End of Times
The red and black hedgehog looked at the legions of aliens with indifferent eyes. Though he was giving the same nonchalant stare he always gave, a marathon of thoughts were running through his head. Here he stood, in the center of the Black Comet, as he wondered what he must do with his brothers and sisters. With Black Doom's defeat, their inner hive mentality kicked in. The death of their king made them seek orders from their next ruler, and that just so happened to be Shadow himself.
The hedgehog could have easily torn through their ranks, as a miniscule amount of Chaos Emerald energy flowed through his blood, but instead, he took pity on his brethren. It wasn't their fault their father was an evil megalomaniac, hell-bent on devouring the citizens of Mobius. They were just, following orders. And now, it was his orders they followed.
"Shadow!" a small, feminine voice echoed behind him.
The hedgehog closed his eyes at first. How she got in here, he'd never know, but he could tell she was tired. She was a short, blonde haired girl, wearing dirty and dingy black overalls, with a red undershirt. Her heart beat was irregular, but he couldn't tell if it was due to fear or exhaustion.
"Shadow." a robotic voice came too.
"Shadow... what are you doing?" more mature woman's voice questioned.
The hedgehog turned around slowly after that. It was his team, Hope Kintobor, E-123 Omega, and Rouge the bat. In their eyes (save for Omega, of course), looks of questions.
"Shadow what are you doing?" Hope spoke up first.
The hedgehog gave her a glare, before looking off to his people. Raising his hand, a Black Wing flew down to it. Opening its mouth, it playful nipped on his finger, causing the hedgehog to breath in heavily.
"I can't kill them..." he suddenly said, his voice so low.
"What do you mean?" Rouge questioned.
"I said, I can't kill them... I feel them inside me, like, they were once apart of me."
"Shadow, we know Black Doom created you," Hope said, "but that doesn't mean you're apart of his army! These creatures, they are... Evil!"
Shadow immediately shot the girl a glare, causing her to secretly regret her words.
"They aren't evil Hope... just, misguided."
"But they destroy, and kill, and maim, and-"
"So does Omega." the hedgehog interrupted, "But we changed him, didn't we?"
Hope looked down to the ground, before dragging her eyes up to her robotic ally.
"But Shadow..." Rouge said.
"I'm leaving with them."
His comrades looked at him with surprised eyes. They were silent at first, before Hope gained the courage to speak up.
"Are... are you kidding me!?" she said in pure astonishment.
"I don't expect you to understand." he continued, "I just needed you to know..."
"Shadow this is stupid!" Rouge announced, "Where are you going to go? And how are you going to get there?"
"I... I don't know." he said, crossing his arms, "I just know... I have to lead them."
"But why Shadow?" the bat went on, "Why do you have to?"
"What do I have to look forward to here, Rouge?" the hedgehog replied.
Her wings bent down in sadness, before she said,
"How... how could you say that?"
"I don't have anything here for me Rouge."
"But... what about G.U.N.?" Hope asked, "You... you promised to help us."
"I did..." he said solemnly, "but that was so long ago. I made that promise for Maria's sake but..." turning his head skyward, the hedgehog took note of the many eyes belonging to his people, "One day I looked up in the sky, and I saw Ark... I remembered all of those happy times I spent with Maria, and Professor Gerald, and the many scientist of the space colony. It made me think... what do I have going for me here... I'm immortal. One day, everyone I know and love will die, and I'll just be here... alone. I'm not having that happen again."
There was silence in the air, save for the many sounds of the Black Arms. Rouge opened her mouth to say something, but a sudden radio frequency from her wrist communicator stopped her.
"A...nt... R...uge." it said at first.
The bat tinkered with her machine for a few minutes at first, before answering with a,
"Hello! Agent Rouge here."
"Agent Rouge!" it was Commander Tower, "What is the status on you and your team? Where's Shadow? We can't get in contact with him."
"Don't worry Commander, we're with Shadow as we speak."
"Good! Tell him to hurry up and destroy that comet! There's a Hero's Welcome waiting for you all."
"Understood."
With a distinctive clicking sound, the communicator shut off. Rouge at first smiled, but one more look at her distant friend caused her to frown.
"Did you here that Shadow?" she said, "A Hero's welcome..."
The hedgehog sighed at first, before looking at his ally's purple eyes.
"I'm sorry Rouge... I'm not going back."
The bat gave him a look, one that showed she was hurt, before turning away. Hope crossed her arms, her eyes beginning to tear up, and then dove her face into Omega's cold hard arm.
"Come with me."
Hope and Rouge's eyes shot at Shadow like daggers. Slowly, he turned away from the Black Wing he was petting, and gazed at his friends. A rare smile came to his face, before he said,
"Come with me."
"S-Shadow..." Rouge said.
"What are you talking about?" blurted out Hope.
"You can come with me."
"Shadow... we can't come with you..." the bat remarked lowly.
"I'm not making you." he said, "I'm asking you... come with me."
Once more silence filled the air. And then, Omega stepped forward. He had remained largely quiet throughout the argument, but now he was walking to his ally.
"I will come with you." he said, his voice overbearing as usual.
"Omega! You can't leave!" Hope said.
"Shadow is right, like him I have no use to be here. One day, Dr. Robotick will die, and my primary motivation will be useless. There will be no point in proving I am the best."
"But Omega..." Hope said at first.
Gazing skyward, she found the many sparkling eyes of the demonic alien race. It was so surreal. A few weeks ago, they attacked, and now, Shadow, her best friend, was planning on leaving with them. They tried to kill him, and now... he was going with them.
"Why are you leaving with them?" she asked slowly.
"We share blood, Hope," Shadow said, "and they rely on me."
Share blood. Those words floated in her head. Share blood, like a family. For as long as she could remember, the young blonde girl's family was less than amicable. Dr. Robotnick, Snively... those were her only living relatives. Two men who have tried to take over Mobius numerous times. Sure, she worked with G.U.N. and everyday, she brought little respect back to her family, but alas... she was the only Kintobor worth mentioning. Gazing back up to Shadow, and the Black Arms, she wondered if her friend now saw those creatures as his family. He never had a family, though he said Maria was like a sister to him, and Gerald was like a father.
There was another interruption from Rouge's communicator.
"Agent Rouge!" Commander Tower barked, "What is going on!?"
Instead of answering him, Rouge covered the communicator with her hand, before yelling out,
"Come one Shadow! Stop this foolishness."
The dark hedgehog crossed his arms, and answered with a brief,
"No."
"G.U.N. will prepare to destroy the Black Comet in fifteen minutes using the Eclipse Cannon... we should prepare to leave by then." Hope said.
Rouge looked at her, her face filled with confusion.
"We?" she said.
"I'm coming Shadow... with you."
She outstretched her hand slowly, and grabbed onto Shadow's. A smile spread on her lips, as she stepped forward into his midst. Rouge looked at them, confused and unsure of what to do next.
"Are you coming Rouge?" Shadow asked.
She cocked her head toward his, but couldn't bear his sight.
"I... I... I can't..." she said weakly.
Shadow frowned, but nodded nonetheless.
"I understand Rouge."
Suddenly his fur exploded into a golden hue. His eyes became a fiery intensity, while his quills began to float up from his power.
"Fifteen minutes before they fire the Eclipse Cannon, huh?" he said, his voice now filled with vigor.
"We'll be out of the planet's orbit much before then."
Looking down to Rouge, he gave he another heartfelt smile.
"CHAOS CONTROL!" he roared out seconds after that.
...
Clearing a mile for the fastest thing alive was easier done than said. But now, as he zoomed over crumbled hill after crumbled hill toward Westopolis, he felt like the air was leaving him. Never before had he felt such fear when it came to his enemies. Black Arms... they were something he had never experience before, but as fast as they arrived, they were now gone. Defeated, so easily, by his rival Shadow. He watched the black and red hedgehog defeat the alien leader single-handedly, an impressive feat if he could say so himself. But that wasn't what made him so tense, it was what happened to Sally in the cross fire. She was alright, thankfully, but she would be in intensive care for quite some time. And so, as she was healing, he was making his way to the Black Comet. He needed to watch it be destroyed, he had to make sure of it.
With speeds rivaling an F-5 Tornado, the blue hero of Mobius appeared. Standing on the outskirts of Westopolis, he gasped at the carnage the city went through. It looked worse than Station Square did when Perfect Chaos attacked. Buildings were crumbling, the bodies of soldiers, innocents, and Black Arms littered the ground, and in the center the cause of all of the chaos.
Like a demonic seed, the Black Comet stood in the center, a series of tendrils sticking from its body. G.U.N. helicopters flew around it, while G.U.N. cars, jeeps, and tanks, drove on the streets around it. Any minute now, that hellish mothership would be gone, and Sonic had a first row seat to it.
"This is a restricted zone." a G.U.N. beetle said as it floated near him, "It would be wise if you made your escape immediately."
Sonic scoffed at the machine, before giving the best smile he could muster.
"Suuuuurre." he said, "I'm just waiting for a pal of mine."
Like another gust of wind, he ran up to the roof of a stable building. With the Black Comet before him, it only being a few miles away, the heroic hedgehog fell back to enjoy the view. But something caught his eye. On the top of the Black Comet, he noticed a small yellow flame. Focusing his eyesight, he realized that small flame was Shadow.
"Hey Shadow!" he yelled over the city.
The black hedgehog in question didn't notice his rival as he gazed down the great mothership. Gazing up quickly, his acute super eyesight could tell the Eclipse Cannon was close to firing. It would be easy for him to get the Black Comet past the blast, one Chaos Control would do that, but the beam would fire regardless, and if it did, Westopolis would be gone forever. He couldn't let the fully charged beam hit the planet, and nor would he. So, looking down to his wrist communicator, the hedgehog spoke to Hope.
"Got any ideas."
"If you mean on disrupting the aim of the Eclipse Cannon, then yes. Shadow, how fast are you in Hyper Space?"
"Hyper Space?"
"You know! Whenever you use Chaos Control and time stops, I call it Hyper Space."
"Oh... Hyper Space."
"Just tell me how fast you are in it?"
"Hope, I'm Super Shadow, my speed is limitless, but we only have one shot at this."
"I know, I know! How long will your Super form last?"
"I can feel it ebb away slowly, so we have to work quickly."
"I have an idea!" Omega suddenly interrupted, "If we can get the Black Comet to propel itself into the side of the Ark, we can disrupt it aim."
"And if we hit it in a certain spot, we can get it to fire its beam into space! It won't hit anyone!" Hope added.
"Fine, but where should I aim the Black Comet!" Shadow asked.
"Uhhh... uhhh... A few miles below the Eclipse Cannon itself! This requires precise aim!"
"How much is 'a few miles'?"
"Uhh... 7.7 miles precisely!"
"Understood... wish me luck!"
Super Shadow leaped high into the air, before darting to the Black Comet's bottom. Slamming his hands onto its underside, he concentrated as hard as he could before roaring out,
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
The Black Comet was filled with a glorious golden light that spread over each inch of its body. After three minutes of the golden light growing, it finally covered the Black Comet. Moments later, it disappeared in great flashing light. Sonic looked at this display with happy and hope filled eyes. Finally, after what felt like forever, this horrible nightmare was over. Jumping up and down, he cheered for the mothership's demise. But suddenly, he felt a gloved hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Rouge's sad face. And it was then he knew something was wrong.
...
The Black Comet reappeared in space after a few meager seconds. A great distance away, the Eclipse Cannon was nearing its final charge. Warping the Black Comet to space took a lot out of the black and red hedgehog though, and now he was slowing down. He was still invincible in space, but that would only last him a few more minutes. Flying up near the top of the Black Comet, Shadow sized up his mission. He had to, in Hyper Space, fling the Black Comet exactly 7.7 miles below the Eclipse Cannon. A feat that was nigh impossible. Fortunately, Shadow was created to make the impossible, possible. So, closing his eyes, he began to focus on the last bit of Chaos Energy inside of his body.
"CHAOS CONTROL!" he roared out in the vacuüm of space, causing the entire fabric of reality to stop immediately.
He landed on the Black Comet's back, as he felt the power in his body seep away. His fur was slowly turning from the powerful golden color, to the black he was known for. Shaking his head though, he forced on. Pressing both hands on the Black Comet's surface, he pushed as hard as he could. Slowly but surely, the Black Comet began to increase speed. Not pleased with what was happening though, he pushed harder, and harder. As his Super energy faded away, the Black Comet increased in speed. Gazing up to the Eclipse Cannon, he noticed it was slowly beginning to charge again, showing time was about to set itself back in motion. Focusing even harder, the hedgehog forced himself on.
"It's time for me to finish this!" he roared.
At that moment, he used up the rest of his Chaos energy to make himself into a one-man jet engine. Looking like a golden fire, Shadow forced the Black Comet's speed to reach unimaginable heights. It cleared the distance in space between it and the Ark at an instant. Colliding with the great space colony, it sent its aim off angle, and caused its star piercing gun to fly far off in the opposite direction. Pointing to the depths of space, it fired wildly, hopefully hitting no one. The Black Comet on the other hand went into the opposite direction of the planet destroying ray. Shadow's golden burst fire died out, and the hedgehog grew tired.
"Shadow!" Hope's voice called out on his wrist communicator, "Shadow! Please don't tell me you died!"
Silence answered her.
"Please Shadow..."
The black and red hedgehog in question found it hard to breath in space this time, despite all of the other times he traveled through it. Waving his arms around, he also found it odd that he could not move.
"Hope..." he said, through the black darkness.
A slick surface brushed against his shoulder, causing him to look down weakly. It was a Black Hawk. The winged member of the Black Arms wrapped its appendages around its master, before flying off to an opening in the Black Comet.
"Don't worry, Hope." Shadow said, lowly, "I'm alright."
"Oh my... don't scare me like that again, Shadow!" she answered.