It has come to my attention that when I first uploaded this chapter, it didn't format right. So I'm reuploading this to fix it. Now enjoy it in its right way.
Chapter 5: Our Common Enemy
Forest
The twilight sky, casting its radiant gloom down to the elder willows below. Beyond the peaceful aura casted by the quiet woods, some sense of dread hangs close in a tight corner, waiting for a moment to move out. An eerie silence emanates in the dark sky. Nothing around alive or dead, just gone. In the prickly bushes deep in the forest, some instance of life emerges. The jet-black hedgehog, Shadow, pokes his head out. Scanning across the open meadow ahead. He starts to feel a sense of mixed feelings. Hesitation, anxiety, urgency. He didn't know why, or how he ended up here. The last thing he remembered was dueling one of the hooded figures which he thought of as The Mage. The more he thought about them, the more he remembered that The Mage had a unique power that would mess with his cognitive abilities, effectively leaving him distraught.
At least that was what he thought was going on. His head has been a basket case in recent times. Doubt and haste flooded through his mind like wildfire. In all conclusions, he only thought of his surroundings as fake. Yet the trepidation felt all real, and the urge to escape his cover in concern that something was stalking him heightened. Erupting from the vacuum of the sky, a bellowing of a raging creature ruptures across. The fear started to settle in. Real or not, Shadow preferred to not meet whatever that was. Like his life depended on it, he bursts out from the bush, and races across the open meadow. Not subtly, however. Whatever that creature was, it now knew Shadow was near, and soon trees collapsed in the distance in its wake.
It was closing in fast, it would most likely reach him within seconds if he didn't find concealment quickly. To the hedgehog's right, he was surprised to see a group of G.U.N. soldiers patrolling nearby. "Hey! We got something incoming!" The soldiers snap their heads toward Shadow. However, they just stand still, staring at Shadow. "What are you doing? I need your help here." Without hesitation, the soldiers raise their guns and point at Shadow.
"Primary target located, engaging." A stray of bullets hurls towards Shadow. The sudden ambush completely catches him off-guard, and he is forced to run away again.
'What's going on? Why is this happening?' Shadow thought. Then it hit him. The theory of some G.U.N. soldiers being corrupt was starting to take play. But why was this something that his mind was relaying to him? As Shadow dodges more of the bullets, he is about to reach the other side of the meadow, where he'll be safe. The crackling of a sonic boom soon darts behind Shadow. He turns but is shelled by an explosion, which sends him tumbling through the field. As he begins to recover, he looks up to face his attackers. His eyes widen in disbelief as he sees an armada of a G.U.N. army, compromising of soldiers, tanks, and helicopters. This wasn't right. If what he was seeing reflected off from the real world, then this would be catastrophic if it was true. If hundreds of soldiers and vehicles had been compromised already, then who was left to trust?
Suddenly, another bellow from the creature fractures through the meadow. Whatever it was, it was hidden right behind the trees. Despite the horrific roar, the G.U.N. armada remains still and stares down Shadow, almost like they had been expecting this thing. Emerging from the woods are nine colossal kitsune tails, resembling the ones from the mysterious group's symbol. Each tail had to have been a hundred feet tall at least. Next, a massive claw rises out and attempts to slam Shadow. He narrowly avoids the claw, but as it hits the ground, an oily substance spreads across the field and quickly evaporates into a black haze. The haze clouds the surrounding area in complete darkness. The whole sky is now overcast, plaguing even the stars to fade away, leaving everything on the land to vanish. In an instant, Shadow finds himself in a weightless abyss, with nothing in sight. He frantically pivots around, trying to find something, but it wouldn't take long for a low growl to appear behind him.
Within five feet, a monumental golden eye stares intuitively at him. Shadow is completely helpless and is face-to-face with the creature. A gilded light flows through the entirety of the creature, revealing more of the atrocity. The thing has no legs, and stems from whatever 'ground' was left. Which made it all the more confusing why this thing was so fast. Its face and all its proportions were narrow and sharp, and its resting look had an uncomfortable grin to it. Red lines trail down from the head to the tails, resembling diabolic symbols. Putting it simply, this thing was a massive fox demon. It roars a devastating cry, but it wasn't one of malice, but of misery and pity. The shock of the roar causes Shadow to freeze in pain and he is helpless to watch as black veins protrude out from his fur, rushing across him in agonizing perversion. The corruption reaches his eyes, and he loses focus.
G.U.N. Medcenter
In an instant, Shadow jolts to life in a hospital bed, surrounded by doctors all trying to stabilize him. With how much stress the hedgehog had been going through the past few days, he did not want to end up here again. He leaps out of bed, racing for the door. Already something was off. His inhibitor rings had been returned, but there was some mechanism attached at the wrist for each one. It appeared to be some kind of password combination. However, it was no ordinary lock. It almost seemed infused with the rings. Almost because there was an obvious mark from a soldering iron. Before he could reach the door, both Rouge and James step in his way. "Shadow, wait!" Rouge cried out.
"You need to stay. You aren't well." James added.
"What are you talking about?" Shadow has had it with beating around the bush. If they wanted him to stay around and talk, he needed to be provided quick answers, or he'll walk.
"Just… Listen to Doctor Solace. She can tell you all the details." Shadow turns around to see Doctor Solace. She was a golden retriever with long and light-colored hair balled up in a knot. She stands out from the other doctors with her button-upped white coat with a G.U.N. logo. She looks at Shadow with a stern look before finally speaking.
"You'll want to sit for this." Solace pats the bed and Shadow hesitantly plops back down. The whole situation had Shadow a bit worried. Was his situation so complicated that they needed a doctor to explain it properly? He couldn't imagine that he was sick. Gerald Robotnik specifically created him to be naturally immune to all kinds of pathogens. So what was it that was wrong with him? "You are aware that the chaos energy you utilize when removing your rings is purely unstable, right?" Shadow briskly nods. "Not a very friendly substance. Tests have been done before exclusively using unstable energy for the next line of weapons. They've been indecisive, say to the least. If you aren't using the proper materials to contain it. Well, the effects are jarring."
"I remember those experiments. The weapons corroded before they could even be tested." James piped up, making Solace look slightly resentful as she briefly facepalms.
"Thank you, James…" James crosses his arms and gives a grin as he nods his head to express that he was proud of himself. "There is no easy way to say this. But imagine those same effects, and apply them to your own body." The room silences. All other doctors stare in unison at Shadow. Rouge can't seem to stand the attention.
"Ok, everyone who isn't Doctor Solace, leave now." All the other doctors immediately start to funnel to the door. In the mass, James tries to leave, but Rouge holds him back. "You can stay."
"It seemed your inhibitor rings were doing a good job holding back all that energy." Solace continued. "But once you released them is when everything started to feel wrong, right?" Shadow nods again. "Every time you remove them, it discharges more of that energy into your bloodstream. When you were out, we analyzed some of your blood. It… It isn't good. The energy has contaminated many of your cells already, and the more your body goes through mitosis, the more it spreads. So in other words-"
"I'm dying, aren't I?" The sudden pipe up from Shadow shakes the room emotionally. Rouge and James look on with shock. Solace gazes into Shadow's eyes with regret.
"Yes. We never had to deal with organics suffering from unstable contamination, so you're the first case of this. Treatment is gonna be hard. Since we never had this type of situation, you'll have to do your best to prevent any more spreading until we find a reliable cure."
"These locks on my inhibitor rings, why are they there?"
"A mechanism to keep your rings in place. Commander doesn't want you to take any chances." Shadow stands up from his bed. And walks to the door with a solemn slouch. Rouge puts her hand on his back to comfort him, to which he doesn't seem to object. "I'll do my best to find a suitable cure. At the moment, take care of yourself."
"Thank you, doctor. Don't keep me waiting long."
Space Station: Central City Tower
Speaking of doctors, the two mad scientists, Eggman and Starline, take time to recuperate in the station's main tower. Eggman is seen using a wrench to try and pry out the blue quills stuck on his Egg Mobile that Sonic so kindly left behind. His exasperated huffing and puffing boil to a fit of rage as the tedious task proves to be an even greater nuisance. "I hate that hedgehog. Nothing drives me closer to madness than whenever he messes with my stuff." Eggman heaved out the final quill stuck in his vehicle and tosses it into a small depository bin that was filled to the rim of quills. All to his loathsome self, Starline stands facing the city from above at the other side of the room.
"I've only heard the stories that you told me about him. Seeing him in person was something else." Starline reflected. Eggman, curious to hear what Starline has to say, delves further into the conversation.
"Oh, and what do you think now?" The possibilities of what to say flourish through Starline's head. Before meeting Sonic, Starline merely thought of him as a meager nuisance, one that could be dispatched with simple planning and preparation. Although, things became unclear now that they've been fully introduced. What he meant was that Sonic had this unnatural predictability and adaptation that he wasn't expecting, and wasn't the brute he thought his speed would've made him.
"Conflicted. In terms of how to deal with him."
"Yeah, he'll make you grind your gears all day." Eggman joins Starline in gazing out the window, viewing the spectacle that is the city below. "That's why I have you, Starline. For years that rodent has been an irking pest. You can offer a new solution to that problem, however. Besides, your contributions to this city and my own inventions have been invaluable." Starline suddenly expresses a devastating urgency. His face screamed out to Eggman that they had missed something.
"Do we have something?!"
"What?"
"Did we find something to present to her?" Starline's words finally reach Eggman's understanding. His eyes widened far enough to see them behind his glasses.
"It had been destroyed in the warehouse when Sonic busted through!"
"What are we gonna do? If we don't have something before-" Starline is cut off by the blast doors of the room depressurizing and sluggishly opening. The bright light beyond the door temporarily blinds both doctors before they stare into the white abyss. Like on the planet, another hooded figure emerges from the other side, escorted by vulmechs. As they enter the room, the hooded figure nods to the vulmech, and the bots leave them in the room alone with Eggman and Starline.
"What have my couple of eggheads been up to since last time? I hope you have something to value my visit." The elegant female voice spoke out. The hooded figure paces around to the window and walks alongside it, making both doctors move away from her to make space. She doesn't bother to look down at the city, instead, she gazes up beyond the station's dome and into the stars. "I'm quite excited with what you got. That last invention was spectacular. Taxing, but breathtaking nonetheless. I mean, I don't know of any other scientist able to pull off what you did. Siphon the chaos emeralds planets away? My eagerness is beyond words."
"I'm sorry to cut you short. But there seemed to be a mishap while we were developing the next device." Eggman sheepishly mumbled. Despite the face of the hooded figure being shrouded behind the darkness of the cloak, the empty gaze from the abyss as she stares at the two doctors is enough to make them flinch.
"Hmm, that's a shame. I'm sure it was a good one too." The hooded figure eyes Starline's crimson gemstone. "However, that jewel you have would suffice." Starline covers the gem with his other hand as if he was protecting it.
"The warp topaz is out of the question." The hooded figure lets loose of her limbs in a playfully disappointing way and lets out a chuckle.
"You're so boring, Starline" Out of the blue, the hooded figure stiffens her body back up and from her cloak, she pulls out a bo staff with a sharpened end. She hurls it right between Eggman and Starline, nailing the egg mobile dead center, and pinning it to the wall. Both doctors are trembling in their boots. "You're lucky I'm on your side, Eggman. My peers wanted to tear you to shreds. But you're not useful when you're dead." The hooded figure confidently walks between them, with no resistance, and retrieves her staff. "Don't be so frightened. You're not in trouble" Slight relief washes on the doctors, but they still cautiously eye her. "Your chaos-siphoning machine pulled out another win today. It brought him."
"Who? Sonic? You can have him. He's the reason my warehouse is in a mess." Eggman retorts. The hooded figure travels back to the window, this time staring at the city. Throughout each building, a projection of the wanted poster of Team Sonic casts on the walls.
"No. He means nothing to us. Same as the echidna." Eggman and Starline look at each other with bewilderment. The hooded figure maintains contact with the posters, specifically eyeing the two-tailed fox, Tails.
Space Station: City Square
In an alleyway at the city limits, Tails, and Knuckles lay low and out of sight of any vulmechs that pass by. Tails continues to fidget around with his new wristwatch, scrolling through piles of data. Knuckles doesn't seem to mind the moment of stillness and keeps the lookout a priority. "Dang it!" Tails suddenly blurts out. He thought he had the system within his hands, but of course, there was something to tip him off further.
"What's wrong?"
"The majority of these files are located within their own separate mainframe. Despite breaking through the firewall, there are countless documents and manifests that I don't have access to." Tails promptly gets back up on his feet and approaches Knuckles. "All I can look at are vague codenames and old blueprints." Knuckles doesn't look very pleased and has many questions rolling through his skull.
"What does that mean for us?"
"Means we'll have to talk to the locals for more information. Hate it or not, we're not going to find Sonic anytime soon, so the least we can do is find out more about this place."
"How are we gonna talk to people when we're wanted fugitives?" Tails lifts his finger and points to the other side of the street, which Knuckles punctually turns to face. Ahead is a theater that is currently closed down. "That is never going to work."
Space Station: Bar
A slow and easy pub, with a dim golden light emanating the mood. Small pockets of guests sit around the crowded tables with up to two people at most. The bartender, a chinchilla washes glasses behind the counter, waiting for a calling of some kind. Softly, the doors to the bar creak open. The supposed attempt to walk in unnoticed ends up in vain, as everyone in the bar shifts their heads to face the entrance. Standing in the middle of the way are Tails and Knuckles, disguised in theater costumes and make-up. Tails has painted his orange fur a grey tint and hides away his ears with a beanie. His tails are coiled together to make it seem like it's one tail, and he sports a wool trench coat.
Knuckles is dressed in a sheriff's vest, cowboy hat, and balaclava. His dreads tied into a ball behind his head to cover more of his distinct features. They both look completely out of place, and by all means, they know it too. The two take their seat awkwardly at a booth and converse quietly amongst each other. "Ok, we have to make sure we don't say anything that gives us away. We are only here for some subtle and basic information." Tails states to Knuckles.
"Got it." The bartender walks up to them, pen and paper in hand. Her face not seeming thrilled to talk with Tails and Knuckles.
"What can I get you two?"
"Some directions. We're a bit lost and if you can tell us where we can find your leader or president, that'd be great." Tails flicks Knuckles across the face after letting all of that nonsense slip out of his mouth. Knuckles just simply looks at Tails as if he did nothing wrong. Tails stiffly smiles back at the bartender to keep her mind off that absurd question.
"I think I'll have some milk if you have it, please." Tails cringes to say.
"Grape juice." Knuckles adds. The bartender writes it down and leaves the two alone. Tails lets go of his friendly act and glares at Knuckles.
"I told you to be subtle." Tails angrily whispered.
"This is hard, ok? If I was making the plans, I'd just keep smashing bad guys until one of them gave me answers to find the master emerald."
"This isn't simple. Something bigger is going on, and we need to find the bottom of it all."
"Here you go." The bartender returns and drops off a glass of milk and grape juice. Knuckles indulges himself immediately and dunks the whole drink down with one chug. "I'll just get you another." The bartender starts to leave again, but this time, Tails tries his own luck to gauge a conversation.
"I'm sorry if we seem a bit odd to you, but we only got here recently. So this city is pretty overwhelming. Love the bar though. Nice atmosphere, good condition." The bartender stops and seems more eager to listen in on Tails. "What my friend was trying to say was if there was someone who could enlighten us about this place's history." The bartender sighs and takes a seat at a nearby table. Some progress for Tails and Knuckles but they still had to be careful with how they played their cards.
"You're new, huh? Well, I don't blame you for gazing fondly at the city. It was well put together by two of our most esteemed scientists. I recall the name of one, his name is Dr. Starline, but I don't know the other." Tails and Knuckles look at each other with confusion. It was a new name to them, but it was the other unknown scientist that sparked a lot of interest. "Dr. Starline is a native of our planet. He'd been working hard his whole life for a breakthrough. Eventually, when our home was on the brink of a crisis, he was first to volunteer to help save it."
"What about the other scientist? Where'd they come from?"
"Don't know. He came to us at the peak of our crisis. He offered a backup plan just in case things went south and chose Starline as his partner. That began the construction of this city. A safe haven. But that scientist brought trouble with him. This shadow organization now monitors everything we do. Using their vulmechs to maintain 'peace'."
"What about your planet? What happened?" Knuckles spoke out. The bartender hesitates to answer and even becomes a bit misty-eyed.
"See it for yourself." The bartender points out the window and to the darkened and deserted planet neighboring planet wisp. Tails and Knuckles are shocked and disheartened. That used to be their home? What could've possibly happened to shrivel the whole planet's surface in such a deranged way?
"I'm… I'm so sorry. I couldn't imagine." The bartender wipes away her faint tears and stands up from the table. "Wait, where can we find Dr. Starline?" Tails chimes in.
"He's a busy man. He'll be in many places. But today is when one of the leaders of the shadow organization shows up for a routine inspection. So chances are you'll find him in the city's central tower." The bartender returns behind the counter and resumes cleaning dishes. "But with the status that's on both of your heads, I'd say it will be hard to get there by yourselves." The bartender knew that both of them were fugitives, leaving Tails and Knuckles amid a bad situation. Was it going to have to come down to a brawl? "However, that status was only placed on you by vulmechs and their leaders. So an enemy to the vulmechs…" The bartender reaches behind the counter and grabs a wispon, soon the same goes for the rest of the bar guests. "Is a friend to us."
Station Square
The roads are cluttered with cars. Pedestrians walk along, exploring their livelihoods with the luxuries of the world. All of it protected by the clear night sky above. All alone to himself atop a rooftop was Shadow, sitting along the edge, gazing upon the city and eyeing every minute detail and action with envy in his eyes. He was so fixated on getting his chaos powers back, that he never considered that his time to fight might have been over. But his stubbornness has robbed him away from that chance now, limiting his choices down to two. Keep fighting with the little life you have left and maybe you'll be lucky enough to survive until Solace finds a treatment, or to settle down and enjoy yourself one last time. He hated to consider abandoning the fight, but this time the fight did nothing but poison him with contradiction and helplessness. If he chose the path of an easy life, would he ever get used to it? "I knew you'd be perched up somewhere like here." Shadow turns around and sees Rouge approaching. "I thought you wanted some company." Rouge sits next to Shadow at the edge, both sitting in complete silence for a brief moment.
"I don't want to talk about what's happening to me." Shadow asserts. Rouge seems a bit taken aback, as it was clear that that was the only thing circling through her mind.
"Well, what do you want to talk about?" There wasn't a lot Shadow wanted to express. But maybe to not make this conversation any more awkward, he could do with catching up with the events he missed before he went into a coma.
"What happened to our other culprit? Did they also escape?"
"Unfortunately. We had him too. If it wasn't for his fire, we'd be prying information from him as we speak." Shadow's eyes glint with concern. What fire happened back in Soleanna, he thought.
"Fire? Is everything fine?"
"The city's fire department did their best, but the inferno was too much for them to handle. It took James convincing the queen to approve sending our agents to dwindle the flames." Shadow eases his worries in relief. However, he gains a small surge of anger as he thinks about the lives put in danger that day by those culprits and that they were still out there. But right now he needed to not think of that. "Got to give him credit, he got the queen on better terms with us. James is a good guy. Naive, but good."
"C'mon, you know he's a bit more than naive." Shadow joked, making Rouge let out a slight chuckle. "Yeah, he's got potential. I can partially see why Tower chose to trust him." He added on. Rouge nods in agreement, but soon her expression shifts to one of more dire and grave.
"Didn't you tell me that the unstable energy sealed in your inhibitor rings was purely unstable and that it was missing its other half that made it safe?" Rouge asked, but the sudden intrusion of thought did not please Shadow. However, he kept his composure and didn't lash out.
"I said I didn't want to talk about it."
"I know, but what you said had me thinking. Maybe if Sonic returned with the emeralds, and you regained your powers, the stable side of the chaos power would negate the corrosive effects you have." Rouge had an idea, but there was too much speculation to work off of. It was true what Shadow said about the energy stored in his inhibitor rings, but there was no indication that stable chaos energy would kill the cancer that was growing in his body.
"But what if it didn't? What if there was no cure for what I have? I've been running on fumes, which makes me wonder, do you still envy me now as I am?" Rouge didn't expect a retort like that. She thought long and hard about what Shadow meant. They've both known each other long enough to know that there was an unspoken bond between them of respect and that Shadow questioning that bond now seemed like he was losing what he thought of himself. "I've been on this run for a long time. Now I think that the universe wants to leave me behind." Out of the blue, Rouge's hand slaps gingerly across Shadow's face, startling him. Shadow looks over to Rouge's face, now trailing with tears. Shadow knew instantly that Rouge didn't hit him out of anger, but sorrow.
"Don't… don't you ever say anything like that again. Since when did you ever care what the universe did to you? I'll tell you, it always wanted to kick you down and leave you behind. But you never stopped fighting then, so why are you wanting to stop now? If you're asking if I would still respect you if you didn't have the powers you once had, then of course I do and you never have to question me about that again." Her words sink in like an anchor. Shadow realizes that his main battle was never a physical one, but one to acknowledge who he really was. He wasn't the same as before, but why should that change his core? No, he'll find his way around, without any more sacrifices to himself. He won't back down, not even if the whole world turns against him.
Highlands: Outskirts of Soleanna
Within the confines of a cave at the fringe of Soleanna, one of the Hooded Figures, or The Mage, sharpens their bloodred spear with a whetstone. The spear's material is made up of a multitude of darkened gemstones and rocks, with engravings of long and thin kitsune tails wrapped around the handle. Footsteps clack and echo inside, and The Mage's ears sharply turn. However, The Mage isn't alarmed and continues sharpening their spear. "You're late" Her crackly voice murmured. Entering the cave was the other hooded figure or also known as The Pyro, who was beaten and battered.
"I made it here anyway, didn't I?" He responded.
"You caused another fire, didn't you?" The Mage sighs. "Oh and here I was thinking you were going to be more careful."
"Hey, no one got hurt."
"That doesn't rest on my conscience. But we don't need it dragging through yours."
"Stay focused!" The Pyro blurted out. "We need to change our destination. They're onto us now. We must stay unpredictable. Unless we want to deal with Shadow and the rest of his team again." The Mage stops her sharpening and blissfully stares up. Almost like she's fantasizing about something. "I don't like that look. What's gotten into you?"
"Oh, nothing. I've just been thinking about my last confrontation with Shadow. Remind me, when was my last blood harvest?"
"That was eight years ago. I'll never forget that night."
"You'll never forget the night, but I will never forget their faces. Their fear, dread, how soothing it was to look at it. And Shadow? Now he will be another face that I'll never let slip through my memories." The Mage grips harder on her spear's handle, causing a crimson smog to flow around her body. Through the abyss in her hood, pearly white and razor-sharp teeth glow in contrast. A pair of ruby eyes smolder through as well, forming a sinister grin.
To be continued...
