Fanfiction» Fanfics» Shadow Forever

--Eastern Pacific Ocean--

"We're almost there!" Tails urged as the Tornado V surged forward. "Sonic, hold it for a little bit more--"

At last, the glowing blip on the radar came directly into the center of the monitor with a loud pinging noise. They were right on top of the Emerald! Tails looked out the side of his domed cockpit, and he could see it, so close that if the dome weren't there, he could have reached out to touch it with his fingers! It lasted for only an instant before disappearing into murky obscurity. From that obscurity emerged something that was so terrifying--deadly, glowing eyes that gave off a red light, and what the kitsune could only imagine was a mouth lined of sharp teeth; but the entire rest of the creature seemed to be made of liquid, only a tad darker and a little more gelatinous than the water surrounding them!

"That's it!" Tails cried, snapping his fingers. "This water creature must have gotten it...well, now it's time to get it back! Sonic, hold the Chaos Control as long as you can!" Sonic couldn't respond, since he was using all of his focus to maintain the Chaos Control. Tails maneuvered the Tornado V quickly away from the water monster, then turned to face it. Tails could see it clearly now--it had no definite form, looking like a giant, transparent ball of jelly with two eyes, a mouth, and a bright, blue glow emanating from somewhere deep inside of it.

"Torpedoes, fire!" Tails shouted, mashing a button with his thumb. A panel slid open on the bottom side of the Tornado V, revealing a micro-missile launcher that had been temporarily converted into a torpedo launcher for the underwater venture currently being undertaken. The torpedoes fired off, two at a time, emptying out all eight launch tubes, trailing a long stream of bubbles. The water creature stayed their patiently--the torpedoes ripped through it, and then...

...emerged from the other side of it?

Tails cursed loudly. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't affected by torpedoes. There were a few options left now--Tails went for the lasers next, firing off as many as possible within five seconds--again, the monster waited passively, allowed the attacks to pass right through.

"Shit! What the hell affects this thing?!" Tails cried frantically, pushing the Tornado V to go forward. The submersible was off like a bullet, heading right for the monster--Tails screamed, charging up a last-ditch attempt to frag the beast--the Tornado V and the monster collided, the monster finally taking some kind of solid form, wrapping itself around the sub--Tails watched in horror as the dome began to crack--the same dome that was 100 times stronger than the military's best!--now desperate, Tails flipped a switch, threw a lever, and hit a series of buttons-- The sound of buzzing electricity deafened the kitsune, as did the shrieking screams of the monster--Tails' dome popped open at the seams--Sonic lost his grip on the Chaos Emerald, and time slowed down again--Tails was now completely submerged in water, the blue Emerald clutched tightly in his grip--Sonic shouted, pounding desperately on his dome to Tails, who was writing in pain--and then--

Air.

Tails' eyes snapped open sharply, and he sat up, taking deep, laboring breaths, his lungs aching, his throat burning. His entire body was soaked with water, and in his right hand, he held the chipped, imperfect blue Chaos Emerald.

"Where...where am I?" Tails muttered, shaking his head free of water. He looked around, his ice-blue eyes taking in his surroundings...except there was nothing to see. All around him, at every point of view, was dark water--he was seated on what looked to be a large, flat rock about six feet by three feet in a rough, ovoid shape, that rose a foot above water level. The rock was darkened by water, but Tails could see parts of it were drying up, thanks to the harsh rays of the sun hanging high overhead. Sputtering a little bit and coughing up some water, Tails stood up on his tip-toes to see if there was anything at all around him...any sign of land, or the Tornado V and Sonic.

"What was that thing?" Tails muttered hoarsely. "It looked like one of those watery robots that GUN uses in space...but...not..." He glanced down at the Chaos Emerald he held, then took another look around him, to the water stretching out to meet the horizon on all sides. "Looks like I'll have to master the Chaos Control, and fast."

--LonLon Farmlands--

"--NTROL!!" CLANG!

Sonic was completely drained. The ruins of the Tornado V were too constricting around him! Things were heating up! It was hard to breath! Using his remaining strength, Sonic forced open the damaged glass-like dome, which could have stood up to thousands of pounds of pressure at one point, and was now dirty and cracked. Coughing, Sonic stumbled out of the co-pilot's chair, and up a slope of hot dirt, collapsing at the rim of the small crater the Tornado V's impact had created in the ground.

Sonic's vision was red with blood dripping down into his eyes, but everything was very quickly turning black. And before he passed out, Sonic swore he heard the sound of a cow mooing.

* * *

Noctus had heard the loud crash coming from outside, somewhere in the pasture. He so much wanted to go and see what was going on, but when he heard ma and pa yelling at the children to stay inside while they ran to check what had made the sound, he just sighed and continued sweeping out the manure in the stables. His chores were always more important, unless he was feeling sick or something.

Several hours later, the stable swept, the chickens and cows and pigs fed, and the horses groomed, Noctus walked inside the small house that served as his home. A basic structure with two floors, the house was indeed rather small--the entire first floor served as the main room and the living room, with an ancient coal oven resting in one corner, a brick fireplace built into the perpendicular wall. In the center was a long, wooden, simple table resting on a rough red carpet a few shades darker than the red fur that striped Noctus' quills. Some pots and pans hung on the wall above the sink, and an old, small radio rested in the corner closest to the door on a small, wooden night-stand. The wall with the sink and the pots and pans was also the wall on the broad side of the stair case that went up to the second floor, which was host to Noctus' and his sibling's rather cramped bedroom, his parents' bedroom, and the bathroom. The floors and stairs were made of wood, the walls of some kind of white plaster material. Support beams ran across the ceiling. A few windows dotted the house here and there. A fire was crackling in the fireplace, the wood popping now and then.

Sitting around the table were Noctus' brothers and sisters. Jerry, Noctus' oldest sibling at seventeen, sat next to the head of the table where pa sat. Next to him was Fletch, a ten-year-old bundle of energy. An empty seat sat next to Fletch and the other short end of the table.

Across from Jerry was Laurie, a stunning farm girl beauty with short, blonde hair and an attractive form, sixteen years old. Next to Laurie and across from Fletch was Anne, a dark-haired girl and ten years Laurie's junior. Next to Anne and across from the empty seat was Josaphine, a feisty, brown-haired twelve-year-old. Ma and pa were nowhere in sight, however.

Noctus was the oldest, of course...but how old? Nobody, not even he, knew. When ma and pa had first found him, he looked to be about fifteen or sixteen...five years later, he still looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. He had been watching all of his siblings grow up from afar, watching little Anne grow from a baby to a child, and Jerry grow from a child to an adolescent. Noctus knew, without a doubt, that he wasn't a natural member of the family, and it didn't come as a surprise to him--everyone else, ma, pa, the sibs, they were all humans, while he was a hedgehog. But even so, that didn't stop him from loving his family at all.

As he sat down at the table, still lost in his thoughts about his family, he finally realized that the four youngest of his siblings had been whispering something quietly to each other, that is, until he had sat down. Finally, he looked up at them, only to see that they were staring at him with various degrees of emotion: wonder, sullenity, shock, and calm. Jerry was the only one who didn't have his eyes plastered on Noctus, and was instead staring into the flickering firelight.

"What is it?" Noctus demanded of the four younger ones. When none of them spoke up, he persisted. "You're all staring at me for a reason. Something is up, and it probably has to do with that crashing noise I heard outside earlier on."

No reply. Anne and Fletch broke their stare to gaze into the empty space between themselves and the floor, or the wall. Young Josephine's gaze was intense with curiosity, and Laurie was just as passive as ever.

"Damn it!" Noctus yelled, pounding the table with a fist and standing up. "I know something is going on. Every time there is, you all stare at me like that! And ma and pa always come downstairs and tell me that there's absolutely no problems at all in this completely distant tone, and that I shouldn't worry about anything! What is it with everyone?!"

"Don't worry about it," Jerry muttered bitterly. "Just forget you ever heard that crash outside. It was just a trick on your imagination, Noctus."

"That's exactly what you say every time!!" Noctus shouted. "You know the routine by heart! It's almost like everything that's happened over the past five years has been some kind of clue to unlocking my past, but you guys are too damn stubborn to let me go!!"

Without taking another look at his siblings, Noctus whirled and dashed upstairs, where ma and pa were undoubtedly hiding whatever it was this time that they were keeping secret.

The upstairs hall was like a C-Bend. The stairs came up, and right across from them were the children's bedroom. Noctus ran in and grabbed the white gem that he kept under his pillow always, and very quickly emerged with the gem in one hand, completely failing to notice the dim glow it was emanating. The hall ran perpendicular to the stairs and the kids' room, and set into the side opposite the room was the bathroom. The hall turned sharply, going parallel to the stairs, and ended abruptly at a doorway, on the other side of which was ma and pa's room.

Noctus checked quickly in the bathroom to make sure that his parents weren't there, then frantically made his way to his parents' room. Pa was standing in front of the door in his manure-stained dungarees and his dirty, off-white shirt, large, hairy arms hanging tensely at his sides, his usually combed brown hair a mess, and a solemn gaze on his face. The door behind him was open, but the man was so large that Noctus could hardly see anything behind him.

"Noctus," Pa said sadly. "Please, don't come in. You can't see what's in this room."

"Move out of my way!" Noctus yelled, glowering at his father. "I won't be left in the dark any longer!!"

"I'm sorry, son, but you mean too much to us! If you try to get past, I'll have to hurt you. It's for your own good."

"I'm so sick of that line!" Noctus raged. He charged at his father, hoping to somersault between his legs or under his arm--Pa reached out with a single large hand, and smacked Noctus back into a wall. Noctus' grip on his gem tightened, his fingers beginning to ache. Narrowing his eyes at the large, sorrowful man before him, Noctus screamed and lurched forward, using the pain pa had inflicted on him as his motivation, and very suddenly, blinked out of existence. He re-appeared inside ma and pa's room, feeling slightly drained. The gem's glow had been increasing the closer Noctus got to the room, and now was throbbing with light--as was the yellow-orange gem resting on the night table next to ma and pa's bed.

Noctus' jaw dropped open as he took it in. Ma was sitting at bedside, her eyes bloodshot and red with tears, sniffling and looking just all around miserable as she stared at Noctus sadly. And resting in the bed with his eyes closed was...was...

Sonic the Hedgehog.

Noctus didn't know how he knew that name, for he had never seen this blue hedgehog in as long as he could remember--but he was there. Sonic the Hedgehog. Eyes wide with a whole mess of emotions, shock, confusion, and even fright, Noctus slowly walked forward.

"Who--who am I?!" He yelled, eyes wide, irises small. "I don't know who I am!! I DON'T KNOW WHO I AMMMM!!!"

Jerry and Laurie were standing in the doorway with pa, all looking on helplessly. Downstairs, Fletch and Anne were crying and screaming themselves, and Jo was trying her hardest to calm them down; they were all just as afraid of what was going on as Noctus was.

Pa came up behind Noctus, and with a grim tone, said, "I'm sorry, son." He quickly took up Noctus' gem, and clocked the black hedgehog on the side of the head. Noctus fell forward, unconscious.

* * *

--That night, GUN's Security Hall on Prison Island--

"You know what the perfect music for this kinda place would be?" a voice whispered through the large, ghastly-lit vault room.

"No, Vector, what kind of music would be perfect for this kinda place?" a second voice whispered back.

"The Mission Impossible theme. Or somethin' like that. Bum bum bum-bum, bum bum bum-bum, bum bum bum-bum, ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba, ba-ba!"

"Vector?"

"Yo, Might?"

"Stuff it."

"You were never any fun, Might."

Mighty rolled his eyes as he and Vector snuck along one of the catwalks that lined the highest level of safes up from the ground. A refrigerator chill bit into their skins, and nearby, red laser sensors crawled across the walls and floors.

The pair came to a stop behind a large gas cylinder. In front of them was a single GUN Standard Issue Security Droid, or G-SISD. Currently, the 'bot was facing the opposite way, bobbling up and down in place slightly, holding out its' laser arm at nobody in particular. The two furries pressed themselves as tight as they could back between the cylinder and the wall as the mech turned around, its' spotlight sweeping across the cold gray floor in front of them. When the G-SISD turned around yet again, Vector took the chance and leapt, clinging onto the back of the droid before biting down on it, severing a vital 'life-line' wire in its' neck. The droid de-activated, but remained standing in place--no explosions or concussions, which is what GUN had been expecting and had prepared for, ever since reconstruction of the Security Hall was completed--all thanks to that whorebat, Rouge, Vector thought bitterly. If it hadn't been for her--and Eggman and Shadow, of course--then this job would have been a hell of a lot simpler.

"Good job," Mighty whispered, walking past Vector, who was busy wiping his tongue off on his gloves.

"Shit, man, that's the fifth one I've taken down. I won't be able to drink water for a week, there's so much oil on my tongue!"

"Would you rather GUN get the Master Emerald? Then Knuckles would kick your ass because you refused to bite into any more 'bots."

"Ehh...nevermind, gimme a bucket of oil to gargle. Better'n becoming a croc-skin purse." The pair continued walking stealthily, taking down another G-SISD on the way. At last, they found a springpad, and used it to bounce up onto a platform in front of the control room. Using a small decoder device that Rouge had given him, Mighty managed to unlock the security doors by placing the decoder over the number pad. Taking the decoder with them, Mighty and Vector snuck into the control room. Again using the decoder to get into the mainframe of the computers, Mighty's brow furrowed as he struggled to adjust to the sudden light from the monitors shining brightly through the darkness.

"So, this li'l machine thingy is gonna find exactly what we need, right?" Vector demanded in a hiss, sounding extremely bored. "I don't wanna hafta watch you play computer nerd, Might..."

"Don't worry, I know about as much about computers as you do," Mighty whispered, reading scanning over the lines and lines of text that were popping up on the screen. "Nothing yet, though..."

A message began to flash across the screen. Mighty peered closer at it, and shouted something unintelligible.

"What?!" Vector cried, slipping ungracefully out of the chair he had been lounging back in.

"They're onto us!" Mighty hissed, tapping a series of buttons rapidly on the decoder. "GUN's been tracking us the entire time! They'll be here in minutes!!"

"Shit!" Vector yelled, jumping up to his feet. "Hurry up and get that info, 'dillo!"

"I'm trying!" Mighty growled in aggravation. "Two minutes!! Vector, if GUN's 'bots show up, I need you to hold 'em off until I get the information and send it to Rouge!"

"Got'cha, but make it quick! I wanna get outta here without getting a rap sheet!" Vector dashed off to the door of the control room as Mighty continued to stare at the monitor, watching the clock count down in the corner of the screen. One and a half minutes left until the info came up, unknown time until GUN showed...

"They're here!" Vector shouted at a minute and ten seconds remaining. From outside, the sound of lasers being shot off and small explosions rocked the room. Mighty winced at the noises...forty-two seconds left...

"Mighty the Armadillo! Come out of that room now!! We know you're in there!"

Thirty seconds...

"We have caught your green-skinned friend! Resistance is futile!"

"That's original," Mighty muttered, rolling his eyes. Twenty seconds.

"If you do not come out now, we'll proceed to blast you out of there!!"

Ten seconds.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One...

Mighty pounded on the 'SEND' button on the decoder, and the information that had just been uploaded copied itself and sent the copy in a tight-frequency beam out of the Security Hall, and into the air, where it would meet the antenna of Rouge's transmitter, like a long-distance magnet. The send complete, Mighty picked up the decoder and crushed it between his hands before charging out of the room, and smack into a circle of G-SISD's and GUN Standard Issue Hover Spotlight Droids (G-SIHSD). With the spotlights from the SIHSD's pinning him down, Mighty stepped back and shielded his eyes--he could barely make out the bloodied and beaten form of Vector in the hands of a GUN Standard Issue Capture Droid (G-SICD).

"I ain't going down without a fight!!!" Mighty yelled, charging at the nearest G-SISD.

* * *

--Earlier that night--

Tails shivered as the ice-cold water bit into his ankles. He was losing his ground, and fast, as the tide began to rise up to claim him. The cold water and the cool of the fast-setting night would give him pneumonia if he didn't get off this rock soon!

Ever since Eggman had blown a chunk out of the moon, the tides had been completely crazy--they would come and they would go as they pleased. Tails had been fortunate enough to last this long without the tide rising, but now, his time was running out.

Still holding the imperfect Chaos Emerald in one hand, Tails gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, his fingers aching from the tightness with which he grasped the stone.

He had been trying all day to master the only thing that could save him--the Chaos Control. Sonic had been lucky--he learned it instantaneously. Knuckles learned it a little bit later, with practice, but he was in touch with the Master Emerald almost constantly, so it was no surprise. Rouge had learned it herself only just recently, but despite almost five years of his efforts, Tails was still having trouble mastering the secret.

'Maybe,' he had thought bitterly at one point that afternoon, 'It's because I draw my power from the Super Emeralds.'

That was another way Sonic and Knuckles were luckier than he was--they could go Super with the use of the Chaos Emeralds, whereas Tails needed to use the Super Emeralds to reach his Super form. And ever since the events that had transpired years ago, there hadn't been a single sign of those damned Super Emeralds, leaving Tails more or less powerless, while Sonic and Knuckles could just power up and tackle pretty much any bad guy that crossed them.

"I'll show them yet!" Tails yelled suddenly, eyes opened wide. "I'll show those two that just because they have more power doesn't mean I'm going to sit it out! I'll find some way to get better, I know I will! I JUST NEED TO MASTER THIS STUPID TECHNIQUE!!!!!" Gritting his teeth and scrunching his eyes closed tight again, Tails put his entire will into the stone he held in his hand, all his strength, all his energy! At last, the Chaos Emerald glowed brightly--and Tails could see. Not just, see, he could SEE! He could go anywhere he wanted to, and he could see that anywhere! All he needed to do was choose a place to go and use the key...his senses were so enhanced, that he hadn't even realized the place he had picked out was what it was before shouting the words he'd been longing to say effectively for so long. These words were the key.

"CHAOS...CONTROL!!!"

And then, Tails blipped out of existence.