Another Side, Another Story

Prologue:

Space Colony ARK.

A triumph of science and technology. The first ever space-borne habitat, home to several hundred humans and sapients, home to the most advanced scientific research post ever devised.

In one world, the ARK was shut down after a panic was raised over the 'dangerous' experiments being performed on the massive space station. Specifically the research dedicated to the manipulation of chaos-based energy and its affects on compromised immune systems - also known as Project Shadow. Soldiers were sent up to the colony to 'secure' the project, but orders were misinterpreted, the soldiers were over-zealous and most of the people on the colony were slaughtered - except Professor Gerald Robotnik and the being known as Shadow the Hedgehog.

But in another world, something quite different happened…

--

Chapter One

The sun was shining brightly on the chequered pathway that lead out of Emerald Hill and towards Green Hill. A figure was moving rapidly down the road, throwing up a cloud of dust and leaving a glowing trail behind him as he shot forwards at just over seven hundred miles per hour.

A watch-like communicator on his wrist beeped shrilly, and he lifted his wrist to answer the call, slowing down as he did so he stood a chance of being heard over the rushing wind.

"Shadow here." He said into the device.

"Shadow, it's Maria," A female voice said, still sounding warm and gentle despite being slightly roughened by age, "The rescue teams are all assembled and the medical camp is all set up, you're the last one we're waiting for."

"White Acropolis is a long way from Green Hill, Maria," He said with exaggerated patience, "I got here as fast as I could, considering GUN has my Chaos Emeralds right now."

That earned him a light chuckle, though there was limited humour in it, "I'm guessing you're nearly here, then."

"Yes," He replied before hesitating slightly, "Are the press there?" He asked cautiously.

"Shadow, it's a major disaster, of course the press are here - but just the three major news channels so far."

"Damn." He muttered under his breath.

"If it makes you feel any better, we already commandeered their helicopters to help with the relief effort."

"It does, actually." He replied with a smirk, "I'll be with you in a few seconds, Shadow out."

With that, Shadow the Hedgehog, the somewhat reluctant Mobian hero, accelerated again towards the flood-stricken area that was Green Hill Zone.

--

The Zone was a complete mess. Most of the zone was still under four feet of water, and even in the rolling hillside areas the Zone was named for, large pools of standing water slowly turned stagnant under the warm summer sunshine. A thick layer of sand and silt covered almost everything, testament to the strength of the tidal wave that had washed over the once-peaceful Zone. The stink of saltwater, seaweed and rotting fish was everywhere, hanging over the zone like a miasma.

Perched atop the highest point in the zone a large encampment had been set up, the white canvas tents almost gleaming in the sun contrasting against the dark GUN emblem painted on their sides.

Shadow arrived at the gates of the camp and was calmly waved through by the GUN soldiers patrolling the perimeter. He noted with mild amusement that the press had been rather tightly corralled into one small area of the encampment, looking quite sulky as their helicopters buzzed over head doing aerial reconnaissance runs, looking for survivors.

Glancing around briefly, he took in the mood of the camp. Immediately he felt something was wrong. There were several groups of shell-shocked adults, either standing in groups of pairs, some clinging desperately to each other, others slumped bonelessly on the floor with looks of blank shock on their faces… but there were hardly any children. Turning on his heel, he ignored the journalists and the assorted junior GUN personnel trying to get his attention and made a beeline for the medical tent.

The medical tent was busy, many of the beds were occupied with sick or injured Mobians as nurses and volunteer doctors rushed back and forth, attempting to help them all - but once again, hardly any children.

"Maria," he called, just loud enough to be heard over the racket inside the tent.

An older woman in a GUN doctor's insignia turned to him and smiled. As usual, Shadow couldn't help but smile when he saw her. She was older now, of course, and silver streaks now mingled with her golden blonde hair, but her eyes were still as lively and intelligent as ever and to him, she was still the beautiful best friend he had met fifty years ago.

"Shadow!" She smiled at him, moving towards him through the junior doctors who stepped politely aside for her, "You're here at last." Then she took in his expression, "What's wrong?"

He looked up at her, his red eyes troubled, "Where are all the children, Maria?" He asked in a soft tone that only she would be able to hear.

Her eyes clouded for a moment, "The major part of Green Hill village is located on the crest of the hills so most of the adults were safe from the worst of it, but… the school was in the valley near the beach."

He stiffened, hands curling into fists, "I'm going out there." He said abruptly, turning to leave.

"Shadow…" Maria said softly. He swivelled an ear backward to listen and felt a gentle hand on his shoulder as he soft voice said "Be careful and good luck."

He nodded, struggling to keep his face impassive as he went to go find someone to act as his spotter while he headed out into the flood waters.

--

Minutes later, Shadow was leaping agilely from rock to rock as he searched through one of the most heavily flooded areas of the Zone. According to the projections of the environmental scientist he had spoken to, the current would most likely have swept the unfortunate students of the local school to this area, so he and his erstwhile 'partner' were scouring the area. His partner in this instance was an albino bat named Rouge. She hardly seemed old enough to be working for GUN, but since she had the advantage of being able to fly and therefore carry him over any obstacles he couldn't jump or skate around, Shadow couldn't really bring himself to object.

The water beneath his feet made a hissing noise as the jets built into his shoes caused it to instantly evaporate as he skated over another enormous puddle. This area was rocky, the surface uneven and the cliffs around them and ground beneath him riddled with caves - most of which were now flooded, of course, but since not all the caves were flooded out, they would be worth checking. He frowned as he reached the entrance to the cave he had been aiming for and peered inside. Shadow inhaled sharply as he saw a shape moving in the back of the cave.

"Rouge, I've got something." He said quietly into his communicator as he moved to investigate.

As he moved out of the warm sunshine into the chill gloom of the cave, he once again saw something move. His eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light and he realised that he was looking at another hedgehog.

The hedgehog was soaking wet, water dripping slowly off the sharp quills as he lay on the cave floor, curled up and shivering with cold, pain and shock. He - Shadow was certain it was male, even in this light - was also somewhere in early adolescence, perhaps thirteen years of age at most, he couldn't tell what colour the quills were in this light, but they were a fairly dark shade - possibly dark green or blue.

"Hey," Shadow said softly, moving slowly and deliberately so not to startle the obviously frightened hedgehog.

The younger hedgehog flinched, uncurling very slowly.

"It's all right," Shadow said soothingly, "My name's Shadow, can you tell me yours?"

The hedgehog uncurled a little more and hesitantly opened his eyes, Shadow blinked, startled as he encountered a vivid green stare, the bright jade colour visible even in the gloom of the cave.

"I'm Sonic," The green-eyed hedgehog said cautiously, "Are you really Shadow the Hedgehog?"

Shadow smiled slightly, "Yes, I am. I'm here to take you someplace safe."

The younger hedgehog, Sonic, grinned suddenly, "Cool. I get to be rescued by a real hero."

"I suppose so." Shadow said evenly, trying to control his embarrassment. He had never handled hero-worship particularly well. "Come on," He said, offering one white-gloved hand, "Lets get out of here and back to the camp so you can get dried off and cleaned up.

Sonic smiled and reached out the take Shadow's offered hand.

And when he did, the powerful feeling of Sonic's Chaos aura almost knocked Shadow onto his backside.

Author's notes: I'm not sure how, but I suspect this is the fault of either Greyfore or Taranea. Like I didn't have enough on my plate. There might be more of this at some point, depending on what people think and how I feel, but I wanna finish 'Hold On' first, at least.