Shadow was skating down the middle of a street, with Omega flying right beside him. They stopped in their tracks as a large battleship emerged right through the middle of a tower. It steadied itself in the air and started firing orange orbs of energy at the duo. Omega pointed one of its guns at the ship, but Shadow pushed it out of the way. Omega's large and clunky body bumped into the wall of a building.

Suddenly, the earth began to shake. It was steady quake that had a rhythm. The noise was getting closer, and the ground started quaking more violently. Shadow looked down on the cement he was standing on. Something was coming, but it was something beneath them. He looked at Omega, who was a few yards away. The robot was that last thing he saw before the street exploded under him. He was flung up into the air, as the Egg Dragoon crawled out of the hole. It spread its wings and took flight. And at its helm…

"Eggman!" Shadow said.

The cockpit was protected by a blue bubble of energy. Shadow knew that it was some type of force field. The doctor was making sure that he would win… again.

Shadow made no effort to fly away. He wanted to take on Eggman here and now. The Egg Dragoon raised the long drill on one of its arms and swung at Shadow, like a sword. Shadow dodged with a back-flip and rammed his body against its chest. The force pushed it through a building. It spread its wings, catching itself. It aimed the energy cannon on its other arm at Shadow and fired. One shot brushed past the side of one of his Hover Shoes and sent him spiraling to the ground.

Annoyed, Shadow got up and looked at the Shoe. The paint on the right side of it was completely gone, and the boot sparked from time to time. Still functional, he thought. He pulled back a fist and leaped at the Egg Dragoon, ready to punch the daylight out if it. The Egg Dragoon countered with a backhanded swipe of its drill and struck him. His arms and legs shot forward from whiplash, then the rest of his body slammed into the street below.

The Egg Dragoon thrust its chest forward and aimed at Shadow, preparing to give him a body slam. Shadow got up and jumped toward it. However, he lost his footing before the jump and didn't get the force he needed. The Egg Dragoon's body collided into Shadow's and drove him to the ground.

Meanwhile, Omega was putting up a fight of its own. Its guns made a pew pew pew! sound as it fired small yellow-colored beams at Egg Launchers, which were similar to Egg Gunners, only their bodies were yellow and had rocket launchers on both arms. Omega's guns made a ch-chk! sound as it raised them above its head and recharged them. The Egg Launchers took this chance and fired missile at it, but Omega juked to the side and dodged them. It jumped into the air and sailed above them, then fired at the Egg Launchers below. They all exploded or caught on fire from the successful maneuver. Omega landed behind them and turned. One Egg Launcher was crawling toward it, its body ablaze.

"Worthless consumer models," it said as it pointed the barrel of one of its guns at the Launcher and blasted its head off.

Shadow struggled to push the Egg Dragoon off him. He groaned in a soft, tired voice as he started to lift its body. It pushed back, and his back hit the cement under him. He felt trapped. Helpless. Hopeless. He slowly craned his head up and saw the light of the outside world. He then got an idea. If he could push it upward one more time…

He placed his hands on it and pushed. Its body creaked loudly as he lifted it off him. His arms were trembling wildly. All he needed was nearly an inch of separation. Once he got what he needed, his Hover Shoes propelled him forward. His body slid along the ground as he escaped from under the Egg Dragoon's body. Before he could stand up, the robot swung its arm cannon downward, forcing him to lie stomach-first on the ground.

Dammit, he thought.

Shadow heard a whooshing sound, then heard Eggman's laughter. The force field must've went down.

"Oh ho ho ho ho hoo!" the scientist hollered. "Well, this is fun, isn't it, Shadow? Time is running out before I blow this city to smithereens!"

Shadow imaged the doctor stroking his mustache in the cockpit of the Dragoon. "Why?" he yelled. "What has this city done to you?"

Eggman sighed. "It's not what it's done to me, it's what it's doing to me! All these terrible memories of the life I've had here… G.U.N. took away everything I had, but I rebuilt! I rose up from the ashes! Can Westopolis do the same? Heh heh…"

No! I won't let him! I can't! "Don't you have good memories here, Eggman? Don't you have a family?" Shadow asked as he struggled to push himself up under the weight of the arm cannon.

"Hmmm, I'm surprised the word 'family' is in your vocabulary, Shadow. Let's finish this."

Shadow heard another whooshing sound, then felt the arm cannon lift off of him. He leapt into the air, creating a sonic boom behind him, and started to fly. The Hover Shoe that'd had been damage started chugging, coughing up smoke and disrupting his flight pattern. The Egg Dragoon effortlessly flew through a glass-windowed building and started chasing Shadow.

Omega was flying after a group of three police cars that'd transformed into monstrous robots. It shot two of them in the back of their necks and caused the upper half of their bodies to explode. The third robot looked at Omega and yelped in fear, then started to run on all fours like a lion. Omega shot the back of the robot's legs, causing it to fall.

"Target acquired," Omega said as it threw its guns to the side. One of its hands retracted into its socket and was replaced by a cannon. It landed on the robots shoulders and wrestled it to the ground. Omega drove its cannon arm into the robot's neck and fired.

Sadly, Omega was not expecting an explosion. It flew like a ragdoll into a flower shop. It made a booping noise as it watched the people scurry around it.

"You can't run forever, Shadow!" Dr. Eggman's voice boomed as the Egg Dragoon flew chased after the black hedgehog.

Shadow gasped as a shot from the Dragoon's arm cannon flew past his head. After flying for what felt like only a couple seconds, he stopped hearing the sound of the robot. He stopped and looked around. He was in the part of Westopolis that was filled with skyscrapers. Where had the Egg Dragoon gone? The building next to him started to shake, then the robot sprung out of it like a Jack-in-the-Box. Shadow moved backward and dodged a swipe from its drill. It then pointed the drill at him and fired it. Shadow moved out of the way as fast as his failing Hover Shoes could take him, but the drill changed direction instead of continuing on with its course. It was homing in on him! Shadow flew between two buildings, hoping the drill would hit one of them, but it maneuvered between them and continued chasing him. It was closing in on him. He could feel it.

Shadow dived to the street below, then flew forward just as he was about to hit it. It was the trick he'd learned when he had taken his first flight, when Gerald was still alive. However, the drill did the same, shredding through any vehicle in its way. Shadow looked back to see it tear through a semi truck.

An inspired idea entered his mind.

Shadow moved away from the street and looked around for the Egg Dragoon as he flew. The sun was setting over the horizon, and the sky was beginning to lose color. The Dragoon was in the distance blasting at building with its arm cannon. Shadow made a beeline straight for it. He checked to make sure the drill was still flying after him. He only had one shot…

The Egg Dragoon didn't seem to notice that Shadow was nearing it. Its back was turned toward him. Perfect, he thought. He tucked in his arms and legs to increase his flying speed. The drill was still catching up to him.

He pursed his lips together as he concentrated. He flew in between one of its arms, his body barely touching the robot's. The drill pierced through the Egg Dragoon's back and came out through its chest. Losing its flight power, the drill fell to the ground, now a cone-shaped piece of metal.

The Egg Dragoon seemed perfectly fine. Shadow cursed as it regained control over itself despite having a hole through the middle of its body. However, Eggman's voice could be heard. Shadow looked closer and saw the force field protecting the cockpit was gone. His angry glare took over his face as flew right toward the scientist. He grabbed Eggman by his jacket and pulled him out.

"N-no! Please! Don't hurt me! Please!" he yelled.

They landed safely on top a building. Many more Egg Pawn ships than usual were flying around the city. Eggman was lobbed forward and hit the top of the building. Shadow came over ext to him and watched him cover his face in fear. Without his robots, he was nothing.

Shadow took a deep breath and let his anger be cleared. "Don't be scared, Uncle Ivo. I'm not going to hurt you."

Eggman looked up at Shadow quizzically. "'Uncle'?"

Shadow swallowed and clenched his fists. He knew he had to do this. He closed his eyes and reverted back to his human form. Matthew knelt beside Eggman and said, "It's me, Uncle Ivo."

Eggman's face was a mix of relief and disbelief. "M-Matt? But… how? How can this be?"

"It's a long story, but… I need you to call off the attack. You're killing innocent people."

"Matt… G.U.N. took my work away from me because you're my nephew, and now I know why…"

"Uncle Ivo, listen to me. You need to stop this."

"it can't be stopped," whispered Eggman. He looked past Matthew. "The Eggman Fleet has arrived."

Matthew looked behind himself and saw nearly a dozen immense battleship closing in on the city. He faced back to Eggman. "Come on, there has to be a way to stop it!"

"I told you, it can't be stopped. I never wanted to stop it, so I didn't invent any passcodes to do so. The largest battleship is the Egg Carrier. It's being powered by the seven Chaos Emeralds. It's emitting a signal that controls the other ships, but…"

"I'll destroy it," Matthew said as he transformed into Shadow, "and take back the Emeralds you stole from me."

"Matt, wait," Eggman called weakly. "This is the future of Westopolis we're talking about. Also, what if you die?"

Shadow stood on the roof's edge and looked down at the city below. "It'll be a good death," he croaked, trying not to cry. He jumped off. His Hover Shoes spat out a steady stream of yellow flame as he took flight.

He was now face-to-face with the Eggman Fleet. The Hover Shoes coughed, then returned to normal. A sonic boom erupted behind him as he gained at drastic gain of speed. As the city got smaller as he flew farther and farther away from it, he replayed one of his best childhood memories in his mind…

11 Years Earlier

"Mommy, I can't do it!" Matthew screamed as dangled ten feet above the ground from a tree branch.

"Yes you can, Matt," Maria said. "I'll catch you, I promise."

Matthew closed his eyes and started to cry.

"Look at me, Matt," Maria told him. She was standing only a few feet below him. The drop was not a big one. "How did you get up there, anyway?"

Matthew opened his eyes and looked down at her. "Promise?"

"I promise."

Matthew stared ahead of him, and let go.

Tears were gushing out Shadow's eyes. This was for his mother. He tucked in his arms and brought his knees, up to his head, curling into a ball. His body started spinning. Faster and faster he went, creating another sonic boom. He was aimed toward the Egg Carrier's middle. He pierced through it, and got caught in a giant explosion. The Egg Carrier split in half. The other battleships' jets stopped spouting flames, and they began to fall.

The people of Westopolis watched as EggRobos fell to the ground, Egg Fighters fell to their sides, Egg Gunners fell apart, and Egg Launchers exploded. The Egg Pawn ships stopped flying, and the Egg Pawns fell off of them like flying paper.

Streaks of green, blue, red, yellow, purple, cyan, and white light zipped from the explosion of the Egg Carrier. They flew off in different directions. The Chaos Emeralds had been lost.

Omega emerged from the flower shop it's crashed into and watched as robots and Egg Pawn ships fell from the sky. "You have done it, Matthew," it said.

All the battleships crashed and burned in the outskirts of Westopolis. The Egg Carrier had become a giant fireball and was heading straight for the highway. Everything in its path was obliterated. And Shadow The Hedgehog was nowhere to be seen.