Chapter 52: Doubt

"Amy!" Shawn exclaimed as he watched Amy swing her Piko Hammer wildly at Eggman, who attempted to crush her with his mech's mace-like arm while in the other he held the Silver Chaos Emerald.

"Don't worry about me," Amy responded, blocking the mech's mace arm with her hammer. "Just grab the Chaos Emerald!"

"But I don't want you to needlessly sacrifice yourself for me," Shawn said, aiming the semi-automatic rifle at Eggman's mech. "You don't even know why I need that Chaos Emerald to begin with."

"It's important to you, right?" Amy said as she got out of the way of the mace-arm as it fell where she stood. "That's enough of a reason for me to help you."

Before Eggman could lift the mace-arm, Shawn fired multiple rounds from the semi-automatic. The mech endured almost every single bullet until Eggman commanded it to leap into the air. Shawn and Amy ran as Eggman's Mech landed and tried to crush them both. Fortunately, Shawn managed to load another magazine into the rifle and immediately fired another round of bullets into the mech. Like before, the mech managed to endure the bullets but a few sparks and ruptures started to occur along the mech's mainframe.

Eggman grumbled and detached the Egg Mobile from the mech. "This isn't over yet, Shawn!"

As Eggman flew off, several flying Black Arms aliens followed the Egg Mobile into the twilight sky. Meanwhile, the mech fell into a heap of metal and wires while the Silver Chaos Emerald floated toward Shawn. As Shawn took it, Amy watched with fascination.

"When you said I was Shadow's host, what did you mean?" Shawn asked as he placed the Silver Chaos Emerald in the front pocket of his jacket where the other Chaos Emeralds were.

"Well, that you have…a spirit named Shadow who lives inside you," Amy said nervously.

"How do I know you're telling the truth and not just saying what Rouge told you to?"

Amy folded her arms defensively. "I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't spoken to Rouge since I confronted her onboard the Space Colony ARK."

"Was this when Eggman tried to blow up Mobius with it?"

"Yeah, and Shadow was there if you don't believe me."

"How do I talk to him?"

Amy pondered for a few moments then she snapped her finger. "You know, I bet Miles' special hypnosis technique might be able to help you get in touch with Shadow."

"Miles?"

"He's Tails' host. I'll take you to him if you help me find Cream."

Shawn sighed. "Fine. Let's get this over with."

###

After rescuing Cream and her Chao friend Cheese from a dungeon inside Cryptic Castle, Amy took them both to Crème's mother who was staying at an inn near the castle where she changed back into Amelia and Cream turned back into Crème. While Shawn came with them, he stayed out of sight from the G. U. N. soldiers that were heading in to deal with the Black Arms aliens. They were also evacuating the inn's residents and taking them back to Central City inside G. U. N.-owned helicopters. By concentrating on the four Chaos Emeralds in his pockets, Shawn was able to warp inside the helicopter where Amelia, Crème, and her mother were just as it was taking off. Once he was there, Shawn put the hood of his jacket up to cover his face and quietly sat next to Amelia. Neither of them spoke for the entire trip, and then once they landed in Central City Shawn got Miles' address from Amelia before taking off.

This search for Shadow is growing more confusing the further I go, Shawn thought as he wandered through Central City's park. Is he really a spirit that lives inside me, or something else? The Black Arms seem to know him. Hell, their leader has practically mistaken me for Shadow. Maybe when Black Doom's blood fused with my DNA, it created an alien being that took over my body and was dubbed 'Shadow' by Gerard. That would explain why I don't remember anything from fifty years ago to a few months back, but then why hasn't he tried to take over my body once more?

The grass underneath Shawn suddenly vanished in a flash of light and replaced by an endless black void of stars. He looked around and the rest of the park had vanished as well in a void of stars and distant planets. When he looked behind him, Black Doom himself was floating there.

"Shadow, you seem to be troubled," Black Doom said.

"What do you want?" Shawn asked in an irritated tone.

"I wanted to show you something." Black Doom waved his hand over the space in front of Shawn.

One of the distant stars grew brighter until it was revealed to be Mobius. The sun was coming up over the horizon which illuminated a floating object the size of a large circular meteor. Shawn immediately recognized the object.

"That's the Space Colony ARK!" Shawn said as he pointed.

"What you are seeing is a mere illusion I created based on your memories," Black Doom answered.

"You can read my mind? How?"

"Since my blood is coursing through your veins, I can control your body and even your mind if I wanted to."

Shawn instinctively looked at the mark on his forearm, which wasn't swelling at the moment. "Why are you showing me this?"

"To remind you that humans are selfish creatures who will do anything to get what they want, even at the cost of other lives. This was the ARK fifty years ago, on that dreadful day you don't seem to recall. Never forget those images that you see and this is why."

Black Doom waved his hand again, and Shawn was suddenly standing inside a dimly-lit hallway onboard the ARK. He heard voices and shouting closing in, then from around the corner appeared himself only it wasn't exactly him. His irises and pupils were more slanted than usual, and he seemed to be sporting a pair of black hedgehog ears and white gloves covered his hands. A small hedgehog tail poked out from behind his back as he ran past Shawn dragging a young girl with shoulder-length blonde hair, blue eyes, and wearing a navy-blue dress.

"Marie!" Shawn shouted, running after the two while behind him G. U. N. soldiers appeared and started shooting.

Fortunately, the bullets passed right through Shawn. But just as they were about to hit his other self and Marie, the scene changed and Shawn was soon standing in a room with a glass window that overlooked the planet Mobius below. His other self and Marie entered through a sliding door behind him and then Marie stepped into the middle of the room. Immediately, she was encapsulated inside a glass tube and Shawn turned around to see himself standing behind a control panel with one hand on a button and the other on a lever.

"Shadow!" Marie cried, banging on the glass tube. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm saving your life," Shawn's other self said in a voice that sounded different from his own. "I don't want you to suffer the same fate as Maria."

"Forget Maria!" Marie responded. "She's long dead! I don't want you to die in my place when my brother's still inside you."

"I won't die, Marie," Shadow said, gripping the lever tightly. "Now go and explore the world below."

Before Marie could protest, Shadow pulled down the lever and the glass tube shot out into space. Then just as the hole closed up, the G. U. N. soldiers came in and pointed their guns at Shadow while behind them stood a handcuffed Gerard. Reluctantly, Shadow raised his hands up and stepped toward the G. U. N. soldiers. The scene faded to white and Shawn heard Black Doom's voice growing distant.

"I'm sending you to the Iron Jungle now where the mad scientist has retreated his forces to for the time being. I want you to eliminate him and take whatever Chaos Emeralds you can find there."

To be continued…