Disclaimer: I do not own any character from the Sonic series of games or the copyright to the original 'Shadow the Hedgehog' storyline. I do own Stealth and the new...mystery...thingie, SO NO STEALY!
Matt: Please note that to best experience this chapter, you should litsen to either "I Am... All of Me" or "Never Turn Back," both of which are songs from the game.
Chapter 5: Peace-of-Mind
Shadow raised his hands high, absorbing as much chaos energy from the Emeralds as he could. Doom's Eye saw this and decided that now would be a good time to attack. He reset himself in an eye socket and charged at Shadow, his claws ready to shread him to bits. Shadow just stayed where he was and continued to charge energy. The monster increased in speed and held his claws out in front of him, ready to strike down his acursed foe. At the last possible second, however, Shadow warped using Chaos Control, causing Devil Doom to miss.
Devil Doom looked around, he knew that Shadow, even in his super form, had to come out of Chaos Control eventually, and he was trying to figure out where. "Oh where, oh where did Shadow go," he said sarcastically to himself, "oh where, oh where can he be."
It didn't take long for him to get his answer, as Shadow appeared right in front of his face and shot the energy that he was charging right into Doom's Eye. The monster roared in pain as he flew back from the blast, and blood could be seen dripping from the socket that was struck. But Shadow didn't stop there, he repeated this action a second, third, and fourth time. Each blast was as powerful as the last, and did major damage.
"Damn," said Devil Doom, "He figured out a way to get inside my defences, the energy of the Chaos Emeralds is more powerful than I thought." He turned to face Shadow, who was exausted from the previous attack. "But that attack took much more out of you than it did me, didn't it?"
"Shut your damn mouth!" Exclaimed a very annoyed Shadow. However, Devil Doom's words were not untrue, as the golden aura around him was beginning to fade, and his fur was starting to fade back to it's normal black coloring color. Shadow could also feel the pain from all of the wounds that were inflicted on him, and blood was starting to stain his fur.
Down in Eggman's undergroung base, Sonic and company watch in horror as Shadow is running out of energy. "Oh no!" exclaimed Amy, "Shadow is running out of power!"
"This is not good," said Eggman as he looked over a computer readout, "that last attack drained about 55 percent of the emeralds energy. He barely has enough power left to maintain his super form."
"He's not gonna make it!" exclaimed a very worried Tails
"Not to worry," Reassured Stealth, "there may still be a way that he can win, if he can just harness the power of his Chaos Element."
"Chaos Element?" queried Sonic, "What's that?"
"Well, chaos energy is comprised of seven different elements; Fire, Water, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Light and Darkness. We call these the Chaos Elements. Each element is very powerful, especially the elements of Light and Darkness. Very few people can harness it, but those who can become infinately powerful. If Shadow can find his, then we may have a chance."
"Then how can we unlock his element?" questioned Rouge.
"It must come from his will for protecting his friends and those he cares about most."
All of a sudden, as if that last sentence triggered it, alarms started to go off in the base.
"What's going on?" said Amy
"Bad news, I'm afraid." answered Eggman as his fingers flew across the console of his computer, "the air filters that were keeping the gas out of the base are entirely gunked up and the gas is starting to completely fill the air. I estimate about 5 minutes before the entire base is filled with it."
"I would like to state that this situation falls under the category of 'WE ARE SERIOUSLY FUCKED'!" Stated Sonic.
"Maybe," thought Stealth, "or maybe this might be just what we need. Quick, give me the communicator"
Super Shadow dodged another laser and ducked behind a building, franically searching for rings to restore some of his lost power. The attack he made caused him to have almost no power left for attacks. The golden aura that protected him had diminished completely, causing him to retreat into the ruined city. Luckily his last attack temporarily blinded Devil Doom, causing him to shoot blindly and wildly.
"Damn," Shadow cursed to himself, "there isn't a single ring left in this city. Dear sweet God I am fucked unless someone is able to get me some rings or something."
At that moment, Shadow's wrist communicator beeped.
"Shadow, can you hear me?"
"Go ahead Stealth."
"We've got a major problem. The gas from the comet has gotten into the base, there's enough to put us into a coma and it's spreading fast. You've got to beat that guy and get the comet off the planet!"
"But I'm almost out of rings, I need to find some more before..."
"You don't need rings! Litsen, I'm going to teach you something that can help you win this fight. Get out the purple Chaos Emerald..."
Shadow reached behind his back and pulled out the emerald, it's glow was starting to fade.
"Now think of what is most important to you, and the emerald will do the rest..." The communicator went dead.
Shadow held the emerald tightly and closed his eyes. 'What is most important to me,' he thought, 'this shouldn't be to hard.' He thought long and hard, wondering what he felt was most important to him. As he thought, his mind wandered into the memories of his past that he had finally pieced together. He thought about the day that the Artificial Chaos ran amok throughout the ARK, and how he had a hard time trying to find that last one to destroy. He remembered Maria, and how she sacrificed herself so that he could live and bring peace to humanity.
He remembered the first time he layed eyes on Sonic, taunting him with his Chaos Control abilities and calling him a fake. He remembered how he and Super Sonic worked together to defeat the FinalHazard and kept the ARK from coliding with Earth, nearly killing himself in the process.
He also remembered the day that Rouge found him in one of Eggman's secret bases, and how he couldn't remember anything. He remembered how he, Rouge and Omega teamed up to find Eggman and get info and revenge out of him. He remembered how he and his team fought against Metal Sonic after he transformed into his dragon-like form, Metal Madness. Just after he finished that thought, he remembered one more thing, a conversation that he had with Rouge shortly before facing Metal Madness.
Shadow walked along the deck of the Final Fortress, Rouge by his side. They had been talking about the adventure and all of the things that they found amusing. Well, Rouge was doing most of the talking, Shadow was mostly litsening.
"So," started Rouge, "have you thought about where you are going to stay when this is all over?"
"...No, not really," replied Shadow in his usual 'I Don't Care' attitude. "I figured that I would cross that bridge when I came to it."
"Why?"
"Because finding the answers that I seek takes priority."
"...That makes absolutely sense." Rouge thought for a minute and came to a desicion. "That settles it, your comming to live with me."
"What?"
"You may not remember it, but you saved my life once. So to make us even, I'll let you stay with me at my place in Night Babylon."
"...As payment for saving your life?"
"Naw, I'd let you stay even if you didn't. That's what friends do..."
That's right, Shadow thought to himself, that's what friends do. Everything I've faced these past few months, I've never faced them alone. Sonic and his friends were all there with me, helping me with my problems. We may not always see eye to eye, but they've been there for me, and it's time I returned the favor. They are what's most important to me, and I will not let them down.
A strange purple aura began to eminate from Shadows body. The emerald that Shadow held glowed with a brilliant light that engulfed his body. When the light finally faded, Shadow had changed.
He was still in his super form, but now the stripes on his quills and the tuft of fur on his chest were a metalic purple color. The white parts of his gloves and shoes were purple as well, and his eyes changed from crimson red to dark purple. He was now Dark Super Shadow.
Shadow took a minute to register what just happened. His strength had been restored, and somehow increased ten times over. He could also feel his wounds heal. He couldn't believe the power, but just as quickly the transformation occured, he was brought back into his sensed just long enough to sense an energy blast comming straight twoards him. Shadow quickly rolled out of the way as the blast reached the spot he was in. But it didn't stop there, as three more perfectly aimed shots blasted the ground around him. Shadow dodged every one of them and flew back up to the sky to see Devil Doom, recovered from his injury. He stared at Shadow menacingly, but couldn't help but notice something different about him.
"You seem to look different than I last saw you," Said Devil Doom, "I like it. You seem more dark and menacing now."
"Flatery will get you nowhere." replied Shadow, "This is the end for you!"
Before Devil Doom knew what hit him, Shadow had launched an all out asault on him, moving so fast that even Chaos Control seemed slow. The monster screamed in pain as blow after blow was landed on his body. Shadow then continued the assault with a Chaos Spear straight in Devil Doom's eye. That was all the monster could take as he fell into the city, destroying a good portion of it. A few moments passed as Shadow moved closer to make sure that he was dead.
All of a sudden, Devil Doom's body glowed and began to shrink. When the light finally dimmed, Devil Doom had reverted back into Black Doom. Shadow flew down and confronted him one more time.
"How..." said Black Doom weakly, "How did I... lose? I am the supreme... being that... rules this universe! I am the... immortal lifeform! I... am the... ultimate power!!!"
"That's easy," started Shadow, "It's because you only use your power for destruction. If you had something or someone to fight for, maybe you would have prevailed."
Shadow started to charge one last Chaos Spear, but as he did, he noticed thet Black Doom was... laughing?
"You may have won the battle," he stated, "but the war is far from over. The machine that generates the gas on the comet is tied to my vital signs. The more damaged I become, the more gas it produces. You kill me, and the gas will spill out of the comet and across the planet so fast that it will become a permanent part of the atmosphere. On the other hand, if you destroy the comet first, I might just get away. Either way, you lose."
Shadow clenched his fist and growled in anger. He knew that Black Doom would get away if he went to destroy the comet, but if he killed him first, then the planet would be permanently parylized. After a few seconds of thinking, Shadow gave Black Doom a cocky, Sonic-esque smile.
"No choice at all."
Shadow flew into the sky and landed on top of the Black Comet. He walked forward a little bit and looked down over the edge. "Only one thing left to do..." he said to himself. he then jumped up and flew underneath the comet and placed both his hands on the underside of it. "...To put the past behind me. CHAOS CONTROL!!!"
A blinding flash of light appeared and surrounded both Shadow and the entire comet. Just as quickly as it appeared, the comet, along with Shadow himself disappeared. A few moments later, the comet appeared above the atmosphere, with some traces of the still leaking gas trailing behind it. Off in the distance, the ARK could be seen activating it's most devastating weapon, the Eclipse Cannon. The green energy could be seen forming as a bubble around the tip of the cannon as the ark moved into position so it could fire. And when the ARK could no longer charge the energy, the bubble of energy at the tip of the cannon finally broke, and a green stream of energy blasted forward at high speeds, and it hit the comet dead-center. The energy forced itself straight through to the center of the comet and caused everything to go all 'sploady (sorry, I heard that word earlier and I needed to use it). The comet was obliterated in an explosion of countless proportions, sending it's reminence out in many different directions.
Almost as if the comet's very existance was dependant on it, the red gas that had all but covered the planet seemed to disappear. All over the globe, people who were affected by the gas slowly began to regain conciousness. The world rejoyced and celebrated, at last the evil that was the Black Arms had been defeated, and gave their thanks to their savior, Shadow the Hedgehog.
Up in the ARK, Shadow stood in the room that both he and Maria would often stand in to observe the planet from afar. Shadow had regained all of his memories, but he still felt as though something wasn't right. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Stealth enter the room. He walked up next to Shadow and began to look down at the earth with him.
"You can't even tell the planet has been invaded from up here anymore." said Stealth, trying to break the ice. "I'm glad that everything turned out alright."
Shadow just continued to stare down at the planet, lost deep in thought. Stealth just sighed.
"Ya know, you really need to lighten up. Keep up this attitude, and people might just think your emo."
Shadow turned his head slightly and gave Stealth a death glare, causing him to back off slightly. But then, the unexpected happened; Shadow started to laugh, long and hard.
"Oh God!" he said between laughs, "You should see the look on your face, it's priceless."
Stealth couldn't belive his eyes, the serious, determened, nearly uncaring Shadow that he had seen had somehow changed.
"So I guess that what you said about putting the past behind you was true then?" asked Stealth.
"Yup." answered Shadow with a grin, "but even though I'm moving on, I'll never forget Maria, or the promise that I made her."
"Which reminds me," Stealth pulled out an old photograph, "the Commander gave me this to give to you, and told me to tell you how sorry he was for trying to destroy you."
Shadow took the photo and looked at it. It was a photo of both Professor Gerald and Maria. A tear welled up in his eye as he remembered all the good times he had with her, but his tears quickly dried as he remembered that their were still some things that needed to be taken care of.
"We may have saved the planet," Shadow said, "but Black Doom got away, and he's definatly going to return. We need to prepare for when he does."
"Yeah," said Stealth, "but even if he does return, I'm sure that you can handle it."
Stealth started to leave the room, but turned back around to see Shadow looking at the picture he gave him. Shadow just stood there and looked at the picture for a few more moments.
"Goodbye forever, Shadow the Hedgehog"
Shadow turned around and began to leave the room, throwing the photo behind him.
Matt: And that completes the fight against Black Doom, but the story is not over with quite yet. Up next is the epilogue that will set up for Knuckles Quest. So for now, I'll see ya later.