Shadaze: The Unforgiven

Chapter I - Genesis

"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than everyone else."

- Albert Einstein

A single, thin beam of light shines into a small, slightly underground chamber through a crack in the door. Several voices can be heard outside, each one menacingly bitter, growing louder as time elapses. The one inside could've been the last being on Mobius for all he knew, so, at the same time, they are rather surprising. Curiosity is high for the poor being, but capability is not, as starvation continues to embed itself upon him, weakening him like slow torture. Oh, how tables turn. How they make one unable to remember when he or she had simple things like food or clean air. When things were right. The exaggerated creak of the door opening suddenly fills the space, along with the now unmuffled voices. The crack of dim light erupts into full-blown disgrace, symbolizing hope but reassuring reality. For, beyond it, lie the barren wastelands that have become of the world.

It spread like a wildfire. Taking everything in its path. Demolishing lives and stretching possibility. Very few at this point are still alive; or at least, that's what has been assumed. It's hard to think of a king suddenly being dethroned and sentenced to work for his kingdom's peasants, but Shadow The Hedgehog, motionless, with only a wild stare indicating his consciousness, is feeling what it's like to be humiliated. To be powerless. That is, in his mind, the ultimate form of embarrassment. When controlling one's own destiny is not possible, because that one is not in his or her right mind. But leaving is not the practical decision when death is certain outside.

Two masked, brooding figures emerge, momentarily shielding the ebony hedgehog from the corroded world. Footsteps echo in the empty darkness as Shadow anticipates, only to find he is too fragile to do anything, and begins hyperventilating in his attempts to move. The figures come upon the skeleton, in all his weakness, and look at one another before nodding.

"We got a live one!"

The one on the left approaches, bends over, and takes Shadow carefully in his arms. His gaunt body quivers upon touch, and suddenly he feels an odd cross between relief and fear. The figure then carries him out into the open, and no matter how hard our protagonist tries, he can't seem to close his eyes and shield himself from what has become of his home.

Shadow thinks something terrible, wincing as he buries his head further into the figure's suit. He tries to say something to spite the whole situation, but can only mumble and moan. He wiggles a bit, and tries to grab his holder's tie, but is quickly shifted the other way. Knowing he's in trouble now, the hedgehog frantically kicks, and somehow manages to worm his way out of the figure's arms. Now face-down in the dirt, he growls, and starts to crawl away. Not to anywhere, just away. Inch by inch. Several other figures have joined now, all attired the same, all laughing hysterically at Shadow's glaring struggle.

"Ah, just end it." One of them says, indifferently.

Shadow continues to pull himself forward, but is suddenly stopped by a foot dropping like a boulder onto his ankle, snapping it in two. He tries to scream, but can't, as his body simply won't allow him to. Every ounce of energy, and it was merely an ounce to begin with, has already been used. He lets out a high-pitched whimper as more laughter erupts from the crowd behind. A sudden sharp pain ignites his senses; a needle is driven into his spine, and a substance is injected. The dark curtains of isolation finally creep together, sealing Shadow off from the holocaust.

Oh, what destruction. What slaughter. The tinted shadows of corruption have dawned their wickedness over Mobius. They have relentlessly sucked the life from everything that had it, and yet it seems that they want more. They need more. It's truly amazing, the greed of some. Possibly more fantastic, the lengths some will go to in order to satisfy the sick sense. This is but the expected outcome of their wishes.

The same black-and-red hedgehog sits alone in a small bedroom, his back against one wall, staring blankly at the one running parallel to it. Legs crossed and hands placed gently on his knees, he meditates at this moment, trying desperately to prevent his mind from drifting to where it needn't be. Everything around him is white. The uniform he wears is white. The life he lives is white. Purified as if one blemish would bring life back to the way it was before the incident, which, according to popular opinion, might as well have been as horrific as the incident itself when compared to life now. The hedgehog remains in this neutral position pondering these things, not trying to draw any conclusions from them, for conclusions are blemishes. If he does find himself interpreting his ideas, he'll stand up and pace around the room, in hope that movement might throw his concentration off balance. He knows he shouldn't have these thoughts. Curiosity is without a doubt a fault of his, but when there's so much left to question, it's difficult to be passive. A siren sounds off in the distance, and suddenly what seems like a million footsteps are heard just outside the door. Each set of prints plant and release, clicking against the floor until the crowd passes in favor of its rightful place. Several moments pass before there is another disturbance: three knocks at the door.

"You in there, Shadz? It's lunchtime!" A happy-go-lucky voice calls.

The ebony one closes his eyes, and sighs in a perturbed manner. "I heard the bell, Sonic."

"So c'mon! You gotta' eat, don't ya'?"

A few seconds later, the door is unlatched, and Shadow steps outside to greet his irritant. The blue hedgehog that waits for him sports a smile that seems to stretch across the hallway, only adding to the ebony one's headache. Still, however, he sees no alternative at the moment, and decides to walk alongside him. Two sets of legs covered by white pants and two pairs of feet in white shoes trudging along the white floor.

In short, Sonic and Shadow are anything but two peas in a pod. Whatever brought the two together has remained a mystery, but it is believed that Sonic did most of the talking when they first met. His persistence is possibly the one and only thing that binds them, other than the occasional intelligent conversation every other blue moon. Still, Shadow, normally a loner, and obviously the one with one foot outside the ring of the relationship, plays the role of the yin to his yang, speaking metaphorically. Something about the friendship, alliance, whatever one may call it, entices the ebony one just enough to not devise an immoral end to it. The contrast is so great, in fact, that they have been able to figure every little detail of one another out in a considerably short amount of time. One might be led to believe that they had actually known one another before the incident, but should one ever inquire about the theory, they would swear it false. They would simply swear if asked whether or not brotherhood ties them.

"So, what's up?" Blue finally asks, adding nonexistent color to the situation. "You look a little down."

Shadow keeps his eyes ahead, "It's nothing. I've just... Been thinking, is all."

Sonic laughs to himself, "About what? Your social life? Heheh... That'd make me sad, too..."

"Mature."

They reach the end of the hallway, which leads into the large and open cafeteria. Rows of white tables fill the center of the room, each one surrounded by others in the same white shirt, pants, and shoes. The preciseness of everyone almost gives off a sense of being surrounded. No one would ever guess there's only around three hundred left. Sonic and Shadow walk along the outskirts of the area, and soon come to their lunch line.

"Ah, c'mon... You know it's true." The lighter hedgehog gives a small punch, resulting in an eye roll. The line moves, and now Sonic approaches a female echidna standing at the end of it in front of a computer. He holds his wrist out underneath a scanner until it beeps, and then the lady proceeds to navigate her eyes across the screen.

"Let's see..." She says, "Hello, Mr. Sonic. Your allowed meal for today'll be two Class A's and two Class B's."

Blue pouts, "Aw... No dessert today?"

The girl smirks, "Now, now... You know what happened last time..."

"Ah, fine." Sonic sighs, and walks forward to the buffet.

Shadow brings his own wrist to his face, and squints at the tiny number line imprinted like a tattoo across it. It reads 'C-8003', meaning that his bedroom is in the C-wing of the complex, and that he was only the third one brought to Sanctuary after the D.O.N. was released. The eight stands for new, everlasting life. He places these defining symbols under the scanner.

The girl smiles. "Hey, Shadow... Let's see here... Two A's, a B, and a C, sweetie."

Ebony walks forward, and picks out two drumsticks, a scoop of corn, and a slice of cheesecake. A green-tinted drink is handed to him as he makes his way over to where Sonic is sitting. Off to the right of them, in an open room, a crowd of people are gathered around a blue cat-boy with a visor on his head, who swings and kicks atop a pedestal as if in combat. Everyone stares at a large screen above, seeing what the boy sees. Shadow, while content with his distance from the scene, takes interest in it.

On the screen, some sort of large automaton is depicted creeping through a seemingly deserted city, a dense fog impairing sight as much as darkening the scene. Crumbled, aged buildings line the streets, each one seemingly empty, but one can never be too tedious. For that reason, the robot enters one after the other, searching for some sign of life. What it will do with said life remains to be seen. The HUD on the corners of the screen tells the score of the session, about twenty thousand, and the health of the player, completely full at the moment. Inside one of the houses, in a dark room, the figure comes upon a locked chest at the end of a tattered bed. It breaks the latch, and opens the box to find several cases of ammunition. This appears to peak the interest of the bot, who begins to search every inch of the place. The guns are later found in the basement of the building, hanging on the walls, almost in an inviting way.

"Oh, jackpot!" Cries the crowd behind the boy.

The screen shows the player taking everything he can hold, and sprinting out to the empty streets.

Sonic speaks through the food in his mouth, nudging his friend. "So what's your high score?"

"Never played."

"What? What do you mean never played?" Sonic asks, slightly dumbfounded.

"I mean..." Shadow replies, "I don't have any interest in taking part in silly games. My pastime consists of peace and quiet, and that is all."

Back on the screen, the robot has made its way to a small shack, presumably populated, a little ways from the gun-house. The assumption becomes reality when the gamer approaches a small figure sleeping on the ground, and the whole scene suddenly gives off the feeling of a sly smirk. It places its weapon on its back, crouches, and, as the gamer makes a swift movement with his arms, snaps the snoozing one's neck. Points appear on the screen for a moment, and are then added to the total. The player sprints back out to the streets.

Momentum pumping, the cyborg draws its gun, ready to strike again. However, a sudden dark feeling arises when a silhouette of a figure is seen off in the distance in the player's peripheral vision, standing under some trees. The crowd gasps, and before the player can react, a sort of whizzing sound dominates all senses, and the automaton begins to slowly fall over like a large tree. The screen darkens, and the infamous 'game over' sign appears next to the gamer's final score.

"Err!" The boy throws his helmet, and stomps his foot. "I hate that guy!"

Sonic chuckles, and turns back to his food. "Aw, poor kid. Could've milked that hideout forever."

Ebony glances back at the dispersing crowd, and shakes his head. "I just don't see the pull in it."

"So what do you do, then?" Sonic asks, in all seriousness.

Shadow pauses for a few moments, and then stares into his eyes. "I know your game, Sonic. You try to crack me. I'm not an open person."

Blue smirks, "Yeah, I know. You're like a serial killer."

Suddenly, their attention turns to several figures in white aprons walking down the rows of tables, pushing carts with syringes laid out on them. They stop at each individual for a moment and give them a chance to settle down before injecting a substance, throwing the needle away, and continuing on pushing the cart down the line.

Sonic groans, "Again? Seriously? Didn't we just-?"

"Oh, stop whining." Shadow interrupts. "It's not that bad." His bravado is short-lived, however, as two nurses approach Sonic and him simultaneously. He nods, and his stomach drops as the long needle is drawn. Shadow winces as it is slid up into a vein in his wrist, and remains there until all is displaced into his bloodstream. The nurse quickly removes the syringe, places a band-aid over the insertion point, and, without a word, is on her way.

The cobalt one rubs at his wrist, "Gah... Good God. That one left a sting." He fixes his eyes on his friend, "This is getting ridiculous."

The darker one looks at the bandage, and then to the nurse, now across the room. "I know. They're coming more often." He sighs, "You'd think it's trying to wear off."

Sonic shrugs, "Well... You know Him. Can never be too careful."

"I know." Shadow looks around again, and leans in for a whisper. "I just... I was actually just thinking about all that. All this, I mean. It all seems a little..." He pauses, and his eyes widen. He drops his gaze, and stares off into a fantasy. "Just-just a little..." He clutches his head, wincing, trying to resist whatever has overcome him. Finally, he slams his fist on the table, and screams. After a dreadful silence, a tightness forms in the ebony one's chest, and he quickly stands and turns away, leaving Sonic absolutely dazed.

Shadow paces himself back to his room, careful to not look different from those around him. He keeps his mouth tightly shut the whole way, restraining himself, until his door is quietly shut behind him. Breathing heavily, he falls to the floor, crawls over to the far wall, and sits against it. He pulls off his shirt and brings his hands to his face, focusing on nothing but getting through the moment. Sweat pours off his face and rolls down his chest, completely soaking the white patch of fur on it. He stands, using the foot of the bed to support himself, and remains still for a few moments with a feeling of weightlessness in his head. After regaining his balance, he makes his way over to his nightstand, where a bottle of water sits. The hedgehog snatches it and takes a quick gulp, hoping that dehydration is the problem. On the contrary, the tightness shoots up to his throat as the liquid is making its way down, and the inevitable is now upon him. He runs to the bathroom and leans over the toilet, where he vomits everything he ate. The release is relieving but daunting, as he is not familiar to the situation. Quivering, he grabs a few tissues, and wipes away the remains on his mouth before flushing away any trace of the scene.

The hedgehog plops onto his bed and grabs his forehead, swearing. His breathing finally slows down after a few moments, and soon he almost feels at ease. He reaches over and takes another sip of his water, trying to wash the taste out of his mouth. He lays for a while, watching the door as if an intruder will come if he takes his eyes off it. Now that he's mostly in his right mind, he curses himself and, for that matter, everything about the world. He stands, and plants his palms on the white wall next to the bathroom, trying to decipher what actually just happened to him.

A knock sounds at his door again, "Shadow? You okay?"

"Y-yeah... I'm fine." He hesitates, "Just get in here."

Sonic enters, and immediately shoots a questioning glance at the situation.

"Lock the door." Shadow says, turning and sliding down the wall to the floor. The blue one does so, and sits down, legs crossed, a few feet in front of the other hedgehog. After few painful moments of silence, and after it is made sure that no threat is present, the darker hedgehog whispers, "I... I had a vision..."

"A vision? What? Why are we whispering? Why's your shirt off?"

"Sh! Pipe down!" He snaps, "I don't want anyone to hear this!" Shadow adjusts himself, and starts again. "I just got done puking my guts up, and these shirts are tight as hell. I had a vision. I... I don't know what it was... But my mind just went blank. I saw nothing but... But me... I can't even remember what it was about." He draws closer to his confidant, "But, I think it was trying to tell me something..."

Sonic keeps a straight face for as long as he can before exploding with laughter. "Wh-what?!" He clutches his gut, "Do you hear yourself?"

"Shhhh! What part of 'pipe down' don't you get?!"

"Shadow, this is crazy, and you know it." Sonic replies, "Why do you always have to find some sort of meaning behind everything? Just accept what happened, and move on. It's okay! They're all gone now! What do you worry about so much?" Several moments pass without an answer. "The vision... It's probably just a side-effect from the injection. I think you should be more worried about throwing up. Do you want me to go get a nurse, or-?"

"No!" Shadow suddenly intervenes. He then settles down, aware of his own excitement. "Nobody can know about this..."

The blue one's blank stare followed by a chuckle pulls the emergency brake on the conversation. He shakes his head, "Okay. Whatever you say, buddy." He stands, and heads for the door.

Ebony pursues him, and halts him with an extended hand. "Seriously..." He grabs Sonic's shoulders, and looks into his eyes with the most serious face. "This never happened."

For the slightest moment, Sonic sees the barbarous nature of Shadow's gaze. The blue one sees the concern, and almost becomes concerned himself, but ends up smiling and shrugging the feeling off. He makes a zipper motion with his fingers and his lips, "You have my word." With that, he leaves Shadow in the emptiness of the room, the bright light on the ceiling beaming down, exponentially magnifying the white around him. The hedgehog takes a few steps, and sits in the middle of the blankness, his knees on his chin. He rocks slowly to and fro, trying desperately not to think, trapped in his own paradise, his own silence.

Underneath it all, several rooms all used for the same purpose make up base of the complex. The one in the center is the largest, and, as always, the most populated. Inside it, small desks are linked together to make a large circle in the middle of the room, and more line the walls. Each one plays host to a worker, who works diligently and hastily on his or her given task. These workers are like seeds to a watermelon; plentiful, but necessary. They carry the workload of the Sanctuary, and never miss an irregular heartbeat in doing so.

The bright glow of a computer shines on the face of a man in the darkness of the room, reflecting in his glasses. He comes upon something, and leans back in his chair. "It seems there's been a disturbance, sir, with one of the citizen's bodies." He calls.

Moments later, a black silhouette appears behind him. "A disturbance? With whom?"

The man does some scanning, "Uh, Citizen Double-O-Three, sir."

"I need a name, son."

One click later, a profile is pulled up on the screen. "Shadow The Hedgehog, sir."

"Ah, Shadow..." A white smile becomes visible, and then fades. "That's... Odd... He's one of the only-" The figure pauses, and leans forward to take a closer look at the screen. "Do we know what sort of disturbance?"

"No, sir..." The man nervously says, looking over his information once more. "It appears that connection was disrupted before anything could be downloaded."

The hidden figure stands upright again, and ponders. "Hmph..." He strokes his cheek, "It's probably nothing major." He begins to turn and walk away, but catches himself before he's out of earshot. "Let's just keep an extra eye on him... Just in case."

The man nods, and proceeds to tap away at his keyboard, each tick adding to the millions of ticks around him that fill the silence of the room, add individual lights to the darkness, and carry hundreds of stories through the walls.

Shadow has tossed and turned all through the night. Not that it's anything new; most nights, in fact, he decides to forego sleep simply to deal with his inner turmoil. He quickly decides that it had been a horrid plan to try and rest his eyes on this particular night, as it's almost painful to him to lie down. Thought is a curse, not a blessing, and currently it feels like little knives are being driven into his skull with each subject matter that passes through his mind. Memories haunt him, and each time he attempts to make something of his past, he comes upon a new realization that further provokes his brain, and he becomes severely confused. Finally, after hours of keeping his eyes closed and lying to himself that he's asleep, Shadow jerks up, and runs his hands over his face. He pulls at the torso of his shirt, as he once again feels sealed inside it. He sees the door to his right, but in the same moment feels a sudden heaviness dawn on him that prevents movement. He knows that it's locked from the outside, anyways. He's tried before. It will stay locked until daylight, just as it always has. Sometimes, he longs for the stars. He never realized how easy it might be to forget what they look like. Stars symbolize hope. If one can simply look up after sunset and clearly see these things that are trillions of lightyears away, who knows what's possible?

Ah, hope. The very motive of one's existence. Hope can be many different things to many different people - it can be a celebration, a painkiller, or maybe, even, if used in the past tense, an annoyance. Shadow The Hedgehog would never admit it, but he used to, in some distant past before his world caved in, hope for love. The companionship of another absolutely fascinated him; two souls bound together through thick and thin, no matter the circumstances. How it could even be possible! He's always been a thinker, but every time he tries to consider the question, something pulls him away. As if his mind prefers that it remains a mystery to him. He's truly not sure if he even wants to know anymore. With his newfound callous nature, even if an opportunity would present itself to him to reveal an answer to it all, he'd be sure to miss it. Not that it would matter anyway, given his current position.

But it's been a while for him. It's like there is no more hope; like this is all his life will ever be. Surrounded by empty space. Sometimes, when he's sure no one could possibly read his mind if they were capable of doing so (moments like this, in fact), he ponders if all this is worth living forever. Or if, in fact, survival in the first place was worth it. Sometimes, he curses Zizan and everything they did, because, well, they did everything. That disease. Disease Of Nothing. Named after what was left behind after the virus had made its rounds. It's still out there. Still lurking in the air. Shadow cringes, and shuts his eyes tight at the thought of it.

"I guess I never really had a choice in the matter..." He mumbles to himself, turning over again. After contemplating the situation as a whole for another half-hour or so, he decides, for the moment, that the worst case scenario is far behind him, and that the alternative fate chose for him should be accepted gratefully. Still, he knows that his complacency will not last for long. Soon enough, he will be up, pacing around the room again, fearful of what evils might enter his mind next. He knowingly, yet unwillingly, allows the thoughts to weight his eyelids, forcing him over the bridge from thoughtful, blemished reality to deep, narrow slumber.

(( A/N: What's up peoples?:D Welcome to my newest fic! I've been planning and planning its debut since... Oh, January or so, (I wish I was kidding...) so I'm very excited about this! I hope it turned out alright.;)

First off, let me just say, to those who don't already know, that I'm planning on making this fic GREAT. Like, really good. Or, at least... I'm trying to.X,D That's my main motivation for writing it, at least. You all know I'm never confident about my writing, but this is simply the best story idea I've ever come up with. Period.:p

I'm not saying that I'm only writing this for glory... But... Uh, that would sure be nice.X3 So, if ya' like this story and think it's awesome, tell some friends! Spread the word! Tweet it, hashtag it, take a selfie with it, go crazy!XD Because this is gonna' be good, I promise. And, uh... It kinda' took six months of me going ultra-perfectionist to write the first chapter... So I could use some motivation!XP

So send those reviews in, PM me, do whatever you like, and tell me what you think. Of course, that includes criticism, complaints, flames, the whole nine yards. I want this to be the best possible experience for you guys, so never hesitate to tell me what I can improve on, m'kay? Together, we can make this amazing!;D

So, uh, yeah! This'll be my first Shadaze fic!:D Yes, I normally bleed Silvaze, but I don't hate the couple, and they definitely fit the plot line best.X) I'm looking forward to it. Should be interesting.;3

This is actually going to end up being more canon than you think, but... Ya' know.X,)

Updates are going to come as often as I can make them...:/

Hmm... I think that about does it for me! I hope you all enjoy!

Thanks for reading! Love you all! ))