Infinite Sadness

Shadow's Gift

Zero comes to, posed sitting up in a bathtub. He opens his eyes to the sight of being washed by Orbot and Cubot.

"Huh? Wha... you two? Arg, what are you doing? Cleaning me?"

"Indeed. Good to see you awake. You've been ill." Orbot replies.

"Yeah so we gave you a warm bath. Our data base said that would help you feel better," Cubot informs.

Zero covers his face, humiliated.

"Don't be vexed," Orbot insists. "Doctor Eggman was going to conduct a rather painful experiment on you, but then Shadow showed up and..."

"I don't know why she brought me back here," Zero interrupts.

"She?" Orbot asks.

"That echidna girl. I took over an entire planet with another version of Eggman," Zero spills, then scopes out the space. "I remember this base. We snuck in here once when we were teenagers, me and my siblings... and threw a party... while Eggman was away."

He laughs a little at such a goofy memory. Then he covers his face again with remorse.

"I miss my pack. I failed them."

"Eh wait," Cubot realizes, "I remember that party! Eggman was on vacation and left us here. Hey, now I know where I 'seen ya before! You were the one that did that Tarzan swing into the ocean and flew back up, riding two Beebots."

Zero corrects him.

"It was a pirate swing."

"That was a fun night! Me and Orbot never told Eggman about that even though we had to clean everything up afterwords."

"As I recall, it was quite the merry time," Orbot concurs. "Sure, you all broke in, but what an exuberant event. It seems I stored it in my long term memory drive. It was after all, several years ago. What a fond recollection! Your family was charmingly amusing and so were you!"

Zero eases up, splashes water onto his face and smiles, cherishing the thought of that night.

"What a different life I led before I left this world. This place has different versions of everyone I tried to annihilate."

He stands and wrings his hair. Orbot hands him a towel. He steps out of the tub, dries himself off, spots his gloves and shoes next to the foot of the tub, and puts them on.

"You seem concerned about being held accountable for events that took place outside of this dimension," Orbot recognizes.

"What happens in another dimension, stays in another dimension," Cubot theorizes.

Orbot then boldly suggests.

"Eggman wishes to team up with you for evil but Shadow wishes to make you heroic."

"Arg. Shadow. Ugh. So this is hell," Zero cringes. "Thanks for the bath but I need some air."

"Take the back door," Orbot insists, opening a door in the wall, leading into a dark corridor.

Zero takes this path, walks for a few minutes down a cold metal-walled hallway, then exits the lair. To his displeasure, he finds Shadow standing near the edge of the fortress, staring at the ocean-scape sunrise with his arms folded.

"Are you kidding me?!" Zero exclaims furiously.

"You're alive," Shadow says, not making eye contact.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Zero snarls.

"Protecting you from Doctor Eggman, comrade," Shadow tells him.

"Comrade?!" Zero yells. "Never! I'm gonna strangle you!"

He becomes dizzy and kneels, trying to catch his breath.

"Save your energy, Infinite. You're gonna need it."

Zero gazes up at him.

"My name's not Infinite. It's Zero. I have nothing, thanks to you!"

"You have my alliance," Shadow counters. "I'm here to help you."

He offers his hand.

"Is this a joke?" Zero barks, knocking Shadow's hand away. "Piss off, Shadow the Hedgehog!"

Shadow persists.

"There's no time to waste. You and I can't afford to be enemies."

Zero snickers madly.

"I'munna form a new squad and we're gonna beat the snot out-ah you! You got any warriors around here? I'munna convert them to the dark side!"

Shadow half smiles.

"We have a few misfits: Froglodytes, weasel bandits, the Lightning Bolt Society."

"Anyone will do. We jackals are clever. I can work with that."

Shadow humors him.

"Good, form a new squad. Practice leading a team again."

Zero cackles, eyes watered with rage, then lunges at Shadow. Shadow grabs him and pins him down on his back, knowing Zero's in no condition to throw a half-hearted punch.

"Go ahead then," growls Zero, "finish what you started! You wanna kill me, look at my face when you do it, you masochist!"

"Is this about that raid in the jungle?" Shadow asks. "That was a different Shadow."

"I'm sure you're happy to take the credit!" Zero barks.

Shadow doesn't mean to smirk but can't help it.

"You're walking free after all the evil you inflicted. Be grateful for that. Don't fuel up on vengeance. It won't fix anything. Believe me, I know... I was once a villain too. Stop resisting. I know what happened that day. Being called pathetic and weak is a shallow reason to hold onto this kind of anger."

Zero realizes he can't break free. He pants with defeated exhaustion.

"That's better. Calm down," Shadow commands as he stands.

Zero scrambles to his feet. Shadow walks forward, bumping Zero's shoulder, causing him to stumble a little.

"Get your act together, Zero. We'll meet again soon."

He Chaos Controls away. Zero lets out a tormented cry then yells...

"I'm gonna break your body the way you broke my siblings!"

WARP.

Zero disappears and reappears a few feet away, about five feet off the ground. He lands with a thud, confused.

"Arg, what is this power inside me?"

He feels a gem forming where the Phantom Ruby once rested in his chest. He faces the stainless steal back door that led him to Shadow. His reflection reveals that the ruby's been replaced by the Damn Fourth Chaos Emerald.

Meanwhile, in the sky, Shadow hovers in the clouds, reflecting. That interaction didn't go well. He had expected Infinite to be dark and menacing, not broken and vulnerable. Strange.

"Not the best first impression. He seemed extremely upset," Shadow says to himself.

Tikal appears and floats beside him.

"Tikal. Why did he reject me? Is he a sore loser? Or maybe a narcissist?"

"Another Shadow hurt him very badly. It's not your fault but he hasn't..."

"Tikal, he started a war over a conversation he had with another me. You showed me in my dream! Look me in the eye and tell me that's not pathetic and weak."

Tikal clasps her hands.

"Please, your words are so harsh. You must be gentle. He's from our world, he's one of us. Mephiles enticed him to leave this dimension years ago with his pack. I brought him back. You must understand, he is lost and confused."

Shadow shakes his head.

"I'm not gonna baby him after what he..."

"Please Shadow, be patient with him!"

She disappears. Shadow scoffs, irritated that his edge-master tactics were a flop.