9 – Red, pt.I

[Bigby's Apartment (Extended) - The Wolf Among Us soundtrack
/watch?v=LgErp-OIi6E ]

Shadow opened his eyes in the Space Colony Ark, overlooking the blue Earth. He heard Sorrow's voice behind him. "… How many times have we been here before?" Shadow clenched his fists. "… What were you expecting?" Sorrow continued. Shadow's mouth twitched as he fought to not bare his teeth.

"It's amusing, really. You actually think you can win… when you've already lost… What is it that drives you every morning? Do you just drag yourself out of bed, halfheartedly ready to seize the day? To save lives? And why?"

Shadow closed his eyes and hung his head while Sorrow paced behind him.

"Perhaps you've convinced yourself that you actually care? And yet, you walk the Earth as a shell. Why. Don't. You. Give. Up?"
"Didn't we already have this conversation?" Shadow was grinding his teeth at this point.
"Perhaps we did, though I remember it less as conversation and more as yelling and crying. Funny. Maybe that's why you won't quit, besides lying to yourself: … you're a coward. Too weak to fight, too pathetic to quit. Or perhaps you've already tried quitting… long ago… Yes, you walked away and ended up right back here, didn't you? Walking in blind circles… Shame. So much wasted potential… How long have we been at this?"

Shadow opened his eyes. "… Years…" he sighed.
"Indeed… What, you think one day you'll just wake up and save the world?"
"… I won't stop. Even if I die trying."
"I'm sure you will." Sorrow seemed almost proud of himself.
"I'm not alone. I have frien-"
"And what, exactly? You'll continue to do nothing? And what happens when your friends are gone?"
"… You asked what it was that kept me going. You're going to find out."
"Oh, I look forward to it."
"Get out. The NTX is gone."

Sorrow almost laughed. "Oh, I think we both know what's really going on here. I've been around much longer than that blasted poison." The creature squinted. "You just didn't want to see it."
Shadow shot around, blasting Sorrow into wisps, but his voice persisted.

"Hollow words and false bravado. A walking corpse calls himself a leader. But his hands are stained with sin…"

With his arm still stretched out, Shadow saw that his hands were bare. The mark on his hands began to melt into dripping blood, his flesh began to crinkle, and his fur began to grey. Before him was not what remained of Sorrow's shadowy form, but the dead bodies of his friends. And the body of another Shadow.

"You will fight until your bitter death? Fool. You're already dead…"

He fell to his knees, death and dread overtaking him, until he collapsed and the world faded into nothing…

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in bed. Another late night.

[Faith (Extended) - The Wolf Among Us soundtrack
/watch?v=LptHtg4ACoM ]

The group sat around a table they set up on the balcony.

"Alright," Miley began, "so we've put down Metallix's 'dream agent', discovering a brain-washing operation in the process: reaffirmation of obedience via subliminal messaging by soundwaves. We've eliminated the source of this in Metallix's commandeered and repurposed 'Robotnik Entertainment system'."

"Why the heck did ol' Egghead have a DJ robot in the first place?" Flame interrupted. Miley ignored him and kept on.

"We've also put a stop to one of his scientist's experiments in brain chemistry, or so we believe. Jason claims to have left the scientist in critical condition, but Metallix could have easily recovered a valuable asset."

"If anything," Jason clarified, "he was a disposable asset. From someone who's lived inside the central tower a long time and knows what goes on in there, trust me when I say that bug's a dead man."
"Arachnid, actually."
"Whatever. Metallix has little tolerance for failure, and Sorrow's always looking for an excuse to kill something."
"It's still a gamble not to apprehend him."
"Well, there's no way to get to him now."
"Perhaps… Flame, why are you staring at me?" An annoyed Miley didn't have to look to know her friend was leaning toward her, squinting in scrutiny.

"We've been through this before, Flame. That was the N.T.X., not me."
"What if you were a fake all this time?"
"We need to talk about your insecurities."
"What's Miley's favorite color?!"
"Blue."
"A lucky guess!"
"Flame, stand down…" a tired Shadow commanded as he stepped onto the balcony. The red hedgehog gestured to Miley to remind her that he was watching her. Rolling her eyes, she went on.

"Before we continue, Shadow, we need to know if we're going to go after 'Toxin' or not."

Shadow recalled what Flame had told him of the previous Chaos Guardian, Luna. The poor thing knew her life was at an end as soon as she realized she had failed. If Metallix's behavior towards his servants was anything like that...

"I think I can back up Jason's words. Toxin is likely dead by now. So what's next? Any more operations we need to shut down besides Toxin's?"
"Intel has it that three of the five remaining Guardians are experiments of Metallix's own. One of the Guardians is apparently the first success in both cross-species genetics and creating life. A chimeran mobian, if you will."

"Wait," Jason spoke up, "you're saying Metallix went and made a monster?"
"Brain washing, approving Toxin's experiments, creating his own mobians…" Miley looked deep in thought. "I know Metallix has always conducted experiments, but just what has he been doing all these years?"

"… He's testing the malleability of life…" Shadow finally answered, after a long pause. "Organic life is just a plaything to him. So he's trying to see what he can do with it."
Miley was at a loss. "But why? He already has everything he wants, doesn't he? Is he just that sadistic?"
"Maybe. He's become something worse than just a machine… That's why the sooner we get the Emeralds back, the better. Whether he has a goal or is just going to continue tormenting innocents, we need to destroy him. What else does the intel say?"
"Not much. Data is either missing or corrupted. We know the who's and where's, just not the why's."
"Shoot."
"'Project Nexus' is the chimera I just mentioned. He's located in an underwater facility, holding the next Emerald. Then there's something about a delusional bat in an asylum with one Emerald, a mole underground with another, Sorrow with the third, and... that's it. The bat looks to be another experiment, and there's something about the Sandopolis Zone during a planetary alignment, but nothing about the last Emerald or experiment…"
"Strange… Let's check out this 'Project Nexus'. At least we know something about it."
"Well, you're the boss. Who do you want to send out?"

"I wish to go." Everyone turned to see Angel.
"Out of the question. Metallix is after you. We're not putting you in danger." Shadow turned back to the group.
"Please, something is very wrong here. I can feel it."

"Spare me…" Jason groaned as he sat up. "Let me do it. We're dealing with an abomination here, and let's be honest, your crew is going to be too weak-stomached to look at it, let alone spill blood. Send me in with the robots. We'll clean it up quick."
"Please, Shadow," Angel insisted. "Metallix is tampering with nature. This poor creature needs our aid. I know you can feel it too."
"Poor creature?" Jason nearly vomited. "Like hell! It's a monster especially crafted by Metallix. Shadow, just send me in and tell princess here to bugger off. This kind of sentimentality is exactly the kind of thing that metal bastard and his demon lackey will feed off of."

Shadow hesitated. "… This… distortion of nature… This may very well involve chaos energy. And our guest here is attuned to light chaos. I don't want to put her at risk, but… we may need her expertise."
Jason stared at him, baffled. "Are you joking?! She 'feels' something and you're just going to go with it? You already have this… chaos, whatever, inside of you. Why send her?"
"My training isn't that extensive in either light or dark chaos." Shadow explained. "I've practiced in both, but I haven't mastered either. However, I've noticed that Angel is naturally gifted with the ways of light." He stood up to look at her. "Angel is going. I'll cover her."
Jason slumped in his seat. "Whatever. All this mystic talk sounds like a bunch of rubbish…"

Miley's brows furrowed. "I actually think Jason may be right, Shadow."

Shadow ignored her and began to leave, but stopped next to Angel. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" he whispered, not turning to her.
She looked at him. "Do you trust me?"
He paused before commanding Miley to prepare the transport and coordinates.

[Main Menu theme - Resistance 3 soundtrack
/watch?v=evTMTzY66hA ]

The two walked through a grand hallway at the bottom of the ocean, transparent walls at the side and a shadowed roof above. The lights were off, but the light of the sea illuminated the area enough. This aquatic base seemed to be some sort of hidden lab, as if the labs at Metallix's tower weren't enough. It certainly had the marks of his usual labs, if Jason's knowledge of the tower was to be believed. Plenty of blood-splattered, empty containment chambers. However, this lab seemed deader than the others, which often had lab coat-wearing slaves hurrying about as they skimmed through their notes. In comparison, this place had no sign of life. No lights. No people. Just the great creatures of the sea, which occasionally passed by. The two were uneasy. Not even their acute, supernatural senses could pick up anything. The halls echoed with the sound of their footsteps. Shadow sped up his walk. He looked to be losing his patience, as he constantly failed to find any functioning digital maps. "Why does everything have to be digital…?" he grumbled. Hard as they searched, they could not find a way to bring the power back on. They were wandering in the dark.

"Maybe I should have brought a Chaos Emerald. I don't want to risk losing them to Metallix, but it would've helped us to find the other one."
"Perhaps the data from your intel is outdated?"
Shadow stopped. Would Metallix have altered his plans so quickly? The intel was correct so far. While he pondered, Angel walked up to the glass walls to marvel at the sea life.

"This makes no sense. We've been at this for hours." Shadow noted. "There's no life here whatsoever and we're lost... Maybe it's best we head back and search for the other Guardians until we know more about this."
"Shadow?"
"It's going to be hard finding them with the lack of intel, and our inside man being…"
"Shadow."
"We also have to find our way back to the transport before we get any more lost…"
"Shadow, the animals."
"Animals? What are you…?" He looked to see what she had already noticed. The sea creatures were more abundant than before, and seemed to all be moving in the same direction. It wasn't long before they cleared out again. Angel tried to see which way they went.
"Should we follow?"
"Maybe they saw something we didn't. Only lead we have, so we might as well catch up to them."

They tried to keep up with the aquatic life best as they could. There were only so many transparent hallways. The two gave chase until they were stopped at a strange door. It was something of a black convex glass. Shadow knocked on it.
"The hell is this? This material is alien."
Angel placed her hand on it. "It's marked with an aura not too unlike your own."
Shadow stood there, puzzled, until it hit him. He winced at the thought of what had to be done.

This was Black Arms technology, and it demanded dark chaos energy. It must have been designed with Sorrow in mind. He would serve as the key for Metallix's workers as only he was so steeped in that wicked power. Shadow knew enough for combat purposes, but it was a dark art he wouldn't dare immerse himself in. But what was this doing here? How could they have obtained this material foreign to Earth? Questions for later. Shadow took a deep breath.

"Stand back." His inhibitor rings clanged on the ground. Angel looked at him, confused, then worried as Shadow stepped up to the door enshrouded in a calm but fiery crimson red energy. The girl stumbled back as a stabbing pain began to pierce her mind. Visions of violence, blood, and screaming began to overwhelm her as Shadow's aura became greater, more furious. He brought his shaking hands to his face, seeing with his own eyes the power that was overtaking him. His fingers were twitching violently. He fought to keep his head still, which was jerking about. His expression was one of rage, though his eyes betrayed his panic. He looked at the door, and with an agonizing wail, unleashed a shockwave that shattered the glass. He fell to his knees, nearly suffocating. Angel rushed to pick him back up. "… I'm sorry…" he said lowly. She supported him as he began to limp into the opened hall.

They spent an eternity in silence. Shadow was in a haze. His body was being healed by the softly glowing hands that supported him, but his mind struggled to make its way back. What thoughts came to him were few and far in-between, but one that nagged at him was how Sorrow could possibly be a master of this form of chaos. What he tapped into was just a taste of what Sorrow commanded. He looked up at the seemingly blissful wildlife above. He then looked to his caretaker, who was trying not to be seen as she focused on the task at hand. He wondered.

"… What did you see?"
"… Too much… Please… don't do that again… That power will tear at your soul until there is nothing left."
"I did what I had to-"
"We could've found another way…!"

He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She eventually continued. "You are not Sorrow. That mark is your inheritance, not your fate." Shadow looked at the back of his exposed hand, the familiar mark of the Black Arms bound to him. His gloves and shoes were in tatters, and his rings were back on. He was so lost in his thoughts, she must have put them back on without his noticing. They stopped at what looked to be a sliding door. "Are you alright?" she asked. Shadow struggled to stand upright at first, but quickly managed. "I'll be fine…" he answered.

Shadow fought to pry the door open. Inside was a grand dome of a room, the only one in the entire lab which was lit up. The two walked down a ramp that ended in a rounded platform above a large tank of darkened water. There was a small computer at the edge of the platform. The roof above was transparent like the halls before. All around them embedded into the walls were glass-like, unilluminated cells. Boom. There was a loud noise all of a sudden. The lights flickered and the cell lights turned on for a split-second. Shadow looked around. "… You sense that? A pulse of chaos energy." Shadow inspected the computer. "Project NEXUS" it read, along with other information. It seemed all the power in the base was being diverted to this room. After some tinkering, he got the cell lights back on. The two gasped at what was revealed. From what they could see, there was more than just one attempt at "Project Nexus". And they each ended in horror. Shadow looked around, speechless. He turned back at Angel. "Should I… turn it back off?" The cells soon turned black again. They stood there quietly. Shadow pulled out a needle-like device and stuck it into the computer briefly. "Miley may be able to take something out of all of this." Then there was a splash of water and a gust of wind. Before anyone could realize what had happened, a dark blur had rushed passed them and out the room. The two made chase.

[Aquatic Base Level 2 - Sonic 06 soundtrack
/watch?v=VNgUZ_3l2kE ]

The stranger was sprinting through the maze of hallways on all fours. Shadow tried not to lose his target or his ally, but she urged him onwards. After some convincing, a determined Shadow engaged his broken air shoes and blitzed towards the runaway best as he could. With all the twist and turns, and his malfunctioning shoes slowing him down, it was becoming harder and harder to track the creature, until Shadow eventually lost him at a rounded intersection of many corridors. The hedgehog stopped in the darkened room. With one hand, he summoned his energy to create a ball of light. His eyes examined what they could. After a long moment, his nose twitched. "… I can't sense you, for whatever reason, but I know you're still he-" BAM! He was slammed against a wall by a bolt of lightning. He slumped to the floor, shivering as jolts of residual electricity jumped around his body. "Get away from me!" a raspy voice cried as the stranger leaped from the roof around a hall. Angel caught up as Shadow forced himself back up. "He went that way!"

They continued their pursuit. She went on ahead, but he was stopped as he was blasted again from the backside. His head snapped around in fury, but no one was there. This time, a burning pain slashed across his chest, knocking him onto his back. He looked up in time to see his attacker, if briefly. Some dark-skinned, shark-like mobian with claws ready to strike and yellow eyes filled with paranoia. Shadow shot his hand forward, blasting the shark back with an unseen wave. The shark scurried away on his frog-like limbs, an eel's tail whipping about behind him. Shadow got back up, checking the cuts on his chest to find a green, burning liquid. "It's going to take more than acid to stop me…!" No response. Despite what he said, the dark chaos must have left him vulnerable, as he actually felt the acid fazing him more than it should have.

Suddenly, there was a cry. Shadow sensed Angel's energy. One hand held onto his chest while the other shook as he lifted it up. Locking onto her aura, he snapped his fingers and warped to her location. He found the shark trying to claw through a forcefield she projected to get to her. "Push him forward!" Shadow commanded. She nodded and began pressing against the barrier, slowly moving forward and moving the shield with her. The surprised shark began pushing back, but found himself sliding backwards as she overpowered him. He turned around to face a scowling Shadow. Being pressed towards the hedgehog, he began haphazardly firing lightning bolts at Shadow, who walked through most of the barrage, slapping some of the blasts away. As the two closed in on each other, Shadow grabbed the shark's neck while the shark stabbed his chest. The hedgehog winced, but did not let go. "Give. Up."

[Credits theme - Batman: The Telltale Series soundtrack
/watch?v=E_fFbuS6JcA ]

He prepared for a counterattack, but was caught off-guard when the shark's claws slid out of his chest. The pathetic creature's eyes seemed to drain of life as he collapsed to the floor. The shark moved his arms to stab himself until Angel held him back. It happened so fast, Shadow was too shocked to do anything. There was that pulse of energy again. "… Your energy signature…" Shadow whispered to himself. Now that the shark was still, the torn and seared flesh could be seen on his body, flesh stained with his own acid, flesh that Angel tried to heal. The shark looked up at Shadow. "Why don't you j-just kill me?" he gasped out. Shadow just stood there. It all felt so familiar, yet so distant and bizarre.

"You're Project Nexus, aren't you?"
He just sat there, being cradled by the girl. Shadow persisted.
"Why can't we sense anything on you? We could only pick up pulses of energy, and even then… Just now, when you tried to harm yourself, I sensed-"
"The Emerald…" he finally answered.

"T-that's all I am. All I am. Just a… a soulless… thing… made t-to carry around a st-stupid rock…! Walking a-abortion… Frankenstein'd by some… heartless m-machine. Thinks he's g-God. M-maybe he is… Warned of y-you. I s-s-saw your sh-shadow. Red-eyed shadow." Angel tried to console him, to little avail.

Red-eyed shadow? Shadow wondered. Could he mean…?

"Calm down," the hedgehog said lowly, "you're going to be fine."
"Dead either way… N-no… Already dead. Just like them… Just like them…" the shark jittered.
"Just like them? You mean…"
"C-couldn't do it. Does it matter? … Nothing matters…" He brought his claw to his chest again. Shadow kneeled by him, holding his hand back.
"You don't have to do this. We'll figure something out."
"Just a failure."
"Then be something more! Hold on to hope! Just let us he-"
"I can't!"
Before they had time to react, the fully healed Nexus shoved them aside and sprinted off, disappearing into the darkness. They ran after him, but no matter how fast they moved, they couldn't keep up. He knew the complex too well. But they wouldn't stop. Not until they found him...

It was getting dark. The light of the sea was dimming as the sun went down on the surface. The two stood over a body not unlike the ones they saw in the cells earlier. A mangled, red corpse with its chest torn open. Inside, where the heart would have been, were the shards of a red emerald. They just stood there in silence. No words came. Only the chill in the air.

Shadow placed the repaired third Emerald in its case next to the other Emeralds they had collected. However, the blood red jewel was still missing a piece. In the data Shadow had retrieved, Miley found a log documenting the shipment of materials to the aquatic base, including a shipment of "Emerald Shards". Miley gathered that the Emerald was split into pieces, with each piece meant to "power" Nexus' predecessors, before all the pieces were used in a last attempt to create Nexus himself. And yet, here the Emerald was, incomplete. Seven shards were shipped, six were received and used. Something was wrong. Miley reassured Shadow that she would track the shipment routes and try to find where along the line the piece could have gone missing. Meanwhile, the group would have to focus on their next target: the asylum where this "bat" Guardian resided. But for now, they had to rest. Or at least, try to rest, after what they had seen this day...

Shadow stood there for a moment, fists closed tight as he exhaled out his nostrils. He turned to leave, but Angel stood at the doorway.
"… I know what you're thinking-"
"Of course you do, but you can't tell me I'm wrong."
"Your anger for the Emperor is justified, but your hatred can never be."
"How can you not hate him?!"
Shadow forced his way passed her before she could say anything else. She watched him walk away, concerned. She would try to reason with him in the morning, but for now, he needed time alone.

A red-eyed shadow loomed over the body of the fallen Guardian. "… Metallix is an interesting character, isn't he? He chose organics to serve as his Chaos Guardians for their… what was it… 'individuality'? Yet here you are, the thing without an identity… a soulless things… But who am I to speak? I who have seen for myself how a soulless thing can become… alive… Metallix has become like the Earthlings. And like the Earthlings, he will receive his due… You all will…" With its hand raised over the body, the shadow set the Guardian ablaze with purple flames. "Consider yourself fortunate…" He watched as the body charred away, the flames spreading to the pool of blood beneath it. "Metallix wishes to learn more of chaos, and I intend to show him. Him and all the world…"

Author's Note! Please read!
First, if you're following this story, let me just say I'm sorry for the terribly inconsistent uploads. Second, I apologize in advance for the inconvenience, but this will be the last chapter I upload to this site. I plan to move all my content to my DeviantArt page, and I will continue to upload chapters there. If you have any questions, please ask me on DeviantArt. See you next chapter!