Chapter Five – Memories
Frank decided, and it actually turned out for the best, to keep both Hedgehogs at G.U.N. headquarters until they completely mastered and had absolute control of everything. Even if it mean the headquarters getting utterly trashed. It took Shadow months to master the Telekinesis. He did try to replicate several things he'd seen Silver do with his Psychokinesis, but quickly found the limitations of the Telekinesis. He couldn't fly, and manipulating objects while in his Telekinetic grasp was incredibly difficult. But the ability to move anything anywhere was very useful, and it seemed to specialise in light, delicate work.
Sonic had it own Intangibility to learn. It was so different to the Molecular Vibration, though both powers did the same thing. Fazed through solid objects. Molecular Vibration took a huge amount of concentration and energy to achieve. Intangibility, however, the exploding into the ghost-like state and solidifying again was so easy that Sonic almost took it for granted. But the power itself was incredibly difficult to wield once in the ghost-like state. Getting to that point was easy, but doing anything while there was actually quite hard. It required a new way of thinking and a lot of practice.
But that didn't mean it wasn't fun as both Hedgehogs successfully drove G.U.N. demented. Tails had long since left and gone home. His friends were fine. He was not needed anymore, plus he had projects to work on.
Frank, who was used to dealing with the cool, calm, quiet, sly nature of Shadow found Sonic absolutely crazy. Tails had warned him, that when he wasn't fighting for Eggman or on a G.U.N. mission, he was expensive to feed and a total handful. That was a enormous understatement. He was giggling and very bouncy most of the time, and took huge enjoyment in winding everybody up. He also enjoyed exploring the G.U.N. headquarters but his Intangibility didn't help as they also struggled to keep Sonic out of the classified areas. The guy fazed through absolutely everything.
His extreme hyperactivity, when it did explode, was so bad, that he'd never did what he was told, constantly ran around the place. He ate them out of house and home, to multiply complains from the cook and other staff. He ate so much food, that supplies that were supposed to last months were gone in a matter of days.
Frank's superiors were not happy, as the three G.U.N. operative he'd assigned to watch Sonic completely failed to just keep up with him. But when Sonic's Static Electricity started blowing the electrics on an almost daily basis, Frank had to throw in the towel.
Shadow smirked. He could have helped them, but was far too amusing to watch G.U.N. struggle with him. But they never asked him. All Shadow had to do was give a high-pitch whistle and Sonic's loyalty was have him instantly by his side, raring to go. But he knew better then to take advantage of it. He'd done that before and all it successfully got him was one extremely upset Blue Blur, who completely vanished on him, and a very large feeling of guilt. One of two emotions he absolutely despised, the other being grief.
It took Shadow months to persuade Sonic to trust him again, such was the depth of the betrayal. Shadow hated every minute of it, and vowed to never do it again. A word he has since kept. Sonic wasn't stupid, naive or a pushover, in fact he was very intelligent. He was one hell of a professional soldier when his hyperactive wasn't getting the better of him. Shadow was surprised. Sonic was far more intelligent then he'd given him credit, with a photographic memory like to other. He could remember codes, passwords, maps, and directions just by looking at or hearing them just once. He was a walking sat-nav. He knew the entire planet inside out. Every city, town and village, and every road, lane and dirt track. He'd explored and had set foot on every inch of it, and knew exactly where anything was. He never got lost.
Shadow own sense of direction was good, but he didn't know everywhere. Sonic did. No, the Blue Blur's problem was that he was compassionate. Very compassionate. A bit so much for Shadow's liking. He gave people chances when he felt they didn't deserve them. But then again, he could include himself in that category. He sighed. He had his own Telekinesis to deal with and an assigned tag-along in Rouge. He wasn't impressed. He'd much rather deal with the Telekinesis alone, and Rouge's constant suggestions grated on him horrendously. Also being cooped up in G.U.N. headquarters didn't appeal, and one day, he completely vanished on all of them.
Neither Rouge or Frank could find him, and had no idea where he went. He was still dangerous and G.U.N. very much liked to know where he was. As Sonic and Shadow began to settle into their new powers, they had started bickering again. Arguing very badly, constantly at each other's throats. Shadow's bullying of Sonic got so bad that G.U.N. nearly intervened, only to have the Blue Blur wipe the floor with the Ultimate Lifeform. Literally. Shadow ended up flat on his back of the ground, having been forcibly and very painfully Super-Sped thrown down there. A very efficient and very fast martial arts move over the shoulder, at the ultra high speeds that could only have come from the King. Everyone was shocked, but Shadow smirked. He only did it because Sonic could give as good as he got, if pushed hard enough. Because of this, there was only one person at G.U.N. who knew where Shadow was.
The Blue Blur himself.
He was in the canteen. He was always in the canteen. Eating. When Rouge and Frank went there, he was alone, his bottom in the air, tail wagging happily. He was trying to lick out the bottom of a very large tub of chocolate ice cream, he'd just finished and emptied. It wasn't exactly professional, and it made Rouge giggle. Frank wasn't impressed, and he cleared his throat, which made the Blue Blur look up, his face covered in ice cream. He quickly cleaned himself off.
"Hello." He said, happily. Frank growled, still unimpressed. He was desperate for some professionalism out of Sonic. He was incredible back at the Syndicate's headquarters. Why wasn't he like that all the time? This heavily frustrated him. He growled.
"Where's Shadow?" He spat, getting straight to the point. Sonic looked at them, as he was in the process of getting another tub of ice cream. He stopped.
"Oh." He shrugged. "He's not here?" He asked. Rouge giggled again, but Frank's frustration turned into raw anger. He could have throttled the Blue Blur right there and then.
"No!" He screamed. "Where is he?" He scowled. "We need him back here, right now." He heaved. But Sonic giggled.
"Do you not know what Shads does on his downtime. I'll tell you now, he's in one of two places." He smiled, on purposely pausing. "The Ark or a brothel." He smirked. "Or both." He added. "It wouldn't be the first time he's taken a prostitute back to the space colony." He sighed. Silence greeted him, with that statement. Frank growled.
"Well, find him." He ordered. Sonic, deciding to leave the second tub of ice cream behind, rounded on the Bear.
"No way, in hell." He spat. "I'm not suicidal. Have you ever played dodge bullet with the guy? He never misses. Ever. His aim is the best in the business. It's only because I can move faster then the dam bullets is the only reason why I'm still here." He growled, his own temper getting the better of him. "You find him." He spat, and then proceed to vanish with an explosion of the pale blue sparks of Static Electricity, leaving both Frank and Rouge somewhat stunned.
Shadow smirked. He was indeed on the Ark. G.U.N. had forgotten to remove his Portable Teleporter from him, and the Blue Blur was also right. He'd been to a brothel first, his favourite, and was now feeling so much better. But he was now fuming. The Ark was a mess. He hadn't been back here in almost six months and the space colony was desperately in need of maintenance. Having not been working, money was now tight. Living on the Ark was expensive, but it was his home, he was created here, and he'd ferociously fought both G.U.N. and the Mobian Authorities for it. It was the fact he'd threatened both of them with the Eclipse Cannon which finally made them agree. It was DNA locked. Only Shadow or a Robotnik could fire it. So long as he agreed to keep it out of Eggman's hands, the Ultimate Lifeform was allowed to keep the space colony.
Now forced to do the work himself, as he'd sometimes had paid staff, he got on with it, cleaning every inch of the Ark. The space colony was old and falling apart in places, as Shadow went to the computer console and ordered new parts and materials. He'd collect them later. But it was in power consumption was where it really cost money. They had to be cheaper way to run the place. He researched on the computer. He found the Ark's original blue prints. He'd never really looked at these before and realised that the Ark had something already built in that would help with his finances. A technology which, at the time of the Ark's construction, was very new indeed. He was stunned.
He looked down at his hands. Time to properly flex his new Chaos Power. He'd been struggling with it, and now had a deeper respect for Silver as he wondered how he did what he did. The Telekinesis was strange, and it ebbed and flowed in a way that was completely alien to him. Very different to his physical Chaos Powers, such as Super-Speed and Super-Strength. Wielding it required a new way of thinking, and significantly more concentration. It was delicate. Shadow noticed he could open any mechanical lock going and yet it also responded to the huge raw power he also processed deep in his gut. It had potential.
He moved to the very centre of the Ark, and concentrated, his hands out wide. He allowed the red aura to explode from them, and then pushed it to engulf the entire Ark. Shadow could feel everything through that red aura, and grabbing hold of the Ark, he got to work.
A hour later, he succeeded, but he was very exhausted. Satisfied, he rested and then returned to G.U.N.. Frank, the Chief of Mission Operations, was angry when Shadow finally showed up. He was greeted by him and Rouge, as the Bear proceeded to have a go at him. Shadow smirked. Bad move, as the Black Hedgehog then pulled on a gun on the Bear. With Frank being significantly taller then Shadow, he'd pointed the gun directly under his chin. Silenced erupted as everyone was terrified. Sonic saw what was happening but didn't move a muscle. He made no attempt to stop Shadow whatsoever, wearing a very stupid grin.
Shadow's eyes narrowed, as the Bear was now shaking in terror. He moved forwards towards him, a very evil smirk on his face, then almost nose to nose looking up. Until finally, he actually did it. He pulled the trigger. There was an almighty click, but nothing happened. Absolutely everyone jumped. Everyone except Sonic, who then proceeded to howl in laughter. Shadow's smirk broadened as he lowered his gun, turned around and walked away. Sonic ran up the them, still giggling.
"Who says that Shadow the Hedgehog doesn't have a sense of humour. He didn't take the safety catch off." He grinned. Frank stared. He didn't notice and proceeded to kick himself that he properly should have. Now he was really frightened of Shadow. He was his best agent, but the pure evil within him was just too much for the Bear. How the Blue Blur handled him, he didn't know, but there was definitely something between them. Sonic ran after the Black Hedgehog. He heaved.
"Hi." He smiled. "I've noticed you've moved the Ark." He asked. "It's in a different point in the sky." He added. Frank stared. So Sonic had left too. He gone outside at the very least. Was there nothing that could contain those two? Shadow stopped and growled at the Blue Blur.
"What I do with my home, is my business." He spat. Sonic backed away, holding up his hands.
"Hey, I don't have a problem with it. I just wondered why?" He asked. Shadow looked at him, It was a genuine question and to Sonic's surprise, he decided to humour him. He sighed.
"Living on the Ark is expensive." He announced but Sonic cut across him.
"But seriously cool though." He giggled. Shadow smirked, his lip curled. He wholeheartedly agreed. Yes, it was. But he huffed.
"And anything that cuts costs has to be an improvement. But the Ark is old..." He hissed, but got cut across again by the Blue Blur. He giggled.
"No offense, but so are you." He sniggered, but Shadow growled at him, but he did have a point.
"Yes, but the Ark was built and fully functioning for a good thirty years before I was created. I was the last thing Gerard did in his long career as a geneticist. The combination of a lifetime of experience." He sighed. "The flat side of the Ark..." He added, only to get cut across yet again by Sonic. Now Shadow was loosing his patients with him. The Blue Bur giggled.
"Oh, the side with Gerard's ugly face on it." He grinned. Shadow glared at him. He did agree with that comment. The face was ugly, but he wasn't going to tell him that. He growled.
"It's covered in solar panels." He spat finally. Solar panels? Sonic frowned.
"Wait?" He asked. "At the time the Ark was built, those would have been..." he wondered, only for him to be cut across this time. Shadow smirked.
"Very new technology, yes." He hissed. "So I have used my new skills." He leered, looking down at his hands. "To move the Ark into a position where those solar panels can catch the sunlight better. It has improved things. It has reduced the cost of running the Ark by twenty-five percent." He explained. But Sonic thought.
"No offense." He said, politely. "But that's not very efficient." He summated. Shadow looked at him. He was quite right, it wasn't. He sighed.
"When I have the funds available, I will be replacing all of them with more modern, more efficient solar panels." He heaved. Sonic smiled.
"Hey, if you need any help, just ask." He grinned. Shadow smirked, it quickly broadening. He nodded, acknowledging the offer. But as he was about to leave, Sonic stopped him. All the talk of the Ark had got him thinking.
"Shads. Can I ask you something?" He asked, somewhat nervous. Shadow stared at him. He had a genuine choice here. He could say no, and he knew the Blue Blur would immediately drop it. Sonic respected him to much to never push him beyond his comfort zone. But considering the topic of conversation, he was curious as to what he was going to asked, plus scaring Frank to death had put him in a somewhat good mood. He stopped and turned, as if to say 'yes'. Sonic was stunned, going absolutely white. He wasn't expecting that answer at all. He gulped.
"Stasis. What's it like?" He stammered. Shadow's eyes widened. Of all the questions to be asked, he wasn't expected that one. He growled.
"I hate it." He spat. "You are plunged into a deep darkness, and are permanently suspended somewhere between being asleep and awake. You can hear and feel everything, you just can't do anything about it." He heaved, folding his arms in front of him. He took a deep sigh. "I wasn't created evil." He leered. "This." He said, indicating himself. "Was done to me later after Maria's death." He smirked. "I still remember Gerard penetrating the evil deep down into my soul." He shuddered, it was very painful and he then looked at Sonic. "Forget it." He spat. "There's no way to get it out now." He growled. He was frustrated, beginning to pace the room. "I was created as a cure." He sniggered. "And look how good I was at that, as Maria was killed before it could be used." He sighed. "But the thing is, I don't know where it is." He admitted. "If it's a chemical cure on my person somewhere, as I have investigated everywhere, including going though my own DNA with a fine tooth comb, then I should have found it by now. Gerard's diaries mention nothing as to it's location. But if it's my immortality that was meant to be the cure, and I was meant to die in order to save her then..." He heaved. But Sonic cut across him.
"Which you'd do in a heartbeat." He acknowledged. Shadow looked up and nodded. He'd have swap places with Maria in an instant, certainly back on the Ark, fifty years ago. But Shadow was frustrated.
"But how?" He asked. "How do you transfer immortality from one person to another without both of you dying in the process." He growled. Sonic stared. He had no idea either. He sighed. "I wonder what she'd make of me now." He thought, referring to the evil within himself, somewhat downhearted. But Sonic rounded on him.
"Shads, don't go there." He spat, looking serious. Sonic had gone from super giggly to highly professional in seconds. He'd flipped the switch. It was impressive. Frank stared but Rouge raised an eyebrow. She'd only witnessed the instant change herself a couple of times. To see the Blue Blur go from basically, an idiot, to the Hero of Mobius in a snap of a finger was absolutely stunning. Now Frank understood why his friends, including Shadow, stood by the Blue Blur despite his horrendous handful nature. The switch, it meant everything. Frank had seen the professionalism he had as the Hero of Mobius, and the chaotic, hyperactive, child-like nature he had, well, as Sonic. To instantly flick between them was unique and Frank got the distinct impression that only the Blue Blur himself chose when it happened. He wouldn't have put it past Shadow to try and manipulate him in that way, but having gotten to know Sonic in recent months, he figured the Ultimate Lifeform had probably failed.
Sonic gave Shadow a stern look. He backed off. This was why he trusted him. Despite his idiotic nature, he could flip that switch and be there for him whenever he needed it. Right now, Sonic didn't want the grief nor the guilt to get the better of him and Shadow appreciated it. He nodded, and walked off, the Blue Blur letting him go.
Sonic looked back at the stunned G.U.N. operatives, including Frank and Rouge. He then grabbed his knives and swords including their harness, and loyally followed Shadow straight of the G.U.N. headquarters. Nobody stopped them. Unfortunately, Sonic left his black shoes behind.
Frank gulped. Never in the years of working with the Ultimate Lifeform, had he ever been so open. He'd completely underestimated him. He wasn't just a mindless killer. Even a good one. Even Rouge herself was stunned. She knew all this information but never heard it from Shadow himself.
How had Sonic done it? Got him to talk like that. She'd never been able to. There was something between them. That was for certain. Something special. But what? She had no idea, as she ran after them, but they both were long gone, by the time she got outside.