Chapter 1-The Letter

The night was the coldest ever for Shadow, and the fact that he had horrible nightmares about his past didn't help. He couldn't fall asleep, even where he was. The surrounding area was set up to match his every need but he was filled with insomnia. He couldn't help but feel that his chance at realizing his past was slim, slimmer than he wanted them to be. There he sat in a dreary room, not knowing about himself. He started to try and remember his past…the same past that he'd been searching for, for about 3 months.

But trying to remember crushed him…for every time he tried to remember, it was the next day. Every time he tried to remember, he fell asleep and dreamt about it. And the dreams turned into nightmares.

Living in a tenement is hard for a hero who is treated like a menace. He was naturally dark, with a personality filled with determination. But he was basically good, with a dark side that he could control. He was a black hedgehog, with red stripes going down his spikes. He had a white patch of fur on his chest, and red eyes. At his dangerous disposal of tricks was the Green Chaos Emerald, a dangerous weapon disguised as a simple gem, as well as rocket-propelled shoes allowing flight. He hated almost everything in existence, and he loved nothing.

He knew a lot of people, and they were in high places. For instance, he knew the world-renowned heroic duo, Sonic the Hedgehog and his huge-brained sidekick, Miles Tails Prower, a mechanical genius. He knew the ever-popular hedgehog girl Amy Rose. He knew the Chaotix Detective Agency, comprised of Espio the Chameleon, a ninja, Vector the Alligator, a water-adept weightlifter, and Charmy, a less popular annoying bee. He also knew the only inhabitants of Angel Island, Knuckles the Echidna, his long-lost sister, Tikal, and Chaos, the protector of the mysterious Chao creatures, as well as the Chaos Emeralds, gems of immense power. But his closest friend was Rouge the Bat, a 17-year old government spy, and pastime treasure hunter with a dangerous obsession with gems. And his worst enemy was Ivan Robotnik, the all-around evil genius, also known as Dr. Eggman. His greatest creation turned good was E-123 Omega. The unfortunate thing is that the ones he has come to know are, in most cases, enemies.

It was that fateful, cold night that brought him to the scene of the wildest thing that has ever happened. That night would be the last spent in question by the fate-stricken hero. On that very night, there was a ring at the apartment door.

Shadow opened the door, with his eyes half-open, half-asleep. The bellboy was there. He yelled louder than a truck horn, "PACKAGE!" The startling sound woke up the half-asleep hedgehog.

Shadow examined the package. "Thanks! I've been waiting for this package for a while now."

As Shadow entered the apartment, he turned on the light and took a box cutter from his sock drawer. He was about to open it when he realized that it read "ANONYMOUS" in the return address. EBay didn't prefer anonymity. He knew then that this wasn't the package that he was looking forward to receiving.

Shadow stepped into the lobby to tell the bellboy that this wasn't his package. But when he went out to search for him, the bellboy was knocked out at the elevator door.

Shadow then returned to his room, and opened the frightening package. Inside was a top-priority mail message. It read,

Dear Shadow,

I have been spying on you. I know that you've been searching for your past for some time now. I know where to find your answer. I prefer anonymity, and would like to meet you on Prison Island. Meet me there tomorrow morning at the plane hangar. We'll talk then.

The box contained a cell phone wrapped in lost Florida ballots from the 2004 election.

Shadow knew that this could be his chance. He posted the letter on his mirror and fell asleep.