The Seven Medallions

Prolouge: The Recruitment

Shadow the Hedgehog walked down the halls of the base of Dr. Eggman with Orbot and Cuebot by his sides. They guided him through the halls, showing him the way to the office of the evil doctor, even thought he knew exactly where he was going. Shadow had been here before. His only question was why he was here. Orbot explained before they had arrived that the doctor had a proposition to make, but didn't specify.
Shadow snorted at the thought of actually teaming up with the man. Dr. Eggman had lied to him. He would never help him. Ever.
Shadow crossed his arms as he came to the door of Eggman's office. Orbot typed in a code in the keypad next to the entrance and the doors slid open slowly. Shadow scoffed at the scene that laid before him.
The room was dimly lit. File cabinets lined the walls and surrounded the desk sitting in the center of the room. The lamp on the desk was going out, and the ceiling fan swung from side to side, giving the impression that it was about to crash to the ground.
The stench of hot pockets hung in the air and the smell of coffee lingered as Cuebot entered, clearing his throat to notify the doctor of their presence.
"Howdy, Doctor Eggman! We wrangled up Shadow here for ya!" He said, his voice chip clearly in disrepair.
Eggman sighed at the sound of Cuebot's broken chip and turned around in his chair.
"Did you honestly find another way to destroy the voice chip I JUST FIXED?" He yelled, clearly annoyed.
Cuebot chuckled.
" 'Reckon I did."
The doctor clenched his fists.
"Get out while you are still in one piece."
Gulping, Cuebot flew out of the room and pushed Shadow in. Orbot then quickly shut the door with the key code and both he and Cuebot disappeared behind the metal doors.
Shadow tapped his foot impatiently.
"Alright, Eggman. Cut to the chase. I want to spend as little time as possible here in this pigpen you call an office."
Shadow grumbled. "Why did you ask for me? Something about a proposition?"
Eggman smiled as he stood up.
"It is more than that, Shadow."
He started to pace around the room. "I need you to do some... eh, dirty work for me."
Shadow laughed. "You really believe that I would team up with the likes of you??"
"You will once you see what I have to offer, Shadow."
He walked to a cabinet marked, NIECE and slowly opened the drawer. He hummed as he went through the files, fumbling through the paperwork until he came to a package marked, TO MY DEAREST SHADOW.
Eggman lifted it up for the black hedgehog to see.
Shadow's eyes opened wide as he immediately recognized the handwriting.
"M-Maria?" He gasped.

"That's right, Shadow. I was going through some old things of hers when I came across this." He threw the package in the air and caught it, mocking Shadow. "I took the liberty of NOT opening it, so the inside is completely untouched and unscathed. "
He smiled. "If you want this gift that Maria OBVIOUSLY left to you, then you will do EXACTLY as I say."
Eggman twirled it around, enjoying the look of shock and surprise on the hedgehog's normally stoic face.
Shadow twitched with anger, furious that he was left with no choice. If he wanted to get that package, a gift from Maria to him, he would have to join up with Eggman and do his evil deeds. But, then again, what if the package was a fake? He quickly pushed the idea away. The handwriting was clearly hers. There was no way that he could mistake it for a fake.
Shadow muttered out his answer hatefully, spitting the words at his enemy.

"Fine. I will do as you say," he growled. "but only for Maria."

Eggman grinned. "Very good, Shadow. I knew you would choose correctly."
He laughed. "Just a warning, you cannot tell anyone that I am making you do my dirty work, because I will have you on surveillance 24/7 with this." Eggman slapped a bracelet on Shadow's wrist. He pointed to a computer screen on the wall as the image of Shadow appeared in Eggman's office. "I can hear what you say and will know where you are."

He laughed. "If you disrupt my plan in any way, I will destroy the package. If you take off the bracelet for just a moment, I will destroy the package. Those are my rules. Play by them, and you will receive the package completely unharmed." Dr. Eggman slowly walked back to the file and placed the prize in the filing cabinet. Locking it with a key, he slowly walked back and sat down at his desk. Eggman motioned Shadow forward. "Now this is what I need you to do."

Shadow growled at the doctor as he laid out his plan for becoming the most powerful man in the universe.🌟

Authors Note: hey guys! I'm back! Anyhoo, leave a vote and a comment! It really helps!

QOTD- what do you think is inside the oh-so-mysterious package marked for Shadow? Answer in the comments!

Thank you guys for reading the prologue! The next chapter will be up (hopefully) tomorrow! Ily all❤️👋👋