Choices

By: LittleTrash1027

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy with life but I hope the wait was worth it for you guys.

Shadow leaned against a wall to take a break from walking for so long. He let out a breath, as he shut his eyes. He was told that he would go through a devastating tragedy, but nothing's happened for a while. Was this just a weird joke? A very convincing prank by Sonic and everyone else? No..that doesn't make sense. Why would Sonic pull something like this? Well, whatever this was, it doesn't matter. Nothing's happening, only serving to confuse and anger Shadow more. He takes a second to think, his mind swirling with "what if's" and "whys."

"Why am I here? What are the others doing here? What did that, thing, mean by 'tragedy?" Shadow thought. He rubbed his eyes with his hands and started walking again.

He quickly saw a doorway, but with no door. Inside, it was dark black emptiness. Shadow stepped in, and the torched hallway that was there before was gone. Now, it was pitch black. Shadow didn't have much energy to summon a Chaos Spear to light the room, leaving him to squint and try to make out anything that could define the room he was in.

"Grr..damn it! What is with this person's weird obsession with dark rooms?!" Shadow exclaimed.

"Shadow? Is that you?" Silver asked. Shadow's ear perked up at the sound of the ivory one's voice and turned his head to the direction of the voice.

"Silver? Yeah, it's me. Where are you?" Shadow said, taken aback by how disheveled Silver's voice was.

"I-I don't know. I can't see.." Silver replied.

"Guys? What's going on?" Sonic said. Both hedgehogs looked in the same direction of where the blue hedgehog's voice was. It took a while for Shadow to see an outline of Sonic to his left.

A bright red light shined in the middle of the room, causing the others to squint. It filled the room with its colorful light, and it allowed the others to see each other. Shadow saw Sonic, his pale cheeks have dark streaks on them, showing that Sonic had been crying. Shadow's eyes slowly drifted to Silver, and they widened. He saw dried spots and streaks of blood, and an infinity symbol engraved into his back. Silver also had dark streak down his cheeks.

Sonic caught Shadow's gaze and his eyes widened in response. Without warning, Shadow rushed over to Silver, grabbing his arm tightly.

"What the hell happened to you?! What the hell is this?!" Shadow exclaimed in rage, with a slight tone of panic in his voice. He pointed to the brand on Silver's back, and Silver flinched at the mention of it.

"Oh w-well, it's because of- um.." Silver mumbled, unable to find the right words. He could feel the lump in his throat rise to the top, as he struggled to speak. Sonic ran over and glared at SIlver's brand. He felt more anger rise in his chest but didn't show his anger.

"Because of what, Silver? Who did this to you?!" Sonic shouted. Silver looked at both of them, unable to find an answer. He didn't have to though.

"Hello, everyone. Welcome." That voice, the voice that tested the three hedgehogs, spoke, causing everyone to look around. They were met with the melancholic stone walls, floor, and the bright red glow that surrounded them. All of them were facing many emotions as to how to react to the voice taunting them yet again.

"I am pleased to see you all have made it to this moment. I know you have made some difficult choices, but one of you has made a choice that determined this test." Shadow felt like eyes were staring at him, and not Silver and Sonic's. He couldn't see them, but he could feel them.

"You see, Shadow has made a choice to spare you two from a terrible fate that you would face. That would break you.." Everyone fell silent. Shadow and Silver looked at each other in confusion, then looked at Sonic, and stared. Sonic barred his teeth, and his pupils were wide with anger. He clenched his fists, and out of nowhere, a fit of rage erupted from Sonic, as the anger that he was trying to suppress was let out.

"Spared from a terrible fate, huh? Well, how about the terrible fate that was having me get one of my friends KILLED! They didn't deserve any of this! None of us did! You made me choose one of my friends to die, and you don't even care! I...I never even got to tell her, that I loved.." Sonic's eyes were filled with tears, as he remembered Amy. He struggled to keep himself from crumbling to the ground, his limbs shaking from the whirl of emotions that spiraled inside of him.

Silver and Shadow paled and stared in terror at the blue hedgehog. They have never seen him this angry before, or this sorrowful before. Silver hung his head, and Shadow couldn't find the words to calm Sonic down. There was silence, and then the voice spoke again, unfazed by Sonic's outburst.

"Well, it wouldn't be a good test of seeing how choices affect others if the stakes weren't high enough. But let's not waste any more time than we already have." Sonic's eyes shot open, as his heart sank at how his words meant nothing.

"Shadow, since you chose to be selfless, you will be face to face with the thing that breaks you. How you failed to save the one person who meant everything to you…" The voice stopped as Shadow knew who he meant.

"...Shaaadoow…" A young girls voice echoed throughout the room, as a figure walked out of a dark void in front of the others. The girl had blond hair and a blue and white dress. The part that was the most terrifying, was that she didn't look normal. Her body had visible bullet holes, staining her clothes with a deep crimson. Her skin looked pale, and her eyes were glassy. Blood trickled down her wounds and mouth, as it plopped on the floor. Shadow's eyes widened into pinpricks, as his heart sank to the pit of his stomach. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, as memories flashed in his mind. The memories of how she died. How everyone close to Shadow was murdered on that fateful day.

Shadow didn't make any sounds. He only stared at her, as she slowly moved and swayed towards him. Silver and Sonic looked at Shadow with concern. Sonic then remembered him saying something about a promise made to someone named, Maria. Is this that Maria girl that he would very rarely mention? No, this isn't real. That voice was just trying to break Shadow.

"Shadz, look at me! She's not-" Sonic shouted, but was quickly cut off by black inky strings and tendrils launching at his neck, and pulling tight. He flung backward, choking and sputtering.

"SONIC!" Silver exclaimed, as his cyan aura shined as he tried to get those things off of Sonic.

"Gah! What the-?!" He didn't get very far, as more black tendrils grabbed on his arm, pulling it down. He tried to use his other arm, but it too was pulled into the floor. He tried desperately to break free, but it was no use.

Shadow was still in his haze, as he backed against the wall, breathing heavily and quickly. His mind was invaded by his memories, as well as screams ringing in his head about how he failed her. How he was sorry. His eyes filled with tears, as he just stared at Maria. Sonic and Silver tried to speak to him, but their voices were nothing but unintelligible words.

By this point, Maria had Shadow pinned against the wall. She just stared into his panic-stricken eyes, void of emotion or life.

"Why do you look so scared? It's just me. You don't have to be scared if you just take my hand, to prove that I'm here." Her voice was calm and spoke to him like a seductive lover, sounding so wrong, but so right at the same time. Shadow saw her sweet smile, and it cast a spell on him, as he went to touch her hand.

He then saw, in the corner of his eye, a white blur shouting at him, and struggling against black strands pulling him into the floor. Shadow then looked at Maria and shut his eyes tightly.

"What am I doing? This isn't Maria. She's gone. And, she would definitely not drive me away from helping my friends!" Shadow thought.

Shadow glared at the figure that looked like Maria with a cold stare.

"I'm sorry, but you are not her." Shadow bitterly said as he blasted a Chaos Spear at Maria. An explosion of red went everywhere, as the corpse slowly dissipated. Shadow kept reminding himself that this wasn't real and that he was ok. His thoughts were cut short when he heard strangled cries from Silver and Sonic.

Sonic was still struggling against the inky vines around his neck, as he pulled on them to make sure he wouldn't be hanged. The inky tendrils looked to be coming from the ceiling. Meanwhile, with Silver, his body was half drowned in the inky void, as he struggled to pull himself out.

Shadow quickly ran over to Silver, for he could help him get Sonic down. Shadow would save them both. He wasn't going to allow them to die as well.

"Get away from him!" Shadow shouted in anger, as he threw a Chaos Spear at the vines that restained Silver's right arm. They quickly retracted and make high pitched screeching noises, as they faded. With his right hand freed, Silver used his psychokinesis to free his other arm, with the help of Shadow.

With a shout of rage, Shadow threw another Chaos Spear at the inky vines. They went away quickly, and with both of his arms freed, Shadow pulled Silver away from the pool of darkness. They breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't last. They heard the sound of Sonic choking and trying desperately to breathe. His feet were barely off the ground, as he ascended. They quickly rushed over to him.

"Sonic! Don't worry, we'll get you down!" Silver exclaimed, using his psychokinesis to pull on the vines. He made very little progress, but he didn't give up. Shadow pulled on Sonic's body, causing choked wails to come from the blue hedgehog's mouth. Shadow let go, realizing that he was choking Sonic more than helping. His eyes drifted upward as he saw the black ceiling. Then, an idea entered his mind.

Shadow summoned a Chaos Spear and threw it upward, seeing the green glow shine and then fade. No sound was heard that would show how high it goes. That was all Shadow needed to know.

"Silver! I have a plan. I'm going to go as high as I can to stop those vines from hanging Sonic. I want you to pull as hard as you can. Got it?" Shadow said.

Silver only nodded in response, as the cyan glow shined even brighter. He tugged on the vines more. Shadow then proceeded to use his rocket shoes to launch himself into the air. Combining his agility and speed, he jumped the walls and went higher and higher.

When he was sure that he was high enough, he channeled his energy and used his Chaos Blast to incinerate the vines. They screeched even louder than ever, and the thread that held Sonic fell. Sonic gasped for air and coughed loudly. He painfully took big breaths, sucking in as much oxygen as he could. Silver landed on his knees and clutched his head and groaned. With a loud thud, Shadow hastily landed to the floor and landed on his knees. As he moved towards the others, he looked at everyone with relief. They were okay.

"Everyone alright?" Shadow asked.

"Y-Yeah. We're ok." Sonic said, a small smile appearing on his face.

Their celebration wouldn't last. Slow claps echoed throughout the room, as the voice quietly spoke.

"Congratulations. You have passed this test. You must feel so proud! And this time, you get a prize for this one!" The voice stopped, and footsteps were heard coming from the same darkness that the copy of Maria had come from. Everyone gasped, as they saw who their captor was.

"I'm surprised you didn't guess sooner, but I guess you can't predict everyone's choices, can you?" The voice was now familiar. It was none other than Infinite the Jackel.