Chapter Six
Shadow struggled as the gel in the robot held him in place. It went all the way up to his neck and it was cold and slick, sticky and thick. Eggman made a few adjustments near him and grinned.
"Are we all comfy in there?" he teased, "Really, Shadow, I thought you'd be glad to be back on my side. After all, you are a top secret military weapon. I'm just helping you realize your true potential." He poked at the mask and pulled it off. "And this is getting dirty." Eggman tossed it into a wastebasket as Shadow began to sneeze.
"Aaahhh...." the hedgehog began. Eggman grabbed a handkerchief and put it to Shadow's face, just in time to catch the sneeze. He gave him a quick wipe and put the fabric away. "Ugh. Thanks. But I'm still not helping you! I'm no weapon! I was created to help mankind, not destroy them! The professor's research was meant to find cures for diseases and extend life for people!" Shadow snapped.
"My Shadowbot is almost complete, so it's pretty pointless for you to complain now. This is a complete turnaround, isn't it, Shadow? You were once the mastermind, ordering me about. Now I know better. You were created by my great-grandfather and, therefore, should be serving me. Now stop squirming about." Eggman told him and finally got the helmet strapped onto Shadow's head.
"My headache's coming back." Shadow grumbled as Eggman headed to his walker and flicked a switch. He then came back and pulled the black wallet out to examine the contents again. Shadow blinked at it and yelled again. "And that's my wallet! Hand it over!" he added. Eggman waved at him and pocketed it again.
"Then next time don't leave it where I can get it." he lectured and waited patiently for Sonic and his friends to find the signal and track him down.
"Sonic, I'm picking up a signal on radar. It looks like it's coming from the central chamber." Tails reported after an hour of walking. Sonic stopped his complaining and looked up at him in mild interest.
"Yeah? So?" he asked. Tails shook his head and sighed. Why did he even bother? Because he was Sonic's biggest fan and he treated Tails like an equal, even if he didn't get what he was saying.
"It's one of Eggman's signals. Maybe Shadow got free and is trashing him and now Eggman wants us to save him." he replied, "Or maybe, it's a trap and Eggman is luring us in so he can squash us."
"If Eggman used you as a battery and brain against Shadow, he could use Shadow against us." Rouge added, "That robot is tough, according to Shadow's reports."
"Since when did Shadow start calling you boss?" Sonic muttered. Rouge smirked at him.
"Since I told him it was going to involve Omochao." she replied and frowned at the robot. "Which reminds me... how am I going to get that gear out of him?"
"You're not getting my gear! Shadow gave it to me fair and square! It's mine from now on!" Omochao scolded, "And carry your own Chao!" Rouge rolled her eyes.
"All right. Don't throw a fit. Deiter! Return!" she ordered and held out her CTU. The Demon Chao vanished into the device, leaving Sonic to carry a blue Chaos Emerald in its place. "Ooh! An Emerald!"
"Mine!" Shady snapped and held out his hands. The metal shields on the backs of his hands exploded and metal covered his fingers, wrapping them to sharp slender points. "It's my Emerald! The sky gave it to me! I need it to save my uncle and Daddy!"
"What about me?" Sonic asked, "Don't forget to save me from whatever you were blabbing about." Shady looked at him in confusion.
"I just said I was gonna." he answered and held up his hands with a smile. "Like them? Uncle Knuckles gave them to me! They're called Pick Claws!" he added, "I can dig with them! Uncle Knuckles showed me how, but Daddy used to get mad and tell me to stop playing in the dirt. I got these for my fourth birthday! Daddy gave me a shot and my doll. I hates shots."
"A shot? What kind of shot?" Cammy asked, curious about the boy she carried with her.
"He said it would make me just like him. I get a shot every year and sometimes more if Daddy thinks I need it. Plus I get special pills and swim in a tank." Shady went on and giggled, "I wear a mask to go underwater. I can stay there for a long time! I can stay underwater for three whole days!" Cammy looked shocked.
"That sounds like how they treated me back at G.U.N.'s labs! They did all that to me to make me a hybrid of the ultimate life form! Shady's father must be trying to make him into an ultimate life form!" she exclaimed to Sonic. She turned to Shady. "Shady, what is your dad's name?"
"Daddy? You know." Shady replied and smiled, "Can I have a candy now?"
"How about a chili dog?" Sonic offered. Shady scrunched up his face.
"This early? I eat chili dogs for lunch. Daddy tries to make them right, but my uncle does it better. Shh, don't tell Daddy! He'll get mad and sad, and chase my uncle away, then I get stuck eating mashed tapatas and peas and chicken." He made a face, "I hates mashed tapatas and peas!"
"Tails? What's a tapata?" Sonic asked his buddy.
"Baby talk for potato." Tails replied, "Hey, Shady. Who's your mom?" Shady looked up at him.
"You know." he replied mysteriously and giggled again as his hands went back to normal, "Wheee! This is fun! I can't wait to tell Mommy all the neat things I saw here! Live and learn! I learned a lot!"
"That's it! I know I heard someone say that, but I don't remember who! It's driving me nuts!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Then forget it and let's go! That signal is stronger and Eggman may be doing something horrible to Shadow!" Tails exclaimed.
"Not as horrible as what Shadow's gonna do to Rouge once he gets over that cold." Cammy muttered as they walked on, following the signal.
The group ran into the chamber where Eggman stood waiting for them. He laughed and stuck another gear into the yellow machine. Rouge yelped and pointed at it.
"That's it! That's the machine I was telling Shadow about!" she cried. The robot stomped forward a few steps and Sonic could see into the cockpit. Shadow was wide awake, but staring straight ahead with unseeing eyes, the red-brown color dark. The helmet had taken complete control of his brain and was using him to power and move the robot.
"And there's Shadow in the cockpit! Shadow! Snap out of it!" Sonic yelled out at it. Eggman laughed again as he scurried into his walker.
"He can't hear you! With that helmet on, he's under my power, just like you were!" the mad doctor declared, "Go get them, Shadowbot! Get my diamond gear back!"
The Shadowbot grabbed at the hedgehogs, bat and fox, all of whom dodged the attack. Cammy shoved Shady into Rouge's arms.
"Here! Look after Shady! I've got to help Sonic get Shadow out of that thing!" she blurted and whipped out the Tiki Rod. "All right! Let's pound this thing into a manhole cover!" Cammy shouted and raced after the robot. Shady squirmed and wriggled as Rouge tried to hold him and rock him back and forth.
"There, there! Cute little hedgehog!" she cooed, "Cammy and Sonic will save Shadow, you'll see!"
"I wanna help! My energy's all full now! I can help!" Shady exclaimed. Rouge and Tails stared at him in surprise.
"Shady, you can't fight! You're just a baby!" Tails told him, "You stay here with us and be safe!" Shady squirmed harder until he popped out of Rouge's grip and picked up his Chaos Emerald.
"I'm not a baby! I'm five years old!" Shady snapped and held it up, "But not for long! Chaos Time Speed!" The Chaos Emerald glowed and surrounded Shady in a cocoon of light. Tails and Rouge watched in awe as the tiny hedgehog suddenly erupted into a teen roughly the same age as Sonic. Shady tossed the Emerald up and down in his right hand, grinning at them. "See? Told you I could help."
"Shady?! What happened?" Tails exclaimed in shock. Shady looked himself over and approved the look. He was the same height as Shadow and his quills had turned up instead of curving down. His sneakers changed and resembled those of Shadow. With the new shoes were a red vest, red beret on his head, the same Pick Claws and a metallic backpack. On his left hand was the Flame Ring, but Tails didn't know if it had belonged to Sonic, Shadow, or was an extra Shady had with him, and perched on his nose were a pair of black sunglasses with what looked like a green targeting light on one lens.
"Like it? This is what I'll look like in the future when I grow up naturally. The beret and vest I got for my birthday from my aunt, the backpack from Rouge, the Pick Claws from Knuckles, the sunglasses from you, Tails, the speed lessons from Sonic and the sneaking and hovering lessons from Shadow. I also got aerobatic lessons from Cammy." Shady replied and laughed, "Cool, huh?"
"Where'd you get the Flame Ring?" Tails asked. Shady looked at it and smiled sadly.
"My dad." he replied.
"And who's your dad?"
"Who else? The guy in the cockpit!" Shady answered brightly and raced off after the Shadowbot. Tails and Rouge stared at each other in shock and disbelief.
"Shadow is Shady's father?!" they exclaimed to each other.
Shadowbot was firing the flamethrower at Sonic and Cammy, who dodged and dashed about to avoid it, all while trying to get close enough to pop open the cockpit. Every now and then, Sonic would jump up and bop an arm to knock the Shadowbot backwards against a wall. Cammy would then hit it with the rod.
"In about ten minutes the gear will break! We'll get Shadow out then!" she called out to Sonic, who barely avoided a swipe from Shadowbot's tail.
"Great! Let's twiddle our thumbs for the next few minutes then!" Sonic replied sarcastically. A blur sped in and rammed one of Shadowbot's legs, throwing the machine onto its back. "Hey! What the heck was that?! It moved almost as fast as me!" the blue hedgehog exclaimed. Cammy looked around and gasped, stepping back from the robot. Shady stood perched on it, looking down at the cockpit.
"That doesn't look right. Mmm, mmm, mmm. No, no, no." he tsked and knocked on the glass. "Knock, knock! Wakey, wakey!" he added and giggled.
"Is that Shady? Wasn't he a pint-size prickly punk just a couple of minutes ago?" Sonic exclaimed as Shady glanced at him and smiled.
"Hi! I'm Shady, teen size! My Chaos Time Speed and Speed Time lets me fast forward my age and grant me some of your super-speed. Thanks for the lessons on how to control and use the speed." the black hedgehog replied, "By the way, how do we get Dad out of this tin can?" Sonic's jaw dropped open.
"Your d-dad?! You mean to say Shadow's your dad?" he yelped as Cammy shrieked and dropped her rod. Shady nodded and put his hands behind his head, standing on the robot with one leg crossed behind the other, head cocked innocently.
"Well, yeah. How else do you think I got the black and red coloring? Quill-dye? No way! Mom would totally kill me!" he replied.
"And who... who is your mom?" Cammy stammered. Shady lifted the glasses and winked at her.
"Where do you think I got the green eyes... Mom?" he answered smugly and laughed.
"I think I'm gonna be ill." Sonic muttered, "Shadow and Cammy... that's one for the books." Cammy danced back and forth joyfully.
"I'm gonna have a baby! I'm gonna have a baby!" she squealed and then stopped, looking worried, "Will having a baby cut into my tomb raiding time? I don't want to miss out on exploring more ancient ruins and temples."
"This kid just announced his parents while standing on Shadow and you're worried about tramping around in more temples?! Are you nuts?!" Sonic yelled in exasperation. Cammy gave him a sidelong glare.
"You sound like my sister. You been talking to her?" she growled.
"I don't even know what she looks like!" Sonic snapped back as Shadowbot knocked Shady away and jumped up, swinging its tail at him and Cammy. "Whoa!" Sonic jumped and used a Bounce Attack on the robot, slamming it against a wall. Eggman was cheering, sure that his creation would prevail. The robot got to its feet, grabbed at the hedgehogs again, and missed.
"It needs another few minutes to break!" Cammy cried as Sonic jumped around to avoid the robot's attacks. "Shadow, wake up, for goodness sake!" Shadow didn't answer, just fired more lasers and flames at them. Shady re-entered the fight, kicking at the legs as much as he could. Suddenly, the robot lunged to one side. "Sonic!" Cammy exclaimed as the blue hedgehog was nabbed in Shadowbot's iron grip. He struggled.
"Let go of me, ya oversized paperweight! Put me down!" Sonic yelled. Shady looked at him in shock, then scrambled to get to him, jumping onto the arm and pulling at the fingers with all his might.
"Don't worry, Sonic! I'll save you!" Shady yelled through clenched teeth as he pulled. Shadowbot lifted his other arm and prepared to slash.
"Shady! Watch your back!" Sonic shouted as the hand shot forward and rammed Shady, hurling the future black hedgehog across the room and into a wall. The ancient stone crumbled into a hole, Shady's legs protruding from the rubble.
"Shady!" Cammy screamed, "And the temple! It's ruined!" Sonic continued to squirm, trying to free his arms as he kicked his feet furiously. Eggman clapped with evil joy.
"Good work, Shadowbot! Now crush that hedgehog and end this feud once and for all!" he ordered. The robot began to squeeze the fist tighter, and Sonic gasped for air.
"I can't breathe!" he wheezed. "Help! Cammy!" The green hedgehog held out the rod and focused.
"Tika Blade!" she cried and changed it into the long spear G.U.N. had created for her. With it, she leaped up and began to slash at the arm that held the blue hedgehog. Shadowbot knocked her away with a sweep of his other arm and continued to tighten his hold on Sonic. He continued opening and closing his mouth to try to breath, but no air could get down his throat. His struggling grew weaker.
"Sonic!" Tails cried in fear, "Hang on! I'll get you free!" Rouge jumped between the Cyclone and Shadowbot.
"You can't shoot! You could hit either Sonic or Shadow!" she cried. Tails began to cry.
"But he needs me!" he wailed. Rouge shook her head and then turned to face the Shadowbot.
"I'll give it a try!" she declared as Cammy struggled to her feet.
"But your wing is all torn up!" Tails reminded her loudly. A rumble from nearby and suddenly Shady was up and in the air.
"Hers are, but mine aren't!" he yelled and glided with metallic bat-wings right at the Shadowbot. He latched onto the back and held on. "Tails! Run over to Eggman! Take care of him! He's controlling the robot! Without him at the controls, Shadowbot can't do anything! Hurry! Sonic's stopped moving!" Shady yelled as Shadowbot swung around and flailed in an effort to throw him off. Tails marched over to Eggman, firing his lasers.
"Not fair! Who said you could get in the fight?! And who is that other black hedgehog?! I thought Shadow was the only black hedgehog in the world!" the scientist yelled as he jumped out of the walker and raced away, "I'll get you all! That new gear is an advanced version! It'll last twenty minutes, but Sonic won't make it past two!"
"Get lost!" Tails yelled and jumped into the Egg Walker to take a look at the controls. "Shady! I'm here! I'll take control of the robot!" Tails punched several buttons, but nothing happened. "It's not responding! Eggman must have locked them up! I can't stop it!" he added. Shady held on tightly as Shadowbot stomped around, squeezing Sonic and swinging its tail at Cammy when she came close to them.
"Boot up the schematics! Tell me the weak point! I'll destroy it!" Shady yelled back, "Hurry! Sonic's turning blue! And I don't mean his quills!" Tails nodded and began to tap the computer controls as fast as he could. Cammy jumped back from another attack and held out her Emerald.
"Yo, robot! You want this Emerald for your boss? Drop Sonic and I'll toss it to ya!" she baited it. The Shadowbot turned to her and threw Sonic aside, slamming him against another wall.
"Sonic!" Tails cried and got ready to jump to his aid. Shady yelled again.
"The schematics! Now!" he shrieked and activated his Pick Claws to dig into the robot's metal shell and hold on. Tails turned back to the console reluctantly. Finally, he got the blueprints on-screen.
"The gear is right where you are! In the back! If you can tear it out with the main CPU, you'll disable and destroy that thing!" Tails yelled out and raced to Sonic's side. "Sonic! Wake up! Speak to me!"
Shady pulled at the shell and ripped off the panel. Shadowbot began to reach back and claw at him as Shady held on with one hand and searched the insides with the other, tearing out wires and circuits as he did. Sparks flew around the robot as Cammy and Rouge ran behind the Cyclone for cover.
"Targeting! Activate!" Shady yelled and the green light on his sunglasses came to life, scanning the area in front and around him. It blinked in one part of the lens when an arm came at him from that side. Shady dodged and kept digging. A blink from the right, Shady moved left to avoid it. The target locked on to something in front of him and turned red. "There it is!" Shady reached in, grabbed a bundle of black and gray, then ripped out the wad of wires, silicon and one gear. The robot flailed one last time, then stiffened and fell backwards. "Yaah!"
Everyone ducked and covered their heads as rubble came down from the ceiling and dust blew out from the crash, settling on everyone. Tails had covered Sonic as best he could with himself and used his tails to shield himself. He slowly opened one eye and peeked out at the room.
"Is everyone okay?" he called out as he got up and shook himself off. Cammy and Rouge coughed and stood, both unharmed. Sonic twitched his nose, then an ear, then slowly opened his eyes, bruised and exhausted but still alive.
"Ow. What happened to Shadow?" he asked in a hoarse voice. Rouge dusted off her top and frowned.
"Typical. He nearly gets killed, and his first words are about that black hedgehog." she grumbled, "What about the women? Isn't anyone worried about us?" Cammy shook dust out of her hair and blinked.
"Shadow! Shady!" she cried and raced to the rubble. Rouge rolled her eyes.
"That answers my question." she muttered, "Everyone goes for the black guys." Tails helped Sonic to his feet and looked back at the pile of rock and metal in surprise. The hedgehog teetered, then walked slowly to the heap of debris.
"Shadow!" he called out, "Can you hear me? Answer me!" Cammy was pulling at rocks, shoving them aside. Angie and Omochao hovered nearby, worried and scared for their friends. Sonic began to claw and dig at the rubble, searching for Shadow and Shady. Finally, part of the pile fell away, revealing the cockpit glass, shattered. Sonic paused, suddenly very afraid for the life of his 'on-off' friend. "Shadow? Please don't be dead." he whispered. Another part of the rock pile fell apart and Shadow crawled out of it, bruised, slightly bloodied, but relatively fine.
"Ooowwww. I should get hazard pay for this." he griped and sat up, rubbing his head. "Man. What happened? One minute I'm smashing robots, the next I'm smashed under a pile of junk." he added grouchily, and sneezed.
"Shadow!" both Sonic and Cammy exclaimed joyfully. They scurried up to him and hugged him.
"Hey! Back off! Damaged hedgehog here! Don't get all mushy on me, unless you want to catch my cold." Shadow snapped and stepped down the pile, dusting his arms off. "Man, I need another shower."
"Wait. What about Shady?" Cammy remarked and looked back at the pile as Omochao flew to Shadow and scolded his curtness. She and Sonic went back to search for him. After some digging, they looked at Shadow, who was still grumbling about his cold. "Shadow! Come and help us!"
"Why? There's nothing there! Just a bunch of junk." he yelled back. Cammy frowned and stood up, planting her fists on her hips. Shadow blinked at her. "Oh, this can't be a good sign." he muttered.
"Shadow the Hedgehog! You get your tail over here and help us find Shady or the next time I catch you for a date, I'll make you wear a blue bow tie and tuxedo to a public restaurant!" Cammy threatened loudly. Shadow scowled and stormed up to her, growling and grumbling. "That's better. Now help us find our son." Cammy added with a grin. Shadow stared at her, mouth open in shock.
"What did you say?" he asked softly. Sonic grinned and pushed aside a rock.
"That's right. Shady, the kid you wanted to turn off, is your future son." he clarified and snickered, "Shadow and Cammy, sitting in a tree...."
"Shut up." Shadow grumbled and started digging. The three of them worked together until they reached the last chunk of robot. They lifted the metal up and threw it aside, then looked down to see what they would see.
Shady lay on his back, very still and silent. Cammy covered her mouth with her hands in shock. Sonic looked startled, then angry. Shadow didn't have much of an expression, just stared down at the black hedgehog that looked very similar to him.
"Shady! Shady, wake up!" Cammy whispered, shaking him gently by the shoulders. Shady winced, then opened his eyes, lifting a hand up to the broken sunglasses so he could take them off and study them.
"Huh? Whah? What happened? Man, my head is killing me." he muttered and sat up, putting a hand to his head after frowning at his broken shades. "Nuts. Tails gave these to me." Cammy and Sonic helped him to his feet and Shady came face to face with Shadow at last. He stared at him. Shadow stared back.
"You look like me." Shadow said quietly and in a slightly awed voice.
"I'm supposed to, Dad." Shady replied just as softly and smiled through a wave of tears, "Dad!" Shady moved forward and gave him a hug, crying softly. "Dad, it's so good to see you at last! I thought I'd never see you again, except for in pictures." he murmured. Shadow looked shocked and shook his head, pulling away.
"What? What are you talking about?! I'm not anybody's dad!" he yelled. Shady blinked and pulled out a paper, the letter Sonic had read.
"But you are. See? Here's the last letter you wrote to me, before... well, before." he replied and held it out. Shadow took it and skimmed it.
"This is my handwriting all right. And those are the same words Maria told me once." Shadow whispered in awe, "You really are my son." Sonic snapped his fingers in triumph.
"Now I remember! Shadow, you told me those words back when we fought Final Hazard! Just before your glove tore, you told me, 'We all make mistakes, but the ones who learn from them and can move on are the ones who truly are worthy of life. Live, Sonic. Live and learn.' That's what you said to me!" the blue hedgehog exclaimed excitedly.
"It's good advice." Shady agreed with a nod and looked sad. "Unfortunately, he ignored it."
"What do you mean?" Cammy asked. Shady sighed and stepped down the pile of rubble to stand next to the Cyclone. He put a hand on it, smiled slightly, then turned to the group.
"I guess I should tell you what really happens in the future, the real reasons why I came to the past, or at least, tried to get to the right past." he finally said. Angie flew down and hovered next to him, worried. Shady grinned at the Angel Chao, then took a deep breath to start his story....