—a flawless existence.

᯽ 𝐈𝐧  𝐭𝐡𝐞  𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠  𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞  ,   𝐈'𝐦  𝐭𝐡𝐞  𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠  𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭  .

Cam's prediction is right. In the conference room they're briefed on a new mission--one that Shadow would normally turn down due to the magnitude of his pride. The ask is for them to work alongside a new task force in hopes for them to gain more data on Team Dark's synergy--and ideally recreate Team Dark's power in the future.

"That's stupid," Shadow had said, a derisive snort accentuating the breath before his sentence. "As if anyone can keep up with me." Rouge had shrugged flippantly, her blue eyeshadowed lids closing with that same sassy attitude. "I agree, hon, but hey, I don't call the shots. But still... no idea why they think they can just magic up a second Ultimate Lifeform, a rogue E-Series robot, and the world's most beautiful jewel thief out of nowhere. None of us exactly grow on trees...and none of us have the skill set that 'data collection' can ever hope to recreate. Guess we'll just have to see where the chips fall... hell, maybe it'll even be kinda fun."

Which is how Shadow comes back around to being face-to-face with Cam, an unlucky fox who looks about ready to keel over in the presence of Team Dark, and another freckle-faced human who looks eager to prove himself. Frankly, Shadow's kind of insulted.

@fortruechaos

❛  I'm  not  certain  of  what  you're  implying  .   ❜   His  confusion  is  evident  in  both  voice  &   the  simple  tilt  of  his  head  ,   blue  quills  swaying  behind  helm  of  armour  .   Arthur  pauses  to  give  darker  hedgehog  a  long  ,   assessing  look  .   He  looks  so  familiar  ,   of  course  he  is  ,   the  same  distinctive  looks  of  the  Knight  of  the  Lake  ,   as  well  as  somewhat  similar  mannerisms  ,   at  least  to  when  he  &   Arthur  first  met  .

"A king," he says blandly, and an eyebrow raises, clearly disbelieving Arthur's words. He's about to sarcastically ask where his crown is then, but just as he's about to, a second thought rises. The decorative part of the helmet's visor appears to be sort of crown-like, doesn't it? Shadow decides to not ask a foolish question lest he appear like, well, a fool. He'd rather die than let any Sonic or Sonic look-a-like get a leg up on him on something so meaningless.

There's no Chaos here, and every world he's teleported into has that has a variant of mobians like him and Sonic and company is thrumming with that same energy, built from the ground up. It's like the building blocks of the world he comes from.

i'll put it under a readmore in case people are playing and aren't caught up since it'll likely contain spoilers up thru 6.0 although the idea of playing with the lore from the 6.0 patches could be fun

ok good thing i did a readmore because this got long as hell LMAO. XIV friends i welcome any suggestions u may have

-- the rule of the wind is to never get beat!

   questioning then turns to android itself and he falls silent / gaze previously locked onto the ultimate lifeform before him now shifting off to the side while in thought. “ i am ... in the process of figuring that out. ” finally do the androids words fill the air, though he doesn't exactly look satisfied with the conclusion he's come to. “ logically speaking, a recreation is what i am. what all androids are. my own creation was forged from the doctor's insatiable ego and spite — an attempt at his own shadow, to outperform his grandfather's achievements by any means. the other androids are only imitations of such he can actually control. ” brow furrows, indicating project's own ire with it all. it was so simple, yet equally as frustrating.

Project's words are indeed logical, which makes them easy for Shadow to follow. Nevertheless he gives a sort of callous shrug; the idea of any one android, 'special' or not, being able to hold a candle to the true Ultimate Lifeform is somewhat laughable to him. But then again, Shadow has a penchant to view himself above his other alternates...and if the Shadow from Project's world was truly gone, then that was simply his own fault and a byproduct of some inner imperfection within that specific Shadow.

In a multiverse of Shadows with slightly differing traits and slightly different personalities, perfection too must be differing in its nature, so it stands to reason there must be one singular truly perfect Ultimate Lifeform at the top. Shadow--this Shadow, the one Project is speaking to, the crystallized wish--intends to be it.

Despite Shadow's reservations and relatively condescending demeanor where all knock-offs are concerned, he can't say he has any particular personalized disdain for Project. In fact, he finds it surprisingly easy to talk to, especially for a Shadow Android. At least they both have in common the desire to rise above anyone's expectations of them. With this resolved statement Project offers, Shadow indeed sees himself reflected in its eyes--a feeling he doesn't much care for considering the nature of the mirror, but he pushes past it for now. "In that case, I have no issues with you." Actual issues, anyways. "As long as your path continues to lead you down one that wishes to protect the planet, fine. We can coexist."

⠀⠀⠀Silver could feel the disdain immediately. He could hardly blame Shadow, as much as he didn't want to admit it, trouble seemed to follow the time-travelling hedgehog around as much as he followed it. The hedgehog huffed slightly, mirroring the motion and crossing his own arms across his fluffed chest. ⠀⠀⠀"It's nice to see you too." The words came out as more of a grumble than anything else, barely audible over the chattering of the crowded streets. Silver's tension eased and he allowed his arms to drop back down by his sides as he breathed a sigh, seemingly calming himself. ⠀⠀⠀"Right. The reason I'm here." The hedgehog reached into a small satchel that was hanging off of his shoulder, and pulled out a strange-looking gem. It had a similar appearance to a Chaos Emerald, but it's energy felt wrong. Distorted. As if it could recognise it was in the wrong timeline, and this caused its energies to act strangely. ⠀⠀⠀"Recognise this, at all? This gemstone is similar to a Chaos Emerald, but... I'm sure you noticed straight away. The energy is different. It's less stable. I think someone in this timeline finds this gem and uses it - with devastating effects." Silver's eyes flickered between looking at the bright pink gemstone in his hand, and Shadow's face. His tone was low and serious - his stoic expression reflecting just how seriously he was taking the danger.

Since he was touching it the gem's energy signature became far more noticeable to the Ultimate Lifeform. That crackling effect heightened and dipped, like it had a pulse.