Shadow: Forces (Cringe)

Chapter 18: Reaching The End

(Art is mine, and is of a certain ship that appears later. Apologies for the wait.)

When Dare got to Ghost Town, it was late evening and her emotions were flaring even more. She looked at no one, spoke to no one as she got to the Scinfaxi. She walked in and got to Shadow's room, where he was sitting on his bed. "Hey Dare... You okay?" Shadow asked, getting up. Dare said nothing but yanked him into a hug, burying her face in his chest. Shadow kept a straight face as he heard her sobs. He lead her to the bed and they sat down. Dare wiped her eyes and looked at him. Shadow looked at Fayn's jacket "Dare, I'm sorry, about all that happened with Arnec. Losing Maria... You... You lose someone, and you can't do anything about it... But, but you feel like if you had been stronger, you could have saved them. Being told I was the ultimate life form, I never thought I could lose. How could I, Being told I was the best? So... I get it. I get what you're feeling. And if you need to talk to me, or anything... I'll be there."
"Shadow... I have to tell you something. Something that I've hidden from you since the beginning. I... chose the name Dare, but they called me Maria on the ARK... And I... I hated it. I just wanted to be myself, not some imposter of someone... But that's not what the scientists would want. They wanted me to be their little pet. They even tried wiping my brain to try and inject her personality into me! That was the day the ARK had it's bots malfunction. At the time, I didn't understand what had happened. But now I do... I... Went into my super form... One of the scientists told the bots to fire at me, but they called me Maria... The bots sure enough fired at Maria... Both... And both died on that station. But I'm still here. Shadow... It's my fault that Maria is gone... I'm the reason you lost her. That's why I lost it when you called me Maria..." Dare said, looking at Shadow as if expecting an assault of words. Shadow surprisingly said nothing. He looked down at the floor and then back at her before finally speaking "I did not know about that. I guess while life was good on the ARK for me... It wasn't for everyone else."
"Surely wasn't for me. I wish Maria would've survived though, and I personally blame myself for what happened. Had I not been created, she'd be alive."
Shadow sighed before a small smile was on his face "Oh well, the past is the past. Sometimes I guess we just have to move on. Dare, You said we needed to end the war? We'll do it. But not just us, I'll be ordering a full assault. We'll end this, us fighting side by side. We may have lost a lot, but we can't let that hold us back..." he said before standing up "...You in?" he then asked, holding out his hand. Dare just stared at the Hedgehog before smiling and taking his hand, them hugging tightly. Suddenly they heard Amy "Shadow, we need you here!" she yelled. Shadow looked at Dare and the two sped to the bridge. "What is it?" Shadow asked. Amy pointed at a small screen, Shadow walking up to it and noticing that it was a sonar. There was a single large object in the nearby river. The sonar continued to go off, the water bubbling. The tension in the bridge was high, as the object couldn't be identified. Whatever it was... It was huge...
Suddenly a huge ship flew out! It almost looked like a submarine, with an elongated hull of ebony... They then heard Tails...
"Everyone, say hello to the Alicorn!" he said on the radio. Shadow got on the radio "Tails... Did you build this?"
"Not by myself. I got some of my crew to do it! Fixer, show off the lady!"
"You got it mate!" this "Fixer" guy said, the Alicorn leaning to show off it's design. The Alicorn landed on top of the water and stopped. "Just how long is that!?" Knuckles yelled. Tails chuckled "2.8 kilometers!" he responded, chuckling. Shadow looked at Amy "Tommorow morning, I need everyone ready to go, okay? I'mma go get some rest." Amy nodded and smiled. It was just now getting dark, but Shadow would need all the rest he could get. The next morning he woke up and after going through his usual morning routine, headed down to the Scinfaxi's bridge. Amy was in there and smiled as the ebony Hedgehog entered. "Is everyone ready?"
"Everyone is saying they are."
"Got one final speech to give..."
"I don't remember writing you one!"
"You didn't." Shadow said, smiling. He got on the radio and looked out the window at all the soldiers. The Alicorn had brought with it some tanks, which were all over the place with some drone fighter aircraft.
(This is our world - Sonic Forces OST.)