I Am...All of Me

Black Shadow (Part 1)

The Aftereffect

Space Colony Ark

     As Devil Doom's body fell into space, Shadow teleported inside Space Colony Ark to watch and rest. The battle had left him physically exhausted, and his golden fur was rapidly turning back to its original charcoal color. The warlord's last words echoed in his head like a bad migraine.

    You are mine, Shadow. If I die, you will go down with me....

    The dark hybrid brushed the foreboding warning off and continued to watch from within his childhood home. But his peace was suddenly interrupted by heavy footfalls charging in his direction. He turned around to see several Black Oaks running towards him with their weapons and claws raised. He swiftly dodged the first blow and countered with a thin chaos spear, but he only barely missed being sliced in half by a second attacker. They began to corral him towards an abandoned elevator, and with so much energy lost, he couldn't chaos control out. With less room to maneuver, a claw nicked him in the side, and he teetered off balance. Enraged, Shadow extended his own claws and slashed the soldier responsible in the face. His body glowed red before he unleashed a weak chaos blast. It did less than he had hoped, but the band of aliens backed up several feet and hesitated to continue. So for a moment they were at a stand still, with the creatures blocking his exit from the elevator, and Shadow trapped in a corner.

     He took this time to briefly check the cut on his side, because it was taking much longer to heal than it should have, and he stumbled against the wall in shock. His blood wasn't the color it was supposed to be. Mobian blood, artificial or not, was crimson red. His, however, was a luminescent green. He looked back up at the Black Arm he had cut and noticed that his gash was sporting the same sickening color. Dreadful realization set in quickly, and Doom's words had a whole new meaning. They shared blood. His blood.

        You are mine, Shadow. You are mine....

   "No. That's impossible. I can't be...one of them," he muttered to himself.

    Black Doom's last heartbeat boomed in his ears before it fell silent, and Shadow doubled over. One glance, told him the Black Arms were already on the floor. Dead. His breaths became ragged, and pain shot through his already beaten body.

             If I die, you will go down with me.

  Shadow was certain that this had been Black Doom's backup plan. If he died, he would take his creation and executioner with him. He fell to the ground and curled inward instinctively, as another wave of agony slowly came over him. He snarled in defiance and tried to pick himself up, but it was too much. His growls soon diminished into painful whines, and he turned over in a useless attempt to find some relief. His cut should have healed by now, but it had only sealed into a noticeable green scar. He snapped his ruby eyes shut tightly and tried again to at least get into a sitting position, only to fail once more and lay sprawled out on the metallic floor.

   This can't be how I go down, he thought, This is not how the Ultimate Lifeform dies.

   His breathing and heart rate slowed, and he sank into the painless sanctuary of unconsciousness, fully aware that his body was slowly shutting down completely.

                                       ~~~~~

     "Has anyone seen Shadow?" Rouge asked as she, along with Sonic and his friends, searched where the Black Comet had landed before he had chaos controlled it back into space, where he destroyed it.

        "No sign of him yet," Sonic answered.

  "And my handheld hasn't picked up his chaos signature on the planet yet either," Tails chimed as he unceremoniously shook his portable computer.