Hello. I'm the author, and I'd like to ask you review on my story if you come to like it. Please enjoy the beggining of a long story!

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any character is this fanfic.

Prologue

The alarm clock came to life. It's loud sound echoed in the small room. The black hedgehog cursed and furrowed his brows in annoyance as he slowly woke up. His eyes opened, revealing his red irises. Gritting his teeth, he slammed the alarm clock, being careful not to use too much force and break yet another one. "Stupid alarm clock." he muttered.

Shadow enjoyed the silence for some seconds, but then quickly used all his will-power to get up from his bed before he drifted into sleep yet again. Yawning, he headed for his bathroom and brushed his teeth. He then threw some water on his face to see if it would help him wake up. It did.

He then returned to his bedroom and opened the curtains. Light found it's way on his room, and for a few moments Shadow admired the city's view. He quickly dressed up in his suit and a blue social shirt underneath it and headed for the kitchen, where he started cooking his breakfast.

He glanced at the clock. 8:07AM. He still had some time before work, but his diligent and prideful side made him want to be there in time.

"I'm the ultimate life form... I can't arrive late on my job. I'd be ashaming myself." He thought to himself. He sat down and started eating. It tasted great. It was only natural, since he worked as a cook.

Two years before...

Shadow had just saved the entire universe. In his last heroic deed, everyone thought he ended up dead. But somehow, as he wandered through space, his unconscious body found it's way to Earth. And somehow he survived.

He woke up to find his body frozen solid in a giant ice stone. It seemed the ice had started to melt. Without wasting time, Shadow forced his way out of the ice and got up. Then it hit to him that he had just saved the Earth and was somehow still alive.

To him it was only natural. He was the ultimate life form. Surviving a fall from space was nothing. But he still had a problem. He was alone and with no idea where he was. Sure, the alone part was normal to him, even though he disliked it a bit.

To make things worse, he had awakened from a deep slumber, so he also had no idea for how much time he wandered on space or how much time he spent on Earth.

But as his strenght returned to him, he wondered if he was in the right planet and the right dimension. He started running, exploring the vast world in front of him. He jumped through mountains, deserts, forests. Then, after a long run...

He found a city. A very busy city. A city he recognized. He was at Station Square.

"Finally."

Without wasting time, he dashed towards the city. A few things were different from what he remebered. His eyes wandered through the buildings, and he soon he started considering again how much time had passed since he saved the planet.

Luckily, he was next to a convenience store, and right next to it's doors were a few calendars on display. He noticed the year was the same from when he last remembered, but all the calendars were at least 6 months ahead of when he last checked it.

The hedgehog sighed and frowned. "Damn... Six months lost."

He continued on his way, clearly annoyed. Without a doubt everyone considered him dead right now...

Or maybe not.

He noticed a familiar picture in a poster nearby. He approached it, clearly knowing he would regret it. He picked it up and recognized himself. On that bounty poster.

"WANTED

DEAD OR ALIVE

Shadow the hedgehog. AKA The Ultimate life form

Bounty: 500.000.000$

If you see this hedgehog, contact the G.U.N military force. Remember: He is a threat!"

Shadow couldn't believe that poster. It seemed he was still seemed as a threat, even after saving the goddamn world. He gritted his teeth and threw the poster away.

"Ungrateful bastards... so this is what I get after saving them? I should've let Black doom destroy these garbage..."

Still angry, he remembered his promise to his friend, Maria. He would do whatever he could to protect the world. He swore he would fight and protect her homeland even if it cost his life.

...But at the moment, he only regretted his promise.

And he had every right to. He fought heroically to protect others, and was still seen as a villain. He clenched his fists. He was mad.

But his anger vanished for a moment as his belly made and awkward sound. Shadow then noticed how hungry he was. After 6 months without eating, that was to be expected. A normal person would be dead by now, but he could endure it.

Even so, he still needed to eat.

As he kept walking, he caught the smell of delicious food, and was instantly attracted to it. As he was about to enter it, he stopped to think about his current situation.

He was a wanted hedgehog who was presumed dead by all his 'friends', with no money, food, or house. He was in a messed up life at the moment

He thought of invading the restaurant and stealing the food, but he dismissed the idea. It would bring unwanted attention to him, and besides, the hunger had considerably weakened him.

He sighed. There was only one way. He noticed the restaurant was in need of employees. Without wasting time, he entered it. It was a simple, yet beautiful place. Calm, classic elevator music was being played in the background. Paitings and other types of decoration were all over the place. Shadow found that place pleasant.

It was quite full, and Shadow could see the waiters in a hurry. He was enjoying seeing the humans running around. At least his black humor stayed the same.

It was then Shadow noticed a tall, fat man had approached him. He wore a suit, had a big mustache and was bald. He eyed Shadow curiously.

"Can I help you?"

"You work here, I assume. I'm interested in a job." The black hedgehog pointed to the poster which said they were in need of employees, but the man didn't turn to see it, and kept looking at Shadow intensely. He raised an eyebrown.

"I'm the owner of this restaurant. If you want a job, I want to know what you're capable of doing. Can you cook?"

"...No."

The man frowned

"Can you serve people with a smile and respect?"

"...I don't think so."

"Then I don't see how you would fit in here, my boy. You clearly have no experience in any area you could work here. Give me a good reason to hire you." The man faced Shadow with a serious expression.

Shadow frowned "Because I'm the ultimate life form, and having me work here would be the best goddamn thing you could do for this place. I can learn how to cook and do whatever you need me to."

The man stared at Shadow for a few moments before bursting into laughter, which made Shadow even angrier.

"Hahaha... Ultimate life form? Youngsters these days..."

"I don't see how that is funny. What I told you is a fact, old man." He glared at the fat man

The man stopped laughing and faced Shadow some more. He was about to say something when Shadow's stomach made yet another loud sound.

"You seem hungry." The man stated matter-of-factly

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I haven't eaten for a while. I have no job, no house, no money and everyone I know thinks I'm dead, so I just need this job so I can eat something every once in a while."

Shadow then noticed how messed up his story was. Even though it was true, there was no way the man would believe he had just saved the universe and hadn't eaten anything for 6 months.

But the man stared just at Shadow for some moments. Then motioned for Shadow to follow him. The man and the Hedgehog entered the kitchen. The owner of the restaurant picked up a plate from the dish washer and filled it with food, then after grabbing a knife and fork, he motioned for Shadow to follow him yet again.

They ended up in the man's office. It was painted red, and it was pretty simple. All it had was a window, a desk, three chairs and a computer. Sure, it had other things such as a trash can and a fan, but if was a pretty basic place. Simple and efficient.

The man handed the plate and the utensils to Shadow "Eat up."

Surprised, Shadow took the food and started eating at the man's table. The man himself sat at the opposite side of the table. Shadow faced him curiously.

"So you believe me?" He asked.

The man played with his mustache. "Well, actually it's pretty hard to believe. But I have felt hunger before, so as a cook I think it's my duty to serve those who are hungry." Shadow stayed in silence, savoring his food. The man continued

"Being a cook is a great responsibility. Cooking is an art, but it's an art that grants and saves lifes. That's why the work of a cook should be seen as sacred. It's what I strongly believe in." He faced Shadow "So that's why I can't simply throw this responsiblity at someone who claims to be an ultimate life form at a job interview."

Shadow stopped eating. "Then you're not giving the job to me?"

"Well. About that, You said you had no money. So you would have to pay for this food somehow. Can you clean dishes?"

Shadow glared at the man. Of course the ultimate life form could do something like that.

"Yes."

"Then when you're finished, that's what you will do. If you do a good job, I'll consider letting you work as a dish cleaner for a while."

Shadow nodded and kept eating. The man then settled down and drank a cup of water. Noises from the kitchen could be heard. People walking, food being fried, the order bell ringing. The black hedgehog couldn't help but feel a bit curious.

"So what is it like? Working as a cook, that is."

The man smiled. "It's greatest thing. It's pleasant to see people enjoying what you made, and the fact that the simple plate of food you served them helped them live a bit longer. Cooking is a beautiful thing. Too bad I don't have much time for it now"

Shadow could see how much this man loved what he did. He started respecting the man at that moment.

"I see..." Shadow said and the conversation ended.

He finished his food and the man took him back to the kitchen. He stood in front of a pile of dirty dishes, cups and utensils. The man gave him a cleaner uniform and cleaning items, then left. Shadow wore his clothes and started working.

"Can't believe I'm actually enjoying this..."

As he cleaned, he stop every once in a while to watch. The cooks were preparing all kinds of food with all care. He could also see their anger and their disappointment when they saw their food being wasted. From a window, he could also see the satisfaction in many of the clients's faces when they ate the food.

The words from the fat man were still fresh in his head, and he could see why that work was so precious to him. It made Shadow think about many things. About his own hunger, about his promise to Maria, about his current life, his future. And with such a sight before him, he couldn't help but be fascinated.

He kept cleaning and watching the cooks work all the afternoon. When the dishes finally stopped coming and his job ended, the man returned to see him and was quite impressed.

"Excellent work! You did a fine job young one."

"Hey old man." Shadow called, still facing the dished in front of him. The old man noticed he had a different tone and got curious. Shadow then turned to the man, with a hint of determination in his emotionless eyes.

"Teach me how to cook."

The old man's eyes widened. Shadow continued. "I want to become a cook. From the small time I spent here, I'd be lying if I said I didn't appreciate the work of a cook. It truly is something to admire, and since I need a job, I came to conclude that this would be the best job I would ever have."

The old man bursted in laughter. "So you want to be a cook?"

"Yes." Shadow's expression didn't falter

"Will you promise to think about others as you cook?"

"Yes."

"Will you accomplish your duty as a cook to end people's hunger?"

"Yes."

"Will you give proper punishment to those who waste food or disrespect it?" At this the man winked. Shadow flashed him a quick smile

"Yes."

"Well then, young man. Consider yourself an apprentice cook and an employee at this restaurant." The man said with a proud smile "I'll teach you the art of cooking"

Shadow nodded "Thank you."

The man extended a hand to Shadow. "My name is Zeff, and I'll teach you how to cook from this day and on. Tell me your name, youngster."

Shadow grabbed his hand.

"Shadow the hedgehog."

Present time...

Shadow snapped back to reality and checked his clock once again. He then returned to eating as he remembered how his life changed in the past two years.

The owner of the restaurant, Zeff, taught Shadow many things. On the first year, Shadow moved in at the man's house, since he had nowhere to go. So he learned all kinds of cooking skills all the day, from breakfast to dinner. At first his cooking wasn't the best, but that was to be expected. What nor Shadow or Zeff expected was on how his cooking would improve so much.

But cooking wasn't the only thing Shadow learned. Zeff also had two special coaching courses for Shadow.

One of them was to improve Shadow's social skills. The man tried to make Shadow become a more sociable person, and taught him many social skills he would need. Some of them were easy for Shadow, such as table manners and business talk. But others proved to be a challenge.

He tried to have Shadow act nice with every customer. But to someone who was naturally anti-social and unfriendly, Shadow failed miserably. He wouldn't stand people's bullshit, and would often get into fights with people. The slightest thing could make the hedgehod mad as hell, and somehow he managed to avoid destroying the restaurant. But he didn't fail at beating those who angered him.

He, however, was taught by Zeff on how to be a gentleman. Zeff always told him that 'women are the most precious thing in this world, and man who failed to treat them nice or to respect them were NOT real men'.

Shadow didn't understand why women would be so important, but Zeff would always get angry whenever a woman was disrespected. The one time Shadow saw Zeff angry was because the hedgehog had bad-mouthed one. The man was so angry that he even threatened to fire him and kick him out of his house.

That surprised Shadow a lot. So he ended up trying his best to be nice, at least, to women.

He promised to Zeff that he would never raise his hand to harm a lady, and would never allow women to be disrespected in front of him until he could not stand anymore.

But it was easier said than done.

Lots of women seemed to have the talent to annoy him, specially those who kept taking pictures of themselves and talking loudly. He did what he could to stop himself from yelling at them or kicking them out. and believe me, for Shadow, it was very hard. But he managed to withstand it. His job was on the line after all.

The other training Shadow went through was about fighting.

Despite his appearances, Zeff was once a renowed fighter. He had his own fighting style, which he developed after years of training hard.

He called it the Fire foot style.

"A cook's hands are his very soul. He must avoid harming them and do whatever possible to protect them." His words were still fresh in Shadow's mind.

The style was based solely on kicks, therefore the use of hands and arms was only used in handstands, and nothing else. No punches or grapples. Just kicks.

But to master this fighting skill, one has to throughly develop his legs and feet, to make the kicks harder, faster and more powerful.

It wasn't a complete opposite of Knuckles's fighting style, in which the equidna used mostly his oversized hand and sheer power of his punches to annihilate his opponents. That's because even though his punches are powerful, they were slow and lacked technique.

Shadow's new fighting style, however, combined his insane speed with precision and power, making his kicks deadly. He even managed to develop a variation of his trademark attack, chaos spear, by sweeping his leg in the air at a high speed, consequently releasing his chaos energy with it.

Shadow smirked. He didn't expect he would get stronger by training with a human. Not just a human, but a cook. He was sure glad he met that man two years ago. He was also glad he managed to buy his own house too. He couldn't stand listening to the old man's snore every single night.

But why would he learn fighting techniques? That's simple. Due to the restaurant's fame, hoodlums and ruffians constantly barged in there, looking for ways to threaten people and steal their money. Shadow was trained specifically to protect the restaurant and it's people.

But he was still a hero as well.

A lone hero, yes. The dark hero of Mobius. But still a hero. And despite his loneliness and his wanted head, he still had promised to protect people. And that's what he did. Not as much as Sonic, of course. But if he saw a crime happening, he acted. He knew it was the right thing to do.

He pulled a cigarette from one of his suit's pockets and set it in fire. He couldn't remember when he started smoking, but it was his way to deal with stress. And in his opinion, it made him look cool. He exhaled some smoke as he sighed.

"Alone..."

He placed his empty plate and cup on the sink and quickly cleaned it. After that, he headed outside. He took a glance at the sky. The sun was bright, but a certain part of the sky was gray. He then knew it was going to rain soon. Finishing his cigarette, he threw it away and started walking, thinking about the long day ahead of him.

In a kingdom, at an alternate dimension, a silver-colored hedgehog and a purple cat were together in the dining room of the castle, talking to each other. The feline picked up a glass of wine and took a sip of it. She got a few goosebumps from it, still a bit unfamiliar with it's sour taste. The hedgehog mocked her.

"What's with that face Blaze? Hahaha" The cat threw a glare at her friend

"Hmph!" She frowned and got up from her seat, picking a glass of water and quickly drinking it to help get rid of the unwanted taste in her mouth. She then sighed and headed for the window. The hedgehog noticed his friend seemed a bit tense.

He turned to her. "You okay?"

"I'm... I'm fine, Silver. I'm just a bit worried." The cat answered sincerely. The hedgehog approached her.

"What's wrong?"

Without turning to face her friend, she kept looking outside. "It's been so peaceful recently... Eggman Nega had been missing for some time... I don't know, I have a bad feeling about this." She hugged herself.

"Ah, is that it? Don't worry Blaze. I'm sure everything is fine. Besides, no matter what he throws at us, he'll never beat us and get the Sol emeralds."

She frowned. "But... YOu shouldn't be involved in this. It is my sole duty to protect the-"

"Oh, come on." Silver rolled his eyes. He was tired of listening to the same speech every time he mentioned the emeralds. "You know you can count on me to protect these. They are important not just to you and me, but to our whole world."

The cat nodded at her friend. Still, it bothered her that sometimes she had to depend on others to do something she was supposed to do.

But still, she couldn't get rid of that feeling of uncertainty.

"I know that, Silver. I'm just nervous because the doctor hasn't done anything for some time. I fear he's planning something big." The hedgehog shrugged in response

"Maybe he just gave up stealing the emeralds."

The cat threw him an incredulous look. "As if that man would give up. He's one of the most persistent people I have ever seen." She looked back to the window and sighed. "I just want to protect my kingdom. My people need me. And I can't rest assured without knowing if they are safe."

The hedgehog smiled at the cat. He admired deeply her love for her people. There was no doubt that she was the best person possible to rule that kingdom, and he respected her for that. He placed a hand in her shoulder.

"What would your people think if they saw your insecurity and your anxiousness? Loosen up! Just enjoy the peace, if anything happens we'll be there. You have to be strong for your people, ya'know."

The cat smiled at her friend "You're right Silver... Maybe I'm overthinking things." The hedgehog returned a grin. "You sure are!"

The two laughed together for a while, before Silver suddenly seemed to have an idea

"Hey, you know what? How about we go eat something?". The hedgehog proposed. Blaze smiled "That sounds good." They then started heading back to the dining table.

Until they heard an explosion.

Alarmed, both ran to the window, and they could see a huge fire and a lot of smoke coming from a house a bit far away from the castle. They also heard the sound of machine guns from several directions and a few more explosions. Blaze's eyes widened in horror.

"W-What's going on?!" The princess asked in confusion and desperation. The hedgehog seemed just as surprised. "I have no idea!"

Just then, the dining hall's door was burt open by Gardon, the koala, who had a desperate look in his face.

"Princess! It's Eggman Nega! H-He's attacking the city with an army of robots!"

"WHAT?!" The princess threw another look through the window, and she could make the image of a large robot blowing up a house with a laser. She turned back to the koala with an angered expression.

"Send the troops! Protect the town!"

The koala nodded then ran away to warn the troops. He came back later recieving the word from their warlord that the troops had been sent and the situation was being dealt with. He quickly explained to situation to the princess, who still seemed angry and worried.

Soon they heard another explosion, but this one seemed to have hit the castle. A soldier came in the room and kneeled before Blaze.

"Your higness! The robots are trying to infiltrate the castle!" The cat's eyes widened.

"They're after the emeralds! I have to keep them safe." She said. Just then, a flying robot appeared outside the window and started shooting at Blaze's direction, but she was saved at the last second y Silver's telekinetic powers, which he used to push her away from the bullets. With his other hand, he controlled the robot and smashed it into the wall. He then turned to Blaze and yelled.

"It's not safe here! We have to hurry to the emeralds!" Blaze nodded, and ran off, with Silver, Gardon and the soldier behind her. They heard a few robots entering through the window from earlier, and they quickly managed to leave the room and lock the doors from outside. As they left, they saw a few armored soldiers outside, waiting for their princess. The soldier from earlier yelled at them.

"Protect the Princess! Don't let her be harmed!"

The small group placed nodded affirmatively and placed their hands in their forehead. "Yes sir!"

A small group of robots emerged from the hallway, and the ones in the dining room started shooting the doors open. The soldiers surrounded Blaze and the others and raised their oversized shields at all directions, protecting everyone from the bullets.

"Escort me to the Sols emeralds, FAST!" Blaze commanded. The soldiers nodded and started moving. The sound from bullets being deflected by the shield made all of them aprehensive. Silver managed to use his powers and smash two robots together, but more robots appeared after them. He snarled in annoyance "Damn, how many of them there are?!"

Blaze managed to slip one arm through the shields and throw a fireball at one robot, causing it to explode. The soldiers quickly moved in, and after some time they managed to clear the way from the robots. They finally reached the room where the emeralds were and they locked it from the inside. Blaze quickly ran to the safe where the emeralds were. It seemed it was intact. "Good, they're safe.."

She quickly opened it and placed the emeralds in a well protected case, that could only be opened by a pyrokinetic. Soon they could tell the robots had caught up with them, as they heard noises outside.

"This way, Princess!" Gardon pointed to a door at the opposite side of the room, and everyone rushed to it. After all of them passed the doors, they locked it up. They were now in another corridor, and they didn't waste time in running. soon, robots invaded through the windows and the ceiling, scattering rubbles and broken glass everywhere. Blaze and Silver took the offensive and started to burn and smash the robots, while some soldiers protected the harmless Gardon and others fought bravely against the robots, by piercing them with spears and shooting them with muskets.

But no matter how many they defeated, lots of others appeared, and they soon found themselves surrounded. The hedgehog and the cat dodged as many blasts as they could, and the soldiers also did their best at protecting both. But hey were being outnumbered.

They had no other choice. Gardon ran as fast as he could and opened a certain door, as he yelled for everyone to follow him. Blaze and Silver ran towards the door as they kept dogding the robots's attacks and as they kept blowing them up. When they managed to enter, they noticed they were in the room wit the dimensional portal, and that Gardon was already proceeding to turn on. Blaze widened her eyes.

"What are you doing Gardon?" She asked, knowing it wasn't something good. Silver faced her, a serious expression in his face that Blaze couldn't remember having ever seen.

"Blaze, you have to get out of here. Take the emeralds with you!"

Blaze knew that was coming, and she quickly shook her head, not accepting it. "No way! I have to stay here and protect my kingdom and my people!"

The sounds of the robots fighting the soldiers could be heard, and from what they heard they knew the soldiers were losing. Silver grabbed both of Blaze's shoulders and glared deeply in to her eyes. "Listen to me! If these emerald fall at Nega's eyes, it'll be the end of our dimension! You HAVE to keep them safe!"

Blaze shook her head even more and now had an angered expression! "I can't leave everyone here!"

Just then the door bursted in, and a giant menacing robot slowly approached the cat, who looked at it and froze in fear. The robot raised a metallic claw and lauched it at Blaze, but something stopped it.

Or, rather, someone.

Before Blaze could understand what happened, she saw the robot thrusting it's claw through Silver, who jumped in the way. The hedgehog vomited some blood, while the cat widened her eyes in total horror "SILVER!"

Frowning and with the last of energy he had, he used his powers and made Blaze fly at the portal's direction. "GO!"

"NO!" The cat cried, but soon she found herself getting sucked by the portal, and the last thing she saw was Silver's body falling to the ground in a pool of blood.

When she opened her eyes again, it was total silence. The complete chaos from a few seconds ago was gone. She was alone in the middle of nowhere, and all she had with her was the case containing the Sol emeralds. She looked up at the night sky, eyes still widened and full of surprise. She felt the tears coming to her eyes, and she remembered the tragic fate of her best friend.

"Silver...!" She bursted in tears, not being able to keep them. She cried for what seemed like hours, until she eventually ran out of tears. She slowly got up and she saw that she was at the top of a plateau in a wasteland. Despite that, she was able to tell that she was at Sonic's dimension.

The cold night breeze gently danced around her, giving a freezing sensation at her eyes eyes and face. She quickly got rid of her tears. The earlier events still fresh on her mind. She clenched her fists in anger. He attacked her city. He harmed her people. He destroyed her palace. And he killed her friend. Anger consuming her, Blaze gritted her teeth as she unconsciously burst her body in flames. "Eggman Nega... I'll make you pay..." She muttered.

But soon the fire around her body subsided and she fell to her knees. It was then she realized how fatigued she was. Forcing herself up once again, she scanned her surroundings for a place where she could sleep. After struggling not to think about the recent events she entered a cave and, after concluidng it was safe, she curled herself into a ball and, after a few minutes, finally drifted into sleep, while hugging the case that held the emeralds responsible for all this.

End of Chapter 1

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