Being Free

Written by Airo Smicktor

I do not own any of the Sonic characters used here, the only thing I own is
this pineapple here! Airo holds up a turnip WHAT? I don't even own a
pineapple? THERE'S NO JUSTICE HERE!

Chapter 8 - Feeling

"Emotions - A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling"

"Re-What?" Shadow said.

"What do you mean? You know perfectly well I'm talking about Re-Birth! How else could you have survived the fall from space? Now tell me how you recovered your memory so fast, and what colour changes occurred after the Re-Birth had finished!" Doctor Robotnik roared back, angry at the apparent ignorence of the Ultimate Life-Form.
"WHAT? I don't understand what you're talking about? What memory loss? What change?"
"Of course you don't remember a memory loss fool! Now, tell me about the colour change that happened when you came out of Re-Birth! That only lasted a few days, what was it like, tell me now!"

Shadow didn't understand, Re-Birth? He'd never heard of such a thing, was that what had saved him from burning up? But he hadn't changed at all, when he woke up from the light, he was normal...
"Hmph, I think you've got your facts wrong Doctor, there wasn't any colour change, unless you've been back on the eggnog again..."
"Silence! That's the drink of a genius! No matter, you've answered enough of my questions anyway! Now, let's get out of here, before things get anymore out of control" Eggman pointed to the still hurting Knuckles, and Sonic gasping for oxygen.

"If you are suggesting that I abandon my new friends in favour of you, I'm afraid that's impossible Doctor. I'm leading my own life now."
"You fool Shadow! What have these pathetic creatures been telling you? Have they promised you friendship? It's that bat, isn't it? You've fallen for her already haven't you? Don't you see what she'll do to you?"
"HEY! Don't think you can decide what people can or can't do Egg-Brain!" came the sudden reply from Rouge.
"HA! So be it, I'll soon show you the error of your ways Shadow. Haven't you guessed who stole the footage of you and gave it to the media? Have you already forgotten all the lies she told us both before ARK?"

Shadow had no reply to this fact, it was true, he knew it, he had even thrown away the idea of Rouge as trustworthy beforehand, and Shadow knew that, no matter how weird it might seem, the Doctor was correct. But what did he mean by saying that he'd 'fallen for her'?

"I can see it Shadow! You know I speak the truth! Then hear another: We all know that you are a creation of Gerald Robotnik, and is it not true that there hasn't been a creation of a Robotnik that Sonic has not been able to destroy?"
Rouge was rapidly taking offence to the Doctor's attempts to convince Shadow, and couldn't take anymore. "HEY! Stop twisting the truth around Eggman! You aren't in any position to be making threats here!"

Eggman looked around, and noticed the presence of the army around.
"WHAT? A TRAP! I should've known that they'd already brainwashed you Shadow! But never mind that now, as soon as I find out why Re-Birth didn't occur, I'll come back for you Shadow. Remember, a Robotnik created you, and a Robotnik is still your master! You'll see!" Without warning, Eggman activated a switch, and booster rockets appeared out of the pod, and instantly, Eggman was speeding away.

"HOLD MEN!" shouted theCorporal, commanding the troops, "He's gone now. Okay now, get all these cameras out of here, NOW! You've got your news-story now! I SAID MOVE!" The men then began moving the film crews out of the area, as Shadow was left standing, thinking about what Robotnik had said.
'What did he mean, what is Re-Birth? A memory loss?'

"Yo! Shadow! You okay? All that stuff from Egg-Head didn't get to you, did it?" Sonic had finally managed to regain enough air to start moving around again.
"No... it wasn't what he said, I guess he must have made it up. I've never heard of Re-Birth before..."
"Urgh..." the sound of Knuckles getting up took Shadow's mind away from the thoughts of what the Doctor had said.
"Still... he's got a point... maybe you'd like to explain how the press got the tape ROUGE!" Knuckles looked straight at Rouge when he said this, with a slight look of revenge in his eyes.
"Now hold on guys, I can explain why..."

"I don't think that's necessary here Agent, I'll handle this." The commander of the army now spoke, directing his comment to Rouge. "You see, we had picked up information about Tails having a 'surprise about ARK', so we sent Rouge in to find it out. She brought us the tape, and we put it out to the media. You see Shadow, everyone around the world had been very emotional after ARK, and the sight of you being alive should be enough to lift everyone's spirits up. If anyone is to blame for this mess, it's us. Now, my name is Corporal Jenkins, and I'll take full responsibility if..."
"No, I understand." Shadow stated, looking at the man Just, don't go sneaking into anymore houses anymore, okay?" Corporal Jenkins smiled. "I make sure that I don't, Shadow. Thank you, we'll make sure you guys are left alone. Agent Rouge, I need to speak with you for a minute."

He and Rouge then walked away from the group, till they were out of earshot. "Okay Rouge, I've heard about how you were thinking of quitting, and everyone knows damn well how you've been acting, and I don't need to tell you either. The fact is the bosses up top have become too concerned, and if you mess up, it's gonna be my neck on the line."

"What? Come on! You can't be..."
"It's already been decided, the clean-up on your place finished last night, it was clean. You are no longer our concern."
"So, you saying that I'm out?"
"You said it. You're out. Do what you like with those guys, but remember, now that you're out, the next time you get caught stealing another gem, we won't be there to save you. Be careful." With that said, he turned and left, leaving a disheartened Rouge behind him.

'...I really should have seen that coming...' She thought, sighing
"Rouge, are you okay?" Rouge turned around to answer Shadow.
"...They fired me Shadow, I'm not an agent anymore."
Shadow seemed a little surprised by this. "Rouge, this is all my fault, if I talk to them I'm sure that..."
"No Shadow, it's fine. I was going to quit anyway. It's really my fault."
"...I'm sorry."
"Don't be. In fact, I'm sort of glad that I've gotten out of there, I won't have to file any more damn reports. Plus..."

It was at this point Shadow noticed something hanging from a chain around Rouge's neck. It looked like a gold ring, the kind Shadow had collected during the time before ARK and during his run through the Ocean Palace. But it, it seemed... familiar. Then something in Shadow's mind snapped into place. "Rouge... Is that... The glove band that I lost when Sonic tried to...?"

Rouge's eyes almost lit up. He recognised it! "Yes, yes it is! Shadow, do you mind if I keep it?"
"Keep it? Well, sure, I don't really need it for... But why do you want..."
Rouge smiled, walked up to Shadow, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.
"Let's just say... It makes me feel better, okay?" Rouge then gave Shadow a wink, before walking over to where Sonic and the others were. As she walked over, she smiled to herself.
'And to think, those agents thought that I'd lost my touch, huh?'

Shadow stood, blushing for the first time in his life, putting a hand to where Rouge had kissed him. That had never happened to him before, but while not knowing what had just occurred, something inside him told him that it was... awesome...

"Gahh! Curse those do-gooders!" Eggman cursed"Now I'm probably going to have to find a way to deal with Sonic AND Shadow! This is going to take months of..."
"We again interrupt your regular programming for another news flash! Ladies and Gentlemen, in a day where we have seen actual live footage of not only Shadow, but of a meeting between Dr. Eggman and Shadow, now comes this unbelievable news! We have just been informed, that while the meeting between the Doctor and Project Shadow was taking place, that the main vault in Central Reserve Bank in Station Square, thought to be the safest vault IN THE WORLD, has been robbed! Yes, I repeat, the Central Reserve..." came the excited voice from the TV set in the Eggpod.

"Hmmm... very interesting, someone took advantage of the attention myself and Shadow had been receiving. Perhaps I should've gone to the Floating Island and gotten hold of..."
"Wait, I'm just getting something else through... WHAT? I DON'T BELIEVE IT! A CHAOS EMERALD WAS STOLEN AS WELL?" The reporter practically yelled.
"WHAT! There was an emerald?"
"...Yes... an emerald under the ownership of... HEXAeco, the energy company... which was being kept in secure..."

"SO! They dare keep these things from me, eh? I'll deal with them later. But who could have the knowledge to pull off this kind of operation?"
"...I am being told now... that this is likely to have been carried out by a crime gang of some-sort, and there seems to be little evidence of who carried out the attack, except for the signs of laser fire on the case that held the emerald... and this strange, note that reads:

'1 jUST St0l3 j00r 3M3R4lD, 4nD j00 k0uld'NT ST0p M3! s19N3D, ph4n9

P.2. J00R S3cur1TY 12 T3Rr18l3'

...What the heck does that mean?"

"Fools!" Eggman turned the screen off. "That's l33tsp33k! Now, let's see what that means... Hmm... 'I just stole your emerald... and you couldn't stop me... signed...' WHAT? Could it be?"

"So, what are you planning to do now, Rouge?" The pink hedgehog asked the bat
"Oh, I don't know Amy. I'll probably just be a regular treasure hunter now, I don't want to risk spending some time in jail." She replied. "I'm sure Shadow would bust you out in no time!"
"Huh? Wha... Is it that obvious?"
"Rouge, almost everyone in the world probably knows that you've got the hots for him! The 'charm' you've got around you neck proves that!"

"Well, he said I could keep it, I guess he doesn't hate me, that's for sure, but I don't know... maybe I shouldn't have..." "Ooooh! Whatyado, whatyado?"
"Well, after Shadow agreed, I... gosh I'm blushing right now! Well, I... kissed him on the cheek..."
"ROUGE! WOW! You don't wait long, do you?"
"Amy, you can relate to this, can't you? These past two weeks have felt like an eternity to me, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, without thinking about him, but after I kissed him, it felt like... a huge weight had been taken off my shoulders!"
Amy sighed, she too knew what it was like not to see the hedgehog she loved. "...Yeah, I hear you girl. But now he knows, right?"
"Well, maybe, I haven't told him vocally, do you think he knows anyway?" "Something tells me he'll put it all together soon enough!"

"Well Shadow?"
"...Well what, Sonic?"
"Do you like her?"
"...Like who?"

"Rouge! Do you like her?"
"...Well... I don't know... um..."
"You don't know? Dude! She's totally head over heels for you man! She's wears that ring-band of yours around her neck! She loves you man!"
"Is that why... She kissed me?"
"SHE WHAT? OH MAN! Tell me dude, how'd it happen?"

"Well, after she talked to that army guy, she seemed unhappy, so I went over and talked to her, she asked if she could keep my glove band, I said yes and asked her why, then she kissed me on the cheek... and said that it made her feel better."
"Holy hot Hill Top lava dude! You have gotten yourself a girl!"
"Well... What should I do?"
"Well, the only thing I know about love is stay away from Amy, but I don't know about REAL love, since that isn't it... I think... But don't worry! I'm sure that Tails will help out as well, so we'll make sure it works out fine!"
"Thanks Sonic, I really have no idea what do to..."

Meanwhile, standing far away from the city, the lone thief sat up against a tree, holding a newly stolen Chaos Emerald in one hand, and a large sack full of other stolen items in the other.
"Darn... Sometimes it's just too easy... But I've finally done somethin' to get me damn respect around here. Yeah, soon they'll read my name along with the greats... Then it'll be the LEGENDARY master thief, Fang the Sniper!"
Classified Information – G.U.N. Intelligence Gathering Sector

Subject: Hidden ARK Project – Project Being Free.

Information: Data gathered from central ARK computers indicate that Project Being Free was created and completed without almost anyone on the colony knowing. It is believed only the Robotnik family, Professor Gerald and Maria (shot dead when she released Project Shadow from ARK via an escape pod), knew of the Project's existence. It has been confirmed as being a part of the Ultimate Life-Form (i.e. it is inside Project Shadow). We have analysed the data and have concluded that the 'Re-Birth' process is actually a self-destruct mechanism, designed as a back up plan if Project Shadow does not reactivate the Eclipse Cannon on ARK (as we know, Professor Gerald Robotnik has become mentally unstable upon hearing the news of Maria Robotnik's death, which lead him to insert a self-destruct system in the Cannon). While we are not 100 sure that this is true, we cannot take any chances. This is why we suggest that Shadow should be locked away in suspended animation until such a way has been invented as to dispose of it safely (or used as a suicide weapon against enemy forces during a conflict, why have our men lose their lives when we can get rid of a war and a dangerous problem at the same time).

 Project Shadow is a weapon, a weapon that will be more destructive dead than alive. Therefore he will be stored on Prison Island until he can be 'defused' safely, otherwise he could potentially destroy himself and the world at the same time. This information is classified in the highest priority, therefore copies of this file should be destroyed as soon as read, do not pass on.

Additional Unauthorised Note by Professor Gerald Robotnik: Do not think G.U.N. that I have not been reading your files from the computer in the cell you've been keeping me in. I have been saving these files and sending then to ARK's database,along with the truth about them in the form of my notes at the bottom. You and your fellow murderous humans will be punished for your crimes. Re-Birth was designed to give Shadow a second chance, something you all do not deserve, and unless I am given a sign by Maria herself that my actions are wrong, you will all die! If my revenge has already been taken on the world, then I apologise to whoever reads this, and I pray you find and save Shadow. I only hope he is not awoken from his frozen state into a world where he would have to go onto ARK, I cannot imagine the heartache he would feel...

Or how I would feel knowing my creator was going to destory the world that I so longed to visit...

Author notes: Chapter the Eighth is now up! Yippie! Fist off, huge thanks 2 Sonic/Anime & Celestial for their reviews, I never knew my work touched people in that way, reviews like that are what keep me inspired as a writer, so I truely thank you. Ebverybody, let me know what you think, or what you think is going to happen or what you'd like to see or whatever, I'd like to get lost more opinions on what I've been doing. Are you all interested in what 'Re-Birth' is? You should be, as it plays an extremely important role in the future...

N.B. Please be aware that from here on in, Being Free features HUGE spoilers for Sonic Heroes, so if you haven't played it, go and do so, otherwise enjoyment may be removed from your gaming experience(unless you just watch the opening credits for Sonic Heroes, in which case there's no mystery in it at all...). Oh my, a public service announcement, I'm getting way too serious...

Edited 25-03-05 for paragraphing