Chapter One: Aimless Purpose
*One Year After the Events of Sonic X Shadow Generations*
l-l-l-l
It was another gorgeous day on Angel Island, the miraculously floating landmass that was a testament to the ancient Echidna Tribes, particularly the one led and founded by Pachacamac, Knuckles' ancestor. Today, like most others, the Last Echidna leisurely strolled the island, soaking in the sunlight and ambiance of the wildlife on the island. Casually plucking a few grapes and tossing them in his maw as he walked, Knuckles glanced assuredly up the altar that led up to his most sacred responsibility: the Master Emerald. Even in the dark, the massive green stone always glowed, but it too seemed to be basking in the sun's warm rays, shining like a star itself.
"Y'know… I think today's gonna be a good day!" Knuckles affirmed to himself with a confident smile.
"Talking to yourself, Big Red? You starting to, ah, slip a little, living all by yourself?" a familiar, sultry voice spoke.
"I don't-! Hey, Rouge!" Turning to his left, sure enough, he saw Rouge the Bat, leaning against a tree across from him, looking smug as ever. "So what if I am?! Maybe if you didn't sneak up on me… Rouge?"
The whole time Knuckles spoke, Rouge's expression never changed. For that matter, she didn't seem to be moving. Cocking an eyebrow in confusion, he cautiously approached her, slowly picking up a stick from the ground as he did.
"...Rouge…?" the echidna whispered, and gently poked the bat. To his shock, the stick went right through, and caused Rouge's whole image to shimmer and waver like water. Knuckles had seen this trick before.
"A hologram?! What the-?! HEY! DAMN IT ROUGE!"
Knuckles' purple eyes blazed open as he looked over to see Rouge, who was definitely not a hologram, starting to fly away with the Master Emerald. It was attached to a harness and gravity-lift to allow it to float along the airborne thief.
"Such a sweetie Knuckles, always looking after this gem for me!" the huntress giggled, winking and blowing a kiss as she started to make her exit.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" the echidna warrior bellowed, running forward in a red flash. Rouge's eyes widened as Knuckles flew up the steps and right up towards her, even using the Master Emerald as a foothold as he tackled her. The two tumbled roughly into the ground and skidded to a halt. Even in the quick chaos of the moment, Knuckles had steered his body to take the brunt of the landing.
"Ow… a bit… rough there, Red," Rouge said with a wince, rubbing her head a little.
"Yeah well, you should know better by now!" Knuckles retorted with a smug smirk through the dirt on his face.
Still having an arm around her from the tackle, Knuckles and Rouge glared at each other for a few moments… and then burst out laughing together.
"That was such a cheap move, batty!" the echidna chided playfully, and pretended to *Bonk!* Rouge on the head "A hologram? Again?!"
"Hey, it's not my fault that it keeps working! Though, you are catching on faster!" she giggled, and gently poked Knuckles on the nose with a finger.
"Well, the game's getting old, and not just because you insist on playing it," Knuckles joked, though he cast an antsy look at the Master Emerald as he did so. "I always get you before you can get it to your 'safe zone' so what's the point?"
"Because the deal was, if I get it to my safe zone, I get to keep it at my place for a night!" Rouge replied with a self-assured smirk. "Besides, it's the principle of the matter, to win the most beautiful Emerald! Plus… it keeps you sharp," she added with a giggle, and gave Knuckles a small kiss on the lips.
The crimson echidna's eyes widened for a moment, but he had begun to get used to Rouge taking him off guard like this lately. Knuckles gently embraced her and returned the kiss.
In the year following the Time Eater's attack, things had been busy, to say the least. Even more so than usual. After the last time Rouge had worked with Shadow the Hedgehog to deal with Infinite, a war with Dr. Eggman had followed; a war they had thought cost Sonic his life. With Infinite and the Phantom Ruby spearheading his campaign, the battles to resist his rule had left many parts of the world scarred. Sonic, Knuckles, even Rouge and all the other members of the Resistance had helped rebuild the damage, but there was still much work to do.
Even now, more than half a year after that war had ended, many cities hadn't fully recovered.
Then, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy had gotten caught up in Dr. Eggman's scheme involving Cyberspace and the Ancient Chaos ancestors that had once inhabited Chaos Island and the surrounding regions. Along with his powerful A.I. daughter Sage, Sonic had been forced to nearly fight to the death against cybercorruption. Knuckles and the others had to help despite being half-trapped and hindered by Cyberspace, and even Super Sonic might not have saved the day without the help from Eggman and Sage.
But more surprising than any of that, perhaps, was that Knuckles the Echidna had grown close enough to Rouge to trust her to a game with the Master Emerald. Of course, he had only agreed after dating for about a month, and now they were going on two months. Not to mention all the rules attached to it.
After breaking the kiss, Knuckles stood up and helped Rouge to her feet. The pair exchanged a glance as they dusted themselves off, smirking.
"Now did you need anything, or did you just wanna play around with me all day?" Knuckles asked. "If you insist on trying to take the Emerald again," He smiled cockily, "I'll make you regret using more holograms!"
"Well, as much as I'd love to go another round… I'm famished," Rouge said, leaning her head back into her arms. "What do you say we go for dinner in a little bit?"
"Ooh! Sounds great, I'm dying for some grub!" the echidna replied with puppy-like enthusiasm. Rouge couldn't help but giggle; he was so cute when he got this excited about something. "Sonic said there's a new burger place that-"
"Um, no, maybe something… a little nicer than that?" the huntress said with a cocked eyebrow, smirking at her simplistic boyfriend. "We've been to burger joints plenty of times. A place that sells nice cocktails, perhaps? Steak, good wine, hm? Eh?"
"Oh… I dunno, Rouge…" Knuckles said, his face falling a little as he examined his hands. "I… don't do good with glassware…"
"It'll be fine, you rugged ol' hunk!" Rouge teased with a playful punch to the echidna's shoulder. "We can get a special setup for you. Or, if you want to go hands-free…" The ivory bat's beautifully seductive tone purred to life. "I could… feed you?"
"I don't need you to feed me!" Knuckles retorted indignantly, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm no child, I'm a man!"
"Nevermind," she sighed; all this time, and her passes still didn't always make their way past all the muscle in that echidna's head. "Well, what do you say we compromise; meet me at a place nicer than that burger joint and I'll make sure you can enjoy yourself there. I know a place just on the edge of Emerald Town, just before the road to Central City. The Babylon Bistro?"
"Oh yeah! Amy said they had great food, Cream's family took her once!" Knuckles said with a nod. "She's been trying to find a way to get Sonic to go."
"You don't say!" Rouge chuckled. "Alright, meet me there in say… two hours? That'll give me time to clean up and get changed."
"But… it's only about forty minutes from here to Club Rouge!" he exclaimed, scratching his head. "How long does it take you?"
"Good point, better make it two and a half hours," Rouge replied, nodding her head in agreement. Before giving Knuckles too long to dwell on her routine, she quickly planted another kiss on his cheek. "See you this evening, Red!" The huntress left just as abruptly as she'd come, leaving a baffled echidna in her wake.
"Heh… she's such a wild card!" Knuckles said to himself softly. "She came here, tried to take the Emerald, asked me to dinner and left! Hah!" Smiling the whole way back to his hut, he was feeling good about his earlier prediction. As hard as it was to believe, he really enjoyed Rouge's company. The two definitely had things to work through, but it was great nonetheless.
Of course, now he might have the challenge of undersized silverware in a public setting. Unbecoming for an echidna warrior, certainly.
—-lllll-
*At Club Rouge…*
Upon returning to Club Rouge, the owner quickly made her way up to her penthouse on the top floor above the club. Humming the whole way, Rouge mentally planned out what outfit to wear, what jewelry, shoes and so on. She loved flaunting her beauty, as well as some of her extravagant wealth and gems in public, and now she had a cute boyfriend to show off too.
After taking as long as a shower as she could indulge in, Rouge slipped into an elegant, low-back red dress that glittered as she moved. One of her favorites, it came with a white-silk trim that matched her snowy fur. There were slits up the sides of the legs, but not so high as to be "scandalous." The glamourous thief sported a pair of red high-heels to match, adorned with small diamonds around the straps. Still humming cheerfully, she began to pick out the jewelry from an assortment of cases on her dresser.
Then, Rouge's humming came to an abrupt halt as her hand fell upon one box in particular.
Habitually, she opened it again. Inside was only one thing: a large, simple, flawless golden band. Shadow's inhibitor ring, the same Sonic had retrieved for Rouge a few years ago back on the ARK.
"Shadow…" Rouge murmured, running her fingers over the smooth surface of the bracelet. The huntress sighed; it'd been months since she'd last seen or spoken to Shadow, and that was only during the mission with Infinite, and briefly during the battles against Eggman. The last time they had really spoken… Rouge cringed just thinking about it. No wonder Shadow had taken off after everything… again. Now it had been about half a year since anyone had any solid notion of the edgy hedgehog's whereabouts.
This bracelet, Shadow's inhibitor, was the only real reminder she had of all the history the two of them shared, what they meant to each other. As much as it pained the white bat to behold it, it was too precious to get rid of or put out of sight.
Rouge had confided in Knuckles how worried she was about Shadow, seeing him so scarcely and knowing what he'd been going through. Despite his well-meaning assurances, nothing Knuckles or anyone said made her believe that her teammate, her friend, was at peace in his heart. If she could just see him again, apologize for their last talk… Would he even listen, a year after the fact?
"Where are you…?"
—-llll-l
*White Acropolis, Northern Soleanna*
Hidden beneath a thick veil of snow, tucked low in the roots of the mountains, laid a heavily-fortified base of malevolent mechanized soldiers. Closing off any and all routes to the base through the mountains with massive, thick titanium walls, the base also had hidden recon towers at six points outside the base to alert of any intruders, and hundreds of mechs ready to attack.
"Recon Alpha, checking in," one mech, blending in with the flurry of snow, buzzed in over its communicator to the others. "All recons report in."
"Recon Beta checking in."
"Recon Gamma checking in."
"Re…"
"Recon Delta. Report in now," the first mech repeated. One more failed response would trigger an investigation.
"Recon Delta checking in. Comms error reported," they finally responded. The other two responded without a hitch. Operations resumed normally for now.
All the mechs in the base were monitored for their energy signals to ensure they were all operational. This, the check-ins and many other measures were in place to alert the base in case of any possible infiltration or attack.
Shadow the Hedgehog was acutely aware of all these security measures. Therefore, he had hit one of the mechs, the Delta lookout, with a special device that disabled all functionality without shutting down its power. The device would then respond to sound cues through the mech's radio by hijacking the robot's voice box, and knowing what to say from the memory banks. Basically, it was a device that acted like a built-in hacker controlled it.
Something Shadow had acquired from G.U.N., and then improved upon.
With one lookout safely disabled, the Ultimate Life-Form quickly climbed the tower the mech had been looking out from. Between the snow, ice and camouflage technology, it was almost impossible to see anything of the base, either visually, infrared or even satellite. From the top of the tower, however, Shadow could make out where the top of the wall leading to the base was. Once he got over that wall, they wouldn't be able to lock him out, and stealth would be entirely "optional."
Observing his surroundings quickly, Shadow planned his route, and then shot off the top of the tower like a comet. He quickly ran alongside a high point on an ice wall to build more momentum, and shot off again, soaring over the wall with less than a foot of clearance. Shadow's fire-skates kicked on to slow his descent a little, and he landed without a hitch.
Immediately, spot lights illuminated his location, and guns from dozens of mechs swiveled around to take aim.
"Useless," he scoffed, and vanished in a blip of blue light.
The robots looked around frantically for where the dark hedgehog had gone. No sign, no movement, not even a reading on their sensors…
*BOOM!*
One of the larger floodlights had suddenly been blasted off its base and came crashing down into several mechs, causing their ranks to scatter. A fatal mistake. Taking advantage of the discord, Shadow quickly reappeared and began quickly taking the robots out. Every time one turned to aim, he was gone, then back again just as suddenly. The mechs fell one by one, faster than they could get a shot off. In just under eleven seconds, every robot before Shadow lay in pieces.
"Chaos Spear!" he shouted, and several arcs of his Chaos energy fired from his palm, hitting the bases of all the other floodlights. Another blip of his Chaos Control, and Shadow was gone before the lights hit the ground.
Further inside the base, the mech that oversaw the whole base and all its operations in White Acropolis saw what happened on the camera feeds. It hadn't even been a whole minute, and Shadow had obliterated every guard in the base's courtyard. Had its creator given it the ability to feel fear, it would've been trembling, even without the cold.
"Initiate lockdown," the lead mech ordered the others working the base's control terminals. "Converge all forces-"
A resounding *CRASH!* interrupted it as the door to the control room was knocked right out of its frame, and in a fiery blur, Shadow had entered the room. With four quick warps and four quick, precise shots of an energy gun, he took down all the robots in the immediate room save for the overseer. Another blip and the muzzle of Shadow's weapon was aimed right between the mech's optical sensors.
"I need information," the dark hedgehog said in a low, steady voice. "You want to keep functioning? Access what I need."
"I-If I do that… Master Eggman will know! There will be repercussions!" the robot stuttered, unaware it even could stutter before today.
"Mm-hmm." Shadow fired a blast right between the mech's legs so fast it looked like he never took his aim off the head. "Final answer?"
After a moment of resignation, the mech turned to face the terminal with Shadow's blaster at point-blank range from behind.
"What do you wish to know?"
"Access any data banks you have for any information regarding Black Doom, or anything having to do with 'Mephiles' or 'time void corruption," Shadow requested in an even tone. "If you begin any sort of data purge before I'm done, or have anything interrupt us, I will destroy you."
The robot didn't reply as it complied, the screens flashing as data and images related to the search appeared in rapid succession. The angsty hedgehog's eyes flitted between the data, quickly soaking it in, and the mech, watching it for any suspicious activity.
"Zero results for 'Mephiles,'" the mech reported after a minute, its optics nervously glancing between Shadow and the doors to the room. "Although we have over four-hundred results for Black Doom, and over one-hundred for-"
"Nothing I haven't seen before yet," Shadow interrupted, pushing his blaster more firmly against the mech as he continued reading. His brow furrowed and his frown grew darker; this particular "mission" was beginning to feel infuriatingly familiar. Every file he'd seen so far, he'd downloaded already. He already knew everything G.U.N., Eggman and even other, more obscure parties knew about Black Doom. There was absolutely nothing on Mephiles anywhere. Not a damn thing, no theories, historical mentions, mythos, nothing. There was never anything new on the corruption Shadow had encountered in White Space, which he theorized had something to do with Mephiles since the dark being had adapted to it the same as Shadow had with his Doom Powers. No new leads anywhere.
Another minute, and Shadow's quick reading and comprehension concluded this base's data held nothing as well.
"Damn it…" he hissed under his breath. "If that's everything, purge all the data. Now.
"Very well," the overseer mech complied, beginning a master delete. "May I… go now?" it asked slowly.
"Not yet. But I will spare your functionality, like I said," Shadow replied, and blasted the robot in the left foot, and took off through the door opposite of the one he'd arrived through.
"All units… stop the intruder!" the mech cried as it struggled to lift itself up to the console. "Converge on that hedgehog!" But it was already too late.
A series of explosions rocked the base as Shadow lit the place up with Chaos Spears, blasting his way through any and all resistance. Alarms began blaring, the damage growing more extensive as the Ultimate Life-Form made his exit.
Upon reaching the courtyard outside where he'd arrived, Shadow observed a number of robots attempting to mobilize despite all the chaos. He nodded when he noticed a row of them with jets that were airborne; there was his exit. Another flash of blue-light, and Shadow landed a Homing Attack on the lowest one, and then quickly slammed the full-force of his balled-up body into the next several mechs. Once his improvised staircase got him far enough, he leapt back over the outer wall, and sped off into the night.
While mildly satisfied that he had taken out another of Dr. Eggman's bases, Shadow fumed that for the sixteenth time in a row, he had no new information. Ever since he'd taken off after Sonic's birthday party about a year ago, the brooding warrior had been looking for more answers. He'd learned a few things G.U.N. and Eggman knew about the Black Arms, as well as what they'd learned about the corruption substance in White Space, which wasn't much. Mostly just theories there. That had been within the first two months of Shadow's search, and he hadn't found anything new in the following ten.
Of course, his search had been put on hold when Dr. Eggman waged war with Infinite as his captain. Shadow wished he had finished the jackal when Rouge and he had done that last job together before the war had been in full-swing. It might've saved some destruction and blood-shed. That whole affair had ended several months ago now.
Shadow sighed to himself as he continued to skate through the snow, weaving with seasoned ease through the trees.
'Rouge…' He couldn't help but muse over her a little when the memory of their last meeting crossed his mind. Of course, they had barely spoken during the mission G.U.N. had "requested" Shadow to perform. While they'd kept things friendly on the surface, it was obvious the two still remembered how poorly the encounter after Sonic's party had gone.
After being away so long, the dark hedgehog had wondered and wondered to himself why he had acted out like he had a year ago. The answer was simple; Shadow didn't know how to address his pain. Even after he'd told Maria he had let go of his anger, the pain of losing her again… it was too much. He'd wanted to ignore it and got angry when he'd been reminded of it.
He knew Rouge had just been trying to help. Instead of accepting, Shadow had snapped at her and pushed her away. His long-time ally… Now, it was just easier to keep moving, stay focused on the mission…
'Hah! An excuse if I ever heard one!'
Rouge's words echoed in his mind. Was she right? Was Shadow only searching these bases for answers, answers that may not even exist, just so he wouldn't have to face her? Face the others? Face the pain that came with growing attached to someone, and the fear of losing them?
'It's easier this way,' Shadow rationalized to himself for the umpteenth time. His frown turned to gritted teeth; that wasn't true. Why couldn't he just admit it? It was easier to make everyone dislike him, push them away when they helped him? He hated it. Maria had wanted him to be happy, she'd said so. Even during their brief reunion, it had been clear to her that Shadow and Rouge were friends…
The angsty hedgehog had thought before he really had no excuse to at least make amends with Rouge. He owed her that, after everything they'd been through. If he wasn't getting anywhere raiding any base he could find, then perhaps he should take the time to find her… apologize, even if it was a year late. Would she even remember? Would she even care at this point?
'Of course she would… I know Rouge well enough to know she remembers every time someone earned her ire,' Shadow thought with a ghost of a smile tugging the corners of his lips. 'Yes… very well. Eggman has one more base in this region. I don't know if this last base was merely the other's outpost or vice versa, but once I investigate it… I should find Rouge again…'
He didn't want to. Where would he even begin? He shook his head at himself; why was he being a coward about this?! Shadow knew; he had to see her, at least try. Rouge had saved his life and helped countless times, he didn't dare dishonor her… not again.
After a few minutes of running at a high-speed, Shadow ran up through a mountain and into a cavern he'd fashioned into a temporary shelter. The wind and snow were picking up into a gale; while Shadow's Chaos Energy, genetics and fur gave him much more resilience to the cold, he wasn't completely immune to extreme temperatures. Not to mention, the reduced vision would make scouting the base more dangerous. Best to take some time to catch his breath and wait for the snow to abate.
While Shadow gazed out from his shelter to the flurry of ice outside, he regretted the weather wouldn't give him a chance to see the Northern Lights. Maria had always grown excited when they had a chance to observe them from the ARK, and he'd actually wanted a chance to see them from the Earth. White Acropolis was once such area he might have beheld the phenomenon.
"Can't you take one damned day to stop being such an ass?!"
"Hm… 'Ally'" Shadow muttered aloud to himself, shaking his head a little. Not that he'd go so far as to admit this when he apologized, but maybe Rouge was right about that too; maybe he should take some time, see some sights…
It's what Maria would've wanted.
"Damn it… she knows me better than I'd like…" the Ultimate Life-Form said with a half-chuckle.