Chapter Text
It was one month before the Doctor took over the world… The first time I encountered him.
Shadow sat isolated in a small coffee shop located in Station Square, drinking a black coffee that was accompanied by a coffee cake and a sandwich. It wasn’t common that he got time like this to himself— peace, quiet… It almost felt too good to be true, getting a break from his work with G.U.N. and taking a moment for himself. It was especially good that there was no trouble stirring from Robotnik or the annoying blue faker. But alas, his speculations were right upon the rest being short-lived when not even a couple minutes later he heard a crackling of life coming through an earpiece always clipped to his ear.
“Shadow!” A familiar voice called his name through his communicator. The dark hedgehog’s ears perked up as he heard his peer’s voice, focusing on her message. “A report was sent in by the Intelligence Division. They’ve located an unknown base of operations which appears to be outside of Eggman’s command.”
He looked around the quiet cafe he was visiting, the cup of black coffee in his hands. After taking a sip of the drink, Shadow hummed softly, clicking his communicator and speaking in a quiet tone, “Got it. Anything worth noting, Rouge?”
“Yeah. For being outside of Eggman’s forces, there is a large scale of troops around it. Suspiciously large for being something deemed unimportant,” Rouge answered, her voice smooth in his ear. Shadow huffed, imagining the chaos that could brew from a place like that if they had left it unchecked.
“I don’t imagine the Doctor doing anything like that without reason,” he muttered gruffly.
The bat scoffed on the other line. “No kidding. And to make matters more questionable, a little… rumor is going around that Eggman’s in the process of making some type of weapon. One that we haven’t seen before, so…”
“Trouble.” The hedgehog finished her sentence and sighed, taking another sip from his coffee. “This won’t be a garden-variety recon mission.”
Shadow could practically hear the small smile on Rouge’s face. “Do it to it, Shadow. Omega’s already ahead of you— you can meet up with him on sight.”
Shadow stood from his seat, leaving his coffee mostly drunk from and food mostly eaten, and started out the cafe. His expression was grim, his signature brow furrowed as he cursed softly to himself about Eggman causing trouble once again. He searched his quills, making sure he had a chaos emerald still on him.
“I can handle things on my own. I’m more than enough that way.”
“Figured… Omega said the same thing, you know,” Rouge giggled softly. “Keep me posted.”
Shadow hummed an agreement. “Send me the location, I’m on my way now.”
As soon as he got a message from the bat that named the whereabouts of the suspicious base, he used Chaos Control to stop all time around him. It would be helpful to get there sooner rather than later, even with the short time span that he was capable of withholding the time stop for. Besides, it’d be easier to get out of the bustling city if everything stopped in time, allowing him less chances of running into someone (not like he’d care anyway, it’d just slow him down). Shadow blazed through Station Square, pushing himself as fast as he could skate on his air shoes.
Using Chaos Control was a good move, as he found himself running to the outskirts of the city. He noted how wrecked everything looked, eyeing around and seeing if there were any robots under Eggman’s control. This wasn’t the place that he was supposed to be, but… still, something seemed off.
Nonetheless, he saw more badniks as he started to make his way into the enemy territory. It didn’t stop him, he only blasted through them, boosting his speed to be able to deflect them with his body. He was definitely deep into enemy territory at the very least. If this wasn’t where he was supposed to be, it was at least beneficial to the civilians around. Shadow could hear the crackle of his ear piece again, a robotic voice filling his ears.
“E-123 Omega reporting. Extermination proceeding without buffering. No problems that are in need of addressing."
Rouge’s voice immediately came in after him. “Extermination?! Omega, this is a recon mission! You can’t go and make a big scene!”
“You should’ve known better than to send him on something like this,” Shadow muttered. “I’ll handle it. Don’t worry, Rouge.”
The hedgehog teleported his way to the badniks, punching all of them into each other and letting them combust as he moved forward. What a joke that they could be stopped so simply like that. It took a bit more combat on Shadow’s part for Omega to come back in reporting a sudden change in coordinates, losing sight of his target and asking Rouge for assistance. There wasn’t really much she could do, Shadow knew that much, so he made a quick advance through the outskirts. He avoided any remaining badniks, figuring it would be better to take out the main threat first if it posed that much of a problem to Omega, then take care of the little ones later.
Shadow came to a quick stop in his tracks when he heard laughter around the area, looking around quickly for the source of the sound. He noticed above him, floating in the sky before him was a jackal with black fur. At its sides there were slashes of white fur that bled into its back, making a pattern almost similar to a rib cage. Its tail was black with a tip that seemed dipped in white. The canine’s back was turned to Shadow, showing off its dreadlocks that were flowing in the wind with its movements as it remained still in the sky. Its arm was extended out, the head of a robot in its hand. The head of… a familiar robot. Wait… That was…
“The world’s most powerful robot is no more than a simple Crabmeat…” The jackal’s voice spewed, low and smooth. The canine chuckled softly, its ear twitching as it turned its head, revealing a metallic mask with a black lightning bolt over the eye. The ears on the mask were white with black rings lining it. Shadow tensed, his hands clenching into firsts as he went into a defensive position, ready to strike. The jackal tilted its head, making a small hum of curiosity. “Still more wonderful… A dark, brooding, not-so-tall guest has arrived. I’ve been waiting for your arrival, Shadow the Hedgehog.”
Shadow refused to show any surprise that the figure knew his name. “Tell me what you did to Omega!” He snapped.
The jackal laughed, letting the head of Omega fall out of its palm as it turned to face Shadow completely. The right of his mask had a similar lightning bolt decal, except it was defined more and a deep red, showing a yellow pupil. The canine had a red gem on its chest, tufts of white fur wrapped around its neck, black gloves and high-tops with silver and red accents. Shadow could tell by the shape of its finger tips that its claws were sharp.
“Weaklings like him are of no consequence.” The jackal came up to Shadow in a flash, taking the hedgehog off guard. “It’s nice to see you again, Shadow. I was looking forward to our long-awaited reunion.
“What—” Shadow moved away from it, winding a punch. He was apparently too slow, as the jackal’s palm caught his fist. “Reunion?” The hedgehog struck again, sending bounds of chaos and physical attacks to the canine. Everything was deflected.
“I remember you so very well… Don’t tell me,” It started, a low voice mocking Shadow as it deflected another attack from him, “do you not remember me?”
“I don’t know you!” The hedgehog yelled, trying everything he could to hit the jackal. “The only thing here of no consequence is that big mouth of yours!”
A small snicker came from the jackal as he deflected Shadow once more, using the sky as his shield as he levitated upward, looking down at him with such amusement in his yellow eye.
“Ah… You say you don’t know me.” It scoffed. “I guess I was just associated with one of your many tear-downs of Eggman’s bases. I’m sure you didn’t even give me a second thought.”
Shadow stilled his attacks, looking up at the jackal as his mind searched through details of every mission he went on, taking down Eggman’s many bases. He could hardly remember anything from any of them, all he remembered was how they crumbled after he was done with them. That, and when Eggman sent out a squad of the canines that he wiped out easily. And only a few expeditions after that, the last jackal was sent out to try and stop him. One that was particularly weak and not even enough to be a minor inconvenience. The hedgehog looked at the jackal before him once more, spotting similarities. The only difference was the mask covering a face that he couldn’t even remember; he hardly got a glance at its full face.
“That was…”
“I’ve become what I am because of you, and yet you don’t even remember who I am!” The canine boomed, crossing his arms and glancing down at him, its head tilted up. “But I suppose that the older me was too weak. Too pathetic to remember. Now, our roles have reversed, and you are simply a small insect awaiting to be crushed beneath me.”
Shadow growled and teleported up to the jackal, winding up another punch. He could see the moments of shock that lingered on its face, the yellow pupil shrinking slightly before his fist met the rough fur of its abdomen. The jackal was launched back, descending down and losing its focus and ability to levitate. The hedgehog appeared behind him, going to swiftly strike the back of his neck with his foot. In the split second before, the canine snapped back and moved out of the way, shaking its head and glaring at Shadow with an enraged gaze.
“I didn’t think you’d want to provoke me to use this unlimited power I’ve obtained!” Its hand went over the red gem on its chest, and a low growl came from the canine.
Shadow quickly attempted to intercept him when his reality warped in a brief flash of red and white and an invisible force knocked him back to the ground. He grunted gently, sitting up as quick as he could and holding his pounding head in his hand. The hedgehog opened his eyes, seeing a blur of green and gasping softly.
“I’m… back here?” Shadow questioned through heavy breaths as he looked around and noted that he was back in what appeared to be Green Hill. Something was off about it, grainy pixels of red and black dancing over the area. “That jackal…”
He took the moment to reflect on the canine’s words. He remembered when he went against him before he was whatever persona he’s adopted now. He was no more than a pathetic lifeform who was working with the enemy, but now he did something to himself to gain power. To spite Shadow. The hedgehog swore he heard Eggman say his name before, though it was faint in the jackal’s ear piece.
Speaking of which, as if on cue, Rouge called out to him.
“Shadow! Do you read me!?” She asked, sounding on edge.
Shadow growled softly and started moving through the distorted Green Hill. “Where am I? Where’s that… Where’s that stupid mercenary?!”
“Who? Are you alright?”
Shadow didn’t answer, focusing on trying to get out of… wherever he was. It wasn’t Green Hill, he knew that much. And he was alone, which didn’t bother him but he was reluctant to admit that at least having Rouge here with him would be beneficial.
“Hello? We’re here to pick up Omega! He was destroyed three months ago, don’t you remember?!”
Shadow faltered, nearly missing the buzz saw of a badnik. He saw Omega destroyed just a few moments ago. “What are you talking about, Rouge?”
“Get it together!” The bat simply snapped at him, and the feed was turned off. Shadow’s mind swirled in confusion to her words. It didn’t make sense, what the hell was she on about? Rouge didn’t sound nor was acting like herself. And he was supposed to be the one who needed to get it together? Something was wrong, unless he was out for 3 months which he doubted.
Shadow ran through the familiar plane, catching sight of a slash of red and black cutes coming toward him. He couldn’t move away, and it slashed his arm. The hedgehog hissed softly, feeling like a bunch of tiny blades pierced into his skin. He moved quicker, trying to get out of there as fast as possible. Something was definitely wrong, and he couldn’t piece together what was going on.
Well, at least he’d get his answers soon, because the ground around him started to distort, and he saw nothing but a flash of red and white lights. He shielded his sight with his arm, groaning softly and peeking out and seeing himself a little bit away from the outskirts of Station Square, his feet on the grass of the forest that was just shy away from him.
“What?” Shadow whispered, looking around. “I’m back here? No— This is an illusion!”
He whipped around as he felt the presence of that jackal from before behind him. Shadow moved quickly to try and strike a punch to his mask but his actions were once again deemed useless as the jackal zipped to the side and left him attacking the air.
“This is reality, Shadow,” he said, catching another punch, “your reality. Now, I must admit I didn’t expect to see you come back alive, but it was pretty fascinating, wasn’t it? Such a wondrous show I put on for you, and that’s before we even tuned it!”
“‘We?’ What are you and the Doctor doing?” Shadow demanded an answer. The canine snickered.
“Just shaping a beautiful crystal to aid us in world domination…” He puffed his chest out, illuminating the red gem that was attached to it. “And just as planned, it’s unrivaled! Not even Sonic can stop me now!”
Shadow’s eyes widened at the mention of his blue parallel, his red eyes locking onto the gem before piercing into the yellow one that gazed down at him in satisfaction.
“What are you plotting with Sonic?!”
“Ah, so many questions from you… So little answers. We wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise now would we?”
Shadow’s hands clenched into fists. He wanted to attempt a strike again, but he was quickly interrupted by the ground shaking in a sudden explosion. He was distracted and looked in the direction of the sound, noting how close it was to him. The trees and grass around him blew with the gust of wind that came from it, and he could taste some dirt and rubble that came up from the explosion. What is this?! He turned to face the jackal once more, but he was floating away at a fast pace that Shadow was genuinely not in the mood to chase after, laughing out maniacally to himself.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” Shadow called out after him.
He didn’t listen to the hedgehog, still laughing as he slowly disappeared. Shadow hated to let him go, back to an extent he didn’t care. If this jackal was working for Eggman, he doubted he could do any good damage. The Doctor couldn’t give any good direction even if he tried, Shadow knew that much.
“Finally, the connection is back!” Rouge’s voice faded in again, almost taking Shadow off guard. The hedgehog plugged his ear to hear her over another explosion that happened on the opposite side of him, closer than the last. “What are you doing, Shadow?!”
“What do you think I’m doing?!” The hedgehog snapped back. “Did you not see that damn—”
“Forget it! Explosions are setting off all over you and you’re just standing there! Fall back, before you do something stupid!”
Shadow scowled bitterly. “Dammit! Withdrawing now… What’s the meaning of all this?!”
He ran off to the woods before him just as another explosion went off, lifting him up with the impact. Shadow caught himself with his airshoes, looking behind him to scan the damage. A big hole in the ground, right where he was standing. But… Why? Why would there be any explosions on the outskirts of Station Square? Unless, someone (Eggman) was using his interaction with Infinite to try and catch Shadow off guard and attempt to blow him up…
The hedgehog paid no more mind to it and focused on running off. He hated running away; it made him feel weakened. But he knew Rouge would be on his tail for staying and, as much as he hated to admit, he would be putting himself in more danger.
But Shadow knew that wouldn’t be the last time he encountered that jackal. Eggman’s new plaything.
Only a few days later in Green Hill, did the Doctor’s army launch a savage attack. A day where all odds were against our hero, and he finally saw the light of victory.