cf96: Yeah, there's a couple of dark parts here and there, but they're far inbetween. And even if she is a tad ticked, Shadow is still Rouge's friend in the end. :)

SonicSonic54321: That's why we have fanfiction. :D

Chapter 6: The Loner's Choice

~Vainglory or Abandonment?~

One of GUN's flying transport units landed in the supposedly secure confines of the GUN HQ, housing the precious cargo that was the President, who narrowly escaped death by laser within an inch of his life. He was still pretty shaken up from the experience, and he could hardly recall the throng of soldiers that flooded the place and whisked him out of harm's way, so the GUN Commander assisted him off the craft and into the protection of a specialized group of soldiers.

They all brought him to a safer area in the HQ, where the GUN Commander placed him in a rather large chair for his own good. The President was looking very downcast, and almost inconsolable.

"Sir, are you all right?" asked the GUN Commander with deep concern.

The President released a gruff sigh, followed by a rugged tone in his voice. "Never mind me…what about the people of Central City?"

The GUN Commander slowly removed his hand from the President's shoulder before replying.

"No need to worry, sir. Orders were issued as soon as the Black Arms invaded and everyone has been evacuated to the safe zone."

Had to hand it to them, they had an effective evacuation system.

"Very good…Commander," the President sighed in relief, a burden off his back.

An urgent beeping sound rang out, with the President spinning around in the chair as the Commander grunted, "Now what's going on?"

A soldier dashed in and saluted the duo on the spot. He was looking extra paralyzed, compared to the other soldiers who had been reporting things all day.

"Commander! The invaders! Estimated over one thousand black aliens inbound. They've penetrated our outer perimeter!"

"What!" the Commander and the President howled in unison.

"According to reports, Shadow's also been sighted with the black aliens!"

"Shadow?" The President asked again, resting his head on his hand with subtle disappointment. "I don't believe it…"

"So he's finally decided to show himself!" the Commander scorned loudly in contrast to the President, tightly curling his hand into a fist. He quickly had everyone in the room get into contact with every person associated with GUN, proclaiming, "Attention all command units! Mobilize all Mech battle sections! Prepare all weapons to strike incoming vessels! Mobilize… 'Diablon'."

"But sir!" squeaked the soldier. "It's…not ready yet!"

"I don't care!" the Commander roared back. "We have NO other option! We must protect the President and the Chaos Emeralds, at all costs!"

"Y-Yes sir," the soldier complied, exiting the room afterward. The President glanced cautiously up at the Commander, who had unearthed a hidden rage buried deep within himself.

"Shadow! Damn you! It's been fifty years…justice will finally be served!"

He pulled out a pistol and promptly cocked it, ready to fire at any given moment. With a quick sneer, he whirled around and faced the nearest person that was working on a computer.

"You, there! Get a hold of special agent Rouge the Bat. I have a request that I need to send through her…"

"With all due respect, Commander," the man replied, beginning to sweat. "Rouge is currently stationed deep within the fortress with the assignment of keeping the Black Arms' hands off one of our only-"

"That is irrelevant- what I require will not deter her from her mission…" the Commander's eyelids lowered dangerously, as if he was regretting what he was about to say. "…I'm enlisting the assistance of Sonic the Hedgehog, against my better judgment."

"…of course, sir," the man replied, contacting Rouge on the spot.

GUN Fortress-

We went too far.

At least, that's what the nagging feeling in the back of my head told me, and even if we hadn't, being with the Black Arms had led to so much devastation, and I personally had little to show for it. Central City had been such a flourishing industrial marvel only yesterday, and now…what was left?

I stood within the entrance to the GUN Fortress, wondering what insane thing Doom would need from me this time. I couldn't even begin to fathom what he wanted to gain from the fortress, but as his troops were steadily filling the premises, it couldn't have been to throw them a charity event.

"I…don't know if I can do this anymore," I mumbled to myself, closing my eyes. "I can't stand those stupid humans, who at the root of all things put me into this situation…but I also can't take the Black Arms anymore- I disagree with everything they're doing, and I won't stand for it any longer, even if they many know who I am…"

Regardless, contemplating getting rid of what could possibly be my best lead was a huge choice, but honestly, if my heart was suffering at the sake of my mind…maybe it was the best choice to run while I was ahead.

"Shadow, I'm counting on you…" I heard a frail, old voice beckon out to me, but looking around, no one was there. I was alone in the entryway of the fortress still, and there wasn't anyone around besides me.

"Professor…?" I found myself mutter, not sure why I had said it. But now that I thought about it, maybe it was the voice of Professor Gerald, the one Doom had told me about…

Now the question was; was I going to listen to the voices that scattered in the darkness rather than Black Doom?

. . .

"Shadow, this is the last stronghold of the human army…" Doom's Eye informed me, once I'd marched deeper into the fortress to secure their Chaos Emerald. Of course, Doom wasted no time in tasking me with some ridiculous chore. "Destroy the core of the base, the three Mother Computers…and then this planet will be completely defenseless!"

"And what if I don't?" I asked dangerously, stalking around the dimly lit corridors of the fortress. "What if I decide to abandon you and your little world conquest to continue my own hunt for the Chaos Emeralds, because I know all seven of them can cause a miracle…that's more than enough power to restore my memories, and I can dispose of you like a stained used napkin."

Doom's Eye narrowed in retaliation, glaring daggers into my very being as I got right up in his space, simpering all too roguishly.

"Better yet, how's about I one-up you and take over the world for myself? I'll even destroy it with my own two hands, not allowing you the glory of committing such a feat!"

"You're like me in more ways than you know, Shadow," Doom finally replied, swirling around me with a contemptuous flair. "But I'm afraid that if you double-cross me, you will find that you have created an adversary that you do not want to have…"

"I have created adversaries that I don't want to have," I murmured, lowering my eyes. "I've went against the very people that had my back at one point in time, and even though they've let me down myself, I don't want them to suffer because of me blindly following you."

I stepped forward again, taking out my Shadow Rifle and cocking it.

"I've got Sonic hating me for turning my back on him and shooting a man…Rouge has orders to kill me if I'm spotted by her…Amy and Cream have done nothing wrong, and yet they felt the verbal side of my wrath…I allowed Knuckles to get hurt, and all of that occurred because I considered what you had to say, and that's not fair."

"You insolent fool!" Doom bellowed, but I just kept creeping closer, my weapon rising with every swayed step I took. I was drunk from all the trash that Doom had been feeding me, intoxicated by the lies.

Finally, I was sobering up.

"Whether the mother computers are destroyed or not will be decided by me, Black Doom. I no longer have to do what you say. I will obtain the Chaos Emerald in this base, and I will be the one to determine the fate of this planet…you may know about me, Black Doom, but if you wish to feed me my memories through dark and corrupted ways just so I can be your pawn, I'm afraid that's the way to make an adversary you don't want to have."

I raised the rifle, aimed directly at the center of Doom's Eye.

"You don't get a choice in this, Shadow," Doom hissed, but the threat in his tone was completely lost on me. "No matter what you do, you'll be assisting me. You'll obey me. You were created to serve me and carry out my wishes... You exist because of me!"

A dangerous glint crossed my eyes as my grip of the rifle became taut, complemented by a sinister smirk.

"If Sonic and his friends, and the humans, have to suffer, it'd better damn well be because of me."

With that, I whipped myself around and marched deeper into the lonely and melancholic structure that was the GUN Fortress. Black Doom may have needed me as the untouchable king piece in the sick game of chess that he was playing against the world, but I sure as hell didn't need him. Not anymore.

Destroying the computers and messing with GUN did sound like fun though, but that would give Doom satisfaction.

But I believed that I kicked him hard enough off his high horse so badly that I didn't think it would matter.

. . .

The Commander had informed all of his troops of my infiltration long ago, so naturally packs of humans were coming out of the woodwork to throw their lives at me.

"This'll just take three seconds!" one of them had yelled, taking the exact same amount of time to speak those words.

"Heh, you're right," I muttered, raising my gun in the blink of an eye and pulling the trigger. "Three."

How easily I had managed to execute that actually unnerved me…

Despite the ambushes of soldiers emerging from the walls, jumping out from behind vehicles, and yelling their last words, it was actually quite empty in the fortress. Definitely isolated, which I suppose was suitable for a last resort military base. Not all of the lights were on, creating a dusky atmosphere in all the rooms.

At times when I was in areas devoid of any human life, I'd be surrounded by empty parking spots, flickering fluorescent lamps, and the sounds of GUN machines working in other rooms.

It was a reminder of how alone I felt right now, but I would never let the thought transform into words and escape my mouth.

I was definitely glad I had severed my ties with Doom, but there was no one by my side this time, whether to try to help me, to get me to help them, to annoy me endlessly or to set me on "the right path".

There was no right path. All the paths in life had the same ending, so why did it matter which one you picked? Yeah, some were longer and others had obstacles along the way, but everything meets up in end. I could take whatever path I chose, and everyone else in the world could take theirs, and when we reached the end of paths, we'd be in the same place.

And everyone walks their path alone.

I mulled this, stepping tentatively through the fortress with my gun ready in case more soldiers felt like leaping into suicide. My footsteps echoed in the emptiness, another constant reminder that no one else was there…that I knew of.

Eventually I reached an area where Black Arms were duking it out with soldiers, and the soldiers were constantly yelling things like, "Don't let them get away!", "Fire at will!", "You're going down, suckers!"

I couldn't possibly list the other ridiculous things they were yelling at the sky.

I was impassive as I let loose on everything that moved in the room- shooting up Black Arms, punching out GUN Soldiers, squashing the bug that was crawling around on the edge of the room…

The last one was unintended actually, but it just proved my point.

"Don't let Shadow go any deeper into the fortress!" I heard one of the soldiers call out, and suddenly I heard several doors lower from the ceiling and make contact with the floor. They were designed to be fully reinforced and keep intruders out of the deeper catacombs.

Ha.

"It's going to take more than something as trivial as a door to get me to give up," I howled, rushing forward at full speed and blasting at the doors.

All the soldiers and aliens in the room stopped to gawk as steel door after steel door was busted up with a single strike, and that single strike was me. The doors didn't even exist to me- I couldn't see them as I ran onward; couldn't feel them as they snapped against my fast-moving body.

I emerged into a room that was circular in shape, with security lasers lining the wall and GUN turrets shooting at anything that wasn't authorized. Also in the room were completely unmanned turrets, so I hopped in one of them and proceeded to blast all the defenses in the immediate area.

By some twist of fate, that caused a zip line to appear.

"I'll never understand the way humans design things," I murmured to myself, grabbing onto it and being taken to an upper part of the area. I let go at the peak of the zip line, flying forward a ways before landing.

I kicked the door in front of me open, only to be greeted by a squad of Black Arms brutes staring back at me. Obviously they were committing some sort of sabotage, since one was literally eating the walls, and the rest had fistfuls of crunched metal and wires wadded in their fists.

Of course, all this dropped to the floor at the sight of me.

Next thing I knew, eight extraterrestrial brutes had made the mistake of dog piling me. Naturally the situation infuriated me to no end, but when I tried to expel them all off me with Chaos Blast…I found that I couldn't.

"I don't have enough negative energy…" I realized under my breath, trying to tug out of the vice-like grip grabbing my arms and legs. Four of the aliens had restrained me while the other four proceeded to wail endlessly on me. My rifle, which had been in my quills, was shaken to the ground, where it fell onto the tiled floor with a clank.

One of the four aliens not restraining me proceeded to crush it beneath its foot.

Growling, I managed to lift one of my arms fast enough to fling one of the Black Arms into the wall, agitating the rest and forcing me to the ground again.

And that's when the gunshot sounded out.

One by one, the Black Arms were brought to the floor, and I was sure I was on the hit list as well. I was stuck lying on the floor, watching as my captors fell to the ground, one bullet after another. By the time the eighth alien was felled, I figured the GUN soldier wouldn't be crazy enough to spare me, so I glanced up at the approaching gun wielder.

Well…it was a GUN agent.

"Hi, Shadow," Rouge greeted me icily yet hesitantly, keeping the sniper rifle that she used to so easily dispatch the Black Arms aimed at my face. "Heard that the Black Arms broke their way through, and I've been assigned to make sure that none of them get any farther."

I could've easily flipped back to my feet, then kick the gun out of her hands, claim it for myself, and turn it against her, but I was paralyzed to the ground just by the tone of her voice. She was trying so hard to keep it level and professional, yet just beneath the surface, beneath that covering of thin ice…I could tell that she wanted to break down and cry.

In fact, for a split second, I really thought she was going to kill me.

"Unfortunately, the assignment to get rid of you specifically was given to someone else," she finally continued after a deathly pause in sound. "And I know because I gave them that task…it's the only reason why I don't rid the world of you now, because I let you have a second chance and this is how far you took it."

"…is Knuckles all right?" I asked carefully, rising to my feet and making no sudden movement. "And please lower the rifle if you're not going to shoot it. It's unsettling me…"

"Shadow, you're unsettling the world with your actions, and you're worried about me having a gun. You're not the only one that can mercilessly shoot at everything that moves. Only difference is, I'm trained to do so."

"I don't believe you've answered my question," I grumbled back, pushing the gun's aim away from me with my own hand. Rouge scowled at me and turned away.

"…he's fine, with no thanks to you."

"Rouge, do you think he teleported to safety by himself?" I snapped, flashing my angry fangs. "For one, he didn't even have an Emerald to begin with, and two, he can't activate Chaos Control!"

"You caused the detonation that injured him," Rouge whispered, turning and stalking away from me.

"I can cause Chaos Control, Rouge. I used it to save him! I disobeyed Black Doom's request to save his life!"

She stopped walking, but she didn't face me. I panted in exasperation, shaking my head.

"He would've been much worse off if I hadn't acted when I did…and for your information, I'm not with the Black Arms anymore!"

The words reverberated down the corridor, as if to emphasize the point. I started shaking out of my control, and Rouge finally acknowledged me by glancing over her shoulder.

"I've recently realized that Black Doom may have information on me, but he's been using that to bait me into doing his dirty work…and I don't want to find out who I am if I'm playing right into his hand…there are still other ways…"

I noticed Rouge's wings drooped before she folded them up against her back.

"…that means you're still after the Chaos Emerald that's warehoused here…"

She spoke with a tone that almost sounded…conflicted.

"They're the only thing I can trust at this point," I explained with a depressed sigh.

"What about us?" Rouge instantly countered, fully spinning around and raising her arms. "What about all the people that you became close to and left them in anguish when you disappeared in that one instant?"

She frowned deeply, and not even I could replicate such an outward expression.

"You saved my life, Shadow. Not just when the ARK was hurdling through space on a course set to destroy the planet…but when I was locked in a room on an island that was about to explode, you teleported into the room and whisked me out of there with only seconds to spare…" she hung her head, hiding her face from me. "You had told me that you only came back because I had some Chaos Emeralds…and I always wanted to think that you saved me because you cared about me, something that no one else did at that point in time…but even now, it still looks like I'm wrong…"

"I wouldn't remember, now would I?" I retorted with sick irony, walking ahead of her with an unreadable look. "The Chaos Emeralds have helped me actually see the things I've possibly forgotten…and we still don't even know if I am the original Shadow that you speak of…"

"Don't bring that up," she snarled afterward.

"Well it's true." I continued walking, leaving Rouge all twisted up in her turmoil. I was on the other side of the hall when a thought came to me, and only then did I stop walking. "Rouge…"

Her ears perked up, indicating that she was paying attention.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about a man known as Professor Gerald Robotnik, would you?"

. . .

"I don't understand why you associate yourself with these humans," I sneered, continuing my assault through the subterranean fortress.

Rouge had poured out everything she knew about the professor- he was the main man behind the ARK, and the Eclipse Cannon, and filled me in with all the wondrous things that he did during his lifetime, which helped me understand why I had recognized his voice when it popped into my mind. He wanted to create the ultimate life form in order to further his resource for a cure for the diseased Maria…and "I" apparently was the product. She also went into detail about how the ARK had been raided and resulted in the death of Maria…

"…but they were trying to kill me," I had said, my fears a reality. Rouge had solemnly nodded.

She then had went into detail on how Gerald and I were captured and sent to Prison Island, with me being placed into suspended animation for fifty years while Gerald rigged up a plot to get revenge on the people who had taken Maria away from him…

A plan that I also desired to carry out…which lead to my previous statement.

"A job's a job," Rouge replied with a shrug, one that was much too casual for the situation. "If you weren't so stark raving mad to kill them all, I'm sure that you'd be great among the ranks of GUN."

"Well, that's never going to happen," I huffed, clenching a fist. "I'll cleanse the world of these humans and bring an age of peace!"

"Good luck with that, champ," Rouge replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Don't you think there's a better way to keep the world safe than to destroy the world's dominant species?"

"If there was one, the planet wouldn't be the way it is today," I stated firmly. Rouge was looking to reply with a long winded speech of her own, but I cut her off by asking, "…do you really think I promised Black Doom something, back when I still lived on the ARK?"

Rouge closed her open mouth to ponder this development, then looked thoughtful.

"I dunno, you didn't mention it in your past life- er, uh, before, so that's one thing you might have to rediscover on your own. I mean, there wasn't even a mention of him in the professor's old journals…although, he did mention 'outside forces' assisting him in the creation of 'you', but no one really had any idea what that meant…"

Before I could respond, a wave of soldiers ambushed us, firing their ammunition with no hesitation. Rouge and I hit the ground, luckily all the rapid-firing going right over our heads.

"Oh yes," I grunted with a snide, starting to crawl on the ground. "I'd fit in real nicely around here."

"Well, Shadow, these guys are trying to protect the Chaos Emerald," Rouge explained, crawling alongside me. "If you get your hands on it -or any member of the Black Arms, even though I'm pretty sure you'll reach it first- there's authorization to shoot you down. Right now they're just trying to drive you off."

"How come you're not trying to drive me off?" I asked curiously, and I noticed the color drain from her face until it matched her fur.

"Like I said, there's authorization to shoot you down if you go too far…which means it'll be the last time I'll get to see you…"

"Alive, at least," I replied without missing a beat. Rouge grimaced in response.

"Way to remove the ambiguous tone I was building up."

"Well, why are we beating around the bush? If I die in the process of trying to find out who I am, then…I'm okay with that. It'd be a worthy cause."

"Why are you taking this so lightly?! …more importantly, why won't you believe me when I tell you about who you were?"

I sighed through gritted teeth. "I've already told you- it's not the same as figuring it out for myself…"

We made it to the end of the GUN shoot off, and I was sorely tempted to take them all out, but with Rouge still tagging along, I had a feeling she wouldn't appreciate that very much. Thus, we snuck to the other side of the room and slid through the doors.

"…the Chaos Emeralds can show me the things that actually happened, rather than simply taking someone's word for it…that's why I've really got to collect them," I explained.

"But…Black Doom used the Chaos Emerald you had to blast Central City out of existence!" Rouge exclaimed. "GUN's trying to protect the emeralds so Black Doom doesn't use it to destroy the world!"

"Because if anyone's going to destroy this damn planet, it should be me," I stated with a wicked sneer. Rouge was not impressed.

"Even if wiping out all humans was somehow the grand solution…where would you go afterward? Do you really want to be responsible for creating a planet full of desolation? Think about me, and the other heroes…do you want to wipe us out too?"

I grunted to this, having thought about it before. Rouge blinked her eyes several times as she jogged after me, once I'd picked up the pace.

"I'd prefer if you guys stayed as far away from me as possible, but I just keep becoming associated with you all," I murmured. "If I wanted you all completely out of the way, you wouldn't be standing here, the others still wouldn't be searching for the emeralds, and Knuckles would be more than just mildly injured."

Rouge had no reply for that, and I was content with the notion- I didn't want to have to reply afterward.

. . .

Rouge tried to explain just how big the fortress was, but I was still having trouble picturing it. We were currently working our way up a cylinder spiral, with GUN mechs coming to hinder my progress.

"Sure seems like GUN isn't holding anything back by deploying their combat mechs," Rouge stated as I trashed one after another. "Which doesn't surprise me- we're about to enter an interior passageway that is under maximum security…"

"Does that mean we're getting closer to the second Chaos Emerald?" I asked. Rouge narrowed her eyes.

"Unfortunately."

The passageway Rouge spoke of was much brighter than the rest of the fortress, with neon blue lights illuminating the path ahead. It also came with several motion-detecting lasers, and lasers that simply fried your ankle if you walked into it. Rouge and I ducked and jumped over them all, even sliding along the wall to draw less attention.

"Can you believe that they won't even let a top-clearance operative like me in this area!" Rouge exclaimed in frustration.

"Ooh, breaking a few rules too, are we?" I implied sadistically, with Rouge glowering back.

"Nuh-uh, I'm on a whole different level than you are. I'm just a nosy agent- you're a rampant amnesiac psycho who's a borderline terrorist- one who plans on committing suicide by going after the Chaos Emerald…"

"Rouge, I'm not going to die in the process; I don't know why you think that," I muttered with distaste, taking extra care to watch where I was stepping.

"Do you not pay attention when I explain your backstory?" Rouge exasperated. "We lost you once…for me, it's too soon to lose you again."

"You worry too much."

"Hmph. I'd like to think my worrying is perfectly justified."

I kicked down another barricading door, bursting out way through.

"Well, if you really care for this planet like you say you do, then you should be worried about the Black Arms forces spreading over the globe…humanity's resistance is going to crumble."

"I fear that you're going to crumble. Besides stark raving mad, you're stark raving crazy."

Why was she so…adamant?

I didn't have the time to voice this aloud- this annoying whirling sound decided to come to life, and the gasp that escaped from Rouge wasn't a good sign.

"The walls are closing in!" she exclaimed, quickly flying to the safety of the other side. "Use your Triangle Jump to wall bounce your way over here!"

"You couldn't have just flown me over?" I snorted, performing the action with simple finesse. I beat Rouge to the other side, where she gave me a smirk.

"Looks like you answered your own question. Obviously you're faster."

Well, couldn't argue with that.

The walls crashed together behind us, smashing the limited air cushioned between them. Rouge cringed at the thought of that possibly being us sandwiched in there, and I wasn't afraid to admit that it unnerved me too.

Regardless, I turned heel and marched onward, knowing the Chaos Emerald had to be close.

Rouge knew that too, and she only followed me as a last attempt to get me to change my mind.

. . .

"…we're in the deepest reaches of the fortress," Rouge whispered to me as we grinded on fluorescent blue rails over dangerous floors. "If I'm correct, the room holding the Chaos Emerald is up ahead…"

"I can't believe you're just going to let me go get it," I admitted, jumping from rail to rail.

"Well, you want it to get your memories back, and I respect that," Rouge stated, leaping at the same times that I was. "As long as Black Doom has none, and none of them power the Eclipse Cannon for total world annihilation…I'm fine. At least, until these aliens leave our planet and I can go after the Emeralds for jewel purloiner purposes."

"Ah. That's why you haven't mugged me for my Emerald yet."

"Hey, I understand the mystical properties they have," she stated intelligently. "…but that doesn't change the fact that they're downright gorgeous, like me!"

Good to see she doesn't change even in earth's final hours.

Once all the rail-riding was complete, we reached the deepest reaches of the fortress, and both of us knew that this was where we were to part. I stepped closer to the large door, with Rouge sluggishly trudging to the side wall and punching in the security code.

The door before me swooshed open, and I could already sense the Chaos Emerald on the other side. I was all ready to waltz in there, take it for myself, and teleport to my next area, but Rouge had a really concerned look on her face.

I swear she was going to faint.

"What?" I questioned, a tad harsher than I'd intended.

"Just think about what you're doing…" Rouge trailed slowly; a last ditch effort to get me to turn around and forget about taking the Chaos Emerald. "The people in there are going to protect that emerald at all costs…"

"I'll come back out, and I'll find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds," I assured her, tightening my fist in front of my face. "Then all this chaos…throughout the world and inside my head…can finally come to an end!"

I started walking in, holding my head high and staring straight forward.

"No one's taking this emerald from me…and besides," I added quickly, if only for Rouge's sake. "They can't do anything worse to me than they already have, right?"

A ghost of a grin crossed over my face, but Rouge had seen it the slim amount of time it was there.

"Guess that's why they call you the ultimate life form," Rouge said with a smirk, but the amused humor was lost on me.

"That may be what I'm labeled as…but I feel that I am unworthy of the title."

With that, I turned my back on Rouge, and GUN's final security door slammed shut behind me, officially closing me off from her.

Next time...

"Sonic," I said seriously, all traces of hatred fading away for the moment. "If you try to stop me…I'll destroy you too!"

Sonic appeared disconsolate as he spread his legs apart a bit more, along with raising his fists a little higher.

"If that's how it's gonna be, Shadow, then bring it on."

"Very well, then…you're going down," I replied, striking a fighting pose of my own as the waves of intemperate fury returned. "Just say when."