Saturday morning came. Shadow ate some coffee beans and headed to GUN HQ. Team Dark received their first mission, from Commander Tower.
"I figured with your first mission, we'd start with something simple. A few days ago, a large group of Eggman's Badniks invaded a town several miles south of here. Your mission is simple in concept, liberate the town by destroying all of the Badniks. Any questions?"
"Are there any civilians to worry about?" Shadow asked.
"Thankfully no. GUN forces were able to quickly respond the day of the invasion. While they weren't able to drive out the Badniks, they were successful in safely evacuating all citizens. That being said, try to keep collateral damage to a minimum. These are people's homes and businesses, and we want to be able to rebuild the place as quickly as possible."
"Yes sir."
"Any other questions?"
"WERE GUN FORCES ON THE SCENE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE BADNIKS USED IN THIS INVASION?"
"I can't give you a full list, but forces on the scene were able to identify a lot of Egg Pawns, E-1000 units, and at least one Egg Hammer. Any other questions."
"No Commander. We're ready." Rouge replied.
About an hour later, Team Dark made their way to a hill overlooking the town.
"Wait here boys. I'm going to get a closer look."
"Just be careful." Shadow said.
"I always am." Rouge said and winked at Shadow. She spread her wings and flew up, and then began flying around the outside of the town.
"Omega, are you stocked up on ammo?"
"AFFIRMATIVE! ALL WEAPON SYSTEMS ARE LOADED AND READY. WHAT ABOUT YOU?"
Shadow smirked as he took an M1911 handgun out of his holster. "I brought a little extra fire power for the mission." He answered.
"Come in boys, this is Rouge. You copy?" Shadow and Omega both heard from their communicators.
"Copy Rouge, go ahead."
"I finished my scouting. The Commander's Intel wasn't far off. The only Badniks I see are Pawns, E-1000s and Egg Hammers. But there's three Egg Hammers in city. Also, there's four E-1000s positioned on the roof tops as sniper units. I'll get rid of them first before giving you two the okay to go in. Understood?"
"Understood" Shadow and Omega replied.
"Also, for this mission, the use of explosive weapons or attacks are forbidden. Got it?"
"No Chaos Blast, got it." Shadow replied.
Omega seemed reluctant to respond.
"Omega? I'm waiting on you to respond! No explosives! Understood?"
If Omega could sigh, he would have at this moment. "AFFIRMATIVE."
"Good! Now standby for my signal."
Shadow was somewhat amused at Omega's unwillingness to not go all out, but he decided to try and cheer his robot partner up. "Don't worry Omega, you'll be able to use your full arsenal some other time."
"GOOD."
Rouge had heard Omega's opinions on the E-1000s models, usually not by choice. He always called them inferior consumer models, and a failed attempt to mass produce E-102 Gamma, Omega's predecessor, who while not as advanced as Omega, was advanced for such an early model of the E Series. It was only now, as she snuck up on the E-1000 units acting as snipers, did she realize that all of what Omega said wasn't just ego talking. These models were not too advanced, given how easy it was to sneak up on them. She could never sneak up on Omega. And then there was the fact that these things were just so fragile. Rouge could take most of Eggman's Badniks with two kicks, but with a Single kick she bisected an E-1000 unit.
"Eggman must have been making these on a budget." She thought.
Within a minute, Rouge turned the other snipers into scrap metal. She turned her communicator on. "This is Rouge. Do you copy?"
"Copy Rouge, what's your status?"
"I took care of the snipers. You two have the greenlight to begin your assault."
"Got it. Beginning my attack."
"AFFIRMATIVE! BEGINNING ERADICATION OF WORTHLESS CONSUMER MODELS WITHOUT THE USE OF EXPLOSIVES!"
Rouge snickered at that. "Have fun boys."
Shadow and Omega were both offensive powerhouses capable of eliminating enemies at an extremely fast rate. But their approaches to combat differed greatly from each other. With Shadow, everything he did had a purpose. He attacked with extreme precision and used only the amount of force required to defeat the enemy. He was a bizarre mix of speed and patience.
Omega on the other hand could best be described as a berserker. He would start firing his weapons as soon as possible. Unlike Shadow, Omega didn't care much for precision, and in fairness, when you have chainguns built into both of your hands as well as a boat load of ammo, why would he need to. If he opened fire into a crowd of robots, he would hit them.
"Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted, launching 3 Chaos Spears out. They destroyed two Egg Pawns and one E-1000. Shadow turned to his left to see an Egg Pawn a few yards away armed with a rocket launcher, which it just fired. "Shit!" Shadow muttered. The problem was not that Shadow couldn't dodge it. He had plenty of time to dodge. The problem was if he dodged it, that rocket was going to hit a house, someone's house. And the explosion would also do heavy damage to the neighboring house. Some mild pain vs some people having their homes destroyed. The decision wasn't difficult for Shadow to make. He was going to bite the rocket on this one.
The rocket hit Shadow directly, and he was engulfed in the explosion. Omega quickly gunned down the Egg Pawn that fired the rocket before it could do anything else.
"SHADOW!" Rouge cried out, seeing what had happened from above began diving down to his location. She knew he was alive. If he could fall to the Earth from space and survive, then a Badnik rocket wouldn't do him in. But still, as his friend she didn't like seeing him get hurt, especially when he didn't need to. The smoke cleared from the explosion, and Shadow was standing there with his guard up. He had no major injuries, but quite a few cuts were on his body. He lowered his guard when he saw that the Egg Pawn was destroyed. Rouge landed behind him. "Shadow what the hell was that?"
"Not now Rouge, we've got one more to take care of!" He responded, referring to the last Egg Hammer.
"ENGAGING!" Omega shouted as he opened fire on the Badnik.
Rouge sighed with frustration. "Fine! But we're going to talk about this afterwards!"
Shadow fired at the Egg Hammer with a combination of pistol shots and Chaos Spears. Rouge flew over it and hit it with a drill kick every now again, flying out of its reach immediately afterwards. And Omega just kept shooting. It was an effective attack plan as 30 seconds later the Badnik was destroyed.
"MISSION COMPLETE!" Omega cheered.
"Yes. Mission complete. So now you're going to answer my question Shadow! Why did you just take a rocket to the face when you could have dodged it?!"
"I was keeping collateral damage to a minimum, as the Commander ordered. If I dodged, that rocket would have hit two homes, and that would mean more time GUN would have to spend on relief effort."
Rouge let out a frustrated sigh. She wasn't going to win this argument with him. She could tell he already decided that what he did was the best course of action. "Well, the important thing is that you're alive. Just try not to make using your face as a shield against rockets a habit, okay?"
"I don't plan on it. It still hurts." He chuckled.
"What about injuries, those are some gnarly looking cuts you have." Rouge said as she examined him.
"They may look bad, but they're superficial. My body will heal from them quickly."
"Alright. Well aside from that little incident, I say we did very well today boys!"
"I ELIMINATED 60 EGGMAN ROBOTS DURING THE MISSION!"
"Great job big guy!"
"By the way Rouge…" Shadow started, getting the bat to turn to him. "I had a chat with Cream the other day. Even had some of Vanilla's cookies."
Rouge's eyes lit up upon hearing this news. "Those cookies are amazing aren't they?"
"Indeed."
"So how did it go speaking with everyone's favorite bunny girl?"
"It went very well I would say. She was easy to talk to. Very polite. Though I'm wondering if the other three will be as pleasant to talk to."
"Who are you planning on talking to next?"
"I'm thinking Tails. What do you think?"
"Fox-boy? Yeah he's a good kid. He shouldn't be hard to talk to."
"Hmph. Well after Tails I plan on talking to Knuckles, and Sonic will be last."
"Saving the hardest for last, I see."
"That's one way to put it."
"What's up with you and Sonic, anyway? He likes you just fine, practically considers you a friend, but you don't seem to like him?"
"I don't dislike him!"
"Okay, well do you consider him a friend?"
"I wouldn't go that far. I don't consider Knuckles or Tails friends because I just don't really know much about them. Same goes for Sonic."
"Then how do you feel about Sonic?"
Shadow sighed at that question. It was a difficult one. "I have a lot of respect for him. But he can also be incredibly annoying. That's all I'll say for now." He said. "Now let me ask you about what I should expect from talking with Knuckles, you seem to be an expert on the echidna." He grinned.
"What are you implying?"
"I'm not implying anything. It's just that you've spoken with him quite often, so maybe you can tell me what to expect."
"I don't really converse with Knuckles as much as you think. I tease him more than anything else." She shamelessly admitted.
"Why?"
"Because he gets embarrassed so easily, and he's so cute when he gets flustered."
"Hmph. That's not helpful to me."
"Okay, if you want to have a good conversation with Knuckles it's real simple. First, just don't tease him. Second, don't try to aggravate him or insult him. He's got a bit of a temper. Third, don't try and take his Emerald."
"So basically, don't do everything you do to him?"
"Bingo!"
Sometime after returning to GUN HQ, Shadow was instructed to meet Commander Tower in his office. He knew that it had to be about the rocket. He entered his office. "Yes, Commander?"
"Agent Shadow. Please come in. Have a seat." Tower replied. Shadow sat at the chair in front of the Commander's desk. "Agent Rouge gave me her report on the mission. First of all, great work out there, you and your team did an outstanding job."
"Thank you, Commander."
"However there was an incident that occurred during the mission Agent Rouge told me about that I feel I need to discuss with you. I'm sure you have an idea of what I'm referring to."
"I do. It's the incident where I purposefully took a direct hit from a rocket launcher as a means of preventing collateral damage."
"Yes, that's the one. First off, how are your injuries? That's quite a lot of cuts on your head, face and chest."
"As I've told Agent Rouge they are superficial injuries that look worse than they really are. They'll heal by tomorrow."
"That's good to hear. Now I'm sure Agent Rouge told you this as well, but I do feel I have to reiterate…that was an incredibly dangerous stunt you pulled. I'd almost call it idiotic if it wasn't for the fact that you knew you'd survive it."
"Yes, I understand that sentiment sir."
"Good. Now there's two more things I'd like to tell you. First is thank you very much Agent. Because regardless of how dangerous it was, you did successfully prevent major collateral damage. I think the owners of those homes and the boys working in the relief unit will be very thankful for what you did. Second, I'm going to have to ask you to never pull a stunt like that again, when it comes to preventing collateral damage. Yes it's good to prevent collateral damage but I'd rather my agents not use themselves as a shield to do it."
"Understood Commander. I'll dodge next time."
"Good. Dismissed Agent."
After returning home from work, Shadow went to his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror to examine his injuries. Not all of the cuts had closed and some blood was still coming out of some of them, but it wasn't major. He got a lot of weird looks by people in the office when he refused to go to the med bay and get the cuts looked at. He wondered if it was considered rude on Earth to not cover up an injury with a bandage or something.
Shadow then heard knocking at his door. He felt it strange, he wasn't expecting company. He went to the living room to see who it was. An abundance of the color pink on the person gave it away. It was Amy. He opened the door. "Good evening Rose. I wasn't expecting you."
"Hey Shadow! I heard you had your first mission today, so I wanted to drop by and see…" She trailed off as she saw all the cuts on him.
Shadow was confused as to why she stopped talking for a brief second, but it clicked. "Shit!" was all he could think.
Amy began shrieking in panic. She forced her way into Shadow's house, shut the door, grabbed Shadow by the arm and dragged him to his couch. He wasn't going to struggle against her, because she was going to get him on that couch one way or another. "Dear God Shadow, what happened to you?"
"Rose, I'm all right."
"You are everything but all right! What the hell happened?!" She asked again as she pulled out a first aid kit.
"Why do you have a first aid kit on you?"
"SHADOW! TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED, GOD DAMMIT!"
Shadow's eyes widened after hearing her scream. He knew he was treading dangerous waters now if she is screaming at him so he better do what she says. He proceeded to explain what happened. Like Rouge and the Commander, Amy chastised him for his decision.
"Well why didn't you get these cuts taken care of? They could get infected!"
"No they can't. Part of my design is that I can't get sick. My body also heals at an accelerated rate in comparison to…let's say the average human. I may not heal instantly but I do heal fast. I actually had more cuts before you saw me. Now some of them have healed."
Amy pouted. "Well you know what? I don't care if your body heals fast! I'm treating these cuts right now!" She proclaimed and started tending to his wounds.
Shadow sighed knowing he couldn't say anything to her that would change her mind. "Do as you wish, Rose."
Amy finally smiled. "Good!" She said, continuing her treatment.
"You feel like answering my question now?" Shadow asked.
"You'll have to remind me what the question was."
"The first aid kit. Why do you have one on you?"
"Oh that's easy. I hang around people that are constantly fighting Eggman or some other villain. It's pretty common for Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to get hurt because of that. So I figured at least one of us should have one of these on hand."
"I see. So you keep one on you at all times? Not just during adventuring?"
"Pretty much. Eggman can strike in unexpected places."
"You're not wrong about that."
Amy had bandaged up a few of Shadow's cuts by this point. As Shadow sat there on his couch allowing Amy to tend to his wounds, an effort he felt was a waste of her time but he wasn't going to tell her that, he felt a number of different emotions. He was a bit annoyed that Amy had gotten him to allow her to do this. Yet at the same time, he felt comfortable, almost peaceful.
"Hey Rose?"
"What's up Shadow?"
"I…just want to say thanks. You really don't have to do this, but you are anyway. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I do appreciate it."
Amy gave him a soft smile. "You're welcome, tough guy."
"Hmph."
"You know I talked to Cream today at work?"
"I didn't know that. Where do you work?"
"I work with Vanilla at her bakery. Cream helps on weekends or when she gets off school."
"That sounds nice."
"Anyway, she told me she talked to this boy that had been bullying her at school at the park that morning. Then she said and I quote 'I told him that I'm friends with Mr. Shadow, and that if Mr. Shadow found out that he was bullying me, Mr. Shadow would get real mad and pay him a visit. Then he got super scared and started crying, and said he was sorry and that he'd never bully me again'. Would you happen to know why she said something like that Shadow?" Amy asked, raising an eyebrow.
Shadow couldn't help but chuckle at this news. "Yeah, I know why she said that."
"Why?"
"Because I told her to. And because it's the truth."
Amy burst into laughter. "I knew you had something to do with it! I'm telling you, you're that little girl's hero."
Shadow smiled hearing that.
After another hour, Amy finished treating Shadow's wounds. He saw her out to her car.
"See you soon, Shadow!" She waved before driving off.
Shadow just waved back before going back inside. Now that she was gone, he wanted to rip the bandages off, but he felt that would be disrespectful, as she did give away a few hours of her time to put those on. So he decided he'll keep them on until tomorrow morning.
Anyway he needed to get back to the business of socializing. He had tomorrow off, and that was a perfect opportunity to talk to Tails. He pulled out his phone and called Tails without hesitation. After a few rings, he answered.
"Hello? Who's this?" The fox responded.
"Tails, this is Shadow the Hedgehog."
"Oh! Hey Shadow! It's good to hear from you again. Haven't seen or spoken to you since you destroyed the Black Comet. Didn't think I'd hear from you so soon."
"Well you wouldn't be the first to say that."
"By the way if you don't mind me asking, how'd you get my number?"
"Amy gave it to me after I asked for it. I hope that's not a problem."
"Oh no! Of course not! Now we both can contact each other, so that's nice."
"Yes, I suppose it is."
"So what's up? Do you need something?"
"Actually I wanted to ask if you were busy tomorrow. If you're not then I'd like to pay you a visit so I can talk with you."
"You just want to talk?"
"Well yes, that's not a problem, is it?"
"No, not a problem. It's just, you've never been the most talkative person."
Shadow sighed. "You're not wrong. I'll be honest, the reason I'm doing this is because I promised Rouge I would socialize more. Plus, it's a good idea to be on friendly terms with my allies."
"That's true. Well back to your question, no I'm not busy tomorrow. If you want to visit me at my workshop any time afternoon that would be good for me. Does that work for you?"
"Yes that works. Thanks Tails. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Later, Shadow!"
The next day, a Sunday with beautiful weather. It was past noon, which meant it was time to go see Tails. His workshop was in the Mystic Ruins. Amy said the best way to get there was the train in Station Square, so that's how Shadow got there. He saw a building and there was no mistake that it was Tails' workshop. The logo with the twin tails gave it away. Shadow knocked on the wooden door.
"Just a second!" Shadow heard Tails call out from inside. He continued to wait at the door with his arms crossed. After about a minute, Tails answered the door. "Sorry for keeping you waiting. Come on in!"
Shadow nodded and accepted the fox's invitation into his workshop. The room he entered seemed to be where Tails does most of his work. There were tables with all sorts of gadgets, tools and parts on them. But the most noticeable thing in the room was the plane colored in blue and yellow.
"Sorry for the mess. The back of the place is more suitable for visitors."
"It's no trouble." Shadow said. He couldn't help but admire some of Tails handiwork. "You build all of this?"
"That's right."
"That's impressive. We should probably get you to do upgrades and repairs on Omega."
"Really? Would he be okay with that?"
"Omega is okay with pretty much anything that involves making him more efficient at killing Eggman's robots. And I'm pretty sure he knows about your skill as a mechanic."
"Okay! Yeah, I'd be happy to work on Omega when he needs it!"
"You seem pretty excited about it." Shadow replied amused.
"Well yeah! Omega has to be the most advanced robot in the world! Getting to work on him would be an honor."
"Good to hear."
"By the way, how did you and Omega become friends?"
"Hmph. It certainly wasn't by choice. On our first encounter we were trying to kill each other."
"Oh…didn't know about that part."
"Yeah. Well the only reason one of us didn't kill the other is Rouge. She jumped in between us and got us to calm down. And somehow she was able to get us to join forces. Anyway, we didn't start out seeing each other as allies. We just worked together since we both had a common enemy in Eggman and that was it. But when you fight alongside someone in the flames of battle, a bond seems to form almost unknowingly. I started finding myself going out of my way to have his back when he was in trouble, and he was doing the same in return. We didn't even think about it, we just did it, like a reflex. We never said it outright, but eventually we began to respect each other." Shadow explained. "I think what helped us bond even more was when we realized we had much more in common than we thought."
"What do you two have in common?"
"Isn't it obvious? We're both weapons."
"Shadow! Don't say that! You two aren't weapons!" Tails interrupted. Shadow was rather surprised by the outburst. "Listen, I've made weapons, so I know what I'm talking about. A weapon is just a tool. Weapons don't think, feel, or make choices. You and Omega do all three of those. So you two aren't weapons." The fox declared with a determined look in his eyes.
Shadow smirked at Tails. The kid really did have a good heart. "I appreciate you saying that Tails. But the fact is that we were both created to be weapons. The purpose of our existence was already planned out before we opened our eyes for the first time. Yet both of us went against our intended purpose, we made our own goals. It's not something we talk to each other about, Omega's never been one for self-reflection after all, but it is something only we can understand the feeling of. To be created, not born." Shadow realized he had been rambling a bit. "Sorry, that was a pretty long-winded explanation. Really the easiest way I could tell you about how Omega and I became friends is that I'm not sure. It's something that just happened."
"No, it's okay. I think I got what you were saying."
Shadow nodded in response.
"May I ask you a question?" Shadow asked.
"Sure. It's only fair since you answered mine."
"Why do you doubt yourself so much? Especially when Sonic's not around."
Tails seemed uncomfortable by the question. "I…uh…I-I'm not sure what you mean?"
Shadow rolled his eyes at the response. It only proved the validity of the question. "Don't lie Tails. You've got a lot of skills, but lying is definitely not one of them."
Tails relented. He knew it was no use trying to lie to Shadow of all people. "Yeah you're right. And you're not even the first one to bring it up. Sonic talks to me about this all the time."
"So Sonic does know about it."
"Yeah. He's always telling me that I need to be more confidant in myself."
"Well he's right. So if your best friend is telling you to have more confidence, why are you still having trouble?"
"It's just not that easy for me, Shadow. Because before I met Sonic, I had no confidence in myself." Tails confessed. "You know why I have two tails instead of one? It's because of a rare genetic defect. The other kids made fun of me non-stop because of it. They called me a freak, among other things."
Shadow's eyes softened at this information. He was beginning to wonder he was overstepping his boundaries with this question. "Tails, I'm sorry. I didn't realize this topic was so…sensitive. You don't have to continue answering."
"No, its fine! I want to tell you!" the fox proclaimed. "I was ashamed of my tails, until I met Sonic. He didn't make fun of me, he didn't think my two tails were weird. He was like a hero that came into my life. I looked up to him. I still do. He's confidant, heroic, things that I'm not. I wanted to be more like him. It's why I started following him around. When I am around him, I'm more confidant. But when he's not around, it seems like I revert back to that scared little boy."
There was a pause in the conversation as Shadow took a moment to take all of this information in. "Tails. I have some advice for you."
"What is it?"
"Stop trying to emulate Sonic. Focus instead on being a better version of yourself. I understand you look up to him, but you need to stop thinking of yourself as being lesser than him and realize you're an equal to him. Focus on your skills. Focus on all of this." Shadow gestured to all the various gadgets Tails has created in his workshop. "Because making things that help your friends is not something that Sonic can do. It's not something that Knuckles can do. It's not something that I can do. You and only you are the one that can do it! Understand how important your genius and skills are to your team. I want you to stop thinking of yourself as Tails, Sonic's sidekick. You are Miles "Tails" Prower, dammit! You're a boy genius, the ultimate mechanic and an integral, invaluable member of Team Sonic! Say that for me Miles!" Shadow couldn't help but pump himself up during his pep talk. Though this certainly wasn't a bad thing, as that energy seemed to fill Tails with confidence.
Tails perked up, and he clenched his hands into fist. "Okay…" He started. "I am Miles "Tails" Prower dammit! I'm a boy genius, the ultimate mechanic and an integral, invaluable member of Team Sonic! THIS IS WHO I AM!" He shouted with fervor.
Shadow looked at Tails with a proud smirk, while Tails looked at him with a smile.
"Tell me, how did that feel?" Shadow asked.
"That felt…good. Like…really good!"
"It felt good because it was the truth. Now obviously, this isn't going to fix those issues of self-doubt overnight. That will take time. But I think this is a step in the right direction. I want you to remember what you said, and remember the way you're feeling right now. That way, whenever you're starting to doubt yourself, you can think back to this moment, or maybe say it to yourself again. It should help."
"Got it! Thanks Shadow."
Shadow crossed his arms. "Hmph. I just told you what you already knew. No need for thanks."
Tails chuckled. "If you say so."
The two conversed a little more until it was 3:00 PM. Shadow felt it was time to leave.
"Thanks for your hospitality Tails. I rather enjoyed our talk, but I should get going. We'll likely run into each other soon."
"Alright Shadow. Thanks for coming. If you ever need anything just call me."
Before Shadow walked out the door, he remembered something. "Hang on. Angel Island is pretty close to here isn't it?"
"Yeah that's right."
"Is Knuckles there right now?"
"Of course. Knuckles doesn't leave Angel Island unless it's important, Like Eggman's plots or some other villain up to no good. But neither of those are happening."
It was only 3:00 PM, there's was plenty of time left in the day. And he didn't have to worry about if Knuckles had plans because all he did was guard the Master Emerald. This was a perfect opportunity to get two people off the list in one day.
"Tails, can you do me a favor?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"Call Knuckles, tell him I'm on my way to have a chat."
"Okay! I'll let him know."
"Thanks." Shadow nodded before speeding off to Angel Island on foot.
Arriving on Angel Island for the first time, Shadow was greeted by the sight of the Master Emerald and a red echidna standing before the staircase leading to it. Shadow slowly made his way to the Echidna.
"Knuckles. I hope my visit didn't catch you by surprise."
"No. Tails called and told me to expect you."
"Good."
"Though I am a little bit surprised by this. You're not the kind of guy that pays a visit to chat, especially twice in one day."
"Yeah, I'm usually not."
"It was bat girl wasn't it. She convinced you to do this, right?"
Shadow was surprised, though this spared him having to explain the situation. "That's right. How'd you guess?"
Knuckles smirked. "It just seems like something she would do." Was all he said. "By the way, thanks getting rid of our alien problem."
"I had to. Was my fault the bastards came here in the first place."
"Maybe so but that's not entirely fair to you. Having Doom's DNA wasn't your choice. But enough about that, there anything you want to talk about?
Shadow was quite pleased with how well this was going so far.
"Well first I'd like to apologize for my partner Rouge's behavior. I don't get what her problem is."
Knuckles sighed. "Yeah you and me both. It used to be easy to understand. She was a jewel thief, so she wanted to take the Master Emerald. I didn't like it, but I at least understood what was going on. Now she'll come to the Island, but never try and take the Emerald. She just talks to me, teases me! It makes me wish she would try and take the Emerald!"
"I'm sorry you have to go through that." Shadow said. He had a good idea for why Rouge behaved the way she did toward the Echidna, but he was keeping that to himself. Telling Knuckles would probably fluster him and make further conversation difficult, not to mention Rouge would be furious with Shadow when she found out.
"Can you tell her something for me the next time you see her?"
"Sure."
"Tell her that I know that she's been watching me from that spot over there! Also tell her to either stop or at least try to remain undetected if she's going to keep doing it." Knuckles pointed to his right. Shadow followed where Knuckles was pointing to and recognized the spot immediately. It was the same spot he found Rouge when he went looking for her after the Black Arms invasion. The spot she was spying on Knuckles from. Shadow couldn't help but chuckle at a thought that came to his head. Knuckles raised a brow at this. "Hey? What's so funny?"
"Sorry. It's nothing. I'm just looking forward to seeing the look on her face when I give her your message."
Knuckles was intrigued by Shadow's statement. "Really? How do you think she'll react?"
"Rouge takes great pride in her expertise in stealth. She absolutely hates getting spotted. It's a massive blow to her ego. So I imagine she'll be quite embarrassed when I tell her your message. I also think she won't make the mistake of underestimating you again."
Knuckles began laughing. "Rouge embarrassed? Just the thought of it brightens up my day."
After sharing a moment of humor, Shadow decides to ask about something he was actually rather curious about. "So you guard the Master Emerald?"
"Yep. It's a responsibility given to my tribe. My ancestors before me did the same thing."
"What happened to your tribe?"
"I don't exactly know. I just know that they were wiped out. As far as I know, I'm the only one left."
"That's a shame. So what happens when you're gone? Who takes the mantle of Guardian of the Master Emerald?"
"You know, I never really thought about it. I'm not sure what happens then."
"Hmph. I don't blame you. Thinking about the future when you're gone isn't the most pleasant thing to think about." Shadow said. "Tell you what, since the Master Emerald is too important an item to be left unguarded, if you can't find a successor to your position before you pass on, I'll guard the Master Emerald."
"Really? But if I were to die of old age, wouldn't you also be pretty old at that point?"
"I think you forgot that I'm immortal."
Knuckles felt like smacking himself in the head. "Right. Can't believe I forgot about that. The whole Ultimate Lifeform thing. But you would really be willing to take over the position of Guardian of the Master Emerald?"
"I would. I know a lot about the Chaos Emeralds and their power. The Master Emerald is the one thing capable of neutralizing their power. If I want to call myself a protector of this planet, I can't just let such a valuable item fall into the wrong hands."
Knuckles nodded. "Well I'm glad someone understands the importance of my duty. However, I will try to find a successor. I'd like to spare you this duty. It's a pretty boring and thankless job."
"That's kind of you. But again, if you can't find a successor, I'll take the mantle upon myself, whether I have your permission or not."
"I got it." Knuckles smirked. "By the way, your immortality…how do you feel about it?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said, how do you feel about being immortal? Cause on the surface, being immortal sounds great. You won't physically age, you won't get sick, and your health won't fail you. But that doesn't apply to the people around you. You see where I'm going with this right?"
Shadow nodded. A frown formed on his face. "Yeah. I see where you're going. All I'll say about it is it's a blessing and a curse."
Knuckles just nodded in response. He wasn't going to inquire further about it.
"Beautiful Island by the way." Shadow said.
"It sure is."
There was silence between the two for a minute.
"Hey Shadow."
"Hm?"
"Amy has been telling me she's been hanging out with you lately."
For some reason Shadow found himself a little nervous about the subject. "I guess you could call it that. Yes, Rose and I talk pretty frequently."
"She hasn't been annoying you has she?" Knuckles jokingly asked.
Shadow didn't seem to pick up on the question being made in jest. "Of course not! Rose is never a bother! Why would you ask such a thing?" Shadow scowled.
Knuckles raised his hands defensively. "Shadow! Calm down! It was just a joke, pal."
The scowl on Shadow's face disappeared, being replaced with a look of embarrassment. "Apologizes. I should have realized that."
"No worries. I do appreciate you sticking up for her like that, though."
Shadow was surprised by that. "Really?"
"Yeah. Amy's like a little sister to me. But because of my duties as a guardian, I can't be there for her as much as I would like to. So I worry about her. But it seems like you really care about her." Knuckles smirked. "Can I ask something of you, Shadow?"
"What is it?"
"For the foreseeable future, I'll be guarding the Master Emerald. Maybe someday you'll be the one guarding it, but not now. For now, I'd appreciate if you looked out for Amy. I know she's a big girl that can take care of herself, but I would really feel at ease knowing the Ultimate Lifeform is looking out for her. Can you do that for me?"
The answer was a no-brainer. Amy was a dear friend to him, so it was already in his interest to protect her from any sort of harm. "I will."
Knuckles smiled. "Thanks Shadow. You're a good guy."
Shadow nodded. The sky was dark. It was getting later, and it was time for him to leave. Shadow pulled out his Chaos Emerald. "Farewell, Knuckles." He said before disappearing in a flash of light.
Today was a productive day in Shadow's eyes. Within a couple of days he had spoken to Cream, Tails, and Knuckles. He had until the end of this Friday to talk to Sonic, so 5 days. Ideally he wanted to get it done before Thursday, that way he could have a clear mind when he had lunch with Amy.
That blue hedgehog…Shadow had no idea what to expect when they would speak. There was so much about Sonic that confused him. Maybe a conversation with him could change that. Yes, Shadow would make that the focus of the conversation. By the end of it, Shadow would understand Sonic the Hedgehog.