Chapter 78

Stronger

Shadow was bound with mechanized cuffs. The fight between him and his doppelganger had been laughably short. The gray hedgehog incapacitated Shadow with a fierce chop to the back of the neck. When he woke up several minutes later, his hands were bound and he was being stuffed back into Maria's ship. Maria caught his eye as she sat in the pilot's chair. There was neither pity nor regret in the perfect shade of blue.

"I'll meet you at the tower," The gray Shadow said. "Elysium will want to prepare for our guest." With that he vanished in a swirl of flashing light.

Still dazed, Shadow attempted to pull himself free but his binds were impossibly strong. He leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes. Shadow did not regain consciousness until they were already back into the open air.

Maria had not removed her helmet. She took no notice of him as he stirred. "You sure went out of your way to set that trap," He commented sourly. "If you were going to betray me, why didn't you just do it when I was asleep?"

"I did not receive my orders until this morning. It was Shadow's idea to have you reach Little Planet. Perhaps he figured you would let your guard down once you got near the Time Stones."

And he was right. "What happens now? You're going to take me back to the city, bring me in front of Eggman?"

Maria didn't answer. She did not speak to him for the rest of the journey. To Shadow's surprise they did not fly back to Elysium. As the sky slowly darkened, a different structure floated on the edge of the horizon. Unlike Elysium, this was no city in the clouds. It was a single black tower hanging ominously in the air. A fleet of enormous airships the size of the Egg Carrier encircled it. "What is this place?" Shadow asked.

"The Tower of Absolution." They landed on a pad set between a single narrow walkway and an enormous black steel door. Before opening the cockpit, Maria strapped a metal band across her wrist. It glowed with a soft blue light and a similar light emitted from Shadow's cuffs. "Don't try and run. If you do, I can always pull you back."

The steel doors opened and a host of badniks marched forward. Maria pulled Shadow out of the plane and the badnik squadron escorted them into the tower. Inside, they entered a tall chamber. The walls were made of red glass and the lighting was very dim. Maria pulled Shadow to the far end of the chamber and onto an octagonal platform. The badniks did not join them. There was a lurch beneath his feet and the platform started to ascend.

The higher they got, the red light started to shift to a whitish blue. Maria still refused to even look at Shadow. For his part, Shadow wasn't sure if he felt betrayed or enraged at his own stupidity. Of course she had betrayed him, she was a stranger. While she wore Maria's face and name, that did not make them the same person any more than Shadow and his gray counterpart were the same. Yet there had been moments…instances in which he almost felt that old connection. Shadow shook his head. It didn't matter anymore. He needed to focus all his efforts on waiting for the right moment to escape.

"I thought we were going back to Elysium?"

Maria ignored him. The platform slowed down and came to a gentle stop at the far end of a long hallway. Nearly a dozen badniks partolled the floor. Maria pulled Shadow along until they reached a door with a lit up interface. She pulled off her helmet and tossed it aside. Maria stood beside the console and a light scanned her face. "Maria..2001" A robotic voice chimed. "Enter."

The door opened with a low hiss, and Maria pushed him into a domed control room with a stained glass ceiling. The room was littered with flashing consoles and was so expansive, most of it was still shrouded in darkness.

On the far side of the room was a glass window behind which was a tub filled with luminous liquid. Maria pushed Shadow onward. After they had taken a few steps, flood lights flashed down on them. Towering black metal machines erupted from the shadows and encircled them. The badniks were humanoid in shape, and each of them had the face of Dr. Eggman, complete with burning red eyes.

"Stand down!" A disembodied voice ordered. The voice possessed a strange echo and sounded both male and female. The badniks retreated to the corners of the room. "Welcome, Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Who are you?" Shadow asked.

"I am Elyisum, the Utopia of mankind, I am the Watcher guardian and protector, I am what came before and the image of what will be."

"You've gotten full of yourself Eggman," Shadow growled. "Stop hiding behind the curtain and face me!"

"Such bravado," The voice scolded. "Humility would serve you better. Are you so sure that you see things as they really are?"

"I won't play games with you. If you're going to kill me then get it over with."

"Kill you? And why would I do that? You still have a part to play, Shadow the Hedgehog, you've only forgotten your lines. But do not worry, we have the means to correct that."

"Show yourself!"

"Very well, let me give you a glimpse into the future." The consoles in front of Shadow started to vibrate. A crack split across the floor and there was a monumental crunch. The ground just ahead of Shadow started to separate revealing the full extent of the giant glass structure behind it. No…..

She was human from the sternum up. The rest of her body was meshed into a machine. Like a macabre mermaid, she was one half beautiful woman, and the other a twisted metal monster. Her hair floated in silver strands within the liquid, shining as if burning like a star. Her face and skin were a blinding pale white. Unlike the woman standing beside him, she looked nothing like Gerald Robotnik's wife, nor the adult version of the child Shadow had known. The creature floating in the liquid was terrifyingly beautiful. Her form had an unnerving, carnality to it, that felt indecent, coupled with a grandiose, exaggerated elegance. She was simultaneously lurid and aggressively erotic, while also appearing majestic and ethereal like a goddess of the deep sea.

The overall effect left the beholder transfixed and horrified. Elysium moved closer to the glass and started down at Shadow. Her eyes were no longer blue. They were the same shade of green as the liquid around them. Shadow forced himself to look at her. "What is this? What's happened to you?"

"I have evolved." Her mouth moved, forming bubbles in the liquid, but her voice emitted from the roof of the dome. "I am the Ultimate Life Form now."

"Where is Doctor Eggman?"

Elysium laughed. Her body twisted like a snake as she cackled. "Fool, have you not already figured it out? My cousin Ivo has been dead for years."

"But…so it's you…you're the one running this place."

"Of course I am. My cousin was a bubbling fool. I needed him for a time but when he outgrew his utility I had him killed. Now he exists merely as the mascot for my reign."

"Are you the real Maria?"

Elysium turned her head. "The real Maria? Haven't you been paying any attention? There is no real Maria, no more than there is a real Shadow. You are a slow learner. Behold." The light in the room expanded, illuminating all the dark corners. Behind Elsium's tank there were rows and rows of smaller tubes. Each was filled with a fully grown clone of Maria. There had to be at least several hundred of them.

Shadow was too disgusted to form words. His horror was obviously apparent because Elysium started to laugh. "I was Maria Robotnik once upon a time. There grew to be a need for more of her so I had copies made. Each of the cities has one, they work in various levels of the government. I am everywhere. We are all Maria."

Shadow didn't notice the other Maria walk away from him and head for one of the consoles. "So, you did this all to yourself then?" He asked, motioning to the machinery.

"I have become the link between mankind and the next stage of our evolution. By combining myself with my machines and merging my consciousness with an A.I I have become immortal."

His chance was coming. He had to make a break for it soon or it would be too late. However, his horror and curiosity were keeping him rooted to the spot. "How did you kill Eggman?"

"It was you. When we made you together I implanted a protocol in your mind that meant you would only truly obey me. When the wars were over and the cities were populated I turned Shadow against my cousin."

"So why bring me here then? I'm not threatening you."

Elysium smiled. Her lips stretched unnaturally far. "You know why you are here." She whispered softly. "He calls for you…from beyond the verge of-"

Shadow sprang forward. He raised his cuffed hands and prepared to break them against the glass. Elysium shrieked and fell backward. Just before he made contact something tackled him to the ground.

"Hold him!" Snarled the gray hedgehog. Maria raced forward and pressed the band on her wrist. It lit up as did Shadow's cuffs. He was pulled by his hands across the floor, away from the glass.

"Is that how you would treat me?" Elysium cackled. "I, your great friend?"

"You're a monster!" Shadow snapped. He turned to face his doppelganger. "And you're just her servant. Pathetic!"

"Her servant?" The gray Shadow repeated. He shook his head. "We all serve but one master. You know this, we serve the Realm Lord."

Shadow could not help but laugh. He was too exhausted to feel the sting of another betrayal, to realize yet again that all his actions and endeavors meant nothing. He was merely a fly stuck on the never ending web of the Realm Lord.

"Have you not wondered, among the multitude of timelines, why the Realm Lord sent you here?" Elysium asked. "We possess the means to free you, to rid you of the weakness of the girl who shared my name."

At that moment, Shadow recognized the Dreamcast. It was the machine that Maria had been messing with. "We will make you forget her completely. You will be reset so that you can serve the Realm Lord as intended."

Shadow tried to run, but his cuffs were pulled back. His gray counterpart seized him and held him firm. Maria wheeled out a table and the two of them forced Shadow down upon it. Fear held him still. The instinct to fight, to struggle was being suffocated by dread. No..no…Losing all memory of Maria would be a thousand times worse than losing her the first time. Metal straps were placed over his head and chest, locking him in place. All he could see was the top of the dome and the faint outline of Elysium watching from her tank.

"Take his blood!" Demanded Elysium. Maria stuck Shadow with a syringe and filled a vial. He attempted to shake her off, but his binds were too tight.

"We'll need stronger support," Maria said. "If he moves while I'm inside his mind, it may not work properly."

The gray Shadow hastened away. Shadow's chest rose and fell rapidly. His heart seemed to skip every other beat. Fight…fight…

"There is no resisting the Realm Lord." Elysium continued. "His influence over this timeline is nearly complete. Once you are reset, he will be free to enter our realm himself, in his full glory."

"Then what?" Shadow shouted in sudden panic. "What happens once he can enter? What does that mean?"

"It means what cannot be is, and he who isn't shall be. The world will be torn apart and consumed by the contradiction of the Realm Lord. Then…when nothing is left, the Realm Lord shall remake everything in his image, in perfect order."

"That…" What could he even say? There was no point in arguing with the insane. Maria loomed over him as she set the wet pads on his temple. For a brief second he caught her eye and…there it was…the swirl of pale blue that interrupted the perfect shade. No. That didn't mean anything. He had looked for the similarity in this world's Maria and that had only brought him to his doom. He should have stolen a Chaos Emerald from her when they had first met.

"Is he ready?" Elysium inquired.

"Yes." Maria stood by the Dreamcast.

"We won't need the support. He has lost the will to fight. Sayonara Shadow the Hedge- aaaaaaa!"

The floodlights turned off. Elysium's screams echoed in the darkness. Shadow felt fumbling hands near his face. "Get up." Maria whispered. "We have to go, the Time Stones are here, I will bring you to them."

When he was unbound, Shadow leapt to his feet. Maria removed his cuffs and took him by the hand. "Come on!" Together they raced towards one of the doors. The lights turned back on before they were even halfway there. Badniks sprang into action and started firing laser bolts at them.

They sprinted out of the room and down a series of short hallways. "What will happen to her?"

"I've shut down her life support systems. Shadow…the other Shadow will have to reprogram them, that will give us time." After a minute or so they heard a clang and then rushing footsteps behind them.

Shadow felt a horrible pang of deja vu, Maria and himself, running down a series of tight hallways while under pursuit. He pushed that thought out of his mind. They finally reached a door that seemed more significant than all the rest. Maria placed her hand on the console and typed away. She was breathing heavily and her face was covered in sweat. The door opened and Maria closed it behind them. "That should slow them down."

They hurried on for a few minutes before entering a strange room. The walls were wet and the humidity was intense. A shrine had been set into the far wall that mimicked the one within Little Planet. The Time Stones, with their full color, waited for them. "Go." Maria insisted. "Return to your world. I designed this room myself, we made it to hide the signature of the Time Stones, even from the Realm Lord. Just as a failsafe. You should be able to use them properly." Maria knelt to face Shadow. "I'm sorry..for everything. I…I'm not actually sixty five you know. I'm only sixteen. We clones…aren't really alive you know? I just…I just wanted to do something that matters. To make a difference." Her voice trailed off. Every word seemed to be costing her dearly.

"Maria what-"

She moved her arm to expose a scorching wound in her abdomen. The blue in her eyes softened and Shadow saw the light blue twirl as clear as day. "I…I won't make it." She lurched forward and Shadow caught her.

"No…"

"I….I'm glad to have known you….even if only for a day…"

Shadow held her up by the shoulders. Tears flooded his eyes. "Why?"

Maria closed her eyes. Her breathing was slowing down. "I saw it…in the Dreamcast, in your memories…the mystery that is beyond our science." She blinked at him and smiled. "Do you remember telling me that nothing connects the timelines? You were wrong. There are some things that transcend the barrier. When I was in your memories, I felt what the other me felt. Your love Shadow…it reached me here, it crossed over, it saved me, gave my life meaning." Maria clutched his hand. "We are connected…you are meant to save me, and I'm meant to die for you. Nothing can change that…not even the Realm Lord. Don't forget..love is stronger than-"

Maria's words failed. She stared in horror at something over Shadow's shoulder. Shadow spun around to find his gray counterpart approaching. "There is no escape. Your destiny has already been written. It has been played out a thousand times over. You shall be the last."

Shadow placed himself between Maria and his gray duplicate. "You know the truth now. The one that had been hidden from you. What is the point of this resistance?"

"I'm nobody's tool. My will is my own."

The gray hedgehog smiled, flashing a set of razor sharp teeth. "Only a fool shuts his eyes and claims that he can see. You knew this moment was coming, the day when you would have to face your true self. You know you cannot stand against your nature. I have powers that lay dormant within you. There is no hope of victory. Submit, and allow yourself to be cleansed."

Shadow strode forward and squared up with his twin. "I know who I am. I'm Shadow the Hedgehog, and I decide my own fate."

"There is no fate, only the will of the Realm Lord!" The gray hedgehog lunged, but Shadow slipped the blow and countered with a kick. His counterpart absorbed the hit and responded by punching Shadow in the face. The blow sent him flying across the room. Shadow curled as he neared the wall and ping ponged back at his opponent. "Amusing!" The gray hedgehog leapt aside and Shadow was forced to halt his momentum.

They circled around each other waiting for the moment to strike. Shadow revved into a ball and dashed forward. His twin sidestepped , but Shadow anticipated the movement. He uncurled into a tackle and brought his gray foe to the floor. Shadow rained down a flurry of connecting punches. Eventually, the gray hedgehog managed to wiggle away. He jumped back to create distance and wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth.

"Are we going to fight as mere mortals?" The gray Shadow asked mockingly. "Have you any notion of the power we possess?" The pulsing red stripes flashed and he raised his hands. Bolts of red energy streaked forward, forcing Shadow to dive for cover. The blasts exploded in a shower of red sparks. Maria let out a cry and hid behind the shrine of the Time Stones.

At the corner of his eye, Shadow saw his doppelganger withdraw a Chaos Emerald. There was a flash of light and the clone appeared at his side. His kick dug into Shadow's gut driving all the air out of his lungs. Shadow rolled to cover as he hit the ground.

"Her weakness consumes you! Where is your fight? Where is your hatred?" The gray hedgehog was a blur of motion. He teleported all over the room, appearing everywhere at once. Shadow tried to attack, but it was pointless. A barrage of kicks and punches exploded all over his body. He was launched backward into a wall. Shadow slid down, his eyes slowly losing focus. The gray hedgehog towered over him. He was encased in a red aura of burning energy.

"Allow me to demonstrate the true depth of our power." The gray Shadow pressed his arms against each other and crouched. The ground started to shake as the energy around him swelled. "We are beings of malice. Ingrained with the endless fury of our creator, of one who has stood outside of time for eons." Bolts of red lighting sparked as his power crescendoed. "There is no power in the universe like hatred formed over a millenia." The yellow emerald the doppelganger had been using started to float and circle around him. A streak of red lighting collided with it and the emerald turned a dark shade of blood red. The gray hedgehog's fur changed hue. It became as black as the void of space. He held out his empty hand. "CHAOS BLADE!" The red sword materialized out of nothing, and burned with the heat of living flame.

With his other hand, the gray hedgehog made a fist. The red aura expanded and covered Shadow. Its energy pressed on him like a swell of gravity, making it impossible to move.

"I won't kill you." He hissed. "But the next time you wake up, you'll be ours" His eyes flashed maliciously. "You think you are special, but in reality you are nothing. You are just a pawn in a strategy that has waited eons for its culmination."

"So are you…" Shadow retorted through gritted teeth. His clone responded with a smile before rearing back and stabbing.

"NO!" Maria emerged from her hiding place and thrust herself between Shadow and the sword. The red blade delved straight into her chest, piercing her through the heart.

"MARIA!" Something exploded within Shadow. Energy expanded out of him and removed the restraints keeping him in place. He rushed forward and caught Maria as she fell. Shadow felt her hand reach for his.

"Stronger…" Her last word died with her. Something hard was shoved into his hand. Shadow looked down and saw that she had given him the red Chaos Emerald.

"Foolish, and pointless." The gray hedgehog observed. "Sentimentality will not save her or anyone else from the Realm Lord. His influence has already shaped this timeline. He will do the same to all others. In the end, all of existence, everything, the entire multiverse will be under his control. Then, Order shall be restored."

Shadow rose slowly to his feet. He could feel rage bubbling up inside him, but he pushed it away. He did not give into his anger. Instead, he took a deep breath and searched for something else. Rage and hatred were not power, they were shields. Shadow broke them apart and journeyed past them. Shadow could trust her, not because he had known a million Maria's but he had loved one. That is what he had been too afraid to think.

"Do you believe you know Maria Robotnik more than I do? Fool, I have known her across a million streams of time." But the Realm Lord had not predicted this, he had not seen that this Maria would sacrifice herself for Shadow. Love is stronger.

Warmth stole over Shadow. It pulsed through his veins, easing the pain in all his wounds. Something unlocked inside him, a channel of power that surged easily into his body. The warmth remained inside him and did not expand outward in the form of radiant heat or red aura. Shadow took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. A blue veil dropped over his eyes.

His replicant sensed the change and took a step back in fear. "What…what is this?"

Shadow's emerald floated near him. It mixed with his energy and turned a bright shade of whitish blue. "Chaos blade." The sword did not burn like fire, but was translucent and blue like water. Power bubbled within Shadow, but it was kept perfectly reserved.

The two Shadow's sprang forward and their blades met with a thunderous clash. The aftershock cut a sliver through reality itself. A void opened up from which celestial storms and galaxies swirled. The doppelganger stared at the void in terrified awe.

Shadow attacked and each time their blades met the void expanded. They fought at speeds beyond sight. Only instinct allowed them to attack or defend. With each strike, Shadow could feel his doppleganger's heat growing hotter and hotter. However, Shadow only grew stronger and faster. The fight turned in his favor and desperation made the other Shadow burn until his entire body turned a red. His eyes became red furnaces and his skin radiated smoke. "How is this possible…what is this?"

It was Shadow's turn to smile. "Stronger." He said. "Her blood made me stronger. The Realm Lord didn't mean for Gerald to add Maria's blood to mine. He thought it pacified me, made me weak. He was wrong."

"No!" More heat exploded out of the replicant. His fur was burning away into ashy crisps. Shadow set his feet and waited. His counterpart stabbed, Shadow parried and brought his sword down with a great downward slash. The blue blade cut clean and true. There was an explosion of heat and energy, a colossal roar of fire and then silence. The void had dissipated as had the other Shadow.

The energy inside him slipped away. Shadow exhaled and his blue aura faded, the red emerald resumed its natural color and fell to the floor. He crouched beside Maria, but she was already gone. The perfect shade of blue had returned to her eyes. Shadow rose and approached the Time Stones. It was time for him to return home.

"You will not escape." Elysium came crawling into the room. Her mechanized bottom half was too heavy to allow her to stand, so she had to drag it behind her. Outside her tank, she had lost all of her beauty. She appeared utterly wretched, like a pale worm emerged from the mud by a hard rain. "He will pursue you forever. The Realm Lord's will is absolute. When the worlds are remade, there shall at last be perfect order."

Shadow took the Time Stones off their shrine and they spiraled around him. Maria raised a pale, spidery hand towards him. A horrible smile spread across her face. "Do you think you have won? Do you honestly believe that the Realm Lord would have only one means of victory? It has already begun. The Realm Lord's influence has already spread into your world. You cannot erase it on your own. There is no resistance, only the waiting."

A barrier of white light suddenly encased Shadow. He watched as the room was pulled away from him. It was as if he were watching Maria from across a great distance. A tear appeared in the air beside her and the Realm Lord strode out of it. Maria let out a cry of despair and pain. The room spun into a whirl of nothingness. Shadow was pulled farther back. The central tower was consumed, then the city of Elysium, then the entire earth, the galaxy and finally the entire universe.

Shadow closed his eyes. "Take me home." The Time Stones flashed.

Shadow woke up with his vision unfocused. Elder Yorven's face swam up before him. The red panda was smiling despite obvious worry lines all over his face. "Welcome back."