Disclaimer: I do not own any of Sega's characters.

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter might be a little hard to follow. I'm writing it while on painkillers, so it might be difficult to read at times.


All the Stars

Chapter 5: Ressurection

Shadow and the commander stepped from the helicopter onto the helipad near G.U.N.'s base in Station Square. After calling the president to update him on the current situation, the commander began steeling himself to face the media. Meanwhile, Shadow contacted the mobians with whom he had spoken to earlier. Sonic, Tails, Amy, Rouge, Knuckles and Omega all showed up near his tent, and Shadow relayed the events that occurred on the floating warship.

"So you and the commander really just agreed to give up the city?" Sonic demanded, looking far more enraged than Shadow had ever seen him.

"Well yeah, Sonic, there wasn't much else we could do that wouldn't get Station Square fired on! You think I wanted this, you moron?" Shadow snapped, Sonic retreated slightly as Shadow stood, and most of the mobians in the area knew that when Shadow got pissed, things got ugly. Shadow turned on his heel and stalked off, leaving Sonic and the rest of the mobians concerned.

That night, Shadow didn't get much sleep. Trucks were driving through Station Square, taking the families that wanted to get out of Station Square before Eggman swooped in and took over the city. Shadow's mind raced as he thought back on the black paint on the hovering warship, the black glass he saw on the ground, and the broken scepter he thought he had seen as he fell from the warship. Calculations raced through his head as he poured over his memories, trying to think, trying to find an answer when it all clicked. The pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. The broken scepter, the cannon being powered by a mysterious energy, and the black flashes that had intercepted Sonic, Shadow's bullets and Shadow himself.

"Mephiles..." Shadow growled the name of one of the embodiments of the god of the sun, Solaris. Mephiles the Dark had wanted to kill Shadow ever since Shadow helped Silver and Sonic seal him away in the Scepter of Darkness, Mephiles even killing Sonic in the process. Shadow, Silver and company had been able to revive Sonic, but Shadow knew Mephiles wasn't here to aid Eggman in conquering Station Square, Mephiles was here for Shadow, and once he had taken out Shadow, there would be no one strong enough to protect the world from Solaris's wrath

Shadow rose, having finally drifted off to sleep after his grim conclusion. He ran a hand through his quills, teasing out knots, relaxing his quills so as to not slice his gloves to pieces. He let his hand drop to his side, picking up his handgun from the table next to him. He held the gun in his hands, remembering how useless bullets had been against Mephiles the first time.

After a few minutes, Shadow received a call from outside his barracks. Shadow slid his gun back into his quills. Answering the door, he ended up being face-to-face with multiple G.U.N. soldiers, and the commander.

"Shadow, G.U.N. is moving out, I want you to ride with me."

"As you wish, sir." Shadow walked alongside the commander, stepping up inside the armoured truck that would be taking them to G.U.N HQ in Mystic Ruins. The truck's engine started and pulled away from the camp, a long line of transportation vehicles as well as artillery and tanks. The 15 hour journey took its toll on Shadow, as th ebony hedgehog was not used to travelling so slowly while on land. With three hours left in the journey, the convoy turned, and through Shadow's window, he could see Eggman's warship lowering itself down to Station Square. Shadow replayed the meeting with Eggman in his head over and over, wondering if he could have found something, a loophole, something to stop Eggman from being able to deliver the ultimatum he had. Then Shadow began asking himself the real questions. WHy Station Square? If Eggman was allied with Mephiles, then Angel Island Would have been a better thing to take as a hostage.

"It's a chess game," Shadow murmured to himself. "What is the doctor's endgame? What is Mephiles's endgame?" Shadow began taxing every single one of his 200 IQ points, trying to figure out the reasoning behind Eggman's elaborate scheme.

Sleep eluded Shadow that night, and reports came in from Station Square. Eggman had destroyed the empty apartment buildings and was constructing a factory to crank out more Egg Pawns and other, more nefarious inventions of his. Reports conflicted on exactly what else Eggman was mass producing from his new factory, but all reports spoke of seeing a black haze near Eggman when he was in public. Shadow met up with the mobians who had fought Mephiles with him.

"So you're telling me that you think Mephiles is back?"

"Yes, Sonic, I do. Think about it. Who else besides you or I would be powerful enough to stop bullets in mid-air or fast enough to intercept you and I. We know it wasn't Metal, so the only logical explanation is Mephiles."

"No, it's not! You killed Mephiles!"

"Yes, I know. That's why it took me so long to tell you. Because my suspicions were not solid enough to present."

"Sonic, Shadow is correct. I detected a small amount of Chaos Energy from the both of you after you had landed," Omega cut Sonic off, and the blue hedgehog shut his mouth. "I can guarantee that the energy I detected was not from Shadow's Chaos Emerald, but from an attack, and my memory banks matched the signature." Omega stopped and looked around the group. "Mephiles the Dark, incarnation of Solaris, has returned from the dead."