-Shadow's Memories-
I stood by Sonic's bed, looking down at him. I didn't really know what to say or what to do. It looked so strange, seeing him like that… I couldn't shake the strange feeling that there was something wrong, that this was all impossible, a bad dream. Because surely it couldn't be Sonic lying there, looking so… so lifeless. I stood there for a while, silent, then I left. I don't know… I think I just wanted to run away from the reality that was facing me. I didn't want to have to accept losing someone I'd begun to regard as a friend. Whatever the reason, when I left, I ignited my jets and raced into the sky. Perhaps I was trying to leave my thoughts behind, to avoid facing the truth. Jetting through the air at supersonic speeds, I soon lost track of where I was.
Perhaps it was best that I ran, because as I slowed down and looked below me, I saw a half-built metallic structure, swarming with activity. Probably Robotnik. I couldn't think of anyone else that it was likely to be. Certainly not GUN; they'd lost a lot of credibility since… since I escaped, since they ended up chasing the wrong hedgehog, since a single treasure hunter - Rouge - had got into their base and stolen their heavily-guarded Chaos Emeralds. And they'd lost a lot of resources since… since the Prison Island base had been destroyed. Most of the force there had been robots, but I still wonder how many people had perished. Maria… I wish… I wish I'd known…
I tried to think of something else as I cut my jets and let myself fall, snapping them back on in the instant before I hit the ground. Then I looked up, to the structure that was being built. It was definitely Robotnik; I recognised his style. As I watched, a small group of robots began coming closer. I ducked behind cover, not wanting to be seen… yet. One of them spoke to the others in that flat, metallic voice that they all had.
"Orders have been received. Emerald Gather Program is to be initialised immediately. Priority One. By the command of Master Robotnik."
Then they went on in silence. Robots have no use for conversation. I wondered what he was planning this time, and I had a horrible feeling that he'd been behind Sonic's coma, was going to use this opportunity to strike against the world. Well, one thing was certain - he was up to no good, and if he wanted the Emeralds, I'd have to get them first.
So that's what I did. He must have been planning this for months, maybe ever since his last attempt at world domination failed, because no matter how far or how fast I had to go to find those Emeralds, his robots were always right behind me. Several weeks passed, though, before I even found the first one; after that I decided I'd have to go and get Tails' help, even if he didn't want to leave Sonic. I had to have his Emerald detector.
To my surprise, when I made it back to the city, Tails was staying with Amy. He seemed strange, withdrawn, but he agreed to come with me readily enough. I was a lot more surprised, though, when Amy insisted on coming. In any case, we took Tails' plane and Emerald detector, and went off to find the Emeralds.
The only one we didn't have, the dark blue one, was in Robotnik's clutches by the time we found out about it. In the weeks we'd spent finding those Emeralds and keeping them out of his hands, he'd already built or re-activated several bases - bases that would give him a clear line of fire to almost anywhere. They were the beginnings of his web that would cover the planet…
When we found out he had the deep blue Emerald, we knew we had to get it off him. We knew where he was, too, because Tails had intercepted some radio communications. Now that I think back on it, I believe those messages were designed to lure us in - he had all this planned, from the beginning… But then, I didn't think of that. None of us did. I Chaos Controlled us into his inner rooms, and found him waiting in some kind of big machine. I think it was then that I began to suspect it had all been a trap. I remember he gestured to the blue Emerald where it lay behind a thick screen of greenish glass.
"At last! I have defeated all of you! With Sonic gone, I have been able to complete my greatest invention yet - one, Shadow, that will destroy the very source of your power!" He seemed so totally confident, but even I didn't realise what he had planned.
"Give up, Robotnik!" Tails shouted. "We've beaten your robots, we can beat you!" But he was worried; he looked to Amy for reassurance. I don't think she could give him any, but I wasn't paying attention.
"I'm getting tired of this, Robotnik. Why don't you just give in now?" I was trying to stall, to either figure out what he'd planned or just to lower his guard so I could attack him.
"Give up? What, when I'm so close to winning? I don't think you quite understand who has the upper hand this time, Shadow!" I didn't even wait for him to finish speaking, and he never even saw me coming - but when I hit his machine's armour I fell back! I leaped to my feet immediately, but I could tell I hadn't made so much as a dent!
"Only the power of a Chaos Emerald can break this armour, Shadow! Certainly you wouldn't be able to! And now, Shadow, I'm going to destroy you, Sonic, and all your pathetic little friends once and for all!" Inside his cockpit I saw him pressing buttons, and wondered what he'd meant by the earlier reference to the source of my power. But there was no time for thinking! I spun round in a microsecond, throwing myself into a spin as I did, heading directly for the glass that protected the Emerald. As I collided with the barrier it shattered, but it was tougher than I'd thought, and I missed grabbing the Emerald by several centimetres. Almost before I landed, laser beams began to fire from Robotnik's machine. I dodged and tried to reach the Emerald, but every time I tried another beam would fire in front of me until it was all I could do to avoid them.
The fight continued for a while, I suppose, but I don't really remember much of what happened. When I finally managed to approach the Emerald, flung a hand out to grab it, he was yelling
"Now to destroy this Emerald you seem to want so much!" I knew then that everything depended on my catching it. Time seemed to slow down as my hand reached the Chaos Emerald, as my fingers closed around it, as - as a brilliant blue-white beam of pure energy lanced out from Robotnik's vehicle, striking the Emerald… and my arm. I might have cried out; I don't know. The natural energy that always protected me was blasted away under that terrible power, and in an instant my hand was gone. It was only a moment before the pain hit me, a moment in which I saw the Emerald suspended in the beam, glowing fiercer and brighter, but the light was uneven, as if cracks were beginning to cross its flawless surface. Then I fell, and as I fell, there was a huge explosion that flung me across the room, through where the wall had once been, and away. The last thing I felt was the energy of the Emerald streaming past me in all directions, and I knew it was irretrievably broken, power scattered…
Tails and Amy saved my life. They brought me back from the brink of death, and when I was recovered enough to handle it, Tails gave me this robotic arm. They'd found some people left over from the destruction caused in the city by the shockwave of the explosion - Chess, Trick and Gaze, and of course Blaze and Crossfire - and formed a small resistance group. Since then one day blurs into another, pain and exhaustion almost all I feel… until now. Until Sonic awoke, a friend I thought I'd never see again, a figure from the past undefeated by Robotnik… until Sonic awoke, a figure from yesterday. Maybe together we can defeat Robotnik and build a new tomorrow from yesterday's undulled hopes… maybe…