Mobius Destiny (A Sonic Boom Fanfic)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

They were standing outside the camp, Shadow gripping Kay's arm, Kay gripping the Blue Chaos Emerald. It was a few moments before he let her go without a word and, surprisingly, without a fight. He simply looked at her, and she at him.

Finally she tore her eyes away to look at the Emerald, which was still glowing, but not because of her. She thrust it at Shadow without thinking. "Take the photo back. You only need one Emerald."

"The other Shadow only needs one Emerald. I need the portal. You've taken the only way to power it." Kay quickly pulled the gem back to her, and Shadow tilted his head. "She will be coming after you, you know."

"I'm very aware of that." Kay looked at him. "Why aren't you trying to take it back yourself?"

"Because I answer to no one, and Aurora has made an idiotic mistake dragging that buffoon Eggman into all of this."

"What?" Kay stared at him. "Eggman?"

"She told him everything, took him to the Prime Universe. He knows he's an Emperor there, and he wants to be one here as well." Shadow shook his head. "The moron can't even take over Bygone Island. I don't know what makes him think he'll be able to take over the entire planet, let alone stay in power."

Kay was confused. This version of Shadow seemed to change his mind constantly, and that made him both unpredictable and dangerous. But he had to have some logical train of thought leading to what decisions he made and when, right? "Shadow..." she began, then stopped, shaking her head. She knew it was pointless to ask.

"What?"

She sighed. "Whose side are you on?"

"I am on no one's side," he spat in reply. Kay nodded. She'd figured as much. "But generally speaking, I don't assist idiots. I turned my back on Eggman for wasting my time and making me look like a fool. If Aurora wants to get him involved, she can count me out."

"What did she say to get you on her side in the first place?"

Shadow looked at her. "What do you think?"

"She showed you yourself, in the Prime Dimension. And you liked what you saw."

"I was intrigued by what I saw," Shadow replied firmly, "but I determine my own destiny."

Kay smiled at him before she could stop herself. He had no idea how much he sounded like his Prime self just now. In fact, she'd heard Prime Shadow say those exact words before. At his quizzical gaze, she shook her head quickly, then looked over his shoulder at the camp beyond. "What will you do now, then? The prince said himself he could use someone like you on his team."

"I don't care about the prince, or Aurora's agenda, or you." Shadow crossed his arms, crimson eyes burning with some emotion Kay couldn't place. "My only obligation now is to take the photo of this girl back to the Prime Shadow, but I am not sure how I'll do that so long as the portal remains closed."

Kay considered this. She'd learned so much in the past five minutes alone that her mind was struggling to keep up with it all and sort it out to formulate some sort of game plan. All she knew for sure in this moment was that she needed to get back to camp and warn Espio, fill him in on what was happening, and – somehow, in the long term – get both the Emerald and the photo of Maria back to Mobius Prime so this insanity could come to an end.

"You want out of this whole ordeal?" she asked him at last.

Shadow scoffed. "I make no promises, but I'm not inclined to stick around unless the need is dire. I've seen all I need to see, and I've helped slow Aurora down enough for you and your precious prince to figure something out. Aside from the photo, I wash my hands of this mess."

Kay said it before she could think better of it. "I'm surprised you're so determined to get the photo back to him at all. Especially if you don't really care about any of this." Shadow only stared at her, his eyes hard. Kay hastened to try again. She held out her hand. "I'll take care of it. That way it's off your shoulders and you can leave if you want to."

"Hmph." Shadow reached into his left-hand glove and pulled out the quad-fold photograph of Professor Robotnik and Maria. He looked at it again for a few moments. Then he gave it to her with a curt nod. "Good luck. You'll need it."

Then he was gone.

~

The sun was sinking below the mountains by the time Kay rushed back into the camp, Emerald in one hand and photo in the other. She passed a few Gossamer warriors on the way to the tent she shared with Espio and the others, but none of them tried to stop her. They knew she was with the prince, and that was good enough for them.

By the time she reached the tent, threw open the flap, and tumbled inside, Kay was beyond out of breath. She stayed down on the ground for several moments, ignoring the surprised cries around her as she gasped for air. A hand rested on her shoulder, and there were some slight shuffling noises. When she finally lifted her eyes to locate Espio, he was shaking his head at her.

"Don't speak, senshi. Lay down. You are unwell."

"I'm...fine..." Kay gasped out. "Aurora has...a new recruit...from Bygone Island..."

"Where you are from?"

She nodded and held up the Emerald. "She needs this to...power her rebellion...she can't do anything without it. We have to make sure...she doesn't get it back..."

"I will inform the first shift to be extra alert," Li Yuen spoke up quickly, vanishing from the tent before the words were entirely out of his mouth.

Espio and Nikōru helped Kay over to her mat at the opposite end of the tent, and Kay held both the photo of Maria and the Chaos Emerald close to her while she lay down. Her legs felt like jelly; it had been a long time since she'd had to really run like that.

"This new recruit from your island," Espio said gently but in all seriousness. "Who is it?"

"Eggman." Kay took a deep breath, held it a few moments, and let it out. Her heart rate was starting to slow back down but not by much. "He's been trying to destroy the island and its inhabitants for...for I don't even know how long."

"So he is dangerous?"

Under normal circumstances Kay would have said yes, but she'd seen this Mobius' Eggman personally and she knew better. "Not yet...but if he wants something bad enough he'll do anything to get it, and that could make him dangerous." She took another deep breath. "Espio, I know how Aurora started this war, and how she got two of your clans on her side. And..." Here Kay paused, the reality of her words sinking in even as she spoke them. "...I think I know how she wants to deal with you, too."