Chapter 2

Shadow jolted awake and jumped to his feet. High alert. He looked around the room frantically. It was light. And warm. But he still shivered and wrapped himself in his arms. He closed his eyes and tried to push the feelings out of his mind. "Not this again." He looked to the door. Still wide open from when the Commander left. The TV still showed the news. He hadn't been asleep for long. Just typical. No sleep because of haunting dreams. The same scenario. The same green eyes. Not like Sonic's; different. Shadow pondered to himself about the dream. Then, he took a deep sniff. He could smell something. Food. Yes. Shadow walked out of the door and to the Cafeteria.

"Okay, Shadow. We have a mission for you," the Commander said. Shadow leaned forward in anticipation. He was sitting in the Commander's office, having been called in. The Commander picked up a file and handed it to Shadow. "After much consideration, the higher-ups feel that we can trust you with this task."

Shadow read the file and frowned.

"Boring," he said. "Check over military base in-" His eyes widened and he ducked back. Surely he read that wrong. He wanted to read it out.

"You don't have to do it if you're uncomfortable with it," the Commander said. "We thought that it may be convenient since you can teleport." Shadow looked at the words on the sheet. Prison Island. "You won't be in the Prison Areas. We just need to keep an eye on the reconstruction since…" Shadow looked at the Commander with irritated eyes. The Commander looked away with a sigh. Shadow hid behind the file again.

"Are you sure it's safe?" he asked, a hint of timidness in his voice.

"Yes, Shadow," the Commander said. "I even questioned this to the authority and I have good confidence in them that they will look after you."

"I don't need looking after!" Shadow slammed the the file down on his lap.

"You know what I mean, Shadow," the Commander said. "Now, do you accept the mission?"

Shadow looked down to try to hide his worry.

"Yes, I'll do it," he said. He suddenly stood up and walked out of the door.

Shadow was handed a report.

"Take this to your Commander," an uninterested mechanic said and walked over to one of the large tanks.

"That's it?" Shadow asked. No answer. "I came all of the way here for this? You could have emailed this!"

"If I'm being honest, I think they just wanted to appease you," said the mechanic. "Now get out of here. I'm busy." Shadow's shoulders dropped.

"I'm really not needed anymore," he breathed. He turned to walk out of the room when suddenly he felt a shiver go down his spine. An image flashed in his mind. The cryochamber. His heart raced. He had to get out of there. "Chaos con-" He stopped. He looked down. Several floors below was the Cryochamber. He could feel it. Level 0 spanned over the whole of the island; at least it may have with the vast machinery and areas of torturous confinement. Shadow gulped and wiped sweat from his brow. Yet, despite the sweat, he could feel cold again. His instincts told him to leave. To get out of there. It was dangerous. But something drew him towards it. "I need to face my fear. This is ridiculous. This behaviour is too pathetic for an Ultimate Life Form." He closed his eyes and mustered up the courage he needed. "Chaos Control!"

The room was dark. But there was a large source of light in the the middle of the room. Shadow felt drawn to it. He walked over and grabbed it. It was a Chaos Emerald.

"This is what's been bothering me," Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. His fear turned to calm and he stood in the room, realising that it wasn't as bad as he remembered. If he were getting frozen again, then perhaps. But that wasn't the case. There were no plans to incarcerate him, to trap him in an icy prison of pain and solitude forever. Shadow gulped away the last of his fear and turned to the door. Then, as he reached for the handle, or the control panel, something to escape. Then he stopped and tensed up. "Wait." He looked down at the emerald. "Why was this here if they didn't plan to use this place?" Suddenly, the lights turned on the the room could be seen clearly. From the corners emerged several tall humans, two in military uniform and one in a long white lab coat. Shadow's tail went between his legs. He gripped the Chaos Emerald and opened his mouth to bark his command. Then he felt a sharp pain pierced his chest. He looked down and saw a dart sticking out of his chest fur. His breath became shallow and he dropped to his knees.

"Extra concentrated… for the Ultimate Life Form," said the scientist. He put the small gun back in his pocket as he walked over to Shadow. The soldiers joined and grabbed Shadow by the arms and lifted him to his feet. Shadow felt too weak to even lift his head, so he just slumped in their grasp. His hand was too limp to hold the emerald and he dropped it. Shadow watched in sorrow as it rolled from his grasp. He was helpless. All he could do was watch and experience whatever they would do to him.

"Why… did the Commander lie to me?" Shadow rasped.

"He didn't. Your branch of GUN don't know the plan of your capture," the man in front of Shadow said. He looked down at Shadow with a triumphant smirk. "Do you think that it's a coincidence that you've been given no missions? We've wanted to weed you out for a while now. This was the perfect opportunity. Your Commander wanted the best for you, and it got you captured."

The two others dragged Shadow towards the machine. The hedgehog attempted to struggle, but he couldn't move his limbs.

"Get him into the machine quickly, before the sedative wears off," the man said and watched with a sadistic smirk as Shadow was pushed into the pod, his wrists and ankles strapped in place. One of the soldiers moved to the control panel. "No. Keep him awake for a while." The scientist walked over to the control panel and pushed the soldier out of the way. He fiddled with the controls and Shadow's pod was pivoted forward, revealing him to the Scientist below. Shadow felt the gravity tug on his centre whilst the bounds kept his limbs attached to the back of the pod.

"Comfortable?"

"No," Shadow growled. "What is wrong with you humans? Why can't you leave me alone?"

"Because we were hired to capture you. Simple enough," the scientist said wryly. "You belong here with us. You were meant to remain in stasis until we needed you. And, we don't need you." Shadow looked at him with wide, pleading eyes.

"Please. You do need me."

"You've been sitting around doing nothing for nearly a year now. Do you honestly think that we need you?"

"Then let me go and live my life," Shadow said in exasperation.

"With those powers? You're a danger to society," the man said. "Enough talk. Your opinions don't matter. You're a lowly scientific project. You're research, not a person."

"Wrong," Shadow growled.

"That may have been wrong for a while, but now you're going back where you belong," the man said darkly. Then he pressed a button. The glass lid folded over Shadow, and the machine hissed and sealed shut. Then it turned to a horizontal position and lowered down beneath the ground, into the abyss below. Shadow was left in darkness. The hedgehog started shivering. He screamed out at the top of his lungs. He had a life now. He had friends. He hadn't seen them in so long, and now he would never see them again. There was no shame in crying out for help, because no one of significance to him would ever hear him. He was trapped, and he wasn't ready to say goodbye to the world that he'd become so comfortable in. Shadow attempted a deep breath, but could only manage a shallow inhale. The frigid air burnt his lungs and the blistering cold scorched his skin. He couldn't move. Then, he felt heavy in his heart, and closed his eyes, making the most of the last sensations of life.