Shadow opened his eyes, confused and dazed, not knowing what was going on and why he almost could not remember anything. He was laying on the ground, the black hedgehog sat up, struggling to stand as he rubbed his head, remembering fuzzy stuff.
Then it hit him, the last thing he remembered right now was attacking Doctor Eggman's base and trying to get the Chaos Emeralds, then everything went crazy. Where was he now, how long had he been out for and was he alone?
Is that what Chaos Control is? Shadow thought before saying aloud, "Was that Chaos Control?" That light, that power, he'd experienced it before... somewhere. He used a bit of it all the time, he used Chaos Control, it was teleportation.
Blinking, he found himself on some kind of freeway overpass in a huge city, the sky was dark with stars and it indicated that it was nighttime. "What?" Shadow was in shock, first he was at Eggman's base, now he was in a city on a freeway?
Was he in another world, one that probably had only humans and no anthromorphic animals? Peh, humans. Shadow thought, sticking his tongue out in disgust. He seemed to dislike humans, mostly because of... something. Was it his friend Maria's demise?
The only memories in his mind now were of running through a corridor on a space station, seeing a girl named Maria get shot, his own name, waking up in a room and seeing Rouge, befriending a robot, teaming up with a blue hedgehog and the events of earlier.
'I will get those emeralds somehow or another.' The black hedgehog thought, 'I was close but that incident... that DAMN incident denied me of everything.' He looked at the street lamps and then, he saw lights up ahead, lights coming towards him.
As the lights got closer, Shadow could see... race cars? Who drove race cars on freeways? What was the universe coming to now? The race cars got closer and closer until, they screeched to a halt with red lights flashing.
Shadow stood, arms crossed as a door opened and a white skinned human man in a racing uniform stepped out, his eyes blue and hair orange. The man seemed to be eyeing Shadow, Shadow stared back at him, wondering what was going to happen next.
"Who the hel are you?" The man asked, completely surprised, "Where did you come from? I never seen anything like you before, WE never have seen anything like you before? You look like... a hedgehog. Hedgehogs aren't black."
A few other guys in racing uniforms had stepped out of their cars, looking at Shadow with confusion and wondering if they had lost their minds. The black hedgehog remained silent, observing these human racers and wishing to know where they came from.
"This is bizzare." The lead racer went on, "We were in the midst of our late night highway patrol and, suddenly, a black hedgehog appears out of nowhere. Are we having some sort of hallucination? Is this a dream? Are you an alien from outer space?
Deciding that enough was enough, Shadow finally spoke. "I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form. My past is a mystery to many including myself for I don't remember, but I will find the Chaos Emeralds as they well help me remember, this is who I am."
"CHIEF!" One of the racers exclaimed, "He talked!"
"Yeah, well, no duh." Another remarked.
At this point, Shadow turned around and took off at high speed across the freeway, rocket shoes blazing as he swung his arms left and right while the strange racer people behind him watched on with disbelief and their leader made a radio report.
Not looking back, the dark hedgehog raced onward into the dark night along the long stretch of road ahead, speculating where to go and what he would do later until something came up. As far he was concerned, Shadow was in unknown territory unfamiliar to him.
In fact, he might as well be in another world almost like the world he was from. Shadow would find out where he was later and how he would get back home, he was unconcerned about anybody other than himself. Shadow cared less about Sonic or his friends.
The Ultimate Life Form heard engines right behind him and briefly turned to see that the racers were in pursuit, scowling with annoyance, Shadow teleported a great distance along the freeway and kept running, not even bothering to stop.
If that blue hedgehog of all places was here, Shadow would squash him in a foot race in seconds. He could beat him and prove himself the best over Sonic any day, the blue hedgehog saw him as a faker and Shadow saw him as 'weak.'
Not bothering to slow his speed, Shadow kept speeding on until he breezed through a barricade and some warning signs, flying off the bridge as some of it was under reconstruction. His rocket shoes propelled him forward through the air.
Shadow flew past several blades and right over a series of colorful lights, lights that fascinated him slightly... until his rocket shoes burned out and he started falling towards the ground below. Shadow crossed his arms, fuming and confused.
He fell and fell for minutes until, THUNK-CRUNCH! Shadow landed in some bushes in someone's backyard, recovering from his fall, he stood up and looked around, wondering where he was supposed to be before wondering if he lost a memory... again.
A door opened and someone stepped outside, looking around. Shadow was about to teleport away before the someone outside shone a flashlight in his face and the black hedgehog found himself face to face with a black haired kid no older than ten years old.
"Who are you?" Shadow asked.
"My name's Chris." The kid replied, approaching the black hedgehog, "And you?"
"I'm Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog."