Fanfiction» Fanfics» Shadow Forever

Dedication: On the 11th of September, the year 2001, two airliners crashed into the World Trade Center, collapsing the twin towers, killing and wounding uncountable numbers of people. Usually, I don't do this kind of thing, but this time I'm making an exception. This chapter is dedicated to all those who suffered from that terrorist attack, and even though it's just a trivial contribution, it's the best I can do.

--Disk the GG

--Mystic Ruins--

"Knuckles! Knuckles, wake up!"

Knuckles grumbled something in his sleep, rolled over, and curled up.

"KNUCKLES!!"

Knuckles screamed, and sat bolt upright. He panted heavily, and pressed the earpiece of the headset closer to the side of his head. "What is it, Rouge? You woke me up!"

"Knux, the Chaotix've been captured by GUN. They'll be expecting you to attack the GUN HQ now; you won't be able to take them yourself."

"Kuso," Knuckles spat. "What do you suggest? Gonna come down and help me?"

"Of course, I was just testing you."

"Look, you're in the Mystic Ruins...isn't that fox kid's lab near there? Go get his help. And good luck....Rouge out."

The line closed with a click, and Knuckles sighed. "This is just great. Okay, Red, think...the Chaotix are fine for now. They'll live, I can bust 'em out of Prison Lane when I get the information I need. But since GUN is expecting me...I'll need help." Knuckles vaulted over the back seat of his all-terrain jeep, into the driver's seat. He turned the ignition and gassed it, tearing through the jungle and over the dirt and mud, going towards Tails' lab on the border of the Mystic Ruins. Then, he could grab Sonic in the Green Hill Zone... if he and Tails could cooperate, that is...

* * *

--LonLon Farmlands--

Shadow spent a half an hour getting used to his air blade shoes; it would have taken him much longer, had it not been for some kind of...twinge in the back of his head that subconsciously helped him remember. It bugged him how his most basic memories were nudging him along, but the more complex ones had yet to actually show themselves in some fashion of order; but at the same time, it was better than learning to use the skates all over again.

It took Shadow another hour to check all the possible locations his parents could have hidden Sonic, all of those places turning up empty, leaving just one more: the stables. Holding the golden ring in one hand, and the Chaos Emerald in the other, Shadow glided over the ground, towards the place where the key to unlocking his memories lay.

At last, Shadow burst into the dark stables dramatically, kicking the door in. He looked down to his Chaos Emerald; it was glowing, and the glow had been getting brighter as he approached the stables. Now it was bright enough to illuminate small sections of the barn at a time, like a stone flashlight.

Holding the Emerald out in front of him, he took cautious steps into the place, holding the Emerald left, right, left again, sweeping across the floors and in the pens that several horses or cows could have been occupying, depending on how many had been bred this year. Unfortunately for the farm-bound family, this hadn't been a very good year for breeding, and a good portion of the stables were empty--also unfortunately for Shadow, that meant that he had more stables to check. His parents wouldn't be crazy enough to put Sonic in the same stable as an animal...would they? Shadow double-checked each stable just to be sure. Each one was devoid of the blue-furred hedgehog. But where was he?

Shadow snapped his fingers. Upstairs, the second floor. He made his way over to an old, splintery ladder set up against the far wall from the door, climbed up it, and popped up in the second floor, which was light by ghastly pale moonlight filtering in from some holes in the roof, and the two windows on either end of the barn. But the upper floor was also lit by Shadow's Chaos Emerald, which was now glowing its brightest--and in one corner of the room, from behind a large pile of crates, a bright orange glow bathed the ceiling.

Shadow could feel Sonic practically calling to him--their Emeralds were linked, and there wasn't anything that would keep them from meeting this time. Like a golem, footsteps heavy from creeping exhaustion, Shadow walked over to the pile of crates, and shoved them all out of the way. Lying in the hollowed-out center of the pile, on top of a straw mattress, was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog, tightly gripping the orange Chaos Emerald in one hand, a weak smile on his face.

"So...you are alive after all, Shadow," Sonic muttered, offering a weak, hacking chuckle. "I should'a known..."

"Sonic..." Shadow whispered. "Help me, please. I can't remember anything from my past..."

"I...just do. I'm not sure how or why."

"Okay, okay...I'll let you in on everything, but first, tell me where we are."

"We're on the LonLon Farmlands...I'm not sure exactly where that is in comparison to the rest of the world, though...ma and pa always kept me 'round the farm."

Sonic stared at Shadow incredulously before grinning. "Quite the life you lead here, huh?"

"It was all I had...at least, until you showed up." Shadow admitted. "Now I need to know what I've forgotten."

"Okay then...touch your Chaos Emerald to mine."

"Huh?"

"Just do it...it'll connect our minds, and I can show you everything."

Shadow stared down hesitantly at the Emerald in his gloved hand. This was it, this was the way to his past...but why? Why was he hesitating?? Nothing left to do now...go!

Shadow forced his arm forward, and with a satisfying clack!, the white Emerald made contact with the orange one.

"Good..." Sonic grinned. "The next part's the weird part...never get over how strange it is." Shadow was about to as, "What do you mean?" He never go the chance, as reality itself began to twist and bend, warping, turning inside-out! Shadow screamed, his eyes wide with fright, as he was pulled down into the bowels of reality and anti-reality, traveling down a tunnel of colors and emotions, his Chaos Emerald leading the entire way. At last, the tunnel popped, and he found himself in...blackness, just inky blackness surrounding him on all sides. Standing in front of him, looking much stronger than he had just been a few seconds ago, was Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Wha...where am I?" Shadow demanded, looking around to see if there was any detail of anything, but the only thing he could find was Sonic, standing there and grinning.

"I don't really know," Sonic shrugged. "Tails has some kinda fancy-pants definition for it, but I guess in laymen's terms, it's the space between our minds."

"Tails...the short, orange-furred fox? He had a mechanical walker of some kind..." Shadow mused. "It was red, right?"

"Blue," Sonic corrected, nodding. "The Tornado III."

"Sonic...tell me who I am."

"I can't do that alone," Sonic replied, giving Shadow a serious gaze. "I can't know everything you know, I can't see everything you've seen. The most I can do is share some of my personal memories with you, and hope that it's enough to jog your memory."

"How do you intend to do that?" Shadow growled. He was getting impatient, and he was tired with all this psychological babble Sonic was spurting.

"Heh," Sonic flashed Shadow a wise grin. "You were a lot more patient when you knew who you were. Just shut up and pay attention."

Sonic closed his eyes in concentration, and his smile melted away into a deep frown. Shadow watched in amazement as a glowing dot appeared on Sonic's forehead, between and above his eyes...and then, very suddenly, a projection of some kind shot out of the dot on Sonic's head, and Shadow found himself watching...himself?? It had to be him...only he looked a bit cooler, more direct and...evil?

"You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog," he saw himself say. "I thought that capsule you were in exploded in space."

"You know what can I say? I die hard. You actually saved me, you know." Said a familiar voice; Sonic's? Must be, only it sounded a bit higher in pitch than it was now. How long ago was this? Shadow looked to be about the same age, but that didn't surprise him.

"That is a Chaos Emerald, isn't it?" Shadow's other self said. "But there's no way you could have used the Chaos Control by using an Emerald that's fake! There's more to you than just looking like me...what are you, anyway?"

"What you see is what you get. I'm just a guy who loves adventure. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I see. Well, I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are coming to an end!"

Shadow jumped back from the directness of his former self's statement, but there was nowhere to jump to, he was stuck in this flash of memory.

The memory switched places suddenly. Once again, he found himself looking out of Sonic's eyes, but this time, he was staring at a red echidna, and then at...a giant lizard-like thing!!! Shadow yelled out, but was cut off by the red echidna's voice.

"Could this be the Prototype of the Ultimate Life that was supposed to be encapsulated?" the echidna asked, referring to the lizard-like thing.

"Leave this to me," Shadow heard himself say. Sonic's vision whirled to look at the approaching, then passing Shadow.

"Shadow, what are you doing?" Sonic's voice demanded.

Shadow saw himself gain a thoughtful look on his face, before turning back to Sonic and the echidna, and shouting, "I'll take care of this, while you run to get the Chaos Emeralds!"

The memory shifted again. Once again, Sonic was with the red echidna, and there was a hideous roaring/screeching in the background. The echidna was chanting some kind of poem: "The Servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is Power, Power is enriched by the heart. The Controller is the one who unifies the Chaos. Only you can do this! Stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

Shadow saw himself jump up over the ledge of the shrine Sonic and the echidna were standing on, then Sonic's gaze turned to the lizard thing in the background. There was a fizzling sound, and the thing disappeared in a ball of light.

"Is it dead?" Sonic's voice demanded.

"Was that the Chaos Control?" Shadow also demanded.

Then, the entire...wherever they were began to shake violently! The echidna shouted, "If the Chaos Emeralds are stopped, how come the colony is headed towards the Earth??"

A strange voice echoed through the large room suddenly. "The prototype -ototype is still alive! -ill alive! He has become one the colony -ith the colony and is keeping us on our collision course -ollision course to the Earth! -to the Earth!"

The memory switched again! Out of the eerie chamber at last, Shadow found himself in deep space! He was staring out at the Prototype to the Ultimate Life, who was attached to the giant, robot-like colony by the tail, screeching and wailing like mad. Sonic's gaze looked down to a capsule loaded with rings, which the blue hedgehog popped open in order to make contact with the rings, which--disappeared in a golden glow! He looked back out to the Prototype, which was shooting lasers from his back and stomach in the other direction, that same side of the thing protected by red capsule things. Shadow spotted a silver glow, moving like a bullet under mental control of someone, since it was fast and direct, but it turned and twisted to avoid the beams and the capsules. Then the glow disappeared for a second, hidden by the prototype, before exploding out through the other side of the prototype's neck! The prototype screeched and fell limp, dead.

The glow stopped for a second, then approached Sonic...Shadow gasped...it was himself! He had been the silver glow; more appropriately, the glow was the silver aura surrounding him, while underneath the aura was the real Shadow--but his black fur had turned silver as well!

"Sonic, Shadow!" A female voice yelled, probably via a headset Sonic was wearing, similar to the one Shadow saw on himself. "The colony is still heading for Earth! If you don't stop it, it will breach the atmosphere in four minutes!"

"You two are the only ones who can stop it!" A younger, male voice cried. "We're rooting for you!"

Sonic and Shadow flew back to the falling half-moon thing, what Shadow assumed was the falling colony. The Prototype was already beginning to deteriorate, being burned up by the friction from entering the atmosphere. They arrived in front of it, and the pair became enshrouded in a bubble of energy, protected from the harsh friction.

"Now, Shadow!" Sonic's voice yelled. Sonic glanced at Shadow, who was holding an arm up towards the colony. Then, together, they both shouted:

"CHAOS! CONTROL!"

* * *

Shadow fell away from Sonic, and re-appeared back in the barn. He fell to his side and curled up, shivering and screaming as wave upon painful wave of memory washed over him, submerging and threatening to drown the black and red hedgehog.

My name is Shadow the Hedgehog! a voice in his mind shouted. Shadow the Hedgehog! SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG!!

Shadow gasped, and opened his eyes sharply. He stared at Sonic, who was looking up to the ceiling neutrally.

"You remember now?" Sonic mumbled, not looking away from the spot at the ceiling that fascinated him so.

"I...yes." Shadow said. "It's a bit splotchy at some places, but mostly intact."

"I was worried. You were shouting, and then you passed out for a few minutes." Shadow pushed himself up to a sitting position. Both his Emerald and Sonic's lay in between the two hedgehogs, as was Shadow's ring. "Sonic."

"Shadow...let's get out of here."

Shadow nodded slowly, and climbed up to his feet. He walked over to Sonic, and helped the weakened hedgehog stand up, slinging an arm over Shadow's shoulder. He picked up the two Emeralds and the ring, passing the stones to Sonic and keeping a firm grip on the ring.

"First, I have to see my family...is that alright?"

* * *

--Mystic Ruins, outside Tails' lab--

Knuckles' jeep screeched to a halt at the foot of the hill Tails' lab sat atop of, dirt and gravel crunching beneath the tires. Knuckles killed the engine and hopped out of the jeep, marching up the stairs and to the front door of the lab. He knocked on it with a gloved fist, hoping the kid would be awake at this time of the night.

When there was no answer, Knuckles sighed and pounded harder. Again, after a while, there wasn't a reply. Knuckles grunted and placed a hand on the knob, twisting it. The door popped open with a creak.

"That's strange," He muttered, staring at the darkness beyond the front door. "Usually, Tails has this thing locked...I was only testing the door, too." Suspicious, Knuckles carefully stepped inside.

A bit of inspection determined that Tails wasn't in the living room, nor his personal bedroom. It was when he got close to the kitchen that he picked up the sound of somebody sobbing uncontrollably.

"Kuso," He muttered again. He ran closer towards the sound of the sobbing, finally finding the room it was originating from; one of the many laboratory rooms near the kitchen, and it was pitch-black.

"Who's in there?" Knux demanded into the dark room. Very suddenly, Amy erupted from the darkness, the fur on her face matted with tears and smudged mascara, her hands covered in...blood??! She grabbed onto Knuckles and hugged him tightly, and began to cry louder than before.

"Amy!" Knuckles cried, trying to step away from the pink hedgehog, but her grip was tight. "Amy, what's wrong?? Answer me! Where's Tails?!"

At the mention of the kitsune's name, Amy's sobs became louder and harder. "He--he--he--" was all she could get out, before falling back into a fit of tears. Knuckles growled, half in determination, half in irritation. He hugged Amy with one arm, and carefully walked into the dark lab room. He groped along the nearby wall for a light switch; at last he found it, and flipped it up.

The room became illuminated instantly. And Knuckles very suddenly found himself staring at what must have only at one point been Miles Prower, but was now nothing more than a bloody, lifeless body.

"Oh God," Knuckles whispered, backing away in shock. "Amy, what happened to him?"

"He-he came home last night," Amy said between loud cries. "And this morning, he--hic--he was looking for the blue Chaos Emerald--I gave him a shell which had parts of the Emerald stuck in it--the parts came out and began spinning around him--they became closer, and closer, and then...." Amy practically screamed, and buried her face into Knuckles' shoulder. Knuckles frowned deeply, closed his eyes, and shut out the light in the room. He led Amy away, and brought her into the kitchen...maybe he'd be able to comfort her, even the slightest bit... He had just sat her down at the table, and was about to go get something for her to eat in the fridge, when a too-familiar voice said, "Hey, Knux! What's up, man, what're you doing here? And why's Amy crying?"

Knux froze in midstep, and Amy's crying very suddenly became hushed. The two looked, wide-eyed, at the speaker.

Miles Prower stood in the doorway to the kitchen. His clothes were slashed and stained red with blood, but his wounds were closed, and his eyes had life sparkling from sky blue irises, just like always.

And his fur was blue.