All of the characters and ideas in this story belong to Sega.

Shadow Unleashed

Part 1: Animal I have become

Rouge and Shadow had been proceeding through Eggman's base in Earth's orbit when Shadow was seized by a bolt of energy. It sliced through him, bringing the hedgehog to his knees.

"Shadow! What's wrong?" Rouge asked as she bent down to look at him.

"Get back!" Shadow snarled as he looked up at her, making her gasp and step away. His red iris had become black, and thin veins began to pulse through the whites of his eye. His body shuddered as electric currents crackled around him. Bone and muscle shifted beneath his fur. Quills on his back extended out and he opened his mouth on a growl as his canines grew past his lips. The extensions on his back widened and spiked into two leathery wings. His body took on definition, muscle sculpting his arms and legs and toning his torso. A pulse of energy surrounded him, pushing Rouge away. Her heels scraped the floor as she raised her arms in protection against the blast. When it evaporated, she lowered her arms and opened her eyes to see Shadow slowly get up. Her eyes widened in shock to see how he had changed. He looked to be a crossbreed between a hedgehog and a bat. He looked at himself, frowning at his changed appearance. His wings shifted with his movements as he turned to see Rouge approaching him.

"What happened?" She asked, still not coming too close to him. Shadow glared past her shoulder towards the end of the hallway.

"Something tells me that the doctor had something to do with this."

Rouge winced at the harsh response. His voice was no longer husky, but now guttural, almost menacing. He stepped around her, keeping his distance as though he were afraid to touch her. They entered the room at the end of the hall to find it empty. The window that looked out to space had been closed by a security panel to keep in oxygen. Rouge went over to the control system as Shadow looked at the prong device that descended from the ceiling and came out of the floor.

"Shadow, look at this. I hacked into the video feed for this room." Rouge stepped back from the screen as Shadow came over to look. Shadow's eyes narrowed as he saw Eggman trick Sonic and use the power of the emeralds to transform the blue hedgehog and cause the Earth to shatter. The feed ended and Rouge looked over at the locked window.

"The Earth is in pieces." She said as though she still couldn't believe it.

"It seems that by draining the emeralds of power, Sonic and I have been transformed because of the imbalance that Eggman has caused."

"But what was it that Eggman unleashed from within the planet?" Rouge asked.

"We better head back to Earth. You contact HQ and see if you can find out any information."

"What about you?"

Shadow turned, "I'll look for Prower, he might know something."

It was still dark when Shadow made his way through the streets of Apotos, the last place the fox had been seen. He looked around the stone streets, noticing how his vision had altered with his appearance. It was as though he could see different neon colors within the darkness. He was sure to keep to the shadows as early risers moved through the small town, not wanting to cause a fright to anyone. As they passed he noticed how his senses had sharpened to where he could hear the heartbeats of passing people. He could almost feel the flow of life through each person. The feeling almost felt intoxicating, but he shoved it away as he continued his search. Dawn kept over the horizon and Shadow turned to see the sun break over the clear water.

Tails was working on his Tornado when he heard someone walk into his work shop. Tails looked from beneath the plane to see Shadow enter and look around. Getting up hastily, Tails went over to greet black hedgehog, a bit curious about the unexpected visit.

"Hey Shadow, what brings you here?"

Shadow turned to the fox, "Do you know anything about the planet being broken?"

Tails ears perked, "Actually, I was doing some research here for that exact reason." The fox walked over to a computer screen on a desk next to the Tornado, and booted up some information. "Professor Pickle sent me out here to collect some data and told me it had something to do with an entity living beneath the surface of the Earth." A satellite image came up on screen and showed how when the planet broke, a creature tried to rise through the cracks before breaking apart and spreading a purple energy over the planet.

"What is that thing?"

"I'm not sure; I was going to ask the Professor once I was done gathering my research."

"Where is the Professor?"

Tails turned to look at him, "He is usually at the Spagonia University, but since the planet is broke apart, I'm going to have to finish my repairs before I can go to the next continent."

Shadow nodded his thanks to the fox before turning to leave the workshop. Tails watched him leave as he looked back at the screen, wondering if the darkness spreading over the surface would affect the planet.

Shadow reported what he had discovered to Rouge through the COM channel, letting her know that his alternate form was rectified through the passage of the day.

"That's good news. HQ is still analyzing the situation, but from what I know so far, the information that we are looking for are in the Gaia manuscripts. The manuscript is said to be in the possession of Professor Pickle."

"I'll find a way to the next continent and find the Professor."

"Alright, I'll catch up with you later. I have a certain emerald to check up on."

The radio cut off and Shadow found himself smirking knowingly, wondering if the bat was truly concerned about the state of the Master Emerald, or if her concern was directed to a certain red echidna.

Rouge climbed the steps that led to the Master Emerald, not seeing the echidna anywhere in sight. Ignoring her sense of disappointment, Rouge approached the giant emerald, noticing how it had lost its shine in much that same way as the chaos emeralds.

"What are you doing here?"

Rouge whirled around to see Knuckles glaring suspiciously at her. She tilted her chin up and placed her hands on her hips, "I just thought you might want to know why your emerald has lost its usual luster." She said motioning to the jewel.

"What would you know about it bat girl?"

Rouge shrugged nonchalantly and headed back towards the stairs, "I might know that Dr. Eggman is up to his old tricks again and that he has drained the chaos emeralds of their power."

"What?"

She looked over her shoulder and smiled slyly, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about a creature named Gaia would you?"

Shadow was able to cross to another chunk of the planet by using recourses through G.U.N. Unfortunately he was not able to reach the city of Spagonia before the sun had vanished behind the horizon. Shadow shifted to his other form and growled his frustration, unsure if the Professor would be accommodating to someone of his appearance. Not wanting to waste any more time than was necessary, Shadow continued to search, staying to the darkest corners of the city. He found himself slightly distracted by his new senses. The beating of hearts seemed to pound against his ears in persistence. He also felt more tired than usual, as though his limbs were becoming drawn down by a heavy weight. He shook his head to clear it as he neared the University where the Professor was said to be. Shadow looked up to see a vehicle fly overhead and a commotion shortly followed when it was out of sight. Shadow ran the rest of the way to the courtyard of the University, annoyed that he no longer had the ability of incredible speed in his other form. People ran past him as he entered the courtyard, most of them not even noticing him as they scrambled to get away from the army of robots that surrounded the University. Feeling anger boil within him, he charged the line of robots, kicking the heaps of metal so hard that bolts and pieces scattered over the pavement. He felt a slight surge of triumph that he still retained strength in his other form. When no robots remained, Shadow looked at the debris and was about to enter the building when a wave of fatigue hit him. He swayed as his vision blurred. Shadow gritted his teeth and focused on placing one foot in front of the other, determined to get to the Professor before Eggman did. Determined to get out of this form as soon as possible.

When he entered into the office, the Professor was gone and their was no sign of Eggman. Shadow was furious, but his body had become too weakened to take out his anger in any way. He left the building, using one of the walls as support to hold him up. His stomach tightened painfully in hunger. Shadow looked up, only to be assaulted by the beating of frantic hearts. Hearts that were drowned out by one. Shadow stiffened when he saw a pink hedgehog ambling through the crowd of people that had gathered outside. Her heart beat a tattoo in his ear above all the others. A strong craving stole over him, a craving for the life that was flowing through her. He was struck by the horror when he realized what his body wanted, why he was so weak and tired. The thought filled him with disgust and panic as he turned and ran from the crowd. He followed a stone cavern, and he didn't stop until he reached an underground sewage system beneath the city. The tunnels were damp and cold, but Shadow didn't care. He crouched down and hugged his knees to his body, horrified at what he had become. He realized now that he had become a creature of myth, a counterpart to his blue rival. Shadow shut his eyes as though to shut out the word that echoed in his mind. Vampire.

Shadow opened his eyes and glared out at the water running beneath the city. The craving was still with him, but it had abated in the cold underground tunnels. His eyelids drooped as he tried to stay awake. When he could no longer fight sleep, he vowed that he would make the Doctor pay for what he did to him.

"Shadow? Shadow are you there?" Shadow's ear twitched at the sound that woke him. He got up from his sprawled position and answered the radio.

"This is Shadow." He answered, fatigue gone.

"What happened last night? Did you find the Professor?" Rouge asked.

Shadow mentally cursed himself for not contacting her sooner, "No, Eggman kidnapped him."

"Alright, I'll inform HQ. Have you started tracking him yet?"

Shadow gritted his teeth, "No, it seems there is another set back to my altered form."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems I need a liquid substance to sustain my strength in my other form, one that I would prefer not to have."

There was a pause over the radio, and he allowed Rouge to take in what he had said, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, the craving is gone during the day. I will set out to find Eggman immediately."

"Be careful Shadow."

"Same to you." He said as he shut the radio off and took off down the sewage tunnel.

Shadow dashed through the halls of the base, destroying robots into balls of explosions. The heat of the sun in Mazuri had filtered through the halls, making the metal structure turn into an inferno of warmth. Shadow broke down the door at the end of the hall to find Eggman frantically trying to activate his pod to get away. He turned to see Shadow and huffed in frustration.

"Shadow! How many times do I have to tell you the proper use of a door?"

"What do you know about the Gaia manuscripts?"

Eggman harrumphed as he sat down, "If you're looking for the Professor, he's no longer here. That blue menace has already taken him back to Spagonia. No matter though, I already know what is within the Gaia manuscripts."

"What do you know?"

"Only that this isn't the first time that Dark Gaia has risen from the Earth. I just gave it a bit of a premature wake up call is all." The Doctor slapped his console in frustration, "The only problem now is that because of this, he has spread out all over the world. No matter, I'll have his power harnessed in no time."

Shadow was tempted to hurt the doctor in some way. Not only for what the doctor had done to the planet that Shadow had promised to protect, but because of what the doctor had done to him and Sonic. Instead, Shadow smirked, finding the aspect of all the Doctors' hard work coming to an inevitable end much more appealing. "I doubt that, your plans never cease to amaze me in how fast they seem to fail."

Eggman stood and sputtered, "You'll see! I'll show all of you the power of the Eggman Empire." With that, the Doctor sat down in the pod and made his escape. Shadow shook his head, wondering how such a man could ever be related to his creator. He knew deep down that he could never end Eggmans' life. He was the only link to the closest thing the hedgehog ever had to a family.

Shadow informed Rouge of what the doctor had related to him.

"Dark Gaia." Rouge repeated, "I'll inform HQ, but for now, we need to find those chaos emeralds and restore their energy. Our first priority is getting both you and Sonic back to normal so that we can fight whatever it is we're up against."

"They are more than likely in Sonic's possession now. If he has already spoken to the Professor, then he knows what has to be done."

It was nearly dark as Shadow made his way through the streets of Spagonia. He was about to say something else to Rouge when he looked up to see the pink hedgehog wandering the streets. He turned a corner to a darkened alleyway as the hedgehog passed by him.

"I'll be keeping a low profile for the rest of the night. Ask the echidna if he knows anything about Dark Gaia."

Rouge confirmed and disconnected as he watched Amy Rose disappear around another corner. He knew that he had to get as far away from her as he possibly could before he changed. He didn't know why, but for some reason the craving wanted her the most. He climbed to the tops of one of the buildings, looking out as the sun faded away.

Shadow stood his ground when his rival swung up to the balcony. Shadow had watched the blue hedgehog dispose of the dark Gaia creatures and save Amy from the people that were possessed by darkness. Even without the flash of a camera Shadow could see the aura of the dark creatures. He had seethed in frustration, wanting to help but knowing that the fight might leave him weak and vulnerable to attack Amy. Sonic didn't see Shadow right away in the darkened nook, but the little creature that was with him bumped into the black hedgehog. It looked up at him and gasped as it ran over to Sonic to hide behind the blue werehog. Sonic looked over to see Shadow step out of his hiding place.

"Shadow, is that you?" Sonic looked over his transformed friend, "You don't look too good."

Shadow tilted his head, "Neither do you."

"There's another scary monster guy?" The creature asked as he flew over to Shadow, "Any friend of Sonics is a friend of mine. Want some chocolate?" It asked, pulling out a chocolate bar.

Shadow waved the creature away, "Who is this?"

"This is Chip. He's lost his memory, so I've been helping him to find out who he is."

Shadow eyed the creature before focusing on Sonic, "Do you have the chaos emeralds?"

"Sure do, why do you ask?"

"While you restore their power, I'll try to stall Eggman from harnessing all of the forms of Dark Gaia." Shadow informed him as he saw Amy talking with an older gentleman that was possibly Professor Pickle.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Sonic said with a thumb up, "When this is over, you owe me some competition."

"Don't count on it." Shadow said as he turned and stalked away.

"Shadow are you there?" Rouge asked over the radio.

"Have you discovered anything?"

"I asked knucklehead about Dark Gaia, and he says that there should be a counterpart somewhere known as Light Gaia. If Eggman awakened Dark Gaia, than he most certainly awakened Light Gaia too."

Shadow stopped in his tracks, realization dawning as he pictured the small companion of the blue hedgehog.

"Shadow? Are you still there?"

"I think I have an idea who it is."