"Project Alias, attack!" The two robots sped towards shadow at great velocities. Shadow moved forward and grabbed them. He then spun around several times and let go. They flew several yards and hit the rubble from Eggman's base. Metal Super Sonic came darting towards Shadow. Shadow then spun into a blade and sliced his way through. Metal Super Sonic was destroyed, yet Metal Hyper Shadow was still active.
"Chaos Control!" They both used Chaos Control rapidly, fighting through space and time. Eggman; being the scientist that he was, was taking notes on the battle, as if they were lab rats. Shadow noticed this, then threw Metal Hyper Shadow into Eggman. Shadow then looked down. His voice desperate. "Maybe Dark Hedgehog was right. You sit there, and study me, like I'm some kind of experiment. I will not allow this to continue!" Green and black colors surrounded him as he charged up his main attack. "Shadow Ball of the Ultimate!" When it fired, an enormous explosion could be seen from miles away. Sonic immediately saw this. Yet the explosion made no sound at all. Metal Hyper Shadow and Eggman were immediately destroyed. Shadow heard something.
"Now what..." As Shadow turned and was beginning to enter ARK II, he saw himself, standing in front of the entrance. "What!" It spoke to him in a calm voice.
"Hello, I am Shadow, the ultimate clone." From behind Shadow came Eggman, a person Shadow was getting tired of seeing. Eggman looked at the ruble, of which used to be Metal Hyper Shadow, and himself.
"Hmmm, I see you've destroyed my clone," Eggman looked at his clone, then at Shadow. "And met yours." Eggman was smiling again. "I must admit, had you come sooner, the clones and Project Alias would not have left before you blew everything up. You knew I'd try something sooner or later, didn't you? Or is that what you've been planning?" Shadow was smiling too.
"You figured me out." He stared at his clone, no longer smiling. "However, if you think this cheap copy can defeat me..." The clone stopped him in mid-sentence.
"Oh no, I'm no cheap copy, I'm superior in every way. And I can prove it. Chaos Control!" Shadow jumped in the air, only to be hit to the ground. He got up, breathing hard for the first time in ages.
"How did you know I was going to..." Again, the clone interrupted.
"Going to what? Move? Come now, I'm not stupid, I knew you'd try to evade me." Eggman was very pleased with the results of the first attack. Shadow stood up.
"All right, my turn." Shadow ran forward, then used Chaos Control. He appeared behind the clone and kicked him into the ground. The clone got up with not even so much as a scratch.
"You're going to have to do better than that." The clone punched Shadow into the ocean. The clone then took the battle underwater. They began struggling as every hit was unsuccessful. Shadow than jumped out of the water and caught the clone off guard.
"Shadow Ball of Destiny!" But before the attack was fired, Shadow used Chaos Control and appeared behind the clone. The attack blew half of the water out of the sea, and ended his clone's life, however; the body remained intact. He got out of the water, looking at Eggman's enraged face. "You... you killed him... you killed the genetically enhanced clone... my creation... my work..." Shadow was now laughing.
"Eggman, you're not as sneaky as you think you are. I know everything, what you did, how you did it, and why." Shadow said this as he walked towards him. Eggman stared, lost for words, Shadow continued his speech. "It's your fault Gerald had to shut down the ARK; you were afraid, afraid that I might replace you. Funny, simple jealousy caused years of destruction." Eggman looked down, obviously wanting to forget the past. "You ratted him out, and what you don't know, is that he knew it was you. He had cameras everywhere, and he saw you talking in your journal. Well, since vengeance is my specialty, I thought I might show you, that your great grandfather has a secret. The secret, of immortality." Just then, a shadow was seen against the ARK II, when it came into full view, the identity was obvious, Dr. Gerald Robotnik. He wasted no time to speak.
"Eggman, my grandson, you deserve to die for what you did to me. Now you know how I felt, when all my work was taken away from me. But, seeing as how you are my great grandson, we can work things out." As walked up to Eggman, slapped him across the face. Gerald suddenly became angry. "Don't you ever disrespect me again!" When Shadow saw him do this, he remembered something... something from long ago.
"Shadow, if you don't get this right, I'm going to launch you into space!" Shadow was lying on the floor, hopeless as Gerald yelled for what seemed like forever. "Again, run the program!" Shadow sat there, doing nothing but creating a shield, protecting him from projectiles that were being fired from various types of machines. "Cut, stop it now, stop it now!" Gerald walked up to Shadow, whispering furiously at him. "You see all those people? They came here to see you, my work, and you just sit there and embarrass me with your shields! Now start attacking or else!" Shadow looked away, angering Gerald even more. "Don't turn when I'm talking to you!" Gerald slapped him and locked him in the room. "Leave him there; he is disgrace to me and my work."
Shadow couldn't even remember Gerald letting him out. He then snapped back into reality as Gerald went up to him. He was a fool for trusting Gerald. "You did me proud, now, let's destroy this place, and begin life anew, we can..." Shadow looked up, his voice once again flat.
"No." Shadow's eyes flickered red. "An omen never forgiving." Gerald looked confused.
"What are you talking about?" Shadow uppercutted him as he flew into Eggman.
"I know now how Dark Hedgehog felt... I know why he left... I know why you erased my memory." Gerald was trying to act innocent, and repeated his question.
"What are you talking about!" Shadow's voice became more demanding.
"You, Gerald, I'm talking about you. You erased my memory so that I wouldn't run away as Dark Hedgehog did. You realized your mistake and you tried to cover it up." Gerald stood up and pulled out an emerald.
"I had hoped it wouldn't come to this. Do you see this Shadow? This is a Transfer Emerald, I invented it. It allows me to transfer my energy into a dead body, gives me full knowledge of its powers and attacks, and allows me to use all of its attributes as I see fit. But who... say... your clone?" Shadow was now confused.
"What do mean?" Gerald raised the emerald.
"Just watch." He mumbled some words as a white mist exited his now dead body, and entered Shadow's clone's. Suddenly, Shadow was hit to the floor. When he looked up; his clone was there, or rather, Gerald. "This body has been wasted... it has so much potential!" He grabbed Shadow's neck and threw him to the ground. As soon as Shadow stood up, Gerald was already next him. His hands began to glow as he punched Shadow, causing him to become buried in ruble. Gerald shoved his hand into the ground, pulled Shadow up, and threw him back on to the ground. He spoke as he slowly walked toward him for another attack. "Shadow… you may not want to hear this… but you are not, Shadow the Hedgehog." Shadow looked at him funny.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Gerald continued his accusation.
"The real Shadow died when he fell from the ARK, trying to save this stupid planet. Eggman here copied his body and DNA, and created an army of Shadow Androids. But for some unknown reason, one of them was defective, he had the real Shadow's memories, he then became hostile." Eggman now looked confused.
"How did you… how did you know I did all of that!" Gerald shook his head.
"I've been watching this planet for sometime now. When that Shadow Android disappeared, I went looking for him; I thought I may be able to use him to still destroy the world. But I was obviously mistaken, this android I speak of, is you, Shadow." Gerald threw his arm out and began choking Shadow. "It didn't have to be this way you know... you shouldn't have been poking around those security files." Shadow could hardly speak.
"You, this is not... the doctor I remember..." Shadow coughed as Gerald laughed.
"What do you mean by that?" Shadow spoke, with much difficulty.
"The doctor I remember, wanted to save humanity... not destroy it!" Gerald looked down.
"Things have changed, ever since the real Shadow died, I gave up hope in humanity. Even when the ARK was shut down, and I was said to have gone mentally insane... I still had hope, that our world would be safe. I did not want it to end like this, but you, and the rest of the androids must be destroyed, you should never have been created... Shadow... should have never been created." Gerald kept his grip tight as he looked down sadly. Shadow still had questions.
"Why must we be destroyed? You're not telling me something!" Shadow's raise in voice angered Gerald.
"Because, Maria..." Shadow's eyes widened.
"Maria? What about Maria?" Shadow felt he was getting closer to the truth. "Who is Maria? Why do I keep thinking about her?" Gerald shook his head.
"It doesn't matter, you are an android, you do not need to know. All I will say, is that she was Shadow's only friend, even I neglected him sometimes..." Gerald looked away, but quickly looked back at Shadow in anger. "But I will right my wrong! Right here, right now!" He tightened his grip. Shadow knew the conversation would not continue, he had to stop Gerald before he himself gets killed.
"You... are so... stupid..." Gerald began to laugh.
"What are you talking about?" Shadow smiled.
"This... Chaos Control!" They disappeared. Then reappeared in the remains of ARK. Gerald's grip was still as tight as ever, as he looked at the new surroundings.
"So, you chose ARK as your final resting place, makes no difference to me." Shadow for some reason was calm and confident.
"You forget something... you're in a clone's body now... and clones are powered by the Master Emerald... so what do you think happens... when I reverse that energy... using a fake emerald?" Gerald almost had a scared look on his face.
"You wouldn't, you'd destroy this whole planet!" Shadow then shoved the emerald into the clone's body, which soon caught fire. Gerald looked at the injury, than at Shadow, madder than ever. Shadow shook his head.
"Gerald, you disappoint me. I would have thought that you of all people would know that that can't happen. This place, the ARK, will hold in the explosion. The planet, will remain unharmed." Gerald became infuriated at this accurate statement.
"I don't care what you do... you will die with me!" The fire spread all over his body, then to Shadow, and soon the ARK. Shadow was hanging there, smiling, and now talking normal.
"Your time is way over due, Gerald." Explosions were going off everywhere as an automated voice came on the intercom, instructing everyone to leave the premises. Gerald still had a hold of Shadow.
"How are you smiling like that! Have you no feeling!" Gerald was now subject to incredible pain.
"I am a copy of the ultimate life form... what did you expect, a teddy bear?" The explosions were now bigger and more frequent. Gerald was looking side to side nervously.
"No, no, no, no, you are an android! I saw Shadow's dead body! You should not be this strong!" Shadow was still smiling, calm as ever. Soon the automated voice died out as the systems became fried. A giant explosion could be heard as half of the ARK blew into large fragments. Another one was then heard. "It is now time, to realize your fate, Dr. AHHHH!" Shadow transformed into Hyper Shadow. Gerald seemed to be unaffected by this.
"Your petty transformations can't save you here!" Shadow laughed out loud.
"I'm not done yet, while on my rampage, I realized that I am not to be bound by the will of others, it was at that point, when I remembered my promise to Maria, and I broke free of your control. So I thought I might do some excavating. And I found my favorite emerald. Ha ha ha ha!" Shadow transformed into Chaotica Shadow. This confused Gerald.
"You... you discovered an Elemental Emerald!" Shadow laughed at this, explosions still going off.
"Gerald, all three Elemental Emeralds were found." Gerald laughed at this.
"My dear boy, there are four Elemental Emeralds!" And with Gerald's other hand, he reached out and pressed the emergency seal off button, preventing the ARK's destruction. Slowly, the explosions died away. "What do you plan to do now?" Shadow was angered at his futile attempts to get out of here alive.
"I do not plan anything, I have no time for such foolishness. I am the defective Shadow Android, I have surpassed the expectations of the real Shadow the Hedgehog, and tonight, I shall pay punishment to you for all the pain and suffering you've caused me! The Shadow legacy ends here! Ahhhh, Chaos Blast!" Shadow unleashed the biggest Chaos Blast he had ever performed, and ARK finally exploded with a bang that the world could hear. Eggman was thrown back from the huge explosion, he stood up looking at the now demolished ARK, watching, knowing that the defective Shadow Android was dead.
"Shadow... you fool, you've left the world in my hands... all mine." He turned towards the ARK II; thinking he would take it over, but it was gone.
Eventually, everyone noticed that General Shadow's rampage was no longer a threat, and the world was slowly repopulated using the Master Emerald over a course of five long years. But no matter how hard they tried, no matter what had happened, no one would ever forget, the terrible times. Sonic disappeared shortly after. Only a lone note was found, and this is all it said. "General Shadow, is no more. However, a friend still lives." What this means, I leave to you. For I have told you exactly what I said I would, the rise and fall, of Shadow the Hedgehog.