It was another quiet evening for the echidna as he sat quietly while he guarded the ancient temple. Not that it bothered him since he usually enjoyed the peace and quiet, despite not knowing how long it has been since he returned to the island. It didn't matter to him that he was often alone, since it made it easier for him to become less distracted while he would often find himself wondering into his deep thoughts on things. Sometimes he would think about the events of the past and how he could have changed tactics. Like the times Dr. Eggman managed to trick him into helping him now and then. Why was it that out of all the simple-minded creatures who lived on this planet, he had to be the one to fall under the evil mastermind's tricks? Then again it was his fault for allowing himself to expose his weakness towards his enemy. But it didn't matter now for the past was in the past and things were peaceful on Angel Island.
A rumble in the sky made the red creature open one of his eyes as he looked towards the thick clouds just above the island. It seemed tonight was going to be one of those stormy evenings. But it wasn't the sounds of the thunder or the breeze of the wind, which made him suddenly, became quite weary. It was a feeling he had not felt for quite some time, putting a deep frown on his face before standing up.
Since it was nightfall, the only possible light that could be seen on the entire island was the master emerald itself as it continued to shine magnificently, as if it were a lighthouse in the middle of a dark sea.
His eyes suddenly caught an image of a figure standing right in front of the temple's entrance just as a flash of lightning flashed though the sky, making it difficult for him to get a clear vision of who it was.
This made him growl a little as he curled his knuckled, "Who goes there? Show yourself!" he demanded loud enough for the intruder to hear his voice.
But it appeared that the creature wasn't intimidated by his threatening voice, which made him step forward a little while keeping his guard up," I'm warning you, show yourself, you coward".
The creature still didn't appear to be intimidated by any of his threats as it began to approach the echidna, making Knuckles growl as he prepared to defend himself from any kind of frontal assault. He knew that it would be wiser to first see what he was up against before going for the attack when it came to a fight.
"That's close enough, reveal yourself or I will make you", he gave his final warning towards the unknown creature who was now just a few meters away from him.
The creature began to chuckle creepily as it stepped forward into the master emerald's ray of light to reveal who he was, "As you wish…old friend".
"Shadow?! You're…still alive! But how is it possible?" The echidna gasped as he tried to regain his focus from the shock of seeing his old foe, (which he'd always presume was dead) standing right in front of him. Face to face.
The black and red hedgehog kept his snicker since he could easily see the fear in the eyes of the guard, "Those Metarex may have been powerful foes, but they didn't acquire enough power to defeat someone superior such as myself".
He then looked over his shoulder, "And your little team I presume".
Knuckles growled a little in his throat as he glared towards the hedgehog. He knew deep inside that he wasn't just here for a welcome back visit. He wanted something, and had a pretty good guess what it was, "If you're here for the master emerald, forget it! You'll have to fight me to get to it".
The black hedgehog instantly glanced over towards the angry red creature, letting out another creepy chuckle which would make anyone's skin crawl, "Even if I were willing to fight you head on, you wouldn't stand a chance against me, as it was witnessed in our last dual".
Knuckles felt himself grip his fists tightly as he remembered back during the war the Metarex. Apparently it was just discovered that Cosmo had been unaware that the Metarex were using her to spy on everyone during the mission, which gave Shadow the reason to break onto the ship and eliminate her. Of course everyone on the ship wasn't going to allow it to happen as they all tried to fight back against the intruder, only to fail one by one. Knuckles himself wasn't powerful enough to stop the hedgehog as he was quickly dealt with when confronting him head on.
"Don't bring up what happened in the past, pal", knuckles began to growl deeply, becoming more eager to throw the first punch, "this is all about the present".
This only made Shadow smile, "Very well then. But I will assure you; I am not going to leave this island until I see the master emerald up close. I have spent to long searching for it, and I will not let any insignificant creature like you stand in my way."
"Who are you calling insignificant creature?!' knuckles yelled as he could no longer contain his anger, throwing the first punch towards the black hedgehog.
Of course the hedgehog easily avoided the flying punch as the echidna's fist landed right into the middle of a tree, causing the tree to instantly snap in half as it fell backwards with a loud thump. Knuckles instantly glanced around as he tried to spot where the dark hedgehog had ran too while it began to pour with rain due to the thunderstorm.
"Come on! Show me what you got", he yelled while waiting for any response to happen as the lightning flashed across the sky, followed by the rumbling thunder.
"Very well then", the hedgehog replied just as the echidna began to turn around to receive a kick in the face by the black hedgehog, making him slide backwards a little trying not to loose balance.
The hedgehog wasted no time as went for a frontal assault towards knuckles who used his own fists to shield the punches that were being thrown at him. The moment the echidna spotted the chance; he threw a hard punch right into the hedgehog's jaw, sending him back a little as he himself began to throw the punches.
But shadow kept using his defence flexibilities to prevent getting hit again by the angry echidna. He had to admit, his opponent has gotten stronger since the last time they fought. However, it still did no matter for he only knew that he was just going easy on the echidna since he found fighting a possible worthy opponent entertaining.
When knuckles tried to throw another punch towards the hedgehog's face, Shadow instantly grabbed his arm and forcefully threw him about a meter across the ground, landing into another tree, which snapped in half due to the fall force of the blow.
The red creature groaned a little as he struggled to stand himself up, beginning to feel pain shoot though his back as he stumbled a little while the hedgehog just stood there, watching him with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I must say, I find this battle much more impressive then our last encounter. But still you stand very little chance of defeating me. Why not just give up already while you still can", the black and red creature spoke calmly with a small smile on his face, as if this whole fight never even existed.
But if there was one thing he didn't realise, it was that knuckles wasn't one who would give up so easily. Before he knew what was happened, the echidna grabbed onto the fallen tree which he instantly swung around before releasing towards Shadow, who instantly leaped into the air while unleashing his energy to break through the flying tree, smashing it to splinters while going straight for knuckles.
Knuckles had only just managed to leap out of the way in time as he felt the hedgehog hit the ground hard, it made a huge hole in the ground as if a meteor had crashed onto the planet. He then prepared for another on coming attack as he waited for the smoke to clear up a little, only to find that he wasn't where the large dent in the ground was.
"Where did he go?" he thought as he looked around him, keeping his fists prepared, 'did I win this battle?"
"Hardly!"
Knuckles barely had time to turn around as the hedgehog slammed the echidna against a rock, keeping him in a position where he couldn't swing his fists towards him, "like I said, you stand no chance against me."
Knuckles growled as he struggled hard to free himself from the hedgehog's hold, but he could feel the hedgehog's strength grow stronger the more he struggled, "What do you want with the master emerald? Did Eggman send you to retrieve it like that annoying bat?"
There was silence for a moment as it appeared that the storm began to settle down a little before a reply was heard, "If you really must know, I have no intention of taking the Master emerald for myself and as for Eggman, I don't plan on becoming his servant anytime soon".
Knuckles suddenly stopped struggling as he looked over his shoulder back towards the hedgehog, keeping his frown, "How do I know your telling the truth?"
Unexpectedly, Shadow released knuckles as he stood away from him while watching him carefully in the case he decides to throw another frontal assault, "Since when have I ever told you a lie?"
Knuckles was about to say something in protest, but paused for a moment as he thought carefully on the question that was given to him. This creep had a point. He never did lie to anyone, despite being one of his foes with Dr. Eggman. If he wasn't going to take the Master emerald then why did he want to see it? Something just didn't seem right.
"Now that I have answered your questions, I would like to move forward with my mission", the hedgehog said as he was began to walk up the temple stairs, but was cut off by the echidna.
"Wait! Why do you want to see the master emerald?"
The dark hedgehog stopped moving for a moment as he looked towards the deeply confused knuckles, seemingly unsure weather to answer him. But then what harm would come in simply explaining the reason behind his mission, "Very well then. I shall explain".
Knuckles crossed his arms, watching the hedgehog carefully as he was prepared to hear the full explanation behind all of this.
Flashback
He stood at the edge of the tall cliff, glancing over at the long ocean ahead of him. The planet that he was on was somewhat similar to earth, except it was mostly habituated water life and had hardly any dry land in sight. Ever since the ending of the battle with the Metarex, he had spent his years travelling from one world to another as he was searching for something. Only he didn't know what he was looking for or what to expect to find. He had been to places filled with civilians that would be more then willing to welcome the stranger into their homes, only he'd only push them away since he felt like this wasn't the place he belonged in.
The only time he truly felt like he belonged was with his very first companion back on Space Colony Ark. No matter how many creatures would greet him or try to befriend him, no one could ever come close to being like the very first person who he'd befriend with many years ago. As more days would go by, the more he felt the hope inside of him began to die little by little. Finally after years of this torment, he couldn't take it anymore, as he wanted all this suffering to end once and for all. Now it seemed that it was finally going to happen.
"This is it", he closed his eyes as he felt his body lean off the edge of the cliff, falling at an incredible speed towards the blue ocean, which felt like an eternity. He then heard a loud splash followed by the cool sensation of the cool salt water that ran into his fur as he his mind began to slowly sink away into the unknown darkness," Finally, it's all over now"
"Shadow".
A tinkled voice made his ears twitch as a small light began to appear out of the darkness.
"Shadow".
That voice. It was very soft and sweet. He knew that voice from somewhere…
"Shadow".
His heart instantly leaped with joy as he approached the light for now he remembered whose voice it belonged to.
"Ma…Maria?" Shadow mumbled, opening his eyes to find himself no longer in the cold, but instead was on the space colony ark.
"How did I get here?" he questioned himself as he approached one of the rather familiar looking windows, which allowed him to glance towards the blue and green planet nearby.
"Are you going to stare out that window all day, Shadow?"
"Huh?" he turned towards where the voice was coming from to see a beautiful young woman approaching with pale skin, blond mid-length hair and blue eyes that matched her outfit.
"Maria!" he called her name as he tried to approach her, only to notice that she didn't appear to notice him at all. Instead, she was approaching another creature that looked exactly like it. Only it was him, but from the past. He watched carefully as the two of them began to interact with one another.
"I've seen photographs from down on the service, but I wonder what it's like to be there." The creature replied as he glared down towards the planet earth that was floating not too far from the ark, "What is it like to see the sky above your head. I'd like to visit there and find out."
The young woman smiled as she acknowledged him, "Me too".
He went on, "Maybe I could find some answers down there. Professor Robotnik said I'm here to do something important, but he never told me what it means. But something tells me its connected with that planet".
"Wait, I remember this", the present shadow thought aloud as he watched the both of them continue to watch the planet in such wonder, while feeling the deep sadness inside of him. If only they knew what was to come later on. If only he would warn them or somehow change the past. But he knew it wasn't meant to be.
'We had plenty of great memories together, didn't we shadow?"
The hedgehog quickly turned around to where the voice was coming from. It was Maria once again, only this time she was actually talking directly to him while keeping her warm smile, "You have no idea how much I have missed you, my friend".
Without hesitation, Shadow wrapped his arms around the young woman who had to bend down to get in arm's length to hug him back, "Believe me Maria, I do".
The hedgehog then began to do something, which he hadn't done for a very long time and thought he'd never do again. He began to cry. The embraced hug seemed to take forever for the two as they finally broke the hug and began to approach the window where their past selves once stood together, looking down towards the earth.
Maria then began to speak, "Shadow, I am here to tell you that it is not over for you yet."
Shadow looked over towards her as he gave her a confused glance, "what do you mean it's not over for me yet?"
Maria smiled as she kept her eyes focussed on the earth, "You have a much bigger destiny ahead of you, even though you may not believe it. There is a life out there for you to embrace and enjoy."
'But I don't understand." He looked down sadly, "I already saved the earth and the universe along with those other creatures. What else could my life possibly hold for me?' he frowned a little as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I have spent all these last years doing nothing but search for something I don't even know exists. I don't want to be alone any longer".
"No one says you have to shadow", the young woman placed her hand over one of shadow's shoulders as she smiled down towards him, "I have been watching over you shadow, and notice how you often push others away. It may not be easy making new friends at first, but once you get to know them better, they'll get to know you better too. You just have to give it a chance. Remember when we first met?"
Shadow suddenly heard a young girl's giggle coming from one of the rooms of the ark where the door was half opened. Feeling his curiosity take the best of him, he peeked through the crack of the door where he saw his past self, simply standing in the middle of the room, watching the much younger Maria (around the age of 10) draw pictures of what looked like landscape.
The little girl looked towards shadow with a sweet smile, "Hello Shadow, how comes you're here?"
The past shadow blinked his eyes the moment she called his name, "you…know my name?"
Maria responded with a giggle, "Of course I do silly, I heard that's the name my grandpa decided to call you."
The black hedgehog nodded in response of the explanation while the little girl began to approach him, "Well, since I know your name I should tell you mine. I'm Maria Robotnik. Nice to meet you", she offered her hand out towards the creature, who hesitated since he was unsure what to do next.
"It's okay, all you have to do it shake it. It's what we do when we meet a new friend", the girl simply explained as shadow looked even more confused.
"What is a…friend?"
The young Maria smiled warmly as she giggled once again, "A friend is someone who is there for one another. Like…they have the same interests. You have never been to earth before, right? Well nether have I, so we both have something in common."
The creature suddenly blinked once again, "what is this place called "Earth?"
Before he knew it, the young girl grabbed his hand as she literally dragged him down the hallway of the ark towards the large window where the green and blue planet could be seen in the distance. This amazed the new creature, as he had never seen anything like this before while the child spoke, "Isn't it beautiful? I could just look at it forever".
The hedgehog didn't say anything as he nodded in agreement. This certainly was a sight he never seen before.
"Grandpa told me that's where all the people live. He said he'll take me down there someday", she girl's expression suddenly went from happy to sadness, "but he's always too busy."
Shadow looked over to the sad Maria, feeling sorry for her, "Maybe someday you will get to go down there…and maybe…. I could too. Only if you want me to that is".
Maria's smiled suddenly appeared once again, "Of course I would want you to come. We're friends after all and friends stick together. Right?"
Shadow felt a smile appear on his face as they both shook hands to secure their friendship, "Right".
The present shadow watched quietly while the two past friends happily shook hands with each other before disappearing. This was apteral just a memory of the past.
"Do you now see shadow?"
The present Maria suddenly appeared behind shadow, almost making him jump, "Because you allowed me to become your friend, despite never visiting earth together we still had our happiness on the ark."
"That is true. We did have some good times here", shadow sighed a little before looking at Maria, "If what you say is true then how can I find where I truly belong? I have been searching countless worlds and yet not one has made me feel like I fit in".
He felt a warm hand gently touch his chin, gently lifting his head up to look into a pair of beautiful blue eyes, "Every journey begins with a little bit of guidance. Here is mine to help begin yours", the young woman suddenly disappeared into thin air. Along with the ark as everything around him seemed to dissolve into a pale whiteness that began to blind him as he shield his eyes with one arm.
Eventually when the brightness died down, he opened his eyes once again to see what his new surroundings were. This time, it defiantly wasn't space colony ark or any place he had come across before. It appeared to be some kind of temple that looked at if it had been abandoned for many eons, surrounded by a thick forest of trees and a large lake just below the floating island.
"What is this place? I've never been here before", his thoughts questioned in his mind as he began to take a look around, deciding to follow the long path of stairs that would eventually lead him to something, though already he could sense something familiar. Something he hadn't felt for a long time.
The moment he arrived at the top of the temple, his eyes widened at what was awaiting him, "The master emerald!"
There it sat peacefully right in the middle of the temple, it's beautiful stone gleaming from the sun's ray of light. The black hedgehog carefully began to approach the master emerald in the hopes of finding out what it had to do with his new journey, for it must hold some answers for him. But before he could touch the giant emerald, it suddenly began to glow, his vision was blinded again, "You must find the master emerald Shadow; the world you once saved depends on you once more. I wish you the best of luck, Shadow the hedgehog".
That was the last time he heard Maria's as everything around him suddenly became dark, followed by the sound of the waves splashing against the shores.
Shadow groaned softly as he began to open his eyes, seeing it was the plain blue sky filled with white clouds floating by.
He sat up as he began to cough out the horrible taste of the salt water that had gone down his throat while noticing he was sitting on a beach right next to the cliff where he'd earlier, committed suicide. The hedgehog stood up as he began to shake the water off his body, feeling a little dizzy, but ignored it as he glanced up towards the top of the cliff. Still sitting there was his own ship, which he had used to travel from world to world after the battle of the Metarex. He felt a small smile appear on his face as he began to head back towards the ship where he knew that he would have to make a long journey through space to find out what was awaiting him.
Luckily he still had the tracker of the chaos emerald's energy, which would allow him to trace his way back to where the master emerald was being kept. It was going to be a long ride, but at least it would be a start towards his new unknown journey ahead.
End of flash back
Knuckles raised his eyebrow a little as he kept his glare onto the hedgehog, unsure whether to believe his story or not, "So your telling me that because of some dream, you came all the way here to see what the master emerald will guide you?"
Shadow nodded with a serious look on his face, "That is why I have come here, to find out what it is that will begin my journey. Now will you allow me to pass and see the Master emerald? Or will we continue with this pointless fighting".
Knuckles still felt unconvinced that it was a good enough reason to see the master emerald, but he also knew that fighting wasn't going to help either. Even though he hated to admit it, shadow was more superior then him when it came to combat. Then again, he was beginning to get a little old. With a frustrated sigh, he responded, 'Alright then, but I will come with you. Just in case you try anything, got it?"
Shadow gave the echidna a simple nod before the two of them began to walk up the stairs that will lead them directly towards the master emerald, sitting there. Awaiting their presence. He didn't know why, but walking up those stairs felt like it took forever for the black hedgehog to reach the top. In the back of his mind, he kept wondering if the master emerald really did have something to show him, or was the dream simply a mind trick? But back then it did feel very real. There was only one way to find out for sure.
Meanwhile, Knuckles kept feeling agitated by allowing this old foe of his to come anywhere near the master emerald. He had heard and seen many mysteries of the master emerald himself, yet he had never heard one like this before. Why would the master emeralds summon a dark, un-trust worthy creature like him? It just didn't seem to make any sense to him. He still had a lot to figure out about the valuable jewel he has spent most of his years guarding. Perhaps there'll be a better explanation once they reach the master emerald.
Once the two creatures had finally reach the top of the temple, they both eyed the glorious large gem that sat there, doing nothing at all but shine beautifully. As the black hedgehog began to approach the large gem, knuckles stopped him for a moment, "You have my permission to look, but whatever you do, don't touch. Got it!" he warned in a serious and threatening tone.
Shadow frowned a little since it was beginning to annoy him that this red, angry creature kept trying to stop his task. But right now, he wanted to avoid fighting him, "I promise I will not touch. Now may I please take a closer look?"
Knuckles could tell that shadow was beginning to get a little frustrated with him, not that he cared. He was simply doing his job and didn't want to take any risks.
Shadow took a few steps towards the large emerald while Knuckles kept his close eye on him. Nothing unusual seemed to happen as he began to wait for anything to show up. So far nothing happened. What was going on here? Was this whole thing really a waste of time after all?
"You know, you could try asking the master emerald what it is you are looking for", the red creature spoke in a tone to try and make the black hedgehog feel really stupid while rolling back his eyes.
Shadow looked over his shoulder with a confused glance, "You mean, it can hear you?"
Knuckles felt the palm of his hand against his forehead, "Of course it can. It's not just a powerful gem you know. It also has a mind of it's own".
Shadow quickly looked back towards the large gem in front of him. How was it possible for a weapon like this to have a mind of it's own? Deciding not to waste anymore time, he began to speak directly towards the large green gem, "Master emerald. I am Shadow the hedgehog and I have come here to find out where I must begin my next journey. Please show me where I must be?"
The master emerald instantly began to react to his voice as it began to reveal an image in its reflection of what appeared to be a green and blue ball. Only Shadow knew what it was that was being shown to him, "Earth".
"Huh?" the red echidna began to approach the large emerald himself as he saw that it was indeed an image of the planet Earth shown in the emerald's reflection.
Before either of them knew what was happening, the emerald began to react once more as it's light began to grow bigger, blinding both the creatures as the entire temple was filled with the same white light that has been seen in shadow's vision.
Knuckles growled as he covered his eyes with his arm, 'I knew I shouldn't have let you come near the...Shadow?"
The echidna suddenly noticed once the light had died down that the black hedgehog was nowhere to be seen while the master emerald remained in its spot like it always has been. What was going on? He just…vanished.
After checking several times to see if the black hedgehog was hiding anywhere, he shrugged to himself, "well, at least he's not my problem anymore", he mumbled before getting back to his previous sitting position. Once again, enjoying the piece and quiet.
But unfortunately for the red echidna, his evening was about to get a lot worse, "Ooooh knuckle head", a woman's voice cooed his name which made his skin crawl.
"And it just keeps getting better", the echidna groaned loudly, having to deal with the next unwanted guest.
Shadow didn't know what had just happened to him, but it appeared that he had somehow passed out after feeling the full force power of the master emerald itself. It was the exact feeling he used to feel when he'd use chaos control to transport from one place to another. Which would make logical sense since the master emerald was the main source of the chaos emeralds.
The hedgehog began to open his eyes he saw that he was being surrounded by a field of beautiful white flowers he had never seen before as their beautiful fragrance filled the air due to a small breeze of wind. Once he was able to stand up again, he began to look around as his new surroundings as he appeared to be on top of a flowery cliff that was being surrounded by a forest of trees on some kind of island. Only this one wasn't a floating island like Angel Island nor was it in the world he had just previously arrived on.
He watched some of the flower's petals fly off into the sunlight as he came to the suddenly realisation of his new whereabouts. He was on Earth. The planet he and his lost companion had once dreamt of visiting together. Sadness swept across the hedgehog as he looked down sadly, "If only you could see this for yourself Maria. Earth really is a beautiful."
"But why was I sent here? What is my purpose to save this world?" he sighed a little, taking a step forward when he suddenly felt something hard underneath his foot which caught his attention.
Moving his foot carefully away, he noticed there was something green and shiny that was being half buried in the ground underneath the field of flowers. Curious to see what it was, he began to remove some of the dirt away until it was revealed to be a chaos emerald. At least it looked like a chaos emerald; except it has some kind of symbol carved on top of the green emerald he had never seen before.
"What is the meaning of this? Are there other emeralds out there like this one?"
The hedgehog frowned a little as he looked towards the forest, holding the emerald close towards him. He couldn't put his foot on it, but something about this place felt familiar despite having no regulation of ever coming here. There would be only one way to find out.
The hedgehog began to jump down from the small cliff, landing on a rock one by one with ease until he had made it safely on the ground. He then began to make his way towards the forest to find out if there were any answers awaiting him.
Unknown he was already watched by someone who knew him all too well and had plans arranged for him.