Author's notes:

Would have to say, this took me for ages as I was never happy with what was rewritten and had to rewrite the whole chapter a couple of times. I will BETA read it tomorrow, but right now I'm exhausted, trying to get if finished, so you going to have to bear with me for now.

-Anomalous123.

Chapter 13:

Knuckles carried both forms, one on his shoulder while the other was held securely in his arms. They made it to an old-fashioned church, taking shelter just inside the entrance as the rain started to fall from the sky. It was on the outskirts of town, surrounded by a small graveyard and was probably rarely used due to the fact its small size was no longer big enough to accommodate the growing population.

"We should be safe here for a while, at least," Knuckles started, wary of the greying sky above their heads.

With a sigh, he set Mental Sonic down, who hobbled slightly before leaning against the wall. Knuckles followed his movement with an air of curiosity and expectancy. On his back, Blue held tightly to his neck, peering over his shoulder at the newcomer with a strange look in his eyes. It looked sad and worried.

"I... Thank you for getting me away from there. I really appreciate it," Metal Sonic started in a grateful tone. He still clutched the leg in his arms, hugging it close to his chest as if he loosened his grip, the thing would disappear. His eyes soften, smile dropping. He looked worn down as if the light from earlier had faded as he stared out at the darkening rain clouds and the puddles that were slowly forming on the ground. Above their head, the rain started to pound harder, leaving small thumps from the roof.

Blue shivered, curling closer in reaction, burying his head in red fur in reflex. Right then, Knuckles remembered the younger ones action to water and winced. He guessed they were stuck here for a while.

Hearing a noise from further inside the entrance, he turned to see that Metal Sonic had moved, making his way over to the door and was glaring at the handle. Knuckles moved over, curious, as the small hedgehog pulled out a loose wire from the severed leg and was using it as a lock pick to easy the doors mechanism open. It took a few minutes for it to click and swing open slightly, allowing them access to the large area.

Metal Sonic grinned at him over his shoulder before throwing open the door and making an 'after you?' gesture with his right hand. Raising an eye bridge, he threw the smaller an amused look before shuffling in, eyes darting around the area.

The inside looked more cared for. The walls were still aged, but their stone-like structure held firm. They were tall, some curving inwards to create elegant archways and overhangs, which were supported by thick columns periodically throughout the place. Rows upon rows of benches were crammed into the hall, armed with pillows and took up most of the space, barely giving a human enough space to walk between them.

The windows were stain glass, catching and reflecting the little light it could find. Near the far end stood an altar with a man nailed to a cross and above it was a painting depicting a woman donned in robes, cradling a baby within her arms. There was an adoring look upon her face as she looked down slightly at the child with a loving and so open expression. The sight made tugged at Blue's heart triggers but he couldn't place why.

He felt himself being lowered onto a bench before Knuckles start pacing, mind thoughtfully trailing the two identical hedgehogs in the process. For a moment or two, there was silence as they listen to the rain outside before Knuckles paused and glared at Metal Sonic.

"You pick locks?" He began, decided that enough was enough and he wanted answers and now. He had waited too long with no clue as to what has been going on for the past day or so, and he found himself at the end of his rope. Hopefully, this bot more answers than the silent treatment he had been objected to.

"Naturally," the android snorted, crossing his arms.

"Regularly?"

"It's more of a pass time."

"Right. So, w-what's your relationship with GUN?"

There was a moment of hesitation before he conceded, looking away. "No connection on a personal level, but my creator and origin do."

Knuckles frowned, his forehead creasing as he narrowed his eyes."Explain."

Metal Sonic looked uncomfortable with the request. He didn't want to bring up bad memories around his origin. It was bad enough to hear about the events that unfolded from his brother, and he probably didn't want to be reminded of what occurred all those decades ago. Instead, he pushed himself off of the column, staring Knuckles in the eye. "Not here. We can talk later," he began, tilting his head slightly towards Blue, who had lost interest in their conversation and was now picking off fluff from a small pillow he found under his seat.

Knuckles looked confused until Metal Sonic whispered 'bad memories for him'. Purple eyes blinked and then nodded in understanding.

He glanced around for a place to go, took a step towards a secluded spot and froze when something soft hit his back. A wave of emotion hit him as he turned around, his gaze settled on the frantic gaze of the blue hedgehog, arms draped over the side of the bed. His rising anger died to a dull throb as he took in the sight.

Within his expression were stubborn determination and slight betrayal. His eyes were slightly glassy, his lip wavering. "B-blue?" There was a sniffle. "Oh, crap, I'm not... I didn't mean to... I just want to..."

Besides Blue, Metal Shadow was watching him with narrow eyes, hand going out to stroke his counterparts quills. "Dude, so not cool. You can't just abandon him, even if it was for a moment." His voice was low, almost a whisper, but the words were clear and send chills down his spine. "We can discuss this, later. We can't just leave him here. How would YOU feel if you were suddenly all alone, in a new environment? Thinking your friend had abandoned you and being ruthlessly hunted by others?"

It was as if he was struck by the words that made his stomach drop and leaving him feeling horrified. While he was used to be alone before Sticks that was normal. After her, though, he started to enjoy people's company. Got a glimpse of what others were like and he got more used to being around people, savouring their company. He didn't think he could fully go back to being alone again. To live upon Angle Island, isolated from the outside world and trapped in ancient times. He just couldn't.

And, he believed the fact that he latest so long being alone was the fact that there was no one else. The last of the Echidna's. He couldn't imagine for a person to go through his circumstances but in reverse. It must drive them mad for a social creature to suddenly being forced to cut all ties, wondering if your friends and family were out there, search, as you wither away in a basement, haunted by the knowledge that you were alone and may never see a friendly face again.

He shivered.

Old questions he had dropped resurface.

"D- Do you know how long he was down there?" He started, feeling timid and scared of the answer. Surely, it couldn't have been that long? He would have died with the constant abuse and neglect. There had to be some hope, right?

A devastating look crossed Metal Sonic's face as he closed his eyes. The expectation of his answers was no way near the reality of the situation. There were many things that should just stay secret, yet stumbling over the information could be worse, especially if the situation needed them to be on the alert. Pre-knowing information helped lessened the shock that may be the choice between life or death. Just a split second can be enough time for a knife to slip through a person's defences or pause in their advance or trigger a trap.

Besides, it wasn't in his nature to hide someone thing. He was terrible at keeping secrets. At withholding information or misdirecting, In fact, he had gotten in trouble for more than a few times for telling people he knew information beforehand but failing to reveal it. Those situations usually took a nasty turn for the worst.

He sighed, voice crackling as it spoke aloud the words;

"We're not entirely sure, but according to Eggman's files, he's been down there for around fifty years."

An old newspaper clipping popped up, along with a short video at the side. On its greying pages, it claimed to have been made in 1965 and reported that a strange object had fallen from the sky and caused a creator. No metres or satellites were documented to have impacted, causing the locals to check it out. Amongst them was the Robotnick family, who found an emerald the size of a human adults palm.

Upon investigation, they found that it couldn't be cut or melted down, had no cool or poling point and was known to be one of its kind. What they did find out, however, was the energy it possessed with nothing as they have ever seen before stored within. They started to experiment on it but found no use to the energy it possessed.

A few months later, it became known by government officials, who wanted to study it. To do this, they wanted to see how it would react in different environments and pitched the space colony art project, offering them a workspace, living quarters and a grant for their research. The oldest Robotnik jumped at the chance, allowing to provide a safer environment for his granddaughter, how had been diagnosed with Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (NIDS). What grabbed their attention was the large photo in the middle depicting the Robotnick family of the time; little Maria, a person standing behind her was Julius, and a person next to him was a teenager with his face cropped out. Gerald by his side with an arm around his wife, Jennifer and in front of her was Betha Kintobor.

The camera footage was old, less defined but was manageable to make out to the two onlookers. In the corner of the screen, there was a timestamp dating back to April 1970. In the frame, a young girl was sitting at her desk, staring at her page in concentration as she sketched something just out of the sight of the camera.

"Can I move yet?" A voice very familiar to the two called out, sounding bored.

She glanced up, flashing the figure a smile and a fond eye roll. "Not yet. I need your counter to be perfect. Just hang in there for a little bit longer. Can you do that, Shadow? For me?"

Rogue's jaw dropped at the name drop, turning to see the modern-day Shadow, who was staring at the screen, gaze transfixed to what was being played. She turned back, focusing on the security footage with newfound interest.

There was a bang as an old man rushed into the room, grinning, as he ran up to the two. He looked almost ready to burst, giddy with excitement, as he addressed the pair. "Maria, my dear, I need to talk to Shadow, privately. You can have him back to finish your game once I'm done."

Maria shared a look with Shadow, who got up and followed him out, claiming he will be back. The young girl watched them go, curiosity sparkling in her eyes before she looked down to her creation and groaned. As she got up, the two could see a clay figure which most of his features that sat on the table.

Shadow smiled, his tears coming as he remembered back to that day. The morning had started off like any other; having breakfast with Maria, hanging out on the peer until lunch and then she decided to use her new-acquired skills from Mrs Sans weekly pottery making class to create a sculpture of him and Maria to decorate their room.

Little did he know that until a month before her death was planning for him to keep it as a keepsake to remember him by. After finding out about his immortality, she had taken it in stride and found new ways to create small objects for him to use to keep the memories of them alive after she was gone.

While he appreciated the effort and time that went into the gifts, he was unable to take anything but the locket that he had always stashed in his quills. GUN hadn't given them time or the opportunity to take any of their belongings upon their capture and most of the possessions were either burned or left to gather dust back upon arc.

He sometimes wondered if it still up there, abandoned in space and forgotten in time, or if GUN repurposes it for their own uses. Either way, it was a depressing thought. There were so many good and bad memories relating to that place that he couldn't imagine it ever-changing. He hoped at least the rooms were left alone, like a spaceship time capsule of the past. At least then, the ghost and memories had the chance to be laid to rest.

He was brought out of his thoughts as a new video replaced the first, this time within Geralds lab. Inside, two men were arguing passionately. Shadow straightened, his stomach churning as the man who pulled a gun on him in his dreams had cornered the professor, looking furious.

"... are not listening to me! Project: Shadow is incomplete, flawed without him. We owe it to him to provide him with a companion who could always be by his side. To stop him when his power becomes too much! It's his anchor, his..."

Gerald sighed, shaking his head. "So you create another project to fix the first? To tame him? It is not a valid solution! You cannot fix your failers by condemning another! What if this one is flawed too, huh? We already have GUN breathing down our kneck, we don't need another reason for them to shut the project down. Isn't one weapon another for you?"

"And what, pray tell, do you expect me to do?" The answer was followed by silence. The man snorted before pushing off of the wall and started to pace. Gerald watched him with a concerned expression.

"I expected better from you," the professor muttered, suddenly subdued, his expression wary. Sadly, this feed was at poorer quality, as if it was tampered with, so you couldn't see the man's features this clearly.

"Life isn't something you can play with. He needs to have the choice for a life of his own. If we do this, we do this probably. I will not allow for this child to be abused or neglected by anyone on this station. Project: Shadow has already suffered enough, and I will not allow for these outrageous acts to continue."

The strange man crossed his arms, stepping in front of the other. He looked down at the shorter man with a hard expression. "Agreed. This has been going on for too long. He is mine and I won't let you use him as another project to abandon once our work is complete. We may work on this together, but remember that if anything happens to him under your care, accident or otherwise, I will turn you into GUN myself."

Gerald looked about to argue, changed his mind, then hung his head in defeat. "You're right, as always. I promise he will not be harmed and full custody will be handed over once Project: Shadow is stable."

The grin that spread across the man's face was victorious, a hidden emotion shining deep within his eyes.

The next set of ones involved the planning, creation and awaking of his brother. Shadow was still stunned by the earlier exchange that he barely paid attention. It was when the raid came on the screen that he snapped back to reality, tears trailing unnoticed by his cheek as he relived the worst day of his life from a different perspective. It went by quickly, cameras changing to different rooms to show most of the scientists' deaths or arrest.

He found himself go into a flashback, alarms ringing in his ears. Red and orange flashing across his vision. Maria's words were clear in his mind as he clutched his head, trying to scream out loud.

Things were too much. Visions of Maria's death running over and over again in his head on a demented loop.

By now, he was curled in on himself, nearly unconscious from the pain running through his head as he tried to dispel the images away to no avail.

Finally, he screaming, calling out his sister's name as he nearly pulled some of his quills out. Sob after silent sob blocked his vision and congested his nose and mouth.

It was the first time he was really allowed to morn the loss of his family without anyone there to stop him. To yell at him to shut up or berate him for his failure to save them. To yell at him to shut up and get over it. He let his emotions flow, suppressed memories and emotions bubbling to the surface, making his body sake harder and for his eyes to water even more.

Beside him, Rogue started in a mixture of horror, sympathy and terror, watching as the ultimate weapon broke down for the second time this past day.

And, with what she saw, he couldn't even blame him. The tapes were one of the darkest she ever knew and it was only the first set of files they had found. She had clicked on the first one, labelled Version.1. Below the first, there had been three other folders filled to the brim with more videos and pictures.

She had no idea what they contained and was afraid to find out. They could be filled with Shadow's past, contain files about whatever GUN had done to him, or... well, it could be anything, but just in case, she didn't want to trigger another bad memory. It was hard to live through something once, never mind multiple times.

So, with that thought, she closed the tab for now and decided to watch them later... alone, promising if she managed to find something important, she would tell him when he was ready.

Tails groaned, looking out at Station Square with a frown. It was bigger than he anticipated; no wonder the two hadn't return yet. It must have been looking for an object in a maze down there. Biting his lip, he considered his options.

One, he could go back to the bunker and wait for them to show up. Two, he could blindly search the streets, hoping to stumble over them. Neither option seemed desirable.

He turned as he heard light thumping to see the robot from before marching up to him. "WHAT IS YOUR DESIGNATION?" It asked, glancing around, wondering where the in the world the small fox was heading.

Blinking up to the hulking machine, he found his original fear had melted. "I was going to look for them, but the city is just too big. It could take me days- when they can move around freely- to even get a clue as to where they are." He explained, worry churning in his gut. In his haste to leave, he failed to pick up anything that could help, and he was really regretting the decision now.

Beside him, the eyes of the robot (now back to red) scanned the area for traces of Chaos Energy. It took a few minutes before he pointed along the outskirts of Station Square. "I AM DETECTING VARIOUS AMOUNTS OF CHAOS ENERGY IN THIS DIRECTION. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT, IF WE FOLLOW IT, THE SIGNAL MAY LEAD TO THE PEOPLE YOU SEEK. YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE BLUE HEDGEHOG, CORRECT?"

Tails mouth opened, then closed. He continued the action, gaping like a fish for a long moment before he beamed at him. "You're equipped with Chaos Detectors?" He asked, marvelling at the tall figure.

The robot let out a huff of concentrated air. "NATURALLY. I AM SUPPOSED TO CARE FOR AN ULTIMATE LIFEFORM, AFTER ALL." It took a step forward. "WE SHOULD GET MOVING. IT WOULD BE HARDER TO TRAVERSE WHILE THE HUMANS ARE AWAKE. IT IS BEST TO RETRIEVE YOUR FRIENDS BEFORE SUN RAISE."

"Oh, um, yeah. We should..." He agreed, flabbergasted. It took him seconds to catch up and the pair continued on their path, hoping to find the wayward duo sooner rather than later.

TBC:

: For those waiting for the next instalment on Edge of Insanity, please be patient. It is currently under edit and I am giving time together my thoughts to determine which direction I want to take. That said, if you have any ideas or need help coming up with ideas of your own, drop me a message under the same account name on here: Anmalous123, and I will invite you onto the server. :