Chapter Twenty-Five: A surprising new ally

For those of you who don't like dialogue, this chapter is full of it. Basically, this is Sonic stumbling upon a startling revelation of his own past, and it is a huge twist that is extremely important to what I have planned.

Sonic awoke in the middle of the desert at night, and all he could feel at first was pain. Pain; coursing through his whole body. It felt like he had been badly burnt, and he in fact smelt a little like he had been burnt. "Must have been the sun..." he groaned.

He managed to stand, despite the horrible pain that he felt. He winced when he barely tried to move his legs, as they were aching badly. He looked around, and shivered as a wave of the cold night air hit him. He stared up at the full moon overhead and asked, "How did I get into this? Wait, the communicator. I wonder if it still works..."

He reached for his communicator, and found that it wasn't there. He turned to where he had been lying and found its smashed remains next to the spot he had landed. He sighed and said, "Miles is probably crying because she thinks I'm dead right now."

"Technically, you are," Sonic heard a voice say.

He spun around and found himself face to face with another hedgehog, somewhat resembling him in the darkness. However, some of his quills were going upward instead of downward, and the moonlight showed red streaks running through them. He was completely black except for the lines on his quills and a white patch on his chest. He wore black and red shoes, accompanied by military jeans and a heavy, red vest. He simply smiled as he said, "Welcome to the Desert of No Return, as it is often called."

Sonic asked, "Who are you?"

The hedgehog grinned and said, "I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate life-form."

A chill went through Sonic's spine when he heard that, as if he had heard the name before. Sonic said, "That's...interesting. My name-"

Shadow immediately finished, "Is Sonic."

Sonic stepped back in surprise, and asked, "How did you know that?"

Shadow said, "I know a lot about you, Sonic."

Sonic asked, "How much?"

Shadow said, "That's a question I can't give you the answer too...yet."

Sonic was getting a little suspicious of Shadow, but he let the matter be for the moment being. He said, "Alright, I have another question. Why is this desert called the Desert of No Return?"

Shadow smiled and said, "Because there are only two ways out. A teleporter hidden somewhere in the desert...and a Chaos Emerald."

Sonic looked around them, and then asked, "Do you know where the teleporter is?"

Shadow nodded, but then said, "But to find it, you will have to agree with me on something, brother."

Sonic again seemed surprised and asked, "Brother?"

Shadow asked, "You seriously don't remember, Sonic?"

Sonic shook his head. Shadow said, "Then Maria's prediction was right. They replaced your memories while you were in that cryofreeze tube."

Sonic asked, "What are you talking about? I was born, not put in a-"

Shadow interrupted, "We both were born. Allow me to explain what's going on. Sit down, brother."

Sonic, still suspicious about this hedgehog, sat down, and Shadow sat cross-legged only a few feet from. Sonic could still feel the pain in full, but he didn't dare mention anything about it. Shadow now explained, "It was some fifty years ago...back on the space colony ARK that you and I were both born as twins. We had been born as special beings, or projects, as the scientists like to say. We were held in cryofreeze until a few years into our lives. I was the first one to awaken, and when I saw them, I was frightened at first. However, as I got used to the people aboard the station, I got less timid, and that's when they told me about the use of flash memories, which I had already been experiencing, I soon learned."

Sonic asked, "Flash memories?"

Shadow explained, "Think of them as dreams where they teach you combat skills, education, and other important things like morals, manners, etc."

Sonic was surprised, and asked, "How is such a thing possible?"

Shadow replied, "They put the solution that gave us these flash memories in our water, and when we fell asleep, we gained them and remembered them forever. They were always a part of us."

Sonic asked, "You said this was fifty years ago. Why are you and I still young, if this is even true?"

Shadow replied, "That's a good question. On the station, they were able to provide you and me with shots that kept us from aging. It was a miracle at the time. And things were...peaceful! I even grew to love a woman that was on the station named Maria. She was beautiful, with long blond hair, a thin body, and the most beautiful voice I have ever heard. She was like...an angel. I made many friends with the other projects that were being raised there. However, things changed over the course of time."

Sonic listened intently as Shadow continued, "A military force, soon to be known as G.U.N, began checking on the station. They were interested in the research that was going on there and persuaded the scientists to begin training us for combat. They were planning to use us as weapons to enforce peace. I was cool with the whole idea, as were you. You were just as go-lucky as you probably are right now, and I was the same. We both trained together to become the best. G.U.N admired our skills, and then, something that one of the professors had designed into me showed. It was the ability to easily use Chaos Energy, and I attuned to it."

Sonic asked, "Who was the scientist?"

Shadow looked up at him and replied, "His name was Gerald Telis Robotnik, and he was the grandfather of the current Ivo Julius Robotnik."

Sonic was surprised, and then asked, "So, what happened after G.U.N found out?"

Shadow's expression changed to a look of sadness, and he said, "They betrayed us all."

He took a deep breath, and then said, "Several soldiers boarded the station and began taking control. They hunted down the projects mercilessly, murdering most of them. However, Maria managed to gather a handful, including you and me, and sent them to Earth. The last thing I remember of her was her being shot, by a soldier who was trying to shoot me. I have never seen her since. I woke up on this island, and while avoiding that red echidna named Knuckles, I found a great number of the secrets here, including the teleporter that takes you out of this desert."

Sonic asked, "So...I was a project?"

Shadow said, "Not only that, but you were the most powerful among us. You were the fastest, the most skilled, and you were also naturally attuned to the Chaos Emeralds. G.U.N took a very special interest in you. In fact, I believe that they got rid of your old memories to make sure that you wouldn't go against them, and then Robotnik showed up, trying to conquer the world and start his legacy and you, going off of your artificial past, fought against him."

Sonic stood up in surprise and asked, "You're saying that my past is artificial?!"

Shadow replied, "To a degree. They used the same parents you were born to, but they twisted it to benefit the peace."

Sonic said, "So...Eggman didn't really kill my parents."

Shadow stood up and said, "Yes, but he would have if they opposed him, so you still have a right to be fighting and hating him. He has killed many people, most of them innocent, and has to be punished for his crimes. I have a request to make to you, brother."

Sonic thought, I'm never going to get used to that...

Sonic asked, "What is it?"

Shadow asked, "Will you help me kill Robotnik and end his reign forever?"

Sonic replied, "Gladly. I would rather he were dead than continuing to harass me like this."

Shadow said, "Thank you, brother. Now, we must hurry if we are to stop him."

He walked over to where Sonic had landed and said, "You fell right on top it, Sonic. It was odd that you did not activate it upon contact...or did you?"

He brushed the sand away from a small circle and stood on it. Sonic stood on it with him, and Shadow said, "I hope that we can learn to get along, as you are probably suspicious of me."

Sonic said, "You guessed it."

As a ring of light surrounded them, Shadow said, "I understand that."

Anyone who says I added in Shadow too early, I did not! This is important to my plot, which means that it will be very intricate. This story is going to be way different than the actual Sonic series later on, (as if it isn't different enough already, lol)