Sonic Battle 2

Chapter 9, part 1: Return of a Fallen Hero

Author's Note: Oooo, a two-part chapter. Anyway, on with the show. Herein lies the conclusion to the fate of Shadow...hope you like it.

Shadow was in a place he knew he recognized—this was one of the many labs in the Space Colony ARK. This was, in fact, the last lab he had seen after his makeshift exodus from it before it was shut down. Only one thing was missing...no, it wasn't. It, or rather, she, was standing before him.

"Maria!" Shadow called out.

She had not heard him. Shadow tried to make a dash for her, but now, seemingly out of nowhere, there was an impenetrable layer of glass in front of him. Before he could react, sirens were blaring and lights flashing everywhere.

"Maria!" Shadow called out again.

Still no response. Wait, there was something there this time!

"Shadow...please, do it for me...Shadow..."

"Do what?"

Then, Maria's face was replaced by another familiar face. It was that of a pink hedgehog—Amy!"

"Please, Shadow, I beg of you, do it for them! Give them a chance!"

Shadow's mind was racing now. Was it Amy there all along? Where was Maria? Was this just a crazy dream?

Amy was gone now, and Maria was back.

"Give them a chance...to be happy..."

"What?"

"Sayonara...Shadow the Hedgehog..."

Just then, Maria collapsed. The colony shutting down took away the supply of breathable oxygen, causing her to faint. But there was something wrong—Shadow's capsule was still on the colony! Then something else happened. Looking out the window, Shadow noticed that the Earth was getting closer. Then an old man appeared on the screen. It was his creator, Gerald Robotnik!

"This is for all you ungrateful humans who took everything away from me!"

Earth drew ever nearer. Shadow's heart was beating fast. Just as the Earth was almost pressed against the window, Shadow thought, this is the end, to himself. Just then, as if something strange had warped Shadow away, everything was gone, replaced by a blue and yellow plane and a large scanner.

Shadow woke up. It did not take him long to place himself in Tails' lab. But he still had many questions. Why was he here? How long was he asleep? He remembered something from before. He remembered Sonic, standing over him. Shadow was apologizing for something. Then, he remembered further back. There was another face in his head: Eggman's face. And there was also a large blue cannon. But it wasn't attached to Eggman, it was attached to something that looked like Sonic, only metal, then a bright green flash, and then darkness. Then Sonic, and then the insane dream...

Someone had noticed the sudden movement of the black hedgehog, and went over to see if he was well. That someone was Sonic.

"Shadow, are you alright?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you've been out for about three hours."

"Three hours?" Shadow said. That's one question answered, he thought to himself.

"Yeah. After we came back and found you like you were, we were worried! You shouldn't scare us like that!"

"I'll try not to."

"Very funny. Now before you passed out when we found you, you said something about Eggman's new Metal Sonic. What was it like?"

"It was insanely fast, too fast for me even to use Chaos Control. It had huge lances on its shoulders and when Eggman gave it a Chaos Emerald—"

"That was before it had a Chaos Emerald!"

"Yes. And afterwards, it gained a huge cannon on its arm. If not for that, I may have been stable enough to contact you, but that took me out."

"We have to find it."

"No, I have to find it."

"If you want to help, you can, but..."

"No, I alone must find it. I must take my revenge. Otherwise, it may make the mistake of underestimating me in the future."

"Well at least take a Chaos Emerald with you. Which color?"

"Does it matter?"

"Oh, I forgot, you were still out when Knuckles told us."

"Told you what?"

"Each Chaos Emerald has an elemental alignment. Green is power, purple defense, red fire, yellow electricity, blue water, white air, and sky—I assume that means light blue—is ice. I suggest you take the purple one to counteract Metal Sonic's power. You can use Chaos Control with it, right?"

"Yes, that doesn't matter."

"Alright, if you're sure you're up to it, then go and seek out Metal Sonic. But also take a radio and an Emerald radar so you can find Metal Sonic."

"Alright."

Shadow left the lab and went out to find Metal Sonic 3.0. Fools. They were patronizing me. They still do not realize my true potential. I can survive a fall from space; surely unconsciousness is nothing to worry about. But still...that new Metal Sonic is powerful. I shouldn't need to worry, though. I have the purple Chaos Emerald, which should allow me to create a shield if Sonic told me correctly. This radar they gave me should help.

Shadow's train of thought was interrupted by his radio.

"Shadow, are you there? This is Tails."

"I'm here. What is it?"

"Are you having a hard time with anything?"

"No. Why would I?"

"Just checking."

After the transmission ended on both ends, Shadow growled to himself. Can't they leave me alone? I'm fine now that I'm awake.

The radar led Shadow to the ruins of Eggman's Launch Base. It was fine until the Death Egg launched and scorched all the platforms. But buildings had fallen in just the right spots to make passing through easier. Shadow came upon the central underground area. It took no damage from the launch. Not surprisingly, Eggman was inside, facing a computer screen. On the screen was a large projection of Shadow, in exactly the pose he was in at the time. Looking above him, Shadow saw a security camera looking back at him.

"So, Shadow, I see you've come to take your emerald back."

"I have come to take the emerald and my revenge."

"Always the vengeful one, aren't you? Well then, you can try to reach what you seek. I highly doubt, though, that you will get it. Metal Sonic, come here."

"Yes, doctor?"

"You see this hedgehog in front of you? I want you to destroy him. Do not leave any part of him behind. You did last time, and now he's back. This time take—or leave—no prisoners."

"Yes doctor." (Are those the only two words Metal Sonic 3.0 is capable of saying?)

The fight between Metal Sonic and Shadow is on, for Chaos Emeralds and vengeance. Bet you can't wait for part 2.