Ch. 3 Found You, Faker
Sonic woke up yet again somewhere he could not recognize. It had become a habit for the hedgehog. He positioned his aching body carefully into an upright position. He was bound again, this time by some sort of energy cuffs. The area around him looked like every other he had seen the past few months; dull and grey. The container he was in suddenly jostled and Sonic realized he was moving. He remembered the events prior but the details after he smashed the illusion were fuzzy.
"They're probably taking me to a new cell." Sonic muttered to himself.
Sonic sat in silence a while longer, letting the situation sink in. He had been fooled by... whatever that was. Sonic would have felt like a complete idiot if it had not been for the fact that whatever power was used on him seemed to change his perception. Eggman was going to pay for this, Sonic thought, at least Shadow is okay... I hope. The hog felt the vehicle come to a stop and heard the sound of obnoxious robotic voices outside. A sliding door opened blinding the hero. Once he could see, the hog was presented with Orbot and Cubot accompanied by... Zavoc? Oh yeah, that guy. They latched a ribbon of energy to the cuffs on Sonic's hands and led him out the door. They walked past cell after cell. these ones were at least open, although the bars were made of lasers. Zavoc suddenly spoke,
"This will be your temporary cell for the time being until we have prepared your new solitary continent chamber. So, don't get cozy. And you will be severely punished for your escape attempt."
"Ooh, kinky. Not really into big dumb salamanders though." Sonic sneered at the zeti.
All three looked surprised by Sonic's sudden change of attitude. The hog had gone from being a broken man to taking on a rebellious nature. This wasn't his normal brand of rebel though, even the bots could see that. This was something more. Little did they know that this new attitude was fueled by unadulterated rage. Something Sonic never thought he could feel for someone, hate maybe, but he had never felt the urge to severely bring harm. The blue hero smirked to himself as he saw the cell in the distance.
Time to bust out.
Shadow and Topaz reached the G.U.N refugee headquarters. The woman led him inside a secret passage that opened out into a control room with a round table sitting in the middle. Standing around it where humans and one very recognizable person, towering over the rest.
"Hello Major Commander."
The man looked up to the voice and Shadow could have sworn he saw a sigh of relief escape him,
"Agent Shadow... it's good to see you. What brings you here?"
"I need any information that you can give me on the Dr's base's preferably the hidden ones." Shadow stated.
Towers looked happy in a stern way,
"Your timing is incredible, we have just been discussing our next move, because it seems Eggman has rebuilt the Death Egg."
Shadow's eyes went wide. Good lords, he thought, how did the doctor manage to hide that. It must have had something to do with his new power.
"That is very interesting. Do the Mobian forces know."
"Not yet," the man said with a frown, "we have been trying to get in touch with them for weeks, but something keeps jamming our systems. But now that you're here we can just send the message with you."
Shadow groaned and folded his arms,
"That's going to be a problem. Currently the resistance and I are... not on speaking terms."
What little excitement Towers held in his face fell away,
"Shadow why? What did you..."
"You know me, I'm not very good at playing nice with the other kids. On top of that, they now have been fooled into believing I'm working for the same man who took... Sonic from me." Shadow said lowering his ears at the last part.
Towers looked sympathetic for a moment then turned to think,
"Well you can still send the message as long as they don't know you're the one sending it."
Towers walked away but then came back with something in his hands. The man presented Shadow with a G.U.N uniform small enough for him. It came with a helmet, that Shadow wasn't too crazy about aesthetically, and a pair of aviator sunglasses. Shadow took the garments,
"I thought you didn't make Mobian sizes?"
"We didn't, until you became an official member and mentioned it to us. This is the prototype we had been working on I was going to give it to you for a special occasion when we finished it. The hardest part is getting the helmet right."
"It's great really. Just don't bother with the helmet I won't wear it anyway."
"Noted. Here the finishing touch to your disguise."
Towers pressed a patch to the front of the out only adhering it with glue. It read private Smith. They had a million of those lying around. It must have been a very popular name among humans. The uniform wasn't a private's uniform either, it was an agent's, but Shadow doubted a Mobian would know the difference. Shadow looked up to the man,
"Ah! I don't know where the new resistance HQ is, but if I find one of the Mobian forces, then I can have them relay the message... do you have somewhere private I can put this on?"
Topaz and Towers looked at each other, then back to the Mobian who was wearing only shoes and a pair of gloves. They both shrugged and pointed to a room off to the left.
Shadow tried on the outfit. The long-sleeved shirt was a charcoal grey instead of blue like the others. The protective vest along with the shin guards, combat boots and gloves were all black. He liked the many pockets on the pants and on the vest; and the way the studded black belt hung from his thin waist. The patch on the front held his false name but the ones on his shoulder presented the G.U.N symbol and the United Federations flag. The helmet was the real problem but Shadow supposed that it would help his disguise. He stuffed his quills to the best of his ability into the head gear, leaving only a few stray ones at the back of his neck sticking out. Putting that on was tiring work and on top of that he had to empty his quills of their contents to achieve his goal. The hog gathered up his loose belongings and grabbed an empty duffel bag from the room he was in to hold them all. He did put his chaos emerald in one of his pants pockets, however. Just as he was exiting, a man was in the middle of reporting something to Towers. Shadow saw the Major's brows raise then turned to search for Shadow,
"Shadow, I was just informed that Sonic is alive on the death egg!"
Knuckles the Echidna and Amy Rose stood around a massive computer arguing over what was next for the resistance when a Mobian, blue jay, burst through the door frantically waving his wings about and speaking a mile a minute. Both commanders blinked at the outburst. The commotion attracted the attention of the Chaotix and Rouge as well, who floated down from her perch. The jay handed Amy a slip of paper,
"It was given to me by a G.U.N soldier. He said that G.U.N had been trying to contact us for weeks but something is blocking their signals. He told me to tell you it's from a guy on the inside."
Amy read the note out loud to the group,
"G.U.N has uncovered that Dr Eggman has rebuilt the Death Egg and is somehow cloaking the base, we believe this structure to double as a prison which maybe where Sonic is being held. It is a high possibility that he is being tortured aboard the craft."
Everyone gasped at the news. Rouge looked over Amy's shoulder at the note. She recognized that neat cursive hand writing anywhere. There was only one person she knew who put fancy dashes through their capital S. Rouge smirked to herself and put her hands on her hips,
"well Knuky, we better come up with a rescue plan, and fast."
Sonic sat in his cell racking his brain to think of an escape plan. If only he could get out of his binds, he would be home free, he thought. Zavoc was constantly guarding the door, if only he could distract him somehow. The hog decided to do what he does best besides running, talk Zavoc's ear off.
"Hey," Sonic said in his usual obnoxious tone, "there isn't any chance that you'll let me out is there. No, of course not you hate fun."
Just as Sonic was about to lay it on thick with distractions, he found that he didn't need to, because a power surge shut down the bars of his cell and his cuffs. Well that was lucky, Sonic thought, as he jumped off the bench he had been sitting on. Time to rock and roll Sonic internalized.
After easily taking out Zavoc and having the realization that he wasn't entirely real either, Sonic ran to escape the Death Egg. Sonic had no idea he had been in space the entire time and was even more surprised when he found that his escape had not been only dumb luck but a rescue attempt. Gods he missed his friends, gods he wanted to kiss the real Shadow. Sonic felt the tears well up in his eyes as he made his way out of the death egg with this new rookie he had found. He couldn't allow this red wolf to see him cry though. He couldn't allow anyone too, that was the last thing they needed right now. For their hero to bawl like a little baby.
Sonic and the rookie who Sonic had found out was called Gadget, finally made it to Mobius after a bumpy ride. They landed in a field outside the city limits tearing up the dirt and crops in their path. Both Sonic and gadget emerged from the hatch door that was billowing smoke into the surrounding area. They coughed out and aloud their vision to readjust to the night sky. Sonic took it in silently, breathing in the fresh air. It was cold but the air wasn't stale or smell like his own sick. No, instead it has been replaced by fire and brimstone. The destruction to the world was devastating and Sonic couldn't help but blame himself. He didn't have much time to think though because he was suddenly being crushed by the thin but strong arms of Amy rose who had just come up over the hill.
"Sonic, I was so worried, but I kept telling them you weren't dead." The girl rang out into the night.
"Amy." Sonic said petting the girls head tenderly.
Amy recognized the oddness of his behavior but decided to let it happen, he had been locked away for 6 months. If he was just a little weird after that then they were doing good. Suddenly Gadget was trying to tell them something nervously,
"H-hey I didn't mean to I- interrupt but we should probably get back to HQ."
Amy pulled away from the hug as she remembered why she was here in the first place,
"Oh my gosh, everyone is waiting for you! Let's go!"
Amy led both males back to the Mobian refugee camp talking Sonic's head off the whole way. She was so excited and happy she couldn't contain herself. She stared crying mid-sentence and Sonic rubbed her back as they walk giving her his signature grin. However internally Sonic was anything but happy, he had to stay strong for everyone. But Sonic couldn't help but feel... numb. Something was wrong with him, he thought he should be jumping for joy but... nothing. He thought that maybe once he saw his little brother and Shadow again, he will be back to his old self, but the door swung open and everyone cheered except the two people that he wished to see the most.
"Where are Tails and Shadow?"
Everyone went quite; some out of sympathy, some offended that Sonic didn't care about their presence. Knuckles blurted out over the crowd,
"Shadow's a traitor and ... Tails went crazy."
Rouge punched Knuckles in the side and he turned to her as if to say, what was that for. Amy approached Sonic carefully,
"Sonic, Tails couldn't handle the thought of you being dead, he left and no one knows where he went."
Sonic's quills began to subconsciously raise,
"Did no one think to go find him, he's just a kid!"
"We have been swamped with everything that is going on and he is 14, you were 14 and on your own." Amy said in defense.
"That's different he's," Sonic stopped his outburst and looked at the shocked faces before him, "it's fine we'll sort it out. Um… what about Shadow?"
Knuckles interrupted yet again. The echidna had been trying to be more level headed during the tough times but found himself getting overly heated when his friends were involved. One could say that knuckles felt especially betrayed by Shadow because he had just stared letting himself warm up to the guy.
"Shadow is a traitor I'm sorry to say it Sonic but he had us all fooled. I wouldn't doubt your relationship to be just a ploy to get you distracted."
Sonic winced at knuckles statement and tried to ignore the reflexive urge to deck the echidna in the nose. No way Shadow had turned on him not after all they had been through. Then again, Sonic thought, he knew Shadow on the death egg was just a projection of some kind the Dr had made, was the one causing havoc the real deal. No, Sonic shook his head,
"No Knuckles there's more to this something is up with that word jackal. I've seen what he is capable of first hand. And Knuckles..."
The red male met Sonic's eyes as the hog looked dead through him. With an almost lifeless tone Sonic spoke down to his friend,
"Don't ever talk about Shadow like that again...okay?"
Sonic quickly changed his demeanor once he noticed that not just knuckles was staring at him concerned but the whole room. Rouge decided to change the subject,
"Alright boys. Let's figure out what's next."
Shadow recollected the uniform from off his person and organized them neatly in his duffel bag. In all the excitement Shadow had not noticed that another day had gone by and Shadow had not slept. In all honesty the hog had not really had any good sleep since Sonic went missing he lifted his head to the sky and tried to search for the alleged floating super base, but saw nothing. He sighed to himself,
"I'll bring you back home I promise I just have to figure out how to get to you. Maybe if I warp to the ark..."
Boom!
Shadow wiped his head around in the direction of the noise,
"Sonic!"
Shadow knew it had to have been him. The resistance must have already saved him, Shadow guessed it was lucky Sonic was a top priority to them to. The only issue now was why the hell were they allowing Sonic to fight on the front lines right after he was rescued.
"Shit! Idiots!" Shadow said as he blasted off into the city.
Sonic was running at top speeds. Stretching his legs was refreshing and even though the others had begged for him to stay he knew the only way to find Shadow was to confront him. He had to draw him out and challenge him. Gods, Sonic thought, this isn't right it's like this is the Shadow from when we first met. Sonic had herd silver and the Chaotix talking about the various traitorous deeds Shadow had committed in his absence. All of which didn't match the Shadow he knew. Suddenly Sonic head Amy over his communicator,
"Sonic Shadow is moving above the city!"
Sonic did a homing attack into group of egg pawns and smiled,
"Well That was fast. Alright Shadow now it's time for the truth."
Shadow tried his best to lock on to Sonic's Chaos signature, but was finding it difficult with his heart racing in anticipation. He felt anger boil in him over the stupidity of the rest of Sonic's friends, but at the same time he had never felt so much want for another. His prayers had finally been answered after months of heartache, blood, sweat, and tears. There in the distance, Shadow could make out a faint blue figure. Relief started to take hold of him and his emotions began to peek through his mission mentally. But then a second figure appeared; it was himself?
"No..."
Shadow grit his teeth and ran full force at the imposter.
Sonic stopped about a couple yards away from the dark hedgehog. The male before him had his arms folded in typical Shadow fashion but something about him seemed off. Like the lack of reaction to seeing the blue speedster.
"Alright Shadow what's going on?"
Sonic didn't have to wait long for a response because upon spotting the blue hog the antihero in front of him jumped forward to kick Sonic. Sonic was shocked that his lover the person he shared everything with was attacking him. He held his arms if to shield his face from the sudden attack.
"Chaos control!"
Out of a flash of light another Shadow appeared at high speeds and drove his foot into the clone's head sending it careening to his he ground.
"Two Shadow?"
Before his eyes the male on the ground dissipated into red and purple pixels. Shadow turned to Sonic still heated over the whole situation,
"It was a fake."
"Fake but how?"
Shadow motioned for Sonic to fallow. They ran side by side out of enemy fire as they talked,
"It's obviously not an android."
"No, I believe it to be an illusion of some kind but at the same time they seem to alter reality around them." Shadow answered.
"What? How did Egghead get a hold of that kind of power? Fuck! What is going on." Sonic shouted into the air.
"Don't worry yourself with that right now I want to know if you are alright." Shadow said as he reached out to hold Sonic's hand.
Sonic jerked his hand away from the touch and ceased his run causing Shadow to stop as well a few steps ahead.
"Sonic?"
The dark male looked over his lover. Sonic wore a wavering look. It bordered on the cusp of complacency and... fear,
"How do I know you're not a fake? How do I know this isn't a trick?"
Shadow blinked at Sonic strange distrust and causation. The underlying terror was sending chills down Shadows spine but he felt like the answer to Sonic's question should be obvious,
"Because I... well you see if I was a... why would I...," Shadow trued to think of a way to prove he was the real deal but kept coming out blank, "come on let's talk about this somewhere safe."
Shadow lead the way to an abandoned bakery, once inside Sonic stood close to the nearest exit,
"You know taking me to a secluded area doesn't exactly help your case."
Shadow frowned,
"Sonic... I don't know what to tell you. It's me... the ultimate cuddle form."
Shadow reluctantly said the horrendously cute name Sonic had given him just to annoy him, hoping that would ease the blue ones worry. Sonic laughed a little then with a small smile said,
"That doesn't really prove anything but I think I'll believe you... for now."
Sonic playfully narrowed his eyes as Shadow approached him. Shadow gracefully backed Sonic into the wall, like he had done it a million times before,
"Good, because I don't want to worry you but, I was about to have a mental breakdown."
Sonic placed his hands on Shadow's shoulders,
"Well we can't have that, now can we?"
Shadow inched closer,
"No, not at all."
Sonic moved his head forward until he was inches away from Shadow's lips,
"Hmm."
Shadow closed the gap and locked lips with Sonic roughly turning their heads to get a better angle at each other. Sonic cupped Shadow's face in his hands while Shadow took the opportunity to explore his loves body. The dark hog moved his hands up and down Sonic's waist and hips trying to refamiliarize himself. Shadow pulled from the kiss with a loud pop,
"Gods, I was so worried. I love you."
He then continued to attack Sonic's mouth. Sonic moaned and lifted his leg upon having his butt grabbed. Sonic felt up Shadow's chest fur as his mind began to go fuzzy. He wondered if this was real, if he was really about to do this in an abandoned building. As if to answer the question an explosion rang out from the street outside. Both hogs jumped and then looked at each other's red faces. Shadow nervously spoke,
"Maybe now is not the best time for that, since we are in the middle of a war zone."
Sonic smiled softly and grabbed Shadow's hand this time, and lead him out.
Shadow and Sonic waltzed into the resistance HQ without a care in the world. Sonic spotted Amy at the computer with vector close by looking over her shoulder. Both hogs walked to the pair and Sonic greeted,
"hey, Ames. I'm back and I brought a friend."
Both Mobians turned around and the pink one quickly hugged Sonic, wrapping her arms around his neck,
"I'm glad you made it back!"
Amy smiled at Shadow and waved from behind Sonic's spiky head. Shadow returned the favor, but just as he was about to say something Vector jumped in front of the hugging hogs,
"Hey, what's he doing here! Don't worry I'll protect you two!"
Shadow made a noise under his breath,
"I highly doubt that."
Vector got into a Kong Fu movie style battle stance but the giant lizard was easily pushed to the side by Amy,
"Oh shut up vector, Shadow is our friend."
"But knuckles said…"The croc croaked out.
"do you believe everything knuckles tells you, you know he's a drama queen." Amy snapped and then turned an eye to Shadow and winked.
Shadow stood stunned. She had believed in both of them all along. She had believed that Sonic was alive and that he was good, and now she was even a commander and a good one at that. Shadow smiled back at the pink one and the crocodile who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. Perhaps nothing had really changed at all.
