Age of Darkness

Chapter IV

Atmoic Pizza

A.N. Time for some lighthearted humor! Woohoo!!!

I was back on the ARK again, for the umpteenth time. I left the blue blur far behind me and it was time to find the next crystal. We had possession of three crystals already, four more to go. I wandered over to a room at the colony edge and waited there. My two partners were hovering near the control room, far out of reach. I do not trust her. I looked down at the hateful planet below me. I trust Rouge less than I trust that 'doctor' guy. Why is that? I closed my eyes. She came out of nowhere. She was spying on us, intruding. What is she doing here? My scraped cheek was almost completely healed, after healing itself for only one day. The red scratches were gone, only leaving faint pinkish marks behind. I mused on her for a minute. She did give us the Sapphire. So what? She looks like a wolf in sheep clothing. She is too suspicious. I had determined a resolution for Rouge, so I returned to the control room.

Down the many now dark hallways of steel and glass, the two of them were still there. Ivo had a thoughtful expression on his face as he stared at the control room terminal. He seemed to be watching an island. I could see the screen glow in the darkness. The layout looks familiar... Is that Prison Island? My thought was cut off by the greeting of the white bat. "Shadow! Where have you been?" Why should she care about me? I inwardly shrugged. "Silence! I am trying to think," Ivo grumbled at us. He returned his eyes to the screen and pulled out the Chaos radar he let me borrow the day before. "How rude," Rouge said with a smirk. She lowered her voice. "Where did you go?" I responded with nothing more than a glance at her as I crossed my arms. "Why?" I asked back. "Does that even matter? Lighten up," Rouge said as she placed her hand on my shoulder.

I was disturbed by her touch. I have no time for this. I managed to ignore it and stood still. "Waiting," I said tersely as I watched and her hand rested on my shoulder. I feel uncomfortable right now. What are you doing? I looked at Ivo and asked him something. "Doctor," I started. "Yes, Shadow?" "You thought I was Sonic?" The Doctor reluctantly answered. "Yes." I stayed silent again. Yeah, and I will confuse toasters with computers, I thought to myself. "I am used to him showing up in all of the worst times Shadow. He has ruined my plans countless times," he added. Whatever. "Alright. Listen up! We are going to Prison Island in a matter of minutes. Get ready!" Ivo said as he turned around and saw Rouge touching me.

He looked at me with a question in his eyes. I looked back at him with frustration. Do not ask me. He decided to ask Rouge. "Rouge! What are you doing? Let's go now!" He yelled. "Okay, do not need to be so pushy, you know." Rouge closed her eyes. She was wearing blue eyeliner. "You both are pushy," I stated simply. Both of them grumbled in anger. I smirked in celebration of my victory. Score! I walked over to the warp device and waited for them. "That is the most he has said all day," Rouge said blankly. I rolled my eyes... Sheesh!

Prison Island: We waited on a small islet shore that was at the edge of tropical shrubs and trees. The sun was high in the sky and the sky was bright blue with occasional clouds. I could discern the chatter of angry seagulls in the distance. "Shadow! Rouge! Listen up! I am going to cause mayhem on the ships in the bay with my Egg Walker to distract the enemy. You two have jobs to take care of. Rouge, you will infiltrate the vault at this base and steal three Chaos Crystals. Shadow, you will place this," he held up a hand with a small device the size of a candy bar, "at the main island and activate it. When it goes off, this island chain goes with it!" Rouge ran of to perform her task. "Shadow, follow me." I followed the chubby man in the goofy-looking robot onto an aircraft carrier. "Here take it now." He shoved it into my hand and I hid it... wherever it went. I am not absolutely certain that seven fist-sized crystals and a candy bar can easily fit in my little pocket!

"What is this candy bar for Doctor? I know it is not made of chocolate!" I asked as I watched the mad genius. Ivo chuckled. "That is an anti-matter warhead. I call it the Egg Bombom," the genius said with pride. "Right," I said with annoyance. "Nice device and all, but why do you call everything you devise with 'egg' in the name?" "Because, Shadow. Sonic and his pesky pals call me Dr. Eggman." I smiled faintly. "Creative name," I replied as I brushed one of my quills with my gloved hand. I felt warm and soft arms firmly wrap around my shoulders and a squeezing pressure as someone's face pressed into my own, inciting me to close one of my crimson eyes. What the hell! "I found you at last, my darling Sonic!" The voice of the speaker was high pitched, feminine. The attacker jumped back and I finally got to look at the affectionate creature. "Wait a minute! You are not Sonic!" "No duh," I muttered under my breath sarcastically. I was really mad about everyone calling me Sonic!

My attacker was a pretty pink hedgehog girl with brilliant green eyes. She was young; I guess she was twelve years old. She wore a red dress and red boots and had a red hair band in her pink quills. I liked her hug. She is really cute. "Oh no! Doctor Eggman!" She looked up at the person behind me and I watched her with an unmoved stare. "Go on Shadow! I will take care of her!" The girl had a look of terror in her eyes. I looked at my partner briefly and mouthed the words, "do not hurt her." 'Eggman' nodded back as I left. I ran off and leapt across the edge of the carrier and onto the island, on my way to the main base...

Finally, this must be it. I placed the explosive on the ground under a bush. The main base, which was nothing more than a huge blocky building, was just a meter away from me. Do not touch? I thought as if there was a warning on the Bombom. But what does the button do? Tap! I laughed maniacally just to enjoy myself. "Mwa-ha-ha-ha!" Oops. I hope that was not too loud. I narrowed my eyes and looked around me. Silence was there, and it remained unbroken. The device lit up and a red digital timer started to count down. My already large hedgehog eyes popped out of my head as I realized the timer was too short for my comfort. TEN MINUTES!!? What was he thinking! I rushed back towards the vault and through the misty thickets and palm trees of the rainforest.

Many a vine and bush were dangling and standing in my way, so I had plenty of weaving to do. I saw the trees and ground stop abruptly, so I hit my brakes. I was centimeters away from the edge of a cliff, and a good fifty meters were between me and the ground below. I swallowed. I turned and noticed a very slippery rock face that was shaped like a funnel. The natural slide reached the bottom of the floor and gently curved to be parallel to the ground. Here goes nothing! "Kowabunga!!!" I dropped onto the slide and enjoyed the thrill. I felt weightless and soon I was falling. I felt raindrops before, but now I had no raindrops splattering on my shiny black nose. "Wooohooo!!" The slope curved and I was still falling at an incredible rate. I curled up and rolled roughly over the clumps of grass and twigs at the bottom of the cliff. I started to feel dizzy as the constant rolling of my body gave me a headache. My quills bristled as I felt myself hit a puddle and I uncurled, landing on my back. "Gah!"

It could have been worse, I thought silently. My fur was soaking wet and I stood up. I shook my fur and flung water in a brief shower everywhere. I then stood on a rock so that it would not burn and concentrated Chaos energy on my body. I was enveloped in a red fire, and the water of my fur simply boiled away. After I finished my fire, I continued running and landed on a strangely square platform that had grass and bushes as well as small trees. I waited there and I soon heard shuffling of feet. Oh no. Not him. Sonic landed on the platform. He spoke first. "Hey! You!" "That blue hedgehog again. And of all places," I muttered. Sonic stepped towards me and pointed a finger. "I found you, faker!" "Faker? You are the faker around here! You are comparing yourself to me!" I chuckled. "Ha! You are not good enough to even be my fake!" I finished.

"I will make you eat those words!" Both of us got in a battle stance. Suddenly, a bell rang. Ding! Sonic looked around, so I sprang onto him. "Ow!" I jumped into the air and spun into his body. Ha! Good job, blue! I chuckled softly as I stood back. Sonic glared at me. "Did you even hear that?" He asked angrily. "The bell? Duh. But you have a point. That is weird..." I rubbed my chin in thought. A floating blue robot with large yellow eyes showed up. "Hello. I am Omachao. I am here to help you. Let round one of the match begin." The bell rang again. Ding! Sonic and I glanced at each other. In a moment the robot's lights were out. "Nice," I said to him. "Not too bad yourself, Shads!" I paused. "Were we supposed to be fighting?" I asked. The little walkie-talkie thingy I had spoke. It was Eggman. "Shadow! What are you doing!? Get off this island right now before it blows up with you on it!" Sonic jumped a foot as he repeated the message. "BLOWS UP!??" "Adieu!" I said as I turned around. I dashed away into the mist, leaving my blue counterpart behind.

"Shadow. I cannot believe this. I was fighting a robot, and it locked me in this vault. I guess I will not be calling myself a hunter anymore," Rouge said sadly. I did not trust Rouge, and even though she had the three crystals, that was not a real reason to save her. The crystals are indestructible. I growled. "You troublemaker!" I have many a grudge, but my hands have no blood on them. I did not want to start then. I ran wildly through the jungle. Trees flashed by me as I followed a primitive road that the army here made. I could sense the crystals, and Rouge was with them.

I can't let her die, I realized. Yes, my goal was to destroy the world. Yes I was quite hateful. But I did not want the burden of knowing I could have saved her and that I did not... That is the Antihero in me; to be hateful and not completely evil at the same time. Is an Antihero more of a hero or more of a villain? I do not know the answer to that question. You might... Time was running out. The vault was there in all of its glory, and I dashed through an open door and saw Rouge trapped in a pit. I landed in front of her, and she was staring in despair at the floor under her feet. "Get up!" I yelled and I grabbed one of the crystals, Rouge had the others. "Chaos Control!!" In a flash of light, Rouge and two crystals were sent to ARK.

I was zapped to an island that was dozens of kilometers away from the island chain. I watched the distant horizon of the sea and a terrific flash of light caused me to close my eyes for a moment. I could feel heat burn into my black fur and I opened my eyes again, squinting to see what had happened. A large yellow fireball was rising over the islands and the sky looked dark red, nearly black, in its brilliance. "It is the sun," I commented. The islands were completely gone, concealed by a skirt of fire beneath the explosion. As the fireball rose, a thick column of fire was beneath it. The fireball dimmed into a duller orange, and it rose like a swollen bubble into the sky as the sky itself became red, then a lighter mauve and finally its familiar blue color. I was amazed by the site. Fireworks and even fuel air bombs are party poopers compared to this, I concluded as the ball turned reddish brown and became more of a lump and less of a ball as it continued climbing to the heavens.

The column of fire became thinner and turned brown, and the lump seemed to be enveloped by brown smoke that rolled over its lumpy mass, finally snuffing out its red glow. I saw a small wave roll across the sea and the waves behind it stilled. Uh oh! I do not want busted ears today! I crammed my fingers into my ears. The wave was gone, but a blur of wind smacked me as a solid and loud explosion pushed dust into the air. I left my ears free of my fingers after a moment, and I heard a barrage of deep rumbles. Birds in nearby trees squawked in panic and some flew into the sky to escape. The ball of smoke looked somewhat like a mushroom. The shape of the cloud reminded me of... pizza. In anger my eyes narrowed as my stomach growled. I hope that the hedgehog girl and that yellow fox got away. I hope even that blue hedgehog got away... I am now, years later, supremely glad they did...