Being Free

I do not own anything here.

Chapter 18 – Natural

"Instinct – A powerful motivation or impulse."

Opening his eyes, Shadow found himself standing in front of a large, stone door. Taking a step back, the dark hedgehog looked around him.

Behind him, nothing but miles and miles of sand, with a touch like fire from the burning sun in the cloudless sky. Looking up in front of him, he saw the entrance to a huge pyramid temple.

'Chaos Control…' Shadow thought. 'Is that it's power? That I go from one place to another in a blink of an eye?'
'Iiit iiis ooouuur poooweeer… Ooouuur bleeessiiing… Ooouuur cuuurseee…' The raspy voice answered. 'Theee siiign ooof theee Uuultiiimaaateee Liiifeee…'
'Where do I go now?' Shadow asked the voice, looking at the emerald in his hand.
'Nooow aaa teeest'

'A test?' Shadow was confused. 'Of what?'
'Tooo proooveee thaaat yooouuu aaareee theee oooneee… Theee Uuultiiimaaateee Liiifeee…'
'But I thought you said…'
'Theeereee aaareee oootheeers… Oooneees whooo haaaveee claaaiiimeeed beeefoooreee tooo beee theee truuueee fooorm ooof eeexiiisteeenceee… Caaall theeem cloooneees, caaall theeem proootoootypeees… Theeeiiir aaabiiiliiitiiieees caaannooot cooompaaareee tooo theee Uuultiiimaaateee Liiifeee … Theee Prooojeeect Shaaadooow…'

'…What is this test?' Shadow questioned, glancing to the gun in his other hand.
'Fiiirst… Eeenteeer thiiis baaaseee…'

Shadow looked up to the stone door, still with a look of complete indifference on his face. To a normal person, it would be an imposing sight. Probably taller than forty foot high, and about four foot thick.

With the hand that held the gun, Shadow ran a finger down the door. Looking at the finger, Shadow found a thick layer of sand. Shadow blew it off, before taking a few steps back to get another look at the door.

'Interesting…' Shadow thought.
'Nooothiiing iiis iiimpooossiiibleee fooor theee Uuultiiimaaateee Liiifeee…'
'I've got that message.' Shadow said, folding his arms over his chest fur.
'Theee oooneee thaaat iiis aaaboooveee aaall oootheeers, thaaat eeevooolveees quuuiiickeeer thaaan oootheeers, thaaat iiis peeerfeeectiiiooon.' The voice continued.
'Thanks for the help.' Shadow replied, sarcastically.

'Okay…' Shadow now thought to himself. 'Lets think about this. I'm up against a really big door, without a key to unlock it. There might be another way into the building, but that voice is impatient. It keeps telling me to hurry. What to do…'
'Yooouuu aaareee theee waaarriiiooor…' The raspy voice reminded. 'Iiit's yooouuu'reee waaay tooo gooo…'
'Warrior.' Shadow repeated to himself, glancing at his hands. 'It's my way… My way…'

As if he'd never lost his memory, he raised his gun up and began firing. The firearm blazed round after round, and still Shadow showed any negative or positive emotion. After a minute of constant firing, the dark hedgehog stopped. If he still had his memory, he might have questioned why this gun could fire so many shots without requiring reloading.

Instead, Shadow visibly frowned. It did not have the effect he would have liked. The door was still standing, but now riddled with small holes.

'Technicalities.' Shadow thought. 'Another solution would be quite useful right now.'
'Theee cooontroool… Yooouuu haaaveee tooo faaaceee iiit aaagaaaiiin aaand aaagaaaiiin…'
'What?' Shadow questioned. 'What control?'
'Eeeneeergy... Chaaaooos eeeneeergy... Draaawn frooom deeeeeep iiinsiiideee ooof theee Chaaaooos Eeemeeeraaald… Theee Chaaaooos Cooontroool…'

Shadow nodded, and looked to his Chaos Emerald. Focusing, Shadow gripped onto his emerald tighter than before, while pointing his gun again at the door. A thought suddenly returned through Shadow's mind.

'No one would ever know… The Chaos Control…' It said.

The dark hedgehog looked at the entrance to the base, and smirked darkly.

Drawing energy from the emerald, a blast more powerful than before came out of the gun. In an eye blink, a large cloud of dust flew off from the impact area of the door. Shadow closed his eyes, allowing the dust to rush past and over him. This was the only change in his posture.

After a few seconds, the hedgehog reopened his eyes, and saw a large hole where the door had been.

'Yeees…' The voice encouraged 'Thaaat iiis theee truuueee Prooojeeect Shaaadooow… Theee poooweeer ooof theee Uuultiiimaaateee Weeeaaapooon…'
Shadow shook the dust off of his body, not really paying much attention to the voice.
'Ooonwaaard… Theee gaaateeewaaay aaawaaaiiits…'
Shadow nodded, and walked forward, through where the door had been, and into the base.

The security doors slid open, allowing Shadow to step forward into the room. The sight of a large computer that practically filled the area greeted him.

'And this is?' Shadow questioned, tapping his gun against his chest.
'Theee gaaateeewaaay… Aaa teeeleeepooorteeer iiif yooouuu wiiill.'
'What does it do?'
'Iiit wiiill taaakeee yooouuu tooo threeeeee plaaaceees, aaall aaat oooneee looocaaatiiiooon… Yooouuu wiiill seeeeee theee eeend… Yooouuu wiiill seeeeee theee beeegiiinniiing… Yooouuu wiiill seeeeee yooouuur hooomeee…'

'What?' Shadow questioned.
'Huuurry… Fooor ooonceee, tiiimeee iiis nooot ooon ooour siiideee… Weee muuust neeeveeer loooseee… Plaaaceee yooouuur haaand ooon theee greeeeeen paaad… Theeen caaall fooor hooomeee…'

Shadow's ears perked up. He could hear distant voices, approaching the room he was in. Without another hesitation, Shadow placed his hand on the pad.

Just as he was about to ask where his home was, another memory returned, answering that question.
"The Space Colony ARK." Shadow said, and in a flash, the hedgehog was gone.

A minute later, Doctor Eggman entered the room. He looked around him, and shook his head.
"Hi-tech security my egg!" He stated. "Doors breaking, computers activating themselves! It's no wonder Rouge couldn't find that other emerald at Prison Island…"

Author Notes: We are nearing the return of Shadow's memories, aboard the ARK. Then it won't be long before we return to where Shadow died.
Yersi Fanel- In the near future, another sad part arrives. But it leads to good things, trust me. iceditto- I knew I was taking a risk with this 'time-travel' thing, but it's paid off.

Thanks again to my reviewers, well, the ones who wrote something constructive anyway. Anyway, thanks again, and stay tuned.