Chapter Three – Deja-Vu
One day, a few weeks later, out of the blue, Sonic, Sukko and all the Blue Blur's friends, were dragged to the White Space, by the Time Eater. A place outside of space and time. Unfortunately, with their powerful Psychic Link, when one of the Blue Hedgehog twins gets forcibly pulled through dimensions, the other can follow and Sukko, rather annoyingly, having just got off work, also found himself trapped in White Space as well, literally finding himself alone, in the middle of nowhere.
Immediately, alarm bells rang in Sukko's telepathy, as external mind manipulation on him, instantly failed, which caused him to not only block them, as he realised the real truth, extremely quickly. Suddenly, he ran. Tracking down the others wasn't difficult, and soon Sukko had located his twin 'brothers', both version of them. He rolled his eyes, staying hidden. He didn't want to reveal himself to his twin or any of their friends at that moment. Sonic had no idea he was even there, as Sukko had completely blocked him, down the Psychic Link. Sonic was used to this, as his twin regularly did it, during work hours, to save him from the intensity of the E.R., so naturally he thought nothing of it. But when Sukko felt an intense rift in the White Space, he immediately followed it, and found Shadow fighting his own battles.
Forsaking his own family, the Sorcerer decided to stay and help the Ultimate Lifeform. As for his twin, Sukko knew Sonic would be alright, he had his friends, Shadow had no one, and that angered the mighty Blue Hedgehog. But Sukko's Telepathy could feel the Ultimate Lifeform's mind and body being physically changed and altered, readying him for permanent mind control. Sukko growled.
"Not on my watch." He hissed, and hard, as he desperately tracked down Shadow, to potentially get to him before the amassing evil does. Sukko raced towards the White Space, that appeared to the setup by Black Doom, with Shadow's past events, and raced towards the loop-de-loop between Sunsets Heights and Kingdom Valley. The Sorcerer hid and waited, knowing it wouldn't be long before the Ultimate Lifeform came along.
Finally, Shadow came through, heading towards the green building that housed the boss fight of Mephiles the Dark. Suddenly, Sukko, out of nowhere, cornered the Ultimate Lifeform. With high speed reflexes faster then the mighty Black Hedgehog himself, Sukko slammed the palm of his glowing blue, right hand, onto Shadow's forehead, and instantly telepathically connected with him, causing his eyes to also glow blue. Sukko immediately felt Black Doom presence and the immense Doom Powers, and he instantly put up major blocks and shields around Shadow's mind, magically sealing it, with his dragon, protecting it from further manipulations. Unfortunately, it roughly and rather promptly, brought the Ultimate Lifeform back to the present, hard.
Shadow squealed, and tumbled forwards, when Sukko finally let him go, the both of them panting hard, but the Sorcerer caught the Ultimate Lifeform.
"Gotcha!" He smiled. Shadow frowning hard, looked up, to complete confusion. There was a Blue Hedgehog ahead of him, but it wasn't whom he was expecting. He blinked and hard.
"Sonic?" He stammered, immediately spotting the likeness, but Sukko just giggled.
"Close but not quite." He grinned. "But I swear, I mean you no harm. Sonikku's my brother, and I have been dragged here too, to the White Space, along with him." He nodded. But Shadow stared at the Sorcerer, holding his head. He barely recognised him, but somehow, he didn't fear him. But he was intensely confused.
"What have you done to me?" He stammered. But Sukko nodded.
"I have telepathically intervened with your mind, protecting you. Black Doom was heavily manipulating you again. This time, incredibly subtly. I know his story, Sonikku told me. With every new power he gives you, he's significantly increasing the amount of Black Arms D.N.A. inside of you, so that it will be above a the certain level, where he can permanently mind control you." He explained. Suddenly, Shadow growled, swearing hard, his temper flaring, but Sukko grabbed him. "Whoa, easy Stripes. I've stopped him from doing it. But you can use this to your advantage, by taking the new powers that Black Doom gives you, and then turning them against him." He nodded. But Shadow heaved, panting hard, as his temper began to settle. He nodded to the Sorcerer.
"Thank you." He gasped, but then he just outright stared. "I know you." He hissed, as he struggled to think past the thick fog. But Sukko just smiled, and nodded.
"Pleasure, and yes, you do. We're together, but it's only a relatively recent thing. But the time distortions here, have screwed up everyone's memories, including yours, to some degree. This is actually the second time Sonikku and his friends done this, but they don't remember it. The original being years ago, before we'd even met, and this one, just recently. Black Doom wasn't here, the first time around, and neither was I. But somehow someone was able to revert time backwards, I don't know who, beyond the Time Eater. Back to this point and alter it, within the White Space, where it doesn't exist, and change everything. Consequently, it brought you here, to your own battles with Black Doom, and me along with it, as it interfered with mine and Sonikku's Psychic Link." He growled, looking up at Black Doom hideous black eye structure in the sky. Shadow blinked.
"We've done this before?" He gulped, somehow deeply trusting the Blue Hedgehog. But Sukko nodded.
"Yes, but you don't really remember. You were in Sonikku's White Space, not your own, and my brother has no idea, believing this is all new." He hissed, but then the Sorcerer rounded on the Ultimate Lifeform. "But you know this to be the case. Everything seems familiar, but not. Black Doom manipulations of your mind, as made you significantly more aware. The White Space you know, but this specific area, around your own past, you don't. You believed Black Doom to be dead before now." He leered. Shadow heaved, finally relaxing and nodded. He was deep in thought, but he knew everything the Blue Hedgehog, in the long black coat, had said, in front of him, was the truth. There was something about him, that heavily drew him towards the Sorcerer, and it wasn't the fact that he was the Blue Blur's identical twin. He largely ignored that, but the love the Blue Hedgehog had for him. Shadow felt it through his Telepathy. Regardless, the huge feeling of deja-vu, Shadow had been constantly feeling, since the beginning, was warranted.
His large sleek black body lengthened, as he outstretched his white gloved fingers, and twisting his wrists, his gold Inhibitors Rings upon them, shining. His long red stripes down both his arms and legs, glistened in the fake light from above, and his black upturned quills with their magnificent red stripes, on his head and flowing down his back behind him. His white chest fur looking somewhat rough. He gained a lot of weight over the recent years, in pure muscle, and even though Sonic was taller then him now, the Ultimate Lifeform was still boarder. Suddenly, he rounded on the Sorcerer. He growled.
"Then why?" He hissed. "What do they hope to achieve in making us, do all this again?" He hissed. But Sukko heaved.
"Well, last time, Sonikku was the target, but with two of them on the field, the Time Eater, with the seven Chaos Emeralds, got smashed and everyone was returned home. This time, me and Black Doom are the new players. I don't think the alien is involved in the greater scheme of things. I suspect that Black Doom is just taking advantage of the instability in space-time, caused by us coming back here, to summon you, and then take you down. I think the Time Eater is the key here, but I don't know how. I think the target might be me. It's the only thing that makes any sense." He heaved. But Shadow frowned.
"The Time Eater?" He wondered. But Sukko nodded.
"Yes, that's the 'monster', as Sonikku calls it, that brought you all here, certainly the first time around." He explained. The Time Eater was the huge, ugly monstrosity that was flying around, creating deep purple inter-dimensional portal everywhere. Shadow blinked, he knew that name, and beginning to get a vague recollection of it and what was to come. He rounded on the Sorcerer.
"The final fight, it's going to change, somehow." He growled. "Whomever brought us here, the second time, will definitely interfere with it." He hissed. Sukko nodded.
"I'm already on that. I've been intensely watching Sonikku. His encounter with the White Space, up to this point, is exact replica of how he described it to me, years ago, as he always tells me of his adventures." But then he frowned. "But the dialogue is different. Some of what Sonikku had said in his original story to me, of how they worked out the truth, seems different, but other then that, nothing has, majorly, deviated yet, but I'm almost certain it will." He blasted, but Shadow hissed.
"So, what do we do?" He spat, but Sukko rounded on the Ultimate Lifeform.
"You, finish the job against Black Doom. Your strong enough, and I given you the leverage you need." He ordered. Shadow immediately nodded, smirking hard. But Sukko rounded on him. "But please, don't tell anyone of this. I know you have some of Sonikku's friends here, in your section of White Space. They all have no idea that this is deja-vu, and I suspect if they find out, their lives might be in danger, including Sonikku's. As for me, I seem to somehow exist here, outside of all the timelines." He panted. "Stripes, your the Ultimate Lifeform, your strong enough to take it. The others, I suspect, not so much." He added. Shadow nodded, agreeing, as quickly the two Hedgehogs went their separate ways, but not before Sukko giggling, planted a quick kiss, on Shadow's cheek, to his utter shock. Regardless, he smirked, anyway. Yes, he did indeed know him, and in spite of Maria, the Sorcerer gave the Ultimate Lifeform something to fight for.
But Shadow wasn't stupid. Her return to him, had been incredibly difficult, but he cherished every second of it, and even though he knew, he could never save her. To see her again, even for this short time, was a blessing, and despite all the horrors Black Doom was throwing at him, it gave him a chance to find some closure. Maria was going to leave again, and yes, that was going to horrendously upset him, but the Ultimate Lifeform, this time, had a chance to properly grieve her. That it was alright to cry over her, and that it was also alright to move on, as he was now deeply thinking about Sukko.
He wasn't replacing her. He was very different to him, then she ever was. Maria was his 'sister', a sibling that was there, from the very beginning, since his first awaking as a creation, his 'birth', and the more Shadow thought about it, the more Sukko was drifting towards him, as a lover. A different kind of happiness. He smirked. Maria always talked about love, and to hear that Shadow had actually found it, she'd been delighted, totally not caring about gender. He heaved. Truthfully, that was all he was really bothered about.
As Shadow fought Black Doom, who proceeded to give him hell, he could feel the Sorcerer intensely watching him, and not just him, but the Blue Blur too. One-by-one Sonic and Shadow worked their way through their respective White Spaces, the Ultimate Lifeform collecting all of the Doom Powers along the way. But just before the 'two' Sonic's faced off the Time Eater, with the seven Chaos Emeralds, Shadow, whose timing was excellent, went all out against Black Doom, and permanently destroyed him. With Sukko's incredible defences, he no longer feared his maker, and finally sent the Black Arms on the road to extinction. He just didn't care, if he was one of them, he just wanted them gone, for good.
But he lost the use of the Doom Powers, with their master's demise, but Shadow gave Rouge the real Chaos Emerald he fooled Sonic with, and then went to Maria, to give her his finally farewell.
Yes, he cried, but now, he finally found closure.
Running towards the final fight, between the 'Sonics' and the Time Eater, he got collared yet again, by the certain Sorcerer, out of nowhere, who made him jump. Certainly enough to distract him. But Shadow growled.
"Will you, please, stop that!" He blasted, whispering hard, but Sukko just giggled.
"King of Stealth, deal with it." He spat, in return, sounding uncannily like his twin, but Shadow just heaved, as Sukko rounded on him. "Well done out there, by the way. That wasn't easy. Taking down Black Doom." He praised. Shadow nodded. No, it wasn't, but yet he somehow knew, if he needed help, the Sorcerer would have immediately come running. All he had to do was ask for it. Shadow had felt that when Sukko had entered his mind. But the Sorcerer heaved. "But with this upcoming battle, let it play out. Do not intervene. I'll watch from the sidelines, and will let you know." He asked. Shadow immediately nodded, as the Sorcerer promptly vanished, with a blink of an eye, much to the Ultimate Lifeform's confusion.
But the feeling of deja-vu continued, as Shadow joined the Blue Blur's other friends to watch and encourage him, with Super-Sonic, plural, fight against the Time Eater, into another dimension. He blinked and hard. Sukko was exactly right, he had done this before. They all had, and yet he was the only person from the originally outing who actually remembered. Sonic's acting out the taunting at Eggman, almost a carbon copy as before. But again, the dialogue was different, Shadow certain, he didn't remember, exactly how it played out.
He stood to the side, and did his bit, changing his encouragement, being much more blunt, this time, and soon the Super-Sonic fight was underway. But as Shadow watched on, he could help feel a sense of foreboding. He looked around, the Sorcerer was nowhere to be seen, but as Shadow smirked, now he understood. The King of Stealth, that was the point. Sukko was never seen, hence why he couldn't catch him for G.U.N.. Still, Sonic had no idea, he was just playing this game again, as the battle began to get seriously brutal. The two Super-Sonic's went for the core, of the Time Eater. It was a complex robotic being whose parts were constantly moving. It retained its incomplete form's facial expression and low-set face, except now it consisted of what could be described as a black mask. Its face had many pointed edges, including pointed edges that seemed to be its top row of teeth. It also had long ears/horns and a mechanical jaw with golden teeth and gears. Its upper body had two cockpits with purple-coloured dome covers for the Egg Mobile to fit into, and had purple-glowing spikes all around it.
Directly below its lower body, it had a purple-glowing orb held in place by golden claws attached to a thin spine. Its lower torso was an additional joint with purple-glowing bulbs surrounding his spine and golden frames surrounding its purple-glowing surfaces. It also had four arms (two on its upper body and two on its lower torso), each one thin with layers of golden gears and spinning disks along them, a purple-glowing spike near its elbows, and round hands with five golden fingers each and purple-glowing claws. Lastly, it had three sets of wings on its back, each one having golden gears at the joins and hexagonal-based energy fields as membranes.
It was a formidable monster, but as Shadow watched, there seemed to be slight, subtle differences to the machine. More experience. It was successfully dodging the Sonics more, or it had more firepower here and there. Not enough to jog someone's memory, unless it had been pounced on, by a certain Sorcerer. Regardless, Shadow was beginning to worry and soon, it was warranted. As the Super-Sonics went into their final attacked, they went for the core of the machine, and drained it of all it's power.
That should have finished it. It should have killed it, but it didn't. Suddenly, out of nowhere, it surged an enormous amount of power, and with one of it's long arms, he powerfully bashed the unsuspecting 'Sonics', both of them, out of the battle, from the dimension, where they were fighting, and back to the entrance, where everyone was still gathered. The blow was so hard, that it successfully knocked the Chaos Emeralds out of, both the 'Sonics', which went flying to who knows where, and they crashed landed unconscious onto the floor.
Everyone screamed, but without a powerful enough weapon against the still standing Time Eater, there was nothing anyone could do, as the monster just surged forwards, and threatened to kill both the 'Blue Blurs'.
Thankfully, someone else did get there first. Suddenly, powerful bright white ball of deep, incredible light came flying across the entrance and straight into the Time Eater, knocking it backwards. But Sukko didn't stand on ceremony, as he charged up the staff, he was now carrying, a somewhat short, but incredibly ornate, silver lined, pale blue staff, with a stunning crystal on the end, that he'd conjured earlier. He sent ruthlessly powerful power shots, utterly bombarding the Time Eater, not even giving it a chance to fight back. It recoiled hard, with every shot, as Sukko just charge up the staff again, his teeth gritted, and with it crystal glowing a bright white, he sent the powerful blast right at the monster.
He ran forwards, blasting with everything he had, and soon, he was stood above his unconscious twin brothers. A quick glance down, told Sukko, they'd be fine. Just sleeping, but he growled. The Time Eater screamed, and to everyone shock, it toppled backwards, but unfortunately, the power shots were not strong enough to outright destroy it. The Sorcerer put himself between the monstrosity and his siblings. Facing side on, he raised the staff, it's crystal glowing bright white and growled hard,
Finally, the Time Eater, got up, and suddenly, Eggman's voice rang from the topmost cockpit of the monster. He finally showed himself, growling hard, straight at Sukko.
"Gotcha. I knew you were here, you utterly illusive fiend. The Wizard. The almighty power behind the throne, of that annoying Blue Blur. I can't believe you made me play out this whole fiasco again, for you to finally show up. I knew trying to kill your twin, plural, would do it." He laughed. But Sukko growled. So the Human knew he had Magic, but completely the wrong kind. Truthfully, he didn't care, as it seemed that was all he knew about him. But Sukko hissed, very coldly, in response.
"What do you want?" He blasted. But Eggman roared in pure frustration.
"You." He growled. "No one gets to be the best in the business, like that blasted Blue Blur, without help, and when I realised he had family, I was determined to slaughter you all. But I just couldn't find you, especially since that stupid, embarrassing date, you put me through, but I failed." He hissed, but then he smirked. "Oh, your good, Mr. Illusive, telling that Blue Rat, all of my plans, in advance, so he'd just rip to pieces everything I had. But I'm done with it. No more." He heaved. "So I'd thought I'd force you to me. Take out the foundations of the Hero. I knew there is some kind of connection between you and that Blue Rat, but to exploit it, I had to come back to this infuriating White Space. Rebuilding the Time Eater again, wasn't easy, but Black Doom interfering, was annoying, as I knew changes had been made, but when I realised he wasn't after me or you, I left him be. If he destroyed this place, then so be it, so long as you, Wizard, went down with it." He hissed. But then he laughed and hard. "Your done for, Hedgehog. I doubt you have enough Magic in that staff of yours, to destroy this beautiful creation. Your on your own." He hissed.
But Sukko just smirked, and hard, as everyone just looked on, utterly stunned, amazed, and completely confused. This included Dr. Eggman of the past, who was sat in the lower cockpit, utter bewildered. Eggman's plan was superb, but it had one major flaw. He'd severely underestimated the Sorcerer. Sukko grinned and hard, as he lowered his staff.
"I'm a Sorcerer, not a Wizard." He spat, bluntly. "And your right. It took two to take you down before. I know this story, Sonikku told me, so I'm not on my own." He hissed. Suddenly, he bellowed. "Stripes!" He called, and almost immediately, Shadow appeared directly behind Sukko, having subtly been signalled earlier, and they stood perfectly united together, the Ultimate Lifeform loyally following him. Eggman's jaw dropped, and hard. He gasped. He knew that Shadow had been preoccupied fighting Black Doom.
"How did you?" He gasped. "No one is supposed to know about your existence." He stammered. But Sukko just heaved, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, please. The rules don't apply to the Ultimate Lifeform. I thought you knew that." He sniggered, as Shadow just outright smirked, but Eggman growled in response.
"Fine, but no matter, the Blue Rats are down and the Chaos Emeralds are gone. You've go nothing." He spat, but Sukko's smirk just broadened, ignoring the insult.
"We don't need them." He declared to the shock of everyone, as he held up his hand and snapped his finger. Suddenly, a large, deep crimson red medallion, Doom's Emblem, and the same symbol Shadow himself, used as his own call-sign, suddenly appeared. The Sorcerer hovered it in his hand, as the Ultimate Lifeform's eyes just lit up. Sukko smirked at him. "Just a little something I pulled from a certain dying Black Arm. The Doom Powers were badly broken and shattered, but I've successfully repaired them. They should be good for one more use." He hissed, but Shadow, now extremely angry at Eggman, for putting through hell with Black Doom, just grabbed his bright red call-sign, without a moment's thought.
He immediately absorbed it's incredible energy, as suddenly all five of the Doom Powers exploded from him. Doom Spear, Doom Blast, Doom Surf, Doom Morph and finally, the Doom Wings. The net result was that Shadow now looked incredibly dangerous, but the Ultimate Lifeform could feel the flair of a certain Sorcerer's incredible Magic within it all, which caused him to smirk and hard.
Sukko himself, also exploded as he just gritted his teeth and let his Magic completely consume him. Suddenly everything glowed a vivid bright blue, shining deeply in the darkness that now surrounded them. His eyes, his hands, even his tattoos shone, as he lit up the entire area. Suddenly, he pushed off from the floor, and into thin air, as he expertly combined the different Chaos Powers he possessed. His father's Super-Flight, and his mother's Chaos Sorcery, her Magic.
Two people, he knew, who loved each other very much.
Pushing the power, with his almighty temper flaring, finally, and to the absolutely astonishment of everyone, Sukko roared, now with his Illusionary lightning landing all around them. But seeing his twin brothers still unconscious on the floor, pushed the Sorcerer further, as Sukko was beyond angry, especially at this entire situation, as now he entered the pure Chaos Sorcery, Magic's equivalent of the Chaos Emerald Super Form. Instead of going his brother's beautiful glistening gold, with ruby eyes, Sukko went a vivid pale blue, with light pouring from his heart, and his long black coat, now a stunning shimmering silver, his eyes a deep rich blue.
Normally, by doing this, Sukko would be exposed to horrendous mental turmoil, which caused a rebellion in him. But here, in White Space, the Sorcerer noticed that the normal rules didn't apply and as he was separated somewhat, from everyone, including space and time. This meant that he could go Super-Form this one time only, without consequence.
The Time Eater battle, mark two, played out very differently to the first, as Eggman swore and hard, realising that he'd one, been had by the Sorcerer, by severely underestimating him. This happened a lot with Sukko, as he perfectly hid his incredible intelligence, and now, the Human had two very angry and extremely powerful Hedgehogs on his tail. No, they didn't need the Chaos Emeralds. Screaming in pure fright, Eggman just turned and fled, but it was too late, as Shadow just opened his enormous wings, and just flew after him, immediately followed by the Sorcerer. They soared across the dimension, right after the Time Eater, forcing both the Robotniks to defend themselves. If the previous fight was brutal, this one got downright dirty, as neither Sukko, nor Shadow, played by the rules. Both Hedgehogs were fed up with the Human as they wanted the Time Eater, the horrendous monstrosity, permanently gone. Seeing the two 'Sonics' unconscious on the floor, had gotten to Sukko more then he cared to admit, and he just took his anger out of Eggman. As for Shadow, he was fuming so badly, that he actually wanted blood.
But Sukko intervened. Despite everything, no one was dying today. Both the Hedgehogs, charged at the Time Eater, beautifully twisting and turning through the air, perfectly dodging the machines attacks. Shadow constantly threw Doom Spears at the Time Eater, did his deadly flurry rush attack, whenever he got close enough, as well as spinning to return any attacks back at him. But the Sorcerer, it was all pale blue lightning and bright white power shots, the intensity of which increased exponentially. Soon, the Hedgehogs found their rhythm, alternatively attacking the monster, while covering for the other. The bombardment was ruthless, and soon, the Time Eater was giving out.
Suddenly, Sukko and Shadow joined forces, and together they rammed the Time Eaters's core, and just disintegrated it, the machine exploding, throwing the two Human on broad, out onto the ground, with almighty crash. But both the Robotniks survived. Shadow, however, charged at them, still wanting their heads, but Sukko lassoed him. From the air, with his Telekinesis, a long pale blue line, and pulled the almighty Ultimate Lifeform in, amongst the fire and ash of the exploding Time Eater. Shadow frowned, but Sukko panted hard, shaking his head.
"Don't." He pleaded. "The Humans are just not worth it." He smiled, trying to calm down Shadow's internal fury, as the watched both the Robotnik's run for their lives. He looked at the both of them, through the smoke, and heaved, hard. The Sorcerer was right, no, they weren't.
Suddenly, Sukko's power gave out, and he almost fell out of the sky. Realising that the Sorcerer wasn't perfect, and mortal like everyone else, despite everything. Shadow caught him, still on his Doom Wings, to much giggling from Sukko, and an enormous eye roll, from the Ultimate Lifeform. Flapping his wings hard to keep them both steady, and still surrounded by the smoke, Shadow held them both aloft, as Sukko just went for him. He kissed him deeply again, this time on the lips, sharing a passionate moment that seemed to last forever. Shadow didn't hold back, holding the Sorcerer's in close, not caring who was watching. He intensely felt his love for him, and wow, he wanted it, knowing Maria would be delighted that he'd found someone who loved him, as much as she did. As they finally broke apart, Shadow sighed and hard.
"Now what?" He wondered. But Sukko panted, desperately struggling to stay awake. He saw his twin brothers awaken and be helped to their feet. They were both fine.
"Now I restore normality. Send everyone back home." He growled, but Shadow blinked, as Sonic just looked through the smoke and finally saw his twin. He gulped and hard.
"Sukko?" He stammered, but the Sorcerer just heaved, facing him.
"Sorry." He smiled, and with an almighty snap of his finger, everything for everyone, immediately faded to black. With a flash of bright white light, the worlds were returned to normal, memories were erased, and people were back where they were originally kidnapped, with no knowledge or even a sense of the passage of time, that they had even left. To carry on with their day, as normal, completely unaware as to the truth. Shadow gasped, as he landed with a thump, perfectly on his feet, back on the dark, dank, and now somewhat cold, space colony. Back where he originally started when he started investigating Black Doom trail. He gasped, looking around, he was completely alone.
He felt his shoulders and his hands. All the Doom Powers were gone. He heaved. As much as he enjoyed having them, despite the pain, he realised they were never his in the first place. But as he looked inside himself, remnants of them remained. Maybe he could access them in the future, who knew what Magic could achieve.
Suddenly, the communications device on his wrist, went off, out of nowhere, making him jump. It was Rouge. She frowned.
"Shadow. Come in. Did you find anything?" She wondered. The Ultimate Lifeform gasped. He remembered everything, and yet, she knew nothing. No one, not even the Blue Blue himself. Wow, how good was that Sorcerer? Still no one knew about him. Suddenly, he gulped and hard, looking around, and even though he began to panic, as someone was now missing, he desperately tried to not let it show on his voice. He heaved.
"No." He spat. "There's nothing here. It was a wild goose chase." He informed, outright lying. But Rouge just huffed down the communications device.
"Well, then, that was a total waste. G.U.N. won't be happy, you know." She blasted, but then she smiled. "But it does mean that your now available for Sonic's birthday party at the Fox's house." She hinted. But Shadow scowled, though it immediately made him think of something else.
"No. I'll pass." He hissed. But Rouge just growled.
"Hey, you haven't to a birthday party in ages. The last one you went to, was when the gang surprised the Blue Blur, with that stupid party, in the middle of a field, which got attacked by that ugly Time Eater. But that was years ago." She squealed, remembering the original incident. She had no idea, she'd actually done the whole thing twice.
Shadow just smirked and hard. Oh, the irony. But he stood his ground. There was somewhere important he really needed to be. He growled.
"Rouge, I said no." He spat, but the Bat just heaved.
"Ok, fine. You get down from the Ark, on your own, then. I'm not helping you." She spat, and suddenly, she was gone, signing off the communicator with a click. Shadow sighed. That wasn't a problem. He's originally used a Chaos Emerald as usual, to get up here, but he no longer had it, as they had all vanished recently, and Rouge was well aware of this. Or so she believed. But the truth was that they had been scattered during the Time Eater fight, and consequently, into the into the various levels of White Space. That meant, they had been returned to Mobius, but were lost, to be found, all over again. Shadow decided that another means getting home would be better. He raced through the Ark, looking for the main computer console for the entire space colony.
But as Shadow found his quarry, he intensely searched it, and to his delight, he found it. The prototype Portable Teleporter. A small device, designed to go on the wrist, that could potentially teleport anyone, anywhere, including to and from the Ark. Shadow remembered it being in secretly developed on the Ark, but after fifty years, was it still working? It had worked on the past, Shadow remembered the demonstrations. He slapped it on his wrist.
Nothing. It was dead.
He growled. There had to be something he was missing. Looking through the device, he found its power source. Pure Chaos Energy. He smirked. He was the Ultimate Lifeform. He had that by the bucket load, and suddenly, he surged his own power, and concentrated it hard, on the device. Finally, it whirled into life, beeping loudly, as Shadow suddenly, felt intense pain across his head, as the device connected itself to his mind. He panted hard, physically feeling it there.
Remembering what he had to do, to activate it, Shadow relaxed, and closed his eyes. He thought extremely hard, producing a clear image in his mind, of where he wanted to go. Suddenly, the device began to heavily buzz, and Shadow found himself being lifted off the ground slightly. As he landed, he opened his eyes, and smirked hard.
Perfect.
He'd teleported straight off the Ark, and landed, right on target, in the centre of Robotropolis. Thankfully, it was pitch darkness all around him, as he pushed the Portable Teleporter down his wrist, under his glove and out of slight. He wanted no one to know he had it.
Suddenly, Shadow raced across the city, towards a certain skyscraper, the tallest of them all, and right to the very top apartment. The Penthouse. He placed his hand on the handleless front door, and it just automatically open for him, as Shadow remembered it would. The magical seal within letting him through.
The Ultimate Lifeform raced inside, but immediately, any worries he had, just vanished. He found his quarry, flat out, fast asleep, still in his long, black coat, and brown boots, on the sofa.
Sukko was fine, just exhausted.
Shadow heaved, smirking hard, not surprised in the slightest. The sheer amount of power, the Sorcerer had demonstrated during the Time Eater fight was staggering, and Shadow was still trying to get his head around it. He also wasn't surprised that the Sorcerer was nowhere near his brother's party. Their hatred of them, was one of many things that Sukko and Shadow had in common. But regardless, Shadow didn't really care, as he walked down to the sofa, and knelt down in front of the Sorcerer, and stroked his cheeks with his hand.
Immediately, Sukko responded, deeply nuzzling and licking him, but didn't wake up. He couldn't purr, only Sonic could so that. Shadow just smirked, feeling deep honoured, as he kissed him on the forehead.
"Happy Birthday, my sweet."