Chapter 1

Central City Museum, 2000

Shadow smoothed his hand over a pane of glass. Behind it was a newspaper cover, framed in polished wood and preserved. He glossed over the date, it was from the year 1950. Today was the 50 year anniversary of this headline. In big letters is read 'Terrorist Attack in Central City'. The details were in small letters, which Shadow didn't care to concentrate on. But, the name in the text stood out to him. Salvator Erizo. His eyes flashed a hint of emotion for a split second, but he quickly pushed his feelings back.

He stepped away from the frame and turned around to see others waiting to take a look. This reminded Shadow he was in a museum and surrounded by others, all humans. It made him feel sick to the stomach. He grit his teeth as he walked through the crowd, leaving the display. He glanced at the display in the centre of the room as he walked through the doors. The green Chaos Emerald shone there in all its glory.

"You'll be in my hands again soon enough," Shadow mumbled under his breath as he walked out of the doors, blending in with the swarms of people that left and entered. He looked up to the skies above as he left the shade of the building. He took in a deep breath, absorbing the fresh air around him. "It's been so long…" He glanced back into museum, before he held his head high and stepped forward.

"Freeze!"

Shadow looked to the side to see a security guard pointing a gun at him. He was stood beside a sign that held a pictogram of a short person with two triangle ears sticking out of the top of the head. This symbol had a big red circle and line through it. No sapients.

"Thought you could sneak in and out undetected, could you, Sapient?" he asked and walked towards Shadow, gun still pointed at him. The hedgehog continued to look at him coldly from the corner of his eye. "You're coming with me and we can have a nice chat until the police arrive."

Shadow rolled his eyes then looked forward, ignoring the human completely.

"I said freeze! Walk any further and I'll shoot!" the man yelled. Shadow smirked as he walked forward. There was a piercing shot, several people around ducked and yelped in fear. Shadow slowly turned to look at the guard, this time glowing red. The guard took a few steps back in fear.

BOOM!

Shadow stood looking down in the middle of a crater of destruction. The front of the building was taken out. The surviving people inside looked at Shadow, terrified. The hedgehog looked up and back at them with a smirk on his face. He lifted up his wrist and pressed a button on his communicator.

"Doctor, are you there?" he asked.

"Yes, Shadow. Have you retrieved the-"

"I may have blown my cover," Shadow said, smirk apparent in his voice. A deep sigh came from the other end. Sirens blared out from the distance, getting closer.

"Grab the Emerald and get out of there!"

"Alright," Shadow said and dropped his arm to his side again. He looked back into the building again. The people inside cowered even more, backing away from him in a shaking group of fear. Shadow felt like he was herding sheep as he walked into the crowded building. The herds of people twisted and changed shape as he walked between them. Like splitting the sea in two. "Like it should be," Shadow said smugly as he reached the display. He smashed the glass with one punch, then swiped the emerald. The sirens were very close now, just outside. Many police officers ran in with guns pointed.

"Freeze!"

Shadow smirked at them before he held the emerald above his head.

"Chaos Control!"

They shot but it was too late. With a flash, he was gone.

…

Central City, 1950

"This is too easy," a hedgehog said with a smirk. He was black all over with brown eyes.

"Are you sure this won't hurt a sapient, Salv?" said his accomplice who looked the same as the other hedgehog, but a dark grey instead.

BOOM!

The building several yards behind them went up in a ball of flames and crumbled to the floor.

"That's yet another building we weren't allowed to go into," said the darker creature. "So I'm pretty sure we only killed humans."

Sirens began blaring in the distance.

"Let's get out of here," said the accomplice and started running. The darker hedgehog didn't move, instead he got his guns out of his belt. The accomplice turned around. "You're not seriously going take them on, are you!?"

"Hmph. I'm the best at what I do!"

"Salvatore! Move it!" his accomplice said desperately. Salvatore just smirked and looked ahead at the emerging police cars. "Idiot! You're on your own with this!" He ran for it.

"Suit yourself. I'll take all of the glory-"

BANG!

Salvatore coughed blood over his furry white chest.

"No," he looked down in shock, a gun wound. He lifted up his hand to shoot back, he wouldn't go down without a fight. "This isn't over."

BANG!

Shot again. Salvatore dropped his guns and fell to his knees, clutching his stomach in pain. Red blood spilled onto his brown leather gloves.

"We got him!"

"Damn. I'm an idiot," Salvatore rasped as he felt himself go weak. He fell even further, his palms scraped against the rough concrete, saving his face from impact. He coughed again, splattering more crimson goo onto the floor.

Then he blacked out.

…

Space Colony ARK, 2001

Shadow faced the Commander on the ARK. The hedgehog had no clue of who this man was. Although, he wasn't entirely sure of who he himself was either. It was pretty obvious that this human in military uniform was not

"You killed everyone I knew and loved when you tried to destroy the ARK! Worst of all, my family! Finally, justice is served!"

BANG!

Shadow wasn't going down that easily. He teleported behind the Commander just in time.

"If what you say is true, then I'll respectfully accept my fate," Shadow said solemnly. From the information he'd already pieced together, the Commander's claims were pretty accurate.

"You mean to tell me that you really don't remember a thing?" the Commander asked.

Shadow nodded. It was true. All he knew was that he was older than his physical body looked, and that something horrible happened on the colony he was standing on. Then hedgehog sighed and began walking towards an exit. He needed more answers.

"I just need more time, uncover the real truth," he said sincerely.