Author's Note: This has been sitting in my documents for about 4 years. It takes place after my one-shots 'Torment' and 'Anguish', where Mephiles helps Black Doom defeat Shadow during the Black Arms invasion. The aliens completely take over and ravage all living creatures on Earth except for Shadow. This is the aftermath.
Shadow craned his neck and gazed up at a sky filled with dark clouds. His abdomen expanded while he took a deep breath through his nose. The smell of grit, rubble, and death is what filled his nostrils. The hedgehog scrunched his black eyelids shut and shivered.
All around him were collapsed buildings and the skeletal remains of human sapient races. A few black alien foot soldiers trekked past him, hauling the last of the flesh remains and throwing their chosen sustenance into the ship. Shadow watched in apprehension, time was running out.
A distracting and bothersome rumble echoed through his stomach. Shadow took a desperate and long stare for the colour green. Anything green. He was starving for plant life. Vegetables… grains… Shadow's mind lamented, yearning for food. He hadn't eaten in weeks.
But everything was dead. Killed by the Black Arms.
Shadow tried to distance himself from the Black Comet behind him, but when he worked his leg muscle to take a step, he felt paralysed.
"Not another step, Shadow," Black Doom's voice echoed inside Shadow's head. He felt a sharp pain inside of his skull which made him hunch over and clutch his head.
"Stop!" Shadow's voice broke with desperation.
"Do what I sent you out to do before I call you back with no chance to do this… business of yours. We won't land on another planet for about two years. Can you wait that long?" Black Doom's voice threatened.
Shadow's hands trembled as he pulled them down to his side and clenched his fists.
"Fine," Shadow growled. "But first! You have to get out of my thoughts."
The chatters of the Black Arms hivemind silenced. For the first time in weeks, Shadow's heart rate began to drop. Finally, privacy. His hunched shoulders dropped and he sighed. Black Doom's control was gone.
Shadow's small frame trembled, and his muscles twitched as they tensed back up… all too soon. The hedgehog's bodily functions were no longer under Black Doom's restraint. Shadow clutched his abdomen, shuddering as he looked around for somewhere private.
The footsteps of the alien soldiers still made him feel watched, so he took a few desperate leaps over the mountains of rubble to get himself behind what was once a building. His ears twitched and strained, listening out for alien presence. All he could hear was the harsh wind… and the lonely silence. Then… his deep exhale of relief as he finally let go.
...
As Shadow trudged back towards the Black Comet, he savoured the last few moments of silence from his mind. His gait was solemn, and his demeanour was hopeless. The past Shadow would have had his head held high at any moment… but this Shadow, seeing himself now, felt his dignity diminish with each moment. He knew what he was becoming… but had no energy or motivation to stop it.
When Shadow reached the entrance of the Black Comet, he stood there. The last of the soldiers were on board. There was nothing left; Earth was a wasteland.
"Why doesn't he just kill me?" Shadow whispered to himself, ears drooping and gaze weakening.
"Because! You have another duty to fulfil," Black Doom's voice rang out in Shadow's mind again. The chatter of the hive mind was starting back up. Shadow's muscles tensed, and he was more alert.
Shadow saw a flash and felt himself being teleported against his will into the Comet.
"Come now, Shadow," Black Doom said, spreading his arms to present the room that they were in. Shadow had control over his legs again, and he feebly stumbled a few steps towards the edge of the platform they were on. A substantial drop below was a large floor of Black Arms' vehicles.
The hedgehog went from looking down at the army of ships in apprehension to looking up at Black Doom with dread. "Your next mission is to find the Chaos Emeralds."
"Again."
"They are no longer on this planet because you cast out across space," Black Doom explained.
"What for now?" Shadow's tone was quiet and irked.
"The Black Comet cannot return to its usual orbit without the Space Manipulation powers of Chaos Control."
Shadow's breath became ragged and he grit his teeth.
"This is why you're keeping me alive!?" he snapped. "NO! I refu–"
Before he could finish the sentence, Shadow clutched his head then screamed in agony. The pain continued, despite his loud protests. He tried to shake the pain, but it persisted. He dropped to his knees, pressing his hands into his skull even more and screaming louder. It wouldn't stop. Shadow knew how to make it stop, but he didn't want to say it.
"Say it!" Black Doom goaded. Shadow's screams became laboured and tired… but still roaring just like the agony inside his head. "Say it!"
"N...n...o…" Shadow rasped… his eyes becoming wet from the tears. Then, he gasped as it only got worse. He knew he had to endure it… but all he could think about was how it felt like there were a thousand microscopic needles scraping over the synapses and neurons inside of his brain.
One more nagging scream from Shadow… and Black Doom retracted his hand and turned his back on Shadow once more. Shadow cried out in relief, then fell flat onto the ground, face buried into the arid platform.
"Your screaming is upsetting others," Black Doom. "Otherwise I would have kept going until you submitted. I am tired of having to control you like the deadweight puppet you've become. I need you to do this yourself… for once."
"Heh…"
There was a weak grin on Shadow's face. Black Doom's irritation rose.
"What…?" Black Doom swung around to face Shadow, descending closer towards him. "I can read your mind, Shadow."
The hedgehog gasped; he was floating up to Black Doom's face level. The alien overlord hovered Shadow right in front of his face. The stench of the alien's breath made Shadow curl over with nausea.
"Oh, you're disgusted… are you? I can make that feeling in your stomach a lot worse you know."
Shadow choked as nausea burned inside his stomach, like the acid inside of it was bubbling from Black Doom's rage. Shadow curled up and clutched his stomach… wincing and whining. Sweat dripped from his paling muzzle while drool and bile were building up inside Shadow's mouth.
Shadow had no strength or adrenaline to scream, inside, he shivered and endured being on the cusp of vomiting… but never getting that release.
"I know your thoughts, Shadow," Black Doom said in a sharp tone. Shadow scrunched his eyes closed and winced… whining and panting.
"YOU‑" Black Doom snapped in Shadow's face. Shadow managed to wince an eye open slightly to stare at Black Doom in absolute pain and malice. "You think that since you're collecting the Chaos Emeralds… that you will have some kind of chance to escape."
Shadow bit back a smile of vengefulness. Black Doom reacted by making Shadow retch from the sudden increase in stomach tension. While the helpless hedgehog dangled in the air, he lost the strength to tense up, his limbs hung in fatigue. He retched again… then spat out a mouthful of thick, green viscous fluids. There was a taste of blood in Shadow's mouth.
Black Doom rested his arm by his side. Shadow dropped onto the excretion of blood, bile, and stomach acid on the floor. It stained his white chest fur, and did not help the left over feelings of revulsions in his stomach.
Shadow felt his vision blurring and his consciousness fading. He closed his eyes and considered himself fortunate to finally get some rest and forget about his existence for some time.