Disclaimer: I don't own SEGA, meaning I don't own any of their characters.
Chapter 2: What's wrong with Sonic's friends?
Earl was flipping sausages in his hot-dog stand, and humming happily to himself. Ever since Sonic the Hedgehog appeared in Station Square, Earl has started to earn more money than any other food-stand people, since he made the best Chilidogs in town, and well…every time Sonic would order at LEAST 20 chilidogs from him.
(Ok, so SEGA never said anything about Sonic's favorite food, but let's just pretend that this Sonic, like the Archie Sonic, loves Chilidogs too, shall we?)
Suddenly, Sonic seemingly appeared out of nowhere, greeting Earl, and was followed by a big gust of wind.
"Hey Sonic! My favorite customer! What'll it be today buddy?" Earl said enthusiastically.
"How about…twenty-five chilidogs and two Cokes?" Sonic said.
"Sure thing!" Earl said, and then lowered his voice, "By the way Sonic, I think you got some competition." He pointed at the opposite direction that Sonic was facing. Sonic turned around to face…
"Shadow!" Sonic said in surprise. Shadow was sitting lazily on a chair at a table, eating about 3 Chilidogs at the same time. There were about twenty more chilidogs on the table. Shadow looked up in surprise, and nodded towards Sonic, acknowledging him. He was temporarily unable to speak thanks to the Chilidogs that were stuffed in his mouth. Sonic walked over to Shadow.
"Shadow, were you been these past three months man? After you defeated Black Doom, you just disappeared! And now, bam! Your suddenly here." Sonic said, sitting down opposite of Shadow. "Oh, and by the way, I know you love me man, but going as far as eating as much Chilidogs as me? Awwww, I didn't know I had such a committed fan!" Sonic said jokingly. Shadow glared at Sonic, trying as quickly as he can to swallow all the chilidogs in his mouth. Finally, he was able to say something.
"For your information, Chilidogs are my favorite foods too, FAKER. " Shadow said, still glaring at Sonic.
"Whoa whoa whoa, since when did the 'Great Ultimate Life-form' have to eat?" Sonic said, trying to counter his own given nickname. Shadow's face suddenly changed, a shadow crossing over his face.
"Don't call me 'Ultimate Life-form,'" he growled.
"Well then don't call me Fak-…wait, since when did you start hating the name 'Ultimate Life-form'? I thought you looooooooved to brag about that." Sonic asked, a little surprised by Shadow's reaction.
"I…I want to forget my awful past…and move on." Shadow said, closing his eyes.
(I haven't played Shadow the Hedgehog, but I heard that at the end he says, "Goodbye, Shadow the Hedgehog." So I guess he sort of wants to forget about his past and move on. Back to the story…)
"oh…" Sonic said, dropping his gaze, "I understand."
Shadow was surprised for a moment at Sonic's sudden change of attitude, but immediately regained his composure.
"YOU understand? Not likely." Shadow said. "Well anyway, after I defeated Black Doom, I went on a…I guess you could call it a 'vacation'. I traveled around the planet, getting to know Earth better for three months." Because Maria would have liked that. Shadow thought. He quickly shook himself mentally. NO, I will leave my past behind.
"YOU? Take a vacation? You sure you're the real Shadow?" Sonic said, mockingly looking suspiciously at Shadow. "And besides, you should've told me you were traveling the globe. I coulda been your tour-guide!"
"Believe me Sonic, you have yet to know the real me. And what the hell's a tour-guide?" Shadow said, taking another bite out of his chilidog.
"You don't know what a tour-guide is?" Sonic said, surprised.
"I have only been on Earth for a couple of months, incase you're thick skull's too dumb to notice." Shadow said. Sonic ignored Shadow's comment. Looking at Shadow eating (eww), Sonic remembered Shadow hasn't answered his question yet.
"Hey, you still haven't told me why you're eating. I mean…you're immortal and all, so you never have to eat, right?"
"Correct, but that doesn't mean I can't eat. I happen to…enjoy eating."
Sonic blinked once. Twice. Finally, he couldn't contain himself any longer. He started to laugh uncontrollably, rolling on the ground. Shadow glared at him, then kicked the rolling Sonic. Hard.
"OW! What the hell's wrong with you? Can't you take a joke?" Sonic said, rubbing the back of his head, where it was kicked.
"No, and I suggest you remember not to make fun of me in the future if you want to keep your life." Shadow said coldly.
Sonic sighed.
"Come on Shadow, can't you just be a little friendly? I mean, we did save the world together and all."
Shadow glared at Sonic again.
"I AM being friendly. I wouldn't be even talking to you now if I wasn't."
But Sonic's attention just turned to all of his friends; Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Cream, and even Rouge, who were all walking towards the Hot-Dog stand. What really confused Sonic however, was that they were all huddled together, whispering at the same time to each other. They all had worried expressions on their faces. Suddenly Amy broke into tears.
"Faker? FAKER! Are you even listening to me at all?" Shadow interrupted Sonic's thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, Shadow, can you wait here for a sec? I gotta see something." Sonic said distractedly. Something's not right. Sonic thought as he ran towards his friends, who have not appeared to notice him and Shadow yet.
"Hey guys! Whattup?" Sonic said as he caught up with them. They all suddenly turned to stare at him, their eyes looking as though they've just seen a ghost. Amy started to cry even harder.
"Oh great, just our luck." Rouge said sarcastically.
"What do you mean 'just out luck'. Why are you guys so surprised to see me? And what's wrong with Amy?" Sonic questioned. To his surprise, everybody's eyes shifted away from him, their faces looking uncomfortable. Suddenly, Amy hugged Sonic, her eyes flooding with tears.
"Oh, Sonic, I can't believe it…sniff…" She wailed, half choking Sonic. Sonic got a little annoyed.
"Ok, WHAT is going on here? Why are you all avoiding my eyes? Knuckles aren't you supposed to be guarding the Master Emerald? Rouge, aren't you supposed to be stealing something? Tails, maybe you can explain!" Sonic asked. Tails looked up in horror as he heard his name.
"Um…y-you see Sonic, I…s-sort of discovered something…" Tails became silent.
"Go on."
"Well…I…I…I-"
"Shadow?" Knuckles suddenly interrupted. Everybody, except Sonic, turned their attention towards Shadow, who now has finished his food and was slurping on his drink. He gave the smallest hint of a nod to acknowledge them.
"Oh, yea I forgot to tell you guys. You know three moths ago when he defeated Black Doom and disappeared? All he did for the past three months was to explore Earth and chill out." Sonic explained, but he noticed that when the others saw Shadow, their already pale faces turned even paler.
"This can NOT be a coincidence." Knuckles said to himself, shaking his head.
"THAT'S IT, I DEMAND TO KNOW WHY THE HELL YOU GUYS ARE ACTING SO WEIRD TODAY!" Sonic shouted. He hated when he didn't know something that the others knew. Amy cried even harder, and Cream started to cry too. Tails also looked as if he was on the verge of tears.
"Look, I'm sorry for screaming," Sonic said, his voice softening, "but I just want to know WHY your were all huddled together and when you saw me and Shadow, why you guys all looked scared all of a sudden."
Tails took a big, shaky breath, and stepped forward as if he was on a stage.
"S-Sonic? You know how…I took the Tornado for a spin this morning? …Well, I flew over Christmas Island…you know, the place where you were born…a-and while I was flying over it, I saw a-a strange building…it actually looked sort of like one of Robotnik's bases…but it was MUCH smaller…so…I thought that I would take a look…"
Sonic listened, tapping his foot. Tails sure is taking his sweet-ass time. He thought impatiently.
"so…I flew down…and went inside…but it was empty…it looked as if nobody's been in it for twenty years…but I-I…I discovered something…in it…well, I'll spare you all the details…all you need to know is that first, I-I discovered…that Gerald Robotnik actually escaped the ARK fifty years ago…"
Shadow suddenly materialized besides Sonic, and screamed at Tails, "WHAT? ARE YOU SERIOUS?"
Everybody took a step back from Shadow's sudden outburst. Tails however, continued.
"…and that when he escaped…he took refuge on Christmas Island…"
Tails was interrupted by Shadow agian, this time screaming, "THAT BASTARD! THAT FUCKING NO GOOD BASTARD!"
Amy quickly covered Cream's ears.
"-HE DIDN'T TAKE MARIA AND ME WITH HIM! THAT STUPID SELFISH BASTARD!" Shadow was now clenching his fists tightly, his face red.
"SHADOW!" Tails said quickly, "please calm down, I also have an explanation of why he left you a Maria on ARK!"
Shadow glared at him.
"You better have a good explanation fox…or else."
Tails took another shaky deep breath,
"So…when…I…started exploring inside…I-I found Robotnik's Journal…o-one of the entries explained how he found out about GUN's attack…a day before they attacked…and it said how…he made a clone of himself…so that GUN wouldn't get suspicious when he escaped…but how the cloning machine…couldn't clone Shadow or Maria…so he was forced-" Tails put an emphasis on the word 'forced', looking up at Shadow, "to abandon…you and Maria…and escaped to Christmas island…and GUN took the clone Robotnik thinking it was…the real one…" Tails paused for a moment, and turned to Sonic, "this next part…concerns you Sonic…in his journal…Robotnik said that…he…he…was also working on…a new…Ultimate Life-form…project…"
Shadow's ears perked up, and he felt every muscle in his body tensing up.
"…using Shadow's DNA…but not Black Doom's…(I don't know if Sonic and the others know about Gerald using Black Doom's DNA to help create Shadow in STH, so I'm sorry if I got something wrong.)…he create…a second…Ultimate Life-form…and…that life form…is…is…"
"Sonic." Shadow finished Tail's sentence for him, a look of pure horror on his face.
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