was attempting to cure. The records get a little fuzzy, but it’s likely she died from it just before the ARK was raided-”

“That’s not true.”

“Perhaps in your timeline, yes, but-”

“Maria was massacred . By GUN. During the raid. I swore to get revenge on all of humanity for what they’d done to her. To make them pay.” Shadow’s fists curled of their own accord. He could feel the energy within him crackling, beating against the walls of his insides. Instead of letting out, he breathed. In. Out. The prickling faded.

“. . . did you now?” Ivo asked quietly.

“My plan was to activate the Eclipse Cannon.” 

“What stopped you?” 

“Someone reminded me of Maria’s love for the planet.” Shadow said. “I realized I would be insulting her memory instead of honoring it.” 

“That was all? The only thing saving your world from destruction was a few words?” 

“Yes.” 

Ivo turned away. 

Then turned back, slapping him across the face.

“ARE WE ATTACKING HIM?” E-123’s miniguns spun up.

“No, no, stand down.” 

Shadow blinked. Blood dripped from his nose into his mouth. Then down his chin.

He looked back at Ivo Robotnik. 

A grin spread upon the man’s face, crescendoing into a wheezy half-laugh. His chest hitched, matching the rhythm of sobs, but not quite. He covered his glasses with his hands. 

“I’m sorry.” Shadow whispered. 

“No, no, no,” Robotnik waved off, “you’re not him, clearly.” 

“I’m sorry .” 

“No no, you changed your mind. It’s alright. Now that that’s out of my system, we may continue.”

“It could have been me.” 

The image Eclipse Cannon controls flitted behind his eyelids, squeezing him like a vice, squeezing the way he once pressed himself against the glass of the escape pod, this heavy feeling in his chest. The white of the screen. The name unsaid. 

“Get us some tissues to clean up with, please.” Robotnik said quietly, and E-123 stomped off. 

“I’m sorry.” Shadow replied. 

“Don’t worry, that at least takes care of the DNA sampling for now. Though we’ll likely want the tissue you use to clean off your face, to reduce potential contamination.” 

E-123 returned and handed a box of tissues to Ivo. He in turn took a few tissues and waved them in front of Shadow’s face until he took them. 

The blood coming out of his nose had already stopped; the wound already healed. Shadow scrubbed away the blood on his face, then the blood on the floor using a different tissue, then stood again. 

E-123 stood in front of him with a tray of test tubes. Shadow deposited the tissues, and the robot quickly capped the lid of each one. 

“SAMPLES RECORDED.”

“Bring them to the lab.”

“ARE YOU CERTAIN?”

“Yes.” 

E-123 looked once, twice, three times at Shadow, before exiting the room. 

Ivo looked at Shadow. Shadow looked at him. 

“Moving on,” the doctor placed his hands together, before putting them back on the keys of his keyboard. 

“How can you stand to see me right now?” Shadow asked quietly. 

“Call it something strangely therapeutic. I wasn’t even aware you had the capacity to cry.” 

Shadow touched his cheeks and felt that they were moist. 

“Another tissue?” Ivo offered.

“What other data do you require to kill the Ultimate Lifeform?” 

“Hmmm. I suppose any weaknesses you might have would be a good start.” 

“You already know that I utilize chaos energy, and that if I’m drained of it, I’m powerless.” 

“Indeed. I assume you came into contact with E-123’s newest upgrade, then?” 

“Yes.” Shadow assumed he was referring to the energy-draining feature of the robot’s claws. “It was quite effective.”

“You don’t happen to have a Chaos Emerald on you, would you?”

“I do not.”

“Gah, I suspected as much. It’s likely to be significantly less effective when you possess an infinite font of Chaos energy to pull from.” 

“I would agree.” 

“Any other weaknesses? You can drown like any other creature, correct?”

“Eventually, yes. I can hold my breath for six minutes.” 

“Too long. Too long. What if your head was severed?” 

“Never tried.” 

“Mmm, yes, yes, but it’s getting you vulnerable enough to even sever it in the first place. . .” 

“And if you have already achieved that, you may as well kill me using any regular method anyway.” Shadow put his hand on his chin. “I’m immortal, a superior lifeform, not invincible.”

“You’re immortal?” 

Shadow stared back at him. 

Ivo pinched the bridge of his glasses and shook his head. “Great.” 

“Waiting for the other version of me to die of old age would give him enough time to finish the job.” Shadow hissed. 

“You’re right.”

“My only weakness,” Shadow took a deep breath, “so far as I know, is psychological.” 

Ivo gestured for him to continue. 

“Mention her name. Use the same alarms that were used aboard the ARK the day of the raid, if not the specific sound, then flashing red lights. Show him images of long blond hair and a blue dress. If you have any recordings of her voice, those would be especially disabling.” 

“. . . are these, shall we say, weaknesses of your own?” Ivo took his hands off the keys and rotated to face Shadow again. “Do the words ‘Post Traumatic Stress Disorder’ mean anything to you?”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Shadow snapped. 

“No, no, it’s just-”

“If these techniques are effective, which they will be, use them.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to try and avoid them first, but-”

“Do whatever it takes. He will not have the same mercy for you.” 

Ivo turned back to his computer and his fingers began flying across the keys. He pulled up a few pages of storage, dragging and dropping files into his note-taking document. One of the files was selected twice, opening it, revealing a picture of Maria smiling earnestly in her wheelchair. 

Shadow turned away. He forced himself to keep breathing. 

“Anything else you would like to add?” Ivo asked. 

“How many Emeralds does he have right now?” Shadow faced the screen again. Her face was gone.

“Well, he only needs one to be at full power.”

“How many does he have?”

“Just one, based on my last intel.” Ivo glanced to him. “Why are you asking?” 

“He hasn’t gone super?” 

“Gone what? ” 

“Good.” Shadow let out a shuddering exhale. “We will want to prevent him from ever gathering all seven.”

“What happens if you gather all seven? Will it rebuild the Eclipse Cannon somehow?”

“If there is no Sonic, then Sonic would have never introduced it to me.” Shadow put his hand on his chin. “Therefore he doesn’t know he has the potential.” 

“Who or what is Sonic?”

“Doesn’t matter- he clearly isn’t here.” Shadow began to pace. “If I know how, and this other version of me doesn’t, then perhaps we could use it against him.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

“If this is a power he is capable of, we certainly don’t want him learning by example.”

“Not if I kill him with it.”

“Hmm. I do like where you’re going with that.” Ivo put his hand on his chin as well.

“But you are correct. If he learns about the super form, he’ll have enough power to destroy the world several times over.” 

“Wonderful.” 

“Is it worth the risk?”

“You tell me. Can you defeat yourself?”

Shadow paused. 

Ivo held out his hand and hesitantly placed it on Shadow’s shoulder. “It’s alright. The data you will provide is already a boon as it is. Your candor in this matter is greatly appreciated.” 

“With your help, and the help of my friends,” Shadow finally replied, “I can.” 

“Are you absolutely certain?”

“Yes. He is alone, isn’t he?”

“Positively.” 

“Then he does not stand a chance.” 

Ivo leaned back in his chair. “Is that a lesson you’ve learned?”

Shadow huffed and looked away. 

Before either of them could say anything more, the door to the room rolled open. E-123 came stomping in, holding Rouge by her wings. Omega trailed close behind, the hum of his targeting audible from across the room.

“FATHER. I FOUND THIS ONE ATTEMPTING TO PILFER THE SAMPLES.” E-123 held Rouge in the air.

Rouge mouthed ‘sorry’ in Shadow’s direction. 

“It’s alright.” Shadow replied. “I gave them those samples willingly.”

Omega pointed. “DETECTING TRACES OF YOUR OWN BLOOD ON YOUR GLOVES!” 

“I gave myself a bloody nose.” Shadow lied.

“You idiot.” Rouge said. 

Shadow rolled his eyes.

Rouge effortlessly slipped out of E-123’s grasp, leaving the robot staring at his empty hand. She landed by Shadow’s side. 

“We have a plan.” Shadow said. 

“And that is?”

“Gather the seven Chaos Emeralds. Show him all that he isn’t.”

“I like that plan. One of the few good plans you’ve ever made.” 

“Hmph.”

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Ivo stood from his chair. “Gathering all seven Emeralds is not a feat for the faint-hearted. They’re incredibly difficult to track. And if you’ve forgotten, one of them is in his possession.” 

“Then that’ll be our last one.” Rouge said. “Before then, we’ll want to be discreet. You’ll need a gem-tracking aficionado and an expert thief to boot.” 

“I may have some old contacts-”

“That’s me.” Rouge tapped her thumb against her chest. 

“INDEED. ROUGE IS THE MOST CAPABLE THIEF ON THE PLANET.” Omega chimed in. 

“Perfect! That just leaves you, Omega. Do you have any data you could provide us about combating the Ultimate Lifeform?” 

Shadow could only watch as Omega turned away and clenched his fists hard enough for his plating to creak.