Being Free
I don't own Shadow, but Shadow ownz.
Chapter 15.
"Rebirth - A second or new birth; reincarnation."
Time travel, believe it or not, is a very complex, interesting and dangerous issue.
It's complex because… Well, you would have to build a machine or similar device capable of distorting, controlling and manipulating time itself, something which seems nearly impossible to do.
It's interesting because the concept of being able to see historical events happening, like the first telephone call being made by Alexander Graham Bell, or the first meeting by a team of designers to create a video game about a blue creature that runs fast; or to solve some of history's greatest mysteries, like the nose of the Sphinx in Egypt, is very appealing to some people.
But time travel is very dangerous indeed. It has been argued that it is possible, by even just one tiny action in the past, to completely change the course of history forever. Probably just by going back in time, history would be change. This could, of course, mean good things, but it could just as possibly mean terrible things as well.
Just imagine if you went back in time, broke a vase by accident, and turned around to find that because of that, your time machine was never invented, and you were stuck in the past forever! Not a nice thought, is it?
As I was saying, time travel is a serious issue, and one that greatly effects the next part of the existence of Project Shadow.
For those of you confused by what has been happening, I will offer a brief review of the previous events:
Shadow survived the fall from the ARK thanks to subconsciously Chaos Controlling while in the dying moment of being Hyper Shadow. But using it to travel from outer space back to the planet below caused Shadow to go into a fortnight long coma, during which everyone thought he was dead. During the Chaos Control, Shadow heard a Maria-like voice telling him to be free.
Shadow woke up, determined to locate Sonic in order to learn how to be free like he was. Shadow stumbled across the Emerald Hill Zone, and was spotted by Tails in the Tornado. They travelled to Tails' workshop, where Shadow revelled in the news that he was a hero, thinking that Maria's wish had been accomplished.
Shadow met with Sonic's gang, who warmly accepted Shadow as their friend, but at the same time, Rouge was instructed by the government to check out what the 'ARK information' that Tails had discovered. Rouge wasn't thrilled due to the feelings she had for Shadow.
The next day, Shadow decided to check out the 'Ocean Palace' for a challenge, and after a near-death experience with ancient bobby-traps, Shadow found a Chaos Emerald and a strange floating ball of light. Elsewhere, Rouge had broken into Tails' house and taken a video-tape, which she showed to the government. It showed Shadow, alive and well, which made the agents flip-out, and Rouge very happy. Shadow, meanwhile, was confused as to why he was suddenly in a alter-like area with a Echidna girl called Tikal and lots of Chao, and by Tikal's confusing words. Shadow found himself back at Tails' place, and discovered that whole world knew Shadow was back.
Eggman was pleased that Shadow was back, thinking that he could get him working for him again, thanks to a 'Re-Birth' programme in Shadow. A media frenzy was happening, which helped a thief steal a Chaos Emerald from a bank. Rouge and Knuckles bickered, and Eggman interrupted Rouge before she could tell Shadow how she felt.
Shadow had no memory of any 'Re-Birth', so ignored the Doctor. Rouge gets to tell Shadow how she feels, and Shadow seems to feel the same. Elsewhere, Fang the Sniper was enjoying the emerald he had taken, and Metal Sonic was taking over.
Eggman wasn't going to allow the traitor to get away with this, and contacted Fang to arrange a plan to get the Chaotix on their side. At the same time, Eggman's (in reality Meta Sonic's) forces were on the move near where Shadow had been a few days ago.
The gang set out against Eggman, battling the Egg Hawk and defeating it. However, victory came at a price. The machine began exploding, cause the stone pillars around the battle ground to fall. Out of instinct, Shadow pushed Rouge out of harm's way, sacrificing his own life to save hers.
This started the 'Re-Birth' programme, designed to give Shadow a second chance at life. The process had some severe complications: Sending Rouge to an abandoned Eggman lab where she found a clone of Shadow and the last E-Series robot while the others appeared near the Grand Metropolis; and instead of fully deleting Shadow's memories, they were temporarily removed, and Shadow was sent back in time for his own protection.
…So that takes us to where we currently are…
To deep inside a thick, green forest on an island far away from the mainland; and to a certain hedgehog lying on his back in the thick grass...
Shadow was out of it. Unconscious, sleeping, call it what you will, but he had no sense of the world around him. His eyes were closed, his body stretched out an motionless. His body had returned to its normal black colouring with red streaks. He lay on the ground, innocent to the fact that he was about to screw up history in a big way.
Above him, the sunlight peeped through the treetops, a beam of sunlight shining down onto the Ultimate Life-Form's facial features. But he couldn't feel this right now. His body was still readjusting to returning to the stable surrounding. In addition, suddenly awaking here would probably freak the hedgehog out. That is, of course, due to the fact that he didn't have his memory. Yet. But that's another issue right now. All he had was abilities he didn't know he possessed, a glove missing a ring-band…
…and two men examining him…
"…Is that what I…?" The first man asked the other.
"I think it is…" Was the other's reply, before they both looked back at the body of Shadow.
"Sir! I have something to report, Sir!" A young army officer saluted his superior.
"At ease Jenkins, at ease." The general replied, sipping a cup of coffee.
"Umm, yes Sir." Jenkins replied, his hand returning sheepishly to his side.
"What do you have to report, Sir?"
"Well, General Walker, one of the extra patrols set up to monitor the island after the attack last night has discovered something very interesting…"
Author notes: Wow, I finally updated after years! I've been fixing some of the paragraphing issues with this fic, which I'll finish sometime. I won't say soon, 'cuz evertime I do, it takes ages. Oh well.
Thanks to Celestial the Hedgird, Anthony Bault, hyper Phantom(you can have the idea if you want, but please credit me. The more people who can read my works, the better I say) & SpadeHand(Reviews like yours make writting worth it) for reviewing, and I hope that you, YES YOU, THE ONE READING THIS RIGHT NOW, review as well. Thanks everyone for helping take this story over the 50 review mark! You guys rock!
See you next time with Shadow awakening to a world of the past... Mwhahaha...