Jayde the Hedgehog • Rising Adversity [2]

3: Unwanted Return ✔️

MUSIC: The Beginning - Gary Go

Shadow's whole body turned to face the ivory bat in one swift movement. Dark orbs stared directly at her as Rouge fidgeted under his gaze, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't retaliate as much as she knew he would.

"What?" That one word cut through the silence like a knife. No one else said anything. Each of them knew that this was a sensitive topic for the Ultimate Lifeform, even the grey quilled female who knew the least about it did, "Why is he at the ARK?"

Rouge shrugged, "All we saw was him holding some red substance for an unknown reason." She stated the facts, "I think he's creating another lifeform – like you."

"But to create another lifeform like Shadow would mean needing the Black Arms DNA." Tails spoke up.

"And there isn't any more of that left." Shadow added, steeping forward slightly.

Rouge glanced around. She didn't know what else to say. She could only guess Eggman was up to no good and only Shadow could go up to the Space Colony ARK and sort him out. The rose hedgehog thought for a moment before speaking, "Maybe the Professor didn't use all the DNA he originally had and now Eggman is using it?"

Shadow looked to Amy, she did have a point. But wouldn't I have known about that? The blue speedster watched the Ultimate Lifeform, staring as he slowly started to pace around, "Jees, we don't need any more edge in this team. We should stop Egghead before he creates another you!" the cerulean male chuckled.

The red striped male glared at the hedgehog beside him, reaching for the Chaos Emerald in his quills, "You're staying here."

"No way! I'm coming with ya!" Sonic placed a hand on Shadow's arm, making the Ultimate Lifeform tense and glare. Jayde took note of this and immediately retracted Sonic's hand.

"Maybe it's best to leave this one to Shades?" she suggested, the dark male silently agreeing with her. Shadow didn't want to go up to his former home anyway, let alone bring someone as irritating as the blue hedgehog with him!

Tails frowned at the three hedgehogs arguing in the middle of his workshop, "Maybe Sonic should go with you, just in case something goes wrong."

Shadow scoffed, but with a glance to Jayde, reluctantly agreed, "Fine. But no one else is coming."

Amy Rose pulled a face. She had been surrounded by boredom recently and she wasn't going to let an opportunity like this fly out the window without her. Her orbs sparked as she grabbed hold of Jayde, "Whoa!" the grey female yelped, and as Shadow was about to say his famous words, the pink hedgehog grabbed hold of her beloved blue hero.

"Ames, n-!" and in a flash, they were gone. Tails and Rouge stared wide eyed at the empty space before them.

"Uh, was he supposed to take all three with him?" Rouge asked, Tails shaking his head, good luck to them.

Space Colony ARK: with Dr Eggman

The evil genius removed his goggles to the top of his head once more as the bright light ended. His fingers grasped the microscope, glancing through the lens. The red liquid was now dark as he added wolf DNA to his invention.

Orbot watched his creator, his robotic hands folded neatly in front of him, "Boss, I don't mean to be rude, but why should you need any more DNA? The Black Arms DNA is powerful enough."

Eggman looked towards his henchmen, "Wolves have high senses of smell and skilful tactics – along with the Black Arms substance, this invention should be twice as powerful. With all of this DNA, I'll have to call it the Ultimate Hybrid! Nyahahaha!" he let out a deep laugh.