Return to Robotropolis

The Incident and Shadow's Remorse

Sonic and Sonia found Shadow and Manic waiting for them near the building that was formerly the Resistance's base.
"Good, you're here," Shadow said.
"Manic! Where's your medallion?!" Sonia asked.
"Wha-?" Manic looked down and saw that his medallion was gone. "I don't know! I thought I had it!"
"Calm down. It's okay," Sonic reassured. "It's right here." He reached into his shoe and pulled out Manic's medallion. Sonia and Manic sighed in relief as Manic took his medallion back.
"I almost had a heart attack..." Sonia muttered.
Shadow cocked his head slightly. "Do all of you have one?"
Sonic nodded. "Yes."
"That reminds me. What happened to yours, Sonic?" Sonia asked, a hint of a growl in her voice.
"I took it off. I didn't want anyone to see it and possibly recognize it as an Artifact of the Royal Hedgehogs and figure out who I was," Sonic informed. "It's right here." He dug into his shoe again and pulled out his own medallion.
"Ew," Sonia expressed her disgust. "Why would you keep it in your shoe?"
"I almost never take them off, so it's the safest place I can think of," Sonic explained.
"Can I see it?" Shadow asked. Sonic nodded and handed the medallion to him. Shadow looked it over, examining its intricate design. It was made of some kind of silvery-white crystal, was shaped like a multi-necked guitar that was also shaped like Sonic's head, and tied to a red string. "Hmm... Interesting..."
He handed the medallion back to Sonic, then stared at Sonia and Manic's medallions. Sonia's was shaped like a keyboard and was tied around her neck with a yellow string. Manic's was shaped like a drum set and was tied around his neck with a blue string. They were both made of the same material as Sonic's.
"Anyway..." Shadow resumed. "Who is Mephiles?"
"I guess I should start from the beginning," Sonic started. "The three of us were on a mission; we had to destroy a new base off the coast of the Mobian Sea. I was a little nervous. After all, I do really hate water, which I guess is why Egghead chose to build it so close to the ocean."

(Flashback; Sonic is explaining all this to Shadow)
Sonia was driving while Manic banged his drumsticks on the dash of their van. Sonic was in the back trying not to have a panic attack. Sonia and Manic tried to cheer him up.
"We're only going to the base, not the water," Sonia reminded.
"Yeah, and we'll be right there with you," Manic reassured.
That did make Sonic feel a little better, but he still had a really bad feeling in his gut. A feeling that had nothing to do with his fear of water, but a feeling that this was going to end up bigger than just destroying a base.
And, boy, was he right.
It took a few hours of bumpy roads, SWATbot patrols, and getting lost whenever Manic decided to drive, but they finally made it to the base. The place was huge. It looked to be 5 stories high and about 30 times the width of their van. The top two floors of the building had windows circling the entire thing. Some of them looked like they were glowing.
There wasn't much security around. Only a few patrols walking around the perimeter, and not even in large groups.
There was one bot guarding both of the entrances. One was a large metal door that probably weighed more than the building. It was pure black with huge chains keeping it from opening. It might have just been decoration of some kind, though. The other was a small garage door with a passcode lock on it with a SWATbot next to it, guarding against intruders. That was their way in.
It took less than ten minutes to get to the door. The guard was easy enough to get rid of; one laser blast and it was gone. It took barely any time to hack into the building too. Not even two minutes and they were in. Easy. A little too easy for Sonic's comfort.
The inside was even less spectacular than the outside. Outside, it was big and dark, but inside, it was kind of plain. Not all the lights were working, so you'd have to walk through a dark area every few feet. For a new top secret base, it wasn't kept very well. The smell of the sea floated in the air, as though a constant reminder of where they were.
'Thanks for that Buttnik,' Sonic thought grumpily.
Every once in a while, they would find a room as they walked down the hall. Most were locked, and the few that weren't were completely empty.
The farther in they went, the more Sonic thought of how easily they got in, of the giant metal door that was impossible to open, and the bad feeling that was growing inside him. Sonic looked over at his siblings and asked if they had any of the suspicions he did. They didn't.
They found the room where some Resistance spies were working on a top-secret project. The Solaris Project. The Royal Hedgehog triplets joined them, watching a cylinder filled with sparkling orange energy.
"An electromagnetic pulse has just been generated!" one of the scientists exclaimed in alarm. "Injecting decompression agent!" There was a brief pause. "No! The level's not dropping! A spatial meltdown is inevitable! Your Majesties, it's too late! We've got to take cover!"
"Why, Solaris?! Why do you refuse to listen to us?!" Sonia exclaimed.
"Get down!" Sonic screamed.
Just as the cylinder blew up, the Sonic sheltered Sonia and Manic from the explosion. The Resistance spies didn't survive the explosion, Sonia and Manic lost consciousness, and Sonic somehow managed to stay awake, despite taking more of the force of the explosion than his siblings. Sonic looked up and watched Solaris split into Iblis and Mephiles.
He spotted a Chaos Emerald nearby on the floor. He quickly picked it up and concentrated on its power. He wasn't sure how he knew what he was doing, but he did. The Chaos Emerald, Manic and Sonia, and Iblis and Mephiles started to glow as the process of drawing Iblis into Sonia and Mephiles into Manic began.
"...What? ...Stop!" Mephiles protested. "Who... Who are... you?"
"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog," Sonic said.
"Sonic... Your face... Your form... I will remember. Your death... Certain... You... will... die!" Mephiles hissed as he was completely sealed within Manic and Iblis was completely sealed within Sonia.
Sonic set the Chaos Emerald down and sat down next to his siblings, stroking their hair and quills. He gently told them to stay strong and never cry, no matter what.
He got up and took a deep breath, trying to stay strong himself. As he started to leave to confront Robotnik, they started to wake up.
"Sonic?"
Sonic looked back at them and smiled, but it was forced, although they couldn't see that it was fake.
'Goodbye, sibs,' Sonic thought as silent tears ran down his cheeks as he ran to confront Robotnik. 'I'll never forget you.'
He stopped as he came to the door where Robotnik was waiting inside. He took a deep breath to prepare himself and dried his tears, then went in.

(Back to reality; Sonic is finishing his story)
"...I never knew that through that door would be what changed my life forever. That would lead me to new places and new friends. That would take me away from the life I knew into a whole new life. The life of Sonic the Hedgehog," Sonic finished. "I don't know how long I was passed out after that Chaos Control. It might have been a few minutes, it might have been hours. When I did wake up, I found myself in the Green Hill Zone."
Shadow was staring at his blue rival with his mouth open slightly.
'So that's what happened. Looks like he's been through more than I thought. He may have gone through even more than that...' Shadow thought to himself, feeling sorry for how much pain Sonic must have gone through in his life. He started to feel guilty about how much he has mocked Sonic about being weak. He felt like he understood Sonic better now. They were more alike than he ever thought.
"I'm so sorry, Sonic..." Shadow whispered, looking down at his shoes.
Sonic quickly looked up at his black rival, wondering if he heard him right. "Huh?"
"I'm sorry. You've clearly been through a lot, and I've mocked you about being weak so many times. And you told me not to scare Manic, but I didn't listen..." Shadow said, looking up at the cobalt hedgehog. Sonic saw guilt swirling in the ebony hedgehog's ruby irises.
"It's okay, Shadow. It's not your fault that you look so intimidating. And don't worry, we can fix this," Sonic reassured. The guilt in Shadow's eyes was replaced with thankfulness.
Shadow felt some affection for Sonic rise up in his chest. 'Sonic is so sweet. He truly has a heart of gold. Even after all the things I've done, he forgives me.' His pupils dilated to nearly double their normal size and his eyes got shiny.
"Thank you, Sonic..." Shadow managed. He had already begun to develop some affection for Sonic over the course of their adventures and encounters, but this adventure was making it grow so fast. He gave Sonic a genuine, friendly smile.
Sonic smiled back, feeling affection rise up in his own chest. "You're welcome, Shads."
"Ugh, you two being all mushy is making me sick," Sonia said, getting annoyed with the two boars.
Sonic gave the sow an annoyed glare while Shadow went back to his usual scowl. Shadow bared his fangs in a low growl. Manic cowered slightly and Sonia stepped back, startled by Shadow's sudden hostility.
"See you later, Faker," Shadow said, turning back to his rival. "I've got something else to do."
Sonic rolled his eyes at the nickname, but smiled anyway. "Later, Shads," he replied as Shadow skated away. The triplets started to walk back to the main part of the city.