Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Shadow the Hedgehog, the game or any of the characters. They belong to SEGA.
A Hero's Promise
Chapter Ten : Final Hour! Creations VS Co-Creator
It had all lead up to this... Those nights of wondering alone without a clue of his identity were slowly coming to an end. In time, his questions will be answered and the truth revealed. As Shadow the Hedgehog met the glare of his co creator, he knew what had to be done.
Black Doom had to be destroyed for good... Even if the alien assisted the Professor to give him life, it didn't change the fact humanity had to pay the price for it. He wouldn't let humanity be destroyed by the Black Aliens.
"Amy, I will defeat Black Doom. I promised Maria and you I would protect this planet..."
"I hope Shadow will be okay," Amy said, still frozen in place, a few minutes passing since the ebony hedgehog pursued Black Doom. If she hadn't been paralysed, she would have hit Black Doom with her Piko Piko Hammer for torturing Shadow. The fate of the planet depended on him alone. The rest of the Team could only stand by and do nothing, each with near identical expressions of anger.
"That guy has some nerve keeping us here!" Sonic complained, hating to stay in one place for too long, defined in the course of five minutes.
"I'll crush that coward!" Knuckles growled, his fist still in the air.
"Look on the bright side, Knuckie. At least Eggman can't steal my Emerald." Knuckles glared at Rouge through the corner of his eye.
"My Emerald, bat girl!" Knuckles corrected Rouge, who would have shrugged in indifference if the group hadn't been incapable of movement.
"Shadow, you can do it!" Amy thought, putting all her faith towards her close friend. If anyone had the fullest potential to defeat Black Doom, it'd be Shadow who grew from being a confused wonderer to an important ally and friend to the Team. Still a little scared of being stuck in one position all the time, she could only put her trust into her dark hero.
Aboard the ARK, the three distinct figures were still at work, hoping their efforts would soon pay off. Of the three, the chameleon was working with the computer, attempting to recover some of the data the three had found not too long ago.
"Espio, are you in yet?" the bumblebee asked again in persistence.
"Quiet Charmy!" the green crocodile replied in annoyance, covering the bee's mouth with his hand. "Espio, we need you to focus 'cuz if we don't hurry, all the data we recovered will be lost!"
"Easier said than done," said chameleon replied under his breath. "Who signed me up for this anyway? Data recovery isn't exactly my specialty."
"Let me try it!" Charmy insisted, his voice muffled by Vector's hand. Finally pulling away from his hand, the determined Chaotix member poised to charge. "That's it. I'll do it. Get out of the way!"
"Get back here, you idiot!" Vector's response came a second too late when the bee charged towards the computer at full speed, shaking the entire room. Soon enough, the data started to recover successfully.
"Hey, it's working!" the three said in unison with relief on their faces. The computer loaded completely, bringing up the data files. Pushing Espio aside, Vector looked through them, quickly finding the one he wanted. The video with Professor Gerald.
The truth... The real truth...
"Shadow, my son..."
"What was that?" Amy asked, confused by the unfamiliarity of the voice.
"I thought we heard that voice before," Sonic said, trying to remember.
A hologram slowly came into sight, showing an older man wearing a white lab coat and glasses, resembling Eggman. It all made sense...
"Gerald, my grandfather." Even Eggman seemed a little surprised.
"We saw him before, didn't we?" Amy asked, remembering the day back at the ARK when the colony was on a set collision course for the planet. "But how did he get here?"
"If you are listening to this, then the worst has happened. You need to know the truth. The government plans to shut down this facility. The government plans to cease all of our research and imprison all who know about you. I made a terrible mistake Shadow. It's all my fault, making contact with that comet. Now listen very carefully..." the hologram explained. "In fifty years, the Black Comet will return. They plan to harness its powers to destroy this planet. The only way to stop them was to develop a way to use the very power they intended to use against them. Shadow, it's up to you and only you can stop them. I developed the Eclipse Cannon. It's the only weapon that can destroy that Black Comet. Shadow, you are the only hope to save mankind as we know it. The future of this planet depends on you..."
"Don't worry grandfather," a feminine voice joined in, a smile on her hopeful face. "Shadow and I will protect this planet. Right, Shadow?"
Amy's eyes widened at the sight of the young girl. The same one she saw in that old photograph on the ARK. "She really was Maria..." That innocent and optimistic attitude she carried was almost as she imagined Maria to be when she found the picture in Shadow's room.
The holograms slowly faded, the area left in silence once again. Without the voices, the Black Comet felt so haunted again and Amy didn't like it one bit. "I hope you're okay Shadow!" If Shadow ever got hurt fighting Black Doom, Amy wouldn't know what to do with herself. All those moments she spent together with the mysterious Ultimate Lifeform only allowed her bond to grow even further. His life and the planet were both at risk... Only now did she realize how silly it was to chase Sonic around when he wasn't interested in a relationship. She dreaded the possibility of losing Shadow forever, even if he was fighting for everyone.
A light exclaim of surprise escaped her mouth, seeing Shadow passing by the group in his Super form, following Black Doom who had now transformed into a larger, gruesome monster. Amy's gleaming, hopeful eyes transfixed on Shadow's determined ruby red ones.
"Shadow!" she called from below. Even though he was hovering so high in space, his head turned to see the group, surprised to hear them all cheering him on.
"I must keep my promise..." was all that mattered to him as he peered over his shoulder once last time. Now understanding what his promise truly was, no more confusion dwelled in his heart to hold him back from acting on his vow to his dearest friends. "Soon enough Maria, Amy..."
Fear and anticipation intermixed together into one strong and complicated emotion as Shadow and his co creator appeared the size of a dot in the red clouded skies. Amy couldn't stand not being to move by her own free will and tried to struggle against it, only tiring herself out in her numerous attempts.
"Ames, calm down," Sonic told Amy, who had a death glare on her face as each attempt to move failed. "I don't like this anymore than you do but we gotta believe in Shadow."
Knowing Sonic was right, Amy tried her best to settle down, anger turning into desperation. "I know Sonic but I don't want Shadow to get hurt. It's not fair he has to do this alone!"
"I know that but I think Shadow and Black Doom were meant to fight each other. Ya believe in him, don'cha?" he questioned, earning a timid smile from Amy.
"Yeah... I do," she replied, picturing the two of them together on the ARK, staring at the countless ocean of stars and the assurance he truly desired to fulfill his wish to make everyone happy.
Minutes passed by when Amy suddenly was aware of the cold, tingling sensation that spread from her body. She gasped in delight when her body gave out from the same position it retained for the last half an hour. Her joy was mutual among the others, even Eggman.
"Am I ever glad that's over," Sonic spoke up, grinning. Eager to run again, he occupied the next minute racing around the area as much as he possibly could. Getting the pent up energy out of his system, Sonic came to a stop in front of the Team. "So, what's the plan?"
Tails steered the ship from the Black Comet to the Space Colony ARK, barely managing to get out of the danger zone without any damage done. Shadow's Super form was easily identifiable, the hues as bright as a shining star. Amy kept to herself, sitting closest to the windshield, mostly due to keep a close watch on Shadow. Her worry from earlier felt silly now. True, it was an instinct of compassion but she knew now he could stand his own ground, even against the most hopeless of circumstances. Worried eyes transformed into a longing stare of admiration.
The ship parked without delay and soon the group met in the main room, watching the battle from above. Amy turned around when she heard a couple pairs of unfamiliar footsteps echo down the hallway. "Wh-Wait! It's you three!" she shouted out in revelation.
"Amy? What a coincidence meeting ya here!" Vector said, rubbing the back of his head, not expecting anyone else to be aboard the ARK.
Amy raised an eyebrow. "What were you guys doing?"
"We were recovering data from the files here on the Space Colony's computer. The data a while to retrieve but after some 'fixing,' we got it to work," Espio explained.
"I fixed it!" Charmy said, quite proud of himself.
"Fixing, defined as nearly destroying the computer," Espio pointed out.
"But Espio, I got it to work!" Charmy continued.
"Those voices we heard on that comet, was that you?" Amy said, inwardly grateful to the Chaotix now. "We heard the professor talk about the truth and after that, we saw Shadow fighting Black Doom. Thanks!"
Surprised, Vector laughed a little. "Glad we could help!"
"So, it was you guys that helped us earlier?" Sonic asked, having overhead most of the conversation.
"I fixed the computer! It was me!" Sonic gave a thumbs up to a satisfied Charmy, who flew in circles in delight.
Not sure of how to pass the time, Amy paced down the empty halls, unable to keep her mind off the final battle occurring outside. She stopped abruptly when she saw a bright blur pass by in the hallway. She blinked a couple times, left wondering if her imagination was teasing her again. Her doubts vanished when she felt the Space Colony shake, Amy holding onto the nearest doorframe to prevent herself from falling. Her heart beat with excitement when it struck her the Eclipse Cannon was preparing to fire. She hurried down the hallway, careful to keep her balance. Peeking out the window, her jaw dropped in surprise to see the Black Comet hovering in space before shattering to several pieces, each flying in separate directions. She shut her eyes tightly, the shaking continuing to persist throughout the When all became still, she exhaled a sigh of relief, still in shock at the thought of all the worry being over; this time, for good.
All the broken pieces of the Black Comet became lost in the horizon, their race no longer able to torture to the prosperity of the planet. Amy smiled, leaning against the windshield, proud of Shadow in every imaginable way. The promise was kept and the planet would live in peace once more. Humanity could continue to live on for their dreams... Humanity no longer had to live in fear of being mercilessly slaughtered by the Black Arms and live through the treatment of being a 'foolish' race without value. At times, their race could be selfish but if they never gave up on their wishes, they had good hearts deep down.
That was what Amy had told Shadow a while ago before he saved the world for the first time.
But now, he wasn't just her hero. He was a hero for humanity.
"Thank you Shadow..."