Disclaimer: All non-original characters are property of SEGA, Egmont and/or their respective creators.
Inescapable Past, Act 1: Paths That Cross…
Amy Rose clung to a handful of sturdy weeds as she brushed a stray braided quill out of her eyes. Then, she heaved herself up and over the crest of the steep grassy bank, back onto the path she'd somehow strayed from. She lay on her back by the side of the dirt track while she caught her breath. Gazing up at the cloudless blue sky, the pink hedgehog sighed.
Under normal circumstances, Amy would've been delighted to find herself up here on such an idyllic late summer morning. Today, however, her head simply wasn't interested. It seemed like every second thought that passed through her mind right now somehow led back to Sonic. Sluggishly getting to her feet, she went to dust off her red halterneck dress, only to find it smeared in grass stains.
Letting out another sigh, Amy glanced down the verdant hillside she'd just climbed. Her green eyes widened. From her vantage point, Station Square looked smaller than she'd expected it to. Just how far up this hill had she come? So much for a long walk clearing her head. With shoulders slumped, she trudged over to a lonely tree on the opposite side of the path.
Leaning back against its silvery trunk, the pink hedgehog slid slowly down until she landed on her backside. Drawing her legs close to her chest, she closed her eyes and rested her forehead on her knees. She sighed a third time as her stomach growled. Her day had started off so differently.
She'd been up at dawn, dancing around her kitchen with Mina's new song on repeat as she made breakfast. Every so often, she'd hit pause to go over what she planned to say to Sonic later. With her thirteenth birthday a matter of weeks away, she had decided today was the day to finally ask Sonic out on a real date.
She'd been reasonably optimistic of her chances. For one thing, there'd been no sign of him and Sally patching things up for months now. For another, Amy knew she'd grown up a lot since the days she used to ply him with whimsical proposals of marriage. Hell, she'd even been living in her own apartment for four whole months.
The way Sonic used to laugh off (and occasionally flee from) her proposals had fuelled hopes that she'd maybe been a little bit too young to be considered girlfriend material. When she thought about it now, he'd probably just been trying to spare a little girl's feelings. At the gates of his beachfront villa this morning, Sonic had pulled no such punches.
His answer was unequivocal: go home, grow up and move on. Amy hadn't tried to plead her case. She'd partly chosen this morning because he was due to leave on tour later in the day, along with Mina and his siblings. The way she'd pictured things playing out in her head, he would've been so taken aback by her asking properly, he would've stalled for time and mulled it over on the road. At least this way, she wouldn't be kept waiting.
"Amy?"
The startled youngster's head shot up at the sound of the deep voice. "Shadow?"
"Are you alright?" asked the black hedgehog, standing over her.
"Y-yeah. Just, y'know, resting."
"Interesting place for it," said Shadow, cocking a brow.
Amy flashed a weak smile. "It, uh, took a while to get up here."
"I'll leave you in peace, then."
"A-actually, Shadow, where are you heading?" she blurted as he turned to leave, "If you, uh, don't mind me asking, that is."
He waited for her to finish rambling before glancing over his shoulder. "Up to Emerson's Point."
"Would you, um, m-mind some company?"
Shadow turned to look at the upward-sloping path that lay ahead, then back at her. "If you can keep up."
Without another word, Amy clambered to her feet. Ignoring the fresh layer of powdery dirt that'd attached itself to her dress, she jogged to catch up to him.
"You in a hurry?" she asked once she'd drawn level.
"I don't plan on spending all day up here," he replied flatly, "Do you?"
"Not if I can help it," said Amy, cringing as her stomach voiced its loudest protest yet.
Wary of wearing out her welcome, the pink hedgehog put off further chatter for the time being. Not that she was itching to make small talk in any case. Just having a friendly Mobian present was enough, although she wasn't sure she could class Shadow as a friend. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of the black hedgehog since the Black Arms invasion, and she still wasn't how well he remembered that encounter on Space Station ARK.
Soon enough, she settled into a pace a couple of steps behind Shadow, quietly humming the melody of Mina's latest song to herself. Suddenly, the Ultimate Life Form stopped in his tracks and his head snapped around. Amy froze, convinced by his piercing scarlet gaze that she'd gone a little too loud on that last note.
"Shouldn't you be in school or something?" he asked pointedly.
Dumbfounded, Amy stood looking at him.
"How old are you?" he persisted.
"I'm twelve."
He nodded passively, setting off again at a more accommodating speed.
"Maria was about your age," he said as Amy came up alongside him, "She used to have lessons with Gerald's assistants she would drag me along to. She even insisted on teaching me to read and write."
"Yeah?" said Amy, uncertain if he was speaking to her or thinking aloud.
"Didn't catch you cutting class, did I?"
She giggled softly. "I don't have any classes to cut."
"Really? What do you do with your days?"
"I read. I draw. I cook. I help out the seniors in my apartment block. Oh, and I babysit Cream a ton," replied Amy, trying not to sound defensive despite a sneaking suspicion she was being judged. It wasn't like he needed to know how many hours a day she spent watching Mina's vlogs.
"Cream, huh? How is she?"
"She's pretty good. She's started going to Sally's new school-"
"The princess opened a school?"
Now it was Amy's turn to stop in her tracks. "Did you say princess?"
Shadow looked at her quizzically. "What of it?"
The pink hedgehog tilted her head. "Where have you been the last three months?"
The Ultimate Life Form's forehead corrugated into a frown. "Down south. Why?"
"Sally's not a princess anymore. Elias and her, they err…" She trailed off, struggling to remember the fancy word the Acorns had used. "Abolished! Sally and Elias abolished the monarchy. How did you miss that?"
Shadow shrugged. "Busy with other things, I guess."
"Oh yeah? Like wh-"
Amy stopped short as something overhead caught her attention.
"Birdie!"
Shadow slapped his hands over his ears as the twelve-year-old yelled. He glanced up to see a flock of birds flying in formation high above them. Before he could ask why she was so excited, Amy dashed off up the path. Waving her arms over her head, she continued to shout that name at the top of her lungs. Intrigued, the black hedgehog gave chase.
As the pursuit went on, he found himself growing increasingly jealous of Amy's stamina. Even when the path steepened suddenly, she barely slowed down. By contrast, he had to resist the urge to activate his footwear. Once he reached the end of the path, he found his fellow hedgehog standing at the edge of the cliff known as Emerson's Point. She was still waving and shouting, even as the flock of birds shrank towards the horizon.
The exhausted Ultimate Life Form collapsed into a patch of tall green grass. His relief was short-lived, replaced by the distinction impression he'd narrowly avoided knocking himself unconscious. Slowly, he sat up and looked round at whatever it was his quills were brushing up. Looming over him was a life-sized bronze statue of a male chipmunk, stood with arms akimbo atop a stone plinth.
"You okay?" asked Amy, walking over to find Shadow giving the statue the stink eye.
"How long's this guy been here?"
"A couple of months, I guess. There was a big ceremony and stuff."
"Who is he, though?"
"Emerson, duh," said the pink hedgehog, pointing to letters that'd been carved into the plinth: 'Prince Emerson Acorn. Gone but never forgotten.'
"Is he the princess's brother?"
Amy sniggered. "More like her great-great-great-granduncle. I don't know much about him, but Sally said he was like the only firstborn Acorn who never became king."
"How uplifting," remarked Shadow, regarding the bronze chipmunk's fixed gaze with unease, "Who's Birdie, by the way?"
"A Flicky I helped once," said the preteen, perching on the plinth. She had to remind herself he'd still be on ice during that whole mess with Chaos and Gamma.
"Were they in that flock?"
She shrugged. "Maybe."
"Enough of a possibility to justify running up a hill?"
"Well, it's not like it was impossible," giggled Amy, "No one said you had to follow me."
"You're the one who said they wanted some company."
"Good point," said Amy, flashing a bashful smile, "So, do I get to ask you a question now?"
"You're welcome to try," said Shadow, lying back on the grass.
"Why're you up here?"
The black hedgehog sighed, as if disappointed the question wasn't invasive enough to rebuff.
"I hadn't been here up in a while. I thought I'd take a look before I left town."
"You've been here before?" asked Amy. Somehow, he didn't strike her as a habitual hiker.
"Rouge loaned me her apartment in the city a while ago. This seemed to be the only place I could get any real peace."
"From the traffic?" said the pink hedgehog quizzically, "Oh, you mean those flashbacks about-"
She slapped her hands over her mouth as Shadow sat bolt upright and turned to look at her.
"Yes, something like that," he said tersely, getting to his feet.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"
He waved away the apology. "I couldn't even tell you the last time I had one."
"Oh, that's good," she said brightly, "Where are you planning on going next?"
"Out west," said Shadow without looking round.
"What's out west?"
"Omega, with any luck."
With that, the black hedgehog approached the cliff's edge, anxious to see if anything else had been done to spoil his onetime meditation spot. Thankfully, he found the view of the Bay of Acorns – the acorn cup-shaped stretch of coastline in which Station Square was nestled – almost unchanged. He inhaled deeply, savoring the air's salty taste, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The vista wasn't completely the same. For instance, the soothing sound of gently undulating waves was occasionally punctured by the foghorns of ships coming and going from Station Square's busier-than-ever port. Further out to sea, a wind farm was under construction. Still, the important thing for Shadow was the lack of any eyesores like the bronze interloper behind him. Hopefully that would still be the case the next time he visited.
〜
"Any sign of the sergeant yet, Zamzi?" asked GUN Commander Volta, speaking into his desk intercom.
"Nothing yet, sir," replied the crackly voice of his adjutant.
"Inform me the instant she arrives," said the olingo gruffly.
Restless with impatience, Volta pushed his green button-leather chair away from his polished oakwood desk and wheeled it over to the nearest window. His one good eye gazed out at the Guardian Unit of Nations' sprawling new headquarters, situated at the very heart of Metropolis. Still under construction in many areas, it stood on the same ground Dr Robotnik's citadel once had.
GUN had wrested control of Metropolis from the mustachioed machinist in the aftermath of the Black Arms invasion. Calculating that Robotnik hadn't been so depleted since the loss of the Death Egg, Volta's predecessor had committed his battle-weary forces to a full-scale invasion of Robotnik's long-time stronghold.
The Battle of Metropolis proved to be longer and costlier than even the most pessimistic GUN strategist predicted. Then again, none of their projections had factored in the possibility of going up against Metal Sonic. Robotnik's masterpiece had singlehandedly held up GUN's advance for almost a week. Volta himself had lost his left eye to its nasal spike, grappling with the dying Badnik after his platoon had miraculously shot it down.
Not that the olingo had let the injury stop him from leading the assault on the citadel a few days later. Robotnik had been taken alive and was currently the sole inmate on a newly-refurbished Prison Island. The old Commander, who seemingly blamed himself for every casualty GUN sustained, appointed himself as the ovate machinist's jailor. The announcement had shocked Volta almost as much as his promotion to Commander.
Having worked his way up from trooper to the rank of Captain, the olingo had never so much as dreamt of holding the top job. However, it wasn't in Volta's nature to shrink from a challenge, even when it involved sitting behind a desk. As such, he was now responsible for governing what remained of Metropolis, while simultaneously overseeing GUN's adjustment to life away from the United Federation.
"Sergeant Topaz for you, sir," crackled his desk intercom.
Volta wheeled back over to his desk as his office door opened. Through it strode a slinky yellow lioness. Like the Commander, she was decked out in a standard-issue black GUN dress uniform, albeit with the pencil skirt mandated for female personnel. She approached the desk as Zamzi, a red iguana, closed the door behind her.
"Do you have the final test reports, sergeant?" asked the olingo brusquely.
"Yes sir," replied Topaz, throwing a hasty salute before she presented him with the manila folder tucked under her arm.
"Thank you, sergeant," said Volta, snatching it out of her hands, "What kept you?"
"Vice Commander Trusk insisted on reviewing the data, sir," said Topaz, referring to the olingo's second-in-command.
The Commander grunted softly. "You'll have to forgive the Vice Commander. He's never had much love for the Intelligence Wing."
"I'm used to it, sir," said the lioness as Volta began flicking through the dossier. "Try page twenty, sir."
Flipping to the twentieth page, the Commander's cinnamon-hued eye widened. "A 100% detection rate?"
"That figure is based on our agent's own testing. As you can see, our technicians reported a 95% success rate in pinpointing the target."
"That still sounds more than adequate to our needs."
"It is, sir."
"Good then," said the olingo, snapping shut the dossier and handing it back, "Now proceed, sergeant."
Instead of saluting, the lioness lingered. "Uh, permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Granted," replied Volta, eyeing the intelligence officer warily.
"About this operation, is it wise to go ahead so quickly?"
"Do you feel otherwise, sergeant?"
"The Intelligence Wing haven't finished vetting the troopers you assigned. If word were to get out… Well, it's just that as far as most of the troops are concerned, we finished with Shadow the moment he and the old man shook hands."
Topaz winced slightly as her boss fixed her with a withering monocular glare.
"Well, sergeant, you'll likely find the soldiers who're best qualified to attest to the threat Shadow poses in a Westopolis cemetery," said Volta, his tone measured but severe, "A token friendly gesture by the previous occupant of this chair won't erase what that creature did to my battalion. Now proceed."
"But sir-"
"But nothing, sergeant," snapped the olingo, "Proceed with Operation Shadowhunt."
