#project: shadow

But the stuff they have placed in there really says a lot on his personality before G.U.N. showed

Like right here, we see that he sleeps, or at least takes short naps on this plaid, beanbag chair.

It's so stinking wholesome that they at least had something in his room that he could rest up on whenever he felt the need to and make the space more comfortable.

We also see that he has a little nightstand that's has a few Easter eggs.

We see a chaos drive, a mini figurine of a motorcycle (wink wink), and a drawing of Shadow riding a custom bike??? It's hard to tell, but he definitely drew that up since we saw him show off his art skills earlier.

We can also see that he has two shelves of stuff set up for him, there's a few books, an old boombox or radio on the lower shelf but at the top shelf tucked in the corner?

He had his own little keyboard set.....

{ Hooray!! New chapter for everyone! Shout out to beta-reader and editor @000marie198 for, well, putting up with me and this story. 😅 If you haven’t checked her out yet, please do! She also has a lot of amazing stories and posts. }

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Part 1 ~ Immortal Escape

Chapter 12 - Plans Change

A soft green glow streamed out from the back of the room and the kitsune pushed himself farther in to see where the source was coming from.

Tails gasped.

"What? What is it?!" Sonic's voice asked eagerly over the comms.

Tails didn't answer, stepping past a row of oblong containers and boxes that acted as a wall to block off any snooping outsider to the true prize deeper in the room.

A stasis pod, standing almost two feet taller than Tails, even in his human form, stood before him. Pipes, wires and thin tubes trailed from the top, feeding into silver machinery attached to the bottom and sides. A monitor jutted off from the right side of the pod and charted off various vital readings. Tails could hear the familiar hum of active machinery from it.

Tails stepped up to the glass of the pod, the soft green glow from within casting a sickly glow over him. He placed a hand on the thick glass, and it felt like his chest was caving in on itself. He sucked in a shaky breath.

Floating in the green liquid, eyes closed and body completely relaxed, was Shadow the hedgehog.

Cuffs were wrapped around his wrists, holding in place three different silicon tubes that weaved back to the top of the pod. Wires, most likely to take vitals, were attached to various places on the hedgehog's chest, arms, and head, also leading upwards to join the rest of the machinery.

All articles of clothing had been stripped from the hedgehog, leaving his hands and feet bare, displaying his sharp, cruel claws.

Tails clenched his jaw past the burning in his eyes.

Even the iconic gold rings that Shadow always wore, by necessity, had been taken away.

The only thing that helped console Tails' swelling emotions was the calm, peaceful expression on Shadow's face. It really did look like he was only sleeping a deep, restful sleep.

"Tails?! Don't keep us hanging, little buddy!"

Tails leaned away from the enclosure, hand unintentionally going to his ear.

"We did it guys. We found him."

Sonic cheered, his voice quieting as he moved away from his receiver and, undoubtedly, did a victory dance.

Sonic's excitement almost made Tails smile. But the sight of Shadow weightlessly floating in the stasis pod was enough to chase back any glee or giddiness.

That would have to wait until Shadow was safe back at the lair.

"Alright- time to work your magic, bud! How long d'you think it'll take for you to break Shadow out of that tin can?"

Tails knelt down on the ground, opening the briefcase and running a hand over the miscellaneous tools lined neatly inside it. He dislodged one and lifted it up, this time a small smirk making it onto his face.

He looked up at the pod challengingly, twirling the tool expertly in his hand.

"Give me five minutes."

                                    ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

Sonic slipped the headset back over his ears, grinning the entire time as he slid back into his seat.

"Alright- time to work your magic, bud! How long d'you think it'll take you to break Shadow out of that tin can?"

There was a pause over the comms, but Sonic knew it's only his little brother smiling.

"Give me five minutes."

Sonic smirked at the confident cadence in the fox's voice. No machine stood a chance against Tails when he got like that.

Sonic kicked his feet up on a ledge protruding from the back wall of their vehicle, watching the monitors that displayed live security camera footage of the hallway just outside Tails' room. There weren't any cameras inside the room so getting to see Shadow himself would have to wait, but at least Sonic had a good view of the cracked open door.

His gaze briefly flitted over three other monitors, each showing a different part of the hallway. Not a single human in sight, and Sonic hoped it would stay that way.

He flicked his hands up and tucked them behind his head with a flourish, looking up at the ceiling.

"You've been quiet, Omega. He's your old teammate, are you excited to be getting him back?"

Omega's voice came through Sonic's headset, "I am... relieved, that he has been located. But I am wary that this plan may still be foiled."

Sonic glanced down at the monitors. No humans.

A more somber expression came over his face and he slid one hand forward to push a button on his headset, cutting off any outgoing transmissions to Tails.

"Omega... You good?"

"I do not understand the query. I am as functional as could be expected from a sentient program."

Sonic shook his head. "No, no that's not what I meant." He pulled his feet back to the floor and leaned forward, "I was just... What you said back at the lair... If this plan works, Shadow'll be back home with us by morning. Are you... Okay? With that?"

There was a moment of silence before Omega's voice stoically responded, "I do not see the point in being 'okay' with Shadow's presence. He cannot remain in the custody of G.U.N. He must be liberated. And in that liberation, he will need a safe place to stay. 'Okay' or not, this is what must be done."

Sonic shook his head, reaching up for the button on his headset. "Of course. Just, know if you're ever not okay... It's okay to say so."

"I... shall keep that knowledge in my database."

"You do that." He clicked the button, voice instantly back to its excited tempo, "How's it coming, little buddy?"

"In a few words?"

Sonic heard a frustrated grunt.

"Not good."

Sonic frowned, "What's wrong?"

"This technology- it's a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. Seriously, what was wrong with the first one that held him?! Why advance when you have something that works?!"

"Yeah sure, cuz that's definitely what you do," Sonic pointed out teasingly.

He could hear the scowl in Tails' voice. "Not in the mood right now, Sonic. Seriously, this isn't going to be a laughing matter. The wiring is absurdly complex and I don't even want to talk about the layers upon layers of code in this thing. To make it worse, it looks like all the systems are integrated seamlessly into each other. If I mess something up, I could be causing a malfunction in two, maybe three, additional systems."

Sonic leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

"Okaaay, how many systems are there?"

"That's another thing. I don't actually know. I've mostly just been looking at the wiring and mechanics of it and from what I can tell there are at least three. Two of which I'm pretty sure are used for vital readings, and nutrition. Not sure what the rest is. Maybe some sort of heat regulation?"

Sonic's foot began tapping.

Tails continued, "There's a monitor on this thing and I'm pretty sure it's connected with all the programs. If I can hack into it I might be able to get him out without the risk of damaging the pod."

"Cool, just one question. Why would damaging it be a bad thing? If I were there I'd just spindash it open!"

"Oh, a couple reasons. For starters, we don't know what all this machine is meant to do and damaging it might set off some unknown protocol that kills Shadow. Or maybe causing it to malfunction would cause Shadow to go into cardiac arrest just because, ya know, he hasn't lived without this thing in over a hundred years? Also, because he hasn't been outside of this thing in that long, as far as we know, it's very very important that I deactivate this thing carefully. If I don't, who knows what could happen."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Alright then. No spindashing."

Tails continued speaking as if he hadn't heard the other, "For instance, the shock of being suddenly awakened could cause brain damage. I'm sure we would all love another amnesiac Shadow experience. Or he might panic and end up hurting himself. Or he could go into shock and stop breathing. OR-"

"Okay okay I get it! Take your time! You'd think he's stressed or something," Sonic muttered.

"I can still hear you," Tails said flatly. "And yeah, I'm kinda in a secure military base that belongs to an organization that kept my friend trapped for over a hundred years and would probably leap at the chance of capturing another powerful creature that may or may not have walked right into the depths of their base and is crazy enough to be trying to break out their other prized weapon. Not to mention the highly advanced AI and a super-powered legendary Mobian who's probably the only current reliable source of Chaos energy on the planet literally sitting right outside their base, just sitting ducks waiting for everything to go wrong!"

Sonic gave the screens a worried glance as he listened to Tails breathe rapidly, recovering from his rant.

"Uuuhhh..." Sonic sat awkwardly in his chair, nervous energy sinking in his stomach.

The fox could be heard sucking in a breath, then letting it out as a sigh.

"Sorry."

"Nah, bro, don't apologize. I get that it's scary..."

I should've gone in there.

Sonic shook off the thought. "But don't worry, okay? Omega and me got your back! And don't stress about us. If worst comes to worst, Omega's AI can reload back at the lair. And we all know that I can handle myself." He grinned and gave an encouraging thumbs up, despite Tails being unable to see it. "You just work on what you're good at and we'll all be back at the lair and laughing about this with Shadow in no time."

Tails chuckled.

Sonic leaned back in his chair, "See? No need to worry!"

"No, not that," Tails snickered. "Omega and I."

Sonic tilted his head. "I'm sorry?"

"You said Omega and me, but the proper way is Omega and I."

Sonic rolled his eyes, "Seriously? All of those amazingly encouraging words and that's what stuck?"

Tails laughed and Sonic couldn't help but smile.

Until he saw something cross the cameras.

Sonic shot to his feet, hands pressed against the desk, all joviality gone from his face. He watched the figure, a tall man in a white lab coat, turn down into Tails' hall, eyes fixed to the clipboard in his hand.

Sonic's eyes went from the moving figure on one screen to the screen showing the slightly ajar door leading into the storage room Tails was working in.

"Okay, uh, Tails? So, stay calm, but there's a person in the hall and he's getting close."

"What?!"

"This is less than optimal."

"It's okay, it's okay," Sonic quickly reassured, "I can hardly see into the room- so I doubt he can too-"

"Either."

"You're seriously going to correct me right now?"

"The best course of action would be to remain calm and quiet."

"Yes," Sonic agreed. "Aaaand maybe close the door to your room. If that guy sees that the door's open then you're gonna have a lot more to actually be worrying about."

"Uuuhm..."

"What's wrong? Get up and close the door! Quick before he gets close enough to see you!"

"I can't! It's a resealable door. If I close it, it'll lock me inside!"

"So?! Just have Omega open it again!" Sonic felt a flare of energy inside him as he watched the human make his way closer to the door.

"He can't."

"What?!" Panic gripped Sonic and he felt his energy become more restless. He quickly tried to cover it, voice dropping low, "Tails, if you don't shut that door, I guarantee you'll be spotted in less than ten seconds."

"It's not wide open, only an inch or two. It'll be fine! I can handle it!" Tails insisted

The human walked within a few feet of the slightly ajar door. At first, Sonic felt hope that the human wouldn't notice, but then the human stopped and looked up. He tilted his head suspiciously and took a cautious step towards the door.

Sonic couldn't take any more. He wouldn't stand by and watch his little brother get caught by G.U.N. He refused to let that happen to another friend.

Letting out a growl he tore off his headset and tossed it to the desk, smashing a button on the vehicle wall and darting to stand next to the slowly opening back door.

"Omega, watch Tails' back and get ready with directions for the quickest way out of the facility from his location."

Omega's voice sounded from the vehicle speakers, "What is your plan?"

Sonic hesitated, glancing down at the almost sparking light coming off his arms.

"Tails is gonna get caught. He needs a distraction. Just long enough for him to get Shadow out of there."

"Restating query: what is your plan?"

Sonic looked up at the facility with a smirk, crouching down into a running stance.

"I'm gonna give 'em a distraction they can't ignore."

With a crackle of energy and a burst of wind Sonic launched forward. His feet flew over the sandy earth, the wind blowing full force into his face. Pure elation made him feel as though he were floating! But he quickly shook the feeling back, focusing on his last-second addition to the plan.

Distraction.

He easily vaulted over the tall wire fence and blasted past the security guard outpost, sending paper and a coffee mug flying. In one smooth motion he curled into a spin attack, smashing through the front doorway, just to uncurl again and blast away in a blur of blue.

What was it Tails said earlier?

He took a sharp turn left, heading as far away from Tails' location as possible.

A siren blared to life, strobing red lights casting bloody shadows around him as he dashed through the hallways.

Something about chaos readers?

He couldn't help grinning as the entire base went red with lights and sirens. A feminine robotic voice began to announce over the speakers, 'Alert. Abnormal energy readings detected in sector three. All available units detain the source.'

Sonic smirked up at the ceiling, "Sector three huh? Well, whaddaya call this place?"

Curling into a ball he rolled up the wall, continued along the ceiling, and twisted to drop back down on the ground, facing back the way he came. Not losing any momentum, he dashed back to the lobby area, running circles in the open space and sending G.U.N agents scurrying to keep their hats and papers.

Sonic's ear twitched at the robotic voice announcing, 'Abnormal energy readings have moved to the lobby area. All units proceed to the lobby area to detain the source.'

Sonic shook his head in disappointment before boosting off to another hallway.

'Abnormal energy readings detected in sector 2- 4-'

Sonic felt no small amount of amusement listening to the robotic voice glitch while trying to keep up with his location. It only got better at the thought of G.U.N soldiers running around frantically trying to figure out where and how to stop him.

Speaking of stopping him, Sonic glanced up at the blurred walls.

"So much for security. I guess those chaos readers really were the only things to worry about-"

The words hardly left his mouth when a solid steel door slammed to the floor directly in front of him. With a yelp he just barely steered away in time to avoid crashing straight into it, and continued his run back the way he'd come. But that option was quickly outdone when another door came crashing down.

Hissing under his breath Sonic peeled to the left, forced to confine his running between the two doors. He knew he couldn't risk stopping and let the cameras get a good look at him, so he ran in a circle of blue, his movement stirring up a wind in the lifeless trap.

The sound of whirring machinery made his ear twitch and his eyes darted up to the ceiling. Panels moved inward, folding away and opening gaps for pistol-like objects to descend through. Red points of light flicked on and targeted his projected path, aimed and ready to fire.

"Oh great," he grumbled, "Lasers? Really?"

The robotic voice returned, 'All units, source of energy fluctuation has been contained in sector 5 hall 7. Apprehend and detain.'

Sonic's ears twitched again at the sound of shouting voices beyond one of the doors, followed by heavy footsteps.

Energy twisted inside of him and he felt his stomach sink with dread.

"Oh boy..."

                                     ~•~•~•~

There had been a muffled clatter, followed by a deafening silence in his ear. Tails' heart skipped when his brother's usually non-stop dialogue had suddenly cut off.

"Sonic?" he whispered. Then a little louder, "Sonic, for chaos' sake answer me right now-"

"What are you doing here?"

Tails spun around, a chill of dread skittering up his spine.

He swallowed, desperately trying to calm his racing thoughts and drumming heart.

"Just here for maintenance and system check." He prayed his voice was calmer than he felt it was and that the human standing in the doorway didn't see the shake in his hand as he gestured at the open case full of tools on the floor.

The man's face hardened and he extended a hand. "No one's allowed in here. I need to see a permission pass from an officer ranking higher than third star."

"Uuuh, right. Of course."

Tails made a show of searching his uniform.

C'mon, Tails, don't think too hard, everything will be fine just don't blow it!

Before he had the chance to conjure a definitely not forged and definitely not misplaced permission pass, the lights went pitch dark, replaced by glaring red that strobed in the halls, followed by the sound of a distant siren.

Both the human and disguised kitsune were startled by the sudden darkness and the human looked back from where he'd come with confusion and shock in his eyes.

"What the-"

That was as far as he got before Tails, deciding to ditch the effort of presenting the forged slip, lunged at him, taking advantage of the distraction and punching the man straight in the jaw.

There was a pop and the man collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Tails flexed his fingers, grimacing at the pain shooting through the delicate appendages.

"Why are humans so fragile!" He hissed before asking, "Sonic? What's going on out there!?"

His question was once again met by silence and his tail twitched inside his pant leg.

"Sonic?! Please answer me!"

"Sonic is not currently available."

Tails' stomach dropped and he had to cover one ear to block out the blaring sirens.

"Omega?! What do you mean? Where's Sonic?!"

"He is... the distraction."

"Son of a-!" Tails hissed, scooping up one of his tools and hurrying to cover the opened wiring of the stasis pod. "Where is he?!"

"It is difficult to discern. I am experiencing difficulty remaining within G.U.N's systems while their emergency protocol program is running."

"This is why I wanted you to stay in the van!" Tails growled. His hands shook, his stomach a mess of knots as he tried to reattach the panel. "Please, Omega, if you can figure out where he is, I might be able to get him out of here before he's caught!"

"Affirmative. Processing..."

Tails hurried to finish reattaching the panel he'd only minutes ago removed. His eyes flitted up to Shadow's slumbering body, pain and regret squeezing his chest.

"Sorry we couldn't just get you out nice and easy..."

"Tails, I believe I have pinpointed Sonic's location within the base. It seems he kept the security system on fritz until emergency lockdown was enforced. Now it appears that he's been confined within a portion of hallway 7 in sector 5."

"Perfect." Tails shut his briefcase full of tools and slid it under a nearby shelf, hiding it from view. "You're gonna have to guide me there."

"Tails- I must question if this course of action is wise."

Tails stood straight, eyed the unconscious human on the floor, and took a determined step towards the door.

"Of course it's not. But we don't have a choice. G.U.N can't get him. If they do, there's no telling what they'll be able to do."

"And if they acquire you?"

Tails didn't flinch at the question, one step away from entering the hallway.

"Doesn't matter. I'm not going to lose another friend."

A blast of wind blew into him, sending him stumbling backwards and he covered his face to protect his eyes from the harsh air current.

As quickly as it had come it was gone, replaced by a familiar voice.

"What in chaos are you doing, Tails?! Get back in there!"

Before Tails could even catch up to his shock he was given a hard shove in his midsection, driving him back into the storage room.

When Tails had recovered, he looked up to see Sonic holding the door open an inch, peeking out into the hallway warily. Deeming the coast clear, the hedgehog nodded and turned around, brushing white chunks and dust from his fur.

"Man, talk about a close call!"

Rage boiled up in Tails body and he stormed towards the hedgehog. "What are you doing here, Sonic?!" He shouted and instantly Sonic's attention jerked upwards to the enraged Kitsune. In his human form Tails towered over the blue mobian, and he used that to his full advantage, hands waving outward in an aggressive motion. "I told you to wait in the Grounder!"

Sonic cowered under the kitsune's shadow, both hands raised passively.

"I know I know- but you were in trouble! I couldn't just-"

"Couldn't what, Sonic?! Couldn't trust me to take care of myself?!"

Sonic's ears flicked back. "No- no it's not like that at all!" He looked away, breaking eye contact with his 'little' brother. "I just... I couldn't just sit by and see you put yourself in danger. I needed to make sure you were going to be safe."

Tails deflated, the raging fire inside him slowly diminishing, though far from leaving. With a strained exhale he turned away from his 'big' brother.

"We'll talk about this later," he said, voice heavy. His eyes locked onto the stasis pod housing the pinnacle of their mission. "What's happened- well- it's happened. Let's just try and get Shadow out of here before someone figures out what's going on."

His eyes flicked back towards Sonic. "You made sure you couldn't be tracked right?"

Sonic straightened, instantly recovered from being lectured by his little brother. He put his hands on his hips, the blue stripes on his arms dimly glowing.

"Oh I made sure all right! Remember those chaos energy sensor things?" He smirked. "Let's just say I gave 'em more than they were expecting."

Tails halted, looking back at Sonic, stunned. "You overloaded them?"

Sonic's confidence wavered into confusion and he scratched his head.

"Uh, I think so? I was trying to break out of a trap using more energy than usual and suddenly some of the cameras started sparking." He shrugged. "I just kept up the energy output on my way here."

Tails eyes landed on the dim marks on Sonic's arms, worry worming its way into his stomach. He reached out for his brother's energy and relaxed when it felt as vibrant and lively as usual. Perhaps a little less obvious, but nothing concerning.

"Woah..."

Sonic's quiet voice pulled Tails from his careful observations and back to reality. The hedgehog was staring past him and at the stasis pod.

His emerald eyes were wide and empty, his jaw slack in a stunned stupor. Slowly, the hedgehog stepped forward, striding past the tall human Kitsune and towards the pod.

Tails marveled at how small Sonic looked compared to the ominous machine housing their slumbering friend.

Sonic reached up, placing a gloved hand on the glass.

"What did they do to you?" he whispered. The stripes on his arms flashed brighter for a moment and Tails could feel the sudden spike of energy pierce the air.

The hedgehog sucked in a breath, hand curling into a fist as he bowed his head, his quills bristling with emotion.

Tails stepped forward. "Sonic, I know what you're thinking but we can't risk taking on all of G.U.N. At least, not right now."

Sonic looked back up at his red and black copy, nodding slowly.

"Yeah. You're right. Justice will have to wait." The hedgehog spun away from the pod, marching past Tails and crouching by the door, peaking through the crack before looking up at Tails with a smirk. "I'll keep guard here. You just worry about getting Shadow out of there."

Tails hesitated, then nodded, snatching one of his tools from his case and kneeling next to the pod.

He still felt angry with Sonic for taking this stupid, unnecessary risk but knew that now wasn't the time for getting upset. He just kept one thought in mind.

Plans never go how they're supposed to.

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This whole scene… had me on the edge of my seat with so many emotions. Maria standing there about to be shot to save Shadow… I just- AHH

And then Shadow banging on the glass begging to be let out. To save her.

And we also know from Eggman’s wisecrack in the first movie that there was definitely a copy of Charlotte’s Web in the Robotnik household.

In fact, if you interpret the Space Colony Ark years as being in the 1950’s/1960’s, that’s around the time Charlotte’s Web would have come out.

Which means.

Shadow and Maria definitely read it together at some point and Shadow was very upset when they got to the end and Charlotte died.

“Why?” he asked, a bit tearfully. “Why did she die? She was Wilbur’s friend.”

HE HAS LITTLE FUCKING CONVERSE!

I. LOVE. THIS! I LOVE seeing Shadow from this perspective! Let’s see him grow up on the ARK! Let’s see him be a kid! Yes, Shadow is still a teenager when awaken from stasis, but I’ve always been interested in seeing him doing little kid thinks before being sealed away!