Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fifty years. For fifty years, the area of Green Hill on the planet Mobius had a nameless guardian. Well... more that it was 'said' to have a nameless guardian, at least. No sentient being had ever truly seen it for themselves.

Many people called Green Hill, as well as much of South Island, their home. It was a peaceful land, of lush grass fields, warm beaches, and the random loop-de-loop here and there.

Nobody really knew how a loop-de-loop formed naturally, but it made for a very interesting horizon.

The guardian, as he was called, stood at the edge of a cliff, watching over Green Hill. He was a black furred hedgehog, with patches of red adorning his quills, and eyes that shone like rubies. Around his wrists and ankles were a set of golden rings, the purpose of which he knew not, yet he found a strange comfort in them simply being. The shoes and gloves he wore were worn out and battered with age, particularly the shoes, which had holes burned into the soles of them, due to the odd streams of energy that seemed to shoot out of his feet whenever he ran.

His biology and abilities, even after half a century, still remained a mystery to him. He had lived alone for all this time, only nature and wildlife as his company. He was the darkness that lurked beneath the surface of Green Hill. The shadow that defends this wonderful land.

So, in lieu of not having been given one, he named himself Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog.

… Even if he didn't really know what a Hedgehog was. The only time he'd ever seen one was in his own reflection on the surface of the nearby lakes.

On this day, something felt wrong. Shadow could feel it in the air, and smell it from the surface of the water. A metallic tang. An oily stench.

Something was wrong in Green Hill. Something he had to fix.

And so, Shadow ran, jets of raw energy flaring from his soles as he glided along the ground in long strides. It was too quiet. Where were all the birds? The rabbits? All the little creatures that called this place home were just... gone.

As he came up to one of the many wooden bridges of the area, he saw something. It looked not too unlike a beetle, only covered in metal plating, with a pair of small, lance-like appendages up front.

The mechanical... thing, seemed to notice Shadow, and charged at him. To call it slow compared to him would be a gross understatement. The thing barely posed a threat.

A slight twirl, and Shadow brought his foot down on the thing, shattering it into a million little pieces... and freeing the small bird that had been trapped inside.

Shadow blinked in surprise, trying to make sense of it. Why was a Flicky inside that machine? In the distance, he could see more of these machines, in various different forms, from fish to bees to... monkeys? Robot monkeys? Stuffed with birds and pigs?

None of this made sense. The more Shadow tried to figure out the logic behind it, the more his head started to hurt. For now, it would be best to focus on saving the animals, and finding whoever did this in the first place.

As Shadow skated along the grassy plains, a glint of something... else, caught his eyes. Shiny, but not metallic. Kinda... fleshy coloured.

Shadow drew closer, keeping himself hidden behind some foliage, and watched the strange, fur-less thing in the floating metal ball with the bush on its... face?

“Signals lost left and right,” the man (he supposed) said to himself. “What the devil is going on?! Who out here in this dump is strong enough to smash my Badnik?!”

So, those things were called 'Badniks', then?

From the machine, the man pulled out a green stone that gleamed in the sunlight. Shadow felt something... odd about that stone. He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt a sort of pull from it.

“Well, at least I found the sixth Chaos Emerald,” the man said to himself. “That just leaves one left to find, counting the ones the others found, and then, ultimate power will be mine!” The man began to laugh something maniacal, and Shadow realised he couldn't just leave this guy to his own devices.

A flash of black and red, and the man suddenly found himself empty handed. “Wha- Who dares?!” he shouted, looking around until his gaze landed on Shadow. His expression shifted to one of confusion, as he stared at the hedgehog. “What on earth is this creature?” the man asked. “I've never seen anything like it. Hey! You!” Shadow turned his gaze back to the moustached man. “Return that Chaos Emerald to me this instant!”

Shadow glared hard at the man. “Are you the one who's been stuffing my friends into metal monstrosities?”

“How dare you!” the man shouted. “You call the word of the great Doctor Ivo Robotnik monstrous?! If anything, I'm doing those vermin a favour!”

Ivo Robotnik, huh? Well, it wasn't bad to get a name for this man, but still... “So, you admit to harming them all,” Shadow muttered dangerously. “You'll pay for that.”

“Oh, I will, will I?” Robotnik smirked viciously, as he slammed his hand on a button, causing a large ball on a chain to drop from the bottom of his vehicle. “Then get a load of this!”

The vehicle flew erratically, swinging the ball towards Shadow. The hedgehog dashed out of the way quickly, as the metal sphere slammed into the ground. Jumping up, Shadow curled up into a ball, before slamming into the side of the machine.

Robotnik gritted his teeth in frustration, as he spun his machine around, swinging the wrecking ball in a wide arc at Shadow.

Shadow braced his stance, and with a swift punch, knocked the ball back at Robotnik, the impact shattering the chain, and leaving a large dent in the vehicle.

“Rhh!! Damn hedgehog!” Robotnik cursed. “Fine! You win this round! But know that I'll pay you back tenfold for denting my Egg Mobile like that!”

With his piece said, the machine turned around, and flew off at great speed. Shadow was left standing there, bewildered. “Egg... mobile?” he said to himself. “Why would he call it something like that? Doesn't look like an egg.” Shadow looked down at the gem in his hand. That man called it a Chaos Emerald, right? Shadow could feel something... strange from it. A certain sense of familiarity.

Something to think about later. For now, Shadow stored the Emerald away, and looked in the direction Robotnik flew away in. He couldn't afford to sit around while a man like that was out there, hurting his friends.

Storing the Emerald away, Shadow ran after the doctor, skating along on jets of energy.

At the base of a mountain sat a long stretch of ruins. If Shadow could recall correctly, this place was called the Marble Zone, on account of... the marble-carved structures. A rather unoriginal name, but then again, so was a place of green hills being called Green Hill Zone.

Shadow moved quickly and carefully through the interconnecting tunnels that were, strangely, filled with lava. And, of course, there were more of those Badniks. Shadow had to destroy those carefully, making sure the animals didn't fall into the molten rock below.

Eventually, Shadow emerged on the other side of the mountain, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Who... builds a path... through a mountain like that?” he asked himself. “That's a serious safety hazard.”

Catching his breath in the clean air, Shadow took a step... and paused. He could feel someone watching him. That doctor again? No, this felt like someone else.

A shadow moved behind him. Acting on instinct, Shadow dodged a few feet to the side, just as a crimson blade was thrust into the ground where he previously stood.

“Not bad,” a voice said. “I can see why the doctor warned us about you, hedgehog.”

Shadow looked up the mountain, to see a group of five Mobians staring back at him. He believed they were jackals, and of note was the one at the front, with his jet black fur and white highlights, mismatched blue and yellow eyes, and a scar over his right eye. The other four's only noteworthy aspects were red scarf, red beret, green headband, and girl. Those other four really weren't all that eye catching.

“So, the fat doctor's got hired help,” Shadow mused. “Am I suppose to know who you are?”

“What, have you been living under a rock for the past decade?” the female jackal asked.

“You stand before the Jackal Squad,” the headband one said.

“The strongest mercenary band in all of Mobius!” the scarf one followed up.

“The good doctor hired us to hunt down some unusual gems,” the beret one added.

“A boring task, to be sure,” the leader finished, “but now that you're here, things are going to get fun for us!”

Shadow crossed his arms, looking markedly unimpressed. “I suppose you guys finish each others sandwiches as well, then?” he asked. “Considering you've got this entire speech orchestrated?”

The Jackal Squad fell into contemplative silence, much to the leaders annoyance. “Dude,” the leader said. “That's not really hygienic.”

“I dunno,” the beret one said. “I've seen you eat some... questionable things off the ground, Infinite.”

“Duex is right,” the girl added. “Didn't you scoop up that one ice cream you dropped a week and stuff it down your muzzle?”

“Lay off, Trois,” the leader, Infinite, mumbled.

“Speaking of floor ice cream,” the scarf one continued. “Quatre, didn't the boss scavange a half eaten apple out of a trash can just the other day?”

“Yeah, I remember that one, Uno,” the headband one, Quatre, replied. “Pretty sure there was a worm in that one, too.”

“Have you guys forgotten how strapped for cash we are?!” Infinite shouted. “Desperate times call for desperate measures! Besides, I've got a gut of steel!”

“That doesn't sound practical,” Shadow said.

“I'm with the edge-hog on this on,” Trois said.

“Well, aren't you rude,” Shadow muttered. “Look, I'm a little busy at the moment, okay? That guy who's got you employed is stuffing animals into robots, and I'm trying to get him to stop it.”

“Can't do that, bub,” Infinite said, recomposing himself. “The doc's paid big money for use to find those Chaos Emeralds. Can't have you walking away with one of them.”

“So, should I take that as meaning you have the other five the fat man was talking about?”

“No, just two,” Quatre said. “The doc has the rest. We actually let him know we found these two just before you met him.”

“Dude,” Duex jabbed Quatre in the side, “don't just reveal that to the enemy!”

“Why? It's not like he can beat us?”

“Are you talking about these Chaos Emeralds?” Shadow asked, casually juggling two gems, one red and one blue, that he clearly did not have before. “They look more like a ruby and sapphire to me, but I'm no expert on gem cuts.”

Every jaw belonging to the Jackal Squad dropped. “How?!” Infinite shouted. “When?!”

“You were talking,” Shadow explained, “and... when you were talking.”

Infinite quietly cursed their complacency. “Jackal Squad! Rough this guy up, and get our pay dirt back!”

The five jackals lunged at Shadow, wielding all manner of weapons from swords, to daggers, kukris, throwing knives, and in the case of Trois, fists.

For the first few seconds, it seemed as though it would be an epic fight. That was, until Shadow moved like a blur, and all but Infinite were knocked to the ground.

Infinite's eyes grew wide with shock. He had only barely been able to avoid the oncoming attack, and from the looks of it, Shadow had barely even been trying.

“So, what will it be?” Shadow asked. “Will you stand in my way? Or will you back out?”

Sweat rolled down Infinite's brow. He prided himself on being the Ultimate Mercenary, yet this hedgehog made him look like he was full of hot air.

“Well... I say that, but there's no point in giving you an ultimatum,” Shadow said.

“Wh... why is that?” Infinite asked, sword trembling in his hand.

“Simple.” Shadow raised a hand. Infinite prepared for an attack to come, only... “Bye.”

Suddenly, Shadow was gone. Far in the distance, Infinite could see the black hedgehog running along, going in the direction the doctor went.

“... WHAT-”

Shadow would be the first to admit it; he was now lost.

This place, Spring Yard Zone, he believed it was called, was an absolute mess of a maze. A sprawling urban city that was concerningly empty of life.

Plus, true to its name, there were springs everywhere. Shadow found himself stopping to wonder just why that was. In fact, there were loads of springs in both Green Hill and Marble Zone. Was the doctor leaving there around? Why? So far, they had only served as a boon for Shadow. The only way they slowed him down was causing him to pause and ask questions.

Shadow slowed down for a moment, seeing what he would charitably describe as a small obstacle course for little people. Something about it perplexed Shadow. Why would they need such a thing, when this whole city was an obstacle course all on its own?

He noticed a sign not far away, the words 'playground' written on it. So, this was a place of play, then?

Shadow took a moment to think about it... and still didn't get it.

“Get a load of this!” a voice shouted suddenly. Shadow moved quickly, as a familiar floating vehicle dropped down from the sky, ramming a massive spike in the spot he had been standing moments ago.

“So, you dodged my Egg Stinger, did you?” Robotnik asked, as he raised the spike from the ground, shredding dirt and asphalt as he did. “Quick little rascal.”

“Okay, I have to ask,” Shadow said. “Why do you name your machines after eggs?”

“Branding,” Robotnik answered. “When I finally take control of the world, I'll need something for my legacy to go by. Preferably, something family friendly.”

“Family friendly world domination?” Shadow asked, crossing his arms. “Sure. Whatever you say, Eggman.”

There was a slight, pregnant pause, before the doctor spoke. “What... did you say?”

“You have an odd fascination with eggs,” Shadow explained. “Plus, you look like one, sans the moustache. Thus, Eggman.”

A vein popped on Robotnik's forehead. “I am going to squash you, rodent.”

“You can try.”

To call the Egg Stinger predictable would be an understatement. It had to move so precisely, that it felt as if Shadow had all the time in the world to get out of the way. Sure, the damage it wrought on the ground was impressive, but slow was still slow. Lining up several good hits on the Stinger was easy, and before he knew it, Shadow had won again.

“GRRR! Damn you, hedgehog!” Robotnik cursed. “You'll regret ever crossing me!”

Shadow stood there, giving the doctor a chance to make his temporary getaway. “He's nothing if not persistent,” Shadow said. “I'd respect it, if he wasn't turning innocent creatures into machines.” He took another look around the area. “I wonder... did he do something to the people that live here? This place looks like it was abandoned long ago.”

There wasn't much he could do about it now. All he had to do now was continue after the Eggman.

Robotnik cursed this turn of events as he made his way through the ruins of Labyrinth Zone. That hedgehog was going from zero to thorn-in-his-side at record speed. And what speed, indeed! The doctor could only imagine how much power Shadow was keeping to himself.

Finding a way to take and weaponize that would have to wait, though. Right now, neutralising this new threat to his plans came first. He would not let that rodent get in the way of Robotnik Land!

… Maybe he should workshop that name. It did not roll off the tongue as much as he originally thought. Maybe... Eggman Land?

The doctor hated how much better that sounded. Damn clever hedgehog.

As the doctor made his way deeper into the labyrinth, he spotted the Jackal Squad, catching their breaths. “Jackal Squad! Report!” he instructed. “What are you doing here?!”

“Got bad news, boss,” Infinite replied. “You know those two Chaos Emeralds we reported we found?”

“Don't tell me,” Robotnik sighed. “That hedgehog stole them from you.”

“... Okay, then. I won't say it.”

Robotnik growled in anger. “This is absurd!” he shouted. “How is one hedgehog giving me more trouble than the rest of this blasted island combined?! None of the other Mobians we encountered up to this point stood as much of a challenge as him!”

“The bafflement is mutual, doctor,” Duex said. “One hedgehog, and he made a joke out of all of us.”

“You're barely a punchline at best,” Robotnik muttered. “Fine. Whatever. We'll accept that we've been blind-sided by an unexpected turn of events. It happens. What matters now is that we plan out the countermeasure. Infinite, anything to share?”

“The hedgehog's fast,” Infinite said, starting with the obvious. “Very fast. And, something tells me he's yet to go all out on us. He pilfered those two Chaos Emeralds from our pockets without us realising it.”

“Plus, I don't think he'll accept a compromise,” Quatre added. “He cares an awful lot about those stupid little animals. Dunno why.”

“Makes you wonder where he's been all this time,” Uno said. “Forget the two years we've been working with ya, Doc; you've been on the conquest path here for nearly two decades now. How has this guy never been a threat to your plans before now?”

“A good question,” Robotnik admitted. “Perhaps it was simple misfortune that one of the Chaos Emeralds had to be in his territory. Not to say that crossing its path wasn't inevitable.”

“He's fast... but maybe we can work around that,” Trois said. “Such speed needs long straights or wide open areas to use effectively. And, considering this place is literally called 'Labyrinth' Zone...”

“And even if he gets through here, it's only my territory from there on,” Robotnik smirked. “And Scrap Brain wasn't designed for organics to easily traverse. Now we're cooking.” The doctor began to laugh maniacally. “Jackal Squad! Use the terrain of Labyrinth and Star Light Zones to eliminate that rodent! I shall return to Scrap Brain, and secure my remaining Chaos Emeralds! Do not fail me.”

The Jackal Squad saluted the doctor as he flew away, leaving them to sigh as the tension faded. “Seriously, boss, why did we take this job?” Uno asked. “That man's going to be the death of us, I'm saying it now.”

“Unfortunately, he pays well,” Infinite sighed. “You remember how much he gave us for just one Chaos Emerald!”

“But will that money be worth it in the end?” Trois asked. “We've turned against our fellow Mobians, and who's to say the doctor's conquest won't stop at just this island? South Island may be large, but what's to stop him from turning his sights to the mainland? To places like Station Square, Central City, Soleanna? Hell, the Acorn Kingdom's barely hanging on as it is, and they've been fighting the doctor since the start.”

“And what have they ever done for us?” Quatre said. “The United Federation certainly doesn't seem to give a damn what happens out here, and the Acorn Kingdom hasn't exactly been welcoming of us.”

Infinite grumbled quietly to himself. They, the Jackal Squad, never had a place to call their own. They had only been able to make ends meet by ransacking ruins, military bases, and other sites of interest, and selling stolen goods on the black market. Whether he liked it or not...

He paused in his thoughts, hearing an all too familiar skating sound. “He's coming,” Infinite said. “Uno, Duex, Quatre, you three go to Star Light in case he passes Trois and I.”

“You sure you two can handle him alone?” Duex asked.

“Not really,” Infinite admitted. “But, if it comes down to you three, you should be able to hold him off long enough for us to catch up. Get him in a pincer attack.”

That, at least, the three could agree to, as they quickly made their way through the Zone, leaving Infinite and Trois to prepare for the oncoming hedgehog.

“You sure about this?” Trois asked. “For all we know, this guy might not be merciful the second time.”

“That's the thing about our work, isn't it?” Infinite said. “Everything's a gamble.”

And so, the two waited, the sounds of Shadow the Hedgehog getting closer and closer echoing down the halls.

Closer...

Closer...

Further...

Closer...

Further...

Infinite and Trois shared a glance. “Are you lost?” Infinite shouted.

Somewhere within the Zone, Shadow called back. “Yes!”

Infinite and Trois nearly fell over themselves. “Look, just follow our voices!” Trois called out. “We'll let you catch your breath before we try to beat the snot out of each other!”

After a second or two, Shadow responded. “Easy for you to say!” he shouted. “Your voices are coming from every direction! It's not like I can just tele-”

Suddenly, it was quiet. Too quiet. “You, uh... okay out there?” Infinite yelled. “Hello? Black hedgehog who may or may not be equal to us in strength?”

“You think he fell into a spike trap?” Trois asked.

“One can only hope,” Infinite muttered. “Come on. Let's at least see if we can't find his body.”

Little did they know... they wouldn't find anything.

Chapter Text

Shadow slammed face first into the ground. The air around him had suddenly twisted like a palm tree in a hurricane, an he'd felt himself move faster than he'd ever had before.

No... that wasn't speed. Not normal speed, at least. It was something else entirely.

Pulling his face out of the ground, and shaking off the dirt, Shadow realised that he was no longer in that Labyrinth anymore, and far in the distance, he could see a sprawling metropolitan construction site, the lights of the buildings and cranes blinding him to the night sky overhead.

Shadow noticed a faint, green glow beside him. Looking down, he saw the green Chaos Emerald lying on the ground, emitting a faint light, before fading back to dull tones.

“Did... the Chaos Emerald warp me?” he asked himself, picking up the jewel. “Do these things possess such power?” Shadow concentrated on the Emerald, trying to tease out any kind of reaction from it. “... Nothing. Just a fluke, then?” Shaking his head, Shadow stored the Emerald away, and faced the city before him. “The Eggman must have gone this way. If I was to bet, I'd say the tallest building.”

His destination chosen, Shadow ran on.

Star Light Zone. A mess of robots and unfinished buildings. Shadow could tell at a glance that the construction of this place had been put on hold for a while, probably to focus on collecting Chaos Emeralds.

But, that didn't change the fact that there were many, many badniks here, all aiming for Shadow's life.

The doctor would pay for this. He would pay dearly.

Every Badnik smashed was another animal freed, each one just as thankful to Shadow as the last. With every Badnik smashed, it was one more little bit of peace of mind for the hedgehog.

Suddenly, he screeched to a halt, feeling his quills stand on end. He was being watched... well, okay, of course he was being watched; he'd just made an enemy out of an egg-shaped man and his posse of Jackal mercenaries. That's not exactly a recipe for friendship.

Shadow scanned the perimeter. Nothing seemed to stand out, but he knew someone was there. “Show yourself,” he commanded. “Let's just get this part over with.”

In response, a series of throwing knives was sent his way. Shadow dodged, the blades embedding into the ground, as the Jackals in the beret and bandanna jumped out of the darkness at him.

Shadow dodged their attacks, skidding to a halt as the one in the scarf finally emerged. “So, you made it past the others,” Uno said. “What did you do to Infinite and Trois?”

“Would you believe me if I said I didn't actually run into them?” Shadow asked. “Like, I actually did try to find them. They were trying to guide me with their voices and everything, but before I knew it, I was outside.”

“So... they're fine?” Quatre asked.

“Far as I know.”

“Well... that's nice to know,” Duex said. “Still gonna kick your butt, though.”

Shadow smirked in response. “Just try to keep up.”

With that, Shadow ran, his destination being the only fully constructed building in the whole area, located in the centre of it all.

The three members of the Jackal Squad kept chase after him, attempting to attack in any way they could, from throwing weapons, taking shortcuts to get ahead of Shadow, to even throwing Badniks at him.

Yet, nothing worked. Shadow evaded each as every attack as if he'd seen them coming a mile away at the speed of a snail. Uno tried to bring his foot down from above, only for Shadow to catch his leg, and then swing him like a bat into the other Jackals, knocking all three to the floor.

“You put up a good fight,” Shadow said, “But stay out of my way.”

So Shadow ran on, leaving the three member of the Jackal Squad in the dust.

Scrap Brain Zone. That was what the sign said when Shadow made his way inside. He felt that, logically, the doctor would have gone up, but at the same time, he could feel a strange pull of power coming from below.

It felt... not unlike the Chaos Emeralds. So now, Shadow had a choice. Either go to take down the doctor now, or take the Chaos Emeralds he could feel first.

The more he thought about it, the more taking the Chaos Emeralds seem to make sense. The doctor seemed very... interested in them, after all. Something told Shadow that it would be best if the doctor didn't keep his grubby mitts on them.

Shadow ran down flights of stairs, smashed robots and turrets along the way, and dodged through the frankly absurd amount of buzz saws and electrical traps that were scattered throughout the place. How did that man make his own way through this place with so many hazards all over the place?

Eventually, Shadow came across a dimly lit room, in the middle of which stood a sort of obelisk-like structure, with seven holes cut out in it. Three of those holes had been filled with familiarly shaped gems, one a deep purple, one a vibrant orange, and the last, clear as diamond.

“The Chaos Emeralds,” Shadow said to himself. “The Eggman said that there were seven of them in total, if I remember right. Good thing I got involved before he could find the last one, then.” Reaching out, Shadow grabbed one of the Chaos Emeralds, and yanked it out of the machine, pulling a whole lot of cords and wires with it. The same happened with the other two.

Once the final Emerald was plucked from the machine, all the lights briefly turned off, before coming back a dull red. “Guess it didn't like that,” Shadow mused, before smirking. “Good.”

Shadow ran back the way he came, and proceeded to climb high up the building, passing by triple the amount of traps and robots all the way up.

Say what you will about the doctor, but he certainly seemed to have a type he liked; hot and edgy.

Finally, Shadow reached the top, where he saw Robotnik, standing behind a wall of lasers.

“So, you actually made it this far,” the doctor said. “Past the Jackals and everything.”

“In their defence, they put up a good fight,” Shadow said. “Hope you cut them some slack, Eggman.”

“Considering it was impossible to plan around the likes of you?” Eggman asked. “Just this once, I'll be merciful on them. But you...” The gleam in his eyes, even when covered by those glasses, was dangerous. “You may be a new thorn in my side, but oh, I hate you already.”

“Well, what'cha gonna do about it?” Shadow smirked. “Keep hiding behind that light-wall all day?”

Eggman smirked in response, before slamming his hand on a button, causing the door behind Shadow to slam shut. “Oh, I'm not worried about that. After all, your life expectancy's about to take a 'dive'!”

The floor split open slowly and dramatically, and through it, Shadow could see rushing water down below. He gave Eggman a flat look. “Really? Puns at a time like this?”

“Man's gotta have hobbies,” Eggman shrugged. “Not that it'll matter to you, soon.”

Shadow cursed silently. No matter how you sliced it, this was a disadvantageous situation for him. If he fell in there, regardless of how well he could swim, eventually, he'd tire out and drown. If only he could get through that wall of light, he could just take out Eggman here and now.

Suddenly, Shadow felt a surge of power wash over him. A faint glow engulfed his body, and as quickly as he could blink, Shadow found himself standing somewhere completely different. A brief look around, and... he was standing a few feet behind Eggman.

Eggman blinked a few times in shock. “How... did you do that?”

“I... wish I knew,” Shadow admitted. “Not that I'm complaining, though. After all,” he smirked, “you're in my reach now.”

A nervous look made its way onto Eggman's face, before he broke off in a full sprint towards the nearby door. Shadow gave chase, and... wow, he was fast for a fat man. Shadow was actually having to put in effort to keep up.

Eggman dropped down a small hole in the ground suddenly, which closed behind him. Before Shadow could attempt to punch his way through the cover, the building began to shake violently. The hedgehog looked up, just in time to see a portion of the roof drop down quite deliberately towards him.

Shadow got out of the way quickly, as the piece of roof slammed into the ground, and just as quickly rose back into place. He looked around, and saw that the whole room had those same circles all over the floor and roof.

“How do you like this, hedgehog?” Eggman's voice boomed. “Behold, the mighty Egg Crusher!”

“Talk about on brand,” Shadow muttered to himself. The crusher pistons began to rise and retract systematically, constantly attempting to make Shadow flatter than a blade of grass.

No worries, then. He could see the weaknesses clear as day. Break the central pistons, and the crushers were useless.

Shadow dodged easily, and with a swift punch, shattered the metal pistons. Eventually, the room fell quiet, until an unnatural rumble shook the building.

Something told Shadow that Eggman probably cut his losses here, and got out.

“Guess I'd better get out of dodge, myself,” Shadow said. “Nothing left to do here.”

Eggman cursed himself. Imagine, him having to turn tail like this! It was humiliating!

The Egg Mobile came to a stop at the top of a nearby mountain, where the Jackal Squad just so happened to be waiting, nursing injuries and bruised pride.

“So... did we lose?” Infinite asked nervously.

“Yes. Yes we did,” Eggman answered, as he watched his base crumble to rubble.

“Think it'll be too much to ask that the hedgehog was crushed beneath all that?” Trois wondered.

“He'll have survived, I'm sure of it,” Eggman said simply. “Shadow the Hedgehog. I feel he'll be a thorn in my side for a long time to come.” Then, he turned the Egg Mobile around. “Come. We're making for Never Lake.”

“Never Lake...” Infinite muttered. “You mean... Little Planet, then?”

“Exactly,” Eggman said. “This plan backfired... for now. But any good scientist has at least five different contingencies in stock!”

Shadow leapt from the top of the building, landing just by the forest line where he could see Eggman's base crumble to dust.

The battle was won. Now, all he had to do was return home... or did he?

Shadow would have to admit, going on an adventure had been, in a word, thrilling. It was a change from the norm; from the mundane. Sure, looking after thing in Green Hill had been nice, but this adrenaline that was now pumping through his veins was... intoxicating. Just learning what else South Island had to show had been enlightening; what else was there out in the world at large?

Plus, with the doctor out there, someone would have to step up to put a stop to him. Why not Shadow?

That did, however, leave one question; how was he going to get off the island? Sure, it was big, but that didn't mean it had bridges connecting to other lands. How was he suppose to...

A familiar glow began to envelop his body. The six Chaos Emeralds appeared around him, and began to spin around at shocking speeds.

“What?” Shadow shouted. “What's going on? Are you sending me somewhere again?!”

A flash of light blinded Shadow, and suddenly, he found himself free-falling.

West Side Island, much like its distant neighbour South Island, was a largely peaceful place. Among the many species that called this place home were the Foxes, a largely peaceful group that kept to themselves.

Among these foxes, though, was a bit of an oddity. A girl who had been born with two tails.

This girl, often bullied and ostracised by her fellow foxes, had taken to living a quiet, secluded life, where she could just tinker away the hours building things.

Unfortunately, keeping to herself wasn't enough to keep the bullies away. Some kids are just cruel and vindictive for the sake of it.

The girl backed up against the cliff face, terrified as two older foxes slowly approached her. She held her tails close, afraid of them being yanked again.

Just then, a bright light flashed high in the sky, followed by a sonic boom. All three looked up, just in time to see five bright lights shoot off in different directions, and something black slamming into the ground between them.

The dust settled, revealing a black hedgehog with red highlights, holding a green gemstone in one hand. The hedgehog stood up, crimson eyes flickering open, and instilling a primal fear into the two older foxes.

“R-” the two stuttered. “Run away!!”

The two foxes turned tail and fled, leaving the girl to breath a slight sigh of relief. At least, until the hedgehog turned his head to face her... with a puzzled look.

“Well, aren't they dramatic?” the hedgehog said in his deep voice. “You okay, kid?”

“Oh! Um... yes,” the girl said. “Um... thank you for saving me, sir.”

“What was their deal, anyway?” the hedgehog asked. “You look to be the same species, but they seemed like they were threatening you.”

“Well... I'm not exactly normal, as far as foxes go,” she said. “I've... got two tails, as you can see.”

The hedgehog looked at the tails in question, and then back into the girls blue eyes, looking as if he didn't see the connection. “I don't get it.”

The girl blinked a few times in confusion. “But... foxes don't have two tails like me.”

“So?” the hedgehog asked. “You were born different, but that doesn't mean you have to be treated differently.”

He had said it so plainly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And, frankly speaking, he was right.

“Bit off topic,” the hedgehog said, “but where am I, exactly? Teleportation's a bit of a new thing for me.”

“Oh! You're on West Side Island,” the girl said. “I should probably introduce myself. I'm Maria Prower.”

“Maria... it's a nice name,” the hedgehog said. “The name's Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog.”

Shadow... what a strong name. Combined with that warm smile of him, she couldn't help but avert her gaze from his, looking down... and see those worn out shoes of his.

Shadow noticed the sudden puzzlement on Maria's face, and looked at his shoes. “Yeah, they're very old,” he admitted. “Not like there are many places in Green Hill to get new ones, and I'd burn through them too quickly, even if I could get new ones.”

“Burn through them?” Maria asked. “What do you mean?”

Shadow raised a foot, and then demonstrated as jets of crimson energy erupted from the holes in his shoes. “It mainly happens when I run,” he said. “Dunno why. Does let met skate across most surfaces, though.”

Maria looked deep in thought for a moment, before an idea struck. “I know! I think I have just the thing for you!” she said. “Follow me! Consider it thanks for helping me!”

Shadow stared for a moment as Maria ran off, and with a shrug, followed after.

The inside of the fox's workshop was... certainly messy. Then again, Shadow didn't exactly have a house to call his own, so he wouldn't know.

“So, you just... live like this?” Shadow asked.

“Well... not exactly,” Maria laughed, as she dug through a pile of old experiments. “This is just the garage. The main part of the house is... girlier, I guess?”

“I'll take your word for it,” Shadow said. “I don't even know what it means to be 'girly'. What are you looking for, anyway?”

“A few years ago, I attempted to create a pair of jet shoes,” Maria said. “But, I just couldn't figure out how to make a power source compact enough for them, so I shelved it. But, if you can just emit energy like that, Mr Shadow, then maybe you can use them yourself!”

“Please. Mr Shadow was my father,” Shadow said. “If I... ever actually had one of those.”

Maria looked up at Shadow. “You mean, you don't know who your father is?”

“Or mother, for that matter,” Shadow shrugged. “I just kinda... appeared in Green Hill one day, all those years ago. Been on my own since day one, up until that fat man showed up.”

“Fat man?”

“Called himself Robotnik or something? Looked more like an Eggman to me.”

“Robo- You mean THE Doctor Ivo Robotnik?!” Maria shouted. “The scourge of all Mobians?!”

“I guess?” Shadow shrugged. “Big ego, hired a bunch of jackals, and had a lot of machines named after eggs. Was also interested in these... Chaos Emeralds, was it?” Shadow took the green gem out, giving it a look over. “What are these things, anyway?”

“The Chaos Emeralds are gems said to contain unlimited power,” Maria answered. “It's said that, when you collect all seven, you can have your deepest desires fulfilled.” Eventually, Maria finally pulled a pair of red and white shoes out of the pile. “Found them!”

Shadow walked over to Maria, and looked the shoes over. “Just my style, too,” he commented. “You sure you didn't plan this in advance?”

Maria laughed lightly. “I don't think I could make these that quickly,” she said, before offering the shoes to Shadow. “Here, try them on!”

Shadow took the shoes, then gave the room a look over. Eventually, he settled for sitting down on a milk box, where he started by removing the rings around his ankles.

“So, why do you wear those things, anyway?” Maria asked, looking at the rings as Shadow carefully put them on the floor. “You have them on your wrists, too.”

“Wish I knew,” Shadow admitted, as he slid the new shoes onto his feet. They were quite the snug fit, as if they were made for him. “But, when I don't have them all on, I feel my power run out of control. It's fine for short periods of time, like when I need to bathe, but other than that, they stay on.” Once the shoes were fitted, he slipped the rings back on, a faint glow emanating as they fit into place. “Gotta say, these are pretty comfy.”

“I'm glad,” Maria said. “Why not give them a go?”

“Do I just... do what I usually do?” Shadow asked. “Wouldn't I just burn a hole through them-”

Seemingly without warning, Shadow shot upwards, breaking through the roof, trailing smoke comically as he soared into the air, Maria's voice getting lost in the distance.

“These kicks have some serious kick to them!” Shadow shouted. “How do I shut them off?!” Eventually, Shadow managed to get his energy to stop flowing into them, killing the thrust. Concerned, Shadow looked at the soles of his feet. “... No damage whatsoever,” he noted. “This things are really well made.”

Shadow looked up as he tried to ponder how he'll land, and found his mind froze at the sight before him.

To the west, he could see the world bathing in the light of the setting sun. To the east, the world illuminated by the rising moon. Light and dark, two opposing existences, both within view, and Shadow in the middle of it all. It felt almost as if he could pluck the sun and moon from the skies, and hold them in his hands.

Was this... Mobius? Was this the world he had not seen for the 50 years he had lived? Was this what he had been missing out on all this time?

Thirty seconds later, Shadow came crashing down, landing face first into the ground outside Maria's home.

“Mr Shadow!” Maria called out. “Are you okay?”

Shadow rolled over, grass stuck to his quills, and laughed. “That was incredible,” he said, before shooting Maria a thumbs up. “Pretty good, kid. You're a genius.”

Maria let out a sigh of relief. “I guess you poured too much energy into them?”

“Looks like it,” Shadow agreed, sitting upright. “But they held out damn well. I'm impressed.”

Maria looked surprised, before laughing. “That's a relief. I guess you officially have new kicks,” she said. “What do you plan to do now?”

Shadow thought for a moment. “I've spent the last 50 years just living in Green Hill, over on South Island,” he said. “Perhaps it's time I went out and saw the world properly.”

“I can't imagine living alone for that long,” Maria said, before realising exactly what Shadow had actually said. “Did you say 50 years?! Like, five decades?!”

“I... understand that's what those words mean, yes,” Shadow said hesitantly. “Why? How old are you?”

“Eight!”

With that alone, Shadow's world view was shattered. “Oh Gods, I think I'm the weird one,” he said. “Then, how old is Eggman? Or those Jackal mercenaries?”

“I think Doctor Robotnik's, like, 40-something?” Maria hesitated to guess. “Dunno about the others.”

Shadow gradually came to terms with the fact that he was an exception to the norm. “Still, you're only eight, and you made these?” he said. “That's even more impressive.”

Maria blushed as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “So, where to you plan on going first?” she asked.

Shadow gave it some thought. “Dunno. World's a big place, after all.”

“In that case, why not start with Never Lake?” Maria offered. “I hear that Little Planet will be in view this year.”

“Little Planet?” Shadow asked. “What's that?”

“It's... well, a little planet,” Maria said. “Every year, it just sort of appears above Never Lake, located on an island south-east of here.”

“A planetoid that just appears,” Shadow muttered to himself, before standing up. “Sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out. You said south-east?”

“Yeah! Would you like to borrow my plane?” Maria offered. “The Tornado could get you there in no time!”

“Thanks, but I don't know how to operate one of those,” Shadow said. “But with these new shoes... I could run there, no sweat.”

“But... it's over the ocean,” Maria pointed out. “Easily 700 kilometres in distance!”

In response, Shadow smirked, as red electricity crackled around him. “That's barely even a morning jog. Be back in a day or two.” With that said, Shadow dashed off in a streak of red, crossing over mountains and fields with ease.

Maria was left standing there as the dust settled. “Whoa...” she muttered. “So cool...”

Chapter Text

A young hedgehog with pink quills sat down on a tree stump and sighed. “Still no progress,” she said to herself, brushing some dust off her skirt. “It's strange. The cards said I'd find 'the Crux of Fate' by Never Lake.”

This young girl was Amy Rose, a hedgehog from the village of Knothole, part of the Acorn Kingdom located in the northern parts of South Island. She, like many kids her age, had only ever know the threat of Ivo Robotnik looming overhead her whole life. Even the Freedom Fighters, Knothole's last line of defence, had lived their whole lives knowing the threat that was the Doctor.

So why, then, was this literal child of a hedgehog so far away, in the middle of what would amount to 'nowhere'? For safety? If so, why was she alone?

The truth was, Amy had a certain knack for reading tarot cards. It was something she'd realised a year or two ago. Even with how... delightfully vague tarot readings tended to be, they always seemed to hit the nail on the head. Then, one week ago, Amy's reading said something about a 'Crux of Fate'. Every reading to made to elaborate on that only ever came back with 'Hedgehog Blur' and 'Time of Destiny'.

Tarot reading wasn't an exact science.

All Amy knew right now was that something was going to happen here at Never Lake, in sight of Little Planet.

Speaking of... Amy looked up at Little Planet, hanging in the sky yet chained to the ground. Amy had heard stories about Little Planet, and how beautiful it was whenever it visited on its yearly cycle, but this... industrialised ball was wrong. Robotnik must have gotten to it at some point in time.

Amy was sick of it all. Sick of how that man twisted her world, her friends and family, into something metallic like this. But what could she do? She was just a kid with a bunch of cards and a hammer.

Who knows, maybe this 'Hedgehog Blur' she was trying to find was Miss Bernadette's son, who had been missing for gone 15 years because of one of Robotnik's experiments.

“Right,” Amy said to herself, standing back up. “No more sitting around! Time to find some answers!”

Amy took a step... and paused, as her ears picked up a sound in the distance. Was that someone running? No... skating, maybe? But on what? It didn't sound like wheels, and there was no ice for it to be blades.

In the distance, she saw a cloud of dust rising. A signal that something was coming closer at alarmingly high speed.

Whatever it was, it dashed past Amy quickly, before taking a sharp right, and climbing up sheer cliff face before stopping at the edge of the cliff, looking up at Little Planet.

Amy looked up, and... Oh. That was one very, very handsome hedgehog. Those black quills with red highlights, that plume of white fur on his chest, those golden rings on his arms and legs that went so well with his white gloves and red-white shoes. And those eyes. Those deep red eyes that spoke of wisdom beyond belief.

Amy had never been in love before, but this... this was definitely love at first sight. But, more importantly, that hedgehog was fast. Was he, perhaps, the 'Hedgehog Blur' she foresaw?

She could only imagine the sorts of thoughts going on in that magnificent head of his. The way he was staring at Little Planet, you'd think he knew exactly what to do to make things right.

“I have... no idea what I'm looking at,” Shadow said to himself, looking up at the small planetoid. “Is that suppose to be Little Planet? Not exactly what I'd call beautiful, but I guess that's subjective.” Shadow turned his gaze towards a mountain in the distance, where the chain tied to Little Planet ended, and saw a familiar face carved into the mountainside. “Or... the Eggman got to it. That'd make more sense.”

The small sound of grunting caught Shadow's attention. Curious, he looked down the cliff he stood on, to seem a small, pink-quilled hedgehog climbing up to him. She (at least, he assumed they were a she) was dressed in a green shirt and orange skirt, with a red hairband on her head.

“Hello there!” Shadow called out. “Slow goings?”

The girl flinched slightly, not expecting Shadow to have called out to her. “Eh he he... kinda,” she said. “Don't suppose you could help a girl up, could you?”

Shadow looked around briefly. “Well, I don't have any rope,” he said, “so I'll give you the next best treatment.”

“What's...” she barely finished her sentence before she felt the sudden rush of wind, and the next thing she knew, she was standing on top of the cliff side. “That... was awesome.”

“So, is that Little Planet?” Shadow asked. “Tell me that's not what it always looks like.”

“It's not,” she said. “It's only like that because Doctor Robotnik got to it. I'm Amy, by the way; Amy Rose.”

“Shadow the Hedgehog. A pleasure,” he replied. “So, Eggman got here, too.”

“Egg... man?”

“The doctor,” Shadow explained. “Looks like an egg, names his things after eggs... he's an Eggman.”

Amy paused for a moment, before laughing. “That's... actually pretty funny.”

“Glad you agree,” Shadow smirked. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an egg-head to scramble.”

Shadow jumped from the cliff side, and the moment he landed, he ran off and neck-breaking speed towards the chain that tied Little Planet down to Mobius, before leaping onto the chain, and running up it.

“Whoa...” Amy muttered. “Wait, now's not the time to look in awe! I need to convince him to help out Knothole! But how?” She gave it some thought for a moment. “Maybe, if I help him save Little Planet? And, if he sees how heroic I can be, maybe he'll...” Amy quickly shook her head. “No! Focus, girl! You're suppose to be trying to save your home, focus on that!”

Getting herself focused on what's important at the moment, Amy courageously... climbed back down the cliff carefully, before running after Shadow.

The further up the chain Shadow ran, the less it felt like he was going up, and more like he was going 'down' it. Eventually, Shadow stopped running all together, and slid down the chain on little more than the momentum he carried.

Once he believed he was roughly level with the tallest mountain, Shadow jumped off the chain, landing in a grove filled with palm trees.

“This doesn't feel like the sort of place palm trees should be growing,” Shadow said to himself. “But, what do I know? I've been a hermit for 50 years, and this is a different planet.”

Shadow looked around, trying to figure out where to start. There was something... discomforting about what he could see, though. It was like his eyes were seeing similar, yet noticeably different things. Through one eye, he could see a peaceful land of green, yet through the other, he could see a tainted, mechanical world.

And through his ears, he could hear that girl from earlier screaming as she fell from what was now the sky. Shadow looked up, to see the petite form of Amy in the far distance, clearly having been unprepared for the change in gravity.

“What an adventurous kid,” Shadow noted. “Better catch her before she hits the ground.”

Shadow dashed forward, creating a sonic boom in his wake as he dash around, occasionally over, and often through, the trees in his way.

At one point, Shadow felt something slam into his shoulder, though not enough to knock him off course. Shadow glanced back, to see a strange, spinning sign post behind him. He'd swear there was something written on the sign, but by the time it stopped spinning, he was already too far away to read it.

Deciding it was a case of 'whatever', Shadow sped up, climbing up the side of a cliff that, at one angle, looked like it was made of sheet metal. Why did it feel like time here was at odds with itself?

Shadow launched himself from the end of the cliff wall at full speed, paying little mind to the trail of light he was leaving, mostly due to it not registering in his mind.

Shadow soared through the air with the grace that birds could only dream of, and grabbed Amy Rose from out of the air. “You know,” he said, “I can respect the adventurous spirit, but you shouldn't overextend yourself too much.”

Amy's mind froze for a moment, captivated by Shadow's visage as it was illuminated. At least, until she realised the light wasn't coming from the sun. “Um... why are you glowing?”

Shadow looked at himself, just now realising the light. “That's... a really good question.”

The world began to blur and speed up around them. Shadow and Amy watched in shock as trees seemed to sway backwards in the wind, and grow in reverse until they were once again nought but saplings. By the time they landed once more, mountain ranges and rivers had changed considerably.

“That was...” Shadow muttered, trying to find the right words. “That was weird.”

Shadow set Amy down gently, who walked over to a patch of flowers. “I've read about these flowers,” she said. “In history books. They went extinct centuries ago.”

“Maybe Little Planet just has them?” Shadow asked. “Different ecosystems, not being exposed to the same events?”

“No. These ones never survived outside of Little Planet's environment,” Amy said. “At least, according to the books. These shouldn't be here.”

“Unless...” Shadow muttered, deep in thought. “Unless we've gone backwards in time. But how is that possible?”

“Could it be the Time Stones?”

Shadow gave the girl a puzzling look. “Could you elaborate on that? Because I have no idea what any of that means.”

“The Time Stones are a legend, a myth much like the Chaos Emeralds,” Amy said. “They're native to Little Planet, and with just one of the seven, it's believed that you can influence the past and future.”

“So that must be what Eggman's doing here, then,” Shadow surmised. “Collecting more magical stones to further his plans. It's the Chaos Emeralds all over again.”

“You mean... he found the Chaos Emeralds?!” Amy shouted. “They were real all along?!”

“He found them. Then I stole them,” Shadow said, as he revealed the Emerald he had on hand. “Well, he only had six of them. Then they teleported me to West Side Island, before all but this one scattered elsewhere.”

Amy looked at the Emerald in awe. “So that's one of the Chaos Emeralds,” she said. “I never thought I'd see one.”

Shadow put the Emerald away. “Now, care to explain why you followed me?” he asked. “No offence, but you're a kid. Shouldn't you be at home with your family?”

“That's right!” Amy shouted. “I need you to come with me to the Acorn Kingdom! Robotnik's had us under his thumb for over twenty years! We need your help!” A slight pause. “Y'know, after we're done here and all that.”

“No rest for the wicked, huh?” Shadow said. “Alright, then. Just make sure to keep close, got it? I may be fast, but I'm not aware of absolutely everything.”

“Got it!” Amy saluted.

“And there's no need to salute like that,” Shadow added. “Now, where to start...” As he tried to think of the next step, Shadow and Amy heard the sound of footsteps. The two hedgehogs looked over, to see a pair of familiar jackals lugging around a large machine. “I know those guys,” Shadow said. “Uno and Duex of the Jackal Squad. What are they doing in this time period?”

“Wha- you mean THE Jackal Squad?!” Amy asked. “As in, Robotnik's hired enforcers? You've met them?!”

“Met, fought, beat, take your pick,” Shadow shrugged. “They probably think I'm dead after I scrapped Scrap Brain.” A mischievous smile worked its way onto his face. “I'm gonna totally freak them out while digging for info.”

Shadow casually sauntered up to the jackals, whom seemed to not notice he was there.

“So,” Shadow said. “Care to explain what's going on here?”

“Dude, the doc already explained it,” Uno sighed. “Once we set up this Roboticiser, it'll spend the next few eternities transforming the environment into what the doc wants. Plus, by the time it reaches present day, it'll have constructed a sorta barrier around itself, making it impossible to destroy.”

“Dude, I didn't ask,” Duex responded. “I already know this stuff.”

“Then who did ask?”

Shadow cleared his throat, causing the two to look over to him. “Long time no see, gentlemen,” Shadow said. “Miss me?”

The machine dropped from their hands, as their faces went pale. “H... Hedgehog!” Uno shouted. “Live is hedgehog!”

“Freaked out so much you can't English right?” Shadow noted. “Seems I have that effect on people now.”

“But- you should be dead!” Duex shouted. “There's no way you could have gotten out of Scrap Brain in time!”

“Buddy, I'm fast,” Shadow pointed out. “What you call 'not enough time', I call 'all the time in the world'.”

“Just our damn luck,” Uno cursed. “Guess you're here to stop us from setting up the Roboticiser? Stop the doctor's plans?”

“Since he's planning something nasty? Yes,” Shadow said. “So, what'll it be, boys? Think you can take me on again?”

“What should we do?” Duex asked his partner. “We couldn't handle him, even with the whole team, and look at him now! He's got new kicks!!”

“I know those shoes are pretty rad, but pull yourself together!” Uno shouted. “We were lucky enough that the doctor forgave us the last time! We have to at least try to stop him!”

Shadow smirked, before charging forward. “Then try all you like!”

Amy watched as Shadow began to trade blows with the two members of the Jackal Squad.

She had heard horror stories about the Jackal Squad. Stories about their strength and ruthlessness. And here was Shadow, running circles around them.

It didn't matter what the jackals did, whether it be throwing weapons or punches, Shadow was always one step ahead of them, if not one step behind them... and one kick to the back of the head.

Shadow seemed to know how much fear the Jackal Squad had instilled in people, and is taking quite a bit of joy in bringing them down a notch. Amy wouldn't deny that she felt the schadenfreude herself.

Amy then turned her attention to the machine. A Roboticiser, they called it. A word that carried the same weight of terror as the Jackal Squad. A machine that had taken so many of the people of Knothole from their families.

Since Shadow had the two Jackals distracted... nobody who mattered would mind if she busted that machine herself, right? Oh, Doctor Robotnik would definitely mind, but... screw him.

Amy drew her hammer out. Generally speaking, it wasn't a large weapon, but it had a surprising amount of weight to it, making it just as deadly as one would hope.

With all eyes but hers looking away, Amy charged, and with as mighty a swing as her small self could muster (which, it's worth noting, was very mighty), she brought the hammer down on the Roboticiser, shattering it into a million pieces.

The jackals froze, as they slowly looked over to the now smashed Roboticiser, and took note of Amy. “Two of them...” Duex muttered in horror. “There's... two hedgehogs?!”

“We are screwed!” Uno shouted. “Bail!”

The jackals quickly turned tail and ran. Shadow stood and looked at Amy, slightly dumbfounded. For a moment, Amy felt like he might have been off-put by her sudden show of strength... until he gave a quick thumbs up.

“Good showing, kid,” Shadow said. “You sure you need my help?”

Amy gave a slightly embarrassed laugh, as she rubbed the back of her head. “Well... I don't exactly have your experience, so...”

“Hey, I've only had one adventure before this,” Shadow said. “Way I see it, you're doing fine.” As Amy swooned somewhat, Shadow approached the busted machine. “So... a Roboticiser,” he said. “I'm willing to bet we'll be going backwards and forwards in time to smash these things.”

“Hopefully there's not too many of them,” Amy said. “Time travel's hard to wrap my head around.”

“Agreed,” Shadow added, before noticing a glint of green among the metal. Shifting the fragments aside, Shadow pulled out a gemstone of some kind, similar to the Chaos Emerald he held, only without the extra pointy end at the bottom. “Would this happen to be a Time Stone?”

Amy looked at the stone in question. “I dunno. Never actually seen one before,” she admitted. “Why would Robotnik stuff something like this inside a machine, though?”

“Maybe to keep the machine locked in this time?” Shadow guessed. “I don't know anything about this sort of thing.”

“Wanna take it anyway, since the doctor seems to want it?”

“Absolutely.”

Once the two made a certain amount of distance from the broken Roboticiser, reality seemed to shift around them, and suddenly they found themselves back in (presumably) the present day.

“Guess that time warp was localised,” Shadow surmised. “That's a relief. I'd hate to have to try and work it out.”

“Hey, up ahead!” Amy called out. “Isn't that...”

In the distance, Shadow spied three different jackals, and the man of the hour himself. “Well well,” Shadow muttered. “The doctor's made his appearance. And it seems we beat those two here.”

The two kept to the bushes, and listened in on Eggman's conversation.

“What is taking those two so long?!” the doctor yelled. “How hard can it be to set up the last Roboticiser?!”

“To be fair,” Quatre spoke up, “those things aren't exactly light, boss.”

“Agreed,” Infinite said. “Besides, they might have run into trouble out there.”

“Oh, not this noise again,” Eggman sighed. “Look, Infinite. They're only 2000 years in the past! They're not going to run into any dinosaurs! Once they're out of range of the Roboticiser, they'll be right back to this time period. We've gone over this literally every time!”

“That doesn't make this whole thing any less dangerous,” Trois pointed out. “Doctor, can you really say you know everything about the era in which the Ancient Echidnas lived?”

“Do I look like a historian to you?!” Eggman shouted. “Besides, the Echidnas never settled on Little Planet! This is just common knowledge!”

There was a rustling in the bushes nearby, and both Uno and Duex stumbled out, panting heavily. “There you guys are!” Quatre shouted. “What took you so long?”

“H... Hedge...” Uno tried to say between breaths.

“You found a hedge?” Eggman questioned. “Look, what you do in your free time's your own business, but you're on the clock, damn it!”

“No!” Duex shouted. “Hedgehog! Hedgehog is back, and brought friend!”

Looks of shock and horror made etched onto everyone's faces. “He couldn't,” Eggman said in disbelief. “How could he track us all the way here? What of the Roboticiser?!”

“Smashed,” Uno answered. “The other hedgehog with him... busted it up with a hammer.”

“And the Time Stone?!”

“Wait, there was a Time Stone in that thing?!” Duex shouted. “Why didn't you tell us that?!”

“What did you think powered it?!” Eggman shouted back.

“You stuff animals into Badniks!” Infinite pointed out. “You didn't tell us this was different!”

Shadow and Amy, from their position in the bushes, shared a glance that said 'can you believe these guys?', before smirking as they stepped out of their cover. “Seems you've really dropped the ball, doctor,” Shadow called out. “Imagine, not keeping your friends up to date on your plans.”

Eggman turned and glared. “Hedgehog,” he said venomously. “How did you even find me here?!” Then, he noticed Amy. “And that's your plus one?! Jackal Squad, you are losing credibility by the minute!”

“So, what's the plan now, doctor?” Shadow asked. “Turn tail and flee this planet? Or stay and fight?”

Eggman growled in frustration. “Jackals! Get out of here and protect the other Roboticisers! I'll scramble these rodents!”

The Jackal Squad quickly followed their orders, though not without Infinite pausing to cast a glance at Shadow. On his face was an expression of mostly contempt, mixed with curiosity.

So, it was just Shadow, Amy, and Eggman, alone on this plateau. “So,” Eggman said. “How'd you know where to find me?”

“I didn't,” Shadow answered. “I decided, after kicking your sorry butt, to do some exploring of the world. A new friend I made told me that Little Planet was a thing that existed, came to check it out, and what do I find but your toys lying around.” Shadow then glanced back at Amy. “Also found Amy here.”

Eggman raised a brow, but didn't question it. “No matter, then. I'll just have to crush you both!” A large machine dropped from the sky, connecting to the Egg Mobile, and granting it a pair of spiked legs and arms that had soft bumpers on the ends. “Behold, the EGG-HVC-001!”

There was a moment of silence, before Shadow spoke. “That's... not a very creative name,” he pointed out. “Why not something like 'Egg Puncher'?”

“Was that... really how he named things?” Amy asked.

“Yeah. It was lame, but it wasn't boring.”

Eggman glared at the two. “I am going to squash you now,” he said threateningly. “And I am going to take immense joy in it.”

The machine began to stop towards the two hedgehogs. Amy felt fear creep up her spine, but a glance at Shadow, and she noticed just how... unbothered he was by it.

“Say, Amy,” Shadow said. “I bet you could bust up that machine by giving it's legs a good wack with that hammer of yours.”

“What?” Amy asked. “How am I suppose to do that? Look at how big that thing is!”

“Yes... but it's also slow,” Shadow pointed out. “You could run circles around it.”

Amy wasn't too sure about it, but after taking a deep breath, she realised... Shadow was right. Each step the machine took dug into the ground, and it clearly couldn't turn on a dime. Getting behind it would, actually, be very easy.

Amy glanced back at Shadow, who gave a supportive thumbs-up in response.

… Oh, what the hell? Might as well take a crack at it.

Amy charged forth, much to Eggman's surprise and bewilderment, and after ducking through the legs of the machine, pulled out her hammer, and gave it a mighty swing.

The hammer didn't stop when it connected with one leg, and instead smashed through both, causing the machine to drop to the ground unceremoniously.

Eggman merely stared dumbly at the pink hedgehog. “I can see now why the jackals were afraid of you,” he admitted, before slamming his hand down on a button, and purging the EGG-HVC-001 from the Egg Mobile. “I'll squash you yet, you rodents!!”

As Eggman flew off, Shadow walked up to Amy's side. “Good showing,” he said. “Eggman's not so scary now, is he?”

“Was... that why you wanted me to smash that thing?” Amy asked. “Prove that he wasn't all that?”

At that, Shadow smirked and ruffled Amy's quills. “And I was right, wasn't I?” he said. “That rotten egg talks a big game, but a little bravery goes a long way. You'll be a great hero for your people in no time.” Shadow had to admit, he didn't really know where all this 'motivational speech' stuff was coming from. Perhaps it came from the fact that, even if he did go with her to save her home from Eggman's forces, he'd probably leave afterwards, and who knows when the doctor would be back? A part of Shadow must have realised that, and figured that a kid as adventurous as Amy Rose would make for a good guardian of the peace.

“Now, what say you we get moving?” Shadow said. “Little Planet's not gonna save itself.”

Amy's eyes were filled with awe and admiration for the black hedgehog. She was officially the sidekick to such a powerful hero like this? What more could she ask for?

Well... there was one thing, but baby steps for the moment.

“Right behind you!”

Eggman grumbled annoyingly as he flew through Collision Chaos. The Zone had been set up not unlike Spring Yard had been on South Island, but there was still the problem of how to handle Shadow and his new plus one.

How was he suppose to deal with them? One super powered hedgehog was enough of a headache, but two? What he needed was...

“... To fight fire with fire,” Eggman muttered to himself, a smirk forming on his face. “Yes... I still have that in reserve, don't I? That machine built using my late grandfather's research as a basis. The second coming of the Ultimate Lifeform...” A manic cackle broke from the doctor's throat. Yes, yes! It was perfect! Sure, he had kept that project in storage because, frankly, using it seemed like overkill, but now... Now was the perfect time to bring it out!

“Oh, you won't know what hit you, Shadow the Hedgehog...” Eggman muttered gleefully. “I'll make you struggle and suffer, before I grind you into dust.”

Before Shadow and Amy stood a huge wall. They couldn't see any way around it, under it, or over it, and while there was a way through, it was currently blocked by a bunch of spikes.

“So... now what?” Amy asked.

“The one problem I didn't account for,” Shadow muttered. “Infrastructure.” He still hadn't figured out how that whole teleportation thing the Chaos Emerald was capable of worked, so he'd have to rule that method out. “Should we try to find another one of those time travel things?”

“Might be our best bet,” Amy agreed. “But we don't know how it works, so...”

The two hedgehogs paused, their ears picking up on something. “What is that?” Amy asked. “It sounds like...”

“Something's coming,” Shadow finished. “But from where?”

Then, all hell broke loose.

The wall before them cracked, before erupting in a shower of rock and rubble. The hedgehogs barely had time to react, as a figure that gleamed of metal could be seen dashing through the avalanche at supersonic speeds, before it landed with a resounding shock-wave between the two.

Shadow took in the appearance of the figure. It was unlike any robot or Badnik Eggman had sent out to date. It stood as tall as Shadow, its body was sleek and streamlined, gleaming predominately azure and silver, with splashes of gold and red, and those eyes...

Shadow knew, fundamentally, that those were not actual eyes. He had a feeling that this machine was seeing through some kind of camera, and that those 'eyes' were more akin to garnish, to create the idea that it was looking directly at him. But... there was something about those lines of lights in the shape of red eyes... that just oozed contempt.

A mechanical hand clenched, and in a blur of motion, the robot punched Shadow in the gut, sending him flying. Amy let out a cry of surprise, gripping her hammer tight. “How dare you hurt Shadow like that!” she shouted, taking a swing at the machine.

But, the head of the hammer was caught with ease. The machine looked at her, and with a simple squeeze of its hand, the hammer shattered into pieces.

Amy could only watch in shock, as the machine's back-mounted thruster roared to life, and in a flash of movement, it had grabbed Amy from behind, lifting her up into the air.

“Amy!!” Shadow called out.

The machine, hovering in the air with Amy in its grasp, glared at Shadow, before turning around, and flying off the way it came.

A gnawing dread began to work its way into Shadow's heart, as he sped off after them, brushing past another of those sign posts. Shadow ran at speeds he didn't think he could reach before. He took a mighty jump, trying to reach the machine... just as the light of time travel engulfed him once more.

Chapter Text

Shadow crashed face first into the ground, having failed to grab the mechanical hedgehog who kidnapped Amy. He had been so close, and yet they slipped through his fingers.

This feeling in his heart... it was fear, wasn't it? He had just made his second friend, and now she was in danger because of him. Should he have sent her away? Told her to wait for him? Would it have made any difference?

Shadow forced himself up, and saw the scenery around him for what it now was.

The sky was black, ash fell like snow. The grass beneath his hands was cold and dead, the trees were withered and cracked. It felt like the air itself had a certain griminess to it; a great deal of filth that could taint even the soul.

Shadow felt sick to the stomach. It didn't take a genius to conclude that he'd gone forward in time, into the future, and the sight before him filled him with dread. Was this... seriously the world Eggman wished for? This... hell on Mobius?

“... Amy?” Shadow called out. “Can you hear me?!” He desperately hoped that, whatever powers that be had sent him to this time, he had been close enough to pull Amy along with him.

But, no luck. Shadow was the only person here on this dead planet.

Anger began to swell in Shadow's heart. He had to find a way back. He had to stop Eggman from bringing this world into being. He had to save Amy Rose from that metallic hedgehog.

So, Shadow the Hedgehog ran. He busted Badniks as he passed them, searched high and low until he saw what remained of an aged, ancient Roboticiser. He tried to punch it, yet even though it looked as dead as the rest of the world, a barrier blocked his strike. If he wanted to break it, he'd have to go all the way to the distant past to do so.

More time wasted. More time he couldn't afford to waste. It was entirely unlikely that going backwards and forwards in time sent him back to the same exact moment he left, meaning ever second wasted here was a second lost in the present.

Shadow didn't have time to spend here. He ran, searching high and low for more of those sign posts that, maybe, seemed to have the power to send him through time.

Trois let out a sigh as she sat by the Roboticiser 2000 years in the past. She really wasn't sure what the doctor expected her, or the rest of the Jackal Squad sans Infinite, to do about that Shadow the Hedgehog.

Even as a team, they had a hard time keeping up with him, and the doctor expected them to be able to protect the Roboticisers individually? Sure, they had a degree of experience with him now, but that experience only told them that they were way out of their league. This wasn't like fighting the Mobians of the Acorn Kingdom; Shadow was far stronger than anything they had faced before.

A sudden wave of energy washed over this ancient landscape, and Trois was immediately on edge. That feeling was unmistakably someone breaking through time. Shadow the Hedgehog was on his way. Trois focused her senses, prepared for her foe to strike at any moment.

She only heard the sound of him skating for half a second, before Shadow the Hedgehog shot up from below the cliff like a bat out of hell.

Red lightning crackled around Shadow's body. The air itself seemed to taste of unbridled rage. Trois had a job to do... but damn if she didn't feel like her life was in danger.

Trois wasted no time with any witty banter, as she lunged at the hedgehog, attempting to kick him in the side of the head. All it took was half a moment, as Shadow had vanished from sight. The other half of that moment was filled with the sound of machinery shattering, as Shadow drove his fist into the Roboticiser, and tore out the Time Stone within it.

Shadow didn't even give her a second thought, before he ran off again, Stone in hand.

Trois hadn't even registered as a threat to him.

Shadow was a hedgehog on a mission. The world itself seemed to blur together as he ran across Little Planet, going forward and backwards in time to find and destroy those Roboticisers.

Yet... he was no closer to finding Amy now than he was hours ago.

As the day ticked on, and night came around, Shadow was in possession of six Time Stones. He could feel their power resonating with each new addition, and they definitely made travelling through time easier.

But, as important as they were, the Stones were superfluous to his main priority. His main goal in stopping Eggman right now was saving Amy Rose.

Shadow raced down a highway that looked to be made up of musical instruments. The stars shone down overhead, glittering like diamonds.

But, Shadow didn't have the time to waste admiring the beauty of this place. He had to find Amy.

A sonic boom echoed through the air, causing Shadow to screech to a halt. He knew there was only once source for a sound like that, and it sure as hell wasn't the Jackal Squad, who had been chasing after him from a distance. He closed his eyes, and allowed his ears to do the heavy lifting for a moment, before quickly dodging out of the way, as that same mechanical hedgehog busted through the floor seconds later.

“Oh ho ho ho!!” Eggman's voice echoed, as he hovered down from the sky. “So, you've finally caught up, Shadow! You certainly took your sweet time, slowpoke!”

“Spare me the pleasantries, Eggman!” Shadow said. “Where's Amy?!”

“Talk about rude,” Eggman muttered. “Your little friend is just on the other end of the highway. But, if you want to take her back, you'll have to deal with my finest creation to date.”

“What, this imitation hedgehog?” Shadow asked, glaring at the robot. “It caught me off guard once. It won't get so lucky a second time.”

“Don't be so sure, my spiky foe,” Eggman chuckled. “First, allow me to introduce him. This... is Hyper Metal Sonic! Built off of old designs left by my late grandfather, the genius scientist Gerald Robotnik! His research was on how to create the Ultimate Lifeform, and Metal Sonic here is an improvement on those parameters in every way, making it the Ultimate Machine!!”

Something in the back of Shadow's mind buzzed slightly. He couldn't quite make out which of the things he said had set it off, but there was just something... oddly familiar about something the doctor said. “Big deal,” he said, brushing the feeling off. “There's no way this Faker can take me in a head on battle.”

Metal Sonic's eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare.

“Now now, Shadow. Let's be sporting about it,” Eggman said. “How about a race between you and Metal? The first to reach the runt wins.”

Shadow glared at the robot, which motioned its head towards the runway, before it used its hand to make the universal 'come on' gesture. Seemed this machine had quite the attitude.

“... Fine, then,” Shadow said. “I'll show you this thing's not even good enough to be a fake.”

Eggman laughed as Shadow and Metal Sonic raced off. Both hedgehog and machine soared down the road at record speed, but Eggman had confidence in his creation. After all, it was only outputting at 60% capacity.

“Urgh...” Amy groaned, as she slowly opened her eyes.

“Finally awake, runt?” Eggman asked. “Good, then you can watch as your hero gets trounced by my ultimate creation!”

“What... is that thing?” Amy asked weakly.

At that moment, Infinite dropped in. “I second the kids question, doctor,” he said. “Something tells me this isn't just a Roboticised hedgehog.”

“What part of 'Ultimate Machine' don't you get?” Eggman asked. “Metal Sonic is completely, 100% hand made. Roboticisation works to quickly produce obedient slaves, and improve on the strengths of Mobians, but none of that came come close to sheer, absolute ingenuity!”

“But... that robot...” Amy muttered. “Why does it... look like Bernadette's son?”

“Who?” Eggman questioned. “Listen, runt, my grandfather's research dates back over 50 years. Any relation the subject of Project Hedgehog has with anyone else is entirely coincidental.”

“Her son was taken by you!” Amy shouted. “All because of those experiments you were running 15 years ago!”

“15 years...?” Eggman muttered. “Oh, right. That would have been around the time I first got my hands on a Time Stone. Hate to break it to you (I lie, of course) kid, but that experiment was a bust. Nothing left of that runt but time dust.”

“How can you be so cruel?!” Amy shouted. “Does life mean so little to you?! And you, jackal! How can you agree with what he's doing?!”

“Man pays well, what can I say?” Infinite shrugged.

“And why should I care about being seen as cruel?” Eggman asked. “It is the nature of all living being to try and rise above the rest. It's a dog eat dog world out there, kid, and there's a damn good reason I'm so rotund.”

“But... but you...” Amy muttered in disbelief, tears starting to form in her eyes. “You tore a newborn child from his mother! How can you possibly justify that?!”

At that, Eggman could only chuckle menacingly.

Shadow had to admit, this Metal Sonic creation was living up to Eggman's hype. Its speed managed to match his own remarkably well, even if neither of them were giving it their all.

Considering all the little potshots Metal Sonic was taking, it wasn't like either of them could go at max speed. From kicks to punches, to shooting lasers out of its chest, Metal Sonic was stopping at nothing to destroy Shadow.

But Shadow wouldn't give it a chance. He refused to lose to a cheep knockoff hedgehog like this.

Metal Sonic pulled ahead, before turning around and charging at Shadow, body wrapped in electricity. Shadow felt the lightning tingle against his quills as Metal Sonic narrowly passed by. Shadow had to think of something; he was running out of raceway.

Shadow clenched his fist in frustration, and felt a strange energy surge through his body. Operating on instinct, Shadow pulled out the Chaos Emerald, noticing it was radiating energy much like when it caused him to teleport.

Yet... this felt different. Sharper, in a way. He could feel the energy coursing through his body, and into his free hand.

Curious, Shadow swung his empowered hand towards Metal Sonic, causing a bolt of green energy to shoot out, and strike the mechanical hedgehog directly in the chest.

Shadow looked between his hand and the robot, which spasmed uncontrollably from the introduction of unknown energy, before finally collapsing to the ground.

“... Interesting,” Shadow muttered. “Questions for later. Right now, Amy needs me!”

Shadow ran at full speed, and within seconds, he had made it to Eggman. “Gah!” the doctor shouted. “What happened to Metal?!”

“Came up short on the circuit, and short-circuited,” Shadow said, glaring intensely. “Now, run. Run before I do to you what I did to your toy.”

Eggman felt sweat begin to bead on his brow. Knowing he was in no position to battle Shadow, he turned the Egg Mobile around. “Fine! But I still have the last Time Stone!” he shouted as he flew off. “So HA!!”

That'd have to be rectified later. Right now, Shadow had different priorities. He quickly turned around... to see Amy being held at blade point by Infinite.

“Not a step closer, hedgehog,” Infinite said. “Unless you want heads to roll.”

Rage flared in Shadow's mind once more. How dare that jackal... How dare he! “I'll give you the same warning I gave Eggman; RUN.”

“Don't try to play tough,” Infinite smirked. “Even you can't close the gap quick enough to stop my blade.”

Instantly proving him wrong, Shadow seemed to flicker as he moved, and was immediately right in front of Amy and Infinite, his hand gripping the crimson blade of the jackal's sword. Infinite tried to pull the blade out of Shadow's grip, but it wouldn't budge.

All it took was one twist of the wrist, and Shadow snapped the blade in two. Shadow cast the blade aside, and delivered a swift punch to Infinite's gut, knocking the wind out of him, before following up with a kick that sent the jackal flying into a wall.

“Pathetic,” Shadow spat. “Get out of my sight, you vermin.”

Infinite gasped for air, struggling to get to his feet. In the distance, he heard his comrades call out to him, rushing to his side, and just as quickly getting him away.

More wounded than Infinite's body was, by far, his pride. That hedgehog made a mockery of everything he stood for; everything he was capable of.

And Shadow didn't even care. He didn't care about how much the Jackal Squad worked for their reputation. He didn't care how strong they were. To Shadow, the Jackal Squad was just another obstacle in his way, and nothing more. That... only angered Infinite more.

Once the jackals were out of sight, Shadow felt the tension leave his body. Quickly, he turned to face Amy. “Are you alright?” he asked, keeping his tone level to mask his worry and relief.

As the rope fell from around Amy's body, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Shadow in a tight hug, sobbing softly.

Shadow allowed his mask to slip, as he gently placed his hand on Amy's head. “It's alright now,” he said softly. “You're safe now.”

“But...” Amy hiccuped. “But Bernadette's son... he's...”

Shadow had no idea what she was wanting to say, but the least he could do right now was be a comforting presence for the kid.

It took roughly ten minutes for Amy to calm down. Not that Shadow would blame her, mind you.

“Bernadette... she's the closest thing many of us in Knothole have to a mother,” Amy said, sniffling slightly. “Robotnik's been raging his war against the Acorn Kingdom for longer than I've been alive. Longer than even the kings daughter and her friends have been alive, too. For all us kids, Bernadette Hedgehog and her husband, Jules, were the closest thing we had to parents. From what I was told, around 15 years ago, they were... expecting.”

Shadow cocked his head in question. “Expecting what?” he asked.

Amy gave Shadow a puzzled look. “You... do know where babies come from, right?”

“Look at me,” Shadow said. “I came into this world fifty years ago, and haven't changed a bit. I'm more than aware that my knowledge has some gaps to it.”

Amy filed that under 'curious facts', and continued. “They were expecting to have a child of their own,” she continued. “But then... when their son was just born... before they even had a chance to name him, Robotnik attacked. Their son... he took their newborn son for one of his experiments. Jules and his majesty tried to get him back, but... they were too late. The king came back injured, and Jules... nobody knows what happened to him.”

Shadow felt his stomach twist itself into knots. “What was the doctor planning?”

“Robotnik said... that the experiment was his first time testing the uses of a Time Stone,” Amy said. “And that it... didn't work out. The child was just... gone.”

Rage boiled in Shadow's mind. He knew Eggman was despicable, malicious man, but this? This was just too much for him to comprehend. How could one man hold so much contempt for other people?

Shadow placed a supportive hand on Amy's head. “Then, we'll bring an end to this,” he said. “Stop Eggman once and for all, and make him pay for what he's done.”

“You... sure you want me to hang around for that?” Amy asked. “I screwed up and got kidnapped. Won't I just slow you down?”

“One mistake shouldn't define what you do going forward,” Shadow said, as the sun began to rise on the horizon. “Inform you of what to do better next time, sure, but never let a setback stop you from trying again.”

As the light glistened across Shadow's quills, a thought crossed Amy's star-struck mind; why his name was 'Shadow'. It was because he was a guide to the light, not an absence of it.

How could she not fall head over heels for him?

As the sun rose higher into the sky, Shadow stood up. “Come on,” he said. “Let's end this thing with Eggman.”

Amy quickly stood up. “Right!” she said. As the two ran off in the direction Eggman fled, a question sprung to mind. “Hey, Shadow? What was that energy shot thing you did before?”

“Not sure,” Shadow admitted. “It felt like another power from the Chaos Emerald, though. Much like the teleporting.”

“... Maybe you should name those powers?” Amy offered. “I don't think I've ever seen anyone else use them before. But... then again, I've never seen a Chaos Emerald before today, either.”

“Not a bad idea,” Shadow agreed. “Might put a pin on the teleporting power, though. Still haven't figured that one out. As for the other one... Chaos Shoot? No, that doesn't sound right.”

“How about 'Spear'?” Amy offered. “It kinda looked like a spear from what I could see.”

“So... Chaos Spear, then,” Shadow said. “Yeah... that feels pretty cool.”

Eggman's base of operation was, much like last time, a sprawling mechanical metropolis. At least, that was the first thought that crossed Shadow's mind. On closer inspection, he could see that it was more akin to a large factory of some kind, spitting out a seemingly endless supply of Badniks.

As he and Amy made their way through this Metallic Madness, Shadow gradually got a handle on this new power he was pulling from the Chaos Emerald. Surprisingly, it came to him as naturally as flight did for Flickies. Chaos Spear made taking out the flying Badniks so, so much easier.

Shadow was also thankful that Amy seemed to have bounded back into action pretty well. Sure, she had to make do with a slapped-together hammer that was basically just a chunk of pillar with a length of steel bar sticking out of it, which wasn't much... but damn if she didn't make it work.

That kid was going places, that much was certain. Shadow felt pretty glad to have made a friend like her so soon after leaving Green Hill.

A siren suddenly began to blare, causing the two hedgehogs to screech to a halt just in time, as the Jackal Squad dropped down from above, landing right where the hedgehogs would have been if they'd kept going.

“You've been... seriously persistent,” Infinite said darkly. “You have trampled on our pride as the Ultimate Mercenaries... You'll pay for that, Shadow the Hedgehog.”

Shadow noticed slight hesitation from Amy, which was quickly replaced by a look of pure determination. That kid was seriously going to go places.

Shadow looked at the jackals, and smirked. “You know, you keep throwing the word 'ultimate' around, but frankly, you five are a disappointment,” he mocked. “Honestly, what does Eggman see in you?”

“Frankly, I'm starting to wonder about that myself,” Eggman's voice came out of nowhere. A large sphere descended from on high, equipped with four large spinning blade around it. “But no matter! You won't be getting your filthy paws on this last Time Stone!”

“We'll just see about that, doctor,” Shadow said. “You ready, Amy?”

“Ready!” Amy responded. “They'll pay for everything they've put us through!”

Eggman growled in frustration, seeing as the runt had grown a spine. “Attack!!”

At that point, pandemonium broke out. Two hedgehogs versus five jackals and one fat man. To adequately put into words exactly what was going on in this cartoon dust-cloud of a fight would be nigh impossible.

What was easy to note, however, was that everyone that wasn't Amy was focusing their attention on Shadow. He was considered the biggest threat to Eggman's side.

For Amy, this was the perfect opportunity to get back at the doctor.

As Eggman launched the blades at Shadow, paying little mind to how close they got to hitting Infinite and company, Amy took her chance, and after a mighty jump, swung her hammer hard at the machine, knocking it askew considerably.

“Grr!! Lousy runt!” Eggman cursed. “Hasn't anyone taught you to respect your elders?!”

“How about you become a respectable elder, then?!” Amy shouted back. “So many kids didn't get to have a childhood because of you!”

Eggman narrowly dodged the next swing, though his machine still crashed back first into the nearby wall, the shockwave of which causing the windshield to shatter. “Oh, boo hoo!” Eggman replied. “I didn't get to have much of a childhood either, and you don't see me complaining!”

“Oh, no! You just make it everyone else's problem!!”

Shadow and the jackals paused their battle, watching the young hedgehog and doctor fight it out physically and verbally. “And you're sure you want to keep cashing his cheques?” Shadow asked.

“He pays just that good,” Infinite sighed. “Look, you're not going to convince us to switch sides. Just give up!”

“Worth a try,” Shadow shrugged, before delivering a low kick that knocked all the jackals off their feet. “Just remember, I gave you an out.”

Amy did her best not to get distracted by Shadow's skill. After all, she already had her hands full dealing with the doctor.

Eggman moved erratically, before crashing into a pillar and causing his machine to topple over, and slam into the ground. Amy jumped high, and swung her hammer down. Panicking, Eggman raised his hands in defence, and began throwing anything and everything that was loose in the cockpit. It was only too late that he realised, whether by some cosmic accident or on pure instinct... that he had thrown the Time Stone at her among the random garbage.

And Amy... without realising it, smashed her hammer against in amongst all the other rubbish.

A hollow sound rang out. Colour seemed to drain from the world, as cracks began to form along the Time Stone. Eggman barely had time to slam his fist on the eject button, and fly clear in the Egg Mobile.

Panic rose in Shadow's mind again, as he tried to run to Amy's side. For some reason, though, even as he pushed himself to go as fast as he could, he was barely covering any distance.

A look of pure, abject horror, made its way onto Amy's face, just as the azure Time Stone shattered, creating a vacuum of space and time in its place.

Uno quickly grabbed hold of the nearest pipe, and used his free hand to grab Infinite, whom grabbed Trois, followed by Due and Quatre. “We need to get out of here!” Uno shouted. “Like, right now!”

“Well, I'm open to suggestions!” Infinite shouted back. “Kinda got my hands full!”

“Ah!” Quatre yelled. “I dropped my dagger!”

“Man, whatever!!” the rest of the squad responded.

Shadow barely managed to grab hold of Amy's hand, and with his other, he succeeded in digging his fingers into the metal ground beneath him for anchorage. “Hold on!” Shadow yelled.

“I...” Amy gasped. “I'm slipping!”

Shadow tightened his grip, desperately trying to pull Amy closer. He'd have to worry about any injuries he'd cause her later; there was no way in hell he was going to lose her here and now.

But... at the moment he thought that, something slammed into the ring around his wrist, causing his grip to loosen... just enough for Amy to slip through his hand.

Shadow could only watch in horror as Amy Rose fell further, and further into the hole in reality. “Sha-”

Whatever Amy had wanted to say, Shadow would never know, as all of a sudden, reality seemed to snap like a rubber band, and... she was gone.

Shadow dropped to the floor as gravity took hold once more. There was a two meter crater where the Time Stone had been, now filled with an emptiness that couldn't even be made with the strongest of bombs. His heart sank, and burned with grief and anger that he wasn't able to direct at anything... until he looked down, and saw a dreadfully familiar dagger lying on the ground, the pommel of which having hit him moments ago.

Slowly, his gaze moved towards the Jackal Squad, and locked squarely on Quatre. The jackal in question, realising he was the focus of the hedgehog's attention, gulped nervously. “Um...” he tried to speak. “I'm sor-”

Everything from that point became a blur of crimson for Shadow the Hedgehog. The only memory he had between Amy's... disappearance, and now was... blinding and burning.

As Shadow finally came to, the first thing he noticed was the overwhelming stench of ashes. The next thing was that he was now standing in a crater that utterly dwarfed the one Amy had... vanished in.

Slowly, Shadow looked down, and saw the smouldering remains of a pair of black boots and a green bandanna.

It was also then that Shadow noticed the crackling red energy that surrounded him, burning the ground he stood on.

It wasn't difficult for Shadow to draw the most logical conclusion, and it horrified him. He looked around, almost hopeful to be proven wrong, and when he saw Infinite at the edge of the crater... flanked by only three of his allies, all his worst fears were answered.

“You...” Infinite muttered, voice dripping with rage. “You... killed Quatre...”

Three words, that hit like a tonne of bricks. A life snuffed out by his own hands. Sure, a part of Shadow's mind whispering dark nothings said that the jackal deserved it, but... it didn't change anything. Amy was gone. Vaporising one person, no matter how he did it, wouldn't change anything.

“YOU!!” Infinite spat viciously, as he lunged from the edge of the crater. “HOW DARE YOU!!!”

Shadow wasn't sure when instinct took over, but in his daze, he had pulled out the Chaos Emerald, and teleported all the way to the other side of Little Planet.

Before the hedgehog was a large lake. Large and so very, very deep. Following the first train of thought his jumbled mind took him down, he produced the six Time Stones he had on him, and threw them all into the water.

The stones sank, until eventually, not even their glow could be seen. Their power was too much for the world.

But... that wouldn't bring her back. The damage was done.

With a slight hiccup, Shadow once again blipped out of existence.

Maria Prower looked out the window of her workshop and stared at the rain that fell heavily on West Side Island. It had been two days since she had met Shadow the Hedgehog, and directed him towards Little Planet as a spot of interest.

Quietly, in the peace and quiet of her home, she wondered how he was doing. Was he enjoying the wondrous sight of the small planetoid? Was he making new friends out there?

Maria couldn't help but giggle at herself. Look at her, fretting about a 50 year old hedgehog like she was his mother.

Shadow was probably doing just fine.

Maria was taken from her thoughts by an unusual sound, a kind of... 'phwoop' noise, like air being suddenly displaced. Curious, Maria looked out her window, and saw a familiar figure standing outside.

“Shadow?” Maria questioned. “He's back already?” She eventually took notice of the green glow in his hand. “He must be using the Chaos Emerald to warp. Maybe he's got that power figured out?” she guessed. “I should invite him inside. He'll catch a cold out there like that.”

Maria quickly ran to the door, spinning her tails for a bit of extra propulsion, and grabbed an umbrella as she stepped outside.

Strangely, though... he didn't turn around. No worries, though. Maybe he just didn't hear her open the door. The rain was rather loud.

“Shadow?” Maria called out. “Are you okay?”

Slowly, Shadow turned around, and there was something about the expression on his face that Maria knew intrinsically was heartbreaking. There was just so much sorrow behind those red eyes, she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

“Maria...” Shadow muttered weakly. “I...”

Maria walked over to Shadow slowly, and placed a hand on his cheek. “You're freezing,” she said. “Let's get you inside, yeah?” Gently, she took Shadow's hand, and led him towards the door. His steps were... concerningly slow. Was he hurt somehow?

For now, though, the most she could do was help him feel safe and comfortable.

Chapter Text

Infinite punched the wall again, leaving another of many dents in the hull of the airship.

“Would you cut that out?!” Eggman yelled. “It takes forever to buff those out!”

Trois placed a hand on Infinite's shoulder. “Please, calm down just a bit,” she said. “None this is...”

“How can you expect me to be calm?!” Infinite shouted. “Quatre... Quatre is dead! He's...”

Eggman sighed in frustration. “Oh, get over it already!” he said. “Yeah, it sucks, but this happens. Clearly, we're underestimating that damn hedgehog too much.”

Infinite growled in frustration. Not only had one of his brothers in arms been reduced to effectively atoms, but the doctor... he was being so flippant about it. Was that hedgehog right about...

Infinite punched the wall again. No! He refused to believe that Shadow might have been right.

A door slid open, and Uno walked in, heaving the damaged body of Metal Sonic over his shoulders. “Here's your damn robot, boss,” he said. “Not sure how useful this piece of scrap will be, though. That light show Shadow pulled off fried it real good.”

“Bah. I'll have to send it off to my base in the Mystic Ruins for repairs,” Eggman sighed. “Such a shame, too. It managed to handle that little runt better than any of you did.”

So, the doctor wouldn't mourn the loss of a life, but he would the damage of a machine? How... infuriating.

A machine nearby went 'ding'. Eggman casually sauntered over to it, and looked at its readings. “Oh ho... Interesting,” he said. “We're coming up on West Side Island. One of you make sure the Wing Fortress lands somewhere hidden!”

“Aye, doc,” Duex sighed, as he made his way to the helm of the ship. “Wanted it ready to take off at a moments notice, too?”

“Naturally,” Eggman said. “The Chaos Emeralds, all seven of them, are on this island. Once we have them, we'll retreat to the one place that pesky hedgehog can't reach us...”

They all looked up, as if trying to see something in the skies above them. There was, however, the small problem of the roof being in the way, turning an otherwise ominously dramatic scene into one where they all looked like idiots.

“I don't think it needs pointing out,” Trois spoke next, “but that hedgehog almost certainly has one of them.”

“Then we save it for last,” Eggman answered. “Perhaps take the time to figure out how that blasted rodent is able to pull power so naturally from the Emeralds. Then, we beat him at his own game!”

“He.... he he he ha ha ha ha!” Infinite suddenly laughed. “Use his own powers against him... Yes... I like that!”

Concerned, Uno leaned over to Trois. “Is he alright?” Uno whispered.

“The hell do you think?” Trois asked.

It had been three weeks since Shadow returned to West Side Island, and frankly, Maria was concerned for him.

Well, okay, she had only met Shadow the one time, when she gave him his new shoes and pointed him towards Never Lake, so maybe it was a stretch to say that they were 'friends' already, but she liked to think she made a good first impression!

But, when he reappeared a day after they parted ways, the look on his face was... just heartbreaking to see. Whatever had happened, it had hurt Shadow badly.

Which was why, for the past three weeks of nearly endless rain, Shadow had been standing outside, by the top of the nearby cliff, just staring off into space. It was half a miracle that Maria was able to get him to come inside for an hour or two at a time to eat something.

But, Shadow still wouldn't open up about what happened. His heart was closed off to everyone.

She wanted to think of something to do for him, but every idea she had, she just as quickly dismissed. There wasn't a chance that most of these ideas would even be entertained, yet alone work.

Maria checked the time. It was getting late. She should probably try to get Shadow to come inside, if only for a few hours. All this time in the rain wouldn't be good for him.

Grabbing her umbrella, Maria walked outside, and followed the path down to the nearby lake.

The mud squelched beneath her boots as she walked, following the footprints that had already been left there. Shadow's footprints were grouped tightly together, telling Maria that he had been taking small, slow steps.

Maria could only felt out a small, sympathetic sigh. Something needed to be done, but she couldn't for the life of her figure it out.

The rain hammered against Shadow's head, as he stared at the clouds above.

He never knew failing to save someone... could hurt so much. Maybe it was just a byproduct of only recently learning the joys of connecting with others, but... how did people manage it? How did people cope with grief?

It was just... overwhelming. Suffocating. He could barely keep a thought in his head, before his mind drifted back to... her fate. Millions of 'what-ifs' flooded his mind at every waking moment, and sleep eluded him.

What could he have done differently? Should he have told Amy not to follow him? He was sure he could have handled Eggman and the Jackal Squad alone, but... he feels like he wouldn't have made such a good friend if she didn't come along... Safety over joy, or joy over safety...

“Shadow?” Maria's voice sounded over the rain. Slowly, Shadow turned around, to see the girl in question standing not far away, under her umbrella. “It's getting late again. Please come back inside.”

Maria. Right now, she was the one thing keeping him grounded. The only one making sure he ate... anything, really.

Without a word, Shadow walked slowly to Maria's side, and followed her back to her home. Half way down the path, he suddenly spoke. “Maria,” he said. “What... should I be doing with myself? I'm... so lost.”

“I... don't think I can answer that, Shadow,” Maria admitted. “I... haven't exactly managed losing my own family well, either. But... one step at a time, am I right?”

Shadow gave it some thought. One step at a time... Could he manage even that much? Where was he suppose to begin? How does one... take that first step?

The following day, the rain had finally stopped. It was still dreadfully overcast, but it was still better weather.

Still, the humidity was something awful. Maria was probably not going to get much work done on the Tornado today. Perhaps she should spend some time working on new design plans instead. Perhaps something to help Shadow's mood? But what did the 50 year old hedgehog like?

Well, she'd need to think of something. Him being in such a slump was not good for his health, especially with all the 'standing in the rain' he's been doing lately.

While she was deep in thought, something in the distance went 'boom'. Smoke could be seen rising in the distance, in the direction of the village, and a feeling of dread worked its way into Maria's mind. As quickly as she could, she ran in the direction of the village, spinning her tails for extra propulsion.

When she reached the outskirts of the village, Maria's worst fears were realised; Robotnik's forces were attacking. Badniks were tearing down buildings, kidnapping her fellow foxes, and leaving total destruction in their wake.

Maria knew it would be a fools errand... but she had to do something. Shadow had been through enough, and didn't need this to deal with while still handling... whatever had happened to him.

So, Maria leapt into the air, spinning her tails so fast, they became more akin to propellers, and flew down to the village square.

“Get moving!” a voice shouted. “That Chaos Emerald's around here somewhere!”

Maria hid atop one of the roofs, and peered down at the jackal with mismatched eyes commanding the Badniks. She knew, from hearsay alone, that she was looking at the leader of the Jackal Squad, Infinite.

She could say, without question, that this was a bad situation to be in. The Jackal Squad was infamous for their brutality, to the point where nobody in their right mind would hire them, even out of desperation. Makes sense, then, that Robotnik would hire them.

Maria knew she couldn't fight someone like that. Heck, she was hardly a fighter at all. But... she couldn't just stand by and do nothing. What would Shadow do?

That was the best thing she could ask herself. What would Shadow the Hedgehog do in this situation... assuming he wasn't still in the midst of a mental breakdown.

The answer was obvious. She couldn't just hide and do nothing, could she? Regardless of the fact that, pessimistically speaking, she didn't owe the people here much of anything, it was still the right thing to do.

Steeling her nerves, Maria flew forth, attempting to tackle the jackal, whom... seemed to flicker ever so briefly, before grabbing her by the back of the neck.

“Well, don't you have a pair of brass ones,” Infinite commented coolly. “Idiotic, but brave. I can respect that.”

“Let... me go!” Maria struggled.

“No can do, runt,” Infinite said. “You're life has more value as a battery than as an obstacle.”

Maria felt her panic rise, as she realised just how out of her depth she was.

The explosions in the distance caused Shadow to stumble, knocking him right out of his daze. Perplexed, he turned around, to see smoke on the horizon.

Danger, a small voice in the back of Shadow's mind said, telling him all he needed to know.

Maria was in danger. Eggman was here. He had to fight.

Before he even had the chance to question himself, Shadow had turned around, and was running in the direction of the danger. He wasn't even sparing the time to humour the subconscious thoughts, telling him that he'd brought Eggman's forces to the only other friend he had.

But, the adrenaline pumping through his veins managed to clear Shadow's mind just enough to reach a wholly different conclusion. He couldn't get by just blaming himself for what happened, because at the end of the day, even if part of the blame was on him messing up... the rest of it, the majority of the blame, fell on the shoulders of Eggman.

Everything that was happening was his fault, and Shadow would make sure justice was dealt.

Shadow increased his speed, feeling his heartbeat in his ears. Not again. He would not let Eggman's actions take another person from him.

As he drew closer to the village square, he could barely make out an annoyingly familiar voice. Not Eggman; Infinite.

Shadow rounded the corner, and say, in the distance, the jackal in question, holding Maria by the back of her neck. Rage filled his vision, and Shadow charged.

Infinite, picking up on the sudden murderous intent, tossed Maria aside, and blocked Shadow's punch.

Fury flashed in Infinite's eyes. “Shadow the Hedgehog,” he spat. “I knew I'd find you here. Only Chaos Emerald left to find is that one you've got. Gonna try and preach to me again?”

“Not this time,” Shadow snarled. “This time, I'm just beating you 'til you're black and blue.”

Infinite grinned an amused look. “Oh, that's good,” he said. “Just makes you no better than me.”

“Don't think that play will work on me,” Shadow retorted. “At least I'm not stomping on the lives of innocent people. No matter how you slice it... I'll always be better than you.”

The hair on the back of Infinite's neck rose in anger. “Bold words,” he spat. “Let's see you back them up, murderer.”

Hedgehog and jackal broke away from each other, and Infinite charged, seeming to flicker in and out of reality with every second step. No, maybe not quite that, but rather, it was like reality itself was skipping every second step Infinite took.

Just when he was about to be in range of Shadow, Infinite blinked out of sight. Instinctively following the flow of energy, Shadow turned his body, and raised his arm to block Infinite's strike from behind.

“That power...” Shadow muttered. “You're using a Chaos Emerald to warp.”

“Got it in one, has-bin,” Infinite said, revealing the red Chaos Emerald he had hidden in his hand. “The power of Chaos Control is no longer your exclusive gimmick.”

“Chaos... what?”

“Another little something the doctor managed to dig up from Project Hedgehog,” Infinite said, as the two broke away. “The true name of that 'teleportation' thing you pulled out.”

(Two weeks ago)

“Doc, what the hell are you talking about?” Infinite asked, looking the Chaos Emerald in his hand over.

“I'm talking about 'Chaos Control',” Eggman sighed. “Turn your ears on already. My late grandfather's research into the Ultimate Lifeform resulted in him finding out that you Mobians possess a special... evolutionary gland or organ that lets your tap into the power of the Chaos Emeralds more easily than a human such as myself.”

“... You're not going to try and cut one of us open to implant that... whatever into yourself, are you?” Infinite asked nervously.

“Do I look like a surgeon to you?” Eggman retorted. “My doctorate's in engineering.”

Infinite let out a small sigh of relief. “So, how am I suppose to tap into this... thing, then?”

“Beats me,” Eggman shrugged. “That's going to be your job. My grandfather wasn't exactly... keen on sharing all the details on how Chaos Control worked. Didn't want it falling into the 'wrong hands', I guess.”

“So, what the hell even is Chaos Control?”

“You know that teleportation thing the hedgehog's been pulling off?” Eggman asked. “It's that. The truth of it is that Chaos Control is a sort of localised manipulation of space and time. What we saw as instantaneous teleportation was, in fact, the temporary freezing of time.”

“But... we've also seen him actually teleport,” Infinite pointed out. “Like, actual folding of space type.”

“Look, I'm just as in the dark on the details as you are,” Eggman sighed. “Like I said, my grandfather was rather stingy on the details. Just know that you can do what Shadow the Hedgehog can do, so figure out how to do it!”

(Present)

“Man's quite the slave driver,” Infinite muttered to himself. “But, enough brute forcing it, and I've figured out your gimmick!”

To emphasise his point, Infinite dashed forward, sporadically teleporting from one side to the other as he charged at Shadow. The jackal's strikes came from every direction, and Shadow was barely able to keep his guard up against them all.

But... there was something Shadow noticed almost immediately. Following every instance of Chaos Control Infinite used, he seemed to look just a little bit more exhausted. That power was taking its toll on him.

If Shadow was able to use that power unconsciously before... what could he do now that he knew what it was?

Pulling out his Chaos Emerald, Shadow concentrated on the power coursing through it. “Now, let's see what this is about,” he muttered. “Chaos... Control!!”

A wave of green energy washed over the world, and everything turned grey. Save for himself, everything around Shadow had slowed to a crawl. Even that flames that once danced upon the buildings seemed frozen in place.

Infinite moved at a snail's pace, his fist slowly travelling towards Shadow's face. It was ironic, in a way, that Shadow would steal a technique from Infinite that was, technically, stolen from Shadow.

Yet, something about this felt... natural for Shadow. He didn't feel the same strain that Infinite was showing.

Another thing to file away for later.

Clenching his fist, Shadow delivered a powerful punch to Infinite's stomach, the blow causing time to resume normally.

Infinite gasped in shock, his Chaos Emerald falling from his hand as he buckled from the strike, before taking a knee to the face from Shadow, knocking him back several steps.

“You really screwed this up, jackal,” Shadow said. “What made you think you could keep up with me, now that I know just what this power is? You gloated just that little bit too much.” Bending down, Shadow picked up the dropped Emerald. “One of these days, Infinite,” he continued. “One of these days, your crimes committed in the name of profit will come back to bite you, and I'll make sure of it.”

Infinite glared daggers at Shadow. “They'll... bite me?!” he spat. “Quatre's blood is on your hands! You-”

Suddenly, Shadow's hand was around Infinite's throat. “And Amy's is on yours,” he said darkly. “As are so many others. Tell me, how many have you killed for a paycheck? How much blood has been shed just so you could hear coins click? You live a kill or be killed life, Infinite the Jackal, so don't start complaining about having to finally pay the piper.”

Chills ran throughout Infinite's body, as he struggled for air. He was just... so outclassed, to the point that it wasn't even funny anymore.

Shadow tossed Infinite aside. “Now, run,” he said. “Run, you sad excuse for a lap dog, and warn the doctor. Warn him that there is a storm approaching. Warn him that Shadow the Hedgehog is coming.”

Infinite tried to back away from Shadow, before the hedgehog grabbed him again and, with the power of the two Chaos Emeralds working in tandem through Shadow's body, warped the jackal away to a different part of the island.

Silence, married with the sound of crackling fire, fell. This battle was over now, but the next one... that wasn't far away. Shadow couldn't stop now. Not anymore

Turning around, Shadow walked on, as most of the villagers moved aside, until he stood in front of Maria. “Are you... okay?” he asked hesitantly.

There was a moment of hesitation, before the young girl practically launched herself at Shadow, trembling in mixed fear and relief as she wrapped her arms around the hedgehog.

A sombre look formed on Shadow's face. “Sorry,” he said. “I should have been here sooner.”

“It's fine,” Maria said weakly. “You're here now. That's... that's what matters.”

Shadow, feeling as though many eyes had suddenly turned to look at him, looked around to see the villagers that remained looking... less than hospitable. It didn't take much for Shadow to guess that, despite Maria's attempted heroics, these people were still not feeling particularly neighbourly to her.

Shadow glared back, causing the other foxes to look away, before calling on the power of the Emeralds to teleport himself and Maria back to her house, spared from the battle.

It took nearly an hour, but Maria eventually calmed down.

“So... what now?” she asked nervously. “Robotnik... he'll be back, won't he?”

“No doubt,” Shadow admitted. “Which is why I'm going to take the fight to him. He's on this island, and I won't stop until that's rectified.”

“And... you'll go it alone?”

“I can't drag you into this,” Shadow said. “Not after... what happened to Amy. I can't bare to risk losing another friend.”

This was the first time Shadow had told her about what happened on Little Planet. The first time she had heard about this Amy. She must have meant a great deal to him, if her... fate, she supposed, hit him that hard.

But, all the same... “Well, tough luck!” Maria said. “I'm still going with you!”

Shadow's mind briefly blanked, before his ears finally processed what Maria had said. “No!” he shouted. “Absolutely not! I'm not putting you at risk like that!”

“Well, I can't just sit back and do nothing!” Maria shouted back. “Not when you're out there alone, risking your life for us!”

“But it's because of that mindset that Amy-!!” Shadow bit back his words, just for a moment. “It's because I'm not good enough to keep you safe, Maria. If you follow me... I don't know if I could survive what might happen to you.”

Maria grew quiet at that. Shadow was afraid of being hurt by loss again. She could understand that, but...

Shadow turned around, and walked towards the door. “Maria... please, don't follow me,” he said in a hushed voice. “I'll handle this.”

The door swung open, and Shadow ran, kicking up a fierce gust of wind that knocked papers around. Just like that, he was off to save the world again. And Maria...

Maria felt something odd in her heart. Not sorrow... well, not just sorrow, at any rate, but rather, something like determination. An urge to prove she can keep up with him.

But what could she do, then? She didn't exactly have the skills or confidence to keep up with Shadow on foot, so how could she help him?

She looked out the window, and saw something odd floating high in the sky. “Is that... the moon?” Maria asked herself. No, it couldn't be; it was much too early in the day for it to be out, and it looked... wrong. Like it had eyes, and a nose, and was made of metal.

If that was something Robotnik was designing... Shadow was absolutely going to need all the help he could get.

So, Maria rushed to the garage, where a bright red biplane sat in waiting. Ideas poured through her mind; ideas that would more than make up for the speed deficit.

Off to the side, there was a moderately sized booster unit. If she could get that finished...

“Miss Amy,” Maria said to herself. “I wish I had gotten the chance to know you. It really seems that you made an impression on Shadow's heart. But don't worry.” Determined, she picked up the nearest wrench. “I won't let him carry the burden of saving everyone alone!”

She hoped that, wherever she was, Amy Rose was at peace.

Chapter Text

Shadow ran along hills and emerald green plains, busting every Badnik that got in his way. In the eyes of anyone watching him, he was the textbook definition of 'man on a mission'.

Truthfully, he didn't know where to begin, exactly. Outside of the area around Maria's house, and from Maria's house to the nearest coast, Shadow didn't really know West Side Island. But, Shadow had speed on his side. He would scour the entire island if he had to, if it meant finding that damn Eggman.

He did feel somewhat bad for telling Maria to stay back, but... he had to convince himself that it was for her own safety. That she just wouldn't be able to keep up with him, or the jackals. At the same time, though, he'd be lying if he said it wasn't just as much for his own peace of mind.

He had failed to keep one friend safe. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he lost another one. He'd do this alone, just to keep Maria safe. Just to not lose her like he lost Amy.

At least Shadow was going into this with a slight advantage, having deprived Infinite of his Chaos Emerald. His two to Eggman's... four? Five? He recalled that there were seven in total, but back on South Island, the doctor had only found six of them before Shadow intervened. What were the odds that Eggman was now in possession of that last gem? It would probably be safest to assume 'yes', given that it had been a few weeks since Little Planet.

But again, no matter. He's already got more experience using their powers than the doctor did, even if he was still figuring it all out.

Something in the air shifted. Shadow looked up, taking mental note of the large metal... sphere thing that floated high in the sky for later, and saw a flash of energy in the sky, followed by a familiar figure falling to the ground.

“Infinite,” Shadow muttered, before allowing a small, vindictive smirk to form on his face. “That'll at least make things easier.”

Infinite slammed into the dirt with a mighty thud. He raised himself up slowly on weak arms, coughing for air. To have been so thoroughly beaten like that was shameful, even by current standards.

How could one hedgehog outclass him so badly? Infinite had taken on entire armies before, for crying out loud! On his own! Hell, he was half the reason why the Acorn Kingdom king was unable to take to the front lines half the time! Infinite had outclassed the best of the best, and this hedgehog- this nobody, had just come around one day, and ruined everything!

He'd make Shadow pay... He'd-

“Well, don't you look like the saddest little dumpster kitten,” Shadow's voice sounded, causing a shiver to run up Infinite's spine. Terrified, he turned his head, to see Shadow looming over him. “Been a minute, jackal. Care to tell me where Eggman is?”

Infinite staggered to his feet, terror overwhelming his anger. “L-like hell!” he said. “I am a mercenary! The ultimate mercenary, at that! I have my standards!”

“Standards that can still be bought,” Shadow pointed out, suddenly teleporting behind Infinite. “Standards that are not worth the paper they're printed on. Why pretend you have morals?”

Infinite spun around, attempting to punch at Shadow, only for the hedgehog to teleport once more. “Get off your damn high horse!” Infinite shouted. “You don't know me! You don't know us! What we've been through! You act like we had any other choice!”

“You always had a choice,” Shadow said darkly. “You just keep thinking that you had no reason to back out of it. Because of your damn pride.”

Shadow's foot met the back of Infinite's head, knocking him back down to the ground. The jackal struggled to get back on his feet, as a familiar voice could be heard in the distance.

“I guess things do come to those who wait,” Shadow commented. “There's the doctor now. Guess you're useless to me.”

With that, Shadow ran off, leaving Infinite in a heap on the ground. “Useless...” he muttered to himself. “No... I'm not-! I'm not useless!!” He struggled to force himself back onto his feet, but, still dizzy from the last hit, fell back down. “I'm... I'm not weak!!”

Eggman huffed a sigh of frustration, as he tapped on the radar. “Infinite should be around here somewhere,” he said to himself. “The two Chaos Emerald readings say so, at least. Bah, why do I still put up with those jackals?! Ever since that hedgehog showed up, they've been bleeding my funds dry with their failures!”

There was a slight shift in the Egg Mobile, which Eggman brushed off as just the wind. “Then maybe it's time to cut them loose,” a voice said.

“No, unfortunately many hands make small work,” Eggman sighed. “Also, you're not fooling me by acting like my subconscious thoughts, hedgehog, so get off my Egg Mobile.”

The weight shifted, and Shadow landed on the ground a few feet in front of Eggman. “Well, someone has to vocalise those thoughts,” Shadow said. “Since, clearly, you hardly have a good bone in your body.”

“I wouldn't expect a nincompoop like you to understand the inner machinations of my mind,” Eggman said. “Now, do us both a favour and return those Chaos Emeralds to me!”

“Never,” Shadow responded. “I'm going to put a stop to all the harm you've caused people. That's. Final.”

Shadow leapt forward, curling up into a ball to ram into Eggman. The doctor quickly slammed his fist on a large button, causing a clear dome to encase the canopy of the Egg Mobile, protecting him from Shadow's attack.

“Fine, you want to dance?!” Eggman shouted. “Egg Drillster, mobilise!!”

The ground below bulged, and a sort of kart with a drill on the front burst forth. The Egg Mobile flew down, connecting to the kart, as the tires and drill revved in preparations for the battle to come.

Shadow landed back down, glaring at the machine. “Bring it on,” he said. “It doesn't matter what you throw at me. I'll destroy it all!”

Shadow charged at the Egg Drillster, jumping over it as it charged, and bringing his foot down hard every chance he got on it. It was almost impressive, just how sturdy this machine had been made. Most strikes merely seemed to cause the suspension to bounce, rather than buckle.

“GRRR!!! Blasted hedgehog!” Eggman cursed, drifting the Drillster around. “Get pierced already!!”

The Drillster charged at Shadow again. In response, Shadow poured the power of the two Chaos Emeralds into his hand, and unleashed a powerful Chaos Spear, which pierced through the tip of the drill, and shattered the machine into a million pieces... save for Eggman and his Egg Mobile. Seriously, what was that thing made of?

“Damn you!” Eggman shouted, as he slammed his fist on another button, detaching the Egg Mobile from the busted Drillster. “All troops! Make for the Wing Fortress immediately!”

Shadow leapt at Eggman, fury in his eyes. “You won't get away from me!”

A small, tube-like object dropped from the Egg Mobile, and Shadow made the mistake of looking at it as it blew up in a flash of light, both blinding and deafening.

By the time sight and sound returned to Shadow, Eggman was gone. A growl of frustration slipped from Shadow's lips. Once again, Eggman had slipped away.

No matter. He said something about a 'Wing Fortress', so odds were likely he was looking for something both big and flying.

Shadow raced across the island, through ancient underwater ruins, chemical plants, over hills and through caves. West Side Island was deceptively large.

Eventually, Shadow came up to the coast of the island, where the ocean was tainted by several tonnes of crude oil, being spewed out by a rig located a fair ways out at sea.

It sickened Shadow to his stomach to see this. Eggman wanted to rule the world, but was content with leaving so much destruction in his wake to do so? What good was turning the world into a hellscape just to rule it?

Skipping the act of running across the water, Shadow invoked Chaos Control, and warped onto the oil rig. The place stunk just as bad as he expected.

Feeling the fur on the back of his neck stand on end, Shadow quickly ducked, as a set of throwing knives flew overhead. “Let me guess,” Shadow said. “Scarf jackal?”

“That's Uno to you, buddy,” the figure on a platform higher up shouted. “And I'm going to-”

“Let me guess,” Shadow cut off. “Make me pay for your lost comrade? Your boss already did that song and dance.”

Uno clenched his teeth in frustration, leaping over to Shadow's platform. “I swear, if you harmed a single hair on Infinite's head, I'll-!”

“You'll what?” Shadow asked. “How many times have others said those same words to you? You act like you're above consequences, but you bleed just as much as all the people who've suffered under you.”

“Needs must, buddy,” Uno spat back. “Needs. Must. We do what we must to survive.”

“Then, for the needs of others,” Shadow said darkly, “I'll do what I must.”

Shadow teleported to Uno's side, delivering a low kick that the jackal quickly jumped over. If there was one thing Uno prided himself on, it was hand to hand combat. Yet, despite his skill, Shadow kept up with him easily.

Even with backup, Uno knew he wouldn't have been fairing much better. Shadow outclassed him just that badly. But, at least Uno had one trick up his sleeve.

Reaching into his pocket, Uno pulled out the blue Chaos Emerald, and pointed it towards Shadow. “I've got you in my sight,” he said, as energy began to build within the Emerald. “Fire!!”

A blast of raw energy shot forth from the gem. A blast of energy so fast, Shadow barely had time to dodge it. It grazed past him, leaving a small cut on his shoulder, before the blast struck a distant oil tanker, causing it to explode violently, and setting every drop of oil on fire.

Shadow looked in shock and horror at the sudden turn of events. Uno took the opening, despite the rapidly increasing heat, to try and strike at Shadow. His fist connected with the side of the hedgehog's head... but Shadow didn't budge an inch.

In a blur of movement, Shadow was suddenly behind Uno, blue Emerald in hand. Uno was blown off his feet, however, by what felt like an impossible barrage of strikes, hitting him all over his body. Uno was thrown a fair distance, crashing face first into a tower, before barely grabbing onto the crater he made before falling into the raging inferno below.

The fear of death wormed its way into Uno's heart and mind. He stared across the burning ocean at Shadow, who stared back coldly, before blipping away in a flash of Chaos energy.

Uno felt the metal beneath his fingers start to give way. Desperately, he scanned the area for somewhere, anywhere, that he could leap to.

The option to do anything about it, however, was taking from him the moment the tower he held on to erupted in flames, causing him to lose his grip.

The world seemed to move in slow motion, as Uno plummeted towards the flames below. “Sorry, boss...” he muttered sadly. “Looks like... I'm clocking off for good.”

Shadow reappeared on the edge of a sprawling metropolis. Far in the distance behind him, he could see the oil rig from earlier exploding.

“That guy's unlikely to have survived that,” Shadow said to himself. He felt... considerably less conflicted about taking this life than he did the last one. Something to be said about desensitisation, he supposed.

[Attention, everyone!] Eggman's voice suddenly bellowed. [This is your Doctor speaking! The Oil Ocean has been compromised! We're now moving up the departure of the Wing Fortress to right this second!!]

The doctor was panicking, then. Whatever this Wing Fortress thing was, he'd have to act fast to get on it.

So, once more, Shadow ran. Up and down towers, through buzz-saw filled hallways, and smashing bots all throughout.

For looking like his main base of operation, Shadow had to admit, Eggman was very straight forward with the layout this time around.

In the distance, Shadow saw a large dome open up, from which a massive... he wasn't quite sure what it was, actually. Whatever it was, it rose from the ground, and began to take to the skies. He supposed, then, that this must have been that Wing Fortress thing.

That just meant Shadow knew what his target was.

Shadow broke out into a full sprint, gliding down the streets of the metropolis, only to realise that it wasn't quite as close as he thought it was; it was just that absolutely massive.

The closer he got to the building it took off from, the higher in the sky it got. In his veins, he could feel the energy of the other Chaos Emeralds aboard that machine.

Before he had the chance to push himself faster, however, he sensed something approaching him. Just as soon as he did, he moved to the side, just as another of the Jackal Squad members slammed their fist into the ground where he once was.

It was the female of the group. Trois, if Shadow cared enough to remember.

“Where is he,” Trois asked, anger flaring in her eyes. “Where's Uno?”

“If you mean the punchy member of your gang,” Shadow said, “then he's the one who couldn't handle the heat.”

Anger turned into unbridled rage, as Trois tried repeatedly to strike Shadow, with all the success of trying to knock the air senseless. More then that, though... Shadow could tell she didn't have an Emerald on her. She was merely a distraction.

Wasting as little time as he could, Shadow spun around Trois, and knocked her down with a kick to the back of the head, before focusing back on the task at hand; getting to that flying machine... which was now getting further and further away.

Pulling out one of the Chaos Emeralds he had, Shadow focused on the energy within, attempting to invoke Chaos Control to warp onboard.

But, no dice. The Emerald didn't seem to want to allow him to warp so soon after the last one.

“Ultimate power my foot,” Shadow mumbled angrily to himself. “Fine. By my own means it is, then.”

Channelling his own power into his jet shoes, Shadow launched himself into the sky, much like he did on accident the first moment he tried these shoes that Maria gave him. He shot up, higher and higher... but the vessel remained out of reach, even as he began to run out of thrust.

“No...” Shadow said in disbelief. “He's... getting away...”

Shadow could feel his drive dwindle, and slowly be replaced by despair. Was he really going to lose like this? Sure, Eggman didn't have all the Emeralds, but what could he do with even four of them? He couldn't quite now, but he was short on ideas.

“...!”

A sound was carried on the wind. A voice, accompanied by the rumbling of a motor of some kind. It was considerably different from anything Shadow had heard before.

Then... Shadow landed on something distinctly not the ground. He looked down, to see the form of a rather familiar red biplane beneath his feet.

“Hold on, Shadow!” a familiar voice yelled from the pilot seat. Shadow turned his head, to see...

“Maria?!” the hedgehog shouted. “What are you doing here?!”

“Saving your hind!” Maria yelled back, pulling back on the control stick to force the plane up. “Now hold on! I'll get you onto that fortress!”

“I am not putting you in harms way!” Shadow said. “Go home! Please!”

“Well, too bad, young man! Not your call to make!”

The biplane jerked forward, as the large rocket that had been attached underneath it roared to life. “Young man?” Shadow quietly questioned. “I'm at least five times your age!”

“And you're not exactly acting it!” Maria replied. “I know you're afraid of me getting hurt, but I can't just sit back and leave everything to you! I'm helping, and that's final!”

… Shadow seemed to have a habit of meeting very adventurous friends, it seemed. Or, perhaps 'strong-willed' would be a more accurate description. Regardless, he could tell that there was no way he was going to talk her out of this without burning too many bridges to be worth it.

“Fine,” Shadow relented. “But we are having a serious talk about this when we have a moment!”

Eggman hated when he had to move his plans ahead of schedule. But, even if this was only his third go around dealing with that hedgehog, he had the feeling that being quick, sporadic, and generally unpredictable even to himself was going to be the way to go at times. Because serious, that hedgehog just seemed to pull new powers out of thin air. First Chaos Control, then that spear thing, and a full-on explosion from what Infinite and the other jackals told him. What's next?

“Boss!” Duex called out, barging into the bridge. “Shadow the Hedgehog's still gaining on us!”

“So, what? He can fly now, too?” Eggman asked with a sigh.

“No... No, he's riding on the wings of a biplane.”

That was... strangely normal for an answer. Eggman quickly pulled out the video feed from the rear cameras, to show, indeed, a red biplane with a rocket attached to it, being piloted by a female fox.

“Well, that's almost underwhelming,” Eggman said. “Where's the rest of your squad?”

“Infinite and Trois didn't make it to take-off, sir,” Duex said. “As for Uno... He was at Oil Ocean when it went up.”

“Bah. Another one to bite the dust,” Eggman huffed. “That hedgehog's picking you guys off like flies. I'm putting money on you being next.”

“Way to inspire loyalty, doc,” Duex muttered. “Doesn't this thing have cannons or something? Why aren't we shooting them down?!”

“These things take time to warm up!” Eggman yelled back, before turning the PA system on. “Attention all Badniks! Deploy and take out that pesky hedgehog!”

Badniks began to fill the sky ahead of Shadow and Maria.

“We're nearing the Tornado's altitude limit!” Maria called out.

“Get me as close as you can to them!” Shadow instructed. “I'll clear the rest of the distance!”

“But-!”

“Maria,” Shadow said. “You've done enough for me. I would have resigned myself to failure if you didn't appear when you did. Thank you, truly. Now please, let me handle the rest of this.”

Maria's expression turned sad, but she knew he was right. The Tornado couldn't take much more of this. “Then, hold on tight!” Maria said. “We're hitting the after-burners!”

The rocket attached to the Tornado roared to life, its exhaust burning white hot. The plane shot forward, weaving around the Badniks with the sort of precision only an expert could have.

When there was only a few meters between them and Eggman's vessel, Shadow took the leap, grabbing hold of a length of pipe that stuck out of the side. He looked back at Maria, who gave him a supportive thumbs up as she drifted further into the distance.

Shadow gave a nod in her direction, before turning his attention back to the task at hand. He could feel the air thinning around him already, as the Wing Fortress climbed higher still. He could see that metal moon in the distance, drawing closer and closer, and... did it seriously have Eggman's face on it? Talk about ego.

Eventually, the Wing Fortress docked in the massive Egg-faced moon. Somehow, it felt as if his body was lighter now than it was before. A byproduct of the altitude, maybe?

Feeling the fortress come to a stop, Shadow slowly made his way to the front of the vessel, each movement feeling lighter, yet slower. What was going on?

[Marvelling at the lack of gravity, are you?] Eggman's voice boomed over the sound system. [Understandable, I'll give you that. The first time I reached the edge of Mobius' gravity was enthralling.]

“Where are you, Eggman?!” Shadow shouted. “Show yourself!”

[In good time, hedgehog. In good time,] Eggman said amicably. [Why don't you come in? The Death Egg is toasty warm, I'll have you know.]

“Death Egg?” Shadow questioned. “At least the name's on brand.”

Shadow drifted forward through the station, gradually feeling gravity come back into effect the further he got. “So, what's the point of this one?” Shadow asked. “How does having a fortress in the skies help you?”

[Chaos Emerald power is key to this,] Eggman's voice responded. [With all seven of them, I'd be able to power this battle station forever, raining death and destruction anywhere on the face of the world!]

“Rule the world with the threat of extinction,” Shadow surmised. “You're deplorable, doctor. All this brain power you could be using to better the world, directed towards destruction.”

[Oh, but I am using my brains to better the world!] Eggman laughed, as a large door in front of Shadow opened up. [Better the world by making it mine! Now, either hand the Chaos Emeralds over, or...] Something heavy and shaped familiarly dropped down in front of Shadow. Something mechanical and hedgehog shaped. [Or you can deal with Mecha Sonic!]

The machine, Mecha Sonic, stood up, being a slight bit taller than Shadow, with a single red eye on its face, metal plating that was coloured raw steel... and a buzz saw on the back of its head.

“... Is that meant to be the upgrade to Metal Sonic?” Shadow asked hesitantly. “Doesn't look like much.”

[It's more the repurposed prototype,] Eggman admitted. [What, you think I hit the nail on the head first try with Metal? But, Mecha Sonic will be more than enough to-]

Shadow placed the sole of his foot against Mecha Sonic's chest, and unleashed a torrent of energy from his jet shoes that blew a hole completely through the robot. The light in Mecha Sonic's eye went out, as it toppled over backwards.

[… Well,] Eggman said, sounding as if he was shrugging. [Can't say that wasn't expected for a prototype.]

Shadow casually kicked at the wrecked robot. “No Chaos Emerald in this one, either,” he noted. “Really just sent him out to die, didn't you?”

[More of a distraction, really,] Eggman said, as the room suddenly began to rumble, the walls parting to reveal a very, very large mech, made in Eggman's image, with three drills on the end of each arm. “After all, I just needed an extra minute to finalise my Death Egg Robot!!”

Shadow stared up at the rotund metal monster. “Okay, that's way more impressive,” he admitted. “Still going to smash it, though.”

“Oh, you're welcome to try,” Eggman said menacingly. “Deux! Activate combat systems!”

“Roger!” Deux the Jackal's voice responded from within the Robot. “Routing all power for combat!”

The eyes on the Death Egg Robot flashed white, yellow, purple, and light blue, before taking a sort of combat stance. In his veins, Shadow could feel the pulsing energy of the remaining Chaos Emeralds from within the machine.

Knowing what needed to be done, Shadow charged at the robot, leaping high and bringing his foot down on the top of the machine at break-neck speeds. It didn't so much as leave a dent.

The Death Egg Robot reeled it right arm back, and threw a punch at Shadow, who barely managed to twist his body out of the way as the spinning drills flew by on its extending arm.

“Not so overpowering now, are you?!” Eggman said. “Oh, how I'm going to enjoy this!”

The robot's eyes flashed briefly, before twin lasers shot out at Shadow. As quickly as he could, Shadow called on the power of the Chaos Emeralds to stop time and thelaserwasn'tstoppingwhat?!

The blast struck Shadow, sending him tumbling to the ground. Desperately, Shadow gasped for breath, his chest smouldering with heat as the Robot... did a little victory dance.

“Oh ho ho ho!!” Eggman laughed excitedly. “You know what they say; third time's the charm!”

“Amazing...” Duex said in awe. “How were you able to overcome the Chaos Control?”

“Chaos negates Chaos, jackal,” Eggman answered. “Especially when you bring more power to the table!”

Shadow forced himself back onto his feet, feeling the pain subside just a bit. He needed to get those Chaos Emeralds out of that robot, but how? How could he get through armour that thick? Maybe attacking the joints? No, they looked just as defended as the rest of the mech.

Regardless, Shadow leapt into action, dodging every attack that came his way, and sliding between the robot's legs, getting behind it.

From there, he could see that the Chaos Emeralds were being stored in its back unit. Just... out in the open like that. Why? Why was there such a glaring design flaw? Refusing not to take advantage of it, Shadow lunged forward, attempting to reach the gems... only for the Death Egg Robot to suddenly pivot 180, and bring one of its arms down on Shadow, slamming him back into the ground.

“Thought that was an oversight, did you?” Eggman laughed. “The Chaos Emeralds are actually very picky about how they're used. Damnable things insist on being at least remotely out in the open for peak efficiency, lest the start releasing too much energy and blow their tops.”

“Wait, so that's why they're in such a grabbable state?” Duex asked. “I was wondering about that.”

Shadow slowly lifted himself up from the ground again. On one hand, he felt almost relieved to know such a design flaw was a necessary evil. Didn't change what needed doing, nor did it make it easier, though. Eggman was certainly one to learn from his mistakes, it seemed.

But, Shadow was persistent. If he wasn't fast enough... he'd just keep trying until he was.

So, Shadow ran, and ran, and ran more. Every time he got behind the robot, it would turn around, and he'd have to dodge an oncoming attack, before trying again. Each attempt, Shadow got faster and faster.

And then, finally, Shadow managed to latch himself to the backpack of the Death Egg Robot. “What the?! Get off!” Eggman shouted. “I said get off!!”

Shadow didn't even grace the doctor with a response, as he grabbed and ripped the Chaos Emeralds from the robots back. Once the last Emerald was freed, Shadow jumped away.

“Power dropping rapidly!” Duex yelled.

“I can see that, you nincompoop!” Eggman shouted back. “Reroute auxiliary power!”

Shadow allowed himself a moment to breath. The scales had finally tipped back in his favour, now all he had to do was bust up that mech, and destroy this station.

A strange, warm sensation began to envelop Shadow at that moment. Bewildered, he looked down, to see the seven Chaos Emeralds floating around him in a circle, much like what happened when he first arrived on West Side Island. A wave of panic washed over Shadow momentarily, before he realised just how... different the feeling was. It felt more like their power was being directed... into him?

It felt like his chest was on fire. The Emeralds drew closer to Shadow, before, of all things they could have done, melding into his body.

A scream of pain erupted from Shadow's mouth, and raw golden power enveloped his body. The waves of energy emanating from him was enough to push the Death Egg Robot back a fair ways, and tear the steel from the floor and walls.

Eventually, the waves died down. Shadow, finally able to catch his breath, looked down at himself in awe. His once black fur had turned platinum gold, and he could feel so much raw power coming out of himself, that even the slightest flex of his fingers caused moats of gold light to be left in his wake.

The robot stared at the suddenly changed hedgehog with somehow perceivable awe. “Oh, that's not good,” Eggman said plainly. “That's... very much not good.”

“Um... orders, boss?” Duex asked.

“Route all power to weapons!” Eggman ordered. “Fire everything!! Even the kitchen sink if you have to!!”

The armour panels on the Death Egg Robot moved around, revealing innumerable amounts of holes from which missiles, bullets, and lasers rained out of. They were so... slow. Shadow had been use to attacks coming at him at a snail's pace, but this was... a whole different level of slow.

Casually, Shadow floated to the side, as the numerous armaments shot past and blasted a hole in the wall, opening the room to the air.

If Shadow's speed had jumped that much... then maybe he could destroy that machine now? Preparing himself, Shadow charged at the robot, and in barely a fraction of the time it took for him to process it, Shadow had flown through the robot, tearing a hole clean through it. He hadn't even felt the resistance of the metal.

The Death Egg Robot toppled over, sparks erupting from the hole. Now that the doctor was defeated, there was really only one thing left for Shadow to do.

Looking down at the floor, Shadow dived, tearing through metal like it was nothing.

Infinite took a deep breath of the Emerald Hill Zone air. At this point, there was a good chance Shadow was already on the Death Egg, so really, there wasn't much he could do at the moment.

“Infinite!” a familiar voice called out. Infinite felt an unforeseen amount of tension leave his body when he turned his head to see a welcoming face approaching him.

“Trois. Good to see you're in one piece,” he said. “What about Uno and Duex?”

“Duex is up on the Death Egg with the doctor,” Trois answered, taking a seat next to Infinite. “And Uno... he was on the oil refinery when it went up. The hedgehog got him, and his Chaos Emerald.”

Infinite clenched his fist in fury. Another brother in arms, lost to that damn Shadow.

“That just leave three of us,” Infinite said bitterly. “Assuming Duex is alright up there.”

You know what they say about 'tempting fate', though. Just as Infinite has voiced his wonder, had explosions started to erupt from the Death Egg that hung ominously in the skies. Infinite and Trois jumped to their feet, watching at the Death Egg slowly, dreadfully, began to drop lower and lower.

“No...” Infinite muttered. “Duex, too?”

Trois looked down bitterly. “What... should we do now?” she asked.

Infinite snarled furiously, his claws digging into his palms. “... We make for the Acorn Kingdom,” he decided angrily. “I'd imagine they'll start getting ideas, seeing the Death Egg come down. Can't have that.”

“What about the doctor? Would he have survived?”

“He's a rottenly stubborn egg, that man,” Infinite said. “He'll be back. At least we can keep the home fires going, and if that hedgehog shows up in the meantime...” A dangerous glint flashed in Infinite's blue and yellow eyes. “I'll be sure to end him. Once and for all.”

The Tornado flew high in the sky, where Maria watched the Death Egg falling.

Shadow had done it. Doctor Robotnik had been defeated, and his weapon of destruction, destroyed. But, what about Shadow himself? Was he alright? Was he just riding out the explosion Death Egg?

Just as she was wondering this, something that glittered gold shone in the sky. At first, Maria thought it was a shooting star, until it seem to turn unnaturally, and begin flying right towards her.

Then, a golden figure landed on the wing of the Tornado. A striking, familiar figure.

“Shadow?” Maria asked. “Is that you? You look so... different.”

“I... I don't know,” Shadow admitted, looking down at his hands. “My body just... absorbed all the Chaos Emeralds. I don't know what's happened to me.”

“You know, yellow's not a bad colour on you,” Maria commented. “Goes with your red highlights.”

Shadow looked down at his arms, looking specifically at the parts of his fur that were still their usual red. “Wonder why those bits didn't change.”

“Can you turn this new power off and on?” Maria asked. “What else can you do with it?”

“Still need to work that out,” Shadow said.

The two turned their attention back to the falling Death Egg, watching solemnly as it fell behind distant clouds. “It's over, right?” Maria asked. “The doctor's been defeated.”

“He'll probably spring back from this,” Shadow said. “But for now, we've won.” He turned to face Maria, and gave the fox a little smile. “As it turns out, I couldn't have done it without you, kid.”

Maria laughed sheepishly at that. “Guess that means you're officially stuck with me, then.”

Shadow chuckled. “You say that like it's my problem.”

Then, beyond the clouds, a loud sound was heard. The two looked on, bewilderment turning to shock as, just as suddenly as the sound, the clouds parted to reveal the Death Egg had crashed into... a floating island, which was now falling into the ocean beneath it.

Shadow stared wide-eyed at the scene as it played out. “I claim no responsibility in this,” he said. “How was I suppose to know there was a floating island in the way?”

“That island...” Maria muttered. “I think that's Angel Island!”

Shadow looked over to Maria. “You're going to have to explain that to me.”

“It's something of an old Mobian legend,” Maria said. “A floating island, said to have once been the home of the long extinct Echidna tribe. Nobody has seen the island for thousands of years.”

“And... I just dropped Eggman onto it,” Shadow surmised. “Damn it.”

“What should we do?”

Shadow look at the now ocean-locked island, and sighed dejectedly. “Fell up for another adventure?” he asked. “See if we can't clean up the mess I made?”

Maria smiled brightly. “Would I?!”

Shadow smirked in return, before jumping off the wing of the Tornado and flying beside it. “Then I'll race you there!”

Chapter Text

Eggman let out a small groan of pain, as he pushed heaps of busted up metal off himself. “Urgh. Another bust,” he said. “Jackal! You alive out there?!”

“Why do I taste dirt?” Duex responded.

“Means you're alive. Get over it,” Eggman said. Eventually, the doctor managed to dig himself out of the rubble that was the Death Egg Robot, and found himself... strangely not the wreckage of the Death Egg itself. “Where the blasted hell are we?!”

“How should I know?” Duex yelled back. “I'm head's still buried under all this junk!”

“Then get digging!!” Eggman let out a sigh of annoyance. “I seriously wonder why I haven't just Roboticised those jackals already,” he whispered to himself, before focusing back on where he was. All around him were ancient ruins of some kind. Ruins he had seem similar kinds of back in the Mystic Ruins. “I wonder,” the doctor said. “Could these be of the ancient Echidnas? The construction and stonework match up, but the Death Egg was nowhere near the main continent. Could this mean, then... that we've crashed on Angel Island?” An almost giddy giggle slipped through his lips. “Ooh, this is exciting! Nobody has set foot here since my grandfather's time!”

Finally, Duex managed to drag himself out of the rubble. “I thought... Angel Island was a myth,” he gasped. “Something that hadn't... been seen in a few thousand years.”

“That's just what you Mobians think,” Eggman waved off, as he and Duex made their way into one of the temples. “For those of us in the better part of the world, the existence of Angel Island has been a closely guarded governmental secret for decades.”

“And... we're only learning about this now?”

“Hey, it's 'closely guarded' for a reason,” Eggman pointed out. “Just because I could confirm it existed, doesn't mean I knew where it was until now.”

“So we're just... stuck on a floating island now?” Duex asked. “No way to get home?”

Eggman licked his finger, and held it up to the air. “Judging by the precipitation and air pressure, I'd say our crash landing has caused the island to fall to ocean level,” he said. “Convenient for us, at least.”

“So, we can just build a boat and swim off, then?”

“Are you kidding?!” Eggman yelled. “Think of the ancient and powerful artefacts that could be discovered! We might find just the thing we need to turn this battle against that hedgehog around! Something-” A green glow suddenly shone forth, catching the duos attention. Before them stood a sight that defied belief itself. A gem that looked so much like a Chaos Emerald, only... huge. Eggman, in awe, tapped the side of his glasses, and scanned the gem. “Its energy reading is off the charts,” he said. “More so than the Chaos Emeralds. This is...” an evil, maniacal cackle broke from the doctor. “Oh ho ho ho! This is fantastic! Phenomenal!”

“Guess this might be the kick in the pants we need after all,” Duex agreed. Then, his ears began to twitch. “Heads up, doc,” he said, drawing his knife. “Something's here.”

Eggmain strained his ears, until he heard a foreboding, ominous thumping of footsteps. Heavy. Rhythmic. Dangerous. And the only thing Eggman had to defend himself... was a jackal.

In the depths of the darkness, a pair of blue eyes shone. The good doctor would have you know he did not, in fact, scream at that.

Shadow flew low, gliding along the ocean with ease in his new form. The water parted dramatically behind him, leaving a misty spray in his wake, and rainbows in the sky.

Eventually, Shadow landed back down on the beach, where Maria had landed the Tornado. The fox quickly ran up to Shadow. “Are you getting the hang of this new power yet?”

“All the movement based parts, at least,” Shadow said. “As for what it's done to the Chaos Spear...” Shadow raised his hand towards the ocean, and channelled what he thought was enough energy for a single, normal spear... only for a torrent of raw, unbridled power to shoot from his hand. Panicked, Shadow quickly closed his hand, and gently lowered it. “Yeah, that's going to need to have a pin in it for a while.”

“And you still haven't figured out how to turn it off?”

“I wish, but no dice,” Shadow admitted. “I'm just kind of... stuck in this super-powered state.”

Maria gave Shadow's side a light poke, causing a small jolt of lightning to harmlessly jump from his fur to her finger. “But you're completely invincible like this, right?” she asked.

“Considering I tore the Death Egg apart with my bare hands, yeah.”

“Cool,” Maria muttered. “Then, we shouldn't have any problems tracking down Eggman, and getting Angel Island floating again!”

Shadow, feeling reassured, smirked as he playfully ruffled Maria's hair. “Glad to have your vote of confidence,” he said. “Now, let's go egg hunting.”

The two flew off into the jungle beyond the shores, Shadow making sure to keep himself from going too fast, so as to not lose track of Maria. He had to admit, it was nice to have someone to adventure with again, and with this new power he had, he felt more than confident that he could keep her safe.

High up the distant mountain, a figure made of metal watched the hedgehog and fox duo make their way through the jungle. His jungle. His home.

His azure eyes flickered with light, as he scanned the golden hedgehog. Chaos energy. Lots of it, too. That could only mean that he was being empowered by the Chaos Emeralds.

That rotund man and his fury friend were right. This hedgehog was dangerous. He had to be taken care of.

The hydraulics in his legs stirred to life, and he took a mighty leap towards his foes.

Shadow and Maria quickly came to a halt, as something slammed into the ground before them. Twin orbs of azure gleamed in the dust, as an orange and brown coloured robot stepped towards them threateningly.

“Is that...” Maria started.

“Must be one of the doctor's toys,” Shadow surmised. “Looks old, though.”

“Hedgehog,” the robot spoke. “You are trespassing on sacred grounds. Surrender the Chaos Emeralds, and leave.”

“Or else what, bolts for brains?” Shadow asked. “I'll have you know, as I am now, I can smash you up-” a flicker of light, and Shadow was right behind the robot. “IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE!!”

The robot's head snapped in Shadow's direction, fasten than should have been physically possible for something like it, and dodged Shadow's attack. “The Servers are the Seven Chaos,” the robot said. “Chaos is Power. Power is Enriched by the Heart.”

Something strange began to fester in Shadow's body. An unusual discord began to bloom in the power coursing through him.

“The Controller is the One who Unifies the Chaos,” the robot finished, before delivering a palm strike to Shadow's chest, knocking the colour from his fur, and the Emeralds from his body.

Shadow gasped in surprise, as he flew back fast, crashing through several trees before coming to a stop. “Shadow!” Maria called out in panic. Thinking as fast as she could, she noticed one of the Chaos Emeralds had landed close by. She rushed over to it, only for the robot to land in her way.

Fear seized Maria's heart, as she froze in place. “These Emeralds are not for you,” the robot said. “Leave them, take your friend, and leave this island.”

“Who... are you?” Maria asked.

“I am the last of the Echidna tribe,” the robot said. “Guardian of the Master Emerald. Protector of the flowers. I am Emerl, and you are just as that man said; a threat. Leave now, and never return.”

The robot turned around, something about its commanding aura causing the Chaos Emeralds to float into the air, and follow after it.

The tension left Maria's body, her arms falling weak at her side. She felt like she should have done more, but... in the face of adversity, she froze. With that jackal back home, she at least mustered up the courage because she was going for a sneak attack, but this? A head-on confrontation with a robot that had managed to overpower a super-powered Shadow?

“Urgh...” Shadow groaned, pushing himself back up. “Did anyone get the number of that bus?”

“Shadow!” Maria called out, finally getting to her feet and running over to him. “Are you okay?”

“A bit... disoriented,” he admitted, as Maria helped him to his feet. “Was that... really one of Eggman's machines?”

“He called himself the last of the Echidnas,” Maria said. “So... maybe not?”

“Are echidnas suppose to be made of metal?” Shadow asked. “Something tells me they're not.”

“But, can we really stand up to him?” Maria asked. “Even if he's not an echidna, or even one of the doctor's robots, he still looks like he has it out for you.”

“But he's still working with the doctor,” Shadow pointed. “You said this island had been missing for over a thousand years, right? Odds are, Eggman's playing him for a fool.”

“Do you think we can convince him of that?”

“We'll have to try. Last thing we need is for Eggman to have an unwitting pawn on his side,” Shadow said. “Bit of a shame to have lost that power-up already, but...”

Maria swallowed nervously. This was already looking to be a rough time.

Eggman laughed gleefully as he replayed the footage of Shadow losing the Chaos Emeralds. “Oh, I could go to sleep watching this!” he shouted. “What a hoot!”

“To think that bot could knock the Emeralds right out of him,” Duex muttered in surprise. “I never thought we'd find something so powerful.”

“Nor I, jackal. Nor I,” Eggman agreed, his gaze drifting to the massive Emerald on the alter not far from them. “To think that the legendary Master Emerald really existed. The leaps my technology can make with this thing is-”

“You will not touch the Master Emerald,” Emerl's voice said suddenly, as the robot appeared behind the doctor.

“Whoa!” Eggman exclaimed, jumping back a few feet. “Don't sneak up on my like that! I have a weak heart!”

“You literally survived a crashing space station,” Duex pointed out, before turning to Emerl, who continued to walk towards the Master Emerald. “How'd you manage to do that?”

“The power of the Master Emerald can negate that of the Chaos Emeralds,” Emerl said simply. “The eight together are a harmonious set. So said my old friend.”

“And a fine display that was!” Eggman said. “Now, if you'll just hand the Emeralds back to us, we'll be on our...”

“No.”

Eggman did his best to hide the sudden burst of rage he felt at that moment. “... I beg your pardon?”

“I thank you for warning me about the threat of the hedgehog, Doctor Robotnik,” Emerl said, as the Chaos Emeralds all floated towards a set of alters that seemed almost made for them. “But, the Emeralds are too dangerous to be left in the hands of the world below. They must remain here, where nobody can misuse their powers. I am sure a man of your integrity can understand that.”

Duex covered his mouth as he began to cough at the idea of 'Eggman' and 'integrity' being seen as synonymous. “But- I...” Eggman stuttered out in barely contained fury, desperately trying to grasp some sort of excuse to counter the robot before him.

“I thank you once more, doctor,” Emerl said, “but I believe it is time for you and your friend to-”

“But we can't!” Eggman shouted. “We can't leave now! We- erm... We'll be killed! Yes! That nasty Shadow the Hedgehog won't stop until he gets those Emeralds back, and takes our lives! And the lives of those we love!” Duex could be heard gagging from behind a pillar. “He and his cohorts will stop at nothing! Just look at what they did to our peace-keeping satellite!”

Emerl recalled the large mechanical... thing that had crashed onto his island. If that was another good thing destroyed by that hedgehog, then the doctor was right; it wouldn't end here.

“Very well,” Emerl said. “Until the hedgehog is driven off this island, we have a partnership.”

“Wonderful!” Eggman said, masking his relief as he began tapping at the device on his wrist. “I'll send out my Badniks in order apprehend that miscreant!” Emerl gave the doctor a look that could only be complete it he had eyebrows to raise. “They 'nik' the bad-guys in the act,” Eggman explained. “So 'Badniks'.” The doctor let out a small sigh as Emerl seemed satisfied with that answer, and walked on.

“Ya know, doc,” Duex said, “you're a terrible liar.”

“Bite me, jackal,” he retorted. “I'll focus on repairing the Death Egg. You work with the Badniks and our new 'friend' to put a stop to those rodents.”

“And the Emeralds?”

“In due time,” Eggman said. “Good things come to those who wait, after all.”

Shadow and Maria fell to the ground, landing in a bush after yet another misstep off the side of a cliff.

“I think it's official, Shadow,” Maria said. “We lost his trail.”

“Agreed,” Shadow said, spitting out some leaves. “We need a new plan. Any ideas?”

“I could probably fly up and scout out a route?” Maria offered.

“Makes me wonder why we didn't think of that sooner,” Shadow admitted. “I'll leave that to you, Maria. Y'know... considering.”

Maria gave a salute, before spinning her tails around and lifting off the ground. In the back of his mind, Shadow wondered how Maria was able to do that, considering that, by his understanding, a pair of tails should not be able to provide lift like that. Or even how they could rotate like that in the first place. But, it wasn't his place to question it. Pondering, on the other hand, was still on the table.

“I think I see our way forward!” Maria called out. “It's probably through the swarm of Badniks heading our way!”

“That's a good start!” Shadow called back. “Keep your eyes peeled!”

A swarm of bee-styled Badniks broke through the trees, which were all busted up in a flash of movement from Shadow as he ran past.

As Shadow ran further into the jungle, he wondered just how long this would take. Angel Island was massive, from what he could tell. It could take forever for them to find where Eggman's hiding.

“Ah!” Maria called out. “Look out! Missiles incoming!”

Shadow looked up to see, just as Maria said, a massive amount or missiles heading his way. Avoiding them was an easy affair, but their explosions simply seemed to set fire to the plant life around him. Before another barrage could land, Maria swooped down, and lifted Shadow from the ground before the missiles struck.

“They're going scorched earth on us,” Shadow muttered. “Can't imagine that new robot will be too happy about this.”

“Might depend on whether the doctor tries to paint this as our fault,” Maria said. “Which... he probably will.”

“He's nothing if not a notorious liar,” Shadow agreed. “I see something, over on the left.”

Off in the distance, the duo could see what looked to be the Egg Mobile, fitted with rather unique looking cannons, and piloted by someone distinctly not Eggman himself.

“That jackal again,” Shadow muttered. “Guess he survived the crash.”

The cannons on the Egg Mobile all turned towards Shadow and Maria. “Hold on, Shadow!” Maria called out, as the cannons began lobbing balls of fire at them, which she dodged between with ease. Once they drew closer, Maria threw Shadow at the machine, the hedgehog curling into a ball just as he crashed into the side of the Egg Mobile, sending it tumbling away.

Shadow uncurled himself, and reach his hand skyward, for Maria to catch him, which she did with ease.

“We seem to have this teamwork thing down pat already,” Shadow said. “That's got to be a new record for busting Eggman mechs fast.”

“How long does it usually take?”

“Three to five more hits, normally,” Shadow answered. “Come on, let's try and press that jackal for information.”

The duo landed a good few feet away from the crashed vehicle, just in time to see Duex crawl out from under it.

Duex coughed up a plume of smoke. “You... really don't hold back, do you?” he asked. “Barely been a day since you dropped us last.”

“Why don't we just skip the pleasantries,” Shadow said, lifting Duex up by the scarf. “Tell us where the doctor is, and I'll only break one of your legs.”

“That's... a bit extreme, isn't it?” Maria asked.

“Trust me, kid, that's par for the course at worse,” Duex muttered. “And don't bother with your high-horse antics, hedgehog. I still have my pride.”

“Whole lot of good that's been doing you,” Shadow said. “Look at you. Thrown to the wolves like this, burning down an island, and for what?”

“What else?” Duex laughed. “To stall you for just an extra minute longer.”

Running on instinct, Shadow tossed Duex aside, and dodged out of the way as the robot from before, Emerl, came rocketing past, scooping Duex up before he could hit the ground.

Emerl skidded to a halt, gently setting Duex back on his feet. “Are you alright, my friend?”

“Appreciate it, bud,” Duex said, letting out a small sigh.

Emerl turned his gaze towards Shadow, glaring with unemotive blue eyes. “I believe I told you to leave the island, hedgehog.”

“With a man as dangerous as the doctor here? No chance,” Shadow said. “Can't you see they're lying to you? Look at the damage they've already done to your home.”

“The only damage I see is what has been done by your reckless actions,” Emerl pointed out. “Doctor Robotnik and Mr Duex have been nothing but good visitors, intrigued by the history of this place I call home. I will not ask again; leave.”

“I can't do that,” Shadow responded. “Not until the Chaos Emeralds are safely away from Eggman. Now please, stand aside. I don't want to fight you.”

Emerl made a motion, signalling Duex to retreat, as a flash of red flicked in his eyes. “Good,” Emerl said. “I wouldn't want to fight me either.”

Shadow felt a chill run up his back. “Maria, you tail the jackal,” he said. “Something tells me I'll be stuck handling this guy for a while.”

“Got it,” Maria responded. “Please don't get hurt, Shadow.”

As Maria took off into the sky again, Shadow felt a bead of sweat roll down his brow. “Can't exactly promise that against this guy,” he muttered.

Silence fell between hedgehog and machine, with only the cracking of a burning branch signalling the start of their battle.

Chapter Text

Maria flew after Duex, the sound of Shadow and Emerl clashing echoing through the burning jungle. A part of her wanted to stay back and help Shadow get through to Emerl, but she also knew that if she lost track of Duex, then there was no telling how long it would take to catch him again, or find Eggman.

Of course, Duex wasn't making following him any easier, what with all the knives he was throwing at her. At least she had the advantage of an extra axis to move around on to dodge.

“For the love of- Stop following me!” Duex called out. “Trust me, kid, this ain't your fight!”

“It is my fight!” Maria yelled back. “You brought it to my village! You hurt my friend! This is just as much my fights as it is Shadow's!”

“Freakin' goodie two-shoes types,” Duex muttered. “Fine, but take your fight elsewhere!”

Duex sped up, darting between the trees until eventually he was clear of the jungle, and sprinting through a large amount of ruins. Maria would have loved to examine the architecture of these structures, but there were priorities at hand here, and they were currently sprinting at roughly 55km/h.

In the distance, Maria could see, beyond the frozen mountains, the looming curve of the Death Egg. The final destination was in sight. Right now, she just hoped that Shadow wasn't having too hard a time catching back up.

Shadow had to admit, he had never fought anyone like Emerl before. The closest he had ever come to an even remotely even match was with Metal Sonic and Infinite, and that was giving the jackal a lot of credit.

Every punch and kick that Emerl threw his way hit like a boulder, and every time Shadow tried to counter, not only was he perfectly blocked, but Emerl managed to completely replicate a second later. All it took was for Emerl to see his Spin Dash once, and suddenly he was using it with more mastery than Shadow ever had.

Their fight took them far and wide across the island, until the two finally skidded to a halt atop the peak of an icy mountain.

Shadow, surprisingly, found himself out of breath. “You're... definitely no pushover,” he said. “Were you programmed for this sort of thing?”

“Programmed?” Emerl asked. “I have guarded this island for longer than you can possibly fathom, hedgehog. My duty here was left to me by my forefathers. It is not some 'programming', as you would believe.”

“Yet here you are, working with the doctor,” Shadow pointed out. “Why? That man's a danger to us all.”

“Funny. He said the same about you,” Emerl said. “Robotnik told me all the stories about how you destroyed his fortresses of peace, and especially that space station you dropped on my island. You are a menace; a threat to peace.”

“And you haven't considered that Eggman's lying to you?” Shadow asked, crossing his arms. “That 'space station' was a tool he was planning to use to slaughter anyone who stood against him. It was a weapon of oppression. I am sorry that it crashed on your island, but the doctor is not your friend.”

There was no noticeable change in Emerl's expression, but Shadow could feel the animosity emanating from him. “I do not take kindly to you speaking about my friend like that,” Emerl said dangerously.

“And I don't take kindly to your 'friend' causing so much pain and suffering to my friends,” Shadow retorted. “So what will it be, bolts for brains?”

Emerl responded by launching himself at Shadow, foot outstretched in a dive kick as he shot past the hedgehog like a speeding bullet.

“Fine,” Shadow said. “Sticking to the hard way.”

Maria was starting to run out of breath, but beyond the frozen mountains, she had chased Duex to what looked like a launch base built around the Death Egg.

Well, hey; at least now she could try and solve the problem at the source, right? Just a question of where to start.

Down below, Duex slowed to a halt, just as out of breath as Maria was, and looked up at the fox. “You are... seriously persistent,” he wheezed. “I can see... why you'd bond with that hedgehog.”

“Feel like... giving up then?” Maria called back. “It's... never too late... for a career change!”

“You sound... just like that guy!” Duex yelled. “And my answer's... still the same!”

“But why?” Maria asked. “Once Eggman has what he wants, what's stopping him from doing to you what he's doing to everyone else? Is your faith really only in the money?”

“My 'faith' is in Infinite!” Duex answered. “I have 'faith' that he has a plan for that! I have 'faith' that he's accounted for that! And that's more than I can say the rest of Mobius has ever had for us jackals!”

Maria was taken about by Duex's outburst. Carried by the momentum of his anger, Duex continued. “Do you even know what it's like?” he asked. “Being treated as lesser, as a mutt prone to nothing but violence? To have no choice but to be the very thing people see you as?!”

“... Yes, actually,” Maria admitted, grabbing her tails gently. “I do know what it's like, being seen as 'less'. Seen as 'different', because of things outside my control. But you know what? I didn't let that dictate who I became. I choose to help people because that's what I want to do, despite how I was treated in the past. You can always make that choice, Mr the Jackal.”

Duex fell somewhat silent. It wasn't often that he was confronted with someone who seemed to actually know what he'd been through, and even less so to have come out the other side so... different from him. And without Infinite around to be as headstrong as usual, Duex couldn't help but feel himself... wavering.

Before he could so much as voice a response, the ground began to shake violently. Duex turned around, to see the large, multi-stage thrusters that had been attached to the Death Egg roaring to life.

“No!” Maria shouted, realising that the Death Egg was taking flight once more, before shooting off into the skies herself to get on board.

“Kid! Stop!” Duex called out. He wasn't even completely sure why he tried to stop her, other than the fact that he knew, deep somewhere in his heart, that it wasn't out of obligation to his contract.

Two figures crashed into the snow on either side of Duex. From the settling snow, Shadow and Emerl emerged.

Shadow looked over at the rising Death Egg, spotted Maria closing in on it, and a look of panic quickly formed on his face. In a flash of orange, Shadow broke out into a full sprint, launching himself up the nearest steep incline towards the Death Egg.

Emerl prepared himself to give chase, before... “Wait!” Duex shouted, standing in the robot's way.

Emerl's expressionless metallic face, somehow, was able to show his confusion. “Why are you stopping me?” he asked. “Is Shadow the Hedgehog not your enemy?”

Now, Duex was presented with a quandary. A choice was laid out before him, and the only options he had, he could only choose based on what he felt was 'right'. No Robotnik or Infinite to push him down one route or the other.

Perhaps... now was the time to truly test the cut of his character. To really see what he was made of.

Taking a deep breath, Duex decided to speak the truth.

The moment Maria landed on the top of one of the thrusters attached to the Death Egg coincided with Shadow's landing. Perplexed, Shadow turned around, and saw that Emerl hadn't followed him.

“What's going on?” he asked nobody in particular. “Why did he give up the chase?”

Maria followed Shadow's gaze, just as curious. “Maybe he can't make the jump?”

“I don't think that's it,” Shadow said. “He was keeping up with me like it was nothing before. Maria, what happened with you and that jackal?”

Maria looked slightly sheepish for a moment. “I think... I might have gotten through to him?”

“... Good job,” Shadow said, ruffling her hair. “You're better at it than I am.”

Something new roared above the sound of the rushing wind. “Maria, you do something about these rockets,” Shadow instructed. “Something tells me the doctor's in.”

“Got it!” Maria responded, before flying off.

Shadow turned his attention away, and scanned the horizon. Feeling his senses twitch ever so slightly, he dodged to the side as a heavily armoured Egg Mobile slammed a massive fist into the metal where he stood.

“Your sixth sense is really getting on my nerves, hedgehog!” Eggman shouted from within the machine. “Learn to just stay still and get squashed!”

“When has that argument ever worked?” Shadow asked. “This is what, the fourth time we've had this sort of conversation?”

“Imagine how tedious this is for me, then!” Eggman said.

“Then quit while you're ahead!” Shadow yelled. “More people would thank you for it!”

“Never!” Eggman yelled back, as the arms of his machine swung at Shadow. “Now face the wrath of Big Arms!!”

“... Big Arms?” Shadow asked hesitantly as he dodged the attack. “Really? Not 'Egg Arms', or something like that?”

“Creative well dries up at times, get over it,” Eggman responded. “Now GET CRUSHED!”

The attacks that came from the Big Arms were dreadfully slow. The only thing really holding Shadow back right now was the limited space he had to work with.

There was, however, a noticeable rumbling. One that caught Eggman's attention, as he noticed the Death Egg's ascent suddenly slowed down. It was only then that Eggman noticed each of the rockets attached to the Death Egg going off, one by one, and only after that that he noticed Maria flying around, tinkering with them.

“Oh, you've got to be kidding me,” Eggman said dejectedly. “How is that fox flying!?”

“Two tails,” Shadow answered simply.

“But that doesn't work!” Eggman exclaimed, as another rocket went out. “How are those tails attached to allow for complete rotary liftoff?! An organic body isn't designed to be able to rotate anything 360 degrees like that!!”

Shadow, noticing that the Death Egg had begun to fall once again, decided to leave the doctor to his ramblings about the impossibility of flying foxes, and leapt from the platform, dropping only a few feet before Maria swooped by to catch him. As the duo flew further away, they could still hear Eggman spouting out impossibilities as the Death Egg fell on top of him, crashing into the ground once more.

“So, what's the doctor yelling about?” Maria asked.

“How you flying should be impossible,” Shadow answered, as they watched the Death Egg come to a crash halt below. “How does that work, by the way?”

“Honestly, Shadow? I don't ask questions about it,” Maria admitted. “It works, and that's the end of it.”

“Fair enough,” Shadow conceded. “Take us down by those... giant mushrooms,” he instructed, before mentally doubling back on what he just said. “There's a sentence I never thought I'd say.”

The duo touched down on the mushroom covered hill. “So, where to now?” Maria asked. “Surely Eggman's done for after that.”

“He's survived worse,” Shadow said simply. “I'm willing to be he'll be back up with another plan in an hour or so. Right now, I think we need to find the Chaos Emeralds, and break the Death Egg into little pieces.”

“Do we even know where to start looking?”

“I'd say here's a good place to start, if any,” Shadow decided. “We'll just keep going until we find... anything, really.”

“Is it... really that simple?”

“Done well for me so far,” Shadow shrugged. “Then again, most of the time, I've been chasing after Eggman. So actually having to look around might be a bit fun.”

At that, Maria could only laugh. It was such an odd silver lining to look at, but she could really appreciate a positive outlook on things.

“Now, are you ready?” Shadow asked, charging a little bit of chaos energy in his hand. “We'll follow that trail!”

Perplexed, Maria looked around. “What trail?”

Shadow smirked, and fired off a weak Chaos Spear at a wall of foliage. “The trail... that we blaze!” The foliage shifted, then dropped to reveal... a sheer rock wall.

Shadow stared blankly at the wall. Maria broke out in uncontrolled laughter. Without missing a beat, Shadow pointed down the more sensible pathway off to the side. “THAT trail, that we blaze!”

And so, the two headed onwards through the mushroom grove, the sounds of laughter echoing throughout.

Their journey took them across the Mushroom Hills, through what looked to be a slapped together Eggman base, through a desert which the two had no idea how it managed to fit on a island like this, and for some strange reason even Shadow wasn't sure about, through the interior of an active volcano.

Maria was sure to let Shadow know that it was a stupid idea, and generally speaking, he agreed. It was just that they were running out of places above ground to search.

But, it wasn't without benefit, as once they were through, they found themselves in a massive underground temple, illuminated by glowing crystals of some kind.

“It's amazing,” Maria said, looking around. “The architecture looks completely untouched. Pristine, even, like it was only made yesterday.”

“I imagine that robot takes good care of this place,” Shadow surmised, as he gently ran his hand along the nearest walls. “And all these engravings... I wonder what stories they tell.”

“I wish the language wasn't lost to time,” Maria said. “Think of all the things we could learn here!”

“A historian's Eden,” Shadow muttered. Then, in the distance, he saw a faint green glow. “Heads up. I see something.”

The two moved forward carefully, before finding themselves in a wide open chamber. Formations of large crystals lined the edges of the walls, where a great mural stood, in front of which was a massive emerald, as well as...

“The Chaos Emeralds!” Maria shouted. “We found them!”

“And a massive plus one, too,” Shadow said in awe. “What is that?”

“That,” a new voice said, “is the Master Emerald.” Shadow and Maria quickly got on guard, as Emerl emerged from behind the Emerald. “It is, in words you might know, the master controller to the Chaos Emeralds. It was through its power that I overpowered you when first we met.”

“Emerl,” Shadow said. “You're here.”

“I am,” Emerl said. “It is my duty to guard this island, the home of the Master Emerald. That was the last order and duty my long gone friend imparted me.”

Shadow found his muscles relax a little, not sensing any hostility from Emerl. “What's brought all this on?” he asked. “You're distinctly... not trying to beat me black and blue now.”

“Duex told me a story,” Emerl answered. “A story that matches well with what you were saying. But, I still can't bring myself to doubt the doctor. I am... not use to having to discern lies from truth.”

Shadow glanced over at Maria, who looked more than a little happy that she'd managed to get through to Duex. “And where is Duex, anyway?” Shadow asked.

“Soul searching,” Emerl said simply. “Right now, though, I wish to know your intentions, Shadow the Hedgehog.”

“And how will you confirm that?”

In response, Emerl's stance shifted to one ready for combat. “Always comes down to battle, huh?” Shadow muttered, as he readied himself in response. “Maria, stand back.”

Maria took a few steps back, nervously watching as neither Shadow nor Emerl made any moves. The air became tense, so much so that it felt like time itself had forgotten to move.

Then, beyond the expectations of everyone, the roof caved in. Shadow reacted fast, dashing forward and pulling Emerl out of the way just as the rocks slammed into the ground.

And, from the new hole in the roof, Eggman descended. “Turning traitor, Emerl?” he asked viciously. “It is seriously hard to get good help these days.”

“Eggman,” Shadow said in the same tone of voice as a curse.

“So, they were right,” Emerl said, half in disbelief. “It was all a lie?”

“Oh, you poor, naïve robot,” Eggman said if faux pity. “Of course it was a lie! What, you think a man like me wouldn't jump at the opportunity for power like this?! And speaking of...” An arm dropped from the bottom of the Egg Mobile, which grabbed hold of the Master Emerald and yanked it from its pedestal. “Yoink!!”

“Stop!!” Emerl shouted, launching himself forward. “You must not remove the Master Emerald!”

The Egg Mobile moved swiftly, causing Emerl to miss his landing. “Too bad, so sad!” Eggman taunted, as the front of the Egg Mobile shifted into a cannon. “Toodles, rust bucket!”

The cannon fired, the missile heading straight for Emerl. There was not enough time for the robot to dodge. There was not enough time for Shadow to get him out of the way.

But... it was enough time for Duex to jump out of the shadows, and push Emerl out of the way, taking the shot for him.

The missile struck and exploded. The ground crumbled away into a seemingly bottomless abyss of darkness, and into it, Duex fell.

Emerl slammed to the ground, turning quickly to try and reach out to Duex... but there was no hope for him, as Duex's body tumbled helplessly into the dark.

Eggman blinked a few times in confusion. “... Welp, guess I'm going to have to retool my contracts with the rest of those jackals,” he said to himself. “Ta ta, suckers!!”

And so, Eggman flew off, out the way he came. Shadow and Maria gently walked over to Emerl, who gazed blankly down the hole. “I...” Emerl muttered. “I was a fool... and it cost...”

“Emerl,” Shadow said, putting a hand on the robot's shoulder. “I know you're hurting, and... I wish I had known Duex like you did, but we have to stop Eggman. Otherwise, more people will end up like Duex did. People that never had a choice in the matter, who never had chance to learn better. Please, we need the Chaos Emeralds to stop him.”

Emerl looked up at Shadow, and somewhere in the hedgehog's heart, he felt like Emerl was crying. Slowly, the robot got to his feet, and, raising his hands, the Chaos Emeralds began to move towards Shadow.

“Go,” Emerl said. “Do what you must.”

The Emeralds began to circle around Shadow. Feeling their power coursing through him once more, he gave a mental tug on the connection, and the Chaos Emeralds all flew into his being, turning his fur as golden as the sun.

As he shot up into the sky, Shadow noticed a most interesting mural on the wall. On it, he saw a figure that looked scarily like one of Eggman's machines, carrying off the Master Emerald... and being chased by a depiction of what could only be Shadow himself.

Was he... prophesized? Was that even possible?

Another thing to file away for later, though. Right now, he had a job to do.

Eggman silently tapped his finger against the console of the Egg Mobile impatiently. “Still no connection to the Egg-Net,” he sighed. “Guess it won't be until after I get off this forsaken rock that I can finally terminate those contracts. Honestly, what was that jackal thinking?! Did he forget what the plan was?!” Looking over the edge of the Egg Mobile, the doctor's eyes glistened at the sight of the Master Emerald he towed. “Oh, what a beauty you are, though. Worth the sacrifice!”

Just then, a golden blur shot past the doctor. A figure like condensed sunlight hovered before Eggman. “Urgh. You again,” Eggman sighed. “It was intimidating the first time, but out here, you just look gaudy! Gold is so last minute!”

“Never took you for a fashionista,” Shadow said. “Never cared, either. Hand over the Master Emerald.”

Eggman smirked, and pressed numerous buttons on the Egg Mobile, causing several platoons of Eggman-shaped robots to appear. “What makes you think I'll do as you ask?”

“What makes you think I'm asking?”

Eggman smirked. If there was anything he could respect, it was a good clap-back.

Shadow's movements became a blur, as he smashed all the robots in a second flat. Eggman quickly directed all power he could from the Master Emerald into the Egg Mobile, and shot off like a bullet towards the wreckage of the Death Egg. A few button presses, and a large robot launched from the Death Egg, looking like a more air-born version of his previous ultimate weapon. Very quickly, Eggman docked the Egg Mobile into the machine, its innards automatically hooking up the Master Emerald to its power supply.

“100%... 150, 300,” Eggman read out off the charts his machine was now feeding him. “Oh, you are in for a world of hurt, hedgehog!”

The Giant Egg-Robo swung its fist at Shadow, who, while managing to block it, found himself pushed back a bit. Seeing that this was going to be quite the challenge, Shadow chose to give it his all.

So, Shadow flew circles around the machine, making sure to avoid even a glancing blow from this empowered mech while landing his own strikes. For something that looked almost slapped together, it was remarkably sturdy.

But, the joints looks particularly vulnerable. An idea forming in his mind, Shadow flew tight circles around the elbows of the machine, the friction heating up the metal so much that the next punch swung caused the arm to come clean off. From that, a new idea formed, and Shadow flew into and through the stump of an arm.

“Hey! Get out of there!” Eggman yelled. “That's cheating!!”

Explosions racked the Giant Egg-Robo, until finally, Shadow burst forth from its chest, Master Emerald in hands.

Eggman watched as the power quickly emptied from his machine, and sighed. “Fine. I'll give you this win.”

Shadow, balancing the Master Emerald in one hand now, floated over to the head of Eggman's mech, where the doctor sat, raised his free hand... and flicked, reducing the machine to dust, and sending both Eggman and his Egg Mobile flying into the distance, while he screamed out something most profane.

“Language,” Shadow said. “You kiss your mother with that moustache?”

The whole ordeal only took a few minutes, and Shadow returned to the chamber Maria and Emerl were left in.

“I'm back,” Shadow said plainly, taking note on how the two still hovered around that hole. “I take it...”

“There is nothing down there,” Emerl answered over Maria's sobs. “It simply goes on forever. Duex is gone.”

Shadow allowed sympathy to wash over his face. Gently setting the Master Emerald down, he walked over to Maria, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Almost immediately, the young girl threw her arms around the hedgehog, burying her face in his chest.

Shadow took a deep breath, remembering the feeling of pulling the Chaos Emeralds into himself, and simply... reversed it.

The Chaos Emeralds left his body, of which six flew up into the sky and scattered to the winds, while the last of them (the green one, surprise surprise) dropped to the floor beside him as his fur faded back to its usual black colour.

Emerl looked at him curiously. “You choose to give up on that power?”

“You already proved that it's not permanent,” Shadow said, as he picked up the remaining Chaos Emerald. “Can't rely on it all the time. Best they go about their own way.”

Emerl could understand the logic behind it. Absolute power corrupted, absolutely. It was that which caused the downfall of the echidnas; that which his old friend had warned about. And this hedgehog, he had seen past the temptation for power.

Perhaps, he was the good in this world, made manifest.

After roughly an hour or so, Maria had finally calmed down. Her eyes were still rather puffy from crying, but she was back on her feet.

The first thing this new trio did was remove the wreckage of the Death Egg from Angel Island. Maria had suggested a 'surgical' approach to it, by which we mean 'cut it up and recycle', but given the size... that was ruled out quickly.

Instead, with the power of the Master Emerald, Emerl invoked a Chaos Control like never before, warping the wreckage of the Death Egg... well, to be honest, nobody was sure just where the wreck ended up. Maybe to the bottom of the ocean, or even into the sun; who knows. What was important was that it was somewhere not on Angel Island.

Afterwards, Emerl led the two to a small lake on the edge of the Island, with a smaller mass of land in the middle that held a shrine of some kind. They walked across the bridge that connected to the shrine, walked up the stone steps, and once at the top, Emerl placed the Master Emerald down. A bright glow emanated from in for a moment, and then the whole Island shook.

“Now, Angel Island will rise back into the skies,” Emerl said. “All will return to as it were.”

“So, it's over, then,” Shadow said, as he watched the shore line recede in a most strange way as the island rose into the sky. “What will you do now?”

“Remain here,” Emerl answered simply. “Protect the Master Emerald, and this island. Just as I had promised my friend aeons ago.”

“That's... something I want to ask you about, actually,” Maria said. “You said you were the last of the echidnas, but...”

“I don't look like it,” Emerl finished. “I am aware. In truth, I am an echidna in name alone. An honour granted to me by my old friend, who gave her life to seal the evil that brought her people to extinction. In her memory, I remain here.”

Shadow place a supportive hand on Emerl's shoulder. “If that is what you want, then far be it for me to say otherwise,” he said, before offering up the Chaos Emerald to the robot.

Emerl looked at it, and pushed it back to Shadow. “Keep it,” he said. “Its power will be better served in your hand, I imagine.”

“... Alright,” Shadow conceded, putting the Emerald away. “With that last matter sorted, we should probably get out of your hair, then.”

Emerl stared at Shadow in what could only be described as 'perplexation'. “I do not have hair.”

“It's a metaphor,” Shadow pointed out.

“Noted. Filing under 'sayings'.”

There was a moment of silence, before the three burst out into laughter. “I... I'm sorry,” Maria wheezed out. “I didn't expect you to have a sense of humour!”

“My old friend loved jokes,” Emerl said. “Most of them probably wouldn't work in this day and age, though. Products of their time, I suppose.”

“Such is life,” Shadow said. “Well, Emerl... I hope the next time we meet is a boring affair.”

Emerl took Shadow's hand, and shook it. “Yes. That sounds rather nice, actually.”

Somewhere, out in the open sea, Eggman laid back in his Egg Mobile, and sighed in defeat.

“Well,” he said. “Back to the drawing board, I guess.”

Chapter Text

Located deep within South Island was a little kingdom. For nearly two decades now, this kingdom has fought a losing battle against the forces of Doctor Ivo Robotnik. For every step forward the people of the Acorn Kingdom made, they ended up having to take three steps back.

Worse yet, the doctor hadn't been around to lead the troops himself in years. All this time, they had been losing to an automated system that churned out robot after robot.

But, that didn't stop one ragtag group of warriors. Even with the odds stacked astronomically against them, they continued to fight on. Even though it took all four of them just to destroy a pair of these powerful robots, they continued to fight.

They were, after all, the Freedom Fighters.

High up on the cliff side, overlooking the captured castle, a young squirrel girl dressed in a blue jacket and boots kept watch. Robots swarmed the place she once called her home, filling her heart with a fury like never before.

But, she had to remain calm. Anger led to rash decisions. Too many lives were dependent on her living through this. Were her father still in fighting form, no doubt he would have been trying to keep her from marching out here like this.

“Princess Sally,” a voice spoke. “How are we looking?”

Sally Acorn took the binoculars away from her eyes, and looked at the man addressing her. He was a brown furred coyote with blonde hair on top, dressed sharply in a blue military uniform with a sabre at his waist. “No change, Antoine,” she replied. “Robotnik's SWAT bots are still there.” To prove her point, a large, hulking black robot could be seen patrolling the castle wall in the distance. To call it intimidating would be like saying that the sun's 'a bit hot'.

“Are we sure about launching this rescue operation?” Antoine D'Coolette asked. “Not to say I don't wish to, but we're only four against the doctor's main stronghold in our land.”

“I've my own doubts too, but we can't afford to wait a moment longer,” she said. “A minute longer out here is another potential victim to the doctor's Roboticiser. We have to rescue those prisoners as soon as possible.”

That was something Antoine couldn't deny. Every second mattered when it came to war.

The two made their way back to their camp, where two others were waiting for them. One was a walrus named Rotor, who was large, fittingly strong, and something of a genius with machines, and the other was a half Roboticised rabbit named Bunnie, rescued from Robotnik's forces in just the nick of time a few years ago, and now uses those new robotic 'enhancements' for her people.

“How're things lookin', hon?” Bunnie asked, adjusting her hat. “We got an opening?”

“If you'd call having to make it ourselves one, then maybe,” Sally replied. “I won't lie about it; we're going to be up the creek if we go through with this.”

“To be fair, through,” Rotor said, “when aren't we? We're basically the kingdom's last line of defence or offence.”

“Fair point,” Sally agreed. “Right now, though, we've only got two options; cut our losses, or bust in there hard and fast. We've still not seen hide nor hair of the doctor, or the Jackal Squad for that matter, in months now. We've only got their automated system to contend with, which, while dangerous in its own right...”

“Don't come close to what that nasty piece of work Infinite can do, yeah?” Bunnie asked. “Still wish I could pay that jerk back for my arm and legs.”

“Were it so easy,” Antoine cautioned. “Bunnie, you know just how dangerous even one of the lesser members of the Jackal Squad is. To want to target Infinite himself...”

“I know that, Hon,” Bunnie said. “Don't mean a girl can't dream, though.”

“Focus, lovebirds,” Sally called out. “We've got a job to do. Unfortunately, the patrols are too tight for us to sneak in, so our only option...”

“Is the hard and fast approach,” Rotor finished. “Like you said before. Do we know how many folks we're trying to get out?”

“At least 10, if I recall correctly,” Sally said. “Nine children, and one adult. The plan is straight forward; bust in through the side door into the kitchen, rush to the cells, get the prisoners, and bail.”

“This is how we die, isn't it?” Antoine asked. “Pulling an absolute blitzkrieg of a prisoner extraction.”

“Want to sit this one out, then?” Bunnie said.

“Never,” Antoine replied. “I swore an oath when I became a Freedom Fighter. Even though the odds are we'll die doing this... I'm in all the way.”

“Speaking for all of us, Ant,” Rotor said. “I'm in too.”

“Same here, Sugar,” Bunnie added.

Sally gave a reassured smile. It was nice, having comrades like these. “Then, let's not waste any more time,” she said. “Freedom Fighters... Move out!”

The initial break-in was, surprisingly, not too hard, as the entrance they had chosen had been left virtually unguarded. Sally was mildly relieved about that, as their odds of success had just skyrocketed from 'abysmal' to 'nearly abysmal'.

Sally knew the layout of the castle like the back of her hand; a benefit from having grown up in it. It was also fortunate that the castle itself wasn't, in fact, all that big. The royal family of the Acorn Kingdom was, after all, rather small. These days, it was just Sally and her father, King Nigel Acorn.

The inside of the castle, though the layout remained familiar, was horrific to behold for her. Stone and wooden flooring had been torn up, and replaced with sleek sheet metal, the walls were lined with pipe that funnelled various kinds of fluids away, their purposes unknown to all. Familiar halls, now bastardised with unfamiliar tech.

It made her sick to her stomach, seeing her home twisted like this. One of these days, she would take it all back.

As they passed through the throne room, sneaking past what SWAT bots they could avoid, something... unusual caught the princess' eye. A strange, shattered gem, floating in the air just before the throne. It looked almost as if it were rewinding, back into a state of wholeness.

“Well, ain't that just plain odd,” Bunnie commented. “What do you think it is, hun?”

“No clue,” Sally said. “And frankly, we don't have time to try and find out. We've got a job to do, and we'd best get it done.”

“Sure we shouldn't at least steal that, though?” Rotor asked. “Just in case it messes with one of the doctor's plans?”

“Tempting, I'll admit,” Sally said, “but we don't exactly have the tools to carry something like... that.”

Antoine allowed himself a small sigh of relief. A rescue op was hard enough as it was; he really didn't want to be adding sabotage to it, no matter how much that would have helped the cause.

Eventually, the quartet made their way into the dungeons. The cell they were looking for couldn't be more obvious, given that it was guarded by the only SWAT bot down there. The four acted fast, with Antoine's sword slipping between the armour of the robot's neck, severing numerous connections, and with a combination of Bunnie's and Rotor's strengths, the machine's head was ripped off. From there, Sally drove her fist down through the hole that was once its head, and tore the power core out of the machine for good measures.

The Freedom Fighters let out a small sigh of relief as the SWAT bot clattered to the ground, and no alarms were raised. That meant, officially, their plan was going off without any unintended hitches. All that was left was the 'intended' hitches.

Sally quickly made her way over to the prison door, and saw the faces of all the prisoners light up with relief at her arrival. It was good to know they hadn't lost hope just yet.

Among those prisoners was a tall, female hedgehog, with blue quills and eyes, and a tuft of yellow on the top of her head. “Princess?” the hedgehog asked. “What are you doing here? It's not safe!”

“Of course it's not safe, Bernadette; this is a prison break,” Sally snarked back playfully. “I'm hoping this is everyone?”

Bernadette Hedgehog let out a small sigh, knowing that trying to argue against Sally Acorn in a time like this was like trying to draw blood from a rock. “This is all of us, thankfully,” she said. “Princess, please tell me you have an escape plan that doesn't just boil down to 'book it'?”

“In that case, I won't say anything,” Sally said. “Rotor! How's it coming along?”

Rotor, who had been stripping the SWAT bot of its parts, had used said parts to build a quick and dirty carrying bag of sorts, large enough for the walrus to carry at least six of the kids. “All good on my end, Sally!”

Bunnie knelt down in front of one of the kids; a fellow rabbit in a red dress. “Hey there, Cream,” she said softly. “Doing alright, sweetie?”

The young Cream the Rabbit, despite looking nervous, nodded in response. “Hm hmm,” she said. “It's been really scary... but I'm done my best!”

“I know, sweetie,” Bunnie reassured, patting the little girl gently on the head. “Don' worry. We'll get ya outta here.”

“Antoine!” Sally called out to the top of the stairs. “Are we clear?”

“No patrols in sight, your majesty!” Antoine said. “In my personal opinion, we'd best act now!”

“Copy,” Sally replied. “Alright, everyone. Once Bunnie ripped the door off its hinges, the alarms are going to start, and alert every robot out there. There won't be a moment to lose, so we all need to act as fast as we can. Six of you,” she pointed towards six of the kids, “will be riding in that basket Rotor's made. The remaining three of you,” she pointed out Cream and two others, “will be carried by myself and Bernadette, while Bunnie and Antoine take point in keeping the enemies off us while we get outside. Are we all clear on that?” There was an unanimous murmur of understanding. “Bunnie, on my signal.”

Bunnie stood up, walked over to the door, and grabbed hold of it. “Ready, Sugar!”

“On three!” Sally instructed. “One... Two... THREE!!”

Sally ripped the steel door from its place, and almost immediately, the lights turned red and alarms began to blare. Everyone sprang to action, getting to their designated points before just as quickly making a break for freedom.

Up the stairs. Through the doors. Past the throne room, until suddenly, Bernadette came to a stop, her eyes locked on that floating, shattered crystal.

“Bernadette!” Sally called out. “We don't have time to worry about that...” Sally's voice died in her throat, as she saw the look on the hedgehog's face. It was an expression primarily of recognition, mixed with a bit of terror, and a whole lot of sheer rage.

Shifting Cream in her arms, Bernadette sprinted towards the fractured gemstone, grabbing hold of the largest piece of it she could, and just as quickly falling back into formation with the Freedom Fighters. It took all of three seconds for this to happen; barely a blip on the temporal radar.

Sally wanted to comment on that sudden deviation in the plan, but that look in her eyes... that fury... She'd have to bring this up later.

The plan was going off without a problem. Unfortunately, the key word in that sentence was 'was'.

They had made it several kilometres away from the castle before the SWAT bots had begun to catch up, and eventually surround them.

Worse yet... they had stopped firing at them. Their weapons were primed and ready, but not a single bullet was being shot now.

The SWAT bots began to part, revealing a pair of familiar jackals walking towards the Freedom Fighters.

“Infinite,” Sally said darkly. “Guess it was too much to hope that you were buried in some unmarked grave.”

“Princess Acorn,” Infinite greeted, mockery dripping from his voice. “Always a pleasure. I really do appreciate how... easy you make it to find you.”

“Well, at least one of us feels appreciated,” Sally snarked. “I don't think anyone's ever appreciated you hanging around.” She took a brief glance around, and only noticed one other jackal present. “Looking a bit short-staffed today, aren't you? The boys finally ditched you?”

Judging by the twitch in Infinite's brow, he did not like that comment one bit. Something Sally could take solace in. “You know what? No,” Infinite said plainly. “No barbs to trade. No rising to the bait. Either you lot come along quietly... or I'm bringing you all in cold.”

“Ooh, spooky,” Bunnie taunted. “You keep that one in your diary for special occasions, hun?”

Infinite took a deep, shaky breath, as Trois placed a hand on his shoulder to help calm his nerves. “With that, you've just sealed your fate,” he decided then and there. “SWAT bots!” Every robot suddenly raised their weapons. “Open fi-!!”

Then, just as suddenly, Infinite froze. A look of abject terror, like Sally or the Freedom Fighters had never seen, was on his face. Sally wondered what could have caused it for all of two seconds, before she realised that the wind had changed. Before, it had been a gentle, northward breeze, but now, suddenly, it was fierce, and it was blowing in circles. She could feel her hair waving to her right, but could see Infinite's doing the same on his right.

Then, one by one, SWAT bots began exploding. It was impossible to tell for certain, but Sally could have sworn she saw some dark blur going through the crowd of bots.

“No...” Infinite muttered in horror. “No no no! Not you! How do you keep following me everywhere I go?!”

When there was only five bots left, the wind suddenly stopped, and a mysterious figure came to a halt between the Freedom Fighters and Infinite.

They were tall. That was the first thing Sally noticed about them. Or, maybe it was just the way they carried themselves that made him seem tall. She was fairly certain they were a hedgehog, but the princess had never seen one with quills that stood up at the end like that, or have fur as black as a lightless void with streaks of crimson through it. Golden rings sat up their ankles and wrists, whether they were attached directly to their white gloves and red cuffs or those red and white shoes or not, she couldn't say for sure.

But, whoever this stranger was, wherever they came from... they scared the two members of the Jackal Squad to no end, and that was worth its weight in gold.

The figure looked at Infinite, and smirked. “Hey there,” he greeted casually. “Been a few days, Infinite. You look well.”

The hedgehog's voice was akin to the feeling of running one's hand through smooth, loose gravel. Rough to an extent, but almost... soothingly cool to the ears.

“SWAT BOTS!!” Infinite yelled, though 'screamed' might be more appropriate for the level of panic in his voice. “BLOW THAT BASTARD TO PIECES!!”

All remaining SWAT bots aimed their guns at the hedgehog, who let out a small 'humph' of amusement, before seeming to blur out of existence. Sally and the others had to do all they could just to track the hedgehog's movements; he was simply that fast.

One SWAT bot fell to a swift kick from the hedgehog. The next was split in half simply by him running -or rather, skating- through it. The one after that had its arm ripped off, used to beat the one after it into submission, before having said arm jammed through its head.

This hedgehog was brutal, efficient, and relentless. Yet, strangely enough, he made it look good.

The last remaining SWAT bot took aim, just outside the hedgehog's view. Sally was about to call out to them about it, but a hail of bullets from above shredded the machine before she could. A red biplane flew overhead, and Sally could have sworn it was being piloted by a young fox.

And then, there was just Infinite and Trois left. The two jackals could only stand and watch in horror at what had just unfolded.

The hedgehog took a few steps towards the jackals. “What does this make now?” he asked. “Forth time? Or should I count the time on Angel Island as well?”

Infinite growled in frustration. “Damn you... Shadow the Hedgehog!” he snarled. “How many more times must we go through this?!”

“Until you finally learn when to quit,” the hedgehog answered. “Because you know what's actually funny? Duex lost his life saving a stranger from Eggman. His death was not on my hands.”

Infinite seemed to freeze at that revelation, both him and Trois unable to properly articulate a response.

“I'll say it once more, Infinite,” the hedgehog said, walking slowly towards the jackals. “Go home. Rethink your lives. Try to create something, rather than destroy.”

Infinite took a deep breath, seeming to calm himself just a little. “... This isn't over, you hear?” he said. “One way or another, we're going to end this.”

Infinite turned and left, followed closely behind by Trois. The hedgehog could only really let out a sigh of resignation. “Stubborn fool,” he muttered to himself, before turning around and walking towards Sally and the others.

“Whoa,” Rotor said quietly. “That guy made an absolute joke out of them.”

“Who is he?” Antoine asked. “I've never seen skill or power like that.”

The hedgehog stopped just in front of Sally. “Are you the leader of this resistance group?” he asked.

For a moment, Sally found herself lost in this hedgehog's red eyes. They spoke both strength and wisdom. “Freedom Fighters, and yes,” she responded, holding out her hand. “Sally Acorn, princess of the Acorn Kingdom. To whom do we owe our thanks?”

“Shadow,” he responded, shaking her hand. “Shadow the Hedgehog. Think of me more as... a wandering do-gooder.”

“That's certainly one way to look at what you just did, honey!” Bunnie called out. “You just saved our bacon like it was nothing!”

“I've dealt with worse,” Shadow shrugged. “Crashing the Death Egg was a bit of a harder task than those... whatevers. What were those bots called, anyway? Egg Terminators?” he asked. “Please tell me it's Egg Terminator, that actually sounds almost cleaver.”

Sally blinked a few times in sheer bewilderment. “N... no,” she said simply. “They're... SWAT bots.”

One could practically taste the look on Shadow's face upon hearing that. “Well, my disappointment is officially immeasurable,” he said. “What a way to ruin my day.”

… Sally decided to change the subject back to more pressing issues at this point. “We... still need to get back to our home base,” she said. “I don't... suppose you and your friend would be willing to stick around for a while?”

“Honestly, we were planning to stick around until we scrapped all of Eggman's toys,” Shadow answered simply. “Might as well save a kingdom or three along the way.”

… What a strange fellow this hedgehog was.

Shadow felt a rather... strange feeling, travelling with these Freedom Fighters and their rescuees to the village of Knothole. More so than just the fact that these were a whole lot of different Mobians.

As they arrived at the outskirts of the walled off village, Maria had joined up with them, having parked the Tornado not too far away.

Knothole was certainly... a place to be. Houses were equal parts on the ground as they were in the trees themselves, and the villagers themselves looked rather tired to boot. It was a village of people that had been worn out a long time ago.

Good thing he was here, then.

“Maria,” Shadow whispered to his friend. “Is that lady hedgehog still staring at me?”

Maria subtly looked back. “... Yes, she is,” Maria answered. “Do you know her?”

“Never met her in my life,” Shadow said simply. “But, there is something... oddly familiar about her. I can't quite put my finger on what, though.”

“What, ol' Bernadette?” Bunnie asked, jumping into the conversation suddenly. “She's been around for quite a while, and ya don't get many hedgehogs outside of the Acorn Kingdom, so maybe you met her at some point?”

“I'm pretty sure I've been around longer, so-” Shadow started to say, before cutting himself off. “Wait... Did you say 'Bernadette'?”

“Yeah, why?” Bunnie asked.

A sombre look flashed on Shadow's face, as a memory from back on Little Planet played in his mind. He hadn't stopped to think about that time in days now, and now... here was one of those dreaded moments.

“We'll all split up here,” Sally instructed. “Rotor, Bunnie, I want you two helping our rescued friends get settled back in. The rest of you are with me; we're going to meet with my father, King Nigel Acorn.”

Maria's face practically lit up at that. “Did you hear that, Shadow?” she asked. “We're meeting the king!”

Shadow registered that fact, but his mind was still on other things at the moment. Mindlessly, he found himself glancing back at that other hedgehog, and for a brief moment, their eyes met.

In that briefest of moments, the two understood that there was need for a 'conversation'.

But, it would have to wait, at least a little bit.

“Alright,” Shadow said. “Lead the way, princess.”

Chapter Text

As Sally led Shadow, Maria, and Bunnie through Knothole Village, she couldn't help but keep glancing the hedgehog's way. Then again, just about everyone they passed on the way seemed to look at the strange hedgehog.

Granted, his friend Maria was equally as odd, but for her own reasons (how did a fox manage to have two tails, anyway?), the hedgehog seemed almost otherworldly in nature. More than that, though, was the fact that he had sent the two members of the Jackal Squad running for the hills. Something nobody had been able to do before.

More than that, though, he treated it like it was nothing. Just another day in his life. The Jackal Squad had barely been much more than a footnote.

Then, after learning that one of the prisoners he'd just helped rescue was Bernadette, he seemed to clam up all of a sudden. Even Maria wasn't sure why.

But, Sally knew better than to press what was clearly a sensitive subject with a potential ally and friend.

Eventually, they reached the tent that served as their command centre. One might wonder why they'd use a tent, and not the village hall, but that was more a matter of not wanting to paint an obvious target.

The second Sally had opened the flaps to the tent, she was immediately accosted by an older squirrel Mobian with flakes of grey in his brown hair, several bandages around his limbs, and a crown that had, upon his movement, fallen to the ground.

Or, in other words; she had just been hugged by her father.

“... We're back, father,” Sally said with a small, warm sigh.

“Sally, you reckless child,” her father, Nigel Acorn, scolded in a sad tone. “How many times have I warned you that your life is not just your own?”

“I lost count once we passed 200,” Sally said. “I understand every time, but... I can't just sit back and not do everything I can for our people.”

“I know,” King Nigel sighed, pulling away from his daughter. “Just another blasted thing you got from both me and your mother.” From his tone of voice saying that, one would get the implication that he was more than a bit happy for that part of her. “I hope the rescue mission went well?”

“All ten prisoners that were in the castle are now safely in Knothole,” Sally answered. “We did run into some... jackal shaped problems on the way back, but we were fortunate enough to also run into some new friends that sent them packing.”

“Did they really?” the king asked, sounding surprised as he looked over to Shadow and Maria. “And who might you two be, then?”

“Shadow the Hedgehog,” Shadow said. “From Green Hill.”

“Maria Prower,” Maria said. “From West Side Island.”

“West Side, you say?” King Nigel said in surprise. “That is quite a ways away from here, young lady. On behalf of my people, and my daughter, I thank you for coming to us in our time of need.”

“Well, you have an Eggman problem,” Shadow said plainly. “And I like to make myself a problem of his these days.”

“... Egg... man?” Nigel asked.

“It's Shadow's nickname for Robotnik,” Maria explained. “Looks like an egg, names things after eggs...”

“... It's not inaccurate, strangely enough,” Nigel muttered. “Regardless, Sir Shadow, Lady Maria, I am glad to know we can count on your strength in the days to come.” There was a brief, awkward pause, before he continued. “You... will be staying to aid us, I hope?”

“We will,” Shadow reassured, much to the king's relief.

“Oh, thank heavens,” Nigel sighed in relief. “Words cannot express how thankful we are to have you with us.”

Shadow nodded, before turning around. “I'll leave any planning to you lot,” he said. “I need to speak to that other hedgehog.”

Shadow didn't wait for any response as he left the tent, much to the bafflement of everyone else. “Is he... okay?” Nigel asked.

“Honestly, I'm not sure,” Maria admitted.

Nigel sported a worried expression for a moment. “Sally, perhaps you could keep an eye on our new friends?” he asked. “I can't help but feel... worried for him.”

Shadow walked through Knothole like a man on a mission. Which, to be fair, he kinda was.

He needed to find that hedgehog. Needed to speak with her. As soon as he could, lest something tragic occur again and he misses the chance to. Shadow really did feel like he was just a magnet for bad luck at times.

As he walked, Shadow could feel several sets of eyes on him. In fact, he was fairly certain Maria and that Sally girl were following him from the shadows. Well, it's not like Shadow had anything to hide, so he paid it little mind.

Eventually, Shadow found the person he was looking for.

Bernadette Hedgehog could be seen in the distance, passing out bowls of food to the numerous children that flocked to her. In this time of war, she was something of a mother to those that had lost theirs.

But, something else began to nag at the back of Shadow's mind. Something about her silhouette that struck him as almost... familiar. There was something about her that he'd seen before, but where? And how?

He'd have to tackle this one thing at a time, though. Whatever familiarity he was noticing would have to be put on the shelf for a bit. Taking a deep breath, Shadow walked up to the hedgehog.

“Bernadette Hedgehog,” Shadow said simply, getting the woman's attention. Bernadette looked over to him, and for a moment, he believed he saw a flash of recognition wash over her eyes. That recognition, though, quickly evaporated.

“Shadow, was it?” Bernadette asked, her voice a somewhat strained facsimile of level. “Words alone cannot express how thankful we all are for your arrival.”

Shadow could recognise the sort of mask she was wearing at that moment. The fragile mask of someone remaining strong for others; he knew it well...

But how? As he wracked his brain, he couldn't find a single memory that allowed him to relate even tangentially. Sure, he had momentarily shut himself down after Little Planet, but somehow that didn't feel quite right.

No matter. It was probably nothing.

“Is there something I can help you with?” Bernadette asked, understandably confused as to why Shadow had come looking for her.

“There is... something I need to speak with you about,” Shadow said. “Alone, if you have a moment to spare.”

Shadow led Bernadette to a mostly secluded spot in Knothole. Shadow couldn't say for certain just how secluded it was, given that he'd never been to Knothole before, but the sounds of other people were distant here.

Well, it wasn't like there was a problem with other people hearing any of what he had to say. It was just a matter of tact.

Taking a deep breath, Shadow spoke. “A few months ago,” he said, “I was in the vicinity of Little Planet. While I was there, I met someone who spoke quite fondly of you; a young rascal of a hedgehog named Amy Rose.”

Bernadette's eyes widened in surprise. “You met Amy?!” she shouted, grabbing the black hedgehog by the shoulders. “Is she safe?!”

Really, the slight glance away and the silence were all the answer she needed to know what Shadow was about to say. “There was...” he started, before hesitating a moment longer. “... Complications. One of the Time Stones the doctor stole was shattered, and it... created some sort of... void, I guess. Amy, she... fell through it.”

Bernadette fell silent. “It was my fault,” Shadow continued. “I got caught up in the idea of having someone to fight alongside. I should have told her to stay back... I'm sorry.”

She wasn't sure how to feel now. For a while, she had been wondering what had happened to that young, sweet girl, who had, after one particularly peculiar tarot card reading, just run off to find... someone. Now, that someone was here, and Amy... wasn't. Yet, all Bernadette felt at this point was numb.

“First my son,” she muttered flatly. “Then my husband. And now Amy... Why is Robotnik like this? Why must he continue to destroy so much good in this world?” Quietly, she took out that shattered crystal she'd taken from the castle. “And all because of the Time Stones once more.”

“I wish I knew,” Shadow said. “Truly. He-” Shadow turned around, and seeing that stone in Bernadette's hands, froze. “That stone... where did you get it?”

“It was in the castle, while we were escaping,” Bernadette answered. “It's one of them, isn't it? A Time Stone?”

“... It is,” Shadow said hesitantly. “But, that's the same one that broke. Why, and how, is it here?”

Suddenly, a loud siren began to blare over everything, cutting their conversation short.

“That's the invasion alarm!” Bernadette shouted. “That must mean...”

“Infinite,” Shadow spat. “You get to safety. I'll take care of them.”

(???? years into the ???)

The pink hedgehog let out a small sigh of relief, as those strange creatures slunk by. Even after... years, has it been? She was honestly starting to forget how long it'd been since she'd first arrived in the ruins of this city. Frankly, she was surprised that she was able to find clothes that were still in good condition. Or food and water, for that matter.

Y'know, given that everything seemed to be permanently on fire.

Clutching the basket full of food and water tight, the hedgehog quickly and quietly ran through the city, and eventually, made it to the 'safe' zone, where a hedgehog with white fur had been waiting.

The white hedgehog's face lit up upon seeing her. “Amy!” he exclaimed, before quickly clamping his hand over his face, realising he was being a bit too loud.

“Sorry I took so long,” Amy Rose said. “Surprisingly enough, food stores don't restock in the apocalypse.”

“I'm just glad you made it back in one piece,” the hedgehog said. “That said, I have good news and bad news about 'that thing'.”

“Lay it on me, buddy,” Amy said, as she sat the basket down. “I've been prepared since the day I arrived to hear that all hope is lost on me getting back.”

“Well... it's kinda in that ballpark?” the hedgehog said hesitantly. “I've repaired as much of the crystal you brought with you as my powers allow, but it's like... temporally displaced?”

“... I know half of those words,” Amy admitted. “And not the half that are helpful.”

“Sorry, I don't really get it either,” the hedgehog said. “This is my first exposure to anything related to time travel, after all. But it's like half of this thing's... in another time? It's like it's been broken in two separate instances, and waiting for both to be fixed.”

“So, I guess I'm stuck here until someone decides otherwise, huh?” Amy asked. “Well, I'm sure Shadow will figure something out. And it's not all bad! I've got a friend here, after all.”

“You really believe in this 'Shadow' guy a whole lot, huh?” the hedgehog asked. “Gotta say, I'm kinda envious.”

“Oh, he's great!” Amy said. “I think you'd really like him! He's so... dark and mysterious, but also a real sweetie!”

The hedgehog chuckled warmly. “Well, then I'm sure he'll pull through for you.”

Shadow ran through the crowds, heading towards the edge of Knothole. A good rule of thumb when trying to find where the danger was, was always to where other people didn't want to be. In the distance, over the sound of everything else, Shadow could hear innumerable mechanical footsteps.

There was, however, something different about them. Rhythmic, but not as heavy as those SWAT bots from before. A different breed of robot, then?

“Shadow!” the voice of princess Sally called out, as she, her friends, and Maria, all caught up to him.

“Guessing Infinite's back?” Shadow asked.

“According to the sentries, yes,” Sally answered. “And it looks like he's brought the Robians with him this time.”

“The what now?”

“Robians,” Antoine said with a shudder. “Mobians that have been fed through Robotnik's Roboticiser. If you want to know what that looks like, just look at Bunnie's arm and legs.”

Shadow and Maria glanced over at Bunnie, taking note of said appendages. “Did it... hurt?” Maria asked hesitantly.

“Like ya wouldn't believe, sweetie,” Bunnie admitted. “I was just lucky Sugar-Sal and the boys got to me in time.”

“Guessing that means no smashing, then,” Shadow surmised. “Is there any way to reverse it?”

“We've run a few theories through our computers,” Sally said. “Right now, though, it looks like our only real chance to save them all is to combine something like a Time Stone with a Chaos Emerald, the former of which are in Robotnik's hands, and the later, I don't think even exist.”

Shadow's mind seemed to pause for a moment, which showed on his face. “Like... you'd need those things specifically?” he asked.

“Well, going off of the numbers,” Rotor said, “one Time Stone, supercharged by a Chaos Emerald, could theoretically reverse time on a crowd of Robians, and undo the changes on them. But like Sally said, Robotnik's got the Time Stones, and the Chaos Emeralds are just a myth.”

… There was no way the answer was that convenient. There was just no conceivable that the solution to this problem had already fallen into his hands, and just hadn't realised it until right this second. It was like the universe was just handing him wins on a silver platter at this point.

“... Give me a second,” Shadow said, before doubling back and reappearing, all in less than five seconds. In his hand, he now held that shattered crystal Bernadette had. “Okay. Time Stone secured.”

“Wha-?” Sally exclaimed, seeing the crystal. “Isn't that the crystal Bernadette took from the castle? That's a Time Stone?”

“Broken one, at least,” Shadow said. “But it'll do what it needs to.”

“Okay, so we have one thing conveniently in place,” Sally said, “but where on all of Mobius are we going to get something on par with a Chaos Emerald?”

His expression not changing, Shadow pulled out the Chaos Emerald he still had on hand from Angel Island. “Done,” Shadow said plainly. “Why does it seem like nobody believes these things exist, anyway? Literally the first time I met Eggman, I stole this from him. Hell, I've had all seven for a time.”

The Freedom Fighters couldn't hide their absolute shock at this information. Not only were the Chaos Emeralds real... but apparently Shadow had just been picking them up and leaving them around like... like loose change.

“Maria,” Shadow said. “Give me an estimate on how long it would take to use the two in tandem to undo the Roboticisation.”

Maria quickly pulled out a calculator, and began tapping away while mumbling to herself. “Going by my estimations... about 30 seconds,” she said. “Buying that much time's going to be hard.”

“Then we'll kick the butts of anything not a Robian. That'll get us the time we need,” Shadow stated.

“Is life always this simple with you two?” Bunnie asked.

“Yes?” Shadow said hesitantly. “We're only dealing with Eggman forces. It's not rocket science.”

“Until it is,” Maria pointed out.

“Touche,” Shadow agreed, before tossing the Time Stone to Maria. “Hold on to that for now, Maria. Once we've cleared out anything not a Robian, pass it back, and we'll get to work.”

“Does it ever feel like, suddenly, you're a third wheel?” Rotor asked. “Because it really feels like these two just have everything under control.”

“Oh good,” Antoine said. “It's not just me, then.”

When Shadow, Maria, and the Freedom Fighters finally arrived at what was technically the 'front lines', the first thought to cross the hedgehog's mind when he saw the Robians was 'Eggman has mass produced Metal Sonics'.

They all looked much bulkier than the metal hedgehog he'd fought on Little Planet, but the similarities were striking, to say the least. Mainly, it was in the colours. Each and every Robian, despite looking like their original species, had a predominately blue and grey colour scheme to them.

“SHADOW!!” Infinite's voice bellowed from deep within the enemy forces. “COME OUT AND FACE ME, COWARD!!”

“... That guy has issues,” Shadow muttered. “Granted, I'm pretty sure I'm half of those issues.”

Sally gave Shadow a flat look. “Only 'half'?” she asked. “Shadow, for all the hours I've known you, it looks more like Infinite's dedicated his whole existence into hating you.”

Shadow hummed in agreement. “Okay. You lot focus on corralling the Robians,” he said to the Freedom Fighters. “Maria, you take to the skies, and wait for my signal. I'll send Infinite and his plus one packing.”

Everyone agreed to their part of the plan... except for Sally herself. She may have considered herself an open-minded princess who accepted that some people were better suited for different things, but there was something about Shadow's cavalier attitude that just bugged her. More than that, though, was how he seemed to flip from cavalier to sombre, and then right back, at the drop of a hat. It was strange and concerning, to say the least.

Shadow dashed off, running into the thick of things. This guy was... going to be tough to work with.

Well, fine. For now, Sally would just have to focus on what she could do.

Chapter Text

Shadow came to a halt in front of Infinite, scores of Robians surrounding them, but not pouncing.

The look on Infinite's face was... deeply concerning. Shadow believed the best phrase to describe him was 'lost his marbles'. That look in his eyes was just... fierce.

“Shadow,” Infinite spat venomously. “Finally, we meet again.”

“We met like, a few hours ago,” Shadow pointed out. “Does Eggman let you see a therapist? Because frankly, I think you might need one. Well, that, and a career change.”

“Don't. You. Dare,” Infinite responded darkly. “After killing three, three, of my comrades, you want ME to step aside?!”

“It was only two,” Shadow corrected. “What happened to Duex is on Eggman's head, not mine.”

“Don't screw with me!” Infinite yelled. “Their deaths are all because of you!”

“And yet, all this does come back to you taking a job from a talking egg,” Shadow said. “I think Maria called it 'the domino effect' or something...”

“You mock me,” Infinite said. “You have ruined my life, and you mock me for it.”

“Well, if you're feeling mocked,” Shadow said, before a flash of movement closed the distance between the two, and he struck Infinite in the chest, “then maybe you actually deserve it.”

Infinite landed back on his feet, growling ferociously. “Shadow...” he spat. “I will cut you down. Break you apart. Splay the gore of your audacious form across the stars! I will grind you down, until the sparks of you life cry for mercy!!”

Shadow raised a brow. “Well, aren't you dramatic.”

Infinite roared viciously as he charged at Shadow. His attacks came fast and hard... yet were still nothing that Shadow couldn't handle. Infinite's attacks were feral and predictable, to the point where Shadow felt almost disappointed. It was almost like Infinite had lost that little spark that made these fights a challenge.

Dodging one particularly poorly executed punch, Shadow grabbed Infinite's wrist, and in his other hand, pulled out the Chaos Emerald. With a single flash of energy, Shadow teleported the two of them high into the skies above the castle of the Acorn Kingdom.

“Alright, then. No more fooling around,” Shadow said, as he kept himself airborne through his jet shoes. “This will be the last time, Infinite. The last time I extend this warning to you. Take your friend, and leave. Find a new calling in life. One that doesn't involve ruining the lives of so many others. Because next time we fight... I won't show this mercy again.”

Infinite felt his blood run cold. That cold hardness in Shadow's eyes shut off any retort the jackal could have thought to muster.

Without another word, Shadow released his grip on Infinite, letting the jackal fall towards the castle as he teleported away once more.

Shadow had only disappeared for a few seconds, yet Sally could tell that it was all the time he needed to get Infinite out of the way. That hedgehog was efficient in ways the princess couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Perhaps more baffling, though, was Shadow's casual mastery of the Chaos Emerald's power. The gems had been a myth before, and now here one was, being used with the same casualness as one might a pen.

Shadow blipped back into existence next to her. “Infinite's out of the picture,” he said simply. “Any sign of the other jackal?”

“Nothing,” Sally responded. “I think she chose to hold the fort or something. If you're going to do your big plan, Mr Miracle Max, then now's your time.”

Shadow gave the princess a puzzled look. “I feel like you're referencing something,” he commented, “but I don't know what.” Quickly, Shadow shot up into the air. “Maria! It's time!”

“On it!” Maria yelled back, tossing the fractured Time Stone to Shadow, who caught it with ease.

With Time Stone in one hand, and Chaos Emerald in the other, Shadow allowed the power of both stones to course through his body, mixing into a strange cocktail of energy within his body. It was simultaneously hot and cold along his nerves.

Shadow closed his eyes, and forced the chaotic heat of the Chaos Emerald's power through to the Time Stone. “Now... let's do this,” he said. “Chaos... CONTROL!!”

What followed was a wave of condensed time energy, washing over everything. Everything that was not organic in nature froze in place, and... and...

Words couldn't even begin to describe the effect taking place. If Sally were to even dare to describe the sensation, she might have said something along the lines of 'the taste of purple', or 'the sound of mint'. Reality itself began to twist in ways mortal minds couldn't even begin conceptualise words for what Shadow the Hedgehog was doing with those two stones. Parts of Sally's mind could comprehend that, whatever he was doing with all that power, was twisting time around the Robians, and undoing the work the Roboticisers had done on them. The process was kind of like superimposing one image over another, only one of the images was coming from a direction impossible to perceive by the mortal mind.

And then, to add more madness to the mix, a hole in reality was torn open. Because things could never be simple, could they?

“Um, Shadow?” Sally called out. “I don't think that's meant to happen!”

“And you've done this before?” Shadow strained, focusing intently on the flow of power. “We already established that this was a gamble!”

“I think we should back out of this!” Antoine shouted.

“I've got this!”

“I call lies and shenanigans!” Bunnie declared at Shadow's statement.

Shadow strained at the flow of energy. He knew in his gut what he had to do, even if his brain didn't understand a thing about what was going on right now. He just needed one more push.

Just then, something small and glowing shot out of the hole in reality, merging with the fractured Time Stone, and making it whole once more. Confusion washed over Shadow, and was only doubled when something pink followed after just as the hole closed itself, and crashed somewhere off in the distance.

(Moments earlier, ???? years into the ???)

“Um... what are we looking at?” the silver quilled hedgehog asked. “Because I'm not 100% sure the Time Stone should be doing that.”

What 'that' was had been a tear in the fabric of reality, which the Time Stone that he and Amy had had been dragged through by some unknown force, and was currently trying to drag Amy in with it. Yet, at the same time, it was pushing the silver hedgehog back, rejecting him and the rest of the world around them.

“Are you sure?!” Amy shouted. “Because this is feeling an awful lot like what dragged me here a few years ago!”

“Was it really this violent?!” the hedgehog asked. “Because this seems a bit much!”

“You're telling me!”

Amy held tight to the slab of concrete that kept her from flying off into the void once more. The memory of the last time this happened were still fresh in her mind, filling her with a sense of terror. Yet, at the same time...

“I think I need to go!” Amy shouted. “I think... that Shadow managed to do that thing you said before!”

“But what if you just go further through time?” the hedgehog yelled.

“I think... I just need to take a leap of faith!” Amy said. “Isn't that what life and love are all about?!”

The hedgehog's face took on a puzzled expression. “I don't really see what 'love' has to do with this!” he said. “But if you're sure, then you're sure!”

Amy willingly allowed herself to get closer to the portal, before looking back at the hedgehog. “Thank you!” she shouted. “For everything! I hope we meet again!”

“Maybe in a better time!” the hedgehog replied. “Y'know... one that's less on fire! That'd be nice!”

Amy inched closer to the portal. She could almost feel herself getting lighter on her feet from its pull. With no time like the present, Amy took a deep breath, and jumped.

Shadow let out a breath of relief, as the power finally faded from his system. Exhausted, he opened his eyes, and gazed upon his work.

He couldn't even begin to describe how the changes occurred, but they had. Robians had successfully been turned back into Mobians, and everybody was absolutely confused.

“You did it,” Sally said in awe. “I don't know how, but... you did it.”

Shadow gave a small, triumphant smirk. “Sometimes, a guy's just got to wing it,” he said. Curiously, he looked down at his hand, the one that had been holding the Time Stone, and found it to be empty. Just another blasted mystery to solve, same as that... hole? Portal? Whatever that tear in reality was he caused, which had now fixed itself up, as was as gone as the clouds.

Maria landed down next to Shadow. “Patrol's all done!” she exclaimed. “You got them all, Shadow!”

“How does he do it?” Antoine asked. “He just does the most... over the top, asinine things, and makes it look like nothing!”

“Musta been a talent he was born with,” Bunnie said. “Feelin' a mite jealous, hun?”

“Yes, actually!” Antoine admitted. “I kind of am!”

Sally cleared her throat, drawing the attention of all the newly freed Mobians. “Your attention, everyone!” she shouted. “I understand you're all confused! I ask that you all remain calm, and follow Rotor and the other Freedom Fighters back to our base!”

There were general murmurs of confusion, as the Mobians followed the Freedom Fighters back to Knothole Village. After a while, the clearing was barren, save for Shadow, Maria, and Sally.

Shadow straightened out his back, feeling a slight pop. “So,” he said. “We going to check on our good work, or push the offensive and take back the castle?”

“That depends,” Sally said, smirking almost mischievously. “Are you up for storming the castle after that miracle?”

“This your idea of a date?” Shadow teased. “Because I'm always down to bust more Eggman tech.”

Maria looked between the two of them. “Is this flirting?” she asked. “Are you two flirting right now?”

Sally stumbled a little, while Shadow could only look mildly confused. “Maria, do I look like I know what flirting is?” he asked. “I'm still rather new to this whole 'social' thing.”

“Are you two always like this?” Sally asked. “Just... casual banter in the face of adversity?”

“It comes with experience,” Shadow shrugged.

“We've been fighting Robotnik longer than you have,” Sally pointed out.

“And I've been beating him like the egg he is longer,” Shadow retorted. “So there. I win.”

Maria gave the two a flat look. “Yep. Totally flirting.”

Infinite forced himself up onto his feet. Every part of his body hurt like hell, even though it had hardly been that much of a fight.

More than anything, though, he just felt... hollow. This was at least the fourth, if not fifth time that Shadow the Hedgehog had beaten him. Whether he liked it or not, there was just no way he could win. It was... over for him.

He could never defeat Shadow the Hedgehog. That was an indisputable fact. He was completely and totally outclassed by the black hedgehog. This was... irrefutable.

Something off in the distance, towards the castle, exploded. A familiar figure was launched from the battlements of the castle, and crashed down next to Infinite. Slowly, he looked over to the person. “Trois...?” he asked weakly.

Trois the Jackal, last member of Infinite's team, groaned in pain as she tried to force herself back to her feet. “Infinite... we need to run,” she said weakly. “The doctor... he's...”

“The doctor is currently 'in', as it were,” a familiar and ominous voice cut in. A dark shadow loomed over the jackals, as the shape of the Egg Mobile came into view, with who else riding it but the doctor himself. “Infinite, Infinite, Infinite. I am very disappointed in your performance as of late.” When no response came from the jackal, Eggman continued. “Ever since that hedgehog showed up, the results you and your squad have been pulling have been... lacking, to say the least. I'm afraid that this is the part where I 'cut you loose', so to speak.”

“You think you can handle him alone?” Infinite questioned.

“Maybe not,” Eggman shrugged, “but at least I'll only have myself to blame. And, unlike you...” With a click of his finger, a horde of SWAT bots appeared, surrounding the two jackals. “Machine can always be improved.”

Infinite felt his blood run cold. The doctor was taking 'contract termination' to a whole new level. “For what it's worth, though,” Eggman continued, as the SWAT bots readied their mounted guns, “you'll leave more of a corpse behind compared to that other guy. Duex, was it?”

Everything seemed to slow down for Infinite, tot he point where even the bullets that began to rain down upon him seemed to be moving in slow motion. Shadow had not killed Duex. Shadow had not killed Duex.

Infinite tried to move, but his body felt too sluggish. He'd never get out of the way in time. It was to his further misfortune, then, that Trois had managed to get in the way in time.

There was no ceremony to it at all. No sombre last words, no knowing look back from his last remaining friend, nothing. One second, Trois was in front of him, and the next, her body had slumped over, riddled with bullets.

He was alone now. Well and truly.

Eggman looked at the now deceased body of Trois, and shrugged. “Eh. Was planning to take you both out at once, but what can you do?” he said dismissively. “One corpse after another's just the same as two at the same time.”

Such a statement was... eye opening, to say the least. But, then again, Infinite had been wilfully blind, hadn't he? Willingly ignoring something so obvious just because it was his boss. It was Infinite's choices that had brought him to this point; it had been his choices that had gotten his friends killed.

At some point, Infinite had gotten to his feet. At some point, he had started running. His mind couldn't even process where he was going. He wasn't sprinting towards Eggman in a blind rage, that much he could tell. He felt his body, completely on autopilot, jumping over SWAT bot after SWAT bot, taking him... somewhere away from all this.

By the time Shadow, Maria, and Sally had made it to that same clearing, Eggman and the SWAT bots had already cleared out, though the signs of combat were still there. It was, after all, hard to miss a bullet-ridden corpse.

“Is that... Trois?” Maria asked, horrified. “What happened to her?”

“If I were to guess, Eggman happened,” Shadow said. “No sign of Infinite, though. Hopefully that means he got out alive.”

“Why do you care so much about that guy?” Sally asked. “No offence, but he's not exactly what I'd called a 'good guy'.”

“I'll not argue that,” Shadow admitted, “but a lot of what he does is dedicated towards his friends. Even if he's constant stubbornness has made me wish death upon him at times, I still want to see him putting the effort into doing good for the world.”

“You know, you're weirdly optimistic for someone who looks like an edgy OC,” Sally said.

Shadow gave her a bewildered look. “I have no idea what that means, but it sounds damning.”

“It is kinda,” Maria whispered. “Right now, you're devastated.”

“Doesn't explain what the words mean, though,” Shadow whispered back.

Something echoes through the field, coming from the castle. The trio turned their eyes towards the noise, to see... SWAT bots being launched over the castle walls. Not in a 'deployment' way, but more in a 'thrown out' kind of way.

The trio blinked in shock, as one SWAT bot slammed into the ground, a large dent in its chest. “Well,” Shadow said. “That doesn't look normal.”

“What gave it away?” Sally asked. “The flying, or the hammer indentation?”

There some something oddly familiar about said indentation to Shadow, but for the life of him, he couldn't quite put his finger on why. Deja vu was such an odd feeling, especially for one who hasn't experienced as much of the world as others.

“Let's go check it out,” Shadow decided. “Anybody who's busting up Eggman tech's good in my books.”

“You say that for everybody that makes an enemy of the doctor?” Sally asked.

“Might as well at this point,” Shadow shrugged. “Let's get moving.”

Grabbing Sally and Maria by the hands, Shadow dashed forward in a burst of speed, reaching the wall of the castle in barely a few seconds, before running straight up it, and taking to the skies. From there, Maria took command, spinning her tails to keep herself airborne while she carried Shadow and Sally.

The trio looked down, to see a lone Mobian absolutely going to town on the swarms of SWAT bots, all the while Eggman was floating off to the side, yelling various obscenities.

“Huh,” Sally said simply. “Guess we... weren't really needed for this final battle?”

“I guess not,” Shadow agreed. Then, he squinted his eyes, focusing on the Mobian below. “Who is that? They look... familiar.”

“Now that you mention it...” Sally muttered.

“You two have a maybe mutual acquaintance already?” Maria asked. “You work fast in this friendship thing, Shadow!”

“You say that like I know what I'm doing,” Shadow pointed out.

“Do you ever know what you're doing?” Sally asked.

“Oh, for the love of-” Eggman's voice could be heard suddenly. “I can hear you up there, hedgehog!! You're not being subtle at all!!”

“Well, there goes the element of surprise,” Maria pointed out. “Hit him with the high bomber?”

“The what now?” Sally asked, suddenly feeling rather worried.

“Maria's going to throw us at him,” Shadow answered simply.

Sally looked down. It was... quite the drop. “... You know what? Screw it,” she said. “Launch us.”

There came a point in a persons life where they just had to accept that they'd lost all control of logic, and that the only way forward would end up being thrown from several hundred metres in the air by a flying fox.

Maria flipped in the air, and with a mighty swing, threw Shadow, which in turn threw Sally as well. Breaking apart from each other, Shadow and Sally curled themselves up into balls, and slamming into the first SWAT bots they could hit, and bouncing around the others like they were on a pinball table.

Shadow bounced off one SWAT bot, and was now flying directly at Eggman, who could only let out a somewhat dejected sigh. “The things I do for power,” he said, before the hedgehog slammed against the Egg Mobile, and sent him flying into the distance once more. “I JUST GOT HERE!!”

Shadow landed deftly back on the ground, giving a casual wave as Eggman flew off once more. The last SWAT bot fell to the ground, as Sally came to a halt beside him, looking... very dizzy. “Urgh...” the princess groaned, sounding more than a little nauseous. “How do you manage to not throw up whenever you do that?”

“It's all in keeping your head level for as long as you can,” Shadow explained. “Kind of like a ballerina twirl.”

“I call bull,” Sally said. “You can't keep your head level while rotating your entire body like that.”

“And yet, not a single bit of nausea from me,” Shadow boasted. “So what does that mean, then?”

“It means you're full of sh-”

Sally's statement was interrupted, when someone suddenly tackled Shadow, loudly shouting his name. Said someone was that Mobian from before, and now that she had a good look at them... they looked familiar, even to Sally. A pink, female hedgehog, wearing clothes that were both singed and stitched back together from wholesale scraps. But... she knew this hedgehog. Somewhere, somehow, she knew her.

“Shadow!” the pink hedgehog exclaimed in a voice that was remarkably familiar. “It's really you, Shadow!”

Shadow froze like a deer in headlights. Memories seemed to flood back to him through this hedgehog's touch. “... Amy?” he asked hesitantly. “Amy Rose? Is that you?”

Sally's jaw dropped. Amy Rose? That same kid who was fond of tarot card readings, and just kind of disappeared one day? Wasn't she a kid before? Now she looked to be at least around Sally's age.

What in the God damn happened?

Things never seemed to slow down when Shadow the Hedgehog was around. Once night had fallen, and they had returned to Knothole to report what had happened, Sally had come to terms with that fact.

It hadn't even been a full day since she had met the hedgehog, and not only had he been responsible for making sure her rescue mission of Bernadette and several other Mobians been successful, but he had given Infinite the Jackal the boot twice, restored every Robian back to normal, gave Robotnik the boot for what was apparently the fifth time, retook Castle Acorn, and somehow rescued Amy Rose, who had been trapped in the distant future for a few years.

Shadow seemed almost incapable of doing things by half. If he was going to do anything, then the results were going to be remarkably over the top, to the point of impossibility.

Sally let out a small sigh. The night was full of cheers and jubilation. It wasn't that Sally didn't feel the same way, but the fact that everything seemed to work out so well, so quickly, almost as soon as Shadow appeared on scene, bugged her to no end.

“Princess Sally!” the voice of the suddenly-older Amy Rose called out, as the pink hedgehog approached her, followed closely by Cream the Rabbit and her mother, Vanilla. Two small creatures floated behind Cream, one a light blue colour, and the other a dark brown. These creatures were known as Chao, and in particular, the blue one of these two was named Cheese, and the brown one, Chocola.

“Amy,” Sally greeted politely. “Cream and Vanilla, too. I didn't get the chance to say this to either of you girls earlier, but... Welcome back.”

“Thanks, princess,” Amy said. “It's good to be back. Because let me tell you, the future? Not looking good.”

“How far did you say you went, again?” Vanilla asked.

“According to the guy who helped me survive, around... 200 years or something? There weren't many history books to look up,” Amy answered.

“200 years...” Sally muttered in awe. “And you said everything was on fire?”

“On fire, with big monsters roaming around,” Amy said. “Unfortunately, what few people I met didn't know how or why things were the way they were.”

“That's... remarkably concerning,” Sally said.

“Yeah... but, with Shadow around, I'm sure we'll be able to prevent that future!” Amy exclaimed.

“Speaking of Mr Shadow,” Cream said, “where is he?”

“He wanted to have a private word with Bernadette and Jules,” Sally answered. “Didn't say for what, though.”

Jules Hedgehog felt weird, having a flesh and blood body once more. He flexed his fingers, finding them to be a little bit stiff.

He still had some faint recollection of his time as a Robian. That cold, unfeeling replacement for skin, the lack of control over his own body... it was like a long, unending nightmare.

Still, to be able to fill his wife's hand in his own for the first time in years... he'd be lying if he said he'd missed it.

A bit in front of the married hedgehogs stood Shadow, looking out at the moon that hung high in the air. “Sorry for calling you both out here like this,” Shadow said.

“It's alright, son,” Jules said. “This kingdom owes you more than we could possibly repay. The least we can do is hear you out.” Jules had to admit, he felt something mildly... uncomfortable, with addressing Shadow as 'son'. It was one of those things that he had always done; calling a respected junior 'son'. He had done it with so many of the newer soldiers back in the day, and considering he had more combat experience than the king, he even did it with him, much to the annoyance of the decently older King Nigel.

Yet, Shadow the Hedgehog had a more consistent success rate against Robotnik, and was at least ten years older than his majesty.

Shadow took a deep breath. “While I was on Little Planet, the doctor had a particularly... unique robot with him,” he said. “Looked like a Robian, but not quite the same. Purely mechanical... but its design looked too much like the two of you to be a coincidence.” Jules wasn't entirely sure he knew where Shadow was going with this, but wherever that was, he couldn't say he felt comfortable with it. “Jules, when you were turned into a Robian fifteen years ago, trying to rescue your son, do you think it's possible that Eggman's experiments sent him to a different time? Either the past, or the future?”

“That's... a question I've had a long time to ponder,” Jules said, his hand tightening around Bernadette's. “And as much as I hope that's the case, I just don't know. Why do you ask?”

“Because going forward, I have a goal in mind,” Shadow said simply. “I don't know what I'll find; whether it'll be a grave, or several lifetimes, but... I'm going to find your son.”

Jules' breath caught in his throat, and Bernadette gasped. “But... how can you be sure you'll ever find him?” Bernadette asked.

“I'll start with any and all Eggman bases I can find,” Shadow said. “Maria's already scavenged everything she could from the computers that were left in Castle Acorn, but no dice. Any data related to it was moved or deleted quite some time ago. Only option left is to hunt down every base he has.”

“You're sure you'll find something, though?” Jules asked. “What if it takes years?”

“Then it takes years,” Shadow said. “If it takes several millennia, then so be it. But, if the existence of the Metal Sonic Eggman made is anything to go by, then I'm willing to bet it won't take that long.” Shadow turned around, a look of determination on his face as he spoke. “I promise you, here and now, I will find him.”

There really was something otherworldly about Shadow the Hedgehog. Perhaps he was the sort of force that the world needed most right now. At this point in time, though, Jules and Bernadette knew that he was what they needed most.

Chapter Text

Station Square. It was a city far, far different from any of the ones on South or West-Side Island, mostly because it was a city that wasn't made exclusively by Mobians. No, Station Square, as well as every other city on what was considered the 'main land' of the world, was largely populated by humans.

It was worth noting that these weren't humans like Dr Ivo Robotnik, in the same way that not all hedgehogs were like Shadow the Hedgehog. These were humans that largely tried not to cause too much trouble, or wanted to take over the world for reasons beyond mortal understanding. These were just humans who chose to stick in their lane. Live and let live, as one might say.

Of course, that wasn't to say that there weren't troublemakers among regular old, everyday humans. They just weren't the 'world dominating' types of troublemakers.

The night was still young, as a lone police officer sat down on the hood of his car. Things in Station Square were always slow on a night like this, which he wasn't about to complain about.

Reaching for his radio, the officer pressed a button, and it crackled to life. “This is Sergeant Wachowski to all patrols. How are we looking tonight? Over.”

His full name was Thomas Michael Wachowski. Tom for short. He had grown up in a small county a fair ways away from Station Square, where he had managed to work his way up to the position of sheriff in their law enforcement. Even managed to get married, too. His wife, Maddie, currently worked as at a veterinary clinic here in the city. Life was good in the house of Wachowski.

“Wade here,” a voice came through on the radio, belonging to one Wade Whipple. Wade had been a long-time friend of Tom's back home, even to the point of being his deputy. Wade wasn't a bad guy, nor was he bad at his job, he just had this... air of... not being particularly good at things. Yet, somehow, a month after Tom had transferred to the SSPD, Wade had followed along, and made it in. “Absolutely zilch to report. Just a nice, quiet night on the town.”

Another voice came in, accompanied by the roaring of a car engine. “Sam Speed, reporting in!” the voice said. “Got a speedster running down the freeway! Much as I'd like to test the cut of this guy's engine, our new guy's already on top of it!” Sam Speed was the leader of the SSPD's dedicated 'Speed Team', who's task was to handle very, very high speed crooks. So dedicated, in fact, that their 'police cars' were designed off of F1 racers.

“How is the new guy doing, anyway?” Tom asked.

“Not bad, actually,” Sam replied. “Can't half tell he's ex-military. Still won't open up to the rest of the team, though. Then again, it's not like we get many Mobians in our force.”

“Well, just keep at it,” Tom said. “He's part of the team now, so that makes him family.”

“10-4, Sarge,” Sam said, no doubt saluting. “I'll catch up with you in a minute, gotta make sure someone's there to pick the new guy up after he's done.”

The radio clicked off on Sam's end, leaving just Tom and Wade on the line. “So, Tom,” Wade said. “Bro to bro; what do you think of him?”

“What, Zero?” Tom asked, referring to the 'new guy' on Sam's team. “Well, I haven't had much of a chance to meet him, since the Speed Team's more independent. But, that doesn't mean we can't do our part to make him feel welcome, yeah?”

There was a tapping at the driver's window. The man looked out, to see a jackal wearing the uniform of the SSPD glaring at him with dual coloured eyes. Casually, the driver rolled his window down. “What seems to be the problem, officer?” he asked. Mobians weren't a strange sight in the city, so while uncommon, it wasn't too odd to think there might be one among the police.

“Sir, do you realise how fast you're going?” the jackal asked.

“Couldn't have been over 60 kilometres,” the driver replied casually.

The jackal did not seem amused by this. “I can see the speedometer reading 120! Pull over right now!”

Now would be the best time to mention that they weren't stationary while having this conversation. Right now, the two of them were speeding down the highway, the driver in his car, and the jackal... on foot. Goes to show how much the general human population knows about Mobians, if one could match his speed so casually.

The driver slammed the accelerator down, shifting the car into the next gear as he prepared to speed off... only for the sound of his tires exploding to echo, causing him to swerve uncontrollably. A hand grabbed the collar of his shirt, as the driver was yanked from the car, just as it crashed into the concrete wall of the highway. “... I still had payments left on that...”

“Well, maybe you should have thought of that before driving like a madman,” the jackal said, dropping the driver on his butt, and reaching for his radio. “This is Zero, reporting in. Need wreckage clean up on the highway, and one idiot for the slammer.”

“Copy that, buddy,” the voice of Sam Speed replied. “I'll be there in ten.”

“... Ten what?” the jackal asked.

“Nine. Eight...”

The jackal let out a small sigh, as he looked down the highway, where a set of flashing red and blue lights could be seen approaching him. What drove up was far from a normal police car, looking more closer to an F1 racer with room for one more passenger.

The car came to a stop, and its driver, the red-haired Sam Speed himself, stepped out.

As a man, Sam Speed wasn't unattractive, and as a police officer, he was good at his job... assuming he wasn't pulling a fan of his over.

“Good work out there, buddy,” Sam said cheerfully. “I'll take it from here.”

“Just make sure you actually book this guy,” the jackal said. “And, you know, not let him off with an autograph.” To emphasise his point, he grabbed the reckless driver by the collar, and pulled him down. “Remember: I know your scent.”

The jackal let him go, and began walking down the highway, saying something about 'grabbing a bite to eat'. The driver nervously turned his head to face Sam. “Can he... really track a guy by scent?”

“I don't think that guys has it in him to joke,” Sam admitted, “so probably.”

The jackal walked out of the store, a box of a dozen donuts in one hand, and a half eaten bagel in the other. Some might call it a bit much for a late night shift's snack, but you try running at over 100km/h without getting a bit peckish.

He let out a dejected sigh, as he took another bite of bagel. “What has your life come to, Infinite,” he said to himself. “Four months ago, you were helping a mad scientist take over the world. Now... you're an officer of the law, eating baked goods on your break, and working directly under an adrenaline junkie.” Another sigh, as he finished his bagel. “And yet, I really should have done this sooner. Maybe then...” He shook his head quickly, dispelling the memory as quickly as it came, as he took a donut out and stuffed it into his mouth, the copious amount of icing and sugary goodness helping calm his brain.

Even his new name, Zero, was just a reflection of who he was now. He was nothing; certainly not the tallest of mountains or the roughest of waves.

“Zero!” the voice of Sergeant Wachowski called out. Infinite turned his head, to see the man in question approaching him casually. “Good work out there.”

“Thank you, sir,” Infinite saluted. “Just doing what I can, sir.”

“There's no need to stand at attention with me, buddy,” Tom said. “So, how are you holding up? City treating you right?”

“I've... dealt with worse in life,” Infinite answered. “Kinda wish those kids would stop asking me so many personal questions, though.”

“Met them, have you?” Tom asked. “Yeah, those kids find new things very interesting. Unfortunately for you, a Mobian in the SSPD's pretty interesting.”

“Just my like,” Infinite sighed, before offering a donut to Tom. “Want one?”

“Don-ut mind if I do,” Tom joked as he took the offered donut, getting a groan of annoyance from Infinite. The jackal had to wonder if the sergeant was already a father or not.

Just before Tom could take a bite, their radios buzzed to life. “Dispatch, respond,” a woman's voice called out. “We have an incident down at city hall, that needs all hands on deck.”

Tom quickly buzzed back. “Wachowski here with Zero, we read you. What's the situation, over?”

“It defies logic, sarge,” the woman responded. “It's... some kind of water monster. We already have some officers on the scene, but the creature, whatever it is, has cornered some kids.”

A serious look took over Infinite and Tom's faces. As quick as a whip, Infinite had discarded the box of donuts, which was almost certainly going to be worth a few demerit points for littering. “I'm going on ahead!” Infinite shouted, breaking into a full sprint.

“I'll be right behind you!” Tom called out, as he sprinted as fast as he could back to his car.

It took all of a few minutes for Infinite to reach Station Square's city hall. It helped that it was a very central location in the city. Not, however, to be confused with the other city a fair distance away from Station Square, aptly named 'Central City'. It was a weird tangent for Infinite's mind to go on, but it made him wonder just why everything in the world was named so... strangely.

Once Infinite had arrived at city hall, he quickly saw just how dire the situation was.

The first thing he noticed were the four kids, two boys and two girls, of which one of the girls was confined to a wheelchair. The same four kids that had been annoyingly friendly to him these past few months he'd become an officer with the SSPD. Their names were Christopher, Danny, Frances, and Helen.

For all that those kids did bug him to no end... Infinite would hardly say he hated them. Far from it, in fact.

Infinite turned his gaze to the monster, and found himself at a loss for words. 'Water monster' was a very, very apt description for the creature that loomed over the quartet of kids. It was bipedal, and stood as tall as, if not a bit more, taller than the average Mobian. It had huge, yellow eyes, and Infinite could swear that he could see that things brain floating around in its head.

Figuring out what it was, though, would have to wait. He had to save those kids first. Infinite wasted no time waiting for orders, and leapt into action. Despite the change in occupation, some habits died hard.

Infinite delivered a powerful kick to the side of the creatures body. The feeling of his leg connecting with the creature was almost exactly like trying to kick the surface of a pool, simultaneously like striking a brick wall, yet with a lot of give. Infinite just considered himself thankful that the attack got the creature's attention.

“What are you kids waiting for?” Infinite shouted. “Book it, now!”

“R-Right!” the boy in the red shirt, Chris, said back, as he and the other three quickly got clear, with Chris taking up position to push Helen's wheelchair. “Thanks, officer Zero!”

Once the kids were clear, Infinite jumped back to the barricade the police had set up. “That was needlessly reckless, Zero!” one of the cops shouted. “But damn if you can't get results!”

“Praise me about it later!” Infinite said. “Just shoot the damn thing!”

“Roger!” another cop said. “Lock on target, men! Aim... fire!!”

Numerous guns rang out, as bullets flew towards the creature. Each shot struck true, but the bullets all stopped in the creature's seemingly gelatinous form, before dropping to the ground with a light tinkling sound, almost like a wind chime.

“No way... Our weapons are useless!” an officer yelled in fear.

Infinite felt his blood run cold. A familiar dread filled his mind; that of going up against impossible odds. He remembered that feeling all too well. “Retreat!” Infinite called out. “Pull back, now!”

He would not lose anyone else. Not again.

The creature swung its arm forward, stretching its appendage far farther than it could... well, to be fair; water monster. It could probably do things that no organic being could hope to concieve.

Infinite quickly put himself in the way of the attack, raised his guard, and grit his teeth. He could probably take a hit or two from this thing, but the others... humans weren't as tough as he was. All he could hope to do was take a blow, and pray for a miracle.

Just them, moments before the hit came, an all too familiar black blur appeared, and kicked the creature's arm away with a splash.

Infinite felt his jaw drop, and his stomach twist into a knot. Him. It was him again. It had been months now, why was he here?

The black and red hedgehog turned around and looked at him, recognition flashing in his eyes. “Well, I didn't expect this,” the hedgehog said casually. “Long time no see. Finally got that career change, did you?”

“Shadow... the Hedgehog...” Infinite muttered. A small part of him was almost glad he was here, if only to make sure the problem was no longer in Infinite's ballpark. The rest of him, though, was torn between the wonder of why he was here, and the old rage of him daring to show his face.

“We can catch up later,” Shadow said, as he turned to face the water creature once more. “Let me show this thing just how washed up it is.”

“... That one was lame,” Infinite pointed out.

Shadow paid the comment no mind, as he charged at the creature. Much to Infinite's annoyance, each strike the hedgehog landed did more than the jackal's attack did. Perhaps it was the fact that Shadow's shoes were those damn jet boot things, meaning each hit was evaporating part of the creature's body. Either way, it was a blow to Infinite's pride... again.

“Whoa,” Infinite heard Tom's voice say, as the officer stepped out of his car. “Who is that guy?”

“Shadow the Hedgehog,” Infinite answered bitterly. “A hero... and the bane of my existence.”

A loud splash echoed, a result of Shadow delivering a powerful kick to the creatures head, and the thing sank down into a puddle of its own body, before it seemed to slink away, heading towards the nearest drain.

“Running away, are you?” Shadow taunted. “Then, if you know what's good for you, you'll rethink your life choices.”

Infinite couldn't help but feel a wave of prickliness wash over his fur. That line was classic, textbook Shadow the Hedgehog.

Far up a nearby building, unknown to everyone below, a large and familiar doctor laughed evilly.

“You know nothing, you fools!” Doctor Ivo Robotnik proclaimed. “That was Chaos! The God of Destruction!”

Hours passed, and morning finally came for Station Square. The warmth of the sun washed away the memory of last night, leave it feeling like a distant dream.

Shadow laid on a beach chair by the side of a public pool, soaking in the sunlight. Questions of what that creature was still plagued his mind, sure, but there was always time in the world to deal with it later. Plus... the creature was made of water. Trying to find it in a city like this would be like trying to find a particular patch of sand in the desert.

Shadow heard a set of footsteps approaching him, followed by feeling a shadow loom over him. Casually, he opened one eye, and was met with a familiar face. “And here I was expecting you to be night shift,” Shadow said. “You're looking well, Infinite.”

“It's 'Zero' these days,” Infinite replied curtly. “And for all that I've technically taken your advice, I am not happy to see you again.”

“Hardly surprised about that,” Shadow admitted. “Doesn't explain what's brought you out here this morning.”

“Because...” Infinite sighed, swallowing his pride, “I wanted to thank you. For... not letting anybody die last night.”

Shadow's other eye opened in surprise, as he turned his head to face Infinite. “You know, I could practically hear you dying inside just saying that.”

“It felt no different to puking,” Infinite said. “So, why are you here? This doesn't seem like a courtesy call.”

“I'm on the lookout for a hedgehog that's been missing for over fifteen years,” Shadow said. “Wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you? Time Stone experiment?”

“Wasn't working for the doctor that long ago,” Infinite answered, “so no. Can't help you there.”

“Didn't think so,” Shadow shrugged. “And, of course, now we have that... monster thing. Was that creature normal around here?”

“Never seen it in the months I've been here, so I'd say 'no',” Infinite said. “Out of curiosity, why didn't you use your Chaos Emerald on that thing?”

“Lent it to Maria,” Shadow replied. “She wants to find ways to harness its infinite power to solve any energy shortages the Acorn Kingdom might run into. Y'know, since Eggman practically drained the place of most of its resources.”

“Uh huh... And how's that going for her?”

Before Shadow could respond, the sound of a small explosion echoed from above. The two looked up, just in time to see a smoking biplane the colour of unpainted metal fly past, before eventually crashing a fair ways down the beach.

“... Kinda like that, I guess,” Infinite surmised. “You gonna-”

Shadow was already gone. The only evidence he had even been there was the fact that the beach chair he had previously occupied was now shattered against the wall behind it, and the thick cloud of dust he had kicked up running towards the beach.

Infinite sighed, and pulled out a small note pad. If there was one thing he'd consider a 'small victory' in his new line of work, it would be the fact that he could officially charge that hedgehog for property damage.

Chapter Text

(Two days ago)

Emerl sat at the base of the Master Emeralds alter, staring off into the distance. Things on Angel Island were peaceful. Always had been (save for that one thing a while back), and always will be (hopefully).

The moon hung high in the sky. Few small clouds dotted the star-filled skies, and a gentle breeze swept across the land. It was a quiet, pleasant night.

It was a night like this that led Emerl to thoughts of the distant past. Memories of a time before he was... him, in a way. Before he could operate like he did, before he could talk... before he even had the name Emerl.

Those days, some 2000 years ago, when he was only known as the Gizoid. Those were... simpler times, he supposed, back when the Echidna tribe still existed. Back when... she was still here.

That one act she took, when everything went south, had changed Emerl fundamentally. It was in a Gizoid's programming to 'Follow the Powerful'. Any sufficient showing of strength, and he would have swapped sides in a heartbeat. But... that day, when the Echidna tribe was wiped out, his friend had done something that shattered his programming for good.

She had gone up against a veritable God of Destruction. A creature older than even Emerl was now. She was weak in comparison, but she gave her life to seal it away. She, weaker than that monster, had won.

The weak had triumphed against the strong. That one act alone sent errors down his coding at the time, and suddenly... he was no longer beholden to anything or anyone. He was a free robot. He was... Emerl.

And so, for 2000 years he sat alone on this island. Doing nothing more than guarding the Master Emerald from any threats that might show themselves.

… And then he went and almost screwed it all up by trusting the first human he'd ever met.

Emerl may be strong, but 2000 years of no exposure to sentient life does leave a lot to be desired.

But, tonight was looking to be like any other night. Quiet, with nothing happening that was worth worrying about.

A loud 'bang' rang out, followed by the sound of something shattering behind him. Of all the times to have processed that thought!

Emerl sprang to his feet, quickly turning around to find, to his horror, that the Master Emerald had been shattered.

Horror ran through Emerl's circuits. How could this be possible? How was there something strong enough to break the Master Emerald? Emerl did a quick scan of the area, but whatever had done this had already cleared out.

A new possibility formed in Emerl's processor. If the Emerald was shattered, then that could mean...

Emerl turned to face the remnants of the Master Emerald, and true to his horrifying suspicion, a green eyed monster monster made of water stood before him.

“Chaos...” Emerl said bluntly.

The creature, Chaos, stared at Emerl, a faint sense of recognition in its eyes. Recognition... and fury. Without a moment's hesitation, Chaos lashed out, launching one of its arms at Emerl.

Emerl barely had time to process a response, as the attack sent him flying far. Landing at the base of the stairs that lead up to the altar. Emerl sprung back to his feet, and ran back up to the altar, only to find that Chaos was gone.

“No...” he muttered in disbelief. “Chaos is... free? And with the Master Emerald gone...”

Angel Island began to shake violently, as it began to rapidly drop altitude. During all this, Emerl had no time to notice the strange ball of red light that took off into the sky.

(Present day)

Shadow walked back from the beach, carrying Maria on his back. “That was unlike you, Maria,” the black hedgehog commented. “You're an amazing pilot; how'd you end up crashing like that?”

Maria laughed sheepishly in response. “Well, I was testing out using the Chaos Emerald you gave me as a power source,” she said. “Rotor and I made that plane to try and harness the Emerald's unlimited power, but... as you can see, it's hard to put a cap on infinity.”

Shadow chuckled a little. “Ain't that the truth,” he said. “I'm pretty sure Eggman's only avoided this very thing because his mechs need that much energy.”

“I see,” Maria said, as Shadow felt a small notepad get pressed against the back of his head, as he felt her jot down some notes. “So, I should look into a way to expunge the excess energy, or perhaps even a way to store it?”

“Well, you're the expert here, not me.”

“Say, Shadow, can I ask a favour?” Maria asked. “I've got a workshop set up in the Mystic Ruins. Think you could get me there?”

“The Mystic Ruins, huh?” Shadow repeated. “Sure thing. Just one question; where are they?”

“They should be a train stop or two down the line.”

“Then, next question; where's the train station?”

Silence feel between the two. “You really haven't been in the city long, have you?” Maria asked.

“Only since last night,” Shadow answered. “And be honest, you don't know either.”

“At least I can admit that.”

“So, the entire second half of this conversation never happened?”

A beat of silence, followed by laughter. “Let's just ask for directions,” Maria said. “Do this like civilised people.”

“Shame Infinite didn't stick around,” Shadow commented. “He could have pointed us in the right direction.”

“Infinite's here? Really?”

“Goes by Zero now,” Shadow said. “Works as a policeman. Who'da thought?”

The two made their way further into the city, trying to find out where that blasted train station was. It was only ten minutes later that someone called out to them.

“You're looking for the train station, right?” a young boy with brown hair called out. “It's just across from Twinkle Park, down the road!”

Shadow looked at the boy. “I remember you,” he said. “You were there when that monster appeared last night.”

“Yeah. I wanted to thank you for showing up when you did,” the kid said. “I'm Chris, by the way. It's nice to meet you.”

“Shadow the Hedgehog,” Shadow replied. “And this is Maria.”

“We appreciate the help,” Maria said. “Usually, Shadow's methods boil down to 'wander around until we find something'.”

“Hey, it's worked so far, hasn't it?” Shadow asked, seemingly offended. “If it ain't broke, don't fix it.”

“I'm pretty sure there's a difference between 'fixing' and 'improving', though,” Chris pointed out.

“See? He gets it,” Maria said.

Ten minutes later, and the two had finally found the train station. After parting ways with Chris, it was another hour before Shadow and Maria arrived in the Mystic Ruins.

It was a rather uneventful train ride, aside from hearing the news that a certain island has fallen out of the skies, and landed near the Mystic Ruins.

“So... Angel Island has fallen?” Shadow guessed. “I'm worried this might become a trend.”

“Do you think Eggman stole it again?” Maria asked.

“I feel like there would be more noise if he did,” Shadow said. “Maybe an airship or something.”

“Or a water monster to attack a city?”

“Touche.”

Just then, the voice over the train's comms announced that they were now arriving in the Mystic Ruins.

“You know, I could have just run us here faster,” Shadow commented, as he and Maria stood up from their seats.

“And miss out on experiencing what a train was like?” Maria asked. “Really?”

Shadow shrugged, as the train finally came to a stop, and they stepped off. “It was just kinda meh.”

“Sacrilege,” Maria muttered. “Anyway, follow me! The workshop's this way!”

Shadow followed after Maria at a slow jog while she ran ahead, spinning her tails behind her for extra propulsion. A rather clever method of gaining speed, he supposed.

The two reached a clearing, where suddenly, an all too familiar laugh echoed. “Well, well, well. If it isn't Shadow and Maria!”

Just as suddenly as the familiar floating dome of metal appeared, loud, dramatic, and frankly obnoxious music began playing. A cacophony of horns, drums, and trumpets, all to signal the arrival of the moustached doctor in red.

“Eggman!” Shadow shouted. “So you are out and about!”

“Aw, did you miss me already?” Eggman asked mockingly. “I'm almost touched.”

“... What?” Maria called out. “I didn't catch that!”

“WHAT?!” Eggman yelled back, placing a hand to his ear. “Speak up! I can't hear you!”

“WHAT?!” Shadow shouted.

“WHAT- Wait, hold on.” Eggman pressed a button on his machine, and the music stopped. “Is that better?”

“Much better,” Maria said.

“... WHAT?” Shadow yelled, with the expression of someone absolutely running with the gag.

Eggman let out a small sigh. “Right. Mental note; if going for a musical entrance, work on volume.”

“Good idea,” Shadow agreed. “Counter suggestion; don't make entrances. In fact, don't do anything that takes up other peoples time.”

“Noted and filed under 'none'ya business',” Eggman said, fake taping at a keyboard for emphasis.

“I've missed these talks,” Shadow muttered. “So, what are you after, Eggman?”

“What do you think, hedgehog?” Eggman asked sarcastically. “Oh, why do act like I care what you think? You idiots wouldn't know genius if it hit you on the head! Why should I waste my time giving you the whole 'take over the world' speech?”

“... Didn't you just explain the whole reason you're here with that speech?” Maria pointed out.

“Convenient, isn't it?” Eggman said. “I get to insult you, and explain what's going on, all in one sentence!”

“And what makes you think you'll be able to win against us?” Shadow asked. “Your track record's not exactly stellar.”

“True, but I've got something you no longer don't,” Eggman smirked, before revealing a familiar green gem in his hand. “Look familiar?”

Shadow and Maria's eyes widened in shock. Maria quickly patted down the pockets of her dress. “He took our Chaos Emerald!” she exclaimed. “How? When?!”

In response, a small robot monkey climbed up onto Eggman's shoulder. “Sneaky little devils, aren't they?” he said jovially. “Especially when you two were distracted by all that noise.”

“Crafty bastard,” Shadow muttered.

“Now, for the main event!” Eggman exclaimed. “Come forth, Chaos! It's time to feed!”

The ground beside the Egg Mobile became damp, as a blob of water rose up from the soil, and took on a shape Shadow recognised instantly.

“That monster from last night,” he said. “So, it is one of yours.”

“Oh, but that was only a prelude!” Eggman stated, as he took the Chaos Emerald, and tossed it at the creature.

The Emerald made contact with Chaos' gelatinous body, and in a flash of light, it had changed. Chaos' right arm had grown in size, bones could be seen within, and placed squarely in the palm of that hand, was the Chaos Emerald.

“Oh, what a beauty it is,” Eggman said. “And it'll only get stronger and stronger, the more Chaos Emeralds it absorbs!”

Shadow felt legitimately threatened by this. The Chaos Emeralds made Eggman a real threat, especially when he had just a few of them hooked up to his machines. Now there was this... organic lifeform that could do the same thing? And it was working with Eggman?

“Now, Chaos! Let us be off!” Eggman said, as the Egg Mobile began to rise into the skies once more. “If last night was a prelude, then this was but the prologue to my epic conquest!”

“So you came here to gloat?” Shadow asked.

“Why else would I waste my time amusing you?” Eggman retorted, as Chaos once again sank into the ground. “After all, conquest is only enjoyable when the conquered know it's coming.” With a manic laugh, Eggman flew off into the distance, leaving Shadow and Maria behind.

“This is bad, right?” Maria asked.

“Very,” Shadow said. “Worst of all, he's managed to get one over on us. He's up one Emerald, and we're down one.” He looked over at Maria, a look of determination on his face. “We need to find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds before he does.”

“Then I've got just the thing!” Maria said, as she fished out a small pocket watch shaped object from one of her pockets. “During my research on the Emerald, I was able to create a device that can locate them. It's not perfectly accurate; only able to pin them down to within the kilometre, but it's better than going blind.”

Shadow smirked, as he patted Maria on the head. “Knew I could count on you,” he said. “Where to first?”

Maria gave the device a look over. “Not far, actually,” she said. “It should be somewhere around the hills and valleys to the north of here.”

“Then, what are we waiting for?” Shadow asked. “Let's get moving!”

Eggman touched down at his base deep within the Mystic Ruins. After he'd parted ways with Shadow and Maria, he made a point of keeping a lid on his laughter until he was safely inside his fortification. When you've made an enemy out of the entire world, it pays to play it just a little smart.

But not to the point of removing the flare from it all! There needs to absolutely be some style to this whole thing.

Once he was safely back inside, Eggman let out the loudest laugh he had. Oh, what fun! How long it had been since he'd managed to get one over on his enemies! And with such a rudimentary ruse, too! He was going to have to remember that one.

“Ah, it's good to get an early win,” he sighed. “Now, about those other projects...”

Eggman walked through is base, gazing fondly at each of his currently offline, being built, being rebuilt, or just getting a paint job.

Old badniks. New badniks. Machines that weren't badniks. Metal Sonic floating in a tube.

Oh, Metal... Despite losing on its first deployment against Shadow, Eggman could still see the latent potential in this machine. It clearly just needed more time in the oven, so to speak.

Those notes Eggman had found on his grandfather's old project had been amazing, to say the least. So in-depth, so much potential! Why, if the organic creature that project had developed was still around, just think of what Eggman could do with it! But, alas, that project was over 50 years ago now, and even if it did live that long, it wouldn't have mattered since the government of the world, and in particular, the Guardian Unit of Nations, GUN (what an unoriginal name, said the egg shaped man with machines named after eggs), had made sure to scrub nearly all record of the project from history, ever since the 'incident'.

That had all happened nearly a decade before Eggman was even born, yet the besmirchment that had occurred to the Robotnik name persisted for a long time. Oh, make no mistake; Ivo would have always gone down the path he did. But, sometimes, in the quiet of his own base, he wondered just how much of who he was came back to the fate of his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik.

Well, no matter. He was already committed to this lot in life, and Robotniks were dedicated, if nothing else.

Eventually, Eggman came up to the line of badniks he was really looking for right now. A lineup of five nearly identical robots, all of which stood just a slight bit taller than Eggman himself. Of the lineup, four of them, the ones painted black, orange, blue, and purple, were sporting rocket launchers on both arms, while the red one, second in the line, had a single powerful energy blaster on its right hand, and a proper hand for its left.

Eggman had to admit, he was impressed by how that one had turned out. Its shot had been what broke the Master Emerald and released Chaos, after all; what wasn't there to be impressed by? The power and precision that shot needed was magnificent!

He had considered fitting the others in this lineup, the E-100 series, with that same weaponry, but the sort of power that designation E-102 Gamma had achieved was the sort of 'once in a blue moon' miracle that he wasn't actually sure he could replicate a second time, not to mention trying to replicate it four times.

No matter, then. Gamma would just have to be the ace of the group.

“E-100s! Awaken!” Eggman instructed. “Sound off! E-101 Beta!”

The black robot's eyes lit up. “Affirmative.”

“E-102 Gamma!”

The red robot's eyes lit up. “Affirmative.”

“E-103 Delta! E-104 Epsilon! E-105 Zeta!”

Blue, orange, and purple, all lit up and gave a response.

“Good,” Eggman said. “Your orders are simple; find those Chaos Emeralds! The remaining six are still out there in the wild! Find them, and bring them to me!”

“Aye aye, Master Robotnik,” each of the robots said, before systematically marching out of the base.

Eggman let out a small sigh as he leaned back into the nearest chair. It was nice to have good help for once. Not like those only slightly useful jackals from months ago.

Come to think of it, whatever happened to Infinite? Sure, he had been fired, but not without having a firing squad on his tail. He wondered if that guy was still alive somewhere.

Then Eggman remembered that he didn't really care. This was the first time since giving Infinite the boot that he'd thought of the jackal.

Come to think of it, though, wasn't there a jackal police officer in Station Square the other day?

… Why was he still giving this any thought? He just said he didn't care.

“Bah... look at me, getting all nostalgic,” Eggman said to himself. “It's not like me at all. Better take my mind off things.”

Come to think of it, there was a casino in Station Square, wasn't there? Something about it sprang to mind specifically, and not just because Eggman quite likes his casinos. Trying to recall why, Eggman quickly tapped away on his computer, and found...

“Oh?” he said. “They have a Chaos Emerald as a prize there?” A low laugh escaped his lips. “This is just like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me.” Then, his laugh grew into a bellow. “And I get to enjoy one of my five favourite pastimes, too! Could this day get any better?!” Quickly rising from his chair, Eggman practically skipped out of the base. “Hold the fort, Metal! Daddy's got cash to burn!”

Despite being in maintenance, Metal Sonic was still conscious, for whatever that meant for a machine like it. Whatever sentience existed within that metal chassis could only sigh in what its programming perceived to be embarrassment.

Chapter Text

The valleys in the Mystic Ruins were very windy. So windy, in fact, that Shadow had a rather hard time keeping his feet on the ground. Given that he ran with a slight hover to his step, that made it even harder for him to remain grounded.

Eventually, though, he and Maria were shot high into the skies, courtesy of a powerful tornado, and landed on a set of flying ruins. Maria had several theories about how these ruins managed to remain airborne all this time, and Shadow... did not understand a lick of any of them.

Best for him to just leave the brainy thinking to the people with the actual brains for it. All Shadow really needed for himself was to know what direction to go in.

The duo ran on, across steel bridges that connected each floating mass of land – something that once again raised the question of 'who built this place'- until eventually, they found exactly what they were looking for; the red Chaos Emerald. Just as they found it, though, they were ambushed by a blue Egg-robot they had never seen before.

It had rocket launchers for arms. Maria thought that was pretty cool. Shadow thought it blew up pretty well, too.

Once the hitherto unnamed badnik was destroyed, and the little creature within it released, Shadow called on the power of the Chaos Emerald, and invoked Chaos Control, warping him and Maria back to her workshop.

“Still... so disorienting,” Maria said, sounding very woozy.

“Is it really?” Shadow asked. “I can't say I notice.”

“Maybe it's one of those things, like how you can get motion sick in the passenger seat of a car, but not the drivers seat.”

“Never been in a car before, so I wouldn't know,” Shadow said. “So, where to next?”

“I think it might be an idea to check out Station Square for a while,” Maria answered. “You know, just in case Eggman's consolidating his forces there?”

“Sounds like a plan, then.”

Shadow raised the Chaos Emerald, before Maria forced him to lower it. “Let's... just take the train,” she said. “One Chaos Control is more than enough for today.”

Emerl's first stop in finding the shards of the Master Emerald was to the bustling metropolis that was Station Square.

Emerl was deeply wishing that Station Square was not his first stop in finding the shards of the Master Emerald.

The city was an absolute maze of noises and strange machinery. And the humans- by the Emeralds, the humans. Sure, they weren't Robotnik in any sense of the word (and that fact alone was a ringing endorsement for the species), but those people looked like they'd never seen a robot before.

Now, granted, that was entirely possible. There was hardly even a Mobian to be seen around here, let alone a robot. Still, Emerl couldn't help but feel just the littlest bit self conscious with all the staring.

Still, at least the city wasn't interfering with his sensors. He was picking up the signals for the Master Emerald fairly easily.

Two shards had been lodged into the side of some buildings, seemingly unnoticed by the general populace. Suffice to say, they were quite... weirded out when Emerl started climbed the walls to collect them.

A third shard was located in the middle of the city park. Unfortunately, that meant there was quite the crowd gathered around it. Fortunately for Emerl, his arrival caused the humans to very quickly move out of his way, worried that he might start causing problems.

Emerl had no intentions of causing problems for them, unless they intended to take the shards for themselves. Only then would Emerl has intent to cause problems.

The Gizoid walked up to the shard of the Master Emerald, and picked it up. Three shards... hopefully, there wouldn't be too many more, or at least, too many places to visit in order to find them.

“Excuse me!” someone's voice shouted. Emerl could only assume it was directed at him, considering he was the oddity in the crowd right now. Emerl turned around, to be met with a brown haired man dressed in some kind of dark blue uniform. The man had a bit more hair across his face, in what people other than Emerl would call a 'beard'; a concept that Emerl himself had little knowledge of. The man walked over to Emerl, carrying a sense of... not quite 'authority', but a close facsimile. “You got a permit for that?”

Emerl stared down at the Master Emerald shard in his hand, then back at the man who had the name 'Whipple' on the left side of his chest. What on earth was 'Whipple' suppose to mean? “Do you mean this?” Emerl asked. “The shard of the legendary Master Emerald, which once sat upon Angel Island, and was broken just recently?”

Officer 'Whipple' blinked a few times, processing what Emerl had just said. “Those... were certainly words you just said, buddy.”

“My name is not 'Buddy',” Emerl pointed out. “It is Emerl. I am the guardian of the Master Emerald, and last vestige of the long lost Echidna tribe. It is my duty to restore the Master Emerald, and to do that, I must find the shards of it.”

“... And I am officer Wade Whipple,” the police man said, sounding almost unsure of himself. “I am... a keeper of the peace here?”

“Why do you sound unsure of yourself?” Emerl asked. “If you are a keeper of the peace, as you say, then take pride in that. What use have you in shame?”

Wade hesitated for a moment. “That's... awfully nice of you to say,” he said, “but we're not here about me. We're here about you picking up gems that you don't have any proof are what you claim they are.”

“You doubt my claim?”

“Do you have a license that says 'Guardian of the Master Emerald'?”

“... What is a 'license'?” Emerl asked.

The silence that followed was almost palpable. Before the conversation could continue any further, Emerl decided now was a good time to move on. He could sense more shards coming from a different part of the city.

“Hey, hold up!” Wade called out, grabbing hold of Emerl's arm and trying to stop him. Extra emphasis was on the word 'trying', as Emerl was not slowed down in the least by Wade's efforts. “C'mon! Stop! Please?”

“I cannot afford to waste time, officer,” Emerl said. “The Master Emerald must be restored. The fate of the world hangs in the balance.”

And so, Emerl continued to walk, a police officer dragging his feet to try and slow him down.

Some time later, as the sun was starting to set, and Emerl (with his plus-one) arrived at his next destination.

“... What is this place?” Emerl asked.

“What, you never seen a casino before?” Wade asked, still trying to drag Emerl away from his duty. “They're a den of scum and villainy, where people go waste their money in hopes of winning more money. The mayor around these parts had to put in a lot of laws to make sure this place wasn't ripping people off.”

“And you just allow a place like this to exist?”

Wade could only shrug in response. That did not fill Emerl with confidence.

Worse yet, he could sense something extra from this 'casino' place. There was a Chaos Emerald here as well.

“I'm going in,” Emerl said plainly, throwing Wade off his person, and marching inside.

Wade, having fallen to the ground, picked himself back up, and pressed the button on his radio. “This is Whipple to Wachowski,” he said. “You're not gonna believe this, but we've got a robot entering the casino in search of shards to a magic gemstone of some kind, over.”

[… Come again?] Tom's voice replied after a long pause.

“Think I was pretty clear on that, Tom,” Wade said. “I'm gonna keep an eye on him, but I'd definitely like some backup if things go south.”

[Copy that. I'm with Zero right now, and we'll be on standby in case.]

Smooth, slow music filled the lobby of the casino. Emerl may not have had the strongest opinion going in, but he had to admit, the atmosphere in this place wasn't too bad. It felt shockingly inviting.

Which, to be fair, is the sort of atmosphere a casino would like you to think it had. Lure you into a false sense of security and all that.

Emerl knew he was the centre of attention, but frankly, he didn't care enough to be bothered by it. He had his mission, and he was going to do it.

Even if it meant that Wade Whipple person had to follow him. Just roll with the punches.

Emerl's eyes flashed green, as he scanned the interior thoroughly.

[Displaying results: Three Master Emerald Shards confirmed. Two Master Emerald Shards located. One Chaos Emerald located. Shadow the Hedgehog located.]

Wait. What the what was what?

Emerl double checked his logs, and confirmed that yes, his sensors did in fact pick up on Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow was here? Why?

He scanned the crowd once more, and spotted the black hedgehog in question, alongside his friend Maria Prower. They seemed a bit confused about this place themselves, but more-so confused by what most of the rest of the crowd were staring at.

Deciding there was nothing more to it, Emerl decided to approach the only two people who, to this day, he could reliably consider 'friends'.

“Shadow the Hedgehog,” Emerl stated, catching the hedgehog in question completely off guard. “I had not expected to run into you or your friend here.”

“Emerl?” Shadow questioned. “I'd say the same to you. Does this have something to do with Angel Island falling?”

“The Master Emerald was destroyed,” Emerl stated simply. “It's shards have been scattered who knows where. I must find them and restore the Master Emerald, so that the evil that has been released may be sealed away again.”

“Um... question about that?” Maria asked. “Would that 'evil' happen to be a water monster that eats Chaos Emeralds?”

Emerl felt dread coarse across his circuits. “So you've already met Chaos, then.”

“It's in league with Eggman,” Shadow and Maria both said.

Emerl found that fact alone to explain just about everything. “Of course that would be the case,” he sighed. “Probably means the doctor's the one who freed Chaos in the first place.”

“Safe bet, I'm sure,” Shadow said. “I take it you're here to find the Master Emerald shards, then?”

“I am,” Emerl replied. “And he,” he pointed at Wade, who had finally caught up, “is insistent on me having a 'license' to claim ownership of those shards.”

“Buddy, it's just standard procedure,” Wade said. “I mean, for all I know, some thief could have stolen those from somewhere, hidden them, and then sent you to pick them up under the guise of 'recollecting stolen property'.”

“He's got a point there,” Maria said.

“Also a bit of a trap, that logic,” Shadow pointed out. “You could easily look at it both in the sense of 'fellow thief working with previous thief' or 'victim of the thief'.”

“Cover both bases!” Wade shrugged.

Eggman was starting to panic just a little bit.

Shadow and Maria showing up at this casino because a Chaos Emerald happened to be here, sure, he could get. Heck, he didn't expect to find a Chaos Emerald here, of all places! One of his favourite past-times, now able to further his ambitions!

What did surprise the doctor, though, was that Emerl the Robot was here as well.

Eggman had planned to get that Chaos Emerald through legitimate means (well, as legit as could be reasonably hand-waved in a casino. He would have still rigged the games in his favour, just wouldn't have made them obvious), but with three of his mortal nemeses (nemesises? Was there a plural for nemesis?) skulking around now, he'd have to take a more blatant approach.

Eggman quickly pulled out one of his many monitoring devices, upon which was displayed the status of his E-series of robots. “Delta's already been destroyed?” he noted. “Grr... You'll pay for that, Shadow the Hedgehog!” Several swift presses of some buttons later, and all of a sudden, E-104 Epsilon crashed through the roof of the casino.

The chaos that unfolded over the next few minutes was short lived, considering it was one robot against two and a half one-men armies, but it gave Eggman enough time amidst all the chaos to pull the quickest smash and grab of his life, getting his hands on the Chaos Emerald, and hightailing it out of there before anyone was wise to his actions.

Simple plans were often effective at times like this.

A powerful kick from both Shadow and Emerl later, and E-104 was smashed to pieces, the Flicky inside it freed from its mechanical prison.

“Looks like Eggman had his eyes on this Emerald too,” Shadow said. “Yet he only sent the one robot, and it looks an awful lot like the one we met before.”

Wade poked his head out from behind a nearby pillar. “Well, at least he didn't get it?” he offered hopefully.

“You spoke too soon, officer,” Emerl said, pointing at the case where the Chaos Emerald previously sat. “It's gone.”

All eyes turned to the broken case. “... Damn it,” Shadow cursed. “That man is crafty, I'll give him that. Maria, can you track the Emerald?”

“Been trying to,” Maria replied. “But the signal's all wonky! Something's interfering with it, and I don't know what!”

“... Don't you have an Emerald on hand right now?” Emerl asked.

“Yeah? Why?”

Emerl gave the fox a flat look, which wasn't too hard, since Emerl had no facial features in which to express with. Sometimes, even the smartest people out there can have moments of stupidity.

After a brief moment of silence, the purpose of Emerl's question finally clicked with Maria. “Oh! Right,” she said. “The ambient radiation of the Emerald we have would interfere, wouldn't it?”

“Those things are radioactive?!” Wade shouted.

“Chaos Emerald radiation is only about as dangerous as the radiation that you ingest from a banana,” Emerl stated. “It's not that bad.”

“Not that...” Shadow muttered, an incredulous look on his face. “Buddy, I use that radiation to throw spears of energy at things! I even use it to teleport places! 'Not that bad' my foot...”

“Is that really important right now?” Wade asked.

“Fair point,” the trio of two Mobians and one robot conceded.

“So, what now?” Shadow asked. “We're once more flying blind here.”

“On my way here, I passed through the Mystic Ruins,” Emerl said. “I sensed the presence of a Chaos Emerald atop the frozen peaks nearby. I still have to find the pieces of the Master Emerald, so we can meet back up at the Mystic Ruins train station later.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Shadow said. “Maria, let's go!”

“Right!” Maria replied, as the two sped off. “We'll see you later, Emerl!”

Emerl waved as Shadow and Maria ran off towards the train station, which had been conveniently right next to the casino.

“I'll, uh,” Wade said, “let the rest of the police know what's going on, then. Keep our eyes out for any more trouble, yeah?”

“A fine idea,” Emerl said. “Best of luck, and stay safe, Officer Wade Whipple.”

Wade gave the Gizoid a salute, as Emerl suddenly shot up into the rafters of the casino in search of the missing Master Emerald pieces.

Nothing else to do, Wade got back on the radio. “Hey, Tom?” he said. “Got a bit of an update on... all that jazz.”

E-102 Gamma hovered across the rivers and lakes of the deep jungles of the Mystic Ruins. Its radar was picking up on a Chaos Emerald, not too far from the home base.

Gamma wasn't programmed to think, but it did think it odd that, despite how close this Emerald was, the doctor hadn't picked it up yet. But, then again, Gamma was not programmed to question the logic of its master. After all, there was that one Flicky in the doctor's possession that still held one of the Emeralds, and he hadn't seen fit to take it from the creature just yet.

… The doctor was odd at times.

[Irrelevant thoughts purged]

Gamme came up to a small, wooden hut that was sat by the bank of one of the rivers. On the porch of this hut sat a large, purple cat Mobian, a small green frog sat upon his head, and a fishing rod in hand, its line cast out into the river.

The large cat looked up, and noticed Gamma. “Oh! Hello there,” he said. “Are you here to fish, too?”

Fishing; the act of casting a hook tied to a stick by a long piece of string to catch fish. Makes sense in a 'collecting food' way. Makes less sense in a 'hobby' way.

“You are in possession of a Chaos Emerald,” Gamma stated plainly. “Hand it over.”

The cat tilted his head quizzingly. “Oh... do you mean this thingy?” he asked, pulling out a familiar yellow gemstone from one of his pockets. “Sure thing. Here ya go.”

The cat threw the Chaos Emerald Gamma's way, who caught it with ease. That was... perplexingly easy. “... You are just giving this up?” Gamma asked. “Why? Chaos Emeralds possess incredible power.”

“Do they?” the cat asked. “I didn't know that. But I don't really need incredible power or anything like that.”

[Error. Does not compute]

“Why?” Gamma asked. “Why would you not want the power these stones possess?” It did not make any sense. Anybody who was anybody would have killed for the power just one Chaos Emerald possessed, especially if the doctor was anything to go off of, and this cat, who had been in possession of one for at least a few months now... had no need of it?

Gamma could feel a BSoD coming on right about now.

“I don't really need it to be happy,” the cat answered. “All I really need is just me, my fishing rod, and my good buddy Froggy.”

It did not make sense. None of it made sense. If this lonesome cat could be happy with so little, what did that say about the doctor? Doctor Robotnik wanted the world, but... would that be enough?

[Irrelevant thoughts pur- ERROR. Purging process failed. File error detected. Formatting process inoperable]

Was... Gamma allowed to be happy? What would it take for it to achieve that?

“... Thank you for your cooperation,” Gamma said. “Have a pleasant day.”

“You too, mister metal!” the cat waved as Gamma took its leave.

… What did it mean for a robot to be happy?

Chapter Text

“Run!!”

That was all Shadow and Maria were able to shout as the avalanche came crashing down towards them. They had found the Chaos Emerald in question at the peak of the Ice Cap Zone, but upon retrieving it, the sudden change in ambient energy destabilised the mountainside, and bring the snowy cap down upon them.

Unfortunately for these two, in this moment of panic... they completely forgot that Maria could have just as easily flown them out of harms way.

Being scared does stupid to people, after all.

So, the two ran as fast as Shadow's legs could carry them. At some point, there was a snowboard involved. Shadow tried it for a spell, before concluding that it was at least 70% slower than running, and just as quickly abandoned it. Maybe some other day, when the fate of the world wasn't in the balance (again) and they weren't at risk of being buried under several tonnes of snow, they'd come back to give snowboarding a try.

But, for now, they just ran.

Emerl stepped out of the casino, having finally acquired the missing shards of the Master Emerald he had been looking for. Ironically, Eggman's mayhem, caused in his successful attempt to pilfer the Chaos Emerald that had been there, gave Emerl the leeway he needed to collect the shards without much question.

More down, more to go.

But, of course, Emerl was still being shadowed by that Wade Whipple guy. After prolonged exposure, he had to say; he wasn't a bad guy.

A bit of a goof, sure, but pretty alright.

“So, what happens now, partner?” Wade asked, as if he were part of the team already.

“Well, you have a job to do in this city,” Emerl pointed out. “I need to keep my search going, and meet up with Shadow and Maria.”

“Right! Yeah, that makes sense,” Wade said. “I'll... go do that, then.”

Emerl picked up on the slight trepidation in Wade's voice. Evidently, this break from the norm had been a breath of fresh air in the officers life. You know, ignoring the fact that killer robots were involved in any way, shape, or form.

“Wade Whipple,” Emerl said. “For what it is worth, it has been a privilege to have worked alongside you.”

“Daw, you're just saying that,” Wade said, though he did look rather flattered by it.

“I am not the most skilled at lying,” Emerl responded. “To be able to lie would be a disservice to the memory of my oldest friend.”

“What were they like?” Wade asked. “Your old friend?”

“She was... a gentle spirit,” Emerl answered. Strangely, in the corner of his vision, he believed he could see a faint red glow. But, his sensors weren't picking up on anything. Probably just a glitch. “She was far different from the others of the tribe. Far kinder. Where her fellows and family would choose war and violence, she chose peace and love. It was that choice, in the end, that saved the world from the same destruction the Echidna tribe suffered. I strive to live up to that example she set every day.”

“She sounds like a lovely lady,” Wade said softly. “What was her name, if you don't mind me asking?”

“Tikal,” Emerl said, recalling the face of his old friend. Recalling those blue eyes and that kind smile. “Her name was Tikal.”

Shadow and Maria finally got back to the Mystic Ruins proper, panting heavily as they walked slowly.

“That was... a bit much,” Maria said. “Probably should have just bitten the bullet and used Chaos Control, huh?”

“Maybe,” Shadow agreed. “But, it was certainly an experience. Wouldn't trade experience for the world.”

Maria let out a small giggle. “You're a real 'glass half full' kind of hedgehog, aren't you?”

“It takes effort,” Shadow shrugged.

“Do you think Emerl's doing alright?” Maria asked. “I feel like he must have been pretty shaken up about the whole Chaos thing.”

“Can't say I blame him,” Shadow said. “I feel like, if I were the only survivor of a disaster that robbed me of everything and everyone I love, and I were to suddenly come face to face with the monster that took them from me... I know I wouldn't be doing alright.”

“You are quite the bleeding heart, Shadow the Hedgehog,” Emerl's voice suddenly said. “I find it to be a warming quality about you.”

The duo turned in the direction of the train station, to see Emerl walking towards them. “You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd ask if you were coming on to me,” Shadow commented.

“I am not capable of flirting, so I wouldn't know,” Emerl said. “I am sorry I took so long to catch up. I got a bit caught up reminiscing with officer Wade about my past.”

“It's hardly a problem at all,” Maria said. “Were you able to find the Master Emerald shards?”

“I was,” Emerl answered. “And I can tell that the next set is high in the mountains nearby.”

“And I'm guessing you're coming up blank in regards to any other Chaos Emeralds?” Shadow asked.

“I am afraid so,” Emerl admitted. “I believe there is one somewhere in the jungles around here, but it has been a while since I last registered it.”

“Flying blind, then,” Shadow said. “Not anything we haven't done before.”

A low droning sound echoed over the wind. The trio quickly stood back to back, fully expecting Eggman to appear out of nowhere all of a sudden.

They were right. A few seconds after they heard the sound, a heavily armoured version of the Egg Mobile flew past them, and to the surprise of absolutely nobody, it was being piloted by the doctor.

“Well well! Long time no see!” Eggman declared. “So thankful you could collect those Chaos Emeralds for me, Shadow!”

“Thinking awfully high of yourself, doctor?” Shadow responded. “And what makes you think we'll just give you the emeralds?”

“Like you have a choice in the matter,” Eggman sneered. “Behold the power of my newly designed Egg Hornet!!”

Numerous missiles launched from Eggman's machine, forcing the trio to jump high into the air to avoid. With a shouted 'Gotcha!', the Egg Hornet shot towards Shadow fast enough to catch the hedgehog off guard, and ramming into him.

Shadow bounced off his hand before he hit the ground, and landed flat on his feet. Emerl and Maria tried to strike at the doctor in retaliation, but Eggman had... pulled back enough to avoid it?

“Oh ho ho ho!” Eggman laughed, as he held up in his hand... the two Chaos Emeralds Shadow had. “Oh, you really make this too easy! You're off your game, hedgehog!!”

Shadow quickly patted himself down, realising he was now missing those very Emeralds. “How do you keep doing that?!” Shadow shouted.

“What, you think I'm all fat under this coat?” Eggman boasted. “Like it or not, but this is peak human performance at play! Now, come out, Chaos! It's time to eat!”

A familiar blob of water formed before Shadow, Maria, and Emerl. From it, Chaos rose, sporting an entirely new look.

“Its left arm!” Maria pointed out. “It's absorbed the Chaos Emerald from the casino!”

“Precisely!” Eggman said. “And now, we've got four! Count them; four Chaos Emeralds!”

With not a word more, Eggman through the Emeralds into the air, where they were poised to descend upon Chaos.

Emerl and Shadow both broke into as fast a run as they could, trying to intercept the Emeralds. They, however, were cut off by two powerful swipes from Chaos' giant claws, throwing them back.

Maria was quick to catch the two before they hit the ground, but that did still mean that Chaos got its claws on the two Emeralds, absorbing them into its body.

There was a flash of light, and Chaos grew in size. Its watery body floated off the ground a few feet, the four Chaos Emeralds within shifting into new places, as its form took on a more... fish-like appearance.

“Oh ho ho! What a marvellous transformation!” Eggman proclaimed. “Now, Chaos! Show them what you're made of!”

Chaos turned its gaze towards the trio, still airborne thanks to Maria, and with a swipe of its new tail, launched a wave of energy at them.

“Hold on, you two!” Maria called out, as she forced herself to fly higher to get out of the way.

“What should we do?” Shadow shouted. “Chaos is only getting more powerful! Emerl and I can't exactly get it with a head-on attack!”

Maria's brain began working as fast as it could, until it came up with an idea. “Shadow! Emerl! I need you both to curl into balls!”

Shadow knowing better than to argue when Maria had an idea, and Emerl not having the time nor energy to try and argue, did as Maria instructed, both curling up into balls, and allowing their innate energies to wrap around themselves. From there, Maria drew herself back, and delivered the mightiest kicks she could, launching the hedgehog and Gizoid at Chaos in fast, seemingly erratic patterns.

The duo slammed into Chaos on either side like two wrecking balls. With the beast sufficiently dazed from the attack, the duo unfurled themselves, letting the momentum carry their spin as they channelled their energy into their legs and deliver a pair of roundhouse kicks to Chaos' face, throwing the creature back into the ground.

“Huh,” Eggman said. “That was actually pretty impressive.” Then, he shrugged. “Well, no matter. Got what I came for.”

Suddenly, the sky went dark. Shadow, Emerl, and Maria, all looked up to see a massive battleship looming overhead. In fact, calling that crimson hunk of flying metal and guns 'massive' didn't do it enough justice.

“Behold! My floating masterpiece!” Eggman declared. “The Egg Carrier!!”

The trio had to admit, it looked more than just a little intimidating. It may not have been the first time Eggman had brought out airships, but none of the previous ones came close to the sheer magnitude of the phrase 'floating weapons bed'.

A beam of light shot down from the Egg Carrier, enveloping both Eggman and Chaos, and lifting them up into the sky.

“Ah ha ha ha! So long, vermin!” Eggman exclaimed. “We will meet again!!”

“He's getting away!” Emerl shouted.

“We need to go after him,” Shadow said, “but there's no way Maria can get us up that high.”

“Oh, ye of little faith,” Maria responded. “Have you forgotten that we still have the Tornado? We can catch up to him in no time!”

“... I honestly did forget about the Tornado for a moment there,” Shadow said after a brief pause. “That's why you're the brains of this operation, Maria! Emerl, what about you?”

“As much as I would like to come along with you,” Emerl said, “I feel it is imperative that, in order to seal Chaos away once more, I restore the Master Emerald to its full power.”

“A fair point,” Shadow said. “Then, we'll part ways here.” The hedgehog held a hand out to Emerl. “Best of luck to you, buddy.”

“And you, friend,” Emerl replied, shaking Shadow's hand before going their separate ways.

Shadow and Maria quickly made their way to Maria's workshop at the top of the hill by the train station.

Maria instructed Shadow to wait outside for a second, before quickly entering the workshop. What followed was, much to the mix of Shadow's worry and exasperation, a series of loud crashing sounds.

Shadow let out a small sigh. This was normal.

After a moment of silence, a concrete runway rose from the ground at the side of the workshop. The palm trees that lined the new runway bent over at the base, creating more room. The wall of the workshop opened up, and the Tornado rolled out onto the runway.

Shadow couldn't help but smirk at just how glossy the red biplane's sheen was. That plane was very well loved.

“Hop on, Shadow!” Maria instructed.

Shadow smirked, and with a grin, leapt onto the tail of the Tornado. “Take us away, Maria!”

The Tornado's engine roared to life, and shot off into the skies after the Egg Carrier.

“Whoa!” Shadow exclaimed, startled by just how fast the Tornado took off. “You've really been giving this thing some TLC!!”

“Of course I did!” Maria shouted back. “This baby is my pride and joy! It'll never let us down!”

… I won't say anything about the blatant foreshadowing and flag raising if you won't.

It didn't take long for the Tornado to catch up to the Egg Carrier. As one might have expected, however, Eggman had been prepared for them to catch up, dispatching swarms of fighter drones to intercept them.

“So... thought just occurred,” Shadow called out. “We don't have guns on this thing, do we?”

Maria, in response, playfully rolled her eyes, and with a press of a button, two machine guns on the front of the Tornado roared to life, blasting through enemy fighters like they were made of tissue paper.

“I have got to stop doubting you,” Shadow chuckled. “You really do think of everything.”

“Well one of us has to!” Maria shouted. “With the two of us together, nothing can stand in our way!”

The Tornado sped up, and quickly overtook the Egg Carrier, getting directly in front of it, and away from the obvious cannons.

“Target is current directly in front of us, eh?” Eggman mused, watching the battle unfold on several monitors. “I definitely need to give that Maria girl more credit. Her intellect rivals even my own!” A chuckle escaped his lips. “But, she's still young. Still making glaring mistakes like flying directly in front of my line of fire.” Eggman quickly pressed several buttons. “All systems, full power! Egg Cannon ready... aim... FIRE!!”

The front the Egg Carrier opened up. Energy began to swirl around the new opening, before shooting out in a beam of light.

Shadow and Maria barely had time to realise what was going to happen, before the wing of the Tornado was blown off, sending the plane spiralling down.

In Station Square... this battle went completely unnoticed. Largely because it had not been over the city.

At this point, Station Square was still rather peaceful. And it was in this peaceful, sun-set city, that Amy Rose found herself enjoying a brief sabbatical, alongside Princess Sally, the rest of the Freedom Fighters, as well as Cream and Vanilla the Rabbit, plus Cheese the Chao. Cream and Cheese were a package deal, after all.

… Well, okay, it was more that Sally and the Freedom Fighters were on sabbatical, given that the Acorn Kingdom had finally been liberated from the tyranny of Eggman (a name which had very quickly caught on across the kingdom, and was more used now than Robotnik was). Amy was more just tagging along, since she had spent upwards of a few years in a fiery hellscape of a future. She was entitled to some time to get reacquainted with the present day.

“You know, it's kinda strange,” Amy said. “Seeing buildings not being on fire, I mean. I think I got a bit too use to the smell of soot, too.”

“That's... certainly concerning, to say the least,” Sally commented, unsure of what else to say. “Are you sure you're doing okay?”

“Would you blame me if I said 'not entirely'?” Amy asked. “I mean, yeah, I made it out alright, and I wasn't exactly alone, but...” Amy's gaze turned distant for a brief second. “It's hard to forget the smell of burning everything.”

“You must have been so scared, miss Amy,” Cream said.

“It was,” Amy admitted.

“Yet, ya still pulled through, Sugar,” Bunnie commented. “Make ya just as much a Freedom Fighter as the rest o' us.”

“I do wish we could have met this hedgehog who helped you, though,” Vanilla added. “But, I suppose 200 years doesn't exactly give us the chance to do so.”

“I kind of wish we knew what was going to happen, though,” Antoine said. “200 years seems like... like...”

“Both such a long time, and no time at all?” Rotor offered.

“Exactly!” Antoine shouted.

“Unfortunately, nobody was particularly sure what had happened to the world,” Amy pointed out. “Even in the years I spent there, I couldn't find out anything about what caused such devestation. I couldn't even find out if Shadow was still alive or not!”

“Would Shadow have even been able to live that long?” Sally questioned. “I know he's, like, around my father's age, but...”

Any further conversation was cut off by a sudden shadow looming over them. Shouts of surprise came from the humans around them, as they all looked up.

Equally nervous of the prospects, the group of mobians all followed the stares of the citizens, until they saw a massive Goliath of steel, floating through the air.

Jaws dropped. An all too familiar terror filled the hearts of everyone who saw it.

“So that's Eggman, right?” Bunnie asked the question on everyone's mind.

“... Surely that would be obvious?” Sally replied. “I mean, who else would make an airship like that?”

Despite everything, even more than the sheer magnitude of the vessel up above, Amy's eyes focused on something... else. Something she couldn't quite see, but knew was there. What were her instincts telling her?

The answer came when a small blue bird suddenly crashed into her head.

Amy toppled to the ground, clutching her head in pain. “Oh, what the hell!?” she shouted. “Watch where you're flying, buddy!”

Their eyes all looked at the bird- no, the Flicky, as it slowly regained its bearings. Any anger Amy might have had towards the small creature was immediately replaced with concern, as she carefully picked it up.

“Oh goodness!” Cream said. “What happened to him?”

Vanilla looked back up at the flying monolith of steel. “You don't suppose this little one came from there, do you?”

“Flickies and being captured by Eggman go hand in hand,” Sally said plainly. “It's a safe bet, I'd say.”

Amy ran a few thoughts through her mind, as the Flicky regained consciousness and flight. Curiously, it was wearing some sort of pendant, and her instincts were saying that there was something important about it.

“We should find Shadow,” Amy said suddenly. “He'd know what to do.”

Meanwhile, aboard the Egg Carrier...

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE FLICKY WITH THE CHAOS EMERALD IS MISSING?!” Eggman yelled.

Chapter Text

Darkness was the first thing to greet Shadow's senses. The second thing to greet them was sand. Lots and lots of sand.

The second was infinitely more worse than the first, he found.

“Maria?” Shadow called out. He immediately regretted it, as his head was still buried in the sand. As quickly as he could, he pushed himself out, spitting out all the sand he had nearly swallowed.

“Well, aren't you a sad sight,” a familiar voice that wasn't Maria's said. Shadow's head snapped in the direction of the voice, to see...

“Infinite?” the hedgehog asked. “Then... I'm back in Station Square?”

Infinite took a look around for himself, body language oozing sarcasm. “Signs point to 'yes',” he said. “And before you ask; no, I haven't seen that fox friend of yours. Guessing you tried to take on that flying battleship? Eggman's?”

“Isn't it obvious?” Shadow snarked. “Damn it. Where could Maria have landed?”

“How should I know?” Infinite asked. “This is my day off, damn it. Let me enjoy it in peace.”

Shadow gave the jackal an unamused glare. “Fine. Whatever,” he decided, before sprinting off into the city, kicking up a lot of sand and leaving Infinite coughing from it.

“Jerk!”

E-102 Gamma found its internal computing to be an absolute mess right now. It, alongside its remaining brothers Beta and Zeta, had been sent down into the city to find that escaped Flicky.

Gamma had so many questions all of a sudden. Why didn't the doctor just take the Chaos Emerald from the bird sooner? Why did he leave himself the possibility of things going wrong like this?

The more Gamma tried to process all this, the less sense it made. Eventually, Gamma decided to just file it away for later. There was only so much thinking it could do here and now.

Right now, Gamma had to track down that bird. Its sensors said it should be around here somewhere...

Amy and company hid in a nearby diner, watching as the three robots sauntered past. The fact that they weren't shooting everything on sight kept civilians from panicking, but their existence alone gave them quite the wide breadth.

“What should we do?” Amy asked. “Those things are clearly Eggman's.”

“I'm willing to bet they're lookin' for this little birdy,” Bunnie guessed. “Anybody's guess why, though.”

Sally thought through a plan for a moment. “Alright, got it,” she said. “Amy. You take the bird, Cream, and Vanilla, and go out the back. The rest of us will distract those badniks.”

“What should we do after that?” Vanilla asked, holding her daughter close.

“Find Shadow or Maria,” Sally said. “Call it a hunch, but I doubt Eggman would sent three specialised looking bots after one bird if those two were on that airship. Knowing our luck, it shouldn't be too hard for you to find either of them.”

“Are you sure?” Amy asked. “I'm sure we can take those three out if we all work together!”

“I'm not sure about that,” Antoine said. “These bots feel... different. Stronger. Besides, it's not like the rest of us have much like smashing badniks.”

“We'd best play it safe, and go the decoy route,” Sally stated. “Amy, are you ready?”

Unfortunately for the legally young hedgehog, it was impossible to argue with the princess when she had that tone of voice. Suppressing a sigh, she relented.

The Freedom Fighters charged out the front door, getting the attention of the badnik trio. Using that chance, she, Cream, Vanilla, Cheese, and the Flicky, all snuck out through the diner's kitchen, thankful that the staff here had been listening to their plan, and were more than willing to help with it.

Amy just really hoped they'd be able to find Shadow soon.

Shadow was having no luck finding Maria. This fact... did not really come as a surprise to him.

Didn't make him any less worried, though.

“I'm not seeing any signs of the Tornado having crashed in the city,” he said to himself. “Somewhere in the Mystic Ruins, then? That'll probably be my best bet.”

Before he could think of making his way towards the train station (or more accurately, the train tracks), he felt something grab hold of him. A pair of beige arms with white gloves and gold ring wrapped around his body, followed by a familiar warmth and smell.

“I found you, Shadow!” he heard an all too familiar voice say loudly.

“Amy?” Shadow asked, craning his head around to see the pink hedgehog behind him. He'd be lying if he said it wasn't a relief to see a friendly face. Then he spotted Cream and Vanilla, not far behind her. “What are you three doing all the way out here?”

“I'd like to say it's a long story, Mister Shadow,” Vanilla said, “but it's actually not.”

“We came here with Princess Sally and her friends for a bit of a vacation,” Cream said, holding Cheese the Chao close, “but then a little birdy crashed into Amy's head, and now some badniks are looking for it.”

Shadow looked up slightly, to see the blue Flicky in question. “And what about Sally?” he asked. “Where is she in all this?”

“Distracting the badniks with the other Freedom Fighters,” Amy answered, finally breaking away from Shadow. “I told her we could have taken them out together, but she wouldn't hear it.”

“Now, Amy,” Vanilla chastised. “It's their jobs to keep us safe. You mustn't go around making that harder for them.”

Amy groaned in annoyance. “I'm not a kid anymore, Vanilla! I can handle myself perfectly fine in a battle!”

“That's not really the point, Amy,” Shadow said. “Sally is trusting you to keep Cream, Vanilla, and the bird safe. She knows what you're capable of, and has faith that you can see that job through.” He was only mostly guessing at that. But, at the very least, it's what Shadow himself believed.

Amy seemed to accept that. This was evident by the fact that she was swooning. With speed that not even Shadow thought he could match, Amy grabbed hold of his arm, and began dragging him off. “In that case, adventure awaits!” she declared. “You can help keep us safe, my darling Shadow!”

Shadow stared wide-eyed into space as he was dragged off, followed by Cream and Vanilla. Shadow gave Vanilla a puzzling look, to which she simply smiled and shrugged.

Shadow sighed in resignation. Guess that's what he gets for reassuring the girl with the obvious crush.

He just really hoped Maria was okay.

Maria felt groggy as she finally woke up. She was lying in what was frankly the most uncomfortable bed she had ever slept in, and the crash must have done some nasty damage to her, since she felt a strange weight on her chest.

She opened her eyes... and realised that the weight was, in fact, a frog.

“... Okay,” Maria sighed. “It's one of those days.”

“Oh, goodie!” a deep voice said suddenly. “You're awake! You took quite a nasty dive, landing in my house, but I don't think anything's broken.”

Maria blinked a few times, getting her thoughts in order. “Did the frog just talk?” she asked the ever expanding void.

The 'void' responded. “No, silly. Froggy can't talk. That was me.” Maria turned her head towards the source of the voice, and saw...

Wow. That was one big cat. He looked like he could give badniks a run for their money on size alone.

“Hello, there,” the cat said. “My name's Big.”

“... I can see that,” Maria said. Some of Shadow's sarcasm must have been rubbing off on her. “Where am I?”

“My home, in the Mystic Ruins,” Big said. “Took a nasty fall. But like I said, nothing broken.”

Once the frog hopped off her, Maria could confirm that nothing really hurt at the moment. “Um... was there anyone else with me when you found me?” she asked.

“No,” Big answered. “Just you.”

Then, Shadow wasn't here. She could only hope he was safe.

“Well, thank you for helping me, Mister Big,” Maria said, “but I need to go. My friend may be in trouble.”

“Okay,” Big replied. “Take care, then.”

… Huh. Maria had expected Big to argue... some sort of point. She wasn't sure what point, but... oh well. He seemed nice enough, though.

Maria took to the skies, giving her location a once-over. Out of sheer habit, she pulled out her Chaos Emerald radar, and checked.

It pinged. There was an Emerald not far from where she was now.

A Chaos Emerald in the wild, not in Eggman's possession. Maria Prower couldn't afford to sit on her laurels now.

Shadow had no idea what the hell was going on anymore.

It had started out innocently enough. He was now assigned to guard Amy, Cream, and Vanilla, while they were being chased by some of Eggman's mooks. And now? Now he found himself in Twinkle Park.

What was Twinkle Park, you might ask? Hell if Shadow knows! He had simply been walking along with the three girls (well, two girls and one lady. He knew to respect Vanilla's age, whatever that was), when another of Eggman's robots showed up, this one different from the ones that had appeared at the diner. Shadow had been prepared to do battle with this large, green robot that had 'E' marked on the sides of its head, until Amy let out a small scream... because Twinkle Park was having a 'families get in free' deal.

Thus, to avoid the big green robot, Amy had used that as an excuse to 'hide out' in the park with the others.

Five minutes after entry, Shadow found himself separated from all of them.

How did this happen? Why did this happen? For the first time in a while, Shadow felt... annoyed. Annoyed in a way he didn't think he'd felt before.

Shadow ran fast, turning the park upside down and inside out to find Amy, Cream, or Vanilla. But, nothing. He had lost them.

A familiar sense of dread began to work its way through Shadow's heart as he left the park. If something had happened to Amy again, he didn't know what he would do.

“Shadow!” he heard a new, familiar voice call out. He came to a stop, as he saw Sally and the rest of the Freedom Fighters running towards him.

“Princess,” Shadow greeted. “You wouldn't have happened to just pass Amy or the Rabbits, would you?”

The look on Sally's face said it all. “There were many things I was worried you'd say,” she said. “That? That was probably the worst thing you could have said.”

“Well, how do you think I feel about it?” Shadow asked. “I was with them up until a few minutes ago. Then-”

A scream sounded from above. They all looked up just in time to see that green robot bust through the glass walkway that connected to Twinkle Park, holding Amy, Cream, and the Flicky, in one of its hands.

“Help!” they heard Vanilla call out. “That robot's got by child!!”

Shadow wasted no moment. He launched himself as the robot, hoping to intercept it in midair as it soared higher and higher. Before Shadow could get close enough to grab hold of it, though, a blast of energy struck him, sending him careening back to the ground. He was only saved from crash landing by Rotor catching him before he crashed.

“Up there!” Bunnie shouted, pointing at a familiar trio of robots that had just taken off from the top of the train station, following after the green mech as it flew back to the Egg Carrier. “It's those badniks again!”

“They're getting away!” Antoine said. “What should we do?”

“Damn it!” Shadow cursed.

“Remain calm!” Sally commanded. “Bunnie, Antoine, you two look after Vanilla! Rotor, get our plane ready! Shadow, you're with me and Rotor, and we're going after them!”

Maria could hardly believe she had just found the red Chaos Emerald lying around in the jungle like this. It was sitting out in the open, for crying out loud!

Still, she had to find some way to get back at Eggman. Like hell she was going to let him get away with shooting down the Tornado!

She remembered her experimental plane that had been powered with the first Chaos Emerald that had been stolen from them. It had failed because the Chaos Emerald was outputting more energy than the plane could take. Ideas to counteract this swam around in her head, until something concrete came into being.

“Alright. That'll work,” she said to herself. “Just you wait, Eggman. I'm gonna get you back for destroying my baby!”

And may whatever Gods watch over us have mercy on the doctor's soul.