Chapter 5

A Brave New World

Shadow knew he had been transported out of the cavern before he even opened his eyes. Wind blew softly against his face and the sun shone bright against his closed eyelids. Shadow took a deep breath before opening his eyes. At any other time, what he saw would have taken his breath away, but Shadow's heart was too numb to soak in the sight. He stood at a high place looking down at a field of purple and orange clouds. The sun nestled between them as it set, coloring the sky a magnificent shade of red.

It was a jarringly beautiful sight compared to the dark cavern and the monster within. However, Shadow could not embrace it. He felt that he had left a part of himself back with Maria. What remained had no interest in the beauty of the sky.

Shadow turned around and saw that he was standing atop a skyscraper in a gilded city. The light of the setting sun reflected off the buildings and streets causing an intense glare that made Shadow cover his face. He knew he should feel curious or alarmed, but he slipped easily into apathy and disinterest. Shadow figured that the Realm Lord must have sent him to another timeline as Shadow did not see the perpetual storms nor the massive super structures he had seen while traveling on the glass elevator. This revelation did not interest Shadow much.

He checked his surroundings and found a door leading off the rooftop. It was locked but Shadow kicked it open with ease. He descended a tight stairwell before entering a dimly lit hallway. The building appeared to be some sort of office as they were cubicles and desks everywhere. However, there was nobody around.

Shadow walked unreservedly through the office. While he still maintained an active disinterest, he could not stop his eyes from darting around nor his mind from making subtle observations. The office was well furnished and looked new, but clearly no one had worked here for some time. There was no sign of a fight or a rapid evacuation. The office had a forced stillness about it, almost like it was a stage without its actors.

Without really meaning to, Shadow took a seat on one of the chairs. He was exhausted in every sense of the word. His body throbbed with aching sores and wounds he had taken from the battle. The outburst of energy that had allowed him to win had come at the cost of all his reserve stamina. Shadow flexed his hand, remembering what it felt like to wield the red sword he had manifested out of nowhere.

Chaos Blade. Shadow had no idea what had made him say that. Instinct had completely taken over by that point. A similar kind of instinct had allowed Shadow to learn his other abilities, but this had been very different. The knowledge and ability to use the Chaos Blade seemed to come from a different part of Shadow altogether as if a completely different nature lay beyond the reach of his conscious mind.

The part created by the Realm Lord. Shadow shivered and tried to block himself from the thought. The Realm Lord's revelations were poison in Shadow's blood. "Do you know what light you were created to emulate? Why you are called Shadow?" Those words echoed in Shadow's mind like piercing screams. "I am the answer that you have been seeking. Here, at the end of the road as I promised you I would be."

That was the one inescapable fact that Shadow could not endure. It all led back to the Realm Lord. He had caused Shadow's creation, he had even prevented Shadow from choosing his own end. The Realm Lord was the darkness that could not be prevented, the nightmare that one never woke from.

Perhaps, Shadow could have endured being a pawn, of knowing that his destiny had never been his own, but the worst of it, the part that tore at him the most was the knowledge that he only existed, he only lived because of Sonic.

"Whatcha see is whatcha get, just a guy that loves adventure!" In that one utterance, Sonic had made it clear why he and Shadow were so different. Sonic arrived at the fateful runway aboard the Ark because that is where he chose to be. The pursuit of adventure had brought him there and everything else had been set to the periphery. Shadow had been brought there by a long string of fate, starting with his own creation and ending with his promise to Maria. Before that final confrontation, Shadow felt he could respect Sonic as an adversary, as someone entirely different than himself.

Sonic, armed with agency and free will, clashed against Shadow with his promises and regret. Defeat gave Shadow a new outlook, and in the battle against the BioLizard, Shadow saw his chance to take charge of his life. Perhaps he could not choose what he lived for, but he could choose what to die for. The Realm Lord had stolen that choice from Shadow and revealed that there had never really been a choice at all. That confrontation aboard the Ark had been a lie. Sonic and he had not met as equals, they had never been equal. Shadow was simply a copy, an assassin, a lie.

These thoughts turned over in Shadow's mind. He wanted to scream, to tear everything around him into pieces, to feel the rage course through his body until he burst. But he was tired, too tired to move, too tired to feel the anger and the hurt that was building inside him.

CLICK! There was a sound from below him followed quickly by the soft patter of feet. Shadow jerked up and listened. Footsteps echoed softly from the lower floors, as well the soft scraping of metal against tile. Shadow rose and hid himself beneath one of the cubicle desks.

A minute or so later, he heard a door open. Feet shuffled inside. Shadow peered through a crack and saw a dozen or so sets of black military boots. Shadow heard faint whispering and the guards spread out. They were searching all around, but they had yet to turn on the lights. Shadow rolled himself into a ball and forced himself into a tight space. A guard searched his cubicle but could find Shadow.

At last someone broke the silence. "All clear." There was a general sigh of relief and the lights flashed on. Shadow peeked out to check the uniforms. The armor was similar but these were no G.U.N soldiers. The symbol of Eggman was plastered all over their shoulders and chest pieces. Many of the guards had robotized limbs or other enhancements.

"Someone must have triggered the alarm." One of the guards strode to the center of the room and removed their helmet. Flowing blonde hair spilled down her back. "We will have to check the other floors."

"That could take all night. Who knows, maybe a rodent or something caused the alarm." One of the male guards protested.

The female captain chuckled. "What? Do you have plans later, Gabe? I'm sure your internet girlfriend will still be there when we're done."

The laughter of the guards followed behind them as they left the office. Shadow waited until they were gone before squeezing out of his hiding place. He tiptoed towards the door leading to the roof. Crrk! Shadow looked down and saw that he had stepped on a small blinking device. "Oh sh-"

Reeeeeeeeeeee! Shadow crushed the alarm with his boot, but it was too late. Seconds later, there was a storm of feet as the guards came rushing back up the stairs. Cursing under his breath, Shadow skated forward and met them as they came spilling into the office. His sudden assault caught them off guard and he knocked four of the guards out before they could even fire their weapons.

The rest regrouped and aimed advanced guns at him. Instead of machine gun fire, Shadow was sprayed with blue white energy bolts. He ducked and rolled behind a cubicle as blaster fire eviscerated the ground and ceiling. One shot from one of those will melt me to the bone. Shadow retreated as the guards pressed forward. He was used to humans reacting much slower, but their augmentations seemed to be enhancing their senses.

The guards pressed Shadow to the far end of the office. He was running out of cover and with nowhere to run he had to switch tactics. Shadow located a fallen desk that was set at an incline and spin dashed off it like a ramp. His momentum propelled him over his attackers and Shadow dived down like a hawk at the rearmost soldier. The guard crumbled from the impact and Shadow ripped his gun from his hands.

"Behind us!" Shadow rolled and the heat of the blaster fire scorched his fur. He pressed the trigger, but did not direct his aim at his foes. While the guards jumped for cover, Shadow fired a circle into the ground and stomped on it. The floor broke allowing Shadow to fall into a lower story. "After him!"

Shadow heard the guards up ahead race towards the stairs giving him a few moments of respite. He tossed his blaster rifle aside and started running down an empty hallway. At the end he found a wall sized window and no doors. He paused momentarily to look through the window. The gilded towers and roads he had seen from the rooftop were revealed to be made from a metal so pristine it reflected light almost perfectly. Now that the sun had set, the towers had turned silver from the light of the moon shining brightly in the sky.

Helicopter-like vehicles darted between the various buildings and the roads were flooded with hundreds of sleek looking cars moving at high speeds. Massive projection lights decorated the skies, the largest of which played against the building opposite Shadow. The projection was a red face, the face of Dr. Eggman.

"Don't move!" Shadow turned to see the woman leader approaching him. She held a simple sidearm and was alone. As she got closer, she slowly lowered her weapon. When she stepped into the light of the window she froze. "Shadow?"

"Maria?"