Shadow the Hedgehog of the Colossus
Chapter 6: Phaedra
The room fell silent. Only the sounds of shocked gasps and panicked murmurs among the Echidna over the news they have just received from the strangers standing before their Lord, Emon, can be heard.
Even Emon himself was shocked by this revelation. He has a brief flashback of his people being forced to flee the Forbidden Lands and watch as Dormin destroyed everything they've built.
He was only a child when it happened, implying that he has lived a very long life. He only remembers certain things from his past. Such as Dormin destroying their homes. The sixteen Colossai being forced into a state of slumber. And his people crossing the bridge to escape the Forbidden Lands.
"D- Dormin! … That is not possible. They have been sealed away for hundreds of years." Emon denied. "Dormin can only be resurrected if one were to kill the sixteen Colossai protecting the land."
"That's exactly what we came here to warn you about." Knuckles spoke out. "One of our allies, Shadow the Hedgehog, has travelled to the Forbidden Lands in hopes of bringing a young girl who died fifty years ago back to life in a cloned body."
"And the only way to do that is to use the Forbidden Spell. To do that, he needs to kill the Colossai and steal their power." Blaze added.
The other Echidna Shamans were all shaken by this news. One of them then quickly approaches Lord Emon.
"Lord Emon, the statues!"
Emon realising what he meant, Emon orders his guards to lead them, and the heroes, out of the temple.
They quickly make their way to the right-side temple, busting the doors open with a strong kick.
Upon opening the doors, Emon and his followers were shocked at what they were seeing. The whole temple was littered with statues of the sixteen Colossai, similar in appearance to the room in the Shrine of Worship.
Among the sixteen statues, three of them were already destroyed, implying that three of the Colossai have already been slain.
"No… This can't be happening!" Emon says in disbelief.
The heroes soon enter the temple and take in the sights of the statues. Suddenly, another statue begins to crack and beams of light seep out of it as they continue to grow.
"Lord Emon, look!" One of the other Shamans yelled out, pointing to the statue as it exploded into dust and pieces.
The room fell silent once again as everyone was still processing what had just happened. Now four of the Colossai have fallen. At this rate, they'll all be killed. And once that happens…
"My Lord, what do we do?" One of the warriors asked him, hoping he'd have a plan.
Emon took a moment to process what was going on and takes a moment to regain his composure.
"The strangers speak the truth. Someone is trying to perform the Forbidden Spell. We can't let them kill any more of the Colossai." He then turns to one of the warriors. "You there. Tell your captain to ready his strongest warriors."
The random warrior nods and rushes out of the temple. Emon then turns to one of the guards standing by the door. "You go to the stables and tell the breeders to ready our horses."
The Guard nods and heads off to carry out his task. Emon then turns to the four heroes and addresses them.
"I thank you for telling us of this disaster. But you must return to wherever you came from. My warriors and I will travel to the Forbidden Lands and put a stop to this "Shadow the Hedgehog" ourselves."
As Emon was about to leave he was stopped by Tails, who demanded clarification on what he planned to do once he reaches the Forbidden Lands.
"Wait! What will happen if Shadow succeeds in his mission?"
"If your friend kills all of the Colossai. He may indeed bring back whoever he's trying to resurrect… But he will also resurrect Dormin themselves. If that happens, they will track us down and finish what they started decades ago." Emon explained.
"So, it's true then?" Blaze spoke up. "The power to bring the dead back is a part of Dormin's power?"
Emon nods in response. "Your friend has done something unforgivable. By stealing the Ancient Sword we've hidden away, and slaying the first Colossus, he has already allowed Dormin's darkness to corrupt him. We must destroy him before it's too late!"
"No!" Silver yelled out, grabbing everybody's attention. "You can't kill Shadow. As much as I hate to admit it. He's one of the world's strongest protectors. We need him… Let us talk him out of it. Once he realises what'll happen, he'll stop."
Blaze shakes her head in response. She thinks back to what Shadow said to her when he broke into her, and Silver's, house that night. That he was willing to give up anything to bring Maria back… Including his own life. Even if they did talk to him, he'd never listen. Even if he knew deep down bringing her back would result in the end of the world.
"He'll never listen to us. Shadow cares about Maria too much to allow the resurrection of Dormin to stop him from bringing her back." Blaze attempted to explain. "You once had that same thought when I sacrificed myself to seal away Iblis, Silver. If someone attempted to stop you from bringing me back, would you let them?" She asked.
Silver was hesitant in answering that question. As much as he would deny it, he knew deep down that a part of him would keep driving him forward if there was a chance of saving the girl he loved.
"The princess speaks the truth." Emon interrupted. "This Shadow has gone too far to be forgiven for the sins he has committed. He is a danger to my people, and the entire world, if he continues this crusade. Therefore, we must destroy him for the sake of the planet."
The Echidna Warriors draw their weapons and have them pointed at the four heroes again.
"You strangers care for this Shadow and believe he can be reasoned with. But I have seen firsthand what Dormin is capable of. I will NOT let my people go through that nightmare again. Guards, escort the strangers to the dungeons."
"What?!" Knuckles and Silver yelled in anger. The two of them then prepare to fight the warriors and plan their escape. But Blaze gets in between them and grabs their arms.
"Don't! It'll only make things more difficult. It's for the best that we go along with this for now."
Knuckles and Silver did not like this idea one bit. But they both trust Blaze's judgement. Starting a fight with them would only risk people getting hurt.
"A wise decision," Emon commented as he watched his guards lead them away. He then addresses his fellow councilmen. "I will be leading the warriors to the Forbidden Lands myself. You are all in charge of maintaining the peace within these walls until we return.
The shamans all bow to him and exit the temple. Emon soon does the same and stands atop the tall stairs leading back down to the ground. He takes in the view of his beautiful paradise, as well as the Echidna living within it.
He fears that if he does not stop Shadow from killing the Colossai, then everything, and everyone, within these walls will be destroyed.
"My ancestors fought hard and sacrificed so much to ensure Dormin's imprisonment. I will not allow you to make it all amount for nothing… Mark my words, Shadow the Hedgehog… You will atone for your sins."
The moment Shadow the Hedgehog opened his eyes he was not fazed by the black void and the rippling tunnel of light at the end. He's been here twice now. He is familiar with the way this works.
Instead of wasting time thinking, he makes a break for the tunnel. He curls up into a spin dash to get to the end of the tunnel as quickly as possible. And just like before, the closer he got, the brighter the light became until it swallowed him whole.
Shadow's vision was blurry for a time as a result of the blinding light. He had difficulty making out his surroundings. Rubbing his eyes, his vision slowly starts to come back to him. He was expecting to wake up back in the Shrine of Worship. But that wasn't the case this time.
"What is this? Where's the shrine?" Shadow questioned himself. He was not standing within the shrine this time. Instead, he was standing in the lobby of a human hospital.
He thoroughly looks over the entire area, trying to deduce why he was brought here instead of the shrine.
His ears perk up over the sounds of footsteps coming down the hallway. He glances behind him and sees that they belonged to a random male nurse looking down at his clipboard.
"You there! How did I get here- Shadow attempts to grab the nurse and force an answer out of him. But he was surprised to see that the nurse had just phased through him and was unable to hear him speak.
Just what was going on here? Is he still in the void and has it transformed into a virtual world? If that was the case, why would he fabricate a hospital? Being the Ultimate Lifeform, he did not need to visit a hospital. His body is capable of self-healing, and he can never contract any kind of disease. And even if he didn't have those feats, he wouldn't go to a human hospital.
"Why am I here? What's the purpose of showing me this, Dormin?" He called out to the entity, expecting a response. But there was none.
Shadow then notices a lone man sitting all by himself in the waiting area. He was anxiously checking his watch while reading one of the hospital's old, out-of-date magazines.
Shadow would've dismissed him as a random human and nothing more. But there was something familiar about this one. He feels like he may have met this man somewhere before. He hasn't interacted with many humans since he'd awakened on Prison Island. Outside of Eggman, Maria, and Gerald Robotnik. The only other humans he's met were the GUN Commander, the other scientists aboard the ARK, and the occasional damsels in distress he happened to come across whenever he was running or doing his usual brooding.
Shadow approached the man to get a proper look at him. Since he cannot be seen or heard by anyone in this place – wherever it is – it wouldn't make the person uncomfortable.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the man was slightly wide in girth. He had a full head of brown hair and a brown moustache. His outfit consisted of a long beige trench coat, black boots, and white gloves. He also wore a pair of round glasses that looked similar to Eggman's.
"Wait a second… Is that Doctor Eggman?"
Before Shadow could either confirm or deny who this man was, a female nurse bursts through the doors to the surgery wing of the hospital and approaches the man.
Excuse me, Mister-
"It's Doctor." The man interrupted her. "Doctor Robotnik."
"It IS Eggman? Shadow thought to himself, even though there was no point in keeping his thoughts to himself since nobody can see or hear him.
"Sorry, Doctor." The nurse bows to him. "I just came to tell you that your daughter-in-law is delivering her baby!"
The young Robotnik was overjoyed by this news and wasted no time following the nurse to the surgery wing. Shadow follows behind, curious as to what the doctor's past may reveal. He knew very little about Eggman's past. And whilst he is still confused about why he'd been sent back in time to his past, to begin with, he still wishes to see what motivated him to go down the path of the egg-shaped mad scientist in the first place.
When Shadow reached the room the young Robotnik was in, he couldn't help but glance away at the birthing process his daughter-in-law was going through. The sounds of her painful screams seemed to be echoing throughout the room. It was so disturbing to him, that he had no time to question how Eggman has a daughter-in-law.
This went on for a few more minutes until the doctors finally succeeded in delivering the baby. Shadow glances round to catch a glimpse of the baby as they had just cut the umbilical cord, washed off the blood, and wrapped it up in a towel before handing it to the young Robotnik. He also noticed that the end of the bed had a plaque on it that read "Meredith Sanders" Which he guessed was the daughter-in-law's name.
"Congratulations, Doctor Robotnik. You are now a grandfather." The nurse says joyfully as she hands the baby to him.
Shadow's eyes shot wide open in shock upon realising that he'd made a mistake in his speculation. This man wasn't Eggman… It was a younger Gerald Robotnik. And that baby he was holding, it was either Maria or the real Eggman.
"Technically I'm already a grandfather to young Ivo. But his father and I are no longer on speaking terms." Gerald says regrettably as he looks down at the baby.
"Let me see my baby, Father." Gerald's daughter-in-law says weakly. Probably still recovering from the birthing process.
"Of course, Meredith." Gerald smiles and hands his daughter-in-law her baby.
Shadow moves closer to the other side of the hospital bed Meredith was lying in to get a closer look at the baby she was caressing.
"Maria. It's you, isn't it?" Shadow speaks to the baby even though he knew there would be no reply.
"Have you decided what to call her?" Gerald asks.
Meredith weakly nods and kisses her baby's forehead. "I am gonna call her… Maria. Named after my grandmother."
"Maria Robotnik." Gerald voices out loud. He nods in approval, liking the sound of that. Gerald's smile then disappears as sad thoughts passed through his mind. "If only my son was here to see this. He would've been so proud of you both, as I am now."
Shadow listened carefully to their conversation as he continued to look down at baby Maria. Before he realised it, a small smile formed on his face as the baby's eyes opened and seemed to be fixed on him. It almost felt like she was looking right at him, even though that wouldn't be possible at this moment.
He would never admit it to anyone. But Shadow does have a soft spot for cute things. He may act like a brooding bad boy a lot of the time and act like he doesn't give a damn about anyone or anything. But that's mostly how he wants people to see him. Showing them his softer side in his eyes would be an act of weakness and tarnish his title as the Ultimate Lifeform.
Maria, as well as a couple of others, he'd grown to like and consider his friends. While everyone else he either viewed as inferior or just tolerable.
He's been so fixed on Maria that he only now begins to notice that the heart monitor that Meredith was attached to was beeping a lot faster than it usually should be doing. And it did not slow. It only ended up getting faster and faster.
He quickly turns to Meredith and was shocked to see her having a seizure, as well as coughing up a ton of blood. Some of it even landed on Maria, causing the baby to cry.
The doctors take quick action and attend to their patients. One of them took the baby from her and placed her in a plastic cot.
"What's happening?! I demand to know!" Gerald raised his voice at the doctors and nurses who were now forcing him out of the room.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you need to wait outside." The nurse argues as she pushes him out of the room entirely.
Shadow attempts to look over Meredith to see what's wrong. But his entire body starts to feel a force pulling him away from her. He fights against the force with all his super strength, but it eventually proved futile.
As he was being dragged away, he can hear the heart monitor go flat-lined, implying that Meredith is now dead. The sounds of the doctors arguing, and Maria crying echoed throughout the room as he got further and further away.
"Wait! Not yet!" Shadow tries to fight against the force again. "I need to see what happens next! Not yet, Goddamnit!"
Agro was worried over the way Shadow was tossing and turning in his sleep. He must've been having a nightmare, she thought… A very deep one at that.
The now three Shades standing over him had already vanished, and the statue of Gaius had already fallen. Shadow should've woken up by now, yet he continued to talk and move about in his sleep.
Agro walks over to her hedgehog friend and nuzzles against the side of his head, trying to avoid pricking herself on his spiky quills in the process. She kept on doing it until the Ultimate Lifeform finally woke up.
Agro let out a small happy neigh in response, relieved that he wasn't in a coma or worse.
"Oh, so now I'm back in the real world," Shadow muttered sarcastically. As he got back up, Shadow contemplated what he'd just seen. He couldn't tell if what he'd just experienced was a dream, a memory, or both. And whose memories were they? Gerald's or Maria's?
"What was that I saw? It looked like I was reliving Maria's life."
"That is because thou are." Dormin bellowed, grabbing the black hedgehog's attention.
"Dormin. Those memories I saw. Were they really Maria's?" He asked.
"Yes." Dormin's voice echoed throughout the chamber. "Thy soul has grown stronger with every Colossus thou kill. As a result … Thy can access the maiden's soul, through her memories… Killing the Colossai and obtaining power is but the first part of the ritual. To complete the spell, thou must reach the end of the maidens' memories to the point where she dies."
"I see…" Shadow had a feeling that this may be the case. The first two times he went to the void he only saw fragments of Maria. But now he's gathered enough power to access her memories. But he still needs to gather the rest to view the rest of the past and reach her soul.
Shadow picks up the ancient sword from his side and sheathes it on his back once again. Dormin shines a light on the next colossus on the left side of the wall. The statue of a Colossus looked like a horse with the name "Phaedra" written underneath it.
"Thy next foe is… In the land of vast green fields… Rows of guiding graves… It is giant indeed. But fearful, it is not."
Shadow nodded and was ready to run out of the shrine to his next destination. Drawing the sword, he follows its light beam which was pointing in the canyon northwest of his current position.
As Shadow ran across the valley, he wondered what ability he'd lost this time around after defeating Gaius. First, he'd lost his instinctual reaction timing, then he'd lost the ability to jump high and long distances. He hasn't lost any of his Chaos Powers yet, thankfully. So far, all his losses were physical strengths. Maybe it was a sign of his body getting weaker from the black substance he keeps getting shot with.
Shadow then, to his confusion, starts finding himself slowing down. His legs were aching. His breathing had gotten heavier. And he was starting to feel dehydrated. This was all new for him. He'd never gotten tired before. As the Ultimate Lifeform, he does not need to eat, drink, or even sleep. His body was built to harness the infinite power of the Chaos Emeralds. It could keep going for days on end without losing any stamina.
Shadow soon came to a stop as he started to catch his breath. His body bent over forwards, hand on his knees, trying to keep himself from collapsing to the rocky ground. He then starts to cough uncontrollably as he'd pushed his body too far too quickly.
"My body… *Coughs repeatedly* It feels tired… But I can't be tired. I never get tired!" Shadow struggled to even form a sentence due to his rapidly heavy breathing.
Just as he'd feared. He had indeed lost something valuable to him. His unlimited stamina. His body feels just as a mortal creature felt when it was tired. Limited stamina is gonna put a major handicap on his capabilities from this moment onward. And it's even worse because there were still thirteen Colossai left to kill.
Shadow decided to take it easy from this point on and walked towards his destination. This was a painful waste of time for him, but he had no other choice. It was either slowly regaining his stamina for the upcoming battle or continuing to run there and being too tired to fight the Colossus.
He ended up walking a few miles down the dark cave-like area, with the sword's sunbeam as his only source of light. He is so glad that he came alone on this mission. Had Sonic decided to tag along he'd probably annoy him by saying he's too slow. Whenever he decides to respect his blue counterpart, he somehow finds a way to make him take it back in an instant.
"My body has recovered enough now. But it's probably best that I save my strength for Phaedra. How do humans function with weak bodies like this?" He thought to himself.
Shadow finally reaches the end of the cave and steps out into the open again. What lay in front of him was another open field area surrounded by walls of rock and trees. Directly below him was a pit with a tiny flow of water at its centre. He couldn't see any way out if someone were to fall there. He thought it best he doesn't try to jump across, otherwise he'd be trapped.
The field ahead of him had four sloped mounds opposite each other like someone marked a giant plus sign in the ground. The cause of these mounds was stone tunnels that appeared to be leading underground.
Shadow ignored them for now and took the side path down to the field. But instead of walking, he did a light jog. That way he could spend less energy and get down there a lot quicker.
He approaches the stone tunnels and takes a look inside. They led underground. But he couldn't figure out why. So, being the curious hedgehog he is, he goes down the south tunnel and made his way down to a dark hallway.
Using the sword, Shadow lights up the whole place. But upon doing so, he was surprised to see that the walls of the hallway were decorated with coffins. They were all made of stone and had moss growing off of them. Shadow didn't need to look inside one of the coffins to know that this was a tomb, and these coffins were filled with dead Echidna. He's not too curious to the point he'd desecrate one of them and catch a whiff of the foul stench of the deceased.
Satisfied with his answer, Shadow exits the tomb through the north tunnel and takes in a deep breath of fresh air. Whoever built this place probably thought it is better to hide the bodies of their dead in a sealed-off area to prevent grave robbing or something like that.
Shadow soon noticed a massive horse statue sitting at the end of the field to the left. Its appearance reminded him of the wooden Trojan horse from one of the human mythologies.
As he got closer to it, the ground started to shake beneath his feet. The supposed horse statue then begins to move and climb up on its four spider-like legs. That was no statue. It was the fourth Colossus. As it stands up, Shadow noticed that it had a huge stone ribcage hanging on its underside. Its head and legs were all stone, and it had stone-like chains dangling from the sides of its head. Its back and top of its head were covered in navy-blue fur.
The Colossus stretches its body back after getting up from its resting place for the first time in over a hundred years. The sounds it made sounded just like a horse as well, only lower pitched and slightly demonic.
Its blue glowing eyes turn to orange upon seeing the little intruder that had disturbed its slumber. It slowly makes its way towards him, its eyes not leaving him for a second.
That was the moment Shadow decided to run like hell. While he can still run at the speed of sound, he tries to hold himself back to conserve energy. The area he was in was pretty small and closed off, so he didn't have anywhere to run to.
Shadow glances back and uses the sword to reveal Phaedra's weak spots. Unlike the others, this one only had one. The top of its head, which seems to be every Colossai's weak spot, that he's seen so far.
Phaedra suddenly comes to a stop to Shadow's confusion. It then stands up on its hind legs and flosses its front legs around before bringing them back down again. As its front legs impact the ground, Shadow is knocked over by the shockwave of the tremors the Colossus made.
This was Phaedra's chance to squash the insect. Using the momentum of the leg stomp, the giant horse started picking up speed, trotting towards its tiny foe.
Panicked, Shadow quickly spin-dashed forwards and got across the fields until he came to a stop at the south tunnel entrance. He briefly looks back to see that Phaedra was still charging for him. Shadow quickly heads down into the tunnel to take shelter from the attack.
Phaedra comes to a stop upon noticing that the small black hedgehog had disappeared. Its eyes change back to blue as it halts its attacks to scout him out.
It didn't take long for it to notice the tunnel directly underneath it. Phaedra bends its long neck downwards and tries to take a look inside. Its blue eye catches a glimpse of Shadow hiding in the shadows.
Phaedra attempts to get at him by shoving its huge stone-covered head inside but was unable to reach him. Shadow backs away from the entrance and heads back into the tomb.
Phaedra changes tactics by attempting to cause a cave-in by bringing its front legs down on top of the tunnel entrance, flattening the mound into the field again.
Unbeknownst to it, however, was the fact that all four tunnels were connected, and Shadow was able to exit out the opposite side while dodging the falling debris and dust coming out of the ceiling.
Once out of the tomb, Shadow peeked out from behind the mound to get a good look at his giant foe. Phaedra was still attempting to get at him through the south tunnel, believing him to still be inside. Now's his chance to get the drop on him now his back is turned.
Shadow rushes over to the horse Colossus's back and leaps onto its flank. Phaedra instantly felt the impact and lifted its head back up. It can feel the hedgehog running along its back to reach its head. Phaedra shakes its body side to side to shake him off. But, like all the Colossai that came before it, it proved futile.
Shadow, however, was unable to reach the top of Phaedra's head as its neck was too high and covered in stone, so climbing was out of the question.
Shadow readies himself to fire a Chaos Spear at its head to get it to bend down. But he stopped as the Colossus attempted another wild shake, forcing him to grab on tight to its fur. Through the fur, he notices a crack in its stone-like skin. A tiny amount of the black substance was leaking out of it.
Shadow knows for a fact that using the ancient sword to stab the vitals marked with the symbol is the only way to kill the Colossai. But what if he were to strike an exposed wound? It probably wouldn't kill the Colossus, even if he used the sword. But like all wounds, he knows for a fact that if one were to touch or damage it, it would hurt like hell.
Shadow raises his left fist high while still using his other hand to hold onto the fur. He brings his fist down hard onto the crack, hitting it as hard as he could. Phaedra let out a painful growl and lowers its head slightly in response. Shadow uses this moment to climb down to the top of its head.
Phaedra shakes his head about a lot before Shadow had a chance to unsheathe the sword.
The giant horse then makes another attempt to sprint in the opposite direction from where it just came from. It once again stood up on its hind legs and lets out a battle cry-like neigh as it flosses its front legs.
"Not this time!" Shadow shouted as he unsheathes the sword finally.
Phaedra, however, has already begun its charge. Running as fast as its spider-like legs can carry. Hoping that it'll finally knock him off.
Shadow notices that the giant stone horse was heading for the side of the mountain, probably attempting to smash its head into it, resulting in him getting crushed.
Shadow holds on tight to the stone crown on its forehead as he positions the sword above the centre of the symbol. And with all his speed and strength, plunges the blade into the beast's head.
Phaedra let out a pain-filled groan as its body begins to lose balance and fall to the side, landing directly in the middle of the plus sign tunnels. The lights in its eyes go out as Shadow removes the sword. Plumes of black shadowy smoke erupt out of its wound.
Shadow leaps off of the dead Colossus and makes a run for it to the cave exit. He was curious to see if the black tendrils will still be able to possess his body even if he were miles away from it.
As he runs down the cave, the black tendrils emerge from Phaedra's body once it was completely covered in blackness. Shadow continues to run and refuses to look back.
The tendrils chase after him, not letting him out of their sight – if they had eyes.
Shadow was only able to reach halfway out of the canyon he'd run out of breath in before the tendrils finally caught up to him and entered his body.
"Just as I thought." He says mentally as he has grown too tired to speak now. "No matter how far I go, these things will always catch me. I'm powerless to stop these things from weakening me any further."
As he was starting to lose consciousness, Shadow thinks about Maria's birth again, and the look she gave him when she opened her eyes properly for the first time.
"Maria… I got to see you when you were born… I wonder what else I'll be seeing from your past after that. Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be interesting."
Shadow then collapses to his knees as his eyes slowly close once again. His body goes limp and falls forwards, hitting the rock-hard ground. Another well-deserved rest after another intense battle.
To Be Continued