Ko
Disclaimer: Sonic-tachi belong to Sega and Nintendo. 'I stand alone' belongs to Godsmack, whom I've never heard of until today. Thank you.
Dedication: To Shinji & Tora (who wanted me to write a 'selfish bastard Sonic' fic w/I Stand Alone), and to Ran (though I'm not sure if he'll like this one as much as the others… UU;)
Directions: Insert the lyrics to "I Stand Alone" by Godsmack.
I Stand Alone
How dare that faker Shadow order me around like that! I take orders from Eggman and Eggman alone! I thought I'd gotten rid of him on the A.R.K., but I guess I should've tried harder. I should've been more careful to make sure he wouldn't be able to survive the fall back to Earth. And now he's come back to haunt me. Because he knows. He knows what I tried to do, and now he's treating 'the new guy' like dirt because of it. Yeah, that's right. I'm the new guy. I joined Eggman's ranks only a few weeks ago, but I've already been promoted to an Advisor, the same rank as Rouge and Shadow himself. And I know he's royally pissed about that.
I know because he's tried to screw me over more than once already. He's always trying to steal my reports and make it look like I'm a traitor to the dark side. He never succeeds though, cause I've always caught him in the act, and he's the one who always gets in trouble; not me. Which only makes him hate me even more...
-insert 1st and 2nd stanzas-
I'm jostled out of my thoughts by Eggman, who tells me to 'go get my subordinate'. Heh. 'Subordinate' my ass. I can't believe Eggman still has him around. He's cost us our victory more than once already, tipping off the enemy and trying to pin the blame on me. Eggman knows of my loyalty, though. I'm really his right-hand man, so to speak, and I've told him all about Shadow's little games. I guess it's thanks to me he's still around, even though I'd like it so much better if he weren't... Eggman said he keeps him around for 'entertainment'. I guess he enjoys watching us fight over absolutely nothing at all. Weirdo...
I sigh in annoyance and he chuckles. Ignoring him, I leave the control room to find my arch-enemy and drag his ass back to the boss. Not that he's really my boss, mind you. I don't do everything he tells me to. He's more of a... business partner, if you will. He get's to take over the world, and I get my choice of property to live on without being bothered afterward. Ahh, now that's the life... All my life I've been surrounded by idiots, even now, and to be left alone, with no one for miles but the wildlife surrounding me... Now that's what I'd call heaven.
No one to save. No one to boss me around. No one period. Just me, my house, and the open land. Perfect.
-insert 3rd stanza-
Shaking myself out of my reverie, I notice I'm there. I knock on the moron's door, waiting for him to answer. I idly note that I'd never been in this part of the fortress before, though I'd always known it was here, and shrug. Why would I need to come to the living-quarters level when I have my own suite on the top floor? Not that Shadow or the others knew, mind you. It'd just give him another reason to fight with me...
When Shadow finally opens the door, I note that he only opens it enough to peer through the crack. He notices it's me on the other side, and glares.
"What the 'ell do you want, loser?" he spat, eyes narrowed.
I play it cool, just to grate on his nerves, and reply, "Aww, you make it sound as if you weren't happy to see me, faker."
"You have one warped mind, you psycho. Now, tell me what you want already so you can leave." he stated coldly.
"Fine. Eggman told me to come an' drag your annoying butt back to the control room. He says it's important." I answered lazily.
He scrutinizes me for a moment, then sighs.
"Fine. Wait here while I change into my uniform. And don't you dare come in and root through everything while I'm gone!" he huffs, then turns and most likely grabs his uniform and heads to the bathroom, locking the door behind him.
"Wouldn't dream of it..." I smirk, and push the half-closed door all the way open.
/He never said I couldn't look without actually coming in, now did he/ I think to myself, examining his room from the open doorway.
It was practically bare, save for a small desk in one corner with a lamp on it. He, of course, had a small bed in another corner, next to the door that led to the bathroom. All in all, pretty drab and, well, normal.
/Boooooorrrrrriiiiiinnnng.../ I thought, rolling my eyes.
I was about to lean in and close the door when something caught my eye. On the wall behind the door, above a wooden dresser, hung a large painting of a young girl with long hair. She was smiling, and held a bouquet of flowers in her hands. She wore a long-sleeved dress, and her hair flowed across her shoulders and down her back. In one corner of the painting, the name 'Maria' was etched into the canvas.
/Ahh yes, Shadow's famed 'goddess' Maria... Should've known he'd have a shrine to her somewhere.../ I scoff mentally, noticing the assorted candles half-used on the dresser.
-insert 4th and 5th stanzas-
I hear Shadow walk to the bathroom door, and quickly return the front door to it's original state just as he steps out. He sets his other clothes on his bed, and turns back to me, suspicious.
"What? I stayed here the whole time. Just like you told me to..." I state, and he rolls his eyes.
"Let's just go already." he says, shoving his way past me after closing his door.
"Whatever." I reply, smirking at his back in silent mockery.
/I know exactly what kind of person you are, Shadow. You're a fool who lives in the past. You have nothing else to live for. Not like me. I'm not afraid of fading.../ I think/I don't need to live for anyone. I live for myself. For I am alone./
-insert 6th, 7th, and 8th stanzas-
Once we enter the control room, Eggman tells us that we are about to attack the main force of the rebel army. This would be the last battle once and for all. Everything was riding on this; for the rebels at least. He then leaves us to prepare for the oncoming battle, and we both suit-up in the weapons room. Shadow smirks at me as he puts on his hover-shoes; noticing how lost in thought I am.
"Afraid to fight your little friends, loser?" he inquires.
I snort in reply. /More like yours, Shadow. Not that I'm afraid to face them anyway.../ Really, I say, "Yeah right. You wish, faker."
He turns away, angry that he couldn't annoy me, and we proceed to suit up in silence. Nothing can get to me now, today I was finally going to get exactly what I've always wanted...
-insert 9th stanza-
We're on the battlefield now, and I'm slashing foes left and right. They just keep coming. Wave after wave…. All trying their hardest to take me down or at least wound me before being sawed in half by my razor-sharp quills. I swear, my quills are going to be stained purple by the time this is all over...
I hear Shadow's annoyed voice somewhere over to my left, "Where the 'ell are those back-up units! We can't keep this up all day!"
/For you, maybe. I'm still rearin' to go./ I scoff, whizzing through an armored enemy, whose weapon appeared to be some kind of metallic hammer. /Strange... That one looked exactly like Amy... Oh well. Whoever it is, they're dead now.../
-insert 10th stanza-
I must admit, I'm getting pretty worn out now... I hope those back-up units would just hurry up already... I'm pretty sure I'm fighting Knuckles one-on-one while Shadow takes out more of the normal fighters on his own... This guy's dodged every move I've tried thus far...
In the back of my mind, I hear a small voice whisper/Let me out... Let me out and I can help you win.../
/Well, what have I got to lose/ I think, and let the voice take over, settling back in the dark recesses of my mind and letting my dark half do whatever in my Super Sonic form.
True, I used to fear and despise him, but after joining Eggman, I realized just how good of a partner he made. Whenever I got too tired or when he was restless during a battle, I let him take over for me and we'd both be happy. Sort of a tag-team thing, I suppose... Although, technically, we were still one person...
-insert 11th stanza-
Knuckles has been defeated, now, and my dark half retreats back into my mind, letting me surface and reclaim control again. With nothing to do, I go to help Shadow fend off his attackers, just to piss him off. I know he's tired, and if left alone to fight for just a while longer, they'd probably be able to take him down. Still, he's just too pig-headed to realize that and accept my help.
"This is my fight, so buzz off, loser!" he growls, and I shrug, ducking out of the mass of opponents.
"Suit yourself..." I reply, and go off on my own to fight the people who'd noticed I had been left alone with no one to battle.
-insert 12th and 13th stanzas-
As expected, Shadow is dead now, although he'd taken out quite a few opponents with him. He'd realized he wasn't going to make it, and had let loose a proximity mine a few feet away from him. Lucky for me, I was just out of the blast radius and was left unscathed. My opponent Tails, however, hadn't been so lucky. He'd landed inside the blast radius right before it went off, and, well... You get the idea.
Just after Shadow had sacrificed himself, guess who finally showed up- Rouge and the back-up units. Sucks for him... Anyway, they fought against the remainder of the army, and both sides' numbers dwindled one-by-one. A few of the rebels had reached the fortress, though, and I transformed to Super Sonic and flew toward the base to take care of them.
What I didn't know, though, was that the fortress computer core had a self-defense system installed that, when tampered with, set off a chain of nuclear and atomic bombs at every base Eggman had. I was too late to stop the rebels, though, and was blown away by the force of the shockwave.
When I woke up, I found myself on the outskirts of a large crater, and everything was a blinding white. I couldn't hear anything, and debris from the fortress was everywhere. I shaded my eyes, looking all around for any survivors from our battle, but none were to be found.
After a small internal debate with my dark half, I powered up to Super Sonic and flew up into the sky. I flew over every known location of each of Eggman's bases, finding a gaping hole and a mushroom cloud over it every time. Then, I flew over all the major cities that I knew of, finding only wrecked buildings and lifeless bodies everywhere. Finally, I flew up to Angel Island and sat down on the edge of the floating mass of land, surveying all the damage that had been done. That was when I heard the voice of my dark half again.
/I guess you finally got what you wanted.../
/Yeah.../ I told him/I guess I did.../
And there I sat, in shock, above a broken world. The only survivor...
-insert 14th and 15th stanzas-
And now, I truly stand alone...
Owari
Well, that was an interesting experience... Writing a songfic with lyrics to a song I'd never heard before... All that accounted for, I think I did fairly well on this one. What did you guys think? Tell me in your e-mail ASAP! I wanna know how I did!
Ko