Seabirds wheeled and called above the cliffs as the first ray of sunlight
broke through the storm clouds. None of them looked down, and even if they
had, what would they have seen? Nothing much, certainly, but for one small
thing that had not been there before, though all that they would have seen
of it was a black smudge against the ground... but they did not look, and
so did not see.
Below them, Shadow awoke. The birds' calls echoed in his head, for a while seeming to half-echo disjointed fragments of speech. Slowly, he forced himself to his feet and looked around, blinking and swaying as the landscape seemed to spin and tilt sideways beneath him. He felt weak, and slowly dropped back to his knees. You couldn't use up that much energy without paying for it, and he'd used everything, even some he didn't know he had. Above him, the seabirds flew idly, uncaring, indifferent as to his fate.
* * *
In Tails' workshop in the Mystic Ruins, Sonic sat in a chair, thinking.
"Hey, Sonic, what's up?" Tails asked him. Sonic almost jumped, unaware that his thoughts had been so obviously reflected on his face.
"Huh? Oh – nothing, Tails." He forced himself to look normal, aware that Tails was watching him, concern reflected on the young fox's face. "Really, Tails, I'm all right." Tails looked unconvinced, but sighed and shrugged, his attitude seeming to say 'If you say so, Sonic.' He knew that there was something wrong, guessed that it was probably something to do with Shadow. But he had things on his own mind... not least a burning question about Project Shadow.
'Professor Gerald Robotnik said that after Maria's death, he went insane. All he could think about was revenge. He completed his project – to create the ultimate life form – and intended it to get his revenge for him. Presumably, that was Shadow – except that, from what Amy tells me, Shadow remembered that his promise to Maria wasn't to get revenge, but to look after the planet. If Shadow's memories were pre-programmed, he might have thought that he remembered Maria, but he wouldn't have thought that she wanted him to take care of the world, because Professor Robotnik wanted him to get revenge. That means that Shadow must have remembered the real Maria... but then, how could Professor Robotnik have completed his project after her death? I already know about the prototype Ultimate Life Form, and that was the prototype, so it couldn't be that... so there must be another result of the project. Another Shadow? If Shadow was designed to be the ultimate life form, then this other should look more or less like him, and have the... same... abilities...' Tails' head jerked up and his mouth fell open as he carried the train of thought to its logical conclusion. '...so alike... it couldn't be... could it?' But the more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed that, perhaps unknowingly, perhaps not, Shadow really had meant exactly what he said when he and Sonic were fighting the BioLizard in outer space – that Sonic was the ultimate life form. And they had the exact same abilities, though they used them in slightly different ways – Shadow channelled energy through his boot jets to go at the highest speeds, Sonic channelled it to allow him to run really fast, but the end result was the same. And Chaos Control, and the ability to charge up using the power of the Emeralds – and they even looked alike. It couldn't be possible, surely, but the more he thought about it the more likely it seemed. Sonic... Sonic who had no memory of his family... Sonic who was like no other, except for Shadow... Sonic was the end result of Professor Robotnik's project.
"What is it, Tails?" asked Sonic, cutting into his thoughts.
"What? Oh – it's nothing, Sonic, really. I was just... thinking about something, that's all." He wasn't ready to tell Sonic, not yet. And there was another thought, now, derailing the original line of thinking.
"Sonic?"
"What is it now, Tails?"
"Sonic, remember that time when you jumped off of the Egg Carrier?"
"Yes, of course – look, what has that got to with anything, anyway?"
"Well, you landed okay, didn't you? And when Eggman shot down the Tornado, we both landed okay, right?"
"Well... yeah..." said Sonic, unsure of where this was leading to and vividly remembering landing in the beach at Emerald Coast. He'd landed all right, upside down with his head buried in the sand. Tails carried on.
"And you remember when you finally defeated Chaos?"
"Tails, what exactly are you trying to say?"
Tails seemed to take his answer for a yes and carried on, as much thinking out loud as talking to his friend.
"And you know you can use the Chaos Control, right?"
"Tails?" But Tails didn't really seem to be listening to him.
"And the battle with the BioLizard took place in the upper atmosphere, didn't it, towards the end?"
"So?"
"So in your Super form, you won't burn up in the atmosphere. You can Chaos Control to get yourself to a different place, and you survive long falls easily, right?"
"That's what I just said, isn't it?"
"So Sonic, since the last time we saw Shadow he was still Super, and he can do all the same things as you can..."
"Shadow might still be alive?! Then we have to go find him!" Sonic jumped up from his chair. "Is the Cyclone ready?"
"Yeah, Sonic, but the Tornado 2 is faster and has an unlimited power supply!"
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Sonic dashed down into Tails' secret runway, Tails following closely behind. As Sonic jumped onto the back of the plane, Tails locked the Chaos Emerald securely into place in the nosecone and jumped up into the pilot's seat.
"Ready Sonic? Here we go!" The plane shot down the runway, the doors opening just in time as it flew out, transforming immediately and flying off to search for Shadow.
Below them, Shadow awoke. The birds' calls echoed in his head, for a while seeming to half-echo disjointed fragments of speech. Slowly, he forced himself to his feet and looked around, blinking and swaying as the landscape seemed to spin and tilt sideways beneath him. He felt weak, and slowly dropped back to his knees. You couldn't use up that much energy without paying for it, and he'd used everything, even some he didn't know he had. Above him, the seabirds flew idly, uncaring, indifferent as to his fate.
* * *
In Tails' workshop in the Mystic Ruins, Sonic sat in a chair, thinking.
"Hey, Sonic, what's up?" Tails asked him. Sonic almost jumped, unaware that his thoughts had been so obviously reflected on his face.
"Huh? Oh – nothing, Tails." He forced himself to look normal, aware that Tails was watching him, concern reflected on the young fox's face. "Really, Tails, I'm all right." Tails looked unconvinced, but sighed and shrugged, his attitude seeming to say 'If you say so, Sonic.' He knew that there was something wrong, guessed that it was probably something to do with Shadow. But he had things on his own mind... not least a burning question about Project Shadow.
'Professor Gerald Robotnik said that after Maria's death, he went insane. All he could think about was revenge. He completed his project – to create the ultimate life form – and intended it to get his revenge for him. Presumably, that was Shadow – except that, from what Amy tells me, Shadow remembered that his promise to Maria wasn't to get revenge, but to look after the planet. If Shadow's memories were pre-programmed, he might have thought that he remembered Maria, but he wouldn't have thought that she wanted him to take care of the world, because Professor Robotnik wanted him to get revenge. That means that Shadow must have remembered the real Maria... but then, how could Professor Robotnik have completed his project after her death? I already know about the prototype Ultimate Life Form, and that was the prototype, so it couldn't be that... so there must be another result of the project. Another Shadow? If Shadow was designed to be the ultimate life form, then this other should look more or less like him, and have the... same... abilities...' Tails' head jerked up and his mouth fell open as he carried the train of thought to its logical conclusion. '...so alike... it couldn't be... could it?' But the more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed that, perhaps unknowingly, perhaps not, Shadow really had meant exactly what he said when he and Sonic were fighting the BioLizard in outer space – that Sonic was the ultimate life form. And they had the exact same abilities, though they used them in slightly different ways – Shadow channelled energy through his boot jets to go at the highest speeds, Sonic channelled it to allow him to run really fast, but the end result was the same. And Chaos Control, and the ability to charge up using the power of the Emeralds – and they even looked alike. It couldn't be possible, surely, but the more he thought about it the more likely it seemed. Sonic... Sonic who had no memory of his family... Sonic who was like no other, except for Shadow... Sonic was the end result of Professor Robotnik's project.
"What is it, Tails?" asked Sonic, cutting into his thoughts.
"What? Oh – it's nothing, Sonic, really. I was just... thinking about something, that's all." He wasn't ready to tell Sonic, not yet. And there was another thought, now, derailing the original line of thinking.
"Sonic?"
"What is it now, Tails?"
"Sonic, remember that time when you jumped off of the Egg Carrier?"
"Yes, of course – look, what has that got to with anything, anyway?"
"Well, you landed okay, didn't you? And when Eggman shot down the Tornado, we both landed okay, right?"
"Well... yeah..." said Sonic, unsure of where this was leading to and vividly remembering landing in the beach at Emerald Coast. He'd landed all right, upside down with his head buried in the sand. Tails carried on.
"And you remember when you finally defeated Chaos?"
"Tails, what exactly are you trying to say?"
Tails seemed to take his answer for a yes and carried on, as much thinking out loud as talking to his friend.
"And you know you can use the Chaos Control, right?"
"Tails?" But Tails didn't really seem to be listening to him.
"And the battle with the BioLizard took place in the upper atmosphere, didn't it, towards the end?"
"So?"
"So in your Super form, you won't burn up in the atmosphere. You can Chaos Control to get yourself to a different place, and you survive long falls easily, right?"
"That's what I just said, isn't it?"
"So Sonic, since the last time we saw Shadow he was still Super, and he can do all the same things as you can..."
"Shadow might still be alive?! Then we have to go find him!" Sonic jumped up from his chair. "Is the Cyclone ready?"
"Yeah, Sonic, but the Tornado 2 is faster and has an unlimited power supply!"
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Sonic dashed down into Tails' secret runway, Tails following closely behind. As Sonic jumped onto the back of the plane, Tails locked the Chaos Emerald securely into place in the nosecone and jumped up into the pilot's seat.
"Ready Sonic? Here we go!" The plane shot down the runway, the doors opening just in time as it flew out, transforming immediately and flying off to search for Shadow.
