Despite the explosions, the gunfire, the mayhem, Shadow made it safely into the city, where he could see there were two sides fighting it out: soldiers and what appeared to almost be civilians, though not quite. The soldiers' ranks were mostly if not entirely made up of humans; the near-civilians, human and Mobian alike, were all wearing an unfamiliar, swirly red symbol over whatever they'd been in when the attack began. A stylised sun, maybe, or a buzz saw, or a curled hedgehog. Allies of that strange hologram, perhaps. In any case, Shadow didn't want to ally himself too closely with one side or the other, although the soldiers made him uncomfortable. There was certainly something powerful in here: Shadow managed to pin the words 'Chaos Emerald' to it, and knew that when he found the source of that power, he'd have what he'd been looking for, and it was this that had all his focus.

He didn't get far before the little drone reappeared, hovering in his way. With it no longer projecting the hologram, Shadow could get a better look at the device itself: it was more-or-less disk-shaped, with its propulsion system spread radially around it on thin, mobile struts. The struts were black, fading to a dark purple on the central disk, capped off by a red-and-yellow eye painted around the central camera and holoprojector.

"Shadow," said the voice of the human from before, "I've sent this drone to guide you. There are two Chaos Emeralds in this city: if we can take out the soldiers, Westopolis will be ours."

The hedgehog said nothing and hoverskated further on, the drone following. As he ran further through the smoldering wreck of the city, however, he realised that the soldiers reminded him of that horrible image, the gruesome vision of someone named Maria dying of a gunshot. His instincts, his core, said they were evil. Coming across a skirmish, he abruptly changed direction, crashing into one of the soldiers and rebounding into two of his fellows before they or the insurgents had time to respond. He wasn't trying to kill anyone, not really, but as he fled to leave the last one to the red-marked fighters, he heard one of them call a "Whoa! Great work!"

That made him feel pretty good, all things considered.

Running further on, avoiding fights where he could and attacking soldiers where he couldn't, Shadow came to a pitched battle over an armoured truck, one that surely belonged to the military - it had their logo and name proudly painted on its side. GUN. The hedgehog curled his ears back and watched the two sides keenly from atop a fallen building. No, he definitely didn't like the soldiers.

The insurgents had been winning when he'd arrived, and it was they who were victorious: with the guards felled, they marched the driver out of the truck at gunpoint as Shadow leapt down from his vantage point. The soldier stared at him as if betrayed, but was knocked out before he could say anything.

One of the insurgent fighters nodded at the hedgehog. "We were told to expect you." He leaned into the front of the vehicle and pressed something that opened the back doors. "The Emerald is all yours."

Shadow jumped in and gazed down at the green gem. Now here was a jewel - he could sense its powerful energy as much as he could see its colour, more than beautiful, perfectly balanced on its point and unperturbed by the disaster all around it. The thing was almost hypnotising. He barely heard the red-marked fighters' leader's voice as it came from the drone again.

"Good work, Shadow. Now, finish off the rest of those pathetic soldiers; once they are eliminated, the city will be ours, and you can get the second Chaos Emerald."

The insurgents looked up at the drone, surprised. Apparently, they recognised the voice, one of them calling a surprised "Sir!"

The drone, judging by the change in how its owner's voice sounded, swivelled to face her. "You've done well today, but this is only the beginning." Turning back towards Shadow, it continued with, "There's no time to waste."

Shadow blinked, shook his head, and picked up the Chaos Emerald. After a little more thought, he stored it, letting its energies merge with his own. He knew he could summon it into its crystalline form whenever he felt like it, though he couldn't remember having done so before. As he jumped out of the vehicle, he asked, "Where is the second Emerald?" He couldn't, at present, sense it like he had the first one.

The drone briefly projected a map, a location marked. "Our information places it here, at ten miles from your current location." The map shut off. It was distance, then, that prevented him from detecting it. "But that's less important now that you have one. Most important is solidifying our grasp of this city. Keep going."

"Very well." And Shadow sped off again. He was just starting to feel the second Chaos Emerald when he heard a voice call his name - it cut into his thoughts, tugged at the fog of his memories. He knew that voice. Shadow looked up and saw a blue-furred hedgehog standing on a ledge several stories up, staring down at him; a large jump a moment later saw them next to each other. Shadow could only look at him in confusion - whoever it was, he certainly seemed happy to see him.

"Long time no see!" said the other hedgehog, grinning, but his cheerful demeanour quickly gave way to an upbeat sort of determination. He glanced around the city, flicking his ears back for a moment. "I have no idea who they are, but these guys really mean business! Let's you and me show 'em a thing or two!"

Slowly, Shadow spoke. "And who are you?"

"What? Shadow, are you kidding?! It's me, Sonic!"

He definitely recognised the voice, and this Sonic character really did seem familiar. He was wearing about the same things as Shadow himself - shoes, gloves, and not a lot else. He did have two bracelets, one clear, and one...

Shadow pointed at the other one. "Is that mine?"

"Huh?" Sonic looked at it, as if seeing it for the first time. "...Yeah." Just for a second, only a second, he seemed sad. The moment passed. "So c'mon! Let's put a stop to all this!"

"Their leader knew me, too. He sent a drone to follow me." No matter how familiar Sonic seemed, Shadow didn't truly remember either him or the insurgency leader.

"Huh? Who?"

"I didn't catch his name."

Sonic looked around. "Well, guess you lost the drone, anyway." Looking back at Shadow, he tilted his head. "You weren't helping them, were you?"

Shadow paused before responding. "I was."

"What?!" Sonic was instantly shocked and angry, and at the same time seemed like he'd half-expected Shadow's response. Shadow flicked his ears back, but stood his ground.

"He knew me. He said something about a day of reckoning and getting all the Chaos Emeralds."

"Whoever he is, that guy's a lunatic!" Sonic made a sharp gesture at the destruction all around them. "Just look at all this! You helped us save the world, Shadow!"

Shadow shifted his weight back, indecisive. He didn't truly remember either one of them - which side was right? He couldn't know, didn't have any information, only his conflicting instincts. He did, however, know the Chaos Emeralds were important. He stood confused for a few seconds, Sonic eyeing him, before abruptly darting off. Sonic called after him and tried to give chase, but though they seemed evenly matched in speed - was that strange? - in the bedlam of the besieged city, Shadow lost him and ran on, dodging soldier and insurgent alike and shoving aside those who had other ideas.

More than his vague memories of Sonic, more than the fact the insurgency leader had been the first to know his name, one thought dominated Shadow's mind: he really didn't like being ordered around. Right or wrong, he'd formed what was at least the beginnings of a plan. He would get the Emerald, get out of the city, and find somewhere to sit down and figure the whole mess out without people yelling at him. He had to do it quickly, as well, before either Sonic or the flying drone caught up to him. He ran like he couldn't say he'd ever run before, into a tunnel, past and through barricades, all his being focused on one thing and that alone. Beside him, around him, inside him, the green Chaos Emerald reacted to his will. Before he was even aware of doing it, Shadow's subconscious tapped into the gem's power and poured it into an effortless run that turned into outright flight, jets off and legs stretched behind him as he careened through the air, his body protected from anything in his way by a glowing extension of his normal Chaos Energy field.

So this is why the Emeralds are important - what power!

He released the energy as he felt himself oversteering the other Emerald, which, much like the green one had been, was the site of a heated battle. The fighters on both sides had stopped, staring at the passing streak of lightning that had been Shadow, but by the time he came into the fray, knocking aside any who barred his path, they had recovered, firing at each other and at him. Nothing could stop him, though: Shadow grabbed the Chaos Emerald and bolted.

Adrenaline and his natural resilience sped Shadow past the outskirts of the city and a little beyond, where he dropped to a sit, looked at his right leg, and abruptly realised he'd been shot. It wasn't, he felt, anything too serious; even though he couldn't remember so much as seeing his own blood before, some instinct said this was just a grazing shot, in and out without hitting anything too vital, something he could recover from. He had the distinct impression he'd dealt with worse before. Where, of course, was still a mystery.

Still sitting up, the hedgehog leaned against someone's abandoned garden wall and bowed his head. He was tired, and had a feeling he should be getting all the rest he could. Not long later, he was asleep, the city still burning behind him.