From the Works of Yesterday (NO COMMISSIONS!)

by Sunny Lighter

When Shadow stepped through the strange ring that appeared in White Space, he was not expecting to go to another dimension. He was also not expecting his and Team Sonic's counterparts in that dimension to follow him back to White Space. With extra versions of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow taking part in the time anomaly, things are sure to go haywire. NO COMMISSIONS, DON'T ASK

3. Death Becomes Her

Chapter 3: Death Becomes Her

Team Sonic plus Shadow and Maria continued their trek through the White Space trying to find Maria's grandfather.

The mood remained morose when Maria failed to cheer up as they continued on. Her worries were still caught up in the fight she'd just witnessed and the danger her Shadow might be in.

Desperate for a way to bring her smile back, Shadow noticed they were about to pass in front of a section of the void that looked like a castle.

As he saw their reflections in the building's passing windows, an idea occurred to him. He slowed his pace so he would walk next to Tails. "Do you have a marker?" he asked.

The fox blinked in surprise at that question but reached into his backpack and pulled out a large black Sharpie.

Taking the sharpie from him, Shadow moved ahead so he was in front of Maria, bringing them all to a stop. "Close your eyes," he said.

Maria looked down at him in surprise but did as he said.

Shadow gently turned her so she was facing the nearest window. He then used his air shoes to hover in front of the window and draw around the reflection of her face.

He was grateful the rest of their group was silent as he worked, aside from the occasional muffled snicker.

"Now open them," he said once he was done.

Maria slowly opened her eyes to see her own reflection with a silly face drawn around it so it framed her eyes.

Maria stared at it for a long moment before a giggle bubbled up in her throat, and soon enough she was full-belly laughing at the sight.

Then, with a devious grin, she snatched the marker from Shadow's hand and quickly scribbled her own silly face over Shadow's reflection.

That was the final straw for the other three, and they started laughing too, but Shadow smiled fondly as he saw she'd drawn the same bunny that his Maria had when they met.

Still giggling, Tails reached into his bag and pulled out more markers. Sonic was quick to snatch the blue one, Knuckles grabbed a red one, Maria gave Shadow back his black one reached for silver, and Tails kept a gold one.

Soon enough, the castle was filled with silly faces drawn onto the windows, making whoever saw their reflection giggle.

It was this sight that greeted Shadow's sleeker double when he found them again.

"What are you doing?" he asked, staring at all of them in bewilderment.

"Practicing my street art," said Sonic.

"Gratuitous vandalism!" Knuckles said.

"Having fun!" said Tails.

Shadow just looked at Maria's smiling face. That was answer enough.

Her face grew even happier when she spotted the other him. "Shadow!" she said, running over to greet him.

"Are you alright?" Shadow's Double asked in concern.

Maria nodded. "I'm fine. The others have been looking out for me." She then frowned worriedly. "But what about you? Are you alright? No one's given you trouble, have they?"

Shadow's Double scoffed. "Just some minor annoyances. Not even a challenge. However, I was in the middle of a fight when a shockwave took my opponent out in one hit. You four wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" he asked, shooting a look at Shadow and the others from his world.

While the others were chastised at his words, Shadow kept his head high and met his double's dark look with one of his own. He was not going to be scolded by someone who wasn't even there. "Maybe if you could keep your enemies in check we wouldn't have had to take them out for you."

The two glared at each other before Shadow's Double looked away with a grunt. "Now why would you need to cause such a commotion? Surely any enemy of mine wouldn't cause you that much trouble."

"You told us to defend Maria," Shadow replied. "So we did. Would you rather we pulled our punches?"

"I would rather you not cause an EMP that disrupted everything in this place and catch who knows how much attention," Shadow's Double said sharply, his eyes glinting and dark shadows swirling like liquid around his hands.

"I wasn't aware we were supposed to be a secret," said Shadow, his frustration flashing through his eyes and sparking along his quills. "Perhaps if you told us anything-!"

"Whoa, okay this is getting a bit too heated," said Sonic stepping between the two of them. "Now let's all calm down before we cause another shockwave."

Shadow sent him a bitter look, but suppressed his powers.

His double, however, scoffed at Sonic's words, but a soft "Shadow," from Maria had him backing down too.

"Look, our powers can be… a lot," Sonic explained, scratching the back of his head through his quills. "One time I accidentally knocked out the power across the entire Pacific Northwest while I was… never mind. The point is, when we're fighting things can go wild. We're sorry it went so crazy, but we were up against a seriously creepy guy who really hated you and wanted to kill us, and it took a lot to take him down."

That got Shadow's Double's attention. "Who?" he demanded.

The sharpness in his tone took them aback.

"He didn't exactly say," Tails said.

"Then what did he look like? Did he have horns? How many eyes did he have?" Shadow's Double insisted.

"He was a ghostly facsimile of a hedgehog," Knuckles described gravely. "Jagged like he was carved from stone, with glowing eyes of red and green and no mouth upon his face."

"But that sure didn't stop him from talking," added Sonic. "He could also float, shoot lasers at us, and turn into a giant cyclops monster."

"He was saying stuff about returning himself to the timeline," said Tails. "And he came out of this creepy scepter and talked like you'd met him before, but forgot about him."

"He was really scary, and he hated you so much," Maria added.

Shadow's Double frowned at the description, but Shadow could see he was somewhat relieved too. But relieved about what he couldn't tell. "That does not sound familiar to me."

"Well, since he wanted to put himself back in the timeline, maybe he was taken out of it somehow like we were," Maria said thoughtfully.

"Or maybe he's someone you'll fight someday," Tails speculated. "You said you've been seeing things that you think are from the future here too, right?"

Shadow's Double nodded at the two theories. "I'll keep an eye out," he said to reassure Maria. "And I'll stay away from any 'creepy scepters'."

Maria smiled at him in relief.

"Where is this ghostly hedgehog now?" Shadow's Double asked.

"Buried under there," Sonic said, pointing at the crater in the distance where the well used to be.

"And he can stay that way," Shadow added, giving the rubble a dirty look.

Shadow's Double examined the wreckage and then nodded. "Agreed, there's enough trouble happening without more added to the mix," he said. He then sent them a look and added, "And since the four of you can't seem to stay out of trouble, we'd best find Maria safety with someone else."

Shadow was careful not to show it on his face, but internally his heart dropped. Be separated from Maria? Again? Even if she wasn't his, being near her soothed the constant ache he'd been feeling since his own died.

Shadow couldn't help but resent his double. Glad as he was he'd saved his Maria, he didn't seem to value the time he had with her. How could he bear to separate from her if he had? And why was he always running off? What was he even doing? How many enemies did he have and would they be a threat to him too?

"Wow, rude," said Sonic, looking put off at the insult. "Most likely true, but rude."

Shadow's Double ignored him, and asked Maria, "Where is the professor? I thought you were going back to him?"

"We got separated when I went to find you," said Maria. "I don't know where he is, and we got sidetracked trying to find him. I couldn't resist exploring while I can."

"I see," said Shadow's Double with a frown. "Then he's likely near where we met in this place. This way." He then waved for all of them to follow.

They trailed behind Shadow's Double through the White Space, and sure enough they eventually came across a bald old man in a lab coat that was very familiar. He didn't notice them coming, as he was hunched over a downed machine with an Omega symbol emblazoned on its shoulder.

"Professor Gerald," Shadow murmured to himself, shocked to see the man who had likely died of old age by now in his world (that is if GUN hadn't had him killed).

"Hey, is it just me, or does that guy with the Ozzy Osbourne glasses have a very Eggman-looking mustache?" he heard Sonic whisper to his brothers behind him.

"The resemblance is uncanny," agreed Knuckles.

"Yeah, but if he's from fifty years ago, no way he's Eggman," Tails said. "The doctor's not that old."

"Not unless he aged backward," said Sonic. "And even then, no way. Like I said, I was definitely the first alien hedgehog he'd ever seen. You don't scream like that unless it's something totally new."

Shadow wondered who this Eggman person they kept referring to was. His double referred to him as a nuisance not to be bothered by, but it certainly seemed like he was a bother to the three brothers.

Maria didn't hear any of this conversation, and instead trotted ahead to greet the professor with a call of, "Grandfather!"

"Maria," Professor Gerald said, sounding much calmer and kindly and much less… manic than the one Shadow knew (dimensional differences he supposed). "Where have you been, I've been looking all over for-" he paused when he caught sight of the rest of them, took off his glasses to clean them, and upon still seeing the same when they were back on, he asked, "Shadow, why are there two of you? And who are they? We haven't caused a paradox, have we?"

"There was a dimensional mishap," Shadow's Double replied, moving past the professor to examine the robot on the ground. "They followed me through, and have been causing mischief here."

"What you call mischief, I'd call self-defense against your problems," Shadow said, not liking being referred to as if he was a naughty child.

"What you call self-defense has only caused more problems," said Shadow's Double, as he pulled open a hatch and began examining the robot's insides. "Such as what that shockwave of yours has done to Omega."

"You created that blast?" the professor said. "I saw it add color to small portions of this world as well as deactivate this fascinating machine. I was just trying to reactivate it as you arrived.

"You know that robot?" asked Tails.

"E-123 Omega, the walking arsenal," Shadow's Double replied as he tried to restart the machine, "A certain doctor built him, but found his personality too uncontrollable and his love of destruction to be too intense even for him, so he sealed Omega away. His mistake. Omega has since sworn vengeance against him and takes great pleasure in destroying anything he builds. We often team up together."

Maria could read between the lines of what he was saying. "I see, he's your friend too."

No Shadow could ever lie to Maria, so his double replied, "As a fellow weapon of mass destruction, he and I have a lot in common."

Shadow flinched away at the mention of him being 'created as a weapon' and the casual way his double talked about it. Then again, maybe if he were more of a weapon, his world's Maria would still be alive.

"Shadow, you're so much more than that," Maria insisted.

They could all tell Shadow's Double didn't fully believe her.

"Here," Tails said, stepping forward. "Let me see if I can fix him since we are the ones who knocked him out."

"Actually, Fox, that was the Hedgehogs and I with our awesome power," Knuckles corrected.

"Yeah, but Tails set that creepy guy up for us to do it," Sonic said, making sure Tails got due credit.

Tails looked bashful at the praise.

Shadow's Double glanced over at him, then stepped aside with clear reluctance.

"You'd trust him to look after your friend?" Shadow had to ask.

Shadow's Double rolled his eyes. "He's Tails. There are few minds more brilliant. And thus far, he's the only one with such an intellect and not use it to cause destruction."

Behind him, Professor Gerald frowned at Shadow's Double's words, no doubt wondering if that meant the fox exceeded his own intellect by that much, or if he was implying the professor would 'cause destruction' one day.

Honestly, it wouldn't surprise Shadow if he did. As genial as this version of the professor was, he was still Professor Gerald. And while Shadow was fond of his version of the professor, it wouldn't be shocking if he one day turned to villainy. His Maria had often said she couldn't tell if her grandfather was just a Nutty Professor type or a budding Hanna Barbera cartoon villain. But the professor had loved Maria more than anything. The only way he'd do anything bad was with her blessing, and Shadow couldn't see any version of Maria agreeing to that.

Tails, meanwhile, looked startled at the compliment from Shadow's Double of all people, but it melted into determination as he crouched down to examine the robot. After poking around a bit, he turned to his brothers. "Can I have a quill?"

"Got a preference for who?" Sonic asked as he and Knuckles were already reaching for their heads and plucking one out.

Tails hummed thoughtfully. "Either or both would work, it looks like this robot runs on Chaos Energy so your powers should be compatible, but the blast shorted him out. I can restart him easily enough, but integrating your powers into his system should make him immune if it happens again."

Hearing the words Chaos Energy, Shadow reached up and plucked one of his own quills. "Here," he said, the quill in his hands crackling with power. The ones in Sonic and Knuckles' hands had a similar spark to them.

Tails took a shining quill from each of them with a quick, "Thanks," twisted them together, and did something to install them into the robot.

The robot's hatch snapped shut and he surged back to life, making Tails fall back with a yelp.

"WHERE ARE SOME ENEMIES! I WANT TO TAKE ON AN ENTIRE ARMADA!" the robot said.

"I see you're feeling better," Shadow's Double said.

"BETTER THAN I HAVE SINCE I WAS NEW! WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS UPGRADE? I WILL DESTROY THINGS WITH FAR MORE FIREPOWER NOW." Omega replied.

But then the robot turned to look at them, and said, "CORRECTION; I HAVE FOUND A VISUAL ERROR! THERE ARE TWO SHADOWS IN MY VISION AND TEAM SONIC'S APPEARANCE IS INCONGRUENT WITH MY MEMORY BANKS!"

"I'm not a visual error," Shadow said, getting tired of people thinking as such as soon as they see him.

"It's Team Knuckles!" Knuckles protested.

"Cough-no-it's-not-cough," Sonic coughed into his fist.

"They're dimensional counterparts," Shadow's Double said by way of explanation.

"LIKE PRINCESS BLAZE?" asked Omega.

"Not from her world, but yes," Shadow's Double replied.

The robot turned to those from another dimension. "ARE YOU GOOD AT DESTROYING THINGS?"

All four of them again pointed in the direction of the collapsed tunnel and the destruction surrounding the new crater as a result of their fight.

"Also, sorry for knocking you out," Sonic said. "But Tails fixed you up."

"It's not a big deal," Tails said bashfully. "I'm used to fixing things their powers blow out."

Omega examined the wreckage and gave them a thumbs up. "I APPROVE!"

Glad to see someone did, since Shadow's Double clearly didn't.

Said double turned to the robot and said, "I have a favor to ask you, Omega."

"DOES IT INVOLVE SHOOTING THINGS?" the robot asked.

"Possibly." Shadow's Double replied, before gesturing at the two humans among them. "Omega, this is Professor Gerald and Maria."

Omega looked at the two of them up and down, then looked back at Shadow's Double. "SHADOW, I AM NOT PROGRAMMED FOR EMOTIONAL TALKS BUT IF YOU LATER NEED TO DESTROY THINGS RATHER THAN DEAL WITH YOUR FEELINGS, I WILL HELP!"

"I just need you to protect them while we're in this place," Shadow's Double said, not explaining why the robot's first reaction was to be a sort of shoulder to cry on. "I don't want a past enemy to take advantage of this situation to harm them."

"I CAN DO THAT!" Omega replied, before turning to the professor and Maria. "IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU! I'VE HEARD ONLY GOOD THINGS!"

"I'm always happy to meet one of Shadow's friends," Maria said.

"It is nice to meet you too," said Professor Gerald kindly. "And might I say, you are a remarkable piece of machinery."

"THAT IS IN SPITE OF MY CREATOR, NOT BECAUSE!" Omega said, then turned to look at Shadow's Double. "SHADOW, YOU ACTUALLY SAID WE WERE FRIENDS?"

Shadow's Double huffed, looked away, and didn't respond.

Omega looked back at Maria and said, "YOU ARE A GOOD INFLUENCE!"

Maria giggled in response.

While they got acquainted, Shadow's Double turned to the professor, "May I speak to you for a minute?" he asked, and the two stepped away from the group.

Shadow watched them go, his eyes narrowed. Then, after checking to see the others wrapped up in talking to Omega, he slipped away from the group and followed after them.

Hiding behind a pillar, he watched as his double asked the professor something he couldn't quite make out, but couldn't risk getting closer to hear better.

"I feel… connection… symbol… the same… my abilities…" Shadow's Double said, holding his hand up to show swirling darkness rather than golden lightning like Shadow had.

Was he asking why they had different abilities? He had noticed his double lacked the glowing sparks those from his world had. Also, it had been quick, but Shadow had seen how he'd surfed across the water rather than skated when they first arrived with some strange black thing attached to his feet. Were they more different than he first assumed?

Professor Gerald seemed troubled by whatever his double said, and Shadow rued that this professor was so much calmer than his own. Where the Professor of his world would loudly proclaim and gestate the answer to any question asked, this version was more subdued, as such, Shadow could make out almost none of his reply. All he heard was something about a "Faustian deal" and they would "Pay for my sins."

Whatever he said left Shadow's Double with more questions."... my powers… connected?" he asked.

Shadow leaned in as much as he could to hear the response as he could.

"SMALLER SHADOW?" came an almost too loud voice behind him, making the hedgehog jump. He wheeled around to see Omega towering over him.

"YOUR FRIENDS GREW CONCERNED!" Omega said to explain why he was there. "THEY ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!"

"I-they're not my friends," Shadow protested. "We just met tonight." He then glanced around the bright white void that did not remotely resemble nighttime and amended. "... today?"

"WE ARE CURRENTLY OUTSIDE OF TIME! BOTH PHRASINGS ARE EQUALLY CORRECT AND INCORRECT!" said Omega.

Shadow didn't particularly care either way. He was more concerned in the long explanation Professor Gerald was giving his double that he couldn't hear a word of over the robot.

"IT IS RUDE TO EAVESDROP!" Omega chastised him.

"I wouldn't need to if he would explain himself for once," Shadow grumbled.

"SHADOW DOES NOT EXPLAIN HIMSELF UNTIL IT IS NECESSARY TO DO SO!" Omega replied. "ODDS ARE HIGH YOU ARE THE SAME WAY!"

Shadow scowled, couldn't refute that.

"COME!" the robot said, turning to go back the way they came but leaving no room for arguments. "YOU ARE WORRYING MARIA! ODDS ARE ALSO HIGH YOU VALUE THE EXTRA TIME WITH HER!"

Reluctantly, Shadow followed behind him back to the group. But all the while he stared back at his double and the professor, watching as his double grew disturbed by whatever the man said before it melted into determination.

Then, something Omega said clicked to him. "What do you mean 'extra' time?"

Omega looked down at him. "MARIA ROBOTNIK IS DECEASED IN YOUR WORLD AS WELL, CORRECT?"

Shadow felt his stomach drop. "As well? Then… my double… he didn't save her?"

"NO!" Omega replied.

"But she's here!" Shadow protested. "If he couldn't save her, how is she here? Why does he keep leaving her behind?"

"WE ARE ALL DISPLACED OUTSIDE OF TIME! WHAT POINT IN TIME ONE COMES FROM TO GET HERE IS IRRELEVANT!" Omega said as an explanation. "SHADOW IS DETERMINED TO KEEP HER SAFE WHILE SHE IS HERE! HE LEAVES TO FIGHT THOSE WHO WOULD DO HER AND OTHERS HARM!"

"But she's here," Shadow insisted. "Can't we still save her if she's here?"

"POSSIBILITY OF FINDING A CURE TO HER ILLNESS; LOW! POSSIBILITY TO SAVE HER; UNKNOWN, BUT UNLIKELY!" Omega replied. "POSSIBLE DAMAGE TO THE TIME STREAM UPON DOING SO; UNKNOWN, BUT WITH A HIGH CHANCE OF BEING CATASTROPHIC, AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY!"

Shadow stared up at the robot as his world fell out from under him once again. He couldn't save her! He couldn't save her!

To top that off she was sick? Is that what she'd meant before about the temporal anomaly keeping her in top shape? How sick was she if there was no cure?

And… did that mean that even if Shadow had protected his Maria from that explosion, would he have lost her anyway?

Was it inevitable he would have lost her? Was he always meant to be alone?

It was clear Omega could see how devastated he was. "I AM SORRY!" he said.

But Shadow had no reply and allowed himself to be led back to his blissfully ignorant companions, and doing everything he could to keep his emotions from showing through his powers.

And when his double returned and insisted they leave Maria and the professor behind with Omega, he went without protest.

He should have known this dream wouldn't last.

Sooner or later he'd be alone with his grief once again.

He wondered how long it would take the pain to swallow him whole.

---

A/N This fic will be part of a series. That is because I've begun writing a sequel covering what happens in the Movieverse after this fic. So if anyone is interested in that, they can follow the series. I've also added another entry to my Lost in the Waves series if anyone here is interested in that.

As for this chapter. I loved the way Movie Maria and Shadow met, so I just had to reference it here. Just let those kids be kids. If that castle was taken from anywhere by the Time Eater or Black Doom, people are going to be very confused when it's sent back covered in doodles. Also, Movie Shadow was finally corrected on his misconception that Game Shadow saved his Maria. He didn't, and poor Movie Shadow is devastated all over again, especially now that he's been separated from her.

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Game Shadow: Alright, FINE! I'll Babysit them! But I better get paid for this!

Maria: Aww, but I was doing it for free.

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Omega: I LOVE DESTRUCTION!

Tells Movie Shadow the person he loves most is always doomed to die.

Movie Shadow: *Is devastated*

Omega: NOT THAT KIND OF DESTRUCTION!

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POVs

Movie Shadow

Nicknames

Game Shadow: Shadow's Double, Maria's Shadow