Sonic the Hedgehog: Adventures of the Blue Blur

Written by Nexter45

[Episode 2] Revenant: Ghosts of the Past

Two weeks had passed since the party at Angel Island. Shadow, once again, found himself alone in his small apartment, watching TV. It had been another uneventful two weeks, filled with the monotony Shadow dreaded the most. He and Rouge sat in neighboring cubicles, which only just made the torture bearable. Today had been just another boring day at the office. There he sat in silence, thinking, not really watching the TV.

The TV lit up vibrant colors, "Last time on Dragon Ball Z!" Suddenly there was a loud knocking at the door, startling the black hedghog. Shadow turned off his TV and grunted, walking to the door.

"Who is it!?" He yelled through the thick door. There was no reply, so, with a sigh, he opened the door to find, "Maria?!"

There, untouched by time, stood a very alive Maria Robotnik. She smiled at him, "It's so good to see you, Shadow."

"W-what," Shadow sputtered, reaching out to the phantom, "This is impossible. Y-you can't be real." Maria took his hand in hers. Shadow shuttered as years of memories flooded back, "I-I kept my promise, Maria," Shadow sputtered through tears, "I kept my word."

"Shadow," She smiled, her eyes almost glowing, as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Maria," he gathered himself, looking deep into her eyes, "How is this possible?"

"I don't really know," her almost inperceivably glowing eyes looking down on him, "But I'm glad to just be here... with you."

"No," He shrugged off her hand, " You, you are a faker!"

"Shadow," She giggled, "I'm as real as you are. Remember me..."

Shadow looked deep into her eyes. Something wasn't right, other than the fact that his best friend who had died so many years ago was right in front of him. He saw something deep within those eyes, something... off. "Who are you... really?" Shadow asked a smile on his face. Shadow reached for a gun hidden behind the door frame.

"What do you mean," The doe-eyed girl asked.

"I know you aren't Maria," he frowned, "I have a gun in my hand and I will shoot you if you do not give me a straight answer. So I will ask you one more time; who the hell are you?!"

"You fool," Maria's voice morphed, her eyes glowing ever redder.

"No, it can't be!" Shadow yelled in denial. Mechanical laughter filled his ears, as the ultimate life-form was helpless against the mechanical menace.

Shadow fell to the floor with an impressive thud. He started up, a cold sweat on his brow. It had all been a horrible nightmare. He clambered back onto his couch, terror still holding his weary mind.

"It's been years since I had a nightmare like-" Shadow paused as he glanced at his picture, a sudden realization hitting him, "The last time I had dream like that, very bad things happened." The last time, he remembered, was when the Black Arms invaded the Earth. His bastard father, Black Doom, haunted his dreams until he sent him back to where he belonged. Something bad was going to happen, and Shadow knew it. He had to warn everyone, but he couldn't just base his accusations on nightmares. No, he needed to find evidence, and he knew just where to look. But first he would need Omega and Rouge, so he needed to find a way to get them out into the field... but he couldn't go through conventional GUN channels. No, he and Rouge would have to sneak Omega out of storage and they would have to do it tonight.

*** Meanwhile ***

Tails was at work modifying the Miles Electric, his personal computer. He had been cataloging years of confrontations with all the enemies they had encountered and programming it to use those past encounters to determine potential weaknesses to exploit; should the time come that they would need it. Sonic walked in right as Tails was cataloging Metal Sonic's entries.

"What you working on Tails?" Sonic inquired, looking over Tails' shoulder.

"I'm programming an application that will allow us to exploit our enemies' weaknesses," Tails didn't look up, "Right now I'm programming Metal Sonic into the application."

"You know we won't need that right," Sonic stated cockily, "I've been able to handle them all so far. And with all my friends, well, I feel unstoppable."

"Yeah, until Amy traps you in one of her patented hugs," Tails laughed, "But, seriously, we need to be able to meet any threat and this will be instrumental in assisting us."

"Ok, if you feel so strongly about it, buddy," Sonic shrugged.

"Well I am almost done here," Tails shook his head, "Eggman may be bad but Metal would be terrifying to go up against again."

Sonic's cheery disposition darkened slightly, "I know what you mean buddy. He could actually hurt one of you guys. I may adventure a lot on my own, but without you guys... I'm afraid of what I would do."

"What do you mean, Sonic?" Tails gave him a concerned look.

"There's another side of me Tails," Sonic rubbed his arm, showing his discomfort, "A side that I don't really know anything about. All I know is that deep down I have a beast, a Dark Sonic... and that I will be an unstoppable superpower if one of you, well, you know. I don't want to hurt anyone Tails, and if I lost you guys... I'm just afraid I would hurt someone. I don't want that to happen..."

Tails looked at Sonic for a moment, stone faced. Then he burst out laughing, "Sonic," he finally got out, "I know you too well and this... this... idea is completely unlike you. Sure everyone goes to a dark place from time to time but they always come back. And you- you're just to good of a guy to just go on a rampage, even given the harshest circumstances."

Sonic gave him a weak smile,"I-" he cut himself off, smiling at his friend whole heartedly now, "Thanks bud... it means a lot."

"Sure, what are friends for?"

*** Later, outside GUN H.Q. ***

Shadow and Rouge had sucessfully snuck Omega out of the GUN ordinance and robot storage area (both Shadow and Rouge often joked that Omega was more ordinance than robot). They huddled around in a dark alley near the building as Shadow informed them of his plan.

"I know it sounds like a longshot, but I know that Metal Sonic is planning something. I also know I may sound crazy, but if my nightmare's to be trusted I believe he is in some GUN facility from back when I believed Maria wished revenge on humanity."

"Why do you believe that?" Rouge looked skeptical.

"Because they all were abandoned, due to large amounts of damage caused by Eggman and, unfortunately, myself," Shadow scowled at himself, "And why else would she be in my dream..."

"This seems logical, though improbable," Omega paused, "Dreams, or nightmares, are not valid data."

"I know, but you both just need to trust me," he pleaded, "We need to find out what Metal is up to so we can prepare. I believe the best place for us to look are the ruins of Prison Isalnd."

"Count me in," Rouge put her hand on Shadow's shoulder.

"However illogical the data, I am 'in' too," Omega stated in his robotic voice.

*** Meanwhile, in Metal Sonic's mystery lair ***

Metal sat in front of his monitors, watching as Team Dark set out in search for him, "Good," he said almost cheerily, "Let the games begin."

To Be Continued...

Recap: A lot has happened in a very short episode. Team Dark know that Metal is up to something, but what; and where exactly is he? Sonic is struglling with the thoughts of losing his friends, but Tails is there to support him. Hopefully Dark Sonic is never required, but with Metal being gone for years there is no telling how strong he's become. But the real million dollar question is: where is Eggman and what is he up to? All will be revealed in due time, but who knows what will happen in Episode 3 of Sonic: AotBB?!