Chapter 2: Release Shadow

Chapter 2: Release Shadow

Prison Island 8:45 PM

Eggman had arrived at Prison Island just as the day was ending with a huge grin, which he always wore on his face whenever it came to being late for something. The island itself was quite large, with some of the bigger buildings made from stone or brick, and a few others that seemed to be made purely out of metal. Eggman was quite fond of them because of their unique looks and designs.

"Well, here we are. The Prison Island," said Eggman, smiling broadly and placing his hands on his hips while staring around in wonderment. He took a step forward, while two robots looked nervous behind him. They were wondering why he was so thrilled when they saw the place. It wasn't exactly a nice place by any definition, although it was certainly creepy in this jungle.

"Uh, sir, why are we here in the jungle?" asked Cubot who couldn't help but look concerned. He hadn't seen Eggman this excited in a long time.

"We're here because I want to show you all my inventions!" Eggman told him enthusiastically, gesturing grandly towards the giant metal doors. He walked forwards confidently, his robot guards following closely behind him, and reached up for one of the keys hanging off of chains hanging on the wall of the prison. "I've invented a lot of stuff over the years, and now I'm ready to put them to good use." The key dangled from the hook where his hand used to be, and he began unlocking the lock. Cubot tried not to think about how his eyes followed every movement.

The door swung open, allowing them both entrance into the dark interior of the prison. They went inside, this place looked abandoned and desolate. There were no guards, nobody in sight at all, and there was no sound besides what they could hear coming from within the room.

"This place is... eerie," murmured Orbot, looking around the empty corridors. Nobody was around. It looked like this prison was deserted.

Eggman smiled slightly at him before continuing towards the cells in the back. Cubot and Orbot wondered what was behind these locked gates, as far as he knew this place had been completely empty. He tapped the keycard on the slot in front of one of the doors to unlock it, and they waited as the cell opened silently. The doors creaked loudly as he stepped through. Cubot shivered involuntarily and glanced to his left nervously as he heard a low growling noise. "Are you alright, Orbot?" he whispered anxiously.

Orbot nodded quickly. "It's nothing, don't worry," he replied reassuringly.

Eggman waved them to come inside before closing the cell once more. Once the three of them were inside, they immediately noticed something different about the cells. It was a laboratory, there were no bars anywhere, only small glassy windows that didn't seem to be very high up. They all stared around the place, trying to see if there was anything else unusual about these cells. Cubot even pointed at something.

"Hey, what's that over there?" He peered at something in the chamber of cells. His robot partner moved to join him, and they both looked at the object in interest. Orbot gasped audibly at what he saw. The glass was frozen with ice, and it didn't seem to have anything alive in it whatsoever. Even the rats had been scared away by the coldness. "It looks like an animal-" He began. The sound of footsteps echoed through the hallways. "Sir?!" Cubot and Orbot turned to stare at Eggman.

"I wonder what's inside that chamber," he murmured, gazing into the ice chamber with intense curiosity. He looked over at them. "You can go ahead and check it out if you want, you must be curious about what could possibly live in there." Cubot and Orbot exchanged glances hesitantly.

"Uh, I'd rather not," said Cubot, shaking his head slowly. "I have enough trouble dealing with animals already, it's probably best to stay away." Orbot shook his head as well. He hated going near such dangerous things. Besides, he didn't feel very comfortable investigating an unknown creature when Eggman was present.

"Hmph, it doesn't matter anyway," said Eggman nonchalantly. "As long as you two keep me safe, I don't care if you get your heads cut off for poking around."

He turned his head to the chamber and walked towards it, he turned on the computer trying to open the chamber, but he had to figure out what the password was.

"Hmm, now what would the password be?" he muttered and typed the word into the password box in front of the computer. The machine beeped an error that the password was denied. Eggman cursed under his breath and typed into the password box again but to no avail. Eggman slammed his fists on the deck of the computer in frustration.

"Blast it! How could the password be so difficult? And how can I just brute force open the door when I don't know how it locks!?" Eggman whined as he continued slamming his fist against the side of the desk. The robots stood awkwardly in front of him, unsure what to do, not knowing what to say to console their creator.

Eggman turned to the red robot," Orbot, you're the smart one here, right?"

"Me? I don't even know the password," he replied nervously.

"Yeah, me neither," said Cubot. "And I bet you know the password!" he added, pointing towards his creator. Eggman sighed exasperatedly and placed his hand on his forehead.

"If I remember correctly, what would my grandfather say the password?" he tapped the keyboard M-A-R-I-A, which the machines recognized as a word in English. With the final attempt, the chamber finally opened silently to reveal the contents of the room.

"My grandfather said it was, 'Maria,'" answered Eggman.

"Well, that did it, but who is this Maria?" asked Cubot.

"She was my cousin," he replied.

"That's it?! I thought there might be something weirder," said Orbot in surprise. He still couldn't believe that Eggman could find another relative of his. He was pretty sure there was nobody else living on the island besides him.

"Well, let's see what my grandfather held inside that pod," said Eggman. He stepped inside carefully, and the dark figure came out of the pod as soon as Eggman was close enough. The robots took a couple of steps backward as it appeared. There was no doubt in his mind that this thing was alive. It wasn't like they had any other option, since this was the closest thing they could access.

"No, it can't be..." muttered Eggman quietly as the creature stood up straight and revealed its entire body. It seemed to be a hedgehog, like Sonic, but it was different. It was a black hedgehog, his quills outwardly standing out, with red tips of his quills, he had white fur on his chest, the red striped on his arms, he attired red and white gloves and shoes, with each ring on his wrists and ankles. His eyes were crimson red and his red-winged eyeliner was on his eyes.

"Is that you, Sonic...?" Eggman asked as his voice shook.

"Who else could it possibly be?" the hedgehog asked, glaring angrily at him, although his expression changed quickly afterward. He bowed to his master respectfully. "My name is Shadow, and I thank you for releasing me from the pod."

Cubot, Orbot, and Eggman gawked at the hedgehog who was apparently called Shadow, who turned and bowed politely to them. Eggman's mouth was agape, he had never expected this to happen. He never imagined that his own grandfather created this hedgehog.

"Well, Shadow, welcome to the world," declared Eggman in surprise. He had never seen his grandfather's hedgehog before. "Are you... the military top's secret weapon?" asked Eggman.

"Oh, I certainly am, sir. I will grant you one wish upon my completion of this mission," assured Shadow.

Orbot blinked curiously. What exactly kind of mission could this possibly entail? This was definitely an interesting development, but he didn't really understand why this mysterious hedgehog would be able to help the army achieve his goal.

"What is he, a genie?" Orbot whispered to Cubot.

"Could be, I guess," whispered Cubot back.

A hollow sound filled the air, causing both Orbot and Cubot to jump. The giant metallic robot that looked like a skeleton was approaching them. Its glowing red eyes flickered between Eggman and the creatures surrounding him. It looked as if he was angry, it lowered its head menacingly, preparing to pounce. Orbot and Cubot looked at the large metal beast nervously, they wanted to move as fast as possible, but they didn't trust it, especially after its earlier attack on them.

The creature lunged forward, ready to destroy them. Suddenly, Shadow leaped out of the way and used his powerful punches to send the robot flying away from him. It crashed harshly onto the floor, sending a few pieces of metal crashing down onto it. Shadow looked furious as the robot tried to stand up, its legs giving way beneath it, as it was badly injured. The robot suddenly charged towards Shadow, its arms raised threateningly.

"Chaos Spears!" he yelled and threw these powerful spears forwards. All seven of the spears pierced cleanly through the robot and stuck into the ground, completely immobilizing the robot. The robot's eyes widened as the spear stabbed the ground before turning black, as though the spear had absorbed all of its energy.

Shadow smirked in satisfaction and walked towards the robots triumphantly. "There,"

"Wow, he's incredible!" exclaimed Orbot in amazement.

"Yeah, he beat the crap out of him with no sweat!" nodded Cubot.

Shadow stopped before the robots and looked at Eggman. The man was staring blankly, not believing what he was seeing. Then, realization struck him. That hedgehog was supposed to be dead; how did he turn up alive in that pod? The question immediately crossed his mind.

"I am free," declared Shadow, "and I seek revenge." His words shocked both Cubot and Orbot, who had thought that the hedgehog would try to escape from the island. They stared at him uncertainly, wondering what he meant.

"I've been imprisoned for 50 years, but now I am free. You are responsible for making this happen," announced Shadow.

"But, how can that be?!" exclaimed Cubot as Orbot looked at him in shock.

"50 years is such a long time!" Orbot added, feeling extremely confused by what Shadow was saying. He didn't get it. "How did you survive that long?!"

"This planet was my prison cell," explained Shadow, "but then the scientists discovered how to use the energy of this planet's core to create a clone of myself using a technology called the Matrix."

"I see," responded Eggman, feeling slightly interested. "So that means we defeat Sonic in some sort of duel, and no one can stop us," he chuckled. "Shadow, I need you to fight Sonic. You will defeat him, won't you?"

"Of course, I shall make sure nothing goes wrong. However, first, you will come with me. There is something I want to talk about with you." Said Shadow calmly as he turned around and left the room without looking back. "Bring me 7 Chaos Emeralds, and I will be waiting for you in Space Colony ARK."