I Am...All of Me

Weakness (Sequel to Captured)

Eggman flew back to his base unhindered. He had built this one in the side of a mountain, unreachable on foot, with only one entrance that was heavily guarded. This meant that if Sonic ever wanted to penetrate it, he would have a very hard time trying. He parked his egg-mobile in the large hanger, and Shadow gasped at how large this base was. He had been in plenty of complex headquarters of various villains before, but this one blew them out of the water. Or maybe everything was bigger because he was well..smaller.

Shadow suddenly felt the impenetrable capsule he was in begin to move, and he immediately cloaked himself with the golden light he had grown accustomed to. He had to stall the revelation for as long as possible until he could find a way out. Or until Sonic came, whichever came first.

I will not rely on that faker, he growled to himself.

Eggman carried his prize into an expansive lab and set the container upright on a circular disk that was attached to a computer. Five metal clasps extended from the small platform and clung to the base of the capsule. The old doctor could've sworn he saw the light flicker again, but he hid his curiosity with an evil chuckle and began to type a command into his machine.

Shadow flew in dizzying circles inside his prison, as a blue scanner slowly passed over it. The dark pixie knew that his condition wouldn't be a secret for much longer. Using the light cloak was beginning to tire him out, and as soon as Eggman knew what he was, it would all be over for him.

For the "fastest thing alive," you sure are taking your sweet time, he grumbled.

The evil scientist gasped at the information displayed on the screen in front of him, "A pixiehog?! That's impossible! They don't exist! They're just a fairy tale!"

As soon as the words reached Shadow's sensitive ears, he felt like something had stabbed him in the gut. He instantly collapsed on the floor of the container, his only shield dimming quickly. What just happened? His eyelids grew unnaturally heavy, and his wings fluttered slowly. Another bit of ancient knowledge flew into his head.

Unbelief can kill any member of the fae, pixies and fairies in particular.

"I am real, you ignorant fool!" he yelled as loud as he could and attempted to pick himself, but his strength faltered a little. However, he still believed himself to be the Ultimate Lifeform, therefore he wasn't going to let a couple of words knock him down.

Surprised by the outburst coming from the light, Eggman turned his gaze to the capsule, and his eyebrows raised in shock. There stood a six-inch carbon copy of Shadow with two pairs of translucent dragonfly wings poking out of his back. He was even standing with his arms crossed and his signature glare. He rubbed a hand over his eyes just to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Sh-Shadow? Is that really you?"

"Who else?" the winged hedgehog snapped, extra limbs flicking furiously. The human leaned closer to the containment to get a better look at his unexpected catch. Shadow punched the glass where the doctor's nose would be, but it was about as harmless to it as a feather, and left the angered fae to nurse a sore hand. Eggman found this reaction very interesting, assuming the antihero's former power. He watched curiously as his little enemy went airborne and tried to smash through his little cage once more. He had been doing that a lot actually, even before he discovered who it really was.

"How intriguing," he mumbled to himself. Shadow's attention turned back to his nemesis, inwardly berating himself for losing focus so quickly.

"What?" he demanded and resorted to hovering in the center of the cylinder with his arms crossed. He didn't like being inside of it; there was no room to fly, and it felt like the walls were slowly closing in on him.

"You are acting claustrophobic," he answered matter-of-factly, "How did this happen?"

"Firstly, I am not claustrophobic, and second that's none of your business. This is only temporary anyway, so I would advise you to let me go."

Eggman laughed, "And let you tell that blue nuisance the location of my newest base? Ho! Ho! Ho! No, I have other plans for you, my dear little friend."

Shadow's frown deepened at the pun, "Not interested."

"You're not exactly in a position to bargain, Shadow," he replied smugly, "There are few old wives tales regarding fairies that I want to verify."

The hedgefae' s ears flattened against his skull, "The correct term is pixie. Fairy is a completely different species all together."

"Whatever," the human waved dismissively, "Now, did you feel anything when I said I didn't believe in them?"

Shadow's mind had been turned back to the suffocating capsule, so he only caught part of the question. "Come again?"

"What did you feel when I said that 'I don't believe in pixies'?"

The same sudden pain shot through his abdomen again, and Shadow fell to the ground. Hard. His wings drooped uselessly as he tried to curve into himself. Eggman noticed this and typed it into his computer, silently hoping he hadn't killed the pest too soon. He glanced over to find that he was attempting to push himself up again but had only managed to move himself to a sitting position against the glass.

"For once, it's a good thing you're lying," he panted, and a weak chime echoed.

Unshaken, the evil scientist picked up a long, thin iron rod and opened the top of the capsule a little, although not enough for his new lab rat to fly out of. He grinned wickedly when he saw the dark pixie shuffle as far away from the rod as possible.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" Shadow demanded as he scooted farther away from the offending metal. As soon as the rod had gotten a few inches away from he became unbearably hot.

Iron burns pixies, he realized fearfully, Why is the world so dangerous?

The tip barely grazed his shoulder, and he yelled in pain, clutching the burned spot with tears brimming his eyes. He blinked them away rapidly and wished the throbbing would stop. Eggman pulled the rod away and sealed the lid before typing the information into his database, satisfied with his find. He didn't even bother to answer his prisoner.

"That should be enough for now," he mused.

"Let me go, doctor," Shadow ordered, but his voice was noticeably lower, "I'm of no use to you."

"Oh contraire!" he replied, "You will be very useful indeed. I meant what I said about using you as my new power source to finally defeat Sonic."

"Well you can't exactly do that when you're trying to kill me first," Shadow reasoned, hoping to not go through any more experiments. The doctor chuckled.

"We'll see."