His mind and body that of a four year old; Shadow glanced up through fearful eyes towards the tall and round shape of the elderly man standing above him. A pair of hidden eyes stared down at him from behind steely grey spectacles.
"Shadow... do you understand what I'm saying to you? He asked. The words put themselves into a meaningful message and Shadow opened his mouth, the newly developed speech centre of his brain now working.
"Yes Professor." He replied. Other people were stood around him, all of them wearing white laboratory coats. The tall man with the moustache above him smiled in response, apparently satisfied. Those behind him muttered in mixed conversation.
"Now listen carefully Shadow. My name is Gerald Robotnik."
"Gerald….Ro...bot…nik." The black hedgehog desiccated the words carefully for it was not in the collection that had been implanted into his mind.
"Yes that's right." The Professor stated with his smile widening. Shadow liked that smile. "Do you know where you are?" The answer to that question was already inside his head and a brief glance around was all the young hedgehog needed to confirm it.
"Space…space colony ARK?" The Professor nodded and those behind him clapped lightly.
"Very good." He leaned up and folded his arms behind his back. "Would you like to look around?" That was a different type of question from the others. It required an opinion of his own and curiosity to match. Shadow had been given information to speed up the learning process; that even he could figure out; but in terms of mental ability he still thought a little like a machine. "If so, my granddaughter will be glad to so you."
"Sure that's wise sir?" One of the men in the white coats behind the old man asked.
"Don't worry I know what I'm doing." Gerald assured him. "Maria, would you come in here?" Shadow watched as the thin row of men and women stepped aside and a young girl walked forward, looking apprehensive when she saw the small thing sitting there inside the glass crib.
"Grandfather?" She began looking up towards the Professor. He smiled at her gently.
"Maria, let me introduce you to Shadow." She looked back and stared at the small creature barely a foot tall, with large red eyes and black fur; a collection of short quills lancing out the back of his head.
"Hello." She began taking a short step forward.
"Hello." Shadow replied looking at her with the same curiosity she had for him.
"Do not let his appearance fool you child." The Professor told her. "He is another of the children we have on the colony." He ushered her forward before she could argue and stood them before each other.
Maria looked down at the black creature and from this vantage point could see that the top side of the clumps his quills were forming into were blood red, just like his eyes. They would have scared her, had she not seen past them and seen the innocence of childhood inside them.
Slowly she reached out and laid the palm of her hand against the side of the glass container. Shadow mirrored her action.
"Yes Professor Robotnik." The hedgehog stated suddenly. "I would like to see the ARK."
Shadow shuddered at the intrusive flashback, brought on by revisiting such a familiar place. He stopped for a moment and held a hand to his head.
"This is becoming annoying." He growled angrily to himself. By now he felt so messed he wasn't even if he wanted to remember what once filled the blank spots in his memory. Each time a gap was filled before it had brought about nothing but heart ache and pain.
"Why does fear bind you so?" The voice of Black Doom asked him as he stood there trying to regain his composure. "Answers you spent years looking for lurk within the depths of your mind. Do not falter now you are so close." Shadow glanced up. The transparent projection had disappeared completely.
"Where are you?" He demanded but got no reply. The black and red hedgehog growled and skated on, darting through the twisting junction of metal corridors that wormed through the ARK. While most of it was hollow, much of the colony's many facilities were a maze of metal.
It was here; through these long ago that Maria had led him as the scientists watched from afar to see how well the hedgehog interacted in a social environment.
Maria had shown him the corridors and the windows that gazed out into the stars. Passing by one now, he felt his defences break down again as he was hurled back into his own memories.
Now that his enhanced growth rate had taken hold, Shadow had the body of a ten year old hedgehog. His mind was developing far more quickly by now he understood why he was being observed and tested so often. He was their project, their great experiment. They would pod and poke him regularly to test his reflexes and physical development.
Shadow looked forward to the times when Maria came to lead him around the colony. While most of their meetings were under surveillance, he still enjoyed them. Maria would smile at him unlike the scientists. Besides the Professor himself, she was the only one who treated him as a being with a soul rather than a Petri dish full of bacteria to study.
"That's Sagittarius." She told him, gesturing off towards the stars and joining the dots with her finger. "And over there is Taurus." All Shadow could see of the stars were random points of light in the dark and had to force the image upon them to so much as make out the patterns she told him were there.
"I thought I might find you here." A voice began. Both Maria and Shadow glanced up to see the Professor walking towards them, that same warm smile over his face. "How are you today Shadow?"
"I am fine Professor." He replied without emotion. Gerald's smile did not fade despite this.
"Have you introduced Shadow to the colonists yet Maria?" He asked looking over towards his granddaughter. Maria hesitated briefly.
"A few of them grandfather." She replied looking sheepish. "But I think they're all afraid of him. I keep hearing them talk about him as the…" The blonde girl cast Shadow a side glance. He returned it and then nodded. "…the Black Doom or Devil's Trigger." The expression on Gerald's face changed hearing that. He breathed out through his nose and his brow descended into a deep frown.
"I see." There was something in Gerald's voice that suggested briefly to Shadow that there was more to his disappointment than the simple spreading of rumours. Quickly however the Professor's smile returned. "I wouldn't worry about that." He ruffled her hair playfully. "They'll get used to him over time. Why don't you go see if that young lad, Jericho, can play?" Maria smiled back at him.
"Ok grandpa." She replied, grabbing Shadow by the hand and running off him the hedgehog in tow. Shadow glanced back at Gerald and saw the old man talking to some other scientists, an exceeding worried expression on his face.
Coming to a stop, the hedgehog paused long enough to shake himself in the hope of dislodging any of the fragmented memories that might try to push themselves into his head.
"What's wrong with me?" He asked himself. "What happened to 'I no longer care!' Shadow?" He had tried to live his own life many times before, to follow a new path instead of the one the events on the ARK had left him with.
Always his efforts had been fruitless, as if it was pre-destined that he was doomed to search out the secrets of the space colony. "Why can't you simply let it go Gerald?" He directed the question at the space colony around him. It did not answer.
"His work is not yet finished Shadow, that is why he pleads with you from beyond the grave." Black Doom told him, the voice echoing from some hidden point; but something inside told Shadow he was closer to it now. "Defeating Krish and saving the Earth from destruction was but the first step of the grand master plan. There is still much for you to do."
"This is trying my patience Black Doom!" The black and red hedgehog declared tightening both fists.
"I am here to guide you on the next step, to fulfil your destiny and Gerald's long unrealized ambitions and free all of reality from unjust rule." The voice carried on. Following it, Shadow skated on growling as he went. "If you have the courage to break free from your fears then come to me and let us begin."
Angrily, Shadow flew on; the feeling that he was nearing Black Doom's hiding place intensifying as he did so. The world around him blurred as he went on, sliding through the maze from left to right leaving the startled working Fesonians in the dust.
Blurring questions ran through his mind was break neck speeds, all moving too fast to be seen let alone answered. Confusion was ripe in his mind.
"Shadow, I'd like you to meet Jericho." Before he even knew what was happening he was back, hurtling through some door into his own memories.
He was standing with Maria on one of the observation decks of the colony. She was standing before him, gesturing to a small boy of about ten. He had strange silver hair and was very short, even for his age. Hearing the word 'Shadow' he whipped around.
His face contorted in such a way it even made Shadow himself unnerved. It was a mixture of terror, raw fear and utter panic. The pupils of his brown and blue coloured eyes contracting and his mouth hung open. "Jericho?" Maria asked looking a little taken aback.
The boy staggered backwards at the mere sight of the black hedgehog.
"No…" He managed, his voice dripping with fear. "No…get….get it away from me!" His back slammed against the windows and still he kept trying to back up.
"Jericho, what's wrong?" Maria asked looking genuinely worried. The boy yelled out and pushed past her, making a break for the door on the far side of the deck. He bolted out it without looking back for a moment.
Maria stared after him, at a loss to explain that outburst.
"I'm sorry." She stated looking down at Shadow. "I…I didn't expect him to react like that."
"I don't understand." Shadow began. "Why was he afraid of me?" Maria sighed.
"I'm sure it wasn't anything personal." She replied giving the hedgehog the widest smile she could manage. "He's just used to having you around…just...give him some time." That Shadow had decided at the time he would do, but only the coming months it became clear that the boy had not intention of getting used to the hedgehog's presence on the colony. He was afraid of him and ran away as if confronted by the devil himself at the mere sight of Shadow in a corridor.
Over time, the fear seemed to spread from him to infect the rest of the colony. Its citizens, they were wary around him even in the Professors' presence. Only Maria treated him as a person from then on and Shadow came to depend on her more and more.
Back in the present as if nothing had happened, Shadow found himself standing outside the large metallic door that lead to the location on the ARK that was the most familiar; his favourite spot. The observation deck number 5.
Without a word he brought his leg up and then smashed it forward, breaking the door open so the metallic frame swung inwards.
Waiting for him by the windows, glaring down at the planet was the transparent form of Black Doom.
"Was that really necessary?" The projected form asked glancing back over its wide shoulder.
"No, but it was an effective stress reliever." Shadow replied wiry striding into the room. "I've had enough of this run around. You tell me exactly what you want and why Black Doom." His left hand arched and the sparked beginnings of a Chaos Spear began to culminate between his fingers.
"Although I can not really blame you, it seems that your experiences in this world have left you paranoid. You assume that when one seeks your help that they have an ulterior motive. You need your recall back more than I anticipated."
Memory sparked painfully in Shadow's mind. He stopped and held a hand to his forehead, hissing in pain. He dropped to his knees and supported his weight on his free hand. The world blurred around him and seemed to vanish out of sight.
An image passed before his eyes, a sweet reminder of time aboard the space colony he thought lost forever. As soon as it bloomed, the memory withered and faded like a flower in a cold winter. Before it vanished however Shadow was able to make out the image of a golden ring. The Professor was standing in front of it, his arms crossed behind his back as he stared into the swirling vortex in the centre. Staring back at him from out of that porthole were a triad of glowing orange eyes.
"Black Doom…" He began slowly. "You were here, fifty years ago; you were here with me on the ARK." The partly transparent form looked down at him with unblinking orange eyes. Slowly he nodded and Shadow just stood there silent ally.
"I was here much in the same capacity I am here now." He replied. "I can not leave the jail cell imposed of myself and the rest of my kind, so I came here in spirit."
"No wonder you knew so much about me." Shadow sighed. "You were here when it all happened."
"And powerless to do anything as the ARK and most of its civilian population came under attack by the evils on the Earth." Images of that day ran through Shadow's mind unbidden and no matter now much he tried to block them out, the horror kept slipping through. The blood soaked corridors, the noise and the fear, the walls crumbling as soldiers raced through the colony captured all they could and killing anyone who so much as got in their way. The colony's guards were mowed down and many of the scientists went with them. "The world below us is a special place and should be respected. But the humans became sheep for the evils abound to control and warp. They were and still are, simple cannon fodder to be used as their rulers see fit. Invasion was the very least they deserved."
"What would you have had me do?" Shadow demanded. "Have gone through with the professor's revenge and destroyed them all?"
"By no means." Black Doom replied, silently floating around Shadow's side like some phantom. "It is not death the humans deserve, but rather strike control." He gestured to the world below them and Shadow followed his gaze. "And why not? It is after all, what their groups and organisations aspire for; domination over one another. Why not give them the imperial rule they crave and lead them?" The black and red hedgehog chuckled once.
"You sound just like Eggman." He said giving the transparent floating being a side glance.
"I do not take that as an insult." Black Doom retorted brushing it aside as if it didn't matter. "Out of all the humans, Doctor Eggman seemed to be the only one that understands their need to be controlled and manipulated so that others may not do so for malicious purposes."
"What?"
"Control to save. Control to rescue them from their own stupidity." He continued with his third eye widening. "Control to ensure they are kept safe from tyrants and puppeteers. Control to bring them away from the path from the thieving and into the light." His words had a profound effect on Shadow. The black and red hedgehog stood there, wondering for the first time… that perhaps he had been going about it all wrong. Maria had begged him to save humanity, but what if the only way he could do was by following Doctor Eggman's example?
"No I won't." He said defiantly. "If the Confederates can hold Earth then let them have it, but I won't help them subjugate humans."
"I am not merely speaking of humans." Black Doom continued. "What I have said can be said for dozens, no hundreds of species scattered across this galaxy alone. All of them mere puppets for the true evils that exist to use..." He leaned closer to the hedgehog. "Evils like Krish."
"I don't care." Shadow replied. "I may be the Ultimate Life form, but I have no interest in ruling the lesser."
"But would you say that a system to prevent unjust rule is a bad thing?" Shadow was about to answer, but found he couldn't say anything without first thinking the words over. "There are multitudes of galaxies and universes all begging for order to unite them all under one banner and they war with each other to that end."
"You're trying to sell it to the wrong guy." The hedgehog replied and turned his back on the transparent being. "You have nothing to offer me in exchange for my help in creating a dictatorship like that." Black Doom's eyes were suddenly alight with sadistic humour.
"What is your ultimate desire?" Shadow didn't answer. He stood there with his arms folded in front of him. "You needn't speak; I know your heart and soul well enough." He waved a cloven hand off to his left and the translucent image of a young human girl appeared there. Long soft golden blonde hair was flowing around her shoulders with sea blue eyes sparkling like diamonds. The hedgehog unfolded his arms and stood there with short and swallow breathing. Slowly she faded away and Shadow was left staring after her with deep longing in his eyes. "With the Chaos Emeralds enhancing my own powers, I can reach across the divide and bring back any soul I desire."
Shadow whirled around to face Black Doom completely.
"You… you mean you can…." He stammered
"My goal is to undo the influence of evil across existence and ensure that such events do not repeat themselves ever again." Black Doom continued. "With the Chaos Emeralds I can free myself and others from unjust bonds and bring order to a chaotic universe riddled with strife and greed." He leaned forward to stare Shadow directly in the face with his large third eye. "You may consider restoring the one person you could call 'family' to life as a small reward for your assistance."
The prospect, the mere idea, had never so much as passed through Shadow's mind even once. Could he really do what he said he could?
"That's impossible." He stated out load. "No one can bring a person back from the dead." Black Doom appeared amused.
"You underestimate my powers Shadow." He began. "The greater of my skills are focused on the nature of the universe itself. I can bend and twist space to my own design. My abilities however are greatly limited while inside my prison. Once outside it however and amplified by the Chaos Emeralds, snaring a soul from the afterlife is not such a difficult challenge."
"Then prove it." The black and red hedgehog stated. "Prove to me you can restore people."
"If evidence is what you crave, I can provide it." Black Doom gestured towards the nearby control panel and the various lights upon it lit up, the equipment humming in response. "I have given the ARK's computer a map of the various star systems and faction territories you are going to encounter. You should go to the planet Hydra in Falcon Admiralty territory. In the ruins there you will find all the 'proof' you require." Slowly his form began to fade away. "While there Shadow, I would strongly suggest you observe all you can. Many destinies can be foretold in that place, but many can be lead astray by them as well." With that he was gone and Shadow was left standing there alone.
His mind was a battle field of conflicting thoughts and emotions. The impossibility of the situation was not lost on him, but hope; hope for restoration had been kindled in his heart and refused to be extinguished. He sank to his knees and glared down at the Earth through the glass floor beneath him.
Maria had loved this planet and he had promised to protect it, at least he thought he did; but now he began to doubt his own memories. Anything could have been implanted and censored by Gerald, trying to make Shadow into his perfect agent; using the ultimate life form to shape events long after his death.
He tried desperately to find sympathy with those captive down there, but faced with all this; in the mere prospect of undoing that terrible murder; Shadow found that the lives on the billions of people down there meant little to him.
While Shadow had yet to validate all of Black Doom's claims, the mysterious being was right about one thing. Earth was finished. There was no reason for him to remain here when there were far greater opportunities elsewhere in the universe.
"Your orders Commander Shadow?" He glanced up to see the Fesonian Confederate Black Doom had left as his second in command standing in the doorway.
"Commander Shadow huh?" The black and red hedgehog asked himself quietly as a twisted smile spread his lips apart. "I like the sound of that." He took one last look at the Earth.
It was beautiful from space, but on its surface its corruption was more than apparent.
"Commander?" The Confederate began when Shadow did not reply. The black and red hedgehog glanced up with the same icy stare he had summoned when he had first been released from suspended animation.
"Start up the colonies jump engine." He stated. "Take us to the planet Hydra in Falcon Admiralty territory."
The outside panels of the ARK suddenly starting glowing neon blue and the entire colony shone like a star that could be seen from the planet below. The outline of the ARK was surrounded by blue lights for a single spilt second, before the space the colony was occupying began to fold, rippling like the surface of water. Finally the ARK vanished, the light imploding to become a blazing stare before fading away.
From the surface Tikal watched as the star began to fade, her hopes of ever healing Shadow's heart fading with it. For lack of a better phrase, she could sense him relapsing back to the cold destroyer unleashed by Eggman from the depths of Prison Island.
His heart was being filled with nothing but anger and contempt and she could even tell by whom or what. Without Chaos to help her or her powers to transport her to him, Tikal was stuck here and was powerless to do anything.
"Please Shadow…" She whispered up towards the sky. "Please don't start hating again."
-
(In Chris' voice)
Eggman on planet Chimera, legendary thieves and Chaos Emeralds galore? A recipe for disaster? Find out next time on Sonic X as Sonic encountered Jet the Hawk for the first time in the Sonic Rider's saga, the Chimera chapter. Don't miss it!