A/N: A one-shot I have thought of a while ago while playing Shadow the hedgehog's final boss against Devil Doom for the first time. I had lost the first time I played because I never exactly knew the right controls. I had died and with all of what was happening, I began to think suddenly what would have happened if Shadow the hedgehog actually failed his mission to defeat Devil Doom and bring peace to Earth. I also felt like making a fan-fic with Black Doom/Doom's eye involved in it. Hope you enjoy!
(Edit: April 07, 2014: I believe I have gotten rid of most of the mistakes.)
Shadow the Hedgehog stared at his newly titled arch-nemesis, as well as 'biological father', as they both floated in the air, glaring at each other with deep hatred in their eyes. Nobody dared to move, speak, or even breathe.
Chaos energy swarmed around the hedgehog, but all the same, he could feel it depleting at the second. He attempted to straighten his ragged and beaten form, not wanting to, no matter the cause, appear weak in front of his enemy. The latter could use such knowledge to his advantage.
Nevertheless, the newly named 'Devil Doom' stared at Shadow in amusement.
Shadow then hissed quietly, as for just a second, but still visibly, his amber fur turned to that of an ebony shade. It was back as quickly as it appeared, though. Shadow turned his head to look at a man-made building that structured behind him; the Space Colony ARK.
It became, years after development, his entrance to the life he was to carry on with to this day. It was the place of his 'birth', even if created. It had become his home. He remembered that Sonic and his friends had been there not too long ago. They had escaped, but if Shadow was not to destroy this...monster standing before him, their escape would have been useless.
They were all counting on him. They were counting on him, not Sonic, but him.
They counted on him to fight for a planet that he not long ago hated, and even secretly feared, for they were the ones that caused the death of his apparent friend, 'Maria'. He didn't care for them or anyone at the time, really. They could have all died for all he cared.
-But Devil Doom had, against his will, changed Shadow's opinion towards the planet. He was their only hope left. He was the only one that wasn't affected the slightest by the fog that was soon to be unleashed and used against the others' own free will.
Shadow wasn't paralyzed because of his cursed past, which lay one redeeming fact to be related to Black Doom. Even if he was their only hope, though, if the battle continued like this, they had bet an already lost one. One not to their favors, and they would all would perish to the Black Arms' control.
"Shadow," he heard Sonic's voice cry out suddenly. It took a while, but Shadow noticed that the boy genius, Tails, must have made a communication device to speak to him, even on the go. "You're supposed to be...the ultimate life-form, right? Well, now's the time...to prove it! I know you can do it, Shadow!"
Shadow blinked at that. Did the faker admit that Shadow was better than him? It was as hard as if Shadow would say the same thing to Sonic back, so the azure hedgehog must have meant it.
Shadow nodded his head curtly. Yes, this indeed was the time to prove such a thing.
Shadow looked back at Black Doom, or Devil Doom, and yelled out a battle cry of pure rage as he charged towards him.
"Your attempts of attack are futile, just like everything else the planet has to offer as an offense to hurt me. No matter, I shall finish this." Devil Doom bellowed as he blew fire at the amber hedgehog speeding towards his destination. The flames pushed Shadow back and had exhausted him slightly.
"SHADOW, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" A voice had cried out. It was the voice of that blasted echidna. "DODGE!" he roared.
Shadow grunted but dodged the next blow of fire. How dare that echidna tell him what to do! No matter, he'd get him back. Shadow then flung around Devil Doom with a sonic boom and went to the side which definitely had an eye. Devil Doom's only weakness.
"Shadow!" he heard Rouge yell out. "Stop fighting for a moment, and get some rings! You're running out!" she reminded him.
Shadow grunted, but he nodded his head as he searched for, and found, a few pairs of rings amongst a rock that Devil Doom had shot at him, to Devil Doom's stupidity.
Shadow launched himself at the said boulder and collected the rings. He felt the pressure from the speed of the rock begin to penetrate through his powerful aura. At this, Shadow grunted in slight pain, and he powered up his defense.
"Oh, Shadow! Please win! You're our only hope!" Shadow heard Amy Rose's voice ring out suddenly. Somehow, those words gave him courage, just as her words had apparently encouraged him at the ARK once before. He jumped off the rock and onto a more calm, floating one.
"Shadow, watch out!" Tails cried out as Shadow instantly looked over his shoulder, only to see a new burst of fire heading towards him. Shadow grunted and jumped off the rock as it exploded from the impact. Shadow then heaved heavily and grabbed a few more rings, his eyes never once leaving the dangerous form in front of him.
Pursing his lips together, Shadow held his hand slightly behind his head, powerful energy beginning to form within the said limb. Yelling 'Chaos Spear', a massive bit of golden power slid through his arm and sprang out from his hand to hit Devil Doom in the eye. Devil Doom cried out in pain but continued to be on guard.
"Shadow, since this may as well be my last time speaking with you, I need to tell you something." Shadow suddenly heard the raspy voice that belonged to the doctor say. He looked around and perked his ears up slightly, somewhat interested to hear how important this interruption was. "That thing I told you, about you being one of my robots...it was all a lie! You really are the real Ultimate Life-form my grandfather created. The day you 'died'...you never really died! I used one of my robots to save you when you were in the Earth's atmosphere. Everybody thought you were dead, but I knew you weren't. I kept you in my base under suspended animation. You are the real Shadow, and only you can stop him!"
Shadow took his words to consideration. He felt cautious, but he knew it was the truth.
Somehow, the doctor had actually saved his life. Now, he had to return the favor.
"So... I'm not an android. I am...the real me, Shadow the Hedgehog." Shadow stated slowly, looking himself over.
He then looked at Devil Doom, newfound courage now beginning to build up within the hybrid. "Your days are finished, Doom!" Shadow cried out as he rapidly swung Chaos Spears at Devil Doom's eye.
Feeling the sudden burning sensation, the beast roared out and closed his eye in pain.
At this, Shadow slowly blinked at it. So, that's what's actually happening. He thought that one eye opened in a random order, but no... They kept switching...
Shadow's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a hoard of flames that slammed into his body. Then, after a few more seconds, he heard cruel utters irrupt from Devil Doom. He could see the cold, murderous amusement in his eye. Devil Doom let out an evil cackle.
"You are too late, Shadow. You cannot stop us now. The gas has now reached the planet, and there's nothing you can do to stop us now! The Black Arms will reign supreme!" he roared.
Shadow became stiffened and still after this was said. His gaze intensified on the beast. He could hear nothing. No one silenced the beast's words to prove him wrong. No sound from Sonic or one of his friends to give him fruitless advice. No ardent, cheerfulness coming from Amy, or Rouge's helpful, faithful words. Just plain, dead, utter silence...
"No..." Shadow whispered as more silence other than Devil Doom's sinister laughter filled his ears. "No!" he said more loudly. He grunted as he felt his eyes become moist for a strange reason, and he then felt something unknown to him slide down his cheeks, to land on one of his inhibitor rings...
That was it! It was a final attempt to use, but it was a good enough time than any, now. He could feel his wavering power start to drop even faster. 'No choice...' Shadow thought to himself.
He subconscious traced his left hand over his right arm from shoulder-down until it met with a cold metal substance that was the ring itself.
Shadow then pulled it off, followed by the other, and soon, an aura of new power flushed over him. His eyes gazed intensely once again on Devil Doom. "I'm...I'm going to kill you. You're going to pay for the lives you took from me. As well as the innocent lives you have taken from the humans." Shadow growl turned into a loud, angry battle cry as he rushed quickly to the eye of Devil Doom and preformed a Chaos Blast strong enough to kill a million Black Arms soldiers. Fog from some of Devil Doom's sizzled skin clouded and blinded the hedgehog.
After the fog cleared, Shadow saw the unimaginable.
Devil Doom had blocked out the attack with his wings, which were the only things injured.
The attack had taken all of his power he had left, though...
Shadow's fur switched violently from ebony to amber and back in a repeating cycle. 'No...' he thought as he fell down to a floating rock. He wearily gazed up, ashamed of the weakness showing in his eyes. He had failed Earth...he had failed Maria... '-And it's my fault.' he thought bitterly. 'All...mine...'
"You thought you could stop me, Shadow? That was all you had? Hah, pathetic... All I had to do was raise your ego and pride a little so you could use all of your energy up because you'd think you could win. Once again, that is pathetic! Say good bye, my son." Devil Doom growled as he charged up an attack that would kill Shadow instantly, even in his weak super form.
Shadow growled quietly. 'I could have done something!' he berated himself, only subconsciously paying attention to Devil Doom. '-But...I...no... It's too late.' Shadow looked up as he glared at the form of his father powering up; to of all people, kill his son.
"I'm no son of yours." Shadow whispered. He didn't want to give Devil Doom the chance to kill him. He wanted him to know that he wasn't the one that killed his enemy.
Shadow weakly glanced up at Devil Doom and smiled crookedly. "You may think you've won, but you've won a hollow victory. The best victory is one that you have achieved, not ones that happened by karma." he rasped. Devil Doom shot him a look.
"I've already won this. Now, I'm going to finish this. I'm going to finish you!" he hollered, but what he didn't notice was that, in the exact moment, Shadow's power was almost all gone, life force and all.
Shadow, while resting, had obtained just a little bit of energy, but the amount was enough to perform one last Chaos Blast. Not thinking twice, he did just that.
Shadow had already lost his former energy, but at that moment, he had lost the one his rings contained, too. His fur turned completely ebony and crimson as the effect wore off.
He fell through the fog and clouds on a collision course towards Earth, one that he wouldn't survive. Devil Doom saw this and gave out a long and powerful scream of rage.
Rage for the fact that his son had tricked him. Rage for the fact that he would never be able to finish Shadow off himself.
Seeing this, the latter allowed a small smile to reach his lips. He then closed his eyes and breathed out one word, the last word he'd ever say before he hit the atmosphere, which he knew, would be the thing that killed him, rather than the upcoming collision towards Earth.
"Maria..." he cried quietly as he disappeared forever in the clouds, never to be seen again. Then, at the very moment, the Earth's last hope was never to be seen again.