"It was a month before the Doctor took over the world.

The first time I encountered HIM."

Shadow was crouched down on one knee on top of a large hill that looked over the rather large city of Green Hill City, owned by the world's smallest country, the South Island Republic. Suddenly his communicator went off and he brought it up to his mouth, once he turned it on the voice of Rouge the Bat came through it "Shadow, we've got a report from the Intelligence Division. They've located an unknown base of operations that seems to be totally outside the chain of command for Eggman's army. There's a large scale troop presence, suspiciously large for a place with no strategic value."

Shadow stood up off of the ground "I can't imagine the Doctor would do something like that without reason."

Rouge chuckled on the other side "No kidding. And there's a rumor going around that ol' rotten Eggman has been developing some kind of new weapon, so..."

He nodded "Yeah, looks like this won't be your garden variety recon mission."

She grinned on her end "Do it, to it Shadow. Omega was sent on ahead of you, so you can link up on-site."

He rolled his eyes "I'm more than enough on my own. I'll handle things, my way."

She sighed "Omega said the same thing. You two go together like chilly and hot dogs!"

He rolled his eyes and shook his head "Cut the chatter. I'm on my way."

He then turned off his communicator and set it down on a tree stump next to him before a hand held unit gave him the location of the base he would be heading to. Shadow skated down the hill heading towards Eggman's mysteriously over maned base in Green Hill Zone. As he began to skate across the Red Gate Bridge robots suddenly appeared in front of him, luckily Shadow effortlessly took them out before rocketing off deep into the rest of the city. He rocketed past a bakery and various other shops as Buzz Bombers flew over head and tried to attack him from the air, but Shadow was able to quickly leap up into the air and Homing Attacked through all of them at almost the same time, once he landed on the ground he continued to skate forwards.

As he skated into the city Rouge suddenly came over a communicator earpiece "That area is enemy territory, but I know you don't care about that, so I guess, keep going Shadow!"

He nodded "Got it."

Right as he entered, the civilians of the city all watched as Shadow skated by, some were shocked to see him, others didn't pay much attention, but then Eggman's newest versions of the Egg Pawns suddenly appeared in front of him. He jumped up into the air and kicked the lead Pawn's head in, the other robots began to fire at Shadow but the black and red Hedgehog lunged at them and effortlessly took them out, he then continued onward heading deeper into the city, in front of him an entire legion of robots came into view "Heh, how amusing.. They think that they can stop me."

Shadow then hopped off of the ground slightly and used his rocket skate shoes to boost towards the robots, he crashed right through the robots and he used his momentum to leap up into the air where he then landed on top of a building and began to jump from roof to roof. Meanwhile, inside of Eggman's pyramid base in Green Hill Zone. Egg Pawns exploded into fiery infernos that sent metal flying through the air, the cause of those explosions, was none other than E-123 Omega. He aimed his gatling gun hands at the Pawns in front of them and filled then with bullet after bullet, and at the same time, the humans soldiers that had been sent along side Omega cowered behind the walking arsenal as it desecrated Eggman's robots. But, the sounds of the explosions and gun fire could be heard by Rouge through Omega's built in radio "This is an infiltration mission Omega! Stealth! We have no idea what kind of weapons Eggman has hidden in there."

Omega returned his right hand to normal before grabbing onto an Egg Pawn that had try to sneak up on him. He then through the Pawn up into the air, and as he raised his right arm up he said "There is no risk. All Eggman machines will be eliminated!"

A panel in his forearm then opened up and a missile then fired out of it. When the missile hit the robot in the air, they both exploded as Rouge said "Shadow will join you shortly. Just... Try not to cause any problems before that."

Omega used his back thrusters to lift himself up into the air and various panels opened up on his body, at the same time, the base's sirens began to go off, and Omega said "I am more than sufficient on my own. Initiating mission."

Rouge sighed "He's hopeless."

Meanwhile, deep in the base. Orbot hovered over to Doctor Eggman and said to him "It appears we are under attack boss."

Eggman quickly spun around and reared his foot back to kick Orbot as he said "Really? YOU THINK!?"

He then kicked Orbot to the other end of the room before turning back around and looking at a security monitor that was attached to the wall. On that monitor it showed Omega jump up into the air using his back thrusters, and once he was high enough off of the ground, several panels all over his body opened up and missiles fired out of all of them. Completely obliterating any robots that stood underneath Omega, that sight caused Eggman to say "Fool! So he thinks he can just waltz in here alone, does he?"

As Orbot picked itself up off of the ground it said to itself "I thought Omega was accompanied by a group of human soldiers?"

But then suddenly, a unique boot slammed down onto the ground in front of Orbot, which caused the robotic assistant to cower away from the figure the foot, boot, and leg belonged to. At the same time Eggman glanced over his shoulder and said "Front and center! It's time to put your powers to the test!"

The figure chuckled as it came into Eggman's view "Heh... I got this."

A red aura then surrounded the figure before it lifted itself up off of the ground and flew out of the room. As the figure left, Eggman mumbled to himself "You better."

Back in the city, Shadow landed on the streets again and began to skate forwards. Nebulas flew over head and attempted to drop bombs on Shadow's head, but he quickly jumped off of the ground slightly and spun around in the air so he could throw several Chaos Spears at the flying robots over his head. Once he landed on the ground again he rocketed forwards as Omega came over his communicator "E-123 Omega here. Extermination proceeding without incident, no problems to report."

Shadow could hear Rouge practically shoot up in the chair she was apparently sitting in "Extermination?! This is supposed to be a recon mission! You can't go making a big scene!"

Shadow sighed "You should've known better than to send Omega on an op like this."

He then began to skate out of the city and into Green Hill Zone getting closer to the base now. But back at the base, Omega used his cannon hands to blast down a door before running to a large room, that had a tall roof, and filled with row after row of data terminals. The metal walls also had blue glowing designs stretching all along them, Omega ran down one of the rows when suddenly he heard a strange sound over his head. He came to a stop as a strange black figure with a red aura lowered down in the air, as it did Omega said "New enemy detected. Combat ID unknown."

He turned his left hand into a gatling gun and aimed it at the figure as he said "Mission objective: Defeat Eggman. All other obstacles will be eliminated!"

The figure chuckled "Heh... You are spirited I'll give you that. Very well, my new power will be the last thing you see!"

Omega's gatling gun began to rev up, when suddenly a strange energy pulse came off of the figure that turned Omega's vision bright red, and the only thing he could still make out was the figure. Who was now actually pitch black and surrounded by a bright red void. Shadow came to a stop on top of a cliff that faced the front of the pyramid base, at the same time Omega's distorted voice came over his and Rouge's communicators "Unknown hostile encountered! Rouge come in! Position coordinates lost! Current location unknown!"

Rouge then yelled out "Omega!? What's going on?! RESPOND!"

There was nothing, just static, and what sounded like distant cackling. Rouge slammed her hand down on the table in front of her before yelling out an order to Shadow "I've lost Omega's signal! Shadow, head to his last known location and provide support!"

Shadow quickly jumped off of the cliff as he said "Already on it."

He huffed to himself as he said "So much for recon."

He then skated towards the entrance of the base as Omega came over the close range signal of the communicator "This is E-123 Omega. All sensors offline. Damage to parietal lobe region. Causality report: Rouge, fallen. Shadow, to be eliminated!"

Shadow entered into the base and began to skate past piles of metal debris heading towards Omega's last location, at the same time he said "Omega, what happened!? What's going on over there!?"

"Unidentified system intrusion. Emergency withdrawal! I am E-123 Omega, the most powerful!.."

Shadow drifted around a corner and began to boost towards a set of double doors that had been blown off of their hinges. He then skid to a halt as he entered the room Omega's last known location was at, he slowly and quietly made his way through the room and past the various rows of data terminals. As he began to get closer to the end of the room he could hear cackling coming from there, he peeked his head from out behind one of the data terminals and saw a strange black figure, with a large tail that had a white tip, black leather gloves, and boots. White dreadlocks on the back of its head, and it also seemed to have a mask on its face, as Shadow began to silently sneak up on the figure it cackled some more and said "Hahah. The world's most powerful robot is no more a challenge than Crabmeat. As I suspected, this power is without peer. It is the ultimate strength!"

But, Shadow's foot accidentally kicked a G.U.N. soldier's helmet and sent it skidding across the metal floor. The figure quickly turned around and revealed that its mask only had on red tinted lens in it that showed a piercing yellow eye looking through it. It then said "Ah, and still more. A not-so-tall, dark, and brooding guest has arrived. I've been waiting for you Shadow."

The black and red Hedgehog stepped forwards "Tell me what you did to Omega."

The figure crossed its arms over its chest "Weaklings like him are of no consequence. Come now Shadow. Our long-awaited reunion and still you spout such nonsense."

Shadow clenched his fists clearly not intimidated by the figure "I don't know who you are, and the thing of no consequence around here is that big mouth of yours."

The figure began to shake its head as it started to laugh "Hahah. Ah, I suppose you would think so. Oh yes. Hahah... HAHAHA!"

It then sighed to end its laughter before looking at Shadow again and saying "I am Infinite. You say you do not know me, and yet, I remember you so very well... To you, it was simply another in a long list of Eggman bases you tore down without a second thought."

Shadow leaped forwards and attempted to attack the figure, named Infinite, but he quickly zipped out of Shadow's way. Once he landed on the ground again Shadow attempted to stand up, but he was suddenly met with Infinite's hand which he had placed over Shadow's face. his hand then began to grow a red aura before Shadow heard a strange pulse like sound, right as he began to remember the base Infinite was talking about.

Shadow skated through the dense jungle that surrounded him, the multicolored lights of the ancient ruins turned casino by Eggman and the natural light cast by the touches around him bathed him in a yellow like glow. As he entered one of the ancient ruins the earpiece communicator Shadow had on activated and the voice of Eggman came through it thanks to G.U.N. hacking into Eggman's not-so-secure-network "We've got an intruder! Shadow has entered the facility! Defense Squad Jackal has already been completely annihilated! All available troops, intercept that blasted Hedgehog by any means necessary!"

Shadow skated past a large river that went through the ruin when suddenly Moto-Bugs came out of secret holes in the walls, Shadow jumped up into the air and took the robots out with his Homing Attack before landing back down on the ground and exiting the ruin. Shadow came out the other side and his path was quickly blocked by a large group of Egg Pawns that forced him to jump out of the way of their fire, he was able to lose those robots by skating across the surface of the river that he had just been running along side a few moments ago. Then suddenly Eggman came back over the earpiece "Rrrrrgh! I went to great pains to get the best mercenaries around and he STILL killed the members of the Defense Squad! SHADDDOOWWRRRGH!"

Shadow grinned as Moto-Bugs jumped into the river to try and chase after him "Hmph. Should have hired some Defense Squads for the Defense Squad, eh, Doctor?"

He then jumped up into the air and Homing Attacked the Moto-Bugs trying to chase him. Shadow saw that the river was leading towards a waterfall, so once he reached it he jumped up off of a Moto-Bug he was standing on. As he soared through the air heading for the large cliff ahead of him Eggman came back over the earpiece "Unbelievable! He's getting deeper and deeper into the facility! That computer running analyse in the core is invaluable! One of you idiots stop that Hedgehog, now!"

Shadow then grabbed onto the ledge over him, he climbed up onto the cliff's ground and continued on wards. He could see the facility in the distance when a massive group of robots come out of the trees ahead of him, Shadow lifted his legs off of the ground and boosted through the group and he quickly jumped back onto the surface of another rushing river to get to the facility faster when Eggman came back over the earpiece "Shadow is STILL alive!? Ugh, at least the analysis of the stone was completed yesterday, but... No I still can't let this facility be destroyed! Is there ANYONE left out there?!"

Shadow skated across the surface of the water as Buzz Bombers flew over head and began to fire at him "Hmm, seems like this place is important. No wonder the cannon fodder has been putting up a fight."

After Shadow Homing Attacked the Bombers he landed on the ground in front of the base and ran over to the large metal door that was locked tight. He could hear the sound of something getting close to him so he jumped over to one of the pillars standing next to the door and hid behind it. Eggman picked up a radio communicator and turned it on "Hey, you! I know you can hear me! You're captain of Jackal Squad aren't you? Your squad was useless! Go clean their mess already!"

Once the person Eggman was talking to landed on top of an ancient wall that was still standing and saw Shadow hiding behind that pillar he said "Yeah, yeah. I got it..."

He then took out his earpiece "You. You killed my squad.. I'll show you why they call me the ultimate mercenary!"

The person then pulled a red sword with a curved blade out of a sheath strapped to his back "Take THIS!"

He then leaped off of the wall and towards Shadow who saw the person heading towards him out of the corner of the Hedgehog's eye. Shadow quickly teleported away and the figure landed on the ground where Shadow was once standing, completely confused. Shadow then suddenly reappeared next to the person and kicked him up into the air, then when the person was high in the air Shadow reappeared above him and used both of his fists to punch the person back down to the ground, and when the person bounced off of the ground Shadow reappeared in front of him again and quickly kicked the person over to the wall he was standing on a minute ago.

Shadow then landed on the ground and walked over to the person "Worthless."

He stood on top of a rock so he could tower over the person "Don't show your pathetic face around me ever again."

Shadow then looked away from the person and teleported into the facility. The Ultimate Mercenary could feel that his entire body was shacking "I- I'm shacking.. Me?! Me... Afraid...!?"

He looked over to his black leather gloved hand and saw it shacking, he then brought his hand up to his face and covered his eyes, after a moment he took his hand off of his face and saw that he was bleeding slightly "Urgh. Pathetic!? Me.. He's calling ME weak!?"

He then began to get up off of the ground as he continued "No! I am not weak! I cannot be weak! I can't AFFORD to be weak! I'm... I'm not weak. I'm not weak!"

He saw his red sword out of the corner of his eye. The Ultimate Mercenary picked up his sword and stared into the blade, he could still see the faces of his fallen squad mates, he had promised them that he would be strong, that he would avenge them, but he was too weak to do that, he had failed them, the Ultimate Mercenary clenched his fists "I AM NOT WEEEEAAAAAAK!"

He then spun around and threw his sword into the rushing river that was in front of the facility, he fell to his knees and screamed up into the night sky "URRRAAAAAAAAAAAGHH!" before slamming his fists down on the ground in front of him.

"That day I gave up my own unsightly face. And I let go of the old me, the one that was so weak, so that I could become stronger. And then, at last... I obtained the power. The power to make all yield to my will. I... was... REBORN!"

As Infinite talked the purple gem placed on his chest glowed brightly. He then shoved Shadow's head away before stepping back, Shadow's head felt as if it had been cleared for the second time in his life. Infinite then said ""I've only become what I am because of you, yet you don't remember. But I suppose that's the way it goes."

Infinite shook his head slowly "It simply means that the old me was too weak, too pathetic, to remember. And now, you've become nothing more than an insect, waiting to be crushed underfoot."

Shadow stood up off of the ground as he furrowed his brow in confusion as the masked creature continued "Thanks to this limitless power I have obtained, I have become unstoppable!"

Infinite then began to float up off of the ground as a red aura surrounded him "Take THIS!"

Then suddenly a red colored shock wave blasted out of Infinite. Shadow fell to one knee as his entire body felt strange, it felt numb, and tingly, his vision was beginning to blur, he could slowly hear the sound of birds chirping around him, then he passed out and fell down onto the ground.