It didn’t take Eggman, the evil scientist, to long to attack military instillations across the broad city of Starmen.netville and take their powerful weapons and useful gadgets. The city was in utter havoc and with their one and only hero on the ropes and without a trace of true history in mind, it seemed Dr. Eggman was truly unstoppable. Eggman had recently devised a plan to make use of a “Flying Fortress” mentioned in some documents that his grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, had devised and created. After the Space Colony ARK had been raided and, eventually, destroyed by the military, it was Gerald’s fall back place to devise weapons of mass destruction to aid his revenge against all humankind for the death of his only human companion, his granddaughter, Maria Robotnik.

As for our hero, he was still tied and bound to a wooden chair, still being interrogated by his two female friends. “You’re wasting everyone’s time. I must return and see the professor before he gets upset.” Shadow pleaded.

“Just hush!” Kindarspirit ordered, “How’s it going, Fiona? Anything?”

“Yeah,” Fiona said, examining two sheets of printer paper, “A ‘Professor Gerald Robotnik’ and ‘Maria Robotnik’ were aboard a space colony, called ARK, sixty-odd years ago. The military killed Maria Robotnik with a single AK-47 round to her spine, and Gerald temporarily made haven in a floating castle above the desert to the south of this city!”

“What?” Shadow desperately kicked about on the chair, “Maria? Dead? No! Impossible! I refuse to accept that!”

“Quit whining, it was 55 years ago!” Fiona demanded, irked by the odd behavior of her boy friend, “But… if it IS true… then why are you organic?”

“Or…gan…ic?” Shadow gulped slowly, “N-no! I’m bionic!…!” he gulped as he looked down at his ‘new’ body and then stated, “Perhaps an unforeseen change over-took me in the meantime? Crud. Well… if it’s where the professor was… let’s go to that Floating Fortress!”

“It’s probably a crater now, Shadow!” Kindar exclaimed.

“Then I want to see its glorious ruins,” Shadow replied, calmly.

“Fine… maybe it’ll knock some sense into you!” Fiona sighed, “Let’s go…” So, the three did head south (after promptly un-tying Shadow). But before the three could even get anywhere towards the southern boarder, the Atma Egg flew overhead! “Look!” Fiona exclaimed, “It’s Eggman!”

“Let’s follow him! He’s headin’ our way!” Kindar replied, coolly. The three took off, and Shadow merely lifted the two girls onto his shoulders and shot off on amazingly fast legs! However, he didn’t activate his hover jets. Kindar whispered lowly to Fiona, “I don’t think he had them… when he was… y’know…”

“You believe that story? It’s so obviously a cock-and-bull story Shadow is trying! It’s a prank… he loves jokes!” Fiona replied, obviously irked by the idea of Kindar believing the outrageous story.

“I’m faster than I remember…” Shadow said out loud, and Fiona slapped her hand over her own eyes, with a low grunt while Kindar let out a high-pitched giggle. It took quite a while compared to Shadow’s typical high-speeding skates, but eventually, the three wound up under an enormous looming shadow. (No pun intended). “… No good can come from this,” Shadow commented.

“How on earth are we gonna get on that?!” Kindar exclaimed, shocked by the massive castle floating hundreds of feet above them.

“Observe,” Shadow smirked, setting down the two girls, “MAH-REE-AHH!” Shadow screamed at the top of his lungs, and the bottom of the castle opened up and a beam engulfed the three of them, and in a flash of light, they all found themselves within the castle walls.

“I feel dizzy,” Fiona whimpered.

“Yeah, me too, I don’t like that instant-warping stuff…” Kindar shook her head and popped a piece of bubble gum in her mouth. Shadow then walked around and examined all that was about him.

“Just as I remember it,” Shadow said, running a gloved hand across the smooth, cold, metal wall, “Flawless, untouched… perfect…” a smile crossed our heroes lips as he did this, which seriously freaked out Kindar and Fiona.

Meanwhile, several stories above them, Eggman and Rouge were well aware of the intruders. “Ahh, look there, Rouge!” Eggman announced, “Shadow the Hedgehog and his little friends are back for more! This is wonderful news! The Atma Egg will crush him this time!”

“What is that?!” Rouge said suddenly very surprised, “There are two signatures for Shadow’s presence in the Fortress, doctor!”

“Hmm… no, Rouge… no… that is something completely different. It just woke up when Shadow activated the warp process! So.. Mah-ree-ahh? Maria… so that’s the pass code to activate that! But how did Shadow know that?” Eggman speculated the possibilities, but didn’t have enough time to, because just then, the entire fortress shook vigorously! “What is this?!” Eggman cried out, gripping his computer to ensure he wouldn’t fall.

Just then, massive energy surges cut off all electronic devices, and the only systems left running were the hover system (luckily) and the basic electricity. Fiona then shrieked and gripped tightly to Shadow for protection from the sudden shock. “What was that? A… fortress quake?” Kindar asked, spooked.

“Either a malfunction in some system… or…” Shadow trailed off.

“OR WHAT, SHADOW?!” Kindar and Fiona screamed in near unison.

“BioLizard has awoken.” Shadow gulped.

“You are correct in that statement, Shadow! BioLizard, the prototype to all bionic-esque research is still alive! He has been sealed for years untold by my grandfather! I lost contact to its status when the computer systems shut down, but he isn’t too far from your location!” Eggman’s echoing voice shouted over the PA.

“I don’t know who you are,” Shadow called back, “But you sound similar to Gerald… so I think I’m going to trust you… though something deep inside tells me to do otherwise… but it has always been my destiny to destroy BioLizard anyway, it’s just fate’s knock!” Shadow exclaimed.

“NO!” Fiona exclaimed, “You can’t trust him! He stole your chaos emeralds! He killed your best friend! He tried to kill us! You must not trust him!” she then embraced Shadow.

“Listen… it doesn’t matter if he has crossed me before. BioLizard will kill without remorse nor prejudice… all of us are doomed if he survives. Leave it to me and we’ll settle other things later!” Shadow then took off, running into the hallway.

“Head down that hall and set to the third door on your right, the gigantic titanium-reinforced one!” Eggman’s PA voice rung throughout the castle.

“Right,” Shadow said, without hesitating. Shadow then found the door and Eggman’s code-cracking prowess opened it. Shadow entered it, and then Eggman slammed the door shut behind him!

“Now, foolish and naïve hedgehog! You are indeed out of my way now! You will be crushed by this beautiful, yet horrible beast! Enjoy your last moments and savor the pain!” Eggman laughed maniacally as he shut off the transmissions from the PA. Then Shadow noticed Fiona and Kindarspirit desperately slamming their fists into the door attempting to open it for their friend.

“I’m not afraid,” Shadow said, still without too much excitement. But then, a gigantic, red, hideous dinosaur-like creature raised out of rust-colored water with strange pipes and wires running across its armor-reinforced hide! The creature looked down upon the tremendously smaller creature standing beneath it and roared with its massive jaws and emitted a foul-smelling odor from its mouth, blackened gums, yellowed teeth and bleeding tongue. “Honestly,” Shadow sighed, “Get a tic-tac!”

From Shadow’s arm emitted the legendary LifeSword, once again. Interesting… Shadow thought silently, Albeit, I can muster the LifeSword, it requires so much energy to hold. I will only be given one shot to this… where is he weak? What was his fault? Why can’t I remember? Shadow desperately tried to recall data such as this, but to no avail. Then, the dinosaur slammed down its giant mitt and Shadow was forced into a sky-high jump above his attacker. Shadow, filled with desperation, quickly scanned over the beast’s body and found a large red dome on its back. Clearly a life-supporter system!

“Be gone!” Shadow ordered, as the LifeSword extended down and pierced into the red dome, but by doing this a massive surge of energy from BioLizard rocketed into our hero and both fell to the ground, paralyzed and helpless. What is this…? Why do I suddenly remember so many conflicting thoughts? So many people I’ve never met? So many unusual feelings? Shadow shivered by the uncertainty he felt, but it was like awaking from a long dream, a near-endless one.

Shadow then felt in his mind, two lives. The life of a bionic creature with no heart, sustained by robotics, taking order like a robot, fighting, killing, and slaughtering those one might consider a brother or sister. All for the sake of just two people, an old man and a young girl. The second life, a calm, tranquil life raised by a housewife hedgehog mother and a Army-boy father hedgehog in an adopted environment, where Shadow learned who he was, or what he thought was who he was.

In the depths of his mind, he is blinded from the outside world and hears an inward voice… no, two… screaming, fighting, arguing. “I’m Shadow!” “Liar!” “You lie! I’m the true Shadow! I know love and hope and wonderful dreams!” “You are merely weak! I can do anything, anytime, anywhere! I can have anything I want!” “What’s the point of having everything when you can’t feel it?”… then another voice still… but this one was his own. “Feel? Is that what makes me alive? The ability to feel… to love,” In contrast, whilst desperation first clouded his thoughts and mind and delusions of the past dismissed, Shadow came to terms with what he was.

A new door opened in Shadow’s mind and he approached it with both fear and exhilaration. He gazes upon a golden aura and states, “It doesn’t matter what I was in the past anymore, I must lay that to rest! For regardless, I am Shadow the Hedgehog… right?” Then, he opened his eyes and stood up, before the dead BioLizard. He shook off this weird feeling he had buried deep inside and in that instant realized that there was another there with him. The burden that would never lift from his heart was in this room. A mind not unlike this own, but too similar to be anything good.

Shadow examined his surroundings with an feeling similar to anger and fear, and there, from the dome he had struck with the LifeSword, emerged another hedgehog. This one, was gray, solid gray with no real identifiable markings on him. His eyes, like his body were gray as well, and his spines shaped like Shadow’s. “You!” Shadow yelled at him, “You’re… me…”