Ending Ten: Pure Hero
For a Friend
"Finally, I have all the Chaos Emeralds!" declared Shadow as the gems orbited him. At his side was the blue hero, Sonic, at his feet was the bested alien lord, Black Doom.
"Beaten in your own throne room," said Sonic to Doom, "how bad does that taste?"
Doom did not reply to the blue hedgehog. Instead, the alien lord lifted himself up slightly and stared at Shadow, hate burning in his three eyes as he saw the black hedgehog's eyes were closed. "You traitor!" growled Doom, "You were made to aid in my conquest of this world!"
"The reason for my creation," said Shadow, with his eyes still closed, "is irrelevant."
Doom growled at Shadow and asked, "What of your hatred? Have you truly forgiven humanity for their folly?"
Shadow clenched his fists at this. "Never," he said, "I will never forgive them for all they have done to me!" The black hedgehog released his fists as he added, "But that is irrelevant."
The alien lord slammed his fist on the ground as he screamed "Than what is relevant!"
"Only this," Shadow said as he opened his eyes and rested his gaze on the Emeralds encircling him, "I am Shadow the Hedgehog and however I came into being, however I feel, I made a promise and I intend to keep it; I will ensure that everyone on that planet has a chance to be happy, by ensuring they will not be threatened by monsters like you, Black Doom! With the power of these Emeralds, you and your armies are finished!"
Shadow focused on the Emeralds, causing them to spin around him at an extreme speed, become a multicolored circle around him. After a moment, the ultimate life form was lost in a bright flash of light. When in died down, the Emeralds were gone and Shadow's jet black fur had turned platinum.
"The guardian of Earth," said the super hedgehog, "This is who I am!"
Doom raised his hand and pointed at Shadow. "You…" the alien lord's arm fell back to the floor, "… are…" Doom's head collapsed onto the ground, "… nothing…!" With that said, Black Doom died the same way his children would; he dissolved into a puddle of green slime.
"Says the stain," said Sonic. "Bad guys never know when they've lost, do they, Shadow?" The ultimate life form did not answer as he was already heading towards the exit. "Dude, you do know what a joke is, don't cha?" Sonic asked as he followed Shadow.
"Yes," Shadow replied, "and when you tell one, I will respond accordingly."
Sonic let out a fake laugh and then asked, "Any reason you went super?"
"Destroying this Comet will require the Eclipse Cannon and that requires the Emeralds," said Shadow, "I can control the power of the Emeralds better in this form."
"If you say so," Sonic said just before his ear twitched slightly. "Did you hear that, Shadow?"
"I heard nothing," the super hedgehog replied, "Except for you, which is the same as nothing."
"I'm serious!" Sonic yelled
Just then, the exit slammed shut and the walls of the Black Comet began to pulsatile as a voice rang out "Leaving so soon!?" Over the exit, three red eyes appeared, "This is not over yet!"
"Black Doom?!" Shadow yelled in shock.
"How?!" Yelled Sonic.
"I am Black Doom," seemingly at the speed of light, tendrils shot out of the ground and wrapped around the hedgehogs' wrists, "I am the Black Comet," with an ungodly amount of strength, the tendrils forced the hedgehogs to the ground, "I am the Black Arms!"
Sonic pulled against the tendrils with all his strength, but could not tear himself free and even Shadow, with the power of the Emeralds, could only force himself up on to his knees.
"You should feel honored!" Doom's voice bellowed, "Your blood will feed the next generation of my soldiers!"
Summoning all of his strength, Shadow managed to rip himself free of the tendrils and quickly placed a hand on Sonic's head. "This isn't your fight, faker," the second Shadow finished saying that; Sonic disappeared in a flash of blue light. "As for you," Shadow said as he turned to Doom's eyes.
"You have gone through all of this and for what?!" Doom yelled, "A species you cannot stand and a band of fools?!"
"No," Shadow replied as golden flames swirled around him, "For a friend…"
The view was incredible, a once in a lifetime experience; a thousand shooting stars shot across the sky. All over the world, people rejoiced at the sight, not just for its beauty, but for what it symbolized; the meteors that made up this shower were the remains of the dreaded Black Comet.
No one was sure how he did it, but Shadow the Hedgehog had done it, he had defeated the Black Arms. Unfortunately, no one had seen him since the Comet's destruction and many feared he was gone for good.
However, Shadow has defied death before; perhaps he was still out there.
Somewhere…
All hail Shadow
Heroes rise again
Obliterating everything
That's not your friend
Nothing can stop you now
No ghost to bring you down
When there's nothing left to lose
You win
Bow your heads low
All hail Shadow
Bow your heads low
All hail Shadow
Suffer long and it will set you free
Only through trial do we
Find the strength we need
It's never over, just another day
All hope and tragedies
And everything that comes our way
Determination of the strong
Found the meaning that you
Searched for so long
All hail Shadow
Heroes rise again
Obliterating everything
That's not your friend
Nothing can stop you now
No ghost to bring you down
When there's nothing left to lose
You win
Bow your heads low
All hail Shadow
Bow your heads low
All hail Shadow
Somewhere in chaos
We all find ourselves
This destruction is the
Only tale we tell
White is black and black is white
Right is wrong and wrong is right
Nothing ever fills this
Hole inside your heart
Determination of the strong
Found the meaning that you
Searched for so long
All hail Shadow
Heroes rise again
Obliterating everything
That's not your friend
Nothing can stop you now
No ghost to bring you down
When there's nothing left to lose
You win
All hail Shadow
Heroes rise again
Obliterating everything
That's not your friend
Nothing can stop you now
No ghost to bring you down
When there's nothing left to lose
You win
Bow your heads low
All hail Shadow
Bow your heads low
All hail Shadow
All Hail Shadow by Magna-Fi
Author's Comments: It is done! After so long, it is finally done! This is the last ending I am writing for this game! I know what you are thinking "But Winter, what about the Last Story?" This was always just meant to be a rewrite of the non-cannon endings, because I felt they were horribly underdone. The true ending is fine the way it is. I hope you enjoyed this saga of endings and will read my other works, which I will be getting back to very soon.
Perhaps sooner, if someone out there is willing to collaborate with me on them. If you are interested, send me a message, I'll look over your work and let you know.
Until then, happy reading!