Shadow the Hedgehog 2 part 2 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

New Knothole

About a half-hour later, the Freedom Fighters made their way out of the forest. Sally then told the others that they would arrive at the city in a few short seconds, and she and Sonic continued down the path, his arm around her. His sister sighed quietly, watching them. 'I wonder if Shadow will ever see me as more than a friend, like them?' she thought, and she glanced at the black one, who noticed her actions.

"Is something wrong?" Shadow asked.

"Oh! Uh, no... It's nothing," Maria replied.

The G.U.N. agent was not convinced. He knew she was terrible at lying. Assuming she didn't want to talk about it, he decided to leave it at that.

After passing through some large bushes, Sally turned to the rest. "Everyone, welcome to New Knothole!"

Once they got into the city, a small Mobian girl noticed them. She looked to the crowd… "Hey, everybody! The Freedom Fighters are back!" she called out. The crowd of Mobians looked in the girl's direction. Seeing she was right, they began to cheer for them out of rejoice. Many if not all gathered around to properly welcome the returners and the newcomers.

Suddenly, a voice called Sonic out by name. He turned to see a young Mobian canine. "Sonic, is that really you?"

The blue hedgehog quickly identified him. "Muttski?" The two ran to each other and embraced warmly. The older Mobian looked at the younger one. "How're you doing, little bro?"

"Me?! How are you doing, big bro?"

"Never felt better in my life," Sonic replied with a joyful tear in his eye. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Follow me!" Muttski lead the blue hedgehog through the crowd.

In almost no time at all, they all saw a number of Mobian hedgehogs in the distance. Some were much older than the rest. Half of them were blue, like Sonic. One in particular seemed to be fully robotic.

The blue hedgehog called out to them. "Mom! Dad! Uncle Chuck! Everyone! I'm home!"

The hedgehog crowd turned to see the blue hedgehog and his canine companion coming. They cheered his name and ran over to them. A violet hedgehog held him tight and kissed him all over. "Oh, Sonic! We missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Aunt Aleena." The blue hedgehog saw a green male hedgehog and a purple girl run over. "Manic! Sonia!"

The twins rejoiced at their cousin's return. "Sonic! You're alive!"

"It's true! It's true!"

The three blue hedgehogs joined them in their embrace. The one with a bushy mustache and eyebrows laughed. "It'll take more than one of Eggman's experiments to do in my favorite blue nephew!"

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, Pop," his son said.

"What Manic said, Uncle Chuck," Sonic replied.

"We're just glad you weren't hurt, son," Sonic's mother, Bernadette, said with tears in her eyes.

"And that you're finally home," his roboticized father, Jules, added. He then looked up at the crowd. There, coming toward them, was the blonde winged hedgehog, who was trying to find the blue one. He seemed confused by her, as his scanners told him she was Sonic, too.

Once she got close enough, the blue blur pulled her over and introduced her to the other hedgehogs. He was able to at least tell them her name before Maria pointed out the obvious. "You must be Sonic's family."

"That's right," Jules said. "Are you a new friend of his?"

"Well…" Maria seemed slightly nervous, but she quickly got the courage to speak. "In a sense, I'm his sister."

The others were understandably surprised. They didn't believe her until Sonic explained and Maria showed them the birthmark on the back of her hand. "…and you took her in as your sister after that," the robot hedgehog concluded. Though he couldn't show it, he was pleased. "I have to say, I'm proud of you, Maurice."

Sonic cringed at what he heard.

Maria turned to her male counterpart. "Maurice? That's you're real name?!" She held in her laughter. "I wonder what your middle name is."

"Actually, that is his middle name," Bernadette replied. "His real first name is-!"

"MOM!" snapped the embarrassed blue Mobian . "The name is Sonic! Period!"

The yellow hedgehog burst into laughter.

Then, another voice called for her by name. She turned to see Sally coming toward her. Behind her were Chris, Jack and Shadow. "Do you need us for something, your highness?" the blonde hedgehog asked.

"First of all, just call me Sally. Titles make my skin crawl," she replied. "Secondly, I've been thinking… since you and your friends are new here, how would you like a tour of the city? Courtesy of the Freedom Fighters."

The four agreed to her offer. It seemed only fair that they get to know the place better. It was home to most of their friends after all.

"If I may, Sally," called a female voice. The chipmunk reached down to her side and pulled up what looked like a pocket-sized computer. "I could be their tour guide for you. It'll give you more time with your familiar friends."

The princess smiled at the offer. "Sure thing, Nicole." She pulled a Ring out of her pocket and attached it to the computer. Then, right in front of them, something began to pixilated on the ground.

Quite rapidly, whatever it was grew from the ground until it eventually configured itself to create a humanoid form. From its appearance, it seemed to be a Mobian lynx. "So, who's ready for a tour of New Knothole?"

Sonic's eyes widened. "Nicole?!"

"I… Yes," replied the lynx. "I've been studying corporeal life as a side project."

"Sweet! I like your avatar."

"Thank you. I've run into some trouble, but-!" The hologram turned to the other four. She cut herself off at the sight of the hedgehog-like robot. He was speechless as well when he saw her.

Slowly yet surely, the two approached each other until they were merely inches away. "Hi… I'm Jack."

"Nicole. Have we ever met?"

The robot shook his head. "I would've remembered," he replied, causing her to giggle. "I like your hologram matrix."

"Nice power core."

Sally then came between them. "Come on, Juliet. We don't have all day," the princess teased.

"Sorry, Sally," she quickly apologized.

"Let's make up for lost time, shall we?" The robot held out his arm cannon, and she playfully wrapped her arms around it. Soon they began the tour.

"Talk about 'compatible software'," Sonic joked.

Nicole showed the newest Freedom Fighters around New Knothole the rest of the day. The holographic lynx pinpointed all of the more popular sites in the city. Some of these included a Chao garden, the same one where Cheese was born in, Uncle Chuck's diner, Castle Acorn and the Ring Grotto. After an hour of seeing the sights, Nicole directed them to a cave-like place that was mostly underground. "Most normally take the oak slide. Ladies first…" With that said, she and Maria started down the slide first, and the rest followed after them.

Down at the bottom, the four new comers were surprised. The whole cavern was built full of games, computers, weapons, and more. It was the best man-cave one could ask for.

"This is Freedom HQ, our base of operations and home-away-from-home." The lynx then pointed to the large computer on the side. "That's my main frame over there."

"Wow! You look amazing!" The robot stood in awe.

"Thanks. I have Wi-Fi, a voice-operator, and even a virtual world. Plug yourself in, and see for yourself."

The Metal Sonic doppelgänger pulled a cable out of his back and plugged himself in to the giant computer's hard drive, and he could his feel his coding be sent into her. He whistled as he appeared on the screen. "This place is huge! Isn't that the city library over there?"

"Yep." said a voice from behind. Nicole showed up with a smile. She hasn't had any company in her network before. "With the finest technology from Mobius, I can build, rebuild and fix the entire city at the wave of a finger. And since I'm hooked up to the new surveillance system, I can see and hear everything that-!" Before she could finish, her built-in alarm sounded. "Proximity alert! Something's attacking the city!"

"Don't you have a defense system?" Chris asked.

Nicole reappeared in front of them. "We do, but it's shut down for repair! I'm still working on that!"

Jack unplugged himself from the computer. "Alright then, where is it? What is it? And how do we blow it up or beat it down?"

"Near the northern wall. All the other Freedom Fighters are there, and they–" Her eyes widened. "Oh, no!"

"What is it?" Shadow asked.

"Something's jamming my signals!"

"That can only mean one thing," the robot replied. "An invasion."

The remaining four looked at each other, and they agreed to take care of this. Flying out a chute overhead, Maria carried Shadow whereas Jack held Chris in the air. Within seconds, they were near the north wall.

Once they landed, they ran more toward the north, and there, they were surprised. There were a large number of Mobians dancing and relishing before them. Even the Freedom Fighters, Rouge and Omega were having a joyous time. There was a large banquet, music and a few fireworks being set up.

The remaining four were on beyond confused. Nicole appeared before them. "Surprise! I lied!"

"Okay… what's going on?" asked Shadow.

"I was actually setting up a celebration behind your backs," she explained. "It's to honor those who have returned and the newest recruits to the Freedom Fighters."

Jack chuckled. "Well, I guess we fell for that one."

The city rejoiced and celebrated. It seemed like a perfect end to their joyous day. The return of their lost heroes and some new ones as well... they could ask for nothing less. The newest members were very aroused with entertainment, especially Shadow. It felt good to be amongst his kind now.

Shortly, a new face stepped onto the stage. It was a Mobian squirrel, slightly older than Jules. Judging by the crown on its head, it must have been the king. He clapped for the band, and the lead performer handed him a microphone. "Here you go, sire."

"Why, thank you, Mina." And he turned to the audience. "Good citizens," he began, "We've all been fighting the war against Robotnik for so long. It seems like our entire lives were put into this. We've had great victories and losses over the years, but I believe that the worst circumstances unleash the best in each of us. Nobody is more evident than one of our most recent additions to the Freedom Fighters, Angel the Hedgehog."

A spotlight lit over the blonde hedgehog's head.

King Acorn called out to her. "Miss Robotnik, please come up."

Surprised, the former human slowly approached the stage. She stepped up onto the stage and the king continued. "My daughter, Sally, has told me about you, Angel. You have fought to protect the world you cherished, knowing almost nothing about it. You even sacrificed your own life for that of your friend, Shadow. This and more have instilled great hope into the lives of billions, whom you cared for without reason." He opened a small box and pulled something out. "And that is why I am pleased to honor you with the Acorn Medal of Valor."

After the king placed the medal on Maria's chest, the rest of the Freedom Fighters applauded for their more recent recruit. A small smile crept onto her face. "Gee… you're all so nice… If I had a family, I'd want them to be just like you."

Sonic and his family froze as the rest cheered. The words echoed in their heads. 'If I had a family… If I had a family…' This gave Sonic an idea, which he quickly explained to the others. Once Maria found them again, Bernadette was the first to speak. "Maria? Sweetie? We were talking just now, and there's something we want to ask you…"

Suddenly, she squealed silently, and she froze. Everyone else was frightened. "Mom? What's wrong?" But the same thing happened to him. One by one, Mobian by Mobian, the crowd stiffened up where they stood. Shadow, somehow, was the only one who didn't. He had no idea what was happening.

Then, he heard a voice. "A special weapon, this gas… Once inhaled, it is quickly absorbed into the blood stream, paralyzing your nervous system in seconds." The voice cackled.

Surprised, Shadow looked all over. But he could see no one who wasn't paralyzed. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

His answer came in a more menacing tone. "Me?" the creature asked. "I am you in a way. A living weapon built for a singular purpose… The shadow that blocks out the last light of hope… the Black Blood perfected..."

Just then, a shape appeared in the direction of the voice. There stood a bizarre creature. It was his height and color, but it appeared to be more like a lizard. It had three claws on each hand, two toes on each foot, and a long, spear-headed tail.

"I am Eclipse the Darkling! And I am your end, brother!"