Chapter Text
Robotnik was much, much heavier then he looked. But with the Master Emerald singing in his veins, Shadow flew through the stratosphere, his cargo feather light. It was nothing short of a miracle that fate spared Shadow a fraction of a second. Enough time to save himself, enough time to save Maria's cousin. It took every drop of the Master Emerald's power to keep the pair from burning up as they re-entered the atmosphere.
The resulting crash cratered the earth around them. Still they were unscathed. Shadow's brilliant glow dulled and faded. He fell to his knees leaning over the junior Dr. Robotnik. The doctor's chest rose and fell softly. Alive. Shadow collapsed next to him.
After a quick nap Shadow sat back up.
“We can't stay here.” Shadow spoke with a voice cracked from long silence and dehydration. Ivo Robotnik snored in response. He sighed and rubbed his face. Where would they go? Robotnik would be a wanted man. Agent Stone was the doctor's friend. If he could find him they might-
Shadow was startled out of his train of thought as Robotnik sat bolt up right and shrieked.
“What?! What's wrong?!” Shadow leapt to his feet and assumed a combative stance.
“What are you?! Where am I?! And why do I smell like a wet dog that's been deep fried?” The doctor's voice was filled with familiar arrogance, but was edged with a wild animal panic.
Shadow responded with no small amount of irritation, “What's your problem? I'm Shadow, the hedgehog that saved you from your fiery doom. A thank you would be appreciated.”
The doctor looked at the alien as if he were, well, an alien. Shadow inventoried Robotnik's appearance. His clothing was nothing but charred rags. Shadow was actually surprised he hadn't noticed earlier, but the doctor's eyebrows and signature mustache had completely burnt off. Robotnik didn't look like he had suffered a brain injury. “Do you...” the hedgehog spoke more gently now, “Do you know who you are?”
-
The man blinked, “Of course I know who I am! I'm.. I'm…” The pause stretched uncomfortably long. He wracked his brain. It was a considerable brain to wrack, the man noted with pleasure, but outside of an enormous catalog of information there was no name. The ‘hedgehog’ interrupted his searching. His voice was disgustingly pitying,
“Do you know what happened, what you were just doing?” The man thought backwards. It was like looking down an empty well. Not a drop of memory remained. Not who he was, not what he was doing, not why his upper lip felt so empty. Nothing. “We have to go somewhere safe. Take my hand.”
The man reluctantly took Shadow's gloved hand. Before he could get to his feet they merely blinked out of existence. This happened again and again for what felt like hours, but must have only been a few minutes. Each time they reappeared the man screamed, disturbed to his core at the non-euclidean form of transportation. Cities and long stretches of forest flashed in and out of his vision.
At last the man was finally able to stand on his own two feet without vanishing into unreality. With a sneer on his face he opened his mouth to lecture the hedgehog and promptly vomited on his own feet. Falling backwards onto his rump, he listened to the hedgehog, “Rest here while I gather some supplies.” With a nauseating red spark he was gone. Falling onto his back the man observed his surroundings.
He was on a mountain. He studied the bare stone face for a moment. Sandstone and shale, perhaps Appalachian. The surrounding flora was lush with pine and cedar trees. There was a town nestled in among the trees. Even from a distance the gabled roofs and pillars stood proud. Colonial revival. He placed the founding of the town around 1910. This would have likely been a hub for bootlegging due to its isolation as an island upon a lake. Vast blue waters flowed in every direction. As he was about to deduce his coordinates based on the stars starting to appear in the sky Shadow sparked back into existence.
“Here, change into this.” Shadow tossed a bundle of clothes at him. He wanted to be startled by Shadow's return, but frankly he hadn't the energy anymore. The man merely quirked an eyebrow at the hedgehog as he removed his rags. Shadow huffed and turned around. Shadow spoke while he changed,
“Welcome to Sparrow Falls.”