*Blazie's Public Service Announcement: Welcome, and thanks for stopping by Dark Past, Shadowed Future! There are a couple of things that you need to know before continuing on. First, this story is officially discontinued. So, there is nothing more to be said after Chapter 7, despite what the closing note says. Why? Because this story did not go the way I wanted it to. I mean, the general plotline is alright and everything, but how I went about it was all wrong. To the point that I lost all willingness to try and fix it, so I just basically killed it. Second, I wrote this as a freshman, so my writing style is nothing you'd wanna give a Pulizer prize to, trust me. I can't even look at it to read it, and I'm forcing to keep my eyes forward as I type this little message up. So, please don't flame me for that, I know my writing sucks here, but it's your own perogative to continue reading. I'm not forcing you to, and I'd actually recommend that you didn't. I'm sure you'd like to keep your lovely eyes within their sockets for a few decades, I dunno. Well, with those things in mind, go ahead with reading if you so choose, and do try your best to keep your last meal within the confines of your stomach! lol*
**We begin our tale at a shoreline setting, nearing sunset, and find a black figure sitting alone on a wooden dock, lost in thought. As we get closer, the creature is revealed to be a hedgehog, black and red in color. His blood-red eyes stare unwavering out into the vastness of the water, as if it will give him the answers he is most desperately searching for...**
Who am I? Really? It was a question that haunted him for as far back as he can remember, which in his case isn't far back at all. Over the course of his time, however, he did discover a lot about his past, but that left him nothing about the future.
"Hmm, hmm," he laughed to himself, breaking the eternal stare that overtook him. "Stupid question." To him, his duty was to save the planet from the evil alien empire that wanted to destroy them all, and that was taken care of, right? A better question, he thought, was,
What now? His future was a blank canvas before him. Returning to look over the water, he pondered his options at this point.
Do I join the heroes, who always throw themselves selflessly into the thick of battle, fighting for whatever they think is right? While dwelling on this, his mind drifted to show him a picture of the blue hedgehog that he had countless encounters with. They were each other's arch-enemy, and the thought of the two of them suddenly just joining together was enough to cause the black hedgehog to shake his head, trying to erase the blue hedgehog from his mind.
No, definitely not. Then if not with the heroes, then who? The villains? The idea intrigued him, but that feeling soon left. What was to be gained from villainy? Power? Money?
Overrated, he thought to himself, returning to look at the horizon. And besides, all that would happen is having an unending battle between him and that pathetic hedgehog, causing more pain than it would be worth. But, if not with the heroes or villains, then what was he to do?
I could go my own way, he considered. But what would I accomplish? What would the purpose be? What... why...
The perplexed hedgehog then held his head in his hands, as the minutes seemed to take hours, all the while being haunted by what's and why's.
*Awww...how sad.... I blame Sega for this! : /*
Meanwhile, a female figure walked through the jungle setting behind where the hedgehog sat. This silhouette is not a human either, but appears to be like a bat. She has a white face with large ears, and a set of sky-blue eyes that revealed this character's sarcastic nature. She also has a pair of black, devilish wings that suit someone with her attitude. As for clothes, she wore a pink top in the shape of a heart and tight black pants. Also on her were long white gloves and white high-top boots with two pink hearts on them. Her eyes spotted the hedgehog on the dock and gave a sly smile while quickening her pace. She found who she was looking for.
*Ooh! Who it could be!*
After what seemed like an eternity, the black hedgehog came to a realization, causing him to stir. "Enough is enough," he said, standing up. "Sulking isn't going to solve anything. If there is a future out there for me, then I guess I gotta go find it!" Unknown to him, the other figure had crept to the dock. Slowly, she sneaked over till she was nearly arm's length away and nervously called out to him,
"Shadow?"
"What the-" Shadow said, simultaneously whipping around and smacking his pursuer square on the cheek with his hand, purely out of reflex. She was sent flying to the ground a few feet away, a red mark where she was attacked. Shadow looked at her with wide eyes, as she was someone he recognized.
"Rouge?! What are you... I mean.... why are you..." Trying to explain himself, a strange feeling circulated throughout Shadow's body, disabling his ability to speak. This sensation was foreign to Shadow, and it made him feel like... it was a bad thing to hurt her, only adding to his confusion. He never felt like this when he knocked Sonic around, but with Rouge, it was different. All that mattered to him now was to try to make things right, hoping that that would remove the stomach-churning pain he was feeling.
"Here." Shadow offered out his hand to help her up. She slapped it away swiftly.
"I can get myself up, thank you," Rouge said with bitter politeness, standing up while still holding on to her cheek.
"You know, that really wasn't necessary." She was rubbing where it was red.
"It's not like I had any intention to, you just scared me. If you wanted my attention, you could have gotten it in a less subtle way."
"Look," she sighed. "I didn't come here to argue. I was just sent to get you."
"Sent? By who?"
"There's a lot to explain, and luckily for you it takes a while to get to where we're going. Now follow me, and I'll straighten out as much as I can."
Rouge flew off in the direction she had come, with Shadow skating behind her. She had a lot of explaining to do.
*Gasp! Did Shadow just show- dare I say it- emotion?! Double gasp! ^_^*
The twosome had traveled quite some ways through the now darkening jungle. Suddenly, Rouge had landed, stopping their progress.
"What's the matter?" Shadow asked, looking around for any signs of danger.
"Nothing's the matter; I just figured that now's a good a time as any to answer any questions you may have." She motioned her hand to make Shadow follow her again, except now they were walking. When they had gotten to a decent pace, Shadow asked,
"So who sent you to come and get me?"
Rouge chuckled quietly to herself. "C'mon, think. Who would be the one person who would send me to find you."
"The doctor?" he said after a moment's thought.
"Bingo."
"But why you? I mean, aren't you still with the government?"
"I am, but he gave me an offer I couldn't refuse," Rouge said with a smile. "I'm still a treasure hunter after all. And I..." Rouge's smile faded at this last sentence. She turned her head away from Shadow, feeling the warmth rush to her cheeks. She was blushing, and she knew it, too, but she wouldn't allow Shadow to see that, or let him know what she was thinking about saying next.
"And what?" Shadow asked, his eyes betraying a little of the curiosity he felt. She allowed her face to cool before responding. Rouge took a deep breath, looked bravely into Shadow's confused eyes, and said defiantly,
"Nothing."
Without warning, she flew off again, only much faster this time. Shadow stared after her for a minute, bewildered, then took off after her, having to skate at his near-fastest just to keep up.
*Hmm... I wonder what Rouge had on her mind... ; )*
Twenty or so minutes later, the two of them had reached a large clearing.
"This is it," Rouge said flatly. It was the first time she and Shadow talked since their last chat.
"Hmph. It doesn't look like much," Shadow said, folding his arms, obviously unimpressed with the lack of fortress in his surroundings.
"Trust me, there's a lot more than meets the eye." Rouge walked over to a bush, and pushed in the center of a purple flower. An intercom appeared quickly out of the bush.
"Name?" a robotic voice asked through the intercom.
"Rouge. Rouge the Bat."
"What is your purpose here?"
"I have business with the doctor. He sent me to retrieve-" Rouge flashed Shadow a quick glance with her blue eyes, which Shadow had immediately caught with his red ones, looking at her with interest. Back to the intercom, Rouge finished softly, "-Shadow."
"You may proceed," the voice had answered, and in a matter of seconds, the intercom was replaced by a narrow chute that could only fit one person at a time.
"Now listen, Shadow," Rouge explained. "This thing goes kind of fast, so be careful. I'll go first."
Shadow simply nodded once, and allowed Rouge to climb in first. Once she stepped in, she turned around, and was whisked swiftly downwards. Shadow followed, and he was pulled down with such a force that it caught him off guard. In a matter of seconds he was sent through a network of transporting tubes that seemed to connect to everywhere in the facility. The system swiftly deposited Shadow into a metallic hallway, and the sudden stop made him stumble when he hit the steel floor. He heard giggling, and discovered that Rouge was already there, laughing athim.
"Very smooth," she said suppressing a laugh. Shadow gave her an icy glare as he regained his balance, sending chills down her spine.
"Hey, I was only messing with you. You've really gotta learn how to loosen up. Now follow me and I'll take you to Eggman."
Rouge took off down the hall; Shadow easily caught up. After a few twists and turns through the base, Shadow asked,
"Why does Eggman want me anyways?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. All he told me to do was to find you. You're not the easiest person to track down, you know. It took me a few hours before I found you at that dock. Just out of curiosity, what were you doing there?"
Shadow sighed as he closed his eyes, turning his head straight. He was hoping he would avoid this. There was no way that he would tell anyone what he was thinking back at the dock, especially Rouge. Suddenly his head perked up, having formulated a plan. Shadow slowly turned his head toward Rouge with a mischievous look on his face.
"How about we make a deal?"
"Oh, yeah? What kind of a deal?" Rouge met Shadow's smirk with one of her own.
"I'll tell you what I was thinking at the dock... if you tell me what you were going to say to me back when we were in the jungle before you flew off."
Rouge turned her head away, as her cheeks began to turn pink with embarrassment.
"Well, I... uh, it's just that..."
"What? Can't you tell me?" Shadow asked mockingly.
"I... just... oh look, we're here," she said with obvious relief.
"Yes, how convenient for you..." he said, slightly disappointed.
*Drat! So close, Shadow!*
They stood in front of two iron doors, which Rouge knocked upon mercilessly.
"Doctor? Doctor! It's Rouge."
"And is Shadow with you?" a familiar voice asked from the other side.
"Would I be here otherwise?! Of course I do!"
"Just to verify," the voice began. "Shadow, if you're there, say 'Aye'."
"There's no way I'm saying that," Shadow said, appalled by the suggestion.
"Eh, close enough. Come in."
The two doors swung inward, revealing a gigantic, circular, metallic room. Along the walls were things like 3D maps of the world, radars, tracker systems, and other unidentifiable pieces of equipment, all adorned with flashing lights. There were also other doors on the walls, most likely leading to the rest of the fortress. In the center of the room was a platform with three or four steps, leading to a desk and a high-backed office chair. The desk only held a small laptop computer, and the chair was faced away from Shadow and Rouge, obscuring its occupant. As the twosome entered the room, the chair suddenly whirled around, revealing the figure to be Dr. Eggman himself.
Eggman was an interesting character to behold. His body was the shaped like, well, an egg, with long arms and legs, while his head was disproportionate to his torso. It held a pair of small, black eyes, a prominent nose, and an unnaturally large brown mustache. He wore a long-sleeved red coat, black pants and shoes, white gloves, and a pair of goggles perched on his head. He stood up, welcoming Shadow and Rouge with, quite literally, open arms.
"Welcome, Shadow and Rouge. I'm so glad you could make it," he said politely.
"Yeah, yeah," Rouge said quickly, waving Eggman's words away. "You have my payment, right?"
Eggman sighed. "Rash as always, aren't we, Rouge?" She shot him a look. "But yes, of course. Eggbot-" At this command, an orange robot with a black sack came out through one of the doors."-give bat-girl here her payment." The robot obeyed, handing the sack to Rouge, then left through the door it came from. Rouge reached in and pulled out a sapphire as big as her fist. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle as much as the gem did as she gazed upon it. Shadow was caught up in this, a look of... admiration creeping on his face, because oddly enough, he found this to be very...
"No, absolutely not!" he said quietly, snapping himself out of his trance. Unfortunately, Eggman and Rouge had heard what he said, and were now both looking at him with curiosity.
"No what, Shadow?" Eggman asked politely.
"Nothing." Shadow turned away from Eggman and Rouge, eyes closed and arms folded, refusing to look at either one of them. Eggman was becoming impatient.
"You see, that's not an acceptable answer. Let's try again. No what, Shadow?"
"Well, that's gonna have to be an acceptable answer, because that's still what you're gonna get." Shadow still stood as he had, and spoke just as calmly. Eggman had become angry at this point. He pounded the desk in frustration. The matter became less about what Shadow was thinking, and more about who had control of the situation- something Eggman was not willing to lose.
"How DARE you defy me!! You will answer me when I talk to you!! For the last time: NO WHAT, SHADOW?!" Eggman shouted.
Shadow was offended by these comments and became infuriated as well. His fists were clenched, and his red eyes bore straight into Eggman's, burning with a fury that no one could match. Both Rouge and Eggman were afraid.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! YOU CANNOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO!! I ONLY TAKE ORDERS FROM ME!! AND AS FOR YOUR STUPID QUESTION, NOTHING!!!!" He was about to attack Eggman when Rouge jumped in front him and grabbed onto both of his shoulders, pushing him back with all her might.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I think someone needs to calm down."
Eggman seized the opportunity. "Yes, Shadow, listen to-" He was cut off by Rouge, who threw him a menacing glare from over her shoulder, hands still clamped firmly onto Shadow.
"Zip it. You've caused enough trouble. Listen to me, you two. I think we all got off on the wrong foot. First, let's put this little incident behind us. Now doctor, kindly explain why you brought me and Shadow here." She slowly released Shadow from her iron grip. He was breathing heavily with rage, but his eyes had softened a little.
"Of course, Rouge, you're right," Eggman began calmly. "Now, the reason I had sent for you Shadow, you too Rouge, is because I need you to retrieve some...'property' for me."
"And that property would just happen to be, oh I don't know, the Chaos Emeralds?" Shadow calmed down as well, shown by the hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Aherm, uh, yes, yes it is. Now as I was saying-"
"Forget it," Shadow said, starting to walk away. He turned around when halfway between Eggman and the door and said, "That's the only reason we're worth anything to you- to be your personal Emerald collectors. Well, I refuse to believe that that's my only purpose, so you can count me out." He was almost to the door when Eggman remarked,
"What if I told you I knew what your true purpose was?"
Shadow stopped in his tracks, eyes widening. Eggman smirked at his own success of regaining control of the situation. There were so many questions that Shadow had. Could the doctor honestly know his purpose? Was this just a trap to get him to comply with Eggman's plan? But most importantly- Was he desperate enough to work for the doctor, even if it was a trap? Shadow sighed as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms.
He was.
"So... where is the first Emerald located..."
Eggman clapped his hands once in jubilation. "That's the spirit! My radars have detected an Emerald in the vicinity of Station Square, perhaps in the Mystic Ruins. But it's too late tonight. You two can start first thing in the morning. Right now, however, you should get some sleep. I've had a room prepared for you to stay in for the time being. To get there, make your way to the East Wing by taking a right when you leave this room, make two lefts, a right, another left, and it's the third door on the right side. Got it?"
Rouge headed towards the door. "Got it. C'mon, Shadow."
Shadow nodded, and walked with Rouge out the door into the cool hallway.
"I expect success out of you two!" Eggman called after them.
Shadow flashed a small smile at this. "Things are gonna get very interesting..." he thought as he and Rouge made their way down the endless corridors, thinking about how his life had managed to take such a drastic turn.
*Woot! I finally finished Part 1! Yay! I'll keep writing regardless if people read this, so expect Part 2 to come out soon! And I apologize to any Sonic fangirl out there for not including him in this one, but don't stop reading! He'll be in the next issue! Really! So don't send me questions and complaints, 'cause I won't care (if they're about Sonic at least). Well, that's all I have to say for now. See ya!*
