It all started with a chase in Mobius, a planet inhabited by sentient animals, 117,63222 light years from Planet Earth...
Both hedgehogs sped across the largest forest in Mobius, the Egg-Forest. The world was a blur to the hedgehogs running near the speed of sound. The black one clutching a bag and the blue one right behind, left wakes of golden and cerulean streaks.
Right, right, then a left. This route was strangely familiar. Sonic knew where the path ended. And it's definitely not a good sign.
"Hey Shadow, you really have to stop! What's gotten into you?" The blue blur exclaimed as he tried to spin dash against the ultimate life form but failed.
No reply.
But the hero of Mobius showed no signs of giving up.
"At least tell me why you are doing this" Sonic asked as Shadow gnashed his teeth. He held the bag tightly in his right palm and with the other released emerald spears. Sonic yelped as they sliced through his arms, as sharp as a broken glass sword.
"You are lucky I have my inhibitor rings on". He growled and accelerated forward. The golden rings on both of his wrists limited his powers. The full force of Chaos energy will be unleashed if they were taken off. But he kept them on as doing so would drain all his energy away from him, leaving him weak and powerless.
The blue hedgehog got up to his feet.
"You won't get away that easily", he muttered under his breath.
Ignoring the gash created from the impact, Sonic sped forward. He picked up the pace in mere seconds and was neck and neck with Shadow.
"Shadow, come on! Why are you doing this? You will bring more chaos to all of us if you side with him!". He knew who Sonic was referring to.
"Argh!" Shadow bellowed in frustration, unable to stand the nagging hedgehog. They both finally came to a stop.
"Eggman promised that he would reveal the mysteries to my past if I hand over all seven chaos emeralds to him"
"And you believe that guy? And secretly gathered all of them just for...this?", Sonic roared as Shadow sighed. "It is the only way Sonic". Sonic paused to think. Shadow did suffer from a huge memory loss since the unfortunate incident on Space Colony Ark, fifty years ago. He would do whatever it takes to know the truth.
The truth that only Eggman knew.
"How do you know for sure that Eggman would do as he promised and not use you to his advantage? There is no telling what evil will come upon the planet if he gets his hands on these miracle gems". The question made Shadow ponder deeper.
He did make a good point. The evil genius has never kept his promises. Ever.
But Shadow zipped past him towards Eggman's Lair without any reply. Sonic stood there watching as the streaks fade behind.
"I hope he chooses the right decision". He sighed.
Shadow chaos blast-ed the doors into smithereens and came to a halt before the scientific genius. Eggman turned around to see his perfect door melt away in the intense heat.
"You know, you could have just rang the doorbell and I would have opened the door for you"
Shadow rolled his eyes. "I have gotten all seven chaos emeralds doctor", he tossed the bag towards Eggman. He twisted his glorious brown mustache and grabbed the bag with a sneer.
"Wonderful work Shadow, now that I have all seven, I would finally be able to power up the super nuclear cannon and fire the blue rodent once and for all". His signature laugh echoed eerily across the bleak lair. "Nice move there Shadow" Rouge said as she admired the emeralds in Eggman's hands.
The bat had a huge obsession with shiny jewels especially the chaos emeralds. She was also one of Shadow's team members along with Omega the robot in G.U.N "The emeralds look really amazing, and shiny, and lovely as usual..." Rouge went closer towards those emeralds. Her eyes reflecting the emeralds.
"Hey! No touching the emeralds Rouge. Remember our deal?", Eggman reminded her. Rouge stopped halfway to look at him. "Oh yes I do, but nothing beats the good old chaos emeralds!", she said as she flew towards Shadow.
"Oh and the commander was looking for you Shadow. He wanted to say that you won the best G.U.N agent award again this year. He is planning to give you the latest and most powerful pistol" Rouge said as Shadow calmly replied. "Noted". There was nothing to be surprised about. It was expected.
Shadow nodded and turned towards the genius.
"Tell me about my past. What happened back on the Ark? Who is that Maria?"
Eggman let out a laugh as Shadow bared his teeth in a snarl. He was not taking this seriously at all
"Shadow, Shadow, Shadow..." He took a few steps towards the hedgehog. "There is a lot of time left. I will answer all your silly questions after I finish dealing with Sonic. Understand?"
An excuse.
Shadow opened his mouth to fight back but was silenced by his hand, raised in air. "No more arguments. Now go along. I have some unfinished business to do that is more important than your stupid backstory"
He has the audacity to insult my past, right in front of me. Chaos energy boiled inside him, threatening to explode any second.
Shadow took deep breaths in and out. "Fine."
He forced a smile at Rouge and walked out of the room. He then remembered what Sonic had warned him. He hid behind the wall for a moment to observe his next moves.
"So when are you going to fire the cannon, Doc?" Decoe asked as Eggman placed the emeralds one by one in the canon. "Just at the right moment" Eggman replied. "But with all seven, the impact of the shot you fire will affect the whole of Mobius, like a nuclear bomb. So, not only Sonic, but everyone on Mobius will be blasted out of existence, even you..."
Eggman's attention turned to the robot. "Of course I know that you idiot. I am an evil genius mastermind for crying out loud! Which is why I invented a protective shield around the lair to protect us from the blast." Decoe and Becoe were wide-eyed and speechless. "Boss, you're a genius!". The robots praised him. Rouge smiled but it vanished when a thought came to her mind.
"But what about Shadow?" she asked.
This caught Shadow's attention.
"Don't worry about him, he will be fine. After all, he IS the ultimate lifeform"
"But-"
"No but-s now we have to get moving, I don't have all the time in the world--well, not yet"
Rouge sighed as Shadow clenched his fists.
After all I have done for you, this is how you repay me? You ungrateful fool!
"Chaos Control!"
Shadow teleported himself outside of the lair. "Shadow! There you are, listen you have to-" "No time!" Shadow held his hand up to silence the blue hedgehog.
"Eggman has a super nuclear cannon and with the seven emeralds, he is going to super charge it and-", "blast you and the whole of Mobius into smithereens!" Eggman finished Shadow's sentence as the cannon emerged magnificently from the top of the lair. Its cold mechanical parts twisted and turned to aim at Sonic.
"Your pathetic cannon doesn't stop me from smashing it Egghead!" Sonic eyed Eggman furiously as Shadow calmly stood there with his arms crossed. Sonic noticed this and yelled, "After all you did, how can you possibly stay so calm and composed? He has all 7 emeralds!! And it's all because of you!" He pointed his index finger angrily at him.
Shadow was still eyeing on Eggman. "Any last words, Sonic?" Eggman readily placed his hands near the trigger.
"I trusted you, Shadow. I thought you were wise enough to see this coming." Sonic turned to face the ultimate lifeform. "But I guess I was wrong. You obstinate hedgehog!"
Sonic turned to Eggman, "You have given me no choice but to-", Sonic came to his spin-dash position, ready to destroy his invention like he usually does with other robots. Shadow placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from doing so. Sonic stopped spinning.
"Hands off! Aren't you going to stop him?" He spat, his finger pointing to the beaming genius.
"Isn't it obvious? He is on my side" Eggman scoffed.
Of course I should have known. Anyone can betray anyone. Sonic thought bitterly.
Shadow noted that even till now, Eggman did not care about the consequences of him standing outside the protective barrier.
So much for revealing the truth.
"Times up my blue nemesis, it was really nice fighting you all these years but the time has come to establish the Eggman Empire. Adios, Sonic the hedgehog".
Shadow's crimson eyes widened. Adios... Those last few words rang in his head. He fell on his knees, hands gripping his head. It sounded very familiar.
"Shadow...Shadow!" A voice, oddly familiar, disturbed him. So gentle yet painful.
Why does it remind me of Maria? Who is she? Do I know her?
With his fist, Eggman smashed the trigger and laughed ever so victoriously. "Yes, YES!"
"This is the day I had been waiting for..."