With crossed arms and his eyes closed, Shadow waited in front of the Master Emerald's altar. The hedgehog was deep in thought. However, footsteps made him focus back on his surroundings and he opened his eyes.
Ruby approached him with an uncertain expression. The human girl had recovered relatively soon, thanks to the capabilities of her Aura. Even her clothing had been fixed up from the damage of the incident thanks to some Resistance members being skilled in fashion and responsible for making and flicking the clothing of the troops back together. The silver-eyed girl gave the ebony hedgehog a little wave.
"Hi. I was told you wanted to meet me?"
Shadow nodded.
"Yes. After our operation in Metropolis, I wanted to know how you feel about continuing our training."
Ruby became even more uncertain. She unconsciously rubbed her right forearm. All that remained of the spear wound was a circular scar, but like the one on her back, she sometimes experienced phantom pains there.
"Right... to be honest, I'm not sure if... it'll really be worth anything."
"Explain," was all Shadow said to that statement. Ruby looked at him confused for a moment. She had actually expected questions or even incomprehension, but the hedgehog in front of her simply stared at her with a stoic, focused look. Waiting for her answer.
"Eh... I... well..." Ruby fumbled with her words until she managed to get her thoughts on track. "It's not that I'm ungrateful that you took time for me, on the contrary! And the training was cool. In... an extreme way. But despite all that, despite all the hours we spent pushing myself to the limits, I feel like it didn't achieve anything."
Shadow didn't say anything. He just watched and listened as Ruby continued on.
"Despite everything, I ended up in a similar situation to the one I faced after my first encounter with Cinder here on Mobius." She rolled up the sleeve to show her scar.
After some silence, Shadow said, "I was expecting something like that."
Ruby was thrown off by the statment and its somewhat abrasive tone. A glum expression appeared on her face.
"What? That I wouldn't amount to much?" Ruby asked with a bit of bitterness in her voice while pushing her sleeve back down. Shadow shook his head.
"No. That your self-confidence might drop after a defeat like the one you experienced. Tails told me what had happened. How Cinder dropped any pretense of self-control and just gave in to her weakness, borderline tortured you, after you managed a heavy blow on her."
"I uh-"
"And how she and Infinite used… the loss of someone very close to you for their sick `games´." Shadow almost spat the last word out, disgust visible on his face. His features softened when he looked Ruby into the eyes.
"He didn't tell me the details. Tails, I mean. He knows it is very personal to you. But I´m still glad he told me about this, even his and Sonic´s suspicions about how you might keep your feelings regarding such matters locked up inside your heart."
Ruby opened and closed her mouth, too unsure and confused to say anything. She hadn't expected a conversation with Shadow to turn this way.
"I assume you're a little confused."
"...yeah," Ruby said.
"I can imagine you have questions. We'll go through the whole thing piece by piece. First of all: your training. Why do you think we should stop?"
"I-I didn't say that. It´s just… I am not sure if it will amount to anything."
Shadow slightly tilted his head. "Really? Describe your first fight with Cinder, which I heard took place in Mystic Jungle."
Ruby did. She recounted how she and Tails stumbled trough the ruins of the place and then went off searching for the source of the flames consuming the jungle. How the two of them were surprised by the Fall Maiden and at first overwhelmed by her power. The silver-eyed girl described that, while she and Tails were able to get some hits on Cinder, it still ended with Ruby getting stabbed and falling into unconsciousness. That it took the appearance of Omega and the Resistance to save her life. Shadow nodded along while listening and, when Ruby was done, added: "Now tell me how exactly your mission and second encounter with Cinder in Metropolis went."
Again, Ruby obliged. While she verbally recounted her experiences in Operation Big Wave, she mentally took notice of the differences that had occurred.
Yes, she had been overwhelmed by Cinder again, the twisted Fall Maiden piercing her flesh and causing the silver-eyed girl to sink into unconsciousness from the pain. And she had to be rescued by her friends again.
At the same time, she had managed to hold out against Cinder with only the Wisps at her side, despite her crazy upgrade as a multi-armed cyborg. And not only that, she was even able to fight back and overwhelm Cinder herself with the power of the Chaos Emerald. And even if a hole in the arm wasn't a scratch, it was still better than the fatal wound Ruby had received the first time.
"From your expression of realization, I'm guessing that you´ve started to understand that our training was definitely worth something," Shadow remarked when Ruby was finished.
"I... guess so. But... I... oh, I don't know. I didn't expect to get back at Cinder in any form of retribution for what she did to Pyrrha and the rest of Beacon. But I still just... hoped for more."
"I can understand your frustration, but unfortunately things are not so simple in reality. Even after several weeks of training you can't just match a terrorist who probably has years of training and additional powers to boot."
"I mean..." Ruby pulled out the white Chaos Emerald. "...I have additional powers too, I'm just not that familiar with them."
Shadow understood what Ruby was trying to get at. He shook his head.
"You are still not ready for Chaos Control." She opened her mouth in protest, but Shadow raised his hand and silenced her words before they even came out.
"This is non negotiable. You have showed greater mastery over your Chaos Emerald. You managed to remain focused when your desires and its energies overwhelmed you and managed to save the Wisps from Cinder, but in the end you still got overwhelmed. A slight slip up and you may have hurt your friends. Or even lost the Chaos Emerald to our enemies. They would have access to its power once again, using it similar to what Neo Metal Sonic did."
Any protest Ruby had, died when Shadow said that. She shuddered as she imagined Cinder with a Chaos Emerald.
"You´re right."
"Yes. But the point of this conversation is that you shouldn't sell yourself short. Our training still led to improvements. Yes, there will be hurdles on your way, but you shouldn't let that stop you. Instead, use it as further motivation to further improve yourself and continue fighting on. If, after a loss, you decide to just throw the towel, than Cinder has already won."
Shadow looked Ruby directly into the eyes, red gazed into silver.
"Do you want that?"
At first the human girl was thrown off by the directness of the hedgehog´s voice. But she didn't have to think long. Of course she didn't want to give up! She wanted to help the Resistance win the war and return home. Shadow was right, if obstacles stood in her way, she should use them as motivation to overcome them. Even if it's Cinder.
Especially if it's Cinder. No matter how deranged and inhuman the Fall Maiden became, the silver-eyed girl couldn't allow herself to falter.
From this decision, Ruby was able to draw the strength to return Shadow's gaze.
"No," she said in a serious tone. "Cinder...she can say it's my destiny to die at her hands or give her my power or whatever as much as she wants. I won´t give up." Ruby remembered what she had told Infinite after their first encounter. "I won´t let people like her wreak havoc at the world at will… she can be stopped and I WILL stop her!"
Shadow gave a satisfied nod.
"Good. Very good. You are right. You determine your own destiny. Not anyone else, especially not someone who let themselves break by the world and try to cover it with big speeches about being entitled to the suffering of others."
Shadow closed his eyes as an old memory replayed briefly in his mind:
All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything from me… will feel my loss and despair!
The Ultimate Lifeform sighed at this. That sentence… one of the greatest indicators for how much his father figure had let himself fallen. In contrast to Maria who, even on the verge of death, wanted to give humans and mobians a chance. Before the light went out in her blue eyes, they were still full of kindness and hope. Radiated with a certain purity that only a few people possessed and were able to preserve in life.
"Shadow?"
He opened his eyes. They met a pair of concerned ones who, despite having a different color, shined the same way Maria´s did.
Before they dulled when his spear tore trough the Phantom…
"You okay?" asked Ruby again. "You became very tense for a moment."
"I'm okay. I just thought about something... unpleasant for a moment. It actually has to do with the other thing I wanted to discuss with you. How Infinite and Cinder toyed with your psyche."
Ruby frowned. Shadow added, "I won´t ask if you do not want to talk about it. I can understand how it feels to lose someone. Not wanting to talk about it and be reminded of the pain over and over again."
That statement caught Ruby by surprise. She didn't expect Shadow to have lost someone as well. Then again… there was much she didn't know about her fellow speedster in red and black. But if he knew how it feels…
"You lost someone as well?" she asked carefully. "Who? And is that why Tails told you about this?"
"I… yes. And not only did I lose her, Infinite created a Phantom of her and tricked me into killing it."
Ruby gasped. Okay, as much as uncomfortable and confusing the hints about her mother had been, THIS sounded much worse!
"I… I´m sorry. I really can´t imagine what that must have felt like." And she didn't want to imagine it. How Infinite may summon a Phantom of Summer or Pyrrha or Penny… any person from Remnant, really. The illusion Ruby had when coming into contact with the red cubes had been terrifying enough.
Like he was reading her mind, Shadow said, "I hope you never have to know what it feels like. And to answer your question: The person I lost was someone I saw as my sister. Her name was Maria."
"I… oh… What happened?"
"I won´t confuse you with the details of my past, but G.U.N had been, long before I joined, been quite the corrupt organization. They stormed our home because they believed they could gather resources for their own gains. Including myself. Turning me into their little super soldier." The last part Shadow spoke with some bitterness. Ruby remained quiet. She could imagine some bad guys wanting someone like Shadow for themselves. Of course it didn't excuse their actions. Especially not the following.
"Maria helped me escape. But she herself got caught in the crossfire. She had just been twelve years old…"
At that, Ruby gasped. Twelve years? That was even younger than herself! She could already feel some tears in her eyes.
"Shadow… I… that must have been so…"
She trailed off. Not knowing what to say. But she didn't need to. Shadow just nodded and sighed. For the first time meeting him, the hedgehog looked worn out and defeated for Ruby.
"And then Infinite used her face against you…"
Ruby couldn't help herself but feel rising anger against the masked entity. While he was of course far from being her favorite person, she saw Cinder as the worse monster for how personal and cruel she could get. Apparently she had been spared the attention of the worse monster of the villain duo.
Shadow looked at Ruby´s face and could guess what she felt like.
"Yeah… I was more than just mad when it happened. But it still lead to Infinite using my emotions against me, overwhelming me and putting me inside a coma. Making me a non-entity for most of the war."
"Still-"
"And that wasn't the first time I got consumed by rage regarding Maria´s death. Or even the worst one. Remember what I had mentioned previously? About people who let themselves be broken by the world and feel entitled to the suffering of others? I… pretty much was like that for a while."
"WHAT!? Really?" Ruby couldn't believe it. Sure, Shadow was hard and seemed stern and rough around the edges, but she never would´ve guessed him being a former pursuer of vengeance.
"Yes. I´m not proud of that time, pretty much the opposite. Even with some… outside factors… I let my pain consume myself so much I let myself be deluded into thinking Maria would have wanted revenge to all of Mobius for what happened to her. Despite knowing her all my life, knowing that she just wasn't that type of person."
Shadow´s posture became tense once again. His fist were shaking.
Ruby hesitated for a bit. She wanted to give him a hug as a way to show comfort. She knew however that the black hedgehog would probably not like her getting too close. Instead, she slowly put her hand on the hedgehog´s shoulder.
"And what type of person was she instead?" Ruby asked in a gentle tone. It helped Shadow to relax.
"Curious. Kind and compassionate. Despite life not being kind to her, she always saw the best in things and wanted to learn more about the world and help it. In a way you remind me of her, Ruby. Sometimes, talking with you feels like she is still here."
And odd sounding compliment, but the young speedster understood the weight behind it. It caused a warmth to wrap itself around her heart.
"Thank you Shadow. And thank you for sharing all of this with me. I understand how important this is to you. … I lost my mom when I was very young."
She let go of Shadow´s shoulder. He looked at her as she explained what she had already told Tails.
No wonder he wouldn't tell me the details. Good on him tough, the Ultimate Lifeform thought.
"I can see why Infinite´s and Cinder´s words would throw you off in such a manner. And how it unsettled you so much."
Ruby didn't say anything, she just nodded while looking downwards with a gloomy expression.
"I´m glad you decided to open up about this. As you have noticed, such pain can have a very negative impact on you. Not that I believe you would ever do the same things I did, but it still could cause damage."
"How did you manage all of it while being the leader of Team Dark?" Ruby asked both in curiosity and concern.
"I wasn´t always the leader of it. I sort of grew into the role after the three of us had our first adventures. Why exactly are you asking about that?"
Ruby fumbled around for a bit. She struggled with herself as to whether and how she should express what was on her mind.
Remembering how it was important to open herself up to others, she said, "I´ve… as a leader I never really wanted to take time for my emotional stuff. I wanted to make sure everyone was alright first. After all: I had a big responsibility and couldn´t just mess it up."
"Very true." Shadow seemed to agree. "As a leader you posses indeed a huge responsibility for your teammates AND your own well being."
The last part caused Ruby to flinch, the words hitting her like a whip.
"If you start to neglect your own health, be it mental or physical, then it will start to have a negative impact in you and your leadership skills and, in return, also on the entirety of your team."
"True, but-" Shadow interrupted Ruby´s stammering.
"I grew into the role as a leader, yes, but only when I managed to overcome my burdens and let go of the past. Before that, my struggles caused unnecessary complications."
The black hedgehog thought back to moments like his interactions with Black Doom. Even though he had suffered from amnesia, he had been so obsessed with finding the answers to his past that he almost completely ignored the present and how much the evil alien was turning him into his puppet with promises of the truth. While trough more subtle methods, in the end Black Doom hadn't been much different from the former G.U.N or Gerald after the ARK tragedy.
But despite all this, the Ultimate Lifeform had been able to find his place in a world without Maria, in the company of people he trusted.
The black hedgehog looked at Ruby seriously.
"You may not necessarily be the leader of a team here in this world, but you still work with others. They will rely on you to have their backs, just as they do yours."
"But... what should I do then? I understand that you're saying that it's important to move on from the past, but I... I had..." Ruby looked down, defeated. "I had accepted that I would never really see or know my mother. But now..."
Shadow held his hand to his chin thoughtfully.
"I admit that this raises some questions. And you have a right to answers. But they shouldn't be all you focus on. Especially because Infinite or Cinder could lie. Yes, they seem to know who your mother is and how much you mean something to her. But it may be that Cinder just heard about your mother's fate or came into contact with the person who could be responsible for her disappearance."
Shadow´s statement opened another can of worms for Ruby. It made her furrow her brows.
But if that´s true, if Cinder has next to nothing to do with Mom´s disappearance… who is? Is there someone else beside Cinder? Someone who could´ve helped her to cause the Fall of Beacon. Or maybe even being the actual head of the operation?
"Listen," Shadow said and snapped Ruby out of her thoughts. "If you really want to get answers from Cinder, then you are free to do so. But that doesn't mean you should negelect your own well-being and that of the people who support you. More importantly, you should be open with them about you your feelings, whether with the ones regarding the situation of your mother or other things. Communication is the key to trust. And trust is the key to a well-balanced team."
Trust…
Ruby suddenly thought back to when Blake's identity as a Faunus and former member of the White Fang came out. It had been a shock, but Weiss had been extremely hostile towards the quieter member of Team RWBY. It didn't help that Blake then simply ran away and Weiss kept hinting at treating her like a criminal, because of the heiress´ past experience with the White Fang. But towards the end they were able to bury the hatchet because Weiss decided to trust Blake as she left the White Fang behind. And Blake did so too, opening up more after Weiss decided to be more open-minded and give the Cat Faunus a chance. And as the year went on, the two, alongside the rest of the team, started exchanging more about their getting closer to one another.
"I... see. Thanks Shadow. This gave me a lot to think about."
"That's good to hear. Of course, in addition to good cohesion within a team, there is another thing that can help you against Cinder."
"And that would be?"
Shadow allowed himself a small grin.
"Training, of course. Just because you're not ready for Chaos Control yet doesn't mean there are other areas where you can improve. And just because we had a heart to heart doesn't mean I'm going to thoroughly examine how your wound and time in the hospital wing affected your skills."
Ruby just groaned. She knew what this would mean.
"Are you serious? After we were having a moment you gonna just kick my butt?"
"Yes. Physical training and honing my skills was one of the things that helped me channel my emotions for something productive."
The silver-eyed girl raised her arms to show Crescent Rose. Or rather the lack thereof.
"I didn't brought my weapon with me. Tails is busy at the moment and we couldn't get around to repairing Crescent Rose."
Unimpressed, Shadow raised an eyebrow.
"And that's a problem because...? Don't forget that your body can also be a weapon. In fact, we should use this situation to continue working on your weaponless fighting skills. It may well happen that one of our enemies will realize how inadequate you are without yours. It even seems that Cinder did just that when we rescued you in Metropolis."
"Well, it was more like I lost Crescent Rose after an explosion caused by Cinder having a meltdown and couldn't pick it up because she recovered faster from said explosion and…"
She didn't finish the sentence, but rubbing her forearm told Shadow the rest of the story.
"Alright, but my point still stand, so we should do this."
Ruby sighed. Nonetheless she said, "I guess you´re right."
And to be honest, it felt a little satisfying to punch Cinder square in the face and sent her flying with the help of the Chaos Emerald. So learning to do that again, but with more control would be cool, she thought. It actually caused her to smile a little.
The future still held many uncertainties for her, but taking a combat ready stance and starting to train with Shadow made Ruby feel like she was taking the necessary steps in taking whatever it may throw towards her head on.
And done with another chapter. So here we have Shadow telling Ruby a bit about his past and giving her advice on how to tackle certain issues originating from trauma and loss. He also gives her some advice about the mentality of being a leader. It will all help Ruby grow and not just hold up stuff inside like she did in cannon, which caused her breakdown in V9.
Now some may think I may have made Shadow a bit to `soft´. But I like to imagine, after spending years with Team Dark and other people from the Sonic Cast, that Shadow has learned to loosen and open up a bit and become less rough around the edges.
To Guest: I actually didn't have, but I have seen some play troughs. And it looks indeed hard. Or some parts of it. But I like what they have done with the Supreme Bossfight, even if I wish the moon form of the End was more involved. Be it in a second phase with a space battle or just some additional attacks alongside the ones the corrupted Supreme Titan fires.
To SuperSaiyanFever: Well, Salem knows what she did. But there won´t be any clear answers until the sequel.
To Monster King: Thank you. I will.