Chapter Four – Conventions
Shadow didn't initially tell Sonic what he had seen. He definitely wasn't ready to see old friends again, and would have just panicked. But they had a bit of time to kill, before the celebrations, but as people started pouring into Westopolis, so did the weirdness.
A few days later, Shadow, in disguise again, and alone, as he left the apartment to go to the shop, to get some more coffee, when he turned out from his narrow alleyway, onto the busy street, and practically walked straight into...himself.
What?
He blinked. Aside from the size, this male Hedgehog, who was significantly smaller then him, everything was there. The rocket shoes, Inhibitors rings, black fur, crimson stripes, and deep red eyes. Shadow growled. Sonic having an imposter was bad enough, but himself, it was intolerable. But just as gritted his teeth, another 'Shadow', turned up, into view, and then another. Suddenly, more was streaming into the streets. The real Shadow gasped, what was going on?
Finally, he was at the coffee shop, and immediately dived inside, thankful to be out of the bizarreness that surrounded him. The owner smiled at him, a pale blond Cat, in a dark brown apron, called Tony, as he entered, was behind the counter. He was alone.
"Hi, Onyx. Your usual order, is it?" He asked. Shadow blinking, wasn't sure what was going on, until his fake name was said again. Tony frowned. "Hey, Onyx, are you alright?" He frowned. Suddenly, Shadow, crashing back down to earth, finally nodded.
"Yes, sorry." He blurted out, but then he frowned. "I've just seen something really strange." He admitted, pointing outside. "There are a lot of people dressed the same out there." He gulped. But the owner giggled.
"Oh, you mean the Sonic and Shadow Conventions?" He giggled, turning around and fulfilling Shadow's order. The Ultimate Lifeform immediately stopped, gulping hard.
What?
But as Tony turned back around with several bags of coffee beans, he noticed Shadow's utter confusion on his face. Suddenly, he gulped.
"Oh, sorry, Onyx, you wouldn't know, having only moved to Westopolis a few months ago. You've probably heard of the Blue Blur, right, but ever heard of the Ultimate Lifeform?" He asked. Shadow just downright smirked. Oh, the pure irony of it. Without breaking character, he nodded. The owner smiled. "Well, the Hedgehogs are both as famous as each other and they have fan clubs, and they're huge. Thousands of people in each, all over the world. Every year, both clubs the have a convention. It travels to different cities around the world. It was last in Westopolis, about five years ago. It's a massive gathering, inside a huge marque, when everyone dresses up as either the Blue Blur or the Ultimate Lifeform and where both the heroes are just celebrated." He shrugged. Shadow growled. That stung, and hard. He was 'not' a hero. Regardless, the owner didn't seem to notice. He heaved. "Anyway, I think it's just an excuse to get drunk and have a party, personally." He hissed. But Shadow's smirk broadened.
"Your not keen?" He asked, paying Tony for the bags of coffee, curious as to his thoughts. The owner sighed.
"Well, no. My son is a fan of the black one, but I'm not so sure. I've heard about his reputation. That he was a killer and that he was no hero. I'm don't think that's the sort of person a child should be chasing." He admitted.
Shadow blinked. Definitely not. Children should go nowhere near him. Especially now, he was that dangerous. He growled on return.
"No. Get your son off that idea. Your correct. The child would be better off following a real hero." He hissed, dropping some breadcrumbs. Tony quickly nodding, took the bait. He beamed.
"Oh, you mean the Blue Blur and his family coming to town." He bounced. Shadow nodded. But the owner grinned. "I'm pretty sure Sonic's here for the convention, though he doesn't normally do them. He and his family currently live in Empire City, and have done, since the war ended. Apparently, he's less famous there. Doesn't get pestered as much." He shrugged, unsure if that was true. "I still can't believe he missed that bomb. It just gives some idea just how fast he really is." He praised. Shadow snorted.
"Yes, quite." He sniggered, very sarcastically. But Tony rounded on him.
"Not a believer, are you?" He blasted. Shadow hissed.
"No. I know the Blue Blur is fast, hence his name, but no one can outrun a friggin' super-high grade explosive." He spat, his growl shaking the entire shop. Tony blinked, seemingly looking right through Shadow's disguise. He gulped.
"You know. Maybe your right. But the world believes he is, who he says he is, and right now, I'll take it." He stammered, but Shadow detected a note of uncertainty in his voice. He frowned.
"Your not convinced?" He wondered. Tony heaved.
"Er, no, it's not that. It's just word on the streets is that the perfect persona Sonic is giving, isn't real, and that his marriage with Amy Rose is on the verge of collapse. Apparently, it going through the courts, on the quiet, but it's getting nasty, all the while their playing happy families for the public. It's a real mess." He sniffed, unsure what to believe anymore. But then he suddenly rounded on Shadow. "Onyx?" He asked, but then he stared. "If that really is your name?" He hissed. Shadow blinked, gulping hard, but Tony smiled, though somewhat frightened. "Your him, aren't you. The real Shadow." He grinned. "There have been rumours flying around for years of your potential survival. Some are even saying your immortal, and if that's true, then it would made sense. But no one had seen anything, until you just walked through my door, two months ago. Even disguised, I had my suspicions, especially when you brought everything in my entire catalogue of coffee brands, from all over the world. Like I said, my son is a fan, and your love of coffee is very quite known." He smiled. Shadow heaved, and to Tony's utter astonishment, he nodded.
He was indeed the real deal, and it was also obvious that Tony hadn't breathed a word about this to anyone, and Shadow knew, he wasn't going to either. But Tony just stared.
"But what happened to you? According to the story about you, you're ageless, and can't grow, and yet, here you are, now standing here taller then me." He wondered. Shadow heaved, looking deeply at Tony.
"It's complicated." He admitted. "I didn't get out of that explosion, alive. It killed me but when I regenerated, it had changed me beyond recognition." He explained. "I have literally, and very recently, only just got to grips with happened." He sighed. But then Tony's heart fell, as he looked at Shadow.
"Regenerated?" He gulped. "Wow." He gasped, but then sniffed. "So it's true then?" He heaved. Shadow frowned.
"What?" He wondered, but Tony almost cried.
"Well, the real reason why the divorce between Sonic and Amy has gotten so nasty, is that apparently the Blue Blur she married is a 'fake'. He's an imposter. I didn't believe it at first, but then with what you've just said, if you never got out of that explosion, then neither did the real Sonic." He cried. But Shadow just smirked and hard.
"No. He's alive." He nodded. But Tony gasped.
"What?" He stammered, but Shadow's smirk broadened.
"He's alive." He repeated. "We only woke up from our ordeal two months ago, and we have been finding our feet ever since. We're both changed beyond anything you've every seen." He shrugged. But Tony gulped, not really believing. But suddenly, Shadow rounded on him. The coffee shop owner had street knowledge, maybe he had some leads on his mystery. He sighed. "Look, listen. That bomb, it's wasn't Eggman's. To set it off, was seriously out of character for the Human. I think someone tried to murder us." He hissed, but Tony gulped.
"Murder?" He gasped. But Shadow nodded.
"Well, they succeeded with the Human, but I don't believe he was the target." He nodded. Shadow had been thinking that for the while. The Resistance was more then capable at the time, to destroy Eggman on the own. Why would anyone need to kill him. But Tony frowned.
"Now you come to mention that, there has been some strange goings on, specifically around your fan club, and the Shadow conventions, for the last few years. Like I said, my son follows you, and he has noticed a lot of soldiers around your fan gatherings, especially recently." He explained, but Shadow growled, and hard.
"G.U.N." He hissed, and hard. Tony nodded.
"I think they're looking for you." He panted. "But what do they want?" He wondered, but Shadow gritted his teeth.
"Me." He simply spat, as Tony's eyes widened. "What you don't understand, is that I'm not only just the Ultimate Lifeform, but the world's foremost and best Super Soldier. It was what I was originally designed and created to do. Not be a singular cure for some Human girl. That was all a lie." He sniffed. That was true, and it had hit Shadow and extremely hard. "But I broke free from them, gaining a consciousness, some independent thought." He leered. But Tony leered, smirking hard.
"They were loosing their greatest asset." He sniggered. But Shadow growled.
"Not loosing, lost." He growled. "I think that bomb was meant for me. Yes, hiding a super-high end explosive inside a fake Badnik, is something G.U.N. would stoop low enough, to do." He hissed, but Tony gulped.
"But why? Your immortal, it obviously didn't work and it almost killed Sonic." He stammered, but Shadow sighed.
"Desperation. I think. Especially with the fight against Eggman." He admitted. "But it backfired on them, horrendously, because all my genetic engineering is gone, and I now have true free will." He smirked. But Tony gulped, but then he sighed.
"Shadow, you might be right, but be careful. With your convention coming, G,U.N. is almost certainly, going to be there. The organisation is corrupt as hell, these days. They must have some sort of plan for you, if their hunting for you this badly. Please, watch your back." He whimpered. Shadow smirked, and nodded.
"Thank you. I will." He hissed, but then he stopped and put his hand up his head. Suddenly, he grabbed a black quill and yanked hard. Gritting his teeth, he pulled it out, and holding it in his hand, he used a nearby cloth, and wiped off the makeup, revealing the stunning deep red, but now very orange tip, that all his quills had. Tony's jaw dropped, as Shadow held it out to him. "Give this to your son, with my regards." He sniggered. The Black Hedgehog nodded Tony goodbye, as he left the shop, with his goods.
The blonde Cat gulped and hard. He'd only been guessing that Onyx was the real Shadow, not that it was actually true! But the quill, wow, it was stunning, when he gave it to his son, saying that the real Ultimate Lifeform was indeed alive, the young boy was over the moon. Tony heaved, as he hugged him.
"Thank you." He whispered to himself. Maybe Shadow The Hedgehog wasn't so bad, after all.
As Shadow returned to the apartment, he found the Blue Blur napping, snoring hard. Not that surprising really. Life as nothing but literal Chaos Energy apparently was very tiring. Sonic slept a lot, but not today, as he shook his counterpart awake.
Blinking hard, Sonic frowned, as Shadow revealed to the Blue Blur, what heard learned in and around Westopolis. Amy and her imposter husband, their nasty divorce, their fan club conventions, G.U.N., and he counted the entire conversation he had with the coffee shop owner, Tony.
Sonic was stunned. What? It was a lot of information to take in, and yet, he wasn't the least bit surprised by any of it. He heaved.
"I already knew about the fan clubs. They had started, and were somewhat established long before the war ended, and the fact that they've exploded since, doesn't astound me, to be honest." He heaved. "And as for G.U.N.? They're been on your tail for years, how is that anything new, but Amy, wow. I'm gobsmacked she married an imposter, but she was so in love, with the idea of Sonic The Hedgehog, 'the Hero', that when it came to the real me, she just didn't want to know. So someone moving in, while I was gone, and become a better representation of the hero then me, then yes, she'd fall for him. She'd be stupid enough." He sighed. But Shadow, staring at the Blue Blur, just outright smirked.
"Your a lot more on the ball, then I gave you credit. Significantly more observant, certainly." He hissed. He'd long believed all of this had gone straight over the Blue Blur's head. But Sonic giggled.
"Just because I don't say anything, doesn't mean, I don't know." He grinned, but then he frowned. "But G.U.N. setting off the bomb, during that final fight, just to get at you. That's worrying, because if they were that desperate, ten years ago, and the coffee shop owner said that they are more super-corrupt then ever, then what are they willing to do now?" He stammered. Shadow growled.
"Potentially, something incredibly disastrous." He hissed. "Regardless, I'm extremely keen to find out what they're up to." He hissed, coldly. Suddenly, Sonic outright giggled, as he just turned into his bright blue spark and zipped around the room at super-high speed. He suddenly landed on Shadow's shoulder.
"Yay, and you know what this means." He whined, his electronic voice crackling hard. But Shadow rolled his eyes, he heaved, rubbing his face.
"What?" He spat, getting frustrated at the Blue Blur not getting to the point. His eyes glowed as lift up a hand, and turning it upwards, and opened it. Immediately, bright orange and red flames exploded in his palm, as he ready himself to chase the Blue Blur. But Sonic suddenly, grinned.
"We're gatecrashing some conventions."
Suddenly, Shadow's eyes widened.
Oh no!
Standing in a room, stuffed full of fake copies of himself, was the very last thing Shadow wanted to do. He hated doppelgangers. They sliced though his pride and hard. There was only one Ultimate Lifeform, and it was him, and him, alone. But the Blue Blur had a point. If he wanted to get at G.U.N., Shadow had to put himself out there, basically, to be found. Both he and Sonic were ready. All their training and mastering of their new skills was complete. Was the world ready for them? Probably not, but they'd ran out of time.
Mentioning Amy, had gotten Sonic curious. Even though any chance of them, being an a relationship now, was non existent, he still wanted to see her again, even if it was from a distance. To hear that her, and her imposter husband were going to be at the conventions, had gotten the Blue Blur extremely interested.
Regardless, tomorrow, everything would change.
The following morning, Sonic and Shadow were stood opposite each other, in the deep shadows of the little alleyway, that ran from their apartment to the main street of Westopolis. They were both in full attire, as themselves, in full glory. Sonic looking the same as ever. He was in his normal Hedgehog form, perfectly solid, with proper muscles, skin, quills and fur, but the Ultimate Lifeform knew there was significantly more to him then that, they both were as Shadow was in his Ultimate Lifeform look. The deep, crimson red-orange stripes, Inhibitors Rings, rocket shoes, the works. He looked stunning. He had thought of bringing his fully armed revolvers with him. He very nearly did. He understood why they were there, he used that a lot before with his old life, but now everything had changed and he couldn't move between his forms with them, on his person. So they were going to be of little use to him, in the long term, so he left them in the apartment. As Sonic looked out on the busy street, he gulped.
"This is not going to end well." He stammered, half expecting that one, or both of them, were going to be found out. But Shadow just snorted.
"So what, if it doesn't. We're both immortal, there is literally nothing they can do to us, plus you can defend yourself better then anyone. Sonic, you have to believe that." He pressed. The Blue Blur had been struggling, mentally, with that concept. After a large intake of breath, he nodded. Shadow smirked, approving. The Blue Blur grinned, looking out onto the busy streets.
"Time to reveal ourselves to the world." He giggled. Shadow heaved, and rolled his eyes again.
"Hardly. We're pretending to be fans, whom are pretending to be us." He hissed. Sonic frowned, just about getting his head around that. Finally, he nodded.
"Regardless, good luck out there." He smiled, holding out a fist to the Ultimate Lifeform. Shadow blinked at it, stunned. It was a gesture of pure friendship, and he often did with Tails and Knuckles, during the war, but never had it been offered to the Black Hedgehog. Sonic nodded, and Shadow smirked, as closing his fist and touching the Blue Blur's.
"Same to you." He nodded, as they fist bumped, and then they both left the safety of their alleyway. Westopolis was heaving. There was people everywhere, with a sea of blue and black as far was the eyes could see. Both the conventions were in full swing. Sonic and Shadow joined the crowds on the main street. Silently walking side-by-side, in perfect sync. Tall, strong, powerful and majestic, and...completely ignored.
No one around, battered an eyelid at them. Between them, the speedsters had enough Chaos Energy Power to destroy the entire planet, but they had both dubbed it down so much, that it couldn't be felt on either of them. The walked passed the coffee shop and Sonic wave through the window, much to the owner Tony's, and his little son, who was desperately clutching the quill, delight. The Cat knew where they were going, especially after the information he gave, and he too, wished them luck.
They followed the crowds across the city, to the outskirts and as they turned a corner, they came to two large fields side-by-side, with a giant marque in each. A mass of blue on one, and a mass of black in the other. They'd found the conventions. Suddenly, Shadow stopped and intensely squirmed. There was a couple, in fact, lots of them, each dressed up as them, one Sonic, one Shadow, all openly kissing. Sonic gulped.
"Oh, yeah, that." He stammered. "Just ignore it. It's something the fan clubs do, I'm afraid. I first saw it, during the war. Apparently, we make the 'perfect' couple." He sighed. But Shadow growled.
"I told you, I'm not interested." He spat, but Sonic nodded, holding up both his hands, in non-aggression. He gulped.
"Hey, I hear you, and agree. But you might want to let them know that." He stammered, indicating the kissing. Shadow growled, heaving hard.
This was going to be a long day.