Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fanfic nor do I own Sonic the Hedgehog. All copyright claims of Sonic the Hedgehog and all its material rightfully belongs to Sega and Sonic Team. I am not making money off of this, it is a story written for enjoyment and fun for fans of the series.

Sonic the Hedgehog

CHAPTER 2: SHADOW

Act 3: Crisis City Zone: Part 2

After being trapped inside Mephiles' sphere, Shadow and Rouge were teleported to an unknown location after falling out of the portal. They looked around, seeing they were in a destroyed city covered with flames and destruction.

"What is this place?" Rouge asked.

"It seems we've been teleported to another location," Shadow answered, "But where exactly?"

"Well, lets find out where we are," said Rouge. She ran to find something to tell them where they are as Shadow stood by to ask himself, "Mephiles....What is he?" and followed Rouge soon after.

They soon managed to find a working computer, as Rouge started to activate it.

"I'm in," she said, "I've pinpointed our location, it's....No, it's not possible!"

"What is it?" Shadow asked.

"We're still in Soleanna," she said, "But how can that be? Wait, there's no doubt about it now."

"So, it's not where we are," said Shadow, "But when we are."

Rouge looked into more info of the computer, seeing they were correct on where they are.

"It appears we've gone through time, doesn't it?" Shadow asked.

"Yes," said Rouge, "About 200 years. Maybe more, depending on when this database was last updated. Well, at least we know we've arrived in the future. That means this Mephiles character has the power to control time."

"His powers feel very similar to my own Chaos Control," said Shadow, "But..." A

n alarm went off on the computer as the two looked at it, seeing a Time distortion somewhere in the city.

"Is it him?" Shadow asked.

"Only one way to find out," said Rouge. They rushed to see what was the distortion in the city.

After being sucked into a portal by Robotnik's machine, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles suddenly found themselves falling down and landing in a run-down building. As Sonic landed on his feet, Tails fell on his bottom and Knuckles fell on his head, giving him a headache.

"Boy, do I feel dizzy," said Tails, "Where are we?"

As the 3 looked around to figure out where they are, they heard a familiar voice.

"Oh, look who's here," it said, "I didn't expect to see you guys."

The trio looked up and saw familiar faces; Rouge the Bat and Shadow the Hedgehog in a room above them.

"Rouge! Shadow!" said Tails.

"Hi," said Rouge, "Long time no see."

"What are you guys doing here?" Sonic asked, "And what is here?"

"You'd have to see yourself," said Shadow, "Follow us."

Shadow and Rouge lead the trio out to the outside. They were stunned to see that the world seemed to be destroyed; Buildings destroyed, void of life, and enveloped in flames.

"W-What is this?" asked Tails, "Is this even Mobius?"

"This is the distant future. Far removed from our own timeline."

"The future?" Tails asked, "Then that means Robotnik's machine can control time!"

"Robuttnik's sure got some nerve dropping us here," said Sonic.

After kicking a rock, Knuckles asked, "So, how can we get back to our own time?"

Shadow answered, "You need a space-time rift, but this requires a lot of energy."

"I see," said Sonic, "You mean using your Chaos Control will..."

"Yes!" Shadow said, cutting Sonic in mid-sentence, "But that alone is insufficient!"

"Ok, Shadow," said Sonic, "It looks like we need to work together."

"No way!" said Knuckles, "I ain't working with that bat girl!"

"What's wrong?" Rouge asked, "Afraid that I'll show you up?"

"What was that?" He angrily asked Rouge.

"Guys, enough!" said Tails, "Like it or not, Knuckles, you guys have to work together if we're gonna get back."

"Fine," said Knuckles, "The longer I stay here, the longer the Master Emerald stays unprotected...But when we get back, I don't want to see your face again, bat girl!"

"Fine by me," said Rouge, "Your face is already getting to me."

Knuckles growled as Sonic asked Shadow, "So, what should we do?"

"You'll head back to the data base," said Shadow, "Robotnik had a secret lab here in Soleanna while we were sent here. There, you can use the Doctor's computer to locate the Chaos Emeralds and find any reports on how to use them for Time travel."

"What about you two?" Sonic asked.

"We'll be looking for the emeralds until you contact us," said Shadow, "I can sense some of them somewhere in the area."

Shadow started to search for the Emerald as Rouge stood behind to say, "See you later," and winked before leaving.

After they went their own way, Sonic and his friends going to the computer room and Rouge and Shadow to find an emerald.

"So, you knew that Chaos Emeralds could time travel?" Rouge asked.

"Not exactly," he said, "It's a theory really. If Chaos Control can warp through space with only 1 Emerald, then 2 could make a more powerful warp. Maybe."

"If you knew that," said Rouge, "Why didn't you try it before? I mean you could have used it to save Mar..."

She stopped before she said her name, remembering what that name meant to Shadow.

He stopped, answering to her, "I know what you're going to say. Maria's dead, and I have to learn not to dwell on it. It's what she wanted me to do; To move on with my life and live for the both of us. I can't afford to damage the past, like Mephiles is probably doing."

Shadow started to run as they continued looking for the Emerald. "Maria..." Shadow thought, "Even if I stopped you from dying onboard the ARK, it wouldn't have mattered anyway...But I'll protect the world you loved so much from ending up this way."

Rouge and Shadow fought themselves being chased by creatures of fire flying all around them and breaking through the roads.

"What are these?" Rouge said.

"Whatever they are," said Shadow, "They won't get in my way!"

Shadow jumped over the creatures, attacking them with a combination of Chaos Control and Chaos Spear, defeating them all in an instance. They resumed their search.

Eventually after searching from under rubble and Shadow's sense, they came across an emerald; The Green Chaos Emerald. Taken by its beauty, Rouge quickly snatched it away, gazing at it. After finding it, they went to meet up with Sonic and the others.

"My precious Chaos Emerald," said Rouge as she looked at it, "You are all so beautiful. Your magnificent brilliance."

Something caught Shadow's eye as he walked, bringing him to a stop. Rouge looked too, seeing something surprising to them. Their comrade, E-123 Omega; One of Robotnik's E-1 Series robots that betrayed him.

"Omega?" Rouge said in a surprised tone, "What's he doing here?"

They walked over to their comrade, seeing he appeared to be off. Shadow opened his back to check his systems.

"It seems he's in Standby mode," he said.

"He's lucky to survive 200 years," said Rouge, "What could have possibly happened to create this future?"

Shadow just shook his head as a transmission was heard on Rouge's wristwatch.

"Yes," she said, "This is Rouge....Understood, we'll be there in a minute."

She switched off her communicator and said, "It looks like Sonic and his friends have found something, too. Let's go."

Shadow looked at Omega, wondering if he turn him back on somehow.

"It's not like we can do anything for him now," said Rouge, "We better be going."

"Yeah," said Shadow.

They deserted their comrade and headed toward where Tails said to meet them, hoping they've found a Chaos Emerald.

To Be Continued!