Shadow the Hedgehog of the Colossus
Chapter 4: Quadratus
Moments after his victory over the first Colossus, Shadow found himself in darkness. He had no idea how he got there, nor could he remember what happened after he'd slain Valus. Once again, he had received some kind of amnesia after a great battle.
He slowly climbs back on his feet, rubbing the side of his head attempting to simmer the splitting headache he currently has. He then takes a look around his surroundings. Everywhere he looked, all he could see was blackness. Not a trace of light anywhere.
"Ugh. Wh- Where am I?" He muttered.
He takes a couple of steps forwards but has no sense of direction, nor any clue on how to escape this void.
"Dormin! Where are you?!" He shouts while turning around and staring at the non-existent sky. "Did you bring me here?
But there was no reply. He was all alone in this place. He needed to find a way to escape and get back to Maria. He then starts running in a random direction, trying so hard to locate an exit. But no matter how far, or fast, he ran, his field of vision was the same. Just empty blackness.
Shadow then unleashes a couple of Chaos Spears around him, hoping it might reveal the way out, but to no avail.
Suddenly, the complete silence of the void was broken by the faint sound of someone breathing. Shadow comes to a halt and pinpoints the direction of that sound.
That was the sound of someone else's breathing. It was too feminine to be his own, and it sounded like it came from behind him.
Just when he thought this strange place was gonna be nothing more than blackness. Shadow was surprised to see some kind of vortex tunnel forming from the direction he came. The whole tunnel was constantly rippling like the waves of the ocean. At the end of the tunnel was a bright white light. This concerned Shadow. Usually, bright lights at the end of the tunnel represent your soul leaving your body and heading to the afterlife.
Did he die fighting the Colossus? No, he can't have, he thought. He clearly remembers slaying Valus, but not much of anything else after that. Maybe this time around, this tunnel may lead him back to the mortal world.
"A way out? But should I take it?" He suspected. He wasn't sure if heading towards it would be the smartest of choices. But it's the only option he's got. "Look like I have no alternative."
He runs as fast as he can towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Upon entering, he could feel his body moving even faster than before. The tunnel must have some kind of force pulling him forward towards the light. He attempts to fight it, but the current was too strong. He even tries curling up into a spikey ball and spin-dashing out. But even that wasn't enough.
Realising his efforts were fruitless, he just stands there and lets the current carry him towards the light.
Once again, the sounds of feminine breathing can be heard all around him. This time it was clearer to the ear. Shadow even recognised who it belonged to.
"Maria? Is that you?" He called out to the light.
There was no response on the other end. The tunnel started to get brighter the closer Shadow got to the end. He shields his eyes with his arms from the brightness that was consuming him until the entire black void faded to white.
Agro has been patiently waiting for Shadow's return for quite some time now. It almost felt like he'd been gone for hours. She was starting to worry if something had happened to him. Did he fail his mission and get crushed by the Colossus? She did fear that Shadow wouldn't stand a chance against them. She'd only been to these lands a few times when food was scarce in the fields, she lived in. All the other horses feared the Forbidden Lands, but she didn't let that stop her from going.
This whole time she'd been by Maria's side, watching over her and the emerald around her neck. Even when she went outside to eat some grass, or do the business, she'd constantly keep an eye on her until Shadow returned.
As she was about to head outside again, she noticed Shadow laying on the ground by the stairs to the altar unconscious.
When did he get back? How did he get back without her noticing? Her mind was just flooding with questions right now. But those would have to wait. Right now, she wanted to check on her new friend. Make sure he's still alive.
But as she approached him, she was spooked by the sudden appearance of another Shade – which is what Shadow had decided to call them – appear out of the ground. She backed away, expecting it to attack her again like when they first arrived. But instead, it was just standing next to Shadow, staring down at his body.
Shadow was muttering in his sleep, calling out Maria's name before he was finally able to wake up. The Shade disappears before Shadow had a chance to see it. Agro runs up to Shadow and helps him up by using her head to force his body upright, allowing him to stand.
Shadow takes a brief look around, confirming that he is indeed back in the Shrine of Worship.
"What was that? Was it all a dream?" He fully snaps back into reality once he notices Agro standing in front of him. "Agro? What is going on here?"
He then remembers Maria and rushes over to the altar she was still laying atop. He sighs a breath of relief upon seeing that she's not been harmed while he was gone. Nor did the emerald stop preserving her body.
The ground then started to rumble. Shadow and Agro look over at one of the statues along the walls. One of them – the statue of Valus – was beginning to crack. Bright golden lights started seeping out of the cracks. The cracks got bigger, and the lights got brighter until the statue exploded into dozens of tiny pieces, collapsing to the ground below, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process.
Shadow remembers Dormin telling him that if he was successful in killing the Colossai, then the idols representing them would fall. Whatever weird event happened to him afterwards, it didn't change the fact that he managed to succeed in the end.
"It worked. One Colossus is down. Now I just need to find and kill the rest."
The room was soon filled with the bellowing of multiple voices speaking in unison. Shadow instantly recognised them as Dormin.
"Off to a great start, Mortal Hedgehog." The voices bellowed.
"What happened to me, Dormin?" Shadow demanded. "After killing the Colossus, something came out of it and possessed me! I passed out and woke up back here. What did you do to me?!"
"The darkness that seeped out the Colossus, was a fragment of the power thou need to resurrect the maiden," Dormin explains. "A mortal's body can never contain such power. But thou art the Ultimate Lifeform as thou have said. Only thou can control it."
"I see." That was all Shadow said in response. It does explain the black space he was in, as well as the faint sounds of Maria's breathing, he heard. He theorises that maybe the more Colossai he kills, the more power he obtains. And the closer he gets to rescuing Maria's soul. That has to be it. That was what he heard. The breathing came from Maria's lost soul that he only caught a tiny glimpse of. If he gets more, he'll see and hear more of her. "Which Colossus do I kill next?"
"Thy next foe is… In the seaside cave… It moves slowly… Raise thy courage to defeat it." Dormin then shines a light on the next statue. The first one is on the opposite side of Valus. Below it, the name "Quadratus" was written.
Shadow nods and heads down the stairs to pick up his discarded sword and turns back to Agro.
"You did well watching over her. Be sure to keep it that way until I'm done."
Agro gives a little lighthearted neigh in response. Shadow then races down the stairs and back out into the open fields.
Like last time, he holds the sword up high and turns it until he focuses out a single beam. This time he was heading off in the direction east of the shrine, towards a massive gorge. Below was a patch of the massive desert area he'd caught a glimpse of while entering the Forbidden Lands. The only thing connecting both sides of the gorge was a bridge of land that had probably been there for decades, with all the grass growing out of it.
Shadow crosses the bridge and follows a path going down to the sandy plains below. As he reached the bottom, he noticed that there was a lake of water at the edges of the sand. Making it look more like a beach than a desert.
The beam of light ended at a stone wall built into the mountainside. Close beside it was a few of the stone pillars holding the mile-long bridge up.
"Hmm. The next Colossus must be hiding behind that wall. The moment I approach it, it'll react to the sword and awaken. I have no idea what this Colossus will be like, so I shouldn't just charge in blindly. I need to think up a strategy first."
Shadow then starts to slowly approach the wall, readying the sword for attack. Once he was close enough, he started to feel the ground shake beneath him. The stone wall started to crumble from the force of something big smashing into it from the inside. Shadow takes a fighting stance ready to face the next Colossus.
The stone walls were soon shattered on impact as the Colossus charged right through it. Quadratus slowly steps out of the dark cave it was sealed away in and looks up at the bright sunlit sky for the first time in forever.
Unlike Valus, this Colossus was on all four legs. It was covered in black fur and stone-like skin. Its face and body were covered in stone structure, and its head had one curved horn, while the other was just a broken stump. It also had hooves like Valus, but his were more bull-like, which makes sense as its appearance, in general, is that of a giant bull. And like all Colossai, it had glowing blue eyes which turn orange when threatened or preparing an attack. Shadow also noticed that it had giant mushroom platforms on its shoulder. Why this is, he has no idea.
Quadratus instantly spots the black hedgehog and makes his approach. Each stomp of his massive hooves parted the sand and caused a slight tremor. Shadow ran to keep his distance from it while he examines the Colossus, figuring out the best, and quickest, way to dispatch it.
"The sword revealed that this bull's weak spot is atop its head, its flank, and on the left side of his abdomen. Jumping onto its back wouldn't be a problem if I had anything tall to leap off of."
As he's running, Shadow occasionally looks back at Quadratus. He then notices that the underside of his massive hooves has a soft spot.
"Maybe striking those soft softs will force it to lie down, allowing me to grab onto the fur on the side of its upper leg."
Shadow does a quick turn and unleashes a Chaos Spear at Quadratus's left front hoof, attempting to hit its underside. But his timing was much slower than he had expected. This came as a surprise to Shadow.
"I was too slow… I'm NEVER too slow!" He exclaimed.
Quadratus soon reaches Shadow's position and raises its right hoof above his head. It then quickly brings it down upon the small hedgehog, crushing him.
Or so he thought. Shadow was able to save himself by spin-dashing at the last second. His sharp rapid-spinning quills brushed against Quadratus's hoof, injuring it. The giant bull begins to lose its balance and is forced down on its knees.
Shadow uses this window of opportunity to leap onto the fur on the side of its downed leg now that it was within reach, clinging hard onto the Colossai's fur.
He shimmies across to its abdomen where one of the symbols was glowing brightly. With one hand holding on for dear life, Shadow draws the sword and thrusts it deep into the Colossai's body. The giant bull grunts in pain as a black geyser of smoke erupts from its wound.
Quadratus shakes its body side to side in the hopes of shaking him off. But Shadow eventually climbs up to the giant's flank, standing atop the second symbol. Wasting no time, he stabs it with all his strength.
"One more to go." He noted as he prepares to make his way up the Colossai's back.
On closer inspection, Shadow noticed that atop its back was the creature's spine made out of stone. He doesn't understand if these creatures are alive, or just possessed by the power he's trying to acquire. Perhaps the power to bring back the dead can also grant life to inanimate objects. Maybe that's what these Colossai were.
Quadratus was growing annoyed by this tiny creature refusing to let go of him. It tried flattening him. Then shaking him off. But he continues to persist. So instead, it decided to do what bulls are known for. Charging into stuff.
It looks over at one of the pillars holding up the bridge and takes a couple of steps back. It attempts to run at it with full force. Due to its massive size, it cannot run very fast. But when it impacts the pillar, it could bring the entire bridge down, leaving Shadow and Maria trapped in the Forbidden Lands.
Shadow cannot let that happen. As his life depended on it – because it did – He leaps onto Quadratus's head and plunges the sword deep into its head in the centre of the symbol.
Quadratus ends up tripping over its front hooves and falls over to the side. Its body was skidding along the sand due to its attempt at running. But thankfully for Shadow, it was far from near the pillar it was attempting to ram into. The Colossai's eyes go out as its body comes to a halt a few feet away from the pillar.
Shadow lets out a sigh of relief as he pulls out the sword and re-sheathes it. This battle could've ended horribly had his reaction time been a lot slower than when he fired his Chaos Spear.
"What was that back there? Not once have I been slow in my attacks. And the Colossai move way too slow for me to slip up like that. What is-
Before Shadow could dig deeper into the matter, the tendrils of black smoke erupt out of the corpse of the Colossus. They once again attack Shadow and possess his body, forcing him to fall unconscious once again.
Knuckles and Blaze continue their journey to find where the remaining members of the Colossus Clan are hiding. But it's not just them this time. Tails and Silver were coming along too. Tails because they're using his biplane, The Tornado, to get there. And Silver because he and Blaze are an inseparable duo.
The Tornado was soaring high into the clouds, directly above the Human's Station Square. Tails was, of course, sitting in the pilot's seat, with Blaze sitting in the front passenger seat. Knuckles was hanging onto one of the wings of the plane, holding on tightly to the railings connecting the four wings. And Silver was flying alongside the plane with his psychokinesis.
"You sure it was a good idea to not have Sonic come along with us?" Tails asked Silver without taking his eyes off the path ahead.
"With Shadow gone, the Humans are gonna need one of the Big Three Hedgehogs to protect them. Sonic's been protecting them far longer than I have. Besides, I wasn't gonna sit back and let Blaze go to an unknown civilisation on her own. We've been fighting together throughout the apocalypse Iblis created. I will continue to fight by her side till the true end of days."
"Heh, sounds like you'd do about anything for her." Knuckles spoke up. "Maybe you should try telling her how you feel."
Silver was caught off guard by Knuckles's statement that he almost lost control of his flight and fell. He quickly grabs hold of the opposite wings and addresses the cocky Echidna. Blaze was also surprised by this that her cheeks start to become as red as her blazing form.
"Wha- What on Earth are you saying?!" His cheeks then start to blush red as he tries so hard to hide his feelings.
"Come on, Silver. I've seen the way you look at her whenever she's not paying attention. You should just tell her and get it over with." Knuckles points out.
"There's nothing between us." Silver expressed back at him in embarrassment. "Blaze and I are friends. Just friends!"
"Yes, that's right!" Blaze cuts Knuckles off before he could continue.
"Besides, even if I did have feelings for him, my parents would never approve of it. Me being royalty in the Sol Dimension and all."
Silver was taken aback by what she'd just said. She didn't approve of feelings towards him. But she also didn't deny it either… Maybe there might be some hope of a relationship. Though her being royalty would be an issue.
Tails quickly changed the subject by asking Knuckles how much closer they are to reach the Colossus Clan's civilisation.
Knuckles closes his eyes and focuses his mind on picturing the route to the Colossus Clan the Master Emerald had embedded inside his head.
"We've already flown half an hour now. The emerald says we should make a right once we're outside the city below us and keep going until we come across a forest-covered mountain. After that, we take a left and go straight onward. Everything after that is a blur for some strange reason."
"Maybe the information will become clear once we've reached the mountain?" Silver guessed.
"Or maybe the mountain is where our destination is," Blaze stated.
"We'll find out once we get there." Tails told them.
The Tornado continued to fly onwards through the sky, with Tails following Knuckles' instructions thoroughly.
"Still though." Tails spoke up, breaking the silence of the crew. "I can't believe Maria Robotnik was brought back by Eggman. And now Shadow's killing giants to save her life? Part of me kinda wished I could see them. From what you told us, Knuckles, science would have a difficult time figuring out the anatomy of these Colossai. I just find it fascinating."
"Yeah. Too bad the mad Hedgehog is going on a path of genocide." Knuckles reminded him. "I know Shadow can be ruthless at times. But this is something I didn't think even he was capable of."
"When it comes to saving your loved ones, you'd be surprised what lengths you'd be willing to go," Silver replied. He then looks over at Blaze for a brief moment, remembering how she was killed when she was accepted as the vessel for
"Even if his intentions are good. Shadow could risk dooming the entire world if we do not stop him now." Blaze points out. "Death is just a part of life we all need to accept. I just wish Shadow would see that."
The remainder of the trip continued in silence as each member was thinking about the whole situation. Some of them even think about how things would've been better off if Eggman never made that clone body, or if Maria was never killed in the first place.
To Be Continued