Get ready for Shadow vs Knuckles coming right up! As usual the (*) symbol used once means the start of a new scene and the (*) symbol used TWICE signals the END of a scene.

Chapter 5

*The city of Westopolis created tanks for the Heroes of Today. Now, the G.U.N. forces desired to take those factories and use the tanks for their own use. To take it, they were to use a new weapon. Shadow the Hedgehog.**

*The Chairman finished his explanation of the G.U.N. forces' attack to Sonic and Knuckles, who were both chosen to lead a small squad of soldiers against the G.U.N. forces at Westopolis.

"We cannot allow the G.U.N. forces to take the city and stop the production of tanks for us. We need that heavy artillery if we are to make progress in this war," the Chairman finished. Sonic didn't believe that tanks were the answer to winning this war, but this was adventure, so he was in.

"We have another problem, the G.U.N. forces have a weapon. A hedgehog who is known as the Ultimate Life Form. You must make sure he is destroyed as well," the Chairman informed, bringing up a hologram of the black and red hedgehog. He looked almost exactly like Sonic, but what was different was the color, and the attitude.

"You know your mission boys, do it right and come back home safe and sound," Chairman Neeko finished.

"Yes sir!" Sonic and Knuckles said respectfully in unison.**

*Smoke curled up from the city Westopolis. Citizens were fleeing the scene of the chaos, as the G.U.N. forces were burning a path to the factories. Sonic ran. His feet felt like they were barely touching the street as they sprinted. Knuckles ran behind, motioning to their soldiers to begin the defensive.

"What about the hedgehog?" Knuckles asked.

"You worry about those soldiers! I'll worry about the life form!" Sonic shouted back. Pushing his legs harder to run, he began bolting across the street so quickly, he began forming into a blue ball, flipping G.U.N. soldiers into the air as he went. Then he saw him. The black and red hedgehog, equipped with a plasma machine G.U.N., and he was looking straight at him. However, he looked caught off guard when he spotted him. Maybe he believed he was the only one of his kind. Well, Sonic was about to prove him wrong. He grinned, and was about ready to charge right into him when, suddenly, the hedgehog vanished in a blue flash. Sonic felt a blow to the side of the head, knocking him off his feet and onto the pavement. He looked up through bleary vision to see the black and red hedgehog.

"Who are you?" Sonic asked.

"I am Shadow," Shadow said in a low, ominous tone. The last thing Sonic knew before everything went black was him staring into the barrel of a plasma pistol, and hearing Shadow pull the trigger.**

*Knuckles felt something was terribly wrong as he was fighting. For one brief second, he had seen Sonic lying limp on the ground, with the black and red hedgehog towering over him. Then, he saw the black and red hedgehog run like a blur with Sonic over his shoulder. He ran, exactly like Sonic.

Nothing was making any sense to him. As he watched Shadow run, slowing the pace a little bit, he was firing at the G.U.N. soldiers that stood in his way. Why was he firing on his own men?**

*"Westopolis is nearly destroyed sir, reports from soldiers have it that Shadow is firing at our own men sir," a soldier reported to Commander Towers. The Commander's eyes widened in shock. Their own weapon was firing at them?

"Shadow? Deploy all troops now! Destroy him! He's the enemy now!" the Commander said, regret cutting into his voice. He was going to make sure that the project and everything related to it was shut down before any more of these things happen. Then he remembered. It was as if he was facing déjà vu. It was something that had happened fifty years ago, and last time, it ended with bloodshed.**

*Sonic's vision was blurry and unfocused at first, but he already knew what he was looking at before his vision focused. Shadow was looking at him with a lead pipe in his hand. Sonic found himself with his hands and his feet tied together.

"Well hello, I see you're up," Shadow said, a faint shadow of a grin on his face. Sonic's head was still pounding from the blow to the side from before he blacked out.

"What do you want from me?" Sonic demanded. Shadow turned his back to him. Sonic looked around to see they were on a boardwalk in a warehouse.

"C4s have already been planted inside the factories; one false move, and I set them to detonate. We wouldn't want that would we?" Shadow asked.

"What do you want?" Sonic demanded again. Shadow impatiently sneered.

"Join me Sonic; we could be completely neutral in this war, or, we could destroy both sides together. Do not become a pawn of the Heroes. They're only using you, all of you heroes, so that they could get what they want for their own personal purposes. I could imagine betrayals within your program hedgehog. Traitors will rise," Shadow persuaded. Sonic was taken aback at that. He remembered seeing the message, probably from Mario, about a turncoat in their midst. Did Shadow know that was true? Did he know who it was? Before he could speak again, Knuckles crashed through the roof with his fists ready. His feet landed on the boardwalk. Fire light outside reflected off the spikes on his gloves. Shadow did a defensive pose with the lead pipe, and charged in, his pipe coming down upon Knuckle's spikes, which clanged and vibrated from the impact. Shadow continued coming at Knuckles with the lead pipe, and Knuckles ducked and dodged from all the swings.

"I will have no part in this war! That blue hedgehog belongs to me! He must know the truth!" Shadow screamed. Without a word, Knuckles pressed his attack, who twirled the lead pipe in both hands, deflecting all the deadly swings. Knuckles did a flip over Shadow's head with the jetpack still on, but Shadow swung around and struck him across the back.**

*The Commander watched the pilots on the bridge of his cruiser lock on target on the warehouse.

"Shadow's in there alright. Permission to fire sir?" One of the pilots asked.

"Fire," the Commander ordered.

"Yes sir," the pilot replied.**

*Knuckles shrieked in pain, but ran for Sonic. Desperately, he grabbed Sonic and quickly struggled out of the hole in the roof he had made, and he began falling. His feet found the pavement, and he began cutting the bonds on Sonic with the spikes on his gloved fists and began to shake him to get him fully awake.

"Come on Sonic! I don't have the speed you have, I need you to get us out of here!" Knuckles shouted in his face. Sonic's eyes shot up open, and he grinned, grabbing Knuckles' hand, and his feet got to work. Knuckles found himself moving faster than he had ever moved in his whole life. Once the trauma was over, he was on his knees; his hands were on the ground trembling. He looked up wearily to see a blast from the G.U.N. Commander's ship smash against the warehouse, which exploded seconds after it was hit. Fire and smoke engulfed the burning city, which did not have a lot of buildings left standing. Sonic grabbed Knuckles' hand and led him further away from the burning city. He wasn't absolutely sure, but he wondered if he had really held his hand out toward the burning warehouse. The black and red hedgehog was presumably dead, but the factories were destroyed, which meant that they had lost a lot of heavy weapons. But the G.U.N. forces didn't get the tanks either, so it was a no-win for both sides. What was he going to tell the Chairman?**

*The Commander smiled in pleasure at his success in taking out the traitor Shadow. Now it was time to take care of Doctor Jerome. He punched a code into a computer to contact him. However, strangely, it was Ivo that answered.

"Robotnik? Where's Jerome?" The Commander asked.

"He is busy, what is it?" Ivo patiently asked.

"What do you mean, he's busy? He should have his head on a platter for all I care! Shadow, the Ultimate Life Form, has betrayed us! He was able to destroy the factories before we killed him! He killed several of our men, and threatened to overthrow us! Jerome has done something to him!" The Commander yelled. Ivo didn't budge.

"It is a disappointment yes, but he could still be of some use to us," Ivo argued, his teeth gritted.

"I want him out of there by the time I get back, either dead or kicked out!" The Commander screamed, rage boiling up inside him.

"You don't make the rules here, Commander," Ivo patiently said, and he cut the transmission. The Commander's eyes narrowed.

"We're heading to the ARK! Get us there quickly!" The Commander ordered the pilots. Not wanting to disobey, the pilots immediately got to work to turn the ship around.**

*When Doctor Jerome worked, Ivo always kept quiet, but he watched with a very open interest. Jerome was now working on their backup plan, which was a plan that they had come up with even before they had decided to use Shadow. After the G.U.N. forces' and Shadow's sudden appearance in Mobius, they had kept Shadow imprisoned. Ivo was witnessing the creation of an Android version of Shadow. It was a pity that the real Shadow didn't last, but now he knew their mistakes. Shadow was created with a mind that was too expansive. He knew his mind must be limited only to what he is ordered to do, and think of nothing else.

Ivo anxiously glanced out the window that at the late evening sky. No signs of the Commander's ship yet, but he knew he was coming. He had threatened to shut down the project and everything related to it, which included killing Jerome, whom Ivo believed could still be of some use to them. He had been very useful in his past projects. On the ship colony ARK, everything was deathly silent because of the Commander's threats. Jerome worked diligently, but nervously. Just then, Ivo's eyes widened when he spotted the Commander's command ship slowly riding toward ARK.

Desperately, Ivo ran to a transmission screen and punched a code in to contact the Commander. Thankfully, the Commander answered.

"Commander, hold your fire! We're almost done producing an Android version of Shadow! If you would just give us a little more time, we could demonstrate…" Ivo tried to plead, but the Commander cut him off.

"I have all turrets targeting the ARK Ivo, you have five minutes to evacuate or…"

"At least allow us to present to you the new Shadow! I assure you, you won't be disappointed!" Ivo insisted. There was silence for one terrible moment, and then the Commander spoke again.

"Very well, I will board the ship and see, but I can't guarantee to you that I will not order my men to fire upon the ship and end this." Ivo breathed out a long sigh of relief, thanked the Commander, and signed off. He looked back at Jerome, who had stopped his work to listen.

"Ivo Robotnik, I swear, if you…" Jerome tried saying, but Ivo would not hear it.

"I want you to finish that project or it's over for all of us!" he sneered. Jerome whirled around and continued working. Ivo turned his back on him, and ran for the hangar. A small ship with the G.U.N. insignia on it had already landed, and the Commander stepped out, with several soldiers following close behind. One of the Commander's hands was fingering a pistol in his holster.

"Commander, the Doctor is just now putting the finishing touches to the Android, the new Shadow; you won't be disappointed," Ivo assured him, his hands nervously wringing together. He had never felt this nervous since…

"Well get me to the lab, Robotnik, take me to him!" The Commander ordered. Ivo growled, but nodded and led the Commander back to the operating room. Inside, Ivo grinned when he saw that the Android was alive and moving. He looked exactly like Shadow. But this time, his mind was loyal only to them. He was silently looking around, taking in his surroundings. Jerome had a nervous smile on his face, which was one of feeling success, but was also in fear of having everything collapse around him. He looked at the Commander, hoping that he wasn't about to die.

"It appears I may have been wrong, but how do you know this one won't go rogue like the real one?" the Commander demanded, as he walked around Shadow, examining him. Ivo's smile widened, realizing that he just might not die today. Everybody jumped when Shadow began muttering to himself.

"Maria…Maria…" he babbled under his breath, clutching his head with both his hands.

"…Maria, oh Maria…I'm so sorry…"

"What's going on? What's wrong with him?" The Commander demanded. Jerome rushed to Shadow's side.

"He must be experiencing memory flashes. He possesses the same memory that the original Shadow had," he explained. He tried reaching a hand out to Shadow, but he slapped it away.

"I promised Maria I will destroy the humans...I promised..." he continued. The Commander violently shook his head.

"This is unacceptable! Doctor, find a way to erase the Android's memory! We can't use him in this condition! He may try to follow the same footsteps as the original Shadow and send this entire military crashing down!" He demanded. Jerome gulped.

"Yes sir, I will get to that right away," he promised. Ivo nervously watched the Commander turn around and storm out of the lab.**

*Ivo sat in what used to be Doctor Gerald's private office, sorting through journals, handwritten by Gerald himself, and finding items that looked like they were special to the doctor. But what was most interesting to him were the security camera recordings, specifically one, which was one of the last. Ivo played the recording, where, on a black and white screen, he saw a group of soldiers, with the insignia of G.U.N on them, surrounding Doctor Gerald. Behind him stood a girl, and with one hand, she clutched a hedgehog's hand. The hedgehog was Shadow.

"Please, we can work this out! Shadow is much more capable, he has moral thinking! He could never become a threat!" Gerald insisted to the soldiers. But then, Ivo saw the young woman speak up. Even on a recording, he could see that her eyes were welling with tears

"It's not fair," she muttered. The lead soldier in the room aimed his G.U.N. at her.

"What?"

"I said it's not fair!" She insisted.

"Maria, please…" Gerald begged.

"My grandfather is right! Shadow is capable of being so much! You can't take that away from him! He may be artificial, but he is still a living being!" Maria pointed an accusing finger at the lead soldier, "you want to take all that away from him!"

"Maria, please!" Gerald begged again. But Maria violently shook her head and grabbed Shadow's shoulder, pulling him close.

"Maybe some day you'll understand," she said, her voice choked in grief. Ivo continued to watch as Maria ran out of the operation room with a dazed and confused Shadow.

"Stop her! Shoot her if you have to!" The lead soldier ordered the men that had escorted him in. The soldiers immediately obeyed, and ran out with their plasma pistols drawn. Ivo paused the recording and fast-forwarded until a soldier reentered the room, reporting that Maria had been captured, but had managed to release Shadow from the ship first. Deciding he had seen all that he needed to see, Ivo shut the recording off. Then, as he looked around at the desk, he then noticed a picture frame of Gerald and Maria. In the photograph, the two of them looked so content and happy, and now all of that had been taken away from them. Ivo's eyes narrowed. How could he care? Casting the photo aside instead of crushing it in his hand, he turned toward the large window in the office, beginning to feel nervous about the growing storm outside. But he was completely unprepared to see a blue hedgehog crash through the window. Ivo jumped back.

"Hey there Robotnik! Never seen you before face to face! I followed the Commander's ship here to see where you guys hang out!" The blue hedgehog taunted. Ivo was speechless for half a second, but, not to be humiliated, he quickly recovered.

"You…you're that blasted hedgehog!" Ivo gasped.

"Maybe if you played nice, I wouldn't have to break all your toys," The hedgehog mocked.

"Fool! You've made a grave mistake coming here!" Ivo shouted pulling out a plasma pistol from his holster.

"You will not stop me from getting what I want! That's all I need! A hedgehog!" Ivo continued, and fired off a few rounds from his pistol, all of which the blue hedgehog dodged away from.

"Hey! What about formalities first, eh? You should know my name, it's pretty cool! It's Sonic!" Sonic shouted, continuing to dodge the plasma bolts Ivo sent at him.

"Well Sonic, I'm the greatest genius in the world! You have no idea who I am!" Ivo screamed. It was true. This hedgehog had no idea, and he wasn't about to tell him either. Not yet. Lightning crackled outside, lighting up the dark sky. As if on queue, Shadow burst in, looking as if he had just woken up and had realized he was late for something.

"What? What's going on?" Shadow demanded. Sonic gasped.

"You? I thought you were dead," Sonic admitted. Shadow frantically looked around for an exit, ran toward a jetpack hanging on the wall, put it on and jumped out the emergency exit door in the back of the office. Ivo stood stunned, wondering why he hadn't moved to stop him. He ran toward the open door and looked out. He couldn't see Shadow anywhere. Frustrated, he turned around to face Sonic again, only to see that Sonic wasn't there. Ivo threw his pistol down in anger.

No matter. They will catch Shadow, and destroy Sonic. We just need to hope that our spy does its duty, Ivo thought to himself. A faint smile broke out on his face. He was winning. He could feel it. A rising excitement that everything will eventually turn out the way he had wanted it to for so many years.**

NOTES: Here, we get to see a different side to Ivo. Though Ivo has had very little "screen time" in the previous stories, the idea was to show Ivo get a little agitated here when he meets Sonic for the first time. It was important to show that there is a different side to Ivo that makes him a deeper, more complex character. He isn't everything that he appears to be. It was very important to write this encounter between Sonic and Ivo well, because this scene really counts for what is to come, and where Sonic and Ivo's rivalry will go.

The idea of Shadow being an Android actually comes from the Shadow the Hedgehog video game and Shadow is an Android in Sonic X. Doctor Gerald and Maria are characters from the game as well.

The idea was to introduce Shadow as a very edgy, almost insane character, rather than the silent, brooding character we see in the Sonic franchise. His near-insanity is supposed to reflect on the life he had before he ended up with the G.U.N. forces.