Chapter 4: Hero or Villain
This time, we shall start off with Shadow who is back on the original planet. He is currently running towards Tails' workshop with his emerald in hand using it as a radar to catch any more emeralds he could probably find. Once he makes to Tails' workshop, he uses his Chaos Emerald as an indicator to see if anyone is around. He knows that Sonic has the blue Chaos Emerald. His red one does not react, so he takes off towards the north. The northern part of the planet contains a great forest that goes up mountains which are snow-capped. The bottom of the forest at the base of the mountain is not affected by the cold because it's summer time around here so it's still moderately hot. Shadow's emerald starts to glow once he nears the base of the forest. He decides to take the path and walk through the forest instead of normally rushing through it. The path is a gravel road that extends through the forest but leads you out of it through the west. He stays on the path and notices that emerald starts to glow more brightly, so he decides to follow it to the end. Once finally out of the forest, Shadow shades his eyes from the sunlight. He looks to his right to see a cliff that extends from the ground. He sticks the emerald in that direction and gets stronger feedback which causes him to head up that way. Once he draws nearer to the cliff, he can see a rock at the end of it with something sticking out of it. Shadow runs to it. He stops dead in his tracks before he gets to it because he can feel something. In a portal in front of him drops down he same person from before, still covered in the robe.
"What do you want now," Shadow asks. She grabs his arm and leads him up the cliff to the rock. Shadow is now able to see what's in the rock. It's a sword, a black one with red lines that are glowing going through it. His emerald is going crazy now.
"This sword is a legendary sword," the person explains. "This sword is the only thing that break the bond between the Rings of Fate besides the Chaos Rings. I need this sword to make sure that no one could get to it."
"I wonder why the Chaos Emerald would lead me here," Shadow says. "Maybe another one is inside the rock? Stand back!" The person jumps back. Shadow uses his right hand to grab his left arm. He jumps back and swings his right hand forward while yelling "Chaos Spear!" The dust clears to reveal that the sword has put a red barrier that he can't break.
"I wanted to tell you that you must pull it out of the rock," the person says.
"Ah," Shadow says. He tosses her his Chaos Emerald. "Hold that for a bit." He jumps on top of the rock and plants both of his feat firmly on the sides of the sword. He grabs the handle with both of his hands and attempts to pull out the sword. The rock beings to light up as Shadow gradually lifts the sword out of the crack. The force of him finally getting the sword out causes him to fall off of the rock and hit the ground on his back. The rock that sword was once in breaks to reveal the purple Chaos Emerald. Shadow grabs it.
"I now have the second emerald," Shadow says. "Here's your sword." He hands it to her, but electricity forms from the sword and shocks her. It seems that the sword rejected her.
"I knew it. I'm too weak to handle the sword," she says.
"So why did you want it, so the others can't get their hands on it and break the Rings of Fate," Shadow asks. She doesn't answer him. "I see. Well, I planned to tell them about you and your plan but they aren't around. Seems like they went off somewhere, probably into space since the place where he launches his planes from are open. They probably went after the Chaos Rings. I bet you planned that too. Anyway, I thought about it and I won't tell them. I can't now even if I wanted to. They are too far away for me to reach them. I got two question for you then no more questions. Why did you choose the smart one to be stuck with the Rings of Fate?"
"Because only him can revive the person I'm going after, but he will be stuck with the Rings of Fate forever," she says. "He will then be able to have complete control over the rings, but only at the cost of someone's life. That life is the surrogate partner."
"So, he will be stuck with the Rings of Fate forever if he chooses to revive this person, but Sonic will die," Shadow says. "I see. Last question, why are you wearing the robe? It's pretty hot out here and you know that I seen you already so it must be killing you to wear that thing. I don't really care, I'm just asking. They are gone now anyway."
"I needed to hide my identity, but you do make a point," she says. She takes of the robe and throws it over Shadow's head. "You don't mind carrying that for me, do you?"
"I guess I'll carry it," Shadow says.
"Now that you know I need the Chaos Emeralds too, I'll be following you from now on," she says.
"Whatever," Shadow says. "I don't care. Do what you want." He walks back into the forest with the robe on his head and the sword in his left hand with this mysterious person behind him. "I know who she looks like, but the name isn't coming to me," he thinks while still walking. "I'll find out eventually."
We now return to space...
"How is this tree talking. It doesn't have a facial features," Sonic asks.
"I communicate with people through their minds instead of voice," the tree says.
"That makes sense, kinda," Knuckles says. "Are you like, the ruler of this place?"
"I'm not, my two daughters were," the tree says. "You see, long ago this place was a very thriving planet with many people around. My daughters were the rulers of this place. They lead the place strictly, well, my older daughter did. The younger was too nice, but together they were able to combine those strengths and become the greatest rulers of this kingdom the place has ever seen."
"What happened to them," Tails asks.
"There was a rebellion against them by some unknown party," the tree says. "The army stayed and fought while my daughters were supposed to escape. The older one wanted to stay and fight, which she actually did and the youngest one was confirmed to leave with the gem of orifice. It's a purple gem that has the power to quell any bad energy, but at the cost of the user's life. I have been in here since it's the only place that's protected from any outside matter or explosions. That's how the battle ended, in an explosion that wiped out the entire planet. So in conclusion, it has been confirmed that my youngest daughter got away, but no confirmation as to what happened to my oldest one. I don't know if she got away or if she's dead."
"Hmm, I wonder what their names are," Amy asks.
"It's been so long that I don't remember," the tree says. "It seems as though the yellow one has been bounded with Rings of Fate."
"Uhh, you don't have eyes. How can you see," Knuckles asks.
"Shut up, knucklehead," Sonic says. "The tree can probably help us out here. Can you?"
"Maybe, there is a legend of a sword that was carved that could break the star band. The sword is not here though. It was banished out to some distant planet because we are unable to wield it," the tree says.
"How can you..." Knuckles says.
"Shut up," Amy screams as she hits Knuckles with her hammer.
"Okay, alright already," Knuckles says. He is in some serious pain.
"This is not my true form. You see, since I am weak and in old age I have turned into a tree in order to save my energy and live probably a longer life," it says.
"That's neat," Cream says.
"Well then, I guess we should go now," Tails says. "Thanks for the information."
Once back in the jet, Tails prepares the green Chaos Ring to be used as a sensor.
"So the ring will give us the location to the next one, but not the closest one," Sonic asks.
"Correct," Tails says. "I'm done. What does the radar say?"
"Next ring is about three light years away," Cream says.
"How long will it take us to reach it," Knuckles says through his microphone.
"Even at top speed it'll take a few days," Tails says.
"Aw," Sonic says. "I'll lose my mind..."
"Start the emerald, Knuckles," Tails says.
Back to Shadow...
Shadow has been walking around with the main antagonist for the whole day right now trying to find another Chaos Emerald. He came up empty-handed, so he decides to take a break for the day. Shadow has led this person to the emerald shrine. He notices that Master Emerald is gone which only furthers his guesses that he made earlier about everyone else going after the Chaos Rings. He walks all the way up the shrine and takes a seat in front of where the Master Emerald is supposed to be. The other person is looking around the place and is taking in the site of what she sees. Shadow stares at her for a bit then begins to close his eyes and fall asleep only to be woke up by something hitting him on the head. He looks up to see someone flying over him.
"What do you want you crazy bat," he says while rubbing his head.
"I've been looking for Knuckles today," Rouge says. "Have you seen him?"
"Nope, he probably went with the others seeing as the Master Emerald is gone too," Shadow says.
"Uh, who is that over there," Rouge asks as she points to her right. "She looks familiar... Hey!"
The person runs over to Shadow and Rouge.
"Who are you," Rouge asks. "I think I've seen you somewhere before awhile back. Well, you look like someone I once knew."
"I'm not telling you anything," she says.
"Wow, what did I do," Rouge asks. "Anyway, why are you with Shadow?"
"Because he's helping me," she replies.
"I see," Rouge says. "Well sorry to mess with you two. I'll be going now." She glides off after that.
"What did she mean by mess with us," she asks.
"I don't know," Shadow says. "By the way, don't mind me asking, but it's been getting to me lately. How did those scars get on your back? You don't have to answer."
"To make a long story short, it was in a war I fought awhile ago in order to defend my people and to help my sister get away," she says. "My sister is dead now."
"I get it. You are trying to revive your sister," Shadow says. "Your sister must be this person I vaguely remember."
"Huh," she asks. "You seen someone that kind of looks like me?"
"Yes, but that was some time ago," Shadow says. "If I'm not mistaken, she was good friends with the others."
"I see. So you know who she is too," she says.
"Barely. I remember what she looks like, but the name just isn't coming to me," Shadow says. "She saved us that time before she disappeared."
"Do you know anything else," she asks.
"Nope, but the others should know more than me," he says. He then thinks for as he looks up into the clouds. Grey clouds are beginning to form against the orange sky since the sun is setting right now. "It looks like it's going to rain. We are going to have to go somewhere. Take my hand." She grabs his hands and Shadow uses Chaos Control. Where do they end up? Well, instead of imposing on Rouge like he would normally do, Shadow went for Tails' house this time. He ends up on the porch. There are two chairs to the right. Shadow takes a seat in one and the she takes a seat in the other. It's raining pretty hard now with some thundering going on. He is holding the sword in his right hand at the moment and is studying it. It's pretty clear that by the look on his face he's deep in thought.
"Is something wrong," she asks.
"I just noticed something," Shadow says. "Since you helped me gain my memory and stuff, I finally realized that Sonic and the others were actually trying to warn me about the fact that the doctor was just using me. They were tying to help me, but yet I would turn them down and sometimes fight them in disbelief. I feel kind of bad about all that now."
"Well, what do you plan to do about it," she asks. "You can't do anything for them."
"You're right I think, although I do want to help," Shadow says. "We'll continue the emerald hunt tomorrow. You should enter the house and find some place in there to sleep." He throws her the robe. "I'll stay out here."
"Okay," she says.
She enters the house while Shadow stays in his seat. He sets the sword down in the other chair now since it's empty. He slouches down in the chair and closes his eyes for a bit. The rain has actually intensified and the thunder is more frequent. Shadow is about to fall asleep, but he feels something. He quickly moves his head to right and watches as a bullet passes in front his face through the wall behind him. He jumps out of his chair and looks straight ahead to see two orange lights. It's too dark out to see a body or anything, but every time the lighting flashes he gets enough clues to see what's going on.
"What are you doing here Metal Sonic," Shadow asks.
"I have come to avenge my creator and carry on his plans of world domination," the robot says. "You shall die right here."
"Damn, I don't feel like doing this right now," Shadow says. "I got too much on my mind."
"I don't care. I can't care, I'm a freaking robot," it says. "Prepare to die or hand over your Chaos Emeralds."
"Normally I wouldn't fight you, but I guess I don't have a choice. I can't let you get into this house," Shadow says.
To be continued....
This chapter was Shadow heavy. Anyway, some more clues on the mystery person have been given. Let me make this clear. She's not a fan character. It someone who actually shown their face before, but it was only once. Sister of someone with a purple gem who died. Their parent is a tree. Ah well. All shall be discovered next time. Next chapter won't have as much as Shadow in it.
Next Chapter: Tidal Tempest