Finally back with another chapter!
This one has been, interestingly, titled after the Neon Genesis Evangelion song, which makes sense if you take into account the idea of Black Doom being the analogue for the Devil, while Shadow is an analogue for an Angel, or rather a Fallen Angel fighting against his Creator.
Enjoy!
Entry 71
A Cruel Angel's Thesis
''The cruel angel's thesis. The sorrow then begins. You held tight to the form of life when you woke up from that dream! You shine brighter than anyone else, young boy, become the legend!''
– A Cruel Angel's Thesis by Neon Genesis Evangelion
xXxXxXx
Warren and Tails have managed to reach CyExLabs more or less safely, even though they had to fight through several Black Arms aliens. Unfortunately for them, the front entrance was locked with a security guard and the receptionist staring at them through the glass door, looking quite unwilling to let them in.
''Hey, we need to get inside! It's an emergency!'' Warren shouted at them, his voice seemingly snapping the two out of their stupor. Frankly, neither of them could blame the two for not wanting to unlock the entrance since they feared that the aliens might try to break in. However, given how they were just a teenager and a fox ARNav looking for a safe place in a city invaded by monster-like aliens, they relented. Warren immediately turned to the receptionist once they were inside. ''I'm Warren Taylor and I need to talk to Shinji Meijin. We had an appointment before this whole mess started. Is he here?''
''Uh, y-yes… Follow me!'' The receptionist was startled, but agreed to lead the two to where the scientist in question was, even though she had no clue what the reason for this was. They were quickly led to the back of the building, where the laboratories were. ''I don't know whether Dr. Meijin will have time for you two, given the current situation, but I will ask.''
Tails gave Warren a questioning look, but the teenager remained surprisingly optimistic. She walked into a room, leaving the two waiting in the hallway, observing the people and ARNavs rushing through the building, with everyone being on high alert. Thankfully, the receptionist returned with a man in his late 20s, with dirty blond messy hair, wearing a casual green shirt and jeans, a lab coat and glasses, his blue eyes widening in surprise to when he saw the visitors.
''Warren! I haven't seen you in ages!'' He looked quite pleased to see the teenager, then turned to the fox. ''Who is your friend?''
''This is Miles Prower, my partner,'' Warren introduced them as Tails shook the scientist's hand.
''Please, call me Tails, Dr. Meijin,'' Tails said.
''In return, I want you to just call me Meijin. I'm not a man of formalities,'' Meijin replied, then placed his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. ''I'm sorry that you two had to come here during such a time. I'm currently busy with monitoring the AR Fields after they started going crazy when all of those things started to appear.''
''That's what we've been hoping you'd be doing, Meijin,'' Warren said, with the scientist quirking a brow. ''Tails and I did our own scan of the AR Fields in our neighborhood, as well as checking the data CyExLabs provided to the public. We have an idea what this anomaly might be, but we need more information in regards to how and why it appeared.''
Meijin stared at him for a moment in surprise, clearly taken aback by how insistent Warren was, then laughed heartily. ''I glad to see you being so eager to help us. I haven't seen you like this… well, I don't think I have seen you acting like this even when I was mentored by your grandfather and saw you work with with him.'' He then motioned to them to follow him into the room he just exited. ''I suppose Warren had already told you about me, right Tails?''
''Yeah. I know that you were Max Taylor's student and that you know Warren. After you finished your studies, you went overseas, where you became known for your research on the topic of 'singularity' in the technological and cybernetic field before recently returning to Starpoint Area,'' Tails replied.
''Precisely,'' Meijin replied. ''I haven't told you why I had returned, right?''
''No, you didn't,'' Warren replied.
''To keep it short, I have been invited by this notorious military branch – I believe they were called ARMS – to contribute to their research in regards to the Irregulars, but considering what happened to them, I guess I was lucky I got delayed with my departure,'' Meijin explained, with Warren and Tails giving him startled looks. They didn't expect to hear anything about ARMS from Meijin. ''Going by the look you two are giving me, I guess you had your own experiences with them.''
''It's a long story…'' Tails said, giving Meijin a nervous smile. ''Do you still plan on studying Irregulars while you're here?''
''I do, but that's for later. I'll be working at CyExLabs and the Irregular Hunters,'' Meijin explained.
''I see. We won't me taking too much of your time, though. We'll be leaving the moment we get the relevant information,'' Warren told him in a serious tone. Meijin gave him a look of surprise.
''Our friends are currently fighting a battle out there, and while our main mission is to gather information, we need to go help them once we have what we need,'' Tails replied. Meijin stared at them for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
''I guess I shouldn't be asking what you two are getting yourselves into, but it would be nice for you to explain to me how much you know about this invasion,'' Meijin said.
''The invaders are an alien race called Black Arms, but we believe they're actually Irregulars created from data based on characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog video games… well, technically, Shadow the Hedgehog, but that's neither here nor there,'' Warren quickly added, continuing, ''Our theory is that the AR Fields going wild is something they may have caused, but we have no evidence for it.''
''Sonic the Hedgehog… Hey, isn't that the video game you have been obsessing over when you were younger? I remember your grandfather telling me that you've been playing those games for hours,'' Meijin said, turning his attention to Tails. ''I also recall there being a yellow fox like you.''
''Heh, yeah, that would be me,'' Tails replied, giving him a sheepish smile. Meijin gave the two a satisfied smirk.
''Okay, then. If you two are correct, then we have half of our riddle solved. Come with me,'' Meijin led the two to another room, which was smaller, but also had a bunch of computers. He then reached for a drawer, taking out a glowing yellow brilliant-cut gem out of it. Warren and Tails' jaws dropped.
''That's a Chaos Emerald!'' Both shouted in unison. Meijin gave them an amused smile.
''I guess your reaction means it's important, right? I thought about using it as a paper weight,'' he said, giving the Chaos Emerald to Warren. ''It appeared literally out of nowhere on my desk this morning. ''I didn't get around to studying it, but I believe you'll know what to do with it.'' He then put his finger on his lips. ''I suppose we should also keep this a secret for the time being.''
''Heh…'' Tails had to admit he had no idea what to think about Meijin, but he was glad to have him on their side. ''The Black Arms will come for it, so we need to protect the Chaos Emerald with all we got.''
Warren nodded in agreement, although he wasn't worried about the Black Arms coming for the Chaos Emerald, but rather a particular dark hedgehog.
xXx
Shadow was dashing through the streets of Neos City, going through Sentoraru as he tried to sense the whereabouts of a Chaos Emerald. He needed to find at least one if he wanted to unleash the full power of Chaos Control and defeat Black Doom. Unfortunately, something told him that one Chaos Emerald wouldn't suffice. He would need all seven of them if he wanted to destroy the Black Arms for good.
Nevertheless, that didn't mean that he couldn't just destroy whatever Black Arms alien he came across during his search. He narrowed his eyes as he took notice of Doom's Eye hovering above him after using Doom Blast on another Black Warrior, sending him flying into multiple Black Wings, followed up by multiple Doom Spears that obliterated them.
''Those are our Black Arms soldiers, do not interfere with them!'' Doom's Eye growled at him, scolding him as if he were a mere child.
''Hmph.'' Shadow couldn't care less, only increasing his speed as he sensed a faint trace of Chaos Energy as he moved from Sentoraru to Kita. He was curious about where his path would lead him as he passed through the destroyed streets, avoiding the rubble. This area was eerily empty, and he saw several Black Oaks patrolling it. He spin-dashed into them, finishing them of with the Doom Blast. For all their brute strength and endurance, they were still just obstacles to him. Nevertheless, the fact that there were no people here was unnerving.
xXx
''I'm Midorikawa-''
''I'm Kero!''
''We're here to bring you the latest news. Neos City is currently going through an invasion. Black creatures have invaded our beloved city, with the authorities being dispatched to deal with them,'' Midorikawa reported, standing in what appeared to be Erekiteru, hidden away from the Black Arms behind columns at an office building.
''There are no reports on what those black creatures are, and social media is going wild with speculations, ranging from them being some kind of science experiment to aliens,'' Kero added.
''We will make sure to keep you updated about the situation. For now, you need to evacuate Neos City, but if you cannot find a way to escape, there are shelters spread across the city, built after the water monster incident and designed to withstand any kind of damage. You can find the map on the Neos City News website,'' Midorikawa added, with a holographic version of the map appearing next to her.
''Do not engage with the black creatures and stay hidden. Stay safe,'' Kero added, with the broadcast ending, but they still kept the camera focused on the map with the shelters.
''Mother!''
Cream stared at Vanilla, both alarmed as they watched the news. Cheese and Chocola were also upset, looking quite fearful of what the future might hold for them. Vanilla, despite her anxiety, tried to keep calm. ''Don't worry, dear. We will go to the shelter in Kita. We will be safe there.'' Cream nodded, with Cheese trying to comfort her. Chocola was hovering next to Vanilla, being just as worried. Vanilla then added, ''We should hurry up.''
The four walked up to the door, carefully opening it. They could see the dark sky and the red cracks spreading across the city. It was quite horrifying to see. People were running or driving through the streets, trying to find safety. Some even abandoned their vehicles, running on foot, only to be ambushed by the Black Arms and dragged away.
Cream gasped in shock, but realized that there was nothing she could do as she needed to protect her mother and the Chao as several of the Black Arms aliens charged towards them. She used her ears to fly up, grabbing onto her mother's arms. ''Hold on!''
Vanilla watched her daughter as they flew up, with Cheese and Chocola following them, then glanced down. Below them was nothing but pure chaos.
xXx
''Miss Lily, I insist-!''
''Oh, shut up! I'm not going to let the Black Arms tear our city apart!''
''None of us will allow that!''
Bennet could only stare in stunned silence as Lily and Knuckles shouted back at him. Fortunately, Lily's parents weren't at Neos City, having gone on another business trip and leaving Bennet in charge. The butler was currently attempting to convince Lily and Knuckles – well, mainly Lily – to stay at the Crystle Mansion, as it also featured an underground bunker for them to hide until the crisis was over, but the teenager had already grabbed her hoverboard, determined to go fight the Black Arms.
''You can stay here and protect the mansion,'' Lily told Bennet.
''Don't let any of those aliens come near it. You're now the guardian of this place,'' Knuckles added. Before Bennet could say more, the two already dashed away on their hoverboards. He sighed, having no choice but to lock the gate and hope that the Black Arms wouldn't attack the Crystle Mansion.
Meanwhile, Lily and Knuckles were en route towards where they expected to be a crowd of Black Arms that they could fight against. They were in contact with Team Chaotix, who told them they would meet up to fight together against the Black Arms – after Lily quickly explained what they were – but for now, they had to find a way through this whole chaos.
''Lucas did say that we need to defeat the Black Arms, but…'' Lily trailed off when they suddenly came across those aliens. They had managed to cause several car crashes, with several people screaming in fear in pain, some even being dragged away by the aliens. What the Black Arms soldier in question didn't expect was getting punched in the face by a Chaos Surge-boosted Knuckles. Lily ran over to the man the alien had dropped, checking on him. He had cuts and bruises over his body, with Lily fearing that he might have a broken bone.
''Are you okay? Can you walk?'' she asked him.
''Y-Yeah, but there's someone stuck in the other car…'' the man responded, with Lily seeing a woman, who was bleeding from her head, trying to frantically open the door. She also had a child in the backseat, but the little girl wasn't responsive.
''Knuckles, keep me covered!'' Lily shouted, with Knuckles nodding and charging at the closest alien. Lily ran to the other car, her eyes glowing red as she used the boost from the Chaos Surge to pry, or rather, tear open the car door. She could hear the sound of a siren in the distance, unsure whether it was the police or the ambulance, but she knew they would have a hard time getting here. The woman was crying, hysterical to see her daughter unconscious. Fortunately, they could open the door, but Lily didn't want to touch the little girl because she feared that she was injured, the worst being a broken neck, and felt that it would be better to wait for an ambulance. She also couldn't do more, as she needed to help Knuckles fight back against the Black Arms as they still overpowered them in numbers.
''I hope everyone else is doing better than us,'' Lily said, delivering a kick that sent the soldier flying.
''What do you mean by 'better than us'? We're doing great!'' Knuckles replied confidently, caving the face of another soldier. Lily wasn't exactly sure whether she wanted to correct him on that part. After all, they were doing much better than the majority of Neos City solely because they were able to fight back.
xXx
Espio threw a kunai at the alien, with Vector landing a punch on it. He then turned to the group of people that were following them. ''It's this way to the shelter! Hurry up!''
Charmy then took the lead in the group, with Vector and Espio staying at the back to defend them. They were all at a suburban location in Eas, not too far from the shelter, but they still had to make their way to it. They had actually hoped to meet up with Knuckles and Lily, but unfortunately, that didn't seem to be possible in the current situation. At least Lily explained to them what the Black Arms were and that Team Neos would be fighting them. However, Vector did note that there was something left unsaid.
''How does Team Neos even plan to stop the invasion?'' Vector asked, him and Espio exchanging puzzled glances. Espio then furrowed a brow.
''They must have some kind of plan,'' he said.
''Or, it's a plan in process,'' Vector said, only to see some of those flying aliens swooping down on them. ''Hold up!''
The group stopped, with Vector running ahead and breathing fire at them, torching the Black Wings and causing them to drop like flies. Unfortunately, one escaped, flying straight after Charmy, with the bee panicking as he started to dodge the Black Wing. Charmy then grinned, managing to outmaneuver the Black Wing and get on its back.
''Woohoo!'' Charmy laughed as the Black Wing bucked like one of those mechanical bulls, trying to throw the bee off its back. Charmy held onto it tightly, only to notice a purple glow in one of the trees that lined the street. He turned to his teammates. ''Vector, Espio, heads up!''
He managed to gain control of the Black Wing, flying it straight at his two teammates, only to leap off when Espio threw a shuriken at it, ending it for good.
''That as fun!'' Charmy said, joining his companions as they observed the group they had been leading getting into the nearby building that was designed as a shelter, with Charmy then adding as he pointed, ''I saw something weird in that tree.''
''What do you mean?'' Vector asked curiously, with Espio climbing up the tree in question and returning with a glowing gem that left all three of them speechless, their jaws dropping at the sight.
''This is a Chaos Emerald,'' Espio said, recognizing the purple gem.
''Heh, good work team! Let's deliver that Chaos Emerald to Team Neos. I'm sure they can put it to good use,'' Vector said, grinning, with Espio and Charmy nodding in agreement.
xXx
Meijin furrowed a brow as he stared at the screen. While CyExLabs was one of the most advanced research facilities in Neos City when it came to the cyber network, besides the Codex Research Facility, it appeared that it was still difficult for them to track down the source of those anomalies. It was as if something was intentionally preventing them to find the source. He glanced over at Warren and Tails, who were just as focused on getting through the data, talking in hushed tones as they discussed what those cracks might be.
Admittedly, they weren't completely left in the dark. They knew that the red cracks only appeared in AR Fields and that they weren't the result of the network malfunctioning. They also weren't caused by the Black Arms directly, but they were connected to the Black Arms' attack. In fact, Warren and Tails realized that, whatever was causing those cracks seemed to be spreading more and more, creation some kind of barrier around Neos City and the area that surrounded it, cutting it off from the rest of Starpoint Area. When the two attempted to perform a simulation of what might happen if those cracks spread even more, they were met by a sudden error, followed by the whole simulation program and computer crashing.
''This… is not good,'' Warren said, his eyes wide as he and Tails glanced at each other in shock.
''Don't worry about the computer. It seems that it couldn't run your input…'' Meijin tried to comfort them, but Tails shook his head.
''It's not about us accidentally crashing the computer, it's about the fact that this is something beyond control of the cyberspace. It's affecting the environment outside the AR Fields and we don't know how,'' Tails told him. ''Warren and I had been studying AR Fields and the phenomena that came with them, but this is something that has never been observed… at least not on this scale.''
''We did get some information, though…'' Warren exhaled sharply. ''Hey, Meijin, have you managed to get anything on the vortex that the Black Arms used to arrive to Neos City?''
''I did… but I'm afraid that I ran into a wall… Or a void?'' Meijin replied, scratching his head as Warren and Tails took a look at his monitor. It was a 3D reconstruction of the vortex using data from that particular AR Field, but whenever Meijin tried to go above it, it showed him a black void with yellow and red dots sparking from time to time.
''You know, this kinda reminds me of those out of bounds spaces in video games that appear whenever a player discovers a glitch,'' Warren commented, him and Tails exchanging glances, the realization dawning on them.
''Warren, I think we took the wrong approach to this,'' Tails said, grabbing the Chaos Emerald and looking at it. ''We've been looking at this from the perspective of analyzing a typical AR Field that was corrupted by outside data… but, what if we look at it from the perspective of a video game? Specifically, a video game which is not done downloading all of its content.''
''That would explain why the AR Fields are going crazy. The cracks are simply data that isn't done being processed…'' Warren quickly added, his mouth opening as his eyes widened. ''What if the void above the vortex is supposed to be the Black Comet, but it cannot be observed yet because the connection between it and the AR Fields below is still incomplete? However, that would require huge amounts of data and time…''
''This has been ongoing for several days at most! This invasion has been planned!'' Tails concluded, feeling horrified by the realization. Meijin stared at the two in stunned silence, having not expected them to figure things out sooner than any of CyExLab's top scientists. However, given how they were clearly experienced with these kinds of situation, he wasn't too surprised by this. Tails then suddenly went quiet. ''You know, Eggman and Starline also used a similar approach with their own AR Fields, which were just pocket dimensions of specific Zones, but this pheonomenon is trying to change the landscape of Neos City.''
''I wonder how it's even being kept stable like this…'' Warren muttered. ''I guess it has something to do with whoever or whatever caused it to appear in the first place.''
Tails nodded. ''We should tell Sonic and Lucas about this, as well as bring them the Chaos Emerald. If we get the other six Chaos Emeralds, then we could use the power Super Sonic has to destroy the Black Arms.''
Warren agreed, only for all three of them to get startled when the security alarm suddenly went off. Meijin got up, feeling a sense of dread. ''CyExLabs has been breached!''
All three of them ran out of the room, with the scientists in the laboratory being unsettled by the blaring alarm, trying to figure out what had happened. As for Warren, Tails and Meijin, they ran towards the lobby, having passed by the panicked receptionist and seeing the security guard lying unconscious against the wall, with the intruder staring at them.
''Shadow?!'' Tails stepped towards the dark hedgehog, feeling a sense of relief, only to stop in his tracks when reality hit him. Shadow was the one who broke into CyExLabs and knocked out the security guard, clearly showing that he was a threat. Tails narrowed his eyes. ''What are you doing here?''
Shadow furrowed a brow, walking towards Tails. ''Give me the Chaos Emerald.''
Tails hitched a breath as he realized that he was still holding the yellow gem in his hand. He stepped back, with Shadow stopping on the spot when he saw this reaction – the clear refusal of giving him the Chaos Emerald. He clenched his fists, baring his fangs as he spoke, ''I will repeat myself only once – give me the Chaos Emerald, now.''
''Why? Why do you want the Chaos Emerald?!'' Tails shouted back in protest, glaring at Shadow. He couldn't understand why Shadow was acting like this. Even if he wasn't someone who got along with everyone easily, he was still his teammate, so this kind of behavior made no sense. Unless… Tails suddenly felt cold, his tone heavy and serious when he spoke up, ''Don't tell me that you're working with the Black Arms.''
Shadow growled in response, lunging at Tails. ''Stop wasting my time!''
Tails gasped in surprise, managing to jump to the side and avoiding Shadow's attack. He got on his feet, reaching for his backpack and taking out the laser gun, firing at Shadow. The dark hedgehog dodged the laser blasts by warping via Chaos Snap, getting closer and closer to Tails and punching him in the stomach.
''Tails!''
The twin-tailed fox cried out in pain, his backpack, laser gun and the Chaos Emerald dropping on the ground. He could see Warren in the corner of his eye, the teenager being frozen in shock. Tails gritted his teeth, glancing back at Shadow as the dark hedgehog was about to pick up the yellow Chaos Emerald. Suddenly, Shadow felt an electric shock coursing through his chest, causing him to stumble back. He realized that Tails managed to use the moment of distraction to snap one of his devices on his chest, sending a shockwave through his body. Unfortunately for Tails, Shadow was much more resilient, grabbing the device and tearing it away, crushing it in his hand.
''I won't let you help Black Doom!'' Tails shouted, curling into a ball and spin-attacking right into Shadow, even pushing him back. Shadow blocked his attack by crossing his arms, then managed to grab Tails by his twin-tails and throw him straight into the wall.
Tails fell on the ground, breathing heavily as he felt waves of pain spreading through his body. Warren had ran over to help him up, but before they could even use Chaos Surge to continue fighting against Shadow, the dark hedgehog had already picked up the yellow Chaos Emerald, giving them a hard stare.
''Shadow, why…'' Tails lifted his head, meeting Shadow's cold gaze. The dark hedgehog didn't respond, instead vanishing in a flash of cyan light. ''This is bad…''
''Are you okay?'' Meijin asked Tails, with the fox falling silent.
''I…'' He turned to Warren. ''We need to tell Sonic and Lucas about this. I can't believe Shadow would go this far…''
''I don't want to believe it either…'' Warren muttered. If Shadow was indeed working alongside Black Doom, they they were all done for.
xXx
''Sonic, Lucas, we have bad news!''
Sonic, Lucas and Loki had managed to find a safe spot at an underpass, just when Tails and Warren had called them. Sonic took note of Tails' bruised look, quirking a brow as he felt worried about his little brother. ''Tails, what happened to you?''
''Shadow happened,'' Tails responded. ''He broke into CyExLabs and took the Chaos Emerald that appeared here.''
''He what?!'' Sonic and Lucas exclaimed in unison, both stunned to hear that. Loki gave the two a curious look, wondering what was going on.
''I tried to fight against him, since he didn't want to tell us why he needed the Chaos Emerald, but…'' Tails trailed off, rubbing his shoulder and taking note of the look of concern Sonic gave him. ''I'm fine, but Shadow's gone. We don't know where he went to next, but our guess is that he's trying to gather all seven Chaos Emeralds.''
''Not only that, but we fear that he might be gathering them for Black Doom. When Tails questioned him about it, he refused to give us any answers,'' Warren added. Sonic frowned.
''I refuse to believe that Shadow works for Black Doom. I know him and there's no way he'd to that,'' Sonic replied, his tone uncharacteristically serious.
''Then, why did he attack us?'' Tails asked, giving Sonic a baffled look. ''If he had just told us his reasons for wanting the Chaos Emerald…''
''Maybe he couldn't tell you anything?'' Lucas offered, surprising everyone. ''Was Touka with him?''
''No, she wasn't,'' Warren replied, only for the realization to hit him and Tails. ''Do you think that she's in danger?''
''That's the most likely answer. I assume that Black Doom threatened to hurt Touka, forcing Shadow to gather the Chaos Emeralds,'' Lucas said.
''And knowing Shadow, he'd refuse to explain what's going on, thinking that this is something he has to do on his own,'' Sonic added.
''So, what should we do about Shadow and the Chaos Emeralds?'' Tails asked.
''I'll deal with him,'' Sonic replied, giving Tails a determined look.
''Have you managed to figure out what's going on with the AR Fields?'' Lucas asked.
''We don't know what's causing it yet, but we know that Neos City is undergoing a process of terraformation that is in favour of the Black Arms. The reason why we see those cracks is because the process hasn't finished yet,'' Warren explained.
''So, you want to say that someone is basically trying to turn Neos City into Westopolis?'' Lucas asked, raising an eyebrow.
''Well, they're not trying it to turn into Westopolis itself, as in the video game location, but into an environment that overlaps with Neos City's natural landscape,'' Warren explained. ''I believe that, if this process is fully completed, we'll be seeing the Black Comet right over the cityscape.''
''I see…'' Lucas narrowed his eyes, well aware that this was something they couldn't stop. However, he also knew that they still had a chance to prevent the Black Arms from conquering Neos City. ''Do you have a way to locate all of the Chaos Emeralds? If Sonic and I want to find Shadow, that would be a good starting point.''
''We will send you a tracking app as soon as possible,'' Warren said, with the holographic screen closing.
''How much did you know?'' Lucas and Sonic were startled by Loki's sudden question, with the wolf ARNav giving them a hard stare. ''Have you ever considered telling me that Shadow is a danger to everyone in Neos City?''
''No, he isn't!'' Sonic responded in a sharp tone.
''Didn't he just attack your friends?'' Loki responded, shooting a wary look at Sonic.
''I know, but I'm sure that he has his reasons. I know Shadow, and I know that he wouldn't do anything like this without a solid reason. Yeah, he is stubborn and hard to communicate with, but I would trust Shadow with my life. Whatever he's up to, I'm sure that he's doing to fight against the Black Arms instead of working for them,'' Sonic said with unwavering determination. Loki stared at him for a moment, then sighed.
''I assume your friend is the one who was supposed to be used by ARMS as a weapon, right?'' he asked, with Sonic and Lucas giving him a curious look. ''I suppose the Black Arms also want to use him as a weapon, correct?''
''Yeah.'' Lucas nodded.
''Then, I can understand your friend's refusal to work with anyone. If someone tried to use me as a weapon, I think I would snap under the pressure,'' Loki replied. Lucas and Sonic felt a sense of relief, realizing that Loki was siding with them. ''However, I'm afraid that not everyone will understand that. I will call the other Units to not engage in a fight with Shadow, but I can't make any promises.''
''That's good to hear,'' Lucas said, giving him an confident smile.
''Still, I'm curious, what do you plan on doing with your friend after you find him?'' Loki asked. Sonic smirked.
''We'll just remind him that he isn't alone in this…'' Sonic said, then shrugged. ''Or knock some sense into him. Whatever comes first.''
xXx
Shadow found himself standing on top of a building, staring towards Infinity Forest. He could sense Chaos Energy coming from there, being able to use the Chaos Emerald he had taken from Tails to guide him to the next one. His eyes narrowed as he took notice of Doom's Eye, hovering next to him.
''You did well, Shadow. One Chaos Emerald has been acquired, but you still need to find the rest. Fulfill your mission as my greatest soldier!''
''Tch!'' Shadow growled, glaring daggers at Doom's Eye, with the alien flying away and leaving him alone. He then glanced at the yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand, closing his eyes as he felt a sting of guilt for hurting Tails. That wasn't his intention, but he was too focused on getting the Chaos Emerald and with Tails being in his way, he felt that he had no other choice but to move him out of his way by force. He also understood that he probably should've told the fox what was going on, but he simply couldn't. It was too much to talk about, and he wouldn't have even known where to start, let alone explain what he was going through. No, this was the correct approach. I need to do this on my own and defeat Black Doom with my own hands. If there is a chance of Black Doom taking control over me, they will all be in danger.
Shadow looked up, gazing ahead at Infinity Forest. He could feel a sharp sensation in his back, letting out a cry of pain when black and red wings seemingly made out of his own flesh and black mass sprouted, with the pain quickly subsiding. He needed to hurry up, and using Doom Wing to cover the distance felt right. He then leapt off the building, flying towards the forest.
Hmph, the irony of looking like a Fallen Angel is not lost on me.