Hi everybody!
Lately I've become quite obsessed with Sonic and Co. after re-watching the anime and starting reading Archie comics. I've been reading some great fanfiction and so I felt like I wanted to write a story myself! I don't know the games very much (mostly because unfortunately I don't possess the consoles to play them) but I'm working on it!
So, the story is mostly Animeverse, even if there could be some reference to the games (especially about Shadow's past), and it's set about a year and half after the defeat of the Metarex. It is based on the English version, mostly because I liked Molly a lot and it was so sad when she died in the Japanese one! I need her alive, she is one of the main character actually! I'm trying to keep the characters as IC as possible, but if it seems to you that I'm not doing fine, please tell me!
The first chapters are maybe a little slow, because nothing really important happens. They are mostly about character's interacting and similar, but I promise that the real issue of the story will come soon. I'm not entirely sure of where I found the idea for the plot, but I hope you'll enjoy it!
Let me know if you think I should go on with the story!
Edit 28/09: I changed the title, 'cause I realized it wasn't quite fitting!
Warnings: the story will contain shonen-ai (Shadow x Sonic, Sonadow, meaning male x male), if you don't like, don't read, please! Rating is for future reference to violence!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic X or the characters. All characters are properties of Sega and Sonic Team.
Chapter 1 – Back to life
It was a starry night. The sky was a sea of black and light, and the full moon shone like a dead sun, bathing the metal buildings with silver glows. A dark figure stared intently at the stars from the top of one of the many flat roofs, confusing himself with the surrounding shadows. His thoughts however were far away from where he was, in another world and in another time. The past he had believed forever gone had come back in the last months and now it haunted him every time he was alone with his solitude. Not that he minded too much. The memories were painful but they finally allowed him to know who he was and where he came from. Besides, even if some of them were absolutely dreadful, he could still easy the horror with the glimpses of joy and warm that also inhabited his past.
In particular, there was a figure that dominated almost all his memories. Long blond hair, deep blue eyes and the sweetest smile. She brought him both sadness and happiness, sorrow and comfort, hate and love. She had been the centre of his existence since his "birth" and she still held a relevant place in his heart, even after all that time. But her ghost was the one who haunted him the most as well. She had been gone for such a long time but the gentle pain was still so real and present in his mind and spirit. It filled him with melancholy and longing. She was his family, his sister, his best and only friend. With her death he had lost everything he possessed but his physical life. Too many times he had thought that he should have died with her that fateful day, but something had always held him from reaching out for her in the eternal darkness. A promise that he had made and that he had no intention of breaking. He had sworn he would have protected the planet she had loved so much and its life.
But then, even after he had actually kept his word by risking his own life, death hadn't taken him in her cold embrace. He had come back once again, with nor memory or identity and nothing to support him but the duty of protecting the universe and life in general. Now he knew that, deep down, he was still clinging hard on that old promise, defending with all his strength those living beings that she had loved without even knowing them. He was still standing out for them because he wanted to honour her memory.
Shadow sighed and put himself in a seated position. Now that he was able to remember all his past he found even harder to believe that he had actually survived the last battle. He had used all his energy, down to the last spark of it, and he had been caught in the middle of the explosion he had trapped in the chaos barrier. His body should have been disintegrated. But it seemed that, once again, Fate wasn't finished with him and he had been forced to rise again. After all he was the Ultimate Life Form. If there was someone who could have made it out alive that was him. Yet, he still knew that he would have died anyway if they hadn't by chance found his body fluctuating in the space. And, considering who had bumped into his broken form, he could no longer denied that there had to be some sort of destiny creeping into his life from time to time to give it an unexpected turn.
He shook his head at that thought. It was stupid and disturbing at the same time. He had never believed in that kind of things. He was persuaded that the universe was lead by pure chance and nothing was already written. But he couldn't help considering the other hypothesis every time he recalled all he had outlived to.
"Shadow!". A voice called his name, bringing him back to the present. "Oh, here you are! I've been looking for you for at least an hour!"
He moved his gaze from the sky and turned to face slightly irritated blue eyes that always reminded him of the ones he had lost long before. "Molly, it's you. Is something wrong?" he asked, ignoring the girl's impatient tone. "You should know where to find me. I always come here at night."
"Yeah, whatever! I haven't thought about it" she mumbled waving her hand at him. "Anyway, we were waiting for you! It's time for your weekly check-ups! We agreed that you would have them this evening since you said you were busy during the day."
"I know. I simply decided that I don't want to do them" he explained quietly. "There's no need. I'm fully recovered."
"You can't know if you are, you stubborn hedgehog! We have already gone through this last week. And the one before too" she insisted, crossing her arms. "Do it for me, if you don't care about your own well-being! I am concerned about your health. Not only because you defeated the Metarex and saved us all, but also because we have become friends! And, hey, I saved your life, don't forget it! If it wasn't for me you may still be fluctuating somewhere in the galaxy! You owe me!"
The black hedgehog glanced at her with a frown, but then surrendered. "Fine. Let's go and do those stupid tests. But this is the last time" he stated getting up. "Next time the "I saved you" card won't work, I assure you."
Molly smiled fondly, ignoring his slightly harsh tone. "You are the best, Shadow!" she cheered up as they started to walk side by side. "Abel was quite worried about you too. You are famous for your sudden disappearances and we know you always come back, but you are one of us! We can't help getting worried every time you go missing for a while."
Shadow mentally agreed with her. Abel, Molly and himself had grown closer in those months and he was starting to consider them as a family. It was a strange, warm feeling, one he had thought he would never experience again after the ARK tragedy. But he refrained from saying that aloud. He still wasn't fond about expressing his emotions, even with his friends. "That doctor is always too apprehensive towards me. I can take care of myself" he stated instead.
"Come on, you know that he has a soft spot for you. You are the only one he allowed in his lab all the time". The girl's smile widened playfully. "And you often join him! So it must mean that you care about him too!"
"It's one of the few places on this planet that hold some interest for me" he said, but he didn't try to deny her statement. "I think that getting to know something more about the genetic and the chemistry of my body could be useful for future battles. And the doctor seems to be the only one around here who can understand them. Besides, he is all too happy to study me."
"Well, he is a scientist and he is as curious as brilliant. Which means he is very curious. He is happy to study everything he gets his hand on, so how could he resist the chance to have a close look at the Ultimate Life Form?" the orange-haired girl joked. "It's an once-in-a-lifetime chance for him! You should be flattered by his interest."
He nodded absently but didn't answer, his mind going briefly back to his memories. He wasn't exactly in the mood for joking or being sociable. Molly seemed to notice him because she put a hand on his shoulder.
"You miss your home, don't you? I can understand. I lost my planet and my people during the war and even if I'm happy here I still miss my old world at times" she mumbled sadly. "The race who inhabits this planet is almost the same as mine, and it makes everything much easier, but I'm still aware that they are not my kind. However, I also know that I'm not alone and that gives me strength. They welcomed me as one of them when my spaceship crashed on this planet and I'm not letting my sadness prevent me from enjoying my new life!"
Shadow shrugged, his frown getting deeper. "It's not like that. I don't have a place that I can call "home", Molly. I grew up in the space, among metal walls. There was only a person who gave me the feeling of "home", but she died long time ago. I belong to nowhere."
"But you still have friends, don't you? You must miss them. Rouge, Dr. Eggman and his robot, and also the other people you told me about…" she answered back stubbornly. "Don't tell me you never think about them!"
"They most likely think I'm dead. And it's better this way. I've brought them only troubles. Besides, less bonds I have the best is for me". His voice filled with bitterness. "Listening to what Abel says, I'm almost immortal, if I don't get killed. I've lost enough when Maria died more than fifty years ago. I'm not going to let time make me go through that pain over and over again for all eternity. I decided to stay alive and protect this world because I have the power to do it and because this is what Maria would want from me, but I can't get involved with it, even if she would surely wish I did. That's too much, I just can't, not even for her."
The girl kept quiet, not knowing how to respond to those harsh words. She couldn't deny them, they just stated the cruel truth, and she couldn't sooth in any way the sense of void they brought with them. Living forever when everybody else was fated to die was maybe the worst curse to her. It meant facing the awareness that you would be always alone in the end. And she couldn't blame her dark friend for wanting to avoid it, even if it meant shutting everyone out of his life. She just wished she could do something about it. Shadow didn't open up to her often, but when he did he just poured his heart out for her to listen, showing how much he trusted and valued her. That made her feel even more useless. The only thing she could do was offering him a chance to unload the emotions he usually kept for himself. "You said you belong to nowhere" she finally whispered, fixing her blue eyes in his crimson ones. "But that's not true. You are at home now, Shadow."
He quietly gazed back at her for a moment, then he turned away, cracking a small smile. Molly couldn't even imagine how much those words meant to him.
They walked in silence for the rest of the way along the corridors, until they got to the laboratory. Molly opened the door without knocking and they entered the huge room filled with the most complex and sophisticated instruments. The technology of that planet was one of the most advanced they had ever seen and the black hedgehog couldn't help thinking once again about how thrilled Eggman and a certain fox boy would have been if they had been able to see it. Besides, in the past months he had started to grasp how all that stuff worked and which principles were behind it, much to his personal satisfaction. For the first time after Maria's death he had allowed himself to follow his curiosity and impulses, getting to taste once again what living for real meant. And he had to thank his orange-haired friend and Abel for that.
The said scientist had his shoulders to them, as usual all absorbed in some kind of experiment. He was a fine young man, younger than you would expect after hearing all he had done and invented, in his late twenties, thin and tall in his always present white coat. His gray eyes sparkled with brilliance and intelligence, emerging from a mass of messy violet hair.
"Ehm…Abel?" Molly called out uncertain.
He put a hand up to stop her. "Wait! I'm getting there…" he exclaimed, his voice almost triumphant. "Just some more seconds and…". His long fingers moved quickly among the electric wires that emerged from a metallic form. "…Here! Yeah, I did!". He smiled with pure satisfaction, lifting up something similar to a cubic box with a big hole in the middle of its frontal face, and turning towards his two guests.
"What should that thing be?" the girl asked, glaring sceptically at the metal box. "A new kind of microwave?"
"Not exactly, Molly. It's a small but powerful portable scanner. It will permit me to study any object or living being without having to bring it in a special structure like this lab!". He sounded enthusiastic as a child who had just received the toy of his dreams. "Oh, Shadow, you are here too! Finally! I've been waiting for you all day! It's the perfect chance to test my new creature! You don't mind, do you?"
The hedgehog simply shook his head and approached the young man. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.
"Just go and stand there. Keep your arms along your body!" the doctor answered, pointing the opposite wall and extracting a wire from nowhere. "It will take only a few seconds". He connected the box to his computer and positioned it with the hole facing Shadow. "You ready? Stand still!". He pressed some buttons on the keyboard and a bright ray departed from his invention, meeting the dark creature's body for a few moments. "Done! You can move, Shadow" he announced examining the data that had appeared on the screen. "Oh, yes! It works perfectly! And you seem to be in your best shape, my dark friend!"
"If I had known it would have been so fast I would have come here sooner" the dark creature mumbled, approaching the young scientist to look at his own tests results. "You did a fine job with that scanner, doctor."
"Thanks! I'm quite proud of myself! It took me several months of hard work, but it was surely worth the troubles!". Abel patted the scanner softly, then a pensive expression appeared on his face. "By the way, I've been making another study about the way your body metabolizes that "chaos energy", as you called it. I guess you already know how it works, but I still want to warn you. You shouldn't use it without the Inhibitor Rings. I've noticed that every time I've asked you to use it for my experiments your body has been affected. And with that I don't only refer to the fact that it drained you energies more than it normally does…"
"What are you talking about, doctor?" Shadow inquired raising an eyebrow. He didn't get why the man was going around the matter and didn't speak clear. He was aware that without the Rings he consumed more energy using his chaos powers. But it wasn't a great deal, he was back fine in an hour. Besides, he was more than glad to take the risk considering what the goal was. He didn't possess any chaos emerald at the moment and that could turn out to be a problem if an enemy showed up. He had searched around the whole planet, but he had found no trace of the gems. They must have scattered around the universe once again and finding them wasn't going to be easy, especially considering the fact he was stuck at the research station. Trying to find a compromise, he had asked the scientist to do some researches. If the Metarex had been able to create fake but still working emeralds he had no doubt that his new friend could do the same thing using the energy present in the hedgehog's body as a sample. And it quite worked. Abel had been able to create for him a device, shaped as a little pendant that he always wore, which contains something that resemble the emeralds powers. He really couldn't get why he shouldn't be using it. "Care to explain?"
"What I mean, Shadow, is that you are…having troubles controlling that energy. When you release it, it always comes out too powerful than it should" the young man explained. "At first I didn't notice, but as we went on with the tests I couldn't help starting to worry about it."
The creature finally grasped the meaning of the other words. "Are you saying that I could lose control and destroy this place without even understanding that is going to happen?"
"Yeah, something like that. So, until I find something to replace your Rings, we'd better stop. After all the goal is reached, you have your weapon again. Let's just keep it for when we would be really in danger, OK? You can fight without chaos powers. They told me you have become a master with guns too, haven't you?"
The hedgehog shrugged faking indifference, while deep down the last sentence had given him a certain degree of pleasure. One month before, while he was wondering around the city to find something that could keep him busy, he had run into the police shooting range. He had sneaked inside the building, wondering where those firing sounds came from, and had stopped there to watch the men training until one of them had noticed his presence. Instead of chasing him away the policeman had handed him his gun and challenged him, most probably because he was curious to see what the famous "alien of the research station" could do. He had his hard time not to laugh in the man's astonished face when he had shown himself to be almost better than the whole police force, even if he had never used a gun before. That had been fun and he had been pleased to discover that he had another secret talent. From that time he had been spending at least a couple of hours per day at the range. It was a nice and useful way to kill time. "They are not so difficult to use. Anyway, I'll do what you say, doctor. No more chaos energy until we find a new restrain" he agreed nodding. "I don't want to blow up this planet. I'll keep my powers more in check from now on."
"I'm sure nothing bad will happen. You are tough enough without having to use those powers, Shadow". Molly, who had stayed aside while they were discussing, joined them as well, a smile on her face. She was much more carefree and cheerful since she had established on that planet. After all now she had a life and a family again. "Now, why don't we go and drink to your success, Abel? It's already quite late, it's time for you to get out of this place!"
"You're right, Molly! I'm totally in!" the young man agreed, smiling back. "Let's go to my place, you can sleep there. Do you want to join us, Shadow?"
The black creature hesitated, but the girl prevented him from saying anything and answered in his place with force: "Of course he is coming!"
"Great! Then I can talk to both you about something else too! I'm sure you'll find the news quite interesting!" the doctor exclaimed with a wink. "We'd better get going!"
Shadow rolled his eyes but followed the two out of the lab without protesting. He knew that it would have been a useless waste of energy. Besides, he couldn't deny that he was curious to hear what the man was referring to. After all, every time the young scientist had said he needed to talk to them about something, he had found himself involved in some kind of complicated, crazy at a certain degree, but interesting project. Something he didn't mind at all.
§§§§§
Abel, as all his colleagues did, lived in the same building that hosted his laboratory, but on a different level. The labs were located in the underground part of the research station, while the personnel accommodations were on the highest floors. They were made of a small bedroom, a toilet and a kitchen that also served as a living room. The three were seated around the table set in the centre of the latter room, each with a glass of juice in hand.
"So, doctor, what do you wanted to tell us?" Shadow asked. He had let his two friends have their time toasting and chatting, but he was starting to get tired of sitting there and felt the need to go out on the roof again.
"Oh, right! Do you remember that spaceship we have talked about some time ago?" the young man said turning to face his black companion. "Well, I've actually worked on it in my spare time during the last eight months, and now it's almost done. About one more week and it will be able to travel through space!"
"Wait, what spaceship?" Molly interjected, taken aback. "Are you planning to leave, Shadow? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I won't stay here forever, Molly, you know it well. Not so soon, but one day I'm going to leave this place and travel around the universe" the hedgehog explained calmly. "I just mentioned it to the doctor by chance during the first month after my awakening, it was him who decided to build the ship following his own will. I didn't ask him to do it."
"I see…" the girl muttered, not completely convinced.
"Anyway, that's not what I was referring to!" Abel interjected, before the news totally wasted the mood. "I've built it because I wanted to go on a journey myself. It's made for a small equip, three or four people in total. And I wanted to ask if you two were interested in coming with me. I've already got the permission from my boss. It's a work trip actually, I've been given the task to gather data on some of the different species that inhabit the nearest galaxy to ours."
"And why do you want us to come with you?" Shadow questioned. There was a note of suspiciousness in his voice, as if he had already grasped what was coming next.
On the doctor's face appeared a knowing smile. "Well, first of all I will need someone who takes care of the ship and Molly is the best pilot I know. And you, Shadow, could be my assistant. You've become quite good and moreover you already work with me. It would be easier for me having to deal with someone who is already used to my methods. Secondly…". He got up and grabbed a folder from one of the shelves. "…I thought this could interest you". He took out a sheet and handed it to the dark creature.
The latter glanced at the document. It was a list of names, most likely the planets included in the project. One of them immediately caught his attention, not only because it was circled in red, but especially because it was more than familiar to him. Mobius. That confirmed his suspects. Molly, who was reading from behind him, noticed it too and her eyes lit up with understanding as soon as she put the information together.
"So, Shadow the Hedgehog, have I gained your interest?" Abel asked playfully, his smile growing wider. "Don't lie to me."
"You did, doctor, you did" Shadow answered giving him little smirk. "You always find the right way to get my attention."
"I thought you didn't want to go back to them!" Molly pointed out, shooting his dark friend a questioning look. "You told me earlier tonight!"
"That's true. I would never go back to them with the sole purpose of seeing them. But you were right earlier, I have to admit I do miss those idiots after all" he confessed, looking away. "I'd like to pay them a little visit, only to see their shocked faces at the news that I'm back from the dead once again. Moreover, I still have some matters concerning them I need to deal with". He didn't elaborate further, aware that the other two wouldn't ask about it. They had learnt quickly how much he valued his own privacy and respected it.
In fact the girl just nodded with a smile, giving a brief squeeze to his hand and Abel exclaimed, barely refraining himself from jumping around to express his elation: "Then it's settled! We'll leave as soon as everything is ready! I'm so excited! This will be my first intergalactic trip!"
Molly laughed at her older companion's genuine enthusiasm and even Shadow allowed himself a brief amused smile. That guy was for sure one of the most brilliant people he had ever met, but he could be really childish at times. He got excited too easily.
The Ultimate Life Form gazed out of the window, leaving to the girl the task to make their friend calm down. So there he was, after a year and half, going back to that world he had already touched twice before being forced to leave it. He wondered how it would go that time. For once he wasn't an enemy or an ally for any of them, he had no reason to step into their quarrels, but he was just a visitor with his own business to take care of. He wasn't sure of what he was going to do once he would be face to face with Sonic and companions once again, he couldn't even foresee what he was going to feel. But he couldn't deny that the prospective made him a slightly excited, even if he wasn't going to admit or show it for any reason.