Mirror Image

XII - No Strings Attached

The sounds of sirens echoed in the distance, merging into a single dreadful wail which haunted the main plaza of Station Square. The plaza itself had ceased to exist; not a single one of the surrounding buildings remained standing. Firestorms erupted from exposed gas pipes, and the cobblestones of the streets smouldered with black ash.

In the centre of the carnage, a deep crater glowed crimson, billowing with black smoke. Deep inside of it, two hedgehogs stood staring each other down, surging with blood-red lightning.

They had not said a word to each other during their battle. No successful strike was followed by boasting, no taunting came after an effective counter. Their minds felt only unbridled fury, which not even the world shaking beneath their Chaos Blasts could dispel.

Launching towards each other once more, their bodies thrust together into a grapple. Red energy crackled between them as each made grabs towards the others eyes, nose or throat. Tumbling down onto the cracked and burning floor, the dark hedgehogs became darker still as black soot clumped in their fur.

Growling with primal rage, the Shadow Doppelganger seized his rival's wrist, trying to twist it and break it. Shadow managed to wriggle free, but his glove slid off, flopping down into the ash.

A glint of metal shone from within the glove, and Fake Shadow's face rose up in alarm.

"My locket!" he cried, scrambling across the dust to the glove, "you had it all along, you bastard! You stole it from me!"

Rising to his feet, Shadow stared down at his copy scrabbling in the dirt. He felt his anger cooling as he watched him pick up the locket, shaking like an addict eagerly awaiting his fix. The logical part of Shadow's brain took control, and he wondered if he had looked so pitiful to Sonic back in the temple.

"Pathetic," he said. The other Shadow span round to face him with accusing eyes.

"What did you say?"

"You're pathetic," Shadow snarled, "you don't even know why you want it."

"Of course I do!" the fake Shadow snapped, "it's the only piece of her I have left. You wouldn't know what it means to love her like I did, just like you don't know how to love Sonic."

Shadow's rage returned with renewed vigour, and he leapt forward, smashing his bare fist into Fake Shadow's face. The doppelganger staggered backwards, and Shadow pressed after him, striking him on the top of the head with his elbow, forcing him to his knees.

"Don't you ever," he snarled, another powerful blow impacting his copy, "talk about her. Don't you dare tell me what you think you feel about her." Another blow sent his head back, blood spurting from his nose. "You're nothing but a puppet, a puppet created for a sick old man to act out his fantasies." The fake Shadow sat slumped over his knees, deflated and breathing heavily. The locket still dangled from its chain within his grasp. Shadow hesitated to see his rival completely placid.

"Nothing I feel is real," he whispered.

"What?" asked Shadow, still on edge and expecting a resurgence from his foe.

"You've damaged my memory storage unit," said Fake Shadow, not looking up "I can see it now. The lines of code telling me what to think, what to feel. How is this possible? It all felt so real. Maria? Sonic? I loved them, but I didn't really, it's nothing but 1's & 0's telling me to love. But then, why do I feel pain about it? Pain for emotions I never had?" He clutched his head tightly at the temples, shaking his head from side to side as his whole body trembled.

"No, no, no, no, no! It must be real! It felt it! I felt it! I-"

Shadow put a hand on his copies shoulder; where before there was hatred, now he felt only pity. His own love for Maria was once the only reason he kept going. His new feelings for Sonic, confused as he was by them, added new purpose to his life. To discover none of it was ever real would leave him with only one option.