Author's note
Hello, I am the author of the fan written piece of fiction that you are currently reading. This is another story I'm working on in addition to my other Sonic fanfic, Chaos Frequency. This fanfic however, will be free of fan characters, so sorry anyone who liked reading about Neco and the others. You can expect to see these random notes from myself at the beginning and end of each chapter.
Sonic: Ahem!
Yes, yes, Sonic and the others shall share their thoughts as well… As I put them through torture whenever I feel like it.
Shadow: Don't even think about it.
This is my fan-fic. Therefore, I have control over everything that occurs… However Shadow, be a good boy, and I might just reward you.
Shadow: …This is degrading…
I know
NOW ONTO THE FIC!
Additional Note: This takes place a few years after the events of Shadow the Hedgehog (I have yet to play Sonic Next Gen…)

Call of the Chaos: Last Hope

Chapter 1

Aboard the ARK, in Doctor Gerald Robotnik's private study

Shadow the hedgehog, the ultimate life form, ran his crimson eyes over the various documents that he had scattered about the desk once again. He picked a file from the seemingly unorganized mess atop the desk, and began to flip through it. The ebony hedgehog had saved the same planet that the space station was in orbit around, killing the black arms leader and destroying their comet. And before that he had sacrificed his life to save the planet from his own creator's anger at the people who lived on that planet, and had been brought back through means unknown, and had assisted in saving the planet from an android. And yet still he was unwelcome. People feared him, and cast him away, the same people who he had fought so hard to protect.

Then there was GUN… Shadow's eyes narrowed in hatred. The Guardian Unit of Nations, as they called themselves, was as a whole useless. Time and time again as the world was in need, all they proved that all they were good for was pushing around those who were too weak to defend themselves. The GUN Commander, even after the truth had been revealed, still had an unexplained hatred for Shadow… Though he no longer voiced it aloud, as he realized it was also the fault of GUN itself that Maria and so many others died aboard the ARK that day… GUN only seemed capable of making a bad situation worse…

Shadow grew frustrated as he continued through the file. Although he had placed his past behind him, the ARK was still the closest thing to a home he ever had. He had recently started to go through Professor Gerald's paperwork, hoping that he might learn something more about himself. He did not admit it, but he also hoped that he would find something that would tell him how he could spend the rest of his nearly endless life, as he was ageless and could not die from illness. His life was simple now, but he felt empty… He lacked something to make himself have the will to continue on. He needed a goal of some sort, or just something that would ease this feeling of absolute nothingness that his life had become filled with.

Shadow let out a growl of annoyance. "Nothing…" He muttered under his breath. "…This is pointless!" he finally yelled as he threw the file across the room where it collided with a bookcase, knocking a few of the thinner volumes off the shelf and scattering the documents within the file across the floor. Shadow just glared at them for a moment before he let out a sigh. "I shouldn't have done that…" One thing that Shadow had decided upon recently, was that he had to learn to control his anger. Anger had lead to the downfall of several of the strongest, and Shadow never intended to allow himself to suffer from the same weaknesses of others.

Shadow began to pick up the fallen books and scattered papers, when something caught his eye. It was a simple volume that lacked a title or any form of label. Normally a book such as this would be easily overlooked, but for some reason Shadow picked it up and began to flip through it. The first few pages were completely blank, however soon he came to something that was written in a very familiar handwriting that was very cramped, despite being the only thing on its page. "Gerald Robotnik's final journal – The truth of project Shadow that time did not allow to be known." Shadow read aloud as his eyes slowly widened.

'I pray that this journal remains unfound by the military, as they shall soon shut down the ARK and all projects taking place aboard it. I have made startling discoveries concerned Shadow. If someone is reading this, then you must already know of what is to occur fifty years from the time I am writing these very words. Should Shadow be unable to stop the events already set into motion, I plead that the information you shall learn be used immediately. While it is true that I began project Shadow as a way to find a cure for the illness that my daughter Maria suffers from, I soon learned that there is far more to this than I first thought… There is not nearly enough time before the military comes for me to make changes to the plans I have already laid for Shadow without drawing more attention than I can safely have upon myself, and I dare not write more, in the event that the military does locate this book. I shall however reveal where to locate the information I have gathered in the database. The key is the final thing that I continue the ultimate life form project for.'

Shadow closed the book and placed it back on the bookshelf. He said nothing, and simply made his way to the bridge of the ARK, where the main terminal resided. Shadow stepped up to the large computer and activated it. It took quiet some time for the old machine to finish uploading, but eventually it was running again, awaiting command. "Computer, locate database. Keyword, last hope." Shadow said, having figured out the professor's simple yet suitable puzzle. "Searching… database found. Voice recognition in progress… Voice recognized. Access to database granted." The cool artificial voice of the computer announced.

Several files opened, but the one that obviously demanded Shadow's attention first was a typed document by Professor Gerald.

'Shadow, if you are the one reading this, then by now you have defeated the black arms and are concerned about who you are, or your simple curiosity has lead you here. If someone else has accessed this information, unless Shadow was unable to defeat Black Doom, I ask that you leave this information be. Regardless of who is reading, within this database is information concerning project Shadow that I did not have time to make alterations in my already made plans.

While observing the genetic sample from Black Doom, I noticed there was something about the DNA structure. There was a segment that did not seem to match up to the rest of the genetic code of the black arms. I later determined this segment to be the portion that allowed them to use the power of the seven chaos emeralds. I became intrigued by this portion of DNA, and through research, I learned that it was more out of place than I originally believed. It more closely resembled the genetic structure of the various species of mobians that live on earth, rather than the aliens from the black comet. Specifically the genetic code matched up with a particular lineage of mobian hedgehogs. I obtained a sample of this hedgehog family's DNA. This discovery proved to be an immense relief as I would not need to make Shadow one of those horrible black arms, and the start of yet more discoveries…

While creating Shadow, I took the genetic code from the hedgehog mobians and altered it, making Shadow resemble the black arms so that Black Doom would not suspect anything. Shadow however is free of their hive like mental control, and has his free will.

The family of hedgehogs knows nothing about project shadow, and I do not wish them to have to get involved unless absolutely necessary. In the event that the Black Arms cannot be stopped by Shadow, I implore whoever reads this to contact the most able of them, and ask of them to fight for our world's safety.

-- Professor Gerald Robotnik'

Shadow closed the word document and began to look through the various files. Most of them were complicated diagrams or equations involving the connection between the power of the chaos emeralds and various DNA samples Gerald had obtained. Shadow didn't know what to think of everything he had learned yet, so he simply continued to look through the database. Finally he found a file containing a family tree of the hedgehogs that Gerald had talked about. Not surprisingly, it was outdated as the information was over fifty years old.

"…Computer, access the world governments' files and search for information relevant to this family." Shadow commanded the computer. "Accessing… Searching… one file located." The computer informed him. The file contained several documents, each one seeming to describe a member of the family, simply showing general information such as names and physical descriptions. Shadow checked the two most current documents, a married couple apparently. "Gender: male, Status: Deceased… Gender: Female, Status: Unknown, presumed deceased… This is pointless." Shadow muttered to himself. The information was pretty much useless to him if the two were dead.

"There is another piece of data within the file, however the information is incomplete. Do you wish to display it?" The computer inquired. "…Yes." Shadow said. He had nothing better to do anyways. The document opened up. It read 'Name: Unknown, Status: Unknown, Current residence: Unknown, Age: If alive, would be 18 years and 11 months.' Shadow was about to dismiss the document as being as useless as the others. "…Wait a minute." He said aloud as he read on. 'Quill color: Blue, Eye Color: Green, Last known location: Central City' Below all this, there was 'Most recent known photo:' fallowed by a picture… The picture was of a small, slightly chubby, one year old Sonic the Hedgehog.

"…I don't believe it." Shadow said aloud. "…I don't fing believe it."

("Well I don't show off, don't criticize. I'm just living by my own feelings. And I won't give in won't compromise, 'cuz I only have a stead. Fast. Heart-of-gold!") The lyrics sang in the head of the world famous blue blur. He was running, his favorite thing to do. Sure he got to run all the time, but usually it was because he had to get somewhere fast, or use his speed to thwart whatever plot Eggman had thought up. Sure he enjoyed doing that, but when he had the most fun was when he was able to run like he was now. Of his own free will, with nothing to hold him back or force him into it. To him, he was experiencing freedom itself.

Unfortunately, Sonic's memory kicked in at that moment. He knew he was supposed to be somewhere… But where? "…Ah man! I was supposed to be at Tails' place!" He said as he remembered his two tailed side-kick needed him for a research project. Sonic skidded to a halt so that he could check his surroundings. "Station Square? Well, at least I'm on the same continent. Gotta get to Central City, now!" He said, voicing his thoughts aloud as he took off running again.

The two tailed teenage genius paced back and forth as he checked his clock again. He was getting a little fed up. ("You'd think that he'd be on time at least once!") He thought angrily as he stared at his feet, as if checking to see if he was wearing a path in the floor of his workshop. In one corner of the already crowded shop was crammed several pieces of equipment, most of which seemed like the young fox had taken apart several heart rate monitors and somehow rigged them together into one device.

Tails' ear twitched as he heard the familiar sound of a sonic boom as his friend whose name was the former of those two words skidded to a halt just inside the door. "Finally! You're over two hours late!" Tails yelled at the famous blue blur. "I know, I know, I messed up. Let's just get this over with now that I am here." Sonic said. He was always glad to see his best bud; however Tails' most recent research project involved a long time of doing something he hated. Remaining calm and peaceful, while sitting as perfectly still as he physically could.

Sonic let out a sigh as he sat on the wooden stool as Tails began to attach the various monitors to him. "Tails, you just did this a half a weak ago. I doubt there's going to be a significant change in that amount of time." He said. "I know, but I need to take the measurements at regular intervals or the results will become inaccurate." Tails explained. "Knuckles nearly socked me in the face out of annoyance." The fox added with a chuckle. Sonic laughed as he imagined how Tails managed to rope the guardian of the master emerald into his experiment as well.

The project itself was something about measuring the various levels of energy, similar to the energy released by the chaos emeralds, within the subjects being measured under various situations. Tails had tried to get information about chaos energy from Shadow for the project; however the ebony hedgehog had refused to render any form of assistance. So Tails was forced to rely on what little data he already had.

"…Are we done yet?" Sonic asked. He was bored out of his mind at just sitting there letting the little fox look at the various machines while scribbling things down on his notepad. He was staring at a crack in the wall pretending that it served some form of entertainment for him, when he noticed his young masterminded friend's eyes were widening. "I don't understand…" Tails muttered. "Don't understand what?" Sonic asked. "It's nothing. Ok, now focus on your inner chaos energy, like you do when using the emerald's power or do things like chaos control-" Tails was instructing. "Yeah I know, we've been over this before Tails. You don't need to explain to me how to do it." Sonic interrupted as he closed his eyes. He slowly began to extend internal senses, searching for that familiar sensation that chaos energy gave him when he used it. At full strength, it was like having his body engulfed in fire and soaked in ice all at once, but rather than be unbearable, the combination created a pleasant sensation that raced across his nervous system. Sonic found that same feeling, and began to focus his entire mind on it, forcing it to increase in size and flow through his body.

Sonic was interrupted in this process however as one of the devices suddenly broke, letting out a shower of sparks. Tails began yelling as he pulled the plugs out for all of his strange creations, several of which had begun to smoke. "…You broke the monitors…" Tails said as he stared at them. "…uhh, oops?" Sonic said with a shrug, not really sure what to say. "…Your internal chaos energy levels went so high… that the machines literally broke just trying to measure them…" Tails said in disbelief. "…Well, at least you saw significant change in a half a week." Sonic said with a nervous chuckle.

Shadow gathered up all the paperwork, computer disks, and other forms of information that he had found, and had begun to place them back where he found them. He picked up the green chaos emerald that he had brought aboard the ARK and stared at it for a second. "…No, it'll be safer here." He decided, setting it down again. He was headed back for earth. He needed a few answers to what he had discovered. True he would be exhausted after chaos controlling down to the surface of the planet without an emerald, but he didn't feel like taking the risk of GUN attacking at an inconvenient time and causing him to lose such a valuable item.

"Computer, set lock down mode." Shadow commanded. "Lock down mode initiated… the ARK is now secure." The system's artificial voice responded. "Right." Shadow said simply as he turned to one of the several windows on the space station to stare at the blue sphere that was his destination. "…Chaos, CONTROL!" He yelled. With that, he disappeared in a flash of light.

Halfway across the space station, a room unlocked and the internal lights began to flicker on. "Subject mental restoration at 97.2." The ARK's computer's voice stated to the empty space colony. "Repeat, subject Maria Robotnik mental restoration at 97.2" The voice stated.

And that's all you get for the first chapter!
Shadow: … THE HELL?! WHAT THE WAS ALL THAT?!
Sonic: Heh, I broke Tails' toy without even trying…
Tails: Sonic! That cost a lot of money to make!
Sonic: …Uhh… opps?
Shadow: THERE IS NO WAY THAT ANY PART OF MY GENETIC CODE IS SIMILAR TO THAT FAKER'S!
…Shut up, didn't you read the last line of the fic?
Shadow: What does it matter? goes to read it …What the…
Yep. Now you behave or you won't find out what that was all about.
Shadow: …I hate you sometimes.
I know you do.
Comment, review, whatever! Just give me inspiration to keep writing people!

Oh, and Merry Christmas or whatever winter holiday you celebrate.