The image I imposed has been erased

But you remain

A testament to their sins

You've proven yourself

With your cunning

And so, shall be

My third son

ACT 1

Station Square Outskirts, 6 p.m.

The tiny transceiver buzzed in Shadow's ear while Sonic tapped his foot nearby.

"Yes yes, he should be in there," the voice in the transceiver said. "That library's been abandoned for decades but I don't think no squatters can be generating that much electrical activity. It's gotta be our old Egg boy. Feel alright?"

"Don't worry about us," Shadow said. He heard a small click and that was it. Standing by.

"Why the heck don't I get one?" Sonic said.

"You know you're not an official GUN employee," Shadow said. "It's protocol."

"We're on this one together though! Sonic and Shad on a mission, just like the good old days. It's not fair!"

"You know they'd take you. Get a job and you can have your own shower so those poor Casinopolis chumps aren't cleaning up after you every week."

"Bah, no thanks!"

Sonic paced around a little bit more. The old Station Square library stood above them, a monolith of old-school academia. Dim light trickled from the windows.

Sonic piped up. "What the heck are we doin' sitting around for?"

"Your call," Shadow said.

Sonic took off, leaving a trail of blue behind him. Shadow followed. They plowed through the first set of great doors, but near the second they were greeted by flames.

The central room of the library was a dim, brown mess. Surprised by the fire in the oncoming doorway, Sonic tried to duck but slipped on all the old papers. He tumbled into the library's main room like a dead swan, and Shadow leaped over the flames like a live-swan.

There were two egg-shaped robots before them, mischief behind their dim eyes. Very short, a bit rusty, with flamethrowers where hands would be.

Sonic, embarrassed, got himself up. Shadow looked at him and made a mild puff.

"They're pretty old," Shadow said, "but a little crafty."

"Gotta give em' some credit," Sonic said. "Must be from when he ruled the whole darn planet for a couple months. Eggman's gotta think we're not worth being welcomed by any new bots, huh?

"All the same."

They both took off towards the little Flame-Egg Bots, and they were quickly reduced to buzzing scrap.

Shadow looked around the library's main room for a moment before setting towards the main hall. "No time for lessons," he said. "Let's find him before he squeezes away."

Sonic followed next to him. "But hey Shad," he said, "eggs can't really squeeze through like, anything."

Shadow hmph-ed and said "They can if they get good enough. Case in point."

Sonic scratched his head with a finger and whispered: "He's right but isn't that a weird comparison? Whaddya think Tails?"

The little transceiver in Sonic's ear buzzed. Tails was on the other end in his shop.

"I mean I guess," Tails said. "You should pipe down though! Shadow will probably get upset if he finds out I'm on a call with you."

"It's a breezy mission to catch ol' Eggy, what's the harm?" Sonic asked.

"This is technically a military sanctioned mission, dummy. That might be illegal. I think?"

"Come on Tails, you and me, we don't exist in a world of law and order!"

"Sonic, I've got a shop in the Mystic Ruins. I'm only twelve, but I gotta make sure that place is legal! Maybe you should take Shadow up on that job offer huh? Say, have you ever even done taxes?"

It had been six months since the retaking of the planet from Dr. Eggman by Sonic and his friends. Eggman went missing, naturally, as well as his number 2: the jackal Infinite. When the ever-present military unit GUN noticed strange activity coming from the abandoned library on the outskirts of Station Square, they asked Shadow to go investigate. They called up Sonic as well, since he would make a big stink about not being included.

Shadow didn't notice Sonic whispering behind him, he was focused on where the old Egg might be. Probably underground, he thought. If Eggman were still himself, he'd be working from below and out of sight. But maybe he wasn't himself, after everything.

It was near the last of the book stacks before the main hall that Sonic and Shadow got separated. Sonic kept whispering away to Tails (something about drinking water) and just kept walking straight. Shadow looked to the left, down the row of books, purely out of blank curiosity. Only a few books remained on the shelves, but there was one book on the floor at the end of the row.

It was open wide. Shadow saw this and became so very curious. He found himself pulled away from the path to the hall and down the row, to that book. He just had to know what was inside. Reaching the end of the row, he picked it up. The book was open to two pages of text, but Shadow didn't read them. He felt there was something in it he needed to see.

Flipping around, Shadow found a picture of his home. The Space Colony ARK.

Of course, Shadow had meant to put the past behind him after the incident with the Black Comet, but you can never really forget who you are. You can never truly wipe away the things that lead you to the present. The past is a part of your present, your future. And so, he couldn't help but think about Gerald, Maria, everything that happened. And for the first time he thought it was interesting that he was working for the same military organization that killed Maria fifty years ago.

But that was a long time ago. The military was now made up of strong men and women devoted to protecting humanity, with unshakable values and true love for the world.

Right?

And besides, the people involved with the bloody raid on the ARK were most likely dead by combat or natural causes.

Right?

Shadow shooed the thoughts away like a dog hair from his lip. But with that, the air changed around him. He found himself not in an abandoned, dim library, but somewhere vaguely familiar.

The air was cold, dry. Blackness was all around, save for a green light shining upon him. A large pod was before Shadow, filled with emerald-green water. Metal tubes were connected to what was inside.

Shadow thought it was one of the old Android copies of him from before, but quickly realized that was not the case. The creature inside did look like a hedgehog, however. As if a renowned artist found a great, magnificent crystal and carved a hedgehog from the stone.

Shadow had seen it before. But where...?

And just as quick as it had appeared, Shadow was back in the library with a big blue eyebrow in his face.