[Peacemaker: Chapter 1]

Chapter 1: Dreams of Disasters

He woke in the dead of night. It wasn't unusual for him to do such a thing. Randomly his body would decide he'd enough rest to sustain him. He let out a small groan, sitting up. He opened his eyes, expecting the darkness of his single room apartment, but in it's place, sat a huge, gleaming jewel. He blinked, confused. Why in the world was he sitting in front of a giant green jewel? Had he suddenly moved in with Rouge and was bunking with her gem collection?

He glanced away from the jewel, looking around him. He was outside, sitting upon something cool and hard. He looked down, seeing beautiful marble floors, decorated with tiny flecks of jewels. His gaze trailed down, noticing a staircase, leading to a small grassy field. 'Where in the hell am I?' He thought.

The hedgehog sat up, blankets slipping off of his back. He heard waves lapping against land, and his gaze trailed upwards. It occurred to him then, that he was on Shrine Isle.

Questions began to fly at him faster than he could think. He sighed, pinching his muzzle, attempting to ward off a headache. Shadow collected himself, rising to his feet. He felt cool tile beneath his feet and noticed that his shoes and gloves had been practically tossed away. He collected his belongings; tugging his gloves over his hands and stepping into his Air Shoes. The familiar 'click' filled the air as his feet sunk into the cushiony sole.

And, as he did so, the idea of exploration came to his mind.

The Isle was dark, save for the gleaming jewel behind him which lit the immediate area behind him.

The altar was silent. Odd. He thought he would've heard some annoying Hero Chao singing or something. But he didn't. It was pure silence.

The hedgehog blinked, waking himself. He began to descend the steps of the Altar. His feet met the grass of the isle. He drew a Chaos Spear, allowing for some light to illuminate the area. He aimlessly walked the island, poised to strike if provoked. His crimson gaze floated to the stars, taking note of every constellation. He remembered his time on the ARK, his times of stargazing with Maria. He remembered staring down upon earth as she wondered what life was like down there.

He missed her, and he always would. Maybe, once he had finished this life, he would be able to join her once again.

"I didn't think you'd be awake."

He spun around to see a slender orange creature, her blue eyes wide and bright. She stood by the edge of the floating isle. A smile spread across her face. She was swaddled in a green blanket that trailed behind her.

"Shadow," She whispered as he doused his spear. He approached her, her touch meeting his arm. How does she know my name? He thought.

He could feel her ocean blue eyes fall upon his. Then, oddly enough, she clasped him against her chest, bodies curving together. She was much stronger than she looked. The hedgehog sharply exhaled as she rested her head against his patch of white fur.

"You've come to me." She murmured. "I thought the Gods would never answer my calls."

"How do you know my name?"

"You are Shadow the Hedgehog, aren't you?" She asked, her voice tender and soft. "The ultimate lifeform, born to rule all?"

He nodded. "Yes."

The hedgehog's gaze trekked down the echidnas. A sad smile curved into her lips as she shifted against his body. She didn't say a word.

He stayed silent as she began to move away from him. His eyes searched her face as her hand grazed his muzzle. She shut her eyes.

"How do you know my name? Where am I? Who are you?"

The hedgehog didn't answer as stared upon her. A few tears formed in her eyes.

The ground beneath them shook, the echidna remaining unmoved. His eyes flashed to the Altar of the Master Emerald, which began to crumble. One by one, each emerald that floated above the individual pillars began to disappear. The Master Emerald, the sole protector of Angel Island itself, shattered into a million pieces.

A blue liquidy creature rose from the water, roaring and growing in size. It turned into a great beast, descending into the sea below. Shadow's eyes flickered to the girl, who now held her hand on her heart. Tears ran down her muzzle as the hedgehog lunged at her. "Who are you?" He yelled.

The echidna teetered off the edge of the island. She remained unfazed by the fact that she had begun plummeting to her death. Shadow leapt after her, breathless. Her eyes shut, tears seeping out of them. A smile crossed her lips as she hit the water.

He attempted to kick on the air function on his shoes, but they locked up as if they'd broke. He smashed into the icy water, liquid filling his lungs. He landed, immobilized by shock. He pushed for the surface, his eyes frantically looking for any trace of her.

He felt himself being pushed downwards by an unknown force. He struggled to breathe, his lungs out of oxygen and filling with water. He scrambled to reach the surface, fighting whatever that was dragging him down. He looked back, seeing black hands clambering up his legs. He fought them, quickly growing weak. His eyes began to glaze over, his movements becoming lazy. He made one last swipe for the surface, before being dragged down to the sea's floor.

Voices began to scream in his ears. "Shadow?" They called.

"Agent Shadow?"

The ebony hedgehog grunted, nuzzling into the warmth of his arms. "Sir, I've been asked to relay orders,"

He felt someone gently shake his shoulder. He let out a groan, slowly sitting up. At his side stood a tall polar bear, her light green eyes practically bugging out of her skull. Her short fur fell in messy, unkempt waves. The agent wore the standard-issue GUN uniform: a navy blue pencil skirt and matching jacket; a white, short-sleeved blouse buttoned up to the neck; black penny loafers; and her proper identification card at the bottom of her blouse.

"I'm s-sorry to wa-wake you, sir." She stuttered, her voice soft.

How embarrassing... He thought. Falling asleep and waking up to some loser intern. I should've called in sick today.

Shadow only grunted at her as she cleared her throat, standing at attention and giving him the proper salute. "Commander Tower has asked me to relay the following message." She said, before searching through the papers in her hand. "Angel Island has fallen into the Mobian seas, and is now occupying a part of the Mystic Ruins Archeological Site in Station Square. Our forces have been stationed there-!"

"And Tower wants me to go and check it out?"

The agent looked surprised as he spoke. She nodded. "Yes, exactly."

Shadow frowned. "If you will, alert the Commander that I'm on my way."

"Y-Yes, sir!" She chirped, standing at attention once more. The polar bear quickly scampered out.

What the hell was I dreaming about? He thought, the image of the girl flashing into his mind again. I need time off to get my sleep schedule fixed... These all nighters proving to be a true detriment.

The idea of another mission made him want to shoot himself with his gun so that he wouldn't be bothered. His last mission was killer, and the one before that, and the one before that one too. GUN knew that he was bioengineered to be the ultimate lifeform, but they used him as if he was expendable. It seemed every mission he had been sent on had him dodging killer aliens, trashing Eggman's bots, assisting the Freedom Fighters, acting on highly sensitive cases, et cetera, et cetera. And it wasn't just missions, no. There was paperwork that had to be done for each mission. GUN just had to know every single tiny detail that went on in each one. You stepped on a bug? Make sure you write down the species, the size, what shoes you were wearing, the time, where you were...

Yes, he was the best of the best. And yes, he was available more than any other agent, but that didn't mean he was the only agent in the Field Work and Missions department! Of course, he needed less time to sleep, less food to eat and less water to drink, but he wasn't a robot! Hell, he'd been thrown out on more missions than Omega in the last week!

I wish we had sabbaticals… He thought himself. Regardless, I should get to Station Square before the Commander has my head.

The hedgehog rose, tilting his head from left to right, cracking his neck. He exhaled loudly before leaving his office.

He travelled down the hallway, keeping his head down. People didn't hate him here, but they didn't love him either. It was work - it's not a slumber party. You make nice with someone? Great, enjoy your bitch-buddy. Now just hope they don't get transferred to another base over in Adabat or Shamar.

Shadow? He didn't have friends. You could call them friends, but he saw them as accomplices. They were forced upon him, mainly for other missions, but regardless. They came in the form of a huge, hulking, walking arsenal that had every weapon and firearm you could think of inside it, and a curvaceous, slippery, sultry woman that could easily get under Shadow's skin.

"Oh, there you are, Shadsy. Didn't think I'd see you around here."

Speak of the devil, and she will come.

Rouge the Bat walked beside Shadow, heels clicking against the ground in perfect time with his steps. "Did ya hear about Angel Island?" He grunted.

"Fell into the sea. Guess Knucklehead hasn't been doing his job... Again." She said before smirking. She snuck a glance at the frowning hedgehog, her half-lidded gaze scanning him. "GUN's sending me to search for some shards. Something about distress in Station Square. Seems like that lil' town attracts more attention than the rest of the world."

"I'm sure the Guardian's furious..." Shadow said. "You know he'd rather die than lose the Emerald to you."

The bat's lips lost their smirk, an annoyed groan escaping her pouty lips. "Way to dampen the mood, Mr. Unsmiley. What's got you down? Bad Chaos breakfast burrito?"

He ignored the bat as he stopped in front of a guarded door. Two heavily amoured security guards stood at attention as the hedgehog waved them down. He produced his ID, Rouge eyeing him.

"Another mission?" She asked, surprised. "What's this, the fifth one this week?"

"Seventh." He muttered as she flashed her ID and a sexy smile to the guards. The door unlocked and the hedgehog and bat passed through. "They're sending me out like I'm a robot... I think they treat Omega better than me."

She laughed. "Well, he's currently destroying Eggman's base in Holoska. It's like his birthday and all holidays combined." She said as they stepped into safe.

Various important objects were held inside: the green Chaos Emerald, three drained Chaos Rings, parts of broken Gizoids, a Sol Emerald or two, even some fragments of the purple Super Emerald. Shadow was surprised that Rouge had been given clearance, considering that she had attempted to steal jewels from others on more than one occasion.

He scanned the all of boxes, his eyes falling upon one, labelled 'CHAOS EMERALDS'. He nabbed a key, opening the locked safe and pulling out the green emerald.

Rouge eyed the emerald, her eyes flashing towards him. "I heard Tower's got you investigating the island. Be a doll and keep your eyes open for any good lookin' jewels, will ya?"

Shadow huffed before raising the emerald in the air, eyes shutting.

"Shadow?"

His crimson eyes darted to her. The smile had vanished from her face, which had now grown serious. "Be careful, okay? Weird stuff tends to happen when the Master Emerald's MIA."

He met her eyes for a moment before raising his hand back into the air. "CHAOS, CONTROL!"

With a bright flash of light, the hedgehog disappeared, leaving the white bat alone in the safe. She smirked, looking around the room, her eyes darting to a safe marked CROWN JEWELS OF SPAGONIA. She stepped towards the safe, sighing happily before she pulled her hand away, stopping herself. She exited the safe, the vault locking loudly behind her.

A/N:

Knock knock it's Rora, unlike Penders I won't bore ya!

2013 called and it wants my shitty memes back.

As I said before in one of my one shots, I had a little story called Peacemaker in the works. And whaddya know, here it is! It's been in storage for a quite a bit, and it's near complete, so I'm going to bite the bullet and start posting it. Gosh, I'm excited. Why?

Okay, so all I've posted here has been one shots, right? Peacemaker isn't just like the others. It's got multiple chapters and right now it's at like 10+k? It's perhaps one of my biggest works in FanFiction, and by far, better than my previous attempts at longer writing. Wow I sound like a loser…

So what's it going to be like, update-wise? Well, I'm just going to update whenever I feel like it. Originally I wanted it all written so that I post daily or bi-weekly, but that's out the window because it's not complete yet and I'm tired of waiting! So it's going to go through an inconsistent update period, okay? Okay. (It's also because I'm currently writing a 50+k story about my and my friend's ocs in an AU, which is practically dominating my life ATM…)

Oh yeah, and it's Shadikal… My kryptonite ship… I love the dynamic of them, and plus, Tikal's one of my favourite characters in the universe! As well, it's specifically comic-canon, here. Post-SGW, for all my comic enthusiasts!

Thanks for reading~!