Now Shadow felt truly alive. He had more powers now, along with his Chaos Blast, Chaos Spear, and Beam Vision. Now he could protect the loved ones he had left. Now he could save people. Shadow The Hedgehog would rebuild and no longer destroy. Now he could be the hero.
He'd fallen in love with the Hover Shoes. He had achieved full power with them. He could now fly and run faster. Flying was so desirable. Who didn't want to fly? All Shadow wanted to do was fly laps upon laps around the globe. He remembered that he hadn't thanked Gerald properly for the Hover Shoes and gloves. He landed on the ground and sped off to the lab.
Gerald Robotnik was lying next to the panel that went to the underground lab. His torso had been twisted gorily, and his arms looked twisted as well.
"G-Gerald?" Shadow asked. No answer. What happened? Was Gerald…? No, impossible! Shadow ran to his grandfather's side and knelt beside him. His injuries were severe. So severe, that…
"Gerald!" Shadow shouted. The irises of his eyes started glowing like they always did whenever he felt strong emotions. He rolled Gerald onto his back and started pumping his chest with the palm of his hands, attempting CPR. Was he doing it right? He put his ear to Gerald's chest and listed for a heartbeat, but there was nothing.
"Grandpa!" Shadow shouted. "Wake up! Please!" With a yell of rage and desperation, Shadow slammed his fist into the ground. He lay his head on his grandfather's body and cried.
"I'm so sorry, Grandpa," he sobbed. "I was so stupid… I never should've left… It's… it's all my fault, Grandpa…! I'm so sorry!" Shadow clutched Gerald's limp hand with his own.
"Why did I leave you?" he sobbed, a little more quit now. "I was so selfish, so stupid… I'm sorry, Grandpa… Who? Who did this to you?"
He turned into Matthew and rolled over onto his back, feeling the blazing sun's heat on his face. Matthew had lost the will to live. It didn't matter who killed Gerald. Matthew felt like it was he who killed his grandfather. If he'd just stayed put, this wouldn't have happened.
Yet, Matthew decided to keep living. He carried his dead grandfather deeper into the desert. When he felt it was far enough, he transformed into Shadow and used his Beam Vision to form a deep hole for him to bury Gerald in. Tears flowed out his eyes as fast as the beams were. Once it was the right depth, Shadow threw Gerald's dead body in. He started throwing rocks, sand, and pieces of the ground in. Once the hole was filled, Shadow used his Beam Vision again to draw a cross over the area Gerald had been buried. Shadow had held on to the professor's labcoat, as a piece of memory to provide comfort. He started walking away…
G.U.N. did this, didn't they? It was obvious. They had been searching for Gerald for 15 years. Once Matthew saw them again, he'd crush them under his fist. This time, they would suffer. Shadow looked at the labcoat and clenched it harder in his fist. G.U.N. would pay.