"All alone…"
The soft crackle of energy was the only sound being made in the room. It would seem this was her fate - to die knowing she was a fool.
Rouge had always prided herself on one thing – her ability break free from the chains that had her shackled, to choose the person she wanted to be and have full autonomy over her life.
How ironic was it, then? She was about to die at the hands of the man who had used her as a tool. She had no say in the matter, no control – he had been pulling the strings throughout their entire alliance, yet she had been completely blind to it.
This wasn't the first time she had been used, but she thought she'd learned.
Now, her failings had doomed the world.
That planet had been cruel to her, by and large. Yet only in this moment could she see that there had been things of worth – whether they saw eye-to-eye or not, Tangle's genuine kindness had been undeniable. That lemur had tried, she really had – to be a good friend, but all Rouge did was turn her away.
In less than an hour, that girl was going to die too.
"I'm sorry, Tangle…" Rouge whispered, raising her head so that her eyes could meet the weapon that was to take her life.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Rouge saw a mound of grey fur in the corner of her eye suddenly shoot past her. Shadow's body was suddenly flung backwards through the air after it made contact.
Rouge twisted her head to the entrance of the room – seeing none other than Tangle and Whisper. The lemur's tail was outstretched – reaching even further to grab the hedgehog in the air.
Why was she-?
Tangle caught nothing as the hedgehog disappeared.
Was it just the two girls? How did they get here? Rouge twisted her head to get a look at her surroundings – and when looking towards the emerald, her eyes widened upon seeing Knuckles perched on the central computer, trying to reach up and grab his emerald from the older.
Shadow had other plans – rematerializing in the air, striking Knuckles with a kick that knocked him down. The echidna grunted when he hit the floor but rolled himself back up quickly.
Shadow landed down in front of him, staring into each other's eyes with fury.
It was evident that all the combatants were becoming aware of just how little space they had to work with. There was barely much room on the platform holding the computer, and the bridge leading up to it was narrow, devoid of railings – making it far too easy to slip into the abyss below.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Shadow exclaimed; his voice altered with an even thicker layer of distortion. The fur on his body was being rapidly replaced with scales.
Shadow managed to swerve out of the way of one of Whisper's beams that she sent his way.
"Saving the world!" Tangle retorted. "And stopping you!" Tangle attempted to batter him again with her tail, but Shadow flipped over it.
Knuckles utilised the temporary distraction, ducking and sliding underneath Tangle's tail to intercept Shadow with a blow to his chest.
The hedgehog gasped in pain – and landed down on the bridge.
Whisper didn't give him a moment to recover, instead she ran ahead. For the first time, everyone was able to see another feature of her weapon's many functions.
Additional holographic parts were omitted from the weapon – creating a hammer. She brought it down on the hedgehog's stomach and he spluttered out a cough from the hit.
In retaliation, he fired off a small ball of chaos energy directed at her face – forcing her to leap backwards off of him to avoid it.
Knuckles thought he had a good shot of landing a hit from behind, winding back his arm before launching it at the back of his head.
Miraculously, the Ultimate Life Form had somehow sensed the incoming attack, tilted his head aside to narrowly miss the attack. Shadow swivelled around and quickly seized Knuckles' arm. He swung him around his body before shouting and heaving him off of the bridge.
Thankfully, the echidna wasn't about to find out what lie in the abyss – as Tangle managed to snatch up the echidna inside of her tail, catching him during the fall.
"Thank you." Knuckles said as the lemur let go of him, only finding time to talk as Whisper tried to land further strikes with her hammer, but Shadow was swiftly evading.
"Dude, don't mention it!" Tangle told him, before charging ahead. She extended her tail again – wrapping it around one of Shadow's ankles, picking the hedgehog up and bashing him several times against the ground.
Until he warped again and kicked Tangle in the back of the head. She keeled over as a result, wincing in pain.
He moved ahead at a blinding pace, punching Whisper in the face before she even had a chance to react. She grunted, dazed – and Shadow used her momentary loss of balance to his advantage. He snatched her weapon from her hands and swung at the wolf – sending her flying back to the opposite end of the bridge.
Shadow smirked in satisfaction, until he saw that the area beneath his feat was surrounded by a green aura.
Instinctively, he looked towards Knuckles. The echidna was holding out his hand, and his eyes were glowing an emerald green.
The aura of energy suddenly burst into an explosion that sent Shadow flying up into the air. The hedgehog yelled loudly and dropped Whisper's weapon, and Knuckles warped to him in mid-air – throwing down a punch that sent Shadow back hurtling towards the ground.
Knuckles landed down, and immediately pinned Shadow to the floor. The hedgehog thrashed and attempted to struggle, but Knuckles was far stronger.
"Guys!"
Rouge's voice caught everyone's attention. Although the bat lay on the ground, she pointed upwards – revealing to everyone that the Master Emerald was being engulfed in a harsh, white light.
Then it disappeared.
Knuckles' grip on Shadow's arms tightened, and there was unmistakeable crack. Shadow winced in agony, but remarkably kept himself from screaming.
"Where is the emerald?"
Like a mad man, Shadow smirked – and let out a low chuckle. "It's moved itself to the Cannon's Core – helping keep the ARK on course to crash into Mobius. Although now that it's there… I wonder if the Biolizard is awake."
"The wha-?" Tangle asked, blinking as she stood up – grimacing in pain due to her aching muscles.
A deafening roar sounded out through the ARK, rattling the ground.
"That answers that then." Shadow showed his teeth in a manic grin, his fangs slowly growing even larger. He kicked up into Knuckles' stomach and managed to get the echidna away from him.
Rouge, despite how hard she tried to stay awake, slipped out of conciousness.
"We have to move and get to the emerald." Whisper told Tangle after grabbing hold of her weapon again.
Knuckles seemed to catch wind of what the girls were planning to do. Locked in a confrontation with the hedgehog, Knuckles would distract him to allow the girls to run to the Core.
"Right!" Tangle nodded to Whisper.
Shadow turned his head to them, but in doing so – Knuckles managed to deliver a couple of direct punches into the hedgehog's chest, before hitting him with a third one that had an even bigger wind up – resulting in Shadow being sent flying.
Shadow saved himself through the use of his air shoes – and he quickly searched the room. The girls were gone…
Fine. There was nothing they could do anyway.
From opposite ends of the bridge, Shadow and Knuckles stared each other down. "Well?" Shadow said. "Show me what you're made of, Guardian."
"You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog. I thought that capsule you were in exploded in space." Shadow said, taking Sonic by surprise as he emerged from behind.
The two ended up walking side by side, and Sonic found a grin creeping up on his face. "You know… what can I say? I die hard!" The hedgehog briefly looked down towards the fake emerald that shone in his hand. "You actually saved me, you know."
"It was a chaos emerald, wasn't it?" Shadow questioned, his brows furrowing. "But there's no way you could have activated the Chaos Control using an Emerald that's fake."
Inexplicably, they picked up their pace at the same time – entering a jog, as though they had somehow read each other's minds. "So, there's more to you than just looking like me." Shadow observed. "What are you, anyway?"
There was a genuine curiosity behind the question, almost a disbelief that such a mobian could exist.
"What you see is what you get - just a guy that loves adventure!" While Sonic knew the vague answer was bound to toy with him, he found it to be simply the truth. "I'm Sonic the hedgehog!"
"I see." Shadow said, knowing that probing wouldn't get him any further – and perhaps he didn't even need to. It wasn't going to change what lie ahead. "But you know, I can't let you live."
Sonic broke into a run, Shadow skated – matching each other's speeds. "Your adventuring days are coming to an end!"
It had been so easy back then.
There wasn't much to think about – Shadow was the bad guy, so Sonic was going to stop him. Their fight, even on the brink of the end of the world, had been a thrill – it had been fun. No one had challenged him in quite the way Shadow had before.
Sonic stood, watching the hedgehogs from the past speed away and duke it out in what they had assumed would be their last bout. Seeing the memory before him caused his mouth to set in a firm but uncomfortable line.
He couldn't let things get to this point again. Sonic had tried everything to get through to the alternate version of him – which meant either Sonic was just really bad at appealing to others, or Shadow was just too far gone.
No, it couldn't be the latter. Shadow was strong, in fact – the word strong didn't honestly do him justice. Sonic knew that at least some part of him was clinging to his true memories and identity.
Amy was always uniquely insightful, and her heart was filled to the brim with so much compassion that it was a wonder it had yet to burst. It only made sense that she had been the one to bring him to his senses.
Still, Sonic had known him for years now… so why was he having so many difficulties now? Surely, surely he should know how to reach him by now. Yet he didn't. It all made Sonic wonder if he really should have gotten to know him better.
"Reminiscing, are we?"
Shadow sounded as monotone as ever, but Sonic's shoulders jolted regardless in surprise. The hedgehog turned around – and saw Shadow had been surprisingly close behind him, leaning forward almost to the point of talking in his ear.
Sonic stepped back – facing him with wide eyes.
"You know, there's little point in dwelling about the past." Shadow added. It was certainly ironic coming from him.
Sonic then sighed.
"So… you here to taunt me, or?" Sonic was used to how these nightmares went by now. He looked onto the two other hedgehogs that still fought in the distance, and saw they were almost out of sight. Sonic wondered what this dream version of Shadow had to say.
The dark hedgehog straightened himself up, blinking once. "That would be a waste of not only my time, but yours as well."
"Huh." Sonic folded his arms in disbelief, trying to force a confident grin on his face that wouldn't come. "Then if you're so hung up on time, then let's get this over with. I'm dealing with enough when I'm awake, let alone sleeping."
Shadow squinted.
"You do realize you are talking to me, right?"
"What is that thing?!" Tangle asked, flabbergasted at the towering, humongous lizard before them. It had bright orange skin, and mechanical wirings that almost seemed to be holding the whole thing together.
"Perhaps it is another of the ARK's experiments." Whisper theorized, before suddenly pointing past the beast. "Do you see over there?"
"The Master Emerald!" Tangle gasped.
"There's… an altar-like structure here that the emerald seemed to be placed within." She observed. "If we can fight past this monster, we can get to it."
"Yes, ma'am!" Tangle nodded. They sprinted right inside the room and were immediately in close quarters with the creature.
It was certainly hostile. It bellowed another roar.
Immediately, Whisper fired off a laser – and then several, to assess the amount of damage that had been done as a result.
Nothing – not even the slightest burn. The beast's skin was surprisingly durable. "Brute force will not aid us."
"Aw man, I suck at strategies-" Tangle muttered, but realized there was little she could do. Her eyes narrowed as the head of the beast kept heading for her and started to chase her in a circle with a wide and open mouth.
"Holy crud, it's trying to eat us!" Tangle exclaimed. "When do you think it ate last?!"
Whisper ran beside her. "Probably a long time ago…" She agreed, but then shook her head. "We can't lose focus. Let's try not to die today… could you possibly search for weak points instead?"
"I'll give it a go!" Tangle told the wolf, skidding to a sudden stop to stare down the beast. On the side of its head, she spotted a wire – perhaps she could use it as a rail. She hoped on and slid upwards – reaching the top of the beast's back.
"Woah-!" She let out with awe, realizing how tall she had suddenly become. The back of the creature was unusual as there was a lot of technological parts that she couldn't wrap her head around. However, there appeared to be a large red button on top.
With little options, Tangle balled up the end of her tail into a fist - and rammed it into the top of the lizard.
It snirked loudly and umcomfortbly in agony - it was clear that attacking the top of the beast was the way to go, dishing out the most damage. However, energy sparked from the button - and Tangle was flown off of the Biolizard.
Surprisingly, Whisper was able to catch Tangle in her arms.
The lemur blinked rapidly. "Tha- Tha-" She stuttered, momentarily forgetting how to say thank you. Whisper had too much to focus on to be bothered by that.
"We should be able to just repeat this process now." Whisper remarked.
"Then leave it to me!" Tangle said, and Whisper placed her down. The lemur turned to face the creature's head again. "Listen here, you ugly-! Wait woah-!" Tangle suddenly exclaimed, ducking underneath a large ball of dark energy that had suddenly been sent her way. "Where did that come from?"
"The lizard must be capable of producing it somehow." Whisper said, as another headed towards them - Whisper fire at it with her lasers rapidly, and she was able to burst the bubbles of energy. "Go. I'll cover you from the energy blasts!" The wolf informed her.
"Sounds like a solid plan to me!" Tangle grinned, managing to hop on the wire again to grind on as a rail. "We've actually got a pretty good team setup going on here!" Making it to the top again, she punched as hard as she could with her tail - causing the creature to shriek out in pain. Tangle was flung back by the sparks again, but was prepared to land herself on the ground.
Whisper pursed her lips, not that Tangle could see. Teams weren't a thing she did... not anymore. "The world is going to end in less than 30 minutes, yet you still sound so optimistic..."
"Nah, girl - I'm just coping." Tangle outright admitted. "Masking negative feelings behind jokes is just... kind of a habit, not going to lie to you- OH, WHAT IS THIS-?" Tangle found herself unable to reach the wire - as pink gooey balls flung out from the beast, hordes of them filling the air. "They look gross!"
"Almost like eggs..."
Tangle grimaced. "Ewww..."
"See if you can bounce on them to reach the top."
Tangle showed hesitance for a moment, but right now there was literally no time to afford to be fussy. Tangle bounded upwards, landing on one of the pink eggs - it burst beneath her feet, but it gave her a good jumping point to hop onto the next one. She jumped between a series of them before reaching the top, at last letting out a yell as she brought down her tail for one last punch.
The beast screeched in its defeat, rearing its large head backwards and groaning. Tangle jumped down off it, and as the large neck and head of the Biolizard flopped down with a thud that shook the ARK... the girls thought that would be the end of it.
Tangle held up a hand. "High-five!" She said to Whisper.
The two girls suddenly noticed a sparkle from the corners of their eyes. They swerved around to gawk at the beast once more as it surrounded itself in a white light, much like the Master Emerald itself had prior.
The light died down... and the Biolizard was suddenly gone. They stared with their mouths hung open.
"Ummm..." Tangle began. "Where did- where did the lizard go?"
Sonic's face twisted in mild confusion.
"I'm not part of this dream. I'm well – real, I suppose. I have managed to enter your dream with Silver's aid." Shadow said.
The blue hedgehog's mouth hung slightly agape. "Wait so, you're actually…?"
As though in answer to his question, the surroundings of the ARK faded away into nothing more than a wisp of wind, entirely giving way to an empty dark void – leaving only the two hedgehogs and their voices echoing through the realm.
"The Shadow you know, yes." Shadow nodded. "I'm all caught up with the situation – I'm here to ask about your progress with finding the Chaos Emeralds." He said, not hesitating in getting straight to business.
"Hol' up, hol' up!" Sonic waved his hands in front of him. "Not a hello or anything? This is legit probably the happiest I've ever been to see you-!" He admitted. "Don't you feel like that at all? We haven't spoken in a while…"
Shadow frowned, although he certainly seemed a little taken aback, "I'm… glad you're not dead?"
"I'll take that." Sonic immediately accepted that as the best he was going to get. "You aren't a guy with many words so, bring it in-" Sonic said, holding his arms out to wrap the other hedgehog in an embrace.
Shadow was quick to back away. "Nope, we aren't doing that." He made himself clear. "We have never been on hugging terms and that isn't starting now."
"Right, right-" Sonic said, but not before distancing himself just enough so that he could outstretch his arm, allowing him to give Shadow a couple of pats on the shoulder.
The other hedgehog wasn't impressed. "Sonic, are you okay?" He asked with an odd mix of annoyance, but also genuine concern.
"Me?" Sonic pointed to himself, grinning as widely as he could manage. "Of course, I'm cool! Fine and dandy!"
"You just don't usually say you're happy to be in my presence, let alone attempt an embrace- also, when have you ever said dandy?" Shadow narrowed his eyes.
"Look," Sonic brushed off his concerns. "Just a little tired, ya know? A lot's been happening."
"I can tell…"
"But it's all good in the hood! How are you, anyway?"
Shadow stared at him oddly, as though something Sonic had said something entirely foreign. "… Fine. Now, can you answer my initial question?"
"Oh, right!" Sonic clasped his hands together. "I have none! No Chaos Emeralds whatsoever!" He straight up admitted, still forcing the smile.
The black hedgehog hadn't even been smiling before, but his expression somehow dipped further into a disappointed frown. "Please tell me you're joking and that you're not that incompetent."
"Not a joke, nope! And you wanna know why progress has been slow? Because I'm dealing with you." Sonic pointed at him. "You see, alternate you is running around trying to go on a certain revenge quest that we're all familiar with – and let's just say it's been causing… problems." The more he went on, the more soulless his beaming face became.
"Ah." Shadow smacked his lips, a certain level of awkwardness hung in the air. "And do you have a plan for dealing with that?"
"Haha! Not in the slightest!" Sonic exclaimed. "I've tried everything, man. I've tried telling you your memories are fake, and that you don't actually want this – but you just aren't listening."
"Okay, so…" Shadow began.
Sonic abruptly grabbed hold of Shadow's shoulders and begun to shake his rival.
"How the hell do I get through to you?!"
"Let me- go- or I'll- hurt you-!" Shadow warned as best he could whilst he was being shaken like a tree.
Sonic didn't listen. "Because I've tried telling you everything, but if you haven't noticed – I'm not Amy Rose! What did she say to you to get your memories back?! Some type of secret phrase that unlocked them or something?! Have I been that bad of a friend to you that I don't even know how to help you when you need it most?!"
"Sonic, stop! Just… stop." Shadow grabbed hold of Sonic's arms tightly and pulled them down off of him. "What the hell's going on with you?"
"What do you mean?" Sonic was quick to ask.
Shadow let go of Sonic's arms. "We've never been friends, whenever we're in close proximity – we're either fighting or tolerating each other's presence. I don't expect you to know how to trigger my memories. You're just not that type of person anyway."
"But if I knew, then none of my friends would be in danger right now! I wouldn't be worried about the planet ticking down towards doomsday!" Sonic argued.
Shadow shook his head. "You're almost making me miss your recklessness. I thought you enjoyed these thrills."
"I do! Normally…" Sonic sighed in defeat. "Hordes of badniks? Super Gods? I'll take 'em any day of the week!" He admitted. "But now I'm in this world, I'm the only one with the knowledge of the old timeline – all the responsibility falls on me. Not just the fighting, but the.. the feeling stuff too. I don't know how to do any of that… Rouge won't listen to me; Amy is with the Empire, and I have no idea what to say to her… and Tails… Miles… I don't even know where to begin I- And now you-"
"Sonic." Shadow cut in. "Who said you have to save all of us?"
Sonic blinked - what could Shadow possibly mean?
Knuckles growled, forming a Chaos Spear in between his hands. Shadow mimicked the gesture, his smug grin refusing to budge.
"Shadow, I don't know what the hell's going on with you - but no sane person wants the entire world to die!" Knuckles tried to explain. Shadow wasn't in much of a mood to talk as he suddenly warped in front of Knuckles with an attempt to thrust his spear through Knuckles' abdomen.
The echidna generated his Chaos Shield to block the attack. The red echidna was quickly noticing more changes had occured to Shadow's body - his fur was entirely replaced by a combination of scales and ooze - and claws had burst through is gloves on the tips of his fingers.
Knuckles brought down the spear in his spare hand, trying to crash it on Shadow's head - but the hedgehog flipped to the side before attempting to launch a wave of Chaos Energy towards the echidna.
It was enough force to cause Knuckles to stumble backwards. Shadow charged ahead and sent a couple of rapid kicks at his chest.
He was sent flying off of the edge of the bridge.
Shadow looked around for a sign that the echidna had warped... but there was nothing.
"Hmph." Shadow smirked, certain Knuckles was doomed to fall into the endless abyss. What a fool... He rolled his eyes, turning to walk away. He had hoped to spend the last few minutes of his life and peace, and it would seem he was about to get his wish after all.
"ARRGH!" Knuckles' war cry split through the air, causing Shadow to turn around. The echidna had emerged from the darkness, and Shadow stared in bewilderment - the echidna was flying, He had formed a set of Angel wings behind him, outlined by green Chaos Energy.
Knuckles looked surprised of himself, and fluttered awkwardly in the air - Shadow assumed it must be his first time.
Shadow growled, and in reteliation - he sent a barrage of Chaos Spears up towards the flying echidna. His eyes widened in alarm, but he managed to akwardly swerve in the air - avoiding most. He powered through the ones that did hit - showing little reaction to the cuts or bruises he was gaining.
The echidna at last landed on the ground, making his wings disappear. Shadow didn't want to waste anytime letting Knuckles recover, so launched forward with a homing attack. However, Knuckles reacted quickly - and was able to use his hands to block it, even as Shadow drilled further into him.
Knuckles was skidding backwards, but he held his ground - keeping his arms up and countering the hedgehog's speed.
With a final push of strength, Knuckles cupped his hands around Shadow while he was in a ball - and threw the hedgehog right towards the roof. Shadow slammed into it - yelling out painfully before he dropped down onto the bridge.
It seemed to have taken some energy out of him.
"You know..." Shadow began, panting on the ground. "You confuse me... why fight for a planet you barely know? All your life you lived above them, never interacting with them - how can you confidently say that they all deserve to live?" The hedgehog asked, and Knuckles face twisted with concern when he saw that the whites of Shadow's eyes were dipping into black.
"Weren't you made here? Didn't you live here most of your life? I could ask you the same thing!" Knuckles pointed out. "What makes you think you can be the sole judge of whether a planet deserves to die or not?"
"It is not... my judgement." Shadow said. "It is that of my creator's."
"Can't think for yourself?!" Knuckles spat. "What use is an Ultimate Life Form if it doesn't have a brain?!"
Shadow's head suddenly began to twitch.
Knuckles begun to gradually step backwards, keeping his eyes locked onto Shadow.
"Must... must complete Protocol... 982 M-AR-IA"
"Shadow-?"
The hedgehog suddenly hunched over, shrieking in tremendous agony as he gripped his head. A dark purple substance began wrapping itself around the hedgehog, started with his legs, and then climbing its way up - appearing to leave Shadow as a mound of ooze.
However, it begun to take a different. It grew taller, molding itself as it cracked its limbs into place. It had tall and scaly legs, a torso that was swimming in purple goo, arms that were bulked and hardened with incredible strength - and a face that much more closely resembled that of a lizard - with darkened eyes and tiny red pupils.
Shadow was gone - and this monster had taken his place.
"Huh? What are you saying-?"
"Your objective is only to get the Chaos Emeralds to fight the Time Eater. You should be able to find the emeralds on your own – and besides, Silver said you have some allies there – surely they're enough aid if you need it." Shadow explained.
"There's so much more to it than that-"
"If there is, I don't see it." He spoke so matter-of-factly that it felt Sonic dumbfounded. "That world should not exist. It is likely to cease to exist once we defeat the Time Eater, so why bother running around after your friends in that world? All you need to do is focusing on getting our original timeline back."
"But-!"
"If that alternative version of me is getting in your way – do whatever it takes to put an end to it. You can't lose focus. Don't put anything unnecessarily in jeopardy because you're trying to save me, got it?"
Sonic took a step backwards. "Are you actually implying you're okay with me killing-?"
"You said you've tried everything to reach me, have you not? Then your options are running out. Do whatever you must to put a stop to me." One glance at Sonic's mortified expression caused Shadow to grunt. "What? It's not exactly like I'm going to be offended-"
"In no way is that something I'm comfortable doing." Sonic said with conviction, ignoring how Shadow rolled his eyes. "Shadow, that version of you is still you – he had the same life as you. Just because he's a different version doesn't make him any less worth helping. That goes for any version of you! No matter what timeline you're from, you're capable of good – and you deserve to that have that chance."
For a moment, Shadow's face softened into something indescribable – but he reverted soon after to his usual demeanour. "It's a nice sentiment – but it isn't practical-"
"I already watched you die once; I'm not going to let that happen again."
Silence.
"You had no other choice."
"I did. I could have saved you… instead I just let you fall. I didn't even try."
"You did though."
"Barely."
"Sonic, are we even remembering the same event?" Shadow asked with genuine bewilderment. "I understand my memory has been unreliable since my amnesia – but I recall quite clearly that you attempted to save me, but I knew you were running low on energy – so I pushed you away."
Sonic slowly tilted his head – which surprised Shadow. How had Sonic remembered something entirely different?
"I have always admired your determination and trying in that moment… it's something I'll never forget, but you would have fallen with me if I hadn't waved you away."
Sonic looked down towards his feet, brows furrowed.
"It would seem you are deluding yourself into feeling more guilt than necessary." Shadow remarked. "That isn't something I'd recommend."
Had Sonic really done that to himself? Had he remembered a lie? The blue hedgehog preferred not to even think back on the past – but the events of the new timeline had caused everything he had previously suppressed to suddenly resurface.
And he was remembering it all wrong.
"Now that we've established you have nothing to prove or make up for, can we discuss the matters actually at hand?" Shadow asked, eager to seal the emotional wounds that had been opened.
Even if what Shadow said was true, Sonic could have saved him. He could make it right this time, he knew it! Shadow didn't deserve to endure anymore pain than he already had – no matter what timeline he was from.
Sonic knew it was best to hold his tongue on that matter, though.
"What are you and Silver planning do on your end?" Sonic asked.
"There are a few complications, but I will be seeking out Tails as soon as I am able. We'll need his sharp mind to navigate our unusual realm."
"Do you guys have any idea of where to look for him?" Sonic asked, his ears immediately perking up.
"Silver has happened upon a train that is able to lead us to our allies. It's… disturbingly convenient to say the least. I don't trust it myself, but options are limited once again."
"When you do find him, you'll look after him for me – won't you?"
"That goes without saying."
Sonic sighed in relief.
"What do you plan to do now?" Shadow questioned.
"Honestly, I think that's for me to discuss with Knuckles when I wake up… I don't even know where we are by now, maybe Knux is still hanging in the desert. I'll find out soon enough." Sonic said, placing a hand on his hip. "This would be a whole lot easier if I could just… tell everyone the truth, you know? But everything I say is just blocked by that creature…"
"Is it just you that is affected by this? Unable to speak of the old world?"
"I mean, yeah? Who else could? It's not like Eggman's gonna admit the truth any time soon." Sonic pointed out. "And it's not like you guys can say anything either – you're in a whole other realm…"
Sonic then trailed off,
"Whole other realm… entirely…" The hedgehog's eyes widened with realization. "But you can still…"
"Sonic?" Shadow eyed him closely, and not without suspicion.
"I've had an idea… that might just be crazy enough to work."
Shadow hardly found the words reassuring.
The darkness above their heads broke – veiling them in a white light that grew in brightness. Both hedgehogs were forced to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded.
"Don't you dare do anything stupid-!" Shadow called out to the other hedgehog, both of the boys fading away, back into their separate worlds.
Sonic awoke, sitting immediately upright with a gasp. His eyes darted around, trying to make sense of his surroundings. This wasn't the pyramid base… nor their stolen airship. It was much more than that…
The hedgehog stood up rapidly, despite his dizziness. Something looked familiar about it… the design of the interior almost looked like… a space shuttle.
He, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy had once arrived on the ARK on a shuttle exactly like this.
Sonic dashed out of the door – finding himself in the ARK's hangar. He heard the unmistakeable sounds of yelling… and a roar he'd thought he'd never hear again.
"Damnit-!"
His heart raced a hundred miles a minute, and he took off – starting his desperate search for the face he needed to see.
…
Knuckles steeled his expression, gently stepping backwards to create a distance between himself and the beast – his Chaos Spear raised up, ready to throw at a moment's notice.
The creature stared him down, a purple ooze slowly dripping from its mouth – causing puddles to start collecting on the ground.
It was now way taller than he was, towering above, and it caused Knuckles to wonder just how much power would be behind those strikes now.
"GAH-!" Knuckles tossed his spear towards the creature's eye without warning. Even still, it was able to react.
Somehow, Shadow caught the spear between two of its claws. When he applied just a slight amount of pressure, the spear fizzled out into tiny sparks.
Was the beast… resistant to Chaos Energy?!
Knuckles surrounded his fists with glowing green energy – refusing to yield. He leapt up and launched two furious punches at the torso.
His fists melted into its body of goop, and Knuckles found himself momentarily struggling to break out from it. Shadow used this time as an attempt to grab at the echidna – but Knuckles managed to warp away, not giving it a chance.
This angered the beast – and it let out a horrific howl. It charged towards Knuckles, thudding the ground with each gigantic step – barely managing to fit on the bridge only thanks to its thinner legs. It was a wonder the bridge had yet to break under Shadow's weight.
Knuckles backed up again, forming his shield in defence – but an attack never came.
A determined shout sounded through the room, filling Knuckles with dread. A blue ball flew over his head – ramming straight into Shadow's head, once, then twice, three times – knocking the creature further back with each attack.
Sonic jumped down, untucking himself – looking back at the echidna.
"You okay?!" Sonic asked in panic.
"Y-yes, but-!"
"And what is that?!" Sonic pointed to the monster.
"I'm sorry, Sonic. But I couldn't- I didn't know how to help him-"
Sonic cheeks paled in cold realization. "Oh no…" He said under his breath, looking back towards the horrendous beast that had replaced his old friend. "Shadow…"
"You're going to get hurt if you stay here!" Knuckles told him. "You've barely recovered from being knocked out by that blast!"
"I don't intend to fight – I came here for a conversation!" Sonic informed him. The sound of cracks and snaps filled the air as the monster sharply readjusted its twisted limbs with jerky movements.
"And how do you propose we talk to that-?!"
"You can heal with those fancy powers of yours, right?" Sonic asked.
"I don't think that's going to do anything-!"
"I think it's like Chaos Energy! The more emotional and unstable he is, the harder it is to control! Now we've gotten to this point, the beast form has entirely taken over-"
Shadow barely even looked like a Black Arm, but some other type of monstrosity.
"Try to use your healing powers to regulate his emotional state! Calm him down!" Sonic exclaimed as Shadow was now running towards them again.
"Gah-!" Knuckles' eyes glowed an even brighter green, flames of energy being emitted from the sides of his eyes. He immediately kneeled down and placed both of his hands on the floor. A drawing of light appeared on the floor below Shadow's feet, forming a geometric design of the Master Emerald on the ground. Somehow, this managed to hold Shadow in place – rooting him to the spot.
Shadow bared his humongous fangs – hissing uncontrollably and rearing his head in an attempt to battle against the pull he felt that kept him still.
Gentle wisps of green wind began to breeze around the creature. It snarled and grunted – biting at nothing. Was this even doing anything-?
Sonic looked towards the timer – just 11 minutes left.
The hedgehog realized that Shadow's breathing had become far less ragged, and his movements were less abrupt and sharp. Sonic squinted, managing to see that the size of Shadow's fangs were reducing.
Knuckles grunted painfully on the floor, continuing to heal Shadow, and gritting his teeth through the exhaustion.
"It's okay, you've got this." Sonic smiled at him.
The echidna spared him a small glance, the emerald platform on the floor began to glow brighter.
The monster grabbed its head in pain, and it was the last Sonic was able to see of him before the beast was entirely surrounded by a soft, green haze.
The animalistic sounds had ceased, replaced by more familiar pants.
"I think that's-"
"ARGH-!"
Before Sonic had finished, Knuckles let go of the ground – taking in a deep breath of his own, his body swaying with dizziness. The hedgehog leaned down beside him temporarily, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you did good."
Knuckles could only give a weak nod.
Looking on towards where the beast had been – now it was only Shadow the Hedgehog, the scales gradually dissipating from his body and returning to his original fur.
The hedgehog was on his hands and knees – his eyes wild. "There's no hope left for you!" Shadow growled. "I've won – don't you see that?! Why are you still trying?!"
"A lot of assumptions you're makin' there, Shads." Sonic allowed an easy smile to settle on his face as he wandered towards the dark hedgehog. "A lot of things can happen in 10 minutes."
Shadow's enraged face twisted into a snarl. "How dare you stand in the way of their wish?!"
Sonic stood in front of him, looking down at the other hedgehog. "Because I know what happens here." Sonic replied, as calmly as he could manage.
Sonic reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a single sheet of folded paper.
While his Shadow may not be able to help directly, Sonic was certain that he had been given the key.
Sonic unravelled it and bent down – holding it before Shadow's eyes. "Could you read this for me?"
Shadow refused to look at it – glaring up at Sonic. "Why?"
"It's just a letter, Shadow. It can't hurt you."
Perhaps curiosity simply got the better of him, because after a few seconds of hesitation – Shadow's gaze flitted down towards the paper.
He froze.
"That's-" Shadow almost choked. "That's… my handwriting…"
"It is." Sonic smiled.
Shadow began to quickly scan over the contents.
Dear Sonic the Hedgehog,
Happy birthday. Materialistic gifts don't exactly express what I want to say to you, and I have never been particularly good with spoken words - so I hope you take the time to read this letter instead. We have fought many times yet work so well when we're together. It has been an honour to fight alongside you and your friends in many battles.
They have taught me so much. You, specifically, have taught me a lot. You have shown me how to live life to its fullest and see the bright side of the world - it's because of you and your little squad, as well as my own dear friends, that I have been able to move on past my grief and use my power to protect others.
Most importantly, you taught me to never give up. Not on the people around me, not on myself. You have always been there to challenge me - whether it is to oppose me on my ideals or in combat. By fighting you, by being with you - I have pushed myself to new heights. We have gotten stronger since our first bout and we'll only get stronger still.
I believe it is my duty as the Ultimate Life Form to surpass you. To fulfil my promise to Maria, I need to make sure I'm stronger than you so I'm working constantly at my very best to save the world and its inhabitants. I'm not going to stand for second best. I will be the hero she wants me to be, the hero that I want to be.
I'm never going to give up, I'm never going to stop fighting, so all I ask from you is that you do the same. We will push each other to new limits and ensure we are the best protectors we ever can be. It's our duty.
Thank you, Sonic. Truly, I am indebted to you.
"I never wrote this-" Shadow spoke barely louder than a breath, too stunned to mutter anything louder. "I couldn't have-"
"You did write it." Sonic said. "For my birthday."
"I don't-" Shadow clenched his teeth, before suddenly bursting. "Who are you?!" Despite his rage, he was evidently shaken – his pupils shrunken in panic as his breathing quivered.
"We've known each other for a few years now – we aren't all that close, but I know you well enough."
"No! This isn't true!" Shadow exclaimed, furiously shaking his head. "This doesn't make sense!"
"I know you were created on the ARK, living a few years there with Gerald and Maria. She was like a sister to you – but you lost her in the raid on the ARK."
"Stop-"
"I know Gerald has altered your memories to fulfil his own personal desire for revenge. I know what Maria actually wanted… was for you to save humanity."
"You're wrong-"
"What else is there? Hmm… your favourite food is coffee, but you're weird and enjoy eating the beans straight… You have a massive love of motorcycles… Lavenders are your favourite flower… You adore the look of dark chao and have always wanted to raise one… there's a lot I could say, really. I could be here all day."
Shadow was looking at Sonic as though he were a ghost. The hedgehog kept shaking his head. "That's impossible – how do you-?"
"Because I knew you from another timeline."
Sonic immediately twisted his head around and saw the purple smoke headed towards them – except this time, Shadow seemed to see it too – his eyes widening. The purple flames swirled around them, entirely obscuring the rest of the ARK- leaving the two of them in an isolated dome.
Time… wasn't being reversed.
Had Sonic's assumptions been correct? Sonic had said nothing at first – allowing Shadow to learn about the old timeline through the letter. While the dark hedgehog had been in denial, he had obviously known something was at play.
Perhaps evidence of the old timeline simply broke the Time Eater in this instance, allowing Sonic to finally be able to reach the one that needed it most.
"Wh-What's going on?" Shadow asked, at last pulling himself to his feet – staring at the purple surroundings – perplexed, feeling as though he had been trapped in a corner with no means of escape.
"I would have told you the truth sooner, but – I've only just figured out a way to get it around it." Sonic rubbed the back of his head.
"Another timeline-? Then how are you here?"
"Kind of a long story-"
"And what does it even matter, anyway?" Shadow snapped. "This other timeline isn't affecting what's happening here! It-"
The smoke cracked, leaving crevices of white light seeping through.
Sonic and Shadow stood closer together, carefully eyeing the area surrounding them – watching as each crack grew bigger.
The purple energy then broke into fragments, shattering like a mirror.
Through each shard, a different memory was reflected.
"I have to go now; I have to keep my promise to Maria… and you."
Shadow's past voice echoed around them, and they clearly saw the memory of Shadow talking with Amy ahead of the final confrontation with the biolizard through one of the pieces.
The shards were slowly floating around them.
"I determine my own destiny."
Shadow's ears flattened.
There were so many faces he recognised but in bizarrely different contexts. He sparred with the echidna, he repaired a motorcycle with the two-tailed fox, he raced against the blue hedgehog…
It was a lot to keep up with – but the memories soaring through the air seemed such a foreign concept to him. Shadow saw himself living among everyone else on the planet below.
Two figures showed up more often than most – a large robot, and.. Rouge?
How did that make any sense?
Shadow saw himself smile with them.
He saw himself launching into a horde of robots, those two following in suit – just as eager to fight by his side.
"You had a pretty cool team." Sonic grinned, his hands on his hips. He wondered why the Time Eater was fracturing in this way – despite how hard it tried to keep the truth covered, it was now breaking and revealing all the answers they could possibly need.
Shadow spoke to Sonic – his voice softened weakly. "I don't see how this…"
"Shadow…"
Her.
The hedgehog gasped, immediately turning around to face a particularly large fragment – containing the wisp of a memory that threatened to fade.
A poor young girl – hand clutched tightly on a lever - making one final plea.
The truth was laid bare.
"Shadow I beg of you, please do it for me... for a better future! For all the people who live on that planet... give them a chance to be happy... Let them live for their dreams. Shadow, I know you can do it. That's the reason why you were brought into this world. Sayonara, Shadow... the Hedgehog."
Shadow finally broke.
He outstretched his hand in a fruitless hope to latch onto the past, but the image of her glittered away.
"Maria, I…"
The hedgehog was undeniably shaking, rattled to his core.
The memories all blew away into a mist.
"That's what I promised to her… I must keep that promise."
How had he forgotten?
Shadow saw with clarity for the first time. Gerald's chains around his mind had been torn away, and Shadow knew for certain now… that his memories were his.
A single tear escaped from his eyes.
Sonic had never seen Shadow cry, but he knew Amy had.
The blue hedgehog smiled gently.
At last, Shadow's voice steadied into something louder – far more assertive, but urgent. "I have to go!" Shadow exclaimed. "The ARK… even without the emerald to power it, the Biolizard is going to merge with it, and-!"
"I know, Shads. I know." Sonic assured him. "We've done this rodeo before, and we made it out alive."
"How do we get out of this then?!" Shadow asked, gesturing to the purple smoky clouds surrounding them.
"Yeah, uh – that's the part I haven't done before. But perhaps… have you still got your emerald on you?" Sonic tilted his head.
Shadow nodded, taking out the blue one in his hand.
"Chaos control!" Shadow announced without needing to be told, holding up the emerald. It shone brightly – almost as though acting like a light to guide them through the darkness of their purple chamber as the smoke finally cleared.
The control room was back – Knuckles was in the distance, panting on the ground – Sonic twisted his head to the timer.
Still 10 minutes… had time stopped or slowed somehow?
"You okay?" Sonic asked Shadow as it seemed the hedgehog had phased out, staring at nothing.
The other nodded. "I will be... once I see her wish through." Like sparked in his eyes again. "We're going to need-"
Two girls skidded to a halt in front of the entrance before sprinting into the room.
"Hi! Okay, so!" Tangle panted, but to the relief of everyone – the Master Emerald was wrapped comfortably in her tail. "Good news? We got the emerald. Bad news? The giant lizard disappeared into thin air and the timer is still going!"
"You fought the Biolizard all by yourselves? You two did great!" Sonic grinned at them. He wondered if those two were still fighters in Sonic's actual timeline, they had certainly proved themselves more than capable of being part of the team.
"Aye, thanks!" Tangle gave a thumbs up. "I'm still kinda concerned about the planet dying, though…"
"Shadow and I can take it from here." Sonic told her.
"Shadow?" Whisper questioned.
"He's with us now?!" Tangle exclaimed – and even Knuckles appeared to be baffled, revealing that the echidna had known nothing of their conversation.
"I have made a grievous error." Shadow admitted. "One that I'll fix."
"As long as you're helping out, I don't have the energy to question it because I'm screaming on the inside!" Tangle let him know, giving him finger guns.
Sonic found himself grinning in amusement despite himself but turned his attention to the echidna. "Knux, I gotta ask you a favour."
Knuckles was gradually standing up. "Yes?"
"Shadow and I need to use the Master Emerald – we need more power if we have any hope of fighting that thing."
"What?!" Knuckles immediately snapped. "Your bodies can't handle that much Chaos Energy!"
"We know what we're doing, Knux." Sonic told him firmly. "We know how to take on super forms – we won't be overloading ourselves."
"But-"
"Come on, you can trust me." Sonic smiled encouragingly. "Can't you?"
Knuckles' gaze flitted downwards as he huffed, contemplating the request Sonic had made. Surely, this would only end up in the hedgehog getting harmed. Mobians weren't supposed to take on that amount of energy.
Yet, Sonic spoke with such a calm confidence. Miraculously – things had turned out the way he wanted them to – with Shadow now on their side. Maybe he really did know what he was doing.
He prayed that his ancestors were watching over him.
"I trust you." Knuckles said, dipping his head. "Do as you must…"
I TOLD YA'LL THAT LETTER WAS GONNA HAVE PAYOFF BABYYY
Also no one pointed out how that flashback Sonic previously had of letting Shadow fall seemed off - so I guess that's a win that I got to surprise some minds today?
The squad fought Shadow and the Biolizard! Sonic and OG Shadow had a much needed talk - and Sonic used Shadow's letter to not only bring him to his senses but also let him know about the old timeline! What are the consequences of that, aye?
Next time! Well, we all know what fight is happening next time ;)
I'm pretty sure there's more I wanted to write here but it's 3am and I had a super busy day today all day so I just wanna go to bed lmao. But oh my gosh, we've been waiting for this one for a while! Let me know what you thought in a review! Hope this met expectations and you enjoyed! :) I'll be seeing ya'll laterrr