Age of Darkness

Chapter VI

Doubts

Why? Why doesn't she hate me? Why? I thought about Amy. She smiled at me. I like her. She has good qualities. But why could she possibly not hate me? I want the world to end! I helped Doctor Eggman kill Sonic! She always chased after him! My thought turned to the hedgehog that rivaled my speed. Why didn't he hate me? We did fight, but when both of us were in a draw on the island, why did he just let me go? I had second thoughts. He had to save his friends. He had no time to bother with me... I slammed my fist into a wall with such anger that it left an indentation. "Argh!" Why do I care!? Why should I care!? I am allowing emotions to get in my way! I thought I got rid of my heart! "Go away," I told my heart. "Go away!" I can feel my heart again! It hurts! GO AWAY!! WHY! WHY DO I CARE!!? WHY DO I CARE!!? I was on the brink of tears, but my eyes held them back. I need to ignore these feelings. I have a promise to keep. I gathered my composure and waited in silence.

My heart ached, but it also felt, dare I to say it, nice. I felt a blend of pleasure and pain. I felt so helpless. In my solitude, a tear slipped from my eye. I heard it drip against the cold floor. I cursed myself as I rubbed my eye. "Why?" I asked myself. "Why am I crying? Why do I care? Why don't they"- The door opened, and light flooded the wall next to me. I stayed silent. Why did the door open? Who is out there? I heard nothing. I waited for any sound to tell me, to announce that I am not alone. The silence remained unbroken. Someone is out there, I know it. I peered around the corner of the wall next to the door. Nothing was there. What about... My thoughts fell apart. What about... the cannon! My eyes sprang open. I did not know why, but I had an urge to return to the control room.

Running through the opened door, I ran as fast as I could. In two minutes I reached the colony core. I scrambled up the stairs back to the control room. I stopped when I saw the door to the control room. The room was open! Who is in here! Staying silent as I approached, I looked into the darkness. Rouge was at the controls, and she was holding two of the crystals. Wait. Where is my Ruby? I checked myself for it, only to find it was not with me. I realized that I dropped it in the hallway, so Rouge must have gotten it. Sure enough, as if to confirm my belief, she was fondly rubbing it with her gloved fingers. I crept in the shadows to approach her and listened intently. "So, are you guys happy or what?" She was talking to the gems. Whatever, Rouge! Talk to a magical stone! I doubt it cares! I rolled my eyes silently. "Nothing is between me and you. They have said that when all seven Crystals are together, a miracle happens! You are mine! All mine!" She stopped when I stepped into the light.

"Shadow!" Her eyelids partly closed. "I know you! You are Rouge the Bat! Government spy! Did you arrive on the orders of GUN? Or maybe it was a request from the President! You are stuck here! I can take you down right now!" Rouge paused at my accusation. "So you did your homework. I am impressed. I did my homework too, you see. Do not hurt me! That is, if you are the real Shadow." I stood still. Rouge pulled out a paper that was just printed off the computer. She flew up out of my reach and read it aloud like it was a bedtime story. "This is a classified report from Space Colony Ark. The topic is Project: Shadow."

The project has been a disastrous failure amid victory. Project: Shadow has augmented regeneration abilities, but it is unstable and deemed dangerous to human kind. The project has been ordered by the government to be sealed away deep inside of the colony, never to be released.

"If this is a picture of Project: Shadow, than who - or what - is standing before me?" She pointed at me with a smug grin. The picture on the report was a picture of a large snake like creature. Bio, I thought. My pesky walkie-talkie turned on. "Shadow! Listen to me now!" I pulled the device up to my ear and glared at Rouge. "Someone is trying to breach the Eclipse Cannon's core! Stop whatever is trying to get there right now!" Eggman's voice went off with static. I looked back at Rouge. "I have a promise to keep," I started to leave. "So you think you are the real Project: Shadow?" Rouge asked. I answered her confidently. "No doubt." "If you are not Project: Shadow, than your memories may not be real, you know." My heart sank. "Even if my memories are not real, I am still me. Shadow. Even then, all that matters is my promise to Maria. You and anyone else that tries to stop me will fail." I left quickly to find the Cannon Core...

There was only one way to the Eclipse Cannon's tip. A long walkway spanned between a port at the bottom of the colony and the colony's nose. I got there soon enough. Who I saw surprised me. Sonic was standing there. I walked up to him. "You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog. I thought I saw that capsule you were in blow up in space." Both of us started walking down a hallway that joined the walkway. "What can I say? I die hard! How I escaped is thanks to you," he said with a grin. I remained silent. "I used a chaos control on the fake Chaos Amber. I never thought it would have worked." We started to jog. "So there is more to you than just looking like me. Who are you anyway?" His green eyes sparkled as he grinned. "What you see is what you get! I am just a guy that loves adventure! I am Sonic the Hedgehog!" "I see, but your adventure days are coming to an end!"

The hallway ended and we both broke into a full run. I kept my shoes inactive to challenge myself. It looked as if we were running through an inverted city. The buildings of this city grew down. The Earth was a pleasant blue color far below, shining against the ebony void of space. I tried to smash into Sonic, and he simply curled up and blocked my attack. He returned my attack, and I blocked it in the same manner. I sprinted ahead, but he caught up. "Games are over," Sonic started as he looked at me. "Sonic Wind!" A cerulean curling mass of wind knocked me down. "Augh!" I sprang back up. That hurt! I had to catch up to him. He underestimated me, since my shoes were not activated, and I caught up to him. We both ran faster and faster. Buildings floated buy us rapidly and wind pressed against my face as we raced. It is my turn. "Chaos..." I looked at him as we kept running, my hand burned a yellow color. "Spear!" A bolt of yellow fire flew at him. The fire hit him and knocked him down as he screamed.

He crumbled on the floor. I stopped and walked back to him. "Go ahead! Finish me off!" Sonic yelled, as his ankle was sprained. I slowly lowered my hand to him. "What are you doing!?" he asked in surprise. I did not know what to say to him, and I did not know why I offered my hand. "I want to help you up," I said back. "Shadow! Get real! Why would you help me!?" I waited and found an answer as my crimson eyes stared into his green eyes. "Because I care," I said solemnly. Sonic stopped glaring at me. He reached out, and I pulled him up, holding his hand. "I am taking you back," I said as I placed his arm around my neck and carried him back to the colony. "Shadow! What are you doing! Eggman is going to win! He will rule everyone! You! Me! The world!" Sonic was arguing with my mind as I carried him back. "Egghead will not rule everyone," I replied. Sonic stared at me in shock. "No one will rule anyone. Never again will someone on this planet be ruled by someone else," I finished. "Shadow, what do you mean?" I looked into his emeralds. "It is the end of the world and I know it." "What? NO!! Shadow!! DO NOT DO THAT!!" "Save your breath," I grumbled. I reached out and said one phrase. "Chaos Control." We appeared back near the control room, and everyone else was there.

Amy and Tails were thrilled to see him. "SONIC!! YOU'RE ALIVE!!" Sonic stood on his own two feet, and got a bear hug from gold and pink. "Hey! I am back!" Sonic looked at me as I turned to leave. "Shadow! What happened to my foot? I can walk again!" "I healed you." "So, can we all go home now?" Knuckles asked. I stopped. The others noticed. "No one will go home," I said laconically. "What!? What are you talking about!?" Rouge asked in anger. "You will know in a minute." I left them there, stumped.

I wandered over to another room and stared down at Earth. My grandfather appeared on a screen in the other room as an alarm went off on the entire colony. The hallways and rooms glowed red and I heard the others behind the wall start to panic. I saw Ivo walk into the room with panic in his eyes. The door remained open, so I could hear them. "Alright Eggman! Who is that!?" Knuckles was fed up. "That is Gerald Robotnik, one of the greatest scientific minds in history – and my grandfather." "What did you do?" Knuckles asked again. "I didn't do anything. I added the last Crystal to the Cannon, and it malfunctioned." Eggman was depressed. "Yeah! You will not rule us now!" Tails said in victory. "The computer said that the colony will destroy the world," Doctor Robotnik replied finally. "WHAT?" "WHAT?" "WHAT?" Everyone was in a panic. The voice of Gerald, my Grandpa, spoke up.

He was tied in ropes to a chair. Behind him on the wall of a jail cell were countless equations and scribbled diagrams. "This is a death sentence for all of the human beings on Earth. If my calculations are correct, in 27 minutes, 53 seconds, the space colony ARK will collide with the Earth and turn it into a wasteland. I devoted my life to better mankind, and this is how you repay me? The people of the world I helped caused the death of my family! All of you wretched, ungrateful people have destroyed everything that has mattered to me, and so I will take your lives! You shall feel my loss and despair!!" A second voice spoke up. "Is there anything else you would like to say?" Gerald glared at the guards with pure hate. "No," he said dolorously. "Ready, men. FIRE!" The screen went black.

"Soon Maria, you will have your revenge," I said to myself as the colony shuddered...