Author's Note: If you haven't see the Sonic Boom episode with the mirror dimension and Shadow almost destroying the universe, then you probably won't know what's going on at first. It doesn't play a huge role in the story, but it will give some context.
Just know that Shadow doesn't win for an entirely AU reason in this little fic.
...
"Dimensional crisis averted, handsome. The two humans are where they belong. The one that stayed seriously won't shut up about you. How's it looking on your end?" Rouge's voice purred from the mic clipped to the GUN agent's ear.
"I have eyes on him. He has no idea his plan's already been foiled," he replied with a slight smirk from his vantage point on the town hall's roof. He briefly glanced up at the dissipating purple clouds before glaring at the dark hedgehog antagonizing a mottled group of teens.
"All right. Rendezvous at your location."
...
"—I've decided to take revenge on this whole pathetic universe," Shadow declared with a wicked sneer, "Good luck finding them in time."
Sonic clenched his fists and prepared to charge his dark rival. But just as he took the first step, Shadow flickered away in a flash of blue light. Panic rose up in the blue blur's chest. He didn't have time to hunt Shadow and find the two Eggmans.
He didn't have long to wait though, for as soon as Shadow disappeared, he reappeared just as quickly. However, his form kept flickering in and out of view like a computer glitch. The black and red hedgehog growled and clutched his chest.
"What—is—happening to—me?!"
"I think you've done enough damage in my name," an almost identical voice stated cooly.
"Who dares—" Shadow didn't get to finish. His form became solid, and his crimson eyes widened in shock.
Then there was the sound of metal being crunched, an explosion of smoke, and the ebony hedgehog fell.
"Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed and raced to his rival's side. Emerald eyes doubled in size as he gaped at the fist-sized hole in his counterpart's back. But what really froze him in place were the wires and sparks protruding from the hole.
"What?" Sonic breathed, "...how?"
"The android has been neutralized. Caught it before it could complete chaos control."
Sonic's head shot up at the sound of Shadow's voice coming from the fading smoke, but something sounded off about it. When the smoke cleared completely, the team of heroes all felt their jaws hit the dirt as Shadow gazed right back at them. Only, it wasn't their Shadow.
Physically, he looked identical to the...android on the ground. The same height, same black and red fur, crimson eyes, and white chest fur—he was almost identical.
But there were several stark differences, and the most obvious was the dark gray, almost black, military jacket he was wearing. A gold badge hung from a chain around his neck, and a small metal earpiece was clipped to his ear.
Another, more subtle difference though, were his gold bands. The Shadow they knew only wore them for cosmetics, and it could be seen in how the ones around his wrists were smaller than the ones on his ankles. This Shadow's bands were all the same size, and they emitted a very faint glow, which meant they probably weren't there just for decoration.
"You're going to catch flies if you keep staring at me with your mouths wide open like that," the Shadow copy retorted and folded his arms. That's when Sonic pinpointed another difference. This Shadow had a Mainlander accent. From which part, he couldn't tell, but it was obvious this hedgehog wasn't from Bygone.
"You," Amy stuttered, "You just killed Shadow!"
"Actually, he was a Shadow Android. The last one in a particularly tricky series."
"Amy, look. He's right," Tails said and pointed to the sparking, fizzling back of the villain they all thought they knew.
"And just who are you supposed to be?" Sonic snapped, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Shadow the Hedgehog. The original one, anyway. I've been tracking these copies all over the planet, but this one had eluded me for some time."
"You didn't have to kill him though!" Sonic argued, and his eyes fell to the unseeing ones of his rival.
Yes, their Shadow had been a pain in the tail to deal with. There was a reason he was considered the baddest villain in all of Bygone, but even then Sonic never saw him as really evil. They were each others' only competition in speed and skill, which led to so many fun races and spars. And even though Shadow had been a loner and not the most cooperative guy, he still helped fight Metal Sonic.
"Android or not, there was still good in him!"
"He just tried to destroy the entire universe!"
"He knew we would stop him! You didn't have to kill him, you faker!"
"I'm not the faker here. I was just doing my job."
This was all wrong in Sonic's mind. Shadow was supposed to lash out. They were supposed to brawl or launch into a speed fight. Shadow shouldn't just be standing there with his arms crossed talking down to him like he was a child.
"How do we know you're not a robot too and that you only came to take over the world?" Sticks demanded while brandishing her staff. Sonic strode up to the sable mobian so that they were only a few feet apart.
"Yeah, prove you're not a faker, Faker."
But before he could reply, a laser shot between them, forcing them to separate.
"Omega! Stand down!" Shadow ordered. Sonic and his team looked to the source of the blast to see a large, bulky robot with a smoking arm cannon. Tails's eyes lit up in fascination. Shadow only frowned at the machine.
"What is that thing?"
"Did Eggman make that?" Knuckles asked.
"E-123 Omega. I guess you could say he's a friend of mine."
"Best friends with a killer robot, that's not really helping your case at proving you're not a machine too," Sonic remarked.
"Let me guess," Shadow began and counted on his fingers, "the Shadow you knew was very gullible, arrogant, and selfishly irrational mixed with a lot of fire power."
"Only your best qualities, handsome," a white bat replied coyly as she and Eggman joined the group. The doctor, unaware that this was a different Shadow, ran straight up to him and unleashed his inner fanboy.
"Oh, Mr. Shadow, I love your new robot. I hope you aren't thinking about replacing me as your favorite evil scientist, because I could build something much better if you'd like. It was so much fun being a part of your evil scheme, though maybe next time I could—"
"I'm not evil," he interrupted, and Eggman stopped abruptly.
"What? Of course you are! You wouldn't be the greatest villain in all of Bygone if you weren't!"
The dark agent jerked a thumb at the downed android. "There's your villain."
Eggman glanced at the scene, and his hand flew to his mouth in surprise.
"Shadow was a...he...who are you?!" he demanded angrily. He couldn't believe that his idol was just a machine, and he couldn't believe that said machine was destroyed.
"The real Shadow."
"Prove it!"
The white bat facepalmed. "Not again."
There was a flash of golden light, and Shadow held up his now bleeding arm for everyone to see.
"Last time I checked," he growled, "robots don't bleed."
And he was right, but that didn't mean Sonic was going to just accept this guy. And from the sound of it, neither was Sticks.
"Then what are you? A secret agent from the government?!"
"Yes, actually, when they need me."
The badger shrieked, and Knuckles wrapped his arms around her to keep her from tackling him. Shadow rose an eyebrow and shared a quick glance with the bat.
"Which government?" Amy asked, "And who is that?"
"My partner Special Agent Rouge. We're part of a special task force for the GUN."
Of course he is, Sonic thought begrudgingly. This Shadow just reeked of suave secret agent, and the blue blur was already starting to miss his cocky rival.
"As fun as this chat is," Rouge added, "it's starting to feel a little one-sided. Why don't you tell us why you were going up against a Shadow Android? Most people tend to back away from a fight."
"We're not most people," Sonic answered proudly, "We protect this island. I'm Sonic, and this is my team."
"Cute," Rouge snorted. Amy huffed and gripped her hammer a little tighter.
Sonic didn't pay the girls any attention as he leaned in front of Shadow's face with a smug grin. The dark agent was clearly peeved about the intrusion of his personal space, but the blue blur obviously didn't care.
"Me and Shadow...Android used to race around the island. I'll bet you aren't as fast."
Shadow indulged in a self-satisfied smirk. "Is that a challenge?"
"Only if you think you can keep up," he replied and dashed away in a blue streak. Rouge and Shadow's eyes widened.
"He's—"
"—fast," Shadow finished before something kin to excitement sparked in his crimson gaze. "He's fast! Bye, Rouge!"
The pearly bat waved at the quickly vanishing form of her partner.
...
Sonic blinked back the tears as he pumped his legs faster than he had in a long time. He didn't care if he was real; their Shadow was gone. The grouchy hedgehog that used to push him to his limits would never be there drive him to go faster, stronger, longer.
Sonic never thought that he'd react this strongly to losing his Shadow. They weren't even friends, and it still felt like a part of him had been ripped away. He had seen potential in Shadow before he learned the truth.
He may have been just an android, but Shadow could've been a valuable teammate and possibly even a brother if he had really tried. But now he would never get the chance.
Sonic pushed himself faster because he could here the telltale swish of the new Shadow's skates quickly catching up, and he didn't want this stranger to see him cry as they ran through Shadow Canyon.
...
Shadow had lived long enough to see others go through loss, but he had never expected to see someone become so attached to one of his hostile lookalikes. He also never expected that person to be almost, or even just, as fast as he was. And then he began to understand bits and pieces.
He never had someone to race with, to push himself against in a true race. He only got samples of it while tracking down the renegade androids.
But for the past three years this mission has been going on, Sonic had an android of his own to race against and develop a strong rivalry. The closest thing Shadow could liken it too was his relationship with Omega, but that wasn't anywhere near the same thing. The rivalry Sonic had with the android would be hard to lose.
This final piece of the mission turned out to be more difficult than he expected. No one had ever reached out to the other copies, which made it easy for him to dispose of them. This idea of someone actually missing one of them was a whole new experience.
Shadow poured more of his power into his skates so that he was striding side by side with the blue hedgehog.
"Sonic, what are we really doing out here?"
Shadow could swear the teen's eyes hardened even as they maintained a glossy sheen. Sonic ran faster, forcing him to keep up.
"Sonic, listen! I know I'm not the Shadow you're used to, but—"
"Shut up!"
Fine. If he didn't want to listen to reason, Shadow had ways of fixing that. He wasn't called the Ultimate Lifeform for his speed alone.
"Chaos spear!"
...
Sonic skidded to a halt as a bolt of golden energy whizzed past his ear, his heart beating a literal mile a minute. Their Shadow couldn't do that, and that power...that power felt raw.
Shadow stopped skating and glared expectantly at the blue hedgehog. Sonic's eyes widened at the red glow coming from the other's eyes and the golden aura dancing around the agent's fingers.
"Sonic, I need you to listen to me. I only need a minute."
"Fifteen seconds is my limit."
"Then let me ask you one question. How would you feel if you knew there were hundreds of copies of you around the world, and all of them were trying to hurt innocent people? What would you do?"
Sonic's shoulders slumped. "I would go after them. Try to save as many people as I could."
"Exactly. That's what I've been trying to do. I never meant to take away your friend. I was just doing what I had to, and I need you to understand that."
"We weren't friends," Sonic shot back, and his head lowered, "But I think we could've been."
Shadow lowered his own head and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His black ears perked up as an idea struck him.
"Omega used to be an evil robot. He was created with the sole purpose of killing me."
"But I thought you said he was a part of your team?"
The agent smirked. "He is. Now, anyways. We fought, and he came close to completing his objective, but in the end I won. But it was during that fight that I saw hints of choice, and I thought that if he had that freedom to choose for himself, maybe he could change. And he did, which means it's possible for your android too."
"But I thought he already had free will."
"The Shadow Androids were built to be malevolent and with a very limited intelligence. If you could fix him and change the programming..."
Sonic gasped, "He could be good! What are we standing around for?! We gotta get back! Tails can fix him up in no time!"
"I know a shortcut."
"What? But you just got—"
"Chaos Control!"
...
The two hedgehogs arrived back in the village in a flash of blue light, and Sonic stumbled dizzily for a few seconds.
"Man, that was weird."
"Sonic! Are you okay?" Amy asked, rushing to his side to check on him. The blue blur waved dismissively.
"I'm good. Just caught off guard."
Rouge turned to her partner with an expectant look, but he was gazing thoughtfully at his mechanical copy. He then turned to the fox kit he assumed was Tails.
"How good are you at machines?"
Tails scoffed, "Only the best!"
"I wouldn't go that far," Eggman cackled with a twirl of his mustache. Tails placed his hands on his hips indignantly.
"And whose inventions have helped defeat you every single time?"
"I wouldn't say every time. Fifty-fifty."
Sonic and his friends rolled their eyes, and the blue hedgehog stage-whispered to the visiting team.
"We've been kicking his can since he first tried to take over the island. Tails can do it. Trust me."
"Take over? Now why does that sound familiar?" Rouge said thoughtfully. Shadow narrowed his gaze at the human.
"Eggman isn't his real name. Is it?"
"You see it too," she mused.
"Kind of hard to miss with that mustache. They look almost identical."
"To who?" Sonic asked.
"Doesn't matter," Shadow replied sharply, "But I think we'll stick around to see if your friend can do the job."
The inventors stopped arguing.
"What job?"
"Don't you have a base to rebuild or something, Egghead?" Sonic retorted. They didn't Eggman finding out what they were up to just yet. If everything went according to plan, he'd find out after they fixed their Shadow.
The rotund human waved off the discussion. He'd rebuilt his base so many times, it was no longer a priority. The visiting team didn't have the same amount of patience as the island heroes.
"Omega, why don't we give the doctor a proper goodbye?"
"With gusto," the mech replied, lifting his bulky arms up and transforming them into rotary guns. Eggman leaped as bullets whizzed on either side of him.
"I—I'll be going now! Goodbye! I'll get you next time and all of that!" he shrieked in a panic and took off down the beach where his eggmobile sat idly waiting. If it were possible, Omega would have been laughing evilly.
"Okay, big guy, that's enough," Rouge said and lightly patted her trigger-happy teammates shoulder. Omega stopped shooting and slumped his shoulders in a disappointment.
"Don't give me that face," Rouge admonished. Shadow chuckled under his breath, and the bat railed on him, "And you should have known better."
"He wasn't going to leave, and we all have more important things to do than come up with a halfway convincing lie. Simple solution to a simple problem." Before Rouge could counter, Shadow turned back to the fox kit. "Think you can fix him?"
"Fix who?"
"Our Shadow," Sonic answered, "Faker here thinks that he could be reprogrammed and maybe become a part of our team."
"Hey, he was the faker, not me," Shadow clarified sharply. Sonic only grinned. The blue blur had found a way to get under the agent's skin, and he was enjoying it.
Tails, oblivious to the sparking rivalry between the two hedgehogs, knelt down and investigated the android.
"The damage is pretty sever, but I think I can fix him up in a few days."
"Just a few days?" Rouge asked disbelievingly. Tails blew a stray tuft of fur out of his eyes and knelt down to get a better view of the hole in the android's back.
"I could do it faster, but this is some delicate wiring, and Shadow literally ripped it apart. And it's going to take some time to reprogram him instead of just having everything reset to the way he was before."
"I told he's a genius. Just let him prove it to ya," Sonic added.
The three agents shared a look. Rouge grinned.
"Well, I know we definitely deserve a vacation after everything."
Shadow nodded. "And if a Shadow Android was the worst this island had to offer, I'd say this would be a good place to catch up on rest."
"It will get boring with no enemies to shoot," Omega replied. Amy twirled her hammer casually.
"Eggman has a robot army that he uses to attack the village every so often. You're welcome to help us if you get bored."
"This is acceptable."
"I'm calling it in," Shadow stated and pressed a button on a wristwatch that was previously hidden under his coat sleeve.
A hologram of a scowling, gray-haired human materialized in front of the three agents.
"Status report, Project Shadow."
"The last of the androids has been dealt with," he answered, his voice altering slightly to give him a more professional air.
"Good. Then why aren't you returning to base?"
Rouge leaned against her partner so she was in the holographic man's view.
"Because Team Dark is taking a much needed vacation."
Shadow lightly shouldered her off of him, his reproving glare not bothering her in the slightest. The human raised an eyebrow.
"A vacation?"
Shadow hmphed. "We have spent the last three years tracking these things down one by one. So unless there is a serious emergency, we will let you know when we head back to base."
The man frowned heavily. "And do you have an ETA for your return?"
Shadow smirked. "We'll let you know."
"Ta ta, Commander," Rouge waved as her partner signed off.
"All right, fox. Let's see what you can do."
...
Three days passed, and during that time, Tails allowed no one to enter his workshop as he repaired the Shadow Android. The agents, who later revealed themselves as Team Dark, helped Sonic and his friends keep Eggman in check and away from the kit's workshop.
But during the afternoon of the third day, Tails had everyone gather in front of his workshop but not go in. Sonic hopped from one foot to another, anxious and excited all at once.
Tails shuffled out of his workshop, yellow fur matted and covered in soot in some places, but he was smiling so brightly it didn't seem to matter. The young inventor briefly turned back to his workshop and waved for someone to come forward.
"Come on, it's okay. I promise," he reassured. The heroes gasped.
"I hope you don't mind, but I changed a few minor details. Just to give him his own look, you know?"
"I wouldn't call those changes minor, little buddy."
For while he still had the same body build and quill shape, everything from his stripes to his eyes was changed from red to yellow. Even the red on his gloves and shoes had been replaced by yellow. It definitely separated him from the original Shadow, but it also hinted at who it was that made those changes.
The android surveyed the group of heroes in a way that was far too lifelike, and his amber eyes landed on Sonic. The blue blur never took his eyes off the machine.
"Tails, does he remember anything?"
"My memory is fine," he answered for himself while crossing his arms, "And Tails has...informed me of my situation. I didn't know I wasn't the real Shadow."
Said agent stepped forward, locking eye contact with his doppelgänger.
"But now you have the chance to be your own person. And I think the best way to start that is deciding your own name. So, who are you?"
The android looked down at his gloved hands as he thought about a name. It would be his first decision as a being with freewill. He looked back and met Shadow's gaze seriously.
"I am Terios. Terios the Hedgehog."
Sonic smiled and walked up to the newly named hedgehog. After a few tense seconds, he extended his hand to the android.
"It's nice to meet you, Terios. How would you like to be a member of Team Sonic?"
"Ahem," the others coughed, and Sonic laughed nervously.
"And friends. Sonic and friends?"
Terios gazed at the hero in front of him and the extended hand. He remembered everything. Their fights. Their races. Yet he no longer felt that driving need to destroy the blue hedgehog or anything else. There was nothing forcing him to do anything, and this choice was entirely his own.
Sonic didn't have to extend his offer of friendship, of a place to belong. He could have left him for dead as a pile of scrap metal, but he didn't. And it was then Terios knew that if anyone could be a worthy ally, it would be Sonic.
Sonic's grin almost doubled in size as Terios took the offered hand in agreement.
"If you'll have me, I'll join."
"Welcome to the team, Terry."
"Don't call me that."
Rouge gently clasped her hand in Shadow's and whispered, "I think they'll be okay."
Shadow nodded subtly. "Yeah, I think they will."
"You're not ready to go yet, are you?"
"No. We need the rest..."
"But?"
"There's something else here on the island. I don't know what it is, but I can feel it. There's an energy here that feels familiar, and I need to find out what it is. And there's the fact that Eggman looks so similar to him..."
"Do you think that he's connected somehow?"
"It's possible. I think we may be on Bygone for a bit longer than I originally planned."
"I'm sure GUN will call us if they get desperate, so I think we'll be okay to hang around for a while longer, especially if your investigation turns out to be something serious. I'm with you all the way, handsome."
Shadow clutched her hand a little tighter. "Thanks, Rouge."
"Yo, Faker! Wanna join me and Terry for a race?"
The two striped hedgehogs glared simultaneously.
"Don't call me that!"