Silver thrust the palm of his hand in Shadow's direction, and Shadow's body began to glow light blue as he felt Beam Vision energy building up in his eyes. But it was… doing it on its own? No… Was Silver controlling his mind? He tried to fight back and close his eyes, but he wasn't able to.

"Stop!" Shadow yelled. "Get out of my head!"

The red-hot, crimson-colored beams then exploded from his eyes. He felt his head moving around as the Beam Vision ravaged the office. Pieces of the ceiling started falling around hm. The floor started to give out. A part of the ceiling fell on top of Silver, and Shadow was free. His eyes hurting, he fell to his knees. The floor under him gave out and he fell to the floor below. He looked out the window and saw Silver flying away. He got up and charged through it and sailed toward the ex-commander. He grabbed him in midair with one arm and swung a fist at his head with the other. They both plummeted through the rooftop of another building, crashing through floor through floor as they punched the snot out of each other. They were evenly matched.

They fell to the lobby of the building, where people ran as fast as they could to get away from the fight. Silver threw a left cross at Shadow, sending him flying out the building. Shadow recovered from the punch, his feet sliding along the pavement as he landed.

"I am the ultimate symbol of justice," Silver said as he jumped out. "I dedicated my life to protect my family, my friends, my sense of morality. You have no morality. You have no family or friends. What are you a symbol of?"

Shadow leaped at Silver so fast that he created a sonic boom. Coupled with high speed, he threw his shoulder into Silver's gut. The impact sent Silver flying, but he stopped in midair and threw his body at Shadow. Shadow swung a haymaker, a punch with minimal elbow bend. The punch hit Silver like a bat hitting a baseball and sent him tumbling to the ground. Shadow grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him down the street. He crashed into multiple cars, including a semi truck. Anger in his yellow eyes, he used his psychic power to throw cars at Shadow. Shadow started skating on his Hover Shoes, closing in the distance between him and Silver. He quick-stepped left and right as he dodged the cars being thrown at him. He wondered if people were in those cars.

Once Shadow got to Silver, a fistfight commenced. They both hit each other's faces with fast punches. Shadow would hit Silver, and Silver would hit Shadow. Neither of them backed down as the process repeated for a long time. Finally, Silver swung his fist upward, clubbing Shadow with an uppercut. Shadow's body left the ground at a fast speed. The streets and buildings became smaller as he soared higher and higher. The city was still heavily damaged by Eggman's attack, and as getting more damaged by his fight with Silver.

I need to get this out of Westopolis, Shadow thought.

He saw Silver, illuminated by the light blue glow around his body, flying after him. Shadow braced for impact. Then Silver tackled him, and they flew higher into the sky. Shadow pounded Silver's back with his fists, trying to get free. The sky started losing its blue color and began turning black. Shadow peeled Silver's arms off of him and landed a three-hit combo: a hook to Silver's face, a jab to his gut, and a fist thrown downward at his head that brought him back down to the earth. Silver used his psychic power to stop himself but was then tackled by Shadow. The spiraling back down to Westopolis, punching and hitting each other.

Shadow yelled as he threw Silver to the ground with great force. He landed beside him and threw wasted no time in putting him in a headlock.

"It's over, commander," Shadow said. "We're done here."

"…No!" Silver snarled. "No, no, no, no! You're going to die, Matthew! I cannot let you go down this path. I'm the hero, and you're the villain poisoning this city!"

Shadow looked around and dreaded what he saw: Amy was standing there, watching. Here eyes were wide in fear and shock.

"Run!" Shadow yelled.

But she didn't.

"Do you know this girl?" asked Silver.

Shadow didn't answer.

Silver started laughing. He threw Shadow off of him and pointed the palm of his hand at him. Shadow started feeling him taking control of his mind again. He could feel the energy building up in his eyes. He lost all movement in his legs, hips, and head. He could only move his arms, but what good was that?

"Run, Amy!" he managed to shout. "Goddammit, run!"

Unable to fight back any longer, his Beam Vision escaped his eyes. He managed to crane his neck to the side, causing it to miss. The beam was in Amy way of escape and trapped her in a corner.

Shadow's arms were flailing everywhere. "Stop this, commander! Please!"

Silver laughed. "I'm going to give you a choice, Matt: this girl, or your mom."

Was Silver trying to distract him from the mind control? Doing so would fry Amy to a crisp. Shadow had to stay focused.

"You're lying!" he yelled.

"Matt, in order for you to be created without any problems," the commander said, "alien DNA had to be be mutated with human DNA. Black Doom is not your father. I am."

The shock almost took hold of Shadow. "No… No! You're just trying to get in my head!"

"Maybe I am, but I'm also telling you the truth. I gave Professor Gerald my DNA in order for you to be created. I did it because I loved your mom Maria. But this… infatuation I had with her cost me a lot. When you were born I could've taken you away from her, but I didn't, because I loved her."

"No!"

"I could've taken you away from her at any time, but I didn't, because I loved her."

Shadow was clenching his head in his hands. "No!"

"I could've taken you away. The plan was to make you the greatest soldier G.U.N. had ever seen! Training and practice and war could've been all you ever knew, but I didn't permit it, because I loved Maria. She was my best friend."

"You know where she is."

Silver was standing right beside Shadow. "I do. Let your little girlfriend die, and I'll tell you where your mom is."

Silver started laughing again. Shadow waved his arms around as he tried to decide an fight back the mind control at the same time. He felt like nothing without her mother; she was a part of his soul. He loved her so much. Then there was Amy, who'd also become a part of his soul. She'd been so supportive of him through his worst times, and she had asked for nothing in return.

Shadow could still hear Silver's maniacal laughter. It was high-pitched, like the cackle of a witch. Shadow began yelling in frustration. The mind control was seeping in, and the endless Beam Vision was nearing Amy's body. He had to make a decision.

Shadow let out one final yell before the mind control took control. Just before it did, he threw his fist at Silver. The punch was aimed at Silver's mouth, which was wide as he laughed. Shadow shoved his fist right through Silver throat, going through the back of his head. The mind control ceased, and his Beam Vision stopped. Shadow took a deep breath, then pulled his arm out from Silver's face. His arms was covered in blood and gore.

He breathed heavily as he looked at his father's dead body. Anger started coursing through him. He started punching Silver's body in the stomach.

"You maniac!" he yelled to the body. "You disgrace! I hate you!"

He remembered what the commander had told him in Mexico: "We didn't kill him Matthew. I swear on my son's grave."

"Matt, stop!" Amy yelled behind him. She ran to him and hugged him from behind.

Shadow forced her off and looked at her with a deadly glare. The irises of his eyes were glowing brightly. Hurt, Amy started backing away from him. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Matt, why didn't you tell me?"

Shadow looked at his feet. "You would've been afraid of me. I'm a monster."

Amy turned away and started running.

"Amy! Get back here!" Shadow yelled. "Get back her right now, or I swear I'll…"

A robotic arm was put on his shoulder. He turned and saw Omega standing there.

"Calm down, Matthew," said the robot. "It is not worth it."

Shadow looked at his bloody glove. "I chose her over my parents, and she ran away."

Omega made a beeping sound. "I do not blame you for anything, Matthew. You are my friend, even though I may not be yours."

Shadow looked at Omega.

"Someday, you will meet someone even better than Amy Rose. You need to simply let time run its course."

Shadow looked back at his glove. "So… What do we do now?"

Omega bowed. "It is up to you, sir."

Shadow looked up at the sky. "Let's fix up the lab."

SHADOW
THE HEDGEHOG

I'm sorry this took me nearly a year to write. The story went through many rewrites, revamps, and reboots. But I thank you, the readers, for sticking with it the whole way.

What will I do for the sequel? Well, it's a sequel, and what do you do with sequels? You make them bigger. But what I have planned for Shadow the Hedgehog 2 is different. It's going to be smaller. It's going to be more personal for Matthew/Shadow. That in turn will make it bigger. That's why I think Mephiles the Dark will be the perfect villain for the sequel.

Thanks for reading. :)