Fanfiction» Fanfics» Shadow Forever

--Location unknown--

Shadow tried to gather his focus, but his crash through the truck's windshield had his brain doing loop-de-loops, and his stomach riding on the Chinese Ferris wheel. Circles swum before his eyes as a dark, tall figure loomed over him.

"This is the end," Jules said huskily, keeping his gun aimed at Shadow. "I'm only too glad too put you out of your misery."

"You won't get away with it..." Shadow coughed. "Sonic will find out. And you can't kill him without alerting suspicion."

"There's a nifty little thing, the fact that the entire town is operated by GUN," Jules said, a smirk crossing his scruffy face. "Sure, the citizens don't have a clue, but I think the blue one's 'disappearance' can be chalked up somehow."

"Damn you..." Shadow murmured. Jules' finger tightened around the trigger of his pistol, and Shadow grinned; this time, he really was going to die. He closed his eyes and was prepared to accept it, when there was the sound of electricity buzzing, and Jules emitted a strangled cry. Shadow opened his eyes and tried to lift his head to see what had happened, but never got the chance to as something ice-cold wrapped itself around his shoulders and helped him to his feet.

"Unh...wha..." Shadow closed his eyes tight again as the world began to spin in a bright array of colors.

"Are you allright?" A deep, robotic voice asked. But there was something different about this voice from the ones of the GUN robots, or the Badniks that he had encountered while at Eggman's base for a time. This voice had emotion, feeling, as if there were a living being speaking with a robot's voice.

"I feel really dizzy, and the world is spinning like mad," Shadow admitted to whoever--or whatever--it was that was holding him. He heard heavy, clanking footsteps and the whirring of machinery and electronics, and felt his feet drag along the dirt ground. "Who are you? What are you? Where are we going?"

"I'm...nobody particularly important. But we're going back into the truck. I'm gonna hot-wire it so we can drive back into town and pick up your friend."

Shadow heard the car door open and felt the seat supporting him, as the cold metal thing withdrew from his shoulder. The door shut, and whoever his ally was stepped into the driver's side, tilting the truck to his side. There wasn't another door-closing sound, but there was the sound of an engine gunning to a start.

Shadow opened one of his eyes and glanced over to the driver's side, and practically threw up; sitting in the drivers' seat was a robot wearing familiar colors in red, black and metallic silver. Shaped like a kitsune and about as tall as Shadow, this robot had a red torso, black waist, forearms and lower legs, and whatever was left on it was silver, except its head and tails; the lower third of its face was red, the upper third was black, the ears were red with silver inside, and the eyes were big, and glowing neon green. It also possessed two thin, propeller-like tails with two rockets mounted on top of each one; the tails were silver and the tips were black, the rockets red. On his right wrist was mounted a triple-barrel laser rifle.

"A--a Badnik?" Shadow said. If this were one of Eggman's machinations, then he and Sonic were in it deep.

The robot smirked--strange, seeing a robot smirk like that. His teeth weren't really teeth, but more like a silver grate that was hidden beneath metal lips.

"At one point, yes. Dr. Eggman was my master once, about six years ago. My designation, at the time, was E-102y. However, now I just go by 'Gamma.' I met Sonic back when I was in my old shell."

"Wha..the E-102 was a series of guard robots that Eggman used for his base in the desert." Gamma narrowed his eyes, and his smirk became a slight frown. "Yeah, so I've been told. I was the original E-102, the second of five 'bots in the E-100 series. Beta, Delta, Epsilon and Zeta were the others, and after Eggman banished all of them, and I deleted my master programming, I destroyed them one-by-one, freeing their bird hosts.

"Sonic, Tails and Amy really had an influence in my self-liberation, Amy especially. I took it a step further after beating my 'older brother,' E-101 Mk. II, and blew myself up, freeing my own bird host. That was the last that I thought Gamma would be an entity. I was very wrong...somebody found my remains and re-built my brain in a way that not even I can comprehend.

"All I remember is a voice saying, 'what is it that you really want to be? I will give you that shape.' I remembered Amy, and I was...fond of her...but her form was too constricting. In more ways than one. And then I remembered the fox boy, who could fly using his tails...versatile and fast...I wanted to be like him. And so I responded. And I found myself wandering the world in my new mechanical kitsune body."

"That's quite a story," Shadow admitted. By now, the truck was bouncing and jostling along the road, in the opposite direction that it had just been heading in. "Uh, say--what did you do to Jules?"

"You mean the man that was going to shoot you?" Gamma asked. "I stunned him with an electrical pulse wave. It'll sting when he regains feeling, but I dragged him off to the side of the road so he won't get run over."

"Shame."

"Kind of. I've got a...thing against killing."

"Why is that? You're a robot."

"I guess it's my lack of an actual living soul that makes me want to preserve those that do have them. That's what I've been doing for the last five years: traveling the world and preserving life."

"That sounds cornier than the fields I've been working in for the same five years."

"I know, but it's my cause for being. It's my motivation to keep going. Amy's influence was great, indeed."

"We're brothers in that aspect," Shadow nodded lightly, his head throbbing with even that slight movement. "Amy had convinced me to help Sonic and Knuckles save the world. She helped me remember what Maria had told me so long before."

Gamma smirked again. "She's one amazing girl."

"I haven't seen her since then, though...long story short, I got amnesia when I crashed into the earth, and I've been living on the farm since."

"I've been watching you lately, so I can put enough of it together." Gamma nodded. "I haven't seen her, either. Maybe when we get Sonic, we should pay her a visit."

"That sounds like a good idea, my metallic friend...that sounds like a very good idea indeed."

* * *

--Location Unknown--

Tails gripped hard onto the edge of his seat as Knuckles ripped around a corner in his jeep, tires squealing and rubber burning, the sound of police sirens following behind.

"Great job!!" Tails screamed. "You only just got us into Central City, and GUN is already after us! This wouldn't have happened if we'd taken my bi-plane!!"

"Except we don't have a damn clue where it is!" Knuckles growled, gassing it again and pulling a tight corner, knocking a mail box out of it's post in the concrete sidewalk. He tore down the street, and finally blasted out of the city's limits, onto a long, dark, twisting road.

"This'll take us to GUN's HQ," Knuckles said. "I checked with Rouge for directions. Have you found anything useful yet?"

"I would have if you hadn't been driving like a complete maniac the entire time!" Tails yelled, diving down to the floor and fishing around for the palm-sized computer he had brought with him. He found it and brought it up, banging his head against the underside of the dashboard.

"Okay..." Tails ran a hand through his blue-furred head and stared oddly at the mini computer before typing furiously into the small keyboard that was attached. "Geez!! I just got through; turns out that GUN's HQ is an entire town!"

"You're bullshittin' me!" Knuckles cried in disbelief as the wailing sirens died out behind them.

"No...the city's run by GUN, and they've got their base spread out throughout several buildings in the city itself! What's worse is that most of the people that live there are unassociated with GUN, so finding what we need is going to be practically impossible!"

"Wonderful. Leave it to GUN to make things supernaturally hard for us!"

* * *

--An hour later--

Tails and Knuckles walked through the town, trying hard to keep themselves as part of the shadows that were being cast by the moon and stars, throwing sheets of dark off of average buildings run by average and not-so-average people.

"The town hall would be the obvious choice," Tails muttered as the pair slinked along. "But GUN's probably seen to that already. They'll expect us to go for that place."

"That means we have to check in the least-obvious place...but we don't know this town very well, so it could be practically anywhere."

"Not really. If it's just like your average, middle-of-nowhere town, then there's nothing stopping us from putting it in the place of other middle-of-nowhere towns. We just strip it down to the basics and look from there."

"I suppose that works."

"Not bad for someone five years younger than you, huh?"

"Oh, shut up. Gloating doesn't quite fit your personality."

"Damn, I thought I was going places, too."

"Anything else that you wanna point out? Preferably stuff that's painfully obvious that I'm not getting."

"You're off the ball today."

"Driving like I do for a few hours straight does that to a guy."

"Well...quick analysis tells us that there's a bar, a bank, a small hospital, a hardware store, a library, a livestock trading post, and a farm supplies store; which of those sounds least suspicious to you?"

"The hospital, most definitely."

"Then that's the place we should check out first. Let's see if your hunch is right, Knux."

* * *

--The Hospital--

"Hey...Shadow, welcome back..." Sonic coughed loudly. "I thought you were going to get your things."

"I ran into a slight problem on the way back," Shadow said quietly, leaning in close to Sonic. "My former father is a GUN agent. He tried to kill me. We need to get out of here, fast..."

"How? You look like hell, and I feel like hell."

"An old friend of yours is here now. He saved me, and now he's trying to convince the doctors to let you free."

Sonic hiked his brows as if to pose a question, but was very suddenly interrupted by a series of loud crashes and the sound of a weapon being discharged.

"That would be him now," Shadow nodded, smirking. Another discharging sound went off, and a flash of light zoomed past the room Sonic was in.

Someone screamed "OH SHIT!" and two figures jumped through the door to Sonic's room, stumbling and rolling until they crashed into a wall on top of each other.

"What the hell--" Shadow began, looking over Sonic's bed to see who had interrupted them so rudely. "Knuckles? And is that...Tails?"

"Unh!" Knuckles grunted, trying to untangle himself from Tails without digging his knuckles into Tails' flesh. He finally managed to get himself out and up on his feet--he took a quick look around, spotted Shadow, and let his jaw drop to the floor with a loud clang!

Tails, too, stood up, brushing some blue strands of hair out of his eyes. And at a single glimpse of Shadow, his jaw, too, landed on the floor.

Sonic laughed hoarsely, and Shadow gave a weak grin and a nervous chuckle. "Hi guys. Miss me? Tails, nice new fur color."

Neither Knuckles nor Tails were able to say anything, nor did they get the chance to--several heavy, metallic clanking sounds came from outside, and several gunshots told them that their time was up.

Gamma burst in through the door, turned back out and fired into the hallway again with his arm cannon. He ducked into the room and looked about, a smirk crossing his metal face.

"Well, looks like the gang's all here," Gamma said wryly.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder..." Tails muttered, shaking his head. "I know you, don't I?"

"We met once, yes. Aboard the Egg Carrier, about six years ago."

Gunshots rang from the outside again.

"Okay, we don't have time to catch up on good times with each other," Knuckles said quickly.

"Uh...okay, Shadow...geez, I can't believe your still alive...Shadow! You look like hell."

"Heh." Shadow snorted.

"Are you okay to run a bit?"

"Not really."

"And neither is Sonic," Tails pointed out needlessly. "I'll take Shadow and you take Sonic. We'll get them into the jeep, while you cover our asses. Is that okay?" Tails looked at Gamma for the last part.

"Yeah, I can manage," Gamma said, cocking his laser rifle. "You guys go!"

Knuckles grabbed Sonic and cradled him in his arms, and Tails slung Shadow's arm over one of his shoulders. Gamma waited at the door for the others, and when they were ready to go, Gamma nodded at them and jumped out the door, firing down the hall to cover their escape route. Tails and Knuckles ran as fast as they could, keeping their heads down to avoid getting shot. Tails felt something sting his ear, but he ignored it and ran faster, out into the dirt street that ran through the center of the town. The hospital was old and small, so Sonic's room had been conveniently placed right near the front door.

Out into the cool nighttime air, the dark blue sky giving way on the horizon to swatches of orange and pink. Stars above were weakening in their light, and the moon was slowly drowning in the morning wind.

Tails, faster and less burdened, pulled ahead of Knuckles, and reached his jeep far before Knuckles himself could. Tails dumped Shadow as gently as possible into the back seat before jumping into the drivers' side himself.

"Throw me the keys!!" Tails shouted to Knuckles.

"They're in the ignition already!" Knuckles yelled back. Tails gunned the engine, but before Knuckles could get to him, a GUN G-SISD dropped down from a building above, blocking Knuckles off from the jeep!

"Go to the pick-up truck back near the hospital!" Shadow urged, pushing himself up. "Gamma hot-wired it, you should be able to take it and get somewhere safe!"

Knuckles stared at the G-SISD and growled. Normally, it wasn't his style--nor Tails', Sonic's or Shadow's, for that matter--to just up and run away from a fight. But this was a different circumstance from the norm; both he and Tails had wounded friends to take care of. He couldn't fight and leave Sonic alone...

"LET'S MOVE!" Gamma yelled to Knuckles. The robot had backed out of the hospital and was making his way towards the pick-up. Knuckles didn't waste another second, making a gigantic leap to the truck, throwing Sonic in the passenger's side door, which was open and waiting for him. He slammed the door and the pick-up began to move, but he just barely grabbed onto the side of the bed in time to pull himself over.

Tails slammed on the gas and blasted away, back towards the way he and Knuckles had come. Gamma gassed it in the opposite direction, but both vehicles were moving too fast for GUN to get to them. A few G-SISDs came down and fired off shots, but none made contact.

And soon enough, both the truck and the jeep were far, far away from the town.

* * *

--Hours Later--

Tails pulled to a stop at the foot of the hill his lab resided on, and jumped out without bothering to shut the jeep off. He literally flew up the hill, his thoughts racing like mad, his eyes wide and a frown dominating his face.

He and Shadow had seen the smoke rising in the distance. As they got closer, they could make out flashes of orange licking against the mountains. And now they were at the foot of the lab. Tails expected to see what he was seeing now. He had expected to see it entirely and fully.

But no matter how hard he tried, he just could not accept it.

His lab was ruined. Entirely. Completely. Everything was reduced to rubble on the ground. A good portion of it was still slipping slowly off the cliff face and into the ocean. The secret launch strip that had been hidden in part of the hill had been blown off, and part of it was still sticking up above the surface of the water. Smoke rose from the place the power generator had once stood, and fire was raging in the other secret launch strip that had been hidden in the cliff side below the lab. Beneath his slow and surreal footsteps, glass crunched and stone crumbled. The air smelled of oil, flame, burned carbon. Everything Tails had been working for over the better part of the past decade was decimated.

Tails knew exactly where Amy should have been. It was almost automatic to him, the motions. He was so used to walking through the front door at the top of the stairs, then following the hallway into the room she would have been Cryo-frozen in. He fell to his knees on the spot the tube and control console should have stood, and rummaged numbly through the rubble, hoping against hope to find her, alive and well...he struggled and moved a large slab out of the way, and hit burned wood. The floor. Nearby was some burned and bent metal, where the cryo-sleep chamber had been. But now there was nothing.

With the Chaos Emerald running through his soul, Tails could feel a small pull back to his jeep--he knew Shadow had the last Chaos Emerald on him. Just like he had predicted to Sonic what seemed like ages ago. Shadow, living as if Tails hadn't seen him burn up in the atmosphere five years ago.

But at the same time, that small tug to Shadow's Emerald was all Tails felt. The other four Chaos Emeralds that Tails had been keeping in his lab were long gone. There wasn't even a twinge at the back of his head.

Shadow, who was feeling a bit better when the rough ride settled down, came up the stares and gazed dully over the wreckage.

"Tails..." Shadow whispered.

"She's gone..." Tails said, his voice hushed. He was still on his knees, his hands in his lap and his head bowed. "Amy's gone. And the Chaos Emeralds. I had been keeping Amy in a cold sleep, to keep her from getting into harm while Knuckles and I were getting the information we needed."

"But...who?"

Tails narrowed his eyes, tears rolling steadily down his cheeks. "Only one person knows about Amy's situation that would do something like this. Doctor Eggman."