Author's Note:
I have pretty much the rest of the serious storyline outlined now, but I've left some empty gaps so that I can still improv. write in every chapter. Can't say too much, but I will tell you that this is going to be ONE LONG STORY. We still have a LOOOONG way to go from here… so be sure to stock up on popcorn and reading time. ; )
I'm glad to see people are enjoying how I've mixed concepts and characters from most Sonic genres into the fic… I try… XD
Since FF . net doesn't paragraph and indent things the way I do in my WP (or even accept the star symbol), I will now be separating sudden scene changes with: ----
...and now the plans, the tactics, the intelligence, and the motives get even more confusing and tangled…
Chapter 10
With all the new knowledge gained, prizes won, and new setbacks, it was time to regroup and reorganize…
Juli-Su was enthusiastically explaining her exploits to the living Legion, Shadow, and Dr. Eggman, who were all seated at an egg-shaped table, "So there I was, scrambling to erase every last trace of our stolen intelligence when I saw a glint of light in the corner of my eye. I whipped around, thinking Metal Sonic had found me—"
"Oh… dang… I thought this was the part where he throttled you—"
"Shut up!" she moved to flip off Kommissar.
Someone of some authority banged their fist on the table, hard, in warning. There was a pause as Juli-Su lowered her hand and glared at Kommissar – who was hidden under her hood – through two blackened eyes. The medi-bots were able to help some of the bruising around Juli's eyes, but there were still noticeable crescents of black beneath them, making her look overtired.
Shadow – who was rocking back on his chair, arms crossed, socked feet against the edge of the table, and staring almost cross-eyed down at his feet – was only listening off and on to this meeting, or whatever they called it. He looked up for a brief moment to see what Eggman had banged the table for. Not seeing anything of real interest, he went back to loathing every second he was parted from his footwear.
Juli finally continued, "… I thought Metal Sonic had found me, but instead were the three Chaos Emeralds. Green, aqua, and violet; glinting even in the dim light… but before I could get to them, one of them clones came in and I had to scramble up onto the pipelines across the ceiling to avoid being seen. It wasn't going to leave anytime soon, so I lowered a tendril down… carefully picked up the aqua emerald, brought it back up and pocketed it. I did the same for the second; however, it slipped from my grasp about halfway up and fell. I managed to capture it in mid-air—"
There was a huff of scepticism. Juli ignored it this time, already having received a warning for taunting a superior, and feeling that a simple huff was not worth a second punishment.
"…but the sound of metal against emerald attracted the attention of that damn clone, and I had to run." her tone dropped a level in enthusiasm for a moment;
"It of course, sounded the alarm. Laser turrets and more clones were soon on my case. I took evasive manoeuvres and eventually found myself—"
"Is this the part where you get beaten?!" Kommissar interrupted impatiently.
"No, but if you would like to volunteer for that re-enactment, let me know—" Juli-Su was loosing her temper again.
"What? Me kick the crap out of you?!" she half-laughed as she forcefully stood up, "Why didn't you say so sooner?! No problem!"
Juli stood up immediately after her, causing the rest of the group to tense slightly. Shadow glanced up again, only moving his eyes, not his head – vaguely interested.
"…" Juli was about to say something but was cut off.
"Sit down, both of you." Moritori Rex growled at them, "I don't have the patience for this today."
There was a long pause as the two females glared at each other and slowly sat down. Shadow now understood the emotional front he had seen and been unable to penetrate in Juli's eyes – with a constant barrage of insult and humiliation from your so-called teammates, you'd need one. He looked back at himself, eyes floating over to his wrists. He had lost his rings, and now his shoes – what next?
'Don't forget Maria… you lost Maria too.' said a thoughtful voice in his head.
'Oh! Thank you! I don't know how I could have forgotten that!' he replied sarcastically to the voice in his head, his face twisted in a scowl.
Wanting to flush any further thoughts of that from his head, he finally turned his full attention to the meeting.
"I found myself," Juli was saying, finally deciding to continue, "…in a laboratory. …and there…" she looked at each member at the table in turn, "…was Dimitri… our master and leader…" she looked at each again in reverse order, "…laying on a slatted table – like the ones the Egyptians used to mummify their dead – and being very still. There was blood pooling under the table. I went closer, to see what the heck was going on, only to find his body cold… dead."
The Legion stared at her as if she were mad. Shadow simply cocked his head to one side, and Eggman remained silent.
It's a well-known fact among the Legion that Dimitri is a miracle. Over three hundred years old, he is an ancestor to many echidnas in the Legion and related to most guardians – however he never physically aged. Similar to Shadow, he is immortal in the sense he cannot die of old age, and also very powerful. How he was granted these gifts involved an incident concerning a backfiring invention and the Chaos Emeralds.
Kragok broke the silence with a laugh, then leaning forward he abruptly stopped the it as he slammed his claw and hand on the table, "You're telling me our leader – all powerful Dimitri, capable of destruction beyond comprehension—" he added in a low voice, "…your comprehension anyway…" he was rolling his eyes under his cloak, but no one could see, "Was killed somehow, someway, and we never even detected activity or energy large or strong enough to be captured on sensors?!"
"Yeah… You can't be serious…!?" Kommissar forced a laugh, though the thought of their leader lost unnerved her.
Juli elaborated, "He looked as if he had been put through a paper shredder… blood everywhere… dripping through the slats in the table…" she drew a breath through her teeth, remembering the mortifying scene, "…his implants ripped out…"
The Legionnaires stiffened at that painful thought, Xenin winced Oooh… sympathetically; Eggman simply raised an eyebrow. No outward reaction from Shadow.
To join the ranks of the Dark Legion, one must replace a segment of their body with a cybernetic piece – though usually the area or part is chosen for them – and accept technology as a part of them. As a Legionnaire ages and their body begins to die, many choose to replace decaying or defective organs and limbs with more robotic parts, in order to preserve their life and serve the legion and great leader as long as possible.
Before the majority of the Legion was roboticized completely, one would have seen a diverse crowd of cybernetically customized echidna – living, breathing beings capable of free thought, living well beyond their natural years, and frequently more powerful than the average echidna – a formidable army. Now there were only seven living Legionnaires, including Dimitri if Juli-Su was proven to be wrong in her observations – and it wasn't sounding good.
"I sense she speaks the truth, but…" Moritori Rex spoke up, "It just doesn't add up… how did Dimitri end up at Metal Sonic's base? He was supposed to go after the Guardian." he thought for a moment, "Surely the Guardian wasn't responsible for this? There's no way he could… I mean… he's not working for Metal Sonic, is he?!"
"How the tables have turned again, Doctor." Shadow cut in with a slight smirk, "Now it seems everyone but our side has a hidden plan…"
There was an uneasy silence as they all pondered this, Eggman squirming slightly.
"What would Metal Sonic want with a chewed up echidna?" Eggman asked quietly, not expecting an answer, "Juli-Su? Did you see anything else in that room? Machinery?"
"Uh…" she thought for a moment, "I don't know… I was too busy looking at Dimitri, then I was forced to flee."
"Humm…" Eggman sat back in his chair, disappointed, "Well, we do know that Metal Sonic has been modifying his enemies' minds to convert them to his side. The backup Ultimate Life form, the clones, and Omega were all converted that way." He turned to Shadow, "We haven't heard from you yet."
Shadow perked up a bit and blinked at Eggman.
"I'd especially like to know what happened to your shoes… but please take it from the top."
Shadow tipped further back on his chair, and looked down at his socks again as begun, "GUN captured me and sealed me in a force field prison. There I found that Rouge the bat is still working for GUN, though she seemed," he put a suspicious emphasis on seemed, "…to want to help me out. She had no doubt in her mind that I was the true Ultimate Life, but said she was going to lead GUN to thinking I was just another clone. Before I could find if she was true to her words, I was knocked unconscious and suddenly found myself Metal Sonic's prisoner. Metal Sonic stole my shoes for himself, and attempted to modify my memory, as you were saying, but he failed at the memory part and lost his temper. After escaping, I attempted to get my Air Shoes back. Instead of Metal Sonic, I encountered that Omega robot, which in a pathetic attempt at an attack, tried to incapacitate me – it failed, and I soon found myself outside the base. Moments later I encountered Juli-Su with the Chaos Emeralds, perused by some clones and Metal Sonic. Not wanting to risk loosing two emeralds against the odds, I used their power to warp back here." he watched his words sink in during the silence that followed.
"…and Juli-Su…" Eggman turned to her, "You said when you were captured, that Metal Sonic wanted to make you his servant as well."
"He said I'd be, a valuable addition to our growing arsenal…" she recited in her best attempt to mimic Metal Sonic's low, metallic voice.
"Valuable… right…" Kommissar snorted quietly as she rolled her eyes. No one but Kragok heard.
Eggman nodded, "Well, then I think it's safe to assume that Metal Sonic was… is also trying to modify Dimitri…" he looked to Kragok, "…you did say a good portion of his head was roboticized in the… uh… incident."
"Yes… his skull and a part of his brain were changed, but fortunately the machine was stopped in time and his free will… his intellect… survived."
"Then perhaps Metal Sonic was preparing to replace Dimitri's cybernetic pieces with his own design in hopes that he could gain control over his mind?"
"A reasonable theory, but it still doesn't explain how he got so mangled in the first place." Kragok leaned back in his chair, then after a pause, said while grinning sadistically, "…I say we pay knucklehead a visit and find out."
"I still don't see how the Guardian would have that kind of skill to defeat Dimitri…" Rex now leaned back in his chair, "…and how does Metal Sonic plan to bring him back to life? Hum?"
Eggman knew the latter, but he wasn't telling. It wasn't really that important anyway. Instead he cleared his throat and said, "Juli-Su, when you gave me the intelligence you collected from Metal Sonic's base, I noticed it was labelled as Egg Carrier."
"Right." she said neutrally with a nod.
Eggman grinned, "He's using my old ship. I could use that to our advantage…"
Shadow was growing more and more impatient by the moment, 'Let them go fuss over their leader… I want my shoes…' he thought, then said aloud, "Enough talk… lets's get this show on the road." and he stood up suddenly, making all their heads snap to him, "Lend me an emerald, and—"
"—you'll start a war that we're clearly not ready for, given the new information we've learned."
Shadow shut his open mouth and glared at Eggman instead.
"Metal Sonic has more resources to draw on than we do. He is also clearly capable of—"
"Who said I was going after Metal Sonic?" Shadow countered, eyes futilely trying to drill into Eggman's, "I'll go after the Sonic team's emeralds, while the Legion sorts out their…" he shot a quick, sneering look around the table, "…issues…"
Kragok leapt to his feet, "Disrespectful hedge—"
"Okay!" Eggman slammed his fist against the table again, making Juli, Kommissar, Xenin and Rykor all jump, "We're all bad guys here, so I would ask you to please save the witty snide remarks and insults for our enemies!" he muttered a few words to himself (Juli snickered under her breath, being the only one close enough to hear what he had said), then spoke up, "Rex, since it doesn't sound like Dimitri is too mobile at the moment, I think it would be wise if you sent some of your Legion to Metal's lair to find out what happened – ASAP. If Dimitri is in fact, still alive—" he interrupted himself, "Juli, you did say he was dead, right?"
"Yes… well… I'm pretty sure… he didn't look like he was breathing…"
"Okay… if he's alive and still on our side, call home and I'll send Shadow here to get the both of you." he paused, "If he's alive and not on our side… you know what to do."
All but Shadow nodded slowly, as Kommissar whispered a yell, "Run!"
"Shadow I'm going to need you here. One: we may need your Chaos Control, and two: we have to do something about your…" he gestured to Shadow's socked feet, " Er… missing Air Shoes."
Shadow was fine with that plan; Eggman was going to address the problem of his shoeless existence, and he would likely get the chance to reflect on some of his many personal issues at the same time — not having to run off on another mission.
Rex now stood up, and was followed by the rest of the Legion, "Kragok? Xenin? You're both going to come with me to Metal Sonic's lair."
"All right! Finally, some action!" not having seen battle since their first strike against Sonic's team, Xenin was already pumped and ready.
"Rykor I want you on the tracking beacon. Take note that Dimitri and I won't have tracking devices."
"Yes sir." Rykor affirmed.
"Kommissar, you are to relieve Rykor of his post every few hours."
"Yes sir." Kommissar replied with a haphazard salute.
Rex said nothing to Juli-Su, "Kragok and Xenin, see you at the armoury in fifteen minutes." and he left, soon followed by the other Legionnaires, save Juli.
Eggman now stood, "Shadow, come with me." and started for the door.
Shadow gave a nod as he followed. Eggman turned just as he reached the door and called to Juli-Su, "…and you'd do best to follow as well. Those fried wires need replacing."
Juli was taken aback, "How did you…?" she had not mentioned what had happened to her mechanical dreads.
"You reek of electrical fire." Shadow stated for Eggman as the two left the room.
Fuming now, Juli jogged to catch up, but stayed a respectful distance behind the two, listening in on their conversation as they walked down the hallway.
"So what exactly do you plan on doing Eggman?" Shadow asked, "From what I've seen of his power, we'd have to kill Metal Sonic to get the Air Shoes back now…"
"He's not the cooperative sort, I know. …which is why we're not going to get them back from him."
"But Doctor—!" Shadow exclaimed, but was shortly cut off.
"We're going to make you new – and improved – Air Shoes."
"Wuh?" Shadow recalled that Gerald and a team of his fellow scientists had made his shoes. While Eggman was a very smart, technologically minded man, Shadow doubted his skills could match never mind surpass those of his creator… when it came to mixing organics with technology that is.
Shadow knew there was more to his shoes than one would figure at first glance… they knew things… like when he needed that extra boost, when to push the limit, and when to stop. They could sense the precise moment when he needed to skate, and would not fire up until he had reached a certain speed – just a little faster than a jog. They did, however, have certain drawbacks…
—One, being that they were quite cumbersome when walking or lounging.
—Two, being that they would not work when wet.
—Three, being that they were rather difficult to get on and off.
—Four, being that he could only hover constantly in mid-air for less than a minute, meaning he was forced to walk if he needed to go slow, which brought you back to issue number one.
Though even then, Shadow figured that was all a small price to pay for the gift of super speed and gravity-defying agility. While he was quite a fast and strong runner without the technological aid of his souped-up runners, he knew he would not be able to break the sound barrier or run very long distances without them. Since he was able to warp, and had the help from his shoes for most of his memorable life, natural endurance was never something he was trained or built for.
"Consider it a reward." Eggman said, "You've already brought me three emeralds, so—"
"And not without my help, either!" Juli-Su yelled from behind.
"Well, I'm helping you too, aren't I?" he threw over his shoulder, and then continued to Shadow, "Turn right here…"
They all turned into what must have been Eggman's master machine shop / lab. The front half of the room was sectioned off with a waist-high railing, and contained many holographic computer terminals, and long metal workbenches decked out with state-of-the-art-tools – tools so advanced that they would practically do the manual labour for you, not that Eggman frequently had to do manual labour of any sort. Eggman normally only ever had to build things himself if there was no model for his grunt-bots to follow, but usually an electronic blueprint would suffice. The other half of the room was not lit, but judging by the echo of their footsteps, Shadow could sense that the darkness extended for quite a ways.
Eggman approached one of the computers and started pushing buttons, "Now… I won't have these done for a little while… but…" a blue-tinted holographic screen popped up in the centre of the room (no less than a few millimetres from Juli's nose, which made her jump back in surprise), "You can rest assured that you'll hover again."
"Will they be the same?" Shadow asked as he looked at the screen. The screen showed a detailed, multi-levelled, three dimensional picture of his former hover shoes' structure and design – they were plans of how the air shoes were made; a digital blueprint, "…and where did you get these?" he went closer and inspected the section of the blueprint detailing how the frontal jet was constructed.
Eggman turned around briefly to grin at Shadow, "Just one of the many things contained in those files you want." he chuckled, "…how's that for a perk?"
Shadow just sneered at him out of the corner of his eye and stepped back from the blueprint. What peeved him was the fact that Eggman had not answered his first question.
"Juli, see that small mark on the floor over there?" he gestured in the direction of a small black X on a noticeably different section of flooring.
"Yeah… what about it?" she questioned, arms crossed.
"Go stand on it."
"Why?" she narrowed an eye, suspicious.
"Because I have nothing better to do than order Legionnaires to stand on black Xs." sarcasm obvious, he rolled his eyes, "Do you want your wiring fixed or not?"
Juli went over and stood grudgingly on the black X symbol. Immediately three robotic arms descended from the ceiling and started working delicately on her two fried dreads, and another popped up from the floor and worked on her broken heel jet. She dubiously watched them out of the corners of her violet eyes as Eggman turned from his computer to Shadow.
"Until I have them ready, I'll give you these." he slapped a button on the console behind him without turning around. On a nearby bench, a pair of black shoes rose out of a hidden panel on the desktop. They looked almost exactly like Sonic's shoes, but were entirely black from heel to toe. Shadow walked over to them. They were so black they seemed to absorb all the light around them, making them appear flat… perspective-less… he reached out and touched one; it was velvety smooth… almost like his own fur.
"Based on a design copied from Sonic's shoes, these will allow you to run at any speed you desire without them burning up under your feet like a regular shoe would."
Shadow picked one up and turned it over to the sole. No jets, but it at least had a reinforced grinding groove – A feature he rarely needed to use when he had hovering capabilities.
"You know…" Shadow started quietly, "…that I won't be able to break the sound barrier with these…"
Eggman raised an eyebrow, shaking his head, "You're physically perfect in every way… but they sure messed up your mind…" he took a few paces towards Shadow, speaking only so Shadow could hear (he hoped), "I've noticed lately a growing indent in your formerly flawless nature… you've needed outside help numerous times now, and have even lost your shoes. What's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me?" Shadow repeated with contempt, trying to sound confident, "Nothing is wrong with me. I am The Ultimate." he narrowed his eyes in detest.
"Not the Ultimate Life I used to know…"
"I know now my limits." Shadow countered, darkening further, loathing this conversation with every once of his being… because it was true…
"The true Ultimate Life form would defy limits not set them on himself… and certainly wouldn't doubt his abilities."
Shadow's temper was rising, "The true Ultimate Life form has confidence in his abilities." he referred to himself in third person, voice growing louder at each word, "…but he wonders why he's being deprived of it."
The words were lost on Eggman.
Shadow re-stated his point, more directly this time, and with fairly violent hand gestures, "Screw all this planning and battle tactics! It's just delaying the inevitable. Throw me a freakin' emerald! Let me do things my way for once." he took a deep breath through his nose to level his temper, then said solidly but more calmly, "Trust me."
Every self-respecting bad guy and gal knows that trust is hard to come by in the dark world, especially since most baddies are the deceiving, two-timing, hit-and-run, and double-crossing sort. Eggman tried to calculate what was harder to come by: trust, or an emerald. Shadow was more neutral than anything, but his true dark side frequently showed itself if an emerald was involved.
"What do you want to do? Wing our next attack?" Eggman made the very idea sound ridiculous.
Shadow was unfamiliar with the wing term. He raised an eyebrow slightly.
Noticing Shadow had been lost on it, Eggman explained aside, "Extemporize…"
"Yeah… flash and crash style…" Shadow smirked slightly.
Eggman grunted, "I see your problem now… without the material aid of the emerald you feel you can't win… and so you've been slacking off in battles to prove your plight? Is that it?"
Shadow gave him a sudden, indignant look at the accusation, "What?!"
"Shadow…" exasperated, Eggman put a gloved hand to his face, trying to sort his thoughts, "Okay… who would you go after?"
"I want Metal Sonic to feel my real power."
"Why not Sonic?" he lowered his hand and gave him a tired look.
"Metal Sonic pisses me off that much more."
"That's a good thing, but I'd rather you save it until the Legion is ready to back you."
"Back me?!"
"Yeah, the way you've been acting lately you'll need it. Metal Sonic still doesn't know you work for me. As long as we keep him in the dark about that, he probably won't attack us. I don't want him to attack until I'm sure we can beat his army of clones... and we certainly can't fight him when you're so out of practice!"
'…but… what did he see in my head?!' Shadow remembered that Metal Sonic had been flipping through his mind like a bored channel surfer… had he seen any memories of Shadow's new alliance with Eggman?
"GUN's already sending me death threats and literally flaming egg-mail… it's bad enough trying to get them to go away." Eggman grumbled, "I'd really like to get those two emeralds Sonic has…"
"Wait a minute…" Juli-Su's repairs had been completed, and she now walked over to join the conversation she had been so meticulously eavesdropping on, "Do you guys realize what you're setting ourselves up for?!" she rolled up her abundant sleeves revealing a shiny robotic left arm and a orchid furred right as she crossed them, "If you get Sonic's two emeralds, that gives us six." she held up six white gloved fingers for a moment, "Six emeralds in one place is a serious amount of energy, which will likely attract unwanted attention from power freaks like Metal Sonic and GUN. On top of that, the emeralds will no longer be scattered. All our enemy needs is his one to complete the set. If Metal Sonic somehow gets the six we've worked so hard to get, he has it made and we're as good as screwed."
There was a long pause, as the two males considered this new issue.
Juli just rolled her eyes unenthusiastically, then turned and left the room.
"It's almost like your original plan, Doctor." Shadow finally said, "Let others do the work, then reap the rewards for them. If we get the six emeralds, there's a chance Metal Sonic will come after us to get them while we try to beat Sonic down. Or maybe this was his plan all along…" Shadow shrugged; "Either way, I'm sick of walking on eggshells." he picked up the shoes and started to walk away, "Decide soon. I'm going to the Launch Tunnel." and he left, leaving Eggman to consider the situation.
Being a bad guy isn't easy in modern times… especially if you want to live to see your schemes' results. Things are never what they seem…
Shadow walked down the hallway towards the lift. It felt strangely… free… to walk without the hover shoes on his feet, but he still missed them terribly, and seriously doubted that he could break out of subsonic speed without their help. They had added a lot of force to his stride at the precise moment it was needed, building on the force he already put into each push.
Shadow considered his rival… mental turbulence ensued…
'Sonic… he has all-natural speed…'
'…but honestly… am I really that physically different from Sonic? We're both hedgehogs… male… around the same stature… same shape…'
'No… I must be heavier or physically stronger than Sonic…'
'…how do I know that!?'
'Head to head battles… he's too easy to push away… hold down…'
'Can't be sure of that… maybe he was just holding back?'
'…but he's just a regular hedgehog!'
'…or so he says…'
'What about me… I'm the Ultimate Life form…'
'Not much difference other than that. …besides disposition.'
' …but… What is the Ultimate Life form? Just what am I?! There's no comparison until then…'
'… … …'
'Given the current introspection, if anything I should be able to outrun Sonic without the aid of my hover shoes.' he furrowed his brow in thought, 'At least…' he thought about how the hover shoes may have actually impeded his full running potential by making it easier, '…with some practice, perhaps…' he smirked, but it soon faded as he approached the door to the kitchen & food storage.
The door to the room was open, and a light was pouring out from it and into the hallway. Shadow drew near it, black shoes dangling from one hand, and stopped for a moment to look inside, vague expression on his face.
Juli-Su was lying on the counter, metal boots up against a pillar, which made her look almost as if she were sitting upside-down. She was holding a half-empty glass bottle in one hand, and was staring up at the ceiling in apparent reverie.
Not knowing or caring what she was doing, Shadow resumed his walk.
"Hey Shadow…"
He stopped in mid step at her call, but didn't look into the room.
"Care for a drink? I finally found the wine closet," she chuckled softly as she turned the bottle over and read it; the percentage of alcohol was quite high, "Ah… no wonder… this is good stuff… if you can stand a few kicks to the head…" she chuckled again, thinking, 'I wonder how he is, drunk…'
Shadow remained silent, but now gave her a steely gaze, a little vexed.
"Oh… heh heh…" Juli dropped her feet and turned over, orchid colored legs showing up to mid-thigh as she propped her head on one hand and two metallic dreads, looking over at him, "What? A sobriety oath?" her face was visibly flushed.
"No… I've been told alcohol doesn't affect my system… and otherwise it tastes like piss… so I see no pleasure in drinking it." his stare softened a teeny tiny bit as she met his gaze. He blinked at her. A partially drunk echidna posed no threat, so there was no reason to put any aggressive energy into his stare.
"Damn…" she swished the contents of the bottle around, and then took another swig, wincing her eyes and bobbing her head as she forcefully downed the liquid. She said again, a little quieter this time, "Damn…" and met his look once more with a twitch of an eyebrow.
Shadow turned and walked out of Juli's sight. He was not terribly interested in talking to her, not that he was generally interested in idle chitchat anyway.
"Oh!" Juli called out after him, voice echoing slightly off the bare, hard walls, "…and sorry about your shoes!"
In the hallway, Shadow stopped a moment and flicked an ear to listen.
"In motion with them, you looked…" he heard her take another swig from the bottle, "…unbelievable…"
Shadow continued his walk.
----
"User name please." it was that saucy treadmill again.
"Shadow." he stated coldly as he sat on the ground to slip on his new shoes.
"User name not recognized."
Shadow trembled, coiling his rising anger deep inside, "Sha-dow." he repeated delicately, but just as coldly. He slipped his feet into the silky smooth interior of his new runners.
"User name not recognized."
Shadow rippled again, and thought 'I am not going to say it…' He suddenly looked down at his feet, and to his horror… realized they were tie-ups. He let out a breath though his teeth, about to go on a profanity spree, 'Shhh—"
"User name please." the machine repeated.
That was all Shadow could take, he had a new problem to deal with, "Deactivate yourself, infernal machine!" he spat, quills spreading and rising as he stood.
"Sure thing, asshole." the machine powered down into a cold slumber.
Shadow kicked the machine eight times in rapid succession, black laces flapping around as he did so, but there was no response. He looked back down at the shoes. He couldn't tie laces… it was a simple skill he was never taught. Not by Gerald, not by Maria, not by anyone. He kicked the machine again for good measure, and then sat down on it.
'The Ultimate Life form can't even tie his shoes…' he sank his head into his hands, wallowing back into a hole of enervation.
'Can't be that hard… children can do it…' reasoned one side of his head.
'Can't be life threatening… leaving them untied…' argued the other testily.
'…but then they'd fly off when you run… hit you in the head or something…'
'…' the other side couldn't argue with that.
Shadow looked at the loose laces… he was beginning to think his old Air Shoes were a heck of a lot easier to get on and off… sure it had several hidden devices and – somewhat painful at first touch – neurotransmitting devices at several pressure points on the soles of his feet, but at least he knew the procedure involved.
He imagined the ridicule he would have to suffer if he asked any of his compatriots for help with this matter.
'If only Maria were here… she'd understand…' he sighed though his nose sadly, still staring sightlessly at his shoes, '…she'd understand…'
He got up and trudged, laces still untied and flailing every which way as he walked, back up the stairs, into the lift, then when he reached the main hall, headed towards the rooftop. If he couldn't run he might as well watch the sunset and envision his freedom instead. The rooftop was empty, just the way he wanted it, and he soon found himself standing cross-armed at the very edge of the smooth metal roof, staring at the red and purple streaked sky.
'If only one could combine the sound of rain with the sight of a sunset, Maria's scent, the free feeling of running flat out, and the surreal atmosphere of space....' he thought, closing his eyes to feel a slight warm breeze rustle his quills, 'Now that would be an experience worth living for…' he smirked at the happy thought, but it soon faded – they always did – as visions of Maria being shot stabbed at the back of his head. He was used to having these flashes of the memory, but he never could get used to seeing his only companion, Maria, being murdered. Awake he could cope and try to drive the nightmarish memories away, and so he lived an eternal insomniac, making his torturous existence seem even more long and drawn out.
He shifted his thoughts to the matter of his shoes; how he missed the Air Shoes, and how he was going to manage tying up his temporary replacements. He could try not running until Eggman completed the task of somehow constructing a new pair of the jet-propelled runners, but he found that idea very unpleasant… for one he would not be able to relieve pent up anger, resentment, and all-round energy, and two: he would not be able to go on any missions.
Shadow looked down at his shoes again, squatted, and took up the laces of the right shoe in his hands. He studied the way they were already laced into the shoe in a criss-cross pattern, and then pulled the laces tight so they hugged his feet. He looked at the laces for a moment, then crossed them over each other twice and pulled to see the effect. Nothing. He started over, crossing one over the other, then flipping one end down and around the other. He pulled… success! The twist held the rest of the shoe tight. Now what? He tried the same motion again and pulled it tight. Now there was a very strong knot at the top of his shoe. Shadow moved his foot around, and then rose up on his toes for a moment. The knot held, his foot stayed in place inside the shoe, and he was pleased. He did the same knot at the top of the left shoe, making sure to get a tight fit, then sat back to admire his work. Now he had about a foot of leftover laces. Quickly thinking of a solution, he tucked the excess under the criss-crossing pattern. It looked like crap and not at all like tied shoes he had seen before, but perhaps it would hold. He stood up and jogged to the other side of the roof. It held. He sprinted back to his original place, skidding to a stop. It held! Success! He smirked a triumphant smirk, then looked sidelong over the edge of his viewpoint. The wall continued down for several hundred feet before rounding off to the desert floor. He smirked wider, he grinned, he narrowed his eyes in devious anticipation.
Not thinking about it for a second more, Shadow leapt off the edge and ran flat out down the side of the wall. His pulse quickened, adrenaline coursed though his body, and he grinned manically. He experienced a quick, butterflies-in-your-stomach change in gravity as he ran down the curve, arms straight out behind him, new runners touching the ground for mere fractions of an instant as he flew along the ground. It was completely different feeling than air skating, but it was a good, refreshing and fulfilling feeling nonetheless. Seeing no obstacles in his way, just straight desert, he pushed forward, accelerating towards his invisible goal. In mere seconds – he noted faster acceleration than when he air skated – he could feel that pressure building again, that strong force of sound and air. It streamed and rippled around him as he pushed against it, head first.
'I can break it…' Shadow assured himself, 'I can break the sound barrier…'
He struggled, pushing harder against the ground, against that seemingly impenetrable barrier. He was so close… but it wouldn't give… doubt soon began to shroud his unusual spur of optimism as the adrenaline started to drain away.
Then he spotted it… a threat ahead… time and speed seemed to slow to a crawl as his brain recognized and acknowledged the obstacle in the mere milliseconds he was given to do so. It was only a group of small boulders on the ground, each no bigger than a bowling ball, but at this speed, any size could be quite dangerous to hit. While Sonic could stop and turn on a dime – 90-degree turns and even 180s coming to him easily – Shadow had a somewhat wider turning circle and slower breaks; and it was because the Air Shoes had patterned him that way. Shadow immediately stopped his forward effort, and shifted all his weight to the right in hopes that he could avoid a collision. Tottering in imbalance and taking longer, ungraceful-looking strides, he passed the humble obstacles without a problem – though it was regaining his balance that was the real issue… as he swerved to keep upright, he felt a muscle in his leg tear, sending knives of pain jabbing up to his brain. As if that weren't bad enough, there was another rock coming up, this one several feet high, and at least twenty feet wide. It had jagged edges and a backward slanting face. As Shadow sloppily approached it, still taking long strides to keep himself from falling after his momentum was disturbed, he impulsively coiled his legs and painfully converted his horizontal inertia to a vertical leap. He sailed upwards quickly towards the top of the rock. While still flying up, he reached out with his arms, firmly planted his hands on the ledge, coiled as he waited for his feet to catch up to his hands, exchanged his hands for a foothold, and pushed off, sending him higher into the air.
Relishing his moment, for it was reminiscent of gliding through the air with his hover shoes, he threw his arms and head back and felt the air sway his quills and the white tuft of fur on his chest. …but as with all enjoyable things, it was over too soon…
Sensing his declining momentum, he somersaulted in the air so he was dropping head first, and landed so his arms sustained most of the impact as his legs dropped to the ground behind him.
'See… that's what a warm up is for…' scolded his brain as his pulled muscle sent a twinge of pain to it.
'Shut up…' he told it as he lay back on the rocks.
He did find it strange however; that he actually managed to pull a muscle… those were very rare for him.
The stars were out in their full glory now, and Shadow lay back with hands behind his head, mindlessly rocking his shoes side to side on his heels. Not familiar with the constellations of Earth, Shadow instead sought out planets… a particularly bright one he guessed was Venus… if he pushed his head back there was another unusually bright star he guessed was Jupiter. Getting bored of that, he raised a finger to the air, closed one eye and began to trace imaginary lines across the sky… connecting star-to-star… making his own constellation. On this foreign planet he could at least make these skies more familiar to him. After a few minutes he found he had traced a shaky outline of an emerald… he smirked to himself as he dropped his arm limply. He would have remembered playing this game with Maria had Metal Sonic not erased the most prominent memory of it… though traces of it still existed in his subconscious.
Suddenly for that particular, subconscious reason, he thought, 'Maria…' and felt a pang in his heart, 'If only I had a direction… a path to take… I could do better… but I am uncertain… my head says one thing, my heart another, my body another, and my surroundings yet another… I can't concentrate… I'm loosing focus… I don't know what to do… I feel torn… tired… I just want to rest and join you in paradise…'
'Maybe death is not paradise…'
'Immortality sure isn't… certainly not when you're alone…'
'…Maria is irreplaceable…
'Yes…'
He went back to staring blankly at the stars… he traced another constellation with his eyes… a stick-hedgehog (himself), and a stick-girl (Maria).
'She is gone… yet she is still here… in my mind and spirit… I can still hear her voice… I even spoke to an apparition of her… my mind says impossible, but my heart cannot ignore it… senses cannot deny what they feel…'
He closed his eyes for a moment to try and push the confusion back down… he only partially succeeded and – standing up – decided to take another run to clear his head. The pain in his leg, a minor tear, had already healed and was forgotten as he leapt off the rock and shinned at a moderate speed back to the base.
----
"Where have you been?!" Eggman shouted over the intercom, as soon as Shadow entered the hidden door. Apparently he had been spotted on camera, "Come to the command room this instant!"
Shadow did as told, though was sure to walk as slow as possible. Not bothering with the fairly slow lift, he hopped agilely from wall to wall to reach the elevated command room.
"Where have you been!?" Eggman repeated, still shouting.
Shadow looked around. Kommissar was on her knees near the computer… he knew it was Kommissar because it certainly wasn't Juli-Su; she had slightly wavy, shiny red, shoulder length hair cropped off at an angle just above the shoulder, and just one mechanical dread that was nowhere near as elaborate as Juli-Su's three. The rest of her tendrils were banded stylistically with metal. She seemed to be in a fluster. Kragok was also nearby, hood also down, revealing his glowing red, cybernetic eye… both his real and implanted eye looked livid as he clenched and unclenched his claw. Shadow did not see Xenin or Rykor, who were hidden in the darkness behind the two Legionnaires.
Eggman was standing closest to Shadow and spoke again, "We could have needed you! What if we had needed you?! You were nowhere to be found!" he trailed off, "…probably stargazing or something equally unimportant..."
Shadow just stared at Eggman blankly, "What happened?"
"Rex was killed." Eggman said sharply.
Kragok marched up to where Eggman and Shadow were standing.
"…and soon we all will be, too. If you—" (he grabbed Shadow's white crest with his robotic claw) "—wretched, inferior hedgehog, don't shape up soon and show us what the hell this Ultimate Life form crap means!"
The sudden, unwelcome, and rude physical contact deeply offended Shadow. With a lightening fast palm thrust directed at Kragok's chest, he pushed him off, making him stumble back a few feet.
"Don't touch me." He stated coldly as he gave Kragok a narrowed glare of great loathing, and then turned back towards Eggman.
…but before anyone could speak, Kragok came back for more. Not wanting to appear a pushover in front of his comrades, he lunged at him again, reaching out with his real hand this time.
Now, anyone who has felt the sting of Shadow's stare would probably be intelligent enough to realize that you just don't touch Shadow, especially after he's shown you the benefaction of remaining his apathetic self. …unless of course, your name is Maria, or you just want to die. …or your name is Kragok.
Shadow turned just as Kragok grabbed hold of one of his twisted spines to the left side of his head and pulled to one side, rearing back his claw in preparation to strike his face. There was a sudden lapse in time – time always seemed to slow for him in these situations, perhaps because his mind was racing so quickly – where Shadow gave Kragok a darkly amused look. Amused because he finally had an excuse to fight this so-called ally. There was a feint twinkle in his eye as he prepared to counter the attack.
'Damn it, he's going to kill him…' Eggman thought in the few milliseconds of hang time.
The room was first paralyzed with awe – as Shadow forced Kragok to the floor – then alarm as they all realized Shadow was holding Kragok firmly by the neck, while very seriously and calmly, threatening to crush the breath from him – then chaos as Xenin, Rykor, and Kommissar leapt to attention, shouting words unheard by the two fighters, and aiming various laser weapons (shrouded by their cloaks) at the now two furiously fighting males. The Legionnaires couldn't fire however; as the two were much too close to each other and they risked hitting Kragok. Eggman disapproved of the fighting, but decided not to get involved for the moment; one: because he didn't want to get killed, and two: he was actually interested in seeing who would come out on top. Shadow was the safer bet, but with the way he had been fighting recently, anything was possible.
Shadow had a firm grip on Kragok's neck with one hand, and was elbowing him with the other arm. Despite this Kragok was somehow over Shadow, holding him in a headlock and trying to wrench one of Shadow's ears from his head. Each was blinded from the pain the other was inflicting on them, and they were suddenly thrashing about on the floor, a jumbled mass of black and red. Shadow – nose suddenly bleeding from a hard hit – soon fought himself on top of Kragok, pinning him to the ground, and prepared to start administering some serious damage to Kragok's head. It unfortunately never happened, because Xenin and Rykor stepped in and forced the two apart, while Kommissar pointed a rather elaborate looking laser rifle at Shadow's head.
Shadow couldn't tell Xenin from Rykor at the moment, but the one dragging a furious Kragok away had a partially roboticized face and cropped off dreadlocks, and the one who had forced Shadow off him (now unnecessarily barring his way to Kragok) was almost completely mecha – quite strong, too. Shadow noticed that Kommissar was staring furiously along her raised rife at him. He shifted his gaze and stared back, and she soon found her cobalt blue eyes darting to and from the end of her rifle to Shadow uncomfortably, not able to hold a glare against the scorch of his vigilant red eyes.
Shadow drew a hand across his bleeding nose, painting a streak of red across his glove, then in a mellow tone called to Eggman, "Tisk tisk… can't even control your own minions..."
"Minions?!" Xenin cried, apparently he was the mostly mecha one, "We're more than just minions!"
Shadow ignored him – he was only interested in two things, what had happened on the Legion's mission (or what Eggman was so upset about), and the rifle pointed at his head.
Some distance away and beside Eggman, Kragok had just barely composed himself, and was now regarding him with abhorred looks. Trying to convey that he was unaffected, unfazed by the fight, he resisted the temptation to rub his sore neck.
"I told you I couldn't be held responsible for what happens if you start picking fights." Eggman said to Shadow lowly, then turned to Kragok, "…and you… I think I already warned you about this…"
There was a long pause where no one did or said anything.
"Now." Eggman said finally, "Are we finished? Are we ready to converse as civil evil doers?"
Shadow crossed his arms and looked from Eggman to the rifle still held steady at his head. Kommissar slowly lowered it and backed away resentfully with Xenin. Shadow wiped his nose again, as the blood trickling down his face was quite irritating.
Eggman spoke again, "Because of the current events and circumstances I don't have time to fully address the apparent problem we're having with infighting." he looked at each in turn, then snarled, "…but I will tell you that if it happens again, I will be forced to retain you in the deepest dungeons of this base until I have the time and energy to remember that you are even there!" he looked at them all again, "For now I simply ask that you respect each other's space and keep your mouths shut in regards to what you hate about each other." he uncrossed his arms, "Tonight, Moritori Rex was killed by a new, formidable enemy. Completely incinerated by Metal Sonic's new, metal monster companion…" Eggman looked directly at Shadow, now addressing him, as he was the only one who hadn't heard the story yet, "Metal Sonic removed Dimitri's original implants, drained the blood, the life from him, then crudely affixed his own make of cybernetic pieces to the remainder of his organic being. Before bringing him back to life with various chemical injections and numerous electrical shocks, Metal Sonic imprinted new values and loyalties on Dimitri's mind. He is now one of them."
Shadow didn't know, but Metal Sonic had done (in a much less sophisticated and intricate way) to Dimitri what Gerald had done to create the Ultimate Life – reinforced weak organic structures physically, while keeping the infinitely complex organic mind; Basically combining the best of the mechanical and organic worlds to create a wholly supreme being.
"So now we have a Metal Sonic, Metal Shadows, and a Metal Dimitri to contend with." Eggman stated solemnly, while shaking his head, "A little bit of fun for everyone…"
"Actually…" Rykor cut in, "Dimitri has a new name for himself… He calls himself… Enerjak."
Shadow and Eggman raised an eyebrow at the strange name… though it was not as if Eggman wasn't a strange naming either.
"What does he think this is? A comic book!?" muttered Eggman under his breath.
"So now what?" Shadow mused, "Your Legion is without a leader, and Metal Sonic most definitely knows who works for who at this point."
"Don't be so sure of that…" growled Kragok, stepping forward a step and facing Eggman, "He knows of our kind now, and he knows of our loyalties, but he actually knows nothing of this… hedgehog…" he gestured vacantly to Shadow, who stiffened indignantly, "After Metal Sonic had Enerjak kill Rex as a demonstration of his power, he let us escape on purpose… so that we could relay two messages."
"Go on." Eggman was listening.
"One being that Your pathetic army doesn't stand a chance, I have millions on my side. and two, that the Ultimate Life form will be mine."
"How can you be sure he isn't lying?" Shadow asked neutrally, referring to the millions on my side statement. He wiped his bloody nose again; the bleeding was almost done.
"Metal Sonic can't lie outright." Eggman explained.
"I meant the echidna." Shadow clarified, jabbing a thumb at Kragok.
Kragok fumed but said nothing this time. He was grateful that their previous fight had been stopped before he inevitably lost. Revenge would come in time… when the odds were better…
Shadow continued, "…but if you put it that way, what if the millions was simply an exaggeration. An exaggeration is not an outright lie… it is stretching the truth."
Eggman refrained from answering Shadow again, which did nothing to help the increasingly unpleasant atmosphere.
"So who is in charge now?" asked Eggman, adding, "…of the Dark Legion."
"I am." Kragok stood taller, "I was third in command, and in absence of my two superiors I become head of the Legion."
Eggman nodded and Shadow simply stared. He couldn't believe that such a deranged creature would now have control of much of the operations. Even though Eggman was still number one overall, the Legion was always in control of itself – in alliance and submission to the Eggman Empire but still under its own direction. The two simply cooperated quite fluently because of their similar goals.
Shadow felt further apart; like a tool or prize in the scheme of things. Not really connected to the Eggman Empire, and definitely not with the Legion, he was his own team. It didn't bother him though… as long as he was given access to his personal files and learned more about his existence he would be satisfied in the end…
"Alright… alright…" Eggman pondered, obviously machinating, "What are your current numbers?"
"Myself, Kommissar, Xenin, Rykor, and… Juli-Su…" he said Juli-Su with contempt, "…are the only left of the living Legion. Mechidna count is exactly seven hundred and ninety two."
Eggman almost winced at the disappointingly low number, "Last time I checked status, I have four-hundred and fifty seven missiles stockpiled, around fifty medium-sized guard mechs, and Shadow."
Shadow bristled. He didn't like being referred to in the same line as machinery and weapons… and yet at the same time it fit; Gerald had considered him a top-secret weapon of sorts.
"I have more missiles being made down below… but we'll need more… uh… foot soldiers…" he turned to Kragok, "Would it be possible to manufacture more Mechidna?"
He shook his head, "They were living beings, former comrades, transformed entirely into robots. Not manufactured. While we do know a lot about them, we cannot replicate it. Even if we tried, building robots is not our best skill; we are better at… manipulating the living." he raised his claw in the air, grinned, and clamped it shut.
"I see…" Eggman fingered a moustache, "Then is there any chance you can recruit more Dark Legionnaires?"
Kragok had to think about that one. He glanced over at Kommissar, who tilted her head slightly. He turned back to Eggman, "Possible, but doubtful… we'd have to scout out some possible sources first…"
"Then by all means, get to it." he turned to everyone, "From now on, time is of the essence. We need to get our numbers up before someone attacks. GUN and Metal Sonic are major threats at the moment, and we only have four of the seven emeralds."
"What do you plan on doing with the emeralds, Doctor?" Shadow spoke up.
"Isn't it obvious?" Eggman grinned, "That's where you come in."