Shadow the Hedgehog: All His Yesterdays
From the first five minutes of his existence he saw his world with open eyes to the recent Remembrance of the raid on Space Colony ARK, Shadow has rarely lived a dull existence. 23 years exactly since he's been let out by the late Doctor Ivo Robotnik and yet still physically the same hedgehog as he was when he awoke from his slumber while everyone else felt the effects of Father Time.
He stared over the streets of Central City below. Seeing the civilians both human and mobian alike going about their lives blissfully unaware of their eternal guardian watching them from above. One that almost brought upon their armageddon in his clouded vengefulness before giving them salvation when he found mercy through clarity.
This world has witnessed many events. A wrathful ancient deity returns to cause to destruction, a few alien invasions from the Black Arms to the Drakon Empire, a dark god awoken by a man's greedy ambitions, reality shattered to pieces, unearthing of secrets that changed what they thought they knew about their world and several more that will become part of the history books in the coming decades. The weird, the wild and the wonderful.
He's lived a life where he got to fight beings who could match his skills, witness miracles being performed, those odd dreams he would have where he is a bat-themed caped crusader, the many times he took his beloved Dark Rider out for a ride without any specific purpose and that's not even touching on the smaller things in life like his mini-vacation around the world in search of the finest pizzas that he can find. Amy had suggested that one to him and he took up on it since he's got a fondness for pizza.
23 years seem like nothing to him but for his friends and allies, that's about one quarter of their lifetimes and a lot changes in that span of time. Charmy grew up to be an ace detective no doubt thanks to Vector, Topaz is now a G.U.N Commander who oversees Team Dark, Hope Kintobor is head of the Kintobor Future Foundation and among many others that have gone to do great things. Last he heard from her, Amy is apparently a guardian of time thanks to the proficient use of Time Stones.
Ironic that despite his attempts to keep others at arms' length, he's grown rather fond of them in the years he has been around them and become more willing to enjoy living his life thanks to the company he keeps. He's still a stoic at heart and still carries himself seriously but has learned to loosen up to be less rigid in general.
"Don't you ever get bored of looking down at them?"
"Don't you ever get bored of looking at anything shiny?"
"Not if they sparkle like mirrors hon." Rouge chuckled in response. The albino bat is still attractive in her looks even at age 41 and her wits have only improved from years of experience. Ever the observant one.
"Figures." Shadow smirked to himself. "What's the occasion?"
"Besides wanting to discuss some schmuck politician who decided to make it a criminal offense for keeping unregistered chickens in your back garden? Just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought I'd come over to have a nice chat with the only lifeform old enough to recall Gorgeous Gerald as some rookie wrestler on a quiet night." Rouge responded in her own trademark teasing manner. "From the looks of things, you're more at risk of dying of boredom."
"Curious way of admitting to your own impatience there..." Shadow replied in kind to her jest. "Doing some people watching here. Observe the world from above."
"I think the poem 'When I am among the trees, especially the willows and honey locust, equally the beech, the oaks and the pines, they give off such hints of gladness.' would be an apt way to describe this one." Rouge peered down at the same streets Shadow was watching over. "This world gets torn up and when the problem is over, they rebuild like nothing's happened. How's things with the Towers?"
"Just got to talking with my godchild on the phone this week and she got a 97% mark on her exam test." The hedgehog said with a light nod. "She was very excited to tell me all about it. Said her granddad would have been pleased to hear it."
"To think she was only a little baby in her mother's arms when Abraham invited you over to make amends with you and now grown up to be an adult…" The bat smiled fondly, remembering how long ago that was. "And it's the fifth anniversary since his passing."
"I visited his grave this morning and bid my salute to his stone. Letting him know one of his grandchildren is going to make it as a physician." Shadow can remember vividly how old the ex-G.U.N Commander had looked in his final days, how cordial he was to him despite not being as young as he used to be and how he died peacefully in his sleep. Recounting the military funeral that was held for the man which saw many in attendance including even an appearance from Grandmaster Gae-Na of the Dark Presence to pay their respects to him.
Another person from his past had shaken off the mortal coil but he did get the chance to bid farewell to him. Telling him that he'll continue being an agent of G.U.N to make a difference he once made in his prime and protect the world as long as he is needed. Ironic given how hostile he was to the hedgehog to the point of wanting him dead once and years later on his deathbed, he would say to Shadow that Maria would be so proud of him.
"And anything new with Maria's grave?" Rouge knows that's something he always makes time for every year upon joining G.U.N when he's no longer fraught with amnesia.
"I tidied up her grave and replaced the old silicone flowers with new ones not too long ago. Give her stone a good scrub this year and make it look as good as new. Told her about what's been happening this year." Shadow responded, closing his eyes in contemplative thought. "Even about what Sonic's been up to."
"I'm sure she'd get a kick out of that if you could see her response." Rouge looks over to Shadow with a somber gaze, a thought she's had as the years passes. "You do know me and the others aren't going to be around forever. We're not all gifted with immortality like yourself and Mogul."
"I know but instead of worrying about the inevitable, I try to spend as much time with you all while I still can." The Ultimate Lifeform responded with understanding and opened his eyes to look over at one of his longtime companions. "It will be hard for me when I lose you one day. You always had my back even after everything."
"I can never forget a handsome face that saved me from Prison Island." The bat smiled playfully. "Nor can I forget ever your excuse that you only came for the Chaos Emerald."
"Still think I meant it."
"Sure. In a pig's eye."
"I see why you have a line to the President. Your nosiness and inquisitiveness knows no bounds."
Rouge chuckled to that one. "I'm Rouge the Bat. What I want, I get~"
"And trouble follows you around." Shadow quipped before getting back on topic. "I will have to face that loss someday but I will also have to move on from it. Keep on living and not dwell on the past."
"You've come a long way since you first woke up in this new world all those years ago. Just don't forget about us and know there's always new people to meet." The bat said sincerely with a warm smile, a true treasure of a smile that can never be brought or exchanged for. "Remember that I will always be by your side even when I'm long gone..."
"I can never forget about you guys." Shadow gently cupped the bat's chin, looking into her eyes. "Especially you Rouge. Even when you all will eventually leave me, I will always remember the memories we've made and I shall make sure the world remembers who you all were. Let's just enjoy this one life we have while we're all still here."
Rouge hummed contentedly. Assured that even when they succumb to the elements of time, Shadow will be able to cope with it and not let these losses be his enslaving chains like they had been before. Know that the world will be in safe hands.
"And when in doubt…" She looks off to the side as her ears pick up on a certain robot's arrival. "You'll still have Omega with you. Reminding you to clean your dirty mouth when you swear."
"Am I missing anything I'm supposed to know?" Omega asks. Speaking with a more articulate voice and his affliction more human in tone. A byproduct of a quirk in his scanning matrix where he is inadvertently becoming less robotic in nature including using contractions more often but his thirst for battle and everything else that is Omega still remain the same.
"Only that we're people watching here." Rouge responded while Shadow nodded to Omega. "Something that comes with the job."
The E-Series Badnik scoffs at the idea. "The only people watching I do is when I am looking for target practice."
"You'd learn a lot about a person by studying how they act in an environment."
"Like you having sticky fingers? Like to be doing some wheelin', dealin' and stealin'?"
"...I sometimes wonder if that's what got you locked up by him…" Rouge mumbled to herself and saw Shadow finding humor in the exchange. "And what's so funny about it, huh?"
"Oh nothing…" Shadow replied with a teasing smirk. "Nothing at all Sticky."
"You're insufferable when you're like this."
"And you love me for it."
"Spare me the lover's banter." Omega came over to join his friends to look at the streets below. "Anything of interest down here?"
Shadow directs the robot's attention to the pedestrian sidewalks and observing their behaviors. The hedgehog looked at both of his teammates, imagining Maria and Gerald doing this with him in their places. Picturing Gerald discussing psychology and anthropology with him while Maria excitably highlights a few people below who caught her attention like a man walking with his pet dog.
Everyday, he wonders what the late Maria Robotnik would have thought of his friends including that bespectacled red wolf in the present if she had lived to meet them. How Gerald would have responded to his nephew becoming a father to a very special A.I like Sage and being as sophisticated as Nicole. How both would respond to their relative Hope Kintobor following in their footsteps and bearing both their traits.
He even wonders how they'd react to his unofficial mentoring of Silver the Hedgehog and assume the time-traveling hedgehog to be his son because of the chest hair. He can imagine Maria teasingly and kindly reacting to the idea that he'd find love in his future to produce a shining son of hope. Gerald would be astonished but pleased at the fact that his son would find greater purpose beyond his design and using his own free will to decide his own fate regardless of what destiny has to say about it.
Shadow the Hedgehog. Created to be the cure, a seed from a malevolent being and forged in the lab among the stars to be the ultimate embodiment of power and science. The ultimate marriage between technology and magic.
For Mephiles, he was a means to an end with his great power. Shadow chained the screaming darkness to a prison away from existence where his lust for destruction and deception could never harm anyone else.
For Infinite, he was his reason to reject his own perceived weaknesses. Shadow tore off his mask with stoic calmness and said to his exposed face that he is a weakling for letting their one measly encounter in the past be his defining moment to become a cruel monster rather than use the tragic loss of his Jackal Squad as a lesson to learn from.
For Eclipse, he was a brother to him. Shadow rejects him for his real brother in spirit he calls Sonic the Hedgehog while firmly telling the Darkling along with the rest of their people to all get off his planet and never come back if they insist on threatening his home or else he'll reconsider his decision to grant his kind a rare act of mercy and finish what he had started.
For Black Doom, he was to be the destroyer of mankind and all other lifeforms in the name of the Black Arms. Shadow was destined to be mankind's Devil but rebelled and instead became their Sataneal, banishing his own father to oblivion.
"Come in Team Dark. This is a Priority One call." Shadow's wristmounted communicator buzzed with a call from G.U.N HQ. "I repeat: This is a Priority One call."
"Received and acknowledged." The hedgehog answered the call and instinctively knew it was Willis' voice since he's Team Dark's defacto dispatcher. "What's the situation?"
He remembers G.U.N Communicator Willis' first day at work very well. How he had fumbled a dispatch report about Omega engaging with Metal Shadow at the Wave Ocean as he called it until he corrected himself and mistakenly referred to the Phantom Ruby as Valtron during a call before Rouge had to correct him on it.
How his colleagues had referred to him as Agent Outtake over the blunder and there was a semi-running joke about adding 'the' to every location he reports with Rouge doing it to him more than once until Commander Tower ordered everyone to lay off with the joke. Then proceeding to unconsciously do it himself followed by him angrily telling everyone to get back to work.
Rouge and Omega can remember how Shadow had a good laugh about the slip up from the G.U.N Commander when they were out of his earshot. He never cared much for the Agent Outtake jokes himself since he personally doesn't find them that funny and he treats the guy with the same professionalism as his fellow agents who haven't earned his ire.
"We've received reports of a disturbance over in Westropolis; likely the work of the Mazuri Separatists. Agent Perry has already been dispatched to go and investigate the scene." Willis reported on the comm line, cutting to the chase. "I'll transmit over the location and coordinate data to you right now. You all know what to do."
"Understood. Over and out." Shadow quickly checked the info sent to his device and looked to his team. "Omega. Rouge. We got work to do."
"All business, no pleasure." Rouge brushed back her hair. "Some people just don't have better things to do tonight. No consideration for poor us."
"I call dibs on the first target that resists us." Omega stated his intentions plainly. The red and black machine eager for battle as always.
The ebony hedgehog expects nothing less from his close ones and pulls out his favorite Green Chaos Emerald or Shadow's Chaos Emerald as friends and allies have taken to calling it. It's telling that whenever Chaos Emeralds are called for in a crisis, he always gets the green one and it appears that particular Chao Emerald has an affinity for him since it always comes to him most of the time.
Omega and Rouge gather around him as he summons Chaos Control. The trio teleports away to attend to their latest mission and do as they do best: Protecting the world and protecting the peace as Team Dark.
Shadow knows it is only inevitable until time comes for them in the end as is the way of all things but he won't let that fact discourage him from continuing to fight the good fight. Only death itself can stop him.
Many have called him the Ultimate Lifeform, the Black Blur, the King, Terios, Son of the Stars, the Eternal Knight and other titles bestowed to him over the years but to himself, he is Shadow the Hedgehog. Granter of wishes, a crusader for justice and slayer of evil.
The ghosts of his past laid to rest for him to march forth into the unknown horizon, no one can tell him what to do as only he decides what he is to do and he shall smite those who dare stand in his way of his undying promise to Maria Robotnik. Her wish is his immortal engine. The one who showed him the true value of life.
As long as there is a world to protect even if it chooses to become his enemy, he will fight like he alway have. Then, now and forever.
Author's Notes: Seeing as it's the Year of Shadow and we're fast-approaching both Sonic X Shadow: Generations and Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog 3, I figured I'd write a piece to celebrate his year. Celebrate all aspects of Shadow's history from the games to the external media while poking fun at some parts of it.
Figured that since it's been 23 years since SA2's release on the Dreamcast in 2001, I set the plot around 23 years from his reawakening into the present day in real time and show the growth he has gained in the intervening years. Letting him actually be a person with his own thoughts and feelings.
Hope you all like this one.