Perchance to Dream

The frantic nature of the room did little to calm the wailing nerves of the young fox boy. Here he stood, mashing on a series of buttons, the urgent nature of the mission bearing down his neck, with the knowledge that he was the last hope for humanity.

The last hope.

Never before had he felt such a heavy burden on his shoulders. This was usually saved for his friends, they were the heroes, he was just the sidekick. And right now, boy did he love that word. He'd give anything if it meant being a sidekick right now, anything! Oh the class of hero, how he loathed it!

"Tails," Cream called out, her hands latching on his back, "We have to hurry!"

"I can't!" the fox replied, "Not when everyone's locked up like this!"

How cold was this room? Ever since setting foot in here, the fox had asked that question. Was it colder in the glass cases that held his friends, or was this just an aesthetic choice?

It was small, yet dome like, this room was. It looked as if it were part of a bigger structure, however, as this room's ceiling was a mere quarter of a full circle. In the center lied this great silver machine, one that had cords stretching all about. Said cords stretched and connected to these individual pod like cases. Gazing through the pod like cases' glass seals, would reveal the heroes of Mobius. Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, and finally, Shadow. But there was something wrong with Shadow's case. This is where Tails' mission stood.

"He can't stay!" he barked out, slamming his hands on the pod's command console, "He'll die if he does!"

"I told him that but," Cream grew frail, "He said he didn't want to go... he said Sonic would just save everyone..."

"Chao Chao..." Cheese murmured, feeling the same sadness as his master.

The young kitsune laid his hand on his face, before trekking those sky blue orbs of his to Shadow's pod. To the untrained eye, it would look okay, but one look at the command console revealed something sinister. On everyone else's pod, the command console's screen was a green color, with white text. Said text contained detailed information, such as name, sex, state of mind, and state of body. But no such action was detailed on Shadow's screen. White text lied upon a red background, with said text being nothing but a jumbled mess. The word warning streamed the sides of the screen, as the information on state of mind and state of body came back with a resounding 'WARNING!'.

Tails held a PDA like device in his own hands, one that had cords attached to the command console. The information that came to his PDA was random and wild, surely a joke from the mad Doctor himself. How did he know? Said Doctor's insignia was written upon Tails' own screen.

"Tails, we need to go! We can't do anything now!" Cream exclaimed, "If we stay, we'll surely get captured!"

"If we don't do something now, Cream, there won't be a next time! There's no telling what Eggman will do with everyone captured here!"

"But... Tails..."

"CHAO CHAO!"

Cheese's sudden urgent voice brought both Tails and Cream's eyes to the room's entryway. The large metallic sliding doors suddenly started producing a banging noise. With each second that passed, that banging noise got louder and louder, until a series of dents appeared on the door. They were bent in on Tails and Cream's side, showing that something was trying to plow its way through. The mere sight and sound of this rampant destruction was enough to make Tails quake in his boots. And quake he did. He was so terrified, he couldn't move. He merely gazed forward, as Cream came to his side, even more frightened than him.

The bangs and dents continued to appear on the sliding entry, as the door started to pry open. A brief glimpse of the other side could be seen, though Tails didn't want to analyze it too closely. Heavy metal claws attached themselves on the sides of the doors, and with a mighty and violent push, the doors were forcibly moved open. Tails' eyes hovered over to his assailant.

Metal Sonic.

The blue demon stepped forward, his footsteps making a clanking noise against the steel floors. Those ember lit eyes of his tracked down Tails' every movement. The cream furred hare behind him had now begun to fidget, as the thoughts of death rang in her young mind. Metal Sonic grew ever nearer, that feeling of terror moving from his very body.

There was no way they could fight Metal Sonic. Even together, the blue demon's abilities vastly overpowered their own. Add the fact that he could scan them, and copy their abilities, and you have an unstoppable killing machine.

Somewhere along the way, Tails gained the courage to fight back. Lifting his arm, he caused his buster cannon to faze from out of nowhere. He aimed forth his weapon, as it charged an electrical blast. It was time to be a hero, he thought. To bad Metal Sonic thought otherwise.

His cold, emotionless face and eyes glared at Tails. Not fazed in the least bit by the fox's weapon, Metal Sonic continued walking forward. Giving a roar, Tails fired out an electrical blast. Metal Sonic swatted said blast out-of-the-way like it was a fly. Tails immediately grew frail at the sight. A split second later, Metal Sonic was in his face. The blue demon lifted his hand, then struck Tails with a back hand to the face. The attack was so strong, it sent him flying away, straight into the great metal machine that lied in the center most part of the room. Tails bounced off of the metal contraption, as his body quaked with pain. Somehow, he remained conscious, though one has to wonder if that's a blessing or a curse.

With Tails out of commission, Metal Sonic shifted his deadly gaze over to Cream. The rabbit froze in place, as this deadly machine glared down upon her. Though Cheese wished to protect his master, he was just to terrified to actually do so. So, he floated frozen before her, glaring at Metal Sonic with his great eyes.

The blue demon cocked his head at wonderment toward the floating blue creäture. Then his hand jutted forward. He grabbed Cheese by his throat, and constantly applied pressure to the Chao's body. In a fit of fear, Cream ran forward to save her friend.

"NO!" she cried, "Let go, please!"

Metal Sonic's other hand grabbed a hold of her neck, lifting her from the ground too. The sound of choking could be heard coming from both beings, as air failed to reach their bodies. Cream was at first defiant, as she constantly kicked and punched on the robot, but after a few seconds of his pressure, she grew weak. Her arms slumped over, and her eyes moved to the sky.

The noise of an alarm started blaring. Metal Sonic's head spun around, locking his eyesight firmly on Shadow's pod. The command console now only said 'WARNING!', as it produced said alarm. If Metal Sonic had emotions, he would have surely rolled his eyes. Instead, he shifted his attention back to the beings dying in his arms.

The pod exploded.

Shards of glass, smoke, and metal debris were thrown every which way, as this explosion caused a shock wave to travel. Metal Sonic's grip was released, as he recoiled from the sudden interruption. His soulless eyes scanned the smoke before him, as a noticeable figure appeared in the brown cloud of death.

The quills that jutted up, the stature reminiscent of a certain blue hedgehog, the disposition similar to his own.

His white-gloved hand stretched through the smog. With a simple wave, he cleared it out, freeing his body of the opaque fog.

Shadow the hedgehog. In his arms, Cream and Cheese, both silent due to asphyxiation. His face was stern, for it was free from any and all emotion. And yet, those ruby eyes of his told more than his face ever could. Surely, this was the face of a man who faced death.

"Mr... Shadow...?" Cream whispered, consciousness returning for a brief second.

His only answer to her was a slow nod. He laid her on the ground soon after, being sure to lay Cheese within her arms as well. As they laid safe, he turned over and faced Metal Sonic. His hand moved behind him soon after, and when it returned, it held the green Chaos Emerald.

Neither Shadow nor Metal Sonic said anything. They just stared. They may have said nothing, but that deadly sense of battle fell upon the area. It wasn't a matter of when, it was a matter of who. Who would strike first?

Shadow would strike forth.

His hand stretched forward as it surged with yellow Chaos Energy. Thrusting his curled palm forward, he fired out a Chaos Spear. The bolt of Chaos Energy flew through the air as it came near Metal Sonic. The blue demon merely curled into a ball, before producing a black diamond shaped shield around him. Shadow's Chaos Spear bounced off, and ricocheted off into a wall, creating an explosion. Preparing for a counter attack, Metal Sonic rushed forward. Reaching Shadow, he struck with a punch, but the dark hedgehog easily blocked the attack. Lifting his leg, he countered with a kick, one Metal Sonic blocked. Being to close for comfort, the two broke their clash by leaping away.

Metal Sonic wasn't tired, and nor was Shadow, so it would be soon when they would begin their battle anew. Figuring that rushing in would be a foolish attack, Metal Sonic started to charge energy into his chest. Charging complete, he fired out a blue beam. Shadow leaped clear of the blue beam, giving him ample time for a retaliation attack. And retaliate he did. In midair, he teleported, vanishing in a flash of white light. Metal Sonic looked to and fro for his opponent, but the hedgehog was seemingly gone.

That is until he appeared behind Metal Sonic.

The blue demon spun around, but it was too late. Shadow struck with a karate chop to the face, then a roundhouse kick to the head, which led into a back kick to the chest. Metal Sonic was rendered dazed by the combo, and by the time his sights returned to normal, Shadow had already begun his finishing move. The black and red hedgehog began to focus as his hands curled into fists. Grinding time and space within them, he produced spheres of multicolored darkness in his hands. The orbs of distorted time and space struck Metal Sonic dead on, sending him flying away, and into the wall. Upon reaching the wall, instead of bouncing off as expected, he instead crashed straight through it for he had gained too much momentum to stop. Shadow wasn't sure if the robot would ever stop flying, but he really didn't care. For now, the battle was over, that's what mattered.

"Shadow..." Tails called weakly, as he got to his feet.

"Are you okay?" the hedgehog questioned.

He nodded, albeit weakly.

"I'll get better..." he suddenly smiled, "Oh... I'm so happy you showed up on time! Me and Cream would be dead."

The hedgehog gave a curt and frank nod, before crossing his arms as he usual did. Those devilish eyes of his moved about the room, taking in the sights. Everyone was in these pods, so it didn't take long for him to figure that he was also in these pods. So, it seems, Eggman did have him in a machine. That means, his perfect world wasn't a sign of death or a dream. Odd...

"You would've died if you stayed in there," Tails commented as he walked up, "The pod you were in was damaged from the start."

"What about everyone elses?" Shadow questioned.

"They're all safe... it was only yours that was defective."

"Heh... figures... What was wrong with it?"

"I'm not sure," Tails said, "Hacking Eggman's machine only gave mine a virus, but if I could say... I'd believe that the machine you were in was both working and not working a the same time... it's... hard to explain... All I know, is that you were dying, and I had to get you out."

"Why did you send Cream?"

"I couldn't go in, Shadow, I needed to make sure everything was fine out here. Cream couldn't work my machinery, she's only six."

"I understand," Shadow answered as he turned away, "Can you get everyone else out?"

"I don't know," Tails stated, "I mean... if your pod messed up by itself, I'm to scared to tamper with them myself. There's no telling what it could do."

Shadow nodded, but his eyes sharpened with a glare. As he started walking, he made his way toward the exit.

"Do your best to get everyone out, you understand?" he ordered.

"But, Shadow... what are you going to do?" Tails inquired.

Shadow stopped briefly, as his fangs protruded from his jaw.

"I'm going to have a talk with a certain fat nosed doctor!"

Before Tails could question his words, the black hedgehog zipped out, dashing forth as a yellow light. Tails stood tall as his eyes followed Shadow's retreating figure. But after a few seconds, he swallowed his spit and nodded. Now was not the time to worry, he had a mission to deal with. Facing Sonic's pod, he ran to it. Fingers dancing upon his hand-held device, he got to work.

…

"I don't believe this!" Eggman yelled, hands on his head.

His face was so frantic and angry, as his mind ran with a myriad of thoughts. He couldn't believe it. His plan, it was failing. He had them trapped! He had them sealed up! How did he escape!? His was the strongest of all, was it not? So how did he break free?

The door sliding open, he turned to see a dented and battered Metal Sonic. The blue demon said and did nothing, as he walked only a few feet, before felling down. Those ember lit eyes of his beamed off, leaving Eggman with an offline robot.

"Eggman," Orbot said, "It appears as if G.U.N. Has located your base."

"If it isn't one thing, it's another!" Eggman said, turning to the black and white spherical machine, "Where are they!?"

"Just outside." Orbot said.

"WHAT!? WHY DID YOU TELL ME NOW!?" Eggman roared, finding it unbelievable that his own robots would keep such vital information from him.

"Oh, Omega told me."

"OMEGA!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY, OMEGA!?"

"Our brother, E-123 Omega, in arms sent me a message telling us not to tell you until they were right outside!"

"Brother... in... arms!? Orbot you idiot! Omega is a traitor! He can't be trusted."

"Really? Then... why did you wait to tell me that now?"

"I built you after I built Omega! How do you even know who Omega is!?"

"A good machine always knows his comrades."

"A good machine always knows his foes! And Omega is definitely a foe!"

There was an explosion, one that shook Eggman in his seat. Shifting his gaze to a screen before him, he caused it to switch images. Instead of showing halls, it showed the outside of his base. Directly outside was an armada of G.U.N. ships. To add to that, Omega was directly outside, battling his guard troops. The doctor was flabbergasted. Not only did Shadow escape, but now he was under attack! He didn't know if he should be angry, or terrified. So, he would be a little of both.

He's terrimad... yeah, that's it.

The Doctor started yelling and flailing about, his rage and fear taking its toll. Orbot watched his master with those blue eyes of his, and said nothing. Until the door opened.

Flying out from the entry way was a yellow bolt of Chaos Energy. It struck Orbot, and separated his head from the rest of his body. Blue eyes dying out from the attack, it seemed as if Orbot had finally met his doom. The sudden attack should have been a godsend to Eggman, but he couldn't help but to feel a certain sense of dread. His blue eyes moved over to the doorway. Standing in the doorway, Shadow.

The mad scientist stopped moving completely. His body was quaking with fear, as Shadow stepped closer and closer to him. The dark hedgehog said nothing, but his eyes started to tear up. He remained silent, even as tears broke, and started streaming down his face. Honestly, watching Shadow cry was more terrifying than death itself, as Eggman had no idea how to go about things. Shadow did, however.

He grabbed Robotnik by the collar, lifted him up, and then said, with the most soulless voice he could muster,

"WHY!?"

Eggman was at first silent, until raising one of his eyebrows.

"Why?" the doctor questioned, as if Shadow had insulted him, "You dare question me, with, 'why?'" now the doctor was mad, "WHY!? Don't you know who I am, Shadow!? Every time! Every time I try to do anything, you and your stupid friends stop me! I know I can't kill you, the universe just won't allow, but that doesn't mean I couldn't hold you. I gave you all the perfect life, one you all would never want to leave! You had your perfection, all you had to do was leave me with mine! I built those machines to keep you out of my life! I gave you your perfect world, just so you could stay out of mine!"

Shadow closed his mouth, as he tried to shake his face clear of those tears.

"So that's it then," he whispered, "You made a fake world just so you can keep us out of yours?"

"My perfect world, is one free of you wretched creatures." Eggman retorted, "But I gave you everything you wanted! Why did you return? You should be thanking me for giving you perfection!"

"Oh, is that so? I should be thanking you." Shadow got closer, "Then let me, thank you!"

Shadow pulled free one of his hands. As the doctor wilted in fear, he jutted forth his fists. The attack tore straight through Eggman's body, ripping through out the other side. Eggman's head fell back, as his tongue slipped out of his jaw.

But there was no blood.

Shadow's face twitched, as Eggman's body lacked the life substance. Pulling free his hand, he glared through the hole he made in the body. It was filled with torn wires, and broken circuitry. The sight of this cemented the fact in Shadow's head, that this was nothing but a mere duplicate. It was a robot.

Shadow started to twitch and fidget with rage. The doctor wasn't here. He was probably long gone by now. He had just wasted is time. That rage within him continued to grow, however. As he shook, his fur turned red. He wanted to make Eggman feel his anger, his rage. His unhappiness!

But he couldn't, because the doctor was not here!

"CHAOS! BLAST!"

The sudden blast rippled through the base. Fire and sound tore through halls, and incinerated robots, transforming them into burning black husks. But it had one important action, the one thing that did the best damage of all.

Tails eyes closed shut, as he failed to open up the pod. Slamming his hands on the command console that connected to Sonic's pod, he started giving up hope. These things were unbreakable. No matter how hard he tried to crack the pod's machinery, his efforts would be in vain. And he wasn't about to pry open the case with someone still within them, for only Robotnik knows what would happen.

So Tails gave up. He would have to send Cream in there again, with the Chaos Emerald, that's the only way. Turning around, he saw that she was still unconscious from the scuffle with Metal Sonic. Great...

A metal piece from the ceiling fell upon his head. Gazing up, he saw an eerie red light beaming through it. The red light splashed down in the room, and washed over everything with this burning power. Tails groaned at the pain, as his eyes closed shut. The force rippled and waved, lashing out at everything.

But it didn't stay long.

A few seconds later, it subsided. Tails opened his eyes weakly. Glaring about the room, he found it to be in the same pristine condition as it was before. He glanced down. The device in his hand had started to act wild, as the screen flailed about various images. Tails cocked his head in thought, before moving his eyes elsewhere. Glaring at the pod holding his friends, he noticed the command consoles had also begun to change wildly with information. What was that red force?

The pod snapped open. Smoke was expelled briefly, before a familiar yawn came into play.

"Wow... fwee... What a dream..."

"Sonic?" Tails called.

…

"Wow..." the two tailed fox said, smile on his lips, "I wish I could see my perfect world."

The twinkling stars in a blanket of darkness painted the night sky. The only light came from the burning fire that lied in the group's center. All around them, the many pieces of Eggman's machines. The battle between G.U.N. and Robotnik's forces was a spectacular one indeed, but with Sonic Heroes on G.U.N.'s side, Eggman was doomed from the start. Now the heroes lied collected in a circle, gazing to the fire before them. Sonic beside Tails, who sat beside Cream, who sat beside Amy, who sat beside Omega, who sat beside Rouge, who sat beside Knuckles. Shadow stood some ways away, leaning against a metal slab, his arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Yeah," Sonic said, smile on his face, "The perfect world..." he looked to his younger brother, "It was everything you ever could have wanted! Well, mine was, anyway."

"Meaning it was filled with me, right?" Amy stated, a smile on her face.

"Uh... yeah," Sonic replied sarcastically, "Seriously though. Shuttle loops were everywhere, and my legs never got tired! Not to mention, the trees grew chilli dogs, so I never had to go long without one! And they were really, really, good chilli dogs!"

"Of course..." Rouge whispered, scoffing at his dream world, "All fun and games..."

"Was yours any better?" Sonic questioned.

"Course it was, big blue." her eyes started to twinkle, "Diamonds! Crystals! Jewels of all shapes and sizes! They were everywhere! And best of," she turned to a certain echidna, "There was a certain, Emerald, among them."

Knuckles coughed up, while his face turned red with anger.

"Not my Emerald!" he roared.

"Don't worry," she said, that flirtatious voice returning, "you were there, too, Knuckles..."

That shut the echidna up, for a few seconds, at least. Giving a growl, he crossed his arms while his ears twitched.

"My perfect world didn't have any of that," he stated, "I lived on Angel Island, no one tried to take the Master Emerald, and I could go about and do as I please! Eating berries and finding treasure 'till my hearts content!"

"That sounds boring!" Amy snickered, "My world was filled with pretty dresses, pretty colors, and of course, Sonic!"

At her childish words, everyone started to chuckle. Today was a good day indeed. They got to experience their perfect world, and kick Eggman's ass at the same time. Days don't get much better than that.

"I'm almost sad I had to leave," Sonic stated, "But no world could compare to the one we leave it!"

A series of nods traveled amongst the companions, before someone noticed something.

"Yo, Shadow," Sonic called out, "You didn't tell us what your perfect world was."

His call gained the hedgehog's eyes. He turned, looked to his blue counterpart, and his face became so stern. Uncrossing his arms, he stood from the wall, while his gaze wavered elsewhere.

"I'm going to bed..." he stated, as he began walking off.

No one said anything, but Sonic shrugged.

"Of course..." he commented.

His feet brought him further and further away from those idiots. It wouldn't take long, before he was free, free from all of this. He was just going to pretend this was a nightmare. One long, sweet, beautiful nightmare. How dull an ending it had. Walking home on this dirt path, as the full moan illuminated everything. He just wanted to forget.

Its better to have never felt perfection, than to have it stripped away from you. At least, that's how Shadow felt.

What was that? His ruby eyes, they found something shiny. On the ground, resonating through the darkness in the night air. Shadow crouched down to meet the teal colored object. It was embedded in the ground, but Shadow was able to pry it out easily.

It was small. A golden ring. A teal colored diamond. But, boy, did it tug at Shadow's heart. He could feel it, throbbing against his chest, screaming to burst out. No, he felt, it couldn't be. Turning the ring around, he gazed at its underside. It had an engraving in it.

Till death do us part, love you always, Rouge

His breathing had increased as his eyes read those words. He couldn't believe it, this had to be impossible. What was this doing here!?

"Shadow?" her sultry voice called out.

He turned around and faced her. The bat flinched at his quick movement, as it took her completely off guard. She said nothing, as she was unsure of how to continue. Or maybe it was because Shadow was crying. He didn't sob or anything, but those tears rolled down his pained face. Glaring at the ring he held in his hand, she figured it had something to do with that.

"What is... that?" she inquired, finger aiming at the teal item in his hands.

Shadow wiped his face clear of tears first. Turning away from Rouge next, he started to slowly remove his left glove. After his hand was freed, he slid the wedding ring onto his ring finger. As it lied safely on his black fur, he slid his glove back on.

"The stuff... dreams are made of..." he responded, somberly at that.

Rouge didn't press any further. Whatever was wrong with Shadow, it looked as if only he could deal with it. She was sure that if she prodded on the situation, things wouldn't end out well. So she stood, wings folding in slowly and weakly. Shadow vanished soon after.

…

The only light in the cold room came from his desk lamp. Pencil in hand, he tapped the eraser part against his muzzle. The paper before him was a mission debriefing statement, and he was to have it in to G.U.N. Commander tomorrow morning. So far, the hedgehog couldn't give any information. His ruby eyes were glaring at the teal ring on his left hand. Where did it come from, and why did it exist? The more he thought on it, the more his mind pushed back his efforts. It was as if his own brain didn't want to think about. Just, accept it, he could hear his conscience say. The last thing he wanted to do, was think on that fake world. He had a job to do.

Returning his ruby eyes to the paper, he realized just how hopeless this was. He traded in his home, his wife, his life, and for what? Gazing to his room, it paled in comparison to his great mansion. The G.U.N. issued room was small, as it was just another component of the larger base. A green cot was all he had to call bed, while a desk was all he had for entertainment. The only sight to the outside world was a window, that showed off city lights in the far distance.

There was no love here, no warmth. Just cold-hearted indifference. Shadow couldn't help but to chuckle at that. Cold-hearted indifference, maybe this is what he deserves.

Rubbing his cheek, he figured now wasn't the time to write his debriefing statement. He'd do that in the morning or whatever. Walking to his bed, he calmly lifted the sheets that lied within. He slipped off his shoes, and slipped of his gloves, but was sure to keep his teal colored ring on the desk. It was propped up, so he could see its stunning beauty. For now, as hopeless as it was, he would pretend. Pretend he was going back into Rouge's arms, pretend that this night wouldn't be one he spends alone. But the thought of pretending immediately ran away from him. He doesn't pretend. That's for children.

As his fingers slid across the off switch, he laid his head on his pillow. The room now plunged into darkness, he felt his eyes close slowly.

"I love Hamlet," Rouge called out, her voice swooning, "A tale of love and revenge..."

"And unhappy endings..." Shadow responded, "But such is the way of a tragedy, I guess..."

"Oh, of course you'd focus on the bad, Shadow honey... tell me, though, what's your favorite line in the play?"

Silence.

"To die, to sleep, to sleep, perchance to Dream..."

His eyes glanced at the teal ring. As those eyelids of his started to fall, he focused on that last bit.

"Perchance... to... Dream..."

Finito

And so, ends yet another tale by me.

I'm not gonna lie, despite this being my shortest tale, this is one of my favorites. I just really, really, enjoyed writing this tale about Shadow going through his perfect world. Maybe its a bit different from what you believe would be his perfect world, but this is how I see it. All the powers he has doesn't exactly bring happiness, ya'know. Anyway, for those who don't know, this is the point in time where I give random information about my story.

But, of course, first things first! As always, I have to say thanks. A story is only as good as the people who read it. Here's a little thought for you, if a man wrote a story, and no one is there to read it, was it really written in the first place? Well, my favoriters and followers can definitely say that this story exists.

Also, special shout out to TheDivines, Arlene, Chad Doe, alwaysdoubted, Christiansoldier5, and Reclaimer7. The most of shout outs have to be given to Lord Kevin. Honestly, I don't think I've ever had a reviewer as in-depth as he has. He really knew how to poke and prod my story, and I have to give my respects to that. I really do.

Now, to those points in my story that you may have or may not have noticed.

First off, this story was inspired by the Batman:TAS episode Perchance to Dream. It has a similar concept with Bruce waking up in a world where everything is perfect. Sorta... its always been a favorite episode of mine, and I always wanted to write a story similar to it. The one thing I disliked about the episode, was how short it was. I understand, they have like, a thirty minute episode time, but dang it! I always wanted to have more detail on the main character, and how said perfect world affects him. With that Batman episode, Bruce just figures out he's dreaming, then he breaks free. Still an awesome episode though. Not only that, I also got some inspirations, albeit a little, from the anime movie Metropolis. It was because of Metropolis that I got the idea to use the city of Monopole. Well, that and Grand Metropolis from Sonic Heroes. I love that stage.

Next, the finale. This story's ending is pretty confusing. Well, kinda. You have three choices to explain Shadow's perfect world. Was it Eggman's machine? Was he merely dreaming? Was it actually a piece of Elysian Fields? Who knows? Its not one of those endings that you can get a solid, concrete, finish. This one is more along the lines of, choose it yourself. You choose which one it was, if it makes you feel better. I like the thought of the three endings, me personally. Hell, it makes me think, and I wrote the story! And, oh yes, the ring. What does that mean? Does it have any purpose? Was, in some way, Shadow's perfect world actually real? Yeah, in the span of one chapter, I created one more option, just in case the other's weren't to someone's cup of tea. Hey, what's an ending without a little ambiguity?

Well, I guess that's it. I really did like writing this story, too bad it has to end so soon. But as I always say, I rather something end and be perfect, instead of drag on and get constantly worse.

So, until the next time.

Best Wishes!

Maverick Kay Prime

By the by, did you see it? All of the chapter titles are lines from the famous 'To be or not to be' soliloquy. Cool stuff, huh?