Chapter Text
“It’s been six years since Eggman’s last reign… It’s also been five years since our earth last belonged to its people.
It’s an ironic reality, Eggman has fallen but in his wake rose a wasteland, a world that used to brim with lush and life.
A world where heroes used to exist, a world where the wind used to blow, with him gone there was nothing left but filth.
Who would’ve thought that defeating Eggman also meant the death of Mobius’ greatest hero. Sonic sacrificed himself for the sake of the world, defeating Eggman and taking himself as well, for the sake of the world, for humanity. The only problem is- his sacrifice was left in vain. Every step he took left a path of hope, of life, but with him gone there was no room for flourish.
And unlike Sonic, Eggman was able to leave behind his trace, his mark on the world. And no one, not even I could rid the world of that filth. How was someone as rotten as me supposed to rid of the very essence of myself.
I would never admit this out loud but I yearn for the wind’s return. And I yearn for the world to return to its green state.”
Shadow sighed, he ended his log and turned off his device. Its day number 1,987 since the countdown of the world’s deterioration began and he was unsure how long till the ticking time bomb of death takes the soil in which they stand on.
A small fire crackled casting a faint light inside the dark dusty room, Shadow shuffled in his makeshift cot made out of old boxes, it wasn’t the comfiest bed in existence but Shadow wasn’t made for comfort.
Debating whether he should sleep or continue staring at the crackling campfire, Shadow unconsciously began to reminisce, probably a product of his recently logged journal entry. Journaling was a silly idea, considering how the days that passed by his life were almost always the same, but he found comfort in logging in his journals. Most of it anyways was him remembering the days that used to be.
Those days that were lost.
His reverie was interrupted by a loud snoring noise. Across from him was a sleeping green Tenrec, laid on a similar makeshift cot, but instead of mounting it on top of boxes she was on the floor, she preferred it that way and Shadow never bothered to ask why.
Surge snores were loud and mixed with snorts, Shadow found it hard to “relax” with the unpleasant noise so he stirred himself up and went to find a peaceful place to- contemplate.
He walked past his other companion, someone who was a reflection of someone that was once familiar to him. Robots didn’t need sleep but they needed to recharge. Metal Sonic rested on his own “bed”, a portable charging station, a bunch of plugs and wires attached to his back while the machine itself hummed with the sound of electricity. He gave the bot one last glance before heading to wherever his feet led him.
He climbed the stairs of the abandoned office building which the team temporarily called home. He climbed until he reached the rooftop, he sat himself on the building’s edge, his legs dangling on its edge. He gazed up at the night sky to look at the stars only to find none, the fog and pollution of the wasteland have completely covered the night sky which made the stars disappear from sight. Despite that, the thought of the stars still existing only hidden behind the haze managed to ground Shadow. He continued his sight-seeing despite seeing nothing at all, the only presence visible in the night sky was the shattered moon and not far from it the Space Colony Ark.
Sometimes Shadow wondered if it was better to migrate there than trying to survive in this wasteland, but even if the thought crossed his mind there was no possible way to get there. Every G.U.N base he knew of that had a working space shuttle was ransacked by Eggman’s feral badniks.
And even though they made it to the ark, what would they find? The state of the ark was definitely way worse than what they had on earth. Sure all three of them could work together to try and create an environment on the ark that was flourishing and brimming with life, but they weren’t exactly the most nurturing, or organic for that matter, of the bunch.
Shadow shook his head, in hopes that the thought would leave his mind. He continued to gaze at the empty sky for a distraction only to be met by nothing. He sighed, why bother. He lifted his legs up to stand, he thought it was best if he tried to just sleep and so he made his way back to the stairs.
However he stopped in his tracks, as he spotted a faint glow from the distance. A light of purplish blue flame, the glow began to pulse then it shot up from where it came and flew across the sky like a shooting star. Shadow followed its trail, running to the edge of the building to have a better look. The light landed somewhere in what Shadow figured was further East, the impact caused a huge earthquake, but from where he stood there was only a small shift in the ground due to the distance.
As the quake subsided Shadow took the time to observe the crash in the distance. Smoke rose from the crash site while the glow remained–although faint. Despite the shift in the earth he was surprised that the star didn’t create a sinkhole on the ground in which it landed, causing the star to be devoured by the earth which raised more questions than he already had.
What could it possibly be?
A bad omen?
A warning?
A sign?
Whatever it was it stirred something in Shadow that he couldn’t understand. It wasn’t a physical feeling but an emotional one, and it caused him to wonder.
He thought of waking the rest of his companions up but just in time both Surge and Metal Sonic emerged from the stairs, probably woken up by the shift of the earth
“What the fuck did you do Edgy!?” Surge murmured with half lidded eyes, still trying to process what was happening. Metal Sonic let out a beep of acknowledgement, indicating that he too was asking the same question.
“Now why are you blaming me?” Shadow defended, a hint of sass in his words.
“If it wasn’t you then what the fuck caused that quake?”
Shadow hesitated for a while, he wasn’t sure what exactly happened or how to explain it without sounding insane but he tried.
“I’m not sure, but it sure is something… A sign perhaps.”
Shadow pointed towards the smoke and light, Surge squinted her eyes and Metal only stared.
“The fuck is that?” Surge muttered, she cupped her hands around her eyes mimicking binoculars to help her see closer, even though the action didn’t actually help. “Is that a campfire?”
“No,” Shadow grunted. “It’s a shooting star of sorts, I was up here when a light of purple and blue started blazing across the sky like a shooting star. Then it landed there causing the earthquake that happened just now.”
Surge approached Shadow with a confused look. “I think you’ve mistaken a random meteorite crashing into earth as a shooting star.” Surge protested, “All that stupid daydreaming has finally gotten into your head.” Metal Sonic whirred in response, agreeing to Surge’s remark.
Surge flicked a finger on Shadow’s forehead. “Meteorite’s don’t glow like stars, idiot!”
And Shadow shoved Surge away. “And stars don’t crash into earth, genius!”
They continued to bicker but none of their arguments made sense, Metal Sonic thought it was time for him to butt in the conversation and finally add some sense into their speculations.
He let out a loud beep to catch the two’s attention and began signing with his robotic fingers. “I suggest we head to the crash site to investigate.”
Shadow agreed, “Whether that thing is a meteorite or a star it’s still the most unusual discovery we had for years since the world became desolate.” He stated calmly.
Surge on the other hand thought it was a stupid idea. “This is what they call chasing waterfalls, or in your case,” She pointed an accusatory finger at Shadow, “Chasing shooting stars!”
“I’m not going to risk heading there, it's probably nothing. We’re only wasting our time and risking our lives for something we’re not even sure is worth checking.”
Beneath defiance was actually worry and Shadow could see through it clearly. He smugly smiled at Surge to which she cringed at, she still wasn’t used to seeing any emotion on Shadow other than brooding. “But isn't that all we have? Time.” He asked.
Surge wanted to argue but Shadow did make a point, he continued; “And as for our lives… At this point I would risk my life for even a sliver of hope.”
Surge groaned, “So that’s what it is; baseless hope!” She never understood how Shadow became so sentimental over the years they’ve been together trying to survive, if anything she expected him to become more jaded. And yet here he was showing uncanny optimism. It frustrated Surge, it reminded her of a certain someone which made her think if Shadow was trying to emulate his personality.
“Metal, knock some sense into this idiot.”
And knock some sense to him he did, hitting Shadow at the back of his head with his metal arm rather forcefully.
“Ow! She didn’t mean literally!” Shadow rubbed the back of his head and Metal Sonic signed an apology.
“It may sound stupid but what else do we have going for us?”
This time Metal Sonic nodded in agreement to which Surge gave him a bewildered look.
The same smug smirk from a while ago appeared on Shadow’s face again and Surge held the urge to slap it off his face.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared, that you’re getting weak.”
Metal Sonic beeped beside him, acknowledging the jab Shadow gave to Surge.
Surge gritted her teeth, that wasn’t gonna work on her, not anymore. Surviving five years in this wasteland with these freaks taught her a thing or two about limits, and that she wasn’t as powerful as she thought, none of them were, otherwise they wouldn’t be in this situation right?
Or maybe it was just that, she was getting rusty. It’s been a while since she really stepped into battle, and no she wasn’t exactly trying to hide but rather she’s being practical. There was no use fighting Eggman’s badniks, because in the end no matter how many times she wrecked Eggman’s robot junk it didn’t change the situation they were in.
It didn’t do anything to bring him back.
Another groan escaped her mouth and it drawled as she flailed her arms and stomped her feet throwing a small tantrum, “Okay fine!”
Shadow gave her a smile of appreciation and Metal Sonic let out a few beeps of excitement.
Surge sighed giving her final words of condition before the decision was officially made, “If we die then I’m gonna kill you.”
Shadow ignored the absurdity of that statement and gave her a promise, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“It is settled, we embark at sunrise.” Metal Sonic concluded.
"Nuh-uh we leave at noon!” Surge argued, “My sleep is ruined, I need to make up for all that sleep I lost!”
Shadow rolled his eyes, “You’ve only been awake for at least fifteen minutes.”
“Whatever good night!” Surge waved as she headed down the stairs, Metal Sonic followed while Shadow lingered on the rooftop for a while.
He stared off into the distance, to wear the smoke and faint light still remained. A soft smile on his face as he watched the light pulse.
So that’s what that feeling was…
Hope
Then he was off to bed.