Disclaimer: I do NOT own Sonic, or any characters created and licensed by SEGA and SONIC TEAM…..But that would be awesome!
This is my first fic, please review.
Chapter 1: Prologue
It was a hot, bright summer day, the winds blowing gently in the heavily forested mountains near Westopolis. Many creatures sought shade on the forest floor, including Shadow the Hedgehog. At the moment he was content to just sit there, enjoying the warmth given off by a few stray rays of sunshine that pierced the forest canopy. After a while of dozing off, he was bored out of his mind, with nothing to do. He could scarcely believe that only a short month ago, he had obliterated the Black Comet with the Eclipse Cannon, saving Earth for the second time, and now he was back to just hanging around by himself in deserted places, just like he used to do, with. Now all he had to remind him that the Black Arms had even invaded Earth at all were the reconstruction sites operating around Westopolis and the rest of the world, attempting to restore some of mankind's greatest feats of engineering and other structures of importance, vaporized in an instant by the laser bombardment at the beginning of the invasion.
Musing to himself, he was marveling at how quickly the invasion had gotten under way, and then, how it had ended just as quickly. He seemed to recall that only a week had passed since the invasion had started, by which time he was facing off against Devil Doom and saving the planet. AGAIN. He smirked to himself, knowing that he was just THAT good.
Suddenly, his phone that he had received from G.U.N. rang, playing an extremely annoying ring tone that he had put on Sonic's profile so that he always knew when NOT to pick up his phone. Picking up the phone and seeing the word "FAKER" on the screen only confirmed that the caller was indeed Sonic. Shadow stared at the phone for several seconds, considering what to do, when suddenly, much to his surprise, he pressed the CALL button, seemingly against his will, and held it to his ear.
"Hello?" he said, again to his surprise, because he was almost never polite. "Hey Shadow, what's up?"asked Sonic, pleased that for once, Shadow took his call. "What do you want, Faker?"asked Shadow in an impatient, businesslike tone. "Oh, uh, I just wanted to tell you that the gang's getting together for a barbecue by Chris' house to celebrate our victory over the Black Arms, and I wanted to know if you would come." "You KNOW I don't do parties, Sonic," said Shadow, who was by now irritated. "And besides, what do you mean by "YOUR VICTORY"? I'M the one who had to kick all the alien ass around here! Neither you nor Knuckles could even put a dent in one of them, and that includes the tiny eyeball ones that were eating you guys in the Comet! And of course your other friends are weaker than you and Knuckles, so of course they couldn't do shit to any of them physically. TAILS only managed to kill one because he had a frickin' .50 machinegun in his plane! So, no thanks, I'm not going to your damn barbecue, Sonic. You and your other weakling friends can enjoy your party by yourself. Sayonara, FAKER!" And with that, Shadow ended the call before Sonic could respond.
Shadow lay back down on the grass, smiling to himself. He had always enjoyed venting his anger by yelling at Sonic, and today was no different. It did occur to him briefly that Sonic was only trying to be nice, but Shadow didn't have time for nice. With him, it was either state your business and leave, or just keep on babbling your nonsense and get the hand, or the door, in your face.
Whilst lying on the grass he wondered to himself why he had felt any anger at all. During that fateful week whist fighting the Black Arms, he had finally found out who he really was, which had been his only true goal ever since Eggman had revived him from his cryogenic pod at Prison Island. Since he had finally achieved that goal, he supposed that he should be happy, the holes in his memory filled, but he felt that his purpose here on Earth had not yet been fulfilled, that was something more he must do. At this thought, Shadow stood up, and looked up at the sky.
"Chaos Control," he muttered, and he disappeared in a flash of light, without making so much as a sound among the trees in the mountains.
An instant later, he was aboard the Space Colony ARK, which he had considered to be his home more that Earth had ever been. He walked around the observation deck, checking that the ARK's equipment was fully operational, and also staring at the Earth. Even though he didn't call it his home, he could still appreciate its beauty from space. He was pleased by the way the light and deep greens complemented the breathtaking, deep blues, and the mix of gray and white clouds above the surface. After a few minutes of "Earth-watching", he walked to a huge titanium safe with multiple locks covering its surface. Stretching his hand out toward it, he looked as though he was about to open the safe when he muttered, "Chaos Wormhole". A large hole opened, out of which he lifted a large, titanium case the size of a coffin. He carried it to a table, easily lifting it with one hand, opened two ten-digit locks, had his fingerprints and pupils scanned by the secondary locks, and opened the case.
The Seven Chaos Emeralds glowed and sparkled with brilliance upon his face. Shadow had used their power to transform into Super Shadow and defeat Devil Doom, and then used the remaining power left in his super form to power the Eclipse Cannon and destroy the Black Comet. Upon returning to normal form, the emeralds separated, flying at high speeds away from Shadow, but the reinforced structure of the ARK, helped along in its construction by Black Doom fifty years earlier, had been able to keep the emeralds from leaving the ARK and returning to Earth, so Shadow had been able to recollect the emeralds in short order, and kept them hidden up in the ARK, so that no one, especially Eggman, would be able to find them. He, along with Sonic and his friends, were probably looking for them now, not knowing the emeralds were in the last place they'd ever think to look, the ARK. If any one of them ever tried to get up there though, Shadow would calmly, and without a second thought, knock them out of the skies with the ARK's EMP cannon, and would be completely unconcerned with how they were to survive their atmosphere reentry and their crash on the ground.
After counting the emeralds a dozen times before he was satisfied that they were all there, he relocked the case, replaced it in the safe, closed the wormhole, and proceeded to the Residential Quarters section of the ARK, where his room was. He briefly surveyed the room to make sure everything was in place. His room was large, with a king-sized bed, bathroom, computer, TV, sound system, fridge, and an observation window, which had a telescopic capability that allowed him to view distant stars and galaxies. A calming sight for when he had been brooding over his past. After a quick trip to the bathroom, he looked at the desk, and saw something that was definitely not there a month or so ago, when he had last visited the ARK. It was a black, red, and purple book, with a luminous binding and a faint, red glow around it. Shadow picked it up and looked at the cover.
"The Art of Chaos"
Intrigued by the title and its appearance, he opened the book and skimmed through a few pages. His eyes opened at what he saw.
He saw diagrams, footnotes, and explanations on every page, and on the first one was a picture of the Master Emerald surrounded by the Seven Chaos Emeralds! After studying one page closely, he discovered that the book was a guide for mastering the forces of Chaos in the Chaos realm, and manipulating Chaos Control, forming it into a whole new array of Chaos techniques!
He pondered he book for a while, wondering where he could have gotten it from. Then it hit him: when he had supposedly "pledged himself in allegiance" to Black Doom at the beginning of the invasion, he had gained Black Doom's trust, and Black Doom had given him the book, saying: "I am the heir to a royal bloodline within the Black Arms, and as the latest in the line, I inherited this book so that I may control the Chaos powers unique to the bloodline that I was gifted with from birth. Now, you are the latest in the line, Shadow, my son, so you must take this book, learn its secrets, and keep it safe from those with prying eyes who can also command Chaos. Even though I can command Chaos, my gift for it is limited, due to the impurity of my father's genes, because his father was a pureblood royal, while his mother was a common member of the Arms, thus tainting his gift, and mine, but you, Shadow, can fully command Chaos because I saw to it that Dr. Robotnik separated my royal genes from my common ones, and passed them alone onto you. Once you learn the secrets of this book, you will become powerful beyond imagining!" Almost at once, Shadow's mind became filled with images of himself as supremely powerful, and began at once to read the minute text.
After about an hour, Shadow had learned(not mastered) a new Chaos technique, and was about to try to learn another one, but was soon interrupted by a loud beeping from his phone, indicating a text message. Shadow growled, muttering under his breath about how the message had better not waste his time. He picked up the phone and looked at the messenger I.D.
It was from Amy.
Shadow's heart started to race, beating so fast until he thought it would surely burst.
"Shadow," it began, "Sonic told me how moody you were at the prospect of going to the barbecue, and if you really don't want to go, then that's your choice. But, before you make a final decision, I just wanted to say, I really missed you, Shadow. I haven't seen you for a month now, and I am really starting to get worried. I know I can be kind of annoying, but, I just can't help wanting to be around you, Shadow, because you're the only guy I know who doesn't treat me like I'm just someone to be ignored, or just a part of the scenery. I just wanted to tell you how I feel, and how I dearly hope you come, even for just a few minutes, and say hi. You're the best guy I've ever met, Shadow, and I hope I can see you again, even for just a little while."
Yours Truly,
Amy Rose
Why? Why did this pink hedgehog affect him so? Not that he particularly minded, because being alone was a viable option for only so long. It actually felt kind of nice to be affected this way, he merely curious as to how this feeling functioned.
Shadow stared at the message for what seemed like hours, then collapsed on his bed to catch his breath.