ARAAT5: Resurrection

~~~

A Rose And A Thorn 5: Resurrection

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

~~~

Harley: Curses! I only just realised that this chapter wasn’t cleaned up! And I can’t move my feet!

Froggy: I suppose you could class this as the last chapter, except there’s two more chapters to go. Either way, there’s just a few loose ends to tie up.

~~~

Chapter Fifteen: Visitor

Shadow left the heroes and Eggman's base behind him, exhausted mentally and physically by the events of the day, and while he didn't like to admit it, he had been shaken by confronting those clones of himself. It was a fear that both he and Sonic shared, of not being unique, and being faced with the fact that he had been created by humans and could be created again was not one that was easy to face. He needed to be alone for a while. No friends, not even Amy. Just himself as he walked along the pavement, making his way towards the hospital. There, he knew, might be the one other person that could honestly understand the feeling. As the sun set, bright orange on the horizon, the dark hedgehog arrived at the hospital where his sister was recovering, asking the receptionist which room she was being held in.

"Room 21B, your sister is just sleeping," said the receptionist, calmly. Shadow followed her directions, and found that Mirage was indeed asleep. For once she looked peaceful. He wondered if this was how he looked when he was asleep.

Shadow pulled up a seat beside the bed and sat down, watching Mirage's peaceful form as he patiently waited for her to awaken again. It was soothing, in a way, gave him a chance to collect his thoughts. Ever since his mission to the ARK to free Mirage, Shadow had never really taken the time to just sit and talk with her, get to know her, and he regretted that immensely. He was always either caught up in a rush of events or absorbed so totally in his own concerns.

He wasn't sure how long he waited, only that he fell asleep too, awaking to the clipped, precise voice of Mirage, "Shadow?" she asked, "You won?"

Shadow woke with a start, blinking and rubbing his eyes, recalling where he was and why he was there. "Yes. We won,” Shadow told her. Shifting in his seat, he looked down at the hedgecat and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Mirage admitted, "My leg still hurts, but the doctors say it is healing fast and I should be able to go home soon. But other than all that, I feel fine. I was a little worried that somebody would get tricked and you would all die but... you seem worried."

"Me? Worried?" Shadow retorted with a little smirk that died fast, "I suppose so. It seems I have a lot more to worry about these days. It's not as simple as it once was."

"Well, families are more complicated than just saving the world," Mirage agreed, "There is all that responsibility. I never used to worry about responsibility. I would just blame everything on my programming."

"You mean, you don't anymore?" Shadow joked quietly to the hedgecat.

"Well, I cannot blame EVERYTHING on it," Mirage smiled a little, "It is a big effort when you realise that you have to take some responsibility for your actions, so I tried not to."

Shadow returned the smile. "I'm guilty of that, too,” he admitted, "I used my 'purpose' as an excuse to justify me wanting to take revenge on the world. But no. It was never strictly because of the Professor. It's because I wanted to. A part of me still does."

Mirage raised an eye brow, but nodded, "I understand. I try to blame my mistakes on my programming, but in the end what I did was not necessary, and it only made things harder for me."

"Your mistakes..." Shadow whispered, mostly to himself, looking inward. Glancing back up at Mirage, he asked his sister, "What were those mistakes? What happened to you aboard the ARK? I mean... I know what happened there, but I don't remember it. I just see brief flashes of memory of you back then, nothing more, and it bothers me."

Mirage looked uncomfortable, "You deserve to know," she said finally, "It is just... it would be easier if everybody was here... and yet it would not. I want to explain, but it is hard."

Shadow brought his hands together and leaned forward, listening intently. What had he forgotten that was so hard for her to explain? "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to, Mirage. It might be best if we just left the past behind."

"No, you should know what I have to say," said Mirage, "You see, I did not... I mean, my mistakes... you see... it involves time travel," she said finally, “You see, in a world that does not exist anymore, when Espio woke me up, you woke up," Mirage hesitated, "Our father."

Shadow frowned, not fully understanding what Mirage meant. "I'm not following here. What do you mean, I woke up our father? I assume you are not being literal."

"I am nothing if not literal," Mirage replied, "Our father was an evil, evil man. He tried to take over the world. He blinded me. And he killed Espio. The problem with that was that I kind of fell in love with Espio..."

Shadow's frown deepened, and the black hedgehog rubbed the side of his head. "This gets better and better... so in this alternate timeline you're talking about, you fell for Espio rather than Midnight? And he died? Perhaps you should be telling him this, because this is where the time travel comes in, right?"

"Er, yes. I just thought he would be better off not knowing," Mirage said, "You see, when I went back in time, I thought I could change everything. I did not. It just made everything more confusing. I found out I was Knuckles' mother, and... um... something to do with Sonic, and the only good thing I did was kill Ashura, and I did not fall in love with Espio when I woke up anyway. It was a big mess. I might as well have not bothered," she added.

Shadow slumped in his chair, staring at the ground, thinking deeply about what Mirage had told him. "Things were different, but not better", he repeated softly, "You know, I can't tell you how many times I've wished I could go back and try the same thing."

"Do not," Mirage said, "I do not know why I could not change things enough, but there must be a reason. I tried to save Maria, really I did. But I could not. It all happened anyway just the same. Also, I found out that I have no soul. I really did not want to start finding things like that out at my age. Or start wondering how old I am, or if I was stuck in a time-loop."

Shadow looked up and smirked. "If I believed in souls in the first place, that might actually mean something to me,” the hedgehog told her before sighing, "If you couldn't change much, even knowing all that was going to happen, maybe that's a lesson. Maybe it's just too dangerous. I just wish I could remember." He shook his head. "What was I like back then, Mirage? What were we both like?"

"I did not get to see a lot of you," Mirage admitted, "You were... younger. Sort of... fun. A bit of a show off. Not as bad as Sonic, of course..." she smiled a little, "Maria would know better. You spent all your time with her. Even when you were supposed to be training."

"I was fun?!" Shadow asked incredulously, laughing at the thought of it. He was sure that he must seem serious all the time; it was difficult even for him to imagine a lighter version of himself. "It's too bad that I can't ask her. She was taken long before her time." He didn't sound like he usually did when he spoke of Maria, not horribly wounded by her death or angry at her killers, just calm and accepting. The dark hedgehog frowned again. "How exactly did you travel back in the first place?" he asked the question that had been waiting in the back of his mind.

"Well, I did have Sonic's help," Mirage said, "I was saying how I wished I could change things, and he said there was a way - the Time Stones. At first they sounded like a rip-off of the Chaos Emeralds, and I am still not sure that they are not. And he helped me travel through time. Apparently you have to run fast - faster than I can, anyway."

"I thought the Chaos Emeralds were the only things that contained that sort of power,” Shadow told her, surprised by this explanation, "They allowed you to travel back to that point... but doesn't that mean there were two of you on the ARK?"

"No... well, um, sort of," Mirage said, "You see... do not you remember?"

"I already explained that I don't. I barely remember one of you, much less two", Shadow told her.

"You see," Mirage swallowed, "Well, I was hoping to tell you this after I told Sonic, but... he was made on ARK too."

"You're joking,” was Shadow's instant, wide-eyed reaction, "You're not joking. That's impossible!"

"Um, I can prove it if you would like to fetch Sonic and I will tell him too," Mirage said weakly.

"As much as I would enjoy shattering his perception of the world, it might be a good idea to wait on that,” Shadow warned Mirage, "I'm assuming he doesn't remember, either. What is it with that place and amnesia?"

"Maybe it has got something to do with going into stasis?" Mirage suggested, "The body is not supposed to be frozen for long periods of time, you know. In my case, I wanted to forget Midnight," she said, "It hurt too much to remember. Since I spent a lot of time with him, that made a lot of gaps."

Shadow nodded, figuring that was the case. It had to take an incredibly strong will to force yourself to forget something like that, but Shadow wouldn't put it past Mirage to have that kind of will. "It's interesting,” he spoke with a smirk, "I've tried so hard to remember the past, while you have tried so hard to forget."

"Yes, but it did not help," Mirage answered, "It only resulted in people dying now because it is hard to convince somebody you are the original when you don't even know who they are."

Shadow reached up to lay a hand on his head, squeezing hard. "I don't know what I'm supposed to learn from this", he told his sister, "We're tortured when we try to forget and cursed when we remember. The past is bad, but it led to a present full of hope, and a future of uncertainty and pain. Here I am, on the brink of becoming a husband, and I don't know how it happened. How can I know who I am if I can't even remember it all? It's easier being the villain, the bad guy, because then you always know you are right and you always feel in control. Now... it feels like my life is already written, and I'm scrambling to catch up. Nothing makes sense!"

Mirage shook her head, "And you have not even used Time Travel, you are just hearing about it," she said, "Things do not make sense. If they did, humans would not even be able to exist. They make the least sense of all."

Shadow smiled, finding that to be one of the truest things he had ever heard. "Well I believe that settles any doubts about us being related,” he told her, "Maybe I am thinking too hard. I always am focused on either the past or the present. Maybe I should pay more attention to now."

"That is the spirit," Mirage smiled again, "Do not waste your future by brooding about your past. I thought I had no future, but even so I could not make things better. I am sure anybody else would have the same trouble."

Shadow sat back in the chair and contemplated what life had in store with him. "The thing that really made me come here, though..." he began, "At Eggman's base, we encountered these... clones of myself."

"Clones of you?" Mirage raised an eyebrow, "But I am technically a clone of you!"

"Er... male clones of me. And you know, I never thought of you like that, but there's some truth to it,” said Shadow, "But these... they looked like me, moved like me, had the same powers as me. Eggman can duplicate me with such ease. I don't know what it means, but it makes me feel less... unique."

Mirage pressed her lips into a thin line, "Well, you have something they do not have," she said finally, "You have friends and a family, and you have me and I will always be here to tell you that you are really you."

Shadow chuckled and smiled at her warmly. "That's good to hear,” he told her, "But next time, I'd like it if you could fight the clones. You're the anti-Shadow, after all."

"Yes, that is what they say," Mirage smiled, "You know, we've never actually fought. Ever."

"Hmm... good point. Tell you what, once you're fully healed, we'll go somewhere remote and kick the shit out of each other,” Shadow suggested, "Just to see how it would go." He smiled again and reached over to take Mirage's hand, giving it a firm squeeze. "Thank you, Mirage. I needed this, more than you know. It's good to have someone to remind me who I am."

"Yes, I suppose it is," Mirage agreed, "But do not tell Sonic about his past, would you? He would go into denial, and only I know how to prove it. I didn't even tell Midnight."

"Your secret is safe with me", Shadow assured her. The dark hedgehog released her hand and stood up, walking towards the door.

"Do you know where Midnight is?" Mirage asked him as he started to leave, "I miss him when he is not here."

"Last I saw, at Eggman's base,” Shadow replied, standing in the doorway, "I'm sure he'll come to visit soon enough."

Mirage sighed and lay back on her bed. She was wondering if she really should have told Shadow about the mistake with time travel. It was a big thing to mess up.

~~~

Shadow left the hospital and his sister behind him, his troubles lessened slightly, but far from gone. He left the noise and bustle of the city behind him, seeking fresh air in the forested area beyond city limits. While he had been ‘born’ so to speak in an artificial construct, sometimes it felt good to get away into raw nature. It helped him think. Standing on a hill overlooking the city, the sun continued on its journey bellow the horizon, the breeze blowing a newspaper against and past Shadow's leg. He crossed his arms together and thought back to what little he did remember of the ARK, of Maria's death, and now of the Shadow clones. Who was he? Who was he really? What made him what he who he was if most everything about him could be copied? What really happened 50 years ago?

“Shadow the Hedgehog... my name... it’s the only thing I can remember...” he murmured, “And that gruesome image...” he shuddered as he remembered Maria’s death again, “Why can’t I remember anything?”

Answers eluded him. As he considered these questions, the sky above him inexplicably turned blood red, and the clouds above swirled in a vortex of energy. Shadow watched this phenomenon from his spot on the hill, staring in amazement as…creatures of some sort began to pour out of the vortex, right out of thin air, and fell to the city below.

Pandemonium broke out, the creatures attacking panicking citizens, causing mindless destruction. It all happened so fast, that Shadow barely had time to think about what was happening.

He watched as the monsters started to attack, “Look how pathetic they are,” he muttered, “I don’t have time for these humans...” These monsters, whatever they were, were a threat to his friends and family, and he had to stop them. But before he could take action, something that looked like a flying, mutant starfish zoomed up beside him.

"Shadow..." the strange creature floated up to him, and for whatever reason, he didn't find himself afraid of it, despite its hideous appearance. It had no mouth, but he could hear it just the same, "As you can see, the day of reckoning will soon be here. Find the seven Chaos Emeralds and bring them to me... as promised."

A shimmering image, some type of hologram, was projected from the cyclops starfish, a hideous horned creature with three eyes, no legs, and adorned with strange, alien looking ornamentation.

Shadow was instantly suspicious of this being and its intentions, but since he wasn't immediately attacked, he figured a bit of interrogation was in order, "Huh? Who are you, and how do you know I’m Shadow?" the black and red hedgehog demanded, "And what are you talking about?"

The creature just left. Behind it trailed several explosions. All around was chaos. Even as Shadow started to reach out to the creature, one of the explosions knocked him off balance, and prevented him from following the thing.

"Humph!" Shadow uttered in disgust, beating dust out of his fur, "Just what was that about?" He didn't know who or what that thing was supposed to be, but it seemed that it knew him and might have the answers that he was seeking, “If he says he knows the truth about who I am, then like it or not, I have to believe him. If Mirage won’t tell me, the only way I'm going to get the secrets to my past, is to get those Chaos Emeralds!”

It was a risky gamble, but one that he had to take. Besides, whenever the chaos emeralds were involved, trouble was sure to follow, and he'd be in a much better position to negotiate if the emeralds were in his hands rather than that demonic-looking thing. It was time to get some answers. If the world refused to leave him alone, then the Ultimate Lifeform was just going to have to show it what he was made of. Kicking on his jet shoes, the black hedgehog blasted off towards the city, the sound of screams and combat reaching his ears. He smirked grimly, having a feeling that it was going to be one wild night.

~~~

Harley: Now play Shadow the Hedgehog.

Froggy: There’s not much of the fic left. Just rounding it all off.