Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places in this story. They all belong to Sega. I hope you enjoy the story
Chapter 1:
Shadow stood on top of a jutting rock just outside of Station Square, overlooking the barren, rocky wasteland between the city and the Mystic Ruins forest. Only a few minutes ago a huge robot had fallen from space, and the impact had sent it into a huge crater. G.U.N. had immediately contacted him and he and his partner had arrived moments after the robot.
"Well, well, well, this is quite a site. No wonder G. U. N. had to send their best agent to take care of this." Rouge sauntered up to him with her usual sarcastic air and stood next to him. Shadow just continued to stare, ignoring her comment with a smirk. He preferred to always go on missions alone, but, he supposed, if they had to have sent someone with him, he could at least tolerate Rouge, and he could trust her more than anyone else. Still, though, she was quite a handful and she liked to test his patience every chance she got.
The robot was what looked like a huge ball of iron with a smaller dome on top, presumably its head. It was the biggest machine that they had ever seen, much, much larger than any skyscraper or equally massive structure they had ever come across.
Rouge glanced over at Shadow, who just stood there and glared. She gave a small sigh and shook her head. Sometimes she wasn't sure just where that hedgehog's mind really was. But, she could always rely on him when she needed him, and rather enjoyed having him around, even if the conversation was generally one sided. She could always count on him to have the whole mysterious thing going on, though, so it was up to her to bring him back down to earth. After all they had a job to do, so it was time to do it.
"This is a very interesting view, isn't it, "she said, slightly annoyed. "I guess we could look at it from here all day, or we could go and take a closer look." Shadow blinked and unfolded his arms, glancing slightly over at her
"Hmph, if you insist. Try to keep up." With that he went racing off towards the crater, leaving Rouge behind in a cloud of dust.
"Hey, you know you can't do this without me," she called. But she knew he was already long gone. She gave an exasperated sigh and took the sky, determined not to let him get too far ahead.
Shadow raced along the rocky, dusty terrain. Running at just half speed, he was still traversing the wasteland at an incredible pace. The ground was leading him slightly downhill the whole way, and as he approached the machine, the larger it became. Shadow, though, not intimidated, grew slightly worried as he got closer. This robot was truly an amazing piece of machinery, though he still could not determine its purpose or intentions.
After running around it several times, Shadow stopped abruptly at the craters steep edge and glared up at it. He decided that he would let Rouge gain some ground while he continued to study it. That's strange, he thought. As far as I can see, there's no openings or hatches. If someone is inside that thing, they must've been sealed in as it was being made.
All of a sudden, a loud, screeching noise emanated from the robot, so loud and piercing that Shadow was driven to his knees, his skull about to break open. He couldn't take this much longer, even only after a few seconds he could feel his consciousness slipping away. With every ounce of energy he had left he struggled to pull his Chaos Emerald out. The yellow gem glowed faintly in his hand, waiting for him to call upon its power.
"Chaos…Control." Shadow felt the familiar electrical rush of energy wash over his body, his skin tingling with the sudden outburst of power. One moment he was at the very base of the iron giant, the next he was back where he had started the mission.
It took several minutes for him to muster up the strength to even stand. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so much pain, the pounding in his head still drumming away at his conscious. Have to think, have to move, can't give in. He rose slowly to his knees, still doubled over, holding his head. How long had it been? He had to focus and complete the mission. He opened one eye, blurry spots dancing before his vision, but he could still see enough to notice the robot moving in the distance. The screeching was still audible from this distance, but the effects were considerably less.
Shadow finally was able to stand and regain his awareness. He looked around him, expecting to see…Rouge!
"Where is she?" He looked in the distance, but she could have been anywhere, especially if she had fallen from the sky. He knew that her hearing was far more acute than his, and even from this distance she would have been reeling.
Shadow raced off, this time at full speed, frantically searching for his no doubt unconscious partner.