The (*) symbol used once means the start of a new scene while the (*) symbol used TWICE in a row means the END of a scene.
Chapter 12
*Shadow sat cross-legged on a stool at a bar near Westopolis, which, except for a few buildings, was in ruins. Nobody had dared approach the city ever since a large battle there between the Heroes of Today and the G.U.N. forces happened, where both sides failed in to achieve both their goals. Some have said that it was their own faults; some have said that it was because the city was cursed because of a hidden power buried there, which led down to superstition. Keeping his hood over his head with his eyes shadowed, making himself look as tough as he could, he raised a glass, which contained a sparkling blue liquid. He had sipped two so far, and he wasn't planning on stopping any time soon.
Through the double doors stepped in two men, which Shadow guessed were mercenaries or bounty hunters. One was short and thin, while the other was heavy and armored from head to toe. The armor was black and red; a tall helmet with a red T-visor hid the hunter's face. The thin one wore a dark robe, but the plasma G.U.N.s clipped to his belt and his sunglasses showed off his status as a mercenary. They both took a seat across from Shadow at the counter. The thin one threw several coins onto the counter, and signaled for a drink. The bartender walked over and scooped up the coins.
Shadow ignored them for a bit, thinking intently in his mind. Shadow, why did that name haunt him? He could only remember that name, and that image of someone named Maria, someone who had saved him from G.U.N. soldiers.
"Who is this Maria?" Shadow asked aloud. But before he could think any further, a conversation started up between the hunters and the bartender.
"Ah, Niloc and Tyr, the usual?" The bartender asked, wiping a glass with a rag. Niloc nodded.
"You've got it," the bartender said, and began filling two glasses with the same sparkling liquid that Shadow had.
"So, what's new?" He asked as he worked.
"The G.U.N. forces are offering a fortune to whoever is able to catch a hedgehog named Shadow and bring him to them alive," Tyr explained. Shadow froze where he was. He wasn't surprised that the G.U.N. forces were hunting him down, he had seen pictures of him in the news, but now he was just across from two mercenaries who were looking for him to get their promised fortune. From the corner of his eye, he could see the bartender gasp in surprise at this, obviously remembering that Shadow was right there in his own bar. Slowly, Shadow pulled the hood from his robe lower down his face and stealthily got up from his stool, walking slowly away from the mercenaries.
"Hey, you!" Shadow heard Tyr bark. Stopping in his tracks, he stayed where he was as the two hunters walked over to him. He felt Niloc grip his shoulder while Tyr looked him right in the eye.
"You're Shadow, can't tell ya' how much the G.U.N. forces are willing to pay us for your capture," Tyr said. Shadow shook his head, throwing his hood back from over his head.
"I don't think the G.U.N. forces prepared you enough for this…" And with that, Shadow spun around and struck Tyr across the chest, the violent impact sent the husky hunter flying backwards and over the counter, near the frightened bartender. The few thugs that sat in the bar, stood up in surprise, then clapped their hands in approval.
"The G.U.N. forces have no hold on me," Shadow announced removing his black robe. Niloc removed a plasma pistol from his belt and soundlessly aimed it at him. But when he fired, it shot a cable at Shadow, and spiraled itself around his wrist. Niloc pulled the trigger again which pulled the cable back toward him, dragging Shadow by the wrist with it. Once Shadow was dragged right in front of Niloc, the mercenary struck Shadow repeatedly across the face. Shadow felt the terrible blows on his face. Pain exploded across his head. For a moment, he felt so weak, as if the blows were weakening him more each time he was struck. Then, gathering as much strength as he could, he yanked his hand so hard, the cable around his wrist snapped and eventually freed him. Then, he charged himself against Niloc, sending him crashing against the wall behind the counter. Before either of the hunters could do anything else, Shadow fled the bar, using incredible speed which he had been learning to use for what had possibly been a week since his escape from the ship colony he had found himself on. One day, maybe he would visit that ship again to get a better idea of what happened there.
Fleeing into the woods close by, he looked behind him, seeing through the front glass doors of the bar, the mercenaries were up and looking around, demanding everybody to know where he went. Shadow shook his head in disgust.
"Look how pathetic they are, I don't have time for these humans," he remarked, and he turned his back on the bar and escaped deeper into the woods. He didn't use his unbelievable speed, but instead jogged through the trees. The air felt thick and warm, it was a darkening evening now, and the sun was almost out of sight now, sinking away to let the night in. Finally, Shadow stopped and leaned one hand against a tree, breathing heavily, not from running, but still recovering from getting struck in the face and getting in a fight with those mercenary scum. Then, he gathered the strength to continue walking.
He didn't walk much further when, suddenly, everything seemed to be changing. Red fog began to shroud the woods around him. He eventually couldn't see the trees, and when he looked up, the sky couldn't be seen. All he could see was complete red.
"Shadow," a deep, ominous voice boomed. It was as if three people were saying the same thing at the same time. Finally, a large, ghost-like being materialized in front of him. It had a flat head with three eyes, two normal eyes, and one big one on his forehead. It didn't seem to have a mouth, and he wore a large, red medallion around his neck, which hung far down his large robes. It didn't seem to have legs. It floated like a ghost, was transparent like a ghost.
"The day of reckoning will soon be here, find the seven Chaos Emeralds, and bring them to me, as promised," the ghost boomed.
"Who are you? How do you know I'm Shadow? And what are you talking about?" Shadow demanded. But the ghost faded away, and the red fog retreated, revealing the normal woods around him again. Shadow stood where he was for quite a while, pondering this. He didn't know who this ghost was. How did he know he was Shadow? What were the Chaos Emeralds anyway? Yet somehow, he felt like he had heard of the Chaos Emeralds before. An old memory, like it wasn't his own, but, someone else's.
"Just what was that all about? And how did he know who I am?" Shadow asked himself. He began to feel less confused and more pleased, as if he had successfully achieved a long-anticipated goal. A smile spread across his face.
"Like it or not, I have to believe him, the only way to discover the secrets to my past, is to get those Chaos Emeralds," Shadow realized aloud, and, without a moment's hesitation, he bolted off toward the end of the woods. Somehow, he felt like a new memory was coming to him. It was about Westopolis. It was as if he knew exactly where to find the first few Emeralds, and that was the ruins of Westopolis.**
*Knuckles watched in unspeakable shock at what he just saw. He had been able to track down Shadow after two days of searching. It wasn't really that hard to do. He had decided that the best way to do it was to get near Westopolis, the last place he had seen him. He had watched him enter the bar, then fight with two mercenaries, then escape into the woods. Now he watched Shadow talk to himself after having an encounter with a strange specter. He had heard the ghost loud and clear. He wanted Shadow to find the seven Chaos Emeralds, which was something that Knuckles had heard so many times, and had been discussed to the death about it with his people at Angel Island. Angel Island was where the Master Emerald was, and it was their source of protection from enemies. But these were separate Emeralds, each containing its own unique power.
Knuckles forced his attention back to Shadow, who had seemed to make up his mind about something, then bolted through the woods, obviously deciding to leave as soon as possible.
"Isn't he wonderful?" A voice said behind Knuckles. Knuckles whirled around to see the man behind him. The stranger had a long, graying beard and a dark blood-red hood over his head, which belonged to a dark red robe. But he wore a medallion around his neck that had a purple glow.
"Who are you? Speak!" Knuckles demanded, tensing for action. The old man waved a hand in dismissal of his recklessness.
"Isn't he wonderful?" The man asked again as if nothing had happened.
"Who? Shadow?" Knuckles asked, deciding to play along. The man shook his head.
"No, I do not mean him, although he will do great things in the future, and he will need my help, he will eventually come to me; but no, I meant Black Doom," he replied. As he spoke, his voice sounded so rich with authority, as if he was a great speaker. Knuckles looked back at where Shadow had stood just a few minutes ago.
"The ghost?" Knuckles asked. The man nodded.
"He is exactly what I intended him to be," he said. Knuckles looked down at the ground, trying to comprehend this. But when he looked up to face the old man again, he was gone. Looking around, he couldn't see him. Somehow, he had vanished. Deciding not to think about this for now, he ran through the woods to follow Shadow.**
*Shadow walked through the ruins of Westopolis. No one was there. According to the news and the men hanging out at bars, it had been considered a ghost town. Fires still raged and danced across the ashes of what had once been a great city. Debris lay scattered everywhere, all as black as the ashes. His mind felt like a detector, it seemed to know exactly where Shadow was supposed to go to find the Emeralds. The persistence to find out who he is and who Maria is, spurred him forward, refusing to stop. Finally his eyes locked onto a tall, crooked building. Several chunks of wall had crumbled off, but it was still stable. He walked in, deciding it was a hotel from the looks of it. Inside, there was a desk, and a couple chairs and couches, but they were either flipped over or in the wrong place because of the battles there. It was completely dark, so he kept the double doors open to be able to see.
Though, it seemed his vision was more advanced than humans, because it was almost as if the lights were on inside. Shadow could clearly see his way through the lobby. As if by instinct, he felt like what he was looking for was underneath the desk, which was moveable, as if it was just placed there just in the right spot. Putting his hands against the side of the counter, he pushed, straining against the weight. After a moment of struggling, he finally felt the counter move forward from his pushing. Keeping himself from stopping to rest, he continued pushing, harder and harder now. Finally, where the counter used to stand, was a wooden trapdoor, with a metal handle on one side. Sliding his gloved hand underneath the handle, he pulled the door open with one swift upward movement of his hand. Inside, it was pitch black, but he knew that this was a secret tunnel. Why Westopolis had the tunnel was beyond his understanding, but now it didn't matter. He jumped into the thick darkness of the tunnel.**
*Knuckles ran through the double doors of the hotel, and saw through the darkness, an open trapdoor in the floor across the lobby. Narrowing his eyes, Knuckles walked over to the door, intent on finally confronting Shadow and stopping him from taking the Chaos Emeralds. No more following his every move, if he kept this up, he wouldn't be able to keep Shadow from doing whatever he was planning. He jumped into the darkness inside the trapdoor without another second's hesitation, ready for anything.**
*Knuckles slowly and stealthily walked along the dark, murky, damp tunnel. The only noise he could hear was water dripping and hitting the rocky ground around him. It felt so long walking through the tunnel, but then, finally, he saw Shadow, staring at a dead end. He could see Shadow's frustration, and for a moment, he was afraid that he would turn back. But something on the dead end rock wall caught the hedgehog's attention.**
*Shadow stared at the rock wall in front of him intently, trying to make out the writing that was imbedded in the rock. The writing was almost sloppy, so it was hard to make it all out, but then Shadow had an idea. Putting a finger on the dusty, rock wall, he drew a C on a small, empty space below the words. For a quick second, the space glowed a cyan color, which made Shadow pull his finger back away, but the cyan glow faded away. Taking a deep breath, Shadow silently put his finger back onto the space next to the C, and slowly drew an H. The cyan glow came back, brighter this time, but Shadow didn't hesitate this time. He drew an A, the glow began to pick up strength now, almost blinding his eyes. Quickly now, he drew an O, sweat dripped down his forehead now and fell and splashed onto the ground below him. He was so close, but was he doing it right? The answer to finding this Emerald seemed too easy, surely it had to be harder than this.
Putting his mind back on the challenge, he spelled a large S next to the O, spelling the word CHAOS. The cyan glow unleashed one more violent assault, which blinded Shadow's eyes and caused him to fall over backwards. The ground shook, rocks collapsed around him. For a moment, Shadow was afraid that the whole tunnel would come down on him, but mercifully, the trembling stopped, and he was able to stand again. What he saw in front of him shocked him.
The rocky space where he had spelled Chaos had split apart, revealing a cyan-colored Emerald, which shined in the hedgehog's eyes. Shadow walked over to it, his hand reaching out without control. It was so beautiful, so…
"Shadow," a voice said behind him. Shadow whirled around to face the intruder. It was a red Echidna, not the first time he had seen one, although he had a funny feeling that he had seen this same one before.
"I have been following you for some time now, looks like you've found a precious jewel," the Echidna mocked, his annoying smile showed off all his teeth, and his legs were in a pose as if they were ready for a fight. Shadow grinned.
"I have no interest in you," he remarked, and he turned around and, with both hands, he picked up the Chaos Emerald. One down, six more to go. One step closer to discovering the secrets to his past. He wondered if the Emeralds and his past were somehow connected. Only one way to find out. He looked down at the jewel. It felt so cool in his hands as if a cold breeze was radiating from it. He looked at the Echidna, who looked like he was ready to pounce. Somehow, it was as if Shadow knew exactly what he had to say like it was on instinct.
"Chaos control," he muttered, and the Emerald's light exploded into a blinding, white flash. For a moment, nothing seemed to change. Shadow couldn't see anything. He felt like he was somewhere else now. Everything felt cool now instead of the warm dampness of the tunnel. Finally, the lights went out, and he saw that he was in an entirely different part of Westopolis, pretty far away from the hotel. Here, no buildings remained standing. Piles of rubble and ashes lined up the sides of the cracked, broken pavement. Somehow, his mind seemed to know exactly where the next Emerald was. At this point, he knew there was no stopping himself. He was a predator for these Chaos Emeralds. His mouth salivated at the thought of finding out who he is and where he came from. Running toward one particular pile of rubble that used to be a small building, he knelt down in the black ash, and began to furiously dig. Ash flew everywhere as he used his hands to dig through. Sweat streamed down his face. The evening had beG.U.N. to drift off now into the darkness of complete night.
By the time he was finished, Shadow wasn't sure how much time had passed. A couple minutes? A few hours? The sun was no longer to be seen now. A fierce glow radiated from the moon above him and shined down upon him. The night had a cold breeze, which made the hedgehog shiver a little every now and then. To his surprise, he saw the tip of a shovel protruding from the dirt of the ground. Smiling fiercely, which was something he rarely did, he used both hands to grab the tip of the handle and pull. The cyan Emerald seemed to glow beside him and it seemed to be helping him. With one more pull, Shadow was able to get the shovel out of the ground. Dirt shot up into the air as the shovel left the ground. To his surprise, purple mist circled around the shovel, and when he stabbed the shovel back into the ground, it easily sunk in as if the dirt was wet and damp. Shadow pulled up, scooping up the dirt.
This time, Shadow had no idea how much time had passed. The night didn't seem to change, and there was no sign of that Echidna. He still kept himself on guard, constantly glancing at the Emerald beside him. Finally, when he was beginning to get deep into the ground, he grabbed the cyan Emerald and continued digging, until finally, he saw what looked like a lock. It was interesting one, because it didn't look like it was a lock for a key. Then, he looked at the bottom tip of the cyan Emerald and realized what it was. Injecting the bottom of the Emerald into the lock, which fit perfectly, he pushed it in far, until the earth below him trembled. The spot of ground that had the lock began to split apart. Shadow quickly pulled the Emerald out of the lock and watched as the ground where the lock was separated to reveal the top of a red Emerald. Overjoyed, but not smiling, he took both hands and pulled the red Emerald out of the ground. What kind of a city wouldn't dig the Emerald deep enough? He seemed to notice faint trails of purple mist drifting up from the earth below him. Shadow shrugged. Maybe it had something to do with that.**
*Knuckles watched from a pile of debris as Shadow climbed out of the hole he had dug up. In both hands, he held an Emerald. One of them was the cyan one that he had found in the tunnel, but in the other, was a red Emerald, obviously he had just now found that one. Then, like last time, before Knuckles could run out to catch him, he heard the hedgehog mutter something, and then vanish again in a blinding flash of light. Knuckles scraped his fingers across the blackened rubble in front of him in frustration. This couldn't keep going. He was tired of finding Shadow, only to have him slip through his fingers each time. If he kept this up, Shadow would find all seven Emeralds before he would make a move to stop him. Though it was hard to admit it, because he was one to do things by himself, he needed to find the Heroes and tell them about this. They were, of course, aware of Shadow on the loose, but they hadn't considered him a big enough threat to go after him right away. Turning around, he sighed at the thought of having to travel all the way back to the Trident, which wasn't always at the same place in the sky.
Like it or not, Knuckles knew that now was not the time to stall. Shadow could become a big threat to the Heroes and the G.U.N. forces if he isn't stopped. Deciding to cast aside his foolish desires for now, Knuckles ran, knowing that the first thing he had to do was to get out of this ghost town.**
*"I have my own purposes for collecting these," Shadow snapped to the same ghost that had encountered him earlier. In his hands, he held the two precious Emeralds.
"You really don't know the situation here, do you?" The ghost boomed, his voice so low and menacing that it sent sharp shivers down Shadow's back. But he continued to walk past the ghost as if he wasn't there.
"It appears the professor erased more of your memory than I had anticipated," the ghost thought aloud behind him. This made Shadow stop in his tracks, and he turned around.
"The professor?" Shadow asked. The ghost made a noise that seemed to come from everywhere.
"Strange that you don't even remember your own maker," he said.
"What did you say?" Shadow demanded. But the ghost made such a terrible motion with his hand, that it almost made him crash to his knees and drop the Emeralds.
"Silence! The ramification of your disobedience will be severe! I will no longer guide you to the rest of the Chaos Emeralds. It will be up to you to find the rest of them. I can wait," he shouted. To the hedgehog's horror, the ghost began to fade away. Terrified, Shadow dropped the two Emeralds and ran toward the ghost.
"No! Wait!" He screamed, but the ghost was completely gone by the time he got to him. Shadow fell to his knees and put his face in his hands, realizing that, for now, he was all alone, with no guidance to find what he was looking for. He had been so successful to find the first few Emeralds, but there were five more left, and he had no idea where to look first. Where would he go? How will he find the rest of the Emeralds?
Getting up, he picked up the two Emeralds, and looked around the foggy night in Westopolis. Though he hadn't really felt like this when he was retrieving the Emeralds, now he felt scared being here. An intense anger sparked within him, and flared. He threw the Emeralds to the ground, which didn't break when they hit the ground, and he screamed at the night, his eyes wild with hate. When he was finished, a tear trickled down his cheek, and it fell and stained his yellow shoe.
"I will find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds, I'll show you," Shadow muttered, meaning for the ghost to hear it, although he wasn't sure if it was listening to him.**
