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The first time Shadow fell to Earth, he had been encased in a meteor that protected his body from burning up as it hurtled through the atmosphere and then crashed into a field.
The how and why of his existence in said meteor were questions that the scientists puzzled over– but only as long as it took before they realized he could produce energy 'from nothing'. (Not from nothing; the Chaos energy flowing through Shadow was produced by his own body, and in overflowing abundance.)
After that, the questions changed from What are you and Where did you come from to How can we harness your energy and What can we do with it. The expectant, curious, or even distrustful staring abated, and all Shadow had to do then was let the scientists poke and prod and test him.
His own questions were unheard. Unspoken. The first time Shadow opened his mouth to ask– enunciating carefully in the tongue he'd picked up via listening through the glass of his tube– he'd received a new look in answer. Shock. Astonishment. Fear.
So he didn't ask anything else of the scientists. He answered them– since they knew now that their subject was capable of speech– and he listened and he obeyed. The only ones who hadn't looked at him like a thing had been Gerald and… her.
Now he wonders if Gerald was merely an exceptional manipulator.
The second time Shadow falls to Earth, he has no protective rock encasement. He knows the how of it, roughly– Because Sonic punched me into the moon, Because we had to stop the Cannon– but the why eludes him. Why am I not dead?
He should be dead.
He should be a lot of things.
And he might actually die if he continues this uncontrolled freefall towards Earth. The blistering friction heat starting to burn his limbs jolts Shadow back to awareness, enough to realize what's happening but not enough to remember having previously removed his Inhibitors.
He warps, grasping at the wild tail of his own Chaos energy and bursting in and out of reality rapidly, still descending towards the planet but no longer in total freefall. It's– semi-controlled freefall.
Until he pops into reality for the last time after half a dozen jumps, and the strain of using his abilities without any kind of dampener takes its toll.
The impact crater is still enveloped in a cloud of dust and ash when Shadow comes to, a twitch of blackened gloves acting as a switch for his nervous system to come roaring back online. The pain is immediate, incomprehensible in its enormity; there is not a single inch of Shadow that does not feel broken or burnt or raw.
He opens his mouth to scream but instead gasps and then chokes. And the feeble coughing he manages only makes the pain worse, wracking his whole form even though he can only muster shallow, futile breaths to expel the ash from his lungs.
Layered over it all is the distinct crackle of Chaos energy, faint but unignorable. When Shadow manages to suck in more than a wheezing gasp, he opens his eyes to confirm that his wrists are bare of metal, covered only by the badly charred fabric of his gloves.
Idiot. He'd removed his Inhibitors to push the Cannon out of Earth's gravitational pull– and then used his powers, raw.
That's twice now he's survived in spite of all but certain death.
Slowly the smoke and dust start to disperse, aided by a blessedly cool wind that brings the scent of pine and forest wafting down into the crater. His coughing subsides. His head lolls back against the dirt. Above, the sky is perfectly clear, a thousand twinkling pricks of light reflecting in red eyes.
They're like diamonds.
And despite the pain– despite the crackle of orange energy pulsing vaguely at the corners of his vision, like an alarm flashing Danger, danger– Shadow's lips drag up at the corners.
He should move. He should get up. He should start making his way towards cover. Instead, his broken body shudders and then goes still, and it feels like he might be falling again– falling up into that peaceful abyss of starlight and silence.
The last thing he sees before it takes him is the night sky, the dark outlines of pine trees past the edge of his crater, and a familiar blue silhouette.