Chapter 53: Double

When the whiteness faded, Shawn found himself standing in front of an exact replica of himself but with hedgehog ears and tail.

"It's the same type of android I faced back in Rail Canyon," Shawn said, reaching his hand out to touch it. "Why do they look like me when I was possessed by Shadow?"

"Shadow Androids!"

Recognizing the voice, Shawn ducked behind the android and stood very still as Eggman flew down from the canopy above in his Egg Mobile and hovered over the rows of androids that stood on the concrete pathway.

"Those Black Arms aliens may have forced me to retreat back to my base, but I will not be taken alive by the G. U. N. soldiers if it's the last thing I do!" Eggman shouted with his fist raised. "I need you all to buy me time so that I can escape without detection."

In response, the Shadow Androids opened their eyes and warped away as Eggman retreated into the building behind them. Shawn warped as well, and appeared again a few feet down the pathway facing the building Eggman retreated into. He shook his head a couple of times and crossed his arms tightly. The images that now flashed through his mind consisted of flying through space, the ARK with a giant lizard attached to it, a bright flash, Super Sonic, falling toward Mobius, and blackness.

"What do these images mean?" Shawn said to himself. "I don't remember any of them consciously, but my gut tells me that they really happened. But if that's the case, Shadow must've still been in control of my body when Eggman released me from suspended animation prior to his reactivation of the ARK. Then as Shadow, I helped Sonic prevent the ARK from crashing into Mobius but at the cost of my life. So how can I still be alive? Unless I'm…an android as well."

Several badnik robots came charging out of the building with their lasers blasting when Omega suddenly appeared behind Shawn. He fired multiple cannon rounds at the badniks, who fell like dominoes and exploded in succeeding rows. As a result, the concrete bridge shook a little but it fortunately didn't break.

"Omega," Shawn said once the noise died down.

"Greetings, Shawn," Omega said reloading his cannon arms. "I was not expecting to see you in a place like this."

"It would take awhile to explain," Shawn responded. "Are you with G. U. N.?"

"Yes," Omega answered. "My orders are to capture Dr. Eggman alive. Would you like to come along?"

"Uh, sure, why not?"

Then just after Shawn spoke, a large blimp appeared from behind the building Eggman retreated to and was flying past them.

"My scanners detect Eggman onboard that vessel," Omega said. "We must shoot it down."

While Omega fired his cannons along the blimp's sides, Shawn looked around the wreckage of Badnik robots and found a rocket-launcher that still functioned. Using it, Shawn was able to pierce the blimp's balloon which caused the blimp to catch fire. Eggman then steered the burning blimp inside a hidden cove below the building on the side Omega just came from. So while Shawn used the four Chaos Emeralds he had to warp into the cove, Omega relied on his rocket-powered feet to catch up. Once inside, the two were cornered by a bunch of Shadow Androids that warped out of nowhere.

"Eggman's signal is growing distant," Omega said as he punched every single android that came at him. "You must go after him alone. I will take care of these androids."

"No, Omega," Shawn responded while avoiding the incoming androids. "I'm not leaving you behind."

"I will be fine, Shawn. Take this." Omega retreated his hand inside his arm and produced the Cyan Chaos Emerald which he gave to Shawn. "It will help you find Eggman if he has a Chaos Emerald on him."

"Thanks," Shawn said, and placed the Cyan Chaos Emerald in the same adjoining pocket where the other Chaos Emeralds were before warping away.

###

Inside a large circular chamber, Shawn found himself confronting the same mech he fought back at Cryptic Castle with Eggman inside it.

"Curse you, Shawn!" Eggman said. "How could you betray me like this?"

"What do you mean?" Shawn asked. "Are you saying that I'm like those…androids that look like me."

Eggman paused, and then he said, "Yes. You were created after the real Shawn Robotnik had died preventing the ARK from colliding with Mobius while he was possessed by Shadow."

"Then why don't I have the same hedgehog ears and tail that the other androids have?"

"That's because you weren't fully mature when Rouge released you from that pod."

"I don't believe you! There's something you're not telling me, and I intend to find out."

"Try and stop me, boy, but you won't get far!"

Eggman then programmed the mech to charge at Shawn who immediately warped out of the mech's way and appeared behind an anti-aircraft cannon. He fired several rounds into the mech, but the mech jumped and it would've crushed Shawn until he managed to warp away. It was then that Omega appeared through the door which Shawn used and fired several rounds from his cannon arms at the mech. As a result, the mech toppled over and left Eggman exposed.

"Omega, you traitor!" Eggman shouted, trying to detach the Egg Mobile from the mech like before. "I created you, and this is how you repay me?"

"I was built to fight, but instead you locked me up," Omega said, picking Eggman up by the collar of his jacket. "So it was you who betrayed me first. You should be grateful that G. U. N. wants you alive because if that wasn't the case, I would terminate you right now."

While Omega was talking to Eggman, Shawn picked up the Purple Chaos Emerald that was sticking out of Eggman's coat-pocket. Once he put it with the other Chaos Emeralds, Shawn was about to walk away when his name was called. He looked over his shoulder and saw Eggman reaching out to him.

"I lied," Robotnik said, having relinquished Eggman's control over him. "You're not a Shadow Android. The truth is…I found you lying unconscious near the Ocean Palace, and so I placed you inside that pod to heal your body. Of course, at the time I thought you were still possessed by Shadow and programmed Omega to guard the pod in case you broke out for any reason."

"So what was I doing near Ocean Palace to begin with? Why did you need Omega to guard me? Were you afraid of Shadow or something?"

"Well, I didn't know what he would do. One minute he was helping me find Chaos Emeralds to power the Eclipse Cannon, and then the next he's aiding Sonic in preventing the ARK from hitting Mobius, which wasn't my doing at all."

"Wait, you didn't cause the ARK to almost collide with Mobius?"

"No, that was our grandfather's work. After you were put into suspended animation, he managed to program the ARK to collide with Mobius should the Eclipse Cannon be activated for any reason. He called it his way of getting revenge at the death of his colleagues who died from the ARK massacre and Marie's."

"Marie died?" Shawn felt his legs shake.

"That capsule that you—I mean, Shadow—launched into space was never recovered, so she was presumed dead."

"How do I know you're telling the truth and not more lies?"

"I'm not lying, Shawn! My altar-ego hacked all of the diary entries Gerard made while he was imprisoned inside the G. U. N.-owned Prison Island. If you don't believe me, go there."

"Maybe I will, Ivo, or I might not."

Shawn disappeared in a flash of light and appeared inside a prison cell where a tall man with white hair and differently colored eyes pointed a gun at Shawn's head.

"At last, Shadow, you're going to get what you deserve," the man said sternly.

To be continued…