A Separate Lie
Chapter One
Darkness…the darkness of despair…
Shadow was in a capsule, much like the one he'd been sent to Earth in that fateful day so many years before. He tried to speak, but his voice wouldn't come out. Shadow couldn't feel anything or hear anything. His mind went into a state of panic, a state of total chaos…
And then the numbness went away. Shadow cried out, only to realize that his voice was not his own. He pressed his hands against the glass, and realized with horror that they were not his own, either.
His "fathers", the brilliant scientist Professor Gerald and the sinister alien Black Doom were discussing something outside his capsule.
"Are you sure this is absolutely necessary? He can't be under anesthetic while we perform the procedure?" the Professor asked.
"Yes, it is necessary, Professor. He must be fully alive and wide awake for the procedure to work. Otherwise, things will turn out as badly as they did the first time."
Professor Gerald nodded in agreement. "Alright, then." He went over to the control panel in front of Shadow's capsule and began to type in commands.
"Professor! Let me out!" Black Doom looked at him, his eyes upturned in a smirk. The last words Shadow heard were, "I'm so sorry, Damian, but Maria is all I have left. I just can't lose her…"
---
Shadow jerked up from his bed, gasping for air and shaking violently. He looked down at his hands. They were covered in the same black fur, with the same crimson stripe. Relief washed over him like a flood. It had just been a dream. Shadow got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom, washing his face with cold water. This hadn't been the first time he'd had the dream, and honestly, it was beginning to drive him mad. Shadow though he'd finally pieced his past together and put it behind him, but it seemed now like there was more to his complex past than he cared to know. He looked over at his alarm clock. 3:34 a.m. The time it always was when he had the dream. Shadow knew he couldn't sleep; he never could after having the dream. He pulled on his skates and took off into the night as dark as his fur.
---
Sonic couldn't sleep.
He felt that twitchiness in his legs urging him to get up and run wherever the wind may take him. Sonic looked over at his wife, Shalya. She slept peacefully, the blanket draped over her round belly. He sure couldn't just take off in one direction and go as far as he possibly could like he used to, but a short run wouldn't do any harm. He got up quietly and slipped on his shoes. Sonic stepped out the door, where his spines were tussled by a sudden high speed wind.
"So, sleepless night for you too, eh Shads?" He laughed to himself in his carefree way and shot off after the black and red hedgehog.
----
Shadow rushed down the street, the bridge around him a distorted blur. He was running down Radical Highway, a place that brought up many memories, most best left forgotten. There were no cars on the highway at this time of night, allowing Shadow to go as fast as he wanted to. For a moment, as he left Radical Highway and the city limits behind, he felt as if he didn't have a care in the world. Then thoughts of the dream came back, and he returned to his former somber attitude.
Shadow prepared to kick his skates into their highest gear with the intention of leaving his troubles in the dust when Sonic strode up beside him in a light canter.
'So much for that plan,' he thought to himself.
"What's up, Shad? Been a long night for you too?"
"It's none of your business, blue hedgehog. Now leave me alone." Shadow didn't usually call Sonic "blue hedgehog" anymore, but he was really trying Shadow's patience at the moment.
"Why so glum? Someone die or something?"
"I said it's none of your business. Now go away!" Shadow skated ahead, Sonic silently trekking behind him in a nonchalant manner, as if he hadn't heard a thing. Shadow still found him baffling, even after all of their years fighting alongside each other. If there's one thing he knew about Sonic, it was that he never let a problem go unsolved. Then he decided that if he opened up to Sonic, even just a little, then maybe he could have some peace of mind. For a little while, anyway.
"I keep having this dream, like the visions of Maria I had when I lost my memory. I don't know why I keep having them, but they're very…troubling."
"Huh, never thought a few dreams would trouble the Ultimate Lifeform."
"I'm serious, Sonic. I'm in these dreams, but I'm not…me. "They had long since passed through Radical Highway and were now on a bridge that crossed a small, smooth river. Shadow stopped, looking at his reflection in the water. Sonic did the same, and when he looked at Shadow's reflection, he thought he saw a look of raw fear in his eyes. But when he turned to speak to Shadow, the look was gone.
"That's weird. Is it like an out of body experience?"
"No. I'm in someone else's body, but it still feels like me, if that makes any sense."
"So…you think there's more to your past than you've been told?"
"I wish I didn't have to say this, but yes." Sonic was silent for a moment before he replied, "Well, whatever you do, I'm with you all the way, buddy." Shadow smiled despite himself, thankful for Sonic's good nature, even if it was a bit unnerving at times.
"Thank you, Sonic. I'm glad I can count on you."
----
Silver glanced at the wall clock in the computer room, wondering how long he'd been there. He was trying to recover some files from the main core, but it was proving fairly difficult and he was about ready to give up. The clock read 4:45 a.m. He'd been in there for six hours, give or take. Silver rubbed his eyes and took a sip of his coffee, now cold. He sat for a moment, massaging his cramped wrists and reflecting on his younger days. They had been dark times, no longer recorded in history ever since it had been changed by Blaze and Princess Elise. His cursed memory could still recall that moment when Blaze sealed Iblis and herself away into another dimension. He could still hear himself crying, "Don't take her! Take me instead…"
Silver should have been happy. Thanks to her, the world was as it should be. No wars, no famine, no criminals loose…
So why did he feel so uneasy? Was it because he'd learned the hard way that things weren't always what they seemed? Was the world really perfect and Silver was just paranoid from the trauma of his former life? Or was there something else going on? Silver put it out of his mind and went back to trying to recover the files. He was careful not to slip up and get into anything: he was in a government computer system, and one false move would land him in prison. Silver scrolled on, soon bored. He perked up when he came across the old ARK files. He stared at them, knowing the consequences for opening them, but at the same time feeling an urge to open them. Silver opened them before he could think too hard about it and began reading the files. He read everything Eggman had, and then he found something Eggman hadn't; a file labeled "Creation of Project Shadow." He opened it and read it too, his eyes growing wider with every word. Silver pulled a blank disk from his bracelet and put it into the hard drive, wondering what was taking the police so long. He copied the data, pulled out the disk, and was about to leave when he found himself staring down the barrel of a laser rifle.
"Halt! You're under arrest for trespassing in restricted files, Silver Hedgehog!" Silver only paused for a moment before seizing the guard with his telekinetic powers and throwing him to the side. He had to get back to the past and give Shadow the disk. Silver was now an outlaw, so it was really his only option…