Chapter 5: Shade
(time for some fan-characters)
May 24, unknown year. 9:58 PM. GUN Military base Sigma, Omega cellblock.
"GET UP, MARINES! THE CORP AIN'T PAYIN' US BY THE HOUR!
Jynx and Zephyr were jolted awake by an extremely loud and obnoxious voice screaming in their ears. Both the cat and the hedgehog jumped to attention as Sgt. Baxter shrieked at them.
"It's about time ladies," the human growled, not realizing his own pun, "As you no doubt obviously know by now, these green-horns down at GUN are still too busy fightin' Black Arms forces to take care of their own bases. So they've got us three on loan from the Corp so we can watch their own little prisoner here in Omega cell. AND I CATCH YOU TWO NAPPING ON THE JOB, AGAIN! We can't aff…"
As Baxter prattled on, Jynx tuned him out. She had heard his little monologue a million times before, and knew it by heart. When he had his backed turned, she and Zephyr would mimic him and chortle with silent mirth. Neither of them liked Baxter, he being loud, obnoxious, bossy, and a by-the-book leatherneck. But, they still gave him a small measure of respect, because he had proved to be worth the three million war medals adorning his chest.
During the initial invasion of the Black Arms forces, the three of them had been marooned in the middle of a particularly fierce battle between Eggman droids and the offending aliens. Zephyr ended up getting caught in the cross fire of plasma weaponry, and had been wounded severely. Baxter had gone back for the hedgehog, took out an entire platoon of aliens with one grenade, and got shot in the back with a plasma beam nine times without so much as grimacing in pain. Upon returning to the base, he had seen that Zephyr get the best medical treatment available. But she had been injured so critically, she had one arm, a leg, her right eye, and a lung removed and replaced with a machine equivalent.
But despite all of this, Jynx flat out refused to listen to Baxter's little speech. Which he was finishing, by the way.
"…which is why we have to be constantly vigilant. Am I right, Marines?"
"Sir, yes sir!" both furries replied.
"Damn right I am! Now if so much as a fly gets in this cell, I'LL HAVE YOUR ASSES CUT OFF AND HUNG UP ABOVE MY MANTEL!
And the human left. After she was sure he was gone, Zephyr said, "Okay, that was random."
"Can't get much random-er," Jynx piped up.
"I don't know why we have to guard this cell, no one ever comes down here."
"No one, no thing."
"Besides, shouldn't they have a small army down here? I mean, if this guy is as bad as they say he is, won't they need more than just us and Captain annoying to watch him."
"Yep."
"…I'm hungry."
"Uh-huh."
Zephyr stood up. "I gonna get a bite to eat. You stay here and watch Mr. 'I'm so important that I need a human, hedgehog, and cat to watch me'."
And she left. Jynx was silent for a moment and then said, "How hard can watching one prisoner be?"
And then the alarm started blaring.
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Defense-bot after defense-bot rushed at Eggman, only to be blown into tiny pieces. Of course this was nothing new. Eggman had invaded and wrecked GUN bases before, and each defense grid was the same as the last; flimsy as paper and easy to get by. In the ten minutes he had been there, the genius was already approaching cellblock omega.
"All too easy!" the Genius crowed.
His walker approached a door labeled "Omega. Level ten security pass required."
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Jynx swallowed nervously. Okay, they're outside the door. But that's three feet of titanium between the intruders and me. No worries. And then the door blew inward.
Jynx was up and running before the door hit the ground. NOTE TO SELF: CHANGE NAME!
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Eggman stomped inside the cellblock and looked around; Jynx having left, there were no more guards to stand between him and his prize. Eggman smiled. Perfect. And even better, there was only one cell on-line. There was the "Ultimate Weapon".
Eggman dismounted from the mech and strode over to the door. This one was much better made. A special energy shield was in place everywhere but the control panel. And it just so happened Eggman knew the passcode.
"X9104," he barked. The light winked green, the shield deactivated, and the doors slid open.
Eggman was about to let out his trademark laugh… and then he saw the contents of the room. There was no stasis pod holding a genetic experiment. There was no super-laser like on the ARK. And there most definitely was no super robot. Instead, there was a strange two-piece device. It consisted of two giant metal hoops, the smaller residing inside the larger. Next to the hoops was a console. Eggman frowned; there had been nothing in the journal about these hoops.
Cautiously, the fat human slinked over to the control panel. A set of symbols flicked across a small screen at the top. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were coordinates. It was then Eggman realized what these hoops were. A machine that had been dreamed of since technology began. A machine that was said to be pure fiction. A machine whose equations were so complex, that men much smarter than Eggman had gone mad trying to figure it out. And yet his grandfather had done it.
Professor Gerald Robotnik had created an artificial rift gate. In other words, he had created a portal that could be manipulated to travel to other universes entirely. Not the alternate realities that Sonic and his friends had traveled to so many times before, but a new place entirely. This could have large possibilities in conquering other lands.
It was then that one of the buttons on the console caught his eye. It was flashing repeatedly and making a small beeping noise. Because of the several layers of dust covering the console, Eggman had to bend low to see it clearly. Recall. Recall?
It would be in later years that Doctor Eggman would endure all sorts of misery for his actions that day. Because of one small thing, he would let loose a vicious and terrible trial upon the world.
He pushed the button. All at once, figures jumped onto the screen to form a maelstrom of letters and numbers. They seemed like random bits of code, and then they flew together, forming new coordinates. And then the rift gate activated.
The two hoops began to spin. Their progress was slow at first, and then they began to increase their velocity. Faster and faster the two hoops turned, until they formed a grayish sphere. The sphere began to glow, brighter and brighter. Within moments, it had become a spinning ball of electricity. And all at once, it stopped. The two hoops were still, but a circle of light stood tall and ominous inside them. It stood there storming and glowing… and that was when he came.
At first Doctor Eggman only saw a silhouette, but then he stepped through. First came the leg ending in a foot clad in a rocket shoe, like Shadow's. Then came the torso, a white star set against the black spines covering his chest, followed by the arms, and lastly, the head. It was then Eggman saw the creature in full light. He was a hedgehog, shaped and clothed as Shadow was, but solid black with two exceptions. One was the star on his chest. The second was a white, crescent moon shaped scar running down his left eye.
The hedgehog's crimson eyes swept over the room, and came to a rest at Eggman. He folded his arms, smiled and said, "Hello."
The human inwardly flinched at the voice. It was Shadow's voice, but twisted, sinister, cold and cunning, the voice of a murderer. Eggman spoke. "Erm… hello. I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik," he said. In an instant the hedgehog was no longer standing in front of the machine, but was instead standing before the genius, and pumping his arm up and down in a furious hand shake.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Doctor Robotnik," he said, "My name is Shade."
"Yes, well, it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Shade," the nervous human replied as the black mobian stepped back, "Tell me, are you familiar with a professor Gerald Robotinik?"
A shadow seemed to cross Shade's face, but then it was gone, and Shade replied, "Yes I am. You are a relative of his, correct?"
"Yes, I am his grandson. How are you familiar with him?"
"I, my good man, am one of his creations. The greatest, I might add, next to this marvelous machine. I was intended to be a weapon, which might work to your advantage, I think."
Very straight to the point. "You are right. I was hoping that you might help me, say... bring this world to it's knees!"
Shade gave a malicious grin, and Eggman nearly did a double-take. His canines were sharp, really sharp.
Shade spoke, "Yes, Robotnik, yes. With our combined strength, surely no one could stand against us!"
"Yes!"
"Their forces would fall before us, their denizens would cower before our might!"
"Yes!"
"No one would be able to stop us, and those who tried would DIE!"
"YES, YES! With you by my side, world conquest will be ours."
"Unfortunately, Doctor, that is where we run into a snag."
Eggman's grin faded into a scowl; he'd been expecting something like this.
"So, Shade. Not willing to share, huh?"
"Not at all, my dear man. Your goal differs from mine."
"And what 'goal' would that be?"
"Complete and total global annihilation!"
Doctor Eggman's anger exploded into alarm. Never had he expected something like this.
"I- I cannot allow you to do that, Shade," Eggman said shakily.
Shade gave another menacing grin. "You don't have a choice, Robotnik."
Eggman was about to bolt for his walker, when Shade's hand shot forth. He was too small to reach Eggman's throat, but an invisible force bolted from the black Mobian's palm and lifted Eggman three feet off the ground. There he remained suspended for three seconds, before Shade tossed him sideways into the wall.
"All too easy," the black hedgehog said, and turned towards the door. He was met not with an empty space, but instead a huge metal battle suit. The words Hotshot were stamped across the side. And sitting at the driver's seat behind three inches of reinforced glass, was Jynx. Upon running from the door that exploded inward, she hidden in the cell opposite of Shade's, where she witnessed Shade's release. While the two villains conversed, she had run to the hangar to get a mech, and had found the newly repaired Hotshot.
And so there she stood, ready to end both of the villains. But now that Eggman had a concussion, Shade was the only available candidate. "Goin' somewhere, boyo?" she teased.
Shade glared at her and said, "Yeah, through you."
"Riiiiggghhhhht…" and she opened fire with the machine gun. Shade was instantly moving; as he picked up speed, the bottoms of his shoes caught fire, and he began to glide smoothly over the floor as the line of projectiles followed him. Jynx expertly manipulated the mech's controls and fired off a salvo of missiles. Shade jumped at the wall and ran along it; his skates deactivating. The missiles followed him, and they were gaining. The scarred one jumped off the wall and kicked the nearest missile, which immediately exploded. The other projectiles followed suit.
Jynx desperately tried to see if the missles had had any effect, when she saw a black blur in the corner of her eye. She tried to see what Shade was doing but to no avail, after all, she was in a cramped cockpit.
Shade drew back his fist and punched the huge robot's leg. It bent inward, broken like a toothpick. But the black hedgehog didn't stop there. He was already at the other leg. He grabbed the metallic ankle and pulled. Hotshot fell onto its side and Shade yanked upward. The metal armor plating did not come away. Shade demonstrated super-human (?) strength and smashed it into the ceiling and then brought it back down. The cockpit's windshield shattered, and Jynx tumbled out along with the blue Chaos Emerald powering the machine.
Jynx got to her feet, only to be immediately grabbed in a bear hug by the offending hedgehog. As she struggled, Shade said, "You'll have to try harder to kill me, my dear. You gave me gifts of bullets and missiles, and all failed. So here's my gift to you." And then the unthinkable happened. He kissed her. The cat felt a stream of what felt like sand rushing from his mouth into hers and flowing down her throat. As the rough tide subsided, she lost consciousness.
Shade smiled and reached down to her waist. He removed her equipment belt before dropping her to the floor. He then took the belt and tied it around his waist. As he walked away, he bent low and scooped up the Chaos Emerald, which he began to spin on the tip of his index finger.
"You have to try much harder than that, cat. My name is Shade, and I am the Ultimate Life form.