Being Free
Written by Airo Smickor
I don't own Sonic etc; you know that anyway, you're all here for the fan-
fic!
Chapter 6 - Trouble
"Chaos - A condition or place of great disorder or confusion."
Rouge was all to pleased with herself. She'd completed a mission, which she'd ironically almost never accepted, in less than an afternoon! That was hardly enough time to file a report, or to break into a jewel collector's safe... Rouge opened the door into her current apartment she was staying in, only to find two Government agents waiting for her.
"Hey! Is that anyway to wait on a lady? You could've at least waited outside!"
"Firstly, this is government-paid accommodation your staying in, so until you receive the all clear from our boys that you haven't stolen anything more from our labs and hidden it you home, you stay here, and we can come and go as we please. Secondly, aren't you on a mission 'Lady Rouge'?"
"Hah! Finished it!"
"You're kidding!" The second, slightly younger agent now piped in.
"Well, when you're a complete professional like myself, these things are like a walk in the park, kid! Here's your evidence..." Rouge said, tossing the copy of the videotape to the first agent.
"...Well, let's see what we've got here then..." he half-heartedly replied, obviously expecting something more than this in evidence. He went up to the television set in the room, and put the tape into the VCR before hitting rewind. It was already at the beginning, which raised a small giggle out of the bat.
"Have the secret service doubted my abilities that much?" The agent decided not to credit her question with a response, as he picked up the VCR and TV remotes, switching the set on it the process and selecting the VCR channel.
"Well, let's see what part of the ARK puzzle we missed then..." the agent said, as he hit the Play button.
The screen went from the blue that appeared after nothing is selected, to tracking static, then to the scene of the living room of Tails' house, where a black hedgehog had his back to the camera. The hedgehog turned around and looked into the camera, and smirked before saying: "Any bets on who'll say that I'm dead first?" before he moved to the other side of the room.
"THAT'S HIM! THAT SHADOW! THE ULTIMATE LIFE-FORM!"
"GOD DAMN! YOU'RE RIGHT MAN! GET HEAD OFFICE ON THE 'PHONE, THIS STUFF IS DYNAMITE!" The two agents were quickly on their cell-phones in contact with their superiors.
Rouge had paused the video and was close to the screen, looking at the sly grin on the face of the dark hedgehog that had been so permanent in her dreams and thoughts. He was alive, alive and well, and close. She put a hand to the screen, almost as if to touch him through the set, before focusing in on his gloves. Sure enough, one was missing a golden glove band – the very band she wore on a chain around her neck. It was he, it was truly he.
The light that had overcome Shadow had be so bright that he had to close his eyes, yet was almost blinding, as he could still see it through his eyelids.
'What is happening to me? Is it because of the Chaos Emerald that I picked up'. Slowly though, Shadow began to notice the light fade away, and he was only left with the darkness of his closed eyes. Carefully, he opened one eye to see if everything was fine, only to open his eyes wide in shock. The Ocean Palace was gone, and he was left looking at a large altar across a small bridge in front of himself.
"Where... where am I?" Shadow was left asking himself, as he looked straight ahead at the altar-like temple in front. Cautiously, he began to move forwards across the bridge, along the sand path beneath him. He was only a few meters away, when he noticed what appeared to be a large group of Chao.
He was now close enough to hear what could distinctively be heard as the sounds of Chao singing. Shadow could not understand what they were singing, or what kind of song, but it was having a calming effect upon him, a soothing effect. Shadow just stood, listening to their song, for a what didn't seem to be a long time at all, but could very well have been a long time.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" came a voice from behind him. Shadow turned around to see an Echidna girl speaking. "The song, it's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Why yes, it is..." was Shadow's reply to her question. This was not making anymore sense than before, rather the opposite. It didn't help that this girl then giggled at Shadow's confusion.
"Don't worry Shadow, there's nothing to worry about here. We're all friends here."
"Wha... how did you know my..."
"Oh, Maria told me all about you Shadow. My name is Tikal, it's nice to meet you." Was her reply, as he extended her hand, which Shadow eventually took.
"Maria?"
"Of course, we've all met her, haven't we?" Tikal directed her question to the Chao, who now ran up happily to Shadow. Some hugged Shadow's feet and legs, while others flew up to his arms and body to hug him. Tikal again giggled, as Shadow blushed slightly as this sign of affection from creatures that he knew little about.
"It's not really surprising that they like you so much Shadow, Maria's become such a good friend to us all that they all know everything about you. You're like an kind uncle to them!"
Shadow was still caught in the mass Chao hug that he was receiving, but was still trying to think through the words that this stranger had told her. Maria? A friend? That couldn't be possible!
"Oh! You've got one of the emeralds! Did you collect it from the Ocean Palace?"
"...Yes... Yes! I did..."
"Of course, Maria knew you wouldn't resist the adventure of a hard to reach palace."
"Maria... knew... but how... why... where am... I don't understand..."
"Chao?"
"Chao-chao?" The Chao around Shadow could sense his confusion, and all looked up at him.
"Oh my! Of course, how silly, you don't remember anything, do you? Don't worry; it will start making more sense Shadow as you carry on with your new life! We'll all be watching you Shadow, so good luck!"
Tikal's wish of luck was accompanied by the excited shouts of the Chao around him, and the return of the bright light around him.
"Hey! Wait! You haven't answered any of my..."
"...Yes sir, we've got the proof right here! He's very alive, and he is in contact with Prower, Rose, the Hedgehog, the Echidna, and also a young female rabbit called Cream. Yes, that's all. We've got the tape secure here sir, yes... Agent Rouge even confirmed it as well... yes... yes... We'll be right over sir, yes sir! Over and Out!"
The agent closed his cell-phone.
"Okay, we're taking it from here now Rouge. Get the tape rookie."
"Yes sir!" Was the younger agent's reply, now very excited to have been put on such an important case, as he ejected the tape from the machine, and placed in the suitcase of his superior. Both the agents then headed out of the apartment, but the older agent looked over at Rouge, who was staring at the gold ring band she held in her hand.
"Like I said, it's all for the Higher-ups to decide now agent. You've done above and beyond in this one, I'll make sure you're not forgotten." And with that, he was gone.
But being forgotten was one of the worst fears she had at the moment. What if he didn't remember, or had forgotten her on purpose? Why did he go to those guys rather than her, a former partner? And what if they had turned him against her? Could she ever repair any damage done?
Shadow opened his eyes again. He now found himself at the bottom of the flight of steps that led up to Miles' house. Quickly he dashed up them, and into the house, slightly startling Cream, Cheese, Tails and Amy.
"Hey Shadow, what's wrong? Is someone following you?" Amy asked
"No! No, it's okay, but something really weird just happened to me!" Shadow answered.
"Mr. Shadow, what's that pretty stone in your hand?" Cream innocently asked
"That's no stone Cream! That's a Chaos Emerald!" Amy exclaimed, pointing at the stone.
"You're right Amy, wow!" Tails said"Where'd you find it Shadow?"
"I found it in the Ocean Palace, Miles, it was right in..."
"The Ocean Palace! No one's ever ventured into that place before! Is that why you took so long to get back?"
Shadow looked at the clock, it was now mid evening. How long had he been in that strange area with that Echidna girl? "No! That wasn't it..." Shadow said, answering Tails' question"It was because..."
"Guys! Hit the TV! Any channel! QUICK!" Sonic burst into the room, startling everyone, but it was Shadow who quickly flicked the TV on.
"Once again ladies and gentlemen, we must stress that this footage is not faked, and has been tested to be real – you are actually seeing footage of the Ultimate Life-Form, Project Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog, who we all believed had lost his life saving the world, that proves that he is ALIVE, and has been with the other famed hero of the world, Sonic the Hedgehog. You can see that Sonic here was, and may still be as shocked as we all are that Shadow is alive! This may be one of the greatest moments ever recorded, certainly in this reporter's..."
Tails was up in a flash, as he opened up the video camera, and he pulled out the videotape.
"No way! The tape's still here!"
"Someone must have copied it and put it back." Came Shadow's reasoning.
"How many times have I told you to put locks in this place Tails? Do you see why?" Sonic said, motioningto the room around him.
"But Sonic... nobody ever comes up here except you guys..." Tails said, hisnamesakes slumped sadly on the floor.
"But someone did Tails, and now everyone knows Shadow's alive" Amy said, with a scalding tone in her voice
"Mr. Tails only wanted to keep this memory forever Amy..." came the soft voice of Cream.
"The problem is, now everybody knows your back Shadow. The government, the media... Heck! I bet even..." Sonic voice trailed off, as realisation hit him hard. "...Eggman..."
Manic laughter roared through the metal hallways in an underground base, as the self-proclaimed evil genius known to his enemies as Dr. Eggman watched the latest news report.
"So! You survived, did you Shadow? HA! Just when I thought things couldn't get much more interesting..." Eggman looked down at the papers he had been looking over before the report came in. They were various notes and files concerning Project Shadow and the other experiments his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, had been doing before his death. He smiled his classic evil grin.
"Congratulations, Grandfather! YourRe-Birth technique is a success!" He looked over to a large painting of his grandfather, sitting with Maria, his granddaughter. "Soon, I will be able to control life, death, and even the creation of a living creature! And it's all thanks to you Gerald! It's all thanks to you, that I will discover what the final mystery of Project Shadow is... I will finally understand..."
With death must come birth, and a new purpose in life? To protect from those who would do harm, to discover new ways to improve and safe guard, or to offer to people a second chance at life, a clean slate, to live in a world where they cannot remember any wrong doings, any memories that might plague their minds. To be pure, to be untainted, to be free. I have seen the worry on his face, and I know only realise what a curse I have placed upon my own creation. For by giving the gift of erasing the aging process, I have neglected to consider the effects of that. He will witness much heartache, much sorrow, much pain and anguish. And I know myself that the death of one person shall be too much for him to take.
That is why I have created a new project, one that I know the government, more precisely GUN, will not be pleased with. But I no longer care about them; they only want what shall benefit their wars and plans. No, as Project Shadow was created unselfishly as a companion for Maria, this new project will be a final reward for Project Shadow's duty, of being with Maria until her natural death. By erasing his memories, I hope, beyond all that I had hoped for in my life before, that Project Shadow will be able to live a life outside these cold laboratory walls, away from these experiments and test tubes that my life has become, that took my away from my only granddaughter. Maria has understood what Shadow is, and that is why I cannot take full credit for this idea. It was Maria who suggested that Shadow be able to live again and again, to protect others as he would protect her. This is why my, no, our new project, which we have decided to code-name 'Re-Birth', shall be his final reward, the reward of a second chance at life, something many of us desire, but can never have. This shall be perhaps my greatest achievement ever, yet one which must never be revealed. This is the secret of Project Shadow, which Maria has fittingly given the code-name to:
Being Free
Author notes: Long term fans of Being Free (if they exist)may have noticed that I have changed the summary for Being Free, as well as the rating. This is due to what I'd like to call 'a slight increase in the amount of strong language, accomponied by some scenes that have a noticable increase in emotions and violence in them.' Basically things get 'heavy' in future chapters, but it's nothing really drastic... yet. What I mean is this won't go into a R rated thing, okay? Anyway, leave your reviews as always, your feedback is what makes me stop being lazy and get to work on further stuff.
I.E. - the more reviews I get, the more chapters you get to read! It's simple no? So what ya waiting for? GET REVIEWING OR I WILL EAT YOUR SOULLLLL! Or just get annoyed, either or 0o
Edited 25-03-05 for paragraphing