Summary
The Hedgehog Saga: How much power is too much power? Sonic's own abilities are growing rapidly beyond his control as he survives against all the odds. Now he's twenty-two. But when he accidentally activates a brand new Chaos Power in Shadow, all hell breaks loose, and Sonic's entire world is turned upside down.
Chapter Contents
Chapter One – Survival
Chapter Two – Sparks
Chapter Three – Collisions
Chapter Four – Enlightenment
Chapter Five – Memories
Chapter Six – Warnings
Chapter Seven – Emerald
Chapter Eight – Chased
Chapter Nine – Unknown
Chapter Ten – Ambush
Chapter Eleven – Renewal
Chapter Twelve – Ouroboros
Chapter One – Survival
When Shadow The Hedgehog first met Sonic The Hedgehog, he absolutely hated him. He was everything he despised. Good, kind, selfless. The complete opposite to his cold, dark, evilness. Shadow's arrogance to Sonic's compassion. The chalk and cheese of the Hedgehog world. He growled. Nothing had really changed over the last ten years since that day. But, oh boy, the both of them had. A tale of fate, comradery and loyalty that would last the ages, but it didn't start out that way. Even though Sonic's path to this point was longer, Shadow believed he was the one who'd changed the most. Considering where he started from.
The mighty Black Hedgehog sighed, in the warm early morning summer sun, as he stood leaning against a tree. His large sleek black body lengthening, outstretching his white gloved fingers, and twisting his wrists, his gold Inhibitors Rings upon them, shining. His long red stripes down both his arms and legs, glistenedin the light of the sun, and his black upturned quills with their magnificent red stripes, on his head and flowing down his back behind him. His white chest fur looking somewhat rough this early of the day. He gained a lot of weight over the recent years, in pure muscle, and even though Sonic was taller then him now, the Ultimate Lifeform was still boarder.
He had a tattoo of his callsign in scarlet red on his right arm, largely as a reminder of where he came from. He acquired his callsign during the long and drawn fight he endured to fully recover his memories, now it sits as a trigger whenever anyone dares to attempt to swipe them again. Because of it's special symbolism, Shadow will always remembers who he is, no matter what happens. It was Sonic's suggestion to get it, and now the Ultimate Lifeform is forever grateful, the tattoo coming into it's own several times. He signed and opened his eyes, his deep crimson iris', glowing red occasionally as the Chaos Energy within him took hold. He let it, as he watched the Blue Blur slowly come too. He was fast asleep at his feet, curled in a tight ball, purring gently.
He frowned. How that Hedgehog slept in such an uncomfortable position, practically bend double, was beyond him. Plus he could sleep absolutely anywhere, and regularly did. Day or night. Even outdoors, like now. But Shadow didn't sleep. Never needed to. He fed directly off the Chaos produced by all living creatures on the planet, and it both renewed and replenishedhim. Thus he never needed to eat either. Though he could if he choose. There were a few choice foods he did enjoy, but it wasn't an necessityfor him.
They had both come a long way. Shadow's memory had been fully recovered a long time ago, and he remembered all of it. Thinking back, ten years is a long time for a Hedgehog, especially one not destined to survive. Sonic was fifteen when he first met him. A mere child. Shadow remembered being throughly unimpressed at this. That this juvenilewas the best Mobius had to offer against him. Over the course of events, which including fighting the Biohazard and Chaos Controlling the Ark, back in its current position in orbit, he'd gained his respect, even if Shadow still didn't like him. But it was a few years later that things really started getting interesting.
Amy was throwing an secret seventeenth birthday party for Sonic, and had somehow roped him into it. Or more specifically, Rouge had. He worked for The Guardian Units of Nations, or G.U.N., and they were on some down time. Shadow had, in super-form with Sonic's help, moved the Ark from the orbit of Earth, to the orbit of Mobius, where it stands to this day. Mobius has it own version of G.U.N., taking it's orders directly from the Mobian Authorities. Well sort of. It was an independent organisation. When Shadow first moved to Mobius, he was instantly recommended for G.U.N. here, and with Rouge, practically took up the same job. He smirked. That suited him. He was far more intimidatinghere on Mobius then he was, back on Earth, and got away with a hell of a lot more. As to the party, she wanted to go, and insisted that Shadow went with her. Now, normally, he would have refused. He hated parties.
But when given the choice, Shadow would take Sonic and his friends, over Eggman, any day, and that was exactly what he did. After his episode with the Ark after his first appearance, he had gone to them. He was received with a lot of aggression, and was asked to leave, but Sonic convinced his friends to give the Black hedgehog a chance to prove his trustworthiness, which he since done, repeatedly. Sonic was the only one who stood up for him, and the question Shadow wanted to know was, why?
He felt that he didn't deserve it, and when asked Sonic would exclaim that he gave everybody a chance, but considering that he was that selfless, it was indeed possible. Shadow did finally get an proper answer out if him, many years later. Back when they first met, his memories were constantly getting wiped by Eggman and Sonic simple felt that if he didn't fight for him, then no one would. He didn't feel sorry for him, he just felt that there was injustice involved. That Shadow was it simply wasn't fair. He had to agree, it wasn't. He never asked for or choose any of it, and was incredibly grateful to Sonic for seeing it from his point of view.
He choose Sonic and his friends, because they never told him what to do. Requested his help, made suggestions, yes, but never gave him a direct order, which Eggman constantly did. He felt here that he was free. Free to make a choice, to help them or not. Freedom was something Shadow's life had been constantly been lacking. Imprisoned at first creation, forced to carry out orders against his will, freedom was something he cherished whenever it came in his direction. This low-life group of juvenile Sapients gave him some freedom, and he was willing to put up the stupid antics to have it.
But this time he had the impression that there was more going on with Sonic and company then what appeared on the surface. Sonic, Tails and their friends amused him. There was always drama and controversy at their house, especially when Amy was around, so Shadow went along, curious as to it's conclusion.
He saw the party being set up. He smirked. You could never keep a secret form Sonic, but it was the intensely worried looks on both Knuckles and Tails that caught his attention. Very curious, he waited until nightfall, not wanting to draw attention to himself and snuck as close as he could, using his incredibly hearing to eavesdrop. Tails and Knuckles were talking alone in the Fox's house, near the window. It was pitch dark outside, and Shadow, perfectly able to see, was crouched just beneath the window.
Knuckles was heaving. Shadow could clearly hear the panic in his voice.
"Are you sure, Tails?" He asked. There was silence, a very long pause. Tails replied almost in tears.
"Sonic told me the story. He's not the first in his family to be born with Super-Speed. His father, and his father before him. But it's cursed. You live fast, you die young, it's the price you pay. Which means that he'll drop dead at midnight of his seventeenth birthday, just like the others." He sniffed, and then proceeded the cry his heart out, over the Echidna'sshoulder.
Shadow's eyes widened. What? Midnight on the day in question was only a matter of hours away. The secret party was planned for first thing in the morning. He was stunned. Even thoughShadow found the him probably the most irritating person he knew. So jolly, constantly optimistic and when they were alone, extremely cocky. He drove Shadow demented, but he knew that the guy was harmless. He would never hurt anyone, let alone kill. Shadow could see it in his eyes, and from the large amount of white Chaos Aura that surrounded Sonic everywhere he when. As another high-level Chaos Creature, able to manipulate the Chaos Emeralds, Shadow knew he was the only one there who could see it, and it clashed beautifully with his own black, dark Chaos Aura. That was another reason why the hedgehog ground on his nerves.
Despite that, Sonic was a hero to a lot of people. He'd be sorely missed and Shadow wasn't expecting him to die so soon, so young. It didn't sound fair. Since he'd joined the group, in between working for G.U.N., he was occasionally asked to help with missions against Eggman. Shadow relished battling the Human and rarely turned them down. But he was always been paired with Sonic. He always hated this, preferring to work alone. Sonic, on the other hand, relished it, to Shadow's great irritation. But he had to admit it, the kid was good. In battles against Eggman, nobody on the planet could match him, on speed and the shear craziness of what Shadow could do. When the two Hedgehogs were really on the ball, their teamwork was deadly. Not even Eggman would cross them, if they were together.
'Not bad' Shadow used to think. 'For a mere mortal!' he'd smirk. But that was all he was. Mortal, and now he'd never see him alive again. He could still hear Knuckles heaving. He cried.
"Where is he?" He asked. Tails looked up.
"In his bedroom. Terrified." He stammered. Knuckles comforted him.
"I'm not surprised." He sighed. Then Shadow heard them move away from the window. Obviously up the stairs, to be with Sonic when the time came. Shadow was left alone, sat at the foot of the window. He was still stunned, knowing he'd never meet another person quite like Sonic again. Despite the irritation he caused him, at midnight, Shadow shed a single tear for him in grief, and then left, to be alone for the remainder of the night. He very nearly didn't attend the party, the following morning, knowing what had happened. But as always, his curiosity got the better of him.
As he arrived, there was indeed drama and controversy, but not the type he was expecting. The party had indeed been cancelled, to Amy's utter annoyance, but not for the reason he was expecting. He knew immediately when he saw the house, something was definitely going on. He could still see a huge amount of light emitting from building, though a Chaos Aura. That meant only one single thing. Sonic was still alive. What? His temper flared. What disgusting trick was this? But when he actually saw the Blue Blur for himself, he realised there was no deception. Tails had been speaking the truth.
The Blue Hedgehog looked like he'd been to death's door and back, literally. He stood there, looking awful. He was in a very bad way. Extremely long, royal blue quills flowing down his back, were incredibly battered and broken in places. His long legs shaking where he stood and were badly matted, and his cherry red shoes with the famous red stripe could barely be seen under the thick layer of dirt on them. His white gloved hands, which were badly worn and heavily chewed on both thumbs where he'd sucking them. His bright green eyes appeared tired, wet from tears and sunken in. He was so bad that if it wasn't for the fact that Shadow was looking for him, he wouldn't have even recognised him.
Shadow frowned, he was genuinely confused, and as he stood there face-to-face with the Blue Blur, their eyes met. Sonic was heaving and Shadow had never seen him so frightened before. Then as they stared at each other, something 'clicked' between them.
"What the...?" They both said together. Shadow felt it only mildly, to the point of it being almost ignorable, but it took Sonic by storm, as he felt it much harder. It caused him to panic still further, the fear really setting in. Suddenly, Tails and Knuckles appeared either side of him, taking him away.
The Blue Blur was now absolutely white, and clearly had no idea how he was still alive. Why death hadn't come for him. Tails and Knuckles were looking after him, and were both extremely relieved the Speedster was still with them. But Shadow frowned. What was going on? Something had happened between them. It wasn't romantic. Shadow growled in disgust. He definitely wasn't that but something else. Despite it being incredibly subtle, it very strongly triggered an attribute in him, one he only reserved for very few select people.
Loyalty.
What? He didn't understand, and as Sonic went to get food, he was left thinking. As for him dying at seventeen, Shadow wasn't buying it. If the story really was true then Sonic should be dead. So he disappeared, and returned to Ark to investigate. Finding information on Sonic's family proved to be difficult, but he managed to hack several archives to get at what he wanted. He found Sonic's father, again famous for his own Super-Speed. Shadow found his obituary. Dropped dead at seventeen. Shadow then found his grandfather's and great grandfather's obituaries, again both dropping dead at seventeen. Shadow stared. Sonic appeared to be speaking the truth.
For all intents and purposes, he should be dead. How was he still alive? He suspected even Sonic himself didn't know. Was he because he had no children? All of his relatives who had died young, were all fathers. Shadow shook his head. That shouldn't make a difference. He sighed. He returned to the Tails' House, several weeks later, after an intense mission for G.U.N. He was in a fowl mood and he needed cheering up. The stupid antics there always did, and he wanted to see how Sonic was holding up. Well, more accurately, Rouge wanted to see how he was holding up. Knuckles had told her, and had dragged Shadow along for the ride. Curious himself, he didn't argue.
But they both arrived to an enormous argumentbetween Amy and Sonic, of which Tails was outright failing to break up. Cream, Vanilla, The Chaotix, and Knuckles were already there. There were in the lounge. Tails owned a large house with two good sized bedrooms. One each for himself and Sonic, and a bathroom upstairs. Downstairs was a large open-plan lounge-kitchen-diner downstairs which was in a L shape, the small kitchen was set towards the back of the house and the lounge towards the front. There wasn't exactly a dining room there, but a large breakfast bar which was doubled as kitchen work surface. The lounge took up all of the front of the house, along the longest edge of the L shaped room and there were sofas everywhere. All misshaped, all different sizes and colours. There was enough space to sit ten to twenty people. To the side of the kitchen was the staircase, which run up through the centre of the house and the other side of that was another large room. It was separated from the open-plan living space and could only be entered and exited by a single door. That was Tails' Workshop.
The Blue Blur looked a lot better, recovering well. His long, beautifully manicuredroyal blue quills flowing down his back, shimmering in the sunlight through the window, his blue fur clean. His long legs angrilypacing back and forth, his cherry red shoes with the famous red stripe shining in the morning light. His white gloved hands in clenched fist ready for anything. His teeth gritted at the sheer frustration at the female Hedgehog who still wouldn't take no for an answer. It was obvious that word of Sonic's miraculoussurvival of his fate, had gotten out, and Amy was all over it. He glared at her, his voice treblingwith the anger.
"Amy, I said no!" He spat, growling heavily. But she still wasn't having it.
"Sonic." She whined. "Please marry me. You won't die anymore." She pleaded. Sonic growled at her, going white.
"That's not an excuse. Amy." He grilled. He was unimpressed. But she still wouldn't let it go.
"Why?" She stammered. Sonic spat at her. He sighed. He knew why, and it was something both intensely embarrassing and very shameful. Sonic knew of her dream. She desperately wanted to marry Sonic, have a family and be happy. Happy in her eyes, but not necessaryin his. To be married and settle down, and basically do whatever Amy wanted was not Sonic's idea of heaven, but a cage. But he loved her, and he'd do it, if it wasn't for a single word that he knew would make the whole thing come crashing down. A singular word that was the reason why he turned her down. It had aways been the reason. As to her question, he didn't reply. So she pressed again, repeatedly asking why, this time determined for an answer.
Sonic backed away. He just couldn't take it anymore. He knew what she desperately wanted, and it was the only thing he couldn't give her. Suddenly Sonic's anger broke, as he burst into tears. He caved in.
"I'm sterile!" He finally cried, completely broken. There, he said it. The word that Sonic knew would smash everything. Absolute silence replied to him. In Sapient society, infertilityis a taboo subject. But they also had In Vitro Fertilisation or I.V.F., and very successful it was to. If a couple couldn't conceivethemselves, then the science would do it for them, and all was well. But where infertility really got taboo, to the point of it being outright shameful, was inability to have children at all, even with the help of science, was considered embarrassing, and for a male, downright humiliating. His job was to give his wife a child. No ifs, no buts, and if he couldn't do it, then there was no reason for him to live. I.V.F. had eased some of these issues, but this didn't help Sonic. To breed in Sapient society was paramount, especially amongst Hedgehogs, which were one of the more rarer species.
Sonic could see Amy's world fall apart in front of his eyes. He could see it on her face. She was absolutely desperate for a baby with him, and he couldn't give her one. But she didn't believe him. Sonic didn't expect her to, but it was the truth. He was told by the doctors as a very young child, and had lived with it all his life, learning it's true meaning and consequenceswhen he met her. But he'd figured that if he put her off long enough until he'd dropped dead then he wouldn't have to deal with it. But that had completely failed. He had no idea why, but now he was coming face-to-face with those consequences, and hating every minute of it. Unable to take anymore, he disappeared upstairs agreeing any whatever tests Amy wanted to put him through.
It was damming, and left everyone in utter shock. Everyone except Shadow, who was somewhat confused as to what all the fuss was about. Sonic was sterile. So what. So was he. It was yet another control mechanism Gerald Robotnik put on him, to keep him in check. Making sure there was no unsolicited breeding. He didn't want Shadow making more of himself. Though, from what little he knew, natural sterility was extremely rare. Sonic was just incredibly unlucky. But he did feel for the Blue Blur as Amy ordered every test under the sun, which months later, all came back true. With minutes, his friends started commenting behind his back. Shadow could still hear him in tears in his bedroom upstairs. Even Rouge lost it with him. Ripping him to pieces, saying that he shouldn't have lead her along like that.
Shadow growled. As far as he could see, Sonic hadn't lead Amy anywhere, and the incredibly harsh backlash against the him was beginning to grate on Shadow. The Blue Blur didn't deserve this. Shadow never actually believed before that day, that he'd actually defend him. He frowned. What was wrong with him? He utterly despised Sonic, and yet something inside of him was telling him to do it. He didn't understand, but didn't argue as his anger got the better of him.
"Enough!" He hissed, very loudly, completely silencing the room. He walked forwards from the shadows of the lounge, where he'd been standing. He was now centre stage. All eyes were on him. He didn't care.
"Amy." He hissed, glaring at the female Hedgehog. "He turned you down. If, lets say, he'd had said yes, married you, and when you'd tried to conceive your dream and failed, it would be a lot worse." He sniggered. "I think the term your after is the lesser of two evils." He leered.
Silence greeted Shadow at this statement and even Sonic himself had heard him, and was now standing at the foot of the stairs. He was staring at him. He'd stopped crying. Shadow smirked. He was right and he knew it. Both his and the Blue Blur's eyes met, and a understanding passed between them. Subtle but they both felt it. A thank you from Sonic for his defense, which the Ultimate Lifeform himself acknowledged. But Amy was in tears. Her world, her dream was falling apart at the seams. She looked at the Black Hedgehog.
"And how would you know?" She screamed. Shadow smirked, his voice ice cold.
"Oh, please." He leered. "Do you honestly think that Gerald Robotnik would let his prized creation become tainted by breeding." He hissed. There was utter silence. Rouge gulped. She hadn't realised that, but thinking about it, it was kind of obvious.
"Your sterile as well." She gasped. But Shadow rounded on her. His voice getting even colder.
"You got a problem with that?" He spat. Rouge looking terrified, violently shock her head, in fact, everyone did. Shadow's smirk broadened. He was satisfied. In his opinion, Sterility was not death sentence, and he'd just proved the point. But Amy still wasn't buying it. She rounded on Sonic.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She begged at him. It was obvious that Sonic had been born sterile, and had known for years. Shadow's lip curled, cutting across Sonic before he had a chance to answer. He walked across the rest of the lounge to stand next to him. Shadow was well known for being loyal, especially to Team Dark. He'd die for them, and yet that same attribute was being triggered for someone whom he felt hadn't earned it. Not in the same way. Yet it was subtly pushing him in that direction. Incredibly curious, he let it. He leered at Amy.
"I think you'll find, he just did." He hissed. Sonic raised an eyebrow, smirking. But Amy exploded, claiming that Sonic being sterile meant that he was good for nothing. It was harsh. Shadow was find himself liking the girl less and less. She screamed in absolute despair.
"You should have died!" She spat at him. The room exploded in shock. That was outright brutal, and the tears fell again down the Blue Blur's face, as he pushed past Amy to get to the front door.
"That was the plan!" He spat back, and promptly disappeared outside to the roar of the sound barrier braking behind him. Amy, in tears, also ran from the house, to who knows where, leaving utter confusion behind her. Tails was terrified. He knew Sonic, and realised that, this had hit him and extremely hard. When his eyes met with Shadow's, it made the Ultimate Lifeform go running straight after him. Apart from himself, Tails was the only other person in that room, not to verbally slaughter Sonic for his confession. Now he genuinely feared for him. Sonic was down, really down. Low enough to take his own life?
Shadow growled. Not today, as he left Tails' House in hot pursuit of the Speedster. He felt his loyalty for him deepen. He didn't want the Blue Blur to die before and he sure as hell didn't want him to die now. Why? What was going on? Even the Chaotix were worried about Sonic and were also hot on his tail, but completely failed to find him. Shadow got there first, but he took some finding. It was his bright white Chaos Aura that gave him away. Shadow found him, in the middle of thick forest, in a small clearing. It had a pond in it, next to a fallen log. It was surprisingly peaceful. Upon the log, was the Blue Blur, curled up in a tight ball, still in tears. Shadow walked up to him. He didn't comfort Sonic. It wasn't what he needed plus that wasn't the Black Hedgehog's style. He just sat on the log next up him, and said nothing. Just him being there was enough. Shadow could see he'd been through hell, and decided there and then, to stand by him. Just like Sonic had done for him, when he first joined them. Just simply returning the favour.
Shadow sent a message back to Tails. To his handheld device. Three words, to be read with a far deeper meaning, then they initial intended.
'I Got Him!'
Shadow knew Tails would understand. The Fox was intelligent enough, and also keep the information to himself. This wasn't a simple case of Shadow telling him he'd found Sonic. It was also to tell the Fox that he'd also got his back. Sonic wasn't stupid. He was crying for two reasons. One, of Amy's brutal treatment of him and two, at the fact that his friends turned on him. Even from up the stairs, he'd heard them slaughter him. But he'd also noticed that the two people who didn't, were the two people now by his side. Tails and Shadow. He put his head up to look at the Ultimate Lifeform, he realised that things from now on were going to change.