Author's Note:
Alright, sorry to keep you waiting folks, but here's the next chapter of The Phantom War.
As always, many thanks to my wonderful followers and reviewers.
The Dragon Legend - Don't be jealous, this thing is an intimidating beast to write! And longer isn't always better. :)
TheLastoftheRealOnes - Thank you so much for the kind words. Keeping the character's personalities faithful is one of the most important things to me, so your comment means a lot.
Mitha Sentro - I'm glad you liked that Knuckles/Rouge interaction. Even though this is not a shipping fic, there will still be a lot of interaction and moments between characters like that. And who knows, maybe later it will lead to a short spin-off story or two about the characters, if there's interest in me doing something like that.
Extreme Light 9 - Well, I can tell you now that the Avatar character won't be a part of this story. You may see some minor original characters show up briefly to join the resistance later on, but they won't be a part of the main storyline.
prowerboy - Thanks! I've felt the same frustration over the way SEGA ignores past character development, so I'm glad you're enjoying this re-write.
Infinite's Ruby - Thank you! The interactions between Knuckles and Rouge were really quite fun to write, and I'm glad to see it's been received so well.
Awdures - It will be explored even more in later chapters, so keep reading! :)
Now without further delay, here's the next chapter for you all.
Chapter 9 - Cruel Work
He closed his eyes in acceptance of his fate. His power was drained, his golden fur fading rapidly to black. There was no sound, no air, nothing at all to be felt except for the interminable sensation of free fall.
He had given his all. The planet was saved. His goal... was it finally fulfilled? Was this the price demanded of him?
Maria...
This is what you wanted, right?
This is my promise I made to you.
Shadow the Hedgehog awoke with a quiet gasp, glancing rapidly about his surroundings. The aged metal walls of the ARK greeted him in silence, and stars shown brightly outside the window of his small room.
Shadow sighed, rubbing a hand over his forehead as he got up from the old worn cot he had slept on. The black hedgehog had chosen to move on from his past after the Black Doom incident several years ago, and in most respects he had followed through with his choice. But ever since his return to the ARK, his dreams had been plagued constantly by troubled memories.
Shaking his head clear, Shadow strode from the room. It was only his third day aboard the space station, but already he was feeling frustrated. He had spent the last two days scouring the ruins of Westopolis for clues on what happened to Rouge. But it was an exercise in futility. No trace of the bat could be found anywhere among the rubble, and even the broken body of Omega had been stolen away by his creator's minions. Shadow now had no clue as to the whereabouts of either of his teammates, and his life was made even more difficult by the fact that he constantly had to remain hidden from robotic patrols, not wanting to risk crossing Infinite again unless he could find a way to effectively fight back.
The hedgehog's dark mood was only made worse by returning to the ARK to sleep each night. Everywhere he looked, he was assaulted with memories of the past. Visions of a young black and red hedgehog, curious and even hopeful, and so naively innocent it was embarrassing. Memories of scientists, and soldiers, and one beautifully kind young girl.
But those memories were no longer his. They belonged to a past life, one that had ended with a violent gunshot more than half a century ago. He was not that same innocent hedgehog. He had been reborn into the life he now led, and there could never be any going back. The past was the past, and Shadow was intent on leaving it there, where it belonged. Fate, of course, would never let it be that simple.
Steady footsteps soon brought the hedgehog into the ARK's power core, where his green chaos emerald lay slotted into a small alcove, powering the station's life support and lighting systems. A quick tug pulled it free, and the ARK grew dark and quiet once more. Shadow tucked the emerald into his quills, and turned around. Better to leave the ARK powerless than to leave a chaos emerald here unguarded while he went down to the surface each day. Besides, he didn't have a second one, and he needed a way to get down to the surface and back.
The dark hedgehog didn't even spare the ARK's halls a parting glance as he raised the emerald, feeling its familiar power flow through him. He was ready to be free again from the space station's cold metal walls, and the many memories held within them.
"Chaos Control!"
Barely an instant passed before Shadow found himself on the surface, standing upon a hill overlooking the ruins of Westopolis. The sun was just peeking over the horizon to begin its steady march up into the morning skies, and the atmosphere was still cool and calm. The city lay peacefully in its ruined state. There was no screaming or crying of civilians, no clamor of battle, no crackling of flames. The fires amidst the rubble had all completely burned themselves out, and the air above the city was still and quiet.
Too quiet. Shadow realized, glancing around with a piercing eye. Where are all the robots?
The rubble was completely empty. It was devoid of all movement - all signs of life or activity. The past two days he had returned here, robotic patrols were plentiful, and had forced him to keep a stealthy and low profile. But now they were nowhere to be seen.
Where are they?
With a silent scowl, the black and red hedgehog activated his hover-skates, and darted down into the ruins. His dark form was the solitary wanderer among the rubble. Not a robot was to be seen, except for the ones that lay broken and shattered among the collapsed buildings, destroyed by Shadow a few days previous, or perhaps even by Sonic, before his defeat.
Shadow slowed to a stop as he reached Team Dark's former HQ. Now nothing but a pile of collapsed concrete, wood, and glass. Here was where Rouge had last been heard from. Here, he had left Omega's shattered form alone, as he went on an angry rampage that accomplished nothing and nearly ended in disaster when Infinite arrived. Now, Shadow was alone, and there were no clues, no hints about where his teammates might be. Or even if they were still alive or not.
Gloved hands clenched into tight fists, and the hedgehog growled in anger and frustration. The Ultimate Lifeform had no problems with being on his own, but Rouge and Omega were still the closest things he had to friends, he was far from apathetic in regards to their absence. He was mad. Mad at Omega for mindlessly charging in and getting himself wrecked, mad at Infinite for doing the wrecking, mad at Eggman for causing the whole mess in the first place, and even mad at himself for not being able to save his allies. And on top of all that, the entire free world saw him as an enemy, because of Infinite's trickery. Everything about the situation was maddening and frustrating.
With an angry sigh, Shadow shook his head. This would get him nowhere. Taking a deep breath, he slowly reined in his emotion, before it grew beyond his control. Rage would do him no good right now. What he needed now was a new plan. Hanging around Westopolis any longer would be useless, and there were mysteries to be solved elsewhere.
Rouge and Omega are beyond my reach right now, if they're even still alive. Shadow acknowledged to himself. It's time to change tactics.
Two major questions faced the Ultimate Lifeform as he stood in contemplation amid the rubble, and he couldn't decide which was more important at the moment.
Where is the Doctor's army heading now? And how can I learn to defeat Infinite?
After a moment of silent thought, Shadow decided to focus on the robotic army. It was, after all, the only question he could plausibly discover an answer to right away. Defeating Infinite was a more important goal overall, but there were no leads he could follow, and it seemed to be an out of reach goal for the moment. For now, there was a giant mechanized army on the loose, and even if the entire world hated him at the moment, he was still bound to protect it. For her sake, if nothing else.
With a burst of power to his shoes, Shadow skated away, searching around the outskirts of the city for signs of the where the army had headed when they left. A large and powerful force of robots would leave unmistakable traces of its passing, and soon enough, Shadow found them. A large swath of ground had been completely trampled down, and multitudes of large deep footprints trailed away to the north - signs of the giant metal behemoths that had inflicted total ruin upon a once proud city. There was the trail to follow. Casting one last long glance at the wrecked city behind him, Shadow set his face in a grim line and turned to follow the enemy's track.
As the sun slid slowly through the midday sky, Shadow streaked in a dark blur over the landscape, in pursuit of Eggman's army. It didn't take the swift hedgehog very long to catch up to his quarry. The extensive army was marching northward at an unvaried pace, steadily traversing the small foothills along the coast. The spectacle of it was something to behold. An expansive silvery mass, glinting in the sunlight as it moved steadily over the hills. The ground itself shook at the impact of a hundred thousand metal footsteps, and the terrible sound of it could be heard from miles away. Eggpawns swarmed like insects around the feet of massive metal behemoths, and legions of buzz-bombers flew in rigid formations overhead. It was a great and fearsome horde of machines, built and dispatched for one solitary purpose - the subjugation of the entire world to Doctor Eggman.
Shadow slowed to a walk a couple miles from the large force, watching it from behind and endeavoring to keep himself hidden behind one of the smaller foothills. Even if he didn't have to consider the problem posed by Infinite, Shadow doubted he could take on the entire force by himself. For now he would wait, and watch, and plan.
This army is the largest I've ever seen assembled by the Doctor. The dark hedgehog mused. And unless they make a change of course soon, they must be headed straight for Metropolis.
The sprawling urban center of Metropolis, if it was indeed Eggman's next target, would still be a journey of several days at the robotic army's current pace. But there were a few small villages along the way, and Shadow knew they wouldn't stand any chance of survival in the face of this mechanized onslaught. With narrowed eyes watching the evil army, and arms folded characteristically over his chest, the Ultimate Lifeform considered his options.
It's not like I can fight off the entire army to protect those villages. But I can't go warn them to evacuate either. They don't trust me, they all think I'm working for the Doctor.
Perhaps it's better for me to just leave them to their fates. Shadow reflected. They wouldn't accept help from me anyway.
That was without doubt the easiest and simplest option. But try as he might to let that settle the issue, his conscience still nagged him, and his old promise weighed heavily on his mind. Words from the past resounded clearly within his head.
"Shadow, I beg of you... give them a chance..."
The hedgehog shook his head at the recurring memory, but try as he might, he couldn't ignore it. He couldn't just leave those people to die, even if they did hate him at the moment. They were in danger, and he was the only being in a position to help them. He would have to do something.
But what?
What could he do to help villagers who didn't want him to help? He couldn't fight off an army that large, especially if Infinite was still leading it.
For that matter, my own replica could be the one leading it. Shadow realized bitterly.
Immediately after that thought, inspiration struck him like a bolt of lighting. An idea presented itself, and Shadow knew what he would have to do. If the world viewed him as an enemy, then he would act like one. He would play off their fear of him, and send the villagers running from their homes. He would chase them out, and he would burn down their villages if he had to, but he could force them out of the army's path. They would be terrified, and they would hate him all the more, but at least they would live. And that was the important thing, wasn't it?
Shadow stared consideringly for a moment longer, watching the mechanical horde continue it's steady march. Then, with a face colder and harder than steel, he fired up his hover-skates and rocketed off toward the first village, taking care to remain hidden from the enemy.
Traveling just under the speed of sound, Shadow quickly and stealthily maneuvered around Eggman's army, reaching the first village only hour later. It was little more than a collection of thatched cottages, nestled among the hills. Mobian villagers were wandering about their daily lives, cooking or building, buying or selling, quite ignorant of the danger than was currently marching straight towards them.
Shadow stood unseen only a few hundred feet away, his crimson gaze wandering over the scene. The life these villagers led was a peaceful illusion. And he was about to shatter it.
"It's for their own good." Shadow muttered under his breath, as he opened himself to the power of the chaos emerald he carried in his quills. A moment later a stood, fists clenched and eyes blazing, at the edge of the village. Several mobians spotted him immediately, and stopped in their tracks. They knew who he was. Everybody knew who he was. Chaos energy danced at his fingertips, and he marched slowly toward the village center. The normal bustle of life in the small community ceased entirely as he walked through it, and was replaced by a silent yet palpable terror. A family of rabbits stared wide-eyed from their doorway, and a female dog rushed into the street to drag a small child out of the Ultimate Lifeform's path.
The dark hedgehog stopped, glancing with narrowed eyes at the terrified faces around him. His expressionless face suddenly twisted into a furious scowl, and the villagers shrank back in fright.
"Leave. Now." Shadow growled, and the tone of his voice was enough to strike fear into the bravest heart on the planet.
Villagers stumbled back in their haste to get away as, with a fearsome yell that sounded more like a roar, the Ultimate Lifeform raised his hand and launched a massive chaos spear at the nearest and largest cottage. The powerful bolt of energy grazed the thatched roof of the building, setting it ablaze immediately, and its occupants quickly fled the building in a panic.
Shadow turned around, eyes sharp and teeth bared in a growl, with the flaming cottage behind him. Several citizens stood frozen in fear and awe as they stared at him, until he stepped toward them and roared angrily: "Leave!"
Nobody needed to be told again after that. Villagers fled in terror before the black and red hedgehog, harbinger of the destruction that awaited them all if they stayed any longer. Parents scooped up their screaming children and ran, and the elderly hobbled after them as fast as they could. Shadow strode menacingly through the streets, making sure every building was empty, every alleyway clear. He set buildings ablaze, or destroying them outright once he knew they had been evacuated. The inhabitants had to know, by whatever means necessary, that they could never come back to this place. Not with Eggman on the loose.
It didn't take long for the grim job to be finished. Soon enough, the little town was empty, and Shadow stood alone among the burning remains of homes and businesses. He watched as the last of the citizens fled over the hills to the east, then bowed his head. He had just taken away their homes, their livelihoods, their belongings. But he had saved their lives. Even now, his enhanced senses could feel the earth trembling under his feet, as the Doctor's robotic horde approached from the south. They would be here soon.
Shadow raised his head, and closed his eyes for a moment, steeling himself. Then, his hover-skates activated with a soft whine, and he shot off toward the next village. The mission was not finished yet.
Shadow's work at the second small town went much like the first. His reputation, as inaccurate as it was, preceded him, and the inhabitants once again scattered in fear before the powerful hedgehog. Street by street, house by house, he methodically set fire to the rooftops and drove the citizens out and away.
It was a terrible task, and not for the faint of heart, but it had to be done. Everywhere there were weeping children, terrified parents, mobians of every shape and size tripping over themselves in their haste to get away. They were being ripped away from everything they knew, and their lives would never be the same. But at least they would live to see tomorrow.
Shadow knew that somebody like Sonic could never have stomached this sort of work. He was too good, to pure for a task such as this. But Shadow was not Sonic. Far from it. The blue blur could have been welcomed into the town as a hero, and warned everybody of the approaching danger. They all would have listened to him, packed up their belongings, and left. Shadow, on the other hand, could only be recieved with hatred, suspicion, and fear. If that was his lot, then that was what he would have to use to accomplish his goal.
So, as the last of the citizens escaped over the hills, and their town's buildings withered away amid wreaths of flames, Shadow the Hedgehog skated off toward his last target, anxious to complete the grim work.
The last village was slightly bigger than the other two, but Shadow wouldn't let that stop him. Darkness was falling as chaos energy set the first two buildings ablaze, and once again the Ultimate Lifeform roared out his demands:
"Leave! Or else!"
The simple threat was enough, and once again, the villagers fled. As the sun's last rays vanished beneath the western horizon, Shadow strode down the darkening streets, lit only by the flames spreading on the rooftops. He paced through houses and businesses, churches and markets, blowing holes in their walls and tossing any remaining inhabitants out onto the streets. The fires spread rapidly from building to building, and mass panic reigned amid the fleeing citizenry.
The hedgehog was nearly finished with his task of emptying the town when, in one of the last unvisited houses, he found a mobian child sitting alone in the corner. He was about to bare his teeth and scare the poor fool out of the building, when his eyes connected with hers, and something stopped him in his tracks. She was a young bird, only a few years old. Her feathers were grey, her blue eyes were wide and frightened. When she noticed Shadow, her innocent mind did not perceive a threat, and she instead reached out to him for help.
The Ultimate Lifeform stared for a moment at the youngling, and soon found himself unable to muster the will to scare her away as she reached out to him with innocent and pleading eyes. In that moment, his fight left him. The weight of all the terror and hardship he was putting these villagers through fell suddenly on his shoulders, and he couldn't gather enough anger to ignore it anymore.
Letting out a long sigh, he stepped over to the girl, grabbing her hand and helping her stand. He closed his eyes as the world flashed white, and a moment later they were on a hillside overlooking the burning town. The girl stared with wide eyes as her home burned, until Shadow nudged her shoulder, and pointed her in the direction of the other refugees. The young bird grabbed his hand, staring at him wide wide and frightened eyes, silently begging him to come with her. To protect her. But the hedgehog shook his head.
"I can't go with you." He spoke quietly, feeling an unfamiliar ache in his chest. "You'll be fine. Go find your family."
With that, he pulled his hand away from the girl, and gave her a gentle push toward the others. She turned, giving him one last mournful glance, and then ran off.
Shadow stared after her for a moment, with a disturbing pain in his heart. Then, with a flash of chaos energy, he was back in the city. He flashed from house to house, checking that all were at last completely empty, before retreating to a nearby hilltop. There, he watched in silent sorrow as the village burned. Even if it was for their own good, and it saved their lives in the end, he had still ripped three full communities away from nearly every material thing they had possessed in life.
As he sat down under the darkening twilight sky, staring at the destruction he had wrought, the last words of his dear sister rang through his head once more.
"Shadow... I beg of you... Give them a chance to be happy..."
Well, Shadow couldn't help but think, they certainly aren't happy right now.
Rage flooded through him, and he slammed his fist against the ground. But the anger left as quickly as it had come, and Shadow could only shake his head with a sigh.
Not everything is black and white. He reflected tiredly. It was either this, or they all die when Eggman's army shows up at their doorsteps. This way, at least they have a chance at survival. A chance at eventual happiness, however slim that chance is.
He paused his ruminations to look up at the stars shining above him. That's all she ever really asked for, isn't it? A chance.
He looked back down at the burning village, then beyond it to the hill that it's citizens had fled over. I'm doing the best I can, Maria. This world doesn't make it easy on me.
Shadow remained there on that hilltop, sitting in silence for the next several hours. Waiting for what he knew was coming. Soon enough, the ground began to tremble under the mechanized tread of mammoth war machines, and Eggman's army appeared, silhouetted against the dark southern horizon. Shadow watched patiently, as the robotic minions marched unwaveringly towards the now smoldering remains of the village. Once they arrived, the entire army stopped moving, except for a lone figure that hovered over the ruined town's center.
Crimson eyes narrowed as their owner watched intently from his perch. Infinite.
The masked jackal hovered over charred and smoking ruins, examining the entire scene. Then he lifted his head, crossed his arms over his chest, and scanned the surrounding hillsides.
Shadow was on his stomach in the grass now, determined to remain unseen by his foe.
Suddenly, Infinite's unmistakable voice resounded over the landscape, impossibly loud.
"Just what do you think you've accomplished by all this, Shadow?"
The Ultimate Lifeform gritted his teeth, but remained silent and unmoving.
"You've burned down these three villages, and for what? Wherever the survivors are, they will be found eventually, and you can do nothing to stop it. Even if I don't find them, they will die of privation soon enough." Infinite paused to glance over the hillsides once more, but there was no sound or movement anywhere.
"You have accomplished nothing, except to make yourself even more hated by those you are bound to protect." Taunted the jackal. "They will perish hating you, and you will perish knowing that you are a failure!"
Shadow saw red, but through a supreme effort of sheer willpower, he remained still and silent.
Infinite remained silent for a long moment, before issuing his final taunt.
"You cannot win this war Shadow. No matter how hard you try."
With that, the masked jackal returned in silence to his army.
A few hundred feet behind him, a dark hedgehog raised himself up to standing. His gloved hand slowly reached into his quills, and removed the green chaos emerald. He stared at it in his hand for a moment, turning it over, then shifted his blazing red orbs to Infinite.
"It's not about winning the war." Shadow spoke quietly, but firmly. "It's about fighting the war, regardless of whether or not you can win it."
Infinite's head whipped around to face the sound, but he caught nothing more than a fleeting glimpse of the hedgehog, as he vanished amid the brilliant flash of Chaos Control.
And, that's it for chapter 9.
Author's Note: This was a tough chapter to write. Much tougher than I expected. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out though. Much better than what I had originally planned. We get some more insight into Shadow, and his struggles with his past and present.
I wanted to explore Shadow, being truly on his own. Every ally he had is lost to him, the entire world is against him, he isn't the most powerful guy in town anymore, and he's always got Maria's promise hanging over his head. It's a lot for him to come to grips with.
I also wanted to explore the antihero nature of Shadow here. We get to see him tread the fine line between right and wrong, good and bad. It's interesting to write, because while Shadow is definitely not as "nice" or "pure" as Sonic is, he's still motivated at his core by a promise to help others. He just goes about it in ways that other "heroes" would probably find unacceptable, because he used to be a villain, and because the world currently sees him as a villain.
Anyway, it's a complex chapter that turned out way more intense that I originally envisioned, but I like how it ended up. And I hope you guys all enjoyed it as well.
As always, any reviews or suggestions are very appreciated, and I'll talk you guys again in the next update.