10. Surprises and Disappointments
Shadow arrived on the ARK and headed for his own quarters, rather than the cannon's control room or the docking bay. Once there he activated the security cameras, locating Rouge at the cannon's computer, still busy with something, and the doctor stalking the pink hedgehog through the halls in one area while the blue hedgehog, the red-spined dokan, and the fox cub (in a walker mech of his own) worked their way through another section. Shadow absently noted the doctor's capture of the girl as he opened the results of his searches. What the search on Rouge had turned up was enough to make him forget everything else on the screen.
She's a spy. A plant, all this time to see what we're up to. He scowled at the data as he scrolled through it. It didn't actually say that of course, but although she was definitely a treasure hunter - and apparently a bit of a thief - it was more than clear that she was also an undercover agent. The logical conclusion was that her unlikely appearance aboard the ARK - which most people no longer knew even existed - had been directly ordained by the government. A spy. I knew I couldn't trust her. He felt vaguely disappointed, without being sure why. He tried looking at the hypnosis info but just couldn't muster interest. He looked back up at the camera view and reached for the volume control.
"...the Emerald down right there and back off," the Doctor was saying.
The blue hedgehog smirked slightly, looked at the yellow emerald in his hand, and stepped forward. "You're turning into a big-time villain, Doctor! What?" As he bent to place the emerald on the floor, a capsule rose around him, trapping him inside. Shadow flinched involuntarily, remembering being trapped in a similar pod as Maria collapsed in front of him. He forced his attention back to the screen, where Sonic was shouting "Tails!"
"Heh, because you just told me, fox boy," chortled Eggman. "Now, for a little space ride! Once the capsule clears the colony - BAM!"
The blue hedgehog, to his credit, took this in stride. Shadow was impressed. Sonic merely looked towards his friends and said, " I'm counting on ya, Tails. And Amy...take care of yourself."
"Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog!!" crowed Doctor Eggman.
Shadow darted to the observation port, in time to see the capsule appear from below his vantage point, gliding out into space. He wasn't certain what he expected to see, but the pod's explosion wasn't it. Again he felt a stab of disappointment, without really knowing why. "I guess he was just a regular hedgehog after all," he said quietly to himself. He had a sudden urge to not be by himself. Since the Doctor was presumably occupied, he headed for the Eclipse cannon control room. Rouge might be a spy, but she was company...
Except that when he arrived, she was talking on her radio, and it became clear in just a few words that she was reporting in to her REAL bosses. Signing off she looked up greedily at the glowing gems in their indented plate. Evidently not realizing that Shadow had removed one, she said aloud, "Legend has it, whenever the seven Chaos Emeralds are collected, the power creates a miracle. I have six of them, they're mine! All mine!"
Shadow's disappointment suddenly crystallized into anger. "I don't think so," he said, stepping onto the bridge.
Rouge started, and turned to face him. "Shadow?"
"So, that was your plan from the very beginning, huh? Or was it a direct order from the president? Now I know who you are! You're that government spy, Rouge the Bat, aren't you?"
The white bat recovered quickly, putting on a bored expression. "So you did your homework, is that it? I would say that's an invasion of privacy."
"I could say the same thing about you," Shadow shot back coldly. She'd started it, after all.
"Hmm," said the bat thoughtfully, "looks like things aren't going quite the way I planned. But since my job is done, I thought it was time to take what's mine and get out of this place."
"You are one pathetic creature!" sneered Shadow.
Rouge didn't appear offended, instead she retaliated, "Hmm, look who's talking. What about you?"
What about me? What does she mean? Perplexed, Shadow watched her jump down to the bridge, waving a printed sheet.
"Here are the results form the research project called the 'Ultimate Life-form'." As she presented the paper, he immediately spotted the Biolizard's image in a top corner. Oddly, it was a picture of the prototype as he had last seen her, with the metal bits and the life-support system grafted to her, even though the text had her at only 2.7 meters long, which dated that portion of the information to well before his awakening. Rouge continued, "But...if this picture is of the real Ultimate Life-Form named Shadow, then exactly who, or what, is standing in front of me?"
Shadow didn't answer. She had him confused with the Project: Shadow prototype, but he wasn't certain she even deserved an explanation. At that moment he they were interrupted anyway as Eggman's voice came over the radio: "This is Doctor Eggman. I have found all seven Chaos Emeralds!
"Shadow, someone is trying to get to the Eclipse Cannon. There's not much time before the Cannon fires again! Can you get over there?"
The potential threat to the plan triggered Shadow's certainty again. The Cannon and the Emeralds both needed protection! He glared at Rouge. "If you want to live, leave the Chaos Emeralds where they are; the fake Emerald is good enough for you!" He turned on his heel and started to walk to the lift. It wasn't a certainty, he realized; not his own knowing what needed to be done, but a compulsion, making him do things regardless.
"Do you actually believe," Rouge sounded oddly hesitant, "that...you're the real Shadow?"
"No doubt." That he was certain of, if nothing else in this strange world.
"Even your memories might not be real, you know?"
"Even if my memories are not real, it's still me: Shadow. And I will fulfill my promise to Maria. That's the only thing that matters to me now." He stepped into the lift and it dropped out of the bat's view.
A few minutes later, having taken a shortcut that actually took him out of the ARK and along some of the old GUN lift transport rails, he arrived at the chambers that surrounded the base of the Eclipse Cannon's visible barrel. To his amazement - and secret relief - the blue hedgehog Sonic was standing in the corridor!
"You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog," he said as he approached the other. "I thought that the capsule you were in exploded in space."
With an irritating cockiness, Sonic grinned at him. "You know, what can I say? I die hard." He started moving along the corridor towards the cannon, increasing his speed as Shadow kept pace.
Shadow was impressed in spite of himself. Although he was far from straining himself, he was skating at a respectable clip, and Sonic was running alongside just as easily. The problem was, Shadow knew full well that his own speed had been enhanced by the Professor - could the other's unusual color indicate that he was also some sort of experiment? "So...there's more to you than just looking like me. What are you, anyway?"
"What ya see is what ya get," replied Sonic, having no more difficulty talking while maintaining the pace than Shadow, "just a guy who loves adventure. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"
"I see," said Shadow. He realized that they were fast approaching the actual barrel chamber, and that the certainty - the compulsion, was trying to overtake him again - They shall share my rage and despair! The Eclipse Cannon must be fired; NO ONE must be permitted to interfere! In spite of himself, the coolness slid back into his tones. "But you know, I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are coming to an end!" He lurched sideways and catching the blue's shoulder with one hand, teleported them both out to a pathway that had initially run across the face of the ARK. Perhaps as a result of the rock shield's destruction, it (and several others) had broken free and now orbited the colony asteroid. For some reason, strings of rings had considered it a good spot to coalesce and ran like lane dividers parallel to the length. Shadow could feel the instability in the surface as he landed, still racing alongside the startled Sonic. He was impressed at how quickly the other recovered from the unexpected transport, barely even stumbling; he also realized that since he still had the green Emerald, the cannon couldn't be fired.
"How did you get out of the capsule, anyway?" he asked, curiosity briefly overriding the urge to stop the blue dokan.
"Well, Tails made this copy of a Chaos Emerald," explained Sonic, pulling out a glowing yellow gem, "and he said that it had the same wavelength and properties as the real one, but wasn't as powerful. So, when the capsule was going to explode, I figured 'What have I got to lose by trying?' and tried to teleport back to the ARK, and it worked. 'Course I landed flat on my back in front of Knuckles, which was a bit embarrassing, but - hey, better than being blown up!"
He was far too cheerful, thought Shadow sourly, still struggling against the compulsion. He 'felt' for the copy and judged that yes, it was far less powerful, but certainly usable for some Chaos control abilities. As the compulsion pushed back he managed to say, "It's a shame I couldn't get to know you better." Then with tones as chilly as the space around them he added, "Sayonara, Sonic the Hedgehog!" and called up a blast of raw Chaos energy. "Chaos Spear!"
Somehow, Sonic dodged it. Shadow blinked. That's not possible! He shouldn't have been able to dodge a targeted blast! Then he had to fling himself sideways, nearly veering off the edge of the causeway, as a blue bolt of energy nearly targeted him. Behind him a piece of the causeway broke off and drifted loose in space. He used his lightdash to zip ahead along the rings and turned to target Sonic again. This time Sonic teleported away, and Shadow only realized where he'd gone when a voice behind him cried, "Sonic Wind!" Then it was the black hedgehog's turn to teleport out of danger. He was only slightly surprised to see Sonic do a lightdash of his own to catch up as the new tail end of the causeway broke off in its turn, unable to withstand the Chaos blasts. After a few more back-and-forth exchanges, Shadow realized that it would be no small feat to destroy his opponent, and concluded that his purpose would be better served by delivering the Emerald to its designated spot. So with one more blast to distract Sonic, he teleported into the control room itself.
Doctor Eggman was already there, ranting about Rouge's duplicity - which alarmed Shadow for a moment until he realized the Doctor was talking about the absence of the gem he had in hand. "The green Emerald is here, master," he interrupted smoothly. "I needed to use it in the search for the last one." He tossed it neatly into place with the other six and left the room. His task was done.