SonicSonic54321: Yes, poor Shadow indeed (*couch*we haven't even seen the worst of it *cough). And as for what Eggman says, yes that does happen in the game, but I give it a bit of a twist that will be seen in due time. :)
Cf96: I love my song references. :D
Chapter 8: Dyed in Lovely Darkness...
~The View From Atop the World~
I had originally wanted to warp out of the Gun Fortress to look for the other five Chaos Emeralds, but once again, my Chaos Control destination had been hijacked and I hadn't gone anywhere. Before I had the chance to swear up a storm and curse what had happened, I found Black Doom hovering condescendingly over me, and if he wasn't furious before, he certainly was now.
"You disobeyed my orders!" he bellowed, leaning forward and snarling in my direction. I simply stood my ground and kept my Chaos Emeralds firmly in my grip.
"Yeah, well, I told you…" I struck a fighting stance just in case things were destined to get ugly. "…no one tells me what to do! I need these Emeralds to uncover the truth about my past."
Black Doom simply rumbled in response. "Mmm, mmm…what do you think vermin like you could accomplish on your own?"
"I can do a lot of things," I murmured firmly, not moving from my stance. Black Doom was not going to lead me on any longer…he wasn't going to string me along and use me as a red and black tool…not anymore. I started to turn to walk away, but that sensation came over me again…
The same one from back at Cryptic Castle.
"Those who commit mutiny against me will see no mercy…" Black Doom hissed, and I knew now for sure he was the one with this unseen hold on me. "…and they do not defy me again!"
"Urgh…" I was sent to the floor, and in my limited amount of control I had over myself, I shoved the duo Chaos Emeralds into my quills. "Whatever you're doing to me…it'd better come to an end!"
"You're in no position to defy me!" Doom roared, and I was sent careening across the room. I slammed into the wall, but I didn't slide down- Doom was keeping me pressed against it with his invisible grip. "I shall crush your attempts to stand against me! If you had simply followed me unconditionally, you would have been spared this pain!"
Like a chain yanking on the back of my skull.
"ARGH!"
I was being tossed around like a lifeless puppet, tied to transparent strings whose ends were wrapped within Doom's grasp. I knew that as long as he had this control over me, he could easily manipulate me…but I wouldn't let him. I'd find a way to break our ties once and for all, and rid me and the world of his presence.
Too bad that wasn't right now.
He slammed me into the ground, and even if I could, I didn't move, hesitant about what he would do next to me. However, Black Doom just hovered above me, glaring indefinitely.
"You are such a traitor…"
"Sorry to disappoint," I grunted with the minimum of the strength I had left. "But this is the end of me working with you."
"We'll see, Shadow…" seethed Doom afterward, and I realized that his eyes were beginning to glow. "Let me show you…just why you should stay away from those humans and serve me instead!"
With that, a blinding flash of light became everything of my sight, and I suddenly felt…lighter.
The Doom-
"What's going on with me?" I asked no one in particular, finding myself walking alone in a forest with no idea of how I got there. I was feeling incredibly groggy, like I was supposed to be somewhere and nowhere at the same time. My mind was racing like crazy, leaving me unable to thinks straight. "I can't…get these images out of my mind…and how do those insane black creatures know me?!"
My head was throbbing beyond belief, but it was a welcome pain compared to when Black Doom enforced his mysterious hold on me. I continued to trudge through the strange forest, and surprisingly, it gave me the same feeling of serenity as when I was back at my tree.
Maybe my mind was recreating a place where I was remotely happy…
But I couldn't be happy, at least, not without knowing who I was before all this…
As I watched a few leaves fall harmlessly off the trees and land at my feet, a blindingly bright red portal opened up beneath me, and I knew the strangeness was only about to get weirder….especially when I discovered that I was now in space.
Woo, trippy.
I had no idea what was happening to me or what was going on until "Shadow…" was huffed over my shoulder, and I instantly knew that this had been the work of Black Doom.
"You seemed troubled…" he told me calmly, even though he had been on the verge of snapping my neck what seemed like mere moments ago. I was prepared to whirl around and give him a piece of my mind, again, but then he pointed ahead of me, and naturally I had to look.
"That's the…"
The space station I had been to only hours ago was right in front of me, but now…it looked almost like it was brand new, and plus, the moon itself was still whole.
Black Doom, what've you done to me now…?
"Yes, Shadow, that's the Space Colony ARK…" Doom confirmed. "…only, fifty years ago."
"Fifty years ago?!" I gasped, glancing down at a closer look at the ARK.
My entire being froze with the sight of a black and red hedgehog running for his life, pulling a blonde girl in blue along behind him.
"That's…me!"
And suddenly, the gruesome image was beginning to become clearer.
I cringed just by thinking about it again, especially now that I knew such an event did happen, fifty years ago at that…a half century-old event wedged into my mind…
"This will remind you of what the humans did to you!" Black Doom exclaimed. "Never forget that horrifying image!"
Never…forget it?
I started getting the feeling that I was losing consciousness, the last thing I heard being: "Get ready to relive the moment that should tell you what you should do…"
Everything went out of focus after that.
. . .
"Shadow…I just can't leave everybody behind!" a girl's voice beckoned out to me, carrying a terrified tone that couldn't be copied by anyone.
"I promise, I'll do what I can, Maria, but we've got to go!"
Reliving…that was the correct term. Not to be blatant, but I was…well, living in a memory to speak. I remembered being on the ARK, I remembered running, and I remembered Maria wanting to help everyone, even though we ourselves were in danger.
It was a re-experience, and I knew how everything was to play out, but I still treated it like it was happening now.
And I knew that Black Doom had caused this.
"Remember…you were attacked by the humans here…" Black Doom's voice rumbling from nowhere invaded my ears, and I grimaced- I wasn't even safe in my thoughts and memories from that guy.
Regardless, I had no control no matter what, so I just went with the flow and allowed the memory to make itself prominent. Maybe it would help later on.
Maria and I continued running down the halls, me going much faster than her…although that was mainly because Maria kept stopping to assist the researchers with healing units.
"The effects of the Healing Units will leave them dizzy for a while, but at least they're okay," Maria had said, rising from the floor and continuing to tag after me. Just as we started making some ground again, a huge explosion rang out, and I tackled Maria to the ground and hovered over her protectively. A squad of GUN Soldiers came barging through, and growling under my breath, I tugged Maria into a narrow hall.
"What the hell? The GUN soldiers just came in through the wall!" I exclaimed lowly so Maria couldn't hear.
"This is just terrible!" Maria whimpered, her words accompanied by a light sob. "Why…why are they doing this? All the research here hasn't hurt anybody- what exactly are they after?"
Me.
"Come on, we have to keep going," I murmured, taking her wrist gently and guiding her along. "If things grow as bad as I fear they will, we might have to take the escape pods and head on down to the planet."
"But, Shadow…" Maria trailed, eyes beginning to glaze over. "I won't survive down there for very long…"
"We won't survive if we stay here, either!" I exclaimed, pulling Maria out of the line of fire of a few bullet rounds that made direct contact with three more researchers. "The soldiers are destroying everything- the ARK won't last under this amount of force!"
"I…I know…" Maria sighed, trotting after me. "But what about Grandpa? We don't know where he's at! Shouldn't we find him first?"
"We'll look," I promised, releasing her hand and skating forward, scouting the area ahead. It seemed devoid of any immediate danger, so I coaxed for Maria and cautiously made my way forward.
We passed through door after door, watching as every inch of the ARK was no longer the way Maria and I remembered it. It used to be a quiet place for discovery, the only chaos caused by the hijinks Maria and I came up with. Now sections were ablaze in flames, people were dead and dying, and it was no longer safe. Lives were on the line, and to be perfectly honest I didn't know what to do.
I remembered every hall, every room, every spot with a memory precious to me…the area where Maria took care of me at times, the kitchen where one of the cooks would gift us with chocolate cake on Wednesdays, Maria's own room…and I wondered if it was still intact.
"Shadow, wait!" Maria exclaimed, halting me with her urgent message. I couldn't say no, so I shut off my hover skates and watched as Maria grabbed another health unit off the wall and used it to heal another researcher.
She was so kind and thoughtful, even in the face of certain disaster…and recalling that made the thought of her death even heavier on my heart.
"There you go," she told the researcher, this one a young female. "This crisis will be over before we know it!"
I wish I could say the same, but I remained quiet and allowed Maria to finish assisting people.
"Why do humans cling to their wretched existence?" the voice of Doom echoed once more. I had to think about this for myself- after all, I had burst into the GUN Fortress with the idea that humans didn't value life…but Maria clearly did.
She gave hope back to others, even when they didn't deserve it. Such an immense passion for forgiveness…and the way she spoke of the world made me realize that it wasn't so bad, despite all the terrible things that I'd witnessed (and could remember).
"Black hedgehog sighted!" the leader of a pack of Gun soldiers snapped, pulling me from my mullings as I shoved Maria behind me.
"Don't let him get away!"
"Capture him on the spot!"
"What do we do, Shadow?" Maria asked, and I didn't even need to be holding her hand to know that she was quaking in fear. A dark frown crossed my face with an idea.
"I can dispatch these guys, easy-"
"No, Shadow," Maria shot me down instantly, shaking her head. "That will make you just as bad as them! There has to be a peaceful solution…"
That's what Rouge had said in GUN Fortress…
'Maria," I breathed, taking a deep breath as I heard several guns suddenly click and become turned in my direction. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course," she replied, blinking her blue eyes in surprise. "What does that have to do with-"
"Close your eyes, trust me, and don't open then until I deem it safe."
Maria was taken aback for a moment, but eventually her eyelids fell shut and within the same second I was off. I scooped up Maria and slid along the floor, drifting underneath the chaotic rapid fire that had commenced.
"Even if there are a dozen soldiers, there's no way there should be this much rapid fire…" I said to myself, turning around the corner. I instantly braked to a stop and felt my jaw drop to the floor.
Maria and I were face to face with a large levitating hunk of metal that I could only make out as one of GUN's mechs, decked out in orange undertones and a wide arsenal of turrets.
Naturally, I was directly in its line of fire with a target on my forehead.
"Mantis platoon! Heavy dog reporting in. Primary target and the girl have been located. Acquiring targets! En route to intercept and destroy!" the soldier inside blared into his communications, glowering at me from the inside.
"What the-?!" I cried, tightening my grip on Maria and ducking away. The Heavy Dog went on a rampage at this point, firing in all directions and sending a million pieces of shrapnel into the air. I bolted around the area in an attempt to avoid being blasted, but at the rate I was going, there was no way I could protect myself and Maria.
"Why…is he shooting at the both of us?! Why would he want to hurt Maria?!" I asked out loud, with Maria's eyes still closed and tensely laying in my arms.
"Humans are always willing to sacrifice their own when overcome by greed…" Doom's voice trailed in my head. "They…are indeed a foolish race."
"Those heartless humans…!" I sneered under my breath, glancing down at Maria once again. Why couldn't they all be more like her...?
Black Doom hummed contently before I felt his presences slip away, and I knew this horrendous confrontation couldn't last much longer. Thus, I ducked into a narrow corridor and tucked Maria away in there, laying her gently against the wall.
"Stay here, Maria. I'll come back when it's safe."
"Shadow…don't leave me," Maria winced, her eyes still closed, but her lip quivering.
I tightened my fists and clenched my teeth. "I'll come back when it's safe, I assure you. Now help me keep you safe by keeping your voice down, all right?"
Maria nodded meekly after that, so I grabbed a nearby crate and used it to barricade the entrance to the door. It didn't completely block of the entrance, but at the very least Maria was obscured from immediate view.
Which also allowed me to let loose on this bastard.
"Get out of my way!" I howled at the Heavy Dog, throwing myself at it in a fit of rage. Heavy Dog spun out of the way and its pilot started sending out a message again.
"This is Heavy Dog. Target has been sighted: proceeding to engage and neutralize," the soldier reported, and after landing on the ground, I sneered and flashed my fangs.
"Bring swift judgment upon these humans for their trespasses!" Doom's voice echoed, followed by a bellowing laugh only heard by me.
Regardless, I clenched my fists and rushed into battle once again.
Heavy Dog saw me coming and expelled an electric pulse; I leapt over it, flipped into the air, and landed on the top of the machine. The soldier within winced and turned the turrets on me. Snickering, I curled up and spin dashed into their all, leaving only one intact for me to use.
"You're deplorable!" I yelled, taking aim at the cockpit and letting loose with the firearm that I made my own. The soldiers floundered about in his seat, unsure of whether to fight back or take cover himself. I didn't give him the time to make to decision, as I had ditched the weapon for the time being and kicked the Heavy Dog into the nearest wall.
The scraping of metal against metal was prominent in the air, but regardless of my blatant strikes against humanity, the pitiful human within rose back into his seat, ready for another round with me.
"Energy charge complete! Particle beam cannon…fire!"
Not expecting this turn of events, I glanced over at the Heavy Dog to see what it would do, only to be by a particle beam, resonating out in waves from the fighting machine. The force whisked me to ground, sliding along the cool metal until I bumped into the wall.
"That particle weapon will go gruesome things to your flesh," Doom interjected unhelpfully.
So glad he was looking out for me.
"Urgh…I hope you understand how big of a mistake that was!" I scowled, catching the next wave coming at me and warping out of the way. In an instant, I was above the Heavy Dog, so I curled up again and threw myself down at it, tearing through the cockpit and several layers of steel like they were paper.
A large gaping hole now ran the height of the Heavy Dog, with sparks flying everywhere and smoke flowing out of the machine in gigantic plumes. The soldier was throwing into a couching fit at this point, and started pressing buttons on the dashboard before him as I gathered my bearings back on the ground. The next thing I knew, I was completely surrounded by beeping mines, and little time to react. They all went off at once, and I found myself entrapped by a devastation detonation.
"NARGH!"
Heavy Dog moved away from the blast just in time, and what remained of it floated back over to me in a taunting fashion. I'd been charred by the blast, barely alive, but I was sure I was missing a few patches of fur and I'd gained some nasty burns.
I'll hand it to the human, he did have excellent revenge tactics…but mine were better.
"I dare you to throw them again," I challenged, forcing myself to my feet again despite the agonizing pain that follow. The soldier was baiting into my request, another six mines popping out of the Heavy Dog and cascading down toward me. This time, I was ready, and the Heavy Dog was not going to win.
"Take this!" I called, grabbing the first mine and hurling it into the Heavy Dog. It exploded upon contact, and I quickly did the same with the five following bombs. The soldier started crying out in panic, unsure of what to do next…other than give up.
"Critical damage taken to fuselage…we're losing…AAAH!"
The Heavy Dog went spiraling out of the control in a flurry of flames and flickers, crashing into the wall once again with a sickening smash, damaged beyond recognition.
"How dare you try to hurt Maria! You disgusting humans; I wish you were all out of my sight…!"
With the Heavy Dog's defeat, a horde of soldier reinforcements flooded into the room, and I was so not in the mood to take them all on. Instead, I grabbed what remained of the Heavy Dog and hurled it into their direction, causing them to scatter for the time being.
A few of them managed to evade my distraction and run at me. Thinking quickly, I whirled around and clonked one of the soldiers in the head with my foot, causing him to fall and turning him into an obstacle for the others. Panting, I rushed back into the alcove, hefted Maria up in my grip, and glanced down at her face- her eyes were indeed still closed.
"Think about life on earth," I whispered to her, begging to skate down the halls that were threatening to crash all around us. "Think about gentle breeze that courses over the land, the smell of the green grass that covers the meadows…imagine us in a field of flowers, real ones…not the ones we've read about in books, but the rarer ones that the professor claims exist…"
Maria's face relaxed, a small smile growing on her face as she immersed herself in her imagination. This relaxed me too, even though I was taking off on an unknown path, but most definitely seeking safety.
Wires were sparking, the lights were flickering like in a horror movie, and any digital clocks I passed by all flashed 11:37- approximately the time the soldiers attacked, although how they measured time out here in space always was a mystery to me.
I eventually had to break when I came across a GUN drone- it was bulky, gray in color, and only had one weapon, so it wasn't much of a threat. I leaned Maria carefully against the wall, then proceed to plow into the robot with a violent spin dash. A few nearby soldiers had witnessed my feat and came storming at me, so I hastily grabbed Maria and took off again.
"What do you keep stopping for, Shadow?" Maria asked me softly, still imagining life on the world she loved so much.
"…I assisted another researcher," I stated, gulping down the guilt of lying. "More soldiers are pretty peeved now, so I grabbed you and ran again."
"I'm proud of you, Shadow…" she whispered to me. "It's good to help people, giving them more chances to be happy…"
I glanced away with abashed shame, oppressing a sigh afterward. "If only all humans were like you, Maria…"
Indeed…
We fell into silence after that, and even though I probably could've ran forever with Maria in my arms and the destination of a secure place, the threat of the soldiers breathing down my neck took away all my placid thoughts, and I couldn't shake off the feeling that there was a gun pressed against my back…even if it was just a hypothetical one.
"Here…" I finally murmured, setting Maria down in front of a window. "Maria, you may open your eyes now."
She finally did, her returned sight greeting her with the view of the planet below. It was at the same angle and same spot that was always looked at, but to Maria, the sight was always magical.
"Oh, Shadow…" Maria then said lightly, clasping her hands together under her chin. "Maybe…maybe going down there won't be so bad. I mean, if I have a limited amount of time to spend on the planet, then that's okay. At least I can say that I got to see it, right?"
"Yes…" I agreed, my gazed locked on the sight. "That's a really nice way of thinking, Maria."
"Well, let's turn it from thoughts into reality, shall we?" Maria asked with a smile, pointing off to the left. "I believe the capsules are in that direction, so what are we waiting for? Let's hurry!"
Another wall burst into pieces, and I couldn't follow Maria fast enough.
. . .
As Maria healed another wounded man, Black Doom's voice whispered through my head, and I tried to best to expel him from my thoughts.
It wasn't working.
"Before attending to the wounded, take revenge on the heartless soldiers who did this!"
No- I had already defiled Maria once already by using violence against the soldiers when I really shouldn't have. Fighting back just made things worse, even if the humans were just causing pain and suffering everywhere they went. I did the same when I attacked back (and when I followed Doom), and that really made me no better than them.
Stupid humans…they didn't know what true suffering really is.
Nevertheless, Black Doom wasn't about to talk me into harming people unless I was defending myself or Maria. I knew he was trying to twist my memory into his own favor, but, as cheesy as it this is about to sound and as much as I regret to admit it, my friendship with Maria was just so pure and innocent…and not even Black Doom trying to paint a false image in front of me couldn't change that. Even some of the things I "remembered" doing- some of them felt wrong, and I could start to piece the truth from the fiction.
It was start, somewhat.
No one can hide the truth. After all, all the people on the ARK apparently hid secrets about illegal activities, and that's why GUN attacked in the first place. Whether GUN finally came across the fact that something wrong was going on under their noses, or someone aboard the ARK tipped off the government, or whatever happened, the truth was revealed.
And hopefully, my own truth would come to light as well.
I knew that we probably wouldn't be safe again, but I caved in to this false sense of security when I led Maria onto the elevator, headed for the floor where the capsules were. The elevator was moving relatively slowly, but either the soldiers had really bad aim or we were just lucky, because all the ammunition they were blasting at us was missing terribly.
Finally, the elevator came to a stop, and Maria and I just started making a mad dash. Soldiers would catch up with us eventually, but we still had something to work for, something to drive us to fight again…
"Maria," I whispered to myself, saying five words that only applied to our current status. "I'm glad that you're safe."
Bitter irony burned within me after hearing myself say that…because in a few minutes, Maria was never going to be safe again.
Upper GUN Fortress-
"Reports have informed us that all three supercomputers are still intact," a cadet reported to the President, who was accompanied by the injured Commander, Sonic with a few bandages wrapped around him, a still injured but recovering Knuckles, and Rouge, Amy, Cream, and Tails. "Meaning that all information we have on these black aliens are still accessible. We still have a thin line of hope."
"I'd like to agree with you," hummed the President, sitting in his chair and drumming his fingers on the arm rest. "But Shadow has stolen one of the two Chaos Emeralds we have, is in possession of two, will probably be after young Miles eventually, and also knows the location of the rest when we don't, because he destroyed our mainframe."
"He's not with the Black Arms anymore!" Rouge insisted, balling up her fists. "Maybe he's finally starting to come to his senses and-"
"I don't care who he's aligned with!" boomed the Commander. "That rogue needs to be brought down! He's responsible for ruining my life! And not only that, but he's destroyed Diablon and even took down Sonic, and that was just for a Chaos Emerald!"
"He did not take me down," Sonic huffed, scratching a wound beneath a bandage on his head. "Shadow forced me into the pile of scrap that was Diablon, and more or less is where most of my injuries came from. Have you ever been dog piled by a ton of metal?"
"Yes, I have," was the snarled reply, and Sonic simply put up his hands in defense. "Regardless, now that the Fortress is being overrun by Black Arms forces, we'll need to relocate the President again. Our air force units have already prepared an Air Fleet, and will be departing for another GUN HQ when the coast is somewhat clear."
"However," interrupted the President, staring at the floor. "I would feel much better if I were to be accompanied by one of the Sonic Heroes, just in case something goes haywire."
"In that case, I'm ready to go!" exclaimed Sonic, springing to his feet. However, he did so way too quickly, even for him, and he proceeded to fall over.
"You can't go- you're way too banged up!" Amy exclaimed. "I'm sure the President doesn't want a disabled hedgehog as his last line of defense! Cream and I will go!"
"That's not a good idea either," snapped Knuckles, successfully standing where Sonic had failed. "You two will be in too much risk. My injuries are almost healed; I'll escort the President."
"No way," Rouge interrupted, folding her arms and lightly shoving Knuckles back into his seat. "We need someone who is one hundred percent up to snuff, and that certainly isn't you at the moment."
"Well I'm already off Angel Island," hissed Knuckles with a scowl. "If I'm not guarding the Master Emerald, I might as well be doing something to help! Sitting here is not doing something!"
"I doubt anyone's going to go after that thing while the world's about to end anyway," the bat continued to sniff scathingly. She then softened up a bit and frowned. "I'd do the escort myself, but I'm waiting for an important update on our situation from outside sources; besides, you need to be looked after, you rambunctious echidna."
After several more exchanging of words (and Cream's futile attempts to get them to stop), someone finally pierced the argument by muttering,
"I'll do it."
Sonic, Rouge, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, the GUN Commander, and the President all froze and turned to Tails, giving him a bewildered look. Tails cocked an eye ridge and titled his head.
"What? I'm probably the best choice anyway. If anything goes wrong with the President's plane I can fix it, if there needs to be an extra pilot I can do that too, and if the fleet is under attack, I'll do my best to fend them off."
"But what if you see Shadow?" Knuckles asked with hesitance, and everyone slightly winced at the mere mention. "He'll probably attack you for your Chaos Emerald!"
"And he knows you do have one, thanks to Eggman," added Amy hastily.
"Relax," Tails assured. "The Emerald is powering the Tornado, and its back at my workshop- and that's one location that wasn't registered in the mainframe, so Shadow won't bother looking there. He probably believes that I have it on my person."
"We can't know that for sure," stated the President, shaking his head. "But if you really think this is a good idea, Tails…"
"Don't worry, Mr. President!" Sonic exclaimed, giving him a thumbs up after Cream assisted him back to his seat. "Everything is under control!"
"Right, I'll be attending the ride as well," the GUN Commander stated, rising with the President and beginning to walk off with Tails. "Rouge, wait for your next assignment. Amy and Cream, you tend to Sonic and Knuckles until they are back at one hundred percent, then dispatch them back out into the field as soon as possible. We still need to secure the Chaos Emeralds for ourselves."
"Yes sir!" Amy and Cream replied, saluting as Sonic and Knuckles sighed.
"Just make sure they don't keep me waiting long," Rouge said with a wink. "All this talent can't go to waste!"
"Good luck, you guys!" Tails stated, waving as he vanished behind a set of heavy metal doors with the two men. The others waved back, able to do nothing but wait for their chance to strike back as well. They assumed that things would turn out okay in the end…
And yet, they were still inclined to get rid of me.
Next time...
I leapt back to my feet and started skating after the sound, tearing down the hall and following the echoes. It didn't take long for the noises to lead me back to the surface, where I caught sight of the President and the Commander boarding an aircraft.
"What a pathetic sight…"
I hardly cared about them, though- Tails was on board too, and he had a Chaos Emerald that I needed to take.
"Looks like I'll have to ride first class…" I muttered, quickly climbing aboard one of their planes set to take off. I'd have to reach the one Tails was on, but no matter how long it took, I'd get his Chaos Emerald.
Whether I liked it or not.