Cf96: Seeing the prison in its ruined state is "punishment" for Shadow because he's the one who blew up the island in the first place, in a sense.

SonicSonic54321: Yep, more flashbacks! There's two other chapters with mass flashbacking, but one is actually interesting and the other...is spoilerific. As for Shadow being against "everyone"...he's not talking about the Sonic Heroes in this case. *dun dun*

Chapter 14: Transcendentalism and Imperialism: Tale of Two Evils

~The Nightmare's Insulation~

Unidentified Underground Base-

Having retreated to the drawing board once again after his thrashing at the Black Comet, Eggman was listening to his TV as he tried to gain some inspiration for his next counter attack. A herd of Egg Pawns had gathered behind him, appearing worried at what the Doctor would try to pull next.

"Those idiots! They're destroying everything!" Eggman grumbled, watching as the Black Arms continued their massacres on the cities and GUN hopelessly tried to drive them back. "How can I take over the world and build the Eggman Empire if there is no world?!"

His heavy palms slammed on the table, a plan churning in his eyes…

"That's it! I'm at my limit! Send in the Eggman Fleet! CHARGE!"

He whirled around and pointed dramatically to the sky, the Egg Pawns scattering around on command. A few crashed into each other, but ultimately they made it into the control room. They fumbled around with levers, buttons, and switches, a different aircraft taking off with each and every pull or press. Eggman walked into the area with an arrogant yet aggressive flair, stepping onto a platform while laughing manically.

"They've forced me to play my hand…wait until those good for nothing aliens get a load of my Sky Troops! Now, my militia of machines, MOVE OUT!"

At Eggman's command, the robots finished sending off the armada, with Eggman cackling all the way up into the cockpit of the flagship.

Sky Troops-

Somehow, despite my defiance toward Black Doom's orders, the Black Arms had managed to get their temple in Glyphic Canyon awakened, and now it was a flying armada of its own. From above, it certainly looked like pieces of the ruins had been pulled right out of the cliff, but from below, it was clear that the ancient crafts were being powered by alien technology.

"This is an unprecedented development-I bet no one expected this baby could fly," I murmured under my breath as I stood at the helm of Doom's flagship as it soared across the morning sky. I wanted to teleport away and head to the next location that I knew had a Chaos Emerald, but I also knew that if I tried, Black Doom would just override me, and I currently had no way of bypassing it.

So for now, he had my false blessings.

"I transported this brilliant flying fortress to this planet two thousand years ago…that's forty times this comet has bypassed this world," Black Doom explained, and now I understood how he knew so much about Glyphic Canyon- almost everything in the area was completely alien, disguised as a simple temple that aged along with the rest of the world…

"It's magnificent!" he continued. "The perfect killing machine…ready to impose terror in unimaginable ways!"

I was about to add my two cents with a snide comment, but a few dots over the horizon caught my attention. At first I thought I was just seeing black spots, but as we got closer to the source, I learned that it was an opposing fleet.

And it could only belong to one person.

"I told him not to show his face to me again," I growled, angrily barring my fangs. I knew the action secretly pleased Black Doom, but the satisfaction he received was purely unreciprocated.

"Hmph, do these fools really believe they could stop me?" Doom huffed, shaking his head and showing off his red-tipped horns.

"The doctor…"

"Shadow," Black Doom warned, with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Do not fail me…"

"Tch," I replied, staring down the massive flagship before making my way toward it.

If Eggman wanted to play again so soon, then he was going to get a play date he'd never be able to walk away from…

. . .

"This blue sky…looking at it from afar, have I seen it before?"

Of course, memories of the Egg Fleet and Final Fortress were fresh in my mind, recalling how a peaceful morning had transformed into a horrific nighttime thunder storm. The storm had been so bad; a few of us nicknamed the deck of the Final Fortress the "Thunder Deck" for all of the lightning it attracted.

"At least his armada doesn't resemble fish this time," I noted contemptuously, running along a spiral path that connected some of Black Doom's aircrafts. Wisps of clouds floated between the crafts, disappearing in a huff as I rushed right through them. As I was jumping from ship to ship and trying to reach Eggman's flagship, Doom's Eye transported in front of me and halting me from proceeding.

"Shadow, the foolish scientist still seeks to resist us…use our cannons to blow his ship out of the sky!"

"As nice as that sounds, all that would do would give you a clear path to do whatever you want to do," I mused, folding my arms. "Eggman may be the last human on the planet able to oppose you, because the GUN Commander and the President seem to be slipping from their positions of power…"

"Don't tell me you're siding with those worthless flesh bags now," Doom presaged, glowering at me with unseen intensity.

"Of course not- I plan on getting my revenge on Doctor Eggman…but on my own terms!"

Doom looked down at me and simmered quietly in his own rage, backing off for now as if he finally accepted the fact that I was no longer doing things for his benefit. However, I was still aware he had a hidden ace up his sleeve, but I was going to gratefully take his leave of absence as a pleasure.

"The last thing I need is him breathing over my shoulder…" I growled, kicking some of his soldiers over the edge of the aircraft. "As for Eggman, he needs to be put in his place as well!"

"Oh, did someone call? Fancy meeting you here!"

Speak of the devil, Eggman was hovering behind me via his portable screen. I seethed and attempted to punch in the glass, but unfortunately, Eggman glided away and chuckled at me.

"What do you think you doing?!" I spat at him, taking a challenging step forward. "Didn't I tell you last night not to show your face to me anymore?"

"Oh but Shadow, I thought we were getting so close! A man and his grandfather's creation-"

I hissed and teleported behind the monitor, giving it a kick from behind.

"Oomph! All right, all right! Look, I'm interested in stopping the Black Arms just as much as you do at this point, so I was thinking that it would benefit us both if we work together!"

"You've got to be kidding!" I yelled, and the doctor's monitor recoiled slightly. "You just tried to kill me for my Emeralds not even a few hours ago!"

"They are not your Emeralds!" Eggman's voice rose several octaves; I didn't even flinch. "…anyway, those aliens are destroying everything! It's a complete good waste of resources, and I won't stand for it!"

"Which translates to 'you want the land for yourself for mortal takeover'-"

"HEAR ME OUT!" the doctor demanded, and I could hear him slamming his fists again.

He had such a bad habit of doing that.

"There's got to be some kind of peculiar power source that's keeping these ruins afloat! It would be more beneficial of you were to, say, find it for me and destroy it? My Egg Pawns are a little held up at the moment with the Black Arm's soldiers, but-"

"No," I said simply, starting to sprint off. Eggman's monitor stayed in place for a moment, showcasing an astonished Eggman's expression, before it finally hurried after me.

"Wait, WHAT?! NO?! What do you mean by that, Shadow? I give you an offer you can't refuse-!"

"I clearly just refused you," I deadpanned, sighed and trying to get away. "I'm not performing a repeat of what went down in Cryptic Castle, if you must know."

"….ah yes." Eggman looked glumly thoughtful as he stroked his mustache. "We do still have to resolve that little issue. But that can wait until we rid Black Doom of his pathetic armada-"

"Listen up, Doctor." I grabbed the monitor and got in close to it. "I like having my back not brutally stabbed, if you please, and I know that the very moment I help you get what you want, you'll shake me down for the Chaos Emeralds, and that is not going to happen again!"

"You're one to talk about backstabbing," Eggman tisked, "After all, all your friends wanted to do was help you out, but you keep driving them away! You should be blessed that I'm offering to be on your side, even if it is temporary!"

I felt a growl building up in my throat, my grip on the monitor becoming tighter and tighter with every passing second. I started glowing red, and I only knew that from the glints of red that were reflecting off of the screen.

"…I'm coming for you next, Eggman," I warned, and I noted Eggman sliding low in his chair. "This world is in enough trouble- it doesn't need your pointless attacks with selfish reasons adding fuel to the fire! You'd better get ready, because your interference is about to come to an end!"

I whirled around and hurled the monitor toward the ground, hearing Eggman's panicked scream before it shattered into a thousand pieces. Instantly, any and all Egg Pawns that were battling the Black Arms turned on me, and as the aliens saw what they were locked onto, they began approaching me as well.

"Looks like it's me against everyone," I hummed, balling my fists and glaring at my adversaries. "Better start placing your bets."

. . .

Both Eggman and Black Doom were a tad ticked about the turn of events- it was almost like they had joined forces to take me down, but both of them had deployed orders to shoot at anything that moved. Now it was a complete mindless massacre- aliens and robots alike were torn between taking each other out, or trying to destroy me first.

Well, I made the choice for them.

"Death to all who oppose me!" I yelled into the wind, launching a Chaos Blast at a large cluster of my enemies. Pieces of Egg Pawns spilled everywhere, while the Black Arms just shrugged off the attack and approached me.

However, the force of my attack had caused some surrounding pillars to utterly collapse, forming large chunks of rock on the ground. Glowing and grimacing, I picked up two of the boulders and hurled them toward the Black Arms, bowling them all over with the first and crushing them with the second.

"Go in deeper!" Eggman commanded to his troops from a spare monitor. "The jewels powering the crafts are placed in very strategic places, and we need to find them all!"

"Those kids' toys are no match for our soldiers!" Doom's Eye was yelling, waving its tentacles in all directions. "I want you all to fire down that so-called scientist's fighter crafts, before it's too late!"

"You don't know who you're messing with!" Eggman shouted as he overheard Doom. "Egg Pawns, move out!"

"Attack them, my children!"

"I don't think so!" I interrupted, leaping into the air and tossing myself right in the center of the fray. I struck my fist into the ground, emanating a Chaos Blast shockwave under the ground, causing damage to everything and everyone. Egg Pawns fell once again while the Black Arms yelled in pain.

"Shadow, what are you doing?!" "Do not harm our soldiers!"

I glared at the both of them before letting loose once more blast of chaos- an Egg Pawn started firing at me while one of the alien's started to luge at me. Thinking fast, I looked up and found a black and yellow handle. Once I grabbed it, it pulled me into a higher area, just in time for the Egg Pawn's bullets to ricochet and hit itself while the alien slammed into the wall.

"After him, you imbeciles! Before he gets to my flagship!" Eggman ordered. "Do whatever you need to stop him, like –oh, I don't know- knocking out the power to these dusty old antiques?!"

"Antiques?!" Doom's Eye boomed. "You are the insolent one! My ships have more advanced technology than any one of your tin cans! I'll prove it when my soldiers knock every hope you have for living out of the sky!"

Eggman scoffed on the monitor, moving his arm as he threw a switch. "In that case, we'll just see how many of my ships are still standing after yours have all plummeted back to the earth!"

Ugh- now I know why they don't serve two hams during the holidays. One is more than enough.

. . .

I had no idea where Eggman's flagship was, exactly, but I knew I had to get out of Black Doom's armada first. And I must've been moving a little too fast, because every time I activated my jet shoes, walls started to crumble and old pillars were left in the dust…literally.

It was then that I hit a dead end- the next ship was on a higher elevation, so jumping over there was out of question…but I couldn't just stand around, especially since my two banes of my existence were still tailing me.

"We've got him cornered now!" Doom's Eye roared, overseeing his militia. "Capture him, and we'll make sure he never betrays us again!"

"Good luck with that!" Eggman cackled, and I took the time to roll my eyes. "My army has already dispatched one of your biggest ships, leaving you only on four power sources!"

"Slow work," Doom scoffed. "Last I checked, two of your ships were taking a nice vacation down into the ocean somewhere…it just goes to show the Black Arms truly are the superior race!"

"WHAT!? You scum, I'll have you know that- hold up, where'd that hedgehog go?"

Both Doom and Eggman looked curiously at each other, only to have their staring contest interrupted by me jumping between them in a metal walker suit. Doom gawked as I sprung up from one cliff to the next, making my rather last second getaway.

"What the devil is that thing?! Left by the humans, no doubt…" he grumbled, taking off after me.

"Hmm," Eggman pondered, his monitor following along. "GUN must have left this behind. It looks like it can jump pretty high, and it's useful on uneven terrain! I could use that for my next Egg Pod..."

I just sighed and powered on, leaping from rock to rock as fast as I could. A throng of Black Arms were climbing up the rocks after me, while a herd of Egg Pawns were waiting for me at the top. I narrowed my arms and programmed the machine to jump its highest, launching me out of reach and onto on the aliens, permanently putting them out of commission.

"Getting in my way will be their final mistake!" I announced, whirling around and firing the built-in torrents. Eggman's monitor quickly dove for cover while Doom put a protective shield around himself. All their soldiers were without protection, though.

"My beautiful creations!" Eggman whined, watching as the debris went everywhere. "You're going to pay for this! Grr…huh?"

As I was bolting off, he caught sight of a green jewel, and a defiant grin crossed his features. A few lingering Egg Pawns saw his smile and instantly knew that a choice was about to be bestowed upon them.

"Egg Pawns! Fire at the power source! NOW!"

"Black Arms, stop them!" Doom's Eye yelled, his tentacles going out on end.

The remaining Egg Pawns in the area got into a triangular formation, firing their bullets at the green orb. Doom howled as the Black Arms started tackling the robots, ripping them apart and kicked their pieces to the side. Despite their ruthless attacks, the last remaining few managed to shoot out the jewel, putting the two sides on even ground again.

The current ship we were on was headed for even ground too.

"Dammit! Not here!" I hissed, the ground beneath me starting to shake like mad. I got out of the GUN machine and bolted on my own to the other side of the ship. Doom and his allies ran the length after me, trying to stop me before I got to the other side.

"Oh ho ho ho! Killing two birds with one stone!" Eggman chuckled as he rose over the horizon. "Good luck getting off this ship!"

I sneered, looking around for my next objective. The only was up though was a ramp that was overrun with fallen pillars, rolling down the hill and creating a very dangerous path.

Perfect.

I started running up it, Doom balking slight at me while Eggman started throwing a tantrum. I quick-stepped as best I could around the fallen chunks of columns, allowing them to roll all the way down and take out the troops that were after me.

"As time passes, parts of this temple have eroded and become fragile," Doom hummed lowly to himself. "It seems that weathering has weakened our temple…"

"And you were saying my fleet was nothing more than a hunk of junk," Eggman huffed. Doom glared at him.

"Be lucky that I can't kill you now, human. You're milking your existence for as long as you can…but that temporary clock is ticking, and by tonight it will come to an end!"

I winced a little at the words, completely letting the Day of Reckoning slip my mind again. But I couldn't think about that- this ship was crashing, and I needed a way off.

And for my second blessing during my time with the Sky Troops, I found a rocket waiting for me at the edge.

"Serendipitous, but I'll take it!"

Asking no questions, I grabbed onto the rocket and set it off, letting it fly me to the next ship. Doom growled under his breath while Eggman let out a cry of agony.

"That hedgehog…!"

. . .

Descending down onto the next ship via a parachute, I knew I had to move fast if I wanted to outmaneuver the two armies. Both of them had tricks that I was still unaware of, and there was very little I could counter with…at least, that I knew about.

"They're going to have to try a lot harder than that to catch me- and more importantly, Black Doom brought this upon himself for bringing me here to begin with! Neither of them have a Chaos Emerald, so I need to get the heck out of here…"

But not before pulling Eggman entirely out of the equation.

I raced ahead, already knowing that the robots and aliens were on my heels. I tried ducking into one of the temples to give me some cover, but Eggman caught the black blur I made at the last moment.

"He ducked into there! Hurry- I see the third power source too!" Eggman cried, his monitor rapidly following the mechanical troops. The Black Arms needed no instruction; they just threw themselves into the dark alcove and went on the hunt for me.

They probably would've been successful had they not tripped over the Egg Pawns taking out their third green jewel. Doom roared and finally gave them an order, fit with a raise in his voice.

"Remove those worthless machines from my sight!" he boomed, the deep raspy sound echoing off the walls. "The scientist is an incompetent imbecile, and he will uncover his foolishness…"

"Who's the fool now?" Eggman called right back, pointing at the third destroyed jewel. "In a matter of minutes, this fleet will be no more! An entire armada of these ships is no match for the Eggman Empire! "Hohoho! Even the black creatures can't stand up to my fortified fleet!"

"Perhaps while you still have one!" Doom hissed back, gesturing back outside. Eggman glanced over, only to see another of his ships plunging out of the sky. A group of aliens with all sorts of firearms strapped to their backs jumped out from around the corner and started celebrating. Eggman wailed before thunderously pounding on everything in his vicinity.

"Black Doom, you've gone too far with this!" Eggman warned, but Doom just laughed at him.

"I'm afraid I've barely even scraped the limit of what I can do…and the same goes for my super soldier Shadow!"

Eggman grimaced at this, then continued hesitantly. "Well, the joke's on you, then, because Shadow isn't the soldier you think he is!"

The Egg Pawns all froze while Doom looked genuinely surprised at the claim.

"Oh, really? And pray tell why not?"

Beats of sweat rolled down Eggman's forehead, and he really would have rather stayed silent, but Doom silently called for his army, and they lined up in menacing rows behind him. The room was stuck in the suspended silence until the doctor gulped, finally frowned, and started to explain.

"It was after the second ARK incident…I had promised to reform for good, but during that five month hiatus, I had grown bored…I wasn't up for terrorizing the world again after seeing what destruction my grandfather had wished upon the world, but I still needed something to keep my mind sharp…"

I listened from where I was hiding, growing increasingly nervous about the following explanation.

"My days were spent flipping through my grandfather's journals, as I was the rightful heir to them…most of it was praise and worry for my cousin Maria, but the rest of it was notes and theories about his greatest creation…"

"The ultimate Life Form, Shadow the Hedgehog," Doom responded with a blank look, not missing a beat. Eggman's mustache twitched slightly, but he nodded to confirm it.

"Needless to say, his natural ability for tinkering in the likes of biochemistry was unparalleled, and while I could never reengineer life itself like he had…I could do something close."

No…

"So I tested my limits in those five months, creating one robot after another…they started as robots, but with each and every one they became more lifelike, and before I knew it, I was creating androids…"

No…

"My mass production of them is what set off Metal Sonic, and why he had went on that rampage three months ago…but he really had nothing to worry about. All the Shadow Androids I created could never compare to the original…"

He glanced up at the ceiling, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.

"…not even the one here right now."

"NOOOOOO!"

The glass-shattering scream echoed throughout the room, and all heads in the room turned to the source of the sound.

I had been clinging tightly to a stalactite on the ceiling the whole time, and now everyone certainly knew it. Eggman's eyes widened as Doom bellowed, "He's on the ceiling! GET HIM!"

All the aliens surrounding Doom that could fly prepared to soar up to take me, but I let go of the stalactite and allowed myself to fall. A group off Egg Pawn's prepared to 'catch' me, but I curled into a ball and spin dashed them all into the ground. Once I was back on my feet, I was shining red once again, staring dead straight at Eggman.

"Why…?" I asked, breathing deeply and trying to keep my rage in. I was waiting for Eggman to start boasting about how he'd create the next ultimate life form or something, but Doom cut him off before he could even start.

"You see, Shadow! This man right here is why you can't show mercy! Unleash your rage on him right here and now! Enough with the empty threats- FINISH HIM!"

I was gravely close to considering it, staring at Eggman on the monitor. I was so furious that I forgot he wasn't even really there…but still, as I watched him on the monitor, trying to convey my feelings of hate, I could've sworn I'd seen the screen blip, showing the professor rather than the doctor.

I stumbled back, glancing at the screen again to make sure I wasn't seeing things. However, Eggman was still there, waiting for me to take action.

Great, time to tack "I'm going crazy" to my ever growing list of problems now.

"…we'll discuss this more once I reach your flagship," I sneered, letting loose one Chaos Blast just because I could. Doom's Eye and Eggman's Monitor went flying in the opposite direction, but everything else in the cavern was ultimately destroyed, including another worthless batch of aliens and machines.

But with what Doom and Eggman were saying…which one was I? A creation destined to become Doom's puppet… or a robotic recreation of that?

. . .

No one was safe after that, no matter whether they were alien or robot. Any that approached me were swiftly taken care of by spin dashes and rapid kicks, and those that were far away were taken out by the cannon that Black Doom had so generously pointed out to me.

And like I said, no one was safe.

In the process of my angry rampage, two more of Eggman's main ships had been brought down, but another of the jewels that powered Black Doom's ships had been ruined. The two of them tried to call back their forces, but no matter how far they ran, I was still coming for them.

Eventually I started running again, trying to keep my mindset on reaching the flagship and confronting Eggman once and for all. One thing that I knew for sure was that he was huge player in the game of my missing memory…

"If I had a memory to lose," I added disdainfully, glaring daggers at this point.

I ran upwards for the longest time, then ran a loop and took off downwards toward a ramp. It catapulted me into the air, and I landed on the next ship. Eggman's fleet was slowly coming into better view, meaning that I was getting closer.

I stopped for nothing, other that decimating the aliens and robots that opposed me. Miracles being miracles, Doom's Eye and Eggman's Monitor opted to leave me alone, but it probably wouldn't last forever. Doom believed I was somehow related to the Black Arms while Eggman claimed that I was his own creation…

"But either way, I'm nothing more than some kind of tool to them!" I roared, punching a pillar and letting it crumble all around me, because that's exactly what I felt like. Someone had emotionally punched me, and now I was starting to fall to pieces…

"Get a grip," I told myself, leaping from cliff to cliff as an attempt to keep moving on. "Eggman will answer to me, even if I have to use brute force!"

Ugh, where have I said that before?

Huffing, I just kept climbing until I reached another rocket. It was the last thing I wanted to deal with at the moment, but it was also the only thing that could take me closer to Eggman. Glancing over my shoulder to make sure I was relatively alone, I jumped onto the rocket and guided it to the next area.

. . .

By the time I landed again, I was a little stunned to see that a storm was raging on the other side, fit with thunder and lightning and a lot of rain.

"And I was just thinking of the Thunder Deck," I noted sarcastically to myself. I then heard some pained screaming, and glanced over to see Doom's Eye practically melting in the rain. A lighting strike lit up the sky, and for the first time, I actually got witness Black Doom cowering.

"What is that massive electric shock? Is that an attack from one of the battleships?!" he cried, flinching as an even bigger lightning bolt struck a piece of metal on a nearby craft. I glanced at him, then seized this perfect opportunity to laugh at him.

"Guess Tails isn't the only one afraid of lightning!" I chortled over the raging wind. Doom's Eye overheard me, proceeding to face my direction and stare sinisterly. "What's the matter, can't take a few volts of electricity?"

"You dare mock me?!"

"That's quite frankly the least of your issues, but sure, if you really have the urge to know."

"The weather gets a bit turbulent on the inside of the clouds," Eggman explained from the sidelines. "I'm just surprised there's not more turbulence…"

"Well there's about to be!" howled Doom, and I could've sworn the clouds swirled along with his rage. He turned to throw himself at me, but I was already running away. "HEY! Get back here, you insolent worm!"

I ran the path, not looking back. Eggman was notably quiet at this point, while Black Doom was probably only annoyed because of my jesting at his expense. I was going so fast that I felt like I was hydroplaning, but slowing down or stopping at the wrong time could've possibly proven to be a bad move.

"Great, there's no rocket off of this one…" I groaned, reaching the end of the current aircraft. However, there was a Black Hawk perched on the ledge nearby…

I sighed and started climbing onto to it. "I hate days like this…"

And into the rain, the hedgehog flew off on the alien bird-creature…and no matter how many times I repeat that in my head, it still sounds ridiculous.

Regardless, it was hard to control, as I was flying against the wind and the hawk was also doing its best to resist me. I eventually grabbed its shoulders and yanked them in the direction I wanted to go.

I swerved past pillars, glided through a tunnel, and maneuvered around rocks, emerged on the other side into the blue skies again. I glanced back, and sure enough, the storm was behind us…but I didn't like how brief and sudden it had been.

"Never a good sign," I mused, leaping off the bird once it was safe to do so. It flew off haphazardly, while I looked up and found my destination. "The flagship…now I just have to get onto it while I still have the opportunity! Just you wait- you're not getting away from me this time, Doctor!"

"Oh, really?" I heard Eggman's voice boom, louder than ever before. I surveyed the area- his monitor was nowhere in sight, so I looked up.

He was at the top of his latest creation, cackling down at me and mockingly merely with his purpose.

"You know the truth now, Shadow- I own you! You belong to me!" he bellowed, using a scathing tone. I stared profusely back at him, daring him to go any farther. "So just come up here and try to stop me! After all, my robots have dispatched the final jewel keeping all these ruins float, so any second now, you'll be hurling into the dirt!"

It was then that the current ship I was on suddenly lurched, and Eggman's obnoxious laugh started ringing in my ears. Growling, I leaped up the side of a collapsing pillar and took aim at a bar that was on the side of the ship. Then, just before the pillar completely fell, I threw myself onto it, hoping that my homing attack would hold out enough so that I could grab it.

Eggman stopped laughing long enough to see my daring stunt, so he retaliated by sliding back into his cockpit and gripping the steering wheel.

I was almost there actually, but just as I was about to grab the bar, the flagship turned, effectively flicking me away and sending me plummeting.

"What did I tell you?" Eggman's voice called out via his speakers. "Fruitless efforts, my creation!"

"Stop calling me that!" I demanded, bursting blue for a second. I then teleported to the front of the flagship, landing on the nose and working my way up to the windshield. Eggman saw me climbing up and growled palpably, slamming another button that made the whole craft shake.

"What are you doing?!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Are you completely crazy?!"

"With all the androids I've built, you, Shadow, have been the most troublesome one!" Eggman shouted back, just as I reached the window. "I have plenty more just like you back at my base, and I'm sure I wouldn't miss one misbehaving robot too badly!"

"I don't believe you!" I barked, pounding my fists on the glass. "I know that you've built dozens of Shadow Androids, but I'm not like them! I…I have…my memories…"

"Now that's the lie right there!" Eggman snapped back. "The original Shadow fell from space and died. Everyone knows that- you know that! Do you really think that you're the original? That somehow you miraculously survived?"

The words caught in my throat.

"You were found in my base with a blank slate for a mind! That's the same with all of my androids!" Eggman looked furious now, and almost a little sick. "You're not special- you're one of a million, you waste of scrap metal! I'm finished toying with you- if you know what's good for you, you'll stop seeking these nonexistent answers you're looking for and give me the Chaos Emeralds!"

"NEVER!" I howled, and I felt the flagship suddenly pick up speed. Eggman had a speed demon's look on his face, thrusting the steering wheel forward as I could tell he was white knuckling it. "What's wrong with you, Doctor…?"

"You won't live to find out!" Eggman screeched, slowly starting to tilt the huge flagship. "I said you'd be plummeting to the world soon…and I intend to make that a reality! Your whole life is worth nothing! You thrive in a false consciousness! How does it feel discovering this?!"

I began to answer, but the flagship suddenly tilted at a huge degree, forcing me to let out a gasp as I floundered for a grip. But I had been leaning against the window, and the friction between the smooth glass and my gloved hands was minimal.

"Good riddance, Shadow the Hedgehog…and this time, don't try to come back!" Eggman exclaimed, and the next thing I knew, the entire flagship was flying upside down.

"EGGMAAAAAAN!" I howled on my way down, flailing my arms and watching as the Sky Troops got farther and farther away and the ground started getting closer.

Guess Eggman did get what he wanted…

About halfway through my fall, I looked back at the sky, and for a second, I thought I had seen a million stars, along with the shining ARK…

But that was before everything went black.

Next time...

The very second I landed, I took a few moments to recover, but as soon as I looked back up, I regretted it instantly. I swore that the color flushed from my face, because when I stared back up…

…I was looking back at me.

"Huh?!" I yelped, back-flipping away from the apparent contradiction. "What the-?!"

Now a little farther away, I could see that there wasn't just one of me- there was a whole army of them, staring soullessly and silently back at me, almost beckoning me in a way. I stayed slightly in a fighting position, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

"H-How can this be…?! WHO ARE YOU?"

None of them gave me an answer, and I feared that I already knew.