I couldn’t help sighing with more than a little bit of frustration as our ‘quarry’ vanished in a flash of purple and black-colored light. Still, this did seem promising that she seemed open to talking. I hoped.

“Wow, I know you said she could do something like that, but seeing it in person….”

I was not surprised to see that Amy was a bit shocked by this latest development. I mean I had seen a lot of things by now but the ability to nearly instantly teleport, apparently, solely via the use of Chaos energy was a bit of a new one. Meanwhile, Tails had his own part to add.

“She got away again, Sonic. Do you think she will actually meet us on this island or is it really just a trap?”

Unfortunately, there was also that. Rather than it being an attempt to get some space for an actual discussion, and probably her trying to mess with us a bit, was Shade really just trying to waste our time or, worse, lead us into some kind of trap? I didn’t think….Actually, I could totally see her doing some like that, at least, if she felt she needed to.

I couldn’t help but glance at my red and ‘knuckle-headed’ friend. Even with as ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘honorable’ as he’d otherwise proven to be, he’d seemed to have no trouble leading Tails and I into many (far too many) traps back in the day. Apparently, his tribe had believed that if their enemies were ‘stupid’ enough to fall for them, there was no dishonor involved, it rather being the sign of a clever and capable warrior and the far less clever and capable nature of their enemies. Unfortunately, I imagined someone like Shade would have even less scruples about that than our ‘ancient’ warrior friend. Still, I didn’t think she was trying to entrap us or waste our time.

“Uhm, can’t say for sure, Tails. But, I don’t think we can afford passing up the opportunity to talk with her, especially without the ‘Eggman’ nearby.” And that, at least, had been encouraging, to see that likely neither of them were precisely enthusiastic about working with the other, however much they may have decided they needed to for now, and that Shade was at least willing to meet without the doctor around for a little while.

“And, well, if it is a trap…we’ll just deal with it.”

“Indeed, I will be happy to offer up my experience and keen sense for any hidden dangers should the ‘Dark One’ have chosen to turn her obvious wiles and clear warrior spirit against us.”

I think all of us just stared at Knuckles for a bit after he gave a response like that, but, like I said, I guess he was the expert in that sort of thing. Though, I would maybe find it a bit more comforting if it didn’t look like Knuckles would be extremely approving if she did manage to entrap us all….Not to mention that he was apparently already praising her ‘warrior’ qualities so highly.…Crazy, isolated, tribal echidna warrior….

Shaking my head a bit at Knuckles’ ‘Knuckles-ness’, I decided it was best not to keep Shade waiting.

----------------------------------------

In the end, we used the same method of travel we’d used to arrive at the location of the G.U.N. base, the Tornado, which, while a little cramped with four, was still manageable. I mean Amy, Knuckles, and I were fast enough that we could run over water if we had to, or swim, I suppose (which was a skill that had taken me an embarrassingly long time to pick up), but that wasn’t practical when we weren’t entirely sure where the island was or what we would encounter when we got there (not to mention, swimming just wouldn’t make sense at that distance). Best to be as rested up as we can be.

“This should be it, Sonic. My scanner is detecting only one Mobian lifeform, one with a lot of unusual Chaos energy readings, and no other intelligent life forms or any machines. It really does look like she is just waiting there for us, alone.”

“Indeed, I sense no other dangers on the island than the nearly unfathomable strength of the ‘Dark One’ herself.”

I held back a sigh.

“Thanks, Tails…Knuckles. That’s helpful to know.”

So, it looks like Shade really was going to meet with us without having brought along some backup or planning to spring some kind of trap….Of course, it might be that she didn’t feel she needed reinforcements or a trap. I couldn’t help recalling the state of the last two G.U.N. bases I’d seen or the various reports Rouge had produced regarding her potential strength and her ‘promise’ to Eggman that she would ‘take care of this’ (by which it was clear she meant ‘us’...in one way or another). It did seem at least possible that she’d meant that she would ‘take care of us’ in a manner similar to how she’d dealt with the G.U.N. bases, and this ‘meeting’ was simply the result of the fact that she had decided this island was the easier place to do so, free of any impending G.U.N. distractions. Still, I felt that we had to at least try to settle this peacefully and that it was worth taking the risk that her intentions may not be the same.

It wasn’t much longer before Tails found a place to land the Tornado, and we made our way towards the area his scans (and Knuckles' sense for danger) were leading us. The island was rather heavily forested but as we arrived at the location it seemed Shade wanted us to be, the forest suddenly opened out into a wide clearing, one we’d actually seen from the air earlier, though without its current occupant. Because there waiting for us was in fact the hedgehog we’d been searching for.

As we cautiously moved in, I just took a moment to observe her. I realized I hadn’t actually spent much time in her company or had the chance to get a careful look at her (beyond those brief encounters). Again, what I saw seemed to confirm the impressions I had from our earlier ‘meetings’ (and to some degree the files, I suppose). Largely black colored, though with significant purple or lavender coloring as well, including her lavender-colored eyes, which I could tell actually did seem to glow a bit (that apparently hadn’t just been my imagination earlier). Roughly my height, as I’d thought before, and wearing what really did look a lot like a G.U.N. tactical suit, though more ‘stylish’, I guess Amy might say, and obviously specifically tailored to fit her coloring and body type (presumably, something she’d had designed herself, since I couldn’t see G.U.N. caring that much). A clearly female (thank you very much, G.U.N.) Mobian hedgehog. And though I now knew from the files I’d seen that some might dispute the claim that she actually qualified as a ‘Mobian’ (or even a person at all), I wasn’t going to subject her to that indignity. To me, she had as much right to call herself a ‘Mobian’ and a person as Tails or I or any of my friends did, and I’d be willing to fight anyone who claimed otherwise.

Still, for all that and that she appeared relatively ‘calm’ now, I could sense the violence and rage that seemed to wait just underneath the surface. She was clearly not a very ‘happy’ hedgehog, and it didn’t seem unlikely that she was determined to make sure at least some others felt very much the same way (which, thankfully, so far had only been limited to G.U.N., and without any significant casualties on their part as far as I was aware).

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

Shade was now looking back at us expectantly, even challengingly. I exchanged a look with my friends. We’d decided that I’d be the one to speak first, and, honestly, there had been a lot of debate about how exactly to take this. Though it might be a bad call, I’d argued for beginning with what was almost certainly at the heart of all this…and didn’t really think Shade was someone who preferred to just dance around the issues. Still, this seemed like it could backfire so easily.

“Shade, we, ah, we know about ‘Project Shade’ and the ‘ARK Incident’.”

Ah, I couldn’t help tensing nor could the rest of my friends when Shade’s eyes burned, in the most literal way I’d ever seen, at my mention of those two unfortunate sets of circumstances. Though, she didn’t attack us…yet.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Congratulations, then you know why G.U.N. deserves to burn. Or, don’t you think they deserve this and a whole lot more?”

Oh, wow, was that ever a loaded question, and judging by the evident rage and loathing in Shade’s eyes, it seemed clear that any answer other than a “Yes, yes, they most certainly do, and would you like some kerosene to go with that order of violent revenge wrecked upon every G.U.N. agent and base in existence” was unlikely to be favorably received (and honestly there was a part of me that felt like it almost wanted to cheer her on with everything I’d learned). Fortunately, I was saved from that unwinnable situation when Amy apparently couldn’t hold her (unquestionably sensitive and caring) self back anymore.

“Shade…everything, it was all so terrible. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that.”

The sincerity in Amy’s expression and voice was unmistakable, and, to my shock, Shade actually seemed to soften before looking away from us, or more specifically Amy.

“...Yeah, well…I think it should be clear enough that G.U.N. deserves everything I do to them…and so much more….”

If I had ever doubted Amy before, I didn’t any longer. The girl clearly had superpowers, to be able to get through to someone in Shade’s position and with everything she had so obviously been forced to endure. Though, really, I was pretty sure Amy’s ‘superpowers’ were just actual concern about what others (even ‘strangers’) thought and felt and any hardships they may have experienced. Meanwhile, Shade trailed off, clearly in pain, and Amy, to my concern, began to move closer to her. Though, she (wisely) stopped when Shade tensed up.

The black and purple hedgehog looked back at Amy and the rest of us with a look that was filled with so much pain, anger, confusion…and desperation that it honestly tore my heart to see it.

“...I…You’ll never…I can’t…I just can’t…You’re so much like her…”

Shade became visibly more and more upset and, if anything, ‘unstable’....Okay, now I was beginning to get worried. Something about what Amy had said…or actually I thought something about Amy had upset Shade in a way I hadn’t seen from her before and was really beginning to concern me.

Actually, what had Shade just said, ‘You’re so much like her’? While initially it didn’t make sense nor could I understand why it could be so upsetting, it suddenly occurred to me that there was probably only one ‘her’ in Shade’s life that she could be comparing Amy to….Oh, this…this was probably not good.

However, just when I was thinking it was time for me to intervene, Shade seemed to pull it all back in and regain ‘control’ of her emotions once more. She gave Amy one last hurt-filled, though almost ‘wistful’ look, before placing much of what clearly troubled her back behind a veil, one, however, that I think it had now been made abundantly clear to everyone was not very thick. Dang, I really wished there was going to be some way we could help this obviously very wounded hedgehog….We’d just have to see.

Meanwhile, Shade took a breath, clearly calming herself, and continued, speaking a lot more intelligibly than before.

“Look, I just can’t…I can’t not do…what I need to do….I wish I could explain it all to you in a way you’d be likely to understand or accept, or that it wasn’t necessary, but I don’t see any other way, at least not any way that I’m willing to risk. Please just trust me and let me do what I need to do, what needs to be done.”

Ah, man, the look of honest pleading on her face, the heartbreaking sincerity in everything she’d just said…I think this was perhaps the most genuine I had yet seen her….I just had to take the risk and ask.

“Shade…I mean, really, don’t think that I, or any of us, don’t agree with Amy here that everything you’ve experienced, everything you have been put through is wrong in so many ways that I really just can’t say how upset it makes me, all of us….But, please can you just tell us…what exactly is it you feel you have to do?”

Because that was still unfortunately the big question here….I think she might have noticed we hadn’t exactly made any big efforts to stop her raids on the G.U.N. bases or even really protested her treatment of them (very) much. So, I doubted that it was really as an ‘enemy’ to her plans to ‘deal’ with G.U.N. that she truly saw us as here now.

Unfortunately, as I saw her expression harden again, I feared I had made a mistake.

She turned her back on us for a moment and walked a short distance away before turning back to face us, seeming to have made a decision.

“Fine. You want to know what I want. I’ll tell you this much, but only because I expect you’ve already guessed and it would be useless to pretend otherwise.” This…was not encouraging.

Shade paused.

“I want, no, I need the activation codes for the ARK Station’s Eclipse Cannon and I won’t let anyone stop me from getting them.”

And, judging from the hard look she gave each of us, though I noticed it still softened when she looked at Amy, I didn’t doubt her in the slightest. Meanwhile, a gasp of dismay went out from Amy and Tails at Shade’s confirmation of her goal, while Knuckles just shifted a bit.

For my own part…ugh, I’d really hoped it wasn’t going to turn out to be something like this…as much as I’d thought it was going to turn out this way.

“You know we’re not just going to be able to let you do that, right?”

I wish I could say something, anything, else or was in any other situation than the one I was in right now.

“I know.”

The certainty, even the apology and sadness behind these words, it really hurt. Man, G.U.N., you really, really messed things up this time, especially one hedgehog, who, from everything I had so far seen and experienced, was in no way deserving of everything she had suffered and the direction it seemed her life was now inexorably heading, one who I was sure could so easily have taken so much better a path. Tiredly, I began considering what our next move would be, needed to be.

I mean now that she had as good as admitted what she was after…I couldn’t just let her leave like I had before. As impressive as her teleport powers were (and seriously, they were really cool), it seemed she still needed a few seconds to activate them, and apparently a Chaos Emerald. If I denied her one or both of those, it might be possible to keep her in one place until…until we could figure something out.

Unfortunately, judging by the way she was looking at me, at all of us to some degree, I think she was as aware of this as I was, and, not entirely to my surprise, she pulled out the Chaos Emerald I’d seen her with before (though now apparently kept on a chain around her neck).

However, before I could do more than tense my body for a hedgehog speed dash:

“Wait.”

Shade gazed at the purple-colored Emerald (huh, don’t know if I’d ever specifically paid attention to that before - kind of a nice match, really) for a moment as if seeking an answer to some difficult question.

“I don’t actually need to hold this in my hands to use this to teleport, you know, just as long as it’s close to my body. Holding it only makes things a bit easier. Same with, you know, the thing I always shout. Just makes the whole process a bit easier, safer.”

Which was both the surrender of an advantage she’d kept hidden until now and basically an admission that, if she had wanted to, she likely could have already teleported away before I had caught on (even if she probably wouldn’t be able to surprise me in the same way again)....So, then, why had she just done that?

“Here, hold this.” And with that, she tossed the Emerald at a surprised Amy, who nevertheless managed to catch it. Before anyone could react further, Shade had a little something more to say: “And, PLEASE, stay out of what happens next,” giving Amy a look that somehow had a pleading that almost eclipsed everything from before.

Needless to say, I think all of us were wondering just what was going on now or why Shade had seemed to have surrendered her easy ticket out of here (and something, I suspected, she was also very much aware she needed in the future). Unfortunately, I thought I might have had an idea of where this was all headed.

Giving me a look in particular, though the declaration that followed was also in some way for all my friends, with the possible exception of Amy, and as her eyes and body began to glow with Chaos energy-infused light, she made it abundantly clear exactly what she meant:

“Prepare yourself, Sonic, I’m going to show you and your friends just why any attempts to stop me are pointless.”