Here it is, folks!
SURVIVE
-Chapter 4: All That Remains-
The view was astonishing. There were nothing but ashes and the sky was brightly red. The fire among the buildings lit up the city; there was no electricity.
"It looks like Westopolis when it was attacked by Black Doom and the Black Arms", Shadow said remembering how horrifying that day was. "It seems to be deserted."
"Well, who knows? Something might surprise us. I´ll watch your back and you watch mine." Sonic said in an authoritative way that made Shadow doubt if he was with the real Sonic.
"Guess that´s alright."
They ran across the city hoping to find anyone that might be still alive. But they didn´t find a single soul who might had survived to what Eggman did.
Sonic couldn´t stand it. He began to kick rocks and piles of metal that were found in the middle of the street. He was raging, and Shadow couldn´t tolerate this. He punched Sonic and sent him flying through the air so he landed crashing on some broken glass.
"SONIC! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, FAKER!" Shadow screamed in fierce. He lost his temper. "Maybe the world is dead, but that doesn´t mean you have to act like you´re not what you are!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?" Sonic shouted back. "I know who I am, but right now… I mean… I just, lost everything. I´m just desperate. I´m alone. I am with you, and everyone I loved is gone! I lost Station Square once… It was too late… Chaos had already destructed everything. And now, once again, I lost…"
Shadow couldn´t help himself, but to think who this "Chaos" Sonic was talking about was….. And then, memories returned…
"Please, Shadow…"
"Ughh…" Shadow felt pain again coming from his head. Sonic noticed.
"Shadow, what´s wrong?" Sonic asked wondering about what was going on.
"It´s nothing… It´s just… Grrrr…"
"For all the people on that planet, give them a chance…"
Shadow was now twitching on the floor screaming in pain. Sonic didn´t know what to do. He panicked and just stood there, frozen…
"…to be happy."
Shadow stood up as Sonic recovered from that frozen thing.
"I´m… confused…"
"Shadow, what happened?" Sonic asked.
"Memories of the past have arrived." A mysterious, soft voice came from the sky as a small, red butterfly approached to them.
"Tikal?!" Sonic said in relief, for his hadn´t seen Tikal for a long time now.
"Who is Tikal?" Shadow questioned in thought.
"Hello there, Sonic. I am so glad to see you again." The little butterfly said. "I´m really sad that I´m only here to give you EVIL news."
Sonic and Shadow looked at each other and then turned again to the glowing, red spirit.
"Dr. Eggman is making the spiritual world change. Chaos and I were worried about you all, so we decided that it would be great for me to check on you. As soon as I discovered the doctor´s plan, I let Chaos know, and we both agreed that I should take care of you…"
Shadow smirked.
"Anyway, Eggman is changing my world by interfering with the GOOD and the EVIL. He is pulling the GOOD down and lifting the EVIL up, making it unstable for the world to be balanced. So basically, I need your help. We NEED to STOP Eggman, and I can only do it, with both of you."
"But wait, what does it have to do with my memories coming back?" Shadow asked.
"With Eggman leading the EVIL, and making the world unstable, the Master Emerald was also affected. The Master Emerald is capable to do a lot of things with everything in order. But, when the GOOD started to go down, it´s reaction was to give back memories to certain people. EVIL memories to be precise. That are the consequences of all this, including the –End of the World-, also being led by the same Eggman."
"So, what do we need to do?" Sonic asked.
"We need just the…"
"The seven Chaos Emeralds…" Shadow ended up the sentence.
Tikal nodded in her spiritual figure and said one last thing:
"I will return to the Master Emerald with Chaos and see if something else is wrong. I will watch over you from time to time." And she flew away going directly to Angel Island, leaving both hedgehogs with a mission.
"Heh, looks like things are getting interesting now. Let´s do it!" Sonic proudly exclaimed for having returned to his old self, which Shadow took note about.
"Is that so? Well then, it will be a date to DIE for!" Shadow replied.
"At least it will save the world from evil. Are you with me this time?" Sonic stretched his hand facing to Shadow.
"Hmph." Shadow gave his hand to Sonic and both took off. "This doesn´t mean we´re now friends, faker."
"Oh c´mon, Shad. Chill out!"
"Don´t call me Shad. Anyway, where should we start looking?"
"I think the best place to look first is Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace." Sonic said. "Oh… now that I think of it…"
"Yeah?"
"I left a giant strawberry in Angel Island…"
"Is that really important, Sonic?!"
"Hey! I´m hungry…"
See ya next week with a new chapter! Review?
