They arrived at the coast sometime in the early hours of the morning, before the sun had risen. Shadow moved his motorcycle off of the cracked, deserted road they'd come in on to park in an equally unkempt patch of asphalt. Both of the hedgehogs got off the bike and examined the darkened waters of the shore ahead of them. An old wooden staircase ran up the hill they stood on leading to a withered lighthouse.
"We're way out in the boonies now," Sonic said. "This isn't DWMA territory,"
"Yet they chose this region as the place to conduct their experiments half a century ago. Experiments involving me," Shadow exhaled in thought. "They definitely didn't want people knowing about this place,"
"So now we need our own boat or something?" Sonic asked.
` "The lighthouse," Shadow replied.
"The instructions didn't mention the lighthouse," Sonic recalled.
"I know," Shadow began walking up the stairs.
Sonic followed. "Did you remember something?"
"It feels familiar, at least. I want to see what's inside,"
Shadow opened the creaky metal door and entered the lighthouse alongside Sonic. The main floor consisted of mostly smooth yet dingy concrete. One metal staircase ran upward in a spiral, with another similar spiral running downward.
"They're kinda crummy, but this place still has lights," Sonic gestured toward the few self-contained lights embedded into the walls and ceiling.
Shadow moved to go lower. "This place was built to last,"
The two walked down the spiral of steps. An assortment of dim lights were here as well. They were spaced generously, so the bottom floor was difficult to make out.
"Sure goes down a ways," Sonic said with unease.
"I think I know why,"
Once the two did reach solid ground again, Shadow stopped at the center of the floor. Sonic stood next to him, and noticed a smooth, black rectangle on the wall in front of them. It was reflective like a mirror. Shadow took the glove off his right hand and placed his palm on the smooth surface. A few thin, circular ripples of light moved out from where his hand was. Sonic responded by making a noise that was reminiscent of a laugh and a sigh. After the lights reached the edge of the black rectangle, the whole thing began lowering into the ground. A metallic click came, revealing a new path.
A concrete hall brought them into a much larger transit tunnel. They stood on a raised ledge that connected to a metal platform. Said platform was attached to a set of rails on the lowered floor ahead. One control booth sat atop the otherwise flat construct. The whole thing resembled some kind of cargo elevator that only went horizontally. Shadow casually entered the booth. Sonic poked his head in, and saw two buttons, one with an arrow pointing forward and one back, as well as an emergency brake lever.
"Oh man. You better remember which button to press fast! Otherwise, we'll be stuck here forever!" Sonic spoke with fake urgency.
"Good one," Shadow replied with amusement so mild that it barely in his tone.
He pressed the arrow that pointed into the tunnel ahead of them. The platform detached from the station, then began accelerating gradually until it reached a surprisingly high speed. The two hedgehogs left the booth and stood at the front of the platform. Enough of an air current had been generated that it stirred their quills slightly. The efficient mechanisms of the transport were quiet enough to make the ride fairly peaceful.
"Man, it would really suck to have to go into a place like this alone. I guess it's a good thing you're so slow. Now you don't have to," Sonic stated with mischief.
Shadow frowned. "Are we really joking about that now?"
"What do you mean? You've always been slow,"
"That's not what I-," Shadow let out an annoyed sigh when he saw Sonic's knowing smirk.
"So you admit that you're slow?"
Shadow slumped onto the rail and rested his cheek on his hand. "I should have tried to knock you off the bike or something,"
"You wouldn't do that. I'm too important, remember?"
Shadow felt his face burning. His level of annoyance rose as well. "I'm pretty sure I could do that without killing you. Same with smacking that smirk off your face,"
Sonic leaned his head toward Shadow. "Smack away, tough guy,"
Shadow looked his meister in the eyes briefly before flicking him on the nose. Shadow then turned off to the side to watch the steel and concrete passing them by. "If I admit that a little part of me is glad you're here, will you shut up?"
Sonic chuckled. "Nope,"
"Never mind then,"
"Too late. No take backs,"
Shadow decided saying nothing would be the best option at this point, as was the usual solution for dealing with Sonic when he behaved like this. After some time passed, he suddenly found himself speaking again.
"I still don't regret running, you know,"
Sonic shrugged "And I don't regret chasing after you,"
Shadow turned back to Sonic. "You might. After we find out who I really am,"
Sonic shook his head "I don't know what we're going to find, but even if it ends badly, it's better than never trying in the first place,"
That answer didn't surprise Shadow much, but it didn't make him feel less nervous either. When the destination approached, the platform's speed diminished until it was creeping into the station. Hissing hydraulics greeted Sonic and Shadow from below when they stepped off the transport. They left the depot then walked down another compact hallway. It wasn't long until they found a ladder leading up to a hatch.
Shadow stared up the tunnel. "Can you sense anything up there?"
Sonic looked up the ladder before closing his eyes. "No,"
"We better be careful then,"
"I'm going up first!"
Sonic leapt up the ladder and began climbing frantically. Shadow growled, following immediately after.
"I'm the weapon! I should go first!"
"Nah,"
Sonic reached the hatch then turned the circular valve. Aside from a bit of squeaking and some resistance, it opened. Sonic climbed out with Shadow close behind. Shadow scanned the area urgently, searching for any signs of danger.
They were in a small cave now. Splashing water came from waves colliding against the mouth of this formation.
"The top of this hatch looks like a rock," Sonic observed.
"Disguised on both ends," Shadow noted. "They wanted to keep outsiders away, but also contain someone or something on this side,"
"They wouldn't have been containing you though, would they? The gate let you through from the outside,"
"There must have been something else then,"
Both of the hedgehogs emerged from the cave and found themselves on a beach. The continued input from the waves hitting the shore gave something between a peaceful and an eerie ambiance. The sky was just barely beginning to glow. Dense forestation covered the mainland of the island. No signs of life were found until Sonic focused.
"I do sense something now. Feels like Infinite's wavelength. Guess he's here after all,"
"Where?" Shadow searched around.
"Up the shore. I think it's one of his copies,"
After proceeding, a doppelganger of a jackal man did appear before them. It was walking along the beach in the form of the unmasked Zero that Shadow had spoken with previously. When the copy noticed Sonic and Shadow, it stood in place without moving. The two hedgehogs stopped and shifted their balance in case the illusion decided to attack. Instead, the image flickered before seeming to return to normal. It blinked at them.
"There you are, Shadow," Zero said. "You surprised me. I was expecting you to arrive by boat. You didn't need my instructions to get here?"
"I did at first. They helped me remember another path,"
"Have any of your memories returned?"
"No, it all just seems vaguely familiar,"
Zero glanced over at Sonic. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "You brought your meister along,"
"Is that a problem?" Sonic asked.
"It makes no difference to me. Shadow expressed some concern over corrupting me through soul resonance. I assume that's not an issue for you either?"
"It's not," Sonic replied bluntly.
"Alright then. All three of us will join minds by resonating so you can see what happened when I first came here. I'm speaking to both of you through a projection that was serving as a lookout. It will guide you to my body,"
Zero flickered before his duplicate mindlessly led them further down the beach. A cliffside began forming off of the mainland, gaining elevation over the trio as they continued to move along the shore. Eventually, an archway formed out of the cliff that stuck in the sand. Embedded under the arch was a square doorway, with said door already being lowered. Just inside the doorway sat a plaque that read:
ARK Institute of Science
Their first path was a straight staircase that led deeper beneath the island. Once below, they came upon a network of hallways that resembled the ones Sonic and Shadow had traversed earlier, although this place seemed more heavily reinforced with metal. It was more well lit at first. Some sections of the facility were damaged
They passed by many different rooms, but didn't stop to get a thorough look. From what they could glean in passing, the rooms ranged from examination rooms with a variety of tech, to residential areas that were very unassuming. Sonic noticed Shadow's gaze was much more focused now that they were inside. His eyes were searching diligently.
"You okay?"
Shadow nodded, keeping his attention fixed on their surroundings. Sonic decided to look for anything suspicious, in case their former adversary was up to something. He kept much of his focus on his soul perception, but this facility seemed very dead indeed.
After traversing a fair distance across the facility, they entered a new area. The first major room they passed through was surprisingly tall for one that sat underground. Sizable pylons were fixed in the middle in two rows of six. Computers and other controls were attached to the pylons by a series of cables strewn about the floor. Each of the computers had their screens broken and outer shells dented, so they sat uselessly off to the side. At the end of the room was a dense, reinforced door.
Upon reaching it, Zero's copy faded. Mechanisms on the door began rotating shortly after. Once it was fully unlocked, the doorway parted and receded into the wall it was attached to.
An even bigger room was now revealed. It seemed like a place where you could store droves of airplanes, boats or any kind of large weaponry. In each of the corners of the room was an assortment of tech. Otherwise, the rest of the area was flat and open. An observational window sat high on one wall. Broken glass exposed most of the room behind it. Sonic might have noticed this place's resemblance to the kishin's chambers if he hadn't been in such a hurry when he first entered that place back then.
Zero's real body was at the center of the room. He spoke when Sonic and Shadow drew near.
"You've passed through a fair portion of this facility. Did seeing any of that help your memory?" He asked Shadow.
"No,"
"Then there's no reason for us to dally. Are you two ready?"
They exchanged looks before nodding. Shadow transformed into a scythe, and Sonic spun the weapon around for the first time in ages.
Zero closed his eyes. Energy entered the air. Sonic did the same. The air shimmered until it moved constantly, almost as if guided by an air current. An intense wavelength exchange shifted their perception of reality. Then a memory came.
